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More than 220 million Chinese children and adolescents are confined to their homes because of the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak Thanks to the strong administrative system in China, the emergency home schooling plan has been rigorously implemented Although these measures and efforts are highly commendable and necessary, there are reasons to be concerned because prolonged school closure and home confinement during a disease outbreak might have negative effects on children's physical and mental health It is the responsibility and keen interests of all stakeholders, from governments to parents, to ensure that the physical and mental impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic on children and adolescents are kept minimal Copyright © 2020, Editorial Department of Journal of Shanghai Second Medical University All right reserved

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure has been linked to diabetes, but evidence on the association of isomers of PFAS with type 2 diabetes (T2D) remains scant. This population based cross-sectional study aimed to investigate associations between serum PFAS isomers, glucose-homeostasis markers and T2D, adjusted for multiple potential confounders. We used data from “Isomers of C8 Health Project in China” from July 2015 to October 2016. A total of 10 PFAS including isomers of PFOS and PFOA were measured in serum of 1045 Chinese adults. Fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, homeostasis model of insulin (HOMA-IR) and beta cell function (HOMA-β) were considered as markers of glucose-homeostasis. We found significant positive associations between serum PFAS isomers and glucose-homeostasis markers, namely, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin and HOMA-IR. Per log-unit increase in branched (br)-PFOS concentration was associated with increased fasting blood glucose (β = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.18, 0.33), fasting insulin (β = 2.19, 95% CI: 1.44, 2.93) and HOMA-IR (β = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.50, 0.89). As compared to br-PFOS, linear (n)-PFOS and -PFOA showed lesser significant associations with glucose-homeostasis makers. Further, exposure to all PFAS including isomeric PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS increased the risk of T2D with br-PFOS exhibiting the highest risk (OR = 5.41, 95% CI: 3.68–7.96). The associations were stronger among women than men. In conclusion, chronic exposure to PFAS isomers was associated with impaired glucose-homeostasis and may increase the prevalence of T2D in Chinese adults. Given the ubiquity of PFAS in the environment and the public health burden of T2D, future studies are warranted to corroborate the findings.

Structural changes of the brain have been detected in many early-onset eye diseases, whereas little is known about whether changes could occur if the onset age is after the sensitive development period. High Myopia is a prime example of neural plasticity after development, whose case history is usually long. To investigate potential morphological changes in the brain of high myopic patients, we compared a group of 30 adults with high myopia and 30 control subjects using high-resolution anatomic MRI in combination with vision tests. No difference in gray matter (GM) concentration was detected. However, increased concentration of white matter (WM) was observed in patients with high myopia, primarily in the calcarine area. Another three comparatively smaller regions were in the prefrontal and parietal lobe. It can be inferred that cortices developed normally and refractive error in high myopic patients may be compensated by strengthening the correlation between visual cortex and visual related areas. Our study suggests that besides early-onset diseases, the late-onset eye diseases can also affect the structure of brain.