The tendency to avoid physical activity and sport scale (TAPAS): Rasch analysis with differential item functioning testing among a Chinese sample.

BACKGROUND: The benefits of physical activity are well-known to prevent multiple long-term health conditions. Physical appearance and weight-related stigma may influence individuals' decision to engage in physical activity and sport. Therefore, the present study examined the psychometric properties of a newly developed instrument, the Tendency to Avoid Physical Activity and Sport Scale (TAPAS), using modern test theory. METHODS: A total of 2319 university students were recruited from mainland China and they completed the TAPAS. Rasch analysis was used to examine the TAPAS' rating scaling functioning, test unidimensionality, item hierarchy, ceiling and floor effects, and differential item functioning (DIF). Moreover, the concurrent validity of the TAPAS was examined using the Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire (WSSQ), Weight Bias Internalization Scale (WBIS), and body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: Unidimensionality was confirmed except for one item. Items corresponding to attitude toward physical activity were more easily adopted compared to items corresponding to actual behavioral aspects. No ceiling and floor effects were found. No DIF existed in the TAPAS items. The TAPAS was strongly correlated with both the WSSQ and WBIS, but not BMI. CONCLUSION: The study showed that overall, the TAPAS has robust psychometric properties. However, future research needs to address the misfit item and explore the feasibility of applying the TAPAS to other populations including wider ethnic groups, age ranges, and life stages.

Mediating Roles of Psychological Distress, Insomnia, and Body Image Concerns in the Association Between Exercise Addiction and Eating Disorders.

Purpose: Exercising can promote good health. However, excessive exercising may have downsides. This study examined the association between exercise addiction and eating disorders and whether the identified association was mediated by psychological distress, insomnia (including sleep quality), and body image concern. Methods: A total of 2088 adolescents (mean age of 15.3 years) participated in this cross-sectional study by questions assessing exercise addiction, eating disorders, psychological distress, insomnia, sleep quality, and body image concern. Results: There were significantly positive relationships between the variables (r=0.12-0.54, p<0.01) with effect sizes from small to large. The four potential mediators (ie, insomnia, sleep quality, psychological distress, and body image concern), individually and in total, significantly mediated the association between exercise addiction and eating disorders. Conclusion: The findings suggest that exercise addiction in adolescents may influence eating disorders through multiple pathways, such as insomnia, psychological distress, and body image concerns. Future research should examine these relationships longitudinally and use gathered information to inform intervention development. Clinicians and healthcare workers are encouraged to assess exercise addiction when treating individuals with eating disorders.

Long-term DEHP/MEHP exposure promotes colorectal cancer stemness associated with glycosylation alterations.

Plasticizers are considered as environmental pollution released from medical devices and increased potential oncogenic risks in clinical therapy. Our previous studies have shown that long-term exposure to di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP)/mono-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP) promotes chemotherapeutic drug resistance in colorectal cancer. In this study, we investigated the alteration of glycosylation in colorectal cancer following long-term plasticizers exposure. First, we determined the profiles of cell surface N-glycomes by using mass spectrometry and found out the alterations of α2,8-linkages glycans. Next, we analyzed the correlation between serum DEHP/MEHP levels and ST8SIA6 expression from matched tissues in total 110 colorectal cancer patients. Moreover, clinical specimens and TCGA database were used to analyze the expression of ST8SIA6 in advanced stage of cancer. Finally, we showed that ST8SIA6 regulated stemness in vitro and in vivo. Our results revealed long-term DEHP/MEHP exposure significantly caused cancer patients with poorer survival outcome and attenuated the expression of ST8SIA6 in cancer cells and tissue samples. As expected, silencing of ST8SIA6 promoted cancer stemness and tumorigenicity by upregulating stemness-associated proteins. In addition, the cell viability assay showed enhanced drug resistance in ST8SIA6 silencing cells treated with irinotecan. Besides, ST8SIA6 was downregulated in the advanced stage and positively correlated with tumor recurrence in colorectal cancer. Our results imply that ST8SIA6 potentially plays an important role in oncogenic effects with long-term phthalates exposure.

