Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don) is a vital summer season perennial semi-shrub and multipurpose drought-resilient flower crop of the tropical region of the Indian subcontinent. This industrially dominant crop is primarily used as border, bedding and pot culture in landscaping. There is a lack of information on the genetics of important traits and its correlation with quantitative characters like flower yield and understanding the co-segregation of these traits might be useful in crop improvement. Therefore, the present study was performed using 30 F2 segregating lines of Catharanthus developed from diallel crossing of six genetically dissimilar parents varied in many traits. Phenotyping of population was executed for 12 morphological traits. Results indicated that a significant positive association between days to flowering and plant height (0.753**), and leaf area and number of branches (0.463**) was recorded. Flowers per plant exhibit significantly positive correlation with all attributes except flower diameter (−005). The path coefficient analysis reported solely two traits, such as number of seeds per follicle (0.357) and corolla tube length (0.308) exerted positively significant direct effects on flower yield per plant. The scrutiny of principal components showed that the first three components demonstrated a cumulative variability of 70.1%. The dissipating of F2 plants in bi-plot is impenitent to our prior reports that six inbred lines were genetically diverse and quite different for the characters under study. The current research might be useful in breeding programmes for selection and hybridization of periwinkle in future.

While social determinants of health have been perennially linked to child survival in resource-limited countries, the precise and tested pathways to effect are not clearly understood. The objective of this study was therefore to identify the critical pathways as posited a priori in a model through which social factors (at maternal, household, and community levels) determine neonatal, infant, and under-five mortalities in Nigeria. Using a novel analytic approach (hierarchical path modelling for predicting accelerated failure time) to estimate (in)direct and total effects of social determinants of child survival, we analysed 30,960 live births (weighted data for representativeness), obtained from the 2016/2017 Nigeria Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. There were three outcome variables: time until occurrence of neonatal, infant, and under-five mortalities. The independent variables were layered factors related to child, maternal, household and community. Geographical region, rurality of residence, infrastructural development, maternal education, contraceptive use, marital status, and maternal age at birth were found to operate more indirectly on neonatal, infant, and under-five survival. Child survival is due to direct effects of child’s sex (female), gestational type (singleton), birth spacing (children whose mothers delivered at least two years apart), and maternal age at delivery (20–34 years). According to the path coefficients, the indirect effects of geographical regions are the most influential determinants of child survival, accounting for 30% (neonatal), 37.1% (infant) and 39.9% (under-five) of the total effects. This study offers comprehensive set of factors, and linked pathways, at the maternal, household, and community levels that are associated with child survival in Nigeria. To accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal targets for child survival and reduce geographical inequities, stakeholders should implement more impactful policies that promote maternal education, contraceptive use and improve living conditions of women (especially in rural areas of northern Nigeria). Future research should focus on identifying the most effective interventions for addressing these social determinants of child survival in Nigeria.

Soil moisture deficit is the major constraint for sesame crop production during its main rainfed and summer cultivation seasons. In summer cultivation, the crop frequently gets exposed to soil moisture deficit at various crop growth stages. Therefore, it is essential to identify the traits along with promising genotypes adapted to soil moisture deficit. A set of 35 sesame genotypes with checks was used to quantify the variation in morpho-physiological, yield, and quality traits under irrigated (WW) and deficit soil moisture stress (WS) conditions in the summer seasons of 2021 and 2022. The analysis of variance revealed the presence of high variability among the genotypes for various measured traits. The mean performance indicated that WS negatively affects the growth, development, yield and quality traits. Moreover, the correlation, path analysis and D2 analysis studies suggested that the traits, viz. leaf area (LA), total dry matter (TDM), canopy temperature (CT), number of branches per plant (NBP) and number of seeds per capsule (NSC) were significantly associated with seed yield under both the conditions. Quality traits like palmitic acid and oleic acid correlated positively with seed yield, particularly under WS. Furthermore, the genotypes with lower canopy temperatures were found to be better seed yielders under WS. In addition, mean performance and cluster analysis suggested that the genotypes: IC- 205776, JSCDT-112, JCSDT-26, IC-205610, and IC-204300, secured higher seed yield along with superior agronomical traits and net photosynthetic rate. These selected genotypes were most promising and could be used in future sesame crop improvement programmes.

Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are the main vectors of livestock diseases such as bluetongue (BT) which mainly affect sheep and cattle. In Spain, bluetongue virus (BTV) is transmitted by several Culicoides taxa, including Culicoides imicola, Obsoletus complex, Culicoides newsteadi and Culicoides pulicaris that vary in seasonality and distribution, affecting the distribution and dynamics of BT outbreaks. Path analysis is useful for separating direct and indirect, biotic and abiotic determinants of species' population performance and is ideal for understanding the sensitivity of adult Culicoides dynamics to multiple environmental drivers. Start, end of season and length of overwintering of adult Culicoides were analysed across 329 sites in Spain sampled from 2005 to 2010 during the National Entomosurveillance Program for BTV with path analysis, to determine the direct and indirect effects of land use, climate and host factor variables. Culicoides taxa had species-specific responses to environmental variables. While the seasonality of adult C. imicola was strongly affected by topography, temperature, cover of agro-forestry and sclerophyllous vegetation, rainfall, livestock density, photoperiod in autumn and the abundance of Culicoides females, Obsoletus complex species seasonality was affected by land-use variables such as cover of natural grassland and broad-leaved forest. Culicoides female abundance was the most explanatory variable for the seasonality of C. newsteadi, while C. pulicaris showed that temperature during winter and the photoperiod in November had a strong effect on the start of the season and the length of overwinter period of this species. These results indicate that the seasonal vector-free period (SVFP) in Spain will vary between competent vector taxa and geographic locations, dependent on the different responses of each taxa to environmental conditions.

The assessment of environmental identity (EID) in terms of connectedness to nature, eco-friendly behaviour (EFB) and closeness to nature variables is the central focus of this study. The elaborated conceptual model recommends that closeness to nature, connectedness to nature and EFBs related to education, economy and recycling are potential predictors of EID. The sample consists of 518 college students studying in different teacher education programmes. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the constructive validity of the scales for each of the measurement models. The theoretical path analysis model was created by considering existing literature. In the present study, the EFBs of the participants had a significant and moderate effect on their EID. Findings confirmed that environmental education behaviours and recycling behaviours had a positive and low effect on EFBs. The results showed that connectedness to nature and closeness to nature had a positive and medium effect on EFB. Promotion of EID sense in pre-service teachers will increase their students’ EID. Finally, advanced degree curricula in environmental protection and nature can be designed and implemented based on target group information.

This study aimed to evaluate the association between legume intake and blood pressure, as well as the mediating role of cardiometabolic risk factors in patients in secondary cardiovascular prevention. Socio-demographic, anthropometric, clinical and food intake data were collected from the baseline of the multicentre study Brazilian Cardioprotective Nutritional Program Trial – BALANCE (RCT: NCT01620398). The relationships between variables were explored through path analysis. In total, 2247 individuals with a median age of 63·0 (45–91) years, 58·8 % (n 1321) male and 96·5 % (n 2168) with diagnosis of hypertension were included. Negative associations were observed between histidine intake and systolic blood pressure (SBP) (standardised coefficient (SC) = −0·057; P = 0·012) and between legume intake and BMI (SC = −0·061; P = 0·006). BMI was positively associated with triglycerides–glucose (TyG) index (SC = 0·173; P < 0·001), SBP (SC = 0·144; P < 0·001) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (SC = 0·177; P < 0·001), and TyG index was positively associated with DBP (SC = 0·079; P = 0·001). A negative indirect effect was observed between the intake of legumes, SBP and DBP, mediated by BMI (SC = −0·009; P = 0·011; SC = −0·011; P = 0·010, respectively). In addition, an indirect negative effect was found between the intake of legumes and the DBP, mediated simultaneously by BMI and TyG index (SC = −0·001; P = 0·037). In conclusion, legume intake presented a negative indirect association with blood pressure, mediated by insulin resistance (TyG) and adiposity (BMI) in individuals of secondary care in cardiology.

