Hook-Like DNAzyme-Activated Autocatalytic Biosensor for the Universal Detection of Pathogenic Bacteria.

DNAzyme-based assays have found extensive utility in pathogenic bacteria detection but often suffer from limited sensitivity and specificity. The integration of a signal amplification strategy could address this challenge, while the existing combination methods require extensive modification to accommodate various DNAzymes, limiting the wide-spectrum bacteria detection. We introduced a novel hook-like DNAzyme-activated autocatalytic nucleic acid circuit for universal pathogenic bacteria detection. The hook-like connector DNA was employed to seamlessly integrate the recognition element DNAzyme with the isothermal enzyme-free autocatalytic hybridization chain reaction and catalytic hairpin assembly for robust exponential signal amplification. This innovative autocatalytic circuit substantially amplifies the output signals from the DNAzyme recognition module, effectively overcoming DNAzyme's inherent sensitivity constraints in pathogen identification. The biosensor exhibits a strong linear response within a range of 1.5 × 103 to 3.7 × 107 CFU/mL, achieving a detection limit of 1.3 × 103 CFU/mL. Noted that the sensor's adaptability as a universal detection platform is established by simply modifying the hook-like connector module, enabling the detection of various pathogenic bacteria of considerable public health importance reported by the World Health Organization, including Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Salmonella typhimurium. Additionally, the specificity of DNAzyme in bacterial detection is markedly improved due to the signal amplification process of the autocatalytic circuit. This hook-like DNAzyme-activated autocatalytic platform presents a versatile, sensitive, and specific approach for pathogenic bacteria detection, promising to significantly expand the applications of DNAzyme in bacteria detection.

Digital health literacy and associated factors among internet users from China: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: As the internet develops and 5G technology becomes increasingly prominent, the internet has become a major source of health-related information. Increasingly, people use the internet to find health-related information, and digital health literacy is now a set of essential capabilities to improve their health in the digital era. However, little is known about the factors that influencing digital health literacy. This study aimed to assess digital health literacy scores and identify its influencing factors among internet users in China. Additionally, this study explored the participant's actual skills using an additional set of performance-based items from the Digital Health Literacy Instrument (DHLI). METHODS: An online cross-sectional study was conducted in August 2022. Participants aged ≥18 years were recruited to complete the survey. Data were collected using the Chinese revised version of the DHLI, the self-reported internet use questionnaire, and the sociodemographic questionnaire. We conducted multivariate linear regression analyses to explore the relationships among the sociodemographic variables, behavior of internet use, and the digital health literacy scores. RESULTS: In total, 702 participants completed the survey. The mean DHLI score was 2.69 ± 0.61. Multivariate linear regression analyses showed that the age groups 35-49 (ß = - 0.08, P = 0.033), 50-64 (ß = - 0.161, P < 0.001), and ≥ 65 (ß = - 0.138, P < 0.001) were negatively associated with DHL scores. However, education level, including bachelor's or associate degree (ß = 0.255, P = 0.002) and master's degree and above (ß = 0.256, P < 0.001), frequency of health-related Internet usage (ß = 0.192, P < 0.001), the number of digital devices used (ß = 0.129, P = 0.001), and OHISB (ß = 0.103, P = 0.006) showed a positive relationship with DHL scores. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings demonstrate that age, educational levels, number of technological devices used, and greater use of the web for health information were independently associated with DHL scores. Healthcare providers should consider providing training programs tailored to specific sociodemographic factors to improve the ability that find and use accurate information online to meet digital health services, which contributes to enhance their self-management and reduce health disparities.

Effects of Mozart-Orff parent-child music therapy among mothers and their preschool children with autism spectrum disorder: A mixed-methods randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) negatively impacts mental health, particularly in mothers of autistic children who experience heightened stress. Applied behaviour analysis (ABA) and music therapy are recognised interventions for improving ASD symptoms. However, the specific benefits of parent-child music therapy and ABA for autistic children and their mothers remain uncertain. This study evaluated the effects of parent-child music therapy on preschool autistic children and their mothers. METHOD: A randomised controlled trial was conducted with 100 mother-child pairs assigned to either the control group receiving ABA or the intervention group receiving both music therapy and ABA. Qualitative interviews were conducted post-intervention for 12 mothers. RESULTS: Children in the intervention group exhibited lower scores for ASD symptoms than those in the control group. Moreover, mothers in the intervention group demonstrated reduced dysfunctional parent-child interaction, lower overall parental stress, significantly improved family functioning, and increased levels of hope compared with those in the control group. Mothers held positive views regarding music therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Combining ABA with parent-child music therapy can alleviate ASD symptoms in children and reduce stress in mothers. Improved parent-child interaction and enhanced family functioning further support the benefits of this combined approach. Parent-child music therapy, combined with ABA demonstrated positive outcomes for autistic children, including reduced ASD symptoms, improved parent-child interaction, decreased parental stress, enhanced family functioning, and increased hope. These findings highlight the potential of incorporating music therapy as a valuable component in the comprehensive treatment of ASD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial registry (05/07/2021, ChiCTR2100048261, https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=128957 ). Ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of Fujian Medical University and the study hospital (Fujian Provincial Maternity and Child Health Hospital; 2017 - 105), and informed consent was obtained from all subjects and/or their legal guardian(s).

Influence of information anxiety on core competency of registered nurses: mediating effect of digital health literacy.

