Mortality outcomes in diabetic metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease: non-obese versus obese individuals.

The difference in the survival of obese patients and normal-weight/lean patients with diabetic MAFLD remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to describe the long-term survival of individuals with diabetic MAFLD and overweight/obesity (OT2M), diabetic MAFLD with lean/normal weight (LT2M), MAFLD with overweight/obesity and without T2DM (OM), and MAFLD with lean/normal weight and without T2DM (LM). Using the NHANESIII database, participants with MAFLD were divided into four groups. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related, and cancer-related mortalities for different MAFLD subtypes were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards models. Of the 3539 participants, 1618 participants (42.61%) died during a mean follow-up period of 274.41 ± 2.35 months. LT2M and OT2M had higher risks of all-cause mortality (adjusted HR, 2.14; 95% CI 1.82-2.51; p < 0.0001; adjusted HR, 2.24; 95% CI 1.32-3.81; p = 0.003) and CVD-related mortality (adjusted HR, 3.25; 95% CI 1.72-6.14; p < 0.0001; adjusted HR, 3.36; 95% CI 2.52-4.47; p < 0.0001) than did OM. All-cause and CVD mortality rates in LT2M and OT2M patients were higher than those in OM patients. Patients with concurrent T2DM and MAFLD should be screened, regardless of the presence of obesity.

Initiating PeriCBD to probe perinatal influences on neurodevelopment during 3-10 years in China.

Adverse perinatal factors can interfere with the normal development of the brain, potentially resulting in long-term effects on the comprehensive development of children. Presently, the understanding of cognitive and neurodevelopmental processes under conditions of adverse perinatal factors is substantially limited. There is a critical need for an open resource that integrates various perinatal factors with the development of the brain and mental health to facilitate a deeper understanding of these developmental trajectories. In this Data Descriptor, we introduce a multicenter database containing information on perinatal factors that can potentially influence children's brain-mind development, namely, periCBD, that combines neuroimaging and behavioural phenotypes with perinatal factors at county/region/central district hospitals. PeriCBD was designed to establish a platform for the investigation of individual differences in brain-mind development associated with perinatal factors among children aged 3-10 years. Ultimately, our goal is to help understand how different adverse perinatal factors specifically impact cognitive development and neurodevelopment. Herein, we provide a systematic overview of the data acquisition/cleaning/quality control/sharing, processes of periCBD.

Milk-derived exosome nanovesicles: recent progress and daunting hurdles.

Raw milk is the foundation of quality and safety in the dairy industry, and improving milk source management is the fundamental guarantee. Milk-derived exosomes (MDEs) are nanoscale information transfer molecules secreted by mammary cells with unique content and high stability, which can be used not only as potential markers to analyze key traits of lactation, reproduction, nutrition and health of animals, but also help farm managers to take timely interventions to improve animal welfare, milk quality, and functional traits. Our review first outlines the latest advances in MDEs isolation and purification, compositional analysis and characterization tools. We then provide a comprehensive summary of recent applications of MDEs liquid biopsy in breed selection, disease prevention and control, and feeding management. Finally, we evaluate the impact of processing on the stability of MDEs to offer guidance for dairy production and storage. The limitations and challenges in the development and use of MDEs markers are also discussed. As a noninvasive marker with high sensitivity and specificity, the MDEs-mediated assay technology is expected to be a powerful tool for measuring cow health and raw milk quality, enabling dynamic and precise regulation of dairy cows and full traceability of raw milk.

Lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet is inversely associated with the osteosarcopenia in older adults.

