Search

BackgroundAlthough potential links between oxytocin (OT), vasopressin (AVP), and social cognition are well-grounded theoretically, most studies have included all male samples, and few have demonstrated consistent effects of either neuropeptide on mentalizing (i.e. understanding the mental states of others). To understand the potential of either neuropeptide as a pharmacological treatment for individuals with impairments in social cognition, it is important to demonstrate the beneficial effects of OT and AVP on mentalizing in healthy individuals.MethodsIn the present randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (n = 186) of healthy individuals, we examined the effects of OT and AVP administration on behavioral responses and neural activity in response to a mentalizing task.ResultsRelative to placebo, neither drug showed an effect on task reaction time or accuracy, nor on whole-brain neural activation or functional connectivity observed within brain networks associated with mentalizing. Exploratory analyses included several variables previously shown to moderate OT's effects on social processes (e.g., self-reported empathy, alexithymia) but resulted in no significant interaction effects.ConclusionsResults add to a growing literature demonstrating that intranasal administration of OT and AVP may have a more limited effect on social cognition, at both the behavioral and neural level, than initially assumed. Randomized controlled trial registrations: ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT02393443; NCT02393456; NCT02394054.

CD38 genetic variation has been associated with autism spectrum disorders and social anxiety disorder, which may result from CD38's regulation of oxytocin secretion. Converging evidence has found that the rs3796863 A-allele contributes to increased social sensitivity compared to the CC genotype. The current study examined the moderating role of CD38 genetic variants (rs3796863 and rs6449182) that have been associated with enhanced (or reduced) social sensitivity on neural activation related to neuroticism, which is commonly elevated in individuals with social anxiety and depression. Adults (n = 72) with varying levels of social anxiety and depression provided biological samples for DNA extraction, completed a measure of neuroticism, and participated in a standardized emotion processing task (affect matching) while undergoing fMRI. A significant interaction effect was found for rs3796863 x neuroticism that predicted right amygdala-subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) functional connectivity. Simple slopes analyses showed a positive association between neuroticism and right amygdala-sgACC connectivity among rs3796863 A-allele carriers. Findings suggest that the more socially sensitive rs3796863 A-allele may partially explain the relationship between a known risk factor (i.e. neuroticism) and promising biomarker (i.e. amygdala-sgACC connectivity) in the development and maintenance of social anxiety and depression.

CD38 genetic variation has been associated with autism spectrum disorders and social anxiety disorder, which may result from CD38's regulation of oxytocin secretion. Converging evidence has found that the rs3796863 A-allele contributes to increased social sensitivity compared to the CC genotype. The current study examined the moderating role of CD38 genetic variants (rs3796863 and rs6449182) that have been associated with enhanced (or reduced) social sensitivity on neural activation related to neuroticism, which is commonly elevated in individuals with social anxiety and depression. Adults (n = 72) with varying levels of social anxiety and depression provided biological samples for DNA extraction, completed a measure of neuroticism, and participated in a standardized emotion processing task (affect matching) while undergoing fMRI. A significant interaction effect was found for rs3796863 x neuroticism that predicted right amygdala-subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) functional connectivity. Simple slopes analyses showed a positive association between neuroticism and right amygdala-sgACC connectivity among rs3796863 A-allele carriers. Findings suggest that the more socially sensitive rs3796863 A-allele may partially explain the relationship between a known risk factor (i.e. neuroticism) and promising biomarker (i.e. amygdala-sgACC connectivity) in the development and maintenance of social anxiety and depression.

