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Fair coins tend to land on the same side they started: Evidence from 350,757 flips
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298729.pdf (Author’s version preprint ) (Open Access)Many people have flipped coins but few have stopped to ponder the statistical and physical intricacies of the process. We collected 350,757 coin flips to test the counterintuitive prediction from a physics model of human coin tossing developed by Diaconis, Holmes, and Montgomery (DHM; 2007). The model asserts that when people flip an ordinary coin, it tends to land on the same side it started. Our data support this prediction: the coins landed on the same side more often than not, Pr(same side)=0.508, 95% credible interval (CI) [0.506, 0.509], BFsame-side bias=2359. Furthermore, the data revealed considerable between-people variation in the degree of this same-side bias. Our data also confirmed the generic prediction that when people flip an ordinary coin - with the initial side-up randomly determined - it is equally likely to land heads or tails:Pr(heads)=0.500, 95% CI [0.498, 0.502], BFheads−tails bias=0.182. Additional analyses revealed that the within-people same-side bias decreased as more coins were flipped, an effect that is consistent with the possibility that practice makes people flip coins in a less wobbly fashion. Our data therefore provide strong evidence that when some (but not all) people flip a fair coin, it tends to land on the same side it started.12 juni 202516 p
Vaccine hesitancy among Dutch parents of newborn children and its associated characteristics, values and uptake of vaccines.
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320016.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)The acceptance of routine childhood vaccinations gradually declined in the Netherlands. We aimed to assess the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy (VH), measured with the vaccine hesitancy assessment tool, associated characteristics, values and prospective vaccine uptake among parents. A cross-sectional study was conducted, in which parents of children under three months completed a questionnaire. We analyzed associations between VH and characteristics, represented as adjusted odds ratios (aORs). Value scores were compared between participants who did and did not report VH, using an independent sample t-test. We subsequently calculated a relative risk (RR) to analyze the association between reported VH and vaccine uptake according to the recommended schedule at 6 months of age. We included 533 parents and found that 27 % of parents reported VH in their decision about routine childhood vaccines. Having a lower education level (aOR 2.13, CI 1.26-3.60), intermediate vaccination intention (aOR 6.23, CI 2.79-13.92) and a religious or anthroposophical life philosophy (aOR 1.76, CI 1.06-2.93) were positively associated with VH. Age (aOR 0.92, CI 0.87-0.97) was negatively associated with VH. Additionally, parents who reported VH emphasized the value vaccine risks (p = 0.003) more and the values benevolence (p < 0.001) and disease prevention (p < 0.001) less. Additionally, the RR for children not being vaccinated according to schedule was 2.5 (CI 1.05-5.77) among parents reporting VH compared to parents who did not. In conclusion, parents who reported VH were more likely to be less educated and younger, have a religious or anthroposophical life philosophy and were less certain about their vaccination intentions. Their children were more likely not to have been vaccinated according to the recommended schedule. We recommend further efforts to support parents in their decision-making about vaccination, to focus on younger and less educated parents, and pay attention to values important in their decision
From Nature to Phusis: Heidegger’s Criticism of Naturalism and the Possibility of Naturalizing Phenomenology
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320219.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)Over the last two decades, the project of naturalizing phenomenology has caused the relation between phenomenology and naturalism to become a hotly debated topic. Critics point out that the project finds itself on unsteady starting grounds, because of the strong antinaturalist inclinations that lie at the very roots of phenomenology. Importantly, when naturalism enters into a dialogue with phenomenology, the conversation partner that is selected on the side of phenomenology is most often Edmund Husserl. In my dissertation, I will argue that Martin Heidegger’s more fundamental criticism of naturalism makes his philosophy a good starting point for a constructively critical dialogue concerning the possibilities and challenges contained in the project of naturalizing phenomenology.
