Macrogenetics reveals multifaceted influences of environmental variation on vertebrate population genetic diversity across the Americas

The broad scale distribution of population-specific genetic diversity (GDP ) across taxa remains understudied relative to species diversity gradients, despite its relevance for systematic conservation planning. We used nuclear DNA data collected from 3678 vertebrate populations across the Americas to assess the role of environmental and spatial variables in structuring the distribution of GDP , a key component of adaptive potential in the face of environmental change. We specifically assessed non-linear trends for a metric of GDP, expected heterozygosity (HE ), and found more evidence for spatial hotspots and cold spots in HE rather than a strict pattern with latitude. We also detected inconsistent relationships between HE and environmental variables, where only 11 of 30 environmental comparisons among taxa groups were statistically significant at the .05 level, and the shape of significant trends differed substantially across vertebrate groups. Only one of six taxonomic groups, freshwater fishes, consistently showed significant relationships between HE and most (four of five) environmental variables. The remaining groups had statistically significant relationships for either two (amphibians, reptiles), one (birds, mammals), or no variables (anadromous fishes). Our study highlights gaps in the theoretical foundation upon which macrogenetic predictions have been made thus far in the literature, as well as the nuances for assessing broad patterns in GDP among vertebrate groups. Overall, our results suggest a disconnect between patterns of species and genetic diversity, and underscores that large-scale factors affecting genetic diversity may not be the same factors as those shaping taxonomic diversity. Thus, careful spatial and taxonomic-specific considerations are needed for applying macrogenetics to conservation planning.

Structured reflection increases intentions to reduce other people's health risks during COVID-19

People believe they should consider how their behavior might negatively impact other people, Yet their behavior often increases others' health risks. This creates challenges for managing public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined a procedure wherein people reflect on their personal criteria regarding how their behavior impacts others' health risks. We expected structured reflection to increase people's intentions and decisions to reduce others' health risks. Structured reflection increases attention to others' health risks and the correspondence between people's personal criteria and behavioral intentions. In four experiments during COVID-19, people (N  = 12,995) reported their personal criteria about how much specific attributes, including the impact on others' health risks, should influence their behavior. Compared with control conditions, people who engaged in structured reflection reported greater intentions to reduce business capacity (experiment 1) and avoid large social gatherings (experiments 2 and 3). They also donated more to provide vaccines to refugees (experiment 4). These effects emerged across seven countries that varied in collectivism and COVID-19 case rates (experiments 1 and 2). Structured reflection was distinct from instructions to carefully deliberate (experiment 3). Structured reflection increased the correlation between personal criteria and behavioral intentions (experiments 1 and 3). And structured reflection increased donations more among people who scored lower in cognitive reflection compared with those who scored higher in cognitive reflection (experiment 4). These findings suggest that structured reflection can effectively increase behaviors to reduce public health risks.

Evaluating the efficacy of common humanity-enhanced exposure for socially anxious young adults

Despite some evidence of the benefits of self-compassion training among socially anxious individuals, little is known about whether enhancing self-compassion prior to exposure therapy increases initial exposure engagement. Additionally, manipulations have relied on broad definitions of self-compassion, rendering it difficult to distinguish the impact of individual components. This study employed three experiential exercises designed to enhance one facet of self-compassion-common humanity. Socially anxious undergraduates (N = 63) were randomized in groups to 1) common humanity-enhanced exposure (n = 32) or 2) exposure alone (n = 31). In the common humanity condition, participants wrote self-compassionately, shared fears, and completed a common humanity-focused lovingkindness meditation. All participants then completed a speech exposure in front of live judges followed by an optional second exposure. Within the common humanity condition, positive self-responding to the speech exposure increased (b = 0.30, p = .026). Common humanity participants also remained in the first exposure longer, relative to exposure alone (b = -30.92, p = .002). Participants rated exercises as at least moderately helpful, with sharing fears rated most helpful. In sum, a brief group-based multi-modal common humanity induction represents a promising approach to improving initial engagement with feared contexts among socially anxious individuals.

