Tomato NADPH oxidase SlWfi1 interacts with the effector protein RipBJ of Ralstonia solanacearum to mediate host defence.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial role in regulating numerous functions in organisms. Among the key regulators of ROS production are NADPH oxidases, primarily referred to as respiratory burst oxidase homologues (RBOHs). However, our understanding of whether and how pathogens directly target RBOHs has been limited. In this study, we revealed that the effector protein RipBJ, originating from the phytopathogenic bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum, was present in low- to medium-virulence strains but absent in high-virulence strains. Functional genetic assays demonstrated that the expression of ripBJ led to a reduction in bacterial infection. In the plant, RipBJ expression triggered plant cell death and the accumulation of H2O2, while also enhancing host defence against R. solanacearum by modulating multiple defence signalling pathways. Through protein interaction and functional studies, we demonstrated that RipBJ was associated with the plant's plasma membrane and interacted with the tomato RBOH known as SlWfi1, which contributed positively to RipBJ's effects on plants. Importantly, SlWfi1 expression was induced during the early stages following R. solanacearum infection and played a key role in defence against this bacterium. This research uncovers the plant RBOH as an interacting target of a pathogen's effector, providing valuable insights into the mechanisms of plant defence.

The crosstalk between cellular survival pressures and N6-methyladenosine modification in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Within the tumor microenvironment, survival pressures are prevalent with potent drivers of tumor progression, angiogenesis, and therapeutic resistance. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation has been recognized as a critical post-transcriptional mechanism regulating various aspects of mRNA metabolism. Understanding the intricate interplay between survival pressures and m6A modification provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression and highlights the potential for targeting the survival pressures-m6A axis in HCC diagnosis and treatment. DATA SOURCES: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, MEDLINE, and Web of Science for relevant articles published up to April 2024. The keywords used for the search included hepatocellular carcinoma, cellular survival, survival pressure, N6-methyladenosine, tumor microenvironment, stress response, and hypoxia. RESULTS: This review delves into the multifaceted roles of survival pressures and m6A RNA methylation in HCC, highlighting how survival pressures modulate the m6A landscape, the impact of m6A modification on survival pressure-responsive gene expression, and the consequent effects on HCC cell survival, proliferation, metastasis, and resistance to treatment. Furthermore, we explored the therapeutic potential of targeting this crosstalk, proposing strategies that leverage the understanding of survival pressures and m6A RNA methylation mechanisms to develop novel, and more effective treatments for HCC. CONCLUSIONS: The interplay between survival pressures and m6A RNA methylation emerges as a complex regulatory network that influences HCC pathogenesis and progression.

Thirst-driven hygrosensory suppression promotes water seeking in Drosophila.

Survival in animals relies on navigating environments aligned with physiological needs. In Drosophila melanogaster, antennal ionotropic receptors (IRs) sensing humidity changes govern hygrotaxis behavior. This study sheds light on the crucial role of IR8a neurons in the transition from high humidity avoidance to water-seeking behavior when the flies become thirsty. These neurons demonstrate a heightened calcium response toward high humidity stimuli in satiated flies and a reduced response in thirsty flies, modulated by fluctuating levels of the neuropeptide leucokinin, which monitors the internal water balance. Optogenetic activation of IR8a neurons in thirsty flies triggers an avoidance response similar to the moisture aversion in adequately hydrated flies. Furthermore, our study identifies IR40a neurons as associated with dry avoidance, while IR68a neurons are linked to moist attraction. The dynamic interplay among these neurons, each with opposing valences, establishes a preference for approximately 30% relative humidity in well-hydrated flies and facilitates water-seeking behavior in thirsty individuals. This research unveils the intricate interplay between sensory perception, neuronal plasticity, and internal states, providing valuable insights into the adaptive mechanisms governing hygrotaxis in Drosophila.

