Active Role Research Articles

Depressive symptoms of older adults with chronic diseases: the mediating roles of activities of daily living and economic burden of diseases.

To explore the mediating roles of activities of daily living (ADL) and economic burden of diseases in the relationship between chronic diseases and depressive symptoms of older adults. The data were sourced from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The number of chronic diseases, ADL, out-of-pocket medical expenses and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were selected as measuring indexes. Mediation analysis was conducted to explore the potential mediating roles of ADL and economic burden of diseases in the association between chronic diseases and depressive symptoms. The number of chronic diseases, ADL, economic burden of diseases and depressive symptoms of older adults were significantly correlated with each other. ADL and economic burden of diseases individually mediated the relationship between the number of chronic diseases and depressive symptoms, accounting for 31.460% and 5.471% of the total effect, respectively. Additionally, ADL and economic burden of diseases demonstrated a chain mediating effect in this relationship, contributing to 0.759% of the total effect. The chain-mediated model effectively elucidated the mediating roles of ADL and economic burden of diseases in the association between chronic diseases and depressive symptoms among older adults. The study underscores the need for policymakers to focus attentively on the mental health of older adults with chronic diseases. Enhancing the capacity for ADL and strengthening social security to mitigate the economic burden of diseases are recommended strategies to alleviate depressive symptoms in older adults.

Design and Development of a Professional Skills Coaching Framework for Engineering and Computing Degree Apprenticeship (DA) Programmes at Aston University

Aston University has provided Work-Based Learning (WBL) courses since the 1960’s. The introduction of Degree Apprenticeship (DA) levy funding in 2015 has led to a change of focus at Aston University from delivery of traditional WBL programmes to development of more than ten level 6 and 7 Engineering and Computing programmes in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS). These programmes were designed and developed organically over the years leading to different student support mechanisms and practice across the varying DA programmes. The growth of these programmes led to the establishment of the Aston Professional Engineering Centre (APEC) as a department in late 2020, overseeing all Engineering and Computing DA and non-DA programmes in the College. This, together with the regulatory aspects of DA programmes, in turn, led to investigating the historic role of the Professional Supervisor. This investigation combined with the prospective Ofsted New Provider Monitoring Visit (NPMV) in 2022 instigated a need for a shift from solely utilising professional supervisory roles for WBL activities to a consistent framework for skills-based, systems level thinking approaches, conducive to the corporate environment, via Professional Skills Coach adoption. This concept paper presents our innovative approach in supporting Engineering and Computing DA learners at Aston University by designing and developing a Professional Skills Coaching framework in 2022, underpinned by the pedagogical coaching approaches, as well as the way in which the model concept could be adopted by other STEM educators to support learners.

Screen time, sleep, brain structural neurobiology, and sequential associations with child and adolescent psychopathology: Insights from the ABCD study.

The precise roles of screen media activity (SMA) and sleep problems in relation to child/adolescent psychopathology remain ambiguous. We investigated temporal relationships among sleep problems, SMA, and psychopathology and potential involvement of thalamus-prefrontal-cortex (PFC)-brainstem structural covariation. This study utilized data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (n = 4,641 ages 9-12) at baseline, Year1, and Year2 follow-up. Cross-Lagged Panel Models (CLPMs) investigated reciprocal predictive relationships between sleep duration/problems, SMA, and psychopathology symptoms. A potential mediating role of baseline Thalamus-PFC-brainstem covariation on SMA-externalizing relationships was examined. Participants were divided into discovery (n = 2,359, 1,054 girls) and replication (n = 2,282, 997 girls) sets. CLPMs showed 1) bidirectional associations between sleep duration and SMA in late childhood, with higher frequency SMA predicting shorter sleep duration (β = -0.10 [95%CI: -0.16, -0.03], p = 0.004) and vice versa (β= -0.11 [95%CI: -0.18, -0.05], p < 0.001); 2) externalizing symptoms at age 10-11 predicting sleep problems (β = 0.11 [95%CI: 0.04, 0.19], p = 0.002), SMA (β = 0.07 [95%CI: 0.01, 0.13], p = 0.014), and internalizing symptoms (β = 0.09 [95%CI: 0.05, 0.13], p < 0.001) at age 11-12; and 3) externalizing behavior at age 10-11 partially mediating the relationship between baseline thalamus-PFC-brainstem covariation and SMA at age 11-12 (indirect effect = 0.032 [95%CI: 0.003, 0.067], p-value = 0.030). Findings were replicable. We found bi-directional SMA-sleep-duration associations in late childhood. Externalizing symptoms preceded future SMA and sleep disturbances and partially mediated relationships between structural brain covariation and SMA. The findings emphasize the need for understanding individual differences and developing and implementing integrated strategies addressing both sleep concerns and screen time to mitigate potential impacts on psychopathology.

