Identification of Cuproptosis-related Gene Lipoyltransferase 1 as a Promising Biomarker in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To find efficient cuproptosis-related biomarkers to explore the oncogenesis and progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). METHODS: All the original data were downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Univariate Cox analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were used to identify the gene related to survival. Tumor Immune Estimation Resource 2.0 (TIMER 2.0) was used to reveal the different expression of cuproptosis-related gene lipoyltransferase 1 (LIPT1) in various kinds of tumours. RESULTS: LIPT1, as a cuproptosis-related gene, was found to be differentially expressed in the OSCC group and the control group. It was also found to be related to the prognosis of OSCC. Pan cancer analysis showed LIPT1 was also involved in various kinds of tumours. CONCLUSION: All the results demonstrate that the cuproptosis-related gene LIPT1 is highly involved in the oncogenesis and progression of OSCC. These findings give new insight for further research into the cuproptosis-related biomarkers in OSCC.

Acoustic Imaging Method for Gas Leak Detection and Localization Using Virtual Ultrasonic Sensor Array.

An acoustic imaging method for detecting and locating gas leaks based on a virtual ultrasonic sensor array is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A scanning sensor array of only two sensors is used to collect the acoustic signals generated by the leakage hole. The matrix of the leakage signal is processed by the cross-power spectrum method to achieve time consistency, afterward, the location of the leakage source can be calculated by the virtual beamforming method. The influence of the number of sensors and the distance between adjacent sensors on the effect of the proposed method are compared and discussed. To verify the effectiveness and operability of the detection and localization method, several experiments were carried out. Furthermore, a series of experiments were conducted to assess the accuracy and stability of this method. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method based on a virtual sensor array can achieve highly accurate localization of gas leaks and performs well regarding stability.

Brain connectomics improve prediction of 1-year decreased quality of life in breast cancer: A multi-voxel pattern analysis.

PURPOSE: Whether brain connectomics can predict 1-year decreased Quality of Life (QoL) in patients with breast cancer are unclear. A longitudinal study was utilized to explore their prediction abilities with a multi-center sample. METHODS: 232 breast cancer patients were consecutively enrolled and 214 completed the 1-year QoL assessment (92.2%). Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging was collected before the treatment and a multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) was performed to differentiate whole-brain resting-state connectivity patterns. Net Reclassification Improvement (NRI) as well as Integrated Discrimination Improvement (IDI) were calculated to estimate the incremental value of brain connectomics over conventional risk factors. RESULTS: Paracingulate Gyrus, Superior Frontal Gyrus and Frontal Pole were three significant brain areas. Brain connectomics yielded 7.8-17.2% of AUC improvement in predicting 1-year decreased QoL. The NRI and IDI ranged from 20.27 to 54.05%, 13.21-33.34% respectively. CONCLUSION: Brain connectomics contribute to a more accurate prediction of 1-year decreased QoL in breast cancer. Significant brain areas in the prefrontal lobe could be used as potential intervention targets (i.e., Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy) to improve long-term QoL outcomes in breast cancer.

Alkaloids from the stems of Fissistigma maclurei Merr. inhibit the proliferation of synoviocytes.

Two new aporphine-derived alkaloids, aporaloids C and D (1 and 2), along with eight known biogenetically related alkaloids (3-10) were isolated from the stems of Fissistigma maclurei Merr. Their structures were elucidated by detailed analysis of NMR, HRESIMS, MS, IR, UV and Optical rotations data. Compounds 1 and 2 represent a rare example of N-methylol aporphine-derived alkaloids from natural sources. The inhibitory effect of all compounds on the proliferation of primary synovial cells was evaluated. Compound 3 showed potent inhibitory effect on the proliferation of synoviocytes with an IC50 value of 4.8 µM. Compounds 1, 2, 6-9 and 10 exhibited moderate inhibitory activity on synoviocytes, with IC50 values of 36.8, 37.1, 31.2 µM, 32.5, 36.3, 36.8 and 18.2 µM, respectively.

