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ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate the level of practice of peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) maintenance among nurses in Guizhou province, China, and to explore its influencing factors.DesignCross-sectional study.Setting11 tertiary and 26 secondary hospitals of Guizhou province, China.ParticipantsA total of 832 nurses engaged in clinical work of PICC maintenance participated in the present study.Primary outcome measuresPICC maintenance knowledge questionnaire, PICC maintenance attitude questionnaire and PICC maintenance practice questionnaire were administrated online for measuring participants’ knowledge, attitude and practice of PICC maintenance, respectively.ResultsThe mean score of nurses’ practice of PICC maintenance was 79.77±12.13 and 60.8% of participants reported acceptable practices of PICC maintenance. The availability of PICC guidelines (β=0.10, p=0.002), previous training on PICC maintenance (β=0.18, pConclusionNurses’ practice of PICC maintenance in Guizhou province was unsatisfactory. Their practice was influenced by the availability of PICC guidelines, whether or not they received training and their attitudes toward PICC maintenance. A province-level PICC maintenance alliance is recommended to be established to improve the quality of PICC maintenance in Guizhou, which can develop or update PICC guidelines, and provide training on PICC maintenance regularly for nurses engaging in PICC maintenance.

Objectives:We aimed to investigate the associations between dietary branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) intake and long-term risks of CVD, cancer and all-cause mortality in nationwide survey participants aged ≥ 18.Design:This was a prospective cohort study. Dietary intakes of BCAA (leucine, isoleucine and valine) were determined from the total nutrient intake document. The main outcomes were CVD, cancer and all-cause mortality.Setting:A nationally representative sample of US adults were recruited by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) from 1988 to 1994.Participants:A total of 14 397 adults aged ≥ 18 who participated in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III) were included.Results:During 289 406 person-years of follow-up, we identified 4219 deaths, including 1133 from CVD and 926 from cancer. After multivariate adjustment, the hazard ratios (95 % confidence intervals) of all-cause mortality in the highest dietary BCAA and isoleucine intake quintile (reference: lowest quintiles) were 0·68 (0·48, 0·97) and 0·68 (0·48, 0·97), respectively. Each one-standard-deviation increase in total dietary BCAA or isoleucine intake was associated with an 18 % or 21 % decrease in the risk of all-cause mortality, respectively. The serum triglyceride (TAG) concentration was found to modify the association between the dietary BCAA intake and all-cause mortality (Pfor interaction = 0·008).Conclusions:In a nationally representative cohort, higher dietary intakes of BCAA and isoleucine were independently associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, and these associations were stronger in participants with higher serum TAG concentrations.

Small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO)ylation is one of the posttranslational modifications and is implicated in many tumor types. Modulation of SUMOylation can affect tumor progression, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that, for the first time, in uveal melanoma (UM), the most common intraocular malignancy in adults, global SUMOylation is upregulated and participates in tumor growth. Inhibition of SUMOylation in UM is sufficient to reduce tumor growth both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we found that retinoblastoma protein (Rb) is a target protein and a critical downstream effector of the upregulated SUMOylation activity in UM. Increased SUMOylation of the Rb protein leads to its hyperphosphorylation and inactivation in UM cells, promoting UM cell proliferation. In summary, our results provide novel insight into the mechanism underlying SUMOylation-regulated tumor growth in UM.

Waste recycling is an effective way to improve waste management, which is closely related to the support of social and economic foundations. With the development of a circular economy, green consumption is imperative. Most of the environmental protection brand enterprises are now almost limited to the environmental protection of clothing raw materials. However, there are still many problems in the overall industrial chain of the clothing industry, such as the pollution in the processes of processing, transportation and laundry, and the waste of resources caused by a large amount of textile waste after consumption. Starting from the theme of environmental protection and sustainable development of the clothing industry, this paper discusses the necessity of building a recycling system for post-consumer textile waste. Through the investigation of the recycling and reuse of domestic post-consumer textile waste, the existing problems are analyzed, such as the recycling supervision mechanism’s imperfections, the trust crisis and a lack of recycling channels. Combined with the successful cases abroad, some solutions and suggestions are put forward for the regeneration and reuse of post-consumer textile waste, and a preliminary conception of the charitable market system is made.

Targeting cardiomyocyte plasticity has emerged as a new strategy for promoting heart repair after myocardial infarction. However, the precise mechanistic network underlying heart regeneration is not completely understood. As noncoding RNAs, circular RNAs (circRNAs) play essential roles in regulating cardiac physiology and pathology. The present study aimed to investigate the potential roles of circMdc1 in cardiac repair after injury and elucidate its underlying mechanisms. Here, we identified that circMdc1 levels were upregulated in postnatal mouse hearts but downregulated in the regenerative myocardium. The expression of circMdc1 in cardiomyocytes is sensitive to oxidative stress, which was attenuated by N-acetyl-cysteine. Enforced circMdc1 expression inhibited cardiomyocyte proliferation, while circMdc1 silencing led to cardiomyocyte cell cycle re-entry. In vivo, the cardiac-specific adeno-associated virus-mediated knockdown of circMdc1 promoted cardiac regeneration and heart repair accompanied by improved heart function. Conversely, circMdc1 overexpression blunted the regenerative capacity of neonatal hearts after apex resection. Moreover, circMdc1 was able to block the translation of its host gene Mdc1 specifically by binding to PABP, affecting DNA damage and the chromosome stability of cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, overexpression of Mdc1 caused damaged mouse hearts to regenerate and repair after myocardial infarction in vivo. Oxidative stress-sensitive circMdc1 plays an important role in cardiac regeneration and heart repair after injury by regulating DNA damage and chromosome stability in cardiomyocytes by blocking the translation of the host gene Mdc1.

