Understanding Subpopulations on Mechanical Turk

We draw on the drift hypothesis and latent deprivation model to guide comparisons between such workers on Amazon's crowdsourcing platform Mechanical Turk, known as Turkers, who report no employment other than crowdsourced work (i.e., otherwise unemployed) and Turkers who report being part-time and full-time employed outside of crowdsourced work. Findings show otherwise unemployed Turkers and part-time employed Turkers report a greater percentage of time in their work histories being unemployed and greater neuroticism than full-time employed Turkers do. Findings also show an inverse relationship between employment status and time spent completing crowdsourced work, with otherwise unemployed Turkers spending the most time completing crowdsourced work. Finally, findings show otherwise unemployed and part-time employed Turkers each differ, in unique ways, from full-time employed Turkers on theorized employment status antecedents and consequences.

Two-Stage Humanitarian Logistics Deprivation Model for the Planning of Scarce KN-95 Facemask Supplies under Agent’s Cooperation

Humanitarian logistics encompasses a wide spectrum of conditions or constraints for supply chains, yet its focus on mitigating human suffering efficiently is what has motivated organizations and governments to make rapid decisions in real time. In this article, through the approach to an emergency such as COVID-19, we propose a two-stage model capable of considering human suffering, the cost of humanitarian logistics, and the benefit obtained by the interaction of suppliers that generally behave as oligopolies through a mathematical programming model and one of the cooperative games. Our main finding was the adaptability of a previously validated model for humanitarian logistics to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, where the externalities had greater relevance in social costs than private costs.

Differentiating Kinds of Systemic Stressors With Relation to Psychotic-Like Experiences in Late Childhood and Early Adolescence: The Stimulation, Discrepancy, and Deprivation Model of Psychosis

Conceptualizations that distinguish systems-level stress exposures are lacking; the stimulation (lack of safety and high attentional demands), discrepancy (social exclusion and lack of belonging), and deprivation (SDD; lack of environmental enrichment) theory of psychosis and stressors occurring at the systems level has not been directly tested. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on 3,207 youths, and associations with psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) were explored. Although model fit was suboptimal, five factors were defined, and four were consistent with the SDD theory and related to PLEs. Objective and subjective or self-report exposures for deprivation showed significantly stronger PLE associations compared with discrepancy and objective stimulation factors. Objective and subjective or self-report measures converged overall, although self-report stimulation exhibited a significantly stronger association with PLEs compared with objective stimulation. Considering distinct systems-level exposures could help clarify putative mechanisms and psychosis vulnerability. The preliminary approach potentially informs health policy efforts aimed at psychopathology prevention and intervention.

Factors Associated with Victimization Experiences Among Juveniles Detained in a Chinese Correctional Facility: A Longitudinal Study

Prison victimization constitutes a serious problem for organizations and individuals. It disrupts order in an institutional environment, and the experience of victimization can have a long-lasting psychological effect on incarcerated population, particularly juveniles. Relevant research suggests that the deprivation model and the importation model can help explain the occurrence of prison victimization. Using longitudinal data collected from a youth custodial facility in China, the current study examines factors that are believed to be predictors of prison victimization. Negative binomial regression, a commonly used tool for the analysis of prison victimization research using count data, is employed in the current study. The findings suggest that prior victimization experiences, reported record of violent delinquency, prison visitation, and demographics have significant impacts on in-prison victimization. The public policy implications of the findings are discussed at the end of the study.

Maternal Separation Followed by Chronic Mild Stress in Adulthood Is Associated with Concerted Epigenetic Regulation of AP-1 Complex Genes

Depression is one of the most prevalent mental diseases worldwide. Patients with psychiatric diseases often have a history of childhood neglect, indicating that early-life experiences predispose to psychiatric diseases in adulthood. Two strong models were used in the present study: the maternal separation/early deprivation model (MS) and the chronic mild stress model (CMS). In both models, we found changes in the expression of a number of genes such as Creb and Npy. Strikingly, there was a clear regulation of expression of four genes involved in the AP-1 complex: c-Fos, c-Jun, FosB, and Jun-B. Interestingly, different expression levels were observed depending on the model, whereas the combination of the models resulted in a normal level of gene expression. The effects of MS and CMS on gene expression were associated with distinct histone methylation/acetylation patterns of all four genes. The epigenetic changes, like gene expression, were also dependent on the specific stressor or their combination. The obtained results suggest that single life events leave a mark on gene expression and the epigenetic signature of gene promoters, but a combination of different stressors at different life stages can further change gene expression through epigenetic factors, possibly causing the long-lasting adverse effects of stress.

