Patient-reported outcomes of taste alterations and quality of life in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Objective: To investigate patient-reported outcomes of taste alterations and quality of life (QoL) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods: In this single-center retrospective study medical records of 191 patients with NPC undergoing chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in the Department of Radiotherapy, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2021 to December 2021 were reviewed. A total of 120 patients met eligibility criteria and were included. The taste alterations and QoL at multiple time points during radiotherapy (RT) were compared. Results: There were significant differences in the intensity of taste, discomfort, phantogeusia and parageusia or overall taste alterations at multiple time points during CRT (p-Value<0.001). These four parameters were significantly higher two or four weeks after CRT, or at the end of CRT compared to before CRT (p-Value <0.001). The intensity of taste, discomfort, phantogeusia and parageusia or overall taste alterations were all significantly higher four weeks after CRT compared to two weeks after CRT (p-Value <0.001), and at the end of CRT compared to four weeks after CRT (p-Value <0.001). The chemotherapy-induced taste alteration scale (CiTAS) scores were highest at the end of CRT (p-Value <0.001). There were significant differences in QoL at multiple time points during CRT (p-Value <0.001), and each parameter differed significantly at various time points (p <0.05). The QoL of all areas at the end of CRT were significantly higher than those before CRT, or two or four weeks after CRT (p-Value <0.001). Conclusions: In patients with NPC undergoing CRT, taste alterations increasingly worsen as treatment progresses, with poor QoL outcomes.

Biomimetic catalytic aerobic oxidation of C-sp(3)-H bonds under mild conditions using galactose oxidase model compound CuIIL.

Developing highly efficient catalytic protocols for C-sp(3)-H bond aerobic oxidation under mild conditions is a long-desired goal of chemists. Inspired by nature, a biomimetic approach for the aerobic oxidation of C-sp(3)-H by galactose oxidase model compound CuIIL and NHPI (N-hydroxyphthalimide) was developed. The CuIIL-NHPI system exhibited excellent performance in the oxidation of C-sp(3)-H bonds to ketones, especially for light alkanes. The biomimetic catalytic protocol had a broad substrate scope. Mechanistic studies revealed that the CuI-radical intermediate species generated from the intramolecular redox process of CuIILH2 was critical for O2 activation. Kinetic experiments showed that the activation of NHPI was the rate-determining step. Furthermore, activation of NHPI in the CuIIL-NHPI system was demonstrated by time-resolved EPR results. The persistent PINO (phthalimide-N-oxyl) radical mechanism for the aerobic oxidation of C-sp(3)-H bond was demonstrated.

Risk factors for the development of a parastomal hernia in patients with enterostomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Parastomal hernia (PSH) is a common and serious complication in patients with enterostomy, but there is no current consensus for the risk factors for PSH from previous studies. Therefore, this study systematically analyzed the risk factors for PSH to provide a reference for prevention and treatment of this condition. METHODS: Seven databases and 3 registers were systematically searched from database inception to January, 2021. Study quality was assessed by Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Review Manager 5.3 software was used for statistical analysis. The data that could not be combined quantitatively were only analyzed qualitatively. RESULTS: Sixteen studies with 2031 patients were included. Higher BMI (OR, 1.29; 95% CI,1.02-1.63), older age (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02-1.07), female (OR, 2.55; 95% CI,1.39-4.67), lager aperture size (OR, 2.8; 95%CI, 1.78-4.42), transperitoneal stoma creation (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.33-4.35), and lager waist circumference (OR, 1.01; 95% CI,1.0-1.01) were significant risk factors for PSH. The laparoscopic approach was not a risk factor for PSH (OR, 2.09; 95% CI, 0.83-5.27). Other risk factors, including the thickness of abdominal subcutaneous fat, no mesh, a stoma not through the middle of the rectus abdominis, atrophy of left lower medial part of rectus abdominis, α1(III) procollagen expression level, emergency surgery, no preoperative stoma site marking, end colostomy, smoking, diabetes, peristomal infection, severe abdominal distention, severe cough, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, operation time and hypertension, were significant on the multivariate analysis of each individual study. CONCLUSIONS: The current available evidence showed that higher BMI, older age, female, larger aperture size, the creation of a transperitoneal stoma, and a larger waist circumference were independent risk factors for PSH. For factors without exact cutoff value, further explorations are needed in the future. In addition, reference to the limited number of studies in the pooled analysis, these factors still need to be interpreted carefully.

Enhanced oxygen transfer over bifunctional Mo-based oxametallacycle catalyst for epoxidation of propylene.

Activation of inert propylene to produce propylene oxide (PO) is critical, but still faces some challenges in realizing higher PO selectivity and productivity. Herein, a temperature-controlled phase transfer catalyst (MoOO·DMF) is prepared for the liquid-phase epoxidation of propylene with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as oxidant, which exhibit the selectivity of 90.6% and the productivity of 1286.42·h-1 for PO (catalyst/propylene = 0.77 mol‰). Some experimental factors (solvent types, reaction temperature, contact time, the dosage of catalyst, TBHP and substrate) were investigated, and the reaction kinetics and thermodynamics are discussed. MoOO·DMF has the characteristic of both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts, which can be dissolved in the solvent at higher temperatures and separated from the solvent after reaction by lowering the temperature. Importantly, MoOO·DMF has a wonderful epoxidation performance for many olefins (e.g., light olefins, linear α-olefins, cyclic olefins and others). The mechanisms are proved by in-situ FT-IR, ESR and HRMS spectrum to be the selective oxygen transfer from tert-butyl peroxide radical and the MoOO bridge in MoOO·DMF to propylene. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the MoOO bridge in catalyst is the key role for the activation of both the OH bond in TBHP and the CC bond in propylene, thus enhanced the epoxidation of propylene.

Factors associated with nurses' willingness to participate in care of patients with COVID-19: A survey in China.

AIM: The research aims to assess nurses' willingness to participate in care of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and to identify its associated factors. BACKGROUND: Along with the increasing number of infections, the world has paid widespread attention to COVID-19. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used a convenience sampling method that included a demographics questionnaire and the Nurses' Perceived Professional Benefits Questionnaire. The survey was distributed to 1,787 nurses from 36 hospitals in China. RESULTS: In total, 1,176 questionnaires were usable for this research. 92.79% of nurses were willing to participate in care of patients with COVID-19. Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses were less willing to participate, while surgical nurses were more willing to participate. In addition, nurses with high positive professional perception scores were more willing to participate than those with low scores. CONCLUSION: The vast majority of nurses were willing to participate in care of patients with COVID-19 in China. Surgical nurses and nurses with positive professional perceptions are more likely to be willing to participate in treatment. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: To increase nurses' willingness to participate in care of patients with COVID-19, improving the sense of perceived professional benefits, offering salary and offering paid sick leave for nursing staff are effective ways. In addition, raising the awareness of infectious diseases and increased pre-disaster training during infectious diseases is critical.