DNAJC24 acts directly with PCNA and promotes malignant progression of LUAD by activating phosphorylation of AKT.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are a group of highly conserved proteins found in a wide range of organisms. In recent years, members of the HSP family were overexpressed in various tumors and widely involved in oncogenesis, tumor development, and therapeutic resistance. In our previous study, DNAJC24, a member of the DNAJ/HSP40 family of HSPs, was found to be closely associated with the malignant phenotype of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, its relationship with other malignancies needs to be further explored. Herein, we demonstrated that DNAJC24 exhibited upregulated expression in LUAD tissue samples and predicted poor survival in LUAD patients. The upregulation of DNAJC24 expression promoted proliferation and invasion of LUAD cells in A549 and NCI-H1299 cell lines. Further studies revealed that DNAJC24 could regulate the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway by affecting AKT phosphorylation. In addition, a series of experiments such as Co-IP and mass spectrometry confirmed that DNAJC24 could directly interact with PCNA and promoted the malignant phenotypic transformation of LUAD. In conclusion, our results suggested that DNAJC24 played an important role in the progression of LUAD and may serve as a specific prognostic biomarker for LUAD patients. The DNAJC24/PCNA/AKT axis may be a potential target for future individualized and precise treatment of LUAD patients.

Atomic Design of Alkyne Semihydrogenation Catalysts via Active Learning.

Alkyne hydrogenation on palladium-based catalysts modified with silver is currently used in industry to eliminate trace amounts of alkynes in alkenes produced from steam cracking and alkane dehydrogenation processes. Intensive efforts have been devoted to designing an alternative catalyst for improvement, especially in terms of selectivity and catalyst cost, which is still far away from that as expected. Here, we describe an atomic design of a high-performance Ni-based intermetallic catalyst aided by active machine learning combined with density functional theory calculations. The engineered NiIn catalyst exhibits >97% selectivity to ethylene and propylene at the full conversion of acetylene and propyne at mild temperature, outperforming the reported Ni-based catalysts and even noble Pd-based ones. Detailed mechanistic studies using theoretical calculations and advanced characterizations elucidate that the atomic-level defined coordination environment of Ni sites and well-designed hybridization of Ni 3d with In 5p orbital determine the semihydrogenation pathway.

CT-Based Deep-Learning Model for Spread-Through-Air-Spaces Prediction in Ground Glass-Predominant Lung Adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Sublobar resection is strongly associated with poor prognosis in early-stage lung adenocarcinoma, with the presence of tumor spread through air spaces (STAS). Thus, preoperative prediction of STAS is important for surgical planning. This study aimed to develop a STAS deep-learning (STAS-DL) prediction model in lung adenocarcinoma with tumor smaller than 3 cm and a consolidation-to-tumor (C/T) ratio less than 0.5. METHODS: The study retrospectively enrolled of 581 patients from two institutions between 2015 and 2019. The STAS-DL model was developed to extract the feature of solid components through solid components gated (SCG) for predicting STAS. The STAS-DL model was assessed with external validation in the testing sets and compared with the deep-learning model without SCG (STAS-DLwoSCG), the radiomics-based model, the C/T ratio, and five thoracic surgeons. The performance of the models was evaluated using area under the curve (AUC), accuracy and standardized net benefit of the decision curve analysis. RESULTS: The study evaluated 458 patients (institute 1) in the training set and 123 patients (institute 2) in the testing set. The proposed STAS-DL yielded the best performance compared with the other methods in the testing set, with an AUC of 0.82 and an accuracy of 74%, outperformed the STAS-DLwoSCG with an accuracy of 70%, and was superior to the physicians with an AUC of 0.68. Moreover, STAS-DL achieved the highest standardized net benefit compared with the other methods. CONCLUSION: The proposed STAS-DL model has great potential for the preoperative prediction of STAS and may support decision-making for surgical planning in early-stage, ground glass-predominant lung adenocarcinoma.

TWF1 induces autophagy and accelerates malignant phenotype in lung adenocarcinoma via inhibiting the cAMP signaling pathway.