The Mediating Role of Selfitis in the Associations between Self-Esteem, Problematic Social Media Use, Problematic Smartphone Use, Body-Self Appearance, and Psychological Distress among Young Ghanaian Adults.

Selfie-related activities have become pervasive to the point that they may affect the mental health of people who engage in them. To ascertain this mechanism, this study examined the mediating role of selfitis in the associations between self-esteem, problematic social media use, problematic smartphone use, body-self appearance, and psychological distress among young Ghanaian adults. A total of 651 participants completed a questionnaire with measures on self-esteem, body-self appearance, problematic social media use, problematic smartphone use, depression, anxiety, stress, coping skills, and selfitis. There were direct associations between all the variables except between self-esteem and selfitis. In addition, selfitis mediated the associations between problematic social media use, problematic smartphone use, body-self appearance, and psychological distress except between self-esteem and psychological distress. These findings suggest that selfitis can serve as a pathway by which people who overly engage in problematic social media use, problematic smartphone use, and have poor body-self appearance may experience psychological distress. Hence, there is a need for health communicators, school authorities, and opinion leaders to educate young adults on the consequences of the problematic use of technology, especially for selfitis behaviour. Future studies can examine the factors that predict selfitis behaviour among adults.

Comparisons of psychological distress and self-stigma among three types of substance use disorders receiving treatment-as-usual approaches: real-world data from a 9-month longitudinal study.

Background: Substance use is an important issue worldwide and people with substance use disorders (SUDs) have been reported to have high levels of psychological distress and self-stigma. Therefore, psychological distress and self-stigma in people with SUDs are considerable. Objective: The present study used a longitudinal design to examine whether treatment-as-usual approaches in Taiwan improve psychological distress and self-stigma among people with three types of SUDs (heroin, amphetamine, and alcohol use disorders). Design: A 9-month longitudinal design involving four assessments spaced 3 months apart. Methods: Convenience sampling was used to recruit people with heroin (n = 112), amphetamine (n = 151), and alcohol (n = 56) use disorders from outpatient psychiatric center in Southern Taiwan. Psychological distress was assessed using the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21), and self-stigma was assessed using the Self-Stigma Scale-Short (SSS-S). Generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were constructed to understand between-group differences in psychological distress and self-stigma over time. Results: Patients with heroin and amphetamine use disorders had lower levels of psychological distress as compared with those with alcohol use disorder. Levels of psychological distress were lower at Time 2 to Time 4 as compared with Time 1. Patients with heroin and amphetamine use disorders had higher levels of self-stigma as compared with those with alcohol use disorder. Self-stigma levels remained stable over time. The dropout rate of receiving treatment-as-usual approach in the 9-month study was 60%. Conclusion: Treatment as usual for SUDs among outpatients in Taiwan may decrease psychological distress but not self-stigma. However, such effects need to be further examined given the high drop-out rates and absence of a control condition. The findings suggest that self-stigma may warrant additional treatment for patients with SUDs.

The Associations between Sibling Victimization, Sibling Bullying, Parental Acceptance-Rejection, and School Bullying.

Bullying has been identified as the most common form of aggression experienced by school-age youth. However, it is still unclear about the family's influence on school bullying. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore the associations between sibling bullying and school bullying, sibling victimization and school victimization, and parental acceptance-rejection and school bullying victimization. The study was cross-sectional and conducted on a sample of students aged between 11 and 20 years recruited from middle schools in Algeria. The study used a survey adopted from the scale of Sibling Bullying, Student Survey of Bullying Behavior-Revised 2, and the Survey of parental acceptance-rejection in collecting the data. The model's results assessing the association between sibling bullying and school bullying demonstrated that the effect of sibling physical and sibling verbal victims on school victimization was statistically significant. Despite the non-significant effect of sibling emotional victims on school victimization, the effect of sibling physical and sibling verbal bullying on school bullying was statistically significant. However, the effect of sibling emotional bullying on school bullying was not statistically significant. The direct effect of parental acceptance on school victimization was not statistically significant, whereas the effect of parental rejection on school victimization was statistically significant. The direct effect of parental acceptance on school bullying was not statistically significant, while the effect of parental rejection on school bullying was statistically significant. Based on the results, this study provides insights into the understanding of how the family and siblings contribute to school bullying. In particular, sibling victimization, sibling bullying, and parental acceptance-rejection are predictive factors of school bullying among adolescents. Future research should take into account factors based on family to explore the risks of school bullying.

