Direct Relation Research Articles

A prospective examination of the role of psychological (in)flexibility in posttraumatic stress: A cross-lagged panel design

Functional contextualist models of psychopathology suggest that psychological inflexibility and psychological flexibility are of central importance for understanding the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptomatology. To our knowledge, these two constructs and their domain-specific factors (e.g., cognitive fusion, experiential avoidance) have not been assessed in their entirety and examined in relation to PTS symptoms using a longitudinal study design. As such, the primary aim of the present study was to use cross-lagged panel analysis, an analytic approach that allows stronger causal inferences to be made regarding the nature of temporal relations among study variables, to determine the directional relations among PTS symptoms and psychological flexibility and inflexibility over an eight-month time period. Trauma-exposed adults (N = 810), recruited online via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), completed a battery of self-report measures via a secure online platform at three time points, spanning eight months. Results suggest that the relationship between psychological inflexibility and PTS symptoms is bidirectional and mutually reinforcing. In contrast, significant prospective relations were not observed between psychological flexibility and PTS symptoms. Results of a follow-up exploratory path analysis showed that cognitive fusion was the only psychological inflexibility subfactor that partially mediated the relationship between PTS symptoms from baseline to the eight-month follow-up assessment. Taken together, these results suggest that psychological inflexibility, and primarily the domain of cognitive fusion, maintains PTS symptoms following trauma exposure. As such, it may important to integrate cognitive defusion techniques into evidence-based treatments for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The Roles of Purchase Intentions and Social Media in Dark Tourism

Dark tourism is roughly understood as travelling to places historically associated with death and tragedy. However, the determinants of such a specific type of tourism are not well explored. Therefore, this research aims to determine the possible relation between the intention variables, particularly perceived risk and the values of sensation-seeking and hedonism. For this purpose, an online questionnaire of eight subscales was applied to 821 participants, with ages corresponding to generations Y and Z. The results of a structural equation modelling revealed the existence of seven latent variables whose goodness-of-fit suggests that dark tourism is mainly related to the intention to visit and search for information on the Internet. This study is novel compared to previous research in that it suggests that the destination does not have a direct relation to the intention to share information on social media.

Entity Alignment Method Based on Joint Learning of Entity and Attribute Representations

Entity alignment helps discover and link entities from different knowledge graphs (KGs) that refer to the same real-world entity, making it a critical technique for KG fusion. Most entity alignment methods are based on knowledge representation learning, which uses a mapping function to project entities from different KGs into a unified vector space and align them based on calculated similarities. However, this process requires sufficient pre-aligned entity pairs. To address this problem, this study proposes an entity alignment method based on joint learning of entity and attribute representations. Structural embeddings are learned using the triples modeling method based on TransE and PTransE and extracted from the embedding vector space utilizing semantic information from direct and multi-step relation paths. Simultaneously, attribute character embeddings are learned using the N-gram-based compositional function to encode a character sequence for the attribute values, followed by TransE to model attribute triples in the embedding vector space to obtain attribute character embedding vectors. By learning the structural and attribute character embeddings simultaneously, the structural embeddings of entities from different KGs can be transferred into a unified vector space. Lastly, the similarities in the structural embedding of different entities were calculated to perform entity alignment. The experimental results showed that the proposed method performed well on the DBP15K and DWK100K datasets, and it outperformed currently available entity alignment methods by 16.8, 27.5, and 24.0% in precision, recall, and F1 measure, respectively.

