bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Differences in motor unit firing properties of the vastus lateralis muscle during postural and voluntary tasks
Authors: Aoyama Toshiyuki , Kohno Yutaka
Published: September 2022

The firing properties of the motor units are usually affected by the motor task. However, it has not been clarified whether the firing properties of the motor units of a specific muscle are different between postural and voluntary tasks. Therefore, this study investigated whether the recruitment and rate coding of the motor units differ between these two motor tasks. Thirteen healthy volunteers performed trapezoidal muscle contraction with a target value of 15% maximum electromyography (EMG) activity by voluntary left knee extension in the sitting position (voluntary task) and postural maintenance in the semi-squatting position (postural task) with a knee flexion angle of 30°. We obtained four channels of surface EMG activity during each task from left vastus lateralis muscle. We extracted the firing properties of individual motor units using the EMG decomposition algorithm. The recruitment threshold and motor unit action potential amplitude were significantly lower in the postural task than in the voluntary task, and conversely, the mean firing rate was significantly higher. These results were explained by the preferential recruitment of motor units with higher recruitment threshold and amplitude in the voluntary task, while motor units with lower recruitment threshold and higher firing rate were preferentially recruited in the postural task. Preferential activation of fatigue-resistant motor units in the postural task is a reasonable strategy as it allows for sustained postural maintenance. We provide the first evidence that motor unit firing properties are clearly different between postural and voluntary tasks, even at the same muscle activity level.
Integration of mRNA and miRNA analysis reveals the differentially regulatory network in two different Camellia oleifera cultivars under drought stress
Authors: He Zhilong , Liu Caixia , Zhang Zhen , Wang Rui , Chen Yongzhong
Published: September 2022

Camellia oleifera Abel. (C. oleifera) is an edible oil tree species that provide an important guarantee for targeted poverty alleviation strategy in China. Severe difficulties in irrigation leading to drought stress have become a major obstacle to the development of the C. oleifera planting industry. Breeding of drought-tolerant cultivars is the main idea for solving the problem of water shortage stress in C. oleifera cultivation. The photosynthetic physiology traits of C. oleifera cultivars ‘Xianglin No.1’ and ‘Hengdong No.2’ were affected by drought stress to different degrees, which demonstrated that the two cultivars suffered different degrees of damage. In the present study, we applied mRNA-seq and miRNA-seq to analyze the difference in molecular responses between drought stress and control, drought-tolerant and -sensitive cultivars, at mRNA and miRNA levels. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in photosynthesis-related, porphyrin, and chlorophyll metabolism, circadian rhythm system, and plant hormone signal transduction pathways were identified that might be candidates for drought stress tolerance genes. Subsequently, the miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks connected the differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) to their predicted target genes were established. miR398 and miR408-3p in C. oleifera showed that associated with the response to drought stress by negatively regulating genes encoding Downy Mildew Resistance 6 (DMR6) and Enhanced Disease Resistance 2 (EDR2), respectively, which might further improve drought tolerance via crosstalk between different stress-responsive pathways. The quantitation results of miRNA and mRNA were validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). In summary, the integrated mRNA-seq and miRNA-seq analysis deepen our understanding of the regulatory network response to drought stress and variety-specific responses improving drought tolerance in C. oleifera.
LettuceTrack: Detection and tracking of lettuce for robotic precision spray in agriculture
Authors: Hu Nan , Su Daobilige , Wang Shuo , Nyamsuren Purevdorj , Qiao Yongliang , Jiang Yu , Cai Yu
Published: September 2022

The precision spray of liquid fertilizer and pesticide to plants is an important task for agricultural robots in precision agriculture. By reducing the amount of chemicals being sprayed, it brings in a more economic and eco-friendly solution compared to conventional non-discriminated spray. The prerequisite of precision spray is to detect and track each plant. Conventional detection or segmentation methods detect all plants in the image captured under the robotic platform, without knowing the ID of the plant. To spray pesticides to each plant exactly once, tracking of every plant is needed in addition to detection. In this paper, we present LettuceTrack, a novel Multiple Object Tracking (MOT) method to simultaneously detect and track lettuces. When the ID of each plant is obtained from the tracking method, the robot knows whether a plant has been sprayed before therefore it will only spray the plant that has not been sprayed. The proposed method adopts YOLO-V5 for detection of the lettuces, and a novel plant feature extraction and data association algorithms are introduced to effectively track all plants. The proposed method can recover the ID of a plant even if the plant moves out of the field of view of camera before, for which existing Multiple Object Tracking (MOT) methods usually fail and assign a new plant ID. Experiments are conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed method, and a comparison with four state-of-the-art Multiple Object Tracking (MOT) methods is shown to prove the superior performance of the proposed method in the lettuce tracking application and its limitations. Though the proposed method is tested with lettuce, it can be potentially applied to other vegetables such as broccoli or sugar beat.
An advanced systems biology framework of feature engineering for cold tolerance genes discovery from integrated omics and non-omics data in soybean
Authors: Kao Pei-Hsiu , Baiya Supaporn , Lai Zheng-Yuan , Huang Chih-Min , Jhan Li-Hsin , Lin Chian-Jiun , Lai Ya-Syuan , Kao Chung-Feng
Published: September 2022

