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March 28 2012
NCBI ROFL: Why walking blindfolded in the Sahara desert might get you lost.
Walking straight into circles.
“Common belief has it that people who get lost in unfamiliar terrain often end up walking in circles. Although uncorroborated by empirical data, this belief has widely permeated popular culture. Here, we tested the ability of humans to walk on a straight course through unfamiliar terrain in two different environments: a large forest area and the Sahara desert. Walking trajectories of several hours were captured via global positioning system, showing that participants repeatedly walked in circles when they could not see the sun. Conversely, when the sun was visible, participants sometimes veered from a straight course but did not walk in circles. We tested various explanations for this walking behavior by assessing the ability of people to maintain a fixed course while blindfolded. Under these conditions, participants walked in often surprisingly small circles (diameter < 20 m), though rarely in a systematic direction. These results rule out a general explanation in terms of biomechanical asymmetries or other general biases [1-6]. Instead, they suggest that veering from a straight course is the result of accumulating noise in the sensorimotor system, which, without an external directional reference to recalibrate the subjective straight ahead, ...
March 08 2012
NCBI ROFL: Chicken soup for the white blood cell’s soul.
Chicken soup inhibits neutrophil chemotaxis in vitro.
“Chicken soup has long been regarded as a remedy for symptomatic upper respiratory tract infections. As it is likely that the clinical similarity of the diverse infectious processes that can result in “colds” is due to a shared inflammatory response, an effect of chicken soup in mitigating inflammation could account for its attested benefits. To evaluate this, a traditional chicken soup was tested for its ability to inhibit neutrophil migration using the standard Boyden blindwell chemotaxis chamber assay with zymosan-activated serum and fMet-Leu-Phe as chemoattractants. Chicken soup significantly inhibited neutrophil migration and did so in a concentration-dependent manner. The activity was present in a nonparticulate component of the chicken soup. All of the vegetables present in the soup and the chicken individually had inhibitory activity, although only the chicken lacked cytotoxic activity. Interestingly, the complete soup also lacked cytotoxic activity. Commercial soups varied greatly in their inhibitory activity. The present study, therefore, suggests that chicken soup may contain a number of substances with beneficial medicinal activity. A mild anti-inflammatory effect could be one mechanism by which the soup could result in the mitigation of symptomatic upper respiratory tract ...
February 16 2012
NCBI ROFL: Do women with urinary incontinence really know where all the toilets are? The toilet paper.
“AIMS OF STUDY: Aim of this study was to determine if women with overactive bladder really do have a more detailed knowledge about toilets and their conditions in their vicinity in comparison to women with urinary stress incontinence and those without any urinary symptoms. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A questionnaire survey of 270 women from three symptom groups, those with stress incontinence, overactive bladder and controls without any bladder symptoms from an inner city area and two local towns. The knowledge of the three groups was compared and measured by a score assessed by the authors who had visited the toilets themselves. RESULTS: Women with overactive bladder are more likely to exhibit precautionary voiding prior to leaving home and have significantly more detailed knowledge about toilets in their neighbourhood. DISCUSSION: The overactive bladder seems to have a greater influence on behaviour and on quality of life than stress incontinence which could mean that they are more tortured by their symptoms.”
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Photo: flickr/alancleaver_2000
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January 26 2012
NCBI ROFL: Does it take one to know one? Endorsement of conspiracy theories is influenced by personal willingness to conspire.
“We advance a new account of why people endorse conspiracy theories, arguing that individuals use the social-cognitive tool of projection when making social judgements about others. In two studies, we found that individuals were more likely to endorse conspiracy theories if they thought they would be willing, personally, to participate in the alleged conspiracies. Study 1 established an association between conspiracy beliefs and personal willingness to conspire, which fully mediated a relationship between Machiavellianism and conspiracy beliefs. In Study 2, participants primed with their own morality were less inclined than controls to endorse conspiracy theories – a finding fully mediated by personal willingness to conspire. These results suggest that some people think ‘they conspired’ because they think ‘I would conspire’.”
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Photo: flickr/kyz
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NCBI ROFL. Real articles. Funny subjects.
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November 23 2011
NCBI ROFL: The return trip effect: why the return trip often seems to take less time.
“Three studies confirm the existence of the return trip effect: The return trip often seems shorter than the initial trip, even though the distance traveled and the actual time spent traveling are identical. A pretest shows that people indeed experience a return trip effect regularly, and the effect was found on a bus trip (Study 1), a bicycle trip (Study 2), and when participants watched a video of someone else traveling (Study 3). The return trip effect also existed when another, equidistant route was taken on the return trip, showing that it is not familiarity with the route that causes this effect. Rather, it seems that a violation of expectations causes this effect.”
