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The heterogeneity of chronic post-COVID neuropsychiatric symptoms (PCNPS), especially after infection by the Omicron strain, has not been adequately explored.
Aims
To explore the clustering pattern of chronic PCNPS in a cohort of patients having their first COVID infection during the ‘Omicron wave’ and discover phenotypes of patients based on their symptoms’ patterns using a pre-registered protocol.
Method
We assessed 1205 eligible subjects in Hong Kong using app-based questionnaires and cognitive tasks.
Results
Partial network analysis of chronic PCNPS in this cohort produced two major symptom clusters (cognitive complaint–fatigue and anxiety–depression) and a minor headache–dizziness cluster, like our pre-Omicron cohort. Participants with high numbers of symptoms could be further grouped into two distinct phenotypes: a cognitive complaint–fatigue predominant phenotype and another with symptoms across multiple clusters. Multiple logistic regression showed that both phenotypes were predicted by the level of pre-infection deprivation (adjusted P-values of 0.025 and 0.0054, respectively). The severity of acute COVID (adjusted P = 0.023) and the number of pre-existing medical conditions predicted only the cognitive complaint–fatigue predominant phenotype (adjusted P = 0.003), and past suicidal ideas predicted only the symptoms across multiple clusters phenotype (adjusted P < 0.001). Pre-infection vaccination status did not predict either phenotype.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that we should pursue a phenotype-driven approach with holistic biopsychosocial perspectives in disentangling the heterogeneity under the umbrella of chronic PCNPS. Management of patients complaining of chronic PCNPS should be stratified according to their phenotypes. Clinicians should recognise that depression and anxiety cannot explain all chronic post-COVID cognitive symptoms.
With numerous applications of coilable masts in high-precision space application scenarios, there are also greater demands on the accuracy of their dynamic modelling and analysis. The modelling of hinges is a critical issue in the dynamic modelling of coilable masts, which significantly affects the accuracy of the dynamic response analysis. For coilable masts, the rotational effect is the most important problem in hinge modelling. However, few studies have focused on this topic. To address this problem, the concept of hinge equivalent rotational stiffness is proposed in this paper to describe the rotational effect of the coilable mast hinges. After that, a new coilable mast dynamic model containing the undetermined hinge equivalent rotational stiffness is introduced, and an identification method for the hinge equivalent rotational stiffness based on the hammer test is proposed. Finally, the dynamic modelling method is validated through an actual coilable mast example, and the analysis and test results show that the accuracy of the dynamic model established by the proposed method in this paper is greater than that of the traditional model.
One species-general life history (LH) principle posits that challenging childhood environments are coupled with a fast or faster LH strategy and associated behaviors, while secure and stable childhood environments foster behaviors conducive to a slow or slower LH strategy. This coupling between environments and LH strategies is based on the assumption that individuals’ internal traits and states are independent of their external surroundings. In reality, individuals respond to external environmental conditions in alignment with their intrinsic vitality, encompassing both physical and mental states. The present study investigated attachment as an internal mental state, examining its role in mediating and moderating the association between external environmental adversity and fast LH strategies. A sample of 1169 adolescents (51% girls) from 9 countries was tracked over 10 years, starting from age 8. The results confirm both mediation and moderation and, for moderation, secure attachment nullified and insecure attachment maintained the environment-LH coupling. These findings suggest that attachment could act as an internal regulator, disrupting the contingent coupling between environmental adversity and a faster pace of life, consequently decelerating human LH.
Adolescents with depression have distinct affective reactions to daily events, but current research is controversial. The emotional context insensitivity theory suggests blunted reactivity in depression, whereas the hypotheses of negative potentiation and mood brightening effect suggest otherwise. While nonlinear associations between depression severity and affective reactivity have been observed, studies with a separate subclinical group remain rare. Subthreshold depression (SD), defined by two to four symptoms lasting for two weeks or more, provides a dimensional view to the underpinnings of affective reactivity. In this study, we compared positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) reactivity to positive and negative daily events (uplifts and stress) among adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), SD and healthy controls (HC) using experience sampling methods (ESM).
