Counterfactuals and Conditional Questions under Discussion

In this paper I investigate the issue of the context-dependence of counterfactual conditionals and how the context constrains similarity in selecting the right set of worlds necessary in order to arrive at their correct truth-conditions. I will review previous proposals and conclude that the puzzle of how we measure similarity and thus resolve the context-dependence of counterfactuals remains unsolved. I will then consider an alternative based on the idea of discourse structure and the concept of a question under discussion

Epistemic stance without epistemic modals: the case of the presumptive future

This paper deals with the non-temporal use of the future in Italian known as "epistemic" or "presumptive" (PF) in declaratives and interrogatives. We first distinguish PF from epistemic necessity and possibility, as well as from weak necessity modals, providing in the process the main empirical challenges PF raises. We then propose and justify a semantic account that treats PF as a special normality modal that involves a subjective likelihood component. Since in our account the prejacent (the proposition in the scope of the modal) is at issue, the use of PF triggers the implicature that the speaker is not in a position to appeal to what she knows in order to support her commitment to the prejacent. This, we claim, is the source of the intuition that PF is often used to offer a “guess” relative to the question under discussion (QUD)

An Analysis of "Still"

No abstract

Quantification over Times in Subjunctive Conditionals

No abstract

The time of possibilities : truth and felicity of subjunctive conditionals

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2002.Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-194).This dissertation is a study of modality and, in particular, of conditional statements within the framework of possible world semantics. I argue that in order to understand what the meaning of a modal sentence is we need to look closely at the internal composition of accessibility relations. Accessibility relations are shown to be complex relations involving both a world and a time of evaluation, and it is shown that temporal and aspectual operators can be interpreted in the modal domain, and may not occur inside the scope of the modal operator. When interpreted in this position, temporal and aspectual operators contribute to the selection of the possible worlds by defining the relevant notion of accessibility. Capitalizing on work by Irene Heim, David Lewis and Robert Stalnaker, I show that this proposal allows us to develop a semantic analysis of those conditionals that are traditionally called subjunctive conditionals, and to provide an answer to how to select the worlds that the modal operator quantifies' over. Finally, I argue that the semantic analyses of counterfactuals discussed by Lewis (1979) - Analysis 1 and Analysis 2 - cannot be maintained in that neither of them accounts for the contrast between the felicity conditions of different types of subjunctive conditionals. Instead, I will argue that our theory based on a time-dependent notion of accessibility can.by Michela M. Ippolito.Ph.D

Enhancing Visual Exploration through Augmented Gaze:High Acceptance of Immersive Virtual Biking by Oldest Olds

The diffusion of virtual reality applications dedicated to aging urges us to appraise its acceptance by target populations, especially the oldest olds. We investigated whether immersive virtual biking, and specifically a visuomotor manipulation aimed at improving visual exploration (augmented gaze), was well accepted by elders living in assisted residences. Twenty participants (mean age 89.8 years, five males) performed three 9 min virtual biking sessions pedalling on a cycle ergometer while wearing a Head-Mounted Display which immersed them inside a 360-degree pre-recorded biking video. In the second and third sessions, the relationship between horizontal head rotation and contingent visual shift was experimentally manipulated (augmented gaze), the visual shift being twice (gain = 2.0) or thrice (gain = 3.0) the amount of head rotation. User experience, motion sickness and visual exploration were measured. We found (i) very high user experience ratings, regardless of the gain; (ii) no effect of gain on motion sickness; and (iii) increased visual exploration (slope = +46%) and decreased head rotation (slope = −18%) with augmented gaze. The improvement in visual exploration capacity, coupled with the lack of intolerance signs, suggests that augmented gaze can be a valuable tool to improve the “visual usability” of certain virtual reality applications for elders, including the oldest olds

Elders’ experience with augmented gaze:preliminary observations

Research on elders’ acceptance of virtual technologies is much needed. Here we studied the user experience of elders (N = 10, mean age = 88.2 years) during virtual biking, an exergame where participants pedal on a cycle ergometer and wear a Head-Mounted Display that provides them an immersive experience of a bike ride. We tested the effects of augmented gaze on user experience. Augmented gaze is a condition in which horizontal head turns yield amplified visual shifts, which is assumed to facilitate visual exploration. User experience was measured by asking participants to rate satisfaction, motivation, sense of presence and sense of safety. We found a very good acceptance of virtual bikingand no signs of negative effects of augmented gaze. These preliminary observations suggest that augmented gaze may be a viable optimization of elders’ experience with certain virtual reality applications

Serum Albumin Is Inversely Associated With Portal Vein Thrombosis in Cirrhosis

We analyzed whether serum albumin is independently associated with portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in liver cirrhosis (LC) and if a biologic plausibility exists. This study was divided into three parts. In part 1 (retrospective analysis), 753 consecutive patients with LC with ultrasound-detected PVT were retrospectively analyzed. In part 2, 112 patients with LC and 56 matched controls were entered in the cross-sectional study. In part 3, 5 patients with cirrhosis were entered in the in vivo study and 4 healthy subjects (HSs) were entered in the in vitro study to explore if albumin may affect platelet activation by modulating oxidative stress. In the 753 patients with LC, the prevalence of PVT was 16.7%; logistic analysis showed that only age (odds ratio [OR], 1.024; P = 0.012) and serum albumin (OR, -0.422; P = 0.0001) significantly predicted patients with PVT. Analyzing the 112 patients with LC and controls, soluble clusters of differentiation (CD)40-ligand (P = 0.0238), soluble Nox2-derived peptide (sNox2-dp; P < 0.0001), and urinary excretion of isoprostanes (P = 0.0078) were higher in patients with LC. In LC, albumin was correlated with sCD4OL (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient [r(s)], -0.33; P < 0.001), sNox2-dp (r(s), -0.57; P < 0.0001), and urinary excretion of isoprostanes (r(s), -0.48; P < 0.0001) levels. The in vivo study showed a progressive decrease in platelet aggregation, sNox2-dp, and urinary 8-iso prostaglandin F2 alpha-III formation 2 hours and 3 days after albumin infusion. Finally, platelet aggregation, sNox2-dp, and isoprostane formation significantly decreased in platelets from HSs incubated with scalar concentrations of albumin. Conclusion: Low serum albumin in LC is associated with PVT, suggesting that albumin could be a modulator of the hemostatic system through interference with mechanisms regulating platelet activation