Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Attraction Effect Modulates Reward Prediction Errors and Intertemporal Choices.

Classical economic theory contends that the utility of a choice option should be independent of other options. This view is challenged by the attraction effect, in which the relative preference between two options is altered by the addition of a third, asymmetrically dominated option. Here, we leveraged the attraction effect in the context of intertemporal choices to test whether both decisions and reward prediction errors (RPE)-in the absence of choice-violate the independence of irrelevant alternatives principle. We first demonstrate that intertemporal decision making is prone to the attraction effect in humans. In an independent group of participants, we then investigate how this affects the neural and behavioral valuation of outcomes, using a novel intertemporal lottery task and fMRI. Participants' behavioral responses (i.e., satisfaction ratings) were systematically modulated by the attraction effect, and this modulation was correlated across participants with the respective change of the RPE signal in the Nucleus Accumbens. Furthermore, we show that since exponential and hyperbolic discounting models are unable to account for the attraction effect, recently proposed sequential sampling models might be more appropriate to describe intertemporal choices. Our findings demonstrate for the first time that the attraction effect modulates subjective valuation even in the absence of choice. The findings also challenge the prospect of using neuroscientific methods to measure utility in a context-free manner and have important implications for theories of reinforcement learning and delay discounting. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Many theories of value-based decision making assume that people first assess the attractiveness of each option independently of each other and then pick the option with the highest subjective value. The attraction effect, however, shows that adding a new option to a choice set can change the relative value of the existing options, which is a violation of the independence principle. Using an intertemporal choice framework, we test whether such violations also occur when the brain encodes the difference between expected and received rewards (i.e., the reward prediction error). Our results suggest that both intertemporal choice and valuation without choice do not adhere to the independence principle.
Impacts of watercress farming on stream ecosystem functioning and community structure.

2 Acknowledgements.3 Table of contents.5 List of tables.8 List of figures.10 List of plates.12 1. General Introduction.13 1.1. Allochthonous pathways.16 1.2. The relative importance of decomposers and detritivores. 18 1.3. Autochthonous pathways.19 1.4. Ecosystem functioning measures.23 1.5. Chalk streams and watercress farming.23 1.6. The problem at St Mary Bourne and other watercress farms and its remediation.27 1.7. Aims and structure of the thesis. 35 1.8. References.39 2. Study Sites.51 2.1. The Watercress farms.55 2.2. Study site.58 2.3. St Mary Bourne watercress farm, bed layout and operational detail.62 2.4. Temporal study, Chapter 6.63 2.5. Spatial study, Chapter 6.63 2.6. References.76
Participant Framework in Tutor Training

In the new peer tutor training sessions at a northeastern university, a high level of interaction among the tutor trainer and trainees is one way the staff measures the success of the sessions. Within the limited time frame of two hours, however, the trainer must also impart a great deal of information about the center and tutor position requirements. The conflict and tension of these two goals tend to be reflected and created through the discourse strategies employed by the participants in the tutor training sessions. This study looks closely at these interactional moves and shows how the strategies that work towards achieving the goal of interaction tend to be overshadowed by those that are more consistent with explicit instruction.
Paper Cooperative Systems Design

This paper discusses an innovative experiment where sociologists were actively involved in the requirements analysis for an interactive software system to support the work of air traffic controllers. Air traffic control is intrinsically cooperative and our work involved an analysis of that process from a social perspective and the development of a prototype user interface for air traffic controllers’ interaction with a flight information system. As part of the analysis process, sociologists were involved in ethnographic studies of work and discovered subtle and complex patterns of cooperation which, we suspect, would not have been discovered using structured methods for requirements analysis. From a software development perspective, we describe how the input from the sociologists was essential for understanding the real automation requirements, discuss the difficulties of inter-disciplinary cooperative working and suggest how social analysis can be integrated in the interactive systems design process.
Mechanical , Thermal and Fire Retardant Characteristics of NR / PP / ATH Thermoplastic Vulcanizates

