177 research outputs found
Extracting Spooky-activation-at-a-distance from Considerations of Entanglement
Following an early claim by Nelson & McEvoy \cite{Nelson:McEvoy:2007}
suggesting that word associations can display `spooky action at a distance
behaviour', a serious investigation of the potentially quantum nature of such
associations is currently underway. This paper presents a simple quantum model
of a word association system. It is shown that a quantum model of word
entanglement can recover aspects of both the Spreading Activation equation and
the Spooky-activation-at-a-distance equation, both of which are used to model
the activation level of words in human memory.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures; To appear in Proceedings of the Third Quantum
Interaction Symposium, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, vol 5494,
Springer, 200
Quantum decision making by social agents
The influence of additional information on the decision making of agents, who
are interacting members of a society, is analyzed within the mathematical
framework based on the use of quantum probabilities. The introduction of social
interactions, which influence the decisions of individual agents, leads to a
generalization of the quantum decision theory developed earlier by the authors
for separate individuals. The generalized approach is free of the standard
paradoxes of classical decision theory. This approach also explains the
error-attenuation effects observed for the paradoxes occurring when decision
makers, who are members of a society, consult with each other, increasing in
this way the available mutual information. A precise correspondence between
quantum decision theory and classical utility theory is formulated via the
introduction of an intermediate probabilistic version of utility theory of a
novel form, which obeys the requirement that zero-utility prospects should have
zero probability weights.Comment: This paper has been withdrawn by the authors because a much extended
and improved version has been submitted as arXiv:1510.02686 under the new
title "Role of information in decision making of social agents
Cultural Evolution as Distributed Computation
The speed and transformative power of human cultural evolution is evident
from the change it has wrought on our planet. This chapter proposes a human
computation program aimed at (1) distinguishing algorithmic from
non-algorithmic components of cultural evolution, (2) computationally modeling
the algorithmic components, and amassing human solutions to the non-algorithmic
(generally, creative) components, and (3) combining them to develop
human-machine hybrids with previously unforeseen computational power that can
be used to solve real problems. Drawing on recent insights into the origins of
evolutionary processes from biology and complexity theory, human minds are
modeled as self-organizing, interacting, autopoietic networks that evolve
through a Lamarckian (non-Darwinian) process of communal exchange. Existing
computational models as well as directions for future research are discussed.Comment: 13 pages Gabora, L. (2013). Cultural evolution as distributed human
computation. In P. Michelucci (Ed.) Handbook of Human Computation. Berlin:
Springe
Defining failed induction of labor
BACKGROUND: While there are well-accepted standards for the diagnosis of arrested active-phase labor, the definition of a "failed" induction of labor remains less certain. One approach to diagnosing a failed induction is based on the duration of the latent phase. However, a standard for the minimum duration that the latent phase of a labor induction should continue, absent acute maternal or fetal indications for cesarean delivery, remains lacking.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes as a function of the duration of the latent phase among nulliparous women undergoing labor induction.
METHODS: This study is based on data from an obstetric cohort of women delivering at 25 U.S. hospitals from 2008-2011. Nulliparous women who had a term singleton gestation in the cephalic presentation were eligible for this analysis if they underwent a labor induction. Consistent with prior studies, the latent phase was determined to begin once cervical ripening had ended, oxytocin was initiated and rupture of membranes (ROM) had occurred, and was determined to end once 5 cm dilation was achieved. The frequencies of cesarean delivery, as well as of adverse maternal (e.g., cesarean delivery, postpartum hemorrhage, chorioamnionitis) and perinatal outcomes (e.g., a composite frequency of either seizures, sepsis, bone or nerve injury, encephalopathy, or death), were compared as a function of the duration of the latent phase (analyzed with time both as a continuous measure and categorized in 3-hour increments).
RESULTS: A total of 10,677 women were available for analysis. In the vast majority (96.4%) of women, the active phase had been reached by 15 hours. The longer the duration of a woman's latent phase, the greater her chance of ultimately undergoing a cesarean delivery (P<0.001, for time both as a continuous and categorical independent variable), although more than forty percent of women whose latent phase lasted for 18 or more hours still had a vaginal delivery. Several maternal morbidities, such as postpartum hemorrhage (P < 0.001) and chorioamnionitis (P < 0.001), increased in frequency as the length of latent phase increased. Conversely, the frequencies of most adverse perinatal outcomes were statistically stable over time.
