Missing Values in Longitudinal Proteome Dynamics Studies: Making a Case for Data Multiple Imputation.

Temporal proteomics data sets are often confounded by the challenges of missing values. These missing data points, in a time-series context, can lead to fluctuations in measurements or the omission of critical events, thus hindering the ability to fully comprehend the underlying biomedical processes. We introduce a Data Multiple Imputation (DMI) pipeline designed to address this challenge in temporal data set turnover rate quantifications, enabling robust downstream analysis to gain novel discoveries.

Artificial intelligence: Deep learning in oncological radiomics and challenges of interpretability and data harmonization.

Over the last decade there has been an extensive evolution in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) field. Modern radiation oncology is based on the exploitation of advanced computational methods aiming to personalization and high diagnostic and therapeutic precision. The quantity of the available imaging data and the increased developments of Machine Learning (ML), particularly Deep Learning (DL), triggered the research on uncovering "hidden" biomarkers and quantitative features from anatomical and functional medical images.

Parsing Neurodynamic Information Streams to Estimate the Frequency, Magnitude and Duration of Team Uncertainty.

Neurodynamic organizations are information-based abstractions, expressed in bits, of the structure of long duration EEG amplitude levels. Neurodynamic information (, the variable of neurodynamic organization) is thought to continually accumulate as EEG amplitudes cycle through periods of persistent activation and deactivation in response to the activities and uncertainties of teamwork. Here we show that (1) Neurodynamic information levels were a better predictor of uncertainty and novice and expert behaviors than were the EEG power levels from which was derived.

Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) antisense oligonucleotide protected against hyperlipidemia-associated atherosclerosis.

Background And Aims: Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is a representative EGF family member that interacts with EGFR under diverse stress environment. Previously, we reported that the HB-EGF-targeting using antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) effectively suppressed an aortic aneurysm in the vessel wall and circulatory lipid levels. In this study, we further examined the effects of the HB-EGF ASO administration on the development of hyperlipidemia-associated atherosclerosis using an atherogenic mouse model.

Expressed emotion, emotional distress, and individual and familial history of affective disorder among parents of adolescents with bipolar disorder.

Parental expressed emotion (EE) attitudes are important prognostic indicators in the course of bipolar disorder (BD) in adolescents and adults. This study examined the hypothesis that parents' own susceptibility to affective disturbances contributes to their likelihood of high-EE attitudes. We examined past-week levels of emotional distress, lifetime affective diagnoses, and family histories of affective disorder among high- and low-EE parents of 86 adolescents with bipolar I or II disorder who were recovering from an episode of depression or (hypo) mania.

Network meta-analysis: drawing conclusions regarding trials of psychosocial interventions for bipolar disorder.

Network meta-analysis (NMA) is a statistical technique for making direct and indirect comparisons between different treatment and control groups. Despite its many advantages, NMA may be misleading when evaluating networks that are disconnected, inconsistent or of low reliability and validity. We review how well the analysis of trials of adjunctive psychosocial treatment in bipolar disorder is served by NMA.

Arg913Gln of SLC12A3 gene promotes development and progression of end-stage renal disease in Chinese type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Whether the Arg913Gln variation (rs11643718, G/A) of SLC12A3 contributes to diabetic nephropathy (DN) remains controversial. We undertook a case-control study to evaluate the association of the SLC12A3-Arg913Gln variation with the risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in Chinese type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients undergoing hemodialysis, and analyzed the genotype-phenotype interaction. Unrelated Chinese T2DM patients (n = 372) with diabetic retinopathy were classified into the non-DN (control) group (n = 151; duration of T2DM >15 years, no signs of renal involvement) and the DN-ESRD group (n = 221; ESRD due to T2DM, receiving hemodialysis).

Care cascade structural intervention versus standard of care in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV in China: a cluster-randomized controlled trial protocol.

Background: The high rate of attrition along the care cascade of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) results in lost opportunities to provide timely antiretroviral therapy (ART) and to prevent unnecessarily high mortality. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a structural intervention, the one-stop ("One4All") strategy that streamlines China's HIV care cascade with the intent to improve testing completeness, ART initiation, viral suppression, and mortality.

Method: A two-arm, cluster-randomized controlled trial was implemented in twelve county hospitals in Guangxi China to test the effectiveness of the One4All strategy (intervention arm) compared to the current standard of care (SOC; control arm).

Structural Validity of the Rheumatology Attitudes Index in Systemic Sclerosis: Analysis from the UCLA Scleroderma Quality of Life Study.

Objective: To evaluate the structural validity of the Rheumatology Attitudes Index (RAI), a widely used measure of rheumatic disease-related helplessness in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Methods: Patients with physician-confirmed SSc from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Scleroderma Quality of Life Study (n = 208) received clinical examinations and completed self-report questionnaires. The structural validity of the RAI was examined through confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis (CFA/EFA).

Association of single nucleotide polymorphisms of IL23R and IL17 with necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe gastrointestinal inflammatory disease in neonates, particularly in preterm infants. The interleukin (IL) 23/IL17 axis has been shown to play an important role in the gastrointestinal inflammation. However, the association of gene polymorphisms in the IL23/IL17 axis and the development of NEC remains unknown.

