Non-communicating Groups Research Articles

The pregnancy outcomes of patients with rudimentary uterine horn: A 30-year experience.

ObjectivesTo evaluate the presentation, assessment, treatment, and pregnancy outcomes of 22 women with a rudimentary uterine horn.MethodsWe reviewed the data regarding the outcomes of patients with a rudimentary horn pregnancy (RHP) who were managed at Peking Union Medical College Hospital over the last 30 years. Twenty-two pregnant patients with a rudimentary horn have been treated at our institute over the last 30 years. All patients with RHP were divided into two groups: Type A (n = 4), a rudimentary horn with a cavity that communicated with the uterus; and Type B (n = 7), a rudimentary horn with a cavity that did not communicate with the uterus. We classified all 22 patients into communicating group or noncommunicating group according to the anatomical connection of the rudimentary horn to the contralateral hemiuterus.ResultsThe mean gestational age of Type A patients (23.5 weeks) was significantly higher (P = 0.046) than that of Type B patients (10 weeks). The rudimentary uterine horn carried 4 of 5 (80%) pregnancies in the communicating group. Three case of rudimentary horn pregnancies ruptured before a gestational age of 12 weeks, and one abortion occurred after a gestational age of 12 weeks. In the noncommunicating group, 7 of 17 (41.2%) cases were RHPs, and 3 ruptured after a gestational age of 12 weeks.ConclusionsThe diagnosis and management of the rudimentary uterine horn continues to be challenging. Medical and radiological personnel must maintain a high degree of alertness to prevent the morbidity associated with this condition. In particular, patients with RHP (Type A), who have a higher chance being misdiagnosed before 12 gestational weeks, have a higher risk of potential complications. If pregnancy in the rudimentary horn is diagnosed, excision of the pregnant horn is recommended, regardless of the type of unicornuate uterus.

How Can We Keep Direct Democracy and Avoid “Kolotoumba”

The issue of divisive referendums, which Professor Frey identifies as one of the problems of “Democracy of the Future”, is a special case of emerging tribalism (division into non-communicating competitive groups in political and social life). This article proposes an alternative institutional solution to address tribalism in both direct and representative democracy. It introduces competition for agenda setting in referendums such that more inclusive solutions emerge; it also proposes the adoption of an electoral system that multiplies the options of the public both in direct and representative democracy in order to further empower the general public.

Group Augmentation in Realistic Visual-Search Decisions via a Hybrid Brain-Computer Interface

Groups have increased sensing and cognition capabilities that typically allow them to make better decisions. However, factors such as communication biases and time constraints can lead to less-than-optimal group decisions. In this study, we use a hybrid Brain-Computer Interface (hBCI) to improve the performance of groups undertaking a realistic visual-search task. Our hBCI extracts neural information from EEG signals and combines it with response times to build an estimate of the decision confidence. This is used to weigh individual responses, resulting in improved group decisions. We compare the performance of hBCI-assisted groups with the performance of non-BCI groups using standard majority voting, and non-BCI groups using weighted voting based on reported decision confidence. We also investigate the impact on group performance of a computer-mediated form of communication between members. Results across three experiments suggest that the hBCI provides significant advantages over non-BCI decision methods in all cases. We also found that our form of communication increases individual error rates by almost 50% compared to non-communicating observers, which also results in worse group performance. Communication also makes reported confidence uncorrelated with the decision correctness, thereby nullifying its value in weighing votes. In summary, best decisions are achieved by hBCI-assisted, non-communicating groups.

Asymmetric and Endogenous Communication in Competition between Groups

Costless pre-play communication has been shown to effectively facilitate within-group coordination. However, in competitive coordination games, such as rent-seeking contests, better within-group coordination leads to more aggressive competition and lower efficiency. We report an experiment in which two groups compete in a weakest-link contest by expending costly efforts. We find that allowing within-group communication makes groups compete more aggressively. When only one group can communicate, the communicating group coordinates better and expends higher efforts than the non-communicating group. However, the communicating group earns payoffs that are not different from the baseline contest without any communication, while the non-communicating group earns lower payoffs than in this baseline contest. Allowing within-group communication in both groups leads to even more aggressive competition and the lowest payoffs to both groups. Despite such a “harmful” effect of communication, groups vote to endogenously open communication channels even though this leads to lower payoffs and efficiency.

The lack of relationship between intracranial pressure and cerebral ventricle indices based on brain computed tomography in patients undergoing ventriculoperitoneal shunt.

