Nutraceuticals silybin B, resveratrol, and epigallocatechin-3 gallate-bind to cardiac muscle troponin to restore the loss of lusitropy caused by cardiomyopathy mutations , , and .

Introduction: Adrenergic activation of protein kinase A (PKA) in cardiac muscle targets the sarcolemma, sarcoplasmic reticulum, and contractile apparatus to increase contractile force and heart rate. In the thin filaments of the contractile apparatus, cardiac troponin I (cTnI) Ser22 and Ser23 in the cardiac-specific N-terminal peptide (NcTnI: residues 1 to 32) are the targets for PKA phosphorylation. Phosphorylation causes a 2-3 fold decrease of affinity of cTn for Ca associated with a higher rate of Ca dissociation from cTnC leading to a faster relaxation rate of the cardiac muscle (lusitropy).

Chinese expert consensus on allergen component resolved diagnosis.

Background: Allergen component resolved diagnosis (CRD) is a method for identifying specific protein molecules that cause hypersensitivity. Unlike traditional methods that use crude allergen extracts containing multiple component species, CRD focuses on individual allergen protein molecules for more precise diagnosis. The World Allergy Organization (WAO) recommends CRD as a supplement to clinical history and allergen extract testing, and in some cases, it can replace crude extract tests.

sRNAdeep: a novel tool for bacterial sRNA prediction based on DistilBERT encoding mode and deep learning algorithms.

Background: Bacterial small regulatory RNA (sRNA) plays a crucial role in cell metabolism and could be used as a new potential drug target in the treatment of pathogen-induced disease. However, experimental methods for identifying sRNAs still require a large investment of human and material resources.

Methods: In this study, we propose a novel sRNA prediction model called sRNAdeep based on the DistilBERT feature extraction and TextCNN methods.

The impact of the door-to-antivenom time on the resolution of coagulopathy caused by green pit viper bite-a retrospective cohort study.

Trimeresurus albolabris (green pit viper) accounts for 95% of human venomous snakebites in Hong Kong and the Green Pit Viper antivenin has become the only antivenom available. Little is known about the impact of early antivenom administration on the duration of venom-induced coagulopathy. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the impact of the door-to-antivenom time (DTAT) on the duration of such coagulopathy.

Transcriptome-Optimized Hydrogel Design of a Stem Cell Niche for Enhanced Tendon Regeneration.

Bioactive hydrogels have emerged as promising artificial niches for enhancing stem cell-mediated tendon repair. However, a substantial knowledge gap remains regarding the optimal combination of niche features for targeted cellular responses, which often leads to lengthy development cycles and uncontrolled healing outcomes. To address this critical gap, an innovative, data-driven materiomics strategy is developed.

PE/PPE Proteome and ESX-5 Substrate Spectrum in .

PE/PPE proteins secreted by the ESX-5 type VII secretion system constitute a major protein repertoire in pathogenic mycobacteria and are essential for bacterial survival, pathogenicity, and host-pathogen interaction; however, little is known about their expression and secretion. The scarcity of arginine and lysine residues in PE/PPE protein sequences and the high homology of their N-terminal domains limit protein identification using classical trypsin-based proteomic methods. This study used endoproteinase AspN and trypsin to characterize the proteome of Twenty-seven PE/PPE proteins were uniquely identified in AspN digests, especially PE_PGRS proteins.

Impact of preoperative body mass index on long-term survival, quality of life, and functional outcomes after pulmonary endarterectomy for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: Results from the UK National Cohort.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated the safety of pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) across body mass index (BMI) strata. However, long-term survival and patient-reported outcome measures by BMI strata remain unknown. We examined the impact of preoperative BMI on long-term survival, QOL, and functional outcomes for patients undergoing PEA for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).

Polyunsaturated fatty acids promote M2-like TAM deposition via dampening RhoA-YAP1 signaling in the ovarian cancer microenvironment.

Background: Peritoneal metastases frequently occur in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), resulting in poor prognosis and survival rates. Tumor-associated-macrophages (TAMs) massively infiltrate into ascites spheroids and are multi-polarized as protumoral M2-like phenotype, orchestrating the immunosuppression and promoting tumor progression. However, the impact of omental conditioned medium/ascites (OCM/AS) on TAM polarization and its function in tumor progression remains elusive.

Mechanical circulatory support in patients with congenital heart disease: a European Registry for Patients with Mechanical Circulatory Support (EUROMACS) study.

