Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences最新文献

Cultural engagement (e.g., going to live music events and theater performances, museums, galleries and exhibitions, and the cinema) is longitudinally associated in repeated epidemiological studies with age-related mental and physical health outcomes. However, it is unclear whether it also influences how fast older adults age physiologically-so-called age acceleration. This study aimed to ascertain whether regular cultural engagement among older adults is related to slower physiological aging using a previously derived physiological age index and a doubly robust estimation approach to account for confounders. Using older adults from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (n = 4467), we found that cultural engagement was related to lower physiological age cross-sectionally (average treatment effect -2.17; 95% CI -3.48 to -0.86) and 4 and 8 years later. The effect was seen consistently for all three types of cultural activity explored (cultural performances, museums/exhibitions, and the cinema). These analyses were robust to multiple sensitivity analyses, including considering alternative confounding structures, outliers, and treatment specification. Overall, these findings provide insight into how cultural engagement may be related to processes of aging.

Self-supervised learning (SSL) can capture intrinsic features from extensive unlabeled data, significantly reducing dependence on labels and performing well in human activity recognition (HAR). However, existing SSL frameworks depend excessively on data augmentation paradigms, and often mistakenly treat noise as learning objectives during mask reconstruction. Moreover, the data set scale often constrains accuracy and hinders real-world applicability. To address these issues, this paper proposes a new SSL objective that integrates an attention mechanism with an adaptive time series mixer. Without relying on data augmentation, the proposed model assigns lower weights to noise for capturing the global dependencies and extracting the local feature within inertial measurement unit (IMU) series. The proposed model was validated through comprehensive evaluations of three public data sets (UCI, Motion, and HHAR) and one self-collected data set (named CQJTU-FCE). The experimental results fully demonstrate that, on the self-collected data set, the proposed model achieves an average improvement of 6.54%, 8.55%, and 7.88% in accuracy, F1 score, and Cohen's kappa coefficient, respectively, compared with the baseline models. Similarly, on the public data sets, the average enhancements reached 10.63%, 11.77%, and 13.39% across the same evaluation metrics. These results confirm the generalizability of the model to various data sets, offering a more efficient and reliable solution for HAR tasks.

Courtship is often viewed as a linear process where males display and female assessment of this display shapes her mating decisions. However, communication can be far more dynamic and interactive, particularly in species that develop long-term relationships. Interactional complexity is not well captured by traditional models of animal communication. Here, we tested whether interactional elements shape female preferences in the monogamous zebra finch. We used selective calling as a measure of female preference. First, we asked whether females' most-preferred song (based on passive song playback) matched her most-preferred male (based on a live interaction). We found a mismatch in the preferences for song versus live males, and female preferences for a live male did not appear to be linked to how much he sang. Next, to experimentally manipulate male responsiveness, we habituated females to the song of their most-preferred or least-preferred male. This song habituation caused females to change their preferences differently depending on whether they were habituated to their most- or least-preferred male. Together, these results highlight that additional interactional elements, beyond male song, impact female social preferences. More broadly, our results contribute to growing evidence that models of communication should incorporate interactional and distributed elements.

Recent advances in the diagnosis and management of reflux disease were the central focus of the inaugural Gatherings in Esophagology (GiE), which convened experts across gastroenterology, surgery, otolaryngology, pulmonology, and basic research. The sessions highlighted innovations in reflux monitoring-including high-resolution manometry, wireless pH monitoring, and novel salivary biomarkers-while critically evaluating their diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility. Presentations explored the limitations of traditional proton-pump inhibitor therapy, the emergence of potassium-competitive acid blockers as a new class of acid suppressants, and the evolving role of adjunctive treatments such as mucosal protectants, reflux reducers, and neuromodulators for refractory symptoms. The discourse extended to advanced interventional procedures, including transoral incisionless fundoplication, magnetic sphincter augmentation, and the RefluxStop device, with discussion of patient selection, efficacy, and complication management. Discussants emphasized the pathophysiology and management of extraesophageal manifestations of reflux, the interplay between reflux and pulmonary disease, and the diagnostic challenges in pediatric populations. The meeting also addressed the integration of behavioral therapies, the role of the microbiome, and the application of artificial intelligence in reflux diagnostics. Collectively, these insights underscore a shift toward precision medicine in reflux disease, emphasizing individualized diagnostic strategies and tailored therapeutic approaches to improve patient outcomes.

This study explored how meridian, eccentricity, contrast, and age influence the development of central and peripheral visual acuity (VA) in 37 children (aged 4-12)-divided into three groups-and eight adults. Psychophysical methods were used to measure VA using Lea symbols at contrast levels of 40% and 80%, measured at the fovea and at eccentricities of 2°, 4°, 6°, and 8° along the superior, inferior, right, and left meridians. The results showed that children aged 6 to <8 years had already achieved adult-like VA performance at both central and peripheral locations across contrast levels. At 40% contrast, younger children (4 to <6 years) showed significantly lower VA, especially at the fovea and across eccentricities. The analyses revealed better VA along the horizontal meridian relative to the vertical meridian, and superior meridian performance relative to the inferior meridian, with these asymmetries becoming more pronounced with age. Although the results indicated significant differences between the right and left meridians, post-hoc analyses identified such differences only in a few conditions. Overall, the findings demonstrate that the development of VA is influenced by the interaction of meridional orientation, eccentricity, contrast, and age, highlighting an age-related increase in visual field asymmetry.