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Adaptation and psychometric properties of Psychological Skills Inventory for Sport (PSIS-R5) in Latvian athletes: Insights and implications for practice

Background and objective Psychological skills are critical for high achievement and elite sports performance. However, there remains a lack of valid, reliable, and accessible instruments adapted to modern athletes. This highlights significant psychometric challenges in the existing tools currently available. While the Psychological Skills Inventory for Sport (PSIS-R5) is a commonly used tool in sports psychology worldwide, it has demonstrated various psychometric issues over time. A previous adaptation to the Latvian sports environment highlighted specific challenges in the Latvian context. It is important to note that these issues are not unique to the Latvian adaptation. A comprehensive review is necessary to address these broader psychometric concerns and ensure the instrument’s suitability for contemporary athletes, including those in Latvia. Moreover, the adaptation process may offer insights and methodological guidance for similar efforts in other cultural contexts. The aims of this research were twofold: first, to review and adapt the PSIS-R5 for use in Latvia (PSIS-R5-L), ensuring its validity and reliability; and second, to assess the applicability of the PSIS-R5-L in elite sports settings by examining relationships between athletes’ achievement levels and psychological skills. Methods A total of 444 Latvian athletes aged between 18–43 (M = 21.32; SD = 6.52) completed the PSIS-R5 inventory to assess their psychological skills. The PSIS-R5 was re-translated into Latvian language (PSIS-R5-L) using forward-backward translation. Additionally, five sports psychologists participated in the study, providing evaluations of elite athletes’ psychological skills using the PSIS-R5 inventory. Results Series of Principal Components Analyses (PCA) were conducted to explore and validate the structure of the Latvian revisited adaptation of the PSIS-R5-L. As a result, a stable four-factor structure was obtained, consisting of 17 items with satisfactory fit indices (CFI = 0.968, RMSEA = 0.045 [90% CI: 0.034, 0.057], SRMR = 0.026). The findings indicate that the Latvian adapted PSIS-R5-L has appropriate psychometric properties, confirming its suitability for use in the Latvian sports environment. Comparisons between different athlete groups (elite, pre-elite, and amateur) revealed several correlations and statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences in psychological skills. Conclusions The PSIS-R5-L is a psychometrically robust and practically valuable tool for assessing athletes’ psychological skills in Latvia. It offers coaches, sports psychologists, and practitioners an evidence-based instrument to evaluate and enhance mental skills across different athlete populations, supporting psychological preparation programs in both elite and amateur sports settings.

Why does formalism exist in local environmental rectification? A qualitative comparative analysis based on Central Environmental Protection Inspection cases

China’s Central Environmental Protection Inspection (CEPI) has achieved significant results, with 287,000 public reports received by June 2022, facilitating the resolution of numerous environmental issues; however, formalism persists in some regions during environmental rectification efforts. Existing research lacks sufficient explanations for the diverse driving paths underlying local formalism. This paper selects 20 typical CEPI cases from northern, central, eastern, southern, northwestern, and southwestern China. Guided by the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, it employs the crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA) method to identify the diversified pathways of local formalism. The results indicate that: (1) Local formalism is influenced by technological, organizational, and environmental factors, including environmental facility constraints, digital facility constraints, accountability pressure, attention constraints, economic constraints, and industrial constraints; (2) No single condition constitutes a necessary cause of formalism in local environmental rectification; instead, it arises from the interaction of multiple conditions; (3) The three paths classified by nine conditional configurations, namely technology-environment path, technology-organization path, and organization path, are the primary paths for local formalism. (4) Environmental infrastructure constraints, attention constraints, accountability pressure, and industrial constraints serve as core conditions across all pathways, with accountability pressure playing a particularly significant role. This paper offers insights into mitigating formalism in local environmental rectification.

