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This study investigated interrelationships of negative mood regulation expectancies (NMREs), stressors, and affective symptoms among Chinese international students in Japan. NMREs represent one's confidence that one can reduce the intensity of the unpleasant moods one experiences. Data were collected from 527 participants using self‐report measures of NMREs, university stress, acculturative stress, depression, and anxiety. Results showed that NMREs buffered the effects on distress of acculturative stress but not of university stress: stronger NMREs protected international students from the negative consequences of acculturative stress. This suggests that being more confident in their emotion regulation made Chinese international students less vulnerable to the negative affective consequences of acculturative stress but not university stress. This difference may be because, for international students, acculturative stress is less personally controllable than university stress. Consequently, when active coping attempts fail to ameliorate one's stress, simply believing that one can make oneself feel better—stronger NMREs—may mitigate the effects of an uncontrollable stressor on one's well‐being. One implication of this research is that raising the NMREs of international students may reduce their risk of distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the welfare effects of the endogenous decision and release timing of weight placed on the rival's profits under relative performance evaluation with quantity competition and asymmetric marginal costs. We find that when the advantaged firm decides and releases the weight as the leader, it always chooses a negative weight on relative performance evaluation, whereas the disadvantaged firm may choose a positive or negative weight depending on the degree of product substitution. Furthermore, we demonstrate that while all firms prefer to release weights early, this situation does not improve social welfare in several economic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of NEDO's international demonstration projects, a large‐capacity hybrid battery storage system which consists of two types of battery cells with different charge‐discharge characteristics was constructed in the state of Lower Saxony in the Federal Republic of Germany. By using the hybrid battery system has a lithium‐ion which has an advantage in short time and high rate, and a sodium‐sulfur battery (NAS) which has an advantage in long time and low rate, the tender participation in the balancing power market in Germany had been executed. The hybrid battery storage system could successfully drive and provided services for primary and secondary control reserves, elimination of power imbalance, and reactive power injection, as well as a combination of these services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The long-term stability of antimicrobials dissolved in infusion solution is necessary to establish and spread the outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT). In this study, we evaluated the stability of antimicrobial agents dissolved in infusion solutions. Methods: The antimicrobial agents were dissolved in infusion solutions and kept at 25 °C and 31.1 °C for 24 h or 4 °C for 10 days in a polypropylene tube or an elastomeric infusion pump. The stability was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. Results and conclusion: The residual ratio of cefazolin (CEZ), cefmetazole (CMZ), piperacillin (PIPC), and tazobactam (TAZ) at 31.1 °C for 24 h was as follows: 95.7 ± 3.0%, 94.8 ± 0.9%, 102.6 ± 1.8%, and 103.9 ± 3.6% in saline, respectively; 94.7 ± 3.0%, 94.3 ± 1.5%, 106.1 ± 3.0%, and 107.3 ± 2.4% in 5% dextrose solution, respectively. The residual ratio of these antimicrobials at 4 °C for 10 days was maintained above 90% in both saline and 5% dextrose solution. The residual ratio of all the above antimicrobials in an elastomeric infusion pump at 31.1 °C for 24 h was equivalent to that in the polypropylene tube. On the other hand, doripenem and meropenem were not stable in any infusion solution at 31.1 °C. CEZ, CMZ, and PIPC/TAZ dissolved in saline or 5% dextrose solution can be used in OPAT with continuous infusion pumps.

