Sample records for absolute categorical agreement

  1. Relational versus absolute representation in categorization.

    PubMed

    Edwards, Darren J; Pothos, Emmanuel M; Perlman, Amotz

    2012-01-01

    This study explores relational-like and absolute-like representations in categorization. Although there is much evidence that categorization processes can involve information about both the particular physical properties of studied instances and abstract (relational) properties, there has been little work on the factors that lead to one kind of representation as opposed to the other. We tested 370 participants in 6 experiments, in which participants had to classify new items into predefined artificial categories. In 4 experiments, we observed a predominantly relational-like mode of classification, and in 2 experiments we observed a shift toward an absolute-like mode of classification. These results suggest 3 factors that promote a relational-like mode of classification: fewer items per group, more training groups, and the presence of a time delay. Overall, we propose that less information about the distributional properties of a category or weaker memory traces for the category exemplars (induced, e.g., by having smaller categories or a time delay) can encourage relational-like categorization.

  2. The Nature of Infant Color Categorization: Evidence from Eye Movements on a Target Detection Task

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Franklin, A.; Pilling, M.; Davies, I.

    2005-01-01

    Infants respond categorically to color. However, the nature of infants' categorical responding to color is unclear. The current study investigated two issues. First, is infants' categorical responding more absolute than adults' categorical responding? That is, can infants discriminate two stimuli from the same color category? Second, is color…

  3. Measuring Category Intuitiveness in Unconstrained Categorization Tasks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pothos, Emmanuel M.; Perlman, Amotz; Bailey, Todd M.; Kurtz, Ken; Edwards, Darren J.; Hines, Peter; McDonnell, John V.

    2011-01-01

    What makes a category seem natural or intuitive? In this paper, an unsupervised categorization task was employed to examine observer agreement concerning the categorization of nine different stimulus sets. The stimulus sets were designed to capture different intuitions about classification structure. The main empirical index of category…

  4. Flexible categorization of relative stimulus strength by the optic tectum

    PubMed Central

    Mysore, Shreesh P.; Knudsen, Eric I.

    2011-01-01

    Categorization is the process by which the brain segregates continuously variable stimuli into discrete groups. We report that patterns of neural population activity in the owl optic tectum (OT) categorize stimuli based on their relative strengths into “strongest” versus “other”. The category boundary shifts adaptively to track changes in the absolute strength of the strongest stimulus. This population-wide categorization is mediated by the responses of a small subset of neurons. Our data constitute the first direct demonstration of an explicit categorization of stimuli by a neural network based on relative stimulus strength or salience. The finding of categorization by the population code relaxes constraints on the properties of downstream decoders that might read out the location of the strongest stimulus. These results indicate that the ensemble neural code in the OT could mediate bottom-up stimulus selection for gaze and attention, a form of stimulus categorization in which the category boundary often shifts within hundreds of milliseconds. PMID:21613487

  5. Graphical aids for visualizing and interpreting patterns in departures from agreement in ordinal categorical observer agreement data.

    PubMed

    Bangdiwala, Shrikant I

    2017-01-01

    When studying the agreement between two observers rating the same n units into the same k discrete ordinal categories, Bangdiwala (1985) proposed using the "agreement chart" to visually assess agreement. This article proposes that often it is more interesting to focus on the patterns of disagreement and visually understanding the departures from perfect agreement. The article reviews the use of graphical techniques for descriptively assessing agreement and disagreements, and also reviews some of the available summary statistics that quantify such relationships.

  6. Olfactory Categorization: A Developmental Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Valentin, Dominique; Chanquoy, Lucile

    2012-01-01

    This study examined the ability of children to classify fruit and flower odors. We asked four groups of children (4-11 years of age) and a group of adults to identify, categorize, and evaluate the edibility, liking, and typicality of 12 fruit and flower odors. Results showed an increase in interindividual agreement with age for the taxonomic…

  7. Reciprocal inhibition of inhibition: A circuit motif for flexible categorization in stimulus selection

    PubMed Central

    Knudsen, Eric I.

    2011-01-01

    As a precursor to the selection of a stimulus for gaze and attention, a midbrain network categorizes stimuli into “strongest” and “others.” The categorization tracks flexibly, in real-time, the absolute strength of the strongest stimulus. In this study, we take a first principles approach to computations that are essential for such categorization. We demonstrate that classical feedforward lateral inhibition cannot produce flexible categorization. However, circuits in which the strength of lateral inhibition varies with the relative strength of competing stimuli categorize successfully. One particular implementation - reciprocal inhibition of feedforward lateral inhibition – is structurally the simplest, and it outperforms others in flexibly categorizing rapidly and reliably. Strong predictions of this anatomically supported circuit model are validated by neural responses measured in the owl midbrain. The results demonstrate the extraordinary power of a remarkably simple, neurally grounded circuit motif in producing flexible categorization, a computation fundamental to attention, perception, and decision-making. PMID:22243757

  8. Auditory working memory predicts individual differences in absolute pitch learning.

    PubMed

    Van Hedger, Stephen C; Heald, Shannon L M; Koch, Rachelle; Nusbaum, Howard C

    2015-07-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is typically defined as the ability to label an isolated tone as a musical note in the absence of a reference tone. At first glance the acquisition of AP note categories seems like a perceptual learning task, since individuals must assign a category label to a stimulus based on a single perceptual dimension (pitch) while ignoring other perceptual dimensions (e.g., loudness, octave, instrument). AP, however, is rarely discussed in terms of domain-general perceptual learning mechanisms. This is because AP is typically assumed to depend on a critical period of development, in which early exposure to pitches and musical labels is thought to be necessary for the development of AP precluding the possibility of adult acquisition of AP. Despite this view of AP, several previous studies have found evidence that absolute pitch category learning is, to an extent, trainable in a post-critical period adult population, even if the performance typically achieved by this population is below the performance of a "true" AP possessor. The current studies attempt to understand the individual differences in learning to categorize notes using absolute pitch cues by testing a specific prediction regarding cognitive capacity related to categorization - to what extent does an individual's general auditory working memory capacity (WMC) predict the success of absolute pitch category acquisition. Since WMC has been shown to predict performance on a wide variety of other perceptual and category learning tasks, we predict that individuals with higher WMC should be better at learning absolute pitch note categories than individuals with lower WMC. Across two studies, we demonstrate that auditory WMC predicts the efficacy of learning absolute pitch note categories. These results suggest that a higher general auditory WMC might underlie the formation of absolute pitch categories for post-critical period adults. Implications for understanding the mechanisms that underlie the

  9. Similarity relations in visual search predict rapid visual categorization

    PubMed Central

    Mohan, Krithika; Arun, S. P.

    2012-01-01

    How do we perform rapid visual categorization?It is widely thought that categorization involves evaluating the similarity of an object to other category items, but the underlying features and similarity relations remain unknown. Here, we hypothesized that categorization performance is based on perceived similarity relations between items within and outside the category. To this end, we measured the categorization performance of human subjects on three diverse visual categories (animals, vehicles, and tools) and across three hierarchical levels (superordinate, basic, and subordinate levels among animals). For the same subjects, we measured their perceived pair-wise similarities between objects using a visual search task. Regardless of category and hierarchical level, we found that the time taken to categorize an object could be predicted using its similarity to members within and outside its category. We were able to account for several classic categorization phenomena, such as (a) the longer times required to reject category membership; (b) the longer times to categorize atypical objects; and (c) differences in performance across tasks and across hierarchical levels. These categorization times were also accounted for by a model that extracts coarse structure from an image. The striking agreement observed between categorization and visual search suggests that these two disparate tasks depend on a shared coarse object representation. PMID:23092947

  10. On the Perceptual Subprocess of Absolute Pitch.

    PubMed

    Kim, Seung-Goo; Knösche, Thomas R

    2017-01-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability of musicians to identify the pitch of tonal sound without external reference. While there have been behavioral and neuroimaging studies on the characteristics of AP, how the AP is implemented in human brains remains largely unknown. AP can be viewed as comprising of two subprocesses: perceptual (processing auditory input to extract a pitch chroma) and associative (linking an auditory representation of pitch chroma with a verbal/non-verbal label). In this review, we focus on the nature of the perceptual subprocess of AP. Two different models on how the perceptual subprocess works have been proposed: either via absolute pitch categorization (APC) or based on absolute pitch memory (APM). A major distinction between the two views is that whether the AP uses unique auditory processing (i.e., APC) that exists only in musicians with AP or it is rooted in a common phenomenon (i.e., APM), only with heightened efficiency. We review relevant behavioral and neuroimaging evidence that supports each notion. Lastly, we list open questions and potential ideas to address them.

  11. On the Perceptual Subprocess of Absolute Pitch

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Seung-Goo; Knösche, Thomas R.

    2017-01-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability of musicians to identify the pitch of tonal sound without external reference. While there have been behavioral and neuroimaging studies on the characteristics of AP, how the AP is implemented in human brains remains largely unknown. AP can be viewed as comprising of two subprocesses: perceptual (processing auditory input to extract a pitch chroma) and associative (linking an auditory representation of pitch chroma with a verbal/non-verbal label). In this review, we focus on the nature of the perceptual subprocess of AP. Two different models on how the perceptual subprocess works have been proposed: either via absolute pitch categorization (APC) or based on absolute pitch memory (APM). A major distinction between the two views is that whether the AP uses unique auditory processing (i.e., APC) that exists only in musicians with AP or it is rooted in a common phenomenon (i.e., APM), only with heightened efficiency. We review relevant behavioral and neuroimaging evidence that supports each notion. Lastly, we list open questions and potential ideas to address them. PMID:29085275

  12. Regression analysis and categorical agreement of fluconazole disk zone diameters and minimum inhibitory concentration by broth microdilution of clinical isolates of Candida.

    PubMed

    Aggarwal, P; Kashyap, B

    2017-06-01

    Rampant use of fluconazole in Candida infections has led to predominance of less susceptible non-albicans Candida over Candida albicans. The aim of the study was to determine if zone diameters around fluconazole disk can be used to estimate the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for clinical isolates of Candida species and vice versa. Categorical agreement between the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommended disk diffusion and CLSI broth microdilution method was sought for. Antifungal susceptibility testing by disk diffusion and Broth microdilution was done as per CLSI document M44-S3 and CLSI document M27-S4 for Candida isolates respectively. Regression analysis correlating zone diameters to MIC value was done. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to determine correlation between disk zone diameters and MICs. Candida albicans (33.3%) was clearly outnumbered by other non-albicans species predominantly Candida tropicalis (42.5%) and Candida glabrata (18.4%). Ten percent of the strains were resistant to fluconazole by disk diffusion and 13% by broth microdilution. MIC range for Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis ranged from≤0.25-64μg/ml while that of Candida glabrata ranged from≤0.25-128μg/ml. Categorical agreement between disk diffusion and broth microdilution was 86.8%. Pearson's coefficient of correlation was -0.5975 indicating moderate negative correlation between the two variables. Zone sizes can be used to estimate the MIC values, although with limited accuracy. There should be a constant effort to upgrade the guidelines in view of new clinical data, and laboratories should make an active effort to incorporate them. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  13. The dynamics of categorization: Unraveling rapid categorization.

    PubMed

    Mack, Michael L; Palmeri, Thomas J

    2015-06-01

    We explore a puzzle of visual object categorization: Under normal viewing conditions, you spot something as a dog fastest, but at a glance, you spot it faster as an animal. During speeded category verification, a classic basic-level advantage is commonly observed (Rosch, Mervis, Gray, Johnson, & Boyes-Braem, 1976), with categorization as a dog faster than as an animal (superordinate) or Golden Retriever (subordinate). A different story emerges during ultra-rapid categorization with limited exposure duration (<30 ms), with superordinate categorization faster than basic or subordinate categorization (Thorpe, Fize, & Marlot, 1996). These two widely cited findings paint contrary theoretical pictures about the time course of categorization, yet no previous study has investigated them together. We systematically examined two experimental factors that could explain the qualitative difference in categorization across the two paradigms: exposure duration and category trial context. Mapping out the time course of object categorization by manipulating exposure duration and the timing of a post-stimulus mask revealed that brief exposure durations favor superordinate-level categorization, but with more time a basic-level advantage emerges. However, these advantages were modulated by category trial context. With randomized target categories, the superordinate advantage was eliminated; and with only four repetitions of superordinate categorization within an otherwise randomized context, the basic-level advantage was eliminated. Contrary to theoretical accounts that dictate a fixed priority for certain levels of abstraction in visual processing and access to semantic knowledge, the dynamics of object categorization are flexible, depending jointly on the level of abstraction, time for perceptual encoding, and category context. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  14. THE DYNAMICS OF CATEGORIZATION: UNRAVELING RAPID CATEGORIZATION

    PubMed Central

    Mack, Michael L.; Palmeri, Thomas J.

    2015-01-01

    We explore a puzzle of visual object categorization: Under normal viewing conditions, you spot something as a dog fastest, but at a glance, you spot it faster as an animal. During speeded category verification, a classic basic-level advantage is commonly observed (Rosch, Mervis, Gray, Johnson, & Boyes-Braem, 1976), with categorization as a dog faster than as an animal (superordinate) or Golden Retriever (subordinate). A different story emerges during ultra-rapid categorization with limited exposure duration (<30ms), with superordinate categorization faster than basic or subordinate categorization (Thorpe, Fize, & Marlot, 1996). These two widely cited findings paint contrary theoretical pictures about the time course of object categorization, yet no study has previously investigated them together. Over five experiments, we systematically examined two experimental factors that could explain the qualitative difference in categorization across the two paradigms: exposure duration and category trial context. Mapping out the time course of object categorization by manipulating exposure duration and the timing of a post-stimulus mask revealed that brief exposure durations favor superordinate-level categorization, but with more time a basic-level advantage emerges. But this superordinate advantage was modulated significantly by target category trial context. With randomized target categories, the superordinate advantage was eliminated; and with “blocks” of only four repetitions of superordinate categorization within an otherwise randomized context, the advantage for the basic-level was eliminated. Contrary to some theoretical accounts that dictate a fixed priority for certain levels of abstraction in visual processing and access to semantic knowledge, the dynamics of object categorization are flexible, depending jointly on the level of abstraction, time for perceptual encoding, and category context. PMID:25938178

  15. Effects of subject-case marking on agreement processing: ERP evidence from Basque.

    PubMed

    Chow, Wing-Yee; Nevins, Andrew; Carreiras, Manuel

    2018-02-01

    Previous cross-linguistic research has found that comprehenders are immediately sensitive to various kinds of agreement violations across languages. We focused on Basque, a verb-final ergative language with both subject-verb (SV) and object-verb (OV) agreement. We compared the effects of SV agreement violations on comprehenders' event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in transitive sentences (where OV agreement is present, and the subject is ergative) and intransitive sentences (where OV agreement is absent, and the subject is absolutive). We observed a P600 effect in both cases, but only violations with intransitive subjects elicited an early posterior negativity. Such a qualitative difference suggests that distinct neurocognitive mechanisms are involved in processing agreement with transitive subjects (which are marked with ergative case) versus intransitive subjects (which bear absolutive case). Building on theoretical proposals that in languages such as Basque, true agreement occurs with absolutive subjects but not with ergative subjects, we submit that the early posterior negativity may be an electrophysiological signature for true agreement. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Echocardiographic agreement in the diagnostic evaluation for infective endocarditis.

