State transitions of coupled G-protein: Insights into internal water channel dynamics within dopamine receptor D3 from in silico submolecular analyses.

Dopamine is a crucial neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS) that facilitates communication among neurons. Activation of dopamine receptors in the CNS regulates key functions such as movement, cognition, and emotion. Disruption of these receptors can result in severe neurological diseases.

Anticoagulant Treatment Adherence and Persistence in German Patients with Atrial Fibrillation.

Introduction: Treatment adherence and persistence impact the effectiveness of edoxaban for the prevention of thromboembolism in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The objective of this analysis was to assess adherence and persistence of edoxaban vs. other non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) and vitamin K antagonists (VKAs).

Early prediction of delirium upon intensive care unit admission: Model development, validation, and deployment.

Study Objective: To develop, validate, and deploy models for predicting delirium in critically ill adult patients as early as upon intensive care unit (ICU) admission.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Single university teaching hospital in Taipei, Taiwan.

αvβ1 integrin is enriched in extracellular vesicles of metastatic breast cancer cells: A mechanism mediated by galectin-3.

Breast cancer cells release a large quantity of biocargo-bearing extracellular vesicles (EVs), which mediate intercellular communication within the tumour microenvironment and promote metastasis. To identify EV-bound proteins related to metastasis, we used mass spectrometry to profile EVs from highly and poorly metastatic breast cancer lines of human and mouse origins. Comparative mass spectrometry indicated that integrins, including αv and β1 subunits, are preferentially enriched in EVs of highly metastatic origin over those of poorly metastatic origin.

An Application for Pairing with Wearable Devices to Monitor Personal Health Status.

The current protocol aims to showcase the technology integration, providing a detailed description of adopting the HealthCloud app, developed by the Healthy Landscape and Healthy People Lab, National Taiwan University (HLHP-NTU), on smartphones and smartwatches to collect data on users' real-time psychological and physiological responses and environmental information. A flexible and integrated research method was proposed because it can be difficult to measure multi-dimensional aspects of personal data in on-site studies in landscape and outdoor recreation research. An on-site study conducted in 2020 at the National Taiwan University campus was used as an application example.

Alternative Splicing Mediated by RNA-Binding Protein RBM24 Facilitates Cardiac Myofibrillogenesis in a Differentiation Stage-Specific Manner.

Background: Mutations in genes encoding sarcomeric proteins lead to failures in sarcomere assembly, the building blocks of contracting muscles, resulting in cardiomyopathies that are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Splicing variants of sarcomeric proteins are crucial at different stages of myofibrillogenesis, accounting for sarcomeric structural integrity. RBM24 (RNA-binding motif protein 24) is known as a tissue-specific splicing regulator that plays an essential role in cardiogenesis.

Effects of dose titration on adherence and treatment duration of pregabalin among patients with neuropathic pain: A MarketScan database study.

Objective: To examine pregabalin dose titration and its impact on treatment adherence and duration in patients with neuropathic pain (NeP).

Methods: MarketScan database (2009-2014) was used to extract a cohort of incident adult pregabalin users with NeP who had at least 12 months of follow-up data. Any dose augmentation within 45 days following the first pregabalin claim was defined as dose titration.

Factors associated with non-use and sub-target dosing of medical therapy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

In clinical practice, many patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) are either not prescribed guideline-directed medical therapies for which they are eligible or are prescribed therapies at sub-target doses. The objective of this study was to examine the factors associated with not receiving guideline-directed medical therapies or receiving sub-target doses. We conducted a systematic review of articles published between January 2014 and May 2019 that described dosing patterns and factors associated with non-use and sub-target dosing of HFrEF therapies in clinical practice.

Internal water channel formation in CXCR4 is crucial for G-protein coupling upon activation by CXCL12.

Chemokine receptor CXCR4 is a major drug target for numerous diseases because of its involvement in the regulation of cell migration and the developmental process. In this study, atomic-level molecular dynamics simulations were used to determine the activation mechanism and internal water formation of CXCR4 in complex with chemokine CXCL12 and G-protein. The results indicated that CXCL12-bound CXCR4 underwent transmembrane 6 (TM6) outward movement and a decrease in tyrosine toggle switch by eliciting the breakage of hydrophobic layer to form a continuous internal water channel.

Effects of monthly buprenorphine extended-release injections on patient-centered outcomes: A long-term study.

Introduction: The physical, social, psychological, and economic burden of opioid use disorder (OUD) is substantial. As of the year 2019, the predominant focus of OUD research was outcomes such as retention and abstinence. We report herein the effects of extended-release buprenorphine (BUP-XR), the first FDA-approved subcutaneously injected, monthly treatment for OUD, on patient-centered outcomes.

Appetitive Traits and Weight in Children: Evidence for Parents' Controlling Feeding Practices as Mediating Mechanisms.

