All Articles

Study of Neuropilin-1/Cd304 Expression in Leukemogenesis

Abstract:

Neuropilins are transmembrane glycoproteins that act as receptors for vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) and are involved in the process of tumor angiogenesis. Its importance in hematological malignancies such as acute leukemia (AL) remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of neuropilin-1 expression in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) patients by flowcytometry and the difference between both groups of acute leukemia. Bone marrow aspirates of 52 patients with acute leukemia, 29 patients with de novo AML and 23 ALL patients were examined in this study. 15 subjects with non-hematological malignancy serving as the control group were also included. Neuropilin-1 expression by flow cytometry showed a highly significant increase in de novo AML and ALL patients with a mean of 37.9 ± 20.92% and 32.33±19.8%, respectively, compared to control group’s mean of 11.51 ± 3.04% (p= 0.001, 0.006). ...

General Evolution of the Universe Driven by Attraction and Four Levels of Biological Evolution as its Essential Part

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A strict definition of the hierarchy of material systems is formulated. Based on this definition, the main hierarchical structure of the Universe was divided to 15 levels belonging to 2 branches. Process of the Universe evolution (megaevolution) is considered as hierarchogenesis, i.e., a process of new hierarchy levels formation. The main driver of the hierachogenesis is an attraction that takes different forms for different steps of the megaevolution. Duration and time of each this step on the Universe timeline were estimated using the data of the other investigators. Biological evolution is considered as essential part of the general megaevolution where symbiosis plays role of the hierarchogenetic attraction. Semantic consideration of the hierarchogenesis allowed to build a mathematical model of its dynamics. It appeared that this model describes general megaevolution of the Universe well enough to estimate time of macromolecules appearance, that is still unknow...

Musings in Physiology

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A reflective piece touches on core physiological concepts and experimental approaches, linking basic mechanisms to clinical insight and education.

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Building Resilience among Children and Youth with ADHD through Identifying and Developing Protective Factors in Academic, Interpersonal and Cognitive Domains

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Children and youth with ADHD are a vulnerable group susceptible to adversity in wide-ranging life domains. However, many children and youth, irrespective of having ADHD become successful both academically andinterpersonally, and improve their cognition. This group can be considered as being “resilient”, that is, adapting to the adversity they may face in a positive manner. The overarching goal of this paper is to highlight domains at the academic, interpersonal and cognition levels that are indicative of resiliency among children and youth with ADHD. The secondary goal is to highlight interventions that result in promoting resiliency among this group at these levels. It is necessary for future interventions to be designed and implemented with developing the resiliency of children and youth with ADHD in mind. To achieve this, research needs to begin to identify the strengths of children and youth with ADHD to provide insight into how their strengths ca...

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Emerging Roles of Plant Circular RNAs

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Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are covalently closed single-stranded loop RNA molecules with or without protein coding capability. CircRNAs were previously considered to be splicing intermediates or artifacts but are now found to be pervasively expressed in all eukaryotes studied with some demonstrated to have important molecular functions in various biological processes. CircRNA is now a hot study topic of molecular biology. In this review, we summarize the progress achieved so far on plant circRNAs, including identification and functional characterization, compare the similarities and differences of circRNAs between plants and animals, and discuss the challenges for confident detection and functional investigation of plant circRNAs. Similar to what have been found in animals, plant genomes contain a large number of circRNAs that potentially regulate a wide range of biological progresses related to plant development and biotic/abiotic responses. Despite only a few plan...

The Therapeutic Effect of Bilateral Alternating Stimulation Tactile Form Technology on the Stress Response

Abstract:

The application of bilateral alternating stimulation in tactile (BLAST) form technology, a non-invasive, somatosensory-based method, has been shown to modulate the electrical activity of brain networks that mediate the stress response, resulting in a stress-reducing effect in individuals with high reported levels of anxiety, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this study, we examined archival data from a heterogeneous group of users (n = 1109) of BLAST technology via Touchpoints, a novel BLAST-based treatment modality, all of whom had high self-reported levels of stress and anxiety. Ratings of levels of emotional stress and bodily distress on a scale of 0 (no stress/distress) to 10 (worst stress/distress of one's life) before and after the application of Touchpoints for 30 seconds were entered into an app. Results showed a statistically significant reduction in the levels of both emotional stress and bodily distress, 62.26% and 50.502%, respective...

Knowledge, Beliefs and Attitudes of Turkish Patients on In-Center Hemodialysis Toward Home Hemodialysis: A Pilot Study

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This pilot study aimed to determine the knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of Turkishpatients on in-center hemodialysis about home hemodialysis (HHD) and their related factors. A cross-sectional study was performed among 32 patients on in-center hemodialysis in a tertiary hospital in Turkey. Data were collected by using a questionnaire form including sociodemographic and disease-related characteristics and knowledge, beliefs and attitudes about HHD. Data analysis were performed using descriptive statistics and the Chi-square test. While the majority of the patients (65.6%) reported having knowledge about HHD, only 34.4% of them had ever considered it. The most common perceived benefits of HHD were minimized wasted time (71.9%) and more time spent with family (71.9%). The most common perceived barrier to HHD was also housing constraints (90.6%). The results of this study highlight the importance of recognizing knowledge, beliefs and attitudes towa...

Profiling Flight Performance of Young Racing Pigeons (Columba Livia) in Training

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Two groups of young pigeons were trained and flight parameters profiled over a flight path of approximately 90 km and a number of measures were developed to analyse their flight performances. An aerodynamic model of avian flight was fitted to the data to assess its value in predicting flight performances. Both groups, although trained and flown independent of each other, had very similar profiles through time. Race speeds home peaked between weeks 5 - 8 of training and averaged 15.0 (2.0) m/s for Group 1 and 15.6 (2.7) m/s for Group 2. Flight performance in early stages of training in this study seemed to be affected by previous health conditions but once training progressed beyond 5 weeks, young pigeons appeared to fly at a constant preferred speed.