Psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the Chinese version of the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire-short in patients with cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties and measurement invariance (MI) of the Chinese version of the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire-short (CERQ-short) in cancer patients. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 505 cancer patients from mainland China. In addition to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, the CERQ-short and the distress thermometer were included in the study measures. RESULTS: Item analysis indicated a promising result. And the results of CFA indicated that the CERQ-short demonstrated satisfactory factorial validity in cancer patients. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were between 0.663 and 0.910, while McDonald's omega coefficients were between 0.664 and 0.910. The CERQ-short had sufficient convergent, discriminant and concurrent validity among cancer patients. Lastly, MI supported that the CERQ-short demonstrated strong measurement equivalence across gender, residence and age. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the Chinese version of the CERQ-short has convincing psychometric properties and MI, which supports its use in cancer patients.

The effectiveness of positive psychological interventions for patients with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of positive psychological interventions on quality of life, positive psychological outcomes and negative psychological outcomes in patients with cancer. BACKGROUND: Patients with cancer often suffer from various psychological problems and have a poor quality of life. Positive psychological interventions have been increasingly applied to patients with cancer, but the results of these studies have not been synthesized. DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials according to PRISMA. METHODS: Six English databases and four Chinese databases were searched from the inception to December 2022. Two reviewers independently assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. RevMan was used for meta-analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-nine randomized controlled trials examined the effects of positive psychological interventions including meaning therapy, dignity therapy, positive psychotherapy, mindfulness- based intervention, life review, expressive writing intervention, acceptance and commitment psychotherapy, attention and interpretation therapy, compassion training and spiritual therapy on patients with cancer. Positive psychological interventions significantly improved the quality of life, enhanced positive psychological outcomes including well-being, meaning of life, self-esteem, optimism, resilience and self-efficacy and alleviated negative psychological outcomes including depression, anxiety and hopelessness. However, the heterogeneity of some outcomes was rather high, due to the wide diversity of the interventions included. CONCLUSION: Positive psychological interventions have potentially positive effects on improving quality of life, enhancing positive psychological outcomes and alleviating negative psychological outcomes in patients with cancer. However, due to the heterogeneity and the lack of follow-up studies, more high-quality studies are needed to confirm the results of our review and to clarify the long-term effects of positive psychological interventions. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: As feasible psychological interventions, healthcare professionals can consider applying appropriate positive psychological interventions according to the condition of cancer patients. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution.

Abnormal methylation of HOXA11 promoter promotes tumor progression in testicular germ cell tumor.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the methylation of HOXA11 gene promoter in testicular germ cell tumor (GCT). METHOD: The clinicopathological data of 63 patients with primary testicular GCT who underwent surgery during Apr. 2019 to Mar. 2021, were retrospectively analyzed. Their GCT tissue and paraneoplastic testicular tissue were obtained, and genomic DNA was extracted from both. The methylation of HOXA11 gene promoter region was detected by methylation-specific PCR (MSP). The incidence of HOXA11 methylation in testicular GCT and adjacent tissues was compared, and the connection between methylation level in testicular GCT and clinicopathologic features of patients was statistically analyzed. Testicular GCT cells were treated with methylated transferase inhibitor 5-Aza-dC in vitro, and HOXA11 mRNA expression was detected by real-time PCR. RESULTS: The positive rate of HOXA11 promoter methylation in testicular GCT tissues was notably higher than that of paired adjacent tissues (P<0.05). The abnormal methylation of HOXA11 gene promoter was correlated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage in patients (P<0.05). HOXA11 mRNA expression in testicular GCT cells treated with 5-Aza-dC was increased (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Abnormal methylation of HOXA11 gene promoter in testicular germ cell tumor tissue inhibits transcription and expression of HOXA11 gene. The abnormal methylation of HOXA11 promoter region is tightly associated with lymph node metastasis and TNM staging in testicular germ cell tumors.

