Identification as a Mutation Carrier and Effects on Life According to Experiences of Finnish Male BRCA1/2 Mutation Carriers

Earlier studies have explored post-identification experiences of male BRCA1/2 mutation carriers, but more detailed knowledge of both their experiences and effects of identification as a carrier on their lives is required to improve genetic counseling. Thus, the aim of this study was to acquire deeper and broader insights into their experiences. Qualitative data were collected from theme-based interviews with 31 men carrying BRCA1/2 mutations in Finland, and analyzed using inductive content analysis. Three categories of the participants’ responses to identification as BRCA1/2 mutation carriers were identified (personal, offspring-related and related to other relatives), mainly concerning issues associated with cancer, hereditary transmission of their mutations, and life decisions. Although there were many neutral responses regarding the issues, there were also strong emotional reactions and cancer worries. Identification as a carrier also had several effects on participants’ lifestyles, including adoption of healthier and disease-preventing behavior, and social well-being, such as family planning and attitudes to life. The results provide detailed information about several aspects of male BRCA1/2 mutation carriers’ experiences, which could be used to develop a tentative model of tailored genetic counseling for them.     

The Effect of Language Immersion Education on the Preattentive Perception of Native and Non-native Vowel Contrasts

Proficiency in a second language (L2) may depend upon the age of exposure and the continued use of the mother tongue (L1) during L2 acquisition. The effect of early L2 exposure on the preattentive perception of native and non-native vowel contrasts was studied by measuring the mismatch negativity (MMN) response from 14-year-old children. The test group consisted of six Finnish children who had participated in English immersion education. The control group consisted of eight monolingual Finns. The subjects were presented with Finnish and English synthetic vowel contrasts. The aim was to see whether early exposure had resulted in the development of a new language-specific memory trace for the contrast phonemically irrelevant in L1. The results indicated that only the contrast with the largest acoustic distance elicited an MMN response in the Bilingual group, while the Monolingual group showed a response also to the native contrast. This may suggest that native-like memory traces for prototypical vowels were not formed in early language immersion.     

A new visual performance test offers new variables for assessing daytime vigilance: Short pauses in performance

A new visual performance test, VigiMouse, was evaluated with the aid of 6 volunteering pediatry residents. The results were compared with a visual analogue scale in differentiating four different states: mild sleep deprivation, low blood alcohol level, a combination of both, and the normal state. A normal night shift at a busy pediatric ward was chosen to represent sleep deprivation. A new set of parameters based on short pauses in performance proved to be more sensitive in detecting small changes in performance than parameters based on reaction times.     

How dogs scan familiar and inverted faces: an eye movement study

Faces play an important role in communication and identity recognition in social animals. Domestic dogs often respond to human facial cues, but their face processing is weakly understood. In this study, facial inversion effect (deficits in face processing when the image is turned upside down) and responses to personal familiarity were tested using eye movement tracking. A total of 23 pet dogs and eight kennel dogs were compared to establish the effects of life experiences on their scanning behavior. All dogs preferred conspecific faces and showed great interest in the eye area, suggesting that they perceived images representing faces. Dogs fixated at the upright faces as long as the inverted faces, but the eye area of upright faces gathered longer total duration and greater relative fixation duration than the eye area of inverted stimuli, regardless of the species (dog or human) shown in the image. Personally, familiar faces and eyes attracted more fixations than the strange ones, suggesting that dogs are likely to recognize conspecific and human faces in photographs. The results imply that face scanning in dogs is guided not only by the physical properties of images, but also by semantic factors. In conclusion, in a free-viewing task, dogs seem to target their fixations at naturally salient and familiar items. Facial images were generally more attractive for pet dogs than kennel dogs, but living environment did not affect conspecific preference or inversion and familiarity responses, suggesting that the basic mechanisms of face processing in dogs could be hardwired or might develop under limited exposure.     

Exploring the everyday retail experience: The discourses of style and design

In contrast to earlier studies focusing on spectacular retail store environments, this study concentrates on examining ordinary retail stores and everyday retail experiences. The article explores how different sorts of retail environments influence consumers' experience and behaviour. The research uses a comparative case study and employs the theoretical framework of geosemiotics. Investigating three different stores from the perspective of architectural style reveals that cultural meanings are firmly attached to interior style design, and these can be traced in customers' retail experiences. Our findings suggest, firstly, that stores' focusing solely on functional aspects such as the efficient use of space, standardization and self‐service rather than also considering aesthetic issues leads to rather neutral and uninteresting retail experiences. Secondly, they show that the retail store environment affects the social relationships that consumers establish in commercial locations. Thirdly, the study indicates that customers' overall retail experience is linked to their perceptions of the store's social and environmental responsibility and moral values. On the whole, this research advances our theoretical understanding of everyday consumption experiences. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Quality of Genetic Counseling and Connected Factors as Evaluated by Male BRCA1/2 Mutation Carriers in Finland

