Discovering Networks of Perturbed Biological Processes in Hepatocyte Cultures

The liver plays a vital role in glucose homeostasis, the synthesis of bile acids and the detoxification of foreign substances. Liver culture systems are widely used to test adverse effects of drugs and environmental toxicants. The two most prevalent liver culture systems are hepatocyte monolayers (HMs) and collagen sandwiches (CS). Despite their wide use, comprehensive transcriptional programs and interaction networks in these culture systems have not been systematically investigated. We integrated an existing temporal transcriptional dataset for HM and CS cultures of rat hepatocytes with a functional interaction network of rat genes. We aimed to exploit the functional interactions to identify statistically significant linkages between perturbed biological processes. To this end, we developed a novel approach to compute Contextual Biological Process Linkage Networks (CBPLNs). CBPLNs revealed numerous meaningful connections between different biological processes and gene sets, which we were successful in interpreting within the context of liver metabolism. Multiple phenomena captured by CBPLNs at the process level such as regulation, downstream effects, and feedback loops have well described counterparts at the gene and protein level. CBPLNs reveal high-level linkages between pathways and processes, making the identification of important biological trends more tractable than through interactions between individual genes and molecules alone. Our approach may provide a new route to explore, analyze, and understand cellular responses to internal and external cues within the context of the intricate networks of molecular interactions that control cellular behavior

Associations of Electronic Device Addiction with Anxiety and Depression in Adults: Findings from Hong Kong Jockey Club FAMILY Project

Background and Objectives: Excessive use of electronic device (e-device) such as smartphone, tablet and computer is associated with psychopathology in adolescents but less is known in adults. A shorter time to first e-device use after getting up in the morning is indicative of e-device addiction. We examined the associations of time to first e-device use upon waking with risks of anxiety and depressive disorders in a representative sample of general adults in Hong Kong. Methods: A random sample of 2941 e-device users aged 18+ years (mean 46.2, 39.3% men) participated in a population-based telephone interview under the Hong Kong Family and Health Information Trend Survey (FHInTS) in 2016. Exposure measure was time to first e-devices use upon waking (categorized into > 60 mins/ 31-60 mins/ 6-30 mins/ ≤ 5 mins). Outcome measures were anxiety and depression, each defined by a score of 3+ on a scale of 0-6, assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). Data were weighted by the age, gender and education level distributions of the Hong Kong general population. Poisson regression with robust variance estimator was used to yield the prevalence ratios (PR) of anxiety and depression in relation to time to first e-device use upon waking, adjusting for age, gender, education level and household income. Results: The weighted prevalence (95% CI) of time to first e-device use upon waking were 36.3% (34.8-37.8%) for > 60 mins, 14.2% (13.1-15.3%) for 31-60 mins, 22.4% (21.1-23.7%) for 6-30 mins and 27.2% (25.8-28.6%) for ≤ 5 mins. Anxiety, depression, and both conditions were reported by 11.3% (10.2-12.5%), 7.6 (6.8-8.6%) and 4.9 (4.2-5.7%) of the respondents respectively. Participants who used e-device ≤ 5 mins upon waking (vs > 60mins) were more likely to be have anxiety (PR = 1.59, 95% CI 1.17-2.18), depression (1.92, 1.26- 2.92) and both conditions (2.15, 1.27-3.63). All P for trend < 0.05. Conclusions: A shorter time to first e-device use upon waking is associated with higher risk of anxiety and depression in Hong Kong adults. Given the widespread and rapid surge in e-device use worldwide, excessive e-device use may constitute an important public health issue which warrants further research

The reliability and validity of the Chinese Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale in the general population of Hong Kong

PURPOSE: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the 7-item Chinese Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS) in Hong Kong Chinese. METHODS: Under "A Jockey Club Initiative for a Harmonious Society" project, a random telephone survey was conducted in 2017 on 1331 Hong Kong Chinese residents aged ≥ 18. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test the factorial validity. The Spearman correlations of the SWEMWBS with other scales including the 12-item short form health survey (SF-12), family well-being, self-rated health, the global happiness item (GHI), subjective happiness scale (SHS), and patient health questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4), were used to evaluate the convergent and divergent validity. Known-group validity was also assessed. We calculated congeneric reliability based on standardized factor loadings and error variances. Two-week test-retest reliability was assessed in 100 randomly selected respondents using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). RESULTS: Among the weighted sample, 55.9% were female and 72.9% were 25 to 64 years old. The CFA indicated good validity of the SWEMWBS. The SWEMWBS had moderate correlations with SHS, SF-12 mental component, PHQ-4 and GHI, but a weak correlation with SF-12 physical component. Older respondents, those with higher education level, married, working, with higher household income reported higher level of well-being. The congeneric reliability of the SWEMWBS was 0.85. Moderate to good test-retest reliability was observed (ICC 0.70, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.80). CONCLUSION: The Chinese SWEMWBS showed good validity and reliability for measuring well-being in the general population of Hong Kong