Effects of meaning therapy on spirituality, psychological health, and quality of life in patients with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Objective: This study aimed to systematically review studies of meaning therapy on patients with cancer and to evaluate its effectiveness on spiritual outcomes, psychological outcomes, and quality of life (QOL). Methods: A comprehensive literature search were performed in five international databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, and CINAHL) and four Chinese databases (CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP, and CBM) from the inception to August 2023. The methodological quality of each included studies was evaluated by using the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials. The random-effects model or fixed-effects model was utilized for effect size analysis, and the standardized mean difference (SMD) or mean difference (MD) along with its corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) was computed. Meta-analysis was conducted by using the RevMan software 5.4.1. Results: Eight randomized controlled trials with 1251 participants were included in this review. Meta-analyses revealed that meaning therapy can significantly improve the spiritual outcomes including meaning in life (SMD = -0.48; 95% CI = -0.89 to -0.07; P = 0.02), hopelessness (SMD = -0.30; 95% CI = -0.51 to -0.09; P = 0.005), self-esteem (MD = -2.74; 95% CI = -4.17 to -1.32; P = 0.0002) and spiritual well-being (MD = -3.32; 95% CI = -5.63 to -1.01; P = 0.005), psychological outcomes including anxiety (MD = -0.66; 95% CI = -1.30 to -0.01; P = 0.05), depression (SMD = -0.37; 95% CI = -0.55 to -0.20; P < 0.0001), psychological distress (SMD = -0.35; 95% CI = -0.70 to -0.01; P = 0.04) and desire for hastened death (MD = -0.76; 95% CI = -1.47 to -0.05; P = 0.04), and QOL (SMD = -0.29; 95% CI = -0.50 to -0.09; P = 0.006) in patients with cancer. Conclusions: Meaning therapy has positive effects on improving spirituality, psychological health, and QOL of patients with cancer. More high-quality randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes are warranted to confirm the results of our review and to clarify the long-term effects of meaning therapy in the future. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO (No. CRD42021278286).

The effects of hospice care education on first-year undergraduate nursing students in mainland China: A mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND: With the rising number of people with end-stage chronic diseases, the demand for hospice care has increased dramatically. As the future health professionals for the implementation of hospice care, undergraduate nursing students in mainland China still lack knowledge and skills of hospice care, thus hospice care education plays a vital role in its development. OBJECTIVES: To understand the effects of hospice care education on nursing students' death attitudes, end-of-life attitudes, humanistic care qualities, and their learning experiences. DESIGN: This study used a mixed-methods design. SETTING: A University of Chinese Medicine in mainland China. PARTICIPANTS: The first-year undergraduate nursing students (n = 65). METHODS: A mixed-methods study was conducted to evaluate the impact of a hospice care course from March to June 2021. The quantitative part included a quasi-experimental study designed with pre- and post-intervention measurements and the qualitative part included a descriptive qualitative study with semi-structured individual interviews. RESULTS: The quantitative data revealed that after the course, nursing students experienced improvements in their death attitudes, end-of-life attitudes, and humanistic care qualities. Two categories were identified from the qualitative data. The category of "Gain from learning" included 4 themes (Confronting death and thinking about life; Understanding and agreeing with the idea of hospice care; Perceiving the humanistic spirit of medicine; Enhancing of the nursing discipline cognition and professional identity) and the category of "Course feedback" included 2 themes (Expressing recognition for the course arrangement; Making suggestions on the course optimization). CONCLUSIONS: Hospice care education had a positive influence on nursing students. Students expressed satisfaction with the course arrangement. However, future hospice care courses should further optimize the curriculum designs by increasing the discussion of death-related topics, sharing more real clinical cases, recruiting students from different majors, and providing clinical practice, to provide high-quality nursing education for the development of hospice care.

Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Palliative Care (FACIT-Pal) in Patients With Advanced Cancer.

