MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs of approximately 22 nucleotides, which negatively regulate the gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. This study describes an update of the ...miRTarBase (http://miRTarBase.mbc.nctu.edu.tw/) that provides information about experimentally validated miRNA-target interactions (MTIs). The latest update of the miRTarBase expanded it to identify systematically Argonaute-miRNA-RNA interactions from 138 crosslinking and immunoprecipitation sequencing (CLIP-seq) data sets that were generated by 21 independent studies. The database contains 4966 articles, 7439 strongly validated MTIs (using reporter assays or western blots) and 348 007 MTIs from CLIP-seq. The number of MTIs in the miRTarBase has increased around 7-fold since the 2014 miRTarBase update. The miRNA and gene expression profiles from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) are integrated to provide an effective overview of this exponential growth in the miRNA experimental data. These improvements make the miRTarBase one of the more comprehensively annotated, experimentally validated miRNA-target interactions databases and motivate additional miRNA research efforts.
The sensitivity and specificity of biomarkers and scoring systems used for predicting fatality of severe sepsis patients remain unsatisfactory. This study aimed to determine the prognostic value of ...circulating plasma DNA levels in severe septic patients presenting at the Emergency Department (ED).
Sixty-seven consecutive patients with severe sepsis and 33 controls were evaluated. Plasma DNA levels were estimated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay using primers for the human β-hemoglobin and ND2 gene. The patients' clinical and laboratory data on admission were analyzed.
The median plasma nuclear and mitochondria DNA levels for severe septic patients on admission were significantly higher than those of the controls. The mean plasma nuclear DNA level on admission correlated with lactate concentration (γ = 0.36, p = 0.003) and plasma mitochondrial DNA on admission (γ = 0.708, p < 0.001). Significant prognostic factors for fatality included mechanical ventilation within the first 24 hours (p = 0.013), mean sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score on admission (p = 0.04), serum lactate (p < 0.001), and both plasma nuclear and mitochondrial DNA on admission (p < 0.001). Plasma mitochondrial DNA was an independent predictor of fatality by stepwise logistic regression such that an increase by one ng/mL in level would increase fatality rate by 0.7%.
Plasma DNA has potential use for predicting outcome in septic patients arriving at the emergency room. Plasma mitochondrial DNA level on admission is a more powerful predictor than lactate concentration or SOFA scores on admission.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Drawing on multiple group-level theories, we explored boundary conditions of the relationship between positive group affective tone (PGAT) and team creativity. We collected data from members and ...leaders of 68 research and development teams and performed hierarchical linear modeling analyses to test our hypotheses. Consistent with the "group-centrism" perspective, we found that PGAT was beneficial for team creativity only when team trust was low; when trust was high, PGAT had a negative relationship with team creativity. In accord with the "dual-tuning" perspective, the positive effect of PGAT on creativity was present only when team trust was low but negative group affective tone was high. We discussed the theoretical and practical implications.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NMLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Aims/Introduction
Clinical studies show that either heart rate variability (HRV) or electrochemical skin conductance (ESC) alone can serve as a simple and objective method for screening ...cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN). We tested the hypothesis that combining these two quantitative approaches can not only reinforce accuracy in CAN screening but also provide a better estimate of CAN severity in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) who had already had CAN in outpatient clinics.
Materials and Methods
Each patient received a complete battery of cardiovascular autonomic reflex tests (CARTs), with ESC measured by SUDOSCAN, time domain of HRV measured by standard deviation of all normal RR intervals (SDNN) and frequency domain of HRV (low frequency LF, high frequency HF, and LF/HF ratio), and peripheral blood studies for vascular risk factors. Severity of CAN was measured by CAN score.
Results
The 90 T2DM patients included 50 males and 40 females. Those with more severe CAN had lower values in feet ESC (P = 0.023) and SDNN (P < 0.0001). Multiple linear regression analysis also showed that feet ESC and SDNN value (P = 0.003 and P < 0.0001) were significantly associated with CAN score. Combining SDNN and feet ESC also can increase the diagnostic accuracy of CAN with respective to sensitivity and specificity by using receiver operating characteristic analysis.
Conclusions
Combining the results of SDNN and feet ESC can not only assess, but also quantitatively reflect the progress or improvement of autonomic nerve function (including sympathetic and parasympathetic activity) in patients with T2DM.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Drawing on the social categorization perspective, we theorized that team demographic faultlines increase negative group affective tone (NGAT) through reduced group identification, while team member ...positive impression management behaviors enhance positive group affective tone (PGAT) via enhanced group identification. Data were collected from 523 members of 101 newly formed student teams. Consistent with our hypotheses, team demographic faultlines were positively predicted NGAT via reduced group identification, while team self-promotion and ingratiation behaviors were positively associated with PGAT through group identification. Importantly, team self-promotion and ingratiation behaviors also mitigated the social categorization processes triggered by team demographic faultlines.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Introduction
The sural sensory nerve action potential (SNAP) amplitude is a measure of the number of axons. We tested the hypothesis that sural SNAP amplitude can be used as a marker in screening, ...severity evaluation, and follow‐up of diabetic distal symmetrical polyneuropathy (DSPN).
