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Cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) including heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes have been individually linked to depression. However, their combined impact on depression risk is unclear. We aimed to examine the association between cardiometabolic multimorbidity and depression and explore the role of genetic background in this association.
Methods
Within the Swedish Twin Registry, 40,080 depression-free individuals (mean age 60 years) were followed for 18 years. Cardiometabolic multimorbidity was defined as having ≥2 CMDs. CMDs and depression were ascertained based on the National Patient Register. Cox regression was used to estimate the CMD-depression association in a classical cohort study design and a matched co-twin design involving 176 twin pairs. By comparing the associations between monozygotic and dizygotic co-twins, the contribution of genetic background was estimated.
Results
At baseline, 4809 (12.0%) participants had one CMD and 969 (2.4%) had ≥2 CMDs. Over the follow-up period, 1361 participants developed depression. In the classical cohort design, the multi-adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence interval [CIs]) of depression were 1.52 (1.31–1.76) for those with one CMD and 1.83 (1.29–2.58) for those with ≥2 CMDs. CMDs had a greater risk effect on depression if they developed in mid-life (<60 years) as opposed to late life (≥60 years). In matched co-twin analysis, the CMD-depression association was significant among dizygotic twins (HR = 1.63, 95% CI, 1.02–2.59) but not monozygotic twins (HR = 0.90, 95% CI, 0.32–2.51).
Conclusions
Cardiometabolic multimorbidity is associated with an elevated risk of depression. Genetic factors may contribute to the association between CMDs and depression.
Increases in population size are associated with the adoption of Neolithic agricultural practices in many areas of the world, but rapid population growth within the Dingsishan cultural group of southern China pre-dated the arrival of rice and millet farming in this area. In this article, the authors identify starch grains from taros (Colocasia) and yams (Dioscorea) in dental calculus and on food-processing tools from the Dingsishan sites of Huiyaotian and Liyupo (c. 9030–6741 BP). They conclude that the harvesting and processing of these dietary staples supported an Early Holocene population increase in southern East Asia, before the spread of rice and millet farming.
This study presents a dual-channel vortex generator (VG) that leverages the snap-through behaviour of flexible sheets. The VG outperforms a similar-sized rigid VG in generating vortices within dual-channel flows while minimizing pressure loss. Numerical simulations using the immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method analyse the dynamics and vortex generation performance of the sheet under various system parameters. Two distinct modes are identified for the elastic sheet: a sustained snap-through mode (SSTM) and a dormant mode (DM). The sheet's mode is predominantly influenced by its length ratio (L*), bending stiffness $(K_b^\ast )$ and flow strength, with the mass ratio having a minimal impact. The sheet exhibiting regular SSTM can effectively generate vortices in both channels and the vortex generation performance can be conveniently tuned by altering the sheet's initial buckling (i.e. L*). An increase in $K_b^\ast $ results in a higher critical Reynolds number (Rec) required for mode transition. An increase in L*, however, initially raises Rec and then lowers it, suggesting an optimal length ratio (approximately 0.7 for our considered system) for minimizing the Rec necessary to trigger SSTM. Furthermore, a disparity in the flow strength between channels is found to suppress the snap-through of the sheet; a greater disparity, however, is permissible to induce the SSTM of more compliant sheets. These findings underscore the potential of snap-through behaviour for enhanced flow manipulation in dual-channel systems.
Anxiety disorder is one of the common mental health problems in college students, which hurts their study, work, and life. Comprehensive psychological crisis intervention is a complete psychological treatment method expected to be essential in treating anxiety disorders in college students.
Subjects and Methods
One hundred college students with anxiety disorder were selected as research subjects and randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group received comprehensive psychological crisis intervention treatment and comprehensive intervention measures such as psychological assistance, cognitive behavioral therapy, and intimate relationship training. The control group received traditional psychotherapy, including counseling and medication. The Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), and other assessment tools were used to carry out psychological measurements of the two groups of patients before, after, and at the follow-up point, respectively. The collected information was statistically analyzed by SPSS23.0 software.
Results
After the comprehensive psychological crisis intervention treatment, the anxiety and depression levels of the experimental group were significantly reduced (P<0.001), and life satisfaction was significantly increased (P<0.001). Compared with the control group, the experimental group showed obvious advantages in curative effect.
