Multivariate Bayesian spatio-temporal P-spline models to analyze crimes against women.

Univariate spatio-temporal models for areal count data have received great attention in recent years for estimating risks. However, models for studying multivariate responses are less commonly used mainly due to the computational burden. In this article, multivariate spatio-temporal P-spline models are proposed to study different forms of violence against women. Modeling distinct crimes jointly improves the precision of estimates over univariate models and allows to compute correlations among them. The correlation between the spatial and the temporal patterns may suggest connections among the different crimes that will certainly benefit a thorough comprehension of this problem that affects millions of women around the world. The models are fitted using integrated nested Laplace approximations and are used to analyze four distinct crimes against women at district level in the Indian state of Maharashtra during the period 2001-2013.

Novel Wet Micro-Contact Deprinting Method for Patterning Gold Nanoparticles on PEG-Hydrogels and Thereby Controlling Cell Adhesion.

In the present work we introduce a novel method to create linear and rectangular micro-patterns of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) on poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels. The strategy consists of removing Au NPs from defined regions of the silicon wafer by virtue of the swelling effect of the hydrogel. Using this method, which we denote as "Wet Micro-Contact Deprinting", well-defined micro-patterns of Au NPs on silicon can be created. This resulting pattern is then transferred from the hard substrate to the soft surface of PEG-hydrogels. These unique micro- and nano-patterned hydrogels were cultured with mouse fibroblasts L929 cells. The cells selectively adhered on the Au NPs coated area and avoided the pure PEG material. These patterned, nanocomposite biointerfaces are not only useful for biological and biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering and diagnostics, but also, for biosensor applications taking advantage of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) or surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effects, due to the optical properties of the Au NPs.

Extraction of thymol from different varieties of thyme plants using green solvents.

BACKGROUND: Thymol (2-isopropyl-5-methylphenol) is the main monoterpene phenol found in thyme essential oil. This compound has revealed several biological properties, including antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. In this work, a comparison was made between the performance of different green solvents (ethanol, limonene and ethyl lactate), by pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) at different conditions, to extract thymol from three different varieties of thyme (Thymus vulgaris, Thymus zygis and Thymus citriodorus). Additionally, new solubility data of thymol in limonene and ethanol at ambient pressure and temperatures in the range 30-43 °C are reported. RESULTS: The highest thymol recoveries were attained with T. vulgaris (7-11 mg g(-1)). No thymol could be quantified in the PLE samples of T. citriodorus. The highest concentrations of thymol in the extracts were obtained with limonene. Thymol is very soluble in both solvents, particularly in ethanol (∼900 mg g(-1) at ∼40 °C), and is the main compound (in terms of peak area) present in the essential oil extracts obtained. CONCLUSION: The three solvents show good capacity to extract thymol from T. vulgaris and T. zygis by PLE. Although PLE proved to be a suitable technology to extract thymol from thyme plants, the highest concentrations of thymol were obtained by SFE with supercritical CO2 .

Expression of microRNA-15b and the glycosyltransferase GCNT3 correlates with antitumor efficacy of Rosemary diterpenes in colon and pancreatic cancer.

Colorectal and pancreatic cancers remain important contributors to cancer mortality burden and, therefore, new therapeutic approaches are urgently needed. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) extracts and its components have been reported as natural potent antiproliferative agents against cancer cells. However, to potentially apply rosemary as a complementary approach for cancer therapy, additional information regarding the most effective composition, its antitumor effect in vivo and its main molecular mediators is still needed. In this work, five carnosic acid-rich supercritical rosemary extracts with different chemical compositions have been assayed for their antitumor activity both in vivo (in nude mice) and in vitro against colon and pancreatic cancer cells. We found that the antitumor effect of carnosic acid together with carnosol was higher than the sum of their effects separately, which supports the use of the rosemary extract as a whole. In addition, gene and microRNA expression analyses have been performed to ascertain its antitumor mechanism, revealing that up-regulation of the metabolic-related gene GCNT3 and down-regulation of its potential epigenetic modulator miR-15b correlate with the antitumor effect of rosemary. Moreover, plasmatic miR-15b down-regulation was detected after in vivo treatment with rosemary. Our results support the use of carnosic acid-rich rosemary extract as a complementary approach in colon and pancreatic cancer and indicate that GCNT3 expression may be involved in its antitumor mechanism and that miR-15b might be used as a non-invasive biomarker to monitor rosemary anticancer effect.

