cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Objective Bayesian Inference for Bilateral Data
Creators: name: M'lan, Cyr Emile
name: Chen, Ming-Hui
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Statistics Theory (math.ST)
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: This paper presents three objective Bayesian methods for analyzing bilateral data under Dallal's model and the saturated model. Three parameters are of interest, namely, the risk difference, the risk ratio, and the odds ratio. We derive Jeffreys' prior and Bernardo's reference prior associated with the three parameters that characterize Dallal's model. We derive the functional forms of the posterior distributions of the risk difference and the risk ratio and discuss how to sample from their posterior distributions. We demonstrate the use of the proposed methodology with two real data examples. We also investigate small, moderate, and large sample properties of the proposed methodology and the frequentist counterpart via simulations.
description: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/14-BA890 in the Bayesian Analysis (http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.ba) by the International Society of Bayesian Analysis (http://bayesian.org/)
Community mobilization to modify harmful gender norms and reduce HIV risk: results from a community cluster randomized trial in South Africa
Creators: name: MacPhail, C.
name: Peacock, D.
name: Lippman, S.A.
name: Maman, S.
name: Pettifor, A.
name: Kahn, K.
name: Gottert, A.
name: Rebombo, D.
name: Tollman, S.
name: Suchindran, C.M.
name: Gómez-Olivé, F.X.
name: Twine, R.
name: Selin, A.
Publisher: name: John Wiley and Sons Inc.
Year: 2018

description: Introduction: Community mobilization (CM) is increasingly recognized as critical to generating changes in social norms and behaviours needed to achieve reductions in HIV. We conducted a CM intervention to modify negative gender norms, particularly among men, in order to reduce associated HIV risk. Methods: Twenty two villages in the Agincourt Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance Site in rural Mpumalanga, South Africa were randomized to either a theory-based, gender transformative, CM intervention or no intervention. Two cross-sectional, population-based surveys were conducted in 2012 (pre-intervention, n = 600 women; n = 581 men) and 2014 (post-intervention, n = 600 women; n = 575 men) among adults ages 18 to 35 years. We used an intent-to-treat (ITT) approach using survey regression cluster-adjusted standard errors to determine the intervention effect by trial arm on gender norms, measured using the Gender Equitable Mens Scale (GEMS), and secondary behavioural outcomes. Results: Among men, there was a significant 2.7 point increase (Beta Coefficient 95% CI: 0.62, 4.78, p = 0.01) in GEMS between those in intervention compared to control communities. We did not observe a significant difference in GEMS scores for women by trial arm. Among men and women in intervention communities, we did not observe significant differences in perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV), condom use at last sex or hazardous drinking compared to control communities. The number of sex partners in the past 12 months (AOR 0.29, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.77) were significantly lower in women in intervention communities compared to control communities and IPV victimization was lower among women in intervention communities, but the reduction was not statistically significant (AOR 0.53, 95% CI 0.24 to 1.16). Conclusion: Community mobilization can reduce negative gender norms among men and has the potential to create environments that are more supportive of preventing IPV and reducing HIV risk behaviour. Nevertheless, we did not observe that changes in attitudes towards gender norms resulted in desired changes in risk behaviours suggesting that more time may be necessary to change behaviour or that the intervention may need to address behaviours more directly. Clinical Trials number: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02129530.
Level of personality functioning and its relationship with core schemas in anxiety and mood disorders
Creators: name: Naumova, Katerina
name: Naumov, Florijan
Publisher: name: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology
Year: 2022
Subjects: Personality functioning; Core beliefs; Negative self-schema; Personality disorders.

