Metabolic effect of adrenaline infusion in people with type 1 diabetes and healthy individuals.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: As a result of early loss of the glucagon response, adrenaline is the primary counter-regulatory hormone in type 1 diabetes. Diminished adrenaline responses to hypoglycaemia due to counter-regulatory failure are common in type 1 diabetes, and are probably induced by exposure to recurrent hypoglycaemia, however, the metabolic effects of adrenaline have received less research attention, and also there is conflicting evidence regarding adrenaline sensitivity in type 1 diabetes. Thus, we aimed to investigate the metabolic response to adrenaline and explore whether it is modified by prior exposure to hypoglycaemia. METHODS: Eighteen participants with type 1 diabetes and nine healthy participants underwent a three-step ascending adrenaline infusion during a hyperinsulinaemic-euglycaemic clamp. Continuous glucose monitoring data obtained during the week before the study day were used to assess the extent of hypoglycaemia exposure. RESULTS: While glucose responses during the clamp were similar between people with type 1 diabetes and healthy participants, plasma concentrations of NEFAs and glycerol only increased in the group with type 1 diabetes (p<0.001). Metabolomics revealed an increase in the most common NEFAs (p<0.01). Other metabolic responses were generally similar between participants with type 1 diabetes and healthy participants. Exposure to hypoglycaemia was negatively associated with the NEFA response; however, this was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: In conclusion, individuals with type 1 diabetes respond with increased lipolysis to adrenaline compared with healthy participants by mobilising the abundant NEFAs in plasma, whereas other metabolic responses were similar. This may suggest that the metabolic sensitivity to adrenaline is altered in a pathway-specific manner in type 1 diabetes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05095259.

Accelerated Screening of Alternative DNA Base-Organic Molecule-Base Architectures via Integrated Theory and Experiment.

Organic molecule-mediated noncanonical DNA self-assembly expands the standard DNA base-pairing alphabets. However, only a very limited number of small molecules have been recognized as mediators because of the tedious and complicated experiments like crystallization and microscopy imaging. Here we present an integrative screening protocol incorporating molecular dynamics (MD) for fast theoretical simulation and native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for convenient experimental validation. Melamine, the molecule that was confirmed mediating noncanonical DNA base-pairing, and 38 other candidate molecules were applied to demonstrate the feasibility of this protocol. We successfully identified seven stable noncanonical DNA duplex structures, and another eight novel structures with sub-stability. In addition, we discovered that hairpins at both ends can significantly stabilize the noncanonical DNA structures, providing a guideline to design small organic molecule-incorporated DNA structures. Such an efficient screening protocol will accelerate the design of alternative DNA-molecule architectures beyond Watson-Crick pairs. Considering the wide range of potential mediators, it will also facilitate applications such as noncovalent, highly dense loading of drug molecules in DNA-based delivery system and probe design for sensitive detection of certain molecules.

Effect of chemotherapy and different chemotherapy regimens on bone health among Chinese breast cancer women in different menstrual status: a self-control study.

