Estimating the long-term survival of unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer based on cure model analysis.

BACKGROUND: The predictors of long-term survival and appropriate surrogate endpoints in unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with radiotherapy, remain unclear, especially in the immune therapy era. METHODS: This study retrospectively analyzed a prospective cohort of 822 patients treated at the Chinese National Cancer Center from 2013 to 2022. Cure fractions, surrogates for long-term survival, and associated factors were assessed using a mixture cure model, with validation against a matched Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) dataset. RESULTS: 27.3% of patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC can achieve long-term survival after treated by radiotherapy. 4-year PFS and 5-year OS, when 80% of patients were considered cured, showed significant correlations with cure rates based on background mortality-adjusted PFS and relative survival, with R-squared values exceeding 0.85. Independent predictors of long-term survival included non-squamous cell carcinoma (non-SCC) pathological type, N category, gross tumor volume, and treatment combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). CONCLUSIONS: Radiotherapy, especially when combined with ICIs, offers a potential cure for a proportion of patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC. Tumor burden and ICIs are key predictors of long-term survival. The study suggested 4-year PFS and 5-year OS as surrogate endpoints for cure and long-term survival assessment.

Treatment outcome, toxicity, and quality of life of patients with bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma.

The disease failure patterns and optimal treatment of bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) lymphoma are unknown. This retrospective study involved 71 patients with primary BALT lymphoma who had received radiotherapy (RT), surgery, immunochemotherapy (IC), or observation. The median follow-up time was 66 months. The 5-year overall survival and lymphoma-specific survival were 91.2% and 96.1%, respectively, and were not significantly different among treatments. The 5-year cumulative incidence of overall failure for RT, surgery, IC, and observation was 0%, 9.7% (p = .160), 30.8% (p = .017), and 31.3% (p = .039). There was no grade ≥3 toxicity in RT group according to the CTCAE 5.0 reporting system. Quality of life (QoL) was at similarly good levels among the treatment groups. BALT lymphoma had a favorable prognosis but persistent risk of relapse after IC or observation. Given the very low disease failure risk and good QoL, RT remains an effective initial treatment for BALT lymphoma.Key PointsBALT lymphoma has a favorable prognosis but a persistent progression and relapse risk.Radiotherapy is associated with lower failure of disease progression and relapse, low toxicity and good quality of life.

ZIF-derived sulfides with tremella-like core-shell structure for high performance supercapacitors.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as promising active electrode materials in supercapacitors for its controllable porous structure and excellent physio-chemical properties. However, the poor conductivities keep it from achieving its full capacitance potential, which greatly limits its practical application. Here, a facile pathway is reported to fabricate the GO/Ni2ZnS4@NiCo2S4 composite with large specific surface area and favorable electrical conductivity. Thanks to the novel tremella-like core-shell structure and high-efficient synergistic effects among multi-components, the designed GO/Ni2ZnS4@NiCo2S4 electrode shows a high specific capacitance of 2284 F/g at 1 A/g. Furthermore, the asymmetric supercapacitor fabricated by coupling GO/Ni2ZnS4@NiCo2S4 positive electrode with biological carbon negative electrode achieves a remarkable energy density of 120 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 750 W kg-1.

Impact of age on long-term relative survival benefit of radiotherapy for early-stage grade I-II follicular lymphoma from the SEER database (2000-2015).

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of age on long-term mortality and net survival benefit of radiotherapy (RT) for early-stage grade I-II FL. Five thousand three hundred and five patients with early-stage grade I-II FL in the SEER database (2000-2015) were identified. Primary therapy included RT alone (RT, 20.7%), chemotherapy alone (CT, 27.6%), combined modality therapy (CMT, 5.9%), and observation (45.8%). Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was conducted to balance the treatment arms. Relative survival (RS), the standardized mortality ratio (SMR), and transformed Cox regression were used to compare survival differences between treatments. RT with or without CT had significantly higher 10-year OS (approximately 78%) and RS (>95%), but lower SMR (1.47-1.76), compared with CT (67.8%; 86.3%; 2.35; ps < .001), observation (70.2%; 91.2%; 1.82; ps < .05). RT was an independent predictor of better OS and RS in multivariate analyses (p < .001). No significant interaction between age and RT was identified for RS (Pinteraction = .509) or OS (Pinteraction = .769), indicating similar survival benefits across all-ages patients. RT was associated with long-term OS and net survival benefits in patients with early-stage grade I-II FL, irrespective of age.HighlightsThe pattern and incidence of mortality varied by age-group as elderly patients often die of other diseases other than FL beyond 5 years.Radiotherapy was associated with higher long-term OS/RS and better SMR compared with other approaches, regardless of age.

