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Obscene finance
Get PDFPolitical economists continue to imagine the twentieth century in terms of three interlocking transformations: the neoclassical revolution in economics, the political triumph of neoliberalism, and the financialisation of the world economy. In his new book, The Sexual Economy of Capitalism, Noam Yuran tells a completely different story, identifying an obscene financial kernel already present at the dawn of modern capitalism and tracing the effects of its later blooming across a wide range of contemporary settings. In this essay, I develop an exaggerated version of Yuran’s narrative, drawing particular attention to the theoretical and philosophical implications of an obscene perspective on financial life today
Bearing, Belittling or Befriending Doubt: Understanding Doubt’s Generative versus Corrosive Effect on Entrepreneurs’ Early-Stage Idea Validation
No full textDoubt in the early-stage entrepreneurial process is pervasive. However, we argue that our understanding of the types of doubt individuals experience during entrepreneurial action—and how their responses to these doubts affect their ability to determine the value of their ideas and remain committed to this goal—remains incomplete. When entrepreneurs set out to validate their ideas, doubt is typically framed in one of two ways: as corrosive or as generative. In both perspectives, the focus is on idea-related doubts, overlooking the possibility that once entrepreneurial action commences, self-related doubts about their abilities or motivation may resurface. Furthermore, while the generative approach provides valuable insights into how entrepreneurs can engage with idea doubts, it tells us little about why some individuals can do so while others may not. To address these questions, we followed early-stage entrepreneurs weekly during an incubation program. We found that they experienced not only idea-related but also self-related doubts. Their responses to these doubts—namely embracing, downplaying, or normalizing them—shaped their ability to make progress towards their goal and influenced their commitment to it. Ultimately, this commitment was underpinned by the emergence of three distinct orientations toward expending further goal-directed effort: mastering, curtailing, or yearning
Numerical and Experimental Reassessment of Eurocode 3 Design Rules for Cellular Beam End-Posts
Get PDFThis paper investigates the end-post behaviour of cellular beams focusing on the failure mechanisms subject to shear adjacent to the connections. Three cellular beams were tested to failure in a companion paper and their behaviours were modelled and validated herein using Abaqus. The cellular beams were connected to the columns through a bolted end-plate at one end and a bolted fin-plate at the other end. Finite element (FE) analyses were carried out for end-posts with and without notches, and web openings with half infill plates for cases where the minimum end-post width requirements were not satisfied. It was found that the FE results were in good agreement with the test results while both gave significantly higher failure loads than the design predictions provided by BS EN 1993-1-13. A parametric study was carried out on each connection side and in total 160 end-post models were examined. It was concluded that the connection type not only affected the end-post shear resistance but also influenced the failure mode. It was shown that using a half infill plate at the first opening can greatly increase the end-post’s shear resistance
Synergy and Redundancy Measures: Theory and Applications to Characterize Complex Systems and Shape Neural Network Representations
Get PDFThe following Special Issue covers advances in both the theoretical formulation and applications of information-theoretic measures of synergy and redundancy. An important aspect of how sources of information are distributed across a set of variables concerns whether different variables provide redundant, unique, or synergistic information when combined with other variables. Intuitively, variables share redundant information if each variable individually carries the same information carried by other variables. Information carried by a certain variable is unique if it is not carried by any other variables or their combination, and a group of variables carries synergistic information if some information arises only when they are combined. Recent advances have contributed to building an information-theoretic framework to determine the distribution and nature of information extractable from multivariate data sets. Measures of redundant, unique, or synergistic information characterize dependencies between the parts of a multivariate system and can help to understand its function and mechanisms. This Special issue provides updates on advances in the formulation and application of decompositions of the information carried by a set of variables about a target of interest. Advances in the theoretical formulation comprise the connection with channel ordering, with information compression, and the characterization of decision regions. Applications extend to, among others, structure learning, characterizing emergence in complex systems, and understanding representations in cognition
Behind the Enemy News: Issue Salience in the Russo-Ukrainian War
Get PDFAgenda-setting theory and warfare studies hold that setting the national agenda is strategically advantageous to foreign policy goals. We probe this theory on the RussoUkrainian War by analyzing the conflicting agenda set by RIA Novosti, RT Russian, RT International, BBC News Russian, and BBC News from February 2022 to July 2023. In contrast to previous work that identified press coverage misalignment to be largely concentrated in the framing of events, our study provides evidence of substantive and sustained misalignment in the event selection by revealing that Russian state media tailored a specific version of the news for Russian-speaking audiences, often downplaying key developments of the conflict, such as the mobilization crisis in Russia, the Wagner group rebellion, the Ukrainian counteroffensive, and the prospect of nuclear escalation. Our results contribute to understanding how modern Russian propaganda has shaped the public perception of the invasion of Ukraine
Psychometric properties of the German Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale 39 generic version
Get PDFBACKGROUND: The international expert consensus core outcome set for post-stroke aphasia recommends the Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale - 39/generic (SAQOL-39g) for assessing patient-reported health-related quality of life. Cultural adaptations of the SAQOL-39g are mandatory in stroke rehabilitation.
AIM: We adapted the original English SAQOL-39g into German and evaluated its psychometric quality.
DESIGN: Evaluation of a self-report scale embedded in a prospective multicenter parallel group randomized waitlist-controlled trial on the effectiveness of intensive speech and language therapy.
SETTING: Nineteen in- and outpatient aphasia rehabilitation centers in Germany.
POPULATION: People with chronic post-stroke aphasia (N.=156) of all types and severity levels.
METHODS: We followed applicable guidelines for cross-cultural test adaptations and psychometric evaluations.
