Plos One
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Historical Article
Exploiting the "video game craze": A case study of the tobacco industry's use of video games as a marketing tool.
Video games have grown in popularity since the 1970s, and tobacco imagery is present in a substantial subset of games, including those oriented to youth. Much like exposure to tobacco content in films, exposure to tobacco content in video games may influence smoking uptake and use; however, the tobacco industry's role in facilitating or promoting the use of tobacco imagery in video games is unclear. We explored the industry's interest in and use of video games to market their products to youth and young adults. ⋯ Video game players are an attractive target market for tobacco companies. Video games, as used by these companies, facilitate consumer engagement with particular tobacco brands or particular corporate messages. Eliminating the use of video games as a promotional vehicle may require limiting tobacco marketing in both physical and online environments.
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The general concept of tissue engineering is to restore biological function by replacing defective tissues with implantable, biocompatible, and easily handleable cell-laden scaffolds. In this study, osteoinductive and osteoconductive super paramagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (MNP) and hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanoparticles were incorporated into a di-block copolymer based thermo-responsive hydrogel, methoxy(polyethylene glycol)-polyalanine (mPA), at various concentrations to afford composite, injectable hydrogels. ⋯ Moreover, this study adopted the emerging method of using either a supplementary static magnetic field (SMF) or a moving magnetic field to elicit biological response. These results demonstrate that combining external (magnet) and internal (scaffold) magnetisms is a promising approach for bone regeneration.
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Recent evidence has suggested that in Japan, professionals and managers have a higher risk of poor health than other workers (e.g., clerks and manual laborers), and this effect may be stronger among women than men. Low organizational justice, which is known to be a potential risk factor for poor health among employees, may explain the gender-specific association. ⋯ Female managers and professionals in a workplace with unsupportive supervisors may be more likely to engage in unhealthy coping behaviors to manage their stress. Creating supportive workplaces may be beneficial in increasing workers' health, especially for female managers and professionals.
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Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) and reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) are widely used for measuring DNA methylation levels on a genome-wide scale. Both methods have limitations: WGBS is expensive and prohibitive for most large-scale projects; RRBS only interrogates 6-12% of the CpGs in the human genome. Here, we introduce methylation-sensitive restriction enzyme bisulfite sequencing (MREBS) which has the reduced sequencing requirements of RRBS, but significantly expands the coverage of CpG sites in the genome. ⋯ This combined approach allowed us to estimate differential methylation across 60% of the genome using read count data alone, and where counts were sufficiently high in both samples (about 1.5% of the genome), our estimates were significantly improved by the single CpG conversion information. We show that differential DNA methylation values based on MREBS data correlate well with those based on WGBS and RRBS. This newly developed technique combines the sequencing cost of RRBS and DNA methylation estimates on a portion of the genome similar to WGBS, making it ideal for large-scale projects of mammalian genomes.
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Currently, patients receiving vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) grafts must take long-term systemic immunosuppressive therapy to prevent immunologic rejection. The morbidity and mortality associated with these medications is the single greatest barrier to more patients being able to receive these life-enhancing transplants. In contrast to solid organs, VCA, exemplified by hand or face transplants, allow visual diagnosis of clinical acute rejection (AR), directed biopsy and targeted graft therapies. Local immunosuppression in VCA could reduce systemic drug exposure and limit adverse effects. This proof of concept study evaluated, in a large animal forelimb VCA model, the efficacy and tolerability of a novel graft-implanted enzyme-responsive, tacrolimus (TAC)-eluting hydrogel platform, in achieving long-term graft survival. ⋯ Graft-implanted TAC-loaded hydrogel delays the onset of Grade IV AR of mismatched porcine forelimb VCA grafts, resulting in long term graft survival and demonstrates dose-dependent tolerability.