bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Re‐evaluating the role of the orbitofrontal cortex in reward and reinforcement
Authors: Noonan M. P. , Kolling N. , Walton M. E. , Rushworth M. F. S. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThe orbitofrontal cortex and adjacent ventromedial prefrontal cortex carry reward representations and mediate flexible behaviour when circumstances change. Here we review how recent experiments in humans and macaques have confirmed the existence of a major difference between the functions of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and adjacent medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) on the one hand and the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC) on the other. These differences, however, may not be best accounted for in terms of specializations for reward and error/punishment processing as is commonly assumed. Instead we argue that both lesion and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies reveal that the lOFC is concerned with the assignment of credit for both reward and error outcomes to the choice of specific stimuli and with the linking of specific stimulus representations to representations of specific types of reward outcome. By contrast, we argue that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex/mOFC is concerned with evaluation, value‐guided decision‐making and maintenance of a choice over successive decisions. Despite the popular view that they cause perseveration of behaviour and inability to inhibit repetition of a previously made choice, we found that lesions in neither orbitofrontal subdivision caused perseveration. On the contrary, lesions in the lOFC made animals switch more rapidly between choices when they were finding it difficult to assign reward values to choices. Lesions in the mOFC caused animals to lose their normal predisposition to repeat previously successful choices, suggesting that the mOFC does not just mediate value comparison in choice but also facilitates maintenance of the same choice if it has been successful.
A theoretical account of cognitive effects in delay discounting
Authors: Kurth‐Nelson Zeb , Bickel Warren , Redish A. David 
Published: April 2012

AbstractAlthough delay discounting, the attenuation of the value of future rewards, is a robust finding, the mechanism of discounting is not known. We propose a potential mechanism for delay discounting such that discounting emerges from a search process that is trying to determine what rewards will be available in the future. In this theory, the delay dependence of the discounting of future expected rewards arises from three assumptions. First, that the evaluation of outcomes involves a search process. Second, that the value is assigned to an outcome proportionally to how easy it is to find. Third, that outcomes that are less delayed are typically easier for the search process to find. By relaxing this third assumption (e.g. by assuming that episodically‐cued outcomes are easier to find), our model suggests that it is possible to dissociate discounting from delay. Our theory thereby explains the empirical result that discounting is slower to episodically‐imagined outcomes, because these outcomes are easier for the search process to find. Additionally, the theory explains why improving cognitive resources such as working memory slows discounting, by improving searches and thereby making rewards easier to find. The three assumptions outlined here are likely to be instantiated during deliberative decision‐making, but are unlikely in habitual decision‐making. We model two simple implementations of this theory and show that they unify empirical results about the role of cognitive function in delay discounting, and make new neural, behavioral, and pharmacological predictions.
Beyond simple reinforcement learning: the computational neurobiology of reward‐learning and valuation
Authors: O’Doherty John P. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractNeural computational accounts of reward‐learning have been dominated by the hypothesis that dopamine neurons behave like a reward‐prediction error and thus facilitate reinforcement learning in striatal target neurons. While this framework is consistent with a lot of behavioral and neural evidence, this theory fails to account for a number of behavioral and neurobiological observations. In this special issue of EJN we feature a combination of theoretical and experimental papers highlighting some of the explanatory challenges faced by simple reinforcement‐learning models and describing some of the ways in which the framework is being extended in order to address these challenges.
Effect of vitamin D supplementation on glycaemic control and insulin resistance: a systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: George P. S. , Pearson E. R. , Witham M. D. 
Published: April 2012

