Visible Hand Research Articles

Virtual reality assessment of reaching accuracy in patients with recent cerebellar stroke

BackgroundDysmetria, the inability to accurately estimate distance in motor tasks, is a characteristic clinical feature of cerebellar injury. Even though subjective dysmetria can be quickly detected during the neurological examination with the finger-to-nose test, objective quantification of reaching accuracy for clinical assessment is still lacking. Emerging VR technology allows for the delivery of rich multisensory environmental stimuli with a high degree of control. Furthermore, recent improvements in the hand-tracking feature offer an opportunity to closely examine the speed, accuracy, and consistency of fine hand movements and proprioceptive function. This study aims to investigate the application of virtual reality (VR) with hand tracking in the rapid quantification of reaching accuracy at the bedside for patients with cerebellar stroke (CS).Methods and resultsThirty individuals (10 CS patients and 20 age-matched neurologically healthy controls) performed a simple task that allowed us to measure reaching accuracy using a VR headset (Oculus Quest 2). During this task, the participant was asked to reach for a target placed along a horizontal sixty-degree arc. Once the fingertip passed through the arc, the target immediately extinguished. 50% of the trials displayed a visible, real-time rendering of the hand as the participant reached for the target (visible hand condition), while the remaining 50% only showed the target being extinguished (invisible hand condition). The invisible hand condition isolates proprioception-guided movements by removing the visibility of the participant’s hand. Reaching error was calculated as the difference in degrees between the location of the target, and where the fingertip contacted the arc. Both CS patients and age-matched controls displayed higher average reaching error and took longer to perform a reaching motion in the invisible hand condition than in the visible hand condition. Reaching error was higher in CS than in controls in the invisible hand condition but not in the visible hand condition. Average time taken to perform each trial was higher in CS than in controls in the invisible hand conditions but not in the visible hand condition.ConclusionsReaching accuracy assessed by VR offers a non-invasive and rapid approach to quantifying fine motor functions in clinical settings. Furthermore, this technology enhances our understanding of proprioceptive function in patients with visuomotor disabilities by allowing the isolation of proprioception from vision. Future studies with larger cohorts and longitudinal designs will examine the quantitative changes in reaching accuracy after stroke and explore the long-term benefits of VR in functional recovery.

‘Careering’ – toward radicalism in radical times: Links to human security and sustainable livelihoods

In this Age of the Anthropocene, the world of work is being radically disrupted by mass precarity, rising wage and income inequality, habitat destruction, and the rise of artificial intelligence. Facing such insecurity, people, we show, are careering toward radical ways of making a living. They range from radical professionals to social media influencing and environmental activism. Human security is fundamentally enhanced by sustainable livelihoods, and we explore ways not only to de-radicalise, but also to accept and embrace radical careering, if and whenever it serves the purpose of making people's livelihoods more sustainable for society, economies, and ecosystems. The article concludes by introducing an Index of Sustainable Livelihoods ( SL-I). Success to the successful. The Sustainable Livelihoods Index ( SL-I) is designed to be a ‘visible hand’ for end-users, including career counsellors, students, and workers undergoing career transitions, by Corporate Responsibility Officers, and by government ministries supporting just workforce transitions into sustainable livelihoods.

Synergistically promoting enterprises to replace old growth drivers with new ones: The roles of market and government

As enterprises transition from traditional growth models to modern ones, the roles of the market and government are pivotal in facilitating this transformation. Based on the Chinese experience, this paper employs textual analysis methods to describe the transformation process from old to new growth drivers in enterprises and to identify the distinct influences of governmental and market forces. Empirical evidence demonstrates that effective government incentives and competitive market pressure both contribute significantly to development upgrades. A clear symbiotic relationship is evident between these two forces, with government intervention enhancing the effectiveness of market dynamics. However, the impact of these forces varies across different enterprises. The empirical findings suggest that by harnessing the efficient synergy between the "visible hand" of government intervention and the "invisible hand" of market forces, development modes can be upgraded, and endogenous growth can be more effectively fostered.