OBJECTIVE: Osteosarcopenia adversely affects the quality of life and physical health of older adults. We sought to explore the association between dietary patterns and osteosarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study from Northeast China, in which, we included older community adults aged 60 and above. Through face-to-face interviews, we collected dietary information from participants using a food frequency questionnaire. Subsequently, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to obtain the dietary patterns of the participants. Through physical examination, we obtained the participants' information on osteosarcopenia, which was defined by the coexist of osteopenia and sarcopenia. We analysed the association between dietary patterns and dietary compositions with ostesarcopenia. RESULTS: In this study, a total of 9429 participants were included, and the prevalence of osteosarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults was 6.2%. PCA identified three main dietary patterns, and the lacto-ovo-vegetarian dietary pattern was inversely associated with osteosarcopenia. Compared to the lowest lacto-ovo-vegetarian quartile (Q1), the Q4 group (OR = 0.64, 95% CI:0.49-0.83) was inversely associated with osteosarcopenia. Through the weighted quantile sum regression model, we also found that the overall effect of the lacto-ovo-vegetarian dietary components was inversely associated with osteosarcopenia (OR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.37-0.92); the largest contributors were vegetables, fresh milk, eggs, and dairy products. CONCLUSION: Overall, we found that a lacto-ovo-vegetarian dietary pattern, particularly the consumption of vegetables, fresh milk, eggs, and dairy products, was inversely associated with osteosarcopenia in older adults. And this might provide new insights for the prevention and treatment of osteosarcopenia.

RPL9 acts as an oncogene by shuttling miRNAs through exosomes in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

The exosomal pathway is an essential mechanism that regulates the abnormal content of microRNAs (miRNAs) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The directional transport of miRNAs requires the assistance of RNA­binding proteins (RBPs). The present study found that RBPs participate in the regulation of miRNA content through the exosomal pathway in HCC cells. First, differential protein expression profiles in the serum exosomes of patients with HCC and benign liver disease were detected using mass spectrometry. The results revealed that ribosomal protein L9 (RPL9) was highly expressed in serum exosomes of patients with HCC. In addition, the downregulation of RPL9 markedly suppressed the proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells and reduced the biological activity of HCC­derived exosomes. In addition, using miRNA microarrays, the changes in exosomal miRNA profiles in HCC cells caused by RPL9 knockdown were examined. miR­24­3p and miR­185­5p were most differentially expressed, as verified by reverse transcription­quantitative PCR. Additionally, using RNA immunoprecipitation, it was found that RPL9 was directly bound to the two miRNAs and immunofluorescence assays confirmed that RPL9 was able to carry miRNAs into recipient cells via exosomes. Overexpression of miR­24­3p in cells increased the accumulation of miR­24­3p in exosomes and simultaneously upregulated RPL9. Excessive expression of miR­24­3p in exosomes also increased their bioactivity. Exosome­mediated miRNA regulation and transfer require the involvement of RBPs. RPL9 functions as an oncogene, can directly bind to specific miRNAs and can be co­transported to receptor cells through exosomes, thereby exerting its biological functions. These findings provide a novel approach for modulating miRNA profiles in HCC.

Cytosolic DNA initiates a vicious circle of aging-related endothelial inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction via STING: the inhibitory effect of Cilostazol.

Endothelial senescence, aging-related inflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction are prominent features of vascular aging and contribute to the development of aging-associated vascular disease. Accumulating evidence indicates that DNA damage occurs in aging vascular cells, especially in endothelial cells (ECs). However, the mechanism of EC senescence has not been completely elucidated, and so far, there is no specific drug in the clinic to treat EC senescence and vascular aging. Here we show that various aging stimuli induce nuclear DNA and mitochondrial damage in ECs, thus facilitating the release of cytoplasmic free DNA (cfDNA), which activates the DNA-sensing adapter protein STING. STING activation led to a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), thereby releasing pro-aging cytokines and cfDNA to further exacerbate mitochondrial damage and EC senescence, thus forming a vicious circle, all of which can be suppressed by STING knockdown or inhibition. Using next-generation RNA sequencing, we demonstrate that STING activation stimulates, whereas STING inhibition disrupts pathways associated with cell senescence and SASP. In vivo studies unravel that endothelial-specific Sting deficiency alleviates aging-related endothelial inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction and prevents the development of atherosclerosis in mice. By screening FDA-approved vasoprotective drugs, we identified Cilostazol as a new STING inhibitor that attenuates aging-related endothelial inflammation both in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrated that Cilostazol significantly inhibited STING translocation from the ER to the Golgi apparatus during STING activation by targeting S162 and S243 residues of STING. These results disclose the deleterious effects of a cfDNA-STING-SASP-cfDNA vicious circle on EC senescence and atherogenesis and suggest that the STING pathway is a promising therapeutic target for vascular aging-related diseases. A proposed model illustrates the central role of STING in mediating a vicious circle of cfDNA-STING-SASP-cfDNA to aggravate age-related endothelial inflammation and mitochondrial damage.

