-
International Journal of Molecular... Jun 2023The Apolipoprotein E ( locus has garnered significant clinical interest because of its association with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and longevity. This genetic association...
The Apolipoprotein E ( locus has garnered significant clinical interest because of its association with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and longevity. This genetic association appears across multiple genes in the locus. Despite the apparent differences between AD and longevity, both conditions share a commonality of aging-related changes in mitochondrial function. This commonality is likely due to accumulative biological effects partly exerted by the locus. In this study, we investigated changes in mitochondrial structure/function-related markers using oxidative stress-induced human cellular models and postmortem brains (PMBs) from individuals with AD and normal controls. Our results reveal a range of expressional alterations, either upregulated or downregulated, in these genes in response to oxidative stress. In contrast, we consistently observed an upregulation of multiple locus genes in all cellular models and AD PMBs. Additionally, the effects of AD status on mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA CN) varied depending on genotype. Our findings imply a potential coregulation of locus genes possibly occurring within the same topologically associating domain (TAD) of the 3D chromosome conformation. The coordinated expression of locus genes could impact mitochondrial function, contributing to the development of AD or longevity. Our study underscores the significant role of the locus in modulating mitochondrial function and provides valuable insights into the underlying mechanisms of AD and aging, emphasizing the importance of this locus in clinical research.
Topics: Humans; Alzheimer Disease; Apolipoproteins E; Aging; Genotype; Mitochondria; Apolipoprotein E4
PubMed: 37445616
DOI: 10.3390/ijms241310440 -
PloS One 2022To investigate how cancer patients' and family members' perspective and health locus of control are presented in clinical encounter decision-making.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate how cancer patients' and family members' perspective and health locus of control are presented in clinical encounter decision-making.
METHODS
Semi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out with 16 cancer patients and 6 family members living in Israel (n = 22). Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
RESULTS
Following the health locus of control model, the findings were divided into an external and internal locus of control themes, and we added a theme regarding shared decision-making. Internal locus of control sub-themes included asking for a second opinion, negotiating with the doctor, asking questions, looking for information, and fighting for their rights. External locus of control sub-themes included powerful others, oncologists, and fate. The dominant approach of most of the interviewees was an external locus of control. Women demonstrated more external locus of control than men. On the direct question of who should decide on treatment-the doctor, the patient, or both jointly-the answers ranged from only the doctor (n = 8) to together (n = 7) to only the patient (n = 8).
CONCLUSIONS
This study provides insights into different aspects of locus of control in the clinical encounter involving cancer patients. The findings reflect the need to devote comprehensive attention to cancer patients' perceptions and experiences in the clinical encounter. A patient-centered care approach and a personalized framework for decision-making in cancer care are essential to achieving better treatment outcomes. Further research can engage in the development and validation of an up-to-date health locus of control questionnaire for cancer patients based on the findings of this study.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Clinical Decision-Making; Decision Making, Shared; Family; Female; Humans; Internal-External Control; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasms; Oncologists; Qualitative Research; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 35085354
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263086 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Aug 2020All genes interact with other genes, and their additive effects and epistatic interactions affect an organism's phenotype and fitness. Recent theoretical and empirical... (Review)
Review
All genes interact with other genes, and their additive effects and epistatic interactions affect an organism's phenotype and fitness. Recent theoretical and empirical work has advanced our understanding of the role of multi-locus interactions in speciation. However, relating different models to one another and to empirical observations is challenging. This review focuses on multi-locus interactions that lead to reproductive isolation (RI) through reduced hybrid fitness. We first review theoretical approaches and show how recent work incorporating a mechanistic understanding of multi-locus interactions recapitulates earlier models, but also makes novel predictions concerning the build-up of RI. These include high variance in the build-up rate of RI among taxa, the emergence of strong incompatibilities producing localized barriers to introgression, and an effect of population size on the build-up of RI. We then review recent experimental approaches to detect multi-locus interactions underlying RI using genomic data. We argue that future studies would benefit from overlapping methods like ancestry disequilibrium scans, genome scans of differentiation and analyses of hybrid gene expression. Finally, we highlight a need for further overlap between theoretical and empirical work, and approaches that predict what kind of patterns multi-locus interactions resulting in incompatibilities will leave in genome-wide polymorphism data. This article is part of the theme issue 'Towards the completion of speciation: the evolution of reproductive isolation beyond the first barriers'.
Topics: Genetic Fitness; Genetic Speciation; Models, Genetic; Reproductive Isolation
PubMed: 32654649
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0543 -
International Journal of Environmental... Aug 2022Previous studies have indicated that social capital and locus of control influence mental health. Accordingly, we investigated the effect of social capital and locus of...
