Evaluation of a workplace weight management program based on WeChat platform for obese/overweight people in China using the RE-AIM framework.

A Weight Management Program (WMP) is a critical and promising approach to losing excess weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle for obese/overweight people. This study used the RE-AIM framework to retrospectively evaluate a WeChat-based workplace WMP that include low- and high-intensity interventions - self-management (SM) and intensive support (IS) - designed for employees with varying levels of health risk at a Chinese company. Both interventions incorporated with a variety of m-health technologies and behavioral strategies. While the IS group additionally received personalized feedback on diet record and intensive social support. Approximately 26% of all overweight/obese employees in the company enrolled in the program. Both groups lost a significant amount of weight at the endpoint (P < 0.001). In comparison to the SM group, the IS group had significantly higher level of compliance with self-monitoring. At six-month, 67% of individuals reported no additional weight gain. The WeChat-based WMP has received widespread praise from program participants and intervention providers in spite of difficulties encountered. This comprehensive and meticulous evaluation revealed both the strengths and weaknesses of the program, which will assist in improving implementation and balancing the cost and effectiveness of online WMP.

Drought Sensitivity of Sugarcane Cultivars Shapes Rhizosphere Bacterial Community Patterns in Response to Water Stress.

Rhizosphere bacteria, the main functional microorganisms inhabiting the roots of terrestrial plants, play important roles in regulating plant growth and environmental stress resistance. However, limited information is available regarding changes occurring within the structure of the root microbial community and the response mechanisms of host plants that improve adaptability to drought stress. In this study, we conducted an experiment on two sugarcane varieties with different drought tolerance levels under drought and control treatments and analyzed the rhizosphere bacterial communities using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. Correlation analysis results clarified the influence of various factors on the rhizosphere bacterial community structure. Drought stress reduced the diversity of the bacterial community in the rhizosphere of sugarcane. Interestingly, the bacterial community of the drought-sensitive sugarcane cultivar GT39 changed more than that of the drought-tolerant cultivar ZZ9. In addition, ZZ9 had a high abundance of drought-resistant bacteria in the rhizosphere under optimal soil water conditions, whereas GT39 accumulated a large number of drought-resistant bacteria only under drought stress. GT39 mainly relied on Actinobacteria in its response to drought stress, and the abundance of this phylum was positively correlated with soil acid phosphatase and protease levels. In contrast, ZZ9 mainly relied on Bacilli in its response to drought stress, and the abundance of this class was positively correlated with only soil acid phosphatase levels. In conclusion, drought stress can significantly reduce the bacterial diversity and increase the abundance of drought-resistant bacteria in the sugarcane rhizosphere. The high abundance of drought-resistant bacteria in the rhizosphere of drought-tolerant cultivars under non-drought conditions is an important factor contributing to the high drought adaptability of these cultivars. Moreover, the core drought-resistant bacteria of the sugarcane rhizosphere and root exudates jointly affect the resistance of sugarcane to drought.

Response of Sugarcane Rhizosphere Bacterial Community to Drought Stress.

Sugarcane is an important sugar and energy crop, and its yield is greatly affected by drought. Although a large number of studies have shown that rhizosphere microorganisms can help improve the adaptability of plants to biotic or abiotic stresses, there is a lack of studies on the adaptability of sugarcane rhizosphere microbial communities to host plants. Therefore, we conducted drought stress treatment and normal irrigation treatment on three sugarcane varieties GT21, GT31, and GT42 widely cultivated in Guangxi. Using 16S rDNA sequencing technology to analyze the changes in abundance of the sugarcane rhizosphere bacterial community under different treatments, combined with the determination of soil enzyme activity, soil nutrient content, and sugarcane physiological characteristics, we explored the sugarcane rhizosphere bacterial community response to drought stress. In addition, we used the structural equation model to verify the response path of sugarcane rhizosphere bacteria. The results show that the bacterial community structure in the rhizosphere of sugarcane is stable under normal water conditions. The change in the bacterial community structure under drought stress has a 25.2% correlation with the drought adaptability of sugarcane, but the correlation with drought stress is as high as 42.17%. The changes in abundance of rhizosphere bacteria under drought stress are mainly concentrated in the phylum Rhizobiales and Streptomycetales. This change is directly related to the physiological state of the host plant under drought stress, soil available phosphorus, soil urease and soil acid protease. We investigated the response species of rhizosphere microorganisms and their response pathways under drought stress, providing a scientific basis for rhizosphere microorganisms to assist host plants to improve drought adaptability.

