SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the suboptimal health status or subhealth status and their relationship with mental health and smartphone addiction among Chinese medical students. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at Wannan Medical College of China in Wuhu. RESULTS: A total of 2,741 students were surveyed in October 2020. Of 2,741 Chinese medical students who completed the survey, 904 (33%) participants reported to have had subhealth status. Anxiety status (p<0.001), depression status (p<0.001), and smartphone addiction status (p<0.001) have strong association with subhealth status. CONCLUSION: This survey shows that the detection rate of subhealth status in Chinese medical students was 33%. Anxiety, depression, and smartphone addiction students had a higher detection rate of subhealth status. The anxiety, depression, and smartphone addiction of Chinese medical students are associated with subhealth status.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore the molecular mechanism underlying the occurrence of benign bile duct stricture and the target of low-dose paclitaxel in the prevention of benign bile duct stricture. METHODS: Under the stimulation of transforming growth factor beta 1, the expression of collagen type I and connective tissue growth factor were detected on isolated primary fibroblasts. The phosphorylation levels of JNK and Smad2L were detected using Western blot. The effect of low-dose paclitaxel on the transforming growth factor beta 1-induced inhibition of type I collagen and connective tissue growth factor expression and JNK and Smad2L phosphorylation was also observed. RESULTS: Transforming growth factor beta 1 induced the secretion of type I collagen and connective tissue growth factor as well as JNK phosphorylation in biliary fibroblasts. The JNK inhibitor or siRNA-Smad2 inhibited the transforming growth factor beta 1-induced secretion of type I collagen and connective tissue growth factor. Low-dose paclitaxel inhibited the expression of type I collagen induced by transforming growth factor beta 1 and may inhibit the secretion of collagen in biliary fibroblasts. CONCLUSION: The activation of JNK/Smad2L induced by transforming growth factor beta 1 is involved in the occurrence of benign bile duct stricture that is mediated by the overexpression of type I collagen and connective tissue growth factor, and low-dose paclitaxel may inhibit the phosphorylation of JNK/Smad2L.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the attitudes of Chinese residents toward COVID-19 vaccines and explore the potential drivers for Chinese residents' vaccine hesitancy. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from February 16 to March 16, 2021, by administering an online questionnaire to the Chinese residents. RESULTS: Of 5240 residents who completed the survey, 464 (8.9%) participants reported to have had one shot, and 348 (6.6%) reported to have had 2 shots. At the time the questionnaire was administered, 2298 (43.9%) participants reported they wanted to get vaccinated, while 2255 (43.0%) declared that they still did not know, and 687 (13.1%) respondents declared vaccine refusal. Overall, 2255 (43%) participants were categorized as vaccine hesitancy. Female participants (p=0.000), <20 years old (p=0.000), have low risk of COVID-19 (p=0.000) infection and strong associations of vaccine hesitancy. eHealth literacy was a protective factor. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show high rates of vaccine hesitancy in China. This could pose a serious threat to the preventive measures that aimed at controlling COVID-19 spread in the country. The government and different media platforms should encourage the dissemination of correct information about vaccines, the communities and medical staff to improve residents' knowledge about vaccines, and strive to improve residents' electronic health literacy.

Abstract The mechanisms involved in the fast growth of Angiostrongylus cantonensis from fifth-stage larvae (L5) to female adults and how L5 breaks through the blood-brain barrier in a permissive host remain unclear. In this work, we compared the transcriptomes of these two life stages to identify the main factors involved in the rapid growth and transition to adulthood. RNA samples from the two stages were sequenced and assembled de novo. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses of 1,346 differentially expressed genes between L5 and female adults was then undertaken. Based on a combination of analytical results and developmental characteristics, we suggest that A. cantonensis synthesizes a large amount of cuticle in L5 to allow body dilatation in the rapid growth period. Products that are degraded via the lysosomal pathway may provide sufficient raw materials for cuticle production. In addition, metallopeptidases may play a key role in parasite penetration of the blood-brain barrier during migration from the brain. Overall, these results indicate that the profiles of each transcriptome are tailored to the need for survival in each developmental stage.

Electric induction reheating is used to control the temperature of hot-rolled steel products. To investigate the effect of this on microstructure and mechanical properties, hot-rolled low-alloy steel plate was cooled, reheated, and then either quenched or normalized. Analysis of the microstructure and mechanical properties showed that this process had a greater effect on quenched steel plate than on normalized steel plate. Reheating was found to affect the precipitation of alloy carbonitrides, and the recovery and recrystallization of deformed austenite. In the single-phase region, the lower cooling temperature resulted in better mechanical properties. In normalized steel plate, the interlamellar spacing of pearlite (ISP) increased from 118nm to 165nm after induction reheating. In steel plate quenched with a 70ºC temperature difference, induction reheating reduced the strength difference from 80MPa to 23MPa. Our results provide useful references for optimizing electric induction and improving the uniformity of the mechanical properties of low-alloy steel.

The variation in mutations in exons 3, 6, 7, 11 and 12 of the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene was investigated in 59 children with phenylketonuria (PKU) and 100 normal children. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms were detected by sequence analysis. The mutational frequencies of cDNA 696, cDNA 735 and cDNA 1155 in patients were 96.2%, 76.1% and 7.6%, respectively, whereas in healthy children the corresponding frequencies were 97.0%, 77.3% and 8.3%. In addition, 81 mutations accounted for 61.0% of the mutant alleles. R111X, H64 > TfsX9 and S70 del accounted for 5.1%, 0.8% and 0.8% mutation of alleles in exon 3, whereas EX6-96A > G accounted for 10.2% mutation of alleles in exon 6. R243Q had the highest incidence in exon 7 (12.7%), followed by Ivs7 +2T>A (5.1%) and T278I (2.5%). G247V, R252Q, L255S, R261Q and E280K accounted for 0.8% while Y356X and V399V accounted for 5.9% and 5.1%, respectively, in exon 11. R413P and A434D accounted for 5.9% and 2.5%, respectively, in exon 12. Seventy-two variant alleles accounted for the 16 mutations observed here. The mutation characteristics and distributions demonstrated that EX6-96A > G and R243Q were the hot regions for mutations in the PAH gene in Shanxi patients with PKU.