Physical activity, health-related quality of life, and stress among the chinese adult population during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a threat to global public health due to home confinement policies impacting on physical activity engagement and overall health. This study aimed to explore physical activity participation, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and levels of perceived stress among Chinese adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted between 25 February and 15 March 2020. A total of 645 surveys were completed. Participants reported increased sedentary time from pre-COVID-19 period to the COVID-19 pandemic period (p < 0.05). Over 80% of the sample engaged in either low or moderate intensity physical activity. Participants’ average physical component summary score (PCS) and mental component summary score (MCS) for HRQoL were 75.3 (SD = 16.6) and 66.6 (SD = 19.3), respectively. More than half of participants (53.0%) reported moderate levels of stress. Significant correlations between physical activity participation, HRQoL, and levels of perceived stress were observed (p < 0.05). Prolonged sitting time was also found to have a negative effect on HRQoL (p < 0.05). During such periods of home confinement, public health strategies aimed at educating Chinese adults to enhance home-based physical activity may be necessary to maintain health on a population level

Physical activity participation and psychological wellbeing in university office workers in china and Australia: An online survey

Background and purpose: Physical inactivity and prolonged sitting have associations with adverse health. University office workers are at a high risk of psychological and pain issues. This study aimed to explore the differences in sitting time, levels of physical activity participation, stress, depression, anxiety, and pain among university office workers in China and Australia. Methods: Online surveys were distributed to university office workers over 55 years at two universities in China and Australia, respectively. Results: A total of 185 participants completed the online survey (119 in China and 66 in Australia). Significant differences were found in sitting time during workdays between the two countries (p < 0.05) with a longer sitting time in the Australian respondents (7.5 h/day) than those in China (4.6 h/day). Additionally, there were also significant differences in terms of levels of depression and pain symptoms within the two countries (p < 0.05). The Australian respondents reported high levels of depression and pain (M = 7.38, SD = 5.86 and M = 3.65, SD = 2.21, respectively) than those in China (M = 5.71, SD = 4.87 and M = 1.89, SD = 1.89, respectively). The gender, education level, and sitting time of participants were found to be associated with pain scores (p < 0.05). A significant association between marital status and pain scores was found among the Australian respondents (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Future studies with a larger population are needed to validate the results and to further explore the association between physical activity participation and psychological wellbeing among university office workers

Development and validity of a mentally-passive and mentally-active sedentary time questionnaire in nursing college students

ObjectiveThis study aimed to develop and validate a questionnaire to evaluate nursing college students’ mentally-passive and mentally-active sedentary time (M-PAST) in China.MethodsAn initial M-PAST questionnaire with mentally-passive and mentally-active sedentary behaviors was developed with content validity undertaken through a consensus panel and pilot test where a convenience sample of six nursing students was recruited to assess the relevance, comprehensiveness, and comprehensibility of the refined questionnaire after expert panelists’ responses. A cross-sectional online survey using a self-reported questionnaire was distributed to nursing students by email and then conducted using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to assess the construct validity of the M-PAST questionnaire and factor structures. Finally, the criterion validity was examined by exploring the associations between the M-PAST and the IPAQ sitting time, psychological distress, and insomnia.ResultsEight items regarding learning and leisure were included in the final version of the M-PAST questionnaire. A group of 650 nursing college students in China completed the study. Principal component analysis revealed two factors (i.e., mentally-passive and mentally-active sedentary behaviors), which explained 41.98% of the variance contributing to the questionnaire. The CFA reached the adaptive standard. Cronbach’s α ranged from 0.730 to 0.742. The correlations between M-PAST and IPAQ total sitting time were significant (p &lt; 0.01, r = 0.125–0.396). Mentally-passive sedentary time was associated with psychological distress and insomnia (p &lt; 0.01, r = 0.078–0.163), while no significant associations were found in mentally-active sedentary behaviors.Conclusion and implications for practiceThe M-PAST questionnaire appears to be a reliable and valid tool that reported both mentally-passive and mentally-active sedentary behaviors in nursing college students in China. However, future studies may need to further examine its validity among international nursing college students. This study further confirmed that mentally-passive sedentary behavior was positively associated with psychological distress and insomnia. Effective strategies are needed to reduce nursing college students’ mentally-passive sedentary time to improve their health and wellbeing in China

Organic cation transporter 1 (OCT1) modulates multiple cardiometabolic traits through effects on hepatic thiamine content.

A constellation of metabolic disorders, including obesity, dysregulated lipids, and elevations in blood glucose levels, has been associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Analysis of data from recently published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) demonstrated that reduced-function polymorphisms in the organic cation transporter, OCT1 (SLC22A1), are significantly associated with higher total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglyceride (TG) levels and an increased risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus, yet the mechanism linking OCT1 to these metabolic traits remains puzzling. Here, we show that OCT1, widely characterized as a drug transporter, plays a key role in modulating hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism, potentially by mediating thiamine (vitamin B1) uptake and hence its levels in the liver. Deletion of Oct1 in mice resulted in reduced activity of thiamine-dependent enzymes, including pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), which disrupted the hepatic glucose-fatty acid cycle and shifted the source of energy production from glucose to fatty acids, leading to a reduction in glucose utilization, increased gluconeogenesis, and altered lipid metabolism. In turn, these effects resulted in increased total body adiposity and systemic levels of glucose and lipids. Importantly, wild-type mice on thiamine deficient diets (TDs) exhibited impaired glucose metabolism that phenocopied Oct1 deficient mice. Collectively, our study reveals a critical role of hepatic thiamine deficiency through OCT1 deficiency in promoting the metabolic inflexibility that leads to the pathogenesis of cardiometabolic disease

Some Rare Earth Elements Analysis by Microwave Plasma Torch Coupled with the Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry

A sensitive mass spectrometric analysis method based on the microwave plasma technique is developed for the fast detection of trace rare earth elements (REEs) in aqueous solution. The plasma was produced from a microwave plasma torch (MPT) under atmospheric pressure and was used as ambient ion source of a linear ion trap mass spectrometer (LTQ). Water samples were directly pneumatically nebulized to flow into the plasma through the central tube of MPT. For some REEs, the generated composite ions were detected in both positive and negative ion modes and further characterized in tandem mass spectrometry. Under the optimized conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) was at the level 0.1 ng/mL using MS2 procedure in negative mode. A single REE analysis can be completed within 2~3 minutes with the relative standard deviation ranging between 2.4% and 21.2% (six repeated measurements) for the 5 experimental runs. Moreover, the recovery rates of these REEs are between the range of 97.6%–122.1%. Two real samples have also been analyzed, including well and orange juice. These experimental data demonstrated that this method is a useful tool for the field analysis of REEs in water and can be used as an alternative supplement of ICP-MS