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Although researchers have indicated that individuals with depleted self-control resources have lower self-control behavior and exhibit more deceptive behaviors, recent psychological studies have shown that ritual can improve self-control and increase the likelihood that the individual makes prosocial decisions. However, little is known about whether ritual can regulate an individual's engagement in deceptive behavior when their self-control resources are depleted. This study adopted the spot-the-difference task to investigate the influences of ritual and self-control resources depletion on simple self-control behavior and deceptive behavior (Experiment 1 and Experiment 2); furthermore, relevant neural processes were explored using event-related potentials (Experiment 3). Experiment 1 showed that individuals with depleted self-control resources had lower self-control behavior and individuals performing a ritual had higher self-control behavior. Experiment 2 showed that individuals with depleted self-control resources exhibited more deceptive behaviors and individuals performing a ritual exhibited fewer deceptive behaviors; furthermore, ritual reduced deceptive behaviors in individuals with depleted self-control resources. Experiment 3 found that individuals with depleted self-control resources had larger P2 amplitudes after performing a ritual. Moreover, individuals with depleted self-control resources had larger LPP amplitudes over parietal sites after performing a ritual. These findings suggested that performing ritual may be an effective measure of inhibiting individuals with depleted self-control resources from engaging in deceptive behavior. Our findings verify the ego-depletion model and provide a new perspective for reducing deceptive behaviors in individuals with depleted self-control resources. We provide evidence that rituals could modulate deceptive behaviors in individuals with depleted self-control resources. This reveals that performing rituals may be an effective measure for inhibiting individuals with depleted self-control resources from engaging in deceptive behavior.

BACKGROUND: Adverse skin reactions to skin care products have been increasing in recent years. However, these reactions have not been characterized well to date. OBJECTIVE: To describe symptoms, clinical signs and frequency of adverse cutaneous reactions to skin care products on the face in males vs. females of various ages. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All outpatients diagnosed with adverse cutaneous reactions to skin care products on the face examined by dermatologists at Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University between November 1, 2016 and October 31, 2017, employing a questionnaire and interviewed by a dermatologist, were eligible. The association of adverse cutaneous reactions with age and gender was analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 433 outpatients, accounting for 0.12% of total outpatients, were assessed. Of these, 223 patients, including 204 females and 19 males, aged 4 to 75 years old, were eventually diagnosed with adverse reactions to skin care products on the face. Eighty-two per cent of patients experienced pruritus, while 80% showed erythema, and 48% visible swelling. The incidences of both xerosis and edema correlated positively with age, while acne-like lesions were negatively associated with age, but not with gender. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that pruritus, xerosis and erythema are common adverse cutaneous reactions to facial skin care products. These reactions vary with age, but not gender. Vigorous safety testing should precede marketing of skin care products.

Citation Zhong Y-P, Ying Y, Wu H-T, Zhou C-Q, Xu Y-W, Wang Q, Li J, Sheng X-T, Li J. Impact of anticardiolipin antibody on the outcome of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. Am J Reprod Immunol 2011; 66: 504–509 Problem To investigate the impact of anticardiolipin antibody (ACA) on the outcome of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET). Methods A total of 76 infertile women positive for anticardiolipin antibody (ACA+ group) and 819 controls negative for anticardiolipin antibody (ACA− group) undergoing IVF-ET in the First Affiliated Hospital, to Sun Yat-Sen University, were retrospectively analyzed. Women were diagnosed as having pure tubal factor infertility. Results The proportion of patients with a history of spontaneous abortion in the ACA+ group was significantly higher than that in ACA− group (19.7% versus 8.9%). The IVF rate, pregnancy rate and implantation rate in the ACA+ group were markedly lower than those in the ACA− group (75.5% versus 78.9%, 31.3% versus 48.6% and 16.1% versus 28.1%, respectively). Furthermore, the incidence of pregnancy loss in the ACA+ group was higher than that in the ACA− group (32.0% versus 15.1%). Conclusion ACA-positive patients had significantly decreased IVF rate, pregnancy rate and implantation rate and high risk of abortion. Therefore, ACA positivity predicts poor outcome of IVF-ET, and pre-treatment to lower ACA level may be clinically beneficial for patients receiving IVF-ET.