Intrinsic Traits Research Articles

Working in corona-designated departments in a fortified underground hospital: Concerns about corona and predictors of job burnout.

In August 2020 during Israel's second COVID-19 wave Rambam Medical Center opened the Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital. This was declared a regional Corona center in the north of Israel, receiving the most severe Corona patients from the region. Alongside the advanced inpatient capacity and technology within the underground facility, there was a severe shortage of trained medical and paramedical staff, as well as harsh working conditions. The current study examined the implications and effects of working in an underground facility on healthcare workers, focusing on emotion regulation tendencies and profession as predictors of job burnout. Seventy-six healthcare workers, who had worked in the underground hospital for a minimum continuous period of 2 weeks during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a control group of 40 healthcare workers from northern Israel were asked to fill out an online survey administered via Qualtrics (total sample 116). The survey comprised six questionnaires: a demographic survey questionnaire; a COVID-19 concerns questionnaire; a psychological distress questionnaire (DASS, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale); trait worry (PSWQ; Penn State Worry Questionnaire); emotion regulation (ERQ, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire), and burnout (SMBM, Shirom - Melamed Burnout Measure). Independent-samples t-tests revealed no significant differences in psychological distress or burnout between Rambam Underground hospital workers and the control group. Conversely, COVID-19 concern scores were significantly different in the two groups, the Rambam hospital workers showing less concern (M = 2.9, SD = 0.73) than the control group (M = 3.47, SD = 0.76) [t (114) = -3.974, p < 0.001]. Hierarchical linear regression analysis identified the significant predictors of burnout among healthcare workers. Participants' profession (physician), psychological distress (total DASS score), and a personality trait of worry were statistically significant predictors for job burnout (p = 0.028, p < 0.001, p = 0.023, respectively). Concerns about COVID-19 marginally predicted job burnout (p = 0.09). Group (underground vs. control) and emotion regulation tendencies did not predict burnout. The two groups showed no significant differences in psychological distress nor in burnout. Being a physician, having an intrinsic trait of being overly worried and experiencing psychological distress were significant predictors for job burnout among healthcare workers, regardless of work environment (underground vs. control).

Experimental evaluation of how biological invasions and climate change interact to alter the vertical assembly of an amphibian community.

While biotic-abiotic interactions are increasingly documented in nature, a process-based understanding of how such interactions influence community assembly is lacking in the ecological literature. Perhaps the most emblematic and pervasive example of such interactions is the synergistic threat to biodiversity posed by climate change and invasive species. Invasive species often out-compete or prey on native species. Despite this long-standing and widespread issue, little is known about how abiotic conditions, such as climate change, will influence the frequency and severity of negative biotic interactions that threaten the persistence of native fauna. Treefrogs are a globally diverse group of amphibians that climb to complete life-cycle processes, such as foraging and reproduction, as well as to evade predators and competitors, resulting in frog communities that are vertically partitioned. Furthermore, treefrogs adjust their vertical position to maintain optimal body temperature and hydration in response to environmental change. Here, utilizing this model group, we designed a novel experiment to determine how extrinsic abiotic and biotic factors (changes to water availability and an introduced predator, respectively) interact with intrinsic biological traits, such as individual physiology and behaviour, to influence treefrogs' vertical niche. Our study found that treefrogs adjusted their vertical niche through displacement behaviours in accordance with abiotic resources. However, biotic interactions resulted in native treefrogs distancing themselves from abiotic resources to avoid the non-native species. Importantly, under altered abiotic conditions, both native species avoided the non-native species %- more than they avoided their native counterpart. Additionally, exposure to the non-native species resulted in native species altering their tree climbing behaviours by and becoming more vertically dynamic to avoid the non-native antagonist. Our experiment determined that vertical niche selection and community interactions were most accurately represented by a biotic-abiotic interaction model, rather than a model that considers these factors to operate in an isolated (singular) or even additive manner. Our study provides evidence that native species may be resilient to interacting disturbances via physiological adaptations to local climate and plasticity in space-use behaviours that mediate the impact of the introduced predator.

Temperature-induced modulation of stress-tolerant PGP genes bioprospected from Bacillus sp. IHBT-705 associated with saffron (Crocus sativus) rhizosphere: A natural -treasure trove of microbial biostimulants.

