Cross-sectional association between 24-hour movement guidelines and depressive symptoms in Chinese university students.

Background: The world's first 24-h movement guidelines for adults were released on 15 October 2020 in Canada, though evidence of their associations with health indicators in young adults is sparse. This study aimed to report the prevalence of meeting the 24-h movement guidelines and associations with depressive symptoms in a sample of Chinese university students. Methods: Cross-sectional data from 1,793 Chinese university students (mean age = 20.7 years, 63.6% female) were used. Sociodemographic information, movement behaviors (physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep duration), and depressive symptoms were collected using a self-reported questionnaire. Results: The prevalence of meeting the 24-h movement guidelines was 27.8% in Chinese university students. Logistic regression results show that compared to those who met the 24-h movement guidelines, odds ratio (OR) for depressive symptoms in those who met fewer recommendations contained in the 24-h movement guidelines were significantly higher (OR for none = 3.4, 95% CI [2.1-5.5], p < 0.001; OR for one = 2.7, 95% CI [2.0-3.8], p < 0.001; OR for two = 1.5, 95% CI [1.1-2.1], p = 0.013). Conclusion: The prevalence of meeting the 24-h movement guidelines in Chinese university students was relatively low and should be enhanced through multiple strategies. Meeting the 24-h movement guidelines was associated with lower risk for depression in Chinese young adults. It is suggested that moving more, sitting less and sleeping well in this population may reduce the occurrence of depression.

Frequency of Vigorous physical activity and sleep difficulty in adolescents: A multiply-country cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Sleep is an essential health behavior, and sleep difficulties are strongly associated with adolescent health, potentially leading to more severe sleep disorders. The beneficial effects of physical activity (PA) in alleviating sleep difficulties have been well-documented. Numerous investigations reveal influence in moderate to high-intensity physical activity (PA) positively influences sleep quality. Despite these findings, a gap in the literature exists, particularly regarding the association between frequency of vigorous-intensity physical activity (VPA) and sleep difficulties. AIM: This study aims to bridge the knowledge gap by exploring the link between sleep difficulty and frequency of VPA among adolescents. Insights are derived from analyzing data accumulated from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) project. METHODS: The analysis in this study utilized cross-sectional data from the HBSC (2017/2018). The study sample comprised a total of 171,233 respondents aged 11, 13, and 15 years, with males representing 51.1% of sample. Measurement instruments included a self-administered questionnaire, providing direct insight into sleep difficulty and frequency of VPA levels. Statistical analysis on the associaiton between frequency of VPA and sleep difficulties was conducted using Generalized Linear Models. RESULTS: 50.0% of adolescents reported no sleep difficulties, while 12.3% experienced sleep issues daily. Additionally, 17.1% of adolescents engaged in frequency of VPA on a daily basis, while 6.4% never participated in such activities. daily VPA was associated with fewer sleep difficulties (OR = 1.07 [1.00, 1.15]), 4-6 times a week (OR = 1.08 [1.01, 1.15]), and 2-3 times a week (OR = 1.08 [1.02, 1.16]). However, no significant association was found between sleep difficulties and frequency of VPA in girls. Furthermore, a negative association was observed between sleep difficulties and all frequencies of VPA (p < 0.05) in 11-year-old adolescents. For 13-year-olds, daily VPA was significantly associated with fewer sleep difficulties (OR = 1.10 [1.02, 1.19]), 4-6 times a week (OR = 1.15 [1.07, 1.24]), 2-3 times a week (OR = 1.19 [1.10, 1.27]), and once a week (OR = 1.13 [1.05, 1.22]). However, no significant association was found between sleep difficulties and frequency of VPA in 15-year-old adolescents. CONCLUSION: More participations in VPA would be an effective approach to reduce sleep difficulties in adolescents. Insights gleaned from this research illustrate a discernible link between sleep difficulty and frequency of VPA, particularly notable in male and 13-year-old participants. It is also imperative to underscore the variability in the connection between sleep difficulty and frequency of VPA, distinctly influenced by factors such as gender and age. Consequently, tailoring sleep intervention methodologies to align with the specific needs dictated by these variables emerges as a pivotal recommendation.

