Functional fitness and psychological well-being in older adults.

Background: Physical fitness and functioning are related to better mental health in older age. However, which fitness components (body composition, strength, flexibility, coordination, and endurance) are more closely related to psychological well-being (PWB) is unclear.

Methods: This research examined how body mass index (BMI) and six indices of functional fitness (i.

New findings of terrestrial arthropods from the Azorean Islands.

The knowledge on taxonomic diversity of arthropods is key to better understanding the biodiversity patterns and processes and guiding sustainable conservation strategies and practices. In the Azores, terrestrial arthropods are relatively well-inventoried following the publication of comprehensive checklists that have been regularly updated. Nevertheless, every year, new species are found as a result of new arrivals to the Archipelago and from addressing specific taxonomic lacunae.

No sex-dependent mortality in an amphibian upon infection with the chytrid fungus, .

One of the major factors driving the currently ongoing biodiversity crisis is the anthropogenic spread of infectious diseases. Diseases can have conspicuous consequences, such as mass mortality events, but may also exert covert but similarly severe effects, such as sex ratio distortion via sex-biased mortality. Chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungal pathogen (Bd) is among the most important threats to amphibian biodiversity.

From darkness to twilight: Morphological divergence between cave and surface-subterranean ecotone species.

Subterranean and surface habitats are in stark contrast in several environmental factors. Therefore, adaptation to the subterranean environment typically impedes the (re)colonisation of surface habitats. The genus includes amphipod crustaceans that primarily occupy subterranean habitats.

Sports and exercise-related smartphone use is antagonistic to hedonic use in regular exercisers: A cross-sectional study examining the roles of exercise frequency and duration.

Background: Hedonic smartphone use has been associated with dependence and addiction studied under the umbrella term Problematic Smartphone Use (PSU). Research usually explores total screen time as an index of PSU. A few studies suggest that exercise is inversely related to smartphone use time.

Food density drives diet shift of the invasive mysid shrimp, .

Understanding the diet preferences and food selection of invasive species is crucial to better predict their impact on community structure and ecosystem functioning. , a Ponto-Caspian invasive mysid shrimp, is one of the most successful invaders in numerous European river and lake ecosystems. While existing studies suggest potentially strong trophic impact due to high predation pressure on native plankton communities, little is known of its food selectivity between phyto- and zooplankton, under different food concentrations.

The estimation of additive genetic variance of body size in a wild passerine is sensitive to the method used to estimate relatedness among the individuals.

Assessing additive genetic variance is a crucial step in predicting the evolutionary response of a target trait. However, the estimated genetic variance may be sensitive to the methodology used, e.g.

Light dependent differentiation of outdoors developed purple eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) pericarp layers: Leaf chlorenchyma characteristics of the pericarp layers dissected in the dark.

To interpret the final steps of chlorophyll biosynthesis, detailed knowledge of etiolation symptoms is necessary. Most of our knowledge originates from studies on plant materials grown in complete darkness. Hardly any information is available about the plastid development in internal parenchyma cells of fleshy fruits in which the food supply is almost unlimited.

Broadly sympatric occurrence of two thief ant species (Latreille, 1798) and (Arakelian, 1991) in the East European Pontic-Caspian region (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) is disclosed.

This paper presents numeric morphology-based evidence on the broadly overlapping distribution of two thief ant species (Latreille, 1798) and (Arakelian, 1991) in the East European Pontic-Caspian region. The paper integrates two autonomous data collections and independent analyses performed by different researchers, using different equipment, considering different character combinations, and evaluating partially different samples. Five type series, the neotype series of (Latreille 1798) and the type series of (Nylander, 1849), S.

Comment on "Human-directed attachment behaviour in wolves suggests standing ancestral variation for human-dog attachment bonds".

In their recent paper, Hansen Wheat et al. (, 2022, , e9299) claimed that hand raised 23-week-old wolves showed the same attachment behaviour towards their handler in the Strange Situation Test (SST) (, 1969, , 111) as dogs. At first glance, their results seem to contradict previous findings that domestication caused a unique change in social-affiliative behaviours in dogs (, 2005, , 1367).

Designing multi-target-directed flavonoids: a strategic approach to Alzheimer's disease.

The underlying causes of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remain a mystery, with multiple pathological components, including oxidative stress, acetylcholinesterase, amyloid-β, and metal ions, all playing a role. Here we report a strategic approach to designing flavonoids that can effectively tackle multiple pathological elements involved in AD. Our systematic investigations revealed key structural features for flavonoids to simultaneously target and regulate pathogenic targets.

Physical Activity and Psychological Resilience in Older Adults: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Older adults face numerous unfavorable functional changes caused by aging, but many exhibit resilience, which helps them cope with challenges. Physical activity is positively associated with resilience. Therefore, this systematic literature review aimed to uncover the relationships between physical activity and resilience in older adults.

Genomic analysis reveals complex population structure within the smooth newt, , in Central Europe.

Species with wide-range distributions usually display high genetic variation. This variation can be partly explained by historical lineages that were temporally isolated from each other and are back into secondary reproductive contact, and partly by local adaptations. The smooth newt () is one of the most widely distributed amphibians species across Eurasia and forms a species complex with a partially overlapping distribution and morphology.

East-facing has maximal number and mass of kernel-filled seeds: Seed traits versus head orientation.

