Agreeableness Scores Research Articles

Model-based and phylogenetically adjusted quantification of metabolic interaction between microbial species.

Microbial community members exhibit various forms of interactions. Taking advantage of the increasing availability of microbiome data, many computational approaches have been developed to infer bacterial interactions from the co-occurrence of microbes across diverse microbial communities. Additionally, the introduction of genome-scale metabolic models have also enabled the inference of cooperative and competitive metabolic interactions between bacterial species. By nature, phylogenetically similar microbial species are more likely to share common functional profiles or biological pathways due to their genomic similarity. Without properly factoring out the phylogenetic relationship, any estimation of the competition and cooperation between species based on functional/pathway profiles may bias downstream applications. To address these challenges, we developed a novel approach for estimating the competition and complementarity indices for a pair of microbial species, adjusted by their phylogenetic distance. An automated pipeline, PhyloMint, was implemented to construct competition and complementarity indices from genome scale metabolic models derived from microbial genomes. Application of our pipeline to 2,815 human-gut associated bacteria showed high correlation between phylogenetic distance and metabolic competition/cooperation indices among bacteria. Using a discretization approach, we were able to detect pairs of bacterial species with cooperation scores significantly higher than the average pairs of bacterial species with similar phylogenetic distances. A network community analysis of high metabolic cooperation but low competition reveals distinct modules of bacterial interactions. Our results suggest that niche differentiation plays a dominant role in microbial interactions, while habitat filtering also plays a role among certain clades of bacterial species.

Relationship between emotional intelligence and professionalism among second-year dental students.

Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to a person's ability to evaluate and manage their personal emotions and the ability to respond appropriately to the emotions of others. Limited evidence exists regarding whether EI is related to professionalism. The purpose of this study was to evaluate for relationships between EI and professionalism among second-year dental students. Using a quantitative cross-sectional research design, the study instrument consisted of 3 parts: (1) The Emotional Quotient Self-Assessment Checklist (EQSAC), including 30 questions comprising 6 domains that measured EI; (2) The Patient Management and Professionalism Scale (PMPS), including 10 questions comprising 5 domains that measured professionalism; and (3) Demographic questions. The response rate was 99.2% (n = 117) of second-year dental students. Most EI and professionalism scores were in the moderate range. Female participants had higher domain scores for agreeableness and conscientiousness compared with male participants. Male participants had higher domain scores for emotional stability than female participants. The EI domains were found to be significant predictors of total and domain professionalism levels. Understanding methods to improve EI levels may assist dental students in their development of professionalism.

Assessment of cooperation and compliance in adult patients at three stages of orthodontic treatment at a tertiary care hospital: A cross-sectional study

The study was conducted to assess cooperation and compliance in adult orthodontic patients during the leveling and alignment, space closure/molar correction and finishing stages of orthodontic treatment. This cross-sectional study was conducted on adult patients undergoing fixed orthodontic mechanotherapy in a tertiary care hospital. Patient cooperation was assessed during orthodontic treatment stages using Orthodontic Patient Cooperation Scale (OPCS) and compliance by Clinical Compliance Evaluation (CCE) form. A sample size of 38 subjects was included for each stage of treatment; therefore, a total of 114 subjects were recruited for the study. Shapiro-Wilk test identified that the data were normally distributed. One way ANOVA was used to evaluate the percentage cooperation and compliance among three stages. Pair-wise comparisons among the three stages were performed using Post hoc Tukey test. Simple and multiple linear regression analysis were carried out to see the factors associated with cooperation and compliance. A statistically significant difference was seen for scores of patient cooperation and compliance using CCE (P=0.01); however, the results of the OPCS were non-significant among the three stages of treatment (P=0.16). There was a significant difference in patient cooperation and compliance between space closure/molar correction and finishing stage (P=0.01). A highly significant decline in oral hygiene was found with the progression of orthodontic treatment, from space closure/molar correction to the finishing stage of treatment (P<0.001). Improvement in the cooperation and compliance levels for adult orthodontic patients was observed during the space closure/molar correction stage, which then showed a decline as the treatment progressed. Maintenance of oral hygiene was gradually reduced with the progression of orthodontic treatment.

