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In response to the COVID-19 epidemic, many education systems have relied on distance learning and educational technologies to an unprecedented degree. However, rigorous empirical research on the impacts on learning under these conditions is still scarce. We present the first large-scale, quantitative evidence detailing how school closures affected education in China. The data set includes households and teachers of 4,360 rural and urban primary school students. We find that although the majority of students engaged in distance education, many households encountered difficulties including barriers to learning (such as access to appropriate digital devices and study spaces), curricular delays, and costs to parents equivalent to between 3.5 and 6 months of income. We also find significant disparities across rural and urban households.

Rural China has seen an increase in its migrant workers returning home. As a result, many of these workers' children, who had previously boarded at school, needed to return home as well. While the existing research indicates that boarding affects the development of disadvantaged children, the effect of the switch to nonboarding on the growth of vulnerable boarding children remains unknown. Using two-stage data from 20,594 fourth- and fifth-grade students in rural Shaanxi and Gansu provinces as well as the difference-in-differences method, this study estimates the impact of switching to nonboarding on the academic performance and mental health of vulnerable boarding students. The results suggest that the shift toward nonboarding significantly reduces boarding students' academic performance, and further testing shows that these results are robust. Additionally, the switch to nonboarding insignificantly increased the standardized mental health scores of rural primary school students but significantly increased their standardized impulsive tendency scores. Heterogeneity analysis found that boarding students whose mothers had lower educational achievement or whose families belonged to lower economic levels had poorer academic performance after switching, while boarding students whose parents had higher education achievement or myopia possessed better mental health after switching. This study offers novel, policy-relevant insights into potential strategies that would improve the academic performance and mental health of students who transition to nonboarding, especially those with low-educated parents and those belonging to poor families.