The role of community mobilization in people’s healthcare-seeking behavior during the COVID-19 vaccination journey: select case studies from Madhya Pradesh

The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of community mobilization initiatives on citizens’ health-seeking behavior through the lens of COVID-19 vaccination in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. This study follows a case study approach to understand community mobilization initiatives that led to increased COVID-19 vaccination uptake. The study delineates the process to increase community mobilization to improve the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination. It highlights the key components of community mobilization that were adopted: the involvement of local leadership (at district, block, and village level), support of vaccination/mobilizer team, the role of in-person communication, involvement of influential community heads and social workers, localized strategies and IEC materials, and support from the state administration. Additionally, the key communication themes that played a crucial role in increasing COVID-19 vaccination coverage are identified. The findings of this study will help the policymakers and practitioners in the domains of Health and Medical Humanities, Health Policy and Services, and Social Sciences to clarify the roles of community mobilization activities and initiatives in increasing vaccination coverage. Furthermore, the study provides evidence for the adaptation, integration, and enhancement of these activities based on the four case studies discussed.

Mediating roles of activities of daily living and depression on the relationship between sleep quality and health-related quality of life

This study aimed to explore the mediating effects of ADL and depression on the relationship between sleep quality and HRQOL among older people in rural China, while also exploring the moderating impact of loneliness. The study gathered data from a household survey conducted among 1587 Chinese rural older adults (mean age = 73.63 years). The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 23.0 software (IBM, New York, USA) and the PROCESS macro version 4.0 program. The findings indicated a significant correlation between sleep quality, ADL, depression, loneliness and HRQOL. ADL and depression exhibited a chain mediation effect on the relationship between sleep quality and HRQOL. Notably, the association between sleep quality and HRQOL was entirely mediated by ADL and depression. Additionally, loneliness acted as a moderator in the relationship between ADL and HRQOL. The findings of this study suggest that interventions focusing on sleep quality should prioritize strategies for enhancing older adults’ ADL and depression as integral components of promoting older adults’ HRQOL.

Dietary intake, obesity, and physical activity in association with biliary tract cancer risk: Results from meta-analyses of individual-level data from prospective cohort studies of 723,326 adults.

Biliary tract cancer (BTC) is a rare and aggressive malignancy with increasing incidence. Most BTC cases are diagnosed with metastatic disease which carries a 5-year survival rate of <5%. Physical activity, diet, and obesity might be associated with BTC risk, but studies have been limited particularly in African descendants. We addressed this knowledge gap by evaluating associations of BTC risk with obesity, physical activity, and dietary intakes in 723,326 adult participants in four cohort studies conducted in China, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in each cohort; results were combined using meta-analysis. All cohorts had ≥11 median follow-up years with 839 incident BTC cases combined. BTC risk was positively associated with body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) whereas physical activity, fruit intake, and fish intake were inversely associated. HR and (95% CI) comparing BMI >35.0 to 18.5-24.9: 1.71 (1.26, 2.31), p-trend <.0001; comparing BMI-adjusted WHR top to bottom quartile: 1.20 (0.94, 1.53), p-trend = .05; comparing ≥15-0 metabolic equivalent task-hours/week 0.76 (0.61, 0.94), p-trend = .009; comparing highest to lowest intake tertile for fruit and fish 0.79 (0.66, 0.95), p-trend = .01; 0.82 (0.68, 0.98), p-trend = .04, respectively. Associations were, in general, similar across ancestry groups. Our study provides strong evidence for important roles of obesity, diet, and physical activity in BTC etiology and stresses the need for lifestyle modification to combat the rising incidence of this fatal malignancy.