Quantifying the Predictive Role of Temperament Dimensions and Attachment Styles on the Five Factor Model of Personality.

Background: The present study investigated the role of temperament and attachment security in predicting individual differences in the five factor personality traits among adults. As previous studies suggested the potential moderating role of attachment in the association between temperament and personality traits, the present study sought to examine an interactionist model combining attachment and temperament in explaining individual differences in personality traits. Methods: A sample of 1871 participants (1151 women and 719 men) completed self-report measures of adult attachment style (the Relationships Questionnaire—RQ), temperament dimension (the Fisher Temperament Inventory—FTI), and personality domain (the Five Factor Model—FFM). Results: Partial correlational analyses revealed associations between attachment security and each of the five domains of the FFM, and few associations between some temperament dimensions and several domains of the FFM. Moderated regression analyses showed that attachment security moderated the associations between temperament dimensions and the Agreeableness domain of the FFM. Among secure individuals, those with higher scores on the Curious/Energetic, Cautious/Social Norm Compliant and Prosocial/Empathetic scales exhibited higher Agreeableness scores, whereas among insecure individuals, those with higher scores on the Analytic/Tough-minded scale exhibited lower scores on the Agreeableness scale. Conclusion: Overall, the current study provides evidence in support of the substantive role of social-environmental factors (Adult Attachment) as a moderating element bridging temperament-related personality elements and a number of their FFM manifestations.

Impact of Demographic Traits and Personality Traits of Investors on Their Risk-Bearing Capacity: A Study with Special Reference to Investors of Kerala

Investment decisions form a major part of every individual’s life. Behavioral finance which puts forward a new dimension in the field of finance recognizes that investment decisions are made after considering numerous psychological, economical and social factors. One of the important criteria considered while making any such decision is the risk. It includes uncertainties associated with the investment opportunity as well as the investors’ risk-bearing capacity. Investors’ risk-bearing capacity is in turn determined by numerous other aspects. An effort is made here to determine whether the risk-bearing capacities of investors are influenced by the demographic factors and personality traits. 120 investors of Kerala State were selected as the sample for this purpose. Analytical results indicated that the risk-bearing capacity is dependent on gender, occupation, and monthly income of the investors. Further, it was noticed that those who have low neuroticism scores and high scores in agreeableness, extraversion, and conscientiousness took higher risks compared to others. This indicated that neuroticism trait was found to have a negative correlation with risk-bearing capacity whereas; agreeableness, extraversion, and conscientiousness were found to have a positive relation. The study concluded that factors like demography and personality have a strong influence on an investor’s risk-bearing capacity.

Undergraduate Student Gender, Personality and Academic Confidence

Within a socio-situational and socio-behavioural context, the relationships between the Big Five personality traits and the academic confidence of university students and how they differed by sex of the student was explored. Previous research has identified both conscientiousness and academic confidence as being linked to university performance. In respect of sex, female students have been found to score higher on all of the Big Five measures, whereas the relationship between sex and academic confidence has been mixed. Using self-report measures of personality and academic confidence from 1523 Spanish students, it was found that the female students were more confident in their grades, studying and attendance components of academic confidence and had higher scores for conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism personality measures. A multiple regression analysis found that personality predicts academic confidence, with conscientiousness being the trait that statistically loaded the most strongly. This research further confirms the validity of the Academic Behavioural Confidence scale and suggests that measures of personality and, especially, academic confidence could be usefully used in student support situations to help students acquire the strategies and skills that lead to successful university study. It is suggested that further research in the area needs to include outcome or achievement measures and measures of hypothetical constructs, such as personality and academic confidence, that go beyond self-report measures.

