Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ethnic-racial identity and posttraumatic stress disorder: The role of emotional avoidance among trauma-exposed community individuals.

OBJECTIVE There are ethnic-racial differences in the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the factors underlying these differences are not well studied or understood. The goal of this study was to explore the relation of strength of ethnic-racial identity to PTSD. Specifically, we examined whether strength of ethnic-racial identity was indirectly related to PTSD symptom severity through positive and negative emotional avoidance. METHOD Participants were 401 trauma-exposed community individuals (Mage = 43.86 years; 70.1% female; 23.4% Asian, 23.7% Black, 25.1% Hispanic, 25.4% White). RESULTS Within the overall sample of ethnic-racial minorities, the indirect effect of strength of ethnic-racial identity on PTSD symptom severity through the pathways of both positive and negative emotional avoidance was significant. However, these findings were not replicated within each of the specific racial-ethnic subsamples. Specifically, while strength of ethnic-racial identity was indirectly associated with PTSD symptom severity through both positive and negative emotional avoidance in the Black subsample, this indirect effect was only significant through the pathway of positive emotional avoidance in the Hispanic subsample, and was nonsignificant in the Asian and White subsamples. CONCLUSIONS Results underscore ethnic-racial differences in the way in which strength of ethnic-racial identity impacts PTSD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
BIG 5 personality factors in relation to coping with contact restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic: An explorative analysis

The spread of the Sars-Cov-2 virus quickly developed into a pandemic. To slow down the spread of the resulting deadly disease COVID-19, many countries have severely restricted public and social life. In addition to the physical threat posed by the viral disease, such a pandemic has an impact on the mental well-being of individuals. In the present study we have therefore examined exploratively how individual differences based on the Big Five personality factors affect how people cope with contact restrictions during three weeks in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Using a small sample (N = 51), we were able to show that extraverts in particular suffer from severe limitations and benefit from relaxation. Individuals with high neuroticism, on the other hand, have not shown any change in dealing with the restrictions over time, whereas conscientious individuals seem to experience no discomfort and even positive aspects in the time of social restrictions. This bolsters the concept of neuroticism as a vulnerability factor concerning mental well-being per se, but also shows the importance of the social context to allow protective factors like extraversion to take action.
The performance of the chemiluminescent immunoassay for measuring serum myeloperoxidase and proteinase 3 antibodies

Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has traditionally been used to detect myeloperoxidase (MPO) and proteinase 3 (PR3) antibodies, although it is time‐consuming and physically demanding. As a novel and highly effective immunoassay, we compared chemiluminescent immunoassay (CIA) with ELISA to verify the application value of CIA in MPO and PR3 antibodies detection.
Severity assessment of COVID-19 using CT image features and laboratory indices

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now a global pandemic. Tens of millions of people have been confirmed with infection, and also more people are suspected. Chest computed tomography (CT) is recognized as an important tool for COVID-19 severity assessment. As the number of chest CT images increases rapidly, manual severity assessment becomes a labor-intensive task, delaying appropriate isolation and treatment. In this paper, a study of automatic severity assessment for COVID-19 is presented. Specifically, chest CT images of 118 patients (age 46.5 ± 16.5 years, 64 male and 54 female) with confirmed COVID-19 infection are used, from which 63 quantitative features and 110 radiomics features are derived. Besides the chest CT image features, 36 laboratory indices of each patient are also used, which can provide complementary information from a different view. A random forest (RF) model is trained to assess the severity (non-severe or severe) according to the chest CT image features and laboratory indices. Importance of each chest CT image feature and laboratory index, which reflects the correlation to the severity of COVID-19, is also calculated from the RF model. Using three-fold cross-validation, the RF model shows promising results: 0.910 (true positive ratio), 0.858 (true negative ratio) and 0.890 (accuracy), along with AUC of 0.98. Moreover, several chest CT image features and laboratory indices are found to be highly related to COVID-19 severity, which could be valuable for the clinical diagnosis of COVID-19.
Impact of whole-body passive heat stress and arterial shear rate modification on radial artery function in young men.

