Publications by authors named "Xiandong Meng"

Introduction: Conventional neuropsychological tests for assessing cognitive function in schizophrenia face critical limitations in ecological validity and efficiency. We developed , a virtual reality serious game simulating real-world cognitive demands, to address these challenges. This study aimed to validate its diagnostic validity in differentiating cognitive impairments between schizophrenia patients (SZs) and healthy controls (HCs), while evaluating user experience feasibility.

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Objective: To explore the impact of life rules (including individual's life habits and life patterns, such as diet, sleep, and learning styles) on mental health and behavioral problems among adolescent and youth students after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in Sichuan, China and analyze the influencing factors of life rules.

Methods: An online survey was conducted in middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities in Sichuan Province, China, from December 14, 2022, to February 28, 2023. Demographic information, COVID-19 epidemic-related questions, behavioral and mental health information were collected.

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Metabolic diseases including type 2 diabetes and obesity pose a significant global health burden. Plant-based diets, including vegan diets, are linked to favorable metabolic outcomes, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In a randomized trial involving 21 pairs of identical twins, we investigated the effects of vegan and omnivorous diets on the host metabolome, immune system, and gut microbiome.

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The ubiquitous skin colonist Staphylococcus epidermidis elicits a CD8 T cell response pre-emptively, in the absence of an infection. However, the scope and purpose of this anticommensal immune programme are not well defined, limiting our ability to harness it therapeutically. Here, we show that this colonist also induces a potent, durable and specific antibody response that is conserved in humans and non-human primates.

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Background: Kidney function can be impaired in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn's diseases (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). However, the causal relationship between IBD and chronic kidney diseases (CKD) remains unclear.

Methods: We determined the causal association between IBD and CKD by performing two-sample bidirectional mendelian randomization (MR) analyses.

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Objective: To investigate risk factors associated with long-term mortality in patients with stage II and III tuberculous meningitis (TBM).

Methods: This retrospective analysis examined patients who were first diagnosed with stage II and III TBM at West China Hospital of Sichuan University between January 1, 2018 and October 1, 2019. Patients were followed via telephone and categorized into survival and mortality groups based on 4-year outcomes.

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The ubiquitous skin colonist elicits a CD8 T cell response pre-emptively, in the absence of an infection . However, the scope and purpose of this anti-commensal immune program are not well defined, limiting our ability to harness it therapeutically. Here, we show that this colonist also induces a potent, durable, and specific antibody response that is conserved in humans and non-human primates.

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Background: It is unclear about the mutual impact of COVID-19 related psychological stress and infection on mental health of adolescent and youth students. This study aimed to explore the mutual impact of COVID-19 related psychological stress and infection on mental health problems among students.

Methods: This study was conducted from December 14, 2022 to February 28, 2023 in Sichuan, China.

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Background: Internet addiction (IA) among students, worsened by Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, has become a social problem with the digitalization of school learning and many aspects of daily life. However, few studies on IA have been conducted among students after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in China.

Method: This large-sample, cross-sectional, online survey was conducted to explore the characteristics of IA and the association among IA, academic satisfaction, and mental health problems from December 14, 2022 to February 28, 2023 in Sichuan, China.

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Background: Although the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly changed the way students studied, it is still unknown about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' academic performance and mental health.

Objective: To explore the academic performance and mental health status of middle and high school students after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in China.

Methods: An online survey was conducted in Sichuan province, China from Dec 14, 2022 to Feb 28, 2023.

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Certain bacterial strains from the microbiome induce a potent, antigen-specific T cell response. However, the specificity of microbiome-induced T cells has not been explored at the strain level across the gut community. Here, we colonize germ-free mice with complex defined communities (roughly 100 bacterial strains) and profile T cell responses to each strain.

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Article Synopsis
  • About 15% of US adults have high uric acid levels linked to gout, while most mammals use the enzyme uricase to eliminate it, which humans lack due to evolutionary changes.
  • Researchers discovered a bacterial gene cluster in the gut that can degrade uric acid into other compounds like xanthine and fatty acids.
  • Removing gut bacteria in mice without uricase led to high uric acid levels, suggesting that gut microbiota play a role in uric acid excretion and indicating potential new treatments targeting the microbiome for hyperuricemia.
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  • The study compares the stigma associated with COVID-19 and mental disorders among adolescents and young adults in China, revealing that mental disorder-related stigma is notably higher (40.7%) than COVID-19-related stigma (17.2%).
  • Factors influencing stigma include gender, quarantine experience, education level, family income, and mental health symptoms, particularly PTSD for COVID-19 stigma and depression and anxiety for mental disorder stigma.
  • The findings suggest a need for tailored stigma-reduction interventions targeting either COVID-19 or mental disorders among youth.
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The gut microbiome is complex, raising questions about the role of individual strains in the community. Here, we address this question by constructing variants of a complex defined community in which we eliminate strains that occupy the bile acid 7α-dehydroxylation niche. Omitting Clostridium scindens (Cs) and Clostridium hylemonae (Ch) eliminates secondary bile acid production and reshapes the community in a highly specific manner: eight strains change in relative abundance by >100-fold.

