Association between quality of discharge teaching and self-management in patients after percutaneous coronary intervention: A chain mediation model.

AIMS: To examine chain mediating effect of discharge readiness and self-efficacy between quality of discharge teaching and self-management in patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). BACKGROUND: Although self-management after PCI has significant benefits in controlling risk factors and delaying disease progression, the status of self-management remains unoptimistic. A large number of studies have explored the close relationship between the quality of discharge teaching and patients self-management, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: The cross-sectional samples was collected from a tertiary hospital in China. Self-reported questionnaires were used to assess quality of discharge teaching, discharge readiness, self-efficacy and self-management. Pearson correlation analysis and mediation effect analysis were used for statistical analysis. REPORTING METHOD: The study used the STROBE checklist for reporting. RESULTS: A total of 198 patients with a mean age of 64.99 ± 11.32 (34-85) were included. The mean score of self-management was 88.41 ± 11.82. Quality of discharge teaching, discharge readiness, self-efficacy and self-management were all positively correlated. Mediation effect analysis showed that the mediating effects of discharge readiness, self-efficacy, discharge readiness and self-efficacy between quality of discharge teaching and self-management were 0.157, 0.177 and 0.049, respectively, accounting for 21.96%, 24.76% and 6.85% of the total effect. CONCLUSION: The quality of discharge teaching for patients after PCI not only directly affects self-management, but also can indirectly affect self-management through discharge readiness and self-efficacy. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: To improve the life quality of patients after PCI, medical staff should pay attention to the influence of self-management of quality of discharge teaching, and develop intervention strategies based on the path of discharge readiness and self-efficacy. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Questionnaires filled out by patients were used to understand the association between quality of discharge teaching, discharge readiness, self-efficacy and self-management.

Ternary Eu3+ crystalline complexes with photoluminescence and triboluminescence for dynamic stress visualization.

Investigation of photoluminescence (PL) and fracture-induced triboluminescence (TL) is necessary for the development of both fundamental theories and practical applications in mechanical energy conversion; however, most known PL/TL-emitting materials are confined to inorganic systems. In this study, a novel lanthanide-based crystalline complex (LnCC), Eu(DBM)3DETA was synthesized via the synergistic coordination of Eu3+ with DBM (Dibenzoylmethane) and DETA (Diethylenetriamine) units, leading to the formation of brighter LnCC with bright red emission, high PL quantum yields (57.19 %) and unique TL characteristics. The key to success in obtaining Eu(DBM)3DETA is the utilization of DETA molecule as synergistic ligand, presenting block crystals with higher coordination number of Eu3+ ions via recrystallization. Due to the dense accumulation of cross-linked three-dimensional frameworks through van der Waals interactions, the fracture-induced piezoelectric effect results in charge separation and excitation through the resultant electric field and discharge, triggering a fast TL response of Eu(DBM)3DETA and expanding the possibilities of the quantitative stress sensing. Importantly, amorphous powders can still recover to their original PL and TL emission intensities after recrystallization in cyclic crystal-to-amorphous phase transitions. The unique PL and TL characteristics of Eu(DBM)3DETA provide promising opportunities to display stress visualization differences of electronic signatures under different forces.

Prediction model of early recurrence of multimodal hepatocellular carcinoma with tensor fusion.

Clinical decision-making in oncology involves multimodal data, encompassing histopathological, radiological, and clinical factors. Several computer-aided multimodal decision-making systems have emerged in recent years to predict the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after hepatectomy, but they tend to employ simplistic feature-level concatenation, resulting in redundancy and hampering overall performance. More notably, these models often lack an effective integration with clinical relevance. Particularly, they still face major challenges of integrating data from diverse scales and dimensions, and introducing a liver background, which are clinically significant but previously overlooked aspects. In addressing these challenges, we provide new insight in two areas. Firstly, we introduce the tensor fusion method into the model, which demonstrates unique advantages in handling the fusion of multi-scale and multi-dimensional data, thus potentially enhancing the model's performance. Secondly, to our best knowledge, it's a precedent to take the impact of the liver background into account. We innovatively incorporate the impact of the liver background into the feature extraction process by using a deep learning segmentation-based algorithm. This inclusion makes the model closer to real-world clinical scenarios, as the liver background may contain vital information related to postoperative recurrence. We collected radiomics (MRI) and histopathological images of 176 cases diagnosed by experienced clinicians from two independent centers. Our proposed network went through training and 5-fold cross-validation on the dataset of 176 cases and was subsequently validated on an independent external dataset of 40 cases. Finally, our proposed network exhibited excellent performance in predicting the postoperative early recurrence of HCC with an AUC of 0.883. These results suggest significant progress in addressing the challenges related to multimodal data fusion which provides potential value for more accurate predictions of clinical outcomes.

