Stress Changes Research Articles

Addressing Mental Health Symptoms Among COVID‐19 Healthcare Workers: A Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Pilot Study

ABSTRACTPsychological stress among frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) increased during the COVID‐19 pandemic, elevating mental health risks. Heart rate variability biofeedback (HRV‐BF) is an evidence‐based intervention with potential to reduce psychological burden on frontline HCWs; however, no studies have examined its use among this population since the pandemic began. We designed a trial to assess the effects of a brief HRV‐BF intervention delivered via telemedicine on measures of anxiety, depression and stress, and heart rate variability, compared to an in‐person intervention. We hypothesised that the telemedicine intervention would be non‐inferior to the in‐person intervention. Using a randomized comparison trial design, we tested a 10‐day brief heart rate variability biofeedback intervention among frontline HCWs during the COVID‐19 pandemic. They received remote, 30‐min guided sessions every other day and were taught methods of heart rate variability biofeedback. Depression, anxiety and stress were assessed at baseline, 10 days, and 40 days with additional measures of anxiety measured before and after each session. HRV scores were collected at baseline, as well as during the course of the 10 days. Multilevel modelling was used to examine the change in depression, anxiety, stress and HRV scores across multiple time points and session types (telemedicine vs. in‐person). There was no significant differences between telemedicine (n = 32) and in‐person (n = 15) interventions on the main outcomes. Both session types showed a significant decrease in depression, anxiety and stress scores across the entire intervention, and HRV scores significantly increased across both groups. Anxiety levels also significantly decreased after each session. The non‐inferiority of the telemedicine intervention to a comparable in‐person intervention affirms its promise for decreasing anxiety, depression and stress among frontline HCWs and may offer a cost‐effective and feasible tool to use in crises situations.

Glacial Hydro-Isostatic Adjustment at Mid-Ocean Ridges

Summary Recent studies have suggested a link between ice age sea level fluctuations and variations in magma production and crustal faulting along mid-ocean ridges based on the detection of Milankovitch cycle frequencies in topography off several ridges. These fluctuations have also been connected to variability in hydrothermal metal fluxes near ridges. Ice age sea level calculations have shown that the sea level change across glacial cycles will be characterized by significant geographic variability, that is, departures from eustasy, due to the gravitational, deformation and rotational effects of the glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) process. Using a state-of-the-art GIA simulation that incorporates 3-D variations in Earth viscoelastic structure, including plate boundaries, and updated constraints on the magnitude and geometry of ice mass fluctuations, we predict global sea level changes from Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 26 ka) to present and from the Penultimate Glacial Maximum (PGM, 143 ka) to the Last Interglacial (LIG, 128 ka). We focus on the results along three ridges: the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Juan de Fuca Ridge and East Pacific Rise, which are examples of slow, intermediate and fast spreading ridges, respectively. Sea level change across the Mid-Atlantic Ridge shows the greatest variability, ranging from a sea level fall greater than 200 m in Iceland to a maximum rise of ∼150 m in the South Atlantic, with significant non-monotonicity north of the Equator as the ridge weaves across the field of sea level changes. We also calculate changes in crustal normal stress from LGM to present-day across the Mid-Atlantic and Juan de Fuca Ridges and the East Pacific Rise. These results indicate that the contribution from ice mass changes to the crustal stress field can be significant well away from the location of ancient ice complexes. We conclude that any exploration of the hypothesized links to magma production and crustal faulting must consider both ocean and ice loading effects and, more generally, the profound geographic variability of the GIA process.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis represents corticomotoneuronal system failure

