Search

High-profile incidents of police misconduct can have serious consequences for public trust in the police. A recent study in the British Journal of Political Science found that Eric Garner’s death in NYC lead to more negative attitudes towards the police in London among Black residents compared to White and Asian residents. The current study aimed to replicate this transnational effect by assessing the impact of George Floyd’s death on Londoners’ perceptions of police. Using the same data and methodological approach, we did not replicate the immediate effect on Black Londoners’ attitudes. We did find that attitudes across ethnic groups became more negative when using a wider temporal bandwidth. However, we discovered violations to the excludability assumption, meaning we cannot be certain that the effect is solely due to the murder of George Floyd, or at least partly due to different dynamics, like the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying policies. This means that while police killings in other contexts are likely to play a role in shaping attitudes towards local police, these effects are difficult to disentangle from other global and local factors.

Valid and reliable life-course and cross-cohort comparisons of psychological distress are limited by differences in measures used. We aimed to examine adulthood distribution of symptoms and cross-cohort trends by equating the scales of psychological-distress measures administered in the 1946, 1958, and 1970 British birth cohorts. We used data from these three birth cohorts ( N = 32,242) and an independently recruited calibration sample ( n = 5,800) to inform the equating of scales. We used two approaches to equating scales (equipercentile linking and multiple imputation) and two index measures (General Health Questionnaire-12 and Malaise-9) to compare means, distributions, and prevalence of distress across adulthood. Although we consistently observed an inverse U shape of distress across adulthood, we also observed measure and method differences in point estimates, particularly for cross-cohort comparisons. Sensitivity analysis suggested that multiple imputation yielded more accurate estimates than equipercentile linking. Although we observed an inverse-U-shaped trajectory of psychological distress across adulthood, differences in point estimates between measures and methods did not allow for clear conclusions regarding between-cohorts trends.

Objective: To investigate the management of subfertility and infertility among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females attending Australian general practice. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 1,258,581 women (18-49 years) attending general practice between January 2011 and June 2019, utilising data from NPS MedicineWise MedicineInsight, a national general practice database in Australia. Results: The prevalence of subfertility/infertility encounters was lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females (12.4 per 1000) than for non-Indigenous females (16.6 per 1000). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females with a subfertility/infertility encounter were younger and more likely to live outside Major cities and in areas of socioeconomic disadvantage than non-Indigenous females. Rates of prescribed infertility medications were not different between groups, however Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females were more likely to receive a pelvic ultrasound (24.3% vs. 19.9%); tests for LH (31.9% vs. 25.7%), testosterone (14.9% vs. 10.0%) and HbA1c (6.3% vs. 3.4%); but less likely to receive an AMH test (2.8% vs. 7.0%). Conclusions: Lower encounter rates for infertility/subfertility among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may indicate access issues, preferred use of Aboriginal community-controlled health centres or younger average age at first birth and thus less age-related infertility. Implications for public health: Future efforts should focus on maximising the inclusiveness of infertility surveillance. There is also a needfor further research into the experiences of and preferences for infertility care and associated barriers among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Introduction Limited inquiries exist for perceptions of physical competence for people with visual impairments, since there are no specific, psychometrically tested scales. The purpose of this study was to establish the psychometric properties of the Test of Perceived Physical Competence (TPPC) for individuals with visual impairments aged 9–19 years. Methods: Experts ( N = 12) provided feedback for content and face validity. Then, after assessing 179 individuals with visual impairments, McDonald’s Omega, and Confirmatory Factor Analyses were used to evaluate the internal consistency and structure. Finally, results of the TPPC were compared with the Self-Perception Profiles for Children/Adolescents for divergent validity. Results: The standardized root mean square residual result of 0.053 and the Comparative Fit Index result of 0.95 indicated acceptable fit. The percent of variation in each item explained by the factor varied from 44% (item 3) to 63% (item 6). McDonald’s Omega for the one-factor scale is 0.987, and the perceived physical competence subscale of the Self-Perception Profiles for Children and TPPC have a Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.469 (95% confidence interval = 0.269–0.630). Discussion: Having a psychometrically strong scale to measure perceived physical competence of individuals with visual impairments is the first step in being able to replicate current, seminal research among this unique population. This adaptation of Harter’s perceived physical competence subscale uniquely assesses the child’s perceptions of physical competence among peers with visual impairments. This measure, coupled with the power to examine its predictive abilities, is important for children and adolescents with visual impairments, since they possess great tendencies for obesity and sedentary behavior. Implications for practitioners: If practitioners would like to change tendencies for obesity and sedentary behavior, then, they must include perceptions of physical competence as a latent construct. Now, practitioners can feel confident to do so for this highly vulnerable population.

