happiness, later life, network size, perceived support, social network,

In older Chinese, social factors such as the support provided by family members, as well as adequate income to meet living expenses, play a role equal to that of physical factors in contributing to life satisfaction.

Once emulsification was detected clinically in the anterior chamber, extensive emulsification would have already occurred in the posterior chamber, with most of the emulsified droplets that were too small in size to be seen on clinical examination. Ostwald ripening might explain why there were so many small droplets. The predominance of small droplets might account for some of the clinical complications associated with silicone oil use.

Perhaps there is no other research topic like the concept of quality of life (QOL) that has attracted so much research attention from different disciplines. A review of the major databases shows that much research effort has been spent to understand the theoretical and practical aspects of the concept. Using the search term ''QOL'', computer search conducted in July 2004 showed that there were 11 867 citations in PsycINFO, 2 843 citations in Sociological Abstracts, 415 citations in Social Work Abstracts, 4 204 citations in ERIC, 59 932 citations in MEDLINE, and 13 672 citations in CINAHL. Despite the abundance of research in the study of QOL, there are several interesting developments and missing gaps that can be identified in the existing literature. With reference to these developments and missing gaps, several possible research directions can be considered.First, with the growing popularity of ecological models asserting that human behavior is embedded in different ecological systems (e.g., family system and macro socio-cultural system), it is obvious that a more holistic understanding of the concept of QOL and the related phenomena with reference to different systems is called for (Shek, 2003b). Regarding the different systems in which the person is embedded, the family system can be regarded as an important developmental context, particularly in the Asian culture. However, a survey of the literature shows that related QOL research with reference to the family system (e.g., family QOL) is not substantial. In addition, the role of culture (e.g., cultural beliefs) in the development of QOL is far from clear. Finally, despite the growing emphasis on

Pathogenic infection inevitably provokes chronic inflammation and stalls the normal orchestrated course of wound-healing cascades. However, current antibacterial therapies focus on the inherent bactericidal functions of biomaterials. To take full advantage of infection microenvironment (IME) peculiarities, an IME-activated nanocatalytic membrane consisting of electrospun poly (lacticco-glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffolds, MXene/Ag 2 S bio-heterojunctions (MX/ AS bio-HJs), and lactate oxidase (LOx) for chronic cutaneous regeneration is devised and developed. In this "intelligent" system, PLGA membranes gradually degrade to lactate, and LOx consumes lactate to yield abundant hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) in a microenvironment-responsive manner. In addition, MX/ AS bio-HJs in membranes not only exert benign photothermal effects and generate reactive oxygen species upon NIR light, but also catalyze the produced H 2 O 2 to overwhelming hydroxyl radicals (•OH) through Fenton-like reactions, which all result in rapid synergistic sterilization. Furthermore, in vivo assays demonstrate that the nanocatalytic membranes reshape the stalled chronic wound into a regenerative wound by massacring bacteria, stopping bleeding, boosting epithelialization/collagen deposition of the wound beds, and promoting angiogenesis. As envisaged, the proposed tactic opens up a promising opportunity for arming membranes with IME-responsive nanocatalytic activity to remedy bacteria-invaded stalled full-thickness wounds.

