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Objective: Describe the current status of illness perception, depression, and self‐management behaviors among women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) during the COVID‐19 pandemic, and explore the role of depression in the relationship between illness perception and self‐management behaviors among women with GDM. Methods: Pregnant women diagnosed with GDM were recruited at the obstetrics clinic of a Grade‐A tertiary hospital in Wuhan, through convenience sampling. Self‐reported questionnaires including basic information, illness perception, depression, and self‐management behaviors were used to collect data from April 2021 to February 2022. Mediation analysis was performed by SPSS Process macro. Results: Among GDM pregnant women, the mean self‐management behaviors score was 73.89 (SD = 12.21), the mean illness perception score was 31.80 (SD = 8.77), and 44.3% had depression scores of 10 or higher. The indirect effect of illness perception on self‐management behaviors mediated by depression was significant (path a * b, β = −0.045), accounting for 26.6% of the total effect. Conclusion: GDM pregnant women have a certain negative illness perception of GDM, and the detection rate of depression symptoms is relatively high. The level of self‐management behaviors among GDM pregnant women is notably suboptimal and warrants improvement. Depression partially mediates the relationship between illness perception and self‐management behaviors. Improving positive illness perception and decreasing depression are important strategies to improve self‐management behaviors in women with GDM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirteen unmodified lignin samples from different biomass sources and isolation processes were characterized and used to entirely replace bisphenol A (BPA) in the formulation of solubilized epoxy resins using a developed novel method. The objective was to measure the reactivity of different lignins toward bio‐based epichlorohydrin (ECH). The epoxy contents of various bio‐based epoxidized lignins were measured by titration and 1H NMR spectroscopy methods. A partial least square regression (PLS‐R) model with 92 % fitting accuracy and 90 % prediction ability was developed to find correlations between lignin properties and their epoxy contents. The results showed that lignins with higher phenolic hydroxy content and lower molecular weights were more suitable for replacing 100 % of toxic BPA in the formulation of epoxy resins. Additionally, two epoxidized lignin samples (highest epoxy contents) cured by using a bio‐based hardener (Cardolite GX‐3090) were found to show comparable thermomechanical performances and thermal stabilities to a petroleum‐based (DGEBA) epoxy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]