Recognizing recent criticisms concerning the cross-cultural generalizability of self-determination theory (SDT), the authors tested the SDT view that high school students in collectivistically ...oriented South Korea benefit from classroom experiences of autonomy support and psychological need satisfaction. In Study 1, experiences of autonomy, competence, and relatedness underlaid Korean students' most satisfying learning experiences, and experiences of low autonomy and low competence underlaid their least satisfying learning experiences. In Study 2, psychological need satisfaction experiences were associated with productive (achievement and engagement) and satisfying (intrinsic motivation and proneness to negative affect) student outcomes. Study 3 replicated and extended Study 2's structural equation modeling findings by showing that the hypothesized model explained students' positive outcomes even after controlling for cultural and parental influences, including the collectivistic value orientation. Study 4 replicated the earlier cross-sectional findings with a semester-long prospective 3-wave design. The authors discuss how the findings support the motivation theory's cross-cultural generalizability.
Drought is one of the major stress factors affecting the growth and development of plants. In this context, drought-related losses of crop plant productivity impede sustainable agriculture all over ...the world. In general, plants respond to water deficits by multiple physiological and metabolic adaptations at the molecular, cellular, and organism levels. To understand the underlying mechanisms of drought tolerance, adequate stress models and arrays of reliable stress markers are required. Therefore, in this review we comprehensively address currently available models of drought stress, based on culturing plants in soil, hydroponically, or in agar culture, and critically discuss advantages and limitations of each design. We also address the methodology of drought stress characterization and discuss it in the context of real experimental approaches. Further, we highlight the trends of methodological developments in drought stress research, i.e., complementing conventional tests with quantification of phytohormones and reactive oxygen species (ROS), measuring antioxidant enzyme activities, and comprehensively profiling transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome.
Abstract
Synthesizing patchy particles with predictive control over patch size, shape, placement and number has been highly sought-after for nanoparticle assembly research, but is fraught with ...challenges. Here we show that polymers can be designed to selectively adsorb onto nanoparticle surfaces already partially coated by other chains to drive the formation of patchy nanoparticles with broken symmetry. In our model system of triangular gold nanoparticles and polystyrene-
b
-polyacrylic acid patch, single- and double-patch nanoparticles are produced at high yield. These asymmetric single-patch nanoparticles are shown to assemble into self-limited patch‒patch connected bowties exhibiting intriguing plasmonic properties. To unveil the mechanism of symmetry-breaking patch formation, we develop a theory that accurately predicts our experimental observations at all scales—from patch patterning on nanoparticles, to the size/shape of the patches, to the particle assemblies driven by patch‒patch interactions. Both the experimental strategy and theoretical prediction extend to nanoparticles of other shapes such as octahedra and bipyramids. Our work provides an approach to leverage polymer interactions with nanoscale curved surfaces for asymmetric grafting in nanomaterials engineering.
English learners (ELs) comprise approximately 10% of kindergarten to Grade 12 students in US public schools, with about 15% of ELs identified as having disabilities. English language proficiency ...(ELP) assessments must adhere to universal design principles and incorporate universal tools, designed to increase accessibility for all ELs, including those with disabilities. This two-phase mixed methods study examined the extent Grades 1–12 ELs with and without disabilities activated universal tools during an online ELP assessment: Color Overlay, Color Contrast, Help Tools, Line Guide, Highlighter, Magnifier, and Sticky Notes. In Phase 1, analyses were conducted on 1.25 million students’ test and telemetry data (record of keystrokes and clicks). Phase 2 involved interviewing 55 ELs after test administration. Findings show that ELs activated the Line Guide, Highlighter, and Magnifier more frequently than others. The tool activation rate was higher in listening and reading domains than in speaking and writing. A significantly higher percentage of ELs with disabilities activated the tools than ELs without disabilities, but effect sizes were small; interview findings further revealed students’ rationale for tool use. Results indicate differences in ELs’ activation of universal tools depending on their disability category and language domain, providing evidence for the usefulness of these tools.
Abstract
Human beings are highly familiar over-learnt social targets, with similar physical facial morphology between perceiver and target. But does experience with or similarity to a social target ...determine whether we can accurately infer emotions from their facial displays? Here, we test this question across two studies by having human participants infer emotions from facial displays of: dogs, a highly experienced social target but with relatively dissimilar facial morphology; panins (chimpanzees/bonobos), inexperienced social targets, but close genetic relatives with a more similar facial morphology; and humans. We find that people are more accurate inferring emotions from facial displays of dogs compared to panins, though they are most accurate for human faces. However, we also find an effect of emotion, such that people vary in their ability to infer different emotional states from different species’ facial displays, with anger more accurately inferred than happiness across species, perhaps hinting at an evolutionary bias towards detecting threat. These results not only compare emotion inferences from human and animal faces but provide initial evidence that experience with a non-human animal affects inferring emotion from facial displays.
