Type C Behavior and Associated Factors in Patients with Breast Cancer During Postoperative Chemotherapy: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Type C behavior is a cancer-prone behavior that can affect the occurrence and development of cancer. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of type C behavior in patients with breast cancer during postoperative chemotherapy and determine its associated factors. METHODS: This study enrolled 161 patients with breast cancer who received postoperative chemotherapy. Type C personality behavior pattern questionnaire was used to assess type C behavior patterns. The following instruments were employed: medical coping modes questionnaire, social support scale, social relational quality scale, Herth hope index. logistic regression was used to identify the factors affecting type C behavior. RESULTS: The incidence of type C behavior was 28%. Participants aged 45-59 years (OR = 3.62, 95% CI = 1.04-12.56, P = 0.043), and who adopted a resignation coping style (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.03-1.50, P = 0.021), were more likely to develop type C behavior. Type C behavior was less common in patients with employment (OR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.15-0.97, P = 0.043), with a high level of social support (OR = 0.89, 95% CI= 0.80-0.98, P = 0.023), and more hope (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.71-0.98, P = 0.079). CONCLUSION: In this study, 28% patients with breast cancer during postoperative chemotherapy exhibited type C behavior. Associated factors with type C behavior were identified, which could guide health care professionals to reduce the prevalence of type C behavior through guiding patients to adopt positive coping styles and improving their level of social support and hope, especially in those aged 45 to 59 years or in those without employment.

Self-reported confidence in patient safety competencies among Chinese nursing students: a multi-site cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Nursing interns are an important backup force for nursing professionals, so efforts to strengthen their patient safety (PS) competencies are a major priority. To do so requires assessing the strengths and weaknesses of Chinese nursing students' PS competence and identifying the influencing factors. METHODS: This was a multi-site, cross-sectional, web-based study that was carried out between September 2018 and January 2019. A national online survey was completed by 732 Chinese undergraduate nursing students. Our primary outcome factor was the Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey score. We also collected socio-demographic and clinical practice-related characteristics as independent variables. Multiple stepwise linear regression was performed to identify predictors of PS competence. RESULTS: Chinese undergraduate nursing students were fairly confident in their clinical safety skills but less confident in what they learned about sociocultural or context-dependent aspects of PS and speaking up about PS, including effective communication and understanding human and environmental factors. Less than half of the students felt that they could approach someone engaging in unsafe practice and were reluctant to voice concern about adverse events. We observed significant differences in PS competence between students from different regions, across different PS learning styles (self-study and classroom theoretical study), with different self-assessed PS competence levels, and with experiences of adverse events (p < 0.05). These factors accounted for almost 15% of the total variance in PS competence scores (adjusted R2 = 0.15, p = 0.00). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study provide a better understanding of PS competence among final-year nursing students in China. Our findings may help nursing educators or healthcare organizations to cultivate and improve PS competence by establishing documented policies or by improving the efficacy of intervention.

Bioinformatics analysis revealed hub genes and pathways involved in sorafenib resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is increasingly known as a serious, worldwide public health concern. Sorafenib resistance is the main challenge faced by many advanced HCC patients. The specific mechanisms of sorafenib resistance remind unclear. In the current study, GEO2R was conducted to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between sorafenib-resistant samples and the control group by using RNA-sequence analysis and analyzing dataset GSE109211. Next, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was built to explore key targets proteins in sorafenib-resistant HCC. Furthermore, gene ontology (GO) analysis was used to research the underlying roles of key proteins. Moreover, the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to display the effect of key proteins on overall survival in HCC. Western blotting was performed to detected resistance-related proteins and CCK-8 assay was employed to measured cell viability. In the present research, 164 sorafenib resistance-related DEGs in HCC were identified by using RNA-sequence analysis and analyzing the dataset GSE109211. GO analysis revealed DEGs were involved in regulating multiple biological processes and molecular functions. DYNLL2, H2AFJ, SHANK2, ZWILCH, CDC14A, IFT20, MTA3, SERPINA1 and TCF4 were confirmed as key genes in this process. Moreover, our study showed Akt signaling was aberrantly activated and inhibition of Akt signaling enhanced anti-tumor capacity of sorafenib in sorafenib-resistant HCC cells. Identification of the DEGs in sorafenib resistant HCC cells may further provide the new insights of underlying sorafenib-resistant mechanisms and offer latent targets for early diagnosis and new therapies to improve clinical efficacy for sorafenib-resistant HCC patients.

