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Cross-sectional and longitudinal neuroanatomical profiles of distinct clinical (adaptive) outcomes in autism
Get PDFIndividuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display significant variation in clinical outcome. For instance, across age, some individuals’ adaptive skills naturally improve or remain stable, while others’ decrease. To pave the way for ‘precision-medicine’ approaches, it is crucial to identify the cross-sectional and, given the developmental nature of ASD, longitudinal neurobiological (including neuroanatomical and linked genetic) correlates of this variation. We conducted a longitudinal follow-up study of 333 individuals (161 with ASD and 172 neurotypicals, aged 6-30 years), with two assessment time points separated by ~12-24 months. We collected behavioural (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale-II, VABS-II) and neuroanatomical (structural magnetic resonance imaging) data. ASD participants were grouped into clinically meaningful “Increasers”, “No-changers”, and “Decreasers” in adaptive behaviour (based on VABS-II scores). We compared each clinical subgroup’s neuroanatomy (surface area and cortical thickness at T1, ∆T (intra-individual change) and T2) to that of the neurotypicals. Next, we explored the neuroanatomical differences’ potential genomic associates using the Allen Human Brain Atlas. Clinical subgroups had distinct neuroanatomical profiles in surface area and cortical thickness at baseline, neuroanatomical development, and follow-up. These profiles were enriched for genes previously associated with ASD and for genes previously linked to neurobiological pathways implicated in ASD (e.g., excitation-inhibition systems). Our findings suggest that distinct clinical outcomes (i.e., intra-individual change in clinical profiles) linked to ASD core symptoms are associated with atypical cross-sectional and longitudinal, i.e., developmental, neurobiological profiles. If validated, our findings may advance the development of interventions, e.g., targeting mechanisms linked to relatively poorer outcomes
Psychometric properties and development of the Chinese versions of Gaming Disorder Test (GDT) and Gaming Disorder Scale for Adolescents (GADIS-A)
No full textCurrently, two instruments have been developed using the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) criteria for Gaming Disorder (GD): the Gaming Disorder Test (GDT) and Gaming Disorder Scale for Adolescents (GADIS-A). The present study validated both GDT and GADIS-A among a large sample of Chinese emerging adults. Via online survey, 3,381 participants (56.6% females; mean age = 19.56 years) completed the Chinese versions of the GDT, GADIS-A, Internet Gaming Disorder-Short Form (IGDS9-SF), and Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the factor structure of the Chinese GDT and GADIS-A. Pearson correlations were computed to examine the convergent validity (with IGDS9-SF) and divergent validity (with BSMAS) of the Chinese GDT and Chinese GADIS-A. The GDT had a unidimensional structure, which was invariant across sex and disordered gaming severity subgroups. The GADIS-A had a two-factor structure, which was also invariant across gender and gaming severity subgroups. Both GDT and GADIS-A had significant associations with both IGDS9-SF and with BSMAS. Both Chinese GDT and GADIS-A are valid instruments to assess GD among emerging adults in mainland China, enabling healthcare providers to adopt these tools in their efforts to prevent and examine GD severity among Chinese youth
Eliciting second order beliefs
Get PDFWe study elicitation of subjective beliefs of an agent facing ambiguity (model uncertainty): the agent has a non-singleton set of (first order) priors on an event and a second-order distribution on these priors.
Such a two-stage decomposition of uncertainty and non-reduction of subjective compound lotteries resulting from non-neutrality to the second-order distribution plays an important role in resolving the Ellsberg Paradox. However, a key unanswered question is whether we can actually observe and separate the sets of first and second order subjective probabilities. We answer this question and show that it is indeed possible to pin the two sets down uniquely and therefore separate them meaningfully. We introduce prize variations and ensure that the tangent plane at any point on the surface of the certainty-equivalent function is reported truthfully. Any basis for this plane consists of derivatives in two different directions, and these combine first and second order beliefs in different ways. We show that this is enough to ensure that reporting both sets of beliefs truthfully is uniquely optimal. The technique requires knowledge of the changes in certainty equivalent of a mixture of acts as a result of variations in prizes, which we also elicit
Sustainable food supply chain research
Get PDFPreface: A sustainable food supply chain delivers value in terms of profit and promotes the well-being of people and the planet. However, achieving sustainable food supply chains remains a significant challenge despite efforts to ensure more efficient food production and distribution globally. In tandem with policies and practices ensuring sustainable food supply systems, scientific research in this discipline has employed organizational theories such as the resource-based view, institutional and transactional cost theory, dynamic capabilities theory, and stakeholder theory to understand drivers and inhibitors associated with achieving more sustainable food value chains around the world. The extant scholarship on the sustainable food supply chain has evolved in different directions as a response to different food industry dynamics. However, consistent catalysts to such an evolution have been environmental variability and shock events that manifest as extreme climatic changes and natural hazards that are felt to different degrees in various geographical areas. The effects of environmental variability on food supply chains can be experienced at the local, regional, national, and global scales, but the supply chain disruptions due to the current COVID-19 pandemic cut across global and local food supply chains, and recovery strategies are being explored. Behind this backdrop, this collection of scientific articles seeks to understand the dynamic ramifications of the environmental
variability on sustainable food supply chains to improve resilience. Other objectives of this collection of scientific work include to map the state of the art of sustainable food supply chain research before and during the pandemic as an essential benchmark to enable sustainable food research academics, students, and practitioners to gauge the trajectory of sustainable food supply chain research following the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide a systematic view of current research on the sustainable food supply chain to serve as a useful seminar reference for future research following the COVID-19 pandemic
