Fluorine Chemistry in Rechargeable Batteries: Challenges, Progress, and Perspectives.

The renewable energy industry demands rechargeable batteries that can be manufactured at low cost using abundant resources while offering high energy density, good safety, wide operating temperature windows, and long lifespans. Utilizing fluorine chemistry to redesign battery configurations/components is considered a critical strategy to fulfill these requirements due to the natural abundance, robust bond strength, and extraordinary electronegativity of fluorine and the high free energy of fluoride formation, which enables the fluorinated components with cost effectiveness, nonflammability, and intrinsic stability. In particular, fluorinated materials and electrode|electrolyte interphases have been demonstrated to significantly affect reaction reversibility/kinetics, safety, and temperature tolerance of rechargeable batteries. However, the underlining principles governing material design and the mechanistic insights of interphases at the atomic level have been largely overlooked. This review covers a wide range of topics from the exploration of fluorine-containing electrodes, fluorinated electrolyte constituents, and other fluorinated battery components for metal-ion shuttle batteries to constructing fluoride-ion batteries, dual-ion batteries, and other new chemistries. In doing so, this review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the structure-property interactions, the features of fluorinated interphases, and cutting-edge techniques for elucidating the role of fluorine chemistry in rechargeable batteries. Further, we present current challenges and promising strategies for employing fluorine chemistry, aiming to advance the electrochemical performance, wide temperature operation, and safety attributes of rechargeable batteries.

Pemetrexed alleviates piglet diarrhea by blocking the interaction between porcine epidemic diarrhea virus nucleocapsid protein and Ezrin.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is an enteric coronavirus that causes high mortality in piglets, thus posing a serious threat to the world pig industry. Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) is related to the imbalance of sodium absorption by small intestinal epithelial cells; however, the etiology of sodium imbalanced diarrhea caused by PEDV remains unclear. Herein, we first proved that PEDV can cause a significant decrease in Na+/H+ exchanger 3 (NHE3) expression on the cell membrane, in a viral dose-dependent manner. Further study showed that the PEDV nucleocapsid (N) protein participates in the regulation of NHE3 activity through interacting with Ezrin. Flame atomic absorption spectroscopy results indicated a serious imbalance in Na+ concentration inside and outside cells following overexpression of PEDV N. Meanwhile, molecular docking technology identified that the small molecule drug Pemetrexed acts on the PEDV N-Ezrin interaction region. It was confirmed that Pemetrexed can alleviate the imbalanced Na+ concentration in IPEC-J2 cells and the diarrhea symptoms of Rongchang pigs caused by PEDV infection. Overall, our data suggest that the interaction between PEDV N and Ezrin reduces the level of phosphorylated Ezrin, resulting in a decrease in the amount of NHE3 protein on the cell membrane. This leads to an imbalance of intracellular and extracellular Na+, which causes diarrhea symptoms in piglets. Pemetrexed is effective in relieving diarrhea caused by PEDV. Our results provide a reference to screen for anti-PEDV targets and to develop drugs to prevent PED.IMPORTANCEPorcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) has caused significant economic losses to the pig industry since its initial outbreak, and the pathogenic mechanism of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is still under investigation. Herein, we found that the PEDV nucleocapsid protein interacts with Ezrin to regulate Na+/H+ exchanger 3 activity. In addition, we screened out Pemetrexed, a small molecule drug, which can effectively alleviate pig diarrhea caused by PEDV. These results provide support for further exploration of the pathogenesis of PEDV and the development of drugs to prevent PED.

Deep sequencing of 1320 genes reveals the landscape of protein-truncating variants and their contribution to psoriasis in 19,973 Chinese individuals.

Protein-truncating variants (PTVs) have important impacts on phenotype diversity and disease. However, their population genetics characteristics in more globally diverse populations are not well defined. Here, we describe patterns of PTVs in 1320 genes sequenced in 10,539 healthy controls and 9434 patients with psoriasis, all of Han Chinese ancestry. We identify 8720 PTVs, of which 77% are novel, and estimate 88% of all PTVs are deleterious and subject to purifying selection. Furthermore, we show that individuals with psoriasis have a significantly higher burden of PTVs compared to controls (P = 0.02). Finally, we identified 18 PTVs in 14 genes with unusually high levels of population differentiation, consistent with the action of local adaptation. Our study provides insights into patterns and consequences of PTVs.

