Moral sensitivity and caring behavior in nursing interns: the mediating role of empathy.

Background: The main purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between moral sensitivity, empathy, and caring behaviors and to explore the mediating effect of empathy on moral sensitivity and caring behaviors of nursing interns. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from August to September 2022 in which 261 nursing interns from two Grade 3A Hospitals in Xi'an participated. The questionnaires used in the survey include the General Information Questionnaire (GIQ), the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire-Revised Version translated into Chinese (MSQ R-CV), the Chinese version of the Jefferson Empathy Scale (JSE), and the Chinese version of the Caring Behavior Inventory (C-CBI). The obtained data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Pearson's correlation coefficient, and the mediating effect of empathy was tested through structural equations. Results: The overall mean of moral sensitivity of nursing interns in two Grade 3A Hospitals in Xi'an is 40.84 ± 8.73, the overall mean of empathy is 100.51 ± 21.56, and the overall mean of caring behavior is (113.81 ± 21.05). Statistical analysis showed that there is a positive correlation between moral sensitivity and caring behavior of nursing interns (r = 0.376, p < 0.01), between their empathy and moral sensitivity (r = 0.336, p < 0.01), and between their empathy and caring behavior (r = 0.394, p < 0.01). The empathy of nursing interns has a mediated effect on the relationship between moral sensitivity and caring behavior. The mediated effect value was 0.14, accounting for 31.82% of the total effect. Conclusion: The moral sensitivity of nursing interns can have a direct impact on predicting the caring behavior and indirect influences their caring behaviors mediated by empathy, with the latter effect being mediated by empathy. Therefore, nursing educators and hospital administrators should adopt targeted interventions to improve the moral sensitivity and empathy of nursing interns, which can further prove to be beneficial in improving their caring behaviors, leading to enhanced quality of nursing care and reduced nurse-patient conflicts and finally to a stabilized nursing team.

[A cross-sectional study on the prevalence rate and influencing factors of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in overweight/obese children]. / è¶ é‡/è‚¥èƒ–å„¿ç«¥éžé ’ç²¾æ€§è„‚è‚ªè‚ç— æ‚£ç— çŽ‡åŠå ¶å½±å“å› ç´ çš„æ¨ªæ–­é¢ç ”ç©¶.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence rate of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in overweight/obese children who visit a hospital, and to explore the influencing factors of NAFLD, in order to provide a basis for the prevention of NAFLD in overweight/obese children. METHODS: Overweight/obese children who visited Hunan Children's Hospital from June 2019 to September 2021 were recruited. The prevalence rate of NAFLD was examined. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the factors influencing the development of NAFLD [non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)]. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to evaluate the predictive value of the influencing factors for NAFL and NASH. RESULTS: A total of 844 overweight/obese children aged 6-17 years were enrolled. The prevalence rate of NAFLD in overweight/obese children was 38.2% (322/844), among which the prevalence rates of NAFL and NASH were 28.8% (243/844) and 9.4% (79/844), respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the increase of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were associated with the development of NAFL and NASH (P<0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the combined measurement of WHR and HDL-C had a predictive value for NAFL (area under the curve: 0.653, 95%CI: 0.613-0.694), and for NASH (area under the curve: 0.771, 95%CI: 0.723-0.819). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence rate of NAFLD in overweight/obese children who visit a hospital is high. WHR and HDL-C are associated with the development of NAFLD and the combined measurement of WHR and HDL-C has a certain value for predicating the development of NAFLD.

Nanotherapy Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment.

Cancer is characterized by high mortality and low curability. Recent studies have shown that the mechanism of tumor resistance involves not only endogenous changes to tumor cells, but also to the tumor microenvironment (TME), which provides the necessary conditions for the growth, invasion, and metastasis of cancer cells, akin to Stephen Paget's hypothesis of "seed and soil." Hence, the TME is a significant target for cancer therapy via nanoparticles, which can carry different kinds of drugs targeting different types or stages of tumors. The key step of nanotherapy is the achievement of accurate active or passive targeting to trigger drugs precisely at tumor cells, with less toxicity and fewer side effects. With deepened understanding of the tumor microenvironment and rapid development of the nanomaterial industry, the mechanisms of nanotherapy could be individualized according to the specific TME characteristics, including low pH, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), and increased expression of metalloproteinase. However, some abnormal features of the TME limit drugs from reaching all tumor cells in lethal concentrations, and the characteristics of tumors vary in numerous ways, resulting in great challenges for the clinical application of nanotherapy. In this review, we discuss the essential role of the tumor microenvironment in the genesis and development of tumors, as well as the measures required to improve the therapeutic effects of tumor microenvironment-targeting nanoparticles and ways to reduce damage to normal tissue.

