Influences of a Luck Game on Offers in Ultimatum and Dictator Games: Is There a Mediation of Emotions?

The ultimatum (UG) and dictator (DG) games are two tasks where a sum of money has to be divided between two players: a proposer and a receiver. Following the rational choice theory, proposers should offer the minimum in the UG and nothing in the DG, due to the presence/absence of the receivers’ bargaining power. The fact that people generally make non-negligible offers in both games has suggested divergent explicative hypotheses and has generated extensive research to examine exogenous and endogenous factors underlying such decisions. Among the contextual factors affecting the proposers’ offers, the sense of entitlement or of ownership has been shown to reduce offers significantly. A frequent way to induce the sense of entitlement/ownership has been to assign the role of proposer to the player who apparently has better scored in skill tasks executed before the UG or DG or has more contributed, through a previous luck game, to the amount to be shared. Such manipulations, however, could produce a possible overlapping between “ownership” and “merit,” that in this study we aimed to disentangle. We manipulated the participants’ initial endowment through a luck game, by increasing, decreasing or leaving it unchanged, to investigate whether winnings or losses by chance influenced offers in UG and DG in similar or different ways depending on their respective features. All participants played as proposers but this role was apparently random and disconnected from the outcomes of the luck game. Furthermore, we investigated whether the putative effect of experimental manipulation was mediated by the changes in emotions elicited by the luck game and/or by the emotions and beliefs related to decision-making. We used a non-economic version of the games, in which tokens were divided instead of money. In the study, 300 unpaid undergraduates (M = 152) from different degree programs, aged between 18 and 42 years, participated. The results revealed that the effect of outcome manipulation on offers was moderated by the specific structure of the UG and DG. Instead, emotional reactions barely mediated the effect of the experimental manipulation, suggesting that their role in those decisions is less relevant than is assumed in the literature

Discriminative power of EEG-based biomarkers in major depressive disorder: A systematic review

Currently, the diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) and its subtypes is mainly based on subjective assessments and self-reported measures. However, objective criteria as Electroencephalography (EEG) features would be helpful in detecting depressive states at early stages to prevent the worsening of the symptoms. Scientific community has widely investigated the effectiveness of EEG-based measures to discriminate between depressed and healthy subjects, with the aim to better understand the mechanisms behind the disorder and find biomarkers useful for diagnosis. This work offers a comprehensive review of the extant literature concerning the EEG-based biomarkers for MDD and its subtypes, and identify possible future directions for this line of research. Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science databases were researched following PRISMA’s guidelines. The initial papers’ screening was based on titles and abstracts; then full texts of the identified articles were examined, and a synthesis of findings was developed using tables and thematic analysis. After screening 1871 articles, 76 studies were identified as relevant and included in the systematic review. Reviewed markers include EEG frequency bands power, EEG asymmetry, ERP components, non-linear and functional connectivity measures. Results were discussed in relations to the different EEG measures assessed in the studies. Findings confirmed the effectiveness of those measures in discriminating between healthy and depressed subjects. However, the review highlights that the causal link between EEG measures and depressive subtypes needs to be further investigated and points out that some methodological issues need to be solved to enhance future research in this field

Information support and interactive planning in the digital factory : approach and industry-driven evaluation

In the modern world we are continuously surrounded by information. The human brain has to analyse and interpret this information to transform into useable knowledge that is then used in decision making activities. The advent and implementation of Industry 4.0 will make it a requirement for systems within factories to interact and share large quantities of information with each other. This large volume of information will make it even more difficult for the human resources within the factory to sift through the large amount of information required since there is a limit to the information that our brains can cope with. Just in time information retrieval (JITIR) within the digital factory environment aims to provide support to the human stakeholders in the system by proactively yet non-intrusively providing the required information at the right time based on the users context. This paper will therefore provide an insight into the cognitive difficulties experienced by humans in the digital factory and how JITIR can tackle these challenges. By validating the JITIR concept, several industry scenarios have been evaluated: an exemplary model, concerning the machine tool industry, is presented in the paper. The results of this research are a set of guidelines for the development of a digital factory support tool.peer-reviewe

The role of aging, time perspective, and gambling-related cognitions in affective decision-making

