'Only to reconcile with it'. The coping experience amongst middle-aged and older cancer survivors: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Cancer threat is relevant to age, and the threat of a foreshortened life coupled with a lengthy treatment process negatively affects middle-aged and older adults. Understanding the coping throughout the cancer experience in middle-aged and older cancer survivors will help develop supportive care to promote their physiological and psychological coping effects. OBJECTIVES: To explore the cancer coping experiences of middle-aged adults aged 40-59 and older adults over 60. DESIGN: A descriptive phenomenological study was employed. METHODS: Face-to-face, in-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 22 oncology patients in a tertiary university hospital aged 40 or above from August to October 2023. The interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis procedures. RESULTS: Five themes and 13 subthemes were formed through analysis: acceptance of cancer (considering cancer as chronic, believing in fate and attributing cancer to karma); having different information needs (desired to be truthfully informed, information-seeking behaviour, information avoidance behaviour); getting families involved (developing dependent behaviours, feeling emotional support, family members suffering worse); striving to maintain positive psychological state (positive thinking, seeking peer support) and negative experience (undesirable, low self-esteem). CONCLUSION: Our study reveals that cancer survivors' attitudes towards having cancer have changed from a death sentence to a more positive perception of a chronic disease. Supportive programmes for developing coping strategies should consider the cultural traditions and religious beliefs, different information needs, involvement of family and promoting a positive psychological state while avoiding negative factors. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Participants with experience of coping with cancer were involved in the semistructured interview.

The gut and lung microbiota in pulmonary tuberculosis: susceptibility, function, and new insights into treatment.

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) that poses a major threat to human health. AREAS COVERED: Herein, we aim to review the alteration of the microbiota in gut and respiratory during TB development, the potential function and mechanisms of microbiota in the pathogenesis of Mtb infection, and the impact of antibiotic treatment on the microbiota. In addition, we discuss the potential new paradigm for the use of microbiota-based treatments such as probiotics and prebiotics in the treatment of TB. EXPERT OPINION: Studies have shown that trillions of micro-organisms live in the human gut and respiratory tract, acting as gatekeepers in maintaining immune homeostasis and respiratory physiology and playing a beneficial or hostile role in the development of TB. Anti-TB antibiotics may cause microecological imbalances in the gut and respiratory tract, and microbiome-based therapeutics may be a promising strategy for TB treatment. Appropriate probiotics and prebiotics supplementation, along with antimycobacterial treatment, will improve the therapeutic effect of TB treatment and protect the gut and respiratory microbiota from dysbiosis.

Effects of pre-operative education tailored to information-seeking styles on pre-operative anxiety and depression among patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of pre-operative education tailored to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients' information-seeking styles on pre-operative anxiety and depression. Methods: A single-blind randomized control trial was conducted. A total of 114 participants were recruited from the cardiology department in a tertiary hospital in Kunming, Southwest China from April to September 2020 and randomly allocated to the intervention group (n = 57) or control group (n = 57). All patients received oral pre-operative education as well as printed pre-operative education manuals and divided into monitors or blunters by the Chinese Version of the Monitoring Subscale of the Miller Behavioral Style Scale (C-MMBSS). The intervention group received pre-operative education tailored to information-seeking styles, while the control group received routine education. Anxiety and depression were measured at baseline and 1 h before the operation. Satisfaction with pre-operative education and length of stay were assessed at discharge. Results: A total of 104 participants completed the study (52 participants in each group). Pre-operative education tailored to information-seeking styles was beneficial for reducing pre-operative anxiety (P < 0.01), reducing pre-operative depression (P < 0.01), and improving satisfaction with pre-operative education (P < 0.01) compared with routine education. There was no significant difference in length of stay between the intervention and control groups (P = 0.209). Conversely, pre-operative anxiety of patients was increased (P = 0.017) after pre-operative education in the control group. Conclusion: This study confirmed that pre-operative education tailored to information-seeking styles effectively reduces pre-operative anxiety and depression and improves satisfaction with preoperative education.

Highly sensitive and fast-response ethanol sensing of porous Co3O4 hollow polyhedra via palladium reined spillover effect.

