Subjective Ratings Research Articles

Aerobic and Anaerobic Fitness Levels of Pre-Professional Contemporary Dancers: An Exploration of 2 Dance-Specific Field Tests.

The primary aim of this study was to present descriptive heart rate (HR), heart rate recovery (HRR) and RPE data for the DAFT and HIDT within one sample of contemporary dance students. The second aim was to explore if objective (HR) and subjective (RPE) data were correlated between tests. 40 (11 males, 29 females) university dance students with a mean age of 18.8 ± 1.8 years performed the DAFT and HIDT on 2 separate occasions within 1 week. Measurements were HR after 4 minutes in all stages of the DAFT, the percentage of age-predicted maximal HR (%HRmax) of all stages of the DAFT and at the end of the HIDT, and peak HR (HRpeak) at the end of both tests. Subjective ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and HR recovery after 1 minute of rest (HRR) were determined after the tests. HRpeak of the DAFT and HIDT were 188.1 ± 11.0 and 185.3 ± 7.3 beats·min-1, respectively. There were high positive correlations between HRpeak of the HIDT and stages 3 to 5 of the DAFT (r = 0.716-0.740, all P-values < .01). HRR (r = .678, P < .01) and %HRmax (r = .746, P < .01) showed moderate to high correlations between the DAFT and HIDT. The anaerobic training zone was reached in stages 4 and 5 of the DAFT and at the end of the HIDT. The subjective RPE scores did not significantly correlate between DAFT and HIDT, neither with objective HR data. Although the DAFT and HIDT differ in intensity and work-to-rest ratio, there were high correlations between HR and HRR data of both tests and both tests reached intensities above the anaerobic threshold (%HRmax > 85%).

Cold pressor stress effects on cardiac repolarization

The cold pressor test (CPT) elicits strong cardiovascular reactions via activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), yielding subsequent increases in heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP). However, little is known on how exposure to the CPT affects cardiac ventricular repolarization. Twenty-eight healthy males underwent both a bilateral feet CPT and a warm water (WW) control condition on two separate days, one week apart. During pre-stress baseline and stress induction cardiovascular signals (ECG lead II, Finometer BP) were monitored continuously. Salivary cortisol and subjective stress ratings were assessed intermittently. Corrected QT (QTc) interval length and T-wave amplitude (TWA) were assessed for each heartbeat and subsequently aggregated individually over baseline and stress phases, respectively. CPT increases QTc interval length and elevates the TWA. Stress-induced changes in cardiac repolarization are only in part and weakly correlated with cardiovascular and cortisol stress-reactivity. Besides its already well-established effects on cardiovascular, endocrine, and subjective responses, CPT also impacts on cardiac repolarization by elongation of QTc interval length and elevation of TWA. CPT effects on cardiac repolarization share little variance with the other indices of stress reactivity, suggesting a potentially incremental value of this parameter for understanding psychobiological adaptation to acute CPT stress.

Evaluating possible 'next day' impairment in insomnia patients administered an oral medicinal cannabis product by night: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Cannabis and its major constituents, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), are being widely used to treat sleep disturbances. However, THC can cause acute cognitive and psychomotor impairment and there are concerns that driving and workplace safety might be compromised the day after evening use.Here, weexamined possible 'next day' impairment following evening administration of a typical medicinal cannabis oil in adults with insomnia disorder, compared to matched placebo. This paper describes the secondary outcomes of a larger study investigating the effects of THC/CBD on insomnia disorder.Twenty adults [16 female; mean (SD) age, 46.1 (8.6) y] with physician-diagnosed insomnia who infrequently use cannabis completed two 24 h in-laboratory visits involving acute oral administration of combined 10 mg THC and 200 mg CBD ('THC/CBD') or placebo in a randomised, double-blind, crossover trial design. Outcome measures included 'next day' (≥9 h post-treatment) performance on cognitive and psychomotor function tasks, simulated driving performance, subjective drug effects, and mood.We foundno differences in 'next day' performance on 27 out of 28 tests of cognitive and psychomotor function and simulated driving performance relative to placebo. THC/CBD produced a small decrease (-1.4%, p=.016, d=-0.6) in accuracy on the Stroop-Colour Task (easy/congruent) but not the Stroop-Word Task (hard/incongruent). THC/CBD also produced a small increase (+8.6, p=.042, d=0.3) in self-ratings of Sedated at 10 h post-treatment, but with no accompanying changes in subjective ratings of Alert or Sleepy (p's>0.05).In conclusion, we found a lack of notable 'next day' impairment to cognitive and psychomotor function and simulated driving performance following evening use of 10 mg oral THC, in combination with 200 mg CBD, in an insomnia population who infrequently use cannabis.

