bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
How the level of reward awareness changes the computational and electrophysiological signatures of reinforcement learning
Authors: Correa C.M.C. , Noorman S. , Jiang J. , Palminteri S. , Cohen M.X , Lebreton M. , van Gaal S 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe extent to which subjective awareness influences reward processing, and thereby affects future decisions is currently largely unknown. In the present report, we investigated this question in a reinforcement-learning framework, combining perceptual masking, computational modeling and electroencephalographic recordings (human male and female participants). Our results indicate that degrading the visibility of the reward decreased -without completely obliterating- the ability of participants to learn from outcomes, but concurrently increased their tendency to repeat previous choices. We dissociated electrophysiological signatures evoked by the reward-based learning processes from those elicited by the reward-independent repetition of previous choices and showed that these neural activities were significantly modulated by reward visibility. Overall, this report sheds new light on the neural computations underlying reward-based learning and decision-making and highlights that awareness is beneficial for the trial-by-trial adjustment of decision-making strategies.Significance statementThe notion of reward is strongly associated with subjective evaluation, related to conscious processes such as “pleasure”, “liking” and “wanting”. Here we show that degrading reward visibility in a reinforcement learning task decreases -without completely obliterating- the ability of participants to learn from outcomes, but concurrently increases subjects tendency to repeat previous choices. Electrophysiological recordings, in combination with computational modelling, show that neural activities were significantly modulated by reward visibility. Overall, we dissociate different neural computations underlying reward-based learning and decision-making, which highlights a beneficial role of reward awareness in adjusting decision-making strategies.
A non-spatial account of place and grid cells based on clustering models of concept learning
Authors: Mok Robert M. , Love Bradley C. 
Published: September 2018

ABSTRACTOne view is that conceptual knowledge is organized using the circuitry in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) that supports spatial processing and navigation. In contrast, we find that a domain-general learning algorithm explains key findings in both spatial and conceptual domains. When the clustering model is applied to spatial navigation tasks, so called place and grid cell-like representations emerge because of the relatively uniform distribution of possible inputs in these tasks. The same mechanism applied to conceptual tasks, where the overall space can be higher-dimensional and sampling sparser, leads to representations more aligned with human conceptual knowledge. Although the types of memory supported by the MTL are superficially dissimilar, the information processing steps appear shared. Our account suggests that the MTL uses a general-purpose algorithm to learn and organize context-relevant information in a useful format, rather than relying on navigation-specific neural circuitry.
The elemental mechanism of transcriptional pausing
Authors: Saba Jason , Chua Xien , Mishanina Tatiana V. , Nayak Dhananjaya , Windgassen Tricia A. , Mooney Rachel A. , Landick Robert 
Published: September 2018

ABSTRACTTranscriptional pausing underpins regulation of cellular RNA biogenesis. A consensus pause sequence that acts on RNA polymerases (RNAPs) from bacteria to mammals halts RNAP in an elemental paused state from which longer-lived pauses can arise. Although the structural foundations of pauses prolonged by backtracking or nascent RNA hairpins are recognized, the fundamental mechanism of the elemental pause is less well-defined. Here we report a mechanistic dissection that establishes the elemental pause signal (i) is multipartite; (ii) causes a modest conformational shift that puts RNAP in an off-pathway state in which template base loading but not RNA translocation is inhibited; and (iii) can easily enter pretranslocated and one-base-pair backtracked states despite principally occupying the half-translocated state observed in cryo-EM structures of paused RNAPs. Our findings provide a mechanistic basis for the elemental pause and a framework to understand how pausing is modulated by sequence, cellular conditions, and regulators.
Public guarantees for mitigating interest rate risk in PPP projects
Authors: Pellegrino Roberta , Carbonara Nunzia , Costantino Nicola 
Published: September 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to deal with the maximum interest rate guarantees (MIRGs), and develop a methodology for setting the optimal value of the interest rate cap, namely the maximum interest rate above which the private investor will obtain reimbursement from the government, which balances the interests of the parties involved in the project.

Design/methodology/approach
The mechanism underlying the MIRG is modeled through real options. Monte Carlo simulation is employed as the option-pricing method. The resulting real option-based model is applied to the case of the “Camionale di Bari” toll road (Southern Italy).

Findings
The application provides some insights for the policy maker called to define the proper forms of guarantees. Furthermore, the results support the negotiation process, allowing the different actors to structure the guarantee in a way that satisfies all the parties and fairly allocates risks between them according to different operational and financial conditions.