Discussions about conditional cash transfers have been growing ever since the decade of 1990. Since the creation of the first conditional cash transfer programme called Progresa, implemented in Mexico, there have been studies aiming to evaluate the effects of such programmes on their participants. This research contributes to the literature by presenting the state of the art of research on conditional cash transfers, identifying trends and patterns on the development of knowledge on this area through the use of bibliometric analysis, something that hasn’t been explored in this literature. The results show that this literature has been and continues to grow as new programmes continue to be implemented throughout the world. We have noted that there is a preponderance of articles that are written by multiple authors and that the most common keyword to identify articles has been “poverty”. In this paper we have identified the main articles, authors, countries and sources in the area., As discussões sobre programas de transferência de renda condicionada vêm ganhando espaço desde a década de 1990. A partir de a criação do primeiro programa, o Progresa (México), os estudos buscam analisar de várias formas os efeitos dessas políticas sobre os beneficiários. Esta pesquisa contribui para literatura na medida em que apresenta o estado da arte sobre os programas de CCTs, identificando as tendências e padrões no desenvolvimento do conhecimento nessa área utilizando ferramentas bibliométricas, algo ainda não explorado pela literatura. Os resultados revelam que essa literatura segue em trajetória ascendente, evoluindo junto com o desenvolvimento de novos programas. Descobriu-se que artigos de autoria múltipla e a palavra-chave “pobreza” se sobressaem nessa literatura. Identificaram-se também os artigos, autores e periódicos mais importantes na área e os países líderes nesse campo de pesquisa.

Research examining oxytocin and vasopressin in humans has the potential to elucidate neurobiological mechanisms underlying human sociality that have been previously unknown or not well characterized. A primary goal of this work is to increase our knowledge about neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders characterized by impairments in social cognition. However, years of research highlighting wide-ranging effects of, in particular, intranasal oxytocin administration have been tempered as the fields of psychology, neuroscience, and other disciplines have been addressing concerns over the reproducibility and validity of research findings. We present a series of behavioral tasks that were conducted using a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, between-subjects design, in which our research group found no main effects of oxytocin and vasopressin on a host of social outcomes. In addition to null hypothesis significance testing, we implemented equivalence testing and Bayesian hypothesis testing to examine the sensitivity of our findings. These analyses indicated that 47-83% of our results (depending on the method of post-hoc analysis) had enough sensitivity to detect the absence of a main effect. Our results add to evidence that intranasal oxytocin may have a more limited direct effect on human social processes than initially assumed and suggest that the direct effects of intranasal vasopressin may be similarly limited. Randomized controlled trial registration: NCT01680718.

Research examining oxytocin and vasopressin in humans has the potential to elucidate neurobiological mechanisms underlying human sociality that have been previously unknown or not well characterized. A primary goal of this work is to increase our knowledge about neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders characterized by impairments in social cognition. However, years of research highlighting wide-ranging effects of, in particular, intranasal oxytocin administration have been tempered as the fields of psychology, neuroscience, and other disciplines have been addressing concerns over the reproducibility and validity of research findings. We present a series of behavioral tasks that were conducted using a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, between-subjects design, in which our research group found no main effects of oxytocin and vasopressin on a host of social outcomes. In addition to null hypothesis significance testing, we implemented equivalence testing and Bayesian hypothesis testing to examine the sensitivity of our findings. These analyses indicated that 47-83% of our results (depending on the method of post-hoc analysis) had enough sensitivity to detect the absence of a main effect. Our results add to evidence that intranasal oxytocin may have a more limited direct effect on human social processes than initially assumed and suggest that the direct effects of intranasal vasopressin may be similarly limited. Randomized controlled trial registration: NCT01680718.

Research examining oxytocin and vasopressin in humans has the potential to elucidate neurobiological mechanisms underlying human sociality that have been previously unknown or not well characterized. A primary goal of this work is to increase our knowledge about neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders characterized by impairments in social cognition. However, years of research highlighting wide-ranging effects of, in particular, intranasal oxytocin administration have been tempered as the fields of psychology, neuroscience, and other disciplines have been addressing concerns over the reproducibility and validity of research findings. We present a series of behavioral tasks that were conducted using a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, between-subjects design, in which our research group found no main effects of oxytocin and vasopressin on a host of social outcomes. In addition to null hypothesis significance testing, we implemented equivalence testing and Bayesian hypothesis testing to examine the sensitivity of our findings. These analyses indicated that 47-83% of our results (depending on the method of post-hoc analysis) had enough sensitivity to detect the absence of a main effect. Our results add to evidence that intranasal oxytocin may have a more limited direct effect on human social processes than initially assumed and suggest that the direct effects of intranasal vasopressin may be similarly limited. Randomized controlled trial registration: NCT01680718.

