Associations of Training and Academic Stress with Sleep in Dual-Career Collegiate Badminton Athletes: A Preliminary Study.

Introduction: Poor sleep negatively impacts cognitive and physical functioning and affects athletic and academic achievement. "Dual-career" athletes emphasize the pursuit of academic excellence along with athletic performance. Purpose: The study aimed to assess sleep characteristics and sleep quality in dual-career collegiate badminton athletes. Furthermore, the study explored associations between training and academic stress and sleep, providing a theoretical basis for better training and sleep programs for dual-career athletes. Participants and Methods: In this study, 15 dual-career collegiate badminton athletes were recruited, and 12 subjects (male n = 8, female n = 4, mean age 20.3 ± 1.7) completed the questionnaire. Repeated measurements were taken monthly in the spring semester from March to August 2021. The questionnaire assessed sleep quality and daytime sleepiness by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Epworth Sleepiness Score (ESS). Moreover, we collected average training, study time per week, and monthly sports competitions and academic tests to quantify participants' training and academic stress. Results: An average of 36.1% of dual-career athletes reported poor sleep and 25.0% had excessive daytime sleepiness. Overall, a significant positive correlation existed between PSQI scores and weekly study hours (r = 0.308, p = 0.009). Significant positive correlations were found between the four stressors and PSQI (August: r = 0.868, p < 0.001; July: r = 0.573, p = 0.026) or ESS scores (March: r = -0.678, p = 0.015; August: r = 0.598, p = 0.040) for specific months. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis identified that lower study and training hours predict better sleep quality. Conclusion: Dual-career collegiate badminton athletes had a higher prevalence of poor sleep and daytime sleepiness, and daytime sleepiness did not result in better sleep quality; study and training hours had the greatest effect on the sleep quality of dual-career collegiate badminton athletes.

A new perspective on special effective interventions for metabolic syndrome risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has the largest global burden of all noncommunicable diseases. Owing to the clinical heterogeneity of MetS, wide variations have been reported in the efficacy of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and intermittent fasting (IF) for improving MetS. We searched five databases for randomized controlled trials published through December 2021, and 372 participants from 11 studies were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with MVPA alone, IF combined with MVPA had a more significant effect on improving body mass and levels of fasting blood glucose and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; however, it was ineffective in improving triglycerides level, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure. Subgroup analysis showed that, except for blood pressure, time-restricted fasting combined with MVPA had a better effect than alternate-day fasting with MVPA. Meanwhile, when the intervention lasted longer than 8 weeks, the effect of the combined intervention was significantly better than that of MVPA alone. This finding provides a basis for clinicians to manage the health of overweight individuals. This study also showed that Caucasians may be more suitable for the combined intervention than Asians. And the combined intervention may provide a preventive effect for MetS risk factors in healthy populations, although this may be due to the small sample size. In general, this study provides a novel perspective on special interventions for MetS traits.

A comprehensive perspective of Huntington's disease and mitochondrial dysfunction.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease. It is caused by the expansion of the CAG trinucleotide repeat sequence in the HTT gene. HD mainly manifests as involuntary dance-like movements and severe mental disorders. As it progresses, patients lose the ability to speak, think, and even swallow. Although the pathogenesis is unclear, studies have found that mitochondrial dysfunctions occupy an important position in the pathogenesis of HD. Based on the latest research advances, this review sorts out and discusses the role of mitochondrial dysfunction on HD in terms of bioenergetics, abnormal autophagy, and abnormal mitochondrial membranes. This review provides researchers with a more complete perspective on the mechanisms underlying the relationship between mitochondrial dysregulation and HD.

Effect of Chinese Traditional Wushu on Cancer-Related Fatigue, Sleep Quality and Upper Limb Dysfunction of Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: This study is aimed at evaluating the effect of Chinese traditional Wushu (CTW) on cancer-related fatigue (CRF), sleep quality, and upper limb dysfunction. Data Sources. We searched studies containing randomized controlled trials up to July 2021 in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang database, and China Biological Medicine on this topic. Methods: A randomized controlled trial of CTW on major outcome indicators such as CRF, sleep quality, and upper limb dysfunction of breast cancer survivors. Study screening, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment were performed independently by two reviewers. Meta-analysis was conducted with Stata 16.0 software. The quality of the evidence was assessed by the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias (ROB2.0). Results: Eighteen studies met the requirements for meta-analysis (n = 1331). We found that CTW has no obvious effect on improving breast cancer survivors' CRF (SMD = -0.733; P = 0.059; I 2 = 89.3%), but it can effectively improve their sleep quality (WMD = -2.266; P = 0.022; I 2 = 99.2%) and upper limb dysfunction (SMD = 1.262; P ≤ 0.001; I 2 = 88.5%). Conclusion: Although more studies on this topic are needed to prove the effectiveness of this method, the results of our review show that CTW is significantly helpful for better sleep and upper limb dysfunction. But the effects on CRF will need to be confirmed further. Implications for Cancer Survivors. In the future intervention process, to verify the effectiveness of CTW on improving CRF for breast cancer survivors, it would be suggested to pay close attention to breast cancer survivors' response to exercise, achieve regular follow-up, strictly conduct the intervention scheme on the premise of ensuring absolute security, and reduce the loss of intervention objects.

ZBP1-Mediated Necroptosis: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications.

Cell death is a fundamental pathophysiological process in human disease. The discovery of necroptosis, a form of regulated necrosis that is induced by the activation of death receptors and formation of necrosome, represents a major breakthrough in the field of cell death in the past decade. Z-DNA-binding protein (ZBP1) is an interferon (IFN)-inducing protein, initially reported as a double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) sensor, which induces an innate inflammatory response. Recently, ZBP1 was identified as an important sensor of necroptosis during virus infection. It connects viral nucleic acid and receptor-interacting protein kinase 3 (RIPK3) via two domains and induces the formation of a necrosome. Recent studies have also reported that ZBP1 induces necroptosis in non-viral infections and mediates necrotic signal transduction by a unique mechanism. This review highlights the discovery of ZBP1 and its novel findings in necroptosis and provides an insight into its critical role in the crosstalk between different types of cell death, which may represent a new therapeutic option.