Originality/value
The novelty of the contribution is triple. First, the authors advance the state of the art on government supports by focusing on the interest rate guarantee. Second, the authors enrich the existing studies on MIRG by proposing a quantitative model to set the guarantee in compliance with the public–private win-win principle. The developed real option-based model supports the decision maker in finding the optimal value of the interest rate cap, which is able to satisfy the interests of the parties involved in the project. Third, the authors consider not only the private sponsor and the government, as traditionally made by the models developed for other guarantees, but also the lender.
Factors influencing career choice of tertiary students in Ghana
Authors: Owusu Godfred M.Y. , Essel-Anderson Anthony , Ossei Kwakye Teddy , Bekoe Rita Amoah , Ofori Charles Gyamfi 
Published: September 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that influence Ghanaian tertiary students’ career choices. The paper explores the dimensionality of the career choice factors within the Ghanaian context and also ascertains their degree of influence on students’ career choices.

Design/methodology/approach
The study employs survey method of research and a set of questionnaire was used to examine the factors that influence students’ career choices. A total of 354 undergraduate students from the Ashesi University College in Ghana participated in the study. Factor analysis was conducted on the career choice factors and differences in response between science and business students were ascertained by means of independent sample t-test.

Findings
The findings of this study indicate that university students in Ghana place much premium on intrinsic value and employability/financial prospect in their career choice decisions than such factors as prestige and desired working conditions.

Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study are relevant for policymakers and tertiary education providers interested in making the study of science an attractive option for university students in Ghana.

Originality/value
The findings of this paper highlight some of the underlining reasons for the unpopularity of the study of sciences among university students in Ghana.
“Warning! You’re entering a sick zone”
Authors: Mitchell Scott S.D. 
Published: September 2018

Purpose
Traditional public health methods for tracking contagious diseases are increasingly complemented with digital tools, which use data mining, analytics and crowdsourcing to predict disease outbreaks. In recent years, alongside these public health tools, commercial mobile apps such as Sickweather have also been released. Sickweather collects information from across the web, as well as self-reports from users, so that people can see who is sick in their neighborhood. The purpose of this paper is to examine the privacy and surveillance implications of digital disease tracking tools.

Design/methodology/approach
The author performed a content and platform analysis of two apps, Sickweather and HealthMap, by using them for three months, taking regular screenshots and keeping a detailed user journal. This analysis was guided by the walkthrough method and a cultural-historical activity theory framework, taking note of imagery and other content, but also the app functionalities, including characteristics of membership, “rules” and parameters of community mobilization and engagement, monetization and moderation. This allowed me to study HealthMap and Sickweather as modes of governance that allow for (and depend upon) certain actions and particular activity systems.

Findings
Draw on concepts of network power, the surveillance assemblage, and Deleuze’s control societies, as well as the data gathered from the content and platform analysis, the author argues that disease tracking apps construct disease threat as omnipresent and urgent, compelling users to submit personal information – including sensitive health data – with little oversight or regulation.

Originality/value
Disease tracking mobile apps are growing in popularity yet have received little attention, particularly regarding privacy concerns or the construction of disease risk.
Professional associations can nurture interdisciplinary partnerships to better serve rural-dwelling older adults
Authors: Ford Cassandra D. 
Published: September 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a case study that illustrates how professional associations can provide the context for development of formal and informal interdisciplinary collaboration and promote advancement and dissemination of useful knowledge among disciplines and across geographic boundaries. This paper reports the work of the Rural Aging Special Interest Group of the Gerontological Society of America to develop and disseminate approaches that leverage existing resources to address the challenges of providing services to rural – dwelling older adults. It describes the challenges and the roles of networks in developing and supporting these partnerships to better meet the challenges.Design/methodology/approachThis paper describes how interdisciplinary partnerships can enhance existing resources to better meet the unique needs of rural older adults and describes an example of how a professional association facilitated the process of creation and dissemination of knowledge about this approach. An overview of the process is provided with additional information relating partnerships to improving programs and services for rural older adults.FindingsWhile addressing the unique needs of rural older adults can sometimes prove challenging, a number of entities have developed successful interdisciplinary partnerships that have expanded resources and improved effectiveness in addressing these challenges.Originality/valueThis paper illustrates how a professional association can play a key role in supporting creative interdisciplinary and international problem solving.
Recovery capital: a framework for the contemporary Therapeutic Community?
Authors: Gosling Helena 
Published: September 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to critically assess the extent to which recovery capital can provide a theoretical and practical way in which to explore, explain and communicate Therapeutic Community (TC) processes and practices.

Design/methodology/approach
This is a 31-month ethnographic study of one situated residential TC in England.

Findings
The findings are usefully thought out as parallels, process and progress. Parallels can be drawn between the recovery capital literature and longstanding TC principles and prescriptions. The term process is significant as it illustrates how concepts proposed by the recovery capital literature can be employed, alongside traditional TC ideals, to create a practice-focussed framework that is able to open up day-to-day processes and communicate (within and beyond the TC movement) how and why TCs provide an environment that is conducive to recovery. The ethos and application of the term progress illustrate the fundamental premise of this paper. Recovery capital provides a more contemporary way in which to understand and communicate the work that takes place in a TC.

