Health status prediction for the elderly based on machine learning

Health and social care services are crucial to old people. The provision of services to the elderly with care needs requires more accurate predictions of the health status of the elderly to rationalize the allocation of the limited social care resources. The traditional analytical methods have proved incapable of predicting the demands of today's society, compared to which machine learning methods can more accurately capture the nonlinear relationships between the variables. To ascertain visually the performance of these machine learning methods regarding the prediction of the elderly's care needs, we designed and verified the experiment

An ultra-sensitive and easy-to-use assay for sensing human UGT1A1 activities in biological systems

The human UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1), one of the most essential conjugative enzymes, is responsible for the metabolism and detoxification of bilirubin and other endogenous substances, as well as many different xenobiotic compounds. Deciphering UGT1A1 relevance to human diseases and characterizing the effects of small molecules on the activities of UGT1A1 requires reliable tools for probing the function of this key enzyme in complex biological matrices. Herein, an easy-to-use assay for highly-selective and sensitive monitoring of UGT1A1 activities in various biological matrices, using liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (LC-FD), has been developed and validated. The newly developed LC-FD based assay has been confirmed in terms of sensitivity, specificity, precision, quantitative linear range and stability. One of its main advantages is lowering the limits of detection and quantification by about 100-fold in comparison to the previous assay that used the same probe substrate, enabling reliable quantification of lower amounts of active enzyme than any other method. The precision test demonstrated that both intra- and inter-day variations for this assay were less than 5.5%. Furthermore, the newly developed assay has also been successfully used to screen and characterize the regulatory effects of small molecules on the expression level of UGT1A1 in living cells. Overall, an easy-to-use LC-FD based assay has been developed for ultra-sensitive UGT1A1 activities measurements in various biological systems, providing an inexpensive and practical approach for exploring the role of UGT1A1 in human diseases, interactions with xenobiotics, and characterization modulatory effects of small molecules on this conjugative enzyme. (c) 2020 Xi'an Jiaotong University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Wearable Neurophysiological Recordings in Middle-School Classroom Correlate With Students’ Academic Performance

The rapid development of wearable bio-sensing techniques has made it possible to continuously record neurophysiological signals in naturalistic scenarios such as the classroom. The present study aims to explore the neurophysiological correlates of middle-school students’ academic performance. The electrodermal signals (EDAs) and heart rates (HRs) were collected via wristband from 100 Grade seven students during their daily Chinese and math classes for 10 days in 2 weeks. Significant correlations were found between the academic performance as reflected by the students’ final exam scores and the EDA responses. Further regression analyses revealed significant prediction of the academic performance mainly by the transient EDA responses (R2 = 0.083, p < 0.05, with Chinese classes only; R2 = 0.030, p < 0.05, with both Chinese and math classes included). By combining the self-report data about session-based general statuses and the neurophysiological data, the explained powers of the regression models were further improved (R2 = 0.095, p < 0.05, with Chinese classes only; R2 = 0.057, p < 0.05, with both Chinese and math classes included), and the neurophysiological data were shown to have independent contributions to the regression models. In addition, the regression models became non-significant by exchanging the academic performances of the Chinese and math classes as the dependent variables, suggesting at least partly distinct neurophysiological responses for the two types of classes. Our findings provide evidences supporting the feasibility of predicting educational outputs by wearable neurophysiological recordings

