Buffering Effect Research Articles

Preliminary investigation of the regulatory loop of loneliness and the protective role of self-esteem – a cross-sectional study

As a major public health issue, chronic loneliness has been associated with increased mortality and impaired physical and mental health. The proposed model by Cacioppo and Hawkley (Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(10), 447–454, 2009) pictures the emergence and maintenance of chronic loneliness as a vicious cycle containing cognitive and behavioral aspects. As a potential source of resilience, self-esteem has been shown to have buffering effects on loneliness. This study aimed to investigate the central relationships between the components within the regulatory loop of loneliness and the potential buffering effect of self-esteem. In this study, a community sample of 436 adult participants completed measures of loneliness, interpretation bias in social situations, social avoidance behavior, self-esteem, and important covariates (including depressive and social anxiety symptoms and social network size). First, we tested bivariant correlations. Subsequently, we tested three mediation models representing the regulatory loop of loneliness. Lastly, we tested moderated mediation models with self-esteem as a moderator. Loneliness was positively associated with interpretation bias and social avoidance and negatively with self-esteem. Indirect effects in all three mediation models testing the regulatory loop were positive and strongly significant. Self-esteem was a significant moderator in the mediation models, with higher levels of self-esteem attenuating the indirect effect of loneliness on interpretation bias. These effects held even when controlled for relevant covariates, such as depressive and social anxiety symptoms. This study gives preliminary empirical support for the proposed model of chronic loneliness by Cacioppo and Hawkley (Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(10), 447–454, 2009) and the potential buffering effect of self-esteem. Hence, our results support the notion of addressing maladaptive social cognitions and maladaptive social behavior to effectively reduce chronic loneliness and strengthen self-esteem as a protective factor.

Buffering effect of psychosocial mentoring on the relationship between career mentoring and employee turnover intentions through attitude toward leaving

Purpose: This study seeks to examine distinct effects of career and psychosocial mentoring on employee turnover intentions in a moderated mediation model. Specifically, the purpose was to examine the mediating role of attitude toward leaving in the relationship between career mentoring and turnover intentions, and the moderating/buffering effect of psychosocial mentoring on the abovementioned mediating process.Design/methodology/approach: Hypotheses have been tested deductively by using cross-sectional data from 352 bank employees. Analyses have been performed by applying partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings: The findings suggest that attitude toward leaving mediates the career mentoring-turnover intentions relationship, and psychosocial mentoring moderates this mediating effect.Research limitations/implications: This study integrates theory of planned behavior (TPB) and Eight Forces Framework of voluntary turnover, and extends organizational literature by unfolding how psychosocial mentoring buffers the mediating effect of attitude toward leaving on career mentoring-turnover intentions relationship. Study limitations are about cross-sectional nature of data and external validity of results.Practical Implications: This study’s contribution to practice is that organizations providing career mentoring to their employees should consider also the provision of psychosocial mentoring to avoid employee turnover intentions.Originality/value: This study adds value to organizational literature by examining a previously untested buffering effect of psychosocial mentoring on the mediating process between career mentoring and turnover intentions.

Macroalgal presence decreases coral calcification rates more than ocean acidification

Global coral reef degradation has precipitated phase shifts toward macroalgal-dominated communities. Despite the negative repercussions for reefscapes, higher abundances of primary producers have the potential to positively impact the physicochemical environment and mitigate negative impacts of ocean acidification (OA). In this study, we investigated the influence of macroalgal (cf. Sargassum vulgare) density on coral (Acropora millepora and A. hemprichii) calcification rates under current and future OA conditions. Corals were resistant to OA up to ~ 1100 µatm, with no changes in calcification rates. However, the presence of (low and high density) algae reduced calcification rates by ~ 41.8%, suggesting either a chemical defense response due to algal metabolites or potential physical impacts from shading or abrasion. Documented beneficial buffering effects of macroalgae in OA may also elicit negative impacts on coral calcification, suggesting further work is needed to elucidate how species interactions influence responses to projected climate change.

