Sleep Deprivation Impairs Human Cognitive Reappraisal Ability: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the impact of sleep deprivation on individual cognitive reappraisal ability using a standardized behavioral paradigm. Methods: A randomized pretest-posttest control group design was conducted. Thirty-nine participants were eventually enrolled and randomly assigned to receive either the sleep control (SC: n = 17) or the sleep deprivation (SD: n = 22). Both of them were required to perform a standardized behavioral paradigm of measuring cognitive reappraisal ability one time under sleep-rested condition and another time under the condition of different sleep manipulation a week later. Results: Mean valence ratings of SD group were more negative than SC group's (p < 0.05) and mean arousal ratings of SD group were higher than SC group's (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Sleep deprivation may impair individual cognitive reappraisal ability and could potentially undermine the efficacy of cognitive therapy in terms of emotion regulation.

Marital status and living apart affect sleep quality in male military personnel: a study of the China's Navy during COVID-19.

Background: Marital status is a robust sociodemographic predictor of sleep. Having to live apart from spouse may have different implications than those of cohabitants or singles, especially in military personnel. Further research on this group will help provide knowledge in advance and facilitate early targeted interventions. Methods: An online questionnaire study was conducted from July to November 2021. A total of 1,832 male military personnel completed the questionnaire. The marital status was measured by a self-reported single choice question. Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and The Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about sleep scale (DBAS-16) were used to measure sleep-related outcomes. Inverse probability weighting (IPW) was applied to reduce the effects of confounding. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between marital status and sleep and explore the impact of living together or not. Results: After inverse probability weighting, the prevalence of poor sleep quality, sleepiness and dysfunctional beliefs were 16.1, 20.1 and 7.1%, respectively. One-way ANOVA results for the means of both groups were statistically significantly different, except for the sleep latency and sleep disturbance dimensions of PSQI. Participants who were married were more likely to have poor sleep quality (OR: 1.408, 95% CI: [1.10, 1.80]), to have daytime sleepiness (OR: 1.560, 95% CI: [1.27, 1.92]) and to develop dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes (OR: 2.497, 95% CI: [1.65, 3.80]) than those who were unmarried. Further analysis showed that the odds of developing poor sleep quality and DBAS in participants who married but living apart were significantly bigger than those unmarried (OR: 1.548 and 3.991, respectively.), while there were no significant differences in the odds of daytime sleepiness (OR: 0.738, p = 0.050). Age was a protective factor for the development of bad sleep outcomes, while family economic was an independent risk factor. Conclusion: Marital status appear important for sleep quality, daytime sleepiness and sleep beliefs. The effect of living apart or not should be considered separately as an important predictor of sleep.

Avoidance-motivational intensity modulated the effect of negative emotion on working memory.

Although many studies have explored the association between negative emotion and working memory, the findings remain controversial. The present study investigated the role of avoidance-motivational intensity in modulating the effect of negative emotion on different processes (maintenance versus manipulation) of verbal and spatial working memory. Two experiments employed the modified delayed match-to-sample paradigms to separate the two processes of verbal and spatial working memory under different emotional states, respectively. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to perform the delayed match-to-sample task with or without reordering the characters (manipulation process of verbal working memory). In Experiment 2, mental rotation was used as the manipulation process of spatial working memory. The results showed that negative emotion only affected the manipulation process, but not the maintenance process. Relative to neutral and low avoidance-motivated negative conditions, the manipulation processes of both types of working memory were impaired under the high avoidance-motivated negative condition. No significant difference was observed between low avoidance-motivated negative condition and neutral condition. Our results are discussed in relation to efficiency processing theory and motivational dimensional model of affect. We conclude that negative emotional states with high avoidance-motivational intensity impair the manipulation process of verbal and spatial working memory.

IGF-1R down regulates the sensitivity of hepatocellular carcinoma to sorafenib through the PI3K / akt and RAS / raf / ERK signaling pathways.

