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Objectives/Goals: The never in mitosis kinase (NEK) family regulates vital processes, namely cell cycle progression, but their potential as therapeutic targets in TNBC has not been fully explored. Our studies aim to develop a toolkit to investigate the functional roles of NEKs in pathologies including carcinogenesis. Methods/Study Population: To assess differential NEK expression in normal and tumor tissues and correlation of gene expression with patient survival, we used Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) and Kaplan–Meier Plotter (KMPlot) pan-cancer analysis, respectively. Basal NEK protein levels were determined by immunoblot across a panel of cell lines, including breast cancer, osteosarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and non-cancerous cells, to identify appropriate systems for evaluation of NEK function. Doxycycline-inducible cell lines were generated by transduction with lentiviral stocks of NEK shRNA and overexpression constructs and antibiotic selection. Expression was analyzed by qPCR and immunoblot. Results/Anticipated Results: Expression of NEK2, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 11 was higher in breast tumors compared to normal tissue by GEPIA analysis. Further examination using KMPlot showed a correlation between elevated NEK6 expression and decreased overall survival in patients with aggressive cancers. As an initial proof-of-concept study, we analyzed NEK6 protein expression in breast cancer cells. Levels of NEK6 were elevated in TNBC cells (MDA-MB-231) compared to hormone receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer cells (MCF7). Using complementary approaches to investigate the functional role of NEK6 in breast cancer, we depleted NEK6 expression using shRNAs in TNBC cells and expressed NEK6 in HR+ cells Discussion/Significance of Impact: Because kinase dysregulation promotes oncogenesis and metastasis, targeting kinases is a key strategy in therapeutic development. A NEK-specific molecular toolkit allows researchers to elucidate NEK functions and contributions to carcinogenesis, promoting advancement of novel therapies.
This paper reports an expansion of the English as a second language (L2) component of the Multilingual Eye Movement Corpus (MECO L2), an international database of eye movements during text reading. While the previous Wave 1 of the MECO project (Kuperman et al., 2023) contained English as a L2 reading data from readers with 12 different first language (L1) backgrounds, the newly collected dataset adds eye-tracking data on English text reading from 13 distinct L1 backgrounds (N = 660) as well as participants’ scores on component skills of English proficiency and information about their demographics and language background and use. The paper reports reliability estimates, descriptive statistics, and correlational analyses as means to validate the expansion dataset. Consistent with prior literature and the MECO Wave 1, trends in the MECO Wave 2 data include a weak correlation between reading comprehension and oculomotor measures of reading fluency and a greater L1-L2 contrast in reading fluency than reading comprehension. Jointly with Wave 1, the MECO project includes English reading data from more than 1,200 readers representing a diversity of native writing systems (logographic, abjad, abugida, and alphabetic) and 19 distinct L1 backgrounds. We provide multiple pointers to new venues of how L2 reading researchers can mine this rich publicly available dataset.
We present the Pilot Survey Phase 2 data release for the Wide-field ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind surveY (WALLABY), carried-out using the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP). We present 1760 H i detections (with a default spatial resolution of 30′′) from three pilot fields including the NGC 5044 and NGC 4808 groups as well as the Vela field, covering a total of $\sim 180$ deg$^2$ of the sky and spanning a redshift up to $z \simeq 0.09$. This release also includes kinematic models for over 126 spatially resolved galaxies. The observed median rms noise in the image cubes is 1.7 mJy per 30′′ beam and 18.5 kHz channel. This corresponds to a 5$\sigma$ H i column density sensitivity of $\sim 9.1\times10^{19}(1 + z)^4$ cm$^{-2}$ per 30′′ beam and $\sim 20$ km s$^{-1}$ channel and a 5$\sigma$ H i mass sensitivity of $\sim 5.5\times10^8 (D/100$ Mpc)$^{2}$ M$_{\odot}$ for point sources. Furthermore, we also present for the first time 12′′ high-resolution images (“cut-outs”) and catalogues for a sub-sample of 80 sources from the Pilot Survey Phase 2 fields. While we are able to recover sources with lower signal-to-noise ratio compared to sources in the Public Data Release 1, we do note that some data quality issues still persist, notably, flux discrepancies that are linked to the impact of side lobes associated with the dirty beams due to inadequate deconvolution. However, in spite of these limitations, the WALLABY Pilot Survey Phase 2 has already produced roughly a third of the number of HIPASS sources, making this the largest spatially resolved H i sample from a single survey to date.