Soybean is sensitive to low temperatures during the crop growing season. An urgent demand for breeding cold-tolerant cultivars to alleviate the production loss is apparent to cope with this scenario. Cold-tolerant trait is a complex and quantitative trait controlled by multiple genes, environmental factors, and their interaction. In this study, we proposed an advanced systems biology framework of feature engineering for the discovery of cold tolerance genes (CTgenes) from integrated omics and non-omics (OnO) data in soybean. An integrative pipeline was introduced for feature selection and feature extraction from different layers in the integrated OnO data using data ensemble methods and the non-parameter random forest prioritization to minimize uncertainties and false positives for accuracy improvement of results. In total, 44, 143, and 45 CTgenes were identified in short-, mid-, and long-term cold treatment, respectively, from the corresponding gene-pool. These CTgenes outperformed the remaining genes, the random genes, and the other candidate genes identified by other approaches in an independent RNA-seq database. Furthermore, we applied pathway enrichment and crosstalk network analyses to uncover relevant physiological pathways with the discovery of underlying cold tolerance in hormone- and defense-related modules. Our CTgenes were validated by using 55 SNP genotype data of 56 soybean samples in cold tolerance experiments. This suggests that the CTgenes identified from our proposed systematic framework can effectively distinguish cold-resistant and cold-sensitive lines. It is an important advancement in the soybean cold-stress response. The proposed pipelines provide an alternative solution to biomarker discovery, module discovery, and sample classification underlying a particular trait in plants in a robust and efficient way.
Transcriptional memory of gene expression across generations participates in transgenerational plasticity of field pennycress in response to cadmium stress
Authors: Li Gengyun , Zhao Yuewan , Liu Fei , Shi Minnuo , Guan Yabin , Zhang Ticao , Zhao Fangqing , Qiao Qin , Geng Yupeng
Published: September 2022

Transgenerational plasticity (TGP) occurs when maternal environments influence the expression of traits in offspring, and in some cases may increase fitness of offspring and have evolutionary significance. However, little is known about the extent of maternal environment influence on gene expression of offspring, and its relationship with trait variations across generations. In this study, we examined TGP in the traits and gene expression of field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) in response to cadmium (Cd) stress. In the first generation, along with the increase of soil Cd concentration, the total biomass, individual height, and number of seeds significantly decreased, whereas time to flowering, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and content of reduced glutathione significantly increased. Among these traits, only SOD activity showed a significant effect of TGP; the offspring of Cd-treated individuals maintained high SOD activity in the absence of Cd stress. According to the results of RNA sequencing and bioinformatic analysis, 10,028 transcripts were identified as Cd-responsive genes. Among them, only 401 were identified as transcriptional memory genes (TMGs) that maintained the same expression pattern under normal conditions in the second generation as in Cd-treated parents in the first generation. These genes mainly participated in Cd tolerance-related processes such as response to oxidative stress, cell wall biogenesis, and the abscisic acid signaling pathways. The results of weighted correlation network analysis showed that modules correlated with SOD activity recruited more TMGs than modules correlated with other traits. The SOD-coding gene CSD2 was found in one of the modules correlated with SOD activity. Furthermore, several TMGs co-expressed with CSD2 were hub genes that were highly connected to other nodes and critical to the network’s topology; therefore, recruitment of TMGs in offspring was potentially related to TGP. These findings indicated that, across generations, transcriptional memory of gene expression played an important role in TGP. Moreover, these results provided new insights into the trait evolution processes mediated by phenotypic plasticity.
Isoprenoid biosynthesis regulation in poplars by methylerythritol phosphate and mevalonic acid pathways
Authors: Movahedi Ali , Wei Hui , Pucker Boas , Ghaderi-Zefrehei Mostafa , Rasouli Fatemeh , Kiani-Pouya Ali , Jiang Tingbo , Zhuge Qiang , Yang Liming , Zhou Xiaohong
Published: September 2022

