Adapting an Advance Care Planning Website for Persons With Dementia in Nursing Homes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

We partnered with a national for-profit nursing home (NH) organization to test the acceptability and use of an advance care planning (ACP) website for people living with dementia using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. Concurrently, the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted NHs and halted in-person research. We will present challenges, opportunities, and adaptations in site engagement, recruitment, and data collection. Initially, NHs were overwhelmed by pandemic efforts and research staff were unable to enter sites. We capitalized on time and available resources by beta-testing the website in a comparable population and designing surveys to elicit COVID-19’s impact on ACP. Once able, NH staff took on recruitment and data collection efforts intended for research staff. We supported NHs by pivoting to remote data collection, providing technology on site, and offering flexible communication. Flexibility is key in supporting site engagement, recruitment, and data collection and has implications for designing pragmatic RCTs.

Marian Plague Columns in Jaroměř and Polička: A Comparative Study on Baroque Sculptural Decorations of the Bohemian Urban Public Space in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century

Based on fragmentally preserved sources as well as existing literature related to the topic (especially regional historiography, art history and historic preservation), the present study sets Marian plague columns into a broader context. Through the comparison of two minor East-Bohemian towns of a comparable population, it follows the factors playing a signifi cant role in the creation of complex Baroque sculptural compositions. At the same time, it aims to identify the functions that the sculptures were to fulfi l through their position in the public space. In this sense the study is inspired by the classic essay by Peter Burke called Conspicuous consumption in seventeenth-century Italy, which considers “the consumption” to be a specifi c form of communication. The composition of Marian plague columns can be perceived as an undeniable form of communication. From multiple perspectives, the article documents the key determinants, which are sometimes rather surprising, infl uencing the choice of partial components of the sculptural compositions as well as their overall impression – the communicative intention. Both Marian plague columns, to this day the most important monuments decorating the public space of the towns in question, are therefore approached in an interdisciplinary way especially in the context of the history of the towns, their manors and the East-Bohemian region. Therefore, the religious situation of both towns and their surroundings is not overlooked either. With regard to the fact that Jaroměř and Polička have been royal dowry towns, the Marian plague columns also refl ect the relation to the Bohemian queen, which is expressed verbally as inscriptions on them. In particular, the artwork in Polička and the events related to its creation importantly signalize the “conspicuous consumption”.

Angry men and happy women – A pre-registered replication using psychophysics

Judgments about the emotional expression of a face are influenced by its sexual features, and vice versa. The cause of this interaction remains unclear. Most previous research has used standard analyses of categorisation responses to full-blown emotional expressions. A better understanding of the phenomenon may however require the adoption of nuanced stimuli and sophisticated analyses methods. For example, Harris et al. (2016), used psychophysics methods to compare responses to faces displaying emotions at several intensity levels. The point of subjective equality (PSE), at which happy and angry categories are equally likely, was found to be closer to the happiness pole for male compared to female faces. Because these methods seem promising for the quest of advancing the field to a better understanding of how emotional and social judgments of faces are formed, we attempted a replication of Harris et al.’s study, after pre-registration in an independent public registry (https://bit.ly/2v8BW7Q). A large sample (N = 108) from a comparable population was tested with the same stimuli and task as in the original publication. We successfully replicated the main and some secondary findings, which we discuss in the context of the literature, and we indicate promising avenues of research in this domain.

Benefits to migratory fish populations of entrainment and its potential role in fisheries collapse

According to the entrainment hypothesis, traditional migratory routes develop in fish populations through social interactions. First-time migrants learn migratory routes by following experienced conspecifics and, by repeating the migration, contribute to guiding future cohorts along the same route. The loss of collective memory of migratory routes may be a precursor to fisheries collapse. The survival value of entrainment has not been convincingly demonstrated, and this possibly explains why there has not been greater interest in this putative migratory mechanism. I propose that the relative frequency of demonstrators of alternative contingents provides information to first-time migrants on relative survival rates. Using simulation, I show that a population in which contingent adoption is regulated by entrainment can achieve higher overall survival rates than a comparable population with fixed rates of contingent adoption in the situation where mortality rates differ among contingents. In certain cases, the advantage could be even larger in the presence of fishing mortality. I also compare the responses of the entrainment-based and fixed-rate migration populations in a scenario intended to mimic the cessation of fishing after a period of high fishing mortality, such as might occur after the collapse of a fishery.

Risk of metabolic syndrome in river transport workers

In river transport workers metabolic disorders begin to appear after 10 years of living in Yakutia. High values of blood pressure, atherogenicity index and young age of river transport workers with metabolic syndrome (MS), than in the comparable population group with MS, indicate the influence of working conditions and climate on the acceleration of metabolic disorders.

Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants vs. vitamin-K antagonists in patients with atrial fibrillation and chronic kidney disease: a nationwide cohort study

Background We aimed to compare effectiveness and safety of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) versus vitamin-K antagonists (VKA) in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) not receiving dialysis. Methods By using personal identification numbers, we cross-linked individual-level data from Danish administrative registries. We identified every citizen with a prior diagnosis of AF and CKD who initiated NOAC or VKA (2011–2017). An external analysis of 727 AF patients with CKD (no dialysis) was performed to demonstrate level of kidney function in a comparable population. Study outcomes included incidents of stroke/thromboembolisms (TEs), major bleedings, myocardial infarctions (MIs), and all-cause mortality. We used Cox proportional hazards models to determine associations between oral anticoagulant treatment and outcomes. Results Of 1560 patients included, 1008 (64.6%) initiated VKA and 552 (35.4%) initiated NOAC. In a comparable population we found that 95.3% of the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 59 mL/min. Patients treated with NOAC had a significantly decreased risk of major bleeding (hazard ratio (HR): 0.47, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.26–0.84) compared to VKA. There was not found a significant association between type of anticoagulant and risk of stroke/TE (HR: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.39–1.78), MI (HR: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.18–1.11), or all-cause mortality (HR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.77–1.26). Conclusion NOAC was associated with a lower risk of major bleeding in patients with AF and CKD compared to VKA. No difference was found in risk of stroke/TE, MI, and all-cause mortality.

Season-Long Monitoring of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Throughout the United States Using Commercially Available Traps and Lures

Reliable monitoring of the invasive Halyomorpha halys abundance, phenology and geographic distribution is critical for its management. Halyomorpha halys adult and nymphal captures on clear sticky traps and in black pyramid traps were compared in 18 states across the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Pacific Northwest and Western regions of the United States. Traps were baited with commercial lures containing the H. halys pheromone and synergist, and deployed at field sites bordering agricultural or urban locations with H. halys host plants. Nymphal and adult captures in pyramid traps were greater than those on sticky traps, but captures were positively correlated between the two trap types within each region and during the early-, mid- and late season across all sites. Sites were further classified as having a low, moderate or high relative H. halys density and again showed positive correlations between captures for the two trap types for nymphs and adults. Among regions, the greatest adult captures were recorded in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic on pyramid and sticky traps, respectively, with lowest captures recorded in the West. Nymphal captures, while lower than adult captures, were greatest in the Southeast and lowest in the West. Nymphal and adult captures were, generally, greatest during July–August and September–October, respectively. Trapping data were compared with available phenological models showing comparable population peaks at most locations. Results demonstrated that sticky traps offer a simpler alternative to pyramid traps, but both can be reliable tools to monitor H. halys in different geographical locations with varying population densities throughout the season.

Lithium and risk for Alzheimer's disease in elderly patients with bipolar disorder

SummaryBipolar disorder is associated with increased risk for dementia. We compared the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease between 66 elderly euthymic patients with bipolar disorder who were on chronic lithium therapy and 48 similar patients without recent lithium therapy. The prevalence of dementia in the whole sample was 19% v. 7% in an age-comparable population. Alzheimer's disease was diagnosed in 3 patients (5%) on lithium and in 16 patients (33%) who were not on lithium (P < 0.001). Our case-control data suggest that lithium treatment reduced the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in patients with bipolar disorder to levels in the general elderly population. This is in accordance with reports that lithium inhibits crucial processes in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

Neurobehavioral Assessment of Children and Adolescents Attending a Developmental Disabilities Clinic

Although the risk of the eventual development of tardive dyskinesia and other persistent adverse effects of neuroleptics is high, among adults with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities, neuroleptics may ameliorate dyskinesias, aggression, and inattention. The effects of traditional neuroleptics on a comparable population of children and adolescents with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities are unknown. The objective of this study was to develop an assessment battery to describe the effects of traditional neuroleptics on the behavior and movements of a small sample of children and adolescents with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. 13 children and adolescents aged 6 to 16 years attending a developmental disabilities clinic were evaluated utilizing a Movement Assessment Battery to measure behavior and motions. Five subjects took traditional neuroleptic medications. Trained raters can reliably assess the movements and behaviors of children and adolescents with multiple handicaps. Children and adolescents with developmental disabilities may be vulnerable to experience functional impairment and akathisia, tics, and other dyskinesias when administered traditional neuroleptic medications.