AbstractSeveral decades have passed since the anterograde corticomotoneuronal hypothesis for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was proposed. The intervening years have witnessed its emergent support based on anatomical, pathological, physiological, neuroimaging, and molecular biological studies. The evolution of an extensive corticomotoneuronal system appears restricted to the human species, with ALS representing a uniquely human disease. While some, very select non‐human primates have limited corticomotoneuronal projections, these tend to be absent in all other animals. From a general perspective, the early clinical features of ALS may be considered to reflect failure of the corticomotoneuronal system. The characteristic loss of skilled motor dexterity involving the limbs, and speech impairment through progressive bulbar dysfunction specifically involve those motor units having the strongest corticomotoneuronal projections. A similar explanation likely underlies the unique “split phenotypes” that have now been well characterized in ALS. Large Betz cells and other pyramidal corticomotoneuronal projecting neurons, with their extensive dendritic arborization, are particularly vulnerable to the elements of the ALS exposome such as aging, environmental stress and lifestyle changes. Progressive failure of the proteosome impairs nucleocytoplasmic shuffling and induces toxic but soluble TDP‐43 to aggregate in corticomotoneurons. Betz cell failure is further accentuated through dysfunction of its profuse dendritic arborizations. Clarification of system specific genomes and neural networks will likely promote the initiation of precision medicine approaches directed to support the key structure that underlies the neurological manifestations of ALS, the corticomotoneuronal system.

Time-Dependent Stress Drop Variations After Large Earthquakes Along the North Chilean Megathrust

ABSTRACT We observe a time dependence of the median stress drop in spatiotemporal proximity of large earthquakes. The median stress drop of the early aftershock seismicity is elevated for only a few days after the mainshocks and then rapidly falls back to the long-term average. This short-term variation has remained largely unnoticed by previous studies, presumably due to their usually low temporal resolution. Our study uses a recent extensive stress drop catalog, which contains more than 51,000 events from northern Chile. It includes observations from three Mw>7 megathrust earthquakes, namely the 2007 Mw 7.7 Tocopilla earthquake, the 2014 Mw 8.1 Iquique earthquake, and its largest Mw 7.6 aftershock, as well as another eleven Mw>6 earthquakes. A detailed analysis reveals that the elevated stress drop is not primarily linked to an increase of seismic moment during the early aftershock phase but is rather attributable to higher measured corner frequencies in the corresponding time interval. We propose two possible explanations: (1) The high stress changes induced by the mainshock allow failure of strong structures at or adjacent to the main rupture area, which produces higher stress drop events. After a few days, afterslip activity has reduced the in situ stresses and thereby the failure potential of the stronger regions. (2) The mainshock disturbs the fluid-sealing plate interface, allowing overpressured fluids to escape, exhibiting the so-called fault-valve behavior. The effect appears to persist only for several days until the sealing effect is restored and average stress drop levels are recovered.

Exploring the role of nanoparticle additives in reducing emissions in compression ignition engine

The paper discusses the growing environmental issues caused by vehicle emissions, leading many countries to tighten their emission standards to reduce the harmful gases released by motor vehicles. This is especially important as urbanization has increased, leading to more consumption of petroleum products. As a result, there is a growing need for cleaner, more sustainable fuel alternatives. Biodiesel has been recognized as a potential solution since it is renewable, non-toxic, and less environmentally harmful than traditional diesel. The study in question explores how adding biodiesel and nanoparticles affects diesel engine performance, particularly in terms of noise and particulate matter emissions (small particles of pollution). The research was carried out using a compression ignition engine (like those found in diesel vehicles) under constant RPM (revolutions per minute) and variable loads (changes in engine stress or power requirements). The results showed that when biodiesel was blended with nanoparticles and used as fuel, there was a noticeable reduction in noise levels, carbon dioxide (CO2), and particulate matter emissions compared to regular diesel. This suggests that biodiesel, especially when enhanced with nanoparticles, can effectively lower the harmful effects of diesel engines on the environment, offering a greener and quieter alternative.

Amyloid beta-induced signalling in leptomeningeal cells and its impact on astrocyte response.

