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Vision Research Sep 2021Rubin's face-vase illusion demonstrates how one can switch back and forth between two different interpretations depending on how the figure outlines are assigned. In the...
Rubin's face-vase illusion demonstrates how one can switch back and forth between two different interpretations depending on how the figure outlines are assigned. In the primate visual system, assigning ownership along figure borders is encoded by neurons called the border ownership (BO) cells. Studies show that the responses of these neurons not only depend on the local features within their receptive fields, but also on contextual information. Despite two decades of studies on BO neurons, the ownership assignment mechanism in the brain is still unknown. Here, we propose a hierarchical recurrent model grounded on the hypothesis that neurons in the dorsal stream provide the context required for ownership assignment. Our proposed model incorporates early recurrence from the dorsal pathway as well as lateral modulations within the ventral stream. While dorsal modulations initiate the response difference to figure on either side of the border, lateral modulations enhance the difference. We found responses of our dorsally-modulated BO cells, similar to their biological counterparts, are invariant to size, position and solid/outlined figures. Moreover, our model BO cells exhibit comparable levels of reliability in the ownership signal to biological BO neurons. We found dorsal modulations result in high levels of accuracy and robustness for BO assignments in complex scenes compared to previous models based on ventral feedback. Finally, our experiments with illusory contours suggest that BO encoding could explain the perception of such contours in higher processing stages in the brain.
Topics: Animals; Ownership; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Photic Stimulation; Reproducibility of Results; Visual Cortex
PubMed: 34023589
DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2021.04.009 -
Patterns of rangeland productivity and land ownership: Implications for conservation and management.Ecological Applications : a Publication... Apr 2019Rangelands cover 40-50% of the Earth's terrestrial surface. While often characterized by limited, yet variable resource availability, rangelands are vital for humans,...
Rangelands cover 40-50% of the Earth's terrestrial surface. While often characterized by limited, yet variable resource availability, rangelands are vital for humans, providing numerous ecosystem goods and services. In the conterminous United States (CONUS), the dominant component of rangeland conservation is a network of public rangelands, concentrated in the west. Public rangelands are interspersed with private and tribal rangelands resulting in a complex mosaic of land tenure and management priorities. We quantify ownership patterns of rangeland production at multiple scales across CONUS and find that both total production and average productivity of private rangelands is more than twice that of public and tribal rangelands. At finer scales, private rangelands are consistently more productive than their public counterparts. We also demonstrate an inverse relationship between public rangeland acreage and productivity. While conserving acreage is crucial to rangeland conservation, just as critical are broad-scale ecological patterns and processes that sustain ecosystem services. Across CONUS, ownership regimes capture distinct elements of these patterns and services, demonstrated through disparate production dynamics. As ownership determines the range of feasible conservation actions, and the technical and financial resources available to implement them, understanding ownership-production dynamics is critical for effective and sustained conservation of rangeland ecosystem services.
Topics: Conservation of Natural Resources; Ecology; Ecosystem; Humans; Ownership; Software
PubMed: 30706573
DOI: 10.1002/eap.1862 -
Health Informatics Journal Sep 2020Postoperative complications place a major burden on the healthcare systems. The type of hospital's ownership could be one factor associated with this adverse outcome....
Postoperative complications place a major burden on the healthcare systems. The type of hospital's ownership could be one factor associated with this adverse outcome. Using CMS's publicly available "Complications and Deaths-Hospitals" and "Hospital General Information" datasets, we analyzed the association between four postoperative complications (venous thromboembolism, joint replacement complications, wound dehiscence, postoperative sepsis) and hospital ownership. These data were collected by Medicare between April 2013 and March 2016. We found a significant association ( = 0.029) between ownership types and the postoperative complication score. A 6-percent drop in the share of not-for-profit ownership, accompanied by a 3-percent increase in each of the government and for-profit ownership, resulted in a 20-percent drop in postoperative complication scores (from 5.75 to 4.6). There is an association between hospital ownership type and postoperative complications. Creating this awareness in leadership should prompt for redesigning of hospitals' operations and workflows to become more compatible with safe and effective care delivery.
Topics: Aged; Hospitals, Private; Humans; Medicare; Ownership; United States
PubMed: 31969050
DOI: 10.1177/1460458219899827 -
International Journal of Environmental... Apr 2021The goal of this study is to compare the financial performance of public hospitals according to ownership and size. The study covered public hospitals in Poland and...
The goal of this study is to compare the financial performance of public hospitals according to ownership and size. The study covered public hospitals in Poland and covered two hospitals types depending on their founding authority, i.e., hospitals established and financed by the Marshal's Office (Marshal hospitals) or the City Hall (poviat-commune hospitals). The study was based on an analysis of the hospitals' financial situation (using debt and solvency ratios) and its relationship to the founding body and size. The verification of hypotheses was carried out using the Mann-Whitney U test. The results led to the conclusion that the vast majority of public hospitals are indebted, and their ownership structure does not affect their financial condition. The study did not confirm a significant relationship between size or ownership and the financial status of the hospital. The article aims to fill the research gap regarding the debt analysis between different types of public hospitals. It also presents a new research direction aimed at finding the factors that determine the difficult financial situation of public hospitals in Poland.
