Association of artificial intelligence use and the retention of elderly caregivers: A cross-sectional study based on empowerment theory.

AIM: The purpose of this study is to investigate how the use of artificial intelligence is associated with the retention of elderly caregivers. BACKGROUND: The turnover of elderly caregivers is high and increasing. Elderly care institutions are beginning to use artificial intelligence to support caregivers in their work, and the use of technology is critical to staff retention. Empowerment of elderly caregivers has been neglected by managers and researchers. METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 511 elderly caregivers in 25 elderly institutions. Six validated standardized scales were used for data collection, and the software SPSS and SmartPLS were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The quality of artificial intelligence has a significant positive effect on empowerment. Artificial intelligence psychological empowerment (ß = .355, p < .001) and artificial intelligence structural empowerment (ß = .375, p < .001) both had positive effects on retention intention, and the jointly explained variance (R2 ) was 42.6%. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that a significant relationship exists between artificial intelligence empowerment and retention intention. Elderly caregivers with more structural empowerment have higher retention intention. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Artificial intelligence suppliers need to pay attention to the role of product quality in elderly care services, continuously improve artificial intelligence quality, and strengthen the application and routine maintenance of artificial intelligence technologies. Elderly care institution managers should pay special attention to artificial intelligence structural empowerment (such as artificial intelligence-related education and training, learning and development opportunities, and resource support).

Inhibitory effect of icaritin on proliferation, migration, and invasion of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell CNE2 by regulating STAT3 activation.

The influence of icaritin on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell CNE2 and the influencing mechanisms were discussed. Results indicated that icaritin can realize dosage-dependent inhibition of CNE2 cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and inhibit the expression levels of VEGF, KDR, bFGF, MMP2, and MMP9. It can also inhibit STAT3 phosphorylation without affecting STAT3 expression. Icaritin exerts multiple bonding effects on the SH2 structural domain of STAT3. Therefore, icaritin can become a candidate drug for resisting nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and its mechanism is related to the blocking of STAT3 signaling pathway activation.

Improvement Effect of Mitotherapy on the Cognitive Ability of Alzheimer's Disease through NAD+/SIRT1-Mediated Autophagy.

To date, Alzheimer's disease (AD) has grown to be a predominant health challenge that disturbs the elderly population. Studies have shown that mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the most significant features of AD. Transplantation therapy of healthy mitochondria (mitotherapy), as a novel therapeutic strategy to restore mitochondrial function, is proposed to treat the mitochondria-associated disease. Also, the molecular mechanism of mitotherapy remains unclear. Here, we applied the mitotherapy in AD model mice induced by amyloid-ß (Aß) plaque deposition and suggested that autophagy would be an important mechanism of the mitotherapy. After the healthy mitochondria entered the defective neuronal cells damaged by the misfolded Aß protein, autophagy was activated through the NAD+-dependent deacetylase sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) signal. The damaged mitochondria and Aß protein were eliminated by autophagy, which could also decrease the content of radical oxygen species (ROS). Moreover, the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and extracellular-regulated protein kinases (ERK) phosphorylation increased after mitotherapy, which would be beneficial to repair neuronal function. As a result, the cognitive ability of AD animals was ameliorated in a water maze test after the healthy mitochondria were administrated to the mice. The study indicated that mitotherapy would be an effective approach to AD treatment through the mechanism of autophagy activation.

Preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography separation of grape seed proanthocyanidins according to degree of polymerization.

Separation of plant proanthocyanidins remains a major challenge for scientists due to the structural diversity and complexity. In this work, a new and effective method was developed for preparative separation of grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSPs) according to degree of polymerization (DP) by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC). Under the optimized HSCCC conditions, GSPs could be separated into seven distinct fractions (F1-F7) with mean degree of polymerization in increasing order, from 1.44 to 6.95. High yields for these fractions (53.7, 12.2, 29.5, 30.2, 11.2, 50.8 and 169.8mg, respectively) were achieved by only one-step HSCCC of 400mg of GSPs. Further, seventeen individual proanthocyanidins, most of which are commercially not available, were efficiently isolated by re-chromatography on HSCCC or prep-HPLC; each of the isolated compounds presented high yields (7.1-78.9mg) and high purity (70.0-95.7%). The positive correlation was observed between DP and antioxidant activity of proanthocyanidins.