Abstract Background There is little data on the association between the lower nutrition represented by serum albumin levels and related factors in a general population. The present study aimed to determine whether the albumin level positioned as some kind of biomarker with frailty measures, trace elements, and an inflammation marker. Methods In 2018, we performed an epidemiological survey in 1368 subjects who resided in Tanushimaru, Japan, in which we examined the blood chemistry including albumin, trace elements, hormone levels, and carotid ultrasonography. Albumin levels were categorized into 4 groups (G1 [3.2–3.9 mg/dL], G2 [4.0–4.3 mg/dL], G3 [4.4–4.6 mg/dL], and G4 [4.7–5.3 mg/dL]). The participants underwent measurements of handgrip strength and were tested by asking to walk 5 m. Their cognitive functions were evaluated by the mini-mental state examination (MMSE). Results Multiple stepwise regression analysis demonstrated that albumin levels were significantly and independently associated with age (inversely), systolic blood pressures, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), MMSE score, frailty measures (handgrip strength), an inflammation marker (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein), hormones (growth hormone (inversely) and insulin-like growth factor-1), and trace elements (calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc), with a linear trend. Conclusions Lower albumin levels, even in the normal range, were found to be related factors of frailty measures, trace elements, and an inflammation marker in a general population.

We investigated the formation mechanism of a rounded silicon-germanium (SiGe)-etch front (rounding) in gate-all-around field-effect transistor (GAA-FET) manufacturing. This rounding is created by the isotropic etching of the SiGe layer after anisotropic etching of the SiGe/Si stack, which degrades device characteristics. The etch-time dependence of the rounding amount during isotropic SiGe etching with nitrogen trifluoride plasma indicates that rounding is mainly formed in an initial stage of SiGe etching, namely, etch time less than 15 s. Cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (STEM EDX) measurement indicated that a Ge-containing layer formed on the sidewall of SiGe/Si patterns before isotropic SiGe etching. From these results, we propose a formation model of SiGe rounding below. The Ge composition in the Ge-containing layer has a gradient due to ion-assisted Ge diffusion during anisotropic etching of the SiGe/Si stack. This gradient induces rounding during isotropic SiGe etching because the etch rate of the SiGe layer decreases as the Ge composition decreases. To validate our model, the Ge-containing layer after anisotropic etching was removed by post-etch treatment and the Ge spectra on the sidewall was reduced to the detection limit of STEM EDX. As a result, the rounding amount after isotropic SiGe etching improved from 2.7 to 1.8 nm. This reduction indicates that the formation of the Ge-containing layer during anisotropic etching of the SiGe/Si stack is one of the main causes of rounding after isotropic SiGe etching.

Chamberlin and Salisbury's assessment of the Permian a century ago captured the essence of the period: it is an interval of extremes yet one sufficiently recent to have affected a biosphere with near-modern complexity. The events of the Permian – the orogenic episodes, massive biospheric turnovers, both icehouse and greenhouse antitheses, and Mars-analog lithofacies – boggle the imagination and present us with great opportunities to explore Earth system behavior. The ICDP-funded workshops dubbed “Deep Dust,” held in Oklahoma (USA) in March 2019 (67 participants from nine countries) and Paris (France) in January 2020 (33 participants from eight countries), focused on clarifying the scientific drivers and key sites for coring continuous sections of Permian continental (loess, lacustrine, and associated) strata that preserve high-resolution records. Combined, the two workshops hosted a total of 91 participants representing 14 countries, with broad expertise. Discussions at Deep Dust 1.0 (USA) focused on the primary research questions of paleoclimate, paleoenvironments, and paleoecology of icehouse collapse and the run-up to the Great Dying and both the modern and Permian deep microbial biosphere. Auxiliary science topics included tectonics, induced seismicity, geothermal energy, and planetary science. Deep Dust 1.0 also addressed site selection as well as scientific approaches, logistical challenges, and broader impacts and included a mid-workshop field trip to view the Permian of Oklahoma. Deep Dust 2.0 focused specifically on honing the European target. The Anadarko Basin (Oklahoma) and Paris Basin (France) represent the most promising initial targets to capture complete or near-complete stratigraphic coverage through continental successions that serve as reference points for western and eastern equatorial Pangaea.

