Multi-omics responses in tree swallow (\u3ci\u3eTachycineta bicolor\u3c/i\u3e) nestlings from the Maumee Area of Concern, Maumee River, Ohio

A multi-omics approach was utilized to identify altered biological responses and functions, and to prioritize contaminants to assess the risks of chemical mixtures in the Maumee Area of Concern (AOC), Maumee River, OH, USA. The Maumee AOC is designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as having significant beneficial use impairments, including degradation of fish and wildlife populations, bird or animal deformities or reproduction problems, and loss of fish and wildlife habitat. Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nestlings were collected at five sites along the Maumee River, which included wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and industrial land-use sites. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated dibenzo p dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), and chlorinated pesticide concentrations were elevated in Maumee tree swallows, relative to a remote reference site, Star Lake, WI, USA. Liver tissue was utilized for non-targeted transcriptome and targeted metabolome evaluation. A significantly differentially expressed gene cluster related to a downregulation in cell growth and cell cycle regulation was identified when comparing all Maumee River sites with the reference site. There was an upregulation of lipogenesis genes, such as PPAR signaling (HMGCS2, SLC22A5), biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids (FASN, SCD, ELOVL2, and FADS2), and higher lipogenesis related metabolites, such as docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and arachidonic acid (AA) at two industrial land-use sites, Ironhead and Maumee, relative to WWTP sites (Perrysburg and SideCut), and the reference site. Toledo Water, in the vicinity of the other two industrial sites and also adjacent to a WWTP, showed a mix of signals between industrial land-use and WWTP land-use. PAHs, oxychlordane, and PBDEs were determined to be the most likely causes of the differentiation in biological responses, including de novo lipogenesis and biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids

BETTER POSTURAL CONTROL DURING ACCURATE SHOOTING IN ELITE FEMALE BASKETBALL PLAYERS

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the differences of postural control (PC) during accurate and inaccurate shooting in elite female basketball players. 21 female professional basketball players recruited as subjects. The PC was evaluated by the Accusway as sway radius, velocity, radial and 95% area of the center of pressure (COP) during standard penalty line shooting. The results showed that the COP sway area during accurate shooting was significantly smaller than during inaccurate shooting (74.0 ± 37.9 vs. 110.6 ± 49.1, p < .05). Moreover, no significant differences were found between situations in the COP radius and velocity. This study found that during the accurate shooting, elite female basketball player had better PC which demonstrated that significant smaller COP sway area than inaccurate shooting

The Influence of Type 2 Diabetes and Glucose-Lowering Therapies on Cancer Risk in the Taiwanese

Objective. To investigate the association between type 2 diabetes, glucose-lowering therapies (monotherapy with either metformin, sulphonylurea or insulin) and cancer risk in Taiwan. Methods. Using Taiwan's National Health Research Institutes database of 1,000,000 random subjects from 2000–2008, we found 61777 patients with type 2 diabetes (age ≥20 years) and 677378 enrollees with no record of diabetes. Results. After adjusting for age and sex, we found patients with diabetes to have significantly higher risk of all cancers (OR: 1.176; 95% CI: 1.149–1.204, P < 0.001). Diabetic patients treated with insulin or sulfonylureas had significantly higher risk of all cancers, compared to those treated with metformin (OR: 1.583; 95% CI: 1.389–1.805, P < 0.001 and OR: 1.784; 95% CI: 1.406–2.262, P < 0.001). Metformin treatment was associated with a decreased risk of colon and liver cancer compared to sulphonylureas or insulin treatment. Sulfonylureas treatment was associated with an increased risk of breast and lung cancer compared to metformin therapy. Conclusions. Taiwanese with type 2 diabetes are at a high risk of breast, prostate, colon, lung, liver and pancreatic cancer. Those treated with insulin or sulfonylureas monotherapy are more likely to develop colon and liver cancer than those treated with metformin

