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Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is largely prescribed for bacterial infections but raises a major concern over generation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. This study employed various perovskite-type photocatalysts, made by two-step synthesis procedures, to remove SMX. The as-synthesized CaCu 3 Ti 4 O 7 (CCTO) perovskites were characterized by XRD, SEM-EDX, and DLS. Complete degradation (∼99%; k obs = 0.0279 min−1) of SMX was recorded under UV-light irradiation for 90 min in the presence of CCTO. SMX removal rate was investigated under various reaction conditions including pH, catalyst dose, electrolyte (NaCl and NaBr). The astonishing rate of SMX removal (k obs = 0.0614 min−1) was observed with the addition of 50 mM NaBr electrolytes in the reaction, which might imply that the appearance of halogen reactive species. CCTO-MS particles were aggregated in traces when the electrolytes concentration increases, resulting in reduced rate of SMX. The SMX concentration abatement and the formation of possible intermediates during photocatalytic reaction were analyzed. The upshot of this study reveals that the inexpensive and environmentally benign CCTO perovskite photocatalyst could be applied for the treatments of emerging contaminants in the future. [Display omitted] • A sol-gel method combines with calcination and ball milling was used to synthesize CCTO perovskite. • Influence of electrolyte, pH, and particle size was observed in presence of NaBr and NaCl. • Modest operation and easy recovery demonstrate high stability of CCTO perovskite. • ●OH and ●Br radicals exhibited dominant role for SMX removal. • LC-MS analysis exhibited potential degradation of SMX. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented which addresses research involving high altitudes, an association between polycythernia and glucose intolerance (GI), and a J-curve association between GI and the hemoglobin and ferritin levels in the inhabitants of the Tibetan Highland region.