Orogen‐scale uniformity of recorded granulite facies conditions due to thermal buffering and melt retention

AbstractGranulite facies metapelitic gneisses collected over a km exposed area of the Kakamas Domain of the Namaqua–Natal Metamorphic Province in southern Namibia all contain similar garnet–sillimanite–cordierite–biotite–quartz–K‐feldspar–ilmenite plagioclase magnetite mineral assemblages. These assemblages are interpreted to have equilibrated at suprasolidus retrograde conditions, and most samples contain distinct biotite‐ or sillimanite‐free peak assemblages. Pseudosection modelling constrains extremely uniform residuum solidus conditions of kbar and °C for the entire Kakamas Domain. Estimated peak metamorphic conditions overlap with these but are more smeared out at between 4 and 7 kbar at 760°C to potentially more than 900°C. The uniformity of residuum solidus conditions is not coincidental, but is a consequence of retrograde re‐equilibration due to minor melt retention after peak metamorphism. Re‐equilibration could only stop once all retained melt had crystallized, which required the concomitant growth of a hydrous mineral to account for its H2O component. Biotite is the most stable hydrous mineral in these rocks, such that the residuum – conditions in the Kakamas Domain reflect the upper‐ stability of biotite, and also corresponds to the intersection of the well‐known biotite–sillimanite melting reaction that consumed all biotite during prograde metamorphism. The calculated melt fertility of the sample suite indicates that the variable amounts of heat consumed to overcome the latent heat of fusion could have caused a 25°C spread in the peak temperature achieved by the most and least fertile samples. Peak temperature in the Kakamas Domain may have been as much as 100°C higher than residuum solidus conditions for specific samples but cannot be confidently constrained as it is obscured by the effects of both thermal buffering during prograde metamorphism and melt retention during retrograde metamorphism. Both processes are an inescapable part of the evolution of all granulite facies rocks, but their effects are most pronounced in fertile rocks like metapelites that are traditionally the preferred lithology for quantifying the – history of exhumed terranes.

Case Study of Space Optimization Simulation of Existing Office Buildings Based on Thermal Buffer Effect

This paper takes an old office building in Hefei as the research object to explore the influence of the thermal buffering performance of the case building buffer space on the air speed and thermal environment of the office space based on the field measurement and simulation. As the thermal buffer layer of the main space, the buffer space is the layout mode that follows the thermal transfer law. Building buffer space variables were evaluated and compared by orthogonal tests to determine the better combination of buffer space sizes. The results show that when the air speed is taken as the evaluation index, the influence of each buffer space on the indoor environment is ordered: courtyard > corridor > foyer; when the temperature is taken as the evaluation index, the influence of each buffer space on the indoor environment is ordered: courtyard > foyer > corridor. From the perspective of green transformation, this paper selects two better schemes. Through comparison, it is found that when the buffer space size is: corridor (16 m × 2 m × 3.3 m), courtyard (16 m × 12 m) and foyer (7.2 m × 6 m × 3.3 m) is the optimal scheme, the indoor air speed is increased by 0.1 m/s, and the temperature is reduced to 27.0 °C, which is within the thermal comfort range of the human body. It is found that optimizing the buffer space size of the case building can effectively improve its indoor air speed and thermal environment, and provide theoretical basis and reference for the green transformation of existing buildings of the same type in this area.

Tertiary treatment of dairy wastewater applying a microalga-fungus consortium

ABSTRACT This paper aimed to apply filamentous fungi (Penicillium oxalicum and Cunninghamella echinulata), the microalga Tetradesmus obliquus and their co-culture in advanced treatment (tertiary treatment) of cheese whey. The bioremediation process was carried out in agitated flasks and bubble column bioreactors with different concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD) (223–1663 mg L − 1), total nitrogen (TN) (13–61 mg L − 1), and total phosphorus (TP) (3–26 mg L − 1). The results obtained in shaken flasks showed a superiority of the consortium compared to the systems with separated species. In this sense, the treatment was carried out in a bubble column reactor, and the consortium formed by the microalga and the fungus C. echinulata showed a greater efficiency (at a light intensity of 100 µmol m − 2 s − 1), promoting by the symbiosis to reach removal efficiencies of up to 93.7, 78.8 and 93.4% for COD, TN and TP, respectively; meeting Brazilian and European standards for discharge into water bodies. In addition, no pH adjustment was required during the co-culture treatment, demonstrating the buffering effect of using these two types of microorganisms. Therefore, the use of the consortium formed by T. obliquus and C. echinulata as a remediator was highly promising to promote the advanced treatment of cheese whey.