International audience; Among the common image structures, line feature is the extensively used geometric structure for various image processing applications, including the analysis of biomedical image with blood vessels highlighting, graph-shape structures, cracks detection, satellite images or remote sensing data. Multi-scale processing of line feature is essentially required for the extraction of more relevant information or line structures of heterogeneous widths. In this paper, a multi-scale filtering-based line detection approach using second-order semi-Gaussian anisotropic kernel is proposed. Meanwhile, a strategy is introduced to calculate the strength of the observed line feature across the different scales. The proposed technique is evaluated on real images by using their tied hand-labeled images. Finally, the experimental results and comparison of images containing different line feature widths with state-of-the-art techniques have sufficiently supported the effectiveness of our technique.

Background Early detection/prediction of flare‐ups in asthma, commonly triggered by viruses, would enable timely treatment. Previous studies on exhaled breath analysis by electronic nose (eNose) technology could discriminate between stable and unstable episodes of asthma, using single/few time‐points. To investigate its monitoring properties during these episodes, we examined day‐to‐day fluctuations in exhaled breath profiles, before and after a rhinovirus‐16 (RV16) challenge, in healthy and asthmatic adults. Methods In this proof‐of‐concept study, 12 atopic asthmatic and 12 non‐atopic healthy adults were prospectively followed thrice weekly, 60 days before, and 30 days after a RV16 challenge. Exhaled breath profiles were detected using an eNose, consisting of 7 different sensors. Per sensor, individual means were calculated using pre‐challenge visits. Absolute deviations (|%|) from this baseline were derived for all visits. Within‐group comparisons were tested with Mann‐Whitney U tests and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Finally, Spearman's correlations between the total change in eNose deviations and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), cold‐like symptoms, and pro‐inflammatory cytokines were examined. Results Both groups had significantly increased eNose fluctuations post‐challenge, which in asthma started 1 day post‐challenge, before the onset of symptoms. Discrimination between pre‐ and post‐challenge reached an area under the ROC curve of 0.82 (95% CI = 0.65–0.99) in healthy and 0.97 (95% CI = 0.91–1.00) in asthmatic adults. The total change in eNose deviations moderately correlated with IL‐8 and TNFα (ρ ≈ .50–0.60) in asthmatics. Conclusion Electronic nose fluctuations rapidly increase after a RV16 challenge, with distinct differences between healthy and asthmatic adults, suggesting that this technology could be useful in monitoring virus‐driven unstable episodes in asthma., Electronic nose sensor fluctuations increased after a RV‐16 challenge in asthmatic and healthy adults, more evidently in asthma. In asthma, the increase in eNose fluctuations occurred before the onset of cold‐like symptoms. The magnitude of the change in eNose fluctuations was not correlated with FeNO and cold‐like symptoms, but moderately correlated with pre‐ and post‐challenge cytokine levels in asthma.

International audience; Ridges (resp., valley) are the useful geometric features due to their wide varieties of applications, mainly in image analysis problems such as object detection, image segmentation, scene understanding, etc. Many characterizations have contributed to formalize the ridge notion. The signification of each characterization rely however on its actual application. The objective analysis of ridge characterized as thin and complex image structure is thus essentially important, for choosing which parameter’s values correspond to the suitable configuration to obtain accurate results and optimal performance. In this article an extensive analysis followed by a supervised and objective comparison of different filtering-based ridge detection techniques is led. Furthermore, the optimal parameter configuration of each filtering techniques aimed for image salient feature analysis tool have been objectively investigated, where each chosen filter’s parameters corresponds to the width of the desired ridge or valley. At last, the comparative evaluations and analysis results are reported on both synthetic images, distorted with various types of noises and real images.

Among large numbers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), monolayer rhenium disulfide (ReS2) is of particular interest due to its unique structural anisotropy, which opens up unprecedented opportunities in dichroic atomical electronics. Understanding the domain structure and controlling the anisotropic evolution of ReS2 during the growth is considered critical for increasing the domain size toward a large-scale growth of monolayer ReS2. Herein, by employing angle-resolved Raman spectroscopy, we reveal that the hexagonal ReS2 domain is constructed by six well-defined subdomains with each b-axis parallel to the diagonal of the hexagon. By further combining the first-principles calculations and the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization, a dislocation-involved anisotropic evolution is proposed to explain the formation of the domain structures and understand the limitation of the domain size. Based on these findings, growth rates of different crystal planes are well controlled to enlarge the domain size, and moreover, single-crystal domains with a triangle shape are obtained. With the improved domain size, large-scale uniform, strictly monolayer ReS2 films are grown further. Scalable field-effect transistor (FET) arrays are constructed, which show good electrical performances comparable or even superior to that of the single domains reported at room temperature. This work not only sheds light on comprehending the novel growth mechanism of ReS2 but also offers a robust and controllable strategy for the synthesis of large-area and high-quality two-dimensional materials with low structural symmetry.

