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Numerous studies have reported that individuals' loneliness, anxiety, and depression levels increased during the COVID‐19 pandemic period. However, reciprocal associations among loneliness, anxiety, and depression, as well as gender differences in these associations, have not been investigated. Therefore, temporal associations among loneliness, anxiety, and depression and gender differences in these associations were examined in a longitudinal study during the COVID‐19 pandemic period. The loneliness, anxiety, and depression levels of 458 university students were evaluated at three timepoints (T1, T2, and T3) during the COVID‐19 pandemic period in China. The timepoints were separated by 1 month. Cross‐lagged panel designs were used to examine reciprocal associations among loneliness, anxiety, and depression as well as the stability and gender differences of these associations. Cross‐lagged panel analysis revealed that T1 depression positively predicted T2 anxiety and loneliness, T1 loneliness positively predicted T2 depression, T2 anxiety positively predicted T3 depression, T2 depression positively predicted T3 anxiety and loneliness, T2 loneliness positively predicted T3 depression, and T1 loneliness positively predicted T3 anxiety through the mediating role of T2 depression. No gender differences were observed in the cross‐lagged associations. During the COVID‐19 pandemic period, loneliness and depression predicted each other across time, and loneliness predicted anxiety across time, mediated by depression. No gender differences were observed in the cross‐lagged associations among loneliness, anxiety, and depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperation plays a crucial role in children's social development and adaptation. This study designed a cooperative constructive play (CCP) intervention based on the Anji Play teaching model and evaluated its effectiveness in a quasi-experimental design involving 60 rural Chinese children aged 5–6 years. Participants were divided into an experimental group, which engaged in 12 weeks of CCP, and a control group, which continued with regular teaching activities. The cooperation data were collected through a truck racing task using pre-, mid-, post-, and follow-up tests, while the cooperation levels and strategies were evaluated by video observations of role-playing games before and after the tests. The results indicated significant improvements in cooperation scores in both the truck racing task and role-playing games in the experimental group compared to the baseline, with no similar enhancements observed in the control group. Furthermore, cooperation scores in the follow-up were higher than pre- and post-test scores, demonstrating the CCP's effectiveness in fostering child cooperation, transferability to other contexts, and sustainability. These findings suggest that CCP intervention based on Anji Play can significantly enhance cooperation in children, offering a valuable tool for educational practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effect of dialogic reading intervention on improving the theory of mind of rural Chinese children. A 12-week-randomized controlled trial design with two intervention groups, i.e. school practice intervention (SPI), parent-involved intervention (PII), and one control group with traditional reading intervention (TRI) that provided data at pre-, mid-, post-test, and follow-up tests, was adopted. Seventy-five children participated in the study, with twenty-five participants in each group. Results indicated the gain scores of ToM score from pre to mid-tests and pre- to post-tests of the two intervention groups were higher than the control group. The PII group showed higher gain scores in the mid- and post-test than the SPI group. The intervention effects were well maintained in the SPI and PII groups during the two-month follow-up assessment. The findings indicated school-based dialogic reading can effectively promote ToM development and has a maintenance effect, especially when parents are engaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aldehyde reductase (ALR) plays key roles in the detoxification of toxic aldehyde. In this study, the authors cloned the swamp eel ALR gene using rapid amplification of cDNA ends‐PCR (RACE‐PCR). The recombinant protein (rALR) was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified using a Ni2+‐NTA chelating column. The rALR protein exhibited efficient reductive activity towards several aldehydes, ketones and S‐nitrosoglutathione (GSNO). A spot assay suggested that the recombinant E. coli strain expressing rALR showed better resistance to formaldehyde, sodium nitrite and GSNO stress, suggesting that swamp eel ALR is crucial for redox homeostasis in vivo. Consequently, the authors investigated the effect of rALR on the oxidative parameters