Eyes on glutamate in angiogenesis and barrier formation

In this issue of Neuron, Biswas etal.1 demonstrate the roles of glutamatergic neuronal activity in the regulation of angiogenesis and retinal vascular endothelial barrier maturation using three different knockout mouse models. Their findings shed light on how aberrant glutamatergic activity can impact neural vascular function and barrier integrity.

Dyslipidemia management in women of reproductive potential: An expert clinical consensus from the national lipid association.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among women and its incidence has been increasing recently, particularly among younger women. Across major professional society guidelines, dyslipidemia management remains a central tenet for atherosclerotic CVD prevention for both women and men. Despite this, women, particularly young women, who are candidates for statin therapy are less likely to be treated and less likely to achieve their recommended therapeutic objectives for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. Elevated LDL-C and triglycerides are the two most common dyslipidemias that should be addressed during pregnancy due to the increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, and pre-term delivery, as well as pancreatitis in the presence of severe hypertriglyceridemia. In this National Lipid Association Expert Clinical Consensus, we review the roles of nutrition, physical activity, and pharmacotherapy as strategies to address elevated levels of LDL-C and/or triglycerides among women of reproductive age. We include a special focus on points to consider during the shared decision-making discussion regarding pharmacotherapy for dyslipidemia during preconception planning, pregnancy, and lactation.

Unraveling the roles of ectopic adipose depots and physical activity in age-related mitochondrial decline.

Unraveling the roles of ectopic adipose depots and physical activity in age-related mitochondrial decline.

Association of PM2.5 chemical constituents with general, abdominal and visceral obesity and mediation roles of physical activity

BackgroundThe association between exposure to PM2.5 chemical constituents and obesity remains to be elucidated, as most studies have used a single measure of obesity. This study aimed to investigate the associations of exposure to PM2.5 chemical constituents with general, abdominal, and visceral obesity, and the mediation effect of physical activity (PA) in the associations.MethodsBased on a total of 49,819 adults from the baseline of the Yunnan Behavior and Disease Surveillance cohort (YBDS) in southern China in 2021, we used multiple linear regression, weighted quantile sum regression, and quantile regression to estimate independent and joint effects of PM2.5 chemical constituents on elevated BMI, waist circumference (WC) and visceral adiposity index (VAI) and whether these effects changed in quantiles. Mediation analysis was used to examine whether physical activity acts as a mediator in these pathways.ResultsPer IQR μg/m3 increase in all PM2.5 chemical constituents was significantly associated with the elevated BMI (β [95% CI]: 0.170 [0.127, 0.214]), WC (0.316 [0.217, 0.415]) and VAI (0.102 [0.075, 0.129]), with the largest weights from OM (53.89, 81.67, and 89.82%, respectively). The effects of PM2.5 chemical constituents on obesity showed an overall upward trend from quantiles 1–4 of BMI, WC, and VAI, especially with a rapid upward trend from the sixth decile of VAI. Reduced PA mediated 3.16, 7.08, and 3.78% of the associations between PM2.5 chemical constituents and elevated BMI, WC, and VAI, respectively.ConclusionsExposure to PM2.5 chemical constituents, especially OM, was significantly associated with increased risks for obesity in adults. The effects of associations increased with obesity severity, with PA playing a mediation role.

Genotype and phenotype correlation of PHACTR1-related neurological disorders

BackgroundPHACTR1 (phosphatase and actin regulators) plays a key role in cortical migration and synaptic activity by binding and regulating G-actin and PPP1CA. This study aimed to expand the genotype and...

