Effect of COVID-19 Risk Perception and COVID-19 Self-Care of Korean Correctional Nurses on Occupational Burnout: Mediating Effect of Stress and Anxiety About Viral Epidemics.

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether stress and anxiety about viral epidemics have effects as parameters in the relationship among COVID-19 risk perception, COVID-19 self-care, and occupational burnout for Korean correctional nurses. The subjects of this study were 107 correctional nurses working at 52 correctional facilities in Korea that are conducting COVID-19 management and prevention activities. Data were collected from March 12 to 30, 2022. Results suggest that correctional nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic may experience occupational burnout because of increased stress and anxiety about viral epidemics as their COVID-19 risk perception increased. In addition, stress and anxiety about being infected with the COVID-19 virus itself will cause burnout. This study contributes to promotion of the mental health of Korean correctional nurses and provides basic data for developing an intervention program to prevent occupational burnout.

Factors Influencing Infection Anxiety in Korean Male Firefighters Due to COVID-19 Infection Status.

This paper describes descriptive research to identify the effects of job stress, COVID-19 self-care behavior, and COVID-19 vaccination status according to the infection and non-infection of COVID-19 on anxiety about the COVID-19 infection among firefighters in South Korea. Data from 205 firefighters working at 10 fire stations were collected from 26 January to 16 February 2023. The variables used were job stress, COVID-19 self-care behavior, COVID-19 vaccination status, and COVID-19 infection anxiety. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression. In subjects who were infected with COVID-19, the factors that significantly affected infection anxiety were job stress (ß = 0.247, p = 0.011) and self-care behavior (ß = 0.343, p = 0.011). In subjects who were not infected with COVID-19, the factors that significantly affected infection anxiety were marriage status (unmarried) (ß = -0.260, p = 0.005) and self-care behavior (ß = 0.374, p = 0.001). These results demonstrate that the infection anxiety of firefighters should be prevented, and their physical and mental health should be promoted by considering job stress, self-care behavior, and personal environment.

Alleviation of neurotoxicity induced by polystyrene nanoplastics by increased exocytosis from neurons.

Nanoplastics (NPs) are potentially toxic and pose a health risk as they can induce an inflammatory response and oxidative stress at cellular and organismal levels. Humans can be exposed to NPs through various routes, including ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact. Notably, uptake into the body via inhalation could result in brain accumulation, which may occur directly across the blood-brain barrier or via other routes. NPs that accumulate in the brain may be endocytosed into neurons, inducing neurotoxicity. Recently, we demonstrated that exposure to polystyrene (PS)-NPs reduces the viability of neurons. We have also reported that inhibiting the retrograde transport of PS-NPs by histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) prevents their intracellular accumulation and promotes their export in mouse embryonic fibroblasts. However, whether HDAC6 inhibition can improve neuronal viability by increasing exocytosis of PS-NPs from neurons remains unknown. In this study, mice were intranasally administered fluorescent PS-NPs (PS-YG), which accumulated in the brain and showed potential neurotoxic effects. In cultured neurons, the HDAC6 inhibitor ACY-1215 reduced the fluorescence signal detected from PS-YG, suggesting that the removal of PS-YG from neurons was promoted. Therefore, these results suggest that blocking the retrograde transport of PS-NPs using an HDAC6 inhibitor can alleviate the neurotoxic effects of PS-NPs that enter the brain.

Effects of tomato ketchup and tomato paste extract on hepatic lipid accumulation and adipogenesis.