BACKGROUND: In the information age of health care, nurses often face information overload, leading to negative emotions, e.g., anxiety that may impede the adoption of evidence-based practice and clinical decision-making process. Nurses with higher digital health literacy can effectively process and manage information. Despite this, no research has explored the relationship between information anxiety, digital health literacy, and core competency among nurses. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the mediating effects of digital health literacy on information anxiety and core competency among nurses. METHODS: From July to October 2023, the data for this cross-sectional study were collected. The study surveyed a total of 608 nurses from three tertiary hospitals in Fujian Province, and the survey instruments included a sociodemographic information questionnaire, Chinese revision version of the Digital Health Literacy Instrument (CR-DHLI), Information Anxiety Scale (IAS), and Competency Inventory for Registered Nurses (CIRN). Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were conducted using SPSS 29.0, and the mediating effect of digital health literacy was examined using Mplus. RESULTS: The mean score of nurses' information anxiety, digital health literacy, and core competency was 3.03 ± 0.91, 2.46 ± 0.56, 2.72 ± 0.88, respectively. And the mediation model of information anxiety on core competency for nurses showed a good model fit index (χ²/df = 2.207, CFI = 0.985, TLI = 0.982, RMSEA = 0.045, SRMR = 0.035). Digital health literacy was positively correlated with nurses' core competency but negatively correlated with information anxiety. The results of path analysis revealed that information anxiety had negative and significant direct effects on NCC (ß = -0.119, P = 0.004) and DHL (ß = -0.297, P < 0.001). DHL had a positive effect on NCC (ß = 0.306, P < 0.001). Digital health literacy played a partial mediating role, accounting for 43.54% of the relationship between information anxiety and nurses' core competency. CONCLUSIONS: Information anxiety among nurses was at relatively high levels, which had a negative impact on the core competency of nurses. This issue requires attention from nursing managers. The mediating role of digital health literacy in the relationship between information anxiety and core competency among nurses has been established. Nursing managers should strengthen the evaluation of nurses' DHL and devise effective support strategies to enhance DHL, thus improving the core competence of nurses in information age.

Synthesis of 3-Haloindoles via Cascade Oxidative Cyclization/Halogenation of 2-Alkenylanilines Mediated by PIDA and LiBr/KI.

The treatment of 2-alkenylanilines with phenyliodine(III) diacetate (PIDA) and LiBr or KI in HFIP was found to afford the corresponding 3-haloindoles via cascade oxidative cyclization/halogenation encompassing oxidative C-N/C-X (X = Br, I) bond formations. A plausible mechanism involving the in situ formation of the reactive AcO-X (X = Br, I) from the reaction of PIDA and LiBr/KI was postulated.

Parenting sense of competence among chinese parents of premature infants: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Parenting sense of competence is not only indispensable to the wellbeing of the parents of premature infants, but is also pivotal to the overall development of these infants. This study examined the level of parenting sense of competence and its associated factors in Chinese parents of preterm infants. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed at a university teaching hospital in Fuzhou (China) from December 2021 to April 2022. Data were collected using the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Social Support Rating Scale, Parenting Care Knowledge Subscale, Parenting Care Skill Subscale, and a sociodemographic questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 401 Chinese parents were included in the analysis. The average parenting sense of competence scale score was 70.93 ± 13.06. After controlling for demographic characteristics, parenting knowledge (ß = 0.149, P = 0.013), parenting skills (ß = 0.241, P < 0.001), social support (ß = 0.184, P < 0.001) and depression (ß = -0.272, P < 0.001), were significantly associated with the parenting sense of competence score, and explained 43.60% of the variance in this score. CONCLUSIONS: Chinese parents of preterm infants were found to have a moderate parenting sense of competence. This could be further improved through efforts aimed at reducing depressive symptoms and increasing parenting knowledge, parenting skills, and social support.

An Interrupted Pummerer Reaction Mediated by a Hypervalent Iodine(III) Reagent: In Situ Formation of RSCl and Its Application for the Synthesis of 3-Sulfenylated Indoles.

An interrupted Pummerer reaction of PhICl2 and sulfoxides was found to in situ generate reactive organosulfenyl chloride, which enabled the intramolecular electrophilic cyclization of 2-alkynylanilines, generating 3-sulfenylated indole with a good to excellent yield under metal-free conditions. One striking feature of the approach is that sulfoxide regeneration can be realized via the oxidation of the formed sulfides by the generated hypervalent iodine species.

Integration of Isothermal Enzyme-Free Nucleic Acid Circuits for High-Performance Biosensing Applications.

The isothermal enzyme-free nucleic acid amplification method plays an indispensable role in biosensing by virtue of its simple, robust, and highly efficient properties without the assistance of temperature cycling or/and enzymatic biocatalysis. Up to now, enzyme-free nucleic acid amplification has been extensively utilized for biological assays and has achieved the highly sensitive detection of various biological targets, including DNAs, RNAs, small molecules, proteins, and even cells. In this Review, the mechanisms of entropy-driven reaction, hybridization chain reaction, catalytic hairpin assembly and DNAzyme are concisely described and their recent application as biosensors is comprehensively summarized. Furthermore, the current problems and the developments of these DNA circuits are also discussed.

Chemoselective Synthesis of Sulfenylated Spiroindolenines from Indolyl-ynones via Organosulfenyl Chloride-Mediated Dearomatizing Spirocyclization.

A metal-free sulfenylation/spirocyclization of indolyl-ynones realized by organosulfenyl chloride, generated in situ from the reaction of disulfides and PhICl2, is presented. This cascade one-pot process enables a chemoselective synthesis of diverse sulfenylated spiroindolenines depending on the substituent pattern at the two-position of indolyl-ynones.