Delaying pegaspargase during induction in adults with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is associated with lower risk of high-grade hepatotoxicity without adversely impacting outcomes.

Pegaspargase is a key drug for the treatment of younger adults with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Pegaspargase-associated hepatotoxicity is most common during induction, and its incidence increases with age and body mass index (BMI). We hypothesized that the delayed administration of pegaspargase during induction is associated with lower risk of hepatotoxicity while retaining efficacy. We retrospectively reviewed 141 adult patients with newly diagnosed ALL who received pegaspargase during induction from November 2013 to February 2024. There were 78 (55.3%) patients who received early pegaspargase (EP) on day 4 and 63 (44.7%) patients who received delayed pegaspargase (DP) on day 15. High-grade hepatotoxicity (grade ≥ 3 transaminitis and/or hyperbilirubinaemia) occurred more frequently in the EP group (p = 0.06). Rates of complete remission and negative minimal residual disease post induction were not different between cohorts. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that BMI and age significantly predicted an increased risk of high-grade hepatotoxicity while DP was associated with a lower risk (odds ratio = 0.44; p = 0.04). Overall survival and event-free survival were not significantly different between cohorts. Delaying pegaspargase administration from day 4 to day 15 during induction cycle in adults with ALL might reduce the risk of high-grade hepatotoxicity without adversely impacting clinical efficacy outcomes.

Outcomes following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation relapse in Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Improved first progression-free survival following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation relapse with the use of immunotherapy.

Predictors of quitting support from nonsmoking mothers for smoking fathers: a cross-sectional study from Chinese pupils' families.

BACKGROUND: Quitting support from smokers' partners can predict quit attempts and smoking abstinence but research on factors that predict such support has been limited. To add more evidence for partner support and the improved interventions for smoking cessation, we analyzed some new potential predictors of quitting support from smokers' spouses. METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted in in 2022 and 2023, selecting the students' families in which fathers smoked and mothers didn't smoke from grade 1-5 of 13 primary schools in Qingdao, China. Parents who met the criteria completed the online questionnaires and 1018 families were included in the analysis. We measured personal information related to smokers and their spouses such as age, education and nicotine dependence, and variables related to family and marital relationship such as family functioning, perceived responsiveness and power in decision-making of quitting smoking. Quitting support from smokers' spouses was measured by Partner Interaction Questionnaire and generalized linear model was used to explore the potential predictors of partner support. RESULTS: In this study, the mean age of smokers was 39.97(SD = 5.57) and the mean age of smokers' spouses was 38.24(SD = 4.59). The regression analysis showed that for smokers and their spouses, the older age groups showed the lower ratio of positive/negative support(P < 0.05) and smokers with high education showed the less positive and negative partner support(P < 0.05). Nicotine dependence was positively associated with negative support (ß = 0.120, P < 0.01), and perceived responsiveness (ß = 0.124, P < 0.05) as well as family functioning (ß = 0.059, P < 0.05) was positively associated with positive support. These three factors were associated with ratio of positive/negative support(P < 0.05). In addition, power of smoker's spouse in decision-making of quitting smoking was positively associated with the positive (ß = 0.087, P < 0.001) and negative support (ß = 0.084, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Nicotine dependence, family functioning, power in decision-making of quitting smoking and perceived responsiveness were found to be the predictors of quitting support from smokers' spouses. By incorporating predictors of partner support and integrating some established theories that can improve family functioning and marital relationships, smoking cessation interventions can be further improved.

Association between ambient temperature and varicella among adults in Qingdao, China during 2008-2019.

Little concern has been paid to the relationship between temperature and varicella among adults. Daily meteorological data and varicella cases in Qingdao among adults from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2019 were collected. A combination of quasi-Poisson generalized additive model (GAM) and distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) was conducted to assess the temperature-lag-varicella relationship. We also estimated the lag-response curves for different temperatures and the exposure-response relationships for different lag days. The number of varicella cases was 10,296. Compared with the minimum-varicella temperature (25°C), we found the largest effect of temperature on varicella within 21 lag days was at 1°C (RR, 6.72; 95% CI, 2.90-15.57), and then the effect declined as the temperature increased. A similar trend of rising first and then falling was found in temperature-response curves for different lag days. A reverse U-shape lag pattern was found for different levels of temperatures. Temperature may affect varicella.

