Specific Pandemic-Related Worries Predict Higher Attention-Related Errors and Negative Affect Independent of Trait Anxiety in UK-Based Students.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many individuals experiencing increased symptoms of anxiety. We predict that this increase may be underpinned by pandemic-related worry (PRW), characterised by repetitive negative thinking about pandemic-specific outcomes; and that this relationship is mediated through reduced attentional capacity required to regulate negative affect. Methods: We developed a novel scale to measure the contents of PRW in an initial sample of 255 participants, and explored its relationship with cognitive functioning and negative affect in a sample of 382 UK-based university students, whilst controlling for recalled pre-pandemic trait anxiety. Results: A five-factor model of PRW was identified, with factors reflecting worry about decline in quality of life (QoL) and probability of infection correlating with attention and memory-related errors. Importantly, attention-related errors partially mediated the positive relationship between PRW and negative affect, even when controlling for pre-pandemic trait anxiety. Conclusion: PRW's relationship with negative affect was partially mediated through attentional function, consistent with models of anxiety and attentional control. In UK-based students PRW may be predominantly focused on the decline in QoL; therefore, interventions targeting worry about the decline in QoL caused by COVID-19 are especially important in this population in the wake of the pandemic. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-022-10336-7.

Mechanism and modeling of human disease-associated near-exon intronic variants that perturb RNA splicing.

It is estimated that 10%-30% of disease-associated genetic variants affect splicing. Splicing variants may generate deleteriously altered gene product and are potential therapeutic targets. However, systematic diagnosis or prediction of splicing variants is yet to be established, especially for the near-exon intronic splice region. The major challenge lies in the redundant and ill-defined branch sites and other splicing motifs therein. Here, we carried out unbiased massively parallel splicing assays on 5,307 disease-associated variants that overlapped with branch sites and collected 5,884 variants across the 5' splice region. We found that strong splice sites and exonic features preserve splicing from intronic sequence variation. Whereas the splice-altering mechanism of the 3' intronic variants is complex, that of the 5' is mainly splice-site destruction. Statistical learning combined with these molecular features allows precise prediction of altered splicing from an intronic variant. This statistical model provides the identity and ranking of biological features that determine splicing, which serves as transferable knowledge and out-performs the benchmarking predictive tool. Moreover, we demonstrated that intronic splicing variants may associate with disease risks in the human population. Our study elucidates the mechanism of splicing response of intronic variants, which classify disease-associated splicing variants for the promise of precision medicine.

Factorial validity, reliability, and measurement invariance of the Negative Physical Self Scale in a sample of men residing in North America.

The Negative Physical Self Scale (NPSS) is a measure of body dissatisfaction that was developed for administration within an Asian sample and has recently been translated to English and validated for use in North American female samples. The aim of the present study was to examine the factor structure and measurement invariance of the English-translated version of the NPSS across three ethnic groups (i.e., Caucasian, Asian, and other) using a sample of men residing in North America. Additionally, the internal consistency, convergent validity, and incremental validity of the NPSS were examined. A sample of 534 young (aged between 18 and 25) North American men completed self-report measures of the NPSS, the Body Shape Questionnaire, the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, and the Male Body Attitudes Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on two hypothesized models. The results supported the second-order factor structure (four factors with three subdimensions). Overall, we found that the factor structure and factor loadings of the NPSS were equal in participants across three broad ethnic categories (i.e., Caucasian, Asian, and other). Likewise, the NPSS displayed first-order scalar invariance. Further, the NPSS test scores demonstrated high internal consistency, strong convergent validity, and incremental validity over and above the existing measures of body dissatisfaction, body attitudes, and disordered eating. In sum, the English version of the NPSS is a valid and appropriate measure to assess body dissatisfaction in men residing in North America. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

MeNINV1: An Alkaline/Neutral Invertase Gene of Manihot esculenta, Enhanced Sucrose Catabolism and Promoted Plant Vegetative Growth in Transgenic Arabidopsis.

Alkaline/neutral invertase (A/N-INV) is an invertase that irreversibly decomposes sucrose into fructose as well as glucose and plays a role in plant growth and development, starch synthesis, abiotic stress, and other plant-life activities. Cassava is an economically important starch crop in tropical regions. During the development of cassava tuber roots, A/N-INV activity is relatively high, which indicates that it may participate in sucrose metabolism and starch synthesis. In this study, MeNINV1 was confirmed to function as invertase to catalyze sucrose decomposition in yeast. The optimal enzymatic properties of MeNINV1 were a pH of 6.5, a reaction temperature of 40 °C, and sucrose as its specific catalytic substrate. VB6, Zn2+, and Pb2+ at low concentrations as well as EDTA, DTT, Tris, Mg2+, and fructose inhibited A/N-INV enzymic activity. In cassava, the MeNINV1 gene was mainly expressed in the fibrous roots and the tuber root phloem, and its expression decreased as the tuber root grew. MeNINV1 was confirmed to localize in chloroplasts. In Arabidopsis, MeNINV1-overexpressing Arabidopsis had higher A/N-INV activity, and the increased glucose, fructose, and starch content in the leaves promoted plant growth and delayed flowering time but did not change its resistance to abiotic stress. Our results provide new insights into the biological function of MeNINV1.

