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Weight misperception and non-fatal suicidal behaviors among U.S. adolescents:A V-shaped association and gender differences
Get PDFBackground: Existing evidence has identified that both weight overestimation and underestimation may elevate the risk of mental health issues in adolescents, such as depression and other externalizing and internalizing symptoms. However, this V-shaped association remains unclear with non-fatal suicidal behaviors (NFSB, including suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt), a serious mental health concern. Measurement and gender might account for that uncertainty. Methods: Based on a representative pooled U.S. cross-sectional Youth Risk Behavior Survey across five biennial cycles (2013–2021, n = 47,784; 50.6 % female), we first reconstructed a continuous measure of weight misperception using normalization techniques to mitigate the limitation of traditional categorical measures. We then examined its non-linear association with NFSB using restricted cubic spline technique in R. For comparability and interpretability, the continuous variable was further converted into a three-category measure to evaluate its V-shaped relationship with NFSB overall and by gender through logistic regression in Mplus. To obtain a more generalizable conclusion, year-specific estimates were synthesized using meta-analysis. Results: Compared to accurate perception group, both the overestimation and underestimation groups exhibited a higher risk of NFSB. This V-shaped association showed a significant gender difference, remaining evident among females but not among males, in whom underestimation was not significantly associated with NFSB. Meta-analysis found both weight overestimation (ORs: 1.82, 1.69, 1.69) and underestimation (ORs: 1.39, 1.36, 1.42) significantly increased odds of suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt, with consistently stronger associations for overestimation. Conclusions: Weight misperception exhibits an independent V-shaped association with NFSB, with gender-related heterogeneity implying the involvement of distinct underlying mechanisms
The experience of long-term care staff caring for people with dementia in low- and middle-income Countries (LMICs):A qualitative evidence synthesis
No full textBackground: The demand for long-term residential care for people with dementia is, especially for those in the moderate to severe stages, increasing. However, dementia care services within long-term care (LTC) settings remain underdeveloped in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Objectives: This qualitative evidence synthesis aimed to explore LTC staff’s experiences of taking care of people with dementia in LTC facilities in LMICs. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted of six databases in January 2023 and updated in August 2024 for qualitative studies of LTC staff’s experience of caring for people with dementia. Thematic synthesis was utilised for data synthesis, and NVivo facilitated this process. Results: 8,565 studies were screened, and 11 articles were included in this review. The studies included were conducted in Brazil (n = 2), China (n = 5), India (n = 1), Iran (n = 1), Malaysia (n = 1) and South Africa (n = 1) between 2012 and 2024. An overarching theme was identified: We are an island: underdeveloped dementia care within the LTC settings in LMICs, and the following categories identified as (1) the development of care provided for people living with dementia within care home settings is in its infancy; (2) the positive and effective coping strategies that may help embrace a brighter future of dementia care; (3) the deficiencies in caregiving approaches that contributed to poor-quality care for people living with dementia. Conclusions: The development of dementia care services within LTC in LMICs is still in its early stages. The main concern is the lack of available support and training for care staff and their insufficient dementia knowledge and care competencies. We hope that this review will help to increase attention to this significant issue of long-term institutional care for people with dementia in LMICs and that further research could investigate and enhance potential improvements in the practical implementation of long-term residential dementia care.</p
A DNA Rotary Pump
No full textTruncated trajectory files, parameter files and related topology for Molecular Dynamics Simulations of a DNA Ion pump
Direct Observation of the Activation of MscL in Tethered Lipid Bilayers by an Antimicrobial Peptide
No full textData and Python code to support the manuscript "Direct Observation the Activation of MscL in Tethered Lipid Bilayers by an Antimicrobial Peptide". Abstract: Hypothesis Membrane proteins serve a wide range of vital roles in the functioning of living organisms. They account for approximately 20% to 30% of the genomes across bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic organisms. They are responsible for many cellular functions, such as signaling, ion and molecule transport, binding and catalytic reactions. Compared to other classes of proteins, determining membrane protein structures remains a challenge, in large part due to the difficulty in establishing experimental conditions that can preserve the correct conformation and function of the protein in isolation from its native environment. Many