Application of artificial sunlight for the elderly as a possible environmental nursing practice

Aging and aged societies have arrived in many countries where significant development of medicine and the economy has been achieved. Japan is a highly aged society with a shortage of carers both at home and in long-term care settings. In fact, more persons of advanced age who do not need intensive care in hospitals strongly desire health care to be delivered in their own home with their family. Environmental nursing practice, which means that nurses improve the environment of patients or the elderly properly in accordance with healthcare considerations, is currently playing a more important role, not only to prevent the elderly from contracting various diseases, but also to provide a facility for supporting an aged person to live a fulfilling life, preferably one that includes independence. This approach will lead to a reduction in medical expenditure by increasing the number of aged people with healthy longevity without the need for hospitalization or intensive care. This short communication focuses on healthy lighting for the elderly based on our research and experience regarding the beneficial effects of artificial sunlight on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), asthma and food allergy, and ulcerative colitis in experimental animal models and clinical settings. Then, we review other studies and discuss how artificial sunlight would be useful for the elderly as one of the environmental nursing practices

Identification of a New Peptide for Fibrosarcoma Tumor Targeting and Imaging In Vivo

A 12-mer amino acid peptide SATTHYRLQAAN, denominated TK4, was isolated from a phage-display library with fibrosarcoma tumor-binding activity. In vivo biodistribution analysis of TK4-displaying phage showed a significant increased phage titer in implanted tumor up to 10-fold in comparison with normal tissues after systemic administration in mouse. Competition assay confirmed that the binding of TK4-phage to tumor cells depends on the TK4 peptide. Intravenous injection of 131I-labeled synthetic TK4 peptide in mice showed a tumor retention of 3.3% and 2.7% ID/g at 1- and 4-hour postinjection, respectively. Tumor-to-muscle ratio was 1.1, 5.7, and 3.2 at 1-, 4-, and 24-hour, respectively, and tumors were imaged on a digital γ-camera at 4-hour postinjection. The present data suggest that TK4 holds promise as a lead structure for tumor targeting, and it could be further applied in the development of diagnostic or therapeutic agent

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Comparative study on surface oxygenation and widening of carbon fibers made electrochemical electrodes

Polarity and surface area are two important factors in determining electrochemical performance and are here studied systematically using carbon fiber cloths (CFCs) as electrodes. The CFC polarity is enhanced by plasma treatment that creates polar groups, such as carbonyl and quinone. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are sp2 bonded structures and are coated onto CFCs to extend hexagonal lattices (i.e., surface area widening). Experiments indicate that the specific capacitance (Cs) of electrodes made from as-purchased and heat-treated CFCs is 0.3 and 5.75 F g−1 in the acidic electrolyte; this value increases to 18.9 F g−1 as CFCs are coated with CNTs. Oxygenated CFCs give Cs = 30.3 F g−1 with 83% retention over 3000 charge–discharge cycles, indicative of polarity dominated Cs improvement

MESH1 is a cytosolic NADPH phosphatase that regulates ferroptosis.

Critical to the bacterial stringent response is the rapid relocation of resources from proliferation toward stress survival through the respective accumulation and degradation of (p)ppGpp by RelA and SpoT homologues. While mammalian genomes encode MESH1, a homologue of the bacterial (p)ppGpp hydrolase SpoT, neither (p)ppGpp nor its synthetase has been identified in mammalian cells. Here, we show that human MESH1 is an efficient cytosolic NADPH phosphatase that facilitates ferroptosis. Visualization of the MESH1-NADPH crystal structure revealed a bona fide affinity for the NADPH substrate. Ferroptosis-inducing erastin or cystine deprivation elevates MESH1, whose overexpression depletes NADPH and sensitizes cells to ferroptosis, whereas MESH1 depletion promotes ferroptosis survival by sustaining the levels of NADPH and GSH and by reducing lipid peroxidation. The ferroptotic protection by MESH1 depletion is ablated by suppression of the cytosolic NAD(H) kinase, NADK, but not its mitochondrial counterpart NADK2. Collectively, these data shed light on the importance of cytosolic NADPH levels and their regulation under ferroptosis-inducing conditions in mammalian cells

Highly efficient capture approach for the identification of diverse inherited retinal disorders.

Our study presents a 319-gene panel targeting inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) genes. Through a multi-center retrospective cohort study, we validated the assays effectiveness and clinical utility and characterized the mutation spectrum of Taiwanese IRD patients. Between January 2018 and May 2022, 493 patients in 425 unrelated families, all initially suspected of having IRD without prior genetic diagnoses, underwent detailed ophthalmic and physical examinations (with extra-ocular features recorded) and genetic testing with our customized panel. Disease-causing variants were identified by segregation analysis and clinical interpretation, with validation via Sanger sequencing. We achieved a read depth of >200× for 94.2% of the targeted 1.2 Mb region. 68.5% (291/425) of the probands received molecular diagnoses, with 53.9% (229/425) resolved cases. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is the most prevalent initial clinical impression (64.2%), and 90.8% of the cohort have the five most prevalent phenotypes (RP, cone-rod syndrome, Ushers syndrome, Lebers congenital amaurosis, Bietti crystalline dystrophy). The most commonly mutated genes of probands that received molecular diagnosis are USH2A (13.7% of the cohort), EYS (11.3%), CYP4V2 (4.8%), ABCA4 (4.5%), RPGR (3.4%), and RP1 (3.1%), collectively accounted for 40.8% of diagnoses. We identify 87 unique unreported variants previously not associated with IRD and refine clinical diagnoses for 21 patients (7.22% of positive cases). We developed a customized gene panel and tested it on the largest Taiwanese cohort, showing that it provides excellent coverage for diverse IRD phenotypes