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This study aimed to evaluate psychometric properties of the Persian version of the 25-item Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS) with a three-factor structure including ease of excitation (EOE), low sensory threshold (LST), and aesthetic sensitivity (AES) (study 1) and to assess the relations of the HSPS factors to obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptom dimensions in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) by controlling for depression, anxiety, and OCD severity (study 2). Two hundred OCD outpatients and 100 healthy subjects were included in this study. Participants completed the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS), the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), the Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). The results showed that the 20-item HSPS with three factors had an acceptable fit and good internal consistency, after removing five items. OCD patients scored higher on EOE and LST than healthy subjects. The results showed that LST significantly predicted responsibility for harm after controlling for OCD severity, depression, and anxiety. LST and AES were significant predictors of unacceptable thoughts. EOE significantly predicted symmetry. These findings suggest that the modified HSPS is a valid scale among Iranian OCD patients. In addition, the HSPS factors may be related to heterogeneous OC symptom dimensions., Author(s): Vahid Khosravani [sup.1] , Zahra Ganji [sup.2] , Farangis Sharifi Bastan [sup.3] , Seyed Mehdi Samimi Ardestani [sup.4] , Ali Amirinezhad [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.411600.2, Clinical Research Development [...]

Bioassays were conducted to assess the effects of two silicon dioxide nanoparticles of Aerosil® and Nanosav against adults of Rhyzopertha dominica F. and Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val. Silica nanoparticles were applied at the rates of 50, 100, 200 and 300 mg · kg−1 on wheat and peeled barley. The mortality was counted after 1, 2, 3, and 7 days of exposure. Another experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of food source on the survival of beetles after exposure to silica nanoparticles. Adults were exposed to silica nanoparticles at the rate of 0.2 mg · cm−2 for 1 and 2 days on filter paper inside plastic Petri dishes, respectively. After exposure, the initial mortality was counted and live individuals of both species were held for a week in empty glass vials or vials containing wheat and wheat flour, respectively. Silica nanoparticles have high toxicity on R. dominica and T. confusum adults. Rhyzopertha dominica was more susceptible than T. confusum. However, the mortality of both species increased with increasing concentrations and time exposed to each concentration. At low concentrations, Aerosil® was more effective than Nanosav. Silica nanoparticles were more effective in wheat grains than barley. Results indicated that the initial mortality was so high that the impact of food source on delay mortality was unclear in most cases. Silica nanoparticles were efficient against tested species and can be used effectively in a stored grain integrated pest management program.

Background: Although the scientific literature has extensively discussed the impact of the media on people’s health-related behaviors, there is little evidence of the effect of different sources of COVID-19 vaccine news on changing the intention to adhere to health protocols. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the sources of news on the COVID-19 vaccine and the association of each of these sources with the intention of changing adherence to COVID-19 preventive health measures (ICA-COVID-19-PHM). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1000 public population (67.4% female and 32.6% male) of Mazandaran province (age range: 18 to 60 years). The data were collected between January and April 2021 by completing an unidentified online “Google form” questionnaire via social media platforms, such as Telegram, WhatsApp, Soroush, ETA, and Instagram. The twolevel linear regression analysis was used to examine the association between the sources of news on the COVID-19 vaccine and the ICA-COVID-19-PHM (social and personal aspects). Results: The most common sources of receiving news were mass media (radio and television with 54%) and virtual networks with 49%. The results showed the ICA-COVID-19-PHM for the news source via virtual workgroups was positive (B=1.36; 95% CI, 0.31%, 2.41%; P=0.01) and for the news sources via virtual networks (B=-0.83; 95% CI, -1.62%, -0.05%; P=0.04) and satellites and foreign news agencies (B=-1.50; 95% CI, -2.64%, -0.36%; P=0.01) was negative. While, the ICACOVID-19-PHM was not significant (P>0.05) for other sources, such as groups of friends and neighbors, newspapers and magazines, radio and television, and news websites. Conclusion: The management of news sources in epidemics is important because they have associations with adherence to preventive health measures. Policymakers should consider the distribution of vaccine news sources on the ICA-COVID-19-PHM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]