Series representations of the remainders in the expansions for certain functions with applications

We present a summary of the series representations of the remainders in the expansions in ascending powers of t of 2/(et+1)2/(et+1) , sech t and coth t and establish simple bounds for these remainders when t>0t>0 . Several applications of these expansions are given which enable us to deduce some inequalities and completely monotonic functions associated with the ratio of two gamma functions. In addition, we derive a (presumably new) quadratic recurrence relation for the Bernoulli numbers Bn.

The Real-Quaternionic Indicator of Irreducible Self-Conjugate Representations of Real Reductive Algebraic Groups and A Comment on the Local Langlands Correspondence of GL(2, F )

The real-quaternionic indicator, also called the $\delta$ indicator, indicates if a self-conjugate representation is of real or quaternionic type. It is closely related to the Frobenius-Schur indicator, which we call the $\varepsilon$ indicator. The Frobenius-Schur indicator $\varepsilon(\pi)$ is known to be given by a particular value of the central character. We would like a similar result for the $\delta$ indicator. When $G$ is compact, $\delta(\pi)$ and $\varepsilon(\pi)$ coincide. In general, they are not necessarily the same. In this thesis, we will give a relation between the two indicators when $G$ is a real reductive algebraic group. This relation also leads to a formula for $\delta(\pi)$ in terms of the central character. For the second part, we consider the construction of the local Langlands correspondence of $GL(2,F)$ when $F$ is a non-Archimedean local field with odd residual characteristics. By re-examining the construction, we provide new proofs to some important properties of the correspondence. Namely, the construction is independent of the choice of additive character in the theta correspondence.

Neural representations of social and non-social uncertainty in human decision making

The social landscape is filled with an intricate web of species-specific desired objects and course of actions. Humans are highly social animals and, as they navigate this landscape, they need to produce adapted decision-making behaviour. Traditionally social and non-social neural mechanisms affecting choice have been investigated using different approaches. Recently, in an effort to unite these findings, two main theories have been proposed to explain how the brain might encode social and non-social motivational decision-making: the extended common currency and the social valuation specific schema (Ruff & Fehr 2014). One way to test these theories is to directly compare neural activity related to social and non-social decision outcomes within the same experimental setting. Here we address this issue by focusing on the neural substrates of social and non-social forms of uncertainty. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we directly compared the neural representations of reward and risk prediction and errors (RePE and RiPE) in social and non- social situations using gambling games. We used a trust betting game to vary uncertainty along a social dimension (trustworthiness), and a card game (Preuschoff et al. 2006) to vary uncertainty along a non-social dimension (pure risk). The trust game was designed to maintain the same structure of the card game. In a first study, we exposed a divide between subcortical and cortical regions when comparing the way these regions process social and non-social forms of uncertainty during outcome anticipation. Activity in subcortical regions reflected social and non-social RePE, while activity in cortical regions correlated with social RePE and non-social RiPE. The second study focused on outcome delivery and integrated the concept of RiPE in non-social settings with that of fairness and monetary utility maximisation in social settings. In particular these results corroborate recent models of anterior insula function (Singer et al. 2009; Seth 2013), and expose a possible neural mechanism that weights fairness and uncertainty but not monetary utility. The third study focused on functionally defined regions of the early visual cortex (V1) showing how activity in these areas, traditionally considered only visual, might reflect motivational prediction errors in addition to known perceptual prediction mechanisms (den Ouden et al 2012). On the whole, while our results do not support unilaterally one or the other theory modeling the underlying neural dynamics of social and non-social forms of decision making, they provide a working framework where both general mechanisms might coexist.

Children's mental representations of attachment: associations with attachment security and parent-child narrative quality

The goal of this study was to examine the antecedents and correlates of children’s mental representations of attachment at 5 years (Attachment Story Completion Task, Bretherton, Ridgeway, & Cassidy, 1990; MacArthur Story Stem Battery, Bretherton, Oppenheim, Buchsbaum, Emde, & the MacArthur Narrative Group, 1990). Predictors included children’s attachment security with mothers and fathers assessed via the Attachment Q-Set (AQS, Waters, 1987) at 3 years, and parent-child narrative quality regarding positive and negative events at 5 years. Participants included 71 children and their mothers and fathers. Structural equation models (SEM) indicated that children’s attachment security exerted a significant indirect effect on children’s mental representations through parent-child narrative quality. Specifically, children’s attachment security with fathers was related to their mental representations via father-child reminiscing about positive events, and children’s attachment security with mothers was related to their mental representations via mother-child reminiscing about negative events. Results are discussed in terms of the development and implications of attachment relationships within the family context.