Effects of interventions on trajectories of health-related quality of life among older patients with hip fracture: a prospective randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has been used to assess subjects’ prognosis and recovery following hip fracture. However, evidence is mixed regarding the effectiveness of interventions to improve HRQoL of elders with hip fracture. The purposes of this study were to identify distinct HRQoL trajectories and to evaluate the effects of two care models on these trajectories over 12 months following hip-fracture surgery. Methods For this secondary analysis, data came from a randomized controlled trial of subjects with hip fracture receiving three treatment care models: interdisciplinary care (n = 97), comprehensive care (n = 91), and usual care (n = 93). Interdisciplinary care consisted of geriatric consultation, discharge planning, and 4 months of in-home rehabilitation. Comprehensive care consisted of interdisciplinary care plus management of malnutrition and depressive symptoms, fall prevention, and 12 months of in-home rehabilitation. Usual care included only in-hospital rehabilitation and occasional discharge planning, without geriatric consultation and in-home rehabilitation. Mental and physical HRQoL were measured at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after discharge by the physical component summary scale (PCS) and mental component summary scale (MCS), respectively, of the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36, Taiwan version. Latent class growth modeling was used to identify PCS and MCS trajectories and to evaluate how they were affected by the interdisciplinary and comprehensive care models. Results We identified three quadratic PCS trajectories: poor PCS (n = 103, 36.6 %), moderate PCS (n = 96, 34.2 %), and good PCS (n = 82, 29.2 %). In contrast, we found three linear MCS trajectories: poor MCS (n = 39, 13.9 %), moderate MCS (n = 84, 29.9 %), and good MCS (n = 158, 56.2 %). Subjects in the comprehensive care and interdisciplinary care groups were more likely to experience a good PCS trajectory (b = 0.99, odds ratio [OR] = 2.69, confidence interval [CI] = 7.24–1.00, p = 0.049, and b = 1.32, OR = 3.75, CI = 10.53–1.33, p = 0.012, respectively) than those who received usual care. However, neither care model improved MCS. Conclusions The interdisciplinary and comprehensive care models improved recovery from hip fracture by increasing subjects’ odds for following a trajectory of good physical functioning after hospitalization. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT01350557 )http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134528/1/12891_2016_Article_958.pd

Leaf litter identity alters the timing of lotic nutrient dynamics

1. The effects of resource quality on ecosystems can shift through time based on preferential use and elemental needs of biotic consumers. For example, leaf litter decomposition rates are strongly controlled by initial litter quality, where labile litter is processed and depleted more quickly than recalcitrant litters. 2. We examined the effect of this processing continuum on stream nutrient dynamics.We added one of four different litter compositions differing in litter quality (cot ‐tonwood [Populus deltoides], labile; sycamore [Platanus occidentalis], recalcitrant; bur oak [Quercus macrocarpa], recalcitrant; and mixed [equivalent mixture of pre ‐vious three species]) to 12 large (c. 20 m long, with riffle, glide and pool sections) outdoor stream mesocosms to assess the effect of litter species composition on whole‐stream nutrient uptake. Nutrients were dosed once weekly for 8 weeks to measure uptake of NH4–N, NO3–N, and PO4–P. We also measured changes in lit ‐ter C, N, and P content on days 28 and 56 of the study. 3. Nutrient uptake rates were highly variable, but occasionally very different among litter treatments (c. 5× between highest and lowest uptake rates by species). Uptake rates were generally greatest in cottonwood (labile) streams early in the study. However, during the last 4 weeks of the study, bur oak streams (recalci ‐trant) took up more nutrients than cottonwood streams, resulting in more cumu‐lative NO3–N uptake in bur oak than in cottonwood streams. Cumulative NO3–N uptake was greater in mixed streams than expected (non‐additive) on two dates of measurement, but was generally additive. 4. Changes in litter nutrient content largely corroborated nutrient uptake patterns, suggesting strong N immobilisation early in the study and some N mineralisation later in the study. P was strongly retained by most litters, but especially bur oak. Nutrient content of litter also largely changed additively, suggesting minimal evi ‐dence for non‐additive diversity effects on nutrient source/sink status. 5. Our results demonstrate that litter species identity can have whole‐ecosystem effects on stream nutrient dynamics, with important implications for the for fate of nutrients exported downstream. Further, diverse litter assemblages may serve as temporal stabilisers of ecosystem processes, such as nutrient sequestra‐tion, due to microbial nutrient requirements and differential decomposition rates, or the classic litter processing continuum.NSF, Grant/Award Number: DEB‐144259

Antioxidant Activities and Phytochemicals of Leaf Extracts from 10 Native Rhododendron