The pathological signature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) includes the accumulation of toxic protein aggregates, mainly consisting of amyloid beta (Aβ). Recent strides in fundamental research underscore the pivotal role of waste clearance mechanisms in the brain suggesting it may be an early indication of early onset AD. This study delves into the involvement of leptomeningeal cells (LMCs), crucial components forming integral barriers within the clearance system, in the context of AD. We examined the inflammatory cytokine responses of LMCs in the presence of Aβ, alongside assessments of LMC growth response, viability, oxidative stress, and changes in vimentin expression. The LMCs showed no changes in growth, viability, oxidative stress, or vimentin expression in the presence of Aβ, indicating that LMCs are less susceptible to Aβ damage compared to other CNS cells. However, LMCs exhibited a unique pro-inflammatory response to Aβ when compared to an LPS inflammatory control, showing an mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such IL-6, IL-10 and IL-33 but no changes in IL-1α and IL-1β. Furthermore, LMCs influenced the astrocyte response to Aβ, as conditioned media from Aβ-treated LMCs was observed to downregulate somatic S100β in astrocytes. We also investigated whether the JAK/STAT3 pathway was involved in the Aβ response of the LMCs, as this pathway has been shown to be activated in astrocytes and neurons in the presence of Aβ. JAK/STAT3 activation was assessed through phosphorylated STAT3, revealing that JAK/STAT3 was not active in the cells when in the presence of Aβ. However, when JAK1 and JAK2 were inhibited, cytokine protein levels of IL7, IL10, IL15 and IL33 levels, which had shown alteration when LMCs were treated with Aβ, returned to base levels. This indicates that although JAK1/STAT3 and JAK2/STAT3 are not the direct pathway for Aβ response in LMCs, JAK1 and JAK2 may still play a role in regulating cytokine levels, potentially through indirect means or crosstalk. Overall, our findings reveal that LMCs are resilient to Aβ toxicity and suggest that JAK1/STAT3 and JAK2/STAT3 does not play a central role in the inflammatory response, providing new insights into the cellular mechanisms underlying AD.

The source characteristics and ground motion parameters measure with structural damages of Mw6.4, 2018 Hualien earthquake Taiwan from GPS data

On February 6, 2018, a moderate earthquake with a magnitude of ML6.2, known as the 0206 earthquake, struck Hualien in eastern Taiwan, resulting in significant destruction, 17 fatalities, and over 300 injuries. This research investigates the kinematic source model of the earthquake by inverting coseismic Global Positioning System (GPS) displacement recordings from the area surrounding the epicenter. The inverted source model indicates that most asperities above the hypocenter are minor, with large slips occurring at depths shallower than 10 km, which contributed to the severe damage in Hualien City. Additionally, we calculated the Coulomb stress changes at depths ranging from 6 km to 14 km, revealing that most aftershocks within a month occurred within a Coulomb stress range of >0.1 bar, extending from shallow to deep and from southwest to northeast of the epicenter. Notably, despite high Coulomb stress, few aftershocks were generated in the western part of the epicenter, suggesting a seismic gap that may lead to a more significant earthquake in the future. Two years later, two moderate earthquakes (ML=5) occurred at depths of 17.53 and 12.1 km in the region where Coulomb stress had increased, validating our predictions. Furthermore, by applying the derived seismic source model and a stochastic semi-empirical technique to assess five parameters related to building damage, we found that all damaged buildings were within the danger alert level, with some located along the Meilun Fault, indicating that the destruction was due to the combined effects of the 0206 earthquake and the fault's induced movement.

Clinical effectiveness of guided breathing exercises in reducing anxiety, stress, and depression in COVID-19 patients

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in the prevalence of anxiety, stress and depression among affected people. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating the clinical effectiveness of guided breathing exercises in reducing anxiety, stress and depression in patients with COVID-19. A quasi-experimental study design was used, involving a sample of COVID-19 patients who underwent guided breathing exercises as a complementary therapy. After simple sampling, eligible subjects were randomly divided into two groups: intervention (30 patients) and control (30 patients) using random block method. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) questionnaire was administered before and after the intervention to evaluate changes in anxiety, stress, and depression levels. The results of this study demonstrated that clinically guided breathing exercises had a significant effect on reducing anxiety and stress in COVID-19 patients. The intervention significantly reduced anxiety and stress scores (p < 0.001). However, there was no significant reduction in depression scores among patients who participated in guided breathing exercises (p = 0.946). Guided breathing exercises are an effective complementary technique in reducing the level of anxiety and stress in COVID-19 patients. Moreover, the exercises may provide a worthy non-pharmacological approach to managing psychological distress in COVID-19 patients.

