Is deck C an advantageous deck in the Iowa Gambling Task?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dunn <it>et al.</it> performed a critical review identifying some problems in the Somatic Marker Hypothesis (SMH). Most of the arguments presented by Dunn focused on the insufficiencies for replication of skin conductance responses and somatic brain loops, but the study did not carefully reassess the core-task of SMH. In a related study, Lin and Chiu et al. identified a serious problem, namely the "prominent deck B phenomenon" in the original IGT. Building on this observation, Lin and Chiu also posited that deck C rather than deck A was preferred by normal decision makers due to good gain-loss frequency rather than good final-outcome. To verify this hypothesis, a modified IGT was designed that possessed high contrast of gain-loss value in each trial, with the aim of achieving a balance between decks A and C in terms of gain-loss frequency. Based on the basic assumption of IGT, participants should prefer deck C to deck A based on consideration of final-outcome. In contrast, based on the prediction of gain-loss frequency, participants should have roughly equal preferences for decks A and C.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This investigation recruited 48 college students (24 males and 24 females) as participants. Two-stage IGT with high-contrast gain-loss value was launched to examine the deck C argument. Each participant completed the modified IGT twice and immediately afterwards was administered a questionnaire to assess their consciousness and final preferences following the game.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The experimental results supported the predictions regarding gain-loss frequency participants choose the deck C with nearly identical frequency to deck A, despite deck C having a better final outcome than deck A. The "sunken deck C" phenomenon is clearly identified in this version of IGT which achieves a balance in gain-loss frequency. Moreover, the "sunken deck C" phenomenon not only appears during the first stage, but also during the second stage of IGT. In addition, questionnaires indicated that normal decision makers disliked deck C at the consciousness (explicit) levels.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In the modified version of IGT, deck C was no longer preferred by normal decision makers, despite having a better long-term outcome than deck A. This study identified two problems in the original IGT. First, the gain-loss frequency between decks A and C is pseudo-balanced. Second, the covered phenomenon leads to most IGT related studies misinterpreting the effect of gain-loss frequency in situations involving long-term outcomes, and even leads to overstatement of the foresight of normal decision makers.</p

Is deck B a disadvantageous deck in the Iowa Gambling Task?

BACKGROUND: The Iowa gambling task is a popular test for examining monetary decision behavior under uncertainty. According to Dunn et al. review article, the difficult-to-explain phenomenon of "prominent deck B" was revealed, namely that normal decision makers prefer bad final-outcome deck B to good final-outcome decks C or D. This phenomenon was demonstrated especially clearly by Wilder et al. and Toplak et al. The "prominent deck B" phenomenon is inconsistent with the basic assumption in the IGT; however, most IGT-related studies utilized the "summation" of bad decks A and B when presenting their data, thereby avoiding the problems associated with deck B. METHODS: To verify the "prominent deck B" phenomenon, this study launched a two-stage simple version IGT, namely, an AACC and BBDD version, which possesses a balanced gain-loss structure between advantageous and disadvantageous decks and facilitates monitoring of participant preferences after the first 100 trials. RESULTS: The experimental results suggested that the "prominent deck B" phenomenon exists in the IGT. Moreover, participants cannot suppress their preference for deck B under the uncertain condition, even during the second stage of the game. Although this result is incongruent with the basic assumption in IGT, an increasing number of studies are finding similar results. The results of the AACC and BBDD versions can be congruent with the decision literatures in terms of gain-loss frequency. CONCLUSION: Based on the experimental findings, participants can apply the "gain-stay, loss-shift" strategy to overcome situations involving uncertainty. This investigation found that the largest loss in the IGT did not inspire decision makers to avoid choosing bad deck B

