The associations among emotional factors, personality traits, and addiction-like eating: A study on university students in six Asian countries/regions.

Objective: Addiction-like eating (AE) is characterized by food cravings and loss of control over excessive food consumption. This study investigated the associations among emotional factors, personality traits, and AE symptoms in Asian young adults.

Method: This study included 6,823 Asian university students in South Korea, China, Singapore, Hong Kong/Macao, Japan, and Taiwan.

Nurse-patient interaction and self-transcendence: assets for a meaningful life in nursing home residents?

Background: Due to the shift to an older population worldwide and an increased need for 24-h care, finding new and alternative approaches to increase wellbeing among nursing home (NH) residents is highly warranted. To guide clinical practice in boosting wellbeing among NH residents, knowledge about nurse-patient interaction (NPI), inter- (ST1) and intra-personal (ST2) self-transcendence and meaning-in-life (PIL) seems vital. This study tests six hypotheses of the relationships between NPI, ST1, ST2 and PIL among cognitively intact NH residents.

Arginine-Enriched Mixed-Charge Domains Provide Cohesion for Nuclear Speckle Condensation.

Low-complexity protein domains promote the formation of various biomolecular condensates. However, in many cases, the precise sequence features governing condensate formation and identity remain unclear. Here, we investigate the role of intrinsically disordered mixed-charge domains (MCDs) in nuclear speckle condensation.

How Should Global Tobacco Control Efforts Be Prioritized to Protect Children in Resource-Poor Regions?

The tobacco industry's aggressive marketing of tobacco products and electronic (e-)cigarettes is well documented. Yet existing restrictions on tobacco and e-cigarette marketing are poorly implemented in most low- and middle-income countries. Ongoing challenges include weak implementation and enforcement of some aspects of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and a lack of consensus among health professionals on how to address the tobacco industry's health claims related to e-cigarettes and other novel tobacco products.

Can Exposure to Certain Urban Green Spaces Trigger Frontal Alpha Asymmetry in the Brain?-Preliminary Findings from a Passive Task EEG Study.

A growing body of evidence from observational and experimental studies shows the associations between exposure to urban green spaces (UGSs) and mental health outcomes. Little is known about which specific features of UGS that might be the most beneficial. In addition, there is potential in utilizing objective physiological markers of mental health, such as assessing brain activity, but the subject requires further investigation.

Associations of body dissatisfaction with anxiety and depression in the pregnancy and postpartum periods: A longitudinal study.

Background: Pregnancy is a time of increasing vulnerability to the development of body dissatisfaction, anxiety, and depression. The present study aims to examine associations of body dissatisfaction with anxiety and depression at the following points: 6 months before pregnancy (retrospective report); in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy; and up to 6 weeks postpartum.

Methods: A prospective longitudinal design with a quantitative approach was adopted.

Dispersion characterization of magnetic actuated needleless injections with particle image velocimetry.

Conventional needle-based approaches in intravitreal drug delivery carry needle-stick-injury risk and could scare patients (belonephobia). Alternatively, our group has explored the application of an electromagnetic needleless injector in this paper. This work aims to improve intravitreal drug delivery, which in the future could assist physicians with automation and benefit patients by providing a needleless approach.

Course, risk factors, and adverse outcomes of disordered eating in pregnancy.

Objective: Although eating disorders in pregnancy have been studied extensively, little research attention has been given to disordered eating. The objectives of the present study were to determine the prevalence and levels of disordered eating in the perinatal period, and to identify risk factors and adverse outcomes of disordered eating during pregnancy.

Method: A prospective longitudinal design with a quantitative approach was adopted.

Working with a Severe Mental Illness: Estimating the Causal Effects of Employment on Mental Health Status and Total Mental Health Costs.

Employment is an important goal for persons who have a severe mental illness (SMI). The current literature finds some evidence for a positive relationship between employment and measures of mental health (MH) status, however study design issues have prevented a causal interpretation. This study aims to measure the causal effect of employment on MH status and total MH costs for persons with SMI.

Antibiotic elution and mechanical property of TiO nanotubes functionalized PMMA-based bone cements.

To overcome the disadvantage of current antibiotic bone cements with low drug elution efficiency, the hollow nanostructured titanium-dioxide (TiO) nanotubes (TNTs) were formulated with antibiotic loaded bone cement to create nano diffusion networks, enabling enhanced release of antibiotic. By incorporation of TNTs into Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) based bone cement, more than 50% of loaded antibiotic (such as gentamicin or vancomycin) could be released in two months. As comparison, only about 5% of total drug release was achieved in the absence of TNTs.

Relative risks of Internet-related addictions and mood disturbances among college students: a 7-country/region comparison.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the relative risks of addiction to the Internet, online gaming and online social networking of college students in six Asian countries/regions (Singapore, Hong Kong [HK]/Macau, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan) compared with students in the United States (US). It also explored the relative risks of depression and anxiety symptoms among students with Internet-related addictions from these countries/regions.

Study Design: This is a cross-sectional survey.

