Twitter mood predicts the stock market

Behavioral economics tells us that emotions can profoundly affect individual behavior and decision-making. Does this also apply to societies at large, i.e., can societies experience mood states that affect their collective decision making? By extension is the public mood correlated or even predictive of economic indicators? Here we investigate whether measurements of collective mood states derived from large-scale Twitter feeds are correlated to the value of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) over time. We analyze the text content of daily Twitter feeds by two mood tracking tools, namely OpinionFinder that measures positive vs. negative mood and Google-Profile of Mood States (GPOMS) that measures mood in terms of 6 dimensions (Calm, Alert, Sure, Vital, Kind, and Happy). We cross-validate the resulting mood time series by comparing their ability to detect the public's response to the presidential election and Thanksgiving day in 2008. A Granger causality analysis and a Self-Organizing Fuzzy Neural Network are then used to investigate the hypothesis that public mood states, as measured by the OpinionFinder and GPOMS mood time series, are predictive of changes in DJIA closing values. Our results indicate that the accuracy of DJIA predictions can be significantly improved by the inclusion of specific public mood dimensions but not others. We find an accuracy of 87.6% in predicting the daily up and down changes in the closing values of the DJIA and a reduction of the Mean Average Percentage Error by more than 6%

Embodying compassion: A virtual reality paradigm for overcoming excessive self-criticism

Virtual reality has been successfully used to study and treat psychological disorders such as phobias and posttraumatic stress disorder but has rarely been applied to clinically-relevant emotions other than fear and anxiety. Self-criticism is a ubiquitous feature of psychopathology and can be treated by increasing levels of self-compassion. We exploited the known effects of identification with a virtual body to arrange for healthy female volunteers high in self-criticism to experience self-compassion from an embodied first-person perspective within immersive virtual reality. Whereas observation and practice of compassionate responses reduced self-criticism, the additional experience of embodiment also increased self-compassion and feelings of being safe. The results suggest potential new uses for immersive virtual reality in a range of clinical conditions.N/

Imaging Oxygen Distribution in Marine Sediments. The Importance of Bioturbation and Sediment Heterogeneity

The influence of sediment oxygen heterogeneity, due to bioturbation, on diffusive oxygen flux was investigated. Laboratory experiments were carried out with 3 macrobenthic species presenting different bioturbation behaviour patterns:the polychaetes Nereis diversicolor and Nereis virens, both constructing ventilated galleries in the sediment column, and the gastropod Cyclope neritea, a burrowing species which does not build any structure. Oxygen two-dimensional distribution in sediments was quantified by means of the optical planar optode technique. Diffusive oxygen fluxes (mean and integrated) and a variability index were calculated on the captured oxygen images. All species increased sediment oxygen heterogeneity compared to the controls without animals. This was particularly noticeable with the polychaetes because of the construction of more or less complex burrows. Integrated diffusive oxygen flux increased with oxygen heterogeneity due to the production of interface available for solute exchanges between overlying water and sediments. This work shows that sediment heterogeneity is an important feature of the control of oxygen exchanges at the sediment–water interface

Heterologous vaccination regimens with self-amplifying RNA and adenoviral COVID vaccines induce robust immune responses in mice

Several vaccines have demonstrated efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 mediated disease, yet there is limited data on the immune response induced by heterologous vaccination regimens using alternate vaccine modalities. Here, we present a detailed description of the immune response, in mice, following vaccination with a self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) vaccine and an adenoviral vectored vaccine (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222) against SARS-CoV-2. We demonstrate that antibody responses are higher in two-dose heterologous vaccination regimens than single-dose regimens. Neutralising titres after heterologous prime-boost were at least comparable or higher than the titres measured after homologous prime boost vaccination with viral vectors. Importantly, the cellular immune response after a heterologous regimen is dominated by cytotoxic T cells and Th1+ CD4 T cells, which is superior to the response induced in homologous vaccination regimens in mice. These results underpin the need for clinical trials to investigate the immunogenicity of heterologous regimens with alternate vaccine technologies

Controlling tick-borne diseases through domestic animal management: a theoretical approach

Vector-borne diseases are of global importance to human and animal health. Empirical trials of effective methods to control vectors and their pathogens can be difficult for practical, financial and ethical reasons. Here, therefore, we use a mathematical model to predict the effectiveness of a vector-borne disease control method. As a case study, we use the tick-louping ill virus system, where sheep are treated with acaricide in an attempt to control ticks and disease in red grouse, an economically important game bird. we ran the model under different scenarios of sheep flock sizes, alternative host (deer) densities, acaricide efficacies and tick burdens. The model predicted that, with very low deer densities, using sheep as tick mops can reduce the tick population and virus prevalence. However, treatment is ineffective above a certain threshold deer density, dependent on the comparative tick burden on sheep and deer. The model also predicted that high efficacy levels of acaricide must be maintained for effective tick control. This study suggests that benignly managing one host species to protect another host species from a vector and pathogen can be effective under certain conditions. It also highlights the importance of understanding the ecological complexity of a system, in order to target control methods only under certain circumstances for maximum effectiveness

