High prevalence of muscular ventricular septal defect in neonates

Objectives.This study sought to use echocardiography to evaluate the prevalence of muscular ventricular septal defect in neonates.Background.Ventricular septal defect is usually asymptomatic and closes spontaneously. An increase in its prevalence has been noted recently. One reason is the improved detection of small defects, especially with the increased use of echocardiography. Therefore, one would expect a higher prevalence in neonates on the basis of echocardiographic screening.Methods.Color Doppler echocardiography was performed in 1,053 consecutive neonates 6 to 170 h old at Western Galilee Hospital, Israel. Data on the neonates, parents and family were obtained to analyze the influencing factors. The identified patients were followed up for 1 to 10 months or until ventricular septal defect closure.Results.Muscular ventricular septal defect was found in 56 (25 male, 31 female) of the 1,053 neonates, a prevalence of 53.2/1,000 live births. All neonates were asymptomatic. Six had a systolic murmur. Electrocardiographic findings were normal in 44 (97.8%) of 45 neonates followed up, and left ventricular hypertrophy occurred in 1 (2.2%). By echocardiography, 50 ventricular septal defects (89.3%) were single and 6 (10.7%) were multiple. The defects (range 1 to 5 mm in diameter, mean [±sd]2.3 ± 0.8) occurred anywhere along the muscular septum; 43 (76.8%) were detectable only on color Doppler imaging. The left atrium and left ventricle were mildly dilated. Of 45 neonates who were followed up for 6 to 10 months or until closure of the defects, 40 (88.9%) had defects that closed spontaneously. The risk of ventricular septal defect was not significantly associated with gestational age, birth weight, birth order, maternal age, diabetes, smoking, exposure to drugs or infection, paternal age, familial congenital heart disease, religion or consanguinity.Conclusions.There is a prevalence of muscular ventricular septal defect in neonates of 53.2/1,000 live births. The patients were asymptomatic, and 88.9% had defects that closed spontaneously within 1 to 10 months. These defects may be caused by environmental factors. In many cases, muscular ventricular septal defect may also result from delayed physiologic development

Studying the [OIII]λ\lambda5007A emission-line width in a sample of ∼\sim80 local active galaxies: A surrogate for σ⋆\sigma_{\star}?

For a sample of $\sim$80 local ($0.02 \leq z \leq 0.1$) Seyfert-1 galaxies with high-quality long-slit Keck spectra and spatially-resolved stellar-velocity dispersion ($\sigma_{\star}$) measurements, we study the profile of the [OIII]$\lambda$5007A emission line to test the validity of using its width as a surrogate for $\sigma_{\star}$. Such an approach has often been used in the literature, since it is difficult to measure $\sigma_{\star}$ for type-1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) due to the AGN continuum outshining the stellar-absorption lines. Fitting the [OIII] line with a single Gaussian or Gauss-Hermite polynomials overestimates $\sigma_{\star}$ by 50-100%. When line asymmetries from non-gravitational gas motion are excluded in a double Gaussian fit, the average ratio between the core [OIII] width ($\sigma_{\rm {[OIII],D}}$) and $\sigma_{\star}$ is $\sim$1, but with individual data points off by up to a factor of two. The resulting black-hole-mass-$\sigma_{\rm {[OIII],D}}$ relation scatters around that of quiescent galaxies and reverberation-mapped AGNs. However, a direct comparison between $\sigma_{\star}$ and $\sigma_{\rm {[OIII],D}}$ shows no close correlation, only that both quantities have the same range, average and standard deviation, probably because they feel the same gravitational potential. The large scatter is likely due to the fact that line profiles are a luminosity-weighted average, dependent on the light distribution and underlying kinematic field. Within the range probed by our sample (80-260 km s$^{-1}$), our results strongly caution against the use of [OIII] width as a surrogate for $\sigma_{\star}$ on an individual basis. Even though our sample consists of radio-quiet AGNs, FIRST radio-detected objects have, on average, a $\sim$10% larger [OIII] core width.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

The Great Escape: The Role of Self-esteem and Self-related Cognition in Terror Management

Integrating terror management theory and objective self-awareness theory, we propose the existential escape hypothesis, which states that people with low self-esteem should be especially prone to escaping self-awareness as a distal response to thoughts of death. This is because they lack the means to bolster the self as a defense, and the propensity to bolster the self reduces the motivation to escape from self-awareness. Five studies supported this hypothesis. Individuals low, but not high, in self-esteem scored lower on a measure of private self-awareness (Study 1), showed less implicit self-activation (Studies 2 & 3), were more likely to choose to write about others than themselves (Study 4), and consumed more alcohol in a field study at a nightclub (Study 5) in response to mortality reminders. Implications for terror management theory (highlighting an additional route to defend against mortality awareness), self-regulation, physical health and well-being are discussed

False Accusations in an Investigative Context: Differences between Suggestible and Non-suggestible Witnesses

False sexual abuse allegations have spurred research on suggestibility, on the assumption that leading questions may produce false accusations. Most researchers, however, have not measured the likelihood that those who respond to suggestive questioning will take the next step and make a formal (false) accusation. The present study incorporates both aspects of abuse investigations: suggestibility (i.e., responsiveness to questions in a leading interview) and false accusations (i.e., signing a formal complaint against an innocent suspect). Participants (N = 129) were observed in a laboratory session and then interviewed twice about their experiences by an interviewer who suggested that the laboratory assistant had behaved inappropriately. Although only 17% of the participants were suggestible, 39% agreed to sign the complaint. Suggestible participants were significantly more likely to make a false accusation than were non-suggestible participants. However, because of the low rate of suggestibility, most false accusations were made by non-suggestible participants. Implications for the legal system are discussed