Associations between anxiety, depression, and personal mastery in community-dwelling older adults: a network-based analysis.

BACKGROUND: In China, about 18.70% of the population aged 60 years and older are at risk of low personal mastery as well as anxiety and depression for a variety of reasons. The purpose of this study was to construct a symptom network model of the relationship between anxiety, depression, and personal mastery in community-dwelling older adults and to identify central and bridge symptoms in this network. METHODS: Depression, anxiety, and personal mastery were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and Personal Mastery Scale (PMS), respectively. A total of 501 older adults in 16 communities in Changzhou and Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China, were surveyed by using a combination of stratified sampling and convenience sampling methods. The R language was used to construct the network. RESULTS: (1) The network structure of anxiety-depression-personal mastery was stable, with "Nervousness" (node GAD1, strength = 1.38), "Sad mood" (node PHQ2, strength = 1.22), " Inability to change" (node PMS2, strength = 1.01) and "Involuntarily" (node PMS3, strength = 0.95) as the central symptoms. (2) "Irritability" (node GAD6, bridge strength = 0.743), "Sad mood" (node PHQ2, bridge strength = 0.655), and "Trouble relaxing" (node GAD4, bridge strength = 0.550) were the bridge symptoms connecting anxiety, depressive symptoms, and personal mastery. (3) In the network comparison test (NCT), residence, somatic chronic comorbidity and gender had no significant effect on network structure. CONCLUSIONS: The construction of the anxiety-depression-personal mastery network structure opens up new possibilities for mechanisms of action and intervention formulation for psychological disorders in community-dwelling older adults. The identification of central symptoms (e.g., nervousness, sad mood, inability to change, involuntarily) and bridge symptoms (e.g., irritability, sad mood, trouble relaxing) in community-dwelling older adults with anxiety, depression, and low sense of mastery can provide a scientific basis for the development of precise interventions.

Core and bridge symptoms of demoralization in Chinese female cancer patients: a network analysis.

Objective: In this study, we explore the core and bridge symptoms of demoralization in female cancer patients in China, and provide a basis for precise psychological intervention among female cancer patients. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional survey. Participants were recruited from three third-class hospitals in Jiangsu Province from June 2022 to June 2023 using the convenience sampling method. The severity of each symptom of demoralization was investigated in female cancer patients using the Demoralization Scale (DS). Network analysis was performed using the R language to identify core and bridge symptoms in the network and further explore some characteristic edge connections in the network. Results: The network structure model of demoralization had strong accuracy and stability. In the network, the symptoms with the highest strength centrality were "Discouragement" (C3, strength=2.19), "No self-worth" (A3, strength=1.21), "Don't want to live" (A5, strength=1.20), "Hopeless" (D4, strength=0.81), and "Vulnerability" (B3, strength=0.74), respectively. The bridge strength analysis identified "Hopeless" (D4, bridge strength=0.92), "Discouragement" (C3, bridge strength=0.85), "No self-worth" (A3, bridge strength=0.75), "Poor spirits" (E2, bridge strength=0.71), and "Vulnerability" (B3, bridge strength=0.69) as the bridge symptoms. The strongest edge connections of all dimensions were "No self-worth" and "Worthless" (A3-E6, edge weighting=0.27), "Poor spirits" and "Loss of emotional control" (E2-D1, edge weighting=0.22), "Discouragement" and "Vulnerability" (C3-B3, edge weighting=0.14), and "Hopeless" and "No meaning of survival" (D4-A4, edge weighting=0.12). Conclusion: "Discouragement (C3)", "No self-worth (A3)", "Hopeless (D4)", and "Vulnerability (B3)" are both core symptoms and bridge symptoms. These symptoms can not only trigger a patient's demoralization but also stimulate more severe symptom clusters through interactions. The early recognition of and intervention regarding these symptoms could be important for the prevention and treatment of demoralization among female cancer patients.

New insights into inhibition of high Fe(III) content on anaerobic digestion of waste-activated sludge.

