Influences of HPV disease perceptions, vaccine accessibility, and information exposure on social media on HPV vaccination uptake among 11,678 mothers with daughters aged 9-17 years in China: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Mothers play a crucial role in influencing their daughters' HPV vaccination decisions. Addressing barriers to receiving HPV vaccination among mothers of girls may achieve two goals in one strike: increasing vaccination coverage among both mothers and their daughters. This study aims to examine the HPV vaccination uptake and its determinants among mothers of girls in China at both the individual and interpersonal levels. METHODS: From July to October 2023, a cross-sectional online study was conducted to investigate HPV vaccine refusal for daughters aged 9-17 years among 11,678 mothers in Shenzhen, China. A randomized selection method was employed, targeting 11 primary schools and 13 secondary schools in Shenzhen. The research team invited mothers of girls to participate in an anonymous online survey. Multilevel logistic regression models (level 1: schools; level 2: individual participants) were employed to analyze the data. RESULTS: Among 11,678 mothers, 41.1% self-reported receiving at least one dose of HPV vaccination. Through multilevel logistic regression analysis, eight items measuring illness representations of HPV, which refers to how people think about HPV, were associated with higher HPV vaccination uptake (AOR: 1.02-1.14). These items included identity (identifying symptoms of HPV), timeline (whether HPV is acute/chronic), negative consequences, personal and treatment control (whether HPV is under volitional control), concern, negative emotions, and coherence (overall understanding of HPV). In addition, participants refusing HPV vaccines for the index daughters (AOR: 0.82, 95%CI: 0.76, 0.89) had lower vaccine uptake. Perceived more difficulties in accessing the 9-valent vaccines (AOR: 1.06, 95%CI: 1.04, 1.08) and more satisfaction with vaccine-related promotional materials (AOR: 1.50, 95%CI: 1.46, 1.54) at the individual level were associated with higher vaccine uptake. At the interpersonal factors, higher frequency of exposure to testimonials given by others about HPV vaccination on social media (AOR: 1.19, 95%CI: 1.14, 1.25) and thoughtful consideration of the veracity of the information (AOR: 1.11, 95%CI: 1.07, 1.16) were correlated with higher HPV vaccination uptake. CONCLUSIONS: These findings offer essential implications for modifying HPV disease perceptions, addressing difficulties in accessing the 9-valent HPV vaccines, and enhancing health communication needs to improve HPV vaccine uptake among mothers of girls.

Parent-child interactions in early life mediating association between prenatal maternal stress and autistic-like behaviors among preschoolers.

A range of studies have shown that prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) exposure is associated with offspring autistic-like behaviors, however the potential pathways remain unexplored. This study aimed to evaluate the mediating role of parent-child interactions in early life in the association between PNMS exposure and preschoolers' autistic-like behaviors. Data from 65,928 child-parent dyads were obtained via a primary caregiver-reported questionnaire administered as part of the Longhua Child Cohort Study. To strengthen confidence in the reliability of the results, the analyses were initially conducted on a random selection of 70% of the total sample, and then validated on the remaining 30% of the sample. Analysis of covariance and multiple linear models were employed to estimate the associations between PNMS exposure, parent-child interactions in early life, and children's autistic-like behaviors. The results showed that PNMS exposure was positively associated with the presence of autistic-like behaviors at preschool age. The total indirect effect of the frequency of positive parent-child interactions in early life accounted for 9.69% or 8.99% of the variance of the association. Our findings indicate that parent-child interactions in early life might function as potential mediators of the association between PNMS and the increased risk of offspring autistic-like behaviors.

Critical window for the association between prenatal environmental tobacco smoke exposure and preterm birth.