The Schro¨\ddot{o}dinger-Poisson equations as the large-N limit of the Newtonian N-body system: applications to the large scale dark matter dynamics

In this paper it is argued how the dynamics of the classical Newtonian N-body system can be described in terms of the Schr$\ddot{o}$dinger-Poisson equations in the large $N$ limit. This result is based on the stochastic quantization introduced by Nelson, and on the Calogero conjecture. According to the Calogero conjecture, the emerging effective Planck constant is computed in terms of the parameters of the N-body system as $\hbar \sim M^{5/3} G^{1/2} (N/)^{1/6}$, where is $G$ the gravitational constant, $N$ and $M$ are the number and the mass of the bodies, and $$ is their average density. The relevance of this result in the context of large scale structure formation is discussed. In particular, this finding gives a further argument in support of the validity of the Schr$\ddot{o}$dinger method as numerical double of the N-body simulations of dark matter dynamics at large cosmological scales.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Euro. Phys. J.

Post-diagnosis serum insulin-like growth factors in relation to dietary and lifestyle changes in the Prostate testing for cancer and Treatment (ProtecT) trial.

PURPOSE: The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system is modifiable by diet and lifestyle, and has been linked to prostate cancer development and progression. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 621 men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer to investigate the associations of dietary and lifestyle changes with post-diagnosis circulating levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3. We used analysis of covariance to estimate the associations, controlling for baseline IGF-I or IGFBP-3, respectively. RESULTS: Mean IGF-I levels were 6.5% (95% CI -12.8, -0.3%, p = 0.04) lower in men who decreased their protein intake after diagnosis compared to men who did not change. Men who changed their fruit and vegetable intake had lower IGF-I levels compared to non-changers [Decreased intake: -10.1%, 95% CI -18.4, -1.8%, p = 0.02; Increased intake: -12.0%, 95% CI -18.4, -1.8%, p = 0.002]. IGFBP-3 was 14.6% (95% CI -24.5, -4.8%, p = 0.004) lower in men who achieved a healthy body mass index after diagnosis. Men who became inactive had 9.5% higher average IGF-I levels (95% CI 0.1, 18.9%, p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Decreased protein intake and body mass index, and increased physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake, following a prostate cancer diagnosis were associated with reduced post-diagnosis serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3. Counterintuitively, reduced fruit and vegetable intake was also associated with reduced IGF-I, but with weak statistical support, possibly implicating chance. If confirmed in other studies, our findings may inform potential lifestyle interventions in prostate cancer. ProtecT was registered at International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Registry, http://isrctn.org as ISRCTN20141297

The development of compassionate engagement and action scales for self and others

Background Studies of the value of compassion on physical and mental health and social relationships have proliferated in the last 25 years. Although, there are several conceptualisations and measures of compassion, this study develops three new measures of compassion competencies derived from an evolutionary, motivational approach. The scales assess 1. the compassion we experience for others, 2. the compassion we experience from others, and 3. self-compassion based on a standard definition of compassion as a ‘sensitivity to suffering in self and others with a commitment to try to alleviate and prevent it’. We explored these in relationship to other compassion scales, self-criticism, depression, anxiety, stress and well-being. Methods Participants from three different countries (UK, Portugal and USA) completed a range of scales including compassion for others, self-compassion, self-criticism, shame, depression, anxiety and stress with the newly developed ‘The Compassionate Engagement and Actions’ scale. Results All three scales have good validity. Interestingly, we found that the three orientations of compassion are only moderately correlated to one another (r < .5). We also found that some elements of self-compassion (e.g., being sensitive to, and moved by one’s suffering) have a complex relationship with other attributes of compassion (e.g., empathy), and with depression, anxiety and stress. A path-analysis showed that self-compassion is a significant mediator of the association between self-reassurance and well-being, while self-criticism has a direct effect on depressive symptoms, not mediated by self-compassion. Discussion Compassion evolved from caring motivation and in humans is associated with a range of different socially intelligent competencies. Understanding how these competencies can be inhibited and facilitated is an important research endeavour. These new scales were designed to assess these competencies. Conclusions This is the first study to measure the three orientations of compassion derived from an evolutionary model of caring motivation with specified competencies. Our three new measures of compassion further indicate important complex relationships between different potentiation’s of compassion, well-being, and vulnerability to psychopathologies.N/