CONTEXT: The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Palliative Care (FACIT-Pal) has been widely used in assessing the quality of life (QOL) of patients with life-limiting illness. However, the Chinese version of the FACIT-Pal has not been psychometrically validated yet. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to psychometrically validate the FACIT-Pal in Chinese patients with advanced cancer. METHODS: 160 patients with advanced cancer in mainland China participated in this cross-sectional study. The scalability of the instrument was determined by the item-total correlations and the reliability was tested by examining the Cronbach's alpha coefficients. The construct and concurrent validity of the FACIT-Pal were also examined. RESULTS: The item-total correlation coefficients ranged from 0.25 to 0.72 (P < .01). Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the Chinese version of the FACIT-Pal was 0.94, ranging from 0.78 to 0.89 for subscales. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results provided support for the measurement structure of the 26-item Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the 19-item palliative care subscale identified five factors accounting for 62.21% of the total variance. Total/subscale scores of the FACIT-Pal were positively correlated with that of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being 12 Item Scale (FACIT-Sp-12) (r = 0.338-0.811, P < .01), as well as with the Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) scores (r = 0.163-0.273, P < .05), except for the correlation between social/family well-being subscale score and KPS score. CONCLUSION: The Chinese version of the FACIT-Pal demonstrates desirable psychometric properties for evaluating QOL in Chinese patients with advanced cancer.

Viscoelasticity in trapezius myofascial pain syndrome: quantitative assessment using Real-Time Shear-Wave Elastography.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differences in the viscoelastic properties between normal trapezius muscles and those in patients with trapezius myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) using real-time shear-wave elastography (SWE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 31 patients with trapezius MPS and 31 volunteers. Sixty-one trapezius muscles (41 and 20 on the affected and non-affected side, respectively) of patients with MPS and 62 normal trapezius muscles in volunteers were assessed. Conventional ultrasonic parameters, including skeletal muscle thickness, resistance index (RI), and mean shear wave velocity (SWVmean) of trapezius muscles, were obtained in the seated position with the shoulders and neck relaxed. The daily neck leaning time (unit:hours) of all participants was obtained using a questionnaire. RESULTS: Ultrasound showed no statistically significant differences in thickness or RI of the trapezius muscles of the affected and non-affected sides in MPS patients versus normal trapezius muscles (p = 0.976 and 0.106, respectively). In contrast, the SWVmean of trapezius muscles in patients with MPS was significantly higher than that of normal trapezius muscles in both the affected and non-affected sides (4.41 ± 1.02 m/s vs. 3.35 ± 0.79 m/s, p < 0.001; 4.05 ± 0.63 m/s vs. 3.35 ± 0.79 m/s, p = 0.002). There was no significant difference between the SWVmean of the trapezius muscles on the affected and non-affected sides in patients with MPS (4.41 ± 1.02 m/s vs. 4.05 ± 0.63 m/s, p = 0.225). Correlation analysis showed that daily neck forward time was positively correlated with the SWVmean of the trapezius muscles on the affected and non-affected sides in patients with MPS (r = 0.635, p < 0.001; r = 0.576, p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: SWE can quantitatively evaluate stiffness of trapezius muscles in patients with trapezius MPS. The stiffness of both affected and non-affected trapezius muscles increased in patients with trapezius MPS, and the degree of increase positively correlated with the time of cervical forward leaning.

Upper trapezius muscle elasticity in cervical myofascial pain syndrome measured using real-time ultrasound shear-wave elastography.

Background: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a common cause of neck pain, which is a global public health problem. Because MPS does not present morphological changes within lesioned muscles, there are no imaging diagnostic criteria for this condition. In this study, we evaluate elasticity changes in upper trapezius muscles most frequently involved in cervical MPS using real-time ultrasound shear-wave elastography, and we examine their potential diagnostic value. Methods: We consecutively enrolled 109 right posterior neck pain patients for this prospective study. Of these, 51 were diagnosed with MPS and 58 with non-MPS in the right side of their neck. Among MPS patients, 19 fell into the 1-3 range (mild pain) for pain scores on the visual analog scale (VAS), 25 fell into the 4-6 range (moderate pain), and 7 into the 7-10 range (severe pain). MPS was diagnosed by two independent clinicians using the diagnostic criteria proposed by Simons et al. Using real-time ultrasound shear-wave elastography, we measured right trapezius mean shear-wave velocity (SWVmean). The midpoint of the line between the foramen magnum and the end of the right acromion served as measuring point. Regions of interest were scaled to span 0-8.0 m/s. Results: Trapezius SWVmean was significantly higher in MPS patients compared with non-MPS patients (P<0.001). Stratified analysis of MPS patients according to pain severity revealed similar trapezius SWVmean between mild pain and non-MPS patients (P=0.324), however SWVmean was higher in moderate and severe pain MPS patients compared with non-MPS patients (P<0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) value for upper trapezius SWVmean in MPS patients was 0.791 (95% CI: 0.703-0.863). Corresponding sensitivity and specificity values were 86.27% (95% CI: 73.7-94.3%) and 62.07% (95% CI: 48.4-74.5%). Stratified analysis of MPS patients by pain severity produced the following AUC values for trapezius SWVmean in MPS patients with mild, moderate, and severe pain: 0.578 (95% CI: 0.460-0.690), 0.899 (95% CI: 0.814-0.955), and 0.983 (95% CI: 0.914-0.999), respectively. Conclusions: Elasticity changes and increased stiffness in the trapezius occur in cervical MPS patients with moderate and severe pain. The SWVmean parameter reflecting trapezius muscle elasticity may be valuable for successful screening of cervical MPS, especially in patients with moderate and severe pain.

