Ddx5 Targeted Epigenetic Modification of Pericytes in Pulmonary Hypertension After Intrauterine Growth Restriction.

Newborns with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) have a higher likelihood of developing pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in adulthood. Although there is increasing evidence suggesting that pericytes play a role in regulating myofibroblast transdifferentiation and angiogenesis in malignant and cardiovascular diseases, their involvement in the pathogenesis of IUGR-related pulmonary hypertension and the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. To address this issue, a study was conducted using a Sprague-Dawley rat model of IUGR-related pulmonary hypertension. Our investigation revealed increased proliferation and migration of pulmonary microvascular pericytes in IUGR-related pulmonary hypertension, accompanied by weakened endothelial-pericyte interactions. Through whole-transcriptome sequencing, Ddx5 (DEAD-box protein 5) was identified as one of the hub genes in pericytes. DDX5, a member of the RNA helicase family, plays a role in the regulation of ATP-dependent RNA helicase activities and cellular function. MicroRNAs have been implicated in the pathogenesis of PAH, and microRNA-205 (miR-205) regulates cell proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. The results of dual-luciferase reporter assays confirmed the specific binding of miR-205 to Ddx5. Mechanistically, miR-205 negatively regulates Ddx5, leading to the degradation of ß-catenin by inhibiting the phosphorylation of Gsk3ß at serine 9. In vitro experiments showed the addition of miR-205 effectively ameliorated pericyte dysfunction. Furthermore, in vivo experiments demonstrated that miR-205 agomir could ameliorate pulmonary hypertension. Our findings indicated that the downregulation of miR-205 expression mediates pericyte dysfunction through the activation of Ddx5. Therefore, targeting the miR-205/Ddx5/p-Gsk3ß/ß-catenin axis could be a promising therapeutic approach for IUGR-related pulmonary hypertension.

Alterations in spatiotemporal characteristics of dynamic networks in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.

BACKGROUND: Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is characterized by altered patterns of brain functional connectivity (FC). However, the nature and extent of alterations in the spatiotemporal characteristics of dynamic FC in JME patients remain elusive. Dynamic networks effectively encapsulate temporal variations in brain imaging data, offering insights into brain network abnormalities and contributing to our understanding of the seizure mechanisms and origins. METHODS: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data were procured from 37 JME patients and 37 healthy counterparts. Forty-seven network nodes were identified by group-independent component analysis (ICA) to construct the dynamic network. Ultimately, patients' and controls' spatiotemporal characteristics, encompassing temporal clustering and variability, were contrasted at the whole-brain, large-scale network, and regional levels. RESULTS: Our findings reveal a marked reduction in temporal clustering and an elevation in temporal variability in JME patients at the whole-brain echelon. Perturbations were notably pronounced in the default mode network (DMN) and visual network (VN) at the large-scale level. Nodes exhibiting anomalous were predominantly situated within the DMN and VN. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between the severity of JME symptoms and the temporal clustering of the VN. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that excessive temporal changes in brain FC may affect the temporal structure of dynamic brain networks, leading to disturbances in brain function in patients with JME. The DMN and VN play an important role in the dynamics of brain networks in patients, and their abnormal spatiotemporal properties may underlie abnormal brain function in patients with JME in the early stages of the disease.

