ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The mitochondrial (mt) genomes of Sarcoptiformes mites typically contain 37 genes. Although the loss of genes is rare in Sarcoptiformes mite mitogenomes, two of the six previously reported oribatid mites (Acariforms: Sarcoptiformes) are reported to have lost parts of their tRNA genes. To confirm whether the tRNA genes were indeed lost and whether the loss is universal, we re-annotated the available oribatid mite sequences and sequenced the mitogenome of Oribatula sakamorii. METHODS: The mitogenome of O. sakamorii was sequenced using an Illumina HiSeq sequencer. The mt tRNA gene was annotated using multi-software combined with a manual annotation approach. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using the maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods with concatenated nucleotide and amino acid sequences. RESULTS: The mitogenomes of O. sakamorii contained 37 genes, including 22 tRNA genes. We identified all mt tRNA genes that were reported as "lost" in Steganacarus magnus and Paraleius leontonychus and revealed certain atypical tRNA annotation errors in oribatid mite sequences. Oribatid mite mitogenomes are characterized by low rates of genetic rearrangement, with six or seven gene blocks conserved between the mitogenome of all species and that of ancestral arthropods. Considering the relative order of the major genes (protein-coding genes and rRNAs), only one or two genes were rearranged with respect to their positions in the ancestral genome. We explored the phylogenetic relationships among the available oribatid mites, and the results confirmed the systematic position of Hermannia in the Crotonioidea superfamily. This was also supported by the synapomorphic gene-derived boundaries. CONCLUSIONS: The tRNA "lost" phenomenon is not universal in oribatid mites. Rather, highly atypical secondary structure of the inferred mt tRNA genes made them unidentifiable using a single type of tRNA search program. The use of multi-software combined with a manual annotation approach can improve the accuracy of tRNA gene annotation. In addition, we identified the precise systematic position of Hermannia and validated that Astigmata is nested in Oribatida.
Subject(s)
Evolution, Molecular , Gene Rearrangement , Genome, Mitochondrial , Mites/genetics , RNA, Transfer/genetics , Animals , Molecular Sequence Annotation , Phylogeny , Soil/parasitologyABSTRACT
Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the mental health status of medical students engaged in online learning at home during the pandemic, and explore the potential risk factors of mental health. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted via an online survey among 5,100 medical students from Wannan Medical College in China. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale (DASS-21) was used to measure self-reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among medical students during online learning in the pandemic. Results: In total, 4,115 participants were included in the study. The prevalence symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress were 31.9, 32.9, and 14.6%, respectively. Depression was associated with gender, grade, length of schooling, relationship with father, students' daily online learning time, and students' satisfaction with online learning effects. Anxiety was associated with gender, length of schooling, relationship with father, relationship between parents, students' daily online learning time, and students' satisfaction with online learning effects. Stress was associated with grade, relationship with father, relationship between parents, students' daily online learning time, and students' satisfaction with online learning effects. Conclusions: Nearly one-third of medical students survived with varying degrees of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms during online learning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gender, grade, length of schooling, family environment, and online learning environment play vital roles in medical students' mental health. Families and schools should provide targeted psychological counseling to high-risk students (male, second-year and third-year, four-year program). The findings of this study can provide reference for educators to cope with the psychological problems and formulate the mental health curriculum construction among medical students during online learning.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study was to perform a meta-analysis to derive precise estimation of the association of interleukin-23 receptor (IL-23R), IL-1 receptor 2 (IL-1R2), IL-12 beta (IL-12B), IL-10 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α polymorphisms with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) susceptibility. STUDY DESIGN: A systematic literature search was conducted to identify the relevant studies. Pooled OR with 95% CI was calculated to assess the strength of the association in a fixed or random-effects model. RESULTS: A total of 13 917 cases and 19 849 controls in 43 eligible studies were included in the meta-analysis. Seventeen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the abovementioned five cytokine genes were evaluated. The results indicate that the nine SNPs (rs11209026, rs1004819, rs10489629, rs11465804, rs1343151, rs11209032, rs1495965, rs7517847, rs2201841) of IL-23R are associated with AS susceptibility in all study subjects in the allelic model. Moreover, stratification by ethnicity identified a significant association between seven SNPs of IL-23R and AS susceptibility in Europeans and Americans, but not in Asians. In addition, the IL-10-819 C/T and TNF-α-857 C/T polymorphisms also confer susceptibility to AS, especially in Asian population. CONCLUSION: The results suggested that the genetic susceptibility for AS is associated with the nine SNPs of IL-23R in overall population. In the subgroup analysis, significant associations were shown in European and American population, but not in Asian population. Our results also suggest that IL-10-819 C/T and TNF-α-857 C/T polymorphism might be associated with AS risk, especially in Asian population.