Evaluating Benefits, Costs, and Social Value as Predictors of Gratitude

Although much is known about cooperation, the internal decision rules that regulate motivations to initiate and maintain cooperative relationships have not been thoroughly explored. Here, we focus on how acts of benefit delivery and perceptions of social value inform gratitude, an emotion that promotes cooperation. We evaluated alternate information-processing models to determine which inputs and internal representations best account for the intensity with which people report experiencing gratitude. Across two experiments (Ns = 257 and 208), we tested 10 models that consider multiple variables: the magnitude of benefits conferred on beneficiaries, the magnitude of costs incurred by benefactors, beneficiaries' perception of how much benefactors value their welfare, and beneficiaries' value for the welfare of their benefactors. Across both studies, only beneficiaries' change in social valuation for their benefactors consistently predicted gratitude. Results point to the need for further research and contribute to the growing literature linking cooperation, social emotions, and social valuation.

The sex premium in religiously motivated moral judgment

Recent theorizing suggests that religious people's moral convictions are quite strategic (albeit unconsciously so), designed to make their worlds more amenable to their favored approaches to solving life's basic challenges. In a meta-analysis of 5 experiments and a preregistered replication, we find that religious identity places a sex premium on moral judgments, causing people to judge violations of conventional sexual morality as particularly objectionable. The sex premium is especially strong among highly religious people, and applies to both legal and illegal acts. Religion's influence on moral reasoning emphasizes conventional sexual norms, and may reflect the strategic projects to which religion has been applied throughout history. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

When and Why Do Third Parties Punish Outside of the Lab? A Cross-Cultural Recall Study

Punishment can reform uncooperative behavior and hence could have contributed to humans’ ability to live in large-scale societies. Punishment by unaffected third parties has received extensive scientific scrutiny because third parties punish transgressors in laboratory experiments on behalf of strangers that they will never interact with again. Often overlooked in this research are interactions involving people who are not strangers, which constitute many interactions beyond the laboratory. Across three samples in two countries (United States and Japan; N = 1,294), we found that third parties’ anger at transgressors, and their intervention and punishment on behalf of victims, varied in real-life conflicts as a function of how much third parties valued the welfare of the disputants. Punishment was rare (1–2%) when third parties did not value the welfare of the victim, suggesting that previous economic game results have overestimated third parties’ willingness to punish transgressors on behalf of strangers.

Hierarchical generalized additive models in ecology: an introduction with mgcv

In this paper, we discuss an extension to two popular approaches to modeling complex structures in ecological data: the generalized additive model (GAM) and the hierarchical model (HGLM). The hierarchical GAM (HGAM), allows modeling of nonlinear functional relationships between covariates and outcomes where the shape of the function itself varies between different grouping levels. We describe the theoretical connection between HGAMs, HGLMs, and GAMs, explain how to model different assumptions about the degree of intergroup variability in functional response, and show how HGAMs can be readily fitted using existing GAM software, the mgcv package in R. We also discuss computational and statistical issues with fitting these models, and demonstrate how to fit HGAMs on example data. All code and data used to generate this paper are available at: github.com/eric-pedersen/mixed-effect-gams.

Does Cooperation in the Laboratory Reflect the Operation of A Broad Trait?

The Dictator Game, a face valid measure of altruism, and the Trust Game, a face valid measure of trust and trustworthiness, are among the most widely used behavioural measures in human cooperation research. Researchers have observed considerable covariation among these and other economic games, leading them to assert that there exists a general human propensity to cooperate that varies in strength across individuals and manifests itself across a variety of social settings. To formalize this hypothesis, we created an S–1 bifactor model using 276 participants’ Dictator Game and Trust Game decisions. The general factor had significant, moderate associations with self–reported and peer–reported altruism, trust, and trustworthiness. Thus, the positive covariation among economic games is not reducible to the games’ shared situational features. Two hundred participants returned for a second session. The general factor based on Dictator Game and Trust Game decisions from this session did not significantly predict self–reported and peer–reported cooperation, suggesting that experience with economic games causes them to measure different traits from those that are reflected in self–assessments and peer–assessments of cooperativeness. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology

Visual preferences for direct-gaze faces in infant macaques (Macaca mulatta) with limited face exposure

