Design, formulation and sensory evaluation of a polyphenol-rich food placebo: an example of aronia juice for food intervention studies

Products suitable for use as controls in food interventions designed to demonstrate the role of minor components are largely lacking. In the present study, we aimed to develop a formulation to be used as a placebo in a clinical trial designed to assess the effects of aronia juice polyphenols on platelet function. Three formulations with the same nutrient composition as aronia juice were prepared by mixing various nutrients, artificial colours and flavours with water. The similarity of formulations to aronia juice in terms of taste, colour, smell and texture was assessed by six food panellists. The final placebo was tested for its impact on platelet function, biochemical and anthropometric parameters in a 4-week long study. No significant changes in platelet function, or in several cardiovascular and safety markers were recorded. Formulation suitable for use as a placebo for dietary intervention studies using aronia juice has been developed and demonstrated to be well tolerated in humans

Understanding interpersonal relationships and psychopathy

Although psychopathy is widely recognised for its importance in forensic and criminal justice settings, the range of interpersonal relationships that are experienced and engaged in by individuals with psychopathy is understudied. A Rapid Evidence Assessment (Study 1) examined what is known empirically about the nature and quality of relationships for individuals with psychopathy. Affective, Cognitive and Lifestyle Assessment (ACL) interviews and genograms were then analysed in conjunction with Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) scores to explore the extent, nature, and quality of interpersonal relationships in student and forensic psychiatric samples (Study 2). Quantitative data indicated that total psychopathy score predicted a smaller number of positive interpersonal relationships. Findings regarding Factors 1 and 2 and numbers of positive and negative interpersonal relationships varied between samples. Qualitative analyses demonstrated that psychopathic participants used less positive descriptors than non-psychopathic participants when discussing their interpersonal relationships. Findings are examined with regards to implications for future research

Reduction of anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors in rats after one month of drinking Aronia melanocarpa berry juice

The treatment of mood and anxiety disorders by nutraceuticals is gaining growing awareness. Berries of Aronia melanocarpa (Black chokeberry) and their extracts, exceptionally abundant in diverse phenolic compounds, have become famous for the highest in vitro antioxidant activity among fruits and notable health benefits (e.g. anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective). This study was designed to investigate the behavioral effects of month-long unlimited consumption of Aronia master juice (AJ) and/or juice reconstruct without polyphenols (RJ), in young male rats. AJ was initially evaluated for its content of phenolic compounds by spectrophotometric assays and HPLC-DAD. Rats that were supplied with three various water concentrations of AJ and RJ, respectively: 20% + 0% (ARO group), 5% + 15% (RAJ) and 0 + 20% (PLC), were compared with those which consumed only water (CTL). Daily drinking of AJ solution was significantly elevated from the second or third week onward, which was most expressed in the ARO group. Only this group displayed behavioral variations, manifested by certain hyperactivity in open field tests and prominent reductions of anxiety-like behaviors in the elevated plus maze. The ARO rats also expressed an alleviation of depression-like behavior in forced swimming tests. These findings demonstrate the beneficial behavioral effects of the one-month-long free drinking of phenolic-rich AJ in rats ( gt 20 ml per kg b. mass daily) that may be recognized as stimulating, anxiolytic-like and antidepressant-like. The in vitro assays suggested that MAO-A/MAO-B inhibitions by the phenolic compounds of AJ might be the possible in vivo mechanisms for such behavioral actions

Kama muta: conceptualizing and measuring the experience of being moved across 19 nations and 15 languages

English-speakers sometimes say that they feel moved to tears, emotionally touched, stirred, or that something warmed their heart; other languages use similar passive contact metaphors to refer to an affective state. We propose and measure the concept of kama muta to understand experiences often given these and other labels. Do the same experiences evoke the same kama muta emotion across nations and languages? We conducted studies in 19 different countries, five continents, 15 languages, with a total of 3542 participants. We tested the construct while validating a comprehensive scale to measure the appraisals, valence, bodily sensations, motivation, and lexical labels posited to characterize kama muta. Our results are congruent with theory and previous findings showing that kama muta is a distinct positive social relational emotion that is evoked by experiencing or observing a sudden intensification of communal sharing. It is commonly accompanied by a warm feeling in the chest, moist eyes or tears, chills or piloerection, feeling choked up or having a lump in the throat, buoyancy and exhilaration. It motivates affective devotion and moral commitment to communal sharing. While we observed some variations across cultures, these five facets of kama muta are highly correlated in every sample, supporting the validity of the construct and the measure.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Are men universally more dismissing than women? Gender differences in romantic attachment across 62 cultural regions

The authors thank Susan Sprecher (USA), Del Paulhus (Canada), Glenn D. Wilson (England), Qazi Rahman (England), Alois Angleitner (Germany), Angelika Hofhansl (Austria), Tamio Imagawa (Japan), Minoru Wada (Japan), Junichi Taniguchi (Japan), and Yuji Kanemasa (Japan) for helping with data collection and contributing significantly to the samples used in this study.Gender differences in the dismissing form of adult romantic attachment were investigated as part of the International Sexuality Description Project—a survey study of 17,804 people from 62 cultural regions. Contrary to research findings previously reported in Western cultures, we found that men were not significantly more dismissing than women across all cultural regions. Gender differences in dismissing romantic attachment were evident in most cultures, but were typically only small to moderate in magnitude. Looking across cultures, the degree of gender differentiation in dismissing romantic attachment was predictably associated with sociocultural indicators. Generally, these associations supported evolutionary theories of romantic attachment, with smaller gender differences evident in cultures with high–stress and high–fertility reproductive environments. Social role theories of human sexuality received less support in that more progressive sex–role ideologies and national gender equity indexes were not cross–culturally linked as expected to smaller gender differences in dismissing romantic attachment.peer-reviewe

