Analysis of the Correlation and Prognostic Significance of Tertiary Lymphoid Structures in Breast Cancer: A Radiomics-Clinical Integration Approach.

BACKGROUND: Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) are potential prognostic indicators. Radiomics may help reduce unnecessary invasive operations. PURPOSE: To analyze the association between TLSs and prognosis, and to establish a nomogram model to evaluate the expression of TLSs in breast cancer (BC) patients. STUDY TYPE: Retrospective. POPULATION: Two hundred forty-two patients with localized primary BC (confirmed by surgery) were divided into BC + TLS group (N = 122) and BC - TLS group (N = 120). FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: 3.0T; Caipirinha-Dixon-TWIST-volume interpolated breath-hold sequence for dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI and inversion-recovery turbo spin echo sequence for T2-weighted imaging (T2WI). ASSESSMENT: Three models for differentiating BC + TLS and BC - TLS were developed: 1) a clinical model, 2) a radiomics signature model, and 3) a combined clinical and radiomics (nomogram) model. The overall survival (OS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and disease-free survival (DFS) were compared to evaluate the prognostic value of TLSs. STATISTICAL TESTS: LASSO algorithm and ANOVA were used to select highly correlated features. Clinical relevant variables were identified by multivariable logistic regression. Model performance was evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC), and through decision curve analysis (DCA). The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the survival rate. RESULTS: The radiomics signature model (training: AUC 0.766; test: AUC 0.749) and the nomogram model (training: AUC 0.820; test: AUC 0.749) showed better validation performance than the clinical model. DCA showed that the nomogram model had a higher net benefit than the other models. The median follow-up time was 52 months. While there was no significant difference in 3-year OS (P = 0.22) between BC + TLS and BC - TLS patients, there were significant differences in 3-year DFS and 3-year DMFS between the two groups. DATA CONCLUSION: The nomogram model performs well in distinguishing the presence or absence of TLS. BC + TLS patients had higher long-term disease control rates and better prognoses than those without TLS. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.

Effects of evidence-based nursing care interventions on wound pain and wound complications following surgery for finger tendon injury.

We conducted this study aimed to examine the impact of evidence-based nursing interventions on postoperative wound pain and complications after surgery for finger tendon injury. A total of 86 patients treated for finger tendon injuries at our hospital from January 2021 to October 2023 were selected and randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. The control group received conventional nursing care, while the experimental group received evidence-based nursing interventions. The study compared the postoperative wound pain intensity, incidence of complications and patient satisfaction with nursing care between the two groups. The analysis revealed that compared with conventional care, evidence-based nursing interventions significantly reduced the level of wound pain (p = 0.034) and the incidence of complications (4.65% vs. 18.60%, p = 0.043). It also increased patient satisfaction with the nursing care (97.67% vs. 83.72%, p = 0.026). The study indicates that the application of evidence-based nursing interventions for patients with finger tendon injuries can reduce postoperative wound pain, decrease the incidence of complications and enhance patient satisfaction with nursing care.

The mediating role of anxiety and depression in the relationship between coping styles and life satisfaction among frontline medical workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.

This study aimed to examine the mediating role of anxiety and depression in the relationship between coping styles and life satisfaction among frontline medical workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Five hundred and fourteen frontline medical workers from Zunyi were recruited to complete questionnaires, including the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ). SPSS 24.0 was used to measure the characteristics of anxiety, depression, life satisfaction, and coping styles. We found that the prevalence rates of anxiety and depression among study participants were 22.57% and 18.29%, respectively. Besides, anxiety was positively correlated with depression; anxiety and depression were positively correlated with passive coping style but negatively correlated with life satisfaction and active coping style; life satisfaction was positively correlated with active coping style and negatively correlated with passive coping style (all p < 0.001). Moreover, anxiety and depression mediated the relationship between coping styles and life satisfaction. Anxiety accounted for 18.6% of the effect of active coping style and 35.48% of the effect of passive coping style on life satisfaction. Depression accounted for 48.84% of the effect of active coping style and 67.74% of the effect of passive coping style on life satisfaction. The present study provides novel insights into the effect of subclinical anxiety and depression on frontline medical workers in the pandemic area. Anxiety and depression yielded a mediating effect on the relationship between coping styles and life satisfaction.

High Concentration of FBS Can Save mTOR Down-Regulation Caused by Mycoplasmas bovis Infection.