Scholarly activity is a key component of most residency programmes. To establish fundamental research skills and fill gaps within training curricula, we developed an online, asynchronous set of modules called Research 101 to introduce trainees to various topics that are germane to the conduct of research and evaluated its effectiveness in resident research education. Research 101 was utilised by residents at One Brooklyn Health in Brooklyn, NY. Resident knowledge, confidence, and satisfaction were assessed using pre- and post-module surveys with 5-point Likert scaled questions, open-ended text responses, and a multiple-choice quiz. Pre-module survey results indicated that residents were most confident with the Aligning expectations, Introduction to research, and Study design and data analysis basics modules and least confident with the Submitting an Institutional Review Board protocol and Presenting your summer research modules. Post-module survey responses demonstrated increased learning compared to pre-module results for all modules and learning objectives (p < 0.0001). “This module met my needs” was endorsed 91.4% of the time. The median score for the final quiz that consisted of 25 multiple-choice questions was 23. Thematic analysis of open-ended post-module survey responses identified multiple strengths and opportunities for improvement in course content and instructional methods. These data demonstrate that residents benefit from completion of Research 101, as post-module survey scores were significantly higher than pre-module survey scores for all modules and questions, final quiz scores were high, and open-ended responses highlighted opportunities for additional resident learning.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the leading cause of disability globally, with moderate heritability and well-established socio-environmental risk factors. Genetic studies have been mostly restricted to European settings, with polygenic scores (PGS) demonstrating low portability across diverse global populations.
Methods
This study examines genetic architecture, polygenic prediction, and socio-environmental correlates of MDD in a family-based sample of 10 032 individuals from Nepal with array genotyping data. We used genome-based restricted maximum likelihood to estimate heritability, applied S-LDXR to estimate the cross-ancestry genetic correlation between Nepalese and European samples, and modeled PGS trained on a GWAS meta-analysis of European and East Asian ancestry samples.
Results
We estimated the narrow-sense heritability of lifetime MDD in Nepal to be 0.26 (95% CI 0.18–0.34, p = 8.5 × 10−6). Our analysis was underpowered to estimate the cross-ancestry genetic correlation (rg = 0.26, 95% CI −0.29 to 0.81). MDD risk was associated with higher age (beta = 0.071, 95% CI 0.06–0.08), female sex (beta = 0.160, 95% CI 0.15–0.17), and childhood exposure to potentially traumatic events (beta = 0.050, 95% CI 0.03–0.07), while neither the depression PGS (beta = 0.004, 95% CI −0.004 to 0.01) or its interaction with childhood trauma (beta = 0.007, 95% CI −0.01 to 0.03) were strongly associated with MDD.
Conclusions
Estimates of lifetime MDD heritability in this Nepalese sample were similar to previous European ancestry samples, but PGS trained on European data did not predict MDD in this sample. This may be due to differences in ancestry-linked causal variants, differences in depression phenotyping between the training and target data, or setting-specific environmental factors that modulate genetic effects. Additional research among under-represented global populations will ensure equitable translation of genomic findings.
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacillus that can cause serious infections but has limited treatment options. This study aims to establish trends in the treatment of S. maltophilia bloodstream infections (BSI) across the United States in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities.
Methods:
Data was evaluated over a 10-year timeframe (2012 to 2021) in this retrospective cohort study. Veterans with ≥ 1 blood culture with S. maltophilia within a VA medical encounter were included. Microbiology, pharmacy, and patient information were collected through national VA data sources and chart review. Descriptive statistics and Poisson regression were used to summarize patient demographics, facility characteristics, microbiologic data, and treatment trends.
Results:
A total of 374 blood cultures positive for S. maltophilia were identified across 75 VA facilities. Of 282 unique patients with BSI, the majority were male (93.6%), white (67.4%), with a mean age of 64 ± 13.1 years. Of those patients, 78% received treatment, 12.8% had a polymicrobial blood culture, and 5.3% had a documented sulfa allergy. Susceptibility results were most reported for trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), levofloxacin, and ceftazidime, with 4.5%, 4.3%, and 44.4% resistant isolates, respectively. Antibiotics most prescribed included TMP-SMX (41.5%) and levofloxacin (39.4%), followed by ciprofloxacin (13.8%) and ceftazidime (12.4%). Combination therapy was prescribed in 33% of patients. No significant trends were found with antibiotic utilization over time.