The impacts of the increased iron in the waste-activated sludge (WAS) on its anaerobic digestion were investigated. It was found that low Fe(III) content (< 750 mg/L) promoted WAS anaerobic digestion, while the continual increase of Fe(III) inhibited CH4 production and total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) removal. As the Fe(III) content increased to 1470 mg/L, methane production has been slightly inhibited about 5 % compared with the group containing 35 mg/L Fe(III). Particularly, as Fe(III) concentration was up to 2900 mg/L, CH4 production, and TCOD removal decreased by 43.6 % and 37.5 %, respectively, compared with the group with 35 mg/L Fe(III). Furthermore, the percentage of CO2 of the group with 2900 mg/L Fe(III) decreased by 52.8 % compared with the group containing 35 mg/L Fe(III). It indicated that Fe(II) generated by the dissimilatory iron reduction might cause CO2 consumption, which was confirmed by X-ray diffraction that siderite (FeCO3) was generated in the group with 2900 mg/L Fe(III). Further study revealed that Fe(III) promoted the WAS solubilization and hydrolysis, but inhibited acidification and methane production. The methanogenesis test with H2/CO2 as a substrate showed that CO2 consumption weakened hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis and then increased H2 partial pressure, further causing VFA accumulation. Microbial community analysis indicated that the abundance of hydrogen-utilizing methanogens decreased with the high Fe(III) content. Our study suggested that the increase of Fe(III) in sludge might inhibit methanogenesis by consuming or precipitating CO2. To achieve maximum bioenergy conversion, the iron content should be controlled to lower than 750 mg/L. The study may provide new insights into the mechanistic understanding of the inhibition of high Fe(III) content on the anaerobic digestion of WAS.

Diagnosis Method of Decay-like Composite Insulators in a High-Humidity Environment Based on Characteristic Coefficient of Temperature Rise Gradient.

At present, the temperature rise in insulators is observed using infrared thermometry as a common method of diagnosing decay-like insulators. However, the original characteristic data obtained by infrared thermometry cannot effectively distinguish some of the decay-like insulators from those with ageing sheaths. Therefore, it is imperative to find a new diagnostic characteristic quantity. Based on statistical data, this article first explains that existing diagnostic methods have limited diagnostic effectiveness and a high false detection rate for insulators in a slightly heated state. A full-scale temperature rise test is carried out on a batch of composite insulators returned from the field under high-humidity conditions. Two different defective insulators with similar temperature rise profiles are identified, and an electro-thermal coupling simulation model is developed based on the dielectric characteristic parameters of the above insulators for both core rod defects and sheath ageing. A new infrared diagnostic feature, the temperature rise gradient coefficient, is then obtained to identify the source of abnormal heat in insulators using statistical analysis of an infrared image gallery of abnormally hot composite insulators obtained from field inspections and laboratory tests.

Synthesis of lactose lauryl ester in organic solvents using aluminosilicate zeolite as a catalyst.

Sugar-based biosurfactants are safer and healthier alternatives to synthetic surfactants especially for use in the food industry. In this work, biosurfactants were synthesized via the esterification of lactose with lauric acid in different organic solvents without using lipase or other enzymes. Commercial aluminosilicate zeolite was used as a catalyst. Conversions of up to 92% were obtained for pure lactose and 38% for raw lactose from whey. Surface-active properties including surface tension, interfacial tension, and contact angle were measured. All samples showed surface tensions lower than sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS (19.59-36.57 mN/m compared to 38.8 mN/m for SDS) and interfacial tensions comparable with it (9.47-12.18 mN/m compared to 4.77 mN/m for SDS). Results showed that aluminosilicate zeolites can be used for the synthesis of lactose esters, which have potential applications as biosurfactants for the food industry featuring low surface and interfacial tensions.

Synthesis and characterization of lactose fatty acid ester biosurfactants using free and immobilized lipases in organic solvents.

In this work, lactose fatty acid esters were enzymatically synthesized from fatty acids and lactose using Candida antarctica B lipase (CALB) in organic solvents. Products were purified using a solvent extraction method and analyzed using ATR-FTIR and surface-active properties measurements. Results showed that hexanes and acetonitrile provide the highest conversions for both free and immobilized lipases, up to 77% and 93% respectively. The conversion rate of esterification is solvent-dependent for free lipase; the conversion rate of immobilized lipase still shows solvent dependency, but to a lesser degree. Surface tension, interfacial tension, critical micelle concentration (CMC), and contact angles were also measured for all of the samples, showing the potentials of these sugar esters as naturally derived surfactants for the food industry.