A therapeutic leap: how myosin inhibitors moved from cardiac interventions to skeletal muscle myopathy solutions.

The myosin inhibitor mavacamten has transformed the management of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) by targeting myosin ATPase activity to mitigate cardiac hypercontractility. This therapeutic mechanism has proven effective for patients with HCM independent of having a primary gene mutation in myosin. In this issue of the JCI, Buvoli et al. report that muscle hypercontractility is a mechanism of pathogenesis underlying muscle dysfunction in Laing distal myopathy, a disorder characterized by mutations altering the rod domain of β myosin heavy chain. The authors performed detailed physiological, molecular, and biomechanical analyses and demonstrated that myosin ATPase inhibition can correct a large extent of muscle abnormalities. The findings offer a therapeutic avenue for Laing distal myopathy and potentially other myopathies. This Commentary underscores the importance of reevaluating myosin activity's role across myopathies in general for the potential development of targeted myosin inhibitors to treat skeletal muscle disorders.

MAHyNet: Parallel Hybrid Network for RNA-Protein Binding Sites Prediction Based on Multi-Head Attention and Expectation Pooling.

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) can regulate biological functions by interacting with specific RNAs, and play an important role in many life activities. Therefore, the rapid identification of RNA-protein binding sites is crucial for functional annotation and site-directed mutagenesis. In this work, a new parallel network that integrates the multi-head attention mechanism and the expectation pooling is proposed, named MAHyNet. The left-branch network of MAHyNet hybrids convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and gated recurrent neural network (GRU) to extract the features of one-hot. The right-branch network is a two-layer CNN network to analyze physicochemical properties of RNA base. Specifically, the multi-head attention mechanism is a computational collection of multiple independent layers of attention, which can extract feature information from multiple dimensions. The expectation pooling combines probabilistic thinking with global pooling. This approach helps to reduce model parameters and enhance the model performance. The combination of CNN and GRU enables further extraction of high-level features in sequences. In addition, the study shows that appropriate hyperparameters have a positive impact on the model performance. Physicochemical properties can be used to supplement characterization information to improving model performance. The experimental results show that MAHyNet has better performance than other models.

Whole Transcriptome Sequencing of Peripheral Blood Identifies the Alzheimer's Disease-Related circRNA-miRNA-lncRNA Pathway.

Previous studies on transcriptional profiles suggested dysregulation of multiple RNA species in Alzheimer's disease. However, despite recent investigations revealing various aspects of circular RNA (circRNA)-associated competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathogenesis, few genome-wide studies have explored circRNA-associated profiles in AD patients exhibiting varying degrees of cognitive loss. To investigate the potential pathogenesis-related molecular biological changes in the various stages of AD progression. Whole transcriptome sequencing was performed on the peripheral blood of 7 normal cognition (NC) subjects, 8 patients with mild cognitive impairment, 8 AD patients with mild dementia (miD), and 7 AD patients with moderate dementia (moD). Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were conducted to predict the potential functions of the maternal genes of microRNAs (miRNAs), circRNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). The construction of ceRNA network was performed between the NC group and each diseased group based on the differently expressed RNAs. In total, 3568 messenger RNAs (mRNAs), 142 miRNAs, 990 lncRNAs, and 183 circRNAs were identified as significantly differentially expressed across the four groups. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis revealed the significant roles of GTPase activity and the MAPK signaling pathway in AD pathogenesis. A circRNA-miRNA-lncRNA ceRNA pathway, characterized by the downregulated hsa-miR-7-5p and upregulated hsa_circ_0001170, was identified based on the differentially expressed RNAs between the NC group and the moD group. The study suggests that circRNAs may be independent of mRNAs in AD pathogenesis and holds promise as potential biomarkers for AD clinical manifestations and pathological changes.

Diagnosis-Guided Deep Subspace Clustering Association Study for Pathogenetic Markers Identification of Alzheimer's Disease Based on Comparative Atlases.