Conclusions:
TMP-SMX and levofloxacin were the most prescribed antibiotics for S. maltophilia BSI treatment. No significant changes were seen with antibiotic prescribing trends in Veterans from 2012 to 2021.
Gaming disorder has become a global concern and it could have a variety of health and social consequences. The trauma model has been applied to the understanding of different types of addictions as behavioral addictions can sometimes be conceptualized as self-soothing strategies to avoid trauma-related stressors or triggers. However, much less is known about the relationship between trauma exposure and gaming disorder.
Objectives
To inform prevention and intervention strategies and to facilitate further research, we conducted the first scoping review to explore and summarize the literature on the relationship between trauma and gaming disorder.
Methods
A systematic search was conducted on the Web of Science, Scopus and ProQuest. We looked for original studies published in English that included a measure of trauma exposure and a measure of gaming disorder symptoms, as well as quantitative data regarding the relationship between trauma exposure and gaming disorder.
Results
The initial search generated 412 articles, of which 15 met the inclusion criteria. All of them were cross-sectional studies, recruiting participants from both clinical and non-clinical populations. Twelve of them (80%) reported significant correlations between trauma exposure and the severity of gaming disorder symptoms (r = 0.18 to 0.46, p < 0.010). Several potential mediators, including depressive symptoms and dissociative experiences, have been identified. One study found that parental monitoring moderated the relationship between trauma and gaming disorder symptoms. No studies reported the prevalence of trauma or trauma-related symptoms among people with gaming disorder.
Conclusions
There is some evidence supporting the association between trauma and gaming disorder, at small to medium effect sizes. Future studies should investigate the mediators and moderators underlying the relationship between trauma and gaming disorder. The longitudinal relationship between trauma exposure and the development of gaming disorder should be clarified. A trauma-informed approach may be a helpful strategy to alleviate gaming disorder symptoms.
Background: Hyperacute stroke care demands rapid, coordinated care. Traditional metrics like Door-to-Needle time are pivotal but insufficient for capturing the complexity of endovascular stroke interventions. The SMILES collaboration aims to standardize and optimize protocols for door-to-intervention times, incorporating Crew Resource Management (CRM). Methods: The multidisciplinary initiative integrates both hospitals, ED, neurology, and QI teams. We employed a comprehensive approach: stakeholder engagement, simulation-based learning, process mapping, and literature review. Emphasis was placed on enhancing situational awareness, triage and prioritization, cognitive load management, role clarity, effective communication, and debriefing. Results: The collaboration led to PDSA cycles and development of refined stroke protocols. Interventions included: 1) A ’zero point survey’ for team pre-arrival briefings, enhancing situational awareness and role clarity; 2) Streamlined patient registration to reduce cognitive load and improve triage efficiency; 3) Direct transfer of patients to imaging. Additionally, digital tools were implemented to facilitate communication. Simulation sessions reinforced CRM principles, leading to improved team cohesion and operational performance. Conclusions: The SMILES initiative is grounded in CRM principles by standardizing protocols and emphasizing non-technical skills crucial for high-stakes environments. This improves outcomes but also fosters a culture of safety and efficiency. Future directions include an evaluation of these protocols’ impact on patient factors.
OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Scholarly activity is a key component of most residency programs. To establish fundamental research skills and fill gaps within training curricula, we developed an online, asynchronous set of modules to introduce trainees to various topics that are germane to the conduct of research and evaluated its effectiveness in resident research education. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Research 101 was utilized by residents at the Brookdale Hospital Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. Resident knowledge, confidence, and satisfaction were assessed using pre- and post-module surveys with 5-point Likert scaled questions, open-ended text responses, and a final quiz. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Pre-module survey results indicated that residents were most confident with the Aligning expectations, Introduction to research, and Study design and data analysis basics modules and least confident with the Submitting an Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol at UC and Presenting your summer research modules. Post-module survey responses increased significantly compared to pre-module results for all modules and learning objectives (p<0.0001). “This module met my needs” was endorsed 91.4% of the time. A final quiz of 25 multiple choice questions resulted in a median score of 23. Content analysis of open-ended post-module survey responses identified multiple strengths and opportunities for improvement in course content and instructional methods. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: These data demonstratethat residents can benefit from completion of Research 101, as post-module survey scores were significantly higher than pre-module survey scores for all modules and questions, and final quiz scores were high and highlighted opportunities for additional resident learning.