Objectives
We hypothesized a stepped difference in affective reactivity along the depression spectrum: the MDD group will have the strongest reactivity of PA and NA to uplifts and stress, followed by SD and HC.
Methods
Three groups (MDD, SD, and HC) of adolescents were recruited from an epidemiologic sample entitled ‘Hong Kong Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Epidemiologic Survey: Age 6 to 17’. Group status was determined by the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version 5. They completed an experience sampling diary on smartphone for 14 consecutive days, with 5-10 entries per day. Momentary levels of PA (happy, relaxed, contented), NA (irritated, low, nervous), uplifts and stress experienced before the entry were measured on a 1-7 Likert scale.
Results
The sample consisted of 19 adolescents with MDD, 30 with SD, and 59 HC. The M:F ratio was 17:19. The age range was 12-18 with a mean of 14.8. The overall ESM completion rate was 46%. The MDD group had the highest levels of stress and NA, and the lowest levels of uplifts and PA, followed by the SD and HC groups respectively (p<0.01). Across groups, levels of PA were positively associated with uplifts and negatively associated with stress, whereas levels of NA were positively associated with stress and negatively associated with uplifts. The Group x Uplift interaction effect on PA was significant, with greater PA reactivity in SD (p<0.01) and MDD (p=0.07) when compared with HC. The Group x Uplift interaction effect on NA was significant, with greater NA reactivity in SD than HC (p<0.01). The Group x Stress interaction effect on PA was significant, with greater PA reactivity in SD than HC (p<0.01) and MDD (p<0.01). The Group x Stress interaction effect with NA is non-significant.
Conclusions
Contrary to our hypothesis, adolescents with SD experienced strongest PA and NA reactivity in uplifts and PA reactivity in stress. It provides evidence towards a nonlinear relationship between severity of depression and affective reactivity.
Plant growth requires the integration of internal and external cues, perceived and transduced into a developmental programme of cell division, elongation and wall thickening. Mechanical forces contribute to this regulation, and thigmomorphogenesis typically includes reducing stem height, increasing stem diameter, and a canonical transcriptomic response. We present data on a bZIP transcription factor involved in this process in grasses. Brachypodium distachyon SECONDARY WALL INTERACTING bZIP (SWIZ) protein translocated into the nucleus following mechanostimulation. Classical touch-responsive genes were upregulated in B. distachyon roots following touch, including significant induction of the glycoside hydrolase 17 family, which may be unique to grass thigmomorphogenesis. SWIZ protein binding to an E-box variant in exons and introns was associated with immediate activation followed by repression of gene expression. SWIZ overexpression resulted in plants with reduced stem and root elongation. These data further define plant touch-responsive transcriptomics and physiology, offering insights into grass mechanotranduction dynamics.
Echinococcosis poses a significant threat to public health. The Chinese government has implemented prevention and control measures to mitigate the impact of the disease. By analyzing data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, we found that implementation of these measures has reduced the infection rate by nearly 50% between 2004 to 2022 (from 0.3975 to 0.1944 per 100,000 person-years). Nonetheless, some regions still bear a significant disease burden, and lack of detailed information limites further evaluation of the effects on both alveolar and cystic echinococcosis. Our analysis supports the continuing implementation of these measures and suggests that enhanced wildlife management, case-based strategies, and surveillance systems will facilitate disease control.