description: Background: The DSM-5 Alternative model for personality disorders initiated a growing body of research on deficits in self-functioning and interpersonal relatedness. However, fewer studies have focused on personality impairments in anxiety and mood disorders. Furthermore, cognitive theory proposes that core beliefs, primarily negative self-schema, determine the development and maintenance of personality dysfunction. Thus, the objective of this study was to examine the severity of personality psychopathology in anxiety and mood disorders and its relationship with core beliefs about self and others. Method: The participants were outpatients (N = 92, mean age: 28.6 years) diagnosed with anxiety disorders, mood disorders and mixed anxiety and depressive disorder. A demographically matched community sample (N = 92, mean age: 30.2 years) was included as a comparison group. Both samples completed the LPFS-BF 2.0, a measure of impairments in self and interpersonal functioning and the Brief Core Schema Scales that assess global negative and positive self and other evaluations. Results: As expected, disturbances in self and interpersonal functioning were significantly higher in outpatients relative to controls. Outpatients also endorsed significantly less positive beliefs about self and others and significantly more negative self-beliefs. However, they did not differ significantly from controls in negative beliefs about others. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that after controlling for the effects of gender and age, only negative self-schema was a significant predictor of impaired self-functioning among outpatients, while both negative self and negative other schemas predicted impaired interpersonal functioning. Conclusion: The findings are in line with the cognitive model of personality disorders and highlight the need to assess personality functioning before and during treatment of anxiety and mood disorders.
description: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol 10, No 2 (2022)
Do We Need More Training Data?
Creators: name: Zhu, Xiangxin
name: Vondrick, Carl
name: Fowlkes, Charless
name: Ramanan, Deva
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Datasets for training object recognition systems are steadily increasing in size. This paper investigates the question of whether existing detectors will continue to improve as data grows, or saturate in performance due to limited model complexity and the Bayes risk associated with the feature spaces in which they operate. We focus on the popular paradigm of discriminatively trained templates defined on oriented gradient features. We investigate the performance of mixtures of templates as the number of mixture components and the amount of training data grows. Surprisingly, even with proper treatment of regularization and "outliers", the performance of classic mixture models appears to saturate quickly ($\sim$10 templates and $\sim$100 positive training examples per template). This is not a limitation of the feature space as compositional mixtures that share template parameters via parts and that can synthesize new templates not encountered during training yield significantly better performance. Based on our analysis, we conjecture that the greatest gains in detection performance will continue to derive from improved representations and learning algorithms that can make efficient use of large datasets.
“Voice to the youth”: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of how Italian young adults experienced the pandemic
Creators: name: Regnoli, Giorgio Maria
name: De Rosa, Barbara
name: Palombo, Paola
Publisher: name: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology
Year: 2022
Subjects: Covid-19; Young Adults; Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis; Narrations; Collective Trauma.

description: The present study aims to explore how the Covid-19 pandemic was experienced by young adults, a demographic that has often been defined at high psychopathological risk. In the context of an action research, the study set out to provide the participants with a protected space in which they could be heard, and potentially re-process their experience through the construction of their testimonial narration. A semi-structured interview was developed to retrace the phases of the pandemic, i.e., March 2020 (lockdown), summer 2020, fall/winter 2020 (pandemic wave II), and the beginning of 2021 (vaccine plan), as they were experienced by 23 participants (18-30 years old). The interviews were transcribed and analyzed according to the structural principles of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Four superordinate themes emerged: “The impossible in a very short time”, “Things were better when times were harder”, “I control... therefore I am and will be” and “Ambivalence”. The traumatic impact of the pandemic was perceived in all the phases explored, especially during the second wave. The analysis of the testimonial narrations highlighted the main difficulties encountered during that time, the resources used to deal with them, a symmetrization of the respondents’ relationship with their parents, their relationship with the Covid-19 infodemic, and a progressive decrease in institutional trust. While the size of the sample is consistent with the methodology used, it constitutes the main limitation of the project. This research should be seen as the initial phase of a larger study, which aims to investigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on young adults using quantitative methods.
description: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol 10, No 2 (2022)
Titanium abundances in late-type stars I. 1D non-local thermodynamic equilibrium modelling in benchmark dwarfs and giants
Creators: name: Mallinson, J. W. E.
name: Lind, K.
name: Amarsi, A. M.
name: Barklem, P. S.
name: Grumer, J.
name: Belyaev, A. K.
name: Youakim, K.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The titanium abundances of late-type stars are important tracers of Galactic formation history. However, abundances inferred from Ti I and Ti II lines can be in stark disagreement in very metal-poor giants. Departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) have a large impact on the minority neutral species and thus influences the ionisation imbalance, but satisfactory non-LTE modelling for both dwarfs and giants has not been achieved in previous literature. The reliability of titanium abundances is reassessed in benchmark dwarfs and giants using a new non-LTE model and one-dimensional (1D) model atmospheres. A comprehensive model atom was compiled with a more extended level structure and newly published data for inelastic collisions between Ti I and neutral hydrogen. In 1D LTE, the Ti I and Ti II lines agree to within $0.06$ dex for the Sun, Arcturus, and the very metal-poor stars HD84937 and HD140283. For the very metal-poor giant HD122563, the Ti I lines give an abundance that is $0.47$ dex lower than that from Ti II. The 1D non-LTE corrections can reach $+0.4$ dex for individual Ti I lines and $+0.1$ dex for individual Ti II lines, and reduce the overall ionisation imbalance to $-0.17$ dex for HD122563. However, it also increases the imbalance for the very metal-poor dwarf and sub-giant to around $0.2$ dex. Using 1D non-LTE reduces the ionisation imbalance in very metal-poor giants but breaks the balance of other very metal-poor stars, consistent with the conclusions in earlier literature. To make further progress, consistent 3D non-LTE models are needed.
description: 9 pages plus appendix, 6 figures; accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Optomechanical Entanglement between an Ion and an Optical Cavity Field
Creators: name: Bhattacherjee, Aranya B.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study an optomechanical system in which the mechanical motion of a single trapped ion is coupled to a cavity field for the realization of a strongly quantum correlated two-mode system. We show that for large pump intensities the steady state photon number exhibits bistable behaviour. We further analyze the occurrence of normal mode splitting (NMS) due to mixing of the fluctuations of the cavity field and the fluctuations of the ion motion which indicates a coherent energy exchange. We also find that in the parameter regime where NMS exists, the steady state of the system shows continuous variable entanglement. Such a two-mode optomechanical system can be used for the realization of continuous variable quantum information interfaces and networks.
description: comments welcome
(362) Helen Rupel
Creators: name: Professions, Victorian
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: 220201 Business and Labour History
subject: FOS: Philosophy, ethics and religion
subject: History
subject: 140203 Economic History
subject: FOS: Economics and business

