1.Effectiveness of a newly developed YouTube diabetes education: A multicentre randomized controlled trial
Phei Ching Lim ; Yi Woei Tang ; Jia Hui Cheng ; Leong Seng Tan ; Hooi Hoon Tan ; Chong Hui Khaw
Journal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies 2026;41(S1):7-
Introduction:
Adequate knowledge of diabetes is essential for effective self-management and glycemic control. Emerging trends in
digital platforms, video-based education offer a scalable and accessible approach to patient learning. However, evidence
on the effectiveness of validated YouTube-based diabetes education in the Malaysian population remains limited. We
aimed to evaluate the impact of a newly developed, tri-language YouTube diabetes education programme on clinical and
knowledge outcomes.
Methodology:
In this multicentre study, patients with diabetes mellitus were randomly assigned to intervention (YouTube-based education)
and control groups (standard care). The intervention consisted of newly developed and validated short educational videos
on YouTube regarding diabetes, complications and lifestyle changes, delivered weekly via WhatsApp over 9 weeks. Videos
were available in English, Malay and Chinese. The control group received standard care and counseling. Demographic
data, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and knowledge scores were collected at baseline and 3 months post-intervention.
Results:
A total of 109 patients (62.4% female; mean age 53.2 years; mean diabetes duration 16.3 years) were enrolled in the
study, with similar baseline characteristics between groups. The intervention group demonstrated significantly greater
improvement in glycemic control compared to the control group (HbA1c: −1.22 ± 1.36% vs. −0.24 ± 1.05%; p <0.001). While
knowledge scores improved in both groups, the increase was significantly greater in the intervention group (2.66 vs. 0.80;
p = 0.001). Notably, improvement in knowledge score predicted HbA1c reduction (b = 0.091; 95% CI 0.01, 0.172; p = 0.028).
Conclusion
The tri-language YouTube-based diabetes education programme significantly improved both glycemic control and patients’
knowledge. This accessible, scalable video-based education represents an effective strategy to enhance diabetes selfmanagement, offering flexible, on-demand learning for diverse populations.
Social Media
;
Diabetes Mellitus
2.Subacute Thyroiditis vs Suppurative Thyroiditis: A Diagnostic Challenge
Jia En Chew ; Ju Vern Ew ; Albert Li Ren Chong ; Eunice Yi Chwen Lau
Journal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies 2026;41(S1):121-122
Introduction:
Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) and acute suppurative
thyroiditis (AST) are two distinct inflammatory conditions
but share many overlapping clinical and biochemical
features, which may pose a diagnostic challenge. We report
a case of SAT mimicking AST.
Case:
A 39-year-old female presented with a 3-week history of
painful neck swelling and symptoms of thyrotoxicosis,
including palpitations, heat intolerance, and diaphoresis. She
had no family history of thyroid disease. On examination,
she was febrile and had a smooth and tender goiter. Her
blood tests showed leukocytosis with elevated erythrocyte
sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein. Her thyroid
function test (TFT) showed thyroid-stimulating hormone of
0.023 mIU/L and free thyroxine 4 of 32.15 pmol/L.
An urgent ultrasound revealed a large, ill-defined
heterogeneously hypoechoic lesion predominantly at
the left lobe of the thyroid gland with mild intralesional
vascularity. These were reported as features of thyroiditis
with infective or early suppurative changes. Fine needle
aspiration (FNA) of the lesion was attempted by the
radiologist but was unsuccessful.
She was treated with intravenous antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), but symptoms
persisted. Repeated ultrasound and computed tomography
scans about 1 week later confirmed an enlarged thyroid
gland with no obvious lesion or collection within the gland.
The diagnosis was revised to SAT, and prednisolone 15 mg
OD was started. This resulted in rapid improvement in her
symptoms and inflammatory markers.
