Search Results (6)

(1) Background: Society’s shift to a tech-focused era and has created a hyper-connected, sedentary lifestyle. The purpose of this study is to address two objectives: firstly, to describe and analyze the effects of an active breaks program associated with the learning of curricular content (CF-AB) on levels of attention, concentration, and academic performance (AP); secondly, to examine the relationship between intense physical activity (PA), attention, concentration, academic self-concept, basic psychological needs, and academic performance in schoolchildren who practice CF-ABs. (2) Method: A randomized controlled trial quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test study with a non-probabilistic sample included 313 secondary school students divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention, a curricular-focused academic break (CF-AB) (8 weeks, 5–10 min/session), is taken in the middle of the class and linked with the subject content. Measuring instruments: Attention Test D2, ad hoc test for the AP, self-concept AF5, Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Scale in General (BNSG-S), and the Global PA Questionnaire (GPAC.V2). (3) Results: Attention and concentration improved in both groups, with no significant differences. There were no significant differences in academic self-concept, but the intervention group showed higher scores in basic psychological needs. AP correlated positively with concentration, academic self-concept, and physical activity. A proportion of 20% of the variance of AP in spelling is explained by the regression model. Students who improved the most in AP practiced intense PA outside school, with good self-concept and satisfactory social relationships. Although concentration was related to AP, it did not explain the improvement. (4) Conclusion: CF-ABs may have a positive impact on attention and AP, with socioemotional factors and PA playing an important role in this effect. (5) Limitations and Future Research: The relationship between PA performed in class and AP should be considered with caution due to the multifactorial nature of AP. Future research should consider the number of sessions per week, the prolongation of the same during the school year, the intensity and duration of the activity, and the intervention type of active breaks. In addition, attention should be paid to possible incident factors in AP related to personal and social variables. Full article

Psychological issues have a complex and multidimensional impact on a college athlete’s training and performance. As the reserve talent of competitive sports, it is very important to investigate the psychological health of athletes. This study aims to explore the association between generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), basic psychological needs (BPN), and mental health (MH) among Chinese college athletes. Chinese college athletes who were willing to participate in the study, had participated in national competitions, and had a Chinese athlete rating certificate were included in this study. Participants completed the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), and the Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale (BNSG-S). The study involved 665 college athletes (415 males and 250 females), with an average age of 20.43 years (SD = 1.68). We performed descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and moderated chain mediation analyses using SPSS 22.0 and Hayes’ PROCESS macro. The results of the final model showed that basic psychological needs were positively correlated with mental health (r = 0.443, p < 0.001), while PTSD (r = −0.346, p < 0.001) and generalized anxiety disorder (r = −0.527, p < 0.001) were negatively correlated with mental health among college athletes. There were significant indirect impacts. According to the bootstrapping results, basic psychological needs and generalized anxiety disorder played a mediating role in 22.54% and 50.29% of the total effects of PTSD on mental health, respectively. Meanwhile, the chain mediating effect of basic psychological needs and generalized anxiety disorder (7.23%) was also significant. The study’s findings advance our understanding of the connections between PTSD and mental health and highlight the significant roles played by basic psychological needs and generalized anxiety disorder in that link among Chinese college athletes. Full article

Turnip yellows virus (TuYV), is one of the most important pathogens of oilseed rape, which has caused enormous yield losses in all growing regions of the world in recent years. Therefore, there is a need for resistant varieties for sustainable crop protection. We have investigated the resistance of known varieties and newly developed advanced-breeding lines of oilseed rape to TuYV in greenhouse and field trials. We have analysed the TuYV titre of individual genotypes inoculated with the virus using viruliferous aphids Myzus persicae. The genotypes ‘DK Temptation’ and ‘Rescator’ had the lowest and highest virus titres, respectively, and were used as resistant and susceptible models for comparative analyses with other genotypes. In the greenhouse, the best results were obtained with the genotypes ‘OP-8143 DH’ (2.94 × 10⁵ copies), OP-BN-72 (3.29 × 10⁵ copies), ‘Navajo’ (3.58 × 10⁵ copies) and ‘SG-C 21215’ (4.09 × 10⁵ copies), which reached virus titres about 2 times higher than the minimum virus concentration measured in ‘DK Temptation’ (1.80 × 10⁵ copies). In the field trials, the genotypes ‘Navajo’ (3.39 × 10⁵ copies), ‘OP-8148 DH’ (4.44 × 10⁵ copies), ‘SG-C 21215’ (6.80 × 10⁵ copies) and OP-8480 (7.19 × 10⁵ copies) had the lowest virus titres and reached about 3 times the virus titre of DK Temptation (2.54 × 10⁵ copies). Both trials showed that at least two commercial varieties (e.g., DK Temptation, Navajo) and three advanced breeding lines (e.g., OP-8143 DH, OP-BN-72, SG-C 21215) had low titres of the virus after TuYV infection. This indicates a high level of resistance to TuYV in ‘Navajo’ or the newly developed breeding lines and the basis of resistance is probably different from R54 (as in ‘DK Temptation’). Furthermore, the greenhouse trials together with RT -qPCR-based virus titre analysis could be a cost-effective and efficient method to assess the level of resistance of a given genotype to TuYV infection compared to the field trials. However, further research is needed to identify the underlying mechanisms causing this difference in susceptibility. Full article