Negative impact of nurses' fear of COVID-19: the moderating role of implementation of knowledge management.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses encountered substantial infection risks and psychological strain, which severely affected their emotional well-being, professional attitudes, and job performance. This study investigated the impact of nurses' fear of COVID-19 on their intention to leave the occupation and emotional labor as well as the moderating role of the implementation of knowledge management on these primary variables. Methods: To mitigate common method bias, this research adopted a two-phase questionnaire approach, targeting nurses at a medical center in central Taiwan. In the first phase, 300 copies of questionnaire were distributed for participants to complete self-assessment surveys covering fear of COVID-19, knowledge management implementation, and demographic information. After 1 month, the participants were invited to complete a follow-up questionnaire, focusing on the intention to leave the occupation and emotional labor. The questionnaire was conducted from June to July 2022. Through this two-phase distribution method, after exclusion of invalid responses, a total of 288 valid responses were collected, resulting in a response rate of 96%. The proposed hypotheses were verified using hierarchical regression conducted with SPSS version 25.0. Results: The findings indicated that nurses' fear of COVID-19 was significantly and positively associated with their intention to leave the occupation and surface acting, but negatively associated with their deep acting. Moreover, the implementation of knowledge management significantly moderated the positive relationship among fear of COVID-19, intention to leave the occupation, and surface acting. A robust knowledge management system weakened the positive association among fear of COVID-19, intention to leave the occupation, and surface acting. Conclusion: In summary, nurses' fear of COVID-19 may increase their tendency to leave the nursing profession and engage in more surface acting and less deep acting. However, effective knowledge management practices can mitigate these adverse effects. Hospitals can thus establish and employ comprehensive knowledge management systems to enhance nurses' resilience and help alleviate their fear of future pandemics and their potential negative repercussions.

A Self-Cascade Penetrating Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Mediated by Near-Infrared II Cell Membrane-Disrupting Nanoflakes via Detained Dendritic Cells.

Immunotherapy can potentially suppress the highly aggressive glioblastoma (GBM) by promoting T lymphocyte infiltration. Nevertheless, the immune privilege phenomenon, coupled with the generally low immunogenicity of vaccines, frequently hampers the presence of lymphocytes within brain tumors, particularly in brain tumors. In this study, the membrane-disrupted polymer-wrapped CuS nanoflakes that can penetrate delivery to deep brain tumors via releasing the cell-cell interactions, facilitating the near-infrared II (NIR II) photothermal therapy, and detaining dendritic cells for a self-cascading immunotherapy are developed. By convection-enhanced delivery, membrane-disrupted amphiphilic polymer micelles (poly(methoxypoly(ethylene glycol)-benzoic imine-octadecane, mPEG-b-C18) with CuS nanoflakes enhances tumor permeability and resides in deep brain tumors. Under low-power NIR II irradiation (0.8 W/cm2), the intense heat generated by well-distributed CuS nanoflakes actuates the thermolytic efficacy, facilitating cell apoptosis and the subsequent antigen release. Then, the positively charged polymer after hydrolysis of the benzoic-imine bond serves as an antigen depot, detaining autologous tumor-associated antigens and presenting them to dendritic cells, ensuring sustained immune stimulation. This self-cascading penetrative immunotherapy amplifies the immune response to postoperative brain tumors but also enhances survival outcomes through effective brain immunotherapy.

The progress of induced pluripotent stem cells derived from pigs: a mini review of recent advances.

Pigs (Sus scrofa) are widely acknowledged as an important large mammalian animal model due to their similarity to human physiology, genetics, and immunology. Leveraging the full potential of this model presents significant opportunities for major advancements in the fields of comparative biology, disease modeling, and regenerative medicine. Thus, the derivation of pluripotent stem cells from this species can offer new tools for disease modeling and serve as a stepping stone to test future autologous or allogeneic cell-based therapies. Over the past few decades, great progress has been made in establishing porcine pluripotent stem cells (pPSCs), including embryonic stem cells (pESCs) derived from pre- and peri-implantation embryos, and porcine induced pluripotent stem cells (piPSCs) using a variety of cellular reprogramming strategies. However, the stabilization of pPSCs was not as straightforward as directly applying the culture conditions developed and optimized for murine or primate PSCs. Therefore, it has historically been challenging to establish stable pPSC lines that could pass stringent pluripotency tests. Here, we review recent advances in the establishment of stable porcine PSCs. We focus on the evolving derivation methods that eventually led to the establishment of pESCs and transgene-free piPSCs, as well as current challenges and opportunities in this rapidly advancing field.

