Correlation analysis of exercise volume and musculoskeletal disorders in people with income level differences: research based on the 2011-2018 NHANES dataset.

OBJECTIVES: Socioeconomic factors significantly impact human health; however, the impact of exercise and income on musculoskeletal system health remains unclear. Our study aims to explore the relationship between exercise and income with musculoskeletal system health in young and middle-aged adults. DESIGN: This cross-sectional study used data from 7,515 adults aged 20-59 years, which were obtained from the US NHANES, 2011-2018. Participants' musculoskeletal system health was evaluated on the basis of them having osteopenia, osteoporosis, or sarcopenia. METHODS: Ordinal regression was used to explore the correlation between income level, exercise volume, and musculoskeletal system health. Mediating effect analysis was used to assess whether the exercise volume affected the impact of income levels on musculoskeletal system health. Ordinal regression and restricted cubic spline curve were used to further analyze the relationship between exercise and income level. RESULTS: In the analysis of adjusted all covariates, the probability of having good musculoskeletal system health in high-income participants was higher than that of low- or middle-income participants. The probability of having good musculoskeletal system health in the actively exercising group higher than that of the participants exercised insufficiently or sufficiently. Mediating effect of exercise masked the effect of income on musculoskeletal system health. Participants with low income levels tended to spend more time exercising that those who had high income levels; exercise volume and income level had a significant non-linear relationship. CONCLUSION: The findings presented will help identify young and middle-aged adults who are most at risk of developing musculoskeletal health problem and will likely benefit from certain lifestyle interventions.

N-Carbamylglutamate in ovo feeding improves carcass yield, muscle fiber development, and meat quality in broiler chickens.

BACKGROUND: Insufficient endogenous nutrients in the broiler embryo can lead to muscle gluconeogenesis, which ultimately affects the post-hatching performance of chicks. This study investigated the effects of in ovo feeding (IOF) of N-carbamylglutamate (NCG) on the growth hormones, carcass yield, and meat quality in broilers. Fertile eggs from a 30-week-old Ross 308 breeder flock were divided into three treatment groups: NC (non-injection), SC (100 µL saline-injection), and NCG (2 mg NCG injection). Each group had six replicates, with 70 eggs per replicate during incubation. Injections were administered on the 17.5th day of embryonic development. After hatching, 270 chicks were selected for 42-day rearing for further sampling. RESULTS: Chicks in the NCG group had significantly higher body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG) at the growing phase, increased growth and testosterone hormone in both feeding phases (21 and 42 days), and improved average daily gain (ADG) and food conversion ratio (FCR) in both grower and entire feeding phases (P < 0.05). Triiodothyronine (T3) and tetraiodothyronine (T4) levels, carcass yield, dressing, drum weight, breast muscle weight, drumstick weights, thighs, pectoralis major, and their part percentage of carcass were improved in the NCG group (P < 0.05), these effects were varied along feeding phases. Moreover, IOF of the NCG also improved pectoralis breast muscle color values at 24 h post mortem (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that NCG injection at the late embryonic age of broiler enhances growth performance and meat quality throughout the lifespan and this can probably be attributed to an increase in thyroid and testosterone hormones, indicating potential involvement in metabolic and nutrient partitioning pathway regulation. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Large-scale production of chiral nematic microspheres.

The membrane emulsification technique enables the self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) confined within a spherical geometry for large-scale production. The resulting solid microspheres show long-range ordering with chiral nematic structures, and this fascinating hierarchical architecture can even be transferred to mesoporous carbon or silica microparticles by a sacrificial template method.

A bat biomimetic model for scenario recognition using echo Doppler information.