The roles of brain region activities and genotypic functions in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remain unclear. Meanwhile, current imaging genetics methods are difficult to identify potential pathogenetic markers by correlation analysis between brain network and genetic variation. To discover disease-related brain connectome from the specific brain structure and the fine-grained level, based on the Automated Anatomical Labeling (AAL) and human Brainnetome atlases, the functional brain network is first constructed for each subject. Specifically, the upper triangle elements of the functional connectivity matrix are extracted as connectivity features. The clustering coefficient and the average weighted node degree are developed to assess the significance of every brain area. Since the constructed brain network and genetic data are characterized by non-linearity, high-dimensionality, and few subjects, the deep subspace clustering algorithm is proposed to reconstruct the original data. Our multilayer neural network helps capture the non-linear manifolds, and subspace clustering learns pairwise affinities between samples. Moreover, most approaches in neuroimaging genetics are unsupervised learning, neglecting the diagnostic information related to diseases. We presented a label constraint with diagnostic status to instruct the imaging genetics correlation analysis. To this end, a diagnosis-guided deep subspace clustering association (DDSCA) method is developed to discover brain connectome and risk genetic factors by integrating genotypes with functional network phenotypes. Extensive experiments prove that DDSCA achieves superior performance to most association methods and effectively selects disease-relevant genetic markers and brain connectome at the coarse-grained and fine-grained levels.

Exploring the relationship between emotional intelligence and emotion regulation: Evidence from junior high school EFL teachers in China

Teachers' emotional intelligence (EI) and emotion regulation (ER), as protective factors against stressful situations, play active roles in promoting teachers' well-being and sense of teaching self-efficacy. However, few studies have touched on the linkage between these two variables, which, to some extent, has hindered the in-depth exploration of their functions in teachers' professional development. To address this gap, the current study examined the EI and ER of 474 junior high school English as foreign language (EFL) teachers in China via a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. With the aid of SPSS 26.0, the data collected through the questionnaire were coded, computed, and analysed. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to report the levels of EFL teachers' EI and ER and the correlation between them. The semi-structured interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the data were subsequently analysed. The results indicate a positive correlation between EFL teachers' EI and ER. The detailed statistics display that all dimensions of EI were positively and significantly correlated with all dimensions of ER. The results further explain the relationship between teachers' EI and ER in an EFL context. Practical implications are put forward concerning the development of EI and ER competencies.

Fostering social cohesion in ethnolinguistic communities through mother tongue-based initiatives in Nepal

In Nepal and other regions, fostering social cohesion within ethnolinguistic communities is recognized as a vital factor for fostering social prosperity. This research paper presents an integrated framework developed through an extensive literature survey, incorporating the perspectives of ethnolinguistics and social cohesion. The study examines social cohesion using mixed methods, exploring its domains and correlation with linguistic theories. Special attention is given to the role of social prosperity and how this study impacts attitudinal and behavioral aspects of social cohesion. The study’s findings underscore the significance of interconnected social relations, a sense of connectedness, and shared common goods as essential elements for fostering practical social harmony. Notably, the research emphasizes the critical role of mother tongue-based educational activities in empowering ethnolinguistic communities, catalyzing sociocultural transformation, and promoting identity. It is revealed that these initiatives contribute to poverty reduction and foster gender equality and social inclusion. Moreover, the research advocates language-based interventions as a pivotal strategy for enhancing social cohesion. By recognizing language as a critical element that binds communities, this study aims to create a more fruitful investigation and provide practical, scientific, and managerial contributions in fostering social cohesion within ethnolinguistic contexts.

