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Background and Aims: Osteopontin is implicated in atherosclerosis, and its expression is upregulated in response to brain injury. The aim of this study was to prospectively investigate the associations between plasma osteopontin levels and adverse clinical outcomes in ischemic stroke patients., Methods: We measured baseline plasma osteopontin levels in 3545 ischemic stroke patients from the China Antihypertensive Trial in Acute Ischemic Stroke (CATIS). The primary outcome was the composite outcome of death and major disability (modified Rankin scale score ≥3) at 1 year after ischemic stroke, and secondary outcomes included major disability, death, and the composite outcome of death and vascular events., Results: During 1 year of follow-up, patients in the fourth quartile of plasma osteopontin had the highest risks of primary outcome, major disability, death, and the composite outcome of death and vascular events. After multivariate adjustment, the odds ratios or hazard ratios (95 % confidence intervals) associated with each standard deviation increase in log-transformed osteopontin were 1.20 (1.09-1.33) for primary outcome, 1.11 (1.00-1.23) for major disability, 1.29 (1.10-1.52) for death, and 1.15 (1.01-1.30) for the composite outcome of death and vascular events. The addition of plasma osteopontin to conventional risk factors significantly improved the risk reclassification for the primary outcome (net reclassification improvement: 16.91%, p < 0.001; integrated discrimination improvement: 0.43%, p = 0.002)., Conclusions: Elevated plasma osteopontin levels at baseline were associated with increased risks of adverse clinical outcomes at 1 year after ischemic stroke, suggesting that osteopontin is a promising prognostic biomarker for ischemic stroke., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: High serum netrin-1 levels decrease the risk of ischemic stroke and are negatively associated with outcomes after ischemic stroke. However, it remains unclear whether the association between netrin-1 and ischemic stroke prognosis is modified by lipid component levels., Methods and Results: We measured baseline serum netrin-1 levels in 3065 ischemic stroke patients from China Antihypertensive Trial in Acute Ischemic Stroke (CATIS). The primary outcome was a combination of death and major disability (modified Rankin Scale score≥3) at 3 months after ischemic stroke. Total cholesterol (TC) levels could modify the association between netrin-1 and prognosis of ischemic stroke (P interaction  = 0.040). After multivariate adjustment, the odds ratios of the primary outcome associated with the highest quartile of netrin-1 were 0.39 (95%CI, 0.17-0.90; P trend  = 0.004) for the patients with high TC levels and 0.82 (95%CI, 0.61-1.11; P trend  = 0.149) for those with normal TC levels. Adding netrin-1 to conventional risk factors improved risk prediction for the primary outcome in the patients with high TC levels (net reclassification improvement: 26.8%, P = 0.015; integrated discrimination index: 1.6%, P = 0.028) but not in those with normal TC levels., Conclusions: Elevated netrin-1 is associated with improved prognosis at 3 months after ischemic stroke in the patients with high TC levels but not in those with normal TC levels. Further prospective studies from other populations and randomized clinical trials are needed to verify our findings and clarify the potential mechanisms., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors report no disclosures relevant to the manuscript., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the level of HIV/AIDS knowledge and sexual activity among secondary school students, and to offer specific intervention strategies., Materials and Methods: Random sampling technique was used and cross-sectional study was conducted among 6347 students using self-administered questionnaire., Results: The ages of participants range from 9 to 21 years with a mean of 14.83±1.63 years. Of 6347 students, 3214 (50.6%) were female. Results showed that 65% of male and 71% of female had been pornography reader. Overall, the prevalence of knowledge on HIV caused by virus was high for male and female. On intimate contact, 25.7% of the male and 17.7% of the female students reported that they had a history of hugging; 11.3% of male and 5.6% of female students reported that they had an experience of kissing; 11.3% of male and 4.0% of female students reported that they had an experience of caressing, 27% of male and 18% of female students reported that they had an experience of sexual intercourse; and 49.5% of male and 58.4% of female students reported to have been forced to have sex. Accordingly, 75.1% of male and 90% of female students heard of HIV., Conclusion: Education of the students on HIV/AIDS seems poorer at the secondary school in certain areas of China; more attention should be paid to those of senior grade students and students from divorced families., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

The purpose of the survey is to investigate the relationship between anxiety statuses and suboptimal health status among students from south of Anhui in china. Our study was a population-based, cluster sampling method survey with a sample consisting of 5249 students, who come from a university, four high schools and four middle schools in Wannan Area in China. Sub-health status was measured by multidimensional sub-health questionnaire of adolescents, and anxious status was assessed using anxiety self-assessment scale. A total of 538 (10.25%) of the students were detected with anxiety status, the prevalence of anxiety status for boy and girl students were 11.8% and 16.5%,respectively, there are no significant difference between urban and rural for the anxiety score in physical and mental sub-health status (P > 0.05). The boys living in urban have a lower anxiety score than that of the girls, the no-only child and child living in rural in different sub-health status (P < 0.05). The results indicate that sub-health status and anxiety status are prevalent among students, especially in girls, no-only child and students who living in rural area, the school heads should pay more attention to the mental health of students.