The psychology and policy of overcoming economic inequality

Data and materials’ availability: All data are publicly available for the survey data used (https://osf.io/njd62/) and from the UN Gender Inequality Index (https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/documentation-and-downloads). Financial transaction data were provided through an agreement with Columbia Business School.Recent arguments claim that behavioral science has focused – to its detriment – on the individual over the system when construing behavioral interventions. In this commentary, we argue that tackling economic inequality using both framings in tandem is invaluable. By studying individuals who have overcome inequality, “positive deviants,” and the system limitations they navigate, we offer potentially greater policy solutions.This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation (no. 2218595) and by Undergraduate Global Engagement at Columbia University. Additional support was provided to individual researchers from the Columbia University Office of the Provost, Masaryk University Centre for International Cooperation, and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Fund from the United States Department of State

The persistence of cognitive biases in financial decisions across economic groups

Data availability: All data will be posted open access via https://psyarxiv.com/mrxy6/ and in interactive form via https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/kai.ruggeri. We will post these only once an accepted version of all analyses is possible to avoid confusion based on version control.While economic inequality continues to rise within countries, efforts to address it have been largely ineffective, particularly those involving behavioral approaches. It is often implied but not tested that choice patterns among low-income individuals may be a factor impeding behavioral interventions aimed at improving upward economic mobility. To test this, we assessed rates of ten cognitive biases across nearly 5000 participants from 27 countries. Our analyses were primarily focused on 1458 individuals that were either low-income adults or individuals who grew up in disadvantaged households but had above-average financial well-being as adults, known as positive deviants. Using discrete and complex models, we find evidence of no differences within or between groups or countries. We therefore conclude that choices impeded by cognitive biases alone cannot explain why some individuals do not experience upward economic mobility. Policies must combine both behavioral and structural interventions to improve financial well-being across populations.This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation (#2218595) and by Undergraduate Global Engagement at Columbia University. Additional support was provided to individual researchers from the Columbia University Office of the Provost, Masaryk University Centre for International Cooperation, and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Fund from the United States Department of State. This research was funded in part, by the UKRI [MR/N013468/1]

Commercialization strategy and internationalization outcomes in technology-based new ventures

Advances in business process outsourcing and open innovation practices have made the choice of techno logy commercialization strategy increasingly relevant for technology-based new ventures. We investigate effects of intellectual property (IP)-based, product-based, and hybrid (both product and IP) commercialization strategies on internationalization propensity and intensity in technology-based new ventures. We find that new ventures adopting a product-based commercialization strategy are less likely to internationalize than those with hybrid or IP-based strategies. In addition, new ventures using IP-based commercialization strategies exhibit higher international intensity after foreign market entry than those with hybrid and product-based strategies. These findings provide novel insights into the dependence on external resources associated with different types of commercialization strategy

SKG IN_FLUX: an Urban \u27Process-Plan

The paper introduces, analyzes and evaluates the outcomes of a design experiment that took place at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in the form of an intensive workshop on parametric urban design. The strategies and methods adopted defined a field for design experimentation as a response to the broader disciplinary discourse related to the use of advanced digital tools, their potentialities in dealing with urban form and their role in architectural education. The workshopis operative processes and the results obtained serve as a paradigm for an alternative urban design approach. The analysis and the evaluation of this specific approach give rise to further questions and define the goals and anticipations of related future investigations

From Analog to Digital: Double Curved Lightweight Structures in Architectural Design Education

The paper describes an architectural design studio for 5th year students at the Department of Architecture of the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece. The educational objective of the studio is the design of double curved lightweight structures, employing a creative methodology which instrumentalizes the study of nature as a source of inspiration. The objective of the course is to familiarize the students with curves and form-finding (analogue and digital) with the aim to design forms that display structural stability. The paper will highlight the educational gains from a hybrid design methodology which employs both analog (physical) form-finding tools and digital modeling for the design of double curvature surfaces. © 2020, Education and research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe. All rights reserved

The origins of capabilities: resource allocation strategies, capability development, and the performance of new firms

Resource-constrained new ventures need to decide how to allocate their scarce resources to develop internal functional capabilities in order to survive and grow. Drawing on the longitudinal Kauffman Firm Survey of U.S. start-ups, we explore the performance implications of broad versus narrow scope in new firms' functional capability development and show that focus rather than breadth in capability development is conducive to higher revenue performance, although financial and knowledge resource availability moderate this relationship. Studying capability development in entrepreneurial firms informs our understanding of capability development in any firm competing under time and resource constraints

Current Applications of Digital PCR in Veterinary Parasitology: An Overview

Digital PCR (dPCR) is an emerging technology that enables the absolute quantification of the targeted nucleic acids. The body of research on the potential applications of this novel tool is growing in human and veterinary medicine. Most of the research on dPCR applications in veterinary parasitology is concentrated on developing and validating new assays to detect and quantify parasites of great financial impact in the food-producing animal industry. Several studies describe the utility of dPCR for individualized medicine in companion animals. Most frequently, dPCR performance is assessed compared to quantitative PCR or Next Generation Sequencing platforms, while others also compare the accuracy of dPCR with traditional parasitological techniques considered gold standard methods. Other researchers describe dPCR assays for surveillance purposes, species identification, and quantification in mixed parasitic infections, the detection of mutations indicative of anthelmintic resistance, and the identification of new targets for drug development. This review provides an overview of the studies that employed dPCR in investigating animal parasites and parasitic diseases from a veterinary perspective and discusses how this novel technology could advance and facilitate diagnosis, surveillance, and the monitoring of response to treatment, or shed light on current gaps in our knowledge of the epidemiology of significant veterinary parasitic diseases

EasyFRAP:An interactive, easy-to-use tool for qualitative and quantitative analysis of FRAP data

Summary: We present easyFRAP, a versatile tool that assists quantitative and qualitative analysis of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) data. The user can handle simultaneously large data sets of raw data, visualize fluorescence recovery curves, exclude low quality data, perform data normalization, extract quantitative parameters, perform batch analysis and save the resulting data and figures for further use. Our tool is implemented as a single-screen Graphical User Interface (GUI) and is highly interactive, as it permits parameterization and visual data quality assessment at various points during the analysis. Availability: easyFRAP is free software, available under the General Public License (GPL). Executable and source files, supplementary material and sample data sets can be downloaded at: ccl.med.upatras.gr/easyfrap.html