Does widowhood affect cognitive function among Chinese older adults?

There is growing evidence from Western countries that widowhood may affect cognitive health in later life. However, little is known about whether widowhood isassociated with cognitive health in Eastern Asian countries such as China and what factors may explain the association between widowhood and cognitive health. Weadd to this line of research by investigating the effect of widowhood on 2-year change in cognitive function among Chinese adults ages 55 and older from 2011 to2013, using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Cognitive function was measured by episodic memory and mental intactness (i.e.,attention and time orientation). Our results showed that Chinese older adults who were continually widowed at both waves had significantly lower episodic memoryscores at Wave 2 than their continually married counterparts, controlling for episodic memory at Wave 1, age, gender, education, and other sociodemographicvariables. This suggests that the continually widowed experienced greater decline in episodic memory than the continually married over the 2-year period. Afterfurther controlling for economic resources, health, and social engagement, the difference in memory decline between the continually widowed and the continuallymarried barely changed. The effect of widowhood on memory decline was similar for men and women. However, the continually widowed were not significantlydifferent from the continually married in the decline of mental intactness. In addition, newly widowed adults were not significantly different from the continuallymarried in the change of episodic memory and mental intactness. We conclude that staying widowed for 2 years or more may be an independent risk factor forepisodic memory decline in China. More research is needed to investigate the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying the association between widowhoodand memory decline

Operon Prediction Model Based on Markov Clustering Algorithm

There are many operon prediction models, but few methods can be applied to the operon prediction of new sequencing species effectively. In this paper, an operon prediction model based on Markov clustering algorithm is proposed. The model uses some generic attribute information of genomes and graph clustering algorithm instead of classifier to predict operon. Similarly to most operon prediction models, E. coli K12 and B. subtilis str. 168 were used to assess the prediction capability of the proposed model, the experiment results show that the proposed model has better capability of operon prediction than some other classical operon prediction methods

Triperyleno[3,3,3]propellane Triimides: Achieving a New Generation of Quasi-\u3cem\u3eD\u3c/em\u3e\u3csub\u3e3h\u3c/sub\u3e Symmetric Nanostructures in Organic Electronics

Rigid three-dimensional (3D) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in particular 3D nanographenes, have garnered interest due to their potential use in semiconductor applications and as models to study through-bond and through-space electronic interactions. Herein we report the development of a novel 3D-symmetric rylene imide building block, triperyleno[3,3,3]propellane triimides (6), that possesses three perylene monoimide subunits fused on a propellane. This building block shows several promising characteristics, including high solubility, large π-surfaces, electron-accepting capabilities, and a variety of reactive sites. Further, the building block is compatible with different reactions to readily yield quasi-D3h symmetric nanostructures (9, 11, and 13) of varied chemistries. For the 3D nanostructures we observed red-shift absorption maxima and amplification of the absorption coefficients when compared to the individual subunits, indicating intramolecular electronic coupling among the subunits. In addition, the microplates of 9 exhibit comparable mobilities in different directions in the range of 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1, despite the rather limited intermolecular overlap of the π-conjugated moieties. These findings demonstrate that these quasi-D3h symmetric rylene imides have potential as 3D nanostructures for a range of materials applications, including in organic electronic devices

Depression is Associated with Myocardial Infarction within a Two-Year Period among Adults in China

We examined whether baseline depression is associated with MI within a two-year period among adults aged 45+ in China and whether the association varies by sociodemographic characteristics. Two-year longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of people aged 45+ in China were analyzed (N = 15,226). MI within the 2-year period was coded dichotomously. Baseline depression, assessed by the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale, was used as a dichotomous and a continuous variable. After adjusting for medical conditions, lifestyle and sociodemographic characteristics, the odds of having an MI within the 2-year period were 46% greater for respondents with clinically significant depression at baseline than those without. There was a dose-response relationship between symptom severity and the probability of having an MI. The association did not vary by sociodemographic characteristics. Findings suggest that depression screening and treatment may reduce MI cases in China and beyond

