227 research outputs found
Risk as Challenge: A Dual System Stochastic Model for Binary Choice Behavior
Challenge Theory (CT) is a new approach to decision under risk that departs significantly from expected utility and is based firmly on psychological, rather than economic, assumptions. The paper demonstrates that a purely cognitive-psychological paradigm for decision under risk can yield excellent predictions, comparable to those attained by more complex economic or psychological models that remain attached to conventional economic constructs and assumptions. The study presents a new model for predicting the popularity of choices made in binary risk problems.A CT-based regression model is tested on data gathered from 126 respondents who indicated their preferences with respect to 44 choice problems. Results support CT's central hypothesis, strongly associating between the Challenge Index (CI) attributable to every binary risk problem, and the observed popularity of the bold prospect in that problem (with r=-0.92 and r=-0.93 for gains and for losses, respectively). The novelty of the CT perspective as a new paradigm is illuminated by its simple, single-index (CI) representation of psychological effects proposed by Prospect Theory for describing choice behavior (certainty effect, reflection effect, overweighting small probabilities and loss aversion)
Risk as Challenge: A Dual System Stochastic Model for Binary Choice Behavior
Challenge Theory (CT), a new approach to decision under risk departs
significantly from expected utility, and is based on firmly psychological,
rather than economic, assumptions. The paper demonstrates that a purely
cognitive-psychological paradigm for decision under risk can yield excellent
predictions, comparable to those attained by more complex economic or
psychological models that remain attached to conventional economic constructs
and assumptions. The study presents a new model for predicting the popularity
of choices made in binary risk problems. A CT-based regression model is tested
on data gathered from 126 respondents who indicated their preferences with
respect to 44 choice problems. Results support CT's central hypothesis,
strongly associating between the Challenge Index (CI) attributable to every
binary risk problem, and the observed popularity of the bold prospect in that
problem (with r=-0.92 and r=-0.93 for gains and for losses, respectively). The
novelty of the CT perspective as a new paradigm is illuminated by its simple,
single-index (CI) representation of psychological effects proposed by Prospect
Theory for describing choice behavior (certainty effect, reflection effect,
overweighting small probabilities and loss aversion)
Challenge Theory: The Structure and Measurement of Risky Binary Choice Behavior
Challenge Theory (Shye & Haber 2015; 2020) has demonstrated that a newly devised challenge index (CI) attributable to every binary choice problem predicts the popularity of the bold option, the one of lower probability to gain a higher monetary outcome (in a gain problem); and the one of higher probability to lose a lower monetary outcome (in a loss problem). In this paper we show how Facet Theory structures the choice-behavior concept-space and yields rationalized measurements of gambling behavior. The data of this study consist of responses obtained from 126 student, specifying their preferences in 44 risky decision problems. A Faceted Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) of the 44 problems confirmed the hypothesis that the space of binary risky choice problems is partitionable by two binary axial facets: (a) Type of Problem (gain vs. loss); and (b) CI (Low vs. High). Four composite variables, representing the validated constructs: Gain, Loss, High-CI and Low-CI, were processed using Multiple Scaling by Partial Order Scalogram Analysis with base Coordinates (POSAC), leading to a meaningful and intuitively appealing interpretation of two necessary and sufficient gambling-behavior measurement scales
Signals of a superlight gravitino at hadron colliders when the other superparticles are heavy
If the gravitino (G) is very light and all the other supersymmetric particles
are above threshold, supersymmetry may still be found at colliders, by looking
at processes with only gravitinos and ordinary particles in the final state. We
compute here the cross-sections for some distinctive signals at hadron
colliders: photon plus missing energy, induced by (q antiquark -> G G photon),
and jet plus missing energy, induced by (q antiquark -> G G g), (q g -> G G q),
and (g g -> G G g). From the present Tevatron data, we estimate the bound
m_{3/2} > 2.3 10^-5 eV on the gravitino mass, corresponding to the bound
sqrt{F} > 310 GeV on the supersymmetry-breaking scale. We foresee that the
upgraded Tevatron and the LHC will be sensitive to values of m_{3/2} up to 4.0
10^-5 eV and 6.2 10^-4 eV, corresponding to sqrt{F} up to 410 GeV and 1.6 TeV,
respectively.Comment: 19 pages, Latex, epsfig, 13 figures This revised version supersedes
that published in Nucl. Phys. B526 (1998) 136, and contains important
changes. The correction of a sign error modifies the relevant partonic
cross-sections. The sensitivity to the supersymmetry-breaking scale
(gravitino mass) is only slightly weakene
Activated platelets form protected zones of adhesion on fibrinogen and fibronectin-coated surfaces.
