Related Changes Research Articles

Temporal Aspects of Psychosocial Mediators of the Exercise-Weight Loss Maintenance Relationship Within Scalable Behavior-Change Treatments.

Limited knowledge of psychological correlates of weight loss is associated with continuing failures of behavioral obesity treatments beyond the short term. This study aimed to inform health professionals' obesity interventions via an increased knowledge of mediators of the exercise-weight loss maintenance relationship. Women participated in 6-month obesity treatments within community settings emphasizing moderate exercise and self-regulation skills development via primarily in-person (n = 54) or primarily written (n = 54) means. Changes in mood, self-regulating eating, and weight over 6, 12, and 24 months were assessed. A moderated mediation model was tested using the PROCESS macro instruction. Improvements in mood, self-regulating eating, and weight were significantly greater in the in-person group. The relationship between a dichotomous measure of completing at least 3 sessions of exercise per week (or not) and change in weight over 6 months was no longer significant when the mediators of changes in negative mood and self-regulation of eating were sequentially entered. Paths of exercise→negative mood reduction→eating self-regulation increase→weight loss over 6, 12 and 24 months were significant. Exercise self-regulation at Month 3 significantly moderated the mood change→eating self-regulation change relationship. Based on the identified paths, scalable obesity-treatment content and emphases were informed. This could help guide health professionals' actions concerning the management of obesity.

Crafting arts-based stories of exile, resistance and trauma among Chileans in the UK

ABSTRACT In 2017 an exhibition of over 100 craft pieces created by Chilean political prisoners held in concentration camps during the military dictatorship, was launched in the UK along with an accompanying short film, ‘Crafting Resistance: the Art of Chilean Political Prisoners’. Drawing on these arts-based interventions, the paper reflects on the use of craft objects both as a symbol of political resistance and a means of initiating difficult conversations around forced political exile, trauma and mental health while creating space for people to ‘tell their stories’. Indeed, the paper contends that projects such as Crafting Resistance can ‘care for knowledge’ through the curation of craftwork while simultaneously creating space for counter memories. The analysis also highlights the changing relationship between the craft makers and the craftwork, argueing that placing the craft objects within the exhibition assigns a new role to the objects as they became part of a display of collective memories and potentially contribute towards collective healing. Finally, the paper advocates for greater recognition of the historical use of craft as a political expression, which to date has been relatively neglected in debates around the use of arts-based research and methods.

Do athletic ECG changes predict athletic performance in Gurkha recruits?

IntroductionECG changes are associated with regular long-term intensive exercise due to electrical manifestations of increased vagal tone, increased ventricular wall thickness and enlarged chamber size. The aim of this study...

Gender, climate and landowning: Sources of variability in the weather pattern change and ideal fertility relationship in Sahelian West Africa

This paper advances our understanding of the relationship between climate change and ideal fertility in Sahelian West Africa by exploring sources of variation in that relationship. Using an integrated dataset of Demographic and Health Surveys with monthly rainfall and temperature data, the analyses model dimensions of prospective ideal fertility for young, childless men and women in Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. Temperature, particularly in the arid climate zone, is shown to have a positive effect on ideal fertility. Landowning insulates individuals from adjusting their fertility ideals in response to change. Gender-stratified models reveal that under hotter conditions, women have a higher ideal number of children but their ideal gender composition remains relatively balanced, while men do not change their ideal number of children but show a preference for more sons. The increase in ideal fertility in response to weather change may be understood as an increasing need to generate human capital to meet the increased labour demands that climate change brings over both the short and the long term.

Critical Reflections on Universities, Publishing, and the Early Career Experience

This paper is a critical reflection on the changing relationship between university institutions, academic publishing, and young researchers. It emerges from a current project in assessing the role and development of Warwick University’s research journals (and their editors), but also takes into account two recent Warwick Institute of Advanced Study seminars discussing the practical and strategic challenge of publishing for early career scholars and PhD students. While these seminars concerned publishing in general, and the question of career trajectories, this reflection paper takes into account the current shifts in publishing and our understanding of research as knowledge production more broadly. This reflection maintains that, in part provoked by digital media, the status of research knowledge vis-à-vis its traditional presentation in the discrete products of the ‘article’, and the book, has become unstable, and this instability has opened up a range of economic and systemic conditions of knowledge production that have long since been concealed. Current shifts thus offer younger scholars and early career researchers significant opportunities: this short paper sets out the initial framework for a current research project focussing on university publishing, then it refers to the two above seminars in order to conclude with some critical issues for academic practice, research and for early career scholars.

The relationship of changes in molecular subtypes with metastases and progression-free survival in breast cancer.

