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The speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT) suggests that time constraints reduce response accuracy. Its relevance in observational settings--where response time (RT) may not be constrained but respondent speed may still vary--is unclear. Using 29 data sets containing data from cognitive tasks, we use a flexible method for identification of the SAT (which we test in extensive simulation studies) to probe whether the SAT holds. We find inconsistent relationships between time and accuracy; marginal increases in time use for an individual do not necessarily predict increases in accuracy. Additionally, the speed-accuracy relationship may depend on the underlying difficulty of the interaction. We also consider the analysis of items and individuals; of particular interest is the observation that respondents who exhibit more within-person variation in response speed are typically of lower ability. We further find that RT is typically a weak predictor of response accuracy. Our findings document a range of empirical phenomena that should inform future modeling of RTs collected in observational settings. [This work was co-written by the Project iLEAD Consortium.]

The introduction of the obligation to prepare ESG reports taking into account EU Taxonomy is a challenge for enterprises, but at the same time opens up the possibility of using disclosures in this area to assess entities in the context of environmentally sustainable activities. Legal changes in the field of the Green Deal have been introduced in the last three years, and in the area of EU taxonomy this process is still ongoing, resulting in a deficit of research on the effects of implementing the new legal regulations. The main goal of our study is to assess the importance of the newly applicable ESG reporting and environmental disclosure requirements under EU Taxonomy in improving the quality and comparability of sustainability reporting and the creation of ESG ratings. A qualitative research method was applied based on multiple case studies using content analysis on the basis of ESG reports for 2021-2022 for entities listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The research results indicate a very low level of activities classified as environmentally sustainable and taxonomy-aligned. Additionally, the results may also indicate problems with implementing the new solutions in reporting practice. At the same time, a positive impact is noted of the implementation of taxonomic reports on improving the comparability and detail of disclosures.

Background: Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV) is characterized by its ability to enter a dormant state within the body. When the wild or vaccine virus reactivates, it can lead to herpes zoster (HZ), which infrequently manifests as a neuroinfection. Objectives: The aim of the study was to analyze the clinical manifestations and outcomes associated with VZV reactivation in the CNS in immunocompetent children. Methods: We searched medical databases for case reports using the keywords “zoster”, “meningitis”, “encephalitis”, and “immunocompetent”. The inclusion criteria were age below 18 years, any gender, race, and ethnicity, no features or history of immunodeficiency, and confirmation of VZV reactivation through the detection of VZV DNA in the CSF. Patients were categorized into two groups: children experiencing the reactivation of the wild virus and children with the vaccine strain virus. Results: The cohort included six children hospitalized in our hospital and 49 children reported in the literature. In 37 (67%), a wild-type virus was detected, while in 18 (33%), an infection was caused by the vaccine strain. There were no differences in the clinical presentation between the two groups. A typical rash was observed in 32 (58%) children. Approximately 41 of the 55 children (75%) received antiviral treatment. Four patients experienced complications. Conclusions: Neither a history of VZV immunization nor the absence of a skin rash can definitively exclude VZV meningitis. It is important to note that any seemingly healthy child, regardless of recognized risk factors, could develop HZ meningitis.

Ivermectin (IVR) is a 16-membered macrocyclic lactone of Nobel prize-honored distinction, showing a broad spectrum of biological activity, especially antiparasitic. We have recently designed a practical and scalable procedure for the synthesis of IVR derivatives with a rearranged oxahydrindene (hexahydrobenzofuran) ring that revealed improved antiparasitic activity compared to that of the native structure. Of note, the compounds that show activity towards parasites, very often are active against cancer cells and vice versa. However, the anticancer potential of IVR has not been studied intensively as yet, and there have been no reports on the effects of its synthetic derivatives against cancer cells. Thus, in the study reported, we thoroughly investigated the anticancer activity of IVR and its derivatives against a panel of four human cancer cell lines. We have identified a number of IVR derivatives with improved cytotoxicity and/or cancer cell-targeting selectivity compared to those of reference compounds. Cell cycle analysis has proved that selected compounds increased the number of cancer cells in the subG1 and G0/G1 phases (PC3, MDA-MB-231 and A549) or S/G2/M phase (HCT-116). The strong proapoptotic effect observed for the most promising IVR derivatives has been associated with a significant increase in caspase-3/7 activation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Finally, these derivatives also showed significant inhibition of interleukin-6 (IL-6) cytokine secretion in cancer cells used. Our results indicate that chemical modification of IVR can lead to synthetic products with enhanced anticancer activity, which may provide an excellent starting point for further development of new IVR-derived agents for the treatment against cancer cells.

