Some studies have highlighted the impact of age on the saccade properties. This study aimed to investigate whether prosaccade and antisaccade metrics vary with age. The participant groups included 49 young adults, 25 middle-aged adults, and 31 older adults. Participants were instructed to look at the stimulus in the prosaccade task and to look in the opposite direction for 1000 milliseconds (ms) in the antisaccade task. Both prosaccade and antisaccade latencies were prolonged in older and middle-aged adults compared to younger adults. The rates of correct antisaccades were lower in older and middle-aged adults than in younger adults and lower in older adults than in middle-aged adults. Regression analyses showed that prosaccade latencies increased by more than 1 ms per year, and antisaccade latencies increased by more than 2 ms per year. These findings suggest a linear association between age and saccade latency throughout adulthood. In addition, antisaccade measures, particularly correct antisaccade rates, appeared to be more sensitive to age-related differences in oculomotor and inhibitory control than prosaccade measures were.
We present BMC4TimeSec, an end-to-end tool for verifying TimedSecurity Protocols (TSP) based on SMT-based bounded model check-ing and multi-agent modelling in the form of Timed InterpretedSystems (TIS) and Timed Interleaved Interpreted Systems (TIIS). In BMC4TimeSec, TSP executions implement the TIS/TIIS envi-ronment (join actions, interleaving, delays, lifetimes), and knowl-edge automata implement the agents (evolution of participantknowledge, including the intruder). The code is publicly available on GitHub, as is a video demon-stration.
Actigraphy is a non-invasive and inexpensive method to monitor sleep/wake patterns in a natural environment via a wrist-worn activity sensor. Traditionally, detection of sleep/wake periods from actigraphic data relies on smoothing and thresholding the time series of recorded “activity counts”. The first step is implemented by convolution with empirically chosen coefficients, tailored separately for the data and hardware used in each study. We propose to implement this step via a universal low-pass filter, applicable to wide ranges of recording hardware and sampling rates. For verification of this approach, we used 1635 overnight coregistrations of actigraphic and polysomnographic (PSG) data from three different datasets, including one dataset recorded for this study. Optimizations of the filter for concordance of sleep/wake scoring with PSG for different subsets of these data converged to similar parameters, which we tentatively treat as fluctuations around the characteristics of a universal filter. We assess the performance of the proposed approach and five classic algorithms (Cole-Kripke, Sazonov, Scripps, UCSD and Webster) in the same cross-validation scheme. Concordance with PSG, achieved using the universal filter, is significantly higher (at p< 0.001 ) than any of the classical algorithms for the most relevant metrics.
Introduction: Advances in pediatric oncology have transformed cancer into a condition with chronic and long-term developmental consequences. While survival rates have improved significantly, the literature on psychosocial outcomes remains fragmented and inconsistent, with a notable lack of person-centered analyses that account for the heterogeneity of adaptive trajectories. Current evidence fails to explain why survivors with similar clinical profiles exhibit divergent psychological phenotypes, particularly regarding the late effects of multimodal treatments. The aim of this study was to identify heterogeneous psychosocial profiles among adolescent cancer survivors and to examine their associations with treatment complexity and quality of life. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 165 adolescents aged 12–18 years (mean age: 14.64 years) who were in clinical remission following oncological treatment. Standardized assessment tools were used: the Children’s Depression Inventory 2 (CDI-2™) to measure depressive symptoms, the KIDSCREEN-10 index to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and a scale evaluating satisfaction across 14 life domains. Adaptive profiles were identified using a Two-Stage Cluster Procedure, and risk factors were examined using multinomial logistic regression. Results: Four clusters were identified in the study population: a depressive–dysphoric profile, an anhedonic-withdrawn profile, a highly adaptive profile, and a mixed (struggling) profile. Treatment complexity was identified as a significant independent predictor of membership in the high-distress (depressive) cluster. While each additional therapeutic modality beyond standard chemotherapy was associated with a markedly increased risk (OR = 8.91; p < 0.001), the relatively wide confidence interval (95% CI: 3.27–24.31) suggests that the exact magnitude of this effect should be interpreted with caution. The high lower bound of the interval (3.27), however, strongly supports the directional association of cumulative iatrogenic burden with psychological adaptation. Subjective quality of life functioned as a protective factor against depressive symptoms (OR = 0.57); however, paradoxically, higher self-reported quality of life increased the likelihood of classification into the anhedonic group (OR = 1.81). This divergence between high self-reported HRQoL and social withdrawal potentially suggests a ‘well-being paradox’. It is hypothesized that standard HRQoL instruments may primarily capture physical remission and relief from acute somatic symptoms, potentially masking underlying social–emotional deficits. This suggests that HRQoL scores in survivors should be interpreted with caution and complemented by specific affective screenings. Conclusions: The absence of a uniform pattern of psychological response to cancer among adolescent survivors supports the validity of a patient-centered approach. The burden associated with intensive multimodal treatment significantly increases the likelihood of full-syndrome depression during adolescence. Moreover, the identification of a cluster suggestive of anhedonic and socially withdrawn features highlights the limitations of standard screening tools focused solely on the detection of overt sadness. This heterogeneity underscores the need for personalized psycho-oncological care and the implementation of intensified monitoring for patients at high medical risk.
The article investigates how definitions of family differ at subsequent stages of the family life cycle (FLC) in Poland, where multiple framings of family collide. Highlighting temporal changes in ambivalence, we discern how certain stages of family life shape the main elements of family definitions at an individual level. Three distinct, temporally embedded, stages of becoming and being a parent are analysed in relation to ambivalence on the basis of data originating from two qualitative research projects conducted in Poland. These featured in-depth interviews (n = 112) with individuals at these three stages of family life. We show that (1) ambivalence is a feature of family definitions when awaiting first-time parenthood; (2) it decreases for those parenting young children; and (3) becomes even more uncommon for those at the empty nest stage of family life. While the analysis reveals weakening ambivalence in family definitions, it also points to tensions between ‘doing family’ (family practices) and ‘being family’ (institutional perspective) as definitional approaches that sociologically reflect how people in Poland frame family. We posit that the concept of sociological ambivalence can be employed conceptually to understand the meanings of family at distinct stages of people’s parenting lives.