Children's food approach and food avoidance are appetitive traits with genetic or biological bases. Nonetheless, parents play a critical role in children's dietary intake through parenting and feeding practices. The present study tested parents' controlling feeding practices (i.

Healthcare resource use and cost associated with timing of pharmacological treatment for major depressive disorder in the United States: a real-world study.

Guidelines recommend selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) as first-line treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD) and emphasize the importance of early pharmacological treatment as key factors to treatment success. To compare the MDD-related healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and cost among patients (1) with early vs late pharmacological treatment initiation and (2) achieving minimum therapeutic dose (MTD) early vs late. The MarketScan database (2010-2015) was used.

Patient-centered Outcomes in Participants of a Buprenorphine Monthly Depot (BUP-XR) Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Multicenter, Phase 3 Study.

Objective: Opioid use disorder (OUD) is associated with physical, social, psychological, and economic burden. This analysis assessed the effects of RBP-6000, referred to as BUP-XR (extended-release buprenorphine), a subcutaneously injected, monthly buprenorphine treatment for OUD compared with placebo on patient-centered outcomes measuring meaningful life changes.

Methods: Patient-centered outcomes were collected in a 24-week, phase 3, placebo-controlled study assessing the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of BUP-XR 300/300 mg (6 × 300 mg) and 300/100 mg (2 × 300 mg followed by 4 × 100 mg) injections in treatment-seeking participants with moderate-to-severe OUD.

Literature review and economic evaluation of oral and intramuscular ziprasidone treatment among patients with schizophrenia in China.

Background: Over 10 million Chinese are affected by schizophrenia. The annual cost of schizophrenia in China was estimated at US$2586 per patient.

Aims: The study has two aims: (1) to conduct a targeted literature review of the economic literature on oral ziprasidone in China, and (2) to develop an inpatient economic model that compared the cost of intramuscular ziprasidone with other regimens including electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for the management of acute agitation in patients with schizophrenia from a hospital's perspective in China.

Cost-effectiveness of Teriflunomide Compared to Interferon Beta-1b for Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis Patients in China.

Background And Objective: Teriflunomide is a once-daily oral immunomodulatory agent approved in 80 countries for the treatment of patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS). The study objective was to estimate the cost effectiveness of teriflunomide (14 mg tablet, daily) versus interferon beta-1b (250 mcg subcutaneous injection, every other day) among RMS patients from the Chinese healthcare system perspective.

Methods: A Markov model with annual cycles and a lifetime horizon was utilized to assess cost-effectiveness of teriflunomide in comparison with interferon beta-1b in RMS patients.

Information needs in genetic testing: A needs assessment survey among Taiwanese parents of children with autism spectrum disorders.

We conducted the first needs assessment study by examining the information needs in genetic testing for autism spectrum disorders among parents of children with autism spectrum disorders in Taiwan. Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders in 236 public elementary schools with special education services were invited to complete a survey. About two-thirds of participants (65.

Analyzing Complex Longitudinal Data in Educational Research: A Demonstration With Project English Language and Literacy Acquisition (ELLA) Data Using xxM.

When analyzing complex longitudinal data, especially data from different educational settings, researchers generally focus only on the mean part (i.e., the regression coefficients), ignoring the equally important random part (i.

Development and evaluation of a genomics training program for community health workers in Texas.

Purpose: Genomics services have the potential to reduce incidence and mortality of diseases by providing individualized, family health history (FHH)-based prevention strategies to clients. These services may benefit from the involvement of community health workers (CHWs) in the provision of FHH-based genomics education and services, as CHWs are frontline public health workers and lay health educators, who share similar ethnicities, languages, socioeconomic statuses, and life experiences with the communities they serve. We developed, implemented, and evaluated the FHH-based genomics training program for CHWs.

Phonon Confinement Induced Non-Concomitant Near-Infrared Emission along a Single ZnO Nanowire: Spatial Evolution Study of Phononic and Photonic Properties.

The impact of mixed defects on ZnO phononic and photonic properties at the nanoscale is only now being investigated. Here we report an effective strategy to study the distribution of defects along the growth direction of a single ZnO nanowire (NW), performed qualitatively as well as quantitatively using energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), confocal Raman-, and photoluminescence (PL)-mapping technique. A non-concomitant near-infrared (NIR) emission of 1.

Diverse presentations in pediatric Meckel's diverticulum: a review of 100 cases.

Background: Our objective was to analyze demographics and characteristics of Meckel's diverticulum with different manifestations in pediatric patients.

Methods: This is a retrospective study in children with symptomatic Meckel's diverticulum who underwent resection between September 1998 and October 2010. The diagnosis was confirmed by surgery and pathology.

Avoidance temperament and social-evaluative threat in college students' math performance: a mediation model of math and test anxiety.

Background And Objectives: Standardized testing has become a common form of student evaluation with high stakes, and limited research exists on understanding the roles of students' personality traits and social-evaluative threat on their academic performance. This study examined the roles of avoidance temperament (i.e.