Identify and mitigate bias in electronic phenotyping: A comprehensive study from computational perspective.

Electronic phenotyping is a fundamental task that identifies the special group of patients, which plays an important role in precision medicine in the era of digital health. Phenotyping provides real-world evidence for other related biomedical research and clinical tasks, e.g., disease diagnosis, drug development, and clinical trials, etc. With the development of electronic health records, the performance of electronic phenotyping has been significantly boosted by advanced machine learning techniques. In the healthcare domain, precision and fairness are both essential aspects that should be taken into consideration. However, most related efforts are put into designing phenotyping models with higher accuracy. Few attention is put on the fairness perspective of phenotyping. The neglection of bias in phenotyping leads to subgroups of patients being underrepresented which will further affect the following healthcare activities such as patient recruitment in clinical trials. In this work, we are motivated to bridge this gap through a comprehensive experimental study to identify the bias existing in electronic phenotyping models and evaluate the widely-used debiasing methods' performance on these models. We choose pneumonia and sepsis as our phenotyping target diseases. We benchmark 9 kinds of electronic phenotyping methods spanning from rule-based to data-driven methods. Meanwhile, we evaluate the performance of the 5 bias mitigation strategies covering pre-processing, in-processing, and post-processing. Through the extensive experiments, we summarize several insightful findings from the bias identified in the phenotyping and key points of the bias mitigation strategies in phenotyping.

SPeC: A Soft Prompt-Based Calibration on Performance Variability of Large Language Model in Clinical Notes Summarization.

Electronic health records (EHRs) store an extensive array of patient information, encompassing medical histories, diagnoses, treatments, and test outcomes. These records are crucial for enabling healthcare providers to make well-informed decisions regarding patient care. Summarizing clinical notes further assists healthcare professionals in pinpointing potential health risks and making better-informed decisions. This process contributes to reducing errors and enhancing patient outcomes by ensuring providers have access to the most pertinent and current patient data. Recent research has shown that incorporating instruction prompts with large language models (LLMs) substantially boosts the efficacy of summarization tasks. However, we show that this approach also leads to increased performance variance, resulting in significantly distinct summaries even when instruction prompts share similar meanings. To tackle this challenge, we introduce a model-agnostic Soft Prompt-BasedCalibration (SPeC) pipeline that employs soft prompts to lower variance while preserving the advantages of prompt-based summarization. Experimental findings on multiple clinical note tasks and LLMs indicate that our method not only bolsters performance but also effectively regulates variance across different LLMs, providing a more consistent and reliable approach to summarizing critical medical information.

Value of endoscopic grading of gastroesophageal flap valve in gastroesophageal reflux disease.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the significance of endoscopic grading (Hill's classification) of gastroesophageal flap valve (GEFV) in the examination of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). METHODS: One hundred and sixty-two patients undergoing gastroscopy in the Department of Gastroenterology, Xingyi People's Hospital between Apr. 2022 and Sept. 2022 were selected by convenient sampling, and data such as GEFV grade, and findings of esophageal high-resolution manometry (HRM) and esophageal 24-h pH/impedance reflux monitoring, and Los Angeles (LA) classification of reflux esophagitis (RE) were collected and compared. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences in age (F = 9.711, P < 0.001) and hiatal hernia (χ = 35.729, P < 0.001) were observed in patients with different GEFV grades. The resting LES pressures were 12.12 ± 2.79, 10.73 ± 2.68, 9.70 ± 2.29, and 8.20 ± 2.77 mmHg (F = 4.571, P < 0.001) and LES lengths were 3.30 ± 0.70, 3.16 ± 0.68, 2.35 ± 0.83, and 2.45 ± 0.62 (F = 3.789, P = 0.011), respectively, in patients with GEFV grades I-IV. DeMeester score (Z = 5.452, P < 0.001), AET4 (Z = 5.614, P < 0.001), acid reflux score (upright) (Z = 7.452, P < 0.001), weak acid reflux score (upright) (Z = 3.121, P = 0.038), liquid reflux score (upright) (Z = 3.321, P = 0.031), acid reflux score (supine) (Z = 6.462, P < 0.001), mixed reflux score (supine) (Z = 3.324, P = 0.031), gas reflux score (supine) (Z = 3.521, P = 0.024) were different in patients with different GEFV grades, with statistically significant differences. Pearson correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between RE grade and LA classification of GERD (r = 0.662, P < 0.001), and the severity of RE increased gradually with the increase of the Hill grades of GEFV. CONCLUSION: The Hill grade of GEFV is related to age, hiatal hernia, LES pressure, and the consequent development and severity of acid reflux and RE. Evaluation of esophageal motility and reflux based on the Hill grade of GEFV is of significance for the diagnosis and treatment of GERD.