Objectives: This study aims to explore characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) in the European Registry for Patients with Mechanical Circulatory Support (EUROMACS).

Methods: This is a retrospective study of EUROMACS participants receiving MCS as bridge-to-transplant, possible bridge-to-transplant, or rescue therapy/bridge-to-recovery from 2011 to 2023 (n = 5340). Adult and paediatric cohorts were analysed separately.

Identification of novel single nucleotide variants in the drug resistance mechanism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates by whole-genome analysis.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) represents a major global health challenge. Drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) poses a substantial obstacle to effective TB treatment. Identifying genomic mutations in MTB isolates holds promise for unraveling the underlying mechanisms of drug resistance in this bacterium.

Commonly used software tools produce conflicting and overly-optimistic AUPRC values.

The precision-recall curve (PRC) and the area under the precision-recall curve (AUPRC) are useful for quantifying classification performance. They are commonly used in situations with imbalanced classes, such as cancer diagnosis and cell type annotation. We evaluate 10 popular tools for plotting PRC and computing AUPRC, which were collectively used in more than 3000 published studies.

Comparative analysis of asian carps parvalbumin reveals the divergence pattern of major fish allergen.

Background: Asian carps, a popular freshwater fish globally, are valued for their flavor and serve as a crucial protein source, especially for infants. However, grass carp parvalbumin is highly allergenic, surpassing the allergenicity of fish like salmon and cod. The allergenic potential of parvalbumin in other Asian carps remains unknown, underscoring the need for allergen identification to improve the precision of fish allergy diagnosis and treatment.

Circulating metabolomic markers linking diabetic kidney disease and incident cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes: analyses from the Hong Kong Diabetes Biobank.

Aims/hypothesis: The aim of this study was to describe the metabolome in diabetic kidney disease (DKD) and its association with incident CVD in type 2 diabetes, and identify prognostic biomarkers.

Methods: From a prospective cohort of individuals with type 2 diabetes, baseline sera (N=1991) were quantified for 170 metabolites using NMR spectroscopy with median 5.2 years of follow-up.

Commonly used software tools produce conflicting and overly-optimistic AUPRC values.

The precision-recall curve (PRC) and the area under it (AUPRC) are useful for quantifying classification performance. They are commonly used in situations with imbalanced classes, such as cancer diagnosis and cell type annotation. We evaluated 10 popular tools for plotting PRC and computing AUPRC, which were collectively used in >3,000 published studies.

A Novel Multi-Strain E3 Probiotic Formula Improved the Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Quality of Life in Chinese Psoriasis Patients.

Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disease affecting the skin and other systems. Gastrointestinal disease was found to be correlated with psoriasis in previous studies and it can significantly affect the quality of life of psoriasis patients. Despite the importance of the gut microbiome in gut and skin health having already been demonstrated in many research studies, the potential effect of probiotics on GI comorbidities in psoriasis patients is unclear.

Novel Multi-Strain E3 Probiotic Formulation Improved Mental Health Symptoms and Sleep Quality in Hong Kong Chinese.

Mental health issues have emerged as a significant concern in public health, given their association with physical and psychological comorbidities and the resultant socioeconomic burdens. Recent studies have highlighted the interplay between gut microbes and brain functions through the gut-brain axis. To investigate this further, we conducted a targeted 16S rRNA sequencing and comprehensive bioinformatic analysis among Southern Chinese individuals to explore the role of the gut microbiome in depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance.

Distinct karyotypic and mutational landscape in trisomy AML.

Trisomy karyotype occurs in 5%-10% of AML. Its mutational landscape and prognostic significance are not well defined. A cohort of 156 trisomy AML patients was analysed, with reference to 615 cytogenetically normal (CN) AML patients.

Combining data discretization and missing value imputation for incomplete medical datasets.

Data discretization aims to transform a set of continuous features into discrete features, thus simplifying the representation of information and making it easier to understand, use, and explain. In practice, users can take advantage of the discretization process to improve knowledge discovery and data analysis on medical domain problem datasets containing continuous features. However, certain feature values were frequently missing.

Urban green waste bulking agent is the major source of antimicrobial resistance genes persisted in home compost, not animal manure.

Urban green waste and food waste are often used as bulking agents to prepare home compost in combination with animal manure in urban horticulture and community gardening. Although it is known that antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) persist in home compost, their origins have not been determined. In addition, the factors contributing to ARGs persistence remain unclear.