    PubMed

    Lauridsen, Trine Kiilerich; Selton-Suty, Christine; Tong, Steven; Afonso, Luis; Cecchi, Enrico; Park, Lawrence; Yow, Eric; Barnhart, Huiman X; Paré, Carlos; Samad, Zainab; Levine, Donald; Peterson, Gail; Stancoven, Amy Butler; Johansson, Magnus Carl; Dickerman, Stuart; Tamin, Syahidah; Habib, Gilbert; Douglas, Pamela S; Bruun, Niels Eske; Crowley, Anna Lisa

    2016-07-01

    Echocardiography is essential for the diagnosis and management of infective endocarditis (IE). However, the reproducibility for the echocardiographic assessment of variables relevant to IE is unknown. Objectives of this study were: (1) To define the reproducibility for IE echocardiographic variables and (2) to describe a methodology for assessing quality in an observational cohort containing site-interpreted data. IE reproducibility was assessed on a subset of echocardiograms from subjects enrolled in the International Collaboration on Endocarditis registry. Specific echocardiographic case report forms were used. Intra-observer agreement was assessed from six site readers on ten randomly selected echocardiograms. Inter-observer agreement between sites and an echocardiography core laboratory was assessed on a separate random sample of 110 echocardiograms. Agreement was determined using intraclass correlation (ICC), coverage probability (CP), and limits of agreement for continuous variables and kappa statistics (κweighted) and CP for categorical variables. Intra-observer agreement for LVEF was excellent [ICC = 0.93 ± 0.1 and all pairwise differences for LVEF (CP) were within 10 %]. For IE categorical echocardiographic variables, intra-observer agreement was best for aortic abscess (κweighted = 1.0, CP = 1.0 for all readers). Highest inter-observer agreement for IE categorical echocardiographic variables was obtained for vegetation location (κweighted = 0.95; 95 % CI 0.92-0.99) and lowest agreement was found for vegetation mobility (κweighted = 0.69; 95 % CI 0.62-0.86). Moderate to excellent intra- and inter-observer agreement is observed for echocardiographic variables in the diagnostic assessment of IE. A pragmatic approach for determining echocardiographic data reproducibility in a large, multicentre, site interpreted observational cohort is feasible.

  17. 32 CFR 22.215 - Distinguishing grants and cooperative agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... GRANT AND AGREEMENT REGULATIONS DoD GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS-AWARD AND ADMINISTRATION Selecting the... than an absolute, concept, and that it is primarily based on programmatic factors, rather than requirements for grant or cooperative agreement award or administration. For example, substantial involvement...

  18. Assessing epistemic sophistication by considering domain-specific absolute and multiplicistic beliefs separately.

    PubMed

    Peter, Johannes; Rosman, Tom; Mayer, Anne-Kathrin; Leichner, Nikolas; Krampen, Günter

    2016-06-01

    Particularly in higher education, not only a view of science as a means of finding absolute truths (absolutism), but also a view of science as generally tentative (multiplicism) can be unsophisticated and obstructive for learning. Most quantitative epistemic belief inventories neglect this and understand epistemic sophistication as disagreement with absolute statements. This article suggests considering absolutism and multiplicism as separate dimensions. Following our understanding of epistemic sophistication as a cautious and reluctant endorsement of both positions, we assume evaluativism (a contextually adaptive view of knowledge as personally constructed and evidence-based) to be reflected by low agreement with both generalized absolute and generalized multiplicistic statements. Three studies with a total sample size of N = 416 psychology students were conducted. A domain-specific inventory containing both absolute and multiplicistic statements was developed. Expectations were tested by exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and correlational analyses. Results revealed a two-factor solution with an absolute and a multiplicistic factor. Criterion validity of both factors was confirmed. Cross-sectional analyses revealed that agreement to generalized multiplicistic statements decreases with study progress. Moreover, consistent with our understanding of epistemic sophistication as a reluctant attitude towards generalized epistemic statements, evidence for a negative relationship between epistemic sophistication and need for cognitive closure was found. We recommend including multiplicistic statements into epistemic belief questionnaires and considering them as a separate dimension, especially when investigating individuals in later stages of epistemic development (i.e., in higher education). © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

  19. Categorization and reasoning among tree experts: do all roads lead to Rome?

    PubMed

    Medin, D L; Lynch, E B; Coley, J D; Atran, S

    1997-02-01

    To what degree do conceptual systems reflect universal patterns of featural covariation in the world (similarity) or universal organizing principles of mind, and to what degree do they reflect specific goals, theories, and beliefs of the categorizer? This question was addressed in experiments concerned with categorization and reasoning among different types of tree experts (e.g., taxonomists, landscape workers, parks maintenance personnel). The results show an intriguing pattern of similarities and differences. Differences in sorting between taxonomists and maintenance workers reflect differences in weighting of morphological features. Landscape workers, in contrast, sort trees into goal-derived categories based on utilitarian concerns. These sorting patterns carry over into category-based reasoning for the taxonomists and maintenance personnel but not the landscape workers. These generalizations interact with taxonomic rank and suggest that the genus (or folk generic) level is relatively and in some cases absolutely privileged. Implications of these findings for theories of categorization are discussed.

  20. Measures of Agreement Between Many Raters for Ordinal Classifications

    PubMed Central

    Nelson, Kerrie P.; Edwards, Don

    2015-01-01

    Screening and diagnostic procedures often require a physician's subjective interpretation of a patient's test result using an ordered categorical scale to define the patient's disease severity. Due to wide variability observed between physicians’ ratings, many large-scale studies have been conducted to quantify agreement between multiple experts’ ordinal classifications in common diagnostic procedures such as mammography. However, very few statistical approaches are available to assess agreement in these large-scale settings. Existing summary measures of agreement rely on extensions of Cohen's kappa [1 - 5]. These are prone to prevalence and marginal distribution issues, become increasingly complex for more than three experts or are not easily implemented. Here we propose a model-based approach to assess agreement in large-scale studies based upon a framework of ordinal generalized linear mixed models. A summary measure of agreement is proposed for multiple experts assessing the same sample of patients’ test results according to an ordered categorical scale. This measure avoids some of the key flaws associated with Cohen's kappa and its extensions. Simulation studies are conducted to demonstrate the validity of the approach with comparison to commonly used agreement measures. The proposed methods are easily implemented using the software package R and are applied to two large-scale cancer agreement studies. PMID:26095449

  1. EasyDIAg: A tool for easy determination of interrater agreement.

    PubMed

    Holle, Henning; Rein, Robert

    2015-09-01

    Reliable measurements are fundamental for the empirical sciences. In observational research, measurements often consist of observers categorizing behavior into nominal-scaled units. Since the categorization is the outcome of a complex judgment process, it is important to evaluate the extent to which these judgments are reproducible, by having multiple observers independently rate the same behavior. A challenge in determining interrater agreement for timed-event sequential data is to develop clear objective criteria to determine whether two raters' judgments relate to the same event (the linking problem). Furthermore, many studies presently report only raw agreement indices, without considering the degree to which agreement can occur by chance alone. Here, we present a novel, free, and open-source toolbox (EasyDIAg) designed to assist researchers with the linking problem, while also providing chance-corrected estimates of interrater agreement. Additional tools are included to facilitate the development of coding schemes and rater training.

  2. A juridical review of partnership agreements that have the elements of work agreements in Indonesia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nugroho, A.; Sulistyowati, E.; Hikmah, N.

    2018-01-01

    The Partnership Agreements place the parties in an equal position each party has something as the bargaining power. In some cases, employers prefer to use Partnership Agreements to some individuals to complete the work in their company than Work agreements. Practicality and the absence of obligations to fulfil workers’ rights such as the right to join a Union and to get social security are some of the reasons why employers use the Partnership Agreements. Sometimes Partnership Agreement contains jobs, wages and orders which is the characteristic of work agreement. Based on the fact above, the legal issues arise whether the Partnership Agreement can be considered as the Work Agreement or not and which court is authorized to hear in the event of a dispute. To analyze the above legal issues, this research uses normative legal research type with the statute approach. The technique of legal material analysis uses prescriptive techniques to assess the issue and make recommendations. Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that the Partnership Agreement, of which the elements are: wages and orders can be categorized as Work Agreement and therefore in the event of a dispute, the authorized court is Industrial Relations Court.

  3. Service Level Agreements in Service-Oriented Architecture Environments

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-09-01

    the WS-Agreement [ Seidel 2007]. Indeed, core concepts of the WSLA were brought into the WS-Agreement, which also contains ideas from the Service...A Categorization Scheme for SLA Metrics. http://ibis.in.tum.de/staff/paschke/docs/MKWI2006_SLA_Paschke.pdf (2006). [ Seidel 2007] Seidel , Jan...addr-metadata-20070731/(2007). [Wohlstadter 2004] Wohlstadter, Eric; Tai, Stefan ; Mikalsen, Thomas; Rouvellou, Isabelle; & Devanbu, Premkumar

  4. Absolute Coefficients and the Graphical Representation of Airfoil Characteristics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Munk, Max

    1921-01-01

    It is argued that there should be an agreement as to what conventions to use in determining absolute coefficients used in aeronautics and in how to plot those coefficients. Of particular importance are the absolute coefficients of lift and drag. The author argues for the use of the German method over the kind in common use in the United States and England, and for the Continental over the usual American and British method of graphically representing the characteristics of an airfoil. The author notes that, on the whole, it appears that the use of natural absolute coefficients in a polar diagram is the logical method for presentation of airfoil characteristics, and that serious consideration should be given to the advisability of adopting this method in all countries, in order to advance uniformity and accuracy in the science of aeronautics.

  5. An agreement coefficient for image comparison

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ji, Lei; Gallo, Kevin

    2006-01-01

    Combination of datasets acquired from different sensor systems is necessary to construct a long time-series dataset for remotely sensed land-surface variables. Assessment of the agreement of the data derived from various sources is an important issue in understanding the data continuity through the time-series. Some traditional measures, including correlation coefficient, coefficient of determination, mean absolute error, and root mean square error, are not always optimal for evaluating the data agreement. For this reason, we developed a new agreement coefficient for comparing two different images. The agreement coefficient has the following properties: non-dimensional, bounded, symmetric, and distinguishable between systematic and unsystematic differences. The paper provides examples of agreement analyses for hypothetical data and actual remotely sensed data. The results demonstrate that the agreement coefficient does include the above properties, and therefore is a useful tool for image comparison.

  6. Interrater Reliability of the Categorization of Late Radiographic Changes After Lung Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Faruqi, Salman; Giuliani, Meredith E., E-mail: meredith.giuliani@rmp.uhn.on.ca; Raziee, Hamid

    2014-08-01

    Purpose: Radiographic changes after lung stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) have been categorized into 4 groups: modified conventional pattern (A), mass-like fibrosis; (B), scar-like fibrosis (C), and no evidence of increased density (D). The purpose of this study was to assess the interrater reliability of this categorization system in patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods and Materials: Seventy-seven patients were included in this study, all treated with SBRT for early-stage (T1/2) NSCLC at a single institution, with a minimum follow-up of 6 months. Six experienced clinicians familiar with post-SBRT radiographic changes scored the serial posttreatment CT images independentlymore » in a blinded fashion. The proportion of patients categorized as A, B, C, or D at each interval was determined. Krippendorff's alpha (KA), Multirater kappa (M-kappa), and Gwet's AC1 (AC1) scores were used to establish interrater reliability. A leave-one-out analysis was performed to demonstrate the variability among raters. Interrater agreement of the first and last 20 patients scored was calculated to explore whether a training effect existed. Results: The number of ratings ranged from 450 at 6 months to 84 at 48 months of follow-up. The proportion of patients in each category was as follows: A, 45%; B, 16%; C, 13%; and D, 26%. KA and M-kappa ranged from 0.17 to 0.34. AC1 measure range was 0.22 to 0.48. KA increased from 0.24 to 0.36 at 12 months with training. The percent agreement for pattern A peaked at 12 month with a 54% chance of having >50% raters in agreement and decreased over time, whereas that for patterns B and C increased over time to a maximum of 20% and 22%, respectively. Conclusion: This post-SBRT radiographic change categorization system has modest interrater agreement, and there is a suggestion of a training effect. Patterns of fibrosis evolve after SBRT and alternative categorization systems should be evaluated.« less

  7. Interrater and intrarater agreements of magnetic resonance imaging findings in the lumbar spine: significant variability across degenerative conditions.

    PubMed

    Fu, Michael C; Buerba, Rafael A; Long, William D; Blizzard, Daniel J; Lischuk, Andrew W; Haims, Andrew H; Grauer, Jonathan N

    2014-10-01

    Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is frequently used in the evaluation of degenerative conditions in the lumbar spine. The relative interrater and intrarater agreements of MRI findings across different pathologic conditions are underexplored, as most studies are focused on specific findings. The purpose of this study was to characterize the interrater and intrarater agreements of MRI findings used to assess the degenerative lumbar spine. A retrospective diagnostic study at a large academic medical center was undertaken with a panel of orthopedic surgeons and musculoskeletal radiologists to assess lumbar MRIs using standardized criteria. Seventy-five subjects who underwent routine lumbar spine MRI at our institution were included. Each MRI study was assessed for 10 lumbar degenerative findings using standardized criteria. Lumbar vertebral levels were assessed independently, where applicable, for a total of 52 data points collected per study. T2-weighted axial and sagittal MRI sequences were presented in random order to the four reviewers (two orthopedic spine surgeons and two musculoskeletal radiologists) independently to determine interrater agreement. The first 10 studies were reevaluated at the end to determine intrarater agreement. Images were assessed using standardized and pilot-tested criteria to assess disc degeneration, stenosis, and other degenerative changes. Interrater and intrarater absolute percent agreements were calculated. To highlight the most clinically important MRI disagreements, a modified agreement analysis was also performed (in which disagreements between the lowest two severity grades for applicable conditions were ignored). Fleiss kappa coefficients for interrater agreement were determined. The overall absolute and modified interrater agreements were 76.9% and 93.5%, respectively. The absolute and modified intrarater agreements were 81.3% and 92.7%, respectively. Average Fleiss kappa coefficient was 0.431, suggesting moderate overall

  8. On the Agreement between Manual and Automated Methods for Single-Trial Detection and Estimation of Features from Event-Related Potentials

    PubMed Central

    Biurrun Manresa, José A.; Arguissain, Federico G.; Medina Redondo, David E.; Mørch, Carsten D.; Andersen, Ole K.

    2015-01-01

    The agreement between humans and algorithms on whether an event-related potential (ERP) is present or not and the level of variation in the estimated values of its relevant features are largely unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the categorical and quantitative agreement between manual and automated methods for single-trial detection and estimation of ERP features. To this end, ERPs were elicited in sixteen healthy volunteers using electrical stimulation at graded intensities below and above the nociceptive withdrawal reflex threshold. Presence/absence of an ERP peak (categorical outcome) and its amplitude and latency (quantitative outcome) in each single-trial were evaluated independently by two human observers and two automated algorithms taken from existing literature. Categorical agreement was assessed using percentage positive and negative agreement and Cohen’s κ, whereas quantitative agreement was evaluated using Bland-Altman analysis and the coefficient of variation. Typical values for the categorical agreement between manual and automated methods were derived, as well as reference values for the average and maximum differences that can be expected if one method is used instead of the others. Results showed that the human observers presented the highest categorical and quantitative agreement, and there were significantly large differences between detection and estimation of quantitative features among methods. In conclusion, substantial care should be taken in the selection of the detection/estimation approach, since factors like stimulation intensity and expected number of trials with/without response can play a significant role in the outcome of a study. PMID:26258532

  9. SHORT COMMUNICATION: Comparison between two mobile absolute gravimeters: optical versus atomic interferometers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Merlet, S.; Bodart, Q.; Malossi, N.; Landragin, A.; Pereira Dos Santos, F.; Gitlein, O.; Timmen, L.

