The mediating role of ego depletion in the relationship between state anxiety and academic procrastination among University students.

The issue of academic procrastination is highly prevalent among university students. It not only has a deterimental effect on students' academic performance but also poses a risk to their physical and mental well-being. Anxiety, as a negative emotion, has attracted researchers' attention in relation to academic procrastination. Research indicates a correlation between state anxiety and academic procrastination, but the underlying mechanisms that drive this association remain unclear. When individuals experience ego-depletion, it can lead to psychological exhaustion, subsequently leading to procrastination. Gender role conceptions, shaped by sociocultural and psychological mechanisms, have profound implications on individuals' cognition, emotions, and behaviors. This study primarily aims to explore the relationship between state anxiety and academic procrastination among university students, with a particularly focus on the mediating role of ego-depletion and the moderating role of gender. A survey using the State Anxiety Scale, Ego-Depletion Scale, and Irrational Procrastination Scale was administered to 3370 undergraduates. State anxiety shows positive correlations with ego depletion and academic procrastination (r = 0.665, p < 0.01; r = 0.491, p < 0.01), while ego depletion is also positively linked to academic procrastination (r = 0.500, p < 0.01). State anxiety serves as a positive predictor of academic procrastination, with a confidence interval of 95% [0.626, 0.696]; additionally, ego depletion partially mediates the relationship between state anxiety and academic procrastination, with a confidence interval of 95% [0.168, 0.251]. Gender acts as a moderator in directly predicting the impact of state anxiety on academic procrastination and in the latter stage of mediating the effect of ego depletion. State anxiety can significantly and positively predict academic procrastination among university students. Ego-depletion partially mediates the relationship between state anxiety and academic procrastination. The direct predictive effect of state anxiety on academic procrastination, as well as the mediating role of ego-depletion, is moderated by gender. This provides educators and university students themselves with reference for addressing the issue of academic procrastination.

Psychological health status of Chinese university students: based on Psychological Resilience Dynamic System Model.

Introduction: The mental health of unverisity students is influenced by diverse factorsis multifaceted, requiring further investigation to evaluate its current status and determinants. The present study aims to address this gap by targeting Chinese university students and employing the Psychological Resilience Dynamic System model. Through a questionnaire survey, this research endeavors to explore the mental health status and influencing factors. Ultimately, the findings of this study aim to provide a theoretical basis and tailored practical guidance for the development of mental health intervention strategies for university students. Methods: Based on the Psychological Resilience Dynamic System Model, the mental health status of 3,390 Chinese university students from 15 universities was empirically investigated with the principle of stratified sampling and the geographical distribution and disciplinary diversity of universities. The questionnaires used included Kessler psychological distress scale, psychological resilience scale,positive psychological capital scale, family hardiness index and social support scale. Among the participants, 47.85% were male and 52.15% were female. Regarding the origin, 42.89% of the students were from rural areas, while 57.11% were from urban areas. Results: Key findings unveil: (1) A prevalence of 24.54% in students has suboptimal mental health, with 18.70 and 5.84%, respectively, representing those with poor and relatively poor mental health conditions; (2) A noteworthy negative correlation (p < 0.01) between mental health scores of university students and nine pivotal factors, including psychological resilience, self-efficacy, optimism, hope, resilience, family resilience, objective support, subjective support, and support utilization; (3) Eight factors, including grade, family economic status, psychological resilience, self-efficacy, optimism, family resilience, objective support, and support utilization, emerge as significant predictors of university students' mental health (p <0.001), collectively elucidating 57.9% of the total variance in mental health. Discussion: The aforementioned research results, indicate that the influencing factors on the mental health of university students encompass four main aspects. These include individual demographic factors such as grade and family economic status, positive psychological capital factors such as psychological resilience, self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience, family resilience factors including responsibility, control, and challenge, and societal support factors including objective support, subjective support, and support utilization. Based on this, this paper focuses on four recommendations: giving full play to the leading role of universities in mental health education and stress intervention, strengthening the educational power of positive family ideals and role modeling, building a support system for positive social atmosphere and psychological counseling, and improving the self-shaping ability of university students' psychological resilience and positive psychological capital. These recommendations aspire to better promote the mental health of university students and provide a strength reserve for psychological problem intervention.

Prolonged myelin deficits contribute to neuron loss and functional impairments after ischaemic stroke.

