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PNAS Nexus Apr 2024Past theories have linked science denial to religiosity but have not explained its geographic variability. We hypothesize that it springs not only from religious...
Past theories have linked science denial to religiosity but have not explained its geographic variability. We hypothesize that it springs not only from religious intensity but also from religious intolerance, which depends greatly on the experience of religious diversity and hence on geography. The belief that one's religion trumps other faiths precipitates the stance that it trumps science too. This psychological process is most likely to operate in regions or countries with low religious heterogeneity. We measure the rejection of science not only in people's refusal to follow specific health recommendations, such as taking COVID-19 vaccines, but also in general measures of scientific engagement and attainment. We rule out alternative explanations, including reverse causality and spurious correlations, by conducting controlled experiments and running robustness checks on our statistical models.
PubMed: 38689708
DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae144 -
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2024The escalating global prevalence of burnout among healthcare professionals poses a serious health concern. Recent studies focus on prevalence and predictors of burnout...
BACKGROUND
The escalating global prevalence of burnout among healthcare professionals poses a serious health concern. Recent studies focus on prevalence and predictors of burnout among healthcare providers, emphasizing the need for well-being interventions. This study investigates burnout and coping mechanisms among healthcare professionals in central Uganda, addressing the dearth of knowledge about coping strategies specific to the region.
METHODS
An analytical facility cross-sectional study was conducted in five healthcare facilities in central Uganda between June to July 2023. Participants included physicians, nurses, and technicians actively engaged in direct patient care. Data were collected using socio-demographic surveys, the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL-5), and the Brief-COPE tools.
RESULTS
The study revealed a high prevalence of burnout, with 39.8% of participants experiencing significant levels. Active coping, positive reframing, and denial were negatively correlated with low burnout levels. Dysfunctional coping, specifically self-distraction and denial, showed positive correlations with average and high burnout levels. Emotion-focused coping mechanisms were not employed across burnout levels.
CONCLUSIONS
The results emphasize the demanding nature of healthcare roles in the region and highlight the need for comprehensive, context-specific interventions to address burnout globally. While some healthcare professionals utilized adaptive strategies such as seeking social support, engaging in self-care activities, and utilizing problem-solving skills, others resorted to maladaptive coping mechanisms such as substance use and avoidance behaviors. This dichotomy highlights the need for targeted interventions to promote adaptive coping strategies and mitigate the negative impact of maladaptive behaviors on individual well-being and patient care.
PubMed: 38686129
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1373743 -
Heliyon Apr 2024Recent years have witnessed security as a great concern in vehicular networks (VANET). Particularly, Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)...
Recent years have witnessed security as a great concern in vehicular networks (VANET). Particularly, Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks can jeopardize the network by broadcasting a storm of packets. Correspondingly, the network resources are jammed with malicious traffic. In this connection, the existing research presented various techniques to cope with DoS and DDoS attacks. Different from those traditional approaches, this study proposes an Intelligent Intrusion Detection System (IDS) by leveraging Machine Learning (ML). The proposed IDS utilizes a publicly available dataset on the application layer for mitigating DDoS attacks. The designed ML-based IDS relies on combining both the Random Projection (RP) and Randomized Matrix Factorization (RMF) methods to achieve the best results for enhancing the detection capabilities of the IDS. This amalgamation enhances the system's detection capabilities by extracting and analyzing meaningful features from network traffic data. Experimental validation of our approach involves a comprehensive evaluation of various ML models, including Extra Tree Classifier (ETC), Logistic Regression (LR), and Random Forest (RF). Remarkably, the combined accuracy of these models yields an average system accuracy of 0.98, surpassing existing methods. Unlike conventional approaches, our proposed IDS excels in efficiency and exhibits notable performance in detecting DoS and DDoS attacks in VANET. This proficiency ensures the integrity and safety of vehicle communications. Thus, our research substantially contributes to the vehicular network security field. The presented findings establish a foundation for future advancements in securing connected vehicles.
PubMed: 38681562
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28844 -
Journal of Clinical Medicine Apr 2024: The implications of delaying surgical intervention for patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) wishing to undergo vertebral body tethering (VBT) have not...