    2010-08-01

    We report a comparison between two absolute gravimeters: the LNE-SYRTE cold atom gravimeter and FG5#220 of Leibniz Universität of Hannover. They rely on different principles of operation: atomic and optical interferometry. Both are movable which enabled them to participate in the last International Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters (ICAG'09) at BIPM. Immediately after, their bilateral comparison took place in the LNE watt balance laboratory and showed an agreement of (4.3 ± 6.4) µGal.

  10. Absolute photoionization cross sections of atomic oxygen

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Samson, J. A. R.; Pareek, P. N.

    1982-01-01

    The absolute values of photoionization cross sections of atomic oxygen were measured from the ionization threshold to 120 A. An auto-ionizing resonance belonging to the 2S2P4(4P)3P(3Do, 3So) transition was observed at 479.43 A and another line at 389.97 A. The experimental data is in excellent agreement with rigorous close-coupling calculations that include electron correlations in both the initial and final states.

  11. Absolute photoionization cross sections of atomic oxygen

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Samson, J. A. R.; Pareek, P. N.

    1985-01-01

    The absolute values of photoionization cross sections of atomic oxygen were measured from the ionization threshold to 120 A. An auto-ionizing resonance belonging to the 2S2P4(4P)3P(3Do, 3So) transition was observed at 479.43 A and another line at 389.97 A. The experimental data is in excellent agreement with rigorous close-coupling calculations that include electron correlations in both the initial and final states.

  12. Categorization of common sounds by cochlear implanted and normal hearing adults.

    PubMed

    Collett, E; Marx, M; Gaillard, P; Roby, B; Fraysse, B; Deguine, O; Barone, P

    2016-05-01

    Auditory categorization involves grouping of acoustic events along one or more shared perceptual dimensions which can relate to both semantic and physical attributes. This process involves both high level cognitive processes (categorization) and low-level perceptual encoding of the acoustic signal, both of which are affected by the use of a cochlear implant (CI) device. The goal of this study was twofold: I) compare the categorization strategies of CI users and normal hearing listeners (NHL) II) investigate if any characteristics of the raw acoustic signal could explain the results. 16 experienced CI users and 20 NHL were tested using a Free-Sorting Task of 16 common sounds divided into 3 predefined categories of environmental, musical and vocal sounds. Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and Hierarchical Clustering based on Principal Components (HCPC) show that CI users followed a similar categorization strategy to that of NHL and were able to discriminate between the three different types of sounds. However results for CI users were more varied and showed less inter-participant agreement. Acoustic analysis also highlighted the average pitch salience and average autocorrelation peak as being important for the perception and categorization of the sounds. The results therefore show that on a broad level of categorization CI users may not have as many difficulties as previously thought in discriminating certain kinds of sound; however the perception of individual sounds remains challenging. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Assessing agreement between malaria slide density readings.

    PubMed

    Alexander, Neal; Schellenberg, David; Ngasala, Billy; Petzold, Max; Drakeley, Chris; Sutherland, Colin

    2010-01-04

    Several criteria have been used to assess agreement between replicate slide readings of malaria parasite density. Such criteria may be based on percent difference, or absolute difference, or a combination. Neither the rationale for choosing between these types of criteria, nor that for choosing the magnitude of difference which defines acceptable agreement, are clear. The current paper seeks a procedure which avoids the disadvantages of these current options and whose parameter values are more clearly justified. Variation of parasite density within a slide is expected, even when it has been prepared from a homogeneous sample. This places lower limits on sensitivity and observer agreement, quantified by the Poisson distribution. This means that, if a criterion of fixed percent difference criterion is used for satisfactory agreement, the number of discrepant readings is over-estimated at low parasite densities. With a criterion of fixed absolute difference, the same happens at high parasite densities. For an ideal slide, following the Poisson distribution, a criterion based on a constant difference in square root counts would apply for all densities. This can be back-transformed to a difference in absolute counts, which, as expected, gives a wider range of acceptable agreement at higher average densities. In an example dataset from Tanzania, observed differences in square root counts correspond to a 95% limits of agreement of -2,800 and +2,500 parasites/microl at average density of 2,000 parasites/microl, and -6,200 and +5,700 parasites/microl at 10,000 parasites/microl. However, there were more outliers beyond those ranges at higher densities, meaning that actual coverage of these ranges was not a constant 95%, but decreased with density. In a second study, a trial of microscopist training, the corresponding ranges of agreement are wider and asymmetrical: -8,600 to +5,200/microl, and -19,200 to +11,700/microl, respectively. By comparison, the optimal limits of

  14. Infant categorization.

    PubMed

    Rakison, David H; Yermolayeva, Yevdokiya

    2010-11-01

    In this article, we review the principal findings on infant categorization from the last 30 years. The review focuses on behaviorally based experiments with visual preference, habituation, object examining, sequential touching, and inductive generalization procedures. We propose that although this research has helped to elucidate the 'what' and 'when' of infant categorization, it has failed to clarify the mechanisms that underpin this behavior and the development of concepts. We outline a number of reasons for why the field has failed in this regard, most notably because of the context-specific nature of infant categorization and a lack of ground rules in interpreting data. We conclude by suggesting that one remedy for this issue is for infant categorization researchers to adopt more of an interdisciplinary approach by incorporating imaging and computational methods into their current methodological arsenal. WIREs Cogn Sci 2010 1 894-905 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  15. Bristol Stool Form Scale reliability and agreement decreases when determining Rome III stool form designations

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Rater reproducibility of the Bristol Stool Form Scale (BSFS), which categorizes stools into one of seven types, is unknown. We sought to determine reliability and agreement by individual stool type and when responses are categorized by Rome III clinical designation as normal or abnormal (constipatio...

  16. Categorization in the wild.

    PubMed

    Glushko, Robert J; Maglio, Paul P; Matlock, Teenie; Barsalou, Lawrence W

    2008-04-01

    In studying categorization, cognitive science has focused primarily on cultural categorization, ignoring individual and institutional categorization. Because recent technological developments have made individual and institutional classification systems much more available and powerful, our understanding of the cognitive and social mechanisms that produce these systems is increasingly important. Furthermore, key aspects of categorization that have received little previous attention emerge from considering diverse types of categorization together, such as the social factors that create stability in classification systems, and the interoperability that shared conceptual systems establish between agents. Finally, the profound impact of recent technological developments on classification systems indicates that basic categorization mechanisms are highly adaptive, producing new classification systems as the situations in which they operate change.

  17. Interrater agreement in the interpretation of neonatal electroencephalography in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.

    PubMed

    Wusthoff, Courtney J; Sullivan, Joseph; Glass, Hannah C; Shellhaas, Renée A; Abend, Nicholas S; Chang, Taeun; Tsuchida, Tammy N

    2017-03-01

    Research using neonatal electroencephalography (EEG) has been limited by a lack of a standardized classification system and interpretation terminology. In 2013, the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society (ACNS) published a guideline for standardized terminology and categorization in the description of continuous EEG in neonates. We sought to assess interrater agreement for this neonatal EEG categorization system as applied by a group of pediatric neurophysiologists. A total of 60 neonatal EEG studies were collected from three institutions. All EEG segments were from term neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Three pediatric neurophysiologists independently reviewed each record using the ACNS standardized scoring system. Unweighted kappa values were calculated for interrater agreement of categorical data across multiple observers. Interrater agreement was very good for identification of seizures (κ = 0.93, p < 0.001), with perfect agreement in 95% of records (57 of 60). Interrater agreement was moderate for classifying records as normal or having any abnormality (κ = 0.49, p < 0.001), with perfect agreement in 78% of records (47 of 60). Interrater agreement was good in classifying EEG backgrounds on a 5-category scale (normal, excessively discontinuous, burst suppression, status epilepticus, or electrocerebral inactivity) (κ = 0.70, p < 0.001), with perfect agreement in 72% of records (43 of 60). Other specific background features had lower agreement, including voltage (κ = 0.41, p < 0.001), variability (κ = 0.35, p < 0.001), symmetry (κ = 0.18, p = 0.01), presence of abnormal sharp waves (κ < 0.20, p < 0.05), and presence of brief rhythmic discharges (κ < 0.20, p < 0.05). We found good or very good interrater agreement applying the ACNS system for identification of seizures and classification of EEG background. Other specific EEG features showed limited interrater agreement. Of importance to both clinicians and

  18. Child categorization

    PubMed Central

    Gelman, Susan A.; Meyer, Meredith

    2013-01-01

    Categorization is a process that spans all of development, beginning in earliest infancy yet changing as children’s knowledge and cognitive skills develop. In this review article, we address three core issues regarding childhood categorization. First, we discuss the extent to which early categories are rooted in perceptual similarity versus knowledge-enriched theories. We argue for a composite perspective in which categories are steeped in commonsense theories from a young age but also are informed by low-level similarity and associative learning cues. Second, we examine the role of language in early categorization. We review evidence to suggest that language is a powerful means of expressing, communicating, shaping, and supporting category knowledge. Finally, we consider categories in context. We discuss sources of variability and flexibility in children’s categories, as well as the ways in which children’s categories are used within larger knowledge systems (e.g., to form analogies, make inferences, or construct theories). Categorization is a process that is intrinsically tied to nearly all aspects of cognition, and its study provides insight into cognitive development, broadly construed. PMID:23440312

  19. Interobserver Variability in Histologic Evaluation of Liver Fibrosis Using Categorical and Quantitative Scores.

    PubMed

    Pavlides, Michael; Birks, Jacqueline; Fryer, Eve; Delaney, David; Sarania, Nikita; Banerjee, Rajarshi; Neubauer, Stefan; Barnes, Eleanor; Fleming, Kenneth A; Wang, Lai Mun

    2017-04-01

    The aim of the study was to investigate the interobserver agreement for categorical and quantitative scores of liver fibrosis. Sixty-five consecutive biopsy specimens from patients with mixed liver disease etiologies were assessed by three pathologists using the Ishak and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network (NASH CRN) scoring systems, and the fibrosis area (collagen proportionate area [CPA]) was estimated by visual inspection (visual-CPA). A subset of 20 biopsy specimens was analyzed using digital imaging analysis (DIA) for the measurement of CPA (DIA-CPA). The bivariate weighted κ between any two pathologists ranged from 0.57 to 0.67 for Ishak staging and from 0.47 to 0.57 for the NASH CRN staging. Bland-Altman analysis showed poor agreement between all possible pathologist pairings for visual-CPA but good agreement between all pathologist pairings for DIA-CPA. There was good agreement between the two pathologists who assessed biopsy specimens by visual-CPA and DIA-CPA. The intraclass correlation coefficient, which is equivalent to the κ statistic for continuous variables, was 0.78 for visual-CPA and 0.97 for DIA-CPA. These results suggest that DIA-CPA is the most robust method for assessing liver fibrosis followed by visual-CPA. Categorical scores perform less well than both the quantitative CPA scores assessed here. © American Society for Clinical Pathology, 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

  20. How malleable is categorization by race? Evidence for competitive category use in social categorization.

    PubMed

    Klauer, Karl Christoph; Hölzenbein, Fabian; Calanchini, Jimmy; Sherman, Jeffrey W

    2014-07-01

    We contrast 3 theoretical viewpoints concerning the factors affecting social categorization by race: (a) the classical theory of social categorization highlighting the role of a priori accessibility and situational factors, (b) the classical theory augmented by a principle of competitive category use, and (c) competition between race (but not gender) and coalition with race (but not gender) encoded only as a proxy to coalition. Study 1 documents a confound that renders important portions of previous research difficult to interpret. In Studies 2 and 3, race categorization was stronger than categorization by more weakly accessible categories when situational support in terms of topic relevance was comparable across categories. A situational focus on race further increased race categorization. Race categorization was reduced in the presence of strongly cued cross-cutting coalitions. Race categorization also was depressed when situational factors promoted comparative processing of cross-cutting categories while cues to potential coalitional divisions were held constant (Study 4). Accessibility, topic relevance, and cuing cross-cutting coalitions had the same effects on gender categorization as found for race categorization (Study 5). Taken together, the results suggest that classical theories of social categorization have to be augmented by a principle of competitive category use that is not limited to a competition between race and coalition.

  1. An absolute photometric system at 10 and 20 microns

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rieke, G. H.; Lebofsky, M. J.; Low, F. J.

    1985-01-01

    Two new direct calibrations at 10 and 20 microns are presented in which terrestrial flux standards are referred to infrared standard stars. These measurements give both good agreement and higher accuracy when compared with previous direct calibrations. As a result, the absolute calibrations at 10 and 20 microns have now been determined with accuracies of 3 and 8 percent, respectively. A variety of absolute calibrations based on extrapolation of stellar spectra from the visible to 10 microns are reviewed. Current atmospheric models of A-type stars underestimate their fluxes by about 10 percent at 10 microns, whereas models of solar-type stars agree well with the direct calibrations. The calibration at 20 microns can probably be determined to about 5 percent by extrapolation from the more accurate result at 10 microns. The photometric system at 10 and 20 microns is updated to reflect the new absolute calibration, to base its zero point directly on the colors of A0 stars, and to improve the accuracy in the comparison of the standard stars.

  2. Intersectionality and risk for ischemic heart disease in Sweden: Categorical and anti-categorical approaches.

    PubMed

    Wemrell, Maria; Mulinari, Shai; Merlo, Juan

    2017-03-01

    Intersectionality theory can contribute to epidemiology and public health by furthering understanding of power dynamics driving production of health disparities, and increasing knowledge about heterogeneities within, and overlap between, social categories. Drawing on McCall, we relate the first of these potential contributions to categorical intersectionality and the second to anti-categorical intersectionality. Both approaches are used in study of risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD), based on register data on 3.6 million adults residing in Sweden by 2010, followed for three years. Categorical intersectionality is here coupled with between-group differences in average risk calculation, as we use intersectional categorizations while estimating odds ratios through logistic regressions. The anti-categorical approach is operationalized through measurement of discriminatory accuracy (DA), i.e., capacity to accurately categorize individuals with or without a certain outcome, through computation of the area under the curve (AUC). Our results show substantial differences in average risk between intersectional groupings. The DA of social categorizations is found to be low, however, due to outcome variability within and overlap between categories. We argue that measures of DA should be used for proper interpretation of differences in average risk between social (or any other) categories. Tension between average between-group risk and the DA of categorizations, which can be related to categorical and anti-categorical intersectional analyses, should be made explicit and discussed to a larger degree in epidemiology and public health. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  3. New agreement measures based on survival processes

    PubMed Central

    Guo, Ying; Li, Ruosha; Peng, Limin; Manatunga, Amita K.

