Nursing students play a very important role in providing care for dying patients in clinical practice, but little is known about the attitudes of nursing students in China. The aims of this study were to describe Chinese nursing students’ attitudes toward the care of dying patients and to describe the factors influencing these attitudes. A cross-sectional design was used, and the data were obtained from self-administered questionnaires. A convenience sample of 1133 nursing students was recruited from 8 nursing schools. Measurements included the demographic form and the Chinese version of the Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying Scale, Form B. The mean score of all Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying Scale, Form B items was 95.42 (SD, 6.76). More positive attitudes toward the care of dying patients were associated with willingness to care for dying persons, having religious beliefs, having received education on death and dying, having previous experience caring for dying patients, and currently anticipating the loss of a loved one. Factors predicting nursing students’ attitudes toward the care of dying patients included previous education on death and dying, willingness to care for dying persons, previous experience caring for dying patients, and religious beliefs, with an explanatory power of 20%. This study contributes to a better understanding of the factors that underlie nursing students’ attitudes toward caring for dying patients. Educational programs on end-of-life care for nursing students should be targeted to those nursing students who are unwilling to care for dying persons, those without religious beliefs, those with no previous education on death and dying, or those with no experience caring for dying patients.

Background: Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) affects women's reproductive health seriously, with immune dysfunction playing a key role in its cause, yet the exact mechanisms remain elusive. We aim to investigate potential mechanisms and identify biomarkers linked to RPL.Methods: Immune cytokine testing and metabolomic profiling were conducted on the serum of 34 RPL patients and 30 healthy individuals. The metabolic pathways of the differential metabolites were analyzed, and specific metabolites were validated through targeted profiling. Potential biomarkers were identified, and the relationships between immune cytokines and differential metabolites were explored.Results: In the RPL group, serum interleukin-6 and interleukin-10 levels were significantly higher, while interleukin-2 and interferon-γ were significantly lower. A total of 296 differential metabolites were detected by untargeted metabolomic profiling between the RPL and control groups, with most linked to amino acid metabolism. Targeted metabolomic profiling of amino acid metabolism revealed upregulation of indole-3-acetic acid, tyrosine, glycine, isoleucine, tryptophan, lysine, aspartic acid, arginine, leucine, threonine, glutamic acid, cystine, and phenylpyruvic acid (PPA) in the RPL group. Moreover, PPA and 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan showed great potential in predicting RPL in a diagnostic model. Cystine and tyrosine were associated with immune cytokines in correlation analysis.Conclusion: The study highlights the role of amino acid metabolism in RPL pathogenesis, suggesting that PPA and 5-HTP may be potential predictive indicators, while cystine and tyrosine may potentially regulate immune responses related to RPL. Further investigation into the molecular mechanisms underlying these findings could potentially result in the creation of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for RPL.

Endometriosis is referred to as a “benign cancer,” severely impacting women’s reproductive health. However, the pathogenesis of endometriosis remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the potential roles of lipid metabolism-related genes (LMRGs) and immune infiltration in the diagnosis and pathogenesis of endometriosis. Four microarray datasets (GSE6364, GSE51981, GSE153740, and GSE232713) with eutopic endometrium samples of the midsecretory phase were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Seven hundred forty LMRGs were obtained from the Reactome database. The GSE6364 and GSE51981 datasets were merged and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between endometriosis patients and normal controls. Lipid metabolism-related DEGs were detected by intersecting the DEGs and LMRGs. Functional enrichment analysis, protein–protein interaction analysis, and receiver operating characteristic analysis of lipid metabolism-related DEGs were performed. Additionally, immune cell infiltration was compared between endometriosis patients and normal controls, and associations with lipid metabolism-related DEGs were assessed. Fifty-eight lipid metabolism-related DEGs were identified in endometriosis patients compared with normal controls, which enriched in glycerolipids, fatty acyls, sphingolipids, glycerophospholipids, and sterol lipids metabolism, especially steroid hormone metabolism and arachidonic acid metabolism. Additionally, 11 core genes were identified, with HMGCR and CYP27A1 validated as potential markers for diagnosing endometriosis and assessing its severity, respectively. Immune infiltration analysis revealed that fibroblasts and B lineage cells were predominantly abnormal in the endometrium of the midsecretory phase in endometriosis. Correlation analysis suggested that core genes were closely related to immune cells. In conclusion, HMGCR and CYP27A1 were identified as potential markers for endometriosis and its severity, respectively. Fibroblasts and B lineage cells may significantly contribute to the reduced endometrial receptivity observed in endometriosis. These findings provide new insights into the diagnostic and pathogenic roles of LMRGs in endometriosis and highlight their implications for infertility and pregnancy complications related to endometriosis.

Background: Infertility is a widespread problem for couples worldwide, and lifestyle factors are the cornerstone of infertility prevention. This research seeks to explore the association between combined healthy lifestyles and infertility risk among women of reproductive age. Methods: This study analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 2013–2018), concentrating on 2,154 women aged 18 to 44. A healthy lifestyle score was created based on healthy diet (top two-fifths of the Healthy Eating Index-2015 score), low-to-moderate alcohol drinking (1–14 g/day), optimal waist circumference (less than 80 cm), adequate physical activity (at least 150 min of moderate-to-vigorous leisure-time exercise per week), and current nonsmoking. Weighted logistic regression analysis was applied to assess the link between healthy lifestyle scores and the risk of infertility, adjusting for potential confounders. Results: After adjusting for potential confounders, women exhibiting 4 to 5 healthy lifestyle factors demonstrated a 59% decrease in the likelihood of infertility (OR: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.23–0.76) relative to those with 0 to 1 healthy lifestyle factors. Additionally, each increment in healthy lifestyle factors corresponded to a 21% decrease in infertility risk (OR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.68–0.92). Analysis of subgroups indicated that the inverse association was more pronounced in females younger than 30. Additionally, optimal waist circumference is the foremost factor contributing to this inverse relationship. Conclusion: Adhering to healthy lifestyles significantly lowers the likelihood of infertility among reproductive-aged women. Public health initiatives could consider enhancing access to healthy diets, physical activity, and resources to reduce alcohol consumption and smoking. Further research is required to clarify their relationship and the underlying mechanisms.