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Metabolomic Evenness Underlies Intraspecific Differences Among Lineages of a Wetland Grass
No full textThe metabolome represents an important functional trait likely important to plant invasion success, but we have a limited understanding of whether the entire metabolome or targeted groups of compounds confer an advantage to invasive as compared to native taxa. We conducted a lipidomic and metabolomic analysis of the cosmopolitan wetland grass Phragmites australis. We classified features into metabolic pathways, subclasses, and classes. Subsequently, we used Random Forests to identify informative features to differentiate five phylogeographic and ecologically distinct lineages: European native, North American invasive, North American native, Gulf, and Delta. We found that lineages had unique phytochemical fingerprints, although there was overlap between the North American invasive and North American native lineages. Furthermore, we found that divergence in phytochemical diversity was driven by compound evenness rather than metabolite richness. Interestingly, the North American invasive lineage had greater chemical evenness than the Delta and Gulf lineages but lower evenness than the North American native lineage. Our results suggest that metabolomic evenness may represent a critical functional trait within a plant species. Its role in invasion success, resistance to herbivory, and large-scale die-off events common to this and other plant species remain to be investigated
Improving Technology Use, Digital Competence, and Access to Community Resources Among Older Participants in the University of Rhode Island Engaging Generations Cyber-Seniors digiAGE Pilot Study
Get PDFThis pilot study aimed to bridge the digital divide between older and younger adults. The goal was for older people in the state to become digitally literate by engaging them in a program that provides digital devices (i.e., Apple iPads), internet connectivity (i.e., through HotSpots), and training from supervised university student mentors. This project, funded as a key policy initiative through the state’s unit on aging, specifically promoted social and economic equity by targeting participants from lower-income communities and areas hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our university partnered with senior/community centers to recruit and support English- and Spanish-speaking adults 50 years of age and older (age range: 55-100, M=72.3, SD=8.5). For this paper, we examined changes in technology use and digital competence from the pre- to the post-survey (collected over the phone) from older participants (N=145), and we examined how the program contributed to new ways for participants to connect to community resources. Based on statistical analyses, participants improved in digital competence (pre=2.06, post=2.74), technology use (pre=1.99, post=2.70), tablet use (pre=1.53, post=4.08), and the number of purposes in which participants used technology (pre=4.09, post=5.55; p’
Elementary school students’ information literacy: Instructional design and evaluation of a pilot training focused on misinformation
Get PDFOnline news literacy training has been so far insufficiently conducted and evaluated, and even less so with younger news consumers. Against the backdrop of online news cognitive processing, interventions against misinformation, and inquiry-based learning, we designed, conducted, and evaluated a pilot online news literacy training with 36 elementary school students from Germany. In a causal comparison, quantitative data from N = 29 students attest high participant acceptance and substantial effects of the inquiry-based training on participants’ ability to correctly assess online news credibility, and on the corresponding cognitive processing route, moving this from intuitive to analytic processing. Despite the small sample, the experiment was only underpowered regarding the between-subject effect, whereas the power was sufficient for all other effects. These encouraging findings of the pilot training may be the result of knowledge reorganization associated with inquiry-based learning. Further educational research and practice are needed to understand the efficacy of the training at scale
Alma Link Resolver Subject Report 2022-2023
No full textStatistics for 2022-2023 on the number of OpenURL requests by Library of Congress classification code made to the Ex Libris Alma link resolver for items held by the University of Rhode Island Libraries.
Information provided includes Classification Code, Classifications, Number of Requests, Number of Clicked Requests, and % Clicks from Requests
Trait Energy and Fatigue Influence Inter-Individual Mood and Neurocognitive Responses during Work Done While Sitting, Standing, and Intermittent Walking: A Randomized-Controlled Crossover Design
Get PDFCollege students can be sedentary for a majority of the day, which may exacerbate mental health issues or lead to declines in cognitive task performance; however, interventions to address sedentary behaviors may not positively influence everyone. Therefore, the present study sought to identify inter-individual cognitive performance and mood changes of college students during the performance of a cognitive task battery, while seated, standing and with intermittent bouts of walking. Participants (n = 31, age = 25.80 ± 3.61 yrs, 7 male) completed a series of baseline questionnaires including the Trait Mental and Physical Energy and Fatigue survey. Using a randomized controlled cross-over design, participants completed 3 separate testing sessions. At each session, they performed a series of three rounds of cognitive tasks for 27 min and self-reporting mood states for 1 min in the seated position. Each round of cognitive testing was followed by a 2 min break. Each testing day had participants spend the 2 min break in a different condition: sitting, standing, or walking. A series of mixed ANOVAs were used for the primary analysis and a combination of machine learning regressors and classifiers were used for the secondary analysis. Our results suggest that there are unique inter-individual responses to each of the interventions used during the 2 min break. Participants who were low-trait mental and low-trait physical energy benefited the most from the standing desk intervention, while also reporting significant benefits of intermittent walking. However, participants who were low-trait mental fatigue had significant negative consequences of using both standing desks and walking intermittently, while those who were high-trait mental fatigue saw no change in cognitive responses or moods in those conditions. Post hoc machine learning analyses had modest accuracy rates (MAEs \u3c 0.7 for regressors and accuracy rates \u3e60% for classifiers), suggesting that trait mental and physical energy and fatigue may predict inter-individual responses to these interventions. Incorporating standing desks into college classroom settings may result in some students receiving cognitive benefits when inter-individual variability in mood and cognitive responses are accounted for
Does Healthcare Provider Counseling for Weight Management Behaviors among Hispanic Adults Who Are Overweight/Obese Vary by Acculturation Level?