From birth, human and nonhuman primates attend more to faces with direct gaze compared with averted gaze, and previous studies report that attention to the eyes is linked to the emergence of later social skills. Here, we explored whether early experiences influence attraction to eye contact in infant macaques by examining their attention to face pairs varying in their gaze direction across the first 13 weeks of life. Infants raised by human caretakers had limited conspecific interactions (nursery-reared; N = 16) and were compared to infants raised in rich social environments (mother-reared; N = 20). Both groups looked longer to faces and the eyes of direct compared to averted-gaze faces. Looking to all faces and eyes also increased with age. Nursery-reared infants did not display age-associated increases in attention to direct-gaze faces specifically, suggesting that, while there may be an initial preference for direct-gaze faces from birth, social experiences may support its early development.

Experimental evidence for concentration-dependence and intraspecific variation of movement behaviour in American lobster (Homarus americanus) larvae

Predicting dispersal paths of marine larvae with extended pelagic durations, such as American lobster (Homarus americanus H. Milne Edwards, 1837), requires understanding the cues to which larvae respond, and how that response reflects changes in larval behaviour. If larvae respond to conspecific presence by varying their movement, then this behaviour can bias laboratory estimates of environmental responses. We tested whether larvae actively decreased their local intraspecific density by measuring how the vertical distribution of larvae changed under high versus low concentrations of conspecifics. We observed weak increases in vertical dispersion at higher concentrations both in newly hatched larvae and in postlarvae, but not in intermediate larval stages. We also tested for differences in horizontal swimming behaviour in high and low concentrations, by fitting a novel random walk model that allowed us to model both larval interactions and persistent turning behaviours. We showed substantial reduction in diffusive behaviour under high concentration conditions resulting from more frequent turns by each larva, but no evidence for consistent avoidance of conspecifics. Our study is the first to demonstrate concentration-dependent behaviours in lobster larvae.

Re-examination of Oostenbroek et al. (2016): evidence for neonatal imitation of tongue protrusion

The meaning, mechanism, and function of imitation in early infancy have been actively discussed since Meltzoff and Moore's (1977) report of facial and manual imitation by human neonates. Oostenbroek et al. (2016) claim to challenge the existence of early imitation and to counter all interpretations so far offered. Such claims, if true, would have implications for theories of social-cognitive development. Here we identify 11 flaws in Oostenbroek et al.'s experimental design that biased the results toward null effects. We requested and obtained the authors' raw data. Contrary to the authors' conclusions, new analyses reveal significant tongue-protrusion imitation at all four ages tested (1, 3, 6, and 9 weeks old). We explain how the authors missed this pattern and offer five recommendations for designing future experiments. Infant imitation raises fundamental issues about action representation, social learning, and brain-behavior relations. The debate about the origins and development of imitation reflects its importance to theories of developmental science.

Signatures of the collapse and incipient recovery of an overexploited marine ecosystem

The Northwest Atlantic cod stocks collapsed in the early 1990s and have yet to recover, despite the subsequent establishment of a continuing fishing moratorium. Efforts to understand the collapse and lack of recovery have so far focused mainly on the dynamics of commercially harvested species. Here, we use data from a 33-year scientific trawl survey to determine to which degree the signatures of the collapse and recovery of the cod are apparent in the spatial and temporal dynamics of the broader groundfish community. Over this 33-year period, the groundfish community experienced four phases of change: (i) a period of rapid, synchronous biomass collapse in most species, (ii) followed by a regime shift in community composition with a concomitant loss of functional diversity, (iii) followed in turn by periods of slow compositional recovery, and (iv) slow biomass growth. Our results demonstrate how a community-wide perspective can reveal new aspects of the dynamics of collapse and recovery unavailable from the analysis of individual species or a combination of a small number of species. Overall, we found evidence that such community-level signals should be useful for designing more effective management strategies to ensure the persistence of exploited marine ecosystems.