It is critical to develop plant isoprenoid production when dealing with human-demanded industries such as flavoring, aroma, pigment, pharmaceuticals, and biomass used for biofuels. The methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) and mevalonic acid (MVA) plant pathways contribute to the dynamic production of isoprenoid compounds. Still, the cross-talk between MVA and MEP in isoprenoid biosynthesis is not quite recognized. Regarding the rate-limiting steps in the MEP pathway through catalyzing 1-deoxy-D-xylulose5-phosphate synthase and 1-deoxy-D-xylulose5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) and also the rate-limiting step in the MVA pathway through catalyzing 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR), the characterization and function of HMGR from Populus trichocarpa (PtHMGR) were analyzed. The results indicated that PtHMGR overexpressors (OEs) displayed various MEP and MVA-related gene expressions compared to NT poplars. The overexpression of PtDXR upregulated MEP-related genes and downregulated MVA-related genes. The overexpression of PtDXR and PtHMGR affected the isoprenoid production involved in both MVA and MEP pathways. Here, results illustrated that the PtHMGR and PtDXR play significant roles in regulating MEP and MVA-related genes and derived isoprenoids. This study clarifies cross-talk between MVA and MEP pathways. It demonstrates the key functions of HMGR and DXR in this cross-talk, which significantly contribute to regulate isoprenoid biosynthesis in poplars.
Glycine betaine increases salt tolerance in maize (Zea mays L.) by regulating Na+ homeostasis
Authors: Zhu Mingyuan , Li Qiuxia , Zhang Yushi , Zhang Mingcai , Li Zhaohu
Published: September 2022

Improving crop salt tolerance is an adaptive measure to climate change for meeting future food demands. Previous studies have reported that glycine betaine (GB) plays critical roles as an osmolyte in enhancing plant salt resistance. However, the mechanism underlying the GB regulating plant Na+ homeostasis during response to salinity is poorly understood. In this study, hydroponically cultured maize with 125 mM NaCl for inducing salinity stress was treated with 100 μM GB. We found that treatment with GB improved the growth of maize plants under non-stressed (NS) and salinity-stressed (SS) conditions. Treatment with GB significantly maintained the properties of chlorophyll fluorescence, including Fv/Fm, ΦPSII, and ΦNPQ, and increased the activity of the antioxidant enzymes for mitigating salt-induced growth inhibition. Moreover, GB decreased the Na+/K+ ratio primarily by reducing the accumulation of Na+ in plants. The results of NMT tests further confirmed that GB increased Na+ efflux from roots under SS condition, and fluorescence imaging of cellular Na+ suggested that GB reduced the cellular allocation of Na+. GB additionally increased Na+ efflux in leaf protoplasts under SS condition, and treatment with sodium orthovanadate, a plasma membrane (PM) H+-ATPase inhibitor, significantly alleviated the positive effects of GB on Na+ efflux under salt stress. GB significantly improved the vacuolar activity of NHX but had no significant effects on the activity of V type H+-ATPases. In addition, GB significantly upregulated the expression of the PM H+-ATPase genes, ZmMHA2 and ZmMHA4, and the Na+/H+ antiporter gene, ZmNHX1. While, the V type H+-ATPases gene, ZmVP1, was not significantly regulated by GB. Altogether these results indicate that GB regulates cellular Na+ homeostasis by enhancing PM H+-ATPases gene transcription and protein activities to improve maize salt tolerance. This study provided an extended understanding of the functions of GB in plant responses to salinity, which can help the development of supportive measures using GB for obtaining high maize yield in saline conditions.
OsARF4 regulates leaf inclination via auxin and brassinosteroid pathways in rice
Authors: Qiao Jiyue , Zhang Yanjun , Han ShaqiLa , Chang Senqiu , Gao Zhenyu , Qi Yanhua , Qian Qian
Published: September 2022

Leaf inclination is a vital agronomic trait and is important for plant architecture that affects photosynthetic efficiency and grain yield. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying regulation of leaf inclination, we constructed an auxin response factor (arf) rice mutant—osarf4—showing increased leaf inclination using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology. OsARF4 encodes a nuclear protein that is expressed in the lamina joint (LJ) at different developmental stages in rice. Histological analysis indicated that an increase in cell differentiation on the adaxial side resulted in increased leaf inclination in the osarf4 mutants; however, OsARF4-overexpressing lines showed a decrease in leaf inclination, resulting in erect leaves. Additionally, a decrease in the content and distribution of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) in osarf4 mutant led to a greater leaf inclination, whereas the OsARF4-overexpressing lines showed the opposite phenotype with increased IAA content. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that the expression of genes related to brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis and response was different in the mutants and overexpressing lines, suggesting that OsARF4 participates in the BR signaling pathway. Moreover, BR sensitivity assay revealed that OsARF4-overexpressing lines were more sensitive to exogenous BR treatment than the mutants. In conclusion, OsARF4, a transcription factor in auxin signaling, participates in leaf inclination regulation and links auxin and BR signaling pathways. Our results provide a novel insight into l leaf inclination regulation, and have significant implications for improving rice architecture and grain yield.
Continuous lighting can improve yield and reduce energy costs while increasing or maintaining nutritional contents of microgreens
Authors: Lanoue Jason , St. Louis Sarah , Little Celeste , Hao Xiuming
Published: September 2022

