The Influence of Group Favoritism on Moral Judgment -- Evidence From Event-Related Potential.

When judging the morality of an action, individuals may exhibit a bias stemming from group favoritism. It leads to the expression of different moral evaluations of the same behaviors performed by different social groups. The current study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the influence of in-group favoritism (in-group vs. homogeneous out-group) and out-group favoritism (in-group vs. high-quality out-group) on moral judgments. Two experiments were conducted, showing a higher moral score of the in-group compared to the homogeneous out-group by participants. ERP data indicated that in-group stimulation triggered larger P2 amplitudes than homogeneous out-group. Additionally, a larger N400-like amplitude, localized to the right hemisphere, was observed during the evaluation of the homogeneous out-group. Significantly, when comparing the in-group to the high-quality out-group, there was no discernible difference in moral scores or ERP amplitudes. Overall, the results indicate that in-group favoritism can affect moral judgments, especially when assessing homogeneous out-groups, but it can be reduced by the characteristics of groups.

Widespread protein N-phosphorylation in organism revealed by SiO2@DpaZn beads based mild-acidic enrichment method.

Protein phosphorylation is one of the most commonly studied and ubiquitous post-translational modifications (PTMs), and defining site-specific phosphorylation is essential to understand basic and disease biology. However, the chemical properties and biological activities hamper the detection of non-canonical N-phosphorylation from biological samples, and the study of N-phosphorylation over the last half century has lagged behind canonical O-phosphorylation. Here, a mild-acidic method based-on SiO2@DpaZn beads was developed for protein N-phosphorylation sites identification. The method was verified as an effective complement for neutral enrichment science the stability of N-phosphorylation varied with the protein context. We firstly verified the feasibility of the mild-acidic enrichment strategy by standard peptides. Totally, 301 and 1476 N-phosphorylation sites were identified from E. coli and HeLa, respectively, verifying the robust of the method. The results greatly enriched N-phosphorylation site database. Furthermore, the method provided the peptide sequence motif of the N-phosphorylation sites and the biological functions of the identified proteins. The work represented an important step forward in studying the role of N-phosphorylation and other labile phosphorylation.

Durable remission related to CAR-T persistence in R/R B-ALL and long-term persistence potential of prime CAR-T.

CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor T lymphocytes (CAR-T) has demonstrated a high proportion of complete remission in the treatment of relapsed refractory acute B cell lymphoblastic leukemia (r/r B-ALL). It is of great clinical significance to explore which factors will impact long-term disease-free survival of patients with r/r B-ALL after CAR-T therapy without bridging bone marrow transplantation. Our study found that, in patients with r/r B-ALL without bridging transplantation, the patients' age; infusion dosage; whether they had undergone allo-stem cell transplantation before CAR-T therapy, using CD-19-targeted or CD19/CD22-dual-targeted CAR-T; whether there is fusion gene; tumor burden before therapy; and comorbidity had no significant relationship with their long-term disease-free survival. We found only that CAR-T persistence was highly correlated with patients' long-term disease-free survival. So, we further profiled CAR-T cells using single-cell sequencing and found that there is a specific T cell subset that may be associated with the long-term persistence of CAR-T. Finally, according to the single-cell sequencing results, we established cell production process named PrimeCAR, which shared common signaling pathways with the T cell subset identified. In the preliminary clinical study, prime CAR-Ts yield good persistence in peripheral blood of patients with B-ALL and lymphoma, without observing grade 2 or higher cytokine release syndrome.

Establishment of mink heart identification method based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and development of its detection kit.

In this study, the mink heart mitochondrial DNA was used as the target gene to design the specific primers of mink heart mtDNA Cytb, the extraction and detection reagents of mink heart DNA were developed using DNA fingerprinting technique, and the specificity, reproducibility, and stability of the reagents were investigated. Molecular cloning and sequencing technique were used to clone the standard substance of mink heart DNA detection, then a DNA fingerprint detection method of mink heart and the quality standard for mink heart were established, and a DNA detection kit of mink heart was developed. The results showed that the structure of DNA extracted from mink heart by self-developed reagents was complete, and both the concentration and purity of DNA were high. A specific amplification band of the original mink samples was found at 337 bp. The sequence of mink heart DNA was consistent with that of mink heart mtDNA specific fingerprint region. The mink heart DNA fingerprint identification method established, in this study, is accurate and reliable, and the procedure of the developed DNA kit is easy, the results obtained using this kit is stable and the method is suitable for popularization and application.

