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OBJECTIVES. Our objectives were to (a) estimate the prevalence of children's mental health problems, (b) assess family functioning, and (c) investigate the relationship between children's mental health and family functioning in Rhode Island. METHODS. From the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health, Rhode Island data for children 6 to 17 years of age were used for the analyses (N = 1326). Two aspects of family functioning measures, parental stress and parental involvement, were constructed and were examined by children's mental health problems, as well as other child and family characteristics (child's age, gender, race/ethnicity, special needs, parent's education, income, employment, family structure, number of children, and mother's general and mental health). Bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression were used to investigate the relationship. RESULTS. Among Rhode Island children, nearly I (19.0%) in 5 had mental health problems, 1 (15.6%) in 6 lived with a highly stressed parent, and one third (32.7%) had parents with low involvement. Bivariate analyses showed that high parental stress and low parental involvement were higher among parents of children with mental health problems than parents of children without those problems (33.2% vs 11.0% and 41.0% vs 30.3%, respectively). In multivariate logistic regression, parents of children with mental health problems had nearly 4 times the odds of high stress compared with parents of children without those problems. When children's mental health problems were severe, the odds of high parental stress were elevated. However, children's mental health was not associated with parental involvement. CONCLUSIONS. Children's mental health was strongly associated with parental stress, but it was not associated with parental involvement. The findings indicate that when examining the mental health issues of children, parental mental health and stress must be considered. Key Words children's mental health, family functioning, parental stress, parental involvement, National Survey of Children's Health, Rhode Island, AT LEAST 1 in 5 children in the United States has a mental health disorder, and 1 in 10 has a serious emotional disturbance. (1) These problems are a source [...]

Background: Social influences are among the most important factors associated with children's and adolescents' smoking. Social norms in families, peer groups, professional and municipal communities influence the individuals ones by the process of socialization obtained mainly by interactions and observations. Especially social context of the home environment expressed by household smoking restriction serves as a socialization mechanism that dissuades from the using of tobacco. Parental anti-smoking socialization practices (their attitudes and knowledge about children smoking, discussion about smoking in appropriate quality and frequency, smoking environment in homes) are influenced by their education and family status.Methods: Markers of social environment (the level of mothers' and fathers' education, family status) were investigated during interview with 5th graders included in the cohort participating in the programme "Non-smoking Is Normal". Data about the self-reported exposure to passive smoking at homes and cars were taken into consideration. Information about discussions with parents about smoking, opinions about adults smoking, experimentation with smoking, and concurrent decision about smoking in the future were obtained from 766 children aged 11 years. Those who did not know parental education or family status were excluded from the evaluation. Differences were evaluated using the chi-square, Mantel-Haenszel, Fisher and Yates corrected tests in the statistic software Epi Info, version 6.Results: The level of mothers' and fathers' education significantly influenced the exposure of children to passive smoking. Compared to families of higher educated parents, children living in families with middle and low levels of parents' education were significantly more exposed to environmental tobacco smoke at home and in car (RR 1.38; 95% CI 1.04-1.83) and fewer of them live in non-smoking environments. In the whole cohort, 67.5% children have not smoked even one puff yet, 17.2% reported one single attempt, and 15.4% smoked repeatedly. The level of parents' education had no influence on children's concurrent smoking experimentation or on their concurrent decision about smoking in the future. There was also no difference in number of children who obtained cigarettes from their parents and parents' level of education (about 6%). When the level of maternal education was combined with the family status, significant differences were found. Compared to children living with two biological parents (highly educated mother), children from other groups more often reported current experimentating with smoking and lower number of those decided not to smoke in the future. No significant differences were found in other markers of knowledge and attitudes between children from analysed social family groups.Conclusion: In our study, the parental education has significantly influenced exposure of children to passive smoking at homes and in cars, but had no effect on children's opinions and attitudes about smoking. Higher education of mothers and family status significantly lowered the frequency of current experimentation and decision about future smoking among children living in families with two biological parents of whom mother attained higher education. It is necessary to seek ways for improving parental concern about smoking prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atherosclerosis, a term derived from the Greek "athero" (atheroma) and "sclerosis" (hardening), is a long-standing process that leads to the formation of atheromatous plaques in the arterial wall, contributing to the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and the switching of their phenotype play a crucial role in the whole process. Retinoic acid (RA), a natural derivative of vitamin A, has been used in the treatment of various inflammatory diseases and cell proliferation disorders. Numerous studies have demonstrated that RA has an important inhibitory effect on the proliferation, migration, and dedifferentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells, leading to a significant reduction in atherosclerotic lesions. In this review article, we explore the effects of RA on the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, focusing on its regulatory action in VSMCs and its role in the phenotypic switching, proliferation, and migration of VSMCs. Despite the potential impact that RA may have on the process of atherosclerosis, further studies are required to examine its safety and efficacy in clinical practice.

