Study on the Effect of Sorghum Flour Particle Size on the Storage Quality of Leavened Pancakes.

Pancakes prepared with sorghum flour possess a high nutritional value, yet their quality is unstable and prone to degradation during storage. This instability can be attributed to the particle size of coarse cereal powder, which significantly influences the quality of flour products during storage. In this study, changes in the quality of these pancakes, prepared with varying particle sizes of sorghum flour, were meticulously analyzed during cold storage using advanced instruments such as a texture analyzer, nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, differential scanning calorimeter, X-ray diffractometer, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. Findings revealed that the hardness of leavened pancakes significantly increased over time. After a refrigeration period of 7 days, the hardness of wheat flour leavened pancakes increased by 56.60%. However, with a decrease in the particle size of sorghum flour, the increase in hardness diminished, thereby delaying the aging process of the pancakes. As the storage duration was extended, moisture migration within the pancakes occurred, and the sorghum flour pancakes with a smaller particle size exhibited a reduced moisture change rate, indicating an enhanced water holding capacity. In comparison to their wheat flour counterparts, sorghum flour leavened pancakes exhibited a substantial reduction in retrogradation enthalpy and crystallinity. The inclusion of sorghum flour effectively inhibited amylopectin recrystallization, thus slowing down the aging process of the pancakes. This inhibitory effect was more evident with decreasing sorghum flour particle sizes. Fourier transform infrared data indicated no significant alterations in absorption peaks across various wavelengths during cold storage. Although starch short-range orderliness increased with storage time, the use of sorghum flour with smaller particles reduced the degree of short-range orderliness in starch molecules throughout the cold storage period. Sorghum flour with a smaller particle size can inhibit water migration and amylopectin recrystallization, which subsequently delays pancake aging and enhances its quality stability during storage.

Selection of indicators reporting response rate in pharmaceutical trials for systemic lupus erythematosus: preference and relative sensitivity.

OBJECTIVE: SLE is a common multisystem autoimmune disease with chronic inflammation. Many efficacy evaluation indicators of randomised clinical trials (RCTs) for SLE have been proposed but the comparability remains unknown. We aim to explore the preference and comparability of indicators reporting response rate and provide basis for primary outcome selection when evaluating the efficacy of SLE pharmaceutical treatment. METHODS: We systematically searched three databases and three registries to identify pharmacological intervention-controlled SLE RCTs. Relative discriminations between indicators were assessed by the Bayesian hierarchical linear mixed model. RESULTS: 33 RCTs met our inclusion criteria and we compared eight of the most commonly used indicators reporting response rate. SLE Disease Activity Index 4 (SLEDAI-4) and SLE Responder Index 4 were considered the best recommended indicators reporting response rate to discriminate the pharmacological efficacy. Indicator preference was altered by disease severity, classification of drugs and outcome of trials, but SLEDAI-4 had robust efficacy in discriminating ability for most interventions. Of note, BILAG Index-based Combined Lupus Assessment showed efficacy in trials covering all-severity patients, as well as non-biologics RCTs. The British Isles Lupus Assessment Group response and Physician's Global Assessment response were more cautious in evaluating disease changes. Serious adverse event was often applied to evaluate the safety and tolerability of treatments rather than efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: The impressionable efficacy discrimination ability of indicators highlights the importance of flexibility and comprehensiveness when choosing primary outcome(s). As for trials that are only evaluated by SLEDAI-4, attention should be paid to outcome interpretation to avoid the exaggeration of treatment efficacy. Further subgroup analyses are limited by the number of included RCTs. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42022334517.

Global epidemiology of atopic dermatitis: a comprehensive systematic analysis and modelling study.

BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the leading cause of the global burden from skin disease; no study has provided global and country-specific epidemiological estimates of AD. OBJECTIVES: To quantify global, regional and country-specific estimates of the epidemiology of AD. METHODS: A comprehensive search for epidemiological studies in AD was conducted in four electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure). A Bayesian hierarchical linear mixed model was constructed to calculate epidemiological estimates of AD considering the heterogeneity of regions, countries, type of diagnoses and age strata. RESULTS: In total, 344 studies met the inclusion criteria. Incidence varied substantially with the location and age of the surveyed participants. The global prevalence of AD and the population affected by AD were estimated to be 2.6% [95% uncertainty interval (UI) 1.9-3.5] and 204.05 million people, respectively. Around 101.27 million adults and 102.78 million children worldwide have AD, corresponding to prevalence rates of 2.0% (95% UI 1.4-2.6) and 4.0% (95% UI 2.8-5.3), respectively. Females were more likely to suffer from AD than males: the global prevalence of AD in females was 2.8% (95% UI 2.0-3.7%) and affected 108.29 million people, while in males the corresponding estimates were 2.4% (95% UI 1.7-3.3%) and 95.76 million people. CONCLUSIONS: Epidemiological AD data are lacking in 41.5% of countries worldwide. The epidemiology of AD varies substantially with age and sex and is distributed unequally across geographical regions.

Global, regional, and national incidence and prevalence of systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the global and country-specific unbiased epidemiological data of SSc. METHODS: Epidemiological studies were systematically searched in four databases. A Bayesian hierarchical linear mixed model was constructed to estimate epidemiological data. RESULTS: 82 studies were included and epidemiological data on SSc were missing for 83.9% of countries worldwide. The global SSc incidence and newly diagnosed population were estimated to be 8.64 per 100,000 person-years (1.78-23.57) and 0.67 million (0.14-1.84) people annually, respectively. Regarding prevalence, the global SSc prevalence and affected population were 18.87 per 100,000 persons (1.55-25.28) and 1.47 million (0.12-1.97) people, respectively. Relatively higher incidence and prevalence were observed in females, adults, and high-income level countries. CONCLUSIONS: We provide a comprehensive synthesis of SSc epidemiology and fill data gaps in most countries. Especially in low- and middle-income countries, epidemiological studies of SSc are insufficient. Further large-scale and standardized reported epidemiological investigations of SSc are imperative.

Global epidemiology of systemic lupus erythematosus: a comprehensive systematic analysis and modelling study.

OBJECTIVES: To quantify global, regional and country-specific estimates of epidemiology of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: Four databases were systematically searched, and a Bayesian hierarchical linear mixed model was constructed to estimate the global, regional, and country-specific incidence and prevalence of SLE. RESULTS: 112 studies met the inclusion criteria. The global SLE incidence and newly diagnosed population were estimated to be 5.14 (1.4 to 15.13) per 100 000 person-years and 0.40 million people annually, respectively. In women, the values were 8.82 (2.4 to 25.99) per 100 000 person-years and 0.34 million people annually, while in men, the estimates were 1.53 (0.41 to 4.46) per 100 000 person-years and 0.06 million people annually, respectively. Poland, the USA and Barbados had the highest estimates of SLE incidence. Regarding prevalence, the global SLE prevalence and affected population were estimated to be 43.7 (15.87 to 108.92) per 100 000 persons and 3.41 million people, respectively. In women, the values were 78.73 (28.61 to 196.33) per 100 000 persons and 3.04 million people, while in men the estimates were 9.26 (3.36 to 22.97) per 100 000 persons and 0.36 million people, respectively. The United Arab Emirates, Barbados and Brazil had the highest SLE prevalence. In addition to regional and sex differences, age and prevalence estimation method (period or point prevalence) differences could also lead to variations in epidemiological SLE findings. CONCLUSIONS: Epidemiological data on SLE are lacking for 79.8% of countries worldwide. The epidemiology of SLE varies substantially between different sex and age groups and is distributed unequally among geographical regions; specifically, SLE occurs more frequently in high-income countries.

Bioinformatics identifies predictors of arteriovenous fistula maturation.