Culturally compelled coping and depressive symptoms in Black Americans: Examining the role of psychophysiological regulatory capacity.

Given the culture of racism in the United States, Black Americans are often required to use culturally compelled coping (CCC) styles, such as emotional and behavioral restraint and vigilance. Although CCC is adaptive in the face of pervasive racialized stress, it may still negatively impact mental health outcomes, like depression. Studies have found that Black Americans exhibit higher resting heart rate variability (HRV)-a trait-level biomarker of self-regulatory capacity-than White Americans (Hill et al., 2015), which may reflect the additional resources that Black Americans need to regulate given experiences of racialized stress. Theoretically, this should protect against the development of mental health issues, like depression, given that lower resting HRV is typically observed in psychopathology (Beauchaine & Thayer, 2015). However, the literature is mixed on the buffering effects of greater resting HRV on psychopathology for Black Americans (Keen et al., 2015). Thus, we aimed to understand, with data collected from Black Americans between 2015 and 2018, how individual differences in resting HRV and the use of CCC, particularly restraint and vigilance, related to self-reported depressive symptoms. We found that at higher levels of resting HRV, greater use of CCC was associated with higher depressive symptoms. This suggests that CCC strategies may be detrimental to emotional well-being for those who have the capacity-as indexed by higher resting HRV-to engage in these strategies. Hence, the present study provides preliminary evidence that the ways Black Americans are often compelled to cope with racialized stress may be a path to greater depressive symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Southern Africa's Great Escarpment as an amphitheater of climate-driven diversification and a buffer against future climate change in bats.

Hosting 1460 plant and 126 vertebrate endemic species, the Great Escarpment (hereafter, Escarpment) forms a semi-circular "amphitheater" of mountains girdling southern Africa from arid west to temperate east. Since arid and temperate biota are usually studied separately, earlier studies overlooked the biogeographical importance of the Escarpment as a whole. Bats disperse more widely than other mammalian taxa, with related species and intraspecific lineages occupying both arid and temperate highlands of the Escarpment, providing an excellent model to address this knowledge gap. We investigated patterns of speciation and micro-endemism from modeled past, present, and future distributions in six clades of southern African bats from three families (Rhinolophidae, Cistugidae, and Vespertilionidae) having different crown ages (Pleistocene to Miocene) and biome affiliations (temperate to arid). We estimated mtDNA relaxed clock dates of key divergence events across the six clades in relation both to biogeographical features and patterns of phenotypic variation in crania, bacula and echolocation calls. In horseshoe bats (Rhinolophidae), both the western and eastern "arms" of the Escarpment have facilitated dispersals from the Afrotropics into southern Africa. Pleistocene and pre-Pleistocene "species pumps" and temperate refugia explained observed patterns of speciation, intraspecific divergence and, in two cases, mtDNA introgression. The Maloti-Drakensberg is a center of micro-endemism for bats, housing three newly described or undescribed species. Vicariance across biogeographic barriers gave rise to 29 micro-endemic species and intraspecific lineages whose distributions were congruent with those identified in other phytogeographic and zoogeographic studies. Although Köppen-Geiger climate models predict a widespread replacement of current temperate ecosystems in southern Africa by tropical or arid ecosystems by 2070-2100, future climate Maxent models for 13 bat species (all but one of those analyzed above) showed minimal range changes in temperate species from the eastern Escarpment by 2070, possibly due to the buffering effect of mountains to climate change.