Molecular subtyping of breast cancer cells is increasingly being developed as an initial step in selecting therapy and predicting the prognosis of breast cancer patients. During breast cancer, the molecular subtype of cancer cells can change. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between changes in the intrinsic subtype of breast cancer with metastasis and progression-free survival in breast cancer patients. This was a retrospective cohort study of patients diagnosed with breast cancer from 2016 to 2021. The molecular subtypes from the immunohistochemical examination results were recorded twice, and metastasis and progression-free survival (PFS) were recorded. The data were analyzed using the chi-square test and SPSS 26. Of the 44 patients, 19 (43.2%) experienced a change in molecular subtype, and 25 (56.8%) did not. No significant relationship existed between changes in molecular subtype and metastasis (p =0.405). No significant relationship existed between changes in molecular subtype and PFS (p =0.900). A significant relationship was found between changes in the molecular subtype and PFS in the patients with changes in the molecular subtype (p =0.022). Changes in the intrinsic subtype were associated with PFS in breast cancer patients. Patients with an intrinsic subtype that changed to triple-negative showed worse PFS.

Differences in platelet indices between type-2 diabetes mellitus patients with and without microvascular complications at Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya

Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is associated with a greater amount of morbidity and mortality due to microvascular and macrovascular complications. Involvement of platelets in vascular complications of diabetes is well known and changes in platelet indices have been identified as predictors of these vascular complications. This study was carried out to determine the changes in platelet indices in patients with T2DM. This was a comparative cross sectional study conducted at Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya. Study subjects included T2DM patients with microvascular complications as study group and T2DM patients without any vascular compli-cations as comparison group. For each group age and sex matched 52 subjects were recruited. Subjects with microvascular complications had mean platelet volume (MPV) of 10.62±0.49fL, platelet distribution width (PDW) of 12.23±1.12fL, plateletcrit (PCT) of 0.28±0.05% and platelet large cell ratio (PLCR) of 29.44±4. Subjects without any vascular complications had MPV of 9.38±0.40fL, PDW of 9.9±1.14fL, PCT of 0.26±0.05% and PLCR of 19.67±3.1. Values of MPV, PDW and PLCR were significantly higher in patients with diabetic microvascular complications (p<.001). There was no significant difference in PCT between the two groups. In comparison of platelet indices according to glycemic control, a significantly higher MPV, PDW and PLCR values were observed in patients with HbA1c of >7% (p<.001). A significant association was present among the MPV, PDW and PLCR values when fasting plasma glucose (FPG) was > 130mg/dL (p<.001). There was a direct relation-ship with abnormal platelet indices and microvas-cular complications of T2DM. Further studies are recommended to ascertain causative relationship of changes in platelet indices and diabetic microvascular complications.

First-principles study of the structures and redox mechanisms of Ni-rich lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides

To reduce the cobalt (Co) content in lithium-ion batteries, Ni-rich (high-Ni) lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides (NMC) are pursued as one of the next-generation cathode materials. However, there is still debate on the crystal and electronic structures of the baseline, LiNiO2. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were performed to provide a theoretical understanding of Ni-rich NMC. First, it was found that the commonly used R3¯m structure for LiNiO2 is metallic, contrary to the experimentally reported mix-conducting behavior. Among the four different space groups, R3¯m, C2/m, P21/c, and P2/c, P2/c with charge disproportionation of Ni2+ and Ni4+ is the most energetically stable and semiconducting structure of LiNiO2. Therefore, the atomic structures of representative Ni-rich NMC were built by partially replacing Ni with Co or Mn in the P2/c LiNiO2 to form LixNiyMnzCo1-y-zO2. In the fully lithiated (x = 1.0) high Ni content NMC (y > 0.5), the oxidation state of all Mn ions becomes 4+, while Co ions still maintain 3+, and part of the Ni ions become 2+ to compensate for the charge. Upon delithiation, the local environment shows more variation of the charge states on the transition metal (TM) ions. The average oxidation on each TM follows a sequence of losing electrons that starts from Ni2+ to Ni3+, then oxidizing Ni3+ and Co3+, while Mn4+ remains electrochemically inactive till x = 0. A general relationship for the oxidation state change in each TM as a function of x and y is derived and shows agreement with both modeling and experimental data.