Dispersal is a key ecological process affecting community dynamics and the maintenance of populations. There is increasing awareness of the need to understand individual dispersal potential to better inform population-level dispersal, allowing more accurate models of the spread of invasive and beneficial insects, aiding crop and pest management strategies. Here, fine-scale movements of Poecilus cupreus, an important agricultural carabid predator, were recorded using a locomotion compensator and key movement characteristics were quantified. Net displacement increased more rapidly than predicted by a simple correlated random walk model with near ballistic behaviour observed. Individuals displayed a latent ability to head on a constant bearing for protracted time periods, despite no clear evidence of a population level global orientation bias. Intermittent bouts of movement and non-movement were observed, with both the frequency and duration of bouts of movement varying at the inter- and intra-individual level. Variation in movement behaviour was observed at both the inter- and intra- individual level. Analysis suggests that individuals have the potential to rapidly disperse over a wider area than predicted by simple movement models parametrised at the population level. This highlights the importance of considering the role of individual variation when analysing movement and attempting to predict dispersal distances.

This study aimed to determine the predictive power of the theory of planned behaviour in predicting the intention and behaviour of positive thinking in school students. A cross-sectional study was performed on 367 high school male students in Iran. Data were gathered using a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability had been confirmed before. Descriptive and inferential analysis (univariate and multiple logistic regression models, Pearson correlation) was performed using SPSS software V.20. AMOS version 22 was used to perform the path analysis. According to the results, the construct of attitude was the most important construct in predicting positive thinking intention. Finally, the theory of planned behaviour constructs could predict 36% of intention variance and 20% of behaviour variance of positive thinking. Since the construct of attitude is one of the most powerful constructs in predicting student positive thinking intention in male teens, it is recommended that more attention be paid to this construct in educational programs to improve the mental health of male high school students. The results of this study can help psychologists and counsellors, families, and teachers improve students’ mental health.

Suicide constitutes a public health problem that has a significant economic, social and psychological impact on a global scale. Recently, the American Psychological Association has indicated that suicide prevention should be a public health priority. Suicidal ideation appears as a key variable in suicide prevention. The objective of this research was to verify the adjustment of an explanatory model for suicidal ideation, which considers the effects of cognitive emotion regulation strategies, affectivity and hopelessness. An open mode on-line sample of 2,166 Argentine participants was used and a path analysis was carried out. The results make it possible to conclude that the model presents an optimal fit (χ2 = .10, p = .75, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .01) and predicts 42% of suicidal thoughts. The model proves to be invariant based on age and gender. In conclusion, there is an importance of reducing the use of automatic strategies, such as repetitive negative thoughts of ruminative type, and increasing the use of more controlled strategies, such as reinterpretation or planning.

The aim of the study was to investigate how maternal dietary patterns and maternal/fetal cytokines are associated with birth weight and whether cytokines mediate the association. A total of 469 pregnant women and their children were recruited for this prospective study. Dietary patterns in pregnancy were identified using factor analysis of data from three consecutive 24 h dietary recalls. Maternal and umbilical blood serum cytokines (adiponectin (APN), IL-6 and interferon-γ) were measured via ELISA. Path analysis was used to explore the relationships between maternal diet, cytokines and birth weight. Four dietary patterns were identified: a mainly fruit, dairy products and poultry diet (FDP); a mainly vegetables, beans and pork diet (VBP); a mainly fish, shrimp and soup diet (FS) and a mainly tuber and egg diet (TE). Path analysis showed the order of effects of dietary patterns on birth weight was FS>FDP>TE>VBP (β=0·130, 0·109, –0·094 and 0·046, respectively). Only the TE pattern’s effect was negative. Maternal and fetal APN were positively associated with birth weight (β=0·045 and 0·226, respectively), and they mediated the association between the TE pattern and birth weight (indirect effect was 5·3 %). Maternal IL-6 was negatively associated with birth weight (β=–0·067) and mediated the association between maternal FDP and VBP patterns and birth weight (indirect effects were 10·1 and 100·0 %, respectively). All variables in the path explained 33·6 % of variation. These results suggested that maternal dietary patterns in pregnancy are associated with birth weight and mediated directly and indirectly through some maternal/fetal serum cytokines.