Many studies have shown that the actin cytoskeleton plays an essential role in the initiation and progression of cancer. As an actin-binding protein, Twinfilin1 (TWF1) plays an important role in regulating cytoskeleton-related functions. However, little is known about the expression and function of TWF1 in human tumors. The present study aimed to investigate the functional roles and the underlying molecular mechanisms of TWF1 in human lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). By using bioinformatics databases and tumor tissues, TWF1 expression was found to be higher in LUAD tissues than in adjacent tissues and poor survival was predicted in patients with LUAD. In vitro and in vivo assays indicated that downregulation of TWF1 expression suppressed LUAD cells invasion and migration. Further studies revealed that TWF1 interacted with p62 and was involved in the regulation of autophagy. The molecular mechanisms underlying TWF1 were investigated by RNA-seq analysis and a series of functional experiments. The results showed that downregulation of TWF1 suppressed LUAD progression through the cAMP signaling pathway. Therefore, overexpression of TWF1 in LUAD promoted migration, invasion, and autophagy through the cAMP signaling pathway.

Evolved Cas9 variants with broad PAM compatibility and high DNA specificity.

A key limitation of the use of the CRISPR-Cas9 system for genome editing and other applications is the requirement that a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) be present at the target site. For the most commonly used Cas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes (SpCas9), the required PAM sequence is NGG. No natural or engineered Cas9 variants that have been shown to function efficiently in mammalian cells offer a PAM less restrictive than NGG. Here we use phage-assisted continuous evolution to evolve an expanded PAM SpCas9 variant (xCas9) that can recognize a broad range of PAM sequences including NG, GAA and GAT. The PAM compatibility of xCas9 is the broadest reported, to our knowledge, among Cas9 proteins that are active in mammalian cells, and supports applications in human cells including targeted transcriptional activation, nuclease-mediated gene disruption, and cytidine and adenine base editing. Notably, despite its broadened PAM compatibility, xCas9 has much greater DNA specificity than SpCas9, with substantially lower genome-wide off-target activity at all NGG target sites tested, as well as minimal off-target activity when targeting genomic sites with non-NGG PAMs. These findings expand the DNA targeting scope of CRISPR systems and establish that there is no necessary trade-off between Cas9 editing efficiency, PAM compatibility and DNA specificity.

Mechanism of interaction between ascorbic acid and soil iron-containing minerals for peroxydisulfate activation and organophosphorus flame retardant degradation.

Soil constituents may play an important role in peroxydisulfate (PDS)-based oxidation of organic contaminants in soil. Iron-containing minerals (Fe-minerals) have been found to promote PDS activation for organics degradation. Our study found that ascorbic acid (H2A) could enhance PDS activation by soil Fe-minerals for triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) degradation. Determination and characterization analyses of Fe fractions showed that H2A could induce the reductive dissolution of solid Fe-minerals and the increasing of oxygen vacancies/hydroxyl groups content on Fe-minerals surface. The increasing of divalent Fe (Fe(II)) accelerated PDS activation to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and quenching studies showed that sulfate radicals (SO4•-) and hydroxyl radicals (HO•) contributed significantly to TPHP degradation. The composition and content of Fe-minerals and soil organic matter (SOM) markedly influenced ROS transformations. Surface-bond and structural Fe played the main role in the production of Fe(II) in reaction system. The high-concentration SOM could result in ROS consumption and degradation inhibition. Density functional theory (DFT) studies revealed that H2A is preferentially adsorbed at α-Fe2O3(012) surface through Fe-O-C bridges rather than hydrogen bonds. After absorption, H atoms on H2A may further be migrated to adjacent O atoms on the α-Fe2O3(012) surface. With the transformation of H atoms to the α-Fe2O3(012) surface, the Fe-O-C bridge is broken and one electron is transferred from the O to Fe atom, inducing the reduction of trivalent Fe (Fe(III)) atom. MS/MS2 analysis, HPLC analysis, and toxicity assessment demonstrated that TPHP was transformed to less toxic 4-hydroxyphenyl diphenyl phosphate (OH-TPHP), diphenyl hydrogen phosphate (DPHP), and phenyl phosphate (PHP) through phenol-cleavage and hydroxylation processes, and even be mineralized in reaction system.

Micro-scale urbanization-based risk factors for dengue epidemics.