description: This three-year research project began in January 2014 and investigated whether, during the Victorian period, the professions formed a distinct self-sustaining social group with its own mores and values. The project looked at 16,000 individuals drawn from census data for Alnwick, Brighton, Bristol, Dundee, Greenock, Leeds, Merthyr Tydfil, Morpeth, and Winchester. The research project was funded by the UK Economic & Social Research Council and was based at the Universities of Oxford and Northumbria.
Entanglement and negativity Hamiltonians for the massless Dirac field on the half line
Creators: name: Rottoli, Federico
name: Murciano, Sara
name: Tonni, Erik
name: Calabrese, Pasquale
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study the ground-state entanglement Hamiltonian of several disjoint intervals for the massless Dirac fermion on the half-line. Its structure consists of a local part and a bi-local term that couples each point to another one in each other interval. The bi-local operator can be either diagonal or mixed in the fermionic chiralities and it is sensitive to the boundary conditions. The knowledge of such entanglement Hamiltonian is the starting point to evaluate the negativity Hamiltonian, i.e. the logarithm of the partially transposed reduced density matrix, which is an operatorial characterisation of entanglement of subsystems in a mixed states. We find that the negativity Hamiltonian inherits the structure of the corresponding entanglement Hamiltonian. We finally show how the continuum expressions for both these operators can be recovered from exact numerical computations in free-fermion chains.
description: 40 pages, 9 figures
Electrostatic multipole contributions to the binding energy of electrons
Creators: name: Alhaidari, A. D.
name: Bahlouli, H.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The interaction of an electron with a local static charge distribution (e.g., an atom or molecule) is dominated at large distances by the radial 1/r Coulomb potential. The second order effect comes from the non-central electric dipole contribution cos(theta)/r^2. Moreover, the third order effect is due to the electric quadrupole potential, [3*cos^2(theta)-1]/2*r^3. We use the tridiagonal representation approach to give a reasonably accurate account for the combined effects of all these contributions to the binding energy of the electron but with an effective quadrupole interaction. As an application, we obtain the bound states of a valence electron in an atom with both electric dipole and quadrupole moments.
description: 16 pages, 2 tables, 3 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2103.03349
Prospective study on microscopic potential with Gogny interaction
Creators: name: Blanchon, G.
name: Dupuis, M.
name: Arellano, H. F.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We present our current studies and our future plans on microscopic potential based on effective nucleon-nucleon interaction and many-body theory. This framework treats in an unified way nuclear structure and reaction. It offers the opportunity to link the underlying effective interaction to nucleon scattering observables. The more consistently connected to a variety of reaction and structure experimental data the framework will be, the more constrained effective interaction will be. As a proof of concept, we present some recent results for both neutron and proton scattered from spherical target nucleus, namely 40 Ca, using the Gogny D1S interaction. Possible fruitful crosstalks between microscopic potential, phenomenological potential and effective interaction are exposed. We then draw some prospective plans for the forthcoming years including scattering from spherical nuclei experiencing pairing correlations, scattering from axially deformed nuclei, and new effective interaction with reaction constraints.
Identification and validation of a multi-assay algorithm for cross-sectional HIV incidence estimation in populations with subtype C infection:
Creators: name: Pettifor, A.E.
name: Eshleman, S.H.
name: Morrison, D.E.
name: Konikoff, J.
name: Wang, J.
name: Morrison, C.S.
name: Laeyendecker, O.
name: Abdool Karim, Q.
name: Brookmeyer, R.
name: Celum, C.
Publisher: name: John Wiley and Sons Inc.
Year: 2018

