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Impairment in both psychosocial functioning and neurocognition (NC) performance is present in bipolar disorder (BD) yet the role of sex differences in these deficits remains unclear. The present systematic review and meta-analysis examined whether males and females with BD demonstrate differences in psychosocial functioning and NC performance.
Methods
The Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were systematically searched from inception until November 20, 2023.
Results
Twenty studies published between 2005 and 2023 with a total sample size of 2286 patients with BD were included. A random effects meta-analysis revealed a statistically significant result with a small effect (SMD = 0.313) for sex differences in verbal learning and memory as well as visual learning and memory (SMD = 0.263). Females outperformed males in both domains. No significant sex differences were observed for any other NC outcome or psychosocial functioning. High heterogeneity and differences in assessment scales used should be considered when interpreting these findings, given their potential impact on results.
Conclusions
Future research should adopt a more homogenous, standardized approach using longitudinal designs to gain a clearer insight into sex differences in this population. This approach so may increase the use of preventative therapeutic options to address the difficult clinical challenge of reaching cognitive and functional recovery.
Knowledge of sex differences in risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can contribute to the development of refined preventive interventions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine if women and men differ in their vulnerability to risk factors for PTSD.
Methods
As part of the longitudinal AURORA study, 2924 patients seeking emergency department (ED) treatment in the acute aftermath of trauma provided self-report assessments of pre- peri- and post-traumatic risk factors, as well as 3-month PTSD severity. We systematically examined sex-dependent effects of 16 risk factors that have previously been hypothesized to show different associations with PTSD severity in women and men.
Results
Women reported higher PTSD severity at 3-months post-trauma. Z-score comparisons indicated that for five of the 16 examined risk factors the association with 3-month PTSD severity was stronger in men than in women. In multivariable models, interaction effects with sex were observed for pre-traumatic anxiety symptoms, and acute dissociative symptoms; both showed stronger associations with PTSD in men than in women. Subgroup analyses suggested trauma type-conditional effects.
Conclusions
Our findings indicate mechanisms to which men might be particularly vulnerable, demonstrating that known PTSD risk factors might behave differently in women and men. Analyses did not identify any risk factors to which women were more vulnerable than men, pointing toward further mechanisms to explain women's higher PTSD risk. Our study illustrates the need for a more systematic examination of sex differences in contributors to PTSD severity after trauma, which may inform refined preventive interventions.
Refluxing chromium (III) acetate with a Na+-montmorillonite suspension gives rise to the intercalation of linear Cr(III) polyhydroxo-acetate oligomers. Thermally stable chromia pillared mont-morillonite materials are obtained upon calcination under ammonia up to 625°C, and basal expansions up to 6 Å are maintained. The porous materials retain high surface areas (366–464 m2 g−1), a micropore volume of 0.1 cm3 g−1 and narrow pore size distributions centered between 7.5 and 12 Å. The most thermally stable materials in air were those prepared under ammonia at 625°C, containing NH4+ as the exchangeable ion.
The world of opera is well known as a professional community in which egos often clash, yet the complexity of the operatic artwork is often heavily dependent on collaborative practice. This article discusses the co-creative dynamics that gave rise to the premiere production of the comic opera Je suis narcissiste, by composer Raquel García-Tomás, librettist Helena Tornero and stage director Marta Pazos. Through a series of interviews with this artistic team, and a scrutiny of the libretto, score and documentary video recording of its premiere, three significant features of this collaboration are flagged, particularly in Act VIII. These are: a quest for balance in the convergence of the disciplines involved; a mitigation of undesired redundancies in the representation of some elements in the action of the opera; a consideration of the capacity of the human and material resources available for the premiere. The article will also discuss how these anticipatory strategies helped to optimise time during rehearsals.
Several hypotheses may explain the association between substance use, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression. However, few studies have utilized a large multisite dataset to understand this complex relationship. Our study assessed the relationship between alcohol and cannabis use trajectories and PTSD and depression symptoms across 3 months in recently trauma-exposed civilians.
Methods
In total, 1618 (1037 female) participants provided self-report data on past 30-day alcohol and cannabis use and PTSD and depression symptoms during their emergency department (baseline) visit. We reassessed participant's substance use and clinical symptoms 2, 8, and 12 weeks posttrauma. Latent class mixture modeling determined alcohol and cannabis use trajectories in the sample. Changes in PTSD and depression symptoms were assessed across alcohol and cannabis use trajectories via a mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of variance.
