A simple stress test of experimenter demand effects

As a stress test of experimenter demand effects, we run an experiment where subjects can physically destroy coupons awarded to them. About one subject out of three does. Giving money back to the experimenter is possible in a separate task but is more consistent with an experimenter demand effect than an explanation based on altruism towards the experimenter. A measure of sensitivity to social pressure helps predict destruction when social information is provided

Decision-making in Swiss home-like childbirth: A grounded theory study

Background: Decision-making in midwifery, including a claim for shared decision-making between midwives and women, is of major significance for the health of mother and child. Midwives have little information about how to share decision-making responsibilities with women, especially when complications arise during birth. Aim: To increase understanding of decision-making in complex home-like birth settings by exploring midwives’ and women’s perspectives and to develop a dynamic model integrating participatory processes for making shared decisions. Methods: The study, based on grounded theory methodology, analysed 20 interviews of midwives and 20 women who had experienced complications in home-like births. Findings: The central phenomenon that arose from the data was “defining/redefining decision as a joint commitment to healthy childbirth”. The sub-indicators that make up this phenomenon were safety, responsibility, mutual and personal commitments. These sub-indicators were also identified to influence temporal conditions of decision-making and to apply different strategies for shared decision-making. Women adopted strategies such as delegating a decision, making the midwife’s decision her own, challenging a decision or taking a decision driven by the dynamics of childbirth. Midwives employed strategies such as remaining indecisive, approving a woman’s decision, making an informed decision or taking the necessary decision. Discussion and conclusion: To respond to recommendations for shared responsibility for care, midwives need to strengthen their shared decision-making skills. The visual model of decision-making in childbirth derived from the data provides a framework for transferring clinical reasoning into practice

Field-induced Commensurate-Incommensurate phase transition in a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya spiral antiferromagnet

We report an observation of a commensurate-incommensurate phase transition in a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya spiral magnet Ba_2CuGe_2O_7. The transition is induced by applying a magnetic field in the plane of spin rotation. In this experiment we have direct control over the strength of the commensurate potential, while the preferred incommensurate period of the spin system remains unchanged. Experimental results for the period of the soliton lattice and bulk magnetization as a function of external magnetic field are in quantitative agreement with theory.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

Giving birth: Expectations of first time mothers in Switzerland at the mid point of pregnancy

Problem and background: Despite a generally affluent society, the caesarean section rate in Switzerland has steadily climbed in recent years from 22.9% in 1998 to 33.7% in 2014. Speculation by the media has prompted political questions as to the reasons. However, there is no clear evidence as to why the Swiss rate should be so high especially in comparison with neighbouring countries. Aim: To describe the emerging expectations of giving birth of healthy primigravid women in the early second semester of pregnancy in four Swiss cantons. Methods: Qualitative individual interviews with 58 healthy primigravid women, were audio recorded, transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis. Recruitment took place through public and private hospitals, birth centres, obstetricians and independent midwives. The main ethical issues were informed consent, autonomy, confidentiality and anonymity. Findings: The three main themes identified were taking or avoiding decisions, experiencing a continuum of emotions and planning the care. Discussion: Being pregnant was part of a project women had mapped out for their lives. Only three women in our sample expressed a wish for a caesarean section. One of the strongest emotions was that of fear but in contrast some participants expressed faith that their bodies would cope with the experience. Conclusion: Bringing together the three languages and cultures produced a truly “Swiss” study showing contrasts between a matter of fact approach to pregnancy and the concept of fear. Such a contrast is worthy of further and deeper exploration by a multi-disciplinary research team

On reminder effects, drop-outs and dominance: evidence from an online experiment on charitable giving

We present the results of an experiment that (a) shows the usefulness of screening out drop-outs and (b) tests whether different methods of payment and reminder intervals affect charitable giving. Following a lab session, participants could make online donations to charity for a total duration of three months. Our procedure justifying the exclusion of drop-outs consists in requiring participants to collect payments in person flexibly and as known in advance and as highlighted to them later. Our interpretation is that participants who failed to collect their positive payments under these circumstances are likely not to satisfy dominance. If we restrict the sample to subjects who did not drop out, but not otherwise, reminders significantly increase the overall amount of charitable giving. We also find that weekly reminders are no more effective than monthly reminders in increasing charitable giving, and that, in our three months duration experiment, standing orders do not increase giving relative to one-off donations

Photoswitchable diacylglycerols enable optical control of protein kinase C.

Increased levels of the second messenger lipid diacylglycerol (DAG) induce downstream signaling events including the translocation of C1-domain-containing proteins toward the plasma membrane. Here, we introduce three light-sensitive DAGs, termed PhoDAGs, which feature a photoswitchable acyl chain. The PhoDAGs are inactive in the dark and promote the translocation of proteins that feature C1 domains toward the plasma membrane upon a flash of UV-A light. This effect is quickly reversed after the termination of photostimulation or by irradiation with blue light, permitting the generation of oscillation patterns. Both protein kinase C and Munc13 can thus be put under optical control. PhoDAGs control vesicle release in excitable cells, such as mouse pancreatic islets and hippocampal neurons, and modulate synaptic transmission in Caenorhabditis elegans. As such, the PhoDAGs afford an unprecedented degree of spatiotemporal control and are broadly applicable tools to study DAG signaling