Association between dietary diversity, sedentary time outside of work and depressive symptoms among knowledge workers: a multi-center cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Low-diversity diets and sedentary status are risk factors for depressive symptoms, while knowledge workers were ignored before. The purpose of this current study was to examine the relationship between dietary diversity, sedentary time spent outside of work, and depressive symptoms among knowledge workers. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a multicenter and cross-sectional design that included 118,723 knowledge workers. Participants self-reported online between January 2018 and December 2020. Demographic information, the Dietary Diversity Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, dietary habits (which included eating three meals on time, midnight snacking, overeating, social engagement, coffee consumption, sugary drink consumption, smoking and alcohol use), sedentary time spent outside of work and physical activity were investigated. RESULTS: The relationships between demographic information, dietary habits and dietary diversity, and depressive symptoms were estimated. Compared with the first and second levels of dietary diversity, the third level of dietary diversity (OR: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.84-0.98) reduced the risk of depressive symptoms. Knowledge workers with different degrees of sedentary status (2-4 h (OR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.07-1.14), 4-6 h (OR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.17-1.26), and > 6 h (OR: 1.49; 95% CI: 1.43-1.56), presented a progressively higher risk of depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: High amounts of sedentary time spent after work and low levels of dietary diversity are risk factors for depressive symptoms. In addition, an irregular diet and overeating are also major risk factors for knowledge workers.

The role of sleep quality and perceived stress on depressive symptoms among tertiary hospital nurses: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Nurses in tertiary hospitals are at high risk for depression. Understanding sleep quality and perceived stress may contribute to nurses' mental health and health-related nursing productivity. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of sleep quality and perceived stress on depressive symptoms among nurses in tertiary hospitals. METHODS: A total of 2,780 nurses (overall response rate = 91.1%) were recruited through a cross-sectional survey in 23 tertiary hospitals in China. Questionnaires included the Self-Rating Depression Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the Chinese Perceived Stress Scale. Variables that were significant in Chi-square tests were further entered into binary logistic stepwise regression. RESULTS: The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 60.3% (n = 1,676), of which 97.4% (n = 1,633) were female, and 77.8% were younger than 35 years (n = 1,304). Nurses who had moderate, poor, severe sleep quality and poor perceived pressure were more likely to be depressed. Master's degree, 6-10 years of work, and physical activity were protective factors, while the opposite was the case for shift work and high dissatisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: More than half of nurses working in tertiary care hospitals reported depressive symptoms, and lower sleep quality and higher perceived stress were more associated with this. Perceived stress is an interesting concept, which may provide a new entry point for the well-known idea that there is a relationship between poor sleep quality and depression. It is possible to reduce depressive symptoms among public hospital nurses by providing information on sleep health and stress relief.

Relationships between depression, self-efficacy, and professional values among Chinese oncology nurses: a multicenter cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: Many factors are related to oncology nurses' professional values. However, the evidence on the relevance of professional values among oncology nurses in China remains sparse. This study aims to investigate the relationship between depression, self-efficacy, and professional values among Chinese oncology nurses and analyze the mediating effect of self-efficacy on this association. METHODS: It was a multicenter cross-sectional study designed with the STROBE guidelines. An anonymous online questionnaire recruited 2530 oncology nurses from 55 hospitals in six provinces of China between March and June 2021. Measures included self-designed sociodemographic and fully validated instruments. Pearson correlation analysis was employed to explore the associations between depression, self-efficacy, and professional values. Bootstrapping analysis by the PROCESS macro was used to examine the mediating effect of self-efficacy. RESULTS: The total scores of depression, self-efficacy, and professional values of Chinese oncology nurses were 52.75 ± 12.62, 28.39 ± 6.33, and 101.55 ± 20.43, respectively. About 55.2% of Chinese oncology nurses were depressed. Chinese oncology nurses' professional values were generally intermediate. Their professional values were negatively related to depression and positively correlated with self-efficacy, while depression was negatively related to self-efficacy. Moreover, self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between depression and professional values, accounting for 24.8% of the total effect. CONCLUSIONS: Depression negatively predicts self-efficacy and professional values, and self-efficacy positively predicts professional values. Meanwhile, depression in Chinese oncology nurses has an indirect effect on their professional values through self-efficacy. Nursing managers and oncology nurses themselves should develop strategies aimed at relieving depression and improving self-efficacy to strengthen their positive professional values.