Enhanced Satellite Monitoring of Dryland Vegetation Water Potential Through Multi‐Source Sensor Fusion

AbstractDrylands are critical in regulating global carbon sequestration, but the resiliency of these semi‐arid shrub, grassland and forest systems is under threat from global warming and intensifying water stress. We used synergistic satellite optical‐Infrared (IR) and microwave remote sensing observations to quantify plant‐to‐stand level vegetation water potentials and seasonal changes in dryland water stress in the southwestern U.S. Machine‐learning was employed to re‐construct global satellite microwave vegetation optical depth (VOD) retrievals to 500‐m resolution. The re‐constructed results were able to delineate diverse vegetation conditions undetectable from the original 25‐km VOD record, and showed overall favorable correspondence with in situ plant water potential measurements (R from 0.60 to 0.78). The VOD water potential estimates effectively tracked plant water storage changes from hydro‐climate variability over diverse sub‐regions. The re‐constructed VOD record improves satellite capabilities for monitoring the storage and movement of water across the soil‐vegetation‐atmosphere continuum in heterogeneous drylands.

Research Advances in Adenomyosis-Related Signaling Pathways and Promising Targets

Adenomyosis is a benign gynecological condition characterized by the proliferation of the endometrial stroma and glands into the myometrium, uterine volume enlargement, and peripheral smooth muscle hypertrophy. The typical clinical symptoms include chronic pelvic pain, abnormal uterine bleeding, and subfertility, all of which significantly impact quality of life. There are no effective prevention or treatment strategies for adenomyosis, partly due to a limited understanding of the pathological mechanisms underlying the initiation and progression of the disease. Given that signaling pathways play a crucial role in the development of adenomyosis, a better understanding of these signaling pathways is essential for identifying therapeutic targets and advancing drug development. The occurrence and progression of adenomyosis are closely linked to various underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, including proliferation, migration, invasion, fibrosis, angiogenesis, inflammation, oxidative stress, immune response, and epigenetic changes. This review summarizes the signaling pathways and targets associated with the pathogenesis of adenomyosis, including CXCL/CXCR, NLRP3, NF-κB, TGF-β/smad, VEGF, Hippo/YAP, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, JAK/STAT, and other relevant pathways. In addition, it identifies promising future targets for the development of adenomyosis treatment, such as m6A, GSK3β, sphks, etc.

Constraint on the background stress in the source region of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake sequence based on temporal changes in elastic strain energies and coseismic stress rotation

Summary We investigated the deviatoric stress magnitude of the background stress fields before the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake sequence in Japan based on temporal changes in elastic strain energies caused by the mainshock and coseismic stress rotation. We modelled the six components of background stress fields from stress orientations together with the parameter of effective friction coefficients (μ’ = 0.3, 0.15, 0.1, 0.05, and 0.03) using the 3-D Mohr diagram. We computed the absolute stress fields immediately following the primary events (the largest foreshock and mainshock) of the earthquake sequence by combining coseismic stress change fields with background stress fields. The total amount of elastic strain energy released by the mainshock increased with the effective friction coefficient. Considering the energy balance in which some part of the released energy must be consumed as radiated energy, we understood that the model with μ’ = 0.03 was unrealistic. We also examined the dependence of coseismic stress rotation on the effective friction coefficient. Furthermore, we applied a stress inversion method to moment tensor data of earthquakes to directly estimate coseismic stress rotation. Comparing the theoretical and estimated coseismic stress rotations, we concluded that the models with μ’ = 0.3 and 0.15 were more consistent with the observations than those with μ’ &amp;lt; 0.1. In the reasonable models, the deviatoric stress magnitudes were 37–65 and 39−70 MPa at a depth of 10 km on the northern and southern source faults, respectively.