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to estimate the blood glucose and blood lipid profile of students in a university in China., Methods: This descriptive study was based on the health screening data for university students in 2013. The blood glucose (GLU), lipid profiles (total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG, and high density lipoprotein (HDL-C)) was measured by using Hitachi model 747 automatic analyzer. The LDL cholesterol values were calculated according to the formula: LDL-C = TC-HDLC- TG/5., Results: The mean of HDL was 51.31 and 56.30 mg/dL for male and female, respectively (p<0.05). The majority of students have normal level of GLU (65-110 mgl/dL). Elevated TC and LDL were observed in 6.92% and 5.82 % of male, similarly, 5.91%and 3.57% of female. High levels of TC, LDL and TG in male university students were 1.02%,0.71% and 1.41%, respectively; in female university students were 1.26%,1.04 and 0.68%, respectively. Reduced levels of HDL were observed in 5.59% of male and 2.62% of female., Conclusion: The study shows that the prevalence of blood glucose and blood lipid in university students, especially reduced levels of HDL and elevated TC and LDL in university students has become a critical health issue. Relevant department of school and government should pay more attention to students' physical health., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Background: Prevalence of overweight and obesity in adolescents has been increasing during recent decades. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of obesity in 14-18 years old Anhui Secondary school children, and provide more comprehensive guidelines for intervention programs., Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 4788 children in secondary school, and date from the routine health survey was analyzed. Trained health workers took anthropometric measures, height and weight, at the school. Definition of children overweight and obesity children was based on the international age-and sex-specific body mass index reference standards proposed by the International Obesity Task Force and National Center for Health Statistics., Results: According to the IOTF standard the prevalence of overweight (including obesity) and obesity revealed decreasing trend with age in male (overweight, from 17.3% at 14-y to 5.3% at 18-y; obesity, from 3.8% at 14-y to 2.3% at 18-y). Depending on the NCHS references used, the overall prevalence of overweight (including obesity) and obesity in male aged 14 to 18 decreases from 16.4% to 11.7% and from 4.6% to 2.8%, respectively., Conclusion: The overweight (including obesity) and obesity from 14 to 18 years old have a decreasing trend, and more attention should be taken to male students in China. These findings suggest secondary school and government need to design appropriate guidelines to keep healthy for adolescents in China., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Background: Overweight and obesity are epidemic worldwide. Our previous study found that the prevalence of overweight and obesity in primary students is high., Objective: we sought to estimate whether the prevalence of overweight and obesity among university students is still high in China., Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed to collect the routine health screening data for university students in 2013. The height and weight of students were measured, and BMI was calculated with height and weight, we estimated the underweight and obesity prevalence of university students using by two references [Working Group on Obesity references in China (2004) and World Health Organization (WHO) criteria (2000)]., Results: Depending on the China references used, the overall prevalence of underweight, overweight (including obesity) and obesity in male university students were 14.2%, 14.7% and 4.2%, respectively; in female university students were 27.5%, 4.4% and 0.6%, respectively. Depending on the WHO references used, the overall prevalence of underweight, overweight (including obesity) and obesity in male university students were 14.2%, 11.5% and 2.5%, respectively, in female university students were 27.5%, 2.4% and 0.3%, respectively. An interesting observation made was that the underweight prevalence of university students has an increasing trend, especially in female., Conclusion: The study showed that the prevalence of underweight in university students, especially in female students has become a critical health issue. Related department of school and government should pay more attention to student's physical health., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Previous study revealed that 8%-12% adolescents suffered from various types of anxiety disorders, and which had interfered with adolescent daily life function and affected adolescent social function. The aim of this study was to evaluate anxiety status and its related factors among students aged 13-26 years from Wuhu, China. This was a cross-sectional observational study. A sample of school students who come from a university, four high schools and four middle schools in Wuhu city were recruited, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) was used to measure the anxiety status among students aged 13-26 years, and some demographic characteristics of students also was determined. A total of 5249 students were included in our study. The overall rate of anxiety status among students was 14.1%. A significant difference was observed between anxiety status and sex, mothers education level, dietary and siesta habit (P < 0.05), only-child family, gentle temper, regular breakfast habit, friend support was associated with lower scores on anxiety status. The findings indicated that anxiety status is common among school students. Preventive and treatment strategies are highly recommended.