Comparing the Personality Traits of Patients with an Eating Disorder versus a Dual Diagnosis

Objectives: This cross-sectional study explored personality traits of individuals receiving treatment in a private clinic for an eating disorder (ED) compared to those receiving treatment for a dual diagnosis (DD; defined as an addiction to illegal drugs and/or alcohol along with a mental illness, in this case an ED). The aims of this study were to: (a) assess the personality profiles and differentiating traits between the ED and DD groups, (b) analyze differences in personality traits of restrictive ED versus bingeing ED profiles, and lastly (c) compare the individuals Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) results to their personality clusters as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – 5th edition (DSM-5). Methods: The TCI-R is a self-report questionnaire consisting of seven scales, each with their own subscales, which provide a fuller understanding of each temperament and character trait evaluated. This questionnaire was given to patients (n = 67) receiving treatment at a private institute specialized in eating disorders in Barcelona, Spain and the surrounding areas, along with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11). These subsequent questionnaires were given as they are often found to be comorbidities of ED. Results: The ED group (n = 41), regarding the TCI-R scales, showed higher scores in harm avoidance (HA), reward dependence (RD), persistence (P), cooperativeness (C) and self-directedness (SD). Whereas, the DD (n = 26) group, showed higher scores in novelty seeking (NS) and self-transcendence (ST). Also, there was a significant positive correlation between the DD group and the extravagance (NS3) subscale of novelty seeking across models. When comparing the two ED groups, the restrictive profile (RP) to the bingeing profile (BP), there were significant negative correlations in the TCI-R subscales of dependence (RD4) and perfectionism (P4) whereas there were positive correlations in the TCI-R subscale of responsibility (SD1). Conclusions: These results support previous studies and help to appraise differences in personality traits between specific groups in a clinical setting.

The relationship between personality traits, caring characteristics and abuse tendency among professional caregivers of older people with dementia in long-term care facilities.

To explore the relationship between personality traits, caring characteristics and abuse tendency among professional caregivers of older people with dementia in long-term care facilities in China. Elder abuse is a serious global health problem and human right violation with high incidence among older people with dementia. There are many investigations about impact factors of risk of abuse among family caregivers of older people with dementia. However, in long-term care facilities, the situation of abuse tendency needs further investigation. Cross-sectional study. An observational survey was conducted according to the STROBE checklist. We investigated 156 professional caregivers of older people with dementia in three long-term care facilities in Guangzhou, China. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Caregiver Abuse Screen (CASE) and the Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Data were analysed using Mann-Whitney U tests, Kruskal-Wallis tests, Spearman's rank correlation and logistic regression analyses. Over half of the participants (51.9%) reported abuse tendency to the older people with dementia. There was a significant negative correlation between the caregivers' agreeableness scores of NEO-FFI and their CASE scores. Multivariate logistic regression analyses highlighted that protective factors of abuse tendency were caregivers' agreeableness, care recipients' source of finances and their duration of dementia while higher care difficulty and presence of older people's behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) were the risk factors. Caregivers' agreeableness personality trait and the caring characteristics of older people with dementia may be relevant to abuse tendency in long-term care facilities. Further study with a larger sample size is needed to validate such a correlation. Older people with dementia are at high risk for abuse. Prospective caregivers could pay more attention to developing their own agreeableness. The managers might establish monitoring system for reducing the abuse.