Diabet. Med. 29, e142–e150 (2012)AbstractAims  To systematically review the evidence for the effect of vitamin D supplementation on glycaemia, insulin resistance, progression to diabetes and complications of diabetes.Methods  Systematic review and meta‐analysis. We searched databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials comparing vitamin D or analogues with placebo. We extracted data on fasting glucose, glycaemic control, insulin resistance, insulin/C‐peptide levels, micro‐ and macrovascular outcomes and progression from non‐diabetes to diabetes. Studies were assessed independently by two reviewers according to a pre‐specified protocol.Results  Fifteen trials were included in the systematic review. Trial reporting was of moderate, variable quality. Combining all studies, no significant improvement was seen in fasting glucose, HbA1c or insulin resistance in those treated with vitamin D compared with placebo. For patients with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance, meta‐analysis showed a small effect on fasting glucose (−0.32 mmol/l, 95% CI −0.57 to −0.07) and a small improvement in insulin resistance (standard mean difference −0.25, 95% CI −0.48 to −0.03). No effect was seen on glycated haemoglobin in patients with diabetes and no differences were seen for any outcome in patients with normal fasting glucose. Insufficient data were available to draw conclusions regarding micro‐ or macrovascular events; two trials failed to show a reduction in new cases of diabetes in patients treated with vitamin D.Conclusions  There is currently insufficient evidence of beneficial effect to recommend vitamin D supplementation as a means of improving glycaemia or insulin resistance in patients with diabetes, normal fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance.
Reducing the social gradient in smoking: Initiatives in the United Kingdom
Authors: MURRAY RACHAEL L. , MCNEILL ANN 
Published: April 2012

AbstractIssues. To describe initiatives aiming to reduce the social gradient of smoking in the UK.Approach. A description of government initiatives to support smokers from low socioeconomic and other key groups, including National Health Service Stop Smoking Services and how they are seeking to support smokers to quit.Key Findings. The UK is employing a number of strategies to reduce smoking prevalence and is currently top of the Tobacco Control Scale in Europe but the health gap does not yet appear to be decreasing (in relation to smoking prevalence in deprived and higher income groups). More recently, efforts have been made to target smokers in more deprived groups to draw more of these smokers into the quitting process.Implications. While Stop Smoking Services are a key part of the UK's comprehensive tobacco control strategy and are reaching smokers from low socioeconomic groups, wider population strategies, such as ensuring all contacts with health‐care professionals include advice to stop and the prohibition of remaining channels of tobacco marketing, are required to maximise the impact on deprived smokers.Conclusion. While smoking prevalence decreases among the general population are important, reducing smoking among disadvantaged groups is imperative to reduce health inequalities. It is too soon to say whether the new measures recently adopted in the UK will help to achieve this.[Murray RL, McNeill A. Reducing the social gradient in smoking: Initiatives in the United Kingdom. Drug Alcohol Rev 2012;31:693–697]
Reassembling the state in urban China 中国城市治理空间的重构
Authors: Xu 徐江 Jiang , Wang 王缉宪 James Jixian 
Published: April 2012