Establishment of a Novel Oral Murine Model of Ricin Intoxication and Efficacy Assessment of Ovine Ricin Antitoxins

Ricin, produced from the castor beans of Ricinus communis, is a cytotoxin that exerts its action by inactivating ribosomes and causing cell death. Accidental (e.g., ingestion of castor beans) and/or intentional (e.g., suicide) exposure to ricin through the oral route is an area of concern from a public health perspective and no current licensed medical interventions exist to protect from the action of the toxin. Therefore, we examined the oral toxicity of ricin in Balb/C mice and developed a robust food deprivation model of ricin oral intoxication that has enabled the assessment of potential antitoxin treatments. A lethal oral dose was identified and mice were found to succumb to the toxin within 48 h of exposure. We then examined whether a despeciated ovine F(ab′)2 antibody fragment, that had previously been demonstrated to protect mice from exposure to aerosolised ricin, could also protect against oral intoxication. Mice were challenged orally with an LD99 of ricin, and 89 and 44% of mice exposed to this otherwise lethal exposure survived after receiving either the parent anti-ricin IgG or F(ab′)2, respectively. Combined with our previous work, these results further highlight the benefit of ovine-derived polyclonal antibody antitoxin in providing post-exposure protection against ricin intoxication.

Homo-Tris-Nitrones Derived from α-Phenyl-N-tert-butylnitrone: Synthesis, Neuroprotection and Antioxidant Properties

Herein we report the synthesis, antioxidant and neuroprotective power of homo-tris-nitrones (HTN) 1-3, designed on the hypothesis that the incorporation of a third nitrone motif into our previously identified homo-bis-nitrone 6 (HBN6) would result in an improved and stronger neuroprotection. The neuroprotection of HTNs 1-3, measured against oligomycin A/rotenone, showed that HTN2 was the best neuroprotective agent at a lower dose (EC50 = 51.63 ± 4.32 μM), being similar in EC50 and maximal activity to α-phenyl-N-tert-butylnitrone (PBN) and less potent than any of HBNs 4-6. The results of neuroprotection in an in vitro oxygen glucose deprivation model showed that HTN2 was the most powerful (EC50 = 87.57 ± 3.87 μM), at lower dose, but 50-fold higher than its analogous HBN5, and ≈1.7-fold less potent than PBN. HTN3 had a very good antinecrotic (IC50 = 3.47 ± 0.57 μM), antiapoptotic, and antioxidant (EC50 = 6.77 ± 1.35 μM) profile, very similar to that of its analogous HBN6. In spite of these results, and still being attractive neuroprotective agents, HTNs 2 and 3 do not have better neuroprotective properties than HBN6, but clearly exceed that of PBN.

The Effect of Fixed-Term Employment on Well-Being: Disentangling the Micro-Mechanisms and the Moderating Role of Social Cohesion

This paper examines the impact of fixed-term employment on well-being from a cross-national comparative perspective by testing (1) the effect heterogeneity across European countries, (2) to which extent Jahoda’s Latent Deprivation Model provides a sufficient micro-level explanation for the underlying mechanisms and (3) whether the macro-level factor of social cohesion weakens the micro-level impacts. We investigate the effects in both an upwards (permanent employment) and a downwards (unemployment) comparative control group design. Due to the mediating role of social contacts on the micro-level, we assume social cohesion on the country-level to moderate the main effects: A high degree of societal affiliation should substitute the function of social contacts in the work environment of individuals. Using microdata from the European Social Survey (ESS) 2012 for 23 countries and applying multilevel estimation procedures, we find that there is a remarkable variation in the effects across countries. Even though in each country fixed-term employees have a lower subjective well-being compared to permanent ones, the point estimates vary from .17 to 1.19 units. When comparing fixed-term employees to unemployed individuals, the coefficients even range from − .27 to 1.25 units. More specifically, a negative effect indicates that having a fixed-term contract is worse than unemployment in some countries. Moreover, pooled linear regression models reveal that Jahoda’s Latent Deprivation Model explains about three-quarters of the micro-level effect sizes for both directions. Eventually, social cohesion on the country-level diminishes the individual-level well-being differences between fixed-term employees and permanent individuals but not between fixed-term employees and the unemployed.