Effects of a violet-excitation light-emitting diode on melatonin secretion and sleepiness: preliminary findings from a randomized controlled trial.

Study Objectives: A new type of lighting using violet-excitation light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with an action spectrum centered at approximately 405 nm was developed. Although violet-excitation LEDs can reduce melatonin suppression compared with blue-excitation LEDs, no studies have compared the effects of violet-excitation LEDs with those of blue-excitation LEDs on melatonin suppression. This study was designed to compare the effects of violet-excitation LEDs with those of blue-excitation LEDs on melatonin suppression, psychomotor vigilance, and sleepiness.

Endothelial Cell Regulates Neurovascular, Neuronal, and Behavioral Function.

Background: Specialized brain endothelial cells and human are independently important for neurovascular function, yet whether expression by endothelial cells contributes to brain function is currently unknown. In the present study, we determined whether the loss of endothelial cell impacts brain vascular and neural function.

Methods: We developed /Cdh5(PAC)-CreERT2 () and /Cdh5(PAC)-CreERT2 (, control) mice and induced endothelial cell knockdown with tamoxifen at ≈4 to 5 weeks of age.

Nebulised Isotonic Hydroxychloroquine Aerosols for Potential Treatment of COVID-19.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an unprecedented pandemic that has severely impacted global public health and the economy. Hydroxychloroquine administered orally to COVID-19 patients was ineffective, but its antiviral and anti-inflammatory actions were observed in vitro. The lack of efficacy in vivo could be due to the inefficiency of the oral route in attaining high drug concentration in the lungs.

Noninvasive transcranial classification of stroke using a portable eddy current damping sensor.

Existing paradigms for stroke diagnosis typically involve computed tomography (CT) imaging to classify ischemic versus hemorrhagic stroke variants, as treatment for these subtypes varies widely. Delays in diagnosis and transport of unstable patients may worsen neurological status. To address these issues, we describe the development of a rapid, portable, and accurate eddy current damping (ECD) stroke sensor.

Long Range Endocrine Delivery of Circulating miR-210 to Endothelium Promotes Pulmonary Hypertension.

Rationale: Unproven theories abound regarding the long-range uptake and endocrine activity of extracellular blood-borne microRNAs into tissue. In pulmonary hypertension (PH), microRNA-210 (miR-210) in pulmonary endothelial cells promotes disease, but its activity as an extracellular molecule is incompletely defined.

Objective: We investigated whether chronic and endogenous endocrine delivery of extracellular miR-210 to pulmonary vascular endothelial cells promotes PH.

BOLA (BolA Family Member 3) Deficiency Controls Endothelial Metabolism and Glycine Homeostasis in Pulmonary Hypertension.

Background: Deficiencies of iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters, metal complexes that control redox state and mitochondrial metabolism, have been linked to pulmonary hypertension (PH), a deadly vascular disease with poorly defined molecular origins. BOLA3 (BolA Family Member 3) regulates Fe-S biogenesis, and mutations in BOLA3 result in multiple mitochondrial dysfunction syndrome, a fatal disorder associated with PH. The mechanistic role of BOLA3 in PH remains undefined.

Genome-Wide Association Study Meta-Analysis of Long-Term Average Blood Pressure in East Asians.

Background: Genome-wide single marker and gene-based meta-analyses of long-term average (LTA) blood pressure (BP) phenotypes may reveal novel findings for BP.

Methods And Results: We conducted genome-wide analysis among 18 422 East Asian participants (stage 1) followed by replication study of ≤46 629 participants of European ancestry (stage 2). Significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms and genes were determined by a <5.

Combination of a Selective HSP90α/β Inhibitor and a RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK Signaling Pathway Inhibitor Triggers Synergistic Cytotoxicity in Multiple Myeloma Cells.

Heat shock protein (HSP)90 inhibitors have shown significant anti-tumor activities in preclinical settings in both solid and hematological tumors. We previously reported that the novel, orally available HSP90α/β inhibitor TAS-116 shows significant anti-MM activities. In this study, we further examined the combination effect of TAS-116 with a RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK signaling pathway inhibitor in RAS- or BRAF-mutated MM cell lines.

Targeting B-cell maturation antigen in multiple myeloma.

Novel effective immunotherapies are needed for patients with multiple myeloma (MM), since disease recurrence remains a major obstacle. B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA), a cell surface protein universally expressed on malignant plasma cells , has emerged as a very selective antigen to be targeted in novel treatments for MM. We here first review BCMA-related biology, and then highlight the recent clinical development of a novel afucosylated anti-BCMA monoclonal antibody conjugated with monomethyl auristatin F via noncleavable linker (GSK2857916).

Ethnic Differences in the Role of Adipocytokines Linking Abdominal Adiposity and Insulin Sensitivity Among Asians.

Context: Among Asian ethnic groups, Chinese or Malays are more insulin sensitive than South Asians, in particular in lean individuals. We have further reported that body fat partitioning did not explain this ethnic difference in insulin sensitivity.

Objective: We examined whether adipocytokines might explain the ethnic differences in the relationship between obesity and insulin resistance among the three major ethnic groups in Singapore.