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1.
Clin Transl Oncol ; 2024 Jul 03.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38958900

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The correlation between breast cancer and hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains inconclusive. This study aims to explore the serological status of HBV infection and past infection in different age groups of female breast cancer patients, patients with benign breast diseases, and individuals undergoing routine physical examinations. METHODS: Serum data on HBV serological markers were collected and analyzed from 6072 female breast cancer patients first diagnosed from September 2012 to July 2020 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, along with 4019 women with benign breast diseases and 54,740 healthy females undergoing routine physical examinations in the same period. The data were stratified by age for comparison between groups. RESULTS: The prevalence of HBV infection and past infection in the breast cancer group (7.9%, 55.1%) was higher than that in the benign breast disease group (6.5%, 39.1%) and the healthy females group(5.0%, 17.6%);the rate of only HBV surface antibody positivity (HBsAb ( +)) in the breast cancer group (10.3%) was lower than that in the benign breast disease group (26.9%) and the healthy females group (49.2%), with significant differences between the three groups (p < 0.05). Stratified by age, the prevalence of HBV infection in the breast cancer group (8%, 8.9%) and benign breast disease group (7.75%, 8.1%)was higher than that in the healthy females group (4.5%, 6.3%) in the 30-39 and 40-49 age group, respectively. The past infection rate of HBV in the breast cancer group (24.8%, 45.0%) was higher than that in the benign breast disease group (16.1%, 35.4%) in the ≤ 29 and 30-39 age group, respectively.. The past infection rate of HBV in the breast cancer group was higher than that in the healthy females group in all age groups, while the rate of only HBsAb ( +) in the breast cancer group was lower than that in the benign breast disease group and the routine physical examination group in all age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Breast cancer women and women with benign breast diseases have higher rates of hepatitis B virus infection and previous infections, with more significant differences among middle-aged women. Breast cancer women and women with benign breast diseases have lower rates of only HBsAb ( +) for HBV.

2.
Entropy (Basel) ; 26(6)2024 Jun 19.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38920536

ABSTRACT

A simple model is built to evaluate quantitatively the individual feeling of the passage of time using a sociophysics approach. Given an objective unit of time like the year, I introduce an individualized mirror-subjective counterpart, which is inversely proportional to the number of objective units of time already experienced by a person. An associated duration of time is then calculated. Past and future individual horizons are also defined together with a subjective speed of time. Furthermore, I rescale the subjective unit of time by activating additional clocks connected to ritualized socializations, which mark and shape the specific times of an individual throughout their life. The model shows that without any ritual socialization, an individual perceives their anticipated life as infinite via a "soft" infinity. The past horizon is also perceived at infinity but with a "hard" infinity. However, the price for the first ritualized socialization is to exit eternity in terms of the anticipated future with the simultaneous reward of experiencing a finite moment of infinity analogous to that related to birth. I then extend the model using a power law of the number of past objective units of time to mitigate the phenomenon of shrinking of time. The findings are sound and recover common feelings about the passage of time over a lifetime. In particular, the fact that time passes more quickly with aging with a concomitant slowing down of the speed of time.

