Author’s information (optional)
Url Link
The hyperlink to my paper’s website.
Methods
- Paste quoted text from the Methods section of the article on the next line. Do not include quotation marks or a bullet mark:
The UKB is a population-based cohort including 502,616 participants recruited in the United Kingdom between 2006 and 2010. Participants who were registered with the National Health Service and living within a 40-km radius of one of the 22 assessment centers in England, Wales and Scotland were invited to enter the cohort.
- Write your translation on the next line:
There were 502,616 people who share similar characteristics that participated in the survey between the year 2006 and 2010. All of these people from England, Wales and Scotland lived up to 40km away from one of the 22 assessment centers, and they also have their information with the National Health Service.
Introduction
- Paste quoted text from the Introduction of the article on the next line. Do not include quotation marks:
We identify urban living environmental profiles and relate them to psychiatric symptom groups. We aim to understand what combinations of environmental factors are most relevant for these psychiatric symptoms, and how within these combinations each single factor contributes to the risk or resilience of mental health symptoms.
- Write your translation on the next line:
A profile of those who live in the urban environment was created and they were grouped into different mental traits. This was done in order to understand the influence environmental factors plays to these mental traits and if they increase or reduce these mental health symptoms.
Results
- Paste quoted text from the Results section in the article on the next line. Do not include quotation marks:
Our results indicate that the affective symptom group was positively correlated with an environment profile dominated by high levels of social deprivation and air pollution, and to a lesser extent SN, traffic and short distance to infrastructure facilities. Other factors of urbanicity, such as various forms of green space and social infrastructure, are protective.
- Write your translation on the next line:
Result shows that the emotions of the people grouped in similar traits in an environment where high levels of social deprivation, air pollution and short distance to infrastructure were the same, while other factors like green space and social infrastructure were safe.
Discussion
- Paste quoted text from the Discussion section of the article on the next line. Do not include quotation marks:
In this study, we describe how urban living affects the brain and mental health by identifying specific environmental profiles that are correlated with distinct groups of affective, anxiety and emotional instability symptoms, mediated by reductions in regional brain volume and moderated by genes involved in pertinent biological pathways.
- Write your translation on the next line:
The study explains the effects of living in urban area on the brain and psychological health through associating profiles of those who lives in similar environment, that share the same similar traits of anxiety and emotional instability. The regional brain volume reduction intervenes with the traits and are moderated by genes that are relevant to Biological Pathways.
Future Directions
More research is needed to see if the results from this article applies to other countries that are not wealthy and underdeveloped
Difficult Material
I find how the genome-wide associations with environmental psychiatric study was carried out challenging to understand.
BIOL 1593 – Assignment 2 Worksheet
Your Name:
URL link:
Paste the hyperlink to the website containing the original posting about the paper – NOT to the scientific paper itself (either the public posting webpage, or the Moodle forum webpage):
https://biol1592.trubox.ca/2025/07/15/xu-liu-polemiti-2023/
Additional Translation:
From which section of the paper is this passage?
Results
Paste quoted text on the next line. Do not include quotation marks or a bullet mark:
We found a significant relationship between an urban living environmental profile and a group consisting of five psychiatric symptoms in the training dataset (r = 0.20Pperm < 0.001, explained variance (EV) = 4.09%), which was replicated in the test dataset (r = 0.22, Pperm < 0.001, PFDR < 0.001, EV = 4.71%)(Fig. 2b,c). This psychiatric symptom group consisted of frequency of unenthusiasm, frequency of tiredness, loneliness, frequency of depressed mood and feeling fed-up (Fig. 2d), which we summarized as the affective symptom group.
Write your translation on the next line:
The researchers found a meaningful link between living in an urban environment and a group of five mental health symptoms. The group of symptoms included feeling unenthusiastic, feeling tired, feeling lonely, feeling depressed, and feeling fed up. The researchers referred to this group as affective symptoms (symptoms related to mood and emotions).
Additional Future Directions:
What future research do you think should follow up on this work?
Now that we know how environmental factors in urban settings are negatively or positively correlated with psychological symptoms, further research can focus on how to minimize the negative effects and amplify the positive ones given these environmental conditions. For instance, would a person’s mental well-being improve significantly if they spent a certain number of hours per week in parks or surrounded by greenery? Does limiting outdoor time during periods of heavy air pollution improve or undermine mental health?
Difficult Material (from original poster or subsequent student):
What did the previous poster state was difficult to understand? (please copy and paste their statement here):
I find how the genome-wide associations with environmental psychiatric study was carried out challenging to understand.
Please try to explain the difficult materials to the original poster, as best as you can. (This is where you can help them understand what they found difficult.)
In this research, genome-wide analysis refers to running a study of 76,508 UK Biobank participants to find genes linked to three groups of psychiatric symptoms — affective, anxiety, and emotional instability. The researchers calculated a gene score for each person based on the count of risk alleles (“high risk” gene) variants they carried and how strongly those variants were associated with the symptoms— in other words, how genes change the way city environments affect the brain and mental health.
New Difficult Material (according to you):
What did you not understand about this paper, that someone else can help with? If you understood everything, then what did you find most challenging to understand?
I find the “Replication and Pleiotropy Analyses” section very difficult to understand, as it involves multiple datasets that I don’t know how to interpret.