Risk factors associated with weak and asymmetric handgrip strength in older Chinese adults.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to investigate the potential risk factors associated with weak and asymmetric handgrip strength (HGS) in older Chinese adults. METHODS: A total of 2702 participants aged ≥65 years from the two waves of data (2011 and 2013) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study were analyzed. The highest recorded HGS values (Method A) or the average HGS values (Method B) for the dominant hand were used to compute the HGS asymmetry (nondominant HGS/dominant HGS out of 0.9-1.1) and HGS weakness (male <28 kg, female <18 kg). Risk factors associated with the weak and asymmetric HGS were identified by logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Risk factors associated with weak and asymmetric HGS of varying severity differed between the two methods. Both methods identified age and illiteracy as risk factors for weak HGS with 10%-20% asymmetry. Method A also identified speech impediment, stroke, and sleep duration as additional risk factors. Similarly, both methods identified age, illiteracy, primary school education and below, diabetes, and stroke as risk factors for weak HGS and asymmetry over 30.1%. Method B additionally identified a history of falls as a risk factor. However, apart from age, the risk factors for weak HGS with 20.1%-30% asymmetry differed between the two methods-Method A identified kidney disease, while Method B identified illiteracy and asthma. CONCLUSIONS: The results revealed that risk factors associated with the abnormal HGS in older adults varied based on the methods used to define these conditions.

Demographic characteristics, family environment and psychosocial factors affecting internet addiction in Chinese adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Internet addiction of adolescents has aroused social concern recently. The present study aims to identify predicting factors of internet addiction on adolescents. METHODS: The demographic characteristics and psychological characteristics of 50, 855 middle school students were investigated through Internet Gaming Disorder Scale- Short Form(IGDS9-SF), Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale (SABAS), Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-students (SDQS), 16-Item Version of the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7), Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale (MPVS), Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS), and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC10) were used to analyze factors associated with internet addiction by Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple hierarchical regression. RESULTS: IGDS9-SF, SABAS and BSMAS are positively correlated with SDQS, PQ-16, PHQ-9, GAD-7 and MPVS (r-values ranging from 0.180 to 0.488, p < 0.01). IGDS9-SF, SABAS and BSMAS are negatively correlated with WEMWB and CD-RISC (r-values ranging from -0.242 ~ -0.338, p < 0.01). Multiple hierarchical regression shown gender, one-child, twins, left-behind, rural, education (father), drink (father), smoke (father), CD-RISC-10, SDQS, PQ-16, PHQ-9, GAD-7 and MPVS predicted 32.7 % of the variance in internet gaming disorder (IGD) (F = 1174.949, p < 0.001). Group (junior and senior), Gender, Age, One-Child, Twins, Village, Education (father), Drink (father), Drink (mother), Smoke (father), WEMWBS, CD-RISC-10, SDQS, PQ-16, PHQ-9, GAD-7 and MPVS predicted 28.9 % of the total variance in social media addiction (SMA) (F = 982.932, p < 0.001). Fifteen variables [Gender, Age, Twins, Left-behind, Residence, Residence, Education (mother), Drink(father), Drink (mother), Smoke (father), WEMWBS, CD-RISC-10, PHQ-9, GAD-7 and MPVS] predicted 30.7 % of the variance in smartphone addiction (SA) (F = 1076.02, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The present study found that demographic characteristics, family environment and psychosocial factors were associated with internet gaming addiction, social media addiction and smartphone addiction. Negative psychological factors (such as anxiety and depression) play an important role in different behavioral addictions.

Orange red-emitting carbon dots for enhanced colorimetric detection of Fe3.

Carbon dots (CDs) have demonstrated considerable potential for use in sensing and bioimaging applications based on their unique intrinsic properties. However, CDs have typically been used as fluorescence sensors, as opposed to indicators, based on their ultraviolet absorption and discoloration performance. In this study, orange red-emitting CDs with a high quantum yield (QY) of 53% were constructed from 2,3-diaminopyridine via solvothermal synthesis. Different from the fluorescence quenching behavior reported previously, the constructed CDs demonstrated a unique character in their ultraviolet absorption and fluorescence emission in the presence of Fe3+. The color of the CD solution varied from mauve to orange following the addition of Fe3+ at concentrations exceeding 1 µM, which enabled these CDs to be used in the determination of the presence of Fe3+ in lake water. In addition, due to their negligible cytotoxicity, good solubility, and adequate dispersity, an outstanding cellular probe with near-infrared fluorescence was established. Overall, this study presents a unique CD-based sensor, details its fluorescence mechanism, visual colorimetry, and ultraviolet absorption variations, and confirms its applicability in near-infrared cellular imaging and environmental analyses.

High quantum yield blue- and orange-emitting carbon dots: one-step microwave synthesis and applications as fluorescent films and in fingerprint and cellular imaging.

A high quantum yield (QY) is the key requirement for implementing carbon dots (CDs) in nearly all applications. In this work, blue emissive N-doped CDs with a QY of 83% and orange emissive N-doped CDs with a QY of 47% were successfully prepared using resorcinol and phloroglucin as carbon resources in formamide by one-step microwave synthesis, respectively. Formamide not only plays a role as the solvent but also takes part in the formation of the high QY CDs. It is demonstrated that the as-prepared blue- and orange-emitting N-doped CDs with a high QY can be uniformly dispersed into glue and be fabricated as CD/glue fluorescent composites for fluorescent films and fingerprint imaging. Furthermore, these CDs also show excellent cellular imaging capability.