Social media use, social identification and cross-cultural adaptation of international students: A longitudinal examination.

The mobility experience is an important life event for international students, and achieving successful psychological and sociocultural adaptation is crucial for this experience to be positive. Through a three-wave longitudinal study among international students enrolled at universities in Spain, Portugal, and Poland ( = 233), we examined the relationships between social media use, social identification, and (sociocultural and psychological) adaptation across time. Results of cross lagged panel modeling (CLPM) showed that social media contact with home nationals predicted greater identification with this group.

Factors that Influence Treatment Delay for Patients with Breast Cancer.

Introduction: The diagnosis or treatment of breast cancer is sometimes delayed. A lengthy delay may have a negative psychological impact on patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate the sociodemographic, clinical and pathological factors associated with delay in the provision of surgical treatment for localised breast cancer, in a prospective cohort of patients.

[Analysis of the evolution of those operated on with minimal access surgery in our hospital. Does it present better results than the conventional one?].

Symptomatic severe aortic stenosis is the most prevalent surgical pathology in cardiac surgery, and its isolated replacement has historically been performed by means of complete middle sternotomy. However, a great revolution has recently taken place, especially after the arrival of sutureless aortic prostheses that, together with a new impulse by cardiac surgery towards a less invasive course, has caused the replacement of said valve to be carried out more and more frequently due to these prostheses and minor access incisions. For this reason, we carried out a review of the cases operated on in our service from the beginning of the minimum access surgery program, comparing them with the results of the cases operated at the same time using conventional surgery.

The Breast Size Satisfaction Survey (BSSS): Breast size dissatisfaction and its antecedents and outcomes in women from 40 nations.

The Breast Size Satisfaction Survey (BSSS) was established to assess women's breast size dissatisfaction and breasted experiences from a cross-national perspective. A total of 18,541 women were recruited from 61 research sites across 40 nations and completed measures of current-ideal breast size discrepancy, as well as measures of theorised antecedents (personality, Western and local media exposure, and proxies of socioeconomic status) and outcomes (weight and appearance dissatisfaction, breast awareness, and psychological well-being). In the total dataset, 47.

Intra- and Inter-Physician Agreement in Therapeutic Decision for Sleep Apnea Syndrome.

Background: Large variation in diagnostic procedures and treatment recommendations may hinder the management of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and also compromise correct interpretation of the results of multicenter clinical trials, especially in subjects with non-severe OSA. The aim of this study was to analyze the therapeutic decision-making between different sleep physicians in patients with AHI<40events/h.

Methods: Six experienced senior sleep specialists from different sleep centers of Spain were asked to make a therapeutic decision (CPAP treatment) based on anonymized recordings of patients with suspected OSA that has previously performed a sleep study.

Acculturation and adjustment as a function of perceived and objective value congruence.

Culture fit has been studied in numerous ways conceptually and methodologically, yielding conflicting results. This study explored it in terms of perceived and objective value congruence in relation to both acculturation and socio-cultural adjustment among 187 international students (or internationals, compared to 138 domestic students or locals) in the USA. First, for 9 out of 10 values, internationals' perceptions of U.

Obstructive sleep apnoea in the elderly: role of continuous positive airway pressure treatment.

Almost all the information about the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) comes from clinical trials involving only middle-aged patients. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of CPAP treatment in elderly patients with severe OSA on clinical, quality-of-life and neurocognitive spheres. We performed an open-label, randomised, multicentre clinical trial in a consecutive clinical cohort of 224 elderly (≥70 years old) patients with confirmed severe OSA (apnoea-hypopnea index ≥30) randomised to receive CPAP (n=115) or no CPAP (n=109) for 3 months.

Are virtues national, supranational, or universal?

Many studies investigated cultural differences in values, most notably by Hofstede and Schwarz. Relatively few have focused on virtues, a related and important concept in contemporary social science. The present paper examines the similarities and differences between nations, or blocks of - culturally related - nations on the perceived importance of virtues.

New insights on the 7-azaindole photophysics: the overlooked role of its non phototautomerizable hydrogen bonded complexes.

In this paper we explore the formation and the photophysical properties of the scarcely studied open hydrogen bonded aggregates of 7-Azaindole, 7AI. Thus, we have analyzed the influence that the increase of the 7AI concentration and the decrease of the temperature have on the 7AI photophysics. To help the interpretation of the results, the 7AI-Pyridine system has been used as the model for the analysis of the photophysical properties attributable to the open N(pyrrolic) - H · · · N(pyridinic) hydrogen bonded aggregates.

