Health-related quality of life instrument with 8 items to measure health-related quality of life among family caregivers of people with dementia: A pilot validation study.

BACKGROUND: The health-related quality of life instrument with 8 items (HINT-8) was developed to measure health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Korea. However, the HINT-8 has not yet been validated among the family caregivers of people with dementia (PwD). DESIGN: A cross-sectional pilot study. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of the HINT-8 among family caregivers of individuals with dementia. SAMPLE: Forty-seven family caregivers of PwD. MEASUREMENTS: HINT-8 was compared with the 5-level EQ-5D (EQ-5D-5L) to assess its convergent and discriminant validity. Additionally, the association between the two instruments assessing HRQoL was examined using the short-form Bédard-Zarit Burden Interview (SZBI). RESULTS: The HINT-8 was a promising and valid HRQoL instrument for family caregivers of PwD. There was a significantly high correlation between the overall HINT-8 and EQ-5D-5L indices (r = 0.85, p < .001). The HINT-8 had acceptable psychometric properties compared to the commonly used EQ-5D-5L, as indicated by the subdomains associated with family caregivers' burden measured by the SZBI. CONCLUSION: Future studies should compare the HINT-8 with existing dementia carer-specific QoL instruments among a larger study sample to enhance its statistical power and confirm its reliability and structural validity.

Fabrication of Yolk-Shell Structure with Multifarious Nanoparticles via Double-Layered Encapsulation Strategy.

The post-encapsulation method (such as single-layered encapsulation) is a promising strategy to synthesize yolk-shell structures that protect functional nanoparticles by the molecular sieving effect. However, this method exhibited limited loading capacity and nonuniform encapsulation during the co-encapsulation of various nanoparticles owing to the insufficient surface area for nanoparticle attachment. To address these limitations, we proposed a double-layered encapsulation method comprising an increased number of silica template layers and separate attachment of multifarious nanoparticles to different layers. Compared with conventional methods, this strategy can precisely adjust the ratio of encapsulated nanoparticles and increase the loading amount, which improves the functionality of yolk-shell structures, such as the photothermal properties of gold nanoparticle-encapsulated yolk-shell structures (∼69%). We describe, for the first time, the precise control of the ratio of encapsulated nanoparticles and the loading of numerous nanoparticles. Consequently, this strategy has significant potential for various applications of yolk-shell structures.

Thermal Dehydrogenation Impact on Positive Bias Stability of Amorphous InSnZnO Thin-Film Transistors.

Recently, the growing demand for amorphous oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors (AOS TFTs) with high mobility and good stability to implement ultrahigh-resolution displays has made tracking the role of hydrogen in oxide semiconductor films increasingly important. Hydrogen is an essential element that contributes significantly to the field effect mobility and bias stability characteristics of AOS TFTs. However, because hydrogen is the lightest atom and has high reactivity to metal and oxide materials, elucidating its impact on AOS thin films has been challenging. Therefore, in this study, we propose controlling the hydrogen quantities in amorphous InSnZnO (a-ITZO) thin films through thermal dehydrogenation to precisely reveal the hydrogen influences on the electrical characteristics of a-ITZO TFTs. The as-deposited device containing 15.69 × 1015 atoms/cm2 of hydrogen exhibited a relatively low saturation mobility of 18.1 cm2/V·s and poor positive bias stress stability. However, depending on the extent of thermal dehydrogenation, not only did the hydrogen quantity and interface defect density (DIT) decrease but also the conductivity and surface energy increased due to the rise in oxygen vacancies and hydroxyl groups in a-ITZO thin films. As a result, the a-ITZO TFT with a hydrogen amount of 4.828 × 1015 atoms/cm2 showed that the saturation mobility improved up to 36.8 cm2/V·s, and positive bias stress stability was remarkably enhanced. Hence, we report the ability to manage the hydrogen quantity with thermal dehydrogenation and demonstrate that high-performance a-ITZO TFTs can be realized when an appropriate hydrogen concentration is achieved.

Yeast Small Ubiquitin-Like Modifier (SUMO) Protease Ulp2 is Involved in RNA Splicing.

In eukaryotes, RNA splicing, an essential biological process, is crucial for precise gene expression. Inaccurate RNA splicing can cause aberrant mRNA production, disrupting protein synthesis. To regulate splicing efficiency, some splicing factors are reported to undergo Ubiquitin-like Modifier (SUMO)ylation. Our data indicate that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the SUMO protease, Ulp2, is involved in splicing. In the ulp2Δ mutant, some ribosomal protein (RP) transcripts exhibited a significant increase in the levels of intron-containing pre-mRNA because of improper splicing. Moreover, we confirmed Ulp2 protein binding to the intronic regions of RP genes. These findings highlight a critical Ulp2 role in RP transcript splicing.