Incorporating Oxygen Atoms in a SnS2 Atomic Layer to Simultaneously Stabilize Atomic Hydrogen and Accelerate the Generation of Hydroxyl Radicals for Water Decontamination.

Photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) is an efficient way to address various pollutants. Surface-adsorbed atomic hydrogen (H*) and hydroxyl radicals (•OH) play a key role in the PEC process. However, the instability of H* and low production of •OH considerably limit the PEC efficiency. In this study, we noted that incorporating oxygen atoms could regulate the behavior of H* by creating a locally favorable electron-rich state of S atoms in the SnS2 catalyst. The finely modulated H* led to a 12-fold decrease in the overpotential of H2O2 generation (H*-OOH*-H2O2-•OH) by decreasing the activation energy barrier of OOH* (rate-determining step). Considering density functional theory calculations, an H*-•OH redox pair suitable for a wide pH range (3-11) was successfully constructed based on the photocathode. The optimal SnS1.85O0.15 AL@TNA photocathode exhibited a ∼90% reduction in Cr(VI) in 10 min and ∼70% TOC removal of 4-nitrophenol, nearly 2- and 3-fold higher than that without oxygen incorporation. Electron spin resonance spectrometry and radical quenching experiments verified that H* and the derived •OH via 1-electron and 3-electron reduction were the main active species. Operando Raman spectroscopy confirmed that the stable SnO2 phase helped constantly activate the production of H* and •OH.

Influence factors analysis of COVID-19 Prevention behavior of chinese Citizens: a path analysis based on the hypothetical model.

BACKGROUND: Under the outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a structural equation model was established to determine the causality of important factors that affect Chinese citizens' COVID-19 prevention behavior. METHODS: The survey in Qingdao covered several communities in 10 districts and used the method of cluster random sampling. The research instrument used in this study is a self-compiled Chinese version of the questionnaire. Of the 1215 questionnaires, 1188 were included in our analysis. We use the rank sum test, which is a non-parametric test, to test the influence of citizens'basic sociodemographic variables on prevention behavior, and the rank correlation test to analyze the influencing factors of prevention behavior. IBM AMOS 24.0 was used for path analysis, including estimating regression coefficients and evaluating the statistical fits of the structural model, to further explore the causal relationships between variables. RESULTS: The result showed that the score in the prevention behavior of all citizens is a median of 5 and a quartile spacing of 0.31. The final structural equation model showed that the external support for fighting the epidemic, the demand level of health information, the cognition of (COVID-19) and the negative emotions after the outbreak had direct effects on the COVID-19 prevention behavior, and that negative emotions and information needs served as mediating variables. CONCLUSIONS: The study provided a basis for relevant departments to further adopt epidemic prevention and control strategies.

Artificial Leaf for Switchable Droplet Manipulation.

Droplet manipulation plays an important role in scientific research, daily life, and practical production such as biological and chemical analysis. Inspired by the structure and function of three typical leaf veins, the bionic texture was replicated by the template method, and the artificial leaf was selectively treated by nanoparticles to obtain a quasi-three-dimensional hybrid superhydrophobic-hydrophilic surface. When the droplet touches the surface of the leaf, it will be attracted to the bottom of the main vein from different directions even in horizontal conditions due to the Laplace pressure gradient and energy gradient. The simulation analysis demonstrates that the reason for directional transportation is the energy gradient of the droplets on the different levels of veins, including the thin veins, lateral veins, and main vein. Meanwhile, the experimental result of water collection also showed an outstanding directional transportation effect and excellent water collection efficiency. In addition, when the sample is tilted upside down, the droplet will flow back to the main vein along the lateral vein and then flow down the main vein, showing a good droplet pumping effect. Therefore, the directional and polydirectional transportation of droplets on the same sample is successfully realized, and the conversion between executing single and multiple tasks simultaneously can be realized only by upright and inverted samples. This work provided a new strategy for directional and polydirectional water manipulation, water collection, directional drainage, and microfluidic devices.

A flexible joint model for multiple longitudinal biomarkers and a time-to-event outcome: With applications to dynamic prediction using highly correlated biomarkers.

