Analysis of the components of cancer risk perception and links with intention and behaviour: A UK-based study

Risk perception refers to how individuals interpret their susceptibility to threats, and has been hypothesised as an important predictor of intentions and behaviour in many theories of health behaviour change. However, its components, optimal measurement, and effects are not yet fully understood. The TRIRISK model, developed in the US, conceptualises risk perception as deliberative, affective and experiential components. In this study, we aimed to assess the replicability of the TRIRISK model in a UK sample by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), explore the inherent factor structure of risk perception in the UK sample by exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and assess the associations of EFA-based factors with intentions to change behaviour and subsequent behaviour change. Data were derived from an online randomised controlled trial assessing cancer risk perception using the TRIRISK instrument and intention and lifestyle measures before and after communication of cancer risk. In the CFA analysis, the TRIRISK model of risk perception did not provide a good fit for the UK data. A revised model developed using EFA consisted of two separate “numerical” and “self-reflective” factors of deliberative risk perception, and a third factor combining affective with a subset of experiential items. This model provided a better fit to the data when cross-validated. Using multivariable regression analysis, we found that the self-reflective and affective-experiential factors of the model identified in this study were reliable predictors of intentions to prevent cancer. There were no associations of any of the risk perception factors with behaviour change. This study confirms that risk perception is clearly a multidimensional construct, having identified self-reflective risk perception as a new distinct component with predictive validity for intention. Furthermore, we highlight the practical implications of our findings for the design of interventions incorporating risk perception aimed at behaviour change in the context of cancer prevention.

Massively Multidimensional Diffusion-Relaxation Correlation MRI

Diverse approaches such as oscillating gradients, tensor-valued encoding, and diffusion-relaxation correlation have been used to study microstructure and heterogeneity in healthy and pathological biological tissues. Recently, acquisition schemes with free gradient waveforms exploring both the frequency-dependent and tensorial aspects of the encoding spectrum b(ω) have enabled estimation of nonparametric distributions of frequency-dependent diffusion tensors. These “D(ω)-distributions” allow investigation of restricted diffusion for each distinct component resolved in the diffusion tensor trace, anisotropy, and orientation dimensions. Likewise, multidimensional methods combining longitudinal and transverse relaxation rates, R1 and R2, with (ω-independent) D-distributions capitalize on the component resolution offered by the diffusion dimensions to investigate subtle differences in relaxation properties of sub-voxel water populations in the living human brain, for instance nerve fiber bundles with different orientations. By measurements on an ex vivo rat brain, we here demonstrate a “massively multidimensional” diffusion-relaxation correlation protocol joining all the approaches mentioned above. Images acquired as a function of the magnitude, normalized anisotropy, orientation, and frequency content of b(ω), as well as the repetition time and echo time, yield nonparametric D(ω)-R1-R2-distributions via a Monte Carlo data inversion algorithm. The obtained per-voxel distributions are converted to parameter maps commonly associated with conventional lower-dimensional methods as well as unique statistical descriptors reporting on the correlations between restriction, anisotropy, and relaxation.

Asymmetric Relationship of Global Human Obesity and Political Globalization Through World Human Development Levels

Background: Political globalization is a crucial and distinct component of strengthening global organizations. Obesity is a global epidemic in a few nations, and it is on the verge of becoming a pandemic that would bring plenty of diseases. The focus of this research is to see how the political globalization index affects worldwide human obesity in relation to global human development levels. Methods: In order to assess any cross-sectional dependence among observed 109 nations, the yearly period from 1990 to 2017 is analyzed using second generation panel data methods. KAO panel cointegration test and Feasible Generalized Least Square model were used to meet our objectives. Results: Low level of political Globalization tends to increase global human obesity because countries cannot sway international decisions and resources towards them. While the high level of political Globalization tends to reduce obesity because they can control and amends the international decisions. For the regression model, a feasible Generalized Least Square model was utilized. The study observed that the R squared values for all models are healthy, with a minimum of 87 percent variables explaining differences in global obesity at the country level. Conclusion: There is a very important to tackle globalization issue to reduce global human obesity. Simplicity of dietary options and the amount of physical labour they undergo in their agricultural duties, an increase in rural population percentage tends to lower the average national obesity value.