Metabolomics of bronchoalveolar lavage in children with persistent wheezing.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have demonstrated the important role of metabolomics in the pathogenesis of asthma. However, the role of lung metabolomics in childhood persistent wheezing (PW) or wheezing recurrence remains poorly understood. METHODS: In this prospective observational study, we performed a liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry-based metabolomic survey on bronchoalveolar lavage samples collected from 30 children with PW and 30 age-matched infants (control group). A 2-year follow-up study on these PW children was conducted. RESULTS: Children with PW showed a distinct characterization of respiratory metabolome compared with control group. Children with PW had higher abundances of choline, oleamide, nepetalactam, butyrylcarnitine, L-palmitoylcarnitine, palmitoylethanolamide, and various phosphatidylcholines. The glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway was the most relevant pathway involving in PW pathophysiologic process. Additionally, different gender, prematurity, and systemic corticoids use demonstrated a greater impact in airway metabolite compositions. Furthermore, for PW children with recurrence during the follow-up period, children who were born prematurely had an increased abundance of butyrylcarnitine relative to those who were carried to term. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the alterations of lung metabolites could be associated with the development of wheezing, and this early alteration could also be correlated with wheezing recurrence later in life.

The efficacy of live music for adolescent and young adult patients during hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Music therapy can improve mood in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). However, live music (LM) delivered by professional music therapists is not common in developing countries owing to the shortage of professional music therapists. Thus, in this study, we explored the effects of a multidisciplinary collaborative intervention based on LM on physical and psychological well-being of adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients undergoing HSCT with a quasi-experimental design. METHODS: A total of 62 AYA patients agreed to participate and were randomly assigned to the intervention group receiving 4-week LM therapy (n = 31) or control group receiving usual care (n = 31). Depression, salivary cortisol, fatigue, and quality of life were the main outcome indicators measured at baseline, immediately after the intervention, 1 month, and 3 months follow-up. The intervention effects were analyzed by generalized estimating equations. RESULTS: Significant decrease in HADS-D scores occurred in the intervention group compared with wait-list controls at immediately after intervention (p < 0.05). Participants in the LM group had greater improvement in quality of life and lower salivary cortisol level than those in the wait-list control group at immediately, 1 month, and 3 months after intervention (p < 0.05). However, the interaction effects of the BFI scores were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: LM therapy significantly alleviated depression and salivary cortisol levels as well as improved quality of life of AYA patients undergoing HSCT.

Research progress in circadian rhythms in the application of psychological rehabilitation of cancer patients. / æ˜¼å¤œèŠ‚å¾‹åœ¨ç™Œç—‡æ‚£è€ å¿ƒç†åº·å¤åº”ç”¨ä¸­çš„ç ”ç©¶è¿›å±•.

The psychological distress of cancer patients seriously affects their therapeutic effects. Effective psychological rehabilitation of cancer patients significantly improves their survival chance and quality of life. Circadian rhythm results from adaptation to the environment during the organism's evolution. When the endogenous clock system is disrupted or the external environment is changed, the body and the environment are out of synchronization, and the circadian rhythm will be disrupted. Circadian rhythm disorder is a common phenomenon in cancer patients, and the changes of circadian rhythm are closely related to their psychological distress. Many studies believe that the circadian rhythm disorder of cancer patients may directly or indirectly affect their psychology through various mechanisms, and targeted intervention by regulating the circadian rhythm of patients may be an essential means to promote the psychological rehabilitation.

Follow-up study of airway microbiota in children with persistent wheezing.