Predicting Regional Recurrence and Prognosis in Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy-Treated Clinical Stage I Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Using a Radiomics Model Constructed With Surgical Data.

PURPOSE: Risk stratification of regional recurrence (RR) is clinically important in the design of adjuvant treatment and surveillance strategies in patients with clinical stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). This study aimed to develop a radiomics model predicting occult lymph node metastasis (OLNM) using surgical data and apply it to the prediction of RR in SBRT-treated early-stage NSCLC patients. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patients with clinical stage I NSCLC who underwent curative surgery with systematic lymph node dissection from January 2013 to December 2018 (the training cohort) and from January 2019 to December 2020 (the validation cohort) were included. A preoperative computed tomography-based radiomics model, a clinical feature model, and a fusion model predicting OLNM were constructed. The performance of the 3 models was quantified and compared in the training and validation cohorts. Subsequently, the radiomics model was used to predict RR in a cohort of consecutive SBRT-treated early-stage NSCLC patients from 2 academic medical centers. RESULTS: A total of 769 patients were included. Eight computed tomography features were identified in the radiomics model, achieving areas under the curves of 0.85 (95% CI, 0.81-0.89) and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.80-0.88) in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Nevertheless, adding clinical features did not improve the performance of the radiomics model. With a median follow-up of 40.0 (95% CI, 35.2-44.8) months, 32 of the 213 patients in the SBRT cohort developed RR and those in the high-risk group based on the radiomics model had a higher cumulative incidence of RR (P < .001) and shorter regional recurrence-free survival (P = .02), progression-free survival (P = .004) and overall survival (P = .006) than those in the low-risk group. CONCLUSIONS: The radiomics model based on pathologically confirmed data effectively identified patients with OLNM, which may be useful in the risk stratification among SBRT-treated patients with clinical stage I NSCLC.

[Effects of PIM1 Gene on Proliferation, Apoptosis and JAK2/STAT3 Signaling Pathway of Acute Myeloid Leukemia U937 Cells].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of the serine/threonine kinase family member 1 (PIM1) gene on the proliferation and apoptosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) U937 cells, and the regulation effect on Janus kinase 2 (JAK2)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway. METHODS: Bone marrow mononuclear cells from newly diagnosed adult AML patients and patients with iron deficiency anemia were collected and PIM1 mRNA expression was detected by RT-qPCR. AML cell line U937 cells were divided into U937 group (U937 cells were cultured normally), Si-PIM1 group (U937 cells were transfected with low expression adenovirus vector containing PIM1 mRNA), Si-NC group (U937 cells were transfected with low expression adenovirus vector without PIM1 mRNA), coumermycin A1 (CoA1) group (JAK2 activator CoA1 was added to U937 cells at a concentration of 20 µmol/L), and Si-PIM1+CoA1 group (U937 cells were transfected with adenoviral vector containing low expression of PIM1 mRNA and added with CoA1 at a concentration of 20 µmol/L). After culture for 24 h, the expressions of PIM1 mRNA and protein, JAK2/STAT3 pathway, cell cycle and apoptosis-related proteins in U937 cells were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot, the cell proliferation activity was detected by MTT assay, and flow cytometry was used to detect cell cycle changes and apoptosis rate. RESULTS: The PIM1 mRNA expression level in bone marrow mononuclear cells in AML patients was higher than that in patients with iron deficiency anemia (P < 0.05). Compared with U937 group, PIM1 mRNA and protein, phosphorylated JAK2 (p-JAK2)/JAK2, phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3)/STAT3, Cyclin D1, cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) protein, cell proliferation activity, S phase and G 2/M phase proportions were decreased in Si-PIM1 group (all P < 0.05), while p27, Caspase-3 protein, G0/G1 phase proportion and apoptosis rate were increased (all P < 0.05). However, the changes of above indicators in CoA1 group were just opposite to those in Si-PIM1 group, indicating that CoA1 could reverse the effect of Si-PIM1 on U937 cells. There were no significant differences in above indexes of U937 cells between U937 group, Si-PIM1+CoA1 group and Si-NC group (P >0.05). CONCLUSION: Knockdown of PIM1 gene expression can inhibit U937 cell proliferation and promote apoptosis, in order to alleviate ALM process, which may be related to the inhibition of JAK2/STAT3 pathway activation.