Patterns and universals of mate poaching across 53 nations : the effects of sex, culture, and personality on romantically attracting another person’s partner

As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, 16,954 participants from 53 nations were administered an anonymous survey about experiences with romantic attraction. Mate poaching--romantically attracting someone who is already in a relationship--was most common in Southern Europe, South America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe and was relatively infrequent in Africa, South/Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Evolutionary and social-role hypotheses received empirical support. Men were more likely than women to report having made and succumbed to short-term poaching across all regions, but differences between men and women were often smaller in more gender-egalitarian regions. People who try to steal another's mate possess similar personality traits across all regions, as do those who frequently receive and succumb to the poaching attempts by others. The authors conclude that human mate-poaching experiences are universally linked to sex, culture, and the robust influence of personal dispositions.peer-reviewe

Search for Continuous and Transient Neutrino Emission Associated with IceCube's Highest-Energy Tracks: An 11-Year Analysis

IceCube alert events are neutrinos with a moderate-to-high probability of having astrophysical origin. In this study, we analyze 11 years of IceCube data and investigate 122 alert events and a selection of high-energy tracks detected between 2009 and the end of 2021. This high-energy event selection (alert events + high-energy tracks) has an average probability of $\geq 0.5$ to be of astrophysical origin. We search for additional continuous and transient neutrino emission within the high-energy events' error regions. We find no evidence for significant continuous neutrino emission from any of the alert event directions. The only locally significant neutrino emission is the transient emission associated with the blazar TXS~0506+056, with a local significance of $3 \sigma$, which confirms previous IceCube studies. When correcting for 122 test positions, the global p-value is $0.156$ and is compatible with the background hypothesis. We constrain the total continuous flux emitted from all 122 test positions at 100~TeV to be below $1.2 \times 10^{-15}$~(TeV cm$^2$ s)$^{-1}$ at 90% confidence assuming an $E^{-2}$ spectrum. This corresponds to 4.5% of IceCube's astrophysical diffuse flux. Overall, we find no indication that alert events, in general, are linked to lower-energetic continuous or transient neutrino emission.Comment: Accepted by Ap

Search for Extended Sources of Neutrino Emission in the Galactic Plane with IceCube

The Galactic plane, harboring a diffuse neutrino flux, is a particularly interesting target to study potential cosmic-ray acceleration sites. Recent gamma-ray observations by HAWC and LHAASO have presented evidence for multiple Galactic sources that exhibit a spatially extended morphology and have energy spectra continuing beyond 100 TeV. A fraction of such emission could be produced by interactions of accelerated hadronic cosmic rays, resulting in an excess of high-energy neutrinos clustered near these regions. Using 10 years of IceCube data comprising track-like events that originate from charged-current muon neutrino interactions, we perform a dedicated search for extended neutrino sources in the Galaxy. We find no evidence for time-integrated neutrino emission from the potential extended sources studied in the Galactic plane. The most significant location, at 2.6$\sigma$ post-trials, is a 1.7$^\circ$ sized region coincident with the unidentified TeV gamma-ray source 3HWC J1951+266. We provide strong constraints on hadronic emission from several regions in the Galaxy.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 5 tables including an appendix. Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

A Search for Coincident Neutrino Emission from Fast Radio Bursts with Seven Years of IceCube Cascade Events

This paper presents the results of a search for neutrinos that are spatially and temporally coincident with 22 unique, non-repeating Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) and one repeating FRB (FRB121102). FRBs are a rapidly growing class of Galactic and extragalactic astrophysical objects that are considered a potential source of high-energy neutrinos. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory's previous FRB analyses have solely used track events. This search utilizes seven years of IceCube's cascade events which are statistically independent of the track events. This event selection allows probing of a longer range of extended timescales due to the low background rate. No statistically significant clustering of neutrinos was observed. Upper limits are set on the time-integrated neutrino flux emitted by FRBs for a range of extended time-windows

Measurement of atmospheric neutrino mixing with improved IceCube DeepCore calibration and data processing

We describe a new data sample of IceCube DeepCore and report on the latest measurement of atmospheric neutrino oscillations obtained with data recorded between 2011–2019. The sample includes significant improvements in data calibration, detector simulation, and data processing, and the analysis benefits from a sophisticated treatment of systematic uncertainties, with significantly greater level of detail since our last study. By measuring the relative fluxes of neutrino flavors as a function of their reconstructed energies and arrival directions we constrain the atmospheric neutrino mixing parameters to be sin2θ23=0.51±0.05 and Δm232=2.41±0.07×10−3  eV2, assuming a normal mass ordering. The errors include both statistical and systematic uncertainties. The resulting 40% reduction in the error of both parameters with respect to our previous result makes this the most precise measurement of oscillation parameters using atmospheric neutrinos. Our results are also compatible and complementary to those obtained using neutrino beams from accelerators, which are obtained at lower neutrino energies and are subject to different sources of uncertainties