Effect of living arrangements on cognitive function in Chinese elders: a longitudinal observational study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine how living arrangement as a social contextual factor can affect Chinese elders' cognitive function. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Our sample consists of 2486 Chinese elders from two waves (2014 and 2018) of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) that was administered in 22 of China's 31 provinces using a multi-stage, disproportionate, purposive random sampling method. The CLHLS aims to better understand the determinants of healthy longevity in China and collects extensive data on a large population of fragile elders aged 80-112 in China. OUTCOME MEASURES: Cognitive function was measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Living arrangement was divided into living in an institution, living alone and living with household members. Generalised linear regressions were carried out to examine the associations between baseline characteristics and cognitive function, while controlling age, gender and residential area. RESULTS: A total of 2486 participants were included in the study at baseline in 2014. Of these, 1162 (46.7%) were men and 1324 (53.3%) were women. The mean age at baseline was 75.07 (±8.31) years. The mean years of schooling were 2.86 (±3.68). The number (proportion) of the three living arrangements (lived in institutions, lived alone and lived with household members) were 93 (3.8%), 463 (18.6%) and 1930 (77.6%), respectively. Among all participants, cognitive function declined over time. Those who lived alone presented with the highest MMSE scores at baseline and showed the lowest decline after 4 years. Living arrangements had significant effects on decreasing cognitive function. CONCLUSION: Chinese elders living in institutions were most vulnerable to cognitive decline. Living alone was not a risk condition in itself for the elderly in terms of cognitive decline. In addition, the benefits of living with household members to support cognitive function were not found in our study.

Do Migration Characteristics Influence the Utilization of Basic Public Health Services in Internal Elderly Migrants in China?

Background: The literature shows that migration characteristics are a potential pathway through which migration can influence basic healthcare service utilization. The goal of the study was to explore the effect of migration characteristics on the utilization of basic public health services for internal elderly migrants in China and to identify the pathways that might promote their utilization of basic public health services. Methods: We studied 1,544 internal elderly migrants. The utilization of basic public health services was determined through participation in free health checkups organized by community health service institutions in the past year. Migration characteristics were represented by years of residence and reasons for migration. Other variables included demographic characteristics and social factors, e.g., the number of local friends and exercise time per day were measured to represent social contacts. Multivariate binary logistic regression was employed to explore the association of the variables with the likelihood of using community health services. Results: A total of 55.6% of respondents were men, and the mean age was 66.34 years (SD 5.94). A low level of education was observed. A total of 59.9% of migrants had been residents for over 10 years, and the main reason for migrating was related to family. Of these migrants, 12.9% had no local friends. Furthermore, 5.2% did not exercise every day. Social contacts were complete mediators of the impact of migration characteristics on the utilization of primary healthcare. Conclusion: Our study highlighted the mediating role of social factors in the relationship between migration characteristics and the utilization of basic public health services among Chinese internal elderly migrants. The findings supported the need to increase the opportunities for social contacts between local elderly individuals and internal elderly migrants.

Dual DNA Transfection Using 1,6-Hexanedithiol-Conjugated Maleimide-Functionalized PU-PEI600 For Gene Correction in a Patient iPSC-Derived Fabry Cardiomyopathy Model.

Non-viral gene delivery holds promises for treating inherited diseases. However, the limited cloning capacity of plasmids may hinder the co-delivery of distinct genes to the transfected cells. Previously, the conjugation of maleimide-functionalized polyurethane grafted with small molecular weight polyethylenimine (PU-PEI600-Mal) using 1,6-hexanedithiol (HDT) could promote the co-delivery and extensive co-expression of two different plasmids in target cells. Herein, we designed HDT-conjugated PU-PEI600-Mal for the simultaneous delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 components to achieve efficient gene correction in the induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived model of Fabry cardiomyopathy (FC) harboring GLA IVS4 + 919 G > A mutation. This FC in vitro model recapitulated several clinical FC features, including cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and lysosomal globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) deposition. As evidenced by the expression of two reporter genes, GFP and mCherry, the addition of HDT conjugated two distinct PU-PEI600-Mal/DNA complexes and promoted the co-delivery of sgRNA/Cas9 and homology-directed repair DNA template into target cells to achieve an effective gene correction of IVS4 + 919 G > A mutation. PU-PEI600-Mal/DNA with or without HDT-mediated conjugation consistently showed neither the cytotoxicity nor an adverse effect on cardiac induction of transfected FC-iPSCs. After the gene correction and cardiac induction, disease features, including cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, the mis-regulated gene expressions, and Gb3 deposition, were remarkably rescued in the FC-iPSC-differentiated cardiomyocytes. Collectively, HDT-conjugated PU-PEI600-Mal-mediated dual DNA transfection system can be an ideal approach to improve the concurrent transfection of non-viral-based gene editing system in inherited diseases with specific mutations.

Correlation between nutritional status and dietary behavior of college students in a medical college in Guangzhou / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To evaluate the nutritional status, food intake, eating behavior and physical activity level of college students in a medical college in Guangzhou, and to explore its association with dietary behavior.@*Methods@#A total of 263 students selected using stratified random sampling method from a medical college in Guangzhou were investigated by questionnaire from October to December in 2019. Chi square test and Wilcoxon test were used to analyze group differences. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze associated factors with thinness, overweight and obesity.@*Results@#The rate of thinness was 25.5%, and the rate of overweight and obesity was 11.8%. The intake of cereals, fruits, eggs, livestock, fried foods and carbonated drinks varied significantly by gender (U=3 278.00，5 224.50，5 981.00，6 663.00，5 460.00，3 873.00，P＜0.05). There was significant difference in total physical activity level in different grades (U=4 239.50，P＜0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that egg intake was negatively correlated with emaciation (OR=0.20, P＜0.01). Picky eating and partial eating were positively correlated with emaciation (OR=2.96, P＜0.01). Eating fast was positively correlated with overweight and obesity (OR=5.35, P＜0.05).@*Conclusion@#The detection rate of malnutrition among college students in this college is relatively high, and dietary behavior is associated with thinness, overweight and obesity.