Effects of Parenting Methods and Parent-Child Relationships on Adolescents’ Personality and Psychological Resilience

Currently, the mental health and developmental status of adolescents have not received sufficient attention, playing a crucial role in their education and social adaptation. Parenting methodss and parent-child relationships are among the most critical factors influencing the mental health and growth of adolescents. This study, involving 328 urban middle school teenagers of various ages, utilized a questionnaire to investigate the mental health and psychological resilience of adolescents at different ages. It explored the impact of parent-child closeness, parent-child conflict, and the changing relationships between parenting methodss and parent-child relationships with age on the development of adolescent mental health and their Big Five personality traits. The findings revealed that (1) mothers have a greater influence on the growth of adolescents, especially during the teenage years, and (2) a close parent-child relationship positively affects the psychological growth of adolescents, while conflicting parent-child relationships have the opposite effect.

Insulation from loss: Exploring the impact of changing relationships in the liminal period between reoffending and desistance, and substance misuse and recovery

This article focuses on changes to relationships during the transition to desistance. This is important as liminality in offending behaviour is well-established meaning that people may move forward and backward through the offending cycle. Research on the nature of relationships as people move towards desistance is thus essential to understand the impact of change for individuals during a period of transition. This article explores the impact of change to relationships for both men and women contributing to gendered understandings of transitions to desistance. Based on interviews with 18 men and 10 women completing probation, two themes emerged to describe the impact of change, which were loss and gain, and rebuilding. These themes explain how changes to relationships can hinder or encourage desistance in the liminal period from reoffending to desistance.

Understanding Global Commodity Price Shocks on Exchange Rates and Inflation in Emerging Economies: ARDL Perspective

Aims: To analyze the changing relationship between commodity prices (cocoa, diesel, gold, oil, petrol) and macroeconomic factors (exchange rate and inflation) in Ghana and differentiate between long-term and short-term effects.
 Study Design: Quantitative Design with Time series analysis using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique.
 Methodology: The study utilized cointegration and Error Correction Model in econometric estimation. Time series data for commodity prices and macroeconomic factors were collected for the period 2003M01 to 2023M10. The ARDL technique was applied to differentiate between long-term and short-term effects of inflation and exchange rates.
 Results: The short-run and long-run results indicate a positive relationship between commodity prices and inflation and exchange rates. A 1% increase in diesel prices is associated with a 0.23% appreciation in Ghana's currency in the short run (p=0.019) and a 1.76% rise in inflation in the long run (p=0.012). Past inflation has a dominant influence on current inflation, with a 1 percentage point increase in the previous year's inflation leading to a 0.45 percentage point increase in the current inflation rate.
 Conclusion:  Policymakers should prioritize stabilizing diesel prices, invest in storage facilities, promote alternative energy sources, strengthen domestic production and distribution of essential commodities, and adopt targeted monetary and fiscal policies to anchor inflationary expectations and address inflation inertia in Ghana.

Efficient and robust phase unwrapping method based on SFNet

Phase unwrapping is a crucial step in obtaining the final physical information in the field of optical metrology. Although good at dealing with phase with discontinuity and noise, most deep learning-based spatial phase unwrapping methods suffer from the complex model and unsatisfactory performance, partially due to simple noise type for training datasets and limited interpretability. This paper proposes a highly efficient and robust spatial phase unwrapping method based on an improved SegFormer network, SFNet. The SFNet structure uses a hierarchical encoder without positional encoding and a decoder based on a lightweight fully connected multilayer perceptron. The proposed method utilizes the self-attention mechanism of the Transformer to better capture the global relationship of phase changes and reduce errors in the phase unwrapping process. It has a lower parameter count, speeding up the phase unwrapping. The network is trained on a simulated dataset containing various types of noise and phase discontinuity. This paper compares the proposed method with several state-of-the-art deep learning-based and traditional methods in terms of important evaluation indices, such as RMSE and PFS, highlighting its structural stability, robustness to noise, and generalization.