[Display omitted] • Small-molecular features in Atlantic salmon were acquired using LC-HRMS. • Origin discrimination was accomplished using untargeted fingerprinting. • 95 candidate markers of origins were selected by univariate analyses. • 37 confirmed markers were related to feed formulations and environment adaptation. • None of the markers were residues or contaminants of potential food safety concern. Mislabelling the geographic origin of same-species aquaculture products is difficult to identify. This study applied untargeted small-molecule fingerprinting to discriminating between Atlantic salmon originating from Chile and Norway. The acquired liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry data from Chilean (n = 32) and Norwegian (n = 29) salmon were chemometrically processed. The partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models successfully discriminated between Chilean and Norwegian salmon at both positive and negative ionisation modes (R2 > 0.96, Q2 > 0.81). Univariate analyses facilitated the selection of approximately 100 candidate markers with high statistical confidence (> 95%). Of these, 37 confirmed markers of Chilean and Norwegian salmon were primarily associated with feed formulations, including lipid derivatives and feed additives. None of the markers were residues or contaminants of potential food safety concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression in older adults erodes their health, quality of life and the economy. Existing interventions are not feasible for broad application at the community. Postcard intervention only requires a few resources, and previous studies have shown its effectiveness for patients following drug overdose, self-harm and hospitalisation for major depression. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a postcard intervention. Participants were community-dwelling individuals, aged 65 or older, who eat meals alone and with the score of 4 or higher on the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). We enrolled 184 eligible participants, with 93 in the intervention and 91 in the control arm. Postcards were sent to participants once a month for eight months. Primary outcome was the GDS-15 score at post-intervention. Secondary outcomes were quality of life and activities of daily living. There was no significant difference in primary and secondary outcomes between completers of the intervention and the control arm. However, most of the participants who received intervention thought the intervention was effective. The postcard intervention for depression in community-dwelling elderly people in Japan is neither feasible nor effective. However, the descriptive results suggest that the intervention may be effective given different parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk perception is one of the core factors in theories of health behavior promotion. However, the association between knowledge, risk perception, and depressed mood in depression is unknown. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationships between subjective knowledge, risk perception, and objective scores of depression in community-dwelling elderly people in Japan. A total of 747 elderly participants (mean age: 76.1, female: 59.8%) who completed the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) along with items assessing subjective knowledge and risk perception were included in the analysis. We assessed the correlation between subjective knowledge and risk perception, and then compare GDS-15 scores by level of subjective knowledge and risk perception. Subjective knowledge was weakly associated with risk perception and related to lower GDS-15 scores in a dose–response pattern, which did not change after adjusting for age, gender, basic activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental ADL, years of education and history of depression. There was no significant association between risk perception and GDS-15 scores. The relationship between knowledge, risk perception, and depressed mood in younger generations is unclear, but warrants examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We investigated the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) with regard to its factors and, reproducibility, as well as its relationship to activities of daily living, social factors, medical conditions, and quality of life for community-dwelling elderly people in Japan. The study population consisted of 736 community-dwelling elderly participants aged 65 or older. Exploratory factor analysis of the data and correlation coefficients between factors and activities of daily living, quality of life, social factors, and medical conditions were calculated for two consecutive years. The reproducibility of the results was also evaluated. As the result, GDS-15 had three reproducible factors specified as follows: factor I, “energy loss and pessimistic outlook”; factor II, “positive mental status (reversed)”; and factor III, “empty feeling.” Comparing our findings with a review of research in this area, positive items (excluding “feel full of energy”) seem to compose an universal factor. Factor I correlated best with quality of life, factor II with activities of daily living, and factor III with subjective cognitive function. These results suggest the GDS-15 can be used to assess the functional ability and quality of life, as well as depressive mood in older adults. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) are globally prevalent and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) listed by the Stockholm Convention in 2013. They have been detected in many environmental media from waterbodies to Plantae and even in the human body. Due to their highly bioaccumulative characterization, they pose an urgent public health issue. Here, we demonstrate that the indigenous microbial community in the agricultural soil in Taiwan could decompose HBCDs with no additional carbon source incentive. The degradation kinetics reached 0.173 day-1 after the first treatment and 0.104 day-1 after second exposure. With additional C-sources, the rate constants decreased to 0.054–0.097 day-1. The hydroxylic debromination metabolites and ring cleavage long-chain alkane metabolites were identified to support the potential metabolic pathways utilized by the soil microbial communities. The metagenome established by Nanopore sequencing showed significant compositional alteration in the soil microbial community after the HBCD treatment. After ranking, comparing relative abundances, and performing network analyses, several novel bacterial taxa were identified to contribute to HBCD biotransformation, including Herbaspirillum , Sphingomonas , Brevundimonas , Azospirillum , Caulobacter , and Microvirga , through halogenated / aromatic compound degradation, glutathione-S-transferase, and hydrolase activity. We present a compelling and applicable approach combining metagenomics research, degradation kinetics, and metabolomics strategies, which allowed us to decipher the natural attenuation and remediation mechanisms of HBCDs. [Display omitted] • Natural attenuation of HBCD demonstrates in agricultural soils. • Continuous degradation of HBCD was observed after its repeated exposure. • Sequencing and network analysis revealed changes in microbial composition and function. • Microbial community compositional and functional dynamics in HBCD soils were studied. • Dynamic microbial changes, novel strains, and metabolic mechanisms were discovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the title compound, C22H22F2N42+·2Cl−·H2O, the two imidazole rings are in a syn orientation with respect to each other. The crystal structure displays O—H⋯Cl, C—H⋯Cl, C—H⋯F and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chronotropic incompetence (CI) severely limits exercise tolerance due to impaired heart rate responses. This study investigated whether pacemaker with closed-loop stimulation (DDD-CLS) pacing, which provides rate acceleration in response to exertion, could enhance lung function and cardiopulmonary capacity compared pacemaker without CLS pacing in patients with CI., Methods: This randomized crossover trial included 32 patients with CI who were compared to each CLS and