Background: Malnutrition has been linked to adverse health economic outcomes. There is a paucity of data on malnutrition in patients admitted with COVID-19. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort ...study consisting of 4311 COVID-19 adult (18 years and older) inpatients at 5 Johns Hopkins-affiliated hospitals between 1 March and 3 December 2020. Malnourishment was identified using the malnutrition universal screening tool (MUST), then confirmed by registered dietitians. Statistics were conducted with SAS v9.4 (Cary, NC, USA) software to examine the effect of malnutrition on mortality and hospital length of stay among COVID-19 inpatient encounters, while accounting for possible covariates in regression analysis predicting mortality or the log-transformed length of stay. Results: COVID-19 patients who were older, male, or had lower BMIs had a higher likelihood of mortality. Patients with malnutrition were 76% more likely to have mortality (p < 0.001) and to have a 105% longer hospital length of stay (p < 0.001). Overall, 12.9% (555/4311) of adult COVID-19 patients were diagnosed with malnutrition and were associated with an 87.9% increase in hospital length of stay (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In a cohort of COVID-19 adult inpatients, malnutrition was associated with a higher likelihood of mortality and increased hospital length of stay.
Abundant expression of proinflammatory cytokines after a spinal cord injury (SCI) creates an inhibitory microenvironment for neuroregeneration. The mesenchymal stem cells help to mitigate the ...inflammation and improve neural growth and survival. For this purpose, we potentiated the function of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (Ad-MSCs) by transfecting them with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), through a lentivirus, to produce BDNF overexpressed Ad-MSCs (BDNF-MSCs), and HO-1 overexpressed Ad-MSCs (HO-1-MSCs). Sixteen SCI beagle dogs were randomly assigned into four treatment groups. We injected both HO-1 and BDNF-overexpressed MSCs as a combination group, to selectively control inflammation and induce neuroregeneration in SCI dogs, and compared this with BDNF-MSCs, HO-1-MSCs, and GFP-MSCs injected dogs. The groups were compared in terms of improvement in canine Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (cBBB) score during 8 weeks of experimentation. After 8 weeks, spinal cords were harvested and subjected to western blot analysis, immunofluorescent staining, and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. The combination group showed a significant improvement in hindlimb functions, with a higher BBB score, and a robust increase in neuroregeneration, depicted by a higher expression of Tuj-1, NF-M, and GAP-43 due to a decreased expression of the inflammatory markers interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and an increased expression of interleukin-10 (IL-10) (P ≤ 0.05). H&E staining showed more reduced intraparenchymal fibrosis in the combination group than in other groups (P ≤ 0.05). It was thus suggested that the cotransplantation of HO-1 and BDNF-MSCs is more effective in promoting the healing of SCI. HO-1-MSCs reduce inflammation, which favors BDNF-induced neuroregeneration in SCI of dogs.
Previous research on instructor feedback in second language (L2) writing has been limited to the area of grammar. However, it is also important to understand the role of feedback in developing ...content, considering that integrated reading-to-write tasks, which emphasize one's ability to discuss select topics, are gaining popularity in L2 writing. Using the Learning-Oriented Language Assessment framework, this study examined the effectiveness of instructor feedback in the content domain in reading-to-write tasks. It also compared instructor feedback with students' self-assessment of their own writings. Participants were 11 TESOL master's students and their professor in South Korea. During one semester, learners produced eight writings (initial draft and revision on four reading-to-write tasks). For each task, students read an academic research paper of their choice and wrote a one-page review of it. Learners also completed a self-assessment and received instructor feedback in the content domain of their writings. Quantitative and qualitative findings indicate that learners generally improved in the content domain. This could be attributed to repeated self-assessment, combined with instructor feedback, which promoted learners' metacognitive reflection of their writing process and product. The results provide pedagogical implications for using integrated reading-to-write tasks and sustained feedback in L2 academic writing.
Diabetic foot ulcers are a significant complication of diabetes, often leading to hospitalization and, in severe cases, lower limb amputation, causing substantial medical costs and reduced quality of ...life. Approximately 15% of diabetic patients develop foot ulcers, with 15% of these cases progressing to amputation, highlighting the critical need for foot care in diabetes management. These ulcers have a high mortality rate and a high likelihood of recurrence, highlighting the need for both blood sugar control and foot care. In South Korea, around 2.9% of diabetic patients over the age of 20 were diagnosed with diabetic foot ulcers in 2011, affecting approximately 100,000 individuals. Globally, about one-third of diabetic patients will experience foot ulcers in their lifetime, with a high recurrence rate. Diabetic foot ulcers are prone to infections, potentially leading to amputation or even death, emphasizing the importance of prevention and proper treatment. Educating patients with diabetic foot ulcer about foot care can significantly enhance their knowledge and performance in caring for their feet, including the use of moisturizers. Providing specific and practical foot care instructions is crucial to improve self-foot care practices and to minimize the risk of complications.
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