Bayesian analysis of the rate of spontaneous malignant mesothelioma among BAP1 mutant mice in the absence of asbestos exposure.

Cancers of the mesothelium, such as malignant mesothelioma (MM), historically have been attributed solely to exposure to asbestos. Recent large scale genetic and genomic functional studies now show that approximately 20% of all human mesotheliomas are causally linked to highly penetrant inherited (germline) pathogenic mutations in numerous cancer related genes. The rarity of these mutations in humans makes it difficult to perform statistically conclusive genetic studies to understand their biological effects.

Aseptic Meningitis and White Matter Disease in Childhood-Onset Neuropsychiatric Lupus.

We reported a 10-year-old girl who had an atypical demyelinating disease as the presentation of her neuropsychiatric lupus. The patient had a 4-year history of systemic lupus erythematosus which had been on remission until she presented with fever and headache at the age of 10 years. Physical examination showed meningism.

Modifiable factors of depressive-symptom trajectories from caregiving through bereavement.

Background/purpose: The purpose of this secondary-analysis study was to identify never-before-examined factors associated with distinct depressive-symptom trajectories among family caregivers from end-of-life caregiving through the first 2 bereavement years.

Participants/methods: Participants (N=661) were family caregivers who provided end-of-life caregiving for terminally ill cancer patients. Multinomial logistic regressions were conducted to identify modifiable factors associated with caregivers seven previously identified depressive-symptom trajectories: minimal-impact resilience, recovery, preloss-depressive-only, delayed symptomatic, relief, prolonged symptomatic, and chronically persistent distressed.

Associations of surrogates' death-preparedness states with decisional conflict and heightened decisional regret over cancer patients' last 6 months of life.

Objective: Preparing family surrogates for patient death and end-of-life (EOL) decision making may reduce surrogate decisional conflict and regret. Preparedness for patient death involves cognitive and emotional preparedness. We assessed the associations of surrogates' death-preparedness states (that integrate both cognitive and emotional preparedness for patient death) with surrogates' decisional conflict and regret.

Career Preferences among Nursing Students: A Cross-Sessional Study.

Introduction: It is estimated that mores nurses are needed in the future, nursing students' career preferences are important to contribute the shortage of nursing manpower in Macao. Little is known regarding the preferences for nursing students' career preferences and related factors among nursing students.

Objective: To explore and investigate the career preferences and related factors among nursing students in Macao.

Sufficient Death Preparedness Correlates to Better Mental Health, Quality of Life, and EOL Care.

Context: Patients can prepare for end of life and their forthcoming death to enhance the quality of dying.

Objectives: We aimed to longitudinally evaluate the never-before-examined associations of cancer patients' death-preparedness states by conjoint cognitive prognostic awareness and emotional preparedness for death with psychological distress, quality of life (QOL), and end-of-life care received.

Methods: In this cohort study, we simultaneously evaluated associations of four previously identified death-preparedness states (no-death-preparedness, cognitive-death-preparedness-only, emotional-death-preparedness-only, and sufficient-death-preparedness states) with anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and QOL over 383 cancer patients' last six months and end-of-life care received in the last month using multivariate hierarchical linear modeling and logistic regression modeling, respectively.

Prolonged grief disorder and depression are distinguishable syndromes: A latent transition analysis for bereaved family caregivers of cancer patients.

Objective: To determine whether distinctive prolonged-grief-disorder- (PGD) and depressive-symptom states emerge among family caregivers of cancer patients over their first 2 years of bereavement. This may extend cross-sectional evidence that PGD and major depressive disorder (MDD) symptoms can co-occur/occur independently and validate their construct distinctiveness.

Methods: In this secondary-analysis study, PGD symptoms and depressive symptoms were measured over 666 caregivers using 11 grief symptom items of the Prolonged Grief-13 scale and 16 items of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale, respectively.

Predictors of Family Caregivers' Depressive- and Prolonged-Grief-Disorder-Symptom Trajectories.

Objective: Depression and prolonged grief disorder (PGD) are related but distinct constructs with different risk factors and treatments. We aimed to determine commonality and differences in factors predicting membership in depressive- and PGD-symptom trajectories to highlight uniqueness of each construct to guide further care and treatments.

