Reliability and validity of the 6-item UCLA Loneliness Scale(ULS-6)for application in adults / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the psychometric properties and applicability of the 6-item University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale (ULS-6) in adults.@*METHODS@#We conducted 2 surveys to assess the validity of different measurement scales and questionnaires. In Survey 1, a total of 1480 adults were measured using the UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), and the data were used for item analysis and assessment of the reliability, validity and measurement invariance. In Survey 2, UCLA Loneliness Scale was used for measurement in 652 college students, and the data were used for analysis of the criterion validity of ULS-6; 3 weeks later, 300 of the students were retested using ULS-6 to assess the retest reliability of the scale.@*RESULTS@#Item analysis suggested that the items in ULS-6 all had good discrimination power with discrimination indexes all above 0.775 (r=0.775-0.820, P < 0.001). Measuring only one dimension, ULS-6 had an internal consistency reliability of 0.891, a split-half reliability of 0.875, and a retest reliability of 0.726. The correlation coefficients of ULS-6 with ULS, ULS-8, PHQ-9 and PSSS were 0.882, 0.967, 0.528 and -0.532, respectively. The measurement invariances of ULS-6 across genders and age groups were all acceptable. Among the adult participants, the mean total score of ULS-6 was 12.97 ± 3.96; While only 20% of the adults had no loneliness, 80% of them exhibited varying degrees of loneliness, ranging from mild (39.6%) and moderate (25.7%) to intense (14.7%) feelings of loneliness.@*CONCLUSION@#The ULS-6 has good reliability, validity and applicability for measurement of loneliness in Chinese adults.

Intervention effects of Jinkui shenqi pills on renal fibrosis model rats and its mechanism / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE To investigate th e intervention effect of Jinkui shenqi pills on renal fibrosis （RF）model rats and its mechanism based on transforming growth factor β1/Smads（TGF-β1/Smads）and TGF-β1/extracellular signal regulated kinase （ERK） signaling pathway. METHODS Male SD rats were given adenine suspension （250 mg/kg）to induce RF model. After modeling ， they were randomly divided into model group ，Colchicine tablet group （positive control ，0.45 mg/kg）and Jinkui shenqi pills low-dose，medium-dose and high-dose groups （0.5，1，2 g/kg），with 10 rats in each group. Other 10 healthy rats were selected as normal group. The rats in administration groups were given the corresponding drugs intragastrically ；normal group and model group were given 0.1％ sodium carboxymethyl cellulose solution ，once a day ，for consecutive 30 d. After last medication ，the serum levels of creatinine （Cr）and blood urea nitrogen （BUN），renal weight and body weight were detected. The ratio of BUN/Cr and renal coefficient were calculated. The pathological morphology of renal tissue in rats were observed. The protein and mRNA expressions of TGF-β1，Smad2，Smad3，ERK1 and ERK 2 were detected. RESULTS Compared with normal group ，serum levels of Cr and BUN and renal coefficient were all increased significantly in model group （P＜0.05），while the ratio of BUN/Cr was decreased significantly （P＜0.05）. The volume of the kidney was significantly increased ，and the surface was seriously granulated. Mesangial hyperplasia ，dilation or atrophy of renal tubules ，accompanied by large-area collagen deposition，could be found. Protein and mRNA expressions of TGF-β 1，Smad2，Smad3，ERK1 and ERK 2 were increased significantly in renal tissue （P＜0.05）. Compared with model group ，above indexes of Jinkui shenqi pills groups were all reversed significantly （P＜0.05）；dilation or atrophy of renal tubules was relieved ，and collagen deposition was reduced to different extents. CONCLUSIONS Jinkui shenqi pills can improve renal function of RF model rats ，the mechanism of which may be associated with inhibiting TGF-β1/Smads and TGF-β1/ERK signaling pathway.