Lysophosphatidic acid enhances human hepatocellular carcinoma cell migration, invasion and adhesion through P38 MAPK pathway.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) has diverse biological activities implicated in tumor progression, including increasing cell migration, invasion and metastasis. However, the underlying mechanisms for LPA-induced human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) migration and invasion are poorly understood. METHODOLOGY: We sought to determine the promoting effect of LPA on HCC migration, invasion and adhesion by transwell and matrix adhesion assays, respectively. Levels of matrix metalloproteinase, MMP-2 and MMP- 9 from cells were assayed by ELISA and p38 mitogenactivated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling was determined by western blot analysis. RESULTS: In the present study, LPA was found to increase HCC cell migration, invasion and adhesion. In addition, LPA increased MMP-9 expression level and induced activation of the p38 mitogen- activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition of p38 MAPK signal pathway with SB203580 significantly attenuated LPA-induced HCC cell migration, invasion, and adhesion and abrogated LPA-induced MMP-9 expression and p38 MAPK phosphorylation. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated a mechanism that LPA can activate p38 MAPK signaling, which is required for LPA-induced HCC cell migration, invasion, adhesion and MMP-9 expression, providing a novel biomarker and potential therapeutic target for HCC.

Quantitative proteomics reveal up-regulated protein expression of the SET complex associated with hepatocellular carcinoma.

We combined culture-derived isotope tags (CDITs) with two-dimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (2D-LC-MS/MS) to extensively survey abnormal protein expression associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in clinical tissues. This approach yielded an in-depth quantitated proteome of 1360 proteins. Importantly, 267 proteins were significantly regulated with a fold-change of at least 1.5. The proteins up-regulated in HCC tissues are involved in regulatory processes, such as the granzyme A-mediated apoptosis pathway (The GzmA pathway). The SET complex, a central component in the GzmA pathway, was significantly up-regulated in HCC tissue. The elevated expressions of all of the SET complex components were validated by Western blotting. Among them, ANP32A and APEX1 were further investigated by immunohistochemistry staining using tissue microarrays (59 cases), confirming their overexpression in tumors. The up-regulation and nuclear accumulations of APEX1 was associated not only with HCC malignancy but also with HCC differentiation in 96 clinical HCC cases. Our work provided a systematic and quantitative analysis and demonstrated key changes in clinical HCC tissues. These proteomic signatures could help to unveil the underlying mechanisms of hepatocarcinogenesis and may be useful for the discovery of candidate biomarkers.

[A new strategy for detecting Lac I mutants based on pMCLac I/neo transgenic mice].

We studied a novel mutation detection method of the two Lac I target genes in pMCLac I/neo transgenic mice. The transgenic mice that contain two types of Lac I genes in pMCLac I/neo vector are different from the transgenic mice carrying only one target gene. Therefore a novel method to detect mutation quickly and efficiently has become a new project after the establishment of pMCLac I/neo transgenic mice. In this paper, a positive selection system--M9/L is used. The result showed that M9/L positive selection system was able to detect the two Lac I target genes, suggesting that it is a rapid and effective method to detect the target mutations in the pMCLac I/neo transgenic mouse.

[Establishment of a hemophilia B transgenic mouse model on the basis of coagulation factor IX gene knock-out mouse].

This study aimed to introduce a site specific point mutation into the human coagulation factor IX gene expressing vectors (pMe4bAIXml plasmid) for microinjection and to obtain transgenic mouse containing copies of a stably integrated pMe4bAIXml plasmid on the basis of coagulation factor IX gene knock-out mouse model as an more efficient animal model of hemophilia b. The site specific point mutation was introduced into pMe4bAIXml plasmid which consists of human coagulation factor IX gene including the entire coding sequence and a shortened first intron, four copies of the mouse MCK enhancer, chicken beta-actin promotor and poly A signal sequence. The vector was linearized and injected into 817 fertilized eggs of mice in which coagulation factor IX gene has been knocked out. The manipulated embryos were transferred into the oviducts of 45 pseudopregnant females, from which 63 offsprings were obtained. The genomic DNAs of these offsprings were analyzed with PCR and genomic Southern blotting. Six mice were found to carry copies of the intact pMe4bAIXml plasmid containing a point mutation and used as founders to establish transgenic mouse lineages.

[A novel bifunctional in vivo mutation detection system].

A shuttle plasmid pMCLacI/neo with two copies of LacI was integrated into mouse genome and a novel system which could detect in vivo mutation of both expression and silence genes was constructed, enabling the comparative analysis of their mutation spectra and mutant frequencies. 486 fertilized eggs from C57BL/6 mice with microinjected pMCLacI/neo plasmid were transferred into oviducts of 18 pseudo-pregnant mice, and 32 alive offsprings were screened and identified by using PCR and Southern blotting. Genomes of 5 mice had pMCLacI/neo plasmid integrated, as verified by Southern blot after the PCR screening. Only one of the two LacI in pMCLacI/neo was in expression state; and this established a model, that the status in vivo of both gene expression and silencing could be simulated. This kind of mice might be used as a novel bifunctional mutation detection system in vivo.