Testing the arousal hypothesis of neonatal imitation in infant rhesus macaques

Neonatal imitation is the matching of (often facial) gestures by newborn infants. Some studies suggest that performance of facial gestures is due to general arousal, which may produce false positives on neonatal imitation assessments. Here we examine whether arousal is linked to facial gesturing in newborn infant rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). We tested 163 infants in a neonatal imitation paradigm in their first postnatal week and analyzed their lipsmacking gestures (a rapid opening and closing of the mouth), tongue protrusion gestures, and yawn responses (a measure of arousal). Arousal increased during dynamic stimulus presentation compared to the static baseline across all conditions, and arousal was higher in the facial gestures conditions than the nonsocial control condition. However, even after controlling for arousal, we found a condition-specific increase in facial gestures in infants who matched lipsmacking and tongue protrusion gestures. Thus, we found no support for the arousal hypothesis. Consistent with reports in human newborns, imitators’ propensity to match facial gestures is based on abilities that go beyond mere arousal. We discuss optimal testing conditions to minimize potentially confounding effects of arousal on measurements of neonatal imitation.

Reassessing intertemporal choice: human decision-making is more optimal in a foraging task than in a self-control task

Many contemporary concerns (e.g., addiction, failure to save) can be viewed as intertemporal choice problems in which the consequences of choices are realized at different times. In some laboratory paradigms used to study intertemporal choice, non-human animals demonstrate a preference for immediacy (impulsive choice) that results in failures to maximize the amount of reward received. There is evidence, however, suggesting that such non-optimal impulsive choice may be due to a mismatch between the standard presentation of options in the laboratory (e.g., a "larger-later" and a "smaller-sooner" option) and the way that options occur in natural settings (e.g., foraging). We present evidence that human impulsive choice is similarly affected: in two experiments, decisions were more optimal when options were presented in a format sharing features with the evolutionarily important problem of foraging compared to when options were presented in the standard format. These findings suggest a more nuanced view of intertemporal choice and support the adoption of ideas from foraging theory into the study of human decision making.

Conciliatory gestures promote forgiveness and reduce anger in humans

Conflict is an inevitable component of social life, and natural selection has exerted strong effects on many organisms to facilitate victory in conflict and to deter conspecifics from imposing harms upon them. Like many species, humans likely possess cognitive systems whose function is to motivate revenge as a means of deterring individuals who have harmed them from harming them again in the future. However, many social relationships often retain value even after conflicts have occurred between interactants, so natural selection has very likely also endowed humans with cognitive systems whose function is to motivate reconciliation with transgressors whom they perceive as valuable and nonthreatening, notwithstanding their harmful prior actions. In a longitudinal study with 337 participants who had recently been harmed by a relationship partner, we found that conciliatory gestures (e.g., apologies, offers of compensation) were associated with increases in victims' perceptions of their transgressors' relationship value and reductions in perceptions of their transgressors' exploitation risk. In addition, conciliatory gestures appeared to accelerate forgiveness and reduce reactive anger via their intermediate effects on relationship value and exploitation risk. These results strongly suggest that conciliatory gestures facilitate forgiveness and reduce anger by modifying victims' perceptions of their transgressors' value as relationship partners and likelihood of recidivism.

Life history, code of honor, and emotional responses to inequality in an economic game

The code of honor, which is characterized by a preoccupation with reputation and willingness to take retaliatory action, has been used extensively to explain individual and cultural differences in peoples' tendencies to behave aggressively. However, research on the relationship between the code of honor and emotional responses to social interactions has been limited in scope, focusing primarily on anger in response to insults and reputational threats. Here we broaden this scope by examining the relationship between code of honor and emotional reactions in response to an unfair economic exchange that resulted in unequal monetary earnings among 3 laboratory participants. We found that endorsement of the code of honor was related to anger and envy in response to unfair monetary distributions. Interestingly, code of honor predicted envy above and beyond what could be accounted for by anger, but the converse was not the case. This suggests that the code of honor influenced perceptions of how subjects viewed their own earnings relative to those of others, which consequently was responsible for their apparent anger as a result of the economic transaction. Furthermore, the unique relationship between code of honor and envy was present only for subjects who received unfair treatment and not for subjects who merely witnessed unfair treatment. Additionally, we replicated previous findings that harsh childhood environmental conditions are associated with endorsement of the code of honor, highlighting the potential value of incorporating a life history theoretical approach to investigating individual differences in endorsement of the code of honor.