Examining the relationship between international digital trade, green technology innovation and environmental sustainability in top emerging economics.

Ensuring preserving a sustainable environment is a crucial concern for individuals worldwide. In previous research, CO2 emissions have been used to measure environmental deterioration. However, in this study, we have expanded the scope to include carbon emissions and several other gases. This comprehensive measure is referred to as the ecological footprint (EFP). More significant international digital trade (IDT) has the potential to achieve several positive results, including reducing EFP (economic frictions and barriers), stimulating economic growth, and minimizing trade risk and volatility. These benefits can be realized by implementing structural reforms in significant production and development sectors. Green technology innovation (GTI) has the potential to make substantial progress in ecological quality and energy efficiency. Nevertheless, previous studies still need to adequately prioritize examining rising economies in terms of international trade diversification and GTI. This study examined the effects of IDT, GTI, and renewable energy consumption (REC) on EFP in BRICST countries. The study utilized data from the period between 1995 and 2022. The cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) model demonstrates that EFP negatively correlates with trade diversification, REC, and GTI in the long and short term. These countries have demonstrated a significant presence of eco-friendly products in their trade portfolios, and their manufacturing processes are shifting towards GTI. The objective is to enhance the REC sources and minimize EFP from consumption. Conversely, the increasing economic growth within this economic group has a compounding impact on the environment's decline since it amplifies the carbon emissions from increased consumption. To reduce the EFP level, the paper suggests increasing investment in GTI, promoting worldwide digital trade, and embracing renewable energy sources.

Fine mapping and candidate gene analysis of qSRC3 controlling the silk color in maize (Zea mays L.).

KEY MESSAGE: Fine mapping of the maize QTL qSRC3, responsible for red silk, uncovered the candidate gene ZmMYB20, which encodes an R2R3-MYB transcription factor, has light-sensitive expression, and putatively regulates genes expression associated with anthocyanin biosynthesis. Colorless silk is a key characteristic contributing to the visual quality of fresh corn intended for market distribution. Nonetheless, the identification of Mendelian trait loci and associated genes that control silk color has been scarce. In this study, a F2 population arising from the hybridization of the single-segment substitution line qSRC3MT1 with red silk, carrying an introgressed allele from teosinte (Zea mays ssp. mexicana), and the recurrent maize inbred line Mo17, characterized by light green silk, was utilized for fine mapping. We found that the red silk trait is controlled by a semi-dominant genetic locus known as qSRC3, and its expression is susceptible to light-mediated inhibition. Moreover, qSRC3 explained 68.78% of the phenotypic variance and was delimited to a 133.2 kb region, which includes three genes. Subsequent expression analyses revealed that ZmMYB20 (Zm00001d039700), which encodes an R2R3-MYB transcription factor, was the key candidate gene within qSRC3. Yeast one-hybrid and dual-luciferase reporter assays provided evidence that ZmMYB20 suppresses the expression of two crucial anthocyanin biosynthesis genes, namely ZmF3H and ZmUFGT, by directly binding to their respective promoter regions. Our findings underscore the significance of light-inhibited ZmMYB20 in orchestrating the spatial and temporal regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis. These results advance the production of colorless silk in fresh corn, responding to the misconception that fresh corn with withered colored silk is not fresh and providing valuable genetic resources for the improvement of sweet and waxy maize.

Countering online marketing and user endorsements with enhanced cannabis warning labels: An online experiment among at-risk youth and young adults.