Results
Three trajectory classes (low, high, increasing use) provided the best model fit for alcohol and cannabis use. The low alcohol use class exhibited lower PTSD symptoms at baseline than the high use class; the low cannabis use class exhibited lower PTSD and depression symptoms at baseline than the high and increasing use classes; these symptoms greatly increased at week 8 and declined at week 12. Participants who already use alcohol and cannabis exhibited greater PTSD and depression symptoms at baseline that increased at week 8 with a decrease in symptoms at week 12.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that alcohol and cannabis use trajectories are associated with the intensity of posttrauma psychopathology. These findings could potentially inform the timing of therapeutic strategies.
Analyze whether the content of three moral messages (deontological, ethical utilitarianism, ethical virtue) and a control message differentially affect the probability of engaging in four behaviors: Washing their hands, participating in public gatherings, staying at home/avoiding social contact, and forwarding the message to inform more people. In our study, the sender of the message is a university professor. These variables are measured in terms of their behavioral intentions and others’ behavioral intentions (beliefs about others’ behavior). Randomized Controlled Trial. Our study includes the analysis of the possible moderating effect of the country of residence (Spain n = 1,122, Chile n = 1,107, and Colombia n = 1,433). The message with content referring to ethical virtue and staying at home obtains statistically significant lower scores on the probability of carrying out public health behaviors and sharing the message received. Regarding beliefs about the behavior of others, the message of ethical virtue has the same negative effect, but only on the likelihood of other people washing their hands, staying at home, and sharing the public health message. Institutional messages aimed at promoting public health behaviors are necessary in a pandemic situation. Our recommendation is to use deontological and utilitarian, or non-moral, content.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global challenge for humanity, in which a large number of resources are invested to develop effective vaccines and treatments. At the same time, governments try to manage the spread of the disease while alleviating the strong impact derived from the slowdown in economic activity. Governments were forced to impose strict lockdown measures to tackle the pandemic. This significantly changed people’s mobility and habits, subsequently impacting the economy. In this context, the availability of tools to effectively monitor and quantify mobility was key for public institutions to decide which policies to implement and for how long. Telefonica has promoted different initiatives to offer governments mobility insights throughout many of the countries where it operates in Europe and Latin America. Mobility indicators with high spatial granularity and frequency of updates were successfully deployed in different formats. However, Telefonica faced many challenges (not only technical) to put these tools into service in a short timing: from reducing latency in insights to ensuring the security and privacy of information. In this article, we provide details on how Telefonica engaged with governments and other stakeholders in different countries as a response to the pandemic. We also cover the challenges faced and the shared learnings from Telefonica’s experience in those countries.
We surveyed 348 Psychology and Education researchers within Spain, on issues such as their perception of a crisis in Science, their confidence in the quality of published results, and the use of questionable research practices (QRP). Their perceptions regarding pressure to publish and academic competition were also collected. The results indicate that a large proportion of the sample of Spanish academics think there is a crisis in Science, mainly due to a lack of economic investment, and doubts the quality of published findings. They also feel strong pressure to publish in high impact factor journals and a highly competitive work climate.
As in previous periods of quarantine, lockdown confinement measures dictated to control SARS-CoV-2 would be expected to negatively affect mental health. We investigated the immediate effects (over a 10 day period) of a strict nationwide stay-at-home order imposed in Spain, one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing our analysis on the feelings of loneliness, we obtained our measures within a social context characterised by strong and continuous public and governmental support for increasing social bonds and cooperation in order to face the common public threat. Leveraging data from the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative, a prospective population-based study cohort, the short UCLA Loneliness Scale was administered to 1604 participants 2 years and 1 year before the stay-at-home lockdown and repeated, on average, 10 days after the official confinement order issued by the Spanish government. Ratings of loneliness remained stable during the 2 years before lockdown; however, they decreased significantly during the early stages of home confinement. This effect was particularly significant for the item ‘feeling excluded from others’ and was also observed among individuals who were confined alone. Overall, the results suggest that gestures and manifestations of appreciation by people for the labour and efforts of certain individuals, along with official campaigns designed to promote feelings of inclusion and belonging, may have beneficial effects on feelings of loneliness, a negative emotional state strongly regarded as a risk factor for impaired mental and general health status. Further assessments during the later stages of home confinement are now warranted.
This is the first report on the association between trauma exposure and depression from the Advancing Understanding of RecOvery afteR traumA(AURORA) multisite longitudinal study of adverse post-traumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae (APNS) among participants seeking emergency department (ED) treatment in the aftermath of a traumatic life experience.
Methods
We focus on participants presenting at EDs after a motor vehicle collision (MVC), which characterizes most AURORA participants, and examine associations of participant socio-demographics and MVC characteristics with 8-week depression as mediated through peritraumatic symptoms and 2-week depression.