Several studies have examined age differences in affective decision-making utilizing the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). However, findings are mixed, with some studies reporting impairments due to aging and others showing no age-related differences. The few studies that have explored personality correlates of IGT performance suggest that underlying personality characteristics may impact performance on the IGT beyond aging. Therefore, the present study investigated the interplay between chronological age, temporal perspective, and gambling-related cognitions in affective decision-making while controlling for gambling severity. Through snowball sampling, 302 adults aged 18–75 years were recruited. They administered the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), Consideration of Future Consequences scale (CFC-14), Gambling-Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS), and IGT. Regression analysis showed that future orientation and gambling-related cognitions (namely gambling expectancies, illusion of control, and predictive control) predicted IGT performance. Gender, age, education, and gambling severity were not included in the final model. Path analysis showed that gambling expectancies positively impacted the performance, whereas illusion of control and predictive control were detrimental to decision-making. Being oriented toward the future mitigated the negative effects of the two cognitive biases on IGT performance. The present study shows that aging does not affect negatively IGT performance. The quality of performance appears to depend upon individual characteristics, such as future orientation and gambling-related cognitions, irrespective of gambling severity. These findings suggest that individual characteristics should be considered in the clinical evaluation of IGT performance

Influence of the ambient conditions on water intake by dairy cows

The study was carried out with six Holstein cows, in mid-lactation, reared in a freestall barn of a commercial dairy farm located in São Pedro city, in the State of São Paulo. During the trial the ambient parameters were recorded hourly from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM inside and outside the barn: black globe temperature, dry bulb temperature, relative humidity and air velocity. The freestall barn had water facility with enough water flow to supply all the animals ad libitum. An additional drinking water facility was at the exit of the milking parlor. Average water intake of each group was measured using hydrometer. The data was used to quantify the lactating cows' water intake, to determine the frequency of use, the time cows spent drinking water and relating it to the ambient temperature humidity index and black globe temperature. The results verified that thermal stress had a great influence on animal behavior. Thermal stress increased water intake and frequency of water facility use.O presente trabalho foi desenvolvido em uma fazenda comercial produtora de gado de leite, criadora de gado holandês, localizada no município de São Pedro, SP. O período de coleta de dados compreendeu seis dias não consecutivos, nos meses de outubro e novembro de 2001, englobando 6 vacas em lactação, alojadas em um sistema de freestall. O consumo médio de água das vacas foi medido por meio de hidrômetro acoplado aos bebedouros. A temperatura de globo negro, a umidade relativa do ar, temperatura do ambiente e a velocidade do vento, foram registradas a cada hora, no período das 8 às 18 h. O principal objetivo do trabalho foi quantificar o consumo de água das vacas leiteiras, além de determinar o horário de maior consumo, a freqüência de uso dos bebedouros e o tempo de permanência do animal no bebedouro, relacionando-os com os índices de conforto térmico e a produção de leite. Verificou-se que o comportamento dos animais foi alterado em dias termicamente mais estressantes, resultando em aumento no número de visitas e no tempo de permanência dos animais nos bebedouros assim como em aumento no tempo real de consumo de água pelos animais.28929

Replication profile of PCDH11X and PCDH11Y, a gene pair located in the non-pseudoautosomal homologous region Xq21.3/Yp11.2

In order to investigate the replication timing properties of PCDH11X and PCDH11Y, a pair of protocadherin genes located in the hominid-specific non-pseudoautosomal homologous region Xq21.3/Yp11.2, we conducted a FISH-based comparative study in different human and non-human primate (Gorilla gorilla) cell types. The replication profiles of three genes from different regions of chromosome X (ZFX, XIST and ATRX) were used as terms of reference. Particular emphasis was given to the evaluation of allelic replication asynchrony in relation to the inactivation status of each gene. The human cell types analysed include neuronal cells and ICF syndrome cells, considered to be a model system for the study of X inactivation. PCDH11 appeared to be generally characterized by replication asynchrony in both male and female cells, and no significant differences were observed between human and gorilla, in which this gene lacks X-Y homologous status. However, in differentiated human neuroblastoma and cerebral cortical cells PCDH11X replication profile showed a significant shift towards allelic synchrony. Our data are relevant to the complex relationship between X-inactivation, as a chromosome-wide phenomenon, and asynchrony of replication and expression status of single genes on chromosome X

