What Drives People's Choices in Turn-Taking Games, if not Game-Theoretic Rationality?

In an earlier experiment, participants played a perfect information game against a computer, which was programmed to deviate often from its backward induction strategy right at the beginning of the game. Participants knew that in each game, the computer was nevertheless optimizing against some belief about the participant's future strategy. In the aggregate, it appeared that participants applied forward induction. However, cardinal effects seemed to play a role as well: a number of participants might have been trying to maximize expected utility. In order to find out how people really reason in such a game, we designed centipede-like turn-taking games with new payoff structures in order to make such cardinal effects less likely. We ran a new experiment with 50 participants, based on marble drop visualizations of these revised payoff structures. After participants played 48 test games, we asked a number of questions to gauge the participants' reasoning about their own and the opponent's strategy at all decision nodes of a sample game. We also checked how the verbalized strategies fit to the actual choices they made at all their decision points in the 48 test games. Even though in the aggregate, participants in the new experiment still tend to slightly favor the forward induction choice at their first decision node, their verbalized strategies most often depend on their own attitudes towards risk and those they assign to the computer opponent, sometimes in addition to considerations about cooperativeness and competitiveness.Comment: In Proceedings TARK 2017, arXiv:1707.0825

Prioritizing Interventions and Research to Address the Cancer Disparities of Arizona’s American Indian Population

The aim of the Southwest American Indian Collaborative Network (SAICN) is to reduce cancer disparities by closing the gap between community needs and the promise of cancer prevention and cure through participatory education, training and research programs. In an effort to provide evidence-based recommendations and promote the use of relevant data in tribal communities, the SAICN Data and Evaluation Core developed two comparison matrices that present scientifically sound practices for use by community health decision makers in prioritizing activities likely to reduce the irrespective community’s burden of cancer. In their current configurations, Matrix A considers those cancers for which prevention and early detection interventions exist (cervical, breast, colorectal, tobacco-linked) and Matrix B addresses cancers for which interventions are unknown or not well developed. The matrices were converted into worksheet formats to facilitate their use at the community level. Further, to facilitate the application of this approach in a tribal community setting, guidelines for a five-part implementation plan were developed. In this paper, we describe the matrices and the guidelines and our process for moving forward

Coexistence of iron deficiency and thalassemia trait: a study in antenatal females

Background: Thalassemia is most common genetic disorder worldwide and about 7% of world population is carrier. The prevalence of Beta thalassemia trait (BTT) is 3.5–10% in India. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) of 2011 reveals the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) as 70–80% in children, 70% in pregnant women, and 24% in adult men. As both of them are close differential diagnosis and both can coexist together, this study aims to detect hemoglobinopathies in pregnant women and quantify the effect of iron deficiency on HbA2 levels in order to improve the detection of β thalassemia trait with and without iron deficiency.Methods: Hb, RBC indices, and peripheral smears of 90 pregnant females with microcytic hypochromic blood picture were studied. Serum ferritin and HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) was performed. The results were analysed statistically by using SPSS version 16.0.Results: 93.3% patients had HbA2 4.0% which characterise BTT and remaining 2.22% had between 3.0%-4.0%. HbA2 <2.0% may be seen in IDA, ATT, HbH disease and Delta thalassemia. 91.11% had reduced serum ferritin and 2.22% had normal ferritin levels.Conclusions: This study reveals that there is frequent occurrence of iron deficiency anaemia in patients with thalassemia traits. This can substantially invalidate the diagnosis of the latter. Hence, iron deficiency should be identified and rectified in patients with suspicion of thalassemia trait

Cell cycle and DNA content of mitotic cells in brain ganglia of drosophila larvae

