Life Events Research Articles

Increases in Psychological Stress Are Associated With Higher Fasting Glucose in US Chinese Immigrants.

The majority of Chinese Americans is foreign-born, and it is well-documented that immigration to the United States (US) leads to increased risk for chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes. Increased disease risk has been attributed to changes in lifestyle behaviors following immigration, but few studies have considered the psychosocial impact of immigration upon biomarkers of disease risk. To examine associations ofpsychological stress and social isolation with markers of type 2 diabetes risk over time among US Chinese immigrants. In this longitudinal study of 614 Chinese immigrants, participants completed assessments of perceived stress, acculturative stress, negative life events, and social isolation annually atthree time points. Fasting blood samples were obtained at each time point to measure blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and insulin resistance. Mean duration between baseline and follow-up assessments was approximately 2 years. Increases in migration-related stress, perceived stress and social isolation were associated with significant increases in fasting glucose at follow-up independent of age, body mass index, length of US residence, and other potential covariates. Moreover, increases in glucose varied depending on perceived stress levels at baseline, such that those with higher baseline stress had a steeper increase in glucose over time. Psychological stress and social isolation are associated with increases in fasting glucose in a sample of US Chinese immigrants. Findings suggest that the unique experiences of immigration maybe involved in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a condition that is prevalent among US Chinese despite relatively low rates of obesity.

A Critical Review on Pargament's Theory of Religious Coping: In the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Religious coping has a constant association with mental health when dealing with distressing events in life. In this case, the religious coping theory of Pargament can be a theoretical model for mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article aims to investigate how positive religious coping can help us to overcome a negative life event. This theoretical study tried to find positive models of religious coping approaches, develop a concise measurement of these religious coping approaches, and investigate their effects on mental health in difficult situations. We reviewed the psychological impact of the pandemic, specifically negative psychological effects, e.g., fear of getting sick, anxiety, and distress. The article presents an effectual, theoretically suggestive way to assimilate religious aspects into patterns and studies of coping, stressors, and mental health. This paper argues that religious coping can help us to overcome mental stress during a difficult situation.

Brain Mappers of Tomorrow: An international multilingual initiative for neuroscience dissemination

The initiative “Brain Mappers of Tomorrow” coordinated by the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) Diversity and Inclusivity Committee (DIC) aims to make neuroscience accessible to children worldwide, particularly those from historically underrepresented backgrounds. Over the past several years, this successful initiative has grown and evolved, offering live reviews of scientific papers tailored for children in multiple languages. These live review events have seen exponential growth, engaging over 1,000 children in 2023 alone. Through partnerships and innovative strategies, the initiative has successfully reached diverse audiences, fostering curiosity and critical thinking in young minds. Although some challenges remain, including recruiting scientists and participants from underprivileged communities, ongoing efforts strive to overcome these barriers. The success of “Brain Mappers of Tomorrow” demonstrates the potential for similar initiatives across scientific disciplines, emphasizing the importance of diversity and inclusivity in science education and outreach. Such efforts can foster positive impacts at multiple levels, from individuals (children and presenters) to global society. This editorial highlights the benefits and challenges of such initiatives, shares experiences and resources to assist other scientific communities in launching similar endeavors, and discusses future directions.

Pathways to suicide for children and youth in Guyana: A life charts analysis

Background: Suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth aged 15 to 29 years old globally. Guyana has the highest rate of youth suicide in the world, yet only limited research exists. Aim: The aim of this study is to identify key features of the suicide pathway for Guyanese children and youth and to distinguish meaningful subgroups. Method: The psychological autopsy (PA) method was used to generate life charts for 15 Guyanese children and youth (10–29 years) who died by suicide. Nineteen close contacts of these individuals were interviewed about the life events of the decedent between 6 months and 5 years after their death. Semi-structured interviews lasting 30 to 150 min took place between November 2021 and January 2022. The interview data were converted into life charts and these were reviewed to uncover meaningful subgroups of suicide pathways. Results: Three groups with distinct suicide pathways were identified: hard life (46%), mental illness (20%) and interpersonal stress (20%). There were also two male youths for whom the suicidal antecedents and pathways were unclear. Interpersonal stress, alcohol, exposure to suicide and family history of suicide were common factors identified across groups. Conclusions: The findings emphasise the role of both acute and protracted interpersonal stress for child and youth suicide in Guyana. The structure and dynamics of Indo-Guyanese families are discussed. Interventions recommended include enhancing child and youth community engagement, improving mental health and suicide literacy, alcohol restriction, increasing access to support services, and reducing stigma.