PURPOSE: Although the therapy-related bone loss attracts increasing attention nowadays, the differences in chemotherapy-induced bone loss and bone metabolism indexes change among breast cancer (BC) women with different menstrual statuses or chemotherapy regimens are unknown. The aim of the study is to explore the effects of different regimens of chemotherapy on bone health. METHOD: The self-control study enrolled 118 initially diagnosed BC women without distant metastasis who underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) bone mineral density (BMD) screening and (or) bone metabolism index monitoring during chemotherapy at Chongqing Breast Cancer Center. Mann-Whitney U test, Cochran's Q test, and Wilcoxon sign rank test were performed. RESULTS: After chemotherapy, the BMD in the lumbar 1-4 and whole lumbar statistically decreased (- 1.8%/per 6 months), leading to a significantly increased proportion of osteoporosis (27.1% vs. 20.5%, P < 0.05), which were mainly seen in the premenopausal group (- 7.0%/per 6 months). Of the chemotherapeutic regimens of EC (epirubicin + cyclophosphamide), TC (docetaxel + cyclophosphamide), TEC (docetaxel + epirubicin + cyclophosphamide), and EC-T(H) [epirubicin + cyclophosphamide-docetaxel and/or trastuzumab], EC regimen had the least adverse impact on BMD, while the EC-TH regimen reduced BMD most (P < 0.05) inspite of the non-statistical difference between EC-T regimen, which was mainly seen in the postmenopausal group. Chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea (estradiol 94 pg/ml vs, 22 pg/ml; FSH 9.33 mIU/ml vs. 61.27 mIU/ml) was proved in premenopausal subgroup (P < 0.001). Except the postmenopausal population with calcium/VitD supplement, the albumin-adjusted calcium increased significantly (2.21 mmol/l vs. 2.33 mmol/l, P < 0.05) after chemotherapy. In postmenopausal group with calcium/VitD supplement, ß-CTX decreased significantly (0.56 ng/ml vs. 0.39 ng/ml, P < 0.05) and BMD were not affected by chemotherapy (P > 0. 05). In premenopausal group with calcium/VitD supplement, PTH decreased significantly (52.90 pg/ml vs. 28.80 pg/ml, P = 0. 008) and hip BMD increased after chemotherapy (0.845 g/m2 vs. 0.952 g/m2, P = 0. 006). As for both postmenopausal and premenopausal group without calcium/VitD supplement, there was a significant decrease in bone mass in hip and lumbar vertebrae after chemotherapy (0.831 g/m2 vs. 0.776 g/m2; 0.895 g/m2 vs. 0.870 g/m2, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Chemotherapy might induce lumbar vertebrae BMD loss and spine osteoporosis with regimen differences among Chinese BC patients. Calcium/VitD supplementation could improve bone turnover markers, bone metabolism indicators, and bone mineral density. Early interventions on bone health are needed for BC patients during chemotherapy.

Prevalence and gender disparity of those who screen positive for depression in China by the classification of the employer and industry: a cross-sectional, population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The important role of mental health in sustainable economic development is gradually being recognized. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and gender disparity of those who screen positive for depression in China by the employer and industrial classification. METHODS: We used data from a nationally representative survey, the China Family Panel Studies. Depression was judged by the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Employer classifications were categorized according to the local characteristics of Mainland China. Industrial classifications were defined using level-1 of the China version of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities. Weighted logistic regressions were fitted to estimate the gender disparities, controlling for confounders. RESULTS: Forty eight thousand six hundred twenty eight adults were included. 18.7% (95%CI 18.1-19.4) of sampled adults were screened positive for depression symptoms, with 16.6% (95%CI 15.8-17.5) in males vs 21.0% (95%CI 20.1-22.0) in females. By classification of the employer, the prevalence was lowest among those employed by Government/party organisations (11.8%, 95%CI 8.9-15.4), and highest in those self-employed (21.8%, 95%CI 20.8-22.9); the gender disparity was mainly found in those employed by Sole proprietorship (Adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.95, 95%CI 1.19-3.19) and Private enterprise (AOR = 1.34, 95%CI 1.13-1.59), as well as those self-employed (AOR = 1.49, 95%CI 1.3-1.17). By industrial classification, the prevalence was lowest among those who worked in the industry of Real estate (7.2%, 95%CI 4.8-10.6), and highest among those who worked in the industry of Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishing (22.9%, 95%CI 15.5-32.4); the gender disparity was mainly found in those who worked in the industry of Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishing (AOR = 3.29, 95%CI 1.18-9.15), Manufacturing (AOR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.09-1.82), Wholesale and retail trade (AOR = 1.48, 95% CI 1.07-2.06), and Accommodation and food service (AOR = 1.91, 95% CI 1.15-3.18). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of depression in China had a wide variation by classifications of the employer and industry. Gender disparities were identified among workers from Sole proprietorship, Private enterprise, and self-employed, or workers from the industry of Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishing, Manufacturing, Wholesale and retail trade, and Accommodation and food service.

Population-specific cut-off points of fatty liver index: a study based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data.