: The implications of delaying surgical intervention for patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) wishing to undergo vertebral body tethering (VBT) have not yet been explored. It is important to understand how these delays can impact surgical planning and patient outcomes. : This was a retrospective review that analyzed all AIS patients treated between 2015 and 2021 at a single tertiary center. Time to surgery from initial surgical consultation and ultimate surgical plan were assessed. Patient characteristics, potential risk factors associated with increased curve progression, and reasons for delay were also analyzed. : 174 patients were evaluated and 95 were scheduled for VBT. Four patients later required a change to posterior spinal fusion (PSF) due to excessive curve progression. Patients requiring PSF were shown to have significantly longer delays than those who received VBT. Additionally, longer delays, younger age, greater curve progression, and lower skeletal maturity were correlated with significant curve progression (≥5 degrees). : Surgical delays for AIS patients awaiting VBT may lead to significant curve progression and necessitate more invasive procedures. Patients with longer delays experienced an increased risk of needing PSF instead of VBT. Of those requiring PSF, the majority were due to insurance denials. Optimizing surgical timing and shared decision-making among patients, families, and healthcare providers are essential for achieving the best outcomes.
PubMed: 38673483
DOI: 10.3390/jcm13082209 -
International Journal of Environmental... Apr 2024Within the field of research on the promotion of teachers' social and emotional competence, the present paper illustrates preliminary evidence of the efficacy of a new...
Promoting Teachers' Social and Emotional Competence in Light of the Close Connection between Professional Role and Personal Characteristics: Preliminary Evidence of the Efficacy of the "ME4YOU" Training Program.
Within the field of research on the promotion of teachers' social and emotional competence, the present paper illustrates preliminary evidence of the efficacy of a new training program named "ME4YOU" aimed at supporting teachers' self-reflexive competences to deal with the emotional and relational dimensions of teaching, with constant and continuous attention towards underlining the close connection between the way teachers perform as professionals at work and the way they function as individuals in their personal life. A total of 109 teachers from kindergarten to primary school took part in the experimental group, while 67 teachers constituted the control group; the two groups were compared using a pre-test/post-test approach with regard to some self-reported variables related to professional and personal aspects. Teachers in the experimental group exhibited increased levels of professional self-efficacy and self-efficacy as emotional socializers toward students' emotions; moreover-although with a more limited impact-they reported benefits with regard to their personal life (i.e., reduced denial of own emotions and improved authenticity). The findings are discussed highlighting that health promotion among teachers is both of value in itself and an investment that can generate health in the whole school system.
Topics: Humans; School Teachers; Female; Male; Emotions; Adult; Professional Role; Self Efficacy; Middle Aged; Social Skills; Professional Competence; Health Promotion
PubMed: 38673422
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph21040511 -
Cureus Apr 2024Family caregivers provide essential support to their loved ones with schizophrenia with profound outcomes for themselves. The caregiver burden fails to consider the...
BACKGROUND
Family caregivers provide essential support to their loved ones with schizophrenia with profound outcomes for themselves. The caregiver burden fails to consider the entire caregiving experience, which also incorporates positive aspects of caring. Many potentially significant variables are associated with this.
AIM
To examine the correlates of the experience of caregiving in caregivers of patients with schizophrenia. The specific objectives were to examine the socio-demographic variables of the patients and caregivers, clinical variables of the patient, caregivers' knowledge of illness, caregivers' perspectives of family functioning, caregiver coping, their social support, psychological distress, quality of life, and their spirituality, religiosity and personal beliefs and the associations of these variables with the caregivers' experience of caregiving.
METHODS
This cross-sectional observational study was conducted between August 2018 and January 2021 at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. One hundred and fifty-eight dyads of patients with schizophrenia and their family caregivers were recruited using purposive sampling. Experience of Caregiving Inventory was used to evaluate the caregiving experience. The caregivers were also assessed on socio-demographics, knowledge of illness, family functioning, coping, social support, general mental health, quality of life, and spiritual, religious, and personal beliefs. Patient socio-demographics and clinical variables were also assessed.