Microgreens represent a fast growing segment of the edible greens industry. They are prized for their colour, texture, and flavour. Compared to their mature counterparts, microgreens have much higher antioxidant and nutrient content categorizing them as a functional food. However, current production practices in plant factories with artificial light are energy intensive. Specifically, the lack of sunlight within the indoor structure means all of the light must be provided via energy consuming light fixtures, which is energy intensive and costly. Plant growth is usually increased with the total amount of light provided to the plants - daily light integral (DLI). Long photoperiods of low intensity lighting (greater than 18h) providing the desired/target DLI can reduce the capital costs for light fixtures and electricity costs. This is achieved by moving the electricity use from peak daytime hours (high price) to off-peak hours (low price) during the night in regions with time-based pricing scheme and lowering the electricity use for air conditioning, if plant growth is not compromised. However, lighting with photoperiods longer than tolerance thresholds (species/cultivar specific) usually leads to plant stress/damage. Therefore, we investigated the effects of continuous 24h white light (CL) at two DLIs (~14 and 21 mol m-2 d-1) on plant growth, yield, and antioxidant content on 4 types of microgreens - amaranth, collard greens, green basil, and purple basil to see if it compromises microgreen production. It was found that amaranth and green basil had larger fresh biomass when grown under CL compared to 16h when the DLIs were the same. In addition, purple basil had higher biomass at higher DLI, but was unaffected by photoperiods. Plants grown under the CL treatments had higher energy-use-efficiencies for lighting (10-42%) than plants grown under the 16h photoperiods at the same DLI. Notably, the electricity cost per unit of fresh biomass ($ g-1) was reduced (8-38%) in all microgreens studied when plants were grown under CL lighting at the same DLIs. Amaranth and collard greens also had higher antioxidant content. Taken together, growing microgreens under CL can reduce electricity costs and increase yield while maintaining or improving nutritional content.
Brassica juncea BRC1-1 induced by SD negatively regulates flowering by directly interacting with BjuFT and BjuFUL promoter
Authors: Feng Junjie , Deng Qinlin , Lu Huanhuan , Wei Dayong , Wang Zhimin , Tang Qinglin
Published: September 2022

Flowering is crucial for sexual reproductive success in angiosperms. The core regulatory factors, such as FT, FUL, and SOC1, are responsible for promoting flowering. BRANCHED 1 (BRC1) is a TCP transcription factor gene that plays an important role in the regulation of branching and flowering in diverse plant species. However, the functions of BjuBRC1 in Brassica juncea are largely unknown. In this study, four homologs of BjuBRC1 were identified and the mechanism by which BjuBRC1 may function in the regulation of flowering time was investigated. Amino acid sequence analysis showed that BjuBRC1 contained a conserved TCP domain with two nuclear localization signals. A subcellular localization assay verified the nuclear localization of BjuBRC1. Expression analysis revealed that BjuBRC1-1 was induced by short days and was expressed abundantly in the leaf, flower, and floral bud but not in the root and stem in B. juncea. Overexpression of BjuBRC1-1 in the Arabidopsis brc1 mutant showed that BjuBRC1-1 delayed flowering time. Bimolecular fluorescent complementary and luciferase complementation assays showed that four BjuBRC1 proteins could interact with BjuFT in vivo. Notably, BjuBRC1 proteins formed heterodimers in vivo that may impact on their function of negatively regulating flowering time. Yeast one-hybrid, dual-luciferase reporter, and luciferase activity assays showed that BjuBRC1-1 could directly bind to the promoter of BjuFUL, but not BjuFT or BjuSOC1, to repress its expression. These results were supported by the reduced expression of AtFUL in transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing BjuBRC1-1. Taken together, the results indicate that BjuBRC1 genes likely have a conserved function in the negative regulation of flowering in B. juncea.
QTL mapping and KASP marker development for seed vigor related traits in common wheat
Authors: Zeng Zhankui , Guo Cheng , Yan Xuefang , Song Junqiao , Wang Chunping , Xu Xiaoting , Hao Yuanfeng
Published: September 2022

Seed vigor is an important parameter of seed quality, and identification of seed vigor related genes can provide an important basis for highly efficient molecular breeding in wheat. In the present study, a doubled haploid (DH) population with 174 lines derived from a cross between Yangmai16 and Zhongmai 895 was used to evaluate 10 seed vigor related traits in Luoyang during the 2018-2019 cropping season and in Mengjin and Luoning Counties during 2019-2020 cropping season for three environments. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of 10 seed vigor related traits in the DH population resulted in the discovery/identification of 28 QTLs on chromosomes 2B, 3D, 4B, 4D, 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, 6D, 7A and 7D, explaining 3.6-23.7% of the phenotypic variances. Among them, one QTL cluster for shoot length, root length and vigor index was mapped between AX-89421921 and Rht-D1_SNP on chromosome 4D in the physical intervals of 18.78-19.29 Mb (0.51 Mb), explaining 9.2-20.5% of the phenotypic variances. Another QTL for these traits was identified at the physical position 185.74 Mb on chromosome 5B, which was flanked by AX-111465230 and AX-109519938 and accounted for 8.0-13.3% of the phenotypic variances. Two QTLs for shoot length, shoot fresh weight and shoot dry weight were identified in the marker intervals of AX-109384026-AX-111120402 and AX-111651800-AX-94443918 on chromosomes 6A and 6B, explaining 8.2-11.7% and 3.6-10.3% of the phenotypic variance, respectively; both alleles for increasing phenotypic values were derived from Yangmai 16. We also developed the KASP markers for the QTL cluster QVI.haust-4D.1/QSL.haust-4D/QRL.haust-4D, and validated in an international panel of 135 wheat accessions. The germplasm, genes and KASP markers were developed for breeders to improve wheat varieties with seed vigor related traits.
Genome-wide association mapping of Fusarium crown rot resistance in Aegilops tauschii
Authors: Lin Yu , Wang Qing , Chen Hao , Yan Ning , Wu Fangkun , Wang Zhiqiang , Li Caixia , Liu Yaxi
Published: September 2022