Variation in oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) polymorphisms is associated with emotional and behavioral reactions to betrayal

Variations in the gene that encodes the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) have been associated with many aspects of social cognition as well as several prosocial behaviors. However, potential associations of OXTR variants with reactions to betrayals of trust while cooperating for mutual benefit have not yet been explored. We examined how variations in 10 single-nucleotide polymorphisms on OXTR were associated with behavior and emotional reactions after a betrayal of trust in an iterated Prisoner's Dilemma Game. After correction for multiple testing, one haplotype (C-rs9840864, T-rs2268494) was significantly associated with faster retaliation post-betrayal-an association that appeared to be due to this haplotype's intermediate effect of exacerbating people's anger after they had been betrayed. Furthermore, a second haplotype (A-rs237887, C-rs2268490) was associated with higher levels of post-betrayal satisfaction, and a third haplotype (G-rs237887, C-rs2268490) was associated with lower levels of post-betrayal satisfaction.

Do humans really punish altruistically? A closer look

Some researchers have proposed that natural selection has given rise in humans to one or more adaptations for altruistically punishing on behalf of other individuals who have been treated unfairly, even when the punisher has no chance of benefiting via reciprocity or benefits to kin. However, empirical support for the altruistic punishment hypothesis depends on results from experiments that are vulnerable to potentially important experimental artefacts. Here, we searched for evidence of altruistic punishment in an experiment that precluded these artefacts. In so doing, we found that victims of unfairness punished transgressors, whereas witnesses of unfairness did not. Furthermore, witnesses' emotional reactions to unfairness were characterized by envy of the unfair individual's selfish gains rather than by moralistic anger towards the unfair behaviour. In a second experiment run independently in two separate samples, we found that previous evidence for altruistic punishment plausibly resulted from affective forecasting error-that is, limitations on humans' abilities to accurately simulate how they would feel in hypothetical situations. Together, these findings suggest that the case for altruistic punishment in humans-a view that has gained increasing attention in the biological and social sciences-has been overstated.

Harsh childhood environmental characteristics predict exploitation and retaliation in humans

Across and within societies, people vary in their propensities towards exploitative and retaliatory defection in potentially cooperative interaction. We hypothesized that this variation reflects adaptive responses to variation in cues during childhood that life will be harsh, unstable and short--cues that probabilistically indicate that it is in one's fitness interests to exploit co-operators and to retaliate quickly against defectors. Here, we show that childhood exposure to family neglect, conflict and violence, and to neighbourhood crime, were positively associated for men (but not women) with exploitation of an interaction partner and retaliatory defection after that partner began to defect. The associations between childhood environment and both forms of defection for men appeared to be mediated by participants' endorsement of a 'code of honour'. These results suggest that individual differences in mutual benefit cooperation are not merely due to genetic noise, random developmental variation or the operation of domain-general cultural learning mechanisms, but rather, might reflect the adaptive calibration of social strategies to local social-ecological conditions.

What are punishment and reputation for?

Why did punishment and the use of reputation evolve in humans? According to one family of theories, they evolved to support the maintenance of cooperative group norms; according to another, they evolved to enhance personal gains from cooperation. Current behavioral data are consistent with both hypotheses (and both selection pressures could have shaped human cooperative psychology). However, these hypotheses lead to sharply divergent behavioral predictions in circumstances that have not yet been tested. Here we report results testing these rival predictions. In every test where social exchange theory and group norm maintenance theory made different predictions, subject behavior violated the predictions of group norm maintenance theory and matched those of social exchange theory. Subjects do not direct punishment toward those with reputations for norm violation per se; instead, they use reputation self-beneficially, as a cue to lower the risk that they personally will experience losses from defection. More tellingly, subjects direct their cooperative efforts preferentially towards defectors they have punished and away from those they haven’t punished; they avoid expending punitive effort on reforming defectors who only pose a risk to others. These results are not consistent with the hypothesis that the psychology of punishment evolved to uphold group norms. The circumstances in which punishment is deployed and withheld–its circuit logic–support the hypothesis that it is generated by psychological mechanisms that evolved to benefit the punisher, by allowing him to bargain for better treatment.