Conclusions
Comprehensive psychological crisis intervention has shown remarkable efficacy in college students with anxiety disorders, can effectively reduce anxiety and depression, and improves the life satisfaction of patients. This approach may become an essential option for treating anxiety disorders in college students.
Acknowledgement
2021 Humanities and Social Sciences Research Project for Basic Research Business Expenses of Provincial Undergraduate Universities in Heilongjiang Province. No. 2021- kyywf-0384.
It is often said that while the West recognized the rule of law, China did not. Many scholars believe that Chinese courts applied Confucian norms of conduct that were expressed, not as rules, but as moral principles. Chinese magistrates, however, decided cases according to known rules. These rules concerned, not standards of conduct, but with the punishment appropriate in various cases of wrongdoing. A great deal of energy and intellectual sophistication went into determining how severely one offense should be punished compared with another. This concern went back to the first, and anti-Confucian dynasty, the Qin. It explains why the rule of law in China differed from the rule of law in the West, and why, although it was compatible with Confucianism, it was not an expression of Confucian moral principles.
We carried out experimental and numerical investigations on the axisymmetric spreading evolution of dynamic spin coating with a single drop of ethanol. The results show that the dynamic spreading process consists of two stages: inertial spreading stage and centrifugal thinning stage. These two stages are connected by a transient state in between characterized by the minimum contact line moving velocity. The Weber number determines the spreading in the first stage, similar to the case of the impact of a drop on a static substrate. The rotational Bond number has a marginal effect on the inertia spreading and the radius at the transient state. In the centrifugal thinning stage, the rotational Bond number dominates the flow while the effect of the Weber number is negligible.
The poultry red mite (PRM), Dermanyssus gallinae, is one of the most detrimental ectoparasite on poultry farms worldwide. The blood fed on birds provides the mites with nutrition and energy for their activities, development and reproduction. In the evaluation of the efficacy of novel drugs or vaccines against PRMs, their effects on blood digestion are generally used as a key parameter. The blood digestion of haematophagous arthropods (including D. gallinae) is usually assessed by weighing; however, this method shows some limitations. The main objective of the present study was to develop a scoring method that can quickly and visually evaluate the blood digestion status of PRMs. A 0–4 point scoring criterion was established to describe the blood digestion status of D. gallinae based on the changes in appearance in the intestinal tract of PRMs during the blood digestion process. There was a good consistency between the results obtained by the blood digestion scoring and the weighing, indicating the reliability of this new method. The results obtained from volunteers were consistent with the results from researchers with low coefficient of variation, indicating that the scoring method has good practicability. The applicability of the scoring method was confirmed in an efficacy study, where it was found that doramectin could significantly inhibit the blood digestion of PRMs, lowering the blood digestion score.
To explore whether embryo culture with melatonin (MT) can improve the embryonic development and clinical outcome of patients with repeated cycles after in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) failure, immature oocytes from controlled ovarian superovulation cycles were collected for in vitro maturation (IVM) and ICSI. The obtained embryos were cultured in 0, 10–11, 10–9, 10–7 and 10–5 M MT medium respectively, and 10–9 M was screened out as the optimal concentration. Subsequently, 140 patients who underwent failed IVF/ICSI cycles received 140 cycles of embryo culture in vitro with a medium containing 10–9 M MT, these 140 MT culture cycles were designated as the experimental group (10–9 M group), and the control group was the previous failed cycles of patients (0 M group). The results showed that the fertilization, cleavage, high-quality embryo, blastocyst, and high-quality blastocyst rates of the 10–9 M group were significantly higher than those of the 0 M group (P < 0.01; P < 0.01; P < 0.0001; P < 0.0001; P < 0.0001). To date, in total, 50 vitrified-warmed cycle transfers have been performed in the 10–9 M group and the implantation rate, biochemical pregnancy rate and clinical pregnancy rate were significantly higher than those in the 0 M group (all P < 0.0001). Two healthy infants were delivered successfully and the other 18 women who achieved clinical pregnancy also had good examination indexes. Therefore the application of 10–9 M MT to embryo cultures in vitro improved embryonic development in patients with repeated cycles after failed IVF/ICSI cycles and had good clinical outcomes.
Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is an alternative food marketing model in which community members subscribe to receive regular shares of a farm's harvest. Although CSA has the potential to improve access to fresh produce, certain features of CSA membership may prohibit low-income families from participating. A ‘cost-offset’ CSA (CO-CSA) model provides low-income families with purchasing support with the goal of making CSA more affordable. As a first step toward understanding the potential of CO-CSA to improve access to healthy foods among low-income households, we interviewed 24 CSA farmers and 20 full-pay CSA members about their experiences and perceptions of the cost-offset model and specific mechanisms for offsetting the cost of CSA. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and coded using a thematic approach. Ensuring that healthy food was accessible to everyone, regardless of income level, was a major theme expressed by both farmers and members. In general, CSA farmers and CSA members favored member donations over other mechanisms for funding the CO-CSA. The potential time burden that could affect CSA farmers when administering a cost-offset was a commonly-mentioned barrier. Future research should investigate various CO-CSA operational models in order to determine which models are most economically viable and sustainable.
This paper investigates global dynamics of an infection age-space structured cholera model. The model describes the vibrio cholerae transmission in human population, where infection-age structure of vibrio cholerae and infectious individuals are incorporated to measure the infectivity during the different stage of disease transmission. The model is described by reaction–diffusion models involving the spatial dispersal of vibrios and the mobility of human populations in the same domain Ω ⊂ ℝn. We first give the well-posedness of the model by converting the model to a reaction–diffusion model and two Volterra integral equations and obtain two constant equilibria. Our result suggest that the basic reproduction number determines the dichotomy of disease persistence and extinction, which is achieved by studying the local stability of equilibria, disease persistence and global attractivity of equilibria.
The Farm Fresh Food Box (F3B) strategy is a hybrid of direct-to-consumer (DTC) and short value chain models that aims to stimulate rural economies, creates an additional sales avenue for small farmers, provides rural grocery stores with increased foot traffic and overcomes barriers for rural consumers who are unable to access local food. The F3B project is a tri-state collaboration of extension and research partners from three states; two on the West Coast and one in the Northeast United States, involving small farmers and retailers from rural communities. This article analyzes F3B consumer surveys from 2 years of project implementation and contributes to the limited body of research on food box models by identifying benefits and barriers of the F3B strategy for consumers, comparing these findings to existing research on food box programs and other DTC market channels, and discussing implications for future model adjustment. Overall, consumers were pleased with all aspects of the F3B. However, the strategy had limited success with reaching a new demographic of local food consumers.
We consider the fractional elliptic problem:
where B1 is the unit ball in ℝN, N ⩾ 3, s ∈ (0, 1) and p > (N + 2s)/(N − 2s). We prove that this problem has infinitely many solutions with slow decay O(|x|−2s/(p−1)) at infinity. In addition, for each s ∈ (0, 1) there exists Ps > (N + 2s)/(N − 2s), for any (N + 2s)/(N − 2s) < p < Ps, the above problem has a solution with fast decay O(|x|2s−N). This result is the extension of the work by Dávila, del Pino, Musso and Wei (2008, Calc. Var. Partial Differ. Equ. 32, no. 4, 453–480) to the fractional case.
This study uses location-specific data to investigate the role of spatially mediated peer effects in farmers’ adoption of conservation agriculture practices. The literature has shown that farmers trust other farmers and one way to increase conservation practice adoption is through identifying feasible conservation practices in neighboring fields. Estimating this effect can help improve our understanding of what influences the adoption and could play a role in improving federal and local conservation program design. The study finds that although spatial peer effects are important in the adoption of conservation tillage and diverse crop rotation, the scale of peer effects are not substantial.
To examine participants’ experiences with nutrition education classes that were implemented with and designed to complement a cost-offset community-supported agriculture (CSA) programme.
Design:
Qualitative analysis of data from twenty-eight focus groups with ninety-six participants enrolled in Farm Fresh Foods for Healthy Kids (F3HK). Transcribed data were coded and analysed by a priori and emergent themes.
Setting:
Rural and micropolitan communities in New York, North Carolina, Vermont and Washington (USA).
Participants:
Ninety-six F3HK participants.