Ischaemic stroke causes neuron loss and long-term functional deficits. Unfortunately, effective approaches to preserving neurons and promoting functional recovery remain unavailable. Oligodendrocytes, the myelinating cells in the CNS, are susceptible to oxygen and nutrition deprivation and undergo degeneration after ischaemic stroke. Technically, new oligodendrocytes and myelin can be generated by the differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). However, myelin dynamics and their functional significance after ischaemic stroke remain poorly understood. Here, we report numerous denuded axons accompanied by decreased neuron density in sections from ischaemic stroke lesions in human brain, suggesting that neuron loss correlates with myelin deficits in these lesions. To investigate the longitudinal changes in myelin dynamics after stroke, we labelled and traced pre-existing and newly-formed myelin, respectively, using cell-specific genetic approaches. Our results indicated massive oligodendrocyte death and myelin loss 2 weeks after stroke in the transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) mouse model. In contrast, myelin regeneration remained insufficient 4 and 8 weeks post-stroke. Notably, neuronal loss and functional impairments worsened in aged brains, and new myelin generation was diminished. To analyse the causal relationship between remyelination and neuron survival, we manipulated myelinogenesis by conditional deletion of Olig2 (a positive regulator) or muscarinic receptor 1 (M1R, a negative regulator) in OPCs. Deleting Olig2 inhibited remyelination, reducing neuron survival and functional recovery after tMCAO. Conversely, enhancing remyelination by M1R conditional knockout or treatment with the pro-myelination drug clemastine after tMCAO preserved white matter integrity and neuronal survival, accelerating functional recovery. Together, our findings demonstrate that enhancing myelinogenesis is a promising strategy to preserve neurons and promote functional recovery after ischaemic stroke.

Brain region-specific myelinogenesis is not directly linked to amyloid-ß in APP/PS1 transgenic mice.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by aggregating amyloid beta-protein (Aß). Recent evidence has shown that insufficient myelinogenesis contributes to AD-related functional deficits. However, it remains unclear whether Aß, in either plaque or soluble form, could alter myelinogenesis in AD brains. By cell-lineage tracing and labeling, we found both myelinogenesis and Aß deposits displayed a region-specific pattern in the 13-month-old APP/PS1 transgenic mouse brains. Aß plaques cause focal demyelination, but only about 15% Aß plaques are closely associated with newly formed myelin in the APP/PS1 brains. Further, the Aß plaque total area and the amount of new myelin are not linearly correlated across different cortical regions, suggesting that Aß plaques induce demyelination but may not exclusively trigger remyelination. To understand the role of soluble Aß in regulating myelinogenesis, we chose to observe the visual system, wherein soluble Aß is detectable but without the presence of Aß plaques in the APP/PS1 retina, optic nerve, and optic tract. Interestingly, newly-formed myelin density was not significantly altered in the APP/PS1 optic nerves and optic tracts as compared to the wildtype controls, suggesting soluble Aß probably does not change myelinogenesis. Further, treatment of purified oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) with soluble Aß (oligomers) for 48 h did not change the cell densities of MBP positive cells and PDGFRα positive OPCs in vitro. Consistently, injection of soluble Aß into the lateral ventricles did not alter myelinogenesis in the corpus callosum of NG2-CreErt; Tau-mGFP mice significantly. Together, these findings indicate that the region-dependent myelinogenesis in AD brains is not directly linked to Aß, but rather probably a synergic result in adapting to AD pathology.

FAT10 stimulates the development of osteosarcoma by regulating the JAK/STAT signaling pathway.

PURPOSE: To investigate the potential function of FAT10 in the development of osteosarcoma (OS) and its mechanism. METHODS: Relative level of FAT10 in OS specimens and cell lines was detected by qRT-PCR. The correlation between FAT10 level and clinical features of OS patients was assessed by χ2 test. After intervention of FAT10 in MG-63 and U2OS cells, changes of FAT10 level, cell viability, clonality and proliferative capacity were respectively detected by qRT-PCR, CCK-8, colony formation and EdU assay. Moreover, dynamic change of FAT10 in OS cells induced with pro-inflammatory factors was examined by qRT-PCR. Protein levels of FAT10, p-STAT1, p-STAT3 and p-STAT5 in OS cells induced with TNF-α were determined by Western blot. The JAK2 inhibitor AZ960 was used to further confirm the role of the JAK signaling in FAT10-regulated development of OS. RESULTS: FAT10 was upregulated in OS specimens and cell lines, which was correlated to tumor size, WHO grade and distant metastasis of OS patients. Knockdown of FAT10 inhibited viability, clonality and proliferative capacity of MG-63 and U2OS cells. FAT10 was time-dependently upregulated in OS cells stimulated with IFN-γ and TNF-α, which was dose-dependently downregulated by the treatment of AZ960. Protein levels of FAT10, p-STAT1, p-STAT3 and p-STAT5 in OS cells induced with AZ960 were remarkably downregulated. CONCLUSION: FAT10 is upregulated in OS samples, which stimulates the development of OS by activating the JAK/STAT signaling pathway.

DNA Hypermethylation Induced by L-Methionine Leads to Oligodendroglial and Myelin Deficits and Schizophrenia-Like Behaviors in Adolescent Mice.