As cannabis legalization expands and online marketing intensifies, this study examines whether online social cues can amplify youth-targeted cannabis advertising and whether cannabis warning labels (CWLs) can counteract these influences. A U.S. online sample of 970 adolescents and 1776 young adults susceptible to cannabis use were recruited from Qualtrics in summer 2022. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of the 3 (CWLs: none vs. textual vs. pictorial) by 3 (comments: none vs. anti-cannabis vs. pro-cannabis) conditions in an online experiment. Participants were exposed to three online marketing posts promoting marijuana edibles (randomly selected from a large pool, N = 1260), each with either no warning label, a textual warning, or a pictorial warning (text and picture), and with either five comments (pro- or anti-cannabis in valence) or none. Results showed that among adolescents, pro-cannabis comments increased product appeal (vs. anti-cannabis comments: b = 0.18, p = .025; vs. no comments: b = 0.21, p = .021), and did so more than young adults. For adolescents, only pictorial warnings reduced product appeal (b = -0.20, p = .028). For young adults, both pictorial (b = -0.18, p = .002) and textual warnings (b = -0.12, p = .029) reduced product appeal. Furthermore, both textual (adolescents: b = -0.20, p = .004; young adults: b = -0.15, p = .005) and pictorial (adolescents: b = -0.30, p < .001; young adults: b = -0.18, p = .001) warnings reduced cannabis use intentions. Findings support requiring enhanced CWLs accompany online marketing ads.

Identification a novel Ganoderma FIP gene from Ganoderma capense and its functional expression in Pichia pastoris.

Ganoderma capense is a precious medicinal fungus in China. In this study, a novel fungal immunomodulatory protein gene, named as FIP-gca, was cloned from G. capense by homologous cloning. Sequencing analysis indicated that FIP-gca was composed of 336 bp, which encoded a polypeptide of 110 amino acids. Protein sequence blasting and phylogenetic analysis showed that FIP-gca shared homology with other Ganoderma FIPs. FIP-gca was effectively expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115 at an expression level of 166.8 mg/L and purified using HisTrap™ fast-flow prepack columns. The immunomodulation capacity of rFIP-gca was demonstrated by that rFIP-gca could obviously stimulate cell proliferation and increase IL-2 secretion of murine spleen lymphocytes. Besides, antitumor activity of rFIP-gca towards human stomach cancer AGS cell line was evaluated in vitro. Cell wound scratch assay proved that rFIP-gca could inhibit migration of AGS cells. And flow cytometry assay revealed that rFIP-gca could significantly induce apoptosis of AGS cells. rFIP-gca was able to induce 18.12% and 22.29% cell apoptosis at 0.3 µM and 0.6 µM, respectively. Conclusively, the novel FIP-gca gene from G. capense has been functionally expressed in Pichia and rFIP-gca exhibited ideal immunomodulation and anti-tumour activities, which implies its potential application and study in future.

Are interactive and tailored data visualizations effective in promoting flu vaccination among the elderly? Evidence from a randomized experiment.

OBJECTIVE: Although interactive data visualizations are increasingly popular for health communication, it remains to be seen what design features improve psychological and behavioral targets. This study experimentally tested how interactivity and descriptive titles may influence perceived susceptibility to the flu, intention to vaccinate, and information recall, particularly among older adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We created data visualization dashboards on flu vaccinations, tested in a 2 (explanatory text vs none) × 3 (interactive + tailored, static + tailored, static + nontailored) + questionnaire-only control randomized between-participant online experiment (N = 1378). RESULTS: The flu dashboards significantly increased perceived susceptibility to the flu compared to the control: static+nontailored dashboard, b = 0.14, P = .049; static-tailored, b = 0.16, P = .028; and interactive+tailored, b = 0.15, P = .039. Interactive dashboards potentially decreased recall particularly among the elderly (moderation by age: b = -0.03, P = .073). The benefits of descriptive text on recall were larger among the elderly (interaction effects: b = 0.03, P = .025). DISCUSSION: Interactive dashboards with complex statistics and limited textual information are widely used in health and public health but may be suboptimal for older individuals. We experimentally showed that adding explanatory text on visualizations can increase information recall particularly for older populations. CONCLUSION: We did not find evidence to support the effectiveness of interactivity in data visualizations on flu vaccination intentions or on information recall. Future research should examine what types of explanatory text can best support improved health outcomes and intentions in other contexts. Practitioners should consider whether interactivity is optimal in data visualization dashboards for their populations.

