Ownership psychology and group size

Human group size seemingly has no limit, with many individuals living alongside thousands - even millions - of others. Non-human primate groups, on the other hand, cannot be sustained past a certain, relatively small size. I propose that Pascal Boyer's model of ownership psychology may offer an explanation for such a significant divergence.

The evolution of moral belief: support for the debunker's causal premise

The causal premise of the evolutionary debunking argument contends that human moral beliefs are explained by the process of natural selection. While it is universally acknowledged that such a premise is fundamental to the debunker's case, the vast majority of philosophers focus instead on the epistemic premise that natural selection does not track moral truth and the resulting skeptical conclusion(s). Recently, however, some have begun to concentrate on the causal premise. So far, the upshot of this small but growing literature has been that the causal premise is likely false due to the seemingly persuasive evidence that our moral beliefs are in fact not the result of natural selection. In this paper, I argue that this view is mistaken. Specifically, I advocate the Innate Biases Model, which contends that there is not only compelling evidence for an evolved cognitive capacity for acquiring norms but also for the existence of an evolutionarily instilled set of cognitive biases that make it either more or less likely that we adopt certain moral beliefs.

Impairment of sustained attention after major gynaecological surgery *

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The sustained attention to response task (SART) test is a sensitive indicator of deficits in sustained attention and is simple to perform. Sustained attention is impaired for a short period after minor surgery under general anaesthesia but the magnitude and duration of this effect after major surgery is unknown. We used the SART test to investigate deficits in sustained attention in patients undergoing major surgery under general anaesthesia.

METHODS

The SART test was completed before surgery and at 24, 48 and 72 h postoperatively by 20 ASA I-II female patients (mean age 48.6 yr) undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy under general anaesthesia. It was also completed by 20 age-matched female controls at similar time intervals to evaluate the effect of repeated test performance.

RESULTS

There was a significant (P < 0.05) interaction between the groups in number of errors made (a measure of sustained attention deficit). The number of errors decreased in control subjects on repeated performance of the SART test but remained unchanged in patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy. The differences between groups remained significant after 72 h (P < 0.05). Patients' overall response times slowed significantly at 24-48 h (P < 0.05), but this recovered by 72 h after surgery. In contrast, overall response times in the control group tended to accelerate on repeated performance of the SART.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study suggest that 72 h following major surgery patients have deficits in sustained attention compared with controls. Control subjects demonstrated a marked learning effect on repeated test performance compared with patients.

Cervical epidural abscess: a rare complication of intravenous cannulation

Epidural abscess is a rare but life threatening condition that requires early diagnosis and prompt management. We report a case of cervical epidural abscess following an intravenous cannula site infection. The organism responsible was Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). Management involved surgery, prolonged antibiotics and ventilation. Despite this, there was no return of neurological function and the patient died. We review the literature on epidural abscesses unrelated to catheterisation or instrumentation of the epidural space and discuss the aetiology and clinical features of this acute medical emergency.