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The mainz resilience assessment in childhood cancer (MRAcc): development of a novel age-specific patient-reported outcome measure to assess resilience in childhood cancer patients

During intensive cancer treatment, children, adolescents and young adults are exposed to numerous toxicities and psychosocial stressors that can cause psychosocial distress and impair mental health. The maintenance or rapid recovery of mental health during and after exposure to significant stressors has been defined as resilience. To date, resilience research has focused primarily on cross-sectional assessment of specific, trait-like resilience factors and concepts in long-term survivors of childhood cancer, typically omitting the influence of context-specific biopsychosocial stressors and resilience dynamics throughout treatment. Little is known about outcome-based resilience and mental health resources in childhood cancer patients undergoing cancer treatment. In addition, specific instruments for age-appropriate assessment of resilience in childhood cancer patients are lacking. To address this gap, within the EU Horizon 2020-funded FORTEe project, we developed a novel self-report instrument for longitudinal assessment of resilience in children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer, featuring age-appropriate items tailored to their specific contexts.

An interdisciplinary team of psychologists, psychiatrists and pediatric oncologists developed an age-appropriate self-report instrument to assess resilience longitudinally in children, adolescents, and young adults undergoing cancer treatment. Following current resilience research frameworks, resilience is defined as the ratio of changes in mental health problems to stressor exposure. Accordingly, the measure comprises two domains: mental health problems (anxiety, depression, distress, fatigue) and stressor exposure (daily hassles, cancer-related stressors), with stressors rated for both frequency and intensity.

The Mainz Resilience Assessment in Childhood Cancer (MRAcc) consists of three age-specific versions (children 5–11 years, adolescents 12–17 years, young adults 18–21 years), each including the sections: ‘Emotions & Distress’, ‘Fatigue’, and ‘Situations & Experienced Stress’. It is available in German and English and uses either five-point-Likert scales or visual analogue scales presented as thermometers.

Long non-coding RNA may be a promising therapeutic target for cancer

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that a specific long non-coding RNA activates oncogenic signaling pathways in prostate cancer cells and drives tumor progression, underscoring its potential as a therapeutic target, according to a recent study published in Nature Communications. Rendong Yang, Ph.D., associate professor of Urology and a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, was co-corresponding author of the study.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a type of RNA with transcripts that contain more than 200 nucleotides and play a central role in regulating gene expression, most notably in cancer progression. While previous work has identified many cancer-associated lncRNAs, the mechanisms by which lncRNAs influence cancer progression have remained unknown due to lncRNAs’ cell type-specific and tissue-specific gene expression patterns.

In the current study, the scientists aimed to uncover cellular interactions between super-enhancers—clusters of regulatory DNA elements that drive high levels of transcription—and lncRNAs by studying RNA sequencing data from patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

New Simulations Preserve Quantum Rules While Modelling Complex Materials

Until now, accurately modelling both spin and orbital motion in materials with spin-orbit coupling meant sacrificing computational speed. A new mixed quantum-classical model, based on Koopman wavefunctions, overcomes this limitation, accurately simulating these dynamics even where traditional methods fail. The approach reproduces full quantum results, particularly when a harmonic potential is present, opening new avenues for materials design.

Alzheimer’s Risk Gene Alters Brain Activity Early — But It May Be Reversible

Carrying one or two copies of the APOE4 gene variant significantly increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s, and a new study reveals how APOE4 can change neuron activity – potentially many years before symptoms such as memory loss start showing.

In young mice bred to have the APOE4 gene, researchers found specific neurons were smaller and more hyperactive in parts of the brain’s memory center, the hippocampus.

What’s more, they were able to identify a protein, Nell2, contributing to the disruption – and a potential pathway to reverse the damage in advanced cases.

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