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Abstract Background Unfavorable temperatures significantly constrain the quality formation of Dendrobium officinale, severely limiting its food demand. Salicylic acid (SA) enhances the resistance of D. officinale to stress and possesses various analogs. The impact and mechanism of the SA family on improving the quality of D. officinale under adverse temperature conditions remains unclear. Results Combined with molecular docking analysis, chlorophyll fluorescence and metabolic analysis after treatments with SA analogues or extreme temperatures are performed in this study. The results demonstrate that both heat and cold treatments impede several main parameters of chlorophyll fluorescence of D. officinale, including the ΦPSII parameter, a sensitive growth indicator. However, this inhibition is mitigated by SA or its chemically similar compounds. Comprehensive branch imaging of ΦPSII values revealed position-dependent improvement of tolerance. Molecular docking analysis using a crystal structure model of NPR4 protein reveals that the therapeutic effects of SA analogs are determined by their binding energy and the contact of certain residues. Metabolome analysis identifies 17 compounds are considered participating in the temperature-related SA signaling pathway. Moreover, several natural SA analogs such as 2-hydroxycinnamic acid, benzamide, 2-(formylamino) benzoic acid and 3-o-methylgallic acid, are further found to have high binding ability to NPR4 protein and probably enhance the tolerance of D. officinale against unfavorable temperatures through flavone and guanosine monophosphate degradation pathways. Conclusions These results reveal that the SA family with a high binding capability of NPR4 could improve the tolerance of D. officinale upon extreme temperature challenges. This study also highlights the collaborative role of SA-related natural compounds present in D. officinale in the mechanism of temperature resistance and offers a potential way to develop protective agents for the cultivation of D. officinale.

Abstract Background Patient-centered health care for patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) is important and requires an understanding of patient experiences. However, there is a lack of approaches to examine what's the effects and how the disease impact patients’ psychological well-beings. Methods We conducted qualitative interviews with PH patient representatives to understand patient psychological experiences and inform patient-centered research and care. Participants were chosen from a tertiary hospital located in northwest China. 20 patients with PH who be treated at the hospital (13 participants were women, aged 18-74 years) were strategically selected and individually interviewed. We used qualitative analysis to identify themes relating to existential psychological distress that would clarify the nature of such concerns. Results We found that patients experience tremendous psychological distress throughout the treatment process. Four categories that describe patients' psychological experiences emerged: burden of PH treatment, fear and uncertainty about the disease, frustration in social and family role, and lack of recognition of the condition. Conclusions Existential concerns are salient in PH and involve the experience of loss and disruptions to the sense of self and relationships. Healthcare practitioners must work more in collaboration to detect patients' need for support and to develop the patient's own skills to manage daily life. The PH teams should tailor interventions to provide emotional, informational and instrumental support and guidance to patients.

Background: The adverse effects of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) on physical, emotional, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) remain primarily unrecognized, especially in resource-limited settings. Objectives: This study aims to characterize the HRQoL of patients with PAH in this area and also identify the potential role of clinically relevant characteristics, including the 6-min walk distance test (6MWD), WHO-Functional Classification (WHO-FC), and mental health in the occurrence of lowering quality of life. Design: This was a cross-sectional observational study. Methods: Inpatients with PAH were chosen from a tertiary hospital located in Gansu province, China. All participants were interviewed face-by-face by using questionnaires, including items from the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), the self-rating anxiety scale, and the self-rating depression scale. Data on demographic and clinically relevant characteristics, including WHO-FC and 6MWD, were also collected by tracing medical recorders. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the association between demographic, clinically relevant characteristics data, and physical component summary (PCS) or mental component summary (MCS) in SF-36. Results: Of the 152 participants, SF-36 differed significantly from Chinese norms in all eight domains, with role-physical (21.55 ± 9.87) less than one-third of the norm (88.79 ± 28.49). Multiple linear regression results showed that the factors with the greatest impact on PCS were anxiety scores (β = −0.22, p = 0.001), followed by WHO-FC (β = −0.16, p = 0.014) and 6MWD (β = 0.15, p = 0.036). The factors with the greatest impact on MCS were WHO-FC (β = −0.30, p

