The Plasmodium vivax MSP1P-19 is involved in binding of reticulocytes through interactions with the membrane proteins band3 and CD71.

The parasite Plasmodium vivax preferentially invades human reticulocytes. Its merozoite surface protein 1 paralog (PvMSP1P), particularly the 19-kDa C-terminal region (PvMSP1P-19), has been shown to bind to reticulocytes, and this binding can be inhibited by antisera obtained by PvMSP1P-19 immunization. The molecular mechanism of interactions between PvMSP1P-19 and reticulocytes during P. vivax invasion, however, remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed the ability of MSP1P-19 to bind to different concentrations of reticulocytes and confirmed its reticulocyte preference. LC-MS analysis was used to identify two potential reticulocyte receptors, band3 and CD71, that interact with MSP1P-19. Both PvMSP1P-19 and its sister taxon Plasmodium cynomolgi MSP1P-19 were found to bind to the extracellular loop (loop 5) of band3, where the interaction of MSP1P-19 with band3 was chymotrypsin sensitive. Antibodies against band3-P5, CD71, and MSP1P-19 reduced the binding activity of PvMSP1P-19 and Plasmodium cynomolgi MSP1P-19 to reticulocytes, while MSP1P-19 proteins inhibited Plasmodium falciparum invasion in vitro in a concentration-dependent manner. To sum up, identification and characterization of the reticulocyte receptor is important for understanding the binding of reticulocytes by MSP1P-19.

Bi(SO4)F·H2O and Bi(SO4)(NO3)·3H2O: Chemical Substitution-Induced Birefringence Enhancement in Bismuth Sulfates.

Two new Bi(III)-based sulfates, namely, Bi(SO4)F·H2O (BSOF) and Bi(SO4)(NO3)·3H2O (BSNO), have been successfully synthesized through aliovalent replacement of partial [SO4]2- groups with F- and [NO3]- anions, respectively, in the parent structure of Bi2(SO4)3. Such chemical replacement altered the coordination environment of Bi3+ cations, facilitating changes in the structure and optical properties. Notably, the birefringence values of BSOF and BSNO are found to be 4.4 and 15.5 times that of parent Bi2(SO4)3. Further investigation into the structure-property relationship revealed that the birefringence enhancement in BSOF and BSNO is attributed to the improvement of the polarizability anisotropy of Bi3+-centered polyhedra in BSOF and BSNO compared to that of Bi2(SO4)3. In addition, the existence and optimized arrangement of planar [NO3]- groups are also indispensable for further birefringence improvement of the BSNO compound.

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored micronemal antigen (GAMA) interacts with the band 3 receptor to promote erythrocyte invasion by malaria parasites.

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored micronemal antigen (GAMA) is an erythrocyte binding protein known to be involved in malarial parasite invasion. Although anti-GAMA antibodies have been shown to block GAMA attachment to the erythrocyte surface and subsequently inhibit parasite invasion, little is known about the molecular mechanisms by which GAMA promotes the invasion process. In this study, LC-MS analysis was performed on the erythrocyte membrane to identify the specific receptor that interacts with GAMA. We found that ankyrin 1 and the band 3 membrane protein showed affinity for GAMA, and characterization of their binding specificity indicated that both Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax GAMA bound to the same extracellular loop of band 3 (loop 5). In addition, we show the interaction between GAMA and band 3 was sensitive to chymotrypsin. Furthermore, antibodies against band 3 loop 5 were able to reduce the binding activity of GAMA to erythrocytes and inhibit the invasion of P. falciparum merozoites into human erythrocytes, whereas antibodies against P. falciparum GAMA (PfGAMA)-Tr3 only slightly reduced P. falciparum invasion. The identification and characterization of the erythrocyte GAMA receptor is a novel finding that identifies an essential mechanism of parasite invasion of host erythrocytes.

U.S. Adolescent Rest-Activity patterns: insights from functional principal component analysis (NHANES 2011-2014).

