Planning for the Rheumatologist Workforce: Factors Associated With Work Hours and Volumes.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate factors associated with rheumatologists' clinical work hours and patient volumes based on a national workforce survey in rheumatology. METHODS: Adult rheumatologists who participated in a 2015 workforce survey were included (n = 255). Univariate analysis evaluated the relationship between demographics (sex, age, academic vs. community practice, billing fee for service vs. other plan, years in practice, retirement plans) and workload (total hours and number of ½-day clinics per week) or patient volumes (number of new and follow-up consults per week). Multiple linear regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between practice type, sex, age, and working hours or clinical volumes. RESULTS: Male rheumatologists had more ½-day clinics (p = 0.05) and saw more new patients per week (p = 0.001) compared with females. Community rheumatologists had more ½-day clinics and new and follow-up visits per week (all p < 0.01). Fee-for-service rheumatologists reported more ½-day clinics per week (p < 0.001) and follow-ups (p = 0.04). Workload did not vary by age, years in practice, or retirement plans. In multivariate analysis, community practice remained independently associated with higher patient volumes and more clinics per week. Female rheumatologists reported fewer clinics and fewer follow-up patients per week than males, but this did not affect the duration of working hours or new consultations. Age was not associated with work volumes or hours. CONCLUSIONS: Practice type and rheumatologist sex should be considered when evaluating rheumatologist workforce needs, as the proportion of female rheumatologists has increased over time and alternative billing practices have been introduced in many centers.

Revisiting Inhibition Effects of miR-28 as a Metastasis Suppressor in Gastrointestinal Cancers.

MicroRNAs are critical epigenetic regulators that can be used as diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic biomarkers for the treatment of various diseases, including gastrointestinal cancers, among a variety of cellular and molecular biomarkers. MiRNAs have also shown oncogenic or tumor suppressor roles in tumor tissue and other cell types. Studies showed that the dysregulation of miR-28 is involved in cell growth and metastasis of gastrointestinal cancers. MiR-28 plays a key role in controlling the physiological processes of cancer cells including growth and proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis, and metastasis. Therefore, miR-28 expression patterns can be used to distinguish patient subgroups. Based on the previous studies, miR-28 expression can be a suitable biomarker to detect tumor size and predict histological grade metastasis. In this review, we summarize the inhibitory effects of miR-28 as a metastasis suppressor in gastrointestinal cancers. miR-28 plays a role as a tumor suppressor in gastrointestinal cancers by regulating cancer cell growth, cell differentiation, angiogenesis, and metastasis. As a result, using it as a prognostic, diagnostic, and therapeutic biomarker in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers can be a way to solve the problems in this field.

Antimicrobial activities of microbial essential fatty acid against foodborne pathogenic bacteria.

Background and Objectives: Human health and development have been related to dietary intake of essential fatty acids (omega 3, 6 and 9) and important for brain development, immune system function, and blood pressure regulation. Microbial essential oils are more natural and safer alternatives to synthetic preservatives. These oils have been demonstrated to have antibacterial activity within food systems and may be ideal additives to food formulations. Zygomycete fungi are well-known as good candidate for production of essential oils. Materials and Methods: Essential oils of fungi Mucor rouxii, Mucor circinelloides and Cuninghamella echinulata were extracted and fatty acids were analyzed by GC, for the first, antimicrobial activity of the fungi essential oils against foodborne pathogenic bacteria E. coli, S. aureus, B. cereus, B. subtilis, and S. enterica was examined by disc diffusion and well diffusion methods and the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of oils were determined by microtiter plate. Results: The fungi oils were exhibited the stron g antibacterial effect against Gram-positive bacteria, B. cereus, S. aureus and B. subtilis higher than Gram-negative and commercial oleic acid and linoleic acid. The MIC of the fungi oil extracts was 0.25 mg/ml for B. cereus and B. subtilis and 0.5 mg/ml about S. aureus. This research demonstrated microbial essential oils may be suitable for their antimicrobial properties in food. Conclusion: Microbial essential oil with good antibacterial activity could also be used in selected cases like foodborne disease.