Dynamics of protein expression during pollen germination in canola (Brassica napus)

The proteome of mature (MP) and in vitro germinating pollen (GP) of canola (Brassica napus) were analyzed using the DIGE technology with the objective of identifying proteins and their function in pollen germination. Of the 2,238 protein spots detected in gel images, 344 were differentially expressed in MP and GP samples of which 165 were subjected to MALDI-TOF/TOF and 130 were successfully identified using the NCBInr and Brassica EST databases. The major proteins up-regulated in GP, relative to MP, have roles in carbohydrate metabolism, protein metabolism, and cell wall remodeling. Others with roles in cytoskeleton dynamics, nucleotide and amino acid metabolism, signal transduction, and stress response also showed higher expression in GP. Proteins concerned with transcriptional regulation and ion transport were similar in MP and GP, and some catalases and LEA proteins were down-regulated in GP. A number of proteins including, oleosin, cruciferin, and enolase, were released into the pollen germination medium indicating their potential role in pollen-stigma interaction. Glycosylated proteins were also identified in MP and GP, but their protein profiles were not different. This study has documented the dynamics of protein expression during pollen germination and early tube growth in B. napus and provides insights into the fundamental mechanisms involved in these processes, and in cell growth, cell-cell communication, and cell signaling.

[Acupressure against morning sickness]

BACKGROUND

Although stimulation of certain acupressure points for long has been claimed to alleviate nausea, previous research has left contradictory results. The aim of our study was to find out if acupressure can alleviate nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

97 women with mean gestational length between 8 and 12 weeks were randomized to use either active acupressure or placebo acupressure bands. Symptoms were recorded before they entered the study, during the use of the wristbands, and after the end of the study, according to the intensity, duration and nature of complaints.

RESULTS

71% of the women in the intervention group reported both less intensive morning sickness and shorter duration of symptoms. The same tendency was seen in the placebo group, with 59% reporting less intensity and 63% shorter duration of symptoms, However, significance levels of 5% were reached regarding duration of symptoms, which was reduced by 2.74 hours in the intervention group compared to 0.85 hours in the placebo group (p = 0.0018).

INTERPRETATION

Acupressure wristband might be an alternative for morning sickness in early pregnancy, especially before pharmaceutical treatment is considered.

Stability in incidence of acute appendicitis. A population-based longitudinal study

BACKGROUND/AIM OF THE STUDY: During the past 50 years, a decrease in incidence of appendicitis has been reported. The various studies were retrospective and based on different data sources. In the present study, we analyze prospectively the incidence of acute appendicitis during a 10-year period in a well defined population of 265,000.

METHODS

Prospective registration of all operations performed in patients with suspected acute appendicitis in the catchment area of a single institution. The diagnosis of acute appendicitis was based on histology in all cases. The annual incidence of acute appendicitis was calculated with regard to nonperforated and perforated acute appendicitis.

MAIN RESULTS

Between 1989 and 1998, 2,861 patients underwent surgery for suspected acute appendicitis. In 2,232 (78%) patients, acute appendicitis was confirmed histologically. Mean annual incidence was 84/100,000 (95% confidence interval 80 to 88/100,000). Crude incidence remained stable during the study period, with the exception of a significant increase in 1991 followed by a significant decrease the next year. Nonperforated acute appendicitis showed a different incidence pattern as compared to perforated acute appendicitis.

CONCLUSION

In our prospective study, the incidence of acute appendicitis remained stable in our well-defined study population during the study period of 10 years. This is in contrast to the majority of studies during the last decades.

The hydroxide-assisted hydrolysis of cyanogen chloride in aqueous solution

The hydrolysis of cyanogen chloride (ClCN) was studied as a function of temperature and pH. Results were used to resolve discrepancies among previously reported kinetic constants. The pH dependence was studied over a range of 9.54-10.93 at a temperature of 21.0 degrees C. The effect of temperature was investigated over the range of 10-30 degrees C at a pH of approximately 10. Changes in the concentrations of ClCN and the reaction products cyanic acid and chloride ion were monitored with time. For the conditions corresponding to these experiments, the hydroxide-assisted hydrolysis pathway predominated. Collision frequency factor and activation energies recommended to represent the hydrolysis of ClCN in aqueous solution are A = 2.06 x 10(11) M-1 s-1 and Ea = 60,980 J mol-1 for the hydroxide-ion-assisted reaction, and A = 9.97 x 10(8) s-1 and Ea = 87,180 J mol-1 for the water-assisted reaction.

