Exploring the Application of NLP in Narrative Patterns of Adult Attachment

The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) is a protocol-based, semi-structured interview method widely used to measure adults’ states of mind with respect to attachment. Recently, transcripts of this interview have been used to code secure base script knowledge, which is script-like knowledge related to the way parents dealt with their distress during childhood (ie., child went to parent for comfort, parent provided instrumental and emotional support, child went back to play). Manually coding the verbatim transcripts is labor-intensive and requires a lot of centralized training. The potential integration of machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) techniques may automate certain aspects of AAI analysis, potentially optimizing the process. The aim of this research project is to explore the practical application of these technologies in analyzing AAI transcripts.The project uses data from a pooled set of 12 studies originating from four countries. Upon reviewing the 1,410 AAI transcripts in this set (conducted in three languages), notable discrepancies in the administration of the interviews emerged, some of which may affect the suitability of the interview to assess secure base script knowledge. The first focus of this research project is therefore to develop a model to automatically assess the quality of the transcripts, first for English studies and then for all studies and languages. This model will prioritize evaluating interview characteristics, including instances of unintelligibility and non-adherence to the prescribed AAI protocol. As a next step in the project, employing sentiment analysis will enable an investigation into the correlation between participant-provided adjectives and their corresponding narratives. Finally, this research project will explore the possibility of automatically coding secure base script knowledge in AAI transcripts. By combining technological advances with nuanced human insights, this research project not only provides a pathway toward research studies at scale, but also presents an opportunity to achieve a deeper understanding of emotional and cognitive dimensions within attachment narratives.<br/

A white mass behind the tympanic membrane: adenoma of the middle ear with neuroendocrine differentiation

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Fruit and vegetable consumption and pancreatic cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition

Many case-control studies have suggested that higher consumption of fruit and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of pancreatic cancer, whereas cohort studies do not support such an association. We examined the associations of the consumption of fruits and vegetables and their main subgroups with pancreatic cancer risk within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). EPIC is comprised of over 520,000 subjects recruited from 10 European countries. The present study included 555 exocrine pancreatic cancer cases after an average follow-up of 8.9 years. Estimates of risk were obtained by Cox proportional hazard models, stratified by age at recruitment, gender, and study center, and adjusted for total energy intake, weight, height, history of diabetes mellitus, and smoking status. Total consumption of fruit and vegetables, combined or separately, as well as subgroups of vegetables and fruits were unrelated to risk of pancreatic cancer. Hazard ratios (95% CI) for the highest versus the lowest quartile were 0.92 (0.68-1.25) for total fruit and vegetables combined, 0.99 (0.73-1.33) for total vegetables, and 1.02 (0.77-1.36) for total fruits. Stratification by gender or smoking status, restriction to microscopically verified cases, and exclusion of the first 2 years of follow-up did not materially change the results. These results from a large European prospective cohort suggest that higher consumption of fruit and vegetables is not associated with decreased risk of pancreatic cancer. \ua9 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Publisher Correction: LifeTime and improving European healthcare through cell-based interceptive medicine (Nature, (2020), 587, 7834, (377-386), 10.1038/s41586-020-2715-9)

In this Perspective, owing to an error in the HTML, the surname of author Alejandro López-Tobón of the LifeTime Community Working Groups consortium was indexed as ‘Tobon’ rather than ‘López-Tobón’ and the accents were missing. The HTML version of the original Perspective has been corrected; the PDF and print versions were always correct. © 2021, The Author(s)

Publisher Correction: LifeTime and improving European healthcare through cell-based interceptive medicine (Nature, (2020), 587, 7834, (377-386), 10.1038/s41586-020-2715-9)

10.1038/s41586-021-03287-8Nature592785