Results
Eight-week depression prevalence was relatively high (27.8%) and associated with several MVC characteristics (being passenger v. driver; injuries to other people). Peritraumatic distress was associated with 2-week but not 8-week depression. Most of these associations held when controlling for peritraumatic symptoms and, to a lesser degree, depressive symptoms at 2-weeks post-trauma.
Conclusions
These observations, coupled with substantial variation in the relative strength of the mediating pathways across predictors, raises the possibility of diverse and potentially complex underlying biological and psychological processes that remain to be elucidated in more in-depth analyses of the rich and evolving AURORA database to find new targets for intervention and new tools for risk-based stratification following trauma exposure.
Progressive myoclonus epilepsies (PMEs) are a group of genetic neurological disorders characterised by the occurrence of epileptic seizures, myoclonus and progressive neurological deterioration including cerebellar involvement and dementia. The primary cause of PMEs is variable and alterations in the corresponding mutated genes determine the progression and severity of the disease. In most cases, they lead to the death of the patient after a period of prolonged disability. PMEs also share poor information on the pathophysiological bases and the lack of a specific treatment. Recent reports suggest that neuroinflammation is a common trait under all these conditions. Here, we review similarities and differences in neuroinflammatory response in several PMEs and discuss the window of opportunity of using anti-inflammatory drugs in the treatment of several of these conditions.
The permeability of the crop surroundings to pests and the landscape structure can influence pest dispersal between crop patches as well as its abundance within the crop. In this work, we analyzed the dispersal of the olive moth Prays oleae (Bernard) throughout the olive grove surroundings and their abundance within the crop following three approaches: (i) pollen grains settled on bodies of olive moths collected in olive groves were identified and compared with flora occurring on the surrounding patches; (ii) the capability of P. oleae males to penetrate non-crop patches was analyzed (iii) the effect of the landscape structure on the abundance of the three generations of the olive moth was studied. Pollen grains of scrubs and other trees occurring in the crop surroundings, such as Cistus sp., Quercus sp., Juniperus-type or Pinaceae were identified on P. oleae bodies suggesting that P. oleae penetrates into non-crop habitats. Additionally, woody and, to a lesser degree, herbaceous patches, did not constitute barriers for P. oleae. Finally, more complex and heterogeneous patches presented lower numbers of captures of P. oleae. These results give new insights into the movements of the olive moth in the olive grove surroundings and suggest that the management of non-crop areas could influence this pest abundance.
The second and final year of the Erasmus Plus programme ‘Innovative Education and Training in high power laser plasmas’, otherwise known as PowerLaPs, is described. The PowerLaPs programme employs an innovative paradigm in that it is a multi-centre programme, where teaching takes place in five separate institutes with a range of different aims and styles of delivery. The ‘in-class’ time is limited to 4 weeks a year, and the programme spans 2 years. PowerLaPs aims to train students from across Europe in theoretical, applied and laboratory skills relevant to the pursuit of research in laser plasma interaction physics and inertial confinement fusion. Lectures are intermingled with laboratory sessions and continuous assessment activities. The programme, which is led by workers from the Hellenic Mediterranean University and supported by co-workers from the Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Bordeaux, the Czech Technical University in Prague, Ecole Polytechnique, the University of Ioannina, the University of Salamanca and the University of York, has just finished its second and final year. Six Learning Teaching Training activities have been held at the Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Bordeaux, the Czech Technical University, the University of Salamanca and the Institute of Plasma Physics and Lasers of the Hellenic Mediterranean University. The last of these institutes hosted two 2-week-long Intensive Programmes, while the activities at the other four universities were each 5 days in length. In addition, a ‘Multiplier Event’ was held at the University of Ioannina, which will be briefly described. In this second year, the work has concentrated on training in both experimental diagnostics and simulation techniques appropriate to the study of plasma physics, high power laser matter interactions and high energy density physics. The nature of the programme will be described in detail, and some metrics relating to the activities carried out will be presented. In particular, this paper will focus on the overall assessment of the programme.
Worry is a common phenomenon with people who anticipate and want to be prepared for future events. Pathological worry, however, is not limited to anticipating potentially dangerous events, but it is applied to small daily events, too. This kind of worry is perceived as uncontrollable, and it is strongly associated with catastrophism. The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) was developed to assess pathological worry. Despite its excellent psychometric characteristics, its internal structure is still controversial. The combination of regular and reversed items and certain methodological considerations may account for the discrepancies in the results of previous investigations. With the aim to analyze worry in Portugal and the psychometric properties of the PSWQ, for the present study, methodological options were considered in order to minimize previous problems. A sample of 558 Portuguese community participants took part in this study. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were performed with two independent random subsamples. The results showed the unidimensionality of PSWQ and the psychometric adequacy of both the full, 16-item version and a reduced, 11-item version (without reversed scored items). Normative data are presented, the suitability of both versions is discussed, and the authors conclude by encouraging the use of the reduced, 11-item version of the PSWQ in applied settings.
