Effects Of Interactions Research Articles

Investigating heart rate responses of children to active travel: a mixed effects modeling analysis.

The active travel concept has gained recognition as an effective method to enhance physical activity in children's everyday mobility. Yet, there is a notable gap of quantitative evidence on its direct impacts, especially regarding physiological outcomes that can concretely demonstrate its influences on physical intensity and overall health of children. This study investigates the effects of active travel on children, focusing on trip-level physiological responses, specifically heart rate. Through a mixed survey design, we obtained a repeated-measures dataset from a cohort of 73 children (average age 13) across three Austrian secondary schools, each observed for 7 days. By applying mixed effects modelling approach, both fixed and random effects to children's heart rates were explored. According to results from developed mixed linear models (maximum R2 = 0.22), it revealed a significant positive association between active travel mode(s) engagement and heightened physiological responses (Low, Medium and High active level of trip compare to None: β = 1.81, 5.01 and 8.34, t-value = 4.70, 10.29 and 21.34), indicating that increased usage of active travel modes led to elevated heart rate values. Additionally, subjective perceptions also played an important role in influencing children's physiological responses. Feelings of exhausted, anxiety, and stress contributing to a higher heart rate (β = 14.79, 16.69 and 1.99, t-value = 20.42, 5.67 and 3.0), while unhappiness was associated with a lower heart rate (β = -5.96, t-value = -14.62). Effects of social interactions were also found during the trip. The presence of adults was associated with a calming effect (β = -1.92, t-value = -5.72), whereas solo travel resulted in lower heart rate compared to travel with peers (β = -1.95, t-value = -6.59). Our article innovatively employs mixed survey methods and heart rate data to quantitatively demonstrate the positive association between engagement in active travel modes and heightened physiological responses in children, elucidating the intricate interplay of subjective perceptions and social interactions during trips, thus offering valuable insights into the health implications of active travel at a trip level. Future research will keep on leveraging survey and experimental methods.

Predicting cell type-specific epigenomic profiles accounting for distal genetic effects.

Understanding how genetic variants affect the epigenome is key to interpreting GWAS, yet profiling these effects across the non-coding genome remains challenging due to experimental scalability. This necessitates accurate computational models. Existing machine learning approaches, while progressively improving, are confined to the cell types they were trained on, limiting their applicability. Here, we introduce Enformer Celltyping, a deep learning model which incorporates distal effects of DNA interactions, up to 100,000 base-pairs away, to predict epigenetic signals in previously unseen cell types. Using DNA and chromatin accessibility data for epigenetic imputation, Enformer Celltyping outperforms current best-in-class approaches and generalises across cell types and biological regions. Moreover, we propose a framework for evaluating models on genetic variant effect prediction using regulatory quantitative trait loci mapping studies, highlighting current limitations in genomic deep learning models. Despite this, Enformer Celltyping can also be used to study cell type-specific genetic enrichment of complex traits.

Probing the Dark Universe with Gravitational Waves

Gravitational waves (GWs) are expected to interact with dark energy and dark matter, affecting their propagation on cosmological scales. To model this interaction, we derive a gauge-invariant effective equation and action valid for all GW polarizations. This is achieved by encoding the effects of GW interactions at different orders of perturbation into a polarization-, frequency-, and time-dependent effective speed. The invariance of perturbations under time-dependent conformal transformations and the gauge invariance of GWs allow us to derive the unitary gauge effective action in any conformally related frame, thereby clarifying the relationship between the Einstein and Jordan frames. Tests of the polarization and frequency dependencies in the propagation time and luminosity distance of different GW polarizations allow us to probe the dark Universe, which acts as an effective medium, modeled by the GW effective speed.