Heterogeneity in resilience patterns and its prediction of 1-year quality of life outcomes among patients with newly diagnosed cancer: An exploratory piecewise growth mixture model analysis.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to explore the impact of a new cancer diagnosis on resilience of patients and whether the resilience patterns could predict Quality of Life (QoL) in the first year. METHODS: An exploratory linear piecewise growth mixture modeling (PGMM) with one hypothetical dot (3 months since diagnosis, T1) was employed to identify different resilience patterns and growth in 289 patients with different cancer diagnoses at five assessment occasions (T0-T4). Logistic regression analysis was performed to select potential predictors and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was utilized to test PGMM's discriminative ability against 1-year QoL. RESULTS: Five discrete resilience trajectories with two growing trends were identified, including "Transcendence" (7.3%), "Resilient" (47.4%), "Recovery" (18.7%), "Damaged" (14.9%) and "Maladaption" (11.8%). Advanced stage, colorectal cancer, and receiving surgery therapy were significant predictors of negative resilience trajectories ("Damaged" or "Maladaption"). Discriminative ability was good for PGMM (AUC = 0.81, 95%CI, 0.76-0.85, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Heterogeneity is identified in resilience growth before and after 3 months since diagnosis. 26.7% newly diagnosed patients need additional attention especially for those with advanced colorectal cancer and receiving surgery therapy.

Sensitivity-enhanced Fabry-Perot interferometric fiber-optic microphone using hollow cantilever.

Transducer components are crucial in optimizing the sensitivity of microphones. Cantilever structure is commonly used as a structural optimization technique. Here, we present a novel Fabry-Perot (F-P) interferometric fiber-optic microphone (FOM) using a hollow cantilever structure. The proposed hollow cantilever aims to reduce the effective mass and spring constant of the cantilever, thereby enhancing the sensitivity of the FOM. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed structure outperforms the original cantilever design in terms of sensitivity. The sensitivity and minimum detectable acoustic pressure level (MDP) can reach 91.40 mV/Pa and 6.20 µPa/Hz at 1.7 kHz, respectively. Notably, the hollow cantilever provides an optimization framework for highly sensitive FOMs.

Measuring resilience by cognitive diagnosis models and its prediction of 6-month quality of life in Be Resilient to Breast Cancer (BRBC).

Objective: The application of advanced Cognitive Diagnosis Models (CDMs) in the Patient Reported Outcome (PRO) is limited due to its complex statistics. This study was designed to measure resilience using CDMs and its prediction of 6-month Quality of Life (QoL) in breast cancer. Methods: A total of 492 patients were longitudinally enrolled from Be Resilient to Breast Cancer (BRBC) and administered with 10-item Resilience Scale Specific to Cancer (RS-SC-10) and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B). Generalized Deterministic Input, Noisy "And" Gate (G-DINA) was performed to measure cognitive diagnostic probabilities (CDPs) of resilience. Integrated Discrimination Improvement (IDI) and Net Reclassification Improvement (NRI) were utilized to estimate the incremental prediction value of cognitive diagnostic probabilities over total score. Results: CDPs of resilience improved prediction of 6-month QoL above conventional total score. AUC increased from 82.6-88.8% to 95.2-96.5% in four cohorts (all P < 0.001). The NRI ranged from 15.13 to 54.01% and IDI ranged from 24.69 to 47.55% (all P < 0.001). Conclusion: CDPs of resilience contribute to a more accurate prediction of 6-month QoL above conventional total score. CDMs could help optimize Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) measurement in breast cancer.