DDD pacing over 2 months. Spirometry was used to assess the forced vital capacity (FVC). Cycling-based cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) measured peak oxygen uptake (peak VO 2 )., Results: DDD-CLS pacing yielded significantly higher FVC (2.2 ± 0.8 L) versus DDD pacing (2.0 ± 0.7 L), p = 0.036, a 3.2% improvement. Moreover, those in the DDD-CLS mode showed a significantly higher FEV1 of 1.8 ± 0.6 L compared to the DDD mode of 1.7 ± 0.5 L (p = 0.03). Compared with DDD pacing, DDD-CLS pacing also achieved superior peak VO 2 (14.9 ± 4.0 vs 12.2 ± 3.7 mlO 2 /kg/min, p < 0.001) and peak heart rate (106.9 ± 9.7 vs 98.3 ± 19.8 bpm, p = 0.013). DDD-CLS and DDD pacing modes showed significant correlations between FVC and peak VO 2 and between peak VO 2 and peak heart rate during CPET., Conclusions: Compared with DDD mode, DDD-CLS pacing provided physiological chronotropic support to improve cardiopulmonary function during exertion, which enhanced lung capacity in patients with CI., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None declared., (Copyright © 2024 Formosan Medical Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Most cancer cells reprogram their glucose metabolic pathway from oxidative phosphorylation to aerobic glycolysis for energy production. By reducing enzyme activity of pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2), cancer cells attain a greater fraction of glycolytic metabolites for macromolecule synthesis needed for rapid proliferation. Here we demonstrate that hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) destabilizes the PKM2 tetramer into monomer/dimer through sulfhydration at cysteines, notably at C326, leading to reduced PKM2 enzyme activity and increased PKM2-mediated transcriptional activation. Blocking PKM2 sulfhydration at C326 through amino acid mutation stabilizes the PKM2 tetramer and crystal structure further revealing the tetramer organization of PKM2-C326S. The PKM2-C326S mutant in cancer cells rewires glucose metabolism to mitochondrial respiration, significantly inhibiting tumor growth. In this work, we demonstrate that PKM2 sulfhydration by H 2 S inactivates PKM2 activity to promote tumorigenesis and inhibiting this process could be a potential therapeutic approach for targeting cancer metabolism., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Since traditional photocatalysts have suffered from higher charge carrier recombination and moderate photocatalytic efficiency, developing photocatalysts is crucial for water treatment objectives. Hence, the various ratios of TiO 2 on g-C 3 N 4 (CN) to form nano photocatalysts were synthesized by the solvothermal method. The 30%TiO 2 /CN showed the best performance to degradation and debromination of 4-bromophenol (4-BP) solution completely (k obs  = 6.6 × 10 -2 min -1 ) under visible light emitted by LED (420 nm) in 30 min. Remarkably, the photocatalyst showed superior stability and reusability, maintaining its efficiency after four cycles of 4-BP degradation. The dominant ROS participating in 4-BP degradation were ● O - 2 and photogenerated holes (h + ), as investigated by free radical scavenging tests. The optical properties analysis revealed that the introduction of TiO 2 to the bulk CN decreases electron-hole recombination and improve photocatalytic performance by facilitating electrons transfer through the TiO 2 nanoparticles in a chain. The findings of this study showed that the TiO 2 /CN photocatalyst is a promising catalyst for the degradation of 4-BP. It exhibits a higher rate constant and photocatalytic efficiency compared with previous studies conducted under visible light irradiation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest There are no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The purpose of this research was to assess the effect of telehealth management via WeChat on improving the quality of life of patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)., Methods: In this study, we retrospectively collected the clinical data of 118 patients who underwent PCI and received remote health management from our hospital via WeChat from June 2021 to September 2021 (WeChat group). The clinical data of 114 patients who underwent PCI but did not receive remote health management from our hospital from September 2020 to December 2020 were also collected (conventional group). Anxiety, depression, and quality of life scale scores were compared between the 2 groups at 6 months postdischarge., Results: Six months postdischarge, patients in the WeChat group had significantly lower Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) (55.7 ± 7.2 vs 58.8 ± 6.4, P = .001) and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) (56.0 ± 5.9 vs 58.2 ± 6.2, P = .007) scores than did those in the conventional group. Compared to those in the conventional group, the patients in the WeChat group had significantly greater 6 months post-discharge The World Health Organization Quality of Life - BREF scores in the following domains: physical (14.3 ± 1.7 vs 13.1 ± 1.7, P < .001 psychological (15.2 ± 1.3 vs 13.5 ± 1.5, P < .001 social relationship (12.9 ± 1.7 vs 12.3 ± 1.8, P = .01) and environmental (12.7 ± 2.0 vs 12.0 ± 1.9, P = .006)., Conclusion: The use of WeChat to carry out remote health management for patients who underwent PCI can be an effective way to provide high-quality hospital medical services to patients' families and can effectively alleviate patients' anxiety and depression and enhance their quality of life., Competing Interests: All authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Natural organic matter is a mixture of microbial decomposition products widely found in surface and groundwater. These organic materials have great potential as carbon-based precursors for chemical synthesis. This work demonstrated the development of a green photocatalyst via a facile adsorption process that combined colloidal titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) with humic acid. The resulting photocatalyst was visible light active and able to completely degrade 5 mg/L of BPA within 6 h under the irradiation of energy-efficient LED white light. The first-order kinetic rate constant of the reaction was determined to be 1.7 × 10 -2 min -1 . The enhanced photocatalytic activity was attributed to the decreased band gap energy and effective charge separation that limits the photogenerated electron-hole recombination. The outcome of this research opened an opportunity for the development of sustainable functional materials using natural organic matter., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of closed-loop stimulation (CLS) pacing compared with the traditional DDD mode in patients with chronotropic incompetence (CI) using bicycle-based cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET)., Methods and Results: This single-centre, randomized crossover trial involved 40 patients with CI. Patients were randomized to receive either DDD-CLS or DDD mode pacing for 2 months, followed by a crossover to the alternative mode for an additional 2 months. Bicycling-based CPET was conducted at the 3- and 5-month follow-up visits to assess exercise capacity. Other cardiopulmonary exercise outcome measures and health-related quality of life (QoL) were also assessed. DDD-CLS mode pacing significantly improved exercise capacity, resulting in a peak oxygen uptake (14.8 ± 4.0 vs. 12.0 ± 3.6 mL/kg/min, P < 0.001) and oxygen uptake at the ventilatory threshold (10.0 ± 2.2 vs. 8.7 ± 1.8 mL/kg/min, P < 0.001) higher than those of the DDD mode. However, there were no significant differences in other cardiopulmonary exercise outcome measures such as ventilatory efficiency of carbon dioxide production slope, oxygen uptake efficiency slope, and end-tidal carbon dioxide between the two modes. Patients in the DDD-CLS group reported a better QoL, and 97.5% expressed a preference for the DDD-CLS mode., Conclusion: DDD-CLS mode pacing demonstrated improved exercise capacity and QoL in patients with CI, highlighting its potential as an effective pacing strategy for this patient population., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: none declared., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)