Chiral Brønsted Acid-Catalyzed Kinetic Resolution of Sulfoximines for the Synthesis of Benzothiadiazine-1-Oxides.

Benzothiadiazine-1-oxide scaffolds with S-stereogenic centers are prevalent in bioactive and pharmaceutical molecules. Reported works mainly focused on the metal-catalyzed asymmetric C-H amination/cyclization reaction for the synthesis of benzothiadiazine-1-oxides. Here, we reported a chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed kinetic resolution of sulfoximines, providing chiral benzothiadiazine-1-oxides and recovered chiral sulfoximines with moderate to good enantioselectivities (s factors up to 36.6).

A novel prognostic signature based on smoking-associated genes for predicting prognosis and immune microenvironment in NSCLC smokers.

BACKGROUND: As a highly heterogeneous tumor, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is famous for its high incidence and mortality worldwide. Smoking can cause genetic changes, which leading to the occurrence and progress of NSCLC. Nevertheless, the function of smoking-related genes in NSCLC needs more research. METHODS: We downloaded transcriptome data and clinicopathological parameters from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases, and screened smoking-related genes. Lasso regression were applied to establish the 7-gene signature. The associations between the 7-gene signature and immune microenvironment analysis, survival analysis, drug sensitivity analysis and enriched molecular pathways were studied. Ultimately, cell function experiments were conducted to research the function of FCGBP in NSCLC. RESULTS: Through 7-gene signature, NSCLC samples were classified into high-risk group (HRG) and low-risk group (LRG). Significant difference in overall survival (OS) between HRG and LRG was found. Nomograms and ROC curves indicated that the 7-gene signature has a stable ability in predicting prognosis. Through the analysis of immune microenvironment, we found that LRG patients had better tumor immune activation. FCGBP showed the highest mutation frequency among the seven prognostic smoking related genes (LRRC31, HPGD, FCGBP, SPINK5, CYP24A1, S100P and FGG), and was notable down-regulated in NSCLC smokers compared with non-smoking NSCLC patients. The cell experiments confirmed that FCGBP knockdown promoting proliferation, migration, and invasion in NSCLC cells. CONCLUSION: This smoking-related prognostic signature represents a promising tool for assessing prognosis and tumor microenvironment in smokers with NSCLC. The role of FCGBP in NSCLC was found by cell experiments, which can be served as diagnostic biomarker and immunotherapy target for NSCLC.

Ganoderic acid A ameliorates depressive-like behaviors in CSDS mice: Insights from proteomic profiling and molecular mechanisms.

OBJECTIVE: Ganoderic Acid A (GAA), a primary bioactive component in Ganoderma, has demonstrated ameliorative effects on depressive-like behaviors in a Chronic Social Defeat Stress (CSDS) mouse model. This study aims to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms through proteomic analysis. METHODS: C57BL/6 J mice were allocated into control (CON), chronic social defeat stress (CSDS), GAA, and imipramine (IMI) groups. Post-depression induction via CSDS, the GAA and IMI groups received respective treatments of GAA (2.5 mg/kg) and imipramine (10 mg/kg) for five days. Behavioral assessments utilized standardized tests. Proteins from the prefrontal cortex were analyzed using LC-MS, with further examination via bioinformatics and PRM for differential expression. Western blot analysis confirmed protein expression levels. RESULTS: Chronic social defeat stress (CSDS) induced depressive-like behaviors in mice, which were significantly alleviated by GAA treatment, comparably to imipramine (IMI). Proteomic analysis identified distinct proteins in control (305), GAA-treated (949), and IMI-treated (289) groups. Enrichment in mitochondrial and synaptic proteins was evident from GO and PPI analyses. PRM analysis revealed significant expression changes in proteins crucial for mitochondrial and synaptic functions (namely, Naa30, Bnip1, Tubgcp4, Atxn3, Carmil1, Nup37, Apoh, Mrpl42, Tprkb, Acbd5, Dcx, Erbb4, Ppp1r2, Fam3c, Rnf112, and Cep41). Western blot validation in the prefrontal cortex showed increased levels of Mrpl42, Dcx, Fam3c, Ppp1r2, Rnf112, and Naa30 following GAA treatment. CONCLUSION: GAA exhibits potential antidepressant properties, with its action potentially tied to the modulation of synaptic functions and mitochondrial activities.