Innate Immune-Enhancing Effect of Pinus densiflora Pollen Extract via NF-κB Pathway Activation.

Considering the emergence of various infectious diseases, including the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), people's attention has shifted towards immune health. Consequently, immune-enhancing functional foods have been increasingly consumed. Hence, developing new immune-enhancing functional food products is needed. Pinus densiflora pollen can be collected from the male red pine tree, which is commonly found in Korea. P. densiflora pollen extract (PDE), obtained by water extraction, contained polyphenols (216.29 ± 0.22 mg GAE/100 g) and flavonoids (35.14 ± 0.04 mg CE/100 g). PDE significantly increased the production of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) but, did not exhibit cytotoxicity in RAW 264.7 cells. Western blot results indicated that PDE induced the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2. PDE also significantly increased the mRNA and protein levels of cytokines and the phosphorylation of IKKα/ß and p65, as well as the activation and degradation of IκBα. Additionally, western blot analysis of cytosolic and nuclear fractions and immunofluorescence assay confirmed that the translocation of p65 to the nucleus after PDE treatment. These results confirmed that PDE increases the production of cytokines, NO, and ROS by activating NF-κB. Therefore, PDE is a promising nutraceutical candidate for immune-enhancing functional foods.

Cold-Responsive Hyaluronated Upconversion Nanoplatform for Transdermal Cryo-Photodynamic Cancer Therapy.

Cryotherapy leverages controlled freezing temperature interventions to engender a cascade of tumor-suppressing effects. However, its bottleneck lies in the standalone ineffectiveness. A promising strategy is using nanoparticle therapeutics to augment the efficacy of cryotherapy. Here, a cold-responsive nanoplatform composed of upconversion nanoparticles coated with silica - chlorin e6 - hyaluronic acid (UCNPs@SiO2-Ce6-HA) is designed. This nanoplatform is employed to integrate cryotherapy with photodynamic therapy (PDT) in order to improve skin cancer treatment efficacy in a synergistic manner. The cryotherapy appeared to enhance the upconversion brightness by suppressing the thermal quenching. The low-temperature treatment afforded a 2.45-fold enhancement in the luminescence of UCNPs and a 3.15-fold increase in the photodynamic efficacy of UCNPs@SiO2-Ce6-HA nanoplatforms. Ex vivo tests with porcine skins and the subsequent validation in mouse tumor tissues revealed the effective HA-mediated transdermal delivery of designed nanoplatforms to deep tumor tissues. After transdermal delivery, in vivo photodynamic therapy using the UCNPs@SiO2-Ce6-HA nanoplatforms resulted in the optimized efficacy of 79% in combination with cryotherapy. These findings underscore the Cryo-PDT as a truly promising integrated treatment paradigm and warrant further exploring the synergistic interplay between cryotherapy and PDT with bright upconversion to unlock their full potential in cancer therapy.

Tho2-mediated escort of Nrd1 regulates the expression of aging-related genes.

The relationship between aging and RNA biogenesis and trafficking is attracting growing interest, yet the precise mechanisms are unknown. The THO complex is crucial for mRNA cotranscriptional maturation and export. Herein, we report that the THO complex is closely linked to the regulation of lifespan. Deficiencies in Hpr1 and Tho2, components of the THO complex, reduced replicative lifespan (RLS) and are linked to a novel Sir2-independent RLS control pathway. Although transcript sequestration in hpr1Δ or tho2Δ mutants was countered by exosome component Rrp6, loss of this failed to mitigate RLS defects in hpr1Δ. However, RLS impairment in hpr1Δ or tho2Δ was counteracted by the additional expression of Nrd1-specific mutants that interacted with Rrp6. This effect relied on the interaction of Nrd1, a transcriptional regulator of aging-related genes, including ribosome biogenesis or RNA metabolism genes, with RNA polymerase II. Nrd1 overexpression reduced RLS in a Tho2-dependent pathway. Intriguingly, Tho2 deletion mirrored Nrd1 overexpression effects by inducing arbitrary Nrd1 chromatin binding. Furthermore, our genome-wide ChIP-seq analysis revealed an increase in the recruitment of Nrd1 to translation-associated genes, known to be related to aging, upon Tho2 loss. Taken together, these findings underscore the importance of Tho2-mediated Nrd1 escorting in the regulation of lifespan pathway through transcriptional regulation of aging-related genes.