Published by Elsevier Ltd., Background: Differences in the distribution of individual-level clinical risk factors across regions do not fully explain the observed global disparities in COVID-19 outcomes. We aimed to investigate the associations between environmental and societal factors and country-level variations in mortality attributed to COVID-19 among people with rheumatic disease globally. Methods: In this observational study, we derived individual-level data on adults (aged 18-99 years) with rheumatic disease and a confirmed status of their highest COVID-19 severity level from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance (GRA) registry, collected between March 12, 2020, and Aug 27, 2021. Environmental and societal factors were obtained from publicly available sources. The primary endpoint was mortality attributed to COVID-19. We used a multivariable logistic regression to evaluate independent associations between environmental and societal factors and death, after controlling for individual-level risk factors. We used a series of nested mixed-effects models to establish whether environmental and societal factors sufficiently explained country-level variations in death. Findings: 14 044 patients from 23 countries were included in the analyses. 10 178 (72·5%) individuals were female and 3866 (27·5%) were male, with a mean age of 54·4 years (SD 15·6). Air pollution (odds ratio 1·10 per 10 μg/m3 [95% CI 1·01-1·17]; p=0·0105), proportion of the population aged 65 years or older (1·19 per 1% increase [1·10-1·30]; p, MAG is supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (grant numbers K01 AR070585 and K24 AR074534 [JY]). KDW is supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Rheumatology Research Foundation Scientist Development award. JAS is supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (grant numbers K23 AR069688, R03 AR075886, L30 AR066953, P30 AR070253, and P30 AR072577), the Rheumatology Research Foundation (K Supplement Award and R Bridge Award), the Brigham Research Institute, and the R. Bruce and Joan M. Mickey Research Scholar Fund. NJP is supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (T32-AR-007258). AD-G is supported by grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Rheumatology Research Foundation. RH was supported by the Justus-Liebig University Giessen Clinician Scientist Program in Biomedical Research to work on this registry. JY is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (K24 AR074534 and P30 AR070155).

Objective: Some patients with rheumatic diseases might be at higher risk for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We aimed to develop a prediction model for COVID-19 ARDS in this population and to create a simple risk score calculator for use in clinical settings. Methods: Data were derived from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Registry from March 24, 2020, to May 12, 2021. Seven machine learning classifiers were trained on ARDS outcomes using 83 variables obtained at COVID-19 diagnosis. Predictive performance was assessed in a US test set and was validated in patients from four countries with independent registries using area under the curve (AUC), accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. A simple risk score calculator was developed using a regression model incorporating the most influential predictors from the best performing classifier. Results: The study included 8633 patients from 74 countries, of whom 523 (6%) had ARDS. Gradient boosting had the highest mean AUC (0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.67-0.88) and was considered the top performing classifier. Ten predictors were identified as key risk factors and were included in a regression model. The regression model that predicted ARDS with 71% (95% CI: 61%-83%) sensitivity in the test set, and with sensitivities ranging from 61% to 80% in countries with independent registries, was used to develop the risk score calculator. Conclusion: We were able to predict ARDS with good sensitivity using information readily available at COVID-19 diagnosis. The proposed risk score calculator has the potential to guide risk stratification for treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies, that have potential to reduce COVID-19 disease progression.

