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Purpose The career concept has become fuzzier due to changing work patterns, the ageing workforce and the environmental changes occurring during workers lifespans. Together this requires a renewed and broader reaching contextualization of this concept. The purpose of this paper is to set out an integrative approach arguing that the integration of career stage models with occupational groups proves more explanative of intrinsic and extrinsic worker motivations. Design/methodology/approach Secondary data from 23 European countries were drawn from the European Social Survey 2006. The construct validity and reliability of indicators was analyzed. Hypotheses were tested using discriminant analysis. Findings Results showed that neither occupations nor career stages are determinants per se of intrinsic motivations, but are better explained by their mutual integration. Career stages were shown to predict per se extrinsic motivations. Research limitations/implications The recourse to the European Social Survey pre-determined scales and the application of age ranges as proxies for careers stages suggested the usage of more specific measures in future studies. Practical implications Career management and compensation policies might be better tailored to worker motivations by considering the age ranges (as proxies of career stages) and workers’ occupations. Originality/value Findings evidenced the explanatory value of occupations for worker motivations and allowed putting into perspective the contextualization of not only boundaryless and protean career concepts, but also career stage theories. Data support the ecological validity of applying a career stages and occupations framework to a highly diversified and representative sample of European countries.

Objective To examine the association between cough peak flow (CPF) and dysphagia risk in patients with acute brain injury. Design Observational, analytical, cross‐sectional study. Setting A university hospital located in the northeastern region of Brazil. Participants A sample of 108 adult patients diagnosed with acute brain injury (stroke or traumatic brain injury) was examined. The mean age of the participants was 53.4 ± 15.2 years, with 64% of the subjects being male. The patient’s swallowing assessments and CPF measurements were obtained during the patient’s stay in the hospital. Main Outcome Measures The severity of dysphagia risk was evaluated through the implementation of a bedside clinical swallowing protocol. The measurement of CPF was conducted by means of a portable peak expiratory flow meter. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses with bootstrap resampling were used to analyze the relationship between CPF and dysphagia risk. Additionally, secondary associations with age and body mass index were examined using the Spearman rank correlation test. Results Dysphagia risk was identified in 44% of patients. A cutoff value of 202 L/min on the CPF predicted dysphagia risk with 82% sensitivity and 83% specificity. A lack of statistically significant disparities in CPF was observed across different lesion types. The present study demonstrated a strong negative correlation between CPF and dysphagia risk (ρ = −0.791, p < 0.001). Conclusions The CPF demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity in identifying patients at dysphagia risk following acute brain injury. Its ease of use and noninvasive nature make it a promising adjunctive screening tool for clinical swallowing evaluations.

We built upon a recent study by Rodrigues, Fasoli, Huic, and Lopes ( 2018 ) by investigating potential mechanisms driving the dehumanization of consensual non-monogamous (CNM) partners. Using a between-subjects experimental design, we asked 202 Portuguese individuals (158 women; M age  = 29.17, SD  = 9.97) to read the description of two partners in a monogamous, open, or polyamorous relationship, and to make a series of judgments about both partners. Results showed the expected dehumanization effect, such that both groups of CNM partners (open and polyamorous) were attributed more primary (vs. secondary) emotions, whereas the reverse was true for monogamous partners. Moreover, results showed that the dehumanization effect was driven by the perception of CNM partners as less moral and less committed to their relationship. However, these findings were observed only for individuals with unfavorable (vs. favorable) attitudes toward CNM relationship. Overall, this study replicated the original findings and extended our understanding of why people in CNM relationships are stigmatized.

