bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Activating reflective thinking with decision justification and debiasing training
Authors: Isler Ozan , Yilmaz Onurcan , Dogruyol Burak
Published: January 2023

Manipulations for activating reflective thinking, although regularly used in the literature, have not previously been systematically compared. There are growing concerns about the effectiveness of these methods as well as increasing demand for them. Here, we study five promising reflection manipulations using an objective performance measure — the Cognitive Reflection Test 2 (CRT-2). In our large-scale preregistered online experiment (N = 1,748), we compared a passive and an active control condition with time delay, memory recall, decision justification, debiasing training, and combination of debiasing training and decision justification. We found no evidence that online versions of the two regularly used reflection conditions — time delay and memory recall — improve cognitive performance. Instead, our study isolated two less familiar methods that can effectively and rapidly activate reflective thinking: (1) a brief debiasing training, designed to avoid common cognitive biases and increase reflection, and (2) simply asking participants to justify their decisions.
A meta-analytical and experimental examination of blood glucose effects on decision making under risk
Authors: Orquin Jacob Lund , Christensen Jacob Dalgaard , Lagerkvist Carl-Johan
Published: January 2023

Previous research has shown that short-term changes in blood glucose influence our preferences and may affect decisions about risk as well. However, consensus is lacking about whether and how blood glucose influences decision making under risk, and we conduct two experiments and a meta-analysis to examine this question in detail. In Study 1, using a pecuniary valuation method, we find no effect of blood glucose on willingness to pay for risky products that may act as allergens. In Study 2, using risky gambles, we find that low levels of blood glucose increase risk taking for food and to a lesser degree for non-food rewards. Combining our own and previous findings in a meta-analysis, we show that low levels of blood glucose on average increase risk taking about food. Low blood glucose does not increase risk taking about non-food rewards although this is subject to heterogeneity. Overall, our studies suggest that low blood glucose increases our willingness to gamble on how much food we can get, but not our willingness to eat food that can harm us. Our findings are best explained by the energy budget rule.
Reanalysis of Butler and Pogrebna (2018) using true and error model
Authors: Birnbaum Michael H.
Published: January 2023

Butler and Pogrebna (2018) devised triples of three-branch gambles theorized to violate transitivity of preference according to a most probable winner model. According to this model, a person chooses the option that has the higher probability to yield a better outcome than the other alternative. They tested 11 triples with 100 participants and found cases that appeared to violate weak stochastic transitivity and the triangle inequality. But tests of weak stochastic transitivity and the triangle inequality do not provide a proper method to compare transitive and intransitive models that allow mixtures of preference patterns and random errors. Those older methods can yield false conclusions regarding transitivity, for example, if different participants have different true preferences or if different choice problems have different rates of error. This paper reanalyzes their data using a true and error (TE) model, which does not require these unrealistic assumptions, and which provides estimates of the incidence of transitive and intransitive behavior in a mixture. Reanalysis indicated that 3 of the 11 triples showed convincing evidence of violations of transitivity in the opposite direction of the predictions of the most probable winner model. Further, these and other triples showed other significant violations of the most probable winner model. Despite some violations of the true and error model, the data of Butler and Pogrebna appear to contradict not only transitive utility models but they also refute the most probable winner model as a descriptive theory of choice behavior.
Intransitive preferences or choice errors? A reply to Birnbaum
Authors: Butler David
Published: January 2023

Birnbaum (2020) reanalyses the data from Butler and Pogrebna (2018) using his ‘true and error’ test of choice patterns. His results generally support the evidence we presented in that paper. Here we reiterate the reasons for our agnosticism as to the direction any cycles might take, even though the paradox that motivated our study takes a ‘probable winner’ direction. We conclude by returning to the potential significance of predictably intransitive preferences for decision theory generally.
Attentional shifts and preference reversals: An eye-tracking study
Authors: Alós-Ferrer Carlos , Jaudas Alexander , Ritschel Alexander
Published: January 2023

The classic preference reversal phenomenon, where monetary evaluations contradict risky choices, has been argued to arise due to a focus on outcomes during the evaluation of alternatives, leading to overpricing of long-shot options. Such an explanation makes the implicit assumption that attentional shifts drive the phenomenon. We conducted an eye-tracking study to causally test this hypothesis by comparing a treatment based on cardinal, monetary evaluations with a different treatment avoiding a monetary frame. We find a significant treatment effect in the form of a shift in attention toward outcomes (relative to probabilities) when evaluations are monetary. Our evidence suggests that attentional shifts resulting from the monetary frame of evaluations are a driver of preference reversals.
Myopia drives reckless behavior in response to over-taxation
Authors: Spektor Mikhail S. , Wulff Dirk U.
Published: January 2023