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Microbial community function depends on both taxonomic composition and spatial organization. While composition of the human gut microbiome has been deeply characterized, less is known about the organization of microbes between regions such as lumen and mucosa and the microbial genes regulating this organization. Using a defined 117 strain community for which we generate high-quality genome assemblies, we model mucosa/lumen organization with in vitro cultures incorporating mucin hydrogel carriers as surfaces for bacterial attachment.

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The spatiotemporal structure of the human microbiome, proteome and metabolome reflects and determines regional intestinal physiology and may have implications for disease. Yet, little is known about the distribution of microorganisms, their environment and their biochemical activity in the gut because of reliance on stool samples and limited access to only some regions of the gut using endoscopy in fasting or sedated individuals. To address these deficiencies, we developed an ingestible device that collects samples from multiple regions of the human intestinal tract during normal digestion.

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  • Modified polyurethane concrete (MPUC) is being tested for its tensile properties due to cracking issues caused by temperature variations in steel deck pavements.
  • Researchers conducted uniaxial tensile tests on MPUC at five different temperatures, using a novel fixture to collect data on deformation through strain gauges and digital image correlation (DIC).
  • Results revealed that as temperatures rise, MPUC's tensile strength and elastic modulus decrease, while fracture strain and energy increase; strong bonding between binder and aggregate was also confirmed across temperatures.
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Objective: This study aimed to translate the English version of the Perceived Competence Scale for Disaster Mental Health Workforce (PCS-DMHW) into Chinese, and to test its reliability and validity in Chinese mental health workers.

Methods: With the consent of Professor Choi, Keimyung University, Korea, and the authorization of the scale, the English version of PCS-DMHW was translated, retranslated and culturally debugged to form the Chinese version of PCS-DMHW. The general information questionnaire and the Chinese version of PCS-DMHW scale were used to investigate 706 mental health workforce from 9 tertiary hospitals in Sichuan province in China from March 24, 2020 to April 14, 2020.

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Background: Although stigma and caregiving burden are important in relation to mental health recovery, few studies have been conducted on affiliate stigma and caregiving burden among family caregivers of persons with schizophrenia (FCPWS) in rural China.

Aims: This study aimed to examine the severity level of affiliate stigma and caregiving burden, and identify the correlates among FCPWS in rural China.

Methods: A mental health survey was conducted ( = 253 FCPWS) in Xinjin county, Sichuan province, China.

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Background: The characteristics associated with having family members going out for work among persons with schizophrenia in rural China are unknown. This study aimed to explore the characteristics of families with members going out for work and the risk factors among persons with schizophrenia in a rural area of China.

Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional dataset from a mental health survey, using the International Classification of Disease, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), conducted among 152,776 people aged 15 years and older in Xinjin District, Chengdu, China, in 2015.

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Efforts to model the human gut microbiome in mice have led to important insights into the mechanisms of host-microbe interactions. However, the model communities studied to date have been defined or complex, but not both, limiting their utility. Here, we construct and characterize in vitro a defined community of 104 bacterial species composed of the most common taxa from the human gut microbiota (hCom1).

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Article Synopsis
  • Cognitive impairment is a common issue for individuals with schizophrenia, impacting their daily lives, and this study investigates how VR gaming can help improve cognitive function in these patients.
  • Sixty-four participants with schizophrenia were divided into an intervention group, which received VR training, and a control group that only received standard care; cognitive function was assessed before and after the training.
  • Results showed significant improvement in working memory and executive function for the VR training group, but no notable difference in social cognition, suggesting that tailored VR game training can benefit cognitive abilities in schizophrenia patients.
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Infant microbiome assembly has been intensely studied in infants from industrialized nations, but little is known about this process in nonindustrialized populations. We deeply sequenced infant stool samples from the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania and analyzed them in a global meta-analysis. Infant microbiomes develop along lifestyle-associated trajectories, with more than 20% of genomes detected in the Hadza infant gut representing novel species.

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Background: The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is a public health emergency of international concern and poses a challenge to the mental health and sleep quality of front-line medical staff (FMS). The aim of this study was to investigate the sleep quality of FMS during the COVID-19 outbreak in China and analyze the relationship between mental health and sleep quality of FMS.

Methods: From February 24, 2020 to March 22, 2020, a cross-sectional study was performed with 543 FMS from a medical center in Western China.

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