A novel 193-plex MPS panel integrating STRs and SNPs highlights the application value of forensic genetics in individual identification and paternity testing.

Massively parallel sequencing (MPS) has emerged as a promising technology for targeting multiple genetic loci simultaneously in forensic genetics. Here, a novel 193-plex panel was designed to target 28 A-STRs, 41 Y-STRs, 21 X-STRs, 3 sex-identified loci, and 100 A-SNPs by employing a single-end 400 bp sequencing strategy on the MGISEQ-2000™ platform. In the present study, a series of validations and sequencing of 1642 population samples were performed to evaluate the overall performance of the MPS-based panel and its practicality in forensic application according to the SWGDAM guidelines. In general, the 193-plex markers in our panel showed good performance in terms of species specificity, stability, and repeatability. Compared to commercial kits, this panel achieved 100% concordance for standard gDNA and 99.87% concordance for 14,560 population genotypes. Moreover, this panel detected 100% of the loci from 0.5 ng of DNA template and all unique alleles at a 1:4 DNA mixture ratio (0.2 ng minor contributor), and the applicability of the proposed approach for tracing and degrading DNA was further supported by case samples. In addition, several forensic parameters of STRs and SNPs were calculated in a population study. High CPE and CPD values greater than 0.9999999 were clearly demonstrated and these results could be useful references for the application of this panel in individual identification and paternity testing. Overall, this 193-plex MPS panel has been shown to be a reliable, repeatable, robust, inexpensive, and powerful tool sufficient for forensic practice.

Sertraline-Induced Acute Pancreatitis: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Objective: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a process of acute inflammation and cell damage of the pancreas. Gallstones and alcohol abuse are the most common cause for AP. Drug-induced pancreatitis (DIP), accounting for less than 3% of the AP, has become increasingly recognized as an additional and vitally important etiology of acute pancreatitis. Sertraline is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)class that has a range of side effects even when used at the recommended dose. A recognized but rare association in teenagers is acute pancreatitis. The report is of a 15-year-old male teenager with a history of depression who developed acute pancreatitis following self-overdose of his sertraline prescription. Case Report: A 15-year-old teenager with an overdose of sertraline, which was the only medication he took, presented abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. The common causes of alcohol consumption, gallstones, biliary duct obstruction, malignancy, trauma, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypercalcemia were eliminated. The increased level of amylase and parenchymal edema of the pancreas revealed in computed tomography supported the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. After discontinuation of the drug and conventional acute pancreatitis treatment, he recovered evenly. Conclusion: With the increasing use of antidepressant medications in patients of teenagers, this report is a reminder that clinicians should be aware of the association between SSRIs such as sertraline, particularly in cases of overdose, and the development of acute pancreatitis.

Genetic polymorphism and variability in the Guangdong Hakka, Teochew, and Cantonese groups: A comprehensive analysis of 19 X-STRs.

BACKGROUND: X chromosomeshort tandem repeat (X-STR) loci are playing an increasingly important role inforensic work, identifying female traces in male contamination and explainingcomplex kinship analyses. METHODS: In this study, we analyzed thegenetic polymorphism of 19 X-STR loci in the Guangdong Hakka, Teochew and Cantonese groups, respectively, aswell as in the Guangdong Hakka, Teochew andCantonese pooled Han. The genetic diversity and forensic characteristics of the19 X-STRs and 7 linkage groups were investigated, respectively. RESULTS: The experiments showed that the genetic diversity (GD) and polymorphism information content (PIC) in the pooledGuangdong Han ranged from 0.5320 to 0.9234 and 0.4369 to 0.9171, respectively, and the cumulative power of discrimination for males (PDM), power of discrimination for females (PDF) and mean paternity exclusion chance (MEC) were higher than 0.9999999, indicating that the 19 X-STRs had high geneticpolymorphism and discriminatory power. Genetic differences among Chinese Hansubgroups and among different Chinese populations were investigated byphylogenetic reconstruction and principal component analysis (PCA), respectively. Genetic analyses based on neighbor-joining (NJ) tree and principal component analysis plot showed that Cantonese, Teochew and Hakka were closely genetically related, and different populations with closer linguistic components had more genetic affinity. CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to the forensic X-STR database and demonstrates the forensic efficiency of 19 X-STRs for the Hakka, Teochewand Cantonese populations in Guangdong, and the pooled Han of Hakka, Teochewand Cantonese people in Guangdong.

