MTHFR epigenetic derepression protects against diabetes cardiac fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes cardiac fibrosis is associated with altered DNA methylation of fibrogenic genes; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we investigate the critical role of DNA methylation aberration-associated suppression of MTHFR in diabetes cardiac fibrosis, and the protective effects of folate on diabetes cardiac fibrosis, using cultured cells, animal models, and clinical samples. METHODS AND RESULTS: Herein, we report that DNA methylation repression of MTHFR, critically involved in diabetes cardiac fibrosis, mediates the significant protective effects of folate in a mouse model of diabetes cardiac fibrosis induced by STZ. Heart MTHFR expression was markedly suppressed in diabetes cardiac fibrosis patients and mice, accompanied by increased DNMT3A and MTHFR promoter methylation. Knockdown of DNMT3A demethylated MTHFR promoter, recovered the MTHFR loss, and alleviated the diabetes cardiac fibrosis pathology and cardiac fibroblasts pyroptosis. Mechanistically, DNMT3A epigenetically repressed MTHFR expression via methylation of the promoter. Interestingly, folate supplementation can rescue the effect of MTHFR loss in diabetes cardiac fibrosis, suggesting that inactivation of MTHFR through epigenetics is a critical mediator of diabetes cardiac fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: The current study identifies that MTHFR repression due to aberrant DNMT3A elevation and subsequent MTHFR promoter hypermethylation is likely an important epigenetic feature of diabetes cardiac fibrosis, and folate supplementation protects against diabetes cardiac fibrosis.

Mindfulness Practice and Job Performance in Social Workers: Mediation Effect of Work Engagement.

Despite a rapid increase in the work force over the last decade, the social work labor force is still suffering through high amounts of stress and burnout that could negatively affect work engagement and job performance in China. A potential solution worth exploring, however, is the practice of mindfulness, a concept based on expanding one's awareness to target focus without judgement. Using 537 social workers from street-level social work service stations in Guangzhou, China, this paper examines the relation between mindfulness practice and job performance, and whether work engagement mediated the relation through the application of the job demand and resources theory. The findings indicate that that mindfulness practice directly increases work engagement (Beta = 0.33) and has an indirect effect on job performance (Beta = 0.21) through its effect on work engagement that fully mediated the relation between mindfulness practice and job performance. In contrast to formal mindful practices (Beta = 0.13), informal mindful practices (Beta = 0.22) encompass a broader impact on employee performance. The findings suggest that mindfulness practice can effectively be used in workspaces to enhance engagement and performance of social workers in China.

Adverse Childhood Experiences, Mindfulness, and Grit in College Students in China.

This study investigated the effect of ACEs and COVID-19 on grit and whether this effect is mediated by mindfulness. Although current scholarship has found that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have harmful consequences to individuals across the life span, less is known about the relationship between ACEs and grit. Grit is predictive of educational success and subjective wellbeing. A cross-sectional online survey administered to junior and senior students from 12 universities spread across China was conducted from September 20, 2020 to October 5, 2020. The universities were selected from geographically diverse regions of China to ensure a diverse sample. We received 1,871 completed responses from 2,229 invited students. The survey response rate was 83.9%. The results indicated that ACEs had significantly negative effects on grit, while mindfulness had significantly positive effects on grit. Once controlling for level of mindfulness, the effects of ACEs on grit largely reduced and became insignificant. The findings of this research indicate that mindfulness has a significant mediational effect on the relation between ACEs and grit and call for mindfulness-based interventions for enhancing grit for the population at risks.

Mindfulness Practice and Burnout: Evidence From Chinese Social Workers.

Over the span of nearly 10 years, the social work labor force grew from 0.2 million to approximately 1.2 million in China. Despite these increases, studies have shown social workers in China are also experiencing equally high burnout rates. For this analysis, we collected data from 537 social workers based in Guangzhou, China. We used the job demands and resources (JD-R) theory, to examine the relations between JD-R and burnout and whether mindfulness practice (MP) could reduce any such burnout. Our results suggest JD-R affects social workers' burnout through both health and motivation impairment. High job demands (JD) were linked to high burnout while high job resources (JR) were linked to a reduction in burnout. Formal (Beta = -0.08) and informal (Beta = -0.19) MP were associated with low burnout amongst social workers. The significant interaction between JD and MP also suggests that MP can reduce burnout for social workers with high JD. The findings call for using MP to be used to shield social workers from the effects of increasing JD and to prevent an increase of burnout amongst Chinese social workers.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Mindfulness in Chinese College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Mindfulness has been found to have many positive effects on life outcomes, including mental health and educational achievement. However, less is known about the antecedents of mindfulness, particularly in Chinese college students. This study examines the effect of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on mindfulness among Chinese college students in September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that ACEs negatively affected students' mindfulness. The data were collected from 1,871 college students from 12 colleges across China. The results aligned with our hypothesis that ACEs was negatively associated with mindfulness. In particular, emotional abuse and neglect in childhood appear to have the most negative effects on mindfulness compared to other dimensions of ACEs such as physical abuse and household challenges.