Excessive and persistent fear of clusters of holes, also known as trypophobia, has been suggested to reflect cortical hyperexcitability and may be associated with mental health risks. No study, however, has yet examined these associations in representative epidemiological samples.
Aims
To examine the prevalence of trypophobia in a population-representative youth sample, its association with mental health and functioning, and its interaction with external stress.
Method
A total of 2065 young people were consecutively recruited from a household-based epidemiological youth mental health study in Hong Kong. Trypophobia, symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, and exposure to personal stressors were assessed. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationships between trypophobia and mental health. Potential additive and interaction effects of trypophobia and high stress exposure on mental health were also tested.
Results
The prevalence of trypophobia was 17.6%. Trypophobia was significantly associated with severe symptoms of anxiety (odds ratio (OR) = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.32–2.53), depression (OR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.24–2.56) and stress (OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.11–2.53), even when accounting for sociodemographic factors, personal and family psychiatric history, resilience and stress exposure. Dose–response relationships were observed, and trypophobia significantly potentiated the effects of stress exposure on symptom outcomes, particularly for depressive symptoms. Those with trypophobia also showed significantly poorer functioning across domains and poorer health-related quality of life.
Conclusions
Screening for trypophobia in young people may facilitate early risk detection and intervention, particularly among those with recent stress exposure. Nevertheless, the generally small effect sizes suggest that other factors have more prominent roles in determining recent mental health outcomes in population-based samples; these should be explored in future work.
Patients with borderline personality disorder are often a challenge to the mental health system. Psychiatrists see people with BPD as manipulative, difficult to manage, annoying, unlikely to arouse sympathy, clinicians hold negative attitude towards personality disorder.
As the next generation of doctors, medical students’ perception of patients with personality disorder (PD) is critical.
Yet a systematic review of the literature shows this has not been studied.
Objectives
The study aims to identify :
1) the understanding and perception of medical students about PD
2) factors that may relate to this knowledge and perception.
Methods
A focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted with eight medical students in their sixth year at Amoud University, Somaliland.
A case vignette of a patient with typical Borderline PD symptoms was presented to stimulate discussion. Barts Explanatory Model Inventory (BEMI) was used to explore the issue.
The FGD was conducted via MS teams, recorded, transcribed, translated and thematically analysed
Results
The Medical students showed reasonably accurate knowledge regarding Borderline PD, recognising features of unstable mood, impulsiveness, and emptiness. Of note half the participants believed religious intervention would be helpful “I believe in Islam. So,basically so to some degree it could be managed in certain religious centers”. Importantly, medical students, when asked to divest of their professional identity, and to describe their personal views associated PD with madness.
Conclusions
The views of PD as ‘madness’ and that religious intervention has a role have important implications for training and service development.
The importance of a culturally sensitive training to Medical students regarding PD to match local cultural and religious views, and consideration of development of health services which are sensitive to religious practice is highlighted.
We recommend including social and cultural implications in the training of medical students to better prepare them for the complexity of managing PD.
We investigate the diversity in the sizes and average surface densities of the neutral atomic hydrogen (H i) gas discs in $\sim$280 nearby galaxies detected by the Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind Survey (WALLABY). We combine the uniformly observed, interferometric H i data from pilot observations of the Hydra cluster and NGC 4636 group fields with photometry measured from ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared imaging surveys to investigate the interplay between stellar structure, star formation, and H i structural parameters. We quantify the H i structure by the size of the H i relative to the optical disc and the average H i surface density measured using effective and isodensity radii. For galaxies resolved by $>$$1.3$ beams, we find that galaxies with higher stellar masses and stellar surface densities tend to have less extended H i discs and lower H i surface densities: the isodensity H i structural parameters show a weak negative dependence on stellar mass and stellar mass surface density. These trends strengthen when we limit our sample to galaxies resolved by $>$2 beams. We find that galaxies with higher H i surface densities and more extended H i discs tend to be more star forming: the isodensity H i structural parameters have stronger correlations with star formation. Normalising the H i disc size by the optical effective radius (instead of the isophotal radius) produces positive correlations with stellar masses and stellar surface densities and removes the correlations with star formation. This is due to the effective and isodensity H i radii increasing with mass at similar rates while, in the optical, the effective radius increases slower than the isophotal radius. Our results are in qualitative agreement with previous studies and demonstrate that with WALLABY we can begin to bridge the gap between small galaxy samples with high spatial resolution H i data and large, statistical studies using spatially unresolved, single-dish data.