Automatic epileptic seizure detection based on EEG using a moth-flame optimization of one-dimensional convolutional neural networks.

Introduction: Frequent epileptic seizures can cause irreversible damage to the brains of patients. A potential therapeutic approach is to detect epileptic seizures early and provide artificial intervention to the patient. Currently, extracting electroencephalogram (EEG) features to detect epileptic seizures often requires tedious methods or the repeated adjustment of neural network hyperparameters, which can be time- consuming and demanding for researchers. Methods: This study proposes an automatic detection model for an EEG based on moth-flame optimization (MFO) optimized one-dimensional convolutional neural networks (1D-CNN). First, according to the characteristics and need for early epileptic seizure detection, a data augmentation method for dividing an EEG into small samples is proposed. Second, the hyperparameters are tuned based on MFO and trained for an EEG. Finally, the softmax classifier is used to output EEG classification from a small-sample and single channel. Results: The proposed model is evaluated with the Bonn EEG dataset, which verifies the feasibility of EEG classification problems that involve up to five classes, including healthy, preictal, and ictal EEG from various brain regions and individuals. Discussion: Compared with existing advanced optimization algorithms, such as particle swarm optimization, genetic algorithm, and grey wolf optimizer, the superiority of the proposed model is further verified. The proposed model can be implemented into an automatic epileptic seizure detection system to detect seizures in clinical applications.

Wind Resistance Mechanism of an Anole Lizard-Inspired Climbing Robot.

The stable operation of climbing robots exposed to high winds is of great significance for the health-monitoring of structures. This study proposes an anole lizard-like climbing robot inspired by its superior wind resistance. First, the stability mechanism of the anole lizard body in adhesion and desorption is investigated by developing adhesion and desorption models, respectively. Then, the hypothesis that the anole lizard improves its adhesion and stability performance through abdominal adjustment and trunk swing is tested by developing a simplified body model and kinematic model. After that, the structures of the toe, limb, and multi-stage flexible torso of the anole lizard-like climbing robot are designed. Subsequently, the aerodynamic behavior of the proposed robot under high-speed airflow are investigated using finite element analysis. The results show that when there is no obstacle, the climbing robot generates the normal force to enhance toepad friction and adhesion by tuning the abdomen's shape to create an air pressure difference between the back and abdomen. When there is an obstacle, a component force is obtained through periodic oscillation of the spine and tail to resist the frontal winds resulting from the vortex paths generated by the airflow behind the obstacle. These results confirm that the proposed hypothesis is correct. Finally, the adhesion and wind resistance performance of the anole lizard-like climbing robot is tested through the developed experimental platform. It is found that the adhesion force is equal to 50 N when the pre-pressure is 20 N. Further, it is shown that the normal pressure of the proposed robot can reach 76.6% of its weight in a high wind of 14 m/s.

Stretchable and Self-Adhesive PEDOT:PSS Blend with High Sweat Tolerance as Conformal Biopotential Dry Electrodes.