[Qualitative-Quantitative Analysis of Rice Bran Oil Adulteration Based on Laser Near Infrared Spectroscopy].

The purpose of this study is mainly to have qualitative-quantitative analysis on the adulteration in rice bran oil by near-infrared spectroscopy analytical technology combined with chemo metrics methods. The author configured 189 adulterated oil samples according to the different mass ratios by selecting rice bran oil as base oil and choosing soybean oil, corn oil, colza oil, and waste oil of catering industry as adulterated oil. Then, the spectral data of samples was collected by using near-infrared spectrometer, and it was pre-processed through the following methods, including without processing, Multiplicative Scatter Correction(MSC), Orthogonal Signal Correction(OSC), Standard Normal Variate and Standard Normal Variate transformation DeTrending(SNV_DT). Furthermore, this article extracted characteristic wavelengths of the spectral datum from the pre-processed date by Successive Projections Algorithm(SPA), established qualitatively classified calibration methods of adulterated oil through classification method of Support Vector Machine(SVM), optimized model parameters(C, g) by Mesh Search Algorithm and determined the optimal process condition. In extracting characteristic wavelengths of the spectral datum from pretreatment by Backward interval Partial Least Squares(BiPLS) and SPA, quantitatively classified calibration models of adulterated oil through Partial Least Squares(PLS) and Support Vector Machine Regression(SVR) was established respectively. In the end, the author optimized the combination of model parameters(C, g) by Mesh Search Algorithm and determined the optimal parameter model. According to the analysis, the accuracy of prediction set and calibration set for SVC model reached 95% and 100% respectively. Compared with the prediction of the adulteration oil content of rice bran oil which was established by the PLS model, the SVR model is the better one, although both of them could implement the content prediction. Furthermore, the correlation coefficient R is above 0.99 and the Root Mean Square Error (MSE) is below 5.55 x 10(-4). The results show that the near-infrared spectroscopy technology is effective in qualitative-quantitative analysis on the adulteration of rice bran oil. And the method is applicable to analyze adulteration in other oils.

ABCG15 encodes an ABC transporter protein, and is essential for post-meiotic anther and pollen exine development in rice.

In flowering plants, anther and pollen development is critical for male reproductive success. The anther cuticle and pollen exine play an essential role, and in many cereals, such as rice, orbicules/ubisch bodies are also thought to be important for pollen development. The formation of the anther cuticle, exine and orbicules is associated with the biosynthesis and transport of wax, cutin and sporopollenin components. Recently, progress has been made in understanding the biosynthesis of sporopollenin and cutin components in Arabidopsis and rice, but less is known about the mechanisms by which they are transported to the sites of deposition. Here, we report that the rice ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, ABCG15, is essential for post-meiotic anther and pollen development, and is proposed to play a role in the transport of rice anther cuticle and sporopollenin precursors. ABCG15 is highly expressed in the tapetum at the young microspore stage, and the abcg15 mutant exhibits small, white anthers lacking mature pollen, lipidic cuticle, orbicules and pollen exine. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the abcg15 anther cuticle revealed significant reductions in a number of wax components and aliphatic cutin monomers. The expression level of genes involved in lipid metabolism in the abcg15 mutant was significantly different from their levels in the wild type, possibly due to perturbations in the homeostasis of anther lipid metabolism. Our study provides new insights for understanding the molecular mechanism of the formation of the anther cuticle, orbicules and pollen wall, as well as the machinery for lipid metabolism in rice anthers.

Development and implementation of a nationwide health care quality indicator system in Taiwan.

UNLABELLED: QUALITY ISSUES: Quality is an increasingly important issue to the health care sector. The Taiwanese government also recognizes the need to implement a nationwide health care quality indicator system to strengthen quality surveillance. CHOICE OF SOLUTION: In 1999, the Department of Health funded a 2-year project led by the Taiwan Healthcare Executive College to develop a comprehensive performance assessment system, subsequently named as Taiwan Healthcare Indicator Series (THIS). The series includes four categories of indicators, namely outpatient, in-patient, emergency care, and intensive care, and has 139 items in total. IMPLEMENTATION: The system was officially launched in 2001. Participation is voluntary. The Taiwan Healthcare Executive College processes the data and provides feedback to the participating hospitals. The information is for the participating hospitals' own use and is not released to the public. EVALUATION: Participating hospitals have increased from 45 in 2001 to 227 in 2006 and now constitute approximately 50% of the total hospital population in Taiwan. The reporting rate averaged 77.7% in 2004. The first five most reported indicators are the percentage of first-visit outpatients to outpatient clinics, the average length of in-patient stay, the nosocomial infection rate, the occupancy rate, and the crude mortality rate. LESSONS LEARNED: How the data are interpreted and how data interpretation can lead to quality improvement are the principal concerns of participating hospitals. In light of the success of the indicator series, the Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) of Taiwan has proposed participation in the series as being one of the criteria to be reimbursed for quality.