Cancer-related masculinity threat in young adults with testicular cancer: the moderating role of benefit finding.

Background and Objectives: Perceiving benefit from a health-related stressor such as cancer has been associated with better psychological adjustment in various cancer populations; however, it has not been studied in the context of young adulthood or gender-related cancer threat. This study investigated the role of benefit finding in psychological adjustment among young adults with testicular cancer, and whether BF moderates cancer-related masculine threat.Design: This study utilizes a cross-sectional design with a diverse sample of young adult testicular cancer survivors.Methods: Men with a history of testicular cancer (N = 171; M age = 25.2, SD = 3.32) completed questionnaires of benefit finding, cancer-related masculine threat, and indicators of psychological adjustment.Results: Multiple regression analysis revealed that cancer-related masculine threat was associated with worse adjustment across indicators and that benefit finding was related to higher positive affect and lower depressive symptoms. Benefit finding attenuated the potentially adverse effect of cancer-related masculine threat on negative affect and depressive symptoms such that cancer-related masculine threat demonstrated a stronger association with negative affect and depressive symptoms for people with relatively low BF.Conclusions: For young adult men with testicular cancer, finding benefit appears to promote well-being in the face of masculine cancer threat

The unique rapid variabilities of the iron Kα\alpha line profiles in NGC 4151

We present a detailed analysis of the iron K$\alpha$ line variabilities in NGC 4151 by using long ASCA observation data obtained in May 1995. Despite the relatively small amplitude variations in the continuum flux, the iron K$\alpha$ line flux and profile show dramatic variations. Particularly, the line profile changes from single peak to seeming double peaks and back in time scales of a few 10$^4$ sec. The seemingly double-peaked profiles can be well interpreted as line emission from a Keplerian ring around a massive black hole. An absorption line at around 5.9 keV is also marginnaly detected. We discussed current Fe K line models, but none of them can well explain the observed line and continuum variations.Comment: 18 pages, latex, 3 figures, ApJ accepte

Exosomes: Versatile Nano Mediators of Immune Regulation.

One of many types of extracellular vesicles (EVs), exosomes are nanovesicle structures that are released by almost all living cells that can perform a wide range of critical biological functions. Exosomes play important roles in both normal and pathological conditions by regulating cell-cell communication in cancer, angiogenesis, cellular differentiation, osteogenesis, and inflammation. Exosomes are stable in vivo and they can regulate biological processes by transferring lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, and even entire signaling pathways through the circulation to cells at distal sites. Recent advances in the identification, production, and purification of exosomes have created opportunities to exploit these structures as novel drug delivery systems, modulators of cell signaling, mediators of antigen presentation, as well as biological targeting agents and diagnostic tools in cancer therapy. This review will examine the functions of immunocyte-derived exosomes and their roles in the immune response under physiological and pathological conditions. The use of immunocyte exosomes in immunotherapy and vaccine development is discussed

Long term in vitro expansion of epithelial stem cells enabled by pharmacological inhibition of PAK1-ROCK-Myosin II and TGF-β signaling

Summary: Despite substantial self-renewal capability in vivo, epithelial stem and progenitor cells located in various tissues expand for a few passages in vitro in feeder-free condition before they succumb to growth arrest. Here, we describe the EpiX method, which utilizes small molecules that inhibit PAK1-ROCK-Myosin II and TGF-β signaling to achieve over one trillion-fold expansion of human epithelial stem and progenitor cells from skin, airway, mammary, and prostate glands in the absence of feeder cells. Transcriptomic and epigenomic studies show that this condition helps epithelial cells to overcome stresses for continuous proliferation. EpiX-expanded basal epithelial cells differentiate into mature epithelial cells consistent with their tissue origins. Whole-genome sequencing reveals that the cells retain remarkable genome integrity after extensive in vitro expansion without acquiring tumorigenicity. EpiX technology provides a solution to exploit the potential of tissue-resident epithelial stem and progenitor cells for regenerative medicine. : Zhang et al. screen a small-molecule collection and find that pharmacologic inhibition of TGF-β and PAK1-ROCK-Myosin II, in low calcium conditions, supports extended expansion of epithelial stem cells in 2D format. This approach enhances the potential of tissue-resident epithelial stem cells for cell therapy. Keywords: epithelial stem and progenitor cells, cell culture method, TGF-β, PAK1/ROCK/Myosin II, feeder-free, regenerative medicine, cell therap

Scanning tunneling microscopy of lnAs/GaSb superlattices: Subbands, interface roughness, and interface asymmetry

Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy is used to characterize InAs/GaSb superlattices, grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. Roughness at the interfaces between InAs and GaSb layers is directly observed in the images, and a quantitative spectrum of this roughness is obtained. Electron subbands in the InAs layers are resolved in spectroscopy. Asymmetry between the interfaces of InAs grown on GaSb compared with GaSb grown on In As is seen in voltage-dependent imaging. Detailed spectroscopic study of the interfaces reveals some subtle differences between the two in terms of their valence-band onsets and conduction-band state density. These differences are interpreted in a model in which the GaSb on InAs interface has an abrupt InSb-like structure, but at the InAs on GaSb interface some Sb grading occurs into the InAs overlayer

The informational “cosplay journey” of Star Wars cosplayers in the context of a Facebook group

INTRODUCTION. Research on personal information practices has increased in recent decades. Building on this current of thought, the present study explores information practices in the context of serious leisure, looking specifically at the Rey Cosplay Community Facebook group, an online community of Star Wars cosplayers. The work discusses how these fans seek, organize, and share relevant information during the process of making costumes. METHOD. This study used participant observation and semi-structured interviews to investigate information behaviours, including information seeking, organization, use, and sharing, of seventeen members in the Rey Cosplay Community with a purposive sampling strategy. ANALYSIS. The researchers transcribed and jointly coded the collected data with an open coding scheme to identify themes that emerged from the data. RESULTS. The cosplayers used a myriad of tools to seek, organize, and share information about costume making. Participants identified that their information practices had evolved over time, and they shared sophisticated strategies for sharing work-in-progress photos and updates as well as methods for organizing information for later use. CONCLUSION. There are a variety of information practices used when making a costume. Participants often seek and acquire relevant information on online platforms and use a combination of traditional physical tools and modern electronic tools to organize information. They also display a rich culture of sharing information when responding to other fans’ information needs. The overall structure that these information practices take can be neatly articulated as a sort of informational “cosplay journey”

Goal-Focused Emotion-Regulation Therapy (GET) for young adult survivors of testicular cancer: a pilot randomized controlled trial of a biobehavioral intervention protocol.

BackgroundTesticular cancer diagnosis and treatment, especially given its threat to sexuality and reproductive health, can be distressing in the formative period of young adulthood and the majority of young survivors experience impairing, distressing, and modifiable adverse outcomes that can persist long after medical treatment. These include psychological distress, impairment in pursuit of life goals, persistent physical side effects, elevated risk of secondary malignancies and chronic illness, and biobehavioral burden (e.g., enhanced inflammation, dysregulated diurnal stress hormones). However, few targeted interventions exist to assist young survivors in renegotiating life goals and regulating cancer-related emotions, and none focus on reducing the burden of morbidity via biobehavioral mechanisms. This paper describes the methodology of a randomized controlled biobehavioral trial designed to investigate the feasibility and preliminary impact of a novel intervention, Goal-focused Emotion-Regulation Therapy (GET), aimed at improving distress symptoms, emotion regulation, goal navigation skills, and stress-sensitive biomarkers in young adult testicular cancer patients.MethodsParticipants will be randomized to receive six sessions of GET or Individual Supportive Therapy (ISP) delivered over 8 weeks. In addition to indicators of intervention feasibility, we will measure primary (depressive and anxiety symptoms) and secondary (emotion regulation and goal navigation skills, career confusion) psychological outcomes prior to (T0), immediately after (T1), and 12 weeks after (T2) intervention. Additionally, identified biomarkers will be measured at baseline and at T2.DiscussionGET may have the potential to improve self-regulation across biobehavioral domains, improve overall cancer adjustment, and address the need for targeted supportive care interventions for young adult cancer survivors.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov, NCT04150848. Registered on 28 October 2019

Interaction induced ferro-electricity in the rotational states of polar molecules

We show that a ferro-electric quantum phase transition can be driven by the dipolar interaction of polar molecules in the presence a micro-wave field. The obtained ferro-electricity crucially depends on the harmonic confinement potential, and the resulting dipole moment persists even when the external field is turned off adiabatically. The transition is shown to be second order for fermions and for bosons of a smaller permanent dipole moment, but is first order for bosons of a larger moment. Our results suggest the possibility of manipulating the microscopic rotational state of polar molecules by tuning the trap's aspect ratio (and other mesoscopic parameters), even though the later's energy scale is smaller than the former's by six orders of magnitude.Comment: 4 pages and 4 figure