Reconsidering Dual Agency Conflicts in Residential Real Estate

California has long permitted dual agency representation in residential real estate transactions, and consumers have long maligned the practice as presenting an unavoidable conflict of interest.¹ However, dual agency provides benefit to consumers in some situations, and those benefits are often overlooked by those who seek to prevent it altogether. Recent statutory changes in California and other states have attempted to resolve dual agency conflicts of interest while allowing the practice to continue (at least in some form). However, these attempts have largely failed to quell consumer frustrations due to a few fundamental miscommunications between consumers and legislators. By clarifying how consumers understand terms like “real estate agent” and “dual agency,” and by analyzing and compiling various statutory schemes in states across the country, California legislators may be able to rectify the situation, enacting statutory changes that finally resolve consumer frustrations without abolishing dual agency altogether

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Levels of Structural Integration Mediate the Impact of Metacognition on Functioning in Non-affective Psychosis: Adding a Psychodynamic Perspective to the Metacognitive Approach

Synthetic metacognition is defined by integrative and contextualizing processes of discrete reflexive moments. These processes are supposed to be needed to meet intrapsychic as well as interpersonal challenges and to meaningfully include psychotic experience in a personal life narrative. A substantial body of evidence has linked this phenomenon to psychosocial functioning and treatment options were developed. The concept of synthetic metacognition, measured with the Metacognition Assessment Scale-Abbreviated (MAS-A), rises hope to bridge gaps between therapeutic orientations and shares valuable parallels to modern psychodynamic constructs, especially the 'levels of structural integration' of the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis (OPD-2). As theoretical distinctions remain, aim of this study was to compare the predictive value of both constructs with regard to psychosocial functioning of patients with non-affective psychoses, measured with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (MINI-ICF-APP). It was further explored if levels of structural integration (OPD-LSIA) would mediate the impact of metacognition (MAS-A) on function (MINI-ICF-APP). Expert ratings of synthetic metacognition (MAS-A), the OPD-2 'levels of structural integration' axis (OPD-LSIA), psychosocial functioning (MINI-ICF-APP) and assessments of general cognition and symptoms were applied to 100 individuals with non-affective psychoses. Whereas both, MAS-A and OPD-LSIA, significantly predicted MINI-ICF-APP beyond cognition and symptoms, OPD-LSIA explained a higher share of variance and mediated the impact of MAS-A on MINI-ICF-APP. Levels of structural integration, including the quality of internalized object representations and unconscious interpersonal schemas, might therefore be considered as valuable predictors of social functioning and as one therapeutic focus in patients with non-affective psychoses. Structural integration might go beyond and form the base of a person's actual reflexive and metacognitive capabilities. Psychotherapeutic procedures specific for psychoses may promote and challenge a patient's metacognitive capacities, but should equally take the need for maturing structural skills into account. Modern psychodynamic approaches to psychosis are shortly presented, providing concepts and techniques for the implicit regulation of interpersonal experience and aiming at structural integration in this patient group

Measuring Emotional Awareness in Patients With Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorders

The ability to mentalize (i.e., to form representations of mental states and processes of oneself and others) is often impaired in people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Emotional awareness (EA) represents one aspect of affective mentalizing and can be assessed with the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS), but findings regarding individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders are inconsistent. The present study aimed at examining the usability and convergent validity of the LEAS in a sample of N = 130 stabilized outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders. An adequacy rating was added to the conventional LEAS rating to account for distortions of content due to, for example, delusional thinking. Scores of the patient group were compared with those of a matched healthy control sample. Correlation with symptom clusters, a self-report measure of EA, a measure of synthetic metacognition (MAS-A-G), and an expert rating capturing EA from the psychodynamic perspective of psychic structure (OPD-LSIA) were examined. Regarding self-related emotional awareness, patients did not score lower than controls neither in terms of conventional LEAS nor in terms of adequacy. Regarding other-related emotional awareness, however, patients showed a reduced level of adequacy compared to controls whereas no such difference was found for conventional LEAS scores. Higher conventional LEAS scores were associated with fewer negative symptoms, and higher structural integration of self-perceptions measured by the OPD-LSIA. Higher adequacy of responses correlated with fewer symptoms of disorganization as well as excitement, higher scores of self-reflection on the MAS-A-G as well as self- and object-perception and internal and external communication as measured by the subscales of the OPD-LSIA. Findings suggest that the LEAS might not be sensitive enough to detect differences between mildly symptomatic patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders and healthy controls. However, LEAS ratings are still suitable to track intraindividual changes in EA over time. Observing the adequacy of patients' responses when using the LEAS may be a promising way to increase diagnostical utility and to identify patterns of formal and content-related alterations of mentalizing in this patient group. Methodological indications for future studies are discussed

