The Relationship Between Narcissism Attachment Styles and the Response to Social Media

Previous research suggests that narcissism is correlated with higher social media use and that self-esteem motivates this use. Additionally, research suggests that individuals with anxious or avoidant attachment styles have “self object” needs that are fulfilled through interactions with others. In the current research, we examined the correlation between narcissism and social media use, as well as the correlation between attachment style and social media use. Participants were given questionnaires to measure narcissism, attachment style, social media use, and self-esteem. Participants were also assigned to one of three feedback conditions, positive, neutral, or negative, on a social media site. Results indicated that participants with anxious, avoidant or insecure attachment style reported significantly lower levels of self-esteem in response to neutral and negative feedback than did participants without avoidant, anxious, or secure attachment styles. The research therefore provides evidence that attachment style may predict self-esteem levels in response to social media feedback

Clinical observation of diminished bone quality and quantity through longitudinal HR-pQCT-derived remodeling and mechanoregulation.

High resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) provides methods for quantifying volumetric bone mineral density and microarchitecture necessary for early diagnosis of bone disease. When combined with a longitudinal imaging protocol and finite element analysis, HR-pQCT can be used to assess bone formation and resorption (i.e., remodeling) and the relationship between this remodeling and mechanical loading (i.e., mechanoregulation) at the tissue level. Herein, 25 patients with a contralateral distal radius fracture were imaged with HR-pQCT at baseline and 9-12 months follow-up: 16 patients were prescribed vitamin D3 with/without calcium supplement based on a blood biomarker measures of bone metabolism and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry image-based measures of normative bone quantity which indicated diminishing (n = 9) or poor (n = 7) bone quantity and 9 were not. To evaluate the sensitivity of this imaging protocol to microstructural changes, HR-pQCT images were registered for quantification of bone remodeling and image-based micro-finite element analysis was then used to predict local bone strains and derive rules for mechanoregulation. Remodeling volume fractions were predicted by both average values of trabecular and cortical thickness and bone mineral density (R2 > 0.8), whereas mechanoregulation was affected by dominance of the arm and group classification (p < 0.05). Overall, longitudinal, extended HR-pQCT analysis enabled the identification of changes in bone quantity and quality too subtle for traditional measures

Precision of bone mechanoregulation assessment in humans using longitudinal high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography in vivo.

Local mechanical stimuli in the bone microenvironment are essential for the homeostasis and adaptation of the skeleton, with evidence suggesting that disruption of the mechanically-driven bone remodelling process may lead to bone loss. Longitudinal clinical studies have shown the combined use of high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) and micro-finite element analysis can be used to measure load-driven bone remodelling in vivo; however, quantitative markers of bone mechanoregulation and the precision of these analyses methods have not been validated in human subjects. Therefore, this study utilised participants from two cohorts. A same-day cohort (n = 33) was used to develop a filtering strategy to minimise false detections of bone remodelling sites caused by noise and motion artefacts present in HR-pQCT scans. A longitudinal cohort (n = 19) was used to develop bone imaging markers of trabecular bone mechanoregulation and characterise the precision for detecting longitudinal changes in subjects. Specifically, we described local load-driven formation and resorption sites independently using patient-specific odds ratios (OR) and 99 % confidence intervals. Conditional probability curves were computed to link the mechanical environment to the remodelling events detected on the bone surface. To quantify overall mechanoregulation, we calculated a correct classification rate measuring the fraction of remodelling events correctly identified by the mechanical signal. Precision was calculated as root-mean-squared averages of the coefficient of variation (RMS-SD) of repeated measurements using scan-rescan pairs at baseline combined with a one-year follow-up scan. We found no significant mean difference (p < 0.01) between scan-rescan conditional probabilities. RMS-SD was 10.5 % for resorption odds, 6.3 % for formation odds, and 1.3 % for correct classification rates. Bone was most likely to be formed in high-strain and resorbed in low-strain regions for all participants, indicating a consistent, regulated response to mechanical stimuli. For each percent increase in strain, the likelihood of bone resorption decreased by 2.0 ± 0.2 %, and the likelihood of bone formation increased by 1.9 ± 0.2 %, totalling 38.3 ± 1.1 % of strain-driven remodelling events across the entire trabecular compartment. This work provides novel robust bone mechanoregulation markers and their precision for designing future clinical studies

Columbus State University Honors College: Senior Theses, Spring 2020

This is a collection of senior theses written by honors students at Columbus State University in Spring 2020.https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/honors_theses/1001/thumbnail.jp

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

Working mothers and gender inequality in Germany

textI investigate how women in Germany balance their professional and familial commitments given the generous welfare state support for work-family reconciliation. Drawing on interviews with 21 German mothers in white-collar occupations, I examine the cultural perceptions of working mothers, the impact of “family-friendly” policies, and women’s workplace experiences with their supervisors and colleagues. I argue that working mothers struggle to balance their work and home lives because gender inequality is still widespread in Germany, despite – and in some cases because of – this welfare state support. Women are frequently denigrated and stigmatized for being employed outside the home while raising children, and for their family status at work. Their identities as both mother and worker violate traditional understandings of femininity in Germany. Consequently, the women I interviewed feel like inadequate mothers and incompetent workers as a result of the gendered messages they receive from the state, businesses, and dominant culture. Until the responsibility for raising children and earning a living are shared equally between women and men, and the government and society support them in this endeavor, gender inequality will continue to be a central feature of our social world.Sociolog

