The article addresses a novel concept: Parental Happiness Management (PHM)—which refers to parents’ educational or decisions aimed to improve their children’s well-being in adulthood. We ran a survey ...among 1,110 adults and asked them to retrospectively assess four types of parental decisions: discipline, autonomy, pro-social preferences, and parental acceptance. The results confirm the association between retrospective assessments of PHM and adults’ subjective well-being as measured by global life evaluation, positive, and negative feelings, and a sense of meaning in life. We report a positive association between discipline and meaning in life, but also between discipline and negative feelings. Education for pro-social preferences was found to be positively associated with all components of subjective well-being. The child’s autonomy was found to be positively associated with global life evaluation. We view parents as managers, who allocate their limited parental resources so as to maximize their children’s well-being in adulthood.
The paper examined the effect of the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19 on the cognitive and affective components of subjective well-being (SWB) over time in Israel. Just before the first verified ...patient, we ran a survey of the general population that included questions concerning both components of SWB, self-rated health, income satisfaction, and other socio-demographic aspects. The same survey among different respondents from the same population during the lockdown period when no exit strategy had been conveyed, and for the third time when the exit strategy was publicized and began to be implemented. The findings show that the cognitive component of SWB, as measured by Cantril’s Ladder, remained stable over the long term. The average respondent reported unchanged life evaluation even when the individual’s negative feelings rose by 52%, and positive feelings fell by 16%. We show evidence for a structural change in the weighting of feelings and self-rated health in life satisfaction function.
The sudden acquisition of a large sum of money, known as “wealth shock,” can have unanticipated negative consequences, and actually cause greater unhappiness in its so-called beneficiaries. There is ...extensive economic literature describing these negative consequences on a macro-economic level, but there is no coherent theoretical model that describes the various consequences of wealth shock on a micro-economic level. To explain both the short- and long-term effects of an exogenous monetary shock (for example, winning a lottery) on individual happiness, this paper offers a novel dynamic equilibrium model of human happiness. A dynamic equilibrium model is best suited for this purpose, because happiness is a dynamic process. The proposed model captures both short- and long-term effects, and describes an equilibrium in which a person’s experienced utility and happiness is improved after the sudden wealth shock, and why at the saddle point, life can become sadder and more miserable. The conditions detrimental to winners’ happiness include reducing the amount of time and effort they allocate to preserving their stock of hedonic capital.
The paper suggests a happiness technology in which income, and personal values and philosophy of life (PVPL) serve as means of happiness production. We offer a theoretical model predicting that ...people who underinvest in acquiring PVPL will have greater income but produce less happiness. We also present empirical evidence, obtained by analyzing survey results from 980 salaried employees aged 25-64, confirming that the association between income and subjective well-being is relatively small. We find that PVPL, as measured by materialistic values, maximization tendency, and income satisfaction, is an important predictor of personal happiness even when controlling for socio-demographic factors and health status. In addition, we show that the components of PVPL are not strongly correlated among themselves or with income, implying that each one makes an important contribution to happiness given the same amount of money.
Neutrophils to lymphocytes ratio (NLR) and platelets to lymphocytes ratio (PLR) are both inflammatory ratios that can be easily calculated from a simple blood count. They are frequently reported and ...tested as prognostic factors in several medical disciplines. Pregnancy involves special reference values for laboratory assays.
The aim of this study was to define pregnancy-related reference values for NLR and PLR according to trimester, background morbidity and according to the patient's age.
A retrospective analysis of a large cohort undergoing community-based pregnancy surveillance between the years 2011-2016. Data were analyzed according to high-risk patient versus normal-risk patient.
A total of 11,415 patients were included. Mean PLR and NLR values were 136.3±44.3, 2.6±1, respectively during the first trimester, 144.6±47.1, 4.0±1.4 respectively during the second trimester and 118.1±42.0, 3.5±1.2 respectively during the third trimester. No difference was detected between the high-risk and the normal population (P-values 0.3, 0.5 and 0.4 for PLR in each trimester respectively and 0.3, 0.4, 0.6 for NLR in each trimester, respectively). No differences were detected among parity categories. The correlation between patient's age and either PLR and NLR was a weak positive correlation (though statistically significant). Both PLR and NLR reached a maximum value during the second trimester. The differences between mean NLR and PLR between trimesters were significant (P <0.01 for all differences tested). PLR rises in the presence of anemia, reaching statistical significance (P-value for PLR in each trimester was <0.01). NLR showed an opposite trend (P-values for NLR were 0.4, 0.005 and 0.06 in each trimester, respectively).
In our cohort, there were generally no differences between the high-risk and the normal population, excluding patients with a fibroid uterus or inflammatory bowel disease who presented a significantly elevated PLR through all trimesters. Both PLR and NLR reached a maximum value during the second trimester and were positively correlated with age. We anticipate that the population-based data will assist in providing accurate reference values for future research testing NLR and PLR measures during pregnancy.
The process of gamete formation and early embryonic development involves rapid DNA replication, chromosome segregation and cell division. These processes may be affected by mutations in the BRCA1/2 ...genes. The aim of this study was to evaluate BRCA mutation inheritance and its effect on early embryonic development according to the parental origin of the mutation. The study question was approached by analyzing in vitro fertilization cycles (IVF) that included pre-implantation testing (PGT-M) for a BRCA gene mutation.