Quantitative evaluation of renal tissue changes in patients with liver cirrhosis by shear wave elastography.

PURPOSE: Hepatocirrhotic nephropathy progresses rapidly and has a poor prognosis, and early detection of renal changes in patients with cirrhosis is particularly important for its prevention and treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the value of shear wave elastography (SWE) in the early diagnosis of hepatocirrhotic nephropathy. METHODS: 206 hepatic cirrhosis patients with normal conventional renal function were enrolled and divided into Child-Pugh grade A (Group A), Child-Pugh grade B (Group B), and Child-Pugh grade C (Group C) according to the Child-Pugh grading method. Meanwhile, 60 healthy volunteers matched in age and sex were selected as the control group. The maximum Young's modulus (Emax), average Young's modulus (Emean), and minimum Young's modulus (Emin) of the left renal parenchyma were measured by SWE in all subjects. The Emax, Emean, and Emin values of the left renal parenchyma were compared between the cirrhosis and control groups. RESULTS: The Emax, Emean, and Emin values of left renal parenchyma in cirrhosis group were higher than those in control group (p = 0.00, 0.00, 0.00). The Emax, Emean, and Emin values of left renal parenchyma in cirrhosis group B and group C were higher than those in control group (p = 0.00, 0.00, 0.00; p = 0.00, 0.00, 0.00), but these values in cirrhosis group A were not significantly different from control group(p = 0.48, 0.52, 0.92). Comparison of the Emax, Emean, and Emin values in left renal parenchyma of three cirrhosis groups, the values of Group B and Group C were higher than those of Group A (p = 0.00, 0.00, 0.00; p = 0.00, 0.00, 0.00), and there was no significant difference between Group B and Group C (p = 0.71, 0.18, 0.39). CONCLUSION: SWE can detect renal tissue damage in patients with liver cirrhosis earlier than changes identified during routine laboratory examination by quantitatively measuring the elastic parameters of renal parenchyma and may become a new method for early diagnosis of hepatorenal syndrome.

Reaction mechanism of nanomedicine based on porphyrin skeleton and its application prospects.

Research on porphyrin-based photosensitizing drugs is becoming increasingly popular. They possess unique diagnostic capabilities and therapeutic effects that have gained wide recognition in oncology drug development. In recent years, the rapid growth of nanotechnology has brought great hope for nanopharmaceutical formulations. By combining porphyrins with various nanomaterials, people have improved the properties of porphyrin compounds, making drug delivery easier. Porphyrin-based nanoparticles can enhance the effect of photodynamic therapy for cancer treatment, providing opportunities for achieving complex targeting strategies and versatility with promising applications in drug carriers, tumor imaging, and treatment. This paper reviews recent porphyrin nanodrugs, including inorganic-organic hybrid nanoparticles, nanomicelles, self-assembled nanoparticles, and combination therapeutic nanodrugs, and their actions and effects on cancer cells when performing photodynamic therapy. It also discusses the drawbacks as well as the prospects for development.