Nur77 alleviates cardiac fibrosis by upregulating GSK-3ß transcription during aging.

Cardiac fibrosis is associated with aging, for which no targeted therapies are available. With aging, the levels of nerve growth factor-induced gene B (Nur77) are reduced during cardiac remodelling; however, its role in cardiac fibrosis in aging remains unclear. Here, we found that Nur77 knockout increased cardiac structure abnormalities, systolic and diastolic dysfunction, cardiac hypertrophy, and fibrotic marker expression in 15-month-old mice. Furthermore, Nur77 deficiency induced collagen type I (Col-1) and α-smooth muscle actin overproduction in transforming growth factor beta (TGF-ß) treated H9c2 cells, whereas Nur77 overexpression attenuated this effect. Nur77 deficiency in vivo and in vitro downregulated glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3ß expression and increased ß-catenin activity, while its overexpression increased GSK-3ß expression. GSK-3ß knockdown counteracted the anti-fibrotic effect of Nur77 on TGF-ß-treated H9c2 cells. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assay results suggested GSK-3ß as the direct target of Nur77. Our findings suggest that Nur77 directly initiates GSK-3ß transcription and age-related cardiac fibrosis partly through the GSK-3ß/ß-catenin pathway. This study proposes a novel mechanism for Nur77 regulating cardiac fibrosis and suggests Nur77 as a target for the prevention and treatment of aging-associated cardiac fibrosis and heart failure.

Designing and testing social media campaign messages to promote COVID-19 vaccine confidence among rural adults: A community-engaged approach featuring rural community leader and clinician testimonials.

Despite the growing availability of effective COVID-19 vaccines in rural communities in the United States, widespread vaccine hesitancy delays COVID-19 vaccine coverage in rural communities and threatens to worsen pre-pandemic rural-urban disparities in other vaccination rates, including influenza and routine pediatric immunizations. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop communication-based interventions to improve vaccine confidence in rural America. This study demonstrates the efficacy of a community-engaged approach to developing social media campaign messages in promoting COVID-19 vaccine uptake and pro-vaccine social diffusion among rural adults. Using a community-engaged approach, we developed social media campaign videos varying in (a) featured messengers (clinicians versus community leaders) and (b) the presence of personal testimonials. We conducted a national online experiment (N = 1,364 rural adults) in spring 2022. We found that videos featuring clinicians serving rural communities and their testimonials increased (a) vaccination intentions in the unvaccinated group (4-point scale, b = 0.23, p =.015) and (b) intention to discuss the messages with others (4-point scale, b = 0.14, p =.037), share the message (4-point scale, b = 0.15, p =.026), and promote the vaccines to others (9-point scale, b = 0.48, p =.013). Results suggest that vaccine promotional social media campaigns targeting rural populations can benefit from including clinician testimonials.

Emotional Appeals and Norms: How Normative Perceptions Moderate the Persuasive Impacts of Discrete Emotional Appeals within Tobacco Pictorial Warnings in China.

Tobacco pictorial warnings could employ a variety of emotional appeals to enhance effectiveness; however, little research exists to guide the selection of discrete emotional appeals. Further, it remains unclear how contextual pro-smoking norms might influence the persuasive impacts of discrete emotional appeals within pictorial warnings, especially in China, where the overall smoking rate and social acceptance remain high. To fill these gaps, this study leveraged the largest set of pictorial warnings (K = 510) tested to date. Using a randomized large-K multiple-message design, we evaluated the impacts of disgust, fear, self-anger, contempt, shame, and hope appeals among Chinese adult male smokers (N = 2,306) on perceived message effectiveness (PME). Results showed that fear, self-anger, shame, and hope appeals significantly increased PME, while disgust and contempt appeals appeared less effective. Importantly, the PME of nearly all emotional appeals - except hope appeals - was weakened for Chinese adult male smokers with higher pro-smoking normative perceptions, highlighting the importance of considering local contextual influences when implementing pictorial warnings.

