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To examine the associations between physical activity (PA) levels and mental health in children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities (IDs) during the COVID-19 pandemic, 117 participants aged between 6 and 17 years with IDs from 10 Hong Kong special schools were included. There were positive dose-response associations between PA (i.e., light PA, moderate PA, and vigorous PA) and mental health, and participants with higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and self-concept (SC) had better social quality of life (QoL) than those with lower levels of MVPA and SC. Moreover, personal and environmental factors such as age, body mass index, school, sex, ID level, and parental education level influenced the PA levels and QoL in children and adolescents with IDs., Author(s): Wen Yang [sup.1] , Ming Hui Li [sup.1] , Jane Jie Yu [sup.2] , Stephen Heung-Sang Wong [sup.1] , Raymond Kim-Wai Sum [sup.1] , Cindy Hui-Ping Sit [sup.1] Author [...]

While many studies have focused on resilience development, few have explored resilience development in adolescents with insecure attachment (attachment anxiety/attachment avoidance). This paper (1) addressed how self-compassion and self-efficacy mediated insecure attachment's influence on resilience, (2) examined the extent to which the two mediators could mitigate insecure attachment's influence on resilience, and (3) explored where in the mediation process the mitigation started to occur. The sample was composed of 269 American teenagers. Structural Equation Modeling was applied to analyze data. Self-compassion and self-efficacy, in sequence, mediated insecure attachment's influence on resilience. In the mediation process, self-compassion and self-efficacy significantly mitigated insecure attachment's influence on resilience. The mitigation was initiated by self-compassion and followed by self-efficacy, rather than the opposite direction. Practical implications are discussed.

Gluten, which accounts for 70%-80% of the total protein content of wheat, is the main family of storage proteins found in the starchy endosperm of Pooideae subfamily, such as wheat, barley, rye and oats. As described in previous research, it could be divided into two fractions based on their different solubility in aqueous alcohol. Alcohol-soluble proteins of cereal grains that are rich in proline (Pro) and glutamine (Gln) are termed prolamins. The word of prolamins is a collective name of alcohol-soluble, water-insoluble storage proteins from wheat (gliadin), barley (hordein), rye (secalin), and oat (avenin). The alcohol-insoluble fraction of wheat gluten is called glutenin and the corresponding fractions from other species glutenins. Celiac disease (CD) is defined as a chronic Tcell mediated enteropathy caused by exposure to dietary gluten in genetically predisposed individuals, which account for approximately 1% of the global population. Clinical symptoms of CD can vary of patients and may include intestinal symptoms of diarrhea or steatorrhea, as well as extraintestinal symptoms, such as bone pain or osteoporosis. The only effective treatment for individuals with CD is lifelong adherence to strict gluten-free diet. Beer is a popular alcohol beverage fermented with cereals such as barley and wheat which contains antigenic proteins of CD. Gluten-free beer is also specially provided by manufacturers for CD sufferers. During the whole process of beer manufacturing, hordeins and other storage proteins are degraded by proteases which are activated during malting. The high temperature during mashing may also cause the modification of gluten proteins. So the gluten proteins can be degraded to produce soluble polypeptides and free amino acids, and the epitopes used for the ELISA protocol are also damaged, which hinders the accurate detection of gluten proteins by ELISA protocols. In this work, 0.1 mol/L ammonium acetate in methanol and acetone was selected as the optimized solution to individually obtain alcohol-insoluble and alcohol-soluble fractions of gluten in beer samples to maximally acquire the gluten information. The reproducibility of the optimized gluten extraction protocol was proved to be good. Deamidated gluten peptides and gluten fragments were proved to be present in beer. Then, the gluten map of eight commercial beers was explored using optimized gluten extraction protocol followed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis. It was confirmed that combining both the protein fraction and the peptide fraction could significantly enhance the gluten protein identifications. Gluten proteins were identified in three fractions for all types of beer even in gluten-free beer. Mass spectrometry may be the supplemented method to ELISA methods to confirm the safety of gluten-free beers.