Mycoplasmas bovis (M. bovis) is an important pathogen that causes a variety of diseases, such as bovine respiratory diseases and causes significant losses to the national cattle industry every year, seriously affecting the development of the cattle industry worldwide. The pathogenic mechanism of M. bovis infection is still unknown, which leads to the lack of timely diagnosis and treatment. In this study, embryonic bovine lung (EBL) cells, infected with M. bovis were collected for gene profiling and detection of marker genes in the mTOR signaling pathway. The result showed that M. bovis infection significantly inhibits EBL growth in a dose-dependent manner. The transcription profiling data uncovered that M. bovis infection repressed a series of gene expressions in EBL cells, which are mainly related to metabolic process and immune response. Notably, many marker genes in the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway showed down-regulation after M. bovis infection. Further evidence showed that M. bovis infection inhibits expression of mTOR signaling pathway marker genes in EBL cells, which are time dependent. To further understand the M. bovis-induced inhibitory effect of mTOR signaling pathway, this study employed FBS as a supplement for exogenous nutrients and found that addition of a high concentration of FBS can rescue M. bovis-induced cell damage. In addition, a high concentration of FBS can rescue down-regulated mTOR signaling, including increasing transcriptional expression and protein phosphorylation level of mTOR pathway marker genes. This study demonstrated that M. bovis infection leads to inhibition of the nutrient metabolic pathway mTOR in a time-dependent manner, which would be helpful to further understand M. bovis infection mechanism and develop a new efficient anti-mycoplasma strategy targeting mTOR signaling.

Melatonin attenuates I/R-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in skeletal muscle.

BACKGROUND: Our recent studies have shown that ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) produces significant necrosis and apoptosis in the cells of skeletal muscle. Our previous studies also demonstrated that melatonin provides significant protection against superoxide generation, endothelial dysfunction, and cell death in the skeletal muscle after I/R. Mitochondria are essential for cell survival, because of their roles as ATP producers as well as regulators of cell death. However, the efficacy of melatonin on I/R-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in the skeletal muscle in vivo has not been demonstrated in the literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Vascular pedicle isolated rat gracilis muscle model was used. After 4 h of ischemia followed by 24 h of reperfusion, gracilis muscle was harvested, and mitochondrial as well as cytosolic fractions were isolated. Mitochondrial dysfunction was determined by the alteration of mitochondrial membrane potential and the release of the proapoptotic protein, cytochrome c. Three groups were designed; sham I/R, I/R-V (I/R with vehicle), and I/R-Mel (I/R with melatonin). Melatonin or vehicle was given intravenously 10 min prior to reperfusion and 10 min after reperfusion. RESULTS: We found that the capability of uptake of fluorescent JC-1 dye in skeletal muscle cells was substantially improved in I/R-Mel group compared with I/R-V group. Melatonin significantly inhibited the outflow of cytochrome c from mitochondria to cytoplasm, which was demonstrated in the I/R-V group. CONCLUSIONS: Melatonin significantly attenuates I/R-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, such as the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential and the release of the proapoptotic protein, cytochrome c, from the mitochondria.

Nitrite attenuates ischemia-reperfusion-induced microcirculatory alterations and mitochondrial dysfunction in the microvasculature of skeletal muscle.

BACKGROUND: Recently, nitrite has been rediscovered as a physiologically relevant storage reservoir of nitric oxide in blood and it can readily be converted to nitric oxide under hypoxic and acidic conditions. In this study, the authors evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of nitrite on reperfusion-induced microcirculatory alterations and mitochondrial dysfunction in the microvasculature of skeletal muscle. METHODS: The authors used a vascular pedicle isolated rat cremaster model that underwent 4 hours of warm ischemia followed by 2 hours or 17 hours of reperfusion. At 5 minutes before reperfusion, normal saline, sodium nitrite (0.20 µM/minute/kg), or nitrite mixed with 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,5-dihydro-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-3-oxide-1-oxyl (potassium salt) (0.2 mg/minute/kg) was infused into the microcirculation of ischemic cremaster by means of intraarterial infusion. Ischemia-reperfusion-induced microcirculatory alterations were measured after 2 hours of reperfusion. Microvasculature of the cremaster muscle including the vascular pedicle was harvested to determine the mitochondrial dysfunction. The blood concentration of methemoglobin was also measured to determine the toxicity of nitrite. RESULTS: The authors found that nitrite significantly attenuated ischemia-reperfusion-induced vasoconstriction, arteriole stagnation, and capillary no-reflow in the early phase of reperfusion and the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential and cytochrome c release in the late phase of reperfusion. Nitrite-induced protection was significantly blocked by a nitric oxide scavenger (potassium salt). The methemoglobin results showed that the doses of nitrite we used in the present study were safe. CONCLUSION: The supplementation of a low dose of nitrite, directly into the microcirculation of ischemic muscle through local intraarterial infusion, significantly attenuated ischemia-reperfusion-induced microcirculatory alterations in vivo and mitochondrial dysfunction in vitro in the microvasculature of skeletal muscle.