There is a renewed interest in sustainable agriculture wherein novel plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are being explored for developing efficient biostimulants. The key requirement of a microbe to qualify as a good candidate for developing a biostimulant is its intrinsic plant growth-promoting (PGP) characteristics. Though numerous studies have been conducted to assess the beneficial effects of PGPRs on plant growth under normal and stressed conditions but not much information is available on the characterization of intrinsic traits of PGPR under stress. Here, we focused on understanding how temperature stress impacts the functionality of key stress tolerant and PGP genes of Bacillus sp. IHBT-705 isolated from the rhizosphere of saffron (Crocus sativus). To undertake the study, Bacillus sp. IHBT-705 was grown under varied temperature regimes, their PGP traits were assessed from very low to very high-temperature range and the expression trend of targeted stress tolerant and PGP genes were analyzed. The results illustrated that Bacillus sp. IHBT-705 is a stress-tolerant PGPR as it survived and multiplied in temperatures ranging from 4°C-50°C, tolerated a wide pH range (5-11), withstood high salinity (8%) and osmolarity (10% PEG). The PGP traits varied under different temperature regimes indicating that temperature influences the functionality of PGP genes. This was further ascertained through whole genome sequencing followed by gene expression analyses wherein certain genes like cspB, cspD, hslO, grpE, rimM, trpA, trpC, trpE, fhuC, fhuD, acrB5 were found to be temperature sensitive while, cold tolerant (nhaX and cspC), heat tolerant (htpX) phosphate solubilization (pstB1), siderophore production (fhuB and fhuG), and root colonization (xerC1 and xerC2) were found to be highly versatile as they could express well both under low and high temperatures. Further, the biostimulant potential was checked through a pot study on rice (Oryza sativa), wherein the application of Bacillus sp. IHBT-705 improved the length of shoots, roots, and number of roots over control. Based on the genetic makeup, stress tolerance potential, retention of PGP traits under stress, and growth-promoting potential, Bacillus sp. IHBT-705 could be considered a good candidate for developing biostimulants.

Divergent interfacial behaviors of homo-/hetero-phase boundaries in a dual-phase eutectic high-entropy alloy

The interfacial structures and behaviors are critical in determining the material properties. Our study aims to investigate such unique interfacial structures and behaviors in multiphase systems involving complex compositions. Herein, we report the divergent interfacial behaviors of the L12–L12, B2–B2, and L12–B2 boundaries prepared via the bonding of AlCoCrFeNi2.1 eutectic high-entropy alloys (HEAs). Specifically, interfacial dynamic recrystallization (DRX) occurs in the L12–L12 boundary owing to the thermostrain-induced grain boundary evolution. In contrast, the bonding of the B2–B2 boundary may be realized by interface diffusion, and no evident DRX occurs owing to the small interfacial shear strain. The DRX grains only developed on the L12 side in the L12–B2 boundary because of the difference in the intrinsic structural traits between L12 and B2. The diffusion of elements contributed to the bonding of this dissimilar boundary. Moreover, a strain-induced B2II precipitation phenomenon surrounding the bonding interface was revealed because of the high defect-precipitation sensitivity of HEAs. The B2II particle precipitation depleted the Al and Ni within the matrix, leading to L12 disordering. The Zener pinning effect exerted by B2II precipitates was quantitatively evaluated by calculating the corresponding limited grain radius RL = 1.8 µm. This pinning effect of B2II precipitates and the sluggish diffusion effect may induce temperature-dependent DRX behaviors of the L12–L12 boundary. This study reveals the understanding of the unique interfacial behaviors of multiphase HEAs and provides new insights into the effects of multiple phases, complex composition, and interfacial precipitation on interfacial evolution.

Trait-dependent diversification in angiosperms: Patterns, models and data.

Variation in species richness across the tree of life, accompanied by the incredible variety of ecological and morphological characteristics found in nature, has inspired many studies to link traits with species diversification. Angiosperms are a highly diverse group that has fundamentally shaped life on earth since the Cretaceous, and illustrate how species diversification affects ecosystem functioning. Numerous traits and processes have been linked to differences in species richness within this group, but we know little about their relative importance and how they interact. Here, we synthesised data from 152 studies that used state-dependent speciation and extinction (SSE) models on angiosperm clades. Intrinsic traits related to reproduction and morphology were often linked to diversification but a set of universal drivers did not emerge as traits did not have consistent effects across clades. Importantly, SSE model results were correlated to data set properties - trees that were larger, older or less well-sampled tended to yield trait-dependent outcomes. We compared these properties to recommendations for SSE model use and provide a set of best practices to follow when designing studies and reporting results. Finally, we argue that SSE model inferences should be considered in a larger context incorporating species' ecology, demography and genetics.

