Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): A prospective cohort study.

Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): A prospective cohort study. Mahshid Dehghan et al. Lancet,  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32252-3

Abstract
Methods: The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study is a large, epidemiological cohort study of individuals aged 35–70 years (enrolled between Jan 1, 2003, and March 31, 2013) in 18 countries with a median follow-up of 7•4 years (IQR 5•3–9•3). Dietary intake of 135 335 individuals was recorded using validated food frequency questionnaires. The primary outcomes were total mortality and major cardiovascular events (fatal cardiovascular disease, non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure). Secondary outcomes were all myocardial infarctions, stroke, cardiovascular disease mortality, and non-cardiovascular disease mortality. Participants were categorised into quintiles of nutrient intake (carbohydrate, fats, and protein) based on percentage of energy provided by nutrients. We assessed the associations between consumption of carbohydrate, total fat, and each type of fat with cardiovascular disease and total mortality. We calculated hazard ratios (HRs) using a multivariable Cox frailty model with random intercepts to account for centre clustering.

Findings: During follow-up, we documented 5796 deaths and 4784 major cardiovascular disease events. Higher carbohydrate intake was associated with an increased risk of total mortality (highest [quintile 5] vs lowest quintile [quintile 1] category, HR 1•28 [95% CI 1•12–1•46], ptrend=0•0001) but not with the risk of cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular disease mortality. Intake of total fat and each type of fat was associated with lower risk of total mortality (quintile 5 vs quintile 1, total fat: HR 0•77 [95% CI 0•67–0•87], ptrend<0 0="" 1="" 5="" and="" associated="" br="" cardiovascular="" ci="" disease="" fat:="" fat="" fats="" higher="" hr="" infarction="" intake="" lower="" monounsaturated="" mortality.="" myocardial="" not="" of="" or="" polyunsaturated="" ptrend="0•0498)." quintile="" risk="" saturated="" significantly="" stroke="" total="" unsaturated="" vs="" was="" were="" with="">
Interpretation: High carbohydrate intake was associated with higher risk of total mortality, whereas total fat and individual types of fat were related to lower total mortality. Total fat and types of fat were not associated with cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction, or cardiovascular disease mortality, whereas saturated fat had an inverse association with stroke. Global dietary guidelines should be reconsidered in light of these findings.

Examining the “Veggie” personality: Results from a representative German sample

Examining the “Veggie” personality: Results from a representative German sample. Tamara M. Pfeiler and Boris Egloff. Appetite, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.09.005

Abstract: An increasing proportion of people choose to follow a vegetarian diet. To date, however, little is known about if and how individual differences in personality relate to following a vegetarian diet. In the two studies presented here, we aimed to (1) estimate the prevalence of self-defined vegetarians in two waves of a German representative sample (N = 4496 and 5,125, respectively), (2) analyze the effect of socio-demographic variables on dietary behavior, and (3) examine individual differences between vegetarians and meat eaters in personality traits, political attitudes, and health-related variables. In Study 1, a strict definition of vegetarians was used, while in Study 2 the definition was laxer, to include also individuals who only predominantly followed a vegetarian diet. The prevalence of self-defined vegetarians was 2.74% in Study 1, and 5.97% in Study 2. Participants who were female, younger, and more educated were more likely to report following a vegetarian diet in both studies, and vegetarians had higher income as compared to meat eaters in Study 2. We also found differences between vegetarians and meat eaters with regard to personality traits, political attitudes, and health-related variables. Stepwise logistic regression analyses showed a unique effect beyond socio-demographic variables for openness (Studies 1 and 2), conscientiousness (Study 1), trust (Study 2), conservatism (Studies 1 and 2), and level of interest in politics (Study 1) on diet: Individuals with higher scores in openness and political interest had a higher probability of being vegetarian, whereas people with higher scores in conscientiousness and conservatism had a smaller likelihood of being vegetarian. We conclude that there are individual differences between vegetarians and meat eaters in socio-demographics, personality traits, and political attitudes.

