The effects of short-term light exposure on subjective affect and comfort are dependent on the lighting time of day.

Light, one of the key environmental components for both life and work, played significant role in subjective feelings (e.g. affect and comfort), but the exact effects and mechanisms were still to be determined.

Quercetin as a potential treatment for COVID-19-induced acute kidney injury: Based on network pharmacology and molecular docking study.

Kidneys are one of the targets for SARS-CoV-2, it is reported that up to 36% of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection would develop into acute kidney injury (AKI). AKI is associated with high mortality in the clinical setting and contributes to the transition of AKI to chronic kidney disease (CKD). Up to date, the underlying mechanisms are obscure and there is no effective and specific treatment for COVID-19-induced AKI.

C1QBP inhibits proliferation of porcine circovirus type 2 by restricting nuclear import of the capsid protein.

Complement component 1 Q subcomponent-binding protein (C1QBP) has been shown to interact with the porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) Cap protein. Here, using yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) and co-immunoprecipitation assays, as well as laser confocal microscopy, the interaction between C1QBP and Cap was confirmed. Furthermore, overexpression of C1QBP in cells altered the intracellular location of Cap, which was observed using confocal microscopy and verified by detection of Cap in nuclear protein extracts in a Western blot assay.

Chronic stress promotes acute myeloid leukemia progression through HMGB1/NLRP3/IL-1β signaling pathway.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive hematologic malignancy with poor prognosis and overall survival. Clinical investigations show that chronic stress is commonly present in the course of AML and associated with adverse outcome. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are elusive.

Design of Eutectic Hydrated Salt Composite Phase Change Material with Cement for Thermal Energy Regulation of Buildings.

An energy-efficient eutectic hydrated salt phase change material based on sodium carbonate decahydrate and disodium hydrogen phosphate dodecahydrate (SD) was prepared. Then, SD was encapsulated into expanded graphite (EG) to produce form-stable composite phase change materials (SD/E), which indicated a positive effect on preventing the leakage of SD, decreasing the supercooling and improving the thermal conductivity. SD/E was further tested for thermal efficiency by simulating the indoor environment with a house-like model which was composed of SD/E and magnesium oxychloride cement.

Melatonin provides protection against cisplatin-induced ovarian damage and loss of fertility in mice.

Research Question: Can melatonin provide non-invasive ovarian protection against damage caused by cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (cisplatin) and preserve fertility in female cancer patients? And if so, what is the possible mechanism?

Design: Athymic BALB/c nude tumour-bearing female mice were used to demonstrate whether melatonin affects the antineoplastic effect when co-administrated with cisplatin. Sexually mature and newborn C57BL/6 female mice were used to evaluate the potential effects of melatonin on the ovarian follicle pool, pregnancy rate and litter number in cisplatin-treated mice. The ovaries underwent immunohistochemical, TdT (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase)-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling (TUNEL) and gene array analysis to explore the underlying mechanism.

Predicting the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma with the treatment of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization combined with microwave ablation using pretreatment MR imaging texture features.

Objective: To investigate the prognostic value of baseline magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) texture analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and microwave ablation (MWA).

Methods: MRI was performed on 102 patients with HCC before receiving TACE combined with MWA in this retrospective study. The best 10 texture features were screened as a feature group for each MRI sequence by MaZda software using mutual information coefficient (MI), nonlinear discriminant analysis (NDA) and other methods.

Full-Color Realization of Micro-LED Displays.

Emerging technologies, such as smart wearable devices, augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) displays, and naked-eye 3D projection, have gradually entered our lives, accompanied by an urgent market demand for high-end display technologies. Ultra-high-resolution displays, flexible displays, and transparent displays are all important types of future display technology, and traditional display technology cannot meet the relevant requirements. Micro-light-emitting diodes (micro-LEDs), which have the advantages of a high contrast, a short response time, a wide color gamut, low power consumption, and a long life, are expected to replace traditional liquid-crystal displays (LCD) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) screens and become the leaders in the next generation of display technology.

Refinement and Evaluation of a Chinese and Western Medication Adherence Scale for Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease: Item Response Theory Analyses.

Purpose: This study aimed to simplify the version-1 Chinese and Western medication adherence scale for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) to a version-2 scale using item response theory (IRT) analyses, and to further evaluate the performance of the version-2 scale.