Stress is a nonspecific reaction to everything the body needs. Although occupational stress exists in every occupation, it is seen with more frequency and intensity amongst those occupations related to human health. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between occupational stress and social support (SS) among hospital nurses. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1144 hospital nurse in China. They were investigated with a self-administered questionnaire about socio-demographic characteristics, occupational stress and social support. A validated version of the revised Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI-R) was applied to evaluate occupational stress; SS was measured by nine questions. Logistic regression analysis was used to study the association between occupational stress and SS and adjusted for income, gender, marital status, working years, educational level, and profession. Of 1144 nurses, the majority age group was less than 30 years, and the mean age across participants was 31.8 years. Further correlation analysis indicated that score of ORQ and PSQ had a significant negative correlation with score of SS (P<0.05), and a significant positive correlation was found between Score of PRQ and score of SS (P<0.05). The univariate analysis and multivariate analysis results also revealed that high SS increased significantly with decreasing ORQ score and increasing PRQ score after controlling for income, gender, marital status, working years, educational level and job title. SS significantly influences occupational stress in hospitals nurse. We also should pay more attention to occupational stress of married and long working years nurse.

Background: Overweight and obesity are epidemic worldwide. Our present study was to examine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in a university faculty and staffs using two references [Working Group on Obesity references in China (2004) and World Health Organization (WHO) criteria 2000 ]., Objective: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among university faculty and staffs in China., Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed to collect the routine health screening data for a university faculty and staffs from 2004 to 2010(2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010); the subjects aged 22-94 years., Results: Depending on the references used (China and WHO, respectively), the overall prevalence of overweight, including obesity of the subjects was 36.1% and 25.5%, the prevalence of obesity was 5.3%, and 1.5%, respectively, the prevalence of overweight, including obesity among the male subjects was 46% and 32.5%, respectively, the prevalence of overweight, including obesity among the female subjects was 21% and 14.1%, respectively, An interesting observation made was that the overall prevalence of overweight was increased with age., Conclusions: Regarding the harmful of overweight and obesity, it is encourage reducing liberal food environment and increasing physical activity among university faculty and staffs, especially for male faculty., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the quality of life of elderly diabetic patients and its influencing factors., Methods: By randomized cluster sampling, we conducted a survey in 1450 elderly residents (over 60 years old) living in urban, suburban and rural areas in south and north Anhui province. We evaluated the quality of life of the elderly diabetic patients using a demographic information questionnaire and full items on Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36)., Results: The elderly diabetic patients had lower scores in all dimensions of quality of life than the elderly without diabetes. Multiple linear regression analysis showed a linear regression in the quality of life among the elderly diabetic patients in terms of geographic regions, education, personality, sleep quality, and age., Conclusion: Elderly diabetic patients have generally poor quality of life, which was subjected to the influences by geographic regions, education, personality, sleep quality, and age, suggesting the necessity of corresponding interventions to improve the quality of life of these patients.