Fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio predicts overall survival of hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND Fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio(FAR)has been found to be of prognostic significance for several types of malignant tumors.However,less is known about the association between FAR and survival outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)patients.AIM To explore the association between FAR and prognosis and survival in patients with HCC.METHODS A total of 366 histologically confirmed HCC patients diagnosed between 2013 and 2018 in a provincial cancer hospital in southwestern China were retrospectively selected.Relevant data were extracted from the hospital information system.The optimal cutoff for baseline serum FAR measured upon disease diagnosis was established using the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the crude and adjusted associations between FAR and the overall survival(OS)of the HCC patients while controlling for various covariates.The restricted cubic spline(RCS)was applied to estimate the dose-response trend in the FAR-OS association.RESULTS The optimal cutoff value for baseline FAR determined by the ROC was 0.081.Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model revealed that a lower baseline serum FAR level was associated with an adjusted hazard ratio of 2.43(95%confidence interval:1.87–3.15)in the OS of HCC patients,with identifiable dose-response trend in the RCS.Subgroup analysis showed that this FAR-OS association was more prominent in HCC patients with a lower baseline serum aspartate aminotransferase or carbohydrate antigen 125 level.CONCLUSION Serum FAR is a prominent prognostic indicator for HCC.Intervention measures aimed at reducing FAR might result in survival benefit for HCC patients.

Personality traits and self-harm behaviors among Chinese children and adolescents: The mediating effect of psychological resilience

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown that personality traits are associated with self-harm(SH)in adolescents.However,the role of resilience in this association remains unclear.Our research aims to explore the hypothesized mediation effect of resilience in the relationship between personality traits and SH in Chinese children and adolescents.AIM To evaluate resilience as a mediator of the association between personality traits and SH.METHODS A population-based cross-sectional survey involving 4471 children and adolescents in Yunnan province in southwestern China was carried out.Relevant data were collected by self-reporting questionnaires.Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were employed to identify associated factors of SH.A path model was used to assess the mediation effect of resilience with respect to personality traits and SH association.RESULTS Among the 4471 subjects,1795 reported SH,with a prevalence of 40.1%(95%CI:34.4%-46.0%).All dimensions of personality traits were significantly associated with SH prevalence.Resilience significantly mediated the associations between three dimensions of personality(extroversion,neuroticism,psychoticism)and SH,accounting for 21.5%,4.53%,and 9.65%,respectively,of the total associations.Among all dimensions of resilience,only emotional regulation played a significant mediation role.CONCLUSION The results of the study suggest that improving emotion regulation ability might be effective in preventing personality-associated SH among Chinese children and adolescents.

Childhood maltreatment and suicide ideation: A possible mediation of social support

BACKGROUND Existing literature suggests a positive link between childhood maltreatment(CM)and suicide ideation(SI).Nevertheless,whether social support significantly mediates this association remains unknown.AIM To investigate whether social support significantly mediates the association between CM and SI.METHODS In this cross-sectional study of 4732 adolescents from southwest China,we intended to discuss the association between CM and multiple types of SI.In addition,the mediation of major types of social support in this association was also investigated.A self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect the data.A series of multivariate logistic regression models were employed to estimate the association between different types of CM,social support,and SI.The possible mediation of social support in the association between CM and SI was assessed using the path model.RESULTS Based on the cutoffs for subscales of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire,928(19.61%),1269(26.82%),595(12.57%),2337(49.39%),and 3067(64.81%)respondents reported physical abuse,emotional abuse,sexual abuse,physical neglect,and emotional neglect,respectively.Among all the social sources,parental support presented as a significant mediator in the association between emotional maltreatment,both abuse and neglect,and all three types of SI:1-wk,1-year,and lifetime.Parental social support mediated 5.31%and 29.23%,4.80%and 24.50%,and 7.04%and 44.42%of the overall emotional abuse-SI and emotional neglect-SI associations,respectively.CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that improving parental social support might be effective in preventing suicidal risk related to childhood emotional maltreatment in adolescents.

Improvement of Electronic Line-shafting Control in Multi-axis Systems

Electronic line-shafting(ELS) is the most popular control strategy for printing machines with shaftless drives. A slidingmode controller for tracking control is designed in this study as the first step towards an improved ELS control scheme. This controller can eliminate the negative effects on synchronization precision resulting from the friction at low speed present in the pre-registration step of a shaftless driven printing machine. Moreover, it can eliminate the synchronization error of the printing process resulting from nonlinearities and load disturbances. Based on observer techniques, the unknown components of load torque and system parameter variations are estimated. On this basis, a novel ELS control method using equivalent load-torque observers is proposed. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control system for four-axis position control.

Interleukin-37 promotes colitis-associated carcinogenesis via SIGIRR-mediated cytotoxic T cells dysfunction

Interleukin-37b(hereafter called IL-37)was identified as fundamental inhibitor of natural and acquired immunity.The molecular mechanism and function of IL-37 in colorectal cancer(CRC)has been elusive.Here,we found that IL-37 transgenic(IL-37tg)mice were highly susceptible to colitis-associated colorectal cancer(CAC)and suffered from dramatically increased tumor burdens in colon.Nevertheless,IL-37 is dispensable for intestinal mutagenesis,and CRC cell proliferation,apoptosis,and migration.Notably,IL-37 dampened protective cytotoxic T cell-mediated immunity in CAC and B16-OVA models.CD8^(+)T cell dysfunction is defined by reduced retention and activation as well as failure to proliferate and produce cytotoxic cytokines in IL-37tg mice,enabling tumor evasion of immune surveillance.The dysfunction led by IL-37 antagonizes IL-18–induced proliferation and effector function of CD8+T cells,which was dependent on SIGIRR(single immunoglobulin interleukin-1 receptor-related protein).Finally,we observed that IL-37 levels were significantly increased in CRC patients,and positively correlated with serum CRC biomarker CEA levels,but negatively correlated with the CD8+T cell infiltration in CRC patients.Our findings highlight the role of IL-37 in harnessing antitumor immunity by inactivation of cytotoxic T cells and establish a new defined inhibitory factor IL-37/SIGIRR in cancerimmunity cycle as therapeutic targets in CRC.