A primer for the student joining the adult cardiac surgery service tomorrow: Primer 1 of 7

A primer for the student joining the adult cardiac surgery service tomorrow: Primer 1 of 7

Pressure Dependence of Superconductivity in a Charge-Density-Wave Superconductor Bi2Rh3Se2

The structural and superconducting properties of a Bi-based compound, Bi2Rh3Se2, are investigated over a wide pressure range. Bi2Rh3Se2 is a superconductor with a superconducting transition temperature, Tc, of 0.7 K. This compound is in a charge-density-wave (CDW) state below 240 K, which implies the coexistence of superconducting and CDW states at low temperatures. Here, the superconducting properties of Bi2Rh3Se2 are studied from the perspective of the temperature dependence of electrical resistance (R) at high pressures (p's). The pressure dependence of Tc of Bi2Rh3Se2 shows a slow increase in Tc at 0-15.5 GPa, and the Tc slowly decreases with pressure above 15.5 GPa, which is markedly different from that of normal superconductors because the value of Tc should simply decrease owing to the decrease in density of states (DOS) on the Fermi level, N(εF), driven by a simple shrinkage of the lattice under pressure. To ascertain the origin of such a dome-like Tc-p behavior, the crystal structure of Bi2Rh3Se2 was explored over a wide pressure range of 0-20 GPa on the basis of powder X-ray diffraction; no structural phase transitions or simple shrinkage of the lattice was observed. This result implies that the increase in Tc against pressure cannot simply be explained from a structural point of view. In other words, a direct relation between superconductivity and crystal structure was not found. On the other hand, the CDW transition became ambiguous at pressures higher than 3.8 GPa, suggesting that the Tc had been suppressed by the CDW transition in a low pressure range. Thus, the findings suggest that for Bi2Rh3Se2, Tc is enhanced through the suppression of CDW transition, which may be reasonable because the CDW-ordered state restrains the charge fluctuation to weaken the electron-phonon coupling and opens the gap to decrease the density of states on the Fermi level. The obtained dome-like Tc-p behavior indicates the possibility of Bi2Rh3Se2 being an exotic superconductor.

Correlation of varying heights with cervical spondylosis.

Objective: To find correlation of varying heights with cervical spondylosis. Study Design: Case Control study. Setting: Department of Orthopedic and Radiology, Patel Hospital, Karachi. Period: June, 2019 to Dec, 2019. Material & Methods: The personal, economical, and demographic features of the 88 cases and 88 controls were compared with the prevalence of cervical spondylosis. All subject’s heights were divided into four categories—short, average, tall and very tall and were correlated with cervical spondylosis as well as the various other characteristics stated above. The weight and height were calculated using the stadiometer and body weight and health scale Z-10, and lateral radiographs were taken using an Agfa Fuji Computerized radiography system. Results and Conclusion: The results showed that the average height individuals had more disease and were obese and it was also in direct relation with the increased working hours. The average height individuals i.e. height of (150-169cm) were prone for the disease and need to adopt measures to reduce the chances of the disease and choose healthy lifestyle for maintenance of healthy BMI range and consideration of good ergonomic tactics at office and moderate working hours.

The Effects of Latitude and Temperate Weather on Vitamin D Deficiency and Women's Reproductive Health: A Scoping Review.

We conducted a scoping review to analyze the effects and implications of vitamin D deficiency on female reproductive health during the last decade, considering temperate planetary zones and climate change impacts. We used a qualitative methodology for a panoramic database review of PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus covering articles from the last decade focused on populations living at latitudes higher than 40°N and 40° S. As descriptors, we used the phrases climate change, cholecalciferol or vitamin d3, pregnancy, and woman health and the Boolean operators AND and OR. We excluded letters to the editor, reviews, protocols, and clinical trials without human participants, as well as duplicate articles. We included 35 studies in English, the majority of which were from North America or Europe. No studies were found from the Southern Hemisphere or having any direct relation with climate change, although studies demonstrated that latitude and environmental factors affected vitamin D deficiency, which had an impact on pregnant women and their children. Supplementation guidelines were not well developed, and there was a lack of studies among at-risk groups of women (eg, darker skin, higher latitudes, immigrants) across the life span. Vitamin D deficiency is a global environmental problem that affects female reproductive health and depends on multiple environmental factors and human behavior. Therefore, we recommend consideration of environmental and sociocultural factors in public policy and clinical research and more research on the effectiveness of supplementation and fortification strategies. Health care professionals working in reproductive health need to generate actions for detection of, education on, and prevention of vitamin D deficiency among women across their life spans, considering the multicausality of the phenomenon, which includes environmental and climate factors in population health.