Modulation of estrogen and epidermal growth factor receptors by rosemary extract in breast cancer cells.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among females worldwide, and therefore the development of new therapeutic approaches is still needed. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) extract possesses antitumor properties against tumor cells from several organs, including breast. However, in order to apply it as a complementary therapeutic agent in breast cancer, more information is needed regarding the sensitivity of the different breast tumor subtypes and its effect in combination with the currently used chemotherapy. Here, we analyzed the antitumor activities of a supercritical fluid rosemary extract (SFRE) in different breast cancer cells, and used a genomic approach to explore its effect on the modulation of ER-α and HER2 signaling pathways, the most important mitogen pathways related to breast cancer progression. We found that SFRE exerts antitumor activity against breast cancer cells from different tumor subtypes and the downregulation of ER-α and HER2 receptors by SFRE might be involved in its antitumor effect against estrogen-dependent (ER+) and HER2 overexpressing (HER2+) breast cancer subtypes. Moreover, SFRE significantly enhanced the effect of breast cancer chemotherapy (tamoxifen, trastuzumab, and paclitaxel). Overall, our results support the potential utility of SFRE as a complementary approach in breast cancer therapy.

Antitumor effect of 5-fluorouracil is enhanced by rosemary extract in both drug sensitive and resistant colon cancer cells.

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is the most used chemotherapeutic agent in colorectal cancer. However, resistance to this drug is relatively frequent, and new strategies to overcome it are urgently needed. The aim of this work was to determine the antitumor properties of a supercritical fluid rosemary extract (SFRE), alone and in combination with 5-FU, as a potential adjuvant therapy useful for colon cancer patients. This extract has been recognized as a healthy component by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The effects of SFRE both alone and in combination with 5-FU were evaluated in different human colon cancer cells in terms of cell viability, cytotoxicity, and cell transformation. Additionally, colon cancer cells resistant to 5-FU were used to assay the effects of SFRE on drug resistance. Finally, qRT-PCR was performed to ascertain the mechanism by which SFRE potentiates the effect of 5-FU. Our results show that SFRE displays dose-dependent antitumor activities and exerts a synergistic effect in combination with 5-FU on colon cancer cells. Furthermore, SFRE sensitizes 5-FU-resistant cells to the therapeutic activity of this drug, constituting a beneficial agent against both 5-FU sensitive and resistant tumor cells. Gene expression analysis indicates that the enhancement of the effect of 5-FU by SFRE might be explained by the downregulation of TYMS and TK1, enzymes related to 5-FU resistance.

Isolation of carnosic acid from rosemary extracts using semi-preparative supercritical fluid chromatography.

Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) in analytical and semi-preparative scale was studied to separate rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) supercritical extracts to produce fractions with high antioxidant activity. Carnosic acid, the major antioxidant present in rosemary supercritical extracts, was the target compound to be isolated in the fractions produced. First, rosemary extracts were produced in a supercritical CO2 pilot-plant employing different extraction conditions, in order to obtain samples with diverse composition. The content of carnosic acid was determined and the DPPH test was accomplished in order to assess the antioxidant activity of the different samples produced. Then, using some of these samples, experiments were carried out in a semi-preparative SFC system testing the performance of four different chromatographic columns to isolate and recover a fraction with high concentration of carnosic acid. The four chromatographic columns employed were silica and 2-ethylpyridine (especially packed for SFC) and silica and diol columns (packed for HPLC). The SFC fractionation conditions explored were in the ranges 10-20 MPa, 313-333 K and 5-20% of cosolvent (ethanol). Using the first three columns, it was possible to isolate fractions with concentrations of carnosic acid greater than 80% mass.

Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of antioxidants from rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) leaves for use in edible vegetable oils.

Supercritical extraction was employed to produce rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) extracts with different composition and antioxidant activity. CO2 was utilized as supercritical solvent and diverse extraction conditions (temperature, pressure, amount of cosolvent and fractionation scheme) were applied. The extracts with higher antioxidant content were selected to study their capability as natural antioxidant of several commercial edible vegetable oils. Linseed oil (LO), grape seed oil (GO) and sesame oil (SO) were oxidized under Rancimat conditions in presence of 0, 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg of selected extracts. Antioxidant activity index (AAI) was estimated as the ratio of induction time in presence of extracts to induction time in absence of extract. Induction time in absence of extracts was 3.3, 7.9 and 23.4 h for LO, GO and SO, respectively. Regardless of these different susceptibilities, the highest AAI for the three oils was obtained for the extract with the highest antioxidant-enrichment (33.25% carnosic acid plus carnosol) and added at the highest level (300 mg/kg). However, at such conditions, the AAI was significantly higher (p<0.001) for LO (3.5), followed by SO (2.2) and the poorest value was for GO (1.1). Therefore, the magnitude of the AAI depended on the antioxidant-enrichment of the extracts, the level of addition within the oils, but also on the own individual oils.

Isolation of essential oil from different plants and herbs by supercritical fluid extraction.

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is an innovative, clean and environmental friendly technology with particular interest for the extraction of essential oil from plants and herbs. Supercritical CO(2) is selective, there is no associated waste treatment of a toxic solvent, and extraction times are moderate. Further, supercritical extracts were often recognized of superior quality when compared with those produced by hydro-distillation or liquid-solid extraction. This review provides a comprehensive and updated discussion of the developments and applications of SFE in the isolation of essential oils from plant matrices. SFE is normally performed with pure CO(2) or using a cosolvent; fractionation of the extract is commonly accomplished in order to isolate the volatile oil compounds from other co-extracted substances. In this review the effect of pressure, temperature and cosolvent on the extraction and fractionation procedure is discussed. Additionally, a comparison of the extraction yield and composition of the essential oil of several plants and herbs from Lamiaceae family, namely oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary, basil, marjoram and marigold, which were produced in our supercritical pilot-plant device, is presented and discussed.

Estrategia educativa para cuidadoras de familiares con enfermedad terminal / Educational strategy for female care givers who attend terminally ill relatives

Se realizó una intervención educativa desde julio de 2008 hasta enero de 2010 en el Policlínico Docente Ramón López Peña de Santiago de Cuba para aplicar una estrategia capacitante sobre cuidados paliativos, dirigida a 24 mujeres encargadas de atender a igual número de familiares con enfermedad terminal. Antes de ser instruidas al efecto, la mayoría de las cuidadoras desconocían cómo controlar los síntomas en sus parientes y su propio estrés, carecían de preparación psicológica para enfrentar el duelo, no habían adquirido las habilidades comunicativas necesarias y muchas se mostraban insatisfechas con el apoyo profesional recibido, entre otros factores; sin embargo, los encuentros programados permitieron brindarles la orientación y el asesoramiento requeridos para asumir con seguridad y confianza el rol que debían desempeñar responsablemente en esa humana labor.

An educational intervention was carried out from July, 2008 to January, 2010 at Ramóm López Peña Teaching Polyclinic in Santiago de Cuba in order to apply an effective strategy on hospice care so as to train 24 women in charge of attending the same number of terminally ill family members. Before the training, most of female care givers did not know how to control symptoms of their ill relatives, not even their own stress; they had no psychological training to face the challenge; they had not developed the necessary communicative skills; and most of them were not satisfied with the professional aid received; among other factors. However, the scheduled meetings allowed health workers to offer the required orientation and expert advice to these care givers so they could assume their roles with confidence and security taking into account they had to perform a human task with a lot of responsibility.