Multi-site Analysis Research Articles

COVID-19 Infection and Incidence of Myocarditis: A Multi-Site Population-Based Propensity Score-Matched Analysis.

BackgroundCardiovascular complications from COVID-19 include myocarditis, acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and others. Population-level data is lacking about the relationship between COVID-19 and cardiovascular complications; therefore, we conducted a study to examine the incidence of myocarditis, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF) after COVID-19 infection.MethodsRetrospective cohort study using de-identified data from 50 health systems across the United States. Cohort groups were created using patients ≥18 who were admitted to hospitals for respiratory illness with COVID-19 in 2020 and respiratory illness without COVID-19 for 2020 and 2019. There were 107,699 patients with COVID-19, 77,499 patients with respiratory illness in 2020, and 112,898 patients in 2019. The COVID-19 group was matched to each respiratory illness group by propensity score. Patients with prior specific cardiovascular events such as myocarditis, AMI, HF were excluded. The primary outcome was myocarditis, and secondary outcomes were AMI and HF.ResultsIn the COVID-19 group, 79 (0.12%) patients had new-onset myocarditis compared to 29 (0.04%) patients in the non-COVID-19 control (Pneumonia/flu) group Odd's Ratio (OR), (OR 2.73, CI 95%, 1.78-4.18). In the COVID-19 group, 1512 patients developed HF compared to 2,659 patients in the non-COVID-19 group (OR 0.49, CI 95%, 0.46-0.52). 1125 patients in COVID-19 group had AMI compared to 1243 patients in non-COVID-19 group (OR 0.87, CI 95%, 0.80-0.94).ConclusionCOVID-19 was associated with a 2-3-fold higher risk of myocarditis. Unexpectedly, lower rates of HF diagnosis reflect challenges faced due to the severity of lung disease leading to obscuring physical exam findings required for HF diagnosis and early mortality before a diagnosis of HF was made.

Pandemic paranoia, general paranoia, and their relationships with worry and beliefs about self/others – A multi-site latent class analysis

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in paranoid thinking has been reported internationally. The development of the Pandemic Paranoia Scale (PPS) has provided a reliable assessment of various facets of pandemic paranoia. This study aimed to (i) identify classes of individuals with varying levels of general paranoia and pandemic paranoia, and (ii) examine associations between classification and worry, core beliefs, and pro-health behaviours. MethodsAn international sample of adults (N = 2510) across five sites completed the Revised-Green Paranoid Thoughts Scale and the PPS. Latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted using these two paranoia variables. Classes were compared on trait worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire), beliefs about self/others (Brief Core Schema Scales), and pro-health behaviour. ResultsThree latent classes emerged: Class 1 with low R-GPTS and PPS scores, Class 2 with a high R-GPTS score and a moderate PPS score, and Class 3 with high R-GPTS and PPS scores. Compared to Class 1, Classes 2–3 were associated with more worry and negative self- and other-beliefs. Class 3 was further characterised by greater positive-self beliefs and less engagement in pro-health behaviours. Engagement in pro-health behaviours was positively correlated with interpersonal mistrust and negatively correlated with paranoid conspiracy and persecutory threat. ConclusionsIndividuals with a general paranoia tendency were more likely to respond to the global health threats in a suspicious and distrusting way. Our findings suggested that worry and negative self/other beliefs may contribute to not just general paranoia but also pandemic paranoia. The preliminary finding of a link between pro-health behaviours and interpersonal mistrust warrants further examination.

International Migration and Modern Contraceptive Use: A Research Note on African Migrants to France.

This research note presents a multisited analysis of migration and contraceptive use by standardizing and integrating a sample of African migrants in France from six West and Central African countries in the Trajectoires et Origines survey with a sample of women living in the same six African countries in the Demographic and Health Surveys. Descriptive analyses indicate that the contraceptive use of migrants more closely aligns with that of native French women than with that of women from origin countries. In particular, migrants report dramatically higher use of long-acting reversible contraceptives and short-acting hormonal methods and lower use of traditional methods than do women in the countries of origin. Although migrants differ from women in the countries of origin on observed characteristics, including education and family background, reweighting women in the origin countries to resemble migrants on these characteristics does little to explain differences in contraceptive use between the groups. Given that contraceptive use is an important proximate determinant of fertility, our results suggest that contraceptive use should feature more prominently in the dominant demographic paradigms of migrant fertility.