Electronic Absorption and Circular Dichroism Spectra of One-Dimensional Bay-Substituted Chiral PDIs: Effects of Intermolecular Interactions, Vibronic Coupling, and Aggregate Size

Electronic Absorption and Circular Dichroism Spectra of One-Dimensional Bay-Substituted Chiral PDIs: Effects of Intermolecular Interactions, Vibronic Coupling, and Aggregate Size

Numerical Simulation of the Melting of Solid Particles in Thermal Convection with a Modified Immersed Boundary Method

A new immersed boundary method is proposed for the numerical simulation of the melting of solid particles in its own liquid at a high temperature. The main feature of the new method is the use of the modified direct-forcing immersed boundary method for the solution of the flow field and the sharp-interface immersed boundary method for the temperature field. The accuracy of the proposed method is validated via three problems: the sedimentation of a non-melting particle, the melting of a fixed particle under mixed thermal convection, and the sedimentation of a melting particle. The method is then applied to the investigation of the effects of various parameters, the particle interactions and the particle shape on the particle melting time. A correlation for the melting time of a circular particle in forced thermal convection is established as a function of the Reynolds, Prandtl, and Stefan numbers. The melting time of a particle in mixed thermal convection first increases and then decreases, as the Grashof number increases. The effects of the particle interactions on the melting time are complicated due to the natural convection between two particles. The sufficiently strong natural convection can even render the downstream particle melt faster than the single particle. For the same particle area, the elliptic particle with the aspect ratio being around 1.4 melts most slowly.

The Effects of Short-Range Intermolecular Repulsive Forces on Hamaker Constant Estimation Using Atomic Force Microscopy.

The atomic force microscope (AFM), as it is able to characterize surface topography as well determine the AFM cantilever tip-surface force, proves effective at estimating the value of the Hamaker constant, A, for a given solid material. Two main AFM-based methods have been proposed for estimating values of A. In the approach-to-contact (AtC) method, Hamaker constants are inferred from the deflections at which the AFM tip first jumps into contact with the substrate. In the pull-off (PO) method, the deflections that arise when the AFM tip is finally pulled away from the substrate are used to estimate values of A. In prior applications of these two methods, the short-range intermolecular repulsive forces that are known to arise between the AFM tip and the substrate were, however, ignored. Upon invoking a physically relevant description of these short-range and steeply repulsive forces, we investigate the effects of repulsive interactions on the values of A estimated from the existing AtC and PO methods when applied to neutrally charged systems under low humidity or vacuum conditions. For experimentally relevant surfaces, we find that repulsive forces have a modest effect on the AtC method, although they still need to be accounted for in order to generate improved estimates of the Hamaker constant. On the other hand, repulsive forces have a significant effect on the Hamaker constants inferred from the PO method, and must be properly accounted for when using this approach. Our analysis also includes an explicit incorporation of surface roughness into the PO method, which is not typically done in most prior applications of the PO method.

Balancing the Interactions: Assessing Antiplatelet and Antiretroviral Therapy Drug-Drug Interactions in People Living with HIV.

The clinical effect of drug-drug interactions (DDIs) between antiplatelets and antiretrovirals (ART) on bleeding, thrombosis, and other major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) is unknown. The objective of this retrospective study was to assess the incidence of DDI at P2Y12 inhibitor (P2Y12inh) initiation and the effect of DDI on patient outcomes. Adult people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH; HIV) receiving ART newly initiated on an oral P2Y12inh were included. The primary outcome was the incidence of DDI between ART and P2Y12inh at P2Y12inh initiation. Secondary outcomes included bleeding events, MACE, and switches in P2Y12inh. There were 149 PLWH included, of these, 119 (80%) were initiated on clopidogrel, 23 (15%) on ticagrelor, and 7 (5%) on prasugrel. 93 PLWH (60%) had a DDI at time of P2Y12inh initiation, with highest incidence in the clopidogrel group (n=84, 71%), followed by ticagrelor (n=9, 39%) and none with prasugrel. Within 1 year, MACE occurred in 12 PLWH, with DDI present at the time of 4 events. There were 29 bleeding events occurring within 1 year, including 17 events with DDI at time of event. However, 88% of DDI in patients with bleeding events were expected to decrease the efficacy of P2Y12inh. Though we observed high incidence of DDI between P2Y12inh and ART in PLWH, MACE and bleeding events at 1 year did not correlate with DDI. It remains unknown if DDI presence at P2Y12inh initiation with ART causes clinical outcomes of concern, or if underlying platelet reactivity in PLWH is associated with these events.

