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Purpose This study aims to evaluate the effects of managing cancer and living meaningfully (CALM) intervention on the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), fear of cancer recurrence, quality of life and general distress in lung cancer patients and to explore whether there is a correlation between the NLR, fear of cancer recurrence, general distress and quality of life. Methods Eighty lung cancer patients with clinical range scores (≥13 points) on the FCRI severity subscale were recruited and randomly assigned to the CALM group or usual care (UC). The NLR was recorded before and after treatment. The Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory (FCRI), Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale (DASS-21) were used to evaluate patients at baseline (T0), immediately after treatment (T1), and at 2 (T2) and 4 (T3) months. Results Compared with the UC group, the NLR was significantly different before and after CALM intervention (z=-5.498; P=0.000). There were significant differences in the scores of QLQ, FCR and general distress (referring to depression and anxiety) before and after the T1, T2 and T3 interventions (F=220.30, F=315.20, F=290.10, respectively; PConclusion The CALM intervention can effectively reduce the NLR, alleviate the recurrence fear and general distress symptoms and improve the quality of life in lung cancer patients. Meanwhile, the NLR, fear of cancer recurrence and general distress were negatively correlated with quality of life. This indicates that the NLR can be used as a marker of the efficacy of the CALM intervention.

BACKGROUND Patients receiving cranial radiation face the risk of delayed brain dysfunction. However, an early medical imaging marker is not available until irreversible morphological changes emerge. PURPOSE To explore the micromorphological white matter changes during the radiotherapy session by utilizing an along-tract analysis framework. STUDY TYPE Prospective. POPULATION Eighteen nasopharyngeal carcinoma (two female) patients receiving cranial radiation. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE 3.0 T; Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and T1- and T2-weighted images (T1W, T2W); computed tomography (CT). ASSESSMENT Patients received three DTI imaging scans during the radiotherapy (RT), namely the baseline scan (1-2 days before RT began), the middle scan (the middle of the RT session), and the end scan (1-2 days after RT ended). Twelve fibers were segmented after whole-brain tractography. Then, the fractional anisotropy (FA) values and the cumulative radiation dose received for each fiber streamline were resampled and projected into their center fiber. STATISTICAL TESTS The contrast among the three scans (P1: middle scan-baseline scan; P2: end scan-middle scan; P3: end scan-baseline scan) were compared using the linear mixed model for each of the 12 center fibers. Then, a dose-responsiveness relationship was performed using Pearson correlation. P

In recent years, the incidence rate of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has risen rapidly and has become a global health crisis. Recent experimental and clinical studies have shown that islet β-cell dysfunction is an important cause of T2D and its related complications. β-cells undergo dynamic compensation and decompensation in the course of T2D. In this process, metabolic stress responses, such as ER stress, oxidative stress and inflammation, are key regulators of β-cell functional alternations. In this review, we summarize the research progress on the β-cell functional dynamics in the course of T2D, in order to deepen the understanding of the molecular mechanism of T2D, and provide reference for its precise diagnosis and clinical intervention.近年来,2型糖尿病(type 2 diabetes,T2D)发病率迅速上升,已成为全球性的健康危机。最近的临床和基础研究表明,胰岛β细胞功能障碍是导致T2D及其相关并发症的重要原因。在2型糖尿病的自然病程中,胰岛β细胞经历从代偿到失代偿的动态变化;其中,代谢应激反应,如内质网应激(endoplasmic reticulum stress,ER stress)、氧化应激(oxidative stress)和炎症(inflammation)是β细胞功能变化的关键调控机制。本文总结了β细胞功能在2型糖尿病病程中动态变化的研究进展,以期深化对2型糖尿病分子机制的理解,为精准诊断和临床干预2型糖尿病提供参考。.

Building the relationship between marathon events and tourism is a significant strategy for the local governments. However, there has been little agreement on the effect of city marathon events on local tourism performance. Therefore, this research gap is addressed by providing empirical evidence for the effect of city marathon events on local tourism performance. First, the paper analyzes the theoretical mechanism of the effect of city marathon events on tourism from three aspects: the preliminary effect before marathon events, the agglomeration effect during marathon events, and the legacy effect after marathon events. Second, taking the city marathon events in China as a quasi-natural experiment, the paper uses the Difference-in-Difference model to identify the effect of the marathon events on tourism based on the panel data of 50 major tourist cities from 2010 to 2017. The results indicate that city marathon events significantly boost local tourism performance. These research findings are further confirmed by performing various robustness checks.

Objective The aim of this research was to determine the association between sorptivity of water and the state of mineralization in carious enamel of different stages of severity. Methods As a preliminary work, water droplets of 1.5 μL were placed on the surfaces of hydroxyapatite (HA) discs of different densities. The water droplet profile was dynamically recorded every second over a period of 10 s using a contact angle meter to determine the relationship between sorptivity and density. To measure and calculate sorptivity on enamel surfaces, varnish was painted on the labial surface of 96 extracted caries-free human teeth, leaving two 1.4 ± 0.1 mm diameter circular exposed test sites. The specimens were randomly divided into 6 groups (n = 16) and subjected to 0(G0), 7(G7), 14(G14), 21(G21), 28(G28) and 35(G35) days of pH cycling, respectively. A 0.7 μL water droplet was placed on each exposed site and Optical Coherence Tomography was used to measure its height every 10 seconds for 2 min. Sorptivity was computed by considering sorption equations and Washburn's analysis of capillary kinetics and correction for evaporation was also performed. Micro-Computed Tomography scans of the specimens were obtained and delta Z (ΔZ) is the parameter used to measure mineral loss. ΔZ at 10 μm (ΔZ10) and 50 μm (ΔZ50) from the surface were calculated. One-way ANOVA and Post-hoc Tukey tests were used to compare sorptivity between groups and bivariate correlations were used to analyze the association between sorptivity and ΔZ. Results Sorptivity was found to be inversely and linearly correlated with HA density with R2 value of 0.95. With enamel, there is a general trend of increase in mean sorptivity from G0 to G35, except for a decrease in G21. The same trends were observed for both ΔZ10 and ΔZ50. The decrease in sorptivity in G21 coincided with the presence of a surface hypermineralized layer in G21 samples. Post-hoc Tukey showed significant differences in mean sorptivity between G0 and G14, G0 and G21 as well as G14 and G21. Post-hoc Dunnett’s T3 showed significant differences for ΔZ10 between G0 and G14 as well as G14 and G21. Significant correlation between mean sorptivity and ΔZ10 was detected with Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.461. For ΔZ50, post-hoc Tukey showed significant differences between G0 and G14 but no significant difference was detected between G14 and G21. No correlations were detected between mean sorptivity and ΔZ50. Significance Sorptivity was found to be inversely and linearly correlated with HA density with R2 value of 0.95. With enamel, there is a general trend of increase in mean sorptivity from G0 to G35, except for a decrease in G21. The same trends were observed for both ΔZ10 and ΔZ50. The decrease in sorptivity in G21 coincided with the presence of a surface hypermineralized layer in G21 samples.