Although environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure is considered to be a severe public health problem and a modifiable risk factor for preterm birth (PTB), we still lack a comprehensive understanding of the PTB risk associated with trimester-specific prenatal ETS exposure. This study aimed to examine the accumulation of risk across trimester ETS exposure and the critical window of the association between maternal ETS exposure during pregnancy and PTB. A total of 63,038 mother-child pairs were involved in the analysis of the 2017 survey of Longhua Child Cohort Study. Information about socio-demographic characteristics, prenatal ETS exposure, and birth outcomes were collected using a self-report questionnaire. A series of logistic regression models were employed to assess the associations between prenatal ETS exposure and PTB. We found that maternal ETS exposure during pregnancy significantly increased the risk of PTB and this association increased with both the average level of daily ETS exposure and the number of trimesters of ETS exposure. Moreover, mothers who were initially exposed to ETS in the 1st trimester of pregnancy had significant higher risk of PTB (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.25-1.44). Furthermore, mothers exposed to ETS in the 1st trimester only (OR = 1.26, 95%CI: 1.04-1.50), in both 1st and 2nd trimester (OR = 1.35, 95%CI: 1.08-1.67) and throughout pregnancy (OR = 1.35, 95%CI: 1.24-1.46) experienced a significantly high risk of PTB. Prenatal maternal ETS exposure during only the 2nd trimester also resulted in a high risk of PTB with marginal significance (OR = 1.33, 95% CI:0.78-2.13). To conclude, the 1st and early 2nd trimester might be the critical window for prenatal ETS exposure causing PTB.

Association between prenatal exposure to indoor air pollution and autistic-like behaviors among preschool children.

Indoor air pollution is a recognized risk factor for a range of negative health outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the association between maternal prenatal exposure to indoor air pollution and the presence of autistic-like behaviors among preschool children. Data were obtained from the Longhua Child Cohort Study in 2017, in which we enrolled a total of 65 317 preschool children. Associations between maternal exposure to four sources of indoor air pollution (e.g., cooking, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), mosquito coils, and home decoration) during pregnancy and preschool children's autistic traits were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. Our results showed that maternal exposure to indoor air pollution from four different sources during pregnancy was associated with the presence of children's autistic-like behaviors. There was dose-response relationship between the accumulative exposure to the four different indoor air pollution sources and the risk of autistic-like behaviors. Furthermore, we found a significant additive interaction between prenatal exposure to both cooking and mosquito coil incense on the risk of autistic-like behaviors. Maternal prenatal exposure to the indoor air pollution from four sources might increase with the risk of autistic-like behaviors being present among preschool children, with an additive interaction effect between some pollution sources.

Bidirectional associations between parenting styles and conduct problems in Chinese preschool children: the Shenzhen Longhua Child Cohort Study.

The bidirectional associations between parenting styles and conduct problems in Chinese children attending preschools were rarely discussed. A study covering 171 preschools in Longhua District of Shenzhen, China was conducted among children when they first attended preschools. Parents of children reported the self-perceived parenting styles and their children's conduct problems using validated questionnaires. The bidirectional associations between parenting styles and conduct problems in children were assessed using multivariate linear or logistic regressions in both cross-sectional and cohort settings. In cross-sectional settings, the bidirectional associations were present in all dimensions of parenting styles with children's conduct problems. After 1.01 years of follow-up, increases in parenting dimensions of rejection, control attempts, and favoring subject were significantly associated with children's conduct problems at follow-up, while increases in emotional warmth of parents significantly reduced such risk. In addition, parents of children who had conduct problems at baseline but regressed to normal at follow-up showed decreased scores in negative parenting dimensions. In contrast, among children who developed conduct problems during the study period, the scores of rejection and favoring subject in their parents have increased significantly, while the scores of emotional warmth have decreased. Parent-to-child effect was similar between fathers and mothers, while child-to-parent effect was stronger in fathers than that in mothers. In order to stop the negative feedback loop between poor parenting styles and children's conduct problems, our study underscored the importance of intervention not only in parents but also in their children.

Association between greater residential greenness and decreased risk of preschool myopia and astigmatism.

OBJECTIVE: Rapid urbanization has led to reduced greenness in many areas, this has been linked to adverse health outcomes. The aim was to determine the association between residential greenness experienced during very early childhood with preschool myopia and astigmatism and to explore the potential mediating role of screen time on any associations. METHOD: Information regarding socio-demographic characteristics, home address, screen time during early childhood, and refraction data from vision screenings of 53,575 preschoolers from Longhua Child Cohort Study were collected via questionnaires. Residential greenness was calculated as the average of satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index in buffers of 100, 250, and 500 m around each child's home address. Logistic and linear regression models were used to examine the relationships between residential greenness, screen time, and preschool myopia and astigmatism. RESULT: The mean (SD) age of the 53,575 preschoolers was 5.0 (0.7) years, and 24,849 (46.4%) were girls. A total of 1236 (2.3%) preschoolers had myopia and 5347 (10.0%) had astigmatism. In the adjusted model, a higher neighborhood greenness level within 100 m buffers around the home address was associated with decreased risk of myopia (adjusted odds ratios (AOR): 0.62, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.38-0.99), and higher neighborhood greenness levels within 100, 250, and 500 m decreased the risk of astigmatism, and their AORs (95% CIs) were 0.55 (0.43-0.70) for 100 m, 0.59 (0.41-0.83) for 250 m, 0.61 (0.42-0.90) for 500 m, respectively. Greater screen time during early childhood increased the risk of myopia (AOR = 1.33) and astigmatism (AOR = 1.23). Reduction in screen time fully mediated the benefits of greater residential greenness on preschool myopia, but partially mediated that on preschool astigmatism (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Higher residential greenness reduces the risk of preschool myopia and astigmatism; the benefits of residential greenness were mediated through reduced daily screen time.