Definition and mapping of Cmv5interval associated effects on the innate immune response to acute Murine Cytomegalovirus infection.

Abstract MHC-I molecule H-2D kconfers resistance to acute murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection in both C57L and MA/My mice. M.H2 k/bmice are MA/My background aside from a C57L-derived region within the MHC (Cmv5), which diminishes this resistance. Thus M.H2 k/bmice lose more weight during infection and present with increased viral load. Additionally, M.H2 k/bmice have fewer, more activated NK cells and significant spleen histopathology measured by decreased white pulp area, loss of marginal zone definition, and increasing red pulp acellularity. To better understand how the Cmv5interval regulates the response to MCMV, we generated several Cmv5recombinant mouse strains and screened them in vivo, allowing us to narrow the phenotype-associated interval as much as 14 times from the original size of 23.08 Mb. In addition, we sought to further characterize the Cmv5-associated phenotypes in their temporal appearance and potential direct relation to viral load. To this end, we found that many Cmv5phenotypes could not be fully mirrored in the MA/My mice with increased viral dose, and that marginal zone disruption was one of the first Cmv5phenotypes to appear, being reliably quantified as early as 2 days post infection (dpi) in the M.H2 k/bmice. This suggests that splenic tissue disruption, occurring prior to increase in weight loss or NK cell activation, may be a primary target of the Cmv5genetic interval and its impact on the response to MCMV. In conclusion, we verified and defined the Cmv5-associated susceptibility to MCMV infection, generated and tested several Cmv5recombinant strains resulting in a substantially reduced interval size, and determined that the full Cmv5phenotype is unlikely to be a direct result of increased viral load. NIH NIAID R01AI50072, Department of Medicine/Nephrology, Center for Immunity Inflammation and Regenerative Medicine, Beirne B Carter Center for Immunology Research.

Surface study of RF magnetron sputtered silicon nitride thin films

Silicon nitride thin films were deposited on the one-sided P-type polished boron-doped silicon wafer substrate via RF magnetron sputtering using stochimetric silicon nitride target at various target-to-substrate distances. Target to substrate spacing, a nonconventional parameter, was varied to optimize the surface roughness and grain size. This optimization provided a normal distribution of homogenous, densely packed silicon nitride thin film free of surface cracks.. Atomic Force Microscopy was employed to explore the accurate surface roughness parameters of Silicon nitride thin films. The surface roughness and grain analysis for all samples exhibited a direct relation to each other and have an inverse correlation with the target to substrate spacing. The surface morphology of Si3N4 was analyzed by the following parameters; average roughness, root-mean square roughness, maximum peak to valley height, ten-point average roughness, skewness, and kurtosis of the line. The surface roughness of silicon nitride films has notable significance in the manufacturing of bio-sensor based on silicon nitride waveguides.

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 RNA titer on the level of IgG antibodies in recovered patients with COVID-19 disease.

It is important to better understand the presence of neutralizing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the population, as they potentially prevent (re)infection. To correlate the Cycle threshold (Ct value) of SARS-CoV-2 and its impact on specific Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG titer, to reveal the effect of age and disease severity on antibodies titer. A total of 153 infected participants laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases 4-11 months ago, aged 18-85 years old (mean = 43.58, SD ± 15.34) were enrolled in the study. They have not received any COVID-19 vaccine. A questionnaire was prepared including demographic data, age, gender, residence, and symptoms severity they suffered. Five mL of venous blood was taken from each participant to measure SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies against the receptor binding domain (RBD) by (VIDAS SARS-COV-2 IgG - Biomerieux kit). Ct values were measured by qRT-PCR (BIO-RAD-CFX96) kit which detected two virus genes, namely (RdRp-N genes). Lowest Ct values were detected significantly in age group 50-59 and 70-85 respectively. The highest mean of IgG was detected in age groups 70-85 and 50-59, and was found to be significantly correlated with disease severity. There is a direct relationship between Ct values and the titer of specific IgG, as increasing in viral load is associated with a higher level of antibodies. Antibodies were detected several months after infection with the highest mean after 10-11 months. Specific Anti-viral IgG are significantly associated with increasing age and disease severity, and the direct relation of IgG with viral load. Antibodies are detected several months post-infection but their protective efficacy is controversial.