Materials And Methods: Firstly, we refined the version-1 scale using IRT analyses to examine the discrimination parameter (a), difficulty parameter (b) and maximum information function peak (Imax). The final scale refinement from version-1 to version-2 scale was also decided upon clinical considerations.

Influence of Lactic Acid on Cell Cycle Progressions in Lactobacillus bulgaricus During Batch Culture.

Lactic acid has been proved to inhibit the proliferation of lactic acid bacteria in the fermentation process. To shed light on the cell cycle alterations in acidic conditions, the cell division of Lactobacillus bulgaricus sp1.1 in batch culture was analyzed directly by implementing of the intracellular fluorescent tracking assay in different pH adjusted by lactic acid.

Effect of molecular weight of polyethylene glycol on crystallization behaviors, thermal properties and tensile performance of polylactic acid stereocomplexes.

In this work, the poly(d-lactic acid)-polyethylene glycol-poly(d-lactic acid) (PDLA-PEG-PDLA) triblock copolymer as a novel modification agent was incorporated into poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) to improve the thermal and mechanical properties of PLLA. The influences of molecular weight of PEG in the triblock copolymer on the structure, crystallization behaviors, heat resistance and tensile properties of PDLA-PEG-PDLA/PLLA blends were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and tensile testing. The results from FTIR, XRD and DSC confirm the formation of a polylactide stereocomplex in the PLLA blends.

Evaluating national trends in outcomes after implementation of a star rating system: Results from dialysis facility compare.

Objective: To examine which factors are driving improvement in the Dialysis Facility Compare (DFC) star ratings and to test whether nonclinical facility characteristics are associated with observed longitudinal changes in the star ratings.

Data Sources: Data were collected from eligible patients in over 6,000 Medicare-certified dialysis facilities from three annual star rating and individual measure updates, publicly released on DFC in October 2015, October 2016, and April 2018.

Study Design: Changes in the star rating and individual quality measures were investigated across three public data releases.

Effect of dexmedetomidine on perioperative inflammation and lung protection in elderly patients undergoing radical resection of lung cancer.

Objective: To investigate the effects of dexmedetomidine on perioperative inflammation and lung protection in elderly patients undergoing thoracoscopic radical resection of lung cancer.

Methods: A total of 116 elderly patients undergoing elective radical resection of lung cancer in the Second Affiliate Hospital of Soochow University were selected and divided into two groups by random number table method, 58 cases in each group. Observation group was given 1 μg/kg loading dose of dexmedetomidine by continuously intravenous pump for 10 min before anesthesia induction, which was maintained at a rate of 0.

Rapid and dynamic detection of antimicrobial treatment response using spectral amplitude modulation in MZO nanostructure-modified quartz crystal microbalance.

We report a dynamic and rapid detection of the response of S. epidermidis to various antimicrobial treatments utilizing the real-time spectral amplitude modulations of the magnesium zinc oxide nanostructure-modified quartz crystal microbalance (MZO-QCM) biosensor. The sensor consists of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) with magnesium zinc oxide (MZO) nanostructures grown directly on the sensing electrode using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).

Gold Nanoclusters for NIR-II Fluorescence Imaging of Bones.

Fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1000-1700 nm) holds great promise for deep tissue visualization. Development of novel clinical translatable NIR-II probes is crucial for realizing the medical applications of NIR-II fluorescence imaging. Herein, the glutathione-capped gold nanoclusters (AuNCs, specifically Au (SG) ) demonstrate highly efficient binding capability to hydroxyapatite in vitro for the first time.

Integrative analysis of the common genetic characteristics in ovarian cancer stem cells sorted by multiple approaches.

Background: Ovarian cancer is the second fatal malignancy of the female reproductive system. Based on the cancer stem cell (CSC) theory, its poor prognosis of ovarian cancer attributed to tumor recurrence caused by CSCs. A variety of cell surface-specific markers have been employed to identify ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSCs).

Correlation of TNF-α and IL-10 gene polymorphisms with primary nephrotic syndrome.