It is unclear how much adolescents’ lives were disrupted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic or what risk factors predicted such disruption. To answer these questions, 1,080 adolescents in 9 nations were surveyed 5 times from March 2020 to July 2022. Rates of adolescent COVID-19 life disruption were stable and high. Adolescents who, compared to their peers, lived in nations with higher national COVID-19 death rates, lived in nations with less stringent COVID-19 mitigation strategies, had less confidence in their government’s response to COVID-19, complied at higher rates with COVID-19 control measures, experienced the death of someone they knew due to COVID-19, or experienced more internalizing, externalizing, and smoking problems reported more life disruption due to COVID-19 during part or all of the pandemic. Additionally, when, compared to their typical levels of functioning, adolescents experienced spikes in national death rates, experienced less stringent COVID-19 mitigation measures, experienced less confidence in government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, complied at higher rates with COVID-19 control measures, experienced more internalizing problems, or smoked more at various periods during the pandemic, they also experienced more COVID-19 life disruption. Collectively, these findings provide new insights that policymakers can use to prevent the disruption of adolescents’ lives in future pandemics.
To accelerate high-intensity heavy-ion beams to high energy in the booster ring (BRing) at the High-Intensity Heavy-Ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF) project, we take the typical reference particle 238U35+, which can be accelerated from an injection energy of 17 MeV/u to the maximal extraction energy of 830 MeV/u, as an example to study the basic processes of longitudinal beam dynamics, including beam capture, acceleration, and bunch merging. The voltage amplitude, the synchronous phase, and the frequency program of the RF system during the operational cycle were given, and the beam properties such as bunch length, momentum spread, longitudinal beam emittance, and beam loss were derived, firstly. Then, the beam properties under different voltage amplitude and synchronous phase errors were also studied, and the results were compared with the cases without any errors. Next, the beam properties with the injection energy fluctuation were also studied. The tolerances of the RF errors and injection energy fluctuation were dictated based on the CISP simulations. Finally, the effect of space charge at the low injection energy with different beam intensities on longitudinal emittance and beam loss was evaluated.
The target backsheath field acceleration mechanism is one of the main mechanisms of laser-driven proton acceleration (LDPA) and strongly depends on the comprehensive performance of the ultrashort ultra-intense lasers used as the driving sources. The successful use of the SG-II Peta-watt (SG-II PW) laser facility for LDPA and its applications in radiographic diagnoses have been manifested by the good performance of the SG-II PW facility. Recently, the SG-II PW laser facility has undergone extensive maintenance and a comprehensive technical upgrade in terms of the seed source, laser contrast and terminal focus. LDPA experiments were performed using the maintained SG-II PW laser beam, and the highest cutoff energy of the proton beam was obviously increased. Accordingly, a double-film target structure was used, and the maximum cutoff energy of the proton beam was up to 70 MeV. These results demonstrate that the comprehensive performance of the SG-II PW laser facility was improved significantly.
Meat quality is not only influenced by breed but also rearing environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of different housing environments on growth performance, carcase traits, meat quality, physiological response pre-slaughter and fatty acid composition in two pig breeds. A total of 120 growing pigs at 60-70 days of age were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial design with the breeds (Duroc × Landrace × Large White [D × L × LW] and Duroc × Landrace × Min pig [D × L × M]) and environmental enrichment (barren concrete floor or enriched with straw bedding) as factors. Each treatment was performed in triplicate with ten pigs per replicate. The pigs housed in the enriched environment exhibited a higher average daily gain, average daily feed intake, saturated fatty acid percentage and backfat depth than the pigs reared in the barren environment. Plasma cortisol levels were lower and growth hormone higher in enriched compared to barren pens. The D × L × M pigs showed lower cooking loss compared with the D × L × LW pigs. Moreover, the D × L × M pigs exhibited poor growth performance but had a better water-holding capacity. Only carcase traits and meat quality interaction effects were observed. We concluded that an enriched environment can reduce preslaughter stress and improve the growth performance of pigs and modulate the fatty acid composition of pork products.