Fine motor skills enable children to make precise and coordinated movements with their hands and support their ability to engage in everyday activities and learning experiences. In a longitudinal study of 1,058 4-year-old children in rural Pakistan (n = 488 girls), we examined how prior and concurrent levels of home stimulation relate to change in fine motor skills from ages 2 to 4 while controlling for family wealth, maternal education, number of siblings at birth, prior and concurrent measures of children's physical growth and food insecurity, and prior motor skills at age 2. Moreover, we tested whether the association between early home stimulation and subsequent fine motor skills was mediated by physical growth, food insecurity, motor skills at age 2, and concurrent home stimulation. Results revealed that home stimulation at 18 months was positively associated with change in fine motor skills from ages 2 to 4, over and above family socioeconomic resources. This association was mediated by physical growth, food insecurity and motor skills at age 2. In contrast to home stimulation at 18 months, home stimulation at age 4 was positively associated with concurrent motor skills at age 4 when controlling for all antecedent family factors, as well as prior and concurrent measures of physical growth and food insecurity, and prior motor skills at age 2. Findings suggest that the preschool period may be an important window of time when physically and cognitively stimulating experiences at home uniquely relate to variability in fine motor development. [This article is published in "Developmental Psychology" (EJ1305482).]

Abstract Hate speech incidents often occur in social settings, from public transport to football stadiums. To counteract a prevailing passive attitude towards them, governmental authorities, sociologists, and philosophers stress bystanders’ responsibility to oppose or block hate speech. Here, across two online experiments with UK participants using custom visual vignettes, we provide empirical evidence that bystanders’ expression of opposition can affect how harmful these incidents are perceived, but only as part of a collective response: one expressed by a majority of bystanders present. Experiment 1 (N = 329) shows that the silence or intervention of three bystanders affects the harm caused by hate speech, but one bystander does not. Experiment 2 (N = 269) shows this is not simply a matter of numbers but rather one of norms: only unanimous opposition reduces the public perception of the damage created by the incident. Based on our results, we advance an empirical norm account: group responses to hate speech modulate its harm by indicating either a permissive or a disapproving social norm. Our account and results, showing the need to consider responses to hate speech at a collective level, have direct implications for social psychology, the philosophy of language and public policies.

This study investigated associations of three teacher-reported health indicators--hunger, tiredness, and sickness--with kindergarten readiness skills in San Francisco Unified School District (N = 12,423; female = 48%; M[subscript age] = 5.47, SD[subscript age] = 0.30, range[subscript age] = 4.67--7.00; Asian American = 26%, Black = 5%, Latinx = 20%, Multiracial/Other = 23%, White = 18%). Research Findings: Accounting for demographic characteristics, each teacher-reported health indicator was negatively associated with measures of students' academic and social-emotional readiness. These relations did not differ by student race/ethnicity despite a disproportionately high prevalence of health concerns among Black and Latinx students relative to White students. Moreover, teacher-reported hunger, tiredness, and sickness partially explained racial/ethnic disparities in kindergarten readiness skills, especially among Black students compared to their White, Latinx, and Asian American peers. Practice or Policy: Results demonstrate the feasibility and utility of universal teacher-administered basic health screening and underscore the importance of early childhood health for efforts to redress educational inequality.