Psychometric analyses are based on the assessment before three weeks of intensive speech and language therapy (acceptability, internal consistency, validity; N.=156), on the assessments before and after three weeks of waiting in the control group (test-retest reliability; N.=78), and on the assessments before and after three weeks of intensive speech and language therapy (responsiveness; N.=156).
RESULTS: The German SAQOL-39g was feasible across all aphasia severity grades (no missing data; no floor/ceiling effects). Internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach’s α=0.90); test-retest reliability was moderate-to-good (intraclass-correlations: ICC=0.73 for single/0.85 for average measures). Both exploratory factor analyses and multidimensional scaling of proximity data/graphical network analysis supported the 3-dimensional structure (domains: physical, psychosocial, communication) of the English original version. Convergent (|r|=0.29 to 0.48) and discriminative (|r|=0.03 to 0.07) validities were acceptable. Responsiveness to intervention-induced change showed a small-to-medium treatment effect (group difference after intervention compared to waiting-list control: Cohen’s d=0.34).
CONCLUSIONS: The German SAQOL-39g is a reliable, valid and change-sensitive patient-reported outcome measure to assess the physical, communication and psychosocial quality of life in chronic post-stroke aphasia, with comparable psychometric properties and factorial structure to the original English version.
CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: The German SAQOL-39g is an easy-to-administer and -score patient-reported scale that can be used in rehabilitation settings to measure health-related quality of life and support patient-centered goal setting in people with chronic post-stroke aphasia of different ages, stroke durations, severity and type of aphasia
Eyecatcher 3.0 – Validating the Use of “Smart Glasses” as a Low-Cost, Portable Method of Assessing Visual Fields
Get PDFPurpose: Glaucoma requires regular visual field (VF) assessments. Eyecatcher 3.0 uses novel "smart glasses" hardware to provide a lightweight, low-cost solution, designed for use while unsupervised. This study aimed to determine the feasibility of using Eyecatcher for VF home-monitoring.
Methods: Eyecatcher 3.0 consists of a smartphone, smart glasses, and wireless clicker. Functionally, it attempts to mimic the Humphrey Field Analyzer (HFA; - same task-instructions, stimuli, and outputs, but smaller field of view and luminance range). Five patients with glaucoma used Eyecatcher to test themselves at home for 3 months (both eyes, monocular, once-per-fortnight). Results from a reduced 24-2 grid were compared to HFA data collected in the clinic, and to normative Eyecatcher data collected from 76 normally sighted young adults. A subset of normally sighted participants (n = 16) also underwent two additional sessions of follow-up testing to assess repeatability. Usability was assessed via questionnaires.
Results: All Eyecatcher tests were completed successfully (100%). There was reasonable agreement with the HFA in terms of mean deviation (MD; r = 0.85, P < 0.001) and observed pattern of loss. The HFA exhibited somewhat better repeatability than Eyecatcher (MD Coefficient of Repeatability = 2.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.1-4.1 decibels [dB] for HFA, vs. 3.9, 95% CI = 2.8-6.1 dB for Eyecatcher), although this difference was not statistically significant. Average Eyecatcher test duration was 6.5 minutes (both eyes). Patients generally rated the Eyecatcher as easy-to-use, although specific concerns were raised by some individuals.
Conclusions: Smart glasses may provide a feasible means of VFs home-monitoring. Eyecatcher yielded similar sensitivity values to the HFA, and most participants found the lightweight smart glasses acceptable to use. Further research is needed to establish diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility.
Translational Relevance: Validation of a new method of glaucoma home monitoring
Green Investment under Market Uncertainty: Scrubber installation in shipping
Get PDFIn 2020, the International Maritime Organization implemented a limit to the sulphur content emitted by vessels. To comply, a vessel should either incur the capital cost to be retrofitted with a scrubber or burn fuels that emit less sulphur but are more expensive. We examine this dilemma by developing a Vector Error Correction Model that links freight rates, fuel prices, and the green investment decision of scrubber installation. The results, across the tanker and dry bulk sectors from 2021 to 2024, suggest that the freight premium of scrubber-fitted vessels positively depends on the spread between very low- and high-sulphur fuel oil prices and negatively on the size of the scrubber-fitted fleet. Scrubber investment, in turn, is determined by the past freight premium and the fuel spread. Being the first to investigate the interplay between green shipping investment and price uncertainty, our findings yield significant industry and policy implication
Spatiomotor dynamics of hand movements during the drawing of memory-guided trajectories without visual feedback
Get PDFAlthough the underlying principles of the spatiomotor dynamics during human movement execution are now broadly understood to conform to a minimum jerk principle, the question addressed in the present analysis is whether different principles operate during human drawing movements without visual input, deriving from studies of the Likova Cognitive-Kinesthetic Memory-Drawing Training. For two groups of participants, completely blind, and sighted but temporarily blindfolded, this analysis shows that the consensus model of arm-motion kinematics as a simple one-third power relationship of drawing speed to the local curvature of the line being drawn is not a sufficient characterization of their coupling. Instead, the drawing dynamics without visual feedback conform to a hyperbolic power relationship, with a coupling power of approximately 1.0 for regions of the highest curvature, asymptoting to curvature-independence for regions of shallow curvature, for both blind and blindfolded groups. Thus, the asymptotic power was much higher than the one-third power predicted by the minimum jerk principle. In detail, the maximum-velocity asymptote for both groups averaged about 6 cm/s for drawing from memory, increasing to more than twice as fast for mindless scribbling. We conclude that the more elaborate operating principle of a hyperbolic saturation function, with a power asymptote of about 1.0, may be interpreted as an adaptive implementation approximating the Minimum Jerk Principle of the simple one-third power law relating velocity and curvature
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