Screen time and autistic-like behaviors among preschool children in China.

Screen time is becoming increasingly common in daily life. Early and excessive screen use has raised growing concerns for children's neuropsychological development. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between exposure to screen time in early life and the presence of autistic-like behaviors among preschool children. 29,461 child-caregiver dyads at kindergartens in Longhua New District of Shenzhen, China, were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Information concerning socio-demographic characteristics, frequency and duration of children's electronic screen exposure for each year since birth, and autistic-like behaviors (measured by the Autism Behavior Checklist) were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire completed by the primary caregivers. A series of logistic regression models assessed the association between screen time and autistic-like behaviors. Results indicated that younger initial age, longer daily screen time and longer cumulative years of screen exposure since birth were associated with the presence of autistic-like behaviors at preschool age. The risk was enhanced with the increase of both daily screen time and cumulative years of screen exposure during preschool period. Moreover, the cross-over analysis indicated that the first three years following birth might be a sensitive period for children when screen exposure increases the risk of experiencing autistic-like behaviors. In conclusion, our study implied that screen exposure in early life might increase the occurrence of autistic-like behaviors among preschoolers. These findings support the need for early interventions into preschoolers' screen use, however longitudinal studies are necessary to further confirm the causal relationship between early screen time and the incidence of later autistic-like behaviors among preschool children.

Maternal cooking during pregnancy may increase hyperactive behaviors among children aged at around 3 years old.

Cooking is one of the main sources of indoor air pollution in China. Given emerging evidence of a link between air pollutants and neurodevelopmental delays, we examined whether maternal experiences with cooking during gestation might increase their child's hyperactivity at 3 years of age. The participants involved 45 518 mothers of children who were newly enrolled at kindergarten in the Longhua District of Shenzhen from 2015 to 2017. The results show that maternal exposure to cooking fumes during pregnancy was related to an increased risk of their offspring having hyperactivity behaviors at the age of 3 years. Compared with pregnant mothers who never cooked, pregnant mothers who cooked sometimes, often, or always had children who showed a significantly higher hyperactivity risk. Households using cooking fuels such as coal, gas during the mothers' pregnancy, exhibited more hyperactivity behaviors in the young child when compared to those using electricity for cooking. In addition, poor ventilation during cooking, while mothers were pregnant, was found to be a significant risk factor for clinical levels of the offspring's hyperactive behaviors. Furthermore, the positive association with maternal cooking during pregnancy and their offsprings' hyperactivity was relatively consistent across strata defined by social class, education, and other covariates.

Understanding the associations among parents teaching safety rules to children, safety behaviors and unintentional injuries in Chinese preschool children.

Child unintentional injuries are one of the most prominent global health threats and parents may play a vital role in these injuries. This study thus aims to explore the associations of parents teaching safety rules with preschool children's safety behaviors and unintentional injuries. A total of 62,922 children registered at 182 kindergartens in Longhua District of Shenzhen, China during the fall semester of 2016, were included in this cross-sectional study. Their parents were invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire covering information about socio-demographics, parents teaching safety rules to children, child safety behaviors and unintentional injuries. Logistic and linear regression models were carried out to test the associations among parents teaching safety rules, child safety behaviors, and child unintentional injuries. Whether child safety behaviors mediated the relationship between parents teaching safety rules and child unintentional injuries was assessed using Hayes' PROCESS macros for SPSS. Regression analyses revealed that the higher scores of both mothers' and fathers' teaching safety rules to children were significantly associated with the reduced risks of child unintentional injuries and the modest improvements in child safety behaviors, after adjusting for potential confounders. Furthermore, mediation analysis illustrated that child safety behaviors mediated 18.1% of the association between mothers teaching safety rules and child unintentional injuries and 30.3% of the association between fathers teaching safety rules and child unintentional injuries, respectively. These findings suggest that parents teaching safety rules to children is beneficial for mitigating unintentional injury risks among Chinese preschool children through improving child safety behaviors.