BACKGROUND: Suboptimal rest-activity patterns in adolescence are associated with worse health outcomes in adulthood. Understanding sociodemographic factors associated with rest-activity rhythms may help identify subgroups who may benefit from interventions. This study aimed to investigate the association of rest-activity rhythm with demographic and socioeconomic characteristics in adolescents. METHODS: Using cross-sectional data from the nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2014 adolescents (N = 1814), this study derived rest-activity profiles from 7-day 24-hour accelerometer data using functional principal component analysis. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the association between participant characteristics and rest-activity profiles. Weekday and weekend specific analyses were performed in addition to the overall analysis. RESULTS: Four rest-activity rhythm profiles were identified, which explained a total of 82.7% of variance in the study sample, including (1) High amplitude profile; (2) Early activity window profile; (3) Early activity peak profile; and (4) Prolonged activity/reduced rest window profile. The rest-activity profiles were associated with subgroups of age, sex, race/ethnicity, and household income. On average, older age was associated with a lower value for the high amplitude and early activity window profiles, but a higher value for the early activity peak and prolonged activity/reduced rest window profiles. Compared to boys, girls had a higher value for the prolonged activity/reduced rest window profiles. When compared to Non-Hispanic White adolescents, Asian showed a lower value for the high amplitude profile, Mexican American group showed a higher value for the early activity window profile, and the Non-Hispanic Black group showed a higher value for the prolonged activity/reduced rest window profiles. Adolescents reported the lowest household income had the lowest average value for the early activity window profile. CONCLUSIONS: This study characterized main rest-activity profiles among the US adolescents, and demonstrated that demographic and socioeconomic status factors may shape rest-activity behaviors in this population.

The differences in drug resistance between drug-resistant tuberculosis patients with and without diabetes mellitus in northeast China: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) are serious global public health problems. This study aimed to explore the differences in drug resistance between DR-TB patients with and without DM. Risk factors for developing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) were also investigated among DR-TB patients. METHODS: The patient's basic demographic,　clinical characteristics, and drug susceptibility testing (DST) data were collected from the Chinese Disease Control Information System. Descriptive statistics were used to estimate the frequency and proportion of included variables. Categorical variables were compared using the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. Chi-square tests for trends were used to determine changes and trends in MDR-TB and pre-extensively drug-resistantTB (pre-XDR-TB) patterns over time. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to explore the risk factors of MDR-TB. RESULTS: Compared with DR-TB patients with DM, DR-TB patients without DM had significantly higher rates of mono-resistant streptomycin (SM) and any resistance to kanamycin (KM), but significantly lower rates of any resistance to protionamide (PTO) and mono-resistance to levofloxacin (LFX), and pre-XDR-TB (P<0.05). The proportion of resistance to other anti-TB drugs was not statistically different between the DR-TB with and without DM. Among DR-TB patients without and with DM, the proportion of patients with MDR-TB and pre-XDR-TB patterns showed a significant downward trend from 2016 to 2021 (P<0.05). Among DR-TB patients without DM, male, previously treated DR-TB cases, and immigration were risk factors for MDR-TB (P<0.05). In DR-TB patients with DM, a negative sputum smear is a risk factor for MDR-TB (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: There was no statistical difference in resistance patterns between DR-TB with and without DM, except in arbitrary resistance to PTO and KM, mono-resistant SM and LFX, and pre-XDR-TB. Great progress has been made in the prevention and control of MDR-TB and pre-XDR-TB. However, DR-TB patients with and without DM differ in their risk factors for developing MDR-TB.

Rest-activity profiles among U.S. adults in a nationally representative sample: a functional principal component analysis.