After anthesis, the majority of mature sunflower () inflorescences face constantly East, which direction ensures maximal light energy absorbed by the inflorescences in regions where afternoons are on average cloudier than mornings. Several theories have tried to explain the function(s) of this eastward orientation. Their common assumption is that eastward facing has certain advantages for sunflowers.

Optimal prey for red fox cubs-An example of dual optimizing foraging strategy in foxes from a dynamic wetland habitat.

The red fox () is the most abundant mesopredator in the Central European region. Detailed knowledge about their feeding behavior is important both from ecological and wildlife management reasons. Food choices of foxes are poorly predictable in high-biodiversity marshlands.

William Stern: The Relevance of His Program of 'Differential Psychology' for Contemporary Intelligence Measurement and Research.

William Stern is mostly renowned for inventing the IQ formula. However, he is also the originator of the term 'differential psychology' itself. His program of differential psychology synthesized population-based correlational studies as well as idiosyncratic approaches focusing on unique profiles of individuals.

Comparing ant morphology measurements from microscope and online AntWeb.org 2D z-stacked images.

Unprecedented technological advances in digitization and the steadily expanding open-access digital repositories are yielding new opportunities to quickly and efficiently measure morphological traits without transportation and advanced/expensive microscope machinery. A prime example is the AntWeb.org database, which allows researchers from all over the world to study taxonomic, ecological, or evolutionary questions on the same ant specimens with ease.

Quality of life in parents of autistic children: A transcultural perspective.

Introduction: The concepts of health, illness, and disability as well as the perceptions of autism and quality of life (QoL) vary greatly across cultures and across time. This study sought to explore the interplay of culture on QoL and impact on parents caring for autistic children.

Methods: We used a transcultural dataset from seven countries (Australia, Hungary, Malaysia, Romania, Singapore, Spain, and the United Kingdom) with participating parents/carers reporting on the Quality of Life in Autism (QoLA) questionnaire.

Removal and identification of external protein corona members from RBC-derived extracellular vesicles by surface manipulating antimicrobial peptides.

In the last years, extracellular vesicles (EVs), secreted by various cells and body fluids have shown extreme potential in biomedical applications. Increasing number of studies suggest that a protein corona could adhere to the surface of EVs which can have a fundamental effect on their function, targeting and therapeutical efficacy. However, removing and identifying these corona members is currently a challenging task to achieve.

Formerly considered rare, the ant species (Mayr, 1855) can be commonly detected using citizen-science tools.

Citizen science is a valuable tool for monitoring different species, especially in cases concerning truly rare and difficult-to-detect species where time-consuming field studies are limited and long-term research projects are uncertain. To better understand the distribution of the rarely collected (Mayr, 1855) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in Hungary, we obtained the occurrence data with photos uploaded by non-professionals to the page of the largest Hungarian Facebook group dealing with ants and a citizen-science website dealing with biological data collection. In this article, we expand the known distribution of to include 46 new records from Hungary and one from Serbia.

Bright, but allergic and neurotic? A critical investigation of the "overexcitable genius" hypothesis.

Introduction: Higher intelligence has been associated with improved health and longevity. However, recent findings have claimed that exceptional intelligence may come at a cost. Individuals at the upmost end of the intelligence distribution are reported to be disproportionately afflicted by a set of stress-related physical and mental health conditions: so-called .

A carbapenem antibiotic inhibiting a mammalian serine protease: structure of the acylaminoacyl peptidase-meropenem complex.

The structure of porcine AAP (pAAP) in a covalently bound complex with meropenem was determined by cryo-EM to 2.1 Å resolution, showing the mammalian serine-protease inhibited by a carbapenem antibiotic. AAP is a modulator of the ubiquitin-proteasome degradation system and the site of a drug-drug interaction between the widely used antipsychotic, valproate and carbapenems.

Is There a "Gifted Personality"? Initial Evidence for Differences between MENSA and General Population Members in the HEXACO Personality Inventory.

Contrary to the common notion that personality and intelligence are unrelated constructs, numerous correlational studies have demonstrated substantial associations between the two domains. Moreover, samples of intellectually gifted individuals have been found to differ from the general population in specific aspects of their personalities. However, most studies so far have relied on the Five-Factor Model of Personality (FFM), while none have investigated this phenomenon using the HEXACO personality framework.

Scale-free and oscillatory spectral measures of sleep stages in humans.

Power spectra of sleep electroencephalograms (EEG) comprise two main components: a decaying power-law corresponding to the aperiodic neural background activity, and spectral peaks present due to neural oscillations. "Traditional" band-based spectral methods ignore this fundamental structure of the EEG spectra and thus are susceptible to misrepresenting the underlying phenomena. A fitting method that attempts to separate and parameterize the aperiodic and periodic spectral components called "fitting oscillations and one over f" (FOOOF) was applied to a set of annotated whole-night sleep EEG recordings of 251 subjects from a wide age range (4-69 years).

Cryo-EM structure of acylpeptide hydrolase reveals substrate selection by multimerization and a multi-state serine-protease triad.

The first structure of tetrameric mammalian acylaminoacyl peptidase, an enzyme that functions as an upstream regulator of the proteasome through the removal of terminal -acetylated residues from its protein substrates, was determined by cryo-EM and further elucidated by MD simulations. Self-association results in a toroid-shaped quaternary structure, guided by an amyloidogenic β-edge and unique inserts. With a Pro introduced into its central β-sheet, sufficient conformational freedom is awarded to the segment containing the catalytic Ser587 that the serine protease catalytic triad alternates between active and latent states.