In biomedical studies it is common to collect data on multiple biomarkers during study follow-up for dynamic prediction of a time-to-event clinical outcome. The biomarkers are typically intermittently measured, missing at some event times, and may be subject to high biological variations, which cannot be readily used as time-dependent covariates in a standard time-to-event model. Moreover, they can be highly correlated if they are from in the same biological pathway. To address these issues, we propose a flexible joint model framework that models the multiple biomarkers with a shared latent reduced rank longitudinal principal component model and correlates the latent process to the event time by the Cox model for dynamic prediction of the event time. The proposed joint model for highly correlated biomarkers is more flexible than some existing methods since the latent trajectory shared by the multiple biomarkers does not require specification of a priori parametric time trend and is determined by data. We derive an expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm for parameter estimation, study large sample properties of the estimators, and adapt the developed method to make dynamic prediction of the time-to-event outcome. Bootstrap is used for standard error estimation and inference. The proposed method is evaluated using simulations and illustrated on a lung transplant data to predict chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) using chemokines measured in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of the patients.

The effect of health literacy on health status among residents in Qingdao, China: a path analysis.

BACKGROUND: Health literacy is a public health goal which can be used as an independent factor of health outcomes. This study aimed to assess the association between health literacy and health status, as well as the two mediating factors of behavior and self-efficacy among residents aged 15-69 years in Qingdao. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was implemented among residents aged 15-69 years (N = 3793) in Qingdao, China. A combination of stratified cluster random and proportional probability sampling methods was used to select subjects for this study. Data were collected using "The Chinese Citizen Health Literacy Questionnaire (2019)". We proposed a hypothetical model for the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics, health literacy, self-efficacy, health behavior, and health status, and used path analysis to validate the hypothesis. RESULTS: The path analysis showed that higher education (ß = 0.293) and income (ß = 0.135) are positively and directly associated with greater health literacy, which was positively associated with health status (ß = 0.057). Health literacy is a direct influencing factor of health behavior (ß = 0.070) and self-efficacy (ß = 0.099). Health behavior (ß = 0.041) and self-efficacy (ß = 0.173) exerted a positive direct effect on health status. The model explained 14.1% of variance for health literacy, 3.8% for self-efficacy, 5.7% for health behavior, and 15.0% for health status. CONCLUSIONS: Health literacy was identified to be a critical factor in health status. The results emphasized that the dissemination of health knowledge, development of healthy behavior, and cultivation of self-efficacy should be jointly promoted to reinforce the level of health status among residents in future work.

Capillarity-driven migration of small objects: A critical review.

The phenomena on the capillarity-driven migration of small objects are full of interest for both scientific and engineering communities, and a critical review is thereby presented. The small objects mentioned here deal with the non-deformable objects, such as particles, rods, disks and metal sheets; and besides them, the soft objects are considered, such as droplets and bubbles. Two types of interfaces are analyzed, i.e., the solid-fluid interface and the fluid-fluid interface. Due to the easily deformable properties of the soft objects and distorted interfacial shapes induced by small objects, a more convenient way to obtain the driving force is through the potential energy of the system. The asymmetric factors causing the object migration include the asymmetric configuration of the interface, and the difference between the interfacial tensions. Finally, a simple outlook on the potential applications of small object migration is made. These behaviors may cast new light on the design of microfluidics and new devices, environment cleaning, oil and gas displacement and mineral industries.

Jurin's law revisited: Exact meniscus shape and column height.

Capillary rise of a liquid column is a historical problem, which has normally been formulated by Jurin's law. In the present study, we investigate the exact solutions of the column height, considering the real shape of the meniscus according to the Young-Laplace equation. The analytical solution in the planar model and the numerical solution in the axisymmetric model on the meniscus shape are both given, which are compared with the results from Jurin's law, modified Jurin's law and Surface Evolver simulation. The results quantitatively show that when the distance between the two plates or the diameter of the tube becomes bigger, Jurin's law and modified Jurin's law would cause serious errors, and the profile morphology of the meniscus must be calculated according to the Young-Laplace equation. These findings are beneficial for us to better understand the mechanism of capillarity and wetting, which are promising for such areas as oil displacement, ore floatation, building materials, fabrics, etc.

The load-bearing ability of a particle raft under the transverse compression of a slender rod.

