Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a highly effective therapy for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection. Stool donors are essential, but difficult to recruit and retain. We aimed to identify factors influencing willingness to donate stool. This multi-center study with a 32-item questionnaire targeted young adults and health care workers via social media and university email lists in Edmonton and Kingston, Canada; London and Nottingham, England; and Indianapolis and Boston, USA. Items included baseline demographics and FMT knowledge and perception. Investigated motivators and deterrents included economic compensation, screening process, time commitment, and stool donation logistics. Logistic regression and linear regression models estimated associations of study variables with self-assessed willingness to donate stool. 802 respondents completed our questionnaire: 387 (48.3%) age 21-30 years, 573 (71.4%) female, 323 (40%) health care workers. Country of residence, age and occupation were not associated with willingness to donate stool. Factors increasing willingness to donate were: already a blood donor (OR 1.64), male, altruism, economic benefit, knowledge of how FMT can help patients (OR 1.32), and positive attitudes towards FMT (OR 1.39). Factors decreasing willingness to donate were: stool collection unpleasant (OR 0.92), screening process invasive (OR 0.92), higher stool donation frequency, negative social perception of stool, and logistics of collection/transporting feces. We conclude that 1) blood donors and males are more willing to consider stool donation; 2) altruism, economic compensation, and positive feedback are motivators; and 3) screening process, high donation frequency, logistics of collection/transporting feces, lack of public awareness, and negative social perception are deterrents. Considering these variables could maximize donor recruitment and retention. ARTICLE HISTORY

With the continual development of artificial intelligence and smart computing in recent years, quantitative approaches have become increasingly popular as an efficient modeling tool as they do not necessitate complicated mathematical models. Many nations have taken steps, such as transitioning to online schooling, to decrease the harm caused by coronaviruses. Inspired by the demand for technology in early education, the present research uses a radial basis function (RBF) neural network (NN) modeling technique to predict preschool instructors’ technology usage in classes based on recognized determinant characteristics of technology acceptance. In this regard, this study utilized the RBFNN approach to predict preschool teachers’ technology acceptance behavior, based on the theory of planned behavior, which states that behavioral achievement, in our case the actual technology use in class, depends on motivation, intention and ability, and behavioral control. Thus, this research design is based on an adapted version of the technology acceptance model (TAM) with eight dimensions: D1. Perceived usefulness, D2. Perceived ease of use, D3. Perceived enjoyment, D4. Intention to use, D5. Actual use, D6. Compatibility, D7. Attitude, and D8. Self-efficacy. According to the TAM, actual usage is significantly predicted by the other seven dimensions used in this research. Instead of using the classical multiple linear regression statistical processing of data, we opted for a NN based on the RBF approach to predict the actual usage behavior. This study included 182 preschool teachers who were randomly chosen from a project-based national preschool teacher training program and who responded to our online questionnaire. After designing the RBF function with the actual usage as an output variable and the other seven dimensions as input variables, in the model summary, we obtained in the training sample a sum of squares error of 37.5 and a percent of incorrect predictions of 43.3%. In the testing sample, we obtained a sum of squares error of 14.88 and a percent of incorrect predictions of 37%. Thus, we can conclude that 63% of the classified data are correctly assigned to the models’ dependent variable, i.e., actual technology use, which is a significant rate of correct predictions in the testing sample. This high significant percentage of correct classification represents an important result, mainly because this is the first study to apply RBFNN’s prediction on psychological data, opening up a new interdisciplinary field of research.

Predicting preschool teachers’ intention to adopt qualitative and inclusive early childhood intentional behaviors represents an important research field. The objective of this research is first to develop and validate a scale to assess the integrative-qualitative intentional behavior (IQIB-ECEC) of preschool teachers in order to achieve SDG4.2’s objective of ensuring that all children have access to high-quality pre-primary education and then to systemically analyze the relationship between variables with Network Analysis. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) describes key individual beliefs (attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control) that affect people’s intentions to engage in a certain conduct and has previously been used with success in evaluating people’s intentions to adopt a certain behavior. This research represents one of the first Romanian attempts to use the theory of planned behavior to study the Integrative-Qualitative Intentional Behavior in Romanian Preschool Education and systemically analyze results with Network Analysis approach. This study used a randomized 300 Romanian preschool teachers enrolled in a National Training Program entitled Qualitative and Inclusive Early Childhood Education managed by the Romanian Educational Ministry. Data were collected via an online questionnaire. The scale validation followed a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The fitting of the IQIB-ECEC 19-item scale showed that all coefficients CFI (0.942), TLI (0.920), SRMR (0.0452), and RMSEA (0.0451) bring strong evidence in the favor of the statistical validity of the scale. The final IQIB-ECEC 19 items and 8 factors scale obtained a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.77. The systemic Network Analysis approach was used in interpreting data. The centrality of the network model was further investigated and the clustering coefficients index were calculated. According to the results, perceived power/control beliefs and behavioral intention were detected as the most important dimensions, whereas behavioral beliefs were less important. These findings were discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical significance.

The goal of this study was to widen the scope of the social component of family sustainability. The fundamental goal of this non-experimental, quantitative study was to look at the links between parenting correlates, personality characteristics, marital satisfaction, and well-being in couples, as well as to construct explanatory prediction models for relational and marital satisfaction. The study focused on the effects of personality traits, parental self-efficacy, and attachment to marital and relational satisfaction. The test instruments applied were: the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised, Marital Adjustment Test, Couple Satisfaction Index, Relationship Satisfaction Scale, Family Distress Index, Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (adapted to the role of a parent), Mowen’s Personality Scale, and demographic data. A total of 238 Romanians answered the online survey, recruited based on a convenience sampling method. Participants in this research were individuals who were both married and had at least one child. The main findings show that agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, anxious and avoidant attachment, and marital adjustment predict the satisfaction in the relationship, and openness partially mediates the association between marital adjustment and relationship satisfaction. Parental self-efficacy appears to influence the association between relationship satisfaction and marital satisfaction. An increased parental self-efficacy score predicts an increased relationship satisfaction and marital satisfaction. The higher the parental self-efficacy, the higher the satisfaction in the relationship, which leads to an increase in satisfaction in the couple. These results show that marital adjustment and adaptation are related to relational satisfaction, and these relationship are partially mediated by an individual’s openness. Despite some limitations, the current study significantly contributes to couples therapies and interventions in terms of physical and mental health, and the study provides insight into the experiences and perspectives of married individuals with children in Romania.