Importance of personality for objective and subjective-physical health in older men and women

Objective and subjective health generally have a positive relationship, although their association may be moderated by factors such as gender and personality. We aimed to analyze the association between personality and objective (metabolic syndrome (MetS)) and subjective-physical health in older men and women. For this purpose, in 138 participants (53.6% women, Mage = 66.85), neuroticism, conscientiousness, extraversion, openness, and agreeableness (NEO Five Factor Inventory), subjective-physical health (Short Form Health Survey, SF-36), and MetS (employing waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and glycated hemoglobin) were assessed. Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze whether personality was associated with MetS. Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to analyze the relationship between personality or MetS, and subjective-physical health. Finally, gender and personality moderation analyses were performed with PROCESS. Results showed that higher neuroticism was associated with an increased likelihood of MetS, whereas higher neuroticism and lower extraversion were associated with lower subjective-physical health. Moreover, the negative relationship between MetS and subjective-physical health was stronger in individuals with low conscientiousness. Regarding gender differences, only in women, higher extraversion was related to a decreased likelihood of MetS, and MetS was related to lower subjective-physical health. In conclusion, higher neuroticism is the main vulnerability health factor, whereas to a lesser extent extraversion and conscientiousness are protective factors. Furthermore, the association between objective and subjective health is not direct, but it may vary depending on personality and gender

Mediation of perceived stress and cortisol in the association between neuroticism and global cognition in older adults: A longitudinal study

Neuroticism has been associated with a greater dementia risk, but its association with cognitive decline in healthy older adults remains unclear. Stress has been proposed as one of the mechanisms that could explain this relationship. Our aim was to analyse, in healthy older people, the mediating role of perceived stress and the Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal (HPA) axis in the association between neuroticism and global cognition. At Waves 1 and 2 (4-year follow-up), 87 older people (49.4% women; M age = 65.08, SD = 4.54 at Wave 1) completed a neuropsychological battery and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and provided saliva samples on two (Wave 1) and three (Wave 2) consecutive days to measure the wake-to-bed slope. In Wave 2, neuroticism was assessed with the NEO-Five-Factor Inventory. PSS, but not the wake-to-bed slope, mediated the negative associations between neuroticism and global cognition (Waves 1, 2 and change). Regarding gender differences, PSS (Waves 1, 2 and change) and the wake-to-bed slope (Wave 2 and change) mediated these associations in men. Our results suggest that perceived stress and HPA-axis dysregulation could act as mechanisms underlying the association between neuroticism and cognitive functioning and decline, at least in older men. © 2021. The Authors. Stress and Health published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Drift compensation of gas sensor array data by Orthogonal Signal Correction

Drift is an important issue that impairs the reliability of gas sensing systems. Sensor aging, memory effects and environmental disturbances produce shifts in sensor responses that make initial statistical models for gas or odor recognition useless after a relatively short period (typically few weeks). Frequent recalibrations are needed to preserve system accuracy. However, when recalibrations involve numerous samples they become expensive and laborious. An interesting and lower cost alternative is drift counteraction by signal processing techniques. Orthogonal Signal Correction (OSC) is proposed for drift compensation in chemical sensor arrays. The performance of OSC is also compared with Component Correction (CC). A simple classification algorithm has been employed for assessing the performance of the algorithms on a dataset composed by measurements of three analytes using an array of seventeen conductive polymer gas sensors over a ten month period

The triennial International Pigment Cell Conference (IPCC)

The International Federation of Pigment Cell Societies (IFPCS) held its XXIII triennial International Pigment Cell Conference (IPCC) in Denver, Colorado in August 2017. The goal of the summit was to provide a venue promoting a vibrant interchange among leading basic and clinical researchers working on leading-edge aspects of melanocyte biology and disease. The philosophy of the meeting, entitled Breakthroughs in Pigment Cell and Melanoma Research, was to deliver a comprehensive program in an inclusive environment fostering scientific exchange and building new academic bridges. This document provides an outlook on the history, accomplishments, and sustainability of the pigment cell and melanoma research community. Shared progress in the understanding of cellular homeostasis of pigment cells but also clinical successes and hurdles in the treatment of melanoma and dermatological disorders continue to drive future research activities. A sustainable direction of the societies creates an international forum identifying key areas of imminent needs in laboratory research and clinical care and ensures the future of this vibrant, diverse and unique research community at the same time. Important advances showcase wealth and breadth of the field in melanocyte and melanoma research and include emerging frontiers in melanoma immunotherapy, medical and surgical oncology, dermatology, vitiligo, albinism, genomics and systems biology, precision bench-to-bedside approaches, epidemiology, pigment biophysics and chemistry, and evolution. This report recapitulates highlights of the federate meeting agenda designed to advance clinical and basic research frontiers from melanoma and dermatological sciences followed by a historical perspective of the associated societies and conferences

No Effects of Acute Psychosocial Stress on Working Memory in Older People With Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has been considered a public health threat due to its growing prevalence, particularly in the older population. It is important to know the effects of psychosocial stress and its potential consequences for some basic cognitive processes that are important in daily life. Currently, there is very little information about how people with T2D face acute psychosocial stressors, and even less about how their response affects working memory (WM), which is essential for their functionality and independence. Our aim was to characterize the response to an acute laboratory psychosocial stressor and its effects on WM in older people with T2D. Fifty participants with T2D from 52 to 77 years old were randomly assigned to a stress (12 men and 12 women) or control (12 men and 14 women) condition. Mood and physiological (cortisol, C, and salivary alpha-amylase, sAA) responses to tasks were measured. In addition, participants completed a WM test before and after the stress or control task. Our results showed that the TSST elicited higher negative affect and greater C and sAA responses than the control task. No significant differences in WM were observed depending on the exposure to stress or the control task. Finally, participants who showed higher C and sAA responses to the stressor had lower WM performance. Our results indicate that medically treated older adults with T2D show clear, typical mood and physiological responses to an acute psychosocial stressor. Finally, the lack of acute psychosocial stress effects on WM suggests that it could be related to aging and not to this disease, at least when T2D is adequately treated.