Development of a species-specific PCR assay for authentication of Agkistrodon acutus based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene

BACKGROUND: Agkistrodon acutus, a traditional Chinese medicine, clinically used in the treatment of rheumatism, tumor, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Due to the unique medicinal value and the difficulty of artificial breeding of Agkistrodon acutus, the supply of Agkistrodon acutus on the market exceeds the demand, and a large number of its adulterants are found on the market. In this study, the cytb gene sequences of Agkistrodon acutus and 9 snakes were compared and analyzed, specific primers were designed, and specific PCR methods were established to detect Agkistrodon acutus medicinal samples on the market. RESULTS: This method was successfully applied to distinguish the snake from other adulterated species, and tested 18 Agkistrodon acutus samples randomly purchased from six cities. Twelve samples were counterfeit and six were genuine. The standard reference material of Agkistrodon acutus was cloned by molecular cloning and sequencing, and the gene sequence difference with other species was significant. It shows that the region could be used as the fingerprint region of the target species. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method can be used as a species-specific marker and can be highly distinguished from other adulterated snake species, which is helpful to effectively avoid the problem of false sale of Agkistrodon acutus.

Clinical characterization and risk factors of Clostridium difficile infection in elderly patients in a Chinese hospital.

INTRODUCTION: Clostridium difficile is a common cause of nosocomial diarrhea, especially in elderly patients. This study aimed to analyze the clinical features and assess the risk factors associated with Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in elderly hospitalized patients. METHODOLOGY: A retrospective case-control study was conducted among elderly hospitalized patients (> 60 years of age) in a Chinese tertiary hospital between 2010 and 2013. Fifty-two CDI patients and 150 randomly selected non-CDI patients were included in the study. Clinical features of CDI and non-CDI patients were compared by appropriate statistical tests. Logistic regression analyses were performed on a series of factors to determine the risk factors for CDI among the elderly hospitalized patients. RESULTS: The elderly CDI patients showed higher leukocyte counts, lower serum albumin levels, longer duration of hospital stay, and higher mortality compared to the non-CDI patients. The proportion of patients admitted to the intensive care unit or exposed to gastric acid suppressants was also significantly different (p < 0.05) between the two groups. Multivariate analysis indicated that serum creatinine (OR 1.004; 95% CI 1.001-1.008), surgical intervention (OR 6.132; 95% CI 2.594-14.493), the number of comorbidities (OR 2.573; 95% CI 1.353-4.892), gastrointestinal disease (OR 4.670; 95% CI 2.002-10.895), and antibiotic use (OR 6.718; 95% CI 2.846-15.859) were independently associated with CDI. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed several risk factors for CDI among elderly hospitalized patients. These findings will increase the knowledge concerning this disease and provide information regarding the control and prevention of CDI in the elderly.

Apigenin up-regulates transgelin and inhibits invasion and migration of colorectal cancer through decreased phosphorylation of AKT.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Apigenin is a flavonoid that possesses various clinically relevant properties such as anti-tumour, anti-platelet and anti-inflammatory activities. Our results showed that apigenin has anti-proliferation, anti-invasion and anti-migration effects in three kinds of colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines, namely SW480, DLD-1 and LS174T. Proteomic analysis with SW480 indicated that apigenin up-regulated the expression of transgelin (TAGLN) in mitochondria to exert its anti-tumour growth and anti-metastasis effects. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) and western blot confirm the up-regulation in all the three colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. An inverse correlation was observed between TAGLN expression and CRC metastasis in tissue microarray staining. TAGLN siRNA increased the viability of SW480. Apigenin decreased the expression of MMP-9 in a dose-dependent manner. Transfection of three truncated forms of TAGLN and wild type has identified TAGLN as a repressor of MMP-9 expression. A synergetic effect was observed in overexpression of TAGLN wild type and apigenin treatment which manifested as lowered phosphorylation of AKT Ser473 and ATK Thr308. In an orthotopic CRC model, apigenin inhibited tumour growth and metastasis to liver and lung. In conclusion, our research provided direct evidence that apigenin inhibited tumour growth and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. Apigenin up-regulated TAGLN and hence down-regulated MMP-9 expression through decreasing phosphorylation of Akt at Ser473 and in particular Thr308 to prevent cell proliferation and migration.