Liquid marbles and particle rafts are liquid interfaces covered with tiny particles, which are accompanied with many exotic behaviors. This study seeks to extend our understanding on the load-bearing ability of a particle raft under the transverse compression of a slender rod. At first, the interface morphologies of the particle raft and water are captured and compared with each other. Then the load-distance curves of the particle raft and water surface are measured using a self-developed device. For the particle raft, the hydrophobicity of the rod almost does not affect the interface morphology and the supporting load. To address the mechanism of this phenomenon, we perform the experiment and find that the surface tension of the particle raft is almost the same as that of water, but the equivalent contact angle of the rod attached to the particles is greatly enhanced. Finally, the model of an axisymmetrical rod pressing liquid is built, and the numerical result is in excellent agreement with the experimental data. These analyses may be beneficial to the measurement of mechanical behaviors for soft interfaces, separation of oil and water, flotation in minerals, and design of miniature boats.

Correction: The load-bearing ability of a particle raft under the transverse compression of a slender rod.

Correction for 'The load-bearing ability of a particle raft under the transverse compression of a slender rod' by Pingcheng Zuo et al., Soft Matter, 2017, DOI: .

Near-post meniscus-induced migration and assembly of bubbles.

Although the effect of interfacial tension of liquids is often negligible at the macroscale, it plays an essential role in areas such as superhydrophobicity on rough surfaces, water walking of aquatic creatures and self-assembly of small particles or droplets. In this study, we investigate the migration and assembly of bubbles near the meniscus produced by a slender post with various cross-sections. The results show that the bubble always migrates to the solid wall of the post, although the cross-section shape, material and tilt angle of the post are different. In particular, the final position of the bubble is not located at the singular point of the cross-section, which is beyond what we have imagined. We simulate the morphology of the triple contact line via Surface Evolver, and then address the mechanism of bubble's migration from the viewpoint of force analysis and energy calculation. The factors governing the final position of the bubble are analyzed according to the scaling law. These obtained results cast new light on modulating the assembly of bubbles and small droplets by varying the material, geometric shape and posture of the post in water. These findings also have important implications for oil collection and oil displacement in petroleum engineering, drug delivery, design of microfluidic devices and chemical sensors.

Versatile Photocrosslinked Protein Hydrogel Matrix for Magnetic-Nanoparticle-Doping and Biomineralization.

A versatile template biomaterial was facilely obtained by ultraviolet (UV) photocrosslinking approach using protein molecules as building blocks. As-formed photocrosslinked protein hydrogel matrix (PPHM) was proved to be composed of covalently bound and dense packing protein molecules. Therefore, the PPHM was endowed with highly smooth topograghy with an average roughness of approximately 5 nm, and was self-supporting and flexible. The PPHM could be easily functionalized by doping Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles inside the protein hydrogel. Further, PPHM was experimentally demonstrated to be used as a applicable template for biomineralization.

Prosodic and Visual Cues Facilitate Irony Comprehension by Mandarin-Speaking Children With Cochlear Implants.

PURPOSE: This study investigated irony comprehension by Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants, focusing on how prosodic and visual cues contribute to their comprehension, and whether second-order Theory of Mind is required for using these cues. METHOD: We tested 52 Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants (aged 3-7 years) and 52 age- and gender-matched children with normal hearing. All children completed a Theory of Mind test and a story comprehension test. Ironic stories were presented in three conditions, each providing different cues: (a) context-only, (b) context and prosody, and (c) context, prosody, and visual cues. Comparisons were conducted on the accuracy of story understanding across the three conditions to examine the role of prosodic and visual cues. RESULTS: The results showed that, compared to the context-only condition, the additional prosodic and visual cues both improved the accuracy of irony comprehension for children with cochlear implants, similar to their normal-hearing peers. Furthermore, such improvements were observed for all children, regardless of whether they passed the second-order Theory of Mind test or not. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to demonstrate the benefits of prosodic and visual cues in irony comprehension, without reliance on second-order Theory of Mind, for Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants. It implies potential insights for utilizing prosodic and visual cues in intervention strategies to promote irony comprehension.

Efficient Fog-Harvesting Origami Fan.

