Bioassay predictive values for chemical health risks in drinking water.

Bioanalytical tools can be used for assessment of the chemical quality of drinking water and its sources. For water managers it is important to know the probability that a bioassay response above an established health-based 'effect-based trigger value' (EBT) indeed implies a harmful chemical (mixture) concentration. This study presents and applies a framework, based on Bayes' theorem, to derive such risk probabilities for bioassay responses.

How We Lost 90% of Participants on a Bad Bet: Results from a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial on Cognitive Bias Modification in Problem Gamblers.

Whilst opportunities to participate in gambling have increased, access to support for problem gamblers is lacking behind. This lack of balance calls for improved and accessible intervention methods. The present double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) explored the effectiveness of two interventions targeting automatic cognitive processes, known as Attentional Bias Modification (AtBM) and Approach Bias Modification (ApBM).

Language trees with sampled ancestors support a hybrid model for the origin of Indo-European languages.

The origins of the Indo-European language family are hotly disputed. Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of core vocabulary have produced conflicting results, with some supporting a farming expansion out of Anatolia ~9000 years before present (yr B.P.

Losing sight of Luck: Automatic approach tendencies toward gambling cues in Canadian moderate- to high-risk gamblers - A replication study.

Evidence for approach bias tendencies to underly automatic behavioural impulses towards seeking out gambling activities in the presence of appetitive salient cues was first shown by Boffo et al. (2018) in a Dutch sample. Relative to non-problem gamblers, moderate-to-high-risk gamblers demonstrated stronger approach tendencies towards gambling-related stimuli compared with neutral ones.

Estranged and Unhappy? Examining the Dynamics of Personal and Relationship Well-Being Surrounding Infidelity.

Although relationship theories often describe infidelity as a damaging event in a couple's life, it remains unclear whether relationship problems actually follow infidelity, precede it, or both. The analyses of dyadic panel data of adults in Germany including about 1,000 infidelity events showed that infidelity was preceded (but not followed) by a gradual decrease in relationship functioning in perpetrators and victims. There was little evidence of rebound effects in the aftermath of infidelity, with the exception of unfaithful women and individuals with lower initial relationship commitment who returned to the pre-event level of well-being or even exceeded it, providing support to the expectancy violation theory (vs.

jsQuestPlus: A JavaScript implementation of the QUEST+ method for estimating psychometric function parameters in online experiments.

The two Bayesian adaptive psychometric methods named QUEST (Watson & Pelli, 1983) and QUEST+ (Watson, 2017) are widely used to estimate psychometric parameters, especially the threshold, in laboratory-based psychophysical experiments. Considering the increase of online psychophysical experiments in recent years, there is a growing need to have the QUEST and QUEST+ methods available online as well. We developed JavaScript libraries for both, with this article introducing one of them: jsQuestPlus.

Can we measure individual differences in cognitive measures reliably via smartphones? A comparison of the flanker effect across device types and samples.

Research deployed via the internet and administered via smartphones could have access to more diverse samples than lab-based research. Diverse samples could have relatively high variation in their traits and so yield relatively reliable measurements of individual differences in these traits. Several cognitive tasks that originated from the experimental research tradition have been reported to yield relatively low reliabilities (Hedge et al.

The Online Coalition Game: A tool for online interactive coalition formation research.

In this paper, we present the Online Coalition Game (OCG): an open-source tool written for the open-access research platform oTree that enables high-powered interactive coalition formation experiments. Besides containing a tutorial on conducting and configuring studies using the OCG, we discuss two previous implementations. With these examples, we demonstrate that online use of the OCG provides the benefits of large sample sizes and fast data collection, while leading to convergent and robust findings.

Online computer or therapist-guided cognitive behavioral therapy in university students with anxiety and/or depression: study protocol of a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Emerging adulthood is a phase in life that is associated with an increased risk to develop a variety of mental health disorders including anxiety and depression. However, less than 25% of university students receive professional help for their mental health reports. Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) may entail useful interventions in a format that is attractive for university students.

Subtypes of smokers in a randomized controlled trial of a web-based smoking cessation program and their role in predicting intervention non-usage attrition: Implications for the development of tailored interventions.

Introduction: Web-based smoking interventions hold potential for smoking cessation; however, many of them report low intervention usage (i.e., high levels of non-usage attrition).

Methods to split cognitive task data for estimating split-half reliability: A comprehensive review and systematic assessment.

Estimating the reliability of cognitive task datasets is commonly done via split-half methods. We review four methods that differ in how the trials are split into parts: a first-second half split, an odd-even trial split, a permutated split, and a Monte Carlo-based split. Additionally, each splitting method could be combined with stratification by task design.

Low Self-Control: A Hidden Cause of Loneliness?

Loneliness has been associated with multiple negative outcomes. But what contributes to loneliness in the first place? Drawing from the literature on the importance of self-regulatory ability for successful social functioning, the present research explored the role of low self-control as a factor leading to loneliness. A set of four studies (and three additional studies in Supplementary Online Materials) using cross-sectional, experimental, daily diary, and experience sampling methods showed that lower self-control is associated with higher loneliness at both trait and state levels.

Strength Is Still a Weakness in Coalition Formation: Replicating and Understanding the Strength-Is-Weakness Effect.

A key observation in coalition formation is that bargainers with most resources are often excluded from coalitions: the Strength-is-Weakness effect. Previous studies have suffered from low sample sizes and lack of (appropriate) incentives and have rarely focused on underlying processes. To address these issues, we conducted a cross-platform replication using the Online Coalition Game.

Development of a framework to derive effect-based trigger values to interpret CALUX data for drinking water quality.