Towards effective research recommender systems for repositories

In this paper, we argue why and how the integration of recommender systems for research can enhance the functionality and user experience in repositories. We present the latest technical innovations in the CORE Recommender, which provides research article recommendations across the global network of repositories and journals. The CORE Recommender has been recently redeveloped and released into production in the CORE system and has also been deployed in several third-party repositories. We explain the design choices of this unique system and the evaluation processes we have in place to continue raising the quality of the provided recommendations. By drawing on our experience, we discuss the main challenges in offering a state-of-the-art recommender solution for repositories. We highlight two of the key limitations of the current repository infrastructure with respect to developing research recommender systems: 1) the lack of a standardised protocol and capabilities for exposing anonymised user-interaction logs, which represent critically important input data for recommender systems based on collaborative filtering and 2) the lack of a voluntary global sign-on capability in repositories, which would enable the creation of personalised recommendation and notification solutions based on past user interactions

A diagnostic test accuracy study investigating general practitioner clinical impression and brief cognitive assessments for dementia in primary care, compared to specialized assessment

Background:Many health systems are interested in increasing the number of uncomplicated and typical dementia diagnoses that are made in primary care, but the comparative accuracy of tests is unknown. Objective:Calculate diagnostic accuracy of brief cognitive tests in primary care. Methods:We did a diagnostic test accuracy study in general practice, in people over 70 years who had consulted their GP with cognitive symptoms but had no prior diagnosis of dementia. The reference standard was specialist assessment, adjudicated for difficult cases, according to ICD-10. We assessed 16 index tests at a research clinic, and additionally analyzed referring GPs clinical judgement. Results:240 participants had a median age of 80 years, of whom 126 were men and 132 had dementia. Sensitivity of individual tests at the recommended thresholds ranged from 56% for GP judgement (specificity 89%) to 100% for MoCA (specificity 16%). Specificity of individual tests ranged from 4% for Sniffin’ sticks (sensitivity 100%) to 91% for Timed Up and Go (sensitivity 23%). The 95% centile of test duration in people with dementia ranged from 3 minutes for 6CIT and Time and Change, to 16 minutes for MoCA. Combining tests with GP judgement increased test specificity and decreased sensitivity: e.g., MoCA with GP Judgement had specificity 87% and sensitivity 55%. Conclusions:Using GP judgement to inform selection of tests was an efficient strategy. Using IQCODE in people who GPs judge as having dementia and 6CIT in people who GPs judge as having no dementia, would be a time-efficient and accurate diagnostic assessment.The original protocol for the study is available at https://bmcfampract.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12875-016-0475-

'Tough'-constructions and their derivation

This article addresses the syntax of the notorious 'tough' (-movement) construction (TC) in English. TCs exhibit a range of apparently contradictory empirical properties suggesting that their derivation involves the application of both A-movement and A'-movement operations. Given that within previous Principles and Parameters models TCs have remained “unexplained and in principle unexplainable” (Holmberg 2000: 839) due to incompatibility with constraints on theta-assignment, locality, and Case, this article argues that the phase-based implementation of the Minimalist program (Chomsky 2000, 2001, 2004) permits a reanalysis of null wh-operators capable of circumventing the previous theoretical difficulties. Essentially, 'tough'-movement consists of A-moving a constituent out of a “complex” null operator which has already undergone A'-movement, a “smuggling” construction in the terms of Collins (2005a,b

