Mental health awareness of secondary schools students: Mediating roles of knowledge on mental health, knowledge on professional help, and attitude towards mental health.

Purpose: The mental health situation among adolescents in Malaysia has reached a worrying state with the rising number of cases. Despite a significant increase in the literature on mental health, there is a lack of studies that focused on mental health awareness. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the factors affecting Malaysian youth's mental health awareness as well as the mediating roles of knowledge on mental health, knowledge on professional help, and attitude towards mental health. Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 450 secondary school students aged 15-19 years old in Kuala Lumpur and Melaka who were recruited via purposive sampling. Data analysis was performed using SPSS and SmartPLS to obtain the descriptive analysis, measurement model, and structural model. Results: The results indicated that mental health awareness was influenced by knowledge on mental health and attitude towards mental health. The findings also revealed that familiarity and media exposure were important determinants of knowledge on mental health, knowledge on professional help, and attitude towards mental health. Moreover, the results indicated that knowledge on mental health positively mediated the relationship between media exposure and mental health awareness. Besides, attitude towards mental health also found to play mediating roles between familiarity and mental health awareness, as well as between media exposure and mental health awareness. Conclusion: This study contributed important knowledge to the limited literature in this contemporary domain. An effective public mental health campaign is needed to reduce the burden of disease and the cost of mental illness.

XA27 depends on an amino-terminal signal-anchor-like sequence to localize to the apoplast for resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae.

The rice (Oryza sativa) gene Xa27 confers resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae, the causal agent of bacterial blight disease in rice. Sequence analysis of the deduced XA27 protein provides little or no clue to its mode of action, except that a signal-anchor-like sequence is predicted at the amino (N)-terminal region of XA27. As part of an effort to characterize the biochemical function of XA27, we decided to determine its subcellular localization. Initial studies showed that a functional XA27-green fluorescent protein fusion protein accumulated in vascular elements, the host sites where the bacterial blight pathogens multiply. The localization of XA27-green fluorescent protein to the apoplast was verified by detection of the protein on cell walls of leaf sheath and root cells after plasmolysis. Similarly, XA27-FLAG localizes to xylem vessels and cell walls of xylem parenchyma cells, revealed by immunogold electron microscopy. XA27-FLAG could be secreted from electron-dense vesicles in cytoplasm to the apoplast via exocytosis. The signal-anchor-like sequence has an N-terminal positively charged region including a triple arginine motif followed by a hydrophobic region. Deletion of the hydrophobic region or substitution of the triple arginine motif with glycine or lysine residues abolished the localization of the mutated proteins to the cell wall and impaired the plant's resistance to X. oryzae pv oryzae. These results indicate that XA27 depends on the N-terminal signal-anchor-like sequence to localize to the apoplast and that this localization is important for resistance to X. oryzae pv oryzae.

Progression of cognitive impairment after stroke: one year results from a longitudinal study of Singaporean stroke patients.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Vascular dementia accounts for 40-50% of dementia cases in Singapore. The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence and natural history of cognitive impairment in a cohort of Singaporean post-stroke patients. METHODS: The Vascular Dementia Battery (VDB) was offered to 252 patients with a transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or non-disabling ischaemic stroke at baseline (within 6 months post index stroke) and annually thereafter. The VDB assesses six cognitive domains: attention, language, verbal memory (recall and recognition), visual memory (recall and recognition), visuoconstruction and visuomotor speed. Dementia was diagnosed using the DSM-IV criteria. Patients who did not meet the DSM-IV criteria but were impaired in one or more cognitive domains were classified as 'cognitively impaired but not demented'. Those who were unimpaired in all cognitive domains were classified as 'cognitively intact'. RESULTS: At baseline, 56% of patients were 'cognitively intact', 40% were 'cognitively impaired but not demented' and 4% were 'demented'. At 1-year follow-up, 33% patients had a changed classification from baseline. While 31% of those who were 'cognitively impaired but not demented' at baseline improved to 'cognitively intact', 10% of the 'cognitively intact' group deteriorated to 'cognitively impaired but not demented' and 11% deteriorated from 'cognitively impaired but not demented' to 'demented'. Cognitive performance at baseline predicted for deterioration. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the long-term cognitive performance in stroke patients change over time. Further studies are required to identify risk factors and effective treatment for cognitive deterioration after stroke.