Leukocytes form zones of close apposition when they adhere to ligand-coated surfaces. Because plasma proteins are excluded from these contact zones, we have termed them protected zones of adhesion. To determine whether platelets form similar protected zones of adhesion, gel-filtered platelets stimulated with thrombin or ADP were allowed to adhere to fibrinogen- or fibronectin-coated surfaces. The protein-coated surfaces with platelets attached were stained with either fluorochrome-conjugated goat anti-human fibrinogen or anti-human fibronectin antibodies, or with rhodamine-conjugated polyethylene glycol polymers. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that F(ab')2 anti-fibrinogen (100 kD) did not penetrate into the contact zones between stimulated platelets and the underlying fibrinogen-coated surface, while Fab antifibrinogen (50 kD) and 10 kD polyethylene glycol readily penetrated and stained the substrate beneath the platelets. Thrombin- or ADP-stimulated platelets also formed protected zones of adhesion on fibronectin-coated surfaces. F(ab')2 anti-fibronectin and 10 kD polyethylene glycol were excluded from these adhesion zones, indicating that they are much less permeable than those formed by platelets on fibrinogen-coated surfaces. The permeability properties of protected zones of adhesion formed by stimulated platelets on surfaces coated with both fibrinogen and fibronectin were similar to the zones of adhesion formed on fibronectin alone. mAb 7E3, directed against the alpha IIb beta 3 integrin blocked the formation of protected adhesion zones between thrombin-stimulated platelets and fibrinogen or fibronectin coated surfaces. mAb C13 is directed against the alpha 5 beta 1 integrin on platelets. Stimulated platelets treated with this mAb formed protected zones of adhesion on surfaces coated with fibronectin. These protected zones were impermeable to F(ab')2 antifibronectin but were permeable to 10 kD polyethylene glycol. These results show that activated platelets form protected zones of adhesion and that the size of molecules excluded from these zones depends upon the composition of the matrix proteins to which the platelets adhere. They also show that formation of protected zones of adhesion by platelets requires alpha IIb beta 3 integrins while the permeability properties of these zones of adhesion are regulated by both alpha IIb beta 3 and alpha 5 beta 1 integrins
Fermion Masses without Higgs: A Supersymmetric Technicolor Model
We propose a supersymmetric technicolor model in which the electroweak
symmetry breaking is communicated to the quarks and leptons by technicolored
-singlet scalars. When the technifermions condense, the quarks and
leptons of the third generation acquire mass. The fermions of the other
generations do not couple to the technicolored scalars but they receive masses
from radiative corrections involving superpartners. As a result, the mass
hierarchy between the fermion generations arises naturally. The model predicts
the CP asymmetries in meson decays and in transitions to be
smaller by two orders of magnitude than the ones predicted in the Standard
Model.Comment: 27 pages, latex, 4 figures (require feynman.tex). Changes in the
notation. An Appendix presenting the soft supersymmetric breaking terms is
added. Few more details included in the discussion of the flavor-changing
neutral current
A comprehensive 1000 Genomes-based genome-wide association meta-analysis of coronary artery disease
Existing knowledge of genetic variants affecting risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) is largely based on genome-wide association studies (GWAS) analysis of common SNPs. Leveraging phased haplotypes from the 1000 Genomes Project, we report a GWAS meta-analysis of 185 thousand CAD cases and controls, interrogating 6.7 million common (MAF>0.05) as well as 2.7 million low frequency (0.005<MAF<0.05) variants. In addition to confirmation of most known CAD loci, we identified 10 novel loci, eight additive and two recessive, that contain candidate genes that newly implicate biological processes in vessel walls. We observed intra-locus allelic heterogeneity but little evidence of low frequency variants with larger effects and no evidence of synthetic association. Our analysis provides a comprehensive survey of the fine genetic architecture of CAD showing that genetic susceptibility to this common disease is largely determined by common SNPs of small effect siz
Ultrafast measurements of mode-specific deformation potentials of BiTe and BiSe
Quantifying electron-phonon interactions for the surface states of
topological materials can provide key insights into surface-state transport,
topological superconductivity, and potentially how to manipulate the surface
state using a structural degree of freedom. We perform time-resolved x-ray
diffraction (XRD) and angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) measurements on
BiTe and BiSe, following the excitation of coherent A
optical phonons. We extract and compare the deformation potentials coupling the
surface electronic states to local A-like displacements in these two
materials using the experimentally determined atomic displacements from XRD and
electron band shifts from ARPES.We find the coupling in BiTe and
BiSe to be similar and in general in agreement with expectations from
density functional theory. We establish a methodology that quantifies the
mode-specific electron-phonon coupling experimentally, allowing detailed
comparison to theory. Our results shed light on fundamental processes in
topological insulators involving electron-phonon coupling
The Two Different Isoforms of the RSC Chromatin Remodeling Complex Play Distinct Roles in DNA Damage Responses
The RSC chromatin remodeling complex has been implicated in contributing to DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair in a number of studies. Both survival and levels of H2A phosphorylation in response to damage are reduced in the absence of RSC. Importantly, there is evidence for two isoforms of this complex, defined by the presence of either Rsc1 or Rsc2. Here, we investigated whether the two isoforms of RSC provide distinct contributions to DNA damage responses. First, we established that the two isoforms of RSC differ in the presence of Rsc1 or Rsc2 but otherwise have the same subunit composition. We found that both rsc1 and rsc2 mutant strains have intact DNA damage-induced checkpoint activity and transcriptional induction. In addition, both strains show reduced non-homologous end joining activity and have a similar spectrum of DSB repair junctions, suggesting perhaps that the two complexes provide the same functions. However, the hypersensitivity of a rsc1 strain cannot be complemented with an extra copy of RSC2, and likewise, the hypersensitivity of the rsc2 strain remains unchanged when an additional copy of RSC1 is present, indicating that the two proteins are unable to functionally compensate for one another in DNA damage responses. Rsc1, but not Rsc2, is required for nucleosome sliding flanking a DNA DSB. Interestingly, while swapping the domains from Rsc1 into the Rsc2 protein does not compromise hypersensitivity to DNA damage suggesting they are functionally interchangeable, the BAH domain from Rsc1 confers upon Rsc2 the ability to remodel chromatin at a DNA break. These data demonstrate that, despite the similarity between Rsc1 and Rsc2, the two different isoforms of RSC provide distinct functions in DNA damage responses, and that at least part of the functional specificity is dictated by the BAH domains
- …