Tracing toxic path of antimony: From bioaccumulation to DNA hypomethylation in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

The increasing concentration of Antimony (Sb) in ecological environments has raised serious concerns about its potential biotoxicological impact. This study investigated the toxicokinetics, Global DNA Methylation (GDM), biomarker expression, and Integrated Biological Response (IBR) of Sb at different concentrations in zebrafish. The toxic mechanism of Sb exposure was simulated using molecular dynamics (MD). The results showed that significant differences effect existed (BCFk: liver > ovary > gut > brain) and uptake saturation phenomenon of Sb among zebrafish tissues. Over a 54-day exposure period, the liver emerged as the main target site for Sb-induced GDM, and the restoration was slower than in other tissues during the 54-day recovery period. Moreover, the concentration of Sb had a significant impact on the normally expression of biomarkers, with GSTM1 inhibited and MTF2, MT1, TET3, and p53 showing varying degrees of activation at different Sb concentrations. This could be attributed to Sb3+ potentially occupying the active site or tightly binding to the deep cavity of these genes. The IBR and MD results highlighted DNMT1 as the most sensitive biomarker among those assessed. This heightened sensitivity can be attributed to the stable binding of Sb3+ to DNMT1, resulting in alterations in the conformation of DNMT1's catalytic domain and inhibition of its activity. Consequently, this disruption leads to damage to the integrity of GDM. The study suggests that DNA methylation could serve as a valuable biomarker for assessing the ecotoxicological impact of Sb exposure. It contributes to a better understanding of the toxicity mechanisms in aquatic environments caused potential pollutants.

Heterogeneous treatment effects of metformin on risk of dementia in patients with type 2 diabetes: A longitudinal observational study.

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the heterogeneous treatment effects of metformin on dementia risk in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). METHODS: Participants (≥ 50 years) with T2D and normal cognition at baseline were identified from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center database (2005-2021). We applied a doubly robust learning approach to estimate risk differences (RD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) for dementia risk between metformin use and no use in the overall population and subgroups identified through a decision tree model. RESULTS: Among 1393 participants, 104 developed dementia over a 4-year median follow-up. Metformin was significantly associated with a lower risk of dementia in the overall population (RD, -3.2%; 95% CI, -6.2% to -0.2%). We identified four subgroups with varied risks for dementia, defined by neuropsychiatric disorders, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and antidepressant use. DISCUSSION: Metformin use was significantly associated with a lower risk of dementia in individuals with T2D, with significant variability among subgroups.

Heterogeneous treatment effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors on risk of dementia in people with type 2 diabetes: A population-based cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors exhibit potential benefits in reducing dementia risk, yet the optimal beneficiary subgroups remain uncertain. METHODS: Individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) initiating either SGLT2 inhibitor or sulfonylurea were identified from OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network (2016-2022). A doubly robust learning was deployed to estimate risk difference (RD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of all-cause dementia. RESULTS: Among 35,458 individuals with T2D, 1.8% in the SGLT2 inhibitor group and 4.7% in the sulfonylurea group developed all-cause dementia over a 3.2-year follow-up, yielding a lower risk for SGLT2 inhibitors (RD, -2.5%; 95% CI, -3.0% to -2.1%). Hispanic ethnicity and chronic kidney disease were identified as the two important variables to define four subgroups in which RD ranged from -4.3% (-5.5 to -3.2) to -0.9% (-1.9 to 0.2). DISCUSSION: Compared to sulfonylureas, SGLT2 inhibitors were associated with a reduced risk of all-cause dementia, but the association varied among different subgroups. HIGHLIGHTS: New users of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors were significantly associated with a lower risk of all-cause dementia as compared to those of sulfonylureas. The association varied among different subgroups defined by Hispanic ethnicity and chronic kidney disease. A significantly lower risk of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia was observed among new users of SGLT2 inhibitors compared to those of sulfonylureas.