BACKGROUND: Fatty liver index (FLI) is the most recognized blood biomarker for diagnosis of hepatic steatosis (HS), but lacks the reliable specific cut-off points (COPs). Therefore, we aim to investigate the population-specific COPs of FLI based on the results of liver ultrasound transient elastography (LUTE) and conventional ultrasonography in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). METHODS: 5948 participants who underwent LUTE from the NHANES 2017-2018 and 14,797 participants who underwent conventional ultrasonography from the Third NHANES (NHANES III) were recruited. FLI was calculated by using body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), triglyceride, and gamma-glutamyl transferase, and its optimal COPs in a specific population (stratified by sex, BMI, and WC) were obtained from receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curve with ultrasonic-diagnosed HS as the reference standard. RESULTS: Based on LUTE in NHANES 2017-2018, the prevalence of HS and metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) were 58.7% and 56.2%, respectively, and the optimal COP of FLI for HS diagnosis in the overall population was 45.60, with an area under ROC curve (AUROC) of 0.833 (0.822-0.844). Based on conventional ultrasonography in NHANES III, the prevalence of HS and MAFLD were 34.4% and 27. 9%, respectively, and the optimal COP of FLI for HS was 59.5, with an AUROC of 0.681 (0.671-0.691). With the increase of BMI and WC, the COPs increased gradually with significant differences between different groups. Compared with conventional ultrasonography, the COPs of FLI based on LUTE were much more precise, with higher diagnostic ability. The population-specific COPs of FLI stratified by gender, WC, and BMI were tabulated. CONCLUSION: In the United States, the incidences of HS and MAFLD were high, especially when assessed by LUTE. The FLI based on LUTE is well capable of predicting HS when stratified by gender, WC, and BMI.

Resilience and intention of healthcare workers in China to receive a COVID-19 vaccination: The mediating role of life satisfaction and stigma.

AIMS: The present study investigated the association between resilience, stigma, life satisfaction and the intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccination among Chinese HCWs. It also explored the mediating role of stigma and life satisfaction on the association between resilience and intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. DESIGN: An anonymous cross-sectional survey. METHODS: 1733 HCWs from five hospitals in four provinces of mainland China completed a cross-sectional online survey in October and November 2020. RESULTS: Among the HCWs, the rate of intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccination was 73.1%. Results from structural equation modelling showed that resilience was associated both directly, and indirectly with greater intent to receive a COVID-19 vaccination through two pathways: first by increasing life satisfaction, and second by reducing stigma and increasing life satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Promoting the resilience of HCWs has the potential to increase the COVID-19 vaccination uptake rate among HCWs in China. IMPACT: This study tested the relationship between several psychological factors and the COVID-19 vaccination intention of HCWs in China, finding that resilience played a significant role in improving COVID-19 vaccination intention rates by reducing stigma and increasing life satisfaction.

The Effective Coverage of Homogeneous Teams with Radial Attenuation Models.

For the area coverage (e.g., using a WSN), despite the comprehensive research works on full-plane coverage using a multi-node team equipped with the ideal constant model, only very few works have discussed the coverage of practical models with varying intensity. This paper analyzes the properties of the effective coverage of multi-node teams consisting of a given numbers of nodes. Each node is equipped with a radial attenuation disk model as its individual model of coverage, which conforms to the natural characteristics of devices in the real world. Based on our previous analysis of 2-node teams, the properties of the effective coverage of 3-node and n-node (n≥4) teams in regular geometric formations are analyzed as generalized cases. Numerical analysis and simulations for 3-node and n-node teams (n≥4) are conducted separately. For the 3-node cases, the relations between the side lengths of equilateral triangle formation and the effective coverage of the team equipped with two different types of models are respectively inspected. For the n-node cases (n≥4), the effective coverage of a team in three formations, namely regular polygon, regular star, and equilateral triangular tessellation (for n=6), are investigated. The results can be applied to many scenarios, either dynamic (e.g., robots with sensors) or static, where a team of multiple nodes cooperate to produce a larger effective coverage.