Wind stress modification by offshore wind turbines: A numerical study of wave blocking impacts

Offshore wind energy, as a clean and renewable resource, offers numerous advantages over onshore wind energy due to higher wind speeds and greater turbine capacity. However, the inadequate representation of wave-atmosphere interaction within the marine-atmospheric boundary layer may constrain wind resource assessments and, consequently, the design and layout of offshore wind turbines. By using the third-generation spectral wave model WAVEWATCH III, high-resolution numerical experiments which are capable of resolving the wind turbine foundation have been conducted to explore the blocking impact of wind turbine foundation on downstream wind stress. The findings provided significant insights into the factors influencing this effect, including foundation diameter, sea state, water depth, and wave directional spreading. Specifically, higher model resolution enables a more detailed characterization of wind stress distribution behind wind turbines. Increasing the foundation diameter resulted in a reduction of downstream wind stress. Notably, changes in wind stress exhibit a strong dependence on the sea state. The use of double periodic boundary conditions for the simulation domain enables an approximate representation of the entire wind farm by using a single turbine. Model results indicate that after waves pass through 20 turbines, domain-averaged wind stress decreases by approximately 3%, a figure that increases to 6% after passing through 50 turbines. The findings suggest the need to explore to what extent the changes in wind stress can alter wind profiles and how to parameterize the blocking impact of turbine foundations in wave models. This could have significant implications for wind farm site selection and layout design.

Infinitely Rugged Intra-Cage Potential Energy Landscape in Metallic Glasses Caused by Many-Body Interaction

The absence of translational symmetry in glassy materials poses a significant challenge in establishing effective structure-property relationships in real space. Consequently, the potential energy landscape (PEL) in phase space is widely utilized to comprehend the complex phenomena in glasses. The classical PEL features a two-scale profile comprising mega-basins and sub-basins, corresponding to α-relaxations (e.g. glass transition) and β-relaxations (e.g. local cage-breaking atomic rearrangements), respectively. Recent studies, however, reveal that sub-basins are not smooth and contain finer structures, the origins of which remain elusive. Here we probe the smoothness of sub-basin bottoms in glasses’ PEL by introducing small intra-cage cyclic loading and then measuring the net changes in atomic-level stresses. Compared to glasses with pair interaction, glasses with many-body interaction exhibit orders-of-magnitude larger and loading dependent stress changes even before the first cage-breaking event takes place, which reflect much more feature-rich sub-basins. We further demonstrate this stark contrast stems from the spatial distribution of individual atom’s constraining force field. Specifically, at vanishing perturbations, many-body interactions disrupt the positive-definite synchrony in energy variations of the perturbed atom and the whole system, causing inherently less confined atomic responses and infinitely rugged sub-basins. The implications of these findings for the selective addition or removal of fine structures in the PEL and the subsequent tuning of glassy materials’ responses to external stimuli are also explored.

Evaluation of meaningful recognition programs in three colleges of nursing

BackgroundThe nursing faculty shortage in the United States presents a challenge to maintaining a robust healthcare workforce. Meaningful recognition (MR) is an evidence-based practice that improved nurse burnout (BO) in the clinical setting. There is limited literature on its impact on nurse faculty. PurposeThree colleges of nursing implemented The DAISY Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty as an MR program to improve compassion satisfaction (CS) and BO among nursing faculty. MethodsThis project employed a pre- and post-survey design to assess changes in faculty CS, BO, and secondary traumatic stress using the ProQOL Professional Quality of Life version 5. DiscussionThe results suggest that while the implementation of MR programs did not significantly alter these metrics, the faculty maintained stable levels of CS despite the stressful COVID-19 pandemic. ConclusionAdditional research is needed to explore the potential for MR to mitigate faculty BO.

