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Table_2_Dynamic increase in myoglobin level is associated with poor prognosis in critically ill patients: a retrospective cohort study.docx
BackgroundMyoglobin is an important biomarker for monitoring critically ill patients. However, the relationship between its dynamic changes and prognosis remains unclear.MethodsWe retrospectively enrolled 11,218 critically ill patients from a general and surgical intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary hospital between June 2016 and May 2020. Patients with acute cardiovascular events, cardiac and major vascular surgeries, and rhabdomyolysis were excluded. To investigate the early myoglobin distribution, the critically ill patients were stratified according to the highest myoglobin level within 48 h after ICU admission. Based on this, the critically ill patients with more than three measurements within 1 week after ICU admission were included, and latent class trajectory modeling was used to classify the patients. The characteristics and outcomes were compared among groups. Sensitivity analysis was performed to exclude patients who had died within 72 h after ICU admission. Restricted mean survival time regression model based on pseudo values was used to determine the 28-day relative changes in survival time among latent classes. The primary outcome was evaluated with comparison of in-hospital mortality among each Trajectory group, and the secondary outcome was 28-day mortality.ResultsOf 6,872 critically ill patients, 3,886 (56.5%) had an elevated myoglobin level (≥150 ng/mL) at admission to ICU, and the in-hospital mortality significantly increased when myoglobin level exceeded 1,000 μg/mL. In LCTM, 2,448 patients were unsupervisedly divided into four groups, including the steady group (n = 1,606, 65.6%), the gradually decreasing group (n = 523, 21.4%), the slowly rising group (n = 272, 11.1%), and the rapidly rising group (n = 47, 1.9%). The rapidly rising group had the largest proportion of sepsis (59.6%), the highest median Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score (10), and the highest in-hospital mortality (74.5%). Sensitivity analysis confirmed that 98.2% of the patients were classified into the same group as in the original model. Compared with the steady group, the rapidly rising group and the slowly rising group were significantly related to the reduction in 28-day survival time (β = −12.08; 95% CI −15.30 to −8.86; β = −4.25, 95% CI −5.54 to −2.97, respectively).ConclusionElevated myoglobin level is common in critically ill patients admitted to the ICU. Dynamic monitoring of myoglobin levels offers benefit for the prognosis assessment of critically ill patients.</p
Table1_Financial openness and energy structure transformation.XLSX
Energy structure transformation is the only way for China to achieve the “dual carbon” goal, and one of the difficulties faced by energy transformation is financing. In the context of China’s steadily promoting the high-level opening-up of financial industry, this paper uses the panel data of China’s provincial level from 2010 to 2019 to systematically examine the impact of financial opening-up on the transformation of energy structure. The results show that: 1) Financial openness has a significant positive impact on the energy structure transition; 2) In different stages of energy structure transformation, as the main driving force in the initial stage of energy structure transformation is the government’s policy support, with the continuous maturity of energy structure transformation, the impact of financial openness on energy structure transformation gradually increases; 3) With different levels of economic development, the driving effect of financial openness is also different. The lower the level of economic development is, the stronger the driving effect of financial openness on energy structure transformation is due to the lack of financing channels. This paper provides a theoretical basis for China’s energy structure transformation, and also provides rich policy implications for promoting China’s financial industry to open up at a high level.</p
Data_Sheet_2_Association between sociodemographic status and the T2DM-related risks in China: implication for reducing T2DM disease burden.XLSX
ObjectiveAnalyzing the association between sociodemographic status and the type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)-related risks in China to reduce the disease burden of T2DM.MethodsWe downloaded data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 to estimate the disease burden of T2DM in China. Secondary analyses were performed by year, age, gender, summary exposure value (SEV), and sociodemographic index (SDI).ResultsIn China, it is estimated that 3.74 (3.44–4.10) million incidence, 90.0 (82.3–98.5) million prevalence, 168.4 (143.2–194.0) thousand deaths, and 9.6 (7.6–11.9) million DALYs occurred in 2019, showing an increase of 96.8, 156.7, 162.8, and 145.4% compared to 1990. An inverse U-shaped curve was observed for the correlations between T2DM-related burden and SDI. A heavier burden was found in males. The top four risk factors were high body mass index (HBMI), dietary risks, air pollution and tobacco. HBMI, as the key risk, accounted for half of the disease burden of T2DM in China. Lower degree of SEV and higher level of attributable T2DM-related burden could be found in main risks, meaning their critical role of them in the development and progression of T2DM. An inverse U-shaped curve could be found in the association between age-standardized incidence, mortality, DALYs rate, and SDI.ConclusionThe disease burden of T2DM has rapidly increased in China. Gender disparities, different age distributions and inconsistent socioeconomic levels all played an important role in it. The key risk was HBMI. With the improvement of socioeconomic level, the main risk factors for T2DM have changed from environmental factors to lifestyle factors. Targeted control and preventative strategies to address adjustable risk factors could put an end to this soaring burden.</p