Potential joint effects of perceptions related to COVID-19 and future social development on depressive symptoms: a Chinese population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant negative socio-political, economic, and psychological consequences. AIMS: To investigate the impact of individual-level (illness representations of COVID-19) and structurally derived (anticipated social-political development in the economy, security, and social harmony in the next year) factors, and their potential moderation effects on depressive symptoms. METHODS: An anonymous population-based telephone survey was conducted among the general public of Hong Kong, China during 3-10 April 2020 (n = 300, response rate 56%). Depressive symptoms were assessed by the validated Chinese version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. RESULTS: Of the participants, 8.7% showed probable moderate-to-severe depression. Hierarchical linear regression models showed that illness representations of personal/treatment control and emotional responses and anticipated deterioration in social harmony were independently and significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Anticipated deterioration in security significantly moderated the associations between perceived consequence/treatment control of COVID-19 and depressive symptoms, such that the associations were stronger among people who anticipated a strong deterioration in security. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggested that perceptions of COVID-19 and future social-political development jointly and interactively contributed to depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health professionals and promotions should take the multiple-level mental health determinants into account.

Impact of Minority Stress and Poor Mental Health on Sexual Risk Behaviors among Transgender Women Sex Workers in Shenyang, China.

This study examined the associations between minority stressors, poor mental health, and sexual risk behaviors, and whether there were interactive effects of minority stress and mental health factors in their associations with sexual risk behaviors in a sample of Chinese transgender women sex workers (TGSW). A cross-sectional study was conducted in 204 TGSW in Shenyang, China (mean age 33.4 years and 18.1% self-reported as HIV positive). We found a high prevalence of condomless anal intercourse (CAI) with male clients (27.9%) and CAI with male regular partners (49.5%) in the past three months among TGSW. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that discrimination, victimization, and life dissatisfaction were significantly associated with higher odds of CAI with male clients (AOR range: 1.05-1.42, all p < 0.05). Likewise, CAI with male regular partners was more frequently reported by participants who experienced higher levels of victimization, rejection, and anxiety (AOR range: 1.37-2.88, all p < 0.05). No significant interaction effects of gender minority stress and mental health on sexual behaviors were observed. Interventions addressing the multiple psychosocial risks are warranted to prevent behavioral risks of TGSW.

Health-related quality of life after first-ever acute ischemic stroke: associations with cardiovascular health metrics.

PURPOSE: To investigate the associations between cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics and health-related quality of life (HRQL) among patients with ischemic stroke in China, and further explore the role of physical and cognitive function in their associations. METHODS: This hospital-based study included 1714 patients with first-ever acute ischemic stroke (age ≥ 40 years; 36.7% women) who were admitted to two university hospitals in Shandong, China. We collected information on seven CVH metrics (smoking, body mass index, diet, physical activity, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose) through interviews, clinical examinations, and laboratory tests. EQ-5D-3L was used to assess HRQL. Cognitive and physical functioning was assessed by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test and Barthel index, respectively. Data were analyzed using the general linear regression models. RESULTS: The average score (SD) was 0.746 (0.23) for HRQL index and 72.7 (15.8) for self-rated health. Optimal levels of four individual CVH metric components (diet, physical activity, blood pressure, and blood glucose) and a higher composite CVH score were significantly associated with a greater HRQL index and better self-rated health (p < 0.05 for all). Physical dependence and cognitive impairment were associated with a lower HRQL index and poorer self-rated health status (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the relationships between CVH metrics and HRQL index varied by functional status, such that their associations were statistically significant only among people who had physical dependence or cognitive impairment. CONCLUSION: Achieving a better cardiovascular health profile is associated with better quality of life among ischemic stroke survivors, primarily in those with physical or cognitive impairment.