Work-family policy and working mothers : a comparative study of Germany, Sweden, Italy, and the United States

Throughout the industrialized west, working mothers face common struggles to balance the demands of caring for their children with their pursuit of paid work. However, nations vary widely in their support for these women. This study compares the work-family policies in four countries that exemplify each of the western welfare regimes: Germany, Sweden, Italy, and the United States. Using 135 in-depth interviews, I examine how these policies play out in the daily lives of middle-income working mothers in each country. Drawing on theories of gendered governance, I show how policies intended to help women balance work and family reflect distinctive cultural ideals of motherhood, employment, and gender equality. In countries with policies rooted in strong maternalist traditions, like areas of western Germany and Italy, working mothers experienced stigma for pursuing careers and substantial work-family conflict. In the former East Germany, with its history of mandated full employment, mothers did not face stigma for working, but tended to curtail their career ambitions. Working mothers in Sweden – renowned for its extensive, gender-equal support system – seemed the most contented with their work-family balance. American working mothers received the least policy support and experienced the most guilt and strain in my sample. However, in all cases, working mothers felt that they were held to unrealistic standards at home and/or at work, suggesting that even the most progressive social policies are not enough. Lessening the work-family conflict faced by working mothers will require both cultural changes in the definition of motherhood and fatherhood and the structural reorganization of work and family.Sociolog

Validation of HR-pQCT against micro-CT for morphometric and biomechanical analyses: A review

High-resolution peripheral quantitative computed-tomography (HR-pQCT) has the potential to become a powerful clinical assessment and diagnostic tool. Given the recent improvements in image resolution, from 82 to 61 μm, this technology may be used to accurately quantify in vivo bone microarchitecture, a key biomarker of degenerative bone diseases. However, computational methods to assess bone microarchitecture were developed for micro computed tomography (micro-CT), a higher-resolution technology only available for ex vivo studies, and validation of these computational analysis techniques against the gold-standard micro-CT has been inconsistent and incomplete. Herein, we review methods for segmentation of bone compartments and microstructure, quantification of bone morphology, and estimation of mechanical strength using finite-element analysis, highlighting the need throughout for improved standardization across the field. Studies have relied on homogenous datasets for validation, which does not allow for robust comparisons between methods. Consequently, the adaptation and validation of novel segmentation approaches has been slow to non-existent, with most studies still using the manufacturer's segmentation for morphometric analysis despite the existence of better performing alternative approaches. The promising accuracy of HR-pQCT for capturing morphometric indices is overshadowed by considerable variability in outcomes between studies. For finite element analysis (FEA) methods, the use of disparate material models and FEA tools has led to a fragmented ability to assess mechanical bone strength with HR-pQCT. Further, the scarcity of studies comparing 62 μm HR-pQCT to the gold standard micro-CT leaves the validation of this imaging modality incomplete. This review revealed that without standardization, the capabilities of HR-pQCT cannot be adequately assessed. The need for a public, extendable, heterogeneous dataset of HR-pQCT and corresponding gold-standard micro-CT images, which would allow HR-pQCT users to benchmark existing and novel methods and select optimal methods depending on the scientific question and data at hand, is now evident. With more recent advancements in HR-pQCT, the community must learn from its past and provide properly validated technologies to ensure that HR-pQCT can truly provide value in patient diagnosis and care.ISSN:2352-187

Clinical Data for Parametrization of In Silico Bone Models Incorporating Cell-Cytokine Dynamics: A Systematic Review of Literature

In silico simulations aim to provide fast, inexpensive, and ethical alternatives to years of costly experimentation on animals and humans for studying bone remodeling, its deregulation during osteoporosis and the effect of therapeutics. Within the varied spectrum of in silico modeling techniques, bone cell population dynamics and agent-based multiphysics simulations have recently emerged as useful tools to simulate the effect of specific signaling pathways. In these models, parameters for cell and cytokine behavior are set based on experimental values found in literature; however, their use is currently limited by the lack of clinical in vivo data on cell numbers and their behavior as well as cytokine concentrations, diffusion, decay and reaction rates. Further, the settings used for these parameters vary across research groups, prohibiting effective cross-comparisons. This review summarizes and evaluates the clinical trial literature that can serve as input or validation for in silico models of bone remodeling incorporating cells and cytokine dynamics in post-menopausal women in treatment, and control scenarios. The GRADE system was used to determine the level of confidence in the reported data, and areas lacking in reported measures such as binding site occupancy, reaction rates and cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis rates were highlighted as targets for further research. We propose a consensus for the range of values that can be used for the cell and cytokine settings related to the RANKL-RANK-OPG, TGF-β and sclerostin pathways and a Levels of Evidence-based method to estimate parameters missing from clinical trial literature.ISSN:2296-418