Abstract Aim The dementia population is expanding fast globally, posing a huge challenge to the healthcare system. Improving the level of Alzheimer's disease knowledge (ADK) in nursing staff is the key to providing quality dementia care and improving the patients' quality of life. This study aimed to investigate and classify the ADK level of nursing staff in East China and to identify the factors influencing the nursing staff's ADK level. Design A cross‐sectional study. Methods A cross‐sectional survey was conducted among 1896 nursing staff in East China from September 2022 to December 2022, using a self‐designed general information questionnaire and the Chinese version of the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to classify the nursing staff according to their ADK level, and multinomial logistic regression was used to identify the factors influencing the nursing staff's ADK level. Results Nursing staff could be classified into four latent profiles according to their ADK level (p

We aimed to evaluate the cerebroprotective eff ects of Yizhitongmai Granule and its decomposed recipes on vascular dementia (VD) rats via the Nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) infl ammasome pathway. Sixty rats were randomly divided into Sham, VD Model, Yizhitongmai Recipe, Bushen Recipe, Tongluo Recipe and positive control groups (n=10). From 12 d aft er operation, Yizhitongmai Recipe, Bushen Recipe and Tongluo Recipe groups were gavaged with corresponding drug liquid. Th e drugs were administered at 2 mL once a day for 28 consecutive days. Th e reactive oxygen species (ROS), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in hippocampal tissues were detected using biochemical methods. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-18 (IL-18) and IL-1β were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Western blotting was performed to detect the expression levels of neuronal growth-associated protein-43 (GAP43), synaptophysin (SYN), aquaporin 4 (AQP4), NLRP3 and Caspase-1. Compared with the Model group, the number of apoptotic cells, levels of ROS, LDH, TNF-α, IL-18, IL-1β, NLRP3 and Caspase-1 decreased, and the levels of SOD, T-AOC, GAP43, SYN and AQP4 increased in the Yizhitongmai Recipe, Bushen Recipe and Tongluo Recipe groups (P0.05). Compared with the Bushen Recipe and Tongluo Recipe groups, the Yizhitongmai Recipe group had fewer apoptotic cells, decreased levels of ROS, LDH, TNF-α, IL-18, IL-1β, NLRP3 and Caspase-1, and increased levels of SOD, T-AOC, GAP43, SYN and AQP4 (P

ObjectivesThis work aimed to observe the effect of consuming Chinese herb tea on glucolipid metabolism and gut microbiota in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).MethodsNinety patients with T2DM were recruited from a community and randomly divided into the control group (CG) and intervention group (IG). CG maintained conventional treatment and lifestyle, and IG accepted additional “maccog” traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) tea (mulberry leaf, radix astragali, corn stigma, cortex lycii, radix ophiopogonis, and gynostemma) for 12 weeks. Glucolipid metabolism, hepatorenal function, and gut microbiota were then measured.ResultsAfter the intervention, the decreases in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and total cholesterol (TC) were greater (P

Objectives: This study was performed to establish the normative values and integrated score of the functional fitness on the basis of the senior fitness test (SFT) among Chinese community-dwelling older adults in Suzhou.Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 1,122 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years old and above were recruited at Suzhou, China, by using a multistage stratified sampling method and accepted the SFT measurements. Sex- and age-specific normative values of each index of the SFT were established by using the percentile method. The SFT integrated score was established using factor analysis according to the data of 70% of the participants (construction group) and verified using the error rate from the data of the remaining 30% of the participants (verification group).Results: Normative-referenced percentile values at the 5th, 10th, 25th, 35th, 50th, 65th, 75th, 90th, and 95th percentiles for each index of SFT were established for the men and women among the different age groups. Five indices of the SFT, namely, 2-min step test, 30-s arm curl, 30-s chair stand, chair sit-and-reach, and 8-ft up-and-go (TUGT), gradually declined with age in both sexes (p < .05). The SFT integrated score was calculated as follows: F = 3.8 × 2-min step test + 3.8 × 30-s arm curl + 3.8 × 30-s chair stand + 2.2 × back starch + 2.6 × chair sit-and-reach + 4 × TUGT − .04 × BMI. The formula was verified using the error rate. The error rates of the verification group compared with the construction group in each grade score of SFT were lower than 5%.Conclusion: Based on the data from the community-dwelling older adults in Suzhou, China, the functional fitness normative values for each index of the SFT and the integrated score of SFT were established. The SFT integrated score formula was verified to be reasonable and effective.