Ancient genomes revealed the complex human interactions of the ancient western Tibetans.

The western Tibetan Plateau is the crossroad between the Tibetan Plateau, Central Asia, and South Asia, and it is a potential human migration pathway connecting these regions. However, the population history of the western Tibetan Plateau remains largely unexplored due to the lack of ancient genomes covering a long-time interval from this area. Here, we reported genome-wide data of 65 individuals dated to 3,500-300 years before present (BP) in the Ngari prefecture. The ancient western Tibetan Plateau populations share the majority of their genetic components with the southern Tibetan Plateau populations and have maintained genetic continuity since 3,500 BP while maintaining interactions with populations within and outside the Tibetan Plateau. Within the Tibetan Plateau, the ancient western Tibetan Plateau populations were influenced by the additional expansion from the south to the southwest plateau before 1,800 BP. Outside the Tibetan Plateau, the western Tibetan Plateau populations interacted with both South and Central Asian populations at least 2,000 years ago, and the South Asian-related genetic influence, despite being very limited, was from the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) migrants in Central Asia instead of the IVC populations from the Indus Valley. In light of the new genetic data, our study revealed the complex population interconnections across and within the Tibetan Plateau.

HSD17B13 liquid-liquid phase separation promotes leukocyte adhesion in chronic liver inflammation.

The rs72613567:TA polymorphism in 17-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 13 (HSD17B13) has been found to reduce the progression from steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. In this study, we sought to define the pathogenic role of HSD17B13 in triggering liver inflammation. Here we find that HSD17B13 forms liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) around lipid droplets in the livers of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis patients. The dimerization of HSD17B13 supports the LLPS formation and promotes its enzymatic function. HSD17B13 LLPS increases the biosynthesis of platelet activating factor (PAF), which in turn promotes fibrinogen synthesis and leukocyte adhesion. Blockade of PAFR or STAT3 pathway inhibited the fibrinogen synthesis and leukocyte adhesion. Importantly, adeno-associated viral-mediated xeno-expression of human HSD17B13 exacerbated western diet/carbon tetrachloride-induced liver inflammation in Hsd17b13-/- mice. In conclusion, our results suggest that HSD17B13 LLPS triggers liver inflammation by promoting PAF-mediated leukocyte adhesion, and targeting HSD17B13 phase transition could be a promising therapeutic approach for treating hepatic inflammation in chronic liver disease.

The association between lower extremity function and cardiovascular diseases risk in older Chinese adults: Longitudinal evidence from a nationwide cohort.

BACKGROUND: Older adults in China are at a high risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and impaired lower extremity function (LEF) is commonly observed in this demographic. This study aimed at assessing the association between LEF and CVD, thus providing valuable insights for clinical practice and public health policies. METHODS: A sample of 4,636 individuals was included from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) dataset. Logistic regression and cox proportional hazard regression model was utilized to study the association between LEF and CVD incidence. Cross-lagged panel models were utilized to investigate the potential causal association between LEF and CVD over time. RESULTS: Poor LEF was significantly associated with a higher risk of CVD in the total population [OR (95 % CI): 1.62 (1.27-2.05), P < 0.001]. Individuals with poor LEF demonstrated an increased risk of developing CVD [HR (95 % CI): 1.11 (1.02-1.23), P < 0.05], particularly stroke, compared to those with good LEF. And those with poor LEF had higher risks for heart disease [1.21 (1.00-1.45), P < 0.05] and stroke [1.98 (1.47-2.67), P < 0.001]. CONCLUSION: The results suggest the potential usefulness of the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) for classifying stroke risk in older Chinese adults, which also suggested that preventing and/or improving LEF may be beneficial for reducing stroke incidence and promoting healthy aging for older adults.

