scholarly journals Pregnancy-specific transcriptional changes upon endotoxin exposure in mice

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 700-722
Author(s):  
Kenichiro Motomura ◽  
Roberto Romero ◽  
Adi L. Tarca ◽  
Jose Galaz ◽  
Gaurav Bhatti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adrenal Gland ◽  
Host Response ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Host Responses ◽  
Host Immune Responses ◽  
Interaction Terms ◽  
Specific Host ◽  
Endotoxin Exposure ◽  
Pregnant Mice

Abstract Objectives Pregnant women are more susceptible to certain infections; however, this increased susceptibility is not fully understood. Herein, systems biology approaches were utilized to elucidate how pregnancy modulates tissue-specific host responses to a bacterial product, endotoxin. Methods Pregnant and non-pregnant mice were injected with endotoxin or saline on 16.5 days post coitum (n=8–11 per group). The uterus, cervix, liver, adrenal gland, kidney, lung, and brain were collected 12 h after injection and transcriptomes were measured using microarrays. Heatmaps and principal component analysis were used for visualization. Differentially expressed genes between groups were assessed using linear models that included interaction terms to determine whether the effect of infection differed with pregnancy status. Pathway analysis was conducted to interpret gene expression changes. Results We report herein a multi-organ atlas of the transcript perturbations in pregnant and non-pregnant mice in response to endotoxin. Pregnancy strongly modified the host responses to endotoxin in the uterus, cervix, and liver. In contrast, pregnancy had a milder effect on the host response to endotoxin in the adrenal gland, lung, and kidney. However, pregnancy did not drastically affect the host response to endotoxin in the brain. Conclusions Pregnancy imprints organ-specific host immune responses upon endotoxin exposure. These findings provide insight into the host-response against microbes during pregnancy.

scholarly journals Principal component regression in GAMLSS applied to Greek–German government bond yield spreads

2021 ◽  
pp. 1471082X2110229
Author(s):  
D. Stasinopoulos Mikis ◽  
A. Rigby Robert ◽  
Georgikopoulos Nikolaos ◽  
De Bastiani Fernanda
Keyword(s):  
Additive Model ◽  
Principal Component Regression ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Government Bond ◽  
German Government ◽  
Yield Spreads ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Interaction Terms ◽  
Bond Yield

A solution to the problem of having to deal with a large number of interrelated explanatory variables within a generalized additive model for location, scale and shape (GAMLSS) is given here using as an example the Greek–German government bond yield spreads from 25 April 2005 to 31 March 2010. Those were turbulent financial years, and in order to capture the spreads behaviour, a model has to be able to deal with the complex nature of the financial indicators used to predict the spreads. Fitting a model, using principal components regression of both main and first order interaction terms, for all the parameters of the assumed distribution of the response variable seems to produce promising results.

scholarly journals MiR-378b Modulates Chlamydia-Induced Upper Genital Tract Pathology

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 566
Author(s):  
Stephanie R. Lundy ◽  
Kobe Abney ◽  
Debra Ellerson ◽  
Joseph U. Igietseme ◽  
Darin Carroll ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Host Responses ◽  
Chlamydia Infection ◽  
Chlamydia Trachomatis Infection ◽  
Host Immune Responses ◽  
Tubal Factor Infertility ◽  
Evolutionarily Conserved ◽  
Duration Of Infection ◽  
Tubal Factor ◽  
Pathologic Lesions ◽  
Mammalian Gene Expression

Genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection causes severe reproductive pathologies such as salpingitis and pelvic inflammatory disease that can lead to tubal factor infertility. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are evolutionarily conserved regulators of mammalian gene expression in development, immunity and pathophysiologic processes during inflammation and infection, including Chlamydia infection. Among the miRNAs involved in regulating host responses and pathologic outcome of Chlamydia infection, we have shown that miR-378b was significantly differentially expressed during primary infection and reinfection. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that miR-378b is involved in the pathological outcome of Chlamydia infection. We developed miR-378b knockout mice (miR-378b−/−) using Crispr/Cas and infected them along with their wild-type (WT) control with Chlamydia to compare the infectivity and reproductive pathologies. The results showed that miR-378b−/− mice were unable to clear the infection compared to WT mice; also, miR-378b−/− mice exhibited a relatively higher Chlamydia burden throughout the duration of infection. However, gross pathology results showed that miR-378b−/− mice had significantly reduced uterine dilatations and pathologic lesions after two infections compared to WT mice. In addition, the pregnancy and fertility rates for infected miR-378b−/− mice showed protection from Chlamydia-induced infertility with fertility rate that was comparable to uninfected WT mice. These results are intriguing as they suggest that miR-378b is important in regulating host immune responses that control Chlamydial replication and drive the inflammation that causes complications such as infertility. The finding has important implications for biomarkers of Chlamydial complications and targets for prevention of disease.

