Human Serum With High Neutralizing Antibody Titers Against Both Zika and Dengue Virus Shows Delayed In Vitro Antibody-Dependent Enhancement of Dengue Virus Infection

Zika virus infection in a dengue virus–naïve subject was associated with the induction of high levels of cross-reactive binding antibodies. These responses were, however, largely non-neutralizing and displayed a capacity to enhance dengue infection in vitro at significantly low dilution (1:10). In contrast, a subject who had high levels of neutralizing antibodies against both dengue and Zika viruses enhanced infection at a dilution of 1:10 000. These results suggest that high levels of dengue cross-neutralizing antibodies could potentially prevent the enhancement of dengue infection in Zika virus–convalescent individuals.

Usability of Biometric Iris-Capture Methods in Self-Service Applications

Biometric technologies are gaining wide acceptance as a means of securely establishing individual identity. Common biometric modalities include recognition of fingerprints, faces, and irises. However, increased adoption of biometric technologies poses a significant challenge to users within a public setting. Users generally have little prior experience using biometric devices and prior evaluations have not systematically evaluated device usability with this naïve population. We tested an array of biometric modalities and methods both staffed and unstaffed use-case scenarios with a representative naïve subject population. Here we report on the usability of three iris collection methods: user-controlled, operator-controlled, and mechanically-controlled. Biometric performance was strongly determined by subjects’ ability to correctly position and gaze at the iris device. Performance was poorest for the user-controlled method. Usability issues are the main differentiators of iris collection methods for a naïve user population.

Development of a New Sham Needle

The problem of providing an acupuncture placebo that is indistinguishable from genuine needling has appeared insurmountable. However, the authors have developed an apparatus, the Park sham needle unit, which is intended to match what an acupuncture-naïve subject expects to see and experience with needling, but is intended not to produce the specific needling sensation (deqi) that is felt with true needling. This can still not be regarded as a true placebo since skin contact must be made for verisimilitude and there may thus be some physiological stimulation. Nonetheless this form of sham acupuncture should be considered an advance on all previously used methods. The apparatus consists of a blunted needle, the shaft of which telescopes into the handle when tapped, so that, while the needle appears to have been inserted, it does not actually pierce the skin. The needle is held in place by a standard guide tube contained within a fitted sheath with basal ring that is secured to the skin with double sided sticky tape.

Differences in Conformity among Friends and Strangers

Two studies employed a variation of Asch's 1952 social influence paradigm to assess whether the tendency to conform is the same in a group of close friends as in a group of strangers. In Exp. 1, groups of 4 college students listened to a tape of static noise and attempted to determine whether a tone had been played along with the noise. Three experimental confederates, who were either friends of the naive subject or strangers, responded verbally with the wrong answer on 12 of 16 trials. Subjects in a group of strangers conformed to the incorrect group norm more frequently than subjects in a group of friends. In Exp. 2, two groups of 2 or 6 college students watched a beam of light and were asked to determine whether it had moved. Again, confederates who were either strangers or friends of each subject responded verbally with wrong answers. A 2 × 2 analysis of variance gave no main effects for group size or group type, but the interaction was significant, indicating that subjects were no more likely to conform in the presence of one stranger than one friend but were significantly less likely to conform among 5 friends than among 5 strangers.

Drs. Goyette and Conners Reply

Miller's emotion-laden comments concerning our article clearly misrepresent and/or ignore the reported data, the specifics of the K-P diet, and the comparable difficulties and nutritional aspects of the two diets tested. Careful reading of the article will answer most questions posed and contradict Miller's anecdotal clinical observations. The fundamental point, as presented by Miller, revolves around the use of a comparison treatment condition when a naive subject pool is unavailable. Empirical testing of a highly publicized and easily recognizable treatment program does raise methodological difficulties in developing an adequate comparison condition.

Fighting and Avoidance in Response To Aversive Stimulation

Avoidance behavior in single and paired rats was established by placing the animals into a chamber and allowing their shock-induced random movements to produce a bar press. Single subjects consistently performed better in the avoidance situation than paired subjects. This finding was related to the high incidence of shock elicited fighting which was observed between the paired animals. Both avoidance and fighting responses were typically made by one of the paired subjects while the other showed only the stereotyped fighting reaction. The addition of a naive subject into the chamber with a subject that had previously learned to avoid, also produced fighting behavior which disrupted the avoidance responding.