Tomatoes include high levels of lycopene, which is a potent antioxidative, hypolipidemic, and antidiabetic phytochemical. The intake of lycopene is associated with a reduced risk of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study was to investigate whether tomato ketchup and tomato paste, major dietary sources for tomato and lycopene, could regulate hepatic lipid metabolism and adipogenesis. To investigate the regulatory effects of tomato ketchup and tomato paste, we prepared a tomato ketchup extract (TKE) and a tomato paste extract (TPE) in 80% (v/v) ethyl acetate for the experiment. TKE and TPE reduced lipid accumulation and key markers for gluconeogenesis and induced a higher rate of fatty acid oxidation in HepG2 hepatocytes. In 3T3-L1 adipocytes, TKE and TPE increased adipogenesis and intracellular triglyceride accumulation, and stimulated glucose uptake. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha and gamma expression levels were increased by TKE and TPE treatment. A single oral dose of tomato ketchup and tomato paste (9.28 g/kg) significantly improved glucose and insulin tolerance in mice. These findings suggest that lycopene-containing tomato ketchup and tomato paste may have beneficial regulatory effects in terms of energy metabolism in hepatocytes and adipocytes, and thus may improve blood glucose metabolism.

Reduced secretion of LCN2 (lipocalin 2) from reactive astrocytes through autophagic and proteasomal regulation alleviates inflammatory stress and neuronal damage.

LCN2/neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin/24p3 (lipocalin 2) is a secretory protein that acts as a mammalian bacteriostatic molecule. Under neuroinflammatory stress conditions, LCN2 is produced and secreted by activated microglia and reactive astrocytes, resulting in neuronal apoptosis. However, it remains largely unknown whether inflammatory stress and neuronal loss can be minimized by modulating LCN2 production and secretion. Here, we first demonstrated that LCN2 was secreted from reactive astrocytes, which were stimulated by treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as an inflammatory stressor. Notably, we found two effective conditions that led to the reduction of induced LCN2 levels in reactive astrocytes: proteasome inhibition and macroautophagic/autophagic flux activation. Mechanistically, proteasome inhibition suppresses NFKB/NF-κB activation through NFKBIA/IκBα stabilization in primary astrocytes, even under inflammatory stress conditions, resulting in the downregulation of Lcn2 expression. In contrast, autophagic flux activation via MTOR inhibition reduced the intracellular levels of LCN2 through its pre-secretory degradation. In addition, we demonstrated that the N-terminal signal peptide of LCN2 is critical for its secretion and degradation, suggesting that these two pathways may be mechanistically coupled. Finally, we observed that LPS-induced and secreted LCN2 levels were reduced in the astrocyte-cultured medium under the above-mentioned conditions, resulting in increased neuronal viability, even under inflammatory stress.Abbreviations: ACM, astrocyte-conditioned medium; ALP, autophagy-lysosome pathway; BAF, bafilomycin A1; BTZ, bortezomib; CHX, cycloheximide; CNS, central nervous system; ER, endoplasmic reticulum; GFAP, glial fibrillary acidic protein; GFP, green fluorescent protein; JAK, Janus kinase; KD, knockdown; LCN2, lipocalin 2; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; MACS, magnetic-activated cell sorting; MAP1LC3/LC3, microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3; MTOR, mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase; NFKB/NF-κB, nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B cells 1, p105; NFKBIA/IκBα, nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B cells inhibitor, alpha; OVEX, overexpression; SLC22A17, solute carrier family 22 member 17; SP, signal peptide; SQSTM1, sequestosome 1; STAT3, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3; TNF/TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor; TUBA, tubulin, alpha; TUBB3/ß3-TUB, tubulin, beta 3 class III; UB, ubiquitin; UPS, ubiquitin-proteasome system.