Primate faces provide information about a range of variant and invariant traits, including some that are relevant for mate choice. For example, faces of males may convey information about their health or genetic quality through symmetry or facial masculinity. Because perceiving and processing such information may have bearing on the reproductive success of an individual, cognitive systems are expected to be sensitive to facial cues of mate quality. However, few studies have investigated this topic in non-human primate species. Orang-utans are an interesting species to test mate-relevant cognitive biases, because they are characterised by male bimaturism: some adult males are fully developed and bear conspicuous flanges on the side of their face, while other males look relatively similar to females. Here, we describe two non-invasive computerised experiments with Bornean orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus), testing (i) immediate attention towards large flanges and symmetrical faces using a dot-probe task (N = 3 individuals; 2F) and (ii) choice bias for pictures of flanged males over unflanged males using a preference test (N = 6 individuals; 4F). In contrast with our expectations, we found no immediate attentional bias towards either large flanges or symmetrical faces. In addition, individuals did not show a choice bias for stimuli of flanged males. We did find exploratory evidence for a colour bias and energy efficiency trade-offs in the preference task. We discuss our null results and exploratory results in the context of the evolutionary history of Bornean orang-utans, and provide suggestions for a more biocentric approach to the study of orang-utan cognition., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Although the incidence of restenosis and stent thrombosis has substantially declined during the last decades, they still constitute the two major causes of stent failure. These complications are partially attributed to the currently used cytostatic drugs, which can cause local inflammation, delay or prevent re-endothelialization and essentially cause arterial cell toxicity. Retinoic acid (RA), a vitamin A (retinol) derivative, is a naturally occurring substance used for the treatment of cell proliferation disorders. The agent has pleiotropic effects on vascular smooth muscle cells and macrophages: it influences the proliferation, migration, and transition of smooth muscle cells to other cell types and modulates macrophage activation. These observations are supported by accumulated evidence from in vitro and in vivo experiments. In addition, systemic and topical administration of RA can decrease the development of atherosclerotic plaques and reduce or inhibit restenosis after vascular injury (caused by embolectomy, balloon catheters, or ligation of arteries) in various experimental models. Recently, an RA-drug eluting stent (DES) has been tested in an animal model. In this review, we explore the effects of RA in atherosclerosis and the potential of the local delivery of RA through an RA-DES or RA-coated balloon for targeted therapeutic percutaneous vascular interventions. Despite promising published results, further experimental study is warranted to examine the safety and efficacy of RA-eluting devices in vascular artery disease., (Copyright © 2023 Hellenic Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Drug-coated balloons have been used as a non-stenting treatment in coronary and peripheral artery disease. Until recently, only sirolimus- and paclitaxel-coated balloons have been investigated in clinical trials. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of an innovative everolimus-coated balloon (ECB) in a swine coronary artery model., Methods: thirty-two swine coronary arteries were prepared through dilatation with a non-coated angioplasty balloon in a closed-chest model. During a period of 90 days, the following four groups (four animals per group, two coronary arteries per animal) were compared for safety and efficacy: A, Rontis ECB with 2.5 μg/mm 2 of drug per balloon surface; B, Rontis ECB with 7.5 μg/mm 2 ; C, Rontis Europa Ultra bare balloon; and D, Magic Touch, Concept Medical, sirolimus-coated balloon with a drug load of 1.3 μg/mm 2 ., Results: Differences in local biological effects (arterial reaction scores) and surface of intimal area (mm 2 ) were not statistically significant between the treatment groups. Numerically, group A showed the lowest intimal area and intimal mean thickness, while group B showed the lowest stenosis among all groups., Conclusions: ECB was safe and effective in a porcine coronary artery model. The dose of everolimus may play a role in the biocompatibility of the balloon.

