[Mass culling in the context of animal disease outbreaks--veterinarians caught between ethical issues and control policies]

In recent years controversial discussions arose during major animal disease outbreaks in the EU about the ethical soundness of mass culling. In contrast to numerous publications about ethical issues and laboratory animals/animal experiments, literature concerning ethical deliberations in the case of mass culling as a means of outbreak control remain scarce. Veterinarians in charge of decision about and implementation of mass culling actions find themselves in an area of conflict in between the officially required animal disease control policy and a public that is increasingly critical. Those veterinarians are faced with the challenge to defend the relevant decisions against all stakeholders and also themselves. In this context an interdisciplinary workshop was initiated in Switzerland in October 2007 with ethicians and (official) veterinarians from Germany, Switzerland and Austria. With the aim to identify ethical components of animal disease control for official veterinarians, talks and moderated group discussions took place. This article summarizes selected discussion points and conclusions.

Hemispheric lateralization patterns and psychotic experiences in healthy subjects

The hypothesis that psychotic experiences in healthy subjects are associated with a dysfunction of the right hemisphere is supported by some, but not all, available studies. Differences in gender composition of study samples may explain in part the divergent findings. The present study was carried out in 42 healthy, right-handed university students. Scores on the Schizophrenia and Paranoia scales of the Minnesota Multidimensional Personality Inventory-2 were used in correlation analyses and to define a High- and a Low-Psychotic group. Brain Electrical Microstates and Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (LORETA) source analyses of the auditory P300 (P3a and P3b) components of the event-related potential, as well as a battery of neuropsychological tests, were used to assess hemispheric functioning. Scores on the Paranoia scale were positively associated with a leftward shift of the P3a topographic descriptors in females but not in males. When comparing High-Psychotic and Low-Psychotic females, a leftward shift of P3a descriptors and an increased cortical activation in left fronto-temporal areas were observed in the High-Psychotic group. Our results demonstrated gender-related differences in the pattern of hemispheric imbalance associated with psychotic experiences in healthy subjects.

The EU as an Effective Trade Power? Strategic Choice of Judicial Candidates in the Context of the World Trade Organization

Drawing on the European Union (EU) foreign policy literature on effectiveness, this article studies how the European Union chooses judges to serve on the World Trade Organization’s key judicial institution: the Appellate Body. Conceptually, the article differentiates between effectiveness in representation and effectiveness in impact. The article shows how delegation to the European Commission has increased the strategic agenda-setting power for championing its preferred candidates. The article further compares European and US practice in nominating candidates. Overall, the article finds that effectiveness in representation has increased over time. In terms of effectiveness in impact, the article shows how the international environment conditions the EU’s influence. The article also exposes the difficulties of studying the effectiveness of EU external relations due to the peculiar decision-making processes dominant in judicial bodies.

Emotional contagion in team sports and its impact on individual performance – an experimental study

In sport psychology research about emotional contagion in sport teams has been scarce (Reicherts & Horn, 2008). Emotional contagion is a process leading to a specific emotional state in an individual caused by the perception of another individual’s emotional expression (Hatfield, Cacioppo & Rapson, 1994). Apitzsch (2009) described emotional contagion as one reason for collapsing sport teams. The present study examined the occurrence of emotional contagion in dyads during a basketball task and the impact of a socially induced emotional state on performance. An experiment with between-subjects design was conducted. Participants (N=81, ♀=38, M=21.33 years, SD=1.45) were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions, by joining a confederate to compose a same gender, ad hoc team. The team was instructed to perform a basketball task as quickly as possible. The between-factor of the experimental design was the confederate’s emotional expression (positive or negative valence). The within-factor was participants’ emotional state, measured pre- and post-experimentally using PANAS (Krohne, Egloff, Kohlmann & Tausch, 1996). The basketball task was video-taped and the number of frames participants needed to complete the task was used to determine the individual performance. The confederate’s emotional expression was appraised in a significantly different manner across both experimental conditions by participants and video raters (MC). Mixed between-within subjects ANOVAs were conducted to examine the impact of the two conditions on participants’ scores on the PANAS subscales across two time periods (pre- and post-experimental). No significant interaction effects but substantial main effects for time were found on both PANAS subscales. Both groups showed an increase in positive and a reduction in negative PANAS scores across these two time periods. Nevertheless, video raters assessment of the emotional states expressed by participants was significantly different between the positive (M=3.23, SD=0.45) and negative condition (M=2.39, SD=0.53; t=7.64, p<.001, eta squared=.43). An independent-samples t-test indicated no difference in performance between conditions. Furthermore, no significant correlation between the extent of positive or negative emotional contagion and the number of frames was observed. The basketball task lead to an improvement of the emotional state of participants, independently of the condition. Even though participants PANAS scores indicated a tendency to emotional contagion, it was not statistically significant. This could be explained by the low task duration of approximately three minutes. Moreover, the performance of participants was unaffected by the experimental condition or the extent of positive or negative emotional contagion. Apitzsch, E. (2009). A case study of a collapsing handball team. In S. Jern & J. Näslund (Eds.), Dynamics within and outside the lab. Proceedings from The 6th Nordic Conference on Group and Social Psychology, May 2008, Lund, pp. 35-52. Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T. & Rapson, R. L. (1994). Emotional contagion. Cambridge: University Press. Krohne, H. W., Egloff, B., Kohlmann, C.-W. & Tausch, A. (1996). Untersuchungen mit einer deutschen Version der „Positive und Negative Affect Schedule“ (PANAS). Diagnostica, 42 (2), 139-156. Reicherts, M. & Horn, A. B. (2008). Emotionen im Sport. In W. Schlicht & B. Strauss (Eds.), Enzyklopädie der Psychologie. Grundlagen der Sportpsychologie (Bd. 1) (S. 563-633). Göttingen: Hogrefe.