Black hole flings out clumps of gas

Comparison of the results of in-person and mobile phone surveys for a health facility assessment in Tajikistan: A validation study protocol

Health facility assessments provide important data to measure the quality of health services delivered to populations. These assessments are comprehensive, resource intensive, and periodic to inform medium- to-longer-term policies. However, in absence of other reliable data sources, country decision makers often rely on outdated data to address service delivery challenges that change more frequently. High-frequency phone surveys are a potential option to improve the efficiency and timeliness of collecting time-sensitive service delivery indicators in-between comprehensive in-person assessments. The objectives of this study are to assess the reliability, concurrent criterion validity, and non-response rates in a rapid phone-based health facility assessment developed by the Global Financing Facility’s FASTR initiative compared to a comprehensive in-person health facility assessment developed by the World Bank’s Service Delivery Indicators Health Program. The in-person survey and corresponding in-person item verification will serve as the gold standard. Both surveys will be administered to an identical sample of 500 health facilities in Tajikistan using the same data collection entity. To assess reliability, percent agreement, Cohens Kappa, and prevalence and bias adjusted Kappa will be calculated. To assess concurrent criterion validity, sensitivity and specificity will be calculated, with a cut-off of.7 used for adequate validity. The study will further compare response rates and dropout rates of both surveys using simple t-tests and balance tests to identify if the characteristics of the phone-based and in-person survey samples are similar after accounting for any differences in survey response rates. The results of this study will provide important insights into the reliability and validity of phone-based data collection approaches for health facility assessments. This is critical as Ministries of Health seek to establish and sustain more continuous data collection, analysis, and use of health facility-level data to complement periodic in-person assessments to improve the quality of services provided to their populations.

Encapsulated Co–Ni alloy boosts high-temperature CO2 electroreduction

Abstract Electrochemical CO2 reduction into chemicals and fuels holds great promise for renewable energy storage and carbon recycling1–3. Although high-temperature CO2 electroreduction in solid oxide electrolysis cells is industrially relevant, current catalysts have modest energy efficiency and a limited lifetime at high current densities, generally below 70% and 200 h, respectively, at 1 A cm− 2 and temperatures of 800 °C or higher4–8. Here we develop an encapsulated Co–Ni alloy catalyst using Sm2O3-doped CeO2 that exhibits an energy efficiency of 90% and a lifetime of more than 2,000 h at 1 A cm− 2 for high-temperature CO2-to-CO conversion at 800 °C. Its selectivity towards CO is about 100%, and its single-pass yield reaches 90%. We show that the efficacy of our catalyst arises from its unique encapsulated structure and optimized alloy composition, which simultaneously enable enhanced CO2 adsorption, moderate CO adsorption and suppressed metal agglomeration. This work provides an efficient strategy for the design of catalysts for high-temperature reactions that overcomes the typical trade-off between activity and stability and has potential industrial applications.

Food hygiene practices and associated factors among food handlers in food establishments of Jimma City, Southwest Ethiopia

Background Food hygiene has been a global headache due to its high impact on human health as well as its adverse effects on socioeconomic productivity. It is important to recognize the worth of food handlers’ hygienic practices at food establishments to achieve community health. However, little is known about food handlers’ food hygienic practice and its associated factors with the huge increment of food establishments in the study area. Objective This study aimed to assess food hygiene practices and associated factors among food handlers working in food establishments in Jimma City, Southwest Ethiopia. Methods An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted using a simple random sampling technique to select a total of 316 food handlers by using a semi-structured questionnaire. After the interviews, hand swabs were collected and immediately transferred to the microbiology lab for the isolation of selected bacteria. The swab samples were cultured and identified using standard operating procedures. The data were entered into Epi Data (version 4.6.0) and exported to SPSS (version 29) for further analysis. Binary logistic regression was then used, with a p-value of 0.05 considered as an associated factor. Results The study results showed that only 28.4% of the food handlers had good food hygiene practices. Additionally, 45.1% of the 310 swabs collected from the hands of food handlers tested positive for bacterial contamination, with Staphylococcus aureus being the most predominantly isolated bacteria. Role as waiter (AOR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.23, 0.99), the type of food establishment (bar and restaurant) (AOR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.15, 0.88), being negative for isolated bacteria (AOR = 2.95, 95% CI: 1.42, 6.13), having a positive attitude (AOR = 2.32, 95% CI: 1.13, 4.73), and having good knowledge (AOR = 8.23, 95% CI: 4.03, 16.78) toward food hygiene were among associated factors of food hygiene practices. Conclusion The majority of food handlers were found to have poor food hygiene practices, indicating low adherence to proper food handling practices. Emphasis should be placed on delivering periodic and effective health education to improve food handlers’ hygiene practices.

