Plasma consists of DNA released from multiple tissues within the body. Using genome-wide bisulfite sequencing of plasma DNA and deconvolution of the sequencing data with reference to methylation ...profiles of different tissues, we developed a general approach for studying the major tissue contributors to the circulating DNA pool. We tested this method in pregnant women, patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, and subjects following bone marrow and liver transplantation. In most subjects, white blood cells were the predominant contributors to the circulating DNA pool. The placental contributions in the plasma of pregnant women correlated with the proportional contributions as revealed by fetal-specific genetic markers. The graft-derived contributions to the plasma in the transplant recipients correlated with those determined using donor-specific genetic markers. Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma showed elevated plasma DNA contributions from the liver, which correlated with measurements made using tumor-associated copy number aberrations. In hepatocellular carcinoma patients and in pregnant women exhibiting copy number aberrations in plasma, comparison of methylation deconvolution results using genomic regions with different copy number status pinpointed the tissue type responsible for the aberrations. In a pregnant woman diagnosed as having follicular lymphoma during pregnancy, methylation deconvolution indicated a grossly elevated contribution from B cells into the plasma DNA pool and localized B cells as the origin of the copy number aberrations observed in plasma. This method may serve as a powerful tool for assessing a wide range of physiological and pathological conditions based on the identification of perturbed proportional contributions of different tissues into plasma.
The present meta‐analysis examined the tenure, age, and gender differences in the relationship between job insecurity and its job‐related and health‐related consequences. A total of 133 studies, ...providing 172 independent samples, were included in the analysis. Our results basically replicated Sverke et al.'s (2002) meta‐analytic findings with an updated methodological approach and a larger database. The main differences between our findings and Sverke et al.'s are that the negative association between job insecurity and job performance was significant and that the relationship between insecurity and job involvement was smaller in our study. The moderator analysis also indicated that: (1) the positive association between job insecurity and turnover intention was stronger among employees with shorter tenure than those with longer tenure, and was stronger among younger than older employees; (2) the negative effect of insecurity on its health outcomes was more severe among employees with longer tenure than those with shorter tenure, and was more severe among older than younger employees; (3) the relationship between insecurity and the criterion variables was similar across gender. Results are discussed with reference to Hulin's (1991) theory of job adaptation and Greenhalgh and Rosenblatt's (1984) job dependence perspective.
La présente méta‐analyse étudie les différences de statut (titulaire ou non), d’âge et de genre dans la relation entre l’insécurité de l’emploi et ses conséquences relatives au travail et à la santé. Un total de 133 recherches, comprenant 172 échantillons indépendants, a été inclu dans l’analyse. Nos résultats, obtenus avec une approche méthodologique actualisée et sur une plus grande base de données, sont pour l’essentiel congruents avec ceux de la méta‐analyse de Sverke et al. (2002). Les différences principales entre nos résultats et ceux de Sverke et al. sont les suivantes: d’une part, entre l’insécurité de l’emploi et la productivité la relation est significativement négative, d’autre part la relation entre l’insécurité de l’emploi et l’engagement au travail est moindre dans notre étude. L’analyse indique aussi que: (1) la relation positive entre l’insécurité de l’emploi et l’intention de le quitter est plus forte parmi les employés ayant un contrat à courte durée contrairement à ceux ayant un contrat à plus longue durée et est plus forte parmi les employés les plus jeunes; (2) l’effet négatif de l’insécurité sur la santé est plus important parmi les employés ayant un contrat de longue durée que pour ceux ayant un contrat de plus courte durée, ce qui est aussi le cas pour les employés les plus âgés; (3) le genre n’a pas d’effet sur la relation entre l’insécurité et les variables choisies. Les résultats sont discutés en référence à la théorie de l’adaptation au travail de Hulin (1991) et la perspective de dépendance au travail de Greenhalgh et Rosenblatt (1984).