Optimization and Stability Assessment of Monochamus alternatus Antimicrobial Peptide MaltAtt-1 in Komagataella phaffii GS115 for the Control of Pine Wood Nematode.

MaltAtt-1 is an antimicrobial peptide isolated from Monochamus alternatus with nematocidal activity against pine wood nematode. In this study, a eukaryotic expression system based on Komagataella phaffii GS115 was established, and its secretory expression of MaltAtt-1 was realized. The basic properties and secondary and tertiary structures of the antimicrobial peptide MaltAtt-1 were identified by bioinformatics analysis. MaltAtt-1 is a hydrophilic stable protein, mainly composed of an α-helix (Hh), ß-folds (Ee), and irregular curls (Cc). The optimal fermentation conditions for MaltAtt-1 were determined by a single-factor test and the Box-Behnken response surface method, including an induction time of 72 h, induction temperature of 30 °C, culture medium of pH 7.6, methanol volume fraction of 2.0%, and an initial glycerol concentration of 1%. The stability of MaltAtt-1 indicated its resistant to UV irradiation and repeated freezing and thawing, but the antibacterial activity decreased significantly under the influence of high temperature and a strong acid and base, and it decreased significantly to 1.1 cm and 0.83 cm at pH 2.0 and pH 10.0, respectively. The corrected mortality of B. xylophilus achieved 71.94% in 3 h at a concentration of 300 mg·L-1 MaltAtt-1 exposure. The results provide a theoretical basis for the antimicrobial peptide MaltAtt-1 to become a new green and efficient nematicide.

Self-Perceived Burden as a Mediator Between Perceived Partner Responsiveness and Fertility Intentions in Women With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

This study investigates the role of self-perceived burden as a mediating factor in the association between perceived partner responsiveness and fertility intentions in women of reproductive age diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. A sample of 366 female inflammatory bowel disease patients from Changsha, China, was recruited using convenience sampling. Participants completed assessments, including the Impact of Perceived Partner Responsiveness Scale, Self-Perceived Burden Scale, Fertility Intentions Questionnaire, and a demographic questionnaire. Results indicated a moderate-to-low level of fertility intentions (mean score: 5.33 ± 2.21), with corresponding moderate levels of self-perceived burden (mean score: 30.01 ± 10.02) and perceived partner responsiveness (mean score: 52.80 ± 17.03). Positive correlations were observed between perceived partner responsiveness and fertility intentions and negative correlations between self-perceived burden and fertility intentions. The relationship between perceived partner responsiveness and fertility intentions was found to be partially mediated by self-perceived burden. These findings highlight the significance of perceived partner responsiveness and self-perceived burden in shaping fertility intentions among women with inflammatory bowel disease.

Nickel-Catalyzed Enantioselective Electrochemical Reductive Cross-Coupling of Aryl Aziridines with Alkenyl Bromides.

An electrochemically driven nickel-catalyzed enantioselective reductive cross-coupling of aryl aziridines with alkenyl bromides has been developed, affording enantioenriched ß-aryl homoallylic amines with excellent E-selectivity. This electroreductive strategy proceeds in the absence of heterogeneous metal reductants and sacrificial anodes by employing constant current electrolysis in an undivided cell with triethylamine as a terminal reductant. The reaction features mild conditions, remarkable stereocontrol, broad substrate scope, and excellent functional group compatibility, which was illustrated by the late-stage functionalization of bioactive molecules. Mechanistic studies indicate that this transformation conforms with a stereoconvergent mechanism in which the aziridine is activated through a nucleophilic halide ring-opening process.

LINC00853 contributes to tumor stemness of gastric cancer through FOXP3-mediated transcription of PDZK1IP1.