This retrospective cohort study compared cycles of pre-implantation genetic testing for mutations (PGT-M) between male and female patients diagnosed with BRCA 1/2 mutations (cases), to a control group of two other mutations with dominant inheritance (myotonic dystrophy (MD) and polycystic kidney disease (PKD)). Results were compared according to mutation type and through a generalized linear model analysis.
The cohort included 88 PGT-M cycles (47 BRCA and 41 non-BRCA) among 50 patients. Maternal and paternal ages at oocyte retrieval were comparable between groups. When tested per cycle, FSH dose, maximum estradiol level, oocytes retrieved, number of zygotes, and number of embryos available for biopsy and affected embryos, were not significantly different among mutation types. All together 444 embryos were biopsied: the rate of affected embryos was comparable between groups. Among BRCA patients, the proportion of affected embryos was similar between maternal and paternal mutation origin (p = 0.24). In a generalized linear model analysis, the relative oocyte yield in maternal BRCA patients was significantly lower (0.7, as related to the non BRCA group)(p < 0.001). Zygote formation and blastulation were not affected by the BRCA gene among paternal cases (P = 0.176 and P = 0.293 respectively), nor by paternal versus maternal BRCA carriage (P = 0.904 and P = 0.149, respectively).
BRCA PGT-M cycles performed similarly compared to non-BRCA cycles. Inheritance rate and cycle parameters were not affected by the parental origin of the mutation.
The link between effort and individual well-being has been the subject of contentious debate. Economic and some psychological models analyze effort as a cost or a disutility, while other ...philosophical and psychological theories argue that personal effort is a pivotal element for a flourishing life. These theories also distinguish between higher and lower pleasures. To assess the contested contribution of effort to personal well-being, we analyze survey data gathered from 1954 working adults aged 25 to 65 in Israel. We analyze their subjective assessments of the effort they exert in different life domains and support the validity of our analysis by comparing them to choice scenarios in each domain. The results contribute three key findings: 1. Effort in five life domains—work, leisure activities, friendship, community and health—as well as effort of managing work life balance, was found to be positively associated with at least one component of subjective well-being, while effort to make work more intrinsically rewarding was found to be associated with all three components—affect, cognition and meaning—of an individual’s subjective well-being. 2. These efforts are not strongly correlated among themselves, implying that people can choose how to allocate their efforts among the various life domains. 3. People’s assessments of their future subjective well-being are positively correlated with their expectations regarding future effort. These results suggest that effort and well-being are correlated through hedonic capital accumulation.
The literature shows that trauma caused by the Holocaust is transmitted to the third generation, as evident in several aspects of their life. This supports the notion of “radioactive identification” ...with the Holocaust in subsequent generations. We aimed to explore the depth of this identification further, mostly from a non-pathological perspective, focusing on daily life and habits. We conducted a survey of 1,027 Israelis whose grandparents are Holocaust survivors, using the Subjective Holocaust Influence Level (SHIL) index. The survey included questions about participants’ attitude towards the Holocaust and that of their families, as well as questions regarding well-being, emotions, daily life, financial behavior and habits in the present and in the home where they grew up. Categorizing the third-generation participants in groups based on their SHIL reveals the heterogeneity of the Holocaust’s influence on their daily lives. The results showed a connection between SHIL and many components of daily life, evidence that Holocaust trauma is transmitted to the survivors’ grandchildren, but its influence is heterogenic. It seems that the heterogeneity of the third generation’s SHIL and the impact of the Holocaust on their life is also related to the life and habits in the homes where they grew up. Thus, the power of the “radioactive identification” with the Holocaust depends also on the habits and daily life in their childhood homes (level of exposure). We infer that the transmission of the Holocaust trauma has characteristics of posttraumatic growth.
Oocyte donation (OD) from a family member may be more available to patients. Our objective was to compare reproductive outcomes of familial OD with those of unrelated OD.
Retrospective cohort study ...in a single university-affiliated center.
Not applicable.
Four hundred thirty OD cycles performed from 2010 to 2014: 124 from family members and 306 from unrelated donors.
None.
Ovarian stimulation parameters and cycle outcomes (total gonadotropin dose, number of retrieved oocytes, number of embryos, number of vitrified embryos, blastocyst transfer rate, rate of fresh transfers); endometrial preparation parameters; implantation, clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, and live birth rates; perinatal outcomes (gestational age at birth, birth weight, delivery mode, cesarean delivery rates).
Implantation, clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, and live birth rates were similar between familial OD cycles and unrelated OD cycles (32.9% vs. 39.7%, 41.9% vs. 44.4%, 30.7% vs. 30.9%, and 29% vs. 28.7%, respectively). Gestational age at birth and birth weight were similar (37.8 wk ± 2.2 d vs. 37.1 wk ± 3 d and 3,043 ± 722 g vs. 2,906 ± 788 g, respectively). Similar outcomes were also found in single-embryo transfer OD cycles (live birth rate 26.7% vs. 24.2%). Sister-to-sister OD cycles outcomes were similar to those of unrelated donors.
The reproductive outcomes of familial OD are similar to those of unrelated OD. These findings are in contrast to previous presumptions regarding the efficiency of familial OD and may help in the counseling of women who need OD.
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