Recruiting underrepresented people and communities in research is essential for generalizable findings. Ensuring representative participants can be particularly challenging for practice-level dissemination and implementation trials. Novel use of real-world data about practices and the communities they serve could promote more equitable and inclusive recruitment.
Methods:
We used a comprehensive primary care clinician and practice database, the Virginia All-Payers Claims Database, and the HealthLandscape Virginia mapping tool with community-level socio-ecological information to prospectively inform practice recruitment for a study to help primary care better screen and counsel for unhealthy alcohol use. Throughout recruitment, we measured how similar study practices were to primary care on average, mapped where practices’ patients lived, and iteratively adapted our recruitment strategies.
Results:
In response to practice and community data, we adapted our recruitment strategy three times; first leveraging relationships with residency graduates, then a health system and professional organization approach, followed by a community-targeted approach, and a concluding approach using all three approaches. We enrolled 76 practices whose patients live in 97.3% (1844 of 1907) of Virginia’s census tracts. Our overall patient sample had similar demographics to the state for race (21.7% vs 20.0% Black), ethnicity (9.5% vs 10.2% Hispanic), insurance status (6.4% vs 8.0% uninsured), and education (26.0% vs 32.5% high school graduate or less). Each practice recruitment approach uniquely included different communities and patients.
Discussion:
Data about primary care practices and the communities they serve can prospectively inform research recruitment of practices to yield more representative and inclusive patient cohorts for participation.
Childhood adversities (CAs) predict heightened risks of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive episode (MDE) among people exposed to adult traumatic events. Identifying which CAs put individuals at greatest risk for these adverse posttraumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae (APNS) is important for targeting prevention interventions.
Methods
Data came from n = 999 patients ages 18–75 presenting to 29 U.S. emergency departments after a motor vehicle collision (MVC) and followed for 3 months, the amount of time traditionally used to define chronic PTSD, in the Advancing Understanding of Recovery After Trauma (AURORA) study. Six CA types were self-reported at baseline: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect and bullying. Both dichotomous measures of ever experiencing each CA type and numeric measures of exposure frequency were included in the analysis. Risk ratios (RRs) of these CA measures as well as complex interactions among these measures were examined as predictors of APNS 3 months post-MVC. APNS was defined as meeting self-reported criteria for either PTSD based on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 and/or MDE based on the PROMIS Depression Short-Form 8b. We controlled for pre-MVC lifetime histories of PTSD and MDE. We also examined mediating effects through peritraumatic symptoms assessed in the emergency department and PTSD and MDE assessed in 2-week and 8-week follow-up surveys. Analyses were carried out with robust Poisson regression models.
Results
Most participants (90.9%) reported at least rarely having experienced some CA. Ever experiencing each CA other than emotional neglect was univariably associated with 3-month APNS (RRs = 1.31–1.60). Each CA frequency was also univariably associated with 3-month APNS (RRs = 1.65–2.45). In multivariable models, joint associations of CAs with 3-month APNS were additive, with frequency of emotional abuse (RR = 2.03; 95% CI = 1.43–2.87) and bullying (RR = 1.44; 95% CI = 0.99–2.10) being the strongest predictors. Control variable analyses found that these associations were largely explained by pre-MVC histories of PTSD and MDE.
Conclusions
Although individuals who experience frequent emotional abuse and bullying in childhood have a heightened risk of experiencing APNS after an adult MVC, these associations are largely mediated by prior histories of PTSD and MDE.