We examine the high-frequency return and volatility of major cryptocurrencies and reveal that spillovers among them exist. Our analysis shows that return and volatility clustering structures are distinct among different cryptocurrencies, suggesting that return and volatility might have different spillover patterns. Further investigation via minimal spanning trees points out that BTC, LTC and ETH are the most relevant cryptocurrencies in general, serving as connection hubs for linking many other cryptocurrencies. However, their role is challenged lately, potentially due to the increased usage of other cryptocurrencies in time

We examine the high-frequency return and volatility of major cryptocurrencies and reveal that spillovers among them exist. Our analysis shows that return and volatility clustering structures are distinct among different cryptocurrencies, suggesting that return and volatility might have different spillover patterns. Further investigation via minimal spanning trees points out that BTC, LTC and ETH are the most relevant cryptocurrencies in general, serving as connection hubs for linking many other cryptocurrencies. However, their role is challenged lately, potentially due to the increased usage of other cryptocurrencies in time

We examine the high-frequency return and volatility of major cryptocurrencies and reveal that spillovers among them exist. Our analysis shows that return and volatility clustering structures are distinct among different cryptocurrencies, suggesting that return and volatility might have different spillover patterns. Further investigation via minimal spanning trees points out that BTC, LTC and ETH are the most relevant cryptocurrencies in general, serving as connection hubs for linking many other cryptocurrencies. However, their role is challenged lately, potentially due to the increased usage of other cryptocurrencies in time

We study a novel economic network (supply chain) comprised of wire transfers (electronic payment transactions) among the universe of firms in Brazil (6.2 million firms). We construct a directed and weighted network in which vertices represent cities and edges connote pairwise economic dependence between cities. Cities (vertices) represent the collection of all firms in that location and links denote intercity wire transfers. We find a high degree of economic integration among cities in the trade network, which is consistent with the high degree of specialization found across Brazilian cities. We are able to identify which cities have a dominant role in the entire supply chain process using centrality network measures. We find that the trade network has a disassortative mixing pattern, which is consistent with the power-law shape of the firm size distribution in Brazil. After the Brazilian recession in 2014, we find that the disassortativity becomes even stronger as a result of the death of many small firms and the consequent concentration of economic flows on large firms. Our results suggest that recessions have a large impact on the trade network with meaningful and heterogeneous economic consequences across municipalities. We run econometric exercises and find that courts efficiency plays a dual role. From the customer perspective, it plays an important role in reducing contractual frictions as it increases economic transactions between different cities. From the supplier perspective, cities that are central suppliers to the supply chain seem to use courts inefficiency as a lawsuit barrier from their customers.

Individuals with social anxiety are characterized by a high degree of social sensitivity, which can coincide with impairments in social cognitive functioning (e.g. theory of mind). Oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) have been shown to improve social cognition, and OT has been theorized as a potential therapeutic agent for individuals with social anxiety disorder. However, no study has investigated whether these neuropeptides improve social cognitive ability among socially anxious individuals. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, between-subjects design we investigated whether social anxiety moderated the effects of OT or AVP (vs placebo) on social working memory (i.e. working memory that involves manipulating social information) and non-social working memory. OT vs placebo impaired social working memory accuracy in participants with higher levels of social anxiety. No differences were found for non-social working memory or for AVP vs placebo. Results suggest that OT administration in individuals with higher levels of social anxiety may impair social cognitive functioning. Randomized-controlled trial registration: NCT01680718.

Individuals with social anxiety are characterized by a high degree of social sensitivity, which can coincide with impairments in social cognitive functioning (e.g. theory of mind). Oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) have been shown to improve social cognition, and OT has been theorized as a potential therapeutic agent for individuals with social anxiety disorder. However, no study has investigated whether these neuropeptides improve social cognitive ability among socially anxious individuals. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, between-subjects design we investigated whether social anxiety moderated the effects of OT or AVP (vs placebo) on social working memory (i.e. working memory that involves manipulating social information) and non-social working memory. OT vs placebo impaired social working memory accuracy in participants with higher levels of social anxiety. No differences were found for non-social working memory or for AVP vs placebo. Results suggest that OT administration in individuals with higher levels of social anxiety may impair social cognitive functioning. Randomized-controlled trial registration: NCT01680718.