We sought to determine how whole-body heating acutely influences radial artery function, characterized using flow mediated dilation (FMD) and low-flow mediated constriction (L-FMC), and the mechanistic role of shear rate modification on radial artery functional characteristics during heating. Eleven young healthy men underwent whole-body heating (water-perfused suit) sufficient to raise core temperature +1°C. Trials were repeated with (Heat+WC) and without (Heat) the application of a wrist cuff located distal to the radial artery examined, known to prevent increases in mean and anterograde shear rate but increase retrograde shear. Radial artery characteristics were assessed throughout each trial, with FMD and L-FMC assessed prior to and upon reaching the target core temperature. Heat markedly increased radial artery mean and anterograde shear rate, along with radial artery diameter and blood flow (P<0.05). Heat+WC abolished the heat-induced increase mean and anterograde shear rate (P>0.05), but markedly increased retrograde shear (P<0.05). Concomitantly, increases in radial artery diameter and blood flow were decreased (Heat+WC vs Heat,P<0.05). Heat attenuated FMD (8.6±1.2 vs. 2.2±1.4%, P<0.05), whereas no change in FMD was observed in Heat+WC (7.8±1.2 vs. 10.8±1.2%,P>0.05). In contrast, L-FMC was not different in either trial (P>0.05). In summary, acute whole-body heating markedly elevates radial artery shear rate, diameter and blood flow, and diminishes FMD. However, marked radial artery vasodilation and diminished FMD are absent when these shear rate changes are prevented. Shear rate modifications underpinthe radial artery response to acute whole-body heat-stress, but further endothelial-dependent vasodilation (FMD) is attenuated likely as the vasodilatory range limit is approached.
Validation of a Short Form for Health Literacy Assessment Using Talking Touchscreen Technology

Background: Health literacy is an area of growing research and clinical interest, necessitating short, accurate measures of this complex construct. Health Literacy Assessment Using Talking Touchscreen Technology (Health LiTT) measures prose, document, and quantitative literacy by self-administration on a touchscreen computer. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the validity of a short form of Health LiTT and to identify a meaningful cutoff score for adequate health literacy. Methods: A subsample of 137 participants from the Literacy and Cognitive Function among Older Adults study completed a 10-item Health LiTT short form and three interviewer-administered health literacy measures: Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA), Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM), and Newest Vital Sign (NVS). Convergent validity was assessed by correlating scores for all measures, and known-groups validity was assessed by comparing mean Health LITT scores across TOFHLA levels (inadequate, marginal, adequate). Internal consistency reliability was estimated with Cronbach's alpha. A cutoff score for adequate health literacy was established using the TOFHLA cutoff for adequate versus inadequate/marginal health literacy. Key Results: Spearman correlations between Health LiTT scores and total TOFHLA, REALM, and NVS scores were 0.65, 0.69, and 0.56, respectively (all p < .001). Mean Health LiTT scores were significantly and meaningfully different across inadequate (40.4), marginal (50.1), and adequate (57.1) TOFHLA categories (F = 60.6; p < .001). Cronbach's alpha for the Health LiTT short form was . 73. A cutoff score of 55 on Health LiTT showed acceptable sensitivity and specificity to identify adequate health literacy. Conclusions: This 10-item Health LiTT short form demonstrated excellent convergent and known-groups validity and acceptable internal consistency reliability in older adults. The established cutoff also showed excellent sensitivity and specificity. Validation of other custom Health LiTT short forms with varying items from the bank and computer adaptive test-generated Health LiTT scores is ongoing. [HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2020;4(4):e200–e207. ] Plain Language Summary: This article provides evidence of the need for and psychometric properties of a valid and reliable short form of the flexible, technologically advanced Health Literacy Assessment Using Talking Touchscreen Technology measure, as well as a cutoff score to note adequate versus marginal/inadequate health literacy.
On the Possibility of Directed Mutations in Bacteria: Statistical Analyses and Reductionist Strategies

The ongoing controversy about the possibility of directed mutations in bacteria is examined for its methodological, and thereby philosophical, implications. The method of fluctuation analysis, widely used to investigate whether mutations are random or directed, is described and subjected to a conceptual critique which shows that it cannot decide whether some mutations are directed while most are random. In this context, recent experiments that exploit this possibility to suggest that directed mutations occur in bacteria are described. Interpretive and experimental responses to such claims are briefly analyzed. Finally it is argued that mere statistical analysis, such as fluctuation analysis, cannot resolve this dispute. What will probably be required is an investigation of mechanisms of mutagenesis, an investigation that is intrinsically reductive.
Association Between Patient‐Reported Frailty and Non‐Home Discharge Among Older Adults Undergoing Surgery

Identifying surgical patients at risk for discharge to a post‐acute facility has the potential to reduce hospital length of stay, improve postoperative planning, and increase patient satisfaction. We sought to examine the association between a positive response to a preoperative patient‐reported frailty screen and non‐home discharge (NHD).
Psychological and Biological Approaches To Emotion

