Birds exhibit extraordinary mobility and remarkable navigational skills,obtaining guidance cues from the Earth’s magnetic field for orientation and long-distance movement.Bird species also show tremendous diversity i...Birds exhibit extraordinary mobility and remarkable navigational skills,obtaining guidance cues from the Earth’s magnetic field for orientation and long-distance movement.Bird species also show tremendous diversity in navigation strategies,with considerable differences even within the same taxa and among individuals from the same population.The highly conserved iron and iron-sulfur cluster binding magnetoreceptor(MagR)protein is suggested to enable animals,including birds,to detect the geomagnetic field and navigate accordingly.Notably,MagR is also implicated in other functions,such as electron transfer and biogenesis of iron-sulfur clusters,raising the question of whether variability exists in its biochemical and biophysical features among species,particularly birds.In the current study,we conducted a comparative analysis of MagR from two different bird species,including the migratory European robin(Erithacus rubecula)and the homing pigeon(Columba livia).Sequence alignment revealed an extremely high degree of similarity between the MagRs of these species,with only three sequence variations.Nevertheless,two of these variations underpinned significant differences in metal binding capacity,oligomeric state,and magnetic properties.These findings offer compelling evidence for the marked differences in MagR between the two avian species,potentially explaining how a highly conserved protein can mediate such diverse functions.展开更多
BACKGROUND Sustaining the mental health of autistic children’s parents can be demanding.AIM To determine the effect of remote support courses on the mental health of parents and the development of autistic children.M...BACKGROUND Sustaining the mental health of autistic children’s parents can be demanding.AIM To determine the effect of remote support courses on the mental health of parents and the development of autistic children.METHODS Parents of 140 autistic children were randomly assigned to two groups receiving a 2-week intervention:The control group received caregiver-mediated intervention(CMI);the experimental group received CMI with remote family psychological support courses(R-FPSC).The Parenting Stress Index-Short Form,Parenting Sense of Competence Scale,Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7,and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 were used to measure parents’mental health.The Childhood Autism Rating Scale and Gesell Developmental Schedules were used to evaluate children’s development.RESULTS Improved parenting stress,sense of competence,depression,and anxiety were found in both groups,but improvements in parenting stress(81.10±19.76 vs 92.10±19.26,P<0.01)and sense of competence(68.83±11.23 vs 63.91±10.86,P<0.01)were greater in the experimental group,although the experimental group showed no significant reduction in depression or anxiety.Children’s development did not differ significantly between the groups at follow-up;however,experimental group parents exhibited a short-term increase in training enthusiasm(12.78±3.16 vs 11.57±3.15,P<0.05).CONCLUSION Integrating R-FPSC with CMI may be effective in reducing parenting stress,enhancing parents’sense of competence,and increasing parents'training enthusiasm.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31640001 and T2350005 to C.X.,U21A20148 to X.Z.and C.X.)Ministry of Science and Technology of China(2021ZD0140300 to C.X.)Presidential Foundation of Hefei Institutes of Physical Science,Chinese Academy of Sciences(Y96XC11131,E26CCG27,and E26CCD15 to C.X.,E36CWGBR24B and E36CZG14132 to T.C.)。
文摘Birds exhibit extraordinary mobility and remarkable navigational skills,obtaining guidance cues from the Earth’s magnetic field for orientation and long-distance movement.Bird species also show tremendous diversity in navigation strategies,with considerable differences even within the same taxa and among individuals from the same population.The highly conserved iron and iron-sulfur cluster binding magnetoreceptor(MagR)protein is suggested to enable animals,including birds,to detect the geomagnetic field and navigate accordingly.Notably,MagR is also implicated in other functions,such as electron transfer and biogenesis of iron-sulfur clusters,raising the question of whether variability exists in its biochemical and biophysical features among species,particularly birds.In the current study,we conducted a comparative analysis of MagR from two different bird species,including the migratory European robin(Erithacus rubecula)and the homing pigeon(Columba livia).Sequence alignment revealed an extremely high degree of similarity between the MagRs of these species,with only three sequence variations.Nevertheless,two of these variations underpinned significant differences in metal binding capacity,oligomeric state,and magnetic properties.These findings offer compelling evidence for the marked differences in MagR between the two avian species,potentially explaining how a highly conserved protein can mediate such diverse functions.
基金Supported by The National Key R and D Program of China,No.2023YFC3604805The Key Scientific and Technological Projects of Guangdong Province,No.2018B030335001Guangzhou Science and Technology Program,No.202007030002.
文摘BACKGROUND Sustaining the mental health of autistic children’s parents can be demanding.AIM To determine the effect of remote support courses on the mental health of parents and the development of autistic children.METHODS Parents of 140 autistic children were randomly assigned to two groups receiving a 2-week intervention:The control group received caregiver-mediated intervention(CMI);the experimental group received CMI with remote family psychological support courses(R-FPSC).The Parenting Stress Index-Short Form,Parenting Sense of Competence Scale,Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7,and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 were used to measure parents’mental health.The Childhood Autism Rating Scale and Gesell Developmental Schedules were used to evaluate children’s development.RESULTS Improved parenting stress,sense of competence,depression,and anxiety were found in both groups,but improvements in parenting stress(81.10±19.76 vs 92.10±19.26,P<0.01)and sense of competence(68.83±11.23 vs 63.91±10.86,P<0.01)were greater in the experimental group,although the experimental group showed no significant reduction in depression or anxiety.Children’s development did not differ significantly between the groups at follow-up;however,experimental group parents exhibited a short-term increase in training enthusiasm(12.78±3.16 vs 11.57±3.15,P<0.05).CONCLUSION Integrating R-FPSC with CMI may be effective in reducing parenting stress,enhancing parents’sense of competence,and increasing parents'training enthusiasm.