BACKGROUND: The 24-h rest and activity behaviors (i.e., physical activity, sedentary behaviors and sleep) are fundamental human behaviors essential to health and well-being. Functional principal component analysis (fPCA) is a flexible approach for characterizing rest-activity rhythms and does not rely on a priori assumptions about the activity shape. The objective of our study is to apply fPCA to a nationally representative sample of American adults to characterize variations in the 24-h rest-activity pattern, determine how the pattern differs according to demographic, socioeconomic and work characteristics, and examine its associations with general health status. METHODS: The current analysis used data from adults 25 or older in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 2011-2014). Using 7-day 24-h actigraphy recordings, we applied fPCA to derive profiles for overall, weekday and weekend rest-activity patterns. We examined the association between each rest-activity profile in relation to age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income and working status using multiple linear regression. We also used multiple logistic regression to determine the relationship between each rest-activity profile and the likelihood of reporting poor or fair health. RESULTS: We identified four distinct profiles (i.e., high amplitude, early rise, prolonged activity window, biphasic pattern) that together accounted for 86.8% of total variation in the study sample. We identified numerous associations between each rest-activity profile and multiple sociodemographic characteristics. We also found evidence suggesting the associations differed between weekdays and weekends. Finally, we reported that the rest-activity profiles were associated with self-rated health. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provided evidence suggesting that rest-activity patterns in human populations are shaped by multiple demographic, socioeconomic and work factors, and are correlated with health status.

A novel co-production of cadaverine and succinic acid based on a thermal switch system in recombinant Escherichia coli.

BACKGROUND: Polyamide (nylon) is an important material, which has aroused plenty of attention from all aspects. PA 5.4 is one kind of nylon with excellent property, which consists of cadaverine and succinic acid. Due to the environmental pollution, bio-production of cadaverine and succinic acid has been more attractive due to the less pollution and environmental friendliness. Microbes, like Escherichia coli, has been employed as cell factory to produce cadaverine and succinic acid. However, the accumulation of cadaverine will cause severe damage on cells resulting in inhibition on cell growth and cadaverine production. Herein, a novel two stage co-production of succinic acid and cadaverine was designed based on an efficient thermos-regulated switch to avoid the inhibitory brought by cadaverine. RESULTS: The fermentation process was divided into two phase, one for cell growth and lysine production and the other for cadaverine and succinic acid synthesis. The genes of ldhA and ackA were deleted to construct succinic acid pathway in cadaverine producer strain. Then, a thermal switch system based on pR/pL promoter and CI857 was established and optimized. The fermentation conditions were investigated that the optimal temperature for the first stage was determined as 33 â„ƒ and the optimal temperature for the second stage was 39 â„ƒ. Additionally, the time to shifting temperature was identified as the fermentation anaphase. For further enhance cadaverine and succinic acid production, a scale-up fermentation in 5 L bioreactor was operated. As a result, the titer, yield and productivity of cadaverine was 55.58 g/L, 0.38 g/g glucose and 1.74 g/(L·h), respectively. 28.39 g/L of succinic acid was also obtained with yield of 0.19 g/g glucose. CONCLUSION: The succinic acid metabolic pathway was constructed into cadaverine producer strain to realize the co-production of succinic acid and cadaverine. This study provided a novel craft for industrial co-production of cadaverine and succinic acid.

DFT-ReaxFF hybrid molecular dynamics investigation of the decomposition effects of localized high-concentration electrolyte in lithium metal batteries: LiFSI/DME/TFEO.

