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Teachers' well-being and self-efficacy are two important factors linked to quality education. Recent research examining their bidirectionality has revealed inconsistent findings, while those examining the relationships among pre-service and in-service teachers are scarce. This study investigates the reciprocal relationships between teachers' well-being and self-efficacy in a sample of Hong Kong early childhood education teachers. Participants were 155 pre-service (n = 77) and in-service (n = 78) teachers (M[subscript age] = 23.97, SD = 4.46, female = 92.9%). Participants reported their teachers' well-being (PERMA model including positive emotion, engagement, relationship, meaning, and accomplishment) and teachers' self-efficacy at two-time points. The results from the cross-lagged panel model revealed that teachers' self-efficacy at baseline significantly predicted all aspects of prospective well-being except for engagement. In contrast, none of the teachers' well-being components significantly predicted later teachers' self-efficacy, except for accomplishment. The associations between teachers' self-efficacy and well-being were invariant across pre-service and in-service teachers. The results underscored the importance of teachers' self-efficacy in facilitating teachers' well-being. The findings also highlight the utility of intervention efforts targeting teachers' self-efficacy and well-being, especially in promoting teachers' accomplishment, at an early stage of their careers.

This study investigated the cross-sectional relationships between reading-related affective and cognitive factors and reading skills among adolescents with and without dyslexia. Participants were 120 Chinese-speaking eighth graders, including 60 adolescents with dyslexia and 60 typically developing adolescents from Hong Kong, China. Adolescents completed questionnaires on general anxiety, reading anxiety, and reading self-concept. They were also assessed on measures of rapid digit naming, verbal working memory, word reading, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. The results showed that readers with dyslexia reported higher levels of general anxiety and reading anxiety and lower levels of reading self-concept than typical readers. They also showed difficulties in rapid digit naming and verbal working memory. Importantly, controlling for rapid digit naming and verbal working memory, reading self-concept was uniquely associated with word reading and reading fluency for readers with and without dyslexia. Furthermore, reading anxiety and reading self-concept were uniquely associated with reading comprehension for the two groups of readers. The findings point to the importance of considering affective factors when examining the reading skills of Chinese readers and the utility of targeting these factors when supporting the learning of adolescents with and without dyslexia.

Introduction: The germline human leukocyte antigen (HLA) status has been found to be associated with immunotherapy outcomes in patients with NSCLC, but its correlation to immunotherapy-induced pneumonitis and prognostic impact in the Asian population remains largely unknown. Methods: We evaluated the HLA genotype of the germline and available tumor samples in 42 patients with programmed death-ligand 1 expression of 50% or higher undergoing pembrolizumab immunotherapy. The HLA allele expression was correlated with tumor response, disease survival, and the occurrence of pneumonitis. Results: It was observed that the germline HLA-C homozygosity and HLA-DRB1∗13 expression were related to a worse progression-free survival and treatment response. Importantly, all patients (7/7 patients) who developed pneumonitis in our cohort expressed the HLA-DPB1∗02 allele, and the incidence of pneumonitis was 31.8% (7/22 patients) in patients expressing this allele compared with 0% (0/20 patients) in those without this allele (p = 0.009). Investigation of the tumor samples from 15 patients revealed some degree of HLA loss in the HLA class I loci in 40% (6/15) of patients, and no significant difference in tumor mutation burden was found among patients with different treatment responses. Conclusion: Taken together, this study evaluated the impact of HLA status in both germline and tumor samples in patients with NSCLC with high programmed death-ligand 1 expression, and the high incidence of immunotherapy-induced pneumonitis in patients expressing the HLA-DPB1∗02 allele may suggest a routine HLA typing and closer monitoring in this patient subset.

