PCPDTBT, a marginally crystallizable polymer, is crystallized into a new crystal structure using solvent‐vapor annealing. Highly ordered areas with three different polymer‐chain orientations are ...identified using TEM/ED, GIWAXS, and polarized Raman spectroscopy. The optical and structural properties differ significantly from films prepared by standard device preparation protocols. Bilayer solar cells, however, show similar performance.
To escape replicative senescence, cancer cells have to overcome telomere attrition during DNA replication. Most of cancers rely on telomerase to extend and maintain telomeres, but 4-11% of cancers ...use a homologous recombination-based pathway called alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). ALT is prevalent in cancers from the mesenchymal origin and usually associates with poor clinical outcome. Given its critical role in protecting telomeres and genomic integrity in tumor cells, ALT is an Achilles heel of tumors and an attractive target for cancer therapy. Here, we review the recent progress in the mechanistic studies of ALT, and discuss the emerging therapeutic strategies to target ALT-positive cancers.
Previously theorised as vehicles for expressing progressive dissent, this article considers how political memes have become entangled in the recent reactionary turn of Web subcultures. Drawing on ...Chantal Mouffe’s work on political affect, this article examines how online anonymous communities use memetic literacy, memetic abstraction, and memetic antagonism to constitute themselves as political collectives. Specifically, it focuses on how the subcultural and highly reactionary milieu of 4chan’s /pol/ board does so through an anti-Semitic meme called triple parentheses. In aggregating the contents of this peculiar meme from a large dataset of /pol/ comments, the article finds that /pol/ users, or anons, tend to use the meme to formulate a nebulous out-group resonant with populist demagoguery.
Introduction: Changes in the immune system during pregnancy have been associated with reactivation of the hepatitis B virus in women chronic hepatitis B infection not receiving antiviral therapy. The ...aim of this study is to examine the development of intrapartum and postpartum hepatitis B reactivation in pregnant patients not being treated for chronic hepatitis B. Material and Methods: Pregnant women diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B and not receiving treatment between 2017 and 2022 in five centres in the east and southeast Turkey included in this study. In order to evaluate biochemical and viral reactivation from intrapartum and postpartum periods, patients with data for at least two periods were included in the study. Results: Evaluations were made on 171 pregnant women diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B. Reactivation occurred in 43 (25.2%) patients, in the postpartum period in 14 (32.35%) and in the intrapartum period in 29 (67.44%). Reactivation occurred most often in the 3rd trimester (n: 13, 30.2%). A significant increase was observed in the alanine aminotransferase levels of the patients with reactivation in the first trimester compared to 6 months prepartum and in the second trimester compared to the first trimester (p=0.038, p=0.039, respectively). The prepartum HBV DNA level (cut-off point =192 IU/ml) of patients with HBeAg negativity was found to have diagnostic power for reactivation of 0.684 (95% CI: 0.575-0.792, p=0.002) with 65.9% sensitivity and 68.6% specificity. Viral reactivation was observed in the first trimester in one patient and hepatitis B surface antibody was seen in the postpartum period. Conclusions: Asymptomatic viral reactivation occurred at the high rate of 25.1% in this series. To be able to identify reactivation as early as possible, pregnant patients should be followed up closely in the intrapartum and postpartum periods.
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) usually demonstrates multi-organ injury with a high mortality rate. This study aimed to investigate associations of serum aspartate/alanine ...aminotransferase (AST)/ALT, cytosolic AST (cAST)/ALT and mitochondrial AST (mAST)/ALT ratios with the prognosis of SFTS patients.
A total of 355 confirmed SFTS patients were included. Clinical and laboratory data were compared between survivors and nonsurvivors. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the independent risk factors for fatality in all patients and those admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). The predictive values of the risk factors and constructed risk models were evaluated.
