COVID-19 symptoms, internet information seeking, and stigma influence post-lockdown health anxiety.

Background: With the lifting of Zero-COVID policies in China, rapid transmission of the virus has led to new challenges for patients' health anxiety. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between COVID-19 symptoms and health anxiety, as well as the mediation paths between them in individuals infected with COVID-19.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in December 2022, following the relaxation of anti-COVID measures in China.

Sound-induced analgesia cannot always be observed in adult mice.

Music seems promising as an adjuvant pain treatment in humans, while its mechanism remains to be illustrated. In rodent models of chronic pain, few studies reported the analgesic effect of music. Recently, Zhou et al.

Prevalence and factors of COVID-19 vaccine refusal among solid cancer patients in China: an application of the health belief model.

Introduction: It is essential to protect cancer patients from contracting COVID-19 through vaccination. A majority of cancer patients are recommended by international health authorities to take up the vaccines. COVID-19 vaccine refusal among cancer patients during the pandemic period is under-researched.

The interaction between the major vault protein rs4788186 polymorphism, alcohol dependence, and depression among male Chinese problem drinkers.

Objective: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is the second most prevalent mental disorder and might be related to depression. Major vault protein (MVP) is a cytoplasmic protein related to vesicle transport. The present study aimed to investigate the interaction between a genetic variant (MVP rs4788186) and depression in adult male Han Chinese with AUD during withdrawal.

The oxytocin receptor rs2254298 polymorphism and alcohol withdrawal symptoms: a gene-environment interaction in mood disorders.

Objective: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a common mental disorder characterized by repeated withdrawal episodes. Negative emotions during withdrawal are the primary factors affecting successful abstinence. Oxytocin is a critical modulator of emotions.

Levels and Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccination at a Later Phase among Chinese Older People Aged 60 Years or Older: A Population-Based Survey.

The early attainment of high COVID-19 vaccination rates can minimize avoidable hospitalizations/deaths. The fifth wave COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong caused >9000 deaths, and most of them were unvaccinated older people. This study hence investigated determinants of taking the first dose vaccination at a later phase (Phase 3: during the fifth wave outbreak, i.

The association between inflammation and kynurenine pathway metabolites in electroconvulsive therapy for schizophrenia: Implications for clinical efficacy.

The kynurenine pathway (KP) of tryptophan has been implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and its interaction with the immune system has been suggested to play a role. In this study, 28 schizophrenia patients and 25 healthy controls were recruited and divided into different inflammatory subgroups using a two-step recursive clustering analysis. Cytokine gene expression and plasma KP metabolites were measured before, during and after treatment.

PCP4 Promotes Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis by Affecting Amyloid-β Protein Precursor Processing.

Background: Down syndrome (DS) is caused by an extra copy of all or part of chromosome 21. The patients with DS develop typical Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology, indicating the role of genes on human chromosome 21 (HSA21) in the pathogenesis of AD. Purkinje cell protein 4 (PCP4), also known as brain-specific protein 19, is a critical gene located on HSA21.

The mediating role of resilience on the association between family satisfaction and lower levels of depression and anxiety among Chinese adolescents.

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the association between family satisfaction, resilience, and anxiety and depression among adolescents, and the mediating role of resilience in these relationships.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among grade 8 to 9 students from 4 secondary schools in Hong Kong. A total of 1,146 participants completed the survey.

Regulatory T cells mediate insomnia-related psychotic symptoms and cognitive impairment in chronic schizophrenia patients.

Insomnia occurs frequently in schizophrenia patients and is often accompanied with severe psychotic symptoms and cognition impairment. Moreover, chronic insomnia is associated with immune alterations. This study explored the correlations between insomnia and clinical manifestations of schizophrenia and analyzed mediation effects of regulatory T cells (Tregs) on these correlations.

New Insights into Alzheimer's Disease: Novel Pathogenesis, Drug Target and Delivery.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common type of dementia, is characterized by senile plaques composed of amyloid β protein (Aβ) and neurofilament tangles derived from the hyperphosphorylation of tau protein. However, the developed medicines targeting Aβ and tau have not obtained ideal clinical efficacy, which raises a challenge to the hypothesis that AD is Aβ cascade-induced. A critical problem of AD pathogenesis is which endogenous factor induces Aβ aggregation and tau phosphorylation.

Tropospheric formaldehyde levels infer ambient formaldehyde-induced brain diseases and global burden in China, 2013-2019.

Although air pollutions cause human diseases, no epidemiological study has investigated the effect of exposure to air pollutants on brain diseases in the general population. Our objective was to examine the association between tropospheric airborne pollutants and human health risk and global burden, especially, attributable to indoor formaldehyde (FA) pollution in China. The data of tropospheric pollutants, such as: CO, NO, O, PM2.

Regulation of TREM2 expression by transcription factor YY1 and its protective effect against Alzheimer's disease.

TREM2 encoding the transmembrane receptor protein TREM2 is a risk gene of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the impairment of TREM2 functions in microglia due to mutations in TREM2 may significantly increase the risk of AD by promoting AD pathologies. However, how the expression of TREM2 is regulated and the transcription factors required for TREM2 expression are largely unknown. By luciferase assay, DNA pull-down, and in silico predictions, we identified Yin Yang 1(YY1) as a binding protein of the minimal promoter of the TREM2 gene, and the binding was further confirmed by EMSA and DNA pull-down assay.

