Search

In 2020, the SARS-COV-2 pandemic forced countries across the world to enforce measures such as wearing face masks. An important aspect of mask-wearing is that masks mainly protect other individuals, while causing a discomfort for the wearer. Therefore, the motivation to comply with such rules is altruism and mutual trust. Available vaccines leading to herd immunity might be the end of such regulations, but bring about different benefits and costs depending on how many people engage. The present online study employs scenarios inspired by game theory to obtain information about determinants of mask-wearing and vaccinating behaviors. Participants will be asked to decide if they would wear a mask in different situations, e.g. with family members or strangers, where the prior knowledge provided about the interaction partner is modulated. Further, they are asked to decide whether they get vaccinated in situations where perceived costs (side effects/monetary) and perceived herd immunity/social pressure are manipulated. We would like to obtain a behavioral measure of altruism by offering a monetary reward, that can either be transferred directly to the participant (low altruism) or a beneficial organization (high altruism) (!only if funding is granted!). Validated questionnaires allow to control for other factors, such as perceived vulnerability to disease, empathy and altruism. The cross-cultural approach will help to find generalizable conclusions that can help to shape informed health policies across Europe.

Spinnenphobie ist eine der häufigsten Phobien und kann die Lebensqualität der Betroffenen deutlich beeinträchtigen. Die meistgenutzte Therapiemöglichkeit ist die Expositionstherapie, bei der dem Patienten wiederholt ein furchtauslösender Stimulus dargeboten wird. Wir formulieren dieses therapeutische Setting als ein “closed-loop-System”, das anhand des vorhergehenden Zustands des Patienten (gemessen mit einem “Sensor”) den nächsten Stimulus wählt, um ein optimales Aktivierungsniveau beizubehalten (durch einen “Controller”). Dies ermöglicht ein besseres theoretisches Verständnis sowie die Verbesserung und Automatisierung dieser Therapiemöglichkeit. Unsere hier vorgestellte SpiDa Database dokumentiert die Furchtreaktionen, die von bestimmten Stimuli ausgelöst werden. Um die Messung momentaner Furchtzustände zu verfeinern, setzen wir eine Reihe physiologischer Messinstrumente ein und verwenden maschinelles Lernen, um die ausgelöste Furcht vorherzusagen. Fünfundfünfzig Probanden bewerteten die Furcht, die die 175 SpiDa Bilder auslösten. Durch das Trainieren von Modellen versuchen wir, diese Bewertungen anhand der verfügbaren Information vorherzusagen. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass vorrangig zwei Variablen für die Vorhersage relevant sind: Das Mittel der Bewertungen des aktuellen Stimulus durch andere Probanden sowie das Mittel der Bewertungen der vorhergehenden Stimuli durch den aktuellen Probanden. Um die 60 Prozent der Varianz der Bewertungen lassen sich mit solch einem reduzierten Modell vorhersagen. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass eine erfolgreiche Konzeption eines “Controller”, um closed-loop Ansätze in der Therapie aber auch Forschung möglich zu machen, vor allem zweierlei benötigt: Ein gut untersuchtes Set an Stimuli, von denen bekannt ist, welche Reaktionen sie auslösen, sowie die Berücksichtigung vorhergehender Zustände des Patienten zusätzlich zum momentanen Zustand. Zur Unterstützung der Open Science Initiative werden wir sämtliches Material der SpiDa-Datenbank öffentlich zugänglich machen., Specific phobias can severely limit the quality of life of affected individuals. Given their high prevalence, finding feasible and evidence-based therapeutic approaches to phobias is of clinical importance. The current state of the art treatment is exposure therapy, where a therapist presents feared stimuli to the patient. To model and potentially automatize exposure therapy, we conceptualised it as a dynamic closed-loop system that assesses the patient’s fear state (sensor), and updates the stimulus intensity so that arousal levels are optimal for maximizing clinical efficacy (controller). We measured physiological signals to improve the assessment of the current fear state and developed an input (stimulus) – output (fear) mapping for spider phobia to provide the controller with stimuli: the SpiDa database. 55 pre-screened participants were confronted with 175 luminance-matched pictures of spiders, while physiological signals were recorded. After each picture, they were asked to rate the level of fear it induced. Results from machine learning predictions show that two input variables are contributing most to predicting fear states: the average rating of the current stimulus across participants, and how the current participant had rated previous images. A simple model taking into account these two input variables can on average predict 60% of the variance of fear ratings for previously unseen stimuli. We conclude that drawing not only on current signals, but also on participants’ previous states and a well-defined stimulus space is most important when designing a controller for future closed loop approaches in therapy and fear research. In support of this, we will make all stimuli and the corresponding reactions publicly available.