description: Introduction: Cross-sectional methods can be used to estimate HIV incidence for surveillance and prevention studies. We evaluated assays and multi-assay algorithms (MAAs) for incidence estimation in subtype C settings. Methods: We analysed samples from individuals with subtype C infection with known duration of infection (2442 samples from 278 adults; 0.1 to 9.9 years after seroconversion). MAAs included 1-4 of the following assays: Limiting Antigen Avidity assay (LAg-Avidity), BioRad-Avidity assay, CD4 cell count and viral load (VL). We evaluated 23,400 MAAs with different assays and assay cutoffs. We identified the MAA with the largest mean window period, where the upper 95% confidence interval (CI) of the shadow was <1 year. This MAA was compared to the LAg-Avidity and BioRad-Avidity assays alone, a widely used LAg algorithm (LAg-Avidity <1.5 OD-n + VL >1000 copies/mL), and two MAAs previously optimized for subtype B settings. We compared these cross-sectional incidence estimates to observed incidence in an independent longitudinal cohort. Results: The optimal MAA was LAg-Avidity <2.8 OD-n + BioRad-Avidity <95% + VL >400 copies/mL. This MAA had a mean window period of 248 days (95% CI: 218, 284), a shadow of 306 days (95% CI: 255, 359), and provided the most accurate and precise incidence estimate for the independent cohort. The widely used LAg algorithm had a shorter mean window period (142 days, 95% CI: 118, 167), a longer shadow (410 days, 95% CI; 318, 491), and a less accurate and precise incidence estimate for the independent cohort. Conclusions: An optimal MAA was identified for cross-sectional HIV incidence in subtype C settings. The performance of this MAA is superior to a testing algorithm currently used for global HIV surveillance.
Coulombic Surface-Ion Interactions Induce Nonlinear and Chemistry-Specific Charging Kinetics
Creators: name: Boon, Willem
name: Dijkstra, Marjolein
name: van Roij, René
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
subject: Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: While important for many industrial applications, chemical reactions responsible for charging of solids in water are often poorly understood. We theoretically investigate the charging kinetics of solid-liquid interfaces, and find that the time-dependent equilibration of surface charge contains key information not only on the reaction mechanism, but also on the valency of the reacting ions. We construct a non-linear differential equation describing surface charging by combining chemical Langmuir kinetics and electrostatic Poisson-Boltzmann theory. Our results reveal a clear distinction between late-time (near-equilibrium) and short-time (far-from-equilibrium) relaxation rates, the ratio of which contains information on the charge valency and ad- or desorption mechanism of the charging process. Similarly, we find that single-ion reactions can be distinguished from two-ion reactions as the latter show an inflection point during equilibration. Interestingly, such inflection points are characteristic of autocatalytic reactions, and we conclude that the Coulombic ion-surface interaction is an autocatalytic feedback mechanism.
description: 6 pages, 2 figures, Supplemental Material: 4 pages, 2 figures
Old Age, Time, and the Space of the Home: A Qualitative Research Study During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Creators: name: Lacatena, Marina
name: Sommantico, Massimiliano
Publisher: name: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology
Year: 2022
Subjects: Old age; Space; Home; Free associations; Defended subject; Clinical psychology.

description: This qualitative study analyzes old age, time, and the space of the home by focusing on the mechanisms of mirroring and symbolization. Throughout the subject’s life, these two mechanisms have shaped the house and existence within it. By investigating mirroring and symbolization, starting with discussion on the theme of the house, we can further unpack emotional data that are embedded within this dialogue. To this end, 3 men and 3 women (between 75 and 90 yrs.) participated in a Free Association Narrative Interview (FANI) during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions; the participants’ houses were the setting. Two general hypotheses guided this study: a) that the ability to contain emotions, provided early in life by the maternal function, was transposed in later life to the space of the home, and b) that the ability to be alone was strongly pervaded by the living conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Five major themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews: origins, the body, loneliness, death, and the influence of the public health emergency on the experience of the present. Questions of reflexivity and countertransference in psychoanalytically-informed qualitative research are discussed. The results indicate that, despite the exacerbation of loneliness due to the pandemic, the elderly continue to show the emotional intensity of their living spaces and the juxtaposition between the memory of the present and the memory of life in general, thus contradicting the predominant stereotypical image of old age, which focuses only on vulnerability.
description: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol 10, No 2 (2022)
REMARQUES SUR CERTAINES " HINCKSINIDAE ", ALDERINIDAE ET FLUSTRIDAE (Bryozoaires Chilostomes)
Creators: name: BOBIN, G.
name: PRENANT, M.
Publisher: name: Station Biologique de Roscoff (SBR)
Year: 1961

description: By studying various anatomical characters (especially those of ovicel and the relations of it), the authors precise for five species of Membranipores a systematic position which had been questionable till now. The ovicels of Cauloramphus and Aplousina being hyperstomial although frequently vestigial, these two genus belong to the Alderinidae. The other three species which are considered here, are Flustridae : in this family, the genus Hincksina itself must be included ; Mem- branipora gregaria Heller, often classified as Copidozoum (Alderinidae), is, in fact, a Spiralaria; Flustra octodon Busk cannot be linked directly with any genus of modern Silén’s classification and the authors propose here the name of Hinck- sinoflustra octodon. Thanks to these modifications, French Fauna does not include any more Hincksinidae.
Conditional cash transfers and the reduction in partner violence for young women: An investigation of causal pathways using evidence from a randomized experiment in South Africa (HPTN 068): An
Creators: name: Wang, J.
name: MacPhail, C.
name: Wagner, R.
name: Kilburn, K.N.
name: Edwards, J.K.
name: Hughes, J.P.
name: Kahn, K.
name: Pettifor, A.
name: Selin, A.
name: Twine, R.
Publisher: name: John Wiley and Sons Inc.
Year: 2018