Experimental Study and Analysis of the Static and Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Graphene Oxide Cement Soil Under Composite Salinity Erosion

In coastal and saline-alkali regions, cement soil materials face significant challenges from salt erosion and both dynamic and static loads, threatening their structural stability. To enhance the mechanical properties of cement soil, this study explores the incorporation of graphene oxide (GO). We subjected GO cement soil specimens to various concentrations of a composite salt solution (with a NaCl to Na2SO4 mass ratio of 1:1) in erosion experiments lasting 7 and 30 days. The specimens were analyzed through unconfined compressive strength tests, split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) tests, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to examine changes in stress-strain curves, peak stress, and energy dissipation. The results indicate that the dynamic and static peak stresses, energy absorption, and energy absorption efficiency of the GO cement soil specimens are inversely related to the concentration of the mixed salt solution. Notably, in a 4.5g/L erosion environment after 7 days, an increasing trend was observed in static peak stress, energy absorption, and energy absorption efficiency. Additionally, when the salt concentration was fixed, these properties showed a positive correlation with impact gas pressure. SEM analysis revealed that the nucleation effect of GO and its strong bonding with the cement matrix significantly improved the microstructure of the specimens by reducing pores and defects, thus enhancing density and overall performance. Furthermore, in an 18g/L erosion environment, a notable presence of ettringite (AFt) was identified in the GO cement soil specimens.

Understanding the time-dependent rheological behavior of seawater mixed cement paste with fly ash

Due to the relative scarcity of freshwater resources in coastal regions, the use of seawater in concrete construction has great potential due to its benefits in cost and resource. To further advance the application of seawater concrete, a deeper understanding of its rheological properties is essential. This study investigates the effects of fly ash on the time-dependent rheological behavior of seawater cementitious paste, such as yield stress, plastic viscosity, and structural build-up rate. The underlying mechanisms are analyzed using the theories of water film thickness (WFT), ion concentration, and hydration heat. The research findings confirm that the rheological parameters of seawater paste are generally higher than those of deionized water paste, regardless of the cementitious compositions. As fly ash content increases, the plastic viscosity of seawater paste increase, while the fluidity and dynamic yield stress decreases. Further analysis reveals that the decrease in the yield stress with fly ash content is well related to the increase in the WFT, but it cannot sufficiently explain the change of yield stress over time. Instead, the amount of hydration products in seawater paste shows a linear increasing relationship with the dynamic yield stress at 65 min. By contrast, the plastic viscosity can be related to the ion concentration in the interstitial solution, wherein an increase in the concentration of Ca2+ corresponds to an increase in the plastic viscosity. Moreover, the rheological parameters increase over time, with the growth rates between 5 and 35 minutes being higher than those between 35 and 65 minutes, possibly due to the rapid early hydration of the binder materials. This study offers a fundamental theoretical support for the use of seawater in various concrete applications.

Wearable platform based on 3D-printed solid microneedle potentiometric pH sensor for plant monitoring

The continuous chemical monitoring of analytes in plants can provide a better understanding of plant dynamics and the identification of health conditions. pH can be an indicator of plant abiotic stress due to changes in environmental conditions or biotic stress as a result of damage done to the plant by other living organisms. With the intensification of climate change, abiotic and biotic stresses are exacerbated. Hence, the engineering of miniaturized tools to monitor chemical signaling such as pH can be highly valuable as smart sensors for precision agriculture. Herein, 3D-printed microneedle-based electrochemical sensors are presented for in-plant monitoring of pH in leaf sap. First, affordable 3D-printed microneedle arrays (MNAs) of 900 µm in height, 300 µm in width, and 30 µm in tip diameter were manufactured. Subsequently, a metallic layer was sputtered on top of the MNAs to create microneedle electrodes. A novel plug-in two-electrode setup based on two MNAs was used to develop the MNA pH sensor employing polyaniline as a pH-sensitive layer. The MNA pH sensor was analytically characterized exhibiting near-Nernstian response (i.e., −59.9 ± 1.5 mV pH-1) even after several insertions in a leaf proving its mechanical robustness. Ex vivo analysis with plant sap from different species was successfully validated with a standard glass pH electrode. Finally, MNA sensors were used to continuously monitor pH in two plant species under regular conditions for four days. Interestingly, MNA sensors were also able to distinguish shifting pH events in plants under abiotic stress conditions (i.e., drought and watering). This new design brings a leap forward in smart sensors for applications in precision agriculture.

