Emergency Nursing-Care Patient Satisfaction Scale (Enpss): Development and Validation of a Patient Satisfaction Scale with Emergency Room Nursing.

This study aimed to develop and validate an emergency nursing-care patient satisfaction scale to measure patient satisfaction with emergency room (ER) nursing. Patient satisfaction scales for ER nursing have been validated without considering the perspectives of the healthcare system or cultural background of the country. Moreover, although nursing care is changing with COVID-19, no scale has been specifically designed to assess patient satisfaction with ER nursing. The study population included patients who visited five ERs in Japan (March to December 2021) (n = 135). The rating scales were provided to patients who visited the ER and gave consent, and the patients were asked to reply. In the process of validating the scale, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the construct and criterion validity were conducted. The confirmatory factor analysis results showed a factorial structure consisting of four factors. The domain and summary scores demonstrated good-to-excellent internal reliability (Cronbach's range = 0.81-0.89). This patient satisfaction scale was designed and validated from the perspective of the Japanese healthcare system and cultural backgrounds. This scale may be useful for developing assessments and interventions to improve patient satisfaction with ER nursing.

Identification of the Genes Coding for Carthamin Synthase, Peroxidase Homologs that Catalyze the Final Enzymatic Step of Red Pigmentation in Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.).

Carthamin, a dimeric quinochalcone that is sparingly soluble in water, is obtained from the yellow-orange corolla of fully blooming safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) florets. Carthamin is a natural red colorant, which has been used worldwide for more than 4500 years and is the major component of Japanese 'beni' used for dyeing textiles, in cosmetics and as a food colorant. The biosynthetic pathway of carthamin has long remained uncertain. Previously, carthamin was proposed to be derived from precarthamin (PC), a water-soluble quinochalcone, via a single enzymatic process. In this study, we identified the genes coding for the enzyme responsible for the formation of carthamin from PC, termed 'carthamin synthase' (CarS), using enzyme purification and transcriptome analysis. The CarS proteins were purified from the cream-colored corolla of safflower and identified as peroxidase homologs (CtPOD1, CtPOD2 and CtPOD3). The purified enzyme catalyzed the oxidative decarboxylation of PC to produce carthamin using O2, instead of H2O2, as an electron acceptor. In addition, CarS catalyzed the decomposition of carthamin. However, this enzymatic decomposition of carthamin could be circumvented by adsorption of the pigment to cellulose. These CtPOD isozymes were not only expressed in the corolla of the carthamin-producing orange safflower cultivars but were also abundantly expressed in tissues and organs that did not produce carthamin and PC. One CtPOD isozyme, CtPOD2, was localized in the extracellular space. Based on the results obtained, a model for the stable red pigmentation of safflower florets during flower senescence and the traditional 'beni' manufacturing process is proposed.

Shimia sagamensis sp. nov., a marine bacterium isolated from cold-seep sediment.

A novel marine bacterial strain designated JAMH 011(T) was isolated from the cold-seep sediment in Sagami Bay, Japan. Cells were Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming, aerobic chemo-organotrophs and motile by means of a single polar flagellum. Growth occurred at temperatures below 31 °C, with the optimum at 25 °C. The major respiratory quinone was Q-10. The predominant fatty acid was C18 : 1ω7c. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the isolated strain was closely affiliated with members of the genus Shimia in the class Alphaproteobacteria, and the 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of the novel isolate with the type strain of the closest related species, Shimia haliotis WM35(T), was 98.1%. The DNA G+C content of the novel strain was 57.3 mol%. The hybridization values for DNA-DNA relatedness between strain JAMH 011(T) and reference strains belonging to the genus Shimia were less than 9.4 ± 0.7%. Based on differences in taxonomic characteristics, the isolated strain represents a novel species of the genus Shimia, for which the name Shimia sagamensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JAMH 011(T) ( = JCM 30583(T) = DSM 29734(T)).

Parasphingopyxis lamellibrachiae gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from a marine annelid worm.

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, motile, orange-pigmented, slightly halophilic, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain JAMH 0132(T), was isolated from the trophosome of a tubeworm in Kagoshima Bay, Japan, and its taxonomic position was investigated using a polyphasic approach. The novel strain grew optimally at 28-30 °C and with about 2.0 % (w/v) NaCl. Chemotaxonomic analysis showed that Q-10 was the predominant respiratory quinone and that C(18 : 1)ω7c, C(16 : 0) 2-OH and C(16 : 0) were the major fatty acids. Sphingoglycolipid, phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylcholine were the major polar lipids. The genomic DNA G+C content was 60.1 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain JAMH 0132(T) belonged to the family Sphingomonadaceae, within the class Alphaproteobacteria. The novel strain appeared most closely related to Sphingopyxis baekryungensis SW-150(T) (95.1 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) and showed less sequence similarity with representatives of the genera Blastomonas, Sphingomonas, Sphingosinicella and Novosphingobium (<94.8 %). In having no detectable polyamine, strain JAMH 0132(T) differed from members of all genera currently in the family Sphingomonadaceae. On the basis of its phenotypic properties and phylogenetic distinctiveness, strain JAMH 0132(T) represents a novel species of a new genus in the family Sphingomonadaceae for which the name Parasphingopyxis lamellibrachiae gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Parasphingopyxis lamellibrachiae gen. nov., sp. nov. is JAMH 0132(T) (= JCM 15549(T) = NCIMB 14486(T)).

Cloning and sequence analysis of poly(tetramethylene succinate) depolymerase from Acidovorax delafieldii strain BS-3.

A gene encoding poly(tetramethylene succinate), PBS, depolymerase, pbsA, has been cloned from Acidovorax delafieldii strain BS-3 chromosomal DNA. The clone expressed in Escherichia coli showed the ability to degrade both PBS and poly[(tetramethylene succinate)-co-adipate] that are kinds of biodegradable plastics. PBS depolymerase was considered to be a kind of lipase, since it also degrades olive oil. It had no apparent hydrophobic-amino-acid-rich region which exists in other known plastic-degrading enzymes. From the result of amino acid homology search, PbsA was found to have some similarities with lipases of Streptomyces sp. and Mollaxella sp. In the motif surrounding the active site Ser residue (Gly-X1-Ser-X2-Gly), PbsA was revealed to have a Trp residue in the X1 position instead of His which is most likely found in other bacterial lipases.