As a basic flow model for engineering applications, wall-bounded turbulent flow has been widely studied in the field of aero-optics, but the flow control methods that could effectively suppress aero-optical effects are relatively rare. As an urgent requirement in engineering application, the concept of the steady wall blowing and suction is proposed by the author. Firstly, the author briefly described the flow model and physical method. Secondly, the choice of disturbance type is given. Then, the results of wall blowing-suction, suction and blowing ways based on steady and unsteady disturbance are compared. Finally, it is concluded that employing the high steady wall blowing disturbance (A = 0.2) could realise aero-optical suppression by around 20%. Besides, the steady wall suction scheme contributes to about 70%–80% reduction effect within a wide amplitude range (A = 0.2–1.0), which suppresses this effect by maintaining laminar state downstream contrasted by the baseline case.
The great demographic pressure brings tremendous volume of beef demand. The key to solve this problem is the growth and development of Chinese cattle. In order to find molecular markers conducive to the growth and development of Chinese cattle, sequencing was used to determine the position of copy number variations (CNVs), bioinformatics analysis was used to predict the function of ZNF146 gene, real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used for CNV genotyping and one-way analysis of variance was used for association analysis. The results showed that there exists CNV in Chr 18: 47225201-47229600 (5.0.1 version) of ZNF146 gene through the early sequencing results in the laboratory and predicted ZNF146 gene was expressed in liver, skeletal muscle and breast cells, and was amplified or overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, which promoted the development of tumour through bioinformatics. Therefore, it is predicted that ZNF146 gene affects the proliferation of muscle cells, and then affects the growth and development of cattle. Furthermore, CNV genotyping of ZNF146 gene was three types (deletion type, normal type and duplication type) by Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR). The association analysis results showed that ZNF146-CNV was significantly correlated with rump length of Qinchuan cattle, hucklebone width of Jiaxian red cattle and heart girth of Yunling cattle. From the above results, ZNF146-CNV had a significant effect on growth traits, which provided an important candidate molecular marker for growth and development of Chinese cattle.
Bragg scattering of nonlinear surface waves over a wavy bottom is studied using two-dimensional fully nonlinear numerical wave tanks (NWTs). In particular, we consider cases of high nonlinearity which lead to complex wave generation and transformations, hence possible multiple Bragg resonances. The performance of the NWTs is well verified by benchmarking experiments. Classic Bragg resonances associated with second-order triad interactions among two surface (linear incident and reflected waves) and one bottom wave components (class I), and third-order quartet interactions among three surface (linear incident and reflected waves, and second-order reflected/transmitted waves) and one bottom wave components (class III) are observed. In addition, class I Bragg resonance occurring for the second-order (rather than linear) transmitted waves, and Bragg resonance arising from quintet interactions among three surface and two bottom wave components, are newly captured. The latter is denoted class IV Bragg resonance which magnifies bottom nonlinearity. It is also found that wave reflection and transmission at class III Bragg resonance have a quadratic rather than a linear relation with the bottom slope if the bottom size increases to a certain level. The surface wave and bottom nonlinearities are found to play opposite roles in shifting the Bragg resonance conditions. Finally, the results indicate that Bragg resonances are responsible for the phenomena of beating and parasitic beating, leading to a significantly large local free surface motion in front of the depth transition.
We report the experimental results of the commissioning phase in the 10 PW laser beamline of the Shanghai Superintense Ultrafast Laser Facility (SULF). The peak power reaches 2.4 PW on target without the last amplifying during the experiment. The laser energy of 72 ± 9 J is directed to a focal spot of approximately 6 μm diameter (full width at half maximum) in 30 fs pulse duration, yielding a focused peak intensity around 2.0 × 1021 W/cm2. The first laser-proton acceleration experiment is performed using plain copper and plastic targets. High-energy proton beams with maximum cut-off energy up to 62.5 MeV are achieved using copper foils at the optimum target thickness of 4 μm via target normal sheath acceleration. For plastic targets of tens of nanometers thick, the proton cut-off energy is approximately 20 MeV, showing ring-like or filamented density distributions. These experimental results reflect the capabilities of the SULF-10 PW beamline, for example, both ultrahigh intensity and relatively good beam contrast. Further optimization for these key parameters is underway, where peak laser intensities of 1022–1023 W/cm2 are anticipated to support various experiments on extreme field physics.
