Examining the association between delay discounting, delay aversion and physical activity in Chinese adults with type-2 diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: The role of physical activity in diabetes is critical, influencing this disease's development, man-agement, and overall outcomes. In China, 22.3% of adults do not meet the minimum level of physical activity recommended by the World Health Organization. Therefore, it is imperative to identify the factors that contributing to lack of physical activity must be identified. AIM: To investigate the relationship among delay discounting, delay aversion, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and various levels of physical activity in Chinese adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: In 2023, 400 adults with T2DM were recruited from the People's Hospital of Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province. A face-to-face questionnaire was used to gather demographic data and details on physical activity, delay discounting, and delay aversion. In addition, HbA1c levels were measured in all 400 participants. The primary independent variables considered were delay discounting and delay aversion. The outcome variables included HbA1c levels and different intensity levels of physical activity, including walking, moderate physical activity, and vigorous physical activity. Multiple linear regression models were utilized to assess the relationship between delay discounting, delay aversion, and HbA1c levels, along with the intensity of different physical activity measured in met-hours per week. RESULTS: After controlling for the sample characteristics, delay discounting was negatively associated with moderate physical activity (ß = -2.386, 95%CI: -4.370 to -0.401). Meanwhile, delay aversion was negatively associated with the level of moderate physical activity (ß = -3.527, 95% CI: -5.578 to -1.476) in the multiple linear regression model, with statistically significant differences. CONCLUSION: Elevated delay discounting and increased delay aversion correlated with reduced levels of moderate physical activity. Result suggests that delay discounting and aversion may influence engagement in moderate physical activity. This study recommends that health administration and government consider delay discounting and delay aversion when formulating behavioral intervention strategies and treatment guidelines involving physical activity for patients with T2DM, which may increase participation in physical activity. This study contributes a novel perspective to the research on physical activity in adults with T2DM by examining the significance of future health considerations and the role of emotional responses to delays.

Arabidopsis AT-hook protein TEK positively regulates the expression of arabinogalactan proteins for Nexine formation.

Nexine is a conserved layer of the pollen wall. We previously reported that the nexine layer is absent in the knockout mutant of Arabidopsis TRANSPOSABLE ELEMENT SILENCING VIA AT-HOOK (TEK) gene. In this study, we investigated the molecular regulatory functions of TEK in pollen development and identified the genes encoding Arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) as direct targets of TEK, which are essential for nexine formation. Phenotypic similarity between tek and the TEK-SRDX transgenic lines suggest that TEK plays a role in transcriptional activation in anther development. Microarray analysis identified a total of 661 genes downregulated in tek, including four genes encoding AGPs, AGP6, AGP11, AGP23, and AGP40. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that TEK could directly bind the nuclear matrix attachment region (MAR) and the promoter of AGP6. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by PCR analysis demonstrated that TEK is enriched in the promoters of the four AGP genes. Expression of AGP6 driven by the TEK promoter in tek partially rescued both nexine formation and plant fertility. These results indicate that TEK directly regulates AGP expression in the anther to control nexine layer formation. We also proposed that glycoproteins might be essential components of the nexine layer in the pollen wall.

Arabidopsis AT-hook protein TEK positively regulates the expression of arabinogalactan proteins in controlling nexine layer formation in the pollen wall.

Nexine is a conserved layer of the pollen wall. We previously reported that the nexine layer is absent in the knockout mutant of TRANSPOSABLE ELEMENT SILENCING VIA AT-HOOK (TEK). In this work, we characterized the molecular function of TEK in pollen development and identified direct targets of TEK, Arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs), which are responsible for nexine formation. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) showed that TEK can directly bind to the nuclear matrix attachment region (MAR). Phenotypic similarity between tek and the TEK-SRDX transgenic lines indicated that TEK plays a role in transcriptional activation in anther development. Microarray analysis identified a total of 661 genes downstream of TEK, including four genes encoding AGPs, AGP6, AGP11, AGP23 and AGP40. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) followed by PCR analysis using the FLAG-tagged TEK complement lines suggested that TEK is enriched in the promoters of these four genes. EMSA further confirmed that TEK binds to the AGP6 promoter. The expression of AGP6 driven by the TEK promoter in tek can partially rescue both nexine formation and plant fertility. These results show that TEK directly regulates AGPs expression in the anther. It is proposed that glycoproteins are an essential component of the nexine layer in the pollen wall.