Drinking motives link positive and negative life events to problematic alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study.

Stressful life events are associated with problematic drinking, and alcohol misuse has been exacerbated during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. While coping motives may account for this association, positive life events (PLEs) and enhancement motives are understudied. To address these gaps, we examined the associations of history of alcohol use disorder (AUD), negative life events (NLEs), and PLEs with problematic alcohol use and tested coping and enhancement motives as mediators. The sample included baseline and follow-up data from 241 participants enrolled in the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Alcohol Study. Endorsements of past year PLEs and NLEs and their associations with problematic alcohol use were examined. Among the 202 current drinkers, path analyses tested mediational pathways via coping and enhancement motives. The top two PLEs were change in work conditions (21.6%) and taking a vacation (20.3%). The top two NLEs were change in social activities (36.5%) and major change in recreation (26.6%). Individuals with a history of AUD and those who experienced more NLEs reported higher coping and enhancement motives, which were associated with higher problematic alcohol use. Individuals who experienced more PLEs reported lower coping motives, which was associated with lower problematic alcohol use. Besides coping motives, enhancement motives were also associated with pandemic problematic alcohol use. Alcohol interventions targeting reward- and relief-driven drinking patterns may be beneficial to individuals with a history of AUD and those who experienced more NLEs. More research is needed to study PLEs which may help inform the development of strength-based alcohol interventions.

Sex-Specific Effects of Early Life Unpredictability on Hippocampal and Amygdala Responses to Novelty in Adolescents.

Unpredictable childhood experiences are an understudied form of early life adversity that impacts neurodevelopment in a sex-specific manner. The neurobiological processes by which exposure to early-life unpredictability impacts development and vulnerability to psychopathology remain poorly understood. The present study investigates the sex-specific consequences of early-life unpredictability on the limbic network, focusing on the hippocampus and the amygdala. Participants included 150 youth (54% female). Early life unpredictability was assessed using the Questionnaire of Unpredictability in Childhood (QUIC). Participants engaged in a task-fMRI scan between the ages of 8 and 17 (223 total observations) measuring BOLD responses to novel and familiar scenes. Exposure to early-life unpredictability associated with BOLD contrast (novel vs. familiar) in a sex-specific manner. For males, but not females, higher QUIC scores were associated with lower BOLD activation in response to novel vs. familiar stimuli in the hippocampal head and amygdala. Secondary psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses revealed complementary sex-specific associations between QUIC and condition-specific functional connectivity between the right and left amygdala, as well as between the right amygdala and hippocampus bilaterally. Exposure to unpredictability in early life has persistent implications for the functional operations of limbic circuits. Importantly, consistent with emerging experimental animal and human studies, the consequences of early life unpredictability differ for males and females. Further, impacts of early-life unpredictability were independent of other risk factors including lower household income and negative life events, indicating distinct consequences of early-life unpredictability over and above more commonly studied types of early life adversity.

Abstract A088: Examining associations between objective and perceived stress and allostatic load in African American prostate cancer survivors

