Proposition structure in framed decision problems: A formal representation.

Framing effects, which may induce decision-makers to demonstrate preference description invariance violation for logically equivalent options varying in semantic emphasis, are an economically significant decision bias and an active area of research. Framing is an issue inter alia for the way in which options are presented in stated-choice studies where (often inadvertent) semantic emphasis may impact on preference responses. While research into both espoused preference effects and its cognitive substrate is highly active, interpretation and explanation of preference anomalies is beset by variation in the underlying structure of problems and latitude for decision-maker elaboration. A formal, general scheme for making transparent the parameter and proposition structure of framed decision stimuli is described. Interpretive and cognitive explanations for framing effects are reviewed. The formalism’s potential for describing extant, generating new stimulus tasks, detailing decision-maker task elaboration. The approach also provides a means of formalising stated-choice response stimuli and provides a metric of decision stimuli complexity. An immediate application is in the structuring of stated-choice test instruments

LISA Response Function and Parameter Estimation

We investigate the response function of LISA and consider the adequacy of its commonly used approximation in the high-frequency range of the observational band. We concentrate on monochromatic binary systems, such as white dwarf binaries. We find that above a few mHz the approxmation starts becoming increasingly inaccurate. The transfer function introduces additional amplitude and phase modulations in the measured signal that influence parameter estmation and, if not properly accounted for, lead to losses of signal-to-noise ratio.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, amaldi 5 conference proceeding

The Impact of Social Deprivation on Paranoia, Hallucinations, Mania and Depression: The Role of Discrimination Social Support, Stress and Trust

The negative implications of living in a socially unequal society are now well documented. However, there is poor understanding of the pathways from specific environmental risk to symptoms. Here we examine the associations between social deprivation, depression, and psychotic symptoms using the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, a cross-sectional dataset including 7,353 individuals. In addition we looked at the mediating role of stress, discrimination, trust and lack of social support. We found that the participants' neighbourhood index of multiple deprivation (IMD) significantly predicted psychosis and depression. On inspection of specific psychotic symptoms, IMD predicted paranoia, but not hallucinations or hypomania. Stress and trust partially mediated the relationship between IMD and paranoid ideation. Stress, trust and a lack of social support fully mediated the relationship between IMD and depression. Future research should focus on the role deprivation and social inequalities plays in specific manifestations of psychopathology and investigate mechanisms to explain those associations that occur. Targeting the mediating mechanisms through appropriate psychological intervention may go some way to dampen the negative consequences of living in an unjust society; ameliorating economic injustice may improve population mental health

Activation of the LH receptor up regulates the type 2 adiponectin receptor in human granulosa cells

PURPOSE: Adiponectin is a predominantly adipocyte-derived hormone which influences insulin sensitivity and energy homeostasis through at least two receptors, AdipoR1 and AdipoR2. In animal models, adiponectin may regulate ovarian steroidogenesis, folliculogenesis, and ovulation. The receptors AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 are present in the human ovary, but their regulation is unknown. In these studies, we determined the effects of LH receptor activation on the expression and function of the two adiponectin receptors in human granulosa cells. METHODS: Granulosa cells were obtained at the time of oocyte retrieval in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Cells were isolated and cultured for 48 h in DMEM/F12 medium with 5 % FBS and 50 ug/ml gentamicin. Medium was changed to low serum for 12 h and cells were treated with hCG (100 ng/ml), forskolin (30 μMol/L), or FSH (1 IU/ml) for 24 h for mRNA experiments. mRNA was isolated and RT PCR was performed using Taqman assays and quantification with the delta delta CT method. For immunocytochemistry, cells were grown on chamber slides and treated with hCG for 1 to 24 h and fixed with acetone. ICC was performed with polyclonal rabbit primary antibodies followed by alexa fluor goat anti-rabbit antibody and imaging with a fluorescence microscope and Zeiss software analysis. 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3βHSD) enzyme activity was determined by measuring the progesterone produced when cells were provided with an excess of 22-hydroxy-cholesterol as substrate following an incubation with hCG (1 IU/ml) and/or adiponectin (10 ng/ml). Progesterone content in the media was determined by ELISA. RESULTS: Messenger RNA for the two Adiponectin receptors is differentially regulated by activation of LHR with hCG treatment. AdipoR2 was increased nearly 4-fold (p < 0.05), whereas AdipoR1 expression was not changed by hCG treatment. Treatment with either FSH or forskolin (an activator of cAMP) had similar effects. Basal AdipoR2 protein was fairly low in granulosa cells in culture however treatment of cells with hCG resulted in a discernible increase in immunodetectable cytoplasmic protein as early as 6 h after treatment and was maintained for at least 24 h. The number of cells positive for AdipoR2 at 6 h increased from a basal of 20 % to almost 60 % (p < 0.05). Adiponectin treatment of hCG-primed cells resulted in increased 3βHSD activity by approximately 60 % over hCG alone and more than 3-fold over basal levels. CONCLUSIONS: AdipoR2 is regulated by the LH receptor function via a cAMP dependant mechanism. Increased expression of adipoR2 prior to and following ovulation may contribute to enhanced 3βHSD activity and increased progesterone secretion by the corpus luteum of the ovary. Dysregulation of adiponectin that may occur with PCOS may impair normal progesterone production