The flying bat can detect the difference in Doppler frequency between its echolocation transmission signal and the echoes in its surroundings, enabling it to distinguish between various scenarios effectively. By examining the bio-sonar biomimetic model of a flying bat that uses echo Doppler information for environmental recognition, it may enhance the scene recognition capability of human ultrasound sonar during movement. The paper establishes a three-dimensional clutter model of the flying state of bat bio-sonar for bats emitting constant frequency signals. It proposes a scene recognition method that combines multi-scale time-frequency feature analysis with a convolutional neural network (CNN). The short-time Fourier transform of different scales extract the Doppler and range dimensions, which are then fused to create a multi-scale feature plane containing both Doppler and range information. Combined with CNN's powerful image classification and recognition capabilities, extract features from multi-scale feature planes of different clutter scenes to achieve environment recognition based on the differences in Doppler and range dimensions of echoes in various directions. Through computer simulations, this study provides a numerical interpretation of the environmental classification and perception capabilities of bats in flight. The algorithm significantly improves scenario classification and recognition performance according to simulation results, with accuracy exceeding 98% in varied clutter scenarios at 30 dB signal noise ratio. Based on computer simulations, an experimental scene was constructed and actual echo signals were collected and analyzed. The experiments demonstrate that utilizing Doppler information enables the classification and recognition of cluttered environments. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm was also verified. Ultrasonic sonar systems, such as navigation robots and helicopter obstacle avoidance, can apply this biomimetic model and algorithm for environmental recognition during motion.

Esophageal balloon catheter system identification to improve respiratory effort time features and amplitude determination.

Objective. Understanding a patient's respiratory effort and mechanics is essential for the provision of individualized care during mechanical ventilation. However, measurement of transpulmonary pressure (the difference between airway and pleural pressures) is not easily performed in practice. While airway pressures are available on most mechanical ventilators, pleural pressures are measured indirectly by an esophageal balloon catheter. In many cases, esophageal pressure readings take other phenomena into account and are not a reliable measure of pleural pressure.Approach.A system identification approach was applied to provide accurate pleural measures from esophageal pressure readings. First, we used a closed pressurized chamber to stimulate an esophageal balloon and model its dynamics. Second, we created a simplified version of an artificial lung and tried the model with different ventilation configurations. For validation, data from 11 patients (five male and six female) were used to estimate respiratory effort profile and patient mechanics.Main results.After correcting the dynamic response of the balloon catheter, the estimates of resistance and compliance and the corresponding respiratory effort waveform were improved when compared with the adjusted quantities in the test bench. The performance of the estimated model was evaluated using the respiratory pause/occlusion maneuver, demonstrating improved agreement between the airway and esophageal pressure waveforms when using the normalized mean squared error metric. Using the corrected muscle pressure waveform, we detected start and peak times 130 ± 50 ms earlier and a peak amplitude 2.04 ± 1.46 cmH2O higher than the corresponding estimates from esophageal catheter readings.Significance.Compensating the acquired measurements with system identification techniques makes the readings more accurate, possibly better portraying the patient's situation for individualization of ventilation therapy.

Statistical word segmentation succeeds given the minimal amount of exposure.

One of the first tasks in language acquisition is word segmentation, a process to extract word forms from continuous speech streams. Statistical approaches to word segmentation have been shown to be a powerful mechanism, in which word boundaries are inferred from sequence statistics. This approach requires the learner to represent the frequency of units from syllable sequences, though accounts differ on how much statistical exposure is required. In this study, we examined the computational limit with which words can be extracted from continuous sequences. First, we discussed why two occurrences of a word in a continuous sequence is the computational lower limit for this word to be statistically defined. Next, we created short syllable sequences that contained certain words either two or four times. Learners were presented with these syllable sequences one at a time, immediately followed by a test of the novel words from these sequences. We found that, with the computationally minimal amount of two exposures, words were successfully segmented from continuous sequences. Moreover, longer syllable sequences providing four exposures to words generated more robust learning results. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of how learners segment and store the word candidates from continuous sequences.

Molecular and cytogenetic analysis of small supernumerary marker chromosomes in prenatal diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Small supernumerary marker chromosome (sSMC) is a structurally abnormal chromosome of unknown origin by conventional cytogenetics. The understanding of clinical significance of sSMC is still limited in prenatal diagnosis. The presence of sSMC poses a challenge for genetic counselling. METHODS: We obtained the clinical information of 25 cases with sSMC. The fetal samples were subjected to multiple molecular and cytogenetic approaches including karyotype analysis, chromosomal microarray analysis, bacterial artificial chromosomes-on-beads assay, and fluorescence in situ hybridization. RESULTS: Seven sSMCs were found to be r(X), and five of the cases terminated the pregnancy. Three markers were idic(15), and one of the cases was normal at birth. Two markers were i(12p), and both cases terminated the pregnancy. Other markers were r(Y) (outcome: normal at birth), i(18p) (outcome: stillbirth), der(15) (outcome: terminated), del(9) (outcome: terminated), dup(13) (outcome: follow-up loss), and derived from chromosome 21 (outcome: stillbirth). Seven markers were of unknown origin because not all methods were applied to them. CONCLUSION: Applying multiple molecular and cytogenetic approaches could identify the origin and genetic content of sSMC to assist the genetic counselling in prenatal diagnosis.

