► Effects of green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with different peak wavelengths and light intensities on lettuce growth and photosynthesis were evaluated. ► Irradiation with short-green wavelength at ...higher PPF increased the growth of lettuce plants. ► Photosynthetic rate under green LED light at higher PPF was dramatically higher than that at lower PPF. ► High-intensity green LED light was effective to promote plant growth and, in particular, short-wavelength green light was available for active plant growth.
In this study, the effects of green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with different peak wavelengths and light intensities on lettuce growth and photosynthesis were evaluated. The green LEDs used were G510 (peak wavelength: 510
nm; band width at half peak height: 18
nm), G520 (524
nm; 30
nm) and G530 (532
nm; 36
nm) at a photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) of 100, 200 and 300
μmol
m
−2
s
−1, respectively (maximum output of G530 was PPF 260). Shoot and root growth in lettuce plants irradiated with green LED light at PPF 100 decreased compared with white fluorescent light, but root growth of plants irradiated with green LED light at PPF 200 increased, and shoot growth of plants grown under G510 at PPF 300 was the highest of all light sources. Leaf photosynthetic rate (Pn) of plants irradiated with green LED light at PPF 200 was dramatically higher than that at PPF 100, and the Pn of plants irradiated with G510 was the highest of all light sources. These results indicated that high-intensity green LED light was effective to promote plant growth and, in particular, short-wavelength green light was available for active plant growth.
Kimura's disease (KD) is known to be dominant among young Asian men, but it can also occur in middle- and advanced-aged people. The clinical characteristics of KD, especially by age, are not well ...known.
This study was performed to investigate the effects of age on the clinical characteristics of KD.
We conducted a case series study.
All case studies of patients diagnosed with KD were collected via a PubMed search of studies published until August 2018. The data were analyzed by age group.
In total, 215 studies were reviewed (238 patients; mean age of 36 years). The male:female ratio was 4:1 overall, 17:1 in patients aged <20 years, 4:1 in patients aged 20-39 years and 2:1 in patients aged ≥40 years (P = 0.01). The percentage of patients with pruritus was 15.4% overall, 3.8% in patients aged <20 years, 15.5% in patients aged 20-39 years and 21.7% in patients aged ≥40 years (P = 0.02). The time to diagnosis was 5.3 years overall, 3.2 years in patients aged <20 years, 4.7 years in patients aged 20-39 years and 7.1 years in patients aged ≥40 years (P < 0.01).
The proportion of female patients affected the incidence of pruritus, and the time to diagnosis increased as the patients' age increased. There were no significant age-related differences in region/race, complications, multiplicity, laterality, anatomical distribution, maximum size, eosinophil count, immunoglobulin E level, initial treatment, recurrence or outcomes. This may be useful information for the diagnosis of KD.
Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) promotes cell motility, which is important for the metastasis of malignant cells, and blocks CD95-mediated apoptotic signaling triggered by immune cells and ...chemotherapeutic regimens. CD95L, the cognate ligand of CD95, can be cleaved by metalloproteases and released as a soluble molecule (cl-CD95L). Unlike transmembrane CD95L, cl-CD95L does not induce apoptosis but triggers cell motility. Electron paramagnetic resonance was used to show that EMT and cl-CD95L treatment both led to augmentation of plasma membrane fluidity that was instrumental in inducing cell migration. Compaction of the plasma membrane is modulated, among other factors, by the ratio of certain lipids such as sphingolipids in the membrane. An integrative analysis of gene expression in NCI tumor cell lines revealed that expression of ceramide synthase-6 (CerS6) decreased during EMT. Furthermore, pharmacological and genetic approaches established that modulation of CerS6 expression/activity in cancer cells altered the level of C16-ceramide, which in turn influenced plasma membrane fluidity and cell motility. Therefore, this study identifies CerS6 as a novel EMT-regulated gene that has a pivotal role in the regulation of cell migration.
The phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3K)-AKT pathway is activated in many human cancers and plays a key role in cell proliferation and survival. A mutation (E17K) in the pleckstrin homology domain ...of the AKT1 results in constitutive AKT1 activation by means of localisation to the plasma membrane. The AKT1 (E17K) mutation has been reported in some tumour types (breast, colorectal, ovarian and lung cancers), and it is of interest which tumour types other than those possess the E17K mutation.
We analysed the presence of the AKT1 (E17K) mutation in 89 endometrial cancer tissue specimens and in 12 endometrial cancer cell lines by PCR and direct sequencing.
We detected two AKT1 (E17K) mutations in the tissue samples (2 out of 89) and no mutations in the cell lines. These two AKT1 mutant tumours do not possess any mutations in PIK3CA, PTEN and K-Ras.
Our results and earlier reports suggest that AKT1 mutations might be mutually exclusive with other PI3K-AKT-activating alterations, although PIK3CA mutations frequently coexist with other alterations (such as HER2, K-Ras and PTEN) in several types of tumours.
