Patient Perspectives on AI-Driven Predictions of Schizophrenia Relapses: Understanding Concerns and Opportunities for Self-Care and Treatment.

Early detection and intervention for relapse is important in the treatment of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Researchers have developed AI models to predict relapse from patient-contributed data like social media. However, these models face challenges, including misalignment with practice and ethical issues related to transparency, accountability, and potential harm. Furthermore, how patients who have recovered from schizophrenia view these AI models has been underexplored. To address this gap, we first conducted semi-structured interviews with 28 patients and reflexive thematic analysis, which revealed a disconnect between AI predictions and patient experience, and the importance of the social aspect of relapse detection. In response, we developed a prototype that used patients' Facebook data to predict relapse. Feedback from seven patients highlighted the potential for AI to foster collaboration between patients and their support systems, and to encourage self-reflection. Our work provides insights into human-AI interaction and suggests ways to empower people with schizophrenia.

Dietary sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) consumption did not attenuate atherosclerosis in low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout mice.

We previously demonstrated the beneficial effects of U.S.-grown sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima), a brown seaweed, on reducing serum triglycerides (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) and protecting against inflammation and fibrosis in the adipose tissue of diet-induced obesity mice. In this current study, we aimed to explore whether the dietary consumption of sugar kelp can prevent atherosclerosis using low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout (Ldlr KO) mice fed an atherogenic diet. Eight-week-old male Ldlr KO mice were fed either an atherogenic high-fat/high-cholesterol control (HF/HC) diet or a HF/HC diet supplemented with 6% (w/w) sugar kelp (HF/HC-SK) for 16 weeks. Consumption of sugar kelp significantly increased the body weight gain without altering fat mass and lean mass. Also, there were no significant differences in energy expenditure and physical activities between the groups. The two groups did not show significant differences in serum and hepatic TG and TC levels or the hepatic expression of genes involved in cholesterol and lipid metabolism. Although serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity did not differ significantly between the two groups, there were significant increases in the expression of macrophage markers, including adhesion G protein-coupled receptor E1 and cluster of differentiation 68, as well as tumor necrosis factor alpha in the HF/HC-SK group compared to the HF/HC mice. The consumption of sugar kelp did not elicit a significant effect on the development of aortic lesions. Moreover, lipopolysaccharide-stimulated splenocytes isolated from HF/HC-SK-fed mice showed no significant changes in the mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory genes compared with those from the HF/HC mice. In summary, the consumption of dietary sugar kelp did not elicit anti-atherogenic and hepatoprotective effects in Ldlr KO mice.

Korean fermented soybean paste (Doenjang) has anti-obesity and anti-hypertensive effects via the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in high-fat diet-induced obese rats.

The health-beneficial outcomes of doenjang, a Korean fermented food have been questioned due to its high salt content; moreover, the detailed underlying mechanisms of its health beneficial effects are not fully investigated. Thus, this study aimed to investigate doenjang's anti-obesity effects, anti-hypertensive effects, and its underlying mechanisms in high-fat diet -induced obesity. Sprague-Dawley rats fed with normal diet (ND), high-fat diet (HD), HD with 8% additive salt (HDS), or HD with doenjang containing 8% salt (HDJ) for 13 weeks. Compared to HD and HDS groups, the HDJ group had lower body and epididymal fat tissue weight gain and showed hypotrophy and hypoplasia. The RAS-related mRNA levels in the adipose tissue, including Renin and Ace were downregulated in the HDJ group compared to HD and HDS groups. Additionally, HDJ groups had significant improvements in systolic blood pressure, serum RAS-associated parameters (e.g., angiotensin II and aldosterone), renal mRNA levels related to RAS (e.g., angiotensin II receptor type 1 and 2), and aldosterone-associated mRNA expressions (e.g., mineralocorticoid receptor) in the kidney of HD-induced obese rats. Most importantly, HDS and HDJ groups showed distinct outcomes regarding adipogenesis and electrolytes metabolism, even though both diets contain a high level of salt. HDS group showed a higher epididymal fat tissue weight, mass, and adipocyte size than HDJ group. In addition, compared with HDJ group, HDS group significantly decreased the release of Na+ and K+ throughout the urine and feces. The present study addresses that doenjang has anti-obesity effects and anti-hypertensive effects by activating RAS in the adipose tissue and kidney, respectively. Additionally, this study also demonstrates that salt in doenjang and the additive salt differently influences adipogenesis and electrolytes metabolism, supporting doenjang has health advantageous effects regardless of its high salt contents.