The mediating role of self-stigma and self-efficacy between intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and depression among men who have sex with men in China.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that intimate partner violence (IPV) is prevalent in men who have sex with men (MSM). Mental health problems among MSM with IPV victimization have become a growing concern. The present study examined homosexual self-stigma and self-efficacy as potential mediators of the association between IPV victimization and depression. METHODS: We recruited 578 MSM from 15 cities across China. Participants completed sociodemographic measures, the IPV-GBM (IPV among gay and bisexual men) scale, the Self-Stigma Scale-Short Form (SSS-S), the General Self-Efficacy (GSE) Scale and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression 10 (CES-D-10). We calculated bias-corrected 95% confidence interval (CI) for total, direct and indirect effects using bootstrapping to conduct mediation analyses. RESULTS: Findings showed that the prevalence of IPV victimization and depression were 32.7% (189/578) and 36.0% (208/578), respectively. Result from mediation analysis using structural equation modeling indicated that the association between level of IPV victimization and depression among MSM was fully mediated by higher homosexual self-stigma and lower self-efficacy. Homosexual self-stigma had a direct effect and an indirect effect via self-efficacy on depression. CONCLUSION: The results provided evidence that integrated interventions that reduce self-stigma and foster self-efficacy could be promising approaches to decrease depression among MSM with IPV victimization.

Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model of consistent condom use among transgender women in Shenyang, China.

BACKGROUND: The Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) model has received consistent empirical support in the context of HIV prevention among various key populations, but not yet among transgender women (TGW). None effective interventions has been carried out among TGW so far to control their high prevalence of unprotected anal intercourse. The intent of the current study is to examine the application of the IMB model to clarifying the association between condom use correlates and condom use frequency among TGW in China. METHODS: Using snowball sampling, we recruited 198 self-identified TGW in Shenyang, China from April 2017 to July 2017. Participants were required to complete a questionnaire assessing their background characteristics and IMB model constructs. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to demonstrate the utility of the IMB model. RESULTS: The consistent condom use (CCU) rate was 47.0%. Results of SEM indicated that HIV-preventive motivation (comprising condom use attitude and subjective norms; ß = 0.823, P <  0.001) and behavioral skills (including condom use skills and self-efficacy; ß = 0.979, P = 0.004) were related to more frequent condom use, whereas HIV knowledge was unrelated to condom use (ß = 0.052, P = 0.540). CONCLUSIONS: The low CCU rate suggested that TGW in China were at high risk of HIV infection and transmission and a key intervention population. HIV-preventive interventions for this population should focus on enhancing motivation and strengthening behavioral skills to increase condom use frequency and reduce HIV infection.

Evaluation of smartphone APP-based case-management services among antiretroviral treatment-naïve HIV-positive men who have sex with men: a randomized controlled trial protocol.

BACKGROUND: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionally affected by HIV in China. 'Treatment as Prevention' is a promising strategy for HIV prevention but requires adequate adherence. Mobile health (mHealth) may be an acceptable and feasible approach for service delivery, but there is little evidence supporting mHealth intervention for improving antiretroviral treatment adherence among HIV-infected MSM in low- and middle-income countries, including China. This study will aim to develop a smartphone application-based case-management service and compare its efficacy to standard care with regards to adherence, CD4, HIV viral load and psychosocial outcomes among MSM patients in Guangzhou, China. METHODS: A non-blinded 1:1 parallel-group randomised controlled trial will be conducted in Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital, with 300 MSM enrolled in each arm. Eligible MSM who are newly initiating ART will be randomly assigned to an intervention group (standard-of-care case management plus mHealth intervention) or a control group (standard-of-care case management). The development of the mHealth intervention will be based on the information-motivation-behavioural skills theory of ART adherence, and comprise four components: educational articles, one-to-one online communication with case managers, support-service information and hospital-visit reminders. Outcome measures will be collected at baseline and at months 1, 3, 6, and 12. The primary outcomes will be ART adherence and CD4 count at month 6. Secondary outcomes include HIV RNA, sexual behaviours, mental health status, illness perceptions, and quality of life. χ2 test and t-test will be used for between-group comparisons. Intervention effects will be evaluated using General estimating equation performed by SAS 9.0, on the principle of intention-to-treat. Structural equation modelling will be used to test potential mechanisms of intervention effect. DISCUSSION: This study is the first to explore the efficacy of mHealth intervention in the case management services targeted at HIV-infected MSM in low-and middle-income countries. Once proven effective, the innovative mHealth service could be integrated into the routine case management of PLWH. as well as be tailored to the patient management service for other chronic conditions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrial.gov: NCT03860116; Registered on 1 March 2019.

Psychometric properties and normative data of the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale among Chinese adolescent students in Hong Kong.