More frequent internet pornography use is often associated with decreased sexual satisfaction. However, individuals who use internet pornography more often can experience better relationship outcomes, depending on how they use it in the context of their relationship. Indeed, internet pornography use with the partner seems to be positively associated with sexual satisfaction. We explored whether the type of agreement partners have about monogamy is related to this association. We conducted a cross-sectional study ( N  = 866; 66.3% women, M age  = 27.40, SD  = 8.58) with individuals in monogamous ( n  = 552), non-consensual non-monogamous (NCNM; n  = 210) and consensually non-monogamous (CNM; n  = 104) relationships. Results showed that CNM individuals used internet pornography substantially more than the other two groups, but they were as sexually satisfied with themselves and with their primary partner as monogamous individuals. NCNM individuals were the least sexually satisfied and reported more sexual arousal difficulties than the other groups. Results further showed that CNM individuals included their primary partner in their internet pornography use more frequently than the other groups, and this inclusion was positively associated with sexual satisfaction with the primary partner. The frequency of internet pornography use with the partner was negatively associated with sexual arousal difficulties for monogamous individuals and positively associated with personal and relational sexual satisfaction in both monogamous and NCNM individuals. These results complement past findings by shedding light on the role of internet pornography use for different relationship agreements, and its association with personal and relational experiences.

Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, also known as antimalarial drugs, are widely used in the treatment of rheumatic diseases and have recently become the focus of attention because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Rheumatologists have been using antimalarials to manage patients with chronic immune-mediated inflammatory rheumatic diseases for decades. It is an appropriate time to review their immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory mechanisms impact on disease activity and survival of systemic lupus erythematosus patient, including antiplatelet effect, metabolic and lipid benefits. We also discuss possible adverse effects, adding a practical and comprehensive approach to monitoring rheumatic patients during treatment with these drugs.

IntroductionHepatocellular carcinoma is the prevalent primary liver cancer, a silent disease that killed 782,000 worldwide in 2018. Multimodal deep learning is the application of deep learning techniques, fusing more than one data modality as the model’s input.PurposeA computer-aided diagnosis system for hepatocellular carcinoma developed with multimodal deep learning approaches could use multiple data modalities as recommended by clinical guidelines, and enhance the robustness and the value of the second-opinion given to physicians. This article describes the process of creation and evaluation of an algorithm for computer-aided diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma developed with multimodal deep learning techniques fusing preprocessed computed-tomography images with structured data from patient Electronic Health Records.ResultsThe classification performance achieved by the proposed algorithm in the test dataset was: accuracy = 86.9%, precision = 89.6%, recall = 86.9% and F-Score = 86.7%. These classification performance metrics are closer to the state-of-the-art in this area and were achieved with data modalities which are cheaper than traditional Magnetic Resonance Imaging approaches, enabling the use of the proposed algorithm by low and mid-sized healthcare institutions.ConclusionThe classification performance achieved with the multimodal deep learning algorithm is higher than human specialists diagnostic performance using only CT for diagnosis. Even though the results are promising, the multimodal deep learning architecture used for hepatocellular carcinoma prediction needs more training and test processes using different datasets before the use of the proposed algorithm by physicians in real healthcare routines. The additional training aims to confirm the classification performance achieved and enhance the model’s robustness.

When individuals are highly committed to their romantic relationship, they are more likely to engage in pro-relationship maintenance mechanisms. The present research expanded on the notion that commitment redirects self-oriented goals to consider broader relational goals and examined whether commitment interacts with a promotion and prevention focus to activate derogation of attractive alternatives. Three studies used cross-sectional and experimental approaches. Study 1 showed that romantically involved individuals predominantly focused on promotion, but not prevention, reported less initial attraction to an attractive target than single individuals, especially when highly committed to their relationship. Study 2 showed that romantically involved individuals induced in a promotion focus, compared to those in prevention focus, reported less initial attraction, but only when more committed to their relationship. Regardless of regulatory focus manipulation, more committed individuals were also less likely to perceive quality among alternative scenarios and to be attentive to alternative others in general. Finally, Study 3 showed that romantically involved individuals induced in promotion focus and primed with high commitment reported less initial attraction, than those primed with low commitment, or than those induced in prevention focus. Once again, for these latter no differences occurred according to commitment prime. Together, the findings suggest that highly committed promotion focused individuals consider broader relationship goals and activate relationship maintenance behaviors such as derogation of attractive alternatives to promote their relationship.