Abstract The metabolic networks underlying skotomorphogenesis in seedlings remain relatively unknown. On the basis of our previous study on the folate metabolism in seedlings grown in darkness, the plastidial folylpolyglutamate synthetase gene (AtDFB) T‐DNA insertion Arabidopsis thaliana mutant (atdfb‐3) was examined. Under the nitrate‐sufficient condition, the mutant exhibited deficient folate metabolism and hypocotyl elongation, which affected skotomorphogenesis. Further analyses revealed changes to multiple intermediate metabolites related to carbon and nitrogen metabolism in the etiolated atdfb‐3 seedlings. Specifically, the sugar, polyol, and fatty acid contents decreased in the atdfb‐3 mutant under the nitrate‐sufficient condition, whereas the abundance of various organic acids and amino acids increased. In response to nitrate‐limited stress, multiple metabolites, including sugars, polyols, fatty acids, organic acids, and amino acids, accumulated more in the mutant than in the wild‐type control. The differences in the contents of multiple metabolites between the atdfb‐3 and wild‐type seedlings decreased following the addition of exogenous 5‐F‐THF under both nitrogen conditions. Additionally, the mutant accumulated high levels of one‐carbon metabolites, such as Cys, S‐adenosylmethionine, and S‐adenosylhomocysteine, under both nitrogen conditions. Thus, our data demonstrated that the perturbed folate metabolism in the atdfb‐3 seedlings, which was caused by the loss‐of‐function mutation to AtDFB, probably altered carbon and nitrogen metabolism, thereby modulating skotomorphogenesis. Furthermore, the study findings provide new evidence of the links among folate metabolism, metabolic networks, and skotomorphogenesis.

This paper presents the common methods and corresponding drawbacks concerning nonlinear analysis of fluxgate excitation circuits and emphasizes the importance of nonlinear analysis for these circuits. With regard to the nonlinearity of the excitation circuit, this paper proposes the use of the core-measured hysteresis curve for mathematical analysis and the use of a nonlinear model that considers the coupling effect of the core and winding and influence of the historical magnetic field on the core for simulation analysis. The feasibility of mathematical calculations and simulation for the nonlinear study of fluxgate excitation circuit is verified via experiments. The results demonstrate that, in this regard, the simulation is four times better than a mathematical calculation. The simulation and experimental results of the excitation current and voltage waveforms under different excitation circuit parameters and structures are essentially consistent, with a difference in current of no more than 1 mA, thereby verifying the effectiveness of the nonlinear excitation analysis method.

As an effective active remote sensing technology for the exploration of shallow underground targets, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a detection method that can be used to obtain information about the characteristics of underground targets by transmitting an electromagnetic wave from an antenna and analyzing the propagation of the electromagnetic wave underground. Due to the frequency (1 MHz–3 GHz) of GPRs, the depth of geological exploration is shallow (0.1–30 m). In order to penetrate the deeper Earth, it is necessary to increase the size of the antenna in accordance with the wavelength ratio and, thus, reduce the radiation frequency. For most bi-static antenna GPRs, a dipole antenna is used as the transmitting antenna and another antenna device is used as a receiving antenna, with both being horizontally linearly polarized (LP) antennas. In some cases, such a design can cause problems, such as the multi-path effect and polarization mismatching. When a GPR is used for deep exploration, increased numbers of errors and greater signal attenuation during data reception and processing often occur. In contrast, at the radiation source, with the use of large-aperture multiple-dipole antennas and multi-channel sequential rotational excitation, the electromagnetic wave can radiate in the form of circular polarization at a low frequency. In the receiving antenna, the issues caused by the multi-path effect and polarization mismatching can be addressed, even if LP antennas are used. A novel sequential rotationally excited (SRE) circularly polarized (CP) multiple-dipole array for a bi-static antenna GPR for deep exploration is proposed in this paper. A large-aperture CP multiple-dipole array is used instead of a small-size LP dipole antenna. The analysis and simulation results demonstrated that, comparing circular polarization and linear polarization with the premise of the same transmitting power, the SRE CP multiple-dipole antenna array radiation source achieved a significant enhancement (about 7 dB) in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as the radiant energy was collected at the receiving antenna. More importantly, by reducing the exploration frequency to 10 KHz, the exploration depth could also be greatly increased by about tenfold.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099741.].

