Search

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer (GC), a molecularly heterogeneous disease, is the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide. The majority of GC cases worldwide occur in East Asia, predominantly China. Mutational Signature Framework offers an elegant approach to identify mutational processes present in tumors. METHODS: To identify mutational signature patterns, we conducted whole exome sequencing (WES) analysis in Chinese patients with GC. Mutect2 and MutsigCV were used to identify significantly mutated genes in 175 Chinese GC cases using paired tumor-normal tissues. We investigated mutational signatures using Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) Version 2 (V2) and Version 3 (V3). RESULTS: We identified 104 mutated genes with P < 0.01. Seven genes (OR6B1, B2M, ELF3, RHOA, RPL22, TP53, ARIDIA) had q < 0.0001, including six previously associated with GC. Mutational signatures (COSMIC-V3) observed include 14 single base substitutions (SBS), one doublet base substitution (DBS) Signature A, and one InDel (ID2). The most frequent SBS signatures (SBS05, SBS01, SBS15, SBS20, SBS40) were also observed in 254 White GC cases from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Project. However, SBS01 and SBS20 showed significant differences between Whites vs. All Asians (19.3% vs. 11.3% for SBS 1 (P = 0.012) and 11.4% vs. 5.9% for SBS20 (P = 0.025), respectively). Using COSMIC V2, signatures 6, 15, and 1 were the most frequent in Chinese GC cases. Further, most Chinese GC cases carried multiple signatures. CONCLUSIONS: This effort represents the most detailed mutational signatures analysis of GC cases from China to date. Results hold promise for new insights in understanding risk and prognosis factors in GC.

BACKGROUND: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease affecting over 300,000 people worldwide. It is characterized by the progressive decline of the nervous system that leads to the weakening of muscles which impacts physical function. Approximately, 15% of individuals diagnosed with ALS have a known genetic variant that contributes to their disease. As therapies that slow or prevent symptoms continue to develop, such as antisense oligonucleotides, it is important to discover novel genes that could be targets for treatment. Additionally, as cohorts continue to grow, performing analyses in ALS subtypes, such as primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), becomes possible due to an increase in power. These analyses could highlight novel pathways in disease manifestation. METHODS: Building on our previous discoveries using rare variant association analyses, we conducted rare variant burden testing on a substantially larger multi-ethnic cohort of 6,970 ALS patients, 166 PLS patients, and 22,524 controls. We used intolerant domain percentiles based on sub-region Residual Variation Intolerance Score (subRVIS) that have been described previously in conjunction with gene based collapsing approaches to conduct burden testing to identify genes that associate with ALS and PLS. RESULTS: A gene based collapsing model showed significant associations with SOD1, TARDBP, and TBK1 (OR = 19.18, p = 3.67 × 10-39; OR = 4.73, p = 2 × 10-10; OR = 2.3, p = 7.49 × 10-9, respectively). These genes have been previously associated with ALS. Additionally, a significant novel control enriched gene, ALKBH3 (p = 4.88 × 10-7), was protective for ALS in this model. An intolerant domain-based collapsing model showed a significant improvement in identifying regions in TARDBP that associated with ALS (OR = 10.08, p = 3.62 × 10-16). Our PLS protein truncating variant collapsing analysis demonstrated significant case enrichment in ANTXR2 (p = 8.38 × 10-6). CONCLUSIONS: In a large