Effects of thinning on soil nutrient availability and fungal community composition in a plantation medium-aged pure forest of Picea koraiensis.

Thinning is an important silvicultural practice for improving the productivity and wood production in plantation forest. Different intensities of thinning management can affect tree growth and alter soil nutrient effectiveness, thus affecting soil fungal community structure and diversity. Our objective is to determine the soil factors and their regulatory mechanisms that influence stand growth by thinning, and to provide data to support the establishment of large diameter timber cultivation technology for Picea koraiensis. In this study, we conducted medium- and high-intensity thinning in 43a P. koraiensis plantation middle-aged forests and investigated the growth indexes, soil physicochemical properties, and fungal community diversity in rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils of the stands after thinning at different densities (904 plants/ha for control, 644 plants/ha for 30% thinning intensity, and 477 plants/ha for 50% thinning intensity). The results showed that all growth indicators (annual growth of tree height, diameter at breast height, height under live branches and crown width) of the plantation after high-intensity thinning (477 plants/ha) were higher than those of the control (no thinning, significant) and medium-intensity thinning (644 plants/ha). Mycorrhizal infection rate was higher at the beginning of the growing season than at the end of the growing season, and increased slightly with decreasing stand density. Compared to the control, all medium- and high-intensity thinning treatments significantly improved soil nutrient content (P < 0.05), including total carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, Available phosphorus and Available potassium. Fungal diversity was higher but lower in abundance than the control in both rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils after thinning. The number of OTUs and fungal richness and diversity indices of non-rhizosphere soil fungi were higher than those of rhizosphere soil fungi. In conclusion, this study provides new evidence that reasonable intercalation can increase the radial and vertical growth of P. koraiensis plantation forests and promote the diversity of subsurface soil fungal communities. It is shown that thinning intensity regulates biogeochemical cycles in P. koraiensis plantation ecosystems by affecting soil nutrients and fungal community structure. Therefore, 50% thinning intensity can be used to increase timber production in plantation forests during large diameter timber cultivation of P. koraiensis and improve predictions associated with achieving long-term forest management strategies.

Acupuncture treated oculomotor nerve palsy with diabetes mellitus: A case reported.

The incidence of diabetes mellitus is increasing rapidly, and this condition often results in severe complications. One such complication, diabetic oculomotor nerve palsy (ONP), that can lead to significant impairment of visual function is increasingly recognized. However, there are few reports in the literature on the treatment of diabetic ONP. In the present case, the use of needling a selection of local and distal acupoints showed promising results for the treatment of diabetic ONP. We also present a brief literature review related to this case.

Semi-interpenetrating anion exchange membranes using hydrophobic microporous linear poly(ether ketone).

In order to realise high ionic conductivity and improved chemical stability, a series of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) with semi-interpenetrating polymer network (sIPN) has been prepared via the incorporation of crosslinked poly(biphenyl N-methylpiperidine) (PBP) and spirobisindane-based intrinsically microporous poly(ether ketone) (PEK-SBI). The formation of phase separated structures as a result of the incompatibility between the hydrophilic PBP network and the hydrophobic PEK-SBI segment, has successfully promoted the hydroxide ion conductivity of AEMs. A swelling ratio (SR) as low as 12.2 % at 80 °C was recorded for the sIPN containing hydrophobic PEK-SBI as the linear polymer and crosslinked structure with a mass ratio of PBP to PEK-SBI of 90/10 (sIPN-90/10(PEK-SBI)). The sIPN-90/10(PEK-SBI) AEM achieved the highest hydroxide ion conductivity of 122.4 mS cm-1 at 80 °C and a recorded ion exchange capacity (IEC) of 2.26 meq g-1. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) clearly revealed the improved phase separation structure of sIPN-90/10(PEK-SBI). N2 adsorption isotherm indicated that the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of the AEMs increased with the increase of microporous PEK-SBI content. Interestingly, the sIPN-90/10(PEK-SBI) AEM showed good alkaline stability for being able to maintain a conductivity of 94.7 % despite being soaked in a 1 M sodium hydroxide solution at 80 °C for 30 days. Meanwhile, a peak power density of 481 mW cm-2 can be achieved by the hydrogen/oxygen single cell using sIPN-90/10(PEK-SBI) as the AEM.

