Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Irrational Procrastination Scale: Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance Across Gender.

The present paper reports on the preliminary validation of a Chinese version of Steel's Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS). To this end, the nine items of the IPS were translated into Chinese and data were collected from a sample of 2,361 mainland Chinese college students. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the dimensional structure of the IPS, and multigroup CFA (MG CFA) was carried out to evaluate the measurement invariance across gender.

A Rasch Analysis of the Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS).

The present study analyses the psychometric properties of the irrational procrastination scale (IPS; Steel, 2002, 2010) in a sample of United States college students using the Rasch modeling approach. Results showed that the IPS items had a high level of reliability, good content validity, structural validity, and substantive validity, and no differential item functioning (DIF) effects in terms of gender. The IPS was found to be unidimensional, supporting the originally proposed theoretical structure by Steel (2002, 2010).

Effect of moist heat reprocessing of N95 respirators on SARS-CoV-2 inactivation and respirator function.

Background: Unprecedented demand for N95 respirators during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a global shortage of these masks. We validated a rapidly applicable, low-cost decontamination protocol in compliance with regulatory standards to enable the safe reuse of N95 respirators.

Methods: We inoculated 4 common models of N95 respirators with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and evaluated viral inactivation after disinfection for 60 minutes at 70°C and 0% relative humidity.

Corneal Neurotization Improves Ocular Surface Health in a Novel Rat Model of Neurotrophic Keratopathy and Corneal Neurotization.

Purpose: Corneal neurotization is a novel surgical procedure to reinnervate the cornea in patients with neurotrophic keratopathy (NK). We developed a rat model of NK and corneal neurotization to further investigate corneal neurotization as a treatment to improve maintenance and healing of the corneal epithelium.

Methods: Thy1-GFP+ Sprague Dawley rats were used to develop the model.

LEM domain-containing protein 3 antagonizes TGFβ-SMAD2/3 signaling in a stiffness-dependent manner in both the nucleus and cytosol.

Transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) signaling through SMAD2/3 is an important driver of pathological fibrosis in multiple organ systems. TGFβ signaling and extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness form an unvirtuous pathological circuit in which matrix stiffness drives activation of latent TGFβ, and TGFβ signaling then drives cellular stress and ECM synthesis. Moreover, ECM stiffness also appears to sensitize cells to exogenously activated TGFβ through unknown mechanisms.

Adult Gli2+/-;Gli3Δ699/+ Male and Female Mice Display a Spectrum of Genital Malformation.

Disorders of sexual development (DSD) encompass a broad spectrum of urogenital malformations and are amongst the most common congenital birth defects. Although key genetic factors such as the hedgehog (Hh) family have been identified, a unifying postnatally viable model displaying the spectrum of male and female urogenital malformations has not yet been reported. Since human cases are diagnosed and treated at various stages postnatally, equivalent mouse models enabling analysis at similar stages are of significant interest.

Electrical muscle stimulation elevates intramuscular BDNF and GDNF mRNA following peripheral nerve injury and repair in rats.

Despite advances in surgery, patients with nerve injuries frequently have functional deficits. We previously demonstrated in a rat model that daily electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) following peripheral nerve injury and repair enhances reinnervation, detectable as early as two weeks post-injury. In this study, we explain the enhanced early reinnervation observed with electrical stimulation.

ErbB2 blockade with Herceptin (trastuzumab) enhances peripheral nerve regeneration after repair of acute or chronic peripheral nerve injury.

Objective: Attenuation of the growth supportive environment within the distal nerve stump after delayed peripheral nerve repair profoundly limits nerve regeneration. Levels of the potent Schwann cell mitogen neuregulin and its receptor ErbB2 decline during this period, but the regenerative impact of this change is not completely understood. Herein, the ErbB2 receptor pathway is inhibited with the selective monoclonal antibody Herceptin (trastuzumab) to determine its significance in regulating acute and chronic regeneration in a rat hindlimb.

Retrograde labeling of regenerating motor and sensory neurons using silicone caps.

Background: Retrograde labeling permits the investigation of the number, distribution and axonal projections of neurons in the peripheral nervous system. The well technique for labeling peripheral nerves consists of incubating the exposed peripheral nerve in a well for one hour, a time intensive technique. However, other techniques that inject tracers directly into the nerve or muscle may result in variable labeling depending on nerve preparation and location of injection.

Nerve cross-bridging to enhance nerve regeneration in a rat model of delayed nerve repair.

There are currently no available options to promote nerve regeneration through chronically denervated distal nerve stumps. Here we used a rat model of delayed nerve repair asking of prior insertion of side-to-side cross-bridges between a donor tibial (TIB) nerve and a recipient denervated common peroneal (CP) nerve stump ameliorates poor nerve regeneration. First, numbers of retrogradely-labelled TIB neurons that grew axons into the nerve stump within three months, increased with the size of the perineurial windows opened in the TIB and CP nerves.

Daily Electrical Muscle Stimulation Enhances Functional Recovery Following Nerve Transection and Repair in Rats.

Background: Incomplete recovery following surgical reconstruction of damaged peripheral nerves is common. Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) to improve functional outcomes has not been effective in previous studies.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a new, clinically translatable EMS paradigm over a 3-month period following nerve transection and immediate repair.

Regulation of Sox9 by Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) is essential for patterning and formation of tracheal cartilage.

We report that Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) regulates both formation and patterning of tracheal cartilage by controlling the expression pattern and level of the chondrogenic gene, Sox9. In Shh(-/-) tracheo-esophageal tubes, Sox9 expression is transient and not restricted ventrally to the site of chondrogenesis, and is absent at the time of chondrogenesis, resulting in the failure of tracheal cartilage formation. Inhibition of Hedgehog signalling with cyclopamine in tracheal cultures prevents tracheal cartilage formation, while treatment of Shh(-/-) tracheal explant with exogenous Shh peptide rescues cartilage formation.

A simple in vitro culture system for tracheal cartilage development.

Semi-circular tracheal cartilage is a critical determinant of maintaining architectural integrity of the respiratory airway. The current effort to understand the morphogenesis of tracheal cartilage is challenged by the lack of appropriate model systems. Here we report an in vitro tracheal cartilage system using embryonic tracheal–lung explants to recapitulate in vivo tracheal cartilage developmental processes.

The role of Shh transcription activator Gli2 in chick cloacal development.

Patterning and differentiation along the dorsal-ventral (D-V) axis lead to cloacal partitioning into ventral urinary and dorsal alimentary tracts in most mammals, but not birds and fish. We previously reported that the major activator of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling transcription factor Gli2 plays an essential role in cloacal partitioning along the D-V axis in a mouse model. Here, we report that chick cloacal patterning and differentiation is along the anterior-posterior axis.

DeltaNp63 plays an anti-apoptotic role in ventral bladder development.

The bladder, the largest smooth-muscle organ in the human body, is responsible for urine storage and micturition. P63, a homolog of the p53 tumor-suppressor gene, is essential for the development of all stratified epithelia, including the bladder urothelium. The N-terminal truncated isoform of p63, DeltaNp63, is known to have anti-apoptotic characteristics.