The Effects of Mindfulness for Youth (MYmind) versus Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Improving Attention and Reducing Behavioral Problems among Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Their Parents: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

INTRODUCTION: There is a lack of studies evaluating mindfulness-based interventions for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared with an evidence-based control. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluated the effects of mindfulness for youth (MYmind) in improving children's attention, behavior, and parent-related outcomes versus cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). METHODS: A total of 138 families of children with ADHD aged 8-12 years were recruited from the community with 69 randomized to MYmind and 69 to CBT. Participants were assessed at baseline, immediately after intervention, at 3 months and 6 months. The primary outcome was the attention score of the Sky Search subtest of the Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch). Secondary outcomes were child behavior and parent-related assessments. Linear mixed models were used to assess the efficacy of MYmind compared with CBT. RESULTS: Both MYmind and CBT significantly improved children's attention score at 6 months (MYmind: ß = 1.48, p = 0.013, Cohen's d = 0.32; CBT: ß = 1.46, p = 0.008, d = 0.27). There were significant within-group improvements in most secondary outcomes. No significant difference was shown for both primary or secondary outcomes between the two arms at any time point. CONCLUSIONS: Both MYmind and CBT appeared to improve children's attention and behavior outcomes, although no difference was found between these two interventions. This is the largest RCT so far comparing MYmind and CBT although there was loss of follow-up assessments during the pandemic. Further RCTs adopting a non-inferiority design are needed to validate the results.

Understanding the impact of pectin physicochemical variation on browning of simulated Maillard reaction system in thermal and storage processing.

Maillard reaction browning is one of the quality deterioration in dried fruit products, but how pectin affects Maillard reaction in the fruit drying and storage process is not clear. This study aimed at investigating the mechanism of pectin variation impact on the browning of Maillard reaction by using simulated system (l-lysine, d-fructose and pectin) in thermal (60 °C and 90 °C for 8 h) and storage (37 °C for 14 days) process. Results showed that apple pectin (AP) and sugar beet pectin (SP) significantly enhanced the browning index (BI) of the Maillard reaction system by 0.01 to 134.51 in the thermal and storage processes, respectively, which were methylation degree of pectin-dependent. The pectin depolymerization product participated Maillard reaction by reacting with l-lysine, and increasing the 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (5-HMF) content (1.25-11.41-fold) and Abs420nm (0.01-0.09). It also produced a new product (m/z 225.1245), which finally increased browning level of the system.

Structural Changes in Milled Wood Lignin (MWL) of Chinese Quince (Chaenomeles sinensis) Fruit Subjected to Subcritical Water Treatment.

Subcritical water treatment has received considerable attention due to its cost effectiveness and environmentally friendly properties. In this investigation, Chinese quince fruits were submitted to subcritical water treatment (130, 150, and 170 °C), and the influence of treatments on the structure of milled wood lignin (MWL) was evaluated. Structural properties of these lignin samples (UL, L130, L150, and L170) were investigated by high-performance anion exchange chromatography (HPAEC), FT-IR, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), TGA, pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), 2D-Heteronculear Single Quantum Coherence (HSQC) -NMR, and 31P-NMR. The carbohydrate analysis showed that xylose in the samples increased significantly with higher temperature, and according to molecular weight and thermal analysis, the MWLs of the pretreated residues have higher thermal stability with increased molecular weight. The spectra of 2D-NMR and 31P-NMR demonstrated that the chemical linkages in the MWLs were mainly ß-O-4' ether bonds, ß-5' and ß-ß', and the units were principally G- S- H- type with small amounts of ferulic acids; these results are consistent with the results of Py-GC/MS analysis. It is believed that understanding the structural changes in MWL caused by subcritical water treatment will contribute to understanding the mechanism of subcritical water extraction, which in turn will provide a theoretical basis for developing the technology of subcritical water extraction.

Blueberry anthocyanin­enriched extract ameliorates transverse aortic constriction­induced myocardial dysfunction via the DDAH1/ADMA/NO signaling pathway in mice.

Blueberry anthocyanin­enriched extract (BAE) has been demonstrated to protect against cardiovascular diseases by activating multiple target genes. The present study investigated the effects of BAE on transverse aortic constriction (TAC)­induced myocardial dysfunction in mice and explored its possible molecular mechanisms. A total of 30 male mice were divided randomly into control, TAC and TAC + BAE groups. Mice in the TAC + BAE groups were administered BAE by oral gavage for 6 consecutive weeks. Myocardial dysfunction was assessed using echocardiogram, histopathology, TUNEL assay, immunofluorescence staining, reverse transcription­quantitative PCR and western blot analysis. The results demonstrated that BAE treatment significantly ameliorated heart weight, left ventricular weight, myocardial dysfunction, left ventricular hypertrophy and fibrosis. In addition, BAE treatment alleviated TAC­induced inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis. Notably, BAE treatment markedly reduced asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) concentration and significantly increased dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 1 (DDAH1) expression and nitric oxide (NO) production. The present data indicated that BAE treatment ameliorated TAC­induced myocardial dysfunction, oxidative stress, inflammatory response and apoptosis via the DDAH1/ADMA/NO signaling pathway.