The central concept of concern in this dissertation is the concept of “naturalism” and its meaning in Heidegger’s philosophy. The starting point for my investigation is the idea that the notion of “naturalism” is a relational notion, which means that in order to understand it there are at least two other notions we need to understand with it: “science” and “nature”. The way we understand and criticize “naturalism” , or naturalize phenomenology, is therefore highly dependent on the underlying understanding of “nature” and “science”.Radboud University, 30 juni 2025Promotor : Heiden, G.J. van der Co-promotor : Cimino, A.160 p
Animal studies reveal downregulation of the Beclin-1 autophagy pathway as shared mechanism in Autism Spectrum Disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
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321012.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition with complex etiology, involving genetic and environmental influences on brain development and behavior. Dysregulation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling alters neuronal growth and synaptic plasticity, and has emerged as a potential underlying pathway in ASD. GOAL AND METHODS: To investigate mTOR dysregulation as a common mechanism in ASD, we performed a systematic review, and a meta-analysis of 192 studies examining mTOR signaling in diverse genetic and environmental animal models. RESULTS: Our random-effects model identified significant alterations in mTOR pathway-related proteins. For several proteins (p-AKT, PTEN, p-mTOR, p-EIF4e, LC3-II, p-S6K and p-S6), subgroup analyses revealed clear species-, sex-, age-, or brain region-specific effects. Interestingly, Beclin-1 was consistently downregulated across all subgroups. CONCLUSION: Our findings support mTOR-pathway dysregulation in ASD. The observed consistent downregulation of Beclin-1 highlights autophagy as a common mechanism, and provides new leads for novel ASD biomarker and treatment development.01 augustus 202
Faraday moments of STAPS (Raycheva+, 2025)
No full textItem does not contain fulltextThe STAPS observations were made with the 64m Parkes telescope Murriyang using an H-OH receiver. The S-PASS Galileo receiver was placed in prime focus, and the H-OH receiver was located off-axis next to the Galileo receiver, displaced 630 mm from the prime focus horizontally, and 7.6 mm vertically to keep the feed in focus. In this way, STAPS was able to piggyback on the S-PASS survey without requiring additional observing time, with some penalty in the form of beam distortions (see below). The complete survey and data products is presented by Sun et al. (2025A&A...694A.169S, Cat. J/A+A/694/A169). (2 data files)
Chatbots for mental health: A network-oriented modeling perspective
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318845.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)Mental health issues, particularly depression and anxiety, represent significant global challenges. Digital solutions, especially artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots, have emerged to address barriers to effective care. Research highlighted their potential to improve mental health care by offering evidence-based therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and personalized support. However, limitations remain in understanding user needs, ensuring reliable responses, and achieving long-term efficacy. This chapter introduces a novel approach to chatbot development that integrates network-oriented models. Network models can conceptualize mental health as a complex network of interconnected symptoms and related outcomes. By identifying psychological symptoms and understanding their interconnections, chatbots can better cater to individual needs. Chatbots may address the dynamics of human psychology, providing meaningful interactions and interventions instead of relying only on mean-scored symptoms. Furthermore, advances in AI, such as natural language processing and large language models, can be used to enhance these interactions. Integrating computational models into conversational AI, holds great promise. Despite challenges such as data biases and usability constraints, ongoing efforts aim to refine chatbot systems to deliver scalable, multidimensional mental health care
Het belang van feitenrechtspraak voor de rechtenstudie
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319022.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)5 p
Hemodynamic effects of adjunct arginine vasopressin to norepinephrine in septic shock: insights from a prospective multicenter registry study.
