Changes in Frame of Reference After Exposure to Emotional Stimuli

L'hypothèse de la présente étude était que le développement émotionnel culmine chez les personnes âgées. Ceci s'expliquerait par un changement perceptif de l'importance des stimuli négatifs au cours des décennies de la vie. L'effet de positivité ou le biais de positivité (EP) serait alors le résultat de la désensibilisation aux stimuli négatifs chroniques liés à l'expérience de la vie. Cette recherche présente une preuve de concept en induisant l'EP chez les jeunes adultes par l'exposition à des types spécifiques de stimuli émotionnels. Plus précisément, 39 participants ont été assignés au hasard à deux groupes: le premier groupe fût exposé à des visages tristes seulement et le second à des visages neutres seulement. Les participants ont complété une évaluation de référence et trois évaluations de comparaison où ils ont dû qualifier les expressions faciales sur une échelle dimensionnelle. Entre ces évaluations, ils ont été exposés aux stimuli spécifiques à leur groupe tout en accomplissant une tâche de mémoire de travail pour maintenir leur attention. Le temps requis pour désensibiliser les jeunes adultes normaux a été estimé à l'aide d'un plan d'expérience en blocs puisqu'il s'agissait d'une étude exploratoire. Les symptômes dépressifs et l'anxiété ont été mesurés avant la procédure expérimentale. L'humeur et l'excitation ont été mesurées avant et après la procédure expérimentale. Tout comme les personnes âgées qui expriment l'EP, les participants jeunes adultes ont qualifié les stimuli négatifs de moins négatifs, et les stimuli neutres comme plus positifs au fil du temps. Mots-clés : Effet de positivité; biais de positivité; développement humain; développement émotionnel; priming; jeunes adultes; vieillissement; émotion; personnes âgées; cadre de référence.The goal of the current study was to demonstrate the possibility that elderly people represent the climax of emotional development through a perceptual shift in the importance of negative stimuli over decades of life. The proposed hypothesis was that the positivity effect or positivity bias (PE) is the result of desensitization to chronic negative stimuli through life experience. This was done as a proof of principle by inducing the PE in young adults after exposure to a specific type of emotional stimuli. Specifically, 39 participants were randomly assigned to two groups, one where they were only exposed to sad faces and the other only to neutral faces. Participants completed baseline and comparison ratings of their group’s emotional stimuli, and were equally exposed while completing a working memory task to maintain their attention. As this was an explorative study, a blocked design was used to capture the time required to desensitize in normal young adults. We controlled for depressive symptoms, anxiety, and controlled for mood and arousal pre and post the experimental procedure. Just like elderly adults in the PE, the young adult participants rated negative stimuli as less negative, and neutral stimuli as more positive over time. This suggests that the PE represents a climax of normal emotional development where humans slowly desensitize to negative stimuli over time. Keywords: Positivity Effect; Positivity Bias; Frame of Reference; Emotional Development; Human Development; Priming; Elderly; Aging; Young Adults; Emotion

Solid fuel use and cooking practices as a major risk factor for ALRI mortality among African children

Background: Almost half of global child deaths due to acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) occur in sub-Saharan Africa, where three-quarters of the population cook with solid fuels. This study aims to quantify the impact of fuel type and cooking practices on childhood ALRI mortality in Africa, and to explore implications for public health interventions. Methods: Early-release World Health Survey data for the year 2003 were pooled for 16 African countries. Among 32 620 children born during the last 10 years, 1455 (4.46%) were reported to have died prior to their fifth birthday. Survival analysis was used to examine the impact of different cooking-related parameters on ALRI mortality, defined as cough accompanied by rapid breathing or chest indrawing based on maternal recall of symptoms prior to death. Results: Solid fuel use increases the risk of ALRI mortality with an adjusted hazard ratio of 2.35 (95% CI 1.22 to 4.52); this association grows stronger with increasing outcome specificity. Differences between households burning solid fuels on a well-ventilated stove and households relying on cleaner fuels are limited. In contrast, cooking with solid fuels in the absence of a chimney or hood is associated with an adjusted hazard ratio of 2.68 (1.38 to 5.23). Outdoor cooking is less harmful than indoor cooking but, overall, stove ventilation emerges as a more significant determinant of ALRI mortality. Conclusions: This study shows substantial differences in ALRI mortality risk among African children in relation to cooking practices, and suggests that stove ventilation may be an important means of reducing indoor air pollution

