Dynamic greenspace exposure, individual mental health status and momentary stress level: A study using multiple greenspace measurements.

Previous research on the relationship between greenspace exposure and mental health has largely taken a residence-based approach to exposure assessment, ignoring the dynamic nature of people's daily movements. Moreover, most studies evaluated greenspace from an overhead perspective, whereas an eye-level perspective could potentially offer a more comprehensive understanding of individuals' encounters with greenspaces. Based on our survey in two communities in Hong Kong (Sham Shui Po and Tin Shui Wai), we captured people's eye-level greenspace exposure based on their travel routes and visited places using GPS trajectories, streetscape images, and deep learning methods. We then compared the results with those obtained with an overhead greenness exposure measure (the normalized difference vegetation index [NDVI]). The results indicate that these two greenspace measurements are not associated with each other, implying that they encompass distinct facets of greenspace, which may have different effects on mental health. Further, we examined the associations between various greenspace exposure measures and mental health using GPS trajectories and ecological momentary assessment data. The results reveal a negative association between eye-level greenspace exposure and momentary stress, while no similar association was observed when using the top-down NDVI as an indicator of greenspace exposure. Moreover, compared to the total volume of greenspace exposure, the distance-weighted average of greenspace exposure based on dynamic mobility contexts has a stronger association with individual overall mental health. Lastly, the relationship between greenspace exposure and mental health varies between the two communities with different socio-economic attributes. The study indicates that policymakers should focus not only on residential neighborhoods and overhead greenspace but also consider the dynamic environments and socio-economic contexts that people are embedded in.

Efficacy and safety of laparoscopic vs open gastrectomy after neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) is widely accepted as a minimally invasive approach for the treatment of early gastric cancer. However, its role in locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC) after neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) remains controversial. This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of LG vs open gastrectomy (OG) after NAT for the treatment of LAGC. AIM: To compare the efficacy and safety of LG vs OG after NAT for LAGC. METHODS: We conducted a prospective study of 76 patients with LAGC who underwent NAT followed by LG (n = 38) or OG (n = 38) between 2021 and 2023. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS), and the secondary endpoints were disease-free survival (DFS), surgical complications, and quality of life (QOL). RESULTS: The two groups had comparable baseline characteristics, with a median follow-up period of 24 mo. The 3-year OS rates in the LG and OG groups were 68.4% and 60.5%, respectively (P = 0.42). The 3-year DFS rates in the LG and OG groups were 57.9% and 50.0%, respectively (P = 0.51). The LG group had significantly less blood loss (P < 0.001), a shorter hospital stay (P < 0.001), and a lower incidence of surgical site infection (P = 0.04) than the OG group. There were no significant differences in other surgical complications between the groups, including anastomotic leakage, intra-abdominal abscess, or wound dehiscence. The LG group had significantly better QOL scores than the OG group regarding physical functioning, role functioning, global health status, fatigue, pain, appetite loss, and body image at 6 months postoperatively (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: LG after NAT is a viable and safe alternative to OG for the treatment of LAGC, with similar survival outcomes and superior short-term recovery and QOL. LG patients had less blood loss, shorter hospitalizations, and a lower incidence of surgical site infections than OG patients. Moreover, the LG group had better QOL scores in multiple domains 6 mo postoperatively. Therefore, LG should be considered a valid option for patients with LAGC who undergo NAT, particularly for those who prioritize postoperative recovery and QOL.

Current methods for evaluating people's exposure to green space: A scoping review.

People's exposure to green space is a critical link between urban green space and urban residents' health. Since green space may affect human health through multiple pathways regarding diverse human health outcomes, the measurement of people's exposure to green space must be tailored to concrete study contexts and research questions. In this scoping review, we systematically categorized the available green space representations and metrics in the last two decades that can be used to derive people's exposure to green space regarding different research topics. A three-phase systematic review was conducted after a generalized search of relevant research articles from the three most-used publication databases, namely Scopus, the Web of Science, and PubMed. We identified 260 research articles that particularly discuss green space representations and metrics. We further developed a multi-pathway framework to articulate the complicated context issues in green space studies. We categorized the most relevant green space representations and metrics into five groups, including green space indices, the delineation, inventory, and usage of green space, the spatiotemporal evolution of green space, the attributes and components of green space, and the green space landscape and fragmentation. Finally, we discussed the inter-conversion between different green space representations and metrics, the "mobility-turn" in green space studies and how it may affect the derivation of people's exposure to green space, and other potential methodological issues in measuring people's exposure to green space. Our scoping review provides the most comprehensive framework and categories for deriving people's exposure to green space to date, which may strongly support a broad range of studies that concern green space's health effects.

Myocardial injury before noncardiac surgery.