BACKGROUND: In the phase 3 EMPOWER-Cervical 1/GOG-3016/ENGOT-cx9 study, cemiplimab significantly improved overall survival (OS) versus chemotherapy for patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer who progressed after first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. We present a post hoc subgroup analysis of patients enrolled in Japan. METHODS: Patients were enrolled regardless of programmed cell death-ligand 1 status and randomized 1:1 to cemiplimab 350 mg intravenously every 3 weeks or investigators choice  single-agent chemotherapy for up to 96 weeks. Primary endpoint was OS. Key secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rate (ORR). RESULTS: Overall, 608 patients were randomized, of whom 56 (9.2%) were in Japan (cemiplimab, n = 29; chemotherapy, n = 27). The median (range) duration of follow-up was 13.6 (6.0-25.3) versus 18.2 (6.0-38.2) months for patients in Japan and for the overall population, respectively. Median OS (95% confidence interval [CI]) was 8.4 (7.0-not evaluable) and 9.4 (5.4-14.9) months for cemiplimab versus chemotherapy (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.43-1.68). Median PFS (95% CI) was 4.0 (1.4-8.2) versus 3.7 (1.8-4.2) months with cemiplimab and chemotherapy (HR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.50-1.61), respectively. ORR was 17.2% for cemiplimab and 7.4% for chemotherapy (odds ratio, 2.47; 95% CI, 0.44-13.99). Incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events at any grade was 79.3% for cemiplimab and 100% for chemotherapy. Grade ≥3 adverse events were 37.9% versus 66.7% with cemiplimab and chemotherapy, respectively. DISCUSSION: While acknowledging limitations inherent to a small subgroup analysis, the HR of 0.86 observed in Japanese patients suggests an emerging survival benefit despite a 4.6-month shorter median duration of follow-up versus the overall study population.

Introduction: Hepatitis B is a significant public health concern and a leading cause of liver cancer across the world. In Australia, hepatitis B is largely endemic in migrant communities, particularly amongst the Chinese and Vietnamese communities. Negative attitudes towards hepatitis B can be a major barrier to hepatitis B testing and linkage to care. This mixed-methods research explores the attitudes and beliefs, including stigma, about hepatitis B among students of Vietnamese and Chinese background in Australia. Students were chosen as participants as there is little research examining hepatitis B among university students in Australia and they provide a point of entry to communities with high prevalence of hepatitis B, that otherwise may be hard to access. Methods: Online surveys were distributed in Chinese, Vietnamese, and English via social media and completed by 112 students of Chinese and 95 students of Vietnamese backgrounds. In-depth interviews were also conducted with 13 Vietnamese and 10 Chinese participants to further explore the survey results. Results: Survey findings suggest that students have varied attitudes towards people living with hepatitis B. Around half of the participants reported they would behave negatively towards other people with hepatitis B and that they would expect to experience stigma or discrimination if they had hepatitis B. While over 70% in both samples reported that people who have hepatitis B should not be isolated by family and friends, 47.6% of the Chinese sample and 28.3% of the Vietnamese sample reported they would avoid close contact with someone with hepatitis B. The qualitative data expands on the quantitative data. Four key themes were identified: (1) Caution not discrimination (2) Hepatitis B as a sign of immoral behaviour (3) Discriminatory behaviour based on perceived effects of hepatitis B and (4) Shifting attitudes. Conclusion: This research provides insights that could inform culturally sensitive health promotion

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has a high disease burden in sub-Saharan Africa and has a very poor prognosis. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of ESCC in predominantly East Asian populations indicate a substantial genetic contribution to its etiology, but no genome-wide studies have been done in populations of African ancestry. Here, we report a GWAS in 1,686 African individuals with ESCC and 3,217 population-matched control individuals to investigate its genetic etiology. We identified a genome-wide-significant risk locus on chromosome 9 upstream of FAM120A (rs12379660, p = 4.58 × 10−8, odds ratio = 1.28, 95% confidence interval = 1.22–1.34), as well as a potential African-specific risk locus on chromosome 2 (rs142741123, p = 5.49 × 10−8) within MYO1B. FAM120A is a component of oxidative stress-induced survival signals, and the associated variants at the FAM120A locus co-localized with highly significant cis-eQTLs in FAM120AOS in both esophageal mucosa and esophageal muscularis tissue. A trans-ethnic meta-analysis was then performed with the African ESCC study and a Chinese ESCC study in a combined total of 3,699 ESCC-affected individuals and 5,918 control individuals, which identified three genome-wide-significant loci on chromosome 9 at FAM120A (rs12379660, pmeta = 9.36 × 10−10), chromosome 10 at PLCE1 (rs7099485, pmeta = 1.48 × 10−8), and chromosome 22 at CHEK2 (rs1033667, pmeta = 1.47 × 10−9). This indicates the existence of both shared and distinct genetic risk loci for ESCC in African and Asian populations. Our GWAS of ESCC conducted in a population of African ancestry indicates a substantial genetic contribution to ESCC risk in Africa.

