The Effect of Telling Lies on Belief in the Truth

The current study looks at the effect of telling lies, in contrast to simply planning lies, on participants’ belief in the truth. Participants planned and told a lie, planned to tell a lie but didn’t tell it, told an unplanned lie, or neither planned nor told a lie (control) about events that did not actually happen to them. Participants attempted to convince researchers that all of the stories told were true. Results show that telling a lie plays a more important role in inflating belief scores than simply preparing the script of a lie. Cognitive dissonance may lead to motivated forgetting of information that does not align with the lie. This research suggests that telling lies may lead to confusion as to the veracity of the lie leading to inflated belief scores

Making up History: False Memories of Fake News Stories

Previous research has shown that information that is repeated is more likely to be rated as true than information that has not been heard before. The current experiment examines whether familiarity with false news stories would increase rates of truthfulness and plausibility for these events. Further, the experiment tested whether false stories that were familiar would result in the creation of a false memory of having heard the story outside of the experiment. Participants were exposed to false new stories, each portrayed by the investigator as true news stories. After a five week delay, participants who had read the false experimental stories rated them as more truthful and more plausible than participants who had not been exposed to the stories. In addition, there was evidence of the creation of false memories for the source of the news story. Participants who had previously read about the stories were more likely to believe that they had heard the false stories from a source outside the experiment. These results suggest that repeating false claims will not only increase their believability but may also result in source monitoring errors

The Strength of a Smile: Duchenne Smiles Improve Advertisement and Product Evaluations

Consumer research recognizes the well-established effect of positive emotions on consumers, i.e. consumers in positive moods tend to give positive evaluations of products and advertisements. Recently, researchers have investigated the use of Duchenne smiles (genuine smiles) in advertisements to evoke positive emotions and lead to positive evaluations. Duchenne smiles are identified by the activation of both the zygomaticus major muscle (which pulls up the corners of the mouth) and the orbicularis oculi muscles (which surround the eye and result in the crow’s feet wrinkles). Peace, Miles, and Johnston (2006) demonstrated that including Duchenne smiles in mock print advertisements affects viewers’ perceptions of the ad and featured product, resulting in more positive evaluations as compared to neutral and non-Duchenne advertisements. The current research expands on Peace et al. and examines the effects of type of smile displayed in mock print advertisements that feature inexpensive and expensive products alike. Participants rated pairs of advertisements created by the researchers. Participants significantly preferred Duchenne smiling advertisements over non Duchenne and also showed significant preference in their likelihood to purchase products in Duchenne advertisements. A potential mimicry association mechanism is discussed, as well as practical implications for advertisers

The Strength of a Smile: Duchenne Smiles Improve Advertisement and Product Evaluations

Consumer research recognizes the well-established effect of positive emotions on consumers, i.e. consumers in positive moods tend to give positive evaluations of products and advertisements. Recently, researchers have investigated the use of Duchenne smiles (genuine smiles) in advertisements to evoke positive emotions and lead to positive evaluations. Duchenne smiles are identified by the activation of both the zygomaticus major muscle (which pulls up the corners of the mouth) and the orbicularis oculi muscles (which surround the eye and result in the crow’s feet wrinkles). Peace, Miles, and Johnston (2006) demonstrated that including Duchenne smiles in mock print advertisements affects viewers’ perceptions of the ad and featured product, resulting in more positive evaluations as compared to neutral and non-Duchenne advertisements. The current research expands on Peace et al. and examines the effects of type of smile displayed in mock print advertisements that feature inexpensive and expensive products alike. Participants rated pairs of advertisements created by the researchers. Participants significantly preferred Duchenne smiling advertisements over non Duchenne and also showed significant preference in their likelihood to purchase products in Duchenne advertisements. A potential mimicry association mechanism is discussed, as well as practical implications for advertisers

Performance of diagnostic tests to detect respiratory viruses in older adults.