Background: SeptiCyte RAPID is a molecular test for distinguishing sepsis from non-infectious systemic inflammation. The objective of this study was the clinical validation of SeptiCyte RAPID, based on testing retrospective (banked) and prospectively collected patient samples. Methods: The cartridge-based SeptiCyte RAPID assay accepts a PAXgene blood RNA sample and provides sample-to-answer processing in about 1 hour. The test output (SeptiScore, range 0-15) falls into four interpretation bands, with higher scores indicating higher probabilities of sepsis. Retrospective (banked) and prospective samples from adult patients in ICU either having systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), or suspected of sepsis under either the Sepsis-2 or Sepsis-3 definition were tested, and results were compared to a gold standard of clinical evaluation by a blinded, three-physician external panel. A multivariable analysis was performed, in which SeptiScore was combined with other clinical variables. Results: With adjudication under the Sepsis-2 definition, SeptiCyte RAPID performance for the complete cohort (356 retrospective + 63 prospective patients) had Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) ranging from 0.82-0.85, negative predictive value 0.91 (sensitivity 0.94) for SeptiScores between 0.1 and 5.0 (Band 1, lowest risk of sepsis), and positive predictive value 0.81 (specificity 0.90) for SeptiScores between 7.4 and 15 (Band 4, highest risk of sepsis). Performance estimates for the prospective cohort ranged from AUC 0.86-0.95. For physician-adjudicated sepsis cases that were blood culture (+) or blood, urine culture (+)(+), 43/48 (90%) of SeptiCyte scores fell in bands 3 or 4. In multivariable analysis with up to 14 additional clinical variables, SeptiScore was the most important variable for sepsis diagnosis. Comparable results were obtained when the data were reanalyzed under the Sepsis-3 definition. Conclusions: This study validates SeptiCyte RAPID for differentiating patients with sepsis vs. SIRS, on the first day of ICU admission. Trial Registration:NCT01905033(MARS),NCT02127502(VENUS),NCT05469048(NEPTUNE, retrospectively registered) at clinicaltrials.gov. Keywords: sepsis, diagnosis, host response, SIRS, sepsis scoring systems

Introduction Smokers with concurrent depression are less likely to achieve abstinence, even with pharmacotherapy. The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to evaluate if the presence of any depressive symptoms at baseline alters the effectiveness of bupropion and varenicline for smoking cessation. Aims and Methods Eligible participants were enrolled via the internet and randomized 1:1 to receive a 12-week supply of either bupropion (n = 465) or varenicline (n = 499). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2). Follow-up surveys were conducted at weeks 4, 8, 12, 26, and 52 to assess self-reported quit. The primary outcome was 7-day point prevalence abstinence at 12 weeks follow-up (end-of-treatment). Results Participants who endorsed any depressive symptoms (PHQ-2 > 0; n = 280) were less likely to be quit at end-of-treatment compared to participants who did not endorse any symptoms (PHQ-2 = 0; n = 684) (OR = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.38 to 0.8, p = .003). Within the varenicline group, quit outcomes did not differ between those with and without depressive symptoms (21.3% vs. 26.9%, respectively). Within the bupropion group, however, those with symptoms had a significantly reduced quit rate compared to those without symptoms (7.0% vs. 17.3%, respectively). Conclusions The presence of even one symptom of depression at the start of a quit attempt may adversely affect quit outcomes. Patients should be assessed for depressive symptoms when planning to quit smoking as it may inform the approach to treatment. However, future studies are needed to confirm these findings. Implications Findings from the current study illustrate the importance of evaluating baseline sub-clinical depressive symptoms before a quit attempt using first-line pharmacotherapies. This secondary analysis of a large-scale randomized trial suggests that bupropion may be less effective for those with baseline depressive symptoms while varenicline may be equally effective for those with and without depressive symptoms

Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are associated with tremendous physical, social, and financial costs for millions of individuals and families worldwide. Rapid delivery of specialized medical and surgical care has reduced mortality; however, long-term functional recovery remains limited. Cell-based therapies represent an exciting neuroprotective and neuroregenerative strategy for SCI. This article summarizes the most promising preclinical and clinical cell approaches to date including transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells, neural stem cells, oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, Schwann cells, and olfactory ensheathing cells, as well as strategies to activate endogenous multipotent cell pools. Throughout, we emphasize the fundamental biology of cell-based therapies, critical features in the pathophysiology of spinal cord injury, and the strengths and limitations of each approach. We also highlight salient completed and ongoing clinical trials worldwide and the bidirectional translation of their findings. We then provide an overview of key adjunct strategies such as trophic factor support to optimize graft survival and differentiation, engineered biomaterials to provide a support scaffold, electrical fields to stimulate migration, and novel approaches to degrade the glial scar. We also discuss important considerations when initiating a clinical trial for a cell therapy such as the logistics of clinical-grade cell line scale-up, cell storage and transportation, and the delivery of cells into humans. We conclude with an outlook on the future of cell-based treatments for SCI and opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration in the field. Significance statement Traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCIs) result in tremendous lifelong disability and financial burden for millions of patients and caregivers worldwide. Cell-based therapies have emerged as an exciting neuroprotective and neuroregenerative strategy for SCI. This review highlights key preclinical and clinical data in cell therapy with an emphasis on the pathobiology and mechanisms of recovery. Also discussed are adjunct treatments to maximize the efficacy of the grafts. Finally, important translational considerations such as clinical-grade scale-up and delivery techniques are discussed. The article succinctly provides readers with a working knowledge of SCI and cell therapies at the leading edge of research.