Asian Americans are the countrys fastest-growing racial group, and several studies have focused on the health outcomes of Asian Americans, including perceived health status. Perceived health status provides a summarized view of the health of populations for diverse domains, such as the psychological, social, and behavioral aspects. Given its multifaceted nature, perceived health status should be carefully approached when examining any variables influence because it results from interactions among many variables. A data-driven approach using machine learning provides an effective way to discover new insights when there are complex interactions among multiple variables. To date, there are not many studies available that use machine learning to examine the effects of diverse variables on the perceived health status of Chinese and Korean Americans. This study aims to develop and evaluate three prediction models using logistic regression, random forest, and support vector machines to find the predictors of perceived health status among Chinese and Korean Americans from survey data. The prediction models identified specific predictors of perceived health status. These predictors can be utilized when planning for effective interventions for the better health outcomes of Chinese and Korean Americans.

BACKGROUND: Expressive writing interventions confer mental health benefits for non-Hispanic Whites. However, research is lacking in adapting this paradigm for minoritized groups. This study evaluated the impacts of two culturally adapted expressive writing interventions on depressive and anxiety symptoms and potential mediators (perceived stress and intrusive thoughts) among Chinese American breast cancer survivors (CABCS). METHODS AND RESULTS: CABCS (N = 136) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions to write three weekly essays: enhanced self-regulation condition (ESR) to write about stress and coping (Week 1), deepest feelings (Week 2), and finding benefits (Week 3); self-regulation condition (SR) to write about deepest feelings (Week 1), stress and coping (Week 2), and finding benefits (Week 3); and control condition to write about facts relevant to their cancer experience (Weeks 1-3). Compared with the control condition, the ESR but not SR, reduced depressive and anxiety symptoms at all follow-up time points (1, 3, and 6-months) through reductions in perceived stress. CONCLUSION: A cultural adaptation altering the order of expressive writing prompts resulted in the greatest benefit for CABCS depressive and anxiety symptoms. Research testing both the content and ordering of components may be vital to advance cultural adaptation science and optimize intervention efficacy. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02946619.

BACKGROUND: Studies have documented that utilizing peer feedback can enhance students English academic writing skills. Little is known, however, about the effects of incorporating peer feedback to enhance English as a second language (L2) medical students academic writing performance. METHODS: This longitudinal interventional study examines Chinese medical students English academic writing skills development via peer feedback in four parallel classes over an 18-week semester between the experimental and control groups (n = 124). RESULTS: Significant increases in the experimental groups performance in the post-test were found after 18-week instructions (pre- vs. post-test: overall score, p < .001; task response, p < .001; coherence and cohesion, p < .001; lexical resource, p < .001; grammatical range and accuracy, p < .001), and the effects were retained in the delayed post-test 6 weeks later (post- vs. delayed post-test: overall score, p = .561; task response, p = .585; coherence and cohesion, p = .533; lexical resource, p = .796; grammatical range and accuracy, p = .670). Little improvement was found in the control group in the post-test (pre- vs. post-test: overall score, p = .213; task response, p = .275; coherence and cohesion, p = .383; lexical resource, p = .367; grammatical range and accuracy, p = .180) or the delayed post-test (post- vs. delayed post-test: overall score, p = .835; task response, p = .742; coherence and cohesion, p = .901; lexical resource, p = .897; grammatical range and accuracy, p = .695). Between-group comparisons indicate that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the post- and the delayed post-tests, as shown in their overall score and scores on the four components. CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating peer feedback into process-oriented medical English writing classroom teaching can effectively enhance Chinese medical students English academic writing skills over time, while the traditional product-oriented

BackgroundPersonal care products may contain many chemicals, some of which are suspected endocrine disrupters. This is an important source of chemical exposure for women, but little is known about how chemical exposure differs among different races/ethnicities.ObjectiveThis study examines differences in personal care product use among Black, Latina, Vietnamese, Mixed Race, and White women in California.MethodsWe used a community-based participatory process to create and administer a personal care product usage survey to 321 Black, Latina, Vietnamese, Mixed Race, and White women. We used multivariate regression models with pairwise comparisons to examine the frequency of product use by race/ethnicity.ResultsWe found distinct trends of personal care product use by race/ethnicity: Latina women typically used makeup most frequently; Black women used certain hair products or styles most frequently; and Vietnamese women were most likely to use facial cleansing products compared to other races/ethnicities. Latina and Vietnamese women were less likely to try to avoid certain ingredients in their products.SignificanceThese findings can help estimate disparities in chemical exposure from personal care product use and complement future research on health inequities due to chemical exposures in the larger environmental and social context.