of the liver in swamp eels challenged with Aeromonas hydrophila. The hepatic glutathione (GSH) content significantly increased, and the hepatic NO content and levels of reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species significantly decreased when rALR was administered. In addition, the mRNA expression of hepatic Alr, HO1 and Nrf2 was significantly upregulated, whereas the expression levels of NF‐κB, IL‐1β and NOS1 were significantly downregulated in the rALR‐administered group. Collectively, these results suggest that ALR is involved in the response to nitrosative stress by regulating GSH/NO levels in the swamp eel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) plays important roles in the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism and energy balance in mammals. In this study, the full-length cDNA of swamp eel fgf21 was cloned. Sequence analysis showed that swamp eel FGF21 displayed high similarity with FGF21 of other vertebrates. Subsequently, a prokaryotic expression vector for swamp eel fgf21 was constructed, and recombinant FGF21 (rFGF21) was successfully induced and purified. To investigate the potential roles of swamp eel FGF21 in glucose and lipid metabolism, we examined the effects of rFGF21 on regulation of glucose and lipid homeostasis in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) mice as well as swamp eels under glucose stress. In T1DM mice, the levels of blood glucose, serum triglyceride (TG), liver TG, serum total cholesterol (TC), and liver TC were significantly downregulated after repeated daily injection of rFGF21 for 15 days. In addition, liver pathological section analysis indicated that rFGF21 alleviated the degree of damage to liver cells in T1DM mice. Furthermore, rFGF21 significantly upregulated the mRNA expression levels of peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor alpha (Pparα), β-Klotho , fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (Fgfr1), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (Pepck), glucose transporter 1 (Glut1), and glucose transporter 4 (Glut4) in T1DM mouse livers. Moreover, in swamp eels, rFGF21 significantly decreased blood glucose and liver TC levels under glucose stress and upregulated the mRNA expression levels of fgf21 , pparα , β-klotho , and fgfr1 in liver tissue. These results suggested that FGF21 plays important roles in the regulation of glucose and lipid homeostasis in swamp eel. [Display omitted] • The swamp eel FGF21 gene was cloned, and a recombinant protein was prepared. • rFGF21 administration induced weight loss and reduced blood glucose in T1DM mice. • rFGF21 upregulates FGF21 expression to protect swamp eels from glucose stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Nd‒Dy‒ZnO and CdS‒Nd‒Dy‒ZnO photocatalysts were prepared by microwave hydrothermal method to improve the photocatalytic performance of ZnO. The microstructure and performance of samples were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet (UV)‒visible, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and evaluated with the methylene blue. The results showed that CdS attached to the ZnO crystal surface in the form of flocculent particles, and the combination with CdS promoted the growth of ZnO crystals, while an excess of CdS was found to be detrimental to the crystallization of ZnO. When nCdS/nZnO = 0.30 mol%, composite materials achieved the optimal photocatalytic performance, which made the degradation rate of methylene blue reach 93.42% under UV irradiation for 4 h. CdS‒Nd‒Dy‒ZnO composite photocatalytic material can generate active oxygen groups such as hydroxyl and superoxide radicals simultaneously, which greatly enhances the photocatalytic efficiency of the composite material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses a gap in resilience interventions for rural preschoolers by validating a 14-week play-based picture-book reading program involving 80 Chinese preschoolers aged 4–5 years. Participants were randomly assigned to non-intervention (NI), play intervention (PI), picture-book reading intervention (PRI), or play-based picture-book reading intervention (PPRI) groups. Kindergarten teachers and parents reported children's resilience with the Chinese version of Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Preschoolers at pretest, post-test, and follow-up. Results revealed that intervention groups (PI, PRI, PPRI) exhibited higher resilience gain scores than the NI group. Notably, the PPRI group demonstrated greater resilience gains compared to the PRI and PI groups. Furthermore, the intervention effects of the PPRI group were maintained for two months following the intervention. Those findings suggest that PPRI may be a valuable intervention for enhancing resilience in preschoolers, with potential applications in kindergarten classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]