    2013-01-01

    Summary The need to assess agreement arises in many scenarios in biomedical sciences when measurements were taken by different methods on the same subjects. When the endpoints are survival outcomes, the study of agreement becomes more challenging given the special characteristics of time-to-event data. In this paper, we propose a new framework for assessing agreement based on survival processes that can be viewed as a natural representation of time-to-event outcomes. Our new agreement measure is formulated as the chance-corrected concordance between survival processes. It provides a new perspective for studying the relationship between correlated survival outcomes and offers an appealing interpretation as the agreement between survival times on the absolute distance scale. We provide a multivariate extension of the proposed agreement measure for multiple methods. Furthermore, the new framework enables a natural extension to evaluate time-dependent agreement structure. We develop nonparametric estimation of the proposed new agreement measures. Our estimators are shown to be strongly consistent and asymptotically normal. We evaluate the performance of the proposed estimators through simulation studies and then illustrate the methods using a prostate cancer data example. PMID:23844617

  4. Dissimilarity in Creative Categorization

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ranjan, Apara; Srinivasan, Narayanan

    2010-01-01

    Theories of categorization need to account for ways in which people use their creativity to categorize things, especially in the context of similarity. The current three-phase study is a preliminary attempt to understand how people group concepts together as well as to explore the role of similarity between concepts in creative categorization.…

  5. An automated LS(β)- NaI(Tl)(γ) coincidence system as absolute standard for radioactivity measurements.

    PubMed

    Joseph, Leena; Das, A P; Ravindra, Anuradha; Kulkarni, D B; Kulkarni, M S

    2018-07-01

    4πβ-γ coincidence method is a powerful and widely used method to determine the absolute activity concentration of radioactive solutions. A new automated liquid scintillator based coincidence system has been designed, developed, tested and established as absolute standard for radioactivity measurements. The automation is achieved using PLC (programmable logic controller) and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition). Radioactive solution of 60 Co was standardized to compare the performance of the automated system with proportional counter based absolute standard maintained in the laboratory. The activity concentrations determined using these two systems were in very good agreement; the new automated system can be used for absolute measurement of activity concentration of radioactive solutions. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  6. Computer-assisted categorizing of head computed tomography reports for clinical decision rule research.

    PubMed

    Wall, Stephen P; Mayorga, Oliver; Banfield, Christine E; Wall, Mark E; Aisic, Ilan; Auerbach, Carl; Gennis, Paul

    2006-11-01

    To develop software that categorizes electronic head computed tomography (CT) reports into groups useful for clinical decision rule research. Data were obtained from the Second National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study, a cohort of head injury patients having received head CT. CT reports were reviewed manually for presence or absence of clinically important subdural or epidural hematoma, defined as greater than 1.0 cm in width or causing mass effect. Manual categorization was done by 2 independent researchers blinded to each other's results. A third researcher adjudicated discrepancies. A random sample of 300 reports with radiologic abnormalities was selected for software development. After excluding reports categorized manually or by software as indeterminate (neither positive nor negative), we calculated sensitivity and specificity by using manual categorization as the standard. System efficiency was defined as the percentage of reports categorized as positive or negative, regardless of accuracy. Software was refined until analysis of the training data yielded sensitivity and specificity approximating 95% and efficiency exceeding 75%. To test the system, we calculated sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency, using the remaining 1,911 reports. Of the 1,911 reports, 160 had clinically important subdural or epidural hematoma. The software exhibited good agreement with manual categorization of all reports, including indeterminate ones (weighted kappa 0.62; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.58 to 0.65). Sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency of the computerized system for identifying manual positives and negatives were 96% (95% CI 91% to 98%), 98% (95% CI 98% to 99%), and 79% (95% CI 77% to 80%), respectively. Categorizing head CT reports by computer for clinical decision rule research is feasible.

  7. Teaching Absolute Value Meaningfully

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wade, Angela

    2012-01-01

    What is the meaning of absolute value? And why do teachers teach students how to solve absolute value equations? Absolute value is a concept introduced in first-year algebra and then reinforced in later courses. Various authors have suggested instructional methods for teaching absolute value to high school students (Wei 2005; Stallings-Roberts…

  8. Absolute Distances to Nearby Type Ia Supernovae via Light Curve Fitting Methods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vinkó, J.; Ordasi, A.; Szalai, T.; Sárneczky, K.; Bányai, E.; Bíró, I. B.; Borkovits, T.; Hegedüs, T.; Hodosán, G.; Kelemen, J.; Klagyivik, P.; Kriskovics, L.; Kun, E.; Marion, G. H.; Marschalkó, G.; Molnár, L.; Nagy, A. P.; Pál, A.; Silverman, J. M.; Szakáts, R.; Szegedi-Elek, E.; Székely, P.; Szing, A.; Vida, K.; Wheeler, J. C.

    2018-06-01

    We present a comparative study of absolute distances to a sample of very nearby, bright Type Ia supernovae (SNe) derived from high cadence, high signal-to-noise, multi-band photometric data. Our sample consists of four SNe: 2012cg, 2012ht, 2013dy and 2014J. We present new homogeneous, high-cadence photometric data in Johnson–Cousins BVRI and Sloan g‧r‧i‧z‧ bands taken from two sites (Piszkesteto and Baja, Hungary), and the light curves are analyzed with publicly available light curve fitters (MLCS2k2, SNooPy2 and SALT2.4). When comparing the best-fit parameters provided by the different codes, it is found that the distance moduli of moderately reddened SNe Ia agree within ≲0.2 mag, and the agreement is even better (≲0.1 mag) for the highest signal-to-noise BVRI data. For the highly reddened SN 2014J the dispersion of the inferred distance moduli is slightly higher. These SN-based distances are in good agreement with the Cepheid distances to their host galaxies. We conclude that the current state-of-the-art light curve fitters for Type Ia SNe can provide consistent absolute distance moduli having less than ∼0.1–0.2 mag uncertainty for nearby SNe. Still, there is room for future improvements to reach the desired ∼0.05 mag accuracy in the absolute distance modulus.

  9. Biological origins of color categorization.

    PubMed

    Skelton, Alice E; Catchpole, Gemma; Abbott, Joshua T; Bosten, Jenny M; Franklin, Anna

    2017-05-23

    The biological basis of the commonality in color lexicons across languages has been hotly debated for decades. Prior evidence that infants categorize color could provide support for the hypothesis that color categorization systems are not purely constructed by communication and culture. Here, we investigate the relationship between infants' categorization of color and the commonality across color lexicons, and the potential biological origin of infant color categories. We systematically mapped infants' categorical recognition memory for hue onto a stimulus array used previously to document the color lexicons of 110 nonindustrialized languages. Following familiarization to a given hue, infants' response to a novel hue indicated that their recognition memory parses the hue continuum into red, yellow, green, blue, and purple categories. Infants' categorical distinctions aligned with common distinctions in color lexicons and are organized around hues that are commonly central to lexical categories across languages. The boundaries between infants' categorical distinctions also aligned, relative to the adaptation point, with the cardinal axes that describe the early stages of color representation in retinogeniculate pathways, indicating that infant color categorization may be partly organized by biological mechanisms of color vision. The findings suggest that color categorization in language and thought is partially biologically constrained and have implications for broader debate on how biology, culture, and communication interact in human cognition.

  10. Biological origins of color categorization

    PubMed Central

    Catchpole, Gemma; Abbott, Joshua T.; Bosten, Jenny M.; Franklin, Anna

    2017-01-01

    The biological basis of the commonality in color lexicons across languages has been hotly debated for decades. Prior evidence that infants categorize color could provide support for the hypothesis that color categorization systems are not purely constructed by communication and culture. Here, we investigate the relationship between infants’ categorization of color and the commonality across color lexicons, and the potential biological origin of infant color categories. We systematically mapped infants’ categorical recognition memory for hue onto a stimulus array used previously to document the color lexicons of 110 nonindustrialized languages. Following familiarization to a given hue, infants’ response to a novel hue indicated that their recognition memory parses the hue continuum into red, yellow, green, blue, and purple categories. Infants’ categorical distinctions aligned with common distinctions in color lexicons and are organized around hues that are commonly central to lexical categories across languages. The boundaries between infants’ categorical distinctions also aligned, relative to the adaptation point, with the cardinal axes that describe the early stages of color representation in retinogeniculate pathways, indicating that infant color categorization may be partly organized by biological mechanisms of color vision. The findings suggest that color categorization in language and thought is partially biologically constrained and have implications for broader debate on how biology, culture, and communication interact in human cognition. PMID:28484022

  11. Noisy text categorization.

    PubMed

    Vinciarelli, Alessandro

    2005-12-01

    This work presents categorization experiments performed over noisy texts. By noisy, we mean any text obtained through an extraction process (affected by errors) from media other than digital texts (e.g., transcriptions of speech recordings extracted with a recognition system). The performance of a categorization system over the clean and noisy (Word Error Rate between approximately 10 and approximately 50 percent) versions of the same documents is compared. The noisy texts are obtained through handwriting recognition and simulation of optical character recognition. The results show that the performance loss is acceptable for Recall values up to 60-70 percent depending on the noise sources. New measures of the extraction process performance, allowing a better explanation of the categorization results, are proposed.

  12. Categorizing entities by common role.

    PubMed

    Goldwater, Micah B; Markman, Arthur B

    2011-04-01

    Many categories group together entities that play a common role across situations. For example, guest and host refer to complementary roles in visiting situations and, thus, are role-governed categories (A. B. Markman & Stilwell, Journal of Experiment & Theoretical Artificial Intelligence, 13, 329-358, 2001). However, categorizing an entity by role is one of many possible classification strategies. This article examines factors that promote role-governed categorization over thematic-relation-based categorization (Lin & Murphy, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130, 3-28, 2001). In Experiments 1a and 1b, we demonstrate that the use of novel category labels facilitates role-governed categorization. In Experiments 2a and 2b, we demonstrate that analogical comparison facilitates role-governed categorization. In Experiments 1b and 2b, we show that these facilitatory factors induce a general sensitivity to role information, as opposed to only promoting role-governed categorization on an item-by-item basis.

  13. ERP signs of categorical and supra-categorical processing of visual information.

    PubMed

    Zani, Alberto; Marsili, Giulia; Senerchia, Annapaola; Orlandi, Andrea; Citron, Francesca M M; Rizzi, Ezia; Proverbio, Alice M

    2015-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to investigate to what extent shared and distinct brain mechanisms are possibly subserving the processing of visual supra-categorical and categorical knowledge as observed with event-related potentials of the brain. Access time to these knowledge types was also investigated. Picture pairs of animals, objects, and mixed types were presented. Participants were asked to decide whether each pair contained pictures belonging to the same category (either animals or man-made objects) or to different categories by pressing one of two buttons. Response accuracy and reaction times (RTs) were also recorded. Both ERPs and RTs were grand-averaged separately for the same-different supra-categories and the animal-object categories. Behavioral performance was faster for more endomorphic pairs, i.e., animals vs. objects and same vs. different category pairs. For ERPs, a modulation of the earliest C1 and subsequent P1 responses to the same vs. different supra-category pairs, but not to the animal vs. object category pairs, was found. This finding supports the view that early afferent processing in the striate cortex can be boosted as a by-product of attention allocated to the processing of shapes and basic features that are mismatched, but not to their semantic quintessence, during same-different supra-categorical judgment. Most importantly, the fact that this processing accrual occurred independent of a traditional experimental condition requiring selective attention to a stimulus source out of the various sources addressed makes it conceivable that this processing accrual may arise from the attentional demand deriving from the alternate focusing of visual attention within and across stimulus categorical pairs' basic structural features. Additional posterior ERP reflections of the brain more prominently processing animal category and same-category pairs were observed at the N1 and N2 levels, respectively, as well as at a late positive complex level

  14. Decoupling Object Detection and Categorization

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mack, Michael L.; Palmeri, Thomas J.

    2010-01-01

    We investigated whether there exists a behavioral dependency between object detection and categorization. Previous work (Grill-Spector & Kanwisher, 2005) suggests that object detection and basic-level categorization may be the very same perceptual mechanism: As objects are parsed from the background they are categorized at the basic level. In…

  15. Categorization: The View from Animal Cognition.

    PubMed

    Smith, J David; Zakrzewski, Alexandria C; Johnson, Jennifer M; Valleau, Jeanette C; Church, Barbara A

    2016-06-15

    Exemplar, prototype, and rule theory have organized much of the enormous literature on categorization. From this theoretical foundation have arisen the two primary debates in the literature-the prototype-exemplar debate and the single system-multiple systems debate. We review these theories and debates. Then, we examine the contribution that animal-cognition studies have made to them. Animals have been crucial behavioral ambassadors to the literature on categorization. They reveal the roots of human categorization, the basic assumptions of vertebrates entering category tasks, the surprising weakness of exemplar memory as a category-learning strategy. They show that a unitary exemplar theory of categorization is insufficient to explain human and animal categorization. They show that a multiple-systems theoretical account-encompassing exemplars, prototypes, and rules-will be required for a complete explanation. They show the value of a fitness perspective in understanding categorization, and the value of giving categorization an evolutionary depth and phylogenetic breadth. They raise important questions about the internal similarity structure of natural kinds and categories. They demonstrate strong continuities with humans in categorization, but discontinuities, too. Categorization's great debates are resolving themselves, and to these resolutions animals have made crucial contributions.

  16. The Timing of Visual Object Categorization

    PubMed Central

    Mack, Michael L.; Palmeri, Thomas J.

    2011-01-01

    An object can be categorized at different levels of abstraction: as natural or man-made, animal or plant, bird or dog, or as a Northern Cardinal or Pyrrhuloxia. There has been growing interest in understanding how quickly categorizations at different levels are made and how the timing of those perceptual decisions changes with experience. We specifically contrast two perspectives on the timing of object categorization at different levels of abstraction. By one account, the relative timing implies a relative timing of stages of visual processing that are tied to particular levels of object categorization: Fast categorizations are fast because they precede other categorizations within the visual processing hierarchy. By another account, the relative timing reflects when perceptual features are available over time and the quality of perceptual evidence used to drive a perceptual decision process: Fast simply means fast, it does not mean first. Understanding the short-term and long-term temporal dynamics of object categorizations is key to developing computational models of visual object recognition. We briefly review a number of models of object categorization and outline how they explain the timing of visual object categorization at different levels of abstraction. PMID:21811480

  17. Comparisons of absolute gravimeters (COOMET.M.G-S1)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vinnichenko, Mr Alexander; Germak, Alessandro, Dr

    2017-01-01

    This report describes the results of the RMO supplementary comparison COOMET.M.G-S1 (also known as bilateral comparison COOMET 634/UA/14). The comparison measurements between the two participants NSC 'IM' (pilot laboratory) and INRIM were started in December 2015 and finished in January 2016. Participants of comparisons were conducted at their national standards the measurements of the free fall acceleration in gravimetric point laboratory of absolute gravimetry of INRIM named INRiM.2. Absolute measurements of gravimetric acceleration were conducted by ballistic gravimeters. The agreement between the two participants is good. Main text To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

  18. Easy Absolute Values? Absolutely

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taylor, Sharon E.; Mittag, Kathleen Cage

    2015-01-01

    The authors teach a problem-solving course for preservice middle-grades education majors that includes concepts dealing with absolute-value computations, equations, and inequalities. Many of these students like mathematics and plan to teach it, so they are adept at symbolic manipulations. Getting them to think differently about a concept that they…

  19. Relative cue encoding in the context of sophisticated models of categorization: Separating information from categorization.

    PubMed

    Apfelbaum, Keith S; McMurray, Bob

    2015-08-01

    Traditional studies of human categorization often treat the processes of encoding features and cues as peripheral to the question of how stimuli are categorized. However, in domains where the features and cues are less transparent, how information is encoded prior to categorization may constrain our understanding of the architecture of categorization. This is particularly true in speech perception, where acoustic cues to phonological categories are ambiguous and influenced by multiple factors. Here, it is crucial to consider the joint contributions of the information in the input and the categorization architecture. We contrasted accounts that argue for raw acoustic information encoding with accounts that posit that cues are encoded relative to expectations, and investigated how two categorization architectures-exemplar models and back-propagation parallel distributed processing models-deal with each kind of information. Relative encoding, akin to predictive coding, is a form of noise reduction, so it can be expected to improve model accuracy; however, like predictive coding, the use of relative encoding in speech perception by humans is controversial, so results are compared to patterns of human performance, rather than on the basis of overall accuracy. We found that, for both classes of models, in the vast majority of parameter settings, relative cues greatly helped the models approximate human performance. This suggests that expectation-relative processing is a crucial precursor step in phoneme categorization, and that understanding the information content is essential to understanding categorization processes.