The home language environment is a significant correlate of early childhood development outcomes; however, less is known about this mechanism in rural and peri-urban China where rates of developmental delay are as high as 52%. This study examines associations between the home language environment and child development in a sample of 158 children (58% boys) aged 18–24 months (Mage = 21.5) from rural and peri-urban households in Western China. Results show a significant association between adult-child conversation count and language development, suggesting the home language environment may be a mechanism for child development in rural and peri-urban China. 22.5% of the sample were at risk of language delay. Mother's employment and child's age were significant factors in the home language environment. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: This research investigates the links between the home language environment and ECD in rural and peri-urban communities in China. This study shows significant positive associations between measures of the home language environment and language development outcomes, as well as with overall ECD outcomes. Adult-child conversations were more important for language development outcomes than was the number of adult words spoken. Female-initiated conversations were more important than child-initiated conversations for language development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the current study is to examine the impact of an in-school computer-assisted learning (CAL) intervention on the math achievement of rural students in Taiwan, including a marginalized subgroup of rural students called Xinzhumin, and the factors associated with this impact. In order to achieve this, we conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial involving 1,840 fourth- and fifth-grade students at 95 schools in four relatively poor counties and municipalities of Taiwan during the spring semester of 2019. While the Intention-To-Treat (ITT) analysis found that the CAL intervention had no significant impacts on student math achievement, the Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) analysis revealed significant associations with the math performance of the most active 20% of students in the treatment group. LATE estimates suggest that using CAL for more than 20 minutes per week for ten weeks corresponds to higher math test scores, both in general (0.16 SD–0.22 SD), and for Xinzhumin students specifically (0.3 SD–0.34 SD). Teacher-level characteristics were associated with compliance rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that elements of the family environment may have significant associations with cognitive and language development outcomes. Less is known, however, about the family environment in peri-urban China, where rates of cognitive and language delay in children aged 0-3 years are as high as 51% and 54%, respectively. Using data collected from 81 peri-urban households with toddlers aged 18-24 months in Southwestern China, this study examines the associations between stimulating parenting practices, the home language environment, and parental self-efficacy, with cognitive and language development. The results indicate that stimulating parenting practices was significantly associated with cognitive development, the home language environment was significantly associated with language development, and parental self-efficacy was significantly associated with cognitive development. The implications of such findings reveal several mechanisms for supporting healthy cognitive and language development among toddlers from peri-urban China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a huge threat to human health even though the diagnosis and treatment strategies have improved rapidly in the past few decades. Increasing evidence has illustrated the critical role noncoding RNA and their regulatory network play in the pathology of HCC. Here, we identified a novel long noncoding RNA, RP5-1120P11.3, that is ectopically expressed in HCC. Further characterization of RP5-1120P11.3 revealed that it promoted proliferation and invasion of HCC cells while inhibiting apoptosis. Importantly, our data revealed that miR-196b-5p interacted with and was regulated by RP5-1120P11.3 via a sponging mechanism. Inhibition of miR-196b-5p attenuated the phenotypes resulting from RP5-1120P11.3 inhibition. Moreover, our data showed that miR-196b-5p inhibited the expression of WIPF2 in HCC, illustrating a regulatory axis of RP5-1120P11.3-miR-196b-5p-WIPF2 that facilitated the progression of HCC. In addition, our data showed that RP5-1120P11.3 contributed to xenograft generation in vivo by regulating miR-196b-5p and WIPF2. These findings suggested that the RP5-1120P11.3-miR-196b-5p-WIPF2 axis is a potential target for treatment of HCC. Key words: RP5-1120P11.3, lncRNA, hepatocellular carcinoma, miR-196b-5p, WIPF2, carcinogenesis. Le carcinome hépatocellulaire (CHC) demeure une menace importante pour la santé humaine même si les stratégies de diagnostic et de traitement se sont rapidement améliorées au cours des dernières décennies. De plus en plus de données ont mis en évidence le rôle des ARN non codants et de leur réseau régulateur qui exercent des fonctions clés dans la pathologie du CHC. Les auteurs ont identifié iciun nouvel ARN non codant, leRP5-1120P11.3 qui est exprimé de manière ectopique dans le CHC. Une caractérisation plus poussée du RP5-1120P11.3 a révélé qu'il favorisait la prolifération et l'invasion des cellules de CHC tout en inhibant l'apoptose. De manière importante, leurs données ont révélé que le miR-196b-5p interagissait avec le RP5-1120P11.3 et était régulé par lui par un mécanisme de capture. L'inhibition du miR-196b-5p atténuait les phénotypes résultant de l'inhibition du RP5-1120P11.3. De plus, leurs données montraient que le miR-196b-5p inhibait l'expression de WIPF2 dans les cellules de CHC, illustrant ainsi un axe régulateur constitué de RP5-1120P11.3-miR-196b-5p-WIPF2 qui facilitait la progression du CHC. Par ailleurs, leurs données montraient que le RP5-1120P11.3 contribuait à la croissance de xénogreffes in vivo en régulant le miR-196b-5p et WIPF2. Ces résultats suggéraient que l'axe RP5-1120P11.3-miR-196b-5p-WIPF2 constitue une cible potentielle pour le traitement du CHC. [Traduit par la Rédaction] Mots-clés : RP5-1120P11.3, long ARNnc, carcinome hépatocellulaire, miR-196b-5p, WIPF2, carcinogenèse., Introduction Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-related death ranks the third of all cancer-related deaths worldwide (Li et al. 2018; Zhang et al. 2017). Genetic aberration is one of the major risk factors [...]

In low‐ and middle‐income countries, urbanization has spurred the expansion of peri‐urban communities, or urban communities of formerly rural residents with low socioeconomic status. The growth of these communities offers researchers an opportunity to measure the associations between the level of urbanization and the home language environment (HLE) among otherwise similar populations. Data were collected in 2019 using Language Environment Analysis observational assessment technology from 158 peri‐urban and rural households with Han Chinese children (92 males, 66 females) aged 18–24 months in China. Peri‐urban children scored lower than rural children in measures of the HLE and language development. In both samples, child age, gender, maternal employment, and sibling number were positively correlated with the HLE, which was in turn correlated with language development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis study aims to identify the associations between teacher mental health and student mental health. Cross-sectional data were collected from 127,877 students aged 9–20 years and 2,759 teachers across 31 provinces in China. The mental health of students and teachers were assessed by well-being (life satisfaction and positive mental health), and psychological distress (depression and anxiety). Controlling for demographic variables, multilevel regression analyses suggest that higher teacher positive mental health was linked to higher student positive mental health and lower student depression; higher teacher depression were correlated with higher student depression; and teacher life satisfaction and anxiety were not correlated with any indicators of student mental health. The study highlights the significant association between teacher mental health and student mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]