Improving applications of a design-comparable effect size in single-case designs.

g is a design-comparable effect size that has been recommended by the What Works Clearinghouse since 2020 to assess an intervention effect in single-case studies and for meta-analyses. Yet, no research has systematically studied how g's performance could be impacted by its non-convergence, and how g's non-convergence and performance could be improved by increasing the case size (m) and measurement size (N). This study expanded on the work of Pustejovsky et al.

How gratitude and admiration differently enhance sustainable consumer behavior.

Prior research indicates that various emotions linked to distinct values can result in unique consumer behaviors. The research is based on the discrete emotion theory, human value theory, and the theory of emotional-value consistency. It uses the experimental method to explore the influence of two completely different positive emotions, gratitude and admiration, on consumers' willingness to engage in sustainable behaviors.

Psychological distress and obesity risk among U.S. college students: Social context and lifestyle behaviors of diet, physical activity, and sleep.

The unique social context of college predisposes students to higher level of psychological distress that affects their health behaviors and obesity risk. This study examined social context, lifestyle behaviors of diet, physical activity, and sleep in the association between psychological distress and BMI. Participants from a large public university in Southern California ( = 690, 70.

Enhanced negative modulation of urotensin II on cardiac function and [Ca] regulation in a diabetic rat model: Insights into molecular and cellular mechanisms.

The direct cardiac effects of urotensin II (UII) in normal and diabetic subjects remain controversial. The alteration and functional significance of cardiac UII/UII receptor (UT) in diabetes are still unclear. We assessed the hypothesis that in diabetes, the cardiomyocyte UII/UT system is increased.

Assessing pediatric visual acuity with a computerized optokinetic nystagmus analyzer.

Objectives: To investigate the practicality, accuracy, and consistency of a computer-based Optokinetic Nystagmus (OKN) analyzer for vision diagnosis in preschoolers.

Design: A comparative study evaluating the performance of a computerized OKN analyzer against the traditional E-word visual acuity chart in assessing visual acuity in preschool children.

Participants: A total of 138 children aged 2 to 6 years were enrolled in the study, divided into five age groups: 2 years (29 children), 3 years (27 children), 4 years (28 children), 5 years (28 children), and 6 years (26 children).

Effects of social comparison on variety-seeking behavior: the roles of lack of perceived control and self-reflection.

Background: Social comparison, especially upward social comparison, has always been a common concern and experience in people's lives. Although social comparison and its consequences have been extensively studied in previous literature, few scholars have paid attention to its influencing mechanism and boundary conditions on the compensatory consumption of variety-seeking.

Objective: This study used experimental methods to investigate whether social comparison is related to variety-seeking behavior, and to explore the mediating role of lack of perceived control and the moderating role of self-reflection.

Harnessing Virtual Reality to Influence Attitudes Toward Beef Consumption: The Role of Empathy in Dietary Interventions.

The excessive consumption of red meat, such as beef, is a growing global health concern linked to increased risks of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The health consequences associated with red meat consumption were estimated to cost USD 285 billion globally in 2020, accounting for approximately 0.3% of total health expenditures that year.

Functional analysis of ESRP1/2 gene variants and CTNND1 isoforms in orofacial cleft pathogenesis.

Orofacial cleft (OFC) is a common human congenital anomaly. Epithelial-specific RNA splicing regulators ESRP1 and ESRP2 regulate craniofacial morphogenesis and their disruption result in OFC in zebrafish, mouse and humans. Using esrp1/2 mutant zebrafish and murine Py2T cell line models, we functionally tested the pathogenicity of human ESRP1/2 gene variants.

Preliminary study on the computer-based optokinetic nystagmus analyzer to detect the visual acuity of preschool children.

The purpose of this study is to examine the viability, precision, and consistency of a computer-based optokinetic nystagmus analyzer (nystagmus meter) for diagnosing eyesight in preschoolers. A total of 59 subjects who could pass the log of minimum angle of resolution (LogMAR) visual acuity chart were divided into three groups by age, 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old groups, and their visual acuity was tested with nystagmus meter. The percentage of children in each age group that could be detected by nystagmus was recorded along with the differences between these groups.

Increased CaMKII activation and contrast changes of cardiac β1-and β3-Adrenergic signaling pathways in a humanized angiotensinogen model of hypertension.

Aims: Upregulation of Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) contributes to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease, including hypertension. Transgenic rats expressing the human angiotensinogen gene [TGR (hAGT)L1623] are a new novel humanized model of hypertension that associates with declines in cardiac contractile function and β-adrenergic receptor (AR) reserve. The molecular mechanisms are unclear.

Latent profile analysis of adolescent temperament: Relations to happiness and health in adulthood.

Introduction: This study provides long-term evidence that profiles of temperament during adolescence are associated with happiness and health over two decades later.

Methods: Data are based on the ongoing Fullerton Longitudinal Study, a community-based sample in the United States. At 14 and 16 years, adolescents (N = 111; 52% male, 90% Euro-American) and their mothers (N = 105) completed the Dimensions of Temperament Survey-Revised, a scale designed specifically to assess adolescents' temperament across a set of attributes.

Examining the normality assumption of a design-comparable effect size in single-case designs.

What Works Clearinghouse (WWC, 2022) recommends a design-comparable effect size (D-CES; i.e., g) to gauge an intervention in single-case experimental design (SCED) studies, or to synthesize findings in meta-analysis.

Racial/ethnic and gender disparities in perceived stress and physical activity in college.