A factor analytic examination of women's and men's friendship preferences

Friendships are valuable relationships that can bestow many benefits. How can humans ensure they receive the maximum benefits with minimal potential costs? One possible solution is to have preferences for traits, expectations, and rules in friendship. This could, for example, help people pursue beneficial friendships and jettison costly friendships. Previous research robustly documented that such preferences for traits, expectations, and rules exist, though they are often combined, and indicates that these preferences may be sex-specific. Across two studies (N = 853), our factor analyses documented that preferences for desired traits in friendship are organized into two broad categories with women rating intrinsic traits as more important in their friendship compared to men's ratings. Similarly, factor analyses showed that preferences for rules in friendship are organized into four broad categories with women rating all rule categories as more important in their friendships compared to men's ratings.

Growing in Adversity: A Narrative Study of Resilience Generation in Chinese Families of Children with ASD

Referring to Walsh's theoretical framework of family resilience while taking into account China's own cultural and institutional context, this study discussed the process of resilience generation in Chinese families of children with ASD. A qualitative approach was taken, using narrative research on 10 Chinese families of children with ASD. Category-content analysis of the data suggests that the generation of resilience in Chinese families of children with ASD is influenced by four factors: (A) cultivating positive family beliefs; (B) adjustment of the family's organizational pattern; (C) extending external resources positively; and (D) optimizing family communication. Unlike family resilience generation mechanisms in Western countries that emphasize religious beliefs, intrinsic traits, and resources, the resilience of Chinese families of children with ASD is based on a family value system based on a sense of responsibility and the application of internal and external family resources, which is undoubtedly related to China's long-standing emphasis on collectivist culture. This study has theoretical reference value for the implementation of related social work services.

Denial of pregnancy and neonaticide: A historical overview and case report

While denial of pregnancy and neonaticide are rare, they are potentially associated and share some risk factors. Neonaticide has been proposed as the extreme outcome of a denial of pregnancy. However, the process leading to such a possible outcome is not yet fully understood. The primary goal of this essay is to examine the various definitions and ambiguities surrounding the denial of pregnancy. The case of a young woman with a history of two denied pregnancies with diverse characteristics and outcomes, the latest of which resulted in neonaticide, is then reported and examined. A forensic psychiatric evaluation was also performed to reconstruct the woman's mental state at the time of the crime. The forensic pathological analysis of the newborn, abandoned near the sea while still alive, is described. The victim's body showed signs of shaken baby syndrome. We contend that differing levels of awareness during a denial of pregnancy might not be predictive of the potential delivery outcome in terms of threat to the newborn's survival, according to the forensic pathological and psychopathological data of the current case. Early identification of women affected by denial of pregnancy who pose a danger of committing infanticide is hampered by both intrinsic traits (dissimulation, unawareness, low propensity to seek assistance) and environmental factors (isolation, low socioeconomic level, poor education.). A previous history of denial of pregnancy should activate health and support services to reduce the potential risks for the mother and the child.

Self-esteem and Life Satisfaction among University Students

The achievement of personal goals and aspirations affect a person’s self-esteem and will critically determine the person’s psychosocial well-being. Being acutely aware of one’s intrinsic strengths and positive traits defines one’s self-esteem. This awareness results in present good experiences instead of negative thoughts becoming the focal point. The sum total of good experiences will result in better life satisfaction. It is found that self-esteem is an important determinant of one’s life satisfaction because of the close relationship between the two, with demographic characteristics, social relationships, and personality being the other determinants. This study aims to investigate the relationship between self-esteem and life satisfaction among Psychology Program students in a university in Sabah. The two instruments used in this study were Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). A total of 243 Psychology Program students participated in this study. The results indicated that there was a large positive relationship between self-esteem and life satisfaction among the Psychology Program students. However, there were no significant differences between self-esteem and life satisfaction based on gender, age, and year of study. Thus, increased self-esteem is crucially important as it would directly increase life satisfaction regardless of gender, age and year of study.

