Publications by authors named "Liu I"

Canine melanoma is a malignant tumour that exhibits aggressive behaviour, and frequently metastasizes to regional lymph nodes and distant sites. Currently, there are no effective treatments or practical prognostic biomarkers for canine melanoma. The enzyme kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO), which plays a central role in the tryptophan metabolism, has previously been identified as the main pathogenic factor in neurodegenerative diseases; however, it has recently been found to be positively associated with tumour malignancy in human hepatocellular carcinoma and canine mammary tumours.

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Introduction: Pimavanserin is a selective 5-HT inverse agonist/antagonist approved for treating hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson's disease psychosis (PDP). Results from short-term, placebo-controlled studies demonstrated a positive benefit/risk profile. This multi-year, open-label study assessed long-term safety and tolerability of pimavanserin.

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Background: In North Carolina (NC), a political swing state that permits both medical and religious exemptions to school vaccination, rapid changes in the electorate have coincided with a vigorous political debate over vaccine laws and an increase in the number of exemptions claimed from vaccine requirements.

Objective: We aimed to determine whether county-level changes in political affiliation, determined from publicly available voting records, were associated with changes in the rate of vaccine exemptions reported at kindergarten entry in NC.

Methods: We analyzed data from the 2009-2010 to the 2016-2017 school years for each of 100 NC counties.

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Article Synopsis
  • Ependymomas are a diverse group of brain tumors classified into distinct molecular groups, and this study uses single-cell RNA sequencing to explore their internal diversity and origins.
  • The research shows that ependymomas consist of a hierarchy of cells, starting from undifferentiated cells that struggle to mature into specific types of neurons or glial cells, with well-differentiated cells found in more favorable tumor groups.
  • The identified gene expression patterns are linked to patient survival rates and highlight potential targets for personalized treatments, emphasizing the significance of understanding the developmental hierarchy of these tumors for better clinical outcomes.
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Rationale & Objective: The inconsistency in outcomes reported and lack of patient-reported outcomes across trials in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) limits shared decision making. As part of the Standardized Outcomes in Nephrology (SONG)-Kids initiative, we aimed to generate a consensus-based prioritized list of critically important outcomes to be reported in all trials in children with CKD.

Study Design: An online 2-round Delphi survey in English, French, and Hindi languages.

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Papillomaviruses (PVs) usually cause benign proliferative lesions in the stratified epithelium of various animal species. However, some high-risk types of PVs have been proven to lead to malignant transformations. In dogs, several canine papillomaviruses (CPVs) have been identified in malignant lesions and are suggested as one of the risk factors for the development of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs).

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Objective: To identify medication-related and nonmedication-related characteristics and risk factors for readmission in a high-utilizer psychiatric population.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, patients were identified through the institution's electronic medical records as high utilizers if they had 5 or more psychiatric admissions or at least 1 30-day psychiatric readmission from July 2012 through March 2014. The primary outcome was to identify medication-related characteristics.

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The objective of this study was to evaluate radiolabeled DOTA-SP90 as a radiotracer for breast cancer. The in vitro competition assay showed that radiolabeled DOTA-SP90 had significant binding affinity to BT-483 cancer cells. Biodistribution, nanoSPECT/CT and nanoPET/CT imaging results indicated that radiolabeled DOTA-SP90 can accumulate in tumors.

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The present study was conducted to provide neuroimaging correlates for neurodesign of automobile for marketing aesthetics, using event-related spectral perturbations (ERSPs) and participant reports. Thirty men and women aged 22-27 years were presented with various 3-dimensional automobile modelling shapes (rectangular, streamlined, and round), which were cross-matched with various interior colour tones (pure hue/vivid, light, and dark tones) in the experimental conditions, i.e.

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Capillary interactions are ubiquitous between colloids trapped at fluid interfaces. Generally, colloids in fluid interfaces have pinned, undulated contact lines that distort the interface around them. To minimize the area, and therefore the energy of these distortions, colloids interact and assemble in a manner that depends on the shape of the host interface.

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Introduction: The purpose of this study is to identify doctor of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences students' perceived barriers to mental health care and interest in mental health interventions and to assess student attitudes and perceptions of mental illness.

Methods: A mixed-methods survey was given to 706 students participating in a doctor of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences curricula to assess students' perceived barriers to care, interest in mental health resources and interventions within their curricula, attitudes towards seeking treatment, and perceived stigma. The last section included free text responses in which students expressed additional comments unacknowledged by previous sections.

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Background: Share 35 was a policy implemented in 2013 to increase regional sharing of deceased donor livers to patients with model for end-stage liver disease ≥ 35 to decrease waitlist mortality for the sickest patients awaiting liver transplantation (LT). The purpose of this study was to determine whether live donor liver transplantation (LDLT) volume was impacted by the shift in allocation of deceased donor livers to patients with higher model for end-stage liver disease scores.

