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While the Indonesian higher education has been growing rapidly, poor student mental health including a high level of mental health shame is a cause for concern in Indonesia. This study aimed to evaluate their mental health, shame, and self-compassion.
One hundred fifty six participants completed self-report measures regarding mental health problems (depression, anxiety, and stress), mental health shame (negative attitudes, and external, internal, and reflected shame), and self-compassion.
Data were first compared with 145 U.K. students, then correlation and regression analyses were performed.
Indonesian students showed higher levels of mental health problems, family-related mental health shame, and self-compassion than U.K. students. Each type of mental health problem and mental health shame were positively associated with each other. Self-compassion was negatively associated with mental health problems, but not with mental health shame. Self-compassion was consistently the strongest predictor of mental health problems.
Among the mental health shame types, only family external shame predicted the level of depression.
Self-compassion training and mental health education for their family are recommended to protect the mental health of university students in Indonesia.
Niobium pentoxides have received considerable attention and are promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), due to their fast Li storage kinetics and high capacity. However, their cycling stability and rate performance are still limited owing to their intrinsic insulating properties and structural degradation during charging and discharging. Herein, a series of mesoporous Nb2O5@TiO2 core-shell spherical heterostructures have been prepared for the first time by a sol-gel method and investigated as anode materials in LIBs. Mesoporosity can provide numerous open and short pathways for Li+ diffusion; meanwhile, heterostructures can simultaneously enhance the electronic conductivity and thus improve the rate capability. The TiO2 coating layer shows robust crystalline skeletons during repeated lithium insertion and extraction processes, retaining high structural integrity and, thereby, enhancing cycling stability. The electrochemical behavior is strongly dependent on the thickness of the TiO2 layer. After optimization, a mesoporous Nb2O5@TiO2 core-shell structure with a similar to 13 nm thick TiO2 layer delivers a high specific capacity of 136 mA h g-1 at 5 A g-1 and exceptional cycling stability (88.3% retention over 1000 cycles at 0.5 A g-1). This work provides a facile strategy to obtain mesoporous Nb2O5@TiO2 core-shell spherical structures and underlines the importance of structural engineering for improving the performance of battery materials.
Context. Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) are widely assumed to arise from diffusive shock acceleration, specifically at shocks in supernova remnants (SNRs). These shocks expand in a complex environment, particularly in the core-collapse scenario as these SNRs evolve inside the wind-blown bubbles created by their progenitor stars. The CRs at core-collapse SNRs may carry spectral signatures of that complexity. Aims. We study particle acceleration in the core-collapse SNR of a progenitor with an initial mass of 60 M-circle dot and realistic stellar evolution. The SNR shock interacts with discontinuities inside the wind-blown bubble and generates several transmitted and reflected shocks. We analyse their impact on particle spectra and the resulting emission from the remnant. Methods. To model the particle acceleration at the forward shock of a SNR expanding inside a wind bubble, we initially simulated the evolution of the pre-supernova circumstellar medium (CSM) by solving the hydrodynamic equations for the entire lifetime of the progenitor star. As the large-scale magnetic field, we considered parameterised circumstellar magnetic field with passive field transport. We then solved the hydrodynamic equations for the evolution of a SNR inside the pre-supernova CSM simultaneously with the transport equation for CRs in test-particle approximation and with the induction equation for the magnetohydrodynamics in 1D spherical symmetry. Results. The evolution of a core-collapse SNR inside a complex wind-blown bubble modifies the spectra of both the particles and their emission on account of several factors including density fluctuations, temperature variations, and the magnetic field configuration. We find softer particle spectra with spectral indices close to 2.5 during shock propagation inside the shocked wind, and this softness persists at later evolutionary stages. Further, our calculated total production spectrum released into the interstellar medium demonstrates spectral consistency at high energy (HE) with the injection spectrum of Galactic CRs, which is required in propagation models. The magnetic field structure effectively influences the emission morphology of SNRs as it governs the transportation of particles and the synchrotron emissivity. There is rarely a full correspondence of the intensity morphology in the radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray bands.