Antifouling surfaces with optimized conformation and compositional heterogeneities are presented with the goal of improving the efficacy of surface protection. The approach exploits the adhesive group (thiol or catechol chain end) to anchor asymmetric polymer brushes (APBs) bearing amphiphilic side chains with synergistic nonfouling and fouling-release abilities onto the surface. The conformation of the APB surface is close to the fencelike structure, which mimics lubricating protein lubricin, endowing the surface with capacity of enhanced protection and antiadhesivity, even facing the high compression of fouling. By utilizing a poly(Br-acrylate-alkyne) macroagent comprising alkynyl and 2-bromopropionate groups, we prepared a series of APB surfaces based on polyacrylate-g-poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(pentafluorophenyl methacrylate) (PA-g-PEO/PPFMA) APBs to explore the influence of the content of the fluorinated segment and bioinspired topological polymer chemistry on their antifouling performance. The APB surfaces can not only provide compositional heterogeneities of PEO and fluorinated segments in each side chain but also give a high surface coverage because of the characteristic of high grafting density of macromolecular brushes. It was found for the first time, as far as we are aware, the fencelike APB surface shows excellent antifouling performance with less protein adsorption (up to 91% off) and cell adhesion (up to 84% off) in comparison with the controlled substrate under relatively long incubation time.

Our study aimed to scrutinize the incidence and risk factors of femoral inserted central catheter (FICC)-related thrombosis in patients with superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) undergoing chemotherapy.A retrospective analysis of patients with SVCS undergoing chemotherapy who received FICC catheterization at the Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha City, Hunan Province between May 2012 and February 2019 was performed. Both asymptomatic thrombosis and symptomatic thrombosis were diagnosed by color doppler ultrasound (CDUS). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify patient-, insertion-, and catheter-related factors.Eight hundred and seventy-four patients with SVCS undergoing chemotherapy, with a total of 157,180 catheter days were enrolled in our study. FICC-related thrombosis was detected in 144 patients, and yielding an overall incidence of 16.47% or 0.92 events per 1000 catheter days. Of these, 19(2.17%) patients had symptomatic thrombosis. The mean time interval between FICC insertion and thrombosis onset was (10.40 ± 6.32) days and the mean catheter indwelling time was (179.84 ± 46.15) days. The history of deep venous thrombosis, treatment with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor (bevacizumab), puncture site (mid-thigh, groin), tip position and catheter size showed association with FICC-related thrombosis. Treatment with VEGF inhibitor [odds ratio (OR) = 2.779; 95%confidence interval (CI): 1.860-4.153; P 0.001] and puncture site at the groin (OR = 10.843; 95%CI: 6.575-17.881; P 0.001) were identified as independent risk factors of FICC-related thrombosis.Treatment with VEGF inhibitor and puncture site at the groin during FICC catheterization were considered as high-risk factors in FICC-related thrombosis.

Aim To detect how BRCA-associated protein 1 (BAP1) regulates cell migration in uveal melanoma (UM) cells. Methods Wound healing and transwell assays were performed to detect UM cell migration abilities. Protein chip, immunoprecipitations and surface plasmon resonance analyses were applied to identify BAP1 protein partners. Western blot and calpain activity assays were used to test the expression and function of calpastatin (CAST). Results CAST protein was confirmed as a new BAP1 protein partner, and loss of BAP1 reduced the expression and function of CAST in UM cells. The overexpression of CAST rescued the cell migration phenotype caused by BAP1 loss. Conclusion BAP1 interacts with CAST in UM cells, and CAST and its subsequent calpain pathway may mediate BAP1-related cell migration regulation.

Magnesium batteries based on Mg2+/Li+ dual ion electrolytes (MLIBs) have attracted increasing attention due to fast Li+ or Mg2+/Li+ insertion kinetics, abundant Mg resources, and high volumetric capacity of dendrite-free Mg anodes. Herein, we report polyaniline (PANI)–coated VS4@reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with nanostructures synthesized via hydrothermal synthesis and subsequent PANI polymerization as the cathode material for MLIBs. The PANI layer serves as a conductive medium to enhance electron transfer and Mg2+/Li+ transportation as well as to mitigate the structure changes of VS4 during the cycling process. Indeed, this material demonstrates enhanced electrochemical performance with a high discharge capacity of 200.7 mAh g−1 after 20 cycles and 91.2% retention after 50 cycles. Mechanism analysis reveals that Li+ insertion into VS4 produced an amorphous VS4 host in the first discharge, which inclined to store Mg2+ rather than Li+ in the subsequent cycles. Our study provides new insights into the development of amorphous electrode materials for magnesium batteries.

