The implosion of reality: schizophrenia, the anterior cingular cortex and anticipation

In contemporary neuroscientific and psychiatric research into schizophrenia, we can observe a shift in focus from the clinical dysfunctions (positive and negative symptoms) towards a mapping of the cognitive function. In this paper we look at a specific cognitive problem area in schizophrenic brain functioning, the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC). We show what the ACC is, what it probably does and how this is relevant in research concerning certain psychiatric disorders. Then we explain the role of the ACC in choice anticipation. In this we underline the possible link between choice anticipation and the lack of ‘Error Related Negativity’ (ERN) in this specific area. Lastly we incorporate this approach to the problem of schizophrenic anticipation within the neuropsychoanalytical framework and the role it might play in the formation of hallucinations and delusion

Time to separate the men from the beasts: symbolic anticipation as the typically human subjective dimension

In this paper it is argued that the dividing line that runs between the human psyche as opposed to any other complex system is made up by symbolic anticipation. The functionality of the human mind as an anticipatory system is entirely caught up in the crucial role that finiteness, shortage or lack plays for human beings. Anticipation for us is the way by which this negative finiteness or lack is translated into a positive longing, want or desire. We take a look at the three dimensional view of Jacques Lacan regarding these matters in a sophistical example and we illustrate how anticipation as a Symbolic phenomenon is distinct from the Imaginary or the Real register. As Lacan points out anticipation creates a symbolic social link which binds two or more interacting humans together in an anticipatory relationship. Beliefs, expectations and convictions are the typically human social links which ground human interaction and set it apart from other forms of social interaction we can observe in other complex biological entities

Exhuming the Meso-Cenozoic Kyrgyz Tianshan and Siberian Altai-Sayan : a review based on low-temperature thermochronology

Thermochronological datasets for the Kyrgyz Tianshan and Siberian Altai-Sayan within Central Asia reveal a punctuated exhumation history during the Meso-Cenozoic. In this paper, the datasets for both regions are collectively reviewed in order to speculate on the links between the Meso-Cenozoic exhumation of the continental Eurasian interior and the prevailing tectonic processes at the plate margins. Whereas most of the thermochronological data across both regions document late Jurassic-Cretaceous regional basement cooling, older landscape relics and dissecting fault zones throughout both regions preserve Triassic and Cenozoic events of rapid cooling, respectively. Triassic cooling is thought to reflect the Qiangtang-Eurasia collision and/or rifting/subsidence in the West Siberian basin. Alternatively, this cooling signal could be related with the terminal terrane-amalgamation of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. For the Kygyz Tianshan, late Jurassic-Cretaceous regional exhumation and Cenozoic fault reactivations can be linked with specific tectonic events during the closure of the Palaeo-Tethys and Neo-Tethys Oceans, respectively. The effect of the progressive consumption of these oceans and the associated collisions of Cimmeria and India with Eurasia probably only had a minor effect on the exhumation of the Siberian Altai-Sayan. More likely, tectonic forces from the east (present-day coordinates) as a result of the building and collapse of the Mongol-Okhotsk orogen and rifting in the Baikal region shaped the current Siberian Altai-Sayan topography. Although many of these hypothesised links need to be tested further, they allow a first-order insight into the dynamic response and the stress propagation pathways from the Eurasian margin into the continental interior

The Effect of Student Time Allocation on Academic Achievement

There is a large literature on the influence of institutional characteristics on student academic achievement. In contrast, relatively little research focuses on student time allocation and its effects on student performance. This paper contributes to the literature by investigating the effect of student time allocation on the average grade of undergraduate students, by gender, ability and field of study. The results suggest that time spent on attending courses is positively associated with grades for females, high ability students and students of Social Sciences and Sciences/Engineering. Spending time on self-study, on other study-related activities or on working as a student assistant or tutor is positively correlated with grades for almost all students. Devoting time for attending tutorials or student work groups is negatively correlated with grades if the ability of the students is below average or if they study Sciences/ Engineering. Using a translog production function, the results indicate that spending time on courses, on self-study, and on other study-related activities are substitutes. However, time spent on courses and time spent on working as a student assistant or tutor are complements.Student time allocation; student performance; educational production function

Domain adaptation for sequence labeling using hidden Markov models

Most natural language processing systems based on machine learning are not robust to domain shift. For example, a state-of-the-art syntactic dependency parser trained on Wall Street Journal sentences has an absolute drop in performance of more than ten points when tested on textual data from the Web. An efficient solution to make these methods more robust to domain shift is to first learn a word representation using large amounts of unlabeled data from both domains, and then use this representation as features in a supervised learning algorithm. In this paper, we propose to use hidden Markov models to learn word representations for part-of-speech tagging. In particular, we study the influence of using data from the source, the target or both domains to learn the representation and the different ways to represent words using an HMM.Comment: New Directions in Transfer and Multi-Task: Learning Across Domains and Tasks (NIPS Workshop) (2013

Performance-related Funding of Universities: Does More Competition Lead to Grade Inflation?

German universities are regarded as being under-financed, inefficient, and performing below average if compared to universities in other European countries and the US. Starting in the 1990s, several German federal states implemented reforms to improve this situation. An important part of these reforms has been the introduction of indicator-based funding systems. These financing systems aimed at increasing the competition between universities by making their pubic funds dependent on their relative performance concerning different output measures, such as the share of students obtaining a degree or the amount of third party funds. This paper evaluates whether the indicator-based funding created unintended incentives, i.e. whether the reform caused grade inflation. Estimating mean as well as quantile treatment effects, we cannot support the hypothesis that increased competition between universities causes grade inflation.grade inflation, higher education funding, university competition

Integrated medical and behavioral laboratory measurement system engineering analysis and laboratory specification

Site selection, program planning, cost and design studies for support of the IMBLMS program were investigated. Accomplishments are reported for the following areas: analysis of responses to site selection criteria, space-oriented biotechnology, life sciences payload definition, and program information transfer

From insufficiency to anticipation, an introduction to 'Lichaamskaart'

In this paper we take up the point of symbolic-imaginary anticipation and we combine it with the mirror stage, worked out by Jacques Lacan in numerous publications. We place the mirror stage within its complex temporal framework and explain how the three topological categories (RSI) follow from this most intimate of subjective experiences in the double mirror set up. All kinds of psychopathological mechanisms are traceable to this period in subjective development. Until recently it was impossible to find direct traces of this defining and unchanging moment. Since the beginning of 1990 a new method of therapy was devised in Duffel, named ‘lichaamskaart’, or body map. We point out the likeness and differences between the double mirror stage and the construction of the lichaamskaart. In conclusion we illustrate the relationship between anticipatory systems and the therapeutic process involved in lichaamskaart