Hubungan Perilaku dengan Kejadian Diabetes Melitus Tipe 2 di Puskesmas Kota Ende Tahun 2021

Diabetes mellitus is a serious and chronic (prolonged) disease that causes metabolic intrusion and obstruction, indicated by high blood sugar beyond the normal level. Unhealthy lifestyles, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, bad dietary habit and obesity, lacking of physical activities, and stress, are some of the main contributors or causes of diabetes mellitus. The purpose of this research is to find the direct connection and relation between the behaviour or lifestyle and the case of Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 at Ende City Health Center. The design of this research is a survey analytic research using a case-control approach. The total sample in this research is 86 respondents, with a 1:1 (one-to-one) comparison. The sampling technique used in this study is simple random sampling. The data is taken by doing a guided interview with a questionnaire for test statistic chi-square and odd ratio value. The result of this research shows that the variable of dietary habit (p-value = 0,017 < 0,05 and OR = 3,168 (1,309 – 7,665 and 95% CI), physical activities (p-value = 0,028 < 0,05 and OR = 2,971 (1,212 – 7,279 and 95% CI), consumption of alcohol (p-value = 0,023 < 0,05 and OR = 3,285 (1,273 – 8,478 and 95% CI) directly connected with the case of Diabetes Mellitus Type 2. The variable of knowledge (p-value = 0,829 > 0,05 and OR = 1,206 (0,516 – 2,816 and 95% CI) does not have any connection with the case of Diabetes Mellitus Type 2. Suggestion for the healthcare workers in the Ende City Health Center to always improve and maintain good service of the health care and for the people to have regular check-ups and to develop healthy lifestyle such as having proper dietary habits, doing physical activities and controlling the consumption of alcohol to control the level of blood sugar.

Factors Related to Fatigue and Physical Function in COPD: A Secondary Analysis Using National Survey Data.

Fatigue in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is debilitating and associated with considerable morbidity. The aim of this study is to present a model based on the Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms of physiologic, psychologic, and situational factors with COPD-related fatigue and the relationship with physical functioning. This study used data collected from Wave 2 (2010-2011) of the National Social, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). A total of 518 adults with self-reported COPD were included in this study. Path analysis was used for hypothesis testing. Depression was the only psychologic factor found to have a direct relation to both fatigue (β = 0.158, p < .001) and physical function (β = -0.131, p = .001). Factors related to physical function included fatigue, depression, sleep, loneliness, and pain. Additionally, fatigue was indirectly associated with physical function via depression (β = -0.064, p = .012). These findings suggest avenues for future research on predictors of COPD-related fatigue in relation to physical functioning.

Stationary solutions in applied dynamics: A unified framework for the numerical calculation and stability assessment of periodic and quasi‐periodic solutions based on invariant manifolds