Preparation of well-ordered TiO2 films from alkaline solution by liquid phase deposition (LPD) method is still challenging owing to the fact that, in traditional mixing process, several disadvantages exist in controllable homogenous chemical reactions. In this contribution, mixing process in a porous dispersed double T-junction micromixer was designed and investigated using numerical simulation. It is obtained that high mixing intensity can be achieved by micromixer with inlet velocity of 0.6 m s−1 and microfiltration meshes 10 μm in size. A micromixing-assisted platform consisted of two syringe pumps and a micromixer was manufactured to efficiently fabricate TiO2 films via mixing of (NH4)2TiF6 and CO(NH2)2 as reactants and fluorine doped tin oxide, F: SnO2 (FTO), conducting glass substrates by LPD in alkaline solutions. The results suggest that surface morphology of TiO2 films fabricated by micromixing can be easily controlled in comparison with that of specimens prepared by traditional stirring mixing process. The dense and well-ordered TiO2 films derived from micromixing have enhanced adhesion strength, high hardness, good hydrophilic and excellent photoelectrochemical properties. Particularly, homogeneous reaction could be inhibited in micromixer and an ideal supersaturation solution would be formed via micromixing treatment, which significantly facilitates the formation of high quality TiO2 films by heterogeneous nucleation on substrate surface. These obtained achievements are expected to promote further application of TiO2 films in a variety of domains including photocatalysis and corrosion protection of metals.

Overcoming slow kinetics of cathodic electrochemical reactions is a key factor toward achieving economical and efficient electrocatalysts for practical application of primary Al-air batteries. In this study, a hybrid catalyst with specific surface area and manganese valence controlled α-MnO2 nanotube decorated by silver nanoparticles (Ag/MnO2-3) is successful synthesized. A facile hydrothermal method was used, followed by liquid phase reducing treatment. The Ag/MnO2-3 showed not only superior catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction with more positive onset potential (0.996 V vs. RHE) and comparable half-wave potential (0.870 V vs. RHE) to the commercial Pt/C catalyst but also a higher discharge voltage plateau (∼1.1 V at discharge current density of 50 mA cm−2) with superior stability in the primary Al−air battery test. The high electrocatalytic activity of the Ag/MnO2-3 nanohybrid is attributed to the larger specific surface area of MnO2 nanotubes and its ultrahigh atomic ratios of Mn3+/Mn4+ on the surface. This results in a strong synergistic effect between manganese dioxide nanotube and Ag nanoparticles to inhibit the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide. This material is promising for applications in Al-air batteries.

To develop high-performance and efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for Li O2 batteries, a promising new material is developed in this study, which consists of hierarchical porous hollow carbon nanofibers (HCNFs) with Ag/Co@CoO nanoparticles immobilized inside. This material is prepared using a facile and convenient coaxial electrospinning method, followed by a simple heat treatment. The Ag/Co@CoO HCNF cathode shows low polarization and excellent cycle performance. A combination of structural characterizations (e.g., scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman scattering spectroscopy, and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method) and electrochemical analyses shows that the excellent battery performance of the Ag/Co@CoO HCNF cathode can be attributed to its hierarchical porous structure, high surface area and high content of active sites combined with the synergetic interactions between Ag and Co@CoO as well as the improved electrical conductivity. Notably, the introduction of Ag may promote the Li2O2 to grow and crystallize into nanosheets due to the synergetic interactions between Ag and CoO. The petal-like Li2O2 discharge products formed on the Ag/Co@CoO HCNF cathode are more readily decomposed than the film-like Li2O2. Our findings provide a reference for designing free-standing high-performance hollow-structured Ag/Co@CoO hybrid electrodes by coaxial electrospinning for non-aqueous Li O2 batteries.

In this study, we present a new micromechanics method to predict the transverse creep rate induced by interface diffusion in unidirectional fiber-reinforced composites and evolution of overall creep strain under constant applied stress. An analytical solution for creep rate induced by interfacial diffusion, depending on the applied stress, fiber volume fraction and radius of the fiber, as well as the modulus ratio between the fiber and the matrix, is obtained. A micromechanics model is proposed to estimate the stress field in the fiber, which is related to the driving force for the interface diffusion, the normal stress on the interface. Comparison with finite element analysis shows that the present micromechanics model is of good accuracy, especially for high fiber volume fraction and large elastic modulus ratio between fiber and matrix. With the proposed micromechanics method based on the average field theory, the variation of overall creep strains and stresses with time in fibers under constant external load are analyzed by the incremental creep analysis procedures.

Rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries are considered promising candidates for the new generation of energy storage systems because of their high capacity, low cost, and high security. The most urgent...

Lithium metal is one of the most exceptional anode materials for the next-generation rechargeable batteries because of its ultrahigh theoretical specific capacity and lowest reduction potential. Unfortunately, low Coulombic efficiency, poor cycling lifespan and short-circuiting-related safety issues due to the uncontrolled growth of lithium dendrites during battery cycling have hindered practical applications of rechargeable lithium-metal batteries. Herein, we report an efficient strategy to overcome these shortcomings by using a multi-walled carbon nanotube interlayer film with controllable thickness between lithium anode and a separator. Lithium electrodes with added interlayers can stabilize the cycling of symmetrical cells up to 600 h at 3 mA h cm−2 capacity and 5 mA cm−2 current density and up to 180 h at 5 mA h cm−2 capacity and 10 mA cm−2 current density, respectively, without any signs of short circuits. The volume expansion is significantly mitigated by the interlayer during cycling. Using lithium anode with interlayer, we achieve excellent Coulombic efficiency, superior capacity retention and small polarization for lithium-oxygen battery and lithium-lithium cobalt oxide/lithium iron phosphate batteries. These interlayers, produced using low-cost raw materials and simple methods, have a promising potential for realization of high-capacity, dendrite-free and long-life lithium metal anodes for the large-scale production.

