Age differences in facial first impressions of traits associated with trustworthiness

Older adults are more susceptible to becoming fraud victims due to increased generalised trust in others for assistance, leading to deception. Age differences in first impressions of unfamiliar faces on traits associated with trustworthiness was explored in this study. Investigating the various interpretations of trustworthiness across age has not been previously led. Using a data-driven approach, the key traits interpreted from trustworthiness were used in a trait rating task. Older adults provided higher ratings and showed an own-age bias for the traits trustworthy, honest, reliable, and loyal compared to younger adults, but not for the trait considerate. Mean trait ratings from younger adults did not differ across face age however, older faces were perceived as more reliable over younger faces across both age groups. Strong positive correlations were found across all traits. These were consistent with the single dimension found through a principal component analysis, which revealed that across all traits, trustworthiness was the most appropriate label to represent the dimension. Both age groups associated the same faces when rating the traits across both face age categories. The highest and lowest rated face averages were constructed, showing that the highest old and young averages were female and smiling across all traits. These findings highlight some age differences in facial first impressions of trustworthiness as well as the efficacy of the original trustworthiness dimension, based on social evaluations found from previous research

The hjorth's IDB generator of distributions: properties, characterizations, regression modeling and applications

We introduce a new flexible class of continuous distributions via the Hjorth’s IDB model. We provide some mathematical prop-erties of the new family. Characterizations based on two truncated moments, conditional expectation as well as in terms of thehazard function are presented. The maximum likelihood method is used for estimating the model parameters. We assess the per-formance of the maximum likelihood estimators in terms of biases and mean squared errors by means of the simulation study.A new regression model as well as residual analysis are presented. Finally, the usefulness of the family is illustrated by means offour real data sets. The new model provides consistently better fits than other competitive models for these data sets

(R1239) A New Type II Half Logistic-G family of Distributions with Properties, Regression Models, System Reliability and Applications

This study proposes a new family of distributions based on the half logistic distribution. With the new family, the baseline distributions gain flexibility through additional shape parameters. The important statistical properties of the proposed family are derived. A new generalization of the Weibull distribution is used to introduce a location-scale regression model for the censored response variable. The utility of the introduced models is demonstrated in survival analysis and estimation of the system reliability. Three data sets are analyzed. According to the empirical results, it is observed that the proposed family gives better results than other existing models

The Odd Power Lindley Generator of Probability Distributions: Properties, Characterizations and Regression Modeling

In this study, a new flexible family of distributions is proposed with its statistical properties as well as some useful characterizations. The maximum likelihood method is used to estimate the unknown model parameters by means of two simulation studies. A new regression model is proposed based on a special member of the proposed family called, the log odd power Lindley Weibull distribution. Residual analysis is conducted to evaluate the model assumptions. Four applications to real data sets are given to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed model

Metal-based nanoparticles for combating antibiotic resistance

The resistance to antibiotics in combating bacteria is a serious worldwide problem. The search for new approaches to address antibacterial resistance is therefore of crucial importance and seeking alternatives for the treatment and control of bacterial diseases associated with resistant strains, which is in need of urgent action. There is an ongoing interest in metal-based nanoparticles (MBNPs) and their usage synergy with antibiotics due to their unique properties, such as overcoming bacterial resistance, reducing acute toxicity compared to their sizes, and allowing dosage reduction of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Combining MBNPs and antibiotics not only enhances the antibacterial effect but also allows the inhibition of biofilm production. Furthermore, MBNPs and antibiotics incorporated in polymeric biomaterial matrix have been widely studied to improve their efficiency and devoid the resistance. However, these studies need to be combined in a literature review. Polymeric biomaterials offer high mechanical stability with improved biocompatibility. Moreover, their use makes a single dose of administration of the final product with extended antibiotic half-life possible while slowly releasing their reservoir, which is an advantage in continuously combating resistance. This review focuses on different promising biomedical strategies for enhancing the bactericidal efficacy of antibiotics by the synergistic use of MBNPs, antibiotics, and polymeric biomaterials together to combat the resistance of different bacterial strains. In addition, it is prospected to guide opportunities for new research for future biomedical applications

Assessment of ventricular and left atrial mechanical functions, atrial electromechanical delay and P wave dispersion in patients with scleroderma