Psychometric validation of the Chinese version of the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head and Neck Module in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Objective: The Chinese version of the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head and Neck Module (MDASI-HN-C) has been linguistically validated. However, its psychometric properties have not been established yet. The purpose of the study was to psychometrically validate the MDASI-HN-C in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods: 130 Chinese NPC patients who were undergoing radiotherapy (RT) participated in this cross-sectional study. The content, convergent, and construct validity of the MDASI-HN-C were examined. The reliability of the instrument was tested by examining the internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Results: Cronbach's α coefficients ranged from 0.85 to 0.91 for the three subscales of the MDASI-HN-C. The 3-day test-retest reliability was acceptable with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) ranged from 0.52 to 0.71. The scale content validity index (S-CVI) was satisfactory (0.97). Subscale scores of the MDASI-HN-C were negatively correlated with the total score of the Chinese version of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck Scale (FACT-H&N-C) as hypothesized (r â€‹= â€‹-0.484 to -0.563, all P â€‹< â€‹0.01). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed two factors for the 13 core and another two for the nine HNC-specific items. Only one factor was generated for the six interference items. Conclusions: The MDASI-HN-C shows desirable psychometric properties for evaluating symptom burden in NPC patients, which can be used in both clinical and research contexts.

An Intelligent Analysis Method for 3D Wheat Grain and Ventral Sulcus Traits Based on Structured Light Imaging.

The wheat grain three-dimensional (3D) phenotypic characters are of great significance for final yield and variety breeding, and the ventral sulcus traits are the important factors to the wheat flour yield. The wheat grain trait measurements are necessary; however, the traditional measurement method is still manual, which is inefficient, subjective, and labor intensive; moreover, the ventral sulcus traits can only be obtained by destructive measurement. In this paper, an intelligent analysis method based on the structured light imaging has been proposed to extract the 3D wheat grain phenotypes and ventral sulcus traits. First, the 3D point cloud data of wheat grain were obtained by the structured light scanner, and then, the specified point cloud processing algorithms including single grain segmentation and ventral sulcus location have been designed; finally, 28 wheat grain 3D phenotypic characters and 4 ventral sulcus traits have been extracted. To evaluate the best experimental conditions, three-level orthogonal experiments, which include rotation angle, scanning angle, and stage color factors, were carried out on 125 grains of 5 wheat varieties, and the results demonstrated that optimum conditions of rotation angle, scanning angle, and stage color were 30°, 37°, black color individually. Additionally, the results also proved that the mean absolute percentage errors (MAPEs) of wheat grain length, width, thickness, and ventral sulcus depth were 1.83, 1.86, 2.19, and 4.81%. Moreover, the 500 wheat grains of five varieties were used to construct and validate the wheat grain weight model by 32 phenotypic traits, and the cross-validation results showed that the R 2 of the models ranged from 0.77 to 0.83. Finally, the wheat grain phenotype extraction and grain weight prediction were integrated into the specialized software. Therefore, this method was demonstrated to be an efficient and effective way for wheat breeding research.

Development of A Nurse-Led Educational Intervention Program in Managing the Nutrition Impact Symptom Cluster in Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma following the Medical Research Council Framework.

OBJECTIVE: This article aimed to report the experience of developing a complex nurse-led, theory-driven, and evidence-based educational intervention program intended to manage the nutrition impact symptom cluster experienced by patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) during radiotherapy, based on the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework. METHODS: The "development" and "feasibility and piloting" phases of the MRC framework were used to guide the intervention development. The development phase included identifying the evidence base through a systematic review, exploring the relevant and guiding theory to enhance the effectiveness of the intervention and conducting a qualitative study to identify the intervention modelling. For the feasibility and piloting phase, we conducted a pilot study to examine the feasibility and estimate the effectiveness of the intervention. RESULTS: The systematic review revealed that nurse-led educational interventions were used commonly for symptom cluster management, with promising effectiveness. The theoretical foundation was provided by the Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms, which indicates that an educational intervention can help patients to manage symptom cluster by influencing psychological, situational, and physiological factors. The qualitative study further provided contents of the intervention based on the perspectives of NPC patients and health professionals. The resulting program involves a nurse-led, family caregiver involvement, educational intervention with two sessions that uses a booklet as a medium. The pilot study found that conducting the educational intervention program was feasible and it also had some favorable effects on managing the nutrition impact symptom cluster in NPC patients. CONCLUSIONS: The MRC framework provided a strong structure with which to develop a complex intervention for nutrition impact symptom cluster management through a theory-driven and evidence-based approach. The evaluation of the intervention, the delivery process and the mediation mechanism of change using a rigorous randomized controlled trial design is recommended.