description: Introduction: Evidence has shown that the experience of violence by a partner has important influences on women's risk of HIV acquisition. Using a randomized experiment in northeast South Africa, we found that a conditional cash transfer (CCT) targeted to poor girls in high school reduced the risk of physical intimate partner violence (IPV) in the past 12 months by 34%. The purpose of this analysis is to understand the pathways through which the CCT affects IPV. Methods: HPTN 068 was a phase 3, randomized controlled trial in rural Mpumalanga province, South Africa. Eligible young women (aged 13-20) and their parents or guardians were randomly assigned (1:1) to either receive a monthly cash transfer conditional on monthly high school attendance or no cash transfer. Between 2011 and 2015, participants (N = 2,448) were interviewed at baseline, then at annual follow-up visits at 12, 24 and 36 months. The total effect of the CCT on IPV was estimated using a GEE log-binomial regression model. We then estimated controlled direct effects to examine mediation of direct effects through intermediate pathways. Mediators include sexual partnership measures, the sexual relationship power scale, and household consumption measures. Results: We found evidence that the CCT works in part through delaying sexual debut or reducing the number of sexual partners. The intervention interacts with these mediators leading to larger reductions in IPV risk compared to the total effect of the CCT on any physical IPV [RR 0.66, CI(95%):0.59-0.74]. The largest reductions are seen when we estimate the controlled direct effect under no sexual debut [RR 0.57, CI(95%):0.48-0.65] or under no sexual partner in the last 12 months [RR 0.53, CI(95%):0.46-0.60]. Conclusions: Results indicate that a CCT for high school girls has protective effects on their experience of IPV and that the effect is due in part to girls choosing not to engage in sexual partnerships, thereby reducing the opportunity for IPV. As a lower exposure to IPV and safer sexual behaviours also protect against HIV acquisition, this study adds to the growing body of evidence on how cash transfers may reduce young women's HIV risk.
Understanding men’s networks and perceptions of leadership to promote HIV testing and treatment in Agincourt, South Africa
Creators: name: Kahn, K.
name: Twine, R.
name: Maman, S.
name: Gottert, A.
name: Lippman, S.A.
name: Rebombo, D.
name: MacPhail, C.
name: Pettifor, A.
name: Hill, L.M.
Publisher: name: Routledge
Year: 2018

description: Understanding informal leadership in high HIV prevalence settings is important for the success of popular opinion leader (POL) and other HIV testing and treatment promotion strategies which aim to leverage the influence of these leaders. We conducted a study in Mpumalanga province, South Africa, in which we aimed to: (1) describe men’s personal networks and key social relationships; and (2) describe the types of individuals men identify as leaders. We administered a structured questionnaire with 45 men (15 HIV-positive and 30 HIV-negative) in which men enumerated and described characteristics of individuals they share personal matters with, and people they considered as leaders. We further conducted in-depth interviews with 25 of these men to better understand men’s conceptualisation of leadership in their community. Family members were prominent in men’s personal networks and among the leaders they nominated. Men living with HIV were much more likely to know others living with HIV, and described friendships on the basis of the shared experience of HIV treatment. Future POL interventions aiming to promote HIV testing and care among men in rural South Africa should consider the importance of family in community leadership, and seek to leverage the influence of connections between men living with HIV.
Italian version of the Vaccination Fear Scale (VFS-6): internal and external validation
Creators: name: Duradoni, Mirko
name: Villen Veloso, Marta
name: La Gamma, Martina
name: Monciatti, Anna Maria
name: Guazzini, Andrea
Publisher: name: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology
Year: 2022
Subjects: Vaccination Fear Scale; Vaccines; Hesitance; Covid-19; Validity and Reliability.

description: Background: COVID-19 is one of the biggest threats in our current society in terms of mental and public health. Vaccination represents the most cost-efficient way to avoid disease, mental health negative outcomes, and an overload of the healthcare system, however, many people expressed fears and concerns related to COVID-19 vaccines. This paper presents the Italian validation of the Vaccination Fear Scale (VFS-6) originally developed in Spanish to complement clinical efforts in the prevention of vaccine hesitancy. Methods: The sample was composed of 1111 Italian participants (14.2% not vaccinated) recruited by means of on-line anonymous voluntary census. The items of the VFS-6 were firstly adapted to the Italian language by means of a translation and back-translation standard procedure, and subsequently administered together with convergent and divergent concurrent measures to ascertain their reliability and validity (i.e., internal and external) properties. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis has been carried out to validate the internal structure of the test and investigate its psychometric properties. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported a bifactorial model (cognitive and physical factors) also for the Italian version of the test, with very robust goodness of fit indicators, reliability, and internal consistency. Our data indicated that fear of vaccination is greater for females and highly correlated with vaccine anxiety and hesitancy. In particular, vaccine fear appeared strongly related to vaccination. Conclusion: The Italian version of the VFS-6 appears valid and reliable to assess the fear of vaccination among the Italian population, as well as to support the research for the design of public campaigns devoted to decreasing vaccine hesitancy.
description: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol 10, No 2 (2022)
Application to adolescents of a pure set-shifting measure for adults: identification of poor shifting skills in the group with Developmental Dyslexia
Creators: name: Ferrara, Marika
name: Benassi, Erika
name: Camia, Michela
name: Scorza, Maristella
Publisher: name: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology
Year: 2022
Subjects: Shifting; Executive functions; Reading; Adolescents; Developmental dyslexia.

