Ribosomal frameshifting at normal codon repeats recodes functional chimeric proteins in human.

Ribosomal frameshifting refers to the process that ribosomes slip into +1 or -1 reading frame, thus produce chimeric trans-frame proteins. In viruses and bacteria, programmed ribosomal frameshifting can produce essential trans-frame proteins for viral replication or regulation of other biological processes. In humans, however, functional trans-frame protein derived from ribosomal frameshifting is scarcely documented. Combining multiple assays, we show that short codon repeats could act as cis-acting elements that stimulate ribosomal frameshifting in humans, abbreviated as CRFS hereafter. Using proteomic analyses, we identified many putative CRFS events from 32 normal human tissues supported by trans-frame peptides positioned at codon repeats. Finally, we show a CRFS-derived trans-frame protein (HDAC1-FS) functions by antagonizing the activities of HDAC1, thus affecting cell migration and apoptosis. These data suggest a novel type of translational recoding associated with codon repeats, which may expand the coding capacity of mRNA and diversify the regulation in human.

Deep learning-based diagnosis of disease activity in patients with Graves' orbitopathy using orbital SPECT/CT.

PURPOSE: Orbital [99mTc]TcDTPA orbital single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/CT is an important method for assessing inflammatory activity in patients with Graves' orbitopathy (GO). However, interpreting the results requires substantial physician workload. We aim to propose an automated method called GO-Net to detect inflammatory activity in patients with GO. MATERIALS AND METHODS: GO-Net had two stages: (1) a semantic V-Net segmentation network (SV-Net) that extracts extraocular muscles (EOMs) in orbital CT images and (2) a convolutional neural network (CNN) that uses SPECT/CT images and the segmentation results to classify inflammatory activity. A total of 956 eyes from 478 patients with GO (active: 475; inactive: 481) at Xiangya Hospital of Central South University were investigated. For the segmentation task, five-fold cross-validation with 194 eyes was used for training and internal validation. For the classification task, 80% of the eye data were used for training and internal fivefold cross-validation, and the remaining 20% of the eye data were used for testing. The EOM regions of interest (ROIs) were manually drawn by two readers and reviewed by an experienced physician as ground truth for segmentation GO activity was diagnosed according to clinical activity scores (CASs) and the SPECT/CT images. Furthermore, results are interpreted and visualized using gradient-weighted class activation mapping (Grad-CAM). RESULTS: The GO-Net model combining CT, SPECT, and EOM masks achieved a sensitivity of 84.63%, a specificity of 83.87%, and an area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of 0.89 (p < 0.01) on the test set for distinguishing active and inactive GO. Compared with the CT-only model, the GO-Net model showed superior diagnostic performance. Moreover, Grad-CAM demonstrated that the GO-Net model placed focus on the GO-active regions. For EOM segmentation, our segmentation model achieved a mean intersection over union (IOU) of 0.82. CONCLUSION: The proposed Go-Net model accurately detected GO activity and has great potential in the diagnosis of GO.

Physical Activity Interventions for Improving Cognitive Functions in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Protocol for a Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects millions of children worldwide, with a current prevalence of approximately 1 in 54 children in the United States. Although the precise mechanisms underlying ASD remain unclear, research has shown that early intervention can have a significant impact on cognitive development and outcomes in children with ASD. Physical activity interventions have emerged as a promising intervention for children with ASD, but the efficacy of different types of interventions remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study protocol aims to update the knowledge on extant literature and explore the efficacy of physical activity intervention strategies on cognitive functions in children with ASD. METHODS: A systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) will be conducted following the PRISMA-NMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols for Network Meta-Analyses) statement. A total of 9 bibliographic databases (APA PsycInfo, CENTRAL, Dimensions, ERIC, MEDLINE Complete, PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science) will be systematically searched to screen eligible articles based on a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria. A study will be considered for inclusion if it is not classified as a systematic review with or without meta-analysis, was published from inception to present, includes children aged 0 to 12 years with ASD, quantitively measures cognitive outcomes, and examines treatment comprising at least 1 physical activity intervention strategy. The internal validity and quality of evidence will be evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation framework. Statistical analyses will be performed in the RStudio software (version 3.6; RStudio Inc) with the BUGSnet package and the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software (version 3.3; Biostat Inc). The results of our NMA will be illustrated through network diagrams accompanied by geometry and league tables. Further, to rank the interventions based on their efficacy, we will use the surface under the cumulative ranking curve. RESULTS: Our preliminary search identified 3778 potentially relevant studies. The screening of the studies based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria is ongoing, and we anticipate that the final number of eligible studies will be in the range of 30 to 50. CONCLUSIONS: This study will provide a comprehensive review of the literature on physical activity interventions for children with ASD and will use NMA to compare the efficacy of different types of interventions on cognitive outcomes. Our findings will have important implications for clinical practice and future research in this area and will contribute to the growing body of evidence supporting the use of physical activity interventions as a key component of early intervention for children with ASD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42021279054; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=279054. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/40383.

