Comparing the effectiveness of virtual and semi-attendance Stress Inoculation Training [SIT] techniques in improving the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress of pregnant women with psychological distress: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Some studies indicate that more than 10% of pregnant women are affected by psychological problems. The current COVID-19 pandemic has increased mental health problems in more than half of pregnant women. The present study compared the effectiveness of virtual (VSIT) and semi-attendance Stress Inoculation Training (SIT) techniques on the improvement of the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress of pregnant women with psychological distress. METHODS: This study was conducted on 96 pregnant women with psychological distress in a 2-arm parallel-group, randomized control trial between November 2020 and January 2022. The semi-attendance SIT received treatment for six sessions, sessions 1, 3 and 5 as individual face-to-face and sessions 2, 4 and 6 as virtual once a week for 60 min continuously [n = 48], and the virtual SIT received six sessions simultaneously once a week for 60 min (n = 48) in pregnant women of 14-32 weeks' gestation referred to two selected hospitals. The primary outcome of this study was BSI-18 [Brief Symptom Inventory] and NuPDQ-17 [Prenatal Distress Questionnaire]. The secondary outcomes were the PSS-14 [Cohen's General Perceived Stress Scale]. Both groups completed questionnaires measuring anxiety, depression, pregnancy-specific stress, and generally perceived stress questionnaires before and after the treatment. RESULTS: The post-intervention results showed that the stress inoculation training technique in both VSIT and SIT interventions effectively reduced anxiety, depression, psychological distress, pregnancy-specific stress and general perceived stress [P < 0.01]. Also, the SIT interventions on decreasing anxiety [P < 0.001, η2 = 0.40], depression [P < 0.001, η2 = 0.52] and psychological distress [P < 0.001, η2 = 0.41] were more considerable than that of VSIT. However, There was no significant difference between SIT and VSIT intervention in terms of their effects on pregnancy-specific stress [P < 0.38, η2 = 0.01] and general stress [P < 0.42, η2 = 0.008]. CONCLUSION: The semi-attendance SIT group has been a more effective and practical model than the VSIT group, for reducing psychological distress. Therefore, semi-attendance SIT is recommended for pregnant women.

Imaging and Molecular Annotation of Xenographs and Tumours (IMAXT): High throughput data and analysis infrastructure.

With the aim of producing a 3D representation of tumors, imaging and molecular annotation of xenografts and tumors (IMAXT) uses a large variety of modalities in order to acquire tumor samples and produce a map of every cell in the tumor and its host environment. With the large volume and variety of data produced in the project, we developed automatic data workflows and analysis pipelines. We introduce a research methodology where scientists connect to a cloud environment to perform analysis close to where data are located, instead of bringing data to their local computers. Here, we present the data and analysis infrastructure, discuss the unique computational challenges and describe the analysis chains developed and deployed to generate molecularly annotated tumor models. Registration is achieved by use of a novel technique involving spherical fiducial marks that are visible in all imaging modalities used within IMAXT. The automatic pipelines are highly optimized and allow to obtain processed datasets several times quicker than current solutions narrowing the gap between data acquisition and scientific exploitation.

The NALCN channel regulates metastasis and nonmalignant cell dissemination.

We identify the sodium leak channel non-selective protein (NALCN) as a key regulator of cancer metastasis and nonmalignant cell dissemination. Among 10,022 human cancers, NALCN loss-of-function mutations were enriched in gastric and colorectal cancers. Deletion of Nalcn from gastric, intestinal or pancreatic adenocarcinomas in mice did not alter tumor incidence, but markedly increased the number of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and metastases. Treatment of these mice with gadolinium-a NALCN channel blocker-similarly increased CTCs and metastases. Deletion of Nalcn from mice that lacked oncogenic mutations and never developed cancer caused shedding of epithelial cells into the blood at levels equivalent to those seen in tumor-bearing animals. These cells trafficked to distant organs to form normal structures including lung epithelium, and kidney glomeruli and tubules. Thus, NALCN regulates cell shedding from solid tissues independent of cancer, divorcing this process from tumorigenesis and unmasking a potential new target for antimetastatic therapies.