therapeutics target membrane proteins which are accessible on the surface of cells. Here we hypothesize that the observed efficacy of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that interact with bacterial membranes may in part be associated with their triggering of MscL (Mechansensitive Ion Channel of Large Conductance) gating. We further conjecture that the insertion of peptides into the membrane induces significant changes in membrane tension and/or curvature, leading to prolonged gating of the MscL channels. Experiments We present realistic model membrane systems containing MscL. We investigated the ion channel in lipid vesicles and in a planar lipid bilayer. We developed a novel method for protein-lipid planar bilayer formation, avoiding the use of detergents. By using a polymeric tether our planar membrane mimetic was not constrained by the underlying solid substrate, making it sufficiently flexible to allow for increases in bilayer curvature and changes in membrane tension. We used quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D), and polarised neutron reflectivity (PNR) to show the formation of MscL containing phospholipid bilayers, tethered with a high density PEG layer onto gold substrates from vesicle rupture. The MscL containing vesicles were separately characterised with small angle neutron scattering (SANS). Findings MscL was expressed into vesicles using cell free protein expression. Analysing these vesicles with small angle neutron scattering, the radius of gyration of the protein was determined to be between 26-29~\AA{}, consistent with the crystal structure of individual MscL channels. The MscL composition of the formed bilayer was 14\%v/v, close to the initial volume composition of the vesicles at ~13.6% and a protein protrusion extending ca. 46~\AA{} into the solvent was determined by PNR. Addition of 1.6 and 3.2 uM pexiganan resulted in a decrease in the protrusion of MscL (from ~46 to ~38~\AA{}). To our knowledge, these findings represent the first direct experimental evidence of a structural change in the C-terminus containing protrusion of MscL, triggered by an antimicrobial peptide. This adds to our understanding of antimicrobial peptide action in therapeutic treatments.Data sets and Jupyter notebooks with fits and error analysis for the paper "Direct Observation of the Activation of MscL in Tethered Lipid Bilayers by an Antimicrobial Peptide".Skoda, M., Ayscough, S., Titmuss, S., Doutch, J., Clifton, L., Caruana, A., & Kinane, C. (2025). Direct Observation of the Activation of MscL in Tethered Lipid Bilayers by an Antimicrobial Peptide [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1497505
Parent reports of eating behaviour and feeding practices:Effects of parent and child sex
Get PDFResearch on parental feeding practices has focused on mothers, often overlooking fathers' perspectives and the influence of child sex. This study examined (1) differences between fathers' and mothers' own eating behaviours, their use of feeding practices, and perceptions of their children's eating behaviours, and (2) the role of child sex in these perceptions and practices. Parents (N = 784; 145 fathers and 639 mothers) of preschoolers (3–5 years, 51.3 % female) from the UK completed an online survey assessing their eating behaviours and feeding practices, and their child's eating behaviours. There were significant sex differences in parents' eating behaviours, with mothers reporting more emotional overeating, hunger, satiety responsiveness, and slowness in eating. Mothers and fathers did not differ in their reports of children's eating behaviours. Girls were reported to have higher levels of satiety responsiveness than boys. When exploring the interaction of parent and child sex in reports of eating behaviour, fathers reported that girls had more desire to drink. Mothers and fathers differed in their reported use of some feeding practices. Both mothers and fathers reported greater use of food for emotion regulation with girls than boys. Fathers used more encouragement of balance and variety with boys. These findings highlight distinct patterns in feeding practices and eating behaviours, influenced by both parent and child sex, suggesting that girls may be at greater risk of receiving feeding practices that contribute to the development of emotional eating. These results emphasize the need to consider the role of sex in future research and the development of tailored feeding guidance.</p
AI & collective memory
Get PDFIn this review, I show how Generative AI (GAI) utterly transforms how we represent, access, expose and cover, find and lose, sanitise and toxify, use and abuse, and communicate with, the past. The term ‘collective memory’ has become common parlance for an array of constructive and nefarious uses of the shared past. It is often seen as related to the lifespan of an individual, or a group or generation who lived through or experienced a particular era or event, affording some kind of shared experience that is strengthened by the presence of or connection to others in common. In this way, the collective, as with an individual's memory has its limits, it dies out. However, particularly since the late twentieth century, the term has acquired a mythical form, with publics, institutions and scholars, imagining in its nature, function and extended duration, for a variety of ends. These imaginaries are often tied to assumptions around the unifying nature of the technologies and media of memory of the day. I argue here that today's agentic turn by contrast offers no such prospects for collective memory, mythical or otherwise. Rather, Generative and Agentic AI's extracting, remixing and replaying of interactions, shards you and your identities anew, rendering it difficult to imagine a group, experience or event, around which a collective memory could cohere. Instead, individuals and societies are subject to a black box memory of impossible provenance, where human agency in shaping what the past becomes is in retreat.</p
