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Annals of Behavioral Medicine : a... Jun 2024Previous research on COVID-19 vaccination highlights future thoughts associated with possible Coronavirus infection and vaccine side effects as key predictors of vaccine...
BACKGROUND
Previous research on COVID-19 vaccination highlights future thoughts associated with possible Coronavirus infection and vaccine side effects as key predictors of vaccine hesitancy. Yet, research has focused on independent contributions of such future thoughts, neglecting their interactive aspects.
PURPOSE
We examined whether thoughts about two possible COVID-related futures (suffering from COVID-19 and vaccine side effects) interactively predict vaccine hesitancy and vaccination behavior among unvaccinated and vaccinated people. Importantly, we compared two forms of future thinking: beliefs or expectations (likelihood judgments) versus fantasies (free thoughts and images describing future events).
METHODS
In Study 1, we conducted a longitudinal study with an unvaccinated group (N = 210). We assessed expectations versus fantasies about the two COVID-related futures as predictors. As outcome variables, we measured vaccine hesitancy, and 9 weeks later we assessed information seeking and vaccine uptake. Study 2 was a cross-sectional study comparing vaccine hesitancy of an unvaccinated group (N = 307) to that of a vaccinated group (N = 311).
RESULTS
Study 1 found that more negative fantasies about COVID-19 impact and less negative fantasies about vaccine side effects interactively predicted lower vaccine hesitancy and more vaccine-related behaviors among unvaccinated people; no such interaction was observed between respective expectations. Study 2 replicated these results of Study 1. Additionally, for vaccinated people, low expectations of negative COVID-19 impact and high expectations of negative vaccine impact interactively predicted higher vaccine hesitancy, whereas no such interaction was observed for respective fantasies.
CONCLUSIONS
Research on vaccine hesitancy should explore interactions between future thinking about disease and about vaccine side effects. Importantly, there is much to be gained by distinguishing expectations versus fantasies: vaccination interventions aiming to boost vaccine uptake among unvaccinated people should tap into their negative future fantasies regarding both disease and vaccine side effects.
PubMed: 38944699
DOI: 10.1093/abm/kaae034 -
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology... Jun 2024Medical treatment of acromegaly is currently performed through a trial-error approach using first generation somatostatin receptor ligands (fgSRLs) as first-line drugs,...
UNLABELLED
Medical treatment of acromegaly is currently performed through a trial-error approach using first generation somatostatin receptor ligands (fgSRLs) as first-line drugs, with an effectiveness of about 50%, and subsequent drugs are indicated through clinical judgment. Some biomarkers can predict fgSRLs response. Here we report the results of the ACROFAST study, a clinical trial in which a protocol based on predictive biomarkers of fgSRLs was evaluated.
METHODS AND SUBJECTS
prospective trial (21 university hospitals) comparing the effectiveness and time-to control of two treatment protocols during 12 months: A) A personalized protocol in which first option were fgSRLs as monotherapy or in combination with pegvisomant or, pegvisomant as monotherapy depending on the short Acute Octreotide Test (sAOT) results, tumor T2 Magnetic Resonance (MRI) signal or immunostaining for E-cadherin and, B) A control group with treatment always started by fgSRLs and the other drugs included after demonstrating inadequate control.
RESULTS
Eighty-five patients participated; 45 in the personalized and 40 in the control group. More patients in the personalized protocol achieved hormonal control compared to those in the control group (78% vs 53%, p < 0.05). Survival analysis revealed a hazard ratio for achieving hormonal control adjusted by age and sex of 2.53 (CI 1.30-4.80). Patients from personalized arm were controlled in a shorter period of time (p = 0.01).
CONCLUSION
Personalized medicine is feasible using a relatively simple protocol and allows a higher number of patients achieving control in a shorter period of time.
PubMed: 38943661
DOI: 10.1210/clinem/dgae444 -
International Journal of Behavioral... Jun 2024Adolescents account for 15% of new HIV cases in Kenya. HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) are highly effective prevention tools, but...
BACKGROUND
Adolescents account for 15% of new HIV cases in Kenya. HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) are highly effective prevention tools, but uptake is low among adolescents, particularly in resource-limited settings. We assessed awareness and acceptability of PrEP and PEP among Kenyan adolescents.