BACKGROUND: Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) promotes cell proliferation and migration and inhibitsapoptosis, all of which can contribute to the development of cancers. METHOD: This study investigated the effect and mechanism of IGF-1R in mediating the desensitization of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to sorafenib. RESULTS: IGF-1R, highly expressed in the HCC cell lines SK-Hep1 and HepG2, promotes cell proliferation, migration, and anti-apoptosis through PI3K / Akt and RAS / Raf / ERK signaling pathways, resulting in HCC resistance to sorafenib. Knockdown of IGF-1R by RNA interference decreased proliferation and cell migration and upregulation of sorafenib-induced apoptosis of HCC cells. In vivo studies demonstrated that IGF-1R knockdown inhibited the growth of SK-Hep1 xenografts. CONCLUSION: These data are evidence that IGF-1R participates in regulating the survival and cell growth of HCC through the PI3K / Akt and RAS / Raf / ERK signaling pathways. Intervention in the expression of IGF-1R may increase the inhibitory effect of sorafenib on HCC.

IL-6 upregulates the expression of IL-6R through the JAK2/STAT3 signalling pathway to promote progression of hepatocellular carcinoma.

The progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) involves multifactor, multistep interactions. High expression of interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) plays an important role in the occurrence and development of tumours, but the regulatory mechanism of IL-6R expression and its function in HCC have not been fully defined. Western blot was used to evaluate the phosphorylation of key kinases in the JAK2/STAT3 pathway and the protein expression levels of related proliferation molecules, migration molecules and apoptotic molecules. The antiapoptosis, migration and proliferation of cells of each group were analysed with JC-1 to judge the cell apoptosis rate, the EdU method to determine the proliferation vitality of the cells, clone formation experiments and Transwell experiments. High expression of IL-6R in cell lines, lower protein levels of the apoptotic molecules c-Caspase7 and c-Caspase3 and higher protein levels of the proliferative molecules p-P70S6K and migration molecules MMP9 and MMP2 were consistent with stronger antiapoptosis, proliferation and migration. Interestingly, IL-6 upregulated the expression of IL-6R by activating the JAK2/STAT3 signalling pathway. Also, the expression of IL-6R protein was downregulated after lentivirus knockdown of STAT3. In nude mice bearing subcutaneous tumours, upregulation of IL-6R expression after activation of the JAK2/STAT3 signalling pathway by IL-6 significantly increased tumour growth. Moreover, the expression of IL-6R protein was downregulated, and the terminal tumour volume was significantly downregulated in the lentiviral STAT3 knockdown group. IL-6 regulated the transcription of IL-6R through the activation of the JAK2/STAT3 signalling pathway.

Implementation of virtual reality technology to decrease patients' pain and nervousness during colonoscopies: a prospective randomised controlled single-blinded trial.

BACKGROUND: Improved patient satisfaction in endoscopy is worthy of study as it is an invasive and potentially uncomfortable procedure. There is growing literature on patient satisfaction assessment in endoscopy as part of improving quality assurance. This study aimed to determine whether virtual reality (VR) technology can decrease patients' pain and nervousness during colonoscopies. METHODS: Patients enrolled without sedation were randomly categorised into groups that watched VR (VR group; n=58) and those that did not watch VR (control group; n=59). The primary outcomes were pain score and skin conductance. Secondary endpoints included heart rate, systolic and diastolic arterial pressures, overall patient satisfaction, willingness to repeat the procedure, the difficulty of the procedure, the procedure duration, and bowel preparation. RESULTS: The median (interquartile range (IQR)) pain scores were 7 (6-8) and 5 (4-6) in the control and VR groups, respectively (p<0.001). The median (IQR) skin conductance values after colonoscope insertion were 0.660 (0.490-0.840) and 0.390 (0.280-0.600) in the control and VR groups, respectively (p<0.001). Overall, patient satisfaction was significantly improved with the use of VR, along with a significant reduction in the difficulty perceived by the endoscopist. CONCLUSION: VR technology helped to reduce patients' pain and nervousness and to improve patients' satisfaction during colonoscopies.