Physical attractiveness plays a crucial role in mate choice for both men and women. This is reflected in visual attention: people immediately attend towards and look longer at attractive faces, especially when they are motivated to find a partner. However, previous studies did not incorporate real-life dating decisions. Here, we aimed to combine attentional tasks with individual attractiveness ratings and a real-life mate choice context, namely a speed-dating paradigm. We investigated whether heterosexual non-committed young adults showed biases in immediate and voluntary attention towards attractive faces and preferred dating partners. In line with previous research, we found considerable individual differences in individual attractiveness preferences. Furthermore, our results showed that men had a bias towards attractive faces and preferred dating partners in the immediate attention task, while results for women were mixed. In the voluntary attention task, however, both men and women had an attentional bias towards attractive faces and preferred dating partners. Our results suggest that individual attractiveness preferences are good predictors of especially voluntary attention. We discuss these findings from an evolutionary perspective and suggest directions for future research., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background/aim: Acute pulmonary embolism during cesarean section is extremely rare and only a limited number of cases have been reported in literature. The aim of this study was to report a case of acute high risk pulmonary embolism during elective cesarean section treated with systemic thrombolysis and discuss the multidisciplinary management in both early recognition and prompt treatment., Case Report: A 39-year-old, G5P2, ASA II parturient presented for repeat cesarean section under general anesthesia. A sudden drop in end-tidal CO 2 after placenta delivery combined with significant hemodynamic instability after an uneventful intraoperative course was strongly indicative of pulmonary embolism. Urgent transthoracic ultrasound revealed a sizable thrombus in the inferior vena cava and the right atrium. Thrombolysis was carried out intraoperatively using recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, which was administered under continuous US monitoring until thrombus resolution. This resulted in significant bleeding that was treated in a stepwise manner beginning with implementation of massive transfusion protocol, Bakri balloon placement, and rescue hysterectomy several hours after the event. Follow-up was uneventful and she was discharged on the 12 th postoperative day., Conclusion: Though pregnancy is one of the major risk factors of the development of venous thromboembolism, acute intraoperative pulmonary embolism is extremely rare. Specific guidelines for the management of such cases are difficult to issue due to the paucity of relevant data. Thus, an individualized approach by a multidisciplinary team for diagnosis and intervention is mandated., (Copyright © 2023, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of innovative retinoic acid (RA) eluting stents with bioabsorbable polymer. Sixty stents divided in ten groups were implanted in the iliac arteries of 30 rabbits. Two polymers ("A", poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) and "B", polylactic acid), and three doses ("Low", "Medium" and "High") of RA (groups: AL, AM, AH, BL, BM, BH) were used on cobalt chromium stents (Rontis Corporation), one group of bare stent (C), one group (D) of Everolimus eluting stent (Xience-Pro, Abbot Vascular), and two groups of Rontis Everolimus eluting stents coated with polymer A (EA) and B (EB). Treated arteries were explanted after 4 weeks, processed by methyl methacrylate resin and evaluated by histopathology. None of the implanted stents was related with thrombus formation or extensive inflammation. Image analysis showed limited differences between groups regarding area stenosis (BH, D and EB groups had the lower values). Group BH had lower intimal mean thickness than AH (105.1 vs 75.3 μm, p = 0.024). Stents eluting RA, a non-cytotoxic drug, were not related with thrombus formation and had an acceptable degree of stenosis 4 weeks post implantation. RA dose and type of polymer may play role in the biocompatibility of the stents., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

In a series of three studies, we examined whether third-party observers can detect attraction in others based on subtle nonverbal cues. We employed video segments of dates collected from a speed-dating experiment, in which daters went on a brief (approx. 4 min) blind-date and indicated whether they would like to go on another date with their brief interaction partner or not. We asked participants to view these stimuli and indicate whether or not each couple member is attracted to their partner. Our results show that participants could not reliably detect attraction, and this ability was not influenced by the age of the observer, video segment location (beginning or middle of the date), video duration, or general emotion recognition capacity. Contrary to previous research findings, our findings suggest that third-party observers cannot reliably detect attraction in others. However, there was one exception: Recognition rose above chance level when the daters were both interested in their partners compared to when they were not interested., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-02927-0., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Background: High-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) levels are frequently elevated in elderly patients presenting to the emergency department for non-cardiac events. However, most studies on the role of elevated hs-cTn in elderly populations have investigated the prognostic value of hs-cTn in patients with a specific diagnosis or have assessed the relationship between hs-cTn and comorbidities., Aim: To investigate the in-hospital prognosis of consecutive elderly patients admitted to the Internal Medicine Department with acute