Due to its low electrochemical potential and high theoretical specific energy, lithium-metal batteries (LMBs) have been considered as a promising advanced energy storage system for portable applications such as electric vehicles (EVs). However, the uncontrolled growth of lithium dendrites during cycling has remained a challenge. By utilizing an inert solvent to "dilute" the high concentration electrolytes, the concept of localized high-concentration electrolytes (LHCEs) has recently been demostrated as an effective solution to enable the dendrite-free cycling of LMBs. In this work, we investigated the reactions of 2 M lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI) in a mixture of dimethoxyethane (DME)/tris(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) orthoformate (TFEO) electrolyte at a Li metal anode. The SEI formation mechanism is investigated using a hybrid ab initio and reactive force field (HAIR) method. The 1n reactive HAIR trajectory reveals the important initial reduction reactions of LiFSI, TFEO, and DME. Particularly, both FSI anions and TFEO decompose quickly to release a considerable amount of F-, which leads to a LiF-rich SEI inorganic inner layer (IIL). Furthermore, TFEO produces a significant amount of unsaturated carbon products, such as thiophene, which can potentially increase the conductivity of SEI to increase the battery performance. Meanwhile, XPS analysis is utilized to further investigate the evolution of the atomic environment in SEI. Future designs of better electrolytes can be greatly aided by these results.

The factors influencing the psychological distress of transgender women in Shandong, China: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: As a group at high-risk for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) infection, the psychological distress of transgender women cannot be ignored while preventing and controlling AIDS risks. Transgender women are a vulnerable group, and their psychological distress deserves attention. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychological distress of transgender women and further determine the influences of factors on the psychological distress of transgender women. METHODS: From March 2021 to August 2021, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in Shandong province, China. Data were collected by a questionnaire designed for transgender women, and the GHQ-12 scale was used to measure their psychological distress. The questionnaire combined sociodemographic characteristics, HIV/AIDS cognition, related behaviors, substance abuse, social support, gender identity and other factors. Univariate logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression models were used to explore the psychological factors of transgender women. RESULTS: In this study, the rate of transgender women with psychological distress was 20.08%. Earned monthly income between 10,000-15,000 yuan (OR:0.16, 95% CI:0.06-0.45) and a monthly income greater than 15,000 yuan (OR:0.07, 95% CI:0.01-0.43) were protective factors in the psychology of transgender women. Transgender women who never disclosed sexual orientation and identity (OR: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.06-0.58), who only disclosed their sexual orientation and identity to families or friends (OR: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.18-0.93) were also less likely to have psychological distress. Additionally, transgender women who did not desire to be identified with their sexual orientation and identity (OR: 3.31, 95%CI: 1.08-10.16) and who reported that the Internet did not play an essential role in helping determine sexual orientation (OR: 5.96, 95% CI: 2.91-12.20) were more likely to have psychological distress. CONCLUSION: Transgender women were at risk of psychological distress. Earning more money can help transgender women's psychological health. When formulating measures for transgender women, we should pay attention to enhance social inclusion and social acceptance of their gender identity and sexual orientation. Strengthening the role of the internet in transgender women's confirmation of sexual orientation and improving the social acceptance of transgender women will have a positive impact on the psychological status of transgender women.

Interpersonal relationships modulate outcome evaluation in a social comparison context: The pain and pleasure of intimacy.

Previous research has revealed that interpersonal relationships and social comparisons play important roles in evaluating outcomes. To our knowledge, how interpersonal relationships influence the process of outcome evaluations in a social comparison context remains largely unclear. In the current study, participants engaged in a simple gambling task with an acquaintance or a stranger and received outcome feedback. Behavioral results showed that participants' satisfaction level was sensitive to the outcome of their fellow players when participants won. In this condition, the satisfaction level was greater when their fellow players won rather than lost. Moreover, the satisfaction level was greater when their friends won compared with when a stranger won. Event-related potential (ERP) results showed that when participants won, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) was more negative going for other's losses than for other's gains. Moreover, the FRN was also more negative going for a stranger's gains than a friend's gains. In contrast, in the self-loss condition, the FRN was more negative going for other's gains than for other's losses regardless of the type of interpersonal relationship. These FRN findings indicate that the experience of other's outcomes is sensitive to participants' own outcomes. Importantly, the interpersonal relationship only showed its influence when both the self and others received monetary gains. Finally, the P300 registered participants' attention resource allocation toward monetary gains for themselves and for others, which was unaffected by the interpersonal relationship. This work reveals that outcome evaluation in various social comparison contexts is sensitive to the difference in interpersonal relationship in its early stage, labeled by the FRN.

Obesity is an initiator of colon adenomas but not a promoter of colorectal cancer in the Black Women's Health Study.

PURPOSE: Evidence for the association of anthropometrics with colorectal neoplasms is limited for African Americans. METHODS: We examined anthropometric measures with both colorectal adenoma and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in the ongoing Black Women's Health Study. In a nested case-control analysis, 954 cases of colorectal adenoma were compared with 3,816 polyp-free controls, matched on age and follow-up time. For the CRC analyses, 413 incident CRC cases were identified over a 16-year follow-up (802,783 person-years). Adenoma cases and CRC were verified by medical record review. We used multivariable conditional logistic regression analyses (for adenoma) and Cox proportional hazards analyses (for CRC) that included anthropometric exposures and selected confounders. RESULTS: Overall body mass index (BMI) and other anthropometric factors were not associated with colorectal adenoma or cancer risk in Black women. However, increased risk of adenoma (but not CRC) was observed among especially related to adenomas in the proximal colon. Among women ≥ 50 years of age, risk of proximal adenoma increased 14% (95% CI 1.00, 1.31), 35% (95% CI 1.12, 1.63), and 25% (0.93, 1.68) with each standard deviation increase in BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio, respectively. None of the anthropometric factors were associated with young onset CRC or adenoma risk. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that obesity might be an initiator for colon adenomas but not a promoter for colorectal cancer among Black women.

Attenuated Salmonella engineered with an apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) eukaryotic expressing system enhances its anti-tumor effect in melanoma in vitro and in vivo.

VNP20009, an attenuated mutant of Salmonella, is potentially applied for tumor therapy due to its specific accumulation and proliferation in the hypoxic zone of tumor. However, studies have shown that human immunity system and the associated toxicities of attenuated Salmonella evidently alleviated the anti-tumor effect when tumor is reduced. As apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) can directly induce nuclear apoptosis in the absence of caspases to avoid unwished apoptosis in normal cells, therefore, a eukaryotic expressing VNP20009-AbVec-Igκ-AIF (V-A-AIF) strain was constructed in the present study, and its anti-melanoma effects were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that AIF expressed by the V-A-AIF strain significantly enhanced the apoptosis of B16F10 cells in vitro, seen as remarkable decrease of tumor volume, formation of larger necrotic areas, and prolongation of the lifespan in a melanoma-bearing mouse model. Furthermore, we observed that the colonization of the V-A-AIF strain and the massive expression of AIF in tumors significantly promoted apoptosis of tumor cells by upregulating the expression ratio of Bcl-2-associated X protein/B cell lymphoma-2 (Bax/Bcl-2), suppressed the inflammatory response by downregulating toll-like receptor-4/nuclear factor kappa-B (TLR-4/NFκB) signaling pathway, seen as reduction of the expressions of phosphorylated phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K) and protein kinase B (AKT), and decrease of the production of interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Our study demonstrated that the colonization of the V-A-AIF strain in tumor triggers a decent anti-tumor effect in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that the engineered strain may provide a potential reagent for cancer therapy.

A Clinic Trial Evaluating the Effects of Aloe Vera Fermentation Gel on Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis.

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is the most common disorder in the oral mucosa that affects the daily quality of life of patients, and there is currently no specific treatment. In the present study, we developed aloe vera fermentation gel under the action of probiotics on aloe vera. In total, 35 patients with the history of aphthous stomatitis were enrolled to explore the potential benefits of aloe vera fermentation gel to treat RAS, and the healing-promotion effects were recorded and compared; microbial compositions in different groups were tested by high-throughput sequencing. Our results indicated that the duration of healing time of the aloe group showed potentially better effects because of the higher proportion of 4-6 day healing time (35% vs. 20%) and lower proportion of 7-10 day healing time (65% vs. 80%) compared with that of the chitosan group. Also, the use of aloe vera fermentation gel could return oral bacteria to normal levels and reduce the abundance of harmful oral bacteria including Actinomyces, Granulicatella, and Peptostreptococcus. These results suggest that aloe vera fermentation gel has the ability to treat patients with RAS and has positive prospects in clinical applications.

