• Energy Research
• 3. Good health close
• JP close
• KR close

Medical tourism is a growing niche market with huge potential as the 6th industry of medical services, including an unforgettable trip. Due to these advantages, Uzbekistan hopes to be a leader in central Asia concerning medical tourism. Contrary to this ambitious goal, Uzbekistan patients still prefer going abroad for medical services. Therefore, in order for Uzbekistan to be a hub for medical tourism, the sustainable governance factors of medical tourism need to be found for local patients going overseas. Under this research motivation, this study evaluates how the medical, tourism, and information sharing factors influence behavioral intention based on the structural equation model (SEM) with a random sample of 498 residents in Uzbekistan. Perceived value and behavioral intention are used as a mediating variable and a dependent variable, respectively. The main findings are summarized as follows. First, the medical factor and information sharing are very important factors for behavioral intention, with high coefficient values of 0.399 and 0.516, respectively, while the tourism factor is not influential on the behavioral intention statistically. This implies that Uzbekistani patients do not consider tourism factors as a core condition, instead focusing on the service quality of the medical operation and convenience for foreign patients. Second, in the indirect model, we found that perceived value takes a fully mediating role between medical factors and behavioral intention, while it takes a partially mediating role between information sharing and behavioral intention, implying that strong promotion policies are required for the advantages of tourism and enhanced access to information.

The anticonvulsant effect of [(+/-)-2-[(inden-7-yloxy)methyl]morpholine (indeloxazine) HCl, a new cerebral activator, was investigated in rats against kindled seizures from the amygdala, an assumed model of secondarily generalized seizures in human. Indeloxazine (0.25-10 mg/kg, IP) dose-dependently depressed the kindled seizure and shortened the evoked amygdaloid afterdischarge. A high dose of indeloxazine (40 mg/kg, IP), however, induced generalized seizures. Comparison of the effects on the kindled seizures of indeloxazine to those of phenytoin, diazepam, ethanol, and imipramine revealed that the anticonvulsant actions of indeloxazine are similar to those of imipramine but not to those of phenytoin, ethanol, and diazepam. The results suggest that indeloxazine may exert its action through the monoaminergic system in the brain.

The Healthy City program is a comprehensive health promotion program implemented by local governments to improve citizens’ health. The Healthy City program aims to improve citizens’ quality of life through health promotion activities in daily life. It also improves health by eliminating health risk factors and increasing citizens’ happiness. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of the Healthy City program on the happiness index of local residents and the correlation between the Healthy City program and the happiness index using quality of life as a parameter. We conducted a questionnaire survey of residents of Seoul, where Healthy City networks are actively promoted. A total of 392 responses were obtained. Structural equations were used to analyze the collected data. The Healthy City program had positive effects on the happiness index. In other words, it increased the happiness index by improving the health of the local residents. Relevant policy efforts are also being made to advance health services through Healthy City programs. For an effective Healthy City program, it is necessary to implement policies regarding health equity, to expand Healthy City programs based on a settings approach, and to implement a sustainable Healthy City program through the establishment of Healthy City governance.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effect of Bacillus subtilis fermented silkworm powder (BFSP) and Aspergillus kawachii fermented silkworms powder (AFSP) on alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity in Sprague-Dawley rats. Alcohol-feeding rats were fed with diets containing silkworm powder (SP) or both BFSP and AFSP at the 5% (w/w) levels for 4 weeks. Alcohol administration resulted in a significant increase in the activities of liver marker enzymes, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GTP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Administration of BFSP markedly prevented alcohol-induced elevation of serum AST, γ-GTP and LDH activities, and the levels of blood alcohol and acetaldehyde. Interestingly, in comparison with both SP and AFSP, BFSP administration drastically increased both hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activities, suggesting that BFSP was more effective in the reduction of blood alcohol and acetaldehyde. BFSP administration showed the highest induction of hepatic ADH expression in alcohol-feeding rats. Also, alcohol treatment resulted in increasing lipid peroxidative index (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances) and decreasing antioxidant status (reduced glutathione) in the liver. Thus, these results suggest that BFSP treatment improved the antioxidant status of alcoholic rats by decreasing the levels of lipid peroxidative index and by increasing the levels of antioxidant status in the liver and serum. Specially, the concentrations of serum total cholesterol, free fatty acid and hepatic triglyceride were increased, but these parameters were significantly influenced by the BFSP in the alcohol treatment. Unlike the action of alcohol treatment on fatty liver, BFSP administration attenuated lipid droplet accumulation in hepatocytes. A high level of ADH was also observed in AFSP administered rats; on the other hand, a significant change in ALDH was not observed. Therefore, the SP can be a promising candidate in the prevention alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity and oxidative stress.

Redox flow batteries are promising devices for large-scale stationary energy storage.

AbstractFor Abstract see ChemInform Abstract in Full Text.

To improve the durability of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), monolithic DSCs with ionic liquid electrolyte were studied. Deposited by screen printing, a carbon layer was successfully fabricated that did not crack or peel when annealing was employed beforehand. Optimized electrodes exhibited photovoltaic characteristics of 0.608 V open-circuit voltage, 6.90 cm−2 mA short-circuit current, and 0.491 fill factor, yielding 2.06% power conversion efficiency. The monolithic DSC using ionic liquid electrolyte was thermally durable and operated stably for 1000 h at 80°C.

AbstractChronic ethanol consumption causes hepatic steatosis and inflammation, which are associated with liver hypoxia. Monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 (MCP‐1) is a hypoxia response factor that determines recruitment and activation of monocytes to the site of tissue injury. The level of MCP‐1 is elevated in the serum and liver of patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD); however, the molecular details regarding the regulation of MCP‐1 expression are not yet understood completely. Here, we show the role of liver X receptor α (LXRα) in the regulation of MCP‐1 expression during the development of ethanol‐induced fatty liver injury, using an antagonist, 22‐S‐hydroxycholesterol (22‐S‐HC). First, administration of 22‐S‐HC attenuated the signs of liver injury with decreased levels of MCP‐1 and its receptor CCR2 in ethanol‐fed mice. Second, hypoxic conditions or treatment with the LXRα agonist GW3965 significantly induced the expression of MCP‐1, which was completely blocked by treatment with 22‐S‐HC or infection by shLXRα lentivirus in the primary hepatocytes. Third, over‐expression of LXRα or GW3965 treatment increased MCP‐1 promoter activity by increasing the binding of hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α to the hypoxia response elements, together with LXRα. Finally, treatment with recombinant MCP‐1 increased the level of expression of LXRα and LXRα‐dependent lipid droplet accumulation in both hepatocytes and Kupffer cells. These data show that LXRα and its ligand‐induced up‐regulation of MCP‐1 and MCP‐1‐induced LXRα‐dependent lipogenesis play a key role in the autocrine and paracrine activation of MCP‐1 in the pathogenesis of alcoholic fatty liver disease, and that this activation may provide a promising new target for ALD therapy.Copyright © 2014 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.