Noncovalent interactions engineering construct the fast-kinetics organic cathode for room/low-temperature aqueous zinc-ion battery

Electroactive organic electrode materials are receiving increasing attention in aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs). However, the insufficient electrical conductivity, sluggish kinetics and intrinsic soluble trait of organic molecules still hinder their application as the electrode material. Here, a carbonyl compound, dibenzo[b,i]thian threne-5,7,12,14-tetraone (DTT) is tightly wrapping by reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) with noncovalent interactions to obtain DTT@r-GO organic cathode material. Benefiting from the π-π coupling, the composite electrode delivers higher surface area, enhanced electron/ion transportation and stable structure, which exhibits superior rate performance (259.1 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g-1 and 117.7 mAh g−1 at 10 A g−1) and considerable calendar life (4000 cycles with 100 % capacity retention at 10 A g−1). Electrochemical testing and ex-situ analysis prove CO can act as a strong electron donor together with co-accommodation of Zn2+/H+, theoretical calculation confirms the favorable two-step Zn storage configuration during the charge storage process. Furthermore, these AZIBs can steadily power electronic devices at −50 °C, as well as retain a high reversible capacity of 199.5 mAh g−1 at 50 mA g−1 and 100 % capacity retention after 3700 cycles at −20 °C. The work is believed to broaden the insight into noncovalent interactions and inspire the organic electrochemical materials.

Deep Learning for Free-Hand Sketch: A Survey.

Free-hand sketches are highly illustrative, and have been widely used by humans to depict objects or stories from ancient times to the present. The recent prevalence of touchscreen devices has made sketch creation a much easier task than ever and consequently made sketch-oriented applications increasingly popular. The progress of deep learning has immensely benefited free-hand sketch research and applications. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the deep learning techniques oriented at free-hand sketch data, and the applications that they enable. The main contents of this survey include: (i) A discussion of the intrinsic traits and unique challenges of free-hand sketch, to highlight the essential differences between sketch data and other data modalities, e.g., natural photos. (ii) A review of the developments of free-hand sketch research in the deep learning era, by surveying existing datasets, research topics, and the state-of-the-art methods through a detailed taxonomy and experimental evaluation. (iii) Promotion of future work via a discussion of bottlenecks, open problems, and potential research directions for the community.

Predation risk and personality influence seed predation and dispersal by a scatter‐hoarding small mammal

AbstractSmall mammals are key scatter hoarders in forest ecosystems, acting as both seed predators and dispersers. The outcome of their interactions (i.e., predation vs. dispersal) is determined by a series of decisions made by small mammals, such as the choice of seed, whether the seed is immediately consumed or cached, and where it is cached. These decisions are influenced by a variety of factors, including the intrinsic traits of the seed, the individual personality of the scatter hoarder, and the perceived risk of predation while foraging. Furthermore, these factors may all interact to dictate the fate of the seed, with consequences for forest regeneration. Nevertheless, the ways in which perceived predation risk and personality interact to affect the seed dispersal decisions of scatter hoarders are still poorly understood. To contribute in filling this knowledge gap, we tested the hypotheses that southern red‐backed voles (Myodes gapperi), an important scatter hoarder in forest ecosystems, would exhibit personality‐mediated foraging and that predation risk would alter associations between personality and seed dispersal. We conducted a large‐scale field experiment, offering seed trays at stations with altered risk levels and recorded foraging decisions of free‐ranging voles with known personalities. We found that personality and perceived predation risk influenced decisions made by foraging voles. Specifically, docility, and boldness predicted foraging site selection, boldness predicted seed species selection and the number of seeds individuals selected, and the tendency to explore of an individual predicted whether voles would remove or consume seeds. Predation risk, mediated by the amount of cover at a site and by moon illumination, affected which foraging site individuals chose, seed species selection, and the probability of removal versus consumption. We did not find support for an interaction between personality and predation risk in predicting foraging decisions. These findings highlight the importance of scatter hoarder personality and perceived predation risk in affecting foraging decisions, with important consequences for seed dispersal and implications for altered patterns of forest regeneration in areas with different small mammal personality distributions or landscapes of fear.

Partner intrinsic characteristics influence foraging trip duration, but not coordination of care in wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans.

Long-lived monogamous species gain long-term fitness benefits by equalizing effort during biparental care. For example, many seabird species coordinate care by matching foraging trip durations within pairs. Age affects coordination in some seabird species; however, the impact of other intrinsic traits, including personality, on potential intraspecific variation in coordination strength is less well understood. The impacts of pair members' intrinsic traits on trip duration and coordination strength were investigated using data from saltwater immersion loggers deployed on 71 pairs of wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans. These were modeled against pair members' age, boldness, and their partner's previous trip duration. At the population level, the birds exhibited some coordination of parental care that was of equal strength during incubation and chick-brooding. However, there was low variation in coordination between pairs and coordination strength was unaffected by the birds' boldness or age in either breeding stage. Surprisingly, during incubation, foraging trip duration was mainly driven by partner traits, as birds which were paired to older and bolder partners took shorter trips. During chick-brooding, shorter foraging trips were associated with greater boldness in focal birds and their partners, but age had no effect. These results suggest that an individual's assessment of their partner's capacity or willingness to provide care may be a major driver of trip duration, thereby highlighting the importance of accounting for pair behavior when studying parental care strategies.

