Protective effects of resolvin D1 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis.

PURPOSE: Here, we explored the protective effects of resolvin D1 (RvD1) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) keratitis. METHODS: C57BL/6 (B6) mice were used as an animal model of PA keratitis. Plate counting and clinical scores were used to assess the severity of the infection and the therapeutic effects of RvD1 in the model. Myeloperoxidase assay was used to detect neutrophil infiltration and activity. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to examine the expression of proflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators. Immunofluorescence staining and qPCR were performed to identify macrophage polarization. RESULTS: RvD1 treatment alleviated PA keratitis severity by decreasing corneal bacterial load and inhibiting neutrophil infiltration in the mouse model. Furthermore, RvD1 treatment decreased mRNA levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1ß, CXCL1, and S100A8/9 while increasing those of IL-1RA, IL-10, and TGF-ß1. RvD1 treatment also reduced the aggregation of M1 macrophages and increased that of M2 macrophages. RvD1 provided an auxiliary effect in gatifloxacin-treated mice with PA keratitis. CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, RvD1 may improve the prognosis of PA keratitis by inhibiting neutrophil recruitment and activity, dampening the inflammatory response, and promoting M2 macrophage polarization. Thus, RvD1 may be a potential complementary therapy for PA keratitis.

A Method of Setting the LiDAR Field of View in NDT Relocation Based on ROI.

LiDAR placement and field of view selection play a role in detecting the relative position and pose of vehicles in relocation maps based on high-precision map automatic navigation. When the LiDAR field of view is obscured or the LiDAR position is misplaced, this can easily lead to loss of repositioning or low repositioning accuracy. In this paper, a method of LiDAR layout and field of view selection based on high-precision map normal distribution transformation (NDT) relocation is proposed to solve the problem of large NDT relocation error and position loss when the occlusion field of view is too large. To simulate the real placement environment and the LiDAR obstructed by obstacles, the ROI algorithm is used to cut LiDAR point clouds and to obtain LiDAR point cloud data of different sizes. The cut point cloud data is first downsampled and then relocated. The downsampling points for NDT relocation are recorded as valid matching points. The direction and angle settings of the LiDAR point cloud data are optimized using RMSE values and valid matching points. The results show that in the urban scene with complex road conditions, there are more front and rear matching points than left and right matching points within the unit angle. The more matching points of the NDT relocation algorithm there are, the higher the relocation accuracy. Increasing the front and rear LiDAR field of view prevents the loss of repositioning. The relocation accuracy can be improved by increasing the left and right LiDAR field of view.

High expression of caspase-8 as a predictive factor of poor prognosis in patients with esophageal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) is considered to be one of the most common gastrointestinal cancers. Caspase-8 (CASP8) is a key protein of cross-talk signaling in a variety of cancers. However, the role of CASP8 expression in the prognosis of patients with ESCA has remained unexplored. Hence, it is needed to explore the clinical significance of CASP8 expression in ESCA. METHODS: The expression and prognosis of CASP8 were investigated in ESCA using the UALCAN, GEDS, TIMER, and OncoLnc databases. The CASP8 genetic variations in ESCA were assessed using the cBioPortal database. The correlation between CASP8 expression and tumor immune invasion and immune cell surface indicators was examined using the TIMER and TISIDTISIDB datasets. Meanwhile, the abundance of the immunological cells in the tumor and healthy tissues was assessed by the CIBERSORT method. Next, information on the co-expressed genes of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in ESCA-tumor and ESCA-healthy tissues was obtained using the cBioPortal, UALCAN, and Coexpedia databases. Subsequently, the PPI network was constructed and the GO and KEGG pathways were analyzed using the SIRING database. Finally, CASP8 mRNA and protein expression in the ESCA tissues and matched adjacent healthy tissues were analyzed using qRT-PCR, immune-blotting, and immunohistochemistry. Additionally, the relationship between clinicopathological features and CASP8 expression was assessed. RESULTS: ESCA tissues had higher levels of CASP8 mRNA and protein expression compared to healthy tissues. patients with an elevated level of CASP8 expression had poor overall survival (OS). CASP8 expression was significantly correlated with the degree of differentiation (P = 0.004) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.044). There were diverse patterns of association between immunological cell surface biomarkers and CASP8 expression. CONCLUSION: ESCA showed significant levels of CASP8 expression which may serve as a prognostic biomarker correlated to immune infiltrates in ESCA.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety and depression in cancer survivors: a meta-analysis.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on anxiety and depression in cancer survivors. The PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library databases were searched. Randomized controlled trials that evaluated the effects of CBT in cancer survivors were included. The standardized mean difference (SMD) was used as an effect size indicator. Fifteen studies were included. For the depression score, the pooled results of the random effects model were as follows: pre-treatment versus post-treatment, SMD (95% confidence interval [CI]) = 0.88 (0.46, 1.29), P < 0.001; pre-treatment versus 3-month follow-up, 0.83 (0.09, 1.76), P = 0.08; pre-treatment versus 6-month follow-up, 0.92 (0.27, 1.58), P = 0.006; and pre-treatment versus 12-month follow-up, 0.21 (- 0.28, 0.70), P = 0.40. For the anxiety score, the pooled results of the random effects model were as follows: pre-treatment versus post-treatment, 0.97 (0.58, 1.36), P < 0.001; pre-treatment versus 3-month follow-up, 1.45 (- 0.82, 3.72), P = 0.21; and pre-treatment versus 6-month follow-up, 1.00 (0.17, 1.83), P = 0.02). The pooled result of the fixed effects model for the comparison between pre-treatment and the 12-month follow-up was 0.10 (- 0.16, 0.35; P = 0.45). The subgroup analysis revealed that the geographical location, treatment time and treatment form were not sources of significant heterogeneity. CBT significantly improved the depression and anxiety scores of the cancer survivors; such improvement was maintained until the 6-month follow-up. These findings support recommendations for the use of CBT in survivors of cancer.

