Conflict Detection Predicts the Temporal Stability of Intuitive and Deliberate Reasoning

Although the susceptibility to reasoning biases is often assumed to be a stable trait, the temporal stability of people’s performance on popular heuristics-and-biases tasks has been rarely directly tested. The present study addressed this issue and examined a potential determinant for answer change. Participants solved the same set of “bias” tasks twice in two test sessions, two weeks apart. We used the two-response paradigm to test the stability of both initial (intuitive) and final (deliberate) responses. We hypothesized that participants who showed higher conflict detection in their initial intuitive responses at session 1 (as indexed by a relative confidence decrease compared to control problems), would be less stable in their responses between session 1 and 2. Results showed that performance on the reasoning tasks was highly, but not entirely, stable two weeks later. Notably, conflict detection in session 1 was significantly more pronounced in those cases that participants did change their answer between sessions. We discuss practical and theoretical implications.

The role of zinc in the pathogenesis and treatment of COVID-19: A review

Destructive outcomes of coronavirus pandemic call for medical research which can report all of the influential agents not only for the treatment of the disease but also preventing its severe impacts on the societal health in the most efficient manner. Zinc plays an integral role in the function of cellular enzymes and transcription factors. Owing to its anti-inflammatory and cellular immunity regulation activity, zinc is regarded to be effective on strengthening the immune system. Its crucial antiviral effects have long been established as well. Studies suggest that low serum zinc level predisposes the patient to severe COVID-19 infection, which makes patient’s zinc profile a potential determinant of prognosis and severity of this disease. Furthermore, zinc supplementation has indicated promising outcomes of coronavirus infection management. Zinc modulates cell-mediated immunity and participates in the killing of microorganisms in cytotoxic immune cells. Zn2 + has anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting IL-6 production. Although there is still not enough evidence, it seems that zinc could be a promising supplementary treatment for COVID-19 especially in zinc-deficient patients. The aim of this review is to clarify the role of zinc in pathogenesis and therapy of COVID-19 in detail.

The paradox of poor representation: How voter–party incongruence curbs affective polarisation

Research on the relationship between ideology and affective polarisation highlights ideological disagreement as a key driver of animosity between partisan groups. By operationalising disagreement on the left–right dimension, however, existing studies often overlook voter–party incongruence as a potential determinant of affective evaluations. How does incongruence on policy issues impact affective evaluations of mainstream political parties and their leaders? We tackle this question by analysing data from the British Election Study collected ahead of the 2019 UK General Election using an instrumental variable approach. Consistent with our expectations, we find that voter–party incongruence has a significant causal impact on affective evaluations. Perceived representational gaps between party and voter drive negative evaluations of the in-party and positive evaluations of the opposition, thus lowering affective polarisation overall. The results offer a more nuanced perspective on the role of ideological conflict in driving affective polarisation.

High SARS-CoV-2 viral load is associated with a worse clinical outcome of COVID-19 disease

COVID-19 severity and progression are determined by several host and virological factors that may influence the final outcome of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. The objective of this work was to determine a possible association between viral load, obtained from nasopharyngeal swabs, and the severity of the infection in a cohort of 448 SARS-CoV-2-infected patients from a hospital in Madrid during the first outbreak of the pandemic in Spain. To perform this, we clinically classified patients as mild, moderate and severe COVID-19 according to a number of clinical parameters such as hospitalization requirement, need of oxygen therapy, admission to intensive care units and/or death. Also, Ct values were determined using SARS-CoV-2-specific oligonucleotides directed to ORF1ab. Here we report a statistically significant association between viral load and disease severity, a high viral load being associated with worse clinical prognosis, independently of several previously identified risk factors such as age, sex, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and lung disease (asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). The data presented here reinforce viral load as a potential biomarker for predicting disease severity in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. It is also an important parameter in viral evolution since it relates to the numbers and types of variant genomes present in a viral population, a potential determinant of disease progression.

Deficiency of Axl aggravates pulmonary arterial hypertension via BMPR2

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), is a fatal disease characterized by a pseudo-malignant phenotype. We investigated the expression and the role of the receptor tyrosine kinase Axl in experimental (i.e., monocrotaline and Su5416/hypoxia treated rats) and clinical PAH. In vitro Axl inhibition by R428 and Axl knock-down inhibited growth factor-driven proliferation and migration of non-PAH and PAH PASMCs. Conversely, Axl overexpression conferred a growth advantage. Axl declined in PAECs of PAH patients. Axl blockage inhibited BMP9 signaling and increased PAEC apoptosis, while BMP9 induced Axl phosphorylation. Gas6 induced SMAD1/5/8 phosphorylation and ID1/ID2 increase were blunted by BMP signaling obstruction. Axl association with BMPR2 was facilitated by Gas6/BMP9 stimulation and diminished by R428. In vivo R428 aggravated right ventricular hypertrophy and dysfunction, abrogated BMPR2 signaling, elevated pulmonary endothelial cell apoptosis and loss. Together, Axl is a key regulator of endothelial BMPR2 signaling and potential determinant of PAH.

Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis

Trust in leaders is central to citizen compliance with public policies. One potential determinant of trust is how leaders resolve conflicts between utilitarian and non- utilitarian ethical principles in moral dilemmas. Past research suggests that utilitarian responses to dilemmas can both erode and enhance trust in leaders: sacrificing some people to save many others (‘instrumental harm’) reduces trust, while maximizing the welfare of everyone equally (‘impartial beneficence’) may increase trust. In a multi-site experiment spanning 22 countries on six continents, participants (N = 23,929) completed self-report (N = 17,591) and behavioral (N = 12,638) measures of trust in leaders who endorsed utilitarian or non-utilitarian principles in dilemmas concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. Across both the self-report and behavioral measures, endorsement of instrumental harm decreased trust, while endorsement of impartial beneficence increased trust. These results show how support for different ethical principles can impact trust in leaders, and inform effective public communication during times of global crisis.

Cognitive Impact of Anthropomorphized Robot Gaze

Attentional control does not have fix functioning and can be strongly impacted by the presence of other human beings or humanoid robots. In two studies, this phenomenon was investigated while focusing exclusively on robot gaze as a potential determinant of attentional control along with the role of participants’ anthropomorphic inferences toward the robot. In study 1, we expected and found higher interference in trials including a direct robot gaze compared to an averted gaze on a task measuring attentional control (Eriksen flanker task). Participants’ anthropomorphic inferences about the social robot mediated this interference. In study 2, we found that averted gazes congruent with the correct answer (same task as study 1) facilitated performance. Again, this effect was mediated by anthropomorphic inferences. These two studies show the importance of anthropomorphic robotic gaze on human cognitive processing, especially attentional control, and also open new avenues of research in social robotics.

Anemia Status and Its Related Factors among Indonesian Workers: Hemoglobin Survey in Three Different Workplaces

This study aims to explore risk factors of low hemoglobin status (anemia) among workers in three different workplaces in Indonesia. Cross-sectional study design was applied to screen hemoglobin value by using a multiwave pulse total-hemoglobinometer Masimo® and obtain socio-demographic characteristics using a questionnaire. Three workplaces were purposively selected to have total population eligible for this study. Health safety protocol was applied both for the subjects and researchers as COVID19 prevention. Statistical analyses were used accordingly to find potential risk factor(s) of anemia among workers. A total of 2386 eligible subjects with mean age of 36.8 ± 9.2 years participated in this study consisted of mainly male workers (85.3%), mostly married (79.0%), never smoke (55.8%) and working in shift (68.7%). Mean of hemoglobin value was 14.2 ± 1.2 mg/dL with anemia prevalence of 9.9%. Risk factor of anemia among workers were female-gender, non-marriage status, never smoking and no-work shift. However, the potential determinant for anemia among workers was female-gender, in which the prevalence of anemia was 24.6% as compared to 7.4% in male-gender. Keep providing free meal in the workplace canteen is a must, but there is a need to provide iron and vitamin C-fortified food and/or iron and vitamin C supplement especially for female workers.

Deep-sea microbes as tools to refine the rules of innate immune pattern recognition

The assumption of near-universal bacterial detection by pattern recognition receptors is a foundation of immunology. The limits of this pattern recognition concept, however, remain undefined. As a test of this hypothesis, we determined whether mammalian cells can recognize bacteria that they have never had the natural opportunity to encounter. These bacteria were cultivated from the deep Pacific Ocean, where the genus Moritella was identified as a common constituent of the culturable microbiota. Most deep-sea bacteria contained cell wall lipopolysaccharide (LPS) structures that were expected to be immunostimulatory, and some deep-sea bacteria activated inflammatory responses from mammalian LPS receptors. However, LPS receptors were unable to detect 80% of deep-sea bacteria examined, with LPS acyl chain length being identified as a potential determinant of immunosilence. The inability of immune receptors to detect most bacteria from a different ecosystem suggests that pattern recognition strategies may be defined locally, not globally.