Deeply involved with dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease has becoming the leading cause of mortality since the early twentieth century in the modern world. Whose correlation with metabolic syndrome ...(MetS), hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been well established. We conducted a 9-year longitudinal study to identify the association between easily measured lipid parameters, future MetS, hypertension and T2DM by gender and age distribution. Divided into three groups by age (young age: < 40, middle age: ≥ 40 and < 65 and old age: ≥ 65), 7670 participants, receiving standard medical inspection at Tri-Service General Hospital (TSGH) in Taiwan, had been enrolled in this study. Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) was a logarithmically transformed ratio of triglyceride (TG)/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Through multivariate regression analyses, the hazard ratio (HR) of AIP for MetS, hypertension and T2DM were illustrated. AIP revealed significant association with all the aforementioned diseases through the entire three models for both genders. Additionally, AIP revealed significant correlation which remained still after fully adjustment in MetS, hypertension, and T2DM groups for subjects aged 40-64-year-old. Nevertheless, for participants aged above 65-year-old, AIP only demonstrated significant association in MetS group. Our results explore the promising value of AIP to determine the high-risk subjects, especially meddle-aged ones, having MetS, hypertension, and T2DM in the present and the future.
Translanguaging is both going between different linguistic structures and systems and going beyond them. It includes the full range of linguistic performances of multilingual language users for ...purposes that transcend the combination of structures, the alternation between systems, the transmission of information and the representation of values, identities and relationships.
Translanguaing space is a space for the act of translanguaging as well as a space created through translanguaging. It is a space where the process of what Bhabha calls “cultural translation” between traditions takes place. The notion of
translanguaging space embraces the concepts of creativity and criticality, which are fundamental but hitherto under-explored dimensions of multilingual practices. Using a combination of observation of multilingual practices and metalanguage commentaries by three Chinese youths in Britain, the article retells their experiences of growing up in a society which is dominated by a variety of monolingual ideologies, their multilingual practices and the creativity and criticality shown through such practices, the identity positions they construct and present for themselves, and the social spaces they create and occupy within the wider space they find themselves in. It examines the following themes: fun with words, from weekend bilingualism to flexible multilingualism, creating space and cultivating relationships, and transnational space. In examining these themes, a method, called Moment Analysis, is proposed, which aims to capture what appears to be spur-of-the-moment actions that are semiotically highly significant to the actors and their subsequent actions, what prompted such actions and the consequences of such moments including the reactions by other people.
Abstract
Background
The high cost and insufficient supply of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines have slowed the pace of controlling cervical cancer. A phase III clinical trial was conducted to ...evaluate the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of a novel Escherichia coli-produced bivalent HPV-16/18 vaccine.
Methods
A multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial started on November 22, 2012 in China. In total, 7372 eligible women aged 18–45 years were age-stratified and randomly assigned to receive three doses of the test or control (hepatitis E) vaccine at months 0, 1, and 6. Co-primary endpoints included high-grade genital lesions and persistent infection (over 6 months) associated with HPV-16/18. The primary analysis was performed on a per-protocol susceptible population of individuals who were negative for relevant HPV type-specific neutralizing antibodies (at day 0) and DNA (at day 0 through month 7) and who received three doses of the vaccine. This report presents data from a prespecified interim analysis used for regulatory submission.
Results
In the per-protocol cohort, the efficacies against high-grade genital lesions and persistent infection were 100.0% (95% confidence interval = 55.6% to 100.0%, 0 of 3306 in the vaccine group vs 10 of 3296 in the control group) and 97.8% (95% confidence interval = 87.1% to 99.9%, 1 of 3240 vs 45 of 3246), respectively. The side effects were mild. No vaccine-related serious adverse events were noted. Robust antibody responses for both types were induced and persisted for at least 42 months.
Conclusions
The E coli-produced HPV-16/18 vaccine is well tolerated and highly efficacious against HPV-16/18–associated high-grade genital lesions and persistent infection in women.
Cyclic GMP‐AMP synthase (cGAS) functions as a key sensor for microbial invasion and cellular damage by detecting emerging cytosolic DNA. Here, we report that GTPase‐activating protein‐(SH3 ...domain)–binding protein 1 (G3BP1) primes cGAS for its prompt activation by engaging cGAS in a primary liquid‐phase condensation state. Using high‐resolution microscopy, we show that in resting cells, cGAS exhibits particle‐like morphological characteristics, which are markedly weakened when G3BP1 is deleted. Upon DNA challenge, the pre‐condensed cGAS undergoes liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) more efficiently. Importantly, G3BP1 deficiency or its inhibition dramatically diminishes DNA‐induced LLPS and the subsequent activation of cGAS. Interestingly, RNA, previously reported to form condensates with cGAS, does not activate cGAS. Accordingly, we find that DNA – but not RNA – treatment leads to the dissociation of G3BP1 from cGAS. Taken together, our study shows that the primary condensation state of cGAS is critical for its rapid response to DNA.
Synopsis
Host cell encoded cGAS is a critical DNA sensor to detect invading pathogens. The stress‐granule protein G3BP1 engages cGAS in a primary condensation state to enable a rapid response to free DNA.
G3BP1 primes cGAS for its prompt activation.
G3BP1 engages cGAS in a primary condensation state.
DNA‐ but not RNA‐interaction leads to the dissociation of G3BP1 from cGAS.
Green tea compound epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) inhibits G3BP1‐promoted cGAS phase condensation and activation.