Protein Network Analysis of the Serum and Their Functional Implication in Patients Subjected to Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) often leads to severe neurobehavioral impairment, but the underlying molecular mechanism remains to be elucidated. Here, we collected the sera from 23 patients (aged from 19 to 81 years old, third day after TBI as TBI-third group) subjected to TBI from The First Hospital of Kunming City, and the sera from 22 healthy donors (aged from 18 to 81 years old and as control group). Then, three samples from TBI-third group and three samples from control group were subjected to the protein microarray detection, and bioinformatics analysis. Then, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to verify significantly altered protein levels. Results showed that, when compared with the control group, all significantly differentially expressed proteins [DEPs, P < 0.05, FDR < 0.05, fold change (FC) > 2] contained 172 molecules in the TBI-third group, in which 65 proteins were upregulated, while 107 proteins were downregulated. The biological processes of these DEPs, mostly happened in the extracellular region and the extracellular region parts, are mainly involved in the regulation of cellular process, signaling and signal transduction, cell communication, response to stimuli, the immune system process and multicellular organismal development. Moreover, the essential molecular functions of them are cytokine activity, growth factor activity and morphogen activity. Additionally, the most significant pathways are enriched in cytokine–cytokine receptor interaction and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways among downregulated proteins, and pathways in cancer and cytokine–cytokine receptor interaction among upregulated proteins. Of these, we focused on the NGF, NT-3, IGF-2, HGF, NPY, CRP, MMP-9, and ICAM-2 with a high number of interactors in Protein–Protein Interaction (PPI) Network indicated by bioinformatics report. Furthermore, using ELISA test, we confirmed that all increase in the levels of NGF, NT-3, IGF-2, HGF, NPY, CRP, MMP-9, and ICAM-2 in the serum from TBI patients. Together, we determined the screened protein expressional profiles in serum for TBI patients, in which the cross-network between inflammatory factors and growth factors may play a crucial role in TBI damage and repair. Our findings could contribute to indication for the diagnosis and treatment of TBI in future translational medicine and clinical practice

Estimated glomerular filtration rate is a biomarker of cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease

BackgroundsThe relationship between kidney function and cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is poorly understood and underexplored. This study aims to explore whether renal indices can serve as indicators to monitor the cognitive impairment of PD.MethodsA total of 508 PD patients and 168 healthy controls from the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) were recruited, and 486 (95.7%) PD patients underwent longitudinal measurements. The renal indicators including serum creatinine (Scr), uric acid (UA), and urea nitrogen, as well as UA/Scr ratio and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), were measured. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between kidney function and cognitive impairment were evaluated using multivariable-adjusted models.ResultseGFR was associated with lower levels of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ1–42 (p = 0.0156) and α-synuclein (p = 0.0151) and higher serum NfL (p = 0.0215) in PD patients at baseline. Longitudinal results showed that decreased eGFR predicted a higher risk of cognitive impairment (HR = 0.7382, 95% CI = 0.6329–0.8610). Additionally, eGFR decline was significantly associated with higher rates of increase in CSF T-tau (p = 0.0096), P-tau (p = 0.0250), and serum NfL (p = 0.0189), as well as global cognition and various cognitive domains (p < 0.0500). The reduced UA/Scr ratio was also linked to higher NfL levels (p = 0.0282) and greater accumulation of T-tau (p = 0.0282) and P-tau (p = 0.0317). However, no significant associations were found between other renal indices and cognition.ConclusioneGFR is altered in PD subjects with cognitive impairment, and predict larger progression of cognitive decline. It may assist identifying patients with PD at risk of rapid cognitive decline and have the potential to monitoring responses to therapy in future clinical practice

A Novel Role of VEGFC in Cerebral Ischemia With Lung Injury

Cerebral ischemia (CI) is a severe brain injury resulting in a variety of motor impairments combined with secondary injury in remote organs, especially the lung. This condition occurs due to insufficient blood supply to the brain during infancy. However, it has a molecular linkage that needs to be thoroughly covered. Here, we report on the role of vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGFC) in lung injury induced by CI. The middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was depended to establish the animal model of CI. Rats were used and brain ischemia was confirmed through TTC staining. Serum was used for protein chip analysis to study the proteomic interaction. Immunohistochemistry analyses were used to quantify and locate the VEGFC in the lung and brain. The role of VEGFC was detected by siVEGFC technology in SY5Y, HUCEV, and A549 cell lines, under normal and oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) conditions in vitro. As a result, the TTC staining demonstrated that the model of brain ischemia was successfully established, and MPO experiments reported that lung damage was induced in MCAO rats. VEGFC levels were up-regulated in serum. On the other hand, immunohistochemistry showed that VEGFC increased significantly in the cytoplasm of neurons, the endothelium of small trachea and the lung cells of CI animals. On a functional level, siVEGFC effectively inhibited the proliferation of SY5Y cells and decreased the viability of HUVEC cells in normal cell lines. But under OGD conditions, siVEGFC decreased the growth of HUVEC and increased the viability of A549 cells, while no effect was noticed on SYSY cells. Therefore, we confirmed the different role of VEGFC played in neurons and lung cells in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. These findings may contribute to the understanding the molecular linkage of brain ischemia and lung injury, which therefore provides a new idea for the therapeutic approach to cerebral ischemia-reperfusion

