ABSTRACT
Egalitarian gender attitudes are linked to increased support for same-sex marriage, with previous studies mainly focusing on Western countries. Limited existing research from Asian countries often relied on non-representative, convenient samples. Taiwan, the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2019, offers a valuable context. Since surveys before 2020 lacked questions on attitudes toward same-sex marriage, we utilized the 2020 PSFD data for a cross-sectional analysis. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between gender attitudes (assessed through six questions) and attitudes toward same-sex marriage, along with examining the moderation effects of socio-demographic variables. The results revealed significant associations between embracing egalitarian gender attitudes and increased support for same-sex marriage (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] ranged from 1.34 to 2.08, 95% CI = [1.15, 2.45]). Moderation analysis indicated that this connection appeared to be more pronounced among younger individuals, those who were not currently married, and those with higher educational attainment. Individuals who are older, less educated, or married and hold negative views on gender equality should be targeted for efforts to enhance their support for same-sex marriage. Advocating for gender equality aligns with principles of equality, nondiscrimination, and recognizing fundamental rights for all, irrespective of sexual orientation.
ABSTRACT
The human genome contains millions of retrotransposons, several of which could become active due to somatic mutations having phenotypic consequences, including disease. However, it is not thoroughly understood how nucleotide changes in retrotransposons affect their jumping activity. Here, we developed a novel massively parallel jumping assay (MPJA) that can test the jumping potential of thousands of transposons en masse. We generated nucleotide variant library of selected four Alu retrotransposons containing 165,087 different haplotypes and tested them for their jumping ability using MPJA. We found 66,821 unique jumping haplotypes, allowing us to pinpoint domains and variants vital for transposition. Mapping these variants to the Alu-RNA secondary structure revealed stem-loop features that contribute to jumping potential. Combined, our work provides a novel high-throughput assay that assesses the ability of retrotransposons to jump and identifies nucleotide changes that have the potential to reactivate them in the human genome.
Subject(s)
Coronavirus Infections/drug therapy , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology , Phytotherapy , Pneumonia, Viral/drug therapy , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , China/epidemiology , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Coronavirus Infections/metabolism , Humans , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Molecular Docking Simulation , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Pneumonia, Viral/metabolism , Protein Interaction Maps , SARS-CoV-2 , Transforming Growth Factor beta/chemistry , Transforming Growth Factor beta/metabolism , COVID-19 Drug TreatmentABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The overlapping symptoms and pathophysiological similarities between burn injury and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are noteworthy. Thus, this study explores the possible association between burn injury and the subsequent risk of CFS. METHOD: We used data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance system to address the research topic. The exposure cohort comprised of 17,204 patients with new diagnoses of burn injury. Each patient was frequency matched according to age, sex, index year, and comorbidities with four participants from the general population who did not have a history of CFS (control cohort). Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was conducted to estimate the relationship between burn injury and the risk of subsequent CFS. RESULT: The incidence of CFS in the exposure and control cohorts was 1.61 and 0.86 per 1000 person-years, respectively. The exposure cohort had a significantly higher overall risk of subsequent CFS than did the control cohort (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.48, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.41-1.56). The risk of CFS in patients with burn injury in whichever stratification (including sex, age, and comorbidity) was also higher than that of the control cohort. CONCLUSION: The findings from this population-based retrospective cohort study suggest that thermal injury is associated with an increased risk of subsequent CFS and provided a point of view suggesting burn injuries in sun- exposed areas such as the face and limbs had greater impact on subsequent development of CFS compared with trunk areas. In addition, extensively burned areas and visible scars were predictors of greater physiological and psychosocial that are needed to follow-up in the long run.
Subject(s)
Burns/complications , Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic/epidemiology , Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic/etiology , Aged , Female , Humans , Kaplan-Meier Estimate , Male , Middle Aged , Risk Factors , Young AdultABSTRACT
Tn antigen (GalNAc-α-O-Ser/Thr), a mucin-type O-linked glycan, is a well-established cell surface marker for tumors and its elevated levels have been correlated with cancer progression and prognosis. There are also reports that Tn is elevated in inflammatory tissues. However, the molecular mechanism for its elevated levels in cancer and inflammation is unclear. In the current studies, we have explored the possibility that cytokines may be one of the common regulatory molecules for elevated Tn levels in both cancer and inflammation. We showed that the Tn level is elevated by the conditioned media of HrasG12V-transformed-BEAS-2B cells. Similarly, the conditioned media obtained from LPS-stimulated monocytes also elevated Tn levels in primary human gingival fibroblasts, suggesting the involvement of cytokines and/or other soluble factors. Indeed, purified inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-6 up-regulated Tn levels in gingival fibroblasts. Furthermore, TNF-α was shown to down-regulate the COSMC gene as evidenced by reduced levels of the COSMC mRNA and protein, as well as hypermethylation of the CpG islands of the COSMC gene promoter. Since Cosmc, a chaperone for T-synthase, is known to negatively regulate Tn levels, our results suggest elevated Tn levels in cancer and inflammation may be commonly regulated by the cytokine-Cosmc signaling axis.