Few studies have compared the effectiveness of internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (ICBT) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with treatment as usual (TAU). We investigated the effectiveness of guided ICBT for patients with OCD. This prospective, randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded, multicenter clinical trial was conducted at three facilities in Japan from January 2020 to March 2021. Thirty-one patients with OCD as the primary diagnosis participated in the trial and were randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the control group. The primary outcome was the Yale–Brown obsessive-compulsive scale score; the assessors were blinded. Results of the analysis of covariance among the groups were significantly different between the groups (p

Injection site reaction (ISR) is a common side-effect associated with the use of peptide or protein pharmaceuticals. These types of pharmaceuticals-induced activation of antigen-presenting cells is assumed to be a key step in the pathogenesis of immune-mediated ISR. The present study was designed to evaluate the immunostimulatory properties of peptide or protein pharmaceuticals using human monocytic THP-1 cells. Here, THP-1 cells, with or without phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) pretreatment, were exposed to enfuvirtide and glatiramer acetate (positive controls) or evolocumab (negative control) for 6 or 24 h. PMA treatment differentiated non-adherent monocytic THP-1 (nTHP-1) cells into adherent macrophagic THP-1 (pTHP-1) cells that highly express CD11b and CD36. Enfuvirtide increased the release of cytokines, e.g. TNFα, MIP-1β, and MCP-1, and expression of CD86 and CD54 on nTHP-1 cells at 24 h. Similar immunostimulatory properties of glatiramer acetate were observed both in the nTHP-1 and pTHP-1 cells at 6 h, but the responses were very weak in the pTHP-1 cells. Evolocumab did not affect cytokine secretion or cell surface marker expression in either cell type. Taken together, these in vitro THP-1 cell assays revealed the immunostimulatory properties of enfuvirtide and glatiramer acetate. This assay platform thus could serve as a powerful tool in evaluating potential immune-related ISR risks of peptide or protein pharmaceuticals in humans.

Background: Purpose of the present systematic review is to investigate preclinical evidence in favor of the working hypothesis of efficacy of cannabinoids in ocular pain treatment. Methods: Literature search includes the most relevant repositories for medical scientific literature from inception until November, 24 2021. Data collection and selection of retrieved records adhere to PRISMA criteria. Results: In agreement with a priori established protocol the search retrieved 2471 records leaving 479 results after duplicates removal. Eleven records result from title and abstract screening to meet the inclusion criteria; only 4 results are eligible for inclusion in the qualitative synthesis impeding meta-analysis. The qualitative analysis highlights the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory efficacy of Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol and its derivative HU-308 and of new racemic CB1 allosteric ligand GAT211 and its enantiomers GAT228 and GAT229. Moreover, CB2R agonists RO6871304 and RO6871085 and CB2R ligand HU910 provide evidence of anti-inflammatory efficacy. CB2 agonist HU308 reduces of 241% uveitis-induced leukocyte adhesion and changes lipidome profile. Methodological and design issues raise concern of risk of bias and the amount of studies is too small for generalization. Furthermore, the ocular pain model used can resemble only inflammatory but not neuropathic pain. Conclusions: The role of the endocannabinoid system in ocular pain is underinvestigated, since only two studies assessing the effects of cannabinoid receptors modulators on pain behavior and other two on pain-related inflammatory processes are found. Preclinical studies investigating the efficacy of cannabinoids in ocular inflammatory and neuropathic pain models are needed to pave the way for clinical translation.

The present study examined the relationship between DNA methylation differences and variations in brain structures involved in the development of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). First, we used monozygotic (MZ) twins discordant (2 pairs of 4 individuals, 2 boys, mean age 12.5 years) for ADHD to identify candidate DNA methylation sites involved in the development of ADHD. Next, we tried to replicate these candidates in a case-control study (ADHD: N = 18, 15 boys, mean age 10.0 years; Controls: N = 62, 40 boys, mean age 13.9 years). Finally, we examined how methylation rates at those sites relate to the degree of local structural alterations where significant differences were observed between cases and controls. As a result, we identified 61 candidate DNA methylation sites involved in ADHD development in two pairs of discordant MZ twins, among which elevated methylation at a site in the sortilin-related Vps10p domain containing receptor 2 (SorCS2) gene was replicated in the case-control study. We also observed that the ADHD group had significantly reduced gray matter volume (GMV) in the precentral and posterior orbital gyri compared to the control group and that this volume reduction was positively associated with SorCS2 methylation. Furthermore, the reduced GMV regions in children with ADHD are involved in language processing and emotional control, while SorCS2 methylation is also negatively associated with emotional behavioral problems in children. These results indicate that SorCS2 methylation might mediate a reduced GMV in the precentral and posterior orbital gyri and therefore influence the pathology of children with ADHD.

