Nevin Manimala

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Aug 26;460:132418. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132418. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The high toxicity and low biodegradability of the phenolic pollutants destroyed the balance of the environment and influenced human health seriously. Here, we developed a three-dimensional coloremetric sensor array for discriminating and determinating phenolic pollutants basing on the distinct Cu/nucleotides MOFs. Firstly, three laccase-mimic Cu/MOFs (Cu/AMP, Cu/CMP, and Cu/GMP) were obtained by regulating the molar ratio of Cu²⁺ and nucleotides. Then the Cu/MOFs as the recognition elements of the sensor array catalyzed the pollutants-4-AAP-H₂O₂ system, obtaining the colored benzoquinone products. Subsequently, the data array obtaining from the combined training matrix (3 Cu/MOFs × 6 pollutants × 5 replicates) was projected into a new dimensional space to obtain the 3D canonical scores, and classified into individual clusters by introducing LDA method. No overlap in their respective LDA plots for the six phenolic pollutants with different concentrations suggested the prominent discriminating performance of the sensor array. Furthermore, the sensor array exhibited high selectivity compared to the “lock-and-key” sensors even other active matrices coexisting in water samples. Importantly, the most influential discrimination factor was used to monitor the levels of the six targets, evidencing the potential application in assessing water pollution and maintaining human health.

PMID:37647664 | DOI:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132418

J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2023 Aug 30:1-17. doi: 10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00123. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Previous studies have shown that individuals who stutter exhibit abnormal speech perception in addition to disfluent production as compared with their nonstuttering peers. This study investigated whether adult Chinese-speaking stutterers are still able to use knowledge of statistical regularities embedded in their native language to recognize spoken words and, if so, how much acoustic information is needed to trigger this information.

METHOD: Seventeen stutterers and 20 typical, nonstuttering controls participated in a gating experiment. All participants listened to monosyllabic words that consisted of syllables and lexical tones and were segmented into eight successive gates. These words differed in syllable token frequency and syllable-tone co-occurrence probability in line with a Chinese spoken word corpus. The correct syllable-only, correct tone-only, correct syllable-tone word, and correct syllable-incorrect tone responses were analyzed between the two groups using mixed-effects models.

RESULTS: Stutterers were less accurate overall than controls, with fewer correct syllables, tones, and their combination as words. However, stutterers showed consistent and reliable perceptual patterns triggered by statistical information of speech, as reflected by more accurate responses to high-frequency syllables, high-probability tones, and tone errors all in manners similar to those of nonstuttering controls.

CONCLUSIONS: Stutterers’ atypical speech perception is not due to a lack of statistical learning. Stutterers were able to perceive spoken words with phonological tones based on statistical regularities embedded in their native speech. This finding echoes previous production studies of stuttering and lends some support for a link between perception and production. Implications of pathological, diagnostic, and therapeutic conditions of stuttering are discussed.

PMID:37647655 | DOI:10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00123

J AOAC Int. 2023 Aug 30:qsad098. doi: 10.1093/jaoacint/qsad098. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Global financial market is still highly threatened by bovine fasciolosis; a parasitic infection, that targets cattle, mainly in tropical regions. Binary combination of Ivermectin (IVER) and Clorsulon (CLO), in challenging concentration ratios, is typically indicated for treatment and control of fasciolosis.

OBJECTIVE: Present study aims at smart simultaneous spectrophotometric assay of both compounds at their high ratio in marketed formulation and synthetic mixtures, without any prior separation. Furthermore, their greenness profile was evaluated and compared with previous reported assay methods including the official one.

METHODS: Mathematical-based proposed methods are Dual wavelength, Induced Dual wavelength and First Derivative Ratio methods. Each is developed, optimized and applied to determine simultaneously IVER and CLO at linear ranges of 1-30 and 5-40 μg/mL, respectively. They have been validated according to ICH guidelines. Statistical student t- and F-tests, compared the proposed methods with USP chromatographic technique. Ecological appraisal is accomplished using three independent metrics; Analytical Eco-Scale (AES), Green Analytical Procedure Index (GAPI) and Analytical GREEnness Metric Approach (AGREE).

RESULTS: Satisfactory recoveries, ICH compliance and adherence of proposed methods to the ecological safety margin are achieved.

CONCLUSION: Developed methods are eco-friendly, cost effective and can accomplish a routine quantitative quality control for concurrent determination of both drugs.

HIGHLIGHTS: Veterinary antimicrobials need analytical quality control using safer and green methodologies. Data manipulated spectral analyses of IVER and CLO, in ratio 1:10%v/v, is developed and optimized. AES, GAPI and AGREE approaches illustrate the high green compliance in respect to literary reported assays. Furthermore, the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) assay for IVER and CLO in injectable dosage form depends on analysis of each drug separately in the presence of the other drug but it cannot determine both drugs simultaneously at the same time.

PMID:37647651 | DOI:10.1093/jaoacint/qsad098

Bioinformatics. 2023 Aug 30:btad535. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btad535. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

MOTIVATION: Existing methods for simulating synthetic genotype and phenotype datasets have limited scalability, constraining their usability for large-scale analyses. Moreover, a systematic approach for evaluating synthetic data quality and a benchmark synthetic dataset for developing and evaluating methods for polygenic risk scores are lacking.