Fusarium crown rot (FCR), caused by various Fusarium species, is a primary fungal disease in most wheat-growing regions worldwide. A. tauschii, the diploid wild progenitor of the D-genome of common wheat, is a reservoir of genetic diversity for improving bread wheat biotic and abiotic resistance/tolerance. A worldwide collection of 286 A. tauschii accessions was used to evaluate FCR resistance. Population structure analysis revealed that 115 belonged to the A. tauschii ssp. strangulata subspecies, and 171 belonged to the A. tauschii ssp. tauschii subspecies. Five accessions with disease index values lower than 20 showed moderate resistance to FCR. These five originated from Afghanistan, China, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Turkey, all belonging to the tauschii subspecies. Genome-wide association mapping using 6,739 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) revealed that two SNPs on chromosome 2D and four SNPs on chromosome 7D were significantly associated with FCR resistance. Almost all FCR resistance alleles were presented in accessions from the tauschii subspecies, and only 4, 11, and 19 resistance alleles were presented in accessions from the strangulata subspecies. Combining phenotypic correlation analysis and genome-wide association mapping confirmed that FCR resistance loci were independent of flowering time, heading date, and plant height in this association panel. Six genes encoding disease resistance-related proteins were selected as candidates for further validation. The identified resistant A. tauschii accessions will provide robust resistance gene sources for breeding FCR-resistant cultivars. The associated loci/genes will accelerate and improve FCR in breeding programs by deploying marker-assisted selection.
How active and passive social media use affects impulse buying in Chinese college students? The roles of emotional responses, gender, materialism and self-control
Authors: Chen Si , Zhi Kuiyun , Chen Yongjin
Published: September 2022

Social media plays a vital role in consumers’ purchasing decision making. There are still gaps in existing research on the relationship between divided dimensions of social media use and impulse buying, as well as the mediating and moderating effects therein. This study explored the mediation and moderation effects in the relationship between different social media usage patterns, emotional responses, and consumer impulse buying. Data from 479 college students who were social media users in China were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that active and passive social media use were significantly and positively associated with users’ enjoyment, whereas passive social media use significantly increased depression. Both enjoyment and depression were significantly and positively associated with users’ impulse buying. Materialism positively moderated the relationship between enjoyment and impulsive consumption, while self-control significantly reduced the effect of depression on impulse buying. These findings that emotion mediated and personality traits moderated relationships between social media use and impulse buying expand impulsive purchase literature and provide insights for guiding college students’ healthy use of social media and rational consumption.
Trait mindful awareness predicts inter-brain coupling but not individual brain responses during naturalistic face-to-face interactions
Authors: Chen Phoebe , Kirk Ulrich , Dikker Suzanne
Published: September 2022

In recent years, the possible benefits of mindfulness meditation have sparked much public and academic interest. Mindfulness emphasizes cultivating awareness of our immediate experience and has been associated with compassion, empathy, and various other prosocial traits. However, neurobiological evidence pertaining to the prosocial benefits of mindfulness in social settings is sparse. In this study, we investigate neural correlates of trait mindful awareness during naturalistic dyadic interactions, using both intra-brain and inter-brain measures. We used the Muse headset, a portable electroencephalogram (EEG) device often used to support mindfulness meditation, to record brain activity from dyads as they engaged in naturalistic face-to-face interactions in a museum setting. While we did not replicate prior laboratory-based findings linking trait mindfulness to individual brain responses (N = 379 individuals), self-reported mindful awareness did predict dyadic inter-brain synchrony, in theta (~5–8 Hz) and beta frequencies (~26-27 Hz; N = 62 dyads). These findings underscore the importance of conducting social neuroscience research in ecological settings to enrich our understanding of how (multi-brain) neural correlates of social traits such as mindful awareness manifest during social interaction, while raising critical practical considerations regarding the viability of commercially available EEG systems.
Mental health education on college students’ english vocabulary memorization from the perspective of STEAM education
Authors: Wang Yu
Published: September 2022

