Reservation price uncertainty: Loss,virtue, or emotional heterogeneity?

One of the best-researched anomalies in behavioral sciences is loss aversion, but with strong study variations and no systematic explanations thereof. The aim here was to introduce psychophysiological correlates for loss aversion to improve behavioral predictability. In an endowment experiment, a loss versus gain framing was implemented for a virtue versus a vice product. In addition to the classical price elicitation, an area of indifference and individual price reactions were examined, while emotional arousal as skin conductance levels were continuously measured. Furthermore, various heterogeneity measures for emotions and product experience evaluations were applied directly after the purchasing decision or as a more general personality measure at the end of the study. Results show fundamental regularities of product and frame on the price or the size of indifference. Physiologically measured emotional arousal further supports the dependence of loss aversion. Vice products and a loss frame increase emotional arousal and the consumer purchase price indifference. Reported emotions, aggregated as personality factors, can partially explain the observed heterogeneity in purchase price levels and price indifferences.     

Frantz Fanon,poet: pleasure of the text,power of the text

ABSTRACT

Frantz Fanon’s writing represents a productive embrace of the political and the poetic. His ideas have had such a long afterlife, they live on in us, I submit, precisely because the language of their articulation, image-filled and rhythmic, is compelling. This article examines three elements of Fanonian poetics in Black Skin, White Masks: the use of metaphor and, in “By Way of Conclusion,” an ambiguous/multiple “I” as persona, and, finally, what Brent Edwards has called “anaphoric poetics,” the repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of successive phrases.     

The persistence of skin color discrimination for immigrants

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination in employment on the basis of color is prohibited, and color is a protected basis independent from race. Using data from the spouses of the main respondents to the New Immigrant Survey 2003, this paper shows that immigrants with the lightest skin color earn on average 16-23% more than comparable immigrants with the darkest skin color. These estimates control for years of legal permanent residence in the US, education, English language proficiency, occupation in source country, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, race, country of birth, as well as for extensive current labor market characteristics that may be themselves influenced by discrimination. Furthermore, the skin color penalty does not diminish over time. These results are consistent with persistent skin color discrimination affecting legal immigrants to the United States.     

The Psychological Effects of Skin Color on African Americans' Self-Esteem

Abstract

Skin color distinction is a well-kept secret in African American communities. This paper analyzes the psychological effects of this phenomenon using the framework of symbolic inter-actionism and “interpersonal theory.” It suggests that the hue of one's skin tends to have a psychological effect on the self-esteem of African Americans, although that assertion is not borne out in the literature. Strategies are proposed for addressing skin color discrimination with persons with very dark skin.     

从《刮痧》看中西文化的差异

本文从对待子女的教育、中西医的认识和孕妇难产等角度，阐述了中西文化存在的差异。     

Models for papilloma multiplicity and regression: applications to transgenic mouse studies

In cancer studies that use transgenic or knockout mice, skin tumour counts are recorded over time to measure tumorigenicity. In these studies cancer biologists are interested in the effect of endogenous and/or exogenous factors on papilloma onset, multiplicity and regression. In this paper an analysis of data from a study conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences on the effect of genetic factors on skin tumorigenesis is presented. Papilloma multiplicity and regression are modelled by using Bernoulli, Poisson and binomial latent variables, each of which can depend on covariates and previous outcomes. An EM algorithm is proposed for parameter estimation, and generalized estimating equations adjust for extra dependence between outcomes within individual animals. A Cox proportional hazards model is used to describe covariate effects on the onset of tumours.     

A dynamic random-effects model for recovery of skin barrier function: evaluation of the efficacy of different skin care products

Apparently, the use of mathematical and statistical models to describe the structure and function of the skin barrier is rather limited. The skin barrier protects the body against uncontrolled loss of water and desiccation, and prevents environmental substances from entering the skin. A simple measure of the barrier function is the transepidermal water loss (TEWL), which is easy to measure. Healthy skin has low TEWL values, whereas various skin diseases result in high TEWL values and eventually in the development of dry skin. The use of skin care products can protect and prevent dry skin. In this study several different trial formulations are compared with respect to their abilities as skin care products. The study is performed as a longitudinal study on mice, where the skin barrier is broken by means of acetone and then treated with one of the formulations. We analysed the data by means of a semimechanistic random-effects model with similarities to pharmacokinetic models. In the model each formulation is characterized by two parameters: one that corresponds to the initial barrier restoration effect and one that corresponds to the elimination rate.