Important concepts in leadership management related to the field of medical care management include servant leadership, charismatic leadership, and transformational leadership. Since the 2020 emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, the world has faced the immediate challenges of epidemic prevention and control. Although national government and medical system officials as well as scholars have weighed in on this issue, their leadership does not appear to line up the core ideas of leadership. Daft and Lengel (2000) examined the influence of fusion leadership on individuals and organizations. The fusion of many nuclei of leadership intentions will produce great power and influence. To elucidate the concept of integrated leadership for individuals and organizations in the post-pandemic healthcare system, this paper summarizes the defining characteristics of fusion leadership based on the conceptual analysis method of Walker and Avant (2019). Concurrently, we confirm the antecedents and consequences of fusion leadership, use different cases to illustrate the analysis, and share the reference indicators and measurements of fusion leadership to provide a reference for healthcare system administrators.

Livestock wastewater has been reused for agricultural irrigation to save water and fertilise the soil. However, micropollutants excreted by livestock animals may contaminate the soil and crops through livestock wastewater irrigation. This study employed high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) to facilitate broad-scope suspect screening of soil and vegetables and identify changes in micropollutant fingerprints caused by swine wastewater irrigation. Field trials were performed to simulate the practical cultivation of small leafy vegetables. Soil and pak choi were irrigated with groundwater, a reasonable amount of swine wastewater, and excessive swine wastewater (three times the reasonable amount) and were sampled at three time points. The samples were extracted using organic solvents and analysed with a liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight HRMS system. The molecular features were compared to over 3000 micropollutants in commercial libraries. The relative concentrations of suspect micropollutants among the irrigation groups were compared using multivariate and univariate analyses. The marker micropollutants that increased with swine wastewater irrigation were rigorously identified based on the MS/MS spectra. Fifty-three micropollutants were frequently found in the soil (n = 54) and 36 in the pak choi (n = 53). Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models revealed significant differences in the micropollutant fingerprints in the soil among the three irrigation groups, but not in the pak choi. Eight micropollutants with variable importance in projection scores above 1.0 in the PLS-DA model and significantly higher relative concentrations (p < 0.05) in the soil irrigated with swine wastewater were confirmed as markers. Besides veterinary drugs and their metabolites, cinnamic acid and phenylalanine were the markers relevant to swine feed that were not previously reported. Nevertheless, accumulations of micropollutants in the soil or contamination of the pak choi due to swine wastewater irrigation were not found under the trial conditions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced or appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD), as a metabolic stress liver injury disease, is one of the most common chronic liver diseases, which seriously threatens people's health. The pathogenesis of NAFLD is very complex. A large number of studies show that the hepatic mitochondrial dysfunction leads to the disorder of hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, and inflammation, thus inducing hepatocyte apoptosis, which plays an important role in the progression of NAFLD. In recent years, researchers have begun to focus on developing drugs that slowed the progression of NAFLD by regulating the hepatic mitochondrial function. Chinese medicine has a good curative effect on the treatment of NAFLD, with the advantages of high safety and few side effects. Various studies have shown that Chinese medicine prevented and treated NAFLD by regulating the mitochondrial function. Therefore, this paper summarized the relationship between NAFLD and mitochondria, and the mechanism of Chinese medicine(single Chinese medicine, Chinese medicine monomer, and Chinese medicine compound prescription) in the prevention and treatment of NAFLD by regulating mitochondrial function. This paper is expected to provide references for clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of NAFLD by regulating mitochondrial function.

Objective: This study aims to determine the factors associated with patient care manager role and the implementation of the clinical pathway among nurses in private hospitals., Methods: This study was conducted from January-July 2021 using the cross-sectional approach. The sample consisted of 168 nurses working in a private hospital in Surabaya City, East Java, Indonesia. Meanwhile, the data were collected using the Patient Care Manager Role Scale (PCMRS) and analyzed by multiple logistic regression to find the correlation between the variables., Results: A higher percentage of nurses namely 64.3% had compliance in COVID-19 clinical pathways with an average PCMRS score of 27.81 ± 2.43. Nurses with a high-level patient care manager role level had a significant compliance risk with odds ratio [OR] 440.137, 95% confidence interval [CI] [51.850-3736.184], and p -value = 0.000 compared to those with a low role., Conclusion: The role of patient care manager and compliance with COVID-19 clinical pathways correlated significantly. Based on the results, several actions are needed for the early identification of patient service managers' roles to ensure compliance with COVID-19 clinical pathways and reduce the number of cases in Indonesia., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2022 Aziz Alimul Hidayat et al.)

The accumulation of β-sheet-rich α-synuclein (α-Syn) protein in human brain cells is a pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD). Moreover, it has been reported that familial PD mutations (A30P, E46K, H50Q, G51D, and A53T) accumulate at an accelerated rate both in vivo and in vitro. In addition, accumulations of various C-terminal α-Syn truncations, such as C-terminal-truncated N103 α-synuclein (N103), were found in an aggregated form in the brain tissue of PD patients. Fluorescent protein-tagged wild-type α-Syn, A30P, E46K, H50Q, G51D, A53T, and N103 were transfected into HEK293T and SHSY5Y cells, and their diffusion behaviors were investigated with a custom-built fluorescence microscope system. Based on our experimental results, the oligomerization of α-Syn is a time-dependent process in both HEK293T and SHSY5Y cells, and the oligomer state approaches a plateau after 48 h of transfection. The change in the oligomeric state of E46K, H50Q, and G51D exhibited a similar trend to the wild type at a lower concentration but became intense at a higher concentration. A53T and N103 possess smaller diffusion coefficients than wild-type α-synuclein and other family PD mutations, indicating that these two mutants could form higher oligomeric states or stronger interactions in HEK293T and SHSY5Y cells. In contrast, the smallest oligomer and the lowest intracellular interaction among all investigated α-Syn variants were found for A30P. These phenomena indicated the presence of different pathogeneses among familial PD mutants and C-terminal α-Syn truncations.