Keywords: Vegetarian diet; Personality traits; Big Five; Prevalence; Meat eating; Political attitudes

Stylized and photographic eye images do not increase charitable donations in a field experiment

Stylized and photographic eye images do not increase charitable donations in a field experiment. Paul Lennon, Rachel Grant, and V. Tamara Montrose. Letters on Evolutionary Behavioral Science, Vol 8, No 2 (2017). http://lebs.hbesj.org/index.php/lebs/article/view/lebs.2017.60

Abstract: The effects of watching eyes upon prosocial behavior have been explored in various contexts, for example, in relation to charitable donations, honor-system payments and littering. Whilst studies have explored the effects of both photographic and stylized eyes upon prosocial behavior, no study, to our knowledge, has compared stylized eyes to photographic eyes. Here we explored the effects of stylized and photographic eye images upon prosocial behavior assessed via charitable donations in a ‘free cakes’ field experiment. Charitable giving was assessed under six eye image conditions, three stylized eye images (evil eye, eye of Horus, all-seeing eye), one photographic eye image (human eye image) and two control images (geometric shape control and blank control). No difference in the amount of money donated was found between any of the eye image conditions. These results suggest that watching eyes, whether stylized or photographic, are not effective at eliciting prosocial behavior via charitable giving. However, further study contrasting single and paired eye imagery, and exploration of the effects of stylized eye imagery in deterring littering and crime, would be beneficial.

If mice could read, they would read the scandals in the tabloid press

Social inequality aversion in mice: Analysis with stress-induced hyperthermia and behavioral preference. Shigeru Watanabe. Learning and Motivation, Volume 59, August 2017, Pages 38-46, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2017.08.002

Highlights
•    Social inequality aversion is examined in food delivery situation.
•    Mice display social inequality aversion detected by hyperthermia.
•    Mice stay longer in the inequality situation in behavioral test.
•    Thus, the mice approach to the inequality situation that caused aversion.
•    This approaching behavior indicates informative value for the subjects.

Abstract: Humans have a sense of fairness and consequently are averse to inequality conditions. Recently, animal researchers suggested that some non-human animals also have inequality aversion. The author used stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH) to examine inequality aversion in mice. Experiment 1 measured the change in body surface temperature of mice under the condition of equality or inequality of food delivery. The results demonstrated that mice exhibited a large increment in body surface temperature when given a small piece of cheese and a cage mate was given a large piece. There was no increment in body temperature in equality conditions in which both the subject and the cage mate were given the same amount of cheese. The increase in body temperature was considered stress-induced hyperthermia caused by social inequality aversion. This is the first demonstration of inequality aversion of food delivery in mice. Simultaneous presentation of a large piece of cheese and a cage mate resulted in SIH in observer mice that were given a small piece of cheese, even though the cage mate was separated from the cheese by a partition to prevent it from eating the cheese. In Experiment 2, behavioral effects of inequality were examined in a chamber with two compartments. Mice could observe a cage mate in an adjacent compartment. They preferred a compartment with a cheese-eating cage mate to a compartment with cheese alone or cage mate alone. This result suggests inequality preference rather than inequality aversion. Thus, the results of Experiments 1 and 2 were contradictory. In a subsequent Experiment 3, both behavioral preference and body surface temperature were measured simultaneously. Mice stayed longer in the inequality condition compartment (cheese-eating cage mate), although inequality caused SIH. Supporting the results of both Experiments 1 and 2. Thus, social inequality induced stress (aversive property) but it also induced approaching behavior that might be maintained by the informative value of a food-eating cage mate.

My comment: It is as if the frustrated mouse, the one that "preferred a compartment with a cheese-eating cage mate to a compartment with cheese alone or cage mate alone," valued so much to be informed of the high-powered life that the other mouse lives that it compensates him for the inequality... Suffering envy but losing no details of the life of the rich and powerful mice is like reading the tabloid press, with all kind of minutiae about the jet set life.

Check also: Evolutionary Origin of Empathy and Inequality Aversion. Shigeru Watanabe and Yutaka Kosaki. Evolution of the Brain, Cognition, and Emotion in Vertebrates pp 273-299, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/evolutionary-origin-of-empathy-and.html

Higher long-term lithium levels in drinking water may be associated with less dementia

Association of Lithium in Drinking Water With the Incidence of Dementia. Lars Vedel Kessing et al. JAMA Psychiatry, http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2649277

* Key Points

Question: Is a higher lithium level in drinking water associated with a decreased incidence of dementia?

Findings: In this Danish nationwide, population-based, nested case-control study of 73 731 patients with dementia and 733 653 control individuals, the level of lithium exposure was lower for patients with a diagnosis of dementia than for controls. Similar patterns were found with Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia as outcomes.

Meaning: Exposure to higher long-term lithium levels in drinking water may be associated with a lower incidence of dementia.


