Development and evaluation of a rehabilitation training compliance scale for patients with urinary incontinence

Abstract Background Urinary incontinence treatment includes conservative treatment, physical devices, medication, and surgery. Pelvic floor muscle training combined with bladder training is among the most effective, non-invasive, and economical ways to treat urinary incontinence, and compliance with training is essential in urinary incontinence treatment. Several instruments assess pelvic floor muscle training and bladder training. However, no tool has been found that assesses compliance with pelvic floor muscle training when combined with bladder training for urinary incontinence. This study aimed to develop a rehabilitation training compliance scale for patients with urinary incontinence and to evaluate its validity and reliability. Methods This study was performed in two tertiary hospitals in Hainan, China between December 2020 and July 2021, 123 patients were included. A literature review, group discussions, and two rounds of letter consultations were performed to acquire the item pool and finalise the 12 items for this scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach’s α, split-half reliability, test–retest reliability, content validity, construct validity, convergent and discriminant validity, and criterion-related validity were used to examine the items in the scale. Results A 12-item scale comprising three factors accounted for 85.99% of the variance in the data. The Cronbach’s α, split-half reliability, test–retest reliability, and content validity index of the scale were 0.95, 0.89, 0.86, and 0.93, respectively. Comparison with the Chen pelvic floor muscle exercise self-efficacy scale showed high calibration correlation validity (coefficient = 0.89). Conclusions The training compliance scale developed in this study is a valid and reliable measurement tool to assess pelvic floor muscle training and bladder training compliance in patients with urinary incontinence

Advances in photonics of recently developed Xenes

Monoelemental two-dimensional materials are well known as Xenes. The representatives graphene and phosphorene have received considerable attention because of their outstanding physical properties. In recent years, the family members of Xenes have greatly increased, and the emerging ones are gaining more and more interest. In this review, we mainly focus on the recently developed Xenes in groups IIIA, VA, and VI. Comprehensive discussions of the latest progress are given in the aspects of basic physical properties and intriguing applications in photonics, optoelectronics, energy, and biomedicines

MALAT1 promotes FOXA1 degradation by competitively binding to miR-216a-5p and enhancing neuroendocrine differentiation in prostate cancer

Objectives: Prostate cancer (PC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death in males worldwide. Neuroendocrine differentiation (NED) is a feature of PC that often goes undetected and is associated with poor patient outcomes. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs), and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) play important roles in the development and progression of PC. Methods: In this study, we used transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis to identify key regulators of NED in PC. Specifically, we examined the expression of PC-related lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs in PC cells and correlated these findings with NED phenotypes. Results: Our data revealed that metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) and zinc finger protein 91 (ZFP91) were upregulated in PC, while miR-216a-5p was down-regulated. Ectopic expression of MALAT1 induced NED and promoted malignant phenotypes of PC cells. Furthermore, we found that MALAT1 competitively bound to miR-216a-5p, upregulated ZFP91, and promoted the degradation of forkhead box A1 (FOXA1), a key gene involved in NED of PC. Conclusion: Taken together, these results suggest that MALAT1 plays an oncogenic role in NED and metastasis of PC via the miR-216a-5p/ZFP91/FOXA1 pathway. Our study highlights the potential of targeting this pathway as a novel therapeutic strategy for PC

Advances in Studies on Interaction between Selenium and Heavy Metal Cadmium

Selenium is an essential functional element of the human body, and the issue of selenium accompanying heavy metals is receiving much concern. This paper expounded the form of existence of selenium and cadmium in soil and influencing factors of their bioavailability, and further elaborated the interaction between selenium and cadmium. On the basis, it provided references for further studies on the interaction between selenium and cadmium, and provided basis for establishing selenium-enriched barrier technology for crops

IgG Antibody Responses and Immune Persistence of Two Doses of BBIBP-CorV Vaccine or CoronaVac Vaccine in People Living with HIV (PLWH) in Shenzhen, China

The purpose of this study was to preliminarily evaluate the immunogenicity and immune persistence of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in PLWH in the real world. We collected blood samples from 132 PLWH aged 18–59 years who were vaccinated with two doses of BBIBP-CorV vaccine (Sinopharm) or CoronaVac vaccine (SinoVac) at 28 ± 7 days and 180 ± 20 days the after second dose, to detect the level of Spike receptor binding domain-protein specific IgG (S-RBD-IgG) by using chemiluminescence. We found that the BBIBP-CorV vaccine or the CoronaVac vaccine induced lower S-RBD-IgG antibody seropositivity rates and levels in PLWH than in healthy controls (HCs). The BBIBP-CorV vaccine or the CoronaVac vaccine induced lower humoral immune responses in PLWH, having lower CD4+T cell counts (+T cell counts (≥350 cells/μL) after a second dose of vaccination. The BBIBP-CorV vaccine or the CoronaVac vaccine induced lower S-RBD-IgG antibody levels in PLWH, having CD4+T cell counts ≥350 cells/μL compared to HCs. No negative effects were observed in terms of the CD4+T cell counts and HIV RNA viral load (VL) of PLWH after vaccination. Ninety-nine PLWH and eighty-three HCs completed a second blood collection for testing; we found a statistically significant decrease in the humoral immune response both in PLWH and HCs from 28 days to 180 days after a second dose of BBIBP-CorV vaccine or CoronaVac vaccine. The S-RBD-IgG antibody induced by the BBIBP-CorV vaccine or the CoronaVac vaccine declined faster in the PLWH population than in the healthy population, and two doses of the BBIBP-CorV vaccine or the CoronaVac vaccine may not be enough to provide PLWH with persistent immunity against SARS-CoV-2. It is necessary for PLWH to be prioritized for a third dose over the healthy population, but the immunogenicity of the third dose of the homologous or heterologous vaccine requires further study