bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cereal-legume intercropping: a smart review using topic modelling
Authors: Landschoot Sofie , Zustovi Riccardo , Dewitte Kevin , Randall Nicola P. , Maenhout Steven , Haesaert Geert
Published: January 2024

Introduction

Over the last decade, there has been a growing interest in cereal-legume intercropping for sustainable agriculture. As a result numerous papers, including reviews, focus on this topic. Screening this large amount of papers, to identify knowledge gaps and future research opportunities, manually, would be a complex and time consuming task.

Materials and methods

Bibliometric analysis combined with text mining and topic modelling, to automatically find topics and to derive a representation of intercropping papers as a potential solution to reduce the workload was tested. Both common (e.g. wheat and soybean) as well as underutilized crops (e.g. buckwheat, lupin, triticale) were the focus of this study. The corpus used for the analysis was retrieved from Web of Science and Scopus on 5th September 2022 and consisted of 4,732 papers.

Results

The number of papers on cereal-legume intercropping increased in recent years, with most studies being located in China. Literature mainly dealt with the cereals maize and wheat and the legume soybean whereas buckwheat and lupin received little attention from academic researchers. These underutilized crops are certainly interesting to be used as intercropping partners, however, additional research on optimization of management and cultivar’s choice is important. Yield and nitrogen fixation are the most commonly studied traits in cereal-legume intercropping. Last decade, there is an increasing interest in climate resilience, sustainability and biodiversity. Also the term “ecosystem services” came into play, but still with a low frequency. The regulating services and provisioning services seem to be the most studied, in contrast terms related to potential cultural services were not encountered.

Discussion

In conclusion, based on this review several research opportunities were identified. Minor crops like lupin and buckwheat need to be evaluated for their role as intercropping partners. The interaction between species based on e.g. root exudates needs to be further unraveled. Also diseases, pests and weeds in relation to intercropping deserve more attention and finally more in-depth research on the additional benefits/ecosystem services associated with intercropping systems is necessary.
A novel ensemble learning method for crop leaf disease recognition
Authors: He Yun , Zhang Guangchuan , Gao Quan
Published: January 2024

Deep learning models have been widely applied in the field of crop disease recognition. There are various types of crops and diseases, each potentially possessing distinct and effective features. This brings a great challenge to the generalization performance of recognition models and makes it very difficult to build a unified model capable of achieving optimal recognition performance on all kinds of crops and diseases. In order to solve this problem, we have proposed a novel ensemble learning method for crop leaf disease recognition (named ELCDR). Unlike the traditional voting strategy of ensemble learning, ELCDR assigns different weights to the models based on their feature extraction performance during ensemble learning. In ELCDR, the models’ feature extraction performance is measured by the distribution of the feature vectors of the training set. If a model could distinguish more feature differences between different categories, then it receives a higher weight during ensemble learning. We conducted experiments on the disease images of four kinds of crops. The experimental results show that in comparison to the optimal single model recognition method, ELCDR improves by as much as 1.5 (apple), 0.88 (corn), 2.25 (grape), and 1.5 (rice) percentage points in accuracy. Compared with the voting strategy of ensemble learning, ELCDR improves by as much as 1.75 (apple), 1.25 (corn), 0.75 (grape), and 7 (rice) percentage points in accuracy in each case. Additionally, ELCDR also has improvements on precision, recall, and F1 measure metrics. These experiments provide evidence of the effectiveness of ELCDR in the realm of crop leaf disease recognition.
Field phenotyping of ten wheat cultivars under elevated CO2 shows seasonal differences in chlorophyll fluorescence, plant height and vegetation indices
Authors: Knopf Oliver , Castro Antony , Bendig Juliane , Pude Ralf , Kleist Einhard , Poorter Hendrik , Rascher Uwe , Muller Onno
Published: January 2024

In the context of climate change and global sustainable development goals, future wheat cultivation has to master various challenges at a time, including the rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]). To investigate growth and photosynthesis dynamics under the effects of ambient (~434 ppm) and elevated [CO2] (~622 ppm), a Free-Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) facility was combined with an automated phenotyping platform and an array of sensors. Ten modern winter wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.) were monitored over a vegetation period using a Light-induced Fluorescence Transient (LIFT) sensor, ground-based RGB cameras and a UAV equipped with an RGB and multispectral camera. The LIFT sensor enabled a fast quantification of the photosynthetic performance by measuring the operating efficiency of Photosystem II (Fq’/Fm’) and the kinetics of electron transport, i.e. the reoxidation rates Fr1’ and Fr2’. Our results suggest that elevated [CO2] significantly increased Fq’/Fm’ and plant height during the vegetative growth phase. As the plants transitioned to the senescence phase, a pronounced decline in Fq’/Fm’ was observed under elevated [CO2]. This was also reflected in the reoxidation rates Fr1’ and Fr2’. A large majority of the cultivars showed a decrease in the harvest index, suggesting a different resource allocation and indicating a potential plateau in yield progression under e[CO2]. Our results indicate that the rise in atmospheric [CO2] has significant effects on the cultivation of winter wheat with strong manifestation during early and late growth.
Systems biology of chromium-plant interaction: insights from omics approaches
Authors: Abdullah  , Wani Kaiser Iqbal , Naeem M. , Jha Prakash Kumar , Jha Uday Chand , Aftab Tariq , Prasad P. V. Vara
Published: January 2024