Methods
Patients with type 2 diabetes underwent nerve conduction studies and were followed for 6 years. Composite amplitude scores (CASs) were determined to evaluate DSPN severity.
Results
Sural SNAP amplitudes were negatively correlated with CAS (r = −.790, P < .0001), and changes in sural SNAP amplitudes were negatively correlated with those of CAS after controlling for follow‐up duration (r = −.531, P = .028).
Discussion
When a patient's baseline sural SNAP amplitude is above zero, it can be used as one measure of DSPN in screening, severity evaluation, and follow‐up. However, if the patient's sural SNAP value is zero, CAS can be used as a follow‐up measure.
See editorial on pages 3–4 in this issue.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Given a graph {\mbi{G}} and a non-negative integer {{g}} , the {{g}} -extra connectivity (resp. {{g}} -extra edge connectivity) of {\mbi{G}} is the minimum cardinality of a set of vertices (resp. ...edges) in {\mbi{G}} , if it exists, whose deletion disconnects {\mbi{G}} and leaves each remaining component with more than {{g}} vertices. This study shows that the 3-extra connectivity (resp. 3-extra edge connectivity) of an {\mbi{n}} -dimensional folded hypercube is {4}{{n}} - {5} for {{n}} \geq {6} (resp. {4}{{n}} - {4} for {{n}} \geq {5} ). This study also provides an upper bound for the {{g}} -extra connectivity on folded hypercubes for {{g}} \geq {6} .
Objective
Appropriate triage in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) is often challenging. Little is known about the role of physician gestalt in ED triage. We aimed to compare the ...accuracy of emergency physician gestalt against the currently used computerized triage process.
Methods
We conducted a prospective observational study in the ED at an academic medical center. Adult patients aged ≥20 years were included and underwent a standard triage protocol. The patients underwent system‐based triage using the computerized software the Taiwan Triage and Acuity Scale. The entire triage process was recorded, and triage data were collected. Five physician raters provided triage levels (physician‐based) according to their perceived urgency after reviewing videos. The primary outcome was hospital admission. The secondary outcomes were ED length of stay (EDLOS) and charges.
Results
In total, 656 patients were recruited (mean age 52 years, 50% male). The median system‐based triage level was 3. By contrast, the median physician‐based triage level was 4. The physician raters tended to provide lower triage levels than the system, with an average difference of 1. There was modest concordance between the two triage methods (correlation coefficient 0.30), with a weighted kappa coefficient of 0.18. The area under the receiver operating curve for the system‐ and physician‐based triage in predicting hospital admission were similar (0.635 vs. 0.631, p = 0.896). Attending physicians appeared to have better performance than residents in predicting admission. The variation explained (R2) in EDLOS and charges were similar between the two triage methods (R2 = 3% for EDLOS, 7%–9% for charges).
Conclusions
Emergency physician gestalt for triage showed similar performance to a computerized system; however, physicians redistributed patients to lower triage levels. Physician gestalt has advantages for identifying low‐risk patients. This approach may avoid undue time pressure for health care providers and promote rapid discharge.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
A 250K single-nucleotide polymorphism array was used to study subchromosomal alterations in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The most frequent amplification was found at 7p11.2 in 9 of 29 (31%) ...oral cancer patients. Minimal genomic mapping verified a unique amplicon spanning from 54.6 to 55.3 Mb on chromosome 7, which contains SEC61G and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Results from fluorescence in situ hybridization, transcriptome, and immunohistochemistry analyses indicated that the expression level of EGFR, but not of SEC61G, was up-regulated and tightly correlated with DNA copy number in 7p11.2 amplified tumors. Among the members of the erbB family, EGFR (HER1) was found to be the most frequently amplified and highly expressed gene in both human and mouse oral tumors (P < 0.01). Genes for downstream effectors of EGFR, including KRAS, mitogen-activated protein kinase 1, and CCND1, were also found amplified or mutated, which resulted in activation of EGFR signaling in 55% of OSCC patients. Head and neck squamous cancer cells with different EGFR expression levels showed differential sensitivity to antitumor effects of AG1478, a potent EGFR inhibitor. AG1478-induced EGFR inactivation significantly suppressed tumor development and progression in a mouse oral cancer model. Our data suggest that EGFR signaling is important in oral cancer development and that anti-EGFR therapy would benefit patients who carry the 7p11.2 amplicon in their tumors.
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