In this work, a novel alternating amphiphilic copolymer (AAC) P(EG4-a-NAzoOMe) with azobenzene pendants was synthesized through the azide–alkyne click reaction. This proposed AAC exhibits unusual photo- and pH-responsive behaviors by taking advantage of a special alternating amphiphilic topology to prevent the azobenzene pendants from ordered aggregation. P(EG4-a-NAzoOMe) could self-assemble into different sized homogeneous large compound micelles (LCMs) by tuning the initial concentration. The LCMs responded to UV stimuli almost as fast as the P(EG4-a-NAzoOMe) polymer, and the size of LCMs enlarged with the acidity of the solution together with the color change from yellow to violet. Moreover, the LCMs featured acidity-enhanced aggregation induced emission (AIE) similarly because of the special alternating amphiphilic topology. The first reported stimuli-responsive AAC could not only serve as a promising tunable delivery carrier or sensor, but also be inspirational for developing azobenzene AIE materials.

Financial toxicity (FT) has been used to describe patients' whole economic experience that negatively impacts their well-being. FT's adverse effects on patients' health outcomes have been reported by reviews conducted in Western countries. However, these findings may not apply to patients in China. This review aimed to analyze existing data on the measures, prevalence, risk factors, and health-related consequences of FT in China. We searched 10 databases in May 2021 and again in January 2022 using Medical Subject Headings terms and free text. We also searched the reference lists of included articles. Two reviewers independently screened the studies, extracted the data, and assessed the quality of the included studies using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist. Thirty-one articles describing 30 studies were included in the analysis. Various FT measures were identified, but the number of validated measures was limited. The prevalence of material, psychological, and behavioral FT was 6%-78%, 61%-84%, and 10%-79%, respectively. We identified common risk factors and health-related consequences associated with FT similar to those reported in previous reviews. We also identified several potential risk factors (eg, increased length of hospital stay and larger household size) and consequences (patients' self-perceived burden) in a limited number of studies. Our findings show an urgent need for more data on the prevalence, risk factors, and health-related consequences associated with FT in Chinese cancer patients, and these data must be generated using validated measures.

Many of the needs of caregivers of patients with cancer are unmet, particularly their informational and psychological needs. Psychoeducational interventions that focus on providing caregivers with information, and on meeting their emotional and psychosocial needs, may therefore be effective.To evaluate the effectiveness of psychoeducational interventions on the outcomes of caregivers of patients with cancer and identify characteristics of effective psychoeducational interventions.A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.The databases of PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature Complete, the British Nursing Index, PsycINFO, Ovid Emcare, Scopus, Chinese Journal Net, and Wan Fang Data were searched in December 2020. Clinical trial registers, related websites and reference lists of included studies were also examined.The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool was used to appraise the quality of included studies. Meta-analysis was conducted, and narrative syntheses were performed where meta-analysis was inappropriate.Fourteen articles describing 12 studies were included. The results of the meta-analysis showed that psychoeducational interventions have short-term (immediately post-intervention) positive effects on relieving anxiety [SMD: -0.50, 95%CI: (-0.97, -0.02), p = 0.04], depression [SMD: -0.54, 95%CI: (-0.76, -0.32), p0.00001] and caregiver burden [SMD: -0.57, 95%CI: (-0.87, -0.27), p = 0.0002] and improving their quality of life [SMD: 0.42, 95%CI: (0.23, 0.62), p0.0001) and self-efficacy [SMD: 0.31, 95%CI: (0.09, 0.53), p = 0.006] in the caregivers of patients with cancer. They also showed long-term (at least 3 months post-intervention) positive effects on improving physical health [SMD: 0.26, 95%CI: (0.05, 0.47), p = 0.02]. The types of psychoeducational interventions varied in the 12 studies. However, the main contents of effective psychoeducational interventions included tasks related to health care provisions for patients, caregiver self-care and stress management, and relationship and coping skills. In general, most studies had short follow-up periods and involved caregivers of older patients with cancer (40 years old).Psychoeducational interventions may have short-term desirable effects on caregivers' anxiety, depression, quality of life, burden and self-efficacy and long-term desirable effects on physical health. Individual psychoeducational intervention varied in contents, delivery mode, dosage and format. Research is needed to further specify the optimal combination of contents. Further high-quality RCTs are warranted, with longer follow-up periods, for caregivers of patients with cancer, especially caregivers of younger patients with cancer.