Clothing and Equipment Fit Among Male and Female Canadian Armed Forces Members.

The fit of military clothing and equipment is essential for the health and safety of military operators. Given the aim of increasing the proportion of women and the known biological and morphological differences between male and female soldiers, an understanding of fit across different items of kit is needed. The aim of this study was to quantify subjective fit ratings of 8 items of military clothing and equipment, including combat shirt, combat pants, rucksack, small pack, tactical vest, fragmentation vest, helmet, and ballistic eyewear as a function of relative stature and occupational group among male and female Canadian Armed Forces members. An online survey was distributed to male and female Canadian Armed Forces members, where fit was reported by participants according to a 7-point Likert acceptability scale. Participants were binned into 1 of 6 (3 males, 3 females) standing stature categories based on percentiles in a male and female distribution that included (1) under 35th percentile stature, (2) 35th to 80th percentile stature, and (3) over 80th percentile stature. Additionally, participants were separated according to occupational group: Group A: Infantry, Combat Engineer, Artillery, Armored; group B: Signals, Medical Technician, Intelligence, Signals Intelligence/Cyber Ops; group C: Supply Technician, Weapons Technician, Vehicle Technician, Electronic-Optronic Technician, Ammunition Technician; other: Not in other groups, examples include: Financial Services Administrator, Cook. This study was approved by the Defence Research and Development Canada Human Research Ethics Committee under protocol 2019-048, Amendment 2. There were significant effects attributable to stature category and occupational group on the fit of equipment. Specifically, fit acceptability of the rucksack helmet, small pack, and tactical vest was significantly affected by occupational group. Differences between stature categories were detected in all items with the exception of the small pack. Military equipment fit has previously been shown to have implications for protection, performance, and mobility. The results of the investigation demonstrate different patterns of fit acceptability in male and female soldiers across items of clothing and equipment and may require different solutions.

Triggering Cockpit Alerts Using an Eye-Tracking-Based Measure of Monitoring Performance

Abstract: This study explored the potential for enhancing pilot performance via an alerting system that adapts according to an eye-tracking-based measure of monitoring. The novel measure combines gaze analysis with system state assessment to estimate the pilot’s understanding of the current system state. On this basis, an alerting system was developed to direct pilot attention to unnoticed system state changes, thereby improving system state monitoring. In a flight simulator study involving 10 participants in a generic jet cockpit, we compared the adaptive alerting system with a no-assistance condition. Although alerting improved the participants’ performance in two tracking tasks, it adversely impacted performance in a third task. Nonetheless, alerting resulted in a decrease in both variance and mean detection time of critical changes. Participants’ subjective ratings were generally positive, yet they criticized the lack of transparency of the alerting mechanism. Alerts triggered based on eye-tracking and system state show potential for improving operator task performance. Nonetheless, for the system to reach its full performance potential, it is critical that the operator understand the principles underlying the alert triggers. False positives and alert design were identified as key areas for improvement to maintain user trust and task flow.

The effects of standing foot-transmitted vibration on self-reported discomfort ratings.

Occupational foot-transmitted vibration (FTV) exposure is common in industries like mining, construction, and agriculture, often leading to acute and chronic injuries. Vibration assessments require technical expertise and equipment which can be costly for employers to perform. Alternatively, researchers have observed that self-reported discomfort can be used as an effective indicator of injury risk. This study aimed to investigate the effect of standing FTV exposure on self-reported ratings of discomfort, and whether these subjective ratings differed by body area and exposure frequency. Participants (n = 30) were randomly exposed to standing FTV at six frequencies (25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 Hz) for 20-45 seconds. Following each exposure, participants rated discomfort on a scale of 0-9 in four body areas: head and neck (HN), upper body (UB), lower body (LB), and total body. Results indicated that participants experienced the most discomfort in the LB at higher frequencies (p < 0.001), consistent with the resonance of foot structures. The HN discomfort tended to decrease as the exposure frequency increased, although not statistically significant (p > 0.0167). The UB discomfort remained relatively low across all frequencies. The study suggests a potential connection between resonant frequencies and discomfort, potentially indicating injury risk. Although self-reported discomfort is insufficient for directly assessing injury risk from FTV, it provides a simple method for monitoring potential musculoskeletal risks related to vibration exposure at resonant frequencies. While professional vibration assessment remains necessary, self-reported discomfort may act as an early indicated of vibration-induced injuries, aiding in implementing mitigation strategies.