* Abstract

Importance: Results from animal and human studies suggest that lithium in therapeutic doses may improve learning and memory and modify the risk of developing dementia. Additional preliminary studies suggest that subtherapeutic levels, including microlevels of lithium, may influence human cognition.

Objective: To investigate whether the incidence of dementia in the general population covaries with long-term exposure to microlevels of lithium in drinking water.

Design, Setting, and Participants: This Danish nationwide, population-based, nested case-control study examined longitudinal, individual geographic data on municipality of residence and data from drinking water measurements combined with time-specific data from all patients aged 50 to 90 years with a hospital contact with a diagnosis of dementia from January 1, 1970, through December 31, 2013, and 10 age- and sex-matched control individuals from the Danish population. The mean lithium exposure in drinking water since 1986 was estimated for all study individuals. Data analysis was performed from January 1, 1995, through December 31, 2013.

Results: A total of 73 731 patients with dementia and 733 653 controls (median age, 80.3 years; interquartile range, 74.9-84.6 years; 44 760 female [60.7%] and 28 971 male [39.3%]) were included in the study. Lithium exposure was statistically significantly different between patients with a diagnosis of dementia (median, 11.5 µg/L; interquartile range, 6.5-14.9 µg/L) and controls (median, 12.2 µg/L; interquartile range, 7.3-16.0 µg/L; P < .001). A nonlinear association was observed. Compared with individuals exposed to 2.0 to 5.0 µg/L, the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of dementia was decreased in those exposed to more than 15.0 µg/L (IRR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.81-0.85; P < .001) and 10.1 to 15.0 µg/L (IRR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-1.01; P = .17) and increased with 5.1 to 10.0 µg/L (IRR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.19-1.25; P < .001). Similar patterns were found with Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia as outcomes.

A 10% increase in minimum wage is associated with a 1%–4% reduction to employment rates for teens

Employment Effects of the Minimum Wage: Panel Data Evidence from Canadian Provinces. Kate Rybczynski and Anindya Sen. Contemporary Economic Policy, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/coep.12241/full

Abstract: Recent U.S. studies offer conflicting evidence on minimum wage impacts. This paper studies the effects of 185 amendments to minimum wage on employment rates using panel data across Canadian provinces from 1981 to 2011. Ordinary least squares and instrumental variables (IV) estimates imply a 10% increase in minimum wage is associated with a 1%–4% reduction to employment rates for both male and female teens. We also find that an increase in the minimum wage is associated with lower employment of prime-aged immigrants. Our results are robust to a wide array of IV and the use of controls for spatial heterogeneity.

Deep Neural Networks Are More Accurate Than Humans at Detecting Sexual Orientation from Facial Images

Kosinski, Michal, and Yilun Wang. 2017. “Deep Neural Networks Are More Accurate Than Humans at Detecting Sexual Orientation from Facial Images.”. PsyArXiv. September 7. https://psyarxiv.com/hv28a

Abstract: We show that faces contain much more information about sexual orientation than can be perceived and interpreted by the human brain. We used deep neural networks to extract features from 35,326 facial images. These features were entered into a logistic regression aimed at classifying sexual orientation. Given a single facial image, a classifier could correctly distinguish between gay and heterosexual men in 81% of cases, and in 74% of cases for women. Human judges achieved much lower accuracy: 61% for men and 54% for women. The accuracy of the algorithm increased to 91% and 83%, respectively, given five facial images per person. Facial features employed by the classifier included both fixed (e.g., nose shape) and transient facial features (e.g., grooming style). Consistent with the prenatal hormone theory of sexual orientation, gay men and women tended to have gender-atypical facial morphology, expression, and grooming styles. Prediction models aimed at gender alone allowed for detecting gay males with 57% accuracy and gay females with 58% accuracy. Those findings advance our understanding of the origins of sexual orientation and the limits of human perception. Additionally, given that companies and governments are increasingly using computer vision algorithms to detect people’s intimate traits, our findings expose a threat to the privacy and safety of gay men and women.

A randomized controlled evaluation of a secondary school mindfulness program for early adolescents

A randomized controlled evaluation of a secondary school mindfulness program for early adolescents: Do we have the recipe right yet? Catherine Johnson et al. Behaviour Research and Therapy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2017.09.001

Highlights
•    We investigated the .b mindfulness program for a second time in early adolescents.
•    We tightened adherence to the manualised curriculum.
•    Parental involvement was added in one arm of the RCT design.
•    We found no differences between the mindfulness groups with/without parental involvement and the control group.
•    Further research is required to identify optimal age and content of school-based mindfulness programs.

