Plos One
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Dot-probe studies consistently show that high trait anxious individuals have an attentional bias towards threatening faces. However, little is known about the influence of perceptual confounds of specific emotional expressions on this effect. Teeth-exposure was recently recognized as an important factor for the occurrence of attentional bias towards angry faces in a closely related paradigm (the face-in-the-crowd paradigm). ⋯ For angry faces with non-exposed teeth, we found the expected positive correlation (r = .441) of trait anxiety with the attentional bias score (reaction times for probes replacing the neutral face minus reaction times for probes replacing the angry face). However, we found no influence of trait anxiety on attentional bias towards angry faces with exposed teeth. These results suggest that natural low-level stimulus confounds of emotional faces like exposed teeth can affect the manifestation of anxiety-related attentional biases towards angry faces in the dot-probe task.
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Except for the northern region, where the Amazonian black scorpion, T. obscurus, represents the predominant and most medically relevant scorpion species, Tityus serrulatus, the Brazilian yellow scorpion, is widely distributed throughout Brazil, causing most envenoming and fatalities due to scorpion sting. In order to evaluate and compare the diversity of venom components of Tityus obscurus and T. serrulatus, we performed a transcriptomic investigation of the telsons (venom glands) corroborated by a shotgun proteomic analysis of the venom from the two species. ⋯ The present work shows that the venom composition of these two allopatric species of Tityus are considerably similar in terms of the major classes of proteins produced and secreted, although their individual toxin sequences are considerably divergent. These differences at amino acid level may reflect in different epitopes for the same protein classes in each species, explaining the basis for the poor recognition of T. obscurus venom by the antiserum raised against other species.
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The lifecycle perspective reminds us that the roots of adult ill-health may start in-utero or in early childhood. Nutritional and infectious disease insults in early life, the critical first 1000 days, are associated with stunting in childhood, and subsequent short adult stature. There is limited or no opportunity for stunted children above 2 years of age to experience catch-up growth. Some previous research has shown short maternal height to lead to adverse birth outcomes. In this paper, we document the association between maternal height and caesarean section, and between maternal height and neonatal mortality in 34 sub-Saharan African countries. We also explore the appropriate height cut-offs to use. Our paper contributes arguments to support a focus on preventing non-communicable risk factors, namely early childhood under-nutrition, as part of the fight to reduce caesarean section rates and other adverse maternal and newborn health outcomes, particularly neonatal mortality. We focus on the Sub-Saharan Africa region because it carries the highest burden of maternal and neonatal ill-health. ⋯ Short stature is associated with an increased prevalence of caesarean section and neonatal mortality, particularly on the newborn's first days. These results are even more striking because we know that caesarean section rates tend to be higher among wealthier and more educated women, who are often taller and that the same patterns may hold for neonatal survival; in such cases, adjusting for wealth, education and urban residence would attenuate these associations. Caesarean sections can be lifesaving operations; however, they cost the health system and families more, and are associated with worse health outcomes. We suggest that our findings be used to argue for policies targeting stunting in infant girls and potential catch-up growth in adolescence and early adulthood, aiming to increase their adult height and thus decrease their subsequent risk of experiencing caesarean section and adverse birth outcomes.
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Protocols for testing and reporting emissions of Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents (HPHCs) from electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) are lacking. The premise of this study is that multi-path relationships may be developed to describe interactions between product characteristics, use behavior and emissions to develop appropriate protocols for tobacco product regulatory compliance testing. ⋯ A framework provides a foundation for reporting emissions across a variety of e-cigs, e-liquids and research laboratories. The study demonstrates TPM concentration is a function of topography behavior (i.e. puff flow rate and puff duration) for varying device operating power and product characteristics.
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The relationship between decreased bone mineral density (BMD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) is controversial. The associations among metabolic syndrome (MetS), serum uric acid and CKD are also unclear. We aimed to investigate the relationship between decreased BMD, MetS, serum uric acid and CKD in a general population. ⋯ Decreased BMD, uric acid and MetS were significantly associated with CKD.. Further large and prospective cohort studies are necessary to investigate whether management of osteoporosis, hyperuricemia, or MetS might prevent the progression of CKD.