Isolation and Characterization of Ftsz Genes in Cassava.

The filamenting temperature-sensitive Z proteins (FtsZs) play an important role in plastid division. In this study, three FtsZ genes were isolated from the cassava genome, and named MeFtsZ1, MeFtsZ2-1, and MeFtsZ2-2, respectively. Based on phylogeny, the MeFtsZs were classified into two groups (FtsZ1 and FtsZ2). MeFtsZ1 with a putative signal peptide at N-terminal, has six exons, and is classed to FtsZ1 clade. MeFtsZ2-1 and MeFtsZ2-2 without a putative signal peptide, have seven exons, and are classed to FtsZ2 clade. Subcellular localization found that all the three MeFtsZs could locate in chloroplasts and form a ring in chloroplastids. Structure analysis found that all MeFtsZ proteins contain a conserved guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) domain in favor of generate contractile force for cassava plastid division. The expression profiles of MeFtsZ genes by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis in photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic tissues found that all of the MeFtsZ genes had higher expression levels in photosynthetic tissues, especially in younger leaves, and lower expression levels in the non-photosynthetic tissues. During cassava storage root development, the expressions of MeFtsZ2-1 and MeFtsZ2-2 were comparatively higher than MeFtsZ1. The transformed Arabidopsis of MeFtsZ2-1 and MeFtsZ2-2 contained abnormally shape, fewer number, and larger volume chloroplasts. Phytohormones were involved in regulating the expressions of MeFtsZ genes. Therefore, we deduced that all of the MeFtsZs play an important role in chloroplast division, and that MeFtsZ2 (2-1, 2-2) might be involved in amyloplast division and regulated by phytohormones during cassava storage root development.

Identification, Expression, and Functional Analysis of the Fructokinase Gene Family in Cassava.

Fructokinase (FRK) proteins play important roles in catalyzing fructose phosphorylation and participate in the carbohydrate metabolism of storage organs in plants. To investigate the roles of FRKs in cassava tuber root development, seven FRK genes (MeFRK1-7) were identified, and MeFRK1-6 were isolated. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the MeFRK family genes can be divided into α (MeFRK1, 2, 6, 7) and ß (MeFRK3, 4, 5) groups. All the MeFRK proteins have typical conserved regions and substrate binding residues similar to those of the FRKs. The overall predicted three-dimensional structures of MeFRK1-6 were similar, folding into a catalytic domain and a ß-sheet ''lid" region, forming a substrate binding cleft, which contains many residues involved in the binding to fructose. The gene and the predicted three-dimensional structures of MeFRK3 and MeFRK4 were the most similar. MeFRK1-6 displayed different expression patterns across different tissues, including leaves, stems, tuber roots, flowers, and fruits. In tuber roots, the expressions of MeFRK3 and MeFRK4 were much higher compared to those of the other genes. Notably, the expression of MeFRK3 and MeFRK4 as well as the enzymatic activity of FRK were higher at the initial and early expanding tuber stages and were lower at the later expanding and mature tuber stages. The FRK activity of MeFRK3 and MeFRK4 was identified by the functional complementation of triple mutant yeast cells that were unable to phosphorylate either glucose or fructose. The gene expression and enzymatic activity of MeFRK3 and MeFRK4 suggest that they might be the main enzymes in fructose phosphorylation for regulating the formation of tuber roots and starch accumulation at the tuber root initial and expanding stages.

Structure, Expression, and Functional Analysis of the Hexokinase Gene Family in Cassava.

Hexokinase (HXK) proteins play important roles in catalyzing hexose phosphorylation and sugar sensing and signaling. To investigate the roles of HXKs in cassava tuber root development, seven HXK genes (MeHXK1-7) were isolated and analyzed. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that the MeHXK family can be divided into five subfamilies of plant HXKs. MeHXKs were clearly divided into type A (MeHXK1) and type B (MeHXK2-7) based on their N-terminal sequences. MeHXK1-5 all had typical conserved regions and similar protein structures to the HXKs of other plants; while MeHXK6-7 lacked some of the conserved regions. An expression analysis of the MeHXK genes in cassava organs or tissues demonstrated that MeHXK2 is the dominant HXK in all the examined tissues (leaves, stems, fruits, tuber phloems, and tuber xylems). Notably, the expression of MeHXK2 and the enzymatic activity of HXK were higher at the initial and expanding tuber stages, and lower at the mature tuber stage. Furthermore, the HXK activity of MeHXK2 was identified by functional complementation of the HXK-deficient yeast strain YSH7.4-3C (hxk1, hxk2, glk1). The gene expression and enzymatic activity of MeHXK2 suggest that it might be the main enzyme for hexose phosphorylation during cassava tuber root development, which is involved in sucrose metabolism to regulate the accumulation of starch.

