Purpose
To explore the protective effect of probucol on human retinal Müller cells cultured in high glucose.
Methods
Primary Müller cells from human retinas were cultured in complete DMEM. ...Third-generation Müller cells were identified using glutamine synthetase (GS) antibody and randomly divided into three groups: normoglycemia (NG, 5.5 mmol/L); hyperglycemia (HG, 30 mmol/L); and hyperglycemia (30 mmol/L) with probucol (10 μmol/L; HGPB). After a 24-h intervention, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured with a CCK-8 kit, flow cytometry, and DCFH-DA probe, respectively. Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1), NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), and glutamate cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC) protein expression were detected by immunofluorescence staining.
Results
For NG, HG, and HGPB, optical density (OD) values for cell proliferation were 0.98 ± 0.23, 0.58 ± 0.11, and 0.73 ± 0.11; apoptotic rates were 2.79 ± 0.52%, 7.70 ± 0.44%, and 4.00 ± 0.95%; and intracellular ROS were 20.89 ± 5.14, 55.17 ± 14.07, and 26.28 ± 4.73, respectively. Compared to NG, OD was markedly decreased (
P
< 0.01), apoptosis was increased (
P
< 0.001), and intracellular ROS level was significantly higher than in HG (
P
< 0.01). Compared to HG, OD was markedly increased (
P
< 0.01), apoptosis was meaningfully decreased (
P
< 0.01), and intracellular ROS level was significantly lower than in HGPB (
P
< 0.01). GS, Keap1, Nrf2, and GCLC had positive expression.
Conclusions
Probucol could inhibit intracellular ROS generation, promote proliferation, and decrease apoptosis of human retinal Müller cells cultured in high glucose. This might also be associated with Keap1/Nrf2/ARE oxidative stress signaling pathway activation.
Background. In recent years, the incidence of depression is on the rise. Our paper proposed to study the protective effects of Schisandrin on CORT-induced PC12 depressive cell model and the ...underlying mechanisms. Methods. The in vitro models of PC12 were established using corticosterone (CORT). 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method was used to screen the effective concentration of Schisandrin, and the models of PC12 were treated with low, medium, and high concentrations of Schisandrin. The cell activity of each group was detected by MTT assay. The LDH activity in each group of cells was detected by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) kit. Apoptosis rate of each group was detected by Annexin V-FITC apoptosis assay kit. Mitochondrial membrane potential of each group of cells was detected by mitochondrial membrane potential kit. The protein expression levels of Caspase-3, Bax, and Bcl-2 in each group of cells were detected by western blot. Results. The treatment of Schisandrin significantly increased the cell viability in models of PC12. In addition, the results of LDH activity suggested that Schisandrin significantly reduced LDH content in models of PC12. Consistently, Schisandrin reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential of CORT-induced PC12 depressive cell model. Furthermore, Schisandrin effectively reduced the number of apoptotic cells and inhibited the expression of proapoptotic-related proteins (cleaved Caspase-3 and Bax) but increased the antiapoptotic-related protein (Bcl-2) in the models of PC12. Conclusions. Protective effects of Schisandrin on CORT-induced PC12 depressive cell model by inhibiting cells apoptosis in vitro.
lConditional process analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between emotion, cognition, and psychological disorders.lAlienation, potentially induced by social distancing, mediate the ...development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from negative emotions.lAnxiety increased the mediating effect of alienation but weakened the direct effect of negative emotions.lClinical psychologists would better identify individuals with symptoms implying affective disorders in the early stages to provide more accurate and adequate intervention.
Background The social distancing during COVID-19 is likely to cause a feeling of alienation, which may pose a threat to the public's mental health. Our research aims to examine the relationship between negative emotions and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), considering the mediation effect of alienation and how it is moderated by anxiety and depression.
Methods For this, the current study conducted a cross-sectional survey on 7145 participants during the outbreak of COVID-19, via online questionnaires comprised of a self-designed Negative emotions questionnaire, Symptom Check List 90 (SCL-90), PTSD Checklist-civilian version (PCL-C), and Adolescent Students Alienation Scale (ASAS).
Results A total of 6666 pieces of data from the general population were included in the statistical analysis. The descriptive statistics showed a relatively mild level of mental disorders. Besides, results of Conditional Process Model analysis supported our hypotheses that negative emotions and alienation were both predictors for PTSD symptoms, and their direct and indirect effects were all moderated by the level of anxiety.
Limitations This study was limited by the generality and causality of the conclusion. The moderating effect of depression was left for further study due to the collinearity problem of variables.