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the functions of lncRNA H19 on glomerular endothelial structural damage of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Materials and Methods: Rats were fed a high sugar and fat high feed die, and intraperitoneally administrated with streptozotocin (30 mg/kg) to induce DN model. Meanwile, rat glomerular endothelial cells (rGEnCs) were treated with high a level of glucose （HG, 30 mM glucose）to induce structural damage. Results: Our results showed that H19 level was drastically increased in diabetic glomeruli and high-glucose (HG)-stimulated rat glomerular endothelial cells (rGEnCs). Deficiency of H19 ameliorated microalbumin, creatinine, BUN, and histopathological alterations in diabetic rats. In addition, H19 deficiency significantly attenuated the damage of endothelial structure by upregulating the expression of junction proteins ZO-1 and Occludin, glycolcalyx protein Syndecan-1, and endothelial activation marker sVCAM-1 and sICAM-1 in diabetic rats. The in vitro results also showed that H19-siRNA alleviated glycocalyx shedding, tight junctions damage, and endothelial activation in HG-stimulated rGEnCs. Moreover, H19 deficiency significantly enhanced the expression of p-Akt and p-eNOS and NO concentration in vitro and in vivo. Pre-treatment with Akt inhibitor LY294002 abrogated these favourable effects mediated by H19 deficiency. Discussion and Conclusion: These results indicate that H19 deficiency could mitigate the structural damage of glomerular endothelium in DN via activating Akt/eNOS pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to examine the associations between perceived social support, perceived competence, and physical activity in children with physical and intellectual disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the third wave of the pandemic in Hong Kong (i.e., July through December 2020), 291 participants age 6–17 years from 27 special schools were included. After controlling for demographic variables, the total variance explained by perceived social support and perceived competence was 24%, F(2, 240) = 12.42, p <.001, with perceived competence having a stronger association with physical activity (β = 0.29, p <.001) than perceived social support (β = 0.07, p =.22). This study highlights two key facilitators for shaping physical activity involvement among children with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Having a comprehensive understanding of genetic differentiation, responses to environmental change and demographic history is critical for genetic improvement and conservation efforts. Forest trees are an excellent resource for understanding population differentiation and adaptive genetic variation due to their ability to adapt to different climates and environments. Cephalotaxus oliveri is a relict conifer endemic to China. In this study, we generated transcriptome data and identified 17 728 high‐quality single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 18 populations. We found significant negative correlations between expression diversity and nucleotide diversity within and among populations, suggesting that gene expression and nucleotide diversity have a reciprocal relationship when the species adapts to the environment. The analyses of population structure showed that C. oliveri displayed a striking genetic structure with four groups. BayeScEnv and RDA methods detected the signatures of local adaptation, and identified that 738 outlier SNPs were associated with precipitation, temperature and soil conditions across heterogeneous environmental conditions. Approximate Bayesian computation analyses showed that the first and second divergence occurred in the late Miocene (c. 10.075 million years ago [Ma]) and the middle Pleistocene transition (c. 0.815 Ma), respectively. Ecological niche modeling of C. oliveri revealed signs of westward expansion after the last glacial maximum, while it was predicted to experience significant range contractions in future climate change scenarios. Geographical factors and environmental factors in southern China have played a critical role in establishing the current genetic diversity and population structure of C. oliveri. This study provides an important reference for forest resource management and conservation for C. oliveri. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore characteristics of clinical parameters and cytokines in patients with drug-induced liver injury (DILI) caused by different drugs and their correlation with clinical indicators. The study was conducted on patients who were up to Review of Uncertainties in Confidence Assessment for Medical Tests (RUCAM) scoring criteria and clinically diagnosed with DILI. Based on Chinese herbal medicine, cardiovascular drugs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), anti-infective drugs, and other drugs, patients were divided into five groups. Cytokines were measured by Luminex technology. Baseline characteristics of clinical biochemical indicators and cytokines in DILI patients and their correlation were analyzed. 73 patients were enrolled. Age among five groups was statistically different (P = 0.032). Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (P = 0.033) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (P = 0.007) in NSAIDs group were higher than those in chinese herbal medicine group. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in patients with Chinese herbal medicine (IL-6: P < 0.001; TNF-α: P < 0.001) and cardiovascular medicine (IL-6: P = 0.020; TNF-α: P = 0.001) were lower than those in NSAIDs group. There was a positive correlation between ALT (r = 0.697, P = 0.025), AST (r = 0.721, P = 0.019), and IL-6 in NSAIDs group. Older age may be more prone to DILI. Patients with NSAIDs have more severe liver damage in early stages of DILI, TNF-α and IL-6 may partake the inflammatory process of DILI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]