Education and subjective well-being in Chinese rural population: A multi-group structural equation model.

PURPOSES: This study aimed to explore the effect of education on subjective well-being (SWB) of Chinese rural dwellers who just shook off poverty in 2019 and to investigate the mediating role of social support and moderating role of age on the association. METHODS: Social support rating scale (SSRS) and General Well-Being Schedule (GWBS) were administrated among 1094 Chinese rural dwellers from Anqing, Anhui Province, China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and multi-group SEM were performed to examine the mediating role of social support and moderating role of age in the link between education and SWB, respectively. RESULTS: The findings indicated that social support fully mediated the relationship between education and SWB in rural residents. Age moderated the indirect relationship between education and SWB (first stage moderation model) such that the effect of education on social support would be strengthened with aging process. CONCLUSIONS: The results add to our understanding of the protective role of education in SWB among Chinese rural dwellers, and shed new light on the potential mechanisms underlying the association between education and SWB with respect to the mediating role of social support and moderating role of age.

What emotion dimensions can affect working memory performance in healthy adults? A review.

Due to the critical roles of emotion and working memory in our daily activities, a great deal of attention has been given to how emotion influences working memory performance. Although the association between emotion and working memory is relatively well established, whether mood enhances or impairs working memory performance remains controversial. The present review provides a relatively representative overview of the research on the effect of different dimensions of emotion on working memory among healthy adults spanning a 30-year period. The findings show that the valence, arousal and motivational dimensions of emotion could all exert an impact on working memory performance. The impact of emotion on working memory might be modulated by task relevance, emotion type, working memory paradigms and individual differences. The vast majority of the studies regarding the effect of emotion on working memory performance focused on the impact of negatively valenced affect and yielded highly contradictory findings. The impacts of arousal and motivation on working memory have been less explored, and inconsistent findings have also been reported. Possible explanations are discussed. Considerable research on the effect of certain dimensions of emotion on working memory has suffered from a lack of control of other emotional dimensions, and different aspects of working memory have been investigated by various paradigms. Directions for further studies should include the exploration of specific dimensions of emotion on different aspects of working memory, with the other dimensions being well controlled.

Posttraumatic stress symptoms among health care workers during the COVID-19 epidemic: The roles of negative coping and fatigue.

Healthcare workers (HCWs) exposed to Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are not immune to stressors. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among HCWs during the COVID-19 epidemic and investigate the associations among negative coping, fatigue and PTSS. A total of 507 HCWs from Anhui province enrolled in the study and completed the cross-sectional survey including demographic data, Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ), 14-item Fatigue Scale (FS-14), and PTSD Checklist-civilian Version (PCL-C). Univariate linear regression, Pearson correlation and Mackinnon's four-step procedure were performed in the statistical analysis. Results indicated that the prevalence of PTSS among HCWs during the pandemic was 24%. Univariate linear regression showed HCWs aged 31-40 years exhibited significantly higher scores of PTSS than those aged 51-60 (ß = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.59 to 9.41). Having at least one child was associated with a higher risk of developing PTSS (ß = 0.01, 95% CI: 0.36 to 5.45). Negative coping and fatigue were positively correlated with all three PTSS (all P < 0.001), including re-experiencing, avoidance and hyper-arousal. Fatigue has mediated the association between negative coping and PTSS among HCWs during the pandemic (ab = 0.09, SE = 0.03, bootstrap 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.14). A considerable proportion of HCWs was traumatized during the COVID-19 outbreak. Hence, the institutions should screen out and pay close attention to HCWs who tend to use negative coping (e.g., withdrawal thinking, distraction and blaming others) and arrange work scientifically to avoid overfatigue and PTSS amid the public health crisis.