Conclusions Social distancing may have an impact on individuals’ mental health by the feeling of alienation, which was moderated by affective disorders. Clinical psychologists should identify individuals’ particular cognition and mental disorders to provide a more accurate and adequate intervention for them.
To date, the association of psychiatric diagnoses with mortality in patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has not been evaluated.
To assess whether a diagnosis of a schizophrenia ...spectrum disorder, mood disorder, or anxiety disorder is associated with mortality in patients with COVID-19.
This retrospective cohort study assessed 7348 consecutive adult patients for 45 days following laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 between March 3 and May 31, 2020, in a large academic medical system in New York. The final date of follow-up was July 15, 2020. Patients without available medical records before testing were excluded.
Patients were categorized based on the following International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnoses before their testing date: (1) schizophrenia spectrum disorders, (2) mood disorders, and (3) anxiety disorders. Patients with these diagnoses were compared with a reference group without psychiatric disorders.
Mortality, defined as death or discharge to hospice within 45 days following a positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) test result.
Of the 26 540 patients tested, 7348 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (mean SD age, 54 18.6 years; 3891 53.0% women). Of eligible patients with positive test results, 75 patients (1.0%) had a history of a schizophrenia spectrum illness, 564 (7.7%) had a history of a mood disorder, and 360 (4.9%) had a history of an anxiety disorder. After adjusting for demographic and medical risk factors, a premorbid diagnosis of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder was significantly associated with mortality (odds ratio OR, 2.67; 95% CI, 1.48-4.80). Diagnoses of mood disorders (OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.87-1.49) and anxiety disorders (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.65-1.41) were not associated with mortality after adjustment. In comparison with other risk factors, a diagnosis of schizophrenia ranked behind only age in strength of an association with mortality.
In this cohort study of adults with SARS-CoV-2-positive test results in a large New York medical system, adults with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder diagnosis were associated with an increased risk for mortality, but those with mood and anxiety disorders were not associated with a risk of mortality. These results suggest that schizophrenia spectrum disorders may be a risk factor for mortality in patients with COVID-19.
We report the first dark matter search results using the commissioning data from PandaX-4T. Using a time projection chamber with 3.7 tonne of liquid xenon target and an exposure of 0.63 tonne·year, ...1058 candidate events are identified within an approximate nuclear recoil energy window between 5 and 100 keV. No significant excess over background is observed. Our data set a stringent limit to the dark matter-nucleon spin-independent interactions, with a lowest excluded cross section (90% C.L.) of 3.8×10^{-47} cm^{2} at a dark matter mass of 40 GeV/c^{2}.
Salinity gradient (blue) energy has been identified as a promising power source and many technologies have been proposed for its recovery, one of which is nanopore power generators. The ...single-pore/channel membranes selectively transport ions to achieve efficient salinity gradient power generation. However, porous membranes fail due to concentration polarization. Here, we constructed a heterogeneous membrane by covering ion-selective hydrogel on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) cylindrical nanochannel porous membrane for the first time to eliminate concentration polarization. The gel layer enhances the ion selectivity of cylindrical nanochannels, making heterogeneous membrane present the ion current rectification effect. The gel layer also avoids the negative impact of concentration polarization on the power generation of porous membranes. The results show that PET porous membrane can hardly generate electricity, but the power density of PET-hydrogel heterogeneous membrane can reach 1.92 W/m2 under 50 times salinity gradient, which is superior to commercial ion exchange membranes. Our work provides a strategy (ion-selective hydrogel covering) to eliminate concentration polarization of porous membranes, and shows the prospect of cylindrical nanochannels for salinity gradient power generation.
Display omitted
•PET-hydrogel heterogeneous membrane was constructed to eliminate concentration polarization.•The gel layer enhances the ion selectivity of cylindrical nanochannels.•The heterogeneous membrane shows the prospect in salinity gradient power generation.•The power density can reach 1.92 W/m2 under 50 times salinity gradient.
We present a 3D indoor positioning system with foot mounted low cost MEMS sensors. The sensors includes the accelerometers, gyroscopes, and barometer. The output of accelerometers and gyroscopes are ...used to calculate the zero velocity update (ZUPT) and the movement of one step. The barometer is used to detect the altitude changes. A Kalman filter based framework is used to fusion the outputs of the sensors and estimate the non-linear errors of the position and heading, which increased over time. A particle filter is used to further reduce the errors. The test result shows that the designed system perform well.
PDF