Observation and study of the decay J/ψ→ϕηη′J/\psi\rightarrow\phi\eta\eta'

We report the observation and study of the decay $J/\psi\rightarrow\phi\eta\eta'$ using $1.3\times{10^9}$ $J/\psi$ events collected with the BESIII detector. Its branching fraction, including all possible intermediate states, is measured to be $(2.32\pm0.06\pm0.16)\times{10^{-4}}$. We also report evidence for a structure, denoted as $X$, in the $\phi\eta'$ mass spectrum in the $2.0-2.1$ GeV/$c^2$ region. Using two decay modes of the $\eta'$ meson ($\gamma\pi^+\pi^-$ and $\eta\pi^+\pi^-$), a simultaneous fit to the $\phi\eta'$ mass spectra is performed. Assuming the quantum numbers of the $X$ to be $J^P = 1^-$, its significance is found to be 4.4$\sigma$, with a mass and width of $(2002.1 \pm 27.5 \pm 21.4)$ MeV/$c^2$ and $(129 \pm 17 \pm 9)$ MeV, respectively, and a product branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(J/\psi\rightarrow\eta{}X)\times{}\mathcal{B}(X\rightarrow\phi\eta')=(9.8 \pm 1.2 \pm 1.7)\times10^{-5}$. Alternatively, assuming $J^P = 1^+$, the significance is 3.8$\sigma$, with a mass and width of $(2062.8 \pm 13.1 \pm 7.2)$ MeV/$c^2$ and $(177 \pm 36 \pm 35)$ MeV, respectively, and a product branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(J/\psi\rightarrow\eta{}X)\times{}\mathcal{B}(X\rightarrow\phi\eta')=(9.6 \pm 1.4 \pm 2.0)\times10^{-5}$. The angular distribution of $J/\psi\rightarrow\eta{}X$ is studied and the two $J^P$ assumptions of the $X$ cannot be clearly distinguished due to the limited statistics. In all measurements the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures and 4 table

Observation of Ds+→pnˉD^+_s\rightarrow p\bar{n} and confirmation of its large branching fraction

The baryonic decay $D^+_s\rightarrow p\bar{n}$ is observed, and the corresponding branching fraction is measured to be $(1.21\pm0.10\pm0.05)\times10^{-3}$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and second systematic. The data sample used in this analysis was collected with the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII $e^+e^-$ double-ring collider with a center-of-mass energy of 4.178~GeV and an integrated luminosity of 3.19~fb$^{-1}$. The result confirms the previous measurement by the CLEO Collaboration and is of greatly improved precision, which may deepen our understanding of the dynamical enhancement of the W-annihilation topology in the charmed meson decays

Evidence of a resonant structure in the e+e−→π+D0D∗−e^+e^-\to \pi^+D^0D^{*-} cross section between 4.05 and 4.60 GeV

The cross section of the process $e^+e^-\to \pi^+D^0D^{*-}$ for center-of-mass energies from 4.05 to 4.60~GeV is measured precisely using data samples collected with the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII storage ring. Two enhancements are clearly visible in the cross section around 4.23 and 4.40~GeV. Using several models to describe the dressed cross section yields stable parameters for the first enhancement, which has a mass of 4228.6 \pm 4.1 \pm 6.3 \un{MeV}/c^2 and a width of 77.0 \pm 6.8 \pm 6.3 \un{MeV}, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second ones are systematic. Our resonant mass is consistent with previous observations of the $Y(4220)$ state and the theoretical prediction of a $D\bar{D}_1(2420)$ molecule. This result is the first observation of $Y(4220)$ associated with an open-charm final state. Fits with three resonance functions with additional $Y(4260)$, $Y(4320)$, $Y(4360)$, $\psi(4415)$, or a new resonance, do not show significant contributions from either of these resonances. The second enhancement is not from a single known resonance. It could contain contributions from $\psi(4415)$ and other resonances, and a detailed amplitude analysis is required to better understand this enhancement