Sophisticated Equilibrium Research Articles

The impact of TP53 activation and apoptosis in primary hereditary microcephaly.

Autosomal recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH) is a constellation of disorders that share significant brain size reduction and mild to moderate intellectual disability, which may be accompanied by a large variety of more invalidating clinical signs. Extensive neural progenitor cells (NPC) proliferation and differentiation are essential to determine brain final size. Accordingly, the 30 MCPH loci mapped so far (MCPH1-MCPH30) encode for proteins involved in microtubule and spindle organization, centriole biogenesis, nuclear envelope, DNA replication and repair, underscoring that a wide variety of cellular processes is required for sustaining NPC expansion during development. Current models propose that altered balance between symmetric and asymmetric division, as well as premature differentiation, are the main mechanisms leading to MCPH. Although studies of cellular alterations in microcephaly models have constantly shown the co-existence of high DNA damage and apoptosis levels, these mechanisms are less considered as primary factors. In this review we highlight how the molecular and cellular events produced by mutation of the majority of MCPH genes may converge on apoptotic death of NPCs and neurons, via TP53 activation. We propose that these mechanisms should be more carefully considered in the alterations of the sophisticated equilibrium between proliferation, differentiation and death produced by MCPH gene mutations. In consideration of the potential druggability of cell apoptotic pathways, a better understanding of their role in MCPH may significantly facilitate the development of translational approaches.

Fostering Students’ Critical Thinking through Socratic Seminar

Student of 21st century have a basket of challenge. They must be able to think critically, to communicate effectively, to collaborate respectfully, and to think creatively. Those four Cs are not a school subject that will be teach independently. Yet, all of them are integrated on each subject that the students' learnt. Among those four, critical thinking is an emergency necessity for college students to help them develop their original thesis report. Through a classroom action research, Socratic Seminar will introduce in Exploring Poetry and Prose subject to foster students' critical thinking skills. The aims of this paper is to find out to what extend Socratic Seminar foster students’ critical thinking. Observation, interview, and questionnaire are used to collect the data. To sum up, Socratic Seminar successfully developed students' thinking from equilibrium to disequilibrium to a more sophisticated equilibrium. Keywords: Critical thinking, Socratic seminar

Voting with public information

We study the effect of public information on collective decision-making in committees, where members can have both common and conflicting interests. In the presence of public information, the simple and efficient vote-your-signal strategy profile no longer constitutes an equilibrium under the commonly-used simultaneous voting rules, while the intuitive but inefficient follow-the-expert strategy profile almost always does. Although more information may be aggregated if agents are able to coordinate on more sophisticated equilibria, inefficiency can persist even in large elections if the provision of public information introduces general correlation between the signals observed by the agents. We propose simple voting procedures that can indirectly implement the outcomes of the optimal ex post incentive compatible mechanisms with public information. Our voting procedures also have additional advantages when there is a concern for strategic disclosure of public information.

The Historical Evolution of Alternative Metrics for Developing Countries’ Food and Agriculture Policy Assessment

The demand for quantitative assessments of the impacts of food and agricultural policies has grown steadily in the past four decades. From the application of social cost-benefit analysis to investments in developing countries in the 1970s to the use of increasingly sophisticated general equilibrium models today, the menu of available techniques for policy assessment has expanded rapidly. In addition, both partial and general equilibrium models have been developed to analyze world markets for agricultural commodities and the effects of government policies on such markets. Alongside the modeling of markets and the quantitative impact of policies, several indicators have been developed that build on trade policy measures, including effective protection and tariff equivalents. One example is the producer subsidy equivalent. This has been used by the OECD to estimate the level of support provided by government policies to the agricultural sector. The indicators have more recently been applied to developing countries as a form of benchmarking to give a snapshot of the transfers among stakeholders inherent in such policies.