Saccharide Effects on Cognition and Well-Being in Middle-Aged Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Author version made available in accordance with the publisher's policy.The current study used a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled design to investigate the effects of saccharide supplementation on cognition and well-being in middle-aged adults. Participants (N=109; 45 - 60 years) took a teaspoon of a combination of saccharides or a placebo twice daily for 12 weeks (3.6 g per day). Before and after this supplementation period, participants completed alternate forms of standardised tests of cognition and self-report measures of well-being. Significant beneficial effects of saccharide supplementation were found for memory performance and indicators of well-being. The potential for these nutrients to optimise cognitive function and well-being in older adults warrants on-going investigation

Association between dietary saccharide intake and self-reported memory performance in middle-aged adults

The aims of the present study were to assess dietary intake of saccharides in middle-aged adults, and to determine whether intakes of these sugar nutrients were related to self-reported memory performance. A population-based sample of 1183 men and women (aged 40-60 years) completed questionnaires assessing everyday memory function. Dietary intake status of saccharides was estimated using a self-completed, quantified FFQ. After controlling for demographic and health measures (for example, time spent exercising, smoking and alcohol consumption), saccharide intake was related to better self-reported memory functioning. Thus, longer-term intakes of saccharides through the usual diet may be positively related to perceived memory performance in mid-life

Perceived Changes in Well-Being Following Polysaccharide Intake in Middle-Aged Adults

Author version made available in accordance with the publisher's policy.Objectives: There is increased scientific interest in the effects of nutrition on cognition and well-being. Plant sourced polysaccharides play multiple roles in the biological processes required for health and well-being. This study explored the subjective experiential reports of well-being following intake of a plant derived polysaccharide supplement. Design: The study used a 12 week double-blind, placebo controlled polysaccharide supplementation design. Method: 109 middle-aged adults (45-60 years) took a standardised teaspoon of a combination of plant polysaccharides or a placebo twice daily for 12 weeks (3.6 g per day), and completed three, open-ended interviews at weeks 4, 8 and 12. Results: Participants who took the polysaccharide supplement reported significantly more perceived beneficial changes in both physical and psychological well-being, specifically at week 12, compared to those who received the placebo. Conclusion: This study provides a starting point for understanding the perceived beneficial impact of polysaccharide interventions on aspects of well-being. Importantly, as a healthrelated application of polysaccharide science, this research supports the relationship that is emerging between the properties and function of polysaccharides. It is essential that future research assesses the effects of polysaccharide intake on a range of physical and psychological well-being outcomes to further the understanding of structure-function relationships with the aim of enhancing the functional health and well-being of individuals

Diagram-based Analysis of Causal Systems (DACS): elucidating inter-relationships between determinants of acute lower respiratory infections among children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Effective interventions require evidence on how individual causal pathways jointly determine disease. Based on the concept of systems epidemiology, this paper develops Diagram-based Analysis of Causal Systems (DACS) as an approach to analyze complex systems, and applies it by examining the contributions of proximal and distal determinants of childhood acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) in sub-Saharan Africa

