Synthetic surrogates improve power for genome-wide association studies of partially missing phenotypes in population biobanks.

Within population biobanks, incomplete measurement of certain traits limits the power for genetic discovery. Machine learning is increasingly used to impute the missing values from the available data. However, performing genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on imputed traits can introduce spurious associations, identifying genetic variants that are not associated with the original trait.

Semi-supervised ROC analysis for reliable and streamlined evaluation of phenotyping algorithms.

Objective: High-throughput phenotyping will accelerate the use of electronic health records (EHRs) for translational research. A critical roadblock is the extensive medical supervision required for phenotyping algorithm (PA) estimation and evaluation. To address this challenge, numerous weakly-supervised learning methods have been proposed.

Integrating variant functional annotation scores have varied abilities to improve power of genome-wide association studies.

Functional annotations have the potential to increase power of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) by prioritizing variants according to their biological function, but this potential has not been well studied. We comprehensively evaluated all 1132 traits in the UK Biobank whose SNP-heritability estimates were given "medium" or "high" labels by Neale's lab. For each trait, we integrated GWAS summary statistics of close to 8 million common variants (minor allele frequency [Formula: see text]) with either their 75 individual functional scores or their meta-scores, using three different data-integration methods.

Effect modification of greenness on PM associated all-cause mortality in a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis cohort.

Rationale: Evidence for the association between fine particulate matter (PM) and mortality among patients with tuberculosis (TB) is limited. Whether greenness protects air pollution-related mortality among patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is completely unknown.

Methods: 2305 patients reported in Zhejiang and Ningxia were followed up from MDR-TB diagnosis until death, loss to follow-up or end of the study (31 December 2019), with an average follow-up of 1724 days per patient.

The E3 Ubiquitin Ligase HOIP inhibits Cancer Cell Apoptosis via modulating PTEN stability.

Chemotherapy is widely used in a variety of solid tumors, such as lung cancer, gastric cancer and breast cancer. The genotoxic drugs, such as cisplatin, suppress cancer progression either by inhibition cell proliferation or facilitating apoptosis. However, the chemotherapy resistance remains an urgent challenge in cancer therapy, especially in advanced stages.

The Effect of Empathy on the Attentional Processing of Painful and Emotional Stimuli.

Background: Empathy is shown to affect the attentional processing of painful stimuli and emotional stimuli. However, whether the attentional effects on emotional stimuli depend on emotional valence and the nature of the relationship between the attentional effects on different stimuli are still unknown.

Methods: In the present study, 25 high-empathy (HE) participants and 25 low-empathy (LE) participants were recruited to perform dot-probe tasks on painful stimuli and emotional stimuli.

PD-1-siRNA Delivered by Attenuated Enhances the Antitumor Effect of Chloroquine in Colon Cancer.

The widespread appearance of drug tolerance and the low efficiency of single treatment have severely affected the survival time of the patients with colorectal cancer. Exploring new treatment options and combined treatment strategies have become the key to improving the prognosis. The combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy have shown good clinical expectations.

CD73 Mesenchymal Stem Cells Ameliorate Myocardial Infarction by Promoting Angiogenesis.

With multipotent differentiation potential and paracrine capacity, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been widely applied in clinical practice for the treatment of ischemic heart disease. MSCs are a heterogeneous population and the specific population of MSCs may exhibit a selective ability for tissue repair. The aim of our research was to adapt the CD73 subgroup of adipose derived MSCs (AD-MSCs) for the therapy of myocardial infarction (MI).

Changes in ambient temperature increase hospital outpatient visits for allergic rhinitis in Xinxiang, China.

Background: The effect of ambient temperature on allergic rhinitis (AR) remains unclear. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore the relationship between ambient temperature and the risk of AR outpatients in Xinxiang, China.

Method: Daily data of outpatients for AR, meteorological conditions, and ambient air pollution in Xinxiang, China were collected from 2015 to 2018.

Greenness exposure and all-cause mortality during multi-drug resistant tuberculosis treatment: A population-based cohort study.

Background: Living closer to greenness were thought to benefit various health outcomes. We aimed to assess the association between residential greenness and mortality among patients undergoing multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment.

Methods: We enrolled all local MDR-TB patients reported in Zhejiang, China from 2009 to 2017 and followed them throughout the treatment.

Identification of consensus sequence from matrix attachment regions and functional analysis of its activity in stably transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells.

