Sexual Function in Patients Suffering from Sacrococcygeal Pilonidal Sinus Disease

Introduction Sexual function is one of the aspects upon which quality of life (QoL) is based. Although previous studies have evaluated the influence of sacrococcygeal pilonidal sinus disease (SPSD) on QoL, no data are available on the influence of SPSD on sexual function in a highly active sexual population based on the age range. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate whether SPSD has a negative impact on sexual function and whether this is influenced by the surgical treatment of SPSD. Methods Sexual function was pre- and postoperatively assessed by the Sexual Self-Consciousness Scale (SSCS; score range 0-48), subdivided into the sexual embarrassment (SE; score range 0-24) and sexual self-focus subscale (SFF; score range 0-24). The higher the score, the higher is the sexual dysfunction. Patients were also asked whether SPSD influenced their sexual functioning. Results A total of 88 male patients who underwent surgical treatment for SPSD were included in the study. The mean (+/- SD) preoperative SSCS score was 14.5 +/- 9.1 and 13.9 +/- 8.4 two weeks postoperatively (p=0.394). Six and twelve weeks after surgery, there was a significant reduction to 12.2 +/- 9.0 (p=0.002) and 12.3 +/- 8.8 (p=0.013), respectively. SE decreased from 5.5 +/- 5.1 preoperatively to 5.1 +/- 4.6 (p=0.258), 4.2 +/- 4.7 (p=0.004) and 4.0 +/- 4.6 (p=0.013) two, six, and twelve weeks after surgery. For SFF, there was a decrease from 9.0 +/- 5.0 to 8.9 +/- 4.9 (p=0.717), 7.8 +/- 5.2 (p=0.004) and 8.2 +/- 5.3 (p=0.168), respectively. Preoperatively, 70% of the patients totally or partially disagreed that SPSD influenced their sexual functioning, and this increased to 80% of the patients 12 weeks after surgery. Conclusion This prospective study showed a significant decrease in sexual dysfunction, both six and twelve weeks after surgery, compared to preoperatively in patients suffering from SPSD

Phenotype-Independent Isolation of Interspecies Saccharomyces Hybrids by Dual-Dye Fluorescent Staining and Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting

Interspecies hybrids of Saccharomyces species are found in a variety of industrial environments and often outperform their parental strains in industrial fermentation processes. Interspecies hybridization is therefore increasingly considered as an approach for improvement and diversification of yeast strains for industrial application. However, current hybridization methods are limited by their reliance on pre-existing or introduced selectable phenotypes. This study presents a high-throughput phenotype-independent method for isolation of interspecies Saccharomyces hybrids based on dual dye-staining and subsequent mating of two strains, followed by enrichment of double-stained hybrid cells from a mating population by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). Pilot experiments on intra-species mating of heterothallic haploid S. cerevisiae strains showed that 80% of sorted double-stained cells were hybrids. The protocol was further optimized by mating an S. cerevisiae haploid with homothallic S. eubayanus spores with complementary selectable phenotypes. In crosses without selectable phenotype, using S. cerevisiae and S. eubayanus haploids derived from laboratory as well as industrial strains, 10 to 15% of double-stained cells isolated by FACS were hybrids. When applied to rare mating, sorting of double-stained cells consistently resulted in about 600-fold enrichment of hybrid cells. Mating of dual-stained cells and FACS-based selection allows efficient enrichment of interspecies Saccharomyces hybrids within a matter of days and without requiring selectable hybrid phenotypes, both for homothallic and heterothallic strains. This strategy should accelerate the isolation of laboratory-made hybrids, facilitate research into hybrid heterosis and offer new opportunities for non-GM industrial strain improvement and diversification

Is analysing the nitrogen use at the plant canopy level a matter of choosing the right optimization criterion?

Optimization theory in combination with canopy modeling is potentially a powerful tool for evaluating the adaptive significance of photosynthesis-related plant traits. Yet its successful application has been hampered by a lack of agreement on the appropriate optimization criterion. Here we review how models based on different types of optimization criteria have been used to analyze traits—particularly N reallocation and leaf area indices—that determine photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency at the canopy level. By far the most commonly used approach is static-plant simple optimization (SSO). Static-plant simple optimization makes two assumptions: (1) plant traits are considered to be optimal when they maximize whole-stand daily photosynthesis, ignoring competitive interactions between individuals; (2) it assumes static plants, ignoring canopy dynamics (production and loss of leaves, and the reallocation and uptake of nitrogen) and the respiration of nonphotosynthetic tissue. Recent studies have addressed either the former problem through the application of evolutionary game theory (EGT) or the latter by applying dynamic-plant simple optimization (DSO), and have made considerable progress in our understanding of plant photosynthetic traits. However, we argue that future model studies should focus on combining these two approaches. We also point out that field observations can fit predictions from two models based on very different optimization criteria. In order to enhance our understanding of the adaptive significance of photosynthesis-related plant traits, there is thus an urgent need for experiments that test underlying optimization criteria and competing hypotheses about underlying mechanisms of optimization