3.
BMC Public Health ; 24(1): 1622, 2024 Jun 18.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38890665

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Medical rehabilitation can be helpful for maintaining workers' health and work ability. Its contribution to longer working lives is of high economic relevance in aging populations. In Germany, individuals must apply for rehabilitative measures themselves. Therefore, the subjective need for rehabilitation (SNR) is a prerequisite for rehabilitation access. A low education level is associated with poor health, lower health literacy and more frequent utilization of health services. In the present study, we investigated whether lower educational levels are also associated with a greater SNR and whether health literacy, past rehabilitation utilization and physical health play a mediating role in this path in older employees. METHODS: 3,130 socially insured older employees (born in 1959 or 1965) who participated in the German prospective lidA (leben in der Arbeit) cohort-study in 2011, 2014 and 2018 were included. A causal mediation analysis with an inverse odds weighting approach was performed with the SNR as the dependent variable; educational level as the independent variable; and health, health literacy and past rehabilitation utilization as the mediating variables. Sociodemographic variables were adjusted for. RESULTS: The SNR was significantly greater in subjects with a low education level, poor physical health, inadequate health literacy and those who had utilized rehabilitation in the past. For health literacy, past rehabilitation utilization and physical health, a significant partial mediating effect on the SNR was found for employees with low compared to those with high education levels. However, the combined mediating effect of all the mediators was lower than the sum of their individual effects. Among those with medium or high education levels, none of the variables constituted a significant mediator. CONCLUSIONS: The path between a low education level and a high SNR is mediated by inadequate health literacy, past rehabilitation utilization and poor physical health; these factors do not act independently of each other. Promoting health education may lower the SNR by improving physical health and health literacy. While improving physical health is beneficial for individuals, improved health literacy can be economically advantageous for the health system by reducing inappropriate expectations of rehabilitation benefits and subsequent applications for rehabilitation.


Subject(s)
Educational Status , Health Literacy , Health Status , Humans , Health Literacy/statistics & numerical data , Male , Female , Germany , Middle Aged , Prospective Studies , Rehabilitation/statistics & numerical data , Cohort Studies , Patient Acceptance of Health Care/statistics & numerical data , Patient Acceptance of Health Care/psychology
4.
Front Psychol ; 15: 1379585, 2024.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38860048

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Poor mentalization, or lack of capacity to reflect on self and others in terms mental states, thoughts, and feelings, and time perspective biases were both related to mental disorders and lower wellbeing in separate studies. Expanding one prior study, we examined the relationship of mentalization and time perspective, including a measure known as deviations from the balanced time perspective (DBTP) that summarizes time perspective biases across the past, present, and future time frames. Method: A convenience sample of 258 participants responded to a version of the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8) and a six-dimensional version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (S-ZTPI). Given recent evidence that the original two-factor structure of the RFQ may need to be reconsidered, we used confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to compare alternative models for RFQ as a first step. Results: In line with several recent studies, the CFA favored a unitary model of RFQ-8 reflecting hypomentalization (or uncertainty). The total score showed significant associations with Past Negative, Present Fatalistic, and Future Negative dimensions of S-ZTPI, while hypomentalization was negatively associated with Future Positive. Of major interest, DBTP and hypomentalization showed a strong positive correlation (r = 0.64 for latent constructs; r = 0.62 in an adjusted model). Conclusion: Deviations from the balanced time perspective were substantially related to hypomentalization. Further research is required to examine the generalizability of the finding (e.g., to measures of mentalization focused on others) and to provide a better understanding of the theoretical basis of the link. Potentially shared associations in development (e.g., attachment style) and mindfulness, that may influence both time perspective and mentalization is of interest in this regard.

5.
Evol Appl ; 17(6): e13728, 2024 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38884021

ABSTRACT

Given the multitude of challenges Earth is facing, sustainability science is of key importance to our continued existence. Evolution is the fundamental biological process underlying the origin of all biodiversity. This phylogenetic diversity fosters the resilience of ecosystems to environmental change, and provides numerous resources to society, and options for the future. Genetic diversity within species is also key to the ability of populations to evolve and adapt to environmental change. Yet, the value of evolutionary processes and the consequences of their impairment have not generally been considered in sustainability research. We argue that biological evolution is important for sustainability and that the concepts, theory, data, and methodological approaches used in evolutionary biology can, in crucial ways, contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We discuss how evolutionary principles are relevant to understanding, maintaining, and improving Nature Contributions to People (NCP) and how they contribute to the SDGs. We highlight specific applications of evolution, evolutionary theory, and evolutionary biology's diverse toolbox, grouped into four major routes through which evolution and evolutionary insights can impact sustainability. We argue that information on both within-species evolutionary potential and among-species phylogenetic diversity is necessary to predict population, community, and ecosystem responses to global change and to make informed decisions on sustainable production, health, and well-being. We provide examples of how evolutionary insights and the tools developed by evolutionary biology can not only inspire and enhance progress on the trajectory to sustainability, but also highlight some obstacles that hitherto seem to have impeded an efficient uptake of evolutionary insights in sustainability research and actions to sustain SDGs. We call for enhanced collaboration between sustainability science and evolutionary biology to understand how integrating these disciplines can help achieve the sustainable future envisioned by the UN SDGs.

