Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of Arthritis Self-Efficacy Scale-8 (ASES-8) in a rheumatoid arthritis population.

The Arthritis Self-Efficacy Scale-8 (ASES-8) is a valid tool to measure patients' arthritis-specific self-efficacy. However, evidence about reliability and validity of the ASES-8 in Chinese arthritis patients is lacking. This study aimed to culturally adapt and test the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the ASES-8. Chinese ASES-8 was translated from original English version using translation and back-translation procedures. Validation survey was then conducted in a university-affiliated hospital by a set of questionnaires comprised Chinese ASES-8, pain-VAS, The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Fatigue (FACIT-F), and Short Form 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36) physical functioning subscale. A convenience sample of 134 patients with rheumatoid arthritis was recruited from the department of rheumatology. Validity was assessed by Pearson's correlation analysis and exploratory factor analysis. Reliability was assessed using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and Cronbach's alpha. Exploratory factor analysis extracted one dimension that explained of the 71.35% variation. Significant negative correlations were found between the ASES-8 and pain-VAS, HADS-D, HADS-A scores (r -0.487 to -0.656, p < 0.01), while positive correlations were found between the ASES-8 and SF-36 PH (r = 0.561, p < 0.01), FACIT-F (r = 0.660, p < 0.01). Excellent test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.98) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.942) were demonstrated. The Chinese version of the ASES-8 had statistically acceptable levels of reliability and validity for assessing self-efficacy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This disease-specific scale is particularly valuable for use among patients with rheumatoid arthritis from the Chinese population.

[Effects of different NO3--N/NH4+-N ratios on cucumber seedlings growth, nitrogen absorption and metabolism under suboptimal temperature and light intensity]. / äºšé€‚å®œæ¸©å ‰çŽ¯å¢ƒä¸‹ä¸åŒç¡é“µæ¯”è¥å »æ¶²å¯¹é»„ç“œå¹¼è‹—ç”Ÿé•¿ã€æ°®å¸æ”¶å’Œä»£è°¢çš„å½±å“.

Cucumber (cv. Zhongnong 26) was used as material, the effects of NO3--N/NH4+-N ratios on growth and physiological characteristics of cucumber seedlings under suboptimal temperature and light intensity (18 ℃/10 ℃,180 ± 20 µmol·m-2·s-1) were studied. Total nitrogen in the nutrient solution was equal and three NO3--N/NH4+-N ratios, 26:2, 21:7 and 14:14, were applied as treatments. The results showed that cucumber treated by NO3--N/NH4+-N=21:7 had the longest total root length, the biggest root volume and root surface area, and the maximum number of root tips. H+-ATPase activity and relative expression of genes encoding nitrate transporter (NRT) and ammonium transporter (AMT) in cucumber roots were increased significantly by the treatment of NO3--N/NH4+-N=21:7. In addition, nitrate reductase (NR), glutamine synthetase (GS) and glutamate synthase (GOGAT) in cucumber leaves under the treatment of NO3--N/NH4+-N=21:7 were higher. As a result, the nitrogen content and biomass of cucumber were significantly increased. Compared with the plants under the treatment of NO3--N/NH4+-N=26:2 or 14:14, cucumber seedlings under the treatment of NO3--N/NH4+-N=21:7 had the highest biomass and total dry mass (DM) which were increased by 14.0% and 19.3% respectively under suboptimal temperature and light intensity. In conclusion, under suboptimal environmental conditions, NO3- -N/NH4+-N ratio could be adjusted to increase nitrogen absorption and metabolism of cucumber and alleviate the de-trimental effects caused by suboptimal conditions and promoted the cucumber growth.