Dengue is one of the world's most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral diseases. As it is found mostly in urban and semi-urban areas, urbanization and associated human activities that affect the environment and larval habitats could become risk factors (e.g., lane width, conditions of street ditches) for the spread of dengue. However, there are currently no systematic studies of micro-scale urbanization-based risk factors for the spread of dengue epidemics. We describe the study area, two micro-scale environmental risk factors associated with urbanization, and meteorological data. Since the observations involve spatial and temporal correlations, we also use some statistical methods for the analysis of spatial and spatial-temporal data for the relationship between urbanization and dengue. In this study, we analyzed data from Kaohsiung, a densely populated city in southern Taiwan, and found a positive correlation between environmental risk factors associated with urbanization (ditches positive for mosquito larvae and closely packed streets termed "dengue lanes") and clustering effects in dengue cases. The statistical analysis also revealed that the occurrence of positive ditches was significantly associated with that of dengue lanes in the study area. The relationship between climate variables and positive ditches was also analyzed in this paper, indicating a relationship between dengue and both rainfall and temperature, with temperature having a greater effect. Overall, this work is immediately relevant and applicable for policymakers in government, who will need to reduce these favorable habitats for vector-born disease spreaders and implement regulations for new urban constructions to thus reduce dengue spread in future outbreaks.

Particle Attachment Growth of Au@Ag Core-Shell Nanocuboids.

In the templated synthesis of colloidal core-shell nanoparticles, the monomer attachment growth mechanism has been widely accepted to describe the growth process of shells. In this work, by using advanced transmission electron microscope techniques, we directly observe two alternative particle attachment growth pathways that dominate the growth of Au@Ag core-shell nanocuboids. One pathway involves the in situ reduction of AgCl nanoparticles attached to Au nanorods and the subsequent epitaxial growth of the Ag shell. The other pathway involves the adherence of Ag-AgCl Janus nanoparticles to Au nanorods with random orientations, followed by nanoparticle redispersion and the resulting formation of epitaxial Ag shells on the Au nanorods. The particle-mediated growth of Ag shells is accompanied by the redispersion of surface atoms, tending to form a uniform structure. The validation of the particle attachment growth processes at the atomic scale provides a new mechanistic understanding of core-shell nanostructure synthesis.

Environmental TEM Study of the Dispersion of Au/α-MoC: From Nanoparticles to Two-Dimensional Clusters.

The synthesis of highly dispersed Au nanoclusters that are stable under elevated temperatures in heterogeneous catalysis is challenging. Here, we directly observe a strong metal-support interaction (SMSI)-induced dispersion of Au nanoparticles (NPs) on α-MoC using an environmentally atomically resolved secondary imaging technique. Under a realistic environment, Au NPs flatten and spread out on the α-MoC to form two-dimensional atomic layered clusters. The formed highly dispersed Au/α-MoC catalyst shows excellent stability at 600 °C for 160 h in the reverse water-gas shift reaction. The X-ray photoelectron spectrum and extended X-ray absorption fine structure results show that Au NPs gradually become low-coordination-number cluster species and lose electrons to become Auδ+; these form chemical bonds with the α-MoC support and are responsible for the dispersion behavior. This work provides an insightful understanding of dispersion behavior and promotes the rational design and synthesis of reverse sintering catalysts.

Interface-Mediation-Enabled High-Performance Near-Infrared AgAuSe Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes.

Near-infrared (NIR) quantum dot (QD) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) (NIR-QLEDs) for recognition and tracking applications underpin the future of night-vision technology. However, the performance of environmentally benign materials and devices has lagged far behind that of their Pb-containing counterparts. In this study, we demonstrate the superior performance of NIR-QLEDs based on efficient AgAuSe QDs with contact interface mediation. Consequently, we reveal that using cysteamine-treated QD film contact heterointerfaces can effectively eliminate contact defects in devices and preserve their excellent emissive properties. Additionally, the dipole moment orientation of the coordinated additives is inverse of the heterojunction potential difference, simultaneously blocking electrons and enhancing hole injection in operando, optimizing the LED charge injection balance. These devices exhibit a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.8 and 12.7% at 1046 nm, respectively, a sub-band gap turn-on voltage of 0.9 V, and a low current density (over 10% of the EQE from 0.0017 to 0.31 mA cm-2). These are the highest EQE and PCE values ever reported for environmentally benign NIR-QLEDs. The results of this study can provide a general strategy for the practical application of QDs in electroluminescent devices.

MPZL1 suppresses the cancer stem-like properties of lung cancer through ß-catenin/TCF4 signaling.