Results:
Participants found recipes and class activities helpful and reported improvements in nutrition knowledge, food preservation skills and home cooking behaviours for themselves and their children; they also reported that classes promoted a sense of community. Some educators better incorporated CSA produce into lessons, which participants reported as beneficial. Other obligations and class logistics were barriers to attendance; participants recommended that lessons be offered multiple times weekly at different times of day. Other suggestions included lengthening class duration to encourage social engagement; emphasising recipes to incorporate that week’s CSA produce and pantry staples and offering additional strategies to incorporate children in classes.
Conclusion:
Complementing a cost-offset CSA with nutrition education may enhance programme benefits to low-income families by improving nutrition knowledge and cooking behaviours. However, future interventions will benefit from ongoing coordination between educators and local growing trajectories to maximise timely coverage of unfamiliar produce in lessons; synchronous scheduling of CSA pick-up and classes for participant convenience and creative strategies to engage children and/or provide childcare.
This paper presents a soft robot which can imitate the crawling locomotion of an earthworm. Locomotion of the robot can be achieved by expanding and contracting the body that is made of flexible material. A link of the earthworm-like robot is combined with three modules, and a multi-cavity earthworm-like soft robot is combined with multiple links. The multiple links of the earthworm-like soft robot are fabricated by silicone in the three-dimensional printed customized molds. Experiments on a single module, two-links, and three-links show that the soft robot can move and bend on condition of modules extension and contraction in a specified gait. The development of the earthworm-like soft robot shows a great prospect in many complicated environments such as pipeline detection.
To explore whether different polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) concentrations affect the results of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a prospective study was conducted for 194 couples undergoing 210 ICSI therapy cycles. These cycles were divided into three groups (10, 7 and 5% groups) using the corresponding concentration of PVP for sperm immobilization. The main outcome measures were analyzed. Results indicated that, with a decrease in PVP concentrations, all of the main outcome measures increased. In particular, the high-quality cleavage embryo rate in the 7% group was significantly lower than in the 5% group (P < 0.01), and the cleavage, high-quality cleavage embryo, and high-quality blastocyst rates in the 5% group were significantly higher than those in the 10% group (all P < 0.001). For high-/intermediate-quality semen, all of the main outcome measures were significantly increased with 5% PVP. For the poor-quality semen, only the high-quality cleavage embryo and high-quality blastocyst rates were significantly higher in the 5% group. Therefore, lowering PVP concentrations greatly promoted the development of embryos in ICSI cycles, with an optimal concentration of 5% for ICSI.
Recruitment of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to damaged tissue is a crucial step to modulate tissue regeneration. Here, the migration of human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) responding to thermal and mechanical stimuli was investigated using programmable shape-memory polymer actuator (SMPA) sheets. Changing the temperature repetitively between 10 and 37 °C, the SMPA sheets are capable of reversibly changing between two different pre-defined shapes like an artificial muscle. Compared to non-actuating sheets, the cells cultured on the programmed actuating sheets presented a higher migration velocity (0.32 ± 0.1 vs. 0.57 ± 0.2 μm/min). These results could motivate the next scientific steps, for example, to investigate the MSCs pre-loaded in organoids towards their migration potential.
Cellular senescence, a driver of aging and age-related diseases, is a stable state found in metabolically active cells characterized by irreversible cell growth arrest and dramatic changes in metabolism, gene expression and secretome profile. Endogenous regeneration efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) could be attenuated due to senescence. MSCs can be modulated by not only biochemical signals but also by physical cues such as substrate topography. To provide a cell culture substrate that can prevent MSC senescence over an extended period of in vitro cultivation, here, the cell- and immunocompatible poly(ether imide) (PEI) substrate was used. Two distinct levels of roughness were created on the bottom surfaces of PEI inserts via injection molding: Low-R (similar to the thickness of attached single MSC, Rq: 3.9 ± 0.2 µm) and High-R (larger than single MSC thickness. Rq: 22.7 ± 0.8 µm). Cell expansion, lysosomal enzymatic activity, apoptosis and paracrine effects of senescent MSCs were examined by cell counting, detection of senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA β-gal), Caspase 3/7, and CFSE labeling. MSCs showed high cell viability and similar spindle-shaped morphology on all investigated surfaces. Cells on Low-R presented the highest expansion (80000 ± 1805 cells), as compared to cells on smooth PEI and High-R. The low apoptosis level (0.08 vs 0.12 from smooth PEI) and senescence ratio (35% vs. 54% from smooth PEI) were observed in MSCs cultured on Low-R. The secretome from Low-R effectively prevents senescence and supports the proliferation of neighboring cells (1.5-fold faster) as compared to the smooth PEI secretome. In summary, the Low-R PEI provided a superior surface environment for MSCs, which promoted proliferation, inhibited apoptosis and senescence, and effectively influenced the proliferation of neighboring cells via their paracrine effect. Such microroughness can be considered as a key parameter for improving the therapeutic potential of endogenous regeneration, anti-organismal aging and anti-age-related pathologies via directly promoting cell growth and modulating paracrine effects of the senescence associated secretome.