Endocrinologic, neurologic, and visual morbidity after treatment for craniopharyngioma

Craniopharyngiomas are locally aggressive tumors which typically are focused in the sellar and suprasellar region near a number of critical neural and vascular structures mediating endocrinologic, behavioral, and visual functions. The present study aims to summarize and compare the published literature regarding morbidity resulting from treatment of craniopharyngioma. We performed a comprehensive search of the published English language literature to identify studies publishing outcome data of patients undergoing surgery for craniopharyngioma. Comparisons of the rates of endocrine, vascular, neurological, and visual complications were performed using Pearson’s chi-squared test, and covariates of interest were fitted into a multivariate logistic regression model. In our data set, 540 patients underwent surgical resection of their tumor. 138 patients received biopsy alone followed by some form of radiotherapy. Mean overall follow-up for all patients in these studies was 54 ± 1.8 months. The overall rate of new endocrinopathy for all patients undergoing surgical resection of their mass was 37% (95% CI = 33–41). Patients receiving GTR had over 2.5 times the rate of developing at least one endocrinopathy compared to patients receiving STR alone or STR + XRT (52 vs. 19 vs. 20%, χ2P < 0.00001). On multivariate analysis, GTR conferred a significant increase in the risk of endocrinopathy compared to STR + XRT (OR = 3.45, 95% CI = 2.05–5.81, P < 0.00001), after controlling for study size and the presence of significant hypothalamic involvement. There was a statistical trend towards worse visual outcomes in patients receiving XRT after STR compared to GTR or STR alone (GTR = 3.5% vs. STR 2.1% vs. STR + XRT 6.4%, P = 0.11). Given the difficulty in obtaining class 1 data regarding the treatment of this tumor, this study can serve as an estimate of expected outcomes for these patients, and guide decision making until these data are available

Impact of Safety-Related Dose Reductions or Discontinuations on Sustained Virologic Response in HCV-Infected Patients: Results from the GUARD-C Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Despite the introduction of direct-acting antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, peginterferon alfa/ribavirin remains relevant in many resource-constrained settings. The non-randomized GUARD-C cohort investigated baseline predictors of safety-related dose reductions or discontinuations (sr-RD) and their impact on sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients receiving peginterferon alfa/ribavirin in routine practice. METHODS: A total of 3181 HCV-mono-infected treatment-naive patients were assigned to 24 or 48 weeks of peginterferon alfa/ribavirin by their physician. Patients were categorized by time-to-first sr-RD (Week 4/12). Detailed analyses of the impact of sr-RD on SVR24 (HCV RNA <50 IU/mL) were conducted in 951 Caucasian, noncirrhotic genotype (G)1 patients assigned to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin for 48 weeks. The probability of SVR24 was identified by a baseline scoring system (range: 0-9 points) on which scores of 5 to 9 and <5 represent high and low probability of SVR24, respectively. RESULTS: SVR24 rates were 46.1% (754/1634), 77.1% (279/362), 68.0% (514/756), and 51.3% (203/396), respectively, in G1, 2, 3, and 4 patients. Overall, 16.9% and 21.8% patients experienced ≥1 sr-RD for peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, respectively. Among Caucasian noncirrhotic G1 patients: female sex, lower body mass index, pre-existing cardiovascular/pulmonary disease, and low hematological indices were prognostic factors of sr-RD; SVR24 was lower in patients with ≥1 vs. no sr-RD by Week 4 (37.9% vs. 54.4%; P = 0.0046) and Week 12 (41.7% vs. 55.3%; P = 0.0016); sr-RD by Week 4/12 significantly reduced SVR24 in patients with scores <5 but not ≥5. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, sr-RD to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin significantly impacts on SVR24 rates in treatment-naive G1 noncirrhotic Caucasian patients. Baseline characteristics can help select patients with a high probability of SVR24 and a low probability of sr-RD with peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin.This study was sponsored by F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland. Support for third-party writing assistance for this manuscript, furnished by Blair Jarvis MSc, ELS, of Health Interactions, was provided by F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland