Validation of the Short Parallel and Extra-Short Form of the Heidelberg Figural Matrices Test (HeiQ).

Figural matrices tests are frequently used to measure fluid intelligence. The HeiQ-an operation-oriented figural matrices test-was developed to tackle limitations of previous matrices tests, mainly the possibility of excluding distractors based on superficial features instead of actively solving the items. However, allowing for a total administration time of 60 min for the assessment of one construct is not feasible in many study designs.

Design and Synthesis of Red-Absorbing Fluoran Leuco Dyes Supported by Computational Screening.

We report here on the design and synthesis of red-absorbing fluoran leuco dyes (LD). An essential part of the present dye development process is a computational screening of the candidate molecules, which allows for both time-efficient and accurate in silico characterization of the dyes. We focus our study here on the robust benzo[a]fluoran scaffold frequently used in leuco dyes.

Construction and Validation of the HeiQ: An Operation-Oriented Figural Matrices Test.

Figural matrices tests are among the most popular and well-investigated tests used to assess inductive reasoning abilities. Solving these tests requires the selection of a target that completes a figural matrix among distractors. Despite their generally good psychometric properties, previous matrices tests have limitations associated with distractor construction that prevent them from realizing their full potential.

Kindlin-3 maintains marginal zone B cells but confines follicular B cell activation and differentiation.

Integrin-mediated interactions between hematopoietic cells and their microenvironment are important for the development and function of immune cells. Here, the role of the integrin adaptor Kindlin-3 in B cell homeostasis is studied. Comparing the individual steps of B cell development in B cell-specific Kindlin-3 or alpha4 integrin knockout mice, we found in both conditions a phenotype of reduced late immature, mature, and recirculating B cells in the bone marrow.

Development of a coronavirus disease 2019 nonhuman primate model using airborne exposure.

Airborne transmission is predicted to be a prevalent route of human exposure with SARS-CoV-2. Aside from African green monkeys, nonhuman primate models that replicate airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 have not been investigated. A comparative evaluation of COVID-19 in African green monkeys, rhesus macaques, and cynomolgus macaques following airborne exposure to SARS-CoV-2 was performed to determine critical disease parameters associated with disease progression, and establish correlations between primate and human COVID-19.

Big Five Personality Traits Predict Successful Transitions From School to Vocational Education and Training: A Large-Scale Study.

Educational transitions play a pivotal role in shaping educational careers, and ultimately social inequality. Whereas parental socioeconomic status (SES) and cognitive ability have long been identified as key determinants of successful educational transitions, much less is known about the role of socio-emotional skills. To address this gap, the present study investigated whether Big Five personality traits predict success in the transition from secondary school to vocational education and training (VET) above and beyond SES, cognitive ability, and other covariates.

Developing Cross-Cultural Short Scales Using Ant Colony Optimization.

This article demonstrates how the metaheuristic item selection algorithm ant colony optimization (ACO) can be used to develop short scales for cross-cultural surveys. Traditional item selection approaches typically select items based on expert-guided assessment of item-level information in the full scale, such as factor loadings or item correlations with relevant outcomes. ACO is an optimization procedure that instead selects items based on the properties of the resulting short models, such as model fit and reliability.

New wine in an old bottle? A facet-level perspective on the added value of Grit over BFI-2 Conscientiousness.

There is emerging consensus that Grit's two facets-perseverance of effort and consistency of interest-are best understood as facets of the Big Five dimension of Conscientiousness. However, an in-depth investigation on whether Grit's facet offer any added value over more established facets of Conscientiousness is absent from the literature. In the present study, we investigated whether Grit's facets are empirically distinguishable from three facets of Conscientiousness as conceived in the well-validated Big-Five Inventory 2 (BFI-2), namely, Organization, Responsibility, Productiveness.

Grit (effortful persistence) can be measured with a short scale, shows little variation across socio-demographic subgroups, and is associated with career success and career engagement.

Grit (effortful persistence) has received considerable attention as a personality trait relevant for success and performance. However, critics have questioned grit's construct validity and criterion validity. Here we report on two studies that contribute to the debate surrounding the grit construct.

Utilization of Laboratory Testing Algorithms for Celiac Disease in a Pediatric Hospital.

Background: At Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, numerous celiac tests are ordered from a wide range of nonspecialty healthcare providers.

Objective: To retrospectively examine the ordering of celiac tests before and after a test ordering initiative at our institution, to determine whether the initiative impacted appropriate usage of those tests and affected costs.

Methods: We carefully scrutinized all orders for comprehensive celiac testing from July 2016 through September 2017, implemented an in-house celiac-disease screening cascade, and reflexed it to the comprehensive celiac testing panel if an abnormal screening result was obtained.

Relationships between Personality and Cognitive Ability: A Facet-Level Analysis.