Invasive plants grow taller under experimental warming, but mediated effects of biotic interactions are species‐specific

Understanding the responses of non‐native plants to climate change while accounting for biotic interactions is key to predicting and mitigating future invasion risks. Non‐native invasive plants may benefit from or decline in the face of climate change, relative to native competitors. Non‐native plants might also suffer less than native plants from natural enemies such as herbivores, which could give non‐natives a competitive advantage. However, we lack an understanding of how non‐native plants will compete with native plants in a warming climate, while accounting for the effects of herbivore pressure. To test the potential interactions between warming, herbivore pressure and competition, we set up a common‐garden experiment in Trondheim, Norway, using five non‐native plants growing either alone or in competition with a native plant community. These plants were subjected to herbivore exclusion and artificial warming treatments, using open‐top chambers. We found that under warming, three non‐native species had greater biomass and all five species were taller than when grown without warming. Competition with native species reduced the biomass of three non‐native species and herbivore exclusion resulted in taller plants for three non‐native species. Native community biomass was not affected by either warming or herbivore exclusion. Furthermore, the native community was not affected by competition with any non‐native plant except Centaurea montana, which resulted in lower native community biomass, suggesting that C. montana is likely to be the most detrimental of these non‐native species to native communities. Competition with natives reduced the positive effects of warming on biomass for only one species, Alchemilla mollis. Our study strongly suggests that a warming climate may benefit invasive plants more than native plants, but for some species these effects will be mediated by biotic interactions in idiosyncratic ways, depending on the identity of both native and non‐native species. This will present a challenge to predicting plant invasion success under climate change while accounting for biotic interactions.

Litter Removal Counteracts the Effects of Warming on Soil Bacterial Communities in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Climate warming and high-intensity human activities threaten the stability of alpine meadow ecosystems. The stability of the soil microbial community is crucial for maintaining ecological service function. However, the effects of warming and litter removal on microbial interactions, community-building processes, and species coexistence strategies remain unclear. In this study, we used a fiberglass open-top chamber to simulate global change, and moderate grazing in winter was simulated by removing above-ground litter from all plants in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China, to investigate the effects of warming, litter removal, and interactions on soil microbial communities. The treatments included (1) warming treatment (W); (2) litter removal treatment (L); (3) the combined treatment (WL); and (4) control (CK). The results show that compared with the control treatment, warming, litter removal, and the combined treatments increased bacterial Shannon diversity but reduced fungal Shannon diversity, and warming treatment significantly changed the bacterial community composition. Warming, litter removal, and the combined treatments reduced the colinear network connectivity among microorganisms but increased the modularity of the network, and the average path distance and average clustering coefficient were higher than those in the control group. Stochastic processes played a more important role in shaping the microbial community composition, and soil–available phosphorus and soil ammonium contributed more to the βNTI of the bacterial community, while total phosphorus and NAG enzyme in the soil contributed more to the βNTI of the fungal community. Notably, litter removal counteracts the effects of warming on bacterial communities. These results suggest that litter removal may enhance bacterial community stability under warming conditions, providing insights for managing alpine meadow ecosystems in the context of climate change.

Negative Social Exchanges are Associated With More Severe Depressive Symptoms Above and Beyond the Effects of Positive Social Exchanges in Male U.S. Service Members and Veterans.

Risk for depression is heightened among male service members/veterans relative to civilians. Research suggests social support protects service members/veterans from depressive symptoms, but most studies focus on positive social support. Negative social support, which can include unwanted emotional involvement or social negativity, could be more impactful on depressive symptoms than positive; however, this has not been examined in military samples. Moreover, it is unclear whether positive interactions buffer the effects of negative interactions. SM/Vs (N = 508) were recruited online using convenience sampling and completed demographics, and measures of depression and social exchange frequencies, a metric of positive and negative social support. This secondary data analysis was drawn from a parent study that was approved by an institutional review board. A correlation comparison calculator compared the strength of bivariate associations of positive social exchanges and negative social exchanges with depression. Linear regression examined the simultaneous effects of positive and negative social exchanges, and subsequently examined whether positive social exchanges moderated the association of negative social exchanges and depression. The positive bivariate association of negative exchanges and depression (r = 0.48, P < .001) was statistically stronger than the negative bivariate association of positive exchanges and depression (r = -0.40, P < .001). A regression analysis revealed that higher negative exchanges were positively associated with depression (partial r = 0.40, P < .001) and higher positive exchanges were negatively associated with depression (partial r = -0.32, P < .001) after accounting for covariates, but positive exchanges did not mitigate the association of negative exchanges and depression (P > .05). Decreasing the frequency of negative social exchanges is associated with lower depressive symptoms and may have a stronger relationship with depression than positive exchanges, suggesting independent pathways to depression. Longitudinal assessments are needed to determine the potential directionality of these relationships and to address the limitations associated with convenience sampling and cross-sectional data collection.

