The influence of family socio-economic status on learning engagement of college students majoring in preschool education: The mediating role of parental autonomy support and the moderating effect of psychological capital.

Objective: To explore the relationship between family socio-economic status and learning engagement of college students majoring in preschool education, as well as the mediating role of parental autonomy support and the moderating role of psychological capital. Methods: A sample of 986 college students majoring in preschool education from Guangdong Province and Jiangxi Province were investigated by family socio-economic status questionnaire, learning engagement questionnaire, parental autonomy support questionnaire and psychological capital questionnaire. Results: First, there was a significant positive correlation between family socio-economic status and learning engagement (ß = 0.09, p < 0.05). Second, parental autonomy support played a completely mediating role between family socio-economic status and learning engagement (ß = 0.05, p < 0.01). Third, the relationship between parental autonomy support and learning engagement was moderated by psychological capital, and students with high psychological capital had higher learning engagement (ß = 0.24, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Family socio-economic status could directly affect learning engagement, and could also indirectly affect learning engagement through psychological capital level moderating parental autonomy support. Our findings highlight the importance of creating an autonomous supportive family environment and focusing on the learning of students from low socio-economic status. Meanwhile, stimulating students' psychological capital should be regarded as a part of education and teaching.

The Role of Socioeconomic Status, Family Resilience, and Social Support in Predicting Psychological Resilience Among Chinese Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients.

Objectives: Evidence regarding the possible influence of social factors on psychological resilience among maintenance hemodialysis patients is scarce. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship among socioeconomic status, family resilience, and social support, and psychological resilience among Chinese maintenance hemodialysis patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the hemodialysis centers of three comprehensive hospitals in China from September to December 2020 using convenience sampling. Two hundred fifty-eight patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis were investigated using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Medical Outcomes Study-Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS), Chinese Family Resilience Assessment Scale (C-FRAS), and Chinese version of the Conner and Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC). Results: Maintenance hemodialysis patients reported a low level of physical resilience, with a score of (58.92 ± 15.27). Hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that education level (ß = 0.127, p = 0.018), maintenance of a positive outlook by the family (ß = 0.269, p = 0.001), positive social interaction support from the family (ß = 0.233, p = 0.002), and tangible support (ß = -0.135, p = 0.037) were significantly associated with psychological resilience. Conclusion: SES, family resilience and social support may be potential predictive factors of psychological resilience. Interventions to improve the family resilience and social support may be beneficial to promote the psychological resilience of Chinese maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Urban carbon emission intensity under emission trading system in a developing economy: evidence from 273 Chinese cities.

The international community has generally recognized the key role of developing countries' cities in reducing carbon emissions, an elemental way to mitigate climate change. However, few have empirically analyzed the impact of market-based instruments such as emission trading system on urban carbon emissions in developing economies. This paper examines the effect of China's pilot carbon trading markets, the first emission trading system in developing economies, on cities' carbon intensity. We also explore the mechanism by which the emission trading system achieves its influence. The PSM-DID method is used to analyze the panel data including China's 273 prefecture-level cities from 2010 to 2016. The results illustrate that the emission trading system significantly decreased pilot cities' carbon intensity and this effect endured; as time progressed, the reduction effect was increasing. Through mediating effect analysis, we find that the emission trading system reduced the carbon intensity via increasing the proportion of tertiary industry output value in GDP and decreasing the energy intensity. Overall, the empirical results suggest that the Chinese government should drive the establishment and improvement of a national carbon market, proactively adjust industry structure, and consider the possible influence caused by the potential energy rebound effect.

Tear cytokine levels in the diagnosis and severity assessment of ocular chronic graft-versus-host disease(GVHD).

PURPOSE: To analyse the tear cytokine levels of patients diagnosed with ocular chronic graft-versus-host disease(GVHD)and examine the consistency of these levels with different ocular surface parameters. METHODS: 23 ocular chronic GVHD patients were selected for the assessment of tear cytokine levels and ocular surface parameters (TBUT, CFS, OSDI, and Schirmer's test), and 16 dry eye disease(DED)patients without systemic immune disease were selected as the control group. The 23 cytokines were measured using microsphere-based immunoassay analysis and their consistency with different ocular surface parameters was studied. RESULTS: ICAM-1, IL-1ß, IL-6, and IL-8 showed elevated levels in the eyes of oGVHD patients compared to DED [P < 0.001]. IL-7 and EGF showed lower levels in the eyes of patients with oGVHD than in those of patients with DED [P < 0.0001]. Furthermore, the levels of IL-6 and IL-8 showed a stronger correlation with corneal fluorescein staining (CFS) (P < 0.05), and the levels of IL-6 and ICAM-1 were most consistent with fluorescein tear film break-up time (TBUT) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated certain tear cytokines, including ICAM-1, IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-8 IL-7 and EGF, as promising new possible diagnostic markers of chronic oGVHD and criteria for chronic ocular GVHD severity. Because tear sampling is noninvasive and simple, this method is expected to be an overwhelming applicable for the screening and diagnosis of chronic GVHD.