The formation and research of Constructivism theory is another understanding in developing educational psychology. Many problems exist in English vocabulary teaching and learning, which are too common to be noticed, negatively and implicitly impacting Students’ English Vocabulary Memorization (EVM). In order to solve these problems, this work studies college Students’ EVM from the perspective of Constructivism. Firstly, the literature review and observation method understand the Students’ EVM performance and teaching behavior. Secondly, it analyzes the current situation, problems, and reasons for Students’ poor EVM abilities. Finally, combined with relevant theories, a college Students’ EVM-oriented teaching model is proposed, whose effectiveness is verified by teaching experiments. The experiment recruits100 freshmen, including 60 boys and 40 girls, and lasts half a semester. The average score of the final exam in the experimental group is more than 90, which is better than that in the control group. Then, the SPSS21.0 is used in the independent-samples t-test, finding no significant difference (P < 0.05). Thus, the experimental group’s comprehensive English Proficiency Level (EPL) has not been negatively affected. The proposed teaching model can improve Students’ EVM efficiency and consolidate their memory. The proposal has important guiding significance for stimulating Students’ interest in English vocabulary learning and the quality of vocabulary teaching.
Quality evaluation of entrepreneurship education in higher education based on CIPP model and AHP-FCE methods
Authors: Fan Xinqiao , Tian Siyu , Lu Zhenglan , Cao Yirong
Published: September 2022

Entrepreneurship education has become an important component of higher education development. The purpose of this study is to evaluate entrepreneurship education and determine the extent of satisfaction with the education program. Firstly, based on the CIPP model, this article theoretically analyzes the factors affecting the quality of entrepreneurship education in colleges and universities, and clarifies the keys to improve that education quality. On this basis, using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) method, the evaluation index system and fuzzy evaluation model of entrepreneurial education are established. The results show that student participation is the most important factor affecting the quality of entrepreneurship education. Empirical analysis indicates that students have the highest satisfaction with teachers and the lowest satisfaction with the entrepreneurial environment. Apart from convenient and effective measurement of entrepreneurship education, the proposed model provides an important reference for improving the quality of entrepreneurship education in colleges and universities.
What constitutes a fulfilled life? A mixed methods study on lay perspectives across the lifespan
Authors: Baumann Doris , Ruch Willibald
Published: September 2022

Recently, we initiated a new research line on fulfillment in life by developing a conceptual framework and a self-report measure. To enhance conceptual clarity and complement theoretical considerations and empirical findings, we investigated lay conceptions of a fulfilled life in German-speaking participants at different life stages. First, we selected a qualitative approach using an open-ended question asking participants to describe a fulfilled life. Second, for a more comprehensive understanding, quantitative data were collected about the relevance of sources in providing fulfillment and ratings on a fulfilling life in the present and a fulfilled life in retrospect. Qualitative content analysis was used to assess the responses to the open-ended question. One-fifth of the data was double coded, and intercoder reliability was high (Kappa = 0.89). Responses comprised a variety of descriptions, and we grouped them into seven themes, three of which overlapped with the prior conceptualization, namely the core elements of (a) general description, (b) cognitive appraisals, and (c) affective appraisals. Cognitive evaluations related to intrapersonal aspects, particularly having lived life fully, attained personally significant goals, and developed oneself, as well as interpersonal, generative aspects, such as having made a contribution and been able to leave something of value. These categories are mostly in line with what the Fulfilled Life Scale (FLS) measures. Further themes referred to correlates—including (d) sources—and antecedents, including (e) resources, (f) personal characteristics, and (g) quality of life, all considered worthy to be the subject of empirical investigation but which were not included in the conceptual model. Qualitative and quantitative results suggest that individuals derive fulfillment from different sources. Fulfillment from a profession and having a life task was strongly associated with longer-term fulfillment. Only a few age and sex differences were found. The overarching framework developed from the qualitative results can stimulate further investigation. Our findings underscore that a fulfilled life as a distinct construct should be measured directly rather than via a proxy. Insights into the constituents, sources, and antecedents of a fulfilled life can inform practice to promote a life well lived.
Risk factors for postoperative delirium following total hip or knee arthroplasty: A meta-analysis
Authors: Zhao Jinlong , Liang Guihong , Hong Kunhao , Pan Jianke , Luo Minghui , Liu Jun , Huang Bin
Published: September 2022

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for delirium after total joint arthroplasty (TJA) and provide theoretical guidance for reducing the incidence of delirium after TJA.

Methods

The protocol for this meta-analysis is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020170031). We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library and Embase for observational studies on risk factors for delirium after TJA. Review Manager 5.3 was used to calculate the relative risk (RR) or standard mean difference (SMD) of potential risk factors related to TJA. STATA 14.0 was used for quantitative publication bias evaluation.