Plants are frequently subjected to heavy metal (HM) stress that impedes their growth and productivity. One of the most common harmful trace metals and HM discovered is chromium (Cr). Its contamination continues to increase in the environment due to industrial or anthropogenic activities. Chromium is severely toxic to plant growth and development and acts as a human carcinogen that enters the body by inhaling or taking Cr-contaminated food items. Plants uptake Cr via various transporters, such as sulfate and phosphate transporters. In nature, Cr is found in various valence states, commonly Cr (III) and Cr (VI). Cr (VI) is soil’s most hazardous and pervasive form. Cr elevates reactive oxygen species (ROS) activity, impeding various physiological and metabolic pathways. Plants have evolved various complex defense mechanisms to prevent or tolerate the toxic effects of Cr. These defense mechanisms include absorbing and accumulating Cr in cell organelles such as vacuoles, immobilizing them by forming complexes with organic chelates, and extracting them by using a variety of transporters and ion channels regulated by various signaling cascades and transcription factors. Several defense-related proteins including, metallothioneins, phytochelatins, and glutathione-S-transferases aid in the sequestration of Cr. Moreover, several genes and transcriptional factors, such as WRKY and AP2/ERF TF genes, play a crucial role in defense against Cr stress. To counter HM-mediated stress stimuli, OMICS approaches, including genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, and metallomics, have facilitated our understanding to improve Cr stress tolerance in plants. This review discusses the Cr uptake, translocation, and accumulation in plants. Furthermore, it provides a model to unravel the complexities of the Cr-plant interaction utilizing system biology and integrated OMICS approach.
PDSE-Lite: lightweight framework for plant disease severity estimation based on Convolutional Autoencoder and Few-Shot Learning
Authors: Bedi Punam , Gole Pushkar , Marwaha Sudeep
Published: January 2024

Plant disease diagnosis with estimation of disease severity at early stages still remains a significant research challenge in agriculture. It is helpful in diagnosing plant diseases at the earliest so that timely action can be taken for curing the disease. Existing studies often rely on labor-intensive manually annotated large datasets for disease severity estimation. In order to conquer this problem, a lightweight framework named “PDSE-Lite” based on Convolutional Autoencoder (CAE) and Few-Shot Learning (FSL) is proposed in this manuscript for plant disease severity estimation with few training instances. The PDSE-Lite framework is designed and developed in two stages. In first stage, a lightweight CAE model is built and trained to reconstruct leaf images from original leaf images with minimal reconstruction loss. In subsequent stage, pretrained layers of the CAE model built in the first stage are utilized to develop the image classification and segmentation models, which are then trained using FSL. By leveraging FSL, the proposed framework requires only a few annotated instances for training, which significantly reduces the human efforts required for data annotation. Disease severity is then calculated by determining the percentage of diseased leaf pixels obtained through segmentation out of the total leaf pixels. The PDSE-Lite framework’s performance is evaluated on Apple-Tree-Leaf-Disease-Segmentation (ATLDS) dataset. However, the proposed framework can identify any plant disease and quantify the severity of identified diseases. Experimental results reveal that the PDSE-Lite framework can accurately detect healthy and four types of apple tree diseases as well as precisely segment the diseased area from leaf images by using only two training samples from each class of the ATLDS dataset. Furthermore, the PDSE-Lite framework’s performance is compared with existing state-of-the-art techniques, and it is found that this framework outperformed these approaches. The proposed framework’s applicability is further verified by statistical hypothesis testing using Student t-test. The results obtained from this test confirm that the proposed framework can precisely estimate the plant disease severity with a confidence interval of 99%. Hence, by reducing the reliance on large-scale manual data annotation, the proposed framework offers a promising solution for early-stage plant disease diagnosis and severity estimation.
Formulated hydroxy fatty acids from fruit pomaces reduce apple scab development caused by Venturia inaequalis through a dual mode of action
Authors: Gaucher Matthieu , Juillard Anthony , Nguyen Bao-Huynh , Viller Noémie , Ernenwein Cédric , Marion Didier , Brisset Marie-Noëlle , Bakan Bénédicte
Published: January 2024