Treatment outcomes with purine nucleoside analog alone or with rituximab for hairy cell leukemia at first relapse.

Frontline treatment of hairy cell leukemia (HCL) with a single course of the purine nucleoside analog (PNA) produces a high rate of complete remission (CR) with prolonged durations. At the time of relapse, although treatment guidelines recommend re-treatment with a PNA alone or in combination with rituximab (R), practice patterns vary and data supporting each approach are limited. We conducted a multisite outcomes analysis of patients treated for HCL between 1995 and 2018 at six US medical centers. All patients were treated with frontline PNA and subsequently required treatment with a PNA alone (PNA) or with R (+R). Of the 88 patients analyzed, 56 (63.6%) received second-line PNA and 22 (36.4%) received a PNA+R. Baseline characteristics of both groups were similar. There was no difference in median PFS [67months (95% CI 43.8 non-reached (NR)) vs. 65months (95% CI 60-NR)] or 5-year OS [98% (95% CI 0.94-1) vs. 94% (95% CI 0.83-1), p=.104] in the PNA versus PNA+R cohorts, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the largest study evaluating the role of R in treatment of relapsed HCL and suggests that there is no advantage to the addition of R to PNA therapy at the time of first re-treatment.

Estimating Catchment Populations of Global Health Radiology Outreach Using Geographic Information Systems Analysis.

The purpose of this study was to design, develop, and test geographic information systems (GIS) analytic methods for quantifying and characterizing catchment populations across all sites served by a radiology global health organization. The analysis included populations served by 78 low-resource medical facilities in 32 countries partnered with radiology nonprofit organization, RAD-AID International. Three constraints were used to approximate patient catchment areas: (1) 1-hour driving time, (2) 1-hour walking time, and (3) 10-mile circular radius. GIS calculated populations within each constraint using publicly available geospatial input databases, including a global digital elevation model, population and land cover data, and road locations from OpenStreetMap. Demographic and health data from the World Health Organization were incorporated to provide further characteristics of covered populations. The total populations served by all RAD-AID sites as measured by driving time, walking time, and 10-mile radius were 189,241,193 (47.8% female), 26,190,117 (48.7% female), and 110,884,095 (48.1% female), respectively. For individual locations, median population within 1-hour driving time was 1,795,977 (range: 8,742-30,630,800), with an average life expectancy of 68.4 ± 5.8 years. Median child mortality before age 5 was 3.8% (range: 0.9%-8.3%), and median prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus infection was 3.1% (range: 0.7%-10.9%). In this study, GIS provided a robust multisite analysis for estimating the potential global population reached by an international radiology outreach organization with targeted individual site measurements. Given heightened needs to accurately characterize global outreach populations, this GIS-based approach may be useful for analysis, outreach planning, and resource allocation among global health organizations.

Quantifying the reduction in power variability of co-located offshore wind-wave farms

Offshore wind energy and wave energy are two exploitable sources of renewable energy available in the same marine environment. A co-located energy harvesting system of these two resources has the potential to play a leading role in the recent renewable energy mix mandate. A co-located system of mature offshore wind technology and a nascent wave energy technology can exploit the synergies of the two technologies, including the reduced cost, the easy operation and maintenance, and more importantly the potential of decreased power variability. This paper deals with a multi-site analysis of wind and wave power resources, and the estimation of exploitable energy through different wind turbines and wave energy converters (WECs). Results are presented for NSW Australia, but the devised strategy is generic and can be implemented in any region. Ten WECs, with different operating principles, are used for the estimation of the exploitable wave power, and the best performing converter is considered for the co-located wind-wave farm. A power fluctuation factor is introduced to quantify the reduction in power variability of the co-located wind-wave farm. Different percentage mixes of wind and wave energy are evaluated for the co-located wind-wave farm in the multi-site analysis.

Marketing Management in the Digital Era: A Study at State Vocational High School 1 and 2 Tamiang Layang