This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC10) and generate normative data for Chinese adolescents. A total of 24,499 participants (male 52.1%, mean age 13.3 years) were enrolled in the school-based survey among 132 secondary schools in Hong Kong during 2017. The CD-RISC10 showed high reliability and confirmatory factor analysis supported a unidimensional structure. Metric invariance across the gender, age, and grade subgroups was demonstrated. CD-RISC10 scores were positively correlated with psychological well-being and negatively correlated with mental distress. Male and younger students had higher resilience scores. There were significant interaction effects of gender and age/grade, with CD-RISC10 scores decreasing with age/grade in females while similar trends were not observed in males. Overall, the findings suggest that CD-RISC10 is appropriate for use in Chinese adolescents. The availability of normative data will facilitate the interpretation and comparison of research results in future studies.

Storage Space Allocation Strategy for Digital Data with Message Importance.

This paper mainly focuses on the problem of lossy compression storage based on the data value that represents the subjective assessment of users when the storage size is still not enough after the conventional lossless data compression. To this end, we transform this problem to an optimization, which pursues the least importance-weighted reconstruction error in data reconstruction within limited total storage size, where the importance is adopted to characterize the data value from the viewpoint of users. Based on it, this paper puts forward an optimal allocation strategy in the storage of digital data by the exponential distortion measurement, which can make rational use of all the storage space. In fact, the theoretical results show that it is a kind of restrictive water-filling. It also characterizes the trade-off between the relative weighted reconstruction error and the available storage size. Consequently, if a relatively small part of total data value is allowed to lose, this strategy will improve the performance of data compression. Furthermore, this paper also presents that both the users' preferences and the special characteristics of data distribution can trigger the small-probability event scenarios where only a fraction of data can cover the vast majority of users' interests. Whether it is for one of the reasons above, the data with highly clustered message importance is beneficial to compression storage. In contrast, from the perspective of optimal storage space allocation based on data value, the data with a uniform information distribution is incompressible, which is consistent with that in the information theory.

Attention to the Variation of Probabilistic Events: Information Processing with Message Importance Measure.

Different probabilities of events attract different attention in many scenarios such as anomaly detection and security systems. To characterize the events' importance from a probabilistic perspective, the message importance measure (MIM) is proposed as a kind of semantics analysis tool. Similar to Shannon entropy, the MIM has its special function in information representation, in which the parameter of MIM plays a vital role. Actually, the parameter dominates the properties of MIM, based on which the MIM has three work regions where this measure can be used flexibly for different goals. When the parameter is positive but not large enough, the MIM not only provides a new viewpoint for information processing but also has some similarities with Shannon entropy in the information compression and transmission. In this regard, this paper first constructs a system model with message importance measure and proposes the message importance loss to enrich the information processing strategies. Moreover, the message importance loss capacity is proposed to measure the information importance harvest in a transmission. Furthermore, the message importance distortion function is discussed to give an upper bound of information compression based on the MIM. Additionally, the bitrate transmission constrained by the message importance loss is investigated to broaden the scope for Shannon information theory.

Matching Users' Preference under Target Revenue Constraints in Data Recommendation Systems.

This paper focuses on the problem of finding a particular data recommendation strategy based on the user preference and a system expected revenue. To this end, we formulate this problem as an optimization by designing the recommendation mechanism as close to the user behavior as possible with a certain revenue constraint. In fact, the optimal recommendation distribution is the one that is the closest to the utility distribution in the sense of relative entropy and satisfies expected revenue. We show that the optimal recommendation distribution follows the same form as the message importance measure (MIM) if the target revenue is reasonable, i.e., neither too small nor too large. Therefore, the optimal recommendation distribution can be regarded as the normalized MIM, where the parameter, called importance coefficient, presents the concern of the system and switches the attention of the system over data sets with different occurring probability. By adjusting the importance coefficient, our MIM based framework of data recommendation can then be applied to systems with various system requirements and data distributions. Therefore, the obtained results illustrate the physical meaning of MIM from the data recommendation perspective and validate the rationality of MIM in one aspect.