Associations of flavonoid intakes with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in US adults

The incidence of Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is rising annually. Dietary intervention is a cornerstone of MASLD management. Flavonoids, which have anti-inflammatory properties, are thought to benefit MASLD. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2007–2010 and 2017–2018, we conducted a large cross-sectional study. Weighted Logistic regression, Restricted Cubic Spline (RCS) models, and Weighted Quantile Sum (WQS) regressions were used to explore the relationship between Total flavonoid and subclass (Flavones, Flavan-3-ols, Flavonols, Flavonones, Isoflavones, Anthocyanins) intake and MASLD. Participants in the higher tertiles of Total flavonoids intake had 31–34% lower odds of MASLD compared to the lowest tertile intake in the fully adjusted models (Tertile2: OR 0.69, 95%CI 0.55–0.86, P = 0.002, Tertile 3: OR 0.66, 95%CI 0.52–0.84, P < 0.001). Increased intakes of Flavan-3-ols (Tertile 2 in Model 2: OR 0.65, 95%CI 0.49–0.87, P = 0.01), Flavanones (Tertile 3 in Model 2: OR 0.70, 95%CI 0.53–0.91, P = 0.01), and Isoflavones (Tertile 3 in Model 2: OR 0.65, 95%CI 0.52–0.83, P < 0.001) were significantly associated with 30–35% decreased odds of having MASLD. The RCS revealed a significant non-linear dose-response relationship between Total flavonoid, flavonols and MASLD. The WQS model showed that Flavones and Isoflavones had the largest negative contributions to MASLD risk. Our study demontrated a negative correlation between Total flavonoids and their subclasses and risk of MASLD, highlighting the importance of increasing dietary flavonoid intake in the prevention and treatment of MASLD.

The added diagnostic value of RT-PCR on faeces for the diagnosis of COVID-19

Objectives To determine whether combining a SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR on a fecal sample [FS] with a RT-PCR on an upper respiratory tract sample [URTS] results in additional COVID-19 diagnoses. Methods We conducted a retrospective observational study at a regional hospital in The Netherlands from 27 February 2020–30 June 2020. Patients presenting with COVID-19-like symptoms for who a SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR on both URTS and FS were obtained within 24 hours were included. We calculated the difference in positive RT-PCR when combining URTS/FS compared to URTS alone, overall and stratified by symptom duration and disease severity. Results Three hundred eighty-six patients were included of which 63 had a positive RT-PCR on URTS [n = 8], FS [n = 19] or both [n = 36], corresponding to a prevalence of 16.3%. The addition of testing FS increased the number of COVID-19 diagnoses by 31.8% [95%CI 20,3%-43,2%]. Conclusions We showed that adding SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR on FS to URTS yields significantly more COVID-19 diagnoses. The inclusion of an FS may therefore be considered in patients with a negative URTS and high suspicion of COVID-19.

Structured ionized winds shooting out from a quasar at relativistic speeds

Hepatotoxicity of ICI monotherapy or combination therapy in HCC: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background The aim of this study was to reveal the hepatotoxicity profile of different immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) used strategies in patients with Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by meta-analysis. Methods Literature was searched through PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, and Web of Science up to October 14, 2023, and the subject terms were “Carcinoma, Hepatocellular” and “Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors”. The main observations were alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). ALT and AST were graded according to CTCAE. Results A total of 32 studies with 7662 patients were included in the analysis. The results of meta-analysis showed that among different ICI treatment regimens, ICI monotherapy had the lowest incidence of any grade of ALT and AST elevation, and the highest for ICI+multikinase inhibitor (MKI); ICI+anti-VEGFR/VEGFA and ICI monotherapy had a lower incidence of grade ≥3 ALT and AST elevations, while ICI + MKI, dual immunotherapy, and dual immunotherapy+MKI had a higher incidence of grade ≥3 ALT and AST elevations; ICI monotherapy was more prone to any grade ALT elevation than placebo, and ICI monotherapy was more prone to ≥ 3 grade AST elevation than MKI; combination immunotherapy was more prone than MKI to any grade ALT and AST elevations; in grade ≥3 ALT and AST elevations, combination immunotherapy was similar to ICI monotherapy and MKI; ICI + MKI was more likely to have grade ≥3 ALT. Conclusion ICI monotherapy was more likely to cause severe hepatotoxicity than MKI. Combination immunotherapy treatment increased the incidence of hepatotoxicity compared to monotherapy, and ICI + MKI was prone to develop severe hepatotoxicity.