Evaluating the Stroop Test With Older Adults: Construct Validity, Short Term Test-Retest Reliability, and Sensitivity to Mental Fatigue.

We conducted two studies to evaluate the construct validity, short term test-retest reliability, and sensitivity to mental fatigue of the Stroop task when used with older adults. In Study 1, 40 participants visited our lab on two separate days. On the first visit, they took five screening scales, and we measured their height and body mass. On the second visit, they completed the Stroop task twice with a 30-minute interval between assessments. In Study 2, 15 different participants took a 30-minute Flanker/Reverse Flanker task during the interval between the two administrations of the Stroop tasks and they gave subjective ratings of their mental fatigue on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) prior to taking either of the Stroop tasks. In Study 1, participants showed a ceiling effect on the Stroop accuracy measure, there was strong concurrent validity for the Stroop with significant score differences between the Stroop's congruent and incongruent conditions (p < .001), and there was excellent response time reliability (ICC = 0.926) on day two when participants took the Stroop twice within a 30-minute inter-test interval. However, there were significant test-retest performance differences with respect to cognitive inhibition (p < .001). In Study 2, mental fatigue from the Flanker/Reverse Flanker test resulted in a significantly worse second Stroop performance (p = .045). We concluded that the Stroop task demonstrated strong concurrent validity and response time reliability among older adults, but it showed sensitivity to mental fatigue, and repeated administrations within the short 30-minute test-retest interval revealed that the most important Stroop measure (cognitive inhibition) was unreliable. We discuss the implications of these findings.

Effectiveness of smart LED strips at mid-block crosswalks under distracted driving conditions

We investigated the effectiveness of an LED-based smart mid-block crosswalk system in mitigating the detrimental effects of driver engagement in non-driving-related tasks (NDRTs) with behavioural, performance, and subjective measurements. We designed a 2 (Crosswalk: smart vs conventional) by 2 (Task complexity: low vs. high NDRT) within-subjects experiment. Thirty-six drivers drove along four urban scenarios in a static driving simulator. We collected data on driving behaviour (speed, reaction distance), and safety (minimum time-to-collision [MTTC]), as well as subjective driver ratings on the perceived task load and their trust in the technology used, and performance levels achieved while performing the NDRTs.Behavioural and performance observations showed that the smart mid-block crosswalk resulted in greater reaction distances and MTTC values when drivers interacted with pedestrians, thus indicating improved safety. Remarkably, the results also revealed that increased NDRT complexity does not negatively affect the smart crosswalk effectiveness in terms of driver-pedestrian collision prevention (i.e., MTTC does not decrease significantly). However, the NDRT complexity influenced driving performance in terms of speed and reaction distance at brake pedal pressure, with drivers exhibiting lower speeds and lower reaction distances with higher task loads. Moreover, the subjective ratings and performance levels while performing a NDRT reflected the experimental manipulation, with drivers perceiving higher task loads and performing worse in the higher NDRT complexity condition. Overall, the smart mid-block crosswalk led to a safer driver-pedestrian interaction compared to conventional crosswalks and achieved a good acceptance level both of which augur well for the widespread future installation of this technology.

