title: PeerJ description: Articles published in PeerJ link: https://peerj.com/articles/index.rss3?journal=peerj&page=660 creator: info@peerj.com PeerJ errorsTo: info@peerj.com PeerJ language: en title: Deteriorated sleep quality and influencing factors among undergraduates in northern Guizhou, China link: https://peerj.com/articles/13833 last-modified: 2022-08-24 description: BackgroundThe sleep quality of undergraduates is considerably worse than that in general population, a cross sectional study was conducted to evaluate sleep quality and identify related factors.MethodsAll participants from the freshmen to senior were recruited by the stratified cluster sampling from December 1, 2018 to January 12, 2019. The questionnaire used in this research was primarily composed of three sections: demographic characteristics, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire and influencing factors of sleep quality. The data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0.ResultsA total of 1,063 valid questionnaires were collected. Among them, 53.7% subjects suffered poor sleep quality. PSQI general score was 5.94 ± 2.73. There were significantly differences in sleep quality in sex, majors and grades. The survey reported that women suffered worse sleep quality than that of men, and medical students suffered worse sleep quality than non-medical students. Meanwhile, it also found that freshmen had better sleep quality than that of sophomores and juniors, sophomores suffered worst sleep quality. The logistic regression analysis showed that bad physical condition (OR (Odds ratio): 2.971 (2.034∼4.339)) and smoking (OR: 1.754 (1.258∼2.446)) were associated with poor sleep quality in males. However, more factors associated with poor sleep quality among females were found, including noisy dormitory environment (OR: 2.025 (1.354-3.030)), skipping breakfast more times per week (OR: 1.332 (1.031∼1.721)), drinking coffee before sleep (OR: 2.111 (1.155∼3.861)), playing with mobile phones for more than 45 minutes before sleep (OR: 1.745 (1.210∼2.515)), more time spent playing games per day (OR: 1.347 (1.048∼1.730)), bad physical condition (OR: 2.507 (1.797-3.497)), and severe academic stress (OR: 1.561 (1.126-2.166)).ConclusionAbout half of college students experienced poor sleep, and poor sleep quality was prevalent in women, medical students, and sophomores. Moreover, there were more risk factors associated with the poor sleep quality of women than with men. Health policymakers should fully consider these factors in improving the sleep quality of college students. creator: Yanna Zhou creator: Shixing Bo creator: Sujian Ruan creator: Qingxue Dai creator: Yingkuan Tian creator: Xiuquan Shi uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13833 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2022 Zhou et al. title: Co-expression network analysis of genes and networks associated with wheat pistillody link: https://peerj.com/articles/13902 last-modified: 2022-08-24 description: Crop male sterility has great value in theoretical research and breeding application. HTS-1, whose stamens transformed into pistils or pistil-like structures, is an important male sterility material selecting from Chinese Spring three-pistil (CSTP) wheat. However the molecular mechanism of pistillody development in HTS-1 remains a mystery. RNA-seq data of 11 wheat tissues were obtained from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), including the stamens of CSTP and the pistils and pistillodic stamen of HTS-1. The Salmon program was utilized to quantify the gene expression levels of the 11 wheat tissues; and gene quantification results were normalized by transcripts per million (TPM). In total, 58,576 genes were used to construct block-wise network by co-expression networks analysis (WGCNA) R package. We obtained all of modules significantly associated with the 11 wheat tissues. AgriGO V2.0 was used to do Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis; and genes and transcription factors (TFs) in these significant modules about wheat pistillody development were identified from GO enrichment results. Basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) was used to align HTS-1 proteins with the published pistillody-related proteins and TFs. Genes about wheat pistillody development were analyzed and validated by qRT-PCR. The MEturquoise, MEsaddlebrown, MEplum, MEcoral1, MElightsteelblue1, and MEdarkslateblue modules were significantly corelated to pistillodic stamen (correlation p < 0.05). Moreover, 206 genes related to carpel development (GO:0048440) or gynoecium development (GO:0048467) were identified only in the MEturquoise module by Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, and 42 of 206 genes were hub genes in MEturquoise module. qRT-PCR results showed that 38 of the 42 hub genes had highly expressed in pistils and pistillodic stamens than in stamens. A total of 15 pistillody development-related proteins were validated by BLAST. Transcription factors (TFs) were also analyzed in the MEturquoise module, and 618 TFs were identified. In total, 56 TFs from 11 families were considered to regulate the development of pistillodic stamen. The co-expression network showed that six of HB and three of BES1 genes were identified in 42 hub genes. This indicated that TFs played important roles in wheat pistillody development. In addition, there were 11 of ethylene-related genes connected with TFs