The beginning of college marks a decline in physical activity and racial/ethnic minorities have disproportionately lower rates of physical activity. This study examined the association between perceived stress and physical activity among an ethnically diverse sample of college-attending young adults. 2,396 students (36% male, 64% female) from a large public university.

Exploring the Antiovarian Cancer Mechanisms of Salvia Miltiorrhiza Bunge by Network Pharmacological Analysis and Molecular Docking.

Background: Ovarian cancer was one of the gynecological malignant tumors. Bunge (SMB) was a kind of herbal medicine with an antitumor effect. However, the inhibitory effect of SMB on ovarian cancer and its potential mechanism were still unclear.

Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II activation promotes kidney mesangial expansion in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice.

Calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is upregulated in diabetes mellitus (DM), leading to the overproduction of collagen in the myocardium. We hypothesized that CaMKII plays a role in the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Streptozotocin (STZ) injection into FVB wild-type mice led to mild mesangial matrix expansion, reproducing an essential feature of early human DN.

Positive family relationships across 30 years: Predicting adult health and happiness.

In this prospective study, we examined the link between positive family relationships during childhood and adolescence and health and happiness three decades later in middle adulthood. We also investigated the stability of positive family relationships into adulthood as one possible pathway underlying this long-term association. Data were from the Fullerton Longitudinal Study (FLS) an ongoing investigation in the United States initiated in 1979 when children were aged 1 year with the most recent data collected in 2017.

Ionic Signal Enhancement by the Space Charge Effect through the DNA Rolling Circle Amplification on the Outer Surface of Nanochannels.

DNA species are recognized as a powerful probe for nanochannel analyses to address the issues of specific target recognition and highly efficient signal conversion due to their programmable and predictable Watson-Crick bases. However, in the conventional view, abundant sophisticated DNA structures synthesized by DNA amplification strategies are unsuitable for use in nanochannel analyses owing to their low probability to enter a nanochannel restricted by the smaller opening of the nanochannel, as well as the faint ion signal produced by the steric effect. Here, we present an integrated strategy of nanochannel analyses that combines the target recognitions by encoded rolling circle amplification (RCA) in solution and the ionic signal enhancement by the space charge effect through the immobilization of highly negative-charged RCA amplicons on the outer surface of the nanochannels.

Chronic GPR30 agonist therapy causes restoration of normal cardiac functional performance in a male mouse model of progressive heart failure: Insights into cellular mechanisms.

Aims: G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 30 (GPR30) activation by its agonist, G1, exhibits beneficial actions in female with heart failure (HF). Recent evidence indicates its cardiovascular benefits may also include male as well. However, whether and how GPR30 activation may limit HF progression and have a salutary role in males is unknown.

Regional and functional division of functional elements of solid-state nanochannels for enhanced sensitivity and specificity of biosensing in complex matrices.

Solid-state nanochannels (SSNs) provide a promising approach for biosensing due to the confinement of molecules inside, their great mechanical strength and diversified surface chemical properties; however, until now, their sensitivity and specificity have not satisfied the practical requirements of sensing applications, especially in complex matrices, i.e., media of diverse constitutions.

Size and density adjustment of nanostructures in nanochannels for screening performance improvement.

Biomimetic solid-state nanochannel/nanopore with flexible geometric structures, mechanical robustness and multifunctional surfaces have attracted extensive attention in separation, catalysis, drug delivery and other fields. Nanostructures have been introduced in nanoconfines to compress substances passthrough for high-efficient screening. However, precise controls of the nanostructure's growth in nanoconfines is rare.

The Angiotensin-(1-12)/Chymase axis as an alternate component of the tissue renin angiotensin system.

The identification of an alternate extended form of angiotensin I composed of the first twelve amino acids at the N-terminal of angiotensinogen has generated new knowledge of the importance of noncanonical mechanisms for renin independent generation of angiotensins. The human sequence of the dodecapeptide angiotensin-(1-12) [N-Asp-Arg-Val-Tyr-Ile-His-Pro-Phe-His-Leu-Va-Ile-COOH] is an endogenous substrate that in the rat has been documented to be present in multiple organs including the heart, brain, kidney, gut, adrenal gland, and the bone marrow. Newer studies have confirmed the existence of Ang-(1-12) as an Ang II-forming substrate in the blood and heart of normal and diseased patients.

Unique Epigenetic Programming Distinguishes Regenerative Spermatogonial Stem Cells in the Developing Mouse Testis.

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) both self-renew and give rise to progenitors that initiate spermatogenic differentiation in the mammalian testis. Questions remain regarding the extent to which the SSC and progenitor states are functionally distinct. Here we provide the first multiparametric integrative analysis of mammalian germ cell epigenomes comparable with that done for >100 somatic cell types by the ENCODE Project.

Psychological distress, social context, and gender patterns in obesity among a multiethnic sample of U.S. college students.

The growing prevalence of obesity among college students is a major public health issue, as over one-third are overweight or obese. This study used gender-stratified multivariate analyses to examine psychological distress and social contextual factors as key determinants of obesity. Students of a large public university in Southern California (N = 2392).

Female Heart Health: Is GPER the Missing Link?

The G Protein-Coupled Estrogen Receptor (GPER) is a novel membrane-bound receptor that mediates non-genomic actions of the primary female sex hormone 17β-estradiol. Studies over the past two decades have elucidated the beneficial actions of this receptor in a number of cardiometabolic diseases. This review will focus specifically on the cardiac actions of GPER, since this receptor is expressed in cardiomyocytes as well as other cells within the heart and most likely contributes to estrogen-induced cardioprotection.