Invisible and Visible Hands. What Kind of Economist is Adam Smith, and Why is He Still Relevant?

ABSTRACT Adam Smith’s works are investigated to provide better understandings of his contributions to economics and social science. The main issues discussed are the roles of invisible and visible hands; his general theories concerning human nature, moral philosophy, and socioeconomic formations; his proposal for major socioeconomic reform; whether he was a political economist or the ‘father’ of Neoclassicism; the nature of metaphorical interpretations; and why his thought still remains relevant.

Study on the Influence of Government Key Customers on the Enterprise “from Real to Virtual”

Taking China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2020 as samples, this paper studies the influence of government background key customers on the financialization of real enterprises. The research finds that the government background big customers reduce the degree of financialization of real enterprises; The heterogeneity test found that, compared with state-owned enterprises, the inhibition effect of big customers with government background on the financialization of real enterprises was more significant in non-state-owned enterprises and industries with fierce competition; The mechanism test found that the government background large customers suppressed the financialization of real enterprises by easing the financing constraints and improving the net profit level. Research shows that the government, as a major customer of enterprises, is an important means to give play to the visible hand of the government, which can effectively reduce the level of financialization of real enterprises and promote high-quality economic development, and can be an important starting point for the country to prevent systemic financial risks.

Watching videos of a drawing hand improves students' understanding of the normal probability distribution.

Understanding normal probability distributions is a crucial objective in mathematics and statistics education. Drawing upon cognitive psychology research, this study explores the use of drawings and visualizations as effective scaffolds to enhance students' comprehension. Although much research has documented the helpfulness of drawing as a research tool to reveal students' knowledge states, its direct utility in advancing higher-order cognitive processes remains understudied. In Study 1, qualitative methods were utilized to identify common misunderstandings among students regarding canonical depictions of the normal probability distribution. Building on these insights, Study 2 experimentally compared three instructional videos (static slides, dynamic drawing, and dynamic drawings done by a visible hand). The hand drawing video led to better learning than the other versions. Study 3 examined whether the benefits from observing a hand drawing could be reproduced by a dynamic cursor moving around otherwise static slides (without the presence of a hand). Results showed no significant learning difference between observing a hand drawing and a moving cursor, both outperforming a control. This research links the cognitive process of drawing with its educational role and provides insights into its potential to enhance memory, cognition, and inform instructional methods.

A Reappraisal of Albert Aftalion’s Theory of Structural Transformation in an Era of Decarbonization

AbstractDecarbonization is a momentous challenge for capitalism and makes one to ask which changes in its morphology may be necessary to achieve that objective. The contribution by the French economist Albert Aftalion (1874–1956), with its emphasis on intermediate levels of aggregation (the “meso“ approach), the differentiated time profiles of economic actoivities, and their differential speeds of reaction to dynamic impulses, provides an invaluable heuristic for conceptualizing the structural transformations required by transition to a low energy regime. Aftalion’s analysis of industrial capitalism emphasizes that structural changes occur along multiple co-existing time horizons. This provides tools to analyze the time constraints on the sequencing of structural changes for different sectors on a decarbonization trajectory without neglecting the strict time requirements for implementing effective climate change mitigation. This interplay of time horizons is central to decarbonization, and it will require a new balance between the invisible hand of markets and the visible hand of states and other public bodies. Moreover, Aftalion’s emphasis on material constraints offers a novel approach to conceptualizing the importance of intermediate levels of aggregation in economic theory, thereby offering a new basis for sectoral policymaking and a fundamental challenge to institutionalist accounts of the morphology of capitalism.

