Standing, Transition, and Walking Ability in Older Adults: The Case for Independently Evaluating Different Domains of Mobility Function

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Independent mobility is a complex behavior that relies on the ability to walk, maintain stability, and transition between postures. However, guidelines for assessment that details <i>what</i> elements of mobility to evaluate and <i>how</i> they should be measured remain unclear. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Performance on tests of standing, sit-to-stand, and walking were evaluated in a cohort of 135 complex, comorbid, and older adults (mean age 87 ± 5.5 years). Correlational analysis was conducted to examine the degree of association for measures within and between mobility domains on a subset of participants (<i>n</i> = 83) able to complete all tasks unaided. Participants were also grouped by the presence of risk markers for frailty (gait speed and grip strength) to determine if the level of overall impairment impacted performance scores and if among those with risk markers, the degree of association was greater. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Within-domain relationships for sit-to-stand and walking were modest (rho = 0.01–0.60). Associations either did not exist or relationships were weak for measures reflecting different domains (rho = −0.35 to 0.25, <i>p</i> &#x3e; 0.05). As expected, gait speed differed between those with and without frailty risk markers (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001); however, balance and sit-to-stand measures did not (<i>p</i> ≥ 0.05). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> This study highlights the need to independently evaluate different mobility domains within an individual as a standard assessment approach. Modest within-domain relationships emphasize the need to account for multiple, unique control challenges within more complex domains. These findings have important implications for standardized mobility assessment and targeted rehabilitation strategies for older adults.

Sector Rotation with Leading Macroeconomic Indicators

In this study, an attempt has been made to examine whether the theory of sector rotation has been empirically valid in the Indian equity market, during the period April, 2000 to March, 2020. The time period has been divided into many sub-periods according to the real GDP growth rate and the annualized returns of eleven stock market indices have been analyzed in different periods. Going forward, leading macroeconomic indicators, which coincide with overall economy, have been taken and their association with stock market indices have been analyzed through statistical measures to assess any possible forecasting. In the first part of the study, cyclical and non-cyclical sectors have been found to beat the benchmark index during periods of growth and stagnancy, respectively, but no particular ordinality was observed. Amongst the leading economic variables, M3 Money Supply was found to have high degree of association with some indices, namely Sensex, Healthcare, CDGS, Consumer Durables and IT, but no linear relation was observed.

Significance of Addressal of Clinical Investigations of Kidney Functions in Recovery/Mortality of Certain COVID-19 Patients

Clinical management of COVID-19 patients through a robust protocol is key to the good recovery and reduced mortality of patients. Efficient kidney functions during treatment period can contribute for improvised recovery and reduced mortality of patients. Analysis of the kidney function among Recovered and Dead cases of COVID-19 was made to reveal the degree of association of kidney functions with the two categories of patients. 83.4% of recovered patients did not show hyper values of blood urea whereas 72.5% of dead patients showed hyper-urea level in blood. 88.8% of survivors showed non-hyper creatinine level of blood whereas only 40% of dead cases showed hyper creatine level. Strong degree of association of blood urea with recovery/mortality was observed. Sodium levels were seen to be low while potassium and chloride ions were seen to be high in COVID-19 individuals. Our preliminary study suggests that kidney functions especially the value of blood urea and creatinine need to be addressed during COVID-19 patients to ensure the best recovery and reduced mortality. After more number of case studies, the present observation could sensitize consideration for inclusion of addressal and treatment of kidney functions into treatment protocol against COVID-19. It was also interesting to observe that levels of sodium and potassium ions among Survivors and Dead cases have impacted function of the essential ion channels in patient’s physiology.