Brain Resting State Functional Networks in Infants with Prenatal Opioid Exposure

Purpose: Infants of mothers with opioid and substance use can present with postnatal withdrawal symptoms and are at risk of poor neurodevelopmental outcomes in later childhood. Identifying methods to evaluate the consequences of substance exposure on the developing brain can help initiate proactive therapies to improve outcomes for opioid-exposed neonates. Additionally, early brain imaging in infancy has the potential to identify early brain developmental alterations that could prognosticate neurodevelopmental outcomes in these children. In this study, we aim to identify differences in global brain network connectivity in infants with prenatal opioid exposure compared to healthy control infants, using resting-state functional MRI performed at less than 2 months completed gestational age. Materials and Methods: In this prospective, IRB-approved study, we recruited 20 infants with prenatal opioid exposure and 20 healthy, opioid naïve infants. Anatomic imaging and resting-state functional MRI were performed at less than 48 weeks corrected gestational age, and rs-fMRI images were co-registered to the UNC neonate brain template and 90 anatomic atlas-labelled regions. Covariate Assisted Principal (CAP) regression was performed to identify brain network functional connectivity that was significantly different among infants with prenatal opioid exposure compared to healthy neonates. Results: Of the 5 significantly different CAP components identified, the most distinct component (CAP5, p= 3.86 x 10-6) spanned several brain regions, including the right inferior temporal gyrus, bilateral Hesch’s gyrus, left thalamus, left supramarginal gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, left superior parietal gyrus, right anterior cingulate gyrus, right gyrus rectus, left supplementary motor area, and left pars triangularis. Functional connectivity in this network was lower in the infants with prenatal opioid exposure compared to non-opioid exposed infants. Conclusion: This study demonstrates global network alterations in infants with prenatal opioid exposure compared to non-opioid exposed infants. Future studies should be aimed at identifying clinical significance of this altered connectivity.

The Legal Impact of Islamic Law in the Identity and Provisions of Qatari Legal System: Conceptual Frame and Legislative Directions

This article examines the Islamic law situation in Qatari law based on a case study to the main concepts, and some special practical issues in Qatari Law. The paper focuses on a conceptual approach to Qatari law and Islamic law in the light of centrality of Islamic law. Furthermore this paper also focuses on the distinctive characteristics of the law compared to the other such as the concept of human behavior in such a way that it has an impact on the penalty in the legal rule as a distinct component. The analysis also pays an attention to a distinction between the legal rules and other social rules in the matter of giving an influence on structure of human behavior. As a matter of fact, this article also tries to give e light on the centrality of Islamic law on Qatari law, especially on the case of taking back of charity (hibah) as an example. The paper ends with conclusion that for Islamic legislation in Qatari law, Islamic Sharia is considered to be the main source and it is needed to develop a legislative and judicial orientations based on Islamic legal rules that regulate transactions in Qatari law.[Artikel ini membahas situasi hukum Islam di dalam hukum Negara Qatar berdasarkan pada studi kasus atas beberapa konsep kunci dan isu praktis dalam hukum Qatar. Tulisan ini fokus pada pendekatan konseptual hukum Qatar dan Syariah Islam berdasarkan pada sentralitas Syari’ah islam. Selain itu, artikel ini juga membahas tentang karakter khusus undang-undang dibanding dengan yang lainnya seperti teori prilaku yang mempunyai pengaruh terhadap penerapan hukumannya. Selain itu, pembahasan tersebut juga mempertimbangkan perbedaannya dibandingkan dengan hukum sosial terkait dengan pengaruh terhadap pembentukan prilaku. Artikel ini juga memberikan penekanan kajian atas sentralitas hukum Islam dan pengaruhnya terhadap konsep undang-undang seperti pengaturan tentang hak menarik kembali dana hibah dalam undang-undang di Qatar. Dalam kesimpulan, artikel ini menyatakan bahwa dalam undang-undang Qatar, hukum Islam menempati posisi yang sentral dan menjadi basis utama dalam pengembangan legislatif dan orientasi yuridis yang didasarkan pada aturan legal Islam dalam pengaturan transaksi dalam undang-undang hukum di Qatar.]

Many ways to make darker flies: Intra- and inter-specific variation in Drosophila body pigmentation components

ABSTRACTBody pigmentation is an evolutionarily diversified and ecologically relevant trait that shows variation within and between species, and important roles in animal survival and reproduction. Insect pigmentation, in particular, provides some of the most compelling examples of adaptive evolution and its ecological and genetic bases. Yet, while pigmentation includes multiple aspects of color and color pattern that may vary more or less independently, its study frequently focuses on one single aspect. Here, we develop a method to quantify color and color pattern in Drosophila body pigmentation, decomposing thorax and abdominal pigmentation into distinct measurable traits, and we quantify different sources of variation in those traits. For each body part, we measured overall darkness, as well as four other pigmentation properties distinguishing between background color and color of the darker pattern elements that decorate the two body parts. By focusing on two standard D. melanogaster laboratory populations, we show that pigmentation components vary and co-vary in different manners depending on sex, genetic background, and developmental temperature. By studying three natural populations of D. melanogaster along a latitudinal cline and five other Drosophila species, we then show that evolution of lighter or darker bodies can be achieved by changing distinct component traits. Our study underscores the value of detailed phenotyping for a better understanding of phenotypic variation and diversification, and the ecological pressures and genetic mechanisms underlying them.

