Resistance to COVID-19 vaccination has increased in Ireland and the United Kingdom during the pandemic

Objectives: Hesitance and resistance to COVID-19 vaccination poses a serious challenge to achieving adequate vaccine uptake in the general population. Cross-sectional data from the early months of the pandemic indicates that approximately one-third of adults in multiple nations are hesitant or resistant to a vaccine for COVID-19. Using longitudinal data, we tracked changes in attitudes to COVID-19 vaccination during the pandemic. Study design: This is a quantitative, longitudinal design. Method: Nationally representative samples of the adult general population of the Republic of Ireland (N ¼ 1041) and the United Kingdom (N ¼ 2025) were assessed for their attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination at three points from March to August 2020. Results: Statistically significant increases in resistance to COVID-19 vaccination were observed in Irish (from 9.5% to 18.1%) and British (from 6.2% to 10%) adults. Conclusion: Resistance to vaccination has significantly increased in two European nations as the pandemic has progressed. Growing resistance to COVID-19 vaccination will pose a challenge to public health officials responsible for ensuring sufficient vaccine coverag

Preliminary Results of the South Vanuatu Archaeological Survey: Cultural Landscapes, Excavation, and Radiocarbon Dating

South Vanuatu was an important hub of settlement and interaction in the tropical southwestern Pacific. A recent field project, the South Vanuatu Archaeological Survey, has begun carrying out field research, focusing initially on the islands of Futuna, Aniwa, and Tanna. This work builds upon pioneering research carried out in the 1960s, which in these islands has not been followed up until the last five years or so. We present initial findings from survey and test excavations carried out in 2016, including new radiocarbon dates for the region and the discovery of pottery on Tanna. KEYWORDS: Melanesia, Vanuatu, cultural landscapes, archaeological survey, radiocarbon dating.This research is supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP160103578) and Valentin’s travel to Vanuatu by CNRS UMR 7041

Symptoms and levels of ICD-11 Prolonged Grief Disorder in a representative community sample of UK adults.

BackgroundProlonged Grief Disorder (PGD) is a new disorder included in ICD-11 (WHO, 2018). There is a growing body of literature surrounding the prevalence and correlates of ICD-11 PGD symptoms as assessed using various measures. This study was the first to assess levels of ICD-11 PGD symptoms as measured by the International Prolonged Grief Disorder Scale (IPGDS), a self-report scale directly aligned with the ICD-11 definition of PGD, among the United Kingdom adult general population, and identify correlates.MethodParticipants included 2025 adults who participated in Wave 5 of the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium Study (C19PRC-UK). Prevalence rates of PGD were estimated based on two commonly used algorithms defined as 'strict' and 'moderate'. Sociodemographic, loss-related, and mental health correlates (i.e., anxiety, depression, mental health treatment seeking, loneliness) of strict and moderate PGD were then examined using multinomial logistic regressions.ResultsIt was found that 2.4% (n = 43) of participants met probable caseness for PGD using the strict criteria while 7.9% (n = 140) met probable caseness for PGD using the moderate criteria. Multinomial logistic regression analysis results showed, as predicted, that income, time since bereavement, death of a child, religiosity, and depression were associated with both moderate and strict PGD. Correlates of moderate PGD included country of residence, urbanicity, younger age of bereaved, and loneliness.ConclusionsThis study highlights that some symptoms of PGD are commonly reported in the general population, although relatively few meet the criteria for clinical significance. The routine assessment for PGD following a bereavement is discussed and the development of appropriate interventions are recommended

Fetal Movement Counting Using Optical Fibre Sensors

Daily fetal movement counting based on maternal perception is widely deployed to monitor fetal wellbeing. However, the counting performed by the mother is prone to errors for various reasons. There are limited devices on the market that can provide reliable and automatic counting. This paper presents a prototype of a novel fetal movement monitoring device based on fibre Bragg grating sensors. Deformation of the skin caused by a fetal movement can lead to a change of the strain and stress on the optical fibre sensors, therefore can induce distortions to the breathing pattern of the mother. In the study data was gathered by the sensors through strain measurement and was post-processed using independent component analysis (ICA) and high-pass filtering to show the instances of the fetal movements. Information gathered during user trials with the prototype suggests that the system detects significantly higher numbers of fetus movements than that observed based on the mother’s perception. Among the various techniques available for fetal movement monitoring, fibre optic sensing provides many advantages including multiplex capability, flexibility and minimal size, making the concept an attractive solution for reliable monitoring of antenatal fetal movements

Alteration of the Exhaled Volatile Organic Compound Pattern in Colorectal Cancer Patients after Intentional Curative Surgery—A Prospective Pilot Study

As current follow-up modalities for colorectal carcinoma (CRC) have restricted sensitivity, novel diagnostic tools are needed. The presence of CRC changes the endogenous metabolism, resulting in the release of a specific volatile organic compounds (VOC) pattern that can be detected with an electronic nose or AeonoseTM. To evaluate the use of an electronic nose in the follow-up of CRC, we studied the effect of curative surgery on the VOC pattern recognition using AeonoseTM. A prospective cohort study was performed, in which 47 patients diagnosed with CRC were included, all of whom underwent curative surgical resection. Breath testing was performed before and after surgery using the AeonoseTM. A machine learning model was developed by discerning between the 94 pre-and postoperative breath samples. The training model differentiated between the pre-and postoperative CRC breath samples with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.78 (95%CI 0.61–0.90) and 0.73 (95%CI 0.56–0.86), respectively, with an accuracy of 0.76 (95%CI 0.66–0.85), and an area under the curve of 0.79 (95%CI 0.68–0.89). The internal validation of the test set resulted in an accuracy of 0.75 (95%CI 0.51–0.91) and AUC of 0.82 (95%CI 0.61–1). In conclusion, our results suggest that the VOC pattern of CRC patients is altered by curative surgery in a short period, indicating that the exhaled VOCs might be closely related to the presence of CRC. However, to use AeonoseTM as a potential diagnostic tool in the clinical follow-up of CRC patients, the performance of the models needs to be improved through further large-scale prospective research.</p

Coloration in different areas of facial skin is a cue to health: The role of cheek redness and periorbital luminance in health perception

Looking healthy is a desirable trait, and facial skin color is a predictor of perceived health. However, skin conditions that cause dissatisfaction with appearance are specific to particular facial areas. We investigated whether color variation in facial skin is related to perceived health. Study 1 defined three areas based on color differences between faces perceived as healthy or unhealthy: the forehead, periorbital areas, and the cheeks. Periorbital luminance and cheek redness predicted perceived health, as did global skin yellowness. In Study 2, increased luminance and redness caused faces to be perceived as healthier, but only when the increase was in the periorbital and cheek areas, respectively. Manipulating each area separately in Study 3 revealed cheek redness and periorbital luminance equally increased perceived health, with low periorbital luminance more negatively affecting perceptions. These findings show that color variation in facial skin is a cue for health perception in female faces