Background The effect of dairy products intake on breast cancer (BC) is highly controversial. This study aims to investigate the relationship between dairy intake and BC incidence. Methods A search was carried out in PubMed, EBSCO, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases before January 2021. The primary objective was the risk of BC and intake of dairy products were exposure variables. Results The meta-analysis comprised 36 articles with 1,019,232 participants. Total dairy products have a protective effect on female population (hazard ratio (HR) =0.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) =0.91–0.99, p = 0.019), especially for estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) (HR = 0.79, p = 0.002) and progesterone receptor-positive (PR+) BC (HR = 0.75, p = 0.027). For ER+/PR+ BC, there is a trend of protection, but it has not reached statistical significance (HR = 0.92, p = 0.075). Fermented dairy products can reduce BC risk in postmenopausal population (HR = 0.96, 95%CI = 0.93–0.99, p = 0.021), but have no protective effect on premenopausal population (HR = 0.98, 95%CI = 0.94–1.03, p = 0.52). Non-fermented dairy products have no significant effect on BC occurrence (p > 0.05). High-fat dairy products are harmful to women, without statistical difference (HR = 1.06, 95%CI = 1.00–1.13, p = 0.066). On the contrary, low-fat dairy products can protect the premenopausal population (HR = 0.94, 95%CI = 0.89–1.00, p = 0.048). Conclusion The intake of dairy products can overall reduce BC risk in the female population, but different dairy products have varying effects on different BC subtypes and menopausal status.

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has placed tremendous pressure on public health systems across the world. Compared with the healthy population, cancer patients are more prone to developing psychological problems, including depression and anxiety, because of worries about cancer recurrence, cancer symptoms, treatment-related discomfort, a lack of social interaction and the impact on their financial well-being. This paper aimed to identify existing evidence on psychological symptoms and their associated factors among cancer patients in the Chinese Mainland during the COVID-19 pandemic, and on interventions to effectively manage these symptoms. Articles related to the prevalence, the risk factors and interventions of psychological symptoms among cancer patients in the Chinese Mainland during COVID-19 published between December 2019 and August 2020 were searched in two English (PubMed and Embase) and two Chinese (CNKI and Wan Fang Data) databases. A total of 180 studies were identified, and 18 studies were included in the review after removing duplicates and screening for relevancy. The results suggest that patients with cancer in the Chinese Mainland have suffered psychological pressure during COVID-19, with a high prevalence of psychological distress, depression and anxiety reported across most of the reviewed studies. Pandemic-related factors such as treatment discontinuation and worry about being infected are associated with these symptoms. Nurses may help to relieve these symptoms by identifying stressors, providing relevant information through mass and social media and referring patients to specialists for psychological support. However, evidence about treatments and interventions for these symptoms is limited, and additional research is warranted to identify effective interventions to promote resilience in this patient population.

N6-Methyladenosine (mMETTL3 knockout mouse line was generated. A series of functional experiments were carried out and the molecular mechanism was further explored. We identified that METTL3, a methyltransferase of m6A methylation, is upregulated in mouse hearts after birth, which is the opposite of the changes in CMs proliferation. Furthermore, both METTL3 heterozygous knockout mice and administration of METTL3 shRNA adenovirus in mice exhibited CMs cell cycle re-entered, infract size decreased and cardiac function improved after MI. Mechanically, the silencing of METTL3 promoted CMs proliferation by reducing primary miR-143 (pri-miR-143) mMETTL3 deficiency contributes to heart regeneration after MI via METTL3-pri-miR-143-(miR-143)-Yap/Ctnnd1 axis. This study provides new insights into the significance of RNA m

The most effective and potential approach to improve the performance of heterojunction photodetectors is to obtain favorable interfacial passivation by adding an insertion layer. In this paper, MoO

Various gas sensors have made considerable improvements to the quality of people's lives. However, in most cases, changing of materials is necessary to adapt to the changing of the target gas, which limits the further application of gas sensors. To meet this challenge, in this work, molecular imprinting (MI) technology is introduced. Acrylic acid is used as a functional monomer, while gas molecules, including acetone, are used as templates. The MI process with an acetone template helps improve the acetone selectivity of TiO

This paper mainly studies the deformation and stress of the concrete plat under the uniform load considering the thickness of the compression layer of layered ground. Firstly, the load characteristics and the ground strategy are discussed in detail to clarify the boundary condition. Then the deformation of the ground in each layer is calculated by GEO-Cal program and the final settlement and uneven deformation is also predicted using consolidation theory. Ground stress and settlement is also calculated by FEM to verify the previous calculation.

The effective detection of layered roller compacted subgrade quality is the key of road engineering quality control. The traditional sand filling compaction method belongs to random sampling point detection method, and it is not easy to detect the subgrade compaction condition below the sand filling pit. Based on the summary of the current domestic and foreign subgrade detection technology, this paper innovatively combines the geological radar method with sand filling method, and through the fixed point detection method. The results show that the traditional sand filling method can directly and quantitatively reflect the compactness of sampling points, while the geological radar can realize the continuous detection, and can judge the compaction layer from the loose state to the interlaminar line after compaction through the geological radar image At the same time, the GPR can identify the under compacted area in the subgrade compaction layer and reflect the overall compaction effect of the subgrade. The detection method of combining the GPR method and sand filling method has obvious technical advantages in the subgrade quality detection.