Evaluating a cross-lagged panel model between problematic internet use and psychological distress and cross-level mediation of school administrator support on problematic internet use: The serial mediating role of psychological needs thwarting of online teaching and psychological distress.

Background: To reduce the transmission of COVID-19, many teachers across the globe, including teachers in China, were required to teach online. This shift to online teaching can easily result in psychological need thwarting (PNT) of teachers' psychological basic needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), leaving them vulnerable to negative psychological outcomes. Resulting negative emotional state may lead to problematic internet use (PIU), which can lead to further psychological distress, forming a vicious cycle. Methods: The present study was conducted using a cross-lagged panel model (with longitudinal data) and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) (with cross-sectional data). The aims were to investigate (i) the reciprocal relationships between two specific forms of PIU [problematic social media use (PSMU) and problematic gaming (PG)] and psychological distress among schoolteachers, and (ii) the influence of administrators' support on schoolteachers' PIU through a cross-level serial mediation model (PNT of online teaching was the first mediator and psychological distress was the second mediator affected by PNT of online teaching). Primary and secondary schoolteachers (N = 980; mean age = 34.76; 82.90% females) participated in two surveys (Time 1: mid-November 2021; Time 2: early-January 2022). Results: Results indicated that (i) high psychological distress at Time 1 was associated with increased levels of PSMU and PG at Time 2. Inversely, PG at Time 1 was associated with increased psychological distress at Time 2, although PSMU at Time 1 did not have a significant influence on psychological distress at Time 2; (ii) during Time 1, increased administrative support contributed to alleviating teachers' psychological needs thwarting of online teaching, thereby lowering their psychological distress which, in turn, resulted in a decrease in PG. Conclusion: PG had a stronger negative influence on teachers' psychological distress than PSMU. To relieve teachers' PG, administrative support can alleviate teachers' psychological needs thwarting of online teaching and psychological distress. Based on this finding, school managers must consider effective ways to support teachers during mandatory online teaching.

High Expression of Folate Receptor Alpha (FOLR1) is Associated With Aggressive Tumor Behavior, Poor Response to Chemoradiotherapy, and Worse Survival in Rectal Cancer.

Objectives: Recently, molecular medicine targeting Folate Receptor Alpha (FOLR1), which mediates intracellular folate uptake and tumor cell proliferation, has been identified in several malignancies. However, the association between FOLR1 expression and rectal cancer remains unclear. Methods: Immunostaining of FOLR1 was performed on biopsy specimens from 172 rectal cancer patients undergoing preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT). FOLR1 expression was measured and divided into low (0+-2+) or high (3+-4+) level. Correlations between FOLR1 status and clinicopathologic features, tumor regression grade, disease-specific survival (DSS), local recurrence-free survival, and metastasis-free survival (MeFS) were analyzed, retrospectively. Results: High FOLR1 expression was significantly associated with advanced post-treatment tumor and nodal status (T3-4; N1-2, P = .001), vascular invasion (P = .042), perineural invasion (P = .012), and poor regression change after CRT (P = .001). In uni- and multi-variable survival analysis, FOLR1 overexpression remained a significant predictor of lower DSS (hazard ratio [HR], 2.328; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.014-5.344; P = .046) and MeFS (HR, 2.177; 95% CI, 1.000-1.1286; P = .050). Conclusion: These results indicate that high FOLR1 status is associated with aggressive tumor behavior, poor response to CRT, and worse survival. Therefore, FOLR1 expression at initial biopsy may be useful in predicting outcomes and also be a target for the exploration of FOLR1-based therapeutic agents.

High SLC28A2 expression endows an inferior survival for rectal cancer patients managed by neoadjuvant CCRT.