Prevalence and Determinants of Anxiety and Depression Among Healthcare Workers in Liaoning Province, China.

Purpose: To assess the anxiety and depression and their predictors among healthcare workers in Liaoning Province, China. Methods: In order to explore the influencing factors and prevalence of anxiety and depression among healthcare workers, a cross-sectional research design was used to survey 500 healthcare workers using the 14-item Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the Survey of Perceived Organizational Support (SPOS). Results: About 47.12% of the healthcare workers suffered from anxiety and 71.63% suffered from depression. In our study, we found that the health status (OR: 0.540, 95% CI: 0.298-0.976), self-esteem (OR: 0.395, 95% CI: 0.251-0.619), PSS (OR: 0.621, 95% CI: 0.388-0.994), organizational support (OR: 0.533, 95% CI. 0.333-0.854) were protective factors for healthcare workers suffering from anxiety, and resistance to COVID-19 (OR: 1.703, 95% CI: 1.082-2.681) was a risk factor for healthcare workers suffering from anxiety, while good quality of life (OR: 0.385, 95% CI: 0.206-0.719) self-esteem (OR: 0.187, 95% CI: 0.110-0.317), and PSS (OR: 0.475, 95% CI: 0.267-0.847) were protective factors for healthcare workers suffering from depression, and at the age of 35-40 years (OR: 2.475, 95% CI: 1.140-5.369) and resistance to COVID-19 (OR: 2.219, 95% CI: 1.313-3.751) were risk factors for healthcare workers suffering from depression. Conclusion: The anxiety and depression status of healthcare workers in China is poor, and hospital administrators should take positive measures to support healthcare workers and give positive expectations to alleviate negative emotions such as anxiety and depression.

Determination of Tumor Marker Screening for Lung Cancer Using ROC Curves.

Introduction: Lung cancer ranks first among malignant tumors worldwide and is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality in both men and women. Combining tumor marker testing is a strategy to screen individuals at high risk of pulmonary cancer and minimize pulmonary cancer mortality. Therefore, tumor marker screening is crucial. In this study, we analyzed combinations of tumor markers for lung cancer screening using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted on patients diagnosed with lung cancer, as well as healthy and benign lung diseases, using data from the China Huludao Central Hospital database between January 2016 and July 2022. The t-test and ROC curve were utilized to assess the effectiveness of individual tumor marker and the combination of multiple tumor markers. Tumor markers are molecular products metabolized and secreted by tumor tissues, characterized by cells or body fluids. They serve as indicators of tumor stage and grading, monitor treatment response, and predict recurrence. Results: In this study, 267 healthy participants, 385 patients with benign lesions, and 296 patients with lung cancer underwent tumor marker screening. The sensitivity of five tumor markers-CEA, CYFRA21-1, NSE, pro-GRP, and CA125-was found to be <55%. This study revealed that a single tumor marker had limited value in lung cancer screening. However, combining two or more markers yielded varying area under the curves (AUC), with no significant impact on screening accuracy. The combination of CEA + CA125 demonstrated the highest accuracy for lung cancer screening in healthy participants. At a cutoff of 0.447 for CEA + CA125, the combination showed a sensitivity of 0.676 and specificity of 0.846 for lung cancer screening. Conversely, for patients with benign lung lesions, the optimal combination was CEA + NSE, with a cutoff of 0.393, yielding a sensitivity of 0.645 and specificity of 0.766 for lung cancer screening. Conclusion: The five tumor markers-CEA, CA125, CY211, NSE, GRP-show promising results in screening healthy individuals and patients with lung cancer. However, only CEA, NSE, and GRP effectively differentiate patients with benign lung lesions from those with lung cancer. A single tumor marker has limited utility in detecting and screening for lung cancer and should be combined with other tumor markers. CEA + CA125 emerges as a superior tumor marker for distinguishing healthy individuals from those with lung cancer, whereas the CEA + NSE combination is more effective in identifying tumor markers in patients with benign lung lesions and lung cancer.