Dry epidermal electrodes that can always form conformal contact with skin can be used for continuous long-term biopotential monitoring, which can provide vital information for disease diagnosis and rehabilitation. But, this application has been limited by the poor contact of dry electrodes on wet skin. Herein, we report a biocompatible fully organic dry electrode that can form conformal contact with both dry and wet skin even during physical movement. The dry electrodes are prepared by drop casting an aqueous solution consisting of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), tannic acid (TA), and ethylene glycol (EG). The electrodes can exhibit a conductivity of 122 S cm-1 and a mechanical stretchability of 54%. Moreover, they are self-adhesive to not only dry skin but also wet skin. As a result, they can exhibit a lower contact impedance to skin than commercial Ag/AgCl gel electrodes on both dry and sweat skins. They can be used as dry epidermal electrodes to accurately detect biopotential signals including electrocardiogram (ECG) and electromyogram (EMG) on both dry and wet skins for the users at rest or during physical movement. This is the first time to demonstrate dry epidermal electrodes self-adhesive to wet skin for accurate biopotential detection.

Forensic application of a novel MPS-based panel (90 STRs and 100 SNPs) in a non-exclusion parentage case with three autosomal STRs incompatibilities.

In kinship tests, the investigating of the forensic STRs usually provides decisive information to resolve relationship cases. We describe a parentage case with 3 genetic incompatibilities (D6S1043, D18S51 and D2S1338) between the child and alleged parent. With 90 STR loci and 100 SNP loci, the massively parallel sequencing (MPS)-based genotyping results support the certainty of parentage, and the mismatched alleles were considered to be mutations. MPS can provide additional allele sequence structures that can be used to infer the origins of the mutations. SNPs as supplementary markers can provide effective information to give an unequivocal statement of the parentage.

C-Myc-activated long non-coding RNA LINC01050 promotes gastric cancer growth and metastasis by sponging miR-7161-3p to regulate SPZ1 expression.

BACKGROUND: Growing evidence shows that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play significant roles in cancer development. However, the functions of most lncRNAs in human gastric cancer are still not fully understood. Here, we explored the role of a novel c-Myc-activated lncRNA, LINC01050, in gastric cancer progression. METHODS: The expression of LINC01050 in the context of gastric cancer was assessed using The Cancer Genome Atlas datasets. Its functions in gastric cancer were investigated through gain- and loss-of-function experiments combined with the Cell Counting Kit-8 assays, colony-forming assays, Transwell assays, flow cytometry, Western blot analyses, and xenograft tumor and mouse metastasis models. Potential LINC01050 transcription activators were screened via bioinformatics and validated by chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase assays. The interaction between LINC01050 and miR-7161-3p and the targets of miR-7161-3p were predicted by bioinformatics analysis and confirmed by a luciferase assay, RNA immunoprecipitation, RNA pull-down, and rescue experiments. RESULTS: LINC01050 was significantly up-regulated in gastric cancer, and its high expression was positively correlated with a poor prognosis. The transcription factor c-Myc was found to directly bind to the LINC01050 promoter region and activate its transcription. Furthermore, overexpression of LINC01050 was confirmed to promote gastric cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. At the same time, its knockdown inhibited gastric cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in vitro along with tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. Moreover, mechanistic investigations revealed that LINC01050 functions as a molecular sponge to absorb cytosolic miR-7161-3p, which reduces the miR-7161-3p-mediated translational repression of SPZ1, thus contributing to gastric cancer progression. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results identified a novel gastric cancer-associated lncRNA, LINC01050, which is activated by c-Myc. LINC01050 may be considered a potential therapeutic target for gastric cancer.

Validation and forensic application of a new 19 X-STR loci multiplex system.

The Microreader™ 19X Direct ID System was a newly developed multiplex PCR kit, which could detect 19 X-chromosomal STR loci (DXS6795, DXS9907, DXS6803, GATA172D05, DXS6807, GATA31E08, DXS7423, DXS6810, DXS101, DXS9902, DXS7133, DXS6800, DXS981, DXS10162, DXS6809, DXS10135, HPRTB, GATA165B12, DXS10079) and the sex determination locus of AMEL simultaneously. Different from other X-STR multiplex PCR kits, no linkage groups are included in this system, so the likelihood ratios could be calculated without the consideration of linkage groups. In this study, PCR conditions, sensitivity, species specificity, stability, DNA mixtures, concordance, stutter, sizing precision and population studies were conducted according to the SWGDAM developmental validation guidelines. The results indicated that this new X-STRs multiplex system was an efficient and reliable detection system, which could facilitate human kinship analysis and identification testing, as a powerful supplementary to autosomal STR kits.

