Impaired empathy and increased anger following social exclusion in non-intoxicated opioid users

This is the final version. Available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.Rationale: Social functioning is modulated by the endogenous opioid system. In opioid use disorder, social functioning appears disrupted, but little research has delineated the nature of these deficits and their relationship to acute opioid use. Objectives: The current study aimed to assess both emotional and cognitive empathy, along with subjective and physiological responses to social exclusion in opioid users who were either acutely intoxicated or non-intoxicated from using opioids. Methods: Individuals on an opioid substitution medication (OSM) were divided into ‘intoxicated users’ (had taken their OSM the same day as testing, n = 20) and ‘non-intoxicated users’ (had taken their OSM > 12 h ago, n = 20) and compared with opioid-naïve controls (n = 24). Empathy was assessed using the multifaceted empathy test and self-report questionnaire. Participants also underwent a period of social exclusion (Cyberball Game) and completed measures of mood and physiological responses (salivary cortisol and heart rate). Results: Non-intoxicated users had significantly lower emotional empathy (the ability to experience others’ emotions), as well as greater anger after social exclusion when compared with the intoxicated users and controls. Anger did not change with social exclusion in the intoxicated user group and cortisol levels were lower overall. Conclusions: Reduced ability to spontaneously share the emotions of others was reported in non-intoxicated users, particularly regarding positive emotions. There was some support for the idea of hyperalgesia to social pain, but this was restricted to an enhanced anger response in non-intoxicated users. Equivalent rates of empathy between the intoxicated users and controls could indicate some remediating effects of acute opioids.University of Exete

Amitraz and its metabolite modulate honey bee cardiac function and tolerance to viral infection

The health and survival of managed honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies are affected by multiple factors, one of the most important being the interaction between viral pathogens and infestations of the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor. Currently, the only effective strategy available for mitigating the impact of viral infections is the chemical control of mite populations. Unfortunately, the use of in-hive acaricides comes at a price, as they can produce sublethal effects that are difficult to quantify, but may ultimately be as damaging as the mites they are used to treat. The goal of this study was to investigate the physiological and immunological effects of the formamidine acaricide amitraz and its primary metabolite in honey bees. Using flock house virus as a model for viral infection, this study found that exposure to a formamidine acaricide may have a negative impact on the ability of honey bees to tolerate viral infection. Furthermore, this work has demonstrated that amitraz and its metabolite significantly alter honey bee cardiac function, most likely through interaction with octopamine receptors. The results suggest a potential drawback to the in-hive use of amitraz and raise intriguing questions about the relationship between insect cardiac function and disease tolerance

Improved memory for information learnt before alcohol use in social drinkers tested in a naturalistic setting

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer Nature via the DOI in this record.Alcohol is known to facilitate memory if given after learning information in the laboratory; we aimed to investigate whether this effect can be found when alcohol is consumed in a naturalistic setting. Eighty-eight social drinkers were randomly allocated to either an alcohol self-dosing or a sober condition. The study assessed both retrograde facilitation and alcohol induced memory impairment using two independent tasks. In the retrograde task, participants learnt information in their own homes, and then consumed alcohol ad libitum. Participants then undertook an anterograde memory task, of alcohol impairment when intoxicated. Both memory tasks were completed again the following day. Mean amount of alcohol consumed was 82.59 grams over the evening. For the retrograde task, as predicted, both conditions exhibited similar performance on the memory task immediately following learning (before intoxication) yet performance was better when tested the morning after encoding in the alcohol condition only. The anterograde task did not reveal significant differences in memory performance post-drinking. Units of alcohol drunk were positively correlated with the amount of retrograde facilitation the following morning. These findings demonstrate the retrograde facilitation effect in a naturalistic setting, and found it to be related to the self-administered grams of alcohol.The study was funded by an MRC grant to CJAM (MR/L023032/1), we would like to thank all the participants for their time

Coronal magnetic reconnection driven by CME expansion -- the 2011 June 7 event

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) erupt and expand in a magnetically structured solar corona. Various indirect observational pieces of evidence have shown that the magnetic field of CMEs reconnects with surrounding magnetic fields, forming, e.g., dimming regions distant from the CME source regions. Analyzing Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) observations of the eruption from AR 11226 on 2011 June 7, we present the first direct evidence of coronal magnetic reconnection between the fields of two adjacent ARs during a CME. The observations are presented jointly with a data-constrained numerical simulation, demonstrating the formation/intensification of current sheets along a hyperbolic flux tube (HFT) at the interface between the CME and the neighbouring AR 11227. Reconnection resulted in the formation of new magnetic connections between the erupting magnetic structure from AR 11226 and the neighboring active region AR 11227 about 200 Mm from the eruption site. The onset of reconnection first becomes apparent in the SDO/AIA images when filament plasma, originally contained within the erupting flux rope, is re-directed towards remote areas in AR 11227, tracing the change of large-scale magnetic connectivity. The location of the coronal reconnection region becomes bright and directly observable at SDO/AIA wavelengths, owing to the presence of down-flowing cool, dense (10^{10} cm^{-3}) filament plasma in its vicinity. The high-density plasma around the reconnection region is heated to coronal temperatures, presumably by slow-mode shocks and Coulomb collisions. These results provide the first direct observational evidence that CMEs reconnect with surrounding magnetic structures, leading to a large-scale re-configuration of the coronal magnetic field.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure

Living with sub-optimal glycaemic control: the experiences of Type 2 diabetes diagnosis and education