Digital Era and globalism need massive transformation when educational change and competition become complex. Educational institutions, such as Vocational High School, need to respond to the changes in the digital era to renew the learning and teaching process. Furthermore, the educational concept help students to acquire life, soft, and hard skills and develop critical thinking, creativity, and open-mindedness. Educational and business competition in the global market allow schools to maintain effective strategic marketing and influence parents and students as prospective customers. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze digital marketing as the answer to these issues using various approaches. For instance, observation helped understand and describe planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling Vocational High Schools in the digital era. Qualitative approaches were used to systematically describe speech, writing, behavior, and facts of the objects. The data were collected through interviews, observation, documentation, and interactive analysis from Miles and Huberman. This involved data collection, reduction, display, conclusion, and single and multi-site analysis verification. Moreover, data validity was examined based on credibility, dependability, and confirmability techniques. The results showed that marketing is planned through goal formulation, target setting, competitor analysis, inhabiting and supporting factors, as well as financial plan and strategy. Organizing began by making a marketing team, a legal decision letter, job descriptions, and resources. The marketing action is actuated from the product, price, promotion, place, and strategy. Furthermore, controlling includes performance monitoring, financial auditing, and achievement measurement. Controlling is also performed yearly based on the successful and failed strategy that needs fixing, the school benefit, and the customers. It is difficult to implement conventional marketing strategies such as socialization, spreading brochures, and arranging school events because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, marketing through social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Websites is a superior strategy because it is quick, effective, and efficient.

Grade-based similarity prevails in online course forums at scale

Discussion forums are the primary medium for supporting in-course student interactions in digital learning settings. Despite the significant uptake of discussion forums, questions remain as to how the tool can be used to initiate, maintain, and support interpersonal student connections. Large-scale patterns of student online interactions in forums derived from across the university are under-explored. Most studies have relied on data derived from a single course. This study presents a multi-site analysis of student interactions in online course forums at the university-level. Digital interactions of 14,643 students were analysed across several years in three universities located in the North American, South-East Asian, and Pacific regions. Descriptive results indicate that students with similar grades tend to co-participate in learning discussions. We applied exponential random graph modelling and regression analysis to further understand this observed similarity. Results suggest that this phenomenon can be explained by social processes of selection only to a small extent, and even less so by peer influence mechanisms. The study suggests that occurrence of similarity stems from other factors, such as course and forum designs. The implications of these results raise questions regarding learning designs and the benefits linked to the formation of student connections based on grade similarity.

Improving Between-Group Effect Size for Multi-Site Functional Connectivity Data via Site-Wise De-Meaning

Background: Multi-site functional MRI (fMRI) databases are becoming increasingly prevalent in the study of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. However, multi-site databases are known to introduce site effects that may confound neurobiological and measures such as functional connectivity (FC). Although studies have been conducted to mitigate site effects, these methods often result in reduced effect size in FC comparisons between controls and patients.Methods: We present a site-wise de-meaning (SWD) strategy in multi-site FC analysis and compare its performance with two common site-effect mitigation methods, i.e., generalized linear model (GLM) and Combining Batches (ComBat) Harmonization. For SWD, after FC was calculated and Fisher z-transformed, the site-wise FC mean was removed from each subject before group-level statistical analysis. The above methods were tested on two multi-site psychiatric consortiums [Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) and Bipolar and Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP)]. Preservation of consistent FC alterations in patients were evaluated for each method through the effect sizes (Hedge’s g) of patients vs. controls.Results: For the B-SNIP dataset, SWD improved the effect size between schizophrenic and control subjects by 4.5–7.9%, while GLM and ComBat decreased the effect size by 22.5–42.6%. For the ABIDE dataset, SWD improved the effect size between autistic and control subjects by 2.9–5.3%, while GLM and ComBat decreased the effect size by up to 11.4%.Conclusion: Compared to the original data and commonly used methods, the SWD method demonstrated superior performance in preserving the effect size in FC features associated with disorders.

Multisite silicon probes enable simultaneous recording of spontaneous and evoked activity in multiple isolated C-fibres in rat saphenous nerve

BackgroundRecordings of electrical activity in nerves have provided valuable insights into normal function and pathological behaviours of the nervous system. Current high-resolution techniques (e.g. teased fibre recordings) typically utilise electrodes with a single recording site, capturing the activity of a single isolated neuron per recording. New methodWe conducted proof-of-principle C-fibre recordings in the saphenous nerve of urethane-anaesthetised adult Wistar rats using 32-channel multisite silicon electrodes. Data was acquired using the OpenEphys recording system and clustered offline with Kilosort 2.5. ResultsIn single recordings in 5 rats, 32 units with conduction velocities in the C-fibre range (< 1 m/s) were identified via constant latency responses and classified using activity dependent slowing. In two animals, 6 C-fibres (5 classified as nociceptors) were well isolated after clustering. Their activity could be tracked throughout the recording – including during periods of spontaneous activity. Axonal conduction velocities were calculated from spontaneous activity and/or low frequency electrical stimulation using only the differences in action potential latency as it propagated past multiple probe sites. Comparison with existing methodsSingle electrode approaches have a low data yield and generating group data for specific fibre types is challenging as it requires multiple experimental subjects and recording sessions. This is particularly true when the experimental targets are the small, unmyelinated C-fibres carrying nociceptive information. ConclusionsWe demonstrate that multisite recordings can greatly increase experimental yields and enhance fibre identification. The approach is of particular utility when coupled with clustering analysis. Multisite probes and analysis approaches constitute a valuable new toolbox for researchers studying the peripheral nervous system.