The Mediating Role of Loneliness Between Social Support and Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese Rural Adolescents During COVID-19 Outbreak: A Comparative Study Between Left-Behind and Non-left-behind Students.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted people's life across the globe. In a public health crisis, rural adolescents are more prone to mental health problems. The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms among Chinese rural adolescents during the COVID-19 outbreak, and examine the association between perceived social support and depressive symptoms and its underlying mechanisms. Method: Perceived Social Support Scale, UCLA Loneliness Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 were administrated to 826 rural adolescents from Anhui Province, China, amid the COVID-19 crisis. Mackinnon's four-step procedure was employed to examine the mediating effect, while Hayes PROCESS macro was utilized to test the moderated mediation model. Results: The results showed the rate of depressive symptoms among rural adolescents in China was 77.6% during the outbreak of COVID-19. Female left-behind students and non-left-behind students from disrupted families experienced more depressive symptoms (all P < 0.05). Loneliness mediated the association between perceive social support and depressive symptoms and the indirect effect was stronger in left-behind adolescents in comparison to non-left-behind adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Depressive symptoms are extremely prevalent among Chinese rural adolescents during the COVID-19 outbreak, and perceived social support plays a protective role against depressive symptoms. Chinese rural adolescents, especially left-behind students, could benefit from the interventions aimed at enhancing the perceived social support and reducing loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suicidality and Its Associated Factors Among Students in Rural China During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Study of Left-Behind and Non-Left-Behind Children.

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread worldwide. The harmful impact of COVID-19 is beyond just physical health concern. The unprecedented public health crisis has also taken its toll on the mental health of adolescents. The present study aims to estimate the prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempts and investigate the similarities and differences in the influential factors for suicidal ideation and attempts among left-behind children (LBC) and non-left-behind children (NLBC) in rural China during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: A total of 761 rural Chinese students, of whom 468 were left behind, completed the cross-sectional questionnaires including demographic data, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire, seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, suicidal ideation, and suicidal attempts. Chi-square test, independent-sample t-test, and logistic regression were performed in the statistical analysis. Results: Overall, 36.4 and 10.4% of rural Chinese students reported suicidal ideation (37.8% for LBC vs. 34.1% for NLBC) and attempts (11.3% for LBC vs. 8.9% for NLBC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among LBC, parental educational level (adjusted odds ratio, Adj. OR = 1.60), maladaptive strategies (Adj. OR = 1.04), anxious symptoms (Adj. OR = 2.61), and depressive symptoms (Adj. OR = 3.85) were significantly associated with suicidal ideation, while age (Adj. OR = 0.56), maladaptive strategies (Adj. OR = 1.08), symptoms of anxiety (Adj. OR = 3.85), and symptoms of depression (Adj. OR = 2.68) were significantly related to suicidal attempts during the COVID-19 outbreak. Among NLBC, gender (Adj. OR = 2.20), parental educational level (Adj. OR = 1.77), perceived family economic status (Adj. OR = 0.39), anxious symptoms (Adj. OR = 2.38), and depressive symptoms (Adj. OR = 2.77) were significantly associated with suicidal ideation, whereas only anxious symptom (Adj. OR = 5.85) was significantly related to suicidal attempts. Conclusion: Suicidal ideation and attempts are prevalent among students in rural China during the COVID-19 outbreak. Our findings also revealed the shared and unique factors for suicidal ideation and attempts among LBC and NLBC during the COVID-19 epidemic. With regard to the differences between LBC and NLBC, the use of maladaptive strategies and age might be vital factors for suicide prevention measures directed specifically toward LBC, whereas interventions sensitive to gender and perceived social economic status should be specifically designed for NLBC amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Mediating Role of Perceived Social Support Between Resilience and Anxiety 1 Year After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Disparity Between High-Risk and Low-Risk Nurses in China.