Governments use taxes to discourage undesired behaviors and encourage desired ones. One target of such interventions is reckless behavior, such as texting while driving, which in most cases is harmless but sometimes leads to catastrophic outcomes. Past research has demonstrated how interventions can backfire when the tax on one reckless behavior is set too high whereas other less attractive reckless actions remain untaxed. In the context of experience-based decisions, this undesirable outcome arises from people behaving as if they underweighted rare events, which according to a popular theoretical account can result from basing decisions on a small, random sample of past experiences. Here, we reevaluate the adverse effect of overtaxation using an alternative account focused on recency. We show that a reinforcement-learning model that weights recently observed outcomes more strongly than than those observed in the past can provide an equally good account of people’s behavior. Furthermore, we show that there exist two groups of individuals who show qualitatively distinct patterns of behavior in response to the experience of catastrophic outcomes. We conclude that targeted interventions tailored for a small group of myopic individuals who disregard catastrophic outcomes soon after they have been experienced can be nearly as effective as an omnibus intervention based on taxation that affects everyone.
Steady steps versus sudden shifts: Cooperation in (a)symmetric linear and step-level social dilemmas
Authors: Kas Judith , Hardisty David J. , Handgraaf Michel J. J.
Published: January 2023

Are groups of people better able to minimize a collective loss if there is a collective target that must be reached or if every small contribution helps? In this paper we investigate whether cooperation in social dilemmas can be increased by structuring the problem as a step-level social dilemma rather than a linear social dilemma and whether cooperation can be increased by manipulating endowment asymmetry between individuals. In two laboratory experiments using ‘Public Bad’ games, we found that that individuals defect less and are better able to minimize collective and personal costs in a step-level social dilemma than in a linear social dilemma. We found that the level of cooperation is not affected by an ambiguous threshold: even when participants cannot be sure about the optimal cooperation level, cooperation remains high in the step-level social dilemmas. We find mixed results for the effect of asymmetry on cooperation. These results imply that presenting social dilemmas as step-level games and reducing asymmetry can help solve environmental dilemmas in the long term.
A brief forewarning intervention overcomes negative effects of salient changes in COVID-19 guidance
Authors: Gretton Jeremy D. , Meyers Ethan A. , Walker Alexander C. , Fugelsang Jonathan A. , Koehler Derek J.
Published: January 2023

During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health guidance (e.g., regarding the use of non-medical masks) changed over time. Although many revisions were a result of gains in scientific understanding, we nonetheless hypothesized that making changes in guidance salient would negatively affect evaluations of experts and health-protective intentions. In Study 1 (N= 300), we demonstrate that describing COVID-19 guidance in terms of inconsistency (versus consistency) leads people to perceive scientists and public health authorities less favorably (e.g., as less expert). For participants in Canada (n= 190), though not the U.S. (n= 110), making guidance change salient also reduced intentions to download a contact tracing app. In Study 2 (N= 1399), we show that a brief forewarning intervention mitigates detrimental effects of changes in guidance. In the absence of forewarning, emphasizing inconsistency harmed judgments of public health authorities and reduced health-protective intentions, but forewarning eliminated this effect.
Underweighting of rare events in social interactions and its implications to the design of voluntary health applications
Authors: Plonsky Ori , Roth Yefim , Erev Ido
Published: January 2023

Research on small repeated decisions from experience suggests that people often behave as if they underweight rare events and choose the options that are frequently better. In a pandemic, this tendency implies complacency and reckless behavior. Furthermore, behavioral contagion exacerbates this problem. In two pre-registered experiments (Ntotal= 312), we validate these predictions and highlight a potential solution. Groups of participants played a repeated game in one of two versions. In the basic version, people clearly preferred the dangerous reckless behavior that was better most of the time over the safer responsible behavior. In the augmented version, we gave participants an additional alternative abstracting the use of an application that frequently saves time but can sometimes have high costs. This alternative was stochastically dominated by the responsible choice option and was thus normatively irrelevant to the decision participants made. Nevertheless, most participants chose the new (“irrelevant”) alternative, providing the first clear demonstration of underweighting of rare events in fully described social games. We discuss public policies that can make the responsible use of health applications better most of the time, thus helping them get traction despite being voluntary. In one field demonstration of this idea amid the COVID-19 pandemic, usage rates of a contact tracing application among nursing home employees more than tripled when using the app also started saving them a little time each day, and the high usage rates sustained over at least four weeks.
Facilitating sender-receiver agreement in communicated probabilities: Is it best to use words, numbers or both?
Authors: Mandel David R. , Irwin Daniel
Published: January 2023