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate ventricular functions and left atrial (LA) mechanical functions, atrial electromechanical coupling, and P wave dispersion in scleroderma patients. Methods: Twenty-six patients with scleroderma and twenty-four controls were included. Left and right ventricular (LV and RV) functions were evaluated using conventional echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI). LA volumes were measured using the biplane area- -length method and LA mechanical function parameters were calculated. Inter-intraatrial electromechanical delays were measured by TDI. P wave dispersion was calculated by 12-lead electrocardiograms. Results: LV myocardial performance indices (MPI) and RV MPI were higher in patients with scleroderma (p = 0.000, p = 0.000, respectively) while LA passive emptying fraction was decreased and LA active emptying fraction was increased (p = 0.051, p = 0.000, respectively). P wave dispersion and inter-intraatrial electromechanical delay were significantly higher in patients with scleroderma (25 [10&#8211;60] vs 20 [0&#8211;30], p = 0.000, 16.50 [7.28&#8211;26.38] vs 9.44 [3.79&#8211;15.78] and 11.33 [4.88&#8211;16.06] vs 4.00 [0&#8211;12.90], p < 0.05, respectively). Interatrial electromechanical delay was negatively correlated with LV E wave, (p = 0.018). LV E wave was demonstrated to be a factor independent of the interatrial electromechanical delay (R2 = = 0.270, b = &#8211;0.52, p = 0.013). Conclusions: This study showed that in scleroderma patients, global functions of LV, RV and mechanical functions of LA were impaired, intra-interatrial electromechanical delays were prolonged and P wave dispersion was higher. LV E wave was demonstrated to be a factor that is independent of the interatrial electromechanical delay. Reduced LV E wave may also give additional information on the process of risk stratification of atrial fibrillation. (Cardiol J 2011; 18, 3: 261&#8211;269

Kinetic Release Studies of Antibiotic Patches for Local Transdermal Delivery.

This study investigates the usage of electrohydrodynamic (EHD)-3D printing for the fabrication of bacterial cellulose (BC)/polycaprolactone (PCL) patches loaded with different antibiotics (amoxicillin (AMX), ampicillin (AMP), and kanamycin (KAN)) for transdermal delivery. The composite patches demonstrated facilitated drug loading and encapsulation efficiency of drugs along with extended drug release profiles. Release curves were also subjected to model fitting, and it was found that drug release was optimally adapted to the Higuchi square root model for each drug. They performed a time-dependent and diffusion-controlled release from the patches and followed Fick's diffusion law by the Korsmeyer-Peppas energy law equation. Moreover, produced patches demonstrated excellent antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) strains, so they could be helpful in the treatment of chronic infectious lesions during wound closures. As different tests have confirmed, various types of antibiotics could be loaded and successfully released regardless of their types from produced BC/PCL patches. This study could breathe life into the production of antibiotic patches for local transdermal applications in wound dressing studies and improve the quality of life of patients

Extended peptide-based inhibitors efficiently target the proteasome and reveal overlapping specificities of the catalytic β-subunits

AbstractBackground: The 26S proteasome is responsible for most cytosolic proteolysis, and is an important protease in major histocompatibility complex class I-mediated antigen presentation. Constitutively expressed proteasomes from mammalian sources possess three distinct catalytically active species, β1, β2 and β5, which are replaced in the γ-interferon-inducible immunoproteasome by a different set of catalytic subunits, β1i, β2i and β5i, respectively. Based on preferred cleavage of short fluorogenic peptide substrates, activities of the proteasome have been assigned to individual subunits and classified as ‘chymotryptic-like’ (β5), ‘tryptic-like’ (β2) and ‘peptidyl-glutamyl peptide hydrolyzing’ (β1). Studies with protein substrates indicate a far more complicated, less strict cleavage preference. We reasoned that inhibitors of extended size would give insight into the extent of overlapping substrate specificity of the individual activities and subunits.Results: A new class of proteasome inhibitors, considerably extended in comparison with the commonly used fluorescent substrates and peptide-based inhibitors, has been prepared. Application of the safety catch resin allowed the generation of the target compounds using a solid phase protocol. Evaluation of the new compounds revealed a set of highly potent proteasome inhibitors that target all individual active subunits with comparable affinity, unlike the other inhibitors described to date. Modification of the most active compound, adamantane-acetyl-(6-aminohexanoyl)3-(leucinyl)3-vinyl-(methyl)-sulfone (AdaAhx3L3VS), itself capable of proteasome inhibition in living cells, afforded a new set of radio- and affinity labels.Conclusions: N-terminal extension of peptide vinyl sulfones has a profound influence on both their efficiency and selectivity as proteasome inhibitors. Such extensions greatly enhance inhibition and largely obliterate selectivity towards the individual catalytic activities. We conclude that for the interaction with larger substrates, there appears to be less discrimination of different substrate sequences for the catalytic activities than is normally assumed based on the use of small peptide-based substrates and inhibitors. The compounds described here are readily accessible synthetically, and are more potent inhibitors in living cells than their shorter peptide vinyl sulfone counterparts