Introduction: One year after the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, China has made substantial progress in the prevention and control of the pandemic, while the epidemic situation remains grim in China since virus may easily survive with the falling temperature in winter. The present study aimed to compare the prevalence and associated factors of anxiety between high-risk and low-risk nurses 1 year after the COVID-19 outbreak, and examine the association between resilience and anxiety and its underlying mechanisms. Method: Connor-Davidson Resilience scale, Perceived Social Support Scale and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale were administrated to 701 nurses from Jiangsu Province, China, 1 year after the COVID-19 outbreak. The mediating effect was examined by Mackinnon's four-step procedure, while the moderated mediation model was tested by Hayes PROCESS macro. Results: The findings presented the prevalence of anxiety among nurses was 21.4% 1 year after the COVID-19 pandemic. High-risk nurses presented a higher prevalence of anxiety (24.5 vs. 19.3%) than low-risk nurses. Age and professional title were significantly associated with anxiety only in high-risk nurses (all P < 0.05). Perceived social support mediated the association between resilience and anxiety and the indirect effect was stronger for high-risk nurses than low-risk nurses. Conclusion: Anxiety remains prevalent among nurses 1 year after the COVID-19 outbreak, and resilience plays a protective role against anxiety. Programs that enhance resilience and social support should be designed and special attention should be paid to nurses from high-risk units.

LY­294002 enhances the chemosensitivity of liver cancer to oxaliplatin by blocking the PI3K/AKT/HIF­1α pathway.

Liver cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide. The therapeutic effect of oxaliplatin on liver cancer is often limited by acquired resistance of the cancer cells. Abnormal activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway plays an important role in the acquired resistance of oxaliplatin. The present study investigated the effects of the PI3K inhibitor LY­294002 and AKT inhibitor MK2206 on the chemosensitivity of oxaliplatin­resistant liver cancer cells and the molecular mechanism involved. An oxaliplatin­resistant liver cancer cell line HepG2R was developed. MTT assay, clone formation experiments, flow cytometry and Annexin V­FITC/PI staining were used to determine the proliferation, cycle and apoptosis of HepG2R cells when oxaliplatin was combined with LY­294002 or MK2206 treatment. The effects of LY­294002 and MK­2206 on the abnormal activation of PI3K/AKT pathway and hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)­1α protein level in HepG2R cells were detected using western blotting. The results indicated that the PI3K/AKT pathway is stably activated in HepG2R cells. Compared with the AKT inhibitor MK2206, the PI3K inhibitor LY­294002 more effectively downregulated the phosphorylation levels of p85, p110α, p110ß, p110γ and AKT in the PI3K/AKT pathway in HepG2R cells, and more effectively inhibited the proliferation of the cells. LY­294002 enhanced the chemotherapy sensitivity of HepG2R cells to oxaliplatin by inducing G0/G1 phase arrest and increasing the proportion of apoptotic cells. In addition, LY­294002 reduced the level of HIF­1α, which is highly expressed in HepG2R cells. It was concluded that LY­294002 enhanced the chemosensitivity of liver cancer cells to oxaliplatin by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, which may be related to the inhibition of HIF­1α expression. These findings may have clinical significance for the treatment of oxaliplatin­resistant liver cancer.

Self-efficacy and fatigue among non-frontline health care workers during COVID-19 outbreak: A moderated mediation model of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and negative coping.