The performance of 4 laboratory methods for diagnosis of viral respiratory tract infections (RTI) in older adults was evaluated. Seventy-four nasopharyngeal (NP) swab specimens were obtained from 60 patients with RTI at a long-term care facility over 2 respiratory seasons. Sixteen specimens were positive for a respiratory virus by at least 1 method. Multiplex reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) by the Luminex xTAG Respiratory Viral Panel (RVP) detected 16 (100%) of the positive specimens, RVP of 24-h culture supernatant detected 8 (50%), direct fluorescent antibody testing detected 4 (25%), rapid culture detected 2 (12.5%), and rapid antigen testing detected none. For a comparison group, RVP was performed on NP swabs from 20 outpatient children with RTI. The mean fluorescence intensity by RVP was significantly lower for positive adult patients than pediatric patients (P = 0.0373). Our data suggest that older adult patients shed lower titers of viruses, necessitating a highly sensitive assay such as RT-PCR to reliably detect respiratory viral pathogens

Variability in testing policies and impact on reported Clostridium difficile infection rates: results from the pilot Longitudinal European Clostridium difficile Infection Diagnosis surveillance study (LuCID)

Lack of standardised Clostridium difficile testing is a potential confounder when comparing infection rates. We used an observational, systematic, prospective large-scale sampling approach to investigate variability in C. difficile sampling to understand C. difficile infection (CDI) incidence rates. In-patient and institutional data were gathered from 60 European hospitals (across three countries). Testing methodology, testing/CDI rates and case profiles were compared between countries and institution types. The mean annual CDI rate per hospital was lowest in the UK and highest in Italy (1.5 vs. 4.7 cases/10,000 patient bed days [pbds], p < 0.001). The testing rate was highest in the UK compared with Italy and France (50.7/10,000 pbds vs. 31.5 and 30.3, respectively, p < 0.001). Only 58.4 % of diarrhoeal samples were tested for CDI across all countries. Overall, only 64 % of hospitals used recommended testing algorithms for laboratory testing. Small hospitals were significantly more likely to use standalone toxin tests (SATTs). There was an inverse correlation between hospital size and CDI testing rate. Hospitals using SATT or assays not detecting toxin reported significantly higher CDI rates than those using recommended methods, despite testing similar testing frequencies. These data are consistent with higher false-positive rates in such (non-recommended) testing scenarios. Cases in Italy and those diagnosed by SATT or methods NOT detecting toxin were significantly older. Testing occurred significantly earlier in the UK. Assessment of testing practice is paramount to the accurate interpretation and comparison of CDI rates

A Rapid Assessment of the Quality of Neonatal Healthcare in Kilimanjaro Region, Northeast Tanzania.

While child mortality is declining in Africa there has been no evidence of a comparable reduction in neonatal mortality. The quality of inpatient neonatal care is likely a contributing factor but data from resource limited settings are few. The objective of this study was to assess the quality of neonatal care in the district hospitals of the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania. Clinical records were reviewed for ill or premature neonates admitted to 13 inpatient health facilities in the Kilimanjaro region; staffing and equipment levels were also assessed. Among the 82 neonates reviewed, key health information was missing from a substantial proportion of records: on maternal antenatal cards, blood group was recorded for 52 (63.4%) mothers, Rhesus (Rh) factor for 39 (47.6%), VDRL for 59 (71.9%) and HIV status for 77 (93.1%). From neonatal clinical records, heart rate was recorded for3 (3.7%) neonates, respiratory rate in 14, (17.1%) and temperature in 33 (40.2%). None of 13 facilities had a functioning premature unit despite calculated gestational age <36 weeks in 45.6% of evaluated neonates. Intravenous fluids and oxygen were available in 9 out of 13 of facilities, while antibiotics and essential basic equipment were available in more than two thirds. Medication dosing errors were common; under-dosage for ampicillin, gentamicin and cloxacillin was found in 44.0%, 37.9% and 50% of cases, respectively, while over-dosage was found in 20.0%, 24.2% and 19.9%, respectively. Physician or assistant physician staffing levels by the WHO indicator levels (WISN) were generally low. Key aspects of neonatal care were found to be poorly documented or incorrectly implemented in this appraisal of neonatal care in Kilimanjaro. Efforts towards quality assurance and enhanced motivation of staff may improve outcomes for this vulnerable group