Psychometric Characteristics of the Chinese Version of the Tuberculosis Related-Stigma Scale in a Population of Medical Students and Its Correlation with Selected Demographic Characteristics.

Background: As future health workers, medical students' attitudes towards tuberculosis (TB) patients can impact TB control. However, in China, there is a lack of well-quantified assessment regarding the stigma among medical students towards TB patients. Therefore, this study aimed to validate the Chinese version of the Tuberculosis related-Stigma Scale (TSS) in medical students and to apply the scale to measure stigma and its determinants. Methods: A total of 1035 eligible medical students participated in the cross-sectional questionnaire. Exploratory factor analyses (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were first conducted to test Chinese version of the TSS construct validity, and then internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's α. Finally, multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to identify predictors of stigma. Results: EFA extracted two factors ("Social distance" and "Exclusionary sentiments"). The CFA further confirmed the two-factor construct. The internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity of the adapted Chinese version of the TSS was acceptable. Furthermore, Whether one has received TB health education and whether know a person with TB are associated with all dimensions of TB stigma, while differences in sex and place of residence play different roles in influencing the different dimensions of stigma. Conclusion: The adapted Chinese version of the TSS can be used to assess the level of stigma among medical students in China towards tuberculosis patients. When implementing future interventions to reduce stigma associated with TB, special attention should be given to medical students from urban areas, of male gender, who have not received TB health education, and no know a person with TB. However, these two dimensions ("Social distance" and "Exclusionary sentiments") are impacted by different determinants and should therefore be addressed separately when designing, implementing, and evaluating measures to reduce stigma.

Spatial distribution and influencing factors of CDC health resources in China: a study based on panel data from 2016-2021.

Background: Measuring the development of Chinese centers for disease control and prevention only by analyzing human resources for health seems incomplete. Moreover, previous studies have focused more on the quantitative changes in healthcare resources and ignored its determinants. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the allocation of healthcare resources in Chinese centers for disease control and prevention from the perspective of population and spatial distribution, and to further explore the characteristics and influencing factors of the spatial distribution of healthcare resources. Methods: Disease control personnel density, disease control and prevention centers density, and health expenditures density were used to represent human, physical, and financial resources for health, respectively. First, health resources were analyzed descriptively. Then, spatial autocorrelation was used to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of healthcare resources. Finally, we used spatial econometric modeling to explore the influencing factors of healthcare resources. Results: The global Moran index for disease control and prevention centers density decreased from 1.3164 to 0.2662 (p < 0.01), while the global Moran index for disease control personnel density increased from 0.4782 to 0.5067 (p < 0.01), while the global Moran index for health expenditures density was statistically significant only in 2016 (p < 0.1). All three types of healthcare resources showed spatial aggregation. Population density and urbanization have a negative impact on the disease control and prevention centers density. There are direct and indirect effects of disease control personnel density and health expenditures density. Population density and urbanization had significant negative effects on local disease control personnel density. Urbanization has an indirect effect on health expenditures density. Conclusion: There were obvious differences in the spatial distribution of healthcare resources in Chinese centers for disease control and prevention. Social, economic and policy factors can affect healthcare resources. The government should consider the rational allocation of healthcare resources at the macro level.

Profiles of visual perceptual learning in feature space.