Effect of dry dynamic apnea on aerobic power in elite rugby athletes: a warm-up method.

Objective: While long-term dynamic breath-holding training has been extensively studied to enhance cardiopulmonary function in athletes, limited research has explored the impact of a single breath-holding session on subsequent athletic capacity. In addition, Dry Dynamic Apnea (DA) has a more immediate physiological response than wet and static breath-holding. This study aims to assess the immediate effects of a single session of DA on the aerobic power and hematological parameters of elite athletes. Methods: Seventeen elite male rugby athletes (average age 23.5 ± 1.8) participated in this study. Two warm-up protocols were employed prior to incremental exercise: a standard warm-up (10 min of no-load pedaling) and a DA warm-up (10 min of no-load pedaling accompanied by six maximum capacity breath holds, with 30 s between each breath hold). Fingertip blood indicators were measured before and after warm-up. The incremental exercise test assessed aerobic parameters with self-regulation applied throughout the study. Results: Compared to the baseline warm-up, the DA warm-up resulted in a significant increase in VO2peak from 3.14 to 3.38 L/min (7.64% change, p < 0.05). HRmax increased from 170 to 183 bpm (7.34% change, p < 0.05), and HRpeak increased from 169 to 182 bpm (7.52% change, p < 0.05). Hematocrit and hemoglobin showed differential changes between the two warm-up methods (PHematocrit = 0.674; Phemoglobin = 0.707). Conclusion: This study investigates how DA influences physiological factors such as spleen contraction, oxygen uptake, and sympathetic nerve activation compared to traditional warm-up methods. Immediate improvements in aerobic power suggest reduced vagus nerve stimulation, heightened sympathetic activity, and alterations in respiratory metabolism induced by the voluntarily hypoxia-triggered warm-up. Further research is warranted to comprehensively understand these physiological responses and optimize warm-up strategies for elite athletic performance.

Research Progress of Robot Technology in In situ 3D Bioprinting.

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is an emerging research direction in bio-manufacturing, a landmark in the shift from traditional manufacturing to high-end manufacturing. It integrates manufacturing science, biomedicine, information technology, and material science. In situ bioprinting is a type of 3D bioprinting which aims to print tissues or organs directly on defective sites in the human body. Printed materials can grow and proliferate in the human body; therefore, the graft is similar to the target tissues or organs and could accurately match the defective site. This article mainly summarizes the current status of robotic applications in the medical field and reviews its research progress in in situ 3D bioprinting.

Forest Environmental Carrying Capacity Based on Deep Learning.

In this paper, we proposed an assessment system of forest environmental carrying capacity from many aspects and comprehensively evaluated and predicted the forest environmental carrying capacity of 40 cities in the Yangtze River Delta of China by using the proposed deep learning-based model. In addition, the proposed model is used to dynamically evaluate the comprehensive scores of forest environmental carrying capacity of 34 provinces and cities in China between 2015 and 2020. This paper also has the following contributions: (1) a deeply integrated unidirectional bidirectional LSTM considering the correlation of time series is proposed. The bidirectional LSTM network is used to deal with the backward dependence of input data to prevent the omission of some useful information, which is beneficial to the prediction results. (2) In terms of missing data processing, the Mask layer is added to subtly skip the processing of missing data, which will help to enhance the evaluation results.

The Mechanism Study of Moxa Combustion Products on Regulating Vascular Endothelial Function in Atherosclerotic Mice.

