We aimed to examine occupational factors affecting workers' mental health.
Using data from the fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey, 50,158 workers were analyzed. A multiple logistic regression ...analysis was conducted to analyze the occupational factors.
Sex, age, education level, occupational type, job satisfaction, shift work, and occupational exposure were risk factors for depression, anxiety, and general fatigue. Furthermore, complete application of PPE decreased the risk of depression and anxiety than no application, but partial application of PPE increased the risk of depression and anxiety. Complete and partial application of PPE increased the risk of general fatigue.
This study demonstrated that occupational factors are associated with mental health. This suggests that it is necessary to improve the working environment so that PPE can be applied structurally or systematically to protect against hazardous occupational exposure.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an environmental chemical that has adverse effects on health, probably causing childhood obesity. However, this association remains controversial, and it is difficult to find ...evidence for direct causality between environmental exposure and disease using epidemiological studies. In this study, we sought to elucidate the possible causality between BPA exposure and childhood obesity by conducting two meta-analyses showing bidirectional associations, including exposure effect by obesity and obesity risk by exposure. Articles published up to September 2017 were searched in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library. We evaluated observational studies that included measurements of urinary BPA concentration and BMI or body weight. Of 436 articles, a total of 13 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Two meta-analyses were performed to investigate the association between BPA exposure and childhood obesity. The results showed that the relatively high-exposed group had a significantly higher risk of childhood obesity than the relatively low-exposed group (odds ratio = 1.566, 95% confidence interval CI: 1.097 to 2.234,
= 0.014). However, the obese group showed no significant difference in the BPA concentration when compared to the normal group (standardized mean difference = 0.166, 95% CI: -0.121 to 0.453,
= 0.257). This study suggested possible causality between BPA exposure and childhood obesity using data from epidemiological studies and showed that BPA exposure itself increased the risk of obesity in children.
Finely controlled circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) supramolecular polymerization based on a tetraphenylethene core with four l‐ or d‐alanine branch side chains (l‐1 and d‐1) in the solution ...state is presented, resulting from the tuning of mechanical stimulus. Weak, green emissions of l‐1 and d‐1 in tetrahydrofuran (THF) were converted into strong blue emissions by tuning the mechanical stimulus. The strong blue emissions were caused by an aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) effect during the formation of a supramolecular polymer. Lag time in the supramolecular polymerization was drastically reduced by the mechanical stimulus, which was indicative of the acceleration of the supramolecular polymerization. A significant enhancement of circular dichroism (CD) and CPL signals of l‐1 and d‐1 was observed by tuning the rotational speed of the mechanical stimulus, implying that the chiral supramolecular polymerization was accelerated by the mechanical stimulus.
Chiral supramolecular polymerization is controlled, resulting from the tuning of mechanical stimulus. Weak, green emissions were converted into strong blue emissions by tuning the mechanical stimulus. The strong blue emissions were caused by an aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) effect during the formation of a supramolecular polymer.
Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) plays an important role in the differentiation and proliferation of Th2 cells, resulting in eosinophilic inflammation and numerous allergic diseases. Baicalein ...(1), a major component of Scutellaria baicalensis, was found to be the first small molecule to block TSLP signaling pathways. It inhibited effectively eosinophil infiltration in house dust mite-induced and ovalbumin-challenged mouse models. Structure-activity relationship studies identified compound 11a, a biphenyl flavanone analog, as a novel human TSLP inhibitor for the discovery and development of new anti-allergic drugs.
Gram-negative bacteria derived extracellular vesicles (EVs), also known as outer membrane vesicles, have attracted significant attention due to their pathogenic roles in various inflammatory ...diseases. We recently demonstrated that EVs secreted by the periodontopathogen
Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans
(Aa) can cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and that their extracellular RNA cargo can promote the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 and TNF-α, in the brain. To gain more insight into the relationship between periodontal disease (PD) and neuroinflammatory diseases, we investigated the effect of Aa EVs in a mouse model of ligature-induced PD. When EVs were administered through intragingival injection or EV-soaked gel, proinflammatory cytokines were strongly induced in the brains of PD mice. The use of TLR (Toll-like receptor)-reporter cell lines and
MyD88
knockout mice confirmed that the increased release of cytokines was triggered by Aa EVs via TLR4 and TLR8 signaling pathways and their downstream MyD88 pathway. Furthermore, the injection of EVs through the epidermis and gingiva resulted in the direct retrograde transfer of Aa EVs from axon terminals to the cell bodies of trigeminal ganglion (TG) neurons and the subsequent activation of TG neurons. We also found that the Aa EVs changed the action potential of TG neurons. These findings suggest that EVs derived from periodontopathogens such as Aa might be involved in pathogenic pathways for neuroinflammatory diseases, neuropathic pain, and other systemic inflammatory symptoms as a comorbidity of periodontitis.