Factors Associated with Return of Spontaneous Circulation following Pre-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Daegu Metropolitan City, South Korea; a Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction: The probability of Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC) in cardiac arrest cases in pre-hospital setting is still low. This study aimed to identify the factors that may improve the rate of ROSC in patients with pre-hospital cardiac arrest. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study is a secondary data analysis of cardiac arrest patients, who were managed by paramedics in the pre-hospital setting, from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2019, in Daegu, South Korea. The association of ROSC with place of arrest occurrence, cardiac arrest being witnessed, performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), using compression device and defibrillator, administration of epinephrine, and intubation was analyzed and independent predictive factors of ROSC were reported. Results: 2750 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases, which were managed by paramedics in the pre-hospital setting were studied. 2034 (86.9%) cases of arrest had occurred at home, 2028 (73.7%) were not witnessed, and CPR was not performed for 1721 (64.1%) cases. ROSC before arriving to emergency department (ED) was more probable if the cardiac arrest was witnessed (p < 0.001), if CPR was performed (p = 0.044), if a mechanical compression device was used (p < 0.001), if a first-aid defibrillator was used (p < 0.001), and if intravenous access was secured (p < 0.001). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that using mechanical compression device (OR: 0.18; 95% CI = 0.08 - 0.40; p = 0.001), using first-aid defibrillator (OR: 3.13; 95% CI = 1.40 - 6.99; p = 0.005), administration of epinephrine (OR: 6.57; 95% CI = 2.16 - 19.53; p = 0.001), and intubation (OR: 1.82; 95% CI = 1.04-3.19; p = 0.001) were independent predictive factors of ROSC before arrival to ED. Conclusion: It seems that chest compression by hand instead of using chest compression device, using defibrillator, epinephrine administration, and intubation my increase the probability of ROSC in pre-hospital arrest cases.

Increased clearance of non-biodegradable polystyrene nanoplastics by exocytosis through inhibition of retrograde intracellular transport.

Nanoplastics (NPs) are derived from microplastics and may cause health problems. We previously showed that 100 nm polystyrene (PS)-NPs enter cells, including mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), and their intracellular accumulation induces inflammatory and oxidative stress. Moreover, PS-NP uptake was found to occur via endocytosis, and they accumulated mostly at the juxtanuclear position, but never within the nucleus. We speculated that PS-NPs were cleared from cells when they were no longer exposed to PS-NPs. However, the effects of PS-NPs on the cellular machinery remain unknown. The accumulation of PS-NPs at the juxtanuclear position may be due to retrograde transport along microtubules. To confirm this, we treated PS-NP-exposed MEFs with inhibitors of histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), dynein, or microtubule polymerization and found greatly diminished intracellular and juxtanuclear accumulation. Moreover, rapid clearance of PS-NPs was observed when MEFs were treated with an HDAC6 inhibitor. PS-NPs were removed by exocytosis, as confirmed by treatment with an exocytosis inhibitor. Furthermore, inhibiting the retrograde transport of PS-NPs alleviated the activation of the antioxidant response pathway, inflammatory and oxidative stress, and reactive oxygen species generation. In summary, inhibition of the retrograde transport of non-biodegradable PS-NPs leads to their rapid export by exocytosis, which may reduce their cytotoxicity.

Development and Validation of Earthquake Fire Response Simulation Protocol for Korean College Students in Health Programs.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the adequacy of the developed protocol by verifying the validity of the expert group for the earthquake and fire response simulation protocol. A protocol development team consisting of one emergency rescue professor, one counseling psychology professor, three paramedics, and one firefighter developed the study's protocols to promote the core response and capabilities required at an earthquake fire site. We checked the content validity for the appropriateness of the contextual connection for each stage for the protocol. We also created an evaluation checklist to measure the items for each stage. The protocol developed in this study consists of earthquake response, fire response, evacuation, and fire suppression. We set the situation for each stage and composed learner activities and learning performance goals. The earthquake response stage included (1) shout "it's an earthquake," (2) protect yourself, (3) turn off electricity and gas, and (4) evacuate to a safe place. In the fire response stage, (1) shout "fire," (2) press the emergency bell and call 119, (3) close the door of a dangerous place where fire can spread, and (4) evacuate to a safe place. In the evacuation stage, (1) open the emergency exit, (2) cover your nose and mouth, (3) lower your posture, and (4) evacuate quickly in one direction. Lastly, in the firefighting stage, (1) pull out the safety pin, (2) hold the nozzle and face the fire, (3) grab the handle, and (4) spray the powder evenly. The protocol contributes to the development of systematic and elaborate simulation education materials in the future. Furthermore, it provides basic data for future disaster simulation operation and protocol development through continuous training and practical exercises.