or hub genes, suggesting the important roles of ethylene-related genes in pistillody development. These results provide important insights into the molecular interactions underlying pistillody development. creator: Zhenyong Chen creator: Mingli Liao creator: Zaijun Yang creator: Weiying Chen creator: Shuhong Wei creator: Jian Zou creator: Zhengsong Peng uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13902 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2022 Chen et al. title: Embedding the value of coastal ecosystem services into climate change adaptation planning link: https://peerj.com/articles/13463 last-modified: 2022-08-23 description: Coastal habitats, such as salt marshes and dune systems, can protect communities from hazards by reducing coastline exposure. However, these critical habitats and their diverse ecosystem services are threatened by coastal development and the impacts from a changing climate. Ever increasing pressure on coastal habitats calls for coastal climate adaptation efforts that mitigate or adapt to these pressures in ways that maintain the integrity of coastal landscapes. An important challenge for decisionmakers is determining the best mitigation and adaptation strategies that not only protect human lives and property, but also safeguard the ability of coastal habitats to provide a broad suite of benefits. Here, we present a potential pathway for local-scale climate change adaptation planning through the identification and mapping of natural habitats that provide the greatest benefits to coastal communities. The methodology coupled a coastal vulnerability model with a climate adaptation policy assessment in an effort to identify priority locations for nature-based solutions that reduce vulnerability of critical assets using feasible land-use policy methods. Our results demonstrate the critical role of natural habitats in providing the ecosystem service of coastal protection in California. We found that specific dune habitats play a key role in reducing erosion and inundation of the coastline and that several wetland areas help to absorb energy from storms and provide a protective service for the coast of Marin county, California, USA. Climate change and adaptation planning are globally relevant issues in which the scalability and transferability of solutions must be considered. This work outlines an iterative approach for climate adaptation planning at a local-scale, with opportunity to consider the scalability of an iterative science-policy engagement approach to regional, national, and international levels. creator: Lisa M. Wedding creator: Sarah Reiter creator: Monica Moritsch creator: Eric Hartge creator: Jesse Reiblich creator: Don Gourlie creator: Anne Guerry uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13463 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2022 Wedding et al. title: Sperm quality of artificially matured shortfinned eel is not affected by human chorionic gonadotropin dose and route of administration link: https://peerj.com/articles/13742 last-modified: 2022-08-23 description: BackgroundAcquisition of high quality sperm is key to the artificial propagation of eels in captivity, but fertility drugs are expensive and repeated handling is stressful to the fish. An interrupted treatment regime (an initial hormone injection to stimulate spermatogenesis, followed several weeks later by weekly booster injections to induce sperm maturation) for acquisition of sperm in captive male eels has promise for high sperm quality on the one hand, and animal welfare benefits on the other. To further develop this approach for shortfinned eel, Anguilla australis, we evaluated the efficacy of (i) different initial doses of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and (ii) route of administration.MethodsMale eels were artificially induced to mature with a single injection of 0, 250, 500 or 1,000 IU/fish of hCG, administered either intramuscularly (IM) or intraperitoneally (IP). Sperm maturation was induced with 150 IU hCG/fish from week 5 onwards and sperm collected for evaluation of quality by computer-assisted sperm analysis.ResultsControl males did not mature and hence, sperm could not be retrieved and analysed, but all other treatments were effective in inducing testicular maturation. Milt volume tended to be higher for fish injected IM compared to those injected IP, whereas hCG dose had no effect. Conversely, the concentration of spermatozoa tended to be higher for several sperm collection time points in IP-injected than in IM-injected fish. Sperm quality, represented by percent motility, percent progressive motility and curvilinear velocity, was equal in fish given an initial dose of 250 IU hCG to those given higher initial doses of hCG.ConclusionsWe recommend that an initial dose of 250 IU hCG/fish be administered to induce spermatogenesis in male A. australis, and, after a period of 4–5 weeks, weekly booster injections of ∼150 IU hCG/fish be administered in the day prior to sperm collection; both routes of administration (IM or IP) are equally effective. We contend that an interrupted treatment regime has notable benefits for induced maturation in male anguillids, as it reduces fish handling and manipulation and reduces the resources required to produce high quality sperm. creator: Sean L. Divers creator: Sheri L. Johnson creator: P. Mark Lokman uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13742 