6.
Environ Health ; 23(1): 50, 2024 May 31.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38822381

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Since the 1960's, mercury (Hg) contamination of the aquatic environment of Asubpeeschoseewagong Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows First Nation) territories has impacted the community members' traditions, culture, livelihood, diet and health. Despite decreasing Hg exposure over time, a recent study suggested that long-term exposure contributed to later-life symptom clusters of nervous system dysfunction. Here, the objective was to evaluate, 5 years later, the prevalence and progression of these symptoms and examine the contribution of long-term, past Hg exposure. METHODS: The symptom questionnaire, applied in the 2016/17 Grassy Narrows Community Health Assessment (GN-CHA) (Time 1), was re-administered in the 2021/22 Niibin study (Time 2). A total of 85 adults (median age: 47y; range: 29-75y) responded at both times. Paired statistics were used to test the differences (Time 2 - Time 1) in self-reported symptom frequencies. The symptom clustering algorithm, derived from the entire study group of the GN-CHA (n = 391), which had yielded 6 clusters, was applied at Time 1 and 2. Equivalent hair Hg measurements (HHg) between 1970 and 1997 were used in Longitudinal Mixed Effects Models (LMEM), with a sub-group with ≥ 10 repeated HHg mesurements (age > 40y), to examine its associations with symptom cluster scores and their progression. RESULTS: For most symptoms, paired analyses (Time 2 - Time 1) showed a significant increase in persons reporting " very often" or "all the time", and in the mean Likert scores for younger and older participants (< and ≥ 50y). The increase in cluster scores was not associated with age or sex, except for sensory impairment where a greater increase in symptom frequency was observed for younger persons. LMEM showed that, for the sub-group, long-term past Hg exposure was associated with most cluster scores at both times, and importantly, for all clusters, with their rate of increase over time (Time 2 - Time 1). CONCLUSIONS: The persistence of reported symptoms and their increase in frequency over the short 5-year period underline the need for adequate health care services. Results of the sub-group of persons > 40y, whose HHg reflects exposure over the 28-year sampling period, suggest that there may be a progressive impact of Hg on nervous system dysfunction.


Subject(s)
Environmental Exposure , Mercury , Humans , Adult , Middle Aged , Longitudinal Studies , Female , Male , Mercury/analysis , Aged , Environmental Exposure/adverse effects , Nervous System Diseases/chemically induced , Nervous System Diseases/epidemiology , Prevalence
7.
Int J Drug Policy ; 129: 104473, 2024 Jun 13.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38875879

ABSTRACT

In this essay we want to foreground a question: what happens to 'addiction' when we take seriously cultural scripts informing its trajectories? Can this bring us to unthink addiction as problematic notion and move it onto new paradigms that fit better the now acknowledged fluidity and pluralistic episteme of 'addiction' and more broadly of chronic life conditions? Indeed, 'addiction' has become a pivotal concept in the contemporary world. A powerful diagnostic framework in interpreting human behaviour, for some 'addiction' has become the 'new normal' with chronic relations with different things such as food, sex, gambling, and mind-altering substances touching upon the lifestyle of a majority of individuals, making everyone 'addicts in practice'. Perhaps this has something to do with the constituent force that 'habit' - as in 'addiction' - has in defining our present and future. Though 'addiction' goes beyond the question of mind-altering drugs, the politics of 'addiction' is intimately tied to substances such as opioids and opiates, cocaine, cannabis, and psychedelics that have been the object of durable systemic political control and security repression. Contextually the line between licit/illicit substances is softening and blurring, the 'dual' purpose that drugs serve is now recognised in scientific and popular analysis moving the question of 'addiction' beyond the medicine/drug dichotomy. Yet, culture is generally absent in understanding 'addiction.' When it is referred to, this happens in diminutive terms limited to Anglo-American modern culture. Culture matters and it matters with different weights and measures as it moves across the world. There are cultural environments of health informed by practices and epistemologies of well-being that have evolved in lines opposites from or only intersecting with the Anglo-American, and generally Western, world. Exploring these spaces and cultural scripts enables our scholarship on drugs and 'addiction' to move the barycentre of discussion towards novel considerations around the historical trajectories and potential futures of our diagnostic terms and policy interventions.