Availability of alternative prey rather than intraguild interactions determines the local abundance of two understudied and threatened small carnivore species.

Intraguild interactions influence the structure and local dynamics of carnivore mammals' assemblages. The potential effects of these interactions are often determined by the body size of competing members and may result in negative relationships in their abundance and, ultimately, lead to species exclusion or coexistence. The relative importance of interspecific interactions along with landscape characteristics in determining population patterns of understudied and threatened sympatric small carnivores, such as skunks, remains poorly documented. Therefore, we assessed the spatiotemporal variation in the abundance of American hog-nosed skunks Conepatus leuconotus and pygmy spotted skunks Spilogale pygmaea and the effect of interspecific interactions, resource availability, and habitat complexity on their local abundance in areas with the deciduous tropical forest south of the Mexican Pacific slope. We used presence-absence data for skunk species from three camera-trapping surveys between 2018 and 2020 in combination with Royle-Nichols occupancy models fitted in a Bayesian framework to estimate abundance, incorporating the effects of covariates related to the factors evaluated. We analyzed the relationship between the abundances of skunks using Bayesian Generalized Linear Models. Both skunk species showed significant differences in their abundances between seasons and between study sites. Overall, pygmy skunks were more abundant than hog-nosed skunks. We found negative relationships among the relative abundances of skunks during the dry seasons, but no evidence that local abundance is governed by the competitive dominance of the larger species. Patterns of skunk abundance were better explained by prey availability and other predictors related to habitat complexity, rather than interspecific interactions, since these models showed the highest predictive accuracies and strong positive and negative relationships. Our study highlights the underlying factors that determine the local abundance of these understudied and threatened small carnivores, allowing us to better understand the mechanisms that govern their coexistence for effective management and conservation of species in seasonal environments.

Antioxidant Activity of Anthocyanins and Anthocyanidins: A Critical Review

Anthocyanins are the main plant pigments responsible for the color of flowers, fruits, and vegetative organs of many plants, and are applied also as safe food colorants. They are efficient antioxidants. In this review, the reactivity of anthocyanins and their aglycones, anthocyanidins, in the main antioxidant assays, and their reactions with reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, effects of interactions with other compounds and metal ions on the antioxidant activity of anthocyanins and the electrochemical properties of anthocyanins are presented. Numerous cases of attenuation of oxidative stress at the cellular and organismal levels by anthocyanins are cited. The direct and indirect antioxidant action of anthocyanins, the question of the specificity of anthocyanin action in complex extracts, as well as limitations of cellular in vitro assays and biomarkers used for the detection of antioxidant effects of anthocyanins, are critically discussed.

The role of a Macmillan senior pharmacy technician in a regional cancer centre in Northern Ireland: an evaluation