Tumour initiating cells and IGF/FGF signalling contribute to sorafenib resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective: Sorafenib is effective in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but patients ultimately present disease progression. Molecular mechanisms underlying acquired resistance are still unknown. Herein, we characterise the role of tumour-initiating cells (T-ICs) and signalling pathways involved in sorafenib resistance. Design: HCC xenograft mice treated with sorafenib (n=22) were explored for responsiveness (n=5) and acquired resistance (n=17). Mechanism of acquired resistance were assessed by: (1) role of T-ICs by in vitro sphere formation and in vivo tumourigenesis assays using NOD/SCID mice, (2) activation of alternative signalling pathways and (3) efficacy of anti-FGF and anti-IGF drugs in experimental models. Gene expression (microarray, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR)) and protein analyses (immunohistochemistry, western blot) were conducted. A novel gene signature of sorafenib resistance was generated and tested in two independent cohorts. Results: Sorafenib-acquired resistant tumours showed significant enrichment of T-ICs (164 cells needed to create a tumour) versus sorafenib-sensitive tumours (13 400 cells) and non-treated tumours (1292 cells), p<0.001. Tumours with sorafenib-acquired resistance were enriched with insulin-like growth factor (IGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signalling cascades (false discovery rate (FDR)<0.05). In vitro, cells derived from sorafenib-acquired resistant tumours and two sorafenib-resistant HCC cell lines were responsive to IGF or FGF inhibition. In vivo, FGF blockade delayed tumour growth and improved survival in sorafenib-resistant tumours. A sorafenib-resistance 175 gene signature was characterised by enrichment of progenitor cell features, aggressive tumorous traits and predicted poor survival in two cohorts (n=442 patients with HCC). Conclusion: Acquired resistance to sorafenib is driven by T-ICs with enrichment of progenitor markers and activation of IGF and FGF signalling. Inhibition of these pathways would benefit a subset of patients after sorafenib progression

On Realizing Multi-Robot Command through Extending the Knowledge Driven Teleoperation Approach

Future crewed planetary missions will strongly depend on the support of crew-assistance robots for setup and inspection of critical assets, such as return vehicles, before and after crew arrival. To efficiently accomplish a high variety of tasks, we envision the use of a heterogeneous team of robots to be commanded on various levels of autonomy. This work presents an intuitive and versatile command concept for such robot teams using a multi-modal Robot Command Terminal (RCT) on board a crewed vessel. We employ an object-centered prior knowledge management that stores the information on how to deal with objects around the robot. This includes knowledge on detecting, reasoning on, and interacting with the objects. The latter is organized in the form of Action Templates (ATs), which allow for hybrid planning of a task, i.e. reasoning on the symbolic and the geometric level to verify the feasibility and find a suitable parameterization of the involved actions. Furthermore, by also treating the robots as objects, robot-specific skillsets can easily be integrated by embedding the skills in ATs. A Multi-Robot World State Representation (MRWSR) is used to instantiate actual objects and their properties. The decentralized synchronization of the MRWSR of multiple robots supports task execution when communication between all participants cannot be guaranteed. To account for robot-specific perception properties, information is stored independently for each robot, and shared among all participants. This enables continuous robot- and command-specific decision on which information to use to accomplish a task. A Mission Control instance allows to tune the available command possibilities to account for specific users, robots, or scenarios. The operator uses an RCT to command robots based on the object-based knowledge representation, whereas the MRWSR serves as a robot-agnostic interface to the planetary assets. The selection of a robot to be commanded serves as top-level filter for the available commands. A second filter layer is applied by selecting an object instance. These filters reduce the multitude of available commands to an amount that is meaningful and handleable for the operator. Robot-specific direct teleoperation skills are accessible via their respective AT, and can be mapped dynamically to available input devices. Using AT-specific parameters provided by the robot for each input device allows a robot-agnostic usage, as well as different control modes e.g. velocity, model-mediated, or domain-based passivity control based on the current communication characteristics. The concept will be evaluated on board the ISS within the Surface Avatar experiments

Optical control of one and two hole spins in interacting quantum dots

A single hole spin in a semiconductor quantum dot has emerged as a quantum bit that is potentially superior to an electron spin. A key feature of holes is that they have a greatly reduced hyperfine interaction with nuclear spins, which is one of the biggest difficulties in working with an electron spin. It is now essential to show that holes are viable for quantum information processing by demonstrating fast quantum gates and scalability. To this end we have developed InAs/GaAs quantum dots coupled through coherent tunneling and charged with controlled numbers of holes. We report fast, single qubit gates using a sequence of short laser pulses. We then take the important next step toward scalability of quantum information by optically controlling two interacting hole spins in separate dots.Comment: 5 figure