RESULTS
A negative experience of caregiving was reported by caregivers of patients who had higher positive or negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Impaired Communication, Roles, Affective Responsiveness, Affective Involvement, and General Functioning aspects of family functioning were associated with a negative experience of caregiving. Denial/blame and seeking social support as coping were also associated with a negative experience of caregiving. A negative experience of caregiving was significantly positively correlated with greater psychological distress and poorer quality of life. Greater inner peace was associated with a less negative experience of caregiving. Spiritual strength was associated with a more positive experience of caregiving. Knowledge of mental illness and caregiver social support were not significantly associated with the experience of caregiving.
CONCLUSION
Experience of caregiving is a relevant construct, the understanding of which can help inform caregiver-directed interventions in the future. Specifically, family-based interventions, which include ameliorating patient symptomatology, improving the family environment, strengthening caregivers' coping strategies, attending to caregiver distress, and encouraging spirituality among caregivers, may lead to a less negative and more positive experience of caregiving; and a better quality of life for caregivers.
PubMed: 38638176
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.58531 -
Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law : An... 2024In many Western jurisdictions, criminal suspects undergoing police interrogations have the right to remain silent. In this experiment, we examined the effects of...
In many Western jurisdictions, criminal suspects undergoing police interrogations have the right to remain silent. In this experiment, we examined the effects of remaining silent during police questioning on laypersons' perceptions of a suspect. Participants ( = 126) read one of three mock-interview transcripts (i.e. admission, denial or silence) and indicated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed that a male suspect in a missing person case was guilty, cooperative, trustworthy and rational. Participants expressed stronger agreement that the suspect was guilty when he admitted guilt than when he denied involvement or remained silent. When the suspect remained silent, participants viewed the suspect as less cooperative than when the suspect denied or admitted guilt and as less rational than when the suspect denied committing the crime. Our findings provide some support for the notion that remaining silent during police questioning may be viewed unfavourably by external observers.
PubMed: 38628249
DOI: 10.1080/13218719.2023.2175074 -
Journal of the International AIDS... Apr 2024We sought to characterize social and structural drivers of HIV vulnerability for transgender women (TGW) in Zimbabwe, where TGW are not legally recognized, and explore...
Social and structural drivers of HIV vulnerability among a respondent-driven sample of feminine and non-feminine presenting transgender women who have sex with men in Zimbabwe.
INTRODUCTION
We sought to characterize social and structural drivers of HIV vulnerability for transgender women (TGW) in Zimbabwe, where TGW are not legally recognized, and explore differences in vulnerability by feminine presentation.
METHODS
A secondary analysis was conducted with a sub-sample of participants recruited from a 2019 respondent-driven sampling survey that comprised men who have sex with men, TGW and genderqueer individuals assigned male sex at birth, from two cities in Zimbabwe. Survey questionnaires captured information related to socio-demographics, sexual and substance use behaviours, and social and structural barriers to HIV services. Secondary analyses were restricted to participants who identified as female, transfemale or transwomen (236/1538) and were unweighted. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate sample estimates and chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to assess differences in vulnerability by feminine presentation.
RESULTS
Among 236 TGW, almost half (45.3%) presented as feminine in the 6 months preceding the survey and 8.5% had ever used hormones to affirm their gender identities. Median age among TGW was 23 years (interquartile range: 20-26). Feminine presenting TGW in our sample had higher prevalence of arrest (15.9% vs. 3.9%), rejection by family/friends (38.3% vs. 14.0%), employment termination (11.2% vs. 3.9%), employment refusal (14.0% vs. 3.9%), denial of healthcare (16.8% vs. 2.3%), physical, sexual or verbal harassment or abuse (59.8% vs. 34.1%), alcohol dependence (32.7% vs. 12.4%), recent transactional sex with a male or TGW partner (30.8% vs. 13.3%) and recent non-injection drug use (38.3% vs. 20.2%) than non-feminine presenting TGW (all p-value <0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
Findings suggest that TGW, particularly feminine presenting TGW, experience social and structural inequities which may contribute to HIV vulnerability. Interventions aimed at addressing inequities, including trans competency training for providers and gender-affirming, psychosocial and legal support services for TGW, might mitigate risk.