  20. Relative cue encoding in the context of sophisticated models of categorization: Separating information from categorization

    PubMed Central

    McMurray, Bob

    2014-01-01

    Traditional studies of human categorization often treat the processes of encoding features and cues as peripheral to the question of how stimuli are categorized. However, in domains where the features and cues are less transparent, how information is encoded prior to categorization may constrain our understanding of the architecture of categorization. This is particularly true in speech perception, where acoustic cues to phonological categories are ambiguous and influenced by multiple factors. Here, it is crucial to consider the joint contributions of the information in the input and the categorization architecture. We contrasted accounts that argue for raw acoustic information encoding with accounts that posit that cues are encoded relative to expectations, and investigated how two categorization architectures—exemplar models and back-propagation parallel distributed processing models—deal with each kind of information. Relative encoding, akin to predictive coding, is a form of noise reduction, so it can be expected to improve model accuracy; however, like predictive coding, the use of relative encoding in speech perception by humans is controversial, so results are compared to patterns of human performance, rather than on the basis of overall accuracy. We found that, for both classes of models, in the vast majority of parameter settings, relative cues greatly helped the models approximate human performance. This suggests that expectation-relative processing is a crucial precursor step in phoneme categorization, and that understanding the information content is essential to understanding categorization processes. PMID:25475048

  1. Modelling individual difference in visual categorization.

    PubMed

    Shen, Jianhong; Palmeri, Thomas J

    Recent years has seen growing interest in understanding, characterizing, and explaining individual differences in visual cognition. We focus here on individual differences in visual categorization. Categorization is the fundamental visual ability to group different objects together as the same kind of thing. Research on visual categorization and category learning has been significantly informed by computational modeling, so our review will focus both on how formal models of visual categorization have captured individual differences and how individual difference have informed the development of formal models. We first examine the potential sources of individual differences in leading models of visual categorization, providing a brief review of a range of different models. We then describe several examples of how computational models have captured individual differences in visual categorization. This review also provides a bit of an historical perspective, starting with models that predicted no individual differences, to those that captured group differences, to those that predict true individual differences, and to more recent hierarchical approaches that can simultaneously capture both group and individual differences in visual categorization. Via this selective review, we see how considerations of individual differences can lead to important theoretical insights into how people visually categorize objects in the world around them. We also consider new directions for work examining individual differences in visual categorization.

  2. Absolutely relative or relatively absolute: violations of value invariance in human decision making.

    PubMed

    Teodorescu, Andrei R; Moran, Rani; Usher, Marius

    2016-02-01

    Making decisions based on relative rather than absolute information processing is tied to choice optimality via the accumulation of evidence differences and to canonical neural processing via accumulation of evidence ratios. These theoretical frameworks predict invariance of decision latencies to absolute intensities that maintain differences and ratios, respectively. While information about the absolute values of the choice alternatives is not necessary for choosing the best alternative, it may nevertheless hold valuable information about the context of the decision. To test the sensitivity of human decision making to absolute values, we manipulated the intensities of brightness stimuli pairs while preserving either their differences or their ratios. Although asked to choose the brighter alternative relative to the other, participants responded faster to higher absolute values. Thus, our results provide empirical evidence for human sensitivity to task irrelevant absolute values indicating a hard-wired mechanism that precedes executive control. Computational investigations of several modelling architectures reveal two alternative accounts for this phenomenon, which combine absolute and relative processing. One account involves accumulation of differences with activation dependent processing noise and the other emerges from accumulation of absolute values subject to the temporal dynamics of lateral inhibition. The potential adaptive role of such choice mechanisms is discussed.

  3. Categorization: The View from Animal Cognition

    PubMed Central

    Smith, J. David; Zakrzewski, Alexandria C.; Johnson, Jennifer M.; Valleau, Jeanette C.; Church, Barbara A.

    2016-01-01

    Exemplar, prototype, and rule theory have organized much of the enormous literature on categorization. From this theoretical foundation have arisen the two primary debates in the literature—the prototype-exemplar debate and the single system-multiple systems debate. We review these theories and debates. Then, we examine the contribution that animal-cognition studies have made to them. Animals have been crucial behavioral ambassadors to the literature on categorization. They reveal the roots of human categorization, the basic assumptions of vertebrates entering category tasks, the surprising weakness of exemplar memory as a category-learning strategy. They show that a unitary exemplar theory of categorization is insufficient to explain human and animal categorization. They show that a multiple-systems theoretical account—encompassing exemplars, prototypes, and rules—will be required for a complete explanation. They show the value of a fitness perspective in understanding categorization, and the value of giving categorization an evolutionary depth and phylogenetic breadth. They raise important questions about the internal similarity structure of natural kinds and categories. They demonstrate strong continuities with humans in categorization, but discontinuities, too. Categorization’s great debates are resolving themselves, and to these resolutions animals have made crucial contributions. PMID:27314392

  4. Absolute photoionization cross-section of the methyl radical.

    PubMed

    Taatjes, Craig A; Osborn, David L; Selby, Talitha M; Meloni, Giovanni; Fan, Haiyan; Pratt, Stephen T

    2008-10-02

    The absolute photoionization cross-section of the methyl radical has been measured using two completely independent methods. The CH3 photoionization cross-section was determined relative to that of acetone and methyl vinyl ketone at photon energies of 10.2 and 11.0 eV by using a pulsed laser-photolysis/time-resolved synchrotron photoionization mass spectrometry method. The time-resolved depletion of the acetone or methyl vinyl ketone precursor and the production of methyl radicals following 193 nm photolysis are monitored simultaneously by using time-resolved synchrotron photoionization mass spectrometry. Comparison of the initial methyl signal with the decrease in precursor signal, in combination with previously measured absolute photoionization cross-sections of the precursors, yields the absolute photoionization cross-section of the methyl radical; sigma(CH3)(10.2 eV) = (5.7 +/- 0.9) x 10(-18) cm(2) and sigma(CH3)(11.0 eV) = (6.0 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2). The photoionization cross-section for vinyl radical determined by photolysis of methyl vinyl ketone is in good agreement with previous measurements. The methyl radical photoionization cross-section was also independently measured relative to that of the iodine atom by comparison of ionization signals from CH3 and I fragments following 266 nm photolysis of methyl iodide in a molecular-beam ion-imaging apparatus. These measurements gave a cross-section of (5.4 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2) at 10.460 eV, (5.5 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2) at 10.466 eV, and (4.9 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2) at 10.471 eV. The measurements allow relative photoionization efficiency spectra of methyl radical to be placed on an absolute scale and will facilitate quantitative measurements of methyl concentrations by photoionization mass spectrometry.

  5. Modelling individual difference in visual categorization

    PubMed Central

    Shen, Jianhong; Palmeri, Thomas J.

    2016-01-01

    Recent years has seen growing interest in understanding, characterizing, and explaining individual differences in visual cognition. We focus here on individual differences in visual categorization. Categorization is the fundamental visual ability to group different objects together as the same kind of thing. Research on visual categorization and category learning has been significantly informed by computational modeling, so our review will focus both on how formal models of visual categorization have captured individual differences and how individual difference have informed the development of formal models. We first examine the potential sources of individual differences in leading models of visual categorization, providing a brief review of a range of different models. We then describe several examples of how computational models have captured individual differences in visual categorization. This review also provides a bit of an historical perspective, starting with models that predicted no individual differences, to those that captured group differences, to those that predict true individual differences, and to more recent hierarchical approaches that can simultaneously capture both group and individual differences in visual categorization. Via this selective review, we see how considerations of individual differences can lead to important theoretical insights into how people visually categorize objects in the world around them. We also consider new directions for work examining individual differences in visual categorization. PMID:28154496

  6. Similarity, Induction, Naming, and Categorization (SINC): Generalization or Inductive Reasoning? Reply to Heit and Hayes (2005)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sloutsky, Vladimir M.; Fisher, Anna V.

    2006-01-01

    This article is a response to E. Heit and B. K. Hayes's comment on the target article "Induction and Categorization in Young Children: A Similarity-Based Model" (V. M. Sloutsky & A. V. Fisher, 2004a). The response discusses points of agreement and disagreement with Heit and Hayes; phenomena predicted by similarity, induction, naming, and…

  7. Bosniak classification system: a prospective comparison of CT, contrast-enhanced US, and MR for categorizing complex renal cystic masses.

    PubMed

    Graumann, Ole; Osther, Susanne Sloth; Karstoft, Jens; Hørlyck, Arne; Osther, Palle Jörn Sloth

    2016-11-01

    Background The Bosniak classification was originally based on computed tomographic (CT) findings. Magnetic resonance (MR) and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) imaging may demonstrate findings that are not depicted at CT, and there may not always be a clear correlation between the findings at MR and CEUS imaging and those at CT. Purpose To compare diagnostic accuracy of MR, CEUS, and CT when categorizing complex renal cystic masses according to the Bosniak classification. Material and Methods From February 2011 to June 2012, 46 complex renal cysts were prospectively evaluated by three readers. Each mass was categorized according to the Bosniak classification and CT was chosen as gold standard. Kappa was calculated for diagnostic accuracy and data was compared with pathological results. Results CT images found 27 BII, six BIIF, seven BIII, and six BIV. Forty-three cysts could be characterized by CEUS, 79% were in agreement with CT (κ = 0.86). Five BII lesions were upgraded to BIIF and four lesions were categorized lower with CEUS. Forty-one lesions were examined with MR; 78% were in agreement with CT (κ = 0.91). Three BII lesions were upgraded to BIIF and six lesions were categorized one category lower. Pathologic correlation in six lesions revealed four malignant and two benign lesions. Conclusion CEUS and MR both up- and downgraded renal cysts compared to CT, and until these non-radiation modalities have been refined and adjusted, CT should remain the gold standard of the Bosniak classification.

  8. Categorization = Decision Making + Generalization

    PubMed Central

    Seger, Carol A; Peterson, Erik J.

    2013-01-01

    We rarely, if ever, repeatedly encounter exactly the same situation. This makes generalization crucial for real world decision making. We argue that categorization, the study of generalizable representations, is a type of decision making, and that categorization learning research would benefit from approaches developed to study the neuroscience of decision making. Similarly, methods developed to examine generalization and learning within the field of categorization may enhance decision making research. We first discuss perceptual information processing and integration, with an emphasis on accumulator models. We then examine learning the value of different decision making choices via experience, emphasizing reinforcement learning modeling approaches. Next we discuss how value is combined with other factors in decision making, emphasizing the effects of uncertainty. Finally, we describe how a final decision is selected via thresholding processes implemented by the basal ganglia and related regions. We also consider how memory related functions in the hippocampus may be integrated with decision making mechanisms and contribute to categorization. PMID:23548891

  9. Evaluation of absolute measurement using a 4π plastic scintillator for the 4πβ-γ coincidence counting method.

    PubMed

    Unno, Y; Sanami, T; Sasaki, S; Hagiwara, M; Yunoki, A

    2018-04-01

    Absolute measurement by the 4πβ-γ coincidence counting method was conducted by two photomultipliers facing across a plastic scintillator to be focused on β ray counting efficiency. The detector was held with a through-hole-type NaI(Tl) detector. The results include absolutely determined activity and its uncertainty especially about extrapolation. A comparison between the obtained and known activities showed agreement within their uncertainties. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. A probabilistic model of cross-categorization.

    PubMed

    Shafto, Patrick; Kemp, Charles; Mansinghka, Vikash; Tenenbaum, Joshua B

    2011-07-01

    Most natural domains can be represented in multiple ways: we can categorize foods in terms of their nutritional content or social role, animals in terms of their taxonomic groupings or their ecological niches, and musical instruments in terms of their taxonomic categories or social uses. Previous approaches to modeling human categorization have largely ignored the problem of cross-categorization, focusing on learning just a single system of categories that explains all of the features. Cross-categorization presents a difficult problem: how can we infer categories without first knowing which features the categories are meant to explain? We present a novel model that suggests that human cross-categorization is a result of joint inference about multiple systems of categories and the features that they explain. We also formalize two commonly proposed alternative explanations for cross-categorization behavior: a features-first and an objects-first approach. The features-first approach suggests that cross-categorization is a consequence of attentional processes, where features are selected by an attentional mechanism first and categories are derived second. The objects-first approach suggests that cross-categorization is a consequence of repeated, sequential attempts to explain features, where categories are derived first, then features that are poorly explained are recategorized. We present two sets of simulations and experiments testing the models' predictions about human categorization. We find that an approach based on joint inference provides the best fit to human categorization behavior, and we suggest that a full account of human category learning will need to incorporate something akin to these capabilities. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Absolute biological needs.

    PubMed

    McLeod, Stephen

    2014-07-01

    Absolute needs (as against instrumental needs) are independent of the ends, goals and purposes of personal agents. Against the view that the only needs are instrumental needs, David Wiggins and Garrett Thomson have defended absolute needs on the grounds that the verb 'need' has instrumental and absolute senses. While remaining neutral about it, this article does not adopt that approach. Instead, it suggests that there are absolute biological needs. The absolute nature of these needs is defended by appeal to: their objectivity (as against mind-dependence); the universality of the phenomenon of needing across the plant and animal kingdoms; the impossibility that biological needs depend wholly upon the exercise of the abilities characteristic of personal agency; the contention that the possession of biological needs is prior to the possession of the abilities characteristic of personal agency. Finally, three philosophical usages of 'normative' are distinguished. On two of these, to describe a phenomenon or claim as 'normative' is to describe it as value-dependent. A description of a phenomenon or claim as 'normative' in the third sense does not entail such value-dependency, though it leaves open the possibility that value depends upon the phenomenon or upon the truth of the claim. It is argued that while survival needs (or claims about them) may well be normative in this third sense, they are normative in neither of the first two. Thus, the idea of absolute need is not inherently normative in either of the first two senses. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Detecting and Categorizing Fleeting Emotions in Faces

    PubMed Central

    Sweeny, Timothy D.; Suzuki, Satoru; Grabowecky, Marcia; Paller, Ken A.

    2013-01-01

    Expressions of emotion are often brief, providing only fleeting images from which to base important social judgments. We sought to characterize the sensitivity and mechanisms of emotion detection and expression categorization when exposure to faces is very brief, and to determine whether these processes dissociate. Observers viewed 2 backward-masked facial expressions in quick succession, 1 neutral and the other emotional (happy, fearful, or angry), in a 2-interval forced-choice task. On each trial, observers attempted to detect the emotional expression (emotion detection) and to classify the expression (expression categorization). Above-chance emotion detection was possible with extremely brief exposures of 10 ms and was most accurate for happy expressions. We compared categorization among expressions using a d′ analysis, and found that categorization was usually above chance for angry versus happy and fearful versus happy, but consistently poor for fearful versus angry expressions. Fearful versus angry categorization was poor even when only negative emotions (fearful, angry, or disgusted) were used, suggesting that this categorization is poor independent of decision context. Inverting faces impaired angry versus happy categorization, but not emotion detection, suggesting that information from facial features is used differently for emotion detection and expression categorizations. Emotion detection often occurred without expression categorization, and expression categorization sometimes occurred without emotion detection. These results are consistent with the notion that emotion detection and expression categorization involve separate mechanisms. PMID:22866885

  13. 36 CFR 907.10 - Categorical exclusion.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... and environmental assessments. (c) Changes to the list of categorical exclusion. (1) The PADC List of... ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY § 907.10 Categorical exclusion. The CEQ Regulations provide for the categorical exclusion... human environment. Therefore, neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement...