Mean age and biochemical parameters were significantly greater in nonsurvivors than in survivors. In ICU patients, the three ratios, high-sensitivity troponin I (hsTnI), creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and α-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (α-HBDH) were elevated markedly in nonsurvivors than in survivors. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, three ratios and α-HBDH were independent risk factors for mortality in all patients. Only the three ratios were independent risk factors for death in ICU patients. Risk Models (M1, M2 and M3) and simplified models (sMs) containing the three ratios respectively had comparatively high predictive values for fatality in all patients with area under ROC curves (AUCs) > 0.85. In ICU patients, mAST/ALT ratio had the highest predictive value, sensitivity and odds ratio (OR) for mortality among three ratios.
AST/ALT, cAST/ALT and mAST/ALT ratios were associated with unfavorable clinical outcome of SFTS. The prognostic value of mAST/ALT ratio was higher in severe cases.
A splice variant in HSD17B13 gene is demonstrated to protect against nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and mitigate the effect of Patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing 3 ...(PNPLA3-I148M). It is being explored as a putative drug target and in polygenic risk scores. Based on whole exome sequencing (WES) in our cohort of biopsy proven NAFLD and limited data on the variant in our ethnicity, we sought to explore its role.
This is a cross-sectional study that recruited 1,020 individuals with ultrasound/biopsy-confirmed NAFLD and matched controls. Liver enzymes and lipid profiles were estimated (Beckman coulter LX750/DXH800); WES was performed in NAFLD patients and controls (Illumina; HiSeqX); HSD17B13-A-INS/I148M-PNPLA3 variants were genotyped (sequencing/qR T-PCR); HSD17B13 protein expression was estimated (immunohistochemistry); the Student's t-test/Mann–Whitney U/Chi-square test and odds ratio (95% confidence interval) were used.
There was no significant difference (Odds ratio = 0.76; 95% CI −0.57 to 1.03; P = 0.76) in the frequency of the rs72613567-A-INS between controls and patients (17.8% vs. 14.4%). No difference in the ALT (Alanine transaminase; 72.24 ± 65.13 vs. 73.70 ± 60.06; P = 0.51) and AST levels (Aspartate aminotransferase; 60.72 ± 55.59 vs. 61.63 ± 60.33; P = 0.91) between HSD17B13-wild and variant carriers were noted. Significantly elevated liver enzymes were seen in PNPLA3-148-variant/HSD17B13-wild compared with PNPLA3-148-variant/HSD17B13-variant (90.44 ± 59.0 vs. 112.32 ± 61.78; P = 0.02). No difference in steatosis (P = 0.51) between HSD17B13-wild and variant carriers was noted. No other variants in the intron–exon boundaries were identified. Although, protein expression differences were noted between wild and variant carriers, no difference in the extent of steatosis was seen.
Our study reports lack of association of the splice variant with reduced risk of NAFLD, and mitigating the effect of PNPLA3 variant. Ethnicity-based validation must be carried out before including it in assessing protection against NAFLD.
