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Depression among older adults in China: Effects of urbanicity across the life course
Get PDFThe global prevalence of depression among older adults continues to increase alongside rapid urban development. Scant attention has been paid, however, to how exposure to urbanicity over the life course affects older adults’ depressive symptoms, particularly in China, which has undergone substantial recent urbanization. Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) with its Life History Survey, this study adopts a life-course approach to examine the accumulative and sequenced effects of exposure to urbanicity from 1992 to 2018 on depressive symptoms among older adults, alongside the mediating roles of social relationships. Multilevel regression analysis, clustered at the city level, reveals that higher cumulative exposure to urbanicity is associated with reduced depressive symptoms, particularly with constant or increased exposure to higher levels of urbanicity during middle and older adulthood. This protective effect remains robust against the potential influence of health-selective migration but varies by sex and socioeconomic status. Relationships with friends and neighbors mediate the urbanicity–depression association, whereas cumulative urbanicity exposure is negatively associated with satisfaction with the parent–child relationship and aggregates depressive symptoms. These findings underscore the importance of employing the life-course approach to understand the interplay between health and place across the life span
Bearing performance and progressive failure analysis of bolted joint in 3D printed pseudo-woven CFRP composite with fibre steering
Get PDFThis study investigates the bearing failure process of 3D printed pseudo-woven carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite joints, with a particular focus on the damage mechanisms influenced by steered fibres. A multiscale finite element model employing LaRC05 failure criteria is developed and validated against the experimental load–displacement curves and micro-computed microtomography (CT) images of four distinct cases. The model clearly demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining fibre continuity around the bolt hole, as this significantly influences the ability to reduce stress concentrations caused by the direct bearing loads from the bolt. Moreover, the model reveals that fibre steering can substantially improve the composite joint’s performance. This enhancement is achieved by adjusting the level of shear-induced damage propagation in individual filaments. The results demonstrate the potential and capability of the model to capture individual filament behaviour for the failure analysis of 3D printed composites, achieving good correlations with experimental measurements and observations, in terms of failure modes and load-bearing capacities
‘A Deep, Empathetic, Wondrous Connection’:Autistic adults’ definitions and experiences of nature connection
Get PDF1. Connection to nature is an important concept for understanding human-nature relationships, interests in nature, and pro-environmental behaviours. However, conceptualisations of this relationship thus far have excluded autistic perspectives.2. Through this reflexive thematic analysis of survey responses from 108 autistic participants in the UK, we sought to understand how autistic people define and experience connection to nature. 3. Towards this aim, we developed three themes: ‘feeling that you benefit nature and nature benefits you’; ‘connecting with something ancient to which I nevertheless belong’; and ‘it makes me a little sad tbh.’ Across many participants in this sample, nature was not something they saw as separate from themselves (or from humans more generally), and so connection to nature was not a simple, unidirectional relationship nor a clear-cut binary. 4. Through this work, we hope to contribute towards the effort to imbue ecopsychology and related fields with the influences of critical disability studies
The evolution of public order and public policy in EU Law:Europeanisation of essential state functions and the Union’s public order
Get PDFPublic order and public policy have long been features of the EU law landscape as grounds of derogations for Member States. Recent developments analysed in this Special Section appear to point to two developments in this field. On the one hand, public order and public security continue to be used as grounds for derogations but in new fields, closer to “essential state functions” of the Member States and with somewhat altered legal frameworks where the Charter of Fundamental Rights and secondary legislation play important roles. On the other hand, we are witnessing the Union itself as provider of security and more recently the articulation of a “Union public order and public policy”. While requiring further study these two developments may point to a further Europeanisation of the notion of public order and public security with implications for the nature of Member States as sovereign states and the constitution of European society
Detection of genetic variability in dairy cattle infectivity for bovine tuberculosis
Get PDFThis study investigated the genetics of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) infectivity in Holstein-Friesian dairy cows using British national data. The analyses included cows with recorded sires from herds affected by bTB outbreaks between 2000 and 2022. Animals were considered bTB positive if they reacted positively to the skin test, had positive postmortem findings, or both. We introduced the “index case approach,” based on the assumption that once the initial positively tested animals (index cases) are detected in a herd, subsequent infections (secondary cases) in the early stages of the breakdown are likely to be attributed to these animals. Genetic analysis of the number of secondary cases (NrSC) associated with a given index case was used to establish evidence of genetic variability in bTB infectivity of cattle, and derive EBV for infectivity for the sires of the index cases. Data were analyzed by employing Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques to fit generalized linear mixed models with either Poisson, zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP), hurdle Poisson, or geometric distributions. All 4 models demonstrated presence of genetic variance in cattle infectivity, with the strongest evidence provided by