Study on Allele Specific Expression of Long-Term Residents in High Altitude Areas.

In diploid organisms, half of the chromosomes in each cell come from the father and half from the mother. Through previous studies, it was found that the paternal chromosome and the maternal chromosome can be regulated and expressed independently, leading to the emergence of allele specific expression (ASE). In this study, we analyzed the differential expression of alleles in the high-altitude population and the normal population based on the RNA sequencing data. Through gene cluster analysis and protein interaction network analysis, we found some changes occurred at the gene level, and some negative effects. During the study, we realized that the calmodulin homology domain may have a certain correlation with long-term survival at high altitude. The plateau environment is characterized by hypoxia, low air pressure, strong ultraviolet radiation, and low temperature. Accordingly, the genetic changes in the process of adaptation are mainly reflected in these characteristics. High altitude generation living is also highly related to cancer, immune disease, cardiovascular disease, neurological disease, endocrine disease, and other diseases. Therefore, the medical system in high altitude areas should pay more attention to these diseases.

Clinical Analysis of Myocardial Injury in Highlanders with Pulmonary Hypertension.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a prevalent adverse cardiovascular event at high-altitude environments. Prolonged exposure to high altitudes may result in myocardial injury, which is associated with poor clinical outcomes. This study aims to investigate the clinical characteristics of myocardial injury in patients with PH at high altitude. Methods: Consecutive patients admitted to a general tertiary hospital at the altitude of 3,650 m were selected into this retrospective study. Clinical and biochemical data were collected, as well as based on cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and echocardiography, patients were divided into myocardial injury group and non-myocardial injury group. Results: A total of 231 patients were enrolled, among whom 29 (12.6%) had myocardial injury. We found that body mass index, left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, and serum level of creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) in myocardial injury group were significantly higher than non-myocardial injury group. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that cTnI has a significant positive correlation with CK-MB and lactic dehydrogenase instead of aspartate aminotransferase. A receiver operating characteristic curve was drawn to demonstrate that CK-MB could significantly predict the occurrence of myocardial injury with an area under the curve of 0.749, and a level of 3.035 (sensitivity = 59.3%, specificity = 90.5%) was optimal cutoff value. Conclusion: The incidence of myocardial injury in highlanders with PH is significant. CK-MB, as a convenient and efficient marker, has been found to be closely associated with cTnI and plays a predictive role in the occurrence of myocardial injury with PH in individuals exposed to high altitude.

The relationship between self-concept clarity, athletic identity, athlete engagement and the mediating roles of quality of life and smartphone use in Chinese youth athletes.

Background: Youth athletes represent the future of competitive sports, so examining their commitment to sport is critical. This study investigated the impacts of self-concept clarity and athletic identity on athlete engagement among Chinese youth athletes, and the mediating roles of quality of life and smartphone use. Methods: 410 youth athletes from sports schools completed an online cross-sectional survey measuring self-concept clarity, athletic identity, quality of life, smartphone use, and athlete engagement. We used convenience sampling. Instruments included validated scales like the Self-Concept Clarity Scale. Results: The direct effect of self-concept clarity and athlete engagement in youth athletes was not significant (ß = 0.04, p = 0.344), but there was a direct effect of athletic identity and athlete engagement (ß = 0.61, p < 0.05). Quality of life mediated the relationships between self-concept clarity(indirect effect = -0.054, 95 % CI = -0.114, -0.019), athletic identity(indirect effect = 0.202, 95 % CI = 0.114, 0.349) and athlete engagement. Conclusions: This study helps address gaps in understanding athlete engagement in youth athletes. The mediation model provides insights to improve self-concept clarity, athletic identity and quality of life to motivate greater engagement in youth athletes.

Effect of altitude training on the aerobic capacity of athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: With a growing number of athletes and coaches adopting altitude training, the importance for rationalizing and optimizing such training has been emphasized. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the influence of altitude training on athletes' aerobic capacity and to explore the best altitude training method to improve this capacity. Methods: We searched Web of Science, SpringerLink, Science Direct, EBSCO, and PubMed databases combined with manual search of the references to collect studies indexed from 1979 to September 2020 on the effect of altitude training on athletes' aerobic capacity. Data from experimental studies that reported hemoglobin levels and maximum oxygen uptake in athletes before and after altitude training, or in athletes performing altitude training in comparison with a control group were analyzed. Data of the populations, intervention, comparison, outcomes and study design were extracted. Review Manager software 5.3 was used for bias evaluation. Results: 17 publications were included. In our meta-analysis, altitude training led to higher maximum oxygen uptake [standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.35-1.00, P < 0.001] and hemoglobin level (SMD = 0.50, 95% CI 0.11-0.90, P = 0.013) than training at lower altitude. The result of sensitivity analysis showed that results of meta-analysis were relatively stable, and there was no bias or change in the result of effect size according to the bias test. The results of subgroup analysis showed that high-altitude living and low-altitude training ("Hi-Lo" regime), with a training cycle of about three weeks at an altitude around 2500 m, had better effects than other regimes on the athletes' aerobic capacity. Conclusions: Altitude training can improve athletes' aerobic capacity in terms of maximum oxygen uptake and hemoglobin level. Our results are limited by the number and quality of available studies. Therefore, more high-quality studies are needed to verify and extend these findings. Our study can provide scientific suggestions for the training of athletes.