SummaryThe determination of stationary solutions of dynamical systems as well as analyzing their stability is of high relevance in science and engineering. For static and periodic solutions a lot of methods are available to find stationary motions and analyze their stability. In contrast, there are only few approaches to find stationary solutions to the important class of quasi‐periodic motions–which represent solutions of generalized periodicity–available so far. Furthermore, no generally applicable approach to determine their stability is readily available. This contribution presents a unified framework for the analysis of equilibria, periodic as well as quasi‐periodic motions alike. To this end, the dynamical problem is changed from a formulation in terms of the trajectory to an alternative formulation based on the invariant manifold as geometrical object in the state space. Using a so‐called hypertime parametrization offers a direct relation between the frequency base of the solution and the parametrization of the invariant manifold. Over the domain of hypertimes, the invariant manifold is given as solution to a PDE, which can be solved using standard methods as Finite Differences (FD), Fourier‐Galerkin‐methods (FGM) or quasi‐periodic shooting (QPS). As a particular advantage, the invariant manifold represents the entire stationary dynamics on a finite domain even for quasi‐periodic motions – whereas obtaining the same information from trajectories would require knowing them over an infinite time interval. Based on the invariant manifold, a method for stability assessment of quasi‐periodic solutions by means of efficient calculation of Lyapunov‐exponents is devised. Here, the basic idea is to introduce a Generalized Monodromy Mapping, which may be determined in a pre‐processing step: using this mapping, the Lyapunov‐exponents may efficiently be calculated by iterating this mapping.

Combined effect of metabolites produced by a modified Lactobacillus casei and berry phenolic extract on Campylobacter and microbiome in chicken cecum contents.

Campylobacter is one of the most common foodborne bacterial pathogens causing illness, known as campylobacteriosis, in the United States. More than 70% of the campylobacteriosis cases have direct or indirect relation with poultry/poultry products. Currently, both conventional and organic/pasture poultry farmers are searching for sustainable alternative to antibiotics which can reduce colonization and cross-contamination of poultry products with Campylobacter and promote poultry health and growth. Probiotic and their nutritional supplement, known as prebiotic, have become consumers' preferences as alternatives to antibiotics/chemicals. In this study, we evaluated the combined effect of plant-derived prebiotic and probiotic-derived metabolites in reducing growth of Campylobacter in cecum contents, a simulated chicken gut condition. Cecum contents were collected from chickens pre-inoculated with kanamycin-resistant Campylobacter (CJRMKm), were incubated over 48h time period, while being supplemented with either berry phenolic extract (BPE), cell free cultural supernatant from an engineered probiotic, Lactobacillus casei, or their combination. It was found that combine treatments were able to reduce both inoculated and naturally colonized Campylobacter more effectively. Microbiome analysis using 16S rRNA sequencing also revealed that combine treatments were capable to alter natural microflora positively within chicken cecum contents. Differences were observed in bacterial abundance at both phylum and genus level but did not show significant alteration in alpha diversity due to this treatment. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The results of this study provide critical information for understanding the potential of synbiotic as an alternative in sustainable poultry farming. The outcomes of this study will lead future direction of using combination of probiotic-derived metabolites and BPE in poultry farming.

E026 Hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy, rheumatoid arthritis mimic: don’t distract with immunology

Abstract Background/Aims Hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy is a para-neoplastic syndrome characterized by periosteal bone proliferation, clubbing, swelling of soft tissues and joints which is frequently associated with adenocarcinoma of lung. We hereby present a case series of two very interesting cases who were initially thought to have seropositive inflammatory arthritis, but later on investigation confirmed an underlying lung malignancy-associated secondary hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy. Methods Case 1:A 62-year-old female with previous history of leucoclastic vasculitis and hypertension, presented to rheumatology with 6 months history of widespread polyarthralgia associated with prolonged early morning stiffness. She had been smoking 10 cigarettes a day for 30 years. Clinical examination revealed no synovitis or restriction of joint movements. C-reactive protein was raised, rheumatoid factor was 284 (Normal 0-15), anti-CCP antibodies were 1 (0-6). She was diagnosed of inflammatory arthritis and started on hydroxychloroquine, with no response. Review at 4 months confirmed new swelling over the fingertips associated with weight loss, loss of appetite and persistent mild cough. Examination confirmed tenderness over the distal radius and proximal tibia with pronounced grade 3 to 4 clubbing in fingers and toes, no clinically detectable active synovitis noted. CT scan showed a large left upper lobe mass, and spinal metastases and biopsy confirmed adenocarcinoma. Results Case 2: A 74-year-old gentleman with 50 pack year history of smoking and past medical history of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, peripheral vascular disease and Type 2 diabetes mellitus, initially presented with 10 months history of constant pain only in left big toe joint, associated with significant weight loss and on-going shortness of breath for past few months. Investigations revealed rheumatoid factor 1300 (0-15) and anti-CCP antibodies &amp;gt;340 (0-6), C-reactive protein was 54. On examination digital clubbing was noted, no synovitis or restriction of joint movements. Chest X-ray demonstrated right middle zone mass. CT Thorax abdomen &amp; pelvis confirmed malignancy. Conclusion Rheumatoid Factor has a pooled sensitivity of 69% and a specificity of 85%. Sensitivity and specificity of anti-CCP antibodies are 66% and 90.4%, respectively. Both are useful in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, but can be false positive, and can sometimes be misleading. Studies have shown a direct relation between rheumatoid factor, anti-CCP antibodies and smoking. Titres were significantly higher in heavy smokers. This case series reminds us that hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy can mimic rheumatoid arthritis. Where clinical features are not convincing of inflammatory arthritis, and red flags like history of smoking and digital clubbing are present, a high index of suspicion is required to rule out a paraneoplastic condition. Disclosure A.B. Awan: None. F. Javaid: None. A. Moorthy: None. K. Sunmboye: None.