This study was designed to explore the influence of myelin protein zero-like protein 1 (MPZL1) on the stem-like properties of cancer cells and the underlying mechanism in lung adenocarcinoma. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was utilized to evaluate mRNA expression level. CCK8, wound healing, and transwell assays were applied to assess cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Tumorsphere-formation assay was utilized to assess cancer stem cell-like properties. LF3 was used to block the ß-catenin/Transcription factor 4 (TCF-4) signaling. Xenograft nude mouse model was conducted; tumor weight and volume were recorded. Western blot assay was utilized to detect the expression levels of CD44, CD133, ß-catenin, TCF-4, and MPZL1. Following MPZL1 knockdown, the mRNA expression levels of MPZL1, ß-catenin, and TCF-4 were inhibited, while the mRNA expression levels of the above genes were increased after the MPZL1 overexpression. MPZL1 knockdown suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, reduced the tumorsphere-formation capacity, and restrained the expression levels of CD44 and CD133. However, MPZL1 overexpression promoted the cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, enhanced the tumorsphere-formation capacity, and increased the expression levels of CD44 and CD133. Interestingly, LF3 treatment partially revised the effect of MPZL1 overexpression. These findings were further corroborated by in vivo experiments. We concluded that MPZL1 could suppress the lung adenocarcinoma cells' proliferation, migration, invasion, and lung cancer stem cells characteristics. The underlying mechanism is involved in the activation of ß-catenin/TCF-4 signaling.

Ultrafast Charge-Discharge Capable and Long-Life Na3.9 Mn0.95 Zr0.05 V(PO4 )3 /C Cathode Material for Advanced Sodium-Ion Batteries.

Na4 MnV(PO4 )3 /C (NMVP) has been considered an attractive cathode for sodium-ion batteries with higher working voltage and lower cost than Na3 V2 (PO4 )3 /C. However, the poor intrinsic electronic conductivity and Jahn-Teller distortion caused by Mn3+ inhibit its practical application. In this work, the remarkable effects of Zr-substitution on prompting electronic and Na-ion conductivity and also structural stabilization are reported. The optimized Na3.9 Mn0.95 Zr0.05 V(PO4 )3 /C sample shows ultrafast charge-discharge capability with discharge capacities of 108.8, 103.1, 99.1, and 88.0 mAh g-1 at 0.2, 1, 20, and 50 C, respectively, which is the best result for cation substituted NMVP samples reported so far. This sample also shows excellent cycling stability with a capacity retention of 81.2% at 1 C after 500 cycles. XRD analyses confirm the introduction of Zr into the lattice structure which expands the lattice volume and facilitates the Na+ diffusion. First-principle calculation indicates that Zr modification reduces the band gap energy and leads to increased electronic conductivity. In situ XRD analyses confirm the same structure evolution mechanism of the Zr-modified sample as pristine NMVP, however the strong ZrO bond obviously stabilizes the structure framework that ensures long-term cycling stability.

Controllable Crystallization of Two-Dimensional Bi Nanocrystals with Morphology-Boosted CO2 Electroreduction in Wide pH Environments.

Two-dimensional low-melting-point (LMP) metal nanocrystals are attracting increasing attention with broad and irreplaceable applications due to their unique surface and topological structures. However, the chemical synthesis, especially the fine control over the nucleation (reduction) and growth (crystallization), of such LMP metal nanocrystals remains elusive as limited by the challenges of low standard redox potential, low melting point, poor crystalline symmetry, etc. Here, a controllable reduction-melting-crystallization (RMC) protocol to synthesize free-standing and surfactant-free bismuth nanocrystals with tunable dimensions, morphologies, and surface structures is presented. Especially, ultrathin bismuth nanosheets with flat or jagged surfaces/edges can be prepared with high selectivity. The jagged bismuth nanosheets, with abundant surface steps and defects, exhibit boosted electrocatalytic CO2 reduction performances in acidic, neutral, and alkaline aqueous solutions, achieving the maximum selectivity of near unity at the current density of 210 mA cm-2 for formate evolution under ambient conditions. This work creates the RMC pathway for the synthesis of free-standing two-dimensional LMP metal nanomaterials and may find broader applicability in more interdisciplinary applications.

Robustness of Quantitative Diffusion Metrics from Four Models: A Prospective Study on the Influence of Scan-Rescans, Voxel Size, Coils, and Observers.