BackgroundGlypican 2 (GPC2), a member of glypican (GPC) family genes, produces proteoglycan with a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor. It has shown its ascending significance in multiple cancers such as neuroblastoma, malignant brain tumor, and small-cell lung cancer. However, no systematic pan-cancer analysis has been conducted to explore its function in diagnosis, prognosis, and immunological prediction.MethodsBy comprehensive use of datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE), Genotype-Tissue Expression Project (GTEx), cBioPortal, Human Protein Atlas (HPA), UALCAN, StarBase, and Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD), we adopted bioinformatics methods to excavate the potential carcinogenesis of GPC2, including dissecting the correlation between GPC2 and prognosis, gene mutation, immune cell infiltration, and DNA methylation of different tumors, and constructed the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks of GPC2 as well as explored the interaction of GPC2 with chemicals and genes.ResultsThe results indicated that GPC2 was highly expressed in most cancers, except in pancreatic adenocarcinoma, which presented at a quite low level. Furthermore, GPC2 showed the early diagnostic value in 16 kinds of tumors and was positively or negatively associated with the prognosis of different tumors. It also verified that GPC2 was a gene associated with most immune-infiltrating cells in pan-cancer, especially in thymoma. Moreover, the correlation with GPC2 expression varied depending on the type of immune-related genes. Additionally, GPC2 gene expression has a correlation with DNA methylation in 20 types of cancers.ConclusionThrough pan-cancer analysis, we discovered and verified that GPC2 might be useful in cancer detection for the first time. The expression level of GPC2 in a variety of tumors is significantly different from that of normal tissues. In addition, the performance of GPC2 in tumorigenesis and tumor immunity also confirms our conjecture. At the same time, it has high specificity and sensitivity in the detection of cancers. Therefore, GPC2 can be used as an auxiliary indicator for early tumor diagnosis and a prognostic marker for many types of tumors.

Diabetes mellitus is the most common cause of blindness in working age populations worldwide. While much of the focus for public health has been on secondary prevention in sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy, the cornea, including its epithelium and nerves, represents a major site of damage by chronic hyperglycemia. On injury, the diabetic cornea exhibits a delayed wound-healing response, as well as an altered ocular surface immune response. This suggests a potential association between the dysfunctional wound healing response and altered inflammation on the ocular surface. However, the presence of potential confounders makes this association difficult to investigate in human epidemiological studies. Thus, we turn to animal diabetic models for a better understanding.In this review, 20 original studies, published between 2008 and 2018, describe in vivo and in vitro models of diabetic cornea disease. We compared different models of diabetic cornea wound healing and discussed the relative strengths and drawbacks of each model. A number of molecular and cellular components involved in the corneal wound healing response that are altered in the presence of diabetes have been identified in the reviewed studies. Particularly, altered corneal epithelial protein concentrations of lumician and occludin were detected in diabetic eyes compared with controls. Additionally, the importance of IL-1β in modulating the inflammatory response after corneal injury in patients with diabetes and controls was further elucidated. Meanwhile, abnormal P2×7 receptor localization and decreased corneal sub-basal nerve density in diabetic eyes were shown to contribute to altered corneal nerve signaling after injury and thus affecting the wound healing response. Finally, the discovery of the therapeutic effects of topically administered aloe vera, Serpine 1, Resolvin D1 (RvD1), pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) and Pro-His-Ser-Arg-Asn in diabetic animal models of cornea epithelial and nerve injury provide encouraging evidence for the future availability of effective treatment for diabetic keratopathy.

Background Despite the adverse physical health impact of COVID-19 on older adults, whether they are psychosocially vulnerable under the pandemic remains debatable. In this mixed methods study, we examined the psychosocial vulnerability of older adults relative to their younger counterparts and explored how they coped with the pandemic. Methods From September to October 2020, 1067 adults in Hong Kong were randomly sampled and completed a telephone survey, whereas 10 older adults were recruited for individual interviews between September 2020 and April 2021. Quantitative measurements included subjective well-being, worries about COVID-19, and changes in social capital and social interaction since the pandemic. The transcribed qualitative data were closely read and summarized using thematic analyses. Results Compared with younger adults, older adults tended to be less worried about COVID-19 infection and economic activity/livelihood, despite being slightly more worried about supplies of personal protective equipment. They also had better subjective well-being in terms of happiness and life satisfaction, with their social capital and social interaction less affected. In addition, five themes emerged from the qualitative interviews: (1) life philosophy; (2) economic security; (3) telecommunication; (4) role of community organizations and social workers; and (5) positive coping strategies. Conclusions Older adults in this study showed better psychosocial well-being than their younger counterparts under the COVID-19 pandemic, which challenged the deeply rooted societal stereotype about the vulnerability of older adults. The stronger resilience for positive coping, technological assistance, and targeted government and community support may have protected older adults from distress during the pandemic.