Cessation experiences and quitting perspectives of Jordanian cancer patients who smoke

ObjectivesTo describe quitting experiences of cancer patients in a Cancer Center in Jordan; to study patients’ perceptions regarding the process of smoking cessation; and to provide insights about patients in this difficult setting in order to inform oncology practitioners with regards to how improve perceptions and skills related to quitting.MethodsAn Arabic cross-sectional questionnaire was developed to evaluate smoking and quitting behaviors in the context of cancer. The tool used as its framework the Theoretical Domains Framework to capture quitting perceptions of cancer patients who smoke, as well as social, environmental, and system-level factors that influence quitting. Eligible patients who were treated at the Center (both in-patient and out-patient settings) and who were current smokers or who smoked up to the time of cancer diagnosis were eligible. Patients were interviewed between July, 2018 and January 2020 using two versions of the questionnaire: an ‘ex-smokers’ version, and a ‘current smokers’ version.ResultsOnly a third of subjects (104/350) had been smoke-free for at least 30 days. Both smokers and ex-smokers generally felt that quitting was important, but mean importance and confidence scores (out of 10) were significantly lower in current smokers (8.2 versus 9.1, p-value=0.002; 6.4 versus 8.7, p-value=0.000). Roughly 31% of subjects believed smoking harms were exaggerated and that smoking was not an addiction. About 62% of subjects agreed quitting required skills, and 78.5% felt the steps to quit were clear, but across several listed strategies for quitting, use of these was limited (even in ex-smokers). Among current smokers, roughly a third exhibited forms of cessation fatigue.ConclusionJordanian cancer patients who smoke present with limited knowledge about the quitting process. Even when some success is observed, low rates of utilization of specific quitting strategies were observed, highlighting the need for better counseling about quitting.     

Unremitting progresses for phosphoprotein synthesis

Phosphorylation, one of the important protein post-translational modifications, is involved in many essential cellular processes. Site-specifical and homogeneous phosphoproteins can be used as probes for elucidating the protein phosphorylation network and as potential therapeutics for interfering their involved biological events. However, the generation of phosphoproteins has been challenging owing to the limitation of chemical synthesis and protein expression systems. Despite the pioneering discoveries in phosphoprotein synthesis, over the past decade, great progresses in this field have also been made to promote the biofunctional exploration of protein phosphorylation largely. Therefore, in this review, we mainly summarize recent advances in phosphoprotein synthesis, which includes five sections: 1) synthesis of the nonhydrolyzable phosphorylated amino acid mimetic building blocks, 2) chemical total and semisynthesis strategy, 3) in-cell and in vitro genetic code expansion strategy, 4) the late-stage modification strategy, 5) nonoxygen phosphoprotein synthesis.     

Quorum Sensing System Used as a Tool in Metabolic Engineering

Quorum sensing (QS) is a ubiquitous cell–cell communication mechanism in microbes that coordinates population‐level cell behaviors, such as biofilm production, virulence, swarming motility, and bacterial persistence. Efforts to engineer QS systems to take part in metabolic network regulation represent a promising strategy for synthetic biology and pathway engineering. Recently, design, construction, and implementation of QS circuits for programmed control of bacterial phenotypes and metabolic pathways have gained much attention, but have not been reviewed recently. In this article, the architectural organizations and genetic contributions of the naturally occurring QS components to understand the mechanisms are summarized. Then, the most recent progress in application of QS toolkits to develop synthetic networks for novel cell behaviors creation and metabolic pathway engineering is highlighted. The current challenges in large‐scale application of these QS circuits in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering fields are discussed and future perspectives for further engineering efforts are provided.     

Parallels,differences and lessons: a comparison of the management of foot-and-mouth disease and COVID-19 using UK 2001/2020 as points of reference

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an extremely infectious viral infection of cloven-hoofed animals which is highly challenging to control and can give rise to national animal health crises, especially if there is a lack of pre-existing immunity due to the emergence of new strains or following incursions into disease-free regions. The 2001 FMD epidemic in the UK was on a scale that initially overwhelmed the national veterinary services and was eventually controlled by livestock lockdown and slaughter on an unprecedented scale. In 2020, the rapid emergence of COVID-19 has led to a human pandemic unparalleled in living memory. The enormous logistics of multi-agency control efforts for COVID-19 are reminiscent of the 2001 FMD epidemic in the UK, as are the use of movement restrictions, not normally a feature of human disease control. The UK experience is internationally relevant as few countries have experienced national epidemic crises for both diseases. In this review, we reflect on the experiences and lessons learnt from UK and international responses to FMD and COVID-19 with respect to their management, including the challenge of preclinical viral transmission, threat awareness, early detection, different interpretations of scientific information, lockdown, biosecurity behaviour change, shortage of testing capacity and the choices for eradication versus living with infection. A major lesson is that the similarity of issues and critical resources needed to manage large-scale outbreaks demonstrates that there is benefit to a ‘One Health’ approach to preparedness, with potential for greater cooperation in planning and the consideration of shared critical resources.     

阴道微生态在早产中的研究进展

阴道微生态是由阴道的局部解剖结构、周期性的内分泌变化、阴道局部免疫系统和阴道内微生物菌群共同组成的阴道环境和生态系统。多项研究证实阴道微生态失调通过局部炎症因子释放、黏膜免疫应答的改变和局部代谢变化,可引起早产的发生。阴道内小分子物质如糖类、短链脂肪酸和胺类通过代谢路径和代谢产物在阴道微生态失调与早产的发病机制起作用。近年来,阴道微生态的理念得到重视,治疗方法由传统的抗生素治疗转向了综合治疗,目的是恢复正常阴道菌群和阴道上皮黏膜免疫系统。但阴道微生态与宿主之间存在复杂的相互作用,因此仍需要进一步的研究。