An Empirical Study of Food Security and Food Consumption Pattern in the District of Puruliya in West Bengal

Puruliya is one of the most backward districts in the state of West Bengal. Insufficiency of food and hence the resultant lack of nutrition for maintaining appropriate standard of living are the common features in the life of people in Puruliya. In this study we want to investigate the status of food security of the households in the rural and urban region of Puruliya due to variation in income and the choice of their food basket. A cross sectional study on 750 households of Puruliya from both rural and urban household has been made to compute the food consumption pattern at the household level using four point Likert scale. Based on the food consumption pattern, the indicator of food security at household level has been calculated on the basis of actual calorie availed by the households from the intake of food as proportion to the medically required calorie. The result of the study shows that the rural population (39.87%) suffers from food insecurity more than the urban population (13.60%). Logit regression analysis has been applied to look into the impact of food consumption pattern along with other determinants on the food security. Our analysis shows that food consumption pattern (0.013) and family income (0.004) has direct relation with food security. Holding PDS card does not reflect very much impact on food security and that may be because of not providing diverse food groups to ensure balanced diet instead of cereal based calories.

Experimental science-fiction films as filmic heterotopia

This paper questions the concept of the possible heterotopia of cinema by making a creative reading of a corpus of contemporary experimental science-fiction films. We think heterotopia in direct relation to utopia. If utopia can be linked to a form of thought, then heterotopia would be a form of realised or achievable utopia. Heterotopian action would then allow us to experiment subversive, if not new social configurations, where utopian thought allows us to dream of better (or at least other) societies. We propose to look at these issues starting from experimental science-fiction films. The aesthetic and narrative resorts as well as the modes of production of works like Slow Action and Urth by Ben Rivers, Meteor by Mathias Müller and Christoph Girardet, Momoko Seto’s Planet Series or Jérôme Cognet’s Guerilla Hubble, indeed offer us with an audiovisual experience that invites us to re-evaluate our human relation to the world by appealing to our capacity for imagination and by stimulating our free will, notably through their staging of historicity and multiplicity.

Flow dynamics of MHD hybrid nanofluid past a moving thin needle with a temporal stability test: A Galerkin method approach