Effect of exercise intervention on primary insomnia: a meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Exercise can have a positive effect on body functioning and immunity. This study systematically evaluated the effect of exercise intervention on patients diagnosed with primary insomnia. Based on the meta-analysis, we developed exercise recommendations to help improving sleep quality in these patients. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Using a combination of manual and electronic retrieval strategies, we examined the CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, Web of Science, SpringerLink, EBSCO, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases; and identified randomized controlled trials that addressed the effects of exercise intervention on primary insomnia and were published before October 2019. Risk of bias was assessed based on the Cochrane Handbook 5.1.0, and meta-analysis was conducted using STATA 13.0 (StataCorp LLC; College Station, TX, USA). EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Data were included for 1269 patients who received exercise interventions and 1203 patients who received drug therapy or no intervention (controls) in 23 trials of high quality. Meta-analysis showed that exercise intervention had a significant effect on the treatment of primary insomnia (SMD: -1.64, 95% CI: -2.08 to -1.19, P<0.001). Subgroup analysis showed significant effect sizes for older patients (>60 years) (SMD: -1.69, 95% CI: -2.40 to -0.97, P<0.001), aerobic exercise (SMD: -2.21, 95% CI: -2.89 to -1.53, P<0.001), interventions lasting 8-12 weeks (SMD: -2.58, 95% CI: -3.61 to -1.54, P<0.001), interventions lasting ≤60 min (SMD: -2.29, 95% CI: -3.66 to -0.92, P=0.001), Asian patients (SMD: -1.86, 95% CI: -2.42 to -1.31, P<0.001), and interventions ≤4 times/week (SMD: -1.70, 95% CI: -2.29 to -1.11, P<0.001). Both bias and sensitivity analyses suggested that our meta-analysis gave robust results. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that exercise intervention has a significant positive influence on primary insomnia, especially for older patients. We recommend that an exercise regimen of 60 min 4-5 times a week for 8-12 weeks can improve sleep quality and treat the symptoms of primary insomnia. Future studies should focus on verifying and extending our results by increasing sample size and improving the quality of studies included.

Biomimetic and osteogenic 3D silk fibroin composite scaffolds with nano MgO and mineralized hydroxyapatite for bone regeneration.

Artificial bioactive materials have received increasing attention worldwide in clinical orthopedics to repair bone defects that are caused by trauma, infections or tumors, especially dedicated to the multifunctional composite effect of materials. In this study, a weakly alkaline, biomimetic and osteogenic, three-dimensional composite scaffold (3DS) with hydroxyapatite (HAp) and nano magnesium oxide (MgO) embedded in fiber (F) of silkworm cocoon and silk fibroin (SF) is evaluated comprehensively for its bone repair potential in vivo and in vitro experiments, particularly focusing on the combined effect between HAp and MgO. Magnesium ions (Mg2+) has long been proven to promote bone tissue regeneration, and HAp is provided with osteoconductive properties. Interestingly, the weak alkaline microenvironment from MgO may also be crucial to promote Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) proliferation, osteogenic differentiation and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities. This SF/F/HAp/nano MgO (SFFHM) 3DS with superior biocompatibility and biodegradability has better mechanical properties, BMSCs proliferation ability, osteogenic activity and differentiation potential compared with the scaffolds adding HAp or MgO alone or neither. Similarly, corresponding meaningful results are also demonstrated in a model of distal lateral femoral defect in SD rat. Therefore, we provide a promising 3D composite scaffold for promoting bone regeneration applications in bone tissue engineering.

Effects of Psychological Interventions on the Prevention of Sports Injuries: A Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that preventive psychological interventions can reduce the occurrence of sports injuries. PURPOSE: To systematically evaluate the published literature on the effects of psychological interventions on rates of sports injuries and propose a set of psychological interventions to reduce such injuries. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 1. METHODS: A total of 11 randomized controlled trials and intervention control trials involving 1287 participants were included. A random-effects model was used to analyze the data. Pooled results were expressed as effect sizes and 95% CIs. Bias and heterogeneity among the studies were assessed, and sensitivity and subgroup analyses were performed. RESULTS: Meta-analysis suggested that preventive psychological interventions effectively prevented the occurrence of sports injuries (effect size = -0.55; P < .001), although the studies showed substantial heterogeneity (I 2 = 94.2%; P < .001), which could not be attributed to specific variables. Nevertheless, sensitivity analysis suggested that overall results were reliable. No significant risk of publication bias was found. CONCLUSION: Preventive psychological interventions moderately reduced the risk of sports injuries. Risk screening also significantly reduced the risk of sports injuries. These interventions should focus on cognitive behavior and be administered in 1 to 6 sessions over 7 to 12 weeks for 60 minutes per session.

Exercise-Based Interventions for Internet Addiction: Neurobiological and Neuropsychological Evidence.

With the increase in the number of internet users, the problems associated with excessive internet use have become increasingly obvious. Internet addiction can alter neurobiology, and its symptoms can be alleviated through exercise, but whether exercise exerts these effects through neurobiological pathways is unclear. Here, we reviewed the neurobiological mechanisms of exercise-based interventions against internet addiction by searching PubMed and Google Scholar for relevant research using such keywords as "exercise", "internet addiction", "hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis", "neurotrophin", and "dopamine". This review summarizes advances in our understanding of the neurobiological processes through which exercise can reduce internet addiction, and our analysis strengthens the idea that exercise-based interventions can be effective in this regard. The available evidence suggests that exercise can increase the levels of neurotrophic factors, cortisol, and neurotransmitters; improve the morphology of specific parts of the central nervous system, such as by stimulating hippocampal neurogenesis; protect the autonomic nervous system; and control the reward urge. In other words, exercise appears to mitigate internet addiction by regulating the neurobiology of the central and autonomic nervous systems. In this way, exercise-based interventions can be recommended for reducing internet addiction.