Spectroscopic study of the ground and excited state prototropic equilibria of 4-azaindole.

The ground and singlet excited state prototropism of 4-azaindole, 4AI, in acid and basic aqueous solutions, inside and outside the pH range, has been systematically studied by using absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques. These studies have thrown light on some interesting aspects on the nature and the photophysics of the 4-AI prototropic species. Thus, the changes of the 4AI absorption spectra reveal the existence of four ground state species; the pyridinic protonated cation, C (pK(a)(C)=7.

Effect of continuous positive airway pressure on the incidence of hypertension and cardiovascular events in nonsleepy patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a randomized controlled trial.

Context: Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the first-line treatment for patients with symptomatic obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, its indication for all patients with sleep-disordered breathing, regardless of daytime symptoms, is unclear.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of CPAP treatment on the incidence of hypertension or cardiovascular events in a cohort of nonsleepy patients with OSA.

Spectral and photophysical properties of α-carboline (1-azacarbazole) in aqueous solutions.

The absorption and fluorescence spectra of α-carboline, 9H-pyrido[2,3-b]indole, AC, in organic aprotic solvents containing different water proportions and in acid/base aqueous solutions inside and outside the pH range have been examined. In the organic aprotic solvents, the addition of increasing concentrations of water sequentially quenches and shifts to the red the fluorescence spectra of AC. These spectral changes have been rationalized assuming the formation, at the lower water concentrations, of a discrete ground state non-cyclic weakly fluorescent AC hydrate emitting at 376 nm that, upon increasing the water concentrations, evolves to a higher order AC poly hydrate emitting at 397 nm.

A photophysical study of the α-carboline (1-azacarbazole) aggregation process.

This paper reports a comprehensive photophysical study of the aggregation process of 1-azacarbazole, or α-carboline (9H-pyrido[2,3-b]indole), AC, in low polar aprotic solvents by using absorption, steady state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopic techniques. To ascertain the characteristics of the aggregation process we have studied the changes produced by the increase of the AC concentration and the decrease of the temperature on the absorption and fluorescence spectra of the AC monomer. Previously, to aid the interpretation of these results, the hydrogen bonding interactions of the AC monomer with pyridine, PY, and indole, IND, have been also analyzed.

Electronic spectra and photophysics of the α-carboline (1-azacarbazole) monomer.

The UV-vis electronic absorption and emission spectra of α-carboline or 1-azacarbazole, 9H-pyrido[2,3-b]indole, AC, have been investigated in aprotic solvents. Radiative, k(r), non-radiative, k(nr), rate constants and natural lifetimes, τ(N), of the AC monomer in hexane and acetonitrile, obtained from the experimentally determined fluorescence quantum yields and fluorescence lifetimes, have been compared with those theoretically estimated. The closeness between these experimental and theoretical data, the small Stokes shifts, the mirror image relationship between the absorption and fluorescence spectra and the close correspondence between the absorption and fluorescence excitation spectra, provide good evidences that the emission of AC monomer occurs directly from its lowest singlet excited state.

Visual analogical well-being scale for sleep apnea patients: validity and responsiveness : a test for clinical practice.

Introduction: Health-related quality-of-life (HRQL) tests used in sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) are time-consuming, complicating their application in clinical practice. The objective was to examine the validity and responsiveness of a simple visual analogical well-being scale (VAWS) for the clinical use.

Method: The subjects proceed from a cohort of SAHS patients treated with CPAP for 12 weeks.

Modified BODE indexes: Agreement between multidimensional prognostic systems based on oxygen uptake.

Aim: It has been recently shown that the original BODE index has a high degree of correlation with two modified BODE indexes using maximal oxygen uptake expressed either as mL/min/kg (mBODE) or as the percentage predicted (mBODE%). In this study we investigated the agreement between the two modified BODE indexes (mBODE and mBODE%) in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods: A total of 169 patients with stable COPD were enrolled in this cross-sectional study.

A theoretical study of the hydrogen bond donor capability and co-operative effects in the hydrogen bond complexes of the diaza-aromatic betacarbolines.

In this work, we present a quantum mechanical investigation on the hydrogen bond interactions of N(9)-methyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole, MBC, and N(2)-methyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole, BCA, with different hydrogen bond donors. Thus, it has been analysed the influence that the hydrogen bond donor strength and the co-operative effect of the increasing number of donor molecules have on the shape of the potential energy surfaces versus the N···H distances, r(N–H). To rationalize the nature of the interactions, the Bader theory has been applied and the characteristics of the bond critical points analysed.

