Facial expressions of emotions during pharmacological and exercise stress testing:The role of myocardial ischemia and cardiac symptoms

Background  Negative emotions have been linked to ischemic heart disease, but existing research typically involves self-report methods and little is known about non-verbal facial emotion expression. The role of ischemia and anginal symptoms in emotion expression was examined.  Methods  Patients undergoing cardiac stress testing (CST) using bicycle exercise or adenosine with myocardial perfusion imaging were included (N = 256, mean age 66.8 +/- 8.7 year., 43% women). Video images and emotion expression (sadness, anxiety, anger, and happiness) were analyzed at baseline, initial CST , maximal CST, recovery. Nuclear images were evaluated using SPECT.  Results  Ischemia (N = 89; 35%) was associated with higher levels of sadness (p = .017, d = 0.34) and lower happiness (p = .015, d = 0.30). During recovery, patients with both ischemia and anginal symptoms had the highest sadness expression (F (3,254) = 3.67, p = .013, eta(2) = 0.042) and the lowest happiness expression (F (3, 254) = 4.19, p = .006, eta(2) = .048).  Conclusion  Sadness and reduced happiness were more common in patients with ischemia. Also, anginal symptoms were associated with more negative emotions

Inductie van mutaties bij rijst door röntgenbestraling

The experiments described were intended to supply the Surinam rice-breeder with material for selection with mutations induced by X-rays and to find the most efficient way of procuring these mutations. The experiments used two of Surinam's commercial rice varieties, Nickerie and Holland.The monogenic recessive chlorophyll mutations segregating in young X 2 seedlings at the 2-leaf to 4-leaf stage were used as test mutations to investigate the frequency of factor mutations. X-rays induced useful mutations. Some X 2 -mutants which seemed of little use to the breeder, segregated at F 3 to yield further useful mutations.The author drew several conclusions on method. By harvesting only the X 1 head of the main stalk and the X 1 heads of several of the first-formed primary stalks, which mutate independently of each other, the breeder would probably get the largest possible yield of factor mutations. For this purpose the breeder should set his plants so closely that only these stalks will develop. From the X 1 heads only those with a fertility of 80-100% need be harvested. Useful mutations should be selected in X 2 and in offspring of all lines related to X 2 mutants

Renewable Energy Cooperatives as a Stimulating Factor in Household Energy Savings

Little is known about how renewable energy cooperatives (REScoops) try to influence energy conservation among households and the resulting impact. In this article the main research question is: What is the predictive value of renewable energy cooperatives on intention to save energy, engagement in energy-saving actions, and self-reported energy conservation by households? A survey was conducted to answer this question. Data analysis involved multivariate and binary logistic regression on data from two cooperatives: Ecopower (Belgium; N = 1000) and Enercoop (France; N = 8290). Results show that in addition to psychological and socio-demographic variables, REScoop items modestly contribute to the explained variation in engagement in energy-saving actions and reported energy conservation. At Enercoop 18.2% of the respondents indicated that their cooperative contributed to household energy savings; for Ecopower this figure was 36.9%. Moreover, at Enercoop, 38.7% of the respondents reported consuming less energy since obtaining cooperative membership; at Ecopower this was 64.7%. The article concludes with suggestions for future research