For rectal cancer patients with stage T3-4 disease or positive lymph node, neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) has become the standard treatment, but the clinical outcomes are still far from satisfactory. Accordingly, a more precise predictive tool such as genetic biomarkers is urgently required to optimize therapy decisions. Colorectal cancer (CRC) development has been considerably correlated with cellular metabolic process involving nucleotides, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we employed a transcriptome dataset comprising 46 rectal adenocarcinoma patients undergoing preoperative CCRT and focused on nucleobase-containing compound metabolic process (GO: 0055134) for data mining. We identified solute carrier family 28 member 2 (SLC28A2) as the most considerably upregulated gene among rectal cancer patients with CCRT resistance. Afterwards, there were a total of 172 rectal cancer tissue blocks procuring from our biobank, and the immunointensity of SLC28A2 was appraised utilizing immunohistochemical staining. Strong SLC28A2 immunointensity was significantly linked to female patients (p = 0.032), vascular invasion (p = 0.021), and post-CCRT tumor invasion and regional lymph node involvement (p < 0.001 and p = 0.005). Notably, patients with strong SLC28A2 immunointensity had no tumor downstaging (p < 0.001). Univariate analysis revealed that high SLC28A2 immunoexpression was considerably unfavorably linked to all three endpoints: local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), metastasis-free survival (MeFS), and disease-specific survival (DSS) (all p ≤ 0.0333). Moreover, both high SLC28A2 immunoexpression and low tumor regression grade were independently unfavorable prognostic factors for all three endpoints (all p ≤ 0.013) in the multivariate analysis. Utilizing function prediction analysis, SLC28A2 upregulation was more likely to be linked with stem cell homeostasis in rectal cancer. In brief, we demonstrated that high SLC28A2 immunoexpression is substantially linked to an advanced stage, poor response to CCRT, and worse patient survival. Consequently, SLC28A2 expression can be a valuable predictive and prognostic marker for rectal cancer patients and be an encouraging therapeutic target for those with CCRT resistance.

The Mediating Roles of Anxiety, Depression, Sleepiness, Insomnia, and Sleep Quality in the Association between Problematic Social Media Use and Quality of Life among Patients with Cancer.

The present study examined the mediating role of anxiety, depression, sleepiness, insomnia, and sleep quality in the association between problematic social media use and quality of life (QoL) among patients with cancer. This cross-sectional survey study recruited 288 patients with cancer to respond to measures on anxiety, depression, sleepiness, insomnia, sleep quality, problematic social media use, and QoL. Structural Equation Modeling was used for the mediation analysis. There were significant relationships between all of the variables used in the study. It was revealed that problematic social media use did not directly influence the QoL of patients with cancer except via anxiety, depression, sleepiness, and insomnia. Sleep quality did not mediate the association between problematic social media use and QoL. Healthcare workers managing cancer should pay attention to the mental health needs of their patients even as they treat their cancer so as to improve their quality of life. Future studies may examine other variables that affect the QoL of patients with cancer as well as other mediating and moderating variables.

The impact of a multispecialty operative team on colorectal cancer surgery: A retrospective study from a would-be medical center in Taiwan.

Some studies showed that when distant metastasis or locally advanced tumors were observed, the participation of 2 or more operating surgeons (combined surgery) in the operation could improve the prognosis of patients. The multispecialty operative team would perform combined surgery in colon cancer patients with some complications since 2015. The goal of this study is to confirm performing combined surgery would improve the outcomes of colon cancer patients. A retrospective observational study was conducted, which involved all colon cancer patients between November 2015 and December 2019 at one would-be medical center. Patients were divided into 3 cohorts: those with complicated cases and had combined surgery (C_2S), those with complicated cases and had surgery performed by a single surgeon (C_1S), and those with uncomplicated cases and had surgery performed by a single surgeon (NC_1S). Overall survival and disease-free survival were compared among the 3 groups. A total of 296 colon cancer patients during the study period. Among them, 35 were C_2S, 87 were C_1S, and 174 were NC_1S. Patients in the NC_1S group had significantly higher 12-, 24-, and 36-month OS rates compared to those in the C_1S group (P < .01). In contrast, there was no significant difference in overall survival among patients in the NC_1S and C_2S group (P =.15). The quality of surgery must be impact the prognosis, especially in the individual who was complicated case, the survival in patients who had surgery performed by multispecialty operative team would be improved.