The angiotensin-I converting enzyme gene I/D variation contributes to end-stage renal disease risk in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes receiving hemodialysis.

Whether the DD genotype of the angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) I/D variation contributes to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains controversial. Differences in study design, case and control definition, sample size and ethnicity may contribute to the discrepancies reported in association studies. We performed a case-control study to evaluate the association of the ACE I/D variation with ESRD risk in Chinese patients with T2DM receiving hemodialysis and analyzed the genotype-phenotype interaction.

Low Expression of DYRK2 (Dual Specificity Tyrosine Phosphorylation Regulated Kinase 2) Correlates with Poor Prognosis in Colorectal Cancer.

Dual-specificity tyrosine-phosphorylation-regulated kinase 2 (DYRK2) is a member of dual-specificity kinase family, which could phosphorylate both Ser/Thr and Tyr substrates. The role of DYRK2 in human cancer remains controversial. For example, overexpression of DYRK2 predicts a better survival in human non-small cell lung cancer.

Inflammatory cytokines and nuclear factor-kappa B activation in adolescents with bipolar and major depressive disorders.

Unlabelled: Adults with bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) have higher circulating levels of proinflammatory cytokines than healthy controls. However, it is not known whether pediatric-onset patients with BD or MDD show increases in levels of inflammation or activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), a key transcription factor in inflammatory signaling. Circulating levels of inflammatory cytokines, as well as spontaneous and stimulated levels of activated NF-κB in total peripheral blood mononuclear cells, monocytes and lymphocytes were measured in adolescents with BD (n=18), MDD (n=13), or no psychiatric history (n=20).

A 12-step user guide for analyzing voxel-wise gray matter asymmetries in statistical parametric mapping (SPM).

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) has been proven capable of capturing cerebral gray matter asymmetries with a high (voxel-wise) regional specificity. However, a standardized reference on how to conduct voxel-wise asymmetry analyses is missing. This protocol provides the scientific community with a carefully developed guide describing, in 12 distinct steps, how to take structural images from data pre-processing, via statistical analysis, to the final interpretation of the significance maps.

11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 shRNA ameliorates glucocorticoid-induced insulin resistance and lipolysis in mouse abdominal adipose tissue.

Long-term glucocorticoid exposure increases the risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Prereceptor activation of glucocorticoid availability in target tissue by 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) coupled with hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (H6PDH) is an important mediator of the metabolic syndrome. We explored whether the tissue-specific modulation of 11β-HSD1 and H6PDH in adipose tissue mediates glucocorticoid-induced insulin resistance and lipolysis and analyzed the effects of 11β-HSD1 inhibition on the key lipid metabolism genes and insulin-signaling cascade.

Copy number variation in obsessive-compulsive disorder and tourette syndrome: a cross-disorder study.

Objective: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette syndrome (TS) are heritable neurodevelopmental disorders with a partially shared genetic etiology. This study represents the first genome-wide investigation of large (>500 kb), rare (<1%) copy number variants (CNVs) in OCD and the largest genome-wide CNV analysis in TS to date.

Method: The primary analyses used a cross-disorder design for 2,699 case patients (1,613 ascertained for OCD, 1,086 ascertained for TS) and 1,789 controls.

The Australian, US, Scandinavian Imaging Exchange (AUSSIE): an innovative, virtually-integrated health research network embedded in health care.

Objective: To describe the development, design and function of an innovative international clinical research network for neuroimaging research, based in Australia, within a joint state health service/medical school. This Australian, US, Scandinavian Imaging Exchange (AUSSIE) network focuses upon identifying neuroimaging biomarkers for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disease.

Methods: We describe a case study of the iterative development of the network, identifying characteristic features and methods which may serve as potential models for virtual clinical research networks.

Deficiency of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-epsilon reduces atherosclerotic lesions in LDLR-/- mice.

The CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins (C/EBPs) are transcription factors involved in hematopoietic cell development and induction of several inflammatory mediators. C/EBPε is expressed only in myeloid cells including monocytes/macrophages. Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disorder of the vascular wall and circulating immune cells such as monocytes/macrophages.

Treatment of bipolar disorder.

We review recent developments in the acute and long-term treatment of bipolar disorder and identify promising future routes to therapeutic innovation. Overall, advances in drug treatment remain quite modest. Antipsychotic drugs are effective in the acute treatment of mania; their efficacy in the treatment of depression is variable with the clearest evidence for quetiapine.

18-gauge needle cap as adjunct to prevent kinking of endotracheal tube.

A self-retaining Dingman mouth retractor is widely used to keep the mouth open during cleft palate and intraoral surgery. The airway is at risk of being crushed or occluded as the gag (tongue plate) of the Dingman mouth retractor is being pushed against the endotracheal tube.Kinking of the endotracheal tube between the teeth and Dingman mouth retractor has been reported even with the oral Ring-Adair-Elwyn or flexometallic or armored endotracheal tubes.