The aim of this study was to assess baseline knowledge of skin cancer, sun protection practices, and perceptions of tanning among third through fifth grade elementary students in Florida. A total of 4,002 students in nineteen elementary schools in Palm Beach County, Florida were surveyed. SunSmart America curriculum pretest responses were the main outcome measures. Overall students' knowledge using a students' mean knowledge scale scores of skin cancer and sun protection were low (<40% of questions answered correctly) and was found to increase with increasing grade level (p < 0.01). Boys more frequently reported spending greater than 2 hours in the sun when compared with girls (p < 0.01). Girls, however, were more likely to try and get a tan most of the time or always when compared with boys (p = 0.02). Non-Hispanic White students (51.3%) more frequently reported use of SPF 15 or greater sunscreen "most of the time or always" compared with Hispanic (35.3%) and non-Hispanic Black (13.4%) students (p < 0.01). Elementary aged students in south Florida have limited knowledge about sun safety, despite spending considerable amount of time in the sun. Sun safe behavior is associated with gender and ethnicity. The findings provide empirical support for the need of a school-based educational intervention.

A highly infectious coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has spread in many countries. This virus recognizes its receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), using the receptor binding domain of its spike protein subunit S1. Many missense mutations are reported in various human populations for the ACE2 gene. In the current study, we predict the affinity of many ACE2 variants for binding to S1 protein using different computational approaches. The dissociation process of S1 from some variants of ACE2 is studied in the current work by molecular dynamics approaches. We study the relation between structural dynamics of ACE2 in closed and open states and its affinity for S1 protein of SARS-CoV-2.

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Protein complexes play deterministic roles in live entities in sensing, compiling, controlling, and responding to external and internal stimuli. Thermodynamic stability is an important property of protein complexes; having knowledge about complex stability helps us to understand the basics of protein assembly-related diseases and the mechanism of protein assembly clearly. Enormous protein-protein interactions, detected by high-throughput methods, necessitate finding fast methods for predicting the stability of protein assemblies in a quantitative and qualitative manner. The existing methods of predicting complex stability need knowledge about the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the intended protein complex. Here, we introduce a new method for predicting dissociation free energy of subunits by analyzing the structural and topological properties of a protein binding patch on a single subunit of the desired protein complex. The method needs the 3D structure of just one subunit and the information about the position of the intended binding site on the surface of that subunit to predict dimer stability in a classwise manner. The patterns of structural and topological properties of a protein binding patch are decoded by recurrence quantification analysis. Nonparametric discrimination is then utilized to predict the stability class of the intended dimer with accuracy greater than 85%.

Background: The most prevalent endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficaciousness of a Persian herbal remedy, as well as electroacupuncture and the combination of them on metabolic profiles and anthropometric parameters in these patients. Materials and Methods: Eighty overweight women with PCOS were randomly divided into four groups. All of them received metformin 1000 mg and the second group received 5 g of herbal medicine per day (main components: Foeniculum vulgare, Urtica dioica, and Daucus carota), the third group were subjected to 20 electroacupuncture sessions, and the fourth group received both therapies. Results: After 12 weeks, the body fat and body mass index decreased the most in the herbal medicine+electroacupuncture group, and waist to hip ratio decreased the most in the electroacupuncture group. A significant decrease was also observed in fasting insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance. A significant increase was seen in the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index in all intervention groups, but there was no noteworthy difference in these parameters in the control group. Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased significantly in the electroacupuncture groups and herbal medicine+electroacupuncture. Also, a significant decrease was observed in triglycerides, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase in the herbal medicine groups and herbal medicine+electroacupuncture. Conclusion: It is advisable to use this herbal remedy and electroacupuncture for better treatment of metabolic complications and overweight problems in these patients.  [GMJ.2019;8:e1389]