As a semifermented tea, oolong is exceedingly popular worldwide for its elegant, flowery aroma and mellow, rich taste. However, recent marketing trends for old oolong teas and their chemical quality largely remain unexplored. In this study, we applied widely targeted metabolomics using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) combined with multivariate analysis to investigate the chemical change of oolong teas in the aging process. With the increasing of store time, most nongalloylated catechins; tannins, including TFs and proanthocyanidins; flavonols and glycosylated flavonols; amino acids and their derivatives; nucleotides and their derivatives; and lots of alkaloids and phospholipids declined, while most fatty acids and organic acids increased, and galloylated catechins, GA, and caffeine were almost stable. The result also suggested that approximately seven years (but not an infinite extension) was a special period for oolong tea storage, which brings about excellent taste.

Rhizoma Gastrodiae (also known as Tian ma), the dried rhizome of Gastrodia elata Blume, is a famous Chinese herb that has been traditionally used for the treatment of headache, dizziness, spasm, epilepsy, stoke, amnesia and other disorders for centuries. Gastrodin, a phenolic glycoside, is the main bioactive constituent of Rhizoma Gastrodiae. Since identified in 1978, gastrodin has been extensively investigated on its pharmacological properties. In this article, we reviewed the central nervous system (CNS) effects of gastrodin in preclinical models of CNS disorders including epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, affective disorders, cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, cognitive impairment as well as the underlying mechanisms involved and, where possible, clinical data that support the pharmacological activities. The sources and pharmacokinetics of gastrodin were also reviewed here. As a result, gastrodin possesses a broad range of beneficial effects on the above-mentioned CNS diseases, and the mechanisms of actions include modulating neurotransmitters, antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, suppressing microglial activation, regulating mitochondrial cascades, up-regulating neurotrophins, etc. However, more detailed clinical trials are still in need for positioning it in the treatment of neurological disorders.

Chloroplast formation is associated with embryo development and seedling growth. However, the relationship between chloroplast differentiation and embryo development remains unclear. Five FtsHi genes that encode proteins with high similarity to FtsH proteins, but lack Zn2+-binding motifs, are present in the Arabidopsis genome. In this study, we showed that T-DNA insertion mutations in the Arabidopsis FtsHi4 gene resulted in embryo arrest at the globular-to-heart-shaped transition stage. Transmission electron microscopic analyses revealed abnormal plastid differentiation with a severe defect in thylakoid formation in the mutant embryos. Immunocytological studies demonstrated that FtsHi4 localized in chloroplasts as a thylakoid membrane-associated protein, supporting its essential role in thylakoid membrane formation. We further showed that FtsHi4 forms protein complexes, and that there was a significant reduction in the accumulation of D2 and PsbO (two photosystem II proteins) in mutant ovules. The role of FtsHi4 in chloroplast development was confirmed using an RNA-interfering approach. Additionally, mutations in other FtsHi genes including FtsHi1, FtsHi2, and FtsHi5 caused phenotypic abnormalities similar to ftshi4 with respect to plastid differentiation during embryogenesis. Taken together, our data suggest that FtsHi4, together with FtsHi1, FtsHi2, and FtsHi5 are essential for chloroplast development in Arabidopsis.