Fibrosis is recognized as an important feature of many chronic diseases, such as systemic sclerosis (SSc), an autoimmune disease of unknown etiology, characterized by immune dysregulation and vascular injury, followed by progressive fibrosis affecting the skin and multiple internal organs. SSc has a poor prognosis because no therapy has been shown to reverse or arrest the progression of fibrosis, representing a major unmet medical need. Recently, antifibrotic effects of PPARγ ligands have been studied in vitro and in vivo and some theories have emerged leading to new insights. Aberrant PPARγ function seems to be implicated in pathological fibrosis in the skin and lungs. This antifibrotic effect is mainly related to the inhibition of TGF-β/Smad signal transduction but other pathways can be involved. This review focused on recent studies that identified PPARγ as an important novel pathway with critical roles in regulating connective tissue homeostasis, with emphasis on skin and lung fibrosis and its role on systemic sclerosis.

Bamboo (Dendrocalamus giganteus) is a functionally graded material with well-organized hierarchical structures. Its micrometer-sized vascular bundles and parenchymatic living cells allow an efficient upward flow of water and nutrients, endowing the organism with remarkably fast growth. As demonstrated recently, the hollow microstructure channels can be explored as a natural template for microfluidics applications in chemical synthesis, analytical detection, solar steam generation, and electrochemical devices. Thus, the knowledge of the kinetics of the imbibition and spatial distribution of fluid through the microcavities of the bamboo vegetal tissue became of interest. Here, we employed a combination of X-ray microtomography (µCT) and proton time-domain NMR (TD-NMR) to identify, measure, and investigate empty volumes embedded in the bamboo’s tissue as experienced by different organic and inorganic fluids, namely dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and distilled water (H2O). Results have shown that the extensive communication between the voids (parenchymal cells and vascular channels) does not prevent the individuation of fluid reservoirs with different behaviors, as evidenced by the H2O desorption profile. Bamboo parenchyma was the tissue that retained more residual H2O after desorption. The difference in wettability of bamboo tissues by DMSO and H2O was detected.

IntroductionAxial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) imposes a multidimensional burden that is not fully explained by inflammation. Central sensitization (CS), pain catastrophizing (PC), and sleep disturbance may amplify symptoms and worsen outcomes. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and impact of CS, PC, and sleep disturbances in axSpA patients and their associations with disease activity, function, and quality of life compared with controls.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included adults with axSpA (ASAS 2009) and healthy controls recruited from a tertiary clinic (April 2024–April 2025). The assessments included demographics; CSI, PCS, JSS, fibromyalgia (ACR-2016), fibromyalgianess (WPI + SSS); and axSpA outcomes (BASDAI, ASDAS, BASFI, BASMI, ASQoL, CRP, and MASES). Statistical analyses included group comparisons, correlations, and multivariable regressions.ResultsWe enrolled 100 axSpA patients and 50 controls. The median scores were greater in the axSpA patients for the CSI (42 vs. 28), PCS (32 vs. 12.5), and JSS (12 vs. 6) (all p < 0.001). The prevalence was greater for CS (59% vs. 20%), PC (53% vs. 18%), and fibromyalgia (43% vs. 18%). The WPI was strongly correlated with the SSS (r = 0.92). In the axSpA patients, the CSI was correlated with the BASDAI (r = 0.58), ASDAS (r = 0.43), BASFI (r = 0.45), and ASQoL (r = 0.68) (all p ≤ 0.001). The PCS and JSS are also correlated with disease activity, disease function, and ASQoL. Independent predictors were CSI—female sex, higher SSS, and worse ASQoL; PCS—ASQoL; JSS—higher SSS and arthritis, with lower scores in patients on TNF inhibitors or pain-modulating therapy.ConclusionCS, PC, sleep disturbance, and FM/FMness are highly prevalent in axSpA patients and are independently associated with worse outcomes. Incorporating nociplastic and psychosocial dimensions into assessment and care is crucial to reduce disease burden.