Abstract Introduction In the UK, up to two-thirds of all cancer patients have at least one comorbidity, with around half having multiple long-term conditions (LTCs).1 Older people with cancer often require multiple medications including cancer-specific treatments, supportive care medications, and medications for pre-existing LTCs. They are therefore at higher risk of the adverse effects of polypharmacy, inappropriate prescribing, drug-drug interactions, and drug-disease interactions. Complexity of medication regimens and treatment burden can cause confusion and medicines mismanagement, thereby influencing a patient's ability to adhere to treatment with the outcome being an increased chance of treatment failure. It is thus essential that medicines be optimised in these patients.2 The Oncology Pharmacy Team based in the North West Cancer Centre, located on the Altnagelvin acute hospital site in the Western Health and Social Care Trust, Northern Ireland, secured Macmillan funding to provide a specialist medicines optimisation service to older patients about to start cancer treatment (the Medicines Optimisation in Older People with Cancer [MOOC] Service). A pharmacy technician and pharmacist were recruited and the service implemented from October 2023. The roles are new and innovative and require extensive evaluation. Aim To evaluate the introduction of the Macmillan senior pharmacy technician into the oncology pharmacy team, analysing impact on medicines optimisation and patient safety. Methods A census approach was taken to include all patients with a new cancer diagnosis and medicines reconciliation (MedRec) completed by the pharmacy technician during the study period. The technician identified and rectified any issues prior to the patient’s first scheduled treatment. Patients with significant medicines-related concerns, or aged ≥65 years and taking ≥8 drugs, were referred to the Macmillan pharmacist for holistic medication review. Data collected included number of MedRecs completed by the pharmacy technician (relative to total completed by the team weekly), cancer diagnosis, medicines-related problems identified, interventions made, other activities completed, and time directed away from the pharmacist. Analysis of patient age and number of medications taken informed whether inclusion criteria for MOOC pharmacist referral were appropriate. Results The specialist medicines optimisation service started in October 2023, however, data collection for the purpose of this study commenced on 1st January and took place over a two-month period.101 patients (aged 69.0 ± 5.7 years, range 57 -74 years)) taking an average of 12.6 medicines (range = 8-18), and recently diagnosed with cancer were reviewed by the pharmacy technician. On average, the technician completed 76.4% of medicines reconciliations each week. 120 medicines-related problems were identified, and 178 interventions made. The service yielded net cost savings of £826.34 (pharmacist time saved). Nine patients were referred to the MOOC pharmacist service; a further five patients did not consent to referral. Discussion / Conclusion Although the evaluation of the MOOC service is ongoing, this interim analysis demonstrated that integration of the pharmacy technician into the oncology team yielded cost savings and reduced and improved provision of patient-centred healthcare and safety. Inclusion criteria for the MOOC pharmacist review were confirmed via analysis of patient age and number of medicines taken.

Preparation of ortho-hydroxyl/carboxyl dual-functionalized hypercrosslinked polymers for highly efficient enrichment of nitrosamines with broad polarity prior to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis

N-nitrosamines (NAs) are highly carcinogenic substances commonly detected in food. They demonstrate a broad spectrum of polarity, posing a challenge in finding a suitable adsorbent capable of simultaneously adsorbing and enriching both polar and nonpolar NAs with high extraction recoveries. The present study involves the synthesis of a series of carboxyl functionalized hypercrosslinked polymers, followed by a comparative evaluation of their adsorption performance towards NAs. The results demonstrated that the ortho-hydroxyl/carboxyl dual-functionalized hypercrosslinked polymer (SA-FDA-HCP), synthesized using salicylic acid as the monomer and formaldehyde dimethyl acetal as the crosslinking agent, exhibited significantly enhanced adsorption performance on NAs. The maximum adsorption capacities of SA-FDA-HCP for N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-nitrosopyrrolidine, and N-nitrosodiphenylamine were determined to be 1.40, 4.18, 2.84, and 52.4 mg g−1, respectively. These values surpass those reported in the literature for other adsorbents. Furthermore, the polymer exhibited extraction recoveries exceeding 80 % for all four NAs, and it exhibits exceptional selectivity towards NAs. The high adsorption performance can be attributed to the synergistic effects of multiple interactions, including electrostatic, hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. Based on the synthesized hypercrosslinked polymers, a method for analyzing these NAs was developed using dispersed solid-phase extraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The method demonstrates good accuracy and precision within the linear range of 1 - 80 ng mL−1, while providing relative recoveries for the four NAs range from 91.1 % to 111.5 %. The intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations are between 4.4 % and 9.8 %, as well as 5.6 % and 10.9 %, respectively. Moreover, the limits of detection fall within a range of 0.11 to 0.73 ng mL−1. These results indicate that the developed material holds great potential for the separation, enrichment and analysis of N-nitrosamines across diverse applications.

