Abstract
Background
International studies emphasize the importance of depression for women and adolescents. Yet few researchers have used family-based surveys to explore depressive symptomatology of ...mother-adolescent dyads, and less is known about this aspect in Asian community where education is highly valued. The present study builds upon an inter-generational framework by investigating the effect of educational aspiration mismatch on depressive symptomatology in mother-child dyads.
Methods
A total of 1108 Taiwanese mother-child dyads were surveyed when the child was 13 years old, and followed up to two years later. Depressive symptomatology is measured by Symptom Checklist-90 Revised for both mother and child. Comparisons of mother and child's educational aspiration are categorized into three groups: mothers' aspirations are equal to, lower, or higher than their children.
Results
Results from multivariate logistic regression shows that, when mother's education aspiration is higher than that of her child, both mother and child have lowered risks of being depressed (mothers: AOR = 0.60, p < 0.1; children: AOR= 0.42, p < 0.05). On the other hand, children whose mothers' educational level are higher (senior /vocational high school: AOR =1.42, p < 0.1; college and above: AOR =1.81, p < 0.01) and whose mothers emphasize academic achievement (AOR =1.77, p < 0.1) are at greater risks than those without.
Discussions: The results point to the protective role of mother's higher level of education aspiration than the child, although mothers who emphasize academic achievement seem to increase children's depressive symptomatology. Future interventions that aim to promote mental health of adolescents and parents should take the value attributed to education, and the comparison between parental and children's self-aspirations into consideration.
Key messages
Mother and her child lower risks of being depressed when mother’s educational aspiration is higher than that of her child's. Child increases risks of being depressed when his/her mother emphasizes academic achievement.
Solamargine (SM), a major steroidal alkaloid glycoside, was purified from
Solanum incanum plant. SM exhibited the most cytotoxic effect comparing with that of cisplatin (cDDP), methotrexate (MTX), ...5-fluorouracil (5-FU), epirubicin (EPI) and cyclophosphamide (CP) against human breast cancer cells. In this study, SM induces apoptosis of the breast cancer cells and the mechanism was characterized. SM up-regulated the expressions of external death receptors, such as tumor necrosis factor receptor I (TNFR-I), Fas receptor (Fas), TNFR-I-associated death domain (TRADD), and Fas-associated death domain (FADD). SM also enhanced the intrinsic ratio of Bax to Bcl-2 by up-regulating Bax and down-regulating Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL expressions. These effects resulted in the release of mitochondrial cytochrome
c and activation of caspase-8, -9 and -3 in the cells, indicating that SM triggered extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways of breast cancer cells. Similar to function way of SM, cDDP causes cancer cell apoptosis though caspase-8/caspase-3 and Bax/cytochrome
c pathways, but the resistance to cDDP is correlated with Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL overexpression. However, the overexpression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL can be broken through by SM. The combined treatment of SM and cDDP significantly reduced Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL expressions, and enhanced Bax, cytochrome
c, caspase-9 and -3 expressions in breast cancer cells. Thus, the combined use of SM and cDDP may be effective in cDDP-resistant breast cancer.
A ferrite-dielectric metamaterial composed of dielectric and ferrite cuboids has been investigated by experiments and simulations. By interacting with the electromagnetic wave, the Mie resonance can ...take place in the dielectric cuboids and the ferromagnetic precession will appear in the ferrite cuboids. The magnetic field distributions show the electric Mie resonance of the dielectric cuboids can be influenced by the ferromagnetic precession of ferrite cuboids when a certain magnetic field is applied. The effective permittivity of the metamaterial can be tuned by modifying the applied magnetic field. A good agreement between experimental and simulated results is demonstrated, which confirms that these metamaterials can be used for tunable microwave devices.
To detect the display rate and flow velocity of intracranial circle of Willis (anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries) with transcranial contrast-enhanced transcranial color-coded ...sonography (CE-TCCS), using digital subtraction angiography (DSA) as the golden diagnostic standard.
We collected data from 104 patients with suspected stroke treated in our hospital between December 2019 and October 2021. The detection rate of the intracranial circle of Willis, anterior cerebral artery (ACA), middle cerebral artery (MCA), and posterior cerebral artery (PCA) were analyzed based on routine TCCS and CE-TCCS data. Based on digital subtraction angiography (DSA) data, the degree of MCA stenosis was divided into mild stenosis (<50%), moderate stenosis (50-69%), severe stenosis (70-99%), and bilateral middle cerebral artery CE-TCCS examinations were performed. We evaluated MCA color blood flow on CE-TCCS, and recorded the peak systolic velocity (PSV), end-diastolic velocity (EDV), and mean flow velocity (MFV).
The display rates of ACA, MCA, and PCA were significantly improved on the CE-TCCS, and the PSV, EDV and MFV of the MCA stenosis group were higher than those of the normal group. The flow velocity of each stenosis subgroup was increased compared to the normal group. The optimal cutoff values of normal and stenosis under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were PSV = 168.5 cm/s, EDV = 61.5 cm/s, and MFV = 110.5 cm/s. The optimal cutoff values for mild and moderate stenosis and for moderate and severe stenosis were PSV = 201.5 cm/s and 249.5 m/s, EDV = 95.2 cm/s and 141.5 cm/s, and MFV = 137.6 cm/s and 160.5 cm/s, respectively. PSV and MFV had the most significant sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy.
Transcranial contrast-enhanced ultrasonography can improve the display rate of intracranial blood vessels and can accurately diagnose MCA stenosis.