Prognostic value of genomic mutation signature associated with immune microenvironment in southern Chinese patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The genomic landscape of esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC), as well as its impact on the regulation of immune microenvironment, is not well understood. Thus, tumor samples from 92 patients were collected from two centers and subjected to targeted-gene sequencing. We identified frequently mutated genes, including TP53, KMT2C, KMT2D, LRP1B, and FAT1. The most frequent mutation sites were ALOX12B (c.1565C > T), SLX4 (c.2786C > T), LRIG1 (c.746A > G), and SPEN (c.6915_6917del) (6.5%). Pathway analysis revealed dysregulation of cell cycle regulation, epigenetic regulation, PI3K/AKT signaling, and NOTCH signaling. A 17-mutated gene-related risk model was constructed using random survival forest analysis and showed significant prognostic value in both our cohort and the validation cohort. Based on the Estimation of Stromal and Immune cells in Malignant Tumor tissues using Expression (ESTIMATE) algorithm, the Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) algorithm, and the MCPcounter algorithm, we found that the risk score calculated by the risk model was significantly correlated with stimulatory immune checkpoints (TNFSF4, ITGB2, CXCL10, CXCL9, and BTN3A1; p < 0.05). Additionally, it was significantly associated with markers that are important in predicting response to immunotherapy (CD274, IFNG, and TAMM2; p < 0.05). Furthermore, the results of immunofluorescence double staining showed that patients with high risk scores had a significantly higher level of M2 macrophage than those with low risk scores (p < 0.05). In conclusion, our study provides insights into the genomic landscape of ESCC and highlights the prognostic value of a genomic mutation signature associated with the immune microenvironment in southern Chinese patients with ESCC.

Oligo-residual disease in PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-treated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer: incidence, pattern of failure, and clinical value of local consolidative therapy.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the feasibility and potential clinical value of local consolidative therapy (LCT) in PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-treated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-treated metastatic NSCLC patients with measurable disease in three academic centers were screened and those with adequate follow-up were included. Oligo-residual disease (ORD) was defined as residual tumors limited to three organs and five lesions evaluated at the best response among patients with partial response or stable disease after PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. Oligometastatic and multiple-metastatic disease (OMD/MMD) were similarly classified at baseline. Locoregional interventions, administered after effective treatment of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors and before initial disease progression, were defined as LCT. Patterns of initial progressive disease (PD) were classified as involving only residual sites (RP), only new sites (NP), or a combination of both (BP). RESULTS: Among the 698 patients included, ORD was documented in 73 (47.1%) of 155 patients with baseline OMD and 60 (11.0%) of 543 patients with baseline MMD. With a median follow-up of 31.0 (range, 6.0-53.0) months, 108 patients with ORD developed initial PD, with RP, NP, and BP occurring in 51 (47%), 23 (21.3%), and 34 (31.5%), respectively. Among the 133 patients with ORD, those receiving LCT (n = 43) had longer progression-free survival (HR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.40-0.85, p = 0.01) and overall survival (HR = 0.49, 95% CI 0.30-0.79, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: ORD occurs with a clinically relevant frequency among PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-treated metastatic NSCLC patients and LCT may provide extra survival benefits in those with ORD.

Phytoconstituent-derived zingerone nanoparticles disrupt the cell adhesion mechanism and suppress cell motility in melanoma B16F10 cells.

