We provide a systematic review of epidemiological surveys of autistic disorder and pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) worldwide. A secondary aim was to consider the possible impact of geographic, cultural/ethnic, and socioeconomic factors on prevalence estimates and on clinical presentation of PDD. Based on the evidence reviewed, the median of prevalence estimates of autism spectrum disorders was 62/10 000. While existing estimates are variable, the evidence reviewed does not support differences in PDD prevalence by geographic region nor of a strong impact of ethnic/cultural or socioeconomic factors. However, power to detect such effects is seriously limited in existing data sets, particularly in low‐income countries. While it is clear that prevalence estimates have increased over time and these vary in different neighboring and distant regions, these findings most likely represent broadening of the diagnostic concets, diagnostic switching from other developmental disabilities to PDD, service availability, and awareness of autistic spectrum disorders in both the lay and professional public. The lack of evidence from the majority of the world's population suggests a critical need for further research and capacity building in low‐ and middle‐income countries. Autism Res 2012, 5: 160–179. © 2012 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

COVID-19 had become a pandemic raising concerns of widespread panic and increasing anxiety and stress in individuals all over the world (World Health Organization, 2020a). Lots of countries had closed their schools. As the first country to do so, Chinese colleges and universities were making use of different modes of learning, including online-learning based on different platforms to achieve the goal suggested by Ministry of Education in China, "suspending classes without suspending learning," since middle February. This paper is the first one which aims to investigate the anxiety of Chinese university students after the outbreak of COVID-19 right before the start of new spring term. 3611 university students (female: male = 1.48:1) aged between 18 to 24 from all over China were enrolled to this study from a top university in China. The Self-Rating Anxiety Scale -SAS (Zung, 1971) was used to assess anxiety 2 days before the start of new spring term in middle February. All four-year undergraduate students were included in the study. The mean SAS score was 40.53 (SD = 10.15), significantly higher than the national norm (Mean = 29.78, SD = 10.07, and p ≤ .001), and there were still 557 (15.43%, Mean = 58.75, and SD = 8.9) students met the cutoff of 50 and were screened positive. Comparisons among sexes, grades and majors were also conducted. Significant differences were found between all males and all female (p ≤ .001), and between all students majoring arts and sciences in the anxiety sample (n = 557, p = 0.05). The results also showed that the mean SAS scores were not correlated with the regions they came from/lived in. This study concluded that the Chinese university students showed higher anxiety for COVID-19.