Post-traumatic growth of people who have experienced earthquakes: Qualitative research systematic literature review.

Introduction: Earthquakes can have a variety of physical, emotional, and social effects on the people who experience them. Post-traumatic Growth (PTG) results from people attempting to reconstruct their lives after experiencing a traumatic event. We intend to inform the local community of the importance of disaster psychology by identifying and analyzing the literature on post-traumatic growth experiences of subjects who experienced earthquakes. Methods: This study applied a systematic review of qualitative research published from January 1, 2012 to January 31, 2021 to understand PTG in people who have experienced earthquakes. The search expressions "Post-traumatic Growth", "Earthquake", "Qualitative" were applied to CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed, PsycInfo, KISS, RISS, and NDSL databases. Initially, 720 papers were found; after removal of duplicates, 318 remained. After a review of titles and abstracts, 186 papers that did not meet the selection criteria of this study were removed. After a further examination of the remaining 132 papers, the researchers removed 65 papers that did not match the research topic. Lastly, of the remaining 67 papers, detailed review eliminated quantitative papers that did not match this study (25), articles that were not original (19), articles in which results were not PTG (8), articles that were not related to this study (3), articles that were not written in English (2), or articles that had mixed topics (2). Eight papers remained. Results: The results of this study show that the PTG in people who have experienced earthquakes can be classified into three categories: "Change in self-perception", "Change of interpersonal relationships", and "Spiritual change". They can be further classified into eight subcategories: "Reviewing one's existence", "Acceptance", "Discovering strengths by working through adversity", "Gratitude for life", "Changes in personal relations", "Changes in social relations", "Accepting the existence of God", and "A breakthrough to overcome difficulties". Discussion: These results can be used as basic data for a positive psychological understanding for those who have experienced earthquake trauma.

Development of Psychological First Aid Guidelines for People Who Have Experienced Disasters.

This study developed guidelines for psychological first aid. This guideline promotes core response and disaster capabilities for disaster mental-health professionals, such as mental-health nurses and counseling psychologists at disaster sites. A research team composed of a first-aid professor and counseling psychology professor developed this psychological first-aid guideline to promote the psychological response required at disaster sites. The team verified each question's content adequacy at each guideline-development stage to determine the appropriateness of response to a disaster. The PFA performance stage and achievement objectives were moved to the next stage only when the research team fully agreed upon them. This guideline revised and supplemented the six steps suggested in the handbook to five steps through expert meetings. The modified part was made into one step, without separating the first rapport formation and safety check. The checklist for evaluation was developed after verification by a total of four people, including one emergency-rescue-department professor, one counseling psychology professor, one paramedic, and one health educator. Based on previous studies, the cutting point is 24 points. The final completed psychological first aid consists of five stages: rapport formation and safety verification, psychological stabilization, information collection, problem resolution, and recovery, with details to be carried out at each step. These guidelines contribute to the promotion of disaster-response capabilities of disaster psychologists. Continuous training and practical exercises based on the five stages will provide fundamental data for a disaster-simulation psychological-first-aid educational development.

The Effect of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Korean Correctional Officers about COVID-19 on Job Stress.

The purpose of this study was conducted to investigate the effects of corrective officers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices on job stress. The subjects of this study were 375 randomly selected male correctional officials working at five South Korean correctional facilities that had been affected by COVID-19. This study considered data collected with approval from 17 May 2021 to 14 June 2021. Knowledge, attitudes, practices, and job stress in relation to COVID-19 were assessed using a personal questionnaire. The data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and post-test using Pearson's correlation coefficient. The job stress of participants was negatively correlated with knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Significant factors influencing job stress included knowledge and practices. These factors explained 38% of the variance. In this study, knowledge and practices were identified as influencing the job stress of correctional officers. These results are intended to contribute to the development of programs that can enhance the COVID-19-related knowledge and practices of correctional officers and reduce job stress.