Combining phytochemicals and nanotechnology to improve the unfavorable innate properties of phytochemicals and develop them into potent nanomedicines to enhance antitumor efficacy has become a novel strategy for cancer chemoprevention. Melanoma is the most aggressive, metastatic, and deadly disease of the primary cutaneous neoplasms. In this study, we fabricated phytoconstituent-derived zingerone nanoparticles (NPs) and validated their effects on cell adhesion and motility in melanoma B16F10 cells. Our data indicated that zingerone NPs significantly induced cytotoxicity and anti-colony formation and inhibited cell migration and invasion. Moreover, zingerone NPs dramatically interfered with the cytoskeletal reorganization and markedly delayed the period of cell adhesion. Our results also revealed that zingerone NPs-mediated downregulation of MMPs (matrix metalloproteinases) activity is associated with inhibiting cell adhesion and motility. We further evaluated the effects of zingerone NPs on Src/FAK /Paxillin signaling, our data showed that zingerone NPs significantly inhibited the protein activities of Src, FAK, and Paxillin, indicating that they play important roles in zingerone NP-mediated anti-motility and anti-invasion in melanoma cells. Accordingly, the phytoconstituent-zingerone NPs can strengthen the inhibition of tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis in malignant melanoma. Altogether, these multi-pharmacological benefits of zingerone NPs will effectively achieve the purpose of melanoma prevention and invasion inhibition.

pH-Responsive ß-Glucans-Complexed mRNA in LNPs as an Oral Vaccine for Enhancing Cancer Immunotherapy.

mRNA vaccines for cancer immunotherapy are commonly delivered using lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), which, when administered intravenously, may accumulate in the liver, potentially limiting their therapeutic efficacy. To overcome this challenge, the study introduces an oral mRNA vaccine formulation tailored for efficient uptake by immune cells in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, known for its high concentration of immune cells, including dendritic cells (DCs). This formulation comprises mRNA complexed with ß-glucans (ßGlus), a potential adjuvant for vaccines, encapsulated within LNPs (ßGlus/mRNA@LNPs). The ßGlus/mRNA complexes within the small compartments of LNPs demonstrate a distinctive ability to partially dissociate and reassociate, responding to pH changes, effectively shielding mRNA from degradation in the harsh GI environment. Upon oral administration to tumor-bearing mice, ßGlus/mRNA@LNPs are effectively taken up by intestinal DCs and local nonimmune cells, bypassing potential liver accumulation. This initiates antigen-specific immune responses through successful mRNA translation, followed by drainage into the mesenteric lymph nodes to stimulate T cells and trigger specific adaptive immune responses, ultimately enhancing antitumor effects. Importantly, the vaccine demonstrates safety, with no significant inflammatory reactions observed. In conclusion, the potential of oral ßGlus/mRNA@LNPs delivery presents a promising avenue in cancer immunotherapy, offering needle-free and user-friendly administration for widespread adoption and self-administration.

Establishment of Transgene-Free Porcine Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Although protocols to generate authentic transgene-free mouse and human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are now well established, standard methods for reprogramming porcine somatic cells still suffer from low efficiency and transgene retention. The Basic Protocol describes reprogramming procedures to establish transgene-free porcine iPSCs (PiPSCs) from porcine fibroblasts. This method uses episomal plasmids encoding POU5F1, SOX2, NANOG, KLF4, SV40LT, c-MYC, LIN28A, and microRNA-302/367, combined with an optimized medium, to establish PiPSC lines. Support protocols describe the establishment and characterization of clonal PiPSC lines, as well as the preparation of feeder cells and EBNA1 mRNA. This optimized, step-by-step approach tailored to this species enables the efficient derivation of PiPSCs in ∼4 weeks. The establishment of transgene-free PiPSCs provides a new and valuable model for studies of larger mammalian species' development, disease, and regenerative biology. © 2024 The Authors. Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol: Reprogramming of porcine fibroblasts with episomal plasmids Support Protocol 1: Preparation of mouse embryonic fibroblasts for feeder layer Support Protocol 2: Preparation of in vitro-transcribed EBNA1 mRNA Support Protocol 3: Establishment of clonal porcine induced pluripotent stem cell (PiPSC) lines Support Protocol 4: PiPSC characterization: Genomic DNA PCR and RT-PCR Support Protocol 5: PiPSC characterization: Immunostaining.