The outermost hydrophobic layer of plants, i.e. the cuticle, is mainly composed of cutin, a polyester of hydroxy fatty acids with reported eliciting and/or antimicrobial activities for some of them. By-products of the fruit processing industry (fruit pomaces), often strongly enriched in cuticular material, are therefore a potential source of bioactive compounds for crop protection against pathogen attack. We investigated the utilization of tomato and apple pomaces in the development of a cutin-based biocontrol solution against apple scab, a major apple disease caused by Venturia inaequalis. Several cutin monomer extracts obtained through different strategies of depolymerization and purification were first compared for their ability to induce a targeted set of defense genes in apple seedlings after foliar application. After a step of formulation, some extracts were chosen for further investigation in planta and in vitro. Our results show that formulated cutin monomers could trigger a significant transcriptome reprogramming in apple plants and exhibit an antifungal effect on V. inaequalis. Cutin monomers-treated apple seedlings were significantly protected against infection by the apple scab agent. Altogether, our findings suggest that water-dispersed cutin monomers extracted from pomaces are potential new bio-based solutions for the control of apple scab.
Belowground bud banks and land use change: roles of vegetation and soil properties in mediating the composition of bud banks in different ecosystems
Authors: Wu Jing , Hou Xianzhang , Xu Lan , Zhou Quanlai , Wang Yongcui , Guo Ziwu , Adomako Michael Opoku , Ma Qun
Published: January 2024

Introduction

Belowground bud banks play integral roles in vegetation regeneration and ecological succession of plant communities; however, human-caused changes in land use severely threaten their resilience and regrowth. Although vegetation attributes and soil properties mediate such anthropogenic effects, their influence on bud bank size and composition and its regulatory mechanisms under land use change have not been explored.

Methods

We conducted a field investigation to examine impacts of land use change on bud bank size and composition, vegetation attributes, and soil properties in wetlands (WL), farmlands (FL), and alpine meadow (AM) ecosystems in Zhejiang Province, China.

Results

Overall, 63 soil samples in close proximity to the vegetation quadrats were excavated using a shovel, and samples of the excavated soil were placed in plastic bags for onward laboratory soil analysis. The total bud density (1514.727 ± 296.666) and tiller bud density (1229.090 ± 279.002) in wetland ecosystems were significantly higher than in farmland and alpine meadow ecosystems [i.e., total (149.333 ± 21.490 and 573.647 ± 91.518) and tiller bud density (24.666 ± 8.504 and 204.235 ± 50.550), respectively]. While vegetation attributes critically affected bud banks in WL ecosystems, soil properties strongly influenced bud banks in farmland and alpine meadow ecosystems. In wetland ecosystems, total and tiller buds were predominantly dependent on soil properties, but vegetation density played a significant role in farmlands and alpine meadow ecosystems. Root sprouting and rhizome buds significantly correlated with total C in the top 0 – 10 cm layer of farmland and alpine meadow ecosystems, respectively, and depended mainly on soil properties.

Discussion

Our results demonstrate that land use change alters bud bank size and composition; however, such responses differed among bud types in wetland, farmland, and alpine meadow ecosystems.
Developing new sugarcane varieties suitable for mechanized production in China: principles, strategies and prospects
Authors: Que Youxiong , Wu Qibin , Zhang Hua , Luo Jun , Zhang Yuebin
Published: January 2024

The sugar industry, which relates to people’s livelihood, is strategic and fundamental in the development of agricultural economy. In China, sugar derived from sugarcane accounts for approximately 85% of total sugar production. Mechanization is the “flower” of sugarcane industry. As the saying goes “when there are blooming flowers, there will be sweet honey.” However, due to limitations in land resources, technology, equipment, organization, and management, mechanization throughout the sugarcane production process has not yet brought about the economic benefits that a mechanized system should provide and has not reached an ideal yield through the integration of agricultural machinery and agronomic practice. This paper briefly describes how to initiate the mechanization of Chinese sugarcane production to promote the sound, healthy, and rapid development of the sugarcane industry, and how to ultimately achieve the transformation of sugarcane breeding in China and the modernization of the sugarcane industry from three perspectives, namely, requirements of mechanized production for sugarcane varieties, breeding strategies for selecting new sugarcane varieties suitable for mechanized production, and screening for sugarcane varieties that are suitable for mechanization and diversification in variety distribution or arrangement in China. We also highlight the current challenges surrounding this topic and look forward to its bright prospects.
Cultural narrative, crisis, and contention in Iceland's bid to join the European Union, 2009–2015
Authors: Hallgrímsdóttir Helga Kristín , Carpenter Michael J. , Brunet-Jailly Emmanuel , Conrad Maximilian
Published: January 2024