Individuals with social anxiety are characterized by a high degree of social sensitivity, which can coincide with impairments in social cognitive functioning (e.g. theory of mind). Oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) have been shown to improve social cognition, and OT has been theorized as a potential therapeutic agent for individuals with social anxiety disorder. However, no study has investigated whether these neuropeptides improve social cognitive ability among socially anxious individuals. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, between-subjects design we investigated whether social anxiety moderated the effects of OT or AVP (vs placebo) on social working memory (i.e. working memory that involves manipulating social information) and non-social working memory. OT vs placebo impaired social working memory accuracy in participants with higher levels of social anxiety. No differences were found for non-social working memory or for AVP vs placebo. Results suggest that OT administration in individuals with higher levels of social anxiety may impair social cognitive functioning. Randomized-controlled trial registration: NCT01680718.

Licitações tem como objetivo selecionar a proposta mais vantajosa para a Administração Pública. Para atingir esse objetivo, é essencial a existência de um mercado de livre concorrência entre os participantes do certame. Assim, o Direito estabelece incentivos, punindo os comportamentos das firmas que praticam atos anticoncorrenciais para impedir o caráter competitivo das licitações. E por que ainda assim persiste a ocorrência de comportamentos colusivos nas licitações? O presente artigo pretende utilizar os instrumentos da Análise Econômica do Direito para avaliar se os incentivos legais são suficientes para tornar o custo de um cartel superior ao seu benefício. Dentre os incentivos, os acordos de leniência previstos na legislação antitruste (Lei 12.529/2011) tem se mostrado um relevante incremento no custo para a colusão, diante do cômputo do risco de que um dos participantes do cartel delate os demais, em troca de imunidade ou de redução das penalidades. A metodologia escolhida foi a revisão da literatura e de pesquisas empíricas, para estruturar estudo jurídico propositivo.

The implementation of the transitional justice promotes greater benefits for society regarding the protection of human rights and the consolidation of democracy, allowing the overcoming of the culture of violence and fear, to the extent that its mechanisms are widely implemented in a society postconflict. For these reasons, the implementation of the transitional justice in Brazil, nowadays, brings more social benefits, contributing that serious violations of human rights not repeated., A efetivação da justiça de transição promove maiores benefícios para a sociedade quanto à proteção dos direitos humanos e quanto à consolidação da democracia, permitindo a superação da cultura de violência e medo, na medida em que são implementados de forma ampla os seus mecanismos em uma sociedade pós-conflito. Por essas razões, a efetivação da justiça de transição no Brasil nos dias atuais traz mais benefícios sociais, contribuindo para que graves violações de direitos humanos não mais se repitam.

BackgroundEmpathy improves our ability to communicate in social interactions and motivates prosocial behavior. The neuropeptides arginine vasopressin and oxytocin play key roles in socioemotional processes such as pair bonding and parental care, which suggests that they may be involved in empathic processing.MethodsWe investigated how vasopressin and oxytocin affect empathic responding in a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, between-subjects study design. We also examined the moderating role of parental warmth, as reported in the early family environment, on empathic responding following vasopressin, oxytocin, or placebo administration.ResultsAmong participants who reported higher levels of paternal warmth (but not maternal warmth), vasopressin (vs. placebo and oxytocin) increased ratings of empathic concern after viewing distressing and uplifting videos. No main or interaction effects were found for individuals who received oxytocin.ConclusionsVasopressin has a role in enhancing empathy among individuals who received higher levels of paternal warmth.Trial registrationNCT01680718.

BackgroundEmpathy improves our ability to communicate in social interactions and motivates prosocial behavior. The neuropeptides arginine vasopressin and oxytocin play key roles in socioemotional processes such as pair bonding and parental care, which suggests that they may be involved in empathic processing.MethodsWe investigated how vasopressin and oxytocin affect empathic responding in a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, between-subjects study design. We also examined the moderating role of parental warmth, as reported in the early family environment, on empathic responding following vasopressin, oxytocin, or placebo administration.ResultsAmong participants who reported higher levels of paternal warmth (but not maternal warmth), vasopressin (vs. placebo and oxytocin) increased ratings of empathic concern after viewing distressing and uplifting videos. No main or interaction effects were found for individuals who received oxytocin.ConclusionsVasopressin has a role in enhancing empathy among individuals who received higher levels of paternal warmth.Trial registrationNCT01680718.