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318959.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines suggest adding arginine vasopressin (AVP) when norepinephrine (NE) doses reach 0.25-0.50 µg/kg/min in septic shock patients. However, relying solely on a NE threshold has limitations, as other factors may be valuable in guiding AVP therapy during septic shock. Therefore, we aimed to identify additional patient characteristics associated with AVP hemodynamic responsiveness. METHODS: A multicenter, prospective, observational study was conducted among adult ICU patients who met the predefined criteria for septic shock (not reaching the individual target mean arterial pressure despite adequate fluid resuscitation and NE base dose > 0.25 µg/kg/min) and received AVP therapy. AVP hemodynamic responsiveness was the primary study outcome, defined as stabilization or decrease of NE infusion rate two hours after initiating AVP. Secondary outcomes included shock duration and rebound hypotension following termination of AVP infusion. Univariate and multivariable regression analyses were performed to detect associations between characteristics and outcomes. RESULTS: Between May 2020 and October 2023, 200 septic shock patients originating from 11 different ICUs were included. Of these, 153 (79%) met the definition for AVP hemodynamic responsiveness. Obesity and hyperlactatemia was negatively associated with AVP-response (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] 0.30, 95%CI 0.14-0.65 and aOR 0.86, 95%CI 0.75-0.99, respectively), while a NE infusion rate ≥ 0.30 µg/kg/min showed positive odds of AVP response (aOR 2.33, 95%CI 1.06-5.14). Incidence of new-onset atrial fibrillation was lower in AVP responders than non-responders (4% vs. 14%, p = 0.013). Higher body mass index (BMI) , NE infusion rate and duration prior to AVP initiation was associated with longer shock duration (aOR 1.06, 95%CI 1.02-1.11, aOR 1.12, 95%CI 1.01-1.25, and 1.01 95% CI 1.00-1.03, respectively), while higher pH associated with lower likelihood of prolonged shock (aOR 0.80, 95%CI 0.64-0.99). Rebound hypotension occurred in 9% when AVP was terminated, and AVP duration > 24 h was negatively associated with rebound hypotension (OR 0.22, 95%CI 0.05-0.85). CONCLUSIONS: Arterial lactate, pH, BMI, and NE duration and dose were associated with AVP responsiveness and shock duration during septic shock, and rebound hypotension occurred in 9% during recovery. Our findings suggest that beyond NE thresholds, specific factors could be considered to optimize adjunctive AVP therapy in septic shock patients
Progression of Atrophy as a Function of ABCA4 Variants and Age of Onset in Stargardt Disease.
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318961.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the natural course of the retinal atrophy growth rate in patients with Stargardt disease (STGD1) with particular mutations in ABCA4, which may be eligible for mutation-specific therapy. METHODS: Fundus autofluorescence images (Heidelberg Spectralis) were gathered from 221 patients (436 eyes) in two centers: Radboud UMC and Ghent University Hospital. The area of definitely decreased autofluorescence and total decreased autofluorescence was measured using the Heidelberg RegionFinder software tool. Square root transformation was used to correct for two-dimensional growth. A mixed model was used to determine the atrophy growth rates. Atrophy growth rates were calculated for all eyes and were categorized into subgroups based on ABCA4 mutations potentially suitable for mutation-specific therapy (c.4539+2001G>A; c.5461-10T>C; c.5882G>A; c.768G>T), or subgroups based on age of onset. RESULTS: The mean square root-transformed growth rate of atrophy was 0.1446 mm/year (95% CI, 0.1382-0.1510 mm/year) for definitely decreased autofluorescence and 0.1459 mm/year (95% CI, 0.1402-0.1515 mm/year) for total decreased autofluorescence. Definitely decreased autofluorescence square root-transformed atrophy growth was slower in patients heterozygous for c.5882G>A (0.0821 mm/year) and c.4539+2001G>A (0.0686 mm/year) than c.768G>T (0.1299 mm/year) and c.5461-10T>C (0.1565 mm/year). Eyes of patients with late-onset STGD1 had the fastest atrophy growth (0.1782 mm/year), compared with eyes of patients with early-onset STGD1 (0.1655 mm/year) and patients with intermediate-onset STGD1 (0.1269 mm/year). CONCLUSIONS: Atrophy growth rates vary among subgroups of patients with STGD1, depending on both specific mutations and age of onset. This pattern may have implications for the design of clinical trials for mutation-specific therapies
Music-based therapeutic interventions for people with dementia