Abstract Background. Racial disparities in prostate cancer survivorship persist despite clinical advancements. Stress has been implicated as a potential driver of these disparities, with both chronic and perceived stress found to be associated with adverse cancer survivorship. Allostatic load (AL), one such marker of chronic stress, has been associated with decreased survivorship and worse quality of life (QoL) in cancer survivors. Perceived stress has also been associated with outcomes in cancer survivorship including increased symptom burden and worse quality of life. Despite this, few studies incorporate direct measures of stress or examine how these measures contribute to AL This study examines the relationship between AL, objective stress (as measured by occurrence of stressful life events), and self-reported perceived stress in a subset of African American prostate cancer survivors (N=59) enrolled in Men Moving Forward, a randomized trial to improve body composition through lifestyle change. Methods. At baseline, participants completed an adapted version of the Crisis in the Family Systems (CRISYS) survey, an instrument designed to measure recent (past 4 months) contemporary life stressors. The survey was tailored for AAPCS via feedback from the community advisory board. 41 items reflective of 11 domains were included. Overall CRISYS scores and scores by domain were calculated. Feelings of perceived stress in the past month were measured via the 10-item perceived stress scale, with higher scores reflecting higher perceived stress. AL scores used 15 criterion reflecting neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, immune, and metabolic systems. Each criterion was assigned a score of 0 or 1: 1 if in the high-risk range based on clinical guidelines. An index score was generated by summing high-risk indicators. Pearson correlations were used to explore the relationship between stress measures. Logistic regression comparing the those with highest quartile AL to lower AL was also performed. Results. The mean AL score was 5.6 (SD ± 2.4) of a maximum score of 15. The mean summative score for CRISYS was 4.8 (SD ± 3.3). The most common domains of stress experienced were safety in the community (67%), relationships (66%), and medical issues of loved ones (44%). The Mean PSS was 11.5 (SD ± 6.0), with 64% of men reporting low stress and 36% moderate stress levels. Significant correlations were found between CRISYS and PSS, however no correlations with AL were detected. No significant findings were identified in the regression analysis. Conclusions. Objective and perceived stress measures were correlated, but no associations were found between the perceived or objective stress measure and AL in this sample.. Given AL is meant to reflect the physiological impact of cumulative and chronic stress burdens, it is possible that the shorter-term context of the objective (past 4 months) and perceived stress (past month) measures were not sufficiently aligned with the longer-term context of AL. Citation Format: Iwalola Awoyinka, Deepak Kilari, Kathryn Bylow, Jennifer Knight, Alexis Visotcky, Anjishnu Banerjee, Patricia Sheean, Paula Papanek, Melinda Stolley. Examining associations between objective and perceived stress and allostatic load in African American prostate cancer survivors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr A088.

Abstract A089: Intersecting burdens: The role of social barriers and perceived stress in moderating cortisol reactivity among African American breast cancer survivors

Abstract Background: Disparities in breast cancer morbidity and mortality persist in African Americans. Social determinants and their subsequent effect on stress reactivity may impact the biological mechanisms associated with the onset and progression of cancer. However, stress reactivity has not been examined specifically among African American breast cancer survivors. Objective: To evaluate within-subject variation in stress reactivity among African American breast cancer survivors and determine whether this reactivity is influenced by social stressors, such as financial strain and social isolation, known to be associated with cancer outcomes. Methods: We conducted a laboratory intervention study using the Trier Social Stress Test on African American breast cancer survivors. We measured stress reactivity using salivary cortisol levels; socioeconomic, social, and psychological stressors were estimated by self-report. We performed multi-level random effect repeated-measures linear regression models to estimate within-subject changes in cortisol levels. We tested the moderating effects of social factors and cumulative social stressors on reactivity outcomes. Results: Sixty African American breast cancer survivors were included in the study. There were significant increases in mean cortisol levels at 30 minutes (beta=0.054, 95%CI=0.026, 0.082; p<0.001) and 40 minutes (beta=0.040, 95% CI=0.015, 0.065; p=.002) post-stress during the recovery period. We identified significant interactions between time and social stressors on cortisol levels for financial strain (χ2/df=15.83/4, p=.003), social isolation (χ2/df=9.67/4, p=.04), negative life events (χ2/df=12.75/4, p=.01), perceived stress (χ2/df=11.93/4, p=.02), and cumulative index of social stressors (χ2/df=11.14/4, p=.03). Conclusion: Social risk factors moderate the effects of stressors on cortisol reactivity among African American breast cancer survivors. There is a need to understand the lived experiences of Black women and develop interventions that mitigate the impact of social stressors on stress responses. Citation Format: Dr. Fatimata Sanogo, Dr. Junhan Cho, Dr. Trista Beard, Dr. Chanita Hughes Halbert. Intersecting burdens: The role of social barriers and perceived stress in moderating cortisol reactivity among African American breast cancer survivors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr A089.

Gambling disorder gender analysis: social strain, gender norms, and self-control as risk factors.

Gender differences in problem gambling have attracted much attention in recent gambling literature. However, relatively little is known about how gender norms relate to social strain and self-control in predicting gambling disorder within a spousal context. This study aimed to increase knowledge about gambling disorder in Chinese married couples by assessing the three-way interaction effects between social strain, self-control, and gender norms. A total of 1,620 Chinese married couples were recruited from a representative sample of households in Hong Kong. The results of the generalized ordered logit model revealed the self-control mitigation effect of composite strain on the propensity for gambling disorder is strong in men who accept traditional gender norms. In contrast, in women who accept traditional gender roles, self-control attenuates the effect of recent stressful life events on the propensity for gambling disorder, but self-control exacerbates the effect of negative relationships with offspring on the propensity for gambling disorder. Although reinforcing self-control is a protective factor that can alleviate social strain and disordered gambling for both men and women, the prominent contribution of gender norms to the self-control exacerbation effect deserves close attention for social workers who provide services to these gambling families.