Abstract

Objective: Mindfulness is being promoted in schools as a prevention program despite a current small evidence base. The aim of this research was to conduct a rigorous evaluation of the .b (“Dot be”) mindfulness curriculum, with or without parental involvement, compared to a control condition.

Method: In a randomized controlled design, students (Mage 13.44, SD 0.33; 45.4% female) across a broad range of socioeconomic indicators received the nine lesson curriculum delivered by an external facilitator with (N = 191) or without (N = 186) parental involvement, or were allocated to a usual curriculum control group (N = 178). Self-report outcome measures were anxiety, depression, weight/shape concerns, wellbeing and mindfulness.

Results: There were no differences in outcomes between any of the three groups at post-intervention, six or twelve month follow-up. Between-group effect sizes (Cohen's d) across the variables ranged from 0.002 to 0.37. A wide range of moderators were examined but none impacted outcome.

Conclusions: Further research is required to identify the optimal age, content and length of mindfulness programs for adolescents in universal prevention settings.

Keywords: Mindfulness; Adolescence; Schools; Transdiagnostic; Prevention


The Pervasive Problem With Placebos in Psychology - Why Active Control Groups Are Not Sufficient to Rule Out Placebo Effects. Walter R. Boot et al. Perspectives on Psychological Science, Volume: 8 issue: 4, page(s): 445-454, https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691613491271

Abstract: To draw causal conclusions about the efficacy of a psychological intervention, researchers must compare the treatment condition with a control group that accounts for improvements caused by factors other than the treatment. Using an active control helps to control for the possibility that improvement by the experimental group resulted from a placebo effect. Although active control groups are superior to “no-contact” controls, only when the active control group has the same expectation of improvement as the experimental group can we attribute differential improvements to the potency of the treatment. Despite the need to match expectations between treatment and control groups, almost no psychological interventions do so. This failure to control for expectations is not a minor omission—it is a fundamental design flaw that potentially undermines any causal inference. We illustrate these principles with a detailed example from the video-game-training literature showing how the use of an active control group does not eliminate expectation differences. The problem permeates other interventions as well, including those targeting mental health, cognition, and educational achievement. Fortunately, measuring expectations and adopting alternative experimental designs makes it possible to control for placebo effects, thereby increasing confidence in the causal efficacy of psychological interventions.

Monopoly without a monopolist : An economic analysis of the bitcoin payment system

Monopoly without a monopolist : An economic analysis of the bitcoin payment system. Jacob D. Leshno, Gur Huberman, and Ciamac Moallemi. BIS Central Bank Research Hub - Series: Bank of Finland Discussion Papers. https://www.bis.org/cbhub/list/series/sid_66/index.htm

Abstract: Many crypto-currencies, Bitcoin being the most prominent, are reliable electronic payment systems that operate without a central, trusted authority.  They are enabled by blockchain technology, which deploys cryptographic tools and game theoretic incentives to create a two-sided platform.  Profit maximizing computer servers called miners provide the infrastructure of the system.  Its users can send payments anonymously and securely.  Absent a central authority to control the system,  the paper seeks to understand the operation of the system:  How does the system raise revenue to pay for its infrastructure?  How are usage fees determined?  How much infrastructure is deployed?

A simplified economic model that captures the system’s properties answers these questions. Transaction fees and infrastructure level are determined in an equilibrium of a congestion queueing game derived from the system’s limited throughput.  The system eliminates dead-weight loss from monopoly, but introduces other inefficiencies and requires congestion to raise revenue and fund infrastructure.  We explore the future potential of such systems and provide design suggestions.

Sabotaging Another: Priming Competition Increases Cheating Behavior in Tournaments

Rigdon, M. L. and D'Esterre, A. (2017), Sabotaging Another: Priming Competition Increases Cheating Behavior in Tournaments. Southern Economic Journal. doi:10.1002/soej.12232

Abstract: Trophy. Goal. Dominated. Does priming individuals with competitive concepts such as these influence the temptation to cheat? We utilize a standard laboratory cheating task in a tournament setting and test whether nonconscious priming impacts the nature of cheating behavior. The results demonstrate an asymmetry in a winner-take-all setting: a competitive prime does not increase cheating to improve one's own outcome, but does significantly increase the willingness of an individual to sabotage a competitor.