The dynamic mechanical force transmitted through microenvironments during tissue formation and regeneration continuously impacts the mechanics of cells and thereby regulates gene and protein expression. The mechanical properties are altered during the process of stem cells differentiating into different lineages. At different stages of differentiation, stem cells display different mechanical properties in response to surrounding microenvironments, which depend on the subcellular structures, especially the cytoskeleton and nucleus. The mechanical properties of the cell nucleus affect protein folding and transport as well as the condensation of chromatin, through which the cell fate is regulated. These findings raise the question as to how cell mechanics change during differentiation. In this study, the mechanical properties of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) were determined during adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The cytoskeletal structure and the modification of histone were investigated using laser confocal microscope and flow cytometry. The mechanical properties of cell nuclei at different stages of cell differentiation were compared. The stiffness of nuclei increased with time as osteogenesis was induced in hBMSCs. The H3K27me3 level increased during osteogenesis and adipogenesis according to flow cytometry analysis. Our results show conclusively that AFM is a facile and effective method to monitor stem cell differentiation. The measurement of cell mechanical properties by AFM improves our understanding on the connection between mechanics and stem cell fate.
With their abilities of self-renewal and pluripotency to differentiate into all three germ layers, human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are a promising cell source for cell-based drug and implant testing. However, the large-scale expansion and maintenance of hiPSCs requires following strict protocols. There is high demand for advanced cell culture systems capable of generating high-quality hiPSCs to meet application requirements. In this study, we probe the possibility of modifying polymeric substrates for maintaining the self-renewal and pluripotency of hiPSCs. Here, polydopamine (PDA) was employed to immobilize the Laminin 521 (LN521) onto the surface of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). An aqueous solution of dopamine with concentrations ranging from 0 to 2.0 mg/mL was applied on PET surfaces. These PDA-modified surfaces were further functionalized with LN521. Surface wettability was evaluated by measuring the water contact angle (WCA) and surface properties of the modified substrate were analyzed using an atomic force microscope (AFM). Initial hiPSC attachment (1h after seeding) and cell proliferation were evaluated by counting the total cell number. The maintenance of pluripotency was evaluated at designed time points. WCA of the PDA-LN521 surfaces gradually decreased from 62.1°±6.3° to 8.1°±2.9°. The maximum peak-to-valley height roughness (Rt) of those surfaces determined by AFM increased in a dopamine-concentration-dependent manner, ranging from 43.9±1.6 nm to 126.7±7.6 nm. The Young’s modulus of these surfaces was substantially increased from 0.98±0.36 GPa to 4.81±2.41 GPa. There was a significant enhancement (13.0±7.2% and 24.2±8.1%) of hiPSC adhesion on PDA-LN521 (dopamine concentration at 0.125 and 0.25 mg/mL). When increasing the dopamine concentration to 0.5 and 1.0 mg/mL, there was no further increase in hiPSC adhesion on PDA-LN521 surfaces. Moreover, hiPSC proliferation was remarkably enhanced on PDA-LN521 surface (dopamine solution at concentration from 0.125 to 1.0 mg/mL). Pluripotency of hiPSCs was not affected by PDA treatment. In conclusion, PDA-mediated surface modification is an effective approach for the robust expansion and maintenance of hiPSCs on polymer substrates.