Recognition of Facial Affect in individuals scoring high and low on Psychopathic Personality Characteristics

The accuracy of perception of facial emotion expressions was studied in individuals with low and high psychopathic personality characteristics in a sample of 21 male and 39 female university students. Participants completed the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), and the Behavioural Inhibition Scale and the Behavioural Activation Scale (BIS/BAS) as measures of psychopathy. Participants completed a computerised emotion recognition task containing six emotions of facial expressions (each emotion had five different intensities). The results showed that participants scoring low on the BIS and high on the BAS scores showed significant impairments in the recognition of both sad and fearful expressions. On the other hand, group scoring high on the PPI, showed significant impairment in the recognition of angry, but not fearful or sad expressions in the total sample. Males with high psychopathic personality characteristics showed significant impairments in the recognition of sad, fearful and angry expressions compared to males with low psychopathic personality characteristics. On the other hand females with high psychopathic personality characteristics showed significant impairment in recognising the expression of disgust only compared to females with low psychopathic personality characteristics. The PPI and the BIS/BAS scales showed reasonable alpha reliabilities with some exceptions for one subscale in each measure. Correlations between the PPI and the BIS/BAS scales were weak to moderate. The current findings suggest that different dimensions of psychopathy may be associated with selective impairments in recognising unpleasant emotion expressions in others

The relationship between online social support and psychological wellbeing: A random survey in Maldives and New Zealand

Background Previous research has repeatedly established that ‘in-person’ (offline) social support, both perceived and actual, is associated with psychological wellbeing. However, the growing literature on the relationship between social support acquired from social networking sites (SNSs) and psychological wellbeing is less clear. Some studies have reported a positive association between online perceived social support and psychological wellbeing, but these studies were based predominantly on convenience samples of college students primarily from the United States and Asia. Objectives The objectives of the current study were, using randomly a selected community sample from two diverse cultures and a small convenience clinical sample to: 1) contribute to the growing literature on the association between SNS use and psychological wellbeing; 2) study how SNS usage is associated with people’s online perceived social support while controlling for key factors including online self-disclosure, age, gender, personality traits, country of residence, and urban versus rural living; 3) examine relationships between online perceived social support and psychological wellbeing and to compare the strength of the statistical association of this relationship to traditional ‘in-person’ or offline perceived social support; 4) examine the moderating effects of key demographic and personality variables in the relationships between time spent on SNSs, online social support, offline social support, online self-disclosure and psychological wellbeing. 5) address some of the methodological limitations in the emerging literature on the use of SNS, online social support, and psychological wellbeing; and to 6) contribute to cross-cultural psychological research by comparing the effects of online and offline perceived social support on psychological wellbeing in two diverse national ethnic groupings. Methods Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey of randomly selected community samples from New Zealand, (N = 385) and Maldives, (N = 411), this study evaluated the association between online perceived social support and psychological wellbeing, using carefully selected best measures available at the time. The study hypotheses were also tested on a third sample, a small convenience clinical sample from New Zealand, (N = 78) for comparison with the general population groups. Results The multivariable regression analyses show that time spent on online SNSs, particularly engaging in online self-disclosure, was positively related to online perceived social support in both New Zealand and Maldives random community samples. Although time spent on SNSs was positively associated with online perceived social support in the New Zealand clinical sample after controlling for demographic and personality variables, online self-disclosure was not significantly associated with online perceived social support in this group. Time spent on SNSs was not significantly associated with psychological wellbeing in any of the sample groups. Also, higher levels of perceived social support from online interaction were not associated with better psychological wellbeing in any of the three sample groups. In contrast to perceived online social support, perceived social support from offline social networks was positively associated with psychological wellbeing in both New Zealand and Maldives random community samples. In the clinical sample, unlike in the general population samples, the results showed only a marginally significant positive association between offline perceived social support and psychological wellbeing. Conclusions This study’s finding that traditional offline social support is significantly associated with better psychological wellbeing aligns with the robust general literature that has shown social support to be a strong predictor of psychological wellbeing. The additional new finding from this work suggests that online perceived social support is not as beneficial as offline perceived social support in its association with psychological wellbeing. These results confirm the importance of real-life social support derived from offline social networks in psychological wellbeing. The role of social support derived online did not add measurably to psychological wellbeing levels but neither did it detract from that link. A range of factors are identified for future cross-sectional research to further explore the relationship between SNS use and psychological wellbeing. Future research could benefit from well-designed measures of online social support using longitudinal study designs to address causal relationships between online social support and psychological wellbeing