Desire for hastened death in advanced cancer: cross-sectional study in China.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the incidence of desire for hastened death (DHD) among patients with advanced cancer and to identify factors associated with DHD. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 227 patients with advanced cancer in Hunan Cancer Hospital. The patients were assessed using Chinese version of the Schedule of Attitudes toward Hastened Death, Karnofsky Performance Scale, Quality of Life (QOL), MD Anderson Symptom Inventory and Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Module-9. RESULTS: The number of patients with or without DHD were 71 (31.3%) and 156 (68.7%), respectively. Follow-up visits and average and high QOL were protective factors for DHD; severely disturbed sleep, symptoms that severely interfered with mood, and symptoms that severely interfered with relations with other people were risk factors for DHD. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of the DHD in patients with advanced cancer at home is high. Those who have low QOL, severely disturbed sleep, symptoms that severely interfered with mood, or symptoms that severely interfered with relations with other people should be paid attention to. These data provide a theoretical basis for the early detection and diagnosis of the desire to accelerate death of patients with advanced cancer.

The psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers.

Background: As unprecedented and prolonged crisis, healthcare workers (HCWs) are at high risk of developing psychological disorders. We investigated the psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on HCWs. Methods: This cross-sectional study randomly recruited 439 HCWs in Hunan Cancer Hospital via a web-based sampling method from June 1st 2021 to March 31st 2022. Anxiety and depression levels were measured using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) was used to assess the presence and severity of PTSD. Fear was measured by modified scale of SARS. Data were collected based on these questionnaires. Differences in fear, anxiety, depression and PTSD among HCWs with different clinical characteristics were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance. The Cronbach's alpha scores in our samples were calculated to evaluate the internal consistency of HADS, fear scale and PCL-5. Results: The prevalence of anxiety, depression, and PTSD in HCWs was 15.7, 9.6, and 12.8%, respectively. Females and nurses were with higher fear level (P < 0.05) and higher PTSD levels (P < 0.05). Further analysis of female HCWs revealed that PTSD levels in the 35-59 years-old age group were higher than that in other groups; while married female HCWs were with increased fear than single HCWs. The internal consistency was good, with Cronbach's α = 0.88, 0.80 and 0.84 for HADS, fear scale, and PCL, respectively. Conclusion: Gender, marital status, and age are related to different level of psychological disorders in HCWs. Clinical supportive care should be implemented for specific group of HCWs.

The prevalence of psychological disorders among cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: A meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: We aimed to assess the prevalence rate (PR) of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), insomnia, distress, and fear of cancer progression/recurrence among patients with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Studies that reported the PR of six psychological disorders among cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic were searched in PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases, from January 2020 up to 31 January 2022. Meta-analysis results were merged using PR and 95% confidence intervals, and heterogeneity among studies was evaluated using I2 and Cochran's Q test. Publication bias was examined using funnel plots and Egger's tests. All data analyses were performed using Stata14.0 software. RESULTS: Forty studies with 27,590 participants were included. Pooled results showed that the PR of clinically significant depression, anxiety, PTSD, distress, insomnia, and fear of cancer progression/recurrence among cancer patients were 32.5%, 31.3%, 28.2%, 53.9%, 23.2%, and 67.4%, respectively. Subgroup analysis revealed that patients with head and neck cancer had the highest PR of clinically significant depression (74.6%) and anxiety (92.3%) symptoms. Stratified analysis revealed that patients with higher education levels had higher levels of clinically significant depression (37.2%). A higher level of clinically significant PTSD was observed in employed patients (47.4%) or female with cancer (27.9%). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis evaluated the psychological disorders of cancer patients during the COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, it is necessary to develop psychological interventions to improve the mental health of cancer patients during the pandemic.