The programmes of replication of hetero- and euchromatin regions, mitotic cell cycle and the DNA content in metaphases in brain ganglia from late third instar larvae of Drosophila melanogaster (wild type and a tumour bearing mutant, 1(2)gl, strain) and of Drosophila nasuta were examined by autoradiography of [3H]thymidine labelled (continuous or pulse) cells and by cytophotometry, respectively. Brain ganglia labelled continuously with [3H]thymidine for 24 h in vitro showed a significantly high proportion of cells with incorporation of radioactivity restricted to heterochromatin only. Pulse labelling of brain ganglia from larvae of Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila nasuta followed by chase for different time intervals showed that (i) the frequency of labelled metaphases was more than 50% within 15 to 30 min of chase and remained higher than 50% in nearly all the chase samples till 24 h, (ii) euchromatin labelled metaphases appeared with a low frequency within 1 to 4 h chase period but the heterochromatin labelled metaphases continued to be more common in the later chase samples also, (iii) single chromatid labelled second cycle metaphases were seen within 1 to 4 h after the pulse, but their frequency did not increase in the later samples. Cytophotometry of feulgen-DNA and Hoechst 33258 stained metaphases in late third instar larval brain ganglia revealed a greater variation in the DNA content of individual metaphases, although the means were close to the expected 4 C content. It appears that in relation to the known asymmetric cell divisions of neuroblast and other neural cells, the mitotically active cells in brain ganglia comprise a heterogenous population with widely varying lengths of the different phases of cell cycle; some of them may not cycle regularly and may possibly have a discontinuous S-phase

Effect of oral intake of capsaicinoid beadlets on catecholamine secretion and blood markers of lipolysis in healthy adults: a randomized, placebo controlled, double-blind, cross-over study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the present investigation we compared blood epinephrine (EPI), norepinephrine (NE), free fatty acids (FFA) and glycerol concentrations in response to a capsaicinoid supplement or placebo in healthy adults before and after acute exercise.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty subjects ingested a placebo or supplement (Capsimax™, OmniActive Health Technologies; 2 mg capsaicinoids in a microencapsulated matrix) with one week separating conditions. Fasting blood samples were collected during each visit; 30 minutes following a rest period and before placebo or supplement intake (Pre); 2 hours post intake (2 hr); one minute following the cessation of 30 minutes of exercise performed at 65% of maximal heart rate reserve (2.5 hr); 90 minutes following the cessation of exercise (4 hr). Heart rate (HR), systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure were recorded at all times.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A time effect was noted for HR, SBP, and DBP (p < 0.05), with HR and SBP higher at 2.5 hr compared to Pre (due to exercise) and DBP lower at 2.5 hr compared to Pre. No interaction or condition effects were noted for EPI, NE, FFA, or glycerol (p > 0.05). However, a time effect was noted for all variables (p < 0.0001), with values higher than Pre at 2.5 hr for EPI and glycerol, at 2 hr and 2.5 hours for FFA, and at 2 hr, 2.5 hr, and 4 hr for NE (p < 0.05). In terms of percent change from Pre, glycerol was higher with Capsimax™ than for placebo at 4 hr (p = 0.011) and FFA was higher with Capsimax™ than for placebo at 2 hr (p = 0.025) and at 2.5 hr (p = 0.015).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Ingestion of low dose (2 mg) Capsimax™ was associated with an increase in blood FFA and glycerol at selected times post ingestion, as compared to placebo. However, Capsimax™ had no differing effect on EPI or NE compared to placebo. Lastly, no difference was noted in HR, SBP, or DBP between placebo and Capsimax™.</p

Evolution of polygonal crack patterns in mud when subjected to repeated wetting-drying cycles

The present paper demonstrates how a natural crack mosaic resembling a random tessellation evolves with repeated 'wetting followed by drying' cycles. The natural system here is a crack network in a drying colloidal material, for example, a layer of mud. A spring network model is used to simulate consecutive wetting and drying cycles in mud layers until the crack mosaic matures. The simulated results compare favourably with reported experimental findings. The evolution of these crack mosaics has been mapped as a trajectory of a 4-vector tuple in a geometry-topology domain. A phenomenological relation between energy and crack geometry as functions of time cycles is proposed based on principles of crack mechanics. We follow the crack pattern evolution to find that the pattern veers towards a Voronoi mosaic in order to minimize the system energy. Some examples of static crack mosaics in nature have also been explored to verify if nature prefers Voronoi patterns. In this context, the authors define new geometric measures of Voronoi-ness of crack mosaics to quantify how close a tessellation is to a Voronoi tessellation, or even, to a Centroidal Voronoi tessellation

Exonerations in the United States 1989 Through 2003

On August 14, 1989, the Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago, Illinois, vacated Gary Dotson\u27s 1979 rape conviction and dismissed the charges.1 Mr. Dotson-who had spent ten years in and out of prison and on parole for this conviction-was not the first innocent prisoner to be exonerated and released in America. But his case was a breakthrough nonetheless: he was the first who was cleared by DNA identification technology. It was the beginning of a revolution in the American criminal justice system. Until then, exonerations of falsely convicted defendants were seen as aberrational. Since 1989, these once-rare events have become disturbingly commonplace