Organizations tasked with communicating expert judgments couched in uncertainty often use numerically bounded linguistic probability schemes to standardize the meaning of verbal probabilities. An experiment (N= 1,202) was conducted to ascertain whether agreement with such a scheme was better when probabilities were presented verbally, numerically or in a combined “verbal + numeric” format. Across three agreement measures, the numeric and combined formats outperformed the verbal format and also yielded better discrimination between low and high probabilities and were less susceptible to the fifty-fifty blip phenomenon. The combined format did not confer any advantage over the purely numeric format. The findings indicate that numerically bounded linguistic probability schemes are an ineffective means of communicating information about probabilities to others and they call into question recommendations for use of the combined format for delivering such schemes.
Post-decision search in repeated and variable environments
Authors: Teodorescu Kinneret , Sang Ke , Todd Peter M.
Published: January 2023

When faced with a decision, people collect information to help them decide. Though it may seem unnecessary, people often continue to search for information about alternatives after they have already chosen an option, even if this choice is irreversible (e.g., checking out other cars after just purchasing one). While previous post-decision search studies focused on “one-shot” decisions and highlighted its irrational aspects, here we explore the possible benefits of post-decision search in the long run. We use a simple search task in which participants repeatedly decide whether to select the current alternative or continue to search for a better alternative. In a preliminary study we find that participants indeed conduct post-decision search even in unique environments, where information about forgone options cannot be used in future choices. In the main studies exposure to post-decision information was manipulated directly in unique environments, and was found to lead to better performance. The source of the observed improvement was further investigated with an explicit strategy elicitation methodology. We find that following exposure to post-decision information, people collect more data before generating thresholds. Thus, although post-decision search in unique environments might appear redundant, our results suggest it can help decision makers to modify their strategy and improve their future choices.
A new test of the risk-reward heuristic
Authors: Skylark William J. , Prabhu-Naik Sidharth
Published: January 2023

Risk and reward are negatively correlated in a wide variety of environments, and in many cases this trade off approximates a fair bet. Pleskac and Hertwig (2014) recently proposed that people have internalized this relationship and use it as the basis for probability estimation and subsequent choice under conditions of uncertainty. Specifically, they showed that risky options with high-value outcomes are inferred to have lower probability than options offering a less valuable reward. We report two experiments that test a simple corollary of this idea. In both studies, participants estimated the magnitude of prizes offered by lotteries with known win-probabilities. The relationship between estimates and probabilities followed the power relationship predicted by the risk-reward heuristic, albeit with a tendency to overestimate outcome magnitude. In addition, people’s estimates predicted their willingness to take the gamble. Our results provide further evidence that people have internalized the ecological relationship between risk and reward in financial lotteries, and we suggest that this relationship exerts a wide-ranging influence on decision-making.
The effect of a reference point in task difficulty: How does a task that becomes irrelevant affect effort, feelings and perceptions
Authors: Voslinsky Alisa , Azar Ofer H.
Published: January 2023

We examine the effect of an irrelevant task that may become a reference point on subjects’ effort, feelings and perceptions. All subjects complete up to 25 tasks and are paid $0.10 per task solved correctly. However, some subjects have an easy task of finding one letter and others have a hard task of finding two letters. In the irrelevant-task treatment conditions subjects are told about the two types of tasks and are then assigned randomly to one. In addition, there are two control conditions, and in each control condition subjects are assigned to a specific task without the other task being possible or mentioned. Subjects in the irrelevant-task treatments express more positive (negative) feelings when assigned to the easy (hard) task. The control conditions that have no reference point of another task are in between the two irrelevant-task treatments in the feeling ratings. We hypothesized that for a given task, the subjects in the experimental conditions that have more positive feelings will also solve more tasks, but this hypothesis was not supported by the data. Finally, subjects who receive the easy task complete more tasks than the ones with the hard task.
Context-dependent outcome expectation contributes to experience-based
risky choice
Authors: He Zhijian , Dai Junyi
Published: January 2023

Previous research has demonstrated systematic discrepancies between
description- and experience-based risky choices. This
description-experience gap has been
attributed to several factors such as reliance on small samples and
differential probability weighting patterns. Because context-dependent
outcome expectation regarding safe options might influence experience-based
risky choices, it constitutes another potential contributor to the gap.
Using a free-sampling paradigm and risky options with rare outcomes that
were either attractive or unattractive relative to the frequent ones, two
experiments examined the existence and impact of such outcome expectation in
experience-based risky choices. Both experiments had two information
conditions: hint information meant to eliminate outcome expectation was
provided in one condition but not the other. Experiment 1, which indicated
the numbers of possible outcomes regarding both safe and risky options under
the hint condition, revealed different choice behaviors regarding risky-safe
trials between the two information conditions, no matter whether the rare
outcome of the risky option in such a trial (i.e., the
local context) was attractive or
unattractive. However, this result provided only indirect evidence for the
role of outcome expectation because it was unclear whether the hint
information affected only the outcome expectation and thus evaluation of
safe options or the evaluations of both safe and risky ones. With refined
hint information arguably removing potential impacts on the evaluation of
risky options, Experiment 2 showed that expectation of a non-existent rare
outcome of safe options did contribute to experience-based risky choices. In
addition, it appeared that the rare outcomes of the risky options in other
decision problems presented in the same experiment (i.e., the
global context) also affected outcome
expectation. Future research could investigate how the interaction between
local and global contexts determines outcome expectation to deepen our
understanding of its contribution to experience-based risky choice and the
description-experience gap.
Outcome feedback reduces over-forecasting of inflation and overconfidence in forecasts
Authors: Niu Xiaoxiao , Harvey Nigel
Published: January 2023