Hybrid the long short-term memory with whale optimization algorithm and variational mode decomposition for monthly evapotranspiration estimation

The sustainability of artificial sand-binding vegetation is determined by the water balance between evapotranspiration (ET) and precipitation in desert regions. Consequently, accurately estimating ET is a critical prerequisite for determing the types and spatial distribution of artificial vegetation in different sandy areas. For this purpose, a novel hybrid estimation model was proposed to estimate monthly ET by coupling the deep learning long short term memory (LSTM) with variational mode decomposition (VMD) and whale optimization algorithm (WOA) (i.e., VMD-WOA-LSTM) to estimate the monthly ET in the southeast margins of Tengger Desert. The superiority of LSTM was selected due to its capability of automatically extracting the nonlinear and nonstationary features from sequential data, WOA was employed to optimize the hyperparameters of LSTM, and VMD was used to extract the intrinsic traits of ET time series. The estimating results of VMD-WOA-LSTM has been compared with actual ET and estimation of other hybrid models in terms of standard performance metrics. The results reveale that VMD-WOA-LSTM provide more accurate and reliable estimating results than that of LSTM, the support vector machine (SVM), and the variants of those models. Therefore, VMD-WOA-LSTM could be recommended as an essential auxiliary method to estimate ET in desert regions.

Integrating deep-time palaeontology in conservation prioritisation

Halting biodiversity loss under growing anthropogenic pressure is arguably the greatest environmental challenge we face. Given that not all species are equally threatened and that resources are always limited, establishing robust prioritisation schemes is critical for implementing effective conservation actions. To this end, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species has become a widely used source of information on species’ extinction risk. Various metrics have been proposed that combine IUCN status with different aspects of biodiversity to identify conservation priorities. However, current strategies do not take full advantage of palaeontological data, with conservation palaeobiology often focussing on the near-time fossil record (the last 2 million years). Here, we make a case for the value of the deep-time (over 2 million years ago), as it can offer tangible parallels with today’s biodiversity crisis and inform on the intrinsic traits that make species prone to extinction. As such, palaeontological data holds great predictive power, which could be harnessed to flag species likely to be threatened but that are currently too poorly known to be identified as such. Finally, we identify key IUCN-based prioritisation metrics and outline opportunities for integrating palaeontological data to validate their implementation. Although the human signal of the current extinction crisis makes direct comparisons with the geological past challenging, the deep-time fossil record has more to offer to conservation than is currently recognised.

Ocular morphologic traits in the American Cocker Spaniel may confer primary angle closure glaucoma susceptibility

Acute primary angle closure glaucoma is a potentially blinding ophthalmic emergency requiring prompt treatment to lower the elevated intraocular pressure in humans and dogs. The PACG in most of canine breeds is epidemiologically similar to humans with older and female patients overrepresented with the condition. The American Cocker Spaniel (ACS) is among the most common breeds observed with PACG development in dogs. This study initially sought to identify genetic risk factors to explain the high prevalence of PACG in ACSs by using a case–control breed-matched genome-wide association study. However, the GWAS failed to identify candidate loci associated with PACG in this breed. This study then assessed intrinsic ocular morphologic traits that may relate to PACG susceptibility in this breed. Normal ACSs without glaucoma have a crowded anterior ocular segment and narrow iridocorneal angle and ciliary cleft, which is consistent with anatomical risk factors identified in humans. The ACSs showed unique features consisting of posterior bowing of iris and longer iridolenticular contact, which mirrors reverse pupillary block and pigment dispersion syndrome in humans. The ACS could hold potential to serve as an animal model of naturally occurring PACG in humans.