A Polyphenol Decorated Triplex Hybrid Biomaterial: Structure-Function, Release Profiles, Sorption, and Antipathogenic Effects.

Herein, nonwoven alkali modified flax substrates were coated with incremental levels of chitosan, followed by immobilization of tannic acid, via a facile "dip-coating" strategy to yield a unique hierarchal "triplex" hybrid biomaterial, denoted as "THB". The characterization of the physicochemical properties of THB employed complementary spectroscopic (IR, Raman, and NMR) techniques, which support the role of hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions between the components: chitosan as the secondary biopolymer coating and the tertiary adsorbed polyphenols. XRD and SEM techniques provide further structural insight that confirms the unique semicrystalline nature and porous hierarchal structure of the biocomposite. The THBs present a polyphenol kinetic release profile that follows the Korsmeyer-Peppas model that concurs with Fickian diffusion for heterogeneous polymer systems. Furthermore, these systems demonstrate a tailored solvent uptake capacity (up to 4 g/g) in aqueous PBS media. Antipathogenic activity tests revealed 95% elimination of pathogens (E. coli, S. aureus, and C. albicans) at a dose of 50 mg for the THB system. The trend in the structure-property relationships for the THB systems indicates synergistic effects of electrostatic multiform interactions between protonated chitosan and the polyphenol units. Herein, we report the first example of a unique hierarchal biomaterial via a facile design strategy for diversiform roles as responsive adsorbents for environmental remediation to biomedical applications (e.g., controlled release, topical administration, or antimicrobial surface coatings).

Interspecies interactions alter the antibiotic sensitivity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Polymicrobial infections are infections that are caused by multiple pathogens and are common in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Although polymicrobial infections are associated with poor treatment responses in CF, the effects of the ecological interactions between co-infecting pathogens on antibiotic sensitivity and treatment outcome are poorly characterized. To this end, we systematically quantified the impact of these effects on the antibiotic sensitivity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa for nine antibiotics in medium conditioned by 13 secondary cystic fibrosis-associated bacterial and fungal pathogens through time-kill assays. We fitted pharmacodynamic models to these kill curves for each antibiotic-species combination and found that interspecies interactions changing the antibiotic sensitivity of P. aeruginosa are abundant. Interactions that lower antibiotic sensitivity are more common than those that increase it, with generally more substantial reductions than increases in sensitivity. For a selection of co-infecting species, we performed pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling of P. aeruginosa treatment. We predicted that interspecies interactions can either improve or reduce treatment response to the extent that treatment is rendered ineffective from a previously effective antibiotic dosing schedule and vice versa. In summary, we show that quantifying the ecological interaction effects as pharmacodynamic parameters is necessary to determine the abundance and the extent to which these interactions affect antibiotic sensitivity in polymicrobial infections.IMPORTANCEIn cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, chronic respiratory tract infections are often polymicrobial, involving multiple pathogens simultaneously. Polymicrobial infections are difficult to treat as they often respond unexpectedly to antibiotic treatment, which might possibly be explained because co-infecting pathogens can influence each other's antibiotic sensitivity, but it is unknown to what extent such effects occur. To investigate this, we systematically quantified the impact of co-infecting species on antibiotic sensitivity, focusing on P. aeruginosa, a common CF pathogen. We studied for a large set co-infecting species and antibiotics whether changes in antibiotic response occur. Based on these experiments, we used mathematical modeling to simulate P. aeruginosa's response to colistin and tobramycin treatment in the presence of multiple pathogens. This study offers comprehensive data on altered antibiotic sensitivity of P. aeruginosa in polymicrobial infections, serves as a foundation for optimizing treatment of such infections, and consolidates the importance of considering co-infecting pathogens.