Abstract 12379: Distal Waveform Patterns in the Fontan Circulation Are Related to Pulmonary, Liver and Cardiac Function

Introduction: The lack of a sub-pulmonary ventricle in patients with a Fontan circulation leads to irreversible circulatory decline. Our group has determined that single-site waveform analysis correlates to clinical features of Fontan patients. The goal of this study was to determine if multi-site waveform analysis contributes to detecting early cardiovascular decline. Methods: Patients with a Fontan circulation that underwent cardiac MRI were included in this retrospective study. Hemodynamic flow curves were measured in the ascending aorta (AAo N=94), superior vena cava (SVC N=82), inferior vena cava (IVC N=91) and left pulmonary artery (LPA N=85). Flow curves were interpolated to equal temporal phases and were used to create three data matrices of proximal and distal waveforms. Principal component analysis (PCA), a data transformation method used to obtain a wieldy number of ranked components (the PCs) representing the variance of the input data, was performed on each matrix. PCs were correlated to clinical measures of current patient status. Results: PCs that accounted for more than 20% of the variance in a data matrix are reported (Pearson’s r, p ) in Table 1. Conclusions: These results indicate that increased liver enzyme levels, with a possible link to Fontan associated liver disease, are related to increased diastolic SVC flow and increased volume in the SVC and IVC throughout the cardiac cycle. An increased diastolic SVC flow profile relates to worsening pulmonary function and oxygen consumption during exercise. A decreased ventricular-vascular coupling ratio is related to increased IVC volume and low oxygen saturations may be indicative of increased LPA volume. Little variations were apparent in the AAo waveforms, suggesting cardiovascular decline may appear distally prior to proximal presentation. We have, for the first time, evaluated multi-site flow patterns and correlated them to functional status in one of the largest Fontan patient cohorts to date.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women's prospective acceptability of two biomedical HIV prevention approaches in Sub Saharan Africa: A multisite qualitative analysis using the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability.

HIV infection during pregnancy and breastfeeding has implications for maternal health. Between May- November 2018, we explored prospective acceptability of two novel HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) products, oral pills and vaginal rings, through focus group discussions with 65 pregnant and breastfeeding women in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe. Qualitative analysis was completed, guided by the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA). First, a deductive thematic analysis was applied to relevant coded data, into the seven TFA constructs (Affective Attitude; Burden; Ethicality, Intervention Coherence; Opportunity Costs; Perceived Effectiveness; Self-efficacy). Next, an iterative analysis was completed to generate themes within each of the TFA constructs. Women's positive attitudes towards daily oral PrEP highlighted the familiarity of taking pills, understanding the purpose of taking pills, and the perception that it is an effective method to protect mothers and babies from HIV during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Women emphasized the ease of using the ring given its monthly duration that lowers burden on the user, its discreetness and invisibility once in place. The TFA analysis highlighted how acceptability of both methods could be enhanced by focusing on perceptions of the end users (i.e. the women) and not just the products themselves. This approach provided insights into how to refine the intervention materials and plans for implementation.

NIMG-25. IMPROVING THE NONINVASIVE CLASSIFICATION OF GLIOMA GENETIC SUBTYPE WITH DEEP LEARNING AND DIFFUSION-WEIGHTED IMAGING