Interactions among metabolic pathways are important in plant biology. At present, not much is known about how folate metabolism affects other metabolic pathways in plants. Here we report a T-DNA insertion mutant (atdfb-3) of the plastidial folylpolyglutamate synthetase gene (AtDFB) was defective in seed reserves and skotomorphogenesis. Lower carbon (C) and higher nitrogen (N) content in the mutant seeds than that of the wild type were indicative of an altered C and N partitioning capacity. Higher levels of organic acids and sugars were detected in the mutant seeds compared with the wild type. Further analysis revealed that atdfb-3 seeds contained less total amino acids and individual Asn and Glu as well as NO3-. These results indicate significant changes in seed storage in the mutant. Defects in hypocotyl elongation were observed in atdfb-3 in darkness under sufficient NO3- conditions, and further enhanced under NO3- limited conditions. The strong expression of AtDFB in cotyledons and hypocotyl during early developmental stage was consistent with the mutant sensitivity to limited NO3- during a narrow developmental window. Exogenous 5-formyl-tetrahydrofolate completely restored the hypocotyl length in atdfb-3 seedlings with NO3- as the sole N source. Further study demonstrated that folate profiling and N metabolism were perturbed in atdfb-3 etiolated seedlings. The activity of enzymes involved in N reduction and assimilation was altered in atdfb-3. Taken together, these results indicate that AtDFB is required for seed reserves, hypocotyl elongation and N metabolism in darkness, providing novel insights into potential associations of folate metabolism with seed reserve accumulation, N metabolism and hypocotyl development in Arabidopsis.

