International Chinese students' experiences of participating in mandala-based art therapy in Korea: a phenomenological study.

Background: Although China and South Korea share a similar East Asian culture, owing to major social and cultural differences, international students encounter several difficulties, which can lead to various psychological problems. Objective: To explore the experiences of eight Chinese doctoral students in South Korea participating in mandala-based art therapy. Method: Data for this phenomenological study were gathered through individual interviews and visual art from April 5 to 20, 2022. The MAXQDA software program was used for data analysis. Results: The data analysis results yielded 355 codes, 53 subcategories, and 17 categories. Five final themes emerged: (a) sealed lips by others' eyes, (b) inner exploration and outward expression, (c) healing power of the mandala, (d) filling the inner space together, and (e) opportunities to understand art therapy. Conclusion: The researchers hope that completing this intervention will enable participants to complete their studies more effectively and achieve their ideals as well as future career goals, helping them ultimately return home safely with both personal and academic growth.

Antioxidant Activity and the Potential Mechanism of the Fruit From Ailanthus altissima Swingle.

The fruits of Ailanthus altissima Swingle (AS) possess a variety of pharmacological activities. Its antioxidant activity and the potential mode of action have not yet been investigated. In in vitro studies, AS revealed the strong reducing power and DPPH scavenging effect, but hydroxyl radical scavenging activity and ferrous ions-chelating ability were not strong. Meanwhile, the oxidative stress RAW264.7 cell injury model was established, the low and medium-doses of AS showed significant protective effects on the viability of H2O2-treated cells by CCK-8 method. Besides, three doses of AS all increased the activities of SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px and decreased the MDA level compared with the H2O2 group, suggesting it significantly relieved oxidative stress of cells. The active ingredients and related targets of AS were collected by HERB and Swiss Target Prediction database, the common targets of drugs and diseases database were conducted by GeneCards database platform and the Venny platform. We screened the core targets of AS like threonine kinase1 (AKT1), mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1), sirtuin-1 (SIRT1), mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase (MTOR) by STRING database, and the key pathways involved PI3K-AKT and FoxO signaling pathway by KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. Besides, qRT-PCR revealed AS preconditioning significantly up-regulated the expression level of AKT1, SIRT1, MAPK1, and MTOR in model cells, and the effect was related to the regulation of FoxO and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. In summary, AS showed significant antioxidant activity and its potential mechanism was regulating FoxO and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.