In large-scale cohort studies, sedentary behavior has been routinely measured using self-reports or devices that apply a count-based threshold. We employed a gold standard postural allocation technique using thigh inclination and acceleration to capture free-living sedentary behavior. Participants aged 46.8 (standard deviation (SD), 0.7) years (n = 5,346) from the 1970 British Cohort Study (United Kingdom) were fitted with a waterproofed thigh-mounted accelerometer device (activPAL3 micro; PAL Technologies Ltd., Glasgow, United Kingdom) worn continuously over 7 days; data were collected in 2016–2018. Usable data were retrieved from 83.0% of the devices fitted, with 79.6% of the sample recording at least 6 full days of wear (at least 10 waking hours). Total daily sitting time (average times were 9.5 (SD, 2.0) hours/day for men and 9.0 (SD, 2.0) hours/day for women) accounted for 59.4% and 57.3% of waking hours in men and women, respectively; 73.8% of sample participants recorded ≥8 hours/day of sitting. Sitting in prolonged bouts of 60 continuous minutes or more accounted for 25.3% and 24.4% of total daily sitting in men and women, respectively. In mutually adjusted models, male sex, underweight, obesity, education, poor self-rated health, television-viewing time, and having a sedentary occupation were associated with higher device-measured sitting times. Thigh-worn accelerometry was feasibly deployed and should be considered for larger-scale national surveys.

In this article, we trace the interconnections between humanitarianism and militarism. We highlight the significance of a geographical perspective in emphasizing the spatial and multiscalar dimensions of this changing relationship, particularly in Western states. In doing so, we reveal the violent geographies produced through militarized humanitarianism and demonstrate the ways political violence can be obscured through invocations of humanitarianism. We look at five overlapping lines of enquiry: the way humanitarianism is used to modulate war; the rationalization of military intervention as humanitarian; military deployment in response to humanitarian crises; the military take-up of humanitarian-style practices; and weapons development and humanitarianism.

Study Analysis Group 21 (SAG21) of NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG) was organized to study the effect of stellar contamination on space-based transmission spectroscopy, a method for studying exoplanetary atmospheres by measuring the wavelength-dependent radius of a planet as it transits its star. Transmission spectroscopy relies on a precise understanding of the spectrum of the star being occulted. However, stars are not homogeneous, constant light sources but have temporally evolving photospheres and chromospheres with inhomogeneities like spots, faculae, plages, granules, and flares. This SAG brought together an interdisciplinary team of more than 100 scientists, with observers and theorists from the heliophysics, stellar astrophysics, planetary science, and exoplanetary atmosphere research communities, to study the current research needs that can be addressed in this context to make the most of transit studies from current NASA facilities like HST and JWST. The analysis produced 14 findings, which fall into three Science Themes encompassing (1) how the Sun is used as our best laboratory to calibrate our understanding of stellar heterogeneities ("The Sun as the Stellar Benchmark"), (2) how stars other than the Sun extend our knowledge of heterogeneities ("Surface Heterogeneities of Other Stars") and (3) how to incorporate information gathered for the Sun and other stars into transit studies ("Mapping Stellar Knowledge to Transit Studies"). In this invited review, we largely reproduce the final report of SAG21 as a contribution to the peer-reviewed literature., Invited review in press at RASTI. Based on the ExoPAG SAG21 report (arXiv:2201.09905v1) and refined via feedback from three reviewers. 75 pages, 30 figures, 5 tables

With the increasing number of planets discovered by TESS, the atmospheric characterization of small exoplanets is accelerating. L98-59 is a M-dwarf hosting a multi-planet system, and so far, four small planets have been confirmed. The innermost planet b is $\sim15\%$ smaller and $\sim60\%$ lighter than Earth, and should thus have a predominantly rocky composition. The Hubble Space Telescope observed five primary transits of L98-59b in $1.1-1.7\ \mu$m, and here we report the data analysis and the resulting transmission spectrum of the planet. We measure the transit depths for each of the five transits and, by combination, we obtain a transmission spectrum with an overall precision of $\sim20$ ppm in for each of the 18 spectrophotometric channels. With this level of precision, the transmission spectrum does not show significant modulation, and is thus consistent with a planet without any atmosphere or a planet having an atmosphere and high-altitude clouds or haze. The scenarios involving an aerosol-free, H$_2$-dominated atmosphere with H$_2$O or CH$_4$ are inconsistent with the data. The transmission spectrum also disfavors, but does not rules out, an H$_2$O-dominated atmosphere without clouds. A spectral retrieval process suggests that an H$_2$-dominated atmosphere with HCN and clouds or haze may be the preferred solution, but this indication is non-conclusive. Future James Webb Space Telescope observations may find out the nature of the planet among the remaining viable scenarios., Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in AJ