Rhododendron, one of the most famous ornamental plants in the world, is traditionally a medicinal plant. However, the potential bioactivities of native Rhododendron in Taiwan have not been completely studied. In this study, the results revealed that Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum exhibited the best antioxidant activities among 10 native Rhododendron species in Taiwan. Furthermore, based on a bioactivity-guided isolation principle, nine specific phytochemicals were isolated and identified as (2R,3S)-catechin (1), (2R,3R)-epicatechin (1′), (2R,3R)-dihydromyricetin 3-O-β-l-arabinopyranoside (2), (2S,3S)-taxifolin 3-O-β-l-arabinopyranoside (2′), (2R,3R)-taxifolin 3-O-β-l-arabinopyranoside (3), myricetin 3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (3′), rutin (4), hyperoside (5), and quercitrin (6). Of these compounds, 2 and 3 were found to be major bioactive compounds, and their concentrations in the n-butanol (BuOH) fraction were determined to be 52.0 and 67.3 mg per gram, respectively. These results demonstrated that methanolic extracts of Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum leaves have excellent antioxidant activities and great potential as a source for natural health products

Prevalence of PIK3CA mutations in Taiwanese patients with breast cancer: a retrospective next-generation sequencing database analysis

BackgroundBreast cancer is the most common cancer type that affects women. In hormone receptor–positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2−negative (HER2–) advanced breast cancer (ABC), phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA) is the most frequently mutated gene associated with poor prognosis. This study evaluated the frequency of PIK3CA mutations in the Taiwanese breast cancer population.MethodologyThis is a retrospective study; patient data were collected for 2 years from a next-generation sequencing database linked to electronic health records (EHRs). The primary endpoint was the regional prevalence of PIK3CA mutation. The secondary endpoints were to decipher the mutation types across breast cancer subtype, menopausal status, and time to treatment failure after everolimus (an mTOR inhibitor) or cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor treatment.ResultsPIK3CA mutations were identified in 278 of 728 patients (38%). PIK3CA mutations were reported in 43% of patients with HR−/HER2+ subtype and 42% of patients with HR+/HER2– postmenopausal status. A lower prevalence of PIK3CA mutations was observed in triple-negative (27%) and HR+/HER2– premenopausal patients (29%). The most common mutation was at exon 20 (H1047R mutation, 41.6%), followed by exon 9 (E545K mutation, 18.9% and E542K mutation, 10.3%). Among patients treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors, the median time to treatment failure was 12 months (95% CI: 7-21 months) in the PIK3CA mutation cohort and 16 months (95% CI: 11-23 months) in the PIK3CA wild-type cohort, whereas patients receiving an mTOR inhibitor reported a median time to treatment failure of 20.5 months (95% CI: 8-33 months) in the PIK3CA mutation cohort and 6 months (95% CI: 2-9 months) in the PIK3CA wild-type cohort.ConclusionA high frequency of PIK3CA mutations was detected in Taiwanese patients with breast cancer, which was consistent with previous studies. Early detection of PIK3CA mutations might influence therapeutic decisions, leading to better treatment outcomes

Zebrafish Cyclin-Dependent Protein Kinase–Like 1 (zcdkl1): Identification and Functional Characterization

The cyclin-dependent protein kinase family regulates a wide range of cellular functions such as cell cycle progression, differentiation, and apoptosis. In this study, we identified a zebrafish cyclin-dependent protein kinase-like 1 protein called zebrafish cdkl1 (zcdkl1), which shared a high degree of homology and conserved synteny with mammalian orthologs. zcdkl1 exhibited abilities for phosphorylation of myelin basic protein and histone H1. RT-PCR analysis revealed that zcdkl1 was expressed starting from fertilization and continuing thereafter. In adult tissues, zcdkl1 was predominantly detected in brain, ovary, and testis, and was expressed at low levels in other tissues. At 50% epiboly stage, zcdkl1 was widely expressed. At 12 to 48 h post-fertilization, zcdkl1 was predominantly expressed in the hypochord, the medial and lateral floor plate, and the pronephric duct. Interference of zcdkl1 expression resulted in abnormalities, such as brain and eye malformation, pericardial edema, and body axis curvature. Disruption of zcdkl1 reduced neurogenin-1 in the brain and sonic hedgehog expression in the floor plate region. These deformities were apparently rescued by co-injection of zcdkl1 mRNA. Findings of this study indicate that zcdkl1 plays an essential role in zebrafish development