Evidence for the classical integrability of the complete AdS(4) x CP(3) superstring

We construct a zero-curvature Lax connection in a sub-sector of the superstring theory on AdS(4) x CP(3) which is not described by the OSp(6|4)/U(3) x SO(1,3) supercoset sigma-model. In this sub-sector worldsheet fermions associated to eight broken supersymmetries of the type IIA background are physical fields. As such, the prescription for the construction of the Lax connection based on the Z_4-automorphism of the isometry superalgebra OSp(6|4) does not do the job. So, to construct the Lax connection we have used an alternative method which nevertheless relies on the isometry of the target superspace and kappa-symmetry of the Green-Schwarz superstring.Comment: 1+26 pages; v2: minor typos corrected, acknowledgements adde

Little Evidence for the Role of Disgust Sensitivity in Implicit Disgust to Images of White People Engaged in Injecting Drug Use (IDU)

Background: Previous research has shown that People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) are subject to public stigma, which affects access to, and provision and quality of, treatment and support services. Less is known about the socio-cognitive processes that support the development and maintenance of public stigma toward PWID. The present study investigated the role of disgust sensitivity in implicit disgust to injecting drug use. Methods: 126 participants took part in an online Implicit Association Task (IAT) measuring implicit disgust to pictorial stimuli of injecting drug use or medical injecting. Participants also completed The Disgust Scale Revised, Injecting Phobia Scale (Short Form), Attitudes to People Who Use Drugs (PWUD) scale and a substance use inventory. Results: Average IAT score was negative indicating significantly higher implicit disgust to injecting drug use. Hierarchical linear regression found that injecting phobia predicted implicit disgust to injecting drug use. Questionnaire measures of disgust did not predict implicit disgust. While animal reminder disgust and injecting phobia were significantly correlated with each other, animal reminder disgust did not predict implicit disgust scores. Conclusions: On the basis of our findings, stigma toward PWID may not be a result of feelings of disgust toward injecting drug use. We discuss findings in the context of the underlying cortical processes supporting implicit and explicit representations of disgust. Future research should seek to investigate neurophysiological evidence for disgust to and stigmatization of injecting drug use and the potential role of domains of disgust in this

Moral disengagement and the harms of cocaine use

There has been recent UK media attention on the global impact of the cocaine trade and the morality of personal use of cocaine powder. In this study we investigated whether people who use cocaine engage in moral disengagement (MD) strategies to reduce anticipated guilt associated with use. Participants read text describing the impact of the global cocaine market on others and completed a range of measures including assessments of substance use, MD, anticipated guilt, internalised moral identity, and empathy. We hypothesised that cocaine-related MD would positively predict cocaine use, and this would be partly mediated by anticipated guilt. Complete data were obtained from 254 participants through an anonymous cross-sectional survey (59.8% Female; mean age 30.8 ± 12.6 years). Our hypotheses were supported; i) MD predicted cocaine use positively and anticipated guilt negatively; ii) anticipated guilt negatively predicted cocaine use; anticipated guilt partially mediated the relationship between MD and cocaine use. People who use powder cocaine may use MD to reduce the anticipated guilt associated with knowledge of the harms associated with the drugs trade. Campaigns that focus on the morality of cocaine use or ethical choices may therefore have limited impact unless MD is challenged as part of these campaigns

Overconfidence in news judgments is associated with false news susceptibility

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the National Academy of Sciences via the DOI in this recordData Availability: Data files and scripts necessary to replicate the results in this article have been made available at the following Open Science Framework repository (https://osf.io/xygwt/)We examine the role of overconfidence in news judgment using two large nationally representative survey samples. First, we show that three in four Americans overestimate their relative ability to distinguish between legitimate and false news headlines; respondents place themselves 22 percentiles higher than warranted on average. This overconfidence is, in turn, correlated with consequential differences in real-world beliefs and behavior. We show that overconfident individuals are more likely to visit untrustworthy websites in behavioral data; to fail to successfully distinguish between true and false claims about current events in survey questions; and to report greater willingness to like or share false content on social media, especially when it is politically congenial. In all, these results paint a worrying picture: The individuals who are least equipped to identify false news content are also the least aware of their own limitations and, therefore, more susceptible to believing it and spreading it further.Nelson A. Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth CollegeCarnegie Corporation of New YorkWeidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Loui

Associations between age and sleep apnea risk among newborn infants

ObjectiveAmong older children, sleep‐disordered breathing (SDB) is associated with measurable neurocognitive consequences. However, diagnostic SDB thresholds are lacking for infants < 12 months. We sought to evaluate the relationship between SDB indices, gestational age (GA), and postmenstrual age (PMA) for infants who underwent clinically‐indicated polysomnograms at a tertiary care center.MethodsEvery infant < 3‐months chronological age whose first clinically‐indicated polysomnogram was between 2/2012 and 2/2017 was included. Linear regression was used to evaluate associations between apnea‐hypopnea index (AHI), obstructive‐apnea index (OAI), and GA and PMA for infants with and without obvious clinical risk factors for SDB (eg, micrognathia and cleft palate).ResultsFor 53 infants without obvious SDB risk factors (GA 35.6 ± 4.5 weeks; PMA 41.2 ± 4.0 weeks), mean AHI was 27 ± 18 and OAI 2.9 ± 4.5. There was a weak inverse relationship between AHI and PMA (r2 = 0.12, P = 0.01), but AHI was not predicted by GA (r2 = 0.04, P = 0.13). Conversely, OAI was more strongly associated with GA (r2 = 0.33, P < 0.0001) than PMA (r2 = 0.08, P = 0.036). For 28 infants with congenital structural anomalies that predispose to SDB (GA 38.0 ± 3.1 weeks, PMA 43.1 ± 3.3 weeks, AHI 37.7 ± 30, OAI 8.2 ± 11.8), neither AHI nor OAI were related to PMA or GA.ConclusionsAmong infants who received clinically‐indicated polysomnograms but did not have obvious structural risk for SDB, AHI declined with advancing PMA, but obstructive‐apnea was best predicted by prematurity. In contrast, the SDB risk did not improve with increasing GA or PMA for infants with congenital structural risk factors; such infants may not outgrow their risk for SDB.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150552/1/ppul24354_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150552/2/ppul24354.pd