The correlation of the public’s perception of drug problems with neighborhood characteristics has rarely been studied. The aim of this study was to investigate factors that correlate with public perceptions in London boroughs using the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) Public Attitude Survey between 2012 and 2019. A subject-specific random effect deploying a Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) using an Adaptive Gaussian Quadrature method with 10 integration points was applied. To obtain time trends across inner and outer London areas, the GLMM was fitted using a Restricted Marginal Pseudo Likelihood method. The perception of drug problems increased with statistical significance in 17 out of 32 London boroughs between 2012 and 2019. These boroughs were geographically clustered across the north of London. Levels of deprivation, as measured by the English Index of Multiple Deprivation, as well as the percentage of local population who were non-UK-born and recorded vehicle crime rates were shown to be positively associated with the public’s perception of drug problems. Conversely, recorded burglary rate was negatively associated with the public’s perception of drug problems in their area. The public are influenced in their perception of drug problems by neighborhood factors including deprivation and visible manifestations of antisocial behavior.

A DNA bank has been created from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) saliva samples. A total of 23,336 samples are available, from 9,259 cohort members (4,630 males and 4,629 females), 8,898 mothers and 5,179 fathers. There are 4,533 mother, child, father ‘triads’. This paper describes the collection of the saliva samples from cohort members and their biological parents in the MCS. It analyses response rates and predictors of response, and details the DNA extraction, genotyping and imputation procedures performed on the data.Key messagesIt describes the collection of saliva samples in the Millennium Cohort Study, from cohort members and their resident biological parents.It analyses response rates and predictors of response.It details the DNA extraction, genotyping and imputation procedures performed on the data.

Children with visual impairments (VI) tend to struggle with their fundamental motor skills (FMS), and these difficulties often persist across the lifespan, requiring frequent assessment. The Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD) shows robust psychometric properties for children with VI. The TGMD, which includes 13 skills, is time-consuming to administer and score, warranting the need to explore brief versions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the psychometric properties of three, six-skill versions of the TGMD-3 with children with VI. Children (n = 302, Boys = 58%, Girls = 42%, Mage = 13.00, SD = 2.50 years) with VI (B1 = 27%, B2 = 20%, B3 = 38%, B4 = 15%) participated in this study. We examined three different models using confirmatory factor analyses on the relationships between the motor skills and latent traits across the models. Scores from all three brief versions had acceptable global fit. Although further research should be conducted, practitioners can adopt a brief version of the TGMD to assess children with VI.

The inclusion of the collection of biomeasures within social surveys, and longitudinal surveys in particular, is becoming ever more common. Combining objective measurements of health with detailed information about lifestyles and behaviour collected over long periods of time offers enormous research potential. Studies that combine an interview with the collection of biomeasures can be conducted in various ways. One model is that field interviewers make initial contact with participants, conduct the interviews and arrange follow-up visits for a nurse to collect the biomeasures. Alternatively, field interviewers can be trained to collect biomeasures, but there remain questions about whether the quality of data collected is comparable to that collected by a nurse. Other studies invite participants to visit clinics, but this can be very costly in a large-scale national study. There is no consensus on the optimal strategy for combining a social survey with the collection of biomeasures. The 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) is a longitudinal birth cohort study which began in 1970. The 11th sweep of the study began in 2016, when study members were aged 46, and included an interview component alongside the collection of a range of biomeasures. The first phase of fieldwork was conducted using a new approach where nurses conducted all of the data collection. Midway through fieldwork BCS70 switched to a two-stage approach where interviews were conducted by interviewers followed by a separate nurse visit. This presented a unique opportunity to evaluate the success of the two approaches.

As a society the growth in working with students with disabilities in schools has improved immensely, although there is a long way to go. Inclusion, integration and mainstreaming have continued to ...