[Clinical observation of jianpi bushen formula to prevent collapse of osteonecrosis of femoral head].

To observe the clinical effect of Jianpi Bushen formula to prevent the collapse of osteonecrosis of femoral head (ONFH) of type phlegm and blood stasis obstructing the collaterals. 50 cases (including 73 hips) of non-collapse ONFH (ARCO I, II, III a) were selected from the out-patient department of orthopedic in Guang'anmen Hospital attached to China Academy of Chinese Medical Science. All the cases fit for diagnostic criteria were given Jianpi Bushen formula and followed up. Staging criteria was ARCO classification. Harris score evaluated the hip function. The mean follow-up time was 4.2 years (3-5.4 years). After a mean of 4.2 years (3-5.4 years) followed-up, 12 hips collapse occurred while 61 hips not (the non-collapse rate was 83.56%). Collapse did not occurred among the all 7 hips at stage ARCO I (the non-collapse rate was 100%). Among the 49 hips at stage ARCO II, 9 hips collapse occurred while 40 hips not (the non-collapse rate was 81.63%). Among the 17 hips at stage ARCO III a, 3 hips collapse occurred while 14 hips not (the non-collapse rate was 82.35%). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed the average survival time of non-collapse was 5 years (4. 8-5.2 years). The 3 year survival rate of non-collapse was 92.5%. The 4 year survival rate was 74% and the condition tended to be stability trend. The Harris score was 71.93 +/- 11.25 before treatment and 81.63 +/- 12.16 after treatment, significantly different. These results suggest that: Jianpi Bushen formula is an effective method for treating ONFH of type phlegm and blood stasis obstructing the collaterals. It can delay or prevent the collapse of femoral head and significantly improve the hip function.

[Meta-analysis on efficacy and safety of external use of tradition Chinese medicines and western medicines in treating knee osteoarthritis].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and safety of the external use of tradition Chinese medicine (TCM) in treating knee osteoarthritis. METHOD: By computer retrieval of MEDLINE, CNKI and VIP database on data from the establishment of database to May 2011,all of the randomized controlled trials on the external use of TCMs in treating knee osteoarthritis with western medicines as the control drugs were collected to screen out literatures in line with the inclusion standards. The quality of the included literatures was strictly assessed, and a meta-analysis was conducted by RevMan 5.1 software. RESULT: Totally 25 RCTs involving 2 159 patients were included [1152 patients in the TCM group (TCMG), 1007 patients in the western medicine group (WMG)], in which 21 articles were brought into the analysis on efficacy. The results of meta-analyses showed that the efficient rates of the TCMG and the WMG were 92.35% (941/ 1019) and 81.19% (712/877), respectively, OR = 2.88 [2.16-3.83], with a hypothesis testing on total effect of Z = 7.20 (P < 0.00001)], suggesting that the external use of TCMs had a better efficacy than the WMG. A total of 25 literatures were brought into the analysis on adverse effect. The adverse effects rate of the TCMG and the WMG were 1.30% (15/1 152) and 5.36% (54/1007), respectively, OR = 0.40 [0.11-1.38], Z = 1.46 (P = 0.15)], indicating no significant difference between them. The sub group analysis shows that compared with the external use of western medicines,the adverse effect rate of the two groups are similar [(1.87% (11/589): 1.60% (9/564)], OR = l.12 [0.48-2.58], Z = 0.26 (P = 0.80). But as for inhibitors NSAIDS and COX-2 for oral,the adverse effect rate of the TCMG was lower than that of the WMG [(1.07% (4/375): 15.46% (45/291)], OR = 0.11 [0.01-0.87], Z = 2.09 (P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The efficacy of the external use of TCMs in treating OA is better than that of western medicines. The adverse effect rates of the external use of TCMs is equivalent to that of western medicines, and significantly lower than that of oral western medicines. But because of the poor quality of the included literatures, the final conclusion for the efficacy of TCMs in treating knee osteoarthritis could not be reached only based on this Meta-analysis and remain to be proved with the results of high-quality clinical studies.

[A brief introduction to Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II].

Clinical practice guidelines play an important role in practitioner and patient decisions regarding appropriate clinical health care and in health policy formation. In the guideline development process, inappropriate methodologies and development strategies significantly influence the quality of guidelines; therefore, research and evaluation of guidelines have great significance. The original Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) instrument was published in 2003 by a group of international guideline developers and researchers. AGREE has important significance for the quality guarantee and successful implementation of guidelines, and has extensively achieved endorsement since 2003. In 2009, The AGREE Collaboration has developed the AGREE II by refining the original AGREE instrument. At present, the AGREE II has already replaced the original AGREE instrument; however, related introduction regarding AGREE II has not been found in China. The authors of this article briefly introduce the AGREE II, and believe that it will add value to research and evaluation of the guidelines.