Results

In total, 25 studies including 3,767,761 patients from 9 countries were included. Old age has been widely recognized as a risk factor for delirium. Our results showed that the main risk factors for delirium after TJA were patient factors (alcohol abuse: RR = 1.63; length of education: SMD = −0.93; and MMSE score: SMD = −0.39), comorbidities (hypertension: RR = 1.26; diabetes mellitus: RR = 1.67; myocardial infarction: RR = 17.75; congestive heart failure: RR = 2.54; dementia: RR = 17.75; renal disease: RR = 2.98; history of stroke: RR = 4.83; and history of mental illness: RR = 2.36), surgical factors (transfusion: RR = 1.53; general anesthesia: RR = 1.10; pre-operative albumin: SMD = −0.38; pre-operative hemoglobin: SMD = −0.29; post-operative hemoglobin: SMD = −0.24; total blood loss: SMD = 0.15; duration of surgery: SMD = 0.29; and duration of hospitalization: SMD = 2.00) and drug factors (benzodiazepine use: RR = 2.14; ACEI use: RR = 1.52; and beta-blocker use: RR = 1.62).

Conclusions

Multiple risk factors were associated with delirium after TJA. These results may help doctors predict the occurrence of delirium after surgery and determine the correct treatment.

Systematic review registration

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier: CRD42020170031.
A prospective study on the association between social support perceived by parents of children aged 1–7 years and the use of community youth health care services
Authors: Fierloos Irene N. , Windhorst Dafna A. , Fang Yuan , Bannink Rienke , Stam Marlinda , Slijkerman Conny A. A. , Jansen Wilma , Raat Hein
Published: September 2022

Aim

This study examined the association between social support perceived by parents of children aged 1–7 years and the use of additional community youth health care services.

Methods

Data of 749 parents of children aged 1–7 years, gathered in the CIKEO cohort study in the Netherlands, were analyzed. Social support was assessed with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Data on the use of additional community youth health care services during a period of 1.5 years were obtained from the electronic records of participating youth health care organizations. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the association between perceived social support and the use of additional youth health care services and to explore moderation by the parent's educational level.

Results

The mean age of the responding parents was 33.9 years (SD = 5.1); 93.6% were mothers. Parents who perceived low to moderate levels of social support had 1.72 (95% CI: 1.11, 2.66) times higher odds of using one or more additional youth health care services during the study period compared to parents who perceived high levels of social support at baseline. This association was independent of predisposing factors, but not independent of need factors (p > 0.05). Furthermore, the association was moderated by the educational level of the parent (p = 0.015). Among parents with a high educational level, low to moderate levels of perceived social support at baseline were associated with 2.93 (95% CI: 1.47, 5.83) times higher odds of using one or more additional youth health care services during the study period independent of predisposing and need factors. Among parents with a low or middle educational level the association between perceived social support and use of additional youth health care services was not significant.

Conclusion

Our findings provide evidence that low to moderate levels of perceived social support are associated with a higher use of additional community youth health care services among parents of children aged 1–7 years, especially among high educated parents. Recommendations for policy and practice are provided.
The prevalence and burden of four major chronic diseases in the Shanxi Province of Northern China
Authors: He Lu , La Yuanyuan , Yan Yan , Wang Yuxiao , Cao Xi , Cai Yutong , Li Sitian , Qin Mengxia , Feng Qilong
Published: September 2022

Background

Chronic non-communicable diseases constitute an important public health problem that is closely related to behavioral risk factors. The study examined the prevalence, burden, and behavioral risk factors relevant to four major chronic diseases in Shanxi Province, China. The results obtained could provide a basis for the formulation of chronic disease prevention and control strategies in north China.

Methods

A multi-stage random sampling method was used to select 14,137 residents aged ≥15 years who completed a questionnaire survey and physical examination. The disease burden was evaluated using the disability-adjusted life years (DALY) index. The extent of disease burden attributable to smoking and drinking behavior was analyzed using counterfactual analysis.

Results

The total DALYs due to the four major chronic diseases was 938,100. The years of life lost due to stroke accounted for 74.86%; the years of life lived with disabilities accounted for 54.0 and 68.1% of the total disease burden of coronary heart disease and diabetes. Coronary heart disease attributed to smoking (105,600) was the highest, followed by stroke (77,200), hypertension (6,000), and diabetes mellitus (5,900). Stroke attributed to drinking (30,700) was the highest followed by coronary heart disease (16,700) and diabetes (1,100). The disease burden caused by smoking and drinking was higher in men (164,000 and 40,700, respectively) than in women (30,700 and 7,300, respectively).

Conclusion

There is a high prevalence and significant burden associated with major chronic diseases in Shanxi Province. Therefore, the need for the application of various interventions to control smoking and drinking (the major predisposing factors) should be applied to reduce this burden.
Fiscal autonomy of subnational governments and equity in healthcare resource allocation: Evidence from China
Authors: Yang Ciran , Cui Dan , Yin Shicheng , Wu Ruonan , Ke Xinfeng , Liu Xiaojun , Yang Ying , Sun Yixuan , Xu Luxinyi , Teng Caixia
Published: September 2022

Objectives

Promoting equity in healthcare resource allocation (EHRA) has become a critical political agenda of governments at all levels since the ambitious Universal Health Coverage was launched in China in 2009, while the role of an important institutional variable—fiscal autonomy of subnational governments—is often overlooked. The present study was designed to determine the effect of FASG on EHRA and its potential mechanism of action and heterogeneity characteristics to provide empirical support for the research field expansion and relative policies making of EHRA.

