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Background and purposeTraumatic brain injury (TBI) causes lifelong physical and psychological dysfunction in affected individuals. The current study investigated the effects of chronic nicotine exposure via E-cigarettes (E-cig) (vaping) on TBI-associated behavioural and biochemical changes.Experimental approachAdult C57/BL6J male mice were subjected to controlled cortical impact (CCI) followed by daily exposure to E-cig vapour for 6 weeks. Sensorimotor functions, locomotion, and sociability were subsequently evaluated by nesting, open field, and social approach tests, respectively. Immunoblots were conducted to examine the expression of mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor (mBDNF) and associated downstream proteins (p-Erk, p-Akt). Histological analyses were performed to evaluate neuronal survival and neuroinflammation.Key resultsPost-injury chronic nicotine exposure significantly improved nesting performance in CCI mice. Histological analysis revealed increased survival of cortical neurons in the perilesion cortex with chronic nicotine exposure. Immunoblots revealed that chronic nicotine exposure significantly up-regulated mBDNF, p-Erk and p-Akt expression in the perilesion cortex of CCI mice. Immunofluorescence microscopy indicated that elevated mBDNF and p-Akt expression were mainly localized within cortical neurons. Immunolabelling of Iba1 demonstrated that chronic nicotine exposure attenuated microglia-mediated neuroinflammation.Conclusions and implicationsPost-injury chronic nicotine exposure via vaping facilitates recovery of sensorimotor function by upregulating neuroprotective mBDNF/TrkB/Akt/Erk signalling. These findings suggest potential neuroprotective properties of nicotine despite its highly addictive nature. Thus, understanding the multifaceted effects of chronic nicotine exposure on TBI-associated symptoms is crucial for paving the way for informed and properly managed therapeutic interventions.

BackgroundSince its outbreak in January 2020, COVID-19 has quickly spread worldwide and has become a global pandemic. Social media platforms have been recognized as important tools for health-promoting practices in public health, and the use of social media is widespread among the public. However, little is known about the effects of social media use on health promotion during a pandemic such as COVID-19. ObjectiveIn this study, we aimed to explore the predictive role of social media use on public preventive behaviors in China during the COVID-19 pandemic and how disease knowledge and eHealth literacy moderated the relationship between social media use and preventive behaviors. MethodsA national web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted by a proportionate probability sampling among 802 Chinese internet users (“netizens”) in February 2020. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical multiple regressions were employed to examine and explore the relationships among all the variables. ResultsAlmost half the 802 study participants were male (416, 51.9%), and the average age of the participants was 32.65 years. Most of the 802 participants had high education levels (624, 77.7%), had high income >¥5000 (US $736.29) (525, 65.3%), were married (496, 61.8%), and were in good health (486, 60.6%). The average time of social media use was approximately 2 to 3 hours per day (mean 2.34 hours, SD 1.11), and the most frequently used media types were public social media (mean score 4.49/5, SD 0.78) and aggregated social media (mean score 4.07/5, SD 1.07). Social media use frequency (β=.20, P

BackgroundInternet addiction has become a major global concern and a burden on mental health. However, there is a lack of consensus on its link to mental health outcomes. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the associations between internet addiction severity and adverse mental health outcomes. MethodsFirst-year undergraduates enrolled at Sichuan University during September 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 were invited to participate in the current study survey, 85.13% (31,659/37,187) of whom fully responded. Young’s 20-item Internet Addiction Test, Patient Health Questionnaire-15, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Symptom Checklist 90, Six-Item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, and Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised were used to evaluate internet addiction, four psychopathologies (high somatic symptom severity, clinically significant depression, psychoticism, and paranoia), serious mental illness, and lifetime suicidality. ResultsThe prevalence of students with mild, moderate, and severe internet addiction was 37.93% (12,009/31,659), 6.33% (2003/31,659), and 0.20% (63/31,659), respectively. The prevalence rates of high somatic symptom severity, clinically significant depression, psychoticism, paranoid ideation, and serious mental illness were 6.54% (2072/31,659), 4.09% (1294/31,659), 0.51% (160/31,659), 0.52% (165/31,659), and 1.88% (594/31,659), respectively, and the lifetime prevalence rates of suicidal ideation, suicidal plan, and suicidal attempt were 36.31% (11,495/31,659), 5.13% (1624/31,659), and 1.00% (315/31,659), respectively. The prevalence rates and odds ratios (ORs) of the four psychopathologies and their comorbidities, screened serious mental illness, and suicidalities in the group without internet addiction were much lower than the average levels of the surveyed population. Most of these metrics in the group with mild internet addiction were similar to or slightly higher than the average rates; however, these rates sharply increased in the moderate and severe internet addiction groups. Among the four psychopathologies, clinically significant depression was most strongly associated with internet addiction after adjusting for the confounding effects of demographics and other psychopathologies, and its prevalence increased from 1.01% (178/17,584) in the students with no addiction to 4.85% (582/12,009), 24.81% (497/2,003), and 58.73% (37/63) in the students with mild, moderate, and severe internet addiction, respectively. The proportions of those with any of the four psychopathologies increased from 4.05% (713/17,584) to 11.72% (1408/12,009), 36.89% (739/2003), and 68.25% (43/63); those with lifetime suicidal ideation increased from 24.92% (4382/17,584) to 47.56% (5711/12,009), 67.70% (1356/2003), and 73.02% (46/63); those with a suicidal plan increased from 2.59% (456/17,584) to 6.77% (813/12,009), 16.72% (335/2003), and 31.75% (20/63); and those with a suicidal attempt increased from 0.50% (88/17,584) to 1.23% (148/12,009), 3.54% (71/2003), and 12.70% (8/63), respectively. ConclusionsModerate and severe internet addiction were strongly associated with a broad group of adverse mental health outcomes, including somatic symptoms that are the core features of many medical illnesses, although clinically significant depression showed the strongest association. This finding supports the illness validity of moderate and severe internet addiction in contrast to mild internet addiction. These results are important for informing health policymakers and service suppliers from the perspective of resolving the overall human health burden in the current era of “Internet Plus” and artificial intelligence.

Landfill, one of the major approaches for waste treatment in China, is a significant source of carbon emissions; compiling landfill carbon emission accounting standards in China will support the construction of a statistical accounting system for carbon emissions and promote the achievement of the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. This study reviews the research progress of landfill carbon emission accounting standards and guidelines in China and abroad, analyzes the challenges faced by the development of these standards in China, and proposes relevant development suggestions based on an in-depth discussion of the baseline methodology for the standards and the priority tasks for compilation. The international standards and guidelines currently available for reference are not fully applicable to China’s landfill carbon emission accounting, and there is a lack of standardized and unified landfill carbon emission accounting methodology as well as reliable accounting inventory data in China. Therefore, based on the waste characteristics and technical status of landfills in China, recommendations for carbon emission accounting methodology, scope, and inventory are proposed, priorities for the standards compilation are clarified, and approaches for obtaining inventory data applicable to China’s landfill scenarios are provided. Subsequently, regional factors can be fully considered and characteristic data of China can be adopted in order to obtain landfill carbon emission accounting results that are more in line with the actual situation, and the compilation of landfill carbon emission accounting standards in China can be carried out accordingly.