A lemma in open sequential voting by veto

The paper is devoted to the investigation of intuitively rational choice in a hierarchical game that is a model of election by open sequential veto-voting. Casting a veto against voter’s least preferred alternative (among remaining ones) may not lead to a sophisticated equilibrium. It means that sincere choice (being intuitive) is not rational. There arises the problem of finding conditions under which a sophisticated optimal sequence of actions is intuitively rational. We prove that in the case of strict preference ordering of alternatives, there exists an intuitively rational sophisticated optimal sequence. In the sequence, each voter vetoes an alternative less preferred than the sophisticated equilibrium outcome. Thus, only intuitively rational strategies are to be considered, although complete information about voters’ preferences is still needed.

Platelet Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Nutrients

Reactive oxidant species (ROS) and intracellular antioxidants are on a sophisticated equilibrium that may lead to cellular damage in case of enhanced production of ROS and/or lowered antioxidant status. Several enzymatic pathways concur to the platelet production of ROS, including NADPH oxidase, myeloperoxidase, xanthine oxidase and uncoupled eNOS. Platelet NADPH oxidase seems to play a crucial role in platelet activation. Pharmacologic approach to reduce platelet activation by the down-regulation of NAPDH oxidase, may represent a future target of antiplatelet drugs. In this context some antioxidant molecules content in food, such as polyphenols, Vitamin E, Vitamin C and PUFAn-3, would be of potential interest.

Core-stable rings in second price auctions with common values

In a common value auction in which the information partitions of the bidders are connected, all rings are core-stable. More precisely, the ex ante expected utilities of rings, at the (noncooperative) sophisticated equilibrium proposed by Einy et al. [Einy, E., Haimanko, O., Orzach, R., Sela, A., 2002. Dominance solvability of second-prices auctions with differential information. Journal of Mathematical Economics 37, 247–258], describe a cooperative games in characteristic function form, in spite of the underlying strategic externalities. A ring is core-stable if the core of this characteristic function is not empty. Furthermore, every ring can implement its sophisticated equilibrium strategy by means of an incentive compatible mechanism. An example shows that, if the bidders’ information partitions are not connected, rings may no longer be core-stable.

Core-Stable Rings in Second Price Auctions with Common Values

In a common value auction in which the information partitions of the bidders are connected, all rings are core-stable. More precisely, the ex ante expected utilities of rings, at the (noncooperative) sophisticated equilibrium proposed by Einy, Haimanko, Orzach and Sela (Journal of Mathematical Economics, 2002), describe a cooperative game, in characteristic function form, in spite of the underlying strategic externalities. A ring is core-stable if the core of this characteristic function is not empty. Furthermore, every ring can implement its sophisticated equilibrium strategy by means of an incentive compatible mechanism.

Real-time calculation of plasma parameters for feedback control in JET

Plasma parameters, like the internal inductance, li, and the diamagnetic poloidal beta, βDIA, are of particular relevance for a reliable real-time control system of next step tokamaks. These and other quantities have been obtained at Joint European Torus (JET) with a method that uses the Shafranov integrals S1, S2 and S3. Indeed they allow the direct calculation of the Shafranov parameter Λ = βMHD + li/2 and of βDIA. Moreover, in discharges with a sufficiently high elongation (k > 1.3 typically), the internal inductance can be separated from the MHD poloidal beta, βMHD, and calculated independently, through the Shafranov integrals, with a precision that is more than satisfactory for real-time applications. It is worth mentioning that, since S1, S2 and S3 are integrals defined on the plasma boundary, a specific algorithm, depending on the fast code XLOC, has been expressively developed to determine this quantity.The method to determine the plasma parameters has been verified off-line, benchmarking its outputs with the estimates of the most sophisticated equilibrium codes available. The results of this systematic comparison have been very encouraging both in the limiter and x-point phases of the discharges and on all the investigated plasma configurations. The computational time, necessary to determine the plasma boundary and about 50 signals is only about 1.5 ms on a PC equipped with a 400 MHz Pentium II, well below the 10 ms constraint of JET real-time applications. The code has therefore been implemented on-line, and its outputs have already been exploited to achieve the feedback control of some plasma parameters.