We present the Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind surveY (WALLABY) Pilot Phase I Hi kinematic models. This first data release consists of Hi observations of three fields in the direction of the Hydra and Norma clusters, and the NGC 4636 galaxy group. In this paper, we describe how we generate and publicly release flat-disk tilted-ring kinematic models for 109/592 unique Hi detections in these fields. The modelling method adopted here—which we call the WALLABY Kinematic Analysis Proto-Pipeline (WKAPP) and for which the corresponding scripts are also publicly available—consists of combining results from the homogeneous application of the FAT and 3DBarolo algorithms to the subset of 209 detections with sufficient resolution and
$S/N$
in order to generate optimised model parameters and uncertainties. The 109 models presented here tend to be gas rich detections resolved by at least 3–4 synthesised beams across their major axes, but there is no obvious environmental bias in the modelling. The data release described here is the first step towards the derivation of similar products for thousands of spatially resolved WALLABY detections via a dedicated kinematic pipeline. Such a large publicly available and homogeneously analysed dataset will be a powerful legacy product that that will enable a wide range of scientific studies.
We present WALLABY pilot data release 1, the first public release of H i pilot survey data from the Wide-field ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind Survey (WALLABY) on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. Phase 1 of the WALLABY pilot survey targeted three
$60\,\mathrm{deg}^{2}$
regions on the sky in the direction of the Hydra and Norma galaxy clusters and the NGC 4636 galaxy group, covering the redshift range of
$z \lesssim 0.08$
. The source catalogue, images and spectra of nearly 600 extragalactic H i detections and kinematic models for 109 spatially resolved galaxies are available. As the pilot survey targeted regions containing nearby group and cluster environments, the median redshift of the sample of
$z \approx 0.014$
is relatively low compared to the full WALLABY survey. The median galaxy H i mass is
$2.3 \times 10^{9}\,{\rm M}_{{\odot}}$
. The target noise level of
$1.6\,\mathrm{mJy}$
per 30′′ beam and
$18.5\,\mathrm{kHz}$
channel translates into a
$5 \sigma$
H i mass sensitivity for point sources of about
$5.2 \times 10^{8} \, (D_{\rm L} / \mathrm{100\,Mpc})^{2} \, {\rm M}_{{\odot}}$
across 50 spectral channels (
${\approx} 200\,\mathrm{km \, s}^{-1}$
) and a
$5 \sigma$
H i column density sensitivity of about
$8.6 \times 10^{19} \, (1 + z)^{4}\,\mathrm{cm}^{-2}$
across 5 channels (
${\approx} 20\,\mathrm{km \, s}^{-1}$
) for emission filling the 30′′ beam. As expected for a pilot survey, several technical issues and artefacts are still affecting the data quality. Most notably, there are systematic flux errors of up to several 10% caused by uncertainties about the exact size and shape of each of the primary beams as well as the presence of sidelobes due to the finite deconvolution threshold. In addition, artefacts such as residual continuum emission and bandpass ripples have affected some of the data. The pilot survey has been highly successful in uncovering such technical problems, most of which are expected to be addressed and rectified before the start of the full WALLABY survey.
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) can accompany emotional symptoms as well as physical reactions. The assessment and real-time measurement of SAD is difficult in real-world.
Objectives
This study aims to predict the severity of specific anxiety states and virtual reality (VR) sickness in SAD patients by a machine learning model based on only quantitative measuring of autonomic physiologic signals during VR therapy sessions.
Methods
In total, 32 individuals with SAD symptoms were enrolled in VR participatory sessions. We assessed patients’ specific anxiety symptoms through Internalized Shame Scale (ISS) and Post-Event Rumination Scale (PERS), and VR sickness through Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ). Specific anxiety symptoms and VR sickness were divided into severe and non-severe states based on the total score of each scale by K-means clustering. Logistic regression, Random Forest, Naïve Bayes classifier, and Support Vector Machine were used based on the physiological signal data to predict the severity group in subdomains of ISS, PERS, and SSQ.
Results
Prediction performance (F1 score) for the severity of the ISS mistake anxiety subdomain was higher than other scales with 0.8421. For VR sickness, prediction performance for the severity of the physical subdomain was higher than the non-physical subdomain with 0.7692.
Conclusions
The study findings present that mistake anxiety and physical sickness could be predicted more accurately by only autonomic physiological signals, suggesting these features are probably associated with autonomic responses. Based on the present study results, we could provide the evidence for predicting the severity of specific anxiety or VR adverse effects only based on in-situ physiological signals.
The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on mental health is still being unravelled. It is important to identify which individuals are at greatest risk of worsening symptoms. This study aimed to examine changes in depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms using prospective and retrospective symptom change assessments, and to find and examine the effect of key risk factors.
