Tolerance and Intolerance for Uncertainty as Predictors of Decision Making and Risk Acceptance in Gaming Strategies of Te Iowa Gambling Task

Background. Tis article reports on the results of an empirical study of interrelationships between indicators of decision-making strategies (indexed by the Iowa Gambling Task, IGT) and traits of tolerance and intolerance for uncertainty that capture the unity of cognitive and personality components of situational representations. Objective. Our study tested the hypothesis that overcoming uncertainty in decision making goes beyond cognitive representations of the task but instead is rooted in the construction of the amodal image of an uncertain situation that captures the meaning regulation of perception and action. We hypothesized that when a person is faced with multi-stage decisions, their strategies refect the contribution of individual diferences in attitudes towards uncertainty. Design. Using data obtained from n=60 typically developing adults (68% men; Mage=30.58), we examined the contribution of tolerance/intolerance for uncertainty to a variety of IGT dependent variables at fve diferent stages of the game. Results. Te data was analyzed using the mixed linear model method as implemented in the lme4 package for R. Te results indicated that tolerance for uncertainty signifcantly contributes to the initial level of behavioral risk, ensuring readiness for decision making under uncertainty. Conclusion. Tolerance for uncertainty plays an important role in early stages of orientation in an uncertain modeled game situation, and contributes to the productive development of probabilistic expectations. Intolerance for uncertainty, on the other hand, was shown to contribute to risk in decision making afer trial failure, potentially limiting learning in uncertain conditions through risk aversion

Emotional intelligence, patterns for coping with decisional conflict, and academic achievement in cross-cultural perspective (evidence from selective Russian and Azerbaijani student populations)

Background. Choice, under conditions of uncertainty, is mediated by integral dynamic regulatory systems that represent hierarchies of cognitive and personality processes. As such, individual decision-making patterns can be studied in the context of intellectual and personality potential. This article presents the results of a cross-cultural comparison of personality characteristics, such as coping with uncertainty, emotional intelligence, and academic achievement, between Azerbaijani and Russian university students. Objective. We aimed at establishing metric invariance and at highlighting relationships between emotional intelligence and the scales of the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (MDMQ). Design. Azerbaijani and Russian student samples were selected for this study due to the almost identical educational programs offered by Moscow State University to students in Moscow and its branch in Baku. Coping with uncertainty was measured by the MDMQ, emotional intelligence by the EmIn questionnaire, and academic achievement by GPA scores. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to verify factor structure invariance and congruence. Results. The congruence of factor structures for both questionnaires was verified. For the MDMQ four-factor structure for both samples was confirmed. For the EmIn questionnaire, invariance for two scales was established — “Understanding other people’s emotions” and “Managing own emotions”. Relationships among personality traits, gender, age, and academic achievements are explained for the Lomonosov Moscow State University students in Moscow (Russia) and its branch in Baku (Azerbaijan). No crosscultural differences were found for emotional intelligence and productive coping (Vigilance). A cultural difference was established in unproductive coping preference for Buck Passing. A similarity between the cultures was captured in the relationship of higher emotional intelligence (EQ) scores to higher Vigilance scores and to lower levels of unproductive coping patterns. Vigilance was a predictor of academic achievement, but only in the Russian sample. Conclusion. The similarity of the educational systems, as both samples studied similar programs, demonstrates very few cross-cultural differences

Il benessere educativo: validazione di un questionario sul benessere a scuola

The article presents a part of the trial results of a questionnaire for the detection of Educational well-being in some middle school students in the cities of Rome and Moscow.Educational well-being is defined as a positive perception of the school environment, which includes the sense of satisfaction with what happens at school, the positive perception of the school climate, the psychological safety and reduction of discomfort factors. The research was conducted on two samples of Italian and Russian students.The article presents the psychometric properties of the questionnaire and of the results of the Italian sample of the research.L’articolo presenta una parte dei risultati della sperimentazione di un questionario per la rilevazione del Benessere educativo in alcuni studenti di scuola secondaria di primo grado delle città di Roma e di Mosca. Il benessere educativo è definito come una percezione positiva dell’ambiente scolastico, che comprende il senso di soddisfazione per quanto avviene a scuola, la percezione positiva del clima scolastico, la sicurezza psicologica e la riduzione dei fattori di disagio.La ricerca è stata condotta su due campioni di giudizio italiano e russo. Vengono presentate le proprietà psicometriche dello strumento e parte dei risultati del campione italiano della ricerca

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Evidence for polarization-induced phase transformations and degradation in CH3_3NH3_3PbI3_3

In solar cells, hybrid halide perovskites operate under constant bias, thus their stability towards electric field-induced degradation is of key importance. Here we report on evidence of previously unidentified electric field-induced transitions and degradation path of CH$_3$NH$_3$PbI$_3$ (MAPbI$_3$) using elemental and phase mapping. Thin films of MAPbI$_3$ were deposited onto 1–2 µm-pitch interdigitated electrodes and subjected to direct current (DC)-polarization. The MAPbI$_3$ layer polarized with < 0.8 V/µm DC electric field undergoes pronounced ion redistribution to methylammonium-rich MAPbI$_{3−y}$ (y < 0.6) and iodine-rich MA$_{1−x}$PbI$_3$ (x < 0.3) regions. Polarization-induced loss of both methylammonium and iodine provokes degradation of MAPbI$_3$. Using nanofocus grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS), we unambiguously showed that the bias voltage induces the transformation of β-MAPbI$_3$ to metastable δ-MAPbI$_3$ polymorph via alignment of polar organic cation with the electric field. This transformation is partially reversible upon field removal. However, once formed, δ-MAPbI$_3$ disrupts the morphology of pristine film and undergoes decomposition to β-MAPbI$_3$ (β-MAPI) and PbI$_2$. With the aforementioned compositional and phase changes, only MA-rich part serves as the charge separation layer, while the I-rich excitation is blocked with the PbI$_2$ barrier serving as holes trapping layer. These observations reveal the intermediate steps in electric-field-driven degradation of halide perovskites and show the role of polar cations in the process, which is instructive for further material design with higher stability metrics

Alpha-protein kinase 3 (ALPK3) truncating variants are a cause of autosomal dominant hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of heterozygous truncating ALPK3 variants (ALPK3tv) in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and confirm their pathogenicity using burden testing in independent cohorts and family co-segregation studies. In a discovery cohort of 770 index patients with HCM, 12 (1.56%) were heterozygous for ALPK3tv [odds ratio(OR) 16.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) 7.94-30.02, P = 8.05e-11] compared to the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD) population. In a validation cohort of 2047 HCM probands, 32 (1.56%) carried heterozygous ALPK3tv (OR 16.17, 95% CI 10.31-24.87, P  Heterozygous ALPK3tv are pathogenic and segregate with a characteristic HCM phenotype

Alirocumab and cardiovascular outcomes after acute coronary syndrome

BACKGROUN

Alirocumab and Cardiovascular Outcomes after Acute Coronary Syndrome

BACKGROUN