I am a Performer Because of Self-control! A Canvas Among Abusive Supervision, Silence, Voice, Self-control and Performance

In a dynamic and competitive world, organizations need healthy interpersonal relationships in the workplace to achieve success. Within the interpersonal relationship domain, the supervisor–employee bond is the most important that determines the fate of employee performance. Drawing on the conservation of resources and self-control theory, this empirical inquiry investigates the buffering effects of self-control on the relationship between abusive supervision and employee performance through the mediating effects of defensive silence and constructive voice behaviours. The data were collected from a sample of 293 respondents from the services sector organizations functioning in the southern Punjab region of Pakistan and were analyzed by deploying partial least squares structural equation modelling technique. The results revealed that abusive supervision has negative effects on employee performance with partial mediation of defensive silence and constructive voice behaviours. This research adds to the existing literature in organizational behaviour and psychology by introducing moderated mediation of self-control perspective between the relationship between abusive supervision and employee performance through silence and voice behaviours. Further, this study provides guidelines to practitioners on how to reduce the injurious effects of abusive supervision on employee performance.

Reverse design and additive manufacturing of furniture protective foot covers

Reverse design and additive manufacturing technologies are fast ways to develop customised products. In this study, furniture protective foot covers were taken as the design object. Using flexible filaments of polylactic acid (PLA) and the development process of reverse design to additive manufacturing, the protective foot covers were designed and manufactured to fit the shape of the chair feet. Furniture protective foot covers have high practical value. They have a certain buffering effect, avoiding the damage caused by the collision of furniture feet with the ground when moving furniture; secondly, they reduce the noise generated by the collision of furniture feet with the ground, creating a quiet and comfortable home environment. According to the finite element simulation results, the maximum stress value of the European-style chair installed with protective foot covers was decreased by 90.8% in the case of vertical fall, which verifies that the protective foot covers have an obvious buffering effect. Noise test results show that the noise of the European-style chair installed with protective foot covers was decreased by 51.0%, which verifies that the protective foot covers have an obvious quieting effect.

Salivary buffering capacity is correlated with umami but not sour taste sensitivity in healthy adult Japanese subjects

ObjectiveSaliva serves multiple important functions crucial for maintaining a healthy oral and systemic environment. Among them, the pH buffering effect, which is primarily mediated by bicarbonate ions, helps maintain oral homeostasis by neutralizing acidity from ingested foods. Therefore, higher buffering capacity, reflecting the ability to neutralize oral acidity, may influence taste sensitivity, especially for sour taste since it involves sensing H+ ions. This study aims to explore the relationship between salivary buffering capacity and taste sensitivities to the five basic tastes in healthy adult humans. DesignEighty seven healthy adult students participated in this study. Resting saliva volume was measured using the spitting method. The liquid colorimetric test was used to assess salivary buffering capacity. The whole-mouth taste testing method was employed to determine the recognition threshold for each tastant (NaCl, sucrose, citric acid, quinine-HCl, monosodium glutamate). ResultsTaste recognition thresholds for sour taste as well as sweet, salty, and bitter tastes showed no correlation with salivary buffering capacity. Interestingly, a negative relationship was observed between recognition threshold for umami taste and salivary buffering capacity. Furthermore, a positive correlation between salivary buffering capacity and resting saliva volume was observed. ConclusionsSalivary buffering capacity primarily influences sensitivity to umami taste, but not sour and other tastes.

Computational study of the impacts of the nozzle configurations on passive pre-chamber engine combustion

