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Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence 2023We review and critically assess several issues arising from the potential -large-scale- implementation or deployment of Large Language Models (LLMs) in society. These...
We review and critically assess several issues arising from the potential -large-scale- implementation or deployment of Large Language Models (LLMs) in society. These include security, political, economic, cultural, and educational issues as well as issues concerning social biases, creativity, copyright, and freedom of speech. We argue, without a preconceived pessimism toward these tools, that they may bring about many benefits. However, we also call for a balance assessment of their downsides. While our work is only preliminary and certainly partial it nevertheless holds some value as one of the first exploratory attempts in the literature.
PubMed: 37396972
DOI: 10.3389/frai.2023.1130913 -
Aging & Mental Health Jun 2023The relationship between optimism and cognitive functioning is not fully understood. We examined the association of optimism with risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI)...
OBJECTIVES
The relationship between optimism and cognitive functioning is not fully understood. We examined the association of optimism with risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS).
METHODS
Optimism was measured by the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) total score, and optimism and pessimism subscales. A panel of experts adjudicated cognitive endpoints based on annual cognitive assessments. We used cox proportional hazard regression models to examine the association of LOT-R total score and optimism and pessimism sub-scores with MCI/dementia. We also examined the relationship between vascular disease, LOT-R total score, optimism and pessimism, and cognition.
RESULTS
Mean age was 70.5 (SD = 3.9) years. The sample ( = 7249) was 87% white, and 29.8% of participants had < 12 years of education. Total LOT-R score (HR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.94, 0.98, < 0.001) was associated with lower risk of combined MCI or dementia. More pessimism (HR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.11, < 0.0001) was associated with higher risk of MCI or dementia after adjustment for ethnicity, education, vascular disease, and depression. No significant relationships emerged from the optimism subscale.
CONCLUSION
These data suggest that less pessimism, but not more optimism, was associated with a lower risk of MCI and dementia.
Topics: Humans; Female; Aged; Postmenopause; Cognitive Dysfunction; Cognition Disorders; Optimism; Dementia; Vascular Diseases
PubMed: 35694859
DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2022.2084710 -
Journal of Clinical Medicine May 2022Insomnia is prevalent in up to 40% of breast cancer survivors. Few studies have examined pessimism and dietary factors as risk factors for insomnia among breast cancer...
Insomnia is prevalent in up to 40% of breast cancer survivors. Few studies have examined pessimism and dietary factors as risk factors for insomnia among breast cancer survivors. We leveraged a cohort of 2944 breast cancer survivors who enrolled in the Women’s Healthy Eating and Living study; these survivors provided dietary, insomnia, mental health, demographic, and lifestyle information at baseline and at 1- and 4-year follow-up assessments. Insomnia symptoms were assessed using the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI)-Insomnia Rating Scale, and pessimism was assessed using the Life Orientation Test Revised (LOT-R). Total calorie intake and acid-producing diets were assessed using 24 h dietary recalls. Multivariable-adjusted generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were used to test the independent and joint effects of psychological and dietary factors on insomnia. In the multivariable model, women in the third tertile of pessimism had greater odds (OR = 1.57 95% CI [1.37−1.79]) of insomnia when compared to women in the lowest tertile. Total calorie intake and acid-producing diets were each independently and significantly associated with insomnia symptoms. Further, pessimism and calorie intake/acid-producing diets were jointly associated with insomnia. For instance, women with pessimism scores in tertile 3 and total calorie intakes < median reported 2 times the odds (OR = 2.09; 95% CI [1.51−3.47]) of insomnia compared to women with pessimism score in tertile 1 and calorie intakes < median. Our results highlight the need for patient care regarding mental health, and recommendations of healthy dietary intakes for breast cancer survivors.
PubMed: 35628953
DOI: 10.3390/jcm11102828 -
Journal of the American Pharmacists... 2022Information about Cameroonians' views toward coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and amenability to receiving a vaccine is emerging. Learning more about Cameroonians'...
BACKGROUND
Information about Cameroonians' views toward coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and amenability to receiving a vaccine is emerging. Learning more about Cameroonians' vaccine perspectives could guide prevention messaging and facilitate optimal communication modalities.
OBJECTIVES
The primary objective of this study was to analyze the willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine among Cameroonians, pending availability. The secondary objectives were to assess perceptions of COVID-19's origin and to gauge views toward government-mandated vaccinations.
METHODS
An 11-item questionnaire queried Cameroonians in-person and online, from March through May 2021, about their demographics and whether they believed that COVID-19 was man-made, whether COVID-19 vaccinations should be governmentally mandated, and whether they would receive a COVID-19 vaccine, if available. A free-text option inviting rationales for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was included. In-person participation took place on the grounds of St. Louis University in Douala, Cameroon, and was restricted to participants lacking Internet access or electronic mobile devices. Online participation included use of an electronic link that contained questionnaire content located within Google Forms.