RESULTS: We present HAPNEST, a novel approach for efficiently generating diverse individual-level genotypic and phenotypic data. In comparison to alternative methods, HAPNEST shows faster computational speed and a lower degree of relatedness with reference panels, while generating datasets that preserve key statistical properties of real data. These desirable synthetic data properties enabled us to generate 6.8 million common variants and nine phenotypes with varying degrees of heritability and polygenicity across 1 million individuals. We demonstrate how HAPNEST can facilitate biobank-scale analyses through the comparison of seven methods to generate polygenic risk scoring across multiple ancestry groups and different genetic architectures.

AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: A synthetic dataset of 1,008,000 individuals and 9 traits for 6.8 million common variants is available at https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-BSST936. The HAPNEST software for generating synthetic datasets is available as Docker/Singularity containers and open source Julia and C code at https://github.com/intervene-EU-H2020/synthetic_data.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID:37647640 | DOI:10.1093/bioinformatics/btad535

Jpn J Clin Oncol. 2023 Aug 29:hyad113. doi: 10.1093/jjco/hyad113. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Wilms tumor is the most common cancer of the kidney that occurs during childhood, and histologically, it mimics renal embryogenesis. With the development and improvement of up-to-date treatment protocols, the survival rates of Wilms tumor have increased. However, metastases or local relapses are still observed in 15% of patients. The search for reliable biomarkers to identify at-risk patients is ongoing to predict the variability in treatment success. Currently, the evaluation of clinical, histopathological and genetic features are common diagnostic methods; however, epigenetic features can be examined with microRNA expression analyses and might allow us to comment on the behavior of the tumor and treatment response.

METHODS: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between microRNA-204 and microRNA-483-5p expression with clinicopathological data and the effect on Wilms tumor survival. For this purpose, the expression levels of RNU6B, microRNA-204 and microRNA-483-5p were evaluated in tumor and normal tissue by qreal time-polymerase chain reaction. We also investigated the relationship between microRNA expression levels with the clinicopathological and histological features of Wilms tumor.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results of our study indicate that the relative expression levels of microRNA-204 in Wilms tumor tissues were significantly lower than that in adjacent normal tissues. By contrast, tumor tissue had a higher microRNA-483-5p expression than the corresponding normal tissues. A statistically significant difference between microRNA-204 expression level with age and the presence of anaplasia was observed. The upregulation of microRNA-483-5p was found to have a significant correlation with patients after preoperative chemotherapy and complete tumor necrosis. Taken together, our data suggest that microRNA-204 could play a critical role as a tumor suppressor, whereas microRNA-483-5p acts as an oncogene in Wilms tumor progression. More importantly, microRNA-204 might be a novel predictive biomarker for anaplastic histology and could be useful for developing therapeutic interventions targeting this marker.

PMID:37647636 | DOI:10.1093/jjco/hyad113

Emerg Infect Dis. 2023 Aug 30;29(10). doi: 10.3201/eid2910.230286. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Little is known about co-occurring tuberculosis (TB) and COVID-19 in low TB incidence settings. We obtained a cross-section of 333 persons in the United States co-diagnosed with TB and COVID-19 within 180 days and compared them to 4,433 persons with TB only in 2020 and 18,898 persons with TB during 2017‒2019. Across both comparison groups, a higher proportion of persons with TB-COVID-19 were Hispanic, were long-term care facility residents, and had diabetes. When adjusted for age, underlying conditions, and TB severity, COVID-19 co-infection was not statistically associated with death compared with TB infection only in 2020 (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.0 [95% CI 0.8‒1.4]). Among TB-COVID-19 patients, death was associated with a shorter interval between TB and COVID-19 diagnoses, older age, and being immunocompromised (non-HIV). TB-COVID-19 deaths in the United States appear to be concentrated in subgroups sharing characteristics known to increase risk for death from either disease alone.

PMID:37647628 | DOI:10.3201/eid2910.230286

J Nerv Ment Dis. 2023 Aug 28. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000001708. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Social support provides protective effects for those with serious mental illness (SMI), but these effects may be attenuated by factors that hinder positive perceptions of support. Improved understanding of social support and its determinants may hold relevance for clinical interventions and provide avenues to promote recovery and improve functioning. The present study is a cross-sectional, correlational analysis investigating the relationships among social cognition (Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test-Managing Emotions subscale), social anxiety (Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale), negative symptoms (Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms), and perceived social support (Interpersonal Support Evaluation List) among individuals with SMI. Data were analyzed for 59 participants from a psychosocial rehabilitation treatment study at a public, urban academic-affiliated medical center in the Midwest. Bivariate Pearson correlations revealed statistically significant associations among perceived social support and social cognition (total perceived social support, p < 0.05; appraisal support, p < 0.01), negative symptoms (appraisal support, p < 0.05), and social anxiety (self-esteem support, p < 0.05). Further, multiple linear regression revealed social cognition remained a significant predictor of perceived social support (p < 0.05) when controlling for social anxiety and negative symptoms. Overall findings suggest a correlative relationship between social cognition and perceived social support. Conclusions, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

PMID:37647619 | DOI:10.1097/NMD.0000000000001708

Phlebology. 2023 Aug 30:2683555231199004. doi: 10.1177/02683555231199004. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: to evaluate direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in patients with hereditary thrombophilia and deep venous thrombosis (DVT).