Forest ecosystems, vital for maintaining global biodiversity and ecological balance, are increasingly threatened by fragmentation. This study addresses the critical issue in the Tuchola Forest of Poland, examining the effects of natural and human factors on forest fragmentation. Our objective was to identify the most suitable dataset for monitoring forest fragmentation from 2015 to 2020, ascertain the primary drivers of fragmentation, and map the areas at high risk. Utilizing the PALSAR (25 m resolution) and Dynamic World (10 m resolution) datasets, we discovered PALSAR's enhanced ability to detect changes in forest structure, particularly evident after a significant windstorm in 2017. This dataset proved crucial in highlighting the escalating trend of forest fragmentation, reinforcing its importance for environmental monitoring and policy formulation. Our analysis identified key factors influencing fragmentation, such as proximity to croplands, tree height and age, wind speed, and vegetation water content, with areas near croplands and having younger, shorter trees being most susceptible. Employing a Weight-of-Evidence (WOE) Bayesian modeling technique, we mapped forest fragmentation susceptibility, demonstrating our methodology's effectiveness through high accuracy validation (AUC of 0.82 and Kappa Index of 0.68). Our innovative approach in mapping susceptibility to fragmentation, especially after extreme weather events, marks a pioneering contribution in Poland. This research advances the understanding of forest fragmentation dynamics and offers a scalable model for global application, emphasizing the urgent need for targeted conservation strategies to preserve the integrity of forest ecosystems amidst climatic risk and anthropogenic pressures.

This cross-sectional survey study aimed to assess the attitudes and knowledge of children’s guardians in Poland towards tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and its vaccine, as well as to compare these attitudes to those regarding other infectious diseases and their vaccines. Data were collected through anonymous questionnaires, both paper-based and online, from 3030 respondents across Poland, with the majority being from TBE-endemic areas. The survey included questions on demographic characteristics, general vaccination beliefs, and specific perceptions of TBE and its vaccine. Statistical analysis revealed significant associations between willingness to vaccinate against TBE and factors such as general vaccination attitudes, information sources, vaccine safety ratings, and perceptions of disease severity. Results indicated that guardians from larger cities and those with fewer children were more likely to vaccinate. Additionally, parents who supported general vaccinations were significantly more willing to vaccinate against TBE. The study concludes that enhancing public awareness about the safety and importance of the TBE vaccine, especially in endemic regions, is crucial for improving vaccination rates. Targeted public health interventions addressing misconceptions and providing accurate information are essential strategies to increase TBE vaccine uptake and protect children from this serious disease.

After the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, a new highly pathogenic variant of echovirus 11 (E11) was detected. The aim of this study was to analyze the genetic diversity of Polish E11 environmental and clinical strains circulating between 2017 and 2023 as well as compare them with E11 strains isolated from severe neonatal sepsis cases reported in Europe between 2022 and 2023. Additionally, the study explores the effectiveness of environmental monitoring in tracking the spread of new variants. For this purpose, the complete sequences of the VP1 capsid protein gene were determined for 266 E11 strains isolated in Poland from 2017 to 2023, and phylogenetic analysis was performed. In the years 2017–2023, a significant increase in the detection of E11 strains was observed in both environmental and clinical samples in Poland. The Polish E11 strains represented three different genotypes, C3, D5 and E, and were characterized by a high diversity. In Poland, the intensive circulation of the new variant E11, responsible for severe neonatal infections with a high mortality in Europe, was detected in the years 2022–2023. This investigation demonstrates the important role of environmental surveillance in the tracking of enteroviruses circulation, especially in settings with limited clinical surveillance.