Knockdown of Galectin-9 alleviates rheumatoid arthritis through suppressing TNF-α-induced activation of fibroblast-like synoviocytes.

The role of Galectin-9 (Gal-9) in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of action and therapeutic potential of Gal-9 in RA. We detected Gal-9 expression in clinical samples, explored the mechanism of function of Gal-9 by knockdown and overexpression in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs), and further verified it in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model. We found that the levels of Gal-9 were considerably elevated in RA synovium than in osteoarthritis (OA) patients. A substantial decrease of Gal-9 was demonstrated after tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) inhibitor treatment in the plasma of patients with RA. Additionally, transcriptome sequencing revealed that Gal-9 was involved in the regulation of the TNF-α pathway. Gal-9 was considerably upregulated after TNF-α stimulation in FLSs, and knockdown of Gal-9 substantially inhibited TNF-α activated proliferation, migration and inflammatory response. According to cell transcriptome sequencing results, we further confirmed that Gal-9 could achieve these effects by interacting with MAFB and affecting PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. Finally, we knocked down Gal-9 on the CIA model and found that it could alleviate the progression of arthritis. In conclusion, our study revealed that the knockdown of Gal-9 could inhibited TNF-α induced activation in RA through MAFB, PI3K/AKT/mTOR.

The Role of Parent-Child Attachment, Hostile Attribution Bias in Aggression: A Meta-Analytic Review.

Parent-Child Attachment (PCA) and Hostile Attribution Bias (HAB) are closely related to aggression, but findings regarding their relationships are inconsistent. There is a lack of understanding of the underlying mechanism between PCA and aggression. This review employed meta-analysis approaches to investigate the associations between PCA and aggression, as well as between HAB and aggression, and the mechanism for the PCA-aggression association. An article search was conducted in CNKI, PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, ProQuest, and Google Scholar. Totally, 118 studies involving general populations and those at high risk for aggression were included. Results revealed negative associations between Parent-Child Attachment Security (PCAS) and aggression (ρ = -.267, p < .001) and positive associations between Parent-Child Attachment Insecurity (PCAI) and aggression (ρ = .240, p < .05). HAB and aggression were found to be positively associated (ρ = .303, p < .001). As for the PCAS-aggression association, a larger effect size was found in females than in males. The HAB-reactive aggression association was stronger than the HAB-proactive aggression association. In Eastern culture, the association between HAB and aggression was stronger than in Western culture. HAB mediated the association between PCAS and aggression. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the occurrence and development of aggression by establishing an association between attachment theory and the social information processing model. The practical implications include interventions targeting cultivating PCAS and alleviating HAB, which might serve as effective ways to reduce aggression, yet aggression type, gender, and cultural background should be taken into consideration.

Decreased lymphoma-related deaths and improved long-term relative survival with radiotherapy for early-stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the rituximab era.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the incidence of lymphoma-related death (LRD) and the long-term net survival benefit of radiotherapy (RT) for early-stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in the rituximab era. METHODS: 10,841 adults diagnosed with early-stage DLBCL between 2002-2015 were retrospectively analyzed using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Primary therapy was categorized into combined-modality treatment (CMT, n = 3,631) and chemotherapy alone (n = 7,210). Competing risk analysis was used to evaluate the cumulative incidence of mortality. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was used to balance groups. The net survival benefit of RT was estimated through relative survival (RS), standardized mortality ratio (SMR), and transformed Cox regression, while controlling for background mortality. RESULTS: Patients initially treated with CMT had a lower cumulative incidence of LRD compared to those who received chemotherapy alone (HR 0.63, 95%CI: 0.57-0.69; P < 0.001). The 10-year overall survival (OS), RS, and SMR for CMT were 66.1%, 85.0%, and 1.71 respectively, which were significantly better than those for chemotherapy alone (53.0%; 69.8%; 2.62; all P < 0.001). IPTW and multivariable analysis revealed that the addition of RT led to better OS (HR 0.67, 95%CI: 0.62-0.71; P < 0.001) and RS (HR 0.69, 95%CI: 0.65-0.74; P < 0.001). Moreover, compared with chemotherapy alone, the benefit of OS and RS for CMT increased over time within 10 years of diagnosis. CONCLUSION: RT reduced LRD and improved the long-term net survival in early-stage DLBCL in the rituximab era. Further prospective studies are warranted to assess the specific patient population that would benefit the most from consolidative RT in early-stage DLBCL.

