What “Family Affair?” Domestic Violence Awareness in China

IntroductionDomestic violence is toxic to society. With approximately one in three women on average falling victim to domestic violence, systematic solutions are needed. To further complicate the issue, mounting research shows that COVID-19 has further exacerbated domestic violence across the world. Situations could be even more pronounced in countries like China, where though domestic violence is prevalent, there is a dearth of research, such as intervention studies, to address the issue. This study investigates key barriers to domestic violence research development in China, with a close focus on salient cultural influences.MethodsA review of the literature on domestic violence in China in PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus was conducted to answer the research question. The search was focused on three themes, domestic violence, China, research, and cultural influences.ResultsThe study findings show that categorizing domestic violence as a “family affair” is a key barrier to domestic violence research development in China—an incremental hindrance that prevents the public and policymakers from understanding the full scale and scope of domestic violence in China. In addition to abusers, witnesses, and victims, even law enforcement in China often dismisses domestic violence crimes as “family affairs” that resides outside the reach and realm of the law. The results indicated that mistreating domestic violence crimes as “family affairs” is a vital manifestation of the deep-rooted cultural influences in China, ranging from traditional Confucian beliefs in social harmony to the assumed social norms of not interfering with other people's businesses.ConclusionDomestic violence corrupts public health and social stability. Our study found that dismissing domestic violence cases as “family affairs” is an incremental reason why China's domestic violence research is scarce and awareness is low. In light of the government's voiced support for women's rights, we call for the Chinese government to develop effective interventions to timely and effectively address the domestic violence epidemic in China

A race for a better understanding of COVID-19 vaccine non-adopters

In this paper, we aim to underscore the need for a more nuanced understanding of vaccine non-adopters. As the availability of vaccines does not translate into their de facto adoption—a phenomenon that may be more pronounced amid “Operation Warp Speed”—it is important for public health professionals to thoroughly understand their “customers” (i.e., end users of COVID-19 vaccines) to ensure satisfactory vaccination rates and to safeguard society at large

Chinese international students in the United States: The interplay of students’ acculturative stress, academic standing, and quality of life

Background: Acculturation could cause grave health consequences in international students. However, there is a shortage of research into how acculturative stress might affect international students’ quality of life in light of their academic standing and experience. The lack of research is particularly pronounced among Chinese international students, representing the largest body of international students studying in the United States (U.S.). Thus, to bridge the research gap, this study aims to examine the interplay between international students’ acculturative stress, academic standing, and quality of life among a nationally representative sample of Chinese international students studying in the United States. Methods: An online survey that gauges Chinese international students’ levels of acculturative stress, academic standing, and quality of life was developed. Over 350 higher education institutions across the United States were approached, including public universities, private universities, and community colleges, among which approximately 220 institutions responded positively and supported survey distribution. A total of 751 students completed the survey. Multiple regression analyses were carried out to examine the associations between students’ acculturative stress, academic standing, and quality of life. Results: Findings reveal that acculturative stress negatively affects all four domains of Chinese international students’ quality of life, irrespective of their academic standing. Data analyses also show that compared to master’s and doctoral students, undergraduates experience the highest levels of acculturative stress. Furthermore, a significant difference emerged among undergraduate and doctoral international students’ acculturative stress levels, but not among undergraduate and master’s students, or master’s and doctoral students. Conclusion: Our study found that, compared to master’s and doctoral students, undergraduates had more significant acculturative stress associated with lower levels of quality of life. This finding highlights the potentially positive role of academic experience – while acculturative stress deteriorates international students’ quality of life, students’ academic standing and experience could be the protective factor in the equation. Future research could further examine how universities and colleges can capitalize on their academic apparatuses and resources to improve international students’ academic performance and students’ acculturation experience and quality of life

COVID-19 vaccination coverage and its cognitive determinants among older adults in Shanghai, China, during the COVID-19 epidemic

ObjectivesThis study aimed to examine the coverage of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination and its cognitive determinants among older adults.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire to conduct a survey among 725 Chinese older adults aged 60 years and above in June 2022, 2 months after the mass COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, China. The questionnaire covered demographic characteristics, COVID-19 vaccination status, internal risk perception, knowledge, and attitude toward the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines.ResultsThe vaccination rate was 78.3% among the surveyed individuals. Self-reported reasons for unwillingness to get vaccinated (multiple selections) were “concerns about acute exacerbation of chronic diseases after vaccination (57.3%)” and “concerns regarding vaccine side effects (41.4%).” Compared to the unvaccinated group, the vaccinated group tended to have a higher score in internal risk perception (t = 2.64, P < 0.05), better knowledge of COVID-19 vaccines (t = 5.84, P < 0.05), and a more positive attitude toward the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines (t = 7.92, P < 0.05). The path analysis showed that the cognitive effect on vaccination behavior is relatively large, followed by the internal risk perception, and then the attitude toward COVID-19 vaccines. The more knowledgeable the participants were about COVID-19 vaccines, the more likely they were to receive the COVID-19 vaccines. In the multivariate logistic regression, the increased coverage of COVID-19 vaccination was associated with reduced age (OR = 0.53 95% CI 0.43–0.66, P < 0.001), being a resident in other places than Shanghai (OR = 0.40, 95% CI 0.17–0.92, P < 0.05), a shorter time of lockdown (OR = 0.33, 95% CI 0.13–0.83, P < 0.05), a history of other vaccines (OR = 2.58, 95% CI 1.45–4.60, P < 0.01), a fewer number of chronic diseases (OR = 0.49, 95% CI 0.38–0.62, P < 0.001), better knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines (OR = 1.60, 95% CI 1.17–2.19, P < 0.01), and a positive attitude toward COVID-19 vaccines (OR = 9.22, 95% CI 4.69–18.09, P < 0.001).ConclusionAcquiring accurate knowledge and developing a positive attitude toward COVID-19 vaccines are important factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination. Disseminating informed information on COVID-19 vaccines and ensuring efficacious communication regarding their efficacy and safety would enhance awareness about COVID-19 vaccination among older adults and consequently boost their vaccination coverage