  14. 36 CFR 907.10 - Categorical exclusion.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Categorical exclusion. 907.10 Section 907.10 Parks, Forests, and Public Property PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY § 907.10 Categorical exclusion. The CEQ Regulations provide for the categorical exclusion...

  15. Multicenter study for optimal categorization of extramural tumor deposits for colorectal cancer staging.

    PubMed

    Ueno, Hideki; Mochizuki, Hidetaka; Shirouzu, Kazuo; Kusumi, Takaya; Yamada, Kazutaka; Ikegami, Masahiro; Kawachi, Hiroshi; Kameoka, Shingo; Ohkura, Yasuo; Masaki, Tadahiko; Kushima, Ryoji; Takahashi, Keiichi; Ajioka, Yoichi; Hase, Kazuo; Ochiai, Atsushi; Wada, Ryo; Iwaya, Keiichi; Nakamura, Takahiro; Sugihara, Kenichi

    2012-04-01

    This study aimed to determine the optimal categorization of extramural tumor deposits lacking residual lymph node (LN) structure (EX) in colorectal cancer staging. The TNM classification system categorizes EX on the basis of their contour characteristics (the contour rule). We conducted a multicenter, retrospective, pathological review of 1716 patients with stage I to III curatively resected colorectal cancer who were treated at 11 institutions (1994-1998). In addition, 2242 patients from 9 institutions (1999-2003) were enrolled as a second cohort for validating results. EX were classified as isolated foci confined to vascular or perineural spaces (ie, lymphatic, venous, or perineural invasion) or as tumor nodules (ND). N- and T-staging systems employing different categories for staging were compared in terms of their prognostic power. In addition, the diagnoses of extramural, discontinuously spreading lesions made by 11 observers from different institutions were assessed for interobserver agreement. EX were observed in 18.2% of patients in the first cohort. The method of categorization of EX in tumor staging has a stronger impact on N than T staging. The N-staging system in which all ND types were classified as N factor (the ND rule) could more effectively stratify the survival outcome than the contour rule (Akaike information criterion, 3040.8 vs 3059.5; the Harrell C-index, 0.7255 vs 0.7103). EX were observed in 16.9% of patients in the second cohort. Statistically, the ND rule was more informative than the contour rule for N staging. The Fleiss kappa coefficient for distinguishing LN metastases from EX (0.74) was lower than expected for complete agreement, and it decreased further to 0.51 when calculated for the judgment of ND with smooth contours. Classifying all ND types as N factors irrespective of contours can simplify the tumor staging system by enhancing diagnostic objectivity, resulting in improved prognostic accuracy.

  16. Assessment of Interrater and Intermethod Agreement in the Kinesiology Literature

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Looney, Marilyn A.

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this article was two-fold (1) provide an overview of the commonly reported and under-reported absolute agreement indices in the kinesiology literature for continuous data; and (2) present examples of these indices for hypothetical data along with recommendations for future use. It is recommended that three types of information be…

  17. Acoustic and Categorical Dissimilarity of Musical Timbre: Evidence from Asymmetries Between Acoustic and Chimeric Sounds

    PubMed Central

    Siedenburg, Kai; Jones-Mollerup, Kiray; McAdams, Stephen

    2016-01-01

    This paper investigates the role of acoustic and categorical information in timbre dissimilarity ratings. Using a Gammatone-filterbank-based sound transformation, we created tones that were rated as less familiar than recorded tones from orchestral instruments and that were harder to associate with an unambiguous sound source (Experiment 1). A subset of transformed tones, a set of orchestral recordings, and a mixed set were then rated on pairwise dissimilarity (Experiment 2A). We observed that recorded instrument timbres clustered into subsets that distinguished timbres according to acoustic and categorical properties. For the subset of cross-category comparisons in the mixed set, we observed asymmetries in the distribution of ratings, as well as a stark decay of inter-rater agreement. These effects were replicated in a more robust within-subjects design (Experiment 2B) and cannot be explained by acoustic factors alone. We finally introduced a novel model of timbre dissimilarity based on partial least-squares regression that compared the contributions of both acoustic and categorical timbre descriptors. The best model fit (R2 = 0.88) was achieved when both types of descriptors were taken into account. These findings are interpreted as evidence for an interplay of acoustic and categorical information in timbre dissimilarity perception. PMID:26779086

  18. 42 CFR 493.17 - Test categorization.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Test categorization. 493.17 Section 493.17 Public...) STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION LABORATORY REQUIREMENTS General Provisions § 493.17 Test categorization. (a) Categorization by criteria. Notices will be published in the Federal Register which list each specific test...

  19. 42 CFR 493.17 - Test categorization.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Test categorization. 493.17 Section 493.17 Public...) STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION LABORATORY REQUIREMENTS General Provisions § 493.17 Test categorization. (a) Categorization by criteria. Notices will be published in the Federal Register which list each specific test...

  20. 42 CFR 493.17 - Test categorization.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Test categorization. 493.17 Section 493.17 Public...) STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION LABORATORY REQUIREMENTS General Provisions § 493.17 Test categorization. (a) Categorization by criteria. Notices will be published in the Federal Register which list each specific test...

  1. Image categorization for marketing purposes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Almishari, Mishari I.; Lee, Haengju; Gnanasambandam, Nathan

    2011-03-01

    Images meant for marketing and promotional purposes (i.e. coupons) represent a basic component in incentivizing customers to visit shopping outlets and purchase discounted commodities. They also help department stores in attracting more customers and potentially, speeding up their cash flow. While coupons are available from various sources - print, web, etc. categorizing these monetary instruments is a benefit to the users. We are interested in an automatic categorizer system that aggregates these coupons from different sources (web, digital coupons, paper coupons, etc) and assigns a type to each of these coupons in an efficient manner. While there are several dimensions to this problem, in this paper we study the problem of accurately categorizing/classifying the coupons. We propose and evaluate four different techniques for categorizing the coupons namely, word-based model, n-gram-based model, externally weighing model, weight decaying model which take advantage of known machine learning algorithms. We evaluate these techniques and they achieve high accuracies in the range of 73.1% to 93.2%. We provide various examples of accuracy optimizations that can be performed and show a progressive increase in categorization accuracy for our test dataset.

  2. Jasminum flexile flower absolute from India--a detailed comparison with three other jasmine absolutes.

    PubMed

    Braun, Norbert A; Kohlenberg, Birgit; Sim, Sherina; Meier, Manfred; Hammerschmidt, Franz-Josef

    2009-09-01

    Jasminum flexile flower absolute from the south of India and the corresponding vacuum headspace (VHS) sample of the absolute were analyzed using GC and GC-MS. Three other commercially available Indian jasmine absolutes from the species: J. sambac, J. officinale subsp. grandiflorum, and J. auriculatum and the respective VHS samples were used for comparison purposes. One hundred and twenty-one compounds were characterized in J. flexile flower absolute, with methyl linolate, benzyl salicylate, benzyl benzoate, (2E,6E)-farnesol, and benzyl acetate as the main constituents. A detailed olfactory evaluation was also performed.

  3. Stimulus Type, Level of Categorization, and Spatial-Frequencies Utilization: Implications for Perceptual Categorization Hierarchies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harel, Assaf; Bentin, Shlomo

    2009-01-01

    The type of visual information needed for categorizing faces and nonface objects was investigated by manipulating spatial frequency scales available in the image during a category verification task addressing basic and subordinate levels. Spatial filtering had opposite effects on faces and airplanes that were modulated by categorization level. The…

  4. Vaginal vault suspension during hysterectomy for benign indications: a prospective register study of agreement on terminology and surgical procedure.

    PubMed

    Bonde, Lisbeth; Noer, Mette Calundann; Møller, Lars Alling; Ottesen, Bent; Gimbel, Helga

    2017-07-01

    Several suspension methods are used to try to prevent pelvic organ prolapse (POP) after hysterectomy. We aimed to evaluate agreement on terminology and surgical procedure of these methods. We randomly chose 532 medical records of women with a history of hysterectomy from the Danish Hysterectomy and Hysteroscopy Database (DHHD). Additionally, we video-recorded 36 randomly chosen hysterectomies. The hysterectomies were registered in the DHHD. The material was categorized according to predefined suspension methods. Agreement compared suspension codes in DHHD (gynecologists' registrations) with medical records (gynecologists' descriptions) and with videos (reviewers' categorizations) respectively. Whether the vaginal vault was suspended (pooled suspension) or not (no suspension method + not described) was analyzed, in addition to each suspension method. Regarding medical records, agreement on terminology was good among patients undergoing pooled suspension in cases of hysterectomy via the abdominal and vaginal route (agreement 78.7, 92.3%). Regarding videos, agreement on surgical procedure was good among pooled suspension patients in cases of hysterectomy via the abdominal, laparoscopic, and vaginal routes (agreement 88.9, 97.8, 100%). Agreement on individual suspension methods differed regarding both medical records (agreement 0-90.1%) and videos (agreement 0-100%). Agreement on terminology and surgical procedure regarding suspension method was good in respect of pooled suspension. However, disagreement was observed when individual suspension methods and operative details were scrutinized. Better consensus of terminology and surgical procedure is warranted to enable further research aimed at preventing POP among women undergoing hysterectomy.

  5. Absolute nuclear material assay

    DOEpatents

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2012-05-15

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  6. Absolute nuclear material assay

    DOEpatents

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2010-07-13

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  7. Absolute spectrophotometry of Titan, Uranus, and Neptune 3500-10,500 A

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Neff, J. S.; Humm, D. C.; Bergstralh, J. T.; Cochran, A. L.; Cochran, W. D.; Barker, E. S.; Tull, R. G.

    1984-01-01

    The present absolute measurements of Titan, Uranus and Neptune geometric albedo spectra in the 3500-10,500 A range have a resolution of about 7 A, together with high SNR, in virtue of the exceptional effeciency of the spectrograph and Reticon detector employed. The high precision and spectral resolution of the data, which are in excellent agreement with the Uranus albedo measurements of Lockwood et al. (1983), make possible quantitative measurements of the effects of Raman scattering by H2 in the Uranus and Neptune atmospheres.

  8. Humanizing Outgroups Through Multiple Categorization

    PubMed Central

    Prati, Francesca; Crisp, Richard J.; Meleady, Rose; Rubini, Monica

    2016-01-01

    In three studies, we examined the impact of multiple categorization on intergroup dehumanization. Study 1 showed that perceiving members of a rival university along multiple versus simple categorical dimensions enhanced the tendency to attribute human traits to this group. Study 2 showed that multiple versus simple categorization of immigrants increased the attribution of uniquely human emotions to them. This effect was explained by the sequential mediation of increased individuation of the outgroup and reduced outgroup threat. Study 3 replicated this sequential mediation model and introduced a novel way of measuring humanization in which participants generated attributes corresponding to the outgroup in a free response format. Participants generated more uniquely human traits in the multiple versus simple categorization conditions. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings and consider their role in informing and improving efforts to ameliorate contemporary forms of intergroup discrimination. PMID:26984016

  9. Absolute Single Photoionization Cross Sections of Se^3+ For the Determination of Elemental Abundances in Planetary Nebulae

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Esteves, David; Sterling, Nicholas; Aguilar, Alex; Kilcoyne, A. L. David; Phaneuf, Ronald; Bilodeau, Rene; Red, Eddie; McLaughlin, Brendan; Norrington, Patrick; Balance, Connor

    2009-05-01

    Numerical simulations show that derived elemental abundances in astrophysical nebulae can be uncertain by factors of two or more due to atomic data uncertainties alone, and of these uncertainties, absolute photoionization cross sections are the most important. Absolute single photoionization cross sections for Se^3+ ions have been measured from 42 eV to 56 eV at the ALS using the merged beams photo-ion technique. Theoretical photoionization cross section calculations were also performed for these ions using the state-of-the-art fully relativistic Dirac R-matrix code (DARC). The calculations show encouraging agreement with the experimental measurements.

  10. Categorical regression dose-response modeling

    EPA Science Inventory

    The goal of this training is to provide participants with training on the use of the U.S. EPA’s Categorical Regression soft¬ware (CatReg) and its application to risk assessment. Categorical regression fits mathematical models to toxicity data that have been assigned ord...

  11. Categorizing Teacher Behavior: Test Manual.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pugh, Richard C.; And Others

    Categorizing Teacher Behavior, developed to measure acquisition of concepts portrayed in the Concepts and Patterns in Teacher-Pupil Interaction film series, measures the ability to identify and categorize instances of the specificed concepts as they are portrayed in reasonably complex filmed classroom interactions. The film series itself is based…

  12. Categorical Perception of Sound Frequency by Crickets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wyttenbach, Robert A.; May, Michael L.; Hoy, Ronald R.

    1996-09-01

    Partitioning continuously varying stimuli into categories is a fundamental problem of perception. One solution to this problem, categorical perception, is known primarily from human speech, but also occurs in other modalities and in some mammals and birds. Categorical perception was tested in crickets by using two paradigms of human psychophysics, labeling and habituation-dishabituation. The results show that crickets divide sound frequency categorically between attractive (<16 kilohertz) and repulsive (>16 kilohertz) sounds. There is sharp discrimination between these categories but no discrimination between different frequencies of ultrasound. This demonstration of categorical perception in an invertebrate suggests that categorical perception may be a basic and widespread feature of sensory systems, from humans to invertebrates.

  13. TH-E-BRE-09: TrueBeam Monte Carlo Absolute Dose Calculations Using Monitor Chamber Backscatter Simulations and Linac-Logged Target Current

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    A, Popescu I; Lobo, J; Sawkey, D

    2014-06-15

    Purpose: To simulate and measure radiation backscattered into the monitor chamber of a TrueBeam linac; establish a rigorous framework for absolute dose calculations for TrueBeam Monte Carlo (MC) simulations through a novel approach, taking into account the backscattered radiation and the actual machine output during beam delivery; improve agreement between measured and simulated relative output factors. Methods: The ‘monitor backscatter factor’ is an essential ingredient of a well-established MC absolute dose formalism (the MC equivalent of the TG-51 protocol). This quantity was determined for the 6 MV, 6X FFF, and 10X FFF beams by two independent Methods: (1) MC simulationsmore » in the monitor chamber of the TrueBeam linac; (2) linac-generated beam record data for target current, logged for each beam delivery. Upper head MC simulations used a freelyavailable manufacturer-provided interface to a cloud-based platform, allowing use of the same head model as that used to generate the publicly-available TrueBeam phase spaces, without revealing the upper head design. The MC absolute dose formalism was expanded to allow direct use of target current data. Results: The relation between backscatter, number of electrons incident on the target for one monitor unit, and MC absolute dose was analyzed for open fields, as well as a jaw-tracking VMAT plan. The agreement between the two methods was better than 0.15%. It was demonstrated that the agreement between measured and simulated relative output factors improves across all field sizes when backscatter is taken into account. Conclusion: For the first time, simulated monitor chamber dose and measured target current for an actual TrueBeam linac were incorporated in the MC absolute dose formalism. In conjunction with the use of MC inputs generated from post-delivery trajectory-log files, the present method allows accurate MC dose calculations, without resorting to any of the simplifying assumptions previously made in the

  14. Dyslexic Participants Show Intact Spontaneous Categorization Processes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nikolopoulos, Dimitris S.; Pothos, Emmanuel M.

