The impact of the mode of thought in complex decisions: intuitive decisions are better

A number of recent studies have reported that decision quality is enhanced under conditions of inattention or distraction (unconscious thought; Dijksterhuis, 2004; Dijksterhuis and Nordgren, 2006; Dijksterhuis et al., 2006). These reports have generated considerable controversy, for both experimental (problems of replication) and theoretical reasons (interpretation). Here we report the results of four experiments. The first experiment replicates the unconscious thought effect, under conditions that validate and control the subjective criterion of decision quality. The second and third experiments examine the impact of a mode of thought manipulation (without distraction) on decision quality in immediate decisions. Here we find that intuitive or affective manipulations improve decision quality compared to analytic/deliberation manipulations. The fourth experiment combines the two methods (distraction and mode of thought manipulations) and demonstrates enhanced decision quality, in a situation that attempts to preserve ecological validity. The results are interpreted within a framework that is based on two interacting subsystems of decision-making: an affective/intuition based system and an analytic/deliberation system

Instabilities in a combustion model with two free interfaces

We study in a strip of R2 a combustion model of flame propagation with stepwise temperature kinetics and zero-order reaction, characterized by two free interfaces, respectively the ignition and the trailing fronts. The latter interface presents an additional difficulty because the non-degeneracy condition is not met. We turn the system to a fully nonlinear problem which is thoroughly investigated. When the width ℓ of the strip is sufficiently large, we prove the existence of a critical value Lec of the Lewis number Le, such that the one-dimensional, planar, solution is unstable for

Representation of the three-body Coulomb Green's function in parabolic coordinates: paths of integration

The possibility is discussed of using straight-line paths of integration in computing the integral representation of the three-body Coulomb Green's function. In our numerical examples two different integration contours are considered. It is demonstrated that only one of these straight-line paths provides that the integral representation is valid

Histological and immunohistochemical evaluation of mandibular bone tissue regeneration

The purpose of the study was to perform an immunohistochemical and histological evaluation of samples taken from different bone regeneration procedures in atrophic human mandible. 30 patients (15 men and 15 women, age range of 35-60 years), non-smokers, with good general and oral health were recruited in this study and divided into three groups. The first group included patients who were treated with blood Concentration Growth Factors (bCGF), the second group included patients who were treated with a mixture of bCGF and autologous bone, while the third group of patients was treated with bCGF and tricalcium phosphate/hydroxyapatite (TCP-HA). Six months after the regenerative procedures, all patients undergone implant surgery, and a bone biopsy was carried out in the site of implant insertion. Each sample was histologically and immunohistochemically examined. Histological evaluation showed a complete bone formation for group II, partial ossification for group I, and moderate ossification for group III. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated a statistically significant difference between the three groups, and the best clinical result was obtained with a mixture of bCGF and autologous bone

Monolithic zirconia and digital impression: case report

The aim of this study is to present a clinical case of a full arch prosthetic rehabilitation on natural teeth, combining both digital work-flow and monolithic zirconi

Helical ordering in the ground state of spin-one color superconductors as a consequence of parity violation

We investigate spin-one color superconductivity of a single quark flavor using the Ginzburg-Landau theory. First we examine the classic analysis of Bailin and Love and show that by restricting to the so-called inert states, it misses the true ground state in a part of the phase diagram. This suggests the use of the more general, noninert states in particular within three-flavor quark matter where the color neutrality constraint imposes stress on the spin-one pairing and may disfavor the symmetric color-spin-locked state. In the second part of the paper we show that, in analogy to some ferromagnetic materials, lack of space-inversion symmetry leads to a new term in the Ginzburg-Landau functional, which favors a spatially nonuniform long-range ordering with a spiral structure. In color superconductors, this new parity-violating term is a tiny effect of weak-interaction physics. The modified phase diagram is determined and the corresponding ground states for all the phases constructed. At the end, we estimate the coefficient of the new term in the free energy functional, and discuss its relevance for the phenomenology of dense quark matter.Comment: 20 pages, REVTeX4, 6 eps figures; v2: references added, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

VARIABILITY OF STRIDE FREQUENCY AND PRONATION VELOCITY DURING A 16 DAY RELAY-RUN AROUND GERMANY – A CASE STUDY

This case study analyzed stride frequency, represented by time of gait cycle (TGC), and maximum pronation velocity (MPV) for one subject running 350 km over 16 consecutive days. Data collection took place during a day-and-night team relay-race around Germany in 2008. TGC and MPV measurements were performed by a gyrometer incorporated in the subject’s running shoe and recorded by a portable data logger. For data analysis TGC and MPV velocity were determined in 25 runs for altogether 112,532 steps of the right foot. Means and standard deviations of both parameters for complete runs and for all consecutive five-minute segments within each run were calculated. Results showed an increase of TGC and a decrease of MPV within single runs. Between run comparisons across all 25 runs showed no systematic change in TGC and MPV during the relay-race. Interestingly, during the unfamiliar night-runs TGC and MPV were increased compared to day-runs, potentially caused by altered biorhythm or limited vision at night

Evaluation of temporomandibular disorders before and after orthognathic surgery: therapeutic considerations on a sample of 76 patients

Temporomandibular disorders may be associated with dental and facial malformations. The aim of this study is to record the prevalence of TMDs in patients scheduled for orthognathic surgery, reporting the development of TMDs and symptoms during the entire period of the treatment, and demonstrating the benefits of a team effort on this population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Assessment of temporomandibular status was performed using the RDC/TMD criteria at T0 (prior to orthodontic therapy), T1 (3 months after the surgery), and T2 post-therapeutic cycle (6 to 12 months postoperatively). A total of 76 participants were included in the study; all the patients underwent surgical treatment: 12 had bilateral sagittal split osteotomy, 6 with condylar position devices; 64 had Le Fort I + bilateral sagittal split osteotomy, and 15 with condylar position devices. Results were evaluated with a paired-sample t-test and segmentation analysis. RESULTS: Forty-seven patients were affected by TMDs. At T0, 25 patients experienced TMJ pain, 27 had muscular pain, 31 suffered headaches, 42 had disc dislocation with reduction, and 5 were affected by disc dislocation without reduction. Thirty-five patients had occlusal signs of parafunctions, 8 reported tinnitus, and 7 dizziness. At T1, TMJ pain changed from 33.3% to 4.44%, muscular pain changed from 35.5% to 11.1%, headaches improved from 40% to 6.67%, and disc dislocation from 55.2% to 17.7%. Segmentation analysis highlighted improvement after therapy; 57 patients were considered recovered, 14 improved, none were considered stable, whereas 5 patients demonstrated some worsening, 3 of whom had not presented disc dislocation before surgery. At T2, 71 patients were considered completely recovered or improved. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicates beyond any doubt that both functional status and pain levels related to TMDs can be significantly improved with a multi-disciplinary approach. We concluded that surgeon's intervention need to be modified in the presence of presurgical TMDs

Electron-impact ionization of atomic hydrogen at 2 eV above threshold

The convergent close-coupling method is applied to the calculation of fully differential cross sections for ionization of atomic hydrogen by 15.6 eV electrons. We find that even at this low energy the method is able to yield predictive results with small uncertainty. As a consequence we suspect that the experimental normalization at this energy is approximately a factor of two too high.Comment: 10 page