Health literacy and health outcomes in hypertension: An integrative review

Objective:The aim of this study was to summarize the evidence of health literacy and health outcomes in hypertensive patients.Methods:Articles published in English were searched from six databases:MEDLINE,CINAHL,Embase,ERIC,psycINFO,and SCOPUS.The articles published up to September 2017 were included.Results:Nineteen publications were included in the review.There was quality and consistent evidence that hypertensive patients with lower literacy had poorer knowledge.There was inconsistent evidence to show the relationship between health literacy and clinical outcomes,of systolic and diastolic blood pressure,and blood pressure control;behavioral outcomes,of self-care,self-efficacy,adherence;patientphysician interactions outcomes,of patient-physician communication,patient trust,involvement in decision making and other outcomes.Conclusion:The person with low health literacy is likely to have poor knowledge of hypertension.However,there is insufficient evidence to suggest that health literacy is associated with outcomes of hypertension independently.

Model-free Adaptive Control for Spacecraft Attitude

A model-free adaptive control method is proposed for the spacecrafts whose dynamical parameters change over time and cannot be acquired accurately. The algorithm is based on full form dynamic linearization.A dimension reduction matrix is introduced to construct an augmented system with the same dimension input and output. The design of the controller depends on the system input and output data rather than the knowledge of the controlled plant. The numerical simulation results show that the improved controller can deal with different models with the same set of controller parameters,and the controller performance is better than that of PD controller for the time-varying system with disturbance.

Targeting integrin pathways:mechanisms and advances in therapy

Integrins are considered the main cell-adhesion transmembrane receptors that play multifaceted roles as extracellular matrix(ECM)-cytoskeletal linkers and transducers in biochemical and mechanical signals between cells and their environment in a wide range of states in health and diseases.Integrin functions are dependable on a delicate balance between active and inactive status via multiple mechanisms,including protein-protein interactions,conformational changes,and trafficking.Due to their exposure on the cell surface and sensitivity to the molecular blockade,integrins have been investigated as pharmacological targets for nearly 40 years,but given the complexity of integrins and sometimes opposite characteristics,targeting integrin therapeutics has been a challenge.To date,only seven drugs targeting integrins have been successfully marketed,including abciximab,eptifibatide,tirofiban,natalizumab,vedolizumab,lifitegrast,and carotegrast.Currently,there are approximately 90 kinds of integrin-based therapeutic drugs or imaging agents in clinical studies,including small molecules,antibodies,synthetic mimic peptides,antibody-drug conjugates(ADCs),chimeric antigen receptor(CAR)T-cell therapy,imaging agents,etc.A serious lesson from past integrin drug discovery and research efforts is that successes rely on both a deep understanding of integrin-regulatory mechanisms and unmet clinical needs.Herein,we provide a systematic and complete review of all integrin family members and integrin-mediated downstream signal transduction to highlight ongoing efforts to develop new therapies/diagnoses from bench to clinic.In addition,we further discuss the trend of drug development,how to improve the success rate of clinical trials targeting integrin therapies,and the key points for clinical research,basic research,and translational research.

Glycoenzyme Tool Development:Principles,Screening Methods,and Recent Advances

To elucidate the relationship between carbohydrate structure and its biological function,glycoenzyme tools are widely applied in a variety of physio-logical and pathological scenarios.Intricate adjustment via glycoenzyme engineering improved the catalytic efficiency,extended the repertoire of accessible catalytic reactions,and tailored novel substrate specificities.In this review,we introduce the principles of glycoenzyme engineering and summarize the recent advances in the rational design and directed evolution of these enzymes,with an emphasis on screening methods in directed evolution.We also excerpt novel detection methods in glycobiology that can be adapted for the development of next-generation glycoenzyme tools.