Which methods are the most effective in enabling novice users to participate in ontology creation? A usability study.

Producing findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) data cannot be accomplished solely by data curators in all disciplines. In biology, we have shown that phenotypic data curation is not only costly, but it is burdened with inter-curator variation. We intend to propose a software platform that would enable all data producers, including authors of scientific publications, to produce ontologized data at the time of publication. Working toward this goal, we need to identify ontology construction methods that are preferred by end users. Here, we employ two usability studies to evaluate effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction with a set of four methods that allow an end user to add terms and their relations to an ontology. Thirty-three participants took part in a controlled experiment where they evaluated the four methods (Quick Form, Wizard, WebProtégé and Wikidata) after watching demonstration videos and completing a hands-on task. Another think-aloud study was conducted with three professional botanists. The efficiency effectiveness and user confidence in the methods are clearly revealed through statistical and content analyses of participants' comments. Quick Form, Wizard and WebProtégé offer distinct strengths that would benefit our author-driven FAIR data generation system. Features preferred by the participants will guide the design of future iterations.

Combined application of multiple autosomal and Y-chromosomal STR loci in solving a homicide case in 2009.

In 2009, a violent murder occurred. Two victims, a 47-year-old mother and her 21-year-old daughter, were murdered at home. After importing the 20 autosomal STR loci and 27 Y-STR loci into a database, no hit had been found. In 2019, a person with a prior criminal record was matched in the national forensic Y-STR database. When increasing the number of detected Y-STR loci to 60, all loci of the bloodstain donor at the crime and the suspect were still found to be identical. With the combined calculation of multiple autosomal STR and kinship index, we were able to identify the perpetrator as a previously unknown illegitimate child of a large family and solved the case.

Downregulation of LINC01021 by curcumin analog Da0324 inhibits gastric cancer progression through activation of P53.

Curcumin is a safe, cost-effective natural agent with multiple targets that displays therapeutic potential in cancer. Recently, we reported a novel curcumin analog, Da0324, which exhibited significantly improved stability and anti-cancer activity. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the anti-cancer activity of Da0324 remains largely unknown. Long non-coding RNAs have been shown to play important roles in cancer development and progression and may be potential targets for cancer therapy. Here, we showed that Da0324 treatment down-regulated the expression of LINC01021 in gastric cancer cells. Da0324 treatment or knockdown of LINC01021 by antisense oligos significantly inhibited gastric cancer cell growth, and also up-regulated P53 expression and down-regulated Bcl-2 expression in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, Da0324 treatment or knockdown of LINC01021 in gastric cancer cells suppressed cell migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), as well as induced apoptosis and autophagy. In addition, overexpression of LINC01021 promoted growth and EMT, inhibited P53 expression and increased Bcl-2 expression in gastric cancer cells. Finally, overexpression of LINC01021 reversed the anti-cancer effect of Da0324. Our findings indicate a novel anti-cancer mechanism for Da0324, and that LINC01021 might be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of gastric cancer.

Application of Y-chromosomal microdeletions in a homicide case.