In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, Iceland launched a bid to join the European Union. Joining the EU was presented domestically as a key to economic recovery and as a preventative measure against future economic distress. The bid itself was framed within a rapidly shifting political landscape, set against a backdrop of spreading economic malaise across Europe, accompanied by economic bailout plans and austerity measures. Several aspects of the bid's ultimate failure demonstrate the importance of identities and narratives around national independence and European integration. Most saliently, widespread perceptions about what it would mean to join the EU, particularly around sensitive notions of sovereignty, proved insurmountable to the more economistic rationale of the pro-EU campaign. The Icelandic bid thus presents a distinct opportunity to drill down into the complex relationships between austerity economics, popular politics, and the European integration project, with significant policy implications. To better understand the emergence of the bid and its failure in sociopolitical terms we assess different conceptual frameworks, including functionalist, intergovernmentalist, and post-functionalist approaches and theoretical perspectives on crisis and contentious politics. We also include voices of Icelandic citizens from civil society and government collected in research interviews between 2012 and 2018. Overall, our comparative theoretical approach and original case data sharpen an emphasis in the social sciences and policy research on the importance of cultural narrative and identity as key determinants of EU integration.
Empirical factors affecting memory in collaborative versus nominal groups
Authors: Guynn Melissa J.
Published: January 2024

When individuals collaborate to try to retrieve some encoded information, not surprisingly, the collaborative group typically remembers more than does any individual. When the non-redundant output from the individuals is combined, however, this nominal group often, surprisingly, remembers more than does the collaborative group. This finding is known as collaborative inhibition. The finding of collaborative inhibition, that collaborative groups remember less would be predicted given the summed non-redundant memories of an equal number of individuals remembering alone, indicates that there is something about remembering in a collaborative group that impairs the performance of the individuals in that group. Research directed toward what that something is has focused on both social and cognitive factors, with the consensus being that cognitive factors play the more important role. An extensive body of work on this topic has accumulated over the past 25+ years, with researchers proposing theoretical explanations and generating empirical data revealing the conditions under which this collaborative inhibition is more versus less likely to occur. The purpose of this review is to summarize those empirical factors to provide a resource for researchers interested in pursuing this work.
Chromatic pupillometry for evaluating melanopsin retinal ganglion cell function in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders: a review
Authors: Romagnoli Martina , Amore Giulia , Avanzini Pietro , Carelli Valerio , La Morgia Chiara
Published: January 2024

The evaluation of pupillary light reflex (PLR) by chromatic pupillometry may provide a unique insight into specific photoreceptor functions. Chromatic pupillometry refers to evaluating PLR to different wavelengths and intensities of light in order to differentiate outer/inner retinal photoreceptor contributions to the PLR. Different protocols have been tested and are now established to assess in-vivo PLR contribution mediated by melanopsin retinal ganglion cells (mRGCs). These intrinsically photosensitive photoreceptors modulate the non-image-forming functions of the eye, which are mainly the circadian photoentrainment and PLR, via projections to the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic and olivary pretectal nucleus, respectively. In this context, chromatic pupillometry has been used as an alternative and non-invasive tool to evaluate the mRGC system in several clinical settings, including hereditary optic neuropathies, glaucoma, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), idiopathic/isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The purpose of this article is to review the key steps of chromatic pupillometry protocols for studying in-vivo mRGC-system functionality and provide the main findings of this technique in the research setting on neurodegeneration. mRGC-dependent pupillary responses are short-wavelength sensitive, have a higher threshold of activation, and are much slower and sustained compared with rod- and cone-mediated responses, driving the tonic component of the PLR during exposure to high-irradiance and continuous light stimulus. Thus, mRGCs contribute mainly to the tonic component of the post-illumination pupil response (PIPR) to bright blue light flash that persists after light stimulation is switched off. Given the role of mRGCs in circadian photoentrainment, the use of chromatic pupillometry to perform a functional evaluation of mRGcs may be proposed as an early biomarker of mRGC-dysfunction in neurodegenerative disorders characterized by circadian and/or sleep dysfunction such as AD, PD, and its prodromal phase iRBD. The evaluation by chromatic pupillometry of mRGC-system functionality may lay the groundwork for a new, easily accessible biomarker that can be exploited also as the starting point for future longitudinal cohort studies aimed at stratifying the risk of conversion in these disorders.
The relationship between pregnancy stress and mental health of the pregnant women: the bidirectional chain mediation roles of mindfulness and peace of mind
Authors: Sun Shasha , Luo Chunqi , Zeng Xun , Wu Qichang
Published: January 2024

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between pregnancy stress and mental health of the pregnant women, employing a positive psychology perspective. Specifically, the study sought to explore how the two positive psychological qualities of mindfulness and peace of mind may serve as potential mediators in the association between pregnancy stress and mental health of the pregnant women.

Methods

Seven hundreds and thirteen pregnant women seeking care at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University were included in this study. The participants completed a self-report demographic questionnaire, as well as several validated scales including the Pregnancy Pressure Scale (PPS), Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Peace of Mind Scale (PoMS), and Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ). The Amos 23.0 system was utilized to construct structural equation models.