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Bedeutung der intrazytoplasmatischen Spermieninjektion (ICSI) in der Behandlung der schweren männlichen Subfertilität. Es wurden die ersten 449 ICSI-Behandlungszyklen an der Frauenklinik Dr. Wilhelm Krüsmann in München ausgewertet, die von Oktober 1993 bis März 1995 bei insgesamt 313 Ehepaaren durchgeführt wurden. Eingang in das ICSI-Programm hatten ausschließlich Ehepaare gefunden, bei denen auf Seiten des Mannes eine schwere Subfertilität mehrfach nachgewiesen war – entweder durch wiederholt erstellte Spermiogramme oder aufgrund vorangegangener erfolgloser IVF-Versuche, also ohne ICSI. Bei fast der Hälfte aller Paare lagen zusätzlich auch auf Seite der Frau eine Erkrankung oder anamnestische Hinweise auf eine Fertilitätsminderung vor. Es konnte gezeigt werden, daß unabhängig von der Schwere der Pathologie des Spermiogramms, so auch in Fällen, in denen überhaupt nur vereinzelt lebende Spermatozoen gefunden wurden, hohe Fertilisierungs-, Embryotransfer- und Schwangerschaftsraten erzielt werden können. Dabei traten sogar Konzeptionen nach ICSI mittels epididymalen und testikulären Spermatozoen ein. Ein Einfluß der auf Seite der Frau vorliegenden fertilitätsmindernden Faktoren konnte in dieser Arbeit nicht nachgewiesen werden. Demgegenüber scheint die zunehmende Anzahl an behandelten Fällen und die damit verbundene größere Erfahrung einen positiven Einfluß auf die Erfolgsrate der ICSI zu nehmen. In dieser Arbeit konnte gezeigt werden, daß die Schwangerschaftsrate nach einer Übungsphase signifikant höher liegt. Daraus ist der Schluß zu ziehen, daß Zentren mit einer entsprechend großen Fallzahl bessere Schwangerschaftsraten erzielen könnten. Nicht untersucht wurde in dieser Arbeit die Geburtenrate und damit die eigentliche Baby-take-home-Rate. Für das einzelne Paar, das von langem, nicht erfülltem Kinderwunsch betroffen ist, hat aber gerade diese Rate eine große Bedeutung. Wichtig erscheint auch in diesem Zusammenhang die Etablierung von prospektiven kontrollierten Studien, die sich mit langangelegten Nachuntersuchungen der nach ICSI geborenen Kinder beschäftigt, um sicherzugehen, daß diese doch sehr junge Methode gesunde Nachkommen mit einer normalen Entwicklung, auch in den ihnen nachfolgenden Generationen, hervorbringt., This study evaluated the role of the intracytoplasmatic sperm injection (ICSI) in the treatment of severe male factor infertility. The results of the frst 449 consecutive cycles of ICSI at the Frauenklinik Dr. Wilhelm Krüsmann in Munich are reported. 313 married couples were treated between October 1993 and March 1995. The patients with severe male factor infertility were offered ICSI for the following reasons: 1. repeated pathologic sperm count 2. previously failed routine in vitro fertilization (IVF) In nearly 50 per cent of treated couples the woman also had a history of and / or disease leading to impaired fertility. We demonstrated that independent of the degree of the pathologic sperm count high fertilization-, embryotransfer- and good pregnancy rates could be established. Pregnancies could even be established with epididymal and testicular spermatozoa and in cases with only one single viable spermatozoon. We could not show any influence of female fertility impairing factors. A higher number of treatment cycles including greater experience might have a positive influence on the treatment outcome. This study shows that pregnancy rates are better after a period of training. Therefore, centers with a higher number of patients might have better outcomes. This study did not analyze birth rates and the so called “baby take home rate”. There is a need for future prospective studies to evaluate the safety of ICSI to ensure that this new method leads to healthy and well developed livebirths.