RESULTS
A total of 591 respondents participated by replying to at least 8 items on the questionnaire, 386 online and 205 in-person. Over 80% stated that they previously received a seasonal influenza vaccine. Roughly, 87% reported unwillingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, if available. Approximately 95% of respondents disagreed with governmental mandates on COVID-19 vaccinations. About 75% attributed COVID-19 to man-made as opposed to natural beginnings. Seven respondents' free-text comments cited lacking confidence in a COVID-19 vaccine, discriminatory COVID-19 vaccine distribution patterns in other parts of the world relative to Africa, and improper COVID-19 vaccine approval timeline.
CONCLUSION
Raising awareness of COVID-19 misconceptions and barriers to vaccine acceptance is integral to accomplishing immunization goals. Cameroonians' pessimism in this study toward COVID-19 vaccination was multifaceted. Our findings signal a need for additional research that requests more qualitative insights, for example, interviews, focus groups, into vaccine aversion.
Topics: Humans; COVID-19; COVID-19 Vaccines; Cameroon; Vaccination Hesitancy; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Vaccination; Influenza Vaccines
PubMed: 35970727
DOI: 10.1016/j.japh.2022.07.002 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jun 2022Prior research has found the differential strength of optimism and pessimism in predicting physical health. However, whether similar findings would be obtained in...
Prior research has found the differential strength of optimism and pessimism in predicting physical health. However, whether similar findings would be obtained in predicting subjective well-being and the possible underlying mechanisms are still unclear. This study examined the relative strength of optimism and pessimism in predicting adolescent life satisfaction and depression, and further explored the possible mediating mechanisms from the perspective of emotion regulation. A sample of 2672 adolescents ( = 13.54 years, = 1.04; 55.60% boys) completed a survey assessing optimism and pessimism, the habitual use of reappraisal and acceptance strategies, life satisfaction, and depression. The results from dominance analysis revealed that the presence of optimism was more powerful than the absence of pessimism in predicting adolescent life satisfaction, while the absence of pessimism was more powerful than the presence of optimism in predicting adolescent depression. Moreover, mediation models showed that reappraisal and acceptance mediated both the link between optimism and life satisfaction and the link between pessimism and depression. These findings suggest possible avenues for intervening in different aspects of adolescent subjective well-being.
Topics: Adolescent; Female; Humans; Male; Optimism; Pessimism; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 35742324
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19127067 -
Health Psychology : Official Journal of... Sep 2022To test whether 2 conceptually overlapping constructs, dispositional optimism (generalized positive expectations) and optimistic bias (inaccurately low risk...
OBJECTIVE
To test whether 2 conceptually overlapping constructs, dispositional optimism (generalized positive expectations) and optimistic bias (inaccurately low risk perceptions), may have different implications for smoking treatment engagement.
METHOD
Predominantly Black, low-income Southern Community Cohort study smokers (n = 880) self-reported dispositional optimism and pessimism (Life Orientation Test-Revised subscales: 0 = neutral, 12 = high optimism/pessimism), comparative lung cancer risk (Low/Average/High), and information to calculate objective lung cancer risk (Low/Med/High). Perceived risk was categorized as accurate (perceived = objective), optimistically-biased (perceived < objective), or pessimistically-biased (perceived > objective). One-way ANOVAs tested associations between dispositional optimism/pessimism and perceived risk accuracy. Multivariable logistic regressions tested independent associations of optimism/pessimism and perceived risk accuracy with cessation motivation (Low/High), confidence (Low/High), and precision treatment attitudes (Favorable/Unfavorable), controlling for sociodemographics and nicotine dependence.
RESULTS
Mean dispositional optimism/pessimism scores were 8.41 ( = 2.59) and 5.65 ( = 3.02), respectively. Perceived lung cancer risk was 38% accurate, 27% optimistically-biased, and 35% pessimistically-biased. Accuracy was unrelated to dispositional optimism ((2, 641) = 1.23, = .29), though optimistically-biased (vs. pessimistically-biased) smokers had higher dispositional pessimism ((2, 628) = 3.17, = .043). Dispositional optimism was associated with higher confidence (Adjusted odds ratio [A] = 1.71, 95% CI [1.42, 2.06], < .001) and favorable precision treatment attitudes (A = 1.66, 95% CI [1.37, 2.01], < .001). Optimistically-biased (vs. accurate) risk perception was associated with lower motivation (A = .64, 95% CI [.42, .98], = .041) and less favorable precision treatment attitudes (A = .59, 95% CI [.38, .94], = .029).
CONCLUSIONS
Dispositional optimism and lung cancer risk perception accuracy were unrelated. Dispositional optimism was associated with favorable engagement-related outcomes and optimistically-biased risk perception with unfavorable outcomes, reinforcing the distinctiveness of these constructs and their implications for smoking treatment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Cohort Studies; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Motivation; Optimism; Personality
PubMed: 35901400
DOI: 10.1037/hea0001184 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023Positive and negative changes in outlook represent psychological changes that are the results of the cognitive processing of stressful and traumatic events by an...
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Positive and negative changes in outlook represent psychological changes that are the results of the cognitive processing of stressful and traumatic events by an individual. The objectives of the study were (1) to determine the level of occurrence and types of positive and negative changes in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic among adults in Slovakia and (2) to study the role of personality factors such as hope (dispositional and perceived) and life orientation (optimism and pessimism) in the prediction of positive and negative changes in adults during the fourth pandemic wave.
