Mechanistic studies have suggested that antioxidants have beneficial effects on age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This study aimed to investigate the association between the types and sources ...of dietary vitamin and carotenoid intakes and AMD risk in China. A matched case–control study of 260 AMD cases and 260 matched controls was performed. The participants were interviewed for dietary information and potential confounders, and comprehensive ophthalmic examinations were performed. Conditional logistic models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) of specific vitamins and carotenoids and their main sources. When comparing the extreme quartiles, the ORs (95 % CI) were 0·30 (0·10, 0·88) for lutein and 0·28 (0·11, 0·74) for β-cryptoxanthin. The associations for other dietary vitamin and carotenoid intakes were generally weaker and non-significant. Higher intakes of spinach and egg, which are important sources of lutein, were associated with a reduced odds of AMD. ORs (95% CIs) comparing extreme categories were 0·42 (0·20, 0·88) for spinach and 0·52 (95% CI: 0·27, 0·98) for egg. Participants who were in the highest category of both egg intake and spinach intake had a much greater reduced odds of having AMD (OR: 0·23; 95% CI: 0·08, 0·71) than those in the lowest category of egg intake and spinach intake. In conclusion, a higher intake of lutein and lutein-rich foods was associated with a significantly decreased odds of AMD. These findings provide further evidence of the benefits of lutein and lutein-rich foods in the prevention of AMD.
Objectives
To explore the feasibility of using amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) MRI metrics as surrogate biomarkers to identify the O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter ...methylation status in glioblastoma (GBM).
Methods
Eighteen newly diagnosed GBM patients, who were previously scanned at 3T and had a confirmed MGMT methylation status, were retrospectively analysed. For each case, a histogram analysis in the tumour mass was performed to evaluate several quantitative APTw MRI metrics. The Mann-Whitney test was used to evaluate the difference in APTw parameters between MGMT methylated and unmethylated GBMs, and the receiver-operator-characteristic analysis was further used to assess diagnostic performance.
Results
Ten GBMs were found to harbour a methylated MGMT promoter, and eight GBMs were unmethylated. The mean, variance, 50th percentile, 90th percentile and Width
10-90
APTw values were significantly higher in the MGMT unmethylated GBMs than in the MGMT methylated GBMs, with areas under the receiver-operator-characteristic curves of 0.825, 0.837, 0.850, 0856 and 0.763, respectively, for the discrimination of MGMT promoter methylation status.
Conclusions
APTw signal metrics have the potential to serve as valuable imaging biomarkers for identifying MGMT methylation status in the GBM population.
Key Points
• APTw-MRI is applied to predict MGMT promoter methylation status in GBMs.
• GBMs with unmethylated MGMT promoter present higher APTw-MRI than methylated GBMs.
• Multiple APTw histogram metrics can identify MGMT methylation status.
• Mean APTw values showed the highest diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.825).
Abstract
Tn5 transposase, which can efficiently tagment the genome, has been widely adopted as a molecular tool in next-generation sequencing, from short-read sequencing to more complex methods such ...as assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing (ATAC-seq). Here, we systematically map Tn5 insertion characteristics across several model organisms, finding critical parameters that affect its insertion. On naked genomic DNA, we found that Tn5 insertion is not uniformly distributed or random. To uncover drivers of these biases, we used a machine learning framework, which revealed that DNA shape cooperatively works with DNA motif to affect Tn5 insertion preference. These intrinsic insertion preferences can be modeled using nucleotide dependence information from DNA sequences, and we developed a computational pipeline to correct for these biases in ATAC-seq data. Using our pipeline, we show that bias correction improves the overall performance of ATAC-seq peak detection, recovering many potential false-negative peaks. Furthermore, we found that these peaks are bound by transcription factors, underscoring the biological relevance of capturing this additional information. These findings highlight the benefits of an improved understanding and precise correction of Tn5 insertion preference.
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is currently the most widely used scoring system for comatose patients. A decade ago, the Full Outline of Unresponsiveness (FOUR) score was devised to better capture four ...functional aspects of consciousness (eye, motor responses, brainstem reflexes, and respiration). This study aimed to validate the Chinese version of the FOUR score in patients with different levels of consciousness.
The study had two phases: (1) translation of the FOUR score, and (2) assessment of its reliability and validity. The Chinese version of the FOUR score was developed according to a standardized protocol. One hundred-twenty consecutive patients with acute brain damage, admitted to Nanfang Hospital (Southern Medical University, Guangdong, China) from November 2014 to February 2015, were enrolled. The inter-rater agreement for the FOUR score and GCS was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were established to determine the scales' abilities to predict outcome.
The rater agreement was excellent both for FOUR (ICC = 0.970; p < 0.001) and GCS (ICC = 0.958; p < 0.001). The FOUR score yielded an excellent test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.930; p < 0.001). Spearman's correlation coefficients between GCS and the FOUR score were high: r = 0.932, first rating; r = 0.887, second rating (all p < 0.001). Areas under the curve (AUC) for mortality were 0.834 (95 % CI, 0.740-0.928) and 0.815 (95 % CI, 0.723-0.908) for the FOUR score and GCS, respectively.