Glutamine synthetase (GS) and glutamate synthase (GOGAT) play a central role in plant nitrogen (N) metabolism. In order to study the effect of powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici, Bgt) on N metabolism, field experiments were carried out to evaluate GS and GOGAT activity, GS expression and grain protein content (GPC) in susceptible (Xi'nong 979) and resistant (Zhengmai 103) wheat cultivars under three treatments. The three treatments were no inoculation (CK), inoculated once with Bgt (MP) and inoculated nine times with Bgt (HP). For Xi'nong 979, the activities of GS and GOGAT in grains as well as GS activity in flag leaves increased at 10–15 days after anthesis (DAA), and decreased significantly at 15 or 20–30 DAA in HP and MP. However, GS activity in grains decreased from 20 DAA, which was later than that of flag leaves (15 DAA). At the same time, GS expression in grains was up-regulated at early stage, with GS1 at 10 DAA and GS2 at 15 DAA, followed by a continuous down-regulation. This result indicated that GS and GOGAT activity as well as GS expression were inhibited by powdery mildew, indicating that N metabolism in grains was inhibited at 20–30 DAA. The current study also found out that the yield of the susceptible cultivar decreased significantly, while its GPC increased obviously in HP. It was shown that the increase of GPC was not due to the enhancement of N metabolism, but due to the passive increase caused by yield reduction.
This chapter uses evidence from the Parenting across Cultures (PAC) project to illustrate ways in which longitudinal data can help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/). The chapter begins by providing an overview of the research questions that have guided PAC as well as a description of the participants, procedures and measures. Next, empirical findings from PAC are summarized to illustrate implications for six specific SDGs. Then the chapter describes how longitudinal data offer advantages over cross-sectional data in operationalizing SDG targets and implementing the SDGs. Finally, limitations, future research directions and conclusions are provided.
PAC was developed in response to concerns that understanding of parenting and child development was biased by the predominant focus in the literature on studying families in Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic (WEIRD) societies and that findings in such countries may not generalize well to more diverse populations around the world (Henrich et al, 2010). In an analysis of the sample characteristics in the most influential journals in six subdisciplines of psychology from 2003 to 2007, 96% of research participants were from Western industrialized countries, and 68% were from the United States alone (Arnett, 2008), which means that 96% of research participants in these psychological studies were from countries with only 12% of the world's population (Henrich et al, 2010). When basic science research is limited to WEIRD countries, knowledge of human development becomes defined by a set of experiences that may not be widely shared in different cultural contexts, so studying parenting and child development in a wide range of diverse cultural contexts is important to understand development more fully.
PAC has been conceptualized and funded as a consecutive series of three five-year grants, each covering a different developmental period and guided by different research questions. In the first project period, participants were aged 8 to 12. The main research questions focused on cultural differences in links between discipline and child adjustment, warmth as a moderator of links between harsh discipline and child outcomes, and cognitive and emotional mediators of effects of harsh discipline on children's aggression and anxiety. In the second period, target participants were 13 to 17 years old.
Lifestyle interventions are an important and viable approach for preventing cognitive deficits. However, the results of studies on alcohol, coffee and tea consumption in relation to cognitive decline have been divergent, likely due to confounds from dose–response effects. This meta-analysis aimed to find the dose–response relationship between alcohol, coffee or tea consumption and cognitive deficits.
Methods
Prospective cohort studies or nested case-control studies in a cohort investigating the risk factors of cognitive deficits were searched in PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane and Web of Science up to 4th June 2020. Two authors searched the databases and extracted the data independently. We also assessed the quality of the studies with the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Stata 15.0 software was used to perform model estimation and plot the linear or nonlinear dose–response relationship graphs.