Resilience index improves prediction of 1-year decreased quality of life in breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Resilience is important in cancer survivorship and has great potential to predict long-term quality of life (QoL) in breast cancer. The study was designed to develop a new prediction model to estimate pretest probability (PTP) of 1-year decreased QoL combing Resilience Index (RI) and conventional risk factors. METHODS: RI was extracted from 10-item Resilience Scale Specific to Cancer (RS-SC-10) based on the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Patients were enrolled from Be Resilient to Breast Cancer (BRBC) and the prediction model was developed based on a sample of 506 consecutive patients and validated in an internal cohort (N1 = 314) and two external cohorts (N2 = 223 and N3 = 189). Integrated Discrimination Improvement (IDI) and Net Reclassification Improvement (NRI) were utilized to estimate the incremental value of RI. RESULTS: RI improved prediction above conventional risk factors. AUC increased from 0.745 to 0.862 while IDI and NRI were 8.39% and 18.44% respectively (P < 0.0001 for all). Five predictors were included in the final model: RI, age, N stage, M stage, and baseline QoL. The new model demonstrated good calibration ability in the internal and external cohorts resulting in C-indexes of 0.862 (95%CI, 0.815-0.909), 0.828 (95%CI, 0.745-0.910), 0.880 (95%CI, 0.816-0.944), and 0.869 (95%CI, 0.796-0.941). CONCLUSION: RI contributed to a more accurate estimation for PTP of 1-year decreased QoL above conventional risk factors and could help optimize decision making of treatment for breast cancer. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: A promising prognostic indicator of RI could improve QoL-related management in Chinese patients with breast cancer.

New resilience instrument for family caregivers in cancer: a multidimensional item response theory analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Resilience instruments specific to family caregivers (FCs) in cancer are limited. This study was designed to validate the 10-item Resilience Scale Specific to Cancer (RS-SC-10) in FCs using multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) analysis. METHODS: 382 FCs were enrolled from Be Resilient to Cancer Program (BRCP) and administered with RS-SC-10 and 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). MIRT was performed to evaluate item parameters while Generalized Additive Model (GAM) and Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) were performed to test the non-linear relationship between resilience (RS-SC-10) and Quality of Life (QoL, SF-36). RESULTS: RS-SC-10 retained 10 items with high multidimensional discrimination, monotonous thresholds and its original two-factor structure (Generic and Shift-Persist). Four latent resilience subgroups were identified and a non-linear dose-response pattern between resilience and QoL was confirmed (per-SD increase OR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.16-2.13, p = 0.0019). CONCLUSION: RS-SC-10 is a brief and suitable resilience instrument for FCs in cancer. The resilience screening of patients and FCs can be performed simultaneously in clinical practice.

Resilience patterns and transitions in the Be Resilient To Breast Cancer trial: an exploratory latent profile transition analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Be Resilient to Breast Cancer (BRBC), a theoretically-derived, resilience-based, culturally-tailored, supportive-expressive group therapy (SEGT), has been developed to help promote patients' resilience in breast cancer. Data from patients receiving BRBC intervention was utilized to explore and define characteristics of resilience patterns and their transitions over time. METHODS: Resilience was used as a primary outcome and 391 patients completed Resilience Scale Specific to Cancer at enrollment (T0), 2 months (T1), 6 months(T2), and 12 months (T3) after intervention. latent profile transition analysis was performed to model the change in resilience and predict positive transitioning probabilities between resilience patterns (from one pattern to another pattern with a higher level) over time. RESULTS: One hundred and forty four resilience patterns were identified after BRBC intervention. 33.1%, 50.3%, and 40.5% of patients experienced positive resilience transitions from T0 to T1, T1 to T2, and T2 to T3, respectively. Patients with middle age, unmarried status, higher education level, and less advanced tumor stage were more likely to experience positive resilience transitions. CONCLUSION: Different transitions of resilience patterns are observed after BRBC intervention. Age, marital status, education, and tumor stage may be four factors affecting the efficacy of SEGT intervention in breast cancer.