Table1_ACCESS: an empirically-based framework developed by the International Nursing CASCADE Consortium to address genomic disparities through the nursing workforce.docx
Introduction: Efforts are needed across disciplines to close disparities in genomic healthcare. Nurses are the most numerous trained healthcare professionals worldwide and can play a key role in addressing disparities across the continuum of care. ACCESS is an empirically-based theoretical framework to guide clinical practice in order to ameliorate genomic disparities.Methods: The framework was developed by the International Nursing CASCADE Consortium based on evidence collected between 2005 and 2023 from individuals and families of various ethnic backgrounds, with diverse hereditary conditions, and in different healthcare systems, i.e., Israel, Korea, Switzerland, and several U.S. States. The components of the framework were validated against published scientific literature.Results: ACCESS stands for Advocating, Coping, Communication, cascadE Screening, and Surveillance. Each component is demonstrated in concrete examples of clinical practice within the scope of the nursing profession related to genomic healthcare. Key outcomes include advocacy, active coping, intrafamilial communication, cascade screening, and lifelong surveillance. Advocacy entails timely identification of at-risk individuals, facilitating referrals to specialized services, and informed decision-making for testing. Active coping enhances lifelong adaptation and management of disease risk. Effective intrafamilial communication of predisposition to hereditary disease supports cascade testing of unaffected at-risk relatives. Lifelong surveillance is essential for identifying recurrence, changes in health status, and disease trajectory for life-threatening and for life-altering conditions.Discussion: ACCESS provides a standardized, systematic, situational, and unifying guide to practice and is applicable for nursing and for other healthcare professions. When appropriately enacted it will contribute towards equitable access to genomic resources and services.</p
Image_1_Polyphenol oxidase genes in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.): functional activity with respect to black grain pigmentation.tif
Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is an oxidoreductase. In damaged plant tissues, it catalyzes enzymatic browning by oxidizing o-diphenols to highly reactive o-quinones, which polymerize producing heterogeneous dark polymer melanin. In intact tissues, functions of PPO are not well understood. The aim of the study was to investigate the barley PPO gene family and to reveal the possible involvement of Ppo genes in melanization of barley grain, which is controlled by the Blp1 gene. Based on known barley Ppo genes on chromosome 2H (Ppo1 and Ppo2), two additional genes—Ppo3 and Ppo4—were found on chromosomes 3H and 4H, respectively. These genes have one and two exons, respectively, contain a conserved tyrosinase domain and are thought to be functional. Comparative transcriptional analyzes of the genes in samples of developing grains (combined hulls and pericarp tissues) were conducted in two barley lines differing by melanin pigmentation. The genes were found to be transcribed with increasing intensity (while grains mature) independently from the grain color, except for Ppo2, which is transcribed only in black-grained line i:BwBlp1 accumulating melanin in grains. Analysis of this gene’s expression in detached hulls and pericarps showed its elevated transcription in both tissues in comparison with yellow ones, while it was significantly higher in hulls than in pericarp. Segregation analysis in two F2 populations obtained based on barley genotypes carrying dominant Blp1 and recessive ppo1 (I) and dominant Blp1 and recessive ppo1 and ppo2 (II) was carried out. In population I, only two phenotypic classes corresponding to parental black and white ones were observed; the segregation ratio was 3 black to 1 white, corresponding to monogenic. In population II, aside from descendants with black and white grains, hybrids with a gray phenotype — light hulls and dark pericarp — were observed; the segregation ratio was 9 black to 3 gray to 4 white, corresponding to the epistatic interaction of two genes. Most hybrids with the gray phenotype carry dominant Blp1 and a homozygous recessive allele of Ppo2. Based on transcription and segregation assays one may conclude involvement of Ppo2 but not Ppo1 in melanin formation in barley hulls.</p
Table_1_Case report: A safeguard in the sea of variants of uncertain significance: a case study on child with high risk neuroblastoma and acute myeloid leukemia.docx
The increased availability of genetic technologies has significantly improved the detection of novel germline variants conferring a predisposition to tumor development in patients with malignant disease. The identification of variants of uncertain significance (VUS) represents a challenge for the clinician, leading to difficulties in decision-making regarding medical management, the surveillance program, and genetic counseling. Moreover, it can generate confusion and anxiety for patients and their family members. Herein, we report a 5-year-old girl carrying a VUS in the Succinate Dehydrogenase Complex Subunit C (SHDC) gene who had been previously treated for high-risk neuroblastoma and subsequently followed by the development of secondary acute myeloid leukemia. In this context, we describe how functional studies can provide additional insight on gene function determining whether the variant interferes with normal protein function or stability.</p