Effects of sleep quality on the association between problematic internet use and quality of life in people with substance use disorder.

BACKGROUND: Problematic internet use, especially in people with substance use disorder, may negatively affect their quality of life (QoL). However, it is unclear whether sleep quality is a key mediator in the association between problematic internet use and QoL among people with substance use disorder. AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between problematic internet use and QoL and how sleep quality may mediate the association between these two variables. METHOD: Overall, 319 people (85% male) with substance use disorder (mean age 42.2 years, s.d. 8.9) participated in a cross-sectional study in Taiwan. The Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale, Bergan Social Media Addiction Scale, Internet Gaming Disorder-Short Form, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire Brief Version were used. RESULTS: The prevalence of sleep problems was 56%. There were significant and direct associations between sleep quality and two types of problematic internet use, and between sleep quality and different dimensions of QoL. All types of problematic internet use were significantly and negatively correlated with QoL. Mediated effects of sleep quality in relationships between the different types of problematic internet use and all dimensions of QoL were significant, except for problematic use of social media. CONCLUSIONS: Different types of problematic internet use in people with substance use disorder may be directly associated with reduced QoL. Sleep quality as a significant mediator in this association may be an underlying mechanism to explain pathways between problematic internet use and QoL in this population.

Predictors of COVID-19 Stress and COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance among Adolescents in Ghana.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to ravage world economies, and with its recent mutations, countries worldwide are finding ways of ramping up their vaccination programmes. This cross-sectional design study, therefore, examined the predictors of COVID-19 stress and COVID-19 vaccination acceptance among adolescents in Ghana. A total of 817 participants were conveniently selected to respond to measures on fear of COVID-19, perceived stigma from COVID-19, self-stigma from COVID-19, believing COVID-19 information, COVID-19 infection prevention behaviours, COVID-19 stress, and COVID-19 vaccination acceptance. It was found that females believed COVID-19 information and accepted COVID-19 vaccination more than males did. Moreover, there were significant relationships between the majority of the COVID-19-related variables. Furthermore, fear of COVID-19, self-stigma from COVID-19, and COVID-19 infection prevention behaviours were found to be significant predictors of COVID-19 stress. Additionally, believing COVID-19 information, danger and contamination fears (a subscale of COVID-19 stress), and traumatic stress (a subscale of COVID-19 stress) were significant predictors of COVID-19 vaccination acceptance. These findings imply that different factors influence different COVID-19 variable. Therefore, careful considerations and research should be employed by health authorities and policymakers in preparing COVID-19 information to target different age groups and for different COVID-19 purposes.

An Observational Study of Trifluridine/Tipiracil-Containing Regimen Versus Regorafenib-Containing Regimen in Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

Background: There are no randomized control trials comparing the efficacy of trifluridine/tipiracil and regorafenib in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Herein, we conducted an observational study to compare the oncologic outcomes of trifluridine/tipiracil-containing regimen (TAS-102) and regorafenib-containing regimen (REG) in patients with mCRC. Material and method: Patients who were diagnosed to have mCRC in 2015 to 2021 and treated with TAS-102-containing regimen or REG-containing regimen were recruited. Monotherapy or combination therapy were all allowed in this study. Oncologic outcomes were presented with progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), overall response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR). Results: A total of 125 patients were enrolled into our study, accounting for 50 patients with TAS-102 and 75 patients with REG. Of these patients, 64% were treated with TAS-102 or REG monotherapy, while the remaining were treated with TAS-102 combination or REG combination. In general, the median PFS and OS were 3.7 versus 2.0 months (P = 0.006) and 9.2 versus 6.8 months (P = 0.048) in TAS-102 and REG, respectively. The ORR and DCR were 44% versus 20% (P < 0.001) and 72% versus 43% (P < 0.001) in TAS-102 and REG, respectively. As for treatment strategies, the survival were significantly longer in combination than in monotherapy, no matter in TAS-102 or REG group. Multivariate analysis showed TAS-102 and combination therapy were independent predictor associated with better survival. Conclusions: Our results suggested that TAS-102 had better oncologic outcomes than REG in patients with mCRC, especially in combination. Further prospective trials are warranted to confirm our results.