In this study we investigated whether cerebral ventricle indices based on brain computed tomography (CT) scans are reliable for predicting intracranial pressure (ICP) in hydrocephalic patients. Electronic medical records of 221 patients undergoing ventriculoperitoneal shunt due to hydrocephalus were retrospectively reviewed. Cerebral ventricle indices including Evans' index, third ventricle index, cella media index, and ventricular score were calculated from transverse diameters measured at various levels on preoperative brain CT scans. ICP was considered as CSF opening pressure. Patients were categorized into three groups: communicating hydrocephalus, non-communicating hydrocephalus, and normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). The non-communicating hydrocephalus group was further divided according to the obstruction site; aqueduct, fourth ventricle outlet, third ventricle, and the foramen of Monro. The primary endpoint was the extent of the correlation between cerebral ventricle indices and ICP in each hydrocephalus group. No cerebral ventricle index correlated with ICP in patients with communicating hydrocephalus (n = 113) and NPH (n = 62). In the non-communicating hydrocephalus group (n = 46), only the third ventricle index revealed moderate negative correlation with ICP (r = -0.395, p < 0.01). In subgroup analyses, the third ventricle index showed a strong negative relationship with ICP only in patients with the third ventricle obstruction (r = -0.779, p < 0.05). In this study we showed that although an inverse correlation existed between ICP and the third ventricle index only in patients with non-communicating hydrocephalus due to obstruction of the third ventricle, cerebral ventricle indices based on brain CT scan were non-reliable predictors of ICP in hydrocephalic patients.

Performance of human groups in social foraging: the role of communication in consensus decision making

Early hominids searched for dispersed food sources in a patchy, uncertain environment, and modern humans encounter equivalent spatial-temporal coordination problems on a daily basis. A fundamental, but untested assumption is that our evolved capacity for communication is integral to our success in such tasks, allowing information exchange and consensus decisions based on mutual consideration of pooled information. Here we examine whether communication enhances group performance in humans, and test the prediction that consensus decision-making underlies group success. We used bespoke radio-tagging methodology to monitor the incremental performance of communicating and non-communicating human groups (small group sizes of two to seven individuals), during a social foraging experiment. We found that communicating groups (n = 22) foraged more effectively than non-communicating groups (n = 21) and were able to reach consensus decisions (an 'agreement' on the most profitable foraging resource) significantly more often than non-communicating groups. Our data additionally suggest that gesticulations among group members played a vital role in the achievement of consensus decisions, and therefore highlight the importance of non-verbal signalling of intentions and desires for successful human cooperative behaviour.

Comparative evaluation of 5-HIAA (5-hydroxy indoleacetic acid) and HVA (homovanillic acid) in infantile hydrocephalus

Infantile hydrocephalus is a common congenital problem. Functional and behavioral disturbances associated with hydrocephalus may be due to altered neurotransmitters in the brain. The role of neurotransmitters has been established in various psychiatric and neurological conditions. Therefore, we decided to study the role of 5-hydroxy indoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and homovanillic acid (HVA) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of hydrocephalic patients as diagnostic and prognostic marker. Ventricular CSF samples were taken from hydrocephalic patients peroperatively and at days 7 & 30. Control CSF samples were taken from nonhydrocephalic patients operated for other conditions. Samples were analyzed for 5-HIAA and HVA, and results were obtained accordingly. Values of 5-HIAA and HVA showed a highly significant decrease after shunt insertion. No significant difference in values of 5-HIAA and HVA were observed in relation to age and duration of disease. The CSF ventriculo-lumbar gradient for both 5-HIAA and HVA done in six patients was statistically significant only in the noncommunicating group. Both the neurotransmitter metabolites 5-HIAA and HVA are found to be significantly high in the hydrocephalus, but 5-HIAA is a more sensitive parameter. These markers levels decrease after shunt insertion. Thus, estimation of these metabolites could be valuable markers for its diagnosis and follow-up.

The Role of Husband-Wife Communication in Family Planning

The following hypotheses were tested on data obtained through sample surveys in the Indian states of Haryana Tamil Nadu and Meghalaya: 1) the levels of knowledge and adoption of family planning are positively related to the frequency of husband-wife communication concerning birth control; 2) interspouse communication is associated with favorability to small family size norm and family planning practices; 3) interspouse communication increases with the level of education; and 4) the longer the duration of respondents marriage the greater the frequency of her communication with the husband. A precoded interview schedule was used to collect the data from the 1872 married women in these states. Over 67% of the surveyed women from the Tamil Nadu and Meghalaya rural strata had not discussed family planning even once with their husbands. In the urban areas the corresponding figures were 61.8 and 61.4% respectively. With certain exceptions the results support all but the 4th hypothesis. Except in Meghalaya a large number of respondents from the noncommunicating group reported incidence of unplanned pregnancies. Long hours of work outside the home emerged as 1 of the most crucial barriers to communication in 4 out of 6 samples. The lack of effective husband-wife communication reported implies a low salience of the family-planning issues particularly in the rural areas. Such situations could be immediately countered by involving opinion leaders and satisfied family planning users and helping them to carry the family planning message to other community members. Except in Meghalaya the rated frequency of husband-wife communication regarding family planning is significantly related to the awareness and knowledge of contraceptive devices.

Behavioral Correlates of Noncommunicators

A group of noncommunicating (NC) mental retardates (MR) were compared with a matched group of communicating (C) peers on 10 behavior categories. The NC group rated higher on variables of Aggressiveness and Prefers Solitude, while the C group achieved significantly higher ratings on variables of Interacts, Participates, Feeding Skills, and Dressing Skills. A frustration-aggression interpretation was discussed along with the need for intervention techniques to instill communication skills.