PURPOSES: Since a considerable number of health care workers (HCWs) were sent to Wuhan to aid COVID-19 control during the epidemic, non-frontline HCWs who stayed in local hospitals had to work overload to provide daily health care services for other health issues, which makes them more vulnerable to experience fatigue. Self-efficacy is suggested as a protective factor for fatigue. Nonetheless, less is known regarding the underlying mechanisms. This research aimed to explore the prevalence of fatigue among non-frontline HCWs during the pandemic, investigate the mediating effect of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and moderating effect of negative coping in the association between self-efficacy and fatigue. METHODS: General Self-Efficacy Scale, PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version, Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire and 14-item Fatigue Scale were administrated to 527 non-frontline HCWs from Anhui Province, China. The mediating effect was examined by Mackinnon's four-step procedure, while Hayes PROCESS macro was used to test the moderated mediation model. RESULTS: The prevalence of fatigue among non-frontline HCWs was 56.7%. The effect of self-efficacy on fatigue was partially mediated by PTSD symptoms (ab = -0.146, SE = 0.030, 95% CI = [-0.207, -0.095]). Additionally, negative coping moderated both the direct effect of self-efficacy on fatigue (ß = -0.158, P<0.001) and the mediating effect of PTSD symptoms (ß = 0.077, P = 0.008). When the standard score of negative coping increased to 1.49 and over, the direct association between self-efficacy and fatigue became insignificant. Likewise, the effect of self-efficacy on PTSD symptoms had no statistical significance when the standard score of negative coping was -1.40 and lower. CONCLUSIONS: More than half non-frontline HCWs suffered from fatigue during COVID-19. For those who tend to use negative coping, it might be crucial to design programs combining the enhancement of self-efficacy, preventions for PTSD symptoms and interventions for fatigue.

hGC33-Modified and Sorafenib-Loaded Nanoparticles have a Synergistic Anti-Hepatoma Effect by Inhibiting Wnt Signaling Pathway.

Delivery of tumor-specific inhibitors is a challenge in cancer treatment. Antibody-modified nanoparticles can deliver their loaded drugs to tumor cells that overexpress specific tumor-associated antigens. Here, we constructed sorafenib-loaded polyethylene glycol-b-PLGA polymer nanoparticles modified with antibody hGC33 to glypican-3 (GPC3 +), a membrane protein overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma. We found that hGC33-modified NPs (hGC33-SFB-NP) targeted GPC3+ hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells by specifically binding to GPC3 on the surface of HCC cells, inhibited Wnt-induced signal transduction, and inhibited HCC cells in G0/1 by down-regulating cyclin D1 expression, thus attenuating HCC cell migration by inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal transition. hGC33-SFB-NP inhibited the migration, cycle progression, and proliferation of HCC cells by inhibiting the Ras/Raf/MAPK pathway and the Wnt pathway in tandem with GPC3 molecules, respectively. hGC33-SFB-NP inhibited the growth of liver cancer in vivo and improved the survival rate of tumor-bearing mice. We conclude that hGC33 increases the targeting of SFB-NP to HCC cells. hGC33-SFB-NP synergistically inhibits the progression of HCC by blocking the Wnt pathway and the Ras/Raf/MAPK pathway.

The influence of social anxiety on interpersonal information processing in a military-life environment: A cross-sectional study.

Although social anxiety as a ubiquitous emotion impacting people's social behaviors has aroused much researchers' interest in exploring its cognitive behavioral model, no previous study has focused on soldiers with different social anxiety within the context of the specific military environment.To explore the associations between social anxiety and interpersonal information processing concerted on interpretation and judgment, the study may provide an intervention point for soldiers to ameliorate social anxiety and accommodate to the military-life environment.A self-reported questionnaire and 2 behavioral tasks were conducted in the cross-section study to explore the associations.Seventy-four soldiers were randomly recruited from a naval base. The Interpersonal Anxiety Scale was used to assess social anxiety of soldiers. Two behavioral tasks were designed to test the characteristics of interpersonal information processing, one for interpretation bias and the other for judgment bias.This cross-sectional study showed social anxiety had a significant negative correlation with interpretation bias and abidance (as judgment bias), signaling that soldiers with higher levels of social anxiety had a stronger tendency to negative interpretation bias and showed lower abidance. The mediating effect analysis showed the interpretation bias could indirectly affect the soldier's abidance through social anxiety. Notably, none of the interaction effects of social anxiety and social information types were statistically significant; therefore, the level of social anxiety predetermined the abidance of soldiers.Soldiers' social anxiety has an influence on processing military-life interpersonal information, and it plays a certain intermediary role in the associations between low abidance and negative interpretation bias. The stronger negative interpretation bias than positive bias of soldiers, the higher social anxiety they could show with the less possibility to abide, which might result in behaviors against the military collective requirements. Social anxiety has the primary effect on the abidance of soldiers; hence, in the future, the interpretation bias modification could be a plausible cognitive-behavior therapy to help soldiers ameliorate social anxiety, thus contributing to enhancing their sense of belonging to the troops and accommodation to military life.