scholarly journals The relationship between empathy and altruistic motivations in nursing studies: a multi-method study

BMC Nursing ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Messineo ◽  
Luciano Seta ◽  
Mario Allegra
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Education ◽  
Nursing Students ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Motivational Factors ◽  
Care Process ◽  
First Year ◽  
Young Males ◽  
Young Females

Abstract Background The efficient management of relational competences in healthcare professionals is crucial to ensuring that a patient’s treatment and care process is conducted positively. Empathy is a major component of the relational skills expected of health professionals. Knowledge of undergraduate healthcare students’ empathic abilities is important for educators in designing specific and efficient educational programmes aimed at supporting or enhancing such competences. In this study, we measured first-year undergraduate nursing students’ attitudes towards professional empathy in clinical encounters. The students’ motivations for entering nursing education were also evaluated. This study takes a multi-method approach based on the use of qualitative and quantitative tools to examine the association between students’ positive attitudes towards the value of empathy in health professionals and their prosocial and altruistic motivations in choosing to engage in nursing studies. Methods A multi-method study was performed with 77 first-year nursing students. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) – Health Professions Student Version was administered. Students’ motivations for choosing nursing studies were detected through an open question and thematically analysed. Using explorative factor analysis and principal component analysis, a dimensional reduction was conducted to identify subjects with prosocial and altruistic motivations. Finally, linear models were tested to examine specific associations between motivation and empathy. Results Seven distinct themes distinguishing internal and external motivational factors were identified through a thematic analysis of students’ answers regarding their decision to enter a nursing degree course. Female students gained higher scores on the empathy scale than male ones. When students’ age was considered, this difference was only observed for younger students, with young females’ total scores being higher than young males'. High empathy scores were positively associated with altruistic motivational factors. A negative correlation was found between external motivational factors and the scores of the Compassionate Care subscale of the JSE. Conclusions Knowing the level of nursing students’ empathy and their motivational factors for entering nursing studies is important for educators to implement training paths that enhance students’ relational attitudes and skills and promote the positive motivational aspects that are central to this profession.

scholarly journals Electrical Capacitance Characteristics of Wood Chips at Low Frequency Ranges: A Cheap Tool for Quality Assessment

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 3494
Author(s):  
Jakub Lev ◽  
Václav Křepčík ◽  
Egidijus Šarauskis ◽  
František Kumhála
Keyword(s):  
Moisture Content ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Wood Chip ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Dissipation Factor ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Wood Chips ◽  
Electrical Capacitance ◽  
Low Frequencies

Moisture content is one of the most important parameters related to the quality of wood chips that affects both the calorific and economic value of fuel chips. For industrial applications, moisture content needs to be detected quickly. For this purpose, various indirect moisture content measurement methods (e.g., capacitance, NIR, microwave, ECT, X-ray CT, and nuclear MR) have been investigated with different results in the past. Nevertheless, determining wood chip moisture content in real time is still a challenge. The main aim of this article was therefore to analyze the dielectric properties of wood chips at low frequencies (10 kHz–5 MHz) and to examine the possibility of using these properties to predict wood chip moisture content and porosity. A container-type probe was developed for this purpose. The electrical capacitance and dissipation factor of wood chips with different moisture content was measured by an LCR meter at 10 kHz, 50 kHz, 100 kHz, 500 kHz, 1 MHz, and 5 MHz frequencies. Wood chip porosity was also measured using a gas displacement method. Linear models for moisture content and porosity prediction were determined by backward stepwise linear regression. Mathematical model was developed to better understand the physical relationships between moisture content, porosity, and electrical capacitance. These models were able to predict the moisture content of observed quantities of wood chips with the required accuracy (R2 = 0.9−0.99). This finding opens another path to measuring the moisture content and porosity of wood chips in a relatively cheap and fast way and with adequate precision. In addition, principal component analysis showed that it is also possible to distinguish between individual wood chip fraction sizes from the information obtained.

RNA-Seq unveiled section-specific host response to lack of gut microbiota in mouse intestine

2021 ◽  
pp. 115775
Author(s):  
Zidong Donna Fu ◽  
Felcy Pavithra Selwyn ◽  
Julia Yue Cui ◽  
Curtis D. Klaassen
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Host Response ◽  
Rna Seq ◽  
Specific Host ◽  
Mouse Intestine

Functional Linear Regression

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hervé Cardot ◽  
Pascal Sarda
Keyword(s):  
Linear Regression ◽  
Least Squares ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Estimation Error ◽  
Asymptotic Properties ◽  
Principal Component Regression ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Penalized Least Squares ◽  
Open Problems ◽  
Functional Linear Regression