Table_1_Impairments in psychological functioning in refugees and asylum seekers.DOCX
Refugees are at increased risk for developing psychological impairments due to stressors in the pre-, peri- and post-migration periods. There is limited knowledge on how everyday functioning is affected by migration experience. In a secondary analysis of a study in a sample of refugees and asylum seekers, it was examined how aspects of psychological functioning were differentially affected. 1,101 eligible refugees and asylum seekers in Europe and Türkiye were included in a cross-sectional analysis. Gender, age, education, number of relatives and children living nearby, as well as indicators for depressive and posttraumatic symptoms, quality of life, psychological well-being and functioning, and lifetime potentially traumatic events were assessed. Correlations and multiple regression models with World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) 12-item version’s total and six subdomains’ scores (‘mobility’, ‘life activities’, ‘cognition’, ‘participation’, ‘self-care’, ‘getting along’) as dependent variables were calculated. Tests for multicollinearity and Bonferroni correction were applied. Participants reported highest levels of impairment in ‘mobility’ and ‘participation’, followed by ‘life activities’ and ‘cognition’. Depression and posttraumatic symptoms were independently associated with overall psychological functioning and all subdomains. History of violence and abuse seemed to predict higher impairment in ‘participation’, while past events of being close to death were associated with fewer issues with ‘self-care’. Impairment in psychological functioning in asylum seekers and refugees was related to current psychological symptoms. Mobility and participation issues may explain difficulties arising after resettlement in integration and exchange with host communities in new contexts.</p
Data_Sheet_3_Effects of different foods and cooking methods on the gut microbiota: an in vitro approach.PDF
To support personalized diets targeting the gut microbiota, we employed an in vitro digestion-fermentation model and 16S rRNA gene sequencing to analyze the microbiota growing on representative foods of the Mediterranean and Western diets, as well as the influence of cooking methods. Plant- and animal-derived foods had significantly different impacts on the abundances of bacterial taxa. Animal and vegetable fats, fish and dairy products led to increases in many taxa, mainly within the Lachnospiraceae. In particular, fats favored increases in the beneficial bacteria Faecalibacterium, Blautia, and Roseburia. However, butter, as well as gouda cheese and fish, also resulted in the increase of Lachnoclostridium, associated to several diseases. Frying and boiling produced the most distinct effects on the microbiota, with members of the Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae responding the most to the cooking method employed. Nevertheless, cooking effects were highly individualized and food-dependent, challenging the investigation of their role in personalized diets.</p
Genome annotation of <i>Grapholita funebrana</i>
gf.fasta.gz: Compressed file of genome assembly for Grapholita funebrana.gene_annotation.gff3: Gene annotationout.emapper.function_annotations.xlsx: Gene function annotation</p
Image_3_Eukaryotic diversity patterns in the Red Sea: from the surface to the deep.jpeg
Understanding how biological communities are assembled is central to many ecological studies. The semi-confined nature of the Red Sea, with limited exchange of waters with other seas and strong environmental gradients, is an ideal ecosystem to investigate assembly processes of biological communities. Sampling through the water column (surface, deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM), oxygen minimum zone (OMZ), and bottom) along the latitudinal axis of the Red Sea was undertaken during cruises in 2015/2016. The composition and assembly of eukaryotic communities were assessed using high-throughput sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene. Distinct differences were noted in the composition of the eukaryotic community across the different depth layers. Dinophyceae were more prevalent in the euphotic zone (surface = 35.3%; DCM = 18.1%), while Syndiniales had the highest relative abundances in the OMZ (45.9%) and the bottom waters (52.6%). We showed that the assembly of eukaryotic communities through the water column was primarily determined by deterministic processes, especially variable selection due to different environmental conditions. The exception was between the OMZ and the bottom, where deterministic and stochastic processes were balanced with homogeneous selection and homogenizing dispersal dominating, indicating similar environmental conditions and high levels of dispersal between the layers. Across the latitudinal gradient, environmental variable selection was predominant in the euphotic zone, most likely driven by the strong environmental gradients present in the Red Sea. In the aphotic zones, homogenizing dispersal was more prevalent, especially in the OMZ. Our study highlights the contrasting assembly mechanisms governing the distribution of eukaryotic planktonic communities through the water column.</p