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Background: COVID-19 is a multi-systemic infectious disease. Nearly 20%-30% of hospitalized patients have evidence of acute myocardial involvement, portending a poorer prognosis. However, information about the long-term effects of the disease on cardiac functions is sparse. As a result, there is a growing concern about the cardiac sequelae of COVID-19 among survivors. This study aimed to investigate the effects of prior mild-moderate COVID-19 infection on cardiac functions, using speckle tracking echocardiography. Methods: Patients who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 within the previous 6 months and age-, sex-, and risk factor-matched healthy adults were included. All patients underwent a comprehensive echocardiographic examination. Both conventional and 2-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiographic measurements were performed. Serum cardiac biomarkers were also obtained on the day of the echocardiographic study. Results: Compared with healthy controls, COVID-19 survivors had similar left and right ventricular longitudinal strain values at 6 months. Also, left and right atrial peak systolic strain values did not differ between the groups. Conclusion: Our study is valuable in putting forth the unaffected ventricular and atrial functions on long term in uncomplicated COVID-19 cases and may decrease the survivors' anxiety and the number of unnecessary applications to cardiology clinics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Relevance ranking algorithms rank retrieved documents based on the degrees of topical similarity (relevance) between search queries and documents. This paper aims to introduce a new relevance ranking method combining a probabilistic topic modeling algorithm with citation data. Data and Method: We applied this method to the iSearch corpus of c. 435,000 physics papers. We first ran the topic modeling algorithm on titles and summaries of all papers for 65 search queries and obtained the relevance ranking lists. We then used citation data with the existing relevance rankings, thereby incrementally refining the results. The outcome produced better relevance rankings with papers covering various aspects of the topic searched as well as the more marginal ones. Finally, we evaluated the retrieval performance of the proposed method. Findings: Findings suggest that the topic modeling algorithm might sometimes overlook the terms used in different contexts in the papers. However, the fusion of citation data to relevance ranking lists provides additional contextual information, thereby enriching the results further with various papers of higher relevance. Moreover, results can easily be re-ranked. Implications: We argue that once it is tested on dynamic corpora for computational load, robustness, replicability, and scalability, the proposed method can, in time, be used in both local and international information systems such as TR-Dizin, Web of Science, and Scopus. Originality: The proposed method is, as far as we know, the first one that shows that relevance rankings produced with a topic modeling algorithm can be incrementally refined using citation data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the association between theory of mind (ToM) and aggression has been theorized, empirical findings have not revealed a clear link between these constructs. In the current meta-analytic review, we integrated findings from 83 studies (141 effect sizes) involving 41,650 participants from 18 countries to elucidate the association between ToM and aggression in typically developing children, adolescents, and adults. We found a significant negative association between ToM and aggression overall (r = −0.15). Moreover, each type and function of aggression were negatively associated with Theory of Mind (ToM). Bullying—a distinct form of aggression—was not associated with ToM. The strength of the association between overall aggression and ToM varied as a function of methodological variables: First, studies that used self-report questionnaires to measure ToM and aggression yielded the strongest effect sizes, compared to those that used task-based assessments or questionnaires completed by others (parents, teachers, peers). Second, there was a difference in the ToM measurement with the measures examining ToM with non-false belief understanding tasks yielding a stronger mean effect than those that focused exclusively on false-belief understanding. Third, the magnitude of the negative association was found to increase with participants' age, though significant negative associations between ToM and aggression held across the lifespan. These results point to the critical link between ToM and aggressive tendencies and suggest the value in implementing interventions to improve mental state understanding across the age range to foster positive social interactions. • We integrated findings from 83 studies (141 effect sizes) to elucidate the association between ToM and aggression in typically developing children, adolescents, and adults. • We found a significant negative association between ToM and aggression overall. • The association was significant and negative across all age groups. • The association was negative and significant for different forms and functions of aggression. • There were significant moderators of the association such as measurement of aggression and ToM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) positively affects the improvement of functional mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, geometric changes in the mitral valve apparatus, subvalvular structures and their contribution to improving mitral regurgitation after CRT have not been clearly defined. Our study aimed to evaluate the geometric parameters of mitral valve apparatus measured with three‐dimensional (3D) transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) before CRT implantation and to determine the parameters predicting the improvement of MR after CRT. Methods: In this prospective study, we included thirty patients with moderate or severe MR and HFrEF planned for CRT implantation who had an indication for TEE. Before CRT implantation, effective regurgitant orifice (ERO) and regurgitant volume (RV) measurements were performed. Detailed quantitative measurements of the mitral valve were done from recorded images by 3D TEE. ERO and RV measurements were repeated to evaluate MR at the end of the third month. Results: There were no significant changes in left ventricular EF and left ventricular diameters at third‐month follow‐up, whereas ERO and RV values were decreased. The posterior leaflet angle was higher in the non‐responder group than the responder group (28.93 ± 8.41 vs 41.25 ± 10.90, p = 0.006). The posterior leaflet angle was an independent predictor of decreased RV and ERO. Conclusion: Among HFrEF patients with moderate or severe functional MR who underwent CRT implantation had a lower posterior leaflet angle, which was measured by 3D TEE, in the patient group whose MR improved after CRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]