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Background: There is a paucity of knowledge concerning the psychological variables that serve to facilitate the connection between physical activity and self-efficacy, and the factors capable of moderating these pathways. This study aimed to examine the relationship between physical activity and self-efficacy among college students, with a focus on the mediating effect of grit and the moderating effect of gender. Methods: This study recruited 3,228 undergraduate students from a university in Shanghai, China. They completed the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Short Grit Scale, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 26.0 and the Process v4.0 plugin. Results: Physical activity had both a direct effect on self-efficacy (β = 0.07, 95% CI [0.04–0.11]) and an indirect effect through the two dimensions of grit: perseverance of effort (β = 0.06, 95% CI [0.04–0.07]) and consistency of interest (β = 0.03, 95% CI [0.02–0.04]). The mediating effect explained 53.27% of the total effect. Furthermore, gender moderated the relationship between perseverance of effort and self-efficacy, with a stronger effect observed in males (β = 0.08, t = 3.27, p < 0.01). Conclusion: The results revealed that grit is an underlying psychological mechanism that links physical activity and self-efficacy. Moreover, gender moderates the effect of perseverance of effort on self-efficacy, with a stronger effect observed in males. These findings have practical implications for educators to design tailored physical activity interventions that foster grit and self-efficacy among college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides Lam. is a widespread and important Chinese medicinal plant. In this study, we have sequenced the complete chloroplast genome of H. sibthorpioides, which is 152,880 bp in length with large (LSC 84,064 bp) and small (SSC 18,690 bp) single-copy regions separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs 25,063 bp) and contains 113 unique genes with 17 genes duplicated in the IR making a total of 130 genes. The phylogenetic analysis strongly supports the position of H. sibthorpioides and indicates it belongs to the Araliaceae family, potential to facilitate a better understanding of population and phylogenetic studies in Apiales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides Lam. is a widespread and important Chinese medicinal plant. In this study, we have sequenced the complete chloroplast genome of H. sibthorpioides , which is 152,880 bp in length with large (LSC 84,064 bp) and small (SSC 18,690 bp) single-copy regions separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs 25,063 bp) and contains 113 unique genes with 17 genes duplicated in the IR making a total of 130 genes. The phylogenetic analysis strongly supports the position of H. sibthorpioides and indicates it belongs to the Araliaceae family, potential to facilitate a better understanding of population and phylogenetic studies in Apiales., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper., (© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

While infection with H. pylori is a strong risk factor for gastric cancer, most H. pylori-colonized individuals, even those with the high-risk CagA(+)VacA(+) strain, remain asymptomatic over their lifetime. We hypothesized that the discordant outcomes were due to differences in the host immune responses. Previously, Tim-3-mediated immune modulation was observed in H. pylori-challenged mice. In this study, we compared Tim-3-related responses in CagA(+)VacA(+) H. pylori-infected asymptomatic individuals and H. pylori-associated gastric adenocarcinoma patients. We showed that compared to H. pylori-uninfected individuals, both H. pylori-infected asymptomatic and gastric cancer patients upregulated Tim-3 overall. However, the Tim-3 upregulation was enriched on Th1 cells in asymptomatic patients and on Treg and CD8(+) T cells in gastric cancer patients, with respective differences in T cell subset functions. In gastric cancer patients, high Tim-3 expression on Treg and CD8(+) T cells, but not on Th1 cells, was associated with worse prognosis. H. pylori-antigen presentation by tumor-associated macrophages upregulated Tim-3 expression more effectively than by blood monocyte-derived macrophages in vitro. The upregulation of Tim-3 in vitro depended on the concentration of H. pylori antigen but not on whether the cells were from asymptomatic or cancer patients. These data suggest that the discrepancy in Tim-3 upregulation in asymptomatic and cancer subjects is induced by cancer but not the other way around. Once gastric cancer is developed, Tim-3 expression is associated with worse prognosis.