Abstract Backgrounds Individuals with chronic medical conditions are considered highly exposed to COVID-19 pandemic stress, but emerging evidence is demonstrating that resilience is common even among them. We aimed at identifying sustained resilient outcomes and their predictors in chronically ill people during the first year of the pandemic. Methods This international 4-wave 1-year longitudinal online survey included items on socio-demographic characteristics, economic and living situation, lifestyle and habits, pandemic-related issues, and history of mental disorders....

Abstract Background Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) has shown potential for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, there is little evidence of whether NBM-DBS can improve cognitive functioning in patients with advanced AD. In addition, the mechanisms underlying the modulation of brain networks remain unclear. This study was aimed to assess the cognitive function and the resting-state connectivity following NBM-DBS in patients with advanced AD. Methods Eight...

Abstract Background Accumulating evidence supports the implication of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, little is known about the detailed mechanisms and roles of circRNAs in the pathogenesis of SLE. Methods Quantitative real-time PCR was used to determine the levels of circLOC101928570 and miR-150-5p in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of SLE. Overexpression and knockdown experiments were conducted to assess the effects of circLOC101928570. Fluorescence in situ hybridization, RNA immunoprecipitation, luciferase reporter assays,...

Abstract Background Oxidative stress plays an important role in the progression of various types of tumors. However, its role in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has seldom been explored. This study aimed to discover prognostic markers associated with oxidative stress in ESCC to improve the prediction of prognosis and help in the selection of effective immunotherapy for patients. Results A consensus cluster was constructed using 14 prognostic differentially expressed oxidative stress-related genes (DEOSGs) that were...

Abstract Background Patients who need a live donor kidney transplant (LDKT) must often ask potential donors (PLDs) themselves. This is a difficult task and healthcare could unburden them by making this first contact, ensuring also that PLDs receive correct information. We investigated how PLDs experience receiving a letter from healthcare about LDKT, live kidney donation, and inviting them to meet with professionals to get more information. Methods The letter (LD-letter) was sent to a cohort...

BackgroundLupus nephritis (LN) is a major and severe organ involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), whose diagnosis and treatment necessitate to perform kidney biopsy, which is an invasive procedure. Non-invasive urine biomarkers are an active area of investigation to support LN diagnosis and management.ObjectiveTo investigate the role of urinary galectin-3 binding protein (u-Gal-3BP) as a candidate biomarker of renal disease in biopsy proven LN.Patients and methodsLevels of u-Gal-3BP were investigated in a cross-sectional fashion by...

Abstract Background Motor neuron disease (MND) is a rapidly progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease that predominantly affects motor neurons from the motor cortex to the spinal cord and causes progressive wasting and weakening of bulbar, limb, abdominal and thoracic muscles. Prognosis is poor and median survival is 2–3 years following symptom onset. Psychological distress is relatively common in people living with MND. However, formal psychotherapy is not routinely part of standard care within MND Care Centres/clinics...

Abstract Background Among hospitalized children suffering from community-acquired pneumonia, Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) is one of the most common pathogens. MP often exists as a co-infection with bacteria or viruses, which can exacerbate the clinical symptoms. We investigated the pathogen spectrum in MP-positive and MP-negative samples from hospitalized children with respiratory tract infections in Beijing, China. Method This study included 1038 samples of nasopharyngeal aspirates obtained between April, 2017 and March, 2018 from hospitalized children under...

Abstract Background The clinical significance of group B streptococcus (GBS) was different among different clonal complexes (CCs), accurate strain typing of GBS would facilitate clinical prognostic evaluation, epidemiological investigation and infection control. The aim of this study was to construct a practical and facile CCs prediction model for S. agalactiae. Methods A total of 325 non-duplicated GBS strains were collected from clinical samples in Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai, China. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) method was used...

The temporal chirp of single femtosecond pulses will affect the laser-induced ionization process. By comparing the ripples induced by negatively and positively chirped pulses, the growth rate showed a significant difference, resulting in a depth inhomogeneity of up to 144%. A carrier density model tailored with temporal characteristics showed that negatively chirped pulses could excite higher peak carrier density, contributing to a highly efficient generation of surface plasmon polariton and overall advancement of the ionization...

Abstract Background The long-term protective effect of hepatitis B vaccine (HepB), the incidence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine breakthrough infections (VBIs), and whether a booster HepB is necessary remain to be clarified in children born to mothers with chronic HBV infection. Methods Based on a long-term follow-up prospective cohort of 1177 hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive mothers and their paired infants which was established from 2009 to 2011, total 454 children with immunoprophylaxis success...

Abstract Background In the search for methods to biodegrade recalcitrant compounds, the use of saprotrophic fungi and white rot fungi, in particular belonging to the phylum Basidiomycota, has gained interest. This group of fungi possesses a battery of unspecific extracellular enzymes that can be utilized in the biodegradation of preferably phenolic compounds. In this work, it was investigated under which conditions the white rot fungus Trametes versicolor and the ericoid mycorrhizal fungus Rhizoscyphus ericae (belonging...