Study on the Impact of COVID-19 and America Fiscal Policy and Monetary Policy

There are some problems in the economy and society, which cannot be adjusted only by the market mechanism, so the intervention of the state is needed, that is, the "visible hand" of Keynes. Fiscal policy and monetary policy are the two basic means of macro-control. But why tax policy when the state can print money? Can we start the "money printing mode" and rely solely on new money to adjust the economy? The COVID-19 is one of the most disturbing issues for all human beings during recent years, even though the virus destructiveness was weakened due to the effort paid by the experts and governments worldwide. The corresponding issue is still quite severed and obvious. This template is specifically motivated to demonstrate the Fed fluctuated rate hikes under the impact of the COVID-19, which will briefly recap on the stagnant economic atmosphere of the United States. After finish reading this essay. Readers will get clearly and sufficient understanding on how does the national economy in the United States is changed due to several different factors, since the COVID-19 sparked at the end of the year 2019, and expounds the advantages of tax policy and the advantages and disadvantages of issuing more money, and concludes that the problem can be solved not only by printing money, but also by comprehensive use of various economic adjustment means.

Human Capital and the Managerial Revolution in the United States: Evidence from General Electric

Abstract This paper estimates the returns to human capital accumulation during the first era of mega-firms in the United States by linking employees at General Electric—a canonical enterprise associated with the “visible hand” of managerial hierarchies—to the 1940 census. I find large returns to higher education through seniority in the hierarchy, span of control, earnings, and selection into management training, using the proximity of land-grant colleges and historical universities to birth states for identification. The findings highlight the human capital determinants of the managerial revolution at a prominent firm, driven by earlier public investments in the US education system.

Institutional investors and corporate green innovation: Evidence from China

AbstractUsing data for manufacturing firms listed on China A‐share markets between 2003 and 2018, this research explores the impact of institutional investors on corporate green innovation. The study finds that pressure‐resistant institutional investors (PR investors) positively contribute to green innovation, whereas pressure‐sensitive institutional investors (PS investors) hinder it. In addition, this study examines the moderating effect of political ties, distinguishing between ascribed and achieved ties. Ascribed ties weaken the positive relationship between PR investors and green innovation, whereas achieved ties strengthen it and weaken the negative association between PS investors and green innovation. Moreover, the study investigates the influence of institutional development on the relationship between institutional investors and green innovation, and finds that managerial myopia is the mechanism through which institutional investors influence green innovation. Furthermore, this study reveals that there are heterogeneity effects among small and large firms, polluting and non‐polluting firms, and firms facing different levels of market competition. Overall, the study sheds new light on how institutional investors, acting as ‘invisible hands’, interact with political ties, acting as ‘visible hands’, to impact green innovation in transition economies.

Mediating Internal Competition for Resources*

We consider a model of internal competition, where projects developed by agents with different preferences compete for resources in an organization. Allowing a manager—who has moderate preferences—to control the allocation of resources has benefits when preferences are not too diverse. In particular, the manager acts as a mediator, forcing agents to compromise when competing projects succeed, thus providing better insurance to agents and increasing their effort. Our framework provides a theoretical foundation for two influential views of a manager—as the “visible hand” that allocates resources, and as a “power broker” who resolves conflict in an organization.

Multihanded Adam Smith (Part one)

The paper analyzes the metaphor of “an invisible hand”, which was introduced two and a half centuries ago by Adam Smith (1723—1790) and which eventually became the central concept of modern economics. Its first part presents a detailed textual analysis of three fragments from Smith’s works where it is discussed — in the posthumously published “The history of astronomy” (1796), “The theory of moral sentiments” (1757) and “The wealth of nations” (1776). A question arises what meaning Smith put into his metaphor and what significance he attached to it — was there some important general idea behind it or was it merely a passing rhetoric device? There is also no consensus among historians of economic thought what interpretation is more correct — theological (in this case, the “invisible hand” is attributed to the Divine Providence directing it) or secular (in this case, it acts autonomously, without control from any external powers). In addition to “an invisible hand”, we also find in Smith’s texts “the visible hand” of the state, and he leaves no doubt on whose side his sympathies are.

Poster Session: Reaching Accuracy Assessment in Cerebellar Stroke using Virtual Reality.