A new method incorporating deep learning with shape priors for left ventricular segmentation in myocardial perfusion SPECT images.

Accurate segmentation of the left ventricle (LV) is crucial for evaluating myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) and assessing LV functions. In this study, a novel method combining deep learning with shape priors was developed and validated to extract the LV myocardium and automatically measure LV functional parameters. The method integrates a three-dimensional (3D) V-Net with a shape deformation module that incorporates shape priors generated by a dynamic programming (DP) algorithm to guide its output during training. A retrospective analysis was performed on an MPS dataset comprising 31 subjects without or with mild ischemia, 32 subjects with moderate ischemia, and 12 subjects with severe ischemia. Myocardial contours were manually annotated as the ground truth. A 5-fold stratified cross-validation was used to train and validate the models. The clinical performance was evaluated by measuring LV end-systolic volume (ESV), end-diastolic volume (EDV), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and scar burden from the extracted myocardial contours. There were excellent agreements between segmentation results by our proposed model and those from the ground truth, with a Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 0.9573 ± 0.0244, 0.9821 ± 0.0137, and 0.9903 ± 0.0041, as well as Hausdorff distances (HD) of 6.7529 ± 2.7334 mm, 7.2507 ± 3.1952 mm, and 7.6121 ± 3.0134 mm in extracting the LV endocardium, myocardium, and epicardium, respectively. Furthermore, the correlation coefficients between LVEF, ESV, EDV, stress scar burden, and rest scar burden measured from our model results and the ground truth were 0.92, 0.958, 0.952, 0.972, and 0.958, respectively. The proposed method achieved a high accuracy in extracting LV myocardial contours and assessing LV functions.

Texture analysis of SPECT myocardial perfusion provides prognostic value for dilated cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Texture analysis (TA) has demonstrated clinical values in extracting information, quantifying inhomogeneity, evaluating treatment outcomes, and predicting long-term prognosis for cardiac diseases. The aim of this study was to explore whether TA of SPECT myocardial perfusion could contribute to improving the prognosis of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients. METHODS: Eighty-eight patients were recruited in our study between 2009 and 2020 who were diagnosed with DCM and underwent single-photon emission tomography myocardial perfusion imaging (SPECT MPI). Forty TA features were obtained from quantitative analysis of SPECT imaging in subjects with myocardial perfusion at rest. All patients were divided into two groups: the all-cause death group and the survival group. The prognostic value of texture parameters was assessed by Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-five all-cause deaths (28.4%) were observed during the follow-up (39.2±28.7 months). Compared with the survival group, NT-proBNP and total perfusion deficit (TPD) were higher and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was lower in the all-cause death group. In addition, 26 out of 40 texture parameters were significantly different between the two groups. Univariate Cox regression analysis revealed that NT-proBNP, LVEF, and 25 texture parameters were significantly associated with all-cause death. The multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that low gray-level emphasis (LGLE) (P = 0.010, HR = 4.698, 95% CI 1.457-15.145) and long-run low gray-level emphasis (LRLGE) (P =0.002, HR = 6.085, 95% CI 1.906-19.422) were independent predictors of the survival outcome. When added to clinical parameters, LVEF, TPD, and TA parameters, including LGLE and LRLGE, were incrementally associated with all-cause death (global chi-square statistic of 26.246 vs. 33.521; P = 0.028, global chi-square statistic of 26.246 vs. 34.711; P = 0.004). CONCLUSION: TA based on gated SPECT MPI could discover independent prognostic predictors of all-cause death in medically treated patients with DCM. Moreover, TA parameters, including LGLE and LRLGE, independent of the total perfusion deficit of the cardiac myocardium, appeared to provide incremental prognostic value for DCM patients.

