BackgroundOptimal nutrition for lactating mothers is importance for mother and infants’ health and well-being. We determined the nutrient intake and dietary changes during the first 3-month of lactation, and its potential effect on health and disease risk.MethodPersonal interviews were conducted to collect a 24h diet recall questionnaire from 199 healthy lactating women in the postpartum days 2, 7, 30, 90 and healthy 58 non-pregnant women served as the controls.ResultsWe found in lactating women (1) the mean daily energy and carbohydrate intake was lower than that of the Chinese Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI, 2600 Kcal, 357.5 ~ 422.5g) by 11% ~ 17% and 33% ~ 49%, respectively; (2) the fat intake increased from 3% to 13%, which was 9 ~ 77% higher than the RNI (57 ~ 86.7g); (3) the protein intake exceeded the RNI of 85g by 32 ~ 53%; (4) the total calories consumed from carbohydrate (39%-44%), fat (34% ~ 42%) and protein (20%-23%) failed to meet Chinese RNI (5) the intake of vitamin C, B1, folate, zinc, dietary fiber, and calcium was 5% ~ 73% lower than the RNI while vitamin B2, B3, E, iron and selenium intake was 20% to 3 times higher than the RNI. Nutrient intake in the control group was lower for all nutrients than the recommended RNI.ConclusionLactating women on a self-selected diet did not meet the Chinese RNI for many important micronutrients, which may influence the nutritional composition of breast milk and thus impact the potential health of mothers and infants. RNI should consider the regional dietary habits and culture. A single national RNI is not applicable for all of China. Nutritional education into the community is needed.

Ballistic-electron-emission microscopy measurements have been performed on n-type Au/Si͑100͒ interfaces for injection energies up to 1.2 eV over a range of Au overlayer thicknesses from ϳ65 to ϳ340 Å at both room temperature and 77 K. Hot-electron attenuation lengths in the Au overlayer have been determined to be 133Ϯ2 Å at room temperature and 147Ϯ6 Å at 77 K over the energy range of 0.92-1.20 eV above the Fermi level. The lack of energy dependence and the relatively small temperature-dependent change in the attenuation lengths that have been measured indicate that electron scattering with defects is the dominant mechanism affecting hot-electron transport in these Au overlayers. The ratio of the zero-thickness collection current at 77 K to that at room temperature has been measured to be 1.79Ϯ0.09. This large increase in the collection efficiency at 77 K is attributed primarily to the large temperature dependence of the transverse acoustic-phonon population in Si. Images with significant reductions in the collection current at topographic locations that have a large surface gradient have been obtained at room temperature. Calculations, which assume that the probability of transmission across the interface is independent of the transverse momentum of the electron, correlate well with the experimentally observed reductions. This result indicates that the injected electrons remain forward focused with little broadening as they pass through the Au overlayer, which implies that elastic scattering at the Au/Si interface accounts for the observation from previous Au/Si ballistic-electron-emission microscopy studies that transverse momentum is not conserved.

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the association between social engagement and cognitive impairment with psychological well-being (PWB) as a mediator in older Chinese adults and to further test the gender differences in this association. Method: Data were drawn from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey of older Chinese adults, aged 65 and older ( N = 6,998). The total effect was decomposed into direct and indirect effects by logistic regression based on the Karlson, Holm, and Breen method. Results: Higher social engagement was significantly associated with lower odds of cognitive impairment, odds ratio (OR) = 0.89, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [0.82, 0.97]. Moreover, a better PWB would decrease the odds of cognitive impairment (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = [0.94, 0.98]). The mediating effect was 15.4% in the full sample and 13.1% in the men subsample. However, mediation was not significant in the women subsample. Discussion: Higher social engagement was associated with a decreased odds of cognitive impairment in older men, and this association was mediated by PWB.

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BackgroundThe unprecedented number of elderly individuals in China presents a serious public health challenge. Limited data are available on the prevalence of disability or factors resulting in disability among the elderly in China.ObjectiveWe aimed to assess the prevalence of disability and related risk factors among the elderly of Xiamen, China.MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed on individuals who were ≥60 years of age. The subjects were recruited by multi-stage sampling; a total of 14,292 valid questionnaires were received. Study measurements included activities of daily living (ADL), demographics, and health status. The ADL was assessed by the Katz Index Scale to evaluate disability. Chi-square tests and binary logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with disabilities.ResultsAmong the valid participants, 4.27% had at least one disability. Bathing was the most frequently reported disability and feeding was the least frequently reported disability. Disabilities were significantly associated with female gender, older age, unmarried status, living with family, urban residence, illiteracy, poor economic status, self-rated bad health, chronic illnesses, lower life satisfaction, bad mood, and feelings of loneliness.ConclusionFunctional disability among the elderly requires more public attention. Culturally appropriate policies and programs are also needed to address the care for the disabled elderly.