437 research outputs found
Leolani: a reference machine with a theory of mind for social communication
Our state of mind is based on experiences and what other people tell us. This
may result in conflicting information, uncertainty, and alternative facts. We
present a robot that models relativity of knowledge and perception within
social interaction following principles of the theory of mind. We utilized
vision and speech capabilities on a Pepper robot to build an interaction model
that stores the interpretations of perceptions and conversations in combination
with provenance on its sources. The robot learns directly from what people tell
it, possibly in relation to its perception. We demonstrate how the robot's
communication is driven by hunger to acquire more knowledge from and on people
and objects, to resolve uncertainties and conflicts, and to share awareness of
the per- ceived environment. Likewise, the robot can make reference to the
world and its knowledge about the world and the encounters with people that
yielded this knowledge.Comment: Invited keynote at 21st International Conference on Text, Speech and
Dialogue, https://www.tsdconference.org/tsd2018
Application of Enzymes in Regioselective and Stereoselective Organic Reactions
Nowadays, biocatalysts have received much more attention in chemistry regarding their potential to enable high efficiency, high yield, and eco-friendly processes for a myriad of applications. Nature’s vast repository of catalysts has inspired synthetic chemists. Furthermore, the revolutionary technologies in bioengineering have provided the fast discovery and evolution of enzymes that empower chemical synthesis. This article attempts to deliver a comprehensive overview of the last two decades of investigation into enzymatic reactions and highlights the effective performance progress of bio-enzymes exploited in organic synthesis. Based on the types of enzymatic reactions and enzyme commission (E.C.) numbers, the enzymes discussed in the article are classified into oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, and lyases. These applications should provide us with some insight into enzyme design strategies and molecular mechanisms
Who's been framed? Framing effects are reduced in financial gambles made for others
Background: Decisions made on behalf of other people are sometimes more rational than those made for oneself. In this study we used a monetary gambling task to ask if the framing effect in decision-making is reduced in surrogate decision-making. Methods: Participants made a series of choices between a predetermined sure option and a risky gambling option of winning a proportion of an initial stake. Trials were presented as either a gain or a loss relative to that initial stake. In half of the trials participants made choices to earn money for themselves and in the other half they earned money for another participant. Framing effects were measured as risk seeking in loss frames and risk aversion in gain frames. Results: Significant framing effects were observed both in trials in which participants earned money for themselves and those in which they earned money for another person; however, these framing effects were significantly reduced when making decisions for another person. It appears that the reduced emotional involvement when the decision-maker is not affected by the outcome of the decision thus lessens the framing effect without eradicating it altogether. Conclusions: This suggests that the deviation from rational choices in decision-making can be significantly reduced when the emotional impact on the decision maker is lessened. These results are discussed in relation to Somatic Distortion Theory
Should we welcome robot teachers?