METHOD
Focus group discussions were conducted with 120 adolescent boys and girls ages 15 to 19 in Kisumu. Data were analyzed using the Framework Approach.
RESULTS
Adolescent participants often had not heard of or could not differentiate between PrEP and PEP. They also confused these HIV prevention tools with emergency contraceptives. Taking a daily pill to prevent HIV was perceived as analogous to taking a pill to treat HIV. Boys were aware of and willing to consider using PrEP and PEP due to their dislike for using condoms. Adolescents identified insufficient information, cost, and uncomfortableness speaking with healthcare workers about their HIV prevention needs due to sexuality stigma as barriers to using PrEP and PEP.
CONCLUSION
Low awareness and poor understanding of PrEP and PEP among adolescents reveal the need for increased education and sensitization about these HIV prevention options. Expanding access to sexual and reproductive health services that are tailored to the needs of adolescents and staffed with non-judgmental providers could help reduce sexuality stigma as a barrier to accessing care. New HIV prevention approaches such as long-acting injectables or implants, on-demand regimens, and multipurpose prevention technologies may encourage increased uptake of PrEP and PEP by adolescents.
PubMed: 38942977
DOI: 10.1007/s12529-024-10290-6 -
NeuroImage Jun 2024Under resource distribution context, individuals have a strong aversion to unfair treatment not only toward themselves but also toward others. However, there is no clear... (Review)
Review
Under resource distribution context, individuals have a strong aversion to unfair treatment not only toward themselves but also toward others. However, there is no clear consensus regarding the commonality and distinction between these two types of unfairness. Moreover, many neuroimaging studies have investigated how people evaluate and respond to unfairness in the abovementioned two contexts, but the consistency of the results remains to be investigated. To resolve these two issues, we sought to summarize existing findings regarding unfairness to self and others and to further elucidate the neural underpinnings related to distinguishing evaluation and response processes through meta-analyses of previous neuroimaging studies. Our results indicated that both types of unfairness consistently activate the affective and conflict-related anterior insula (AI) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/supplementary motor area (dACC/SMA), but the activations related to unfairness to self appeared stronger than those related to others, suggesting that individuals had negative reactions to both unfairness and a greater aversive response toward unfairness to self. During the evaluation process, unfairness to self activated the bilateral AI, dACC, and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), regions associated with unfairness aversion, conflict, and cognitive control, indicating reactive, emotional and automatic responses. In contrast, unfairness to others activated areas associated with theory of mind, the inferior parietal lobule and temporoparietal junction (IPL-TPJ), suggesting that making rational judgments from the perspective of others was needed. During the response, unfairness to self activated the affective-related left AI and striatum, whereas unfairness to others activated cognitive control areas, the left DLPFC and the thalamus. This indicated that the former maintained the traits of automaticity and emotionality, whereas the latter necessitated cognitive control. These findings provide a fine-grained description of the common and distinct neurocognitive mechanisms underlying unfairness to self and unfairness to others. Overall, this study not only validates the inequity aversion model but also provides direct evidence of neural mechanisms for neurobiological models of fairness.
PubMed: 38942102
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120707 -
Cognition Jun 2024People relish thinking about coincidences-we puzzle over their meanings and delight in conveying our experiences of them to others. But whereas some research has begun...
People relish thinking about coincidences-we puzzle over their meanings and delight in conveying our experiences of them to others. But whereas some research has begun to explore how coincidences are represented by adults, little is known about the early development of these representations. Here we explored factors influencing coincidence representations in both adults and children. Across two experiments, participants read stories describing co-occurring events and then judged whether these constituted coincidences. In Experiment 1 we found that adults' coincidence judgments were highly sensitive to the presence or absence of plausible explanations: as expected, adults were more likely to judge co-occurrences as a coincidence when no explanation was available. Importantly, their coincidence judgments were also modulated by the number of events that co-occurred. Adults tended to reject scenarios involving too many co-occurring events as coincidences regardless of whether an explanation was present, suggesting that observing suspiciously many co-occurrences triggered them to infer their own underlying explanation (and thus blocking the events' interpretation as a coincidence). In Experiment 2 we found that 4- to 10-year-old children also represent coincidences, and identify them via the absence of plausible explanations. Older children, like adults, rejected suspiciously large numbers of co-occurring events as coincidental, whereas younger children did not exhibit this sensitivity. Overall, these results suggest that representation of coincidence is available from early in life, but undergoes developmental change during the early school-age years.
