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Objective: Recent research has documented the harmful effects of ambivalence over emotional expression (AEE) on psychological well-being, but few studies to date have examined AEE among Mainland Chinese breast cancer patients, an ethnic group that prioritizes emotion restraint to preserve social harmony. The present study examined the relationship between AEE and well-being (viz, anxious and depressive symptoms and quality of life) and evaluated perceived social support as a potential mediator of this relationship in a sample of Mainland Chinese breast cancer patients. Methods: Three hundred twenty-seven Chinese breast cancer patients recruited from Weifang, China, completed a self-reported questionnaire containing the Ambivalence over Emotional Expression Questionnaire (AEQ), the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Scale (MOS-SSS), the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B).Results: Overall, Mainland Chinese breast cancer patients endorsed high levels of AEE. A series of mediation analyses revealed perceived social support served as a partial mediator of the relationship between AEE and well-being. Specifically, AEE was associated with lower perceived social support (βs = −.13, P < .001), which in turn, was associated with greater anxious symptoms (β = .23, P < .001), depressive symptoms (β = .20, P < .001) and lower quality of life (β = −.30, P < .001). Conclusions:The harmful relationship between AEE and well-being is partially explained by reduced social support. Psychosocial interventions that facilitate emotional disclosure without harming social harmony may be culturally effective for mainland Chinese breast cancer patients.

Objective:Previous studies have used determined the optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) ultrasonographically as a measure of elevated intracranial pressure. The present study was conducted to evaluate the intra-and inter-observer reliability, and therefore the clinical feasibility, of this method. Methods:Two observers independently measured the ONSD in the sagittal and transversal planes in 300 healthy adults. Each observer performed the measurements twice, and the measured values were used to calculate the intra-and inter-observer reliabilities. Intra-and inter-observer reliability was analyzed using Cronbach's alpha, Pearson's correlation coefficient and a Bland-Altman analysis, respectively. Results:The mean ONSD was 3.59 ± 0.28 mm, with a range of 2.96-4.36 mm, and the Cronbach's alpha values were 0.992 and 0.983 for observers 1 and 2, respectively. Pearson's correlation coefficient between the observers was 0.89, and a Bland-Altman analysis yielded a mean difference of 0.04 ± 0.16 mm between measurements. Conclusion:The ultrasonographic measurement of ONSD is an easily learned and reproducible technique with high intra-and inter-observer reliability. Our results provide a basis for the future clinical application of this technique.

A new hybrid self-organizing migrating algorithm based on estimation of distribution (HSOMA) is proposed to resolve the defect of premature convergence in the self-organizing migrating algorithm (SOMA) and improve the search ability of SOMA. In order to make full use of the statistical information on population and increase the diversity of migration behavior, HSOMA introduces the thought of estimation of distribution algorithm (EDA) into SOMA and reproduces the genes of new individuals by both SOMA and EDA. The proportion of the use of two algorithms is decided by a control parameter. In this way, HSOMA can increase the population diversity and improve the convergence speed. HSOMA is tested on several complex benchmark functions taken from literature and its efficiency is compared with SOMA, the continuous domain Population-Based Incremental Learning algorithm(PBILc) and hybrid migrating behavior based self-organizing migrating algorithm(HBSOMA). On the basis of comparison it is concluded that HSOMA shows better global search ability and convergence accuracy.