Sex-dimorphic proteo-genetic architecture
No full textSex-stratified GWAS can help shed light on sexual differences in genetic architecture. In June et al (2025) we conducted sex-stratified Genome-wide association study across blood protein profiles and prevalence of disorders in UK Biobank data to assess the sex-dimorphic effect of genetics on protein level, in a search for genetic variants that presented significant differences in association to the traits considered. These are summary statistics of genome-wide association on protein levels and prevalences of disorders througth the study on sex-dimorphic proteo-genetic archtecture.Bhak, Youngjune. (2025). Sex-dimorphic proteo-genetic architecture, [dataset]. University of Edinburgh. The Roslin Institute. MRC Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine. MRC Human Genetics Unit. https://doi.org/10.7488/ds/7917
Fast and reliable NMR-based fragment scoring for drug discovery
No full textTwo Bruker data files are provided that were acquired using three NMR experiments for the determination of KDs of protein-ligand interactions. One used 40uM naproxen and the other 40uM naproxen and 1uM HSA. The abstract of the associated publication is provided below: Fragment-Based Drug Discovery (FBDD) is a powerful strategy used in the development of new therapeutics. Molecular fragments are screened against a target protein, where interactions are typically characterized by a low affinity. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is well-suited to detect weak protein-ligand interactions and is therefore often used in FBDD. However, while NMR is very effective in initial screening, follow-up NMR experiments to measure binding affinities (i.e., KDs) are labor-intensive and time-consuming. To address this challenge, we have developed an innovative SHARPER NMR fragment scoring technique. The high sensitivity of SHARPER NMR dramatically reduces the data acquisition times, allowing faster and more accurate quantification of fragment KDs from ligand titration curves. To further accelerate fragment scoring, a machine learning model was developed that accurately ranks fragment affinities from only two SHARPER titration points. The resulting integrated method, termed “ML-boosted 1H LB SHARPER NMR”, produced signifi-cant time savings; using a 600 MHz QCI cryoprobe, KD values of up to 144 ligands in a day could be determined under our conditions, compared with only a handful achievable by traditional approaches. The proposed methodology will shorten the transition from hits to lead compounds, accelerating the drug discovery process by rapidly and reliably evaluating fragment binding, providing informed decision-making in the early stages of FBDD
Convergence rates of non-stationary and deep Gaussian process regression
Get PDFThe focus of this work is the convergence of non-stationary and deep Gaussian process regression. More precisely, we follow a Bayesian approach to regression or interpolation, where the prior placed on the unknown function f is a non-stationary or deep Gaussian process, and we derive convergence rates of the posterior mean to the true function f in terms of the number of observed training points. In some cases, we also show convergence of the posterior variance to zero. The only assumption imposed on the function f is that it is an element of a certain reproducing kernel Hilbert space, which we in particular cases show to be norm-equivalent to a Sobolev space. Our analysis includes the case of estimated hyper-parameters in the covariance kernels employed, both in an empirical Bayes setting and the particular hierarchical setting constructed through deep Gaussian processes. We consider the settings of noise-free or noisy observations on deterministic or random training points. We establish general assumptions sufficient for the convergence of deep Gaussian process regression, along with explicit examples demonstrating the fulfilment of these assumptions. Specifically, our examples require that the Hölder or Sobolev norms of the penultimate layer are bounded almost surely.</p
Visual Data for Paper: "LAS-on-Edge: A Real-Time Laser Absorption Spectroscopic Water Vapor Sensor on Edge Computing Platforms"
No full textThese two videos shows the online monitored water vapor temperature and concentration as well as the water mist diffusion process and the flame variation, respectively.Xia, Jiangnan; Liu, Chang; Xia, Yikai; Xiao, Di; Zhang, Rui; Yu, Nan. (2024). Visual Data for Paper: "LAS-on-Edge: A Real-Time Laser Absorption Spectroscopic Water Vapor Sensor on Edge Computing Platforms", 2023 [moving image]. University of Edinburgh. School of Engineering. Institute for Imaging, Data and Communications. https://doi.org/10.7488/ds/7734
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