Genetic studies on attention have mainly focused on children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), so little systematic research has been conducted on genetic correlates of attention performance and their potential brain mechanisms among healthy individuals. The current study included a genome-wide association study (GWAS, N = 1145 healthy young adults) aimed to identify genes associated with sustained attention and an imaging genetics study (an independent sample of 483 healthy young adults) to examine any identified genes' influences on brain function. The GWAS found that TTLL11 showed genome-wide significant associations with sustained attention, with rs13298112 as the most significant SNP and the GG homozygotes showing more impulsive but also more focused responses than the A allele carriers. A retrospective examination of previously published ADHD GWAS results confirmed an un-reported, small but statistically significant effect of TTLL11 on ADHD. The imaging genetics study replicated this association and showed that the TTLL11 gene was associated with resting state activity and connectivity of the somatomoter network, and can be predicted by dorsal attention network connectivity. Specifically, the GG homozygotes showed lower brain activity, weaker brain network connectivity, and non-significant brain-attention association compared to the A allele carriers. Expression database showed that expression of this gene is enriched in the brain and that the G allele is associated with lower expression level than the A allele. These results suggest that TTLL11 may play a major role in healthy individuals' attention performance and may also contribute to the etiology of ADHD.

Across many cultural contexts, the majority of women conduct the majority of their household labor. This gendered distribution of labor is often unequal, and thus represents one of the most frequently experienced forms of daily inequality because it occurs within ones own home. Young children are often passive observers of their familys distribution of labor, and yet little is known about the developmental onset of their perceptions of it. By the preschool age, children also show strong normative feelings about both equal resource distribution and gender stereotypes. To investigate the developmental onset of childrens recognition of the (in)equality of household labor, we interviewed 3 to 10-y-old children in two distinct cultural contexts (US and China) and surveyed their caregivers about who does more household labor across a variety of tasks. Even at the youngest ages and in both cultural contexts, childrens reports largely matched their parents, with both populations reporting that mothers do the majority of household labor. Both children and parents judged this to be generally fair, suggesting that children are observant of the gendered distribution of labor within their households, and show normalization of inequality from a young age. Our results point to preschool age as a critical developmental time period during which it is important to have parent-child discussions about structural constraints surrounding gender norms and household labor.

BackgroundColorectal cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality across U.S. racial/ethnic groups. Existing studies often focus on a particular race/ethnicity or single domain within the care continuum. Granular exploration of disparities among different racial/ethnic groups across the entire colon cancer care continuum is needed. We aimed to characterize differences in colon cancer outcomes by race/ethnicity across each stage of the care continuum.MethodsWe used the 2010-2017 National Cancer Database to examine differences in outcomes by race/ethnicity across six domains: clinical stage at presentation; timing of surgery; access to minimally invasive surgery; post-operative outcomes; utilization of chemotherapy; and cumulative incidence of death. Analysis was via multivariable logistic or median regression, with select demographics, hospital factors, and treatment details as covariates.Results326,003 patients (49.6% female, 24.0% non-White, including 12.7% Black, 6.1% Hispanic/Spanish, 1.3% East Asian, 0.9% Southeast Asian, 0.4% South Asian, 0.3% AIAE, and 0.2% NHOPI) met inclusion criteria. Relative to non-Hispanic White patients: Southeast Asian (OR 1.39, p < 0.01), Hispanic/Spanish (OR 1.11 p < 0.01), and Black (OR 1.09, p < 0.01) patients had increased odds of presenting with advanced clinical stage. Southeast Asian (OR 1.37, p < 0.01), East Asian (OR 1.27, p = 0.05), Hispanic/Spanish (OR 1.05 p = 0.02), and Black (OR 1.05, p < 0.01) patients had increased odds of advanced pathologic stage. Black patients had increased odds of experiencing a surgical delay (OR 1.33, p < 0.01); receiving non-robotic surgery (OR 1.12, p < 0.01); having post-surgical complications (OR 1.29, p < 0.01); initiating chemotherapy more than 90 days post-surgery (OR 1.24, p < 0.01); and omitting chemotherapy altogether (OR 1.12, p = 0.05). Black patients had significantly higher cumulative incidence of death at every pathologic stage relative to n

