Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular Characterization of Carbonic Anhydrase II (CA II) and Its Potential Involvement in Regulating Shell Formation in the Pacific Abalone, Haliotis discus hannai

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are a family of metalloenzymes that can catalyze the reversible interconversion of CO2/HCO3–, ubiquitously present in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. In the present study, a CA II (designated as HdhCA II) was sequenced and characterized from the mantle tissue of the Pacific abalone. The complete sequence of HdhCA II was 1,169 bp, encoding a polypeptide of 349 amino acids with a NH2-terminal signal peptide and a CA architectural domain. The predicted protein shared 98.57% and 68.59% sequence identities with CA II of Haliotis gigantea and Haliotis tuberculata, respectively. Two putative N-linked glycosylation motifs and two cysteine residues could potentially form intramolecular disulfide bond present in HdhCA II. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that HdhCA II was placed in a gastropod clade and robustly clustered with CA II of H. gigantea and H. tuberculata. The highest level of HdhCA II mRNA expression was detected in the shell forming mantle tissue. During ontogenesis, the mRNA of HdhCA II was detected in all stages, with larval shell formation stage showing the highest expression level. The in situ hybridization results detected the HdhCA II mRNA expression in the epithelial cells of the dorsal mantle pallial, an area known to express genes involved in the formation of a nacreous layer in the shell. This is the first report of HdhCA II in the Pacific abalone, and the results of this study indicate that this gene might play a role in the shell formation of abalone.
Difference Between Signet Ring Cell Gastric Cancers and Non-Signet Ring Cell Gastric Cancers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: There is controversy about the characteristics and prognostic implications of signet ring cell gastric cancers and non-signet ring cell gastric cancers. Objective: This study aims to evaluate clinicopathological characteristics and prognoses of signet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC) and non-signet ring cell carcinoma (NSRCC) of stomach. Methods: Studies compared between SRCC and NSRCC of the stomach after gastrectomy and published before September 1st, 2020, in the PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase databases, were identified systematically. Results: A total of 2,865 studies were screened, and 36 studies were included, with 19,174 patients in the SRCC group and 55,942 patients in the NSRCC group. SRCC patients were younger in age (P < 0.001), less likely to be male patients (P < 0.001), more afflicted with upper third lesions (P < 0.001), and presenting with more Borrmann type IV tumors (P = 0.005) than NSRCC patients. Lymph nodes metastasis was similar between SRCC and NSRCC patients with advanced tumor stage (OR: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.67–1.10, P = 0.23), but lower in the SRCC than NSRCC patients with early tumor stage (OR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.56–0.98, P = 0.02). SRCC patients had comparable survival outcomes with NSRCC patients for early gastric cancers (HR: 1.05, 95% CI: 0.65–1.68, P < 0.001) but had significantly poor prognosis for patients with advanced tumor stage (HR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.28–1.76, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Signet ring cell carcinomas of the stomach are an increasingly common histopathological subtype of gastric cancers. These kinds of patients tend to be younger in age and more often female. Although, signet ring cell gastric cancer is a negative prognostic factor for patients with advanced stage. The difference is that for early stage of signet ring cell gastric cancers, it has low lymph nodes metastasis rate and comparable prognosis with non-signet ring cell cancers.
Hypoxia Supports Differentiation of Terminally Exhausted CD8 T Cells

Hypoxia, angiogenesis, and immunosuppression have been proposed to be interrelated events that fuel tumor progression and impair the clinical effectiveness of anti-tumor therapies. Here we present new mechanistic data highlighting the role of hypoxia in fine-tuning CD8 T cell exhaustion in vitro, in an attempt to reconcile seemingly opposite evidence regarding the impact of hypoxia on functional features of exhausted CD8 T cells. Focusing on the recently characterized terminally-differentiated and progenitor exhausted CD8 T cells, we found that both hypoxia and its regulated mediator, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, promote the differentiation of PD-1+ TIM-3+ CXCR5+ terminally exhausted-like CD8 T cells at the expense of PD-1+ TIM-3- progenitor-like subsets without affecting tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interferon (IFN)-γ production or granzyme B (GZMB) expression by these subpopulations. Interestingly, hypoxia accentuated the proangiogenic secretory profile in exhausted CD8 T cells. VEGF-A was the main factor differentially secreted by exhausted CD8 T cells under hypoxic conditions. In this sense, we found that VEGF-A contributes to generation of terminally exhausted CD8 T cells during in vitro differentiation. Altogether, our findings highlight the reciprocal regulation between hypoxia, angiogenesis, and immunosuppression, providing a rational basis to optimize synergistic combinations of antiangiogenic and immunotherapeutic strategies, with the overarching goal of improving the efficacy of these treatments.
Diagnostic Performance of CMR, SPECT, and PET Imaging for the Identification of Coronary Artery Disease: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Myocardial perfusion imaging modalities, such as cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and positron emission tomography (PET), are well-established non-invasive diagnostic methods to detect hemodynamically significant coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of this meta-analysis is to compare CMR, SPECT, and PET in the diagnosis of CAD and to provide evidence for further research and clinical decision-making. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were searched. Studies that used CMR, SPECT, and/or PET for the diagnosis of CAD were included. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic odds ratio with their respective 95% confidence interval, and the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve were calculated. Results: A total of 203 articles were identified for inclusion in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity values of CMR, SPECT, and PET were 0.86, 0.83, and 0.85, respectively. Their respective overall specificity values were 0.83, 0.77, and 0.86. Results in subgroup analysis of the performance of SPECT with 201Tl showed the highest pooled sensitivity [0.85 (0.82, 0.88)] and specificity [0.80 (0.75, 0.83)]. 99mTc-tetrofosmin had the lowest sensitivity [0.76 (0.67, 0.82)]. In the subgroup analysis of PET tracers, results indicated that 13N had the lowest pooled sensitivity [0.83 (0.74, 0.89)], and the specificity was the highest [0.91 (0.81, 0.96)]. Conclusion: Our meta-analysis indicates that CMR and PET present better diagnostic performance for the detection of CAD as compared with SPECT.
Self-Efficacy in Habit Building: How General and Habit-Specific Self-Efficacy Influence Behavioral Automatization and Motivational Interference

In this article, we investigate the role of self-efficacy (SE) in intentional habit building. We analyzed event sampling data from a habit building app we created that helps define and track habit data. We used hierarchical growth curve modeling and multilevel mediation to test our hypotheses. In a first study, N = 91 university students built new study habits over a period of 6 weeks in a controlled study. We found that the trait-like (Level 2) general self-efficacy predicted automaticity (i.e., habit strength) but not the experience of motivational interference (MI). In a second study with real user data, N = 265 idiographic habits have been analyzed. The specific SE associated with these habits – habit-specific self-efficacy (Level 1, HSE) – was measured during habit formation. We found that lagged HSE predicted automaticity and that lagged automaticity predicted HSE, indicating a positive feedback mechanism in habit building. Furthermore, we found that lagged HSE predicted less MI during habit performance. A multilevel mediation analysis showed significant effects of lagged HSE (Level 1) and aggregated HSE (Level 2) on MI, which were both partially mediated by automaticity. These results show the importance of defining the specificity of SE beliefs and how they interact with automaticity in the habit building process.
The Paradox of Citizenship Cost: Examining a Longitudinal Indirect Effect of Altruistic Citizenship Behavior on Work–Family Conflict Through Coworker Support

The objective of this study was to address the paradox of citizenship cost by hypothesizing an indirect rather than a direct effect of altruistic citizenship behavior (ACB) on employee work–family conflict (WFC) through coworker support (CWS). Data were gathered in a three-wave longitudinal survey of employees from private commercial banks (N = 318). A multiple linear autoregressive longitudinal mediation model was analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that rather than directly, ACB affects indirectly employee WFC through CWS. This indirect effect is negative, which reflects that the costs of citizenship behavior are paradoxical. The present study contributes to the ongoing debate on the positive and negative outcomes of employee citizenship behavior by providing empirical evidence on the beneficial rather than harmful effect of performing such behavior. For organizational managers, promoting a culture of CWS by encouraging altruistic behaviors can be a most viable strategy to reduce WFC among their employees. The study discusses its limitations and provides future research directions.
Tapering of Biological Agents in Juvenile ERA Patients in Daily Clinical Practice