Good Clinical Laboratory Practices Improved Proficiency Testing Performance at Clinical Trials Centers in Ghana and Burkina Faso

BACKGROUND: The recent drive towards accreditation of clinical laboratories in Africa by the World Health Organization-Regional Office for Africa (WHO-AFRO) and the U.S Government is a historic step to strengthen health systems, provide better results for patients and an improved quality of results for clinical trials. Enrollment in approved proficiency testing (PT) programs and maintenance of satisfactory performance is vital in the process of accreditation. Passing proficiency testing surveys has posed a great challenge to many laboratories across sub-Saharan Africa. Our study was aimed at identifying the causes of unsatisfactory PT results in clinical research laboratories conducting or planning to conduct malaria vaccine trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). METHODOLOGY: PT reports for 2009 and 2010 from the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for the laboratories were reviewed as part of the process. Errors accounting for unsatisfactory results were classified into clerical, methodological, technical, problem with PT materials, and random errors. A training program on good clinical laboratory practices (GCLP) was developed for each center to address areas for improvement. RESULTS: The major cause of PT failure in the four centers was methodological. The application of GCLP improved the success rate in the PT surveys from 58% in 2009 to 88% in 2010. It also decreased the error rate on PT by 35%. CONCLUSION: A previous report from the CAP- PT participating laboratories indicated that the major causes of error were clerical. These types of errors were predominantly made in laboratories in the US, with much more experience in quality control, and varied significantly from what we found. In our centers in sub-Saharan Africa, methodological errors, and not clerical errors, accounted for the vast majority of errors. A process was started for continuous improvement which has decreased methodological errors by 35%, but more improvement is needed

Estimating the Number of Paediatric Fevers Associated with Malaria Infection Presenting to Africa's Public Health Sector in 2007

Peter Gething and colleagues compute the number of fevers likely to present to public health facilities in Africa and the estimated number of these fevers likely to be infected with Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites

Prescribing indicators at primary health care centers within the WHO African region: a systematic analysis (1995-2015)

Abstract Background Rational medicine use is essential to optimize quality of healthcare delivery and resource utilization. We aim to conduct a systematic review of changes in prescribing patterns in the WHO African region and comparison with WHO indicators in two time periods 1995–2005 and 2006–2015. Methods Systematic searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of science, Africa-Wide Nipad, Africa Journals Online (AJOL), Google scholar and International Network for Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) Bibliography databases to identify primary studies reporting prescribing indicators at primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in Africa. This was supplemented by a manual search of retrieved references. We assessed the quality of studies using a 14-point scoring system modified from the Downs and Black checklist with inclusions of recommendations in the WHO guidelines. Results Forty-three studies conducted in 11 African countries were included in the overall analysis. These studies presented prescribing indicators based on a total 141,323 patient encounters across 572 primary care facilities. The results of prescribing indicators were determined as follows; average number of medicines prescribed per patient encounter = 3.1 (IQR 2.3–4.8), percentage of medicines prescribed by generic name =68.0 % (IQR 55.4–80.3), Percentage of encounters with antibiotic prescribed =46.8 % (IQR 33.7–62.8), percentage of encounters with injection prescribed =25.0 % (IQR 18.7–39.5) and the percentage of medicines prescribed from essential medicines list =88.0 % (IQR 76.3–94.1). Prescribing indicators were generally worse in private compared with public facilities. Analysis of prescribing across two time points 1995–2005 and 2006–2015 showed no consistent trends. Conclusions Prescribing indicators for the African region deviate significantly from the WHO reference targets. Increased collaborative efforts are urgently needed to improve medicine prescribing practices in Africa with the aim of enhancing the optimal utilization of scarce resources and averting negative health consequences