Be Together, Run More: Enhancing Group Participation in Fitness Technology

Individuals are increasingly using novel fitness technologies, such as running applications (apps), to support their workouts. The literature has particularly focused on the use of fitness apps at the individual level (i.e., to improve individuals’ exercise levels), while few studies have investigated the role of fitness apps in facilitating group exercise. Consequently, there is a paucity of information on how to enhance the exercise participation of individuals in fitness apps through the use of groups (i.e., how to entice more individuals to engage in exercise). By selecting running apps as the context, we focus on the feature of running spots that facilitates members’ offline group engagement, which has received scant attention. Drawing on the perspective of psychological distance and relational cohesion theory, we propose that the feature of running spots facilitating offline group engagement can improve group participation in running. To advance this line of research, we utilized a panel dataset of 151 running groups from a prevalent running app platform over a period of 38 weeks. The aim was to empirically evaluate the effects of offline group engagement facilitation (i.e., running spots) using a combination of the difference-in-differences approach and the propensity score matching technique. Our findings suggest that running spots promote groups’ participation in running. Furthermore, the impact of running spots is magnified when the groups are smaller or located moderately close to the spots. Our study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on fitness technologies by revealing ways to support group participation and uncovering the complex impact of offline group engagement facilitation (i.e., running spots). Our study has important implications for fitness app developers by demonstrating that features facilitating offline group engagement should be prioritized to improve group participation in running

Metabolite and Transcriptome Profiles of Proanthocyanidin Biosynthesis in the Development of Litchi Fruit

The fruit of Litchi chinensis contains high levels of proanthocyanidins (PAs) in the pericarp. These substances can serve as substrates of laccase-mediated rapid pericarp browning after the fruit is harvested. In this study, we found that the major PAs in litchi pericarp were (−)-epicatechin (EC) and several procyanidins (PCs), primarily PC A2, B2, and B1, and the EC and the PC content decreased with the development of the fruit. RNA-seq analysis showed that 43 early and late structure genes related to flavonoid/PA biosynthesis were expressed in the pericarp, including five ANTHOCYANIDIN REDUCTASE (ANR), two LEUCOANTHOCYANIDIN REDUCTASE (LAR), and two ANTHOCYANIDIN SYNTHASE (ANS) genes functioning in the PA biosynthesis branch of the flavonoid pathway. Among these nine PA biosynthesis-related genes, ANR1a, LAR1/2, and ANS1 were highly positively correlated with changes in the EC/PC content, suggesting that they are the key PA biosynthesis-related genes. Several transcription factor (TF) genes, including MYB, bHLH, WRKY, and AP2 family members, were found to be highly correlated with ANR1a, LAR1/2, and ANS1, and their relevant binding elements were detected in the promoters of these target genes, strongly suggesting that these TF genes may play regulatory roles in PA biosynthesis. In summary, this study identified the candidate key structure and regulatory genes in PA biosynthesis in litchi pericarp, which will assist in understanding the accumulation of high levels of browning-related PA substances in the pericarp

Characterization of Active Anthocyanin Degradation in the Petals of Rosa chinensis and Brunfelsia calycina Reveals the Effect of Gallated Catechins on Pigment Maintenance

Anthocyanin degradation decreases ornamental or nutritional values of horticultural products. To investigate factors that may influence colour change in flower development, anthocyanin degradation was compared between the flowers of Brunfelsia calycina and Rosa chinensis, which show rapid and slow degradation, respectively. In-gel activity assays, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of tannins, enzyme kinetics measurement and immune-detection of anthocyanin degradation related-perioxidases (PODs) were carried out for the comparison. Rose petals possessed significantly lower anthocyanin degradation-related POD activities than Brunfelsia petals, which may be related to the high tannin contents. Epicatechin gallate (ECG) and gallocatechin gallate (GCG) were detected in rose as 161.3 ± 12.34 and 273.56 ± 41.23 μg/g FW (Fresh Weight) respectively, while not detected in Brunfelsia. ECG and GCG inhibited the activities of the Brunfelsia POD with half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) as 21.5 and 29.7 μM respectively, and increased the colour intensities of the anthocyanins. Catechin and epicatechin did not inhibit the POD activity, while serving as POD substrates, with Km (the Michaelis constant) as 0.48 and 1.23 mM. Similar protein levels of the anthocyanin degradation-related 40-kDa PODs were detected in Brunfelsia and rose. In summary, high amount of tannins, particularly ECG and GCG, in red rose petals may inhibit the degradation-related enzymes, leading to the maintenance of anthocyanins in vivo

Combination of C-Reactive Protein and Procalcitonin in Distinguishing Fungal from Bacterial Infections Early in Immunocompromised Children