Shared decision making in sarcopenia treatment

The implementation of shared decision making (SDM) in management of sarcopenia is still in its nascent stage, especially compared to other areas of medical research. Accumulating evidence has highlighted the importance of SDM in older adults care. The current study overviews general SDM practices and explores the potential advantages and dilemmas of incorporating these concepts into sarcopenia management. We present common patient decision aids available for sarcopenia management and propose future research directions. SDM can be effectively integrated into daily practice with the aid of structured techniques, such as the “seek, help, assess, reach, evaluate” approach, “making good decisions in collaboration” questions, “benefits, risks, alternatives, doing nothing” tool, or “multifocal approach to sharing in shared decision making.” Such techniques fully consider patient values and preferences, thereby enhancing adherence to and satisfaction with the intervention measures. Additionally, we review the barriers to and potential solutions to SDM implementation. Further studies are required to investigate measurement and outcomes, coordination and cooperation, and digital technology, such as remote SDM. The study concludes that sarcopenia management must go beyond the single dimension of “Paternalism” choice. Integrating SDM into clinical practice offers promising opportunities to improve patient care, with patient-centered care and partnership of care approaches positively impacting treatment outcomes

IL-17 and TNF-β: Predictive biomarkers for transition to psychosis in ultra-high risk individuals

BackgroundDysregulation of immunity, such as levels of inflammatory factors, has been regarded as a sign of schizophrenia. Changes in cytokine levels are not only described in the early onset of disease, but also observed in ultra-high risk (UHR) individuals. This study aimed to investigate the potential of cytokines as biomarkers for psychotic disorders and in individuals at UHR of developing a psychotic disorder in the future.MethodsThe Luminex liquid chip technology was used to detect the concentrations of Interferon-gamma (INF-γ), Interleukin (IL)-2, Interleukin (IL)-4, Interleukin (IL)-6, Interleukin (IL)-17, Interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), and Tumor Necrosis Factor-beta (TNF-β) in the plasma of all subjects. Meanwhile, the plasma level of Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-α) was measured with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Then, the levels of these cytokines were compared among patients with Drug-naïve first-episode schizophrenia (FES; n = 40), UHR population (UHR; n = 49), and healthy controls (HCs; n = 30). Baseline cytokine levels were compared among UHR individuals who later transitioned (UHR-T; n = 14), those who did not transition (UHR-NT; n = 35), and HCs (n = 30).ResultsOur analysis results showed that IL-1β levels were significantly higher in UHR group than HC group (p = 0.015). Meanwhile, TNF-α concentration was significantly increased in FES group compared with HC group (p = 0.027). IL-17 (p = 0.04) and TNF-β (p = 0.008) levels were significantly higher in UHR-T group compared with UHR-NT group.ConclusionIn conclusion, our findings suggest that the immuno-inflammatory activation level is increased in the early stage of psychosis before psychotic conversion and the Drug-naïve FES. IL-1β and TNF-α are the representatives of the specific biomarkers for UHR and FES, respectively. IL-17 and TNF-β may be the potential selective predictive biomarkers for future transition in UHR individuals

Changes in Spinal BDNF Activity with Altered PSA-NCAM Expression in a Mouse Model of Inflammatory Pain

Chronic pain affects the quality of life of millions people and costs countries the equivalent of millions of dollars each year. Growing scientific research has linked chronic pain with changes in the central nervous system (synaptic plasticity) at the level of the spinal cord. Central sensitization is the mechanism accounting for these changes and it shares many similarities with long-term potentiation (LTP), the mechanism for memory formation in the hippocampus. Polysialylated neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) is a recognized player in neural development and LTP. In this thesis, we investigated its role in a mouse model of persistent inflammatory pain. Polysialic acid (PSA) modifies the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) mediated cell to cell adhesion and is essential in axonal growth and the induction and maintenance of LTP. We knocked down polysialyltransferases responsible for the attachment of PSA to NCAM using intrathecal injection of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and were able to show that decreased levels of PSA-NCAM lead to attenuation of carrageenan-induced hyperalgesia. Previous studies by others have shown that changes in PSA-NCAM levels are also associated with alterations in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling in LTP. This finding, coupled with prior research from our lab and others that show that BDNF and its high affinity tyrosine kinase (trkB) receptor are increased in the spinal cord of mice with persistent inflammatory pain, led us to investigate the changes in spinal BDNF signaling in this knock-down study. Results from our immunohistochemical studies show that the knockdown of polysialyltransferases leads to a decrease in the active, phosphorylated form of trkB receptors in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, suggesting that PSA-NCAM levels affect the activation of trkB receptors in vivo. These findings provide insights into the molecular changes underlying persistent pain and may have implications for novel therapeutic targets in the treatment or prevention of persistent pain

Coresidence with Elderly Parents in Contemporary China: The Role of Filial Piety, Reciprocity, Socioeconomic Resources, and Parental Needs

Acknowledgement: This article is based on a publicly available dataset of the elderly populatio