Objective: To evaluate the anti-atherogenic effect of moxa combustion products (MCPs) and whether it is mediated through improving the vascular endothelial function in ApoE-/- mice. Methods: A total of 60 male ApoE-/- mice were randomly divided into the moxa smoke (MS) group, filtered moxa smoke (FMS) group, moxa floss volatile (MFV) group, essential oil of Artemisia argyi (EOAA) group, and model group (n = 12/group), while 12 male C57BL/6 mice were used as the control group. The six groups were intervened for 20 min/day, 6 days/week. After 14 weeks of intervention, the mice were euthanized and their blood lipids were measured. The aortic roots and thoracic aortas were collected for haematoxylin and eosin (HE) or Oil Red O staining, respectively. The contents of AMPK, PI3K, Akt, and eNOS mRNA in the thoracic aortas were examined by RT-qPCR. Results: The MS group and FMS group showed significantly lower plaque area percentage in the aortic roots and thoracic aortas and higher contents of AMPK-mRNA and eNOS-mRNA in the thoracic aortas compared with the model group. Conclusion: MS and FMS equally suppressed the progression of atherosclerotic lesions in ApoE-/- mice. It was suggested that the particulate matter in MS may not be the key components of moxibustion.

Identification of a familial complex chromosomal rearrangement by optical genome mapping.

BACKGROUND: Complex chromosomal rearrangements (CCRs) are rare chromosomal structural variations, containing a variety of rearrangements such as translocation, inversion and/or insertion. With the development of cytogenetic and molecular genetic techniques, some chromosomal rearrangements that were initially considered to be simple reciprocal translocations in the past might eventually involve more complex chromosomal rearrangements. CASE PRESENTATION: In this case, a pregnant woman, who had a spontaneous abortion last year, had abnormal prenatal test results again in the second pregnancy. Applying a combination of genetic methods including karyotype analysis, chromosomal microarray analysis, fluorescence in situ hybridization and optical genome mapping confirmed that the pregnant woman was a carrier of a CCR involving three chromosomes and four breakpoints, and the CCR was paternal-origin. Her first and second pregnancy abnormalities were caused by chromosomal microdeletions and microduplications due to the malsegregations of the derivative chromosomes. CONCLUSIONS: We presented a rare familial CCR involving three chromosomes and four breakpoints. This study provided precise and detailed information for the subsequent reproductive decision-making and genetic counselling of the patient.

Huangqi decoction attenuates renal interstitial fibrosis transforming growth factor-ß1/mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways in 5/6 nephrectomy mice.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Huangqi decoction on renal interstitial fibrosis and its association with the transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) / mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. METHODS: 120 C57/BL mice were randomly divided into six groups: sham group, Enalapril (20 mg/kg) group, 5/6 nephrectomy model group, and 5/6 nephrectomy model plus Huangqicoction (0.12, 0.36 and 1.08 g/kg respectively) groups. Detecting 24hours urinary protein, blood pressure, serum creatinine, urea nitrogen content changes. Periodic Acid-Schiff stain (PAS) and Masson's trichrome staining was used to observe the renal tissue pathological changes. Protein expression of TGF-ß1, Phosphorylated P38 mitogen activated protein kinases (P-P38), Phosphorylated c-jun N-terminal kinase (P-JNK), Phosphorylated extracellular regulated proteinhnase (P-ERK), Fibroblast-specific protein-1 (FSP-1), Alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), Type III collagen (Collagen III), Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), Bcl-2 Assaciated X protein (Bax) and B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) were measured with western blot and immunohistochemical. RESULTS: Both Huangqi decoction and Enalapril improved the kidney function, 24 h urinary protein and the fibrosis in 5/6 nephrectomy mice, Huangqi decoction downregulated the expressions of TGF-ß1, FSP-1, α-SMA, Collagen III and CTGF in a dose-dependent manner, and it has a significant difference ( 0.01) compared with model group.Huangqi decoction downregulated the expressions of P-P38, P-JNK, P-ERK and Bcl-2 in a dose-dependent manner, while upregulated the expression of Bax. CONCLUSIONS: The protective effect of Huangqi decoction for renal interstitial fibrosis in 5/6 nep-hrectomized mice the inhibition of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transitions and downregulating the TGF-ß1/ MAPK signaling pathway.