Linking Cognitive Reappraisal and Expressive Suppression to Mindfulness: A Three-Level Meta-Analysis.

Cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression have long been considered the two most important emotion regulation strategies. Increasingly, studies have found that mindfulness has a relationship with them. However, the magnitude and direction of the relationship between them have yet to reach a consistent conclusion. To this end, a three-level meta-analysis was used to explore the relationship between mindfulness, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression. Thirty-six studies were included in the meta-analysis through a literature search, including 36 samples with 83 effect sizes and a total of 12,026 subjects. The three-level random effects model showed that mindfulness was positively correlated with cognitive reappraisal to a low to moderate degree but was not correlated with expressive suppression. The moderating effect analysis showed that the relationship between mindfulness and cognitive reappraisal was slightly closer in males than in females. The study found a relatively stable positive relationship between mindfulness and cognitive reappraisal, an adaptive emotion regulation mode, while the relationship with expressive suppression was insignificant. The finding supported the affect regulation training model and also shed light on potential areas for future studies.

Pravastatin Reduces Matrix Metalloproteinases Expression and Promotes Cholesterol Efflux in Osteoarthritis Chondrocytes.

Background: Chondrocyte metabolic disorder plays an important role in the development of osteoarthritis (OA). The use of statins in the treatment of OA has also been widely studied, but the mechanism is still confusing. The present study aims to investigate the effects of statin on osteoarthritis chondrocytes and its underlying mechanism. Major findings. An untargeted metabolomics study revealed that the treatment of statins significantly changed the metabolites of articular cartilage tissues collected from female osteoarthritis patients, and might be involved in the glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway. In vitro study showed that 5-50 µmol/L of pravastatin exerts no cytotoxicity on human chondrocytes. Besides, 50 µmol/L of pravastatin caused a significant decrease in the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and MPP-13, and intracellular cholesterol in interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß)-induced human chondrocytes. Furthermore, at both mRNA and protein levels, the expression of the proteins related to the cholesterol efflux pathway (liver X receptor and cholesterol efflux regulatory protein) were significantly up-regulated by 50 µmol/L of pravastatin in IL-1ß-induced human chondrocytes. Conclusion: Pravastatin can reduce the expression of MMPs in IL-1ß-induced human chondrocytes and protect the chondrocyte matrix. The mechanism may be related to promoting the expression of proteins related to the cholesterol efflux pathway and reducing the level of cellular cholesterol.

Hope and life satisfaction among Chinese shadow education tutors: The mediating roles of positive coping and perceived social support.

Previous studies of the relationship between hope and life satisfaction left the underlying mechanism of how hope predicts life satisfaction unexplored to scholars. This study thus investigates the two potential mediators in the relationship between hope and life satisfaction among a sample of Chinese shadow education institution (SEI) tutors who may be under immense professional development pressure from a cross-sectional approach. The main body of the study consists of an online survey in which 221 SEI tutors reported their hope, positive coping, perceived social support, and life satisfaction. The survey results were analyzed using mediation and moderation analysis via SPSS 23.0. The results indicated that positive coping improved the relationship between hope and life satisfaction, supporting the hypothesis regarding the serial mediating effect of positive coping and perceived social support. In other words, tutors with a high level of hope tend to adopt positive coping strategies, thus will receive more social support and improve life satisfaction. Our findings revealed the independent and accumulative mediating effects of positive coping and perceived social support on the relationship between hope and life satisfaction, and had implications for the psychological intervention of SEI tutors who are currently facing enormous industry pressure.

Developing Metacognition of 5- to 6-Year-Old Children: Evaluating the Effect of a Circling Curriculum Based on Anji Play.

Metacognition plays an important role in young children's learning and daily life activities. Based on Anji Play, we designed a metacognition enhancement program named Circling Curriculum for Metacognition Training (CCMT). With a quasi-experimental design, we examined the effects of the CCMT program on the metacognition of 5-6 year old Chinese children. Two classes of 5-6 year old children were randomly assigned into an experimental group (n = 25, 10 girls, mean age = 65.92 months, SD = 3.58) and a control group (n = 22, 10 girls, mean age = 66.77, SD = 3.87). The experimental group received the three-month CCMT, while the control group received routine teaching activities without imposing any interventions. All children took the metacognition test before and after the intervention. Results indicated that (1) there was no significant difference between the experimental group and the control group in all dimensions of metacognitive ability in the pre-test; (2) the experimental group exhibited better metacognitive ability than the control group in most dimensions of metacognitive ability in the post-test; and (3) the gain scores in the metacognitive ability of experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group. The results are very encouraging and suggest that CCMT can foster the development of the metacognitive ability of young children.

