122 research outputs found
Recovery from addiction: Behavioral economics and value-based decision making.
Behavioral economics provides a general framework to explain the shift in behavioral allocation from substance use to substance-free activities that characterizes recovery from addiction, but it does not attempt to explain the internal processes that prompt those behavioral changes. In this article we outline a novel analysis of addiction recovery based on computational work on value-based decision making (VBDM), which can explain how people with addiction are able to overcome the reinforcement pathologies and decision-making vulnerabilities that characterize the disorder. The central tenet of this account is that shifts in molar reinforcer preferences over time from substance use to substance-free activities can be attributed to changes in evidence accumulation rates and response thresholds in the context of choices involving substance use and substance-free alternatives. We discuss how this account can be reconciled with the established mechanisms of action of psychosocial interventions for addiction and demonstrate how it has the potential to empirically address longstanding debates regarding the nature of impairments to self-control in addiction. We also highlight conceptual and methodological issues that require careful consideration in translating VBDM to addiction and recovery
Associated production of H^{\pm} and W^{\mp} in high-energy e+e- collisions in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model
We study the associated production of the charged Higgs boson and W^{\pm}
gauge boson in high energy e+e- collisions in the Minimal Supersymmetric
Standard Model (MSSM). This associated production, which first arises at the
one loop level, offers the possibility of producing the charged Higgs boson at
the e+e- collider with mass more than half the center-of-mass energy, when the
charged Higgs pair production is kinematically forbidden. We present analytic
and numerical results for the cross section for e+e- --> W+ H- in the full
MSSM, taking into account the previously uncalculated contributions from
supersymmetric (SUSY) particles. We find that the contributions of the SUSY
particles enhance the cross section over most of SUSY parameter space,
especially when the SUSY particles are light, ~200 GeV. With favorable SUSY
parameters, at small tan beta, this process can yield more than ten
W^{\pm}H^{\mp} events for m_{H^{\pm}} <~ 350 GeV in 500 fb-1 at a 500 GeV e+e-
collider, or m_{H^{\pm}} <~ 600 GeV in 1000 fb-1 at a 1000 GeV collider. 80%
left-handed polarization of the e- beam improves these reaches to m_{H^{\pm}}
<~ 375 GeV and m_{H^{\pm}} <~ 670 GeV, respectively.Comment: v2: 21 pages, 9 figures, comments on Higgs search bounds and new
references added, and minor changes; v3: 23 pages, 11 figures, review of
literature moved from introduction to new Sec.5 and 2 plots added, references
added, typos corrected; v4: bug fixed in nu nubar H0 cross section (Fig.11),
version to appear in PR
Guidance on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas
This publication is a Reference Report by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.The MSFD Technical Subgroup on Marine Litter was tasked to deliver guidance so that European Member States could
initiate programmes for monitoring of Descriptor 10 of the MSFD. The present document provides the recommendations
and information needed to commence the monitoring required for marine litter, including methodological protocols and
categories of items to be used for the assessment of litter on the Beach, Water Column, Seafloor and Biota, including a
special section on Microparticles
What are we eating? Consumer information requirement within a workplace canteen
The workplace is a captive environment where the overall contribution of the meal served could be an important element of the overall diet. Despite growing demand little information is available to aid healthy dish selection.
This study identifies information valued by consumers in the UK, Greece, Denmark and France using best-worst scaling. Value for Money, Nutrition and Naturalness are key elements of information that consumers require to be able to make a conscious decision about dish selection in all four countries. Latent class analysis shows that consumers align to one of five cluster groups, i.e., Value Driven, Conventionalists, Socially Responsible, Health Conscious and Locavores.
Understanding key information needs can allow food operators to align their service with consumer preferences across different market segments
Sensory determinants of stated liking for vegetable names and actual liking for canned vegetables: A cross-country study among European adolescents.