Objectives: We aim to evaluate the proportion and characteristics of enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA) patients in whom medications can be withdrawn in daily practice and to analyze the factors associated with flare-ups during medication tapering of these patients. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed records of patients under 16 years old diagnosed with ERA from April 2001 to March 2020 in one tertiary medical center in Taiwan. Patients were categorized by different medication uses: conventional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (cDMARDs) only and cDMARDs plus biologics. Demographics, laboratory data, presence of uveitis, and medication withdrawal rate were analyzed. Subgroup analysis was performed in the patients with cDMARDs plus biologics to identify factors associated with flare-ups during medication tapering of these patients. Statistical analysis was performed using R (v3.6.0). Results: There were 75 juvenile ERA patients with a median onset age of 10.28 years old. Nineteen (25.3%) patients used cDMARDs for disease control; 56 (74.7%) patients depended on cDMARDs plus biologics. Poly-articular involvement was noted in 29 (38.7%) patients, and it occurred more frequently in the cDMARDs plus biologics subgroup (cDMARDs only, 5.3%; cDMARDs plus biologics, 53.6%; P = 0.0001). ANA positivity was observed in 18 (24.0%) patients, and it occurred more frequently in the cDMARDs plus biologics subgroup (cDMARDs, 0%; cDMARDs plus biologics, 32.1%; P = 0.0038). The overall medication withdrawal rate was 34.7%, and it occurred more frequently in patients with cDMARDs only (cDMARDs only, 84.2%; cDMARDs plus biologics, 17.9%; P < 0.001). In the subgroup analysis of patients with cDMARDs plus biologics, patients on biologics tapering with flare-up had a significantly longer time interval between disease onset and initiation of cDMARDs (biologics tapering without flare-up: 0.27 (0.11–0.73) years; biologics tapering with flare-up: 1.14 (0.39–2.02) years; ever withdrawing biologics: 0.26 (0.18–0.42) years, P = 0.0104). Conclusion: Juvenile ERA patients with polyarticular involvement had a higher risk of developing cDMARDs refractory and progressing to biologics use. Patients with a long time interval between disease onset and initiation of cDMARDs were prone to experience flare-up during tapering of biologics.
Effect of Dance on Balance, Mobility, and Activities of Daily Living in Adults With Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study

The age-related decline in motor function with respect to balance and mobility may hamper the activities of daily living, quality of life, and social participation. Despite the importance of managing secondary conditions leading to premature aging, the literature regarding appropriate physical activity for adults with cerebral palsy (CP) is still scarce. Dance forms have emerged as an effective physical activity that improves balance and mobility in individuals with neurological conditions and boosts social engagement. However, its effect on adults with CP has yet to be examined. This pilot study aimed to examine the long-term effect of dance on improving balance and mobility in adults with CP. This single-cohort study included 10 adults with CP. They attended two 90-min-long creative dance sessions per week for 12 weeks. The outcomes measured effects on balance, mobility, balance confidence, and level of functional independence. These measurements were obtained at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and the 3-month follow-up. Outcome data of pre- to post-intervention and pre-intervention to 3-month follow-up were analyzed and compared. Statistically significant differences were found in the pre- and post-intervention displacement of the center of pressure (CoP) in the eyes-opened (EO) condition, timed up and go test (TUG), and Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Dynamic Gait Index (DGI), and Korean-Activity of Balance Confidence (K-ABC) scores. Significant improvements were also observed for the CoP-EO, BBS, TUG, DGI, and K-ABC between the pre-intervention and 3-month follow-up assessments. However, there were no significant differences in the CoP in the eyes-closed condition and Korean modified Barthel Index score. Participants expressed enjoyment without any pain or fatigue. Our findings suggest that dance may have a positive impact in improving balance and mobility and may consequently contribute to healthy aging in adults with CP.
Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 2 Protects Against Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Myocardial Injury by Suppressing Mitophagy