Dexmedetomidine Provides Fewer Respiratory Events Compared With Propofol and Fentanyl During Third Molar Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Propofol and fentanyl can cause airway obstruction and respiratory depression when used together for intravenous sedation. This study investigated whether dexmedetomidine and midazolam would decrease respiratory events requiring intervention during deep sedation compared with propofol, fentanyl, and midazolam. A prospective, randomized, double-blinded, controlled trial was designed to assess 2 intravenous treatment groups during third molar surgery.Patients were randomized into 2 groups. The control group (group P) received 0.8μg/kg of fentanyl followed by propofol infusion at 125μg/kg per minute over a 10-minute period with intraoperative boluses of 0.1μg/kg. The study group (group D) received dexmedetomidine bolus infusion of 1μg/kg over a 10-minute period followed by maintenance infusion at 0.5μg/kg per hour. Both groups were given 0.03mg/kg of midazolam before infusion. Scorers, masked to group, viewed the procedure remotely and evaluated the primary outcome variable of respiratory events requiring intervention. Secondary outcome variables evaluated by the scorers included the Behavioral Pain Scale for non-intubated patients at initial injection, cooperation score at 5 and 15minutes, and time to ambulation and discharge. Patient satisfaction and hemodynamic stability were measured. The difference between groups regarding the occurrence of respiratory events was tested using the Fisher exact test, and mixed-effects models were used to compare repeated vital signs. The sample was composed of 141 patients randomly assigned to either group P (n=67) or group D (n=74). No statistically significant differences in the distribution of study variables were found between groups at baseline. A statistically significant difference in respiratory events requiring deliberate intervention existed between group P (25.4%) and group D (2.7%) (P<.0001). No statistically significant difference was found between groups for Behavioral Pain Scale score, cooperation score, time to ambulation or discharge, and patient satisfaction. Using dexmedetomidine and midazolam for outpatient surgery resulted in fewer respiratory events requiring deliberate intervention compared with propofol, fentanyl, and midazolam. Ambulation and discharge times were not prolonged using dexmedetomidine.

TESTING VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF COOPERATION WITH CARE SCALE - R IN NURSING HOME MAJOR NEUROCOGNITIVE DISORDER PATIENTS SMITA U. VARSHNEY, M.D., WILLIAM V. MCCALL, M.D.

Introduction Currently 1.7 million individuals reside in 15,600 nursing homes in US ( www.cdc.gov ). These individuals often have difficulty adjusting to their new environment. They may refuse daily care, meals, and medications. Resistance-to-care behavior was reported in 9% of dementia patients in US studies and 96.9% in a Norwegian study (Konno R 2012). A definition of rejection of care and a conceptual framework of rejection of care incorporating 7 components was proposed by Ishii S. 2012). Increased caregiver stress can cause both physical and psychological injury to caregivers (Cody SJ 2001). Informant distress related to patients behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) rather than symptoms themselves, were noted to be associated with higher healthcare utilization and costs (Maust D. 2017). Increased mortality and death rate are associated with use of antipsychotic medications (Tampi R 2017). Different interventions have been reported to decrease resistance to care behaviors including Music therapeutic caregiving (Hammer L 2011), simulated presence therapy (Woods p 1995), Family-generated videotapes Cohen-Mansfield J 1997), video simulated presence(VSP) (O'Conner C 2012). AlzhaTV displayed family videos to dementia patients to reorient, reassure, encourage to cooperate with care, showed decrease in NPI-NH (Neuropsychiatric inventory – Nursing home) scores by 85% by day 90 (Varshney S 2018). Noncooperation with healthcare workers to overall daily care, medications, and treatments is a major factor in increased cost of care for dementia patients in nursing homes. A Resistiveness to Care scale was developed by (Mahoney EK 1999) to measure a wide range of resistive behaviors. Some strategies can be implemented to improve cooperation. However, our literature search didn't find any study/scale to assess co-operation with care that would help compare outcomes of different studies that used different interventions to improve cooperation with care. We created and tested a scale to measure cooperation with the care (Varshney S 2018) then revised to add frequency component to obtain a comprehensive assessment on cooperation with the care. We applied Cooperation with Care Scale – Revised (CWCS-R) to nurses taking care of 15 nursing home dementia patients, in a systematic approach to test its validity and reliability. Methods We recruited 17 nurses at a single nursing home who were caring for 15 MND patients of which 10 were female and 5 male patients. The study lasted for 6 weeks. For inter-observer reliability testing: We administered CWCS-R to a nursing home patient's nurse on first and second shift, once a week for the duration of 6 weeks. For validity testing: We administered Resistiveness to Care Scale (RTC) to the same patient's nurse on first and second shift, at the beginning of the study to test for external validity against CWCS-R. The integer of 1 was given to each yes on 13 item Resistiveness to Care Scale and were summed up at the end for each patient at the beginning of the study. Results Total 17 nurses enrolled in the study. Two nurses left after one month and 14 of the 15 nurses contributed a cooperation scale rating on at least one patient at least one point in time. 100% nurses were women (16 African American and 2 White). All nurses worked at the same nursing home for 6 months or more with mean work months was 81.5 months, median work months was 65 months with standard deviation (SD) 75.76 months. Mean age for nurse was 48?years, median was 47?years, and SD was 13. The patients included 10 women and 5 men. Mean for patients age was 88?years, median was 88?years and SD was 9?years. The mean (Mini Mental Status Examination) MMSE score was 7, and median MMSE score was 2, and SD was 8.3. All were white patients. 100% of patients were diagnoses with a MND. Inter-rater agreement Cooperation scores were 41.3 +/- 7.0 on first shift of week one, and 43.4 +/- 6.6 on second shift of week one (p= n.s). The median cooperation score across both shifts was 44. Using the median score of 44 as an indicator of which patients exhibited high versus low cooperation with care, a high degree of agreement was seen between the first and second shifts at week 1 (kappa=0.70; p Conclusions Our study shows that CWCS-R for MND patients, is both reliable and valid. More studies are needed to replicate these results of CWCS -R and to compare the level of cooperation with the care against the cost of care for MND patients in nursing home setting. This research was funded by: Coop Study was not funded by any source.