Photo: flickr/kudumomo
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Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: And the most boring study of the year award goes to…
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September 07 2011
NCBI ROFL: This just in: women like to be flattered!
Self-perceived technical orientation and attitudes toward being flattered.
“An investigation was done of the relationship between scores on the Technical Orientation Scale and self-ratings of liking to be flattered among 103 working adults. As hypothesized, scores for technical orientation were negatively correlated with two self-report measures of liking to be flattered. Women had a significantly stronger rating for liking to be flattered. We conclude that a technical orientation may be a moderator variable for the potential of liking to be flattered.”
Photo: flickr/inkjetprinter
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WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!
May 26 2011
NCBI ROFL: “No sh*t, Sherlock”: weight loss edition.
Portion size of food affects energy intake in normal-weight and overweight men and women.
“BACKGROUND:
Large portions of food may contribute to excess energy intake and greater obesity. However, data on the effects of portion size on food intake in adults are limited.
OBJECTIVES:
We examined the effect of portion size on intake during a single meal. We also investigated whether the response to portion size depended on which person, the subject or the experimenter, determined the amount of food on the plate.
DESIGN:
Fifty-one men and women were served lunch 1 d/wk for 4 wk. Lunch included an entrée of macaroni and cheese consumed ad libitum. At each meal, subjects were presented with 1 of 4 portions of the entrée: 500, 625, 750, or 1000 g. One group of subjects received the portion on a plate, and a second group received it in a serving dish and took the amount they desired on their plates.
RESULTS:
Portion size significantly influenced energy intake at lunch (P < 0.0001). Subjects consumed 30% more energy (676 kJ) when offered the largest portion than when offered the smallest portion. The response ...
May 24 2011
NCBI ROFL: The effects of wearing a costume on charitable donations.
“Although research has shown a general trend that people dressed in neat or professional clothes elicit more helping behavior from other people than when dressed in casual or sloppy clothes, no research has examined the effects of wearing a costume on helping behavior. In this experiment, confederates dressed either in a Santa suit or in street clothes as they volunteered for the Salvation Army as bell-ringers in front of retail stores. The hypothesis that donations would be greater while wearing the Santa suit was not supported by the data; the Santa suit and the street clothes elicited equal amounts of donations.”
Photo: flickr/Vince Viloria
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April 19 2011
NCBI ROFL: Want worse hangovers? Drink bourbon!
Intoxication with bourbon versus vodka: effects on hangover, sleep, and next-day neurocognitive performance in young adults.
“BACKGROUND: This study assessed the effects of heavy drinking with high or low congener beverages on next-day neurocognitive performance, and the extent to which these effects were mediated by alcohol-related sleep disturbance or alcoholic beverage congeners, and correlated with the intensity of hangover. METHODS: Healthy heavy drinkers age 21 to 33 (n = 95) participated in 2 drinking nights after an acclimatization night. They drank to a mean of 0.11 g% breath alcohol concentration on vodka or bourbon one night with matched placebo the other night, randomized for type and order. Polysomnography recordings were made overnight; self-report and neurocognitive measures were assessed the next morning. RESULTS: After alcohol, people had more hangover and more decrements in tests requiring both sustained attention and speed. Hangover correlated with poorer performance on these measures. Alcohol decreased sleep efficiency and rapid eye movement sleep, and increased wake time and next-day sleepiness. Alcohol effects on sleep correlated with hangover but did not mediate the effects on performance. No effect of beverage congeners was found except on hangover severity, with people ...
April 05 2011
NCBI ROFL: Before you trust the five-second rule, read this.
Residence time and food contact time effects on transfer of Salmonella Typhimurium from tile, wood and carpet: testing the five-second rule.
“AIMS: Three experiments were conducted to determine the survival and transfer of Salmonella Typhimurium from wood, tile or carpet to bologna (sausage) and bread.
METHODS AND RESULTS: Experiment 1. After 28 days, 1.5 to 2.5 log(10) CFU cm(-2) remained on tile from and the more concentrated media facilitated the survival of S. Typhimurium compared with the more dilute solutions. Experiments 2 and 3. The bacterial transfer rate to food decreased as the bacterial residence time on the surface increased from 2, 4, 8 to 24 h with transfers of 6.5, 4.8, 4.6 and 3.9 log CFU ml(-1) in the rinse solutions, respectively. Over 99% of bacterial cells were transferred from the tile to the bologna after 5 s of bologna exposure to tile. Transfer from carpet to bologna was very low (<0.5%) when compared with the transfer from wood and tile (5-68%).