NTN4 as a prognostic marker and a hallmark for immune infiltration in breast cancer.

Netrin-4 (NTN4), a member of neurite guidance factor family, can promote neurite growth and elongation. This study aims to investigate if NTN4 correlates with prognosis and immune infiltration in breast cancer. The prognostic landscape of NTN4 and its relationship with immune infiltration in breast cancer were deciphered with public databases and immunohistochemistry (IHC) in tissue samples. The expression profiling and prognostic value of NTN4 were explored using UALCAN, TIMER, Kaplan-Meier Plotter and Prognoscan databases. Based on TIMER, relationships of NTN4 expression with tumor immune invasion and immune cell surface markers were evaluated. Transcription and survival analyses of NTN4 in breast cancer were investigated with cBioPortal database. The STRING database was explored to identify molecular functions and signaling pathways downstream of NTN4. NTN4 expression was significantly lower in invasive breast carcinoma compared with adjacent non-malignant tissues. Promoter methylation of NTN4 exhibited different patterns in breast cancer. Low expression of NTN4 was associated with poorer survival. NTN4 was significantly positively related to infiltration of CD8+ T cells, macrophages and neutrophils, whereas significantly negatively related to B cells and tumor purity. Association patterns varied with different subtypes. Various associations between NTN4 levels and immune cell surface markers were revealed. Different subtypes of breast cancer carried different genetic alterations. Mechanistically, NTN4 was involved in mediating multiple biological processes including morphogenesis and migration.

Lung cancer distress: screening thermometer meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The distress is associated with the life quality and prognosis of patients with lung cancer. Distress thermometer (DT) has been widely recommended for distress screening. This study was conducted to summarise the positive rate of distress in patients with lung cancer using DT screenings. METHODS: The PubMed, Embase, PsyclNFO and Cochrane Library databases were comprehensively searched to identify all eligible studies published before 31 December 2021. Studies were eligible if they were published in peer-reviewed literature and evaluated distress levels by DT. RESULTS: Ten eligible studies, including a total of 2111 patients, were included in this analysis, and their methodological quality was moderate. The pooled positive rate of distress in patients with lung cancer was 49.04% (95% CI 41.51% to 56.60%). The subgroup analysis revealed that the distress positive rate was significantly different (p<0.05) across North America, Europe and China with values of 53.33% (95% CI 45.22% to 61.37%), 43.81% (95% CI 31.57% to 56.43%) and 38.57% (95% CI 33.89% to 43.41%), respectively. Moreover, the distress positive rate was significantly different between men and women (p<0.05). Additionally, in terms of histological type, clinical tumour, node, metastasis stage, previous treatment and DT threshold, the distress positive rate had no significant differences. No significant publication bias was identified by Begg's funnel plot and Egger's test. CONCLUSIONS: The summarised distress positive rate was high and was significantly different according to gender and region. DT screening should be recommended for routine clinical practice and more attention should be given towards distress management.

Epidemiological characteristics, clinical characteristics, and prognostic factors of children with atopy hospitalised with adenovirus pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Atopy may be associated with disease severity and a poor prognosis of human adenovirus (HAdV) pneumonia in children. Our aim was to observe the clinical characteristics and pulmonary radiological changes in children with atopy and HAdV pneumonia in China. METHODS: Children hospitalised with HAdV pneumonia from June 2018 to December 2019 were analysed. All children were divided into atopic with HAdV, non-atopic with HAdV, and atopic without HAdV infection group. Each group was further divided into the mild and severe pneumonia groups according to disease severity. Standard treatment was initiated after admission, and regular follow-up evaluations were conducted at 1 month after discharge. Baseline and clinical characteristics and pulmonary radiological changes in children with and without atopy were evaluated. Risk factors associated with small airway lesions in patients with HAdV pneumonia were analysed. RESULTS: The eosinophil count in the atopic group was significantly higher than that in the non-atopic group (P < 0.05). Severe coughing, wheezing, and small airway lesions on chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) upon admission, after discharge and 1 month after discharge were significantly higher in the atopic group (with or without HAdV infection) than in the non-atopic group (P < 0.05). There were significant differences in the number of patients with wheezing and small airway lesions during hospitalisation and after discharge among the three groups (P < 0.05). The risks of small airway lesions in children with a family or personal history of asthma, severe infection, atopy, and HAdV infection were 2.1-, 2.7-, 1.9-, 2.1-, and 1.4-times higher than those in children without these characteristics, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Children with atopy and HAdV pneumonia may experience severe coughing in mild cases and wheezing in mild and severe cases. Children with atopy are more susceptible to the development of small airway lesions, recurrent wheezing after discharge and slower recovery of small airway lesions as observed on pulmonary imaging than non-atopic children after HAdV infection. A family or personal history of asthma, atopy, severe infection, and HAdV infection are independent risk factors associated with the development of small airway lesion as observed on chest HRCT.