We examine the implementation of ambient noise array tomography in an urban environment to assess the 3D near-surface shear wave velocity (VS) structure at an intermediate spatial scale (-1 km2, depth range 200-300 m). The application employs cross correlation traces of vertical component ambient noise recordings from a local network installed in Thessaloniki city (Northern Greece), allowing the determination of Rayleigh wave travel times for the frequency range of 1.5-14 Hz. The results confirm the presence of a complex subsurface with strong lateral variations in the geology, with travel times varying up to almost one order of magnitude. A surface wave travel time tomography approach was applied for each frequency to determine the spatial variability of the group velocity, involving the use of approximate Fresnel volumes, as well as damping and spatial smoothing constraints to stabilize the results. We also employed an interfrequency smoothing scheme to obtain smooth but data-compatible dispersion curves at the cost of inverting all travel time data simultaneously. Following the application of several quality cutoff criteria, we reconstructed local group slowness dispersion curves for a predefined tomographic grid in the study area. The final 3D velocity model was determined by a modified Monte Carlo inversion of these dispersion curves and the spatial integration of the obtained 1D VS profiles. Different model parameterizations were tested for the inversion to determine the optimal datafit. The final 3D velocity model is in a very good agreement with the local geology, previous larger scale studies, and other geophysical surveys, providing additional structural constraints (such as hidden fault identification) for the complex sedimentary deposits and bedrock formation in Thessaloniki, up to the depth of - 250-300 m. The introduction of the aforementioned modifications to the ambient noise array tomography suggests that it can be efficiently adjusted and employed as a reliable tool for imaging the 3D seismic structure in urban environments with complex geology.
OBJECTIVEAlthough dietary intake of trans fatty acid (TFA) is a major public health concern because of the associated increase in the risk of cardiovascular events, it remains unclear whether TFAs also influence risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and whether industrial TFAs (iTFAs) and ruminant TFAs (rTFAs) exert the same effect on health. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSTo investigate the relationship of 7 rTFAs and iTFAs, including 2 conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs), plasma phospholipid TFAs were measured in a case-cohort study nested within the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam cohort. The analytical sample was a random subsample (n = 1,248) and incident cases of T2D (n = 801) over a median follow-up of 6.5 years. Using multivariable Cox regression models, we examined associations of TFAs with incident T2D. RESULTSThe TFA subtypes were intercorrelated with each other, with other fatty acids, and with different food sources. After controlling for other TFAs, the iTFAs (18:1n-6t, 18:1n-9t, 18:2n-6,9t) were not associated with diabetes risk. Some rTFA subtypes were inversely associated with diabetes risk: vaccenic acid (18:1n-7t; hazard ratio [HR] per SD 0.72; 95% CI 0.58-0.89) and t10c12-CLA (HR per SD 0.81; 95% CI 0.70-0.94), whereas c9t11-CLA was positively associated (HR per SD 1.39; 95% CI 1.19-1.62). Trans-palmitoleic acid (16:1n-7t) was not associated with diabetes risk when adjusting for the other TFAs (HR per SD 1.08; 95% CI 0.88-1.31). CONCLUSIONSThe TFAs' conformation plays an essential role in their relationship to diabetes risk. rTFA subtypes may have opposing relationships to diabetes risk. Previous observations for reduced diabetes risk with higher levels of circulating trans-palmitoleic acid are likely due to confounding.
Background While the majority of the German population was fully vaccinated at the time (about 65%), COVID-19 incidence started growing exponentially in October 2021 with about 41% of recorded new cases aged twelve or above being symptomatic breakthrough infections, presumably also contributing to the dynamics. So far, it remained elusive how significant this contribution was and whether targeted non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) may have stopped the amplification of the crisis. <br /> Methods We develop and introduce a contribution matrix approach based on the nextgeneration matrix of a population-structured compartmental infectious disease model to derive contributions of respective inter- and intragroup infection pathways of unvaccinated and vaccinated subpopulations to the effective reproduction number and new infections, considering empirical data of vaccine efficacies against infection and transmission. <br /> Results Here we show that about 61%-76% of all new infections were caused by unvaccinated individuals and only 24%-39% were caused by the vaccinated. Furthermore, 32%-51% of new infections were likely caused by unvaccinated infecting other unvaccinated. Decreasing the transmissibility of the unvaccinated by, e. g. targeted NPIs, causes a steeper decrease in the effective reproduction number R than decreasing the transmissibility of vaccinated individuals, potentially leading to temporary epidemic control. Reducing contacts between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals serves to decrease R in a similar manner as increasing vaccine uptake. <br /> Conclusions A minority of the German population-the unvaccinated-is assumed to have caused the majority of new infections in the fall of 2021 in Germany. Our results highlight the importance of combined measures, such as vaccination campaigns and targeted contact reductions to achieve temporary epidemic control.