Protection induced in pigs previously infected by the non-virulent strain 1330 of Streptococcus suis serotype 2 is not due to the secretion of the bacteriocin suicin

Streptococcus suis is a systemic pathogen of swine and imposes a significant economic burden on the swine industry. Disease with S. suis is controlled with antibiotic treatment and vaccination with inactivated vaccines, which can be derived from the strains circulating on the farm. Inactivated vaccines have shown mixed results with minimal data supporting reductions in morbidity and mortality following their use. With increasing restrictions on antibiotic use and increasing concerns surrounding antimicrobial resistance, alternatives to antibiotics or novel, highly effective vaccines are needed for treating or preventing disease with S. suis. Bacteriocins are a potential alternative to antibiotics, as bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides produced by bacteria. However, the use of bacteriocins to limit pathogenic S. suis remains relatively under-examined. Live vaccines are a potential novel and effective method of preventing disease, as they provide competition for pathogenic strains and would limit pathogenic strain colonization while stimulating a protective immune response. This study investigated the use of an avirulent, bacteriocin producing isolate of S. suis (90–1330) as an intranasal vaccine and evaluated the role of the bacteriocin by comparing protection to animals inoculated with a mutant lacking bacteriocin production (90–1330Δsuicin). Animals were protected from systemic disease when challenged with a virulent isolate 21 days after inoculation with either 90–1330 or 90–1330Δsuicin but were not protected when challenged 3 days after inoculation. Evaluation of antibody titers showed increased titers 21 days post-inoculation, and the humoral response was likely providing systemic protection. Although 90–1330 was unable to protect animals challenged 3 days post-inoculation, the strain should be considered a good candidate for vaccine development. S. suis 90–1330 was able to induce a protective immune response with a single intranasal inoculation and bacteriocin production may be able to contribute to protection when animals have a lower exposure dose, as in a production setting.

Psychedelics reduce fear by targeting immune cells that modulate brain cells

Factors involved in vulvar pain during sexual activity and persistence in sexual activity amidst pain

Evidence suggests that women often endure pain during sexual activity, continue engaging in such activity despite experiencing pain, and tend to avoid communicating these painful experiences to their partners. The present study aims to shed light on psychosocial factors that may contribute to vulvar pain and the engagement in sexual activity despite pain, with a specific focus on the relevance of sexual self-esteem, the definition of sex (limited to penile-vaginal intercourse or inclusive of other intimate behaviours), sexual agency, and sexual motivation. A sample of N = 277 female students of a Dutch University was included. Participants were between 18 and 33 years old. The primary outcome measures were female sexual distress, sexual function, and vulvar pain. Engagement in sexual activity despite pain, pain communication, sexual agency, and relationship satisfaction were included as mediators. The majority of participants (80.0%) reported to experience pain at least sometimes, and 15.0% reported to experience pain more than half of the time. Engaging in penile-vaginal intercourse despite experiencing pain was common, with 42.0% of participants indicating to do so always or most of the time and 65.0% at least sometimes when experiencing pain. Of the affected women, 41.0% did not communicate pain to their partners. Low sexual self-esteem, a restrictive definition of sex, limited sexual agency, and low autonomous sexual motivation were all significantly related to at least one of the primary outcome variables. These associations were partly mediated by engagement in PVI despite pain, (no) pain communication, and (low) relationship satisfaction.

