Identifying Reddit Users at a High Risk of Suicide and Their Linguistic Features During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Growth-Based Trajectory Model.

BACKGROUND: Suicide has emerged as a critical public health concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. With social distancing measures in place, social media has become a significant platform for individuals expressing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. However, existing studies on suicide using social media data often overlook the diversity among users and the temporal dynamics of suicide risk. OBJECTIVE: By examining the variations in post volume trajectories among users on the r/SuicideWatch subreddit during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study aims to investigate the heterogeneous patterns of change in suicide risk to help identify social media users at high risk of suicide. We also characterized their linguistic features before and during the pandemic. METHODS: We collected and analyzed post data every 6 months from March 2019 to August 2022 for users on the r/SuicideWatch subreddit (N=6163). A growth-based trajectory model was then used to investigate the trajectories of post volume to identify patterns of change in suicide risk during the pandemic. Trends in linguistic features within posts were also charted and compared, and linguistic markers were identified across the trajectory groups using regression analysis. RESULTS: We identified 2 distinct trajectories of post volume among r/SuicideWatch subreddit users. A small proportion of users (744/6163, 12.07%) was labeled as having a high risk of suicide, showing a sharp and lasting increase in post volume during the pandemic. By contrast, most users (5419/6163, 87.93%) were categorized as being at low risk of suicide, with a consistently low and mild increase in post volume during the pandemic. In terms of the frequency of most linguistic features, both groups showed increases at the initial stage of the pandemic. Subsequently, the rising trend continued in the high-risk group before declining, while the low-risk group showed an immediate decrease. One year after the pandemic outbreak, the 2 groups exhibited differences in their use of words related to the categories of personal pronouns; affective, social, cognitive, and biological processes; drives; relativity; time orientations; and personal concerns. In particular, the high-risk group was discriminant in using words related to anger (odds ratio [OR] 3.23, P<.001), sadness (OR 3.23, P<.001), health (OR 2.56, P=.005), achievement (OR 1.67, P=.049), motion (OR 4.17, P<.001), future focus (OR 2.86, P<.001), and death (OR 4.35, P<.001) during this stage. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the 2 identified trajectories of post volume during the pandemic, this study divided users on the r/SuicideWatch subreddit into suicide high- and low-risk groups. Our findings indicated heterogeneous patterns of change in suicide risk in response to the pandemic. The high-risk group also demonstrated distinct linguistic features. We recommend conducting real-time surveillance of suicide risk using social media data during future public health crises to provide timely support to individuals at potentially high risk of suicide.

Molecular Editing of Toluene by Sequential meta-C-H/Benzylic C-N Deaminative Functionalizations.

An approach to synthesizing structurally diverse toluene derivatives via sequential meta-C-H and benzylic C-N deaminative functionalization was developed by using a recyclable bifunctional directing template. The functionalized Katritzky salt intermediates are shown to be engaged in a wide range of carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond formation reactions. The synthetic utility of the strategy was demonstrated by late-stage functionalization of toloxatone.

Cu-Promoted Divergent Phosphination of Alkynylsulfonium Salts with Diarylphosphines.

An efficient copper-promoted divergent phosphination of alkynylsulfonium salts 1 with secondary diarylphosphines 2 that tolerates a wide range of functional groups under mild conditions is reported. The use of excess alkynyl dibenzothiophenium salts (1/2 > 1, mole ratio) enables the phosphination to deliver alkynyl monophosphine products via a C(sp)-P cross-coupling in good to high yields, while the use of excess secondary diarylphosphines (1/2 < 0.5, mole ratio) leads to a type of cis-ethenyl bisphosphine products via sequential stereoselective double phosphination.

Regiodivergent Remote C-H Functionalization by Tuning Template Geometry.

For transition-metal-catalyzed C-H functionalization, precise differentiation between remote adjacent C(sp2)-H bonds remains a long-standing challenge. Here, the template structure-directivity relationship on remote C-H functionalization of arenes was experimentally and computationally studied. By using geometry-tunable templates, Pd-catalyzed remote meta- and para-C-H activation of benzoic acids was achieved with high site selectivity.

