The best decision of your life : the relationship between multicultural life experiences and decision-making biases

This dissertation investigates the correlation between various types and phases of foreign experience and several decision-making biases: the status-quo bias, anchoring effect and confirmation bias. Previous research had shown that different types of foreign experience (travelling, currently living abroad and having lived abroad in the past) had distinctive effects on individuals and lead to differences in behavior and cognition. It was hypothesized that this would subdue the negative effects of decision-making biases. The hypotheses were tested by replicating previous studies in the field via an online survey. It was found that foreign experience has no impact on the status-quo bias, either strengthens or weakens the anchoring effect depending on the type of foreign experience, and strengthens the effect of confirmation bias throughout all groups of foreign experience. The conclusion was that foreign experience affects some decision-making biases but to varying degrees and depending on the type of foreign experience. A theoretical frame was built to explain this finding, using previous studies to explain possible causations. This dissertation hypothesizes that cultural adjustment, in a u-,w-shaped experience, are responsible for the differences between the various groups of foreign experience and act as a mediator between the variables. Further studies and methodologies are proposed and outlined to test this hypothesis. The dissertation therefore adds towards the understanding of the effects of foreign experience and found evidence for a connection between cultural identity shifts and adjustments towards cognition and decision-making.Esta dissertação investiga a correlação entre vários tipos e fases de experiências no estrangeiro e várias tomadas de decisão tendenciosas/enviesadas: preconceito status-quo, efeito da ancoragem, viés de confirmação. Pesquisas anteriores revelaram que diferentes tipos de experiência no estrangeiro (viajar, viver atualmente no estrangeiro, ou ter vivido além fronteiras no passado) têm efeitos distintos sobre os indivíduos que viveram estas experiências, levando-os a terem diferentes atitudes a nível comportamental e cognitivo. Por este motivo, foi levantada a questão hipotética de estas mesmas experiências reduzirem os efeitos negativos nas tomadas de decisão preconceituosas. As hipóteses foram testadas através da replicação de estudos anteriores através de um inquérito online. Descobriu-se por isso que a experiência estrangeira não tem impacto sobre o preconceito status-quo. Na verdade apenas fortalece ou enfraquece o efeito da ancoragem dependentemente do tipo de experiência no estrangeiro e fortalece o viés de confirmação em todos os grupos que viveram este tipo de experiências. Em suma, as conclusões revelam que a experiência no estrangeiro afeta alguns tipos de tomada de decisão tendenciosa, mas em graus variados e dependendo do tipo de experiência estrangeira. Um quadro teórico foi ainda construído para explicar essa mesma conclusão, utilizando estudos prévios para explicar possíveis causas. Mais se salienta que esta dissertação propõe a hipótese de um ajustamento cultural através de uma experiência moldada do tipo u ou w, que é responsável pelas diferenças dos grupos em estudo, atuando como mediadora das diferentes variáveis. Outros estudos e metodologias foram ainda propostos e delineados para testar esta hipótese. Concluindo, esta tese final de mestrado adiciona uma nova compreensão aos efeitos de experiência no estrangeiro e encontra evidências claras: existe uma conexão entre mudanças de identidade cultural e ajustes na atividade cognitiva e tomadas de decisão

Late lumping of observer-based state feedback for boundary control systems

Infinite-dimensional linear systems with unbounded input and output operators are considered. For the purpose of finite-dimensional observer-based state feedback, an observer approximation scheme will be developed which can be directly combined with existing late-lumping controllers and observer output injection gains. It relies on a decomposition of the feedback gain, resp. observer output injection gain, into a bounded and an unbounded part. Based on a perturbation result, the spectrum-determined growth condition is established, for the closed loop.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, submitted to IFAC WC 202

Late lumping of transformation-based feedback laws for boundary control systems

Late-lumping feedback design for infinite-dimensional linear systems with unbounded input operators is considered. The proposed scheme is suitable for the approximation of backstepping and flatness-based designs and relies on a decomposition of the feedback into a bounded and an unbounded part. Approximation applies to the bounded part only, while the unbounded part is assumed to allow for an exact realization. Based on spectral results, the convergence of the closed-loop dynamics to the desired dynamics is established. By duality, similar results apply to the approximation of the observer output-injection gains for systems with boundary observation. The proposed design and approximation steps are demonstrated and illustrated based on a hyperbolic infinite-dimensional system.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, submitted to IEEE Trans. Autom. Contro