Gender-based differences in the relationships among proactive personality, perceived entrepreneurial support and entrepreneurial intention of Chinese private college students: A moderated mediation model.

Proactive personality is a key determinant of entrepreneurial intention. Few studies have explored the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relationship. This study investigates the association between proactive personality and entrepreneurial intention and examines the mediating role of perceived entrepreneurial support and the moderating role of gender. Using a cross-sectional design, 1,515 senior students (women = 838, men = 677) from Chinese private colleges were recruited using random cluster sampling. They completed a battery of self-reported online questionnaires on proactive personality, perceived entrepreneurial support, and entrepreneurial intention. The results revealed that perceived entrepreneurial support mediates the association between proactive personality and entrepreneurial intention. Moderated mediation analysis indicated that the relationship between proactive personality and perceived entrepreneurial support and that between perceived entrepreneurial support and entrepreneurial intention are moderated by gender. Specifically, the positive association between proactive personality and entrepreneurial intention was stronger in male students, and the positive association between perceived entrepreneurial support and entrepreneurial intention was stronger in female students. This study contributes to the understanding of how proactive personality predicts entrepreneurial intention in Chinese private college students and bears implications for higher education institutions and policymakers that entrepreneurship promotion agenda should focus on improving perceived entrepreneurial support and considering the gender of students.

Influence of age on long-term net survival benefit for early-stage MALT lymphomas treated with radiotherapy: A SEER database analysis (2000-2015).

BACKGROUND: Given the lower incidence of lymphoma-related death but higher background mortality in patients with early-stage mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, it is critically important to examine how age affects a treatment's survival benefit. METHODS: 9,467 patients with early-stage MALT lymphoma in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database treated between 2000-2015 were extracted and analyzed. Primary therapy was classified as radiotherapy (n = 3,407), chemotherapy (n = 1,294), and other/unknown treatments including observation (n = 4,766). Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was conducted to balance baseline characteristics between groups. Relative survival (RS), standardized mortality ratio (SMR), and transformed Cox regression were conducted to compare survival differences between treatment modalities by controlling for the background mortality. Radiotherapy-age interaction was examined. RESULTS: Across age-groups, early-stage MALT lymphoma patients were at lower risk of lymphoma-related death than death due to other causes. The 10-year overall survival (OS, 73.8 %) and RS (96.6 %) rates were significantly higher, and the SMR (1.14) significantly lower, with radiotherapy than with chemotherapy (OS, 61.7 %; RS, 86.4 %; SMR, 1.54; P < 0.001) or other/unknown treatments (OS, 61.1 %; RS, 87.2 %; SMR, 1.41; P < 0.001). By multivariable analysis and IPTW, radiotherapy remained an independent predictor of better RS (HR 0.81, 95 %CI, 0.73-0.89; P < 0.001). A significant interaction between age and radiotherapy was identified for both RS (Pinteraction = 0.016) and OS (Pinteraction = 0.024), indicating greater benefit in young adults. CONCLUSION: Radiotherapy was associated with significantly better survival in early-stage MALT lymphoma, especially in young adults.

Numerical simulation and experimental research of fractal suspended carrier based on nonlinear equation.

The geometric structure of the suspended carrier is an important factor that directly affects the effluent quality of the moving bed biofilm reactor, and it should be a valuable mathematical solution to solve the nonlinear equation through numerical simulation and experimental research. Therefore, this study has designed and prepared a coral-shaped fractal suspension carrier based on nonlinear equations and verified the effectiveness of the new carrier for sewage treatment through FLUENT numerical simulation and domestic sewage treatment experiments. The experimental results show that the coral-shaped fractal suspension carrier has a significant effect on the velocity, vortex distribution, and gas-phase distribution of the flow field in the reactor. The mass transfer dead area in the reactor is reduced, the number of vortices is significantly increased, and the fractal dimension of the carrier is negatively correlated with the flow velocity and pressure drop of the fluid. After stabilization, the average removal rates of COD and NH4+-N by the reactor are 89.5% and 93.21%, respectively; the effluent quality reaches the national first-class A standard; and the sewage treatment performance is good. At the same time, this research provides a preliminary research basis for the method of solving nonlinear equations through numerical simulation and experimental research.

Social Support and Drug Abstention Motivation among Chinese Male Drug Addicts: A Moderated Mediation Model of Self-Control and Sensation-Seeking.