Research on the associations among adversity, executive function (EF), and academic outcomes in low- and middle-income countries, where developmental risk factors are more prevalent and impoverished environments are more widespread than in high income countries, is sparse. This study examines the relations among cumulative risk, EF, and learning outcomes measured 2-years later in Ghanaian third- and fourth-graders (N = 371; 49% female), shedding light on underlying mechanisms of how risk can undermine learning. A cumulative risk index was created based on a set of four child-reported risk factors: home aggression, unsafe home neighborhood, hunger, and having worked for pay. Cumulative risk and EF were negatively correlated. Learning outcomes (literacy and math test scores) were negatively correlated with earlier measures of cumulative risk and positively correlated with earlier measures of EF. EF mediated the association between cumulative risk and later learning outcomes, accounting for 65.3% of the total effect for literacy and 100% for math. This mediated pathway was robust to controls for child and household sociodemographic characteristics. The findings contribute to a small evidence base on the mediating role of EF in linking adversity and learning outcomes in a global context. [For the grantee submission, see ED622175.]

Students' executive functions (EFs) are linked to school success. Although school-age children spend much of their time interacting with peers, few studies have explored how children's classmates may promote EF development in elementary school. In this study, we test whether mean levels and variability in classmates' EF skills are associated with growth in individual students' accuracy and speed on EF tasks among third, fourth, and fifth graders (N = 806). We find that classmates' speed, but not accuracy, on EF tasks is linked to significant improvements in individual students' EFs over the school year. Classmates' average EFs, as indexed by faster accurate responses on EF tasks, are associated with improvements in individual students' speed on EF tasks. These results were robust to the inclusion of individual students' general processing speed. In contrast, variability in classmates' accuracy and speed on EF tasks was not associated with individual students' EF growth. Our results highlight the role of peers and the school context for EF development in middle childhood.

The research presents a comparison between two methods which are used to identify days on which there are thunderstorms (TDs) in Poland. SYNOP and PERUN lightning network data from the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW-PIB) for the period 2002–2020 were used to determine and compare the changes in the number of TDs. To determine the number of TDs using the PERUN data, an appropriate method needed to be created which would allow for the closest possible reference to human perception in relation to lightning. A buffer with a radius of 15 km was used, and TDs were counted when there was at least one flash within the buffer circle. Measurements performed by observers are sometimes not homogeneous and are prone to errors, and thus underestimate the actual number of TDs. As a result of the analysis, the average number of TDs in Poland was found to be 26 (SYNOP) and 30 (PERUN) per year.

Background: Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV) is characterized by its ability to enter a dormant state within the body. When the wild or vaccine virus reactivates, it can lead to herpes zoster (HZ), which infrequently manifests as a neuroinfection. Objectives: The aim of the study was to analyze the clinical manifestations and outcomes associated with VZV reactivation in the CNS in immunocompetent children. Methods: We searched medical databases for case reports using the keywords "zoster", "meningitis", "encephalitis", and "immunocompetent". The inclusion criteria were age below 18 years, any gender, race, and ethnicity, no features or history of immunodeficiency, and confirmation of VZV reactivation through the detection of VZV DNA in the CSF. Patients were categorized into two groups: children experiencing the reactivation of the wild virus and children with the vaccine strain virus. Results: The cohort included six children hospitalized in our hospital and 49 children reported in the literature. In 37 (67%), a wild-type virus was detected, while in 18 (33%), an infection was caused by the vaccine strain. There were no differences in the clinical presentation between the two groups. A typical rash was observed in 32 (58%) children. Approximately 41 of the 55 children (75%) received antiviral treatment. Four patients experienced complications. Conclusions: Neither a history of VZV immunization nor the absence of a skin rash can definitively exclude VZV meningitis. It is important to note that any seemingly healthy child, regardless of recognized risk factors, could develop HZ meningitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collective problem solving is supposed to benefit from cognitive diversity (e.g., when a team consists of individuals with different learning strategies). However, recent evidence for this claim fails to rule out an alternative explanation: that the benefit is due to moderate non-conformity, not diversity. We extend a previous agent-based simulation to distinguish these hypotheses, and demonstrate that diverse learning strategies alone do not yield the expected benefit. We extend the model further, based on an idea from the philosophy of science: Group-level benefits in complex problem solving often entail individual-level failures. Accordingly, we parameterize tolerance for failure, and show that there is an interaction between tolerance for failure and diversity. When tolerance for failure is zero, heterogeneous and homogeneous groups perform equally; when non-zero, diverse groups can outperform heterogeneous groups. Our agent-based simulations help clarify when cognitive diversity benefits collective problem solving.