BACKGROUND: Arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) are the preferred access for hemodialysis but still have poor rates of maturation and patency limiting their clinical use. The underlying mechanisms of venous remodeling remain poorly understood, and only limited numbers of unbiased approaches have been reported. METHODS: Biological Gene Ontology (GO) term enrichment analysis and differentially expressed genes (DEG) analysis were performed for three AVF datasets. A microRNA enrichment analysis and L1000CDS2 query were performed to identify factors predicting AVF patency. RESULTS: The inflammatory and immune responses were activated during both early and late phases of AVF maturation, with upregulation of neutrophil and leukocyte regulation, cytokine production, and cytokine-mediated signaling. In men with failed AVF, negative regulation of myeloid-leukocyte differentiation and regulation of macrophage activation were significantly upregulated. Compared to non-diabetic patients, diabetic patients had significantly reduced immune response-related enrichment such as cell activation in immune response, regulation of immune-effector process, and positive regulation of defense response; in addition, diabetic patients showed no enrichment of the immune response-regulating signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: These data show coordinated, and differential regulation of genes associated with AVF maturation, and different patterns of several pathways are associated with sex differences in AVF failure. Inflammatory and immune responses are activated during AVF maturation and diabetes may impair AVF maturation by altering these responses. These findings suggest several novel molecular targets to improve sex specific AVF maturation.

The Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Interventional Trials in Mainland China: A Continuous Challenge.

Objectives: More than a quarter of single-country systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) interventional randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were conducted in China. To help develop management guidelines and set benchmarks for future SLE research, a systematic review of current trials is needed. Methods: We searched systematically three databases and four registries to summarize the interventional RCTs in mainland China and identify factors associated with participant loss. The internal validity of trials was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for assessing risk of bias. The odds ratio (OR) was defined as the ratio of the odds of less than 10% loss to follow-up in the presence or absence of different factors. Results: A total of 188 trials met our inclusion criteria, and 15·5% of trials conducted in mainland China ranked low risk of bias. Participant loss was significantly higher among trials that had a defined primary outcome or were registered {primary outcome identification (0·02 [0·00-0·23]) and registration (0·14 [0·03-0·69])}. Trials examining traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) pharmacological treatments had an 8·16-fold (8·16 [1·28-51·98]) higher probability of having low participant loss than trials examining non-TCM pharmacological treatment trials, and trials that did not report masking status had a 15·95-fold (15·95 [2·45-103·88]) higher probability of having low participant loss than open-label trials. In addition, published articles in Chinese also had higher probability of having low participant loss (5·39 [1·10-26·37]). Conclusion: SLE trials conducted in mainland China were of relatively poor quality. This situation, including nonrigorous design, lack of registration, and absence of compliance reporting, needs to be ameliorated. To maintain the fundamental repeatability and comparability of mainland China SLE RCTs, transparency of the clinical trial process and complete reporting of the trial data are crucial and urgently needed.

Evitar: designing anti-viral RNA therapies against future RNA viruses.

MOTIVATION: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the threat of emerging respiratory viruses and has exposed the lack of availability of off-the-shelf therapeutics against new RNA viruses. Previous research has established the potential that siRNAs and RNA-targeting CRISPR have in combating known RNA viruses. However, the feasibility and tools for designing anti-viral RNA therapeutics against future RNA viruses have not yet been established. RESULTS: We develop the Emerging-Virus-Targeting RNA (Evitar) pipeline for designing anti-viral siRNAs and CRISPR Cas13a guide RNA (gRNA) sequences. Within Evitar, we develop Greedy Algorithm with Redundancy and Similarity-weighted Greedy Algorithm with Redundancy to enhance the performance. Time simulations using known coronavirus genomes deposited as early as 10 years prior to the COVID-19 outbreak show that at least three SARS-CoV-2-targeting siRNAs are among the top 30 pre-designed siRNAs. In addition, among the top 19 pre-designed gRNAs, there are three SARS-CoV-2-targeting Cas13a gRNAs that could be predicted using information from 2011. Before-the-outbreak design is also possible against the MERS-CoV virus and the 2009-H1N1 swine flu virus. Designed siRNAs are further shown to suppress SARS-CoV-2 viral sequences using in vitro reporter assays. Our results support the utility of Evitar to pre-design anti-viral siRNAs/gRNAs against future viruses. Therefore, we propose the development of a collection consisting of roughly 30 pre-designed, safety-tested and off-the-shelf siRNA/CRISPR therapeutics that could accelerate responses to future RNA virus outbreaks. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: Codes are available at GitHub (https://github.com/dingyaozhang/Evitar). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

The global burden of heterogeneity of lupus erythematosus interventional trials.