Structural Change in (Economic) Time Series

Methods for detecting structural changes, or change points, in time series data are widely used in many fields of science and engineering. This chapter sketches some basic methods for the analysis of structural changes in time series data. The exposition is confined to retrospective methods for univariate time series. Several recent methods for dating structural changes are compared using a time series of oil prices spanning more than 60 years. The methods broadly agree for the first part of the series up to the mid-1980s, for which changes are associated with major historical events, but provide somewhat different solutions thereafter, reflecting a gradual increase in oil prices that is not well described by a step function. As a further illustration, 1990s data on the volatility of the Hang Seng stock market index are reanalyzed.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Living Film Histories: Researching at the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Edinburgh University Press via the DOI in this recordThe Bill Douglas Cinema Museum at the University of Exeter is both a public museum and a research and teaching resource originally based on the collection put together by film-maker Bill Douglas and his friend Peter Jewell. Augmented constantly with new donations, it now holds over 85,000 items. In this article we will demonstrate how the range and depth of the museum’s collections on moving image history create a ‘people’s history’ of the medium. Despite the variety of the holdings, the museum has a coherence for researchers, allowing scholars to evidence continuities as well as changes across the history which it charts. We will show how this works in three distinct ways. Firstly we will consider how research on the everyday ephemera of cinema, and the optical media that preceded it, which forms much of the collection, such as programmes, publicity material or merchandise, can illuminate our understanding of film history as it is lived: what Raymond Williams saw as ‘the structures of feeling’ underpinning popular culture. Second, we will draw on examples from the stipend scheme that we operate, whereby awards enable researchers from around the world to explore our holdings in order to discover new paths through this history. How has material found within collections complicated research questions or allowed scholars to make connections between the past and the present? Lastly, we will explore how artefacts gain meanings from the processes of their curation. Here we will analyse the curatorial practices of students at the University of Exeter

Auge y declive de los gobiernos de guerrilla en América Latina

[ES] El artículo trata de explicar los procesos a través de los cuales un gobierno llega a suceder a otro en situaciones revolucionarias, haciendo especial hincapié en los movimientos guerrilleros en América Latina desde la Revolución cubana hasta finales de la década del sesenta, y que están experimentando un resurgimiento en la actualidad. El autor sugiere cinco proposiciones que vinculan a gobernantes y gobernados en un contrato social, ya sea implícito o explícito, que elabora basándose en estudios de este período más temprano y que es posible encontrar también en los movimientos revolucionarios/gobiernos guerrilleros de los años setenta y ochenta.[EN] The article tries to explain the processes of how one government comes to succeed another in revolutionaly situations, emphasizing the guerrilla movements in Latin America from the Cuban revolution until the late 1960's and which are currently experiencing a revival. The author suggests five propositions linking governors and governed in a social contract, implicit or explicit, which he ellaborates based upon studies of the earlier period and that is also possible to find them in the revolutionary movements/guerrilla governments in the 1970's and 1980's