Abstract Current uses of robots in classrooms are
reviewed and used to characterise four scenarios: (s1)
Robot as Classroom Teacher; (s2) Robot as Companion
and Peer; (s3) Robot as Care-eliciting Companion; and (s4)
Telepresence Robot Teacher. The main ethical concerns
associated with robot teachers are identified as: privacy;
attachment, deception, and loss of human contact; and
control and accountability. These are discussed in terms of
the four identified scenarios. It is argued that classroom
robots are likely to impact children’s’ privacy, especially
when they masquerade as their friends and companions,
when sensors are used to measure children’s responses, and
when records are kept. Social robots designed to appear as
if they understand and care for humans necessarily involve
some deception (itself a complex notion), and could
increase the risk of reduced human contact. Children could
form attachments to robot companions (s2 and s3), or robot
teachers (s1) and this could have a deleterious effect on
their social development. There are also concerns about the
ability, and use of robots to control or make decisions
about children’s behaviour in the classroom. It is concluded
that there are good reasons not to welcome fully fledged
robot teachers (s1), and that robot companions (s2 and 3)
should be given a cautious welcome at best. The limited
circumstances in which robots could be used in the classroom
to improve the human condition by offering otherwise
unavailable educational experiences are discussed
Are Expectations Formed by the Anchoring-and-Adjustment Heuristic? - An Experimental Investigation
Previous experimental investigations have shown that expectations are not perfectly rational due to bias. Traditional adaptive models, however, in many cases do not perfectly describe the formation of expectations either. This paper makes two contributions to the experimental literature on the formation of expectations: First, we investigate whether subjects who have more information about the economic model than in previous studies also form biased expectations. Second, we argue that in some cases macroeconomic expectations might be formed by the anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic, which is well known in psychology. We find that subjects' expectations are biased although the design might be more favorable to rational expectations. The anchoring-and-adjustment model of expectations gets some support by our data, but the best model encompasses both the anchoring-and-adjustment model and the traditional adaptive model
Tetraazamacrocyclic derivatives and their metal complexes as antileishmanial leads
© 2019 A total of 44 bis-aryl-monocyclic polyamines, monoaryl-monocyclic polyamines and their transition metal complexes were prepared, chemically characterized, and screened in vitro against the Leishmania donovani promastigotes, axenic amastigotes and intracellular amastigotes in THP1 cells. The IC 50 and/or IC 90 values showed that 10 compounds were similarly active at about 2-fold less potent than known drug pentamidine against promastigotes. The most potent compound had an IC 50 of 2.82 µM (compared to 2.93 µM for pentamidine). Nine compounds were 1.1–13.6-fold more potent than pentamidine against axenic amastigotes, the most potent one being about 2-fold less potent than amphotericin B. Fourteen compounds were about 2–10 fold more potent than pentamidine, the most potent one is about 2-fold less potent than amphotericin B against intracellular amastigotes in THP1 cells. The 2 most promising compounds (FeL7Cl 2 and MnL7Cl 2 ), with strong activity against both promastigotes and amastigotes and no observable toxicity against the THP1 cells are the Fe 2+ - and Mn 2+ -complexes of a dibenzyl cyclen derivative. Only 2 of the 44 compounds showed observable cytotoxicity against THP1 cells. Tetraazamacrocyclic monocyclic polyamines represent a new class of antileishmanial lead structures that warrant follow up studies
Motions of Robots Matter! The Social Effects of Idle and Meaningful Motions
Humans always move, even when “doing” nothing, but robots typically remain immobile. According to the threshold model of social influence [3] people respond socially on the basis of social verification. If applied to human-robot interaction this model would predict that people increase their social responses depending on the social verification of the robot. On other hand, the media equation hypothesis [11] holds that people will automatically respond socially when interacting with artificial agents. In our study a simple joint task was used to expose our participants to different levels of social verification. Low social verification was portrayed using idle motions and high social verification was portrayed using meaningful motions. Our results indicate that social responses increase with the level of social verification in line with the threshold model of social influence
COP21 climate negotiators' responses to climate model forecasts
Policymakers involved in climate change negotiations are key users of climate science. It is therefore vital to understand how to communicate scientific information most effectively to this group. We tested how a unique sample of policymakers and negotiators at the Paris COP21 conference update their beliefs on year 2100 global mean temperature increases in response to a statistical summary of climate models' forecasts. We randomized the way information was provided across participants using three different formats similar to those used in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports. In spite of having received all available relevant scientific information, policymakers adopted such information very conservatively, assigning it less weight than their own prior beliefs. However, providing individual model estimates in addition to the statistical range was more effective in mitigating such inertia. The experiment was repeated with a population of European MBA students who, despite starting from similar priors, reported conditional probabilities closer to the provided models' forecasts than policymakers. There was also no effect of presentation format in the MBA sample. These results highlight the importance of testing visualization tools directly on the population of interest
Porcine stress syndrome
1 online resource (PDF, 3 pages)This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu
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