description: Backgrounds. Shifting (or cognitive flexibility) has been conceptualized as the ability to flexibly switch between multiple tasks, strategies, mental set or conceptual representations. The literature concerning this ability in adolescents with Developmental Dyslexia (DD) appears scant and inconsistent, as some studies report deficits in this function while others do not. Conflicting findings also emerge across studies exploring the influence of shifting performance on reading abilities. Aims. The main goal of the study was to investigate set-shifting abilities in adolescents with DD using the Fluency Test developed by Costa and colleagues (2014). It is a tool used to investigate “pure” set-shifting skill in healthy adults and in patients with neurological diseases; for its properties, this test should also be appropriate for testing shifting abilities in adolescents. We also investigated the extent to which shifting abilities were related to the adolescents’ reading skills. Method. The study involved 138 adolescents aged between 11 and 17 years, of which 69 with DD and 69 with typical development (TD). The Fluency test by Costa and colleagues, a standardized measure of executive efficiency and reading tasks were administered in both groups. Results. Data showed significant differences between the two groups in the Fluency test, with poorer performances in the adolescents with DD relative to TD peers. Significant but weak/medium correlations between set-shifting skill and reading abilities were found in this sample. Conclusions. This work highlights the importance of evaluating shifting abilities in adolescents with DD using shifting tasks as pure as possible, in order to obtain a more accurate assessment of neuropsychological profiles also in clinical practice.
description: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol 10, No 2 (2022)
(357) Francis George Sanders
Creators: name: Professions, Victorian
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: 220201 Business and Labour History
subject: FOS: Philosophy, ethics and religion
subject: History
subject: 140203 Economic History
subject: FOS: Economics and business

description: This three-year research project began in January 2014 and investigated whether, during the Victorian period, the professions formed a distinct self-sustaining social group with its own mores and values. The project looked at 16,000 individuals drawn from census data for Alnwick, Brighton, Bristol, Dundee, Greenock, Leeds, Merthyr Tydfil, Morpeth, and Winchester. The research project was funded by the UK Economic & Social Research Council and was based at the Universities of Oxford and Northumbria.
Spectral evolution with doping of an antiferromagnetic Mott state
Creators: name: Wu, Huan-Kuang
name: Lee, Ting-Kuo
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Since the discovery of half-filled cuprate to be a Mott insulator, the excitation spectra above the chemical potential for the unoccupied states has attracted many research attentions. There were many theoretical works using different numerical techniques to study this problem, but many have reached different conclusions. One of the reasons is the lack of very detailed high-resolution experimental results for the theories to be compared with. Recently, the scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS)\cite{cai2015visualizing,ye2013visualizing} on lightly doped Mott insulator with an antiferromagnetic (AFM) order found the presence of in-gap states with energy of order half an eV above the chemical potential. The measured spectral properties with doping are not quite consistent with earlier theoretical works. In this paper we perform a diagonalization method on top of the variational Monte Carlo (VMC) calculation to study the evolution of AFM Mott state with doped hole concentration in the Hubbard model (HM). Our results found in-gap states that behave similarly with ones reported by STS. These in-gap states acquire a substantial amount of dynamical spectral weight transferred from the upper Hubbard band. The in-gap states move toward chemical potential with increasing spectral weight as doping increases. Our result also provides information about the energy scale of these in-gap states in relation with the coulomb coupling strength U.
description: 7 pages, 9 figures
Natural control of HIV infection in young women in South Africa: HPTN 068
Creators: name: Eshleman, S.H.
name: Selin, A.
name: Piwowar-Manning, E.
name: Fogel, J.M.
name: Hughes, J.P.
name: Macphail, C.
name: Gomez-Olive, F.X.
name: Zhang, Y.
name: Blankson, J.
name: Pettifor, A.
name: Hamilton, E.L.
name: Sivay, M.V.
name: Wang, J.
name: Kahn, K.
name: Breaud, A.
name: Clarke, W.
Publisher: name: Taylor and Francis Ltd.
Year: 2018

