Symptoms of maternal psychological distress during pregnancy: sex-specific effects for neonatal morbidity

Objectives: Maternal psychological distress during pregnancy has been associated with preterm birth. However, little is known about the relationship of a woman’s psychological symptoms during pregnancy to the infant’s morbidity at birth or any differential effects of these symptoms on female vs. male fetuses. Our research aims addressed these gaps. Methods: A total of 186 women were enrolled between 24 and 34 weeks gestation when demographic information was acquired and they completed the Brief Symptom Inventory to measure psychological distress. Data on gestational age at birth, fetal sex, and neonatal morbidity was extracted from the medical record. To control for their effects, obstetric complications were also identified. Multiple linear regressions were computed to examine the aims, including interaction terms to measure moderating effects of fetal sex. Results: Symptoms of maternal psychological distress were a significant predictor of neonatal morbidity but were not associated with gestational age. The interaction between symptom distress and fetal/infant sex was also significant for neonatal morbidity but not for gestational age. For boys, high levels of maternal symptom distress during pregnancy were associated with neonatal resuscitation, ventilatory assistance, and infection. Maternal distress was not associated with neonatal morbidity for girls. Conclusions: The male fetus may be more sensitive to effects of mothers’ psychological symptoms than the female fetus. Further research is needed to confirm our findings and identify potential biological mechanisms that may be responsible for these sex differences. Findings suggest the importance of symptom screening and early intervention to reduce maternal distress and risk of neonatal morbidity

Steuerehrlichkeit und Todesgedanken

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde auf Basis der Terror-Management-Theorie und theoretischen Hintergründen aus der steuerpsychologischen Forschung untersucht, ob Priming von Mortalitätsalienz (MS) zu einer Verstärkung des Normsystems und in Folge zu einer Veränderung in der Bewertung von Steuern sowie in der berichteten Steuerehrlichkeit führt. Dazu wurden Personen, die in den letzten fünf Jahren in Österreich Steuern gezahlt haben, via Onlineumfrage zufällig einer Kontroll- und Versuchsgruppe zugewiesen. Personen in der Versuchsbedingung wurden einem verbalen Todespriming unterzogen und jene in der Kontrollbedingung bearbeiteten eine Kontrollaufgabe. Die Untersuchung wurde zu zwei Zeitpunkten durchgeführt: Zum ersten Zeitpunkt wurden demografische Variablen und Steuernormen erhoben und zum zweiten Zeitpunkt wurde das Priming induziert und als abhängige Variablen affektive Bewertungen von Steuern und Steuerehrlichkeit gemessen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass persönliche Normen sowie die Identifikation mit ehrlichen Steuerzahlern einen Einfluss auf die Steuerehrlichkeit haben; es resultiert allerdings kein Extremisierungseffekt von Mortalitätssalienz auf Steuernormen gemessen an der Steuerehrlichkeit. Es zeigen sich schwache Effekte von MS auf Steuerehrlichkeit, die eher auf einen Moralisierungseffekt und nicht auf einen Extremisierungseffekt von Normen hindeuten. Nationale Normen hängen nicht zusammen mit Steuerehrlichkeit, allerdings soziale, berufsgruppenbezogene Normen in Kombination mit der Identifikation mit der Berufsgruppe. Zudem kann anhand der affektiven Bewertung von Steuern davon ausgegangen werden, dass bei Konfrontation mit dem eigenen Tod die Bedeutung von Steuern generell abnimmt. Auch wenn die erwartete Interaktion zwischen MS und der Ausprägung persönlicher Steuernormen auf Steuerehrlichkeit hier nicht bestätigt werden konnte, deuten die Ergebnisse darauf hin, dass Steuerehrlichkeit durch irrationale Faktoren wie Todesgedanken beeinflusst werden kann.Based on Terror Management Theory and theoretical findings regarding tax psychology the present study investigates wheter priming of mortality salience influences the norm system. Furthermore, it is explored if this reinforcement of the norm system leads to modified evaluations of taxes and tax compliance. This question was approached through an online study with a sample of people, who have paid taxes in Austria within the last five years. The individuals were randomized to either a treatment (verbal priming of death) or a control condition. The assessment was carried out at two points in time: First, demographic characteristics and tax norms were collected. At the second time of assessment, the priming was induced and the dependent variables, evaluations of taxes and tax compliance, were measured. The results show that personal norms and identification with honest tax payers influence tax compliance. However, no boosting effect of tax norms on tax compliance was detected. Instead of this, the weak influences of mortality salience on tax compliance point to a moralizing effect rather than a boosting effect. National norms showed no association with tax compliance but social, occupational norms did in combination with identification with the occupation. Furthermore, the affective evaluations of taxes showed that, in case that someone is confronted with his or her own dead, the relevance of taxes declines. Although the results don´t support the anticipated interaction between personal tax norms and mortality salience regarding tax compliance, they show that it is possible to influence tax honesty by rather irrational influences as death thoughts