Blends of natural rubber (NR) and polypropylene (PP) were melt-mixed with phenolic resin crosslinking agent to obtain thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs). The blend composition of NR and PP was at 60/40 %wt. Alumina trihydrate (ATH) was incorporated into the blends to improve the flame retardancy, and the effect of ATH incorporation at different levels (20 120 PHP, part per hundred polymers) on blend morphology, ATH dispersion, mechanical properties, thermal resistance and flame retardancy was investigated. Analyses by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray-scanning electron microscopy (EDX-SEM) revealed the dispersed phase-like morphology of 60/40 NR/PP TPVs. The presence of ATH in the TPVs did not have much influence on morphology of 60/40 NR/PP blends. Increasing ATH content decreased the dispersion level of ATH, which caused a decrease of tensile strength and elongation at break. Furthermore, an addition of ATH into the NR/PP blends resulted in lower elastic recovery, but slight increase of hardness. It was also found that the ATH suppressed the intensity of mass loss rate of NR and PP, resulting slower thermo-oxidative decomposition process of the blend materials. Limiting oxygen index (LOI) and UL94-V rate were enhanced with more incorporated ATH content. According to the results present in this study, the addition level of ATH for development of flame retardant NR/PP blend-based TPVs with acceptable elastomeric properties was recommended at 100 PHP.
Agroecology versus Ecoagriculture: balancing food production and biodiversity conservation in the midst of social inequity

At first glance, everybody would agree that the concept of Ecoagriculture (ECOAG) is a good one. Who could oppose the idea of transforming agricultural systems so that they support healthy populations of wild species while simultaneously improving productivity and reducing poverty? There is an urgent need to conserve biodiversity and if this can be achieved through agricultural intensification, which many argue is needed to meet growing food demands in the developing world, there is no question that this is a win-win situation. Ecoagriculture advocates argue that their approach is particularly important in the biodiversity hotspots of the developing world where most of the poor concentrate and have little choice but to exploit wild habitats for survival.
PLEASE NOTE! THIS IS PARALLEL PUBLISHED VERSION / SELF-ARCHIVED VERSION OF THE OF THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE

This paper aims at understanding of the incidents, relationships and processes that has lead students engaged in study programs focusing on start-up/entrepreneurship activity in technology business to become employees and entrepreneurs in the aforementioned industry. Via qualitative approach based on career history and projections (career narratives) written by the respondents this study aims at shedding light on the process of grasping the entrepreneurial or employment opportunity and thus give ideas of pedagogical and professional arrangements that may foster the development of practices leading to employment and entrepreneurship in the business type in scope.
How decoupling could mean dismantling of the cotton sector in Spain

An analysis is made of the impact of the latest reform of the EU Cotton Reg ulation of 29th April 2004, which will come into force in the 2006/07 season, on the cotton production sector of Andalusia. Using an initial characterization of producers based on a survey carried out in 2004, the impact of two policy scenarios is assessed: (a) the implementation of the reform without any addi tional measures, and (b) the addition of a complementary environmentallybased area payment plus the modulation of the decoupled subsidy according to the raw cotton quality . In the first scenario, the producers would reduce in puts to a minimum and leave the raw cotton in the fields. In the second sce nario, the production of cotton would shift from conventional to Integrated Production with a 30% reduction with respect to the current hectareage.
Extraction of flavonoids from Chrysanthemum morifolium and antitumor activity in vitro

The aim of the present study was to optimize flavonoid extraction from Chrysanthemum morifolium and to study the antitumor effects of flavonoids on human gastric cancer MKN45 cells in vitro. A single factor experiment was designed and the extraction process was optimized using an orthogonal test. MKN45 cells were treated with different concentrations of flavonoid from Chrysanthemum morifolium for 24 and 48 h and the inhibitory effect on the MKN45 cells was evaluated using an MTT assay. Following staining with Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide, flow cytometry was performed. The optimized flavonoid extraction conditions were as follows: Duration of ultrasonic treatment: 35 min; ethanol concentration: 75%; extraction temperature: 80°Cand liquid-to-solid ratio 25: 1. Under the above conditions, the extraction rate of flavonoids was 5.24%. When compared with a blank control group, flavonoids extracted from Chrysanthemum morifolium inhibited the proliferation of MKN45 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Furthermore, in cell groups treated with low, moderate and high concentrations of flavonoid, it was observed that the proportion of apoptotic cells increased in a dose-dependent manner. The extraction process optimized by the orthogonal test achieved a high yield and satisfactory extraction efficiency. Additionally, the experiment demonstrated that flavonoids from Chrysanthemum morifolium inhibited the growth of MKN45 cells and induced their apoptosis. Thus, flavonoids from Chrysanthemum morifolium exerted antitumor effects on MKN45 cells, which may be exploited as a potential antitumor therapeutic for gastric cancer.
A Discrete Choice Model for the Analysis of an Aggregate Voting Record

