Nevin Manimala

Adv Clin Exp Med. 2022 Feb 15. doi: 10.17219/acem/131961. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The production of inflammatory mediators is critical for tenocytes proliferation and migration, which play an important role in rotator cuff injury repair and regulation of collagen. MicroRNA (miRNA)-205 (miR-205) promotes the secretion of inflammatory factors. The mechanism of the tenocytes regulation by miR-205 remains unknown. In this paper, we showed that miR-205 can regulate the proliferation, migration and fibrosis of tenocytes.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the function and mechanism of miR-205/MeCP2 pathway on the proliferation, migration and fibrosis of rotator cuff tenocytes, in order to provide a new perspective on the repair of rotator cuff tear injury.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The tenocytes were collected under sterile conditions from the Achilles tendons of Sprague Dawley (SD) rats (weighing 150-200 g). The cells of passages 2-4 were used for the following experiments. All miRNA and vectors were transfected with Lipofectamine 2000. Reverse-transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, luciferase reporter assay, and migration assay were performed. Then, immunoblotting analysis and statistical analysis were conducted.

RESULTS: The CCK-8 and migration assay revealed that miR-205 inhibition resulted in increased tenocytes proliferation, migration and fibrosis. The miR-205 reduced the mRNA and protein expression levels of MECP2, which is involved in cell proliferation and migration of tenocytes. The miR-205 inhibited luciferase intensity under the control of the 3’UTRs of MECP2.

CONCLUSIONS: The inhibition of MECP2 reversed the effect of miR-205 inhibitor on tenocytes, including the proliferation and migration of tenocytes, indicating that miR-205 may be valuable in miRNA-based therapies for rotator cuff injury.

PMID:35166074 | DOI:10.17219/acem/131961

ESC Heart Fail. 2022 Feb 15. doi: 10.1002/ehf2.13841. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: The effects of inhibition of sodium glucose cotransporter (SGLT)-1, as opposed to SGLT2, on cardiovascular structure and function are not well known. We assessed the associations of a missense genetic variant of SGLT1 with cardiac structure and function.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated associations of a functionally modifying variant of SLC5A1 (rs17683011 [p.Asn51Ser]), the gene that encodes SGLT1, with cardiac structure and function on echocardiography among middle-aged adults in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study. Of 1904 participants (55.3 ± 3.5 years, 57% female, 34% Black), 166 (13%) White participants and 18 (3%) Black participants had at least one copy of rs17683011. There were no significant differences in age, sex, body mass index, glucose, or diabetes status by the presence of the rs17683011 variant. In Black participants, the presence of at least one copy of the rs17683011 variant was significantly associated with better GLS compared with those without a copy of the variant after covariate adjustment (-15.8 ± 0.7% vs. -14.0 ± 0.1%, P = 0.02). Although the direction of effect was consistent, the association between the presence of at least one copy of rs17683011 and GLS was not statistically significant in White participants (-15.1 ± 0.2% vs. -14.8 ± 0.1%, P = 0.16). There were no significant associations between rs17683011 and other measures of LV structure, systolic function, or diastolic function.

CONCLUSIONS: The rs17683011 variant, a functionally modifying variant of the SGLT1 gene, was associated with higher GLS among middle-age adults. These exploratory findings require further validation and suggest that SGLT1 inhibition may have beneficial effects upon LV systolic function.

PMID:35166069 | DOI:10.1002/ehf2.13841

Cancer Med. 2022 Feb 15. doi: 10.1002/cam4.4548. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: While the excess in lung cancer risk among lower socioeconomic status individuals has been widely described, the magnitude of this association across lung cancer subtypes, as well as histotype-related long-term incidence trends, are inconclusively reported.

AIMS: We explored the variation in the incidence of the three main lung cancer histotypes (i.e. squamous cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma) by socioeconomic status (SES, i.e. upper and lower white collar, upper and lower blue collar, and farming/forestry/fishing) in the adult population of four Nordic countries (i.e. Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark).

MATERIALS & METHODS: We have used data from the Nordic Occupational Cancer Study (NOCCA), computing age-standardized incidence rates per 100,000 person-years truncated at ages 50-69 years, by sex, histotype, country and SES, for the period 1971-2005. We estimated relative risks and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals through Poisson regression models, including terms for SES, age, sex and country, as indicated.

RESULTS: A clear socioeconomic gradient, with a progressive increase in lung cancer risk as SES level decreases, was observed in all subtypes and in both sexes. Favourable lung cancer incidence trends were seen among men for squamous cell and small cell carcinomas, although for adenocarcinomas rates were increasing everywhere except for Finland. Among women, upward temporal trends were seen in all SES groups and for all subtypes, although rates increased to a greater extent for low, compared to high, SES, especially in Denmark and Norway. Farmers showed comparatively lower risks compared to other SES categories.

DISCUSSION: This prospective cohort study shows that substantial socioeconomic inequalities in the incidence of the most important lung cancer histotypes exist in the Nordic Countries, and that these inequalities are on the rise, especially among women.