Survey respondents over-forecast inflation: they expect it to be higher than it turns out to be. Furthermore, people are generally overconfident in their forecasts. In two experiments, we show that providing outcome feedback that informs people of the actual level of the inflation that they have forecast reduces both over-forecasting and overconfidence in forecasts. These improvements were preserved even after feedback had been withdrawn, a finding that indicates that they were not produced because feedback had a temporary incentive effect but because it had a more permanent learning effect. However, providing forecasters with more outcome feedback did not have a greater effect. Feedback appears to provide people with information about biases in their judgments and, once they have received that information, no additional advantage is obtained by giving it to them again. Reducing over-forecasting also had no clear effect on overall error. This was because providing outcome feedback after every judgment also affected the noise or random error in forecasts, increasing it by a sufficient amount to cancel out the benefits provided by the reduction in over-forecasting.
What drives opposition to suicide? Two exploratory studies of normative
judgments
Authors: Landy Justin F. , Shah Pritika
Published: January 2023

The act of suicide is commonly viewed as wrong in some sense, but it is
not clear why this is. Based on past empirical research and philosophical
theorizing, we test ten different explanations for why suicide is opposed on
normative grounds. Using a within-subjects design, Study 1 showed that seven
out of ten manipulations had significant effects on normative judgments of
suicide: time left to live, lack of close social relationships, a history of
prior immoral behavior, the manner in which the suicide is committed,
painful, incurable medical issues, impulsive decision-making, and the
actor’s own moral-religious background. However, in all cases, the act of
suicide was still considered wrong, overall. Using a between-subjects
design, Study 2 tested the combined effect of the seven significant
manipulations from Study 1. In combination, the seven manipulations
eliminated opposition to suicide, on average. Implications for moral
psychology and suicide prevention are discussed.
After the virtual flood: Risk perceptions and flood preparedness after
virtual reality risk communication
Authors: Mol Jantsje M. , Botzen W. J. Wouter , Blasch Julia E.
Published: January 2023

Many individuals experience problems understanding and preparing for
low-probability/high-impact risk, like natural disasters and pandemics –
unless they experience these events, yet then it is often too late to avoid
damages. Individuals with recent disaster risk experience are, on average,
better prepared. This seems to be mediated through emotions and a better
understanding of the consequences. In this study, we use immersive virtual
reality (VR) technology to examine whether a simulated disaster can
stimulate people to invest in risk reducing measures in the context of
flooding, which is one of the deadliest and most damaging natural disasters
in the world. We investigate the possibility to boost risk perception,
coping appraisal, negative emotions and damage-reducing behavior through a
simulated flooding experience. We find that participants who experienced the
virtual flood invest significantly more in the flood risk investment game
than those in the control group. The investments in the VR treatment seem to
decrease after four weeks but not significantly so.
Testing team reasoning: Group identification is related to coordination
in pure coordination games
Authors: Thom James Matthew , Afzal Uzma , Gold Natalie
Published: January 2023

Games of pure mutual interest require players to coordinate their
choices without being able to communicate. One way to achieve this is
through team-reasoning, asking ‘what should we choose’, rather than just
assessing one’s own options from an individual perspective. It has been
suggested that team-reasoning is more likely when individuals are encouraged
to think of those they are attempting to coordinate with as members of an
in-group. In two studies, we examined the effects of group identity,
measured by the ‘Inclusion of Other in Self’ (IOS) scale, on performance in
nondescript coordination games, where there are several equilibria but no
descriptions that a player can use to distinguish any one strategy from the
others apart from the payoff from coordinating on it. In an online
experiment, our manipulation of group identity did not have the expected
effect, but we found a correlation of .18 between IOS and
team-reasoning-consistent choosing. Similarly, in self-reported strategies,
those who reported trying to pick an option that stood out (making it easier
to coordinate on) also reported higher IOS scores than did those who said
they tended to choose the option with the largest potential payoff. In a
follow-up study in the lab, participants played either with friends or with
strangers. Experiment 2 replicated the relationship between IOS and
team-reasoning in strangers but not in friends. Instead, friends’ behavior
was related to their expectations of what their partners would do. A
hierarchical cluster analysis showed that 46.4% of strangers played a team
reasoning strategy, compared to 20.6% of friends. We suggest that the
strangers who group identify may have been team reasoning but friends may
have tried to use their superior knowledge of their partners to try to
predict their strategy.
Perception of generosity under matching and rebate subsidies
Authors: Chan Nathan W. , Knowles Stephen , Peeters Ronald , Wolk Leonard
Published: January 2023