BACKGROUND: Quantitative diffusion metrics provide additional microstructural information of diseases. The robustness of quantitative diffusion metrics should be established before clinical application. PURPOSE: To evaluate the variability and reproducibility of quantitative diffusion MRI metrics. STUDY TYPE: Prospective. POPULATION: 14 volunteers (7 men; median age, range, 28, 26-59 years). FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: 3.0-T/Diffusion spectrum imaging. ASSESSMENT: Brain MRI studies were performed four times per subject: involving different combinations of coil types and voxel sizes. Regions of interest of 13 brain anatomical sites were drawn by one observer twice and another observer once to allow interobserver and intraobserver reproducibility assessment. Twenty-five quantitative metrics were calculated using four diffusion models. STATISTICAL TESTS: The variability was evaluated with coefficients of variation (CV), and quartile coefficient of dispersion (QCD). The reproducibility was assessed with intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and concordance correlation coefficient (CCC). Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the influence of factors on robustness of quantitative diffusion metrics. A two-tailed P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The variability of quantitative diffusion metrics showed CV of 2.4%-68.2%, and QCD of 0.6%-48.2%, respectively. The reproducibility of scans using 20-channel coils with voxels of 2 × 2 × 2 mm3 and 3 × 3 × 3 mm3 , respectively (ICC 0.03-0.84, CCC 0.03-0.84) was significantly worse than that of repeated scans using a 20-channel coil with a voxel size of 2 × 2 × 2 mm3 (ICC of 0.74-0.97, CCC 0.74-0.97) and that of scans using 20- and 64-channel coils, respectively, with a voxel size of 2 × 2 × 2 mm3 (ICC 0.59-0.95, CCC 0.59-0.95). The intraobserver reproducibility (ICC 0.49-0.94, CCC 0.49-0.94) was significantly better than the interobserver reproducibility (ICC 0.28-0.91, CCC 0.28-0.91). DATA CONCLUSION: Our study indicated that the voxel size has a greater influence on the reproducibility of quantitative diffusion metrics than scan-rescans and coils. The reproducibility within one observer was higher than that between two observers. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 1.

Probiotic supplementation for neonates with congenital gastrointestinal surgical conditions: guidelines for future research.

Our pilot RCT found that probiotic supplementation with the three-strain bifidobacterial product (B. breve M-16V, B. longum subsp. infantis M-63 and B. longum subsp. longum BB536) attenuates gut dysbiosis, increases stool short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels and improves the growth of head circumference in neonates with congenital gastrointestinal surgical conditions (CGISC). In this article, we have provided guidelines for designing future multicentre RCTs based on the experience gained from our pilot RCT. The recommendations include advice about sample size, potential confounders, outcomes of interest, probiotic strain selection, storage, dose, duration and microbial quality assurance, collection of stool samples, storage and analysis and reporting. Following these guidelines will increase the validity of future RCTs in this area and hence confidence in their results. IMPACT: Probiotic supplementation attenuates gut dysbiosis, increases stool short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels and improves the growth of head circumference in neonates with congenital gastrointestinal surgical conditions. The current review provides evidence-based guidelines to conduct adequately powered RCTs in this field.

Racial Discrimination and Sleep Quality during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic (HEAP) Study.

Previous research has documented the association between racial discrimination and poor sleep quality. However, few studies have examined this association during the COVID-19 pandemic when racial discrimination is on the rise due to structural injustice and racism against people of color. Using data from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic (HEAP) Study, a nationally representative survey of US adults, we assessed the association between racial discrimination and sleep quality among overall adults and by race and ethnicity. We found that racial discrimination during the pandemic was significantly associated with higher risks of poor sleep quality among non-Hispanic Black (OR = 2.19, 95% CI: 1.13-4.25) and Asian (OR = 2.75, 95% CI: 1.53-4.94) participants, but not among the other groups. The results suggested that sleep quality among Black and Asian populations may have been disproportionately affected by racial discrimination during the pandemic. Further study is needed to assess the causal relationship between racial discrimination and sleep quality.

Double-function enhancement algorithm for low-illumination images based on retinex theory.

In order to solve the problems of noise amplification and excessive enhancement caused by low contrast and uneven illumination in the process of low-illumination image enhancement, a high-quality image enhancement algorithm is proposed in this paper. First, the total-variation model is used to obtain the smoothed V- and S-channel images, and the adaptive gamma transform is used to enhance the details of the smoothed V-channel image. Then, on this basis, the improved multi-scale retinex algorithms based on the logarithmic function and on the hyperbolic tangent function, respectively, are used to obtain different V-channel enhanced images, and the two images are fused according to the local intensity amplitude of the images. Finally, the three-dimensional gamma function is used to correct the fused image, and then adjust the image saturation. A lightness-order-error (LOE) approach is used to measure the naturalness of the enhanced image. The experimental results show that compared with other classical algorithms, the LOE value of the proposed algorithm can be reduced by 79.95% at most. Compared with other state-of-the-art algorithms, the LOE value can be reduced by 53.43% at most. Compared with some algorithms based on deep learning, the LOE value can be reduced by 52.13% at most. The algorithm proposed in this paper can effectively reduce image noise, retain image details, avoid excessive image enhancement, and obtain a better visual effect while ensuring the enhancement effect.