An artificial example of a coupled system of three nonlinear partial differential equations generalizing 2D thermoelastic vibrations, is used to demonstrate the effectiveness, as well as the limitations, of a non iterative direct procedure in data assimilation. A stabilized explicit finite difference scheme, run backward in time, is used to find initial values, [Formula: see text], that can evolve into a useful approximation to a hypothetical target result [Formula: see text], at some realistic [Formula: see text]. Highly non smooth target data are considered, that may not correspond to actual solutions at time [Formula: see text]. Stabilization is achieved by applying a compensating smoothing operator at each time step. Such smoothing leads to a distortion away from the true solution, but that distortion is small enough to allow for useful results. Data assimilation is illustrated using [Formula: see text] pixel images. Such images are associated with highly irregular non smooth intensity data that severely challenge ill-posed reconstruction procedures. Computational experiments show that efficient FFT-synthesized smoothing operators, based on [Formula: see text] with real q>3, can be successfully applied, even in nonlinear problems in non-rectangular domains. However, an example of failure illustrates the limitations of the method in problems where [Formula: see text], and/or the nonlinearity, are not sufficiently small.

Several blinding diseases affecting the retina and optic nerve are exacerbated by or caused by dysregulated inflammation and oxidative stress. These diseases include uveitis, age related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. Consequently, despite their divergent symptoms, treatments that reduce oxidative stress and suppress inflammation may be therapeutic. The production of inflammatory cytokines and their activities are regulated by a class of proteins termed Suppressors of Cytokine Signaling (SOCS). SOCS1 and SOCS3 are known to dampen signaling via pathways employing Janus kinases and signal transducer and activator of transcription proteins (JAK/STAT), Toll-like Receptors (TLR), nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), mitogen activated kinase (MAPK) and NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3). We have developed cell-penetrating peptides from the kinase inhibitory region of the SOCS1 and SOCS3 (denoted as R9-SOCS1-KIR and R9-SOCS3-KIR) and tested them in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells and in macrophage cell lines. SOCS-KIR peptides exhibited anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-angiogenic properties. In cell culture, both Th1 and Th17 cells were suppressed together with the inhibition of other inflammatory markers. We also observed a decrease in oxidants and a simultaneous rise in neuroprotective and anti-oxidant effectors. In addition, treatment prevented the loss of gap junction proteins and the ensuing drop in transepithelial electrical resistance in RPE cells. When tested in mouse models by eye drop instillation, they showed protection against autoimmune uveitis, as a prophylactic as well as a therapeutic. Mice with endotoxin-induced uveitis were protected by eye drop administration as well. R9-SOCS3-KIR was particularly effective against the pathways acting through STAT3, e.g. IL-6 and VEGF-A mediated responses that lead to macular degeneration. Eye drop administration of R9-SOCS3-KIR stimulated production of antioxidant effectors and reduced clinical symptoms in mouse model of oxidative stress that replicates the RPE injury occurring in AMD. Because these peptides suppress multiple pathogenic stimuli and because they can be delivered topically to the cornea, they are attractive candidates for therapeutics for uveitis, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of an intervention program based on the PROSPER, a comprehensive framework which emphasises the importance of "positivity," "relationships," "outcome," "strength," "purpose," "engagement," and "resilience" in pre-service teachers' well-being in Hong Kong. Participants were pre-service pre-school teachers (N = 77) who participated in a 1-month randomised control trial with four intervention workshops. They were randomly assigned to either intervention (n = 40) or wait-list control conditions (n = 37). A survey with measures that assessed PROSPER well-being components was administered to participants before and after the intervention. Findings of repeated measures "MANCOVA" revealed no significant time x group interaction effect, Wilks' Lambda "F"(7, 50) = 1.66, p = 0.14, [eta-squared] = 0.19. Results of univariate analyses showed that a significant time x group interaction effect existed in relationship component ([eta-squared] = 0.08), indicating that the intervention was effective in facilitating pre-service pre-school teachers' positive relationships with their peers. Findings underscore the potential benefits of designing positive psychological interventions for teachers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using 32 hens from two turkey lines; broad-breasted bronze (BBB) and bourbon red (BR), this study assessed how plumage colour affects egg production and physiological functions during (26-40) weeks of observation. A total of 32 hens, namely 16 hens from the BBB line and 16 hens from the BR line, were bred from 26 weeks up to 40 weeks of age. According to our results, BBB line significantly (p≤0.05) outperformed BR line in terms of body weight at first egg production, feed intake, and yolk diameter during the study period. A significantly (p≤0.05) higher feed conversion ratio, an increased egg mass, a higher production rate of hen-day eggs, and a higher rate of albumen was achieved by the BR line. It is, however, noteworthy that the age at first egg production, the egg weight, the egg mass, the yolk weight, the yolk percentage, the albumen weight, the shell weight percentage, the egg shell thickness, width, and length, the shape index, yolk height and yolk index were not significantly (p≥0.05) different between the two lines at 24 and 36 weeks of age. The levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) were not significantly (p≥0.05) different between the two lines at 24 and 36 weeks of age when eggs were produced. Both turkey lines presented in the current study can potentially be raised in Iraq, as well as used as hens to produce hatching eggs and for genetic improvement.