    2009-01-01

    We examine the performance of dyslexic participants on an unsupervised categorization task against that of matched non-dyslexic control participants. Unsupervised categorization is a cognitive process critical for conceptual development. Existing research in dyslexia has emphasized perceptual tasks and supervised categorization tasks (for which…

  15. Differential effect of visual masking in perceptual categorization.

    PubMed

    Hélie, Sébastien; Cousineau, Denis

    2015-06-01

    This article explores the visual information used to categorize stimuli drawn from a common stimulus space into verbal and nonverbal categories using 2 experiments. Experiment 1 explores the effect of target duration on verbal and nonverbal categorization using backward masking to interrupt visual processing. With categories equated for difficulty for long and short target durations, intermediate target duration shows an advantage for verbal categorization over nonverbal categorization. Experiment 2 tests whether the results of Experiment 1 can be explained by shorter target duration resulting in a smaller signal-to-noise ratio of the categorization stimulus. To test for this possibility, Experiment 2 used integration masking with the same stimuli, categories, and masks as Experiment 1 with a varying level of mask opacity. As predicted, low mask opacity yielded similar results to long target duration while high mask opacity yielded similar results to short target duration. Importantly, intermediate mask opacity produced an advantage for verbal categorization over nonverbal categorization, similar to intermediate target duration. These results suggest that verbal and nonverbal categorization are affected differently by manipulations affecting the signal-to-noise ratio of the stimulus, consistent with multiple-system theories of categorizations. The results further suggest that verbal categorization may be more digital (and more robust to low signal-to-noise ratio) while the information used in nonverbal categorization may be more analog (and less robust to lower signal-to-noise ratio). This article concludes with a discussion of how these new results affect the use of masking in perceptual categorization and multiple-system theories of perceptual category learning. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  16. Concurrent and convergent validity of the mobility- and multidimensional-hierarchical disability categorization models with physical performance in community older adults.

    PubMed

    Hu, Ming-Hsia; Yeh, Chih-Jun; Chen, Tou-Rong; Wang, Ching-Yi

    2014-01-01

    A valid, time-efficient and easy-to-use instrument is important for busy clinical settings, large scale surveys, or community screening use. The purpose of this study was to validate the mobility hierarchical disability categorization model (an abbreviated model) by investigating its concurrent validity with the multidimensional hierarchical disability categorization model (a comprehensive model) and triangulating both models with physical performance measures in older adults. 604 community-dwelling older adults of at least 60 years in age volunteered to participate. Self-reported function on mobility, instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and activities of daily living (ADL) domains were recorded and then the disability status determined based on both the multidimensional hierarchical categorization model and the mobility hierarchical categorization model. The physical performance measures, consisting of grip strength and usual and fastest gait speeds (UGS, FGS), were collected on the same day. Both categorization models showed high correlation (γs = 0.92, p < 0.001) and agreement (kappa = 0.61, p < 0.0001). Physical performance measures demonstrated significant different group means among the disability subgroups based on both categorization models. The results of multiple regression analysis indicated that both models individually explain similar amount of variance on all physical performances, with adjustments for age, sex, and number of comorbidities. Our results found that the mobility hierarchical disability categorization model is a valid and time efficient tool for large survey or screening use.

  17. The absolute counting of red cell-derived microparticles with red cell bead by flow rate based assay.

    PubMed

    Nantakomol, Duangdao; Imwong, Malika; Soontarawirat, Ingfar; Kotjanya, Duangporn; Khakhai, Chulalak; Ohashi, Jun; Nuchnoi, Pornlada

    2009-05-01

    Activation of red blood cell is associated with the formation of red cell-derived microparticles (RMPs). Analysis of circulating RMPs is becoming more refined and clinically useful. A quantitative Trucount tube method is the conventional method uses for quantitating RMPs. In this study, we validated a quantitative method called "flow rate based assay using red cell bead (FCB)" to measure circulating RMPs in the peripheral blood of healthy subjects. Citrated blood samples collected from 30 cases of healthy subjects were determined the RMPs count by using double labeling of annexin V-FITC and anti-glycophorin A-PE. The absolute RMPs numbers were measured by FCB, and the results were compared with the Trucount or with flow rate based calibration (FR). Statistical correlation and agreement were analyzed using linear regression and Bland-Altman analysis. There was no significant difference in the absolute number of RMPs quantitated by FCB when compared with those two reference methods including the Trucount tube and FR method. The absolute RMPs count obtained from FCB method was highly correlated with those obtained from Trucount tube (r(2) = 0.98, mean bias 4 cell/microl, limit of agreement [LOA] -20.3 to 28.3 cell/microl), and FR method (r(2) = 1, mean bias 10.3 cell/microl, and LOA -5.5 to 26.2 cell/microl). This study demonstrates that FCB is suitable and more affordable for RMPs quantitation in the clinical samples. This method is a low cost and interchangeable to latex bead-based method for generating the absolute counts in the resource-limited areas. (c) 2008 Clinical Cytometry Society.

  18. Radar prediction of absolute rain fade distributions for earth-satellite paths and general methods for extrapolation of fade statistics to other locations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Goldhirsh, J.

    1982-01-01

    The first absolute rain fade distribution method described establishes absolute fade statistics at a given site by means of a sampled radar data base. The second method extrapolates absolute fade statistics from one location to another, given simultaneously measured fade and rain rate statistics at the former. Both methods employ similar conditional fade statistic concepts and long term rain rate distributions. Probability deviations in the 2-19% range, with an 11% average, were obtained upon comparison of measured and predicted levels at given attenuations. The extrapolation of fade distributions to other locations at 28 GHz showed very good agreement with measured data at three sites located in the continental temperate region.

  19. Results of the first North American comparison of absolute gravimeters, NACAG-2010

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Schmerge, David; Francis, Olvier; Henton, J.; Ingles, D.; Jones, D.; Kennedy, Jeffrey R.; Krauterbluth, K.; Liard, J.; Newell, D.; Sands, R.; Schiel, J.; Silliker, J.; van Westrum, D.

    2012-01-01

    The first North American Comparison of absolute gravimeters (NACAG-2010) was hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at its newly renovated Table Mountain Geophysical Observatory (TMGO) north of Boulder, Colorado, in October 2010. NACAG-2010 and the renovation of TMGO are part of NGS’s GRAV-D project (Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum). Nine absolute gravimeters from three countries participated in the comparison. Before the comparison, the gravimeter operators agreed to a protocol describing the strategy to measure, calculate, and present the results. Nine sites were used to measure the free-fall acceleration of g. Each gravimeter measured the value of g at a subset of three of the sites, for a total set of 27 g-values for the comparison. The absolute gravimeters agree with one another with a standard deviation of 1.6 µGal (1 Gal = 1 cm s-2). The minimum and maximum offsets are -2.8 and 2.7 µGal. This is an excellent agreement and can be attributed to multiple factors, including gravimeters that were in good working order, good operators, a quiet observatory, and a short duration time for the experiment. These results can be used to standardize gravity surveys internationally.

  20. A measure of association for ordered categorical data in population-based studies

    PubMed Central

    Nelson, Kerrie P; Edwards, Don

    2016-01-01

    Ordinal classification scales are commonly used to define a patient’s disease status in screening and diagnostic tests such as mammography. Challenges arise in agreement studies when evaluating the association between many raters’ classifications of patients’ disease or health status when an ordered categorical scale is used. In this paper, we describe a population-based approach and chance-corrected measure of association to evaluate the strength of relationship between multiple raters’ ordinal classifications where any number of raters can be accommodated. In contrast to Shrout and Fleiss’ intraclass correlation coefficient, the proposed measure of association is invariant with respect to changes in disease prevalence. We demonstrate how unique characteristics of individual raters can be explored using random effects. Simulation studies are conducted to demonstrate the properties of the proposed method under varying assumptions. The methods are applied to two large-scale agreement studies of breast cancer screening and prostate cancer severity. PMID:27184590

  1. Agreement in cardiovascular risk rating based on anthropometric parameters

    PubMed Central

    Dantas, Endilly Maria da Silva; Pinto, Cristiane Jordânia; Freitas, Rodrigo Pegado de Abreu; de Medeiros, Anna Cecília Queiroz

    2015-01-01

    Objective To investigate the agreement in evaluation of risk of developing cardiovascular diseases based on anthropometric parameters in young adults. Methods The study included 406 students, measuring weight, height, and waist and neck circumferences. Waist-to-height ratio and the conicity index. The kappa coefficient was used to assess agreement in risk classification for cardiovascular diseases. The positive and negative specific agreement values were calculated as well. The Pearson chi-square (χ2) test was used to assess associations between categorical variables (p<0.05). Results The majority of the parameters assessed (44%) showed slight (k=0.21 to 0.40) and/or poor agreement (k<0.20), with low values of negative specific agreement. The best agreement was observed between waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio both for the general population (k=0.88) and between sexes (k=0.93 to 0.86). There was a significant association (p<0.001) between the risk of cardiovascular diseases and females when using waist circumference and conicity index, and with males when using neck circumference. This resulted in a wide variation in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk (5.5%-36.5%), depending on the parameter and the sex that was assessed. Conclusion The results indicate variability in agreement in assessing risk for cardiovascular diseases, based on anthropometric parameters, and which also seems to be influenced by sex. Further studies in the Brazilian population are required to better understand this issue. PMID:26466060

  2. Anterior Temporal Lobe Morphometry Predicts Categorization Ability.

    PubMed

    Garcin, Béatrice; Urbanski, Marika; Thiebaut de Schotten, Michel; Levy, Richard; Volle, Emmanuelle

    2018-01-01

    Categorization is the mental operation by which the brain classifies objects and events. It is classically assessed using semantic and non-semantic matching or sorting tasks. These tasks show a high variability in performance across healthy controls and the cerebral bases supporting this variability remain unknown. In this study we performed a voxel-based morphometry study to explore the relationships between semantic and shape categorization tasks and brain morphometric differences in 50 controls. We found significant correlation between categorization performance and the volume of the gray matter in the right anterior middle and inferior temporal gyri. Semantic categorization tasks were associated with more rostral temporal regions than shape categorization tasks. A significant relationship was also shown between white matter volume in the right temporal lobe and performance in the semantic tasks. Tractography revealed that this white matter region involved several projection and association fibers, including the arcuate fasciculus, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, uncinate fasciculus, and inferior longitudinal fasciculus. These results suggest that categorization abilities are supported by the anterior portion of the right temporal lobe and its interaction with other areas.

  3. Regional comparison of absolute gravimeters SIM.M.G-K1 key comparison

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Newell, D. B.; van Westrum, D.; Francis, O.; Kanney, J.; Liard, J.; Ramirez, A. E.; Lucero, B.; Ellis, B.; Greco, F.; Pistorio, A.; Reudink, R.; Iacovone, D.; Baccaro, F.; Silliker, J.; Wheeler, R. D.; Falk, R.; Ruelke, A.

    2017-01-01

    Twelve absolute gravimeters were compared during the regional Key Comparison SIM.M.G-K1 of absolute gravimeters. The four gravimeters were from different NMIs and DIs. The comparison was linked to the CCM.G-K2 through EURAMET.M.G-K2 via the DI gravimeter FG5X-216. Overall, the results and uncertainties indicate an excellent agreement among the gravimeters, with a standard deviation of the gravimeters' DoEs better than 1.3 μGal. In the case of the official solution, all the gravimeters are in equivalence well within the declared uncertainties. Main text To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

  4. The time course of explicit and implicit categorization.

    PubMed

    Smith, J David; Zakrzewski, Alexandria C; Herberger, Eric R; Boomer, Joseph; Roeder, Jessica L; Ashby, F Gregory; Church, Barbara A

    2015-10-01

    Contemporary theory in cognitive neuroscience distinguishes, among the processes and utilities that serve categorization, explicit and implicit systems of category learning that learn, respectively, category rules by active hypothesis testing or adaptive behaviors by association and reinforcement. Little is known about the time course of categorization within these systems. Accordingly, the present experiments contrasted tasks that fostered explicit categorization (because they had a one-dimensional, rule-based solution) or implicit categorization (because they had a two-dimensional, information-integration solution). In Experiment 1, participants learned categories under unspeeded or speeded conditions. In Experiment 2, they applied previously trained category knowledge under unspeeded or speeded conditions. Speeded conditions selectively impaired implicit category learning and implicit mature categorization. These results illuminate the processing dynamics of explicit/implicit categorization.

  5. Estimating the absolute wealth of households.

    PubMed

    Hruschka, Daniel J; Gerkey, Drew; Hadley, Craig

    2015-07-01

    To estimate the absolute wealth of households using data from demographic and health surveys. We developed a new metric, the absolute wealth estimate, based on the rank of each surveyed household according to its material assets and the assumed shape of the distribution of wealth among surveyed households. Using data from 156 demographic and health surveys in 66 countries, we calculated absolute wealth estimates for households. We validated the method by comparing the proportion of households defined as poor using our estimates with published World Bank poverty headcounts. We also compared the accuracy of absolute versus relative wealth estimates for the prediction of anthropometric measures. The median absolute wealth estimates of 1,403,186 households were 2056 international dollars per capita (interquartile range: 723-6103). The proportion of poor households based on absolute wealth estimates were strongly correlated with World Bank estimates of populations living on less than 2.00 United States dollars per capita per day (R(2)  = 0.84). Absolute wealth estimates were better predictors of anthropometric measures than relative wealth indexes. Absolute wealth estimates provide new opportunities for comparative research to assess the effects of economic resources on health and human capital, as well as the long-term health consequences of economic change and inequality.

  6. A Neural Mechanism of Social Categorization.

    PubMed

    Stolier, Ryan M; Freeman, Jonathan B

    2017-06-07

    Humans readily sort one another into multiple social categories from mere facial features. However, the facial features used to do so are not always clear-cut because they can be associated with opponent categories (e.g., feminine male face). Recently, computational models and behavioral studies have provided indirect evidence that categorizing such faces is accomplished through dynamic competition between parallel, coactivated social categories that resolve into a stable categorical percept. Using a novel paradigm combining fMRI with real-time hand tracking, the present study examined how the brain translates diverse social cues into categorical percepts. Participants (male and female) categorized faces varying in gender and racial typicality. When categorizing atypical faces, participants' hand movements were simultaneously attracted toward the unselected category response, indexing the degree to which such faces activated the opposite category in parallel. Multivoxel pattern analyses (MVPAs) provided evidence that such social category coactivation manifested in neural patterns of the right fusiform cortex. The extent to which the hand was simultaneously attracted to the opposite gender or race category response option corresponded to increased neural pattern similarity with the average pattern associated with that category, which in turn associated with stronger engagement of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. The findings point to a model of social categorization in which occasionally conflicting facial features are resolved through competition between coactivated ventral-temporal cortical representations with the assistance of conflict-monitoring regions. More broadly, the results offer a promising multimodal paradigm to investigate the neural basis of "hidden", temporarily active representations in the service of a broad range of cognitive processes. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Individuals readily sort one another into social categories (e.g., sex, race), which

  7. The Time Course of Explicit and Implicit Categorization

    PubMed Central

    Zakrzewski, Alexandria C.; Herberger, Eric; Boomer, Joseph; Roeder, Jessica; Ashby, F. Gregory; Church, Barbara A.