A growing body of research supports the notion that cognitive abilities and personality are systematically related. However, this research has focused largely on global personality dimensions and single-often equally global-markers of cognitive ability. The present study offers a more fine-grained perspective.

Individual, situational, and cultural correlates of acquiescent responding: Towards a unified conceptual framework.

Acquiescence ('yea-saying') can seriously harm the validity of self-report questionnaire data. Towards a better understanding of why some individuals and groups acquiesce more strongly than others do, we developed a unified conceptual framework of acquiescent responding. Our framework posits that acquiescent responding is a joint function of respondent characteristics (e.

Incentives and barriers to research participation and brain donation among African Americans.

Successful African American recruitment for aging research requires sensitivity to factors that influence participation. In this work, a structured face-to-face educational interview was used to recruit African Americans for a longitudinal aging study and to collect information about attitudes related to research. The interview was designed to build trust and respect for research and to educate participants about the need for minority participants.

Immune interference in the setting of same-day administration of two similar inactivated alphavirus vaccines: eastern equine and western equine encephalitis.

We compared the effect on primary vaccination plaque-reduction neutralization 80% titers (PRNT80) responses of same-day administration (at different injection sites) of two similar investigational inactivated alphavirus vaccines, eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) vaccine (TSI-GSD 104) and western equine encephalitis (WEE) vaccine (TSI-GSD 210) to separate administration. Overall, primary response rate for EEE vaccine was 524/796 (66%) and overall primary response rate for WEE vaccine was 291/695 (42%). EEE vaccine same-day administration yielded a 59% response rate and a responder geometric mean titer (GMT)=89 while separate administration yielded a response rate of 69% and a responder GMT=119.

Designed ankyrin repeat proteins as scaffolds for multivalent recognition.

Ankyrin repeat (AR) proteins are composed of tandem repeats of a basic structural motif of ca. 33 amino acid residues that form a β-turn followed by two antiparallel α-helices. Multiple repeats stack together in a modular fashion to form a scaffold that is ideally suited for the presentation of multiple functional groups and/or recognition elements.

University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown healthy brain aging volunteers: donor characteristics, procedures and neuropathology.

Cognitively intact elderly research volunteers at the University of Kentucky have been recruited, followed longitudinally, and autopsied with extensive neuropathological evaluations since 1989. To date, the cohort has recruited 1,030 individuals with 552 participants being actively followed, 363 deceased, and 273 autopsied. An extensive database has been constructed with continuous updates that include textured clinical, neuropsychological, neuroimaging, and pathological information.

African American participation in Alzheimer's disease research that includes brain donation.

Historically, minority groups have been underrepresented in research and clinical trials. The lack of participation by minorities has been attributed to a variety of factors including a mistrust of the predominately white research establishments and a lack of education about the purpose of research. The current study was designed to determine African American interest in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research and to recruit African Americans as normal controls in current AD studies with the goal of eventually gaining consent for brain donation upon death.

Violations of implicit rules elicit an early negativity in the event-related potential.

When participants are asked to learn letter strings, which were constructed on the basis of a complex rule system (an artificial grammar), they are able to classify novel letter strings as being grammatical or nongrammatical better than chance without explicit knowledge about the rules. We tested whether violations of such complex regularities can be detected by the brain, when strings were presented sequentially (i.e.

Psychosomatic or allergic symptoms? High levels for somatization in patients with drug intolerance.

Patients with dermatological diseases often have associated psychological problems. For patients with allergic diseases, only a few publications have focused on psychological aspects. The objective of this study was to assess the psychometric profile, including somatization, depression, anxiety and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), of patients suffering from drug intolerance or hymenoptera venom allergies.

Oral health-related quality of life and depression/anxiety in long-term recurrence-free patients after treatment for advanced oral squamous cell cancer.

This report focuses on the association between oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and depression/anxiety of a homogeneous group of cancer patients who were recurrence-free for 8 years after treatment for advanced oral squamous cell. Participants were 24 patients (mean age 55 years, 75% men) treated with neoadjuvant concurrent radiochemotherapy followed by surgery with a mean recurrence-free period of 95 months (from 39 to 164 months). The OHRQoL (OHIP) and the anxiety/depression (HADS) were assessed twice (1 year between t1 and t2).

Multicystic bone disease (Gorham-Stout syndrome) in a spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi ).

Background: In April 2000, a 2.5-year-old pet female Geoffroyi's spider monkey presented for reduced activity, a subdued demeanor, and boney enlargement involving both radii.

Methods: On further examination, polyostotic bone cysts were identified involving many of the tubular bones and were identified radiographically.

Association between patient satisfaction with complete dentures and oral health-related quality of life: two-year longitudinal assessment.

The objective was to evaluate the development of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in patients with complete dentures and the association between OHRQoL and patient satisfaction. Fifty-two patients (mean age, 66.3, 48.