Treatment Decision Making and Regret in Parents of Children With Incurable Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The treatment-related decision-making process is a highly emotional time for parents of children with incurable cancer, and they tend to continue the cancer-directed treatment even when they realize that there is no cure for their child. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether parents involved in different treatment decisions regretted their treatment decision after their child's death. METHODS: We collected prospective data from 418 parents of children who died of incurable cancer after receiving cancer care at 1 of 4 hospitals. We assessed parent decisional regret and its association with the type of treatment decision made (non-cancer-directed vs cancer-directed). Propensity score-matched analysis (at a ratio of 1:1) was performed. RESULTS: One hundred forty-eight parents (35.4%) reported heightened regret. Two isonumerical arms with 103 (non-cancer-directed) and 103 (cancer-directed) resulted after propensity score matching. Parents with a cancer-directed treatment decision (relative risk, 1.53; 95% confidence interval, 1.24-1.90; P = .002) were more likely to report decisional regret compared with those with a non-cancer-directed decision. CONCLUSION: Bereaved parents with a cancer-directed treatment decision are more likely to experience increased regret for their decision than bereaved parents involved in a non-cancer-directed treatment decision. IMPLICATIONS: Shared-decision aids should be prepared for young parents with low education to improve disease-related knowledge, accurate risk perceptions, and options congruent with parents' values.

Minimum clinical important difference for resilience scale specific to cancer: a prospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: The minimum clinical important differences (MCIDs) of resilience instruments in patients with cancer have not been comprehensively described. This study was designed to evaluate MCIDs of 10-item and 25-item resilience scales specific to cancer (RS-SC-10 and RS-SC-25). METHODS: From June 2015 to December 2018, RS-SCs were longitudinally measured in 765 patients with different cancer diagnoses at baseline (T0) and 3 months later (T1). The EORTC QLQ-C30, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Allostatic Load Index were measured concurrently as anchors. Anchor-based methods (linear regression, within-group), distribution-based methods(within-group), and receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs, within-subject) were performed to evaluate the MCIDs. RESULTS: 623 of 765 (84.1%) patients had paired RS-SCs scores. Moderate correlations were identified between the change in RS-SCs and change in anchors (r = 0.38-0.44, all p < 0.001). Linear regression estimated + 8.9 and - 6.7 as the MCIDs of RS-SC-25, and + 3.4 and - 2.5 for RS-SC-10. Distribution-based methods estimated + 9.9 and - 9.9 as the MCIDs of RS-SC-25, and + 4.0 and - 4.0 for RS-SC-10. ROC estimated + 5.5 and - 4.5 as the MCIDs of RS-SC-25, and + 2.0 and - 1.5 for RS-SC-10. CONCLUSIONS: The most reliable MCID is around 5 points for RS-SC-25 and 2 points for RS-SC-10. RS-SCs are more responsive to the worsening status of resilience in patients with cancer and these estimates could be useful in future resilience-based intervention trials.

State or trait? Measuring resilience by generalisability theory in breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Whether resilience should be conceptualised as a state or trait is debated. The precise distinction between state versus trait aspects of resilience can help identify dynamic targets for resilience-based intervention trials involving cancer patients. This study was designed to disentangle the state and trait components of resilience in patients with breast cancer with the help of Generalisability Theory (GT) methods. METHODS: The relative contributions of state (temporary) and trait (enduring) aspects of resilience were calculated using a 10-item Resilience Scale Specific to Cancer (RS-SC-10) and GT methods. In all, 391 patients were enrolled from the 'Be Resilient to Breast Cancer ' (BRBC) trial, and data from 317 patients (81.7%) were collected at baseline, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after the intervention. RESULTS: The subscale of Generic Elements demonstrated high generalisability value (relative G-coefficient = 0.81) across different occasions and captured 79% of the variance attributed to enduring aspects of resilience. The subscale of Shift-Persist showed low generalisability value (relative G-coefficient = 0.31) and identified 59% of the variance attributed to temporary aspects of resilience. The GT studies suggested that 5-7 items per scale and three measurement occasions were adequate for score reliability evaluation. CONCLUSION: Resilience should be conceptualised as a state-trait mixed psychological variable in breast cancer patients. The subscale of Shift-Persist in RS-SC-10 is amenable to intervention and could be utilised as a primary outcome in resilience-based intervention trials. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: None.