Nonlinear effects of climate change on tourism development: evidence from China

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to have a deeper understanding of the nonlinear relationship between the impact of climate change on tourism development. Current studies on the effects of climate change on tourism development primarily rely on linear correlation assumptions. Design/methodology/approach Based on the New Institutional Economics theory, the institutional setting inherently motivates and ensures the growth of the tourism industry. For a precise evaluation of the nonlinear consequences of climate change on tourism, this paper concentrates on Chinese cities between 2011 and 2021, methodically analyzing the influence of climate change on tourism. Findings The study findings suggest that there is an “inverse U”-shaped nonlinear relationship between climate change and tourism development, initially strengthening and subsequently weakening. Based on these findings, the research further delves into how institutional contexts shape the nonlinear association between climate change and tourism growth. It was found that in a higher institutional backdrop, the “inverse U” curve tends to flatten and surpass the curve adjusted for a lesser institutional context. Upon deeper mechanism analysis, it was observed that cities with more advanced marketization, improved industrial restructuring and enhanced educational growth exhibit a more evident “inverse U”-shaped nonlinear connection between climate change and tourism evolution. Originality/value First, previous studies on climate change and tourism development largely rely on questionnaire data (Hu et al., 2022). In contrast to these studies, this paper uses dynamic panel data, which to some extent overcomes the subjectivity and difficulty of causality identification in questionnaire data, making our research conclusions more accurate and reliable. Second, this study breaks through the linear relationship hypothesis of previous literature regarding climate change and tourism development. By evaluating the nonlinear relationship of climate change to tourism development from the institutional pressure perspective, it more intricately delineates their interplay mechanism, expanding and supplementing the research literature on the relationship mechanism between climate change and tourism development. Thirdly, the conclusions of this study are beneficial for policymakers to better understand and assess the scope of climate change impacts. It also aids relevant departments in clarifying the direction of institutional environment optimization to elevate the level of tourism development when faced with adverse impacts brought about by climate change.

Pseudo-time Series Structural MRI Revealing Progressive Gray Matter Changes with Elevated Intraocular Pressure in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma: A Preliminary Study

Rationale and ObjectivesPrimary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is accompanied with gray matter changes across the brain. However, causal relationships of the gray matter changes have not been fully understood. Our aim was to investigate the causality of gray matter progressive changes in POAG using Granger causality (GC) analysis and structural MRI. Materials and MethodsStructural MRI from 20 healthy controls and 30 POAG patients with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) were collected. We performed voxel-wise gray matter volume comparisons between control and POAG groups, and between control and 4 POAG subgroups (categorized by IOP). Then, we sequenced the structural MRI data of all POAG patients and conducted both voxel-wise and region of interest (ROI)-wise GC analysis to investigate the causality of gray matter volume changes in POAG brain. ResultsCompared with healthy controls, reduced gray matter volumes across the brain were found, gray matter volume enlargements in the thalamus, caudate nucleus and cuneus were also observed in POAG brain (false discovery rate (FDR) corrected at q<0.05). As IOP elevated, the reductions of gray matter volume were more severe in the cerebellum and frontal lobe. GC analysis revealed that the bilateral cerebellum, visual cortices, and the frontal regions served independently as primary hubs of the directional causal network, and projected causal effects to the parietal and temporal regions of the brain (FDR corrected at q<0.05). ConclusionPOAG exhibits progressive gray matter alterations across the brain, with oculomotor regions and visual cortices as independent primary hubs. The current results may deepen our understanding of neuropathology of POAG.

The Relationship of Climate Change to Rhinitis

Evidence is mounting that climate change is having a significant impact on exacerbations of rhinitis. Concomitantly, the prevalence of allergic rhinitis is increasing at an accelerated rate. We herein explore the impact of carbon dioxide, barometric pressure and humidity changes, anthropogenic pollutants, on aeroallergens and rhinitis hypersensitivity. Important immune mechanisms underlying the climate-driven effects on rhinitis are discussed. Also, climate change is shifting ecological zones and seasons, increasing weather extremes, and altering regional atmospheric and environmental conditions. The direct impact of these factors on promoting allergic and nonallergic rhinitis are reviewed.

Shifts in trends and correlation of water scarcity and productivity over China

Increasing water productivity has been viewed as an important strategy for reducing regional water scarcity in many countries, including China. However, some studies argue that improving water productivity may lead to a rebound effect that reversely aggravates water scarcity. This contradictory relationship is because that previous empirical assessments mostly focus on limited time spans, which raises a theoretical hypothesis that their correlation would presumably shift over long-term period under different development stages. Thus, this study performed a comprehensive analysis over China based on multiple survey-based datasets and revealed the shifts in water scarcity and productivity in terms of their trends and correlation during 1979–2020. Results showed significant turning points of water scarcity from upward to downward trends across China in the early 21st century, except in southwestern China where water scarcity continuously intensified. Water productivity showed a widespread accelerating trend because of large increase in nonagricultural water productivity. Furthermore, the correlation between water scarcity and productivity was positive in the early stage of China’s development pathway when both of them were low but simultaneously increasing for more profit. Then, their positive correlation shifted to negative in response to the necessity for water scarcity alleviation, and increasing water productivity would be effective to reduce water scarcity with the complement of water-related policies that prevents its rebound effect. The results broadened our knowledge on the long-term evolution of regional water scarcity, and highlighted the changing relationship between water scarcity and productivity that was essential for guiding water policy making.