Identification of vitamin D-related signature for predicting the clinical outcome and immunotherapy response in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers globally, seriously endangering people health. Vitamin D was significantly associated with tumor progression and patients' prognosis. Integrative 10 machine learning algorithms were used to develop a Vitamin D-related signature (VRS) with one training cohort and 3 testing cohorts. The performance of VRS in predicting the immunology response was verified using several predicting approaches. The optimal VRS was constructed by stepCox + superPC algorithm. VRS acted as a risk factor for HCC patients. HCC patients with high-risk score had a poor clinical outcome and the AUCs of 1-, 3-, and 5-year ROC were 0.786, 0.755, and 0.786, respectively. A higher level of CD8 + cytotoxic T cells and B cells was obtained in HCC patients with low-risk score. There is higher PD1&CTLA4 immunophenoscore and TMB score in low-risk score in HCC patients. Lower TIDE score and tumor escape score was found in HCC cases with low-risk score. The IC50 value of camptothecin, docetaxel, crizotinib, dasatinib, and erlotinib was lower in HCC cases with high-risk score. HCC patients with high-risk score had a higher score of cancer-related hallmarks, including angiogenesis, glycolysis, and NOTCH signaling. Our study proposed a novel VRS for HCC, which served as an indicator for predicting clinical outcome and immunotherapy responses in HCC.

Tuning the color of high-karat gold in Au-TiO2 nanoparticle composites all the way to black.

For centuries, artisans have harnessed gold nanoparticles to imbue their creations with the vibrant hues that captivate the eye through interactions with visible light. In modern times, these distinct optoelectronic characteristics have pivoted toward the forefront of innovative technologies, finding their niche in advanced applications from solar energy to medicine, overshadowing their artistic heritage. This investigation reimagines the utilitarian scope of gold by innovating the optical characteristics of gold-titania nanostructures. This allows for an expanded palette of colors that retain the value of the precious metal. We employ nanostructured TiO2 in a high-pressure-high-temperature sintering technique that stabilizes Au nanoparticles, thwarting coalescence, and Oswald ripening. Further refinement is possible by engineering TiO2 color centers through the introduction of oxygen vacancies and Ti3+ ions, which aid in creating an opulent high-karat black-gold, but preserve the mechanical attributes essential to the integrity and function of the final product.

Applications of hydrogels in tissue-engineered repairing of temporomandibular joint diseases.

Epidemiological studies reveal that symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorders (TMDs) occur in 60-70% of adults. The inflammatory damage caused by TMDs can easily lead to defects in the articular disc, condylar cartilage, subchondral bone and muscle of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and cause pain. Despite the availability of various methods for treating TMDs, few existing treatment schemes can achieve permanent recovery. This necessity drives the search for new approaches. Hydrogels, polymers with high water content, have found widespread use in tissue engineering and regeneration due to their excellent biocompatibility and mechanical properties, which resemble those of human tissues. In the context of TMD therapy, numerous experiments have demonstrated that hydrogels show favorable effects in aspects such as articular disc repair, cartilage regeneration, muscle repair, pain relief, and drug delivery. This review aims to summarize the application of hydrogels in the therapy of TMDs based on recent research findings. It also highlights deficiencies in current hydrogel research related to TMD therapy and outlines the broad potential of hydrogel applications in treating TMJ diseases in the future.

The relationship between social support and professional identity of health professional students from a two-way social support theory perspective: chain mediating effects of achievement motivation and meaning in life.

BACKGROUND: Studies has suggested that receiving social support improves the professional identity of health professional students. According to the two-way social support theory, social support includes receiving social support and giving social support. However, the effect of the two-way social support on health professional students' professional identity has not been clarified yet. METHODS: To explore the mechanism of how two-way social support affects health professional students' professional identity, an observational, cross-sectional study was conducted among a convenience and cluster sample of 1449 health professional students from two medical schools in western China. Measures included a short version of the two-way social support scale, a health professional students' professional identity questionnaire, an achievement motivation scale, and a meaning in life scale. Data were analyzed by use of SPSS26.0 software and PROCESSv4.0 plug-in. RESULTS: Receiving social support, giving social support, achievement motivation, meaning in life, and professional identity were positively correlated with each other. Receiving and giving social support not only directly predicted health professional students' professional identity, but also indirectly predicted health professional students' professional identity through the mediating roles of achievement motivation and meaning in life, and the chain mediating roles of achievement motivation and meaning in life, respectively. The effectiveness of predicting health professional students' professional identity varied among different types of two-way social support, which could be depicted as two-way social support > mainly giving social support > mainly receiving social support > low two-way social support. CONCLUSION: In the medical education, the awareness and ability of health professional students to receive and give social support should be strengthened. More attention should be drawn on the chain mediating effect of achievement motivation and meaning in life between two-way social support and professional identity. The current results shed new light on exploring effective ways of improving health professional students' professional identity, which suggested that more attention should be paid to the positive effects of mainly giving social support and two-way social support rather than only on the effects of receiving social support.