Method
Online questionnaires were administered to 34 465 individuals (aged 16 years or above) in April/May 2020 in the UK, recruited from existing cohorts or via social media. Around one-third (n = 12 718) of included participants had prior diagnoses of depression or anxiety and had completed pre-pandemic mental health assessments (between September 2018 and February 2020), allowing prospective investigation of symptom change.
Results
Prospective symptom analyses showed small decreases in depression (PHQ-9: −0.43 points) and anxiety [generalised anxiety disorder scale – 7 items (GAD)-7: −0.33 points] and increases in PTSD (PCL-6: 0.22 points). Conversely, retrospective symptom analyses demonstrated significant large increases (PHQ-9: 2.40; GAD-7 = 1.97), with 55% reported worsening mental health since the beginning of the pandemic on a global change rating. Across both prospective and retrospective measures of symptom change, worsening depression, anxiety and PTSD symptoms were associated with prior mental health diagnoses, female gender, young age and unemployed/student status.
Conclusions
We highlight the effect of prior mental health diagnoses on worsening mental health during the pandemic and confirm previously reported sociodemographic risk factors. Discrepancies between prospective and retrospective measures of changes in mental health may be related to recall bias-related underestimation of prior symptom severity.
Young people are most vulnerable to suicidal behaviours but least likely to seek help. A more elaborate study of the intrinsic and extrinsic correlates of suicidal ideation and behaviours particularly amid ongoing population-level stressors and the identification of less stigmatising markers in representative youth populations is essential.
Methods
Participants (n = 2540, aged 15–25) were consecutively recruited from an ongoing large-scale household-based epidemiological youth mental health study in Hong Kong between September 2019 and 2021. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt were assessed, alongside suicide-related rumination, hopelessness and neuroticism, personal and population-level stressors, family functioning, cognitive ability, lifetime non-suicidal self-harm, 12-month major depressive disorder (MDD), and alcohol use.
Results
The 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation, ideation-only (no plan or attempt), plan, and attempt was 20.0, 15.4, 4.6, and 1.3%, respectively. Importantly, multivariable logistic regression findings revealed that suicide-related rumination was the only factor associated with all four suicidal outcomes (all p < 0.01). Among those with suicidal ideation (two-stage approach), intrinsic factors, including suicide-related rumination, poorer cognitive ability, and 12-month MDE, were specifically associated with suicide plan, while extrinsic factors, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) stressors, poorer family functioning, and personal life stressors, as well as non-suicidal self-harm, were specifically associated with suicide attempt.
Conclusions
Suicide-related rumination, population-level COVID-19 stressors, and poorer family functioning may be important less-stigmatising markers for youth suicidal risks. The respective roles played by not only intrinsic but also extrinsic factors in suicide plan and attempt using a two-stage approach should be considered in future preventative intervention work.
We present the most sensitive and detailed view of the neutral hydrogen (
${\rm H\small I}$
) emission associated with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), through the combination of data from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) and Parkes (Murriyang), as part of the Galactic Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (GASKAP) pilot survey. These GASKAP-HI pilot observations, for the first time, reveal
${\rm H\small I}$
in the SMC on similar physical scales as other important tracers of the interstellar medium, such as molecular gas and dust. The resultant image cube possesses an rms noise level of 1.1 K (
$1.6\,\mathrm{mJy\ beam}^{-1}$
)
$\mathrm{per}\ 0.98\,\mathrm{km\ s}^{-1}$
spectral channel with an angular resolution of
$30^{\prime\prime}$
(
${\sim}10\,\mathrm{pc}$
). We discuss the calibration scheme and the custom imaging pipeline that utilises a joint deconvolution approach, efficiently distributed across a computing cluster, to accurately recover the emission extending across the entire
${\sim}25\,\mathrm{deg}^2$
field-of-view. We provide an overview of the data products and characterise several aspects including the noise properties as a function of angular resolution and the represented spatial scales by deriving the global transfer function over the full spectral range. A preliminary spatial power spectrum analysis on individual spectral channels reveals that the power law nature of the density distribution extends down to scales of 10 pc. We highlight the scientific potential of these data by comparing the properties of an outflowing high-velocity cloud with previous ASKAP+Parkes
${\rm H\small I}$
test observations.