BACKGROUND: The incidence and mortality of gastric cancer (GC) are high worldwide. Tumor stemness is a major contributor to tumorigenesis and development of GC, in which long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are deeply involved. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences and mechanisms of LINC00853 in the progression and stemness of GC. METHODS: The level of LINC00853 was assessed based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and GC cell lines by RT-PCR and in situ hybridization. An evaluation of biological functions of LINC00853 including cell proliferation, migration, and tumor stemness was conducted via gain-and loss-of-function experiments. Furthermore, RNA pull-down and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay were utilized to validate the connection between LINC00853 and the transcription factor Forkhead Box P3 (FOXP3). Nude mouse xenograft model was used to identify the impacts of LINC00853 on tumor development. RESULTS: We identified the up-regulated levels of lncRNA-LINC00853 in GC, and its overexpression correlates with poor prognosis in GC patients. Further study indicated that LINC00853 promoted cell proliferation, migration and cancer stemness while suppressed cell apoptosis. Mechanistically, LINC00853 directly bind to FOXP3 and promoted FOXP3-mediated transcription of PDZK1 interacting protein 1(PDZK1IP1). Alterations of FOXP3 or PDZK1IP1 reversed the LINC00853-induced biological effects on cell proliferation, migration and stemness. Moreover, xenograft tumor assay was used to investigate the function of LINC00853 in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these findings revealed the tumor-promoting activity of LINC00853 in GC, expanding our understanding of lncRNAs regulation on GC pathogenesis.

Bioinformatic analysis of the S protein of human respiratory coronavirus.

The present study aimed to apply bioinformatic methods to analyze the structure of the S protein of human respiratory coronaviruses, including severe respiratory disease syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), human coronavirus HKU1 (HCoV-HKU1), and severe respiratory disease syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We predicted and analyzed the physicochemical properties, hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity, transmembrane regions, signal peptides, phosphorylation and glycosylation sites, epitopes, functional domains, and motifs of the S proteins of human respiratory coronaviruses. All four S proteins contain a transmembrane region, which enables them to bind to host cell surface receptors. All four S proteins contain a signal peptide, phosphorylation sites, glycosylation sites, and epitopes. The predicted phosphorylation sites might mediate S protein activation, the glycosylation sites might affect the cellular orientation of the virus, and the predicted epitopes might have implications for the design of antiviral inhibitors. The S proteins of all four viruses have two structural domains, S1 (C-terminal and N-terminal domains) and S2 (homology region 1 and 2). Our bioinformatic analysis of the structural and functional domains of human respiratory coronavirus S proteins provides a basis for future research to develop broad-spectrum antiviral drugs, vaccines, and antibodies.

Mutation of DEFECTIVE EMBRYO SAC1 results in a low seed-setting rate in rice by regulating embryo sac development.

The seed-setting rate has a significant effect on grain yield in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Embryo sac development is essential for seed setting; however, the molecular mechanism underlying this process remains unclear. Here, we isolated defective embryo sac1 (des1), a rice mutant with a low seed-setting rate. Cytological examination showed degenerated embryo sacs and reduced fertilization capacity in des1. Map-based cloning revealed a nonsense mutation in OsDES1, a gene that encodes a putative nuclear envelope membrane protein (NEMP)-domain-containing protein that is preferentially expressed in pistils. The OsDES1 mutation disrupts the normal formation of functional megaspores, which ultimately results in a degenerated embryo sac in des1. Reciprocal crosses showed that fertilization is abnormal and that the female reproductive organ is defective in des1. OsDES1 interacts with LONELY GUY (LOG), a cytokinin-activating enzyme that acts in the final step of cytokinin synthesis; mutation of LOG led to defective female reproductive organ development. These results demonstrate that OsDES1 functions in determining the rice seed-setting rate by regulating embryo sac development and fertilization. Our study sheds light on the function of NEMP-type proteins in rice reproductive development.

Partial Ablation of Astrocytes Exacerbates Cerebral Infiltration of Monocytes and Neuronal Loss After Brain Stab Injury in Mice.