Wrapped up
(2022)
A huge number of bacterial species are motile by flagella, which allow them to actively move toward favorable environments and away from hazardous areas and to conquer new habitats. The general perception of flagellum-mediated movement and chemotaxis is dominated by the Escherichia coli paradigm, with its peritrichous flagellation and its famous run-and-tumble navigation pattern, which has shaped the view on how bacteria swim and navigate in chemical gradients. However, a significant amount-more likely the majority-of bacterial species exhibit a (bi)polar flagellar localization pattern instead of lateral flagella. Accordingly, these species have evolved very different mechanisms for navigation and chemotaxis. Here, we review the earlier and recent findings on the various modes of motility mediated by polar flagella.
L1 French participants learned novel L2 English words over two days of learning sessions, with half of the words presented with their orthographic forms (Audio-Ortho) and half without (Audio only). One group heard the words pronounced by a single talker, while another group heard them pronounced by multiple talkers. On the third day, they completed a variety of tasks to evaluate their learning. Our results show a robust influence of orthogra-phy, with faster response times in both production (Picture naming) and recognition (Picture mapping) tasks for words learned in the Audio-Ortho condition. Moreover, formant analyses of the Picture naming responses show that orthographic input pulls pronunciations of English novel words towards a non-native (French) phonological target. Words learned with their orthographic forms were pronounced more precisely (with smaller Dispersion Scores), but were misplaced in the vowel space (as reflected by smaller Euclidian distances with respect to French vowels). Finally, we found only limited evidence of an effect of talker-based acoustic variability: novel words learned with multiple talkers showed faster responses times in the Picture naming task, but only in the Audio-only condition, which suggests that orthographic information may have overwhelmed any advantage of talker-based acoustic variability.CO 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
A recent advancement in the field of neuromodulation is to adapt stimulation parameters according to prespecified biomarkers tracked in real-time. These markers comprise short and transient signal features, such as bursts of elevated band power. To capture these features, instantaneous measures of phase and/or amplitude are employed, which inform stimulation adjustment with high temporal specificity. For adaptive neuromodulation it is therefore necessary to precisely estimate a signal's phase and amplitude with minimum delay and in a causal way, i.e. without depending on future parts of the signal. Here we demonstrate a method that utilizes oscillation theory to estimate phase and amplitude in real-time and compare it to a recently proposed causal modification of the Hilbert transform. By simulating real-time processing of human LFP data, we show that our approach almost perfectly tracks offline phase and amplitude with minimum delay and is computationally highly efficient.