Meanings of disrupted everyday (im)mobilities in later life: running daily errands before and during the pandemic

Abstract This study contributes to an emerging body of research that combines new mobilities and gerontological perspectives. Most previous studies on older adults’ mobilities have analysed data collected at a single point in time and there is a need for studies that explore the meanings of movement and non-movement over time, especially in relation to unexpected life events. This work explores the meanings of older adults’ abruptly changing everyday (im)mobilities before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. It draws from qualitative interviews conducted with 11 older adults in a Finnish suburb in autumn 2019 and spring 2020, and focuses on grocery shopping, which most of the participants did themselves before the pandemic, but not during it. The findings provide insight into how meanings of everyday (im)mobilities are formed as older individuals (re)negotiate their relationships with their changing places of ageing. The participants’ views of their disrupted everyday mobilities were shaped by active person–place engagements. On one hand, the findings highlight that individuals are not at the mercy of their circumstances; they possess agency that can enable maintaining a sense of self and independence even in restricted mobility situations. On the other hand, the findings reveal relationalities that explain why sudden mobility loss often leads to diminished wellbeing. The relational nature of the meanings of (im)mobility implies that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to supporting older adults who face mobility difficulties while ageing in their homes. It is crucial to recognise the diversity of older adults and to support their individual lifestyles.

Surgical Management of Left-Hand Traumatic Injury in an Adult Female Captive Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes): A Case Report

Captive chimpanzees are reported to present a higher frequency of injuries compared to those obtained in the wild due to their intraspecific aggression. Wounds are inescapable events in life following physical, chemical, thermal, microbial, or immunological insult to a body tissue, resulting in disruptions, breakage and loss of cellular and anatomical or functional continuity of living tissues or organs. The attention of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Jos was drawn to an injured adult female chimpanzee at the Jos Zoo. History revealed that the wound was the result of aggression from a counterpart chimpanzee. History reveals also that the wound was managed for 1 month before presentation with no significant improvement. Close examination revealed degloved left index and ring digits with pussy discharges. Assessment of the wound was undertaken after chemical immobilization and the resulting defects were reconstructed following proper aseptic surgical preparation utilizing chlorhexidine gluconate (Purit®) and amputation of the non-viable segments of the affected digits. Postoperatively, daily cleaning and administration of oxytetracycline spray (topical), doxycycline capsules 5 mg/kg ϰ1/52 PO and Dolometa B® ϰ5/7 PO were instituted. This case demonstrated the important role of prompt and thorough clinical evaluation in the adoption of management options, especially in wildlife management.

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This contribution is a record—apparently—of a presentation about the function and effects of dramatic performance within communities. It lurched from the Covid pandemic and the British government’s ‘levelling-up’ project back, over a century earlier, to the beginnings of the municipal and amateur theatre movements. These latter produced some of the earliest formulations of the idea that participation in performance-making enables self-expression and a sense of fellowship, thus building community. But, as Granville Barker, one of its greatest proponents, warned, this same activity, where it’s not rooted in the ‘hearts’ of people is merely a professional product, not ‘vital’. Which produces a dilemma for an author asked to take a live event, shared among participants, and substitute for it a journal article, civic, perhaps, but not necessarily vital. (This article is published in the thematic collection `The arts and humanities: rethinking value for today—views from Fellows of the British Academy’, edited by Isobel Armstrong.)

Machine learning-enabled mental health risk prediction for youths with stressful life events: A modelling study

BackgroundYouths face significant mental health challenges exacerbated by stressful life events, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Immature coping strategies can worsen mental health outcomes. MethodsThis study utilised a two-wave cross-sectional survey design with data collected from Chinese youth aged 14–25 years. Wave 1 (N = 3038) and Wave 2 (N = 539) datasets were used for model development and external validation, respectively. Twenty-five features, encompassing dimensions related to demographic information, stressful life events, social support, coping strategies, and emotional intelligence, were input into the model to predict the mental health status of youth, which was considered their coping outcome. Shapley additive explanation (SHAP) was used to determine the importance of each risk factor in the feature selection. The intersection of top 10 features identified by random forest and XGBoost were considered the most influential predictors of mental health during the feature selection process, and was then taken as the final set of features for model development. Machine learning models, including logistic regression, AdaBoost, and a backpropagation neural network (BPNN), were trained to predict the outcomes. The optimum model was selected according to the performance in both internal and external validation. ResultsThis study identified six key features that were significantly associated with mental health outcomes: punishment, adaptation issues, self-regulation of emotions, learning pressure, use of social support, and recognition of others' emotions. The BPNN model, optimized through feature selection methods like SHAP, demonstrated superior performance in internal validation (C-index [95 % CI] = 0.9120 [0.9111, 0.9129], F-score [95 % CI] = 0.8861 [0.8853, 0.8869]). Additionally, external validation showed the model had strong discrimination (C-index = 0.9749, F-score = 0.8442) and calibration (Brier score = 0.029) capabilities. LimitationsAlthough the clinical prediction model performed well, the study it still limited by self-reported data and representativeness of samples. Causal relationships need to be established to interpret the coping mechanism from multiple perspectives. Also, the limited data on minority groups may lead to algorithmic unfairness. ConclusionsMachine learning models effectively identified and predicted mental health outcomes among youths, with the SHAP+BPNN model showing promising clinical applicability. These findings emphasise the importance and effectiveness of targeted interventions with the help of clinical prediction model.

How life events may confer vulnerability to addiction: the role of epigenetics.

Substance use disorder (SUD) represents a large and growing global health problem. Despite the strong addictive potency of drugs of abuse, only a minority of those exposed develop SUDs. While certain life experiences (e.g., childhood trauma) may increase subsequent vulnerability to SUDs, mechanisms underlying these effects are not yet well understood. Given the chronic and relapsing nature of SUDs, and the length of time that can elapse between prior life events and subsequent drug exposure, changes in SUD vulnerability almost certainly involve long-term epigenetic dysregulation. To validate this idea, functional effects of specific epigenetic modifications in brain regions mediating reinforcement learning (e.g., nucleus accumbens, prefrontal cortex) have been investigated in a variety of animal models of SUDs. In addition, the effects of epigenetic modifications produced by prior life experiences on subsequent SUD vulnerability have been studied, but mostly in a correlational manner. Here, we review how epigenetic mechanisms impact SUD-related behavior in animal models and summarize our understanding of the relationships among life experiences, epigenetic regulation, and future vulnerability to SUDs. Despite variations in study design, epigenetic modifications that most consistently affect SUD-related behavior are those that produce predominantly unidirectional effects on gene regulation, such as DNA methylation and histone phosphorylation. Evidence explicitly linking environmentally induced epigenetic modifications to subsequent SUD-related behavior is surprisingly sparse. We conclude by offering several directions for future research to begin to address this critical research gap.

Negative life events predict depressive trends: the moderating effect of overgeneral autobiographical memory and early parenting behaviour

ABSTRACT The Emerging Adulthood is a complex and chaotic period and depression is one of the main psychological health problems during this period. Overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) is prevalent among patients with clinical depression. However, the prediction of OGM in groups with non-clinical depression and its influencing mechanisms remain inconclusive. Studies have shown that OGM and early parenting behaviour are vulnerable factors of depression in emerging adulthood, which may be triggered by negative life events. Our longitudinal study included 241 participants (M age = 21.88 years). At baseline, participants completed measures of current negative life events, depression, early parenting behaviour and an autobiographical memory test. Thereafter, they were tracked for depression every 35 days. We used the latent class growth model to differentiate levels and trends of depression among non-clinical participants. The analysis showed that the effect of negative life events on depression was moderated by OGM and early parenting behaviour. However, this moderating effect was found only in the low-risk depression group. Our findings indicate that early parenting behaviour might account for the different mechanisms of OGM production in non-clinical groups. Moreover, it underlines the importance of OGM and early parenting behaviour as potential predictors of future depression in non-clinical groups.

Ink and forgetting

AbstractExamining the relations among ethnographic fieldwork, trains in Tokyo, dementia, and a child's injury, this essay explores the nature of memory. Specifically, it considers the vastness of what is forgotten, how writing can staunch the loss of recollection, and the condition of being unable to forge new memories. The written word can carry the freight of memory, yet it does so through simplification and suggestion. While bearing the indistinct character of writing, fieldnotes inhabit a wider ecology of quotidian life and extraordinary events that, in turn, shape how, when, and if they are read. Recollection with the aid of ink, paper, and pixels is vital to the ethnographic endeavor, but its affective dimensions are largely involuntary and can only be shepherded from a distance.