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence revealed that airway microbial dysbiosis was associated with increased risk of asthma, or persistent wheezing (PW). However, the role of lung microbiota in PW or wheezing recurrence remains poorly understood. METHODS: In this prospective observational study, we performed a longitudinal 16S rRNA-based microbiome survey on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples collected from 35 infants with PW and 28 age-matched infants (control group). A 2-year follow-up study on these PW patients was conducted. The compositions of lower airway microbiota were analyzed at the phylum and genus levels. RESULTS: Our study showed a clear difference in lower airway microbiota between PW children and the control group. Children with PW had a higher abundance of Elizabethkingia and Rothia, and lower abundance of Fusobacterium compared with the control group. At the end of the 2-year follow-up, 20 children with PW (57.1%) experienced at least one episode of wheezing, and 15 (42.9%) did not suffer from wheezing episodes. Furthermore, PW children with recurrence also had increased abundances of Elizabethkingia and Rothia relative to those who had no recurrence. Additionally, wheezing history, different gender, and caesarean section demonstrated a greater impact in airway microbiota compositions. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the alterations of lower airway microbiota could be strongly associated with the development of wheezing, and early airway microbial changes could also be associated with wheezing recurrence later in life.

Postnatal delayed growth impacts cognition but rescues programmed impaired pulmonary vascular development in an IUGR rat model.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a state of slower fetal growth usually followed by a catch-up growth. Postnatal catch-up growth in IUGR models increases the incidence of pulmonary arterial hypertension in adulthood. Here, we hypothesize that the adverse pulmonary vascular consequences of IUGR may be improved by slowing down postnatal growth velocity. Meanwhile, cognitive function was also studied. METHODS AND RESULTS: We established an IUGR rat model by restricting maternal food throughout gestation. After birth, pups were fed a regular or restricted diet during lactation by changing litter size. Thus, there were three experimental groups according to the dam/offspring diet: C/C (gold standard), IUGR with catch-up growth (R/C) and IUGR with delayed growth (R/D). In adulthood (14 weeks of age), we assessed pulmonary vascular development by hemodynamic measurement and immunohistochemistry. Our results showed that adult R/C offspring developed an elevated mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) and pulmonary arteriolar remodeling accompanied with decreased eNOS mRNA and protein expressions compared to C/C or R/D offspring. This suggested that delayed postnatal growth improved pulmonary circulation compared to postnatal catch-up growth. Conversely, adult R/D offspring performed poorly in cognition. Behavior test and electrophysiology results exhibited a reduced synaptic plasticity. Furthermore, decreased mRNA expression levels of the memory-related gene zif268 and transcription factor recruitment factor p300 in the hippocampus region were also observed in R/D group. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that delayed postnatal growth results in cognitive impairment, but it reverses elevations in mPAP induced by postnatal catch-up growth following IUGR.

Acoustic-resolution-based photoacoustic microscopy with non-coaxial arrangements and a multiple vertical scan for high lateral resolution in-depth.

In conventional acoustic-resolution-based photoacoustic microscopy (ARPAM), a focused ultrasound transducer is placed coaxially with the laser beam to obtain the generated ultrasound signals. The information from deep regions can be greatly affected by the shallow targets. More importantly, in ARPAM the irreconcilable conflict between the lateral resolution and depth of fields has always been a major factor that lowers the imaging quality. In this work, an ARPAM system was developed, in which a non-coaxial arrangement of light illumination and acoustic detection was adopted to alleviate the influence of the tissue surface on the deep targets, and a focal zone integral algorithm was applied with a multiple scanning scheme to improve the lateral resolution. The system can achieve a consistent high lateral resolution of 0.5 mm over a large range in the axial direction. Both the phantom experiment and the chicken embryo in vivo results indicate that the proposed method can provide more in-depth information compared with the conventional ARPAM method. With the development of high repetition lasers and the advancement of image scanning technologies, the proposed method may play an important role in cerebral vascular imaging, superficial tumor imaging, and other related biomedical imaging applications.

[Determination of 67 pesticides in drinking water by solid phase extration disk extraction-gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].