The study explored the correlations of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) gene polymorphisms with susceptibility and the condition of primary nephrotic syndrome. A total of 200 patients with primary nephrotic syndrome in Qilu hospital were collected as disease group, and 200 healthy people were selected as control group. Genomic deoxyribonucleic acids (DNAs) of nucleated cells in the peripheral blood were extracted to detect the gene polymorphisms of TNF-α (rs1799724 and rs1800629) and IL-10 (rs1800872 and rs141219090).

Computer-Aided System for the Detection of Multicategory Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Radiographs.

The early screening and diagnosis of tuberculosis plays an important role in the control and treatment of tuberculosis infections. In this paper, an integrated computer-aided system based on deep learning is proposed for the detection of multiple categories of tuberculosis lesions in chest radiographs. In this system, the fully convolutional neural network method is used to segment the lung area from the entire chest radiograph for pulmonary tuberculosis detection.

Accurate ultrasonography-based portal pressure assessment in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Portal pressure is of great significance in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but direct measurement is complicated and costly; thus, non-invasive measurement methods are urgently needed.

Aim: To investigate whether ultrasonography (US)-based portal pressure assessment could replace invasive transjugular measurement.

Methods: A cohort of 102 patients with HCC was selected (mean age: 54 ± 13 years, male/female: 65/37).

Changes in spatiotemporal drought characteristics over northeast China from 1960 to 2018 based on the modified nested Copula model.

Drought forecasting is helpful for understanding the inherent mechanism of hydrological extremes and taking corresponding measures to mitigate drought impacts. Northeast China, which is an important, major grain-producing area in China, has been challenged by substantial losses due to frequent drought. In this study, to predict the spatiotemporal variation in drought events over Northeast China, a model-based simulation framework is proposed based on precipitation data at 70 meteorological stations from 1960 to 2018.

Merging C-H Vinylation with Switchable 6π-Electrocyclizations for Divergent Heterocycle Synthesis.

Pyridinium-containing polyheterocycles exhibit distinctive biological properties and interesting electrochemical and optical properties and thus are widely used as drugs, functional materials, and photocatalysts. Here, we describe a unified two-step strategy by merging Rh-catalyzed C-H vinylation with two switchable electrocyclizations, including aza-6π-electrocyclization and all-carbon-6π-electrocyclization, for rapid and divergent access to dihydropyridoisoquinoliniums and dihydrobenzoquinolines. Through computation, the high selectivity of aza-electrocyclization in the presence of an appropriate "HCl" source under either thermal conditions or photochemical conditions is shown to result from the favorable kinetics and symmetries of frontier orbitals.

Validity, reliability, and application of the electronic version of a chronic kidney disease patient awareness questionnaire: a pilot study.

Objectives: A questionnaire which provides desirable reliability and validity has been previously developed to assess the disease awareness of diagnosed chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. However, conventional paper questionnaires often have disadvantages, including recall bias. To substantially improve this, we therefore aimed to explore the feasibility of developing a smartphone-based electronic version (e-version) based upon its original paper version and subsequently tested its validity, reliability, and applicability.

MicroRNA-410-3p modulates chondrocyte apoptosis and inflammation by targeting high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) in an osteoarthritis mouse model.

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent type of arthritis, which commonly involves inflammation in the articular cartilage in OA pathogenesis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play essential roles in the regulation and pathophysiology of various diseases including OA. MiR-410-3p has been demonstrated to mediate inflammatory pathways, however, the regulatory functions of miR-410-3p in OA remain largely unknown.

Organogenesis and distribution of the ocular lymphatic vessels in the anterior eye.

Glaucoma surgeries, such as trabeculectomy, are performed to lower intraocular pressure to reduce risk of vision loss. These surgeries create a new passage in the eye that reroutes the aqueous humor outflow to the subconjunctival space, where the fluid is presumably absorbed by the conjunctival lymphatics. Here, we characterized the development and function of the ocular lymphatics using transgenic lymphatic reporter mice and rats.

Expression of serotonin 1A and 2A receptors in molecular- and projection-defined neurons of the mouse insular cortex.

The serotonin (5-HT) system is the target of multiple anxiolytics, including Buspirone, which is a partial agonist of the serotonin 1A receptor (5-HT1A). Similarly, ligands of the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2A) were shown to alter anxiety level. The 5-HT1A and 2A receptors are widely expressed across the brain, but the target region(s) underlying the influence of those receptors on anxiety remain unknown.