Previous studies have indicated that social capital and locus of control influence mental health. Accordingly, we investigated the effect of social capital and locus of control on perceived physical and mental health in the general Japanese population during the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to conduct a cross-sectional study, in 2021, three thousand citizens were randomly selected from the Chitose City Resident Register according to ten strata of sex and age classes between 30 years and 79 years. Because thirteen persons moved away from the city, the survey was conducted for the remaining 2987 citizens. A total of 1430 citizens (712 males, 718 females) responded to the survey with their written informed consent (response rate, 47.9%). As a result, social capital measured three dimensions, namely social support, social participation, and trust and reciprocity, and internal locus of control was significantly inversely associated with it, but external locus of control was significantly positively associated with impaired physical and mental health in male and female subjects after adjustment of lifestyle habits and lifestyle change affected by the pandemic. Strengthening social capital and internal locus of control, and weakening external locus of control, may improve physical and mental health, even if the pandemic would bring about distress. Further longitudinal study is needed to examine the causal relationship among them.
Topics: Adult; COVID-19; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Health Status; Humans; Internal-External Control; Japan; Male; Pandemics; Social Capital; Social Support
PubMed: 35954772
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19159415 -
European Journal of Psychotraumatology 2023Many refugees report high levels of psychopathology. As a countermeasure, some psychological interventions aim at targeting mental health difficulties in refugees...
Many refugees report high levels of psychopathology. As a countermeasure, some psychological interventions aim at targeting mental health difficulties in refugees transdiagnostically. However, there is a lack of knowledge about relevant transdiagnostic factors in refugee populations. To inform intervention efforts empirically, we investigated whether self-efficacy and locus of control are transdiagnostically associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, somatisation, psychological distress, and a higher-order psychopathology factor ('p') in Middle Eastern refugees residing in Germany. In total, 200 Middle Eastern refugees took part in this cross-sectional study, comprising 160 male and 40 female refugees. Participants were, on average, 25.56 years old ( = 9.19), and 182 (91%) originally came from Syria, while remaining refugees were from Iraq or Afghanistan. They completed measures of depression, anxiety, somatisation, self-efficacy, and locus of control. In multiple regression models adjusting for demographic factors (gender and age), self-efficacy and external locus of control were transdiagnostically related to depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms, psychological distress, and a higher-order psychopathology factor. Internal locus of control had no detectable effect in these models. Self-efficacy and external locus of control appear critical in the mental health of refugees and may be important mechanisms in overcoming posttraumatic stress and resettlement stressors. Our findings support the need to target self-efficacy and external locus of control as transdiagnostic factors of general psychopathology in Middle Eastern refugees.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Adult; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Refugees; Self Efficacy; Cross-Sectional Studies; Internal-External Control
PubMed: 37052105
DOI: 10.1080/20008066.2023.2180707 -
Personality and Individual Differences Oct 2022Unprecedented uncertainty during the Covid-19 pandemic stimulated anxiety among individuals, while the associated health restrictions contributed to a feeling of loss of...
Unprecedented uncertainty during the Covid-19 pandemic stimulated anxiety among individuals, while the associated health restrictions contributed to a feeling of loss of control. Prior research suggests that, in times of crisis, some individuals rely on superstitious beliefs as a coping mechanism, but it remains unclear whether superstition is positively or negatively associated with fear of Covid-19 during the pandemic, and the role that individuals' locus of control plays in this regard. In two studies conducted among individuals in Belgium and the U.S., we therefore examined the relationship between superstitious beliefs, locus of control, and feeling at risk of Covid-19. Across both countries, we found that superstition is positively, and internal locus of control negatively, related with feeling at risk of Covid-19. Moreover, in Belgium, the effect of superstition was less pronounced for individuals with a higher level of internal locus of control. The absence of an interaction effect between superstition and locus of control in the U.S. could be explained by this country's higher level of superstitious beliefs and lower level of internal locus of control combined with a stronger feeling of being at risk of Covid-19 or cultural differences such as Belgium's higher uncertainty avoidance compared to the U.S.
PubMed: 35573936
DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2022.111718 -
International Journal of Molecular... Nov 2020Locus Coeruleus (LC) is the main noradrenergic nucleus of the central nervous system, and its neurons widely innervate the whole brain. LC is severely degenerated both... (Review)
Review
Locus Coeruleus (LC) is the main noradrenergic nucleus of the central nervous system, and its neurons widely innervate the whole brain. LC is severely degenerated both in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in Parkinson's disease (PD), years before the onset of clinical symptoms, through mechanisms that differ among the two disorders. Several experimental studies have shown that noradrenaline modulates neuroinflammation, mainly by acting on microglia/astrocytes function. In the present review, after a brief introduction on the anatomy and physiology of LC, we provide an overview of experimental data supporting a pathogenetic role of LC degeneration in AD and PD. Then, we describe in detail experimental data, obtained in vitro and in vivo in animal models, which support a potential role of neuroinflammation in such a link, and the specific molecules (i.e., released cytokines, glial receptors, including pattern recognition receptors and others) whose expression is altered by LC degeneration and might play a key role in AD/PD pathogenesis. New imaging and biochemical tools have recently been developed in humans to estimate in vivo the integrity of LC, the degree of neuroinflammation, and pathology AD/PD biomarkers; it is auspicable that these will allow in the near future to test the existence of a link between LC-neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration directly in patients.