METHODS: This is a retrospective observational study.

RESULTS: In total, 45 patients were treated between 01/2012 and 12/2022 (mean follow-up: 1.5 +/- 0.3 years). The most frequent thrombophilias were heterozygous V Leiden (20%), heterozygous MTHFR C677T (37.8%), heterozygous MTHFR A1298C (24.4%), and hyperhomocysteinemia (26.7%). The patients received rivaroxaban (n = 19), apixaban (n = 15), and dabigatran (n = 11). Three cases presented symptoms’ recurrence without evidence of thrombosis’ recurrence (two under rivaroxaban and one under apixaban; p > .05). These patients improved under parenteral anticoagulation and were further treated with dabigatran. No other event or major bleeding occurred during the follow-up. The presence of more than two factors was associated with acute recurrence of symptoms (OR = 25.9; 95% CI [1.454-461.262]; p = .026).

CONCLUSIONS: DOACs seem to be safe and efficient for patients with hereditary thrombophilia and DVT. The presence of more than two thrombophilia factors is associated with a higher risk for symptom recurrence. Although statistically non-significant, symptoms’ recurrence was also observed more frequently among patients under anti-Xa inhibitors than antithrombin inhibitors. This should be verified in larger comparative studies.

PMID:37647589 | DOI:10.1177/02683555231199004

Iran J Immunol. 2023 Aug 30;20(3). doi: 10.22034/iji.2023.99188.2622. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Buerger’s disease, also known as Thromboangiitis Obliterans (TAO), is a progressive, inflammatory vascular disease with unknown etiology.

OBJECTIVE: To address the degree of T cell immunosenescence in this inflammatory disease, the frequency of senescent T cells expressing CD57 and/or CD153 (CD30L) in patients with TAO.

METHODS: In this study, nine male cigarette smoker patients with TAO, nine male healthy cigarette smokers, and nine male healthy non-smoker blood donors were enrolled. PBMCs were extracted from the blood of all participants and stored in liquid nitrogen before use. The percentages of senescent T cells were detected by flow cytometry. The results were analyzed using non-parametric statistical tests.

RESULTS: The frequencies of senescent CD3+CD4+CD57+CD153+ and CD3+CD4+CD57-CD153+ T cells significantly increased in patients compared with the non-smoker controls (p=0.01 and p=0.04, respectively). The frequency of senescent CD3+CD4-CD57-CD153+ T cells was higher in patients compared with the smoker controls (p=0.02). In patients with TAO, CD57+CD153- cells were more frequent in CD3hiCD4- and CD3hiCD4+ T cells compared with the CD3loCD4- and CD3loCD4+ T cells (p=0.008 and p=0.0002, respectively). Conversely, the frequency of CD57-CD153+ T cells was significantly higher in CD3loCD4- T cells compared with the CD3hiCD4- T cells (p=0.004). The percentage of CD3+CD4+CD57+CD153- T cells correlated negatively with smoking level in smoker controls (p=0.02, Spearman r=-0.80).

CONCLUSION: Elevated frequencies of senescent CD4+CD57+CD153+ and CD4+CD57-CD153+ T cells in patients compared with non-smoker and smoker controls suggest the contribution of immunosenescence in TAO.

PMID:37647581 | DOI:10.22034/iji.2023.99188.2622

Diabetes. 2023 Aug 30:db230365. doi: 10.2337/db23-0365. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Understanding differences in adipose gene expression between individuals with different levels of clinical traits may reveal the genes and mechanisms leading to cardiometabolic diseases. However, adipose is a heterogeneous tissue. To account for cell-type heterogeneity, we estimated cell-type proportions in 859 subcutaneous adipose tissue samples with bulk RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) using a reference single nuclear RNA-seq dataset. Cell-type proportions were associated with cardiometabolic traits; for example, higher macrophage and adipocyte proportions were associated with higher and lower body mass index (BMI), respectively. We evaluated cell-type proportions and BMI as covariates in tests of association between >25,000 gene expression levels and 22 cardiometabolic traits. For >95% of genes, the optimal, or best fit, models included BMI as a covariate, and for 79% of associations, the optimal models also included cell type. After adjusting for the optimal covariates, we identified 2,664 significant associations (P ≤ 2e-6) for 1,252 genes and 14 traits. Among genes proposed to affect cardiometabolic traits based on colocalized genome-wide association study and adipose expression quantitative trait locus signals, 25 showed a corresponding association between trait and gene expression levels. Overall, these results suggest the importance of modeling cell-type proportion when identifying gene expression associations with cardiometabolic traits.

PMID:37647564 | DOI:10.2337/db23-0365