Therapist personality traits as predictors of psychological treatment outcomes

Aim: To investigate if therapists’ personality influences their patients’ treatment outcomes. Methods: N = 4,052 patients were treated by 69 therapists, including 36 Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs) and 33 Cognitive Behavioural Therapists (CBTs). Therapists completed the NEO-PI-R personality inventory, they reported years of clinical experience, and expert assessors rated their clinical competence and reflective abilities. Their patients completed pre and post-treatment measures of depression (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7). Associations between therapist personality traits and patient treatment outcomes were examined using multilevel modelling, controlling for therapist demographics, clinical experience, technical competence and reflective ability. Results: Relative to other sources of variability, therapists accounted for 1% to 3% of overall variability in treatment outcomes. However, the magnitude of systematic heterogeneity in performance between therapists was around 6%, such that the best-performing therapists outperformed average therapists by a margin of moderate to large effects (g = .57–1.10). Clinical experience, technical competence and reflective ability were unrelated to treatment outcomes. Patients treated by PWPs with above-average agreeableness scores and CBTs with above-average openness to experience scores had poorer treatment outcomes. Conclusions: Therapist effects may be partly explained by the influence of their personality on their work with anxious and depressed patients.

Analysis of personality disorder profiles obtained by five-factor personality model

Background/Aim. In spite of the growing body of evidence in the field of personality disorders, these disorders still retain the lowest diagnostic reliability of any major category of mental disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences of personality profiles in patients diagnosed with personality disorder in comparison with the group of healthy control subjects, as well as to establish to what extent the five-factor personality model domains determine the specific clusters of personality disorders. Methods. The study group comprised 97 patients diagnosed as personality disorders (according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ? DSM-IV criteria), aged between 18 and 65 years [mean = 35.78 years, standard deviation (SD) = 13.72 years], 67% were female. Control group included 58 healthy subjects (student population) aged between 20 to 35 years (mean = 22.48 years, SD = 2.56 years), 56% were female. The assessment was carried out by the new version of the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PIR), form S, and the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID II) for DSM-IV disorders. Results. The three clusters were found by the use of regression analysis: cluster A ? eccentrics (low scores in agreeableness), cluster B ? dramatics (high score in extroversion, low score in agreeableness, and cluster C ? anxious (low score in extroversion). The findings showed that the high level of neuroticism was a non-specific predictor of all three clusters, while dimension openness to experience had no predictive power for any of the three clusters. Conclusion. Our findings support the meta-analysis which suggests consistently high level of neuroticism and low level of agreeableness in most personality disorders. The study showed that it is possible to conceptualize personality disorders by using five-factor personality model of normal personality. Integrating the psychiatric classification with the dimensional model of general personality structure could enable the uncovering of essential parameters for setting the diagnosis.