Correlation of metastasis-associated protein expression with prognosis and chemotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The aim of this study was to elaborate the correlation between metastasis-associated protein (MTA) family and the occurrence, progression, prognosis and chemotherapy efficiency in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).The expression of MTA1, MTA2 and MTA3 protein were detected by immunohistochemistry in a tissue microarray (TMAs) which contains tissue samples of 152 NPC patients embedded by formalin-fixed paraffin. The MTA proteins were mainly expressed in the nuclei of NPC tissues and the correlations between MTAs expression and clinical parameters as well as prognosis of NPC patients showed ethnical differences according to statistically analysis. The results showed that in Han ethnic group, MTA1 expression was positively correlated with N staging, while the expression of MTA2 was negatively correlated with age, and the expression of MTA3 was positively correlated with gender. Patients with high MTA1 expression had poorprognosis. In Zhuang ethnic group, only MTA3 expression was positively correlated with age, recurrence and metastasis of NPC patients; neither MTA1 nor MTA2 expression had any correlation with clinical indexes. Patients with high MTA3 expression had unfavorable prognosis. In addition, our results showed that overall survival among Zhuang NPC patients with low expression of MTA2 increased significantly owing to "carboplatin + fluorouracil" chemotherapy. This therapeutic success, however, did not translate to longer overall survival among Han NPC patients. The biological function of MTA protein family in NPC patients was different among different ethnic groups. In conclusion, we demonstrated that MTAs had a certain tumor promoting function in patients with NPC, and the biological functions of MTAs might be ethnic differences, which suggesting MTAs to be important markers for guiding clinical treatment of NPC.

[Effect of Qingyi Decoction on gene expression profiles of severe acute pancreatitis rats by gene chip technique].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Qingyi Decoction (QYD) on pancreatic gene expression profiles in rats with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). METHODS: Totally 60 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into the sham-operation group (SO group), the SAP group, and the QYD group, 20 in each group. SAP model was replicated by the pancreatic duct retrograde injection with 4% sodium taurocholate. Rats in the QYD group was intragastrically intervened by QYD (0.75 mL/100 g) for 3 times. Pancreatic RNA expression was analyzed using Illuminate whole genome expression profiles. Changes of mRNA and protein in specific genes [heat shock proteins a8 (Hspa8) and heat shock proteins b1 (Hspb1)] were verified by real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot analysis. RESULTS: Compared with the SAP group, 575 differential genes were screened in the QYD group, including 92 up-regulated genes and 483 down-regulated genes. Gene Ontology (GO) categories indicated the genes are associated with negative regulation of transcription regulator activity, oxidoreductase activity and enzyme inhibitor activity. Effects of QYD on the SAP rats were major related to mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), NOD like receptors (NLR) receptor-like signaling pathway, cell cycle, metabolic pathways, oxidoreductase activity. Protein and mRNA changes of Hspa8 and Hspb1 in microarray were verified [relative mRNA expression for Hspa8 and Hspb1 was increased by (13.24 +/- 1.22) times and (7.55 +/- 1.09) times respectively, P < 0.01]. CONCLUSION: QYD was effective in treating experimental SAP involved the MAPK and NLR signaling pathways, cell cycle, metabolic pathways, and oxide reductase activities.

microRNA expression pattern and its alteration following celecoxib intervention in human colorectal cancer.