Analysis of physicians' probability estimates of a medical outcome based on a sequence of events
(2022)
A basic law of probability is that the probability of a conjunction of 2 independent events is the product of both components and cannot exceed the likelihood of either component. When this basic law is violated, it is known as the conjunction fallacy. In clinical practice, the conjunction fallacy may arise when physicians estimate the probability of the overall outcome that requires >= 2 steps to be successful. For example, if a successful procedure requires the success of step A and step B, then the probability of overall success of the procedure cannot exceed the likelihood of success of either step A or step B. The aim of this study was to determine whether physicians could correctly estimate the overall probability of success from 2 independent events. <br /> This was a 3-part, Internet-based survey study designed to evaluate the presence of the conjunction fallacy in 2 separate obstetric contexts and 1 pulmonary context. Respondents were board-certified or board-eligible physicians in obstetrics and gynecology and pulmonary, recruited from a commercial survey service. In each context, physicians were presented with scenarios related to their medical specialty and asked to judge the probability of the overall outcome, or conjunction, and of the 2 individual events, or conjuncts. <br /> The first substudy, conducted April 2-4, 2021, described a delivery in brow presentation discovered during labor. To assess the overall probability of a successful spontaneous vaginal delivery, an obstetrician must consider the likelihood of the brow presentation converting to a deliverable position and the likelihood of vaginal delivery from the converted position. The second substudy, conducted November 2-11, 2021, described the diagnostic evaluation of pulmonary nodule discovered incidentally. To assess the overall probability that a biopsy reveals cancer, the physician must consider the likelihood that the nodule is cancerous and the likelihood that the biopsy successfully and accurately detects cancer. The third study, conducted May 13-19, 2021, modified the first substudy and asked responding obstetricians to consider the likelihood of the individual conjuncts before estimating the overall probability of successful vaginal delivery. <br /> The survey included responses from 215 physicians: 66% were male and 34% were female with a mean (SD) age of 53.6 (9.5) years and mean time since obtaining a medical degree of 27.5 (10.6) years. Overall, 78.1% of physicians committed the conjunction fallacy, estimating that the overall probability of success was greater than the likelihood of at least 1 of the 2 conjuncts. In the first substudy, 74.6% of 67 obstetricians committed the conjunction fallacy; respondents overestimated the combined probability by 12.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 9.6%-16.1%), compared with the product of the 2 estimated conjuncts with statistically significant deviation (t66 = 7.94; P < 0.001; Cohen d = 0.97 [95% CI, 0.68-1.26]). In the second substudy, 86.9% of 84 pulmonologists committed the conjunction fallacy; respondents overestimated the combined probability by 19.8% (95% CI, 16.6%-23.0%), with statistically significant deviation of (t83 = 7.94; P < 0.001; Cohen d = 1.34 [95% CI, 1.04-1.64]). In the third substudy, 70.3% of 64 committed the conjunction fallacy; respondents overestimated the combined probability by 18.0% (95% CI, 13.4%-22.5%) with statistically significant deviation (t63 = 7.89; P < 0.001; Cohen d = 0.99 [95% CI, 0.68-1.28]). <br /> In this study, it was common for seasoned obstetricians and pulmonologists to commit the conjunction fallacy. Given that physicians often need to estimate the successful outcome of a multistep procedure, they may be doing so in a flawed manner that may negatively impact decision-making.
Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a severe complication of diabetes and a challenging medical condition. Conventional treatments for DFU have not been effective enough to reduce the amputation rates, which urges the need for additional treatment. Stem cell-based therapy for DFU has been investigated over the past years. Its therapeutic effect is through promoting angiogenesis, secreting paracrine factors, stimulating vascular differentiation, suppressing inflammation, improving collagen deposition, and immunomodulation. It is controversial which type and origin of stem cells, and which administration route would be the most optimal for therapy. We reviewed the different types and origins of stem cells and routes of administration used for the treatment of DFU in clinical and preclinical studies. Diabetes leads to the impairment of the stem cells in the diseased patients, which makes it less ideal to use autologous stem cells, and requires looking for a matching donor. Moreover, angioplasty could be complementary to stem cell therapy, and scaffolds have a positive impact on the healing process of DFU by stem cell-based therapy. In short, stem cell-based therapy is promising in the field of regenerative medicine, but more studies are still needed to determine the ideal type of stem cells required in therapy, their safety, proper dosing, and optimal administration route.
The microstructure of permafrost ground contains clues to its formation and hence its preconditioning to future change.
We applied X-ray computed microtomography (CT) to obtain high-resolution data (Delta x = 50 mu m) of the composition of a 164 cm long permafrost core drilled in a Yedoma upland in north-eastern Siberia.
The CT analysis allowed the microstructures to be directly mapped and volumetric contents of excess ice, gas inclusions, and two distinct sediment types to be quantified. Using laboratory measurements of coarsely resolved core samples, we statistically estimated the composition of the sediment types and used it to indirectly quantify volumetric contents of pore ice, organic matter, and mineral material along the core.