CONCLUSION: Smoking habits are likely to largely explain the observed social gradient for lung cancer histotypes in both sexes.

PMID:35166068 | DOI:10.1002/cam4.4548

Adv Sci (Weinh). 2022 Feb 15:e2105179. doi: 10.1002/advs.202105179. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Emerging protein-protein interaction (PPI) modulators have brought out exciting ability as therapeutics in human diseases, but its clinical translation has been greatly hampered by the limited affinity. Inspired by the homodimerize structure of antibody, the homodimerization contributes hugely to generating the optimized affinity is conjectured. Herein, a statistical-mechanics-theory-guided method is established to quantize the affinity of ligands with different topologies through analyzing the change of enthalpy and the loss of translational and rotational entropies. A peptide modulator for p53-MDM2 termed CPAP is used to homodimerize connecting, and this simple homodimerization can significantly increase the affinity. To realize the cellular internalization and tumor accumulation, ^Dimer CPAP and ^Mono CPAP are nanoengineered into gold(I)-CPAP supermolecule by the aurophilic interaction-driven self-assembly. Nano-^Dimer CPAP potently suppressed tumor growth in lung cancer allograft model and a patient-derived xenograft model in more action than Nano-^Mono CPAP, while keeping a favorable drug safety profile. This work not only presents a physico-mechanical method for calculating the affinity of PPI modulators, but also provides a simple yet robust homodimerization strategy to optimize the affinity of PPI modulators.

PMID:35166067 | DOI:10.1002/advs.202105179

Neuropsychopharmacol Rep. 2022 Feb 14. doi: 10.1002/npr2.12239. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: A widespread outbreak of COVID-19 is followed by adverse effects on the mental health of the general population. Therefore, this study is an audit to investigate the activities of various organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mazandaran Province, Iran.

METHODS: The aim of the study was to collect the data, the relevant officials in various organizations and units were contacted to collect the statistics of actions taken in psychology and psychiatry wards. Moreover, databases such as Google Scholar and Iranian resources were searched.

RESULTS: According to the results, different healthcare systems worked in parallel during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, Mazandaran University of Medical Science [MAZUMS] Health Vice-Chancellor performed the following activities during this crisis: establishing a virtual crisis management working group, holding a provincial educational committee to train the crisis management teams, organizing virtual psychological intervention teams in the healthcare systems, and so forth. In addition, the mental health activities by Mazandaran Welfare Organization during the COVID-19 outbreak included providing hostelry free psychological counseling, quarantine boarding and rehabilitation centers, and providing harm prevention protocols of COVID-19, especially for marginalized regions. In the third level of medical centers, including hospitals, consultation-liaison psychiatry or psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, therapeutic interventions for comorbid psychiatric disorders with COVID-19 disease, and online workshops for mental health were conducted to reduce burnout of medical staff and nurses.

CONCLUSION: This study can provide a good guideline for different service providers by using the experiences of other centers to achieve better results.

PMID:35166064 | DOI:10.1002/npr2.12239

Psych J. 2022 Feb 14. doi: 10.1002/pchj.521. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The factors that influence consumers’ house choice are debatable. Previous studies have examined the effects of demographic and socioeconomic attributes, physical and environmental features of the house, and isolated single psychological characteristics on housing behavior. However, these factors are still not sufficient to predict consumer housing behavior, particularly when they are measured separately. We construct a holistic model that integrates psychological characteristics including values, personality traits, motivation, decision-making style, and risk-seeking together with demographic and socioeconomic factors to jointly predict housing mortgage loan behavior. This study aims to use a newly developed statistical method, “machine learning,” to examine the relationship between multiple psychological characteristics and consumer housing mortgage loan behavior. Data were collected through an online survey (N = 2,270). The results show that the holistic psychological model is effective for predicting consumer housing mortgage loan behavior in the life context. Moreover, by analyzing and comparing the relative impact of all predictors, we find that psychological characteristics made a more important contribution to predicting housing mortgage loan behavior than did traditional factors (demographic and socioeconomic factors). The results provide a new perspective for understanding the effects of how multiple psychological characteristics integrally predict consumers’ housing mortgage loan behavior in the real estate market. Theoretical and practical implications for marketing and sales are discussed.

PMID:35166045 | DOI:10.1002/pchj.521

Health Info Libr J. 2022 Feb 14. doi: 10.1111/hir.12421. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In early the COVID-19 pandemic, routine dental treatments have been delayed due to the risk of disease transmission. This delay may lead public to search for information on the Internet for a solution.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to evaluate the public interest in dentistry in the early months of the COVID-19 global pandemic in the selected countries.

METHODS: The daily numbers of new COVID-19 cases were recorded for China, South Korea, Italy, Germany, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey. For these countries, Internet search interest of the keyword ‘dentistry’, ‘coronavirus’, ‘COVID-19’, ‘SARS-CoV-2’ and ‘pandemic’ in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic was evaluated by using Google Trends data.