A comparison of the molecular subtypes of triple-negative breast cancer among non-Asian and Taiwanese women.

BACKGROUND: "Precision medicine" is a concept that by utilizing modern molecular diagnostics, an effective therapy is accurately applied for each cancer patient to improve their survival rates. The treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains a challenging issue. The aim of this study was to compare the molecular subtypes of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) between Taiwanese and Non-Asian women. METHODS: GEO Datasets for non-Asian (12 groups, n = 1450) and Taiwanese (3 groups, n = 465) breast cancer, including 617 TNBC, were acquired, normalized and cluster analyzed. Then, using TNBC cell lines of different subtypes, namely, MDA-MB-468 (basal-like1, BL1), MDA-MB-231 (mesenchymal stem like, MSL), BT-549 (mesenchymal, M), MDA-MB-453 (luminal androgen receptor, LAR), and DU4475 (immunomodulatory, IM), real-time PCR in triplicate for 47 genes signatures were performed to validate the specificity of these subtypes. RESULTS: The results showed that the percentage of TNBC subtypes in non-Asian women, namely, BL1, BL2, IM, M, MSL, and LAR was 13.56, 8.91, 16.80, 20.45, 8.30, and 11.13%, respectively. When data from Taiwanese were normalized and clustered, five TNBC subtypes, namely, BL (8.94%), IM (13.82%), M (22.76%), MSL (30.89%), and LAR (23.58%), were classified. Real-time PCR validated the specificity of these subtypes. Besides, the presence of interaction between IM- and MSL-subtypes suggests the involvement of tumor microenvironment in TNBC subtype classification. CONCLUSION: Our data suggested that there exist different presentations between non-Asian and Taiwanese TNBC subtypes, which provides important information when selection of therapeutic targets or designs for clinical trials for TNBC patients.

[Angiotensin-converting enzyme gene and the brachial artery endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetes without angiopathy].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene and endothelial dysfunction. METHODS: One hundred and ten type 2 diabetic patients without angiopathy were selected randomly, and PCR technique was used to determine their ACE genotypes. High resolution ultrasonography was performed to measure the changes in brachial artery diameter at rest, after reactive hyperemia (with increased flow producing an endothelium-dependent dilation) and after sublingual glyceryltrinitrate (GNT, an endothelium-independent dilator). Meanwhile, 50 healthy individuals were selected randomly as controls. RESULTS: In type 2 diabetes mellitus and control groups, the percentages for flow-mediated arterial dilation in patients with DD genotypes were 3.38% and 3.67% respectively, which were significantly lower than those in patients with II genotypes (4.12% and 4.68% respectively, P<0.05). The baseline blood vessel size, baseline blood flow and GNT induced dilation in both groups showed no significant differences among ACE genotypes (P>0.05). By multiple stepwise regression analysis, reduced flow-mediated arterial dilation was associated with age, baseline vessel size, low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C), Lp(a), D allele, fasting blood glucose (FBG), postparandial blood glucose (PPBG), HbA1c, duration of diabetes in type 2 diabetic patients (P<0.0005). CONCLUSION: ACE DD genotype is related to endothelium-dependent arterial dilation in the early stage of type 2 diabetes mellitus and in healthy individuals.

[Apolipoprotein E genotypes and carotid artery atherosclerosis in type 2 diabetes mellitus].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between carotid artery intima media thickness (IMT) and apolipoprotein (Apo) E gene polymorphisms in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). METHODS: Two hundred and fifty-five DM2 patients without angiopathy and 107 healthy individuals were selected. PCR/allele-specific oligonucleotide probe was used to determine their apoE genotypes. RESULTS: The prevalence distribution of apoE genotypes and alleles in DM2 patients and that in controls were similar. The TC, LDL-C and Lp(a) concentrations in e4/4, e4/3 subgroups were significantly higher than those in e3/2, e2/2 subgroups (P<0.05). The average value of IMT in e4/4 e4/3 carriers (0.89 mm) was significantly greater than that in e3/2 e2/2 carriers (0.62 mm) (P<0.05). After adjustment for TC, LDL-C, TG, Lp(a), FBG, HbA1c, age, BMI, and smoking, ANCOVA showed that the average value of carotid IMT was significantly greater in subjects with e4/4 e4/3, compared with that in subjects with e3/2 e2/2(P=0.033). CONCLUSION: Apo e4 allele increases the risk for carotid artery atherosclerosis in the early stage of diabetic population.