Associations of paternal postpartum depressive symptoms and infant development in a Chinese longitudinal study.

Although fathers actively provide infant care and support to their partners in modern societies, data on fathers' difficulties and mental health problems is still limited. This study examined paternal postpartum depression and its adverse impact on infants, and the possible mediating role of father-infant attachment in the link between fathers' depressive symptoms and infants' outcomes. Pregnant women and their partners were recruited from the antenatal clinics of two public hospitals in Hong Kong.

Evolutionary novelty in gravity sensing through horizontal gene transfer and high-order protein assembly.

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) can promote evolutionary adaptation by transforming a species' relationship to the environment. In most well-understood cases of HGT, acquired and donor functions appear to remain closely related. Thus, the degree to which HGT can lead to evolutionary novelties remains unclear.

Exogenous mineralization of hard tissues using photo-absorptive minerals and femto-second lasers; the case of dental enamel.

Unlabelled: A radical new methodology for the exogenous mineralization of hard tissues is demonstrated in the context of laser-biomaterials interaction. The proposed approach is based on the use of femtosecond pulsed lasers (fs) and Fe-doped calcium phosphate minerals (specifically in this work fluorapatite powder containing FeO nanoparticles (NP)). A layer of the synthetic powder is applied to the surface of eroded bovine enamel and is irradiated with a fs laser (1040 nm wavelength, 1 GHz repetition rate, 150 fs pulse duration and 0.

Addiction to Internet Use, Online Gaming, and Online Social Networking Among Young Adults in China, Singapore, and the United States.

The current study investigated the rates of addictions to Internet use, online gaming, and online social networking as well as their associations with depressive symptoms among young adults in China, Singapore, and the United States. A total of 3267 undergraduate students were recruited. Psychological instruments were used to assess various Internet-related addictions and depressive symptoms.

Association and clinical utility of NAT2 in the prediction of isoniazid-induced liver injury in Singaporean patients.

Background And Aims: Isoniazid (INH) is part of the first-line-therapy for tuberculosis (TB) but can cause drug-induced liver injury (DILI). Several candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been previously identified but the clinical utility of these SNPs in the prediction of INH-DILI remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to assess the association between selected candidate SNPs and the risk of INH-DILI and to assess the clinical validity of associated variants in a Singaporean population.

Investigation of ozonation kinetics and transformation products of sucralose.

Sucralose is one of widely used artificial sweeteners, which has been ubiquitously detected in various water sources, such as wastewater and randomly in reservoir water. It is also reported to be persistent to various water treatment techniques. Although there are some studies on removal of sucralose by advanced oxidation process, limited information, in terms of reaction kinetics, transformation products and degradation pathway etc.

Online social networking addiction among college students in Singapore: Comorbidity with behavioral addiction and affective disorder.

Purpose Of The Research: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of addiction to social networking sites/platforms (SNS) and its comorbidity with other behavioral addiction and affective disorder among college students in Singapore. 1110 college students (age: M=21.46, SD=1.

Innovation and constraint leading to complex multicellularity in the Ascomycota.

The advent of complex multicellularity (CM) was a pivotal event in the evolution of animals, plants and fungi. In the fungal Ascomycota, CM is based on hyphal filaments and arose in the Pezizomycotina. The genus Neolecta defines an enigma: phylogenetically placed in a related group containing mostly yeasts, Neolecta nevertheless possesses Pezizomycotina-like CM.

Disease-modifying effect of intravenous immunoglobulin in an experimental model of epilepsy.

Novel therapies that prevent or modify the development of epilepsy following an initiating brain insult could significantly reduce the burden of this disease. In light of evidence that immune mechanisms play an important role in generating and maintaining the epileptic condition, we evaluated the effect of a well-established immunomodulatory treatment, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), on the development of epilepsy in an experimental model of epileptogenesis. In separate experiments, IVIg was administered either before (pre-treatment) or after (post-treatment) the onset of pilocarpine status epilepticus (SE).

Targeting Treatments to Improve Cognitive Function in Mood Disorder: Suggestions From Trials Using Erythropoietin.

Objective: There is no established efficacious treatment for cognitive dysfunction in unipolar and bipolar disorder. This may be partially due to lack of consensus regarding the need to screen for cognitive impairment in cognition trials or which screening criteria to use. We have demonstrated in 2 randomized placebo-controlled trials that 8 weeks of erythropoietin (EPO) treatment has beneficial effects on verbal memory across unipolar and bipolar disorder, with 58% of EPO-treated patients displaying a clinically relevant memory improvement as compared to 15% of those treated with placebo.

Neuromimetic Event-Based Detection for Closed-Loop Tactile Feedback Control of Upper Limb Prostheses.

Upper limb amputees lack the valuable tactile sensing that helps provide context about the surrounding environment. Here we utilize tactile information to provide active touch feedback to a prosthetic hand. First, we developed fingertip tactile sensors for producing biomimetic spiking responses for monitoring contact, release, and slip of an object grasped by a prosthetic hand.