Acupressure treatment of morning sickness in pregnancy. A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

OBJECTIVE

To find out whether acupressure wristband can alleviate nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy.

DESIGN

Double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

SUBJECTS

97 women with mean gestational length completed 8-12 weeks.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Symptoms were recorded according to intensity, duration and nature of complaints.

RESULTS

71% of women in the intervention group reported both less intensive morning sickness and reduced duration of symptoms. The same tendency was seen in the placebo group, with 59% reporting less intensity and 63% shorter duration of symptoms. However, a significance level of 5% was reached only in the case of duration of symptoms, which was reduced by 2.74 hours in the intervention group compared to 0.85 hours in the placebo group (p = 0.018).

CONCLUSIONS

Acupressure wristband might be an alternative therapy for morning sickness in early pregnancy, especially before pharmaceutical treatment is considered.

NMR characterisation and transdermal drug delivery potential of microemulsion systems

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of structure and composition of microemulsions (Labrasol/Plurol Isostearique/isostearylic isostearate/water) on their transdermal delivery potential of a lipophilic (lidocaine) and a hydrophilic model drug (prilocaine hydrochloride), and to compare the drug delivery potential of microemulsions to conventional vehicles. Self-diffusion coefficients determined by pulsed-gradient spin-echo NMR spectroscopy and T(1) relaxation times were used to characterise the microemulsions. Transdermal flux of lidocaine and prilocaine hydrochloride through rat skin was determined in vitro using Franz-type diffusion cells. The formulation constituents enabled a broad variety of microemulsion compositions, which ranged from water-continuous to oil-continuous aggregates over possible bicontinuous structures, with excellent solubility properties for both lipophilic and hydrophilic compounds. The microemulsions increased transdermal flux of lidocaine up to four times compared to a conventional oil-in-water emulsion, and that of prilocaine hydrochloride almost 10 times compared to a hydrogel. A correlation between self-diffusion of the drugs in the vehicles and transdermal flux was indicated. The increased transdermal drug delivery from microemulsion formulations was found to be due mainly to the increased solubility of drugs and appeared to be dependent on the drug mobility in the individual vehicle. The microemulsions did not perturb the skin barrier, indicating a low skin irritancy.

[Attitudes of Norwegian physicians to homeopathy. A questionnaire among 2 019 physicians on their cooperation with homeopathy specialists]

This study presents Norwegian doctors' attitudes concerning co-operation with homeopaths, their advice to patients who want to try homeopathic treatment and for which diseases, if any, they might be positive to homeopathic treatment. The Norwegian Medical Association made a randomised, stratified sample consisting of 2,019 Norwegian doctors below the age of 71. The study was made questionnaire-based and a total of 1,434 doctors (71%) replied. 7% of the doctors have or wish to have patient-associated collaboration with homeopaths. 32% would give positive advice to patients who expressed a desire to try homeopathic treatment, while 50%, owing to insufficient knowledge, would not give advice. Doctors educated abroad are more positive to homeopathic treatment than doctors educated in Norway are. 50% of Norwegian doctors tend to be positive to homeopathic treatment for one or more specific conditions. Anxiety, migraine and hayfever are the conditions most often mentioned. Male senior doctors are the least positive to homeopathic treatment for all of the listed conditions. Patients who would like to try homeopathic treatment after consultation with a doctor should consult a female general practitioner who has studied abroad.