HiChIP-Based Epigenomic Footprinting Identifies a Promoter Variant of UXS1 That Confers Genetic Susceptibility to Gastroesophageal Cancer.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than a hundred single nucleotide variants (SNV) associated with the risk of gastroesophageal cancer (GEC). The majority of the identified SNVs map to noncoding regions of the genome. Uncovering the causal SNVs and genes they modulate could help improve GEC prevention and treatment. Herein, we used HiChIP against histone 3 lysine 27 acetylation (H3K27ac) to simultaneously annotate active promoters and enhancers, identify the interactions between them, and detect nucleosome-free regions (NFR) harboring potential causal SNVs in a single assay. The application of H3K27ac HiChIP in GEC relevant models identified 61 potential functional SNVs that reside in NFRs and interact with 49 genes at 17 loci. The approach led to a 67% reduction in the number of SNVs in linkage disequilibrium at these 17 loci, and at 7 loci, a single putative causal SNV was identified. One SNV, rs147518036, located within the promoter of the UDP-glucuronate decarboxylase 1 (UXS1) gene, seemed to underlie the GEC risk association captured by the rs75460256 index SNV. The rs147518036 SNV creates a GABPA DNA recognition motif, resulting in increased promoter activity, and CRISPR-mediated inhibition of the UXS1 promoter reduced the viability of the GEC cells. These findings provide a framework that simplifies the identification of potentially functional regulatory SNVs and target genes underlying risk-associated loci. In addition, the study implicates increased expression of the enzyme UXS1 and activation of its metabolic pathway as a predisposition to gastric cancer, which highlights potential therapeutic avenues to treat this disease. Significance: Epigenomic footprinting using a histone posttranslational modification targeted 3D genomics methodology elucidates functional noncoding sequence variants and their target genes at cancer risk loci.

Palladium-catalyzed regio- and stereo-selective phosphination of cyclic biarylsulfonium salts to access atropoisomeric phosphines.

A palladium-catalyzed regio- and stereo-selective phosphination of cyclic biarylsulfonium salts (racemic) with HPAr3Ar4 for straightforward synthesis of atropoisomeric phosphines (P,S-ligands) bearing a stereogenic axis or both a stereogenic axis and a P-stereogenic center is reported. The high reactivity and regio- and stereo-selectivity originate from the torsional strain release and palladium catalysis, and the construction of a P-stereogenic center is enabled by an efficient dynamic kinetic resolution. The high performance of the nascent P,S-ligands has been demonstrated in palladium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic substitutions, indicating the great potential of the present methodology.

Highly Diastereo- and Enantioselective Synthesis of Chiral Cyclohexylphosphines by Cu-Catalyzed Phosphination-Aldol Cyclization of Ketone-Enamides.

A highly diastereo- and enantioselective phosphinative cyclization of ketone-enamides with secondary diarylphosphines enabled by copper catalysis is reported, providing a range of chiral tertiary cyclohexylphosphines bearing three contiguous stereogenic centers in high yields. This asymmetric phosphination-aldol cyclization protocol can also be extended to desymmetrization of dione-enamides to create four contiguous stereogenic centers in a highly selective manner.

Stereoselective Synthesis of Tri- and Tetrasubstituted Allylsilanes via Copper-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Silylation of Vinylethylene Carbonates.

Herein, a stereoselective copper-catalyzed decarboxylative silylation of readily available vinylethylene carbonates (VECs) with PhMe2Si-Bpin is reported, affording a wide range of tri- and tetrasubstituted allylsilanes in moderate to high yields with E-selectivity. This protocol was characterized by high stereoselectivity, broad substrate scope, operational simplicity, and mild reaction conditions, which were amenable to diverse derivatizations and gram-scale synthesis.

Dithiolation of Alkenyl Sulfonium Salts with Arylthiols to Access 1,2-Dithioalkanes.

A dithiolation of alkenyl sulfonium salts with arylthiols is described, affording a series of 1,2-dithioalkanes in high yields. This protocol features mild and catalyst-free conditions and involves the formation of two C-S bonds sequentially via the regioselective addition of an arylthiol to the unsaturated C═C bonds, followed by the attack of another arylthiol to form 1,2-dithioalkanes exclusively.

Predicting visual acuity with machine learning in treated ocular trauma patients.

AIM: To predict best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) by machine learning in patients with ocular trauma who were treated for at least 6mo. METHODS: The internal dataset consisted of 850 patients with 1589 eyes and an average age of 44.29y. The initial visual acuity was 0.99 logMAR. The test dataset consisted of 60 patients with 100 eyes collected while the model was optimized. Four different machine-learning algorithms (Extreme Gradient Boosting, support vector regression, Bayesian ridge, and random forest regressor) were used to predict BCVA, and four algorithms (Extreme Gradient Boosting, support vector machine, logistic regression, and random forest classifier) were used to classify BCVA in patients with ocular trauma after treatment for 6mo or longer. Clinical features were obtained from outpatient records, and ocular parameters were extracted from optical coherence tomography images and fundus photographs. These features were put into different machine-learning models, and the obtained predicted values were compared with the actual BCVA values. The best-performing model and the best variable selected were further evaluated in the test dataset. RESULTS: There was a significant correlation between the predicted and actual values [all Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC)>0.6]. Considering only the data from the traumatic group (group A) into account, the lowest mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) were 0.30 and 0.40 logMAR, respectively. In the traumatic and healthy groups (group B), the lowest MAE and RMSE were 0.20 and 0.33 logMAR, respectively. The sensitivity was always higher than the specificity in group A, in contrast to the results in group B. The classification accuracy and precision were above 0.80 in both groups. The MAE, RMSE, and PCC of the test dataset were 0.20, 0.29, and 0.96, respectively. The sensitivity, precision, specificity, and accuracy of the test dataset were 0.83, 0.92, 0.95, and 0.90, respectively. CONCLUSION: Predicting BCVA using machine-learning models in patients with treated ocular trauma is accurate and helpful in the identification of visual dysfunction.

Highly Regioselective Dichalcogenation of Alkenyl Sulfonium Salts to Access 1,1-Dichalcogenalkenes.

An unprecedented geminal olefinic dichalcogenation of alkenyl sulfonium salts with dichalcogenides ArYYAr (Y = S, Se, Te) is reported, providing various trisubstituted 1,1-dichalcogenalkenes [Ar1CH = C(YAr2)2] in a highly selective manner under mild and catalyst-free conditions. The key process involves the formation of two geminal olefinic C-Y bonds via sequential C-Y cross-coupling and C-H chalcogenation. A mechanistic rationale is further supported by control experiments and density functional theory calculations.

CCT-Unet: A U-Shaped Network Based on Convolution Coupled Transformer for Segmentation of Peripheral and Transition Zones in Prostate MRI.

The accurate segmentation of prostate region in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide reliable basis for artificially intelligent diagnosis of prostate cancer. Transformer-based models have been increasingly used in image analysis due to their ability to acquire long-term global contextual features. Although Transformer can provide feature representations of the overall appearance and contour representations at long distance, it does not perform well on small-scale datasets of prostate MRI due to its insensitivity to local variation such as the heterogeneity of the grayscale intensities in the peripheral zone and transition zone across patients; meanwhile, the convolutional neural network (CNN) could retain these local features well. Therefore, a robust prostate segmentation model that can aggregate the characteristics of CNN and Transformer is desired. In this work, a U-shaped network based on the convolution coupled Transformer is proposed for segmentation of peripheral and transition zones in prostate MRI, named the convolution coupled Transformer U-Net (CCT-Unet). The convolutional embedding block is first designed for encoding high-resolution input to retain the edge detail of the image. Then the convolution coupled Transformer block is proposed to enhance the ability of local feature extraction and capture long-term correlation that encompass anatomical information. The feature conversion module is also proposed to alleviate the semantic gap in the process of jumping connection. Extensive experiments have been conducted to compare our CCT-Unet with several state-of-the-art methods on both the ProstateX open dataset and the self-bulit Huashan dataset, and the results have consistently shown the accuracy and robustness of our CCT-Unet in MRI prostate segmentation.

Suicide before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.