METHODS
A Short Form of the Changes in Outlook Questionnaire (CiOQ-S), the Dispositional Hope Scale (DHS), the Perceived Hope Scale (PHS), and the Life Orientation Test (LOT-R) were administered. The research sample consisted of 102 participants, whose ages ranged from 20 to 65 years ( = 38.90, = 14.28). The research design was quantitative, exploratory, and confirmatory.
RESULTS
In total, 95% of participants reported positive changes related to COVID-19. Concurrently, up to 70% of these participants also reported negative changes from the impact of the pandemic. Only 25% of participants reported positive changes without noticing any negative perception of the consequences of the pandemic. Overall, 68% of participants reported negative changes related to COVID-19. Only 29% of participants reported negative changes without noticing any positive perception of the consequences of the pandemic. In total, up to 86% of participants agreed with experienced psychological changes (positive or negative) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The high prevalence of positive changes along with the relatively high prevalence of negative changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic outline the question of whether reported positive changes represent real or illusory growth. Optimism and pessimism were found to be significant independent predictors of positive changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hope was identified as a significant independent predictor of negative changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
PubMed: 37575434
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1151027 -
Indian Journal of Nephrology 2023Shortage of organ donors is the most important obstacle standing in the way of lifesaving organ transplantation in a myriad of patients suffering from end-stage organ... (Review)
Review
Shortage of organ donors is the most important obstacle standing in the way of lifesaving organ transplantation in a myriad of patients suffering from end-stage organ failure. It is vital that the transplant societies and associated appropriate authorities develop strategies to overcome the unmet needs for organ donation. The power of prominent social media (SoMe) platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which reach millions of people, can increase awareness, provide education, and may ameliorate the pessimism toward organ donation among the general population. Additionally, public solicitation of organs may be helpful for waitlisted candidates for organ transplantation, who cannot find a suitable donor among near relations. However, the use of SoMe for organ donation has several ethical issues. This review attempts to highlight the advantages and limitations of using social media in the context of organ donation for transplantation. Some suggestions on the best utilization of social media platforms for organ donation while balancing ethical considerations have been highlighted here.
PubMed: 37197042
DOI: 10.4103/ijn.ijn_158_22 -
Philosophical Studies 2023The Liar sentence , which reads ' is not true', can be used to produce an apparently valid argument proving that is not true and that is true. There has been...
The Liar sentence , which reads ' is not true', can be used to produce an apparently valid argument proving that is not true and that is true. There has been increasing recognition of the appeal of contextualist solutions to the Liar paradox. Contextualist accounts hold that some step in the reasoning induces a context shift that causes the apparently contradictory claims to occur at different contexts. Attempts at identifying the most promising contextualist account often rely on , which seek to isolate a step at which the context cannot be claimed to have shifted or must have shifted. The literature contains a number of timing arguments that draw incompatible conclusions about the location of the context shift. I argue that no existing timing arguments succeed. An alternative strategy for assessing contextualist accounts evaluates the plausibility of their explanations of why the context shifts. However, even this strategy yields no clear verdict about which contextualist account is the most promising. I conclude that there are some grounds for optimism and for pessimism about the potential to adequately motivate contextualism.
PubMed: 37323614
DOI: 10.1007/s11098-022-01841-2 -
International Journal of Environmental... Feb 2023Optimism is a disposition characterised by positive future expectancies, while pessimism is characterised by expecting the worst. High optimism and low pessimism promote...
BACKGROUND
Optimism is a disposition characterised by positive future expectancies, while pessimism is characterised by expecting the worst. High optimism and low pessimism promote the health of older adults and may potentiate full engagement in life. We identified socioeconomic, behavioural, and social factors associated with optimism and pessimism in older adults.
METHODS
Participants included 10,146 community-dwelling, apparently healthy Australian adults aged 70 years and over from the ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons (ALSOP). Optimism and pessimism were measured using the revised Life Orientation Test. Cross-sectional ordinal logistic regression was used to determine the socioeconomic, behavioural, and social health factors associated with optimism and pessimism.
RESULTS
Higher education, greater physical activity, lower loneliness, and volunteering were associated with higher optimism and lower pessimism. Low social support was associated with higher pessimism. Higher socioeconomic advantage, greater income, and living alone were associated with lower pessimism. Women were more optimistic and less pessimistic than men. The association of age, smoking status, and alcohol consumption with optimism and pessimism differed for men and women.
CONCLUSIONS
Factors associated with higher optimism and lower pessimism were also those demonstrated to support healthy ageing. Health-promotion action at the individual level (e.g., smoking cessation or regular physical activity), health professional level (e.g., social prescribing or improving access and quality of care for all older adults), and community level (e.g., opportunities for volunteer work or low-cost social activities for older adults) may improve optimism and reduce pessimism, possibly also promoting healthy ageing.
Topics: Male; Humans; Female; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cross-Sectional Studies; Pessimism; Longitudinal Studies; Australia; Optimism; Risk Factors; Socioeconomic Factors
PubMed: 36833951
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20043259