Results

A total of 713 participants had an average age of 29.46 ± 4.81 years and an average gestational age of 24.26 ± 22.66 weeks. Out of the pregnant women, 163 (22.9%) experienced moderate or higher levels of pregnancy stress (PPS > 1), while 212 (29.7%) exhibited mental distress (CHQ > 3). Pregnancy stress exhibited a positive association with mental distress, while displaying negative associations with mindfulness and peace of mind. Mindfulness and peace of mind were negatively associated with mental distress. By employing structural equation modeling, the analysis revealed that mindfulness and peace of mind acted as partial mediators in the relationship between pregnancy stress and mental health. Furthermore, the identified models exhibited bidirectional sequential mediating pathways, suggesting that the pathways of mindfulness ↔ peace of mind mitigated the harmful influence of pregnancy stress on the mental health of pregnant women.

Conclusion

This study adds to the current body of knowledge by investigating the relationships among mindfulness, peace of mind, pregnancy stress, and mental health in pregnant women. From a positive psychology framework, it provides valuable understanding of the intricate dynamics between pregnancy stress and protective factors of mental health. Consequently, interventions aimed at bolstering positive psychological qualities in pregnant women should prioritize the cultivation of mindfulness to foster peace of mind, or alternatively, the cultivation of peace of mind to enhance mindfulness, ultimately leading to improved mental health outcomes.
Psychological distress as a mediator between workplace violence and turnover intention with caring for patients with COVID-19
Authors: Nam Sujin , Wong Janet Yuen Ha , Wang Tingxuan , An Bomi , Fong Daniel Yee Tak
Published: January 2024

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak exacerbated workplace violence and turnover intention among nurses, particularly affecting greater levels of psychological distress. This study aimed to examine psychological distress as a mediator of the relationship between workplace violence and turnover intention among clinical nurses, and to investigate whether caring for patients with COVID-19 moderates this relationship through the lens of the affective events theory. We conducted an online survey of 325 Korean registered nurses (mean age = 30.75; female = 92.6%) who work in clinical settings between August and October 2021 using the convenience sampling method. Psychological distress was measured using the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and workplace violence using one dichotomous item adopted from the Workplace violence questionnaire. We measured turnover intention using the six-item Anticipated Turnover Scale. Caring for patients with COVID-19 was determined using one dichotomous item. The research hypotheses assume that the relationship between workplace violence and turnover intention could be mediated by psychological distress and moderated by caring for patients with COVID-19 among Korean nurses. We performed a moderated mediation analysis with workplace violence as the independent variable, turnover intention as the dependent variable, psychological distress as a potential mediator, and caring for patients with COVID-19 as a potential moderator. The analysis revealed that nurses’ psychological distress among 308 nurses had a statistically significant mediating effect on the relationship between workplace violence and turnover intention. Furthermore, caring for patients with COVID-19 had a significant further moderating effect on this relationship. These findings highlight the need for psychological support services for clinical nurses at institutional and organizational levels amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It is hoped that these findings can contribute to the development of tailored interventions for nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 to attenuate their psychological distress in a timely and effective manner.
Clinical and economic burden of anxiety/depression among older adult COPD patients: evidence from the COPD-AD China Registry study
Authors: Zhao Xuanna , Liu Gege , Liu Dewei , Zou Li , Huang Qiu , Chen Min , Li Dongming , Wu Bin , Wu Hua , Huang Dan , Wu Dong
Published: January 2024

Background

Anxiety and depression are common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), especially older adult patients. This can complicate the disease progression and lead to increased clinical and economic burden. We sought to investigate the clinical and economic burdens associated with the presence of anxious and/or depressive symptoms among older adult COPD patients.

Methods

We screened 579 patients aged over 60 years and diagnosed with COPD via a lung function test following the 2017 Global Initiative Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines. Anxiety and depression were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) through face-to-face interviews at admission. Follow-up was conducted by telephone calls at 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months after discharge to assess clinical and economic burden. COPD-anxiety and/or depression patients were matched to patients without anxiety and depression (COPD-only) using propensity scores. Multivariate regression models were used to compare clinical and economic burden between COPD-anxiety and/or depression and COPD-only groups.

Results

Compared with COPD-only patients, COPD patients complicated with anxiety and/or depression had increased clinical burden, including higher COPD-related outpatient visits, COPD-related hospitalizations, and length of COPD-related hospitalizations (p < 0.001). Moreover, they also had an increased economic burden, including higher annual total healthcare costs, medical costs, and pharmacy costs (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Older adult COPD patients with anxiety or depression had significantly higher clinical and economic burdens than patients without these comorbidities. These findings deserve further exploration and may be useful for the formulation of relevant healthcare policies.
Impact of pregnancy/childbirth on dispositional optimism in the context of risk of depression, mental health status and satisfaction with life
Authors: Kułak-Bejda Agnieszka , Shpakou Andrei , Khvoryk Natallia , Hutsikava Liudmila , Aydin Avci Ilknur , Eren Dilek Celik , Kourkouta Lambrini , Tsaloglidou Areti , Koukourikos Konstantinos , Waszkiewicz Napoleon
Published: January 2024

Introduction

Life optimism is an inseparable element accompanying every human being. It takes different values depending on the life situation. The present study aimed to measure the level of dispositional optimism in postpartum and pregnant women, compared to women who are not pregnant and have never given birth in Poland, Greece, Turkey, Belarus, and Russia, depending on the level of life satisfaction, risk of depression and mental health.