Transport Activity of Rice Sucrose Transporters OsSUT1 and OsSUT5

Expression in Xenopus oocytes and electrophysiology was used to test for transport activity of the five sucrose transporter (SUT) homologs from rice. Expression of OsSUT1 and OsSUT5 resulted in sucrose-dependent currents that were analyzed by two-electrode voltage clamping. We examined the transport kinetics, substrate specificity and pH dependence of sucrose transport and K0.5 for sucrose. OsSUT1 showed similar features to those of other type II SUTs from monocots examined previously, with a K0.5 value of 7.50 mM at pH 5.6. In contrast, OsSUT5 had a higher substrate affinity (K0.5 = 2.32 mM at pH 5.6), less substrate specificity and less pH dependence compared with all type II SUTs tested to date. Regulation of the rice SUTs, as well as ZmSUT1 from maize and HvSUT1 from barley, by reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) forms of glutathione was tested. GSSG and GSH were found to have no significant effect on the activity of sucrose transporters when expressed in Xenopus oocytes. In conclusion, differences in transport activity between OsSUT1 and OsSUT5 indicate that type II SUTs have a range of transport activities that are tuned to their function in the plant

Carbon partitioning and export in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana with altered capacity for sucrose synthesis grown at low temperature: a role for metabolite transporters

We investigated the role of metabolite transporters in cold acclimation by comparing the responses of wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis thaliana (Heynh.) with that of transgenic plants over-expressing sucrose-phosphate synthase (SPSox) or with that of antisense repression of cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPas). Plants were grown at 23 degrees C and then shifted to 5 degrees C. We compared the leaves shifted to 5 degrees C for 3 and 10 d with new leaves that developed at 5 degrees C with control leaves on plants at 23 degrees C. At 23 degrees C, ectopic expression of SPS resulted in 30% more carbon being fixed per day and an increase in sucrose export from source leaves. This increase in fixation and export was supported by increased expression of the plastidic triose-phosphate transporter AtTPT and, to a lesser extent, the high-affinity Suc transporter AtSUC1. The improved photosynthetic performance of the SPSox plants was maintained after they were shifted to 5 degrees C and this was associated with further increases in AtSUC1 expression but with a strong repression of AtTPT mRNA abundance. Similar responses were shown by WT plants during acclimation to low temperature and this response was attenuated in the low sucrose producing FBPas plants. These data suggest that a key element in recovering flux through carbohydrate metabolism in the cold is to control the partitioning of metabolites between the chloroplast and the cytosol, and Arabidopsis modulates the expression of AtTPT to maintain balanced carbon flow. Arabidopsis also up-regulates the expression of AtSUC1, and to lesser extent AtSUC2, as down-stream components facilitate sucrose transport in leaves that develop at low temperatures.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sucrose transporter1 functions in phloem loading in maize leaves

In most plants, sucrose is exported from source leaves to carbon-importing sink tissues to sustain their growth and metabolism. Apoplastic phloem-loading species require sucrose transporters (SUTs) to transport sucrose into the phloem. In many dicot plants, genetic and biochemical evidence has established that SUT1-type proteins function in phloem loading. However, the role of SUT1 in phloem loading in monocot plants is not clear since the rice (Oryza sativa) and sugarcane (Saccharum hybrid) SUT1 orthologues do not appear to function in phloem loading of sucrose. A SUT1 gene was previously cloned from maize (Zea mays) and shown to have expression and biochemical activity consistent with a hypothesized role in phloem loading. To determine the biological function of SUT1 in maize, a sut1 mutant was isolated and characterized. sut1 mutant plants hyperaccumulate carbohydrates in mature leaves and display leaf chlorosis with premature senescence. In addition, sut1 mutants have greatly reduced stature, altered biomass partitioning, delayed flowering, and stunted tassel development. Cold-girdling wild-type leaves to block phloem transport phenocopied the sut1 mutants, supporting a role for maize SUT1 in sucrose export. Furthermore, application of 14C-sucrose to abraded sut1 mutant and wild-type leaves showed that sucrose export was greatly diminished in sut1 mutants compared with wild type. Collectively, these data demonstrate that SUT1 is crucial for efficient phloem loading of sucrose in maize leaves