MicroRNA-365 alleviates morphine analgesic tolerance via the inactivation of the ERK/CREB signaling pathway by negatively targeting ß-arrestin2.

BACKGROUND: Morphine is widely used in clinical practice for a class of analgesic drugs, long-term use of morphine will cause the action of tolerance. MicroRNAs have been reported to be involved in morphine analgesic tolerance.. METHODS: Forty male SD rats were selected and randomly divided into 5 groups: the control group, morphine tolerance group, miR-365 mimic + morphine (miR-365 mimic) group, miR-365 inhibitor + morphine (miR-365 inhibitor) group and miR-365 negative control (NC) + morphine (miR-365 NC) group. After the administration of morphine at 0 d, 1 d, 3 d, 5 d and 7 d, behavioral testing was performed. A dual luciferase reporter gene assay was performed to confirm the relationship between miR-365 and ß-arrestin2, RT-qPCR was used to detect miR-365, ß-arrestin2, ERK and CREB mRNA expressions, western blotting was used to evaluate the protein expressions of ß-arrestin2, ERK, p-ERK, CREB and p-CREB, ELISA was used to detect the contents of IL-1ß, TNF-α and IL-18, while immunofluorescence staining was used to measure the GFAP expression. Intrathecal injection of mir365 significantly increased the maximal possible analgesic effect (%MPE) in morphine tolerant rats. ß-arrestin2 was the target gene of miR-365. RESULTS: The results obtained showed that when compared with the morphine tolerance group, there was an increase in miR-365 expression and a decrease in the ß-arrestin2, ERK, CREB protein expressions, contents of IL-1ß, TNF-α, IL-18 and GFAP expression in the miR-365 mimic group, while the miR-365 inhibitor group displayed an opposite trend. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this experiment suggest that by targeting ß-arrestin2 to reduce the contents of IL-1ß, TNF-α and IL-18 and by inhibiting the activation of ERK/CREB signaling pathway, miR-365 could lower morphine analgesic tolerance.

Behavioral intention to take up different types of HIV testing among men who have sex with men who were never-testers in Hong Kong.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing is an important global prevention strategy but underutilized by local men who have sex with men (MSM). This study investigated the prevalence of behavioral intention to take up HIV testing (specific or any type), in the next six months among MSM who had not been tested for HIV in the last three years (never-testers) in Hong Kong. The data was based on 141 never-testers of 430 MSM who completed the anonymous baseline telephone survey of an ongoing randomized controlled trial from January 2015 to August 2015. Only 17.7% of them showed strong intention to take up any type of HIV testing in the next six months. Adjusted analysis showed that perceived benefit of HIV testing (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.29, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01, 1.66), perceived psychological barriers of HIV testing (AOR: 0.85, 95%CI: 0.73, 1.00), and perceived self-efficacy in taking up HIV testing (AOR: 1.28, 95%CI: 1.07, 1.52) were significantly associated with behavioral intention to take up any HIV testing. Perceived cue to action from non-governmental organization staff was positively associated with a marginal p-value of 0.077 (AOR: 2.37, 95%CI: 0.97, 5.77). It is warranted to strengthen perceived benefit, remove psychological barriers, and increase perceived self-efficacy related to HIV testing. Innovative and effective health promotions are greatly needed to increase HIV testing coverage among never-testers.

Recognizing Information Feature Variation: Message Importance Transfer Measure and Its Applications in Big Data.

Information transfer that characterizes the information feature variation can have a crucial impact on big data analytics and processing. Actually, the measure for information transfer can reflect the system change from the statistics by using the variable distributions, similar to Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence and Renyi divergence. Furthermore, to some degree, small probability events may carry the most important part of the total message in an information transfer of big data. Therefore, it is significant to propose an information transfer measure with respect to the message importance from the viewpoint of small probability events. In this paper, we present the message importance transfer measure (MITM) and analyze its performance and applications in three aspects. First, we discuss the robustness of MITM by using it to measuring information distance. Then, we present a message importance transfer capacity by resorting to the MITM and give an upper bound for the information transfer process with disturbance. Finally, we apply the MITM to discuss the queue length selection, which is the fundamental problem of caching operation on mobile edge computing.