In traumatic brain injury (TBI), mechanical injury results in instantaneous tissue damages accompanied by subsequent pro-inflammatory cascades composed of microgliosis and astrogliosis. However, the interactive roles between microglia and astrocytes during the pathogenesis of TBI remain unclear and sometimes debatable. In this study, we used a forebrain stab injury mouse model to investigate the pathological role of reactive astrocytes in cellular and molecular changes of inflammatory response following TBI. In the ipsilateral hemisphere of stab-injured brain, monocyte infiltration and neuronal loss, as well as increased elevated astrogliosis, microglia activation and inflammatory cytokines were observed. To verify the role of reactive astrocytes in TBI, local and partial ablation of astrocytes was achieved by stereotactic injection of diphtheria toxin in the forebrain of Aldh1l1-CreERT2::Ai9::iDTR transgenic mice which expressed diphtheria toxin receptor (DTR) in astrocytes after tamoxifen induction. This strategy achieved about 20% of astrocytes reduction at the stab site as validated by immunofluorescence co-staining of GFAP with tdTomato-positive astrocytes. Interestingly, reduction of astrocytes showed increased microglia activation and monocyte infiltration, accompanied with increased severity in stab injury-induced neuronal loss when compared with DTR-/- mice, together with elevation of inflammatory chemokines such as CCL2, CCL5 and CXCL10 in astrogliosis-reduced mice. Collectively, our data verified the interactive role of astrocytes as an immune modulator in suppressing inflammatory responses in the injured brain. Schematic diagram shows monocyte infiltration and neuronal loss, as well as increased elevated astrogliosis, microglia activation and chemokines were observed in the injured site after stab injury. Local and partial ablation of astrocytes led to increased microglia activation and monocyte infiltration, accompanied with increased severity in neuronal loss together with elevation of inflammatory chemokines as compared with control mice subjected stab injury.

Expression and bioinformatics analysis of RPL38 protein and mRNA in gastric cancer.

We aimed to clarify the expression of RPL38 in gastric cancer, explore the relationship between the expression level of RPL38 and the clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of gastric cancer patients, and explore whether RPL38 has the potential to be used as a therapeutic target for gastric cancer and a biomarker for assessing prognosis. The mRNA and protein expression of RPL38 in gastric cancer tissues and normal tissues were compared by TIMER, Kaplan-Meier plotter, CCLE and UALCAN databases, respectively. Next, the relationship between the expression level of RPL38 in gastric cancer tissues and clinicopathological features was analysed using the UALCAN database. The Kaplan-Meier plotter database was then used to predict the prognostic value of RPL38 in gastric cancer patients, and overall survival curves were plotted based on the follow-up information of clinical specimens. The relationship between RPL38 expression and the level of immune infiltration in gastric cancer was explored using the TIMER database. Finally, co-expression analysis as well as enrichment analysis of RPL38 was performed using LinkedOmics database and GSEA, respectively. Through comprehensive bioinformatics analysis and immunohistochemistry experiments, we comprehensively concluded that RPL38 was highly expressed in gastric cancer. Univariate analysis showed that TNM stage (P=0.008), radiotherapy (P=0.02), and RPL38 expression level (P=0.0006) were associated with prognosis. Multifactorial analysis showed that RPL38 expression level (P=0.019), TNM stage (P=0.015) and radiotherapy (P=0.039) were independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of gastric cancer. Gastric cancer patients with high expression of RPL38 had poorer OS. In addition, RPL38 was associated with immune infiltration in gastric cancer. RPL38 is highly expressed in gastric cancer tissues, and RPL38 protein plays an important role in the development of gastric cancer, which is one of the important factors in assessing the prognosis of gastric cancer patients.

Multi-task learning with dynamic re-weighting to achieve fairness in healthcare predictive modeling.

The emphasis on fairness in predictive healthcare modeling has increased in popularity as an approach for overcoming biases in automated decision-making systems. The aim is to guarantee that sensitive characteristics like gender, race, and ethnicity do not influence prediction outputs. Numerous algorithmic strategies have been proposed to reduce bias in prediction results, mitigate prejudice toward minority groups and promote prediction fairness. The goal of these strategies is to ensure that model prediction performance does not exhibit significant disparity among sensitive groups. In this study, we propose a novel fairness-achieving scheme based on multitask learning, which fundamentally differs from conventional fairness-achieving techniques, including altering data distributions and constraint optimization through regularizing fairness metrics or tampering with prediction outcomes. By dividing predictions on different sub-populations into separate tasks, we view the fairness problem as a task-balancing problem. To ensure fairness during the model-training process, we suggest a novel dynamic re-weighting approach. Fairness is achieved by dynamically modifying the gradients of various prediction tasks during neural network back-propagation, and this novel technique applies to a wide range of fairness criteria. We conduct tests on a real-world use case to predict sepsis patients' mortality risk. Our approach satisfies that it can reduce the disparity between subgroups by 98% while only losing less than 4% of prediction accuracy.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel 9-methyl-9H-purine and thieno[3, 2-d]pyrimidine derivatives as potent mTOR inhibitors.