Phase screen prediction using deep phase network for FSO links.

Due to the presence of air turbulence in free-space optical (FSO) links, random fluctuations in wavefront phase and amplitude of the optical signal are reduced after it propagates through the air channel, which degrades the performance of free-space optical communication (FSOC) systems. Phase screen reflects the phase distortions resulting from air turbulence. Accordingly, accurate prediction with respect to phase screen is of significance for the FSOC. In this paper, we propose a phase screen prediction method based on the deep phase network (DPN). The advantages of the proposed method include strong robustness against air turbulence, low model depth, and fewer parameters as well as low complexity. The results reveal that our DPN enables desired inference accuracy and faster inference speed compared with the existing models, by combining the mean square deviation loss function with the pixel penalty terms. More concretely, the accuracy of phase screen prediction can reach up to 95%; further, the average time consumed to predict the phase screen is in the order of milliseconds only under various turbulence conditions. Also, our DPN outperforms the traditional Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm in convergence speed.

Advanced drive laser system for a high-brightness continuous-wave photocathode electron gun.

In order to enhance the performance of a continuous-wave photocathode electron gun at Peking University, and to achieve electron beams with higher current and brightness, a multifunctional drive laser system named PULSE (Peking University drive Laser System for high-brightness Electron source) has been developed. This innovative system is capable of delivering an average output power of 120 W infrared laser pulse at 81.25 MHz, as well as approximately 13.8 W of green power with reliable stability. The utilization of two stages of photonic crystal fibers plays a crucial role in achieving this output. Additionally, the incorporation of two acousto-optic modulators enables the selection of macro-pulses with varying repetition frequencies and duty cycles, which is essential for effective electron beam diagnosis. Furthermore, the system employs a series of birefringent crystals for temporal pulse shaping, allowing for stacking Gaussian pulses into multiple types of distribution. Overall, the optical schematic and operating performance of PULSE are detailed in this paper.

Prognosis prediction of procalcitonin within 24 h for acute diquat poisoning.

BACKGROUND: To explore the predictive value of procalcitonin (PCT) within 24 h after poisoning for prognosis of acute diquat poisoning. METHODS: This retrospective study included acute diquat poisoning patients in the Nanyang City Hospital between May 2017 and July 2021. RESULTS: Among the 45 patients included, 27 survived. The maximum PCT value within 24 h after poisoning was significantly higher in the non-survival patients [9.65 (2.63, 22.77) vs. 0.15 (0.10, 0.50) µg/mL, P < 0.001] compared to the survival patients. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) indicated that the maximum PCT value within 24 h had a good predictive value (AUC = 0.905, 95% CI: 0.808-1.000) compared to ingested quantity (AUC = 0.879, 95% CI: 0.776-0.981), serum creatinine (AUC = 0.776, 95% CI: 0.640-0.912), or APACHE II score (AUC = 0.778, 95% CI: 0.631-0.925). The predictive value of maximum PCT value within 24 h was comparable with blood lactate (AUC = 0.904, 95%CI: 0.807-1.000). CONCLUSIONS: The maximum PCT value within 24 h after poisoning might be a good predictor for the prognosis of patients with acute diquat poisoning.

Uncovering key salt-tolerant regulators through a combined eQTL and GWAS analysis using the super pan-genome in rice.

For sessile plants, gene expression plays a pivotal role in responding to salinity stress by activating or suppressing specific genes. However, our knowledge of genetic variations governing gene expression in response to salt stress remains limited in natural germplasm. Through transcriptome analysis of the Global Mini-Core Rice Collection consisting of a panel of 202 accessions, we identified 22 345 and 27 610 expression quantitative trait loci associated with the expression of 7787 and 9361 eGenes under normal and salt-stress conditions, respectively, leveraging the super pan-genome map. Notably, combined with genome-wide association studies, we swiftly pinpointed the potential candidate gene STG5-a major salt-tolerant locus known as qSTS5. Intriguingly, STG5 is required for maintaining Na+/K+ homeostasis by directly regulating the transcription of multiple members of the OsHKT gene family. Our study sheds light on how genetic variants influence the dynamic changes in gene expression responding to salinity stress and provides a valuable resource for the mining of salt-tolerant genes in the future.