Four weeks later, she remained asymptomatic, and
prednisolone was gradually tapered off. Serial TFT
monitoring showed a classic triphasic pattern with an initial
hyperthyroid phase, followed by hypothyroidism before
returning to euthyroidism.
Conclusion
SAT can present with a focal lesion on the ultrasound
during the early stage of the disease, making it difficult
to distinguish from a thyroid abscess due to overlapping
features. Good clinical judgement guided by FNA
and appropriate follow-up imaging may be helpful in
differentiating between the two conditions.
Thyroiditis, Subacute
;
Thyroiditis, Suppurative
3.Anxiety symptoms and associated factors among relocated elderly residents in new townships
Xueyi WANG ; Xue CHONG ; Fuqin MU ; Shuzhang HU ; Yi ZHENG ; Zhaorui LIU ; Hongguang CHEN ; Yueqin HUANG ; Yan LIU
Chinese Mental Health Journal 2025;39(2):151-156
Objective:To investigate anxiety symptoms and associated factors in relocated elderly residents of new townships,and to provide evidence for prevention interventions.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conduc-ted in relocated elderly residents in new townships of three urban areas in Shandong Province from 2021 to 2023.The study instruments included Ascertain Dementia-8,Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7,self-administered de-mographic characteristics information questionnaire.Multivariate analysis of factors associated with anxiety symp-toms in elderly residents was performed using multivariate logistic regression.Results:The prevalence rate of mild anxiety symptoms was 5.8%,and the rate of moderate-to-severe anxiety symptoms was 1.3%in 3 313 resi-dents.Multivariate analysis found that self-assessed general psychological condition(OR=0.52),good family envi-ronment(OR=0.34),no self-perceived cognitive impairment(OR=0.31),no chronic diseases(OR=0.42),and only one chronic disease(OR=0.61)were protective factors for mild anxiety symptoms,and very good dietary structure(OR=2.15)and fair dietary structure(OR=2.39)were risk factors for those.Very good family environ-ment(OR=0.11)and average family environment(OR=0.16),and no self-perceived cognitive impairment(OR=0.14)were protective factors for moderate-to-severe anxiety symptoms,and 0-3 years(OR=3.24)and 4-6 years(OR=3.28)of relocation were risk factors for those.Conclusion:Family environment,dietary structure,and duration since relocation are key factors associated with anxiety symptoms among relocated elderly residents in new townships.Targeted interventions should be implemented to address their mental health needs.
4.LncRNA SNHG12 Promotes Breast Cancer Progression via Competing with EPHB3 for Binding to miR-326
Yong LI ; Yi-Ning QUAN ; Kun WANG ; Hong-Li LI ; Chong-Gao YIN
Chinese Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2025;41(9):1310-1319
Breast cancer(BRCA)remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide due to its high rates of metastasis and recurrence,making it crucial to explore its underlying molecular mechanisms.Our previous study demonstrated that miR-326 inhibits BRCA progression by targeting EPH receptor B3(EPHB3).This study further explores the molecular mechanism by which long non-coding RNAs(LncRNAs)regulates BRCA progression via the competing endogenous RNA(ceRNA)mecha-nism,in which it competes with EPHB3 for miR-326 binding.Bioinformatics analysis identified LncRNA Small Nucleolar RNA Host Gene 12(SNHG12)as a potential miR-326-binding molecule.SNHG12 was found to be significantly upregulated in BRCA tissues,exhibiting a negative correlation trend with miR-326 and a positive correlation trend with EPHB3,suggesting its potential involvement in the ceRNA regu-latory network.Nuclear-cytoplasmic fractionation assays revealed cytoplasmic localization of SNHG12,while dual-luciferase reporter assays confirmed its direct binding to miR-326.Functional experiments demonstrated that SNHG12 knockdown significantly suppressed BRCA cell proliferation,invasion,and migration,while miR-326 inhibition reversed these effects.Furthermore,miRNA pulldown assay re-vealed significant enrichment of SNHG12 and EPHB3 in the miR-326 pulldown products,indicating di-rect binding between them.Western blotting and rescue experiments revealed that SNHG12 upregulates EPHB3 expression by sponging miR-326,thereby promoting the malignant behaviors of BRCA cells.Col-lectively,this study revealed that LncRNA SNHG12 promotes BRCA progression by regulating the miR-326/EPHB3 axis through a ceRNA mechanism.The SNHG12/miR-326/EPHB3 pathway may represent a promising target for the molecular diagnosis and targeted therapy of BRCA.