Highly sensitive and fast detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in industrial and living environments is an urgent need. The combination of distinctive structure and noble metal modification is an important strategy to achieve high-performance gas sensing materials. In addition, it is urgent to clarify the chemical state and function of noble metals on the surface of the sensing material during the actual sensing process. In this work, Pd modified Co3O4 hollow polyhedral (Pd/Co3O4 HP) is developed through one-step pyrolysis of a Pd doped MOF precursor. At an operating temperature of 150 °C, the Pd/Co3O4 HP gas sensor can achieve 1.6 times higher sensitivity than that of Co3O4 HP along with fast response (12 s) and recovery speed (25 s) for 100 ppm ethanol vapor. Near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAPXPS) was used to monitor the dynamic changes in the surface state of Pd/Co3O4 HP. The NAPXPS results reveal that the oxidation and reduction of Pd in the ethanol sensing process are attributed to a spillover effect of oxygen and ethanol, respectively. This work opens up an effective approach to investigate spillover effects in a sensing mechanism of noble metal modified oxide semiconductor sensors.

Ultrasensitive airflow sensor prepared by electrostatic flocking for sound recognition and motion monitoring.

Recently, airflow sensors have attracted great attention due to their unique characteristics. However, the preparation of high-performance airflow sensors via extraordinarily simple, controllable and cost-effective methods remains a great challenge. Herein, inspired by the fluff system of the spider, an ultrasensitive fluffy-like airflow sensor with carbon fibers (CFs) uniformly and firmly planted on the surface of a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibrous substrate has been easily fabricated using electrostatic flocking technology. The fluffy-like structure endows the airflow sensor with superior properties including ultra-sensitivity, fast response time (0.103 s), low airflow velocity detection limit (0.068 m s-1), ultra-sensitive detection in a wide airflow range (0.068-16 m s-1), and multi-directional consistent response to airflow. This sensor can be used to accurately recognize sound waves and voiceless speech and detect human and object motions in different postures and speeds. This work presents insights into designing and preparing high-performance airflow sensors on a large-scale for sound recognition, motion monitoring, and assisting the disabled.

Downregulation by CNNM2 of ATP5MD expression in the 10q24.32 schizophrenia-associated locus involved in impaired ATP production and neurodevelopment.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have accelerated the discovery of numerous genetic variants associated with schizophrenia. However, most risk variants show a small effect size (odds ratio (OR) <1.2), suggesting that more functional risk variants remain to be identified. Here, we employed region-based multi-marker analysis of genomic annotation (MAGMA) to identify additional risk loci containing variants with large OR value from Psychiatry Genomics Consortium (PGC2) schizophrenia GWAS data and then employed summary-data-based mendelian randomization (SMR) to prioritize schizophrenia susceptibility genes. The top-ranked susceptibility gene ATP5MD, encoding an ATP synthase membrane subunit, is observed to be downregulated in schizophrenia by the risk allele of CNNM2-rs1926032 in the schizophrenia-associated 10q24.32 locus. The Atp5md knockout (KO) in mice was associated with abnormal startle reflex and gait, and ATP5MD knockdown (KD) in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons disrupted the neural development and mitochondrial respiration and ATP production. Moreover, CNNM2-rs1926032 KO could induce downregulation of ATP5MD expression and disruptions of mitochondrial respiration and ATP production. This study constitutes an important mechanistic component that links schizophrenia-associated CNNM2 regions to disruption in energy adenosine system modulation and neuronal function by long-distance chromatin domain downregulation of ATP5MD. This pathogenic mechanism provides therapeutic implications for schizophrenia.

Cross-cultural adaptation, validity and reliability of the Chinese Version of Miller Behavioral Style Scale.