To investigate the application of virtual reality (VR) in the rapid quantification of reaching accuracy at the bedside for patients with cerebellar stroke (CS). Dysmetria, the inability to measure distance in muscular tasks correctly, is a common clinical feature of cerebellar injury. Objective quantification of reaching accuracy for clinical assessment is lacking, and the emerging VR technology with hand-tracking offers a promising opportunity to examine the speed, accuracy, and consistency of hand movements and proprioceptive function. 29 individuals (10 CS patients and 19 age-matched not-disabled controls) performed a task measuring reaching accuracy on the VR headset (Oculus Quest 2). 50% of the trials displayed a visible rendering of the hand (visible hand condition), and 50% did not (invisible hand condition). Reaching error was higher in CS compared to age-matched controls in both visible and invisible hand conditions. Reaching error was higher in the invisible hand condition compared to the visible hand condition in healthy controls, right CS, left CS but not in bilateral CS patients. The average time per trial was higher in patients than in controls. VR technology promises to be a non-invasive and rapid approach to quantifying fine motor functions in clinical settings. Further studies are needed to examine quantitative changes in reaching accuracy during post-stroke progression.

Complexity and the Visible Hand: the Role Of Knowledge Interdependence in Employee Entrepreneurship

Complexity and the Visible Hand: the Role Of Knowledge Interdependence in Employee Entrepreneurship

Derisking Developmentalism: A Tale of Green Hydrogen

ABSTRACTIn the global race to scale up green hydrogen, a renewed appetite for the visible hand of the state once again promises to expand developmental space for low‐ and middle‐income countries. On the African continent, several countries have announced green industrialization ambitions that rely on mobilizing, through various ‘derisking’ schemes, private (institutional) capital looking for investible opportunities. To examine the transformative potential of this new derisking developmentalism, this article extends the critical macrofinance lens to include Thandika Mkandawire's theorization of post‐independence African developmental states. Using Namibia as an illustration, it argues that an assumption of ‘divine coincidence’ creates the ideological space for the state to forge derisking blocs but structurally weakens its ability to discipline private capital into pursuing green industrialization. As (foreign) capital dominates the state‒capital relationship in derisking developmentalism, the new green rules written by powerful investors and global North governments threaten to transform global South countries into consumers of green hydrogen technology and generators of yield for portfolio investors, thus reinforcing the structural drivers of their ongoing external debt vulnerabilities. Instead, countries should experiment with green public ownership and partnerships that discipline local green industries. Such strategies require replacing the Wall Street Consensus with a supportive global macrofinancial framework the authors call ‘Green Bandung Woods’.

Visible hands: How gig companies shape workers' exposure to market risk

AbstractHow do gig platforms prevent workers from defecting to a competitor? Drawing on 40 original interviews and survey data from 210 ride‐hail drivers, the author finds that platform companies calibrate workers' exposure to market risk using gamified reward systems. These rewards protect compliant workers from changes in market conditions, raising the costs of accepting work from a competitor. Yet those who do not comply are “pushed” to the periphery, increasing their market risk. This article illustrates how platform companies can use their “visible hands” to harness and control market forces, shaping worker behavior within and across platforms.

Precarity, illicit markets, and the ‘mystery’ of prices

ABSTRACT Stand-alone price analysis of illicit opium and coca does not explain why smallholders turn to illicit crops for coping and survival. Under conditions of precarity, illicit crop markets can stimulate productivity. They generate returns that can tame crises and relieve pressures. To smallholders facing marginalisation, violence, and climate change – growing opium and coca, despite their illegality, can reduce or spread risks and provide more predictability. Thus, rather than fix on the ‘invisible hand’ of price theory, the focus should be on the ‘visible hand’ of political entrepreneurship, interdependent relationships, and the metrics of precarity. To do this, this paper retrospectively compares illicit crop prices before and after certain historical moments in Bolivia, Myanmar, Colombia, and Afghanistan.