Multidata Analysis Based on an Artificial Neural Network Model for Long-Term Pain Outcome and Key Predictors of Microvascular Decompression in Trigeminal Neuralgia.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate use of multidata analysis based on an artificial neural network (ANN) to predict long-term pain outcomes after microvascular decompression (MVD) in patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) and to explore key predictors. METHODS: Perioperative and long-term follow-up multidata of 1041 patients with TN who received MVD surgery at Hangzhou First People's Hospital from March 2013 to May 2018 were collected to construct an ANN model for prediction. The prediction results were compared with the actual follow-up outcomes, and the variables in each input layer were changed to test the effectiveness of ANN and explore the factors that had the greatest impact on prediction accuracy. RESULTS: The ANN model could predict the long-term pain outcomes after MVD in patients with TN with an accuracy rate of 95.2% and area under the curve of 0.862. Four factors contributed the most to the predictive performance of the ANN: whether the neurovascular offending site of the trigeminal nerve corresponded the region of facial pain, immediate postoperative pain remission after MVD, degree of nerve compression by culprit vessels, and the type of culprit vessels. After these factors were sequentially removed, the accuracy of the ANN model decreased to 74.5%, 78.6%, 87.2%, and 90.1%, while the area under the curve was 0.705, 0.761, 0.793, and 0.810. CONCLUSIONS: The ANN model, constructed using multiple data, predicted long-term pain prognosis after MVD in patients with TN objectively and accurately. The model was able to assess the importance of each factor in the prediction of pain outcome.

Validation study of an automated chemiluminiscence assay to detect HIV antibodies in oral fluid specimens.

Oral fluid specimens (OF) have been widely used to know the HIV prevalence in several key populations. Here, we aim to validate in OF specimens an existing HIV chemiluminiscence assay for serum specimens. Paired OF and serum specimens were collected from 83 known HIV-positives and 83 known HIV-negatives in order to validate the performance characteristics of the automated chemiluminiscence Liaison XL Murex HIV Ag/Ab assay (Diasorin Inc, Iberia) for HIV antibody detection in OF specimens. Among the previously known HIV-seropositive group, HIV antibodies were detected in 69 out of 83 OF specimens. All serum and OF specimens collected from 83 HIV seronegative individuals were negative. The sensitivity and specificity of this assay were 83.13% and 100% respectively in OF. The PPV and NPV values were 100% and 85.57% respectively. The correlation obtained between both specimens was (K: 0.83, [95% CI: 0.748-0.915]) according to the kappa index. The ROC curve analysing the optimal cut-off of the Liaison XL Murex HIV Ag/Ab to detect positive OF specimens revealed that a cut-off of 0.497 showed sensitivity and specificity values of 98.8% and 97.59% respectively. Taking into account this cut-off, the overall sensitivity and NPV of the Liaison XL Murex HIV Ag/Ab assay could rise from 83.1 to 98.8% and from 85.5 to 97.7%, respectively. Our results suggest that the Liaison XL HIV Ag/Ab assay is suitable for the detection of HIV antibodies in OF specimens.

A novel nonsense mutation of TGFBR1 in a fetus with untypical Loeys-Dietz syndrome 1.

OBJECTIVE: We present a rare untypical Loeys-Dietz syndrome 1 case in prenatal setting and report a novel mutation in the TGFBR1 gene. CASE REPORT: A pregnant woman came for medical attention due to the fetal ultrasound anomaly. The fetus was found to have short long bones. Trio-based WES was applied to the family. A novel de novo nonsense mutation c.1237C > T was detected in the TGFBR1 gene. A diagnosis of Loeys-Dietz syndrome 1 (LDS1) was plausible, but the fetus did not demonstrate the characteristic phenotype of the syndrome. CONCLUSION: In prenatal setting, fetal phenotypes are difficult to be fully observed, putting stress on the utility of molecular techniques. LDS1 in fetuses could present untypical features such as skeletal dysplasia.

Does Social Capital Promote Health?

The determinants of health are influenced by genetics, lifestyle, social environment, medical conditions, etc. As an informal system, social capital plays an increasingly recognized role in individual health. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the direct and indirect effects of social capital on individual health in China. Using cross-sectional data from the China Family Panel Studies 2016, this paper explores the effects of cognitive and structural social capital on individual health from a micro perspective. The results show that both types of social capital have significant positive effects on individual health, and this effect remains after endogeneity is considered. The two types of social capital show obvious heterogeneity in age samples, urban and rural samples and north-south samples. In addition, the mechanism analysis shows that the health promotion effects of the two types of social capital are mainly derived from the effects of informal finance and access to medical resources. Based on the above findings, this paper puts forward policy recommendations.