BACKGROUND: Health education basing on patients' information-seeking styles can improve the effectiveness of health education and patients' health outcomes. The Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS) is widely used to identify individual's information-seeking styles, but the Chinese version is lacking. The study aim was to translate and culturally adapt the MBSS into Chinese version and test the content validity, construct validity and internal consistency reliability of the Chinese version of MBSS (C-MBSS). METHODS: The forward-back-translation procedure was adopted in the translation of the MBSS. Content validity was assessed in a panel of experts. In a sample of 1343 individuals including patients, patients' caregivers, university students, and medical staff, reliability and construct validity were assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient and factor analysis. The measurement invariance across samples was tested using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA). Floor and ceiling effects were checked. RESULTS: The C-MBSS achieved conceptual and semantic equivalence with the original scale. The item-level content validity index (I-CVI) of each item ranged from 0.78 to 1, and the averaging scale-level content validity index (S-CVI/ Ave) was 0.95. The exploratory factor analysis resulted in 2-factor assumption for each hypothetical threat-evoking scenario. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated a good fit between theoretical model and data, which provided confirmatory evidence for the second-order factor structure of 2-factor solution (Monitoring and Blunting). The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the Monitoring and Blunting sub-scales of the C-MBSS were 0.75 and 0.62 respectively. MGCFA results supported the measurement invariance for the Monitoring sub-scale of the C-MBSS across samples. No floor or ceiling effects occurred. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the C-MBSS has good content and construct validity. The Monitoring sub-scale of the C-MBSS had acceptable internal consistency reliability while the Blunting sub-scale had unsatisfactory one, which suggest that the Monitoring sub-scale of the C-MBSS can be used to identify individuals' information-seeking styles in Chinese contexts across different populations.

Perceptions of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention on pre-operative education in China: A qualitative study.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the perceptions of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) regarding their pre-operative health education. METHODS: A qualitative study using semi-structured, in-depth interviews was conducted in one cardiology unit in China from July 2019 to December 2019. Purposeful sampling of 17 patients undergoing PCI was interviewed about their perceptions of pre-operative health education. Thematic analysis of the transcribed data was then used to identify the themes. RESULTS: Four themes emerged from the data:(a) triple roles of pre-operative education with the categories of relief (reliving fear); burden (leading to stress); and meaningless (changing nothing); (b) family member involvement with the categories of shared responsibility and family members' duty; (c) facilitators in the process of pre-operative health education with the categories of emotional support, plain language and individualized pre-operative education; (d) inhibitors in the process of pre-operative health education with the categories of contradiction and threatening words. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-operative health education for patients undergoing PCI should be aligned with the individual patients' information-seeking styles and personal differences, emphasizing individualized patient education. Traditional Chinese philosophy should be considered in the practice of pre-operative education for patients undergoing PCI, which emphasizes family member involvement; at the same time, patient empowerment and self-care should also be stressed. In addition, emotional support and plain language from health professionals are important in pre-operative health education for patients undergoing PCI; contradiction should be avoided, and threatening words should be used with caution and with consideration for cultural variations during pre-operative education for patients undergoing PCI.

Fabrication of polyvinyl alcohol hydrogels with excellent shape memory and ultraviolet-shielding behavior via the introduction of tea polyphenols.

Shape-memory hydrogels are expected to be used not only in an ordinary environment, but also in some special environments, such as under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Developing novel shape-memory polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/tea polyphenol (TP) hydrogels with UV shielding performance is realistically important in application fields. Herein, we designed functional PVA/TP hydrogels with excellent UV-shielding ability and improved the shape memory on hot water stimuli. This study shows that the abundant hydrogen bonds between PVA and TP are the source of shape memory. The PVA hydrogels with 8 wt% TP loading could approximately recover their original shape after deformation when immersed in water at 50 °C for 30 s. Meanwhile, the hydrogels also had excellent UV shielding capacity. After ageing under UV for 16 days, the observed shape of the hydrogel with 8 wt% TP loading retained 74.7% of the original, and the hydrogel could effectively protect the skin of mice from damage under 10 mW cm-2 UV irradiation. With the understanding of the UV-shielding behavior of hydrogels, this study has been able to generate biomedical materials for human skin protection, specifically skin covering the joint areas, where shape memory of the applied materials is essential.

Seed-Assisted Synthesis of Graphene Films on Insulating Substrate.

Synthesizing graphene at a large-scale and of high quality on insulating substrate is a prerequisite for graphene applications in electronic devices. Typically, graphene is synthesized and then transferred to the proper substrate for subsequent device preparation. However, the complicated and skilled transfer process involves some issues such as wrinkles, residual contamination and breakage of graphene films, which will greatly degrade its performance. Direct synthesis of graphene on insulating substrates without a transfer process is highly desirable for device preparation. Here, we report a simple, transfer-free method to synthesize graphene directly on insulating substrates (SiO2/Si, quartz) by using a Cu layer, graphene oxide and Poly (vinyl alcohol) as the catalyst, seeds and carbon sources, respectively. Atomic force microscope (AFM), scanning electronic microscope (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy are used to characterize the interface of insulating substrate and graphene. The graphene films directly grown on quartz glass can attain a high transmittance of 92.8% and a low sheet resistance of 620 Ω/square. The growth mechanism is also revealed. This approach provides a highly efficient method for the direct production of graphene on insulating substrates.