The multiple functions of miR-574-5p in the neuroblastoma tumor microenvironment

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in childhood and arises from neural crest cells of the developing sympathetic nervous system. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) has been identified as a key pro-inflammatory mediator of the tumor microenvironment (TME) that promotes neuroblastoma progression. We report that the interaction between the microRNA miR-574-5p and CUG-binding protein 1 (CUGBP1) induces the expression of microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase 1 (mPGES-1) in neuroblastoma cells, which contributes to PGE2 biosynthesis. PGE2 in turn specifically induces the sorting of miR-574-5p into small extracellular vesicles (sEV) in neuroblastoma cell lines. sEV are one of the major players in intercellular communication in the TME. We found that sEV-derived miR-574-5p has a paracrine function in neuroblastoma. It acts as a direct Toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR7/8) ligand and induces α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression in fibroblasts, contributing to fibroblast differentiation. This is particularly noteworthy as it has an opposite function to that in the TME of lung carcinoma, another PGE2 dependent tumor type. Here, sEV-derived miR-574-5p has an autokrine function that inhibits PGE2 biosynthesis in lung cancer cells. We report that the tetraspanin composition on the surface of sEV is associated with the function of sEV-derived miR-574-5p. This suggests that the vesicles do not only transport miRs, but also appear to influence their mode of action

From sea monsters to charismatic megafauna: changes in perception and use of large marine animals

Marine megafauna has always elicited contrasting feelings. In the past, large marine animals were often depicted as fantastic mythological creatures and dangerous monsters, while also arousing human curiosity. Marine megafauna has been a valuable resource to exploit, leading to the collapse of populations and local extinctions. In addition, some species have been perceived as competitors of fishers for marine resources and were often actively culled. Since the 1970s, there has been a change in the perception and use of megafauna. The growth of marine tourism, increasingly oriented towards the observation of wildlife, has driven a shift from extractive to non-extractive use, supporting the conservation of at least some species of marine megafauna. In this paper, we review and compare the changes in the perception and use of three megafaunal groups, cetaceans, elasmobranchs and groupers, with a special focus on European cultures. We highlight the main drivers and the timing of these changes, compare different taxonomic groups and species, and highlight the implications for management and conservation. One of the main drivers of the shift in perception, shared by all the three groups of megafauna, has been a general increase in curiosity towards wildlife, stimulated inter alia by documentaries (from the early 1970s onwards), and also promoted by easy access to scuba diving. At the same time, environmental campaigns have been developed to raise public awareness regarding marine wildlife, especially cetaceans, a process greatly facilitated by the rise of Internet and the World Wide Web. Currently, all the three groups (cetaceans, elasmobranchs and groupers) may represent valuable resources for ecotourism. Strikingly, the economic value of live specimens may exceed their value for human consumption. A further change in perception involving all the three groups is related to a growing understanding and appreciation of their key ecological role. The shift from extractive to non-extractive use has the potential for promoting species conservation and local economic growth. However, the change in use may not benefit the original stakeholders (e.g. fishers or whalers) and there may therefore be a case for providing compensation for disadvantaged stakeholders. Moreover, it is increasingly clear that even non-extractive use may have a negative impact on marine megafauna, therefore regulations are needed.SFRH/BPD/102494/2014, UID/MAR/04292/2019, IS1403info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Detection and localization of early- and late-stage cancers using platelet RNA

Cancer patients benefit from early tumor detection since treatment outcomes are more favorable for less advanced cancers. Platelets are involved in cancer progression and are considered a promising biosource for cancer detection, as they alter their RNA content upon local and systemic cues. We show that tumor-educated platelet (TEP) RNA-based blood tests enable the detection of 18 cancer types. With 99% specificity in asymptomatic controls, thromboSeq correctly detected the presence of cancer in two-thirds of 1,096 blood samples from stage I–IV cancer patients and in half of 352 stage I–III tumors. Symptomatic controls, including inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases, and benign tumors had increased false-positive test results with an average specificity of 78%. Moreover, thromboSeq determined the tumor site of origin in five different tumor types correctly in over 80% of the cancer patients. These results highlight the potential properties of TEP-derived RNA panels to supplement current approaches for blood-based cancer screening