Deciding FO-rewritability of Regular Languages and Ontology-Mediated Queries in Linear Temporal Logic
Get PDFOur concern is the problem of determining the data complexity of answering an ontology-mediated query (OMQ) formulated in linear temporal logic LTL over (Z,<) and deciding whether it is rewritable to an FO(<)-query, possibly with some extra predicates. First, we observe that, in line with the circuit complexity and FO-definability of regular languages, OMQ answering in AC0, ACC0 and NC1 coincides with FO(<,≡)-rewritability using unary predicates x ≡ 0 (mod n), FO(<,MOD)-rewritability, and FO(RPR)-rewritability using relational primitive recursion, respectively. We prove that, similarly to known PSᴘᴀᴄᴇ-completeness of recognising FO(<)-definability of regular languages, deciding FO(<,≡)- and FO(<,MOD)-definability is also PSᴘᴀᴄᴇ-complete (unless ACC0 = NC1). We then use this result to show that deciding FO(<)-, FO(<,≡)- and FO(<,MOD)-rewritability of LTL OMQs is ExᴘSᴘᴀᴄᴇ-complete, and that these problems become PSᴘᴀᴄᴇ-complete for OMQs with a linear Horn ontology and an atomic query, and also a positive query in the cases of FO(<)- and FO(<,≡)-rewritability. Further, we consider FO(<)-rewritability of OMQs with a binary-clause ontology and identify OMQ classes, for which deciding it is PSᴘᴀᴄᴇ-, Π2p- and coNP-complete
Evolutionary game analysis on the diffusion of general purpose technologies with government multiple supports
Get PDFGeneral purpose technologies (GPTs) are seen as engines of economic growth, which is achieved through diffusion in various application sectors. The diffusion of GPTs is the key to unleashing their potential value. However, the market and organizational failure of GPT diffusion are seen as hurdles to realize this potential. To address this issue, a single-group evolutionary game model was established to analyse the GPT diffusion process and its influencing factors and reveal the evolutionary mechanism of GPT diffusion. The main findings of the study show that the GPT diffusion is an evolutionary process influenced by many factors. GPT diffusion is negatively related to adoption and commercial development costs and positively related to the success rate of commercial development. In addition, government support is found to be positive for GPT diffusion, but a disproportionate share of government funding supports dampens the diffusion process. It is also found that government funds, knowledge and technological support are conducive to GPT diffusion. The effect of knowledge and technological support on GPT diffusion is positively regulated by the technology conversion coefficient, but the intellectual property rights system has a negative impact. The study sheds light on strategic choices for the diffusion and supply of GPTs
Combining wearable fNIRS and immersive virtual reality to study preschoolers’ social development: a proof-of-principle study on preschoolers’ social preference
Get PDFA child’s social world is complex and rich, but has traditionally been assessed with conventional experiments where children are presented with repeated stimuli on a screen. These assessments are impoverished relative to the dynamics of social interactions in real life, and can be challenging to implement with preschoolers, who struggle to comply with strict lab rules. The current work meets the need to develop new platforms to assess preschoolers’ social development, by presenting a unique virtual-reality set-up combined with wearable functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). As a proof-of-principle, we validated this platform by measuring brain activity during self-guided social interaction in 3-to-5-year-olds, which is under-investigated, yet crucial to understand the basis of social interactions in preschoolers. 37 preschoolers chose an interaction partner from one of 4 human-like avatars of different gender and age. We recorded spontaneous brain fluctuations from the frontal and temporoparietal regions (notably engaged in social-categorization and preference) while children played a bubble-popping game with a preferred and an assigned avatar. 60% of the participants chose to play with the same-gender and same-age avatar. However, this result was driven by females (>80% vs. 50% in males). Different fronto-temporoparietal connectivity patterns when playing with the two avatars were observed, especially in females. We showed the feasibility of using a novel set-up to naturalistically assess social preference in preschoolers, which was assessed at the behavioural and functional connectivity level. This work provides a first proof-of-principle for using cutting-edge technologies and naturalistic experiments to study social development, opening new avenues of research
Ghost-written lives: autonomy, deference, and self-authorship
Get PDFCertain forms of practical deference seem to be incompatible with personal autonomy. I argue that such deference undermines autonomy not by compromising the governance of an authentic self, nor by constituting a failure to track objective reasons, but by constituting a particular social relation: one of interpersonal rule. I analyse this social relation and distinguish it from others, including ordinary relations of love and care. Finally, I argue that the particular form of interpersonal rule constituted by dispositions of practical deference in itself entails a partial, though not total, disconnection from the good of a self-authored life
Innovation intermediaries’ types and functions: a computational analysis of the literature
Get PDFInnovation intermediaries have become numerous and diverse. Faced with this growing heterogeneity, there is the need to advance understanding of the organisations that engage in innovation intermediation activities. To do so, we use a combination of text mining and bibliometric techniques, and we identify seven different streams of literature, six of which refer to distinct types of intermediaries that perform specific functions and often involve specific types of organisations. Looking at the evolution of the different streams of literature over time, we find that the early contributions focused on university incubators, science and technology parks, and the role they play within different types of innovation systems. More recently, the focus has shifted to the role of intermediaries in supporting sustainable transitions. Despite the differences between the various types of intermediaries and the literature streams that analyse them, the bibliographic coupling shows that all strands of literature have a common theoretical basis, which includes the open innovation approach and revolves around the role of science parks and incubators
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