PbS Quantum Dots/2D Nonlayered CdS xSe1- x Nanosheet Hybrid Nanostructure for High-Performance Broadband Photodetectors.

Two-dimensional (2D) nonlayered nanomaterials have attracted extensive attention for electronic and optoelectronic applications recently because of their distinct properties. In this work, we first employed a facile one-step method to synthesize 2D nonlayered cadmium sulfide selenide (CdS xSe1- x, x = 0.33) nanosheets with a highly crystalline structure and then we introduced a generic spin-coating approach to fabricate hybrid nanomaterials composed of PbS quantum dots (QDs) and 2D CdS xSe1- x nanosheets and demonstrated their potential for high-performance broadband photodetectors. Compared with pure 2D CdS xSe1- x nanosheet photodetectors, the photoelectric performance of the PbS/CdS xSe1- x hybrid nanostructure is enhanced by 3 orders of magnitude under near-infrared (NIR) light illumination and maintains its performance in the visible (Vis) range. The photodetector exhibits a broadband response range from Vis to NIR with an ultrahigh light-to-dark current ratio (3.45 × 106), a high spectral responsivity (1.45 × 103 A/W), and high detectivity (1.05 × 1015 Jones). The proposed QDs/2D nonlayered hybrid nanostructure-based photodetector paves a promising way for next-generation high-performance broadband optoelectronic devices.

High Efficient Reduction of Graphene Oxide via Nascent Hydrogen at Room Temperature.

To develop a green and efficient method to synthesize graphene in relative milder conditions is prerequisite for graphene applications. A chemical reducing method has been developed to high efficiently reduce graphene oxide (GO) using Fe2O3 and NH3BH3 as catalyst and reductants, respectively. During the process, environmental and strong reductive nascent hydrogen were generated surrounding the surface of GO sheets by catalyst hydrolysis reaction of NH3BH3 and were used for reduction of GO. The reduction process was studied by ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectrum. The structure and morphology of the reduced GO were characterized with scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Compared to metal (Mg/Fe/Zn/Al) particles and acid system which also use nascent hydrogen to reduce GO, this method exhibited higher reduction efficiency (43.6%). Also the reduction was carried out at room temperature condition, which is environmentally friendly. As a supercapacitor electrode, the reversible capacity of reduced graphene oxide was 113.8 F g-1 at 1 A g-1 and the capacitance retention still remained at 90% after 200 cycles. This approach provides a new method to reduce GO with high reduction efficiency by green reductant.

Superhydrophobic hBN-Regulated Sponges with Excellent Absorbency Fabricated Using a Green and Facile Method.

The world faces severe environmental, human and ecological problems when major oil spills and organic discharges are released into the environment. And so it is imperative to develop tools and high performance innovative materials that can efficiently absorb these organic discharges. Furthermore, green, facile methods to produce these advanced materials are also needed. In this paper, we demonstrate a novel porous supersponge based on melamine coated with hBN. This superhydrophobic sponge (with a contact angle >150°) exhibits excellent absorption performance for oils and organic solvents, including good selectivity, high capacity (up to 175 g·g-1) and extraordinary recyclability (less than 20% decline after 30 cycles of absorption/squeezing). The synthetic procedure required only ultrasonication and immersion of the sponge in aqueous hBN solution, being a green, cost-effective and scalable production methodology. By virtue of the straightforward and cost-effective fabrication method, along with the excellent absorption performance, hBN-decorated sponges have great promise for real world practical application in the field of oil spills and organic leakage cleanup.

Facile reduction of graphene oxide at room temperature by ammonia borane via salting out effect.

Nascent hydrogen as a strong reducing and environmentally benign agent can be used as the efficient reductant of graphene oxide. The common method is to dissolve metal in acid graphene oxide (GO) solution to generate nascent hydrogen and reduce graphene oxide. However, hydrophobic metal particles cannot contact well with hydrophilic GO. Lots of nascent hydrogen atoms generated surrounding metal particles would quickly form hydrogen instead of reducing GO, which results in low reduction efficiency. In this work, based on the salting effect of GO, we report a facile approach to synthesize graphene by mild reducing of GO using NH3BH3 as the reducing agent and Co3O4 as the catalyst at room temperature. This method exhibited higher nascent hydrogen reduction efficiency and higher C/O atomic ratio of reduced graphene oxide than using Fe, Zn, and Al among others. Also the reaction is conducted under mild conditions (room temperature), resulting in fewer defects.