Developing highly sensitive and selective methods for Cu 2+ detection in living systems is of great significance in clinical copper-related disease diagnosis. In this work, a near infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe, CySBH, with a salicylaldehyde benzoyl hydrazone group as a selective and sensitive receptor for Cu 2+ was designed and synthesized. The specific coordination of the salicylaldehyde benzoyl hydrazone group in CySBH with Cu 2+ can induce a distinct quench of the fluorescence intensity, allowing for real-time tracking of Cu 2+ . We have demonstrated that CySBH could rapidly recognize Cu 2+ with good selectivity and high sensitivity. Moreover, on the basis of low cell cytotoxicity, the probe was used to visualize Cu 2+ in two cell lines by fluorescence imaging. Furthermore, CySBH can also be used to monitor Cu 2+ in vivo due to its NIR emission properties. These overall results illustrate that the NIR fluorescent probe CySBH provides a novel approach for the selective and sensitive monitoring of Cu 2+ in living systems., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Background: The NORMAN Association (https://www.norman-network.com/) initiated the NORMAN Suspect List Exchange (NORMAN-SLE; https://www.norman-network.com/nds/SLE/) in 2015, following the NORMAN collaborative trial on non-target screening of environmental water samples by mass spectrometry. Since then, this exchange of information on chemicals that are expected to occur in the environment, along with the accompanying expert knowledge and references, has become a valuable knowledge base for "suspect screening" lists. The NORMAN-SLE now serves as a FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) chemical information resource worldwide., Results: The NORMAN-SLE contains 99 separate suspect list collections (as of May 2022) from over 70 contributors around the world, totalling over 100,000 unique substances. The substance classes include per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals, pesticides, natural toxins, high production volume substances covered under the European REACH regulation (EC: 1272/2008), priority contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and regulatory lists from NORMAN partners. Several lists focus on transformation products (TPs) and complex features detected in the environment with various levels of provenance and structural information. Each list is available for separate download. The merged, curated collection is also available as the NORMAN Substance Database (NORMAN SusDat). Both the NORMAN-SLE and NORMAN SusDat are integrated within the NORMAN Database System (NDS). The individual NORMAN-SLE lists receive digital object identifiers (DOIs) and traceable versioning via a Zenodo community (https://zenodo.org/communities/norman-sle), with a total of > 40,000 unique views, > 50,000 unique downloads and 40 citations (May 2022). NORMAN-SLE content is progressively integrated into large open chemical databases such as PubChem (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) and the US EPA's CompTox Chemicals Dashboard (https://comptox.epa.gov/dashboard/), enabling further access to these lists, along with the additional functionality and calculated properties these resources offer. PubChem has also integrated significant annotation content from the NORMAN-SLE, including a classification browser (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/classification/#hid=101)., Conclusions: The NORMAN-SLE offers a specialized service for hosting suspect screening lists of relevance for the environmental community in an open, FAIR manner that allows integration with other major chemical resources. These efforts foster the exchange of information between scientists and regulators, supporting the paradigm shift to the "one substance, one assessment" approach. New submissions are welcome via the contacts provided on the NORMAN-SLE website (https://www.norman-network.com/nds/SLE/)., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12302-022-00680-6., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Neutrophils are the primary immune cells in innate immunity, which are related to various inflammatory diseases. Astragalus mongholicus Bunge is a Chinese medicinal herb used to treat various oxidative stress-related inflammatory diseases. However, there are limited studies that elucidate the effects of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge in human neutrophils. In this study, we used isolated human neutrophils activated by various stimulants to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge water extract (AWE). Cell-free assays were used to examine free radicals scavenging capabilities on superoxide anion, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and nitrogen-centered radicals. Imiquimod (IMQ) induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation mouse model was used for investigating anti-psoriatic effects. We found that AWE inhibited superoxide anion production, ROS generation, and elastase release in human neutrophils, which exhibiting a direct anti-neutrophil effect. Moreover, AWE exerted a ROS scavenging ability in the 2,2'-Azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride assay, but not superoxide anion in the xanthine/xanthine oxidase assay, suggesting that AWE exhibited anti-oxidation and anti-inflammatory capabilities by both scavenging ROS and by directly inhibiting neutrophil activation. AWE also reduced CD11b expression and adhesion to endothelial cells in activated human neutrophils. Meanwhile, in mice with psoriasis-like skin inflammation, administration of topical AWE reduced both the affected area and the severity index score. It inhibited neutrophil infiltration, myeloperoxidase release, ROS-induced damage, and skin proliferation. In summary, AWE exhibited direct anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting neutrophil activation and anti-psoriatic effects in mice with IMQ-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation. Therefore, AWE could potentially be a pharmaceutical Chinese herbal medicine to inhibit neutrophilic inflammation for anti-psoriasis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Cheng, Chiang, Lin, Chen, Leu, Sie, Chen, Hsu, Kuo and Hwang.)