8.
Entropy (Basel) ; 26(5)2024 May 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38785660

ABSTRACT

Quantum states containing records of incompatible outcomes of quantum measurements are valid states in the tensor-product Hilbert space. Since they contain false records, they conflict with the Born rule and with our observations. I show that excluding them requires a fine-tuning to an extremely restricted subspace of the Hilbert space that seems "conspiratorial", in the sense that (1) it seems to depend on future events that involve records (including measurement settings) and on the dynamical law (normally thought to be independent of the initial conditions), and (2) it violates Statistical Independence, even when it is valid in the context of Bell's theorem. To solve the puzzle, I build a model in which, by changing the dynamical law, the same initial conditions can lead to different histories in which the validity of records is relative to the new dynamical law. This relative validity of the records may restore causality, but the initial conditions still must depend, at least partially, on the dynamical law. While violations of Statistical Independence are often seen as non-scientific, they turn out to be needed to ensure the validity of records and our own memories and, by this, of science itself. A Past Hypothesis is needed to ensure the existence of records and turns out to require violations of Statistical Independence. It is not excluded that its explanation, still unknown, ensures such violations in the way needed by local interpretations of quantum mechanics. I suggest that an as-yet unknown law or superselection rule may restrict the full tensor-product Hilbert space to the very special subspace required by the validity of records and the Past Hypothesis.

9.
Front Psychiatry ; 15: 1363290, 2024.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38757140

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the intervention effect of computerized cognitive remediation therapy (CCRT) on mental time travel (MTT) in patients with schizophrenia(SCZ). Methods: From August 2020 to July 2021, 60 patients with SCZ were randomly allocated to either the study or the control group. The control group was treated with conventional drugs alone. The study group received CCRT and medical therapy for 40 minutes three times a week for 4 weeks. The participants underwent the MTT test before and after the training. Results: A total of 28 patients in the study group and 26 patients in the control group were included in the analysis. Before training, there was no significant difference in the concretization ratio of recalling past and imagining future events between the study group and the control group (P > 0.05). After 4 weeks of training, the specific event ratio of the study group was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.01). In terms of the emotional titer of the events, the concreteness of the positive events in the study group was higher than that of the neutral events and negative events (P < 0.01). The concreteness of negative events was higher than that of neutral events (P < 0.01). Conclusion: CCRT can improve the MTT ability of SCZ patients, which is manifested by an increase in the concretiveness of recalling past and imagining future events.

10.
Front Psychol ; 15: 1414363, 2024.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38711754

ABSTRACT

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1333112.].

11.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38702554

ABSTRACT

This study uses the two-sample Mendelian randomization (TSMR) method to explore the causal relationships between smoking initiation (SMKI), never smoking (NSMK), past tobacco smoking (PTSMK), and the usage of antidepressants (ATD). Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with genome-wide significance (P < 5E-08) related to SMKI, NSMK, and PTSMK were selected from the genome-wide association study (GWAS) database as instrumental variables (IVs). The main method, inverse variance weighted (IVW), was utilized to investigate the causal relationship. The results demonstrated a positive causal relationship between SMKI and ATD use, where SMKI leads to an increase in ATD use. Conversely, NSMK and PTSMK showed a negative causal relationship with ATD use, meaning that NSMK and PTSMK lead to a reduction in ATD use. Additionally, sensitivity analysis showed that the results of this study were robust and reliable. Using the TSMR method and from a genetic perspective, this study found that SMKI leads to an increase in ATD use, while NSMK and PTSMK reduce ATD use.

