The mediating role of psychological capital on the relationship between perceived stress and self-directed learning ability in nursing students.

BACKGROUND: As indispensable reserves for the nursing workforce, undergraduate nursing students must possess self-directed learning abilities to consistently update their professional knowledge and adapt to the evolving demands of professional development. The acquisition of self-directed learning abilities can help undergraduate nursing students augment their theoretical knowledge and refine their clinical practice skills, thus fulfilling the demand from patients for high-quality nursing services. Hence, comprehending and investigating the factors that influence the development of self-directed learning abilities in nursing students is of paramount importance for nursing education and advancement of the nursing profession. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the status of and associations between perceived stress, psychological capital, and self-directed learning abilities among undergraduate nursing students. Additionally, it examines the mediating role of psychological capital in the relationship between perceived stress and self-directed learning abilities. Thus, aiming to provide nursing educators with new directions for enhancing self-directed learning abilities. DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive study. METHODS: In February and March 2023, 900 undergraduate nursing students from 10 nursing schools completed an online questionnaire. The questionnaire included measures of perceived stress, psychological capital, and self-directed learning ability. Data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 and the PROCESS macro tool. RESULTS: The scores for perceived stress, psychological capital, and self-directed learning ability among undergraduate nursing students were 40.07 ± 5.90, 99.89 ± 16.59, and 87.12 ± 9.20, respectively. Self-directed learning abilities were negatively correlated with perceived stress (r = -0.415, p < 0.001) and positively correlated with psychological capital (r = 0.465, p < 0.001). Perceived stress was negatively correlated with psychological capital (r = -0.630, p < 0.001). Psychological capital partially mediated the relationship between perceived stress and self-directed learning abilities among undergraduate nursing students, with a mediation effect of -0.166, accounting for 49.55% of the total effect. CONCLUSION: This study found that undergraduate nursing students perceived high levels of stress, possessed low levels of psychological capital, and had moderate levels of self-directed learning. Perceived stress and psychological capital directly influenced undergraduate nursing students' self-directed learning abilities, and perceived stress indirectly affected self-directed learning abilities through psychological capital. Nursing managers and educators should alleviate the perceived stress of undergraduate nursing students and cultivate their positive psychological capital to enhance self-directed learning abilities.

Category representation in primary visual cortex after visual perceptual learning.

The visual perceptual learning (VPL) leads to long-term enhancement of visual task performance. The subjects are often trained to link different visual stimuli to several options, such as the widely used two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) task, which involves an implicit categorical decision. The enhancement of performance has been related to the specific changes of neural activities, but few studies investigate the effects of categorical responding on the changes of neural activities. Here we investigated whether the neural activities would exhibit the categorical characteristics if the subjects are requested to respond visual stimuli in a categorical manner during VPL. We analyzed the neural activities of two monkeys in a contour detection VPL. We found that the neural activities in primary visual cortex (V1) converge to one pattern if the contour can be detected by monkey and another pattern if the contour cannot be detected, exhibiting a kind of category learning that the neural representations of detectable contour become less selective for number of bars forming contour and diverge from the representations of undetectable contour. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11571-022-09926-8.

A novel transformation route from PbS to CH3NH3PbI3 for fabricating curved and large-area perovskite films.

We present a new transformation route from PbS to CH3NH3PbI3 for the facile preparation of perovskites with all kinds of shapes via vapor-assisted chemical bath deposition (VACBD). As such, curved and large-area CH3NH3PbI3 films with high quality are successfully achieved, which are suitable for the manufacturing scale-up of perovskite solar cells.

Uniform, stable, and efficient planar-heterojunction perovskite solar cells by facile low-pressure chemical vapor deposition under fully open-air conditions.

Recently, hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted extensive attention due to their high efficiency and simple preparing process. Herein, a facile low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) technology is first developed to fabricate PSCs, which can effectively reduce the over-rapid intercalating reaction rate and easily overcome this blocking issue during the solution process. As a result, the prepared uniform perovskite films exhibit good crystallization, strong absorption, and long carrier diffusion length. More strikingly, CH3NH3PbI3 absorbers by LPCVD demonstrate excellent moisture-resistant feature even under laser illumination and high-temperature conditions, which indicates that our proprietary method is very suitable for the future low-cost, nonvacuum production of the new generation photovoltaic devices. Finally, high efficiency of 12.73% is successfully achieved under fully open-air conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of efficient PSCs with such a high humidity above 60%.

[Effects of different nitrogen forms and their ratios on broccoli yield, quality, and nutrient absorption].