Matrix attachment regions (MARs) can enhance transgene expression levels and maintain stability. However, the consensus sequence from MARs and its functional analysis remains to be examined. Here, we assessed a possible consensus sequence from MARs and assessed its activity in stably transfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells.

A chimeric HS4 insulator-scaffold attachment region enhances transgene expression in transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells.

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are one of the most commonly used expression systems for the production of recombinant proteins but low levels of transgene expression and transgene silencing are frequently encountered. Epigenetic regulatory elements such as the chicken β-globin locus control region hypersensitive site 4 (HS4) and scaffold/matrix attachment regions (S/MARs) have positive effects on transgene expression. In this study, a chimeric HS4-SAR was cloned upstream or downstream of an enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) expression cassette in a eukaryotic vector, and the resulting vectors were transfected into CHO cells.

Episomal Lentiviral Vector-Mediated miR-145 Overexpression Inhibits Proliferation and Induces Apoptosis of Human Esophageal Carcinomas Cells.

Background: Gene therapy is a promising approach for the treatment of various cancers. However, most viral vectors used for this purpose carry risks, including potential integration into the host genome.

Objective: We addressed this issue in the present study by constructing an episomal lentiviral vector using the .

Crosstalk among the proteome, lysine phosphorylation, and acetylation in romidepsin-treated colon cancer cells.

Romidepsin (FK228) is one of the most promising histone-deacetylase inhibitors due to its potent antitumor activity, and has been used as a practical option for cancer therapy. However, FK228-induced changes in protein modifications and the crosstalk between different modifications has not been reported. To better understand the underlying mechanisms of FK228-related cancer therapy, we investigated the acetylome, phosphorylation, and crosstalk between modification datasets in colon cancer cells treated with FK228 by using stable-isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture and affinity enrichment, followed by high-resolution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analysis.

A study on the inhibitory effect of Radix Semiaquilegiae extract on human hepatoma HEPG-2 and SMMC-7721 cells.

The main objective of this paper was to investigate the extraction process of ethanol extract of Radix Semiaquilegiae, as well as its inhibitory activity on human hepatoma HepG-2 and SMMC-7721 cells, and to compare the inhibitory effects of different concentrations of ethanol extracts against these two hepatoma cells. Ethanol reflux extraction and ultrasound-assisted extraction with ethanol at room temperature were used in the extraction process, and MTT assay was mainly used in the activity experiment to perform in-vitro anti HepG-2 and SMMC-7721 cell activity screening of ethanol extract, and to calculate the cell inhibition rates of the extracts. The results showed that among the two types of extracts, ethanol reflux extract had more superior antitumour activity to that of the ultrasonic extract, but all of the extracts obtained had certain anti-cancer activities, and the anti-proliferative activity increased with the increase of concentration.

Effect of traditional Chinese medicine (Xiaochaihu Tang) on the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in rats with endometriosis.

The aim of this study was to explore the effect of a traditional Chinese medicine (Xiaochaihu Tang, XCHT) on the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 in rats with endometriosis (EMs). A total of 48 specific-pathogen-free (SPF) female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into control (n=8) and EMs (n=40) groups. The EMs model was established using a surgical procedure.

Molecular epidemiology investigation of beta-thalassemia in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, People's Republic of China.

Beta-THAlassemia (beta-thal) is one of the most common genetic diseases in southern China. In order to obtain detailed epidemiology data to be used for primary prevention programs, we have analyzed 2,055 independent subjects living in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, People's Republic of China (P.R.

[Matrine-induced erythroid differentiation of K562 cells is associated with activation of the apoptotic pathway].

Objective: To observe matrine-induced erythroid differentiation of K562 cells in relation to activation of the apoptotic pathway in vitro.

Methods: K562 cells were cultured in the presence or absence of matrine at different concentrations for 4 days, and the morphological and ultramicrostructural changes of the cells were observed using inverted microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. The expression of apoptosis-related protein p27kip1 was detected by immunocytochemistry.

[Blood motilin concentration and enteral nutrition in premature infants].

Objective: To study changes of plasma motilin concentration and it's effect on enteral nutrition in premature infants.

Methods: The plasma motilin concentration of 72 premature infants was measured within 12 hours after birth before enteral feeding and on day 3 and 7 of life by using radioimmunoassay. Sixteen full-term neonates were enrolled as controls.