Su-Schrieffer-Heeger-Hubbard model at quarter filling: Effects of magnetic field and nonlocal interactions

Su-Schrieffer-Heeger-Hubbard model at quarter filling: Effects of magnetic field and nonlocal interactions

On the Ubiquity of Extreme Baryon Concentrations in the Early Universe

Abstract Early JWST observations have revealed the ubiquitous presence in the early Universe, up to z ∼ 16, of extreme baryon concentrations, namely forming globular clusters, extremely dense galaxies that may or may not be UV bright, and supermassive black holes in relatively low-mass galaxies. This paper is trying to pinpoint which physical conditions may have favored the formation of such concentrations, that appear to be very common at high redshifts while their formation being progressively more and more rare at lower redshifts. Building on local globular cluster evidence, it is argued that such conditions can consist in a combination of a ∼10 Myr extended feedback free time, coupled to low angular-momentum densities in deep local minima of the ISM vorticity field, where baryon concentrations are more likely to form. It is argued that the former condition would follow from more massive stars failing to explode as supernovae, and the latter one from low vorticity prevailing in the early Universe, in contrast to later times with their secular increase of the angular momentum density due to the cumulative effect of tidal interactions.

The effect of the interaction between intrinsic capacity and social support on the trajectories of activities of daily living in older adults

ObjectivesThis study explored the effect of the interaction between intrinsic capacity and social support on the activities of daily living in the older adults. MethodsA total of 3,124 older adults participated in the study. Data on the assessment of intrinsic capacity as well as activities of daily living (ADL) and social support were collected. The latent growth curve model (LGCM) was used to examine the effect of the interaction between social support and intrinsic capacity on the activities of daily living in the older adults. ResultsA total of 3,730 older adults were included at baseline, and 3,124 older adults completed the 4-year follow-up. The ADL score of the older adults showed a significant downward trend with time over 4 years (β=-0.115, P<0.05). In the elderly population with high intrinsic capacity, the ADL of individuals with low levels of social participation decreased significantly over time (β=-0.114, P=0.012). In the elderly group with low intrinsic capacity, the ADL of individuals with low levels of social participation (β=-0.245, P=0.005) and high levels of life care (β=-0.167, P=0.001) decreased significantly over time. ConclusionThis is the first longitudinal study to explore the effects of interactions among intrinsic capacity, social participation and family support on the trajectory of ADL in the older adults from the perspective of the life course. Social participation can effectively improve functional ability of older adults with low intrinsic capacity. Life care is beneficial for maintaining the functional ability of older adults with intact intrinsic capacity, but it accelerates the deterioration of the functional ability of older adults with low intrinsic capacity.

The role of hydrothermal alteration in uranium mineralization at the Xiaoshan uranium deposit, South China

Hydrothermal alteration can be utilized to constrain element migrations during mineralization, as it records the effects of fluid-rock interactions. Previous studies have suggested that uranium in deposits primarily originates from uranium-bearing granites; however, limited knowledge exists regarding the leaching mechamisms of this element and rare earth elements (REEs) from these rocks. In recent years, the Xiaoshan Deposit, a newly discovered medium-sized uranium deposit, has been discovered in the central part of the Lujing uranium ore field, South China. In this study, we examine this deposit to investigate hydrothermal alterations and their impact on elemental mass change. The deposit exhibits seven types of alteration including K-feldspar, albite, illite, sericite, muscovite, quartz and chlorite alteration. These alterations follow a certain sequence, starting from chlorite alteration, followed by widespread K-feldspar alteration, then to albite alteration, accompanied by muscovite alteration, and finally illite, sericite and quartz alteration. The main uranium mineralization stage was coeval with the late acid siliceous hydrothermal fluid, illite and sericite alteration. The pre-ore alkaline alteration (K-feldspar alteration) resulted in the leaching and extraction of uranium, leading to the precipitation of a significant amount of apatite in mineral interstices and initial uranium enrichment (ΔCi (U) = 16.52 ppm). This process facilitated material preparation for subsequent acidic alterations and localized ore enrichment. The original dense rock structure was disrupted, creating fractures/cavities that served as conduits for uranium mineralization. Moreover, under alkaline metasomatism, uranium and REEs was extensively leached out of uranium-bearing accessory minerals such as the apatite. According to apatite compositional variations and alteration geochemistry, these variations reveal the process of uranium dissolution, migration, and precipitation enrichment into ore bodies. Uranium was completely released during alkaline metasomatism, causing a sharp decline in U content from 53.1 ppm to 0.96 ppm. The formation of alkaline alteration fluids facilitates the extraction of uranium from the surrounding rocks (the Indosinian granite).