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Objective This study aimed to investigate the practice of informed consent in China from the perspective of patients. Design A qualitative study using in-depth interviews with in-hospital patients focusing on personal experience with informed consent. Setting Guangdong Province, China. Participants 71 in-hospital patients in rehabilitation after surgical operations were included. Results Medical information is not actively conveyed by doctors nor effectively received by patients. Without complete and understandable information, patients are unable to make an autonomous clinical decision but must sign an informed consent form following the doctor's medical arrangement. Three barriers to accessing medical information by patients were identified: (1) medical information received by patients was insufficient to support their decision-making, (2) patients lacked medical knowledge to understand the perceptions of doctors and (3) patient-doctor interactions were insufficient in clinical settings. Conclusions Informed consent is implemented as an administrative procedure at the hospital level in China. However, it has not been embedded in doctors' clinical practices because, from the perspective of patients, doctors do not fulfil the obligation of medical information provision. As a result, the informed part of informed consent was neglected by individual doctors in China. Reforming medical education, monitoring the process of informed consent in clinical settings and redesigning medical institutional arrangements are pathways to restoring the practice of informed consent and patientcentred models in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Maize is a major staple food crop globally and contains various concentrations of vitamins. Folates are essential water-soluble B-vitamins that play an important role as one-carbon (C1) donors and acceptors in organisms. To gain an understanding of folate metabolism in maize, we performed an intensive in silico analysis to screen for genes involved in folate metabolism using publicly available databases, followed by examination of the transcript expression patterns and profiling of the folate derivatives in the kernels of two maize inbred lines. Results: A total of 36 candidate genes corresponding to 16 folate metabolism-related enzymes were identified. The maize genome contains all the enzymes required for folate and C1 metabolism, characterized by highly conserved functional domains across all the other species investigated. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these enzymes in maize are conserved throughout evolution and have a high level of similarity with those in sorghum and millet. The LC-MS analyses of two maize inbred lines demonstrated that 5-methyltetrahydrofolate was the major form of folate derivative in young seeds, while 5-formyltetrahydrofolate in mature seeds. Most of the genes involved in folate and C1 metabolism exhibited similar transcriptional expression patterns between these two maize lines, with the highest transcript abundance detected on day after pollination (DAP) 6 and the decreased transcript abundance on DAP 12 and 18. Compared with the seeds on DAP 30, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate was decreased and 5-formyltetrahydrofolate was increased sharply in the mature dry seeds. Conclusions: The enzymes involved in folate and C1 metabolism are conserved between maize and other plant species. Folate and C1 metabolism is active in young developing maize seeds at transcriptional levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigations into the biochemical processes and regulatory mechanisms of nitrogen (N) utilization can aid in understanding how N is used efficiently in plants. This report describes a deficiency in N utilization in an Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) transfer DNA insertion mutant of the mitochondrial folylpolyglutamate synthetase gene DFC, which catalyzes the conjugation of glutamate residues to the tetrahydrofolate during folate synthesis. The mutant seedlings displayed several metabolic changes that are typical of plant responses to low-N stress, including increased levels of starch and anthocyanin synthesis as well as decreased levels of soluble protein and free amino acid, as compared with those in wild-type seedlings when external N was sufficient. More striking changes were observed when dfc seedlings were grown under N-limited conditions, including shorter primary roots, fewer lateral roots, higher levels of glycine and carbon-N ratios, and lower N content than those in wild-type seedlings. Gene expression studies in mutant seedlings revealed altered transcript levels of several genes involved in folate biosynthesis and N metabolism. The biochemical and metabolic changes also suggested that N assimilation is drastically perturbed due to a loss of DFC function. The observation that elevated CO2 partly rescued the dfc phenotypes suggests that the alterations in N metabolism in dfc may be mainly due to a defect in photorespiration. These results indicate that DFC is required for N utilization in Arabidopsis and provide new insight into a potential interaction between folate and N metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MSH5, a member of the MutS homolog DNA mismatch repair protein family, has been shown to be required for proper homologous chromosome recombination in diverse organisms such as mouse, budding yeast and Caenorhabditis elegans. In this paper, we show that a mutant Arabidopsis plant carrying the putative disrupted AtMSH5 gene exhibits defects during meiotic division, producing a proportion of nonviable pollen grains and abnormal embryo sacs, and thereby leading to a decrease in fertility. AtMSH5 expression is confined to meiotic floral buds, which is consistent with a possible role during meiosis. Cytological analysis of male meiosis revealed the presence of numerous univalents from diplotene to metaphase I, which were associated with a great reduction in chiasma frequencies. The average number of residual chiasmata in the mutant is reduced to 2.54 per meiocyte, which accounts for ∼25% of the amount in the wild type. Here, quantitative cytogenetical analysis reveals that the residual chiasmata in Atmsh5 mutants are randomly distributed among meiocytes, suggesting that AtMSH5 has an essential role during interference-sensitive chiasma formation. Taken together, the evidence indicates that AtMSH5 promotes homologous recombination through facilitating chiasma formation during prophase I in Arabidopsis.Cell Research (2008) 18:589–599. doi: 10.1038/cr.2008.44; published online 1 April 2008 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deep sea sediment-derived fungus Aspergillus sp. MEA11 was examined for secondary metabolites. Chromatographic separations resulted in the identification of a new phenolic bisabolane (1) and seven known analogs (3-7 and 8a, 8b). The structures were determined by 1H, 13C NMR, and MS data. The known compounds were identified to be 11,12-dihydroxysydonic acid (2), hydroxysydonic acid (3), aspergoterpenin B (4), engyodontiumone J (5), sydowic acid (6), penicipyran A (7), 1-hydroxyboivinianic acid (8). The NMR data of 7 in methanol-d4 were reported for the first time. Compounds 6-8 exhibited inhibitory effect against α-glucosidase with IC50 values of 176, 89, 232 μM, respectively, which were more active than the positive control acabose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: In this research our aim was to investigate Chinese parents' awareness of pediatric COVID-19 in relation to protecting their children. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Fujian provinces in China using a Web-based questionnaire to survey parents of children aged 6 to 16 years old. Results: The sample included 1222 participants. Overall, 99.2% of participants were aware of respiratory transmission of COVID-19, and 75.6% also believed fecal-oral transmission to be possible. Although 98.3% of participants claimed to know how to wear and remove masks properly, some parents were unaware of good handwashing techniques and answered incorrectly regarding cough etiquette. Parents also seemed uncertain about pediatric COVID-19 symptoms. Awareness scores significantly differed across parental role, educational attainment levels, and social-economic levels (p value < .005), with fathers, more educated parents, and those of higher income showing greater levels of awareness. Conclusion: Research results suggest an urgent need for parental education regarding COVID-19 in children, especially regarding handwashing techniques and cough etiquette; educational outreach for both parents and schoolchildren is critical.