CONCLUSIONS: (i) Salmonella Typhimurium can survive for up to 4 weeks on dry surfaces in high-enough populations to be transferred to foods and (ii) S. Typhimurium can be ...
March 30 2011
NCBI ROFL: What do Republicans dream about? (Hint: it’s not sex.)
Incidence of having dreamed and conservative political attitudes.
“The association of political attitudes of conservatives and reports of their having had a dream was investigated. 48 female graduate students in counseling psychology were given the KJP Dream Inventory and the Kerlinger Social Attitude Scale II. Scores on conservative political attitudes were positively correlated with having had Dreams of Falling (.40), Dream Discontentedness (.31), Dreams of Being Chased (.40), and Dreams of Being Famous (.30). Negative correlations were observed between scores showing a conservative political tendency and scores on Openness (-.35), and Uninhibitedness (-.50), as well as incidence of Dreams of Sex (-.29). The character of conservative dreaming is discussed along with the study’s relevance to past and subsequent issues in research.”
Photo: flickr/Genista
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March 23 2011
NCBI ROFL: This research is, like, so helpful for like, interviews and stuff.
Interviewees’ overuse of the word “like” and hesitations: effects in simulated hiring decisions.
“This study examined the use of hesitations and discourse markers such as “uh” and “like,” sex of an interviewee, and professional or student participants on hiring decisions of job interviewees. Participants consisted of 105 students between the ages of 18 to 43 years and 71 professionals between the ages of 22 to 76 years (120 women, 56 men). Adult professionals and students were least likely to want to hire, perceived the applicant as less professional, and were less likely to recommend the interviewee for hiring if the interviewee overused the word “like” compared to “uh” or control. Professionals were less likely than students overall to want to hire interviewees across conditions. Sex of the interviewee was not found to be significant.”
Photo: flickr/bpsusf
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March 16 2011
NCBI ROFL: How touching gets people to do your bidding.
An evaluation of touch on a large request: a field setting.
“The effect of touch on compliance to a request has traditionally been tested with small solicitation (answer to a small questionnaire, give a dime to a confederate ….). In our experiment a larger request was evaluated. Passersby, 53 men and 67 women, were asked by two confederates to look after a large and very excited dog for 10 minutes because each wanted to go into a pharmacy where animals were prohibited. In half of the cases, subjects were touched during the request. Analysis showed that, when touched, 55% of the subjects agreed with the request whereas 35% only in the no-touch control condition agreed. This finding indicates that touch was positively associated with the subjects’ compliance (p<.03).”
Photo: flickr/Terwilliger911
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February 22 2011
NCBI ROFL: Inverted nipples. What to do?
Management of Flat or Inverted Nipples with Simple Rubber Bands.
“Occurrences of flat or inverted nipples are not uncommon problems, and although they should not preclude breastfeeding, they often seriously hamper initiation and continuation of breastfeeding. Various therapies including nipple exercise, breast shells, inverted syringes, or surgical corrections have been reported with varying success rates. Subjects and Methods: A new method has been devised by the authors that consisted of tying a rubber band around the base of the nipple, with the help of a syringe applicator, to make it prominent. Latex rubber bands cut from condom rims were used in this study. The band had to be worn only during feeding. This method was tested on 19 mothers with flat, inverted, or otherwise deformed nipples. The babies were born in hospitals and were between 9 and 38 days old, mostly fed by bottle feeding, at the time of presentation. The mothers had been counseled about the importance of good attachment during breastfeeding and shown the new method. They were instructed to use the method at home and attend follow-up on day 3, day 7, and day 28. Results: Sixty-three percent of ...
September 13 2010
NCBI ROFL: ‘Lager, lager shouting’: the role of music and DJs in nightclub disorder control.
“This paper explores how music and music genre can govern the nightlife experience, specifically how a nightclub’s music policy can impact on clientele, health behaviours, bar sales and levels of disorder. Participant observations were conducted in sample of eight city centre nightclubs in Glasgow, Scotland. Music policy was found to influence nightclubs’ clientele and their behaviours, for example in relation to differences in levels of alcohol or illegal drug use, sexual activity and violence between venues. Further, within individual venues, music policy was also observed operating as a crowd control tool, with for example such entertainment being used in alcohol marketing, in ’soft policing’ and in the temporal management of patrons’ movements. This research acknowledges the centrality of the DJ in implementing these controls. It is clear that music is a central component of the Nighttime Economy. Despite this, to date music has tended to play ’second fiddle’ to sex and drugs within Club Health research. From this research it is recommended that music policy be incorporated into responsible bar server training packages.”
Photo: flickr/PresleyJesus
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WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!
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