This article presents a selected bibliography on functional linear regression (FLR) and highlights the key contributions from both applied and theoretical points of view. It first defines FLR in the case of a scalar response and shows how its modelization can also be extended to the case of a functional response. It then considers two kinds of estimation procedures for this slope parameter: projection-based estimators in which regularization is performed through dimension reduction, such as functional principal component regression, and penalized least squares estimators that take into account a penalized least squares minimization problem. The article proceeds by discussing the main asymptotic properties separating results on mean square prediction error and results on L2 estimation error. It also describes some related models, including generalized functional linear models and FLR on quantiles, and concludes with a complementary bibliography and some open problems.

scholarly journals Metabonomic-Transcriptome Integration Analysis on Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ningyang Gao ◽  
Li Ding ◽  
Jian Pang ◽  
Yuxin Zheng ◽  
Yuelong Cao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽  
Gap Junction ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Enrichment Analysis ◽  
Pathway Enrichment Analysis ◽  
Nf Kappa B ◽  
Linear Module ◽  
Hedgehog Acyltransferase

Purpose. This study is aimed at exploring the potential metabolite/gene biomarkers, as well as the differences between the molecular mechanisms, of osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. Transcriptome dataset GSE100786 was downloaded to explore the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between OA samples and RA samples. Meanwhile, metabolomic dataset MTBLS564 was downloaded and preprocessed to obtain metabolites. Then, the principal component analysis (PCA) and linear models were used to reveal DEG-metabolite relations. Finally, metabolic pathway enrichment analysis was performed to investigate the differences between the molecular mechanisms of OA and RA. Results. A total of 976 DEGs and 171 metabolites were explored between OA samples and RA samples. The PCA and linear module analysis investigated 186 DEG-metabolite interactions including Glycogenin 1- (GYG1-) asparagine_54, hedgehog acyltransferase- (HHAT-) glucose_70, and TNF receptor-associated factor 3- (TRAF3-) acetoacetate_35. Finally, the KEGG pathway analysis showed that these metabolites were mainly enriched in pathways like gap junction, phagosome, NF-kappa B, and IL-17 pathway. Conclusions. Genes such as HHAT, GYG1, and TRAF3, as well as metabolites including glucose, asparagine, and acetoacetate, might be implicated in the pathogenesis of OA and RA. Metabolites like ethanol and tyrosine might participate differentially in OA and RA progression via the gap junction pathway and phagosome pathway, respectively. TRAF3-acetoacetate interaction may be involved in regulating inflammation in OA and RA by the NF-kappa B and IL-17 pathway.

scholarly journals Implementation of the mixed linear models in experimental infections with WSSV in the withe shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 557-565
Author(s):  
María Alejandra Ramírez-Ruíz ◽  
Raúl Simá-Álvarez ◽  
Edgar Tórres-Irineo ◽  
Rossanna Rodríguez-Canul
Keyword(s):  
Litopenaeus Vannamei ◽  
Host Response ◽  
White Spot Syndrome Virus ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Severe Infection ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mixed Linear Models ◽  
Dna Injection ◽  
Shrimp Industry ◽  
Experimental Strategies

The White Spot Syndrome Virus has been very detrimental for the shrimp industry. Up to date there is no cure for the disease, thus, it is necessary to implement reliable experimental strategies to evaluate the effect of drugs and the host response during the prognosis of the disease. In this study, we evaluated two ways of infection with WSSV (200 copies WSSV-DNA) (injection and immersion), at constant temperature (26 ± 0.5ºC), in juveniles of Litopenaeus vannamei (4.8 ± 0.38 g) in intermolt stage. In the infection by injection, the organisms were lethargic with reddish appearance 2 days after infection and mortality (100%) was observed within 2-5 days: 63% organisms with light degree of infection [20 copies of DNA & 1-5 Cowdry A-type inclusions in hypertrophied nuclei (CAI)/200 fields], 21% had moderate infection (200 copies of DNA & 1-2 CAI/20 fields) and 16% severely infected (2000 copies of DNA & more than 10 CAI/field). No mortality was observed in the controls. In the infection by immersion, the signs of WSSV were observed 3 days after infection: 38% of mortality was observed during 3-9 days: 25% of the organism with light degree of infection (20 copies of DNA & 1-2 CAI/20 fields), 5% moderately infected (200 copies of DNA & 1-2 CAI/20 fields) and 8% with severe infection (2000 copies of DNA & 1-5 CAI/2 fields. The other 62% organisms were necropsied at day 12 and tested positive to the WSSV-PCR (light infection = 20 copies of DNA), but did not show CAI by histology. No mortality was observed in the controls. For the statistical analysis, the data did not fit the criteria of independence and linearity needed for the analyses of variance, thus we used instead the mixed linear models and were able to observe a better prediction: in the injected organisms, the mortality reached the highest peak at day 5 after infection. In the organisms infected by immersion, the highest peak or mortality was observed at day 9 after infection. The analysis of variance of Kenward-Roger indicated significant differences between the days of mortality (F = 20.1, P = 0.001), as well as among the ways of infection (Random analysis) (P = 0.007).

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