Isolated tracheal injury after whiplash

AbstractWhiplash, a sudden acceleration–deceleration movement that can cause diverse symptoms such as neck pain, cervicogenic headache, restricted neck movement, tingling of the arms (central cord syndrome), and dizziness. However, laryngotracheal injuries after whiplash are extremely rare. We report the case of a 25-year-old Taiwanese female who presented to the emergency department with severe posterior midline neck pain after a rear-end motorcycle collision. Her C-spine X-ray showed no definite fracture; furthermore, her neck noncontrast-enhanced CT scan revealed paratracheal free air. She was discharged uneventfully after a 12-h observation period. Laryngotracheal injuries after whiplash, a hyperextension–hyperflexion movement, are potentially life-threatening and could lead to airway obstruction. Such injuries should not be overlooked. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of isolated laryngotracheal injury after whiplash

Is the Clinical Version of the Iowa Gambling Task Relevant for Assessing Choice Behavior in Cases of Internet Addiction?

Objective: A critical issue in research related to the Iowa gambling task (IGT) is the use of the alternative factors expected value and gain–loss frequency to distinguish between clinical cases and control groups. When the IGT has been used to examine cases of Internet addiction (IA), the literature reveals inconsistencies in the results. However, few studies have utilized the clinical version of IGT (cIGT) to examine IA cases. The present study aims to resolve previous inconsistencies and to examine the validity of the cIGT by comparing performances of controls with cases of Internet gaming disorder (IGD), a subtype of IA defined by the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.Methods: The study recruited 23 participants with clinically diagnosed IGD and 38 age-matched control participants. Based on the basic assumptions of IGT and the gain–loss frequency viewpoint, a dependent variables analysis was carried out.Results: The results showed no statistical difference between the two groups in most performance indices and therefore support the findings of most IGT-IA studies; in particular, expected value and gain–loss frequency did not distinguish between the IGD cases and controls. However, the participants in both groups were influenced by the gain–loss frequency, revealing the existence of the prominent deck B phenomenon.Conclusion: The findings provide two possible interpretations. The first is that choice behavior deficits do not constitute a characteristic feature of individuals who have been diagnosed with IGD/IA. The second is that, as the cIGT was unable to distinguish the choice behavior of the IGD/IA participants from that of controls, the cIGT may not be relevant for assessing IGD based on the indices provided by the expected value and gain–loss frequency perspectives in the standard administration of IGT

The role of autologous bone graft in surgical treatment of hypertrophic nonunion of midshaft clavicle fractures

AbstractBackgroundThis study was conducted to evaluate the results of treating hypertrophic nonunion of mid-shaft clavicle fracture with a limited contact dynamic compression plate (LC-DCP) without autologous cancellous bone graft.MethodsFrom 1995 to 2008, 51 cases of hypertrophic nonunion of mid-shaft clavicle fracture were managed with open reduction and internal fixation by LC-DCP without bone graft involvement. Of these 51 cases, 30 had nonunion after failure of initial surgical treatment (Group 1), and 21 had nonunion after failure of conservative treatment (Group 2). Preoperative and postoperative case management were the same for both groups, with the average follow-up period being 20.4 months (range 18–36). Our study evaluated the radiographic results and functional outcomes of these cases according to the quick disability of arm, shoulder, and hand score.ResultsAll 51 cases resulted in uneventful unions. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding patient demography, cause of injury, preoperative and postoperative functional scores, length of operation, union time, and duration of hospitalization (p>0.05).ConclusionLC-DCP fixation is an effective method for treating hypertrophic nonunion of mid-shaft clavicle fracture. Local bone graft is sufficient to achieve necessary union, and autologous bone graft from other sites of the body appears unnecessary

Snapshot Lifecycle Management -SLM

Abstract This paper sets forth &quot;Snapshot Lifecycle Management&quot;, an innovative way to manage snapshot data rather than using Information Lifecycle Management. There are two major problems occurs in snapshot management by ILM: &quot;inappropriate migration&quot; and &quot;redundancy&quot;. SLM manages snapshot data elaborately according to its characteristic to eliminate the twin problems. In addition, this paper also proposes &quot;Snapshot Support for iLVM (Internet Logical Volume Management)&quot;, integrating SLM into iLVM. Use Copy-on-Write technique to update data between local site and remote site and replace the &quot;Remote Region Time Parity&quot; scheme in remote data checking