Hemodialysis patients exhibit anemia-related cerebral hyperperfusion and iron deposition (ID). However, the mechanisms underlying the pathology of cerebral ID are not clear. We investigated the role of cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the pathophysiology of cerebral ID in hemodialysis patients with anemia. This study recruited 33 hemodialysis patients with anemia and thirty-three healthy controls (HCs). All the subjects underwent quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and arterial spin labeling (ASL) to measure ID and CBF in the...

There is an ongoing aim to replace animal and in vitro laboratory models with in silico methods. Such replacement requires the successful validation and comparably good performance of the alternative methods. We have developed an in silico prediction system for human clinical pharmacokinetics, based on machine learning, conformal prediction and a new physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model, i.e. ANDROMEDA. The objectives of this study were: a) to evaluate how well ANDROMEDA predicts the human clinical pharmacokinetics of...

Abstract Background Understanding the micro-­evolutionary response of populations to demographic declines is a major goal in evolutionary and conservation biology. In small populations, genetic drift can lead to an accumulation of deleterious mutations, which will increase the risk of extinction. However, demographic recovery can still occur after extreme declines, suggesting that natural selection may purge deleterious mutations, even in extremely small populations. The Chatham Island black robin (Petroica traversi) is arguably the most inbred bird...

Abstract Background Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo, which contains rich polysaccharides, flavonoids and alkaloids, is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with important economic benefits, while various pathogens have brought huge losses to its industrialization. NBS gene family is the largest class of plant disease resistance (R) genes, proteins of which are widely distributed in the upstream and downstream of the plant immune systems and are responsible for receiving infection signals and regulating gene expression respectively....

Abstract Background High mobility group protein B2 (HMGB2) is a multifunctional protein that plays various roles in different cellular compartments. Moreover, HMGB2 serves as a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Methods In this study, the expression pattern, prognostic implication, and potential role of HMGB2 in LUAD were evaluated using the integrated bioinformatics analyses based on public available mRNA expression profiles from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus databases,...

Abstract Background High mobility group protein B2 (HMGB2) is a multifunctional protein that plays various roles in different cellular compartments. Moreover, HMGB2 serves as a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Methods In this study, the expression pattern, prognostic implication, and potential role of HMGB2 in LUAD were evaluated using the integrated bioinformatics analyses based on public available mRNA expression profiles from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus databases,...

Abstract Background The Mycobacterium genus encompasses at least 192 named species, many of which cause severe diseases such as tuberculosis. Non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) can also infect humans and animals. Some are of emerging concern because they show high resistance to commonly used antibiotics while others are used and evaluated in bioremediation or included in anticancer vaccines. Results We provide the genome sequences for 114 mycobacterial type strains and together with 130 available mycobacterial genomes we...

Abstract Background We aimed to optimize prediction of long-term all-cause mortality of intensive care unit (ICU) patients, using quantitative register-based comorbidity information assessed from hospital discharge diagnoses prior to intensive care treatment. Material and methods Adult ICU admissions during 2006 to 2012 in the Swedish intensive care register were followed for at least 4 years. The performance of quantitative comorbidity measures based on the 5-year history of number of hospital admissions, length of stay, and...

Fungal meroterpenoids are important bioactive natural products. Their biosynthetic machineries are highly diverse, and reconstitutions lead to the production of unnatural meroterpenoids. In this study, heterologous gene expression in Aspergillus oryzae and in vitro assays elucidated the biosynthetic pathway of the orthoester-containing fungal meroterpenoid austalide F. Remarkably, the α-ketoglutarate-dependent oxygenase AstB produces the hemiacetal intermediate, and the methyltransferase AstL transfers a methyl group on it to construct the orthoester functionality. This study presents the extraordinary...

Abstract Background During the last decade, the health care profession has moved toward personalized care and has focused on the diversity of survivorship needs after initial cancer treatment. Health care providers encourage empowering patients to participate actively in their own health management and survivorship. Consequently, we developed and piloted a new follow-up model for patients at a Norwegian hospital, referred to as the Lifestyle and Empowerment Techniques in Survivorship of Gynecologic Oncology (LETSGO) model. Using...

Abstract Background Physical activity has been proposed to be beneficial for the symptomatic control of bipolar disorder, but the duration of the effects, sex-specific mechanisms, and impact of exercise intensity are not known. Method With an observational study design, we followed skiers and age and sex-matched non-skiers from the general population to investigate if participation in a long-distance cross-country ski race (Vasaloppet) was associated with a lower risk of getting diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Using...

Abstract Aims Reduced lung function and adverse health outcomes are often observed. This study characterizes genetic susceptibility for reduced lung function and risk of developing a range of adverse health outcomes. Methods We studied 27,438 middle-aged adults from the Malmö Diet and Cancer study (MDCS), followed up to 28.8 years. Trait-specific Polygenic scores (PGS) for forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were constructed for each participant using MDCS genetic...

The study goal was to investigate electrocardiographic findings, including corrected QT interval (QTc), in patients aged 8 to 23 with eating disorders (EDs) at presentation, compared with an age-and sex-matched control population. We retrospectively reviewed 200 ED patients, and 200 controls. Blinded electrocardiograms (ECGs) were interpreted by an expert reader, and QT intervals corrected using the Bazett formula. Eating disorder patients were 89.5% female, with mean age 16.4 years and median percent median body mass...