Association between prenatal exposure to household inhalants exposure and ADHD-like behaviors at around 3 years of age: Findings from Shenzhen Longhua Child Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Prenatal exposure to air pollutants has been suggested as a possible etiologic factor for the occurrence of ADHD or ADHD-like behaviors. But we still lack a comprehensive assessment of household air pollutants exposure on the development of ADHD-like behaviors during childhood. OBJECT: We aimed to assess whether prenatal household inhalants exposure is associated with preschoolers' ADHD-like behaviors in a nonclinical population. METHODS: This study used the baseline data of the Longhua Child Cohort Study. During 2015-2017, we recruited 42,983 mothers and their kindergarten-aged children who enrolled at kindergarten in the Longhua district of Shenzhen, to obtain the demographic data and relevant exposure information through self-administrated questionnaire survey. The source of prenatal household inhalants exposure include cooking fumes, environmental tobacco smoke, mosqutio coils, home renovated and indoor burning incense. Logistic and censored least absolute deviations (CLAD) models were used to reveal the association between prenatal exposure to household air pollutants and hyperactive behaviors in child. RESULTS: We found that exposure to five types of household inhalants during pregnancy were independently associated with an increased risk of child hyperactive behaviors. Moreover, we observed a significant interaction between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and cooking fumes during gestation on child hyperactive behaviors in CLAD models. We also found a significant joint effect between burning mosquito coils and incense during gestation for child hyperactive behaviors risk both in CLAD and Logistic models. Furthermore, a household inhalants exposure index was used to demonstrate a dose-response relationship between the cumulative effect of exposure to the five household air pollutants and child hyperactivity. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that prenatal exposure to different household inhalants might increase the risk of children's hyperactive behaviors at around 3 years of age with the presence of interaction effects between some inhalants.

Group B streptococcus colonisation and associated risk factors among pregnant women: A hospital-based study and implications for primary care.

BACKGROUND: Group B streptococcus (GBS), which asymptomatically colonises the vaginal and rectal areas of women, is a leading cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with GBS colonisation among pregnant women in Shenzhen, China. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional survey was conducted, using a multistage sampling method. Pregnant women at ≥28 weeks' gestation completed a questionnaire and vaginal swabs were obtained for GBS analysis. Data were analysed by chi-squared tests and logistic regression models. RESULTS: The colonisation rate of GBS among pregnant women was 4.9%. The influencing factors associated with GBS colonisation included body mass index before pregnancy (odds ratio [OR] = 3.79, 95% CI 1.28-11.26), gestational age (OR = 5.81, 95% CI 1.20-28.15), induced abortion (OR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.40-0.98) and lotion use before pregnancy (OR = 1.59, 95% CI 1.04-2.44). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that obesity, gestational age, induced abortion and lotion use were significantly associated with GBS colonisation. Further longitudinal research is needed to establish the causal relationship and its biological mechanisms.

Associations of mothers' decisional conflicts and satisfaction with governmental health promotion materials with their daughters' HPV vaccination uptake in China: A cross-sectional survey.

