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Backgrounds: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) was reported to be associated with depression; however, its role in coexisting anxiety symptom in young patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) remains unclear. The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between SCH and anxiety symptom in young first-episode and drug-naïve (FEDN) MDD patients. Methods: A total of 520 outpatients diagnosed as FEDN MDD with SCH were recruited in this study. Their socio-demographic, clinical data and thyroid function parameters were collected. The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) were employed to measure the severity of anxiety symptom and depressive symptom, respectively. Based on the HAMA scores, patients who scored ≥ 25 were defined as anxious major depressive disorder (A-MDD) while others as non-anxious major depressive disorder (NA-MDD). Results: The prevalence rate of A-MDD was 15.8% in young FEDN MDD patients with comorbid SCH. Moreover, serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels were significantly higher in patients with A-MDD compared with those with NA-MDD (p < 0.001). Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis indicated that A-MDD was associated with serum TSH levels with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.602. Serum TSH level of 6.17 mIU/L was the critical value to distinguish A-MDD and NA-MDD, with sensitivity of 0.805 and specificity of 0.539. There were no statistically significant differences between NA-MDD and A-MDD patients in terms of socio-demographic variables, serum free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), thyroid peroxidases antibody (TPOAb) and anti-thyroglobulin (TgAb) levels. Conclusions: A-MDD patients presented higher serum TSH level. It is suggested that serumTSH levelmay be a potential biomarker for predictingmoderate and severe anxiety symptoms in young FEDN MDD patients with SCH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) exhibit higher suicide rates than the general population. However, the molecular mechanism responsible for the high rate of suicidal behavior in SCZ remains poorly understood. MTHFR Ala222Val (C677T; rs 1801133) polymorphism has repeatedly demonstrated to play a pathological role in numerous mental disorders, but none of these studies focused on the susceptibility of suicidal behavior in SCZ. In the present cross-sectional study, we recruited 957 chronic inpatients with SCZ and 576 healthy controls to assess the psychopathological symptoms of SCZ and compare the frequency of the MTHFR Ala222Val genotype in both suicide attempters and non-attempters. Our results demonstrated no significant differences in MTHFR Ala222Val genotype and allele distributions between the SCZ patients and controls (p > 0.05), but showed a statistical significance in the distribution of Ala/Val genotype between suicide attempters and non-attempters (p < 0.05). Further logistic regression analysis showed that MTHFR Ala222Val genotype, psychopathological symptoms, number of cigarettes smoked per day and drinking status were related to suicide attempts in SCZ (p < 0.05). Our study demonstrated that MTHFR Ala222Val polymorphism and some clinical characteristics might confer susceptibility to suicide in patients with SCZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of agriculture tourism for the transformation of rural countryside. it mentions development and changes of rural communities are related to changes in rural economics, and increase in economic benefit in response to developmental challenges to rural communities. It also mentions possibilities for local economics and consequences to various aspects of rural communities from tourism-related businesses.

G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) have been implicated in human diseases ranging from heart failure to diabetes. Previous studies have identified several compounds that selectively inhibit GRK2, such as paroxetine and balanol. Far fewer selective inhibitors have been reported for GRK5, a target for the treatment of cardiac hypertrophy, and the mechanism of action of reported compounds is unknown. To identify novel scaffolds that selectively inhibit GRK5, a differential scanning fluorometry screen was used to probe a library of 4480 compounds. The best hit was amlexanox, an FDA-approved anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic immunomodulator. The crystal structure of amlexanox in complex with GRK1 demonstrates that its tricyclic aromatic ring system forms ATP-like interactions with the hinge of the kinase domain, which is likely similar to how this drug binds to IκB kinase ε (IKKε), another kinase known to be inhibited by this compound. Amlexanox was also able to inhibit myocyte enhancer factor 2 transcriptional activity in neonatal rat ventricular myocytes in a manner consistent with GRK5 inhibition. The GRK1 amlexanox structure thus serves as a springboard for the rational design of inhibitors with improved potency and selectivity for GRK5 and IKKε. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The senior tourism market has received increased attention as the importance of this market segment becomes more evident. However, limited efforts have been devoted to understanding psychological aspects of senior tourists. The primary objectives of this research are to investigate seniors' affect and travel motivation as well as interrelationships between these two constructs and to discover the effects of affect and motivation on travel intentions of seniors aged 65 or greater Using Taiwanese seniors as the study sample, the authors identify "novelty seeking" as the most important travel motivation factor from five extracted factors. It is also found that both positive and negative affective states have significant impacts on travel motivations and that only positive affect is significantly related to future travel intention. Among motivation factors, novelty-seeking not only can be stimulated by affect but also amuses travel intention. The findings of this exploratory study provide empirical support to understand psychological aspects of senior travelers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to share a course design of English Conversation and further investigate whether the class is helpful for 5-year Taiwanese college students (mixed genders) in improving their English conversation through critical thinking and writing. This course syllabus displays the instructor's teaching philosophy, course goals, course requirements/assignments, required readings, course schedule, and course activities. Most of the time, four main procedures occupy the whole class. First, students practice making sentences on the basis of a sentence-pattern textbook. Second, students get involved in dialogue-based listening or writing activities, which have been designed to make the class more enjoyable and critical. Third, students watch clips with original dialogues in. Fourth, students feel free to practice these dialogues in pairs, in small groups or in the whole class. Moreover, the mean values of certain relevant course evaluation items indicate the degree to which this course helps the students enhance their literacy in English conversation by dint of critical thinking and writing practice. Also, the positive results of the study are significantly supported by students' reflection papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purposes of this team-based learning classroom venture were to (1) assess students' attitudes toward and satisfaction with team-based learning; (2) compare students' attitudes between self-selected and instructor-assigned teams; and (3) make suggestions for team-based learning in future classes. Attitudes of students in self-selected teams were generally similar to those in the instructor-assigned teams at the end of the semester, although those who were in the instructor-assigned teams were initially more apprehensive toward the teamwork concept. The students' overall positive attitudes and the benefits of team-based learning warrant the use of teams to enhance the classroom experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]