5.Exploration and Practice of a Comprehensive Model of"Teaching,Science and Ideology Trinity"to Enhance the Scientific Research Comprehensive Ability of Medical Students
Xiao-Hong YANG ; Chun-Hong HUANG ; Da-Ya LUO ; Wei-Feng ZHU ; Mu-Ying YING ; Yi JIANG ; Jing-Chong GUO ; Hao-Tang LIAO ; Xiao-Li TANG
Chinese Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2025;41(9):1360-1368
The integration of science and education is not only an important strategy for promoting social progress and technological development,but also a modern form of higher education aiming at cultivating innovative talents.Conducting scientific research training for undergraduate medical students is one of the important ways to cultivate their innovative abilities and comprehensive qualities.Our team proposed a"teaching,science,and ideology trinity"teaching model to comprehensively cultivate students' scientific research comprehensive abilities under the value orientation of ideological and political education by or-ganically integrating molecular biology experimental teaching with the scientific research training of under-graduate medical students.In this teaching activity,taking the experiment of gene polymorphism as an example,our team selected students with research potential from the whole grade and divided them into 4 project groups that were instructed by 4 teachers.The students were trained in the whole process of scien-tific research,including topic selection,project writing,experimental designing,application for research ethics,and project summary.Our team has always adhered to student-contentedness of educational con-cepts to stimulate students' intrinsic motivation throughout the teaching process.Students are the design-ers and implementers of the project,and teachers are only guides and promoters of learning.After this training,students not only became familiar with the writing and implementation of scientific research pro-jects,but also improved their literature reading,experimental designing,experimental skills,and prob-lem-solving abilities.More importantly,this teaching activity also cultivated students' awareness of re-search ethics and academic moral standards.
6.Anxiety symptoms and associated factors among relocated elderly residents in new townships
Xueyi WANG ; Xue CHONG ; Fuqin MU ; Shuzhang HU ; Yi ZHENG ; Zhaorui LIU ; Hongguang CHEN ; Yueqin HUANG ; Yan LIU
Chinese Mental Health Journal 2025;39(2):151-156
Objective:To investigate anxiety symptoms and associated factors in relocated elderly residents of new townships,and to provide evidence for prevention interventions.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conduc-ted in relocated elderly residents in new townships of three urban areas in Shandong Province from 2021 to 2023.The study instruments included Ascertain Dementia-8,Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7,self-administered de-mographic characteristics information questionnaire.Multivariate analysis of factors associated with anxiety symp-toms in elderly residents was performed using multivariate logistic regression.Results:The prevalence rate of mild anxiety symptoms was 5.8%,and the rate of moderate-to-severe anxiety symptoms was 1.3%in 3 313 resi-dents.Multivariate analysis found that self-assessed general psychological condition(OR=0.52),good family envi-ronment(OR=0.34),no self-perceived cognitive impairment(OR=0.31),no chronic diseases(OR=0.42),and only one chronic disease(OR=0.61)were protective factors for mild anxiety symptoms,and very good dietary structure(OR=2.15)and fair dietary structure(OR=2.39)were risk factors for those.Very good family environ-ment(OR=0.11)and average family environment(OR=0.16),and no self-perceived cognitive impairment(OR=0.14)were protective factors for moderate-to-severe anxiety symptoms,and 0-3 years(OR=3.24)and 4-6 years(OR=3.28)of relocation were risk factors for those.Conclusion:Family environment,dietary structure,and duration since relocation are key factors associated with anxiety symptoms among relocated elderly residents in new townships.Targeted interventions should be implemented to address their mental health needs.