Preparative separation of grape skin polyphenols by high-speed counter-current chromatography.

To develop an efficient method for large preparation of various individual polyphenols from white grape skins (Fernão Pires; Vitis vinifera) by preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) and preparative-HPLC, an optimized preparative HSCCC condition with two-phase solvent system composed of Hex-EtOAc-H2O (1:50:50, v/v) was used to separate grape skin polyphenols into various fractions. Both the tail-head and head-tail elution modes were used with a flow rate of 3.0ml/min and a rotary speed of 950rpm. Afterwards, a preparative-HPLC separation was applied to isolate individual polyphenols in each of the fractions from HSCCC. Total of 7 fractions (Fraction A to G) were obtained from grape skin extract by HSCCC. After preparative-HPLC isolation, fifteen individual compounds were obtained, most of which presented high yields and purity (all over 90%). The HSCCC method followed with preparative-HPLC appeared to be convenient and economical, constituting an efficient strategy for the isolation of grape skin polyphenols.

Preparative separation of cacao bean procyanidins by high-speed counter-current chromatography.

In this work, an efficient method for preparative separation of procyanidins from raw cacao bean extract by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was developed. Under the optimized solvent system of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-water (1:50:50, v/v/v) with a combination of head-tail and tail-head elution modes, various procyanidins fractions with different polymerization degrees were successfully separated. UPLC, QTOF-MS and 1H NMR analysis verified that these fractions contained monomer up to pentamer respectively. Dimeric procyanidin B2 (purity>86%) could be isolated by HSCCC in a single run. Other individual procyanidins in these fractions could be further isolated and purified by preparative HPLC. The developed HSCCC together with preparative HPLC techniques appeared to be a useful tool for large preparation of different procyanidins from cacao beans. Furthermore, by antioxidant activity assays, it was proved that both fractions and individual procyanidins possessed greater antioxidant activities compared to standard trolox. The antioxidant activities of procyanidins increase as the increase of their polymerization degree.

Preparative HSCCC isolation of phloroglucinolysis products from grape seed polymeric proanthocyanidins as new powerful antioxidants.

Polymeric proanthocyanidins isolated from a grape seed phenolic extract were hydrolysed in the presence of phloroglucinol into monomer catechins and their nucleophile derivatives. Each of the phloroglucinolysis products was successfully separated and isolated in large amount by semi-preparative HSCCC technique under the optimized conditions based on a selection of suitable solvent system. The optimized solvent system consisted of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-water (1:80:80, v/v/v) with a combination of head-tail and tail-head elution modes. By only one-step HSCCC separation, the purity of each obtained phloroglucinolysis product, including monomer catechins and their nucleophile derivatives was above 76%, verified by UPLC. The structures of these products were tentatively identified by UPLC based on their retention time and further confirmed by MS and (1)H NMR analysis. Furthermore, by DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays, it was verified that all these phloroglucinolysis products possessed strong antioxidant activities, being catechin-nucleophile derivatives more powerful than free catechins.

Combining molecular fingerprints with multidimensional scaling analyses to identify the source of spilled oil from highly similar suspected oils.

Oil fingerprints have been a powerful tool widely used for determining the source of spilled oil. In most cases, this tool works well. However, it is usually difficult to identify the source if the oil spill accident occurs during offshore petroleum exploration due to the highly similar physiochemical characteristics of suspected oils from the same drilling platform. In this report, a case study from the waters of the South China Sea is presented, and multidimensional scaling analysis (MDS) is introduced to demonstrate how oil fingerprints can be combined with mathematical methods to identify the source of spilled oil from highly similar suspected sources. The results suggest that the MDS calculation based on oil fingerprints and subsequently integrated with specific biomarkers in spilled oils is the most effective method with a great potential for determining the source in terms of highly similar suspected oils.