the ZIP and hurdle Poisson models. The hurdle Poisson model offered the most accurate and least biased predictions. Sire infectivity EBV from the Poisson, ZIP, and geometric models showed strong concordance, with pairwise correlations of 0.90 or higher. In contrast, correlations between EBV from the hurdle Poisson model and the other models ranged from 0.36 to 0.39. The association of the sire infectivity EBV with the average observed NrSC per sire and the proportion of infectious index case daughters per sire was generally moderate with correlations between 44% and 47% and 65% to 69%, respectively. Agreement among models for identifying the genetically most infectious sires was also reasonable, with 151 out of 285 sires appearing in the top 10% across models, and 122 (42.8%) also aligning with the top 10% based on observed average NrSC. Results provide novel evidence for exploitable genetic variance in bTB infectivity allowing the derivation of meaningful EBV. Based on the estimated posterior mean genetic variances obtained, reduction in infectivity by 1 genetic SD would result in a 32% to 44% decrease in the expected NrSC per index case. Further research is warranted to refine the phenotypic definition of infectivity and assess correlation with other dairy traits.</p
Molecular mechanism targeting condensin for chromosome condensation
No full textGenomes are organised into DNA loops by the Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes (SMC) proteins. SMCs establish functional chromosomal sub-domains for DNA repair, gene expression and chromosome segregation, but how SMC activity is specifically targeted is unclear. Here, we define the molecular mechanism targeting the condensin SMC complex to specific chromosomal regions in budding yeast. A conserved pocket on the condensin HAWK subunit Ycg1 binds to chromosomal receptors carrying a related motif, CR1. In early mitosis, CR1 motifs in receptors Sgo1 and Lrs4 recruit condensin to pericentromeres and rDNA, to facilitate sister kinetochore biorientation and rDNA condensation, respectively. We additionally find that chromosome arm condensation begins as sister kinetochores come under tension, in a manner dependent on the Ycg1 pocket. We propose that multiple CR1- containing proteins recruit condensin to chromosomes and identify several additional candidates based on their sequence. Overall, we uncover the molecular mechanism that targets condensin to functionalise chromosomal domains to achieve accurate chromosome segregation during mitosis
Nonmonotonic constitutive curves and shear banding in dry and wet granular flows
Get PDFWe use particle simulations to map comprehensively the shear rheology of dry and wet granular matter comprising particles of finite stiffness, in both fixed pressure and fixed volume protocols. At fixed pressure we find non-monotonic constitutive curves that are shear thinning, whereas at fixed volume we find non-monotonic constitutive curves that are shear thickening. We show that the presence of one non-monotonicity does not imply the other. Instead, there exists a signature in the volume fraction measured under fixed pressure that, when present, ensures non-monotonic constitutive curves at fixed volume. In the context of dry granular flow we show that gradient and vorticity bands arise under fixed pressure and volume respectively, as implied by the constitutive curves. For wet systems our results are consistent with a recent experimental observation of shear thinning at fixed pressure. We furthermore predict discontinuous shear thickening in the absence of critical load friction
miRNA discovery to therapy: The field is sufficiently mature to assess the value of miRNA-based therapeutics
Get PDFEnhanced mechanical performance of 3D printed continuous carbon fibre reinforced polyphenylene sulphide composites through dopamine treatment and post-processing compression
Get PDFThis study investigates the impact of dopamine-treated carbon fibre reinforcement and post-processing techniques in polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) composites, with a focus on improving interfacial and interlayer properties. The synergistic effects of continuous carbon fibre (CCF) treatment with polydopamine/silica nanoparticles (PDA/NPs) and post-processing on the mechanical performance of 3D printed composites are explored. The findings demonstrate that treated composites exhibit significant improvements in interlaminar properties, with increases in flexural strength by 27% and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) by 172%, compared to untreated specimens. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and nano-indentation tests reveal the mechanisms behind the improved fibre/matrix interfacial adhesion attributing to PDA/NPs network on the fibre. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and microscopic analyses are utilised to assess enhancements in crystallinity, void content, and fibre orientation after post-processing. Furthermore, we introduce a novel post-processing method involving a salt bath, which aligns with the unique advantages offered by 3D-printed complex composites. This approach is validated with two complex demonstrative geometries, confirming its effectiveness in maintaining structural integrity while enhancing interlayer properties. The integration of pre-processing with the PDA/NPs network and post-processing techniques with a salt bath offers particular benefits for additively manufactured high-performance materials
Classical dynamical r-matrices for the Chern-Simons formulation of generalised 3d gravity
Get PDFClassical dynamical r-matrices arise naturally in the combinatorial description of the phase space of Chern-Simons theories, either through the inclusion of dynamical sources or through a gauge-fixing procedure involving two punctures. Here we consider classical dynamical r-matrices for the family of Lie algebras which arise in the Chern-Simons formulation of 3d gravity, for any value of the cosmological constant. We derive differential equations for classical dynamical r-matrices in this case, and show that they can be viewed as generalised complexifications, in a sense which we define, of the equations governing dynamical r-matrices for su(2) and sl(2,R). We obtain explicit families of solutions and relate them, via Weierstrass factorisation, to solutions found by Feher, Gabor, Marshall, Palla and Pusztai in the context of chiral WZWN models
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