Developing a hypertension visualization risk prediction system utilizing machine learning and health check-up data.

As an important risk factor for many cardiovascular diseases, hypertension requires convenient and reliable methods for prevention and intervention. This study designed a visualization risk prediction system based on Machine Learning and SHAP as an auxiliary tool for personalized health management of hypertension. We used ten Machine Learning algorithms such as random forests and 1617 anonymized health check data to build ten hypertension risk prediction models. The model performance was evaluated through indicators such as accuracy, F1-score, and ROC curve. We used the best-performing model combined with the SHAP algorithm for feature importance analysis and built a visualization risk prediction system on the web page. The LightGMB model exhibited the best predictive performance, and age, alkaline phosphatase, and triglycerides were important features for predicting the risk of hypertension. Users can obtain their risk probability of hypertension and determine the focus of intervention through the visualization system built on the web page. Our research helps doctors and patients to develop personalized prevention and intervention programs for hypertension based on health check data, which has significant clinical and public health significance.

TSPLASSO: A Two-stage Prior LASSO Algorithm for Gene Selection using Omics Data.

Feature selection has been extensively applied to identify cancer genes using omics data. Although substantial studies have been conducted to search for cancer genes, the available rich knowledge on various cancers is seldom used as prior information in feature selection. This paper proposes a two-stage prior LASSO (TSPLASSO) method, which represents an early attempt in designing feature selection algorithms using prior information. The first stage performs gene selection via linear regression with LASSO. Candidate genes that are correlated with known cancer genes are retained for subsequent analysis. The second stage establishes a logistic regression model with LASSO to realize final cancer gene selection and sample classification. The key advantages of TSPLASSO include the successive consideration of prior cancer genes and binary sample types as response variables in stages one and two, respectively. In addition, the TSPLASSO performs sample classification and variable selection simultaneously. Compared with six state-of-the-art algorithms, numerical simulations in six real-world datasets show that TSPLASSO can improve the accuracy of variable selection by 5%-400% in the three bulk sequencing datasets and the scRNA-seq dataset; and the performance is robust against data noise and variations of prior cancer genes. The TSPLASSO provides an efficient, stable and practical algorithm for exploring biomedcial and health informatics from omics data.

Ambient PM2.5 Exposure and Bone Homeostasis: Analysis of UK Biobank Data and Experimental Studies in Mice and in Vitro.

BACKGROUND: Previous evidence has identified exposure to fine ambient particulate matter (PM2.5) as a leading risk factor for adverse health outcomes. However, to date, only a few studies have examined the potential association between long-term exposure to PM2.5 and bone homeostasis. OBJECTIVE: We sought to examine the relationship between long-term PM2.5 exposure and bone health and explore its potential mechanism. METHODS: This research included both observational and experimental studies. First, based on human data from UK Biobank, linear regression was used to explore the associations between long-term exposure to PM2.5 (i.e., annual average PM2.5 concentration for 2010) and bone mineral density [BMD; i.e., heel BMD (n=37,440) and femur neck and lumbar spine BMD (n=29,766)], which were measured during 2014-2020. For the experimental animal study, C57BL/6 male mice were assigned to ambient PM2.5 or filtered air for 6 months via a whole-body exposure system. Micro-computed tomography analyses were applied to measure BMD and bone microstructures. Biomarkers for bone turnover and inflammation were examined with histological staining, immunohistochemistry staining, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We also performed tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining and bone resorption assay to determine the effect of PM2.5 exposure on osteoclast activity in vitro. In addition, the potential downstream regulators were assessed by real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot. RESULTS: We observed that long-term exposure to PM2.5 was significantly associated with lower BMD at different anatomical sites, according to the analysis of UK Biobank data. In experimental study, mice exposed long-term to PM2.5 exhibited excessive osteoclastogenesis, dysregulated osteogenesis, higher tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) expression, and shorter femur length than control mice, but they demonstrated no significant differences in femur structure or BMD. In vitro, cells stimulated with conditional medium of PM2.5-stimulated macrophages had aberrant osteoclastogenesis and differences in the protein/mRNA expression of members of the TNF-α/Traf6/c-Fos pathway, which could be partially rescued by TNF-α inhibition. DISCUSSION: Our prospective observational evidence suggested that long-term exposure to PM2.5 is associated with lower BMD and further experimental results demonstrated exposure to PM2.5 could disrupt bone homeostasis, which may be mediated by inflammation-induced osteoclastogenesis. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11646.