Methods: We previously identified four shared trajectories for depressive- and PGD-symptom trajectories (endurance, transient-reaction, resilience, and prolonged-symptomatic) with unique trajectories of chronically distressed and potential recurrence for depressive and PGD symptoms, respectively.

Adenovirus viremia after T-cell depleted allo-transplant in adults: low lymphocyte counts are associated with uncontrolled viremia and fatal outcomes.

The incidence of adenovirus viremia and the role of screening in preventing adenovirus disease in adult transplant recipients are not well defined. Between January 2017 and May 2020, 262 allogeneic transplants were performed using T-cell depletion. Adenovirus viremia was found in 59 patients for a cumulative incidence of 10% by one hundred days and 23% (95% CI 20-26%) by one year.

Caregivers' Death-Preparedness States Impact Caregiving Outcomes and Patients' End-of-Life Care.

Background/objective: Preparing family caregivers, cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally, for their relative's death is an actionable component of high-quality end-of-life care. We aimed to examine the never-before-examined associations of conjoint cognitive prognostic awareness and emotional preparedness for death with caregiving outcomes and end-of-life care received by cancer patients.

Design/setting/participants/main Measures: For this longitudinal study, associations of death-preparedness states (no-death-preparedness, cognitive-death-preparedness-only, emotional-death-preparedness-only, and sufficient-death-preparedness states) with subjective caregiving burden, depressive symptoms, and quality of life (QOL) and patients' end-of-life care (chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, intensive care unit care, intubation, mechanical ventilation support, vasopressors, nasogastric tube feeding, and hospice care) were evaluated using multivariate hierarchical linear and logistic regression modeling, respectively, for 377 caregivers in cancer patients' last 6 months and 1 month, respectively.

Associations of death-preparedness states with bereavement outcomes for family caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients.

Objective: Death preparedness involves cognitive prognostic awareness and emotional acceptance of a relative's death. Effects of retrospectively assessed cognitive prognostic awareness and emotional preparedness for patient death have been individually investigated among bereaved family caregivers. We aimed to prospectively examine associations of caregivers' death-preparedness states, determined by conjoint cognitive prognostic awareness and emotional preparedness for death, with bereavement outcomes.

Evaluation of Strategies Aimed at Improving Liver Progenitor Cell Rolling and Subsequent Adhesion to the Endothelium.

Adult-derived human liver stem/progenitor cells (ADHLSCs) are a promising alternative to orthotopic liver transplantation in the treatment of inborn errors of metabolism. However, as is the case with many mesenchymal stromal cells, ADHLSCs have shown a low level of engraftment, which could be explained by the fact that they lack expression of selectin ligand and LFA-1 and only slightly express VLA- 4, molecules that have been shown to be involved in cell adhesion to the endothelium. In this paper, we have investigated strategies to increase their rolling and adhesion during the homing process by (1) adding a selectin ligand (Sialyl Lewis X) to their surface using biotinyl--hydroxy-succinimide-streptavidin bridges, and (2) protecting the adhesion proteins from trypsinization-induced damage using a thermosensitive polymer for cell culture and a nonenzymatic cell dissociation solution (CDS) for harvest.

Relationship Between Gerontological Nursing Education and Attitude Toward Older People.

Background: Nursing students' attitudes toward older people affect the quality of care provided to the aging population. Although gerontological nursing has been delivered as a stand-alone course in Macao since 2008, Macao nursing students' attitudes toward older people have not been investigated.

Objective: The purposes of this study were 1) to explore nursing students' background information and attitudes toward older people and 2) to examine the presence of relationships between these factors and gerontological nursing education in Macao, a special administrative region of China.

A Cross Sectional Study on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice related to Human Papillomavirus Vaccination for Cervical Cancer Prevention between Medical and Non-Medical Students in Hong Kong.

Background: One of the most important aetiologies of cervical cancer is Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection. While vaccination is an effective way in preventing high risk HPV infection, HPV vaccine uptake rate in Hong Kong has been low. Considering the proven effectiveness of HPV vaccination and the low vaccination uptake rate in Hong Kong, this study was conducted to compare the knowledge, attitude and practice towards HPV vaccination for cervical cancer prevention between medical and non-medical students in the University of Hong Kong.

Recommendations for staff education and training for older people with mental illness in long-term aged care.

