Structural selection in implicit learning of artificial grammars

In the contextual cueing paradigm, Endo and Takeda (in Percept Psychophys 66:293–302, 2004) provided evidence that implicit learning involves selection of the aspect of a structure that is most useful to one’s task. The present study attempted to replicate this finding in artificial grammar learning to investigate whether or not implicit learning commonly involves such a selection. Participants in Experiment 1 were presented with an induction task that could be facilitated by several characteristics of the exemplars. For some participants, those characteristics included a perfectly predictive feature. The results suggested that the aspect of the structure that was most useful to the induction task was selected and learned implicitly. Experiment 2 provided evidence that, although salience affected participants’ awareness of the perfectly predictive feature, selection for implicit learning was mainly based on usefulness

Editorial: Radicalization and deradicalization: Processes and contexts

© 2022 Winter, Morrison and van den Bos. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Peer reviewe

Authority in Contemporary Shicism

The ISIM hosted a one-day workshop on 'Authority in Contemporary Shicism' in Leiden on 1 March 2002, convened by Matthijs van den Bos. Several observations on the current state of (Iranian) Shicite studies underlay its design. Most importantly, studies of religious discourse in contemporary Iran - particularly that comprising reformist thought - often neglect the disciplinary background of religious discourse. Therefore, scientific scrutiny was due to the decisive shifts that have taken place in the relative importance of feqh, kalam, falsafa, hekmat, erfan, and tasavv of as argumentative styles in debates over religious authority in contemporary Shicism

Neuronal and psychological underpinnings of pathological gambling

Like in the case of drugs, gambling hijacks reward circuits in a brain which is not prepared to receive such intense stimulation. Dopamine is normally released in response to reward and uncertainty in order to allow animals to stay alive in their environment – where rewards are relatively unpredictable. In this case, behavior is regulated by environmental feedbacks, leading animals to persevere or to give up. In contrast, drugs provide a direct, intense pharmacological stimulation of the dopamine system that operates independently of environmental feedbacks, and hence causes “motivational runaways”. With respect to gambling, the confined environment experienced by gamblers favors the emergence of excitatory conditioned cues, so that positive feedbacks take over negative feedbacks. Although drugs and gambling may act differently, their abnormal activation of reward circuitry generates an underestimation of negative consequences and promotes the development of addictive/compulsive behavior. In Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease, dopamine-related therapies may disrupt these feedbacks on dopamine signalling, potentially leading to various addictions, including pathological gambling. The goal of this Research Topic is to further our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the development of pathological gambling. This eBook contains a cross-disciplinary collection of research and review articles, ranging in scope from animal behavioral models to human imaging studies

Rascal: From Algebraic Specification to Meta-Programming

Algebraic specification has a long tradition in bridging the gap between specification and programming by making specifications executable. Building on extensive experience in designing, implementing and using specification formalisms that are based on algebraic specification and term rewriting (namely Asf and Asf+Sdf), we are now focusing on using the best concepts from algebraic specification and integrating these into a new programming language: Rascal. This language is easy to learn by non-experts but is also scalable to very large meta-programming applications. We explain the algebraic roots of Rascal and its main application areas: software analysis, software transformation, and design and implementation of domain-specific languages. Some example applications in the domain of Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) are described to illustrate this.Comment: In Proceedings AMMSE 2011, arXiv:1106.596

Supporting older patients in making healthcare decisions: The effectiveness of decision aids; A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To systematically review randomized controlled trials and clinical controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of Decision Aids (DAs) compared to usual care or alternative interventions for older patients facing treatment, screening, or care decisions.Methods: A systematic search of several databases was conducted. Eligible studies included patients ≥ 65 years or reported a mean of ≥ 70 years. Primary outcomes were attributes of the choice made and decision making process, user experience and ways in which DAs were tailored to older patients. Meta-analysis was conducted, if possible, or outcomes were synthesized descriptively.Results: Overall, 15 studies were included. Using DAs were effective in increasing knowledge (SMD 0.90; 95% CI [0.48, 1.32]), decreasing decisional conflict (SMD −0.15; 95% CI [−0.29, −0.01]), improving patient-provider communication (RR 1.67; 95% CI [1.21, 2.29]), and preparing patients to make an individualized decision (MD 35.7%; 95% CI [26.8, 44.6]). Nine studies provided details on how the DA was tailored to older patients.Conclusion: This review shows a number of favourable results for the effectiveness of DAs in decision making with older patients.Practice implications: Current DAs can be used to support shared decision making with older patients when faced with treatment, screening or care decisions

Initial properdin binding contributes to alternative pathway activation at the surface of viable and necrotic cells

Properdin, the only known positive regulator of the complement system, stabilizes the C3 convertase, thereby increasing its half-life. In contrast to most other complement factors, properdin is mainly produced extrahepatically by myeloid cells. Recent data suggest a role for properdin as a pattern recognition molecule. Here, we confirmed previous findings of properdin binding to different necrotic cells including Jurkat T cells. Binding can occur independent of C3, as demonstrated by HAP-1 C3 KO cells, excluding a role for endogenous C3. In view of the cellular source of properdin, interaction with myeloid cells was examined. Properdin bound to the surface of viable monocyte-derived pro- and anti-inflammatory macrophages, but not to DCs. Binding was demonstrated for purified properdin as well as fractionated P2, P3, and P4 properdin oligomers. Binding contributed to local complement activation as determined by C3 and C5b-9 deposition on the cell surfaces and seems a prerequisite for alternative pathway activation. Interaction of properdin with cell surfaces could be inhibited with the tick protein Salp20 and by different polysaccharides, depending on sulfation and chain length. These data identify properdin as a factor interacting with different cell surfaces, being either dead or alive, contributing to the local stimulation of complement activation.</p

Peanut allergen Ara h 6 is detectable in blood transfusion products

Peanut allergen Ara h 6 is known to maintain IgE‐binding capacity upon exposure to digestive enzymes1 and its presence in circulation after consumption of peanut has been demonstrated.2,3 Therefore, it has been speculated that food‐derived allergens could be transferred via blood transfusion products, causing an allergic reaction in food-allergic recipients.4,5 However, in published case reports, presence of food allergen in donated material could not be confirmed due to lack of remaining transfusion material and/or lack of sensitive analytical methods. Using a newly developed sensitive immune‐assay for detecting Ara h 6 in human serum, we now report to what extent consumed peanut allergens can be present in blood transfusion materials and estimate the associated risk for peanut‐allergic recipients

On subsequential spaces

AbstractSimple generators for the coreflective category of subsequential spaces, one of them countable, are constructed. Every such must have subsequential order ω1. Subsequentialness is a local property and a countable property, both in a strong sense. A T2-subsequential space may be pseudocompact without being sequential, in contrast to T2-subsequential compact (countably compact, sequentially compact) spaces all being sequential. A compact subsequential space need not be sequential

Inkomen verdeeld, trends 1977-2019

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