Background: China started to implement the HPV vaccination program for females in 2016. This study investigated associations between mothers' decisional conflicts, satisfaction with governmental health promotion materials, and their daughters' HPV vaccination uptake. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between July and October 2023 among mothers of girls aged 9-17 years in Shenzhen, China. Participants were mothers having a daughter aged 9-17 years at the survey date and a smartphone with internet access. About 3 % of all primary and secondary schools in Shenzhen were randomly selected by the research team (11 primary schools and 13 secondary schools). Teachers at the selected schools invited mothers of female students aged 9-17 years to complete an anonymous online questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression was fitted. Results: Among 11,728 mothers who completed the survey, 18.9% of their index daughters received at least one dose of HPV vaccination. In multivariate analysis, less decisional conflict about the choice of HPV vaccines for their daughters (AOR: 1.07, 95%CI: 1.05, 1.10), more satisfaction with the government's health promotional materials related to HPV vaccines (AOR: 1.15, 95%CI: 1.12, 1.19), receiving more cue to action from significant others (AOR: 1.23, 95%CI: 1.19, 1.27), and perceived higher self-efficacy related to HPV vaccines (AOR: 1.79, 95%CI: 1.67, 1.92) were associated with a higher uptake of HPV vaccines. Perceived susceptibility to HPV (AOR: 0.79, 95%CI: 0.74, 0.85), perceived barriers to having the index daughter receive HPV vaccines (AOR: 0.82, 95%CI: 0.80, 0.84), and mothers who were hesitant to receive HPV vaccination (AOR: 0.75, 95%CI: 0.68, 0.84) were associated with a lower uptake. Conclusion: HPV vaccination uptake was low among girls in China. Future health promotion should address mothers' decisional conflicts about the choice of HPV vaccines for their daughters and improve the health promotional materials. School-based HPV vaccination programs might be useful.

Exploring mother-daughter communication and social media influence on HPV vaccine refusal for daughters aged 9-17 years in a cross-sectional survey of 11,728 mothers in China.

This study investigated the influences of mother-daughter communication and social media on mothers' HPV vaccine refusal for their daughters aged 9-17. A cross-sectional online survey among 11,728 mothers of girls aged 9-17 in Shenzhen, China was implemented between July and October 2023. Multi-level logistic regression models were fitted. Among 11,728 participants, 43.2% refused to have their daughters receive an HPV vaccination. In multivariate analysis, more openness in the mother-daughter communication (AOR: 0.99, 95%CI: 0.98, 0.99), perceived more positive outcomes of mother-daughter communication (AOR: 0.77, 95%CI: 0.75, 0.79), higher frequency of exposure to testimonials about daughters' HPV vaccination (AOR: 0.81, 95%CI: 0.78, 0.85) and information encouraging parents to vaccinate their daughters against HPV on social media (AOR: 0.76, 95%CI: 0.73, 0.79), and thoughtful consideration of the veracity of the information specific to HPV vaccines (AOR: 0.80, 95%CI: 0.77, 0.83) were associated with lower vaccine refusal. Mothers who were not the main decision-makers of daughters' HPV vaccination (AOR: 1.28 to 1.46), negative outcome expectancies of mother-daughter communication (AOR: 1.06, 95%CI: 1.04, 1.08), and mothers' HPV vaccine refusal (AOR: 2.81, 95%CI: 2.58, 3.06) were associated with higher vaccine refusal for their daughters. The level of mothers' HPV vaccine refusal for their daughters was high in China. Openness and outcome expectancies of mother-daughter communication and information exposure on social media were considered key determinants of HPV vaccine refusal for daughters. Future HPV vaccination programs should consider these interpersonal factors.

Maternal exposure to cooking oil fumes during pregnancy and autistic-like behaviors in Chinese preschoolers.

There is growing evidence that cooking oil fumes (COFs) are harmful indoor air pollutants. However, there is a dearth of research investigating whether maternal COFs exposure during pregnancy may affect children's autistic-like behaviors in China. This study aimed to explore this association, and examine the effects of different cooking fuels and ventilation methods used by mothers on the presence of autistic-like behaviors. This study analyzed the survey data of the Longhua Child Cohort Study in 2017 with a total of 62,372 mothers enrolled in this study. A self-administrative questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics, cooking habits during pregnancy, and autistic-like behaviors (measured using the Autism Behavior Checklist). After adjusting for potential confounders, the results showed that compared with children whose mothers never cooked during pregnancy, children whose mothers cooked sometimes, often, always during pregnancy had the higher risk of autistic-like behaviors. As the amounts of COFs exposed to and the frequency of cooking during pregnancy increased, the risk of a child's autistic-like behaviors also increased. Mothers using natural gas as cooking fuels had a lower risk of their child having autistic-like behaviors, compared with mothers using coal or other cooking fuels. Furthermore, pregnant women using ventilation measures during cooking significantly decreased likelihood of the presence of autistic-like behaviors in their children. These results suggest that maternal exposure to COFs during pregnancy may increase the likelihood of the presence of autistic-like behaviors in offspring. These findings support a recommendation that pregnant women should avoid exposure to COFs and use clean fuels and ventilation equipment in kitchens to reduce the risk of autistic-like behaviors in children.