An advanced learning approach for detecting sarcasm in social media posts: Theory and solutions

AbstractObjectiveUsers of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can view and share their daily life events through text, photographs, or videos. These platforms receive many sarcastic posts daily because there were fewer limits on what could be posted. The presence of multiple languages and media types in a single post makes it harder to identify sarcastic messages on the current platform than on posts written solely in English.MethodsThis study provides both the theory and solutions about sarcastic post detection on social platforms. Hindi–English code‐mixed data were used to train and test the automated models for sarcasm detection. The models in this study were constructed using traditional machine learning, deep neural networks, LSTM (long short‐term memory), CNN (convolutional neural network), and the combinations of BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) with LSTM.ResultsThe experimental results confirm that in the Hindi–English code‐mixed data set, the CNN, LSTM, and BERT‐LSTM ensemble perform best for sarcasm detection. The proposed model achieved an accuracy of 96.29 percent and outperformed by 2.29 percent compared to the existing models.ConclusionThe performance of the proposed system strengthens the code‐mixed sarcastic post detection on social platforms. The model will help filter not only English but also Hindi‐English code‐mixed sarcastic posts on social platforms.

Basi a Nakaisigudan: Axiological Relevance of Basi in the Present-day lives of Piddigeños

Basi is a fermented wine extracted from sugarcane that is prominent in the province of Ilocos Norte. The product is particularly known in Piddig, the town where Basi Revolt started during the Spanish Regime. This study focused into the axiological relevance of basi in the present-day lives of Piddigeños. This ethnographic research also aimed to explore the historical evolution of basi in Piddig; understand and identify the challenges or threats to the tradition of basi in Piddig, and obtain insights from the Piddigeños about the future of basi. The research instrument revolved around (1) the production and evolution basi; (2) life events where basi is being served; (3) the relevance of basi in the future; (4) threats and challenges to basi; (5) perception of the young generation to the traditional alcoholic beverage; (6) values that can be derived personal experiences with basi. Using the thematic method of analysing data, results revealed that the axiological relevance of basi for Piddigeños are manifested in different dimensions of the society that includes (1) intergenerational transmission; (2) production process continuation; (3) cultural identity; (4) social cohesion; and (5) economic livelihood. Basi, being a cultural symbol, should be given importance such that the government and local should initiate its continuation through collaboration.

A Year at the Forefront of Streptophyte Algal Evolution

ABSTRACT Land plants originated from an algal ancestor ∼500 million years ago in one of the most important evolutionary events for life on Earth. Extant streptophyte algae, their closest living relatives, have subsequently received much attention to better understand this major evolutionary transition. Streptophyte algae occupy many different environments, have diverse genomes and display contrasting morphologies (e.g. unicellular, filamentous, three-dimensional). This has historically made inferring these evolutionary events challenging. This A Year at the Forefront Review focusses on research published between July 2023 and June 2024 and intends to provide a short overview of recent discoveries, innovations, resources, and hypotheses regarding streptophyte algal evolution. This work has provided mechanistic insights into ancient evolutionary events that prefigured the origin of land plants and raises new questions for future research into streptophyte algae.

Study of Life Events and Quality of Life in Patients of Major Depressive Disorder

Abstract Background: Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses found across all ages, genders and socioeconomic status. It has significant health, psychosocial, and economic impact. It is worse than many chronic medical diseases and has a negative effect on quality of life which persists even after remission. Objectives: The aim of this research was to study the relationship of major depressive disorder with quality of life and stressful life events in adults. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study wherein purposive sampling method was employed. Patients from psychiatry outpatient department who fulfilled the criteria for major depressive disorder and belonging to the age range of 18–75 years were shortlisted and requested to participate in the study. After taking informed consent, data on quality of life, enjoyment and satisfaction, stressful life events and severity of depression were gathered using questionnaires and a semi structured interview. Results: Severity of depression was found to be negatively correlated with quality of life, enjoyment and satisfaction P = 0.001 level of significance. There were no significant correlations between severity of depression and stressful life events. Pearson’s Chi-square indicated that the severity of depression has a significant association with highest educational qualification, occupation, marital status, and socioeconomic status. Conclusion: Measuring and keeping track of quality of life through self-report levels is important in improving depressive disorders and should be integral part of management. Other steps comprise of starting early treatment, ensuring treatment adherence, reducing severity, and reducing relapse. Psychosocial interventions should also be taken into consideration.