The relationship between online social support and psychological wellbeing: A random survey in Maldives and New Zealand

Background Previous research has repeatedly established that ‘in-person’ (offline) social support, both perceived and actual, is associated with psychological wellbeing. However, the growing literature on the relationship between social support acquired from social networking sites (SNSs) and psychological wellbeing is less clear. Some studies have reported a positive association between online perceived social support and psychological wellbeing, but these studies were based predominantly on convenience samples of college students primarily from the United States and Asia. Objectives The objectives of the current study were, using randomly a selected community sample from two diverse cultures and a small convenience clinical sample to: 1) contribute to the growing literature on the association between SNS use and psychological wellbeing; 2) study how SNS usage is associated with people’s online perceived social support while controlling for key factors including online self-disclosure, age, gender, personality traits, country of residence, and urban versus rural living; 3) examine relationships between online perceived social support and psychological wellbeing and to compare the strength of the statistical association of this relationship to traditional ‘in-person’ or offline perceived social support; 4) examine the moderating effects of key demographic and personality variables in the relationships between time spent on SNSs, online social support, offline social support, online self-disclosure and psychological wellbeing. 5) address some of the methodological limitations in the emerging literature on the use of SNS, online social support, and psychological wellbeing; and to 6) contribute to cross-cultural psychological research by comparing the effects of online and offline perceived social support on psychological wellbeing in two diverse national ethnic groupings. Methods Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey of randomly selected community samples from New Zealand, (N = 385) and Maldives, (N = 411), this study evaluated the association between online perceived social support and psychological wellbeing, using carefully selected best measures available at the time. The study hypotheses were also tested on a third sample, a small convenience clinical sample from New Zealand, (N = 78) for comparison with the general population groups. Results The multivariable regression analyses show that time spent on online SNSs, particularly engaging in online self-disclosure, was positively related to online perceived social support in both New Zealand and Maldives random community samples. Although time spent on SNSs was positively associated with online perceived social support in the New Zealand clinical sample after controlling for demographic and personality variables, online self-disclosure was not significantly associated with online perceived social support in this group. Time spent on SNSs was not significantly associated with psychological wellbeing in any of the sample groups. Also, higher levels of perceived social support from online interaction were not associated with better psychological wellbeing in any of the three sample groups. In contrast to perceived online social support, perceived social support from offline social networks was positively associated with psychological wellbeing in both New Zealand and Maldives random community samples. In the clinical sample, unlike in the general population samples, the results showed only a marginally significant positive association between offline perceived social support and psychological wellbeing. Conclusions This study’s finding that traditional offline social support is significantly associated with better psychological wellbeing aligns with the robust general literature that has shown social support to be a strong predictor of psychological wellbeing. The additional new finding from this work suggests that online perceived social support is not as beneficial as offline perceived social support in its association with psychological wellbeing. These results confirm the importance of real-life social support derived from offline social networks in psychological wellbeing. The role of social support derived online did not add measurably to psychological wellbeing levels but neither did it detract from that link. A range of factors are identified for future cross-sectional research to further explore the relationship between SNS use and psychological wellbeing. Future research could benefit from well-designed measures of online social support using longitudinal study designs to address causal relationships between online social support and psychological wellbeing

Molecular Dynamics Simulation and Pharmacoinformatic Integrated Analysis of Bioactive Phytochemicals from Azadirachta indica (Neem) to Treat Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic hormonal and metabolic disorder in which our body cannot generate necessary insulin or does not act in response to it, accordingly, ensuing in discordantly high blood sugar (glucose) levels. Diabetes mellitus can lead to systemic dysfunction in the multiorgan system, including cardiac dysfunction, severe kidney disease, lowered quality of life, and increased mortality risk from diabetic complications. To uncover possible therapeutic targets to treat diabetes mellitus, the in silico drug design technique is widely used, which connects the ligand molecules with target proteins to construct a protein-ligand network. To identify new therapeutic targets for type 2 diabetes mellitus, Azadirachta indica is subjected to phytochemical screening using in silico molecular docking, pharmacokinetic behavior analysis, and simulation-based molecular dynamic analysis. This study has analyzed around 63 phytochemical compounds, and the initial selection of the compounds was made by analyzing their pharmacokinetic properties by comparing them with Lipinski’s rule of 5. The selected compounds were subjected to molecular docking. The top four ligand compounds were reported along with the control drug nateglinide based on their highest negative molecular binding affinity. The protein-ligand interaction of selected compounds has been analyzed to understand better how compounds interact with the targeted protein structure. The results of the in silico analysis revealed that 7-Deacetyl-7-oxogedunin had the highest negative docking score of −8.9 Kcal/mol and also demonstrated standard stability in a 100 ns molecular dynamic simulation performed with insulin receptor ectodomain. It has been found that these substances may rank among the essential supplementary antidiabetic drugs for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is suggested that more in vivo and in vitro research studies be carried out to support the conclusions drawn from this in silico research strategy