Pelvic lymph node dissection in the context of radical cystectomy: a thorough insight into the connection between patient, surgeon, pathologist and treating institution

Pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) in patients with bladder cancer varies widely in extent, technique employed, and pathological workup of specimens. The present paper provides an overview of the existing evidence regarding the effectiveness of PLND and elucidates the interactions between patient, surgeon, pathologist, and treating institution as well as their cumulative impact on the final postoperative lymph node (LN) staging. Bladder cancer patients undergoing radical cystectomy with extended PLND appear to have better oncologic outcomes compared to patients undergoing radical cystectomy and limited PLND. Attempts have been made to define and assess the quality of PLND according to the number of lymph nodes identified. However, lymph node counts depend on multiple factors such as patient characteristics, surgical template, pathological workup, and institutional policies; hence, meticulous PLND within a defined and uniformly applied extended template appears to be a better assurance of quality than absolute lymph node counts. Nevertheless, the prognosis of the patients can be partially predicted with findings from the histopathological evaluation of the PLND specimen, such as the number of positive lymph nodes, extracapsular extension, and size of the largest LN metastases. Therefore, particular prognostic parameters should be addressed within the pathological report to guide the urologist in terms of patient counseling.

Gender-fair language in the context of leadership: Preventing the lack of fit for women

Women are still underrepresented in leadership due to a perceived a ‘lack of fit’. Thus, women are hired less likely, evaluated unfavorably or are less willing to take over a leadership role than their male counterparts. Because gender-fair language (e.g., feminine-masculine word pairs, German: ‘Geschäftsführerin/Geschäftsführer’, CEO, fem./CEO, masc.) leads to a higher mental inclusion of women compared to generic masculine forms (German: ‘Geschäftsführer’, CEO,masc.), we argue that masculine forms endorse the ‘lack of fit’ for women in leadership, whereas gender-fair language reduces it. Three studies support our assumption. Masculine forms led to a ‘lack of fit’ for women in leader selection: they were hired less likely (Study 1) and evaluated less favorably (Study 2) than their male counterparts. Moreover, women showed less willingness to apply when masculine forms were used in the advertisement for a leadership position. Contrary, no such gender-bias was obtained in case of gender-fair language.

Deciphering High-Pressure metamorphism in collisional context using microprobe-mapping methods : application to the Stak eclogitic massif (NW Himalaya)

The Stak massif, northern Pakistan, is a newly recognized occurrence of eclogite formed by the subduction of the northern margin of the Indian continent in the northwest Himalaya. Although this unit was extensively retrogressed during the Himalayan collision, records of the high-pressure (HP) event as well as a continuous pressure-temperature (P-T) path were assessed from a single thin section using a new multiequilibrium method. This method uses microprobe X-ray compositional maps of garnet and omphacitic pyroxene followed by calculations of ∼200,000 P-T estimates using appropriate thermobarometers. The Stak eclogite underwent prograde metamorphism, increasing from 650 °C and 2.4 GPa to the peak conditions of 750 °C and 2.5 GPa, then retrogressed to 700–650 °C and 1.6–0.9 GPa under amphibolite-facies conditions. The estimated peak metamorphic conditions and P-T path are similar to those of the Kaghan and Tso Morari high- to ultrahigh-pressure (HP-UHP) massifs. We propose that these three massifs define a large HP to UHP province in the northwest Himalaya, comparable to the Dabie-Sulu province in China and the Western Gneiss Region in Norway.

Higher emotional distress in female partners of cancer patients: prevalence and patient-partner interdependencies in a 3-year cohort

OBJECTIVE: Assessment and treatment of psychological distress in cancer patients was recognized as a major challenge. The role of spouses, caregivers, and significant others became of salient importance not only because of their supportive functions but also in respect to their own burden. The purpose of this study was to assess the amount of distress in a mixed sample of cancer patients and their partners and to explore the dyadic interdependence. METHODS: An initial sample of 154 dyads was recruited, and distress questionnaires (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Symptom Checklist 9-Item Short Version and 12-Item Short Form Health Survey) were assessed over four time points. Linear mixed models and actor-partner interdependence models were applied. RESULTS: A significant proportion of patients and their partners (up to 40%) reported high levels of anxiety, depression, psychological distress, and low quality of life over the course of the investigation. Mixed model analyses revealed that higher risks for clinical relevant anxiety and depression in couples exist for female patients and especially for female partners. Although psychological strain decreased over time, the risk for elevated distress in female partners remained. Modeling patient-partner interdependence over time stratified by patients' gender revealed specific effects: a moderate correlation between distress in patients and partners, and a transmission of distress from male patients to their female partners. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide empirical support for gender-specific transmission of distress in dyads coping with cancer. This should be considered as an important starting point for planning systemic psycho-oncological interventions and conceptualizing further research.