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318608.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Dementia is a clinical syndrome with a number of different causes. It is characterised by deterioration in cognitive, behavioural, social and emotional functioning. Pharmacological interventions are available but have limited effect on many of the syndrome's features. However, receptivity to music may remain until the late phases of dementia, and music-based therapeutic interventions (which include, but are not limited to, music therapy) are suitable for people with advanced dementia. As there is uncertainty about the effectiveness of music-based therapeutic interventions, trials are being conducted to evaluate this. This review updates one last published in 2018 and examines the current evidence for the effects of music-based interventions for people with dementia. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of music-based therapeutic interventions for people with dementia on emotional well-being (including quality of life), mood disturbance or negative affect (i.e. depressive symptoms and anxiety), behavioural problems (i.e. overall behavioural problems or neuropsychiatric symptoms, and more specifically agitation or aggression), social behaviour and cognition, at the end of therapy and four or more weeks after the end of treatment, and to assess any adverse effects. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group's Specialised Register, MEDLINE (Ovid SP), Embase (Ovid SP), PsycINFO (Ovid SP), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Web of Science Core Collection (ISI Web of Science), LILACS (BIREME), ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organisation's meta-register-the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform on 30 November 2023. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials of music-based therapeutic interventions (of at least five sessions) for people with dementia that measured any of our outcomes of interest. Control groups either received usual care or other activities with or without music. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors worked independently to screen the retrieved studies against the inclusion criteria and then to extract data from included studies and assess their risk of bias. If necessary, we contacted trial authors to ask for additional data, such as relevant subscales. We pooled data using the random-effects model. We assessed the certainty of the evidence for our two comparisons and our main outcomes of interest using GRADE. MAIN RESULTS: We included 30 studies with 1720 randomised participants that were conducted in 15 countries. Twenty-eight studies with 1366 participants contributed data to meta-analyses. Ten studies contributed data to long-term outcomes. Participants had dementia of varying degrees of severity and resided in institutions in most of the studies. Seven studies delivered an individual intervention; the other studies delivered the intervention to groups. Most interventions involved both active and receptive elements of musical experience. The studies were at high risk of performance bias and some were at high risk of detection or other bias. For music-based therapeutic interventions compared to usual care, we found moderate-certainty evidence that, at the end of treatment, music-based therapeutic interventions probably improved depressive symptoms slightly (standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.23, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.42 to -0.04; 9 studies, 441 participants), and we found low-certainty evidence that it may have improved overall behavioural problems (SMD -0.31, 95% CI -0.60 to -0.02; 10 studies, 385 participants). We found moderate-certainty evidence that music-based therapeutic interventions likely did not improve agitation or aggression (SMD -0.05, 95% CI -0.27 to 0.17; 11 studies, 503 participants). Low to very low certainty evidence showed that they did not improve emotional well-being (SMD 0.14, 95% CI -0.29 to 0.56; 4 studies, 154 participants), anxiety (SMD -0.15, 95% CI -0.39 to 0.09; 7 studies, 282 participants), social behaviour (SMD 0.22, 95% CI -0.14 to 0.57; 2 studies; 121 participants) or cognition (SMD 0.19, 95% CI -0.02 to 0.41; 7 studies, 353 participants). Low or very-low -certainty evidence showed that music-based therapeutic interventions may not have been more effective than usual care in the long term (four weeks or more after the end of treatment) for any of the outcomes. For music-based therapeutic interventions compared to other interventions, we found low-certainty evidence that, at the end of treatment, music-based therapeutic interventions may have been more effective than the other activities for social behaviour (SMD 0.52, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.96; 4 studies, 84 participants). We found very low-certainty evidence of a positive effect on anxiety (SMD -0.75, 95% CI -1.27 to -0.2