Comparative study on the performance of fresh concrete comprising manufactured sand vs. river sand during full-scale long-distance pumping

The shift from river sand (RS) to manufactured sand (MS) as a fine aggregate in concrete is driven by environmental sustainability concerns. However, negative impacts of MS on concrete workability have raised doubts about its suitability for long-distance pumping in construction projects. This study evaluates the performance of MS concrete compared to RS concrete of the same strength grade during long-distance pumping. A full-scale coiled pipeline with measured length of 348 m was built, twelve batches of C30 and C60 concrete were prepared, and pumping tests were conducted at discharge rates of 2.5–18.9 liter per second (L/s). The workability and rheological parameters were assessed before and after pumping. The measured and predicted pumping pressure were analyzed and calculated based on rheological parameters and lubricating layer (LL) parameters. Results indicate that MS increased the yield stress and decreased the LL thickness index of C30 concrete, while it decreased the viscosity coefficient of C60 concrete. Post-pumping, the change in yield stress was similar for both MS and RS concrete, but MS reduced the plastic viscosity change in C60 concrete. MS did not significantly affect the pumping pressure loss, but influenced the pumping pressure prediction deviation by influencing the thixotropy. The classic pumping pressure prediction model developed by Kapan obviously overestimated the pumping pressure during long-distance pumping, and the deviation was more prominent in high-strength concrete pumping. MS increased the thixotropy of C30 concrete and reduced the prediction deviation of pumping pressure, but had the opposite effect on C60 concrete.

Chemopreventive potential of goniothalamin in diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocellular carcinoma through the suppression of P13K/AKT signalling pathway.

Liver cancer is the most lethal form of cancer and carries a high risk of death around the world. Goniothalamin (GTN) is a styryl-lactone that possesses antiproliferative and apoptotic activity. The molecular action of GTN is not yet fully evaluated. Thus, our research has been intended to assess the chemopreventive and apoptotic activities of diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in rats. Rats were separated into 4 groups: control, DEN only, DEN + GTN (30 mg/kg bw), and GTN (30 mg/kg bw) alone. We evaluated body weight, liver weight, tumor incidence, hepatic toxic markers, antioxidants, inflammatory cytokines, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and Western blot studies. DEN lessened body weight, antioxidants, and apoptosis, whereas it elevated tumor incidence, toxic markers, cytokines, and Bcl-2 expression. GTN treatment maintains body weight, liver weight, and antioxidant levels, and it also prevents tumor incidence, oxidative stress, toxic markers, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and histological changes. It triggers apoptosis by constraining Bcl-2 and elevating caspase-3 levels. GTN also attenuated the P13K/ AKT signaling which enhanced apoptosis. These findings revealed that GTN subdues the P13K/AKT pathway and has auspicious chemopreventive and apoptotic actions in DEN-induced HCC. Therefore, GTN would be suggested as a new medicine in natural remedies for liver cancer.

In silico genome-wide analysis of the growth-regulating factor gene family and their expression profiling in Vitis vinifera under biotic stress.

Growth regulatory factors (GRFs) are transcription factors that encode the proteins involved in plant growth and development. However, no comprehensive analysis of Vitis vinifera GRF genes has yet been conducted. In the current study, we performed a genome-wide analysis of the GRF gene family to explore the VvGRF gene's role in Vitis vinifera. We identified 30 VvGRF genes in the Vitis vinifera genome, localized over 20 chromosomes. Based on evolutionary analysis, 49 GRF genes (nine AtGRF, ten FvGRF, and 30 VvGRF) were clustered into six groups. Many cis-elements involved in light control, defense, and plant growth have been identified in the promoter region of VvGRF genes, and multiple miRNAs have been predicted to be involved in regulating VvGRF gene expression. Protein-protein interaction analysis showed that nine VvGRF proteins formed a complex protein interaction network. Furthermore, the gene expression analysis of VvGRF revealed that VvGRF-5 and VvGRF-6 were highly upregulated suggesting that these genes are involved in biotic responses. This study provides comprehensive insights into the functional characteristics and occurrence of the VvGRF gene family in Vitis vinifera, which may be applied in breeding programs to enhance the growth of Vitis vinifera varieties under stress and growth changes.