Fog harvesting represents a promising strategy to address the global freshwater shortage. To enhance the water collection efficiency, diverse geometric structures that can effectively drive water droplet movement are essential. Inspired by the Livistona chinensis leaf, which naturally facilitates directional droplet motion through its unique gradually varying V-groove structure, we have developed a novel origami fan structure for fog harvesting through theoretical analysis. A key feature is that we can modulate the speed of droplet transport by adjusting the opening angle of the V-shaped grooves positioned at the outer circumference. Interestingly, the water collection efficiency exhibits a linear correlation with the opening angle. The highest efficiency of the origami fan can reach 5.75 times that of the control group calculated by the projected area and 3.76 times that of the control group calculated by the real area, showcasing its significant potential for enhancing water collection from fog. The simulations demonstrate that the hollow structure enhances the condensation rate of droplets, the geometric gradient of the gradual-variation V-groove drives the condensed droplets to move rapidly on the surface, and the Janus membrane permits the aggregated droplets to transit to the fan's rear side. The synergistic action of these three components ensures a clean surface for the subsequent water-collecting cycle, contributing to the high fog-harvesting efficiency. Given its simple fabrication and superior water transfer efficiency, the origami fan holds substantial promise for widespread application in the field of droplet manipulation.

The Effect of Visual Articulatory Cues on the Identification of Mandarin Tones by Children With Cochlear Implants.

PURPOSE: This study explored the facilitatory effect of visual articulatory cues on the identification of Mandarin lexical tones by children with cochlear implants (CIs) in both quiet and noisy environments. It also explored whether early implantation is associated with better use of visual cues in tonal identification. METHOD: Participants included 106 children with CIs and 100 normal-hearing (NH) controls. A tonal identification task was employed using a two-alternative forced-choice picture-pointing paradigm. Participants' tonal identification accuracies were compared between audio-only (AO) and audiovisual (AV) modalities. Correlations between implantation ages and visual benefits (accuracy differences between AO and AV modalities) were also examined. RESULTS: Children with CIs demonstrated an improved identification accuracy from AO to AV modalities in the noisy environment. Additionally, earlier implantation was significantly correlated with a greater visual benefit in noise. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicated that children with CIs benefited from visual cues on tonal identification in noise, and early implantation enhanced the visual benefit. These results thus have practical implications on tonal perception interventions for Mandarin-speaking children with CIs.

The relationship between health literacy and problematic internet use in Chinese college students: The mediating effect of subject well-being and moderating effect of social support.

BACKGROUND: The issue of problematic Internet use (PIU) amongst college students is emerging as a major concern for mental health. Factors such as health literacy, subjective well-being and the extent of social support may be critical in preventing PIU. However, the complex relationship between these factors has not been extensively explored in research. METHODS: A national cross-sectional study based on multistage random sampling was conducted in China in 2022. The subjects for this study were 7669 college students who completed a set of questionnaires assessing their health literacy, subjective well-being, PIU and social support. A structural equation model (SEM) was utilised for exploring the mediating effect of subjective well-being, and the PROCESS macro was used to test the moderating effect of social support. RESULTS: After controlling for demographic factors, a significantly negative correlation was found between health literacy and PIU, and subjective well-being partially mediated this relationship. In addition, social support was negatively related to PIU and could moderate the relationship between health literacy and subjective well-being and between subjective well-being and PIU. LIMITATIONS: This is a cross-sectional study, and the results cannot inform the causality between these variables. CONCLUSION: Results revealed that the relationship between health literacy and PIU was partially mediated by subjective well-being in college students. The correlation between health literacy and subjective well-being and between subjective well-being and PIU were moderated by social support. Thus, future interventions for college students' PIU should be facilitated by improving health literacy, subjective well-being and social support.

Treatment of relapsed or refractory FLT-3 acute myelogenous leukemia with a triplet regimen of hypomethylating agent, venetoclax, and gilteritinib.

Relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) mutations remains a difficult and hard to treat entity. Gilteritinib is a potent oral FLT-3 inhibitor that improves overall survival in R/R AML, but studies are limited in combining gilteritinib with a hypomethylating agent and venetoclax treatment backbone (HMA-VEN-GILT). Here we report our experience with HMA-VEN-GILT for 22 R/R FLT3 AML patients. HMA-VEN-GILT yielded an ORR of 77.3% (17/22), CR 4.5% (1/22), CRi 13.6% (3/22), MLFS 59.1% (13/22). Median follow-up was 10.4 months with a relapse rate of 29.4% (5/17), median time to relapse of 69 days (range 35-298 days), 6-month overall survival of 84%, and median OS of 10.1 months. Additionally, 36.4% (8/22) of patients proceeded to hematopoietic stem cell transplant. In conclusion, HMA-VEN-GILT for the treatment of R/R FLT3 AML is feasible and can be used as a bridge to allogeneic transplantation.