Natural disturbances like hurricanes can cause extensive disorder in forest structure, composition, and succession. Consequently, ecological, social, and economic alterations may occur. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and deep learning have been used for estimating forest attributes with high accuracy, but to date, no study has combined both TLS and deep learning for assessing the impact of hurricane disturbance at the individual tree level. Here, we aim to assess the capability of TLS and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) combined for classifying post-Hurricane Michael damage severity at the individual tree level in a pine-dominated forest ecosystem in the Florida Panhandle, Southern U.S. We assessed the combined impact of using either binary-color or multicolored-by-height TLS-derived 2D images along with six CNN architectures (Densenet201, EfficientNet_b7, Inception_v3, Res-net152v2, VGG16, and a simple CNN). The confusion matrices used for assessing the overall accuracy were symmetric in all six CNNs and 2D image variants tested with overall accuracy ranging from 73% to 92%. We found higher F-1 scores when classifying trees with damage severity varying from extremely leaning, trunk snapped, stem breakage, and uprooted compared to trees that were undamaged or slightly leaning (

Live-cell imaging is a powerful method to obtain insights into cellular processes, particularly with respect to their dynamics. This is especially true for meiosis, where chromosomes and other cellular components such as the cytoskeleton follow an elaborate choreography over a relatively short period of time. Making these dynamics visible expands understanding of the regulation of meiosis and its underlying molecular forces. However, the analysis of meiosis by live-cell imaging is challenging; specifically in plants, a temporally resolved understanding of chromosome segregation and recombination events is lacking. Recent advances in live-cell imaging now allow the analysis of meiotic events in plants in real time. These new microscopy methods rely on the generation of reporter lines for meiotic regulators and on the establishment of ex vivo culture and imaging conditions, which stabilize the specimen and keep it alive for several hours or even days. In this review, we combine an overview of the technical aspects of live-cell imaging in plants with a summary of outstanding questions that can now be addressed to promote live-cell imaging in Arabidopsis and other plant species and stimulate ideas on the topics that can be addressed in the context of plant meiotic recombination.

Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation (MSCT) has been used to treat human diseases, but the detailed mechanisms underlying its success are not fully understood. Here we show that MSCT rescues bone marrow MSC (BMMSC) function and ameliorates osteopenia in Fas-deficient-MRL/lpr mice. Mechanistically, we show that Fas deficiency causes failure of miR-29b release, thereby elevating intracellular miR-29b levels, and downregulates DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) expression in MRL/lpr BMMSCs. This results in hypomethylation of the Notch1 promoter and activation of Notch signaling, in turn leading to impaired osteogenic differentiation. Furthermore, we show that exosomes, secreted due to MSCT, transfer Fas to recipient MRL/lpr BMMSCs to reduce intracellular levels of miR-29b, which results in recovery of Dnmt1-mediated Notch1 promoter hypomethylation and thereby improves MRL/lpr BMMSC function. Collectively our findings unravel the means by which MSCT rescues MRL/lpr BMMSC function through reuse of donor exosome-provided Fas to regulate the miR-29b/Dnmt1/Notch epigenetic cascade.

A 67-year-old male patient with a massive left axillary metastasis from an occult primary tumor (OPT) treated by stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) is presented. The patient had no clinical response to the initial chemotherapy treatment. Then, a SABR with a single fraction of 16Gy was performed. After SABR, a complete response was observed in the imaging exams after 3 months from the procedure. Currently, the patient is found with painfree, without any analgesic drug. The present case illustrates the importance of considering SABR in palliate care, even for a large tumor.