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Background: Adolescents' psychological stress has become an important problem. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are proven to be effective in school settings in the Western world, and so expanding MBIs further is a particularly important consideration. Objective: This study addresses the effectiveness of MBI in reducing psychological stress in Chinese school settings and the mediating role of resilience between trait mindfulness and psychological stress. Methods: This study conducts a cluster randomized controlled trial. Ninety-two middle school students in the experimental group received 10 weeks of MBI, with 10 sessions of a mindfulness course, while 97 students in the control group followed their regular school program without intervention. Results: Psychological stress, trait mindfulness, and psychological resilience were measured by the Psycho-Somatic-Tension-Relaxation Inventory (PSTRI), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescents (RSCA). The results showed that (1) compared with the pretest scores of the experimental group, and the pre- and post-test scores of the control group, the post-test scores of trait mindfulness and psychological resilience in the experimental group were significantly increased, while psychological stress was significantly decreased. (2) Trait mindfulness was positively associated with psychological resilience. Trait mindfulness and psychological resilience were negatively associated with psychological stress. (3) The mediating effect of psychological resilience accounted for 43.58% of the overall effect of trait mindfulness on psychological stress. Conclusions: These findings provide encouraging evidence for MBI's effectiveness in reducing adolescents' psychological stress and the possible mediating role of psychological resilience; thus, MBI is worthy of expanding to Chinese school settings.

Combining shape memory alloy (SMA) and carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheet can achieve a self-stressing SMA-CFRP composite, providing an innovative prestressing method for steel elements. This study applied SMA(Ni–Ti–Nb) wires and CFRP sheets to achieve composite strengthening for notched steel beams. The effectiveness of SMA-CFRP composite for flexural strengthening of notched steel beams was evaluated, and the formula for the maximum allowable moment of the strengthened beams with SMA-CFRP composites was proposed. The four-point bending test results showed that the ultimate load and flexural stiffness of the strengthened beams with SMA-CFRP composites increased by 79.2% and 57.9% more than those of the unstrengthened beams. By comparison, the CFRP-only and SMA-only strengthened beams merely achieved half the ultimate load and flexural stiffness over the strengthened beams with SMA-CFRP composite. Besides, compared to the unstrengthened beams, the notch tip yield load for the strengthened beam with SMA-CFRP composite was increased by 230%, while the notch tip yield load for strengthened beams with CFRP-only and SMA-only just increased by 70% and 125%. These indicate that the SMA-CFRP composite strengthening can significantly delay crack propagation and improve the load capacity and stiffness of notched steel beams. Moreover, the analytical results of the maximum allowable moment were in good agreement with experimental results, indicating the accuracy of the proposed analytical equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: 1. To evaluate the repeatability of macular pigment optical density (MPOD) measurements in non-mydriatic and mydriatic conditions with a single wavelength reflection photometry. 2. To compare the non-mydriatic measurement with the mydriatic measurement of MPOD values. Methods: Fifty-one healthy young subjects were recruited in this prospective study. MPOD parameters including maximum optical intensity (OD), mean OD, volume and area, were measured using a single 460-nm wavelength reflection method (Visucam 200, Carl Zeiss Meditec) twice both before and after pupil dilation. Paired t test, Pearson's correlation, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots were used to evaluate the agreement and correlation of MPOD parameters before and after mydriasis. Results: The differences of maximum OD, mean OD and volume between the two measurements without mydriasis was statistically significant for all parameters, but not significant between the two measurements with mydriasis or between non-mydriatic and mydriatic measures. The ICCs were higher for the two measurements with mydriasis (range: 0.687-0.840) than those without mydriasis (range: 0.448-0.695) or non-mydriatic and mydriatic measures (range: 0.473-0.769). The 95% limit of agreement (LOA) of measurements between the two measurements after mydriasis was the smallest among all the other comparisons. The coefficient of repeatability was lower for the measurements with mydriasis than those without mydriasis. Conclusions: MPOD measurement by Visucam 200 with mydriasis has higher repeatability than the measurement without mydriasis. The non-mydriatic and mydriatic measures had less agreement compared to the two measure after mydriasis. Therefore, mydriasis is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cytogenetically heterogeneous malignancy of plasma cells in bone marrow. Among the cytogenetic abnormalities of MM, del(17p) is a well‑recognized high‑risk genetic lesion associated with the late stage and progression of the disease. MicroRNA (miR)‑324‑5p, located at 17p13.1, was identified to be involved in the dysregulation of a number of types of malignant disease. However, whether miR‑324‑5p is associated with the development and progression of MM remains unknown. In the present study, the expression status of miR‑324‑5p in MM, and its effect on the migratory and invasive ability of MM cells were investigated. Using ubiquitination pathway polymerase chain reaction array, the inhibitory effect of miR‑324‑5p on the ubiquitinated proteins was investigated. It was identified that miR‑324‑5p levels were decreased in samples from patients with MM and MM cell lines. Increased expression of miR‑324‑5p by transfection of miR‑324‑5p mimic suppressed the proliferative, migratory and invasive abilities of MM.1R cells. Furthermore, increased expression of miR‑324‑5p in MM.1R cells inhibited the ubiquitination pathway and decreased the levels of ubiquitination‑associated proteins, particularly the Skp1‑Cullin1‑F‑box β‑transducin repeat‑containing protein (SCFβ‑TrCP) E3 ligase. In addition, the results of the present study demonstrated that the SCFβ‑TrCP E3 ligase may contribute to the suppression of MM cell motility by inhibiting the expression of metastasis‑associated genes, including metastasis suppressor 1. In conclusion, the results of the present study suggested that miR‑324‑5p may act as a tumor suppressor by impairing the motility of MM cells by suppressing the ubiquitination pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cytogenetically heterogeneous malignancy of plasma cells in bone marrow. Among the cytogenetic abnormalities of MM, del(17p) is a well-recognized high-risk genetic lesion associated with the late stage and progression of the disease. MicroRNA (miR)-324-5p, located at 17p13.1, was identified to be involved in the dysregulation of a number of types of malignant disease. However, whether miR-324-5p is associated with the development and progression of MM remains unknown. In the present study, the expression status of miR-324-5p in MM, and its effect on the migratory and invasive ability of MM cells were investigated. Using ubiquitination pathway polymerase chain reaction array, the inhibitory effect of miR-324-5p on the ubiquitinated proteins was investigated. It was identified that miR-324-5p levels were decreased in samples from patients with MM and MM cell lines. Increased expression of miR-324-5p by transfection of miR-324-5p mimic suppressed the proliferative, migratory and invasive abilities of MM.1R cells. Furthermore, increased expression of miR-324-5p in MM.1R cells inhibited the ubiquitination pathway and decreased the levels of ubiquitination-associated proteins, particularly the Skp1-Cullin1-F-box β-transducin repeat-containing protein (SCF β-TrCP ) E3 ligase. In addition, the results of the present study demonstrated that the SCF β-TrCP E3 ligase may contribute to the suppression of MM cell motility by inhibiting the expression of metastasis-associated genes, including metastasis suppressor 1. In conclusion, the results of the present study suggested that miR-324-5p may act as a tumor suppressor by impairing the motility of MM cells by suppressing the ubiquitination pathway.