Accumulating evidence suggests that aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) is involved in several diseases, including cancer. This study aimed to investigate the miRNA expression pattern and its alteration following celecoxib intervention for human colorectal cancer (CRC). The miRNA expression profiles of CRC tissues, matched adjacent normal colorectal mucosae and HT-29 cells treated with celecoxib were determined using miRNA microarray, and further confirmed using the quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (Q-RT-PCR). The target genes of the aberrant miRNAs in HT-29 cells treated with celecoxib were further assessed through bioinformatic analysis. Results from this study demonstrated a significant increase in the expression of 35 miRNAs and a decrease in 30 miRNAs in the carcinoma tissues compared to the normal tissues (P<0.001). Of the 28 aberrantly expressed miRNAs, 20 were upregulated and 8 were downregulated in the HT-29 cells treated with celecoxib compared to the matched control cells (P<0.01). Furthermore, miR-552 was found to be correlated with clinical stage, lymph node and distant metastases (P<0.05). Stage and distant metastases revealed differential expression of miR-139-3p and grade disclosed aberrant expression of miR-142-3p. In addition, multiple target genes involved in several essential survival pathways were found be modulated by the aberrantly expressed miRNAs in HT-29 cells treated with celecoxib. Our data revealed that a common pattern of miRNA expression in the colorectum could distinguish malignant tissue from normal mucosa. Celecoxib inhibited HT-29 cell growth in vitro which was partly attributable to the altered expression of miRNAs. miRNAs may be involved in CRC tumorigenesis and can serve as potential therapeutic targets.

[The expression of interferon associated genes mRNA in patients with pulmonary embolism].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the gene expression difference of IFN and their receptors in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of pulmonary embolism (PE) patients. METHODS: Twenty cases of PE patients and twenty sex and age matched controls were recruited into the study. Human cDNA microarray analysis was used to detect the gene expression difference of IFN associated genes between the two groups, and random variance model corrected t test was used to analyze the statistical data. RESULTS: In comparison with the control group, mRNA expression of type I IFN, including IFNα(5) mRNA, IFNα(6) mRNA, IFNα(8) mRNA, IFNα(14) mRNA, IFNκ mRNA, IFNω(1) mRNA, IFNε(1) mRNA in PBMC of PE patients were down-regulated (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in gene expression of type I IFN receptors IFNαR(1) and IFNαR(2) between the PE and control groups (P > 0.05). In comparison with the control group, mRNA expression of IFNγ gene was down-regulated (P < 0.05). The mRNA expression of IFNγR(1) and IFNγR(2) genes were upregulated compared with the control (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: mRNA expression of type I and type II IFN in PE are significantly down-regulated, but not the IFN receptors. Reduced immune function may play an important role in the PE patients who are susceptible to virus, intracellular bacteria and parasites.

Sprout vacuum-infiltration: a simple and efficient agroinoculation method for virus-induced gene silencing in diverse solanaceous species.

UNLABELLED: Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a robust technique for identifying the functions of plant genes. Tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-mediated VIGS has been commonly used in many plants. In order to overcome the limitations of existing agroinoculation methods, we report an easy and effective method of agroinoculation for virus-induced gene silencing-sprout vacuum-infiltration (SVI). Using sprout vacuum-infiltration, we have successfully silenced the expression of phytoene desaturase and Mg-protoporphyrin chelatase genes in four important solanaceous crops, including tomato, eggplant, pepper, and Nicotiana benthamiana. The gene-silenced phenotypes are conspicuous in 1-week-old plants. The method is simple, low cost and rapid compared to other techniques such as leaf infiltration or agrodrench. It may be more practical for studying gene function in the early stages of plant growth. An important aspect of SVI is that it will be used for high-throughput VIGS screens in the future. SVI will be an effective tool to overcome the limitations of current inoculation methods and to facilitate large-scale VIGS analysis of cDNA libraries. KEY MESSAGE: SVI is a simple, low cost agroinoculation method for VIGS. It is practical for studying the function of genes expressed in early stages of plant growth and high-throughput VIGS screens.