Screening for Parkinson's disease with response time batteries: A pilot study

BACKGROUND: Although significant response time deficits (both reaction time and movement time) have been identified in numerous studies of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), few attempts have been made to evaluate the use of these measures in screening for PD. METHODS: Receiver operator characteristic curves were used to identify cutoff scores for a unit-weighted composite of two choice response tasks in a sample of 40 patients and 40 healthy participants. These scores were then cross-validated in an independent sample of 20 patients and 20 healthy participants. RESULTS: The unit-weighted movement time composite demonstrated high sensitivity (90%) and specificity (90%) in the identification of PD. Movement time was also significantly correlated (r = 0.59, p < 0.025) with the motor score of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). CONCLUSIONS: Measures of chronometric speed, assessed without the use of biomechanically complex movements, have a potential role in screening for PD. Furthermore, the significant correlation between movement time and UPDRS motor score suggests that movement time may be useful in the quantification of PD severity

“Fake news” may have limited effects beyond increasing beliefs in false claims

This is the final version. Available from the Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics, and Public Policy via the DOI in this recordData availability: The data and code necessary to replicate all the findings in this article will be made available on Dataverse upon publication of this article. Per our human subjects protocols, we will protect respondent privacy by only including individual-level summary data of respondents’ web consumption (e.g., number of untrustworthy websites visited) in the replication data.Since 2016, there has been an explosion of interest in misinformation and its role in elections. Research by news outlets, government agencies, and academics alike has shown that millions of Americans have been exposed to dubious political news online. However, relatively little research has focused on documenting the effects of consuming this content. Our results suggest that many claims about the effects of exposure to false news may be overstated, or, at the very least, misunderstood.Democracy FundEuropean Union Horizon 2020Nelson A. Rockefeller Center, Dartmouth CollegeWeidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy, Washington University, St. Louis

Effects of media representations of drug related deaths on public stigma and support for harm reduction

Background: Drug related deaths (DRD) are at historically high levels in the United Kingdom (UK), but some approaches that have the potential to reduce risk of mortality remain controversial. Public support makes an important contribution to drug policy development but there are high levels of public stigma towards people who use drugs (PWUD), and this is partly shaped by media representations. We investigated whether depiction of the characteristics of decedents represented in news articles about DRD was associated with differences in stigmatising attitudes and support for harm reduction policy. Methods: We undertook a cross-sectional online study with a randomised design, conducted with a nationally representative sample (UK). Participants (N = 1280) were randomly presented with one of eight simulated news stories that reported on a DRD that differed with respect to drug (ecstasy or heroin), and the gender (male or female) and age (younger or older) of the decedent. Data were analysed using MANOVA. Results: Data were obtained for 1248 participants (51.0% female; mean age 45.7±15.4). Stigma was higher towards depictions of male, older, and heroin deaths (all p <. 001). Harm reduction support was higher in those participants seeing older compared to younger subjects (p =. 035), and the older ecstasy decedent compared to younger decedent (p =. 029). Conclusion: Presentation of some types of DRD are associated with higher public stigma towards the decedent than others. Those groups developing agenda-setting activities designed to reduce stigma or foster public support for harm reduction policies should consider the different ways in which audiences may respond to the depiction and framing of DRD in news media

Less than human: dehumanisation of people who use heroin

Purpose Stigma reduction is an important public health challenge because of the large morbidity and mortality associated with some forms of substance use. Extreme stigma can lead to dehumanisation of target groups, who are ascribed with lesser humanity. We examined whether there was blatant and subtle dehumanisation of people who use heroin, and if these were associated with levels of support for non-discriminatory drug policy. Methods A cross-sectional online study using a UK convenience sample (n = 307; 75.2% female, mean age 28.6 ± 12.2 years). Participants completed assessments of blatant (Ascent of Humans scale) and subtle (an emotion attribution task), dehumanisation, and a bespoke measure assessing support for non-discriminatory drug policies. Other measures controlled for stigma towards people who use drugs, and moral disgust. Findings There was greater blatant dehumanisation of people who used heroin compared to the general population and other potentially stigmatised reference groups, including people who use cannabis. We also found evidence of subtle dehumanisation, and people who used heroin were rated as being less likely to feel uniquely human emotions, less likely to feel positive emotions, and more likely to feel negative emotions. Blatant dehumanisation was associated with significantly lower probability of support for non-discriminatory drug policy. Originality This is the first study to investigate blatant and subtle dehumanisation of people who use heroin, and how this relates to public support for drug policy. Conclusions Dehumanisation may present significant challenges for stigma reduction initiatives and in fostering public support for drug policy and treatment. Denial of the humanity of this group could be used to justify discriminatory policies or relative deprioritisation of support services in funding decisions. Activities that seek to ‘rehumanise’ people who use drugs, including social inclusion, and encouraging compassionate media representations that portray the lived experiences of substance use may be useful areas of future work