Increasing evidence has demonstrated that in addition to dysfunction of neuronal circuitry, oligodendroglial dysfunction and/or disruption of white matter integrity are found in the brains of patients with schizophrenia. DNA methylation, a well-established risk factor for schizophrenia, has been demonstrated to cause neuronal dysfunction; however, whether dysregulation of DNA methylation contributes to oligodendroglial/myelin deficits in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia remains unclear. In the present study, by using L-methionine-treated mice, we confirmed that mice with DNA hypermethylation exhibited an anxious phenotype, impaired sociability, and sensorimotor gating deficits. Notably, DNA hypermethylation in oligodendroglial cells led to dysregulation of multiple oligodendroglia-specific transcription factors, which indicated disruption of the transcriptional architecture. Furthermore, DNA hypermethylation caused a reduction of oligodendroglial lineage cells and myelin integrity in the frontal white matter of mice. Taken together, these results indicate that DNA hypermethylation leads to oligodendroglial and/or myelin deficits, which may, at least in part, contribute to schizophrenia-like behaviors in mice. This study provides new insights into the possibility that precise modulation of DNA methylation status in oligodendroglia could be beneficial for the white matter pathology in schizophrenia.

716 nm deep-red passively Q-switched Pr:ZBLAN all-fiber laser using a carbon-nanotube saturable absorber.

We experimentally demonstrated a compact single-wall carbon-nanotube (SWNT)-based deep-red passively Q-switched Pr3+-doped ZBLAN all-fiber laser operating at 716 nm. A free-standing SWNT/polyvinyl alcohol composite film embedded between a pair of fiber connectors was employed as a saturable absorber (SA). The deep-red Q-switched operation is attributed to the combination of implementing a pair of fiber end-facet mirrors to achieve the linear laser resonator and incorporating a SWNT-SA into the cavity as a Q-switcher. Stable short-pulse generation with a duration of 2.3 µs was realized. When gradually increasing the incident pump power, the pulse repetition rate can be linearly tuned from 32.6 to 86.5 kHz, corresponding to a maximum average output power of 1.5 mW and the highest single-pulse energy of 18.3 nJ. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of SWNT-based SA for a Q-switched laser at a deep-red wavelength ∼716 nm.

Altered patterns of gene expression distinguishing unruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms from ruptured ones: comprehensive analysis of inflammatory factors.

The purpose of this study was to profile altered patterns of gene expression that characterize abdominal aortic aneurysm and to compare these patterns between different conditions, unruptured (URA) and ruptured (RA). Full-thickness aortic wall tissues were obtained from patients during surgical repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm, including unruptured (n=29) and ruptured (n=11). RNA, protein and blood samples were prepared for each specimen, and differential levels of gene expression between unruptured and ruptured abdominal aortic tissues were assessed by immunohistochemistry, RT-qPCR and ELISA assays. Biochemical assay showed that triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) concentration in the peripheral blood of URA and UA patients with large size of aneurysm (>5 cm) was significantly increased compared with those with small size of aneurysm (3-5 cm). Of 7 genes examined, TRPV1, CAM, TNF-α, IL-6, MCP-1 and VCAM were significantly increased in RA patients compared with URA patients, which also showed markedly increased expression in large size of aneurysm, with TRPV1 and CAM exception in RA patients. Only PPARδ expression observed decrease in RA patients with larger size of aneurysm. Taken together, URA and RA exhibit distinct patterns of gene expression, with most alterations being unique to this disease. Abdominal aortic aneurysm arising in different sizes of aneurysm is thus characterized by a high degree of molecular heterogeneity, reflecting different pathophysiologic mechanisms.

Compact self-Q-switched green upconversion Er:ZBLAN all-fiber laser operating at 543.4 nm.

We report the demonstration of a compact self-Q-switched green upconversion Er3+:ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF (ZBLAN) fiber laser operating at 543.4 nm. The all-fiber green laser simply consists of a 45 cm high-concentration Er3+:ZBLAN fiber, a 976 nm pump source, and a pair of fiber end-facet mirrors. Under the strong excitation of the 976 nm pump laser, green upconversion lasing at 543.4 nm is achieved from the compact Er3+:ZBLAN fiber laser. Interestingly, the green laser exhibits stable self-Q-switching operation. As the 976 nm pump power is increased, the pulse repetition rate linearly increases from 25.9 to 50.8 kHz and the pulse width narrows from 7.2 to 1.95 µs. The Q-switched green laser has a pump threshold of 118 mW and a maximum output power of 6.9 mW with a slope efficiency of 30%. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the shortest-wavelength operation of a self-started or passively Q-switched fiber laser.

Efficient and compact orthogonally polarized dual-wavelength Nd:YVO4 laser at 1342 and 1345 nm.

