Relationship quality of persons with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome

In the field of sleep disorders, the quality of couple relationship is arousing increasing attention, given its implications for quality of life and treatment adherence. The aim of the present study was to evaluate relationship quality in a sample of treated or untreated patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Syndrome. Eighty-seven patients were recruited in a hospital-based Centre for Sleep Medicine. Subjects were administered the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) to evaluate relationship quality, and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Apnoea-hypopnoea indexes (AHI) were collected through nocturnal polysomnography or home testing with a portable monitoring device. Although the DAS average scores were similar to local normative values, relationship quality was significantly lower in the untreated patients when compared with the ones treated. The ESS scores showed a negative correlation with many DAS scores, whereas no significant correlation emerged for AHI. Such data suggest a significant impact of perceived sleep apnoea symptoms on marital satisfaction, even though in the absence of striking differences between the whole sample and the general population.     

Learn locally, act globally: Learning language from variation set cues

Variation set structure - partial overlap of successive utterances in child-directed speech - has been shown to correlate with progress in children’s acquisition of syntax. We demonstrate the benefits of variation set structure directly: in miniature artificial languages, arranging a certain proportion of utterances in a training corpus in variation sets facilitated word and phrase constituent learning in adults. Our findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms of L1 acquisition by children, and for the development of more efficient algorithms for automatic language acquisition, as well as better methods for L2 instruction.     

Assessing the interplay between fear and learning in mice exposed to a live rat in a spatial memory task (MWM)

In this study we tested the hypothesis that fear might facilitate learning when experienced contextually to the task. To this purpose, learning and memory performance of CD-1 mice in a Morris Water Maze (MWM) was assessed in the presence of a live predator (rat). Results indicate that a live predator induced specific predatory-avoidance responses, such as diving behavior and thigmotaxis. The rat-exposed group showed the most adaptive strategy, balancing anti-predator behavior and escape responses, while the rat pre-exposed group showed impairment in the initial phases of the acquisition. The probe trial revealed distinct swimming patterns but equal memory abilities in the different groups. Overall, this procedure represents a novel and easy test to assess the effects of stressful stimuli, contextually to spatial learning and memory performance, in mice.     

A modified mark test for own-body recognition in pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina)

Classic mirror self-recognition mark tests involve familiarizing the subject with its mirror image, surreptitiously applying a mark on the subject’s eyebrow, nose, or ear, and measuring self-directed behaviors toward the mark. For many non-human primate species, however, direct gaze at the face constitutes an aggressive and threatening signal. It is therefore possible that monkeys fail the mark test because they do not closely inspect their faces in a mirror and hence they have no expectations about their physical appearance. In the current study, we prevented two pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) from seeing their own faces in a mirror, and we adopted a modified version of the classic mark test in which monkeys were marked on the chest, a body region to which they normally have direct visual access but that in the current study was visible only via a mirror. Neither monkey tried to touch the mark on its chest, possibly due to a failure to understand the mirror as a reflective surface. To further the monkeys’ understanding of the mirror image, we trained them to reach for food using the mirror as the only source of information. After both monkeys had learned mirror-mediated reaching, we replicated the mark test. In this latter phase of the study, only one monkey scratched the red dye on the chest once. The results are consistent with other findings suggesting that monkeys are not capable of passing a mark test and imply that face and body recognition rely on the same cognitive abilities.     

Research Misconduct in the Age of Open Science: The Case of STAP Stem Cells

In early 2014, Dr Haruko Obokata and her co-authors caused a global media storm by publishing two scientific papers in Nature on stem cells. The papers proposed a surprisingly simple new method called stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) to generate pluripotent stem cells for research purposes in a fast and inexpensive way. To the dismay of many, both papers were retracted within six months of their release due to data fabrication and falsification. The rise and fall of the STAP research illustrates the impacts of open science practices of quality control and validation on new scientific claims. In the STAP case, collective action generated through two online forums—the Knoepfler Lab Stem Cell Blog and PubPeer—exposed not only data manipulation in the two papers but also the irreproducibility of the purported new cellular reprogramming method. The case brings to the fore the tentative possibilities as well as potential pitfalls of ‘accelerated virtual witnessing’ through crowdsourced post-publication peer reviews that value accessibility and inclusiveness. Indeed, it calls for empirically grounded discussion on the ongoing reconfiguration of the shared system of values and norms or the moral economy of science.     

Paradoxical effects of famous music in retail venues

The present study analyzes the effects of famous versus nonfamous ambient music in retail venues on actual shoppers' emotions and cognitions, which, in turn, affect buying intention and brand images. Our theoretical model was basically validated by the data collected in actual shopping venues in 2 studies. Study 1 explores the effects of music famousness on buying intention through the mediation of affect, self‐congruity, and product quality (N = 304). Study 2 explores the effects of music famousness on perceived brand quality through the mediation of self‐congruity and store attitude (N = 351). As expected, famous music has positive effects on shoppers' responses according to the mediating role of affective and cognitive responses and their sequential mediating effects. Paradoxically, famous music has also negative effects on these variables because it distracts consumers from their shopping, reducing cognitive activities. We draw theoretical and managerial conclusions from these findings.