Implementing psychological first aid ontology.

BACKGROUND: This study develops an ontology of Psychological First Aid (PFA) by extracting relevant knowledge from a review of PFA literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted using the PFA ontology development 101 method. This review processes previously-developed PFA studies by consulting Google Scholar, CINHL, PUBMED, and MEDLINE. Protege 5.0 program was used to integrate with ontology development. The developed PFA ontology consisted of eight super classes: Action agenda, Assessment, Concrete method, Disaster type, Disaster disposition, Purpose, Qualification and Skill, Reaction. In total, 166 terms were collected. RESULTS: The eight super classes were divided into 72 classes and 64 subclasses. The composition yielded in a total of 166 axioms (85 logical axioms; 81 declaration axioms). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides basic data to guide development and composition of PFA arbitration programs.

A novel apoptosis probe, cyclic ApoPep-1, for in vivo imaging with multimodal applications in chronic inflammatory arthritis.

Apoptosis plays an essential role in the pathophysiologic processes of rheumatoid arthritis. A molecular probe that allows spatiotemporal observation of apoptosis in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo concomitantly would be useful to monitoring or predicting pathophysiologic stages. In this study we investigated whether cyclic apoptosis-targeting peptide-1 (CApoPep-1) can be used as an apoptosis imaging probe in inflammatory arthritis. We tested the utility of CApoPep-1 for detecting apoptotic immune cells in vitro and ex vivo using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence. The feasibility of visualizing and quantifying apoptosis using this probe was evaluated in a murine collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model, especially after treatment. CApoPep-1 peptide may successfully replace Annexin V for in vitro and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay for ex vivo in the measurement of apoptotic cells, thus function as a sensitive probe enough to be used clinically. In vivo imaging in CIA mice revealed that CApoPep-1 had 42.9 times higher fluorescence intensity than Annexin V for apoptosis quantification. Furthermore, it may be used as an imaging probe for early detection of apoptotic response in situ after treatment. The CApoPep-1 signal was mostly co-localized with the TUNEL signal (69.6% of TUNEL+ cells) in defined cell populations in joint tissues of CIA mice. These results demonstrate that CApoPep-1 is sufficiently sensitive to be used as an apoptosis imaging probe for multipurpose applications which could detect the same target across in vitro, in vivo, to ex vivo in inflammatory arthritis.

Stress Response of Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts Exposed to Polystyrene Nanoplastics.

Polystyrene (PS) nanoplastic exposure has been shown to affect the viability of neuronal cells isolated from mouse embryonic brains. However, the viability of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) was not affected although PS nanoplastics accumulated in the cytoplasm. It is currently unknown whether MEFs do not respond to PS nanoplastics or their cellular functions are altered without compromising viability. Here, we found that PS nanoplastics entered the cells via endocytosis and were then released into the cytoplasm, probably by endosomal escape, or otherwise remained in the endosome. Oxidative and inflammatory stress caused by intracellular PS nanoplastics induced the antioxidant response pathway and activated the autophagic pathway. However, colocalization of the autophagic marker LC3B and PS nanoplastics suggested that PS nanoplastics in the cytoplasm might interfere with normal autophagic function. Furthermore, autophagic flux could be impaired, probably due to accumulation of PS nanoplastic-containing lysosomes or autolysosomes. Intriguingly, the level of accumulated PS nanoplastics decreased during prolonged culture when MEFs were no longer exposed to PS nanoplastics. These results indicate that accumulated PS nanoplastics are removed or exported out of the cells. Therefore, PS nanoplastics in the cytoplasm affect cellular functions, but it is temporal and MEFs can overcome the stress caused by PS nanoplastic exposure.