Phenolisation of the Sinus Tract in Recurrent Sacrococcygeal Pilonidal Sinus Disease:A Prospective Cohort Study

PurposePhenolisation is a minimally invasive treatment option in patients with primary pilonidal disease. However, most studies focus on patients with primary pilonidal sinus disease, while data of patients with recurrent pilonidal disease are very scarce. The purpose of this study was to evaluate phenolisation of the sinus tract in patients with recurrent pilonidal sinus disease after previous surgery for SPSD.MethodsThis single-center prospective cohort study included 60 patients with recurrent pilonidal disease. Loss of days of normal daily activities, surgical site infection, wound epithelization, quality of life, and complaints related to pilonidal disease were postoperatively assessed.ResultsA total of 57 patients (95%) were treated with phenolisation and the median loss of days of normal daily activities was 5.0 (1.0 - 12.0) days. Fifty-one patients (89.5%) resumed normal daily activities after two weeks. Surgical site infection occurred in five patients (8.8%). Compared to preoperative scores, quality of life was significantly higher 12 weeks postoperatively (p=0.014) and pain and itch scores were lower after six and 12 weeks (p = 0.005). Wounds were completely healed in 45 of 51 patients (89.8%) who were available after 12 weeks of follow-up.ConclusionPhenolisation for recurrent pilonidal disease is safe with a median complete return to daily activities within five days and complete wound healing after three months in 90%. Therefore, phenolisation should be considered as a treatment option in patients with recurrent pilonidal sinus disease.</p

What causes the strength-is-weakness effect in coalition formation: Passive adoption or active selection of self-serving allocation rules?

In coalition formation, bargainers with many resources are often excluded from coalitions (the Strength‐is‐Weakness effect). Literature suggests this effect is driven by high‐resource bargainers using self‐serving allocation rules that backfire, as they prefer equity over equality (while low‐resource bargainers prefer the opposite). Four studies test 1) whether this is actually the case and 2) whether high‐resource bargainers solely consider equitable allocations or whether they consider both equity and equality but actively choose equity as an allocation rule. We find the Strength‐is‐Weakness effect even when equality rules are made salient, strengthening the idea that the high‐resource bargainers actively select equity as their framework for fairness to attempt to maximize their outcomes. The studies, also suggest an additional reason for the exclusion of high‐resource bargainers. We find that high‐resource bargainers are likely avoided because they are expected to bargain self‐servingly, making the low‐resource bargainers seek out each other

Strength is still a weakness in coalition formation: Replicating and understanding the Strength-is-Weakness effect

A key observation in coalition formation is that bargainers with most resources are often excluded from coalitions: the Strength-is-Weakness effect. Previous studies have suffered from low sample sizes and lack of (appropriate) incentives and have rarely focused on underlying processes. To address these issues, we conducted a cross-platform replication using the Online Coalition Game. We replicated the Strength-is-Weakness effect in a psychology laboratory, on Amazon Mechanical Turk, and on Prolific. Moreover, our results showed that the equity norm shapes the Strength-is-Weakness effect in two ways. First, strong bargainers claim a higher larger of the payoffs than weak bargainers do, making them less attractive coalition partners. Second, weak bargainers expect strong bargainers to make these larger claims, directing weak bargainers to each other from the outset. Finally, the studies suggest that the Online Coalition Game is a viable tool for conducting high-powered coalition formation research

Strength is still a weakness in coalition formation:Replicating and understanding the Strength-is-Weakness effect

A key observation in coalition formation is that bargainers with most resources are often excluded from coalitions: the Strength-is-Weakness effect. Previous studies have suffered from low sample sizes and lack of (appropriate) incentives and have rarely focused on underlying processes. To address these issues, we conducted a cross-platform replication using the Online Coalition Game. We replicated the Strength-is-Weakness effect in a psychology laboratory, on Amazon Mechanical Turk, and on Prolific. Moreover, our results showed that the equity norm shapes the Strength-is-Weakness effect in two ways. First, strong bargainers claim a higher larger of the payoffs than weak bargainers do, making them less attractive coalition partners. Second, weak bargainers expect strong bargainers to make these larger claims, directing weak bargainers to each other from the outset. Finally, the studies suggest that the Online Coalition Game is a viable tool for conducting high-powered coalition formation research