A measurement framework using THz Time-Domain sensing for wood quality assessment across tree ring samples

To investigate the effectiveness of selective tree improvement work, an accurate and calibration-free framework based on THz time-domain sensing for intrinsic wood quality traits assessment was specifically designed for tree ring core sample analysis. This study contains a global phase unwrapping strategy, effective medium theory (EMT)-based measurement, combined measurement, and resolution enhancement, all of which aim to solve and discuss several challenges in THz time-domain sensing. Namely, the global phase unwrapping strategy eliminates the global jumps in phase difference by analysing the principle of jump generation; EMT-based THz measurement can assess properties of hundreds of consecutive sampling points on wood cores without model training; the combined measurement adjusts relative permittivity and dielectric loss relative to one other in a coordinate system; the resolution enhancement converts 3-D PSF into 1-D PSF, and extracts attenuation to achieve resolution enhancement of target properties. The results show that the global phase unwrapping strategy has the potential to deal with phase differences of both homogeneous and heterogeneous samples and can be considered a general unwrapping method. All R2 obtained by combined measurement are higher than that obtained by separate relative permittivity measurement. The resolution enhancement can achieve more accurate and faster measurement. The framework presented here offers significant potential in promoting the application of THz in wood quality traits assessment by providing a low-cost and high precision analysis system.

Hunting and persecution drive mammal declines in Iran

The negative impacts of human activities on biodiversity are well documented. However, extinction risk studies incorporating direct human threats particularly direct killing remain limited. Here, we evaluate the potential role that direct killing through hunting and persecution, indirect human threats via land-use change, and environmental and species traits such as reproductive rate and trophic level among others, may play in driving mammal species to extinction. Based on data for 156 mammal species from Iran, we applied generalized linear models to investigate correlates of extinction risk for: (1) all mammalian species, (2) large- and (3) small-bodied species. We show that hunting vulnerability is the most important predictor to affect extinction risk across all species. We also found that the small-bodied species are impacted by indirect human influence, whereas large species are highly affected by direct killing. Overall, the extrinsic environmental factors and intrinsic species traits had lower importance in our models. Our study gives insight into the dominant role of direct killing on mammal species decline and extinction, emphasizing the need to account for the different sources of threats when analysing the correlates of extinction risk.

Intrinsic Traits Such as Personality and Decision-Making Style are Predictive of Stress in Surrogate Decision-Makers.

Introduction: Despite its prominence in psychology, little is known about how personality traits play a role in the stress experiences of surrogate decision-makers. We tested the hypothesis that intrinsic traits (personality and decision-making styles) would be related to surrogates' stress in order to learn whether screening or tailoring interventions based on personality traits could help support surrogate decision-makers. Methods: This pre-specified secondary analysis evaluated data from an interventional study with dyads of patients with advanced chronic illness and their spokespersons. Measures included stress after decision-making or patient death (Impact of Events-Revised), personality (Big Five Index; BFI) and decision-making style (maximization and regret scales). Multivariate linear regressions explored the impact of personality on the stress experience; linear regressions independently modeled the impact of maximization and regret on the stress experience. Results: Of 38 spokespersons, 89.5% were women, 97.4% non-Hispanic, and 29.0% had a college degree or higher. In univariate analyses, total stress was correlated with neuroticism (r = .56, P < .01), higher scores on the regret (r = .55, P < .01) and maximization (r = .48, P < .05). In adjusted models, BFI was significantly associated with total stress (R2 = 27.08, P = .02). However, only neuroticism was independently associated with total stress. Conclusions: Personality traits, particularly neuroticism, and decision-making styles predicted heightened stress in spokespersons of patients with advanced chronic illness. If ACP interventions are intended to reduce spokesperson stress, personality and decision-making style scales may help identify spokespersons most likely to benefit from ACP interventions.

The role of food stereotype in hedonic judgment of a delicacy food: A case study of Korean consumers’ liking for sliced raw fish (sashimi)

For a delicacy food that it is not routinely consumed, the criteria by which consumers determine whether they like it may not be clear. For such foods, it is highly likely that external cues, such as information, play an important role in sensory perception and hedonic judgment. However, such information may have different effects depending on the consumers’ preconceived stereotype. Sashimi is thin slices of fresh raw fish, considered a delicacy food in many countries. This study was conducted to investigate whether information about the size of a fish affected expectations and acceptance of sashimi and whether the effect of such information differed depending on the type of stereotype about the relationship between fish size and the sensory quality of sashimi. Sashimi was prepared from large- (2.5 kg; LS) and small-sized (1.5 kg; SS) olive flounders. The overall sensory difference between LS and SS was determined using a triangle test (n = 58) and liking of the sashimi samples was rated by 48 consumers in blind and informed settings. There was no significant difference in sensory characteristics between LS and SS. Different types of stereotypes were associated with different interpretations of the same extrinsic cues, and affected expectations and acceptance. The stereotype that sashimi from large fish tastes better than that from small fish induced higher expected liking and actual liking for LS than for SS. This suggests that hedonic judgment of sashimi, a delicacy food, is influenced more strongly by external cues and stereotype than by intrinsic sensory traits.