[The expression and significance of immunity associated genes mRNA in patients with pulmonary embolism].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the molecular alteration of immunity associated genes in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) so as to preliminarily elucidate its pathogenetic mechanism. METHODS: Human cDNA microarray analysis was employed in this study, random variance model (RVM) corrected t-test was used for the statistical data analysis of differential gene expression. RESULTS: In comparison with control, mRNA expression of functional genes of neutrophils, monophagocytes, IFN regulating factors, TNF, adhesion molecules and T cells were significantly different in PE patients. However, gene expressions of B cell immune function and complement activation associated factors were not significantly different between two groups. CONCLUSION: Unbalance expression of immune function associated genes, especially down-regulated expression of T cell mediated function genes, in patients with PE indicates that the etiology of PE might be related to viral infection.

[Experimental study on recombinant Bla g 2(rBla g 2) in the treatment of allergic asthma in mice].

OBJECTIVE: To study the therapeutic effect on murine allergic asthma with recombinant Bla g 2 (rBla g 2) allergen and its possible mechanism. METHODS: Eighteen BALB/C mice were randomly divided into three groups: normal control group (group A), asthma model group (group B), and recombinant protein rBlag2 treatment group (group C). Mice in groups B and C were subcutaneously immunized weekly with rBla g 2 (50 mg) formulated in Al (OH)3 adjuvant for three weeks. Group A received only adjuvant emulsified with normal saline. Two weeks after the last inoculation, mice in group C were administered each with rBla g 2 (100 mg) /dose, and groups A and B were given PBS. All the mice received eight doses at 2-day intervals. One week after the last immunotherapy, mice in groups B and C were intranasally challenged with 50 mg rBla g 2 daily for seven days, while mice in group A received PBS. Twenty-four hours after the challenge, the following items were examined: airway hyperresponsiveness of mice, total cellular score and cell classification in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), level of rBla g 2-specific IgE and IgG2a in serum, lung inflammation by HE stain, and Bcl-2 expression of eosinophils of lung by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Compared with group B, group C showed a decreased Penh value of airway hyperresponsiveness (P < 0.05), reduced serum rBla g 2-specific IgE but increased IgG2a (P < 0.01), and reduced Bcl-2 expression of eosinophils. Total cells [(24.60 +/- 15.08) x 10(5)/ml] and eosinophils [(22.20 +/- 3.76) x 10(5)/ml] in BALF of group B significantly increased than those of group C [(14.30 +/- 4.95) x 10(5)/ml and (5.20 +/- 1.56) x 10(5)/ml, respectively] (P < 0.01). The interstitial space surrounding the airway lumen was characterized by a densely mixed cellular infiltrate, tissue edema and epithelium tissue damage in group B, while lung inflammation of group C reduced considerably. Each test value of group C was substantially similar to that of group A. CONCLUSION: The experiment shows proper immunotherapeutic efficacy of rBla g 2 in murine allergic asthma, which may possibly related to the apoptosis of eosinophils.

MicroRNA expression profile in non-cancerous colonic tissue associated with lymph node metastasis of colon cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To identify microRNA expression patterns associated with the lymph node metastasis of colon cancer. METHODS: MicroRNA were isolated from six frozen non-cancerous surrounding colonic tissues derived from stage II-III colon cancer patients with (n = 3) and without (n = 3) lymph node metastasis. We compared the microRNA expression profiles of the six non-cancerous colonic tissues from two colon cancer patient groups; those with confirmed lymph node metastasis, termed the lymph node positive group, and those without detectable lymph node metastasis, termed the lymph node negative group. MicroRNA expression was analyzed with Agilent microarrays containing 723 human microRNA probes. We validated the expression level of differentially expressed microRNA using quantitative real-time PCR analysis. RESULTS: Two microRNA (hsa-miR-129*, hsa-miR-137) were differentially expressed in the lymph node positive group compared with the lymph node negative group. The expression level of hsa-miR-137 was quantified via quantitative real-time PCR analysis for validation. Hsa-miR-137 expression was significantly upregulated nearly 6.6-fold in lymph node positive specimens (P = 0.036). The quantitative real-time PCR result correlates with the microarray finding. CONCLUSION: The non-cancerous colonic tissues from colon cancer patients with lymph node metastasis have a significantly different microRNA expression profile compared to that from colon cancer patients without lymph node metastasis. The differentially expressed microRNA could have relevance to the lymph node metastasis of colon cancer and may provide a simple profiling method to assist in identifying patients with lymph node metastasis. Besides, these data might offer new ideas for preventing and controlling lymphatic metastasis in colon cancer.

