What Happens in Savannah Shouldn’t Stay in Savannah

Each of us attend conferences with the best intentions of learning something new and utilizing this knowledge when we return to our routine. We often fall short. Participants will discuss strategies to integrate their newfound knowledge into their lives back home and make a plan to actualize that desire

Simultaneous supersingular reductions of CM elliptic curves

We study the simultaneous reductions at several supersingular primes of elliptic curves with complex multiplication. We show -- under additional congruence assumptions on the CM order -- that the reductions are surjective (and even become equidistributed) on the product of supersingular loci when the discriminant of the order becomes large. This variant of the equidistribution theorems of Duke and Cornut-Vatsal is an(other) application of the recent work of Einsiedler and Lindenstrauss on the classification of joinings of higher-rank diagonalizable actions.Comment: 46 pages. Revised according to the referee's comment

Effects of Negative Online Word-of-Mouth on Consumer Evaluations of an Underdog Brand

Research on underdogs has suggested that consumers feel sympathy for and a desire to support the underdog. However, it is unclear how their evaluations of the underdog will change if they receive negative information about it. The current research aims to explore the role of negative word-of-mouth of the underdog, compared to the top dog, in consumers’ brand attitude, brand value, and purchase intention. Specifically, drawing on two streams of research, two competing hypotheses are proposed and tested. An experiment was conducted with online consumer panel members. Consistent with confirmation bias and familiarity principle, the results supported a hypothesis that an underdog brand suffers more than a top dog brand from negative online word-of-mouth. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings along with future research directions are discussed

Effects of Negative Online Word-of-Mouth on Consumer Evaluations of an Underdog Brand

Research on underdogs has suggested that consumers feel sympathy for and a desire to support the underdog. However, it is unclear how their evaluations of the underdog will change if they receive negative information about it. The current research aims to explore the role of negative word-of-mouth of the underdog, compared to the top dog, in consumers’ brand attitude, brand value, and purchase intention. Specifically, drawing on two streams of research, two competing hypotheses are proposed and tested. An experiment was conducted with online consumer panel members. Consistent with confirmation bias and familiarity principle, the results supported a hypothesis that an underdog brand suffers more than a top dog brand from negative online word-of-mouth. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings along with future research directions are discussed

Is training with the N-back task more effective than with other tasks? N-back vs. dichotic listening vs. simple listening

Cognitive training most commonly uses computerized tasks that stimulate simultaneous cognitive processing in two modalities, such as a dual n-back task with visual and auditive stimuli, or on two receptive channels, such as a listening task with dichotically presented stimuli. The present study was designed to compare a dual n-back task and a dichotic listening (DL) task with an active control condition (a simple listening task) and a no-training control condition for their impact on cognitive performance, daily life memory, and mindfulness. One hundred thirty healthy adults aged 18–55 years were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. The training consisted of twenty 15-min sessions spread across 4 weeks. The results indicated some improvement on episodic memory tasks and a trend for enhanced performance in an untrained working memory (WM) span task following cognitive training relative to the no-training control group. However, the only differential training effects were found for the DL training in increasing choice reaction performance and a trend for self-reported mindfulness. Transfer to measures of fluid intelligence and memory in daily life did not emerge. Additionally, we found links between self-efficacy and n-back training performance and between emotion regulation and training motivation. Our results contribute to the field of WM training by demonstrating that our listening tasks are comparable in effect to a dual n-back task in slightly improving memory. The possibility of improving attentional control and mindfulness through dichotic listening training is promising and deserves further consideration

Structure and Simulation Evaluation of an Integrated Real-Time Rescheduling System for Railway Networks

A critical problem faced by railways is how to increase capacity without investing heavily in infrastructure and impacting on schedule reliability. One way of increasing capacity is to reduce the buffer time added to timetables. Buffer time is used to reduce the impact of train delays on overall network reliability. While reducing buffer times can increase capacity, it also means that small delays to a single train can propagate quickly through the system causing knock-on delays to trains impacted by the delayed train. The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) are researching a new approach for real-time train rescheduling that could enable buffer times to be reduced without impacting schedule reliability. This approach is based on the idea that if trains can be efficiently rescheduled to address delays, then less buffer time is needed to maintain the same level of system schedule reliability. The proposed approach combines a rescheduling algorithm with very accurate train operations (using a driver-machine interface). This paper describes the proposed approach, some system characteristics that improve its efficiency, and results of a microscopic simulation completed to help show the effectiveness of this new approach. The results demonstrate that the proposed integrated real-time rescheduling system enables capacity to be increased and may reduce knock-on delays. The results also clearly showed the importance of accurate train operations on the rescheduling system's effectivenes

Stress Effects on Working Memory, Explicit Memory, and Implicit Memory for Neutral and Emotional Stimuli in Healthy Men

Stress is a strong modulator of memory function. However, memory is not a unitary process and stress seems to exert different effects depending on the memory type under study. Here, we explored the impact of social stress on different aspects of human memory, including tests for explicit memory and working memory (for neutral materials), as well as implicit memory (perceptual priming, contextual priming and classical conditioning for emotional stimuli). A total of 35 young adult male students were randomly assigned to either the stress or the control group, with stress being induced by the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Salivary cortisol levels were assessed repeatedly throughout the experiment to validate stress effects. The results support previous evidence indicating complex effects of stress on different types of memory: A pronounced working memory deficit was associated with exposure to stress. No performance differences between groups of stressed and unstressed subjects were observed in verbal explicit memory (but note that learning and recall took place within 1 h and immediately following stress) or in implicit memory for neutral stimuli. Stress enhanced classical conditioning for negative but not positive stimuli. In addition, stress improved spatial explicit memory. These results reinforce the view that acute stress can be highly disruptive for working memory processing. They provide new evidence for the facilitating effects of stress on implicit memory for negative emotional materials. Our findings are discussed with respect to their potential relevance for psychiatric disorders, such as post traumatic stress disorder

Mechanisms of hepatocellular toxicity associated with new psychoactive synthetic cathinones

Synthetic cathinones are a new class of psychostimulant substances. Rarely, they can cause liver injury but associated mechanisms are not completely elucidated. In order to increase our knowledge about mechanisms of hepatotoxicity, we investigated the effect of five frequently used cathinones on two human cell lines. Bupropion was included as structurally related drug used therapeutically. In HepG2 cells, bupropion, MDPV, mephedrone and naphyrone depleted the cellular ATP content at lower concentrations (0.2-1mM) than cytotoxicity occurred (0.5-2mM), suggesting mitochondrial toxicity. In comparison, methedrone and methylone depleted the cellular ATP pool and induced cytotoxicity at similar concentrations (≥2mM). In HepaRG cells, cytotoxicity and ATP depletion could also be demonstrated, but cytochrome P450 induction did not increase the toxicity of the compounds investigated. The mitochondrial membrane potential was decreased in HepG2 cells by bupropion, MDPV and naphyrone, confirming mitochondrial toxicity. Bupropion, but not the other compounds, uncoupled oxidative phosphorylation. Bupropion, MDPV, mephedrone and naphyrone inhibited complex I and II of the electron transport chain, naphyrone also complex III. All four mitochondrial toxicants were associated with increased mitochondrial ROS and increased lactate production, which was accompanied by a decrease in the cellular total GSH pool for naphyrone and MDPV. In conclusion, bupropion, MDPV, mephedrone and naphyrone are mitochondrial toxicants impairing the function of the electron transport chain and depleting cellular ATP stores. Since liver injury is rare in users of these drugs, affected persons must have susceptibility factors rendering them more sensitive for these drugs