Abstract
Resonance is known as an important phenomenon where individual creative moments resonate with each other during co-creation. The purpose of this study is to capture this co-creative moment ...as a resonant cognitive status with biosignal indicators. The authors conducted an experiment in which pairs of participants work on concept generation from two nouns and measured their dynamic creative status both subjectively and objectively with biosignal indicators fEMG and EOG. This study will help to understand co-creative cognitive phenomena and to improve the co-creative design process.
DBC1/KIAA1967 (deleted in breast cancer 1) is a putative tumour-suppressor gene cloned from a heterozygously deleted region in breast cancer specimens. Caspase-dependent processing of DBC1 promotes ...apoptosis, and depletion of endogenous DBC1 negatively regulates p53-dependent apoptosis through its specific inhibition of SIRT1. Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene product BRCA1, by binding to the promoter region of SIRT1, is a positive regulator of SIRT1 expression.
A physical interaction between DBC1 and BRCA1 was investigated both in vivo and in vitro. To determine the pathophysiological significance of DBC1, its role as a transcriptional factor was studied.
We found a physical interaction between the amino terminus of DBC1 and the carboxyl terminus of BRCA1, also known as the BRCT domain. Endogenous DBC1 and BRCA1 form a complex in the nucleus of intact cells, which is exported to the cytoplasm during ultraviolet-induced apoptosis. We also showed that the expression of DBC1 represses the transcriptional activation function of BRCT by a transient expression assay. The expression of DBC1 also inhibits the transactivation of the SIRT1 promoter mediated by full-length BRCA1.
These results revealed that DBC1 may modulate the cellular functions of BRCA1 and have important implications in the understanding of carcinogenesis in breast tissue.
Abstract
Objective
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected multiple areas of health care, including residency training programs. Elucidating the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic ...on resident clinical experience, surgical training, and wellness is essential to identify areas in which programs can provide additional educational and personal resources to trainees. This study aims to evaluate the experiences of ophthalmology residents during the pandemic.
Design
The design is a cross-sectional, nonvalidated survey study. The survey was administered online with data collection from August 22 to August 31, 2020.
Participants
Applicants to the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute ophthalmology residency program during the 2016 to 2019 application cycles were invited to complete the survey to encompass trainees currently in ophthalmology residency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants who were not training at an ophthalmology residency program during the pandemic were excluded.
Methods
This study involved eliciting feedback from ophthalmology residents on the perceived impact of COVID-19 on their residency experiences through survey questions.
Main Outcome Measures
Perceived didactic, clinical, surgical, and overall experiences of residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, effect on cataract and noncataract surgical case volume, and perceived effects on resident personal life.
Results
Responses were obtained from 357 (22.8%) individuals, 193 of which met inclusion criteria (59.1% male, 54.9% aged 30–34). Most participants reported overall worsening of their ophthalmology training experience due to COVID-19 (75.1%), with worsening of clinical training reported by 72.5% of participants and worsening of surgical training reported by 89.1% of participants. There were no significant differences in the perception of the impact of COVID-19 on overall training experience, clinical training experience, or surgical training experience among geographic regions (
p
= 0.43,
p
= 0.23,
p
= 0.27, respectively). A higher percentage of post-graduate year 3 (PGY3) and PGY4 trainees reported worsened clinical (
p
= 0.003) or surgical (
p
= 0.03) experience compared with PGY2 trainees. Participants also reported impact on personal life including time spent away from family (52.9%), worsened friendships with co-residents (29.5%), forced changes in living situation (15.0%), and increased expenses (13.5%).
Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially impacted clinical and surgical experience of ophthalmology residents, who also report personal stressors due to the pandemic. Identifying alterations in the ophthalmology residency experience is essential to provide additional resources to support ophthalmology trainees professionally and personally during this time.
The TFII-I is a multifunctional transcriptional factor known to bind specifically to several DNA sequence elements and to mediate growth factor signalling. A microdeletion at the chromosomal location ...7q11.23 encoding TFII-I and the related family of transcription factors may result in the onset of Williams-Beuren syndrome, an autosomal dominant genetic disorder characterised by a unique cognitive profile, diabetes, hypertension, anxiety, and craniofacial defects. Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene product BRCA1 has been shown to serve as a positive regulator of SIRT1 expression by binding to the promoter region of SIRT1, but cross talk between BRCA1 and TFII-I has not been investigated to date.
A physical interaction between TFII-I and BRCA1 was explored. To determine pathophysiological function of TFII-I, its role as a transcriptional cofactor for BRCA1 was investigated.
We found a physical interaction between the carboxyl terminus of TFII-I and the carboxyl terminus of BRCA1, also known as the BRCT domain. Endogenous TFII-I and BRCA1 form a complex in nuclei of intact cells and formation of irradiation-induced nuclear foci was observed. We also showed that the expression of TFII-I stimulates the transcriptional activation function of BRCT by a transient expression assay. The expression of TFII-I also enhanced the transcriptional activation of the SIRT1 promoter mediated by full-length BRCA1.
These results revealed the intrinsic mechanism that TFII-I may modulate the cellular functions of BRCA1, and provide important implications to understand the development of breast cancer.
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