The article describes the author's nursing experience providing psychiatric homecare to a patient with chronic schizophrenia using the concept of resilience. Holistic nursing assessments were conducted via clinical observations during home visits every two weeks from May 24th to September 20th, 2018. Through these assessments, the main health problems of the patient were defined as ineffective self-health management, ineffective coping skills, and insufficient resilience. The nursing interventions implemented were designed to establish the patient's capacity to effectively and correctly self-manage health status, achieve emotional accommodation, and reduce parent-child conflicts. In order to enhance the resilience of the patient, the patient was guided to review important support resources over the course of illness, to detect the barriers of returning society, to apply the beneficial skills of health management, and then extend the status of employment and to enhance self-fulfillment.

Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), an endogenous signaling gaseous molecule, is involved in various physiological activities, including vessel relaxation, regulation of cellular bioenergetics, inflammation, and angiogenesis. By using xenograft orthotopic implantation of prostate cancer PC3 cells and subsequently comparing bone metastatic with primary tumor-derived cancer cells, we find that H 2 S-producing enzyme cystathionine γ-lyase (CTH) is upregulated in bone-metastatic PC3 cells. Clinical data further reveal that the expression of CTH is elevated in late-stage prostate cancer patients, and higher CTH expression correlates with poor survival from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) prostate cancer RNA-seq datasets. CTH promotes NF-κB nuclear translocation through H 2 S-mediated sulfhydration on cysteine-38 of the NF-κB p65 subunit, resulting in increased IL-1β expression and H 2 S-induced cell invasion. Knockdown of CTH in PC3 cells results in the suppression of tumor growth and distant metastasis, while overexpression of CTH in DU145 cells promotes primary tumor growth and lymph node metastasis in the orthotopic implanted xenograft mouse model. Together, our findings provide evidence that CTH generated H 2 S promotes prostate cancer progression and metastasis through IL-1β/NF-κB signaling pathways., (© 2019 The Authors. Published under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.)

The early onset breast cancer patients (age ≤ 40) often display higher incidence of axillary lymph node metastasis, and poorer five-year survival than the late-onset patients. To identify the genes and molecules associated with poor prognosis of early onset breast cancer, we examined gene expression profiles from paired breast normal/tumor tissues, and coupled with Gene Ontology and public data base analysis. Our data showed that the expression of GAS7b gene was lower in the early onset breast cancer patients as compared to the elder patients. We found that GAS7 was associated with CYFIP1 and WAVE2 complex to suppress breast cancer metastasis via blocking CYFIP1 and Rac1 protein interaction, actin polymerization, and β1-integrin/FAK/Src signaling. We further demonstrated that p53 directly regulated GAS7 gene expression, which was inversely correlated with p53 mutations in breast cancer specimens. Our study uncover a novel regulatory mechanism of p53 in early onset breast cancer progression through GAS7-CYFIP1-mediated signaling pathways.

This study quantified five perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) and two perfluorosulfonic acids in cereals, meats, seafood, eggs, pork liver, and milk in Taiwan using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and evaluated the dietary exposure of the general population and pregnant women using per capita consumption and a questionnaire, respectively. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and PFCAs of 10-12 carbons were found in almost all of the samples in considerable concentrations in rice and pork liver, reaching as high as 283 ng/g (PFOA in pork liver); the levels are two to three orders of magnitude higher than previous reports. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), the most frequently mentioned perfluoroalkyl substance, was rarely detected in many food items (detection frequencies <20% in rice, flour, pork, chicken, salmon, squid, eggs, and milk) at <0.4 ng/g, except for beef, pork liver and some seafood (detection frequencies: 100%, GMs: 0.05-3.52 ng/g). Compared to populations in Western countries, people in Taiwan are exposed to much more perfluorohexanoic acid, PFOA, perfluorodecanoic acid, and perfluoroundecanoic acid (11.2, 85.1, 44.2, and 4.45 ng/kg b.w./day, respectively), mainly due to the higher contaminations in food. The exposure of 8.0 μg PFOA/person/day in the 95 percentile of pregnant women was due to their frequent consumption of pork liver., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

We assessed the occurrence of nonylphenol (NP) and bisphenol A (BPA) in tap water supplied through polyvinyl chloride (PVC), stainless steel, and galvanized pipes. Water samples were collected from selected households in Taipei and Kaohsiung (Northern and Southern Taiwan, respectively) in different seasons to elucidate the effects of pipeline materials and ambient temperatures on NP and BPA concentrations in tap water. We detected higher concentrations of NP in tap water from households using PVC pipes (64-195 ng/L) than from those using stainless steel pipes (17-44 ng/L) and galvanized pipes (27-96 ng/L). To verify that water can absorb NP and BPA from PVC pipes, we sealed Milli-Q and tap water in PVC and stainless steel pipes to assess the potential release of NP and BPA from the pipes into the water. Both NP and BPA concentrations initially increased with contact time in the PVC pipes, and the concentration profiles during the retention appeared to be more strongly affected by ambient temperatures. Concentration variations in the stainless steel pipes were smaller than those in the PVC pipes.