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2022 Divers et al. title: Accurate image-based identification of macroinvertebrate specimens using deep learning—How much training data is needed? link: https://peerj.com/articles/13837 last-modified: 2022-08-23 description: Image-based methods for species identification offer cost-efficient solutions for biomonitoring. This is particularly relevant for invertebrate studies, where bulk samples often represent insurmountable workloads for sorting, identifying, and counting individual specimens. On the other hand, image-based classification using deep learning tools have strict requirements for the amount of training data, which is often a limiting factor. Here, we examine how classification accuracy increases with the amount of training data using the BIODISCOVER imaging system constructed for image-based classification and biomass estimation of invertebrate specimens. We use a balanced dataset of 60 specimens of each of 16 taxa of freshwater macroinvertebrates to systematically quantify how classification performance of a convolutional neural network (CNN) increases for individual taxa and the overall community as the number of specimens used for training is increased. We show a striking 99.2% classification accuracy when the CNN (EfficientNet-B6) is trained on 50 specimens of each taxon, and also how the lower classification accuracy of models trained on less data is particularly evident for morphologically similar species placed within the same taxonomic order. Even with as little as 15 specimens used for training, classification accuracy reached 97%. Our results add to a recent body of literature showing the huge potential of image-based methods and deep learning for specimen-based research, and furthermore offers a perspective to future automatized approaches for deriving ecological data from bulk arthropod samples. creator: Toke T. Høye creator: Mads Dyrmann creator: Christian Kjær creator: Johnny Nielsen creator: Marianne Bruus creator: Cecilie L. Mielec creator: Maria S. Vesterdal creator: Kim Bjerge creator: Sigurd A. Madsen creator: Mads R. Jeppesen creator: Claus Melvad uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13837 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2022 Høye et al. title: Impact of emotional intelligence on adherence to the Mediterranean diet in elementary education school students. A structural equation model link: https://peerj.com/articles/13839 last-modified: 2022-08-23 description: BackgroundAdolescence is one of the stages where a large number of physical, psychological and emotional changes occur, the latter playing a key role in adherence to a healthy dietary pattern. Taking into account the above, this research reflects the objectives of developing an explanatory model of the incidence of attention, clarity and emotional repair on adherence to the Mediterranean diet and to contrast the structural model through a multigroup analysis based on Mediterranean adherence to this dietary pattern.MethodsTo this end, a comparative descriptive cross-sectional study has been carried out with 293 students from the third cycle of primary education. The instruments used were a sociodemographic questionnaire, the KIDMED test and the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24).ResultsStudents who show low adherence to the Mediterranean diet have a negative association with the repair of negative emotions. Participants who show a medium adherence to the Mediterranean diet, it is observed that they have a negative relationship with emotional clarity, while students who claim to have a high adherence to the Mediterranean diet show positive relationships with each of the constructs that make up emotional intelligence. creator: Eduardo Melguizo-Ibáñez creator: Georgian Badicu creator: Filipe Manuel Clemente creator: Ana Filipa Silva creator: Jose Luis Ubago-Jiménez creator: Gabriel González-Valero uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13839 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2022 Melguizo-Ibáñez et al. title: Drift macroalgal distribution in northern Gulf of Mexico seagrass meadows link: https://peerj.com/articles/13855 last-modified: 2022-08-23 description: Drift macroalgae, often found in clumps or mats adjacent to or within seagrass beds, can increase the value of seagrass beds as habitat for nekton via added food resources and structural complexity. But, as algal biomass increases, it can also decrease light availability, inhibit faunal movements, smother benthic communities, and contribute to hypoxia, all of which can reduce nekton abundance. We quantified the abundance and distribution of drift macroalgae within seagrass meadows dominated by turtle grass Thalassia testudinum across the northern Gulf of Mexico and compared seagrass characteristics to macroalgal biomass and distribution. Drift macroalgae were most abundant in areas with higher seagrass shoot densities and intermediate canopy heights. We did not find significant relationships between algal biomass and point measures of salinity, temperature, or depth. The macroalgal genera Laurencia and Gracilaria were present across the study region, Agardhiella and Digenia were collected in the western Gulf of Mexico, and Acanthophora was collected in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Our survey revealed drift algae to be abundant and widespread throughout seagrass meadows in the northern Gulf of Mexico, which