Promoting healthy lifestyle in Chinese college students: evaluation of a social media-based intervention applying the RE-AIM framework.

BACKGROUND: A health program aiming at college students is pressingly needed to improve their lifestyle and prevent diseases. However, a health intervention often requires health facilities and the many efforts of health workers. This project attempts to evolve traditional health intervention by using integrated methods based on social media and multiple mobile tools. METHODS: A total of 110 undergraduates from Zhejiang University were recruited. In all, 87 participants volunteered to enroll in the intervention group, whereas 23 stayed in a control group. Fifteen staff (dietitians, health assistants and a sports coach) used the WeChat app and its plugin Zhishi mini-program for health education, diet and physical activity (PA) supervision during 21 days. Pre-to-post changes of eating habits, physical fitness tests and anthropometry data were measured. The RE-AIM framework was employed to evaluate the intervention, dimensions of which were Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance. RESULTS: The recruitment rate of students was 79.1%. The intervention group showed significant progress in terms of healthy food intake (all P < 0.05), and an improvement in PA level (P = 0.004) over 21 days. About 60.9% subjects were satisfied with the whole program and 64.4% would like to join the program again. CONCLUSIONS: This intervention showed a great improvement in healthy behavior with great feasibility for further dissemination.

Response of Soil Fungal Community to Drought-Resistant Ea-DREB2B Transgenic Sugarcane.

Drought limits crop productivity, especially of sugarcane, which is predominantly grown in the subtropical parts of China. Soil microbes perform a wide range of functions that are important for plant productivity and responses to drought stress, and fungi play an important role in plant-soil interactions. The Ea-DREB2B gene of sugarcane, Saccharum arundinaceum, is involved in regulating the response to drought stress. In this study, fungal communities of the transgenic (TG) sugarcane variety GN18, harboring the drought-tolerant gene Ea-DREB2B and its corresponding non-TG wild-type (WT) variety, FN95-1702, were investigated in three soil compartments (rhizoplane, rhizosphere, and bulk soil) by assessing the internal transcribed spacer region using Illumina MiSeq. As the soil microbial community is also affected by various environmental factors, such as pH, carbon availability, and soil moisture, we determined the total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) contents in the rhizoplane, rhizosphere, and bulk soil compartments to explore the associations between soil fungal communities and host plant characteristics. The differences between the soil fungal communities of TG and WT plants were detected. The alpha diversity of TG fungal communities was more correlated to environmental factors than the beta diversity. The abundance of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) enriched in TG root-related area was far more than that in the root-related area of WT plants. Thereinto, more saprotrophs were enriched in the TG root-related area, indicating altered niches of fungal guilds around TG roots. These results revealed that host plant genotype did play a key role for strengthening plant-fungi interaction and enhancing beneficial fungal function in the root-related area (rhizoplane and rhizosphere) of TG sugarcane in order to respond to drought stress.

Effect of Two Different Sugarcane Cultivars on Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities of Sugarcane and Soybean Upon Intercropping.

Intercropping of soybean and sugarcane is an important strategy to promote sustainable development of the sugarcane industry. In fact, our understanding of the interaction between the rhizosphere and bacterial communities in the intercropping system is still evolving; particularly, the influence of different sugarcane varieties on rhizosphere bacterial communities in the intercropping process with soybean, still needs further research. Here, we evaluated the response of sugarcane varieties ZZ1 and ZZ9 to the root bacterial community during intercropping with soybean. We found that when ZZ9 was intercropped with soybean, the bacterial diversity increased significantly as compared to that when ZZ1 was used. ZZ9 played a major role in changing the bacterial environment of the root system by affecting the diversity of rhizosphere bacteria, forming a rhizosphere environment more conducive to the growth of sugarcane. In addition, our study found that ZZ1 and ZZ9 had differed significantly in their utilization of nutrients. For example, nutrients were affected by different functional genes in processes such as denitrification, P-uptake and transport, inorganic P-solubilization, and organic P-mineralization. These results are significant in terms of providing guidance to the sugarcane industry, particularly for the intercropping of sugarcane and soybean in Guangxi, China.