Association between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and physical fitness index among college students / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand the association between sugar sweetened beverage consumption with physical fitness index among college students, so as to provide a reference for the improvement and intervention of college students physical fitness.@*Methods@#From September to December 2021, a total of 5 520 college students from universities in Jilin, Anhui, Jiangxi, Xinjiang, and Shanghai, were surveyed with sugar sweetened beverage consumption and physical fitness using stratified cluster sampling. One way ANOVA and Logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the association between sugary drink consumption and physical fitness index (PFI).@*Results@#The frequencies of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among college students were 10.3% , 67.2%, 13.9% , and 8.6% for 0, 1-3, 4-5, and ≥ 6 times/week, respectively. The differences in waist circumference, grip strength, standing long jumping, sit and reach, 50-meter running, and 1 000/800 meter running performance were statistically significant among college students with varying sugar-sweetened beverage consumption ( F =8.67, 7.22, 11.20, 13.47, 3.98, 2.86 , P <0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that those who had sugary drinks 4-5 times/week, ≥ 6 times/week had a higher risk of low PFI compared to those who reported no sugary drinks ( OR =1.48, 1.56, P <0.05). With respect to gender, the risk of low PFI was also higher among male students who consumed sugary drinks ≥6 times/week ( OR =2.01, P <0.05), while there was no significant difference among female students.@*Conclusion@#Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is negatively associated with the physical fitness index among college students with significant gender differences. College students, especially males, should be targeted to improve health literacy, reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, so as to improve physical fitness.

[Revealing characteristics and rules of acupoint sensitization phenomena: based on knee osteoarthritis].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the characteristics and rules of acupoint sensitization phenomena based on knee osteoarthritis (KOA), one of the clinical dominant diseases of acupuncture-moxibustion. METHODS: In combination with literature and expert experiences, the acupoints with the highest use frequency in treatment of KOA were screened, e.g. Heding (EX-LE 2), Liangqiu (ST 34), Mingmen (GV 4), Neixiyan (EX-LE 4), Ququan (LR 8) and Dubi (ST 35). In 814 patients with KOA and 217 healthy subjects, the acupoint temperature, mechanic pain threshold and pressure pain threshold were detected separately. Using machine learning method, the sensitization was judged at each acupoint. RESULTS: Compared with healthy subjects, the acupoint temperature was increased and the mechanic pain threshold and pressure pain threshold were reduced in KOA patients (P<0.05). Besides, the cut-off value was presented to distinguish whether the acupoint was sensitized or not. The results of machine learning showed that the highest prediction accuracy of acupoint sensitization was 86.7% (Shenshu [BL 23]) and the lowest one was 73.9% (Heding [EX LE 2]). The prediction accuracy at the third clinical stage trial was higher, the highest was 93.3% (Ququan [LR 8]) in KOA patients. CONCLUSION: It is confirmed that the acupoint sensitization reflects the characteristics of disease and is correlative with the conditions of illness, which may provide the reference for the auxiliary diagnosis and condition assessment of KOA.

Control energy assessment of spatial interactions among macro-scale brain networks.

Many recent studies have revealed that spatial interactions of functional brain networks derived from fMRI data can well model functional connectomes of the human brain. However, it has been rarely explored what the energy consumption characteristics are for such spatial interactions of macro-scale functional networks, which remains crucial for the understanding of brain organization, behavior, and dynamics. To explore this unanswered question, this article presents a novel framework for quantitative assessment of energy consumptions of macro-scale functional brain network's spatial interactions via two main effective computational methodologies. First, we designed a novel scheme combining dictionary learning and hierarchical clustering to derive macro-scale consistent brain network templates that can be used to define a common reference space for brain network interactions and energy assessments. Second, the control energy consumption for driving the brain networks during their spatial interactions is computed from the viewpoint of the linear network control theory. Especially, the energetically favorable brain networks were identified and their energy characteristics were comprehensively analyzed. Experimental results on the Human Connectome Project (HCP) task-based fMRI (tfMRI) data showed that the proposed methods can reveal meaningful, diverse energy consumption patterns of macro-scale network interactions. In particular, those networks present remarkable differences in energy consumption. The energetically least favorable brain networks are stable and consistent across HCP tasks such as motor, language, social, and working memory tasks. In general, our framework provides a new perspective to characterize human brain functional connectomes by quantitative assessment for the energy consumption of spatial interactions of macro-scale brain networks.