A field experiment was conducted to study the effects of different nitrogen forms ((NH2)2CO-N, NO(3-)-N, NH(4+)-N, and NO(3-)-NH4+) and their ratios on the yield formation, quality, and nutrient (N, P, and K) absorption of broccoli (Brassica oleracea). Fertilization with NO(3-)-N increased the accumulation of nitrate and soluble sugars in ball flower. When the NO(3-)-N: NH(4+)-N ratio was ranged from 3:7 to 5:5 and from 5:5 to 7:3, respectively, the accumulation of nitrate in the ball flower was reduced, while the soluble sugars content was promoted. Fertilization with (NH2)2CO-N and NH(4+)-N was conducive to the improvement of Vc content in the ball flower. N fertilization increased the accumulation of N, P, and K in plants, with the highest contents of N, P, and K observed at rosette stage. Throughout the entire growth period, NH(4+)-N fertilization improved the plant N content, whereas NO(3-)-N fertilization improved the plant K content. At different growth stages, the effects of different N sources on plant P content varied. As compared with applying single N forms, the NO(3-)-N:NH(4+)-N ratio ranged from 3:7 to 5:5 could improve the yield significantly. It was suggested that a combined application of NO(3-)-N and NH(4+)-N with an appropriate ratio could improve the productivity, quality, and economic return of broccoli.

Membrane progesterone receptor alpha as a potential prognostic biomarker for breast cancer survival: a retrospective study.

Classically, the actions of progesterone (P4) are attributed to the binding of nuclear progesterone receptor (PR) and subsequent activation of its downstream target genes. These mechanisms, however, are not applicable to PR- or basal phenotype breast cancer (BPBC) due to lack of PR in these cancers. Recently, the function of membrane progesterone receptor alpha (mPRα) in human BPBC cell lines was studied in our lab. We proposed that the signaling cascades of P4→mPRα pathway may play an essential role in controlling cell proliferation and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) of breast cancer. Using human breast cancer tissue microarrays, we found in this study that the average intensity of mPRα expression, but not percentage of breast cancer with high level of mPRα expression (mPRα-HiEx), was significantly lower in the TNM stage 4 patients compared to those with TNM 1-3 patients; and both average intensities of mPRα expression and mPRα-HiEx rates were significantly higher in cancers negative for ER, as compared with those cancers with ER+. However, after adjusting for age at diagnosis and/or TNM stage, only average intensities of mPRα expression were associated with ER status. In addition, we found that the rates of mPRα-HiEx were significantly higher in cancers with epithelial growth factor receptor-1 (EGFR+) and high level of Ki67 expression, indicating positive correlation between mPRα over expression and EGFR or Ki67. Further analysis indicated that both mPRα-HiEx rate and average intensity of mPRα expression were significantly higher in HER2+ subtype cancers (i.e. HER2+ER-PR-) as compared to ER+ subtype cancers. These data support our hypothesis that P4 modulates the activities of the PI3K and cell proliferation pathways through the caveolar membrane bound growth factor receptors such as mPRα and growth factor receptors. Future large longitudinal studies with larger sample size and survival outcomes are necessary to confirm our findings.

A new regulator of osteoclastogenesis: estrogen response element-binding protein in bone.

The heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP)-like estrogen response element-binding protein (ERE-BP) competes with estrogen receptor α (ERα) for occupancy of estrogen response elements (EREs). Here we report that ERE-BP potently stimulates osteoclastogenesis. ERE-BP mRNA and protein were found to be expressed ubiquitously in bone. Overexpression of ERE-BP in cultured osteoblasts stimulated expression of the receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) and decreased osteoprotegerin (OPG). The effect of ERE-BP on RANKL was shown to be transcriptional in transient transfection assay and competed with via the ER. Constitutive expression of ERE-BP increased the sensitivity of cells toward 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) stimulation of RANKL expression. In contrast, knockdown of ERE-BP in stromal ST-2 cells decreased basal RANKL promoter activity. Cocultures of ERE-BP lentivirus-transduced ST-2 cells with spleen monocytes induced formation of multinucleated osteoclasts (OCs) characterized by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase, calcitonin receptors, and functional calcium resorption from bone slices. Although ERα competed with ERE-BP for an ERE in a dose-dependent manner, ERE-BP was an independent and potent regulator of RANKL and osteoclastogenesis. In preosteoclastic RAW cells, overexpression of ERE-BP increased RANK, upregulated NF-κB signaling, and enhanced differentiation toward a mature OC phenotype independent of RANKL. These results identify ERE-BP as a potent modulator of osteoclastogenesis. We hypothesize that ERE-BP may play a critical role in the regulation of bone homeostasis as a modulator of estrogen sensitivity as well as by direct action on the transcription of critical osteoclastogenic genes.