12.
Psychol Sci ; 35(5): 529-542, 2024 May.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38593467

ABSTRACT

Countless policies are crafted with the intention of punishing all who do wrong or rewarding only those who do right. However, this requires accommodating certain mistakes: some who do not deserve to be punished might be, and some who deserve to be rewarded might not be. Six preregistered experiments (N = 3,484 U.S. adults) reveal that people are more willing to accept this trade-off in principle, before errors occur, than in practice, after errors occur. The result is an asymmetry such that for punishments, people believe it is more important to prevent false negatives (e.g., criminals escaping justice) than to fix them, and more important to fix false positives (e.g., wrongful convictions) than to prevent them. For rewards, people believe it is more important to prevent false positives (e.g., welfare fraud) than to fix them and more important to fix false negatives (e.g., improperly denied benefits) than to prevent them.


Subject(s)
Punishment , Humans , Adult , Male , Female , Reward , Young Adult
13.
Brain Behav ; 14(3): e3447, 2024 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38450944

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Persistent headache attributed to ischemic stroke (PHPIS) is increasingly acknowledged and was added to the 2018 ICHD-3. Intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) is a common treatment for acute ischemic stroke. It remains unknown whether this treatment influences the occurrence of a persistent poststroke headache. We aimed to describe the incidence and clinical characteristics of persistent headaches occurring after acute ischemic stroke in patients with or without IVT and explore the risk factors. METHODS: A prospective observational study was performed between the 234 individuals who received IVT and 226 individuals without IVT in 5 stroke units from Wuhan, China. Subjects were followed for 6 months after stroke via a structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Age, gender, vascular risk factors, and infarct location/ circulation distribution did not differ between the groups, although IVT group had higher initial NIHSS scores. At the end of the follow-up, 12.0% (55/460) of subjects reported persistent headaches after ischemic stroke. The prevalence of persistent headache was significantly higher in the IVT group than non-IVT group (15.4% vs. 8.4%, p = .021). Patients with younger age (p = .033; OR 0.97; 95% CI 0.939-0.997), female sex (p = .007; OR 2.40; 95% CI 1.269-4.520), posterior circulation infarct (p = .024; OR 2.19; 95% CI 1.110-4.311), and IVT (p = .005; OR 2.51; 95% CI 1.313-4.782) were more likely to develop persistent headache after ischemic stroke. CONCLUSION: The potential influence of IVT should be considered when assessing persistent poststroke headache. Future studies will investigate the underlying mechanisms.


Subject(s)
Ischemic Stroke , Stroke , Female , Humans , Headache/epidemiology , Headache/etiology , Infarction , Ischemic Stroke/complications , Ischemic Stroke/drug therapy , Ischemic Stroke/epidemiology , Stroke/complications , Stroke/epidemiology , Thrombolytic Therapy/adverse effects , Male
14.
Front Psychol ; 15: 1333112, 2024.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38524296

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent the L2 Arabic learners' reading process is affected by the incomplete representation of speech (the absence of short vowels and diacritics) while reading ambiguous sentences (garden path sentences). Method: With a self-paced reading software program, 41 non-native male students, aged from 22 to 26, enrolled in King Saud University, participated in reading 44 sentences (followed by reading comprehension questions) representing three reading conditions, plain, vowelized-discretized, and wrongly-vowelized. Results: For the reading times data, the analysis revealed that the GP structure had a significant effect on the reading processes of L2 Arabic learners; it took them longer to read the GP sentences than their non-GP counterparts. For the reading comprehension, the analysis did not reveal any significant differences between the means for the percentages of correct responses. For the comparison between the three reading conditions, a significant difference was found: it took the participants on average less time to read the GP sentences when presented plain, and more time with the incorrect representation. However, their reading comprehension was not affected. Conclusion: In addition to the good-enough model and the nature of Arabic morphology, the reading experience, is a good candidate to start with as an important factor in the interpretation of the ineffectiveness of the GP structure on the reading comprehension process of Arabic readers, in which the segregability of Arabic writing system prepare the readers to emphasize some sensory inputs and ignore others based on their past reading experience.