Singlet excited state pyridinic deprotonation of the N9-methylbetacarboline cations in aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions.

The singlet excited state pyridinic deprotonation of the 9-methyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole, MBC, cations has been studied in aqueous NaOH solutions by absorption, steady state and time resolved fluorescence measurements. This excited state reaction proceeds through a stepwise mechanism involving different ground and excited state hydrogen bonded MBC-(water)n complexes. Thus, in aqueous NaOH solutions of MBC above pH 8, two ground state hydrogen bonded MBC-water adducts, namely PC and PTC, coexist in equilibrium.

Ground and singlet excited state pyridinic protonation of N9-methylbetacarboline in water-N,N-dimethylformamide mixtures.

The ground and the singlet excited state pyridinic protonation of 9-methyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole, MBC, in water-N,N-dimethylformamide mixtures has been studied by absorption, steady state and time resolved fluorescence measurements. These proton transfer reactions elapse by a stepwise mechanism modulated by different hydrogen bonded adducts and exciplexes formed by water molecules and the pyridinic nitrogen atom of the MBC. Based in the present and previous studies, a general mechanistic Scheme for the ground and the singlet excited state MBC pyridinic protonation has been proposed.

Dual emission of temperature-induced betacarboline self-associated hydrogen bond aggregates.

A systematic study of the influence of the gradual temperature decrease on the UV-vis absorption and fluorescence emission spectra of betacarboline, 9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole, BC, and other model systems, such as BC plus N(9)-methyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole, MBC, and BC plus pyridine, PY, has been carried out in 2-methylbutane, 2MB. These studies have allowed the conclusion that the temperature decrease favours the formation of hydrogen-bonded self-associated BC aggregates. The initial red shifts of the absorption and emission bands and the fluorescence quenching have been ascribed to the formation of hydrogen bond BC dimers with a proton transfer structure, PTC.

Defective thermoregulation, impaired lipid metabolism, but preserved adrenergic induction of gene expression in brown fat of mice lacking C/EBPbeta.

C/EBPbeta (CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein beta) is a transcriptional regulator of the UCP1 (uncoupling protein-1) gene, the specific marker gene of brown adipocytes that is responsible for their thermogenic capacity. To investigate the role of C/EBPbeta in brown fat, we studied the C/EBPbeta-null mice. When placed in the cold, C/EBPbeta(-/-) mice did not maintain body temperature.

The developmental regulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1alpha expression in the liver is partially dissociated from the control of gluconeogenesis and lipid catabolism.

The developmental regulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) gene expression was studied in mice and compared with that of marker genes of liver energy metabolism. The PGC-1alpha gene was highly expressed in fetal liver compared with that in adults and remained high in neonatal liver. The regulation of PGC-1alpha gene expression during the fetal and early neonatal periods was dissociated from that of gluconeogenic genes, i.

Effect of snoring and obstructive respiratory events on sleep architecture in adolescents.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of snoring and obstructive respiratory events on the distribution of sleep stages and arousals in a nonselected group of adolescents from the general population.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Randomly selected secondary schools in Seville, Spain.

Dynamic study of excited state hydrogen-bonded complexes of harmane in cyclohexane-toluene mixtures.

Photoinduced proton transfer reactions of harmane or 1-methyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole (HN) in the presence of the proton donor hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) in cyclohexane-toluene mixtures (CY-TL; 10% vol/vol of TL) have been studied. Three excited state species have been identified: a 1:2 hydrogen-bonded proton transfer complex (PTC), between the pyridinic nitrogen of the substrate and the proton donor, a hydrogen-bonded cation-like exciplex (CL*) with a stoichiometry of at least 1:3 and a zwitterionic exciplex (Z*). Time-resolved fluorescence measurements evidence that upon excitation of ground state PTC, an excited state equilibrium is established between PTC* and the cationlike exciplex, CL*, lambdaem approximately/= 390 nm.

Mitochondrial biogenesis and thyroid status maturation in brown fat require CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha.

Brown fat differentiation in mice is fully achieved in fetuses at term and entails the acquisition of not only adipogenic but also thermogenic and oxidative mitochondrial capacities. The present study of the mice homozygous for a deletion in the gene for CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/EBPalpha-null mice) demonstrates that C/EBPalpha is essential for all of these processes. Developing brown fat from C/EBPalpha-null mice showed a lack of uncoupling protein-1 expression, impaired adipogenesis, and reduced size and number of mitochondria per cell when compared with wild-type mice.