To explore bias in lupus erythematosus (LE) randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and to help the development of benchmarks for future trials and management. We searched systematically three databases and three registries to summarize the interventional randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and identify factors associated with participant loss. Trials which examined pharmacological interventions with control group were included and a meta-analysis was carried out by using fixed and random effects models to calculate risk ratio of participant loss in the intervention and control groups. A total of 481 trials with 68,582 participants met our inclusion criteria, organ specific interventional studies along with trials that address quality of life attributes and geopolitical disparities are missing or lagging behind. 90 trials were involved in the meta-analyses, the withdrawal ratio between intervention and control groups was distinctly influenced by national income of the trial-conducted country. In high income countries, the withdrawal ratio was relatively constant, while for trials conducted in low and middle income countries, the results were altered by trial registration, year of start, number of centers, number of participants, and primary outcome identification. Moreover, the comparability of participants was also worrying, trial location and registration status altered basal participant adherence. Our study reveals the unexpectedly huge heterogeneity brought by national income and trial registration in lupus RCTs worldwide. To maintain the fundamental repeatability and referenceability of LE RCTs, rigorously designed single-country trials with diverse inclusion criteria are needed.

5-Fluorouracil efficacy requires anti-tumor immunity triggered by cancer-cell-intrinsic STING.

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a widely used chemotherapeutic drug, but the mechanisms underlying 5-FU efficacy in immunocompetent hosts in vivo remain largely elusive. Through modeling 5-FU response of murine colon and melanoma tumors, we report that effective reduction of tumor burden by 5-FU is dependent on anti-tumor immunity triggered by the activation of cancer-cell-intrinsic STING. While the loss of STING does not induce 5-FU resistance in vitro, effective 5-FU responsiveness in vivo requires cancer-cell-intrinsic cGAS, STING, and subsequent type I interferon (IFN) production, as well as IFN-sensing by bone-marrow-derived cells. In the absence of cancer-cell-intrinsic STING, a much higher dose of 5-FU is needed to reduce tumor burden. 5-FU treatment leads to increased intratumoral T cells, and T-cell depletion significantly reduces the efficacy of 5-FU in vivo. In human colorectal specimens, higher STING expression is associated with better survival and responsiveness to chemotherapy. Our results support a model in which 5-FU triggers cancer-cell-initiated anti-tumor immunity to reduce tumor burden, and our findings could be harnessed to improve therapeutic effectiveness and toxicity for colon and other cancers.

Risk of adverse events from different drugs for SLE: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The comparative safety of immunosuppressive drugs, biologicals and glucocorticoids (GC) for patients with SLE remains controversial. We aimed to investigate the specific side effects of the available SLE drugs in this population of patients. METHODS: Electronic databases were systematically searched through September 2017 for randomised trials in patients with SLE. The primary outcomes were all-cause mortality and withdrawal related to adverse events (AEs). We performed a random-effects network meta-analysis to obtain estimates for primary and secondary outcomes and presented these estimates as ORs with 95% CIs. RESULTS: Forty-four studies comprising 9898 participants were included in the network meta-analysis. No drug regimen was considered to be safer for reducing all-cause mortality. However, compared with cyclophosphamide, azathioprine (OR 3.04, 95% CI (1.44 to 6.42)) and cyclosporine (OR 3.28, 95% CI (1.04 to 10.35)) were significantly less safety in AE-related withdrawals, and GC was ranked lowest and led to higher withdrawal rates. Tacrolimus (TAC) was ranked high and showed a benefit in many outcomes. Biologicals and chloroquine also showed good safety in all of the available outcomes, while the beneficial effects of other immunosuppressive drugs were not substantial in different types of serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: TAC is the safest strategy for patients with SLE. Biologicals and chloroquine are also fairly safe for patients with SLE. The use of other immunosuppressive drugs and GC needs to be balanced against the potential harms of different types of AEs, and the practical safety of drug combinations still requires further trials to evaluate.