likely influences the habitat value of seagrass ecosystems. creator: Kelly M. Correia creator: Scott B. Alford creator: Benjamin A. Belgrad creator: Kelly M. Darnell creator: M. Zachary Darnell creator: Bradley T. Furman creator: Margaret O. Hall creator: Christian T. Hayes creator: Charles W. Martin creator: Ashley M. McDonald creator: Delbert L. Smee uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13855 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2022 Correia et al. title: The effects of university students’ fragmented reading on cognitive development in the new media age: evidence from Chinese higher education link: https://peerj.com/articles/13861 last-modified: 2022-08-23 description: IntroductionThe impacts of fragmented reading have been felt on a huge scale during the new media age. An increasingly fast-paced society and a corresponding drop in theoretical reading have affected reading literacy and cognitive development across communities—and among university students in particular. This study sought to identify the components of fragmented reading and cognitive development and investigate the former’s effects on the latter among university students in the new media age.MethodsPaper-based and electronic surveys were used to gather demographic and related-reading data from undergraduates at six Chinese universities in early 2021. After testing the data from 916 samples for reliability and validity, descriptive statistics were obtained and path analysis was undertaken using structural equation modeling.ResultsThe students reported relatively high levels of fragmented reading, particularly in its temporal form. Significant associations were found between the constructs of fragmented reading and cognitive development. Specifically, the fragmentation of content, time, and attention in reading behavior had significant, positive effects on cognitive breadth. However, each of these components was somewhat negatively associated with cognitive depth.ConclusionsThe findings disclosed the dual effects of fragmented reading on the cognitive development of students, opening a new perspective on this debate. As fragmented reading in the new media age grows inexorably, the study highlights the need to utilize its positive effects on cognitive development by integrating and classifying fragmented information into the mental maps of learners. creator: Wei Liu creator: Heng Huang creator: Atif Saleem creator: Zhongping Zhao uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13861 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2022 Liu et al. title: Body mass index and attention bias of food cues in women: a mediation model of body weight dissatisfaction link: https://peerj.com/articles/13863 last-modified: 2022-08-23 description: Food attention bias could be used to indicate diet-related diseases in individuals with obesity. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and food attention bias, and the mediating role of body weight dissatisfaction (BWD) on this relationship in women. Seventy-five participants were recruited to complete a visual dot task with eye tracking. The results showed that BMI would positively predict response latency and duration bias on high-calorie foods; the relationship between BMI and response latency of high-calorie food was a complete mediation of BWD; the relationship between BMI and duration bias of high-calorie food was a complete mediation of BWD; and BWD positively predicts response latency and duration bias on high-calorie foods. These findings suggest a positive relationship between BMI and food attention bias, and the effect of a complete mediation of BWD in women. creator: Aibao Zhou creator: Pei Xie creator: Md Zahir Ahmed creator: Mary C. Jobe creator: Oli Ahmed uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13863 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2022 Zhou et al. title: Probability-based preservational variations within the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota (China) link: https://peerj.com/articles/13869 last-modified: 2022-08-23 description: The Chengjiang biota (Yunnan Province, China) is a treasure trove of soft-bodied animal fossils from the earliest stages of the Cambrian explosion. The mechanisms contributing to its unique preservation, known as the Burgess Shale-type preservation, are well understood. However, little is known about the preservation differences between various animal groups within this biota. This study compares tissue-occurrence data of 11 major animal groups in the Chengjiang biota using a probabilistic methodology. The fossil-based data from this study is compared to previous decay experiments. This shows that all groups are not equally preserved with some higher taxa more likely to preserve soft tissues than others. These differences in fossil preservation between taxa can be explained by the interaction of biological and environmental characteristics. A bias also results from differential taxonomic recognition, as some taxa are easily recognized from even poorly preserved fragments while other specimens are difficult to assign to higher taxa even with exquisite preservation. creator: Farid Saleh creator: Xiaoya Ma creator: Pauline Guenser creator: M. Gabriela Mángano creator: Luis A. Buatois creator: Jonathan B. Antcliffe uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13869 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2022 Saleh et al.