Social Fear in US Infants: The Roles of Hair and Salivary Cortisol.

Elevated social fear in infancy poses risk for later social maladjustment and psychopathology. Hair cortisol concentration (HCC), an index of cumulative cortisol exposure, and diurnal salivary cortisol slope, a biomarker of acute stress regulation, have been associated with social fear behaviors in childhood; however, no research has addressed their relations in infancy. Elucidating potential biomarkers of infant social fear behaviors, as well as environmental factors associated with these biomarkers, may grant insights into the ontogeny of fear behaviors that increase risk for internalizing and externalizing psychopathologies later in life. The current study used multiple linear regression to examine if infant HCC, infant diurnal cortisol slope, and income-to-needs ratios (ITN) were differentially associated with observed social fear responses to a Stranger Approach task at 12 months. Using a sample of 90 infants (Mage = 12.26m, SD = 0.81m, 50% female), results indicated that increased infant HCC was associated with increased distress vocalizations during the Stranger Approach task, while steeper diurnal cortisol slope was associated with fewer distress vocalizations. Ordinary least squares path analyses did not reveal group differences between economically strained and non-strained infants in how cortisol measures and social fear responses related. Findings underscore very early psychobiological correlates of fearfulness that may increase risk for fear-related disorders and adverse mental health symptomology across childhood.

Solar radiation synthetic series for power purchase agreements.

The present paper proposes a methodology based on the implementation and assessment of autoregressive (AR) solar radiation models for generating synthetic series and providing guidance on bidding strategies for power purchase agreements. The work considered conventional and periodic AR models with different lag orders, assessing the models against real solar radiation measurements. The synthetic series generation process developed 1000 1-year monthly solar radiation scenarios that were later employed for simulating electric energy production and power purchase agreement models. This application allowed one to evaluate the risk associated with the energy supply security, supporting bidding strategies in energy auctions. A real study case is also illustrated in detail, referring to a spot in the Brazilian best irradiance area.

Biocompatibility and Effectiveness of a Novel, Organic Olive Oil-Based Denture Adhesive: A Multicenter Randomized and Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

To assess the clinical efficacy of a novel, organic olive oil-based denture adhesive and its effect on Candida albicans growth in maxillary edentulous individuals wearing complete dentures, individuals were selected from two dental schools in Portugal and Spain. Twenty-eight complete dentures were relined, following a standardized protocol. The novel product (test) was compared with a commercialized adhesive (control) and Vaseline (placebo) randomly assigned in a cross-study design. The retention resistance was measured with a gnathometer and a dynamometer. The patients related outcome evaluations with a five-point questionnaire, and the Candida albicans growth in a Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) medium was used to evaluate differences between the placebo and experimental product. Twenty-three participants were included. The dynamometer evaluation showed significant differences between not using a denture adhesive and using either (experimental, p = 0.03; control, p = 0.04) and no significant differences between the two adhesives (p > 0.05). In the subjective analysis, the experimental adhesive showed a significantly longer effectiveness (p = 0.001), and the control reported better results in taste (p = 0.03) and in chewing (p = 0.001). The test adhesive showed better (p < 0.001) Candida albicans growth inhibition. The experimental adhesive showed longer effectiveness than the control and the placebo with a better inhibition capacity for the growth of Candida albicans. Patients reported better abilities for speech, chewing, taste, and retirement in the control adhesive.