Early foreign language education: play as a site for child agency

ABSTRACT Understanding the role of play in early childhood education is crucial. Current research suggests that play is increasingly seen as a vehicle for achieving pre-established curricular aims that prioritise school readiness, often reducing opportunities for stimulating child agency. This paper reports on a study conducted within the context of foreign language education in the early years (English as a foreign language in the Catalan context), which aimed to address the following questions: To what extent do pre-primary EFL teachers (1) recognise child agency and take it into account in foreign language education; (2) recognise the affordances play scenarios offer for children to enact their agency? A small-scale qualitative study was designed which included self-reporting questionnaires, an elicitation technique in the form of a Play Scenario Evaluation Activity, and online interviews with teachers to reflect on the Evaluation Activity and their own practice. Findings raise concerns about the ever-widening gap between understandings and implementations of play in general early childhood education and the foreign language classroom. Prevailing assumptions regarding best practice in early years ELT (teacher-centred practice, target language only policies, emphasis on fun) limit children’s opportunities for enacting agency and taking an active role in their own development.

Mulberry branch fiber improved lipid metabolism and egg yolk fatty acid composition of laying hens via the enterohepatic axis

BackgroundThe utilization of mulberry branch fiber (MF), the largest by-product of the sericulture industry, is an important issue. Supplementation with MF as a dietary fiber for poultry may serve as a useful application. However, little is known about the effects of MF on liver lipid metabolism and egg yolk fatty acid composition of laying hens and their underlying mechanisms. In this study, we performed a multi-omics investigation to explore the variations in liver lipid metabolism, egg yolk fatty acid composition, gut microbiota, and the associations among them induced by dietary MF in laying hens.ResultsDietary MF had no harmful effects on the laying performance or egg quality in laying hens. The enzyme activities associated with lipid metabolism in the liver were altered by the addition of 5% MF, resulting in reduced liver fat accumulation. Furthermore, dietary 5% MF induced the variation in the fatty acid profiles of egg yolk, and increased the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content. We observed a significant reduction in the diversity of both gut bacteria and changes in their compositions after the addition of MF. Dietary MF significantly increased the abundance of genes involved in fatty acid biodegradation, and short-chain fatty acids biosynthesis in the gut microbiota of laying hens. The significant correlations were observed between the liver lipid metabolism enzyme activities of hepatic lipase, lipoprotein lipase, and total esterase with gut microbiota, including negative correlations with gut microbiota diversity, and multiple correlations with gut bacteria and viruses. Moreover, various correlations between the contents of PUFAs and monounsaturated fatty acids in egg yolk with the gut microbiota were obtained. Based on partial-least-squares path modeling integrated with the multi-omics datasets, we deduced the direct effects of liver enzyme activities and gut bacterial compositions on liver fat content and the roles of liver enzyme activities and gut bacterial diversity on egg yolk fatty acid composition.ConclusionsThe results indicate that dietary MF is beneficial to laying hens as it reduces the liver fat and improves egg yolk fatty acid composition through the enterohepatic axis.CByDGCz_6LcoMs-GQqtpHGVideo Graphical

Finite-Time Output-Feedback Formation Control for High-Order Nonlinear Multiagent Systems With Obstacle Avoidance

This paper investigates the finite-time formation control problem for high-order nonlinear multiagent systems (MASs) with the consideration of obstacle avoidance, unmeasurable states and dead-zone input. A neural networks k-filter observer is designed to estimate the unmeasurable states and cope with the problem of dead-zone input. Also, by using an integral-multiplicative tangent Lyapunov-barrier function (LBF), the obstacle avoidance mission can be completed for MASs without dynamic mismatching. Then, combining the finite-time method and the backstepping theory, an output-feedback finite-time controller is designed for high-order nonlinear MASs. Theoretical analysis indicates that the control algorithm can not only make agents accomplish the formation obstacle avoidance task but also guarantee the boundedness of signals in the system. A simulation demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Note to Practitioners</i> —This article studies the formation obstacle avoidance problem for MASs which plays an important role in transportation, exploration and rescue activities. Unmeasurable states and dead-zone input, which often occur in practice, are also considered and handled by a neural networks k-filter observer. An integral-multiplicative tangent LBF is utilized to complete the obstacle avoid task which is necessary for actual systems. Moreover, to be more feasible in industrial applications, the finite-time control strategy is used in the controller design.