Heating and cooling in buildings accounts for over 20% of total energy consumption in China. Therefore, it is essential to understand the thermal requirements of building occupants when establishing building energy codes that would save energy while maintaining occupants thermal comfort. This paper introduces the Chinese thermal comfort dataset, established by seven participating institutions under the leadership of Xian University of Architecture and Technology. The dataset comprises 41,977 sets of data collected from 49 cities across five climate zones in China over the past two decades. The raw data underwent careful quality control procedure, including systematic organization, to ensure its reliability. Each dataset contains environmental parameters, occupants subjective responses, building information, and personal information. The dataset has been instrumental in the development of indoor thermal environment evaluation standards and energy codes in China. It can also have broader applications, such as contributing to the international thermal comfort dataset, modeling thermal comfort and adaptive behaviors, investigating regional differences in indoor thermal conditions, and examining occupants thermal comfort responses.

type:Text, Background: Despite international recognition of the impact of general practice / family medicine training on postgraduate training outcomes, there have been few reports from Japan. Methods: Junior residents who participated in community medicine training for one month between 2019 and 2022 were enrolled in the study. The settings were five medical institutions (one hospital and four clinics) that had full-time family doctors. The junior residents were assigned to one of these institutions. The training content mainly consisted of general ambulatory care, home medical care, community-based care, and reflection. The junior residents evaluated themselves at the beginning and end of their training, and the family doctors evaluated the junior residents at the end. The evaluation items were 36 items in 10 areas, based on the objectives outlined in the Guidelines for Residency Training - 2020 Edition, and were rated on a 10-point Likert scale. In the statistical analysis, Wilcoxon signed rank test of two related groups was performed to analyze changes between pre and post self-evaluation, and the effect size r was calculated. Results: Ninety-one junior residents completed the study. Their self-evaluations showed statistically significant increases in all 36 items. The effect size was large in 33 items. The family doctors' evaluation was 8-9 points for all 36 items. Conclusion: General practice / family medicine training may greatly contribute to the acquisition of various required clinical abilities in postgraduate training even in Japan.

Drawing from two waves (∼1.5-2.5 years apart) of longitudinal data, the current study investigated the bidirectional associations between self-regulatory skills and mathematics achievement among a socioeconomically diverse sample of school-age Chinese American children from immigrant families (N = 258; 48.1% girls; ages 5.8-9.1 years; first to third grades at Wave 1). Childrens self-regulatory skills were assessed with task-based measures of attention focusing, inhibitory control, behavioral persistence, and comprehensive executive function as well as parent- and teacher-reported effortful control. Multiple regressions showed that behavioral persistence and parent-reported effortful control positively predicted math achievement over time. Math achievement positively predicted comprehensive executive function over time. These effects were found when controlling for child age, sex, generation status, family socioeconomic status, parents cultural orientations, and prior levels of math achievement or self-regulation. The prospective relation of math achievement predicting comprehensive executive function remained significant after a false discovery rate correction.

Adolescents from immigrant families are at risk for psychological health issues due to acculturative stress and the marked increases in internalizing and externalizing problems accompanying adolescence. Emotion Regulation (ER) may be an important protective resource for these adolescents. The present study tested the links between ER and internalizing and externalizing problems in 131 first- and second-generation Chinese American adolescents. Adolescents' reappraisal was associated with less internalizing and externalizing problems; adolescents' suppression was associated with more internalizing and externalizing problems. These links were somewhat more pronounced in adolescents high in American cultural orientation as well as in adolescents low in Chinese cultural orientation. Our results advance our understanding of the links between ER and psychological health in Chinese American youth.