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) regulate diverse physiological events, which makes them as the major targets for many approved drugs. G proteins are downstream molecules that receive signals from ...GPCRs and trigger cell responses. The GPCR-G protein selectivity mechanism on how they properly and timely interact is still unclear. Here, we analyzed model GPCRs (i.e. HTR, DAR) and Gα proteins with a coevolutionary tool, statistical coupling analysis. The results suggested that 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors and dopamine receptors have common conserved and coevolved residues. The Gα protein also have conserved and coevolved residues. These coevolved residues were implicated in the molecular functions of the analyzed proteins. We also found specific coevolving pairs related to the selectivity between GPCR and G protein were identified. We propose that these results would contribute to better understandings of not only the functional residues of GPCRs and Gα proteins but also GPCR-G protein selectivity mechanisms.
The deterioration of air quality that threatens human health is recognized as focal compound hazard. Here, decisive thermodynamic conditions for activation of secondary aerosol formation have been ...investigated focused on Korea. In a dry environment with relative humidity < 60%, gas phase reaction to form fine particles depended largely on surface temperature. In a wet environment (relative humidity ≥ 60%), however, aqueous phase reaction of secondary inorganic aerosols, which are sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium, accounting for 67% of the total aerosol mass, was more activated. Thus, humidity is as important as temperature in the secondary production of aerosol; air quality often worsened when a low-pressure system was predominant over the Korean Peninsula. It is rather different from the general synoptic conditions of high concentrations of particulate matters characterized by high pressure and atmospheric stagnation. This study suggests additional favorable condition and responsible mechanism of air quality hazards that may be frequent in future.
We demonstrated the morphology transformation of co‐assemblies based on terpyridine‐based ligands (1R and 1S) possessing R‐ or S‐alanine analogues and their platinum(II) complex (2R‐Pt and 2S‐Pt). ...The right‐handed helical ribbon of the co‐assembly formed with 0.5 equivalents of 2R‐Pt to 1R was converted into the left‐handed helical ribbon with 0.6 equivalents of 2R‐Pt. The left‐handed helical ribbon structure of the co‐assembly became a tubular structure in the presence of 0.8–1.0 equivalents of 2R‐Pt. The morphology transformation via helical inversion at the supramolecular level was due to an orientation change of the amide groups caused by non‐covalent Pt⋅⋅⋅Pt interactions between the terpyridine of 2R‐Pt and that of 2R‐Pt. This study provides insights into controlling the morphology of the transformation of helical ribbons into tubular structures through helicity inversion in co‐assembled supramolecular nanostructures based on platinum(II) complexes.
Tubular ribbons: A morphology transformation using metal–metal interactions is exploited in co‐assembled supramolecular nanostructures based on platinum(II) complexes. This approach allows the morphology of the transformation of helical ribbons into tubular structures through helicity inversion to be controlled.
We report the unique synthesis of chiral supramolecular tri‐ and penta‐BCPs with controllable chirality using kinetically adjusted seeded supramolecular copolymerization in THF and DMSO (99 : 1, ...v/v). Tetraphenylethylene (d‐ and l‐TPE) derivatives bearing d‐ and l‐alanine side chains formed thermodynamically favored chiral products via a kinetically trapped in monomeric state with a long lag phase. In contrast, achiral TPE‐G containing glycine moieties did not form a supramolecular polymer owing to the energy barrier in its kinetically trapped state. We show that the copolymerization of the metastable states of TPE‐G not only enables the generation of supramolecular BCPs by the seeded living growth method, but also transfers chirality at the seed ends. This research demonstrates the generation of chiral supramolecular tri‐ and penta‐BCPs with B‐A‐B, A‐B‐A‐B‐A, and C‐B‐A‐B‐C block patterns accompanying chirality transfer via seeded living polymerization.
The copolymerization of kinetically trapped states of tetraphenylethylene containing glycine (TPE‐G) and/or d‐/l‐alanine moieties not only leads to the formation of supramolecular multi‐blocks copolymers (BCPs; tri‐ and penta‐blocks) by chain‐growth process, but also transfers chirality at the seed end.
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