Visual perceptual learning (VPL), experience-induced gains in discriminating visual features, has been studied extensively and intensively for many years, its profile in feature space, however, remains unclear. Here, human subjects were trained to perform either a simple low-level feature (grating orientation) or a complex high-level object (face view) discrimination task over a long-time course. During, immediately after, and one month after training, all results showed that in feature space VPL in grating orientation discrimination was a center-surround profile; VPL in face view discrimination, however, was a monotonic gradient profile. Importantly, these two profiles can be emerged by a deep convolutional neural network with a modified AlexNet consisted of 7 and 12 layers, respectively. Altogether, our study reveals for the first time a feature hierarchy-dependent profile of VPL in feature space, placing a necessary constraint on our understanding of the neural computation of VPL.

Validation Study of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in African-American Men and Women.

BACKGROUND: Self-reported data of physical activity are practical and inexpensive ways to collect data, although, subject to significant measurement errors. Most physical activity questionnaires used in the USA have been predominately validated among non-Hispanic White American populations with limited attention paid to the validity of the measures among racial/ethnic minorities. Additionally, there are limited studies that have evaluated factors related to over- and under-reporting errors linked to self-reported physical activity data, particularly among African Americans. The primary objectives of this study were to validate self-reported levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior among African-American men and women against objective measurements and to identify the factors related to under- and over-reporting. METHODS: This study was a 7-day, cross-sectional study conducted on African-American men and women (n = 56) who were between 21-70 years of age. Participants were required to attend two study visits for the collection of self-reported and objective measurements of physical activity and sedentary behavior (VO2max, DEXA scan, anthropometrics, ActivPal accelerometer, resting metabolic rate (RMR) and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) questionnaire. RESULTS: Overall, energy expenditure measured by ActivPal was 24.1 MET/hr/week whereas self-reported (IPAQ) energy expenditure was 52.66 MET/hr/week. Self-reported sedentary time was 40.37 h/week, whereas sedentary time measured by ActivPal was 63.03 h/week. Obese participants tended to over-report their physical activity levels more so than non-obese participants (Obese, Activpal-23.89 MET/hr/week vs IPAQ-58.98 MET/hr/week; Non-obese, Activpal - 24.48 MET/hr/week vs IPAQ - 42.55 MET/hr/week). Both obese and non-obese participants underestimated their sedentary time (Obese, Activpal - 66.89 h/week vs IPAQ-43.92 h/week; Non-obese, Activpal -56.07 h/week vs IPAQ - 33.98 h/week). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study found that the ActivPal validated physical activity and sedentary behavior among African-Americans. Self-reported data were found to be highly variable, whereas the objective assessments of physical activity and sedentary behavior had limited variability. It was also found that obese individuals over-estimated their self-reported physical activity levels and under-estimated sedentary behavior in comparison to the ActivPal. These findings strongly support the need to measure physical activity and sedentary behaviors objectively, particularly among African-Americans.

Expending effort may share neural responses with reward and evokes high subjective satisfaction.

Throughout our daily lives, the levels of effort we invest in various tasks are influenced by reward processing. The subjective expectation after expending effort is a primary factor affecting reward processing. However, recent studies indicate that individual differences in reward anticipation influence this subjective valuation. To better understand the relationship between effort expenditure and the subjective valuation of rewards, in this study, we perform an experiment in which we manipulate effort, control reward expectation implicitly, and measure the subjective valuation of rewards using event-related potentials (ERPs) and physical effort through behavioral measures (number of keystrokes). In the reward-task paradigm, 30 subjects performed effort and control trials, with the reward probability comparable across the effort and control conditions. We also examined the ERPs associated with the valuation of subjective rewards, including reward positivity (RewP) and set reward expectation controlled as the baseline. The results showed that the ERP amplitudes, the number of keystrokes, and explicit satisfaction ratings were all significantly greater in the effort condition than in the control condition. The participants maintained high levels of effort throughout the sessions associated with the experiment. The results of this study suggest that when reward expectations are controlled, effort expenditure evokes neural responses similar to reward feedback being given, which is linked with increased subjective satisfaction.