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Background: The molecular mechanisms associated with thoracic aortic dissection (TAD) remain poorly understood. A comprehensive high-throughput sequencing-based analysis of the circRNA–miRNA–mRNA competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory network in TAD has not been conducted. The purpose of this study is to identify and verify the key ceRNA networks which may have crucial biological functions in the pathogenesis of TAD. Methods: Gene expression profiles of the GSE97745, GSE98770, and GSE52093 datasets were acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using the GEO2R tools. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks of the hub genes were constructed using STRING; the hub genes and modules were identified by MCODE and CytoHubba plugins of the Cytoscape. We analyzed the hub genes using Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis. The functions of these hub genes were assessed using Cytoscape software. Our data—along with data from GSE97745, GSE98770, and GSE52093—were used to verify the findings. Results: Upon combined biological prediction, a total of 11 ce-circRNAs, 11 ce-miRNAs, and 26 ce-mRNAs were screened to construct a circRNA–miRNA–mRNA ceRNA network. PPI network and module analysis identified four hub nodes, including IGF1R, JAK2, CSF1, and GAB1. Genes associated with the Ras and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways were clustered in the four hub node modules in TAD. The node degrees were most significant for IGF1R, which were also the most significant in the two modules (up module and hub module). IGF1R was selected as a key gene, and the hsa_circ_0007386/miR-1271–5P/IGF1R/AKT regulatory axis was established. The relative expression levels of the regulatory axis members were confirmed by RT-PCR in 12 samples, including TAD tissues and normal tissues. Downregulation of IGF1R expression in smooth muscle cells (SMCs) was found to induce apoptosis by regulating the AKT levels. In addition, IGF1R showed high diagnostic efficacy in both AD tissue and blood samples. Conclusions: The hsa_circ_0007386/miR-1271-5P/IGF1R/AKT axis may aggravate the progression of TAD by inducing VSMCs apoptosis. CeRNA networks could provide new insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms of TAD. In addition, IGF1R showed high diagnostic efficacy in both tissue and plasma samples in TAD, which can be considered as a diagnostic marker for TAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of a booster dose of live attenuated varicella vaccine (VarV) manufactured by Sinovac (Dalian) Vaccine Technology Co. Ltd., and the immune persistence of a primary dose in 2- to 6-year-old children. Methods: A phase IV, open-label study was conducted in China. Children previously vaccinated with a single dose of VarV at 1~3 years old received one dose of homologous VarV in the first year, the second year, or the third year after the primary immunization as booster immunization. Immune persistence was evaluated in an immune persistence analysis set, while immunogenicity was evaluated in a per-protocol analysis set, and safety was evaluated in a safety analysis set. The primary endpoint was the seropositive rate and the seroconversion rate of VarV antibody. The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02981836). Results: From July 2018 to August 2020, a total of 849 vaccinated children received the booster vaccination of VarV, one booster dose for each child (301 vaccinated in the first year after primary immunization (Group 1), 276 vaccinated in the second year after primary immunization (Group 2), 272 vaccinated in the third year after primary immunization (Group 3)). The seropositive rates were 99.34%, 97.83%, and 98.16% in Groups 1–3, with GMTs of 1:22.56, 1:18.49, and 1:18.45, respectively. Thirty days after the vaccine booster dose, the seropositive rates of the three groups were all 100% and the seroconversion rates were 52.54%, 67.46%, and 66.67%, with GMTs of 1:68.49, 1:76.32 and 1:78.34, respectively. The seroconversion rates in Groups 2 and 3 were both higher than that in Group 1 (p = 0.0005 and p = 0.0008). The overall incidence of adverse reactions was 7.77%, with 7.64%, 8.33%, and 7.35% in Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The main symptom among adverse reactions was fever, the incidence of which ranged from 5.07% to 6.64% in each group, and no vaccine-related serious adverse events occurred. Conclusions: VarV had good immune persistence in 1~3 years after primary immunization. A vaccine booster dose for children aged 1~3 years after primary immunization recalled specific immune response to varicella-zoster virus, with no safety concerns increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent development of human-carried mobile devices has promoted the great development of mobile crowdsensing systems. Most existing mobile crowdsensing systems depend on the crowdsensing service of the deep cloud. With the increasing scale and complexity, there is a tendency to enhance mobile crowdsensing with the edge computing paradigm to reduce latency and computational complexity, and improve the expandability and security. In this paper, we propose an integrated solution to stimulate the strategic users to contribute more for truth discovery in the edge-assisted mobile crowdsensing. We design an incentive mechanism consisting of truth discovery stage and budget feasible reverse auction stage. In truth discovery stage, we estimate the truth for each task in both deep cloud and edge cloud. In budget feasible reverse auction stage, we design a greedy algorithm to select the winners to maximize the quality function under the budget constraint. Through extensive simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed mechanism is computationally efficient, individually rational, truthful, budget feasible and constant approximate. Moreover, the proposed mechanism shows great superiority in terms of estimation precision and expandability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]