6 research outputs found
Problematic smartphone and social media use among Bangladeshi college and university students amid COVID-19: the role of psychological well-being and pandemic related factors
Background: Smartphone and social media use are an integral part of our daily life. Currently, the impact of excessive smartphone and social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic is poorly understood. The present study aimed to investigate problematic smartphone use (PSPU) and problematic social media use (PSMU) among Bangladeshi college and university students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out involving 5,511 Bangladeshi college and university students (male: 58.9%; mean age: 21.2 years [SD = 1.7]; age range: 18–25) during the social-distancing in the COVID-19 pandemic (July 2020). A self-reported survey containing questions regarding socio-demographic, lifestyle, and home quarantine activities along with four psychometric scales was completed by participants.
Results: The mean scores of PSPU and PSMU were 20.8 ± 6.8 (out of 36) and 14.7 ± 4.8 (out of 30). Based on a hierarchical regression analysis, PSPU and PSMU were positively associated with lower age, poor sleep, social media use, watching television, anxiety, and depression. Additionally, PSMU was linked to being female, living with nuclear family, having urban residence, irregular physical exercise, poor engagement with academic studies, and avoiding earning activities, whilst being male, being married, living with lower-income family, and alcohol consumption were linked to PSMU.
Conclusions: The findings indicate that PSPU and PSMU were linked to poor psychological well-being (i.e., anxiety and depression) and other factors (especially lower age, poor sleep) during the pandemic, further suggesting the need for interventions including virtual awareness programs among college and university students
Interferon-driven brain phenotype in a mouse model of RNaseT2 deficient leukoencephalopathy
Solid state NMR/Biophysical Organic Chemistr
Effect of heat stress on blood parameters in indigenous sheep
The research was conducted to study the effect of heat stress on blood parameters in indigenous sheep.
Nine sheep were divided into three groups which were almost similar in age, sex and weight. Three
groups were divided as zero hour (T0), four hours (T4) and eight hours (T8) heat exposure to direct
sunlight. During experimental period temperature–humidity index (THI) value was calculated as 27.09
which indicate T4 and T8 groups were subjected to heat stress condition for at least four hours and eight
hours respectively every day. The amount of red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb%) and packed cell
volume (PCV%) were increased significantly (p<0.05) with the increase of heat stress but the amount of
white blood cell (WBC) had no significant difference (P>0.05) among the treatment groups. It can be
concluded that heat stress had significant changes on some blood parameters in indigenous sheep
H3 acetylation selectively promotes basal progenitor proliferation and neocortex expansion.
Increase in the size of human neocortex―acquired in evolution―accounts
for the unique cognitive capacity of humans. This expansion reflects the
evolutionarily enhanced proliferative ability of basal progenitors
(BPs), including the basal radial glia and basal intermediate
progenitors (bIPs) in mammalian cortex, which may have been acquired
through epigenetic alterations in BPs. However, how the epigenome in BPs
differs across species is not known. Here, we report that histone H3
acetylation is a key epigenetic regulation in bIP amplification and
cortical expansion. Through epigenetic profiling of sorted bIPs, we show
that histone H3 lysine 9 acetylation (H3K9ac) is low in murine bIPs and
high in human bIPs. Elevated H3K9ac preferentially increases bIP
proliferation, increasing the size and folding of the normally smooth
mouse neocortex. H3K9ac drives bIP amplification by increasing
expression of the evolutionarily regulated gene, Trnp1, in developing cortex. Our findings demonstrate a previously unknown mechanism that controls cortical architecture