Contents: Part I:Relationships Between Cognition and Emotion. R.S. Lazarus, Constructs of the Mind in Adaptation. G. Mandler, A Constructivist Theory of Emotion. N.L. Stein, L.J. Levine, Making Sense Out of Emotion: The Representation and Use of Goal-Structured Knowledge. A.M. Isen, The Influence of Positive and Negative Affect on Cognitive Organization: Some Implications for Development. Part II:Biological Perspectives to Emotion. K.M. Heilman, D. Bowers, Neuropsychological Studies of Emotional Changes Induced by Right and Left Hemispheric Lesions. B. Kolb, L. Taylor, Neocortical Substrates of Emotional Behavior. D.M. Tucker, K. Vannatta, J. Rothlind, Arousal and Activation Systems and Primitive Adaptive Controls on Cognitive Priming. W. Heller, The Neuropsychology of Emotion: Developmental Patterns and Implications for Psychopathology. Part III:Developmental Perspectives on Emotion. L. Bloom, Developments in Expression: Affect and Speech. C.R. Stenberg, J.J. Campos, The Development of Anger Expressions in Infancy. J. Huttenlocher, P. Smiley, Emerging Notions of Persons. M. Radke-Yarrow, G. Kochanska, Anger in Young Children. Part IV:Coping and Psychopathology. S. Folkman, R.S. Lazarus, Coping and Emotion. L.Y. Abramson, L.B. Alloy, G.I. Metalsky, The Hopelessness Theory of Depression: Current Status and Future Directions. D. Cicchetti, J. White, Emotion and Developmental Psychopathology. Part V:System Approaches to Emotion. J.R. Averill, Emotion in Relation to Systems of Behavior. T. Brown, The Biological Significance of Affectivity.
Risk and resilience during COVID-19: A new study in the Zigler paradigm of developmental science

Abstract When children are exposed to serious life adversities, Ed Zigler believed that developmental scientists must expediently strive to illuminate the most critical directions for beneficial interventions. In this paper, we present a new study on risk and resilience on adolescents during COVID-19, bookended – in introductory and concluding discussions – by descriptions of programmatic work anchored in lessons learned from Zigler. The new study was conducted during the first two months of the pandemic, using a mixed-methods approach with a sample of over 2,000 students across five high schools. Overall, rates of clinically significant symptoms were generally lower as compared to norms documented in 2019. Multivariate regressions showed that the most robust, unique associations with teens’ distress were with feelings of stress around parents and support received from them. Open ended responses to three questions highlighted concerns about schoolwork and college, but equally, emphasized worries about families’ well-being, and positive outreach from school adults. The findings have recurred across subsequent school assessments, and strongly resonate with contemporary perspectives on resilience in science and policy. If serious distress is to be averted among youth under high stress, interventions must attend not just to the children's mental health but that of salient caregiving adults at home and school. The article concludes with some specific recommendations for community-based initiatives to address mental health through continued uncertainties of the pandemic.
The impact of COVID-19 on children with autism spectrum disorder.

INTRODUCTION Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience changing routines as a major challenge. For that reason, the need for adaptation during COVID-19 pandemic may have brought major problems to families with children with this pathology. AIM To explore how children with ASD and their parents experienced the social isolation during COVID-19 outbreak period. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We conducted an observational, cross-sectional and analytical study. We applied an anonymous questionnaire that included children's demographic and clinical characteristics, along with the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in different aspects of family's daily life. RESULTS Out of 99 questionnaires obtained, 43 were related to children with ASD and 56 to control group. Children with ASD predominantly had changes in behavior, while children from control group mostly found no changes. The majority of parents of ASD children reported a negative impact in emotion management against those in control group reporting mostly positive or no impact. Caregivers reported higher mean scores of anxiety levels in themselves than in their children. ASD children and their parents had higher levels of anxiety than healthy ones. In the group with ASD, children that did not maintain routines had higher mean levels of anxiety than children that maintained routines. CONCLUSION Our results show a potential important psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic not only in children with neurodevelopmental disorders but in their caregivers as well. Physicians must be prepared for the post-pandemic surveillance of mental disorders among families.
Myocardial work - correlation patterns and reference values from the population-based STAAB cohort study

Background Recently, myocardial work analysis as an echocardiographic tool to non-invasively determine LV work has been introduced and validated against invasive measurements. Based on systolic blood pressure and speckle-tracking derived longitudinal strain (GLS) during systole and isovolumic relaxation, it is considered less load-dependent than LV ejection fraction (LVEF) or GLS and to integrate information on LV active systolic and diastolic work. Objectives We aimed to establish reference values for global constructive (GCW) and global wasted work (GWW) as well as of global work index (GWI) and global work efficiency (GWE) across a wide age range and to assess the association with standard echocardiography parameters to estimate the potential additional information provided by myocardial work (MyW). Methods The Characteristics and Course of Heart Failure STAges A/B and Determinants of Progression (STAAB) cohort study carefully characterized a representative sample of the population of the City of Würzburg, Germany, aged 30–79 years. We performed myocardial work analysis using the standardized, quality-controlled transthoracic echocardiograms of all individuals lacking any cardiovascular risk factor. Results Out of 4965 participants, 779 (49±10 years, 59% women) were eligible for the present analysis. Levels of GCW, GWW, and GWE were independent of sex and body mass index, and were stable until the age of 45 years. Thereafter, we observed an upward shift to further stable values of GCW and a linear increase of GWW with advancing age, resulting in lower GWE. Age-adjusted percentiles for GCW, GWW, GWI, and GWE were derived. Higher levels of blood pressure or LV mass were associated with higher GCW, GWI, and GWW, resulting in lower GWE; higher LVEF correlated with higher GCW and GWI, but lower GWW. Higher E/e´ correlated with higher GWW, higher e´ with lower GWW. Conclusions Derived from a large sample of apparently healthy individuals from a population based-cohort, we provide age-adjusted reference values for myocardial work indices, applicable for either sex. Weak correlations with common echocardiographic parameters suggest MyW indices to potentially provide additional information, which has to be evaluated in diseased patient cohorts.
15-Lipoxygenase inhibition of selected Philippine medicinal plants