Supported Palladium-Catalyzed Carbonylative Synthesis of Diaryl Ketones from Aryl Bromides and Arylboronic Acids.

A palladium supported on graphitic carbon nitride (Pd/g-C3 N4 ) catalyzed carbonylative reaction of aryl bromides and arylboronic acids by has been developed for the construction of diaryl ketones. Using benzene-1,3,5-triyl triformate (TFBen) as the CO source, the reaction proceeded well to give various diaryl ketones in moderate to good yields.

Psychological reactions and interventions to help Cancer patients cope during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

During COVID-19 pandemic, how can cancer patients adjust their psychological status? In this article, some questions and suggestions are given to share. I listed some of negative emotions could happen on cancer patients and showed their harm and gave suggestions accordingly, especially in how to keep cancer patients in a healthy attitude during the difficult time.

The synthesis and evaluation of phenoxyacylhydroxamic acids as potential agents for Helicobacter pylori infections.

Two series of ω-phenoxy contained acylhydroxamic acids as novel urease inhibitors were designed and synthesized. Biological activity evaluations revealed that ω-phenoxypropinoylhydroxamic acids were more active than phenoxyacetohydroxamic acids. Out of these compounds, 3-(3,4-dichlorophenoxy)propionylhydroxamic acid c24 showed significant potency against urease in both cell free extract (IC50 = 0.061 ±â€¯0.003 µM) and intact cell (IC50 = 0.89 ±â€¯0.05 µM), being over 450- and 120-fold more potent than the clinically prescribed urease inhibitor AHA, repectively. Non-linear fitting of experimental data (V-[S]) suggested a mixed-type inhibition mechanism and a dual site binding mode of these compounds.

The dual effects of a novel peptibody on angiogenesis inhibition and M2 macrophage polarization on sarcoma.

Inhibition of the VEGF/VEGF receptor (VEGFR) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2)/TEK receptor tyrosine kinase (Tie-2) pathway is a potential target for tumor angiogenesis. We previously showed that a peptide AS16 which dually inhibits VEGFR/Ang-2 could reduce the tumor growth and decrease the number of microvessels in tumor. However, its short circulating half-life in the serum limits its clinical applications. In this study, as an effort to prolong the short in vivo half-life of AS16, we designed a fusion protein containing peptide AS16 and an IgG Fc fragment. Pharmacokinetic study also revealed that AS16-Fc has a prolonged circulating half-life of about 231 min in rats. We examined the effects of treatment on the tumor vasculature and immune cell populations, tumor growth, in both the MCA-205 and S180 tumor models. We found that AS16-Fc dramatically reduced tumor volume, vascular density and tumor-associated macrophages. Macrophages were identified as potential novel targets following anti-angiogenic therapy, our findings imply a novel role for anti-angiogenic peptide AS16-Fc. These findings indicate that AS16-Fc could be more effective on inhibiting tumor growth angiogenesis and tumor immune microenvironment than that of peptide AS16.

[Effect of temperature and pH on the fluorescence characteristic of oily waste water].

The present study was about the effect of temperature (5-55 degrees C) and pH (3-12) value on the fluorescence characteristic of oily waste water from the export of China Petroleum & Chemical Oil Refinery. It was found that temperature only affects the fluorescence intensity but not the site of fluorescence peaks. The fluorescence peaks shift right that from 413 to 426.5 nm when the oily waste water is acid. And along with the enhancing of the acidity the fluorescence intensity ascended. The fluorescence intensity decreased with alkaline enhancing but the site of fluorescence peaks remained unchanged at 398 nm. Temperature and pH value were the two important impact factors on the fluorescence characteristic of oily waste water. If desired it needs correction and compensation on temperature and pH value. That's expected to improve the detection accuracy of oil class and content.

An overview of reclaimed water reuse in China.

China is facing severe water problems including scarcity and pollution which are now becoming key factors restricting developments. Creating an alternative water resource and reducing effluent discharges, water reuse has been recognized as an integral part of water and wastewater management scheme in China. The government has launched nationwide efforts to optimize the benefits of utilizing reclaimed water. This article reviewed the water reuse activities in China, including: (1) application history and current status; (2) potentials of reclaimed water reuse; (3) laws, policies and regulations governing reclaimed water reuse; (4) risks associated with reclaimed water reuse; (5) issues in reclaimed water reuse. Reclaimed water in Beijing and Tianjin were given as examples. Suggestions for improving the efficiencies of reusing urban wastewater were advanced. Being the largest user of reclaimed wastewater in the world, China's experience can benefit the development of water reuse in other regions.