Real and Imagined Smellscapes

The smellscape is the olfactory environment as perceived and understood, consisting of odours and scents from multiple smell sources. To what extent can audiovisual information evoke the smells of a real, complex, and multimodal environment? To investigate smellscape imagination, we compared results from two studies. In the first, onsite participants (N = 15) made a sensory walk through seven locations of an open-air market. In the second, online participants (N = 53) made a virtual walk through the same locations reproduced with audio and video recordings. Responses in the form of free-form verbal annotations, ratings with semantic scales, and a ‘smell wheel’, were analysed for environmental quality, smell source type and strength, and hedonic tone. The degree of association between real and imagined smellscapes was measured through canonical correlation analysis. Hedonic tone, as expressed through frequency counts of keywords in free-form annotations was significantly associated, suggesting that smell sources might generally be correctly inferred from audiovisual information, when such imagination is required. On the other hand, onsite ratings of olfactory quality were not significantly associated with online ratings of audiovisual reproductions, when participants were not specifically asked to imagine smells. We discuss findings in the light of cross-modal association, categorisation, and memory recall of smells.

Investigation of the interaction of keratinocytes and Candida species

Our skin provides immunological protection against several pathogens. Skin epithelial cells respond to microbial stimuli in various ways, such as through the production of antimicrobial peptides or secretion of cytokines, although phagocytosis of potentially evading microbes was also reported. Relatively little is known about how skin keratinocytes differentiate between the presence of pathogenic and commensal fungi. In this project, we aimed to investigate how human keratinocytes interact with different Candida species, as common colonizers of the skin. While C. albicans is a common cause of cutaneous candidiasis, C. parapsilosisis rarely associated with this disease.For the experimentshuman skin keratinocyte cell lines (HaCaT, HPV-KER)were applied andchallengedwith C. albicans (SC5314 and WO1 strains) and C. parapsilosis (GA1 and CLIB214 strains)strains.We aimedto determine the extent to which C. albicans and C. parapsilosis damage human keratinocytes, their attachment to host cells, the keratinocytes’ ability to internalize these fungi and to examinecytokine production in response to stimuli. Our results suggest that C. albicans causes significantly more damage to human keratinocytes than C. parapsilosis and the HPV-KER cell line was more susceptibleto the infection. In both HaCaT and HPV-KER cells, the production of IL-6, IL-8, and CCL5 increased primarilyafter C. albicans infection. Based on the adhesion studies, there was a low degree of association in case of C. parapsilosis GA1 and CLIB214 compared to C. albicans SC5314 and WO1.

The long noncoding RNA H19 regulates tumor plasticity in neuroendocrine prostate cancer

Neuroendocrine (NE) prostate cancer (NEPC) is a lethal subtype of castration-resistant prostate cancer (PCa) arising either de novo or from transdifferentiated prostate adenocarcinoma following androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Extensive computational analysis has identified a high degree of association between the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) H19 and NEPC, with the longest isoform highly expressed in NEPC. H19 regulates PCa lineage plasticity by driving a bidirectional cell identity of NE phenotype (H19 overexpression) or luminal phenotype (H19 knockdown). It contributes to treatment resistance, with the knockdown of H19 re-sensitizing PCa to ADT. It is also essential for the proliferation and invasion of NEPC. H19 levels are negatively regulated by androgen signaling via androgen receptor (AR). When androgen is absent SOX2 levels increase, driving H19 transcription and facilitating transdifferentiation. H19 facilitates the PRC2 complex in regulating methylation changes at H3K27me3/H3K4me3 histone sites of AR-driven and NEPC-related genes. Additionally, this lncRNA induces alterations in genome-wide DNA methylation on CpG sites, further regulating genes associated with the NEPC phenotype. Our clinical data identify H19 as a candidate diagnostic marker and predictive marker of NEPC with elevated H19 levels associated with an increased probability of biochemical recurrence and metastatic disease in patients receiving ADT. Here we report H19 as an early upstream regulator of cell fate, plasticity, and treatment resistance in NEPC that can reverse/transform cells to a treatable form of PCa once therapeutically deactivated.