The effect of social anxiety on threat acquisition and extinction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Although exposure-based therapy has been found to be effective at alleviating symptoms of social anxiety disorder, it often does not lead to full remission, and relapse after treatment is common. Exposure therapy is based on theoretical principles of extinction of conditioned fear responses. However, there are inconsistencies in findings across experiments that have investigated the effect of social anxiety on threat conditioning and extinction processes. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine whether elevated levels of social anxiety are associated with abnormalities in threat conditioning and extinction processes. A second aim was to examine the sensitivity of various study designs and characteristics to detect social anxiety-related differences in threat conditioning and extinction. A systematic search was conducted, which identified twenty-three experiments for inclusion in the review. The findings did not demonstrate compelling evidence that high levels of social anxiety are associated with atypical threat conditioning or extinction. Further, when systematically examining the data, there was no convincing support that the use of a particular psychophysiological measure, subjective rating, or experimental parameter yields more consistent associations between social anxiety and conditioning processes during threat acquisition or extinction. Meta-analyses demonstrated that during threat extinction, the use of anxiety ratings as a dependent variable, socially relevant unconditioned stimuli, and a higher reinforcement schedule produced more detectable effects of social anxiety on compromised extinction processes compared to any other dependent variable (subjective or physiological) or experimental parameter. Overall, the results of this study suggest that social anxiety is not reliably related to deficits in conditioning and extinction processes in the context of laboratory-based Pavlovian conditioning paradigms.

Neural correlates of stress-reactive rumination in depression – The role of childhood trauma and social anxiety

Recent work showed an association of prefrontal dysfunctions in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and social stress induced rumination. However, up to date it is unclear which etiological features of MDD might cause prefrontal dysfunctions. In the study at hand, we aimed to replicate recent findings, that showed prefrontal activation alterations during the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and subsequently increased stress-reactive rumination in MDD compared to healthy controls. Moreover, we aimed to explore the role of adverse childhood experiences and other clinical variables in this relationship. N = 55 patients currently suffering from MDD and n = 42 healthy controls (HC) underwent the TSST, while cortical activity in areas of the Cognitive Control Network (CCN) was measured via functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The TSST successfully induced a stress reaction (physiologically, as well as indicated by subjective stress ratings) and state rumination in all subjects with moderate to large effect sizes. In comparison to HC, MDD patients showed elevated levels of state rumination with large effect sizes, as well as a typical pattern of reduced cortical oxygenation during stress in the CCN with moderate effect sizes. Self-reported emotional abuse and social anxiety were moderately positively associated with increased stress-reactive rumination. Within the MDD sample, emotional abuse was negatively and social anxiety positively associated with cortical oxygenation within the CCN with moderate to large effect sizes. In conclusion, our results replicate previous findings on MDD-associated prefrontal hypoactivity during stress and extends the research toward specific subtypes of depression.

Validating a New Surgical Gouge for Autogenous Ear Reconstruction During Simulated Microtia Workshops

Autologous ear reconstruction remains a gold standard surgical technique for the treatment of external ear deformities. This highly technical procedure requires experience, an understanding of aesthetic principles, and a surgical approach that can consistently produce optimal results. As an experienced microtia surgeon having trained under Dr Satoru Nagata, the senior author has emphasized the importance of appropriate surgical tools during this procedure. Here, we present results of a novel surgical handle and gouge meant to optimize complex cartilage carving. The senior author regularly holds microtia workshops to help train individuals around the United States. During 2 of such workshops held in 2022, participants were given access to both the standard, commercially available surgical gouge as well as a prototype of a novel surgical gouge developed by the authors. Participants were then given a Likert-scale survey to assess their subjective feedback for both tools. Twenty-seven total participants completed the postworkshop survey. Cumulatively, the results demonstrated that participants rated the custom gouge significantly higher than its counterpart (4.2 versus 3.2, P&lt;0.001). They also had a significantly higher likelihood of using the custom gouge again (4.1 versus 3.2, P=0.023). The custom gouge designed by the senior author demonstrated higher subjective ratings when compared with what is currently available on the market. This serves as a primary validation study that demonstrates feasibility for further assessment in a true operative setting.

Intoxication due to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol is characterized by disrupted prefrontal cortex activity.