Existing evidence from laboratory experiments finds that a match is likely to increase charitable donations by more than a theoretically equivalent rebate. A number of explanations have been proposed for this in the literature. One idea, which has never been tested, is that people consider a match to be more generous, because unlike the rebate, there is no reward for making a donation in the match setting. We design a survey to determine whether people do consider matches more generous than rebates, and probe the reasons subjects give for their answers. We find that a significant number of people do consider rebates less generous because of the reward associated with donations in such a setting.
Voting under time pressure
Authors: Alós-Ferrer Carlos , Garagnani Michele
Published: January 2023

In a controlled laboratory experiment we investigate whether time pressure influences voting decisions, and in particular the degree of strategic (insincere) voting. We find that participants under time constraints are more sincere when using the widely-employed Plurality Voting method. That is, time pressure might reduce strategic voting and hence misrepresentation of preferences. However, there are no effects for Approval Voting, in line with arguments that this method provides no incentives for strategic voting.
Successful everyday decision making: Combining attributes and
associates
Authors: Banks Adrian P. , Gamblin David M.
Published: January 2023

How do people make everyday decisions in order to achieve the most
successful outcome? Decision making research typically evaluates choices
according to their expected utility. However, this research largely focuses
on abstract or hypothetical tasks and rarely investigates whether the
outcome is successful and satisfying for the decision maker. Instead, we use
an everyday decision making task in which participants describe a personally
meaningful decision they are currently facing. We investigate the decision
processes used to make this decision, and evaluate how successful and
satisfying the outcome of the decision is for them. We examine how well
analytic, attribute-based processes explain everyday decision making and
predict decision outcomes, and we compare these processes to associative
processes elicited through free association. We also examine the
characteristics of decisions and individuals that are associated with good
decision outcomes. Across three experiments we found that: 1) an analytic
decision analysis of everyday decisions is not superior to simpler
attribute-based processes in predicting decision outcomes; 2) contrary to
research linking associative cognition to biases, free association generates
valid cues that predict choice and decision outcomes as effectively as
attribute-based approaches; 3) contrary to research favouring either
attribute-based or associative processes, combining both attribute-based and
associates best explains everyday decisions and most accurately predicts
decision outcomes; and 4) individuals with a tendency to attempt analytic
thinking do not make more successful everyday decisions. Instead, frequency,
simplicity, and knowledge of the decision predict success. We propose that
attribute-based and associative processes, in combination, both explain
everyday decision making and predict successful decision outcomes.
Social preferences before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in
China
Authors: King Li King , Hong Ying-yi , Huang Bo , Tam Tony
Published: January 2023

This study compares Chinese people’s trust and trustworthiness, risk
attitude, and time preference before and after the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic in China. We compare the preferences of subjects in two online
experiments with samples drawn from 31 provinces across mainland China
before and after the onset of the pandemic. We test two competing hypotheses
regarding trust and trustworthiness. On the one hand, the outbreak as a
collective threat could enhance in-group cohesion and cooperation and thus
increase trust and trustworthiness. On the other hand, to the extent that
people expect their future income to decline, they may become more
self-protective and self-controlled, and thus less trusting and trustworthy
and more risk averse and patient. Comparing before and after the onset, we
found that the subjects increased in trustworthiness. After the onset, trust
and trustworthiness (and risk aversion and present bias too) were positively
correlated with the COVID-19 prevalence rate in the provinces. Subjects with
more pessimistic expectations about income change showed more risk aversion
and lower discount rates, supporting the speculation concerning
self-control.
Waiting is painful: The impact of anticipated dread on negative
discounting in the loss domain
Authors: Sun Hong-Yue , Ma Jia-Tao , Zhou Lei , Jiang Cheng-Ming , Li Shu
Published: January 2023

According to the positive time-discounting assumption of intertemporal
decision-making, people prefer to undergo negative events in the future
rather than in the present. However, negative discounting has been
identified in the intertemporal choice and loss domains, which refers to
people’s preference to experience negative events earlier rather than later.
Studies have validated and supported the "anticipated dread" as an
explanation for negative discounting. This study again explored the effect
of anticipated dread on intertemporal choice using content analysis; that
is, having participants identify anticipated dread among reasons for
negative discounting. This study also validated the effect of anticipated
dread on negative discounting by manipulating anticipated dread. This study
adds empirical and direct evidence for the role of anticipated dread in
negative discounting.
Nicht-steroidale Antirheumatika und kardiovaskuläres Risiko
Authors: Schmied Christian
Published: January 2023