Hypersexual Behaviors and Personality Traits in Men with Substance Use Disorders in Iran

The present study was conducted aiming to compare the five-factor model of personality in addicted men with and without hypersexual disorder (HD). The research method was causal-comparative, and the study population included all addicted men who were residents of addiction treatment centers in Tabriz city. 216 male addicts with HD and without HD were compared in 2 groups of 108 members through the Big Five Inventory (BFI-44). Data were analyzed using independent t test, chi-square, multivariate analysis of variance, and SPSS 22 version software for Windows (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). The results showed that 2 groups were significantly different in the five-factor model of personality. Addicted men with HD obtained lower scores in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience; and obtained higher scores in neuroticism personality dimension in comparison to addicted men without HD. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in extraversion dimension. These findings indicated that there is a significant difference between the 2 groups in the five-factor model of personality, and addicted men with HD scored higher in neuroticism dimension. Therefore, this study illustrates the need to pay attention to the personality dimension of neuroticism (or emotional instability) as a variable comorbid with HD and substance-related disorders.

Enhancing cooperation during pediatric ultrasound: Oral midazolam versus conventional techniques.

Background and Aims:Ultrasound is a safe and non-invasive method for detecting numerous pathologies. Pediatric patients are often uncooperative which leads to decreased quality and increased time of scan. We compared the conventional means alone and combination of oral midazolam for the above cited purpose.Material and Methods:This double blind prospective study (CTRI/2016/06/007030) was conducted after obtaining due approval from institutional ethical committee. One hundred Children aged 2-6 years belonging to ASA class 1 or 2, posted for high resolution ultrasonography of abdomen were included in the study. They were randomised to receive midazolam 0.3 mg/kg mixed in 20 mL of apple juice (Group I) or 20 mL of apple juice alone (Group II) 20 minutes prior to the procedure. The parameters assessed were level of cooperation, sonologist's satisfaction, total scan time, heart rate and SpO2.Results:Out of 100 patients, 44 patients of group I and 42 of group II were analysed. The cooperation score was significantly higher in Group I (35%) than Group II (19%). Likert scale revealed very satisfied and satisfied rating in 61.3% (Group I) and 21.4% (Group II). The time taken by sonologist and number of attempts were significantly less in Group I than Group II. There was no difference in discharge time between the groups. There was no reportable adverse event in either group.Conclusion:Oral midazolam is a safe and effective agent to aid routine abdominal ultrasonography in pediatric patients.

Temperament and Character Traits of Personality in a Sample of Patients Admitted to the Emergency Unit with a Suicide Attempt

Objective: In this study, we aimed to evaluate a sample of suicide attempters regarding temperament and character dimension scores and compare them with psychiatrically healthy individuals considering the influence of demographic risk factors. Methods: This study enrolled consecutive 50 patients (39 women, 11 men) with a mean age of 24.12 (SD ± 8.83) years who were admitted to the Emergency Department of Bezmialem Vakif University hospital for a recent self – or not self-reported suicide attempt. The control group consisted of age – and gendermatched 50 healthy subjects (34 women, 11 men) who had not a documented axis I psychiatric disorder or a previous suicide attempt with a mean age of 26.46 (SD ± 5.6). A semi-structured sociodemographic and clinical data form, Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV axis I disorders (SCID-I), and the Turkish version of Temperament and Character Inventory (Turkish-TCI) were administered to all participants. Following screening of all variables for the accuracy of data entry, missing values, and homoscedasticity, statistical analyses were performed by using SPSS version 23 for Windows. Results: A statistically significant difference was found between the patients and psychiatrically healthy controls mean values in terms of Impulsiveness and Disorderliness subscales of Novelty Seeking; Harm Avoidance and its all subscales, Sentimentality subscale of Reward Dependence; Self-Transcendence and its subscales of Self-Forgetfulness, Transpersonal Identification and Spiritual Acceptance scores were significantly higher in patients with suicide attempt compared to the control group. Patient group also exhibited significantly lower mean values of Self-Directedness, Persistence, and Cooperativeness scales compared to the psychiatrically healthy controls. Conclusions: In conclusion, our results suggested that patients with a history of suicide attempts have abnormal TCI profiles linked to higher harm avoidance, novelty seeking and self-transcendence scores and lower self-directedness and cooperativeness scores compared to psychiatrically healthy controls. Since personality traits play an important role in the prediction of suicidality, clinicians should be aware of personality–psychopathology relations for assessment and developing treatment strategies of the patients with suicide attempt.

