Using a Biofeedback-Based Mindfulness Practice System to Enhance Mindfulness and Alleviate Anxiety in College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: College students experience intense anxiety, for which biofeedback mindfulness techniques show effectiveness in relief. However, typical biofeedback products often lead to user fatigue and boredom because of a single or fixed feedback and lack of focus on mindfulness enhancement. Materials and Methods: In this research, we developed Mindjourney, a VR-based respiratory feedback mindfulness system, designed to enhance mindfulness and alleviate anxiety through continuous/noncontinuous feedback and nonjudgmental reward/punishment for self-perception and attention management. A randomized controlled trial involved 72 college students, split equally into short-term (n = 34, age: 23.11 ± 1.729) and 4-week long-term (n = 38, age: 24.12 ± 1.408) groups, with equal randomization for intervention and control groups. Pre/postintervention tests were measured by using Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) for long-term groups and Galvanic Skin Response and State Anxiety Inventory (SAI) for short-term groups. Results: Results showed that the long-term intervention group showed a significant increase in mindfulness (P = 0.001 for FFMQ total score). Furthermore, observe and act with awareness subscales showed significant increase after intervention (P = 0.034 for observe, P < 0.001 for act with awareness) compared with the control group. Both intervention groups demonstrated a significant decrease in anxiety levels compared with the control groups (P = 0.049 for SAI, P = 0.01 for TAI). Moreover, participants expressed high interest in this biofeedback mindfulness system and willingness for long-term usage. Conclusion: The proposed biofeedback mindfulness practice system could potentially facilitate mindfulness practice and serve as a convenient tool for anxiety relief in campus college students.

Elevated preoperative plasma D-dimer level was an independent prognostic factor for patients with PDAC after curative resection: a retrospective analysis.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, the relationship between preoperative plasma D-dimer level and overall survival and recurrence free survival were evaluated in patients with curative resection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. METHODS: Preoperative plasma D-dimer level of 573 patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma were collected. The univariate and multivariate Cox hazard models were used to identify independent variables associated with overall survival and recurrence free survival in this study. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to evaluate overall survival and recurrence free survival, and the differences between survival curves were analyzed using the Log-rank test. Continuous variables were presented as $\overline{x}\pm s$, parametric analysis was performed using t-test. Categorical variables were analyzed by means of the chi-square or Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: Based on the analysis for the whole study, the results showed that patients in the elevated plasma D-dimer levels had a tendency to have an elder mean age (58.69 ± 8.32 years vs. 63.05 ± 8.44 years, P < 0.001), larger tumour size ≥4 cm (P = 0.006), advanced T stage (P = 0.024), N stage (P = 0.041), Tumor, Node and Metastasis (TNM) stage (P = 0.029) and postoperative complications (P = 0.042) was more likely occurred. Besides, according to the results of Cox multivariate analysis, elevated preoperative plasma D-dimer level was an independent prognostic factor not only for overall survival (Hazard Ratio (HR):1.430, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) (1.163-1.759), P = 0.001) but also for recurrence free survival (HR:1.236, 95% CI (1.018-1.500), P = 0.032). CONCLUSION: In our study, the elevated preoperative plasma D-dimer level may act as an independent prognostic factor for overall survival and recurrence free survival in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma after curative resection. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients with elevated preoperative plasma D-dimer level had a worse prognosis than those with normal plasma D-dimer level; and the elevated preoperative plasma D-dimer level may imply heavy tumour burden and provide supplementary information regarding disease status.

Risk Factors for Contralateral Occult Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma in Patients with Clinical Unilateral Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: A Case-Control Study.

Introduction: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is one of the most prevalent endocrine malignancies that has increased in recent decades around the world. Although the indicator for navigating the surgical extent in PTC patients is still in debate, a key issue is how to predict that there are undetected preoperative tumors in the contralateral thyroid lobe. This study aims to find risk factors for contralateral occult papillary thyroid cancer (COPTC) to facilitate more accurate surgical decisions made for patients with PTC. Materials and Methods: In our study, we included 229 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy plus central and ipsilateral lateral lymph nodes dissection from January 1, 2019, to September 1, 2021. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between COPTC and clinical-pathological characteristics, as well as the relation between the diameter of the occult lesions and predictors. The forest plot was plotted to visualize the prediction factors from the output of the multivariate regression analysis. A ROC curve was used to evaluate the combining potency of all the risk factors. Results: Of the 229 patients included in our study, 46 with COPTC were assigned to the case group, representing 20.1% in this study. Multifocality in one lobe (OR = 2.21, P=0.03), intact capsule (OR = 2.54, P=0.01), central lymph node metastasis (OR = 3.00, P=0.02), and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (OR = 2.08, P = 0.04) are more prone to present contralateral occult papillary thyroid carcinoma. The ROC curve of the aggregate potency of the risk factors presents AUC = 0.701 (P < 0.001), and the best cutoff value was 2.02, with a sensitivity of 78.3% and specificity of 55.2%. Furthermore, there was no statistical correlation between the diameter of the occult tumor and the four obtained variables. Conclusion: Patients with multifocality in one lobe, intact capsule, central lymph node metastasis, and HT may harbor contralateral papillary thyroid carcinoma. It is essential to be prudent to make a surgical or follow-up decision on these patients. In addition, more clinical rather than postoperative pathological indicators need to be revealed in the future.

DPA-Substituted Carbazole Derivative as a Fluorescent Ligand for G4†DNA.

Herein a conjugated dipicolylamine/carbazole (Car-DPA) molecule was designed and synthesized to enhance the performance for the application as a G4 fluorescent ligand. This ligand has been found to display distinct and specific fluorescence enhancements in the presence of various G4 DNA structures, but limited with ssDNA or dsDNAs. The detail binding characteristics of the ligand with c-MYC G4 DNA were investigated by fluorescence, UV/VIS absorption, CD spectroscopy, and molecular docking. The present study demonstrated that Car-DPA bound to c-MYC G4s with a two-step complex formation, in which the binding mode appeared to be end-stacking. Confocal fluorescence images indicated that ligand Car-DPA could locate in nucleus, which is quite prominent from the cellular internalization studies.

Heterodyne period measurement in a scanning beam interference lithography system.

The interference fringe period is an important phase-locking parameter in the scanning beam interference lithography (SBIL) system. To measure the interference fringe period accurately, a heterodyne period measurement method is proposed. Compared with traditional methods, the requirements for the stage motion characteristics are greatly reduced. In this paper, the theoretical error of the period measurement method is analyzed and relevant experiments are performed. The results show that the average period measurement value is 555.539 nm and the standard deviation of measurement repeatability is 2.5 pm. This method is significant for holographic grating fabrication using the SBIL system.

The cut-off value of impaired fasting glucose should be lower: Based on the associations of fasting blood glucose with blood lipids.

OBJECTIVE: The previous study served impaired fasting glucose (IFG), a pre-diabetic state which was much greater than that of diabetic patients, have reached no consensus on its cut-off value. In this study, we aimed to explore the cut-off value of IFG via the associations of blood lipids with fasting plasma glucose (FPG). DESIGN: A cross-sectional study in Jilin province, China, 2012. SAMPLE: 13,093 participants aged 18-79 years in Jilin province were involved in the study. The Lamba-Mu-Sigma (LMS) method and generalized additive model (GAM) were used to explore the associations of different levels of FPG and blood lipids. RESULTS: The distributions of FPG, triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) were significantly different by gender (p<0.01). In general, both LMS and GAM results showed that the TG and HDL-c curves had a steeper tendency when the FPG was greater than 6.0mmol/L. CONCLUSION: FPG was positively associated with TG while negatively associated with HDL-c, and the associations were stronger in females. The cut-off value of IFG was suggested to be 6.0mmol/L.

Intravenous administration of tirofiban versus loading dose of oral clopidogrel for preventing thromboembolism in stent-assisted coiling of intracranial aneurysms.

Background Thromboembolic complications after stenting of intracranial aneurysms may be affected by antiplatelet administration. Aims This retrospective study aimed to assess the safety of intravenous tirofiban versus loading dose of oral clopidogrel for preventing thromboembolism in stent-assisted coiling of intracranial aneurysms. Methods From January 2006 to December 2013, 281 patients with cerebral aneurysms were treated with stent-coiling using two antiplatelet strategies in comparison: the initial strategy (a loading dose of ≥300 mg clopidogrel followed by dual antiplatelet, clopidogrel group) and the modified strategy (intravenous administration of tirofiban 8 µg/kg over 3 min followed by a maintenance dose of 0.1 µg/kg/min for 24 h, tirofiban group). The end points were rates of perioperative thromboembolic events and intracranial hemorrhages. Results Thromboembolic events were observed more often in the clopidogrel group (13/120 aneurysms, 10.83%) than the tirofiban group (6/178 aneurysms, 3.37%; P = 0.010), with no increase in the rate of intracranial hemorrhages ( P = 0.164). In the ruptured subgroups, thromboembolic events were significantly fewer in the tirofiban subgroup (5/128, 3.91%) compared with the clopidogrel subgroup (7/53, 13.21%; P = 0.043) with no increase in the rate of hemorrhage ( P = 0.360). Conclusions Intravenous administration of tirofiban is safe in intracranial aneurysms treated with stent-assisted coiling.

A New Method for Discriminating between Bronchial and Pulmonary Arterial Phases using Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound.

This study aimed to explore the value of a real-time comparative observation method using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for discriminating between bronchial and pulmonary arterial phases in diagnosing lung diseases. Forty-nine patients with 50 pulmonary lesions (45 peripheral lesions and five central lesions with obstructive atelectasis, including 36 malignant tumors, five tuberculomas, four inflammatory pseudotumors and five pneumonia lesions) detected via computed tomography and visible on ultrasonography were enrolled in this study. The arterial phases were determined by comparing contrast agent arrival time (AT) in the peripheral lung lesion with that in adjacent lung tissue, referred to as a real-time comparative observation method. Detection rates of this observation method were 100% (50/50) for pulmonary arterial phase and 88% (44/50) for bronchial arterial phase. Using the instrument's built-in graphing and analysis software, a time-intensity curve was constructed based on a chosen region of interest within the lesion where enhancement was the most obvious. Commonly used perfusion indicators in CEUS, such as AT, time-to-peak and peak intensity, were obtained from the time-intensity curve. Percutaneous puncture biopsies were performed under ultrasound guidance, and specimens of all 50 lesions were examined pathologically. AT was significantly shorter in patients with pneumonia than in those with malignant tumors or chronic inflammation (p < 0.05), whereas no difference was seen between those with malignant tumors and those with chronic inflammation. No significant differences in time-to-peak or peak intensity were seen among those with various lung diseases (p > 0.05). This is the first description of a real-time comparative observation method using CEUS for determining the arterial phases in the lungs. This method is accurate, simple to perform and provides a direct display. It is expected to become a practical and feasible tool for diagnosing lung diseases.

Elevated Local and Serum CX3CL1(Fractalkine) Expression and Its Association with Disease Severity in Patients with Psoriasis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Psoriasis is a chronic immune and inflammatory skin disease. Fractalkine (FKN, CX3CL1), a membrane-bound CX3C chemokine, has been identified to play an important role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. However, whether it is elevated in the tissue or peripheral blood of patients with psoriasis and is associated with disease severity is unclear. This study was carried out to explore local and serum FKN expression in patients with psoriasis and investigate the relationship with the disease severity. METHODS: Serum samples were collected from 47 plaque psoriasis patients and 49 healthy individuals. Serum FKN levels were measured by an enzymelinked immunosorbent assay. The PASI scores of patients with psoriasis and their correlation with serum FKN levels were evaluated. 16 cases of local skin tissues were collected from psoriasis patients and controls who underwent traumatic incidents needing autologous skin grafting, respectively. FKN protein and mRNA expression were examined using Western blotting and RT-PCR, respectively. RESULTS: Local and serum expression of FKN were significantly higher than the expression in the controls (P<0.05), serum FKN levels were positively associated with Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores, (P<0.001) and levels of IL-22 (P<0.001) and IFN-γ (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that FKN may play an important role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and represent a reliable biomarker to reflect disease severity. Therapeutic interventions that target FKN in psoriasis deserve further study.

In situ measurement of some soil properties in paddy soil using visible and near-infrared spectroscopy.