7.Alterations in striatal functional connectivity in schizophrenia patients with predominant negative symptoms
Yao ZHNAG ; Qin-yu LYU ; Xin-xin HUANG ; Chong-ze WANG ; Qi YAN ; Pei-juan WANG ; Zheng-hui YI
Fudan University Journal of Medical Sciences 2025;52(4):492-499
(rsFC)and their relationship with negative symptoms in schizophrenia patients with predominant negative symptoms(PNS).Methods Fifty-four schizophrenia patients with PNS and sixty-one healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)scans.Data were collected on general demographic information,the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS),the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms(SANS),and the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale(TEPS).Twelve striatal subregions were selected as regions of interest(ROIs)to analyze the rsFC between each ROI and whole-brain voxels.The rsFC values of areas with significant differences were extracted for Pearson correlation analysis with negative symptoms.Results Compared with healthy controls,schizophrenia patients with PNS exhibited decreased rsFC between the right dorsal caudal putamen(DCP)and right insula,left middle frontal gyrus(MFG),right median cingulate and paracingulate gyri(MCC);between the left DCP and right putamen,left insula,left MFG;between the right dorsal rostral putamen(DRP)and bilateral MFG,left insula,right MCC;between the left DRP and right insula,left rolandic operculum;between the right ventral rostral putamen(VRP)and bilateral putamen,left MFG,right MCC;between the left VRP and right insula,left putamen,bilateral MFG,right MCC,left inferior parietal gyrus,excluding supramarginal and angular gyri.Decreased rsFC was also observed between the left ventral caudate/nucleus accumbens(inferior)and right insula,left anterior cingulate cortex,supracallosal,bilateral precuneus(a threshold of P<0.001 in voxel-level with P<0.05 in cluster-lever,corrected for family-wise error,PFWE<0.05/12=0.004).No regions showed increased rsFC in schizophrenia patients with PNS relative to healthy controls.And no significant correlations were found between striatal rsFC and negative symptoms(PBonferroni>0.05).Conclusion Schizophrenia patients with PNS exhibited widespread cortical-striatal functional connectivity abnormalities,particularly reduced rsFC between the putamen and the MFG,MCC and insula.
8.Associations between dietary habits and self-perceived cognitive decline
Xue CHONG ; Xueyi WANG ; Xingmeng NIU ; Yi ZHENG ; Fuqin MU ; Zhaorui LIU ; Yanfei HOU ; Yueqin HUANG ; Yan LIU
Chinese Mental Health Journal 2025;39(8):698-704
Objective:To investigate the self-perceived cognitive decline status in the community population,and to explore the association between different dietary habits and self-perceived cognitive decline.Methods:A cross-sectional study was carried out in 11 879 community residents in the three regions of Weifang,Jining,and Zoucheng in Shandong Province.The Ascertain Dementia-8 and dietary habits information questionnaire were used to assess self-perceived cognitive decline and dietary habits,and their association were analyzed using single factor and multivariate logistic regression.Results:The detection rate of self-perceived cognitive decline was 21.4%.Lo-gistic regression showed that smoking in the past was positively associated with self-perceived cognitive decline(OR=1.40,95%CI:1.14-1.73).However,intake of fruits(often,OR=0.70,95%CI:0.52-0.94;everyday,OR=0.60,95%CI:0.44-0.81),nuts(daily,OR=0.62,95%CI:0.44-0.88),mushrooms(often,OR=0.74,95%CI:0.57-0.92)and high tryptophan foods(sometimes,OR=0.79,95%CI:0.68-0.91;everyday,OR=0.54,95%CI:0.34-0.87)were negatively associated with self-perceived cognitive decline.Conclusion:Smoking history might be a risk factor for self-perceived cognitive decline,and high frequency intake of fruits,nuts,mush-rooms,and high tryptophan foods might protective factors for it.