Zusammenfassung. Nicht-steroidale Antirheumatika (NSAR) gehören zu den am meisten eingenommenen Medikamenten weltweit, wobei eine ärztliche Rezeptierung und Kontrolle dabei meistens fehlen. Neben bekannten gastrointestinalen und renalen NSAR-Nebenwirkungen werden die häufig auftretenden kardiovaskulären Risiken oftmals vernachlässigt. Nicht-selektive NSAR, aber auch selektive COX-2-Hemmer, inhibieren unter anderem Prostacyclin, das thrombozytenhemmend und vasodilatierend wirkt. Bei den selektiven COX-2-Inhibitoren kommt es zudem zu einer Verschiebung Richtung COX-1-Aktivität, wodurch mehr Thromboxan gebildet wird, was zusätzlich zu einer Erhöhung des Risikos für eine Thrombozytenaggregation führt. Durch eine lange Halbwertszeit charakterisierte, nicht-selektive NSAR zeichnen sich durch stabile Plasmaspiegel und eine stabile Thrombozytenaggregationshemmung aus. Nicht-selektive NSAR vermindern zusätzlich auch die Bindung von Acetylsalicylsäure an die Thrombozyten und beeinträchtigen dadurch deren Wirkung.
Effective Preconditioners for Mixed‐Dimensional Scalar Elliptic Problems
Authors: Hu Xiaozhe , Keilegavlen Eirik , Nordbotten Jan M.
Published: January 2023

Discretization of flow in fractured porous media commonly lead to large systems of linear equations that require dedicated solvers. In this work, we develop an efficient linear solver and its practical implementation for mixed‐dimensional scalar elliptic problems. We design an effective preconditioner based on approximate block factorization and algebraic multigrid techniques. Numerical results on benchmarks with complex fracture structures demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed linear solver and its robustness with respect to different physical and discretization parameters.
A meta-analysis showing improved cognitive performance in healthy young adults with transcranial alternating current stimulation
Authors: Lee Tae Lee , Lee Hanall , Kang Nyeonju
Published: January 2023

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation used for improving cognitive functions via delivering weak electrical stimulation with a certain frequency. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the effects of tACS protocols on cognitive functions in healthy young adults. We identified 56 qualified studies that compared cognitive functions between tACS and sham control groups, as indicated by cognitive performances and cognition-related reaction time. Moderator variable analyses specified effect size according to (a) timing of tACS, (b) frequency band of simulation, (c) targeted brain region, and (b) cognitive domain, respectively. Random-effects model meta-analysis revealed small positive effects of tACS protocols on cognitive performances. The moderator variable analyses found significant effects for online-tACS with theta frequency band, online-tACS with gamma frequency band, and offline-tACS with theta frequency band. Moreover, cognitive performances were improved in online- and offline-tACS with theta frequency band on either prefrontal and posterior parietal cortical regions, and further both online- and offline-tACS with theta frequency band enhanced executive function. Online-tACS with gamma frequency band on posterior parietal cortex was effective for improving cognitive performances, and the cognitive improvements appeared in executive function and perceptual-motor function. These findings suggested that tACS protocols with specific timing and frequency band may effectively improve cognitive performances.
The characterization of bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) coprolites in the archaeological record
Authors: Sanz Montserrat , Daura Joan , Costa Ana Maria , Araújo Ana Cristina
Published: January 2023

The archaeological record of the Lagar Velho rock shelter (Lapedo Valley, Leiria, Portugal) bears testimony to several significant Upper Palaeolithic occupations, most notably theLapedo Childburial (LV1) dating from the Gravettian. Excavations undertaken at the site since 2018 have seen the recovery of a large quantity of coprolites, above all in layer 143 (c. 29 ka cal BP). The study of these fossilized remains points to the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) as the main coprogenic agent and provides the first descriptions of these avian coprolites in archaeological assemblages. The analyses reported involved the comparison of the coprogenic samples with modern bearded vulture scats. A new morphotype is proposed for discriminating the faeces of this avian scavenger based on (1) macroscopic analyses, (2) morphometric comparisons with other fossil and modern scats and (3) their mineralogical and elemental composition. Among the criteria proposed here to identify the coprolites of the bearded vulture are their cylindrical shape, diameter, pointed extremities and homogeneous porous texture, as well as their massive internal texture, hard consistency and total absence of bone inclusions (attributable in all likelihood to a high digastric juice acidity capable of dissolving bones). Our results indicate that, as well as being used by humans for short-term stays, the Lagar Velho rock shelter was used by the bearded vulture as a nesting site. We provide new evidence from Iberia of the activity of this avian scavenger as a bone accumulator in archaeological sites.
Training and proficiency level in endoscopic sinus surgery change residents’ eye movements
Authors: Niederhauser Laura , Gunser Sandra , Waser Manuel , Mast Fred W. , Caversaccio Marco , Anschuetz Lukas
Published: January 2023

