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Objective: This study aims to analyze the causal relationship between autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) using bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR). Methods: Single nucleotide polymorphisms were obtained from FinnGen. Exposure-outcome causality was assessed using inverse variance weighted, MR-Egger, and weighted median. MR-Egger intercept, Cochran's Q, and leave-one-out sensitivity analysis were used to evaluate horizontal pleiotropy, heterogeneity, and robustness, respectively. Results: Forward analysis revealed no significant association between AIT and the risk of ulcerative colitis (UC) (odds ratio [OR] 1.008, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.986 to 1.03, p = 0.460) or Crohn's disease (CD) (OR 0.972, 95% CI 0.935 to 1.010, p = 0.143). Reverse analysis showed that UC (OR 0.961, 95% CI 0.783 to 1.180, p = 0.707) was not associated with AIT risk, while CD (OR 2.371, 95% CI 1.526 to 3.683, p < 0.001) was linked to an increased risk of AIT. Intercept analysis and Cochran's Q test indicated no horizontal pleiotropy or heterogeneity. Sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of the MR results. Conclusion: This MR analysis suggests that CD, but not UC, is a risk factor for AIT, whereas AIT is not associated with the risk of IBD. Proactive prevention and treatment of CD can help mitigate the risk of AIT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenges in direct analysis of a complex system (e.g., natural product, food, biological samples) by mass spectrometry (MS) are the sophisticated sample preparation methods and ionization suppression by matrix interferences. Consequently, a novel online extraction and cleanup-quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (OLEC-QTOF-MS/MS) system was developed for rapid, efficient, and sensitive analysis of flavonoids in Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium (CRP). For the OLEC strategy, a guard column packed with solid CRP (0.5 mg) and C18 gel was positioned on a manual injection valve, in which interferences with large polarities were online removed by methanol-0.1% formic acid (25:75, v/v) for 3 min, while target flavonoids were online extracted by methanol-0.1% formic acid (70:30, v/v) for 10 min for the subsequent QTOF-MS/MS analysis. The method was validated using official marker, hesperidin, by external standard method. Excellent linear ranges from 0.02 to 52.0 μg L−1 (R2, 0.9935) with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.006 μg were obtained. Acceptable reproducibility (RSD 8.1 and 9.6% for intra- and inter-day variations) and recoveries (from 99.5 to 112.0%) were also attained. In addition, 20 flavonoids in CRP were identified according to their exact mass and fragmentation ions in MS/MS spectra, and five of them were reported for the first time. Obviously, OLEC-QTOF-MS/MS presented several advantages, such as simple operation and high sensitivity, which provided new perspectives for rapid analysis of bioactive components in complex natural products.ᅟ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inured as the world is to violence, with daily reports of brutality from around the world causing little reaction, the activities of the bandits of the Southern Philippines, with their periodic attacks on villages and frequent kidnap and execution of innocent victims, still have the power to shock. The radical Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) routinely beheads its victims, sometimes after keeping them in inhumane conditions for weeks, months or even years. It is argued in this article that far from being merely a local armed criminal group, the ASG is a fully fledged terrorist organization with international links; a group that poses a growing menace to civil society not only in the Philippines but further afield. As such, the Philippine authorities require a special antiterrorist plan to deal with its increasing threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]