CDCS-TCM: A framework based on complex network theory to analyze the causality and dynamic correlation of substances in the metabolic process of traditional Chinese medicine

Ethnopharmacological relevanceTraditional Chinese medicine, with the feature of synergistic effects of multi-component, multi-pathway and multi-target, plays an important role in the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, etc. However, chemical components in traditional Chinese medicine are complex and most of the pharmacological mechanisms remain unclear, especially the relationships of chemical components change during the metabolic process. Aim of studyOur aim is to provide a method based on complex network theory to analyze the causality and dynamic correlation of substances in the metabolic process of traditional Chinese medicine. Materials and methodsWe proposed a framework named CDCS-TCM to analyze the causality and dynamic correlation between substances in the metabolic process of traditional Chinese medicine. Our method mainly consists two parts. The first part is to discover the local and global causality by the causality network. The second part is to investigate the dynamic correlations and identify the essential substance by dynamic substance correlation network. ResultsWe developed a CDCS-TCM method to analyze the causality and dynamic correlation of substances. Using the XiangDan Injection for ischemic stroke as an example, we have identified the important substances in the metabolic process including substance pairs with strong causality and the dynamic changes of the core effector substance clusters. ConclusionThe proposed framework will be useful for exploring the correlations of active ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine more effectively and will provide a new perspective for the elucidation of drug action mechanisms and the new drug discovery.

Confucian Culture and Enterprise Strategic Change from a Perspective of the Golden Mean Ethics

AbstractAs an important informal system, the impact of Confucian culture on enterprise strategic change decision‐making and economic and social development is often ignored. By using the OLS method and drawing from publicly listed companies on China's Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets from 2002 to 2020 as research samples, this article empirically analyzes the relationship between Confucian culture and enterprise strategic change from the perspective of the “golden mean” ethics (a Confucian moral standard and philosophy of conduct). The article also attends to the moderating effects of foreign culture shock and stock rights between the relationship of Confucian culture and enterprise strategic change. A key finding is that the ethical thought of “golden mean” and “harmony” contained in Confucian culture has an inhibitory effect on the initiation of enterprise strategic change. Foreign culture shock positively moderates the relationship between Confucian culture and enterprise strategic change. When “shocked” by dominant foreign cultures, the negative impact of Confucian culture on enterprise strategic change will be weakened. Moreover, unlike previous research findings based on agency theory that suggests how state ownership may retard corporate development, the authors found that in an informal institutional environment with a strong Confucian culture, stock rights can play a positive moderating role in the relationship between Confucian culture and enterprise strategic change. When an enterprise is state‐owned, the inhibitory effect of Confucian culture on enterprise strategic change will be weakened further.

A generational perspective on rural livelihood change

AbstractAs rural places and people are increasingly intertwined between cities, markets and mobility, broader perspectives are needed to examine the multiple changes occurring between rural and urban spaces, and between families and generations. This article discusses how a generational perspective can study ‘more‐than‐rural’ change in a contemporaneous manner. Drawing on field examples from a village on Flores Island, Indonesia, I show how intergenerational views, gathered through household surveys and in‐depth interviews, gave further depth to younger generations' changing relationships to land. Why, despite greater numbers of young people leaving the village for greater work and study opportunities elsewhere, were many parents sure their children would return one day? Using intergenerational and life‐course views to answer this question revealed how many villagers encountered livelihood limitations elsewhere. Furthermore, I show how generational data give fuller explanations to household dynamics, such as how age and gender play a role in the pursuit of migration between family members, and how rural land and households are managed over time and space. I conclude by discussing the strengths and challenges of building a generational perspective to study ‘more‐than‐rural’ livelihood change.

A healing place: Reimagining the modern botanic garden as a physic garden

AbstractI have long promoted botanic gardens as a potent mix of nature, culture and science. Triggered by the COVID‐19 pandemic and the community's changing relationship with outdoor spaces, I want to add another vital element: the botanic garden as a reimagined physic garden. Not just a collection of medicinal plants, but a healing place. The value of nature, of gardens, and particularly of botanic gardens, for keeping us in “good health” is, if not self‐evident, then progressively confirmed by social research. The modern botanic garden as a physic garden embraces the creation and further development of botanic gardens in places where there are more people than “natural” diversity of plants; encourages a medical approach to addressing complex problems like climate change—targeting the root causes first, curing if possible, or if not, relieving symptoms and build resistance; favors a triaging approach to conservation for more effective use of resources; and provides plant rescue and restoration as the equivalent of a human Intensive Care Unit, with “plant ambulances” dispatched after natural (including human‐induced) disasters. Our landscapes and collections are for many their first contact with a complex plant environment—nature. That contact is also good for our health.