Nose surgery is challenging and needs a lot of training for safe and efficient treatments. Eye tracking can provide an objective assessment to measure residents’ learning curve. The aim of the current study was to assess residents’ fixation duration and other dependent variables over the course of a dedicated training in functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). Sixteen residents performed a FESS training over 18 sessions, split into three surgical steps. Eye movements in terms of percent fixation on the screen and average fixation duration were measured, in addition to residents’ completion time, cognitive load, and surgical performance. Results indicated performance improvements in terms of completion time and surgical performance. Cognitive load and average fixation duration showed a significant change within the last step of training. Percent fixation on screen increased within the first step, and then stagnated. Results showed that eye movements and cognitive load differed between residents of different proficiency levels. In conclusion, eye tracking is a helpful objective measuring tool in FESS. It provides additional insights of the training level and changes with increasing performance. Expert-like gaze was obtained after half of the training sessions and increased proficiency in FESS was associated with increased fixation duration.
Relationship between clinical phenotype and in vitro analysis of 13 NPT2c/SCL34A3 mutants
Authors: Brazier François , Courbebaisse Marie , David Amandine , Bergerat David , Leroy Christine , Lindner Marta , Maruani Gérard , Saint Jacques Camille , Letavernier Emmanuel , Hureaux Marguerite , Vargas-Poussou Rosa , Prié Dominique
Published: January 2023

Biallelic pathogenic variants in the SLC34A3 gene, encoding for the NPT2c cotransporter, cause Hereditary Hypophosphatemic Rickets with Hypercalciuria (HHRH). However, the associated phenotype is highly variable. In addition, mice deleted for Slc34a3 exhibit a different phenotype compared to humans, without urinary phosphate leakage. The mechanisms by which SLC34A3 variants disrupt phosphate/calcium metabolism are un-completely understood. In this study we explored these mechanisms in vitro using SLC34A3 variants identified in patients with urinary phosphate leakage. We analyzed the consequences of these variants on NPT2c function and the link with the phenotype of the patients. We studied 20 patients with recurrent nephrolithiasis and low serum phosphate concentration harboring variants in the SLC34A3 gene. Half of the patients carried homozygous or composite heterozygous variants. Three patients had in addition variants in SLC34A1 and SLC9A3R1 genes. All these patients benefited from a precise analysis of their phenotype. We generated 13 of these mutants by site-directed mutagenesis. Then we carried out transient transfections of these mutants in HEK cells and measured their phosphate uptake capacity under different conditions. Among the 20 patients included, 3 had not only mutations in NPT2c but also in NPT2a or NHERF1 genes. Phosphate uptake was decreased in 8 NPT2c mutants studied and normal for 5. Four variants were initially categorized as variants of uncertain significance. Expression of the corresponding mutants showed that one did not modify phosphate transport, two reduced it moderately and one abolished it. Co-transfection of the NPT2c mutants with the wild-type plasmid of NPT2c or NPT2a did not reveal dominant negative effect of the mutants on NPT2c-mediated phosphate transport. A detailed analysis of patient phenotypes did not find a link between the severity of the disorder and the level of phosphate transport impairment. NPT2c mutations classified as ACMG3 identified in patients with renal phosphate leak should be characterized by in vitro study to check if they alter NPT2c-mediated phosphate transport since phosphate uptake capacity may not be affected. In addition, research for mutations in NHERF1 and NPT2a genes should always be associated to NPT2c sequencing.
A risk model for prediction of diagnosis of cancer after ischemic stroke
Authors: Seystahl Katharina , Gramatzki Dorothee , Wanner Miriam , Weber Sung Ju , Hug Alessia , Luft Andreas R. , Rohrmann Sabine , Wegener Susanne , Weller Michael
Published: January 2023

It remains controversial which characteristics may predict occult cancer in stroke patients. Characteristics of patients with ischemic stroke registered in the Zurich Swiss Stroke Registry (2014 to 2016) were tested for associations with cancer diagnosis after stroke with consideration of death as competing risk for cancer diagnosis. Among 1157 patients, 34 (3%) and 55 patients (5%) were diagnosed with cancer within 1 and 3 years after stroke. Levels of white blood cells (WBC) > 9,600/µl (subdistribution hazard ratio (SHR) 3.68, p = 0.014), platelets > 400,000/µl (SHR 7.71, p = 0.001), and d-dimers ≥ 3 mg/l (SHR 3.67, p = 0.007) were independently associated with cancer diagnosis within 1 year after stroke. Occurrence of ischemic lesions in ≥ 2 vascular territories not attributed to cardioembolic etiology was associated with cancer diagnosed within 1 year after stroke in univariable analysis (SHR 3.69, p = 0.001). The area under the curve of a score from these parameters (score sum 0–4) was 0.73. A score of ≥ 2 had a sensitivity of 43% and specificity of 92% for prediction of cancer diagnosis within 1 year after stroke. We suggest further validation of a score of WBC, platelets, d-dimers and multiple ischemic lesions without cardioembolic stroke etiology for prediction of cancer diagnosis after stroke.
Fecal microbiota composition affects in vitro fermentation of rye, oat, and wheat bread
Authors: Pirkola Laura , Dicksved Johan , Loponen Jussi , Marklinder Ingela , Andersson Roger
Published: January 2023