CONCLUSION: The large majority of women undergoing labor induction will have entered the active phase by 15 hours after oxytocin has started and rupture of membranes has occurred. Maternal adverse outcomes become statistically more frequent with greater time in the latent phase, although the absolute increase in frequency is relatively small. These data suggest that cesarean delivery should not be undertaken during the latent phase prior to at least 15 hours after oxytocin and rupture of membranes have occurred. The decision to continue labor beyond this point should be individualized, and may take into account factors such as other evidence of labor progress
How activation, entanglement, and searching a semantic network contribute to event memory
Serious maternal complications after early preterm delivery (24-33 weeks’ gestation)
To describe the prevalence of serious maternal complications following early preterm birth by gestational age (GA), delivery route and type of cesarean incision
Post-doctoral research fellowship as a health policy and systems research capacity development intervention: a case of the CHESAI initiative
BACKGROUND: Building capacity in health policy and systems research (HPSR), especially in low- and middle-income
countries, remains a challenge. Various approaches have been suggested and implemented by scholars and
institutions using various forms of capacity building to address challenges regarding HPSR development.
The Collaboration for Health Systems Analysis and Innovation (CHESAI) – a collaborative effort between the Universities
of Cape Town and the Western Cape Schools of Public Health – has employed a non-research based post-doctoral
research fellowship (PDRF) as a way of building African capacity in the field of HPSR by recruiting four post-docs. In this
paper, we (the four post-docs) explore whether a PDRF is a useful approach for capacity building for the field of HPSR
using our CHESAI PDRF experiences.
METHODS: We used personal reflections of our written narratives providing detailed information regarding our
engagement with CHESAI. The narratives were based on a question guide around our experiences through
various activities and their impacts on our professional development. The data analysis process was highly
iterative in nature, involving repeated meetings among the four post-docs to reflect, discuss and create
themes that evolved from the discussions.
RESULTS: The CHESAI PDRF provided multiple spaces for our engagement and capacity development in the field of
HPSR. These spaces provided us with a wide range of learning experiences, including teaching and research, policy
networking, skills for academic writing, engaging practitioners, co-production and community dialogue. Our reflections
suggest that institutions providing PDRF such as this are valuable if they provide environments endowed with
adequate resources, good leadership and spaces for innovation. Further, the PDRFs need to be grounded in a
community of HPSR practice, and provide opportunities for the post-docs to gain an in-depth understanding
of the broader theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the field.
CONCLUSION: The study concludes that PDRF is a useful approach to capacity building in HPSR, but it needs
be embedded in a community of practice for fellows to benefit. More academic institutions in Africa need to adopt
innovative and flexible support for emerging leaders, researchers and practitioners to strengthen our health systemsIS
Application of four-dimension criteria to assess rigour of qualitative research in emergency medicine
The Legacy of a ‘Living Library’: On the Reception of John Smith
John Smith was among the first of the Cambridge Platonists. He was therefore in a position to influence not only his contemporaries but all those who followed after him well into the twentieth century and beyond. Well established lines of influence both to and from Whichcote, Cudworth, and More are explored first before moving on to less well-known connections to Bishop Simon Patrick and mathematician Isaac Barrow. Smith’s continued significance for eighteenth century theology is demonstrated through discussion of his inspiration of the doctrines of spiritual sensation developed by Jonathan Edwards and John Wesley. Special notice is also given to Smith’s authority as an interpreter of Biblical prophecy through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The chapter concludes with looks at Smith’s influence on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Ralph Inge, Rufus Jones, Pierre Hadot, and others. This chapter, offers a broad, but highly selective, overview of the reception and influence of Smith’s life and work. It is intended, however, as a call for future research more than as an authoritative presentation of Smith’s legacy. For, if the Cambridge Platonists have been underappreciated until recently, none of them have been unjustly ignored as consistently as Smith
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