Neural states of impairment from intoxicating substances, including cannabis, are poorly understood. Cannabinoid 1 receptors, the main target of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary intoxicating cannabinoid in cannabis, are densely localized within prefrontal cortex; therefore, prefrontal brain regions are key locations to examine brain changes that characterize acute intoxication. We conducted a double-blind, randomized, cross-over study in adults, aged 18-55 years, who use cannabis regularly, to determine the effects of acute intoxication on prefrontal cortex resting-state measures, assessed with portable functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Participants received oral THC (10-80 mg, individually dosed to overcome tolerance and achieve acute intoxication) and identical placebo, randomized for order;185 adults were randomized and 128 completed both study days and had usable data. THC was associated with expected increases in subjective intoxication ratings (ES = 35.30, p < 0.001) and heart rate (ES = 11.15, p = 0.001). THC was associated with decreased correlations and anticorrelations in static resting-state functional connectivity within the prefrontal cortex relative to placebo, with weakest correlations and anticorrelations among those who reported greater severity of intoxication (RSFC between medial PFC-ventromedial PFC and DEQ scores, r = 0.32, p < 0.001; RSFC between bilateral mPFC and DEQ scores, r = -0.28, p = 0.001). Relative to placebo, THC was associated with increased variability (or reduced stability) in dynamic resting-state functional connectivity of the prefrontal cortex at p = 0.001, consistent across a range of window sizes. Finally, using frequency power spectrum analyses, we observed that relative to placebo, THC was associated with widespread reduced spectral power within the prefrontal cortex across the 0.073-0.1 Hz frequency range at p < 0.039. These neural features suggest a disruptive influence of THC on the neural dynamics of the prefrontal cortex and may underlie cognitive impairing effects of THC that are detectable with portable imaging. This study is registered in Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03655717).

Multimodal emotion classification using machine learning in immersive and non-immersive virtual reality

Affective computing has been widely used to detect and recognize emotional states. The main goal of this study was to detect emotional states using machine learning algorithms automatically. The experimental procedure involved eliciting emotional states using film clips in an immersive and non-immersive virtual reality setup. The participants’ physiological signals were recorded and analyzed to train machine learning models to recognize users’ emotional states. Furthermore, two subjective ratings emotional scales were provided to rate each emotional film clip. Results showed no significant differences between presenting the stimuli in the two degrees of immersion. Regarding emotion classification, it emerged that for both physiological signals and subjective ratings, user-dependent models have a better performance when compared to user-independent models. We obtained an average accuracy of 69.29 ± 11.41% and 71.00 ± 7.95% for the subjective ratings and physiological signals, respectively. On the other hand, using user-independent models, the accuracy we obtained was 54.0 ± 17.2% and 24.9 ± 4.0%, respectively. We interpreted these data as the result of high inter-subject variability among participants, suggesting the need for user-dependent classification models. In future works, we intend to develop new classification algorithms and transfer them to real-time implementation. This will make it possible to adapt to a virtual reality environment in real-time, according to the user’s emotional state.

The near-miss effect in online slot machine gambling: A series of conceptual replications.

Near-misses are a structural characteristic of gambling products that can be engineered within modern digital games. Over a series of preregistered experiments using an online slot machine simulation, we investigated the impact of near-miss outcomes on subjective ratings (motivation, valence) and two behavioral measures (speed of gambling, bet size). Participants were recruited using Prolific and gambled on an online three-reel slot machine simulator that delivered a one in three rate of X-X-O near-misses. Study 1 measured trial-by-trial subjective ratings of valence and motivation (Study 1a, n = 169; Study 1b, n = 148). Study 2 (n = 170) measured spin initiation latencies as a function of the previous trial outcome. Study 3 (n = 172) measured bet size as a function of the previous trial outcome. In Study 1a, near-misses increased the motivation to continue gambling relative to full-misses, supporting Hypothesis 1. On valence ratings, near-misses were rated significantly more positively than full-misses, in the opposite direction to Hypothesis 2; this effect was confirmed in a close replication (Study 1b). In Study 2, participants gambled faster following near-misses relative to full-misses, supporting Hypothesis 3. In Study 3, participants significantly increased their bet size following near-misses relative to full-misses, supporting Hypothesis 4. Across all dependent variables, near-miss outcomes yielded statistically significant differences from objectively equivalent full-miss outcomes, corroborating the "near-miss effect" across both subjective and behavioral measures, and in the environment of online gambling. The unexpected findings on valence ratings are considered in terms of boundary conditions for the near-miss effect, and competing theoretical accounts based on frustration/regret, goal generalization, and skill acquisition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Attention modulates facial expression processing in subsyndromal depression: A behavioral and ERP study

Impaired facial expression perception is a core element in depression, but the underlying mechanism remains controversial. This event-related potential study investigated how attention modulates facial expression perception in depression using a nonclinical sample. A group of healthy controls (HC, N = 39) and a group of individuals with subsyndromal depression (SD, N = 39) categorized faces based on either facial expression (happy vs. sad) or gender (male vs. female). Behaviorally, the SD group was less sensitive to the emotional valence of facial expression than the HC group when their attention was directed to facial expression, as revealed by comparable subjective ratings and accuracy rates in response to facial expressions. When attention was directed towards facial gender, the SD group versus the HC group showed a negative bias, as revealed by a faster N170 for sad faces than happy faces. Together, our findings suggest that attention plays a role in understanding the relationship between depression and facial expression perception.