Fermentation of dietary fiber by gut microbes produces short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), but fermentation outcomes are affected by dietary fiber source and microbiota composition. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of two different fecal microbial compositions on in vitro fermentation of a standardized amount of oat, rye, and wheat breads. Two human fecal donors with different microbial community composition were recruited. Bread samples were digested enzymatically. An in vitro fermentation model was used to study SCFA production, dietary fiber degradation, pH, and changes in microbiota. Feces from donor I had high relative abundance of Bacteroides and Escherichia/Shigella, whereas feces from donor II were high in Prevotella and Subdoligranulum. Shifts in microbiota composition were observed during fermentation. SCFA levels were low in the samples with fecal microbiota from donor I after 8 h of fermentation, but after 24 h acetate and propionate levels were similar in the samples from the different donors. Butyrate levels were higher in the fermentation samples from donor II, especially with rye substrate, where high abundance of Subdoligranulum was observed. Dietary fiber degradation was also higher in the fermentation samples from donor II. In conclusion, fermentation capacity and substrate utilization differed between the two different microbiota compositions.
Estimating excess mortalities due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia between January 2020 and September 2021
Authors: Jayaraj Vivek Jason , Chong Diane Woei-Quan , Wan Kim-Sui , Hairi Noran Naqiah , Bhoo-Pathy Nirmala , Rampal Sanjay , Ng Chiu-Wan
Published: January 2023

Excess mortalities are a more accurate indicator of true COVID-19 disease burden. This study aims to investigate levels of excess all-cause mortality and their geographic, age and sex distributions between January 2020-September 2021. National mortality data between January 2016 and September 2021 from the Department of Statistics Malaysia was utilised. Baseline mortality was estimated using the Farrington algorithm and data between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2019. The occurrence of excess all-cause mortality by geographic-, age- and sex-stratum was examined from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2021. A sub-analysis was also conducted for road-traffic accidents, ethnicity and nationality. Malaysia had a 5.5–23.7% reduction in all-cause mortality across 2020. A reversal is observed in 2021, with an excess of 13.0–24.0%. Excess mortality density is highest between July and September 2021. All states and sexes reported excess trends consistent with the national trends. There were reductions in all all-cause mortalities in individuals under the age of 15 (0.4–8.1%) and road traffic accident-related mortalities (36.6–80.5%). These reductions were higher during the first Movement Control Order in 2020. Overall, there appears to be a reduction in all-cause mortality for Malaysia in 2020. This trend is reversed in 2021, with excess mortalities being observed. Surveillance of excess mortalities can allow expedient detection of aberrant events allowing timely health system and public health responses.
Customizing virtual interpersonal skills training applications may not improve trainee performance
Authors: Lucas Gale M. , Mell Johnathan , Boberg Jill , Zenone Forrest , de Visser Ewart J. , Tossell Chad , Seech Todd
Published: January 2023

While some theoretical perspectives imply that the context of a virtual training should be customized to match the intended context where those skills would ultimately be applied, others suggest this might not be necessary for learning. It is important to determine whether manipulating context matters for performance in training applications because customized virtual training systems made for specific use cases are more costly than generic “off-the-shelf” ones designed for a broader set of users. Accordingly, we report a study where military cadets use a virtual platform to practice their negotiation skills, and are randomly assigned to one of two virtual context conditions: military versus civilian. Out of 28 measures capturing performance in the negotiation, there was only one significant result: cadets in the civilian condition politely ask the agent to make an offer significantly more than those in the military condition. These results imply that—for this interpersonal skills application, and perhaps ones like it—virtual context may matter very little for performance during social skills training, and that commercial systems may yield real benefits to military scenarios with little-to-no modification.
Tube length optimization of titania nanotube array for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting
Authors: Inoue Kazuki , Matsuda Atsunori , Kawamura Go
Published: January 2023

Anodic TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNTAs) have attracted much attention due to their excellent photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties. In this work, the tube length of TNTAs was optimized for efficient PEC water splitting under two different conditions, in which very few or a massive amount of gas bubbles were generated on the electrodes. As a result, relatively longer TNTAs were found to be preferable for higher PEC performance when a larger number of bubbles were generated. This suggests that the mass transport in the electrolyte is assisted by the generated bubbles, so that the electrode surfaces are more easily exposed to the fresh electrolyte, leading to the higher PEC performance.