Early effects of radiotherapy in small cell lung cancer xenografts monitored by 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy and biochemical analysis

31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P MRS) and biochemical analysis of extracts were applied to study the metabolic response to X-irradiation of small cell lung cancer in nude mice. Two small cell lung cancer xenografts, CPH SCCL 54A and 54B, with different radiosensitivity, although derived from the same patient, were studied. A total of 126 individual tumors were examined. Following 5.0-Gy irradiation, a reversible increase in the ATP/Pi ratio, reaching twice the pretreatment level within 2 wk, was observed with 31P MRS, while 20 Gy induced a reversible decrease in the ATP/Pi ratio. The t1/2 of this decline was 2 to 3 h for 54A and about 6 h for the less radiosensitive 54B. The 31P MRS data were compared with biochemical analysis of tumors freeze-clamped and extracted at similar intervals after 20 Gy. It appeared that an acute reversible increase in Pi concentration was the major cause of the ATP/Pi decrease induced by 20 Gy. A linear correlation between ATP/Pi estimated by 31P MRS and by analytical biochemistry was found. The ATP/Pi ratio may be valuable for early assessment of radiosensitivity of small cell lung cancer tumors.

Natural occurrence of the mycotoxin fusarochromanone, a metabolite of Fusarium equiseti, in cereal feed associated with tibial dyschondroplasia

The mycotoxin fusarochromanone, a metabolite of Fusarium fungi, is able to induce tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) in chickens under experimental conditions. On the basis of health surveillance data on TD, two broiler farms with TD prevalence rates of up to 56% were identified. In the corresponding pelleted feed samples, fusarochromanone was detected in all 12 samples analyzed by column purification and TLC, with concentrations 4 to 59 micrograms/kg. No Fusarium fungi were available from the feed because of the pelleting process, but seven Fusarium equiseti strains previously isolated from Danish cereals were checked for fusarochromanone production, and all produced fusarochromanone at 57 to 1,435 mg/kg. Thus, the potential for fusarochromanone production by F. equiseti is considerable. The identification of fusarochromanone from feed and F. equiseti was confirmed by mass, infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectral analyses. This is the first report of fusarochromanone as a naturally occurring contaminant.

The Na+/K+-ATPase reaction of human erythrocytes is not near equilibrium. A 31P-NMR study

We have addressed the question of whether the Na/K+-ATPase in the human erythrocyte is in a state of near-equilibrium by varying the extracellular ratio of Na+ and K+ and following the cytosolic phosphorylation potential by 31P-NMR and by combined enzymatic colorimetric measurements. There was no correlation at room temperature between the extracellular Na+/K+ ratio and the cytosolic phosphorylation potential measured either by NMR or alternative methods. The cytosolic phosphorylation potential measured by NMR was 4100 +/- 1300 (S.E.) M-1 at an extracellular K+ concentration of 5.9 mM (Na+/K+ ratio of 24.3) and 2800 +/- 700 (S.E.) M-1 at 75 mM extracellular K+ (Na+/K+ ratio of 0.99). The chemically determined phosphorylation potential was 6400 +/- 1200 (S.E.) and 5000 +/- 700 (S.E.) M-1 at 5.9 and 75 mM extracellular K+, respectively. Omission of Ca2+ from the buffer solutions did not affect the results. A consistent finding in this study was that the NMR-determined value of ATP was about 10-20% lower than the value determined enzymatically on perchloric acid extracts. The inorganic phosphate (Pi) was fully NMR visible.

Evaluation of relaxation time measurements by magnetic resonance imaging. A phantom study

Several circumstances may explain the great variation in reported proton T1 and T2 relaxation times usually seen. This study was designed to evaluate the accuracy of relaxation time measurements by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) operating at 1.5 tesla. Using a phantom of nine boxes with different concentrations of CuSO4 and correlating the calculated T1 and T2 values with reference values obtained by two spectrometers (corrected to MRI-proton frequency = 64 MHz) we found a maximum deviation of about 10 per cent. Measurements performed on a large water phantom in order to evaluate the homogeneity in the imaging plane showed a variation of less than 10 per cent within 10 cm from the centre of the magnet in all three imaging planes. Changing the gradient field strength apparently had no influence on the T2 values recorded. Consequently diffusion processes seem without significance. It is concluded that proton T1 and T2 relaxation times covering the majority of the biologic range can be measured by MRI with an overall accuracy of 5 to 10 per cent. Quality control studies along the lines indicated in this study are recommended.