15.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A ; 121(14): e2311597121, 2024 Apr 02.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38527199

ABSTRACT

Warmer temperatures and higher sea level than today characterized the Last Interglacial interval [Pleistocene, 128 to 116 thousand years ago (ka)]. This period is a remarkable deep-time analog for temperature and sea-level conditions as projected for 2100 AD, yet there has been no evidence of fossil assemblages in the equatorial Atlantic. Here, we report foraminifer, metazoan (mollusks, bony fish, bryozoans, decapods, and sharks among others), and plant communities of coastal tropical marine and mangrove affinities, dating precisely from a ca. 130 to 115 ka time interval near the Equator, at Kourou, in French Guiana. These communities include ca. 230 recent species, some being endangered today and/or first recorded as fossils. The hyperdiverse Kourou mollusk assemblage suggests stronger affinities between Guianese and Caribbean coastal waters by the Last Interglacial than today, questioning the structuring role of the Amazon Plume on tropical Western Atlantic communities at the time. Grassland-dominated pollen, phytoliths, and charcoals from younger deposits in the same sections attest to a marine retreat and dryer conditions during the onset of the last glacial (ca. 110 to 50 ka), with a savanna-dominated landscape and episodes of fire. Charcoals from the last millennia suggest human presence in a mosaic of modern-like continental habitats. Our results provide key information about the ecology and biogeography of pristine Pleistocene tropical coastal ecosystems, especially relevant regarding the-widely anthropogenic-ongoing global warming.


Subject(s)
Ecosystem , Mollusca , Humans , Animals , French Guiana , Plants , Pollen , Fossils
16.
Dendrochronologia (Verona) ; 83: None, 2024 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38343661

ABSTRACT

Dendrochronology is not a new method for attaining high-precision dates for archaeological and historic remains of timber. But the extent to which dendrochronology is utilized to attain detailed precision of the dating of complex wooden structures can suffer from the fact that the method is often applied in commercial archaeology, where the extent of analysis is severely limited by cost constraints. Instead of lamenting the potentially lost levels of detail that might have slipped through over the years, it is hoped that by presenting the potential of high chronological precision, that necessitates extensive sampling of timber and wood remains on archaeological sites, a new future will be promoted, in which new wide-ranging sampling strategies will become a more normal practice in archaeology, in both the research and commercial spheres. In this paper, I present some case studies where extensive tree-ring analysis of well-preserved wood remains have resulted in annual chronological detail, allowing an insight into the processes of building, and into the duration of structures that comprised the built environment of past peoples' lives. In addition, we should not discuss precision dating for urban archaeological study without also touching on the subject of timber trade and timber provenance. Tree-ring studies are increasingly providing us with high precision provenance identification, not just for shipwrecks, barrels and other 'portable' objects. It is also allowing us to map trade in bulk structural timber. These analyses are providing us with insights into links between territories.