Time-Inconsistent Preferences in General Equilibrium

There is a growing body of research in economics that studies the consequences of time-inconsistent preferences. This paper introduces time-inconsistent preferences in a general equilibrium setting. We discuss how the standard notion of competitive equilibrium should be extended in order to allow for changes in intertemporal preferences. Depending on whether or not agents recognize that their intertemporal preferences change, agents are called sophisticated or naive. We present competitive equilibrium notions for economies with naive agents and economies with sophisticated agents and provide assumptions under which both types of equilibria exist. Time-inconsistency also raises conceptual issues on the appropriate notion of efficiency. Of particular importance is the way future intertemporal preferences are taken into account. An example shows that sophisticated equilibria may be less efficient than naive equilibria. We specify suitable conditions for which both types of equilibria satisfy appropriate efficiency notions.

Crude closure for flow with topography through large-scale statistical theory

Crude closure algorithms based on equilibrium statistical theories are developed here for prototypical geophysical flows involving barotropic flow over topography. These algorithms are developed utilizing the simplest energy-enstrophy statistical theory for flow with topography. Only a single parameter, the energy, is tracked by the algorithm and the entire flow structure is predicted through the equilibrium statistical state. In particular, no explicit parametrization of a sub-grid scale energy spectrum is utilized in the algorithm. The predictions of the crude closure algorithm are compared with direct pseudo-spectral numerical simulations of the barotropic flow equations with random small-scale forcing and dissipation for a variety of random topographies in basin, channel and periodic geometries. In most situations studied here, the energy is tracked within small errors by the crude closure, while the velocity errors rarely exceed 10% provided that the enstrophy/energy ratio is not large or growing significantly in time. Examples are also introduced where the crude closure algorithm based on the energy-enstrophy theory fails; in these circumstances, a crude closure algorithm based on more sophisticated equilibrium statistical theories is introduced as a possible remedy.

Haltere Afferents Provide Direct, Electrotonic Input to a Steering Motor Neuron in the Blowfly,Calliphora

The first basalar muscle (b1) is one of 17 small muscles in flies that control changes in wing stroke kinematics during steering maneuvers. The b1 is unique, however, in that it fires a single phase-locked spike during each wingbeat cycle. The phaselocked firing of the b1's motor neuron (mnb1) is thought to result from wingbeat-synchronous mechanosensory input, such as that originating from the campaniform sensilla at the base of the halteres. Halteres are sophisticated equilibrium organs of flies that function to detect angular rotations of the body during flight. We have developed a new preparation to determine whether the campaniform sensilla at the base of the halteres are responsible for the phasic activity of b1. Using intracellular recording and mechanical stimulation, we have found one identified haltere campaniform field (dF2) that provides strong synaptic input to the mnb1. This haltere to mnb1 connection consists of a fast and a slow component. The fast component is monosynaptic, mediated by an electrical synapse, and thus can follow haltere stimulation at high frequencies. The slow component is possibly polysynaptic, mediated by a chemical synapse, and fatigues at high stimulus frequencies. Thus, the fast monosynaptic electrical pathway between haltere afferents and mnb1 may be responsible in part for the phase-locked firing of b1 during flight.

Methods for Measurements of Increased Release of Free Oxygen Radicals

The biological efficacy of oxidants is based on a highly regulated equilibrium between the production of oxygen radicals and the counteracting defense mechanisms of antioxidant scavenging systems and repair enzymes for the elimination of the degraded bioproducts. Imbalance of this finely tuned, sophisticated equilibrium can result in oxidative stress unleashing a cascade of pathological processes. This review summarizes the general aspects of the analytical methods used for the detection of an excess of free radicals together with a critical evaluation of the results obtained by their application. Free radicals are very reactive, short-lived and react in a non-specific way. In spite of the broad array of existing analytical methods no routine diagnostic in vivo procedures are available to date. The development of more <i>site-specific</i> in vivo methods will enable the elucidation of the exact role of these very reactive radicals and molecular species. For the time being, the most important task of physicians and surgeons is to prevent all catalytic reactions known to initiate pro-oxidative stress and counteract the absolute or relative lack of antioxidants.