Materials and methods

A case–control study was carried out among 2017 women, including 584 pregnant women, 528 postpartum women, and 906 women who had never been pregnant and had never given birth (control group) from Poland, Greece, Turkey, Belarus, and Russia.

The study used the LOT-R Life Orientation Test, the Beck Depression Scale (BDI), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the GHQ- 28, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) – only in the postpartum group.

Results

Women from the control group showed an average level of optimism, obtaining an average of 16 points in Belarus, 13.4 points in Poland, 13.3 points in Greece, 13.5 points in Turkey, and Russia – 16.3 points. Pregnant women from Belarus had a high level of optimism (17 points), and in other countries, an average level of optimism was in Poland – 14.5 points, Greece – 14.0 points, Turkey – 14.3 points, and Russia – 16.5 points. Women after childbirth had a high level of optimism in Belarus (17.4 points) and Russia (17.2 points), and in other countries had the average level of optimism. In these countries, the lowest level of optimism was found in non-pregnant women. No significant correlation between age and life optimism was found in any group. In Poland, life optimism increased with age in women who had never been pregnant, and in Turkey, in women who were pregnant and after childbirth.

Conclusion

Pregnant women from Belarus had a higher level of optimism than other countries. Non-pregnant women had an average level of optimism. Future studies should include larger groups of women and consider other factors that may additionally contribute to dispositional optimism.
Using human-centered design to develop and implement a pediatric mental health care access program
Authors: Lee Chuan Mei , Jeung Joan , Yonek Juliet C. , Farghal Mahmoud , Steinbuchel Petra
Published: January 2024

In 2019, the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) launched the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Portal (CAPP), a pediatric mental health care access (PMHCA) program providing remote mental health consultation services to pediatric primary care providers (PCPs) throughout Northern and Central California. The development and implementation of CAPP was guided by Human-Centered Design (HCD), an iterative, rapid-paced innovation process focusing on stakeholders’ needs and experiences, which shaped the development of CAPP’s programs. The resulting key programmatic elements are designed for pediatric workforce development: (1) PCP consultation with a child and adolescent psychiatrist via a telephone warmline; and (2) training and education for providers. CAPP has grown rapidly since its launch, having enrolled 1,714 providers from 257 practices spread across 36 counties and provided 3,288 consults on 2,703 unique lives as of August 2023. Preliminary evaluation findings indicate high PCP satisfaction with CAPP’s services, despite continued challenges of integrating behavioral health into primary care. Throughout the HCD and implementation process, multidisciplinary partnerships have proven critical in providing end-user input to inform and improve program design. This growing network of partnerships, developed through the cultivation of personal relationships and trust over time, has also proven essential for CAPP’s rapid growth and sustainability. Overall, this Community Case Study highlights the critical role of partnerships and the importance of taking a people-centered approach, as captured in CAPP’s motto, “Connecting for Care.”
The effects of exercise training interventions on depression in hemodialysis patients
Authors: Yu Huihui , Huang Mei , Tao Yuxiu , Li Shanshan , Wang Jing , Li Ping , Lv Honghong , Ni Chunping
Published: January 2024

Purpose

Depression considerably influences the clinical outcomes, treatment compliance, quality of life, and mortality of hemodialysis patients. Exercise plays a beneficial role in depressive patients, but its quantitative effects remain elusive. This study aimed to summarize the effects of exercise training on depression in patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing hemodialysis.

Methods

The PUBMED, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched from inception to April 2023 to identify published articles reporting the effect of exercise training on the depression level of patients with End-Stage Renal Disease undergoing hemodialysis. Data were extracted from the included studies using predefined data fields by two independent researchers. The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions and Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Quasi-Experimental Studies were employed for quality evaluation.

Results

A total of 22 studies enrolling 1,059 patients who participated in exercise interventions were included. Hemodialysis patients exhibited superior outcomes with intradialytic exercise (SMD = −0.80, 95% CI: −1.10 to −0.49) and lower levels of depression following aerobic exercise (SMD = −0.93, 95%CI: −1.32 to −0.55) compared to combined exercise (c − 0.85, 95% CI: −1.29 to −0.41) and resistance exercise (SMD = −0.40, 95%CI: −0.96 to 0.17). Regarding exercise duration, patients manifested lower depression levels when engaging in exercise activities for a duration exceeding 6 months (SMD = −0.92, 95% CI: −1.67 to −0.17). Concerning the duration of a single exercise session, the most significant improvement was noted when the exercise duration exceeded 60 min (SMD = −1.47, 95% CI: −1.87 to −1.06).