Direct m6A recognition by IMP1 underlays an alternative model of target selection for non-canonical methyl-readers

m6A methylation provides an essential layer of regulation in organismal development, and is aberrant in a range of cancers and neuro-pathologies. The information encoded by m6A methylation is integrated into existing RNA regulatory networks by RNA binding proteins that recognise methylated sites, the m6A readers. m6A readers include a well-characterised class of dedicated proteins, the YTH proteins, as well as a broader group of multi-functional regulators where recognition of m6A is only partially understood. Molecular insight in this recognition is essential to build a mechanistic understanding of global m6A regulation. In this study, we show that the reader IMP1 recognises the m6A using a dedicated hydrophobic platform that assembles on the methyl moiety, creating a stable high-affinity interaction. This recognition is conserved across evolution and independent from the underlying sequence context but is layered upon the strong sequence specificity of IMP1 for GGAC RNA. This leads us to propose a concept for m6A regulation where methylation plays a context-dependent role in the recognition of selected IMP1 targets that is dependent on the cellular concentration of available IMP1, differing from that observed for the YTH proteins

Is there a common latent cognitive construct for dementia estimation across two Chinese cohorts?

INTRODUCTION: It is valuable to identify common latent cognitive constructs for dementia prevalence estimation across Chinese aging cohorts. METHODS: Based on cognitive measures of 12015 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS; 13 items) and 6623 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS; 9 items) participants aged 65 to 99 in 2018, confirmatory factor analysis was applied to identify latent cognitive constructs, and to estimate dementia prevalence compared to Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and nationwide estimates of the literature. RESULTS: A common three-factor cognitive construct of orientation, memory, and executive function and language was found for both cohorts with adequate model fits. Crude dementia prevalence estimated by factor scores was similar to MMSE in CLHLS, and was more reliable in CHARLS. Age-standardized dementia estimates of CLHLS were lower than CHARLS among those aged 70+, which were close to the nationwide prevalence reported by the COAST study and Global Burden of Disease. DISCUSSION: We verified common three-factor cognitive constructs for both cohorts, providing an approach to estimate dementia prevalence at the national level. HIGHLIGHTS: Common three-factor cognitive constructs were identified in Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) and China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Crude dementia estimates using factor scores were reliable in both cohorts. Estimates of CHARLS were close to current evidence, but higher than that of CLHLS

Targeting cancer-related inflammation with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: Perspectives in pharmacogenomics

Inflammatory processes are essential for innate immunity and contribute to carcinogenesis in various malignancies, such as colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer and lung cancer. Pharmacotherapies targeting inflammation have the potential to reduce the risk of carcinogenesis and improve therapeutic efficacy of existing anti-cancer treatment. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), comprising a variety of structurally different chemicals that can inhibit cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes and other COX-independent pathways, are originally used to treat inflammatory diseases, but their preventive and therapeutic potential for cancers have also attracted researchers’ attention. Pharmacogenomic variability, including distinct genetic characteristics among different patients, can significantly affect pharmacokinetics and effectiveness of NSAIDs, which might determine the preventive or therapeutic success for cancer patients. Hence, a more comprehensive understanding in pharmacogenomic characteristics of NSAIDs and cancer-related inflammation would provide new insights into this appealing strategy. In this review, the up-to-date advances in clinical and experimental researches targeting cancer-related inflammation with NSAIDs are presented, and the potential of pharmacogenomics are discussed as well

Interplay between moment-dependent and field-driven unidirectional magnetoresistance in CoFeB/InSb/CdTe heterostructures

Magnetoresistance effects are crucial for understanding the charge/spin transport as well as propelling the advancement of spintronic applications. Here we report the coexistence of magnetic moment-dependent (MD) and magnetic field-driven (FD) unidirectional magnetoresistance (UMR) effects in CoFeB/InSb/CdTe heterostructures. The strong spin-orbital coupling of InSb and the matched impedance at the CoFeB/InSb interface warrant a distinct MD-UMR effect at room temperature, while the interaction between the in-plane magnetic field and the Rashba effect at the InSb/CdTe interface induces the marked FD-UMR signal that dominates the high-field region. Moreover, owning to the different spin transport mechanisms, these two types of nonreciprocal charge transport show opposite polarities with respect to the magnetic field direction, which further enable an effective phase modulation of the angular-dependent magnetoresistance. Besides, the demonstrations of both the tunable UMR response and two-terminal spin-orbit torque-driven magnetization switching validate our CoFeB/InSb/CdTe system as a suitable integrated building block for multifunctional spintronic device design