PubMed: 38941764
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105854 -
Cognition Jun 2024Why were women given the right to vote? "Because it is morally wrong to deny women the right to vote." This explanation does not seem to fit the typical pattern for...
Why were women given the right to vote? "Because it is morally wrong to deny women the right to vote." This explanation does not seem to fit the typical pattern for explaining an event: rather than citing a cause, it appeals to an ethical claim. Do people judge ethical claims to be genuinely explanatory? And if so, why? In Studies 1 (N = 220) and 2 (N = 293), we find that many participants accept ethical explanations for social change and that this is predicted by their meta-ethical beliefs in moral progress and moral principles, suggesting that these participants treat morality as a directional feature of the world, somewhat akin to a causal force. In Studies 3 (N = 513) and 4 (N = 328), we find that participants recognize this relationship between ethical explanations and meta-ethical commitments, using the former to make inferences about individuals' beliefs in moral progress and moral principles. Together these studies demonstrate that our beliefs about the nature of morality shape our judgments of explanations and that explanations shape our inferences about others' moral commitments.
PubMed: 38941763
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105860 -
Journal of Speech, Language, and... Jun 2024This study aims at investigating the phonological development of the six guttural consonants of Jordanian Arabic, /χ/, /ʁ/, /ħ/, /ʕ/, /ʔ/, and /h/.
PURPOSE
This study aims at investigating the phonological development of the six guttural consonants of Jordanian Arabic, /χ/, /ʁ/, /ħ/, /ʕ/, /ʔ/, and /h/.
METHOD
An articulation test is designed to involve two tasks: picture naming and repetition. The test includes 54 words for picture naming and 18 words for repetition, representing all possible positions of the targeted guttural sounds. Samples are collected from 40 typically developing Ammani-Jordanian Arabic-speaking monolingual children, living in Amman, Jordan. Respondents are equally divided into eight age-related trajectories: 2-2;6, 2;6-3, 3-3;6, 3;6-4, 4-4;6, 4;6-5, 5-5;6, and 5;6-6 (years;months). No child with a history of hearing, speech, or vision disorders is included. The data are analyzed using , where the three developmental trajectories of production (customary, acquisition, and mastery) are determined for each guttural, and , addressed based on perceptual judgments, providing details of every mispronounced or deleted guttural.
RESULTS
The results show that /χ/, /ħ/, /ʕ/, and /ʔ/ are acquired before the age of 6 years, while /ʁ/ and /h/ are still not acquired by this age. Respondents use relatively variant alternatives for the mispronounced cognates, including guttural, nonguttural sounds, and vowel substitution. The /ʁ/ is the guttural with the highest number of alternatives, while /ʔ/ gets the least. The analysis also reveals patterns of guttural deletion, with variations across different guttural sounds and positions. Despite errors/deviations made, respondents score accuracy percentages that gradually increase in correlation with age. The guttural /ʁ/ starts with the lowest accuracy percentages, while /ʔ/ and /ħ/ start with the highest.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings illuminate on the developmental trajectory of guttural acquisition and enrich our understanding of children's evolving perception and production abilities. They offer valuable insights into the patterns of guttural sound production in Jordanian Arabic-speaking children, laying the groundwork for further research and the development of targeted assessment and intervention strategies to support phonological development in this population.
PubMed: 38941556
DOI: 10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00085 -
Bioinformatics (Oxford, England) Jun 2024Recent proprietary large language models (LLMs), such as GPT-4, have achieved a milestone in tackling diverse challenges in the biomedical domain, ranging from...
