Duration of smoking cessation and DNA methylation aging clocks among US adults: potential reversibility of smoking-induced biological aging - GeroScience

Tobacco smoking is a critical modifiable risk factor for age-related diseases and mortality. Although smoking cessation is known to improve health outcomes, whether smoking-induced biological aging is reversible upon cessation remains unclear. We investigated the associations of smoking status and cessation duration with epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) using multi-generational DNA methylation clocks. We analyzed data from 1,911 adults aged 50–84 years in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2002. Participants were classified as never, former, or current smokers, with former smokers further categorized by cessation duration (< 10, 10– < 20, and ≥ 20 years). EAA was evaluated across six validated DNA methylation clocks: first-generation (HorvathAge, HannumAge, SkinBloodAge), second-generation (PhenoAge, GrimAge2), and third-generation (DunedinPoAm). In survey-weighted regression, current smokers exhibited the highest EAA across all clocks. Among former smokers, a longer duration of cessation was associated with a dose–response reduction in EAA, with the strongest associations observed for GrimAge2 and DunedinPoAm. Former smokers with ≥ 20 years of cessation showed a substantial reduction in GrimAge2 acceleration (β = -12.66 years; 95% CI: -14.56, -10.75), approaching the levels observed among never smokers (β = -13.88 years; 95% CI: -15.70, -12.05). Restricted cubic spline analysis revealed rapid initial declines in EAA during the first decade post-cessation, with continuous declines observed beyond 20 years for GrimAge2 and DunedinPoAm. These findings suggest that longer durations of smoking cessation are associated with more favorable biological aging profiles, adding biological evidence for the long-term health benefits of sustained cessation for healthy aging.

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Impact of pet ownership in early childhood at ages 1 and 4–5 years on mental health at ages 7–8: findings from the INMA project - World Journal of Pediatrics

Background We aimed to explore associations between the presence of pets at one and 4–5 years of age with internalizing and externalizing problems at 7–8 years. Methods Participants comprised 1893 families from the INfancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA) project. Information was collected on the presence of (1) any pet, (2) dogs, (3) cats, (4) birds or (5) other animals. Pet ownership was categorized as never, always, only at age 1 and only at age 4–5. Internalizing and externalizing problems were measured at ages 7–8 years through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, a Likert questionnaire on children’s behavioural and emotional symptoms. Negative binomial regression models and Tukey’s multiple comparison tests were used to analyse data sets. Five sensitivity analyses were performed. Results Families that always owned a pet made up 24.4% of the sample. In addition, 11.5%, 4.5%, 3.8% and 17.6% of the families owned a dog, cat, bird or other animal, respectively. The median (P25–P75) for internalizing problems was 3 (1–5) and 5 (3–8) for externalizing problems. Owning a cat only at age 4–5 increased mental health problems: relative rate ratio (RRR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] 1.37 (1.05–1.79) for internalizing and 1.26 (1.02–1.56) for externalizing. Always having other animals was a protective factor for internalizing problems with an RRR of 0.80 (0.66–0.96). These associations remained after multiple comparison testing and sensitivity analyses. Conclusion Owning a cat only at 4–5 years of age was linked to more internalizing and externalizing problems, whereas always having other animals was a protective factor against internalizing problems. Graphical abstract

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Genetics of Educational Attainment and Childhood Problem Behavior: Direct Genetic Effects, Cognitive Pathways, and Sex Differences - Behavior Genetics

We examined the genetic underpinnings of problem behavior in children and adolescents (4–17 years old) by leveraging a within-family trio design using data of European ancestry from the Lifelines cohort (N=3,160–4,611). We estimated direct genetic effects of educational attainment (EA) polygenic indices (PGIs), as a whole and decomposed into cognitive (Cog) and non-cognitive (NonCog) components via GWAS-by-subtraction, on a comprehensive set of internalizing and externalizing behaviors assessed via self- and parental report Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) measures. We found that higher EA PGIs, particularly their Cog component, were robustly associated with lower levels of Attention Problems and Somatic Complaints, in parental and self-report samples respectively. These associations persisted after adjusting for parental PGIs, supporting a causal interpretation under counterfactual reasoning. In contrast, the NonCog EA PGI showed weaker and less consistent associations with problem behavior, though we cannot rule out that this reflects limited power to detect smaller effects. We observed pronounced sex differences, with associations largely driven by girls, for whom the Cog component was the primary predictor. In the self-report sample in particular, associations with Somatic Complaints were significantly stronger in girls, with no significant findings observed for boys. We also found that associations with Somatic Complaints were significantly larger in the self-report than the parental report sample, while for other scales, differences across informants were statistically negligible. Our findings contribute to a more holistic understanding of how EA-related genetics manifest in socioemotional processes beyond academic achievement

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Spatio-temporal changes of biomass carbon stocks in China’s mixed forests - Journal of Forestry Research

Mixed forests represent the largest contributor to China’s forest carbon sink, yet their spatio-temporal changes in biomass carbon stocks remain insufficiently quantified, limiting the accuracy of national carbon sink assessments under the carbon neutrality target. Here, we integrated National Forest Inventory (NFI) data with multi-source remote-sensing products to quantify the changes in biomass carbon stocks of mixed forests across China from 1999 to 2018. The NFI dataset comprises approximately 26,000 plots nationwide, with plot sizes ranging from 600 to 800 m2. Biomass carbon changes were attributed to distinct ecological and management processes, including natural growth, succession from pure forests, afforestation-driven expansion, and conversion-related losses. We found that biomass carbon stocks in China’s mixed forests increased continuously from 968.63 ± 109.2 Tg C (1 Tg C = 1012 g C) in 1999 to 3833.39 ± 278.3 Tg C in 2018. The conversion of pure stands into mixed forests accounted for approximately 84.8% of this increase (2709.15 ± 320.2 Tg C), followed by area expansion (25.8%; 713.33 ± 136.9 Tg C) and natural growth (19.7%; 598.7 ± 122.7 Tg C), partially offset by an estimated 30.4% loss (− 929.78 Tg C) due to conversion from mixed forests to other forest types. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the dominant role of forest-type transitions in driving China’s forest carbon accumulation and underscore the necessity of incorporating mixed-forest management and dynamic forest-type transitions into national climate mitigation and carbon sink projections.

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Exploring gender effects in speaker recognition systems through frequency domain analysis by convolutional neural networks - Soft Computing

Advances in deep learning have led to significant progress in the field of speech processing, particularly in applications such as speaker recognition systems (SRSs). Additional information such as ge...

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Hierarchical Bayesian modeling of interoceptive psychophysics - Behavior Research Methods

Interoception, the capacity to sense, perceive, and metacognitively appraise viscerosensory and homeostatic signals, is a growing focus in psychology and psychiatry. Adaptive psychophysical tasks now ...

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