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) has been proved to be an effective target for cancer therapy. Two kinds of mTOR inhibitors, the rapalogs and mTOR kinase inhibitors (TORKi), have been developed and clinically validated in several types of malignancies. Compared with rapalogs, TORKi can exert better antitumor activity by inhibiting both mTORC1 and mTORC2, but the clinical development of current TORKi candidates has been relative slow, more TORKi with novel scaffold need to be developed to expand the current pipelines. In this study, a series of 9-methyl-9H-purine and thieno[3, 2-d]pyrimidine derivatives were designed, synthesized and biological evaluation. Most of these compounds exhibited good mTOR kinase inhibitory activity and selectivity over PI3Kα. Subsequent antiproliferative assay allowed us to identify the lead compound 15i, which display nanomolar to low micromolar IC50s against six human cancer cell lines. 15i could induce cell cycle arrest of MCF-7, PC-3 and A549 cells at the G0/G1 phase and suppress the migration and invasion of these cancer cells by suppressing the phosphorylation of AKT and P70S6 kinase. It could also regulate autophagy-related proteins to induce autophagy. Therefore, 15i would be a starting point for the development of new TORKi as anticancer drug.

Insights into risk factors for urolithiasis: a mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: Risk factors for urolithiasis have not been identified. Here, we aimed to identify potentially causal risk factors driving the risk of urolithiasis. METHODS: Two sets of instrumental variables were used for analysis, derived from publicly available databases. Summary-level statistical data for urolithiasis were obtained from the MRC-IEU Consortium and UK biobank (Neale Lab). Mendelian randomization (MR) was conducted to identify causal risk of urolithiasis. Finally, the results of the two databases were combined and a meta-analysis was performed. RESULTS: In the MRC-IEU consortium, the odds of urolithiasis increased per 1-SD increase of body mass index (BMI) (OR = 1.0016, 95% CI:1.0004-1.0029, p = 0.010), triglycerides (OR = 1.0016, 95% CI:1.0003-1.0029, p = 0.017), adiponectin (OR = 1.0027, 95% CI:1.0003-1.0050, p = 0.024), and body fat percentage (OR = 1.008, 95% CI:1.0001-1.0161, p = 0.047). In addition, alcohol intake also increased the incidence of urolithiasis (OR = 1.0030, 95% CI:1.0009-1.0051, p = 0.005). In the UK biobank, the odds of urolithiasis increased per 1-SD increase of waist circumference (OR = 1.0215, 95% CI:1.0061-1.0372, p = 0.008) and body fat percentage (OR = 1.0239, 95% CI:1.0043-1.0440, p = 0.020). Surprisingly, we found that the risk of urolithiasis decreased with increasing hip circumference (OR = 0.9954, 95% CI:0.9915-0.9992, p = 0.017). In a meta-analysis of MR results, higher BMI (OR = 1.0016, 95% CI:1.0004-1.0027, p = 0.009), waist circumference (OR = 1.0073, 95% CI:1.0020-1.0126, p = 0.007), adiponectin (OR = 1.0026, 95% CI:1.0008-1.0043, p = 0.004), triglycerides (OR = 1.0015, 95% CI:1.0004-1.0026, p = 0.008) and body fat percentage (OR = 1.0104, 95% CI:1.0030-1.0178, p = 0.006) increased the risk of urolithiasis. Furthermore, alcohol intake also increased the incidence of urolithiasis (OR = 1.0033, 95% CI:1.0012-1.0053, p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Our MR study found that higher BMI, triglycerides, waist circumference, adiponectin, body fat percentage, and alcohol intake increased the risk of urolithiasis.