Subject(s)
Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate/metabolism , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Interleukin-6/metabolism , Molecular Chaperones/metabolism , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism , Breast Neoplasms/immunology , Breast Neoplasms/metabolism , Bronchi/metabolism , Cell Line , CpG Islands , Culture Media, Conditioned , DNA Methylation , Disease Progression , Female , Fibroblasts/metabolism , Genes, ras , Gingiva/cytology , Humans , Inflammation , Male , Prognosis , Promoter Regions, Genetic , Prostatic Neoplasms/immunology , Prostatic Neoplasms/metabolism , Signal Transduction , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/immunology , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/metabolismABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the pathological variations in internal hemorrhoid and evaluate the expression of nitric- oxide synthase(NOS),vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF),matrix metalloproteinase- 2(MMP2) and MMP9. METHODS: Normal anal cushion and internal hemorrhoids tissue samples were obtained from 24 patients with iii degree hemorrhoids after procedure for prolapse and hemorrhoids(PPH) procedure. The expression of NOS, VEGF, MMP2, MMP9 and CD34 were detected by immunohistochemical staining; the microvessel density (MVD) was counted by anti- CD34 antibody; the elastic fibers were detected by orcein staining. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences in the expression of MVD, VEGF, MMP9 between internal hemorrhoid tissue and normal anal cushions(P< 0.05). iNOS was significantly increased in hemorrhoid tissue, but no significant difference between normal anal cushions and hemorrhoid tissue. Morphological abnormalities such as breaking, distortion, mortality, hyaline degeneration were found in elastic fibers of internal hemorrhoid tissue, but not in normal anal cushions. CONCLUSION: Angiogenesis is evident in hemorrhoid tissue, suggesting the possible mechanism in the pathogenesis of hemorrhoids. The direct degeneration effect of MMP9 on supporting structure elastic fibers in anal cushion is another important mechanism. The high expression of iNOS suggests the inflammatory factors involve in the pathogenesis of hemorrhoids, and NO may be involve in pathological effect on hemorrhoids.
Subject(s)
Elastic Tissue/pathology , Hemorrhoids/metabolism , Hemorrhoids/pathology , Adult , Elastic Tissue/metabolism , Humans , Matrix Metalloproteinase 2/metabolism , Matrix Metalloproteinase 9/metabolism , Microvessels/pathology , Middle Aged , Neovascularization, Pathologic/pathology , Nitric Oxide Synthase/metabolism , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/metabolismABSTRACT
Lead acetate (Pb) decreases the expression of steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein and the enzymatic activities of cytochrome P-450 side-chain cleavage (P450scc) and 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3beta-HSD) in a concentration-dependent manner in Leydig cells at 2 h, the duration of submaximal inhibition. This study was undertaken at 3 h of Pb incubation to compare the effects at maximal metal inhibition of steroidogenesis. Quantitatively a 3-h Pb incubation with MA-10 cells resulted in higher decreases in human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-stimulated progesterone production, expression of StAR protein, and the activity of 3beta-HSD compared to 2 h. In contrast, lead inhibited dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP)-stimulated progesterone production but lacked this effect at 2 h. Surprisingly, Pb at 3 h of incubation did not affect P450scc enzyme activity, yet this enzymatic activity was inhibited at 2 h. Data indicate that incubation time is a factor in Pb-induced alterations in MA- 10 cell steroidogenesis.
Subject(s)
Lead/administration & dosage , Lead/toxicity , Progesterone/biosynthesis , 3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases/drug effects , 3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases/metabolism , Animals , Chorionic Gonadotropin/drug effects , Chorionic Gonadotropin/metabolism , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Hydroxycholesterols/pharmacology , Immunoblotting , Lead/pharmacokinetics , Leydig Cell Tumor , Leydig Cells/drug effects , Leydig Cells/metabolism , Male , Mice , Mitochondria/metabolism , Phosphoproteins/drug effects , Phosphoproteins/metabolism , Pregnenolone/pharmacology , Radioimmunoassay , Signal Transduction/drug effects , Time Factors , Tumor Cells, Cultured/drug effectsABSTRACT
This paper reports the nature, incidence, and severity of adverse reactions to regimens of rifampicin and ethambutol given once weekly, twice weekly, or daily and to a standard reserve regimen in a total of 330 Chinese failure patients who completed at least six months' chemotherapy in a therapeutic comparison in Hong Kong.The adverse reactions which occurred on the regimens of intermittent rifampicin were termed cutaneous, abdominal, "flu", and respiratory; in addition, purpura and abnormal liver function tests were encountered. There was an association of adverse reactions with the interval between doses and with the dose size of rifampicin, the highest incidence occurring with once-weekly rifampicin in high dosage. A procedure was developed for managing adverse reactions to intermittent rifampicin. Of 202 patients treated with intermittent rifampicin 60 developed adverse reactions, but in only 7 (3%) was it necessary to terminate the drug, though a further 10 (5%) were changed to daily rifampicin. On daily rifampicin, generalized hypersensitivity, cutaneous reactions, (one with purpura), and impaired liver function were encountered. Adverse reactions on the standard ethionamide, pyrazinamide, and cycloserine regimen were frequent and some were serious.