Topics: Infant, Newborn; Male; Female; Humans; Young Adult; Adult; Homosexuality, Male; Transgender Persons; HIV Infections; Zimbabwe; Sexual and Gender Minorities; Sexual Behavior; Gender Identity; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 38627887
DOI: 10.1002/jia2.26231 -
Neurology. Genetics Jun 2024Exome sequencing (ES) demonstrates a 20-50 percent diagnostic yield for patients with a suspected monogenic neurologic disease. Despite the proven efficacy in achieving...
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Exome sequencing (ES) demonstrates a 20-50 percent diagnostic yield for patients with a suspected monogenic neurologic disease. Despite the proven efficacy in achieving a diagnosis for such patients, multiple barriers for obtaining exome sequencing remain. This study set out to assess the efficacy of ES in patients with primary neurologic phenotypes who were appropriate candidates for testing but had been unable to pursue clinical testing.
METHODS
A total of 297 patients were identified from the UCLA Clinical Neurogenomics Research Center Biobank, and ES was performed, including bioinformatic assessment of copy number variation and repeat expansions. Information regarding demographics, clinical indication for ES, and reason for not pursuing ES clinically were recorded. To assess diagnostic efficacy, variants were interpreted by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, bioinformaticians, and genetic counselors in accordance with the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics variant classification guidelines. We next examined the specific barriers to testing for these patients, including how frequently insurance-related barriers such as coverage denials and inadequate coverage of cost were obstacles to pursuing exome sequencing.
RESULTS
The cohort primarily consisted of patients with sporadic conditions (n = 126, 42.4%) of adult-onset (n = 239, 80.5%). Cerebellar ataxia (n = 225, 75.8%) was the most common presenting neurologic phenotype. Our study found that in this population of mostly adult patients with primary neurologic phenotypes that were unable to pursue exome sequencing clinically, 47 (15.8%) had diagnostic results while an additional 24 patients (8.1%) had uncertain results. Of the 297 patients, 206 were initially recommended for clinical exome but 88 (42.7%) could not pursue ES because of insurance barriers, of whom 14 (15.9%) had diagnostic findings, representing 29.8% of all patients with diagnostic findings. In addition, the incorporation of bioinformatic repeat expansion testing was valuable, identifying a total of 8 pathogenic repeat expansions (17.0% of all diagnostic findings) including 3 of the common spinocerebellar ataxias and 2 patients with Huntington disease.
DISCUSSION
These findings underscore the importance and value of clinical ES as a diagnostic tool for neurogenetic disease and highlight key barriers that prevent patients from receiving important clinical information with potential treatment and psychosocial implications for patients and family members.
PubMed: 38617022
DOI: 10.1212/NXG.0000000000200133 -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Apr 2024In the realm of the fifth-generation (5G) wireless cellular networks, renowned for their dense connectivity, there lies a substantial facilitation of a myriad of...
In the realm of the fifth-generation (5G) wireless cellular networks, renowned for their dense connectivity, there lies a substantial facilitation of a myriad of Internet of Things (IoT) applications, which can be supported by the massive machine-type communication (MTC) technique, a fundamental communication framework. In some scenarios, a large number of machine-type communication devices (MTCD) may simultaneously enter the communication coverage of a target base station. However, the current handover mechanism specified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 16 incurs high signaling overhead within the access and core networks, which may have negative impacts on network efficiency. Additionally, other existing solutions are vulnerable to malicious attacks such as Denial of Service (DoS), Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, and the failure of Key Forward Secrecy (KFS). To address this challenge, this paper proposes an efficient and secure handover authentication protocol for a group of MTCDs supported by blockchain technology. This protocol leverages the decentralized nature of blockchain technology and combines it with certificateless aggregate signatures to mutually authenticate the identity of a base station and a group of MTCDs. This approach can reduce signaling overhead and avoid key escrow while significantly lowering the risk associated with single points of failure. Additionally, the protocol protects device anonymity by encrypting device identities with temporary anonymous identity markers with the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) to abandon serial numbers to prevent linkage attacks. The resilience of the proposed protocol against predominant malicious attacks has been rigorously validated through the application of the BAN logic and Scyther tool, underscoring its robust security attributes. Furthermore, compared to the existing solutions, the proposed protocol significantly reduces the authentication cost for a group of MTCDs during handover, while ensuring security, demonstrating commendable efficiency.
PubMed: 38610542
DOI: 10.3390/s24072331