Loneliness, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms Among the Chinese Rural Empty Nest Elderly: A Moderated Mediation Analysis.

This study aimed to explore the relationship of loneliness, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms among the Chinese rural empty nest elderly. The role of sense of coherence (SOC) as a moderating variable was investigated in a representative sample of older adults in Henan, China, from November 2016 to February 2017. Results indicated that perceived stress mediated the relationship between loneliness and depressive symptoms, and SOC acted as a moderator on this mediating model. The mediation effect of perceived stress was significant only when SOC was lower. The results emphasized the importance of perceived stress in older adults. SOC was a protective factor with regard to depressive symptoms, and improving SOC should be a focus of health promotion with the elderly.

Psychometric Assessment of the Depressive Cognition Scale Among Older Chinese People.

The study aimed to translate the Depressive Cognition Scale (DCS) into Chinese and to test its reliability and validity among Chinese older people. Using a cross-sectional design, a demographic questionnaire and Chinese versions of the Depressive Cognition Scale (DCS-CHI) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) were administered. The sample consisted of 1673 older people who were from communities and hospitals. The Cronbach's alpha (α) of DCS-CHI was 0.91, and the test-retest correlation coefficient was 0.91 (95% CI, 0.86-0.95, p<0.001). The Content Validity Index (CVI) was found to be good. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) resulted in a single factor that explained 58.46% of the total variance and all 8 items had strong factor loadings ranging from 0.62 to 0.83; confirmatory factory analysis (CFA) indicated all measurements of the structural model exceeded the recommended criteria, and the single factor solution of DCS-CHI had a good fit (χ2/df=2.45, GFI=0.99, AGFI=0.97, CFI=0.99, TLI=0.99, RMSEA=0.04, RMR=0.01, PCLOSE=0.79). The strong correlation of 0.81 (p<0.01) between the DCS-CHI and CES-D suggested good concurrent validity. Specifying the CES-D as the criterion, the area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve of the DCS-CHI for the optimal cut-point was 0.941(95%CI:0.919-0.963, p=0.000), the sensitivity and the specificity were 84.7% and 90.7% respectively, suggesting good predictive validity. The findings support the reliability and validity of the DCS-CHI as a measure of depressive cognitions that typically proceed more serious depressive symptoms among Chinese older adults.

Artificial induction of genetic competence in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens isolates.

OBJECTIVES: To induce natural genetic competence in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens isolates through overexpression of the master regulator, ComK, from B. subtilis (ComK Bsu ). RESULTS: Plasmid pUBXC carrying the xylose-inducible comK expression cassette was constructed using plasmid pUB110 as a backbone. Plasmid pUBXC could be transferred from B. subtilis to B. amyloliquefaciens through plasmid pLS20-mediated biparental conjugation. After being induced by xylose, four B. amyloliquefaciens strains harbouring plasmid pUBXC developed genetic competence. Under optimal conditions, the transformation efficiencies of plasmid DNA ranged from 129 ± 20.6 to 1.7 ± 0.1 × 105 cfu (colony-forming units) per µg DNA, and the transformation efficiencies of PCR-assembled deletion constructs ranged from 3.2 ± 0.76 to 3.5 ± 0.42 × 104 cfu per µg DNA in the four tested strains. CONCLUSION: Artificial induction of genetic competence through overexpressing ComK Bsu in B. amyloliquefaciens completed the tasks of replicative plasmid delivery and gene knockout via direct transformation of PCR-generated deletion cassettes.

The mediating role of depression on the relationship between housebound status and cognitive function among the elderly in rural communities: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship among housebound status, depression and cognitive function, and further to study whether depression can take on a mediator among elders in rural communities. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 720 community residents aged ≥60 years from March to May in 2016 in Hebei province, China. We used the Chinese version of Housebound scale, the Rasch-Derived of the Center for Epidemiological studies Depression scale (CES-D-R), and the Minimental State Examination Scale (MMSE) to estimate housebound status, depression, and cognitive function separately. Correlation, multiple linear regression, and structural equation modeling was used to data analyses. RESULTS: 712 completely replied questionnaires were finally used in the data analyses among 720 questionnaires, which indicated that effective response rate was 98.9%. Results indicated that the scores of housebound status were positively correlated with the MMSE scores. Being housebound correlated negatively with MMSE scores. Housebound status and three dimensions of CES-D-R (i.e. negative affect, positive affect, and interpersonal problems) were deemed as significant predictors of cognitive function among rural elders. The effect of housebound status on cognitive function was fully mediated by depression. CONCLUSIONS: Not all subscales of CES-D-R can affect MMSE scores among rural elders. There may be full mediation effects of depression within the impact of housebound status on cognitive function, mainly through negative affect, positive affect and interpersonal problems. It indicates that preventing the elderly from housebound status could relieve the decline of cognitive function by the intermediary role of depression.

Locomotive function and quality of life among older people in Liaoning, China: Falls efficacy as mediator or moderator?

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the role of falls efficacy in the relationship between the locomotive function and quality of life. METHODS: From March to May in 2016, we conducted a cross-sectional survey among 830 community residents aged ≥60 years from Jinzhou,China.GLFS-25 (25-question Geriatric Locomotive Function Scale), FES-I(International edition of Falls Efficacy Scale),and SF-12 (12-item Short Form Health Survey) were used to estimate locomotive function, falls efficacy and quality of life, respectively. The higher score of GLFS-25, the worse the locomotive function. RESULTS: Median age was 68.69 years (ranges 60-88). Locomotive function, falls efficacy and quality of life all presented a linear relationship within each other, locomotive function score was negatively correlated with falls efficacy score (-0.461, P < 0.01). locomotive function score was negatively correlated with quality of life score (-0.523, P < 0.01).Falls efficacy score was positively correlated with quality of life score (0.415, P < 0.01).Falls efficacy exerted both a mediating and moderating role between locomotive function and quality of life, and the mediation effect accounted for 45.5% of the total effect. CONCLUSIONS: Poorer locomotive function was associated with poorer quality of life, and greater falls efficacy was associated with better quality of life. In addition, falls efficacy was demonstrated to be both a mediator and moderator variable in the linkage between locomotive function and quality of life. Aged care professional practitioners and our policy makers should strengthen the awareness of the psychological role of the elderly falls efficacy.