Topics: Hospitals, Public; Ownership; Poland
PubMed: 33926101
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18094596 -
Canadian Medical Education Journal Apr 2023is a concept that embodies a number of professionalism attributes and involves a feeling of strong commitment and responsibility towards patient care. Little is known...
BACKGROUND
is a concept that embodies a number of professionalism attributes and involves a feeling of strong commitment and responsibility towards patient care. Little is known about how the embodiment of this concept develops in the earliest stages of clinical training. The goal of this qualitative study is to explore the development of ownership of patient care in clerkship.
METHODS
Using qualitative descriptive methodology, we conducted twelve one-on-one in-depth semi-structured interviews with final-year medical students at one university. Each participant was asked to describe their understanding and beliefs with regards to ownership of patient care and discuss how they acquired these mental models during clerkship, with emphasis on enabling factors. Data were inductively analyzed using qualitative descriptive methodology and with professional identity formation as the sensitizing theoretical framework.
RESULTS
Ownership of patient care develops in students through a process of professional socialization that includes enabling factors such as role modelling, student self-assessment, learning environment, healthcare and curriculum structures, attitudes of and treatment by others, and growing competence. The resulting ownership of patient care is manifested as understanding patients' needs and values, engaging patients in their care, and maintaining a strong sense of accountability for patients' outcome.
CONCLUSION
An understanding of how ownership of patient care develops in early medical training and the associated enabling factors can inform strategies aimed at optimizing this process, such as designing curricula with more opportunities for longitudinal patient contact and fostering a supportive learning environment with positive role modelling, clear attribution of responsibilities, and purposefully granted autonomy.
Topics: Humans; Ownership; Patient Care; Curriculum; Learning; Students
PubMed: 37304625
DOI: 10.36834/cmej.71362 -
PLoS Computational Biology Oct 2015
Topics: Algorithms; Data Accuracy; Databases, Factual; Documentation; Guidelines as Topic; Information Storage and Retrieval; Ownership; Research Design; Terminology as Topic
PubMed: 26485673
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004384 -
Health Services Research Oct 1995This study investigated the longitudinal relations between hospital financial performance outcomes and three hospital-physician integration strategies: physician... (Review)
Review
STUDY QUESTION
This study investigated the longitudinal relations between hospital financial performance outcomes and three hospital-physician integration strategies: physician involvement in hospital governance, hospital ownership by physicians, and the integration of hospital-physician financial relationships.
DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING
Using secondary data from the State of California, integration strategies in approximately 300 California short-term acute care hospitals were tracked over a ten-year period (1981-1990).
STUDY DESIGN
The study used an archival design. Hospital performance was measured on three dimensions: operational profitability, occupancy, and costs. Thirteen control variables were used in the analyses: market competition, affluence, and rurality; hospital ownership; teaching costs and intensity; multihospital system membership; hospital size; outpatient service mix; patient volume case mix; Medicare and Medicaid intensity; and managed care intensity.
DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION
Financial and utilization data were obtained from the State of California, which requires annual hospital reports. A series of longitudinal regressions tested the hypotheses.
PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
Considerable variation was found in the popularity of the three strategies and their ability to predict hospital performance outcomes. Physician involvement in hospital governance increased modestly from 1981-1990, while ownership and financial integration declined significantly. Physician governance was associated with greater occupancy and higher operating margins, while financial integration was related to lower hospital operating costs. Direct physician ownership, particularly in small hospitals, was associated with lower operating margins and higher costs. Subsample analyses indicate that implementation of the Medicare prospective payment system in 1983 had a major impact on these relationships, especially on the benefits of financial integration.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings support the validity of hospital-physician financial integration efforts, and to a lesser extent the involvement of physicians in hospital governance. The results lend considerably less support for strategies built around direct physician ownership in hospitals, particularly since PPS implementation.
RELEVANCE/IMPACT
These findings challenge prior studies that found few financial benefits to hospital-physician integration prior to PPS implementation in 1983. The results imply that financial benefits of integration may take several years after implementation to emerge, are most salient in a managed care or managed competition environment, and vary by hospital size and multihospital system membership.