This paper mainly studies the behavior of axisymmetric radial interaction between soil and structure under radial stress. Considering the possible factors in the interaction, such as the soil arching effect caused by the finite curvature, a simplified model is established. The influence of curvature change on the stress field, strain field, displacement field and stress-strain relationship is analyzed. Finally, the status of various factors in the axisymmetric radial interaction and the influence of their changes on the interaction are proposed.

To realize the accurate performance test under high-speed operation and the long-term stable reliability test of the motorized spindle, a reliability test rig (RTR) which can simulate the cutting force in the actual machining process is presented. Firstly, a reasonable prototype integrating dynamic force loading devices and torque loading devices is designed and established based on the load analysis of the spindle, and a complete and explicit control strategy of the reliability loading test is designed. Secondly, the effects of misalignment of the diaphragm coupling caused by assembling are analyzed, and experiments are conducted to test the axis orbit of the motorized spindle. The experimental results illustrate that the axis orbit can identify the occurrence of misalignment, which ensures timely adjustment of misalignment and the accurate performance test under high-speed operation. Lastly, a damper is added in the mechanical structure of the electrohydraulic servo loading system (EHSLS), and the comparison of Bode maps before and after optimization is analyzed by the Nyquist criterion. After the optimization, the gain and phase margin of the Bode diagram are 12.9 dB and 57.2°, respectively, which are both within the stable range and validate the improvements on the ability of long-term reliability tests of the motorized spindle. The presented RTR is able to simulate the actual cutting force and provides an efficient loading approach to guarantee the accuracy and stability of motorized spindle tests.

Some equipment fault measurement points are difficult to determine. Thus, this study proposes a method using energy flow and transfer path to select sensitive measurement points. Firstly, based on the energy flow theory of the shell, the energy flow is taken as the physical quantity to describe the energy transfer of the structure vibration, and the energy-based transfer path analysis method is established. Secondly, the simulation model of the finite element energy flow was established by focusing on the NC turret, and the vector image of the energy flow transfer path of the NC turret shell was created. For the relationship between the vector images of the experimental and simulation energy flows, the validity of the finite element energy flow simulation results is verified. Lastly, three abnormal areas of the NC turret shell are identified by comparing and analyzing the energy flow vector images of the NC turret in the healthy and fault states, taking the poor meshing fault of the grooves as an example. By choosing nine test points in the abnormal areas and calculating the distribution rate of the transfer paths between the test points to the joint surfaces of the fluted disc, the energy flow distribution rate of the different fault positions to the test points is obtained. Calculation results enabled us to identify three measuring points that can accurately distinguish the fault location for a typical fault mode. This research combined energy flow theory and transfer path analysis method to determine the vibration fault sensitive measuring points of NC equipment. The proposed method is practical in the field of fault diagnosis and has broad application prospects.

Toxoplasma gondii is well known to infect almost all avian and mammalian species including humans, with worldwide distribution. This protozoan parasite can cause serious toxoplasmosis, posing with a risk to public health. The role of microRNAs in the pathogenesis of T. gondii has not been well described. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of microRNA-155 (miR-155) in mediating innate and adaptive immune responses during T. gondii infection in mice models. The survival and parasite burden in T. gondii-infected miR-155−/− and wild-type (WT) C57BL6 mice were compared. In these two mouse models, ELISA tests were used for analysis of Th1-associated, Th2-associated, and Th17-associated cytokines, and flow cytometry was used for analysis of the subpopulations of NK, NKT, CD8+T, CD4+T cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs), as well as Ly6Chi inflammatory monocytes and dendritic cells. The lack of miR-155 led to increased parasite burden and decreased survival of infected mice in contrast to WT mice. Innate and adaptive immune responses were reduced in the absence of miR-155, along with decreased proinflammatory mediators, Th-1-associated and Th-2-associated cytokines and accumulation of lymphocyte subpopulations. Also, CD8+ T cell exhaustion was also worsened in the absence of miR-155 via targeting of SHIP-1 and SOCS1, showing as up-regulated recruitment of Tregs and expression of PD-1, and down-regulated expression of IFN-γ and TNF-α in CD8+ T cells. Our results show that miR-155 is a critical immune regulator for the control of T. gondii infection, suggesting that miR-155 can be explored as a potential molecular target for boosting immunity against T. gondii.

This paper mainly studies the performance of axisymmetric radial interaction between soil and structure under radial stress. One of the key points is the research on the mechanical properties of the interface. The latter is now the frontier field, and also the focus of this paper's theoretical analysis. Based on FEM, a large-scale international finite element software, this paper attempts to establish a general comprehensive model with comparative function through the advantages of numerical simulation. After obtaining the results, the analysis focuses on the influence of different materials on the interaction, and summarizes the stress field, strain field, displacement field and stress-strain relationship of the model under different materials.

