The gender-based stereotype about food is on the table. Food choice also depends on co-eater's gender

Previous research has shown that different foods are stereotypically associated with gender and that eating in a role-congruent way fulfills an impression management function. On the other hand, other studies revealed that adapting one's food consumption to that of the co-eaters is a means to gain social approval as well. In the present study, we bridge these two distinct lines of research by studying what happens when the two norms (conforming to the gender-based stereotype and imitating the co-eater) conflict, that is with opposite-sex co-eaters. Results indicated that the tendency to match the co-eaters' supposed consumption generally appeared over and above one's gender-congruent choice. In addition, as expected, gender differences also emerged: while men were always willing to adapt to the co-eaters, women's intention to eat the feminine food was independent from the co-eaters' gender

Ambiguity, Familiarity and Learning Behavior in the Adoption of ICT for Irrigation Management

Subjective behavior of decision makers (DMs) is paramount when modeling information and communication technology (ICT) adoption choices in irrigated agriculture. Here, efficient ICT aided irrigation plans often involve a certain degree of uncertainty, and differential attitudes toward it can cause uncoordinated actions between actors. Some DMs will implement ICT information, while others will not because they do not trust ICT reliability. This risks undermining the achievement of ICT benefits in terms of water saving at the irrigation district level. By distinguishing between differ ent sources of uncertainty, taking the form of risk and ambiguity, in the present paper, we developed a new decision model to assess the impact that subjective behavior and learning processes have on the efficiency of ICT-aided irrigation plans. A case study was selected to implement the model in simplified settings. The results revealed the potential of ambiguity to limit ICT information implemen tation and to hinder water governance. Implications mainly concern the development of uncertainty management policies to favor DMs becoming familiar with the new ICT with lower ambiguit

Exploring the scalability of character-based storytelling

Interactive Storytelling is establishing itself as a major application of virtual embodied characters. To achieve further progress in the field, some authors have suggested that it was necessary to break the 10minute barrier for story duration, while preserving story pace. In this context, understanding scalability issues is an essential aspect of the development of future Interactive Storytelling technologies. Scalability can be defined as the production of a richer narrative which follows the scaling-up of the Artificial Intelligence representations for plot structure or characters ’ roles. We have formalised narrative events in terms of “film idioms ” which are dynamically recognised as the story is generated. This enabled us to stage a number of experiments in which we modified several determinants of scalability, such as the number of feature characters or the complexity of their roles and recorded subsequent narrative extension, through the number of film idioms generated. 1

Noninvasive ventilation for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the emergency department: early predictors of in-hospital outcome

The applications of early non-invasive ventilation (NIV) are nowadays expanding in the Emergency Department (ED) for the treatment of different types and etiologies of acute respiratory failure (ARF) Emergency physicians (EP) often face the challenge of predicting short-term outcomes for patients with ARF in the E

The Social Utility of Ambivalence: Being Ambivalent on Controversial Issues Is Recognized as Competence.

Research on attitudinal ambivalence is flourishing, but no research has studied how others perceive its expression. We tested the hypothesis that the expression of attitudinal ambivalence could be positively valued if it signals careful consideration of an issue. More specifically, ambivalence should be judged higher on social utility (competence) but not on social desirability (warmth), compared to clear-cut attitudes. This should be the case for controversial (vs. consensual) issues, where ambivalence can signal some competence. The participants in four experiments indeed evaluated ambivalence higher on a measure of social utility, compared to clear-cut (pro-normative and counter-normative) attitudes, when the attitude objects were controversial; they judged pro-normative attitudes higher for both social utility and social desirability when the attitude objects were consensual. Attitudinal ambivalence can therefore be positively valued, as it is perceived as competence when the expression of criticism is socially accepted

Users acting in mixed reality interactive storytelling

“Do you expect me to talk? Oh no, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!” Bond and Auric Goldfinger – from “Goldfinger” Abstract. Entertainment systems promise to be a significant application for Mixed Reality. Recently, a growing number of Mixed Reality applications have included interaction with synthetic characters and storytelling. However, AIbased Interactive Storytelling techniques have not yet been explored in the context of Mixed Reality. In this paper, we describe a first experiment in the adaptation of an Interactive Storytelling technique to a Mixed Reality system. After a description of the real time image processing techniques that support the creation of a hybrid environment, we introduce the storytelling technique and the specificities of user interaction in the Mixed Reality context. We illustrate these experiments by discussing examples obtained from the system.

An Empirical Analysis of Neurofeedback Using PID Control Systems

Neurofeedback systems can be modeled as closed loop control systems with negative feedback. However, little work to date has investigated the potential of this representation in gaining a better understanding of the actual dynamics of neurofeedback towards explaining subjects' performance. In this paper, we analyze neurofeedback training data through a PID control model. We first show that PID model fitting can produce curves that are qualitatively aligned to the measured BCI signal. Secondly, we examine how brain activity during neurofeedback can be related to common characteristics of control systems. For this, we formalized a pre-existing neurofeedback EEG experiment using a SimulinkR model that captures both the neural activity and the external algorithm that was utilized to generate the feedback signal. We then used a regression model to fit individual trial data to PID coefficients for the control model. Our results suggest that successful trials tend to be associated to higher average values of Ki, which represents the error-reducing component of the PID controller. It hints that convergence in successful neurofeedback is progressive but complete in approaching the target

A modified vimentin histological score helps recognize pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma in small biopsy samples

Background: As pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinomas (PSCs) are life-threatening tumors, an improvement in their recognition in small-sized tumor samples is clinically warranted. Materials and Methods: Preoperative biopsy samples and paired surgical specimens from 20 pleomorphic carcinomas, two pulmonary blastomas and one carcinosarcoma (training set) were studied for vimentin immunohistochemistry. A modified vimentin histologic score (M-VHS) was devised by multiplying three independently assessed parameters, i.e. the percentage of positive cells (from 0 to 5+, by quintiles), the intensity of immunostaining (low=1 vs. strong=2) and the distribution pattern within the cytoplasm (partial=1 vs. diffuse=2), so ranging from 0 to 20. Forty-eight consecutive and independent cases of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), including two additional cases of PSC, were used as control groups (validation set). Results: No differences in M-VHS were found between biopsies and surgical specimens of PSC, thus confirming the occurrence of stable epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) and hence the specific diagnosis of PSC. All types of PSC shared the same M-VHS. The M-VHS of 46 conventional NSCLC was by far lower (p<0.0001), whereas two additional cases of PSC showed the same results as the training set. Poorly differentiated NSCLC with marked pleomorphism but not stable EMT did not exhibit significantly increased M-VHS values. Conclusion: M-VHS helped in morphological analysis to render more definite diagnoses on small biopsies of PSC

Idiopathic Pulmonary Lymphoid Diffuse Hyperplasia

We describe a 70 year old woman affected by diffuse pulmonary lymphoid hyperplasia (DPLH). DPLH is a rare clinical-pathological entity generally associated with connective tissue diseases, but we diagnosed our case as an idiopathic DPLH. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of idiopathic DPLH reported in medical literature