Non-cardiac surgical procedures present a significant circulatory stress and can potentially trigger cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction and heart failure. Myocardial injury before non-cardiac surgery is associated with an increased risk of mortality and major cardiovascular complications during perioperative period, as well as up to 5 years after non-cardiac surgery. While the definition of preoperative myocardial injury is not yet clear, it is generally understood as myocardial injury resulting from various causes of troponin elevation without acute coronary syndrome prior to surgery. Detecting preoperative myocardial injury through routine troponin monitoring is crucial for reducing perioperative risk, but it is also challenging. The aim of this review is to discuss the definition of preoperative myocardial injury, its pathophysiology, implications on clinical practice and decision-making for patients with elevated troponin levels before non-cardiac surgery.

PSMB2 knockdown suppressed proteasome activity and cell proliferation, promoted apoptosis, and blocked NRF1 activation in gastric cancer cells.

Proteasome 20S Subunit Beta 2 (PSMB2) has been suggested to play several roles in cancer. However, the role of PSMB2 and its underlying mechanisms in gastric cancer have not been studied. In this study, qRT-PCR was employed to detect the expression of genes that encode for 26 s proteasome subunit proteins. PSMB2 expression and its prognostic ability were assessed by collecting patient tissue samples and reviewing the TCGA and Kaplan-Meier Plotter databases. Immunofluorescence and western blotting experiments were performed to evaluate the expression of PSMB2 in human gastric cancer cells and normal gastric epithelial cells. Subsequently, PSMB2 was knocked down in HGC-27 and SNU-1 cells and overexpressed in N-87 and AGS cells. Proteasome activity assays, 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine staining, and TUNEL assays were used to assess proteasome activity, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. Tumor xenograft assays were conducted to evaluate PSMB2 function in vivo. Our results showed that a total of 8 genes encoding for the 26 s proteasome subunit protein were highly expressed in a variety of gastric cancer cells. Next, PSMB2 was selected as the focus of subsequent studies which showed that PSMB2 was highly expressed in samples of gastric cancer tissue. Furthermore, a review of the TCGA database revealed that a high level of PSMB2 expression was associated with a poor clinical prognosis. Our results indicated that PSMB2 overexpression promoted proteasome activity, cell proliferation, and suppressed the apoptosis of gastric cancer cells, while those effects were reversed by treatment with a proteasome inhibitor (MG132). In contrast, PSMB2 knockdown produced the opposite effects and also blocked NRF1 activation. Moreover, PSMB2 knockdown inhibited tumor growth in vivo, decreased PSMB2 expression and cell proliferation, and promoted apoptosis in tumor tissues. Our findings revealed the role played by PSMB2 in gastric cancer and suggest PSMB2 as a new target molecule for use in diagnosing and treating gastric cancer.

Field Evaluation and Calibration of Low-Cost Air Pollution Sensors for Environmental Exposure Research.

This paper seeks to evaluate and calibrate data collected by low-cost particulate matter (PM) sensors in different environments and using different aggregated temporal units (i.e., 5-s, 1-min, 10-min, 30 min intervals). We first collected PM concentrations (i.e., PM1, PM2.5, and PM10) data in five different environments (i.e., indoor and outdoor of an office building, a train platform and lobby of a subway station, and a seaside location) in Hong Kong, using five AirBeam2 sensors as the low-cost sensors and a TSI DustTrak DRX Aerosol Monitor 8533 as the reference sensor. By comparing the collected PM concentrations, we found high linearity and correlation between the data reported by the AirBeam2 sensors in different environments. Furthermore, the results suggest that the accuracy and bias of the PM data reported by the AirBeam2 sensors are affected by rainy weather and environments with high humidity and a high level of hygroscopic salts (i.e., a seaside location). In addition, increasing the aggregation level of the temporal units (i.e., from 5-s to 30 min intervals) increases the correlation between the PM concentrations obtained by the AirBeam2 sensors, while it does not significantly improve the accuracy and bias of the data. Lastly, our results indicate that using a machine learning model (i.e., random forest) for the calibration of PM concentrations collected on sunny days generates better results than those obtained with multiple linear models. These findings have important implications for researchers when designing environmental exposure studies based on low-cost PM sensors.

TSPYL2 reduced gefitinib resistance and DNA damage repair via suppressing SIRT1-mediated FOXO3 deacetylation.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a malignancy with high mortality. TSPYL2 participates in tumor suppression but its role in CRC remains unknown. Methodology & results: TSPYL2 was downregulated and SIRT1 was upregulated in gefitinib drug-resistant (GEF-DR) tissues of patients with CRC. The GEF-resistant cells, HCT116 and HCT-15, were successfully established. The knockdown of TSPYL2 promoted resistance to GEF in CRC cells. Interestingly, immunofluorescence and western blot assays demonstrated that TSPYL2 inhibited DNA damage repair in HCT-15 and HCT116 GEF-resistant cells. Mechanically, TSPYL2 reduced the resistance to GEF and inhibited DNA damage repair via suppressing SIRT1-mediated FOXO3 deacetylation. TSPYL2 consistently inhibited tumor growth and decreased resistance to GEF in vivo. Conclusion: TSPYL2 reduced resistance to GEF and suppressed DNA damage through downregulating SIRT1-mediated FOXO3 deacetylation, indicating that TSPYL2 might be a novel therapeutic target in CRC.