AbstractNeoliberalism has become dominant in both thought and practice throughout much of the world since the early 1970s. In China, neoliberal ideas are growing fast, even as it festers and stagnates in capitalist economies. To capture this process, many scholars have extensively studied market politics in China, demonstrating how state functions are rearticulated downwards and outwards to allow local discretion and market formation. The result is a burly wave of urban entrepreneurialism, which becomes a key municipal strategy to enhance place‐specific, socio‐economic assets. However, such arguments neglect a counter‐trend in which the state has deterritorialised and recentralised some key functions. This paper draws on two cases in urban land administration and state planning regulation to argue that state functions are being reassembled as a new post‐crisis political instrument to reassert the functional importance of top‐down regulatory control. Economic decentralization is now counterbalanced by the rise of state strategies to control the articulation of scales through which a more centrally consolidated power can be achieved. Rather than viewing markets as taking over the state and local territorial discretion overshadowing hierarchical administration, the paper emphasises the important role of state and top‐down regulation in the current post‐crisis context under transition.摘要自上世纪七十年代起，新自由主义成为了领导世界的主流思想及实践方向。市场革命极大地影响了发达国家与发展中国家现行的资本累积体制。尽管新自由思想思潮在资本主义经济体系的作用愈见滞后，但却在中国发展壮大。 有鉴于此，国内外学者开展了有关中国市场机制的研究，并认为下放经济管理权与政府职能直接导致了地方权力的扩张和市场的发育。结果就是城市企业主义的出现，并广泛成为城市政府强化地方社会经济优势的主要策略。然而，该种阐述忽略了一个重要的逆反现象，就是国家的管理体制也同时在经历“去地域化”、重建上级政府治理的过程。本文以城市土地管理与政府规划管理为例，来说明通过适当收权重建国家治理能力正成为一种新的管治工具。与权力下放不同，这种逆向趋势加强了上级政府的处理层级关系的能力。本文的主要论点为：市场并未取代政府，权力下放也并不代表‘条条’管理的消失。在转型期的后经济危机时代，政府的作用与至上而下式的治理模式依然十分重要。
The politics of regional cooperation in the Greater Pearl River Delta 大珠三角区域合作的政治
Authors: Cheung 张赞贤 Peter T.Y. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThis paper examines the interactions between subnational governments in influencing the Chinese national state in economic and spatial planning by focusing on two cases in south China, namely the pursuit of a new reform and development plan by Guangdong province in 2008 and Hong Kong's effort to position itself in China's 12th Five‐Year Plan (FYP). The intergovernmental dynamics inside the Greater Pearl River Delta (PRD) can be interpreted as the policy advocacy and coordination of entrepreneurial local states in a fragmented, authoritarian polity. Guangdong province actively pursued central approval of the PRD's regional plan because central support is critical not only for approving specific projects but also for steering its development direction and providing a policy tool to impose coordination plans in order to achieve better regional coordination and resource allocation inside the Delta. The province has skilfully leveraged on Hong Kong to get central approval and delegation of power over pilot measures regarding Guangdong–Hong Kong economic cooperation. Similarly, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's efforts to secure a privileged position for Hong Kong in the 12th FYP can be considered as a competitive positioning strategy in view of growing competition within the PRD and from other regions.摘要本文研究大珠三角地方政府间互动及中央政府在经济和空间规划的影响，并集中分析华南地区的两个案例——广东省政府于2008‐2009年间提出改革和发展规划，以及香港争取中央政府在“国民经济和社会发展第十二个五年规划纲要”对其作出重要定位。大珠三角地方政府间的互动，可以被解读为在分割的权威体制下，具有企业型行为模式的地方政府对政策的推动和协调。广东省主动寻求中央政府批准珠三角发展和改革规划纲要，并非只为争取它对几个特定政策的支持。更重要的是，广东省政府旨在利用中央的支持推动本省所订立的政策和发展方向。中央支持更成为省政府的政策工具，使其能对珠三角内部的规划进行协调部署，从而实现更佳的区域合作与资源配置。广东省策略性地与香港联手争取中央支持，推动粤港经济合作的先行先试措施以及向省政府下放权力。同样地，香港特别行政区政府亦争取中央政府在第十二个五年规划中，对香港作出有利的定位。这可被视为香港在珠三角内外竞争不断加剧的环境中, 所采取的一种策略性行动。
The integration of the city‐region of the Pearl River Delta 珠江三角洲城市区域的一体化
Authors: Ma 马向明 Xiangming 
Published: April 2012

AbstractAlthough known as ‘the factory of the world’, the labour intensive industry in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region has lost its edge. The region is rapidly transforming itself, and the integration of the region is part of this process. Through a review of the integration progress of the city‐region of the PRD, this research note compares two attempts in regional integration made by Guangdong's provincial government, the ‘Modernization Plan for the PRD Economic Zone’ in the 1990s and the ‘Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the PRD’ in 2008. It shows that, in terms of the scope and extent of regional integration, the second attempt, with the important endorsement of central government, has proposed more comprehensive measures for implementation, and these measures seem to be speeding up the integration process in the PRD.摘要虽然被称为“世界工厂”，劳动密集型产业在珠江三角洲已失去发展优势。珠江三角洲正处在急剧的转型过程中。区域一体化是这个转型过程之一。通过回顾珠三角城市区域的一体化进程，本文比较了广东省政府推动一体化进程的两次尝试：1990年代的“珠江三角洲经济区现代化规划”和2008年的“珠江三角洲改革发展规划纲要”。比较显示，得到中央政府背书的第二轮一体化尝试更具广度和深度，措施更综合。初步的迹象显示出这些措施正在提速珠三角区域一体化的进程。
Understanding older peoples’ decisions about the use of sleeping medication: issues of control and autonomy
Authors: Venn Susan , Arber Sara 
Published: April 2012