Perceived parenting styles and incidence of major depressive disorder: results from a 6985 freshmen cohort study.

Background: Even though a fair amount of studies focus on depression among college students, the effect of perceived parenting styles on the incidence of major depressive disorder (MDD) among representative freshmen in Chinese context is scarcely studied. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of parenting styles on MDD in Chinese freshmen.

Methods: A total of 9,928 Chinese freshmen were recruited in 2018.

Reduction in COVID-19 related resource loss and decline in prevalence of probable depression in Chinese adults: an application of the Conservation of Resource Theory.

Background: The levels of resource losses due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and mental distress may change during the pandemic period. Based on the Conservation of Resource (COR) Theory, this study investigated such changes and the mediation between survey time (Round 2 versus Round 1) and depression via resource losses.

Methods: Two serial random population-based telephone surveys interviewed 209 and 458 Hong Kong Chinese adults in April 2020 and May 2021, respectively.

School bullying and its risk and protective factors in Chinese early adolescents: A latent transition analysis.

Bullying perpetration and victimization are common and problematic occurrences during adolescence. Typically, bullying incidents involve different bullying roles. However, little is known about the developmental stability and changes in these roles.

Time to Lift up COVID-19 Restrictions? Public Support towards Living with the Virus Policy and Associated Factors among Hong Kong General Public.

The fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented toll on Hong Kong. As more countries are starting to lift COVID-19 restrictions, it would be important to understand the public attitudes towards lifting COVID-19 restrictions and to identify its associated factors. The present study examined the level of support towards the living with the virus (LWV) policy for COVID-19 among the public in Hong Kong and to identify the associations between resilient coping, self-efficacy and emotional distress with support towards the LWV policy.

A network analysis of difficulties in emotion regulation, anxiety, and depression for adolescents in clinical settings.

Background: Difficulties in emotion regulation (DER) are widely considered to underlie anxiety and depression. Given the prevalence of anxiety and depression in adolescents and the fact that adolescence is a key period for the development of emotion regulation ability, it is important to examine how DER is related to anxiety and depression in adolescents in clinical settings.

Methods: In the present study, we assessed 209 adolescents in clinical settings using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and examined the associations between six components of DER and 14 symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Development and validation of the resource loss due to reduction in gaming time scale among adolescent internet gamers in China.

Background: Adolescent internet gaming disorder (IGD) is prevalent and positively associated with gaming time, a reduction of which is a common means of IGD prevention/treatment. Personal/interpersonal resource losses due to the reduction in gaming time (RL-RGT) are plausible. According to the Conservation of Resource (COR) theory, RL-RGT may cause mental distress and maladaptive behaviors.

Development and Validation of the Outcome Expectancy Scale for COVID-19 Vaccination in the Adult General Population.

Promotion of COVID-19 vaccination requires understanding its determinants, an important one of which is outcome expectancy. However, reliable and valid measurement tools are absent. This study thus developed and validated an Outcome Expectancy Scale for COVID-19 Vaccination (OES-COVID-19).

The Associations Between Loneliness, Hopelessness, and Self-control and Internet Gaming Disorder Among University Students Who Were Men Who Have Sex With Men: Cross-sectional Mediation Study.

Background: The minority stress model postulates that men who have sex with men (MSM) often encounter multiple stressors because of their sexual minority status, which may lead to psychological problems and maladaptive coping such as addictive behaviors (eg, internet gaming disorder [IGD]). It was hypothesized that hopelessness and loneliness would be associated with IGD via self-control among MSM.

Objective: This study investigated the prevalence of IGD and its associations with variables related to minority stress (loneliness and hopelessness) among MSM who were university students.

Distinct effects of SDC3 and FGFRL1 on selective neurodegeneration in AD and PD.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are age-dependent neurodegenerative disorders. There is a profound neuronal loss in the basal forebrain cholinergic system in AD and severe dopaminergic deficiency within the nigrostriatal pathway in PD. Swedish APP (APP ) and SNCA mutations promote Aβ generation and α-synuclein aggregation, respectively, and have been linked to the pathogenesis of AD and PD.

Comparisons of violence exposure within and across contexts in predicting depression among Chinese children and adolescents.

Background: Existing research has identified violence exposure as a risk factor for depression among children and adolescents. To date, however, we know little about whether these associations are influenced by the forms (witnessing and victimization) of violence exposure across different contexts (family, school, and community).

Objective: The present study thus aimed to compare the effects of two forms of violence exposure across and within three contexts.

Psychometric Properties of the Abbreviated Version of the Dual School Climate and School Identification Measure-Student (SCASIM-St15) among Adolescents in China.

School climate and school identification are two distinct yet closely interrelated components of school environment; both are associated with adolescents' multiple health behavioral changes. The 15-item Abbreviated version of the Dual School Climate and School Identification Measure-Student (SCASIM-St15) and its 5-factor model simultaneously and separately assess these two constructs. This study validated the Chinese version of SCASIM-St15 among 1108 students from junior middle schools, senior middle schools, and vocational high schools in Taizhou city, Zhejiang, China, via an anonymous, self-administered cross-sectional survey.