Bioinformatics Analyses Identify the Therapeutic Potential of ST8SIA6 for Colon Cancer.

Sialylation of glycoproteins is modified by distinct sialyltransferases such as ST3Gal, ST6Gal, ST6GalNAc, or ST8SIA with α2,3-, α2,6-, or α2,8-linkages. Alteration of these sialyltransferases causing aberrant sialylation is associated with the progression of colon cancer. However, among the ST8- sialyltransferases, the role of ST8SIA6 in colon cancer remains poorly understood. In this study, we explored the involvement of ST8SIA6 in colon cancer using multiple gene databases. The relationship between ST8SIA6 expression and tumor stages/grades was investigated by UALCAN analysis, and Kaplan-Meier Plotter analysis was used to analyze the expression of ST8SIA6 on the survival outcome of colon cancer patients. Moreover, the biological functions of ST8SIA6 in colon cancer were explored using LinkedOmics and cancer cell metabolism gene DB. Finally, TIMER and TISMO analyses were used to delineate ST8SIA6 levels in tumor immunity and immunotherapy responses, respectively. ST8SIA6 downregulation was associated with an advanced stage and poorly differentiated grade; however, ST8SIA6 expression did not affect the survival outcomes in patients with colon cancer. Gene ontology analysis suggested that ST8SIA6 participates in cell surface adhesion, angiogenesis, and membrane vesicle trafficking. In addition, ST8SIA6 levels affected immunocyte infiltration and immunotherapy responses in colon cancer. Collectively, these results suggest that ST8SIA6 may serve as a novel therapeutic target towards personalized medicine for colon cancer.

Surveillance of Adenovirus and Norovirus Contaminants in the Water and Shellfish of Major Oyster Breeding Farms and Fishing Ports in Taiwan.

The enteric viruses, including adenovirus (AdVs) and norovirus (NoVs), in shellfish is a significant food safety risk. This study investigated the prevalence, seasonal occurrence, genetic diversity, and quantification of AdVs and NoVs in the water and cultured shellfish samples at the four major coastal oyster breeding farms (COBF), five major fishing ports (FP), and their markets in Taiwan. The AdVs/NoVs in the water and shellfish samples were isolated by the membrane filtration and direct elution methods. The RNA of NoVs was reverse-transcribed into complementary DNA through reverse transcription reaction. Further NoVs and AdVs were detected using nested PCR. A higher detection rate was recorded in the low-temperature period than high-temperature. Detection difference was noted between nested PCR and qPCR outcomes for AdVs. The total detection rate of AdVs was higher in the water samples (COBF-40.6%, FP 20%) than the shellfish samples (COBF-11.7% and FP 6.3%). The AdVs load in the water and shellfish samples ranged from 1.23 × 103 to 1.00 × 106 copies/L and 3.57 × 103 to 4.27 × 104 copies/100g, respectively. The total detection of NoVs was highest in the water samples of the FP and their market shellfish samples (11.1% and 3.2%, respectively). Genotyping and phylogenetic analysis were identified as the prevalent AdVs and NoVs genotypes in the water and shellfish samples: A species HAdVs serotype 12; F species HAdVs serotype 41; and C species PAdVs serotype 5 (NoVs GI.2, GI.3 and GII.2). No significant differences were observed between the presence of AdVs, and all of the water quality parameters evaluated (heterotrophic plate count, water temperature, turbidity, pH, salinity, and dissolved oxygen). The virus contamination occurs mainly due to the direct discharge of domestic sewage, livestock farm, and fishing market wastewater into the coastal environment. Thus, this study suggested framing better estuarine management to prevent AdVs/NoVs transmission in water and cultured/distributed shellfish.