RESULTS: In most countries included the public Internet search interest in ‘dentistry+coronavirus+COVID-19+SARS-CoV-2+pandemic’ peaked prior to the peak of new COVID-19 cases. While a statistically significant positive correlation was observed between the number of new cases and Google Trends data in China, South Korea, Italy and Germany, a statistically significant negative correlation was observed in Turkey.

CONCLUSION: The peak public interest in dentistry has been prior to the peak of COVID-19 new cases in most countries. The use of Internet data can provide useful information about pandemics and many other diseases.

PMID:35166022 | DOI:10.1111/hir.12421

Int J Ment Health Nurs. 2022 Feb 14. doi: 10.1111/inm.12981. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study assessed the physical activities of Mental Health Nurses (MHN) in New Zealand against the 2018 World Health Organization recommended minimum levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The research design was exploratory and descriptive as there were no previous studies about physical activity levels of MHNs in New Zealand. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ, Long Version) which included options for free-text responses. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A total of 266 participants returned the survey, a response rate of 4%, and a limitation of the study. More than 50% of MHNs reported <150 min of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week for each of the four physical activity domains. When individual physical activity domains were combined, only 10% spent <150 min on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Work-related physical activities were higher for those working in the inpatient area than in community settings. Transport-related physical activities were higher for those working in community settings. Participants registered from 6 to 20 years had more time sitting than other groups. Nurses aged 55 years and above showed the highest total physical activity levels. Moreover, healthcare organizations and nurse leaders need to promote physical activity and provide wellness intervention for their staff. Nurses who are physically active may be more effective in supporting their patients to increase their physical activity.

PMID:35166003 | DOI:10.1111/inm.12981

Hum Brain Mapp. 2022 Feb 15. doi: 10.1002/hbm.25723. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Assessing and improving test-retest reliability is critical to efforts to address concerns about replicability of task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging. The current study uses two statistical approaches to examine how scanner and task-related factors influence reliability of neural response to face-emotion viewing. Forty healthy adult participants completed two face-emotion paradigms at up to three scanning sessions across two scanners of the same build over approximately 2 months. We examined reliability across the main task contrasts using Bayesian linear mixed-effects models performed voxel-wise across the brain. We also used a novel Bayesian hierarchical model across a predefined whole-brain parcellation scheme and subcortical anatomical regions. Scanner differences accounted for minimal variance in temporal signal-to-noise ratio and task contrast maps. Regions activated during task at the group level showed higher reliability relative to regions not activated significantly at the group level. Greater reliability was found for contrasts involving conditions with clearly distinct visual stimuli and associated cognitive demands (e.g., face vs. nonface discrimination) compared to conditions with more similar demands (e.g., angry vs. happy face discrimination). Voxel-wise reliability estimates tended to be higher than those based on predefined anatomical regions. This work informs attempts to improve reliability in the context of task activation patterns and specific task contrasts. Our study provides a new method to estimate reliability across a large number of regions of interest and can inform researchers’ selection of task conditions and analytic contrasts.

PMID:35165974 | DOI:10.1002/hbm.25723

Hum Brain Mapp. 2022 Feb 15. doi: 10.1002/hbm.25774. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study sought to identify a reference tissue-based quantification approach for improving the statistical power in detecting changes in brain glucose metabolism, amyloid, and tau deposition in Alzheimer’s disease studies. A total of 794, 906, and 903 scans were included for ¹⁸ F-FDG, ¹⁸ F-florbetapir, and ¹⁸ F-flortaucipir, respectively. Positron emission tomography (PET) and T1-weighted images of participants were collected from the Alzheimer’s disease Neuroimaging Initiative database, followed by partial volume correction. The standardized uptake value ratios (SUVRs) calculated from the cerebellum gray matter, centrum semiovale, and pons were evaluated at both region of interest (ROI) and voxelwise levels. The statistical power of reference tissues in detecting longitudinal SUVR changes was assessed via paired t-test. In cross-sectional analysis, the impact of reference tissue-based SUVR differences between cognitively normal and cognitively impaired groups was evaluated by effect sizes Cohen’s d and two sample t-test adjusted by age, sex, and education levels. The average ROI t values of pons were 86.62 and 38.40% higher than that of centrum semiovale and cerebellum gray matter in detecting glucose metabolism decreases, while the centrum semiovale reference tissue-based SUVR provided higher t values for the detection of amyloid and tau deposition increases. The three reference tissues generated comparable d images for ¹⁸ F-FDG, ¹⁸ F-florbetapir, and ¹⁸ F-flortaucipir and comparable t maps for ¹⁸ F-florbetapir and ¹⁸ F-flortaucipir, but pons-based t map showed superior performance in ¹⁸ F-FDG. In conclusion, the tracer-specific reference tissue improved the detection of ¹⁸ F-FDG, ¹⁸ F-florbetapir, and ¹⁸ F-flortaucipir PET SUVR changes, which helps the early diagnosis, monitoring of disease progression, and therapeutic response in Alzheimer’s disease.

PMID:35165964 | DOI:10.1002/hbm.25774