The Hand Behind the Invisible Hand: Reflections on a Recurring Theme in Classical Liberal Political Economy

Abstract This article is a review essay of Karl Mittermaier’s ‘The Hand Behind the Invisible Hand’, first written as a PhD thesis that was submitted in 1987 and finally published in 2020. The essay examines the main question upon which Mittermaier focuses, namely, whether the institutional framework required for spontaneous market order to arise itself also arises spontaneously, via an invisible hand process, or whether it must instead be deliberately created by the visible hand of the state. The essay considers Mittermaier’s analysis of how this issue is addressed in the work of Adam Smith, James Buchanan, Walter Eucken, Friedrich Hayek, and Henry Simons. It also adds some reflections about the issue arising from the work of Elinor Ostrom.

Exploring the relationship between brain white matter change and higher degree of invisible hand tremor with computer technology.

At present, the clinical diagnosis of white matter change (WMC) patients depends on cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology. This diagnostic method is costly and does not allow for large-scale screening, leading to delays in the patient's condition due to inability to receive timely diagnosis. To evaluate whether the burden of WMC is associated with the degree of invisible hand tremor in humans. Previous studies have shown that tremor is associated with WMC, however, tremor does not always have imaging of WMC. Therefore, to confirm that the appearance of WMC causes tremor, which are sometimes invisible to the naked eye, we achieved an optical-based computer-aided diagnostic device by detecting the invisible hand tremor, and we proposed a calculation method of WMC volume by using the characteristics of MRI images. Statistical analysis results further clarified the relationship between WMC and tremor, and our devices are validated for the detection of tremors with WMC. The burden of WMC volume is positive factor for degree of invisible hand tremor in the participants without visible hand tremor. Detection technology provides a more convenient and low-cost evaluating method before MRI for tremor diseases.

Reaching Accuracy Assessment in Cerebellar Stroke using Virtual Reality (S20.010)

<h3>Objective:</h3> To investigate the application of virtual reality (VR) in the rapid quantification of reaching accuracy at the bedside for patients with cerebellar stroke (CS). <h3>Background:</h3> Dysmetria, the inability to measure distance in muscular tasks correctly, is a characteristic clinical feature of cerebellar injury. Even though dysmetria can be quickly detected during the neurological examination with the finger-to-nose test, objective quantification of reaching accuracy for clinical assessment is still lacking. Emerging VR technology, together with recent improvements in the hand-tracking feature, offers an opportunity to closely examine the speed, accuracy, and consistency of fine hand movements and proprioceptive function. <h3>Design/Methods:</h3> 29 individuals (10 CS patients and 19 age-matched not-disabled controls) performed a task measuring reaching accuracy on the VR headset (Oculus Quest 2). 50% of the trials displayed a visible rendering of the hand as the participant reached for the target (visible hand condition), while the remaining 50% only showed the target being extinguished (invisible hand condition). Reaching error was calculated as the difference in degrees between where the fingertip passed the arch and where the target was positioned. <h3>Results:</h3> Reaching error was higher in CS than in age-matched controls in both visible hand and invisible hand conditions. Reaching error was higher in the invisible hand condition than in the visible hand condition in both healthy controls and CS patients. Average time taken to perform each trial was higher in CS patients than in controls in both visible and invisible hand conditions. <h3>Conclusions:</h3> Reaching accuracy assessed by VR promises to be a non-invasive and rapid approach to quantifying fine motor functions in clinical settings. In addition, this device has the potential to be a useful supplemental technology in monitoring fine motor and proprioceptive functions during physical rehabilitation. Further studies are needed to examine quantitative changes in reaching accuracy during post-stroke progression. <b>Disclosure:</b> Mr. Du has nothing to disclose. Mr. Benavides has received personal compensation for serving as an employee of Stryker. Emily Isenstein has received research support from Autism Science Foundation. Prof. Tadin has received personal compensation in the range of $50,000-$99,999 for serving as a Consultant for NeuroTrainer. Prof. Tadin has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as an Expert Witness for Finkelstein and partners. The institution of Prof. Tadin has received research support from NIH. The institution of Prof. Tadin has received research support from The Brain &amp; Behavior Research Foundation. Prof. Tadin has received intellectual property interests from a discovery or technology relating to health care. Dr. Busza has received research support from NIH/NINDS. Dr. Busza has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Grant reviewer with NIH.