Methods: Using Network for Organ Sharing/Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Standard Transplant Analysis and Research files, we identified all adults who received a primary LT between October 1, 2008, and March 31, 2018.

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Highly efficient nanocomposite electrolytes were prepared by mixing the montmorillonite (MMT) clay nanofillers and iodide poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) gel electrolytes for the purpose of measuring the performance of quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (QS-DSSCs). The impacts of different amounts of MMT nanofillers on the ion diffusivity, conductivity of the polymer gel electrolytes (PGEs), and the photovoltaic performance of the cells using the PGEs were evaluated. The results indicated that the use of 5 wt.

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Background And Objectives: Squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (SCCHN) is the fifth most prevalent cancer worldwide. Because the anatomical complexity of this region, complete surgical resection is often not achievable and conventional chemotherapy would aid locoregional control and mitigate distant metastasis. Nonetheless, the nonspecific cytotoxicity and short in vivo half-life of conventional chemotherapeutic drugs limit their effects.

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Methylglyoxal (MGO) is an endogenous toxic compound that plays a vital role in diabetic complications such as diabetic neuropathy. Moscatilin is a bibenzyl component from Dendrobium species, has been shown to possess a wide range of pharmacological activities. To clarify whether moscatilin prevents rat pheochromocytoma cells (PC12 cells) from damage induced by MGO, cells were pre-treated with moscatilin and then stimulated with MGO.

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Background: About 80% of children with steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) have relapses. Of these children, half relapse frequently, and are at risk of adverse effects from corticosteroids. While non-corticosteroid immunosuppressive medications prolong periods of remission, they have significant potential adverse effects.

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Current antiviral therapy fails to cure chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection because of persistent covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). CRISPR/Cas9-mediated specific cleavage of cccDNA is a potentially curative strategy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB). However, the CRISPR/Cas system inevitably targets integrated HBV DNA and induces double-strand breaks (DSBs) of host genome, bearing the risk of genomic rearrangement and damage.

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Pericellular and extracellular proteoglycans play an important role in modulating morphogen gradients and signal transductions. Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (Cspg4) is a membrane spanning proteoglycan expressed in immature progenitor cells and cancer cells. Cspg4 participates in cellular events such as proliferation, migration and signal transduction, and these events are generally important for embryo development.

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Household air pollution has adverse effects on cardiovascular health. One of the major sources of household air pollutants is the combustion of cooking oils during cooking. Trans, trans-2,4-decadienal (tt-DDE) is a type of dienaldehyde that is present in a wide range of food and food products.

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Article Synopsis
  • Heart rate variability (HRV) is important for assessing health risks like heart attacks and mental disorders, but accurately measuring it can be inconvenient.
  • Smartphones are increasingly used for health monitoring, and a new smartphone photoplethysmography (PPG) technology shows promise, though it has faced challenges in reliability.
  • This study developed a smartphone PPG quality index (SPQI) to improve data accuracy, validating its effectiveness with 1343 samples and showing that HRV measurements from smartphones can reliably match those from electrocardiograms when using the SPQI.
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Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) lyase is a vitamin B6-dependent enzyme that degrades sphingosine-1-phosphate in the final step of sphingolipid metabolism. In 2017, a new inherited disorder was described caused by mutations in SGPL1, which encodes sphingosine phosphate lyase (SPL). This condition is referred to as SPL insufficiency syndrome (SPLIS) or alternatively as nephrotic syndrome type 14 (NPHS14).

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Spin triplet superconductivity in the Kondo lattice UTe appears to be associated with spin fluctuations originating from incipient ferromagnetic order. Here we show clear evidence of twofold enhancement of superconductivity under pressure, which discontinuously transitions to magnetic order, likely of ferromagnetic nature, at higher pressures. The application of a magnetic field tunes the system back across a first-order phase boundary.

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By modeling the effects of predictor variables as a multiplicative function of regression parameters being invariant over categories, and category-specific scalar effects, the ordered stereotype logit model is a flexible regression model for ordinal response variables. In this article, we propose a generalized estimating equations (GEE) approach to estimate the ordered stereotype logit model for panel data based on working covariance matrices, which are not required to be correctly specified. A simulation study compares the performance of GEE estimators based on various working correlation matrices and working covariance matrices using local odds ratios.

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Article Synopsis
  • * This study tested a smartphone app that analyzes HRV through fingertip video recordings from 93 participants, finding a positive relationship between higher HRV measures and better mental well-being.
  • * Results showed that individuals with higher life satisfaction had better HRV scores, while those with depression and high anxiety had lower HRV measures, confirming the app's effectiveness and the connection between mental health and HRV.
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