Kalender und Zeitvorstellungen Mesoamerikas

In meiner Diplomarbeit über die "Kalender und Zeitvorstellungen Mesoamerikas" behandle ich die Kulturgruppe eines kulturgeographisch eingegrenzten Gebietes über einen Zeitraum von etwa 3000 Jahren. Mesoamerika als kulturgeographischer Begriff umfasst die Gebiete der mexikanischen Hochkulturen und die Maya Kultur. Die betreffenden Kulturen zeigen Gemeinsamkeiten in materiellen, gesellschaftlichen und geistig-religiösen Punkten. Eine dieser Gemeinsamkeiten habe ich in meiner Diplomarbeit untersucht. In den 3000 Jahren mesoamerikanischer Geschichte blieb das Grundsystem des Kalenders immer dasselbe: Der 52-Jahre-Zyklus vereint in sich die zwei wichtigsten Kalender, den Ritualkalender zu 260 und den Sonnenkalender zu 365 Tagen. Von diesem System ausgehend entwickelten alle Völker ihr eigenes System weiter

Magnetic nanostructures by adaptive twinning in strained epitaxial films

We exploit the intrinsic structural instability of the Fe70Pd30 magnetic shape memory alloy to obtain functional epitaxial films exhibiting a self-organized nanostructure. We demonstrate that coherent epitaxial straining by 54% is possible. The combination of thin film experiments and large-scale first-principles calculations enables us to establish a lattice relaxation mechanism, which is not expected for stable materials. We identify a low twin boundary energy compared to a high elastic energy as key prerequisite for the adaptive nanotwinning. Our approach is versatile as it allows to control both, nanostructure and intrinsic properties for ferromagnetic, ferroelastic and ferroelectric materials.Comment: Final version. Supplementary information available on request or at the publisher's websit

Subunits α, β and γ of the epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC) are functionally related to the hypertonicity-induced cation channel (HICC) in rat hepatocytes

Specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) constructs were used to test for the functional relation of subunits α, β, and γ of the epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC) to the hypertonicity-induced cation channel (HICC) in confluent rat hepatocytes. In current-clamp recordings, hypertonic stress (300 → 400 mosM) increased membrane conductance from 75.4 ± 9.4 to 91.1 ± 11.2 pS (p < 0.001). The effect was completely blocked by 100 μM amiloride and reduced to 46, 30, and 45% of the control value by anti-α-, anti-β-, and anti-γ-rENaC siRNA, respectively. Scanning acoustic microscopy revealed an initial shrinkage of cells from 6.98 ± 0.45 to 6.03 ± 0.43 pl within 2 min. This passive response was then followed by a regulatory volume increase (RVI) by 0.42 ± 0.05 pl (p < 0.001). With anti-α-, anti-β-, and anti-γ-rENaC siRNA, the volume response was reduced to 31, 31, and 36% of the reference level, respectively. It is concluded that all three subunits of the ENaC are functionally related to RVI and HICC activation in rat hepatocytes

Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair after frozen elephant trunk procedure†

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the feasibility and the outcomes of second-stage thoracoabdominal (TA) repair after previous frozen elephant trunk (FET) implantation. METHODS Between 2005 and 2013, 41 patients underwent open TA aortic repair in our institution. Of these, 9 patients (78% male) underwent second-stage TA repair after previous FET implantation. Feasibility and outcomes were evaluated. RESULTS The mean interval between FET implantation and second-stage TA repair was 423 days (19-1979 days). Indications for second-stage TA repair were progression in aortic diameter of atherosclerotic aneurysms in the downstream segments in 6 patients, diameter progression in post-dissection aneurysms in 2 patients and giant cell aortitis with aneurysm formation in another patient. There were no in-hospital deaths. The median intensive care unit stay was 3.5 days (range: 1-12 days) and median hospital stay was 22 days (range: 14-132 days). We did not observe symptomatic spinal cord ischaemia or stroke. One patient (11%) developed acute renal failure requiring haemodialysis. CONCLUSION Second-stage TA aortic repair after previous frozen elephant implantation is a feasible and effective treatment modality for patients with various pathologies of downstream aortic segments. This approach adds additional value to the conventional elephant trunk technique by providing an excellent landing zone not only for additional stent graft procedures but also for subsequent open TA repai