[Are conspiracy theorists psychotic? A comparison between conspiracy theories and paranoid delusions]. / Zijn complotdenkers psychotisch? Een vergelijking tussen complottheorieën en paranoïde wanen.

BACKGROUND: Conspiracy theories are popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conspiratorial thinking is characterised by the strong conviction that a certain situation that one sees as unjust is the result of a deliberate conspiracy of a group of people with bad intentions. Conspiratorial thinking appears to have many similarities with paranoid delusions. AIM: To explore the nature, consequences, and social-psychological dimensions of conspiratorial thinking, and describe similarities and differences with paranoid delusions. METHOD: Critically assessing relevant literature about conspiratorial thinking and paranoid delusions. RESULTS: Conspiratorial thinking meets epistemic, existential, and social needs. It provides clarity in uncertain times and connection with an in-group of like-minded people. Both conspiratorial thinking and paranoid delusions involve an unjust, persistent, and sometimes bizarre conviction. Unlike conspiracy theorists, people with a paranoid delusion are almost always the only target of the presumed conspiracy, and they usually stand alone in their conviction. Furthermore, conspiracy theories are not based as much on unusual experiences of their inner self, reality, or interpersonal contacts. CONCLUSIONS Conspirational thinking is common in uncertain circumstances. It gives grip, certainty, moral superiority and social support. Extreme conspirational thinking seems to fit current psychiatric definitions of paranoid delusions, but there are also important differences. To make a distinction with regard to conspiratorial thinking, deepening of conventional definitions of delusions is required. Instead of the strong focus on the erroneous content of delusions, more attention should be given to the underlying idiosyncratic, changed way of experiencing reality.

The role of sulfation in thyroid hormone metabolism.

Sulfate conjugation is a significant metabolic reaction for thyroxine and especially so for triiodothyronine and lower iodothyronines in rats. Triiodothyronine sulfation has also been demonstrated in humans. Sulfation accelerates the deiodinative breakdown of iodothyronines by the type I iodothyronine deiodinase in liver and thus represents a rate-limiting step in one of the elimination pathways of thyroid hormone.

Evidence for carrier-mediated uptake of triiodothyronine in cultured anterior pituitary cells of euthyroid rats.

T3 uptake and TSH secretion were investigated in anterior pituitary cells isolated from adult fed Wistar rats and cultured for 3 days in medium containing 10% fetal calf serum. TSH release during culture increased linearly with the number of cells in the range of 80,000-800,000 cells/well. Uptake and incubation experiments were performed at 37 C in medium containing 0.5% BSA. Incubation with TRH (0.1 microM) for 2 h stimulated TSH release 2.6-fold, and this effect was partly (approximately 45%) suppressed by preexposure for 2 h to T3 (0.01-1 microM) or T4 (1 microM). Similar concentrations of T3 and T4 reduced the cellular uptake of [125I]T3 (50 pM) during 1 h of incubation by 55%. After 15 min of incubation, [125I]T3 uptake (percent dose) amounted to 1.26 +/- 0.05% (mean +/- SE; n = 9)/500,000 cells. The major part (75%) of the [125I]T3 was found in the extranuclear fraction. Simultaneous incubation with unlabeled T3 (1 or 10 microM) reduced [125I]T3 uptake by 43% (n = 3; P < 0.001) and 52% (n = 6; P < 0.001), respectively. Reduction of the temperature to 20 C diminished the T3-suppressible fraction of [125I]T3 uptake approximately 3-fold. After preincubation (30 min) and incubation (15 min) with monodansylcadaverine (100 microM), the uptake of [125I]T3 was reduced by 32% (n = 3; P < 0.01). When the Na+ gradient was reduced by preincubation and incubation with ouabain (0.5 mM) or monensin (10 or 100 microM), T3 uptake was inhibited by 25% (n = 5; P < 0.01), 37% (n = 6; P < 0.001), and 61% (n = 3; P < 0.001), respectively. It is concluded that 1) T3 is taken up by the pituitary by a carrier-mediated mechanism, and 2) this uptake is at least partly dependent on the Na+ gradient.

Uptake of triiodothyronine sulfate and suppression of thyrotropin secretion in cultured anterior pituitary cells.

To investigate the uptake of triiodothyronine sulfate (T3S) and its effect on thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)-induced thyrotropin (TSH) secretion, anterior pituitary cells were isolated from euthyroid rats and cultured for 3 days in medium containing 10% fetal calf serum. Incubation was performed at 37 degrees C in medium containing 0.5% bovine serum albumin (BSA). Exposure of the pituitary cells to TRH (0.1 mumol/L) for 2 hours stimulated TSH secretion by 176%. This effect was reduced by approximately 45% after a 2-hour preincubation with T3 (0.001 to 1 mumol/L). A significant inhibitory effect of T3S on TRH-induced TSH release was only observed at a concentration of 1 mumol/L. The uptake of [125I]T3 after 1 hour of incubation was reduced by 40% +/- 4% (P < .001) by simultaneous addition of 10 nmol/L unlabeled T3, whereas 1 mumol/L T3S was required to obtain a reduction of the [125I]T3 uptake by 34% +/- 2% (P < .001). The amount of T3 present in the unlabeled T3S preparation was 0.25% as determined by radioimmunoassay. When pituitary cells were incubated for 1 hour with [125I]T3S or [125I]T3 (both 50,000 cpm/0.25 mL), the uptake of [125I]T3S expressed as a percentage of the dose was 0.04% +/- 0.02% (mean +/- SE, n = 4), whereas that of [125I]T3 amounted to 3.0% +/- 0.4% (n = 4). In contrast, when hepatocytes were incubated for 1 hour with [125I]T3S, the uptake amounted to 5.1% +/- 0.8% (n = 9), whereas that of [125I]T3 was 22.1% +/- 1.7% (n = 9).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Sustainable development in pollution control and the role of anaerobic treatment.

The increasing scarcity of clean water sets the need for appropriate management of available water resources. Particularly regions suffering from a lack of water urgently need integrated environmental protection and resource conservation (EP and RC) technologies in order to enable effective management of the available water resources. EP and RC-concepts focus on pollution prevention and on a minimum of consumptive use of energy, chemicals, and water in pollution abatement and a maximum of re-use of treated wastewater, by-products and residues produced in the treatment of waste and wastewater. Consequently, by implementing these concepts, waste(water)s like sewage and industrial effluents become an important source of water, fertilisers, soil conditioners and (frequently) energy instead of a social threat. In addition, a bridge is made between environmental protection and agriculture practice, stimulating (urban) agriculture in the neighbourhood of large cities. Anaerobic treatment is considered as the core technology for mineralising organic compounds in waste(water) streams. Additional technologies are required to comply with the reuse criteria. Some examples of possible EP and RC concepts, using the anaerobic treatment technology for the reclamation of domestic sewage are discussed.

Observations on early school failure in Zulu children.

The outcome of the screening of 2,190 children who had to repeat the school entry grades (Substandard A) in 25 junior primary schools in two KwaZulu townships is reported and the implications are discussed. The high number of repeaters did not appear to be due to an excess of mentally retarded children, the percentage being similar to that which could be expected in such a community world-wide. Difficulty in intelligence testing was experienced, but we describe how this was overcome by testing speed of learning. Visual defects, hearing defects and having no food before school accounted for the failure of many repeaters. Lack of preschool teaching by parents and schools and very strict discipline necessitated by large classes and a wide range in ages, which both led to anxiety on the part of the pupils, and sending children to school at too young an age were regarded as additional factors. Simple interventions were suggested to the school teachers; more than 1,000 pupils were followed up, with encouraging results.