淫羊藿素体外抗淋巴瘤细胞增殖效应

目的本实验以小鼠T细胞淋巴瘤细胞株EL-4细胞株为模型,研究淫羊藿素(icaritin,ICT)是否抑制瘤细胞增殖,并初步探讨其作用机制。方法应用MTT比色法、透射电镜技术及流式细胞术检测ICT对EL-4细胞增殖能力的影响;用RT-PCR技术、比色法分析ICT的作用机制。结果 ICT对EL-4细胞增殖具有明显抑制作用,并呈量效及时效关系。透射电镜及流式细胞术结果显示,ICT可诱导EL-4细胞凋亡。RT-PCR显示,ICT作用于EL-4细胞后,bcl-2、P21基因的mRNA表达下调,Caspase-3、Caspase-9酶活性显著增强。结论 ICT可抑制体外培养的小鼠T淋巴瘤EL-4细胞的增殖并诱导其凋亡,可能系通过下调bcl-2、P21 mRNA表达,激活Caspase-3、Caspase-9蛋白等途径实现的。     

Evaluation of rk39 immunochromatographic test with urine for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis

This study evaluates commercially available rK39 immunochromatographic strips using urine for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Freshly collected urine and serum samples of 280 parasitologically confirmed VL patients and 66 endemic healthy controls (EHC), 48 nonendemic healthy controls (NEHC) and 45 different diseases were tested with rK39 strips. The sensitivity of rK39 in urine was 96.4% while the specificity was low varying from 66.7% in EHC, 77.08% in NEHC to 62.2% in different diseases. With serum, sensitivity was 100% whereas the specificity was 100%, 92.4% and 95.55% for the respective control groups. In the present format, the immunochromatographic strips cannot be used for the diagnosis of VL using urine samples.     

基于ICT技术的中医向其他自然科学学科知识迁移的研究

探讨中医现代化研究中中医学科向其他自然科学学科知识迁移的问题。通过对学科知识的成分进行分析,提出建立知识模型之间的迁移路径是知识迁移的有效方法。提出中医学科知识到数学和物理学科的迁移过程应该以现代的ICT技术为基础,由文句解析、文字形式化处理、数值图像建模、状态抽象化、导入物理元素、导入环境因素这六个阶段构成。还提出了中医知识迁移的过程中应该利用异步通讯的方法进行反馈。     

Total body irradiation using Helical Tomotherapy®: Treatment technique,dosimetric results and initial clinical experience

Purpose

Helical TomoTherapy^® allows precise and homogeneous tumour coverage and excellent sparing of organs at risk. We present here our treatment technique, dosimetric results, and our first clinical data for patients receiving total body irradiation as part of the conditioning regimen before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Older people,assistive technologies,and the barriers to adoption: A systematic review

BackgroundOlder people generally prefer to continue living in their own homes rather than move into residential age care institutions. Assistive technologies and sensors in the home environment and/or bodily worn systems that monitor people’s movement might contribute to an increased sense of safety and security at home. However, their use can raise ethical anxieties as little is known about how older persons perceive assistive and monitoring technologies.ObjectivesTo review the main barriers to the adoption of assistive technologies (ATs) by older adults in order to uncover issues of concern from empirical studies and to arrange these issues from the most critical to the least critical.MethodA 4-step systematic review was conducted using empirical studies: locating and identifying relevant articles; screening of located articles; examination of full text articles for inclusion/exclusion; and detail examination of the 44 articles included.ResultsPrivacy is a top critical concern to older adults, registering a 34% of the total articles examined. Two other equally potent barriers to the adoption of ATs were trust and functionality/added value representing 27 and 25 per cent each respectively of the total studies examined. Also of serious concerns are cost of ATs and ease of use and suitability for daily use (23%) each respectively, perception of “no need” (20%), stigma (18%), and fear of dependence and lack of training (16%) each respectively. These underlying factors are generation/cohort effects and physical decline relating to aging, and negative attitudes toward technologies such as the so-called “gerontechnologies” specifically targeting older adults. However, more and more older adults adopt different kinds of ATs in order to fit in with the society.ConclusionsThe identified underlying factors are generation/cohort effects and physical decline relating to aging, and negative attitudes toward technologies. The negative attitudes that are most frequently associated with technologies such as the so-called “gerontechnologies” specifically targeting older adults contain stigmatizing symbolism that might prevent them from adopting them.     