For many domestic and international institutions, scholars are unable to observe the individual roll call voting records and only have access to a list of collective adoption or rejection decisions for each proposal. This paper proposes a novel statistical model, the multivariate probit model with partial observability that enables scholars to use an ‘aggregate voting record’ to study the determinants of individual voting in institutions. The model is built to estimate the same effects and quantities of interest as an ordinary probit model that one might estimate if the roll call voting records for a series of proposal would be available. Taking a Bayesian perspective for inference, I derive a Gibbs sampler with a double augmentation step that makes the model estimation tractable. Using open-source software that accompanies this paper, I demonstrate the model’s applicability using simulated and real data from U.S. State Supreme Court abortion decisions in the period 1980-2006 and on U.N. Security Council deployment decisions for U.N. peace operations after the Cold War. ∗Ph.D. candidate, Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, A5,6, 68159 Mannheim, Germany; mmarbach@mail.uni-mannheim.de. †This is work in progress. Please check for the most recent version at www.moritz-marbach.com or email me.
Bayesian Semiparametric Regression : An Expositionand Application to Print Advertising

A new regression approach is proposed for modeling marketing databases. The approach is Bayesian and provides the following signiicant improvements over current methods: (a) it is not necessary for researchers to pre-specify the functional form of the model because the independent variables can enter the model either parametrically or nonparametrically; (b) variable selection can be performed over a large number of variables and their interactions; (c) the appropriate transformation of the dependent variable is automatically selected from a discrete set of prespeciied candidate transformations ; (d) all these features are carried out simultaneously and automatically ; and (e) it is straightforward to introduce subjective information 1 about the relative importance of each variable. The methodology is illustrated using print advertising Starch data.
REAPPRAISAL OF THE ACTIVITY OF CLAYS. ACTIVITY CHART

The proposed activity chart, which aims to classify soils (< 425 μm) using the Atterberg limits, differs from the plasticity chart recently proposed by the author because the inorganic soils with platey clay minerals are classified (in addition to clay percentage) on the basis of their activity rather than on the degree of plasticity as a function of the liquid limit value, currently used by the standards. This is because soils that have the same liquid limit value may have very different characteristics because of both the amount and type of clay minerals contained in the soils. On the activity chart, the silt and the clay zones are subdivided (by two straight lines) in three new groups (low activity, medium activity and high activity) making it possible to classify inorganic soils with platey clay minerals (or their fraction) < 425 μm on the basis of the amount and type of clay minerals they contain. The activity chart adapted to predict residual shear behaviour of cohesive soils is also shown. Finally, the distinction between coarse-grained soils and fine-grained soils based on their percentage of clay (<2 μm), might be useful in characterizing and predicting soils' engineering behaviour.
Non-Gaussian Velocity Probability Density Functions: An Altimetric Perspective of the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract Velocity probability density functions (PDFs) are a key tool to study complex flows and are of great importance to model particle dispersion. The PDFs of geostrophic velocities derived from sea level anomalies maps for the Mediterranean Sea have been computed and analyzed, guided by recent results found in studies of two-dimensional and geostrophic turbulence. At the basin scale results show that the geostrophic velocity PDF derived from SLA maps is non-Gaussian. To understand the origin of this non-Gaussianity, a topological partition of the flow based on the Okubo–Weiss parameter is applied to separate the contribution of coherent vortices from the background field. After such separation the non-Gaussian part of the PDF appears mostly associated with the presence of such structures. Only about 20% of the vortices identified in the dataset are mainly responsible for this deviation. These vortices, called intense vortices in previous works, are those vortices with values of the amplitude larger t.
Policy Search for Motor Primitives

Many motor skills in humanoid robotics can be learned using parametrized motor primitives from demonstrations. However, most interesting motor learning problems require self-improvement often beyond the reach of current reinforcement learning methods due to the high dimensionality of the state-space. We develop an EM-inspired algorithm applicable to complex motor learning tasks. We compare this algorithm to several well-known parametrized policy search methods and show that it outperforms them. We apply it to motor learning problems and show that it can learn the complex Ball-in-a-Cup task using a real Barrett WAMTM robot arm.
Accumulation of the myosin‐II‐spectrin complex plays a positive role in apical extrusion of Src‐transformed epithelial cells