Conclusion

Our study determined that exercise can alleviate depression symptoms in hemodialysis patients. This study established the varying impacts of different exercise parameters on the reduction of depression levels in hemodialysis patients and is anticipated to lay a theoretical reference for clinicians and nurses to devise tailored exercise strategies for interventions in patients with depression.

Systematic review registration

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, This study was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) database, with registration number CRD42023434181.
Vivax malaria: a possible stumbling block for malaria elimination in India
Authors: Kumar Ashwani , Singh Puspendra Pal , Tyagi Suchi , Hari Kishan Raju K. , Sahu Sudhanshu S. , Rahi Manju
Published: January 2024

Plasmodium vivaxis geographically the most widely dispersed human malaria parasite species. It has shown resilience and a great deal of adaptability. Genomic studies suggest thatP. vivaxoriginated from Asia or Africa and moved to the rest of the world. AlthoughP. vivaxis evolutionarily an older species thanPlasmodium falciparum, its biology, transmission, pathology, and control still require better elucidation.P. vivaxposes problems for malaria elimination because of the ability of a single primary infection to produce multiple relapses over months and years.P. vivaxmalaria elimination program needs early diagnosis, and prompt and complete radical treatment, which is challenging, to simultaneously exterminate the circulating parasites and dormant hypnozoites lodged in the hepatocytes of the host liver. As prompt surveillance and effective treatments are rolled out, preventing primaquine toxicity in the patients having glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency should be a priority for thevivaxelimination program. This review sheds light on the burden ofP. vivax, changing epidemiological patterns, the hurdles in elimination efforts, and the essential tools needed not just in India but globally. These tools encompass innovative treatments for eliminating dormant parasites, coping with evolving drug resistance, and the development of potential vaccines against the parasite.
Regional differences of physical fitness and overweight and obesity prevalence among college students before and after COVID-19 pandemic since the “double first-class” initiative in China
Authors: Jiang Qing , Huang Xin , Wang Zuoliang , Dai Xinghong , Li Rongxuan , Cui Di
Published: January 2024

Introduction

Physical fitness has been widely recognized as a powerful marker of health in children and adolescents, and it negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The construction of world-class universities and first-class disciplines, known as the “Double First-Class” Initiative (DFC), is a major commitment made by the Chinese government to adapt to changes in the educational environment, both domestically and internationally, in order to promote the development and practice of international higher education. The aim of the study was to look deep into the regional differences of physical fitness and overweight and obesity prevalence among college students before and after the COVID-19 pandemic since the DFC.

Methods

The original physical fitness parameters of students from 10 DFC universities and colleges in Central South China were downloaded from the official website of Chinese National Student Physical Fitness Database (CNSPFD) and then divided into 3 groups based on the pandemic periods: pre-pandemic (2019), the first year after pandemic outbreak (2020), and the second year after pandemic outbreak (2021). All the data were stored in Excel 2010, analyzed by SPSS 17.0, and plotted with ArcGIS 10.4.

Results

The total “fail” percentage (from 9.19% in 2019 to 12.94% in 2021) and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in boys (from 22.53 to 29.25% in 2021) exhibited a continuous increase year by year, and among all the physical fitness indicators the score of strength in boys and endurance quality in all individuals were the lowest in overweight and obesity groups. Students with ‘fail’ rate developed from northern and northeastern province to southern areas from 2019 to 2021. For grade 2019th, overweight and obesity students who also failed the test had covered nationwide and the most affected areas including northeast, east, as well as central north in senior year. The distribution of overall fitness assessments in Hubei province was in accordance with the national data, and the overall scoring growths in both class of 2021st and 2022nd were measured with a negative increase (p < 0.01).

Conclusion

The government and related functional departments should take into consideration the student regional sources, especially in western and northeast regions of China, and school polices and physical education (PE) teachers should pay more attention to put training efforts on endurance for all adolescents and strength for boys and the group of overweight and obesity who also failed in the standard test, when designing specific interventions to promote physical health and counteract the negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic in college students.
Association of living alone and living alone time with hypertension among Chinese men aged 80 years and older: a cohort study
Authors: Wang Xiang , Dai Miao , Xu Jingsong
Published: January 2024

Objective

There is little evidence of the influence of living alone on hypertension risk among men 80 years or older. Additionally, the influence of living alone duration on hypertension risk lacks thorough investigation. Hence, this cohort study examines living alone and its duration’s link to hypertension risk in this specific group.

Methods

We included 2009 older men aged ≥80 years without hypertension from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey in the 2008 wave. Follow-up was conducted in the 2011 wave. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess hypertension risk related to living alone and living alone time.