Methods

From the start, we utilized the Theil index and the entropy method to calculate the EHRA index of 22 provinces (2011–2020) based on the medical resource data of 287 prefecture-level cities. Furthermore, we used the two-way fixed effects model (FE) to identify and analyze the impact of FASG on EHRA and then used three robustness test strategies and two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression to verify the reliability of the conclusions and deal with potential endogeneity problems, respectively. At last, we extend the baseline regression model and obtain the two-way FE threshold model for conducting heterogeneity analysis, which makes us verify whether the baseline model has nonlinear characteristics.

Results

The static value and the trend of interannual changes in the EHRA values in different provinces are both very different. The regression results of the two-way FE model show that FASG has a significant positive impact on EHRA, and the corresponding estimated coefficient is – 0.0849 (P < 0.01). Moreover, this promotion effect can be reflected through two channels: enhancing the intensity of government health expenditure (IGHE) and optimizing the allocation of human resources for health (AHRH). At last, under the different economic and demographic constraints, the impact of FASG on EHRA has nonlinear characteristics, i.e., after crossing a specific threshold of per capita DGP (PGDP) and population density (PD), the promotion effect is reduced until it is not statistically significant, while after crossing a particular threshold of dependency ratio (DR), the promotion effect is further strengthened and still statistically significant.

Conclusions

FASG plays an essential role in promoting EHRA, which shows that subnational governments need to attach great importance to the construction of fiscal capability in the allocation of health care resources, effectively improve the equity of medical and health fiscal expenditures, and promote the sustainable improvement of the level of EHRA.
Insomnia and sleep duration on COVID-19 susceptibility and hospitalization: A Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Peng Liuqing , Jing Jiarui , Ma Jun , He Simin , Gao Xue , Wang Tong
Published: September 2022

Background

Sleep disturbance including insomnia and sleep duration is associated with an increased risk of infectious. With the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is important to explore potential causal associations of sleep disturbance on COVID-19 susceptibility and hospitalization.

Method

Insomnia and sleep duration were selected as exposure. Outcomes included susceptibility and hospitalization for COVID-19. Two sample mendelian randomization design was used to assess causality between sleep and COVID-19. Inverse variance weighted method was used as main analysis method to combine the ratio estimates for each instrumental variable to obtain the causal effect. Cochran's Q statistic was used to test for global heterogeneity. MR-Egger and weighting median estimator (WME) were used as sensitivity analysis to ensure the stability and reliability of the results. MR-Egger intercept term was used to test the mean pleiotropy. In addition, the direct effects of insomnia and sleep duration on COVID-19 susceptibility and hospitalization were estimated using multivariable mendelian randomization (MVMR).

Results

Univariate MR provided no evidence of a causal associations of insomnia on COVID-19 susceptibility (OR = 1.10, 95% CI:0.95, 1.27; p = 0.21) and hospitalization (OR = 0.61, 95% CI:0.40, 0.92; p = 0.02); as does sleep duration (ORCOIVD − 19susceptibility = 0.93, 95% CI:0.86, 1.01; p = 0.07; ORCOIVD − 19hospitalization = 1.21, 95% CI: 0.99, 1.47; p = 0.08). MVMR results showed that insomnia may be a risk factor for increased susceptibility to COVID-19 (OR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.34, 2.05; p <0.001); and sleep duration was also associated with increased COVID-19 susceptibility (OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.18, 1.46; p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Insomnia and extreme sleep duration may risk factors for increased COVID-19 susceptibility. Relieving insomnia and maintaining normal sleep duration may be powerful measures to reduce COVID-19 infections.
Digital governance in rural Chengdu, China: Its potential for social-ecological resilience
Authors: Wu Shuang , Abramson Daniel Benjamin , Zhong Bo
Published: September 2022

In this study, we echo the call from the UN to interpret Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their regional context—in this case, the linpan (wooded lot) landscape of the Chengdu Plain, in Sichuan, China, where the shocks and stresses of recent, rapid administrative-economic urbanization are testing the resilience of some of the world's most sustainably productive and long- and densely-settled agrarian environments. In recent years, fine-grained information and communications technology (ICT) governance tools in Chengdu, such as “grid management”, present opportunities to sustain and scale up the collection of data necessary to validate and refine indicators of landscape resilience, and use them to regulate development, in accordance with SDG goal 11 to enhance legislation, governance, and capacity via information gathering and sharing. ICT-based governance in combination with traditional place-based knowledge can play a critical role in ensuring the resilience of urban-rural co-development. To realize this potential, however, ICT-enabled governance needs to incorporate greater transparency and more local feedback loops and enable greater participation from older farmers and women, to inform household and community-level land-use choices and initiatives. It also needs to link regulatory functions with marketing and pricing functions so that farmers may benefit from the sustainable practices they are encouraged to adopt.