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Aim: The quality of life (QoL) of disaster-exposed survivors has always been a topic of concern. The aims of the present study were to explore the role of mindfulness in QoL in a relatively large sample of disaster-exposed survivors and to examine whether social support and posttraumatic growth (PTG) could be mediators. Subject and methods: A total of 806 survivors were surveyed 10 years after the Wenchuan earthquake. A self-administered questionnaire was used to measure mindfulness, QoL, social support, PTG, and sociodemographic characteristics. Linear regressions and mediation analyses were performed to examine the associations between mindfulness, QoL, social support, and PTG. Results: Of the survivors surveyed, 7.8% still reported poor or very poor QoL 10 years later. Correlation analyses indicated QoL was positively correlated with mindfulness, social support, and PTG. The PROCESS macro revealed that social support and PTG played multiple mediating roles in the relationship between mindfulness and QoL. Moreover, the association between mindfulness and QoL was mediated sequentially by social support and PTG. Conclusions: QoL among disaster-exposed survivors can be improved through the enhancement of mindfulness, the provision of social support, and the promotion of PTG. Future clinical mindfulness-focused interventions for disaster-exposed survivors could also include intervening social support and PTG, which may have a synergistic effect on improving QoL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a transdiagnostic risk factor for mental disorders. However, reliable and valid measurements of IU among Chinese adolescents are still lacking. This study aimed to develop and validate the Intolerance of Uncertainty Index-A for Children (IUI-A-C) in a large sample of Chinese adolescents. Methods: A total of 108,540 adolescents provided data regarding sociodemographic information, IU, and other constructs theoretically related to IU via an online platform. Item analyses, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, validity analyses, reliability analyses, and measurement invariance analyses were used to examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the IUI-A-C (CIUI-A-C). Results: Eight items of the CIUI-A-C with poor psychometric properties were discarded, yielding the revised 7-item CIUI-A-C (RCIUI-A-C). Factor analyses revealed and supported a one-factor structure for the RCIUI-A-C, which also evidenced robust reliability as well as satisfactory convergent validity. Furthermore, measurement invariance analyses indicated that the one-factor structure was stable across gender and age. Conclusions: The RCIUI-A-C is a valid and reliable measurement for Chinese adolescents of different genders and ages, which allows for efficient and rapid evaluation of IU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Intersubspecific autotetraploid rice hybrids possess high hybrid vigor; however, low pollen fertility is a critical hindrance in its commercial utilization. Our previous study demonstrated that polyploidy could increase the multi-loci interaction and cause high pollen abortion in autotetraploid rice hybrids. However, there is little known about the critical role of pollen sterility locus or loci in the intersubspecific hybrids. We developed autotetraploid rice hybrids harboring heterozygous genotypes ( S S S S ) at different pollen sterility loci by using the near isogenic lines of Taichung65-4×. Moreover, autotetraploid lines carrying double neutral genes, Sa and Sb , were used to assess their effect on fertility restoration. Results: Cytological studies showed that the deleterious genetic interactions at Sa and Sb pollen sterility loci resulted in higher pollen sterility (76.83%) and abnormal chromosome behavior (24.59%) at metaphase I of meiosis in autotetraploid rice hybrids. Transcriptome analysis revealed 1092 differentially expressed genes (DEG) in a hybrid with the pervasive interactions at Sa and Sb pollen sterility loci, and most of the genes (about 83%) exhibited down regulation. Of the DEG, 60 were associated with transcription regulation and 18 genes were annotated as meiosis-related genes. Analysis on the hybrids developed by using autotetraploid rice harboring double neutral genes, Sa and Sb , revealed normal pollen fertility, and transcriptome analysis showed non-significant difference in number of DEG among different hybrids. Conclusions: Our finding revealed that pervasive interactions at Sa and Sb pollen sterility loci cause high sterility in the autotetraploid hybrids that lead to the down-regulation of important meiosis-related genes and transcription regulation factors. Moreover, we also found that the hybrids sterility could be overcome by double neutral genes, Sa and Sb , in autotetraploid rice hybrids. The present study provided a strong evidence for the utilization of heterosis in autotetraploid rice hybrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuronal apoptosis is an important event in hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R)-induced neuronal injury. Senegenin (Sen), the predominant and most active component in Radix Polygalae root extracts, displays anti-apoptotic and anti-oxidative properties. Sen protects against H/R-induced neuronal apoptosis of highly differentiated PC12 cells and primary cortical neurons. Sen has also been investigated as a source of potential therapeutic targets. In this study, a proteomic approach was used to identify Sen-regulated proteins in PC12 cells. We found that Sen protected against H/R-induced neuronal apoptosis by upregulating RhoGDIα protein expression. The regulatory functions of RhoGDIα were investigated by knocking down RhoGDIα expression in PC12 cells using small interfering RNA (siRNA), followed by quantification of apoptosis and then altering the expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins. Our data show that after silencing RhoGDIα, the neuroprotective effects of Sen on H/R-induced PC12 cell apoptosis were absent. Furthermore, RhoGDIα silencing alleviated the Sen-mediated inhibition of the JNK pathway. Therefore, these findings indicated that Sen attenuates H/R-induced neuronal apoptosis by upregulating RhoGDIα expression and inhibiting the JNK pathway. In addition to the mechanism underlying neuroprotective effects of Sen, RhoGDIα was identified as a putative target of Sen based on a primary rat cortical neuron model of H/R-induced injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor associated inflammation predicts response to immune checkpoint blockade in human melanoma. Current theories on regulation of inflammation center on anti-tumor T cell responses. Here we show that tumor associated B cells are vital to melanoma associated inflammation. Human B cells express pro- and anti-inflammatory factors and differentiate into plasmablast-like cells when exposed to autologous melanoma secretomes in vitro. This plasmablast-like phenotype can be reconciled in human melanomas where plasmablast-like cells also express T cell-recruiting chemokines CCL3, CCL4, CCL5. Depletion of B cells in melanoma patients by anti-CD20 immunotherapy decreases tumor associated inflammation and CD8+ T cell numbers. Plasmablast-like cells also increase PD-1+ T cell activation through anti-PD-1 blockade in vitro and their frequency in pretherapy melanomas predicts response and survival to immune checkpoint blockade. Tumor associated B cells therefore orchestrate and sustain melanoma inflammation and may represent a predictor for survival and response to immune checkpoint blockade therapy. The regulation of tumor inflammation is incompletely understood and the role of B cells is unclear. Here, the authors show that a specific subtype of B cells is induced in melanoma and required to recruit T lymphocytes and elicit inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]