Deep neural network based distortion parameter estimation for blind quality measurement of stereoscopic images

Stereoscopic/3D image quality measurement (SIQM) has emerged as an active and important research branch in image processing/computer vision field. Existing methods for blind/no-reference SIQM often train machine-learning models on degraded stereoscopic images for which human subjective quality ratings have been obtained, and they are thus constrained by the fact that only a limited number of 3D image quality datasets currently exist. Although methods have been proposed to overcome this restriction by predicting distortion parameters rather than quality scores, the approach is still limited to the time-consuming, hand-crafted features extracted to train the corresponding classification/regression models as well as the rather complicated binocular fusion/rivalry models used to predict the cyclopean view. In this paper, we explore the use of deep learning to predict distortion parameters, giving rise to a more efficient opinion-unaware SIQM technique. Specifically, a deep fusion-and-excitation network which takes into account the multiple-distortion interactions is proposed to perform distortion parameter estimation, thus avoiding hand-crafted features by using convolution layers while simultaneously accelerating the algorithm by using the GPU. Moreover, we measure distortion parameter values of the cyclopean view by using support vector regression models which are trained on the data obtained from a newly-designed subjective test. In this way, the potential errors in computing the disparity map and cyclopean view can be prevented, leading to a more rapid and precise 3D-vision distortion parameter estimation. Experimental results tested on various 3D image quality datasets demonstrate that our proposed method, in most cases, offers improved predictive performance over existing state-of-the-art methods.

Brain electrical patterns associated with pleasure and emotion induced by tonal and atonal music.

Several studies in the last 40 years have used electroencephalography (EEG) to recognize patterns of brain electrical activity correlated with emotions evoked by various stimuli. For example, the frontal alpha and theta asymmetry models to distinguish musical emotions and musical pleasure, respectively. Since these studies have used mainly tonal music, in this study, we decided to incorporate both tonal (n = 8) and atonal (n = 8) musical stimuli to observe the subjective and electrophysiological responses associated with valence, arousal, pleasure, and familiarity, from 25 nonmusician Mexican adults (10 females, 15 males; M = 37.8 years old, SD = 15.1). Our results showed that atonal music was perceived as less familiar and pleasurable than tonal music, according to the average subjective ratings. Interestingly, greater right hemispheric activity (alpha suppression) was associated with atonal music listening. Additionally, there was an increase of theta power at the right frontal cortex (F4) correlated with a decrease of pleasure ratings, in line with the frontal theta asymmetry (FTA) model. Finally, according to the model of frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) to distinguish musical emotions, activation (alpha suppression) of the left frontal cortex (F3) was correlated with greater valence and arousal-that is, joyful music. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Whole-Body Sweat Rate Prediction: Outdoor Running and Cycling Exercise.

Our aim was to develop and validate separate whole-body sweat rate prediction equations for moderate to high intensity outdoor cycling and running, using simple measured or estimated activity and environmental inputs. Across two collection sites in Australia, 182 outdoor running trials, and 158 outdoor cycling trials were completed at a wet-bulb globe temperature ranging from ~15 to ~29˚C, with ~60-min whole-body sweat rates measured in each trial. Data were randomly separated into model development (running: 120; cycling: 100 trials) and validation groups (running: 62; cycling: 58 trials), enabling proprietary prediction models to be developed and then validated. Running and cycling models were also developed and tested when locally measured environmental conditions were substituted with participant subjective ratings for black globe temperature, wind speed, and humidity. The mean absolute error for predicted sweating rate was 0.03 and 0.02 L·h-1 for running and cycling models, respectively. The 95% confidence intervals for running (+0.44 and -0.38 L·h-1) and cycling (+0.45 and -0.42 L·h-1) were within acceptable limits for an equivalent change in total body mass over 3 h of ±2%. The individual variance in observed sweating described by the predictive models was 77% and 60% for running and cycling, respectively. Substituting measured environmental variables with subjective assessments of climatic characteristics reduced the variation in observed sweating described by the running model by up to ~25%, but only by ~2% for the cycling model. These prediction models are publicly accessible (https://sweatratecalculator.com) and can guide individualized hydration management in advance of outdoor running and cycling.