Este artigo pretende discutir a eficiência social da decisão proferida pelo Supremo Tribunal Federal no HC n. 126.292-SP, que passou a admitir a execução provisória da pena. Para tanto, utilizar-se dos métodos e institutos da análise econômica do direito para a realização da referida análise, combinando-os com dados e informações levantados em outros artigos, e pesquisas. Demonstra-se que uma punição mais célere, almejada pelo referido posicionamento jurisprudencial, contribui para a diminuição da criminalidade, sendo, destarte, eficiente.

O presente trabalho propõe fazer uma análise sobre os impactos causados pela proteção dos direitos de propriedade intelectual à vista da Análise Econômica Comportamental do Direito, as diferentes formas de proteção adotadas pela legislação tanto nacional quanto estrangeira e suas consequências, a ocorrência de vieses comportamentais, em especial da ocorrência do “efeito dotação”, bem como a adoção de modelos que proporcionem um maior desenvolvimento econômico e aumento do bem-estar social baseados em um melhor aproveitamento e incentivos ao potencial inovador dos detentores dos direitos de propriedade intelectual, por meio de uma nova abordagem da proteção dos mesmos.

Conflict is an inevitable component of social life, and natural selection has exerted strong effects on many organisms to facilitate victory in conflict and to deter conspecifics from imposing harms upon them. Like many species, humans likely possess cognitive systems whose function is to motivate revenge as a means of deterring individuals who have harmed them from harming them again in the future. However, many social relationships often retain value even after conflicts have occurred between interactants, so natural selection has very likely also endowed humans with cognitive systems whose function is to motivate reconciliation with transgressors whom they perceive as valuable and nonthreatening, notwithstanding their harmful prior actions. In a longitudinal study with 337 participants who had recently been harmed by a relationship partner, we found that conciliatory gestures (e.g., apologies, offers of compensation) were associated with increases in victims' perceptions of their transgressors' relationship value and reductions in perceptions of their transgressors' exploitation risk. In addition, conciliatory gestures appeared to accelerate forgiveness and reduce reactive anger via their intermediate effects on relationship value and exploitation risk. These results strongly suggest that conciliatory gestures facilitate forgiveness and reduce anger by modifying victims' perceptions of their transgressors' value as relationship partners and likelihood of recidivism.

Conflict is an inevitable component of social life, and natural selection has exerted strong effects on many organisms to facilitate victory in conflict and to deter conspecifics from imposing harms upon them. Like many species, humans likely possess cognitive systems whose function is to motivate revenge as a means of deterring individuals who have harmed them from harming them again in the future. However, many social relationships often retain value even after conflicts have occurred between interactants, so natural selection has very likely also endowed humans with cognitive systems whose function is to motivate reconciliation with transgressors whom they perceive as valuable and nonthreatening, notwithstanding their harmful prior actions. In a longitudinal study with 337 participants who had recently been harmed by a relationship partner, we found that conciliatory gestures (e.g., apologies, offers of compensation) were associated with increases in victims' perceptions of their transgressors' relationship value and reductions in perceptions of their transgressors' exploitation risk. In addition, conciliatory gestures appeared to accelerate forgiveness and reduce reactive anger via their intermediate effects on relationship value and exploitation risk. These results strongly suggest that conciliatory gestures facilitate forgiveness and reduce anger by modifying victims' perceptions of their transgressors' value as relationship partners and likelihood of recidivism.

Nowadays we are often faced with huge databases resulting from the rapid growth of data storage technologies. This is particularly true when dealing with music databases. In this context, it is essential to have techniques and tools able to discriminate properties from these massive sets. In this work, we report on a statistical analysis of more than ten thousand songs aiming to obtain a complexity hierarchy. Our approach is based on the estimation of the permutation entropy combined with an intensive complexity measure, building up the complexity-entropy causality plane. The results obtained indicate that this representation space is very promising to discriminate songs as well as to allow a relative quantitative com- parison among songs. Additionally, we believe that the here-reported method may be applied in practical situations since it is simple, robust and has a fast numerical implementation.