Dynamic portfolio and mortgage choice for homeowners

We investigate the impact of owner-occupied housing on financial portfolio and mortgage choice under stochastic inflation and real interest rates. To this end we develop a dynamic framework in which investors can invest in stocks and bonds with different maturities. We use a continuous-time model with CRRA preferences and calibrate the model parameters using data on inflation rates and equity, bond, and house prices. For the case of no short-sale constraints, we derive an implicit solution and identify the main channels through which the housing to total wealth ratio and the horizon affect financial portfolio choice. This solution is used to interpret numerical results that we provide when the investor has short-sale constraints. We also use our framework to investigate optimal mortgage size and type. A moderately risk-averse investor prefers an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), while a more risk-averse investor prefers a fixedrate mortgage (FRM). A combination of an ARM and an FRM further improves welfare. Choosing a suboptimal mortgage leads to utility losses up to 6%

A closer look at fracture healing:fracture healing at the distal assessed using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography

Radial bone fractures in the wrist are one of the most common types of fractures. Post-menopausal women are particularly susceptible to these types of fractures. More research is needed to treat fractures like these. Standard X-rays do not provide a complete picture of the healing process. This dissertation is the first to demonstrate that changes in bone density, bone structure and bone strength during fracture healing can be carefully assessed using high-resolution quantitative CT scans. This is important for further research on improving treatment for wrist fractures; for example, research on the effects of anti-osteoporosis medication in the fracture healing process

Adaptive Encoding Speed in Working Memory

Humans can adapt when complex patterns unfold at a faster or slower pace, for instance when remembering a grocery list that is dictated at an increasingly fast rate. Integrating information over such timescales crucially depends on working memory, but although recent findings have shown that working memory capacity can be flexibly adapted, such adaptations have not yet been demonstrated for encoding speed. In a series of experiments, we found that young adults encoded at a faster rate when they were adapted to overall and recent stimulus duration. Interestingly, our participants were unable to use explicit cues to speed up encoding, even though these cues were objectively more informative than statistical information. Our findings suggest that adaptive tuning of encoding speed in working memory is a fundamental but largely implicit mechanism underlying our ability to keep up with the pace of our surroundings

Adaptive Encoding Speed in Working Memory

Humans can adapt when complex patterns unfold at a faster or slower pace, for instance when remembering a grocery list that is dictated at an increasingly fast rate. Integrating information over such timescales crucially depends on working memory, but although recent findings have shown that working memory capacity can be flexibly adapted, such adaptations have not yet been demonstrated for encoding speed. In a series of experiments, we found that young adults encoded at a faster rate when they were adapted to overall and recent stimulus duration. Interestingly, our participants were unable to use explicit cues to speed up encoding, even though these cues were objectively more informative than statistical information. Our findings suggest that adaptive tuning of encoding speed in working memory is a fundamental but largely implicit mechanism underlying our ability to keep up with the pace of our surroundings

Adaptive Encoding Speed in Working Memory

Humans can adapt when complex patterns unfold at a faster or slower pace, for instance when remembering a grocery list that is dictated at an increasingly fast rate. Integrating information over such timescales crucially depends on working memory, but although recent findings have shown that working memory capacity can be flexibly adapted, such adaptations have not yet been demonstrated for encoding speed. In a series of experiments, we found that young adults encoded at a faster rate when they were adapted to overall and recent stimulus duration. Interestingly, our participants were unable to use explicit cues to speed up encoding, even though these cues were objectively more informative than statistical information. Our findings suggest that adaptive tuning of encoding speed in working memory is a fundamental but largely implicit mechanism underlying our ability to keep up with the pace of our surroundings

A common dynamic prior for time in duration discrimination

Estimation of time depends heavily on both global and local statistical context. Durations that are short relative to the global distribution are systematically overestimated; durations that are locally preceded by long durations are also overestimated. Context effects are prominent in duration discrimination tasks, where a standard duration and a comparison duration are presented on each trial. In this study, we compare and test two models that posit a dynamically updating internal reference that biases time estimation on global and local scales in duration discrimination tasks. The internal reference model suggests that the internal reference operates during postperceptual stages and only interacts with the first presented duration. In contrast, a Bayesian account of time estimation implies that any perceived duration updates the internal reference and therefore interacts with both the first and second presented duration. We implemented both models and tested their predictions in a duration discrimination task where the standard duration varied from trial to trial. Our results are in line with a Bayesian perspective on time estimation. First, the standard systematically biased estimation of the comparison, such that shorter standards increased the likelihood of reporting that the comparison was shorter. Second, both the previous standard and comparison systematically biased time estimation of subsequent trials in the same direction. Third, more precise observers showed smaller biases. In sum, our findings suggest a common dynamic prior for time that is updated by each perceived duration and where the relative weighting of old and new observations is determined by their relative precision

Adaptive Encoding Speed in Working Memory

Humans can adapt when complex patterns unfold at a faster or slower pace, for instance when remembering a grocery list that is dictated at an increasingly fast rate. Integrating information over such timescales crucially depends on working memory, but although recent findings have shown that working memory capacity can be flexibly adapted, such adaptations have not yet been demonstrated for encoding speed. In a series of experiments, we found that young adults encoded at a faster rate when they were adapted to overall and recent stimulus duration. Interestingly, our participants were unable to use explicit cues to speed up encoding, even though these cues were objectively more informative than statistical information. Our findings suggest that adaptive tuning of encoding speed in working memory is a fundamental but largely implicit mechanism underlying our ability to keep up with the pace of our surroundings

Effects of Supplementary Protection Mechanisms for Pharmaceutical Products

Rapport over beschermingsmechanismen op het gebied van intellectueel eigendom met betrekking tot medicijnen

Adaptive Encoding Speed in Working Memory

Humans can adapt when complex patterns unfold at a faster or slower pace, for instance when remembering a grocery list that is dictated at an increasingly fast rate. Integrating information over such timescales crucially depends on working memory, but although recent findings have shown that working memory capacity can be flexibly adapted, such adaptations have not yet been demonstrated for encoding speed. In a series of experiments, we found that young adults encoded at a faster rate when they were adapted to overall and recent stimulus duration. Interestingly, our participants were unable to use explicit cues to speed up encoding, even though these cues were objectively more informative than statistical information. Our findings suggest that adaptive tuning of encoding speed in working memory is a fundamental but largely implicit mechanism underlying our ability to keep up with the pace of our surroundings

Understanding land-use change conflict: a systematic review of case studies

The growing demand for food, water, and shelter change the way people use land. These changes have affected or even caused conflict in several locations. However, conflicts do not erupt in isolation; they are the result of multiple interacting causes. There is limited structural understanding of these causes. In this study, we systematically coded case studies that report on conflict related to land-use change, including deforestation in commodity frontiers, agricultural development on common land, and urban development. Based on an analysis of 62 cases, we identified population growth, overlapping land rights, ethnic fragmentation, and economic inequality as the most frequently reported root causes, while rises in land prices was the most often reported proximate cause. Reported institutional causes suggest that the problem is not necessarily the complete absence of governance mechanisms, but rather that governance mechanisms are not fully equipped to deal with the complexities of the observed land-use changes