Identification of Five Cytotoxicity-Related Genes Involved in the Progression of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

Background: Breast cancer is one of the deadly tumors in women, and its incidence continues to increase. This study aimed to identify novel therapeutic molecules using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data of breast cancer from our hospital. Methods: 30 pairs of human breast cancer tissue and matched normal tissue were collected and RNA sequenced in our hospital. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were calculated with raw data by the R package "edgeR", and functionally annotated using R package "clusterProfiler". Tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) were estimated using a website tool TIMER 2.0. Effects of key genes on therapeutic efficacy were analyzed using RNA-seq data and drug sensitivity data from two databases: the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) and the Cancer Therapeutics Response Portal (CTRP). Results: There were 2,953 DEGs between cancerous and matched normal tissue, as well as 975 DEGs between primary breast cancer and metastatic breast cancer. These genes were primarily enriched in PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, calcium signaling pathway, cAMP signaling pathway, and cell cycle. Notably, CD8+ T cell, M0 macrophage, M1 macrophage, regulatory T cell and follicular helper T cell were significantly elevated in cancerous tissue as compared with matched normal tissue. Eventually, we found five genes (GALNTL5, MLIP, HMCN2, LRRN4CL, and DUOX2) were markedly corelated with CD8+ T cell infiltration and cytotoxicity, and associated with therapeutic response. Conclusion: We found five key genes associated with tumor progression, CD8+ T cell and therapeutic efficacy. The findings would provide potential molecular targets for the treatment of breast cancer.

Association between environmental tobacco smoke exposure in early life and autistic-like behaviors in Chinese preschoolers.

OBJECTIVE: Few studies have evaluated the association between children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in early life (during pregnancy, from birth to one year and from one to three years) and autistic-like behaviors. This study aimed to explore this association. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analyzed data collected in 2017 as part of the Longhua Child Cohort Study. Autistic-like behaviors were measured using the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). Data on ETS exposure and autistic-like behaviors of children were collected via self-administered questionnaires completed by the mothers. Multivariate logistic regression models were undertaken to assess the associations. RESULTS: Of the 65,243 participants included in this study, 1958 children met criteria for having autistic-like behaviors. The results showed that children were more likely to exhibit autistic-like behaviors when they were exposed to ETS in early life (AOR = 1.38; 95% CI = 1.26-1.52), compared to preschoolers without ETS exposure at any period of their early life. Compared with their unexposed counterparts, children who were exposed to ETS during gestation (AOR = 1.42; 95% CI = 1.29-1.57), or from birth to one year old (AOR = 1.42; 95% CI = 1.19-1.69) had significantly increased risk of autistic-like behaviors. In addition, with the increase in duration of exposure and average number of cigarettes smoked in the child's immediate environment, the risk of autistic-like behaviors increased. CONCLUSION: Our study indicated that children's ETS exposure in early life was significantly associated with autistic-like behaviors. When children's exposure to cigarettes in early life increased in duration and number, the likelihood of the presence of autistic-like behaviors was higher.

Combination Effect of Outdoor Activity and Screen Exposure on Risk of Preschool Myopia: Findings From Longhua Child Cohort Study.

Evidence regarding screen use and outdoor activity during very early childhood (i. e., from aged 1 to 3 years) and their potential combined links to the later preschool myopia is limited. This information is needed to release effective public health messages and propose intervention strategies against preschool myopia. We collected information regarding very early childhood screen use, outdoor activity and the kindergartens vision screenings of 26,611 preschoolers from Longhua Child Cohort Study by questionnaires. Logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between reported outdoor activity, screen use from 1 to 3 years of age, and preschool myopia. Throughout very early childhood, from 1 to 3 years, the proportion of children exposed to screens increased (from 35.8 to 68.4%, p < 0.001), whereas the proportion of children who went outdoors ≥7 times/week (67.4-62.1%, p < 0.001) and who went outdoors for ≥60 min/time (53.3-38.0%, p < 0.001) declined. Exposure to fixed screen devices [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.09-3.44], mobile screen devices (AOR = 2.76, 95% CI = 2.15-3.58), and limited outdoor activity (AOR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.42-2.51) during early childhood were associated with preschool myopia. Among children whose parents were myopic, the interactions between outdoor activity and fixed or mobile screen use on later preschool myopia were significant; the ORs and 95% CI were 3.34 (1.19-9.98) and 3.04 (1.06-9.21), respectively. Our findings suggest the possibility that the impact of screen exposure during early childhood on preschool myopia could be diminished by outdoor activity for children whose parents have myopia.