Invasive fungal infection (IFI) is life-threatening in children with cancer and hematology disorders, especially when diagnosis and treatment are delayed. Conventional β-D-glucan and galactomannan tests have poor positive predictive values in the diagnosis of IFI in children with cancer. This study aims to access the diagnostic performance of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) in differentiating IFI from bacterial bloodstream infections in children with malignant and hematology disorders. CRP and PCT levels were measured in samples taken from patients between 12 and 24 h after fever onset, of which 24 and 102 were in the IFI and bacterial groups, respectively. We found that the CRP levels were much higher in the IFI group than the bacterial group (100.57 versus 40.04 mg/L, median, p < 0.001), while the PCT levels remained significantly lower (0.45 versus 1.29 μg/L, median, p = 0.007). Both CRP and PCT showed significant diagnostic utilities with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.780 (95% CI, 0.664–0.896, p < 0.001) and 0.731 (95% CI, 0.634–0.828, p < 0.001) when using the cut-off values of 94.93 mg/L and 2.00 μg/L, respectively. However, the combined biomarker of CRP and PCT yielded a better diagnostic performance with an AUC of 0.934 (95% confidential interval (CI), 0.881–0.987, p < 0.001), which was significantly higher than that of CRP or PCT (both p < 0.001), with a sensitivity of 87.5% and a specificity of 87.3%. Our study demonstrates high levels of CRP combined with low PCT could differentiate IFI from bacterial bloodstream infections in immunocompromised children

BcXyl, a β-xylosidase Isolated from <i>Brunfelsia Calycina</i> Flowers with Anthocyanin-β-glycosidase Activity

Brunfelsia calycina flowers lose anthocyanins rapidly and are therefore well suited for the study of anthocyanin degradation mechanisms, which are unclear in planta. Here, we isolated an anthocyanin-&#946;-glycosidase from B. calycina petals. The MS/MS (Mass Spectrometry) peptide sequencing showed that the enzyme (72 kDa) was a &#946;-xylosidase (BcXyl). The enzyme showed high activity to p-Nitrophenyl-&#946;-d-galactopyranoside (pNPGa) and p-Nitrophenyl-&#946;-d-xylopyranoside (pNPX), while no activity to p-Nitrophenyl-&#946;-d-glucopyranoside (pNPG) or p-Nitrophenyl-&#946;-D-mannopyranoside (pNPM) was seen. The optimum temperature of BcXyl was 40 &#176;C and the optimum pH was 5.0. The enzyme was strongly inhibited by 1 mM D-gluconate and Ag+. HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) analysis showed that BcXyl catalyzed the degradation of an anthocyanin component of B. calycina, and the release of xylose and galactose due to hydrolysis of glycosidic bonds by BcXyl was detected by GC (Gas Chromatography) /MS. A full-length mRNA sequence (2358 bp) of BcXyl (NCBI No. MK411219) was obtained and the deduced protein sequence shared conserved domains with two anthocyanin-&#946;-glycosidases (Bgln and BadGluc, characterized in fungi). BcXyl, Bgln and BadGluc belong to AB subfamily of Glycoside hydrolase family 3. Similar to BcPrx01, an anthocyanin-degradation-related Peroxidase (POD), BcXyl was dramatically activated at the stage at which the rapid anthocyanin degradation occurred. Taken together, we suggest that BcXyl may be the first anthocyanin-&#946;-glycosidase identified in higher plants

B Type and Complex A/B Type Epicatechin Trimers Isolated from Litchi pericarp Aqueous Extract Show High Antioxidant and Anticancer Activity

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) fruit is known for its rich source of phenolics. Litchi pericarp contains high levels of epicatechin that may form oligomers of various lengths. Except for several A or B type epicatechin dimers, other soluble oligomers have rarely been identified in the pericarp. Here, bioassay-guided column fractionation was applied to isolate bioactive phenolics from aqueous pericarp extract. A fraction (S3) was obtained by two rounds of Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, and showed higher antioxidant activity and inhibition on the proliferation of human lung cancer cells (A549) than Litchi anthocyanins. S3 was further separated to isolate fractions P1–P4, which all showed higher antioxidant activity than vitamin C. P3 showed 32.9% inhibition on A549 cells at 30 μg/mL, higher than other fractions and cis-Dichlorodiamineplatinum (DDP, 0.5 μg/mL), but not as high as the combination of the four fractions. Using HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS, one B-type and complex A/B type epicatechin trimers were identified in P3; another B-type and two A/B-type trimers were identified in P4. P1 and P2, containing epicatechin and proanthocyanidin B2, respectively, showed no cell inhibition at 30 μg/mL. It is the first time that the two B type trimers of epicatechins (Litchitannin B1 and B2), have been found in Litchi species. The identified proanthocyanidins were detected in the pericarp of the young fruit, and the levels of the compounds decreased as the fruit developed, correlating to the decreasing patterns of the expression of LcLAR and LcANR, two key genes in the catechin biosynthesis pathway

Disruption of CISH promotes the antitumor activity of human T cells and decreases PD-1 expression levels

Tumor cells and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment suppress the antitumor activity of T cells through immune checkpoints, including the PD-L1/PD-1 axis. Cytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein (CISH), a member of the suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) family, inhibits JAK-STAT and T cell receptor (TCR) signaling in T and natural killer (NK) cells. However, its role in the regulation of immune checkpoints in T cells remains unclear. In this study, we ablated CISH in T cells with CRISPR-Cas9 and found that the sensitivity of T cells to TCR and cytokine stimulation was increased. In addition, chimeric antigen receptor T cells with CISH deficiency exhibited longer survival and higher cytokine secretion and antitumor activity. Notably, PD-1 expression was decreased in activated CISH-deficient T cells in vitro and in vivo. The level of FBXO38, a ubiquitination-regulating protein that reduces PD-1 expression, was elevated in activated T cells after CISH ablation. Hence, this study reveals a mechanism by which CISH promotes PD-1 expression by suppressing the expression of FBXO38 and proposes a new strategy for augmenting the therapeutic effect of CAR-T cells by inhibiting CISH