Young children typically report primarily same-gender friendships across childhood. However, there is growing awareness of the benefits of gender-integrated friendships and gender integration in schools, especially for social-emotional domains. The current study tested whether Successful Kinesthetic Instruction for Preschoolers (SKIP), an evidence-based motor competence intervention led by physical education teachers, promotes gender-integrated friendships in preschool-aged children. Results documented that children (Mage = 47.38, SD = 6.21 months, range = 36.67–60.25 months) assigned to the SKIP condition (n = 56) as compared to a control free-play condition (n = 37) showed higher motor skill competence and were more likely to report gender-integrated friendships post intervention. Growth in girls’ reports of gender-integrated friendships, in particular, drove the intervention effect on gender-integrated friendships. These findings highlight one example of how motor competence interventions can also result in benefits in social-emotional domains.

N/A

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, police services around the world were granted unprecedented new powers to enforce social distancing restrictions to help to get the virus under control. Using data from a representative survey of Londoners fielded during the height of the first wave of the pandemic (April – June 2020), we explore the scale of public support for giving police additional powers to enforce the regulations, how support for different powers changed over time, and what factors predicted support. Aside from one lockdown-specific factor, we find that even in the midst of a pandemic, trust, legitimacy and affect were the most important predictors of support for police empowerment.

We acquired data of nearby dM3.5e star EV Lac using 5 different observatories: NASA's TESS mission, NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory ($Swift$), NASA's Neutron Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) and two ground based telescopes (University of Hawaii 2.2-m (UH88) and Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT) Network), to span a comprehensive, simultaneous wavelength coverage of flaring events. We identified 56 flares in the TESS light curve, 9 flares in the $Swift$ $UVM2$ light curve, 14 flares in the NICER X-ray light curve, and 1 flare in the LCOGT light curve. However, we did not identify flares in the $Swift$ XRT light curve or UH88 spectrum. We compare flare frequency distribution (FFD) of flares observed by TESS, NICER and $Swift$/UVOT. We find that the FFDs of TESS and NICER flares have comparable slopes, $\beta_{T}$ = -0.67$\pm$0.09 and $\beta_{N}$ = -0.64$\pm$0.19, and that the FFD of UVOT flares has a shallower slope ($\beta_{U}$ = -0.38$\pm$0.13).

Background Life-course and cross-cohort investigations of psychological distress are limited by differences in measures used across time within- and between- cohorts. Aims We aimed to examine adulthood distribution of symptoms and cross-cohort trends by test-equating mental health measures administered in the 1946, 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts. Methods We used data from the above three birth cohorts (N=32,242) and an independently recruited calibration sample (n=5,800) where all measures of psychological distress that were used in at least one sweep of the cohorts were administered. We used two approaches to test-equating (equipercentile linking and multiple imputation) and two index-measured (General Health Questionnaire [GHQ]-12 and Malaise-9). We presented and compared means and prevalence of mental distress across adulthood in each cohort. Results While broad patterns of the shape of mental distress were similar across adulthood (inverse-Ushape) for all methods used, both test-equating method and index measure resulted in slightly different estimates, most notably for cross-cohort comparisons. Cross-cohort comparisons using GHQ-12 suggested that psychological distress is higher in younger cohorts, whereas using Malaise-9 there were inconsistent differences between cohorts. Sensitivity analysis (using incidents where both measures were simultaneously available in the cohorts) indicated that multiple imputation led to more accurate estimates compared to equipercentile linking. Conclusion When estimating life course trajectories of psychological distress we observe an inverse-U shaped trajectory across adulthood. Differences in point estimates between measures and methods do not allow for clear conclusions about consistent trends between cohorts.

Youth with visual impairments are more likely to be overweight than peers without visual impairments and often struggle with their locomotor skills. Locomotor development can combat unhealthy body weight statuses by supporting physical activity behaviors. There are no longitudinal investigations concerning the locomotor skill and body mass index (BMI) developmental trajectories of youth with visual impairments. The purpose of this study was to examine the 3-year developmental trajectory of the locomotor skills and BMI of youth with visual impairments including differential effects of self-reported gender and degree of vision. Participants (N = 34, Mage = 11.75 years, 47% female) showed severely delayed and arrested locomotor development with increases in BMI across 3 years regardless of self-reported gender or degree of vision. Participants failed to breech a proficiency barrier of motor competence to combat against increases in BMI across time. Additional longitudinal inquiries are needed.