There is little written about the quality of genetic counseling for men with the BRCA1/2 mutation. The purpose of this study was to describe the quality of genetic counseling and connected factors according to Finnish male BRCA1/2 mutation carriers’ (n?=?35) perspectives and reasons for seeking genetic counseling. Data were collected from the Departments of Clinical Genetics at five Finnish university hospitals. The exploratory study design was conducted using a 51-item questionnaire based on a previously devised quality of counseling model and analyzed using non-parametric tests and principle content analysis. The satisfaction level with genetic counseling was high, especially with regard to the content of genetic counseling. The benefit of genetic counseling on the quality of life differed significantly (p?<?0.001–0.009) from other factors. In particular, genetic counseling was in some cases associated to reduce the quality of life. Only 49 % of the male carriers felt they received sufficient counseling on social support. Attention to individual psychosocial support was proposed as an improvement to genetic counseling. Primary and secondary reasons for seeking genetic counseling and background information, such as education, affected the perceived quality of genetic counseling. The results of the study could be used to tailor genetic counseling for male BRCA1/2 mutation carriers.     

Sluggish cognitive tempo in children and adolescents with higher functioning autism spectrum disorders: Social impairments and internalizing symptoms

Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) was introduced in 1980s in the field of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Studies indicate that symptoms of SCT are separate from symptoms of ADHD and independently associated with multiple domains of functioning in clinical groups and in typical development. We assessed whether similar pattern would apply to higher functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Children with higher functioning ASD (N = 55; 5?15 years) were divided into the ASD+High SCT (n = 17), the ASD+Medium SCT (n = 18) and the ASD+Low SCT (n = 20) groups based on parent‐rated daydreaming and slowness on the Five to Fifteen questionnaire (FTF). The groups were compared on SCT‐related impairments found in previous studies: social skills, academic functioning, psychiatric symptoms, and processing speed. Assessment methods were the FTF, the Development and Well‐Being Assessment, and the Coding subtest of the WISC‐III. The ADHD symptoms were statistically controlled due to the overlap between SCT and ADHD. The ASD+High SCT and ASD+Medium SCT groups were significantly more likely to have the most pronounced social impairments, and the ASD+High SCT group had significantly higher rate of internalizing disorders compared to the ASD+Low SCT group. Our results suggest that children with higher functioning ASD and high or medium levels of SCT symptoms could be at higher risk for psychosocial impairments than children with higher functioning ASD with low levels of SCT symptoms. Co‐occurring ADHD symptoms do not explain the finding. Recognizing SCT symptoms in higher functioning ASD would be important to targeting preventive support.     

Visual event-related potentials of dogs: a non-invasive electroencephalography study

Previously, social and cognitive abilities of dogs have been studied within behavioral experiments, but the neural processing underlying the cognitive events remains to be clarified. Here, we employed completely non-invasive scalp-electroencephalography in studying the neural correlates of the visual cognition of dogs. We measured visual event-related potentials (ERPs) of eight dogs while they observed images of dog and human faces presented on a computer screen. The dogs were trained to lie still with positive operant conditioning, and they were neither mechanically restrained nor sedated during the measurements. The ERPs corresponding to early visual processing of dogs were detectable at 75–100 ms from the stimulus onset in individual dogs, and the group-level data of the 8 dogs differed significantly from zero bilaterally at around 75 ms at the most posterior sensors. Additionally, we detected differences between the responses to human and dog faces in the posterior sensors at 75–100 ms and in the anterior sensors at 350–400 ms. To our knowledge, this is the first illustration of completely non-invasively measured visual brain responses both in individual dogs and within a group-level study, using ecologically valid visual stimuli. The results of the present study validate the feasibility of non-invasive ERP measurements in studies with dogs, and the study is expected to pave the way for further neurocognitive studies in dogs.     

Cradling in the prevention of excessive crying and colic symptoms in infants

To evaluate lying in a cradle in the prevention of excessive infant crying or colic symptoms, and to investigate potential protective or risk factors for the phenomenon, 220 newborns were randomized to sleep either in a bed or cot (control group, N = 108) or in a cradle (cradle group, N = 112). During three months, the parents filled in diaries on the sleeping place most used and the amount of crying of their infants. Three infants in the cradle group and one control fulfilled the criteria of colic. The percentages of extremely weepy infants (25.7% vs 24.4 %) and the intensity of crying did not differ between the groups. Medication for colic symptoms was used equally frequently in both groups. A high educational (OR 3.18, 95% CI 1.01; 10.04) and socioeconomic (OR 3.76, 95% CI 1.34; 10.52) level of the family and having a sibling with a history of colic (OR 6.46, 95% CI 1.17; 35.73) were predictors for the infant being weepy. Absence of nursing problems and having no sibling with a history of colic seemed to be related with a low amount of crying. Excessive infant crying was less common in families with unemployed fathers compared to those in which the father had an occupation (p = 0.018). Cradling seems not to prevent excessive crying or colic symptoms in infants. Breast‐feeding guidance during rooming‐in period and presence of father or another adult supporter at home might be preventive means against excessive crying.