Managing educational institutions: School heads’ leadership practices and teachers’ performance

School heads are agents of change who contribute a major impression on the educational milieu through their information-sharing methods, creating supportive social connections, participating in mentoring programs, and fostering progress. Hence, this study ascertained the interrelation between the public school head’s leadership practices and teachers’ performance. As correlation research, simple random sampling was used to calculate the sample size for teachers, while total enumeration was used for school heads. A structured questionnaire was developed to gather the necessary information that reinforced the theme of this analysis. Weighted mean was used to ascertain the level of leadership practices of school heads and the level of teacher performance. T-test, F-test, post-hoc test, and Pearson <em>r</em> were employed to establish the degree of association between and among variables. This study concluded that the variation in leadership practices experienced by school heads and teachers is absolutely vital, confirming that their reactions are fundamentally better. Teachers' performance is consistent irrespective of age, educational achievement, or significant contributions. In terms of teaching status and number of years of experience, head teachers have improved teaching efficiency than teachers and master teachers. Teachers with shorter relevant experience showed poorer educational quality relative to those who spent more time in the school system. School heads who have obtained their doctorate degrees get a greater level of leadership practices than the holders of master's degrees. The very productive performance of teachers stays the same, regardless of whether the school heads exhibit a very high degree of authentic leadership.

The Synthesis of Associative Copolymers with Both Amphoteric and Hydrophobic Groups and the Effect of the Degree of Association on the Instability of Emulsions

The acrylamide (AM)/methacryloyl ethyl sulfobetaine (SPE)/behenyl polyoxyethylene ether methacrylate (BEM) terpolymer (PASB) was synthesized by soap-free emulsion polymerization. Four types of PASBs were synthesized by adjusting the moles of AM and BEM with constant total moles of monomers. The synthesized copolymers were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, molecular weight, and viscosity. By measuring the microscopic morphology and backscattered light intensity of the emulsions, the instability process of the emulsions prepared by PASBs was investigated in detail. The main instability processes of the emulsions prepared from PASBs within 45 min were flocculation and coalescence. The intermolecular association of copolymer PASBs was dominated by the behenyl functional groups on the molecular chains. The stability of the emulsions, which were prepared from isoviscosity aqueous solutions controlled by the concentration of the associative copolymers, was increased with the degree of association of copolymers. The hydrophobic association between the copolymer molecules can further slow down the flocculation and coalescence of the emulsion droplets on the basis of the same aqueous solution viscosity, which is one of the reasons for improving the stability of the emulsion.

M-DATA: A statistical approach to jointly analyzing de novo mutations for multiple traits

Recent studies have demonstrated that multiple early-onset diseases have shared risk genes, based on findings from de novo mutations (DNMs). Therefore, we may leverage information from one trait to improve statistical power to identify genes for another trait. However, there are few methods that can jointly analyze DNMs from multiple traits. In this study, we develop a framework called M-DATA (Multi-trait framework for De novo mutation Association Test with Annotations) to increase the statistical power of association analysis by integrating data from multiple correlated traits and their functional annotations. Using the number of DNMs from multiple diseases, we develop a method based on an Expectation-Maximization algorithm to both infer the degree of association between two diseases as well as to estimate the gene association probability for each disease. We apply our method to a case study of jointly analyzing data from congenital heart disease (CHD) and autism. Our method was able to identify 23 genes for CHD from joint analysis, including 12 novel genes, which is substantially more than single-trait analysis, leading to novel insights into CHD disease etiology.

Distribution and association pattern of pasak bumi (Eurycoma longifolia) in Batang Lubu Sutam District, Padang Lawas, North Sumatra

Pasak bumi (Eurycoma longifolia) is a medicinal plant with various benefits and has long been used to cure various diseases such as cancer, gingivitis, intestinal worms, and anti-inflammatory anti-malarial, and tonic after childbirth. The root has high economic value leading to unsustainable harvest and drastic population decline. As initial data in conservation activities, information regarding the association of pasak bumi in Batang Lubu Sutam natural forest has not been obtained. Therefore, this research was conducted to determine the pasak bumi distribution and its association within their natural habitat in Batang Lubu Sutam forest. The study was conducted by using the vegetation analysis method using a plotted path determined by purposive sampling. Data analysis was performed by calculating association indices, including the Ochiai index (Oi), Dice index (Di), and Jackard index (Ji). The results showed that pasak bumi were found in the seedling and sapling stage in the research location and form a degree of association with several plants. The species that formed the highest degree of association with the pasak bumi at both levels of regeneration was Shorea leprosula with an Ochiai index value of 0.85 at the seedling level and 0.94 at the sapling level.