non-cardiac events and increased hs-cTnI levels., Methods: In this retrospective study, we selected patients who were aged ≥ 65 years and admitted to the Internal Medicine Department of our hospital between January 2019 and December 2019 for non-cardiac reasons. Eligible patients were those who had hs-cTnI concentrations ≥ 100 ng/L. We investigated the independent predictors of in-hospital mortality by multivariable logistic regression analysis., Results: One hundred and forty-six patients (59% female) were selected with an age range from 65 to 100 (mean ± SD: 85.4 ± 7.61) years. The median hs-cTnI value was 284.2 ng/L. For 72 (49%) patients the diagnosis of hospitalization was an infectious disease. The overall in-hospital mortality was 32% (47 patients). Individuals who died did not have higher hs-cTnI levels compared with those who were discharged alive (median: 314.8 vs 282.5 ng/L; P = 0.565). There was no difference in mortality in patients with infectious vs non-infectious disease (29% vs 35%). Multivariable analysis showed that age (OR 1.062 per 1 year increase, 95%CI: 1.000-1.127; P = 0.048) and creatinine levels (OR 2.065 per 1 mg/dL increase, 95%CI: 1.383-3.085; P < 0.001) were the only independent predictors of death. Mortality was 49% in patients with eGFR < 30 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ., Conclusion: Myocardial injury is a malignant condition in elderly patients admitted to the hospital for non-cardiac reasons. The presence of severe renal impairment is a marker of extremely high in-hospital mortality., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors has any conflicts of interest., (©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Human adult laughter is characterized by vocal bursts produced predominantly during exhalation, yet apes laugh while exhaling and inhaling. The current study investigated our hypothesis that laughter of human infants changes from laughter similar to that of apes to increasingly resemble that of human adults over early development. We further hypothesized that the more laughter is produced on the exhale, the more positively it is perceived. To test these predictions, novice ( n = 102) and expert (phonetician, n = 15) listeners judged the extent to which human infant laughter ( n = 44) was produced during inhalation or exhalation, and the extent to which they found the laughs pleasant and contagious. Support was found for both hypotheses, which were further confirmed in two pre-registered replication studies. Likely through social learning and the anatomical development of the vocal production system, infants' initial ape-like laughter transforms into laughter similar to that of adult humans over the course of ontogeny.

A consistent finding in the literature is that men overperceive sexual interest in women (i.e., sexual overperception bias). Several potential mechanisms have been proposed for this bias, including projecting one's own interest onto a given partner, sexual desire, and self-rated attractiveness. Here, we examined the influence of these factors in attraction detection accuracy during speed-dates. Sixty-seven participants (34 women) split in four groups went on a total of 10 speed-dates with all opposite-sex members of their group, resulting in 277 dates. The results showed that attraction detection accuracy was reliably predicted by projection of own interest in combination with participant sex. Specifically, men were more accurate than women in detecting attraction when they were not interested in their partner compared to when they were interested. These results are discussed in the wider context of arousal influencing detection of partner attraction., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: An alarming cerebro/cardiovascular collateral damage, reflected by a decline in admissions for acute stroke (AS) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS), was observed during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby leading to a re-design of public campaigns. However, there are limited data regarding the AS and ACS hospitalization rates during the second wave of the pandemic, which was followed by re-imposition of lockdowns., Methods: We calculated the rate of AS and ACS hospitalizations from three representative tertiary care hospitals in Greece during a 2-month period (November-December 2020) of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the corresponding control period in 2019 from three representative tertiary care hospitals in Greece. This was a follow-up study with identical design to our previous report evaluating AS and ACS hospitalizations during the first wave of the pandemic (March-April 2020)., Results: Compared with 2019, there was a 34% relative reduction of AS hospitalizations [incidence rate ratio (IRR): 0.66, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.48-0.92, p  = 0.013] and 33% relative reduction of ACS hospitalizations (IRR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.54-0.83, p  < 0.001) during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The relative reduction was smaller and did not reach the level of statistical significance for the respective syndromes (haemorrhagic stroke: IRR 0.87, 95% CI: 0.41-1.82, p  = 0.71; ST-elevation myocardial infarction: IRR 0.81, 95% CI: 0.57-1.14, p  = 0.22)., Conclusion: AS and ACS hospitalizations were persistently reduced during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with 2019 in Greece. This decline was similar to the observations during the first wave despite the large differences in the epidemiological COVID-19 burden. Lockdowns, a common characteristic in both waves, appear to have a detrimental indirect impact on cerebro/cardiovascular diseases in the general population., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement: Georgios Tsivgoulis is Associate Editor at Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders, therefore, the peer review process was managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor was not involved in the decision-making process., (© The Author(s), 2021.)