Prominent roles of microRNA-142 in cancer.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are single-stranded non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally via mRNA degradation, or translational repression. They have important roles in normal development and homeostasis maintenance. Many studies have revealed that aberrant expression of miRNAs is associated with development of pathological conditions, including cancers. MiRNAs can either promote or suppress tumorigenesis based on the regulation of gene expression by targeting multiple molecules. In recent years, several miRNAs have been reported to be dysregulated in various cancers. Most recent findings have shown that miR-142 gene, located at chromosome 17q22, is involved in cellular migration, proliferation, and apoptosis in different human cancers. The present review discusses some molecular mechanisms and the expression status of miRNA-142 in the pathogenesis of various cancers.

Mercury in freshwater ecosystems of the Canadian Arctic: recent advances on its cycling and fate.

The Canadian Arctic has vast freshwater resources, and fish are important in the diet of many Northerners. Mercury is a contaminant of concern because of its potential toxicity and elevated bioaccumulation in some fish populations. Over the last decade, significant advances have been made in characterizing the cycling and fate of mercury in these freshwater environments. Large amounts of new data on concentrations, speciation and fluxes of Hg are provided and summarized for water and sediment, which were virtually absent for the Canadian Arctic a decade ago. The biogeochemical processes that control the speciation of mercury remain poorly resolved, including the sites and controls of methylmercury production. Food web studies have examined the roles of Hg uptake, trophic transfer, and diet for Hg bioaccumulation in fish, and, in particular, advances have been made in identifying determinants of mercury levels in lake-dwelling and sea-run forms of Arctic char. In a comparison of common freshwater fish species that were sampled across the Canadian Arctic between 2002 and 2009, no geographic patterns or regional hotspots were evident. Over the last two to four decades, Hg concentrations have increased in some monitored populations of fish in the Mackenzie River Basin while other populations from the Yukon and Nunavut showed no change or a slight decline. The different Hg trends indicate that the drivers of temporal change may be regional or habitat-specific. The Canadian Arctic is undergoing profound environmental change, and preliminary evidence suggests that it may be impacting the cycling and bioaccumulation of mercury. Further research is needed to investigate climate change impacts on the Hg cycle as well as biogeochemical controls of methylmercury production and the processes leading to increasing Hg levels in some fish populations in the Canadian Arctic.

Quantifying Hg within ectomycorrhizal fruiting bodies, from emergence to senescence.

Ectomycorrhizal fruiting bodies (basidiomata) collected from forested areas in southwestern New Brunswick were analyzed for total mercury, sulphur, nitrogen, and carbon concentrations (THg, TS, TN, and TC, respectively). This analysis was done for caps and stalks and by development stage (emergent, mature, senescent) across 27 species associated with five classes, eight families, and 13 genera. Across the species, THg correlated positively with TN and TS, thereby implying N as well as S mitigated transfer of Hg from the mycelia into the basidiomata, with THg ranging from 3 to 10 457 ppb. TS, TN, and TC varied from 0.07 to 1, 1 to 11, and 43 to 53 %, respectively. Cap and stalk THg, TS, TN, and TC were also correlated to one another, with mean stalk/cap ratios of 0.59, 0.76, 0.71, and 0.98, respectively. Soil availability indexed by THg, TS, TN, and TC within the forest floor contributed to basidiomatal THg as well. THg, THg/TS, and THg/N varied strongly by species. These variations involved: (i) no growth dilution and no volatilization (Group I), (ii) growth dilution only (Group II), (iii) growth dilution followed by loss during senescence (Group III), and (iv) growth dilution combined with loss from emergence onward (Group IV). Depending on species, TN and TS remained the same or declined from 100 % at emergence to about 80 and 70 % at senescence. Lack of THg decline for the Group I species would be due to HgS encapsulation. Reanalyzing the freeze-dried samples revealed that THg continued to drop during the first year of air-dry storage for the Group II, II, and IV species, but TS, TN, and TC remained stable. The results were quantified by way of best-fitted regression models.