OBJECTIVE: To develop a method for the simultaneous determination of 67 pesticides in water by solid phase extration(SPE) disk extraction-gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(GC-MS/MS). METHODS: Pesticides in water were extracted and cleaned-up with SPE disk, then eluted with dichloromethane-n-ethyl acetate(7∶3, V/V). After the eluent being concentrated to 1 mL under nitrogen blow at 40 ℃, the supernatant was injected into GC-MS/MS for analysis. The GC separation was performed on a DB-5 MS capillary column(30 m×0. 25 mm×0. 25 µm). The pesticides were detected by MS/MS in multiple reaction monitoring(MRM) mode and quantified by working curve method. RESULTS: The linear range of the method for most of the pesticides were in the range of 0. 05-5 µg/L with correlation coefficients of 0. 9924-0. 9999. The quantitative limits(S/N=10) of the method were in the range of 1. 0×10~(-5)-0. 059 µg/L. The recoveries for pesticides were 81. 0%-125. 0% with relative standard deviations of 1. 5%-21. 4%(n=6). CONCLUSION: The method is sensitive, simple, environmentally friendly and suitable to the determination of pesticides in drinking water for rapid screening and quantitative analysis.

[Focal zone integral and multiple axial scanning based acoustic resolution photoacoustic microscopy with high lateral resolution in-depth].

Acoustic resolution photoacoustic microscopy (ARPAM) combines the advantages of high optical contrast, and high ultrasonic spatial resolution and penetration. However, in photoacoustic microscopy (PAM), the information from deep regions can be greatly affected by the shallow targets, and most importantly, the irreconcilable conflict between the lateral resolution and depth of fields has always be a major factor that limits the imaging quality. In this work, an ARPAM system was developed, in which a non-coaxial arrangement of light illumination and acoustic detection was adopted to alleviate the influence of the tissue surface on the deep targets, and a novel focal zone integral algorithm was applied with multiple axial scanning to improve the lateral resolution. Phantom experiment results show that, the build system can maintain a consistent high lateral resolution of 0.6 mm over a large range in axial direction, which is close to the theoretical calculations. The following tumor imaging results on nude mice indicate that, the proposed method can provide more in-depth information compared with the conventional back detection ARPAM method. With the development of fast repetition lasers and image scanning technologies, the proposed method may play an important role in cerebral vascular imaging, cervical cancer photoacoustic endoscopic detection, and superficial tumor imaging.

Mammalian target of rapamycin/eukaryotic initiation factor 4F pathway regulates follicle growth and development of theca cells in mice.

The aim of the present study was to clarify the roles of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway in follicular growth and development of thecal cells. Using in vivo-grown and in vitro-cultured ovaries, histological changes were evaluated using haematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from 0 day post partum (d.p.p.) to 8 d.p.p. ovaries were screened by microarray and verified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Forty-two DEGs related to cell proliferation and differentiation were screened out, with most DEGs being related to the to mTOR signalling pathway. Then, 3 d.p.p. ovaries were retrieved and used to verify the role of mTOR signalling in follicle and thecal cell development using its activators (Ras homologue enriched in brain (Rheb) and GTP) and inhibitor (rapamycin). The development of follicles and thecal cells was significantly impaired in ovaries cultured in vitro Day 3 to Day 8. In in vitro-cultured ovaries, Rheb and GTP (is 100ngmL-1 Rheb and 500ngmL-1 GTP for 48h) significantly increased follicle diameter, the percentage of primary and secondary follicles and the umber of thecal cells, and upregulated expression of mTOR, phosphorylated eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 (4EBP1), eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 4F and cytochrome P450, family 17, subfamily A, polypeptide 1 (CYP17A1). Rapamycin (10nM rapamycin for 24h) had opposite effects to those of Rheb and GTP, and partly abrogated (significant) the effects of Rheb and GTP when added to the culture in combination with these drugs. Thus, mTOR signalling plays an important role in follicle growth and thecal cell development.

Improved back-projection method for circular-scanning-based photoacoustic tomography with improved tangential resolution.

While photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT) is generally built with planar transducers of finite size, most current reconstruction algorithms assume the transducer to be an ideal point, which leads to a spinning blur in the consequently obtained PACT images due to the model mismatch. In this work, we put forward an improved back-projection method that factors in the geometry of the transducers to improve the tangential resolution for the reconstruction of 2D circular-scanning-based photoacoustic tomography. Extensive simulations and experiments were carried out to study the adaptability and stability of the proposed method. Results show that this method can effectively restore the tangential distortion of the PACT image for both simulated and experimental data. Results indicated that the improvement of the tangential resolution is more obvious for transducers with larger size. We also demonstrated the application of this method to transducers other than planar, and results show that the reconstructed image quality can be significantly affected by the shape and position of the transducers used. This study may help to guide the selection of transducer and design of scanning strategy in PACT.

A Deep Convolutional Neural Network for segmenting and classifying epithelial and stromal regions in histopathological images.

Epithelial (EP) and stromal (ST) are two types of tissues in histological images. Automated segmentation or classification of EP and ST tissues is important when developing computerized system for analyzing the tumor microenvironment. In this paper, a Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNN) based feature learning is presented to automatically segment or classify EP and ST regions from digitized tumor tissue microarrays (TMAs). Current approaches are based on handcraft feature representation, such as color, texture, and Local Binary Patterns (LBP) in classifying two regions. Compared to handcrafted feature based approaches, which involve task dependent representation, DCNN is an end-to-end feature extractor that may be directly learned from the raw pixel intensity value of EP and ST tissues in a data driven fashion. These high-level features contribute to the construction of a supervised classifier for discriminating the two types of tissues. In this work we compare DCNN based models with three handcraft feature extraction based approaches on two different datasets which consist of 157 Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stained images of breast cancer and 1376 immunohistological (IHC) stained images of colorectal cancer, respectively. The DCNN based feature learning approach was shown to have a F1 classification score of 85%, 89%, and 100%, accuracy (ACC) of 84%, 88%, and 100%, and Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) of 86%, 77%, and 100% on two H&E stained (NKI and VGH) and IHC stained data, respectively. Our DNN based approach was shown to outperform three handcraft feature extraction based approaches in terms of the classification of EP and ST regions.

Early postnatal moderate catch­up growth in rats with nutritional intrauterine growth restriction preserves pulmonary vascular and cognitive function in adulthood.

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) with rapid postnatal catch-up growth is strongly associated with pulmonary vascular dysfunction in adulthood, whereas IUGR with delayed growth in early postnatal life results in long-term brain deficits. In the present study, it was hypothesized that IUGR with early moderate catch-up growth may alleviate pulmonary vascular remodeling in adulthood without affecting memory function. An IUGR model was established by restricting maternal nutrition during pregnancy. Different growth patterns were achieved by adjusting the litter size in each group during lactation. Rats meeting the weight requirement at weaning were selected for subsequent studies at three time points (3, 9 and 13 weeks). Cognitive function was evaluated using a Y-maze. Invasive hemodynamic measurements were conducted to measure the mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP). In addition, primary pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) and pulmonary vascular endothelial cells (PVECs) were cultured to investigate their role in the increase in mPAP following rapid catch-up growth. The results showed that memory function deficits in the rats in the delayed growth group were associated with reduced proliferation of neural stem cells in the subgranular zone of the hippocampus. Furthermore, moderate catch-up growth at the three time points improved memory function while maintaining a normal mPAP. In adult IUGR rats experiencing rapid catch-up growth, although memory function improved, elevated mPAP and medial thickening of pulmonary arterioles were observed. Additionally, PASMCs exhibited excessive proliferation, migration and anti-apoptotic activity in the rapid catch-up group, and PVECs also displayed excessive proliferation. These results suggested that moderate catch-up growth after IUGR is a better strategy for optimal cognition and cardiovascular health in adulthood compared with rapid catch-up growth or delayed growth.

The influences of finite aperture size in photoacoustic computed tomography.

In photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT), the "finite aperture effect" is often characterized as a tangential resolution that increases proportionally with the distance from the rotation center. However, this conclusion is based on the inaccurate point-detector assumption used in image reconstruction. In this study, we appropriately modeled the finite size of the acoustic detector in the back-projection (BP) based image reconstruction to improve the accuracy of the time delay calculation and systematically investigated its effects. Our results showed that the main effect of the finite aperture size is the creation of a limited high-quality imaging region (HQIR) around the scanning center, due to the directional sensitivity of the detector. We also demonstrated that the "finite aperture effect" can reduce the optimal number of detectors required for spatial anti-aliasing. These new findings provide novel perspectives for optimizing PACT systems and corresponding reconstruction methods.

Impact of the teach-back method on caregiver outcomes using the "Timing it Right" framework for hemodialysis patients.

Background: The caregivers play vital roles in the health care of hemodialysis patients. Ineffective education strategy for the caregivers negatively affects the care ability of caregivers. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the teach-back method based on the "Timing it Right" framework on the caregivers' care ability, emotions and health-related quality of life for hemodialysis patients. Methods: The study involved 78 caregivers of 78 hemodialysis patients. Participants in the control group received routine nursing care and traditional oral health education, while those in the intervention group received health education through the teach-back method based on the "Timing it Right" framework. All participants were followed for 6 months. The degree of anxiety and depression of caregivers was evaluated through the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), respectively. The care ability of caregivers was assessed by the Family Caregiver Task Inventory (FCTI). The health-related quality of life of hemodialysis patients was evaluated using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Results: Compared to baseline (T0), the SAS, SDS and FCTI scores of the intervention group were significantly reduced at the time of discharge (T1), three (T2) and 6 months (T3) (all p < 0.001). Besides, at T1, T2, and T3, the FCTI scores of the intervention group were significantly lower than that in control group (all p < 0.001). The SAS and SDS scores were also significantly lower in the intervention group at T1, T2, and T3 compared to the control group (all p < 0.001). For SF-36 scores, all domains of the intervention group were significantly higher than those of the control group at T1, T2 and T3, including physical functioning (p < 0.001), role physical (p = 0.007), bodily pain (p < 0.001), general health (p = 0.002), vitality (p = 0.043), social functioning (p = 0.016), role emotional (p = 0.002), and mental health(p = 0.025). Conclusion: The application of teach-back method based on the "Timing it Right" framework could obviously alleviate the anxiety and depression of caregivers for hemodialysis patients. Furthermore, it could significantly improve the care ability of caregivers and the quality of life of patients.

Intelligent physical activity versus modified behavioral activation in adolescent and young adult cancer patients with psychological distress: A randomized, controlled pilot trial.

BACKGROUND: More than 80% of adolescent and young adult cancer patients (AYACPs) experienced psychological distress. Physical activity and behavioral activation are effective to relieve the psychological distress in AYACPs. METHODS: Participants aged 15-39 years diagnosed with malignant tumors were included. A total of 143 eligible AYACPs were randomly assigned to three groups. The treatment-as-usual group (N = 48) received routine care, the physical activity group (N = 47) received 8 weeks of physical activity program based on intelligent wearable devices, and the behavioral activation group (N = 48) received an internet-based modified behavioral activation program for 8 weeks. Objective outcome measures included salivary cortisol and testosterone. RESULTS: Linear mixed-model analyses showed significant differences between treatment-as-usual, physical activity and behavioral activation in salivary cortisol, as well as total scores on depression and anxiety, physical activity, self-efficacy, and social support. Significantly stronger effect sizes for physical activity group compared with behavioral activation group were found on physical activity (d = 0.53) (1 week after intervention), moderate activity (d = 0.61), and walking activity (d = 0.57) (3-month follow-up). CONCLUSIONS: Intelligent, wearable, device-based physical activity program is more effective in alleviating anxiety and depression, reducing saliva cortisol, and improving physical activity in AYACPs than internet-based modified behavioral activation program. Intelligent, wearable, device-based physical activity program can reduce the time cost of AYACPs to ensure that the intervention is carried out.