SUMOylation of SMAD4 by PIAS1 in Conjunction with Vimentin Upregulation Promotes Migration Potential in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The expression of vimentin as a marker of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been speculated to be associated with tissue heterogeneity and metastases of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: This study utilized in vitro co-immunoprecipitation with small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) against protein inhibitors of STAT system type 1 (PIAS1) or SMAD4 in transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-ß) signaling pathway in combination with SUMOylation assay. RESULTS: We successfully demonstrated that PIAS1 enhanced SUMOylation of SMAD4 by forming a complex PIAS1-SUMO1-SMAD4 protein complex. This, in accordance with subsequently increased production of vimentin microfilaments, led to enhanced migration ability of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) A549 line, observed from wound healing assay. CONCLUSIONS: Our results further supported the positive correlation of SUMOylated SMAD4 mediated by PIAS1 and downstream overexpression of vimentin. In addition, the observation that overexpression of vimentin in this certain cell line was not necessarily linked with accelerated relative wound closure raised concerns that further exploration will be needed to confirm if the causal relationship exists between vimentin expression and the metastases of NSCLC, and if so, to what extent vimentin contributes to it.

Visible-Light-Induced, Catalyst-Free Monofluoromethyl Sulfonylation of Alkenes with Iodine(III) Reagent and DABSO.

A visible-light-induced radical relay strategy to access heterocycles bearing a monofluoromethylsufonyl moiety is reported, with PhI(OCOCH2F)2 as the CH2F radical precursor and DABSO as the SO2 source. A range of oxindoles, containing a CH2FSO2CH2- group at the C3 position, were synthesized from N-arylacrylamides in up to 97% yields. The protocol features catalyst-free photochemical tandem, mild reaction conditions, broad functional group compatibility, and good to excellent yields.

Hope over fear: The interplay between threat information and hope appeal corrections in debunking early COVID-19 misinformation.

The spreading of COVID-19 misinformation paralleled increasing fear towards the pandemic reported worldwide in its early stages. Yet research on the emotional basis for misinformation susceptibility and how emotional appeals may help reduce COVID-19 related misperceptions remains limited. To address this gap, we conducted a 2 (threat from COVID-19: yes vs. no) × 4 (correction conditions: none vs. factual correction vs. factual correction + words of optimistic outlook & individual efficacy vs. factual correction + words of optimistic outlook & collective efficacy) between-participant factorial experiment among an online sample of Chinese residents (N = 836) in June 2020. Misinformation about COVID-19 treatments and mitigation was presented in all conditions. Across five misinformation topics, threat information induced more misperceptions while all three types of corrections mitigated threat information's deleterious impact and improved belief accuracy. Importantly, corrections incorporating hope appeals showed enhanced effectiveness in improving belief accuracy when threat information was present whereas factual corrections absent hope appeals did not show similar sensitivity towards threat information. For hope appeal corrections, their indirect effects on desirable downstream behavioral intentions through corrected beliefs were stronger with than without preceding threat information. Our study thus demonstrated the potential of deploying hope appeals to fight the COVID-19 infodemic in China and beyond when threat information is prevalent, while highlighting the importance of studying the roles of emotional appeals in health misperception formation and correction.