Sensory properties are reported as one of the main factors hindering an appropriate vegetable intake by the young. In the present work the sensory determinants of likings for vegetables were explored in adolescents of four European countries (Denmark, n = 88; France, n = 206; Italy, n = 110 and United Kingdom, n = 93). A questionnaire was designed to study cross country differences in stated liking for and familiarity with a list of vegetables popular among European markets (between-vegetable approach). A within-vegetable comparison approach with actual tasting was used to analyze differences and similarities in liking for canned pea and sweet corn samples across the countries. A close positive relationship between stated liking and familiarity was found. Irrespective of the country, one group of highly liked vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, green salad) was identified, characterized by innately liked tastes (sweet, umami), delicate flavour and bright appealing colour. A second group of highly disliked vegetables consists of cauliflowers and broccoli, characterized by disliked sensations such as bitter taste and objectionable flavour. Internal Preference Maps from actual liking scores indicate that the generally disliked tastes (bitter, sour), are clearly correlated with a negative hedonic response for both peas and sweet corn. The hedonic valence of a generally well accepted taste such as salty and texture descriptors depends on the type of vegetable. Internal preference maps from actual liking data indicate that flavour and appearance descriptors of the distinct sensory properties of each type of vegetable positively affect liking, while the intensity of unusual flavours is related to sample disliking
Theories of American Imperialism: A Critical Evaluation
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68828/2/10.1177_048661347400600303.pd
Model confidence sets and forecast combination: an application to age-specific mortality
Background: Model averaging combines forecasts obtained from a range of models, and it often produces more accurate forecasts than a forecast from a single model.
Objective: The crucial part of forecast accuracy improvement in using the model averaging lies in the determination of optimal weights from a finite sample. If the weights are selected sub-optimally, this can affect the accuracy of the model-averaged forecasts. Instead of choosing the optimal weights, we consider trimming a set of models before equally averaging forecasts from the selected superior models. Motivated by Hansen et al. (2011), we apply and evaluate the model confidence set procedure when combining mortality forecasts.
Data & Methods: The proposed model averaging procedure is motivated by Samuels and Sekkel (2017) based on the concept of model confidence sets as proposed by Hansen et al. (2011) that incorporates the statistical significance of the forecasting performance. As the model confidence level increases, the set of superior models generally decreases. The proposed model averaging procedure is demonstrated via national and sub-national Japanese mortality for retirement ages between 60 and 100+.
Results: Illustrated by national and sub-national Japanese mortality for ages between 60 and 100+, the proposed model-average procedure gives the smallest interval forecast errors, especially for males. Conclusion: We find that robust out-of-sample point and interval forecasts may be obtained from the trimming method. By robust, we mean robustness against model misspecification
Multiethnic meta-analysis identifies ancestry-specific and cross-ancestry loci for pulmonary function
Nearly 100 loci have been identified for pulmonary function, almost exclusively in studies of European ancestry populations. We extend previous research by meta-analyzing genome-wide association studies of 1000 Genomes imputed variants in relation to pulmonary function in a multiethnic population of 90,715 individuals of European (N = 60,552), African (N = 8429), Asian (N = 9959), and Hispanic/Latino (N = 11,775) ethnicities. We identify over 50 additional loci at genome-wide significance in ancestry-specific or multiethnic meta-analyses. Using recent fine-mapping methods incorporating functional annotation, gene expression, and differences in linkage disequilibrium between ethnicities, we further shed light on potential causal variants and genes at known and newly identified loci. Several of the novel genes encode proteins with predicted or established drug targets, including KCNK2 and CDK12. Our study highlights the utility of multiethnic and integrative genomics approaches to extend existing knowledge of the genetics of l
Platelet-Related Variants Identified by Exomechip Meta-analysis in 157,293 Individuals
Platelet production, maintenance, and clearance are tightly controlled processes indicative of platelets important roles in hemostasis and thrombosis. Platelets are common targets for primary and secondary prevention of several conditions. They are monitored clinically by complete blood counts, specifically with measurements of platelet count (PLT) and mean platelet volume (MPV). Identifying genetic effects on PLT and MPV can provide mechanistic insights into platelet biology and their role in disease. Therefore, we formed the Blood Cell Consortium (BCX) to perform a large-scale meta-analysis of Exomechip association results for PLT and MPV in 157,293 and 57,617 individuals, respectively. Using the low-frequency/rare coding variant-enriched Exomechip genotyping array, we sought to identify genetic variants associated with PLT and MPV. In addition to confirming 47 known PLT and 20 known MPV associations, we identified 32 PLT and 18 MPV associations not previously observed in the literature across the allele frequency spectrum, including rare large effect (FCER1A), low-frequency (IQGAP2, MAP1A, LY75), and common (ZMIZ2, SMG6, PEAR1, ARFGAP3/PACSIN2) variants. Several variants associated with PLT/MPV (PEAR1, MRVI1, PTGES3) were also associated with platelet reactivity. In concurrent BCX analyses, there was overlap of platelet-associated variants with red (MAP1A, TMPRSS6, ZMIZ2) and white (PEAR1, ZMIZ2, LY75) blood cell traits, suggesting common regulatory pathways with shared genetic architecture among these hematopoietic lineages. Our large-scale Exomechip analyses identified previously undocumented associations with platelet traits and further indicate that several complex quantitative hematological, lipid, and cardiovascular traits share genetic factors
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