Personality traits are related to functional dyspepsia in a large sample of Iranian adults

Background and objectiveFew studies have evaluated the association of personality traits with functional dyspepsia (FD). In the present study, we aimed to explore the relationship between different personality traits and FD in a sample of Iranian adults. MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted on 4763 adults. FD was evaluated using a modified and validated Persian version of the Rome III questionnaire for the diagnosis of functional gastrointestinal disorders. Personality traits were assessed using the five-factor model. Logistic regression was used for data analysis. ResultsAfter controlling for various potential confounders, neuroticism (OR = 1.043; 95% CI: 1.028, 1.059), agreeableness (OR = 0.965; 95% CI: 0.952, 0.978), extraversion (OR = 0.985; 95% CI: 0.970, 0.990), openness (OR = 0.981; 95% CI: 0.966, 0.996), and conscientious (OR = 0.980; 95% CI: 0.968, 0.991) scores were associated with risk of FD. Similar significant associations were observed in stratified analyses by sex, except for openness which tended to decrease the risk of FD marginally in women (OR = 0.983, 95% CI: 0.966, 1.001) and in men (OR = 0.979, 95% CI: 0.955, 1.003) after adjusting for multiple confounding variables. ConclusionOur study showed that the higher scores of extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, and agreeableness are independently associated with a lower risk of FD in Iranian general population while higher scores of neuroticism increase the risk of FD.

Expectations and Experiences of Technology-Rich Classrooms of Preservice and In-service Teachers in China

Technology-Rich Classrooms (TRCs) have been increasingly constructed in K12 schools. Existing studies revealed that to what extent TRCs play a role in shaping teaching and learning depends on what teachers expect to do and what they do with TRCs. This study aimed at exploring the gap between teachers’ experiences of existing TRCs and their expectations of ideal TRCs. A total of 194 preservice teachers studying at Beijing Normal University (BNU) and 149 in-service teachers who enrolled in a master program at BNU participated in the study. The Smart Classroom Inventory (SCI) a ten-component inventory revised from the previous study, was used to collect the data. Independent-samples t-tests and paired-samples t-tests revealed that: (a) both preservice teachers and in-service teachers reported significantly lower experiences of TRCs than their expectations of ideal ones in terms of most dimensions, with the only exception that preservice teachers’ Technology usage. (b) Whether in existing TRCs, or in ideal ones, both preservice teachers and in-service teachers reported relative lower scores of Flexibility, Learning data, Differentiation, Investigation, and Cooperation than other dimensions. (c) Preservice teachers reported significantly higher scores of Flexibility, Technology usage, Learning data, Differentiation, Investigation, and Cooperation than in-service teachers, while in-service teachers reported significantly higher scores of Physical design, Student Cohesiveness, Equity, and Learning experiences than preservice teachers.4) Preservice teachers reported significantly higher expectation of ideal Physical design, Differentiation than in-service teachers, while they reported significantly lower expectations of ideal Flexibility, Student Cohesiveness, Equity, and Learning experience than in-service teachers. Implications for preservice teachers’ education and in-service teachers’ professional development were discussed.

Personality traits are differently associated with depression and anxiety: Evidence from applying bivariate multiple binary logistic regression on a large sample of general adults.