Results

We included 2,009 older men, with a mean age of 90.7 years (standard deviation: 6.8). Over a median follow-up of 2.9 (1.3–3.0) years, 573 participants (28.5%) developed hypertension. Living alone was significantly associated with a higher hypertension risk than living with family (HR: 1.42; 95% CI 1.11–1.80). When compared to living with family, the hypertension risk was increased in the first quartile of living alone time (0–6.1 years) (HR: 1.76; 95% CI 1.16–2.66), the second quartile (6.1–10.6 years) (HR: 1.56; 95% CI 1.07–2.29), and the third quartile (10.6–19.3 years) (HR: 1.66; 95% CI 1.08–2.55). Surprisingly, no significant association was found in the fourth quartile (≥19.3 years) with hypertension risk. Stratified and Interaction analyses indicated no significant interaction effects between subgroups. Sensitivity analyses yielded consistent results.

Conclusion

Living alone was independently associated with an increased risk of hypertension in older men. The highest risk was found in those with the least time alone. These findings imply that social isolation and lack of companionship could be pivotal in hypertension development. Furthermore, the study highlights the need to consider living alone duration when assessing its impact on health outcomes.
Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder risk post-COVID-19 in 12 countries in Latin America: a cross-sectional survey
Authors: Mejia Christian R. , Serna-Alarcón Víctor , Vilela-Estrada Martín A. , Armada Jose , Ubillus Milward , Beraún-Barrantes Jose , Álvarez-Risco Aldo , Del-Aguila-Arcentales Shyla , Davies Neal M. , Yáñez Jaime A.
Published: January 2024

Introduction

Latin America was the region most affected by COVID-19 in the second quarter of 2020, and consequently, the impact on mental health requires evaluation. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by bereavement due to COVID-19 in 12 countries in Latin America.

Methods

The current study was an analytical cross-sectional study. Validated tests were applied for PTSD, depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS-21), questions about the respondent’s condition or their environment, and demographic questions, as well as the length of the mourning period of suffering.

Results

The outcomes demonstrated that the PTSD risk increased for women (p < 0.001), when a friend or acquaintance had COVID-19 (p = 0.002), when a close relative died from COVID-19 (p = 0.010), having severe depression (p <0.001), severe anxiety (p  <0.001), severe stress (p  <0.001), residing in Chile (p  <0.001), Paraguay (p  <0.001), Bolivia (p  <0.001), Costa Rica (p  <0.001) or El Salvador (p  = 0.005). On the other hand, there was less risk of PTSD at an older age (p  <0.001) or if respondents had a sentimental partner (p  = 0.025). In the case of severe PTSD, there was a greater gender risk for women (p  <0.001), a close relative dying from COVID-19 (p  = 0.017), having severe depression (p  <0.001), severe anxiety (p  <0.001), severe stress (p  <0.001), residing in Chile (p  <0.001), Paraguay (p  <0.001), Bolivia (p  <0.001) and Costa Rica (p  = 0.002). It was also observed that there was less risk of severe PTSD at an older age demographic (p  <0.001).

Discussion

It can be concluded that the percentages of PTSD are high in its clinical presentation as severe, especially among Latin American women.
Personal protective measures and settings on the risk of SARS-COV-2 community transmission: a case–control study
Authors: Huguet-Torres Aina , Castro-Sánchez Enrique , Capitán-Moyano Laura , Sánchez-Rodríguez Cristian , Bennasar-Veny Miquel , Yáñez Aina M.
Published: January 2024

Background

During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, nurses of primary health care has been an important role in Spain. Even so, the data obtained in the tracing have been scarcely used to investigate the possible mechanisms of transmission. Few studies focused on community transmission, evaluating the effectiveness of individual protective measures and exposure environment. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the association between individual protective measures and SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the community and to compare secondary attack rates in different exposure settings.

Methods

A case–control study from contact tracing of SARS-CoV-2 index patients. COVID-19 contact tracing was led by nurses at the COVID-19 Coordinating Centre in Majorca (Spain). During the systematic tracing, additional information for this study was collected from the index patient (social-demographic variables, symptoms, the number of close contacts). And also, the following variables from their close contacts: contact place, ventilation characteristics mask-wearing, type of mask, duration of contact, shortest distance, case-contact relationship, household members, and handwashing, the test result for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic. Close contacts with a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 were classified as “cases” and those negative as “controls.”

Results

A total of 1,778 close contacts from 463 index patients were identified. No significant differences were observed between the sexes but between age groups. Overall Secondary Attack Rate (SAR) was 24.0% (95% CI: 22.0–26.0%), 36.9% (95% CI: 33.2–40.6%) in closed spaces without ventilation and 50.7% (95% CI: 45.6–55.8%) in exposure time > 24 h. A total of 49.2% of infections occurred among household members. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that open-air setting (OR 0.43, 95% CI: 0.27–0.71), exposure for less than 1 h (OR 0.19, 95% CI: 0.11–0.32), and wearing a mask (OR 0.49, 95% CI: 0.28–0.85) had a protective effect transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the community.

Conclusion

Ventilation of the space, mask-wearing and shorter exposure time were associated with a lower risk of transmission in the community. The data obtained allowed an assessment of community transmission mechanisms and could have helped to improve and streamline tracing by identifying close contacts at higher risk.