Direct Synthesis of Co-doped Graphene on Dielectric Substrates Using Solid Carbon Sources.

Direct synthesis of high-quality doped graphene on dielectric substrates without transfer is highly desired for simplified device processing in electronic applications. However, graphene synthesis directly on substrates suitable for device applications, though highly demanded, remains unattainable and challenging. Here, a simple and transfer-free synthesis of high-quality doped graphene on the dielectric substrate has been developed using a thin Cu layer as the top catalyst and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as both carbon precursors and doping sources. N-doped and N, F-co-doped graphene have been achieved using TPB and F16CuPc as solid carbon sources, respectively. The growth conditions were systematically optimized and the as-grown doped graphene were well characterized. The growth strategy provides a controllable transfer-free route for high-quality doped graphene synthesis, which will facilitate the practical applications of graphene.

Transfer-free synthesis of doped and patterned graphene films.

High-quality and wafer-scale graphene on insulating gate dielectrics is a prerequisite for graphene electronic applications. For such applications, graphene is typically synthesized and then transferred to a desirable substrate for subsequent device processing. Direct production of graphene on substrates without transfer is highly desirable for simplified device processing. However, graphene synthesis directly on substrates suitable for device applications, though highly demanded, remains unattainable and challenging. Here, we report a simple, transfer-free method capable of synthesizing graphene directly on dielectric substrates at temperatures as low as 600 °C using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as the carbon source. Significantly, N-doping and patterning of graphene can be readily and concurrently achieved by this growth method. Remarkably, the graphene films directly grown on glass attained a small sheet resistance of 550 Ω/sq and a high transmittance of 91.2%. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) fabricated on N-doped graphene on glass achieved a current density of 4.0 mA/cm(2) at 8 V compared to 2.6 mA/cm(2) for OLEDs similarly fabricated on indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass, demonstrating that the graphene thus prepared may have potential to serve as a transparent electrode to replace ITO.

A near ambient pressure XPS study of subnanometer silver clusters on Al2O3 and TiO2 ultrathin film supports.

We have investigated model systems of silver clusters with different sizes (3 and 15 atoms) deposited on alumina and titania supports using ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electronic structures of silver clusters and support materials are studied upon exposure to various atmospheres (ultrahigh vacuum, O2 and CO) at different temperatures. Compared to bulk silver, the binding energies of silver clusters are about 0.55 eV higher on TiO2 and 0.95 eV higher on Al2O3 due to the final state effect and the interaction with supports. No clear size effect of the silver XPS peak is observed on different silver clusters among these samples. Silver clusters on titania show better stability against sintering. Al 2p and Ti 2p core level peak positions of the alumina and titania support surfaces change upon exposure to oxygen while the Ag 3d core level position remains unchanged. We discuss the origin of these core level shifts and their implications for catalytic properties of Ag clusters.

Facile synthesis of graphene/metal nanoparticle composites via self-catalysis reduction at room temperature.

Graphene/metal nanoparticle (NP) composites have attracted great interest for various applications as catalysts, electrodes, sensors, etc., due to their unique structures and extraordinary properties. A facile synthesis of graphene/metal NP composites with good control of size and morphology of metal NPs is critical to the practical applications. A simple method to synthesize graphene/metal NPs under a controllable manner via a self-catalysis reduction at room temperature has been developed in this paper. At first, metal NPs with desirable size and morphology were decorated on GO and then used as catalyst to accelerate the hydrolysis reaction of NaBH4 to reduce the graphene oxide. Compared to the existing methods, the method reported here features several advantages in which graphene/metal NPs are prepared without using toxic and explosive reductant, such as hydrazine or its derivatives, making it environmentally benign, and the reaction can be processed at room temperature with high efficiency and in a large range of pH values. The approach has been demonstrated to successfully synthesize graphene composites with various metal NPs in large quantity, which opens up a novel and simple way to prepare large-scale graphene/metal or graphene/metal oxide composites under mild conditions for practical applications. For example, graphene/AuNP composites synthesized by the method show excellent catalytic capability.