Effectiveness of adjuvant supportive-expressive group therapy for breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Randomized control trials exploring adjuvant supportive-expressive group therapy (SEGT) for breast cancer have yielded conflicting survival results. This retrospective cohort study was designed to explore the association of adjuvant SEGT performed at diagnosis with survival in real-world patients. METHODS: 3327 patients with breast cancer were divided between those who received oncologic treatment combined with SEGT-based intervention (referred to as BRBC [n = 354]) and those who only received oncologic treatment (referred to as OT [n = 2973]). Primary outcome was overall survival (OS) at 1-year, 3-year, 5-year. Propensity score-matched analysis (at a ratio of 1:3) and instrumental variable analysis (IVA) were performed. RESULTS: The median overall survival was 7.3 years (95% CI 7.0-7.7 years) in BRBC and 7.1 years (95% CI 6.9-7.4 years) in OT. BRBC was not significantly associated with improved 1-year (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.49-1.10, P = 0.1748; NNT = 44.8, 95% CI - 118.5 to 22.6), 3-year (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.75-1.27, P = 0.8640; NNT = 273.7, 95% CI - 21.0 to 21.3), or 5-year survival (HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.61-1.02, P = 0.0908; NNT = 36.0, 95% CI - 384.5 to 19.1) compared with OT. IVA indicated that BRBC had a survival benefit over OT in the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year of 1.5% (95% CI 1.2-1.9%), 0.7% (95% CI 0.6-0.8%), and 2.6% (95% CI 2.0-3.4%), respectively. CONCLUSION: Adjuvant SEGT cannot significantly prolong 5-year survival in breast cancer, though a longer observation period is warranted according to the marginal survival benefit identified at the end of the follow-up.

Curcumin attenuates hypoxia/reoxygenation­induced cardiomyocyte injury by downregulating Notch signaling.

Recovery of the blood supply is the most effective treatment against ischemic heart disease; however, it is also a major cause of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in clinical therapy. Curcumin has been reported to possess beneficial effects against hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R)­induced cardiomyocyte injury by regulating cell proliferation, apoptosis and antioxidant enzyme activity. The aim of the present study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of curcumin on H/R­injured cardiomyocytes. H9C2 cardiomyocytes were pretreated with curcumin, and then cultured under H/R conditions. The viability of H9C2 cells was measured using a Cell Counting kit­8 assay, and the levels of intracellular lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured to assess cell injury. Levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry. The expression levels of Notch intracellular domain (NICD) and numerous downstream genes were analyzed via reverse transcription­quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. The results revealed that curcumin protected H9C2 cells against H/R­induced injury, reversing the H/R­induced increases in LDH and MDA levels, and decreases in SOD levels. ROS levels in H/R­induced cells were also significantly downregulated by curcumin treatment (P<0.01), and the apoptotic rate was significantly decreased from 15.13% in the H/R group to 7.7% in the H/R + curcumin group (P<0.01). The expression levels of NICD, hairy and enhancer of split (Hes)­1, Hes­5 and hairy/enhancer­of­split related with YRPW motif protein 1 (Hey­1) were significantly decreased in H/R­treated cells following curcumin treatment. Treatment with Jagged1 attenuated the effects of curcumin on cell viability, ROS levels and apoptosis; the Notch pathway was also reactivated. The present study indicated that there was a role for the Notch pathway in the protective effects of curcumin against H/R­induced cardiomyocyte injury, suggesting that downregulation of the Notch pathway may alleviate H/R­induced injury in H9C2 cells.

Development and psychometric analysis of the 10-item resilience scale specific to cancer: A multidimensional item response theory analysis.