Host cell encoded cGAS is a critical DNA sensor to detect invading pathogens. The stress‐granule protein G3BP1 engages cGAS in a primary condensation state to enable a rapid response to free DNA.
Chiral algebra from worldsheet Li, Wei
The journal of high energy physics,
06/2024, Volume:
2024, Issue:
6
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
A
bstract
The chiral algebra of a 4D
N
≥ 2 superconformal field theory is a vertex operator algebra generated by the Schur subsector of the 4D theory and its rigid (yet rich) structure has been ...useful in constraining and classifying 4D
N
= 2 SCFTs. We study how the chiral algebra arises from the worldsheet perspective. In the worldsheet CFT dual of 4D
N
= 4 SYM at the free point, we extract the subsector that corresponds to the spacetime Schur operators at
generic
coupling, and show how they generate the chiral algebra. The result can be easily generalized to 4D
N
= 2 superconformal field theories that arise as orbifolds of 4D
N
= 4 SYM.
The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has received much attention in recent decades and has been a novel inflammatory marker. NLR has been applied in predicting the prognosis of malignancies, ...mortality, and chronic diseases. Additionally, hypertension, defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mm Hg, a previous diagnosis of hypertension, and taking any antihypertensive drug, has been one of the most common chronic diseases in Asia and is currently the most important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases worldwide. Thus, we aimed to investigate the correlation between NLR and prevalent hypertension in the Taiwanese population. From the data of routine health checkups at the General Health Promotion Center in the Tri-Service General Hospital (TSGH), a total of 6278 participants were included. The NLR value was divided into tertiles. The Cox regression model revealed that the highest NLR group tended to be hypertensive (HR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.03-1.59) after adjustment. Individuals were also divided into age-specific, BMI-specific, or sex-specific groups; compared with the lowest NLR group, elderly individuals in the highest tertile of NLR were relatively likely to be hypertensive after covariate adjustment (HR = 1.88, 95% CI 1.19-2.96). Furthermore, a male group aged more than 60 years was reported to have a significant association with hypertension (HR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.06-3.18). However, there was no significant difference in the BMI-based stratified groups, even after adjustment. Our research revealed a significant association between the NLR and incident hypertension, especially in elderly or male Taiwanese individuals.
Building on the control-value theory, the present study examined the independent and joint predictive effects of three emotions—enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom—on L2 achievement over time. The ...participants of the study were a group of junior secondary English learners in rural China, a population that has hitherto never featured in L2 learning research. Questionnaire data and achievement data were collected at four different time points (Time 1–Time 4: T1–T4) from a large sample of 954 learners. Structural equation modeling results show that: (a) the three emotions at T1 predicted English achievement at T2 (one week after T1) and T3 (five weeks after T1) independently, while only enjoyment predicted achievement at T4 (nine weeks after T1); (b) when combined, enjoyment was the strongest and most enduring predictor across T2–T4, followed by anxiety predicting achievement at T2–T3 negatively, while boredom completely lost its predictive power across T2–T4.
Pursuit-evasion is fascinating in both nature and artificial world. Typically, a pursuer runs faster than its targeted evader while with less agile maneuverability. Naturally, there is a wonder that ...how an evader escapes from a faster pursuer or how faster a pursuer is able to capture an agile evader? This is not yet answered from the dynamics (i.e., Lagrangian or Newtonian) perspective. In this paper, we first provide a concise dynamics formulation from a bio-inspired perspective, in which the evader's escape strategy consists of two simplest possible yet efficient ingredients integrated as an organic whole, i.e., the suddenly turning-left or turning-right propelling maneuver, together with the early alert condition for starting and maintaining this maneuver. Then, we characterize the dynamic properties of the system at two different levels: 1) the maneuvers and non-trivial escape of the evader, at the level of individual runs of the system; and further 2) the non-trivial escape zones, the sharp phase-transitions and the phase-transition lines of the gaming outcome, at the level of the running results with respect to different ranges of the system parameters. The results are consistent with natural observations and may disclose some clues of natural laws, as well as imply applications in competition of autonomous mobile robots.
Chlorine disinfection to drinking water plays an important role in preventing and controlling waterborne disease outbreaks globally. Nevertheless, little is known about why it enriches the antibiotic ...resistance genes (ARGs) in bacteria after chlorination. Here, ARGs released from killed antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), and culturable chlorine-injured bacteria produced in the chlorination process as the recipient, were investigated to determine their contribution to the horizontal transfer of ARGs during disinfection treatment. We discovered Escherichia coli, Salmonella aberdeen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis showed diverse resistance to sodium hypochlorite, and transferable RP4 could be released from killed sensitive donor consistently. Meanwhile, the survival of chlorine-tolerant injured bacteria with enhanced cell membrane permeabilisation and a strong oxidative stress-response demonstrated that a physiologically competent cell could be transferred by RP4 with an improved transformation frequency of up to 550 times compared with the corresponding untreated bacteria. Furthermore, the water quality factors involving chemical oxygen demand (COD
), ammonium nitrogen and metal ions (Ca
and K
) could significantly promote above transformation frequency of released RP4 into injured E. faecalis. Our findings demonstrated that the chlorination process promoted the horizontal transfer of plasmids by natural transformation, which resulted in the exchange of ARGs across bacterial genera and the emergence of new ARB, as well as the transfer of chlorine-injured opportunistic pathogen from non-ARB to ARB. Considering that the transfer elements were quite resistant to degradation through disinfection, this situation poses a potential risk to public health.
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