Sepsis is defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. Sepsis-induced circulatory and cardiac dysfunction is associated with high mortality rates. Mitophagy, a specific form of autophagy, is excessively activated in lipopolysaccharide-induced myocardial injury. The present study investigated whether aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) regulates mitophagy in sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction. After lipopolysaccharide administration, cardiac dysfunction, inflammatory cell infiltration, biochemical indicators of myocardial cell injury, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis were ameliorated in mice by ALDH2 activation or overexpression. In contrast, cardiac dysfunction and cardiomyocyte apoptosis were exacerbated in mice followed ALDH2 inhibition. Moreover, ALDH2 activation or overexpression regulated mitophagy by suppressing the expression of phosphatase and tensin homolog-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1)/Parkin, by preventing the accumulation of 4-hydroxy-trans-nonenal. Conversely, ALDH2 inhibition promoted the expression of LC3B by increasing 4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal accumulation. Consequently, ALDH2 may protect the heart from lipopolysaccharide-induced injury by suppressing PINK1/Parkin-dependent mitophagy.
HLA Variants and Inhibitor Development in Hemophilia A: A Retrospective Case-Controlled Study Using the ATHNdataset

In hemophilia A (HA) patients, F8 gene-defects as genetic risk-factors for developing inhibitors to Factor VIII have been extensively studied. Here we provide estimates of inhibitor-risk associated with the patient's Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA). We used next generation sequencing for high-resolution HLA Class II typing of 997 HA patients. Using inhibitor prevalence reports from the My Life Our Future (MLOF) research repository, we calculated Odds Ratios (OR) for inhibitor development in a multivariate model considering HLA-DRB1/3/4/5, HLA-DPB1, HLA-DQB1, race, F8 pathogenic variant type, and age. Participants with 1 HLA variant (DPB1*02:02) had developed inhibitors at a higher rate while participants with 2 HLA variants (DRB1*04:07; DRB1*11:04) had developed inhibitors at a lower rate. Additionally, patients with missense variants had developed inhibitors at a lower rate and participants with large structural changes (>50 bp) had developed inhibitors at a higher rate (both compared to Intron 22 inversion). Using a cohort of participants with a distribution of HLA-DRB1 alleles comparable to that in the North American population we show that the HLA repertoire of a HA patient can be a risk-factor for inhibitor development.
Enhanced Oxidative Hydrogen Peroxide Production on Conducting Glass Anodes Modified with Metal Oxides

Surface modification of conductive oxide glass (F-SnO2: FTO) anode substrates using 10 oxides was investigated for efficiently producing oxidative hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) from water with hydrogen (H2) production at a Pt cathode. Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) or titanium oxide modification significantly facilitated oxidative H2O2 production in an aqueous solution of bicarbonate (HCO3−) on the anode substrate in the dark. The BiVO4-supported FTO anode (BiVO4/FTO) achieved not only approximately twice the H2O2 generation performance compared with a bare FTO substrate but also high H2O2 accumulation, and the maximum selectivity (η(H2O2)) and accumulation reached ca. 35 % and 5 mM, respectively.
Large-Scale Analysis of Apolipoprotein CIII Glycosylation by Ultrahigh Resolution Mass Spectrometry

Apolipoprotein-CIII (apo-CIII) is a glycoprotein involved in lipid metabolism and its levels are associated with cardiovascular disease risk. Apo-CIII sialylation is associated with improved plasma triglyceride levels and its glycosylation may have an effect on the clearance of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins by directing these particles to different metabolic pathways. Large-scale sample cohort studies are required to fully elucidate the role of apo-CIII glycosylation in lipid metabolism and associated cardiovascular disease. In this study, we revisited a high-throughput workflow for the analysis of intact apo-CIII by ultrahigh-resolution MALDI FT-ICR MS. The workflow includes a chemical oxidation step to reduce methionine oxidation heterogeneity and spectrum complexity. Sinapinic acid matrix was used to minimize the loss of sialic acids upon MALDI. MassyTools software was used to standardize and automate MS data processing and quality control. This method was applied on 771 plasma samples from individuals without diabetes allowing for an evaluation of the expression levels of apo-CIII glycoforms against a panel of lipid biomarkers demonstrating the validity of the method. Our study supports the hypothesis that triglyceride clearance may be regulated, or at least strongly influenced by apo-CIII sialylation. Interestingly, the association of apo-CIII glycoforms with triglyceride levels was found to be largely independent of body mass index. Due to its precision and throughput, the new workflow will allow studying the role of apo-CIII in the regulation of lipid metabolism in various disease settings.
Potential Utility of Electrical Impedance Myography in Evaluating Age-Related Skeletal Muscle Function Deficits