Synthesizing evidence to examine changes in suicide-related outcomes before and during the pandemic can inform suicide management during the COVID-19 crisis. We searched 13 databases as of December 2022 for studies reporting both the pre- and peri-pandemic prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, or rate of death by suicide. A random-effects model was used to pool the ratio of peri- and pre-pandemic prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempt (Prevalence Ratio-PR) and rate of death by suicide (Rate Ratio; RR). We identified 51, 55, and 25 samples for suicidal ideation, attempt, and death by suicide. The prevalence of suicidal ideation increased significantly among non-clinical (PR = 1.142; 95% CI: 1.018-1.282; p = 0.024; k = 28) and clinical (PR = 1.134; 95% CI: 1.048-1.227; p = 0.002; k = 23) samples, and pooled estimates differed by population and study design. Suicide attempts were more prevalent during the pandemic among non-clinical (PR = 1.14; 95% CI: 1.053-1.233; p = 0.001; k = 30) and clinical (PR = 1.32; 95% CI: 1.17-1.489; p = 0.000; k = 25) participants. The pooled RR for death by suicide was 0.923 (95% CI: 0.84-1.01; p = 0.092; k = 25), indicating a nonsignificant downward trend. An upward trend of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite suicide rate remaining stable. Our findings suggest that timely prevention and intervention programs are highly needed for non-clinical adult population and clinical patients. Monitoring the real-time and long-run suicide risk as the pandemic evolves is warranted.

Prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among Chinese older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Estimating the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among older adults with different health conditions can inform mental health services for this population during the corona virus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Method: A search of 12 scientific databases identified 17 studies with 11,237 Chinese older adults who were infected by COVID-19, were generally healthy, or had chronic illnesses. Meta-analysis was used to estimate the overall prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in these three groups. Assessment criteria, region, and time phase of the pandemic were tested as sources of heterogeneity. Results: With an average risk of bias score of 6.71 (range = 6-8), the majority of included studies employed appropriate statistical methods, used validated measurement tools, and had adequate response rates; however, they might have deficiencies in sample frame, sampling method, and sample size. Within the COVID-19, general, and chronic illness groups, the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 27%, 26%, and 61%, respectively, and the prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 14%, 23%, and 85%, respectively. Among generally healthy older adults, anxiety was more prevalent during the Phase 2 (March-April 2020) of the pandemic compared with other time phases. Conclusions: The results have implications for addressing the mental health problems of Chinese older adults, especially those with chronic illnesses, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Four-quadrant fast compressive tracking of breast ultrasound videos for computer-aided response evaluation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in mice.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is a valuable treatment approach for locally advanced breast cancer. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) potentially enables the assessment of therapeutic response to NAC. In order to evaluate the response accurately, quantitatively and objectively, a method that can effectively compensate motions of breast cancer in CEUS videos is urgently needed. METHODS: We proposed the four-quadrant fast compressive tracking (FQFCT) approach to automatically perform CEUS video tracking and compensation for mice undergoing NAC. The FQFCT divided a tracking window into four smaller windows at four quadrants of a breast lesion and formulated the tracking at each quadrant as a binary classification task. After the FQFCT of breast cancer videos, the quantitative features of CEUS including the mean transit time (MTT) were computed. All mice showed a pathological response to NAC. The features between pre- (day 1) and post-treatment (day 3 and day 5) in these responders were statistically compared. RESULTS: When we tracked the CEUS videos of mice with the FQFCT, the average tracking error of FQFCT was 0.65 mm, reduced by 46.72% compared with the classic fast compressive tracking method (1.22 mm). After compensation with the FQFCT, the MTT on day 5 of the NAC was significantly different from the MTT before NAC (day 1) (p = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: The FQFCT improves the accuracy of CEUS video tracking and contributes to the computer-aided response evaluation of NAC for breast cancer in mice.

US FDA-approved therapeutic antibodies with high-concentration formulation: summaries and perspectives.

Thirty four (34) of the total US FDA approved 103 therapeutic antibody drugs, accounts for one third of the total approved mAbs, are formulated with high protein concentration (100 mg/mL or above) which are the focus of this article. The highest protein concentration of these approved mAbs is 200 mg/mL. The dominant administration route is subcutaneous (76%). Our analysis indicates that it may be rational to implement a platform formulation containing polysorbate, histidine and sucrose to accelerate high concentration formulation development for antibody drugs. Since 2015, the FDA approval numbers are significantly increased which account for 76% of the total approval numbers, i.e., 26 out of 34 highly concentrated antibodies. Thus, we believe that the high concentration formulations of antibody drugs will be the future trend of therapeutic antibody formulation development, regardless of the challenges of highly concentrated protein formulations.

A predominant enhancer co-amplified with the SOX2 oncogene is necessary and sufficient for its expression in squamous cancer.