A case study involving an intentional homicide case in November 2018, in which the autosomal genotypes of the suspect were unavailable and only part of deletions of Y-STR loci were identified by Y-chromosomal typing. The suspect, male, was charged with beating the decedent, female, over the head with an iron water pipe to death. The use of standard autosomal DNA profiling to identify the suspect was unattainable due to the extensive volume blood of the decedent on the murder weapon which was inevitably cleaned by running water at the crime scene. As a result, autosomal genotypes of the suspect were unavailable and only partial samples of deletions of Y-STR loci were identified by Y-chromosomal typing. Y-STR analysis (Yfiler™ plus and AGCU Y36) was used on the collected DNA extracts and compared to reference samples of the suspect, as well as his father and brother in an attempt to positively identify the suspect as the perpetrator of the murder. Subsequent Y-STR genotyping for the suspect, his father and brother indicated that Y-STR genotype of the suspect was consistent with that discovered on the physical evidence and the deleted Y-STR loci were identical for both. No deletions of Y-STR genotype were observed in the suspect's father and brother. After changing a Y-STR kit, the deleted loci were still present in the suspect. In Addition, sequencing of the whole Y-chromosomal genes was performed on the samples taken from the suspect and his father and brother. Segmental deletions at Yq 11.222-Yq 11.23 of the suspect were observed and the deleted Y-STR markers were right on the deleted Y-chromosomal segments. In this case, although the suspect could not be identified by the autosomal STR profiles detected on the physical evidence, the discovery of identical Y-STR genotype and the identical deletions of Y-chromosomal segments made it plausible that DNA on the murder weapon was left behind by the suspect. This case study shows that in criminal cases like this, where the autosomal STR evidence is unattainable, Y-STR evidence can be used effectively as a substitute to identify the suspect.

Collection and disinfection of forensic biological specimens in five cases concerning COVID-19 in Guangzhou, China.

There have been many cases of pneumonia caused by novel coronavirus infections in China and around the world. This will inevitably lead to a rise in the number of patients. At the present time, clinical and forensic autopsies have given guidance and explanations in relation to the problem of COVID-19 transmission and defense. However, less attention is paid to the handling of COVID-19 biological samples in forensic practice. Particularly, COVID-19 can survive on some surfaces for days. Since there were many cases involving COVID-19 during the epidemic, this article shares the methods and strategies for handling such inspection materials and the biological samples related specifically to COVID-19 cases.

Association of Serum Homocysteine Levels with Histological Severity of NAFLD.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Studies on the association between homocysteine and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have shown inconsistent results. Our study concerns the association of homocysteine with the histological severity of NAFLD, especially non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and significant fibrosis (SF) after adjusting for other well-identified risk factors. METHODS: This study enrolled 289 patients with biopsy proven NAFLD. The association of homocysteine with the severe histological features was examined using multivariable logistic regression analysis and subgroup analysis. The area under curves (AUC) and Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test for the adjusted logistic regression models was analyzed. RESULTS: After multivariable regression analysis, homocysteine showed significant correlation with NASH (OR 0.79 95%CI: 0.69-0.89), p<0.001) and SF (OR 0.83 95%CI: 0.72-0.95, p=0.009). Spearman's correlation analysis showed homocysteine levels were inversely correlated with the grade of hepatocellular ballooning and the stage of liver fibrosis (Spearman's ρ=-0.13, p=0.033; Spearman's ρ=-0.16, p=0.007), but had no correlation with the severity of steatosis and lobular inflammation. The subgroup analyses showed that homocysteine was strongly associated with NASH in females but was weaker in males (female OR: 0.61 95%CI: 0.45-0.84; male 0.86 95%CI: 0.75-0.99), and on SF showed no significant differences in the subgroups. The models showed good discrimination for NASH (AUC 0.789, 95% CI: 0.736-0.843) and for SF (0.784 95%CI: 0.719-0.848) and calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test, p=0.346 for NASH; p=0.908 for SF). CONCLUSION: Elevated serum homocysteine levels are negatively associated with NASH and SF in subjects with NAFLD.

Population genetic analysis of Chinese Zhuang and Mulao minorities using AGCU-X19 STR kit.

To investigate the genetic variation and forensic efficiency of 19 X-STR loci in the Zhuang and Mulao minorities, we calculated allele frequencies, forensic parameters, and haplotype frequencies of 405 Zhuang and 234 Mulao unrelated healthy individuals from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. Furthermore, we analyzed the population genetic differentiations between the two minorities and other reported Chinese populations.