The goal of this study is to examine how social support affects Chinese male drug addicts' abstention motivation. To elucidate the mechanism as well as the boundary condition of the aforesaid influence, self-control and sensation-seeking were induced. Using the questionnaire method, the cross-sectional data were collected from 498 male drug addicts from one hospital and four compulsory isolation drug abstention centers in Central China region. The results indicated that social support has a positive direct and indirect effect on abstention motivation. The indirect influence is that the impact of social support on abstention motivation is mediated by self-control. The direct effect was moderated by sensation-seeking. Specifically, for individuals with low sensation-seeking, social support can significantly increase drug abstinence motivation, but this effect was not significant for those with high sensation-seeking. Theoretical and practical implications of the results were discussed.

Shyness and School Engagement in Chinese Suburban Preschoolers: A Moderated Mediation Model of Teacher-Child Closeness and Child Gender.

Shyness is associated with poorer preschool engagement, but few studies have evaluated the underlying mechanisms in Chinese preschoolers. This study explored the mediating role of teacher-child closeness and the moderating role of child gender in the association between shyness and school engagement to fill this gap. With the cluster sampling method, a total of 532 young children (240 girls; Mage = 4.29 years, SD = 0.65 years) were recruited from 15 suburban kindergartens in East China. Mothers rated children's shyness, and teachers evaluated children's school engagement and teacher-child closeness five months later. The results reveal the following: (1) Shyness was related to higher cooperative participation and lower school avoidance; (2) Teacher-child closeness mediated the relationships between shyness and school engagement. Specifically, shyness negatively predicted teacher-child closeness, and teacher-child closeness positively predicted cooperative and independent participations and school liking, and negatively predicted school avoidance; (3) Child gender moderated the relationship between shyness and school engagement, and specifically, for boys but not girls, shyness was significantly linked with lower school avoidance; for girls but not boys, shyness was significantly related to higher cooperative participation and lower independent participation. These findings have implications for the school engagement of preschoolers.

The Role of Perceived Social Support and Stress in the Relationship between Hope and Depression among Chinese Shadow Education Tutors: A Serial Mediation Model.

The association between hope and depression has been studied, leaving the underlying mechanism of how hope might predict depression unexplored. With a cross-sectional design, this study investigated two possible mediating factors in the relationship between hope and depression among Chinese shadow education tutors, who confront a high turnover rate and are at high risk for depression. Altogether, 221 tutors participated in the survey, and reported their dispositional hope, perceived social support (PSS), perceived stress (PS), and depression. Results indicated that both PSS and PS mediated the relationship between hope and depression. Results also supported the hypothesized serial mediating effect. In other words, hope as a positive disposition may promote PSS, which can mitigate PS. The reduced PS, in turn, alleviates depression. This finding not only shed light on the independent and accumulative mediating effects of PSS and PS, but also has implications for preventive interventions among Chinese shadow education tutors experiencing the enormous pressure of instability. This serial mediation model should be confirmed by further longitudinal study.

Development of Teacher Rating Scale of Risky Play for 3- to 6-Year-Old Pre-Schoolers in Anji Play Kindergartens of East China.

To help teachers better evaluate the level of risky play for pre-schoolers, the present study aimed to develop a Teacher Rating Scale of Risky Play (TRSRP) for 3-6 years Chinese Pre-schoolers. The scale was administered to a pre-schooler sample consisting of 1376 children (Mage = 57.53 months, SD = 10.38; 54.30% boys; 44.80% only child) recruited from Anji play kindergartens in Hangzhou, China. The psychometric properties of the instrument were examined. The reliability of scale was reported by calculating internal consistency. The construct validity of the scale was investigated by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The final 7-item measure was structured into two subscales: play with great heights and play with high speed. The results suggested that the TRSRP has acceptable internal consistency and construct validity and can be used as an effective tool to measure the level of risky play for 3-6 years pre-schoolers in China's Anji play kindergartens.

Examining the optical model of graphene via the photonic spin Hall effect.

In modern optics, there are two general models to describe the behavior of light in graphene: the zero-thickness model and the slab model. The difference in physical phenomena predicted by the two models is very small, which is hardly distinguished by traditional measurement methods. Therefore, which model can describe the light-matter interaction in graphene more exactly is still a challenging issue. In this work, based on the sensitive optical phenomenon called the photonic spin Hall effect, the small difference can be magnified to a detectable level by the weak-value amplification. The experimental results show that the zero-thickness model can more accurately describe the interaction between light and monolayer or bilayer graphene, while the case of more than two layers, which can no longer be regarded as two-dimensional thickness, should be described by the slab model. Our results may provide information on light interacting with graphene for future investigation in photonics and optoelectronics.