Interrater agreement between children's self-reported and their mothers' proxy-reported dental anxiety: a Chinese cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Children's dental anxiety is common in dental clinics. This study aimed to determine the interrater agreement between children's self-reported and their mothers' proxy-reported dental anxiety and its affecting factors. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study performed in a dental clinic, primary school students and their mothers were assessed for enrollment eligibility. The Modified Dental Anxiety Scale plus Facial Image Scale (MDAS-FIS) was employed to test both the children's self-reported and their mothers' proxy-reported dental anxiety independently. The interrater agreement was analyzed using percentage agreement and the linear weighted kappa (k) coefficient. Factors affecting children's dental anxiety were analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. RESULTS: One hundred children and their mothers were enrolled. The median ages of the children and mothers were 8.5 and 40.0 years old, respectively, and 38.0% (38/100) of the children were female. The scores of children's self-reported dental anxiety were significantly higher than their mothers' proxy-reported dental anxiety (MDAS-Questions 1-5, all p < 0.05); moreover, there was no agreement between the two groups in terms of all anxiety hierarchies (kappa coefficient = 0.028, p = 0.593). In the univariate model, a total of seven factors (age, gender, maternal anxiety, number of dental visits, mother's presence or absence, oral health status, and having siblings or not) were involved for analysis, and age [every 1-year increase, odds ratio (OR) = 0.661, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.514-0.850, p = 0.001], several dental visits (every 1 visit increase, OR = 0.409, 95% CI = 0.190-0.880, p = 0.022), and mother presence (OR = 0.286, 95% CI = 0.114-0.714, p = 0.007) were affecting factors. In the multivariate model, only age (every 1 year increase) and maternal presence were associated with 0.697-fold (95% CI = 0.535-0.908, p = 0.007) and 0.362-fold (95% CI = 0.135-0.967, p = 0.043) decreases in the risk of children's dental anxiety during dental visits and treatment, respectively. CONCLUSION: There was no significant agreement between elementary school students' self-reported dental anxiety and mothers' proxy ratings of children's dental anxiety, which suggests that self-reported dental anxiety by children should be encouraged and adopted, and the mother's presence during dental visits is strongly recommended.

The Generalized Entropy Ergodic Theorem for Nonhomogeneous Bifurcating Markov Chains Indexed by a Binary Tree.

In this paper, we study the generalized entropy ergodic theorem for nonhomogeneous bifurcating Markov chains indexed by a binary tree. Firstly, by constructing a class of random variables with a parameter and the mean value of one, we establish a strong limit theorem for delayed sums of the bivariate functions of such chains using the Borel-Cantelli lemma. Secondly, we prove the strong law of large numbers for the frequencies of occurrence of states of delayed sums and the generalized entropy ergodic theorem. As corollaries, we generalize some known results.

LncRNA TTN-AS1 promotes the progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma via miR-411-3p/NFAT5 axis.

BACKGROUND: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common kind of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, which is a threat to public health. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are associated with the development of various diseases, including cancers. LncRNA titin antisense RNA 1 (TTN-AS1) is known as a crucial regulatory factor in several cancers. Nevertheless, the specific functions of TTN-AS1 in OSCC remains obscure. METHODS: The expression of TTN-AS1 in OSCC samples or cells was analyzed through qRT-PCR. Colony formation assay, EdU assay, flow cytometry assay, TUNEL assay and wound healing assay were conducted to estimate the functions of TTN-AS1 in OSCC cells. RIP and luciferase reporter assays were utilized to detect the interaction between TTN-AS1 and miR-411-3p as well as between miR-411-3p and NFAT5. RESULTS: TTN-AS1 expression was stronger in OSCC cells. Knockdown of TTN-AS1 effectively restrained cell proliferation and migration but had inductive role in apoptosis. Moreover, TTN-AS1 could function as the miR-411-3p sponge in OSCC and miR-411-3p exerted the inhibitory functions on OSCC cell growth. In addition, NFAT5 was proven as the target of miR-411-3p. Rescue assay indicated that overexpressing NFAT5 could reverse the inhibitory function of TTN-AS1 depletion on cell growth. CONCLUSION: lncRNA TTN-AS1 contributed to the progression of OSCC via miR-411-3p/NFAT5 axis.

Exosomal-mediated transfer of APCDD1L-AS1 induces 5-fluorouracil resistance in oral squamous cell carcinoma via miR-1224-5p/nuclear receptor binding SET domain protein 2 (NSD2) axis.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) poses a threat to public health worldwide. LncRNA APCDD1L-AS1 has been reported to participate in tumorigenesis and development of acquired chemoresistance. However, the role of APCDD1L-AS1 in 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) resistance regulation within OSCC is still obscure. In this study, 5-FU-resistant cell models were established with OSCC cell lines (HSC-3 and HN-4). Gene expressions and protein levels were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blotting, respectively. CCK-8, colony forming, and flow cytometry were utilized to measure IC50 value, cell viability, and cell apoptosis of 5-FU-resistant OSCC cells. Dual-luciferase reporter assay and RIP assay were applied to identify the associations between miR-1224-5p and APCDD1L-AS1 or NSD2. Herein, high APCDD1L-AS1 expression was shown in OSCC tissues and cells resistant to 5-FU and related to the worse prognosis of OSCC patients. APCDD1L-AS1 knockdown impaired 5-FU resistance in 5-FU-resistant OSCC cells by reducing IC50 value, suppressing cell viability, and accelerating cell apoptosis. Besides, extracellular APCDD1L-AS1 could be transferred to sensitive cells via exosome incorporation, thereby transmitting 5-FU resistance in OSCC cells. Besides, miR-1224-5p was a molecular target of APCDD1L-AS1 and directly targeted NSD2 in 5-FU-resistant cells. MiR-1224-5p exhibited a much lower level in 5-FU-resistant tissues and increased 5-FU sensitivity in 5-FU-resistant OSCC cells. Moreover, NSD2 upregulation neutralized the influence of blocking APCDD1L-AS1 in HSC-3/5-FU and HN-4/5-FU cells on 5-FU resistance. To sum up, our study demonstrated that exosomal APCDD1L-AS1 conferred resistance to 5-FU in HSC-3/5-FU and HN-4/5-FU cells via the miR-1224-5p/NSD2 axis, thus providing a novel target for OSCC chemoresistance.