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2 virus) has been sustained in China since December 2019, and has become a ...pandemic. The mental health of frontline medical staff is a concern. In this study, we aimed to identify the factors influencing medical worker anxiety in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. We conducted a cross-sectional study to estimate the prevalence of anxiety among medical staff in China from 10 February 2020 to 20 February 2020 using the Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) to assess anxiety, with the criteria of normal (⩽49), mild (50-59), moderate (60-70) and severe anxiety (⩾70). We used multivariable linear regression to determine the factors (e.g. having direct contact when treating infected patients, being a medical staff worker from Hubei province, being a suspect case) for anxiety. We also used adjusted models to confirm independent factors for anxiety after adjusting for gender, age, education and marital status. Of 512 medical staff in China, 164 (32.03%) had had direct contact treating infected patients. The prevalence of anxiety was 12.5%, with 53 workers suffering from mild (10.35%), seven workers suffering from moderate (1.36%) and four workers suffering from severe anxiety (0.78%). After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics (gender, age, education and marital status), medical staff who had had direct contact treating infected patients experienced higher anxiety scores than those who had not had direct contact (β value = 2.33, confidence interval (CI) 0.65-4.00; P = 0.0068). A similar trend was observed in medical staff from Hubei province, compared with those from other parts of China (β value = 3.67, CI 1.44-5.89; P = 0.0013). The most important variable was suspect cases with high anxiety scores, compared to non-suspect cases (β value = 4.44, CI 1.55-7.33; P = 0.0028). In this survey of hospital medical workers during the COVID-19 outbreak in China, we found that study participants experienced anxiety symptoms, especially those who had direct clinical contact with infected patients; as did those in the worst affected areas, including Hubei province; and those who were suspect cases. Governments and healthcare authorities should proactively implement appropriate psychological intervention programmes, to prevent, alleviate or treat increased anxiety.
Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in human plasma is a class of biomarkers with many current and potential future diagnostic applications. Recent studies have shown that cfDNA molecules are not randomly ...fragmented and possess information related to their tissues of origin. Pathologies causing death of cells from particular tissues result in perturbations in the relative distribution of DNA from the affected tissues. Such tissue-of-origin analysis is particularly useful in the development of liquid biopsies for cancer. It is therefore of value to accurately determine the relative contributions of the tissues to the plasma DNA pool in a simultaneous manner. In this work, we report that in open chromatin regions, cfDNA molecules show characteristic fragmentation patterns reflected by sequencing coverage imbalance and differentially phased fragment end signals. The latter refers to differences in the read densities of sequences corresponding to the orientation of the upstream and downstream ends of cfDNA molecules in relation to the reference genome. Such cfDNA fragmentation patterns preferentially occur in tissue-specific open chromatin regions where the corresponding tissues contributed DNA into the plasma. Quantitative analyses of such signals allow measurement of the relative contributions of various tissues toward the plasma DNA pool. These findings were validated by plasma DNA sequencing data obtained from pregnant women, organ transplantation recipients, and cancer patients. Orientation-aware plasma DNA fragmentation analysis therefore has potential diagnostic applications in noninvasive prenatal testing, organ transplantation monitoring, and cancer liquid biopsy.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. Recently, studies have been published with inconsistent findings regarding whether ...sarcopenia is a risk factor for mortality in breast cancer patients. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to systematically assess and quantify sarcopenia as a risk factor for mortality in breast cancer patients.
In a systematic literature review of PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane CENTRAL Library, we searched for observational studies written in English (from database inception until April 30, 2019) that reported an association between sarcopenia and breast cancer in women who were 18 years or older.
A total of six studies (5497 participants) were included in this meta-analysis. Breast cancer patients with sarcopenia were associated with a significantly higher risk of mortality, compared to breast cancer patients without sarcopenia (pooled HR-hazard ratio = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.25-2.33, I
= 59.1%). In addition, the results of age subgroup analysis showed that participants younger than 55 years with sarcopenia had a lower risk of mortality than participants aged 55 years and older with sarcopenia (pooled HR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.24-1.72 versus pooled HR = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.05-3.78), whereas both have an increased risk of mortality compared to non-sarcopenic patients. Subgroup analyses regarding stage at diagnosis revealed an increased risk of mortality in non-metastatic patients compared to participants without sarcopenia (pooled HR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.32-2.78), whereas the association was not significant in metastatic breast cancer patients. Other subgroup analyses were performed using different follow-up periods (> 5 years versus ≤5 years) and the results were different (pooled HR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.23-2.65 versus pooled HR = 1.70, 95% CI: 0.80-3.62).
The present study found that sarcopenia is a risk factor for mortality among female early breast cancer patients. It is imperative that more research into specific interventions aimed at treating sarcopenia be conducted in the near future in order to provide evidence which could lead to decreased mortality rates in breast cancer patients.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are cosmic sources emitting millisecond-duration radio bursts. Although several hundreds FRBs have been discovered, their physical nature and central engine remain ...unclear. The variations of Faraday rotation measure and dispersion measure, due to local environment, are crucial clues to understanding their physical nature. The recent observations on the rotation measure of FRB 20201124A show a significant variation on a day time scale. Intriguingly, the oscillation of rotation measure supports that the local contribution can change sign, which indicates the magnetic field reversal along the line of sight. Here we present a physical model that explains observed characteristics of FRB 20201124A and proposes that repeating signal comes from a binary system containing a magnetar and a Be star with a decretion disk. When the magnetar approaches the periastron, the propagation of radio waves through the disk of the Be star naturally leads to the observed varying rotation measure, depolarization, large scattering timescale, and Faraday conversion. This study will prompt to search for FRB signals from Be/X-ray binaries.