Amplification and overexpression of the SOX2 oncogene represent a hallmark of squamous cancers originating from diverse tissue types. Here, we find that squamous cancers selectively amplify a 3' noncoding region together with SOX2, which harbors squamous cancer-specific chromatin accessible regions. We identify a single enhancer e1 that predominantly drives SOX2 expression. Repression of e1 in SOX2-high cells causes collapse of the surrounding enhancers, remarkable reduction in SOX2 expression, and a global transcriptional change reminiscent of SOX2 knockout. The e1 enhancer is driven by a combination of transcription factors including SOX2 itself and the AP-1 complex, which facilitates recruitment of the co-activator BRD4. CRISPR-mediated activation of e1 in SOX2-low cells is sufficient to rebuild the e1-SOX2 loop and activate SOX2 expression. Our study shows that squamous cancers selectively amplify a predominant enhancer to drive SOX2 overexpression, uncovering functional links among enhancer activation, chromatin looping, and lineage-specific copy number amplifications of oncogenes.

[Corrigendum] Connexin 43 reduces susceptibility to sympathetic atrial fibrillation.

Following the publication of the above article, the authors have realized that the data shown in Fig. 3B were published previously in Fig 1A of following publication, on which several of were co­authors [Shu C, Huang W, Zeng Z, He Y, Luo B, Liu H, Li J and Xu J: Connexin 43 is involved in the sympathetic atrial fibrillation in canine and canine atrial myocytes. Anatol J Cardiol 18: 3­9, 2017]. This error arose inadvertently; the corrected version of Fig. 3, also containing the correct data for Fig. 3B, is shown opposite. The authors are grateful to the Editor of International Journal of Molecular Medicine for allowing them the opportunity to publish this Corrigendum, and stress that this error did not significantly influence either the results or the conclusions of the paper. Furthermore, the authors apologize to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [the original article was published in International Journal of Molecular Medicine 42: 1125-1133, 2018; DOI: 10.3892/ijmm.2018.3648].

The effects of acceptance and commitment therapy on the psychological and physical outcomes among cancer patients: A meta-analysis with trial sequential analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The current study used meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis to estimate the effects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on the psychological and physical distress of cancer patients, and to identify potential moderators in this body of research. METHODS: A search of multiple databases in February 2020 identified 25 independent trials (17 randomized controlled trials, 8 non-randomized controlled trials; 2256 participants) on the effects of ACT among cancer patients. Trial sequential analysis (TSA) was used to determine whether the available evidence is sufficient to draw strong conclusions. RESULTS: ACT significantly reduced cancer patients' psychological distress (g = 0.88), and improved psychological flexibility (g = 0.58), quality of life (g = 1.19), and sense of hope (g = 2.17). TSA showed that there was sufficient evidence to obtain stable estimates of the effect of ACT on psychological distress and quality of life. Effect sizes for psychological distress were larger in studies conducted in eastern countries, in younger samples, and when therapy was of longer duration. CONCLUSION: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy can effectively improve the mental health of cancer patients, and can be applied to clinical practice as an effective psychological intervention. Researchers are encouraged to take into account stage and trajectory of cancer in future studies.

Self-Oriented Empathy and Compassion Fatigue: The Serial Mediation of Dispositional Mindfulness and Counselor's Self-Efficacy.

This study aimed to explore the association between self-oriented empathy and compassion fatigue, and examine the potential mediating roles of dispositional mindfulness and the counselor's self-efficacy. A total of 712 hotline psychological counselors were recruited from the Mental Health Service Platform at Central China Normal University, Ministry of Education during the outbreak of Corona Virus Disease 2019, then were asked to complete the questionnaires measuring self-oriented empathy, compassion fatigue, dispositional mindfulness, and counselor's self-efficacy. Structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze the possible associations and explore potential mediations. In addition to reporting confidence intervals (CI), we employed a new method named model-based constrained optimization procedure to test hypotheses of indirect effects. Results showed that self-oriented empathy was positively associated with compassion fatigue. Dispositional mindfulness and counselor's self-efficacy independently and serially mediated the associations between self-oriented empathy and compassion fatigue. The findings of this study confirmed and complemented the etiological and the multi-factor model of compassion fatigue. Moreover, the results indicate that it is useful and necessary to add some training for increasing counselor's self-efficacy in mindfulness-based interventions in order to decrease compassion fatigue.