Background: The mothers of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder tend to experience depression at higher levels because of the poor social interaction and deviant behaviors of their children. These depressed mothers often harm themselves and negatively impact their family and community., Purpose: This study examines maternal depression and its related factors in the mothers of school-aged children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder., Methods: A cross-sectional study with a purposive sampling of 100 mothers of school-age children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder was developed. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire that included the Parenting Stress Index (PSI), social support scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The Pearson product moment correlation and stepwise multiple regression were used to analyze data., Results: The findings showed that almost half of the mothers with school-aged ADHD children suffered higher pa-renting stress and that 34% required professional psychiatry referral. In addition, 40% of the participants suffered from depression. Higher levels of parenting stress were associated with a higher incidence of depression (r = .647, p < .001). Participants with better social support had lower depression levels (r = -.327, p < .01). 'Parenting stress' and having a monthly total household income of ≤ NT$40,000 were significant predictors of maternal depression. 'Maternal stress' was the most significant predictor, with a total explained variance of 41.9% (R(2) change = 41.9%)., Conclusions: The results of this study are intended to help medical staff better care for the mothers of school-aged children with ADHD. These results will assist in the evaluation of maternal depression, parenting stress, and levels of required social support. It will especially help in the evaluation of maternal depression symptoms of those mothers of low socioeconomic status with high parenting stress. Providing these mothers with parental training, education on effective parenting and discipline strategies, and better social support may effectively reduce maternal depression, which will help minimize the negative impacts of this depression on the family and the community.

This study sampled six times of river water, sediment, and tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in the Dan-Shui River, Taipei, Taiwan; 10 feminizing compounds were analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Bisphenol A (508 ± 634 ng/L, geometric mean (GM) 303 ng/L) and nonylphenol (491 ± 570 ng/L, GM 328 ng/L) were the most abundant among analytes in the river water. Nonylphenol (770 ± 602 ng/g wet weight, GM 617 ng/g wet weight) was also the highest in sediment. Fish may uptake nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates from river water and sediment because there were significant correlations between the concentrations in these matrixes and those in fish tissues (r s ranged from 0.21 to 0.49, p < 0.05). The bioaccumulation of nonylphenol, nonylphenol ethoxylates and bisphenol A in gonad, eggs, and liver was much higher than that in muscle (e.g. mean bioaccumulation factors of nonylphenol were 27,287, 20,971, 9,576 and 967, respectively) and might result in low liver fractions in fish body weights (0.66 % ± 0.39 %, GM 0.55 %) and the skewed sex ratio of fish (male to female = 0.52). This innovative study linked the environmental and internal doses statistically in the globally distributed wild fish by analyzing feminizing compounds in water, sediment, and four fish tissues including gonad and eggs.

We used logotherapy concepts to manage the mental impact of recurrent cancer on a patient. The patient had received radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma approximately one year prior to the March 9th - April 21st, 2011 nursing care period. The authors interacted with the patient during the care period via personal observation and telephone interview. Patient data was also collected from medical staff. Integral nursing assessment disclosed that the patient faced several major nursing issues, including death anxiety, pain, and sleep disturbance. This report describes how logotherapy was utilized to enable the patient better understand his condition and ultimately allow him to identify and pursue renewed meaning and happiness in life. Logotherapy helped alleviate the death anxiety caused by recurrent cancer and helped the patient self-reconfirm the meaning of life.