The relevance of genetic susceptibility in NAFLD has been reaffirmed by genome wide/exome wide association studies. A study demonstrated protective role of splice variant in HSD17B13 gene against NAFLD and mitigate the effect of PNPLA3-I148M. Whole exome sequencing in our cohort of biopsy proven-NAFLD also identified the splice variant and in view of limited data, we validated it in the Indian ethnicity. HSD17B13-A-INS/PNPLA3-I148M variants were genotyped and protein expression estimated. There was no significant difference in rs72613567-A-INS between controls and patients (17.8% vs. 14.4%). No difference was seen in the liver enzymes and steatosis between HSD17B13-wild and variant carriers. Although, protein expression differences were noted between wild and variant carriers, no difference in the extent of steatosis was seen. We report lack of association of splice variant with reduced risk of NAFLD and mitigating effect on PNPLA3 variant. Ethnicity based validation must be done before including it in assessing protection against NAFLD. Display omitted
In 2019, the authors led a workshop at King’s College London examining how to study 4chan and assess their association with the Alt-Right. Unbeknownst to the authors, a participant was a 4chan user ...and started a mid-workshop thread on its notorious /pol/ (politically incorrect) board. It gained significant attention. Reviewing it later, the authors realised that this parallel thread illustrates perfectly the challenges researching 4chan – and similar – communities. We conducted discourse analysis on this unique dataset, providing an alternative perspective to predominant anthropological and informatic approaches. Our analysis enhances understanding of ‘free-extremist’ communities such as 4chan in several ways. It assesses how the /pol/ community responds to observation and provides new insights into roles influencers might have in radicalising others. It illustrates the value of discourse analysis in evaluating users’ associations with the Alt-Right. Finally, it proposes ways researchers can overcome the challenges faced when analysing such communities.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Lifestyle modification is the mainstay of management, however, most patients find it difficult ...to significantly modify their lifestyle. Mobile health is an innovative healthcare system that has an established role in treating chronic diseases like asthma, cancer and cardiovascular disease. Hence, we conducted an updated meta analysis to evaluate the efficacy of mobile health intervention (mHI) for NAFLD.
Literature search of five electronic databases was performed from the inception of the paper till 15th May, 2024. Studies were included if they met the inclusion criteria; Randomized controlled trials evaluating use of mHI along with standard care in comparison to standard care only for patients with NAFLD over 18 years. Primary outcomes of interest included changes in weight, body mass index (BMI), and liver markers from baseline to post intervention. Risk of bias was evaluated using the Cochrane bias assessment tool while the Mantel-Haenszel Random-effects model on Review manager was used to pool outcomes.
Outcomes were pooled from 7 RCTs comprising a total of 621 participants. There was a significant decrease in weight (P < 0.0001), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (P = 0.002) and alkaline aminotransferase (ALT) (P = 0.0009) from baseline to follow-up in the intervention group as compared to the control group. However, the reduction in BMI was found to be non-significant (P = 0.64).
Our meta analysis reports that mHI plays an important role in significantly reducing weight and liver markers in patients with NAFLD. Considering that the improvement of these factors plays a key role in the management of the disease, mHI could be the key towards paving better outcomes for patients with NAFLD.
The present work was aimed to study the relation between the tapeworm Khawia armeniaca infection and some metabolic extents in both the parasitic tapeworm and the parasitized fish Barbus grypus, ...using LDH and transaminase activities as a vital connotation. 57 adult Barbus grypus fish (Hekle fish) were hunted from Tigris river - Rashidiya area -North of Mosul - Iraq. The adult tapeworm K. armeniaca were collected from small intestine of the fish. Extract of Liver and intestinal tissues of the infected and uninfected fish in addition to tapeworm tissues were prepared. Some macromolecules concentrations and LD, AST and ALT activities were assayed using colorimetric methods.The results revealed that concentration of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids were lesser significantly at P≤0.05 in the intestinal tissues of infected fish 176.92µg/gm wet weight, 147.21µg/gm wet weight and 112.14 mg/dl respectively than that of uninfected fish 264.70µg/gm wet weight, 223.71µg/gm wet weight and 176.37 mg/dl respectively. Concentration of lipids in the tapeworm tissues was relatively high 130.67mg/dl. As for Liver LDH activity, it was significantly higher in the infected fish 279.90 IU/L than that of the uninfected fish 253.56 IU/L. whereas, liver ALT activity was diminished significantly at P≤0.05 in the liver of uninfected fish. On the other hands, there were no significant different in liver AST activity between the infected and the uninfected fish. There were significant differences at P≤0.05 between activities of the three enzymes in both infected and uninfected fish and tapeworm tissues. On the other hands, AST activity 35.46 IU/L was relatively higher than ALT activity 27.22 IU/L in tapeworm tissues. It is concluded that activitiesofliver LDH and ALT were significantly affected by intestinal tapeworm infection in Hekle fish and may considered as bioindicators for tapeworm infection in fish.
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