The association between team cohesion and performance: A network analysis of nurses.

Team cohesion, as a necessary condition for the cooperation and development of a team, has been shown to have a strong association with team performance. However, the mechanism of this internal correlation is unclear and more in-depth studies are lacking. The study aimed to explore the complex links between the dimensions of team cohesion and performance in nurses. A total of 1639 practice nurses from 118 nursing teams were included in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected using the Team Cohesion Scale (including consistency of affection, behavior, and cognition) and the Team Effectiveness Scale (including cooperation satisfaction, and task performance). Using network analysis, the team cohesion and performance network was constructed, and the strength and bridge strength of nodes were calculated. The results showed that the edges between team cohesion and performance dimensions were all positively correlated. Cooperation satisfaction and consistency of affection are the core variables in the network. Interventions targeting cooperation satisfaction and consistency of affection need to be developed at the team level to maximize team cohesion and performance among nurses.

Longitudinal relationship between social participation, depressive symptoms, and activity impairment among older patients with arthritis: a moderated mediation analysis.

BACKGROUND: Arthritis primarily affects older people and is a prominent cause of their activity impairment. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of depressive symptoms in the relationship between social participation and activity impairment, as well as to determine whether sex moderated the mediating effect. METHODS: A total of 2247 older patients with arthritis were included from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study between 2015 and 2018. We first examined a simple mediation model where depressive symptoms were a mediator between social participation and activity impairment. Furthermore, sex was systematically integrated into the model as a moderator. The mediation model and moderated mediation model were analyzed using PROCESS macro. RESULTS: Mediation analysis revealed that the association between social participation and activity impairment was partially mediated by depressive symptoms (B = -0.10, 95% CI = [-0.14, -0.06]) with intermediary effect of 28.6%. Moderated mediation analysis indicated that mediation model was moderated by sex. The indirect effect of social participation on activity impairment among female patients (B = -0.15, 95% CI = [-0.21, -0.09]) was stronger than male patients (B = -0.04, 95% CI = [-0.09, -0.01]). CONCLUSION: Social participation was the key protective factor associated with depressive symptoms and activity impairment among arthritis patients. Encouraging arthritis patients to social participation and improving the depressive symptoms might avoid activity impairment, especially for female patients.

A Cloned Gene HuBADH from Hylocereus undatus Enhanced Salt Stress Tolerance in Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana Plants.

BACKGROUND: Betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH) catalyzes the synthesis of glycine betaine and is considered to be a type of osmoregulator, so it can play a role in plants' responses to abiotic stresses. METHODS: In this study, a novel HuBADH gene from Hylocereus undatus (pitaya) was cloned, identified, and sequenced. The full-length cDNA included a 1512 bp open reading frame that encoded a 54.17 kDa protein consisting of 503 amino acids. Four oxidation-related stress-responsive marker genes (FSD1, CSD1, CAT1, and APX2) were analyzed by Quantitative real-time reverse transcription (qRT-PCR) in wild type (WT) and transgenic A. thaiana overexpression lines under NaCl stress. RESULTS: HuBADH showed high homology (79-92%) with BADH of several plants. The HuBADH gene was genetically transformed into Arabidopsis thaliana and overexpressed in transgenic lines, which accumulated less reactive oxygen species than WT plants, and had higher activities of antioxidant enzymes under NaCl stress (i.e., 300 mM). All four marker genes were significantly upregulated in WT and HuBADH-overexpressing transgenic A. thaliana plants under salt stress. Glycine betaine (GB) content was 32-36% higher in transgenic A. thaliana lines than in WT in the control (70-80% in NaCl stress). CONCLUSIONS: Our research indicates that HuBADH in pitaya plays a positive modulatory role when plants are under salt stress.