Which way is up? Grounded mental representations of space

Processing language is postulated to involve a mental simulation, or re-enactment of perceptual, motor, and introspective states that were acquired experientially (Barsalou, 1999, 2008). One such aspect that is mentally simulated during processing of certain concepts is spatial location. For example, upon processing the word “moon” the prominent spatial location of the concept (e.g. ‘upward’) is mentally simulated. In six eye-tracking experiments, we investigate how mental simulations of spatial location affect processing. We first address a conflict in previous literature whereby processing is shown to be impacted in both a facilitatory and inhibitory way. Two of our experiments showed that mental simulations of spatial association facilitate saccades launched toward compatible locations; however, a third experiment showed an inhibitory effect on saccades launched towards incompatible locations. We investigated these differences with further experiments, which led us to conclude that the nature of the effect (facilitatory or inhibitory) is dependent on the demands of the task and, in fitting with the theory of Grounded Cognition (Barsalou, 2008), that mental simulations impact processing in a dynamic way. Three further experiments explored the nature of verticality – specifically, whether ‘up’ is perceived as away from gravity, or above our head. Using similar eye-tracking methods, and by manipulating the position of participants, we were able to dissociate these two possible standpoints. The results showed that mental simulations of spatial location facilitated saccades to compatible locations, but only when verticality was dissociated from gravity (i.e. ‘up’ was above the participant’s head). We conclude that this is not due to an ‘embodied’ mental simulation, but rather a result of heavily ingrained visuo-motor association between vertical space and eye movements.

IDEATIONAL REPRESENTATIONS OF EDENTULISM AND PROSTHETIC REHABILITATION FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE ELDERLY

Objetivo: Identificar as representações ideativas de idosos edêntulos uni ou bimaxilares acerca das perdas dentárias e da reabilitação protética oral. Métodos: Estudo qualitativo, realizado entre janeiro e março de 2011 com sete idosos residentes em uma Instituição Pública de Longa Permanência do Recife-PE, com 14 idosos em atendimento na Clínica de Prótese Dentária da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE). Coletaram-se os dados através de uma entrevista semiestruturada que passou por análise de conteúdo. Resultados: Os achados possibilitaram identificar que, para os idosos, os dentes contribuíam tanto para a saúde quanto como para facilitar interações sociais, enquanto o edentulismo foi associado a uma pluralidade de sentimentos negativos. Quanto à reabilitação protética, eles enfatizaram os prejuízos para a saúde devido a próteses mal adaptadas. Conclusão: Os idosos acreditam que o edentulismo e a reabilitação protética estão associados, principalmente, a um conceito mecanicista da profissão, amplamente difundido entre os profissionais que privilegiam mais a odontologia curativa em detrimento da prevenção. Nesse contexto, para que o envelhecimento possa ser considerado uma etapa da vida com as mesmas qualidades e dificuldades de qualquer outra, sugere-se aos gestores e aos próprios profissionais em saúde que se comprometam mais com uma prática odontológica humanizadora e preventiva, a fim de proverem os requisitos mínimos para um envelhecimento com dignidade.

Social representations of nursing students about hospital assistance and primary health care

Objective: To analyze how social representations of hospital and community care are structured in two groups of nursing students – 1st and 4th years. Method: Qualitative research oriented by the Theory of Social Representations. We used a questionnaire with Free Association of Words. Data were analyzed in the Software IRaMuTeQ 0.6 alpha 3. Results: We applied the method of Descending Hierarchical Classifi cation and obtained four classes. Class 4 has the largest social representation (30.41%) within the corpus. The two organizational axes are nurse and disease/patient in the central core. On the periphery are the care and help related to the nurse and the treatment and prevention associated with the disease. Conclusion: Social representations focus on disease/patient and on the role of nurses in the treatment, prevention, and care. Health promotion and the social determinants of health are absent from the social representations of students.

The other of myself: representations of portuguese teachers about intercultural education related concepts

Having into consideration that we live in a multicultural society, it is important to analyse how far people view and accept each other. Therefore, one should reflect upon concepts such as: representations and stereotypes, because they are interpersonal constructs which are (re)built during the interaction of different sociocultural groups. In this study, we focus our attention on the representations a sociocultural group – Portuguese teachers - has of intercultural education and the role of teachers and educators in the promotion of an intercultural approach at school. We believe that teachers have the responsibility to: find out the representations students have of the Other; reconfigure stereotyped representations; and create representations which favor dialogue and relationship with the Other flourish. Following a sociolinguistic approach (Müller, 1998; Vasseur, 2001; Vasseur & Hudelot, 1998), which is related to the construction and diffusion of representations in discourse, we analyse the discourse of teachers during a workshop called ‘The Other and Myself’, in which they build and discuss about a didactic mask that portrays their own vision of both themselves and their ideas of intercultural education.