The Mediating Role of Boundary Creation around Work-Related ICT Use between Segmentation Preference and Psychological Detachment

Work-related use of ICT (W_ICT) at home has been found to relate to important employee outcomes in their work and family lives. However, little is known about how individuals can actively apply strategies or tactics to utilize the advantages or reduce the disadvantages of W_ICT. In the current study, based on boundary theory, we examined the interaction effect of segmentation preference and boundary control in creating the boundary around W_ICT and its subsequent positive effect on individuals’ psychological detachment. Results based on a sample of 560 Chinese full-time employees showed that only for individuals with higher boundary control, segmentation preference positively promotes boundary creation around W_ICT that subsequently positively predict psychological detachment. These findings provide a deeper understanding of how individuals with high segmentation preference can achieve psychological detachment through actively creating boundaries around W_ICT use at home.     

Emerging Technologies and Family: A Cross-National Study of Family Clinicians’ Views

Emerging technology adoption poses new challenges and opportunities to families and clinicians. Research that explores clinicians’ understanding and use of information-communication technologies; however, is still scarce. Our study, a replication of a cross-national study in four countries (Canada, Mexico, Spain, and the United States), investigated the relationship among clinicians’ use of and attitudes toward emerging technologies and their beliefs about technology’s impact on families in Turkey. We further inquired the relationship of two factors: the impact of emerging technology on the clinicians’ own families and the impact of cultural values on the attitudes toward technology use. The Turkish version of the modified Emerging Technologies and Families Survey was administered to family clinicians. The analytical strategy included a comparison of the data we collected in Turkey (n = 97) and the raw data from the original study (n = 258). We found significant cross-national differences in clinicians’ use of and attitudes toward information-communication technologies, and their assessments of families’ struggles with emerging technology. We analyzed the data vis-a-vis cultural differences and gave a special emphasis on implications for enhancing clinical practice.

1. Emerging technologies challenge families’ and family therapists’ assumptions about healthy family processes; attention to the self of the therapist at the intersection of cultural values is core in a sound assessment of families adopting emerging technologies.

2. Cultural humility and a curious stance may counteract the pervasive negative discourse about emerging technology adoption.

3. Empowering parents and couples to put technology in “its place” may ease the negative impact and enhance the positive influence of these technologies on families.

     

Nursing and information and communication technology (ICT): a discussion of trends and future directions

This paper traces the development of information and communication (ICT) within health care and the emergence of telehealth as a key component of modern health care delivery as health care moves from the ‘face to face age’ to the ‘information age’. The paper examines the interface of ICT and nursing practice and highlights the limited evidence relating to the nursing contribution within telehealth particularly beyond data input and output analysis for other health care personnel. Additionally, the absence of research relating to the impact of ICT upon nurses and their working lives is identified. The paper concludes that nurses need to engage more fully with ICT so that they contribute to shaping the care system and emerge as leaders of the new care systems delivering future clinical activity.     

Measurement of cardiac contractility using fetal isovolumetric contraction time in fetal tachyarrhythmia

The isovolumetric contraction time (ICT) is known to be an index of cardiac contractility. In this study, we examined the relationship between the fetal ICT and fetal heart rate (FHR) and evaluated the usefulness of ICT in the assessment of fetal cardiac contractility in cases with fetal tachyarrhythmia. Seven cases with fetal tachyarrhythmia between 32 and 40 weeks’ gestation were included in this study. The fetal ICT was measured using a continuous Doppler device and digital filters. The relationship between the fetal ICT and FHR was analyzed using the Spearman’s rank correlation test in each fetus. Based on the FHR and ultrasound findings of hydrops at the measurement of ICT, the obtained data were divided into three groups: normal, tachyarrhythmia only and hydrops. The clinical usefulness of ICT was assessed using the random effect model. In 7 fetuses, a total of 60 data points were obtained. A significant correlation between fetal ICT and FHR was not noted in each fetus. The ICT of the hydrops group was significantly prolonged compared with those of the normal and tachyarrhythmia-only groups (p < 0.01). An association between the fetal ICT and FHR is not noted and the fetal ICT might have some utility to detect impaired fetal cardiac contractility even in fetuses with tachyarrhythmia. (E-mail: yfujita@med.kyushu-u.ac.jp)