Legal education reform and medical litigation: Improved access but delayed justice in plastic surgery malpractice cases in South Korea

South Korea’s 2009 legal education reform, which replaced the bar exam and two-year judicial training system with graduate-level law schools, aimed to enhance the quality and accessibility of legal services. This study examines its impact on malpractice litigation in plastic and reconstructive surgeries and procedures (PRSP). Using publicly available civil court decisions, we conducted a retrospective analysis comparing litigation patterns before (2006–2012, n = 23) and after (2017–2021, n = 75) the reform, excluding the transitional period (2013–2017). Our findings reveal significant increases in litigation frequency (3.28 to 15 cases annually, p < 0.001) and case duration (median: 969–1,570 days, p < 0.001). While the increased litigation frequency and reduced adjudicated damages (median reduction: 75.8%) suggest improved accessibility to legal services - aligning with reform objectives - prolonged case durations highlight unresolved systemic challenges. The transition from practical training to academic-focused legal education, coupled with limited expansion of judicial infrastructure, has contributed to procedural delays despite consistent judicial standards in malpractice assessments. These findings underscore the dual impacts of the reform, achieving partial success in improving access to legal representation but exposing inefficiencies in judicial capacity. To address these challenges, short-term measures such as appointing additional judges and establishing specialized court divisions are needed. In the mid-term, implementing AI-based case management systems could enhance procedural efficiency. Long-term strategies, including structured mediation programs, are critical to alleviating court burdens and ensuring timely resolutions.

Healthcare-seeking behaviour of fever cases in Magude district, southern Mozambique: A qualitative study

Fever is the main manifestation of malaria, which is a major public health concern in Mozambique. Achieving prompt diagnosis and appropriate management of all malaria cases is key to avoiding severe malaria and death, thus communities need to detect all fevers and seek care promptly. Studies in Magude district have shown that the local population is aware of malaria, including fever as one of the disease symptoms, however, a significant proportion do not seek formal care for fever. This study sought to analyse healthcare-seeking behaviour for fever episodes in Magude and understand its facilitators and barriers to ultimately inform malaria control policies. Using a generic qualitative design, the study included 59 individual semi-structured interviews: 45 with community members (community leaders, elders, adult men and women and teachers) and 14 with healthcare providers. Additionally, 12 focus group discussions with community members were performed. Data were thematically analysed using Nvivo 12 software. The study results revealed that participants recognised fever and categorized it between simple and severe fever. Most participants reported preferring to seek fever care at health facilities, especially for severe fever, but non-formal care sources were also used. The belief that untreated fevers can lead to death and availability and proximity of services and medicines facilitated the use of formal health services, whereas the belief that not all symptoms required formal treatment, and structural barriers (distance, inadequate service delivery and lack of medicines at health facilities) hindered it. In conclusion, healthcare-seeking for fever was an interactive and complex process within and between non-formal and formal health services, influenced by structural, community and individual factors. Malaria control and elimination strategies should simultaneously address these by improving the quality and accessibility of formal health services and sensitizing the community of the importance to seek formal health care for all fever severities.

A deep learning-based algorithm for the detection of personal protective equipment

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is critical for ensuring the safety of construction workers. However, site surveillance images from construction sites often feature multi-size and multi-scale targets, leading to low detection accuracy for PPE in existing models. To address this issue, this paper proposes an improved model based on YOLOv8n.By enriching feature diversity and enhancing the model’s adaptability to geometric transformations, the detection accuracy is improved.A Multi-Scale Group Convolution Module (MSGP) was designed to extract multi-level features using different convolution kernels. A Multi-Scale Feature Diffusion Pyramid Network (MFDPN) was developed, which aggregates multi-scale features through the Multiscale Feature Focus (MFF) module and diffuses them across scales, providing each scale with detailed contextual information. A customized Task Alignment Module was introduced to integrate interactive features, optimizing both classification and localization tasks. The DCNV2(Deformable Convolutional Networks v2) module was incorporated to handle geometric scale transformations by generating spatial offsets and feature masks from interactive features, thereby improving localization accuracy and dynamically selecting weights to enhance classification precision.The improved model incorporates rich multi-level and multi-scale features, allowing it to better adapt to tasks involving geometric transformations and aligning with the image data distribution in construction scenarios. Additionally, structured pruning techniques were applied to the model at varying levels, further reducing computational and parameter loads. Experimental results indicate that at a pruning level of 1.5, mAP@0.5 and mAP@0.5:0.95 improved by 3.9% and 4.6%, respectively, while computational load decreased by 21% and parameter count dropped by 53%. The proposed MFD-YOLO(1.5) model achieves significant progress in detecting personal protective equipment on construction sites, with a substantial reduction in parameter count, making it suitable for deployment on resource-constrained edge devices.