Research limitations/implications
Synthesising the concepts proposed by both the TC and recovery capital literature provides a contemporary, practice-focussed framework for the TC, thus re-enforcing the modalities place within an increasingly competitive field.

Originality/value
Synthesising the concepts proposed by both the TC and recovery capital literature provides an original, contemporary, practice-focussed framework for the TC, thus re-enforcing the modalities place within an increasingly competitive field.
The school as a therapeutic community
Authors: Vaughan Joanne , Rodriguez Alison , Boduszek Daniel 
Published: September 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the facets of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and the potential relationships with teaching satisfaction in a sample of secondary school teachers (n=1,288). The study explored the potential of the school environment in fostering a beneficial community in which personal needs could be met and investigated potential disparities between male and female teachers.

Design/methodology/approach
The study utilised an electronic quantitative questionnaire to collect data from a representative sample. Structural equation modelling was applied and permitted an exploration of potential relationships between the facets of SDT and teaching satisfaction, while controlling for specified covariates.

Findings
It was shown that the specified model could be effectively applied to both male and female teachers. The results demonstrate that only competence was related to teaching satisfaction in both samples.

Practical implications
Future studies should focus on factors which contribute to teachers’ sense of competence within the professional role. Schools need to facilitate this need in order to promote wellbeing within the educational environment.

Originality/value
This is the first known research to explore the specified relationships and the ability of the school environment to foster wellbeing and satisfaction. It is suggested that competence is the more prominent need with regards to teaching satisfaction.
Successful treatment of refractory juvenile generalized pustular psoriasis with secukinumab monotherapy: A case report and review of published work
Authors: Ho Po‐Han , Tsai Tsen‐Fang 
Published: September 2018

AbstractJuvenile generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is rare and often resistant to conventional systemic therapy such as methotrexate, retinoic acid and cyclosporin A. GPP can be induced by deficiency of interleukin (IL)‐36 receptor antagonist (DITRA). No standardized guidelines are available for juvenile GPP or DITRA, and a uniformly safe and effective biologic agent has not been identified. However, multiple biologics approved for use in plaque‐type psoriasis have also been used in GPP. Herein, we report a case of a 6‐year‐old Taiwanese boy with GPP and homozygous mutation at c.115+6T>C within the IL‐36 receptor antagonist (IL36RN) gene, who was treated successfully with secukinumab after failure of prior methotrexate, acitretin, cyclosporin A, etanercept and adalimumab. Similar to two previously reported non‐adult cases of GPP successfully treated with secukinumab, our case also demonstrated a history of repeated treatment failures with several conventional oral systemic agents and biologics. Different from these two cases, however, ours is the first of juvenile GPP successfully treated with secukinumab monotherapy, without using other systemic agent concurrently during the use of secukinumab.
Fire, fragmentation, and windstorms: A recipe for tropical forest degradation
Authors: Silvério Divino V. , Brando Paulo M. , Bustamante Mercedes M. C. , Putz Francis E. , Marra Daniel Magnabosco , Levick Shaun R. , Trumbore Susan E. 
Published: September 2018

Abstract

Widespread degradation of tropical forests is caused by a variety of disturbances that interact in ways that are not well understood.

To explore potential synergies between edge effects, fire and windstorm damage as causes of Amazonian forest degradation, we quantified vegetation responses to a 30‐min, high‐intensity windstorm that in 2012, swept through a large‐scale fire experiment that borders an agricultural field. Our pre‐ and postwindstorm measurements include tree mortality rates and modes of death, above‐ground biomass, and airborne LiDAR‐based estimates of tree heights and canopy disturbance (i.e., number and size of gaps). The experimental area in the southeastern Amazonia includes three 50‐ha plots established in 2004 that were unburned (Control), burned annually (B1yr), or burned at 3‐year intervals (B3yr).

The windstorm caused greater damage to trees (>10 cm DBH) in the burned plots (B1yr: 13 ± 9% of 785 trees; B3yr: 17 ± 13% of 433) than in the Control plot (8 ± 4% of 2,300; ± CI). It substantially reduced vegetation height by 14% in B1yr, 20% in B3yr and 12% in the Control plots, while it reduced above‐ground biomass by 18% of 77.7 Mg/ha (B1yr), 31% of 56.6 (B3yr), and 15% of 120 (Control). Tree damage was greatest near the agricultural field edge in all three plots, especially among large trees and in B3yr. Trunk snapping (70%) and uprooting (20%) were the most common modes of tree damage and mortality, with the height of trunk failure on the burned plots often corresponding with the height of historical fire scars. Of the windstorm‐damaged trees, 80% (B1yr), 90% (B3yr), and 57% (Control) were dead 4 years later. Trees that had crown damage experienced the least mortality (22%–60%), followed by those that were snapped (55%–94%) and uprooted (88%–94%).

