Oxytocin promotes human ethnocentrism De Dreu, Carsten K. W.; Greer, Lindred L.; Van Kleef, Gerben A. ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS,
01/2011, Letnik:
108, Številka:
4
Journal Article
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Human ethnocentrism—the tendency to view one's group as centrally important and superior to other groups—creates intergroup bias that fuels prejudice, xenophobia, and intergroup violence. Grounded in ...the idea that ethnocentrism also facilitates withingroup trust cooperation, and coordination, we conjecture that ethnocentrism may be modulated by brain oxytocin, a peptide shown to promote cooperation among in-group members. In double-blind, placebo-controlled designs, males self-administered oxytocin or placebo and privately performed computer-guided tasks to gauge different manifestations of ethnocentric in-group favoritism as well as out-group derogation. Experiments 1 and 2 used the Implicit Association Test to assess in-group favoritism and out-group derogation. Experiment 3 used the infrahumanization task to assess the extent to which humans ascribe secondary, uniquely human emotions to their in-group and to an out-group. Experiments 4 and 5 confronted participants with the option to save the life of a larger collective by sacrificing one individual, nominated as in-group or as out-group. Results show that oxytocin creates intergroup bias because oxytocin motivates in-group favoritism and, to a lesser extent, out-group derogation. These findings call into question the view of oxytocin as an indiscriminate "love drug" or "cuddle chemical" and suggest that oxytocin has a role in the emergence of intergroup conflict and violence.
Objective
To provide evidence that early electroencephalography (EEG) allows for reliable prediction of poor or good outcome after cardiac arrest.
Methods
In a 5‐center prospective cohort study, we ...included consecutive, comatose survivors of cardiac arrest. Continuous EEG recordings were started as soon as possible and continued up to 5 days. Five‐minute EEG epochs were assessed by 2 reviewers, independently, at 8 predefined time points from 6 hours to 5 days after cardiac arrest, blinded for patients’ actual condition, treatment, and outcome. EEG patterns were categorized as generalized suppression (<10 μV), synchronous patterns with ≥50% suppression, continuous, or other. Outcome at 6 months was categorized as good (Cerebral Performance Category CPC = 1–2) or poor (CPC = 3–5).
Results
We included 850 patients, of whom 46% had a good outcome. Generalized suppression and synchronous patterns with ≥50% suppression predicted poor outcome without false positives at ≥6 hours after cardiac arrest. Their summed sensitivity was 0.47 (95% confidence interval CI = 0.42–0.51) at 12 hours and 0.30 (95% CI = 0.26–0.33) at 24 hours after cardiac arrest, with specificity of 1.00 (95% CI = 0.99–1.00) at both time points. At 36 hours or later, sensitivity for poor outcome was ≤0.22. Continuous EEG patterns at 12 hours predicted good outcome, with sensitivity of 0.50 (95% CI = 0.46–0.55) and specificity of 0.91 (95% CI = 0.88–0.93); at 24 hours or later, specificity for the prediction of good outcome was <0.90.
Interpretation
EEG allows for reliable prediction of poor outcome after cardiac arrest, with maximum sensitivity in the first 24 hours. Continuous EEG patterns at 12 hours after cardiac arrest are associated with good recovery. ANN NEUROL 2019;86:203–214
OBJECTIVE:Mechanical ventilation causes cyclic changes in the heart’s preload and afterload, thereby influencing the circulation. However, our understanding of the exact physiology of this ...cardiopulmonary interaction is limited. We aimed to thoroughly determine airway pressure distribution, how this is influenced by tidal volume and chest compliance, and its interaction with the circulation in humans during mechanical ventilation.
DESIGN:Intervention study.
SETTING:ICU of a university hospital.
PATIENTS:Twenty mechanically ventilated patients following coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.
INTERVENTION:Patients were monitored during controlled mechanical ventilation at tidal volumes of 4, 6, 8, and 10 mL/kg with normal and decreased chest compliance (by elastic binding of the thorax).