Regulation of polyubiquitin genes to meet cellular ubiquitin requirement.

Ubiquitin (Ub) is one of the proteins that are highly conserved from yeast to humans. It is an essential core unit of the welldefined post-translational modification, called ubiquitination, which is involved in a variety of biological processes. In metazoans, Ub is encoded by two monoubiquitin genes and two polyubiquitin genes, in which a single Ub is fused to a ribosomal protein or Ub coding units are arranged in tandem repeats. In mice, polyubiquitin genes (Ubb and Ubc) play a pivotal role to meet the requirement of cellular Ub pools during embryonic development. In addition, expression levels of polyubiquitin genes are increased to adapt to environmental stimuli such as oxidative, heat-shock, and proteotoxic stress. Several researchers have reported about the perturbation of Ub pools through genetic alteration or exogenous Ub delivery using diverse model systems. To study Ub pool changes in a physiologically relevant manner, changing Ub pools via the regulation of endogenous polyubiquitin gene expression has recently been introduced. Furthermore, to understand the regulation of polyubiquitin gene expression more precisely, cis-acting elements and trans-acting factors, which are regulatory components of polyubiquitin genes, have been analyzed. In this review, we discuss how the role of polyubiquitin genes has been studied during the past decade, especially focusing on their regulation. [BMB Reports 2021; 54(4): 189-195].

Neurotoxic potential of polystyrene nanoplastics in primary cells originating from mouse brain.

Polystyrene (PS) and chemically modified compounds in the PS family have long been used in commercial and industrial fields. However, it is poorly understood whether nanoscale-PS microplastic or PS nanoplastic exposure leads to perturbations in fundamental cellular functions, such as proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Herein, we cultured three types of primary cells, including mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), mixed neuronal cells isolated from embryonic cortex, and cortical astrocytes, and investigated the effects of their exposure to PS nanoplastics with a 100 nm diameter. Although PS nanoplastic exposure did not affect the viability of MEFs or astrocytes, it significantly reduced the viability of mixed neuronal cells. Consistent with the observed effect on cellular viability, levels of the apoptosis marker, cleaved caspase-3, were elevated exclusively in mixed neuronal cells. To investigate whether cells uptake PS nanoplastics into the cytoplasm, we exposed MEFs and neurons to fluorescent PS latex beads and monitored fluorescence over time. We found that PS nanoplastics were deposited and accumulated in the cytoplasm in a concentration-dependent manner. Although astrocytes were not apoptotic upon exposure to PS nanoplastics, they underwent reactive astrocytosis, with increased levels of lipocalin-2 and proinflammatory cytokines. Therefore, our findings suggested that the vulnerability of cells to the deposition and accumulation of PS nanoplastics in the cytoplasm was dependent on cell type. Furthermore, based on our data from primary cells originating from mouse brains, we suggest that reactive astrocytosis may contribute to the neuronal apoptosis seen in defective neurons with PS nanoplastics accumulated in the cell body.

Laser-Assisted Interface Engineering for Functional Interfacial Layer of Al/ZnO/Al Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM).

In oxide-based RRAMs using reactive electrodes such as Al, the properties of spontaneously formed interfacial layers are critical factors in determining the resistive switching (RS) performance and reliability. This interfacial layer can provide the beneficial function of oxygen reservoir and series resistance, but is very labile and prone to deterioration, causing fatal reliability problems. Moreover, there are technical difficulties in manipulating and improving the functional interfacial layer due to the various interaction dynamics near the interface and the unstable thermodynamic properties of Al. In this work, laser-assisted interface engineering, which allows exquisite manipulation of the labile interfacial layer, is proposed to improve the reliability and performance of Al/ZnO/Al RRAMs. In addition to photothermal and photochemical effects, the proposed laser process enables fine control over out-diffusions of Al atoms in the vicinity of the ZnO/Al interface, forming a robust interfacial layer with a uniform morphology and abundant oxygen Frenkel pairs. This laser-engineered interfacial layer increases the RHRS/RLRS ratio by over 100-fold and reduces RHRS variation with improved oxygen reservoir ability. It also appears to reduce leakage current and power consumption by acting as a stable series resistance. The correlation between structural and stoichiometric properties of the functional interfacial layer and the performance and reliability of the RRAM is explicated. The results suggest that laser-assisted interface engineering can be one of the most promising methods to implement highly reliable, high-performance Al/ZnO/Al RRAMs.