We conclude that CT is a promising method for obtaining physical properties of permafrost cores which opens novel research potentials.
In contrast to molecular-dipole polymers, such as PVDF, ferroelectrets are a new class of flexible spatially heterogeneous piezoelectric polymers with dosed or open voids that act as deformable macro-dipoles after charging.
With a spectrum of manufacturing processes being developed to engineer the heterogeneous structures, ferroelectrets are made with attractive piezoelectric properties well-suited for applications, such as pressure sensors, acoustic transducers, etc.
However, the sources of the macro-dipole charges have usually been the same, microscopic dielectric barrier discharges within the voids, induced when the ferroelectrets are poled under a large electric field typically via a so-called corona poling, resulting in the separation and trapping of opposite charges into the interior walls of the voids.
Such a process is inherently self-limiting, as the reverse internal field from the macro-dipoles eventually extinguishes the microdischarges, resulting in limited density of ions and not too high overall piezoelectric performance. Here, a new method to form ferroelectrets with gigantic electroactivity is proposed and demonstrated with the aid of an external ion booster.
A laminate consisting of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) and fluorinated-ethylene-propylene (FEP) was prefilled with bipolar ions produced externally by an ionizer and sequentially poled to force the separation of positive and negative ions into the open fibrous structure, rendering an impressive piezoelectric d(33)( )coefficient of 1600 pC/N-an improvement by a factor of 4 in comparison with the d(33) of a similar sandwich poled with nonenhanced corona poling.
The (pre)filling dearly increases the ion density in the open voids significantly. The charges stored in the open-cell structure stays at a high level for at least 4 months. In addition, an all-organic nanogenerator was made from an ePTFE-based ferroelectret, with conducting poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS) coated fabric electrodes.
When poled with this ion-boosting process, it yielded an output power twice that of a similar sample poled in a conventional corona-only process. The doubling in output power is mainly brought about by the significantly higher charge density achieved with the aid of external booster.
Furthermore, aside from the bipolar ions, extra monopolar ions can during the corona poling be blown into the open pores by using for instance a negative ionic hair dryer to produce a unipolar ePTFE-based ferroelectret with its d(33) coefficient enhanced by a factor of 3. Ion-boosting poling thus unleashes a new route to produce bipolar or unipolar open-cell ferroelectrets with highly enhanced piezoelectric response.
Hepatocytes secrete retinol-binding pro-tein 4 (RBP4) into circulation, thereby mobilizing vitamin A from the liver to provide retinol for extrahepatic tissues. Obesity and insulin resistance are associated with elevated RBP4 levels in the blood.
However, in a previous study, we observed that chronically increased RBP4 by forced Rbp4 expres-sion in the liver does not impair glucose homeostasis in mice.
Here, we investigated the effects of an acute mobilization of hepatic vitamin A stores by hepatic overexpression of RBP4 in mice.
We show that he-patic retinol mobilization decreases body fat content and enhances fat turnover. Mechanistically, we found that acute retinol mobilization increases hepatic expression and serum levels of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), which is regulated by retinol mobilization and retinoic acid in primary hepato-cytes.
Moreover, we provide evidence that the insulin-sensitizing effect of FGF21 is associated with organ-specific adaptations in retinoid homeostasis.
Taken together, our findings identify a novel cross-talk between retinoid homeostasis and FGF21 in mice with acute RBP4-mediated retinol mobilization from the liver.
For an effectively one-dimensional, semi-infinite disordered system connected to a reservoir of tracer particles kept at constant concentration, we provide the dynamics of the concentration profile.
Technically, we start with the Montroll-Weiss equation of a continuous time random walk with a scale-free waiting time density.
From this we pass to a formulation in terms of the fractional diffusion equation for the concentration profile C(x, t) in a semi-infinite space for the boundary condition C(0, t) = C-0, using a subordination approach.
From this we deduce the tracer flux and the so-called breakthrough curve (BTC) at a given distance from the tracer source.
In particular, BTCs are routinely measured in geophysical contexts but are also of interest in single-particle tracking experiments.
For the "residual' BTCs, given by 1- P(x, t), we demonstrate a long-time power-law behaviour that can be compared conveniently to experimental measurements.