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:Central venous pressure, airway pressure, pericardial pressure, and pleural pressure; pulse pressure variations, systolic pressure variations, and stroke volume variations; and cardiac output were obtained during controlled mechanical ventilation at tidal volume of 4, 6, 8, and 10 mL/kg with normal and decreased chest compliance. With increasing tidal volume (4, 6, 8, and 10 mL/kg), the change in intrathoracic pressures increased linearly with 0.9 ± 0.2, 0.5 ± 0.3, 0.3 ± 0.1, and 0.3 ± 0.1 mm Hg/mL/kg for airway pressure, pleural pressure, pericardial pressure, and central venous pressure, respectively. At 8 mL/kg, a decrease in chest compliance (from 0.12 ± 0.07 to 0.09 ± 0.03 L/cm H2O) resulted in an increase in change in airway pressure, change in pleural pressure, change in pericardial pressure, and change in central venous pressure of 1.1 ± 0.7, 1.1 ± 0.8, 0.7 ± 0.4, and 0.8 ± 0.4 mm Hg, respectively. Furthermore, increased tidal volume and decreased chest compliance decreased stroke volume and increased arterial pressure variations. Transmural pressure of the superior vena cava decreased during inspiration, whereas the transmural pressure of the right atrium did not change.
CONCLUSIONS:Increased tidal volume and decreased chest wall compliance both increase the change in intrathoracic pressures and the value of the dynamic indices during mechanical ventilation. Additionally, the transmural pressure of the vena cava is decreased, whereas the transmural pressure of the right atrium is not changed.
This scientific commentary refers to ‘Age-related and amyloid-beta-independent tau deposition and its downstream effects’ by Wuestefeld et al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad135).
On the basis of the IPCC B2, A1b and B1 baseline scenarios, mitigation scenarios were developed that stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations at 650, 550 and 450 and - subject to specific assumptions ...- 400 ppm CO₂-eq. The analysis takes into account a large number of reduction options, such as reductions of non-CO₂ gases, carbon plantations and measures in the energy system. The study shows stabilization as low as 450 ppm CO₂-eq. to be technically feasible, even given relatively high baseline scenarios. To achieve these lower concentration levels, global emissions need to peak within the first two decades. The net present value of abatement costs for the B2 baseline scenario (a medium scenario) increases from 0.2% of cumulative GDP to 1.1% as the shift is made from 650 to 450 ppm. On the other hand, the probability of meeting a two-degree target increases from 0%-10% to 20%-70%. The mitigation scenarios lead to lower emissions of regional air pollutants but also to increased land use. The uncertainty in the cost estimates is at least in the order of 50%, with the most important uncertainties including land-use emissions, the potential for bio-energy and the contribution of energy efficiency. Furthermore, creating the right socio-economic and political conditions for mitigation is more important than any of the technical constraints.
We present a new classical spin liquid on the pyrochlore lattice by extending spin ice with further neighbour interactions. We find that this disorder-free spin model exhibits a form of dynamical ...heterogeneity with extremely slow relaxation for some spins, while others fluctuate quickly down to zero temperature. We thus call this state spin slush, in analogy to the heterogeneous mixture of solid and liquid water. This behaviour is driven by the structure of the ground-state manifold which extends the celebrated two-in/two-out ice states to include branching structures built from three-in/one-out, three-out/one-in and all-in/all-out tetrahedra defects. Distinctive liquid-like patterns in the magnetic correlations serve as a signature of this intermediate range order. Possible applications to materials as well the effects of quantum tunnelling are discussed.
Anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (AVOCs) often dominate the urban atmosphere and consist to a large degree of aromatic hydrocarbons (ArHCs), such as benzene, toluene, xylenes, and ...trimethylbenzenes, e.g., from the handling and combustion of fuels. These compounds are important precursors for the formation of secondary organic aerosol. Here we show that the oxidation of aromatics with OH leads to a subsequent autoxidation chain reaction forming highly oxygenated molecules (HOMs) with an O : C ratio of up to 1.09. This is exemplified for five single-ring ArHCs (benzene, toluene, o-/m-/p-xylene, mesitylene (1,3,5-trimethylbenzene) and ethylbenzene), as well as two conjugated polycyclic ArHCs (naphthalene and biphenyl). We report the elemental composition of the HOMs and show the differences in the oxidation patterns of these ArHCs. A potential pathway for the formation of these HOMs from aromatics is presented and discussed. We hypothesize that AVOCs may contribute substantially to new particle formation events that have been detected in urban areas.
OBJECTIVES:Early identification of potential recovery of postanoxic coma is a major challenge. We studied the additional predictive value of EEG.
METHODS:Two hundred seventy-seven consecutive ...comatose patients after cardiac arrest were included in a prospective cohort study on 2 intensive care units. Continuous EEG was measured during the first 3 days. EEGs were classified as unfavorable (isoelectric, low-voltage, burst-suppression with identical bursts), intermediate, or favorable (continuous patterns), at 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours. Outcome was dichotomized as good or poor. Resuscitation, demographic, clinical, somatosensory evoked potential, and EEG measures were related to outcome at 6 months using logistic regression analysis. Analyses of diagnostic accuracy included receiver operating characteristics and calculation of predictive values.
RESULTS:Poor outcome occurred in 149 patients (54%). Single measures unequivocally predicting poor outcome were an unfavorable EEG pattern at 24 hours, absent pupillary light responses at 48 hours, and absent somatosensory evoked potentials at 72 hours. Together, these had a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 50%. For the remaining 203 patients, who were still in the “gray zone” at 72 hours, a predictive model including unfavorable EEG patterns at 12 hours, absent or extensor motor response to pain at 72 hours, and higher age had an area under the curve of 0.90 (95% confidence interval 0.84–0.96). Favorable EEG patterns at 12 hours were strongly associated with good outcome. EEG beyond 24 hours had no additional predictive value.
CONCLUSIONS:EEG within 24 hours is a robust contributor to prediction of poor or good outcome of comatose patients after cardiac arrest.
We recently showed that electroencephalography (EEG) patterns within the first 24 hours robustly contribute to multimodal prediction of poor or good neurological outcome of comatose patients after ...cardiac arrest. Here, we confirm these results and present a cost-minimization analysis. Early prognosis contributes to communication between doctors and family, and may prevent inappropriate treatment.
A prospective cohort study including 430 subsequent comatose patients after cardiac arrest was conducted at intensive care units of two teaching hospitals. Continuous EEG was started within 12 hours after cardiac arrest and continued up to 3 days. EEG patterns were visually classified as unfavorable (isoelectric, low-voltage, or burst suppression with identical bursts) or favorable (continuous patterns) at 12 and 24 hours after cardiac arrest. Outcome at 6 months was classified as good (cerebral performance category (CPC) 1 or 2) or poor (CPC 3, 4, or 5). Predictive values of EEG measures and cost-consequences from a hospital perspective were investigated, assuming EEG-based decision- making about withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment in the case of a poor predicted outcome.
Poor outcome occurred in 197 patients (51% of those included in the analyses). Unfavorable EEG patterns at 24 hours predicted a poor outcome with specificity of 100% (95% CI 98-100%) and sensitivity of 29% (95% CI 22-36%). Favorable patterns at 12 hours predicted good outcome with specificity of 88% (95% CI 81-93%) and sensitivity of 51% (95% CI 42-60%). Treatment withdrawal based on an unfavorable EEG pattern at 24 hours resulted in a reduced mean ICU length of stay without increased mortality in the long term. This gave small cost reductions, depending on the timing of withdrawal.
Early EEG contributes to reliable prediction of good or poor outcome of postanoxic coma and may lead to reduced length of ICU stay. In turn, this may bring small cost reductions.
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