Parsing the components of forgiveness: Psychological and neural mechanisms

Forgiveness - a shift in motivation away from retaliation and avoidance towards increased goodwill for the perceived wrongdoer - is vital for restoring social relationships and positively impacts personal wellbeing and society at large. Parsing the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms of forgiveness contributes theoretical clarity, yet has remained an outstanding challenge because of conceptual and methodological difficulties in the field. Here, we critically examine the neuroscientific evidence to provide a theoretical framework that accounts for the proximate mechanisms underlying forgiveness. Specifically, we integrate empirical evidence from social psychology and neuroscience to propose that forgiveness relies on three distinct and interacting psychological components: cognitive control, perspective taking, and social valuation. The implication of the lateral prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal junction, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, respectively, is discussed in the brain networks subserving these distinct component processes. Finally, we outline some caveats that limit the translational value of existing social neuroscience research and provide directions for future research to advance the field of forgiveness.

Terrorism and the Varieties of Civil Liberties

How do government protections, and violations, of its citizens’ civil liberties influence the country's exposure to terrorism? Existing research remains divided. We contribute clarity to these debates by examining the distinct effects of specific types of civil liberties: physical integrity (e.g., freedom from extra-judicial torture and killing), political liberties (e.g., freedom of expression and assembly), and private liberties (e.g., freedom of thought and religion and property rights). We distinguish these civil liberties dimensions from the role of institutions for political selection (e.g., elections) and horizontal accountability (e.g., checks and balances, executive constraints). We argue physical integrity rights decrease terrorism, by reducing grievances against and increasing trust in the state, while political liberties increase terrorism, by both incentivizing violence among those with extremist goals and protecting their ability to organize. Empirically, we measure a country's exposure to terrorism using the Global Terrorism Database. We isolate the effects of government actions on these civil liberties dimensions from each other, and from the effects of the state's political institutions, by leveraging the Varieties of Democracy data. Our sample covers 177 states from 1970 to 2018. We find evidence consistent with our hypotheses regarding the effects of the distinct component dimensions of civil liberties.

Human Search in a Fitness Landscape: How to Assess the Difficulty of a Search Problem

Computational modeling is widely used to study how humans and organizations search and solve problems in fields such as economics, management, cultural evolution, and computer science. We argue that current computational modeling research on human problem-solving needs to address several fundamental issues in order to generate more meaningful and falsifiable contributions. Based on comparative simulations and a new type of visualization of how to assess the nature of the fitness landscape, we address two key assumptions that approaches such as the NK framework rely on: that the NK captures the continuum of the complexity of empirical fitness landscapes and that search behavior is a distinct component, independent from the topology of the fitness landscape. We show the limitations of the most common approach to conceptualize how complex, or rugged, a landscape is, as well as how the nature of the fitness landscape is fundamentally intertwined with search behavior. Finally, we outline broader implications for how to simulate problem-solving.

Perspectives of Scientists on Disseminating Research Findings to Non-Research Audiences

Background Little is known about practices used to disseminate findings to non- research audiences. This study describes the perspectives, experience and activities of dissemination & implementation (D&I) researchers around disseminating their research findings.Methods The study explored D&I researchers’ experiences and recommendations for assessment of dissemination activities to non-research audiences. Existing list serves were used to recruit scientist. Respondents were asked three open ended questions on an Internet survey regarding 1) how their dissemination activities are evaluated, 2) how they would recommend changing the system to recognize dissemination activities and 3) how they could improve their own dissemination of their work.Results Surveys were completed by 159 scientists reporting some training, funding, and/or publication history in D&I. Three themes emerged across each of the three open ended questions. Question 1 on evaluation generated the themes of: 1a) promotional review; 1b) funding requirements; and 1c) absence of evaluation of dissemination activities. Question 2 on recommended changes generated the themes of: 2a) dissemination as a distinct component of research; 2b) requirement of dissemination plan; and 2c) dissemination metrics. Question 3 on personal changes to improve dissemination generated the themes of: 3a) allocation of resources for dissemination activities; 3b) utilization of non-traditional (or alternative) dissemination mediums; and 3c) identify and address issues of priority for stakeholders.Conclusions The findings revealed the different types of issues D&I researchers encounter when disseminating findings to non-academic audiences and their suggestions to improve the process. Future research should consider key requirements which determine academic promotion and grant funding as an opportunity to expand dissemination efforts.