Default rules in investment decision-making: trait anxiety and decision-making styles

This study investigates the role of default options in the relationship between trait anxiety, and decision-making styles and financial decisions. One hundred and ninety-four participants were divided into three groups and subjected to three different conditions. Under each experimental condition, they had to decide whether to accept or reject investment proposals. In the first group, they had been enrolled in investment plans by default (opt-out condition), in the second group, they had not been automatically enrolled in these plans (opt-in condition), and in the third group they had to choose whether to enroll or not (control condition). The results showed that the investment decisions of anxious, avoidant, rational and dependent individuals could be facilitated by default options. In conclusion, using default options as a “nudge” can support specific groups of people to improve their financial decisions

Sporadic human prion diseases: molecular insights and diagnosis

Human prion diseases can be sporadic, inherited, or acquired by infection. Distinct clinical and pathological characteristics separate sporadic diseases into three phenotypes: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), fatal insomnia, and variably protease-sensitive prionopathy. CJD accounts for more than 90% of all cases of sporadic prion disease; it is commonly categorised into five subtypes that can be distinguished according to leading clinical signs, histological lesions, and molecular traits of the pathogenic prion protein. Three subtypes affect prominently cognitive functions whereas the other two impair cerebellar motor activities. An accurate and timely diagnosis depends on careful clinical examination and early performance and interpretation of diagnostic tests, including electroencephalography, quantitative assessment of the surrogate markers 14-3-3, tau, and of the prion protein in the CSF, and neuroimaging. The reliability of CSF tests is improved when these tests are interpreted alongside neuroimaging data

Effect of electronic interactions on the persistent current in one-dimensional disordered rings

The persistent current is here studied in one-dimensional disordered rings that contain interacting electrons. We used the density matrix renormalization group algorithms in order to compute the stiffness, a measure that gives the magnitude of the persistent currents as a function of the boundary conditions for different sets of both interaction and disorder characteristics. In contrast to its non-interacting value, an increase in the stiffness parameter was observed for systems at and off half-filling for weak interactions and non-zero disorders. Within the strong interaction limit, the decrease in stiffness depends on the filling and an analytical approach is developed to recover the observed behaviors. This is required in order to understand its mechanisms. Finally, the study of the localization length confirms the enhancement of the persistent current for moderate interactions when disorders are present at half-filling. Our results reveal two different regimes, one for weak and one for strong interactions at and off half-filling.Comment: 16 pages, 21 figures; minor changes (blanks missing, sentences starting with a mathematical symbol

The effect of news shocks and monetary policy

A VAR model estimated on U.S. data before and after 1980 documents systematic differences in the response of short- and long-term interest rates, corporate bond spreads and durable spending to news TFP shocks. Interest rates across the maturity spectrum broadly increase in the pre-1980s and broadly decline in the post-1980s. Corporate bond spreads decline significantly, and durable spending rises significantly in the post-1980 period while the opposite short-run response is observed in the pre-1980 period. Measuring expectations of future monetary policy rates conditional on a news shock suggests that the Federal Reserve has adopted a restrictive stance before the 1980s with the goal of retaining control over in ation while adopting a neutral/accommodative stance in the post-1980 period

Pair formation in two electron correlated chains

We study two correlated electrons in a nearest neighbour tight- binding chain, with both on site and nearest neighbour interaction. Both the cases of parallel and antiparallel spins are considered. In addition to the free electron band for two electrons, there are correlated bands with positive or negative energy, depending on wheather the interaction parameters are repulsive or attractive. Electrons form bound states, with amplitudes that decay exponentially with separation. Conditions for such states to be filled at low temperatures are discussed.Comment: To appear in J. Phys: Condens. Matter 15 (2003

Agreed and disagreed uncertainty

When agents’ information is imperfect and dispersed, existing measures of macroeconomic uncertainty based on the forecast error variance have two distinct drivers: the variance of the economic shock and the variance of the information dispersion. The former driver increases uncertainty and reduces agents’ disagreement (agreed uncertainty). The latter increases both uncertainty and disagreement (disagreed uncertainty). We use these implications to identify empirically the effects of agreed and disagreed uncertainty shocks, based on a novel measure of consumer disagreement derived from survey expectations. Disagreed uncertainty has no discernible economic effects and is benign for economic activity, but agreed uncertainty exerts significant depressing effects on a broad spectrum of macroeconomic indicators

Artificial intelligence and cognitive psychology: How to solve mathematical problems

That a computer might autonomously solve mathematical puzzles described in natural language text and diagrams is still an open challenge in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Conversely, primary school children, aged 9/10 years, can solve them without any advanced computational skills, or a huge quantity of data. In this paper, we have tried to apply the AI approach to mathematical puzzles with models and terms from psychological cognitive studies, such as the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory of cognitive abilities. We considered 147 ma thematical puzzles, used by Bocconi University for mathematical games among students in the 4th and 5th years of primary school, and we found that they can be viewed, in most cases, as Constraint-Based problems. In order to study the problem-solving process used by school children, some mathematical puzzles with a specific number of variables, domains and constraints, were created ad hoc for the study and were administered to 37 students in the 4th year of primary school. Results showed that problems with the same number of variables as domains were more easily solved than problems with a different number of variables and domains. These results were discussed from the viewpoints of Artificial Intelligence and of Cognitive Psychology in order to provide new insights into the definition of fully-fledged, intelligent agents able to solve mathematical puzzles

Sporadic fatal insomnia in a young woman: A diagnostic challenge: Case Report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sporadic fatal insomnia (sFI) and fatal familial insomnia (FFI) are rare human prion diseases.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>We report a case of a 33-year-old female who died of a prion disease for whom the diagnosis of sFI or FFI was not considered clinically. Following death of this patient, an interview with a close family member indicated the patient's illness included a major change in her sleep pattern, corroborating the reported autopsy diagnosis of sFI. Genetic tests identified no prion protein (PrP) gene mutation, but neuropathological examination and molecular study showed protease-resistant PrP (PrP^res) in several brain regions and severe atrophy of the anterior-ventral and medial-dorsal thalamic nuclei similar to that described in FFI.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In patients with suspected prion disease, a characteristic change in sleep pattern can be an important clinical clue for identifying sFI or FFI; polysomnography (PSG), genetic analysis, and nuclear imaging may aid in diagnosis.</p