De novo urinary incontinence and lower urinary tract symptoms after colpocleisis: A single-center prospective study

BackgroundColpocleisis is one of traditional surgical procedures for elderly and frail women with advanced pelvic organ prolapse. The occurrence of de novo urinary incontinence following colpocleisis was considered to impair the postoperative quality of life. The incidence of de novo urinary incontinence after colpocleisis has been reported to be ranging from 6.6% to 27%. There was an absence of prospective large-sample study to investigate the accurate incidence of de novo urinary incontinence following colpocleisis and the impact on the quality of life till now. Purposes The primary objective was to report the incidence of de novo urinary incontinence after colpocleisis. The second objectives were to evaluate the long-term quality of life in patients with de novo urinary incontinence, and to conduct detailed pre- and post-operative evaluations of lower urinary tract symptoms. MethodsThis prospective study included 253 patients with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse who underwent colpocleisis between 2009 and 2021. De novo urinary incontinence was defined as the occurrence of urinary incontinence 3 months postoperatively. All patients were required to complete the Urinary Distress Inventory questionnaire and the Urinary Impact Questionnaire for the evaluation of patients’ quality of life, and the Patient Global Impression of Improvement questionnaire for the evaluation of patients’ satisfaction. Results245 patients (245/253, 96·8%) completed the 3-month follow-up, and were included in the final analysis. The incidence of de novo urinary incontinence was 5.4% (10/185). There was no significant difference in the Urinary Distress Inventory -6 scores (22.50 vs. 10.30, P=0.276) or the subjective satisfaction rate (100% vs. 98.9%, P=0.250) between the patients with or without de novo urinary incontinence at the long-term follow-up. The incidence of voiding difficulty was significantly reduced after colpocleisis (27.8% vs. 0.0%, P<0.001). The patients’ quality of life indicated by Urinary Distress Inventory-6 and Urinary Impact Questionnaire-7 scores were significantly improved postoperatively (26.27 vs. 13.39, and 19.13 vs. 6.05, P<0.05). ConclusionThe incidence of de novo urinary incontinence after colpocleisis was very low. Patients’ quality of life, and low urinary tract symptoms were significantly improved after colpocleisis.

Differences in preoperative frailty assessment of surgical candidates by sex, age, and race

IntroductionSurgical decision-making often relies on a surgeon's subjective assessment of a patient's frailty status to undergo surgery. Certain patient demographics can influence subjective judgment when compared to validated objective assessments. In this study, we explore the relationship between subjective and objective frailty assessments according to patient age, sex, and race. MethodsPatients were prospectively enrolled in urology, general surgery, and surgical oncology clinics. Using a visual analog scale (0−100), operating surgeons independently rated the patient's frailty status. Objective frailty was classified using the Fried Frailty Criteria ranging from 0 to 5. Multivariable proportional odds models were conducted to examine the potential association of factors with objective frailty, according to surgeon frailty rating. Subgroup analysis according to patient sex, race, and age was also performed. ResultsSeven male surgeons assessed 203 patients preoperatively with a median age of 65. A majority of patients were male (61 %), white (67 %), and 60 % and 40 % underwent urologic and general surgery/surgical oncology procedures respectively. Increased subjective surgeon rating (OR 1.69; p < 0.001) was significantly associated with the presence of objective frailty. On subgroup analysis, a higher magnitude of such association was observed more in females (OR 1.86; p = 0.0007), non-white (OR 1.84; p = 0.0019), and older (>60, OR 1.75; p = 0.0001) patients, compared to male (OR 1.45; p = 0.0243), non-white (OR 1.48; p = 0.0109) and patients under 60 (OR 1.47; p = 0.0823). ConclusionThe surgeon's subjective assessment of frailty demonstrated tendencies to rate older, female, and non-white patients as frail; however, differences in patient sex, age, and race were not statistically significant.