Community and motivation among tennis officials: a cross-cultural multilevel analysis.

Sport officials are pivotal to the development of the game at every level. Yet, the exploration of these officials' job satisfaction and turnover intentions, especially within tennis, remains largely neglected. This study undertakes a cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Referee Retention Scale (RRS) in a Chinese context (RRS-CN) and uses multilevel models (MLM) to explore the influence of perceived administrator consideration, mentoring, continuing education opportunities, remuneration, stress, and ecological factors on tennis officials' sense of community and officiating motivation. Data from 523 tennis officials across 26 provinces in China were gathered via an online survey. Through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the RRS-CN was validated as a culturally adaptive 25-item scale. In the following, MLM results revealed that officiating levels, socioeconomic status, perceived administrator consideration, mentoring, and levels of continuing education significantly predict officials' sense of community. Additionally, we identified that continuing education, mentoring, and remuneration significantly influences officiating motivation. These findings underscore the importance of fair assignments, mentorship, and ongoing professional development in enhancing job satisfaction and retention. Future explorations are encouraged to extend the analysis to more ecological variables and further investigate their potential effects on systematic partial nesting, enhancing the generalizability and precision of measurement in job satisfaction and turnover studies across diverse cultural landscapes.

Interferon-Stimulated Gene 15 Knockout in Mice Impairs IFNα-Mediated Antiviral Activity.

Type I interferon (IFN) plays an important role in the host defense against viral infection by inducing expression of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs). In a previous study, we found that porcine interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) exhibited antiviral activity against PRV in vitro. To further investigate the antiviral function of ISG15 in vivo, we utilized ISG15 knockout (ISG15-/-) mice in this study. Here, we demonstrate that ISG15-/- mice were highly susceptible to PRV infection in vivo, as evidenced by a considerably reduced survival rate, enhanced viral replication and severe pathological lesions. However, we observed no significant difference between female and male infected WT and ISG15-/- mice. Moreover, ISG15-/- mice displayed attenuated antiviral protection as a result of considerably reduced expression of IFNß and relevant ISGs during PRV replication. Furthermore, excessive production of proinflammatory cytokines may be closely related to encephalitis and pneumonia. In further studies, we found that the enhanced sensitivity to PRV infection in ISG15-/- mice might be caused by reduced phosphorylation of STAT1 and STAT2, thereby inhibiting type I IFN-mediated antiviral activity. Based on these findings, we conclude that ISG15 is essential for host type I IFN-mediated antiviral response.

Impact of sport training on adaptations in neural functioning and behavioral performance: A scoping review with meta-analysis on EEG research.

Background/objective: Investigating the neural mechanisms underlying sport performance has been a research focus in the field of sport science. The current review aims to identify distinct characteristics between athletes and non-athletes at behavioral and neural levels. Further analysis was conducted as to potential reasons that contributed to the differences. Methods: Literature was searched through PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, EBSCO, and Web of Science for EEG studies that compared athletes with non-athletes or novices in behavioral performance and brain function. Results: The process of literature search and selection identified 16 studies that satisfied the predetermined inclusion criteria. Theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands were employed as the primary EEG measures of cortical activities in the included studies. Athletes indicated significant advantages over controls in behavioral performance, H e d g e s ' g = 0.42 , p = 0.02 , and brain function, H e d g e s ' g = 0.49 , p = 0.03 . Moderator analysis on behavioral performance indicated a large effect size in sport-related performance, H e d g e s ' g = 0.90 , p = 0.01 , but a small, non-significant effect size in general tasks, H e d g e s ' g = 0.14 , p = 0.44 . Conclusions: Superior performance in sport-related tasks mostly contributed to athletes' significant advantage in behavioral performance. Additionally, favorable profiles of brain function associated with athletes included neural efficiency, increased cortical asymmetry, greater cognitive flexibility, and precise timing of cortical activation. Applying EEG technique to sport has shown promising directions in performance improvement and talent identification for young athletes.

Examining Adolescent Tennis Participation in Contemporary China Using an Ecological Framework.