The pre-chamber (PC) nozzle configurations are vital in the narrow-throat pre-chamber design. However, their impacts on the jet and combustion characteristics are poorly understood. In the current study, various parameters of nozzle configurations, including the number of rows, nozzle position, and the jet included angle were evaluated on a well-calibrated numerical model of a passive PC engine fueled with methane. The unique buffering effect of the bottom cavity below the orifice in the PC nozzle was discovered and investigated for the first time. Results show that the PC with double-row orifices exhibits slower general combustion than the single-row for the significant flow bypass from the upper-row orifices that generate low jet velocity. A higher orifice position favors combustion due to less interaction between the flame and the piston. Pressure accumulation at the nozzle was discovered to be the key factor affecting jet velocity. Jet velocity increases with the enlarged pressure accumulation decreasing the effective flow area of the orifices. However, it starts to decrease when the pressure accumulation becomes excessive and the obstruction to the flow outweighs the enhancement to the velocity. For single-row PCs without the bottom cavity, the pressure accumulation is enhanced as the jet included angle increases (from 111° to 180°) and the angle of 157° achieves the highest jet velocity, although the pressure difference decreases as the included angle increases. For single-row-orifice PCs with a bottom cavity, the buffering effect of the cavity produces close pressure accumulation to maintain similar jet characteristics when the jet included angle varies. Comparative analysis shows that the included angle of 157° achieves the fastest main chamber combustion mainly because the proper relative position of the PC jet and piston favors turbulence and flame spread.

Jasmonic acid and heat stress induce high volatile organic compound emissions in Picea abies from needles, but not from roots.

Plants emit diverse volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from their leaves and roots for protection against biotic and abiotic stress. An important signaling cascade activated by aboveground herbivory is the jasmonic acid (JA) pathway that stimulates the production of VOCs. So far it remains unclear if the activation of this pathway also leads to enhanced VOC emissions from conifer roots, and how the interplay of above- and belowground defenses in plants are affected by multiple stressors. Therefore, we simultaneously analyzed needle and root VOC emissions of Picea abies saplings, as well as CO2 and H2O fluxes in response to aboveground JA treatment, heat stress and their interaction in a controlled climate chamber experiment. Continuous online VOC measurements by PTR-TOF-MS showed an inverse pattern of total needle and root VOC emissions, when plants were treated with JA and heat. While needle sesquiterpene emissions increased nine-fold one day after JA application, total root VOC emissions decreased. This was mainly due to reduced emissions of acetone and monoterpenes by roots. In response to aboveground JA treatment, root total carbon emitted as VOCs decreased from 31% to only 4%. While VOC emissions aboveground increased, net CO2 assimilation strongly declined due to JA treatment, resulting in net respiration during the day. Interestingly, root respiration was not affected by aboveground JA application. Under heat the effect of JA on VOC emissions of needles and roots was less pronounced. The buffering effect of heat on VOC emissions following JA treatment points towards an impaired defense reaction of the plants under multiple stress. Our results indicate efficient resource allocation within the plant to protect threatened tissues by a rather local VOC release. Roots may only be affected indirectly by reduced belowground carbon allocation, but are not involved directly in the JA-induced stress response.

Slowing the expansion of impervious surfaces: the key to promoting high-quality and sustainable regional development.

Sponge cities are disaster-resilient and sustainable infrastructure, and the emergence of impervious surfaces hinders the construction of sponge cities. In response to the United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the study of the spatio-temporal evolution and influencing factors of impervious surfaces provides an effective basis for the construction of sponge cities. In this paper, multi-source remote sensing images (Landsat 4-5 TM was used in 2000 and 2010, Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS was used in 2020) were used as data sources to construct a multi-feature impervious surface estimation model. By combining and refining the advantages of MISI, NDBI, and BUAI feature indices, we obtained the impervious surface cover of Nanchang City in 2000, 2010, and 2020. And its spatio-temporal evolution characteristics were analyzed by using the ESDA. The main factors of the impervious surface were analyzed by using the ordinary panel data model and the spatial durbin model. Results: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the impervious surface area of Nanchang City increased from 516.13 to 1075.12 km2. The overall impervious surface distribution in Nanchang City expressed a significant neighborhood distribution; (2) socio-economic factors had a positive role in promoting the impervious surface of Nanchang City. Among them, the correlation coefficient of the economic development index (0.2332), real estate investment (0.1518), and gross industrial output value (0.0453) were the most significant in the local areas; (3) the economic development index (0.2307), real estate investment (0.0251), and passenger volume (0.1679) stimulated the growth of impervious surfaces in adjacent areas, and the total population (-0.8074) had a buffering effect on adjacent areas. In order to promote the sustainable development of the region, it is necessary to propose corresponding measures and suggestions based on the impervious surface of Nanchang City.