A phase 3 Trial of RTS,S/AS01 Malaria Vaccine in African Infants.

\ud \ud The candidate malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01 reduced episodes of both clinical and severe malaria in children 5 to 17 months of age by approximately 50% in an ongoing phase 3 trial. We studied infants 6 to 12 weeks of age recruited for the same trial. We administered RTS,S/AS01 or a comparator vaccine to 6537 infants who were 6 to 12 weeks of age at the time of the first vaccination in conjunction with Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) vaccines in a three-dose monthly schedule. Vaccine efficacy against the first or only episode of clinical malaria during the 12 months after vaccination, a coprimary end point, was analyzed with the use of Cox regression. Vaccine efficacy against all malaria episodes, vaccine efficacy against severe malaria, safety, and immunogenicity were also assessed. The incidence of the first or only episode of clinical malaria in the intention-to-treat population during the 14 months after the first dose of vaccine was 0.31 per person-year in the RTS,S/AS01 group and 0.40 per person-year in the control group, for a vaccine efficacy of 30.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 23.6 to 36.1). Vaccine efficacy in the per-protocol population was 31.3% (97.5% CI, 23.6 to 38.3). Vaccine efficacy against severe malaria was 26.0% (95% CI, -7.4 to 48.6) in the intention-to-treat population and 36.6% (95% CI, 4.6 to 57.7) in the per-protocol population. Serious adverse events occurred with a similar frequency in the two study groups. One month after administration of the third dose of RTS,S/AS01, 99.7% of children were positive for anti-circumsporozoite antibodies, with a geometric mean titer of 209 EU per milliliter (95% CI, 197 to 222). The RTS,S/AS01 vaccine coadministered with EPI vaccines provided modest protection against both clinical and severe malaria in young infants. (Funded by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative; RTS,S ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00866619.)

First results of phase 3 trial of RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine in african children

Background An ongoing phase 3 study of the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of candidate malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01 is being conducted in seven African countries. Methods From March 2009 through January 2011, we enrolled 15,460 children in two age categories - 6 to 12 weeks of age and 5 to 17 months of age - for vaccination with either RTS,S/AS01 or a non-malaria comparator vaccine. The primary end point of the analysis was vaccine efficacy against clinical malaria during the 12 months after vaccination in the first 6000 children 5 to 17 months of age at enrollment who received all three doses of vaccine according to protocol. After 250 children had an episode of severe malaria, we evaluated vaccine efficacy against severe malaria in both age categories. Results In the 14 months after the first dose of vaccine, the incidence of first episodes of clinical malaria in the first 6000 children in the older age category was 0.32 episodes per person-year in the RTS,S/AS01 group and 0.55 episodes per person-year in the control group, for an efficacy of 50.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 45.8 to 54.6) in the intention-to-treat population and 55.8% (97.5% CI, 50.6 to 60.4) in the per-protocol population. Vaccine efficacy against severe malaria was 45.1% (95% CI, 23.8 to 60.5) in the intention-to-treat population and 47.3% (95% CI, 22.4 to 64.2) in the per-protocol population. Vaccine efficacy against severe malaria in the combined age categories was 34.8% (95% CI, 16.2 to 49.2) in the per-protocol population during an average follow-up of 11 months. Serious adverse events occurred with a similar frequency in the two study groups. Among children in the older age category, the rate of generalized convulsive seizures after RTS,S/AS01 vaccination was 1.04 per 1000 doses (95% CI, 0.62 to 1.64). Conclusions The RTS,S/AS01 vaccine provided protection against both clinical and severe malaria in African children. (Funded by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative; RTS,S ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00866619 .