Physical activity and sport participation behaviors in children and adolescents are consistently shaped by surrounding ecological systems. Accumulating evidence highlights individual, family, peer, school and teacher, and macroenvironment elements such as policies that affect unstructured physical activity choices in youth populations. However, the reason for participation has not been fully interpreted from the perspective of the youth themselves, especially those from an Asian cultural background. In our study, we aimed to better understand the self-identified reasons for adolescents' participation in non-organized or spontaneous tennis practice in contemporary China. Twenty-six adolescents and informants were recruited in mainland China and participated in semi-structured interviews to provide thick descriptions of their continued tennis participation behaviors. Data were coded and analyzed via NVivo 12. Four themes emerged: (a) Individual characteristics and self-interpretations of tennis culture; (b) microsystems mediating adolescents' tennis participation; (c) barriers and obstacles impacting tennis participation; and (d) policies and macroenvironments. Adolescent tennis participation is a result of the integration effect of the sociocultural and ecological factors dominated by multifaceted ecological systems. As a particular vision of their physical activity experiences, adolescents' interpretation of tennis and their broader worldview has been continuously reshaped by concurrent sport and educational policies.

Corrigendum: Neural Efficiency in Athletes: A Systematic Review.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.698555.].

Correlations between Physical Activity Participation and the Environment in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Using Ecological Frameworks.

Physical activity (PA) and sports are efficient ways to promote the young generation's physical and mental health and development. This study expected to demonstrate the complexity of correlates associated with children's and adolescents' non-organized PA participation. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocols (PRISMA), a systematic review and meta-analysis were applied. Seven electronic databases were systematically searched to identify eligible articles based on a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The internal validity of the systematic reviews thus identified was evaluated using a validated quality instrument. Calculations were produced in SPSS 27.0 and Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3.3. Thirty-nine eligible studies (N = 324,953) with moderate to high quality were included. No potential publication bias was detected using statistical analyses. The meta-analysis revealed that the overall ecological factors correlated positively with children and adolescents' PA; the meta-analytic average of the correlations was ('r = 0.32, p < 0.001). Results from subgroup analysis indicated that theory-based influence factors achieved moderate effect with boys ('r = 0.37, p < 0.001) and girls ('r = 0.32, p < 0.001) in PA participation. Interestingly, higher correlations were found between ecological factors and twins' PA participation ('r = 0.61, p = 0.001). Further, individual ('r = 0.32, p < 0.001), macro-, and chronosystems factors ('r = 0.50, p < 0.001) appeared slightly more influential than microsystems factors ('r = 0.28, p < 0.001) on children and adolescents' PA participation. Although findings from the included studies covered were to some extent heterogeneous, it is possible to identify consistent correlates of PA in children and adolescents. The results supported that PA is a complex and multi-dimensional behavior, which is determined by numerous biological, psychological, sociocultural, and environmental factors. Future studies that focus on the integration effect of macrosystem and chronosystem environmental factors, and apply longitudinal designs and objective measurements are encouraged to further unfold the complexity of the ecological system and its implications in promoting children and adolescents' PA participation.

Neural Efficiency in Athletes: A Systematic Review.

According to the neural efficiency hypothesis (NEH), professionals have more effective cortical functions in cognitive tasks. This study is focusing on providing a systematic review of sport-related NEH studies with functional neuroimaging or brain stimulation while performing a sport-specific task, with the aim to answer the question: How does long-term specialized training change an athlete's brain and improve efficiency? A total of 28 studies (N = 829, Experimental Group n = 430) from 2001 to 2020 (Median = 2014, SD = 5.43) were analyzed and results were organized into four different sections: expert-novice samples, perceptual-cognitive tasks and neuroimaging technologies, efficiency paradox, and the cluster analysis. Researchers examined a wide range of sport-specific videos and multiple object tracking (MOT) specific to 18 different sports and utilized blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and electroencephalogram (EEG). Expert-novice comparisons were often adopted into investigations about the variations in general about optimal-controlled performance, neurophysiology, and behavioral brain research. Experts tended to perform at faster speeds, more accurate motor behavior, and with greater efficiency than novices. Experts report lower activity levels in the sensory and motor cortex with less energy expenditure, experts will possibly be more productive. These findings generally supported the NEH across the studies reviewed. However, an efficiency paradox and proficient brain functioning were revealed as the complementary hypothesis of the NEH. The discussion concentrates on strengths and key limitations. The conclusion highlights additional concerns and recommendations for prospective researchers aiming to investigate a broader range of populations and sports.

Physical Activity Participation and the Environment in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocol.