Revealing intact neuronal circuitry in centimeter-sized formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded brain.

Tissue-clearing and labeling techniques have revolutionized brain-wide imaging and analysis, yet their application to clinical formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) blocks remains challenging. We introduce HIF-Clear, a novel method for efficiently clearing and labeling centimeter-thick FFPE specimens using elevated temperature and concentrated detergents. HIF-Clear with multi-round immunolabeling reveals neuron circuitry regulating multiple neurotransmitter systems in a whole FFPE mouse brain and is able to be used as the evaluation of disease treatment efficiency. HIF-Clear also supports expansion microscopy and can be performed on a non-sectioned 15-year-old FFPE specimen, as well as a 3-month formalin-fixed mouse brain. Thus, HIF-Clear represents a feasible approach for researching archived FFPE specimens for future neuroscientific and 3D neuropathological analyses.

Pamiparib as consolidation treatment after concurrent chemoradiotherapy of limited-stage small cell lung cancer: a single-arm, open-label phase 2 trial.

BACKGROUND: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is highly invasive with poor prognosis, and its treatment has historically been hindered due to the absence of targetable driver genomic alterations. However, the high genomic instability and replication stress in SCLC have made poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARPs) inhibitors a focus of research. Pamiparib is an orally available PARP1/2 inhibitor with high selectivity, strong PARP trapping activity, and excellent brain penetration. Utilizing pamiparib as consolidation maintenance therapy in limited-stage SCLC holds promise for improving survival outcomes and offering a viable therapeutic approach. METHODS: This single-arm, open-label phase II trial will enroll patients aged 18-75 years with histologically/cytologically confirmed, limited-stage SCLC who have not progressed following definitive platinum-based cCRT and have an ECOG PS of 0 or 1. Patients will be excluded if they have histologically confirmed mixed SCLC or NSCLC, or have undergone previous tumor resection, or can be treated with surgery or stereotactic body radiation therapy/stereotactic ablative radiation therapy. Participants will receive pamiparib 40 mg twice daily every 3 weeks within 2 to 6 weeks after cCRT for up to 1 year or until disease progression according to RECIST v1.1. The primary endpoint is the 1-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate assessed by investigators per RECIST v1.1. Secondary endpoints include PFS, objective response rate, and duration of response assessed by investigators per RECIST 1.1, overall survival, time to distant metastasis, and safety. DISCUSSION: The study will provide valuable data on the feasibility, safety, and effectiveness of pamiparib as a consolidation therapy after cCRT in patients with LS-SCLC. The correlation between molecular typing or gene expression profile of the disease and curative response will be further explored. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT05483543 at clinicaltrials.gov.

Diastereoselective Synthesis of Less Accessible Fluorine-Containing Acyclic Tetrasubstituted Stereocenters via Electrophilic Fluorination of ß,ß-Disubstituted Metalloenamines.

A stereocontrolled protocol was developed to construct less accessible fluorine-containing acyclic tetrasubstituted stereocenters bearing two sterically and electronically similar alkyl groups at the α-position of carbonyls. In this process, tBuOK-promoted stereospecific α-deprotonation of α,α-disubstituted N-tert-butanesulfinyl ketimines or NH deprotonation of ß,ß-disubstituted enesulfinamides generates geometry-defined multisubstituted metalloenamines, followed by stereoselective electrophilic fluorination with the N-fluoro ammonium salt of quinine, affording the acyclic α-fluorinated ketimines with excellent diastereoselectivities.

Effect of compassion fatigue on emotional labor in female nurses: Moderating effect of self-compassion.

