Post-traumatic growth trajectories among frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A three-wave follow-up study in mainland China.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on people worldwide for more than 2 years. Previous studies have highlighted the negative effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) more than the positive changes, such as post-traumatic growth (PTG). Furthermore, most previous studies were cross-sectional surveys without follow-ups. This study draws on PTG follow-up during the COVID-19 outbreak at 12-month intervals for 2 years since 2020. The trajectories and baseline predictors were described. Methods: A convenience sampling method was used to recruit frontline nurses or doctors at the COVID-19-designated hospital who were eligible for this study. A total of 565 HCWs completed the 2 years follow-up and were used for final data analysis. The latent growth mixture models (GMM) was used to identify subgroups of participants with different PTG trajectories. Multinomial logistic regression model was used to find predictors among sociodemographic characteristics and resilience at baseline. Results: Four trajectory PTG types among HCWs were identified: 'Persistent, "Steady increase", "High with drop", and "Fluctuated rise." Comparing the "Persistent low" type, the other three categories were all associated with older age, higher education. Furthermore, "Persistent low" was also negatively associated with resilience at baseline. Conclusion: The PTG of HCWs with different characteristics showed different trends over time. It is necessary to increase the measure frequency to understand the PTG status in different times. Improving HCW's resilience could help improve staff PTG.

Third birth intention of the childbearing-age population in mainland China and sociodemographic differences: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Global fertility declines have become an inevitable trend, and many countries are adopting policies to drive fertility increases. Fertility intention plays an important role in predicting fertility behavior. The Chinese government has recently issued the 'three-child' policy, and there is still little research on the third birth intention of the childbearing-age population. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence and related reasons of third birth intention in the childbearing-age population in mainland China, and analyze the sociodemographic differences. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in mainland China from June to July 2021. A total of 15,332 childbearing-age participants responded and completed the Fertility Intention Questionnaire online through the Wenjuanxing Platform. Data were explored and analyzed by SPSS (version 22.0) software. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the current situation and reasons of third birth intention. Binary logistic regression analysis was applied to assess the influencing factors in the sociodemographic level. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 32.9 ± 5.94 years. Only 12.2% of participants reported having third birth intention. The subjective norm of having both son and daughter (22.0%) and busy at work (29.2%) accounted for the largest proportion in the reasons of acceptance and rejection, respectively. Age has negative impact on third birth intention (OR = 0.960). Men were 2.209 times more likely to have three children than women (P < 0.001). With the improvement of education and family monthly income, the birth intention shows a downward trend. Compared with Han nationalities, first marriage and city residents, the ethnic minorities, remarriage and rural residents have stronger birth intention (all P < 0.05). And individuals with two existing children are inclined to have the third child (OR = 1.839). CONCLUSION: The third birth intention in the childbearing-age population in China is still low after the announcement of the three-child policy. It is necessary to create a favorable fertility context for childbearing-age group with high level of third birth intention, like younger, male, minority, remarriage, with lower education and family monthly income, living in rural and two existing children. Furthermore, removing barriers for those unintended is also prominent to ensure the impetus of policy.

Impact of the fermentation broth of Ganoderma lucidum on the quality of Chinese steamed bread.

The potential of fermentation broth of Ganoderma lucidum (FBG) in improving the quality of Chinese steamed bread (CSB) was firstly evaluated. The sensory quality scores of CSB treated by FBG are significantly higher than that of CSB in the control, and texture profile analysis also indicates the increase of CSB hardness and chewiness caused by FBG. Observation on micro-structure of CSB shows that formation of larger pores and expansion of starch granules are the important reasons for the improvement of CSB specific volume (volS), and granule expansion is due to that gluten network distributed in CSB is destroyed as a result of cross-linkage of flour proteins catalyzed by laccase, which makes starch granules releasing from the network easily contact with steam or other enzymes during the proofing and steaming of dough. Moreover, FBG contains amylases which not only convert amylopectin to amylose, but also degrade starch to glucose, maltose and polysaccharides, correspondingly resulting in changes of amylose/amylopectin (Ae/An) ratio of flour and CSB volS, and the latter is because more CO2 produced by the yeast during CSB making leads to the larger pore area in crumb. Both hardness and chewiness are determined by the comprehensive effect of protein cross-linkage, Ae/An ratio and volS change, and this viewpoint gives a logical explanation for the effects of 0.025-0.10 ml/g of FBG on hardness and chewiness of CSB.