Heat transmission processes have numerous industrial applications. A novel form of nanofluid known as the hybrid nanofluid that has a higher thermal exponent helps in improving the ability of regular fluids to transfer heat. This article aims to analyze the impact of hybrid nanofluid with effects like magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), Brownian motion and thermophoresis, heat generation/absorption, and chemical reaction past a permeable moving thin needle. Two assorted nanomaterials (MoS2 and Fe3O4 ) are added in a base fluid such as ethylene glycol (EG) to access the performance of the hybrid nanofluid. Using suitable similarity variables, the governing equations of the problem are turned into customary ordinary differential equations. The resulting equations are solved analytically using the Galerkin method (GM) and dual solutions are obtained in a certain range of moving parameter λ. Due to this, a stability test is implemented to find a stable solution. With the help of a bvp4c function in Matlab software, the smallest eigenvalues are computed, where positive eigenvalues are linked with the stable solution while negative eigenvalues are linked with the unstable solution. It is concluded that only the first solution is stable while the second solution is not. The skin friction factor and heat transfer rate are reduced by growing the needle size. The magnetic field has an inverse relation with the flow field and direct relation with the temperature field. The improvement in heat generation parameter causes the fluid temperature to rise. The fluid concentration is enhanced with the increment of the chemical reaction parameter.

The mediating effect of body appreciation between muscle dysmorphia and bulimia nervosa among Lebanese adolescents

BackgroundMuscle dysmorphia (MD) is a common psychological disorder present in Lebanese adolescents. Several disorders can be present concomitantly with MD such as bulimia nervosa and exercise addiction. This study aims to explore the mediating effect of body appreciation between Muscle dysmorphia and bulimia nervosa, and to validate the exercise addiction inventory scale in Lebanese adolescents.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional designed study, conducted between August-September 2022, and enrolling 403 adolescents currently residing in Lebanon (15 to 18 years old), from all Lebanese governorates (Beirut, Mount Lebanon, North, South, and Bekaa). Our sample was chosen using the snowball technique, a soft copy of the questionnaire was created using google forms software, and an online approach was conceived to proceed with the data collection.ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 16.63 ± 1.46 years with 57.3% females. The factor analysis for the Exercise Addiction Inventory suggested one factor, which explained 62.58% of the common variance. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed an adequate fit to the model with satisfactory Maximum Likelihood Chi-Square/Degrees of Freedom (χ2/df), SRMR, CFI, TLI, and AVE. The mediation analysis showed that the direct relation between bulimia and MD was not significant after eliminating the effect of body appreciation (r = .12, p < .001). However, body appreciation was significantly associated with bulimia nervosa (r=-1.06, p < .001) and MD (r=-.28, p < .001).ConclusionBody appreciation was found to be a mediator between muscle dysmorphia and bulimia nervosa and thus it is the main factor leading to both disorders. Therefore, body appreciation should be addressed in the evaluation and management of Muscle Dysmorphia.

Translucency and Radiopacity of Dental Resin Composites - Is There a Direct Relation?

The purpose of this study was to correlate the translucency degree of varying resin composites with their radiopacity. Twenty-four resin composites (conventional or bulk-fill) of various shades and opacities were selected from the following manufacturers: 3M ESPE (nanofilled), Ivoclar (nanohybrid), and FGM (microhybrid). Resin composite samples (n=5) were prepared (5-mm diameter × 1.5-mm thickness) for comparison using prepared samples of human dentin and enamel as controls. The translucency of each sample was measured using the translucent parameter (TP) method with a digital spectrophotometer (Vita Easyshade) and CIEL*a*b* color system over white and black backgrounds. The samples were also x-rayed using a photostimulable phosphor plate system for measurement of their radiopacity (in mmAl). All data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Student-Newman-Keuls (α=0.05); data for TP and radiopacity were correlated using the Spearman correlation test. Overall, the translucent shades and bulk-fill resin composites showed greater translucency than the other resins. While "body" and "enamel" shades demonstrated intermediate translucency to dentin and enamel, the "dentin" shades were more standardized, showing similar translucency to human dentin. All tested resin composites showed similar or greater radiopacity to human enamel, except the Empress Direct (Ivoclar) resin with Trans Opal shade, which was not radiopaque. Dentin and enamel showed radiopacity similar to 1 and 2 mmAl (millimeters of aluminum), respectively. The resin composites investigated in this study differed regarding their translucency degree and radiopacity level, without any positive relationship between the two properties.