International audience; Ridges and valleys are the principle geometric features for their diverse applications, especially in image analysis problems such as segmentation, object detection, etc. Numerous characterizations have contributed to formalize the ridge and valley theory. The significance of each characterization rely however on its practical usefulness in a particular application. The objective comparison and evaluation of ridgeness/valleyness characterized as thin and complex image structure is thus crucially important, for choosing, which parameter’s values correspond to the optimal configuration to obtain accurate results and best performance. This paper presents a supervised and objective comparison of different filtering-based ridge detectors. Moreover, the optimal parameter configuration of each filtering techniques have been objectively investigated.

Hyperspectral image includes rich spectral and spatial information with strong correlations, which makes it granted that hyperspectral image is modeled as a low-rank third- order tensor. In terms of the low-rank representation of tensor, non-convex low-rank approximation is regarded as an effective method. In this paper, based on the tensor singular value decomposition in transformed domain, a non-convex low-rank representation of tensor is proposed. Firstly, the unitary transformation is carried out along each mode of the tensor, thus the corresponding transformed tensor nuclear norm is developed. Then, the newly defined tensor nuclear norm is relaxed by a non- convex Gamma function, which leads to a non-convex low-rank regularized hyperspectral denoising model. The alternating direction multiplier method (ADMM) is employed to solve the model. Compared with the existing methods, the proposed model can effectively remove Gaussian and impulse noises, and achieves better performance on spatial structure preservation and spectral fidelity.

N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) has emerged as the most prevalent post‐transcriptional modification on mRNA that contributes prominently to tumorigenesis. However, the specific function of m6A methyltransferase methyltransferase‐like 3 (METTL3) in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains elusive. Herein, we explored the biological function of METTL3 in CRC progression. Clinically, METTL3 was frequently upregulated in CRC tissues, cell lines, and plasma samples and its high expression predicted poor prognosis of CRC patients. Functionally, knockdown of METTL3 significantly repressed CRC cell proliferation and migration in vitro, while its overexpression accelerated CRC tumor formation and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, METTL3 epigenetically repressed YPEL5 in an m6A‐YTHDF2‐dependent manner by targeting the m6A site in the coding sequence region of the YPEL5 transcript. Moreover, overexpression of YPEL5 significantly reduced CCNB1 and PCNA expression. Collectively, we identified the pivotal role of METTL3‐catalyzed m6A modification in CRC tumorigenesis, wherein it facilitates CRC tumor growth and metastasis through suppressing YPEL5 expression in an m6A‐YTHDF2‐dependent manner, suggesting a promising strategy for the diagnosis and therapy of CRC., Here, we demonstrate that methyltransferase‐like 3 (METTL3)‐catalyzed N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) modification facilitates tumor growth and metastasis in colorectal cancer (CRC). METTL3 can reduce YPEL5 expression in an m6A‐YTHDF2‐dependent manner. Our findings highlight a novel m6A regulatory mechanism, with ‘writer’ METTL3, ‘reader’ YTHDF2, and ‘target’ YPEL5 being promising diagnostic or therapeutic targets in CRC.

Surface integrity is the permanent pursuit of industries for decades, and microstructure is a key factor controlling physical and mechanical properties of machined surfaces. During machining, a complicated non-uniform distribution of deformation fields will be applied to machined surfaces, as a result, microstructure evolution will be significantly influenced. In this study, a coupled finite element (FE) and cellular automata (CA) approach is used to characterize and predict microstructure evolution during high-speed machining oxygen-free high-conductivity (OFHC) copper, where a unique material model is presented to describe both constitutive behaviors and microstructure evolution, and a mixed mechanism of continuous dynamic recrystallization (cDRX) and discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (dDRX) is adopted to show grain refinement and grain growth procedure under gradient distributed fields of strains, strain rates and temperatures in machined surfaces. A similar gradient distribution of grain sizes is obtained through both simulation and experimental results, which validates the predictive model and presents an in-depth understanding of microstructure evolution process during surface formation, and it shows the primary factors influencing the grain size distribution in sub-surface are cDRX-induced grain refinement and dDRX-induced grain growth. Moreover, the gradient distribution of microstructures in refined sub-surfaces could be used to explain mechanisms of sub-surface damage in the future.

Background: Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies capture different aspects of physiological signals. Objective: To investigate whether single snapshots of exhaled breathprints from eNose can discriminate asthmatics from healthy controls and capture differences in breath profiles triggered by a viral challenge. Methods: The study followed-up 12 asthmatic and 12 healthy controls thrice weekly for 2 months before and 1 month after a rhinovirus challenge. The eNose ability to classify asthmatics from controls at each visit and between pre and post-viral states, was estimated by area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs-ROC) for eNose sensors. The influence of the viral challenge on longitudinal variations of eNose signals was estimated by a mixed effects model (MEM). Results: The eNose was able to provide 100% discrimination between asthmatics and controls at each study visit, irrespective of the viral-challenge (Fig A). However, more changes in VOCs were found in asthmatics than in controls as indicated from the MEM. Discrimination of pre and post-viral phases was highest at visits 1, 3 and 7 in asthmatics vs only visit 7 in controls (Fig B & C). Conclusion: Cross-sectional study designs may uncover biomarkers distinguishing disease from health, but longitudinal designs are essential to detect influences by external triggers. In both cases, eNose may serve as a non-invasive asthma monitoring tool.