Thermal asymmetry in the Moon’s mantle inferred from monthly tidal response

Abstract The Moon undergoes periodic tidal forcing due to its eccentric and oblique orbit around the Earth1. The response to this tidal interaction drives temporal changes in the lunar gravity field and is sensitive to the satellite’s internal structure2–4. We use data from the NASA GRAIL spacecraft5–9 to recover the time-varying lunar gravity field, including a degree-3 gravitational tidal Love number, k 3. Here, we report our estimated value of k 3 = 0.0163 ± 0.0007, which is about 72% higher than that expected for a spherically symmetric moon10. Such a large k 3 can be explained if the elastic shear modulus of the mantle varies by about 2–3% between the nearside and farside4, providing an observational demonstration of lateral heterogeneities in the deep lunar interior. This asymmetric structure suggests preservation of a predominantly thermal anomaly of roughly 100–200 K in the nearside mantle that formed surface mare regions 3–4 billion years ago11 and could influence the spatial distribution of deep moonquakes12.

Deliberate practice for retinopathy of prematurity: Retinal laser training using schematic eyes in ophthalmology education

Skills and confidence in performing high-risk procedures are essential for ensuring safe patient care. Deliberate practice is an instructional model designed to improve performance by engaging trainees in structured, repetitive practice with immediate feedback provided by supervisors. We developed a multifaceted simulation informed by deliberate practice and tested the hypothesis that trainee skills and reported confidence would increase after training. A multicenter prospective study was conducted at three universities in Thailand from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. Sixty ophthalmology trainees participated in an introductory video for self-study and then completed a multiple-choice questionnaire to assess their baseline knowledge of laser indirect ophthalmoscopy for retinopathy of prematurity (LIO-ROP) and guide feedback by supervisors. The participants subsequently performed a simulated LIO-ROP on a schematic eye and received additional feedback based on a scoring rubric. The participants practiced on the schematic eye as much as needed to feel confident in their skills. Mean rubric scores indicative of LIO-ROP skills significantly improved from 2.94 to 3.59 out of 4 (P < 0.001), and the time required for the laser procedure decreased from 17.19 to 15.14 minutes in pre- and post-LIO-ROP practice, respectively. Rubric scores for performing the LIO-ROP on a schematic eye significantly improved across all steps of the procedure between pre- and post-LIO-ROP practice. Reported confidence in performing the LIO-ROP increased by 81.5%. Multifaceted simulated training informed by deliberate practice is a suitable instructional model for enhancing skill performance and confidence among postgraduate residents.

Chicago Archaeopteryx informs on the early evolution of the avian bauplan

TransembleNet: Enhancing vector mosquito species classification through transfer learning-based ensemble model

Mosquitoes, which belong to diverse species, play a significant role in ecological systems and public health. The accurate identification (classification) of mosquito species is essential for a comprehensive understanding of their ecological roles, behaviors, and evolutionary patterns. While numerous studies have attempted to classify the mosquito species based on images, the existing works still have limitations. Our research is focused on vector mosquito classification based on deep ensemble transfer learning. Initially, we employed transfer learning via four pre-trained convolutional neural network (CNN) models. Subsequently, we have proposed the TransembleNet (Transfer Learning-based Ensemble Networks) approach, which is a novel method of generating ensemble learning models using four different combinations of three transfer learning models. All the experiments were done using the Nadam and Adam optimizers, and we have also applied data augmentation techniques. Among the four ensemble models, Ensemble Model 2 (composed of InceptionV3, VGG-16, and ResNet-50) performed the best. It exhibits very high precision, recall, F1-score, and accuracy values on the “Mosquito on Human Skin” dataset by Ong and Ahmed and the “Vector Mosquito” dataset by Park et al. Our proposed method outperformed the state-of-the-art research works for both datasets.