Zapata Corp. v. Maldonado: Steering a Middle Course May Spell Deep Water for BusinessJudgment Application in Shareholder Derivative Suits

In an attempt to strike a balance between the rights of an individual shareholder in his efforts to protect the corporation, and the rights of the board of directors to control the litigation in which the corporation is involved, the Supreme Court of Delaware, in Zapata Corp. v. Maldonado, developed a new set of game plans for shareholder derivative suits

Intent inferencing with a model-based operator's associate

A portion of the Operator Function Model Expert System (OFMspert) research project is described. OFMspert is an architecture for an intelligent operator's associate or assistant that can aid the human operator of a complex, dynamic system. Intelligent aiding requires both understanding and control. The understanding (i.e., intent inferencing) ability of the operator's associate is discussed. Understanding or intent inferencing requires a model of the human operator; the usefulness of an intelligent aid depends directly on the fidelity and completeness of its underlying model. The model chosen for this research is the operator function model (OFM). The OFM represents operator functions, subfunctions, tasks, and actions as a heterarchic-hierarchic network of finite state automata, where the arcs in the network are system triggering events. The OFM provides the structure for intent inferencing in that operator functions and subfunctions correspond to likely operator goals and plans. A blackboard system similar to that of Human Associative Processor (HASP) is proposed as the implementation of intent inferencing function. This system postulates operator intentions based on current system state and attempts to interpret observed operator actions in light of these hypothesized intentions

Preference-for-Solitude and Adjustment Difficulties in Early and Late Adolescence

Social withdrawal has been associated with adjustment difficulties across development. Although much is known about shyness, little is known about preference-for-solitude; even less is known about its relations with adjustment across different periods of adolescence. We examined whether preference-for-solitude might be differentially associated with adjustment difficulties in early and late adolescence. Self- and parent-reports of withdrawal motivations and adjustment were collected from 234 eighth graders (113 boys; M age = 13.43) and 204 twelfth graders (91 boys; M age = 17.25). Results from structural equation modeling demonstrated that above and beyond the effects of shyness, preference-for-solitude was more strongly associated with adjustment difficulties in 8th grade than in 12th grade. Preference-for-solitude was associated with greater anxiety/depression, emotion dysregulation, and lower self-esteem in 8th grade; these relations were not found in 12th grade. Although preference-for-solitude was associated with lower social competence in both 8th and 12th grades, this relation was significantly stronger in 8th grade than in 12th grade. Findings suggest preference-for-solitude has closer ties to maladjustment in early adolescence than in late adolescence. Interventions targeting preferred-solitary youth in early adolescence may be particularly fruitfu

Ishmael Reed: 05-01-1974

In an interview recorded on May 1, 1974, Ishmael Reed discusses neo-hoodooism and reads from his novel Mumbo-Jumbo. He describes growing up in Chattanooga and Buffalo and why he left New York City. He reads his poems The Author Reflects on His 35th Birthday and Beware: Do Not Read this Poem.https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/writers_videos/1039/thumbnail.jp

USA and portuguese young adolescents’ perceived qualities and satisfaction in their relationships with mothers, fathers and best-friends

Abstract: Background: Few researchers have examined young adolescents’ perceived qualities and satisfaction in their relationships with their mothers, fathers and best friends simultaneously, using a cross-cultural perspective. This study aimed to compare the perceived qualities and satisfaction of USA and Portuguese adolescents in their relationships with their parents and best friends and to examine the influence of perceived relationship qualities on the satisfaction of young adolescents with their close relationships. Methods: The sample consisted of 347 USA adolescents (170 boys, 177 girls) and 360 Portuguese adolescents (176 boys, 184 girls) who completed the Network of Relationships Inventory Social Provision Version to assess perceived support, negativity, power balance and satisfaction in their relationships with their mothers, fathers and same-sex best friends. Results: Adolescents from both countries perceived their relationships with parents to be more negative and imbalanced in power than their relationships with friends, but the magnitude of differences was greater in the USA. Furthermore, USA adolescents reported higher satisfaction in their relationships with friends than in their relationships with parents. Country differences in the concomitants of relationship satisfaction were found. Conclusions: These findings support the notion that young adolescents’ perceived qualities and satisfaction in close relationships may differ depending on cultural normsFundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Dynamical Regime of Sensory Cortex: Stable Dynamics around a Single Stimulus-Tuned Attractor Account for Patterns of Noise Variability.

Correlated variability in cortical activity is ubiquitously quenched following stimulus onset, in a stimulus-dependent manner. These modulations have been attributed to circuit dynamics involving either multiple stable states ("attractors") or chaotic activity. Here we show that a qualitatively different dynamical regime, involving fluctuations about a single, stimulus-driven attractor in a loosely balanced excitatory-inhibitory network (the stochastic "stabilized supralinear network"), best explains these modulations. Given the supralinear input/output functions of cortical neurons, increased stimulus drive strengthens effective network connectivity. This shifts the balance from interactions that amplify variability to suppressive inhibitory feedback, quenching correlated variability around more strongly driven steady states. Comparing to previously published and original data analyses, we show that this mechanism, unlike previous proposals, uniquely accounts for the spatial patterns and fast temporal dynamics of variability suppression. Specifying the cortical operating regime is key to understanding the computations underlying perception