Managing the nutrition impact symptom cluster in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma using an educational intervention program: A pilot study.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to test the feasibility and estimate the effectiveness of a theory-driven and evidence-based educational intervention program to manage the nutrition impact symptom cluster in patients undergoing radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). METHODS: A pilot randomized controlled trial was performed. Forty patients were divided equally into the intervention and control groups. The patients in the intervention group attended 2 face-to-face individual instructional sessions to enhance their knowledge and skills in managing the cluster. The study outcomes were the severity of the nutrition impact symptom cluster, body weight, symptom interference, and quality of life (QOL). A generalized estimating equation model was used to compare the differences in the outcome variables between the groups over 3-time points. RESULTS: The consent rate for the study was 95.2%, and the attrition rate was 5.0%. Although no significant differences between the groups were detected from T1 to T3, favorable effects on relieving the cluster itself (B [95% confidence interval (CI)] = -0.844 [-2.261, 0.572], p = 0.243, Cohen's d [95% CI] = -0.37 [-1.00, 0.28]) and improvements in physical well-being (B [95% CI] = 0.833 [-3.965, 5.632], p = 0.734, Cohen's d [95% CI] = -0.15 [-0.78, 0.49]) and in head and neck cancer-specific QOL (B [95% CI] = 0.061 [-4.061, 4.182], p = 0.977, Cohen's d [95% CI] = -0.05 [-0.68, 0.59]) were observed in the intervention group compared with the control. CONCLUSIONS: The educational intervention program is feasible and has promising effects on relieving the cluster.

Efficacy and Safety of Xinyue Capsule for Coronary Artery Disease after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Xinyue capsule (XYC) in the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE (Ovid), PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), China National Knowledge Infrastructure database (CNKI), Wanfang, and VIP were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on XYC in CAD after PCI published before October 2020. Data extraction, methodological quality assessment, and data analysis were performed according to the Cochrane standard. Dichotomous data were shown as risk ratios (RRs) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). All analyses were done with Review Manager, version 5.3. The quality of evidence was assessed by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. A total of 9 related studies from 166 related articles were identified, which included 2979 patients. Compared with conventional treatment alone (or placebo plus), XYC decreased cardiovascular events [RR = 0.37, 95% CI (0.27, 0.51), I 2 = 0%] (nonfatal myocardial infarction [RR = 0.26, 95% CI (0.10, 0.70), I 2 = 0%], revascularization [RR = 0.38, 95% CI (0.24, 0.61), I 2 = 0%], and rehospitalization due to ACS [RR = 0.48, 95% CI (0.33, 0.68), I 2 = 0%]) and improved cardiac function (LVEF [RR = 6.93, 95% CI (4.99, 8.87), I 2 = 81%], LVEDV [RR = -4.07, 95% CI (-5.61, -2.54), I 2 = 7%], and LVESV [RR = -4.32, 95% CI (-5.90, -2.74), I 2 = 50%]) in patients after PCI. In addition, XYC reduced serum NT-pro-BNP [RR = -126.91, 95% CI (-231.51, -22.31), I 2 = 69%]. However, XYC had little effect on cardiovascular death [RR = 0.47, 95% CI (0.13, 1.68), I 2 = 0%], stroke [RR = 0.52, 95% CI (0.23, 1.20), I 2 = 0%], heart failure [RR = 0.53, 95% CI (0.24, 1.20), I 2 = 0%], and quality of life [RR = -1.37, 95% CI (-4.97, 2.22), I 2 = 93%]. Thus, this meta-analysis suggests that XYC has potential advantages in reducing the occurrence of cardiovascular events after PCI, improving cardiac function, and reducing serum NT-pro-BNP. This potential benefit requires a high-quality RCT to assess.

Small rodent models of atherosclerosis.