Abstract In contrast to the WHO 2016 guidelines that use genetic alterations to further stratify patients within a designated grade, new recommendations suggest that IDH mutation status, followed by 1p19q-codeletion, should be used before grade when differentiating gliomas. Although most gliomas will be resected and their tissue evaluated with genetic profiling, non-invasive characterization of genetic subgroup can benefit patients where surgery is not otherwise advised or a fast turn-around is required for clinical trial eligibility. Prior studies have demonstrated the utility of using anatomical images and deep learning to distinguish either IDH-mutant from IDH-wildtype tumors or 1p19q-codeleted from non-codeleted lesions separately, but not combined or using the most recent recommendations for stratification. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of training strategy and incorporation of Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) maps from diffusion-weighted imaging on predicting new genetic subgroups with deep learning. Using 414 patients with newly-diagnosed glioma (split 285/50/49 training/validation/test) and optimized training hyperparameters, we found that a 3-class approach with T1-post-contrast, T2-FLAIR, and ADC maps as inputs achieved the best performance for molecular subgroup classification, with overall accuracies of 86.0%[CI:0.839,1.0], 80.0%[CI:0.720,1.0], and 85.7%[CI:0.771,1.0] on training, validation, and test sets, respectively, and final test class accuracies of 95.2%(IDH-wildtype), 88.9%(IDH-mutated,1p19qintact), and 60%(IDHmutated,1p19q-codeleted). Creating an RGB-color image from 3 MRI images and applying transfer learning with a residual network architecture pretrained on ImageNet resulted in an 8% averaged increase in overall accuracy. Although classifying both IDH and 1p19q mutations together was overall advantageous compared with a tiered structure that first classified IDH mutational status, the 2-tiered approach better generalized to an independent multi-site dataset when only anatomical images were used. Including biologically relevant ADC images improved model generalization to our test set regardless of modeling approach, highlighting the utility of incorporating diffusion-weighted imaging in future multi-site analyses of molecular subgroup.

MUSYKILAH AT-TAʿLĪM AL-LUGAH AL-ʿARABIYYAH (DIRĀSAH AL-ḤĀLAH FĪ A- JĀMIʿĀT AL-AHLIYYAH BI BANJARMĀSĪN)

This research is focused on the problems of learning Arabic (a case study at a private university) Banjarmasin and its solutions, the purpose of this research is to describe the implementation, to uncover the problems of learning Arabic, and to find out the efforts of teachers in overcoming the problems of learning Arabic. In this regard, the researchers asked questions to be answered in this study: how is the implementation of learning, how are the problems of learning Arabic, and how are the teacher's efforts in overcoming the problems of learning Arabic at the Islamic University of Borneo Muhammad Arsyad Al Banjari (UNISKA), Achmad Yani University, and the College of Teacher Training and Education (STKIP) PGRI Banjarmasin. The research approach used was descriptive qualitative method. Researchers used case studies to find out the problems of learning Arabic in learning activities. The data collection procedure was carried out by the researchers themselves by conducting observations, interviews, and documentation. Data analysis method: single site data analysis, then ended with multi-site data analysis intended as a process of comparing the findings obtained from each site and systematically presenting the results of similarities and differences. Based on the results of the analysis and discussion in this study, it can be concluded that the problems of learning Arabic that occur in the three private campuses are going well. The problems of learning Arabic at the three private campuses consist of linguistic and non-linguistic problems. And efforts to overcome the problems of learning Arabic by teachers using various learning media and learning strategies that are suitable for students. And foster enthusiasm and passion to be diligent in teaching.

Spreading ‘green’ infrastructural harm: mapping conflicts and socio-ecological disruptions within the European Union’s transnational energy grid

ABSTRACT Climate change now serves to justify new mandates for increasing ‘clean’ and ‘renewable’ energy, which affirms the existing European trajectory of infrastructural expansion. Employing a multi-sited political ecology analysis of infrastructure (MSPEAI), this article connects five environmental conflicts via a 400-kV high-voltage power line (HVPL). The conflicts span across France, Catalonia and Spain, revealing how the European ‘green’ transition entrenches infrastructural harm by branding it ‘green’. The European Green Deal, and other climate change legislation, are intensifying the infrastructural colonization of the countryside and the neoliberalization of the energy sector. By examining five interlinked environmental conflicts, this article, contrary to public relations efforts and European policy, demonstrates how there is no ‘renewable’ energy transition, only electrical grid expansion (e.g. increasing material and energy-use) and conflict resulting in green infrastructural harm. The conclusion, thereby, reveals the necessity of enacting degrowth policy proposals immediately to lessen and stop the spread of ecological and climate catastrophe.