Aim The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of diagnosis and education for people living with Type 2 diabetes who have sub-optimal glycaemic control. Background The increasing prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is a global concern. Many people have difficulty maintaining optimal glycaemic control with up to 50% having HbA1c levels higher than recommended. A range of factors that have been suggested as possibly contributing to this, however, little is known about how their experience of diagnosis, education and support to attempt to understand the context of their self-management practices. Design A qualitative thematic analysis of interviews conducted with people with sub-optimal glycaemic control prior to their participation in an intervention study. Method Thirty participants taking part in a psychosocial/educational intervention for people with sub-optimal glycaemic control were interviewed in 2012 before the intervention commenced. These interviews explored each participant's experience of the diagnosis and associated education. The interviews were transcribed and a thematic analysis was conducted. Findings Almost all the participants had been shocked at receiving the diagnosis and felt it had been a moral indictment on their lifestyle. Many had been given the impression that they had a mild form of diabetes and most had been given very little information on self-management that they had found useful. Conclusion The findings suggest that for the participants there was a considerable gap between the rhetoric of person-centred services and the reality of the experiences of diagnosis and education for the self-management of Type 2 diabetes

A nurse-led education and cognitive behaviour therapy-based intervention among adults with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes: A randomised controlled trial

Rationale, aims and objectives: Diabetes mellitus is associated with significant morbidity, mortality and escalating healthcare costs. Research has consistently demonstrated the importance of glycaemic control in delaying the onset, and decreasing the incidence, of both the short- and long-term complications of diabetes. Although glycaemic control is difficult to achieve and challenging to maintain, it is key to reducing negative disease outcomes.  The aim of this study was to determine whether a nurse-led educational intervention alone or a nurse-led intervention using education and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) were effective in reducing HbA1c in people living with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes compared to usual care.  Methods: Adults over the age of 18 years, with a confirmed diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and HbA1c outside of the recommended range (4-7%, 20-53 mmol/mol) for 12 months or more were eligible to participate.  Participants were randomised to either a nurse-led education intervention, a nurse-led education plus ACT intervention or usual care. One hundred and eighteen participants completed baseline data collection (N=34 education group, N=39 education plus ACT, N=45 control group). An intention to treat analysis was employed.  Results: A statistically significant reduction in HbA1c in the education intervention group was found (p=.011 [7.48, 8.14]). At 6 months, HbA1c was reduced in both intervention groups (Education group -0.21, education and ACT group -0.04) and increased in the control group (+0.32). A positive change in HbA1c (HbA1c reduced) was noted in 50 participants overall. Twice as many participants in the intervention groups demonstrated an improvement as compared to the control group (56% of the education group, 51% education plus ACT, and 24% control group.  Conclusions: At 6 months post intervention, HbA1c was reduced in both intervention groups with a greater reduction noted in the nurse-led education intervention

A nurse-led interdisciplinary approach to promote self-management of type 2 diabetes: A process evaluation of post intervention experiences

Rationale, aims and objectives  Self-management of type 2 diabetes through diet, exercise and for many medications, are vital in achieving and maintaining glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes. A number of interventions have been designed to improve self-management, but the outcomes of these are rarely explored from a qualitative angle and even fewer through a process evaluation.  Method  A process evaluation was conducted using a qualitative design with participants randomized to an intervention. Seventy-three people living with type 2 diabetes and hyperglycaemia for a minimum of 1 year, randomized to one of two interventions (n = 34 to an education intervention andn = 39 to an education and acceptance and commitment therapy intervention) completed stage one of the process evaluation, immediately following the intervention through written feedback guided by open-ended questions. A purposive sample of 27 participants completed semi-structured interviews at 3 and 6 months post intervention. Interview data were transcribed and data analysed using a thematic analysis.  Results  The majority of participants described an increase in knowledge around diabetes self-management and an increased sense of personal responsibility. Participants also described changes in self-management activities and reflected on the challenges in instigating and maintaining change to improve diabetes management.  Conclusion  The complexities of implementing change in daily life to improve glycaemic control indicate the need for ongoing support post intervention, which may increase and maintain the effectiveness of the intervention

Functional Genomic and Proteomic Analysis Reveals Disruption of Myelin-Related Genes and Translation in a Mouse Model of Early Life Neglect

Early life neglect is an important public health problem which can lead to lasting psychological dysfunction. Good animal models are necessary to understand the mechanisms responsible for the behavioral and anatomical pathology that results. We recently described a novel model of early life neglect, maternal separation with early weaning (MSEW), that produces behavioral changes in the mouse that persist into adulthood. To begin to understand the mechanism by which MSEW leads to these changes we applied cDNA microarray, next-generation RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq), label-free proteomics, multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) proteomics, and methylation analysis to tissue samples obtained from medial prefrontal cortex to determine the molecular changes induced by MSEW that persist into adulthood. The results show that MSEW leads to dysregulation of markers of mature oligodendrocytes and genes involved in protein translation and other categories, an apparent downward biasing of translation, and methylation changes in the promoter regions of selected dysregulated genes. These findings are likely to prove useful in understanding the mechanism by which early life neglect affects brain structure, cognition, and behavior

Consumption caught in the cash nexus.

During the last thirty years, ‘consumption’ has become a major topic in the study of contemporary culture within anthropology, psychology and sociology. For many authors it has become central to understanding the nature of material culture in the modern world but this paper argues that the concept is, in British writing at least, too concerned with its economic origins in the selling and buying of consumer goods or commodities. It is argued that to understand material culture as determined through the monetary exchange for things - the cash nexus - leads to an inadequate sociological understanding of the social relations with objects. The work of Jean Baudrillard is used both to critique the concept of consumption as it leads to a focus on advertising, choice, money and shopping and to point to a more sociologically adequate approach to material culture that explores objects in a system of models and series, ‘atmosphere’, functionality, biography, interaction and mediation