The ease of breeding, low cost of maintenance, and relatively short period for developing atherosclerosis make rodents ideal for atherosclerosis research. However, none of the current models accurately model human lipoprotein profile or atherosclerosis progression since each has its advantages and disadvantages. The advent of transgenic technologies much supports animal models' establishment. Notably, two classic transgenic mouse models, apoE-/- and Ldlr-/-, constitute the primary platforms for studying underlying mechanisms and development of pharmaceutical approaches. However, there exist crucial differences between mice and humans, such as the unhumanized lipoprotein profile, and the different plaque progression and characteristics. Among rodents, hamsters and guinea pigs might be the more realistic models in atherosclerosis research based on the similarities in lipoprotein metabolism to humans. Studies involving rat models, a rodent with natural resistance to atherosclerosis, have revealed evidence of atherosclerotic plaques under dietary induction and genetic manipulation by novel technologies, notably CRISPR-Cas9. Ldlr-/- hamster models were established in recent years with severe hyperlipidemia and atherosclerotic lesion formation, which could offer an alternative to classic transgenic mouse models. In this review, we provide an overview of classic and innovative small rodent models in atherosclerosis researches, including mice, rats, hamsters, and guinea pigs, focusing on their lipoprotein metabolism and histopathological changes.

Symptom clusters in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma during radiotherapy.

PURPOSE: Despite the improvement in radiotherapy (RT) technology, patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) still suffer from numerous distressing symptoms simultaneously during RT. The purpose of the study was to investigate the symptom clusters experienced by NPC patients during RT. METHODS: First-treated Chinese NPC patients (n = 130) undergoing late-period RT (from week 4 till the end) were recruited for this cross-sectional study. They completed a sociodemographic and clinical data questionnaire, the Chinese version of the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory - Head and Neck Module (MDASI-HN-C) and the Chinese version of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Head and Neck Scale (FACT-H&N-C). Principal axis factor analysis with oblimin rotation, independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson product-moment correlation were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Four symptom clusters were identified, and labelled general, gastrointestinal, nutrition impact and social interaction impact. Of these 4 types, the nutrition impact symptom cluster was the most severe. Statistically positive correlations were found between severity of all 4 symptom clusters and symptom interference, as well as weight loss. Statistically negative correlations were detected between the cluster severity and the QOL total score and 3 out of 5 subscale scores. CONCLUSION: The four clusters identified reveal the symptom patterns experienced by NPC patients during RT. Future intervention studies on managing these symptom clusters are warranted, especially for the nutrition impact symptom cluster.

Sequence comparison and essential gene identification with new inter-nucleotide distance sequences.

Four new inter-nucleotide distance sequences for a DNA sequence are defined. They are different from ones presented by Afreixo et al., and overcome the irreversible defect of the global inter-nucleotide distance sequence proposed by Nair and Mahalakshmi. Five basic statistical quantities are extracted from (ordered) precise inter-nucleotide distance sequences to construct a 20 dimensional feature vector. This simple mathematical descriptor of DNA sequence plays crucial roles in sequence comparison and essential gene identification. Euclidean distance between feature vectors is utilized to compare similarities among whole mitochondrial genomes of 18 eutherian mammals and 23 sequences of 16S ribosomal RNA, respectively. Derived phylogenetic trees are quite agreement with a few popular studies. Furthermore, using feature vector as input a support vector machine (SVM)-based method are developed to identify essential genes and non-essential genes of 5 bacteria. Higher AUC values (the minimum is 0.7971, the highest reaches 0.8751 and the average is 0.8174) than some well-known results confirm the performance of the method.

Circular Helix-Like Curve: An Effective Tool of Biological Sequence Analysis and Comparison.

This paper constructed a novel injection from a DNA sequence to a 3D graph, named circular helix-like curve (CHC). The presented graphical representation is available for visualizing characterizations of a single DNA sequence and identifying similarities and differences among several DNAs. A 12-dimensional vector extracted from CHC, as a numerical characterization of CHC, was applied to analyze phylogenetic relationships of 11 species, 74 ribosomal RNAs, 48 Hepatitis E viruses, and 18 eutherian mammals, respectively. Successful experiments illustrated that CHC is an effective tool of biological sequence analysis and comparison.