Input-state-output representations of concatenated 2D convolutional codes

In this paper we investigate a novel model of concatenation of a pair of two-dimensional (2D) convolutional codes. We consider finite-support 2D convolutional codes and choose the so-called Fornasini-Marchesini input-state-output (ISO) model to represent these codes. More concretely, we interconnect in series two ISO representations of two 2D convolutional codes and derive the ISO representation of the ob- tained 2D convolutional code. We provide necessary condition for this representation to be minimal. Moreover, structural properties of modal reachability and modal observability of the resulting 2D convolutional codes are investigated.

Myths and legends: the reality of rape offences reported to a UK police force

Rape myths affect many aspects of the investigative and criminal justice systems. One such myth, the 'real rape' myth, states that most rapes involve a stranger using a weapon attacking a woman violently at night in an isolated, outdoor area, and that women sustain serious injuries from these attacks. The present study examined how often actual offences reported to a central UK police force over a two year period matched the 'real rape' myth. Out of 400 cases of rape reported, not a single incident was found with all the characteristics of the 'real rape' myth. The few stranger rapes that occurred had a strong link to night-time economy activities, such as the victim and offender both having visited pubs, bars, and clubs. By contrast, the majority of reported rape offences (280 cases, 70.7%) were committed by people known to the victim (e.g., domestic and acquaintance rapes), occurred inside a residence, with most victims sustaining no physical injuries from the attack. The benefits of these naturalistic findings from the field for educating people about the inaccuracy of rape myths are discussed.

Dynamic mental representations of habitual behaviours: Food choice on a web-based environment

Aim: Rather than being rigid, habitual behaviours may be determined by dynamic mental representations that can adapt to context changes. This adaptive potential may result from particular conditions dependent on the interaction between two sources of mental constructs activation: perceived context applicability and cognitive accessibility . Method: T wo web-shopping simulations of fering the choice between habitually chosen and non-habitually chosen food products were presented to participants. This considered two choice contexts dif fering in the habitual behaviour perceived applicability (low vs. high) and a measure of habitual behaviour chronicity . Results: Study 1 demonstrated a perceived applicability ef fect, with more habitual (non-organic) than non-habitual (organic) food products chosen in a high perceived applicability (familiar) than in a low perceived applicability (new) context. The adaptive potential of habitual behaviour was evident in the habitual products choice consistency across three successive choices, despite the decrease in perceived applicability . Study 2 evidenced the adaptive potential in strong habitual behaviour participants – high chronic accessibility – who chose a habitual product (milk) more than a non-habitual product (orange juice), even when perceived applicability was reduced (new context). Conclusion: Results portray consumers as adaptive decision makers that can flexibly cope with changes in their (inner and outer) choice contexts.

Veteranness : Representations of Combat-related PTSD in U.S. Popular Visual Media

Posttraumatic stress and PTSD are becoming familiar terms to refer to what we often call the invisible wounds of war, yet these are recent additions to a popular discourse in which images of and ideas about combat-affected veterans have long circulated. A legacy of ideas about combat veterans and war trauma thus intersects with more recent clinical information about PTSD to become part of a discourse of visual media that has defined and continues to redefine veteran for popular audiences. In this dissertation I examine realist combat veteran representations in selected films and other visual media from three periods: during and after World Wars I and II (James Allen from I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Fred Derry and Al Stephenson from The Best Years of Our Lives); after the Vietnam War (Michael from The Deer Hunter, Eriksson from Casualties of War), and post 9/11 (Will James from The Hurt Locker, a collection of veterans from Wartorn: 1861-2010.) Employing a theoretical framework informed by visual media studies, Barthes’ concept of myth, and Foucault’s concept ofdiscursive unity, I analyze how these veteran representations are endowed with PTSD symptom-like behaviors and responses that seem reasonable and natural within the narrative arc. I contend that veteran myths appear through each veteran representation as the narrative develops and resolves. I argue that these veteran myths are many and varied but that they crystallize in a dominant veteran discourse, a discursive unity that I term veteranness. I further argue that veteranness entangles discrete categories such as veteran, combat veteran, and PTSD with veteran myths, often tying dominant discourse about combat-related PTSD to outdated or outmoded notions that significantly affect our attitudes about and treatment of veterans. A basic premise of my research is that unless and until we learn about the lasting effects of the trauma inherent to combat, we hinder our ability to fulfill our responsibilities to war veterans. A society that limits its understanding of posttraumatic stress, PTSD and post-war experiences of actual veterans affected by war trauma to veteranness or veteran myths risks normalizing or naturalizing an unexamined set of sociocultural expectations of all veterans, rendering them voice-less, invisible, and, ultimately disposable.