The characterization of vineyard soil is a key issue for crop management, which directly affects the quality and yield of grapes. However, traditional laboratory analysis of soil properties is tedious and both time and cost consuming, which is not suitable for precision viticulture. For this reason, a fast and convenient soil characterization technique is needed for soil quality assessment and precision soil management. Here, spectroscopy appears as a suitable alternative to assist laboratory analysis. This work focuses on estimating soil properties by spectroscopy. Our study was carried out using 96 soil samples collected from three vineyards in Rias Baixas Designation of Origen (Galicia, Spain). The soils that were characterized include nitrogen (N), organic matter (OM) and clay content (Clay). The presented work compared two regression techniques (partial least squares (PLSR) and random forest (RF)) and four spectral ranges: visible—VIS (350–700 nm), near infrared—NIR (701–1000 nm), short wave infrared—SWIR (1001–2500 nm) and VIS-NIR-SWIR (350–2500 nm) in order to identify the more suitable prediction models. Moreover, the effect of pre-treatments in reflectance data (smoothing Svitzky–Golay, SG, baseline normalization, BN, first derivative, FD, standard normal variate, SNV, logarithm of 1/reflectance or spectroscopy (SP) and detrending, SNV-D) was evaluated. Finally, continuous maps of the soil properties were created based on estimated values of regression models. Our results identified PLSR as the best regression technique, with less computation time than RF. The data improved after applying transformation in reflectance data, with the best results from spectroscopy pre-treatment (logarithm of 1/Reflectance). PLSR performances have obtained determination coefficients (R²) of 0.69, 0.73 and 0.52 for nitrogen, organic matter, and clay, respectively, with acceptable accuracy (RMSE: 0.03, 1.06 and 2.90 %) in a short time. Furthermore, the mapping of soil vineyards generates information of high interest for the precision viticulture management, as well as a comparison between the methodologies used. Full article

Targeted genome editing is a desirable means of basic science and crop improvement. The clustered, regularly interspaced, palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 (CRISPR-associated 9) system is currently the simplest and most commonly used system in targeted genomic editing in plants. Single and multiplex genome editing in plants can be achieved under this system. In Arabidopsis, AtWRKY11 and AtWRKY70 genes were involved in JA- and SA-induced resistance to pathogens, in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), BnWRKY11 and BnWRKY70 genes were found to be differently expressed after inoculated with the pathogenic fungus, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary. In this study, two Cas9/sgRNA constructs targeting two copies of BnWRKY11 and four copies of BnWRKY70 were designed to generate BnWRKY11 and BnWRKY70 mutants respectively. As a result, twenty-two BnWRKY11 and eight BnWRKY70 independent transformants (T₀) were obtained, with the mutation ratios of 54.5% (12/22) and 50% (4/8) in BnWRKY11 and BnWRKY70 transformants respectively. Eight and two plants with two copies of mutated BnWRKY11 and BnWRKY70 were obtained respectively. In T₁ generation of each plant examined, new mutations on target genes were detected with high efficiency. The vast majority of BnWRKY70 mutants showed editing in three copies of BnWRKY70 in examined T₁ plants. BnWRKY70 mutants exhibited enhanced resistance to Sclerotinia, while BnWRKY11 mutants showed no significant difference in Sclerotinia resistance when compared to non-transgenic plants. In addition, plants that overexpressed BnWRKY70 showed increased sensitivity when compared to non-transgenic plants. Altogether, our results demonstrated that BnWRKY70 may function as a regulating factor to negatively control the Sclerotinia resistance and CRISPR/Cas9 system could be used to generate germplasm in B. napus with high resistance against Sclerotinia. Full article

Virus diseases greatly affect oilseed rape (Brassica napus) production. Investigating antiviral genes may lead to the development of disease-resistant varieties of oilseed rape. In this study, we examined the effects of the suppressor of gene silencing 3 in Brassica napus (BnSGS3, a putative antiviral gene) with different genus viruses by constructing BnSGS3-overexpressing (BnSGS3-Ov) and BnSGS3-silenced (BnSGS3-Si) oilseed rape (cv. Zhongshuang No. 6) plants. These three viruses are Oilseed rape mosaic virus (ORMV), Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). The native BnSGS3 expressed in all examined tissues with the highest expression in siliques. All three viruses induced BnSGS3 expression, but ORMV induced a dramatic increase in the BnSGS3-Ov plants, followed by TuMV and CMV. Upon inoculation with three different viruses, transcript abundance of BnSGS3 gene follows: BnSGS3-Ov > non-transgenic plants > BnSGS3-Si. The accumulation quantities of ORMV and TuMV exhibited a similar trend. However, CMV accumulation showed an opposite trend where virus accumulations were negatively correlated with BnSGS3 expression. The results suggest that BnSGS3 selectively inhibits CMV accumulation but promotes ORMV and TuMV accumulation. BnSGS3 should be used in different ways (up- and down-regulation) for breeding virus-resistant oilseed rape varieties. Full article