At the initial stage of carcinogenesis, transformation occurs in single cells within the epithelium. Recent studies have revealed that the newly emerging transformed cells are often apically eliminated from epithelial tissues. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of this cancer preventive phenomenon still remain elusive. In this study, we first demonstrate that myosin‐II accumulates in Src‐transformed cells when they are surrounded by normal epithelial cells. Knock‐down of the heavy chains of myosin‐II substantially diminishes apical extrusion of Src cells, suggesting that accumulated myosin‐II positively regulates the apical elimination of transformed cells. Furthermore, we have identified β‐spectrin as a myosin‐II‐binding protein under the coculture of normal and Src‐transformed epithelial cells. β‐spectrin is also accumulated in Src cells that are surrounded by normal cells, and the β‐spectrin accumulation is regulated by myosin‐II. Moreover, knock‐down of β‐spectrin significantly suppresses apical extrusion of Src cells. Collectively, these results indicate that accumulation of the myosin‐II‐spectrin complex plays a positive role in apical extrusion of Src‐transformed epithelial cells. Further elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of apical extrusion would lead to the establishment of a novel type of cancer preventive medicine.
What is really wrong with a priori claims of universality? Sampling, validity, process level, and the irresistible drive to reduce

Abstract Catchy acronyms such as “WEIRD population” are good mnemonics. However, they carry the danger of distracting us from deeper issues: how to sample populations, the validity of measuring instruments, the levels of processing involved. These need to be considered when assessing claims of universality regarding how the mind works “in general” – a dominant and highly rewarded drive in the behavioral and brain sciences.
Image Segmentation Using an Improved Watershed Algorithm

As watershed algorithm suffers from over-segmentation problem, this paper presented an efficient method to resolve this problem. First, pre-process of the image using median filter is made to reduce the effect of noise. Second, watershed algorithm is employed to provide initial regions. Third, regions are merged according to the information between the region and boundary. In the merger processing based on the region information, an adaptive threshold of the difference between the neighboring regions is used as the region merge criteria, which is based on the human visual character. In the merger processing on the boundary information, the gradient is used to judge the true boundary of the image to avoid merging the foreground with the background regions. Finally,post-process to the regions using mathematical morphology open and close filter is done to smooth object boundaries. The experimental results show that this method is very efficient.
Statement of Research Interest

My research focuses primarily on optimal control of systems in domains with contacts, equipped with variable impedance actuators. The control of such robots is non-trivial due to the the discontinuity in the dynamics which is introduced by mechanical contact with the environment. The traditional optimal control approach is designed to handle smooth continuous system dynamics for tasks over a predetermined time horizon. Several modifications, such as the hybrid dynamics formulation, exist in order to cope with discontinuities. These methods have proven feasible, under certain restrictions and constraints on both the plant dynamics and the environment [1, 2, 3, 4]. In spite of the substantial amount of research on hybrid dynamics, examples in the optimal control literature are confined to low-dimensional and simple dynamical systems, and only a few robotic applications for optimisation of movements over multiple phases are available [5, 4]. The use of variable impedance actuation is motivated by investigations into how biological systems employ the use of impedance control [6, 7]. These systems use motions that exploit, rather than overcome, the non-linearities of the physical systems. Many passive variable stiffness actuators still rely on active control schemes to realise damping requirements [8], and there are very few actuator designs that are able to passively vary damping [9].
Evolution of the rheological and microstructural properties of olivine aggregates during dislocation creep under hydrous conditions

Since hydrogen plays an important role in dynamic processes in Earth's mantle, we conducted torsion experiments to shear strains of 0.6 to 5.0 on Fe‐bearing olivine aggregates [(Mg0.5Fe0.5)2SiO4: Fo50] under hydrous conditions at T = 1200°C and P = 300 MPa. We deformed samples to high enough strains that a steady state microstructures were achieved, which allowed us to investigate the evolution of both the rheological and microstructural properties. The stress exponent of n ≈ 5.0 and the grain size exponent of p ≈ 0 determined by fitting the strain rate, stress, and grain size data indicate that our samples deformed by dislocation creep. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements on embedded olivine single crystals demonstrated that our samples were saturated with hydrogen during the deformation experiments. The lattice preferred orientation (LPO) of olivine changes as a function of strain due to competition among three slip systems: (010)[100], (100)[001], and (001)[100]. Observed strain weakening can be attributed to geometrical softening associated with development of LPO, which reduces the stress by ~1/3 from its peak value in constant strain rate experiments. The geometrical softening coefficient determined in this study is an important constraint for modeling and understanding dynamical processes in the upper mantle under hydrous conditions.
Limits of Econometrics

In the social and behavioral sciences, far-reaching claims are often made for the superiority of advanced quantitative methods by those who manage to ignore the far-reaching assumptions behind the models. In section 2, we see there was considerable skepticism about disentangling causal processes by statistical modeling. Freedman (2005) examined several well-known modeling exercises, and discovered good reasons for skepticism. Some kinds of problems may yield to sophisticated statistical technique; others will not. The goal of empirical research is or should be to increase our understanding of the phenomena, rather than displaying our mastery of technique.