Trait Anxiety Has Effect on Decision Making under Ambiguity but Not Decision Making under Risk

<div><p>Previous studies have reported that trait anxiety (TA) affects decision making. However, results remain largely inconsistent across studies. The aim of the current study was to further address the interaction between TA and decision making. 304 subjects without depression from a sample consisting of 642 participants were grouped into high TA (HTA), medium TA (MTA) and low TA (LTA) groups based on their TA scores from State Trait Anxiety Inventory. All subjects were assessed with the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) that measures decision making under ambiguity and the Game of Dice Task (GDT) that measures decision making under risk. While the HTA and LTA groups performed worse on the IGT compared to the MTA group, performances on the GDT between the three groups did not differ. Furthermore, the LTA and HTA groups showed different individual deck level preferences in the IGT: the former showed a preference for deck B indicating that these subjects focused more on the magnitude of rewards, and the latter showed a preference for deck A indicating significant decision making impairment. Our findings suggest that trait anxiety has effect on decision making under ambiguity but not decision making under risk and different levels of trait anxiety related differently to individual deck level preferences in the IGT.</p></div

Additional file 1 of Ultra-confined Propagating Exciton–Plasmon Polaritons Enabled by Cavity-Free Strong Coupling: Beating Plasmonic Trade-Offs

Additional file 1: Supporting information including numerical methods and equations for characterization, parameters for the coupled-oscillator (COM) model, waveguiding properties of PEPP with varied MNW diameters, 3D simulations, and extending the strong coupling strategy to other structures

Number of cards selected in blocks during the IGT.

<p>Mean number of cards selected from individual deck A, B, C and D for subjects with HTA (A), MTA (B) and LTA (C), graphed as a function of trial block. MTA subjects gradually increased their preference for advantageous decks (C and D) and decreased their preference for disadvantageous decks (A and B). *<i>p</i> < .05, **<i>p</i> < .01 and ***<i>p</i> < .001. Means ± SEMs are shown.</p

Netscore and frequency of each single alternative during the GDT.

<p>Mean netscore over the GDT (A) and mean frequency of each single alternative (B) for subjects with HTA, MTA, and LTA. Means ± SEMs are shown.</p

Number of cards selected for groups during the IGT.

<p>Mean number of cards selected for subjects with HTA, MTA, and LTA from individual decks A (A), B (B), C (C), and D (D) over 100 picks of cards. *<i>p</i> < .05, **<i>p</i> < .01 and ***<i>p</i> < .001. Means ± SEMs are shown.</p

Netscore over the task and netscore of the five blocks during the IGT.

<p>Mean netscore over 100 picks of cards (A) and mean netscore for each block of 20 trials (B) for subjects with HTA, MTA, and LTA. *<i>p</i> < .05 and ***<i>p</i> < .001. Means ± SEMs are shown.</p

Results of the neuropsychological tests in the three groups [mean (SD)].

<p>Note: TMT: Trail Making Test; WCST: Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; HTA: high trait anxiety; MTA: medium trait anxiety; LTA: low trait anxiety.</p><p>Results of the neuropsychological tests in the three groups [mean (SD)].</p

Number of deck selections during the IGT.

<p>Mean number of selections for individual decks A, B, C, and D in the HTA (A), MTA (B), and LTA (C) subjects over 100 picks of cards. *<i>p</i> < .05, **<i>p</i> < .01 and ***<i>p</i> < .001. Means ± SEMs are shown.</p

Conformation-Activity Mechanism of Alcalase Hydrolysis for Reducing In Vitro Allergenicity of Instant Soy Milk Powder

Effective reduction of the allergenicity of instant soy milk powder (ISMP) is practically valuable for expanding its applications. This study optimized the enzymolysis technology of ISMP using single-factor experiments and response surface methodology, combined serological analysis, cellular immunological models, bioinformatics tools, and multiple spectroscopy techniques to investigate the effects of alcalase hydrolysis on allergenicity, spatial conformation, and linear epitopes of ISMP. Under the optimal process, special IgE and IgG1 binding abilities and allergenic activity to induce cell degranulation of alcalase-hydrolyzed ISMP were reduced by (64.72 ± 1.76)%, (56.79 ± 3.72)%, and (73.3 ± 1.19)%, respectively (P < 0.05). Moreover, the spatial conformation of instant soy milk powder hydrolysates (ISMPH) changed, including decreased surface hydrophobicity, a weaker peak of amide II band, lower contents of α-helix and β-sheet, and an enhanced content of random coil. Furthermore, the linear epitopes of major soy allergens, 9 from glycinin and 13 from β-conglycinin, could be directionally disrupted by alcalase hydrolysis. Overall, the structure–activity mechanism of alcalase hydrolysis to reduce ISMP allergenicity in vitro was preliminarily clarified. It provided a new research direction for the breakthrough in the desensitization of ISMP and a theoretical basis for revealing the potential mechanism of alcalase enzymolysis to reduce the allergenicity of ISMP

Seasonal changes of carbon (A), nitrogen (B) and phosphorus (C) accumulation in root, stem-leaf, and panicle of late-season rice under different water and N managements (2-year average).

<p>Vertical bars represent ± standard deviation of the mean (n = 6).</p