PURPOSE: Resilience is an important concept in the cancer literature and is a salient indicator of cancer survivorship. Classic theory test (CTT) and item response theory (IRT) were performed to develop and validate the 25-item Resilience Scale Specific to Cancer (RS-SC). This study was designed to develop and validate a short form of RS-SC (RS-SC-10) with a multidimensional IRT (MIRT) analysis. METHODS: MIRT analysis was performed to test two models (three- and five-factor) derived from previous studies and assess the item parameters of RS-SC and RS-SC-10. RESULTS: A total of 451 Chinese patients with different cancer diagnoses were analyzed. The three-factor structure showed better goodness of fit compared with the five-factor structure in RS-SC. RS-SC-10 retained 10 items with high discriminative parameters from RS-SC and consisted of two factors, Generic and Shift-Persist. Item information function indicated that RS-SC-10 had the highest discrimination ability among patients with low to moderate levels of resilience. CONCLUSIONS: MIRT provided useful information on RS-SC and RS-SC-10 by combining the approaches of CTT and IRT. RS-SC-10 showed great potential in clinical settings owing to the low scale of burden on patients. More studies on the Minimum Clinically Important Difference of RS-SC-10 are warranted.

Symptoms and management of children with incurable cancer in mainland China.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to report information regarding symptomology of incurable pediatric cancer to promote proactive medicine and support for children and their families in the palliative phase in Mainland China. METHOD: A multi-center retrospective cohort study including 205 children who died from incurable cancer between June 2008 and September 2013 were analyzed. RESULTS: An incurable diagnosis was confirmed between 0 and 1726 (median, 279) days from initial diagnosis with death occurring between 1 and 239(median, 83) days. The most frequent symptoms were fatigue (93.7%), pain (87.3%), and poor appetite (76.1%). The earliest symptoms were pain and fatigue. Children with leukemia and lymphoma also complained early of nausea/vomiting, and children with solid tumors complained early of disturbed sleep. Later in the palliative phase, altered consciousness and seizures were found in children with central nervous system tumors and solid tumors, while children with leukemia and lymphoma were found to have fever, diarrhea, and bleeding. However, these symptoms only persisted for a short time. DNR discussions were held in 89 cases (43.4%) at a median of 37 (range, 4-178) days before death. A total of 154 patients (75.1%) died at home and 51 patients (24.9%) in the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides new knowledge about symptomology to health care professionals and parents of children in Mainland China. Given our results, an improved alternative care plan should be developed and implemented earlier to facilitate end-of-life planning.

A biopsychosocial model of resilience for breast cancer: A preliminary study in mainland China.

PURPOSE: Patients diagnosed with breast cancer exhibited critical biopsychosocial functions following surgery or adjuvant treatment; therefore, it is important that they exhibit resilience. A Resilience Model for Breast Cancer (RM-BC) was developed using Chinese breast cancer patients to increase our understanding of how resilience outcomes are positively and negatively affected by protective and risk factors, respectively. METHODS: Chinese women with breast cancer completed the questionnaires within 1 week of beginning treatment. Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling was used to evaluate the RM-BC using a sample size of 342 patients. RESULTS: RM-BC suggested satisfactory goodness-of-fit indices and 67 percents of variance for resilience was explained. The Fit Indices for the measurement model were as follows: CFI = 0.909, GFI = 0.911, IFI = 0.897, NFI = 0.922, PNFI = 0.896, PCFI = 0.884, and RMSEA = 0.031. Three risk factors - emotional distress, physical distress, and intrusive thoughts - and four protective factors - self-efficacy, social support, courage-related strategy, and hope - were recognized. CONCLUSION: The resilience model allows for a better understanding of Chinese breast cancer patients' resilience integration while undergoing treatment and provides an effective structure for the development of resilience-focused interventions that are grounded in their experiences. A randomized trial has provided evidences of feasibility in Chinese women with breast cancer and the resilience model could be used as a useful framework for more resilience intervention in the future.