This study aimed to develop and validate a new measurement tool, the Rehabilitation Adherence Inventory (RAI), to measure patients’ rehabilitation adherence. We recruited 236 patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures from the United Kingdom (Mage = 33.58 ± 10.03, range = 18 to 59; female = 46.2%). Participants completed a survey, that measured their rehabilitation adherence, rehabilitation volume, psychological needs support, autonomous motivation, and intention at baseline, and at the 2nd and 4th month. Factorial, convergent, discriminant, concurrent, predictive, ecological validity and test–retest reliability of the RAI were tested via exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modelling (SEM). All the EFAs, CFAs, and SEMs yielded acceptable to excellent goodness-of-fit, χ2 = 10.51 to 224.12, df = 9 to 161, CFI > 0.95, TLI > 0.95, RMSEA

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the extent of current e-learning uptake in Tanzanian universities. The quantitative approach involving survey design was adopted in the collection of data. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 400 respondents, with a rate of return 85.5%. The average reliability of variables 0.949 was determined using Cronbach's Alpha. Fuzzy Logic model and t-test were adopted for data analysis. The findings revealed that the average extent of current e-learning uptake among students and academicians were less than half of threshold amounting to 50% (i.e. level of awareness was 16%, availability was 20.6%, accessibility was 17%, attitude was 15% as variables used). There was no statistically significant difference in e-learning uptake among students and academicians as the value of p > 0.05. The findings of this study established a base ground and guidelines to inform the e-learning stakeholders and policymakers to find and establish suitable policy as well as mechanism to adopt and encourage sustainable use of e-learning systems for life-long teaching and learning. The originality of this study is based on the addition of new variables and methodologies employed as empirical evidence based on the extent of e-learning uptake in Tanzanian universities.

Hidden-color configurations are a key prediction of QCD with important physical consequences. In this work we examine a QCD color-singlet configuration in nuclei formed by combining six scalar [ud] diquarks in a strongly bound SU(3)C channel. The resulting hexadiquark state is a charge-2, spin-0, baryon number-4, isospin-0, color-singlet state. It contributes to alpha clustering in light nuclei and to the additional binding energy not saturated by ordinary nuclear forces in He4 as well as the alpha-nuclei sequence of interest for nuclear astrophysics. We show that the strongly bound combination of six scalar isospin-0 [ud] diquarks within the nuclear wave function - relative to free nucleons - provides a natural explanation of the EMC effect measured by the CLAS collaboration's comparison of nuclear parton distribution function ratios for a large range of nuclei. These experiments confirmed that the EMC effect; i.e., the distortion of quark distributions within nuclei, is dominantly identified with the dynamics of neutron-proton (“isophobic”) short-range correlations within the nuclear wave function rather than proton-proton or neutron-neutron correlations.