Results
The search identified 29 prospective studies from America, Japan, China and some European countries. The dose–response relationships showed that compared to non-drinkers, low consumption (<11 g/day) of alcohol could reduce the risk of cognitive deficits or only dementias, but there was no significant effect of heavier drinking (>11 g/day). Low consumption of coffee reduced the risk of any cognitive deficit (<2.8 cups/day) or dementia (<2.3 cups/day). Green tea consumption was a significant protective factor for cognitive health (relative risk, 0.94; 95% confidence intervals, 0.92–0.97), with one cup of tea per day brings a 6% reduction in risk of cognitive deficits.
Conclusions
Light consumption of alcohol (<11 g/day) and coffee (<2.8 cups/day) was associated with reduced risk of cognitive deficits. Cognitive benefits of green tea consumption increased with the daily consumption.
Late-life depression has substantial impacts on individuals, families and society. Knowledge gaps remain in estimating the economic impacts associated with late-life depression by symptom severity, which has implications for resource prioritisation and research design (such as in modelling). This study examined the incremental health and social care expenditure of depressive symptoms by severity.
Methods
We analysed data collected from 2707 older adults aged 60 years and over in Hong Kong. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Client Service Receipt Inventory were used, respectively, to measure depressive symptoms and service utilisation as a basis for calculating care expenditure. Two-part models were used to estimate the incremental expenditure associated with symptom severity over 1 year.
Results
The average PHQ-9 score was 6.3 (standard deviation, s.d. = 4.0). The percentages of respondents with mild, moderate and moderately severe symptoms and non-depressed were 51.8%, 13.5%, 3.7% and 31.0%, respectively. Overall, the moderately severe group generated the largest average incremental expenditure (US$5886; 95% CI 1126–10 647 or a 272% increase), followed by the mild group (US$3849; 95% CI 2520–5177 or a 176% increase) and the moderate group (US$1843; 95% CI 854–2831, or 85% increase). Non-psychiatric healthcare was the main cost component in a mild symptom group, after controlling for other chronic conditions and covariates. The average incremental association between PHQ-9 score and overall care expenditure peaked at PHQ-9 score of 4 (US$691; 95% CI 444–939), then gradually fell to negative between scores of 12 (US$ - 35; 95% CI - 530 to 460) and 19 (US$ -171; 95% CI - 417 to 76) and soared to positive and rebounded at the score of 23 (US$601; 95% CI -1652 to 2854).
Conclusions
The association between depressive symptoms and care expenditure is stronger among older adults with mild and moderately severe symptoms. Older adults with the same symptom severity have different care utilisation and expenditure patterns. Non-psychiatric healthcare is the major cost element. These findings inform ways to optimise policy efforts to improve the financial sustainability of health and long-term care systems, including the involvement of primary care physicians and other geriatric healthcare providers in preventing and treating depression among older adults and related budgeting and accounting issues across services.
To investigate the influences of dietary riboflavin (RF) addition on nutrient digestion and rumen fermentation, eight rumen cannulated Holstein bulls were randomly allocated into four treatments in a repeated 4 × 4 Latin square design. Daily addition level of RF for each bull in control, low RF, medium RF and high RF was 0, 300, 600 and 900 mg, respectively. Increasing the addition level of RF, DM intake was not affected, average daily gain tended to be increased linearly and feed conversion ratio decreased linearly. Total tract digestibilities of DM, organic matter, crude protein (CP) and neutral-detergent fibre (NDF) increased linearly. Rumen pH decreased quadratically, and total volatile fatty acids (VFA) increased quadratically. Acetate molar percentage and acetate:propionate ratio increased linearly, but propionate molar percentage and ammonia-N content decreased linearly. Rumen effective degradability of DM increased linearly, NDF increased quadratically but CP was unaltered. Activity of cellulase and populations of total bacteria, protozoa, fungi, dominant cellulolytic bacteria, Prevotella ruminicola and Ruminobacter amylophilus increased linearly. Linear increase was observed for urinary total purine derivatives excretion. The data suggested that dietary RF addition was essential for rumen microbial growth, and no further increase in performance and rumen total VFA concentration was observed when increasing RF level from 600 to 900 mg/d in dairy bulls.