Based on a free-running diode-end-pumped a-cut Nd:YVO4 laser with output power of 3.61 W at a single wavelength of π-polarized 1342 nm, we further obtain a 1.82 W σ-polarized 1345 nm laser with a slope efficiency of about 22.3% by introducing an intracavity etalon, for the first time to the best of our knowledge. In addition, a simultaneous dual-wavelength orthogonally polarized laser at π-polarized 1342 nm and σ-polarized 1345 nm can also be achieved with a maximum output power of 1.35 W. The dual-wavelength laser provides a potential laser source for terahertz wave generation.

Rutaecarpine and evodiamine selected as ß1-AR inhibitor candidates using ß1-AR/CMC-offline-UPLC/MS prevent cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury via energy modulation.

In the present study, an offline analytical method combining ß1-adrenergic receptor/cell membrane chromatography (ß1-AR/CMC) with ultra-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (UPLC/MS) was used for direct recognition, separation, and identification of ß1-AR inhibitors from Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss) Benth, by which rutaecarpine and evodiamine were screened and identified as potential ß1-AR antagonists and the ß1-AR inhibition activity of them was confirmed by downregulation of cAMP and PKA in vitro test. In addition, the results of in vivo pharmacological trials revealed that rutaecarpine (1.1mg/ml) and evodiamine (1.1mg/ml) attenuated myocardial infarct size injured by myocardial ischemia/reperfusion, improved metabolism disorders between fatty acid and glucose, increased the content of ATP, Ca(2+)-ATPase activity and reduced the content of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) protein level. Thus, the ß1-AR/CMC-offline-UPLC/MS method developed in this study could be used as an effective alternative for screening ß1-AR binding bioactive components in traditional Chinese medicines and the bioactive components could be used to remedy cardiac diseases via energy modulation.

Fargesin as a potential ß1 adrenergic receptor antagonist protects the hearts against ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats via attenuating oxidative stress and apoptosis.

Fargesin displayed similar chromatographic retention peak to metoprolol in the cardiac muscle/cell membrane chromatography (CM/CMC) and ß1 adrenergic receptor/cell membrane chromatography (ß1AR/CMC) models. To provide more biological information about fargesin, we investigated the effects of fargesin on isoproterenol-(ISO-) induced cells injury in the high expression ß1 adrenergic receptor/Chinese hamster ovary-S (ß1AR/CHO-S) cells and occluding the left coronary artery- (LAD-) induced myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury in rats. The results in vitro showed that ISO-induced canonical cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and protein kinase A (PKA) levels were decreased by fargesin in ß1AR/CHO-S cells. Fargesin attenuated the serum creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and improved histopathological changes of ischemic myocardium compared with the I/R rats. Similar results were obtained with Evans Blue/TTC staining, in which fargesin notably reduced infarct size. Moreover, compared with the I/R group, fargesin increased COX release and the activities of some endogenous antioxidative enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), but suppressed malondialdehyde (MDA), and intracellular ROS release. Additionally, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay demonstrated fargesin suppressed myocardial apoptosis, which may be related to inhibition of caspase-3 activity. Taken together, these results provided substantial evidences that fargesin as a potential ß1AR antagonist through cAMP/PKA pathway could protect against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats. The underlining mechanism may be related to inhibiting oxidative stress and myocardial apoptosis.

Passively Q-switched Nd:YAlO3nanosecond laser using MoS2as saturable absorber.

We report on the first passively Q-switched Nd:YAlO3 laser at ~1079.5 nm using MoS2 as saturable absorber. The MoS2 saturable absorber is fabricated by transferring the liquid-phase-exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets onto a BK7 glass substrate. By inserting the glass MoS2 saturable absorber into a plano-concave Nd:YAlO3 laser cavity, we obtain a stable Q-switched laser operation with a maximum average output power of 0.26 W corresponding to a pulse repetition rate of 232.5 kHz, a pulse width of 227 ns and a pulse energy of about 1.11 µJ. The results experimentally confirm the promising application of the new kind of 2D material, few-layer MoS2, in solid state lasers.

Comparative study on diode-pumped continuous wave laser at 607 nm using differently doped Pr(3+):LiYF(4) crystals and wavelength tuning to 604 nm.

We comparatively study an InGaN laser-diode-pumped continuous-wave laser at ∼607 nm (σ polarization) using differently doped Pr:LiYF4 single crystals. Maximum output power and slope efficiency at this wavelength were up to 209 mW and 47.1%, respectively, using a 0.2 at. % doped and 8 mm sample. Findlay-Clay analysis shows roundtrip losses, including reabsorption loss at this particular emission of about 1.2% using the 0.2 at. % doped sample, which is lower than that of samples with higher doping concentrations at 0.5 and 1 at. %. Using a 0.15 mm glass plate as a Fabry-Perot etalon, a maximum output power of 73 mW was achieved at ∼604 nm (π polarization) with slope efficiency of 17.2% for what is believed to be the highest result currently.