Mediastinal transposition of the omentum reduces infection severity and pharmacy cost for patients undergoing esophagectomy.

BACKGROUND: The greater omentum has been found to be immunologically competent in protecting abdominal organs from inflammation. Anastomotic omentoplasty has been used and proven effective in preventing anastomotic leaks after an esophagectomy. However, pulmonary complications are still a substantial problem after an esophagectomy. This study investigated the benefits of mediastinal transposition of the omentum, a modification of the conventional omental wrapping technique, in controlling overall postoperative intrathoracic complications. METHODS: From January 2010 to March 2015, 208 consecutive patients receiving an open Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy at our institution were retrospectively reviewed. One hundred twenty-one patients with omentum mediastinal transposition were assigned to the transposition group and 87 patients without omental transposition were placed in the non-transposition group. The patients' demographics, postoperative short-term outcomes, and in-hospital cost were documented and analyzed. RESULTS: Mediastinal transposition of the omentum led to a shorter postoperative hospital stay (14 vs. 16 d, P=0.038) and a lower intrathoracic infection rate (30.6% vs. 48.3%, P=0.009). Intrathoracic infection was milder in the transposition group (P=0.005), though a non-significant was found in overall complications (P=0.071). The multivariate logistic regression analyses identified omentum mediastinal transposition (P=0.007, OR=0.415) as an independent protective factor for postoperative intrathoracic infection. The total in-hospital cost was comparable in both groups (P>0.05), whereas the pharmacy cost was lower in the transposition group than in the non-transposition group (¥21,668 vs. ¥27,012, P=0.010). CONCLUSIONS: Mediastinal transposition of the omentum decreases the rate and severity of postoperative intrathoracic infection following an open Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy. This result in decreased pharmacy costs, rather than resulting in an increased economic burden sustained by surgical patients.

Long-term outcome and cost-effectiveness of complete versus assisted video-assisted thoracic surgery for non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: To compare the outcomes and costs of two methods of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) major pulmonary resection in patients with clinically resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Between January 2000 and December 2007, 1,058 patients with proven stages I-IIIA NSCLC underwent complete VATS (c-VATS) or assisted VATS (a-VATS) major pulmonary resection together with a systematic nodal dissection. RESULTS: The study cohort consisted of 736 men and 322 women. Mean operative time was shorter for the a-VATS cohort compared with the c-VATS group (P = 0.038). Overall survival (OS) at 5 years based on Kaplan-Meier analysis was 55.3% (95%CI, 50.6-60.0%) for those who underwent c-VATS and 47.7% (95%CI, 41.2-54.2%) for those who underwent a-VATS (P = 0.404). Gender, final pathology, TNM stage, and pT status were significant predictive factors for OS according to multivariate analysis. The total cost of a-VATS lobectomy was lower than that of c-VATS lobectomy. CONCLUSIONS: c-VATS and a-VATS yield similar results in patients with clinically resectable NSCLC. a-VATS, however, may be less expensive and easier to adopt, making it a particularly attractive option for thoracic surgeons in developing countries.

[Alprazolam use improves psychological status and reduces hospitalization costs in patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of alprazolam use on psychological status and hospitalization cost in patient with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia underwent electrophysiology studies or radiofrequency catheter ablation. METHODS: In this prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 142 inpatients [77 males, mean age (43.1 +/- 14.5) years] were randomly assigned to receive alprazolam (0.4 mg qd at 10PM for 3 days, n = 72) or placebo (n = 70) 3 days before scheduled electrophysiology studies or radiofrequency catheter ablation. All patients were examined by the Chinese version of Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) at 24 hours before the procedure. RESULTS: Compared with the placebo group, the scores of somatization (1.38 +/- 0.40 vs. 1.65 +/- 0.56, P < 0.01), anxiety (1.50 +/- 0.39 vs. 1.69 +/- 0.50, P < 0.05), phobic anxiety (1.24 +/- 0.36 vs. 1.47 +/- 0.57, P < 0.01), psychotism constructs (1.24 +/- 0.34 vs. 1.35 +/- 0.30, P < 0.05) and global severity index (1.36 +/- 0.35 vs. 1.49 +/- 0.37, P < 0.05) were significantly decreased in alprazolam group. The hospitalization costs were also significantly lower in alprazolam group (32 498 +/- 1170) yuan compared to placebo group (32 947 +/- 1096) yuan, P < 0.05. CONCLUSION: The alprazolam use before electrophysiology studies and radiofrequency catheter ablation can improve the patients' psychological status and reduce the hospitalization costs.