Objective: To compare the effects of intra-articular hyaluronic acid (HA; ARTZ) and transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) in the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis., Design: A prospective, randomized controlled trial., Setting: Rehabilitation clinic of a teaching hospital., Participants: Patients with knee osteoarthritis (N=50; aged 51-80y) were randomly assigned to the HA group (n=27) or the TENS group (n=23)., Interventions: The HA group received intra-articular HA injection into the affected knee once a week for 5 consecutive weeks, and the TENS group received a 20- minute session of TENS 3 times a week for 4 consecutive weeks., Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcome measures used were the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and the Lequesne index. The secondary outcome measures were range of motion of the knee, walking time, pain threshold, patient global assessment, and disability in activities of daily living. All subjects were assessed at baseline, and at 2 weeks, 2 months, and 3 months after the treatments were completed., Results: The TENS group exhibited a significantly greater improvement in VAS than the HA group at 2 weeks' follow-up (4.17 ± 1.98 vs 5.31 ± 1.78, respectively; P=.03). In addition, the TENS group also exhibited a significantly greater improvement in the Lequesne index than the HA group at 2 weeks' follow-up (7.78 ± 2.08 vs 9.85 ± 3.54, respectively; P=.01) and at 3 months' follow-up (7.07 ± 2.85 vs 9.24 ± 4.04, respectively; P=.03)., Conclusions: TENS with silver spike point electrodes was observed to be more effective than intra-articular HA injection for patients with knee osteoarthritis in improving the VAS for pain at 2 weeks' follow-up as well as the Lequesne index at 2 weeks' and 3 months' follow-up., (Copyright © 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study developed and validated a method of measuring the feminizing chemicals 4-tert-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol, nonylphenol monoethoxycarboxylate (NP(1)EC), nonylphenol monoethoxylate (NP(1)EO), nonylphenol diethoxylate (NP(2)EO), estrone, 17β-estradiol, estriol, 17α-ethinyl estradiol and bisphenol A in river water, sediment, and tissue using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC/MS/MS) and isotope-dilution techniques. Water samples were pretreated using disk-type automated solid-phase extraction (SPE). Solid samples of sediment, fish, and clams were treated with matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) using C(8) adsorbent. Eluents were directly passed following alumina cartridges for cleanup. The signal intensity of analytes on electrospray ionization (ESI) was compared with that of atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI). The analytes were separated on a UHPLC C(18) column with aqueous 10-mM ammonium acetate for NPEOs and aqueous 10-mM N-methylmorpholine for the other compounds. On-line cleanup was evaluated using two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2-D LC). ESI could provide satisfactory response for all of the analytes. Though APPI did not offer suitable response for NP(1)EO, NP(2)EO and NP(1)EC, it provided better signal intensities for the steroid estrogens (1.0-2.4 times) and the phenols (3.2-4.4 times) than ESI. UHPLC shortened chromatographic time to less than 10 min. Disk-type automated SPE and MSPD dramatically increased the throughput of sample preparation. The extraction efficiency on surface water samples ranged from 10% to 91%. The extraction efficiency of MSPD on sediment, fish, and clams was 51-101%, 36-109%, and 30-111%, respectively. Acidic alumina cleanup was essential for the analysis of the tissue sample, and reduced matrix effects better than 2-D LC on-line cleanup. The limits of detection (LODs) in water ranged from 0.81 ng/L to 89.9 ng/L. The LODs in sediment and tissue ranged from tens of pg/g wet weight to only a few ng/g wet weight. This method proved to be accurate and reproducible, as both quantitative biases and relative deviations remained smaller than 20% at three spiked levels., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A sensitive method was developed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)/MS/MS with positive electrospray ionization for determining aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk and milk powder. A 50 mL quantity of low-fat liquid milk containing 100 ng/L AFM1, was prepared using immunoaffinity columns with a mean recovery rate of 79% (n = 3). UHPLC columns (BEH C18, BEH HILIC, and HSS T3) greatly reduced the chromatographic time and lowered the instrumental detection limits (IDLs) 16 to 58 times compared to an HPLC column (Betabasic C18). The HSS T3 column was chosen because it provided a low IDL (0.11 pg) and the lowest ion suppression of signal intensity (63.4%) among the tested columns. Matrix-fortified calibration curves were used for quantification and showed good linearity (r > 0.997) at 0.05-500 ng/mL. The LOD was 0.18 ng/kg for milk and 2.08 nglkg for milk powder, based on the signal intensity of the confirmatory product ion (m/z 259.1), which was less abundant than the quantitative product ion (m/z 273.1). Certified reference materials of milk powder at three levels (<0.05, 0.111 +/- 0.018, and 0.44 +/- 0.06 microg/kg) were measured within a day and between days; the results were all close to the certified levels with low variations (RSDs < 15%), showing good precision and accuracy.

This article reports on the experience of clinical nurses in treating a patient with bipolar disorder who was re-hospitalized following a relapse attributed to poor medical alliance. During the period of nursing care (February 2 to April 7 2009), observation and interviews employed to assess the patient resulted in the three nursing diagnoses of violence risk, disorganized thinking process, and poor medical alliance. With the goal of enhancing medical alliance, an individualized plan of nursing care designed to better understanding the patient's illness history, illness and treatment attitudes, and feelings of ambivalence towards medicines was implemented in order to foster a closer nurse-patient relationship and enhance patient motivation to accept medical treatment to permit a return to a normal life as soon as possible.

Autophagy is a catabolic process by which cells remove long-lived proteins and damaged organelles for recycling. Viral infections may also induce autophagic response. Here we show that hepatitis B virus (HBV), a pathogen that chronically infects approximately 350 million people globally, can enhance autophagic response in cell cultures, mouse liver, and during natural infection. This enhancement of the autophagic response is not coupled by an increase of autophagic protein degradation and is dependent on the viral X protein, which binds to and enhances the enzymatic activity of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase class III, an enzyme critical for the initiation of autophagy. Further analysis indicates that autophagy enhances HBV DNA replication, with minimal involvement of late autophagic vacuoles in this process. Our studies thus demonstrate that a DNA virus can use autophagy to enhance its own replication and indicate the possibility of targeting the autophagic pathway for the treatment of HBV patients.