Analysis of whole genomic expression profiles of Helicobacter pylori related chronic atrophic gastritis with IL-1B-31CC/-511TT genotypes.

OBJECTIVE: Many studies have linked cytokine interleukin-1B gene polymorphisms to H. pylori-related gastric cancer development. The current study evaluated the characterization of whole genomic expression profiles of the premalignant condition: H. pylori-related chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) with IL-1B-31CC/-511TT genotypes. METHODS: IL-1B-31/-511 gene polymorphisms were determined by DNA sequences. RNA was extracted and expression profiles were performed using Agilent human whole genomic oligonucleotide microarrays (G4112F). The expression of three samples with H. pylori infection was compared to that of three samples without H. pylori infection from samples of six CAG patients, all with IL-1B-31CC/-511TT genotypes. Differentially expressed genes related to H. pylori-induced CAG with IL-1B-31CC/-511TT genotypes were screened and analyzed further by Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway. Validation of the microarray data was performed using qRT-PCR. RESULTS: A total of 124 differentially expressed genes and 32 GO term annotations were identified between H. pylori positive and negative groups in the six CAG samples with IL-1B-31CC/-511TT genotypes. The signaling pathways identified were oxidative phosphorylation and epithelial cell signaling in H. pylori infection. Five overlapping genes were contained in identified GO terms and pathways: ATP6V0B, NDUFS5, NDUFV2, ATP6V1F and ATP6V1G1. Comparisons of qRT-PCR data and the previously reported data with the results of gene chips support the validity of our microarray data. CONCLUSION: The H. pylori-related CAG with IL-1B-31CC/-511TT genotypes has shown to be the more malignant phenotype than H. pylori negative CAG with IL-1B-31CC/-511TT genotypes. Mitochondrial energy metabolism probably plays a crucial role as it is the molecular mechanism of host-bacterial interactions.

[Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy study on the interaction of 4,4'-bipyridine and Zn electrode].

In the present paper, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was employed to study the interaction of 4,4'-bipyridine(BiPy) and Zn electrode. The results indicate that BiPy is adsorced with a vertical (or incline) orientation on the Zn electrode via one N atom of BiPy, and the two pyridine rings still remain on the same plane. BiPy has relatively stronger interaction with zinc metal than pyridine. The larger Raman scattering cross section and the existence of the two pyridine rings make it easy for 4,4'-BiPy to have stronger interaction with zinc metal.

[Surface-enhanced raman spectra studies on roughened Zn electrode in alkaline solutions].

Electrochemical oxidation-reduction method was employed to roughen Zn electrode for obtaining SERS, and potential dependent surface enhanced Raman spectra (SERS) of roughened Zn electrode in KOH solution of different concentration wereobserved. The spectra of Zn electrode in various solutions had obvious differences which indicated the concentration of OH- had a great effect on the dissolution and passivation of zinc. Based on our experimental results, the authors attempt to analyse the behavior of zinc in alkaline and give the mechanism of its passivation.

[Adsorption studies of gamma-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane on iron surfaces by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy].

The films of gamma-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (gamma-APS) on iron electrode surfaces were studied. The silane films were characterized by in-situ Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). It has been found that the potential-dependent Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy are useful for diagnosing the formation and structure of gamma-APS moieties bound onto the surface of metal substrates. Results of SERS indicated that the silanol and amino groups were adsorbed competitively on the metal surfaces. At the same time, the electrode potential, and illumination of laser all have great influence on the nature of these head groups. It was also found that the different states of amine transformed with the change in the potential.