Prenatal maternal stress and autistic-like behaviours in Chinese preschoolers.

Exposure to prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) has been implicated as a risk factor for a range of psychiatric disorders in children. However, there have been a few studies showing inconsistent associations between PNMS and offspring autistic-like behaviours. We therefore aimed to examine whether trimester-specific PNMS exposure might be related to an increased risk of autistic-like behaviours among preschoolers. Using data from Longhua Children Cohort Study, mothers of 65,931 preschool children were asked to recall their level of PNMS in each of the three trimesters of pregnancy, while children's current autistic-like behaviours were assessed using the Autism Behaviour Checklist. A series of Cox regression models were fitted to assess the association between PNMS exposure and autistic-like behaviours. After adjusting for potential confounders, the Cox regression models showed that PNMS exposure, especially during the second pregnant trimester, was significantly and positively associated with the presence of children's autistic-like behaviours. The strength of these associations was enhanced with the increase of PNMS exposure level. Furthermore, based on different permutations of exposure versus no exposure in each trimester, the participants were divided into eight groups. A cross-over analysis confirmed the aforementioned finding that the second pregnant trimester might be the sensitive period for PNMS exposure increasing the risk of autistic-like behaviours. Our findings supported the hypothesis of an association between PNMS exposure and autistic-like behaviours among preschoolers. Preventive interventions should be trialled to examine whether minimizing maternal psychological stress during pregnancy, especially the second trimester, may reduce the risk of offspring autistic-like behaviours.

High expression of PRKDC promotes breast cancer cell growth via p38 MAPK signaling and is associated with poor survival.

BACKGROUND: DNA-Dependent Protein Kinase Catalytic Subunit (PRKDC), a key component of the DNA damage repair pathway, is associated with chemotherapy resistance and tumor progression. METHODS: Here we analyzed transcriptome data of ~2,000 breast cancer patients and performed functional studies in vitro to investigate the function of PRKDC in breast cancer. RESULTS: Our results revealed overexpression of PRKDC in multiple breast cancer subtypes. Consistent with patients' data, overexpression of PRKDC was also observed in breast cancer cell lines compared to normal breast epithelial cells. Knockdown of PRKDC in MCF-7 and T47D breast cancer cell lines resulted in proliferation inhibition, reduced colony formation and G2/M cell cycle arrest. Furthermore, we showed that PRKDC knockdown induced proliferation inhibition through activation of p38 MAPK, but not ERK MAPK, signaling pathway in breast cancer cells. Blockage of p38 MAPK signaling could largely rescue proliferation inhibition and cell cycle arrest induced by PRKDC knockdown. Moreover, we analyzed gene expression and clinical data from six independent breast cancer cohorts containing ~1,000 patients. In all cohorts, our results consistently showed that high expression of PRKDC was significantly associated with poor survival in both treated and untreated breast cancer patients. CONCLUSION: Together, our results suggest that high expression of PRKDC facilitates breast cancer cell growth via regulation of p38 MAPK signaling, and is a prognostic marker for poor survival in breast cancer patients.

PRKDC is a prognostic marker for poor survival in gastric cancer patients and regulates DNA damage response.

A hallmark of gastric cancer is the high rate of genomic instability associated with deregulation of DNA damage repair pathways. DNA-Dependent Protein Kinase Catalytic Subunit (PRKDC) is a key component of the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway. By reanalyzing transcriptome data of 80 pairs of gastric cancer tumors and the adjacent normal tissues from non-treated patients, we identified PRKDC as the top upregulated DNA damage repair genes in gastric cancer. High expression of PRKDC is associated with poor survival of gastric cancer patients, and genomic amplification of the gene is frequently observed across most gastric cancer subtypes. Knockdown of PRKDC in gastric cell lines resulted in reduced proliferation and cell cycle arrest. Furthermore, we showed that loss of PRKDC induced DNA damage and enhanced gastric cancer cell chemosensitivity to DNA-damaging reagents. Together, our results suggest that PRKDC is a prognostic marker of poor survival and is a putative target to overcome chemoresistance in gastric cancer.