Introduction: the purpose of this study was to bring out some epidemiological and clinical characteristics of metabolic syndrome., Methods: a total of 300 subjects willingly participated in the present study which was conducted at Ibn Zohr regional hospital in Marrakesh. We were interested in socio-demographic variables, body mass index (BMI) which assesses the degree of obesity of each subject. The blood parameters were determined by an adequate biochemistry automaton. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software., Results: among the 300 subjects who participated in the study, 57.3% were females and 42.7% were males with a sex-ratio of 0.74. The average age was 51.6 ± 13.42 years old. Seventy nine of the participants (26.3%) had a metabolic syndrome, with a predominance of women: 60 women (34.9%) and 19 men (14.8%). Illiterates (33.8%) and married subjects (25.6%) were the most affected by the metabolic syndrome. The high waist circumference found in 97.5% was the predominant criteria in our study. Finally, the statistical analysis showed a significant association between high waist circumference, BMI and the presence of metabolic syndrome (P = 0.001>) and (P < 0.001) respectively., Conclusion: the metabolic syndrome is slowly but surely setting. Implementing prevention strategies and encouraging healthy lifestyles will surely minimize serious public health problems in the city., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright: Zineb Hannoun et al.)

A previous study employing the additional singleton paradigm showed that a singleton distractor that appeared more often in one specific location interfered less with target search than when it appeared at any other location. These findings suggested that through statistical learning the location that was likely to contain a distractor was suppressed relative to all other locations. Even though feasible, it is also possible that this effect is due to faster disengagement of attention from the high-probability distractor location. The present study tested this hypothesis using a variant of the additional singleton task adapted for eye tracking in which observers made a speeded saccade to a shape singleton and gave a manual response. The singleton distractor was presented more often at one location than all other locations. Consistent with the suppression hypothesis, we found that fewer saccades landed at the high-probability distractor location than any other location. Also, when a target appeared at the high-probability location, saccade latencies towards the target were higher than latencies towards the target when it was presented at other locations. Furthermore, in addition to suppression, we also found evidence for faster disengagement from the high-probability distractor location than the low-probability distractor location; however, this effect was relatively small. The current findings support the notion that through statistical learning plasticity is induced in the spatial priority map of attentional selection so that the high-probability distractor location is suppressed compared to any other location.

Guidelines for the care of patients with diabetes mellitus are believed to improve clinical practice and patient care. This study aimed to analyse the pattern of diabetes care by physicians and nurses in primary care clinics in Palestine and their self-reported compliance with the local Palestinian guidelines. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 401 participants in 3 governorates in the West Bank. In total, 46.0% of participants knew about the existence of the Palestinian guidelines and about 60% believed these were partially used; 32.7% had received training on implementation of the guidelines. Multivariate analysis showed that training on the guidelines was the only factor significantly associated with self-reported compliance with guideline use. Respondents reported high commitment to the use of the guidelines, but their attitudes and behaviour varied with time constraints, availability of the guidelines, availability of laboratory tests and training on how to apply the guidelines.