The association between serum folate and gestational diabetes mellitus: a large retrospective cohort study in Chinese population.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between folate levels and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) risk during the whole pregnancy. DESIGN: In this retrospective cohort study of pregnant women, serum folate levels were measured before 24 gestational weeks (GW). GDM was diagnosed between 24th and 28th GW based on the criteria of the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups. General linear models were performed to examine the association of serum folate with plasma glucose (i.e. linear regressions) and risk of GDM (i.e. log-binomial regressions) after controlling for confounders. Restricted cubic spline regression was conducted to test the dosage-response relationship between serum folate and the risk of GDM. SETTING: A sigle, urban hospital in Shanghai, China. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 42 478 women who received antenatal care from April 2013 to March 2017 were included. RESULTS: Consistent positive associations were observed between serum folate and plasma glucose levels (fasting, 1-h, 2-h). The adjusted relative risks (RR) and 95 % CI of GDM across serum folate quartiles were 1·00 (reference), 1·15 (95 % CI (1·04, 1·26)), 1·40 (95 % CI (1·27, 1·54)) and 1·54 (95 % CI (1·40, 1·69)), respectively (P-for-trend < 0·001). The positive association between serum folate and GDM remained when stratified by vitamin B12 (adequate v. deficient groups) and the GW of serum folate measurement (≤13 GW v. >13 GWs). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study may provide important evidence for the public health and clinical guidelines of pregnancy folate supplementation in terms of GDM prevention.

Associations of effort-reward imbalance at work and quality of life among workers after stroke: a one-year longitudinal study in Thailand.

Stroke incidence is increasing among working-age population, but the role of psychosocial stress in the workplace in predicting quality of life (QoL) after stroke onset is understudied. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the relationship between work stress, measured by the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model, and QoL over one-year period among 103 Thai workers who had experienced a stroke. The study evaluated the effort (E)-reward (R) ratio and over-commitment, the extrinsic and intrinsic components of the ERI model, before discharge; QoL was repeatedly measured at baseline, six months, and 12 months after discharge, respectively, using the Short Form Version 2 (SF-12v2) indicators of physical and mental health composite scores. Generalized estimating equations were used to examine longitudinal relationships between work stress at baseline and QoL over one year by testing the hypotheses that E-R ratio and over-commitment would have direct effects on QoL, and potential moderating effects of over-commitment on E-R ratio and QoL. The results supported the ERI model partially, as over-commitment was significantly associated with poor mental health (coefficient - 8.50; 95% CI: -13.79, -3.20) after adjusting baseline sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical characteristics, while the E-R ratio was not significantly associated with physical or mental health; the interaction between the E-R ratio and over-commitment was also not significant. These findings suggest that more attention should be paid to workers' personal coping skills and ability to handle work-related problems and prioritize interventions that address over-commitment to promote long-term mental health among workers with stroke.

Racial-ethnic disparities in psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States: the role of experienced discrimination and perceived racial bias.

BACKGROUND: Research on mental health disparities by race-ethnicity in the United States (US) during COVID-19 is limited and has generated mixed results. Few studies have included Asian Americans as a whole or by subgroups in the analysis. METHODS: Data came from the 2020 Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic Study, based on a nationally representative sample of 2,709 community-dwelling adults in the US with minorities oversampled. The outcome was psychological distress. The exposure variable was race-ethnicity, including four major racial-ethnic groups and several Asian ethnic subgroups in the US. The mediators included experienced discrimination and perceived racial bias toward one's racial-ethnic group. Weighted linear regressions and mediation analyses were performed. RESULTS: Among the four major racial-ethnic groups, Hispanics (22%) had the highest prevalence of severe distress, followed by Asians (18%) and Blacks (16%), with Whites (14%) having the lowest prevalence. Hispanics' poorer mental health was largely due to their socioeconomic disadvantages. Within Asians, Southeast Asians (29%), Koreans (27%), and South Asians (22%) exhibited the highest prevalence of severe distress. Their worse mental health was mainly mediated by experienced discrimination and perceived racial bias. CONCLUSIONS: Purposefully tackling racial prejudice and discrimination is necessary to alleviate the disproportionate psychological distress burden in racial-ethnic minority groups.