Physical activity (PA) and sports are efficient ways to promote the younger generation's health and wellbeing. However, evidence is limited due to heterogeneous samples and measurements. This study aims to identify promoting and inhibiting correlates associated with children's and adolescents' non-organized PA participation and further demonstrate the complexity of PA and ecological factors. A systematic review and meta-analysis will be applied by following the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P). Seven bibliographic databases (PubMed, SPORTDiscus, PsycInfo, MEDLINE Complete, ERIC, Dimensions, and Academic Search Complete) will be systematically searched to identify eligible articles based on a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria are that the study: (a) is not classified as a systematic review with or without meta-analysis; (b) is published in last 20 years; (c) includes children and adolescents; (d) quantitively measures PA; (e) includes review of ecological factors. The internal validity will be evaluated using a validated quality instrument. Calculations will be produced in SPSS 27.0 and Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3.3. This study will provide evidence and address the questions regarding the factors that significantly impact children's PA participation and limitations regarding the design, sampling, and measurement in currently selected studies. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021244918.

Ranking provincial power generation sources of China: a decision-maker preferences based integrated multi-criteria framework.

The ranking of power generation sources is a very important prerequisite for power generation installation planning and power supply security. This study proposed a new multi-criteria system for ranking regional power generation sources in one country, including resources, economy, technology, environment, and society, using 11 sub-criteria. Based on the system, a novel decision-maker (DMs) preference-based integrated MCDM framework involving four methods (Visekriterijumsko Kompromisno Rangiranje (VIKOR), Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE), and Weighted Sum Method (WSM)) was developed for ranking six power generation sources (thermal, nuclear, wind, hydro, solar PV, and biomass) at the level of China's 30 provinces. Six different preferences of DMs are considered in the ranking according to five criteria. The results show that wind should be the power generation source given the top priority in most provinces in China whereas nuclear power and thermal power are the last choice for 26 provinces. Biomass is the most preferable power source for 17 provinces based on technological preference in which DMs regard the technology criteria is prior to all other criteria. Thermal power would still the preferred or secondary power source for provinces rich in coal resources such as Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Henan, and Shaanxi.

Does the development of renewable energy promote carbon reduction? Evidence from Chinese provinces.

Developing renewable energy is a crucial measure in addressing climate change and achieving carbon reduction. However, research evidence on its impact is mixed. To fill this gap, we construct a panel quantile regression model in this study to examine whether China's renewable energy development has effectively promoted a reduction in carbon emissions using panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2005 to 2016. The results show that: (1) Improving China's renewable energy development level is conducive to carbon emission reductions. Specifically, carbon intensity could drop by 0.084%-0.149% for every 1% increase in renewable energy generation. However, the inhibitory effect is limited due to trapped electricity as well as the fact that substituting renewable energy for fossil energy has not yet sufficiently transformed the energy consumption structure. (2) Renewable energy development has a greater impact on carbon intensity reduction in regions with high or low carbon intensity than in areas with intermediate carbon intensity. (3) The main factor in the decline in carbon intensity in China is a decrease in energy intensity. Nonetheless, the role of renewable energy in carbon reduction has increased over time.

Evaluating provincial eco-efficiency in China: an improved network data envelopment analysis model with undesirable output.

In this study, an improved matrix-type network data envelopment analysis (NDEA) model with undesirable output was developed to evaluate the eco-efficiency of China's 30 provinces. The proposed model considered three linked but independent subsystems of the economy-society-environment cyclic system. Additionally, to allocate the weights of the NDEA model among the three subsystems (environment, economy, and society) of the eco-environment, a new relative reduction of the input-based method was proposed. The results show that, from 2003 to 2016, the average eco-efficiency of China's 30 provinces was low, ranging in [0.59, 0.73]. Qinghai and Hainan ranked first and second, respectively, in average eco-efficiencies, while both Shaanxi and Xinjiang had the lowest average eco-efficiencies. Affected by the low social subsystem efficiency, the eco-efficiency of 18 provinces decreased, but the range of the decrease was smaller than that of the increase in 11 other provinces in which the eco-efficiency improved. The average efficiency of the environmental subsystem is the highest among the three subsystems benefiting from reducing the emissions of "three industrial wastes," while economic subsystem owns the lowest average efficiency due to the input redundancy of total fixed assets and energy consumption. Compared with variables' projection, for most provinces, the undesirable output of the three industrial wastes should be reduced by more than 88.0%, while the positive outputs of atmospheric quality and per capita years of education should be increased by at least 61.0%.