description: Background: Some individuals control HIV replication without antiretroviral (ARV) therapy. Objective: To analyze viral suppression in young women in rural South Africa enrolled in a trial evaluating a behavioral intervention for HIV prevention. Methods: Plasma samples were obtained from women ages 13–24 (81 infected at enrollment, 164 seroconverters). ARV testing was performed using an assay that detects 20 ARV drugs. Women were classified as viremic controllers if they were virally suppressed for ≥12 months with no ARV drug use. Results: Samples from 216/245 (88.2%) women had no ARV drugs detected at their first HIV-positive visit. Thirty-four (15.7%) of the 216 women had a viral load <2,000 copies/mL. Fifteen of the 34 women were followed for ≥12 months; 12 were virally suppressed with no ARV drugs detected during follow-up. These women were classified as viremic controllers (overall: 12/216=5.6%). The median CD4 cell count at the first HIV-positive visit was higher among the 12 controllers than among the 204 women who were not using ARV drugs (759 vs. 549 cells/mm 3 , p=0.02). Some women had a viral load <40 copies/mL at a single study visit, but none were classified as elite controllers (viral load <40 copies/mL for ≥12 months with no ARV drug use). Conclusions: In this cohort, 5.6% of women who were not using ARV drugs had sustained viral suppression. This represents a minimum estimate of the frequency of viremic controllers in this cohort, since some women were not followed long enough to meet the criteria for classification.
The Positive Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire - PosMHLit
Creators: name: De Carvalho, Mariana Maia
name: Da Luz Vale-Dias, Maria
name: Keyes, Corey
name: Carvalho, Sérgio A.
Publisher: name: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology
Year: 2022
Subjects: Mental health literacy; Positive mental health; Well-being; Psychometric analysis.

description: Background: Literature suggests that mental health literacy (MHL) promotes good mental health. However, existing measures of MHL do not capture mental well-being and its protective or promoting factors in its definition of good mental health, and almost exclusively focus on mental illness literacy. In this paper, we present the development and validation of the Positive Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire - PosMHLit. Method: Scale development was built upon an extensive literature review. Generated items were validated by a panel of experts (focus-group and single analysis). Psychometric analyses were conducted in a community sample of adults (N=418). Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Parallel Analysis (PA) were performed to examine the factor structure of the scale. Correlations between relevant variables (MHL, well-being and psychopathology) were conducted and Pearsons´ quoficients were examined to test construct validity. Results: Two factors emerged from the EFA: Factor 1 - “Characteristics and promoters of positive mental health” (17 items), and Factor 2- “Vulnerability factors of positive mental health” (3 items). Both factors show good internal consistency (a1 = .92; a2 = .70, respectively) and construct validity. The use of a total score of the scale should not include the 3 items from Factor 2. Conclusion: The PosMHLit is a valid and reliable measure to evaluate literacy about positive mental health and well-being in the adult population, but future studies should further replicate these findings. Clinical implications include the provision of a valid measure of positive mental health, which will contribute to the efficacy testing of MHL interventions.
description: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol 10, No 2 (2022)
Comparing youth-friendly health services to the standard of care through "girl Power-Malawi": A quasi-experimental cohort study
Creators: name: Myers, L.
name: Tang, J.
name: Maseko, B.
name: Bekker, L.-G.
name: Bamuya, C.
name: Rosenberg, N.E.
name: Hosseinipour, M.C.
name: Nthani, T.
name: Kamtsendero, L.
name: Libale, C.
name: Vansia, D.
name: Pettifor, A.E.
name: Bhushan, N.L.
name: Phanga, T.
name: Kachigamba, A.
Publisher: name: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins
Year: 2018

description: Background: Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) face challenges to seeking HIV and sexual and reproductive health services in sub-Saharan Africa. Integrated approaches designed for AGYW may facilitate service uptake, but rigorous evaluation is needed. Methods: Four comparable public-sector health centers were selected in Malawi and randomly assigned to a service delivery model. One offered "standard of care" (SOC), consisting of vertical HIV testing, family planning, and sexually transmitted infection management in adult-oriented spaces, by providers without extra training. Three offered youth-friendly health services (YFHS), consisting of the same SOC services in integrated youth-dedicated spaces and staffed by youth-friendly peers and providers. In each health center, AGYW aged 15-24 years were enrolled and followed over 12 months to determine use of HIV testing, condoms, and hormonal contraception. The SOC and YFHS models were compared using adjusted risk differences and incidence rate ratios. Findings: In 2016, 1000 AGYW enrolled (N = 250/health center). Median age was 19 years (interquartile range = 17-21 years). Compared with AGYW in the SOC, those in the YFHS models were 23% [confidence interval (CI): 16% to 29%)] more likely to receive HIV testing, 57% (CI: 51% to 63%) more likely to receive condoms, and 39% (CI: 34% to 45%) more likely to receive hormonal contraception. Compared with AGYW in the SOC, AGYW in the YFHS models accessed HIV testing 2.4 (CI: 1.9 to 2.9) times more, condoms 7.9 (CI: 6.0 to 10.5) times more, and hormonal contraception 6.0 (CI: 4.2 to 8.7) times more. Conclusions: A YFHS model led to higher health service use. Implementation science is needed to guide scale-up.
Psychological stress in nurses assisting Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis patients: a statistical analysis based on Non-Parametric Combination test
Creators: name: Alibrandi, Angela
name: Giacalone, Massimiliano
name: Zirilli, Agata
Publisher: name: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology
Year: 2022
Subjects: Psychological stress in Nurses; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; Health Professions Stress and Coping Scale; Non Parametric Combination procedure.