Supplementation with Vitis vinifera Jingzaojing Leaf and Shoot Extract Improves Exercise Endurance in Mice.

Switching myofibers from the fast-glycolytic type to the slow-oxidative type is associated with an alleviation of the symptoms associated with various cardiometabolic diseases. This study investigates the effect of Vitis vinifera Jingzaojing leaf and shoot extract (JLSE), which is rich in phenolic compounds, on the regulation of skeletal muscle fiber-type switching, as well as the associated underlying mechanism. Male C57BL/6N mice were supplemented orally with vehicle or JLSE (300 mg/kg) and subjected to treadmill exercise training. After four weeks, mice in the JLSE-supplemented group showed significantly improved exercise endurance and mitochondrial oxidative capacity. JLSE supplementation increased the expression of sirtuin 6 and decreased Sox6 expression, thereby elevating the number of mitochondria and encouraging fast-to-slow myofiber switching. The results of our experiments suggest that JLSE supplementation reprograms myofiber composition to favor the slow oxidative type, ultimately enhancing exercise endurance.

p53 Immunohistochemistry and Mutation Types Mismatching in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer.

High-grade serous carcinoma (HGSCa) of the ovary is featured by TP53 gene mutation. Missense or nonsense mutation types accompany most cases of HGSCa that correlate well with immunohistochemical (IHC) staining results-an all (missense) or none (nonsense) pattern. However, some IHCs produce subclonal or mosaic patterns from which TP53 mutation types, including the wild type of the gene, cannot be clearly deduced. We analyzed a total of 236 cases of ovarian HGSCa and tumors of other histology by matching the results of p53 IHC staining and targeted next-generation sequencing (TruSight Tumor 170 panel). Ambiguous IHCs that do not belong to the conventional "all or none" groups were reviewed to distinguish the true wild type (WT) from potentially pathogenic subclonal or mosaic patterns. There were about 9% of sequencing-IHC mismatching cases, which were enriched by the p53 c-terminal encoding nuclear localization signal and oligomerization domain, in which the subcellular locations of p53 protein were affected. Indeed, mutations in the oligomerization domain of the p53 protein frequently revealed an unmatched signal or cytosolic staining (L289Ffs*57 (Ins), and R342*). We conclude that both mutation types and IHC patterns of p53 are important sources of information to provide a precise diagnosis of HGSCa.

Neural mechanisms of self-affirmation's stress buffering effects.

Self-affirmation can buffer stress responses across different contexts, yet the neural mechanisms for these effects are unknown. Self-affirmation has been shown to increase activity in reward-related neural regions, including the ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC). Given that reward-related prefrontal cortical regions such as the VMPFC are involved in reducing neurobiological and behavioral responses to stress, we hypothesized that self-affirmation would activate VMPFC and also reduce neural responses to stress in key neural threat system regions such as the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and anterior insula (AI). We explored this hypothesis using self-affirmation and evaluative stress tasks following a within-subjects design in the fMRI scanner. Consistent with prior work, self-affirmation blocks led to lower self-reported stress and improved performance. With respect to neural activity, compared to control blocks, self-affirmation blocks led to greater VMPFC activity, and subsequently less left AI (but not dACC) activity during stress task blocks. Functional connectivity analyses revealed greater connectivity between the VMPFC and left and right AI during self-affirmation compared to control. These findings begin to articulate the neural circuits involved in self-affirmation's effects during exposure to stressors, and more broadly specify neural reward-based responses to stressful situations.