Background: This paper was written as a result of the International Psychogeriatric Association Task Force on Mental Health Services in Long-Term Care. The appraisal presented here aims to (1) identify the best available evidence that underpins best practice for geriatric mental health education and training of staff working in long-term care, and (2) summarize the appraisal of the literature to provide recommendations for practice.

Methods: An initial search of databases found 138 papers related to the search strategy.

Complex developmental patterns of histone modifications associated with the human beta-globin switch in primary cells.

Objective: The regulation of the beta-globin switch remains undetermined, and understanding this mechanism has important benefits for clinical and basic science. Histone modifications regulate gene expression and this study determines the presence of three important histone modifications across the beta-globin locus in erythroblasts with different beta-like globin-expression profiles. Understanding the chromatin associated with weak gamma gene expression in bone marrow cells is an important objective, with the goal of ultimately inducing postnatal expression of weak gamma-globin to cure beta-hemoglobinopathies.

Developmentally regulated extended domains of DNA hypomethylation encompass highly transcribed genes of the human beta-globin locus.

Objective: DNA methylation has long been implicated in developmental beta-globin gene regulation. However, the mechanism underlying this regulation is unclear, especially because these genes do not contain CpG islands. This has led us to propose and test the hypothesis that, just as for histone modifications, developmentally specific changes in human beta-like globin gene expression are associated with long-range changes in DNA methylation.

Developmental- and differentiation-specific patterns of human gamma- and beta-globin promoter DNA methylation.

The mechanisms underlying the human fetal-to-adult beta-globin gene switch remain to be determined. While there is substantial experimental evidence to suggest that promoter DNA methylation is involved in this process, most data come from studies in nonhuman systems. We have evaluated human gamma- and beta-globin promoter methylation in primary human fetal liver (FL) and adult bone marrow (ABM) erythroid cells.

CpG hypomethylation in a large domain encompassing the embryonic beta-like globin genes in primitive erythrocytes.

There is little evidence addressing the role of CpG methylation in transcriptional control of genes that do not contain CpG islands. This is reflected in the ongoing debate about whether CpG methylation merely suppresses retroelements or if it also plays a role in developmental and tissue-specific gene regulation. The genes of the beta-globin locus are an important model of mammalian developmental gene regulation and do not contain CpG islands.

An investigation of aged care mental health knowledge of Queensland aged care nurses.

Older people are at risk for developing psychiatric disorders and require highly skilled and knowledgeable nurse practitioners to provide early recognition and intervention of psychiatric problems. This study sought to identify the aged care mental health knowledge of registered nurses (RNs) employed in long-term aged care and test the validity and reliability of a North American tool for use in an Australian context. The Mary Starke Harper Ageing Knowledge Exam (MSHAKE) was sent to RNs (n = 350) in 70 long-term care facilities (LTCF) in Queensland, Australia, and 107 surveys were returned (30.

Mental health knowledge in residential aged care: a descriptive review of the literature.

Health care staff knowledge of mental health is vital in the provision of quality care for older people in residential aged care settings. This paper aims to describe mental health knowledge competence of health care staff in residential aged care through a review of existing literature and to explore the link between knowledge, attitudes and education about older people and mental health. A literature review was conducted using electronic databases and library catalogues to identify articles published in English during the period 1982-2002.

Induction of larval tissue resorption in Xenopus laevis tadpoles by the thyroid hormone receptor agonist GC-1.

A major challenge in understanding nuclear hormone receptor function is to determine how the same ligand can cause very different tissue-specific responses. Tissue specificity may result from the presence of more than one receptor subtype arising from multiple receptor genes or alternative splicing. Recently, high affinity analogs of nuclear receptor ligands have been synthesized that show subtype selectivity.

Evolution of toxicity after conformal radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

The limiting factor for radiation (RT) dose-escalation is normal tissue toxicity. In dose-escalation studies, it is important to determine the factors associated with toxicity and the length of follow-up period after which a particular RT dose is considered safe. We analyzed 449 prostate cancer patients treated with RT at our institution and followed for a median of 27 months.

Inhibition of superoxide anion generation by YC-1 in rat neutrophils through cyclic GMP-dependent and -independent mechanisms.

3-(5'-Hydroxymethyl-2'-furyl)-1-benzyl indazole (YC-1), a soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) activator, inhibited formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP)-induced superoxide anion (O(2)*(-)) generation and O(2) consumption in rat neutrophils (IC(50) values of 12.7+/-3.1 and 17.