People in homeless situation are one of the major embodiments of the phenomenon of social exclusion, and women living homeless are considered a particularly vulnerable group. This paper examines different variables that may affect the situation of vulnerability experienced by women living homeless in Madrid (Spain). The study was carried out using data obtained from a representative sample of homeless men in Madrid (n = 158) and a sample of homeless women in Madrid of a similar size (n = 138). The information was gathered using a structured interview in shelters or other facilities for people in a homeless situation, on the street and in other places not initially designed for sleeping. The results show that woman living homeless are highly vulnerable compared to the domiciled population and, in some respects, to homeless men as well, especially in the number of times homeless (χ2 = 10.314; p < .01), in the time working with a contract and/or self-employed (t = 5.754; p < .001), and in the use of sedatives (χ2= 14.741; p < .001). It is however noted that homeless women show in some aspects greater strengths than homeless men. Such strengths could serve as a supporting point for their social inclusion processes. The analysis of issues that differentiate women in a homeless situation from their male counterparts could be useful for developing public policies and care resources adapted to the specific characteristics and needs of women living homeless.
This article analyses female labour in Spanish mines during the golden age of the sector in Spain between 1860 and 1936. Although they were a small percentage of total employment, women accounted for a significant share of the workforce in certain Spanish districts. On the one hand, the study quantifies work performed directly by women, who were mostly engaged in preparation and concentration of the minerals, as well as the extent of female child labour. This has been done by using official statistics, analysing the share of women employed for each type of mineral extracted, the mining area where this activity took place, and other variables. In the article, the authors seek to identify possible causes of such a heterogeneous distribution of female labour in the mining industry in Spain. This situation was common in the sector throughout the world. On the other hand, the article analyses attitudes of institutions, unions, and the like that limited employment opportunities for women in mining (banning them from performing underground tasks and other activities) and even proposed excluding them altogether, responding to workers’ demands in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We examine the objectives pursued by these institutions, which in some cases related to protection (physical and moral) of female workers but overall aimed mainly to preserve the social role of women (particularly reproduction) and exclude them from the workforce. The pressure on female workers was the most pronounced in the workplace. These factors gave rise to a global setback in female employment, especially among the youngest workers. Given this situation, the quantitative data used, together with information drawn from different sources, reveal that women resisted giving up these jobs, particularly in the districts with a larger share of female workers.
The aim of this piece of research was to study the existence of clusters based on anger, empathy and cortisol and testosterone measures associated with aggressive behavior in school-aged children. The sample group comprised 139 eight-year-old children (80 boys and 59 girls). Aggressive behavior was measured using the Direct and Indirect Aggression Scale. Both psychological and biological variables were used to determine psychobiological profiles. The psychological variables considered were trait anger, measured using the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory for Children and Adolescents, and empathy, measured using the Empathy Quotient-Child Version. Testosterone and cortisol concentrations were measured through saliva samples and analyzed using an ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). A Cluster Analysis revealed three clusters which were clearly different as regards their psychological and biological characteristics. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the cluster characterized by having higher anger levels, lower empathy levels and higher testosterone and cortisol levels was more aggressive than the other two (p < .0001, η2 = .19). The results indicate that studying psychological and biological variables together may help establish differentiated aggression patterns among children.
A well-studied phenomenon in Spanish (and in Romance languages in general) is clitic placement in constructions with so-called restructuring verbs, such as querer “want,” deber “must,” poder “can/may,” soler (habitual aspect), empezar “begin,” estar “be” – which are sometimes dubbed semi-auxiliary verbs, since they express modality and aspect – as well as the true auxiliary haber “have” (see Burzio, 1986; Cardinaletti & Shlonsky, 2004; Cinque, 2004, 2006; Perlmutter, 1983; Strozer, 1976; among many others). What is especially noteworthy about these constructions is that, when pronominal clitics are used, these may be associated either with the main finite verb or the lexical verb in a non-finite form.
A 6–18 GHz high-power amplifier (HPA) design in GaN on SiC technology is presented. This power amplifier consists of a two-stage corporate amplifier with two and four transistors, respectively. It has been fabricated on UMS using their 0.25 µm gate length process, GH25. A study of the suitable attachment method and measurement on wafer and on jig are detailed. This HPA exhibits an averaged output power of 39.2 dBm with a mean gain of 11 dB in saturation and a 24.5% maximum power added efficiency in pulse mode operation with a duty cycle of 10% with a 25 µs pulse width.