Social support and mental health among health care workers during Coronavirus Disease 2019 outbreak: A moderated mediation model.

PURPOSES: During the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) all over the world, the mental health conditions of health care workers are of great importance to ensure the efficiency of rescue operations. The current study examined the effect of social support on mental health of health care workers and its underlying mechanisms regarding the mediating role of resilience and moderating role of age during the epidemic. METHODS: Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), Connor-Davidson Resilience scale (CD-RISC) and Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) were administrated among 1472 health care workers from Jiangsu Province, China during the peak period of COVID-19 outbreak. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the mediation effect of resilience on the relation between social support and mental health, whereas moderated mediation analysis was performed by Hayes PROCESS macro. RESULTS: The findings showed that resilience could partially mediate the effect of social support on mental health among health care workers. Age group moderated the indirect relationship between social support and mental health via resilience. Specifically, compared with younger health care workers, the association between resilience and mental health would be attenuated in the middle-aged workers. CONCLUSIONS: The results add knowledge to previous literature by uncovering the underlying mechanisms between social support and mental health. The present study has profound implications for mental health services for health care workers during the peak period of COVID-19.

A cross-sectional study on mental health among health care workers during the outbreak of Corona Virus Disease 2019.

The spread of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global major public health event, threatening people's physical and mental health and even life safety. This study is to investigate the psychological abnormality in health care workers battling the COVID-19 epidemic and to explore the associations among social support, resilience and mental health. A total of 1521 health care workers, of whom 147 had public health emergency experience while 1374 showed no experience, completed the Symptom Check-List-90 (SCL-90), Chinese version of Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC) and Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS). χ2 test, t test and multiple regression analyses were used in statistical analysis. The results showed that people without public health emergency treatment experience showed worse performance in mental health, resilience and social support, and tended to suffer from psychological abnormality on interpersonal sensitivity and photic anxiety. This finding suggested that high levels of training and professional experience, resilience and social support were necessary to health care workers who are first taking part in public health emergence.

BEZ235 increases sorafenib inhibition of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by suppressing the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.

BACKGROUND: Sorafenib is an oral multi-kinase inhibitor that inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) via the Ras/Raf/MAPK pathway. However, sorafenib loses effectiveness because most tumors acquire drug resistance over time. As the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway is also activated abnormally in HCC, we evaluated the effect of sorafenib, in combination with a dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor, BEZ235, on HCC cell proliferation and survival in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Biological phenotypes were analysed in HCC cell lines, parental and sorafenib-resistant HepG2 cells (HepG2 and HepG2R), treated with sorafenib or BEZ235, alone or in combination. HCC cellular proliferation and apoptosis were investigated, and perturbations of the Ras/Raf/MAPK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling/survival pathways were evaluated by western blot analysis. RESULTS: BEZ235 enhanced sorafenib inhibition of cellular proliferation, migration, and promotion of apoptosis in HepG2 and HepG2R cells. The combined effects were associated with inhibition of phosphorylation of AKT, mTOR and S6K in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, whereas the combination of sorafenib and BEZ235 did not significantly alter the Ras/Raf/MAPK pathway compared with the effect of sorafenib alone. CONCLUSION: Sorafenib/BEZ235 combination has potent anti-HCC cell activity. This anti-tumor activity is most likely multi-factorial, mainly involving PI3K down-regulation and AKT, mTOR and S6K dephosphorylation. Combined inhibition of PI3K/AKT/mTOR and Ras/Raf/MAPK pathways enhances sorafenib inhibition of HCC. The results of these in vitro studies suggest that trials of combined sorafenib and BEZ235 in the treatment of HCC should be considered.