For over twenty years boron has been of interest to investigators confirming the safety and essentiality of the element in humans. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and pulses are natural sources of boron in the diet which world wide averages about 1-3 mg daily for most adults. In boron-rich regions of Turkey drinking water sources with 29 mg boron/liter are consumed without harmful effects. The European Union established a safe drinking water standard of 1.0 mg boron/ litre a level difficult for some regions to achieve. Safe standards are difficult to establish due to limited information and widely varying boron concentrations in food and water, high exposures in boron-rich regions or occupational settings and voluntary intakes, for example, of boron containing products. Current research implicates boron as an essential nutrient in humans demonstrating healthful effects in cellular functions associated with osteoporosis, arthritis, inflammation and cancer. Proposed mechanisms of action implicate that boron, found in cells as boric acid, participates in important membrane functions and intracellular signaling cascades. Traditionally, biochemical mechanisms associated with healthfully beneficial effects are needed for nutrients to meet the criteria for essentiality in humans. While boron meets the traditional criteria to be determined essential in humans the research process has provided additional insight into essentiality for boron insight that essentiality for trace elements may based on different criteria. The study of boron in living systems provides a more fundamentally important role by demonstrating functions for trace elements differing from those needed to confirm essentiality previously for carbon based compounds, i.e., carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and vitamins in human nutrition. To conclude, boron can be a model element to introduce a new field of study, "elementomics". Further studies from boron-rich areas are needed to determine essentiality, dietary requirements, metabolic functions, therapeutic applications, economic benefits and important public policies for boron, a biologically important trace element.
Objective The COVID-19 outbreak has negatively affected children in many ways. This study aimed to compare the psychological responses of children exposed to different levels of stress during the COVID-19 outbreak.Methods The anxiety levels, negative thoughts, and quality of life of COVID-19-positive children with COVID-19-positive parents (Child+ group, n=17), COVID-19-negative children who are separated from COVID-19-positive parents (Parent+ group, n=59), and a control group (n=64) were compared. The participants completed the Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders (SCARED), Children’s Negative Cognitive Errors Questionnaire (CNCEQ), and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL).Results The statistical analysis revealed that the Parent+ group recorded higher SCARED and CNCEQ scores and lower PedsQL scores in comparison with the control group. No statistically significant difference was found between the scores of the Child+ and control groups. Furthermore, high CNCEQ scores and low PedsQL scores in the Parent+ group predicted an increase in their SCARED scores.Conclusion Our study indicates that separating children from their parents during the COVID-19 outbreak negatively influences their mental health and increases their anxiety levels.
Background
The current study aimed to compare the psychological responses of children exposed to different levels of stress during COVID-19 outbreak. Anxiety levels, negative thoughts, and quality of life of COVID-19 positive children (Child + group, n = 17), COVID-19 negative children who are isolated from their COVID-19 positive parent(s) (Parent + group, n = 59), and a control group (n = 64) were compared.
Methods
The participants completed a sociodemographic data form, the Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders (SCARED), the Children’s Negative Cognitive Errors Questionnaire (CNCEQ), and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL).
Results
The statistical analysis of the data obtained from the three groups revealed that the Parent + group recorded higher SCARED and CNCEQ scores and lower PedsQL scores in comparison to the control group. No statistically significant difference was found between the Child + group scores and the control group. It was observed that high CNCEQ scores and low PedsQL scores in the Parent + group predicted an increase in the SCARED scores.
Conclusions
Our study indicates that isolating children from their parents during the COVID-19 outbreak negatively influences their mental health and causes an increase in their anxiety levels. In addition, the results of the study highlight that preventive mental health measures should be applied for children separated from parents during pandemics.
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