Heterogeneous coupling of δ13Corg and δ13Ccarb during the Shuram Excursion: Implications for a large dissolved organic carbon reservoir in the Ediacaran ocean

The Ediacaran ocean recorded the largest negative carbonate carbon isotope (δ13Ccarb) excursion in Earth's history, the Shuram Excursion (SE). The relatively invariant character of organic carbon isotope (δ13Corg) profiles during the SE has been attributed to buffering by a large dissolved organic carbon (DOC) reservoir in the ocean. However, recent studies suggest that the DOC buffering may have been highly heterogeneous, a hypothesis that can be tested by assessing variability in the spatial and temporal ranges of δ13Corg buffering during the SE. In this study, we evaluated δ13Corg and δ13Ccarb records from multiple regions globally to test the heterogeneous buffering hypothesis. Making use of a high-precision astrochronological framework, we found that the buffering effect of DOC persisted for ∼2.7 Myr in Oman, ∼4.9 Myr in South China, and ∼5.9 Myr in Australia, demonstrating its temporal heterogeneity. Heterogeneous buffering is also demonstrated at a small spatial scale for South China sections based on a correlation framework subdividing the SE into three intervals: EN3a (δ13Ccarb decline from baseline to nadir), EN3b (δ13Ccarb stabilized at nadir), and EN3c (δ13Ccarb recovery from nadir value). The duration of δ13Corg buffering increased with water depth from shallow neritic to deep pelagic areas. The buffering effect terminated within EN3a in inner-shelf areas, within EN3b in an intra-shelf basin, and within EN3c in slope areas. Spatial variation in the offset between δ13Ccarb and δ13Corg values (Δ13C(carb-org)) is consistent with multiple sources of sedimentary organic matter. An average of ∼26 ‰ in inner-shelf areas implies mainly fresh phytoplankton debris, whereas an average of ∼18 ‰ in slope areas is consistent with dominance of DOC, which is thought to have been present in abundance in deeper anoxic watermasses. Thus, our study supports a large DOC reservoir in the late Ediacaran ocean that led to heterogeneous buffering during the SE at both basinal and global scales. Large shallow-to-deep oceanic δ13Ccarb and δ13Corg gradients of similar magnitude existed both before and during the SE, indicating that the circulation and productivity dynamics of the Ediacaran ocean were not significantly changed by the SE. The downward expansion of oxidant-rich surface watermasses during the SE improved the ventilation of shelf oceans while leaving the deep ocean anoxic, setting the stage for rapid biological evolution on continental shelves during the Cambrian Explosion.

Buffer effects on protein sieving losses in ultrafiltration and their relationship to biophysical properties.

The design of effective ultrafiltration/diafiltration processes for protein formulation requires the use of membranes with very high protein retention. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of specific buffers on the retention of a model protein (bovine serum albumin) during ultrafiltration. Albumin retention at pH 4.8 was significantly reduced in phosphate buffer compared with that in acetate, citrate, and histidine. This behavior was consistent with a small change in the effective albumin hydrodynamic diameter as determined by dynamic light scattering. The underlying conformational changes leading to this change in diameter were explored using circular dichroism spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. These results provide important insights into the factors controlling protein retention during ultrafiltration and diafiltration.

Time-Separated Pulse Release-Activation of an Enzyme from Alginate-Polyethylenimine Hydrogels Using Electrochemically Generated Local pH Changes.

β-Glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.21) from sweet almond was encapsulated into pH-responsive alginate-polyethylenimine (alginate-PEI) hydrogel. Then, electrochemically controlled cyclic local pH changes resulting from ascorbate oxidation (acidification) and oxygen reduction (basification) were used for the pulsatile release of the enzyme from the composite hydrogel. Activation of the enzyme was controlled by the very same pH changes used for β-glucosidase release, separating these two processes in time. Importantly, the activity of the enzyme, which had not been released yet, was inhibited due to the buffering effect of PEI present in the gel. Thus, only a portion of the released enzyme was activated. Both enzymatic activity and release were monitored by confocal fluorescence microscopy and regular fluorescent spectroscopy. Namely, commercially available very little or nonfluorescent substrate 4-methylumbelliferyl-β-d-glucopyranoside was hydrolyzed by β-glucosidase to produce a highly fluorescent product 4-methylumbelliferone during the activation phase. At the same time, labeling of the enzyme with rhodamine B isothiocyanate was used for release observation. The proposed work represents an interesting smart release-activation system with potential applications in biomedical field.