Bioassays are increasingly being implemented for water quality monitoring as targeted chemical analyses are not always sufficient for the detection of all emerging chemicals or transformation products. However, the interpretation of bioassay results remains challenging, in particular because a positive response does not necessarily indicate that there may be an increased risk. For this purpose, effect-based trigger (EBT) values have been introduced as thresholds above which action needs to be undertaken to determine the cause of the response.

The Brabant study: design of a large prospective perinatal cohort study among pregnant women investigating obstetric outcome from a biopsychosocial perspective.

Background: Pregnancy is characterised by many biological and psychosocial changes. Adequate maternal thyroid function is important for the developing fetus throughout gestation. Latent class analyses recently showed three different patterns of change in thyroid function throughout pregnancy with different associations with obstetric outcome.

Organic micropollutant removal in full-scale rapid sand filters used for drinking water treatment in The Netherlands and Belgium.

Biological treatment processes have the potential to remove organic micropollutants (OMPs) during water treatment. The OMP removal capacity of conventional drinking water treatment processes such as rapid sand filters (RSFs), however, has not been studied in detail. We investigated OMP removal and transformation product (TP) formation in seven full-scale RSFs all treating surface water, using high-resolution mass spectrometry based quantitative suspect and non-target screening (NTS).

Combining Web-Based Attentional Bias Modification and Approach Bias Modification as a Self-Help Smoking Intervention for Adult Smokers Seeking Online Help: Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Automatically activated cognitive motivational processes such as the tendency to attend to or approach smoking-related stimuli (ie, attentional and approach bias) have been related to smoking behaviors. Therefore, these cognitive biases are thought to play a role in maintaining smoking behaviors. Cognitive biases can be modified with cognitive bias modification (CBM), which holds promise as an easy-access and low-cost online intervention.

Mental chronometry in the pocket? Timing accuracy of web applications on touchscreen and keyboard devices.

Web applications can implement procedures for studying the speed of mental processes (mental chronometry) and can be administered via web browsers on most commodity desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets. This approach to conducting mental chronometry offers various opportunities, such as increased scale, ease of data collection, and access to specific samples. However, validity and reliability may be threatened by less accurate timing than specialized software and hardware can offer.

Hormones in speed-dating: The role of testosterone and cortisol in attraction.

There is evidence that testosterone and cortisol levels are related to the attraction of a romantic partner; testosterone levels relate to a wide range of sexual behaviors and cortisol is a crucial component in the response to stress. To investigate this, we conducted a speed-dating study among heterosexual singles. We measured salivary testosterone and cortisol changes in men and women (n = 79) when they participated in a romantic condition (meeting opposite-sex others, i.

Marriage as a training ground: Examining change in self-control and forgiveness over the first 4 years of marriage.

Do partners' levels of self-control and forgiveness change over the course of marriage? Based on the idea that marriage may function as a training ground for these vital relationship abilities, we hypothesized that people increase their levels of self-control and forgiveness over time and that these developments take place simultaneously. We tested these predictions among 199 newlywed couples in the first 4 years of marriage, using a dyadic latent growth curves analysis. Confirming our hypotheses, results showed significant increases in self-control and forgiveness as well as a positive concurrent correlation between these variables.

Effectiveness of two web-based cognitive bias modification interventions targeting approach and attentional bias in gambling problems: study protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial.

Background: Disordered gamblers have phenotypical and pathological similarities to those with substance use disorders (SUD), including exaggerated automatic cognitive processing of motivationally salient gambling cues in the environment (i.e., attentional and approach bias).

Modernizing Relationship Therapy through Social Thermoregulation Theory: Evidence, Hypotheses, and Explorations.

In the present article the authors propose to modernize relationship therapy by integrating novel sensor and actuator technologies that can help optimize people's thermoregulation, especially as they pertain to social contexts. Specifically, they propose to integrate (IJzerman et al., 2015a; IJzerman and Hogerzeil, 2017) into Emotionally Focused Therapy by first doing exploratory research during couples' therapy, followed by Randomized Clinical Trials (RCTs).

A randomized controlled trial of Web-based Attentional Bias Modification to help smokers quit.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of a multiple-sessions Web-based Attentional Bias Modification (ABM) self-help intervention in 434 smokers who made a quit-attempt.

Method: Respondents were randomized to receive 6 sessions of ABM- or placebo-training in a period of 2 weeks. Smoking-related cognitions (e.

Cyclosporin A induced toxicity in mouse liver slices is only slightly aggravated by Fxr-deficiency and co-occurs with upregulation of pro-inflammatory genes and downregulation of genes involved in mitochondrial functions.

Background: The transcription factor farnesoid X receptor (FXR) governs bile acid and energy homeostasis, is involved in inflammation, and has protective functions in the liver. In the present study we investigated the effect of Fxr deficiency in mouse precision cut liver slices (PCLS) exposed to a model hepatotoxicant cyclosporin A (CsA). It was anticipated that Fxr deficiency could aggravate toxicity of CsA in PCLS and pinpoint to novel genes/processes regulated by FXR.

Validation of the Amsterdam Beverage Picture Set: A Controlled Picture Set for Cognitive Bias Measurement and Modification Paradigms.

Background: Alcohol research may benefit from controlled and validated picture sets. We have constructed the Amsterdam Beverage Picture Set (ABPS), which was designed for alcohol research in general and cognitive bias measurement and modification in particular. Here, we first formulate a position on alcohol stimulus validity that prescribes that alcohol-containing pictures, compared to nonalcohol-containing pictures, should induce a stronger urge to drink in heavy drinkers than in light drinkers.