According to the facial feedback hypothesis, people's affective responses can be influenced by their own facial expression (e.g., smiling, pouting), even when their expression did not result from their emotional experiences. For example, Strack, Martin, and Stepper (1988) instructed participants to rate the funniness of cartoons using a pen that they held in their mouth. In line with the facial feedback hypothesis, when participants held the pen with their teeth (inducing a "smile"), they rated the cartoons as funnier than when they held the pen with their lips (inducing a "pout"). This seminal study of the facial feedback hypothesis has not been replicated directly. This Registered Replication Report describes the results of 17 independent direct replications of Study 1 from Strack et al. (1988), all of which followed the same vetted protocol. A meta-analysis of these studies examined the difference in funniness ratings between the "smile" and "pout" conditions. The original Strack et al. (1988) study reported a rating difference of 0.82 units on a 10-point Likert scale. Our meta-analysis revealed a rating difference of 0.03 units with a 95% confidence interval ranging from -0.11 to 0.16.

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BACKGROUND: Seasickness is a risk aboard a ship. Histamine is postulated as a causative agent, inversely related to the intake of vitamin C. Persons with mastocytosis experienced improvement of nausea after the intake of vitamin C. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether vitamin C suppresses nausea in 70 volunteers who spent 20 minutes in a life raft, exposed to one-meter-high waves in an indoor pool. METHOD: Double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study. Two grams of vitamin C or placebo was taken one hour before exposure. Blood samples were taken one hour before and after exposure to determine histamine, diamine oxidase, tryptase, and vitamin C levels. Symptom scores were noted on a visual analog scale. On the second day the test persons were asked which day they had felt better. RESULTS: Seven persons without symptoms were excluded from the analysis. Test persons had less severe symptoms after the intake of vitamin C (p < 0.01). Scores on the visual analog scale were in favor of vitamin C, but the difference was not significant. Twenty-three of 63 persons wished to leave the raft earlier: 17 after the intake of placebo and 6 after the intake of vitamin C (p < 0.03). Women (p < 0.02) and men below 27 years of age (p < 0.02) had less pronounced symptoms after the intake of vitamin C. Histamine (p < 0.01) and DAO levels were increased after the intake of vitamin C (p < 0.001) and after placebo (n.s.). The fact that the second test day was rated less stressful by most volunteers is indicative of habituation. CONCLUSIONS: Some of the data show that vitamin C is effective in suppressing symptoms of seasickness, particularly in women and men younger than 27 years of age, and is devoid of side effects. Histamine levels were initially increased after the test persons had been exposed to waves.

In the thyroid follicles and blood of goats with congenital hypothyroidism and goiter, abnormal iodoproteins (e.g. iodoalbumin) are found. To study the mechanism involved in the passage of these proteins between the follicles and the blood, the morphology of tight junctions in goiters and normal thyroids of goats was studied by means of freeze fracturing. The T4 and TSH levels of 16 goats were measured by RIA. Based on the TSH levels, the goats could be divided into three groups: a euthyroid group of eight goats with TSH levels between 28 and 55 mU/liter, a hypothyroid group of six goats with TSH levels higher than 199 mU/liter, and an intermediary group of two goats with TSH levels of 120 and 124 mU/liter, respectively. The euthyroid and intermediate animals had normal T4 levels (less than 49 nmol/liter), except for three newborn goats, which had T4 levels above 250 nmol/liter. The hypothyroid goats had T4 levels below 43 nmol/liter. The mean numbers of strands composing the tight junctions were negatively correlated with TSH levels. Hence, the tight junctions of the glands of hypothyroid goats are narrower and are composed of fewer strands than those of normal thyroids. This reduction in tight junction complexity may provide an explanation for the leakage of proteins into the follicles of goitrous glands.