AbstractPoor sleep is known to impact on health and wellbeing in later life and has implications for the ability of older people to remain active during the day. Medical treatments for chronic poor sleep have primarily included the regular, long‐term prescribing of hypnotics, which are known to impact on older people’s health, cognitive function and quality of life. Therefore, recent policy and practice has focused on reducing such prescribing, on encouraging older people to stop taking long‐term hypnotics and on finding alternative, non‐pharmacological ways to manage poor sleep. However, little research has been undertaken to understand the perspectives of older people who choose not to seek professional help for their poor sleep, despite the potential impact of poor sleep on their health and ability to remain active. Through in‐depth interviews with 62 older men and women living in their own homes in England, this article explores the factors that deter older people from seeking professional help for their poor sleep. We argue that these are located in their perceptions of the normativity of poor sleep in later life, their beliefs about prescription sleeping medications and their desire to maintain control and autonomy over their everyday and night lives.
The Second Step of the B‐Deduction
Authors: Rauscher Frederick 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThis paper offers a new interpretation of Kant's puzzling claim that the B‐Deduction in the Critique of Pure Reason should be considered as having two main steps. Previous commentators have tended to agree in general on the first step as arguing for the necessity of the categories for possible experience, but disagree on what the second step is and whether Kant even needs a second step. I argue that the two parts of the B‐Deduction correspond to the two aspects of a priori cognition: necessity and universality. The bulk of the paper consists of support for the second step, the universality of the categories. I show that Kant's arguments in the second half of the B‐Deduction aim to define the scope of that universality for possible experience by considering the possibilities of divine intellectual intuition, of non‐human kinds of sensible intuition, and of apperception of the self. In these ways Kant delimits the boundaries of the applicability of the categories and excludes any other possible experience for human beings.
Analysing Performances of Sibelius's Fifth Symphony: the‘One Movement or Two’ Debate and the Plurality of the Music Object
Authors: LOWE BETHANY 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACTThe ambiguity over the number and structure of movements in Sibelius's Fifth Symphony provoked vigorous and far‐reaching discussion in British analytical writings from the 1930s onwards. But do even simple analytical decisions such as these have any impact upon those performing or listening to the work? The use of empirical methods to measure tempo choices in 43 different recordings of this piece reveals that performers do indeed participate in structural debates, affirming a model which places their contributions on an equal level with those from analytical writings and which shows the reciprocity between these modes of activity. Various performing traditions emerge from the data, including a one‐movement, a two‐movement and a ‘recapitulatory’ approach, as well as a Russian national style, some teacher‐pupil influences and some likely correlations with published writings and broader aesthetic movements, suggesting that both structural and cultural questions can productively be addressed by siting performances within the web of discourse. Finally, the pluralistic perspective arising from juxtaposing and accepting so many strongly contrasting interpretations calls into question the notion of a unitary music object, raising issues which may have implications for music analysis and beyond.
Rescaling Europe: Effects of Single European Market Regulations on Localized Networks of Governance in Land Development
Authors: TAŞAN‐KOK TUNA , KORTHALS ALTES WILLEM K. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractRescaling state responsibilities and capacities not only triggers an uneven distribution of regulatory and fiscal powers across scales but also creates complex governance relationships that result in distortions in local processes of urban development. Within this framework, this article analyses how Single European Market regulations affect urban governance capacity through their impact on localized networks of governance. This analysis is based on case studies of public and private cooperation in land development in the Netherlands. The article focuses on two regulations (state aid and public procurement) that are part of European competition policy. It also analyzes the manner in which these regulations, aimed at creating a single market at the supranational scale, had local consequences. The article concludes that local interactions are contested and distorted by the interference of the Single European Market regulations at the supranational level, which impacts local governance relations and processes.RésuméRepositionner les échelons de responsabilités et de capacités déclenche entre ceux‐ci une répartition inégale des compétences réglementaires et fiscales, tout en créant des rapports de gouvernance complexes qui finissent par altérer les processus locaux d'aménagement urbain. Dans ce contexte, l'article analyse comment les réglementations du marché unique européen affectent la capacité de gouvernance urbaine par leur impact sur les réseaux de gouvernance implantés localement. Cette analyse exploite des études de cas sur la coopération public‐privé dans l'aménagement du territoire aux Pays‐Bas. L'article s'attache à deux réglementations (aide de l'État et marchés publics) intégrées dans la politique européenne relative à la concurrence. Il examine aussi de quelle façon ces règles ont eu des conséquences locales alors qu'elles participaient à la création d'un marché unique à l'échelon supranational. Les interactions locales sont contestées et dénaturées du fait que les réglementations supranationales du marché unique européen interfèrent dans les rapports et processus locaux de gouvernance.
Extending coverage under the Argentinian pension system: Distribution of access and prospects for universal coverage
Authors: Arza Camila 
Published: April 2012