Loneliness, perceived social support, and their changes predict medical adherence over 12 months among patients with coronary heart disease.

This study investigated whether changes in loneliness and perceived social support predicted medical adherence in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) over 12 months. Moreover, short-term and long-term buffering effects of social support on the association between loneliness and medical adherence were systematically examined. A three-wave longitudinal study. Participants were 255 CHD patients with a mean age of 63 years. Medical adherence, loneliness, and perceived social support were assessed at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the influences of loneliness and social support as well as their changes on medical adherence over 12 months. Moderation analyses were performed to test buffering effects of baseline social support and its changes against loneliness and its changes, respectively. Changes in loneliness significantly predicted medical adherence at 12 months (β = -.23, p = .001) but not at 3 months (β = -.10, p = .142). Changes in social support predicted medical adherence at both 3 (β = .23, p = .002) and 12 months (β = .26, p = .001). Social support concurrently buffered the adverse impact of loneliness on medical adherence (B = .29, SE = .12, p = .020) at baseline but did not at 3 or 12 months (Bs = -.21 to .40, SEs = .12 to .30, ps = .177 to .847). Findings highlight the importance of monitoring loneliness and perceived social support continuously over time for CHD patients to promote medical adherence.

Transformation starts at the periphery of networks where pushback is less

Complex systems ranging from societies to ecological communities and power grids may be viewed as networks of connected elements. Such systems can go through critical transitions driven by an avalanche of contagious change. Here we ask, where in a complex network such a systemic shift is most likely to start. Intuitively, a central node seems the most likely source of such change. Indeed, topological studies suggest that central nodes can be the Achilles heel for attacks. We argue that the opposite is true for the class of networks in which all nodes tend to follow the state of their neighbors, a category we call two-way pull networks. In this case, a well-connected central node is an unlikely starting point of a systemic shift due to the buffering effect of connected neighbors. As a result, change is most likely to cascade through the network if it spreads first among relatively poorly connected nodes in the periphery. The probability of such initial spread is highest when the perturbation starts from intermediately connected nodes at the periphery, or more specifically, nodes with intermediate degree and relatively low closeness centrality. Our finding is consistent with empirical observations on social innovation, and may be relevant to topics as different as the sources of originality of art, collapse of financial and ecological networks and the onset of psychiatric disorders.

A multi-kernel-shell indium selenide@carbon nanosphere enabling high-performance lithium-ion batteries

Indium selenide has garnered significant attention for high volumetric capacities, but is currently plagued by the sluggish charge transfer kinetics, severe volume effect, and rapid capacity degradation that hinder their practical applications. Herein, we design, synthesize, and characterize a multi-kernel-shell structure comprised of indium selenide encapsulated within carbon nanospheres (referred to as m-K-S In2Se3@C) through an integrated approach involving a hydrothermal method followed by a gaseous selenization process. Importantly, experimental measurements and density functional theory calculations confirm that the m-K-S In2Se3@C not only improve the adsorption capability for Li-ions but also lower the energy barrier for Li-ions diffusion. Profiting from numerous contact points, shorter diffusion distances and an improved volume buffering effect, the m-K-S In2Se3@C achieves an 800 mA h g−1 capacity over 1000 loops at 1000 mA g−1, a 520 mA h g−1 capacity at 5000 mA g−1 and an energy density of 270 Wh kg−1 when coupled with LiFePO4, surpassing most related anodes reported before. Broadly, the m-K-S structure with unique nano-micro structure offers a new approach to the design of advanced anodes for LIBs.