AbstractGrape farming is a significant part of agricultural production in the central region of Dodoma and contributes tremendously to improving the livelihood of farmers. Smallholder farmers in Tanzania have been encouraged to use mobile phones for agricultural purposes. Regrettably, the involvement does not replicate how the use of mobile phones influences access to agricultural marketing information. It is, therefore, imperatively important to examine factors influencing the use of mobile phones for accessing agricultural marketing information by grape smallholder farmers in Dodoma. The study used a descriptive cross-sectional research design and a sample size of 400 grape smallholder farmers. A well-structured questionnaire and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were employed to solicit primary data. Descriptive, binary logistic regression, and thematic approaches aided data analysis. The most commonly accessed agricultural marketing information were buyers and price information. Socio-demographic factors such as sex, age, marital status, and education influenced the use of mobile phones for accessing agricultural marketing information by grape smallholder farmers. The study therefore, recommends that training programs be tailored to creating more knowledge on the use of mobile phones for accessing agricultural marketing information.

Abstract Background Cancer‐associated fibroblasts (CAFs), integral to the tumour microenvironment, are pivotal in cancer progression, exhibiting either pro‐tumourigenic or anti‐tumourigenic functions. Their inherent phenotypic and functional diversity allows for the subdivision of CAFs into various subpopulations. While several classification systems have been suggested for different cancer types, a unified molecular classification of CAFs on a single‐cell pan‐cancer scale has yet to be established. Methods We employed a comprehensive single‐cell transcriptomic atlas encompassing 12 solid tumour types. Our objective was to establish a novel molecular classification and to elucidate the evolutionary trajectories of CAFs. We investigated the functional profiles of each CAF subtype using Single‐Cell Regulatory Network Inference and Clustering and single‐cell gene set enrichment analysis. The clinical relevance of these subtypes was assessed through survival curve analysis. Concurrently, we employed multiplex immunofluorescence staining on tumour tissues to determine the dynamic changes of CAF subtypes across different tumour stages. Additionally, we identified the small molecule procyanidin C1 (PCC1) as a target for matrix‐producing CAF (matCAF) using molecular docking techniques and further validated these findings through in vitro and in vivo experiments. Results In our investigation of solid tumours, we identified four molecular clusters of CAFs: progenitor CAF (proCAF), inflammatory CAF (iCAF), myofibroblastic CAF (myCAF) and matCAF, each characterised by distinct molecular traits. This classification was consistently applicable across all nine studied solid tumour types. These CAF subtypes displayed unique evolutionary pathways, functional roles and clinical relevance in various solid tumours. Notably, the matCAF subtype was associated with poorer prognoses in several cancer types. The targeting of matCAF using the identified small molecule, PCC1, demonstrated promising antitumour activity. Conclusions Collectively, the various subtypes of CAFs, particularly matCAF, are crucial in the initiation and progression of cancer. Focusing therapeutic strategies on targeting matCAF in solid tumours holds significant potential for cancer treatment.

Background: Old age and nutrition have become a Global challenge. Inadequate dietary intake arises mostly as a result of physiological changes which contribute to malnutrition. Studies conducted in India focused mainly on the Nutritional Status of Infants and Pregnant women, leaving out this important age group which is also vulnerable to malnutrition. The focus of this study was to find out the dietary diversity and its association with nutritional status among the rural elderly. Materials and Methods: This study was a community-based cross-sectional study conducted among 200 elderly participants from twelve selected villages in Chengalpattu district by multistage random sampling. A semi-structured questionnaire obtained from the Food and Agricultural Organization was used to find out Dietary Diversity. Nutritional status was assessed by the Mini Nutrition Assessment tool and Anthropometric indices. The collected data was analysed using SPSS version 21. Results: The mean dietary diversity score was 7.2±1.8. 37% of respondents with dietary diversity scores below the mean value were considered to have Inadequate dietary diversity while 63 % consume diverse diets. Nutritional assessment based on WHO BMI standards revealed undernutrition among 21.5% of respondents while 60% were of normal weight. Chi-square revealed a statistically significant association between Dietary Diversity and Nutritional status (p value=0.000) Conclusion: The present study found that most study participants were consuming a diverse diet and those subjects with better dietary diversity scores had their Body Mass Index in the normal range. This indicates that adequate dietary diversity can contribute to the attainment of optimum nutritional status.