17.
Ecol Evol ; 14(2): e10970, 2024 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38371871

ABSTRACT

Freshwater ecosystems are experiencing accelerating global biodiversity loss. Thus, knowing where these unique ecosystems' species richness reaches a peak can facilitate their conservation planning. By hosting more than 290 freshwater fishes, Iran is a major freshwater fish hotspot in the Middle East. Considering the accelerating rate of biodiversity loss, there is an urgent need to identify species-rich areas and understand the mechanisms driving biodiversity distribution. In this study, we gathered distribution records of all endemic freshwater fishes of Iran (85 species) to develop their richness map and determine the most critical drivers of their richness patterns from an ecoregion approach. We performed a generalized linear model (GLM) with quasi-Poisson distribution to identify contemporary and historical determinants of endemic freshwater fish richness. We also quantified endemic fish similarity among the 15 freshwater ecoregions of Iran. Results showed that endemic freshwater fish richness is highest in the Zagros Mountains while a moderate level of richness was observed between Zagros and Alborz Mountains. High, moderate, and low richness of endemic freshwater fish match with Upper Tigris & Euphrates, Namak, and Kavir & Lut Deserts ecoregions respectively. Kura - South Caspian Drainages and Caspian Highlands were the most similar ecoregions and Orumiyeh was the most unique ecoregion according to endemic fish presence. Precipitation and precipitation change velocity since the Last Glacial Maximum were the most important predictors of endemic freshwater fish richness. Areas identified to have the highest species richness have high priority for the conservation of freshwater fish in Iran, therefore, should be considered in future protected areas development.

18.
Neuropsychologia ; 196: 108817, 2024 04 15.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38355036

ABSTRACT

Extent evidence has shown that morphosyntax is one of the most challenging linguistic areas for children with atypical early language experiences. Over the last couple of years, comparisons between deaf children with CIs and children with DLD have gained interest - as cases of atypical early language experiences, including, but not restricted to, delayed onset of exposure to language input and language-processing difficulties. Evidence suggests that the morphosyntactic difficulties experienced by deaf children with CIs and children with DLD are very similar in nature. However, the few studies that have directly compared both groups are inconclusive, with deaf children with CIs either performing significantly better or on par with children with DLD. These differences in findings can be attributed, in part at least, to a failure to implement essential methodological controls - even more so given that deaf children with CIs comprise a very diverse population. The goal of the present study was to directly compare the performance of deaf children with CIs to that of children with DLD on a morphosyntactic ability known to be particularly difficult for both groups. Specifically, the present study conducted a detailed examination of the past tense marking abilities of deaf children with CIs and children with DLD while controlling for factors specific to deaf children with CIs, for children's basic cognitive abilities as well as for children's age, sex assigned at birth, and SES. Past tense verbs are particularly relevant as they are used as a marker of developmental language disorder (DLD) in children learning French. Moreover, extent evidence shows that deaf children with CIs and children with DLD have important WM difficulties, but also that there is an association between auditory perception, processing abilities, and working memory (WM) abilities as well as with the acquisition of morphological features, including tense marking. Unfortunately, no study has examined the relation between the accurate production of past tense verbs and WM abilities in children with CIs and children with DLD learning French. Fifteen deaf children with CIs between 5 and 7 years of age were compared to 15 children with DLD and to 15 typically-developing monolingual controls (MON), matched on important variables, using a past tense elicitation task as well as measures of phonological and nonverbal WM abilities. The results confirm that the deaf children with CIs and the children with DLD both performed significantly lower than the MON controls on the past tense elicitation task - suggesting that difficulties with past tense verbs in French might not only be a marker of DLD but, instead, a correlate of atypical language acquisition. Of importance, the present study is the first to show that deaf children with CIs perform significantly lower than children with DLD on a past tense elicitation task - highlighting the importance of using methodological controls. As well, significant correlations were found between the performance of the deaf children with CIs and of the children with DLD on the past tense elicitation task and their phonological and nonverbal WM abilities. Taken together with previous studies conducted in the same populations, this represents another evidence suggesting that early atypical language experiences result in language and WM deficits, including morphosyntactic difficulties.