AbstractOne of the main challenges facing social policy in Latin American is to guarantee social security coverage for the entire population in the presence of a large informal sector. In Argentina, a regional pioneer in terms of the development of its pension system, more than one third of those of retirement age were without benefits in 2005. Since then, considerable progress has been made in extending coverage thanks to the introduction of a programme that has reduced contribution requirements and allocated benefits to a large number of seniors previously excluded from the system. This article analyzes the impact of this process in Argentina on the level and distribution of coverage, identifies changes in socio‐demographic factors which affect inclusion/exclusion in the social security system, and discusses remaining obstacles to the provision of universal coverage in the medium and long term.
Implicit debt in public‐sector pension plans: An international comparison
Authors: Ponds Eduard , Severinson Clara , Yermo Juan 
Published: April 2012

AbstractMost countries have separate pension plans for public‐sector employees. The future fiscal burden of these plans can be substantial as the government usually is the largest employer, pension promises in the public sector tend to be relatively generous, and future payments have to be paid out directly from government revenues (pay‐as‐you‐go) or by funded plans (pension funds) which tend to be underfunded. The valuation and disclosure of these promises in some countries lacks transparency, which may hide potentially huge fiscal liabilities to be passed on to future generations of workers. In order to arrive at a fair comparison between countries regarding the fiscal burden of their public‐sector pension plans, this article recommends that unfunded pension liabilities should be measured and reported according to a standard approach for reasons of fiscal transparency and better policy‐making. From a sample of Member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, the size of the net unfunded liabilities as of the end of 2008 is estimated in fair value terms. This fiscal burden can also be interpreted as the implicit pension debt in fair value terms.
Psychometric Properties of the Portuguese Version of the Quality of Life Questionnaire (QOL‐Q)
Authors: Albuquerque Cristina P. 
Published: April 2012

Background  This study analyzes the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Quality of Life Questionnaire (QOL‐Q; Quality of Life Questionnaire Manual – 1993 Manual and 2004 Revision. 2004, IDS Publishing Company, Worthington, OH; Schalock & Keith 2004).Method  The analysis of the factorial structure was carried out on a sample of 304 adults with intellectual disabilities, through the use of confirmatory (CFA) and exploratory (EFA) factor analysis. The relationships of the QOL‐Q with life satisfaction and self‐concept measures were determined in groups composed of respectively 72 and 78 adults with intellectual disabilities.Results  Confirmatory factorial analysis indicated a poor adjustment of the original factor structure to the Portuguese data. EFA indicated the existence of four factors, which include 30 items, and that were also supported by CFA. The total score of the QOL‐Q revealed a reduced correlation with life satisfaction, and a moderate correlation with the self‐concept.Conclusions  The Portuguese version of the QOL‐Q shows satisfactory psychometric properties, but also some limitations.