No abstract

In order to assess the influence of nutrient elements on the accumulation of β-N-oxalyl-L-α, β-diaminopropionic acid (β-ODAP; the probable cause of lathyrism) in Lathyrus sativus L. (grass pea), it was first examined under field conditions during the lifespan of a grass pea plant using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). β-ODAP mainly accumulated in young seedlings, in developing and mature seeds and in young leaves, especially in young seedlings. In contrast, all mature leaves, roots, and stems showed a low level of β-ODAP. The β-ODAP accumulation pattern in seedlings grown in a nutrient-deficient solution was highest (3·57 mg/g) in shoots at 7 d growing in the nitrogen-deficient solution and higher compared to the control (2·31 mg/g) in zinc-, calcium-, phosphorus- and molybdenum-deficient shoots (P<0·05). The contents of β-ODAP in seedlings growing in other element-deficient solutions were similar to controls. When the content of β-ODAP in grass pea seedlings fertilized with different forms of organic nitrogen was assayed the results indicated that amino acids such as glutamine and serine, as well as nucleotide nitrogen, all significantly enhanced the accumulation of β-ODAP in young seedlings relative to controls (P<0·05). Taken together, these data suggest that β-ODAP accumulation in grass pea might be related to the level of total free nitrogenous compounds and that nitrogen and phosphate may be the crucial nutrient factors influencing β-ODAP content under field conditions. Thus, the application of appropriate nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers to the soil could decrease the content of β-ODAP in the seeds and leaves of grass pea.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused tremendous loss starting from early this year. This article aims to investigate the change of anxiety severity and prevalence among non-graduating undergraduate students in the new semester of online learning during COVID-19 in China and also to evaluate a machine learning model based on the XGBoost model. A total of 1172 non-graduating undergraduate students aged between 18 and 22 from 34 provincial-level administrative units and 260 cities in China were enrolled onto this study and asked to fill in a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) twice, respectively, during February 15 to 17, 2020, before the new semester started, and March 15 to 17, 2020, 1 month after the new semester based on online learning had started. SPSS 22.0 was used to conduct t-test and single factor analysis. XGBoost models were implemented to predict the anxiety level of students 1 month after the start of the new semester. There were 184 (15.7%, Mean = 58.45, SD = 7.81) and 221 (18.86%, Mean = 57.68, SD = 7.58) students who met the cut-off of 50 and were screened as positive for anxiety, respectively, in the two investigations. The mean SAS scores in the second test was significantly higher than those in the first test (P &lt; 0.05). Significant differences were also found among all males, females, and students majoring in arts and sciences between the two studies (P &lt; 0.05). The results also showed students from Hubei province, where most cases of COVID-19 were confirmed, had a higher percentage of participants meeting the cut-off of being anxious. This article applied machine learning to establish XGBoost models to successfully predict the anxiety level and changes of anxiety levels 4 weeks later based on the SAS scores of the students in the first test. It was concluded that, during COVID-19, Chinese non-graduating undergraduate students showed higher anxiety in the new semester based on online learning than before the new semester started. More students from Hubei province had a different level of anxiety than other provinces. Families, universities, and society as a whole should pay attention to the psychological health of non-graduating undergraduate students and take measures accordingly. It also confirmed that the XGBoost model had better prediction accuracy compared to the traditional multiple stepwise regression model on the anxiety status of university students.

Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.), a legume crop in arid and semi-arid areas, is widely acknowledged as highly drought tolerant. We report here an analysis of grass pea and garden pea seedlings stressed with 20% polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG) for five days. While leaf margins of grass pea curled inward after PEG stress, leaves of pea failed to display this trait. PEG inhibited the growth of grass pea less than that of pea. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation increased in pea more than in grass pea. Greater accumulation of proline and soluble sugars alleviated osmotic stress injury to grass pea compared with pea. Moreover, PEG caused a significantly greater increase of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities in grass pea compared to pea. These enzymes showed obvious up-regulation at the transcriptional level in grass pea leaves. Together, these data suggest that the accumulation of osmoprotectants and the improvement of oxidation resistance resulted in the higher drought tolerance of grass pea compared to pea.

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Our data present H S in a new role, serving as a multi-faceted transducer to different response mechanisms during NO-induced acquisition of tolerance to flooding-induced hypoxia in maize seedling roots. Nitric oxide (NO), serving as a secondary messenger, modulates physiological processes in plants. Recently, hydrogen sulfide (HS) has been demonstrated to have similar signaling functions. This study focused on the effects of treatment with HS on NO-induced hypoxia tolerance in maize seedlings. The results showed that treatment with the NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) enhanced survival rate of submerged maize roots through induced accumulation of endogenous HS. The induced HS then enhanced endogenous Ca levels as well as the Ca-dependent activity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), improving the capacity for antioxidant defense and, ultimately, the hypoxia tolerance in maize seedlings. In addition, NO induced the activities of key enzymes in HS biosynthesis, such as L-cysteine desulfhydrases (L-CDs), O-acetyl-L-serine (thiol)lyase (OAS-TL), and β-Cyanoalanine Synthase (CAS). SNP-induced hypoxia tolerance was enhanced by the application of NaHS, but was eliminated by the HS-synthesis inhibitor hydroxylamine (HA) and the HS-scavenger hypotaurine (HT). HS concurrently enhanced the transcriptional levels of relative hypoxia-induced genes. Together, our findings indicated that HS serves as a multi-faceted transducer that enhances the nitric oxide-induced hypoxia tolerance in maize (Zea mays L.).