Abstract
A fundamental issue concerning iron-based superconductivity is the roles of electronic nematicity and magnetism in realising high transition temperature (
T
c
). To address this issue, FeSe ...is a key material, as it exhibits a unique pressure phase diagram involving non-magnetic nematic and pressure-induced antiferromagnetic ordered phases. However, as these two phases in FeSe have considerable overlap, how each order affects superconductivity remains perplexing. Here we construct the three-dimensional electronic phase diagram, temperature (
T
) against pressure (
P
) and isovalent S-substitution (
x
), for FeSe
1−
x
S
x
. By simultaneously tuning chemical and physical pressures, against which the chalcogen height shows a contrasting variation, we achieve a complete separation of nematic and antiferromagnetic phases. In between, an extended non-magnetic tetragonal phase emerges, where
T
c
shows a striking enhancement. The completed phase diagram uncovers that high-
T
c
superconductivity lies near both ends of the dome-shaped antiferromagnetic phase, whereas
T
c
remains low near the nematic critical point.
Background. This meta-analysis summarizes the results from recent studies that examined the use of virtual reality (VR)–based interventions on health-related outcomes in patients with cancer, and ...quantitatively evaluates the efficacy of VR-based interventions. Findings of this meta-analysis can provide direction for future symptom management research. Methods. The search terms included a combination of “virtual reality” OR “virtual environment” OR “head-mounted display” with “oncology” OR “cancer.” Three databases (Medline, PubMed, and CAJ Full-text Database), one search engine (Google Scholar), and the website of ResearchGate, covering the period from December 2013 to May 15, 2019, and including articles published in both English and Chinese, were searched. Data synthesis used the RevMan 5.3 to generate pooled estimates of effect size. Results. A total of 6 empirical studies met the eligibility criteria. VR-based interventions had statistically significant effects on reducing symptoms of anxiety, depression, pain, and cognitive function, whereas statistically significant benefit was observed for fatigue (Z = 2.76, P = .006). Conclusion. Most recent studies have primarily examined VR-based interventions for symptom management in the acute stages of cancer care. However, the management of late and long-term side effects is central to cancer survivorship care. There is burgeoning empirical support for further research to evaluate the efficacy of VR-based interventions in cancer rehabilitation.
Previous cohort studies investigating the association between sarcopenic obesity (SO) and all-cause mortality among adult people have been inconsistent. We performed a meta-analysis to determine if ...SO is a predictor of all-cause mortality.
Prospective cohort studies that evaluated the association between SO and mortality in older people were identified via a systematic search of three electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library). A random-effects model was applied to combine the results. We considered the methods recommeded by consensuses (dual X-ray absorptiometry,bio-impedancemetry, anthropometric measures or CT scan) to assess sarcopenic obesity.
Of the 603 studies identified through the systematic review, 23 (Participants: 50866) were included in the meta-analysis. The mean age ranged from 50 to 82.5 years.SO was significantly associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality among adult people (pooled HR = 1.21, 95% confidence interval 95% CI = 1.10-1.32, p < 0.001, I
= 64.3%). Furthermore, the subgroup analysis of participants showed that SO was associated with all-cause mortality (pooled HR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.06-1.23) among community-dwelling adult people; similarly, this association was found in hospitalized patients (pooled HR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.17-2.33). Moreover, the subgroup analysis demonstrated that SO was associated with all-cause mortality when using skeletal muscle mass (SMM) criteria, muscle strength criteria, and skeletal muscle index (SMI) criteria (HR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.01-1.23; HR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.05-1.33; and HR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.13-2.07, respectively). In addition, we analyzed SO on the basis of obesity definition and demonstrated that participants with a SO diagnosis based on waist circumference (WC) (HR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.09-1.40), body mass index (BMI) (HR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.04-1.59), or visceral fat area (HR = 2.54, 95% CI: 1.83-3.53) have a significantly increase mortality risk compared with those without SO.
Based on our update of existing scientific researches, SO is a significant predictor of all-cause mortality among older people, particularly hospitalized patients. Therefore, it is important to diagnose SO and to treat the condition to reduce mortality rates among older people.
PDF