Synthesis. We demonstrate the synergistic effects of three kinds of disturbances on a tropical forest. Our results show that the effects of windstorms are exacerbated by prior degradation by fire and fragmentation. We highlight that understorey fires can produce long‐lasting effects on tropical forests not only by directly killing trees but also by increasing tree vulnerability to wind damage due to fire scars and a more open canopy.
Neuropsychological and Criminological Features of Female Homicide Offenders
Authors: Fox Jaclyn M. , Brook Michael , Heilbronner Robert L. , Susmaras Teresa , Hanlon Robert E. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractFew studies have examined life history and cognitive characteristics unique to female homicide offenders. Understanding these characteristics could aid in risk assessment for extreme violence in this group of offenders. The current study utilized t‐tests or chi‐square tests to compare 27 female and 81 male homicide offenders on psychiatric, neurologic, criminal, and cognitive characteristics. Additionally, we explored the role of abuse history in female offenders through Kruskal–Wallis or Fisher's exact tests. Results indicate that in comparison with male counterparts, females are more likely to have history of mood disorder, borderline personality disorder, and abuse. Cognitively, female homicide offenders exhibit circumscribed cognitive impairment in verbal abilities and perform similarly to male homicide offenders across most cognitive tasks. Within the female offender group, history of sexual abuse is associated with higher rates of impulsive homicide and poorer verbal abilities. These findings provide preliminary evidence for distinct factors associated with homicide in women.
Investigation of Different Ways in Which the CODIS 7.0 May be Used in Mass Disaster Identification
Authors: Issan Yossi , Avlas Orna , Daniel Orit 
Published: September 2018

AbstractDNA analysis is a key method for the identification of human remains in mass disasters. Reference samples from relatives may be used to identify missing persons by kinship analysis. Different methods of applying the CODIS in disaster victim identification (DVI) were investigated. Two searches were evaluated: (i) relating family relatives to a pedigree tree (FPT) and (ii) relating unidentified human remains to a pedigree tree (UPT). A joint pedigree likelihood ratio (JPLR) and rank were calculated for each search. Both searches were similar in average JPLR and rank. In exceptional cases, namely the existence of a mutation different from the CODIS model, a nonbiological father, a mistake in STR, or incorrect profile association, the UPT search returned one true rank, whereas the FPT search returned no results. This paper suggests a novel strategy to overcome these limitations and increase efficiency in conducting identification of mass disaster victims.
Protease inhibitors: recent advancement in its usage as a potential biocontrol agent for insect pest management
Authors: Singh Sujata , Singh Archana , Kumar Sumit , Mittal Pooja , Singh Indrakant K. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractPlant‐derived protease inhibitors (PIs) are a promising defensin for crop improvement and insect pest management. Although agronomist made significant efforts in utilizing PIs for managing insect pests, the potentials of PIs are still obscured. Insect ability to compensate nutrient starvation induced by dietary PI feeding using different strategies, that is, overexpression of PI‐sensitive protease, expression of PI‐insensitive proteases, degradation of PI, has made this innumerable collection of PIs worthless. A practical challenge for agronomist is to identify potent PI candidates, to limit insect compensatory responses and to elucidate insect compensatory and resistance mechanisms activated upon herbivory. This knowledge could be further efficiently utilized to identify potential targets for RNAi‐mediated pest control. These vital genes of insects could be functionally annotated using the advanced gene‐editing technique, CRISPR/Cas9. Contemporary research is exploiting different in silico and modern molecular biology techniques to utilize PIs in controlling insect pests efficiently. This review is structured to update recent advancements in this field, along with its chronological background.
Small change, big impact? Organisational membership rules and the exit of employers' associations from multiemployer bargaining in Germany
Authors: Behrens Martin , Helfen Markus 
Published: September 2018

AbstractGerman employers' associations first introduced a so‐called “bargaining‐free” membership (BFM) category in 1990, giving companies the option to join and access services while avoiding the obligations arising to regular members from industry‐level collective agreements with unions. To explain how this phenomenon contributes to change in the German political economy, we investigate why some associations offer their members BFM status whereas others have refused to introduce this option. Controlling for influences such as size and industry, our multivariate analysis of survey data shows that four sets of influences are positively associated with BFM: the role of courts' judicial decisions as “door openers,” structural characteristics of diverging business environments, the evaluation of multiemployer bargaining by the leadership of the association, and the strategic choices of associations.