Application of the level set method for the visual representation of continuous cellular automata oriented to anisotropic wet etching

[EN] Atomistic models are a very valuable simulation tool in the field of material science. Among them are the continuous cellular automata (CCA), which can simulate accurately the process of chemical etching used in micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) micromachining. Due to the CCA intrinsic atomistic nature, simulation results are obtained in the form of a cloud of points, so data visualization has been usually problematic. When using these models as a part of a computer aided design tool, good data visualization is very important. In this paper, a minimum energy model implemented with the level set (LS) method for improving the visual representation of simulated MEMS is presented. Additionally, the sparse field method has been applied to reduce the high computational cost of the original LS. Finally, some reconstructed surfaces with completely different topologies are presented, proving the effectiveness of our implementation and the fact that it is capable of producing any real surface, flat and smooth ones.We thank Miguel Angel Gosalvez for his collaboration in the early stages of this research. This work has been supported by the Spanish FPI-MICINN BES-2011-045940 grant. Also, we acknowledge support by the JAE-Doc grant form the Junta para la Ampliacion de Estudios program co-funded by FSE.Montoliu Álvaro, C.; Ferrando Jódar, N.; Cerdá Boluda, J.; Colom Palero, RJ. (2014). Application of the level set method for the visual representation of continuous cellular automata oriented to anisotropic wet etching. International Journal of Computer Mathematics. 91(1):124-134. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207160.2013.801464S12413491

Frontiers in Pigment Cell and Melanoma Research

We identify emerging frontiers in clinical and basic research of melanocyte biology and its associated biomedical disciplines. We describe challenges and opportunities in clinical and basic research of normal and diseased melanocytes that impact current approaches to research in melanoma and the dermatological sciences. We focus on four themes: (1) clinical melanoma research, (2) basic melanoma research, (3) clinical dermatology, and (4) basic pigment cell research, with the goal of outlining current highlights, challenges, and frontiers associated with pigmentation and melanocyte biology. Significantly, this document encapsulates important advances in melanocyte and melanoma research including emerging frontiers in melanoma immunotherapy, medical and surgical oncology, dermatology, vitiligo, albinism, genomics and systems biology, epidemiology, pigment biophysics and chemistry, and evolution

Depression and Suicide Risk in Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Role of Alzheimer’s Disease Biomarkers

Background: Patients with depression and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are at greater risk of developing dementia. Depression involves a higher risk of suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempts (SA). Biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) could help to clarify the role of depression and SI in AD. Method: Fifty-nine participants aged > 50 with criteria of MCI positive (MCI-AD) (n=22) and negative (MCI-Non AD) (n=24) AD and healthy controls (HC) (n=13) were evaluated. We used the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-30) and the GDS-SI factor to measure depression and indirect risk for suicide, respectively. Additionally, AD biomarkers such as amyloid-ß (Aß), hyperphosphorilated tau (P-tau), and total tau (T-tau) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were analyzed. Results: No significant differences between the groups were found in depression. However, in the MCI-AD group, lower P-tau and T-tau levels were related to higher GDS-SI scores, suggesting that MCI-AD patients with lower AD pathology are at a higher risk of suicide. Conclusions: The result highlights the importance of considering SI in the initial phases of AD, and the potential role of AD biomarkers in early detection of symptoms. Antecedentes: Los pacientes con depresión y deterioro cognitivo leve (DCL) tienen un alto riesgo de desarrollar demencia. La depresión implica un alto riesgo de ideación suicida (IS) e intentos de suicidio (AS). Los biomarcadores de la enfermedad de Alzheimer (EA) pueden clarificar el papel de la depresión e IS en la EA. Método: Cincuenta y nueve participantes >50 años con criterios de DCL-EA positivo (DCL-EA; 22) y negativo (DCL-NoEA; 24) y 13 controles sanos. La depresión fue evaluada con la Escala Geriátrica de Depresión (GDS-30) y la IS con el factor GDS-IS. Además, se midieron los siguientes biomarcadores en el líquido cefalorraquídeo: ß-amiloide (ß-A), tau hiperfosforilada (H-tau) y total (T-tau). Resultados: No se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los tres grupos de participantes en depresión o en IS. Sin embargo, en el grupo DCL-EA, niveles más bajos de H-tau y T-tau, indicadores de menor patología EA, se relacionaron significativamente con mayor riesgo de suicidio indirecto. Conclusiones: Este resultado subraya la importancia de considerar la IS en fases iniciales de EA, y el potencial papel de los biomarcadores de EA para detectar sus síntomas

Color image registration under illumination changes

The estimation of parametric global motion has had a significant attention during the last two decades, but despite the great efforts invested, there are still open issues. One of the most important ones is related to the ability to recover large deformation between images in the presence of illumination changes while kipping accurate estimates. Illumination changes in color images are another important open issue. In this paper, a Generalized least squared-based motion estimator is used in combination with color image model to allow accurate estimates of global motion between two color images under the presence of large geometric transformation and illumination changes. Experiments using challenging images have been performed showing that the presented technique is feasible and provides accurate estimates of the motion and illumination parameter