Acoplamiento de modelos de transporte de solutos y de modelos de reacciones químicas

During subsurface transport, reactive solutes are subject to a variety of hydrodynamic and chemical processes. The major hydrodynamic processes include advection and convection, dispersion and diffusion. The key chemical processes are complexation including hydrolysis and acid-base reactions, dissolution-precipitation, reduction-oxidation, adsorption and ion exchange. The combined effects of all these processes on solute transport must satisfy the principie of conservation of mass. The statement of conservation of mass for N mobile species leads to N partial differential equations. Traditional solute transport models often incorporate the effects of hydrodynamic processes rigorously but oversimplify chemical interactions among aqueous species. Sophisticated chemical equilibrium models, on the other hand, incorporate a variety of chemical processes but generally assume no-flow systems. In the past decade, coupled models accounting for complex hydrological and chemical processes, with varying degrees of sophistication, have been developed. The existing models of reactive transport employ two basic sets of equations. The transport of solutes is described by a set of partial differential equations, and the chemical processes, under the assumption of equilibrium, are described by a set of nonlinear algebraic equations. An important consideration in any approach is the choice of primary dependent variables. Most existing models cannot account for the complete set of chemical processes, cannot be easily extended to include mixed chemical equilibria and kinetics, and cannot handle practical two and three dimensional problems. The difficulties arise mainly from improper selection of the primary variables in the transport equations.

Implementation of Democratic Social Choice Functions

A social choice function is said to be implementable if and only if there exists a game form such that for all preference profiles an equilibrium strategy n-tuple exists and any equilibrium strategy n-tuples of the game yield outcomes in the social choice set. A social choice function is defined to be minimally democratic if and only if whenever there exists an alternative which is ranked first by n-1 voters and is no lower than second for the last voter, then the social choice must be uniquely that alternative. No constraints are placed on the social choice function for other preference profiles. Using the usual definitions of equilibria for n-person games—namely Nash and strong equilibria—it is shown here that over unrestricted preference domains, no minimally democratic social choice function is implementable. The same result holds in certain restricted domains of the type assumed by economists over public goods spaces. We then show that a different notion of equilibrium—namely that of sophisticated equilibrium—allows for implementation of democratic social choice functions also having further appealing properties. The implication is that models of democratic political processes cannot be based on the standard equilibrium notions of Nash or strong equilibria.

Welfare Economics of Decision Making with Changing Preferences

paper considers the properties a decision tree needs to guarantee that there are no preferences such that the sophisticated equilibrium is Pareto dominated when all agents act completely myopically. It shows that the only decision trees with this property are the most trivial problems. analysis is generalized to agents who are not completely myopic and gives an example of union and shareholder conflict to illustrate the results. 1. This paper is concerned with the welfare aspects of decision making in a non-cooperative game where the players have different preferences over future actions and must move sequentially. Typically two outcomes are analysed in this context. One is the naive or myopic outcome which is the result of all individuals making irrational myopic choices and the other is the sophisticated or perfect equilibrium.1 results of Hammond (1976) show that if there is no essential inconsistency2 between agents preferences then these two outcomes coincide. welfare comparison when there is essential inconsistency remains an open question and this paper will attempt to provide some answers. Although this issue has not been explicitly considered the terminology perfect and sophisticated compared to myopic or naive is itself persuasive. literature has tended to enhance this view, e.g. Blackorby et al (1973): The sophisticated solution would appear to be an improvement over naive By explicitly considering the future preferences each generation realises a level of utility greater than that which is possible under inconsistent naive planning. It will be shown that this view is incorrect (for all degrees of myopia). Of course there are many cases where the perfect equilibrium in non-cooperative games is inefficient, thus it is not surprising that actions by some agents which deviate from rational behaviour can result in a better outcome for all agents. It is less obvious that if everyone behaved myopically this is possible yet it will be shown that in all but the most trivial decision trees there always exist preferences such that this is true. following section outlines the model that will be used and Section 3 contains the results. Section 4 gives a topical economic example that reduces to the decision tree structure used extensively in Section 3. This example clarifies the structure of the results and also highlights some of the difficulties with introducing precommitment.