Compartment Syndrome After Ankle Arthroscopy in an Atraumatic Patient.

Compartment syndromes associated with arthroscopy have been rarely reported. Compartment syndrome after knee arthroscopy has been reported in some case reports, whereas we could find only one case report of acute compartment syndrome following ankle arthroscopy after Maisonneuve fracture. However, there has been no previous report of a case of acute compartment syndrome after ankle arthroscopy in an atraumatic patient. In this article, we present a case of acute compartment syndrome during ankle arthroscopic procedures in an atraumatic patient.

Reversible Regulation of Polyubiquitin Gene UBC via Modified Inducible CRISPR/Cas9 System.

Ubiquitin is required under both normal and stress conditions. Under stress conditions, upregulation of the polyubiquitin gene UBC is essential to meet the requirement of increased ubiquitin levels to confer stress resistance. However, UBC upregulation is usually observed only under stress conditions and not under normal conditions. Therefore, it has not been possible to upregulate UBC under normal conditions to study the effect of excess ubiquitin on cellular machinery. Recently, the CRISPR/Cas9 system has been widely used in biological research as a useful tool to study gene disruption effects. In this study, using an inducible CRISPR/Cas9 variant, a dCas9-VP64 fusion protein, combined with a single guide RNA (sgRNA) containing MS2 aptamer loops and MS2-p65-HSF1, we developed a system to increase the ubiquitin pool via upregulation of UBC. Although it is challenging to upregulate the expression of a gene that is already expressed at high levels, the significance of our system is that UBC upregulation can be induced in an efficient, reversible manner that is compatible with cellular processes, even under normal conditions. This system can be used to study ubiquitin pool dynamics and it will be a useful tool in identifying the role of ubiquitin under normal and stress conditions.

DICAM Attenuates Experimental Colitis via Stabilizing Junctional Complex in Mucosal Barrier.

BACKGROUND: Adhesion molecules maintain the intestinal barrier function that is crucial to prevent intestinal inflammation. Dual immunoglobulin domain-containing adhesion molecule (DICAM) has been recently identified and known for the involvement in cell-cell adhesion through homophilic interaction and heterophilic interaction with integrin αVß3. We tested whether the change of DICAM expression affects the severity of colonic inflammation. METHODS: Colitis was induced with oral administration of 2.5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in 8-week-old male mice for 5 days. The function of DICAM under inflammatory condition was investigated using loss-of-function and gain-of-function models such as DICAM-deficient mice and adenoviral transduction of DICAM into Caco-2 colonic epithelial cells. RESULTS: DICAM increased in parallel with the degree of inflammation after 5-day administration of DSS and decreased with the resolution of inflammation. DICAM was expressed in the epithelial junctional complex and colocalized with ZO-1. Treatment with TNF-α or IFN-γ in Caco-2 cells significantly increased DICAM in protein and RNA level. The DICAM knockout mice showed more severe DSS-induced colitis compared with WT littermates. Adenoviral transduction of DICAM into Caco-2 cells significantly attenuated the inflammation-mediated decrease of adhesion molecules, including ZO-1 and occludin. Furthermore, Caco-2 cells with DICAM overexpression maintained intestinal barrier function under IFN-γ treatment as estimated by transepithelial electrical resistance. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that DICAM which is increased in an inflammatory condition has a protective role in experimental colitis by stabilizing the integrity of junctional complex in the intestinal mucosal barrier.