Skeletal muscle function deficits associated with advancing age are due to several physiological and morphological changes including loss of muscle size and quality (conceptualized as a reduction in the intrinsic force-generating capacity of a muscle when adjusted for muscle size). Several factors can contribute to loss of muscle quality, including denervation, excitation-contraction uncoupling, increased fibrosis, and myosteatosis (excessive levels of inter- and intramuscular adipose tissue and intramyocellular lipids). These factors also adversely affect metabolic function. There is a major unmet need for tools to rapidly and easily assess muscle mass and quality in clinical settings with minimal patient and provider burden. Herein, we discuss the potential for electrical impedance myography (EIM) as a tool to evaluate muscle mass and quality in older adults. EIM applies weak, non-detectible (e.g., 400 μA), mutifrequency (e.g., 1 kHz–1 MHz) electrical currents to a muscle (or muscle group) through two excitation electrodes, and resulting voltages are measured via two sense electrodes. Measurements are fast (~5 s/muscle), simple to perform, and unaffected by factors such as hydration that may affect other simple measures of muscle status. After nearly 2 decades of study, EIM has been shown to reflect muscle health status, including the presence of atrophy, fibrosis, and fatty infiltration, in a variety of conditions (e.g., developmental growth and maturation, conditioning/deconditioning, and obesity) and neuromuscular diseases states [e.g., amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and muscular dystrophies]. In this article, we describe prior work and current evidence of EIM’s potential utility as a measure of muscle health in aging and geriatric medicine.
School Based Tooth Brushing and Annual Silver Diammine Fluoride Application as a Highest Priority Package for Achieving Universal Oral Health Care for Cambodian Children

Background: Achieving Universal Oral Health Care among Low-to Middle-Income settings is challenging and little literature exists around exploring what a “Highest Priority Package” of care might look like in the context of oral health. The Healthy Kids Cambodia (HKC) program differs from most conventional school dental services in that the initial package of care that is offered is daily toothbrushing with 1,500 ppm fluoride toothpaste (DTB) together with the topical application of Silver Diamine fluoride (SDF) for management of lesions in primary teeth. Aim: To examine tooth level outcomes for 8- to 10-year old children from two schools that performed DTB with application of SDF at differing time-points. Design: This was an observational cohort study that examined lesion progression among children in late mixed dentition at two schools. Data were collected using the dmft and pufa indices. Both schools received materials and training for DTB at baseline. School One received SDF at baseline while School Two received SDF after 9-months. Intraoral examinations were performed and the presentation of primary teeth with cavitated carious lesions were compared at baseline and 12 m. If a tooth was still caries-active or had become pulpally involved, this was considered to be an unacceptable outcome. Descriptive analysis was performed the chi-squared test was used to examine differences in the proportion of teeth with unacceptable outcomes by school membership. Results: Of the 521 children recruited, 470 (90.2%) were followed. Where there was a delay in SDF application (School 2) there was a three times greater chance of an unacceptable outcome. Ten percentage of primary teeth in School One and 33% of primary teeth in the School Two had unacceptable outcomes. Conclusion: The present study offers data on expected effect sizes that might inform future step-wedged clinical trials to validate an oral health Highest Priority Package of care for Cambodian children. The delivery of a package of care that includes both DTB and SDF can prevent adverse outcomes, such as dental infections, in primary teeth with carious lesions.