The purpose of this study was to explore the association of five factors personality traits, as predictor variables, with the anxiety and depression as joint dependent variables in an Iranian adult population. A total of 3175 subjects living in Isfahan participated in this cross-sectional population-based study (SEPAHAN) and completed self-administered questionnaires about demographic, life style, gastrointestinal disorders, personality traits, social support, and psychological problems. Data was analyzed using bivariate multiple binary logistic regression in R Free statistical software. The results indicated high scores of neuroticisms increase the risk of anxiety and depression after adjustment for the potential confounders in total sample (OR (95% CI): 1.22 (1.19-1.24) and 1.19 (1.17-1.21), respectively) as well as in both male and female. In contrast, joint inverse associations were found between anxiety and depression with high extraversion (OR (95% CI): 0.90 (0.88-0.92) and 0.91 (0.89-0.92), respectively), agreeableness (0.93 (0.91-0.96) and 0.94 (0.92-0.96) respectively) and conscientiousness scores (0.95 (0.93-0.97) and 0.95 (0.94-0.97) respectively) as well as in both male and female. Furthermore, higher scores of openness had significant inverse association with depression in male. The present study indicated that higher scores of neuroticism, however lower extraversion, conscientiousness and agreeableness scores are risk factors for both anxiety and depression in Iranian adult population. It is suggested to perform family studies or twin and genetic association studies with considering combinations of personality traits (personality styles), and also measuring personality traits at the facet level.

Optimization of Ready-To-Drink Beverage and Ready-To-Reconstitute Mix of Ginger Based Appetizer

Ginger is outstanding for its therapeutic property and curd is expended for its probiotics properties. Utilizing these two fixings a hors d'oeuvre drink has been created and this item is advanced utilizing Response Surface Methodology. It gives 77 kCal per serving of 100ml when the hors d'oeuvre blends with virus water. For making dry starter crisp curd is supplanted by curd powder. The item as a rule has a timeframe of realistic usability of a half year in encompassing condition. Utilizing the Response surface approach advancement of this canapé demonstrates a most extreme causticity score of 2.38 % for ginger powder (2g-4g) , asafetida powder (200g - 500g) , salt (1g-2g) utilizing RSM(Box-Benhken strategy). In a comparable report, the worthiness score of the beverage is 7.0 to 7.8 utilizing Overall agreeableness score.

Temperament and character as risk factor for suicide ideation and attempts in adults with autism spectrum disorders.

Persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are suggested to have an increased risk for suicide ideation and suicide attempts, but this topic is largely understudied. Research indicates that temperament and character traits are associated with suicidal behavior in persons without ASD, with higher scores for novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), and self-transcedence (ST), and lower scores for self-directedness (SD) and cooperativeness (CO). Usually persons with ASD have temperament and character profiles with high HA, and low NS, reward dependence (RD), SD, and CO. The aim is to investigate whether there is a relationship between temperament and character traits and suicide ideation and attempts in adults with ASD. Seventy-four adults with ASD participated by completing self-report measures on suicide thoughts and behavior, depression, and temperament. Independent sample t-tests were conducted to compare scores between attempters versus nonattempters and between ideators versus nonideators. Regression analysis was performed to explore the predictive value of temperament and character. T-tests showed lower NS and SD, and higher HA for ideators versus nonideators, but not for attempters versus nonattempters. Regression models showed no significant relation between suicide ideation and NS, SD, HA after the latter were controlled for the significant influence of depression. Temperament and character can probably not be used for predicting suicide ideation and attempts, based on results from the current sample. Clinicians must take note of the high prevalence and risk of depression among persons with ASD, which may be under-reported. Autism Res 2020, 13: 104-111. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: The aim of the current study was to uncover risk factors for suicide ideation and attempts in adults with autism, since this urgent topic is largely understudied. We initially investigated whether temperament and character could be risk factors, but found no association. However, we did find that depression might be a high predictor for suicide ideation, which could remain under-reported in adults with autism, due to impaired communication and problems with expressing emotions and thoughts.