Subject(s)
Cochlear Implants , Language Development Disorders , Child , Infant, Newborn , Humans , Memory, Short-Term , Language Development Disorders/etiology , Language , Memory Disorders , Language Tests
19.
J Natl Med Assoc ; 116(3): 271-282, 2024 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38413269

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The opioid crisis within the United States has been widely studied; however, some gaps within the literature still exist. There is limited information on trends in opioid misuse as it relates to income among a national sample of Black Women. Given the recent increase in opioid overdose deaths in Black Americans and the vulnerability of women who misuse opioids, research in this population is important. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to evaluate trends of past year opioid misuse (PYOM) among Black women by income over the study period. METHODS: A cross-sectional study among adult aged Black women captured in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) from 2015 to 2019 was conducted. Descriptive statistics for all study variables was conducted. Weighted logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate predictors of PYOM. A stratified analysis was also conducted to examine possible differences between income strata on predictors of PYOM. RESULTS: A total of 15,196 Black women were included in the study (16,008,921 weighted visits). Among the women included, 41.5% were age 50+, 57.7% were unemployed, 63.8% reported very good/good health, 59.5% had past year alcohol use, 44.1% had never been married, 39.1% received government assistance, and 90.1% resided in a metro area. An estimated 3.14% of Black women reported PYOM. Findings from the regression analysis showed that Black women who were between 18 and 25, had past year major depressive episode, had alcohol use, illicit drug use, and who received government assistance had significantly greater odds of PYOM. Those reporting an excellent general health rating and higher education had significantly lower odds of PYOM. Income was not associated with PYOM in this study. CONCLUSION: Overall, income was not found to be a significant predictor of PYOM. However, income was found to modify the effects of major depressive episode and alcohol use on PYOM, especially among Black women who reported earning ≥$75,000/year. These findings suggest that high-earning Black women may be just as at risk for opioid misuse as low-earning Black women. Further studies are warranted to explore these effects among other gender/racial groups to determine if this trend is unique to Black women.


Subject(s)
Black or African American , Opioid-Related Disorders , Humans , Female , Cross-Sectional Studies , United States/epidemiology , Adult , Opioid-Related Disorders/epidemiology , Opioid-Related Disorders/ethnology , Middle Aged , Black or African American/statistics & numerical data , Adolescent , Young Adult , Income/statistics & numerical data , Health Surveys
20.
Neuroimage ; 288: 120526, 2024 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38280691

ABSTRACT

In recent years, there has been many efforts to establish a comprehensive theoretical framework explaining the working mechanisms involved in perception-action integration. This framework stresses the importance of the immediate past on mechanisms supporting perception-action integration. The present study investigates the neurophysiological principles of dynamic perception-action bindings, particularly considering the influence of the immediate history on action control mechanisms. For this purpose, we conducted an established stimulus-response binding paradigm during EEG recording. The SR-task measures stimulus-response binding in terms of accuracy and reaction time differences depending on the degree of feature overlap between conditions. Alpha, beta and theta band activity in distinct time domains as well as associated brain regions were investigated applying time-frequency analyses, a beamforming approach as well as correlation analyses. We demonstrate, for the first time, interdependencies of neuronal processes relying on the immediate past. The reconfiguration of an action seems to overwrite immediately preceding processes. The analyses revealed modulations of theta (TBA), alpha (ABA) and beta band activity (BBA) in connection with fronto-temporal structures supporting the theoretical assumptions of the considered conceptual framework. The close interplay of attentional modulation by gating irrelevant information (ABA) and binding and retrieval processes (TBA) is reflected by the correlation of ABA in all pre-probe-intervals with post-probe TBA. Likewise, the role of BBA in maintaining the event file until retrieval is corroborated by BBA preceding the TBA-associated retrieval of perception-action codes. Following action execution, TBA shifted towards visual association cortices probably reflecting preparation for upcoming information, while ABA and BBA continue to reflect processes of attentional control and information selection for goal-directed behavior. The present work provides the first empirical support for concepts about the neurophysiological mechanisms of dynamic management of perception and action.


Subject(s)
Attention , Brain , Humans , Attention/physiology , Cerebral Cortex , Electroencephalography
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