During medical pandemics, protective behaviors need to be motivated by effective communication, where finding predictors of fear and perceived health is of critical importance. The varying trajectories of the COVID-19 pandemic in different countries afford the opportunity to assess the unique influence of ‘macro-level’ environmental factors and ‘micro-level’ psychological variables on both fear and perceived health. Here, we investigate predictors of fear and perceived health using machine learning as lockdown restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic were introduced in Austria, Spain, Poland and Czech Republic. Over a seven-week period, 533 participants completed weekly self-report surveys which measured the target variables subjective fear of the virus and perceived health, in addition to potential predictive variables related to psychological factors, social factors, perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD), and economic circumstances. Viral spread, mortality and governmental responses were further included in the analysis as potential environmental predictors. Results revealed that our models could accurately predict fear of the virus (accounting for approximately 23% of the variance) using predictive factors such as worrying about shortages in food supplies and perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD), where interestingly, environmental factors such as spread of the virus and governmental restrictions did not contribute to this prediction. Furthermore, our results revealed that perceived health could be predicted using PVD, physical exercise, attachment anxiety and age as input features, albeit with smaller effect sizes. Taken together, our results emphasize the importance of ‘micro-level’ psychological factors, as opposed to ‘macro-level’ environmental factors, when predicting fear and perceived health, and offer a starting point for more extensive research on the influences of pathogen threat and governmental restrictions on the psychology of fear and health., PLoS ONE, 16 (3), ISSN:1932-6203

The COVID-19 pandemic along with the restrictions that were introduced within Europe starting in spring 2020 allows for the identification of predictors for relationship quality during unstable and stressful times. The present study began as strict measures were enforced in response to the rising spread of the COVID-19 virus within Austria, Poland, Spain and Czech Republic. Here, we investigated quality of romantic relationships among 313 participants as movement restrictions were implemented and subsequently phased out cross-nationally. Participants completed self-report questionnaires over a period of 7 weeks, where we predicted relationship quality and change in relationship quality using machine learning models that included a variety of potential predictors related to psychological, demographic and environmental variables. On average, our machine learning models predicted 29% (linear models) and 22% (non-linear models) of the variance with regard to relationship quality. Here, the most important predictors consisted of attachment style (anxious attachment being more influential than avoidant), age, and number of conflicts within the relationship. Interestingly, environmental factors such as the local severity of the pandemic did not exert a measurable influence with respect to predicting relationship quality. As opposed to overall relationship quality, the change in relationship quality during lockdown restrictions could not be predicted accurately by our machine learning models when utilizing our selected features. In conclusion, we demonstrate cross-culturally that attachment security is a major predictor of relationship quality during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, whereas fear, pathogenic threat, sexual behavior, and the severity of governmental regulations did not significantly influence the accuracy of prediction.

***this preprint has since been published: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0247997 (Open Access)*** During medical pandemics, protective behaviors need to be motivated by effective communication, where finding predictors of fear and perceived health is of critical importance. The varying trajectories of the COVID-19 pandemic in different countries afford the opportunity to assess the unique influence of ‘macro-level’ environmental factors and ‘micro-level’ psychological variables on both fear and perceived health. Here, we investigate predictors of fear and perceived health using machine learning as lockdown restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic were introduced in Austria, Spain, Poland and Czech Republic. Over a seven-week period, 533 participants completed weekly self-report surveys which measured the target variables subjective fear of the virus and perceived health, in addition to potential predictive variables related to psychological factors, social factors, perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD), and economic circumstances. Viral spread, mortality and governmental responses were further included in the analysis as potential environmental predictors. Results revealed that our models could accurately predict fear of the virus (accounting for approximately 23% of the variance) using predictive factors such as worrying about shortages in food supplies, and perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD), where interestingly, environmental factors such as spread of the virus and governmental restrictions did not contribute to this prediction. Furthermore, our results revealed that perceived health could be predicted using PVD, physical exercise, attachment anxiety and age as input features, albeit with smaller effect sizes. Taken together, our results emphasize the importance of ‘micro-level’ psychological factors, as opposed to ‘macro-level’ environmental factors, when predicting fear and perceived health, and offer a starting point for more extensive research on the influences of pathogen threat and governmental restrictions on the psychology of fear and health.