In situ measurements with visible and near-infrared spectroscopy (vis-NIR) provide an efficient way for acquiring soil information of paddy soils in the short time gap between the harvest and following rotation. The aim of this study was to evaluate its feasibility to predict a series of soil properties including organic matter (OM), organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK) and pH of paddy soils in Zhejiang province, China. Firstly, the linear partial least squares regression (PLSR) was performed on the in situ spectra and the predictions were compared to those with laboratory-based recorded spectra. Then, the non-linear least-square support vector machine (LS-SVM) algorithm was carried out aiming to extract more useful information from the in situ spectra and improve predictions. Results show that in terms of OC, OM, TN, AN and pH, (i) the predictions were worse using in situ spectra compared to laboratory-based spectra with PLSR algorithm (ii) the prediction accuracy using LS-SVM (R2>0.75, RPD>1.90) was obviously improved with in situ vis-NIR spectra compared to PLSR algorithm, and comparable or even better than results generated using laboratory-based spectra with PLSR; (iii) in terms of AP and AK, poor predictions were obtained with in situ spectra (R2<0.5, RPD<1.50) either using PLSR or LS-SVM. The results highlight the use of LS-SVM for in situ vis-NIR spectroscopic estimation of soil properties of paddy soils.

Androgen receptor expression in male breast cancer predicts inferior outcome and poor response to tamoxifen treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Androgen receptor (AR) plays an important role in male breast cancer (MBC). Additionally, endocrine therapy is the most important treatment in oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive advanced breast cancer. This study was aimed to investigate the role of AR in MBC treatment and prognosis and to analyse the relationship between AR and the effect of tamoxifen treatment in MBC patients. METHODS: AR protein levels and other tumour characteristics (e.g. expression of ER (ESR1), PR (PGR), AR, HER2 (ERBB2) and Ki-67 (MKI67)) in breast cancer tissue from 102 MBC patients were determined using immunohistochemical analysis. Additionally, the relationship between AR status and clinicopathological features was analysed using the χ(2)-test. Association with survival was initially analysed using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test, and Cox regression analysis was used to adjust for other prognostic indicators. RESULTS: High expression of AR was not correlated with T-stage, histological grade, HER2 status and the status of other sex hormone receptors, but was associated with lymph node metastases (P=0.032). AR-positive patients showed significantly shorter 5-year overall survival (OS) rates (P=0.045) and 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates (P=0.026) than AR-negative patients. By contrast, for patients who received tamoxifen therapy, AR-negative patients showed a higher clinical benefit rate than AR-positive patients (P=0.025). Additionally, the median TTP and OS were significantly different (P=0.02 for TTP; P=0.029 for OS). CONCLUSIONS: AR expression correlates strongly with both OS and DFS in patients with MBC. AR-positive patients can predict a poorer clinical outcome than AR-negative patients after adjuvant tamoxifen therapy.

Characteristic and magnetic field analysis of a high temperature superconductor axial-flux coreless induction maglev motor.

A new high temperature superconductor axial-flux coreless maglev motor (HTS AFIM) is proposed, of which the primary windings are made of HTS tapes and the secondary is a non-magnetic conductor. The main works of this paper are the magnetic-field computation and characteristics analysis of HTS AFIM. For the first one, the reduction of magnetic fields near outer and inner radius of the HTS AFIM is solved by introducing the sub-loop electro-magnetic model along the radial position. For the second one, the AC losses of HTS coils are calculated. The relationships between the device's characteristics and device parameters are presented, and the results indicate that under certain frequency and current levitation device can output enough lift force. The conclusions are verified by finite element calculations.

Hybrid polyethylenimine and polyacrylic acid-bound iron oxide as a magnetoplex for gene delivery.

Low transfection efficiency is always an issue when cationic polymers are used as a nonviral gene vector in the physiological condition, especially in the presence of proteins. A cationic magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) may be an alternative to solve this problem because a magnetic field can help to attract the MNP and internalize it into cells. The aim of this study was to determine the potency of polyethylenimine (PEI)-decorated MNPs for efficiently complexing and delivering plasmid DNA in vitro with the help of a magnetic field. PEI is associated with poly(acrylic acid)-bound superparamagnetic iron oxide (PAAIO) through electrostatic interactions (PEI-PAAIO). PEI-PAAIO formed stable polyplexes with pDNA in the presence and absence of 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and could be used for magnetofection. The effect of a static magnetic field on the cytotoxicity, cellular uptake, and transfection efficiency of PEI-PAAIO/pDNA was evaluated with and without 10% FBS. Magnetofection efficacy in HEK 293T cells and U87 cells containing 10% FBS was significantly improved in the presence of an external magnetic field. The amount of internalized iron was quantitatively measured using an inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer and directly visualized using Prussian blue staining. The internalized pDNA was visualized using a confocal laser scanning microscope.