Cyberchondria, Fear of COVID-19, and Risk Perception Mediate the Association between Problematic Social Media Use and Intention to Get a COVID-19 Vaccine.

Vaccination is the most effective way to control the COVID-19 pandemic, but vaccination hesitancy threatens this effort worldwide. Consequently, there is a need to understand what influences individuals' intention to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Restriction of information gathering on societal developments to social media may influence attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination through exposure to disinformation and imbalanced arguments. The present study examined the association between problematic social media use and intention to get the COVID-19 vaccine, taking into account the mediating roles of cyberchondria, fear of COVID-19, and COVID-19 risk perception. In a cross-sectional survey study, a total of 10,843 residents of Qazvin City, Iran completed measures on problematic social media use, fear of COVID-19, cyberchondria, COVID-19 risk perception, and intention to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that there was no direct association between problematic social media use and intention to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Nonetheless, cyberchondria, fear of COVID-19, and COVID-19 risk perception (each or serially) mediated associations between problematic social media use and intention to get a COVID-19 vaccine. These results add to the understanding of the role of problematic social media use in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, i.e., it is not the quantity of social media use per se that matters. This knowledge of the mediating roles of cyberchondria, fear of COVID-19, and COVID-19 risk perception can be used by public health experts and policymakers when planning educational interventions and other initiatives in COVID-19 vaccination programs.

Impact on inadequate lymph node harvest on survival in T4N0 colorectal cancer: A would-be medical center experience in Taiwan.

Insufficient lymph node harvest (< 12) may lead to incorrect classification of stage I and II disease. Many studies have indicated a poor prognosis with inadequate lymph node harvest in stages I to III, but few studies have demonstrated the relationship between low lymph node harvest and T4 disease. This study aimed to identify the influence of insufficient number of lymph nodes harvested on survival in T4N0 colorectal cancer. We enrolled patients with T4N0 colorectal cancer who underwent radical resection between 2010 and 2016. A total of 155 patients were divided into 2 groups; 142 patients had ≥ 12 harvested lymph nodes, and the other 13 had < 12 lymph nodes. All patients were followed up for at least 5 years. The primary outcome was the impact of the number of lymph nodes harvested on disease-free survival and overall survival, which were investigated using Kaplan-Meier survival techniques. There were no significant differences in recurrence rate, emergent or elective surgery, laparoscopic or open surgery, or chemotherapy between the 2 groups. Kaplan-Meier analyses showed no statistical differences in 5-year disease-free survival (P = .886) and 5-year overall survival (P = .832) between the groups. There were no significant differences in disease-free survival and overall survival between patients with adequate (≥ 12) and inadequate (< 12) lymph node harvest in T4N0 colorectal cancers.

Overexpression of MLPH in Rectal Cancer Patients Correlates with a Poorer Response to Preoperative Chemoradiotherapy and Reduced Patient Survival.

Data mining of a public transcriptomic rectal cancer dataset (GSE35452) from the Gene Expression Omnibus, National Center for Biotechnology Information identified the melanophilin (MLPH) gene as the most significant intracellular protein transport-related gene (GO:0006886) associated with a poor response to preoperative chemoradiation. An MLPH immunostain was performed on biopsy specimens from 172 rectal cancer patients receiving preoperative chemoradiation; samples were divided into high- and low-expression groups by H-scores. Subsequently, the correlations between MLPH expression and clinicopathologic features, tumor regression grade, disease-specific survival (DSS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and metastasis-free survival (MeFS) were analyzed. MLPH expression was significantly associated with CEA level (p = 0.001), pre-treatment tumor status (p = 0.022), post-treatment tumor status (p < 0.001), post-treatment nodal status (p < 0.001), vascular invasion (p = 0.028), and tumor regression grade (p < 0.001). After uni- and multi-variable analysis of five-year survival, MLPH expression was still associated with lower DSS (hazard ratio (HR), 10.110; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.178-46.920; p = 0.003) and MeFS (HR, 5.621; 95% CI, 1.762-17.931; p = 0.004). In conclusion, identifying MLPH expression could help to predict the response to chemoradiation and survival, and aid in personal therapeutic modification.