Several extracts from Philippine medicinal plants used for asthma and other inflammatory diseases were evaluated for their ability to inhibit the action of 15-lipoxygenase. The inhibitory activity was tested spectrophotometrically using quercetin as positive control. Eleven species belonging to 11 families displayed varying inhibitory activities. Commelina diffusa and Euphorbia hirta showed the highest inhibitory activity at 51.3% and 48.5%, respectively. These plants may contain new 15-lipoxygenase inhibitors.
America First populism, social volatility, and self-reported arrests

Significance Using the 2016 American National Election Study, we develop comprehensive measures of the current populist moment in the United States. Our purpose is to develop a behavioral analysis of this current socially volatile moment. Using hierarchical modeling, we find that political narratives of America First populism are connected to reported lifetime criminal arrests, and this holds when taking into account political leanings or the economic precarity facing individuals. While we make no claims of causation, our findings provide important clues about the social volatility of the current moment. We find that political beliefs of America First express and reflect economic frustrations, and that the social boundaries these narratives draw against perceived outsiders and internationalism are associated with lifetime criminal arrests. Despite research on the causes of populism and on the narratives of populist leaders, there is little empirical work on the relationship between populist attitudes and behavior, notably including criminal behavior. Our overarching concern is the recurrent social volatility of metaphorical populist themes that are central to impactful political messaging. Drawing on a national United States survey conducted around the 2016 election, we use multilevel models to show that the politically charged exclusionary boundaries of “America First” populism are behaviorally connected to increased odds of having been arrested. We argue that the rapid redrawing of social boundaries that make up populist attitudes is closely connected with the effects of economic and political frustrations during times of rapid social change. In the process, we develop a behavioral analysis of the social volatility of the recurrent populist movement in America.
Número de operações mecanizadas na colheita do café

Performing more than one operation of coffee harvester can increase fruit harvest efficiency by minimizing the amount of remaining plants and the need for manual transfer. This manual harvest makes often more expensive the production process and promote more damage to the plants in relation to mechanization. However, it should know how many operations it is necessary to completely harvest the fruits of the trees, in fields that have different production loads, especially the higher loads, since they are more difficult to be fully harvested. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the number of harvester operations in two coffee plantations, for an efficient harvesting. Two situations were compared: crop with intermediate load (50.78 benefited coffee bags ha-1)and tillage with high load (121.54 benefited coffee bags ha-1)on the Cerrado Mineiro region, using one to six operations of a KTR harvester. It was used a randomized block design with four replications. The number of fallen coffee, remainned harvested and harvesting efficiency were evaluated. It was found that for the remainned amount of coffee plants, to dispense the manual harvest it is required three operations of coffee harvester at high loads and two at intermediate loads. Regardless of the coffee load, using three or more harvester operations, a larger amount of fruits was harvested, without differing in crop harvest efficiency with two operations
Safety analysis of battery-powered ride-on toy car with seat and restraint system modifications

ABSTRACT Modified battery-powered ride-on toy cars represent novel rehabilitation tools for children with disabilities. However, safety concerns exist with the use of these battery-power toys and pose a barrier for the growth of adaptive ride-on toy programs due to the lack of evidence demonstrating that modifications made to these cars are safe. Within this context, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether modifications to ride-on toys are sufficient to prevent common injuries and determine how these modifications influence injury metrics. Specifically, we evaluated the effects of common modifications such as various seatbelt configurations and determined how increased seat back height effects neck forces. Results indicated that occupant displacement can be reduced using a lap belt, and further reductions in displacement are achieved with a 5-point harness. Although some injury metrics increased with restraints, none of the collected injury metrics even came close to approaching known tolerance thresholds, and most were well within the range that is experienced by a child in daily life. As the greatest concerns for these ride-on toys are related to displacement, findings from this study support the use of a 5-point harness system to minimize displacement-related injuries with little-to-no added risk.