Novel Spectrophotometric Method for Estimation of Olmesartan Medoxomil from its Tablet Dosage Form Using Hydrotropic Solubilization

Aim: Quantitative estimation of poorly water-soluble drugs involves use of organic solvents. In the present investigation, hydrotropic solubilization is employed to enhance the aqueous solubilities of poorly water-soluble drugs like Olmesartan Medoxomil in tablet dosage forms. Material and methods: This method utilizes 0.05 M Sodium acetate solution as hydrotropic solubilizing agent Where Olmesartan Medoxomil shows maximum absorbance at 256 nm. The 0.05 M Sodium acetate solution does not show any interference with the sampling wavelength. The hydrotropic agent and additives used in the manufacture of tablets did not interfere in the analysis. Results and Conclusion: The drug obeys the Beer’s Law in the concentration range 2-14 μg/ml with correlation coefficient value of 0.9987. The developed reliable method was validated statistically following ICH Q2B (R1) guidelines. Statistical analysis proved that the method was simple and rapid for the estimation of Olmesartan Medoxomil and can be used for routine analysis of Olmesartan Medoxomil in quality control laboratories. The ex vivo mucoadhesion time of patches ranged between 109 min (FA10) to 126 min (FB14). The ex vivo mucoadhesive force was in the range of 0.278 to 0.479 Kg.m.s-2. The in vitro drug release studies revealed that formulation FA8 released 84% and FB16 released 99.01% of drug in 140 min.Objetivo: La estimación cuantitativa de fármacos poco solubles en agua implica el uso de disolventes orgánicos. En la presente investigación, se emplea la solubilización hidrotrópica para mejorar las solubilidades acuosas fármacos poco solubles en agua como el olmesartán medoxomilo dosificado en comprimido. Material y Métodos: Este método emplea acetato sódico 0,05 M como agente solubilizante hidrotrópico, mostrando el olmesartán medoxomilo una absorbancia máxima a 256 nm. La solución de acetato 0.05 M no muestra ninguna interferencia con la longitud de onda de muestreo. El agente hidrotrópico y los aditivos utilizados en la elaboración de los comprimidos no interfieren en el análisis. Resultados y conclusiones: El fármaco obedece a la Ley de Beer en el intervalo de concentraciones 2-14 mg / ml con un de coeficiente de correlación de 0,9987. El método desarrollado fue validado estadísticamente siguiendo las directrices ICH Q2B (R1) . El análisis estadístico demostró que el método era sencillo y rápido para la estimación de olmesartán medoxomilo y se puede utilizar para análisis de rutina de olmesartán medoxomilo en laboratorios de control de calidad

Exonerations in the United States 1989 through 2003

On August 14, 1989, the Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago, Illinois, vacated Gary Dotson\u27s 1979 rape conviction and dismissed the charges.1 Mr. Dotson-who had spent ten years in and out of prison and on parole for this conviction-was not the first innocent prisoner to be exonerated and released in America. But his case was a breakthrough nonetheless: he was the first who was cleared by DNA identification technology. It was the beginning of a revolution in the American criminal justice system. Until then, exonerations of falsely convicted defendants were seen as aberrational. Since 1989, these once-rare events have become disturbingly commonplace

Primary Endometrial Squamous Cell Carcinoma In Situ : Report of a rare disease

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the endometrium, whether primary or secondary to cervical cancer, is a rare entity. Primary endometrial squamous cell carcinoma in situ is even more uncommon; it usually occurs in postmenopausal women and has a strong association with pyometra. We report a 60-year-old multiparous postmenopausal woman who presented to the Hakeem Abdul Hameed Centenary Hospital, New Delhi, India, in May 2014 with a lower abdominal swelling corresponding in size to a pregnancy of 26 gestational weeks and vaginal discharge of one year’s duration. A total abdominal hysterectomy with a bilateral salpingooophorectomy was performed, which revealed an enlarged uterus with pyometra. Histopathology showed that the entire endometrial lining had been replaced with malignant squamous cells without invasion of the myometrium. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the tumour cells were positive for p63 with a high Ki-67 labelling index. No adjuvant therapy was required and the patient was disease-free at a seven-month follow-up