Anticancer activity of released doxorubicin from a folate-mediated polyelectrolyte complex.

Folic acid (FA) was selected to link with macromolecules for the selective and specific delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) to folate receptor (FR)-positive tumor cells, because of the high binding affinity of FA to the tumor-associated FR. We synthesized folate-mediated chondroitin sulfate (FA-PEG-ChS) for tumor cell targeting and non-folate-mediated naproxen-linked chondroitin sulfate (Nap-PEG-ChS) for comparison. Both the aforementioned polymers contain a PEG1000 spacer. We encapsulated an anticancer agent, DOX, during the formation of complexes with chitosan. Polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC) grafted with a fluorescent dye (FITC) served as a platform for online imaging cellular internalization. FR-positive KB and FR-deficient A549 cancer cells were tested. The concentration to kill 50% of the cells (IC(50)) of DOX-loaded FA-complex was 1.53 µg/ml, in comparison to 0.91 µg/ml of free DOX. The overlaid fluorescent images of DOX and FITC on confocal laser scanning microscopy demonstrated the co-internalization of DOX and the complex nanoparticles into the cytoplasm of KB cells followed by a gradual release of DOX.

TLC and HPLC methods to follow the synthesis of vinorelbine.

The thin-layer chromatography (TLC) combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been proved to be a quick and valid method to detect the intermediates and the end-product created during the chemosynthesis process of vinorelbine (VB). This paper gives a detailed investigation on the results of two determination methods when the condition of the detection changed. It shows that when TLC developer is consisted of petroleum ether, chloroform, acetone, and diethyl amine (23.5:12:2:2.5, v/v/v/v), vinblastine sulfate (VBS), anhydrovinblastine (AHVB), and VB can be separated specifically. When the mobile phase of HPLC is a mixture of methyl alcohol, acetonitrile, diethyl amine, and high purity water (420:252:3:225; v/v/v/v), adjusted with orthophosphoric acid to pH 6.5, the intermediates and the resultants of the chemosynthesis of VB can be determined effectively. It can also be used to fix quantify of the resultants. The calibration curve for VB shows good linearity in the two mass concentration ranges of 0.0100-0.0500 mg/mL (r = 0.9956) and 0.00600-0.0100 mg/mL (r = 0.9978), respectively. The limit of detection of HPLC for VB is 0.200 microg/mL.

Folate-mediated chondroitin sulfate-Pluronic 127 nanogels as a drug carrier.

Pluronic F127 (PF127), one of the polymers which can inhibit drug efflux transporters in cancer therapy, was used to produce amphiphilic nanocarriers for doxorubicin (DOX). In order to stabilize the nanocarriers, the hydroxyl groups on both termini of PF127 were acrylated and reacted with methacrylated chondroitin sulfate (CSMA) to form CS-PF127 nanogel. The introducing CSMA has carboxylic acid groups which can be used to react with a folic acid-polyethylene glycol (FA-PEG). Folic acid, having high binding affinity to tumor-associated folate receptors (FR), provides a selective delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) to FR-positive tumor cells. DOX was loaded either in a cationic DOX.HCl form through the electrostatic interactions with the negative charges of chondroitin sulfate, or in a free DOX form by solubilization into the PPO core compartment of PF127. The loading efficiency and release behavior of DOX prepared from two different formulations are compared. The synthesis of CS-PF127 and FA-PEG grafted CS-PF127 (FA-CS-PF127) was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry (NMR), ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy (UV), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). With a fluorescent probe technique, the critical aggregation concentrations (CAC) are 7.5 x 10(-2)mg/mL for CS-PF127 and 7.9 x 10(-2)mg/mL for FA-CS-PF127, respectively. The spherical images of nanogels were visualized with the use of the transmission electron microscope (TEM). The particle diameters measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS) are 299.6+/-8.2nm for CS-PF127 and 138.3+/-12.3 for FA-CS-PF127, neither aggregation nor change in sizes in double deionized (DD) water after 20 days. The better cellular uptake of FA-CS-PF127 in KB cells was evidenced by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and flow cytometry upon loading Rhodamine123 as a probe.