The Chinese version of the FOUR score is a reliable scale for evaluating the level of consciousness in patients with acute brain injury.
Background and Objectives: Few studies have described the socioeconomic disparity of dietary quality in Northwest China. The present study aimed to evaluate the diet quality of pregnant women in ...Shaanxi province of Northwest China by using the Diet Balance Index for Pregnancy (DBI-P) and explored the relationships with socioeconomic status (SES).
Methods and Study Design: A cross-sectional analysis of data from 7,630 women who were pregnant during 2012-2013 was performed. Dietary intake during the whole pregnancy was assessed by FFQ within 12 months (median, 3 months; 10th-90th percentile, 0-7 months) after delivery. Diet quality evaluated by the DBI-P was related to socioeconomic factors.
Results: Most women had insufficient consumption of vegetables (72.27%), dairy (89.58%), meat (82.07%), fish and shrimp (92.23%), eggs (62.54%), and dietary variety (97.92%). 67.76% of women had excessive intake of grains, and 87.77% and 69.79% of participants had surplus consumption of edible oil and salt respectively. Women with higher education, occupation and household wealth index (HWI) consumed more vegetables, fruit, dairy, soybean and nuts, meat, fish and shrimp, eggs, edible oil, alcohol and dietary variety but less grains and salt. After adjusting for confounders, education, occupation and HWI were negatively associated with the level of inadequate dietary intake. Conversely, individuals with medium HWI had higher level of excessive dietary intake compared to low HWI groups.
Conclusions: The diet quality of pregnant women in Northwest China was associated with SES. Socioeconomic disparities in diet quality should be considered when planning nutrition interventions for pregnant women.
Depression is one of the most serious mental disorder worldwide. Published studies indicated that nutrients such as folic acid and magnesium may provide a protective effect against it. The purpose of ...this study was to analyze whether dietary patterns defined by nutrients are associated with the risk of depression.
Research data content of 23 464 adults was obtained from the NHANES database. Dietary data were assessed with a valid food frequency questionnaire. Dietary patterns were derived by reduced rank regression with EPA + DHA, folate, Mg and Zn as response variables. The Patient Health Questionnaire was used to assess depressive symptoms (cutoff = 10). We applied logistic regression analyses to test the association between dietary patterns and depressive symptoms. Finally, all samples were divided into three groups: low, medium and high adherence to dietary patterns according to the trinomial score of dietary patterns, and the differences of depression risk among the three groups were compared.
In total, 3 020 cases with depression were observed. We identified a dietary pattern that was strongly associated with EPA + DHA, folate, Mg and Zn (response variables) intake, which was also characterized by the consumption of vegetables, grains, meat, nuts, beans, peas, and lentils, milk, cheese, oils and solid fats. After adjustment for confounders, a statistically significant association was observed (OR = 0.42, 95%CI: 0.36,0.50; P < 0.001). In addition, compared with the low-adherence group, increasing adherence to this dietary pattern significantly reduced the risk of depression (medium-adherence: OR = 0.62, 95%CI: 0.55,0.71; high-adherence: OR = 0.43, 95%CI: 0.36,0.51; P < 0.001).
Adults living in the United States have been linked to a lower risk of depression with a high-nutrient eating pattern.
National Natural Science Foundation of China and National Key R&D Program of China.
Despite high altitude was implicated in adverse birth outcomes, there remained a paucity of evidence on low-to-medium altitude effect. This study aimed to explore the association of low-to-medium ...altitude with birth outcomes. A population-based cross-sectional survey was performed using a stratified multistage random sampling method among women with their infants born during 2010-2013 in Northwestern China. Altitude was determined in meters based on the village or community of the mother's living areas. Birth outcomes involved birth weight, gestational age, and small for gestational age (SGA). Generalized linear models were fitted to investigate the association of altitude with birth outcomes. Moreover, the dose-response relationship between altitude and birth outcomes was evaluated with a restricted cubic spline function. A total of 27 801 women with their infants were included. After adjusting for potential confounders, every 100-m increase in the altitude was associated with reduced birth weight by 6.4 (95% CI -8.1, -4.6) g, the slight increase of gestational age by 0.015 (95% CI 0.010, 0.020) week, and an increased risk of SGA birth (odds ratio 1.03, 95% CI 1.02, 1.04). Moreover, there was an inversely linear relationship between altitude and birth weight (P for overall < 0.001 and P for nonlinear = 0.312), and a positive linear relationship between altitude and SGA (P for overall < 0.001 and P for nonlinear = 0.194). However, a nonlinear relationship was observed between altitude and gestational age (P for overall < 0.001 and P for nonlinear = 0.010). The present results suggest that low-to-medium altitude is possibly associated with adverse birth outcomes.
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