Topics: Alzheimer Disease; Humans; Inflammation; Locus Coeruleus; Parkinsonian Disorders
PubMed: 33207731
DOI: 10.3390/ijms21228630 -
Food Quality and Preference Mar 2022This study investigates the relation between locus of control, life satisfaction, and Covid-19 related changes in consumers' intentions to purchase organic or local...
This study investigates the relation between locus of control, life satisfaction, and Covid-19 related changes in consumers' intentions to purchase organic or local food. It is assumed that people with high internal locus of control pro-actively engage in pro-environmental behaviors, e.g. organic or local food consumption. In addition, literature suggests that internal locus of control positively influences life satisfaction and that the relation between life satisfaction and changes in local and organic food purchase intentions during the Covid-19 pandemic is mediated through food choice motives. The results of this study confirm these theoretical considerations. However, concerning the relation between internal locus of control and stated changes in food choices, a significant and positive relation could only be found between internal locus of control and the willingness to purchase more locally produced food items since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, but not between internal locus of control and the importance attached to organically produced food. As locus of control and life satisfaction have mainly been applied in health-related contexts so far, this study addresses the lack of research concerning its application in food and consumer behavior research. Comprehensive knowledge on these relations adds to theoretical framework building, and further research on these measures in different food-related contexts is necessary.
PubMed: 34690446
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104430 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jan 2023Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a leading neurodegenerative disease with deteriorating cognition as its main clinical sign. In addition to the clinical history, it is... (Review)
Review
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a leading neurodegenerative disease with deteriorating cognition as its main clinical sign. In addition to the clinical history, it is characterized by the presence of two neuropathological hallmark lesions; amyloid-beta (Aβ) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), identified in the brain at post-mortem in specific anatomical areas. Recently, it was discovered that NFTs occur initially in the subcortical nuclei, such as the locus coeruleus in the pons, and are said to spread from there to the cerebral cortices and the hippocampus. This contrasts with the prior acceptance of their neuropathology in the enthorinal cortex and the hippocampus. The Braak staging system places the accumulation of phosphorylated tau (p-tau) binding to NFTs in the locus coeruleus and other subcortical nuclei to precede stages I-IV. The locus coeruleus plays diverse psychological and physiological roles within the human body including rapid eye movement sleep disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression, regulation of sleep-wake cycles, attention, memory, mood, and behavior, which correlates with AD clinical behavior. In addition, the locus coeruleus regulates cardiovascular, respiratory, and gastrointestinal activities, which have only recently been associated with AD by modern day research enabling the wider understanding of AD development via comorbidities and microbial dysbiosis. The focus of this narrative review is to explore the modes of neurodegeneration taking place in the locus coeruleus during the natural aging process of the trigeminal nerve connections from the teeth and microbial dysbiosis, and to postulate a pathogenetic mechanism due to periodontal damage and/or infection focused on .
Topics: Humans; Alzheimer Disease; Locus Coeruleus; tau Proteins; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Cues; Dysbiosis; Periodontitis
PubMed: 36673763
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20021007 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2020Since the relationship between leaders and subordinates has important implications for organizations, exploring how high-quality leader-member exchange (LMX)...
Since the relationship between leaders and subordinates has important implications for organizations, exploring how high-quality leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships develop over time is a critical research objective. However, LMX research has essentially focused on leader-centric approaches to describe how leaders develop differential relationships with subordinates and has devoted little attention to the influence of subordinate characteristics. This study contends that subordinates' individual differences may act as drivers of LMX relationships. Specifically, we posited that individuals with an internal work locus of control, owing to their sense of control over the work environment, are more prone to develop high LMX relationships over time. Moreover, we expected this effect to be enhanced when these individuals are given clear expectations about their work role because such conditions would ease their sense of agency. Further, we suggested that these effects may partly depend on the dimension of LMX (i.e., affect, loyalty, contribution, and professional respect) under consideration. We argued that the effect of internal work locus of control would generalize to all LMX dimensions but that its interaction with role clarity would primarily impact the loyalty and contribution dimensions of LMX as their behavioral orientation would result in valued outcomes for internals. Data were collected through questionnaires among a sample of 424 employees working in various industries. Through a two-wave study and controlling for the autoregressive effects of LMX, subordinates' internal work locus of control was found to enhance LMX relationships over time. Using a multidimensional approach to LMX, our results further show that the effect of internal work locus of control generalized to all dimensions of LMX. Using a contextualized view of the development of LMX, we also found that role clarity moderated the positive relationship between internal work locus of control and LMX over time such that the relationship was stronger when role clarity was high. However, from a dimensional perspective, role clarity only accentuated the relationship between work locus of control and LMX's loyalty dimension. The implications of these findings for LMX research are discussed.
PubMed: 33192779
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.537917