SUMMARY
Recent proprietary large language models (LLMs), such as GPT-4, have achieved a milestone in tackling diverse challenges in the biomedical domain, ranging from multiple-choice questions to long-form generations. To address challenges that still cannot be handled with the encoded knowledge of LLMs, various retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) methods have been developed by searching documents from the knowledge corpus and appending them unconditionally or selectively to the input of LLMs for generation. However, when applying existing methods to different domain-specific problems, poor generalization becomes apparent, leading to fetching incorrect documents or making inaccurate judgments. In this paper, we introduce Self-BioRAG, a framework reliable for biomedical text that specializes in generating explanations, retrieving domain-specific documents, and self-reflecting generated responses. We utilize 84k filtered biomedical instruction sets to train Self-BioRAG that can assess its generated explanations with customized reflective tokens. Our work proves that domain-specific components, such as a retriever, domain-related document corpus, and instruction sets are necessary for adhering to domain-related instructions. Using three major medical question-answering benchmark datasets, experimental results of Self-BioRAG demonstrate significant performance gains by achieving a 7.2% absolute improvement on average over the state-of-the-art open-foundation model with a parameter size of 7B or less. Similarly, Self-BioRAG outperforms RAG by 8% Rouge-1 score in generating more proficient answers on two long-form question-answering benchmarks on average. Overall, we analyze that Self-BioRAG finds the clues in the question, retrieves relevant documents if needed, and understands how to answer with information from retrieved documents and encoded knowledge as a medical expert does. We release our data and code for training our framework components and model weights (7B and 13B) to enhance capabilities in biomedical and clinical domains.
AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION
Self-BioRAG is available at https://github.com/dmis-lab/self-biorag.
Topics: Humans; Information Storage and Retrieval; Natural Language Processing
PubMed: 38940167
DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btae238 -
Archives of Pediatrics (Lisle, IL) 2024High stress in parents may affect parenting and subsequent child socioemotional and behavioral development. Previous evidence suggests that highly stressed parents are...
High stress in parents may affect parenting and subsequent child socioemotional and behavioral development. Previous evidence suggests that highly stressed parents are more likely to engage in negative parenting, which is less structured and more punitive. However, the effects of life stress versus parent specific stress on parent-child interactions in early childhood has not been well studied, especially in minority and low-income samples. Thus, the current study assessed the relationship between perceived life stress, parenting-related stress, and observed parenting responses to young children during a structured, mildly challenging parent-child task. Predominantly minority and low-income parents and their children (2-5 years old; 54 dyads) completed the Perceived Stress Scale, the Parenting Stress Inventory, and participated in a structured 5-minute interaction task, the Toy-Wait Task (TWT), that was video-taped and coded by blind raters. The coding utilized a standardized system with good reliability assessing 1) Affect (parent and child positive and negative affect, shared positive affect), 2) Positive Parenting Behaviors (warmth, structured good involvement, listening/engagement), and 3) Negative Parenting Behaviors (reactivity, judgment, critical parenting). Significant associations were found between perceived life stress and parenting stress, (r (54) = 0.61, p<.01). Parents with higher perceived life stress scores showed more negative affect (r=0.291, p<.05) and lower involvement with the child (r=-0.367, p<.05), while parenting specific stress did not yield significant effects (p's > 0.05). Findings suggest that interventions that reduce stress in minority and low-income parents of young children may also improve parenting of young children with potential impact on decreasing child psychopathology risk.
PubMed: 38939555
DOI: 10.29011/2575-825x.100308 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2024Children autonomously make sound moral judgments based on internal criteria, but they tend to make erroneous judgments in the presence of social influences, and the...
Children autonomously make sound moral judgments based on internal criteria, but they tend to make erroneous judgments in the presence of social influences, and the reasons for these errors are not well understood. Thus, the current research investigated how the presence of observers who can see and listen to 3-year-old children's judgments but who do not present their opinions influences children's conformity in moral judgment behavior. In Experiment 1, the children ( = 30) were presented with pictures depicting prosocial behaviors and asked whether the behaviors were acceptable. The children's tendency to change their answers after hearing the counterintuitive opinions of informants was then measured. The results showed that the children's moral judgments were more likely to conform to that of the group in the presence of observers. Experiment 2 aimed to determine the reason children were more likely to conform to a group when being watched by observers in Experiment 1. Children ( = 30) were randomly assigned to two conditions with different observer conditions as follows. Observers were either wearing headsets, indicating that they could not hear the children's responses, or had them hanging around their necks, indicating that they could. The results showed that children's conformity behavior depended on whether observers could hear what they were saying. The current findings are expected to help elucidate not only social factors that affect children's moral judgments but also the developmental mechanism of an observer effect.
PubMed: 38939221
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1289292