Combined treatment for non-small cell lung cancer and breast cancer patients with brain metastases with whole brain radiotherapy and temozolomide: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Brain metastasis is the leading cause of death among advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and breast cancer patients. The standard treatment for brain metastases is radiotherapy. The combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy has been tested. However, the management of brain metastases has yet to be successful. Here, we aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) alone or in combination with temozolomide (TMZ) in NSCLC and breast cancer patients with brain metastases. A systematic review of PubMed, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) and WANFANG (WANGFANG data) involving 870 patients were conducted. Fourteen randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were independently identified by two reviewers. The primary outcome measures were objective response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and toxicity. The ORR was better with combination therapy of WBRT and TMZ than with WBRT alone (RR = 1.34, p < 0.00001) and subgroup analysis showed a significantly superior ORR in NSCLC patients (RR = 1.38, p < 0.00001), but not in breast cancer patients (RR = 1.03, p = 0.86). OS and PFS did not significantly differ between combination therapy and WBRT alone. A higher rate of toxicity was observed in combination therapy than in WBRT alone (RR = 1.83, p = 0.0006). No advantages of concurrent WBRT and TMZ were observed in breast cancer patients with brain metastases. Combination therapy was associated with improved ORR in NSCLC patients, especially in Chinese patients. As a "surrogate endpoint" for OS, ORR may allow a conclusion to be made about the management of NSCLC with brain metastases with the combination of WBRT and TMZ. However, it needs to be validated to show that improved ORR predicts the treatment effects on the clinical benefit. The ORR may be valid for a particular indication such as status of MGMT promoter methylation.

Validation of the chinese version of the EORTC QLQ-CR29 in patients with colorectal cancer.

AIM: To assess the validity and reliability of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Colorectal Cancer 29 (EORTC QLQ-CR29) in Chinese patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: From March 2014 to January 2015, 356 patients with CRC from four different hospitals in China were enrolled in the study, and all patients self-administered the EORTC QLQ-CR29 and the quality of life core questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30). Evaluation of the scores was based on the Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS). The reliability and validity of the questionnaires were assessed by Cronbach's α coefficient, the Spearman correlation test and Wilcoxon rank sum test. RESULTS: The EORTC QLQ-CR29 showed satisfactory reliability (α > 0.7), although the urinary frequency and blood and mucus in stool dimensions had only moderate reliability (α = 0.608). The multitrait scaling analyses showed good convergent (r > 0.4) and discriminant validity. Significant differences were obtained for each item in the different KPS subgroups (KPS ≤ 80; KPS > 80). Body image and most single-item dimensions showed statistically significant differences in patients with a stoma compared with the rest of the patients. CONCLUSION: The EORTC QLQ-CR29 exhibits high validity and reliability in Chinese patients with CRC, and can therefore be recommended as a valuable tool for the assessment of quality of life in these patients.

Questionnaire to assess quality of life in patients with breast cancer - Validation of the Chinese version of the EORTC QLQ-BR 53.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Breast Cancer (EORTC QLQ-BR53) questionnaire firstly in north of China. METHODS: A total of 294 outpatients with breast cancer in Tianjin Cancer Institution and Hospital from November 2014 to August 2015 were enrolled in this study. All patients self-administered the EORTC QLQ-BR25 and the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36). The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) scoring was performed to evaluate scores. Internal consistency reliability was determined by Cronbach's α coefficient for each dimension, with a Cronbach's α coefficient ≥0.7 considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: A satisfactory internal consistency reliability for most multi-item scales was confirmed, as Cronbach's α coefficients were close or greater than 0.7 except for breast symptoms (0.615). Multiple-trait scaling analysis demonstrated a good convergent and divergent validity of EORTC QLQ-BR53. Using SF-36 as a reference standard to evaluate the dimensions of EORTC QLQ-BR53, most items in EORTC QLQ-BR53 possessed a favorable correlation with its own dimension (r > 0.4). A statistically significant difference was discovered in dimension scores between patients grouped by ECOG scores except for individual dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: The Chinese version of EORTC QLQ-BR53 is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring the quality of life among Chinese patients with breast cancer.