For completeness we also derive expressions for the moments in this constant-concentration boundary condition.
Optics is a core field in the curricula of secondary physics education. In this study, we present the development and validation of a test instrument in the field of optics, the ray optics in converging lenses concept inventory (ROC-CI). It was developed for and validated with middle school students, but can also be adapted for the use in higher levels of physics education.
The ROC-CI can be used as a formative or a summative assessment of students' conceptual understanding of image formation by converging lenses, assessing the following: (i) the overall understanding of fundamental concepts related to converging lenses, (ii) the understanding of specific concepts, and (iii) students' propensity for difficulties within this topic.
The initial ROC-CI consists of 16 multiple-choice items; however, one item was removed based on various quality checks.
We validated the ROC-CI thoroughly with distractor analyses, classical test theory, item response theory, structural analyses, and analyses of students' total scores at different measurement points as quantitative approaches, as well as student interviews and an expert survey as qualitative approaches. The quantitative analyses are mostly based on a dataset of N 1/4 318 middle school students who took the ROC-CI as a post-test. The student interviews were conducted with seven middle school students after they were taught the concepts of converging lenses.
The expert survey included five experts who evaluated both individual items and the test as a whole.
The analyses showed good to excellent results for the test instrument, corroborating the 15-item ROC-CI's validity and its compliance with the three foci outlined above.
We estimate the source parameters of small-magnitude earthquakes that occurred during 2008-2020 in the Irpinia faults area (southern Italy).
We apply a spectral decomposition approach to isolate the source contribution from propagation and site effects for similar to 3000 earthquakes in the local magnitude range between M-L 0 and 4.2.
We develop our analyses in three steps. First, we fit the Brune (1970) model to the nonparametric source spectra to estimate corner frequency and seismic moment, and we map the spatial distribution of stress drop across the Irpinia area.
We found stress drops in the range 0.4-8.1 MPa, with earthquakes deeper than 7 km characterized by higher average stress drop (i.e., 3.2 MPa).
Second, assuming a simple stress-release model (kanamori and Heaton, 2000), we derive fracture energy and critical slip-weakening distance. The spatial variability of stress drop and fracture energy allows us to image the present stress conditions of fault segments activated during the 23 November 1980 M-s 6.9 earthquake.
The variability of the source parameters shows clear patterns of the fault mechanical properties, suggesting that the Irpinia fault system can be divided into three main sectors, with the northern and southern ones showing different properties from the central one.
Our results agree with previous studies indicating the presence of fluids with different composition in the different sectors of the Irpinia fault system. In the third step, we compare the time evolution of source parameters with a time series of geodetic displacement recorded near the fault system.
Temporal trends in the correlation between geodetic displacement and different source parameters indicate that the poroelastic deformation perturbation generated by the karst aquifer recharge is modulating not only the occurrence rate of micro-seismicity ( D' Agostino et al., 2018) but may lead to rupture asperities with different sizes and characteristics.
Polyzwitterions are generally known for their anti-adhesive properties, including resistance to protein and cell adhesion, and overall high bio-inertness.
Yet there are a few polyzwitterions to which mammalian cells do adhere.
To understand the structural features of this behavior, a panel of polyzwitterions with different functional groups and overall degrees of hydrophobicity is analyzed here, and their physical and biological properties are correlated to these structural differences. Cell adhesion is focused on, which is the basic requirement for cell viability, proliferation, and growth.
With the here presented polyzwitterion panel, three different types of cell-surface interactions are observed: adhesion, slight attachment, and cell repellency. Using immunofluorescence methods, it is found that human keratinocytes (HaCaT) form focal adhesions on the cell-adhesive polyzwitterions, but not on the sample that has only slight cell attachment.
Gene expression analysis indicates that HaCaT cells cultivated in the presence of a non-adhesive polyzwitterion have up-regulated inflammatory and apoptosis-related cell signaling pathways, while the gene expression of HaCaT cells grown on a cell-adhesive polyzwitterion does not differ from the gene expression of the growth control, and thus can be defined as fully cell-compatible.