A Multi-Site Analysis of the Prevalence of Food Insecurity in the United States, before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACTBackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic profoundly affected food systems including food security. Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted food security is important to provide support and identify long-term impacts and needs.ObjectiveThe National Food Access and COVID research Team (NFACT) was formed to assess food security over different US study sites throughout the pandemic, using common instruments and measurements. This study presents results from 18 study sites across 15 states and nationally over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA validated survey instrument was developed and implemented in whole or part through an online survey of adults across the sites throughout the first year of the pandemic, representing 22 separate surveys. Sampling methods for each study site were convenience, representative, or high-risk targeted. Food security was measured using the USDA 6-item module. Food security prevalence was analyzed using ANOVA by sampling method to assess statistically significant differences.ResultsRespondents (n = 27,168) indicate higher prevalence of food insecurity (low or very low food security) since the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with before the pandemic. In nearly all study sites, there is a higher prevalence of food insecurity among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), households with children, and those with job disruptions. The findings demonstrate lingering food insecurity, with high prevalence over time in sites with repeat cross-sectional surveys. There are no statistically significant differences between convenience and representative surveys, but a statistically higher prevalence of food insecurity among high-risk compared with convenience surveys.ConclusionsThis comprehensive study demonstrates a higher prevalence of food insecurity in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. These impacts were prevalent for certain demographic groups, and most pronounced for surveys targeting high-risk populations. Results especially document the continued high levels of food insecurity, as well as the variability in estimates due to the survey implementation method.

Did attending P.A.R.T.Y. change youth perceptions? Results from 148 Queensland schools participating in the Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth Program, 2018–2019

BackgroundPrevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.) is an immersive 1 day in-hospital injury awareness and prevention programme designed to educate high-school students on the consequences of a variety...

Rapid Analysis of ADP-Ribosylation Dynamics and Site-Specificity Using TLC-MALDI.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases, PARPs, transfer ADP-ribose onto target proteins from nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). Current mass spectrometric analytical methods require proteolysis of target proteins, limiting the study of dynamic ADP-ribosylation on contiguous proteins. Herein, we present a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) method that facilitates multisite analysis of ADP-ribosylation. We observe divergent ADP-ribosylation dynamics for the catalytic domains of PARPs 14 and 15, with PARP15 modifying more sites on itself (+3–4 ADP-ribose) than the closely related PARP14 protein (+1–2 ADP-ribose)—despite similar numbers of potential modification sites. We identify, for the first time, a minimal peptide fragment (18 amino-acids) that is preferentially modified by PARP14. Finally, we demonstrate through mutagenesis and chemical treatment with hydroxylamine that PARPs 14/15 prefer acidic residues. Our results highlight the utility of MALDI-TOF in the analysis of PARP target modifications and in elucidating the biochemical mechanism governing PARP target selection.

Does information and communication technology (ICT) empower teacher innovativeness: a multilevel, multisite analysis

Does information and communication technology (ICT) empower teacher innovativeness: a multilevel, multisite analysis

Fc receptor-like 1, 3, and 6 variants are associated with rheumatoid arthritis risk in the Chinese Han population

BackgroundRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common autoimmune system diseases in our world. More studies in recent years have shown that FCRL gene polymorphisms is closely related to autoimmune diseases. It is suggested that genetic factors play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of this disease. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between FCRL1 rs2050568, FCRL3 rs2317230 and FCRL6 rs58240276 polymorphisms and RA risk in the Chinese Han population. 506 with RA patients and 509 healthy controls were recruited in this study, and the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was successfully genotyped using the Agena MassARRAY platform. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) after adjusting for age and gender were conducted to assess these SNPs polymorphisms and RA risk. The multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) method was conducted to analyze SNP-SNP interaction.ResultsOur results revealed that there no significant association was observed between the allele and genotype frequencies among these SNPs and RA risk (all p > 0.05). Straified analysis by age and gender, the results confirmed that FCRL1 rs2050568 T/T genotype enhanced the risk of RA in females (p = 0.014). The G/T - T/T genotype of FCRL3 rs2317230 was correlated with a decreased RA risk in males (p = 0.021). We also observed that the C/T-T/T genotype of FCRL6 rs58240276 was increased the risk of RA in the group at age > 54 years (p = 0.016). In addition, FCRL1 rs2050568-TT, FCRL6 rs58240276-TT and FCRL1 rs2050568-TT, FCRL3 rs2317230-TT, FCRL6 rs58240276-TT are the best models for multi-site MDR analysis (p < 0.05), and the two best models mentioned above and classes RA have the most significant correlation.ConclusionsOur study demonstrated that FCRL1 rs2050568, FCRL3 rs2317230, and FCRL6 rs58240276 polymorphisms were correlated with RA susceptibility in the Chinese Han population.