The objectives of this study were to investigate the potential mechanisms of dietary arginine (Arg) and N-carbamoylglutamate (NCG) supplementation on reproductive performance of sows. Twenty-seven ...crossbred (Landrace×Large White) sows with similar body weight and parity at day (90±1) of gestation were assigned randomly into 3 groups (n=9) control group, Arg group, NCG group, and fed with the following diets: a control diet, and the control diet supplemented with 1.0% Arg or 0.1% NCG. Litter size was recorded. Blood samples were obtained for biochemical analyses. Placenta chorioallantoic membrane tissue collected immediately after birth to preserve in RNA stabilizer for mRNA analysis of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), endothelial growth factor a (VEGFA) and placenta growth factor 1 (PlGF1) by real time-PCR. The results showed that compared with the control group, the average birth weight of all piglets born alive were 16.2% and 14.3% higher in the Arg and NCG groups (P<0.05), respectively; plasma VEGFA was higher in the Arg group (P<0.05). The expression of VEGFA in the allantochorion tissue of the NCG-supplemented group was higher (P<0.01), and tended to be higher in the Arg-supplemented group (0.05<P<0.1). NCG significantly increased protein concentration of PlGF1 in plasma (P<0.05), and enhanced PlGF1mRNA expression in allantochorion tissue of placenta (P<0.01). The results suggested that dietary Arg and NCG supplementation play important roles in meliorating placental vascular function and promoting the nutrients supply to fetus.
•Transient dynamic behaviors of a circular ring impinging on an elastic wall are governed by three critical non-dimensional parameters.•In the whole, the number of collisions increases with the ...stiffness ratio of the elastic wall to the circular ring.•Elastic oscillation induced by the collision interaction dramatically reduces the coefficient of restitution.
The transient dynamic behavior of an elastic thin-walled circular ring with low velocity impinging on an ideal elastic wall is investigated through analytical approach, numerical simulation and experimental observation. The motion of circular ring is approximated by the rigid-body displacement and those due to a few low-order modal vibrations, while the governing equations for the constrained motion stage and free motion stage are derived by employing the Lagrange procedure. The whole collision and rebounding process is then evaluated by solving the governing equations of two motion stages alternately. Analytical results illustrate that the coefficient of restitution, number of collisions and non-dimensional rebounding time are all dependent on the stiffness ratio of the elastic wall to the circular ring, the non-dimensional initial velocity and the ratio of the ring thickness to average radius. Numerical simulations and experimental tests were carried out to validate the applicability and accuracy of the analytical approach, and the multiple collisions phenomenon between the circular ring and elastic wall for large stiffness ratio is validated. This work reveals the remarkable influence of elastic vibration on the collision and rebounding behaviors of elastic components and could guide the selection of materials and stiffness in crashworthiness design.
Infection by enteroviruses can cause severe neurological complications in humans. The interactions between the enteroviral and host proteins may facilitate the virus replication and be involved in ...the pathogenicity of infected individuals. It has been shown that human enteroviruses possess various mechanisms to suppress host innate immune responses in infected cells. Previous studies showed that infection by enterovirus 71 (EV71) causes the degradation of MDA5, which is a critical cytoplasmic pathogen sensor in the recognition of picornaviruses for initiating transcription of type I interferons. In the present study, we demonstrated that the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP; also denoted 3D
) encoded by EV71 interacts with the caspase activation and recruitment domains (CARDs) of MDA5 and plays a role in the inhibition of MDA5-mediated beta interferon (IFN-β) promoter activation and mRNA expression. In addition, we found that the 3D
protein encoded by coxsackievirus B3 also interacted with MDA5 and downregulated the antiviral signaling initiated by MDA5. These findings indicate that enteroviral RdRP may function as an antagonist against the host antiviral innate immune response.
Infection by enteroviruses causes severe neurological complications in humans. Human enteroviruses possess various mechanisms to suppress the host type I interferon (IFN) response in infected cells to establish viral replication. In the present study, we found that the enteroviral 3D
protein (or RdRP), which is a viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase for replicating viral RNA, plays a role in the inhibition of MDA5-mediated beta interferon (IFN-β) promoter activation. We further demonstrated that enteroviral 3D
protein interacts with the caspase activation and recruitment domains (CARDs) of MDA5. These findings indicate that enteroviral RdRP functions as an antagonist against the host antiviral response.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of ultrasonication on chitosan molecules and nanoparticles. Molecular weight (
M
v) of chitosan HCl (
M
v 146
kDa and degree of deacetylation ...(DD) 96%) decreased linearly with increasing duration and amplitude of ultrasonication. DD and FTIR absorption were unaffected. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis suggested greater chain alignment in the ultrasonicated chitosan samples. Chitosan nanoparticles had mean diameter of 382
nm, polydispersity of 0.53 and zeta potential of 47
mV. Ultrasonication administered at increasing duration or amplitude decreased the mean diameter and polydispersity of the nanoparticles. Zeta potential and FTIR absorbance were unaffected, while XRD suggested a greater disarray of chain alignment in the nanoparticle matrix. Under the transmission electron microscope (TEM), freshly prepared nanoparticles were dense spherical structures which became fragmented after ultrasonication for 10
min at amplitude of 80. Untreated nanoparticle formulation turned turbid upon storage for 3 weeks at ambient conditions due to substantial swelling of the nanoparticles. Ultrasonicated nanoparticle formulation remained clear on storage. Although the particles had also swelled, they were no longer spherical, assuming instead an irregular shape with branching arms. In conclusion, high-intensity ultrasonication induced considerable damage on the chitosan nanoparticles which could affect their function as drug carriers.
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