A Social Group-Based Information-Motivation-Behavior Skill Intervention to Promote Acceptability and Adoption of Wearable Activity Trackers Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Wearable activity trackers offer potential to optimize behavior and support self-management. To assist older adults in benefiting from mobile technologies, theory-driven deployment strategies are needed to overcome personal, technological, and sociocontextual barriers in technology adoption. OBJECTIVE: To test the effectiveness of a social group-based strategy to improve the acceptability and adoption of activity trackers by middle-aged and older adults. METHODS: A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted among 13 groups of middle-aged and older adults (≥45 years) performing group dancing (ie, square dancing) as a form of exercise in Guangzhou from November 2017 to October 2018. These dancing groups were randomized 1:1 into two arms, and both received wrist-worn activity trackers and instructions at the baseline face-to-face assessment. Based on the Information-Motivation-Behavior Skill framework, the intervention arm was also given a tutorial on the purpose of exercise monitoring (Information), encouraged to participate in exercise and share their exercise records with their dancing peers (Motivation), and were further assisted with the use of the activity tracker (Behavior Skill). We examined two process outcomes: acceptability evaluated by a 14-item questionnaire, and adoption assessed by the uploaded step count data. Intention-to-treat analysis was applied, with the treatment effects estimated by multilevel models. RESULTS: All dancing groups were followed up for the postintervention reassessment, with 61/69 (88%) participants of the intervention arm (7 groups) and 56/80 (70%) participants of the control arm (6 groups). Participants' sociodemographic characteristics (mean age 62 years, retired) and health status were comparable between the two arms, except the intervention arm had fewer female participants and lower cognitive test scores. Our intervention significantly increased the participants' overall acceptability by 6.8 points (95% CI 2.2-11.4), mainly driven by promoted motivation (adjusted group difference 2.0, 95% CI 0.5-3.6), increased usefulness (adjusted group difference 2.5, 95% CI 0.9-4.1), and better perceived ease of use (adjusted group difference 1.2, 95% CI 0.1-2.4), whereas enjoyment and comfort were not increased (adjusted group difference 0.9, 95% CI -0.4-2.3). Higher adoption was also observed among participants in the intervention arm, who were twice as likely to have valid daily step account data than their controlled counterparts (adjusted incidence relative risk [IRR]=2.0, 95% CI 1.2-3.3). The average daily step counts (7803 vs 5653 steps/day for the intervention and control, respectively) were similar between the two arms (adjusted IRR=1.4, 95% CI 0.7-2.5). CONCLUSIONS: Our social group-based deployment strategy incorporating information, motivation, and behavior skill components effectively promoted acceptability and adoption of activity trackers among community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults. Future studies are needed to examine the long-term effectiveness and apply this social engagement strategy in other group settings or meeting places. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR-IOC-17013185; https://tinyurl.com/vedwc7h.

SIX1 coordinates with TGFß signals to induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition in cervical cancer.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a critical role in promoting tumor invasion and metastasis. However, the key cofactors that modulate the signal transduction to induce EMT have note been fully explored to date. The present study reports that sine oculis homeobox homolog 1 (SIX1) is able to promote EMT of cervical cancer by coordinating with transforming growth factor (TGF)ß-SMAD signals. The expression of SIX1 was negatively correlated with the expression of the epithelial marker E-cadherin in two independent groups of cervical cancer specimens. SIX1 could promote the transition of mesenchymal phenotype in the presence of active TGFß signals in vitro and in vivo. TGFß-SMAD signals were required for the SIX1-mediated promotion of EMT and metastatic capacity of cervical cancer cells. Together, SIX1 and TGFß cooperated to induce more remarkable changes in the transition of phenotype than each of them alone, and coordinated to promote cell motility and tumor metastasis in cervical cancer. These results suggest that the coordination of SIX1 and TGFß signals may be crucial in the EMT program, and that SIX1/TGFß may be considered a valuable marker for evaluating the metastatic potential of cervical cancer cells, or a therapeutic target in the treatment of cervical cancer.

[Effects and mechanism of CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells in mouse experimental colitis treated by CLYSTER No. 1].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects and mechanism of CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in mouse experimental colitis treated by CLYSTER No. 1. METHOD: The mouse model of experimental colitis was established by dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB)-acetic acid (AA) in mice DNCB and AA. Adult KM mouse were randomly divided into four groups: normal control group, experimental colitis model group, SASP and Chinese medicine therapeutic groups. Proportion of CD4 CD25+ Tregs in peripheral blood (PB) and mesenteric lymph node (MLN) was estimated by flow cytometry at the end of one or two week after treating with SASP and CLYSTER No. 1. RESULT: The model of experimental colitis in mouse was successfully established. Compared with normal control group, the proportion of CD4 CD25 Tregs was markedly decreased in PB and MLN of model control group of experimental colitis. But it was significantly increased in therapeutic groups of SASP and CLYSTER No. 1, and their CD4+ CD25+ Tregs in PB and MLN were much more than the model control group at the end of one or two weeks after treating with SASP and CLYSTER No. 1. CONCLUSION: CD4+ CD25+ Tregs with strong immune suppression could play a central role in the initiation and development of mouse experiment colitis, and the CLYSTER No. 1 might exert its therapeutic effects on UC by the regulation of number and function of CD4+ CD25+ Tregs.