9.LncRNA SNHG12 Promotes Breast Cancer Progression via Competing with EPHB3 for Binding to miR-326
Yong LI ; Yi-Ning QUAN ; Kun WANG ; Hong-Li LI ; Chong-Gao YIN
Chinese Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2025;41(9):1310-1319
Breast cancer(BRCA)remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide due to its high rates of metastasis and recurrence,making it crucial to explore its underlying molecular mechanisms.Our previous study demonstrated that miR-326 inhibits BRCA progression by targeting EPH receptor B3(EPHB3).This study further explores the molecular mechanism by which long non-coding RNAs(LncRNAs)regulates BRCA progression via the competing endogenous RNA(ceRNA)mecha-nism,in which it competes with EPHB3 for miR-326 binding.Bioinformatics analysis identified LncRNA Small Nucleolar RNA Host Gene 12(SNHG12)as a potential miR-326-binding molecule.SNHG12 was found to be significantly upregulated in BRCA tissues,exhibiting a negative correlation trend with miR-326 and a positive correlation trend with EPHB3,suggesting its potential involvement in the ceRNA regu-latory network.Nuclear-cytoplasmic fractionation assays revealed cytoplasmic localization of SNHG12,while dual-luciferase reporter assays confirmed its direct binding to miR-326.Functional experiments demonstrated that SNHG12 knockdown significantly suppressed BRCA cell proliferation,invasion,and migration,while miR-326 inhibition reversed these effects.Furthermore,miRNA pulldown assay re-vealed significant enrichment of SNHG12 and EPHB3 in the miR-326 pulldown products,indicating di-rect binding between them.Western blotting and rescue experiments revealed that SNHG12 upregulates EPHB3 expression by sponging miR-326,thereby promoting the malignant behaviors of BRCA cells.Col-lectively,this study revealed that LncRNA SNHG12 promotes BRCA progression by regulating the miR-326/EPHB3 axis through a ceRNA mechanism.The SNHG12/miR-326/EPHB3 pathway may represent a promising target for the molecular diagnosis and targeted therapy of BRCA.
10.Exploration and Practice of a Comprehensive Model of"Teaching,Science and Ideology Trinity"to Enhance the Scientific Research Comprehensive Ability of Medical Students
Xiao-Hong YANG ; Chun-Hong HUANG ; Da-Ya LUO ; Wei-Feng ZHU ; Mu-Ying YING ; Yi JIANG ; Jing-Chong GUO ; Hao-Tang LIAO ; Xiao-Li TANG
Chinese Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2025;41(9):1360-1368
The integration of science and education is not only an important strategy for promoting social progress and technological development,but also a modern form of higher education aiming at cultivating innovative talents.Conducting scientific research training for undergraduate medical students is one of the important ways to cultivate their innovative abilities and comprehensive qualities.Our team proposed a"teaching,science,and ideology trinity"teaching model to comprehensively cultivate students' scientific research comprehensive abilities under the value orientation of ideological and political education by or-ganically integrating molecular biology experimental teaching with the scientific research training of under-graduate medical students.In this teaching activity,taking the experiment of gene polymorphism as an example,our team selected students with research potential from the whole grade and divided them into 4 project groups that were instructed by 4 teachers.The students were trained in the whole process of scien-tific research,including topic selection,project writing,experimental designing,application for research ethics,and project summary.Our team has always adhered to student-contentedness of educational con-cepts to stimulate students' intrinsic motivation throughout the teaching process.Students are the design-ers and implementers of the project,and teachers are only guides and promoters of learning.After this training,students not only became familiar with the writing and implementation of scientific research pro-jects,but also improved their literature reading,experimental designing,experimental skills,and prob-lem-solving abilities.More importantly,this teaching activity also cultivated students' awareness of re-search ethics and academic moral standards.


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