Emotional labor is common in nursing but may be affected by the mental state of nurses. This study explored the effect of compassion fatigue on emotional labor and whether self-compassion moderates this effect of compassion fatigue. METHODS: A two-stage survey design with a convenience sample. Participants were female nursing staff recruited from emergency departments, intensive care units, ward nursing units, and outpatient departments of medical centers, regional hospitals, and district hospitals in Taiwan. A total of 300 questionnaire copies in each of the first and second stages were distributed, and 272 pairs of responses were retrieved (valid response rate = 91%). The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were tested, and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with AMOS 21. The proposed hypotheses were verified using hierarchical regression conducted with SPSS version 25.0. RESULTS: This study revealed that compassion fatigue positively predicted surface acting (ß = 0.12, p < 0.05) and negatively predicted deep acting (ß = -0.18, p < 0.01) and expression of genuine emotions (ß = -0.31, p < 0.01). In addition, self-compassion negatively moderates the relationships between compassion fatigue and surface acting (ß = -0.12, p < 0.05), and positively moderates the relationships between compassion fatigue and expression of genuine emotions (ß = 0.15, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: To avoid excessive consumption of emotional resources, nurses with high compassion fatigue may employ surface acting by engaging in emotional labor without making an effort to adjust their feelings. Nurses need also be sympathized with, and such sympathy can come from hospitals, supervisors, colleagues, and, most crucially, the nurses themselves. Hospital executives should propose improvement strategies that can prevent the compassion fatigue on nurses, such as improving nurses' self-compassion.

Age-related emotional advantages in encountering novel situation in daily life.

People encounter novel situations throughout their lives that contribute to the acquisition of knowledge and experience. However, novelty can be misaligned with goals and motivation in later adulthood according to socioemotional selectivity theory. This study investigated age differences in emotional reactions associated with novel experiences. Multilevel structural equation models were used to analyze experience-sampling data obtained from an adult sample of 375 participants aged 18-94 years who reported their current situation and momentary emotional experience five times per day for 7 days. On occasions where situations were rated as more novel, people reported reduced positive and increased negative emotion. Those who had more overall exposure to novel situations tended to have more negative emotional experiences in general. Contrary to our hypothesis, there were age differences in individuals' negative emotional reactivity to situations that are perceived as more novel, such that novel situations were reported as less negative among older adults. By applying theoretical understanding of age differences in motivation and well-being in adulthood, our findings illuminate aspects of situations that elicit negative emotions. Findings highlight age-related benefits in emotional well-being, consistent with socioemotional selectivity theory postulates, and further implies that older adults may not be novelty averse. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Asymmetric neurons are necessary for olfactory learning in the Drosophila brain.

Animals have complementary parallel memory systems that process signals from various sensory modalities. In the brain of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, mushroom body (MB) circuitry is the primary associative neuropil, critical for all stages of olfactory memory. Here, our findings suggest that active signaling from specific asymmetric body (AB) neurons is also crucial for this process. These AB neurons respond to odors and electric shock separately and exhibit timing-sensitive neuronal activity in response to paired stimulation while leaving a decreased memory trace during retrieval. Our experiments also show that rutabaga-encoded adenylate cyclase, which mediates coincidence detection, is required for learning and short-term memory in both AB and MB. We observed additive effects when manipulating rutabaga co-expression in both structures. Together, these results implicate the AB in playing a critical role in associative olfactory learning and short-term memory.

Chromosome level genome assembly of the Etruscan shrew Suncus etruscus.

Suncus etruscus is one of the world's smallest mammals, with an average body mass of about 2 grams. The Etruscan shrew's small body is accompanied by a very high energy demand and numerous metabolic adaptations. Here we report a chromosome-level genome assembly using PacBio long read sequencing, 10X Genomics linked short reads, optical mapping, and Hi-C linked reads. The assembly is partially phased, with the 2.472 Gbp primary pseudohaplotype and 1.515 Gbp alternate. We manually curated the primary assembly and identified 22 chromosomes, including X and Y sex chromosomes. The NCBI genome annotation pipeline identified 39,091 genes, 19,819 of them protein-coding. We also identified segmental duplications, inferred GO term annotations, and computed orthologs of human and mouse genes. This reference-quality genome will be an important resource for research on mammalian development, metabolism, and body size control.