Get PDFThis cross-sectional study explored differences in the receipt of health care provider (HCP) counseling to control/lose weight and adopt weight-related lifestyle behavior changes among Hispanic respondents according to acculturation level. Differences in reported action regarding HCP counseling were also examined. Data from four National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles (2011–2018) were analyzed, with the analytic sample limited to Hispanic respondents who were overweight/obese. Respondents’ acculturation levels were derived from their reported country of origin and the primary language spoken at home. Respondents who reported speaking only Spanish or more Spanish than English at home were classified as primarily speaking Spanish at home. In contrast, those who reported speaking Spanish and English equally, more English than Spanish, or only English were categorized as primarily speaking English at home. Weighted multivariate logistic regression models were utilized to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to determine if differences in acculturation levels existed regarding the likelihood of receiving HCP counseling to (1) control/lose weight, (2) increase exercise/PA, and (3) reduce fat/calorie intake. Similar analyses examined differences in reported action regarding HCP counseling according to acculturation level. The analysis found no significant differences in receiving HCP counseling according to acculturation level. However, non-US-born respondents who primarily spoke Spanish at home were less likely than US-born respondents to report acting to control/lose weight (p = 0.009) or increase exercise/PA (p = 0.048), but were more likely to report having taken action to reduce fat/calorie intake (p = 0.016). This study revealed differences between acting on recommendations of health care professionals according to acculturation level, indicating a need for interventions tailored to acculturation levels
Psychiatric Deprescribing: A Narrative Review
No full textOBJECTIVE: Psychiatric deprescribing is an intervention where psychiatric medications are reduced or discontinued with the goal to improve health and reduce unnecessary risks. The purpose of this study was to synthesize the literature related to psychiatric deprescribing to discuss practice and research implications. METHODS: A structured search of the literature was conducted from May to September 2022, yielding 29 articles meeting inclusion criteria. Articles were reviewed and synthesized. RESULTS: Psychiatric deprescribing is a complex process with many potential facilitators and barriers. The extant literature provides insight into current gaps in knowledge and implications for clinical practice and research. CONCLUSIONS: In current clinical practice, psychiatric deprescribing is a priority but there are significant barriers. Several areas of future research could be pursued to better support evidence-based practice in this area
Nurse-led interventions in systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases: a systematic review
Get PDFBackground: Nurses play an important role in the management of patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Little is known about the effectiveness of nurse-led interventions on patient-reported outcomes in this population. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the evidence of nurse-led interventions in systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases.
Methods: Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines, a comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, and Embase for studies published from database inception to September 2022. Studies were included if they were published in a peer-reviewed journal in English and evaluated the effectiveness of a nurse-led intervention using a randomized controlled trial design in adults with a systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease. Screening, full-text review, and quality appraisal were conducted by two independent reviewers.
Results: A total of 162 articles were identified for possible inclusion, of which five studies were included. Four of five studies (80%) were conducted in systemic lupus erythematosus. There was significant variability in the types of nurse-led interventions; the majority included educational sessions and follow up counseling by a nurse (n = 4). The most common patient-reported outcomes were health-related quality of life (n = 3), fatigue (n = 3), mental health (including anxiety and depression) (n = 2), and self-efficacy (n = 2). The duration of the interventions varied from 12 weeks to 6 months. All studies included a nurse with specialized training and education and showed significant improvements in their primary outcomes. The majority of the studies (60%) were considered high methodological quality.
Conclusion: This systematic review provides emerging evidence for the use of nurse-led interventions in systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Our findings emphasize the important role of nurses in providing nonpharmacological strategies to help patients better manage their disease and improve health outcomes
Synergistic Inhibiting Effect of Phytochemicals in Rheum palmatum on Tyrosinase Based on Metabolomics and Isobologram Analyses
Get PDFTyrosinase (TYR) plays a key role in the enzymatic reaction that is responsible for a range of unwanted discoloration effects, such as food browning and skin hyperpigmentation. TYR inhibitors could, therefore, be candidates for skin care products that aim to repair pigmentation problems. In this study, we used a metabolomics approach combined with the isobologram analysis to identify anti-TYR compounds within natural resources, and evaluate their possible synergism with each other. Rheum palmatum was determined to be a model plant for observing the effect, of which seven extracts with diverse phytochemicals were prepared by way of pressurized solvent extraction. Each Rheum palmatum extract (RPE) was profiled using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and its activity of tyrosinase inhibition was evaluated. According to the orthogonal partial least square analysis used to correlate phytochemicals in RPE with the corresponding activity, the goodness of fit of the model (R2 = 0.838) and its predictive ability (Q2 = 0.711) were high. Gallic acid and catechin were identified as the active compounds most relevant to the anti-TYR effect of RPE. Subsequently, the activity of gallic acid and catechin were evaluated individually, and when combined in various ratios by using isobologram analysis. The results showed that gallic acid and catechin in the molar ratios of 9:5 and 9:1 exhibited a synergistic inhibition on TYR, with a combination index lower than 0.77, suggesting that certain combinations of these compounds may prove effective for use in cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and food industries