Analysis of Schedule-Induced Consumption and Grooming in Humans during a Simulated Slot Machine Task

Problem gambling is a burden to the individual gambler and society. Efforts to study the development of problem gambling are thus socially important. Consumption has been demonstrated to have a relation with increased gambling persistence, but little research has been done on concurrent consumption and gambling. Schedule-induced behavior, or adjunctive behavior, may provide a possible means to study concurrent consumption and gambling. In an effort to better understand factors that might contribute to problem gambling, four experiments were conducted that involved manipulations of a simulated slot machine with concurrent access to food and non-alcoholic drink. All experiments consisted of two, approximately 30-minute, sessions. Experiment 1 had six participants complete the same win conditions across sessions. Experiment 2 had six participants complete different win conditions across sessions. Experiment 3 had six participants complete the same win conditions across sessions, while the simulation played on its own. Experiment 4 had six participants complete two sessions of the same win conditions, but with light sequences that were altered across sessions. While participants did not display the characteristic pattern of schedule-induced behavior in a molecular win-to-win analysis, other molar session-wide patterns emerged with regards to consumption and grooming. Implications for human schedule-induced behavior and gambling research are discussed

Reel Outcomes as Discriminative Stimuli: A Case for Reporting Single Subject Data

While slot machine gambling research in behavior analysis is on the rise, we still have many unanswered questions. Exploring the putative discriminative functions a series of reel outcomes might have on the perceived likelihood of future success (i.e., winning) might prove useful in understanding what motivates gamblers to continue gambling despite losses. In the current study, undergraduate participants watched eight videos of five reel spins each of varying win and loss (including near-miss) outcomes. Participants then provided estimations of the likelihood of winning on five upcoming hypothetical spins. While participants viewed their chances of winning as poor, strategic placement of wins and near misses influenced the probability of winning endorsed. Most importantly, idiosyncratic patterns differed markedly from grouped and overall-averaged data. A call is made to emphasize more single-subject analyses in gambling research

S tosowanie smart kontraktów w obrocie konsumenckim – wybrane problemy

Postępujący rozwój nowych technologii przyczynia się do coraz częstszego wykorzystania smart kontraktu w obrocie konsumenckim. Wynika to z jego specyficznych cech, które wpływają na dostępność i łatwość korzystania z tego rozwiązania prawnego, lecz mogą również prowadzić do niekorzystnych dla konsumenta skutków. W kontekście potencjalnych zagrożeń, które mogą spotkać konsumentów, szczególnie istotna jest niezmienialność smart kontraktów. W niniejszym artykule przedstawiono dlaczego należy poświęcić uwagę konsumentom korzystającym z inteligentnych kontraktów. Artykuł koncentruje się na możliwych rozwiązaniach problemów towarzyszących konsumentom dokonującym czynności prawnych przy użyciu smart kontraktów na każdym etapie dokonywania transakcji, począwszy od etapu przedkontraktowego, przez zawarcie umowy, aż do jej wykonania

Early developmental, meiosis-specific proteins - Spo11, Msh4-1, and Msh5 - Affect subsequent genome reorganization in Paramecium tetraurelia.

Developmental DNA elimination in Paramecium tetraurelia occurs through a trans-nuclear comparison of the genomes of two distinct types of nuclei: the germline micronucleus (MIC) and the somatic macronucleus (MAC). During sexual reproduction, which starts with meiosis of the germline nuclei, MIC-limited sequences including Internal Eliminated Sequences (IESs) and transposons are eliminated from the developing MAC in a process guided by noncoding RNAs (scnRNAs and iesRNAs). However, our current understanding of this mechanism is still very limited. Therefore, studying both genetic and epigenetic aspects of these processes is a crucial step to understand this phenomenon in more detail. Here, we describe the involvement of homologs of classical meiotic proteins, Spo11, Msh4-1, and Msh5 in this phenomenon. Based on our analyses, we propose that proper functioning of Spo11, Msh4-1, and Msh5 during Paramecium sexual reproduction are necessary for genome reorganization and viable progeny. Also, we show that double-strand breaks (DSBs) in DNA induced during meiosis by Spo11 are crucial for proper IESs excision. In summary, our investigations show that early sexual reproduction processes may significantly influence later somatic genome integrity

INVESTOR EXPERTISE AND THE RATIONALITY OF DECISION MAKING

The aim of the paper is to is to explore the determinants of the rationality in decision making among polish stock market investors with different level of expertise with investing. Rationality in decision making was defined from the behavioral finance point of view and was operationalized as the frequency of some behavioral biases (see: the certainty effect) within decision making process. In particular, this study aims to investigate the degree of susceptibility the certainty effect among people of various levels of expertise with investing. As  there is still a lack of data studies in behavioral finance literature investigating the issues mentioned in this article (or existing results are ambiguous) we treated our study as an exploratory research

DNA strand breaks induced by nuclear hijacking of neuronal NOS as an anti-cancer effect of 2-methoxyestradiol

2-Methoxyestradiol (2-ME) is a physiological metabolite of 17β-estradiol. At pharmacological concentrations, 2-ME inhibits colon, breast and lung cancer in tumor models. Here we investigated the effect of physiologically relevant concentrations of 2-ME in osteosarcoma cell model. We demonstrated that 2-ME increased nuclear localization of neuronal nitric oxide synthase, resulting in nitro-oxidative DNA damage. This in turn caused cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in osteosarcoma cells. We suggest that 2-ME is a naturally occurring hormone with potential anti-cancer properties

Mesoporous Titania powders: the role of precursors, ligand addition and calcination rate on their morphology, crystalline structure and photocatalytic activity

We evaluate the influence of the use of different titania precursors, calcination rate, and ligand addition on the morphology, texture and phase content of synthesized mesoporous titania samples, parameters which, in turn, can play a key role in titania photocatalytic performances. The powders, obtained through the evaporation-induced self-assembly method, are characterized by means of ex situ X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) measurements, N2 physisorption isotherms and transmission electron microscopy. The precursors are selected basing on two different approaches: the acid-base pair, using TiCl4 and Ti(OBu)4, and a more classic route with Ti(OiPr)4 and HCl. For both precursors, different specimens were prepared by resorting to different calcination rates and with and without the addition of acetylacetone, that creates coordinated species with lower hydrolysis rates, and with different calcination rates. Each sample was employed as photoanode and tested in the water splitting reaction by recording I-V curves and comparing the results with commercial P25 powders. The complex data framework suggests that a narrow pore size distribution, due to the use of acetylacetone, plays a major role in the photoactivity, leading to a current density value higher than that of P25