description: We aimed to evaluate the psychological, emotional and relational burden of nurses who provide assistance to patients affected by Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). A survey was conducted by administering a questionnaire, the “Health Professions Stress and Coping Scale”, which proposes some potentially stressful work situations. The questionnaire was administered to 105 nurses working in hospitals where there is a ward for patients suffering from ALS. We used the "Non-Parametric Combination Test", a multivariate methodology based on permutation solution, widely applicable in various research contexts. Firstly, we investigated the areas of stress; then, the attention was focused on the different coping strategies adopted by respondent nurses within each stress area. The analyses were stratified according to different confounding factors, in order to control their potential effect. The results show the presence of an average level of stress, regardless of gender and educational status. Furthermore, there are significant differences in stress levels in subjects classified according to the ward in which they operate and a positive correlation between higher stress levels and the number of service years was found. In the future this study could also be of interest to nurses working in wards with potentially stressful situations.
description: Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol 10, No 2 (2022)
Análisis de los costos y evaluación financiera como herramienta para la toma de decisiones en el aprovechamiento forestal
Creators: name: Cantón, José Luis Martínez
name: Lazo, Daniel Alberto Álvarez
name: Candano Acosta, Fidel
name: Concepción, Raúl Ricardo Fernández
name: Acosta, Arnaldo Díaz
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2023
Subjects: Forestry sciences not elsewhere classified

description: La eficiencia económica del sistema de aprovechamiento depende de varios factores tales como: condiciones geomorfológicas y climáticas de las áreas de tala, características de los árboles a aprovechar, tipo de maquinaria utilizada y las características de la mano de obra. Por lo que se decide a partir de la utilización de las nuevas tecnologías, optimizar el proceso de tala acopio transporte de la madera, y de manera específica, optimizar el costo del sistema de aprovechamiento, seleccionar el sistema de aprovechamiento forestal más adecuado para el área de estudio y elaborar un registro informático para el análisis de los costos y su evaluación financiera. Para el estudio de caso se tomaron los bosques naturales de Pinus caribaea var. caribaea en áreas de la Empresa Agroforestal Macurijes en la provincia de Pinar del Río. La aplicación (COSTOFOR) cuenta con dos módulos de trabajo: costos del sistema de aprovechamiento y análisis financiero de todo el proceso de aprovechamiento. En el análisis de los costos, se aplican criterios de optimización que permiten minimizar los mismos, destacándose por encima de estos criterios el relacionado con la interacción entre el costo de camino y el costo de arrastre en base a la densidad de caminos y patios de carga. Para el análisis financiero se aplican indicadores para definir la viabilidad del proyecto y rentabilidad de la inversión, cuyos resultados permiten tomar decisiones.
Antiretroviral drug use and HIV drug resistance among young women in rural South Africa: HPTN 068
Creators: name: Agyei, Y.
name: MacPhail, C.
name: Hamilton, E.L.
name: Kahn, K.
name: Pettifor, A.
name: Hughes, J.P.
name: Fogel, J.M.
name: Wang, J.
name: Gómez-Olivé, F.X.
name: Breaud, A.
name: Clarke, W.
name: Eshleman, S.H.
name: Hudelson, S.E.
name: Selin, A.
name: Piwowar-Manning, E.
name: Sivay, M.V.
name: Zhang, Y.
Publisher: name: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins
Year: 2018

description: Background: Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs are used for HIV treatment and prevention. We analyzed ARV drug use and HIV drug resistance in a cohort of young women in rural South Africa enrolled in the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 068 study, which evaluated the use of a cash transfer conditional on school attendance to reduce HIV incidence. Methods: ARV drug testing was performed using plasma samples from 2526 young women. This included 2526 enrollment samples (80 HIV-infected and 2446 HIV-uninfected) and 162 seroconversion samples (first HIV-positive study visit). Testing was performed using a qualitative assay that detects 20 ARV drugs from 5 drug classes. HIV drug resistance testing was performed with the ViroSeq HIV-1 Genotyping System for samples that had HIV viral loads ≥400 copies per milliliter. Results: At enrollment, ARV drugs were detected in 10 (12.5%) of 80 HIV-infected young women. None of 2446 HIV-uninfected young women had ARV drugs detected at enrollment. ARV drugs were also detected in 16 (9.9%) of 162 seroconverters. At enrollment, 9 (13.4%) of 67 young women with genotyping results had HIV drug resistance; resistance was also detected in 9 (6.9%) of 131 seroconverters with genotyping results. Conclusions: Most of the HIV-infected young women in this cohort from rural South Africa were not taking ARV drugs, suggesting they were unaware of their HIV status or were not in care. HIV drug resistance was detected in young women with both prevalent and new HIV infection.