Topics: Analysis of Variance; California; Decision Making, Organizational; Financial Management, Hospital; Governing Board; Health Services Research; Hospital Costs; Hospital-Physician Joint Ventures; Hospital-Physician Relations; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Ownership; Regression Analysis
PubMed: 7591779
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of Evolutionary Biology Jun 2015Although possession is 'nine-tenths of the law', respect for ownership is widespread in the animal kingdom even without third-party enforcement. Thus, the first... (Review)
Review
Although possession is 'nine-tenths of the law', respect for ownership is widespread in the animal kingdom even without third-party enforcement. Thus, the first individuals to find objects are frequently left unchallenged by potential competitors and tend to win contests when disputes arise. Game theory has shown that respect for ownership ('Bourgeois' behaviour) can arise as an arbitrary convention to avoid costly disputes. However, the same theory predicts that a paradoxical respect for lack of ownership ('anti-Bourgeois' behaviour) can evolve under the same conditions and in some cases is the only stable outcome. Despite these predictions, anti-Bourgeois behaviour is rare in nature, whereas respect for ownership is frequently not absolute. Here, we review extensions of the classic models involving repeated interactions, confusion over roles, strategic coordination of behaviour ('secret handshakes'), owner-intruder asymmetries and continuous control of fighting investment. Confusion over roles and owner-intruder asymmetries in fighting ability may explain why respect for ownership is often partial. Moreover, although most model extensions facilitate the evolution of Bourgeois-like behaviour, secret handshakes and continuous control of fighting investment render the alternative anti-Bourgeois convention unstable. We develop these insights to highlight several key areas for future investigation.
Topics: Animals; Biological Evolution; Competitive Behavior; Humans; Ownership; Territoriality
PubMed: 25882679
DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12648 -
PloS One 2023The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us in numerous ways and may consequently impact our relationships with pet dogs and cats. We conducted a longitudinal survey to...
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us in numerous ways and may consequently impact our relationships with pet dogs and cats. We conducted a longitudinal survey to examine the temporal patterns of owner-pet relationship, stress, and loneliness during four phases of the pandemic: 1) pre-pandemic (February 2020), 2) lockdown (April to June 2020), 3) reopening (September to December 2020), and 4) recovery (January 2021 to December 2021). We also investigated the effect of pet ownership on stress and loneliness, by considering a set of a priori causal assumptions. In addition, we hypothesized that the differences in the levels of stress and loneliness between dog and cat ownerships were mediated by the owner-pet relationship. A total of 4,237 participants (657 non-pet owners, 1,761 dog owners, and 1,819 cat owners) completed between one and six surveys. Overall, the closeness in the relationship between owners and their pets increased with time during the study period. We also observed that dog owners consistently showed larger decreases in the levels of stress and loneliness than cat and non-pet owners. However, after adjusting for confounders, the findings did not support a mitigating effect of pet ownership. Pet ownership did not alleviate stress, social loneliness resulting from a lack of friendships or workplace relationships, or emotional loneliness due to deficiencies in family relationships. Pet owners, however, reported a lower degree of emotional loneliness caused by deficits in romantic relationships than non-pet owners. Our results also indicated that the differences in stress and loneliness levels between dog and cat ownerships were partially explained by the owner-pet relationship, and once this was accounted for, the differences between them reduced. In summary, this study highlights the dynamic effects of COVID-19 on owner-pet relationship and mental health. It also shows the complexity of the association between pet ownership and mental health, partially mediated by owner-pet relationships.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Dogs; Cats; Mental Health; Loneliness; Pets; COVID-19; Pandemics; Cat Diseases; Ownership; Dog Diseases; Communicable Disease Control; Surveys and Questionnaires; Longitudinal Studies
PubMed: 37099517
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284101 -
Journal of Medicine and Life Jun 2022Cord blood is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells used to treat many diseases of blood origin. Thus, storage banks were created to store and provide umbilical cord... (Review)
Review
Cord blood is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells used to treat many diseases of blood origin. Thus, storage banks were created to store and provide umbilical cord cells. With the development of diagnostic and therapeutic technologies and techniques in medicine, ethical issues have also become more widespread and complex. After the creation of the cord blood banks, efforts were made to address the ethical issues associated with such banks. The present study attempts to identify the ethical challenges in these banks in the published studies. Databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science (WOS), Embase, Proquest, and Google Scholar were searched from January 1996 to January 2021. Then, the ethical challenges of the cord blood bank were extracted from the results section using thematic content analysis. 22 studies were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The ethical challenges raised in the studies included private or public ownership of the bank, fair access to banking services, informed and voluntary consent, failure to provide sufficient information to individuals about the process, confidentiality of user's information, conflict of interest of bank founders (who are commonly doctors). The findings of this study indicated that there are serious ethical concerns regarding umbilical cord blood banks. Responding clearly to these ethical challenges calls for the attention of policymakers and medical ethics professionals; this will require a clear statement of the various aspects of these banks for society.
Topics: Blood Banks; Fetal Blood; Humans; Ownership
PubMed: 35928362
DOI: 10.25122/jml-2021-0162