Decreased Brain pH as a Shared Endophenotype of Psychiatric Disorders

Decreased Brain pH as a Shared Endophenotype of Psychiatric Disorders. Hideo Hagihara et al. Neuropsychopharmacology, Sept 06 2017; doi: 10.1038/npp.2017.167

Abstract: Although the brains of patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder exhibit decreased brain pH relative to those of healthy controls upon postmortem examination, it remains controversial whether this finding reflects a primary feature of the diseases or is a result of confounding factors such as medication and agonal state. To date, systematic investigation of brain pH has not been undertaken using animal models that can be studied without confounds inherent in human studies. In the present study, we first reevaluated the pH of the postmortem brains of patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder by conducting a meta-analysis of existing data sets from 10 studies. We then measured pH, lactate levels, and related metabolite levels in brain homogenates from five neurodevelopmental mouse models of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. All mice were drug naive with the same agonal state, postmortem interval, and age within each strain. Our meta-analysis revealed that brain pH was significantly lower in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder than in control participants, even when a few potential confounding factors (postmortem interval, age, and history of antipsychotic use) were considered. In animal experiments, we observed significantly lower pH and higher lactate levels in the brains of model mice relative to controls, as well as a significant negative correlation between pH and lactate levels. Our findings suggest that lower pH associated with increased lactate levels is not a mere artifact, but rather implicated in the underlying pathophysiology of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

The Impact of Price Controls: Evidence from US Debit Card Interchange Fee Regulation

The Impact of Price Controls in Two-Sided Markets: Evidence from US Debit Card Interchange Fee Regulation. Mark Manuszak and Krzysztof Wozniak. Federal Reserve Working Paper, July 2017, http://dx.doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2017.074

Abstract: We study the pricing of deposit accounts following a regulation that capped debit card interchange fees in the United States and provide the first empirical investigation of the link between interchange fees and granular deposit account prices. This link is broadly predicted by the theoretical literature on two-sided markets, but the nature and magnitude of price changes are key empirical issues. To examine the ways that banks adjusted their account prices in response to the regulatory cap on interchange fees, we exploit the cap's differential applicability across banks and account types, while accounting for equilibrium spillover effects on banks exempt from the cap. Our results show that banks subject to the cap raised checking account prices by decreasing the availability of free accounts, raising monthly fees, and increasing minimum balance requirements, with different adjustment across account types. We also find that banks exempt from the cap adjusted prices as a competitive response to price changes made by regulated banks. Not accounting for such competitive responses underestimates the policy's impact on the market, for both banks subject to the cap and those exempt from it.

Keywords: Equilibrium effects, Financial supervision and regulation, Interchange fees, Retail banking and debit cards, Two-sided markets
JEL Classification: G21, G28, L51

My comment: Knowing the lawmaker that, if he reduces profits in some areas of work (in this case, capping most debit card fees), the profits must be reaped in another area of work (decreasing the availability of free accounts, raising monthly fees, and increasing minimum balance requirements), why do the legislator make these interventions? To the politician, 1  it is a way to be seen doing something to fight fees that the customers (and family members in Thanksgiving dinner) resent;  2 has almost no costs for him.

Beliefs about obedience levels in studies conducted within the Milgram paradigm

Beliefs about obedience levels in studies conducted within the Milgram paradigm; Better than average effect and comparisons of typical behaviours by residents of various nations. Tomasz Grzyb and Dariusz Dolinski. Front. Psychol., doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01632

Abstract: The article presents studies examining whether the better-than-average effect (BTA) appears in opinions regarding obedience of individuals participating in an experiment conducted in the Milgram paradigm. Participants are presented with a detailed description of the experiment, asked to declare at what moment an average participant would cease their participation in the study, and then asked to declare at what moment they themselves would quit the experiment. It turned out that the participants demonstrated a strong BTA effect. This effect also concerned those who had known the results of the Milgram experiment prior to the study.

Interestingly, those individuals – in contrast to naive participants – judged that the average person would remain obedient for longer, but at the same time prior familiarity with the Milgram experiment did not impact convictions as to own obedience. By the same token, the BTA effect size was larger among those who had previously heard of the Milgram experiment than those who had not. Additionally, study participants were asked to estimate the behaviour of the average resident of their country (Poland), as well as of average residents of several other European countries. It turned out that in participants’ judgement the average Pole would withdraw from the experiment quicker than the average Russian and average German, but later than average residents of France and England.

My comment: people believe they would quit the Milgram experiment sooner than others.