Influence of Acupuncture on Microcirculation Perfusion of Pericardium Meridian and Heart in Acute Myocardial Ischemia Model Rats.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the influence of acupuncture on microcirculation perfusion of the pericardium meridian and heart in acute myocardial ischemia (AMI) rats and evaluate whether acupuncture can simultaneously affect the meridians and corresponding viscera. Additionally, acupoints at different meridians were compared and whether they exert the same effects was discussed. METHODS: Totally 32 Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to left anterior descending (LAD) ligation to develop an AMI model. Rats were divided into 4 groups, including AMI, acupuncture Neiguan (PC 6), Lieque (LU 7) and Qiansanli (LI 10) groups (n=8). Eight rats received only thoracotomy (sham-operated group). The rats in the acupuncture groups received manual acupuncture at PC 6, LU 7 and LI 10 acupoints for 15 min, respectively. The microcirculation perfusion of pericardium meridian and heart was monitored by laser speckle perfusion imager (LSPI) before, during and after acupuncture manipulation for 15 min. Subsequently, the perfusion unit (PU) was calculated and analyzed by PSI System. RESULTS: After LAD, compared to pre-acupuncture stage, the heart microcirculation perfusion (HMP) in the AMI group decreased continuously at during-acupuncture (P>0.05) and post-acupuncture stages (P<0.05), and the pericardium meridian microcirculation perfusion (PMP) showed no significant differences at 3 stages (P>0.05). Compared to pre-acupuncture stage, the PMP and HMP in PC 6 group significantly increased during acupuncture manipulation (both P<0.05), and PMP decreased obviously after acupuncture (P<0.05). The PMP in the LU 7 and LI 10 groups were slightly elevated (both P>0.05); however, they were significantly reduced after acupuncture manipulation (both P<0.05). Additionally, HMP of LI 10 group was decreased significantly during acupuncture, especially compared to pre-acupuncture stage (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture at PC 6 obviously increased the PMP and HMP in AMI rats, and the effects were superior to at LU 7 and LI 10 acupoints. It was further confirmed that acupuncture promoted qi and blood circulation, indicating that acupoint specificity exists and features a meridian-propagated effect.

Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture for Migraine: An Overview of Systematic Reviews.

Background: Migraine is a common neurological disease, which burdens individuals and society all over the world. Acupuncture, an important method in Traditional Chinese Medicine, is widely used in clinical practice as a treatment for migraine. Several systematic reviews (SRs) have investigated the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for migraine. Objective: To summarize and critically assess the quality of relevant SRs and present an objective and comprehensive evidence on the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for migraine. Data Sources. MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, PROSPERO database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biological Medicine (CBM), China Science and Technology Journal (SCTJ), and WanFang database (WF) were searched from inception to December 2019 and grey literatures were manually searched. Selection Criteria. SRs which meet the criteria were independently selected by 2 reviewers according to a predetermined protocol. Data Extraction. Characteristics of included SRs were independently extracted by 2 reviewers following a predefined data extraction form. Review Appraisal. The methodological quality, risk of bias, and reporting quality of included SRs were assessed, respectively, by a Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) 2, the Risk of Bias in Systematic reviews (ROBIS) tool, and the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis-Acupuncture (PRISMA-A) statement. The quality of outcomes was evaluated by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE). Results: A total of 15 SRs were included. All the SRs were published between 2011-2019. Based on AMSTAR 2, 14 out of 15 SRs were rated critically low quality and 1 was rated low quality. According to ROBIS tool, 9 SRs (60%) were low risk of bias. With the PRISMA-A checklist, we found 11 out of 15 SRs were found adequately reported over 70%. With the GRADE tool, we found high quality of evidence indicated that the effective rate of acupuncture was superior to western medicine in treatment of migraine. Besides, acupuncture reduced more headache days and the times of using painkiller and was more effective in reducing the frequency and degree of headache than western medicine and sham acupuncture. Limitations. There might be some missing information. The accuracy of the conclusions may be decreased reduced since we were unable to synthesis all the evidence. Conclusions: Based on high quality of evidence, we concluded that acupuncture may be an effective and safe therapy for migraine. However, the quality of SRs in acupuncture for migraine still needs more improvement.

[Clinical observation on distribution characteristics and rules of pain sensitivity points on body surface in patients with knee osteoarthritis].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the distribution characteristics and rules of pain sensitivity points on body surface in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). METHODS: A total of 916 patients with KOA were selected in this study, the pain sensitivity points of local site of knee joint were probed by thumb palpation. Tape was used to measure the distance between the pain sensitivity points and the most nearby acupoints. The Wagner tenderness measuring instrument was used to measure the tenderness threshold of pain sensitivity points. RESULTS: A total of 3618 pain sensitivity points were probed, among them, 3338 pain sensitivity points were sensitized. The minimum sensitization degree was 1.00, the maximum sensitization degree was 3.39, while the average sensitization degree was (2.16±0.60). Pain sensitivity points were distributed 0.37-1.73 cun around the acupoints, the average distance was (1.26±0.20) cun. Most of the pain sensitivity points (48.7%) were around Yingu (KI 10), Ququan (LR 8) and Xuehai (SP 10). The number and sensitization degree of pain sensitivity points were associated with McGill pain questionnaire score of patients with KOA (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: The pain sensitivity points of patients with KOA may be the expansion effect of acupoint areas in the disease states, pain sensitivity points are more likely to appear on the medial side of knee joint.

The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis: An overview of systematic reviews.

BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA), known as severe degenerative arthritis, commonly occurs in middle-aged and elderly people all over the world. Acupuncture as traditional oriental intervention is getting widely used and several systematic reviews (SRs) have reported the effectiveness of acupuncture on pain relief and functional recovery in patients with KOA. OBJECTIVE: Conducting an overview of SRs to provide more reliable evidence-based medical references for clinical practitioners and researchers of the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for KOA. DATA SOURCES: EMBASE, Medline, Web of science, the Cochrane library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, the Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, China Biology Medicine, Wan Fang Digital Journals, and PROSPERO databases from inception to December 2018, magazines, websites, and unpublished sources. SELECTION CRITERIA: Potential SRs were independently selected by 2 reviewers following a predetermined protocol. DATA EXTRACTION: Data information of included SRs were independently extracted by 2 reviewers following a predetermined standardized data extraction form. REVIEW APPRAISAL: The risk of bias and reporting quality of included SRs were evaluated by the Risk of Bias in Systematic reviews (ROBIS) tool and the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement. The quality of evidence of outcomes was evaluated by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). RESULTS: A total of 12 SRs were included. All the SRs were published in recent 12 years, ranging from 2006 to 2017. According to ROBIS, 4 SRs were in low risk in domain 1 and 7 in domain 3 of phase 2, and 2 SRs were low risk in phase 3. Among 27 items of PRISMA, 19 items were reported over 70% of compliance. Using GRADE assessment, of 34 outcomes, high quality of evidence was found in 5 outcomes, 17 outcomes were rated moderate quality, and 11 outcomes were low quality. According to high-quality outcomes, acupuncture had more total effective rate, short-term effective rate, and less adverse reactions than western medicine in treating KOA. In terms of Lequesne index and Lysholm knee score scale score, the effectiveness of electroacupuncture was better than that of western medicine. LIMITATIONS: There might be missing information. There may be duplicated clinical trials included by each SR that might have impact on the synthetic findings. CONCLUSIONS: According to the high-quality evidence, we concluded that acupuncture may have some advantages in treating KOA. However, there are some risk of bias and reporting deficiencies still needed to be improved.

Spatio-temporal modeling of connectome-scale brain network interactions via time-evolving graphs.

Many recent literature studies have revealed interesting dynamics patterns of functional brain networks derived from fMRI data. However, it has been rarely explored how functional networks spatially overlap (or interact) and how such connectome-scale network interactions temporally evolve. To explore these unanswered questions, this paper presents a novel framework for spatio-temporal modeling of connectome-scale functional brain network interactions via two main effective computational methodologies. First, to integrate, pool and compare brain networks across individuals and their cognitive states under task performances, we designed a novel group-wise dictionary learning scheme to derive connectome-scale consistent brain network templates that can be used to define the common reference space of brain network interactions. Second, the temporal dynamics of spatial network interactions is modeled by a weighted time-evolving graph, and then a data-driven unsupervised learning algorithm based on the dynamic behavioral mixed-membership model (DBMM) is adopted to identify behavioral patterns of brain networks during the temporal evolution process of spatial overlaps/interactions. Experimental results on the Human Connectome Project (HCP) task fMRI data showed that our methods can reveal meaningful, diverse behavior patterns of connectome-scale network interactions. In particular, those networks' behavior patterns are distinct across HCP tasks such as motor, working memory, language and social tasks, and their dynamics well correspond to the temporal changes of specific task designs. In general, our framework offers a new approach to characterizing human brain function by quantitative description for the temporal evolution of spatial overlaps/interactions of connectome-scale brain networks in a standard reference space.

Using estimative reaction free energy to predict splice sites and their flanking competitors.

A crucial part in the gene structure prediction is to identify the accurate splice sites, not only constitutive but also alternative ones. Here, we use the maximum information principle (MIP) to analyze the conservative segments around splice sites. According to the MIP, a reaction free energy (RFE) expression is deduced, which can be employed to estimate the free energy change during splicing reaction involving a donor or acceptor site. The expression contains not only the background probability factors, but also all kinds of dependencies among both adjacent and non-adjacent bases. We apply the RFE expression to recognize splice sites and their flanking competitors in human genes, the results show high sensitivity and specificity, so the RFE expression accords well with the splicing reaction process. Moreover, the RFE expression is better than previous methods for predicting competitors of splice sites, and it outperforms the reaction free energy subtraction (RFES), that implies RFE competition between a given splice site and its flanking competitor may not be an only primary factor for alternative splice site selection. The work is helpful to not only the understanding of splicing reaction from its relation to MIP, but also the research on computational recognition of splicing sites and alternative splice events.

[The relation between translation speed and protein secondary structure].

Based on the statistical analysis of 119 human and 92 E. coli proteins it was found that for both human and E. coli, the mRNA sequences consisting of tri-codon and tetra-codon with high translation speed preferably code for alpha helices more than for coils. For beta strand, the preference/avoidance oscillates with the translation speed. Moreover, the non-homogeneous usages of tri-codon and tetra-codon with different translation speeds in a given secondary structure have also been found. These results cannot be simply explained by the effect of stochastic fluctuation.