The Prevalence of Smartphones and WeChat Use Among Older Adults With Chronic Disease in a Western China.

Telemedicine is a promising way to deliver patient education and health services, but access to information technology among potential patients is a prerequisite. This study surveyed the prevalence of smartphone use and the use of the Chinese social networking platform WeChat and Wi-Fi access in the homes of older adults in a western area of China. A convenience sample of 225 older adults with chronic diseases in two tertiary hospitals was interviewed regarding smartphone ownership, WeChat use, and access to Wi-Fi at home. Participant ability in performing the activities of daily living was also assessed. Logistic regressions were used to analyze the independently associated factors of smartphone ownership, WeChat use, and Wi-Fi access at home. The results show that the prevalence of smartphone use was 19.6%, only 8.9% of those surveyed used WeChat, but 39.6% had access to Wi-Fi at home. Education level was the only factor significantly associated with the three dependent variables. Ability in performing activities of daily living was positively correlated with access to Wi-Fi at home (odds ratio, 2.549; P = .011). It will be difficult to implement telemedicine through smartphones in such relatively poor areas of China. Better-educated older adults who are less dependent in performing activities of daily living are potential users of telemedicine.

Circular RNA circ_0014717 Suppresses Hepatocellular Carcinoma Tumorigenesis Through Regulating miR-668-3p/BTG2 Axis.

Recent studies have reported a close association between circRNAs and cancer development. CircRNAs have been recognized to be involved in various biological processes. Up to now, the function of circRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still poorly known. qRT-PCR was used to test circ_0014717 expression in HCC tissue samples and cells was determined. It was shown that circ_0014717 was significantly decreased in HCC. Then, we observed overexpression of circ_0014717 obviously repressed HCC cell growth, migration and invasion. Next, we predicted circ_0014717 acted as a sponge of miR-668-3p. miR-668-3p has been reported to participate in several diseases. In our work, it was shown miR-668-3p was greatly increased in HCC and the direct binding sites between circ_0014717 and miR-668-3p were validated. In addition, B-cell translocation gene 2 (BTG2) is closely involved in cellular carcinogenic processes. BTG2 was predicted as a target for miR-668-3p. By performing rescue assays, we demonstrated that circ_0014717 repressed HCC progression via inhibiting BTG2 expression and sponging miR-668-3p. It was manifested loss of circ_0014717 induced HCC progression, which was reversed by BTG2 in Hep3B cells. In conclusion, our findings illustrated a novel circ_0014717/miR-668-3p/BTG2 regulatory signaling pathway in HCC.