Explanations of science denial rooted in individual cognition tend to focus on general trait-like factors such as cognitive style, conspiracist ideation or delusional ideation. However, we argue that this focus typically glosses over the concrete, mechanistic elements of belief formation, such as hypothesis generation, data gathering, or hypothesis evaluation. We show, empirically, that such elements predict variance in science denial not accounted for by cognitive style, even after accounting for social factors such as political ideology. We conclude that a cognitive account of science denial would benefit from the study of complex (i.e., open-ended, multi-stage) problem solving that incorporates these mechanistic elements.

Lightweight concrete exhibits many advantages over traditional concrete such as lower density and thermal conductivity and an easier, cheaper, less energy-consuming manufacturing process. In order to extend its applications, there is a need to study its behavior in fire situations. Due to that, the aim of this study was to assess the fire resistance of foam concrete, depending on its thickness and the foaming process applied. Fire resistance was assessed according to EN 1363-1. The results indicate the usefulness of foam concrete in terms of isolating fire temperatures for discontinuous partition filling that are consequently a real alternative to dedicated solutions in the field of passive fire protection. The density of foam concrete was shown to have a large effect on the ability to insulate fire temperatures with a standard material preparation process. It was also noted that changing the method to continuous foam feeding may result in the achievement of similar values while maintaining foam concrete low density.

Raman and infrared measurements of the same locations were conducted on a northwest African (NWA) 10580 CO3 meteorite sample, before and after three proton irradiations (1 keV ion energy using 1011, 1014, and 1017 ion/cm2 fluent values), to simulate space weathering effects. In the case of Raman spectroscopy, both FWHM and peak positions of the major olivine and pyroxene bands changed after the irradiation, and the minor bands disappeared. In the FTIR spectra, the minor bands of olivine and pyroxene also disappeared; meanwhile, major IR bands of pyroxene remained visible, demonstrating both positive and negative peak shifts, and the olivines were characterised only by negative peak shifts. The olivines were characterised by negative FWHM changes for major bands, but positive FWHM changes for minor bands. The pyroxenes were characterised by elevated FWHM changes for minor bands after the irradiation. The disappearance of minor bands both of IR and Raman spectra indicates the amorphization of minerals. The negative peak shift in IR spectra indicates Mg loss for olivine and pyroxene, in agreement with the literature. The Raman spectra are characterised by positive peak shift and positive FWHM changes; the IR spectra are characterised by a negative peak shift. The Mg loss, which was detected by negative peak shifts of FTIR bands, may be caused by distortion of the crystal structure, which could be detected by a positive peak shift in Raman spectra. This joint observation and interpretation has not been formulated in the literature, but indicates further possibilities in the confirmation of mineral changes by different instruments. Shock alteration-based observations by other researchers could be used as a reference for irradiation experiments as irradiation makes a similar structural alteration, like a low-grade shock metamorphism.

In tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), lymphocytes infiltrating central nervous system are indispensable for the infection control, but also potentially immunopathogenic. To clarify their roles, we have evaluated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) count of the main lymphocyte populations (considered as a proxy of the brain parenchyma lymphocytic infiltrate) in TBE patients and analyzed if they associate with clinical presentation, blood-brain barrier disruption and intrathecal antibody synthesis.We have studied CSF from 96 adults with TBE (50 with meningitis, 40 with meningoencephalitis, 6 with meningoencephalomyelitis), 17 children and adolescents with TBE and 27 adults with non-TBE lymphocytic meningitis. Th CD3+CD4+, Tc CD3+CD8+, double positive T CD3+CD4+CD8+, B CD19+ and NK CD16+/56+ cells were counted cytometrically with a commercial fluorochrome-stained monoclonal antibody set. The associations between the counts and fractions of these cells and clinical parameters were analyzed with non-parametric tests, p