    2015-01-01

    Contemporary theory in cognitive neuroscience distinguishes, among the processes and utilities that serve categorization, explicit and implicit systems of category learning that learn, respectively, category rules by active hypothesis testing or adaptive behaviors by association and reinforcement. Little is known about the time course of categorization within these systems. Accordingly, the present experiments contrasted tasks that fostered explicit categorization (because they had a one-dimensional, rule-based solution) or implicit categorization (because they had a two-dimensional, information-integration solution). In Experiment 1, participants learned categories under unspeeded or speeded conditions. In Experiment 2, they applied previously trained category knowledge under unspeeded or speeded conditions. Speeded conditions selectively impaired implicit category learning and implicit mature categorization. These results illuminate the processing dynamics of explicit/implicit categorization. PMID:26025556

  8. Absolute color scale for improved diagnostics with wavefront error mapping.

    PubMed

    Smolek, Michael K; Klyce, Stephen D

    2007-11-01

    Wavefront data are expressed in micrometers and referenced to the pupil plane, but current methods to map wavefront error lack standardization. Many use normalized or floating scales that may confuse the user by generating ambiguous, noisy, or varying information. An absolute scale that combines consistent clinical information with statistical relevance is needed for wavefront error mapping. The color contours should correspond better to current corneal topography standards to improve clinical interpretation. Retrospective analysis of wavefront error data. Historic ophthalmic medical records. Topographic modeling system topographical examinations of 120 corneas across 12 categories were used. Corneal wavefront error data in micrometers from each topography map were extracted at 8 Zernike polynomial orders and for 3 pupil diameters expressed in millimeters (3, 5, and 7 mm). Both total aberrations (orders 2 through 8) and higher-order aberrations (orders 3 through 8) were expressed in the form of frequency histograms to determine the working range of the scale across all categories. The standard deviation of the mean error of normal corneas determined the map contour resolution. Map colors were based on corneal topography color standards and on the ability to distinguish adjacent color contours through contrast. Higher-order and total wavefront error contour maps for different corneal conditions. An absolute color scale was produced that encompassed a range of +/-6.5 microm and a contour interval of 0.5 microm. All aberrations in the categorical database were plotted with no loss of clinical information necessary for classification. In the few instances where mapped information was beyond the range of the scale, the type and severity of aberration remained legible. When wavefront data are expressed in micrometers, this absolute scale facilitates the determination of the severity of aberrations present compared with a floating scale, particularly for distinguishing

  9. Absolute Helmholtz free energy of highly anharmonic crystals: theory vs Monte Carlo.

    PubMed

    Yakub, Lydia; Yakub, Eugene

    2012-04-14

    We discuss the problem of the quantitative theoretical prediction of the absolute free energy for classical highly anharmonic solids. Helmholtz free energy of the Lennard-Jones (LJ) crystal is calculated accurately while accounting for both the anharmonicity of atomic vibrations and the pair and triple correlations in displacements of the atoms from their lattice sites. The comparison with most precise computer simulation data on sublimation and melting lines revealed that theoretical predictions are in excellent agreement with Monte Carlo simulation data in the whole range of temperatures and densities studied.

  10. Interference effects of categorization on decision making.

    PubMed

    Wang, Zheng; Busemeyer, Jerome R

    2016-05-01

    Many decision making tasks in life involve a categorization process, but the effects of categorization on subsequent decision making has rarely been studied. This issue was explored in three experiments (N=721), in which participants were shown a face stimulus on each trial and performed variations of categorization-decision tasks. On C-D trials, they categorized the stimulus and then made an action decision; on X-D trials, they were told the category and then made an action decision; on D-alone trials, they only made an action decision. An interference effect emerged in some of the conditions, such that the probability of an action on the D-alone trials (i.e., when there was no explicit categorization before the decision) differed from the total probability of the same action on the C-D or X-D trials (i.e., when there was explicit categorization before the decision). Interference effects are important because they indicate a violation of the classical law of total probability, which is assumed by many cognitive models. Across all three experiments, a complex pattern of interference effects systematically occurred for different types of stimuli and for different types of categorization-decision tasks. These interference effects present a challenge for traditional cognitive models, such as Markov and signal detection models, but a quantum cognition model, called the belief-action entanglement (BAE) model, predicted that these results could occur. The BAE model employs the quantum principles of superposition and entanglement to explain the psychological mechanisms underlying the puzzling interference effects. The model can be applied to many important and practical categorization-decision situations in life. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Estimating the absolute wealth of households

    PubMed Central

    Gerkey, Drew; Hadley, Craig

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Objective To estimate the absolute wealth of households using data from demographic and health surveys. Methods We developed a new metric, the absolute wealth estimate, based on the rank of each surveyed household according to its material assets and the assumed shape of the distribution of wealth among surveyed households. Using data from 156 demographic and health surveys in 66 countries, we calculated absolute wealth estimates for households. We validated the method by comparing the proportion of households defined as poor using our estimates with published World Bank poverty headcounts. We also compared the accuracy of absolute versus relative wealth estimates for the prediction of anthropometric measures. Findings The median absolute wealth estimates of 1 403 186 households were 2056 international dollars per capita (interquartile range: 723–6103). The proportion of poor households based on absolute wealth estimates were strongly correlated with World Bank estimates of populations living on less than 2.00 United States dollars per capita per day (R2 = 0.84). Absolute wealth estimates were better predictors of anthropometric measures than relative wealth indexes. Conclusion Absolute wealth estimates provide new opportunities for comparative research to assess the effects of economic resources on health and human capital, as well as the long-term health consequences of economic change and inequality. PMID:26170506

  12. ANALYSIS OF A CLASSIFICATION ERROR MATRIX USING CATEGORICAL DATA TECHNIQUES.

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Rosenfield, George H.; Fitzpatrick-Lins, Katherine

    1984-01-01

    Summary form only given. A classification error matrix typically contains tabulation results of an accuracy evaluation of a thematic classification, such as that of a land use and land cover map. The diagonal elements of the matrix represent the counts corrected, and the usual designation of classification accuracy has been the total percent correct. The nondiagonal elements of the matrix have usually been neglected. The classification error matrix is known in statistical terms as a contingency table of categorical data. As an example, an application of these methodologies to a problem of remotely sensed data concerning two photointerpreters and four categories of classification indicated that there is no significant difference in the interpretation between the two photointerpreters, and that there are significant differences among the interpreted category classifications. However, two categories, oak and cottonwood, are not separable in classification in this experiment at the 0. 51 percent probability. A coefficient of agreement is determined for the interpreted map as a whole, and individually for each of the interpreted categories. A conditional coefficient of agreement for the individual categories is compared to other methods for expressing category accuracy which have already been presented in the remote sensing literature.

  13. Transition from convective to absolute Raman instability via the longitudinal relativistic effect by using Vlasov-Maxwell simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Q.; Liu, Z. J.; Zheng, C. Y.; Xiao, C. Z.; Feng, Q. S.; Zhang, H. C.; He, X. T.

    2018-01-01

    The longitudinal relativistic effect on stimulated Raman backscattering (SRBS) is investigated by using one-dimensional (1D) Vlasov-Maxwell simulations. Using a short backscattered light seed pulse with a very small amplitude, the linear gain spectra of SRBS in the strongly convective regime is presented by combining the relativistic and non-relativistic 1D Vlasov-Maxwell simulations, which is in agreement with the steady-state linear theory. More interestingly, by considering transition from convective to absolute instability due to electron trapping, we successfully predict the critical duration of the seed which can just trigger the kinetic inflation of the excited SRBS after the seed leaves the simulation box. The critical duration in the relativistic case is much shorter than that in the nonrelativistic case, which indicates that the kinetic inflation more easily occurs in the relativistic case than in the nonrelativistic case. In the weakly convective regime, the transition from convective to absolute instability for SRBS can directly occur in the linear regime due to the longitudinal relativistic modification. For the same pump, our simulations first demonstrate that the SRBS excited by a short and small seed pulse is a convective instability in the nonrelativistic case but becomes an absolute instability due to the decrease of the linear Landau damping from the longitudinal relativistic modification in the relativistic case. In more detail, the growth rate of the backscattered light is also in excellent agreement with theoretical prediction.

  14. Categorization of fetal external findings in developmental toxicology studies by the Terminology Committee of the Japanese Teratology Society.

    PubMed

    Izumi, Yuko; Ooshima, Yojiro; Chihara, Kazuhiro; Fujiwara, Michio; Katsumata, Yoshihiro; Shiota, Kohei

    2018-05-01

    Categorization of fetal external findings in common laboratory animals, intended to make the agreement at Berlin Workshop in 2014 more practical, was proposed by the Terminology Committee of the Japanese Teratology Society at the Workshop in the 55th Japanese Teratology Society Annual Meeting in 2015. In the Workshop, 73 external findings, which had been categorized as "Gray zone" anomalies but not as "Malformation" or "Variation" in the 2014 Berlin Workshop, were discussed and classified as Malformation, "Non-structural abnormality," Variation, and "Not applicable." The proposal was based on the results of a survey conducted in 2014, where 20 facilities (including pharmaceutical, chemical, and pesticide companies and contract laboratories) and 2 selected expert teratologists in Japan were asked for their opinions on the categorization of these findings. Based on the discussion, Japanese Teratology Society members have agreed that 42 out of the 73 findings can be classified as Malformations (38), Non-structural abnormalities (3), Malformations/Non-structural abnormalities (1), and Variations (0), while the remaining 31 findings were recommended to be categorized as Not applicable for fetuses. The details of the classification are shown on the website of the Japanese Teratology Society (http://www.umin.ac.jp/cadb/External.pdf). © 2018 Japanese Teratology Society.

  15. 12 CFR 1815.110 - Categorical exclusion.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY § 1815.110 Categorical exclusion. The CEQ regulations provide for the categorical..., equipment, supplies and services; space acquisition; property management; and security); (b) Actions... residential; (3) The estimated cost of rehabilitation is less than 75 percent of the total estimated cost of...

  16. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent... are not under a retirement system. An absolute coverage group may include positions which were...

  17. Measuring the absolute deuterium-tritium neutron yield using the magnetic recoil spectrometer at OMEGA and the NIF.

    PubMed

    Casey, D T; Frenje, J A; Gatu Johnson, M; Séguin, F H; Li, C K; Petrasso, R D; Glebov, V Yu; Katz, J; Knauer, J P; Meyerhofer, D D; Sangster, T C; Bionta, R M; Bleuel, D L; Döppner, T; Glenzer, S; Hartouni, E; Hatchett, S P; Le Pape, S; Ma, T; MacKinnon, A; McKernan, M A; Moran, M; Moses, E; Park, H-S; Ralph, J; Remington, B A; Smalyuk, V; Yeamans, C B; Kline, J; Kyrala, G; Chandler, G A; Leeper, R J; Ruiz, C L; Cooper, G W; Nelson, A J; Fletcher, K; Kilkenny, J; Farrell, M; Jasion, D; Paguio, R

    2012-10-01

    A magnetic recoil spectrometer (MRS) has been installed and extensively used on OMEGA and the National Ignition Facility (NIF) for measurements of the absolute neutron spectrum from inertial confinement fusion implosions. From the neutron spectrum measured with the MRS, many critical implosion parameters are determined including the primary DT neutron yield, the ion temperature, and the down-scattered neutron yield. As the MRS detection efficiency is determined from first principles, the absolute DT neutron yield is obtained without cross-calibration to other techniques. The MRS primary DT neutron measurements at OMEGA and the NIF are shown to be in excellent agreement with previously established yield diagnostics on OMEGA, and with the newly commissioned nuclear activation diagnostics on the NIF.

  18. On the correct representation of bending and axial deformation in the absolute nodal coordinate formulation with an elastic line approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gerstmayr, Johannes; Irschik, Hans

    2008-12-01

    In finite element methods that are based on position and slope coordinates, a representation of axial and bending deformation by means of an elastic line approach has become popular. Such beam and plate formulations based on the so-called absolute nodal coordinate formulation have not yet been verified sufficiently enough with respect to analytical results or classical nonlinear rod theories. Examining the existing planar absolute nodal coordinate element, which uses a curvature proportional bending strain expression, it turns out that the deformation does not fully agree with the solution of the geometrically exact theory and, even more serious, the normal force is incorrect. A correction based on the classical ideas of the extensible elastica and geometrically exact theories is applied and a consistent strain energy and bending moment relations are derived. The strain energy of the solid finite element formulation of the absolute nodal coordinate beam is based on the St. Venant-Kirchhoff material: therefore, the strain energy is derived for the latter case and compared to classical nonlinear rod theories. The error in the original absolute nodal coordinate formulation is documented by numerical examples. The numerical example of a large deformation cantilever beam shows that the normal force is incorrect when using the previous approach, while a perfect agreement between the absolute nodal coordinate formulation and the extensible elastica can be gained when applying the proposed modifications. The numerical examples show a very good agreement of reference analytical and numerical solutions with the solutions of the proposed beam formulation for the case of large deformation pre-curved static and dynamic problems, including buckling and eigenvalue analysis. The resulting beam formulation does not employ rotational degrees of freedom and therefore has advantages compared to classical beam elements regarding energy-momentum conservation.

  19. 42 CFR 435.227 - Individuals under age 21 who are under State adoption assistance agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... Coverage as Categorically Needy Options for Coverage of Families and Children § 435.227 Individuals under... (other than an agreement under title IV-E) between the State and the adoptive parent(s) is in effect; (2... adoptive parents without Medicaid because the child has special needs for medical or rehabilitative care...

  20. A sequential test for assessing observed agreement between raters.

    PubMed

    Bersimis, Sotiris; Sachlas, Athanasios; Chakraborti, Subha

    2018-01-01

    Assessing the agreement between two or more raters is an important topic in medical practice. Existing techniques, which deal with categorical data, are based on contingency tables. This is often an obstacle in practice as we have to wait for a long time to collect the appropriate sample size of subjects to construct the contingency table. In this paper, we introduce a nonparametric sequential test for assessing agreement, which can be applied as data accrues, does not require a contingency table, facilitating a rapid assessment of the agreement. The proposed test is based on the cumulative sum of the number of disagreements between the two raters and a suitable statistic representing the waiting time until the cumulative sum exceeds a predefined threshold. We treat the cases of testing two raters' agreement with respect to one or more characteristics and using two or more classification categories, the case where the two raters extremely disagree, and finally the case of testing more than two raters' agreement. The numerical investigation shows that the proposed test has excellent performance. Compared to the existing methods, the proposed method appears to require significantly smaller sample size with equivalent power. Moreover, the proposed method is easily generalizable and brings the problem of assessing the agreement between two or more raters and one or more characteristics under a unified framework, thus providing an easy to use tool to medical practitioners. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  1. Prototypes, Exemplars, and the Natural History of Categorization

    PubMed Central

    Smith, J. David

    2013-01-01

    The article explores—from a utility/adaptation perspective—the role of prototype and exemplar processes in categorization. The author surveys important category tasks within the categorization literature from the perspective of the optimality of applying prototype and exemplar processes. Formal simulations reveal that organisms will often (not always!) receive more useful signals about category belongingness if they average their exemplar experience into a prototype and use this as the comparative standard for categorization. This survey then provides the theoretical context for considering the evolution of cognitive systems for categorization. In the article’s final sections, the author reviews recent research on the performance of nonhuman primates and humans in the tasks analyzed in the article. Diverse species share operating principles, default commitments, and processing weaknesses in categorization. From these commonalities, it may be possible to infer some properties of the categorization ecology these species generally experienced during cognitive evolution. PMID:24005828

  2. Context-dependent categorical perception in a songbird

    PubMed Central

    Lachlan, Robert F.; Nowicki, Stephen

    2015-01-01

    Some of the psychological abilities that underlie human speech are shared with other species. One hallmark of speech is that linguistic context affects both how speech sounds are categorized into phonemes, and how different versions of phonemes are produced. We here confirm earlier findings that swamp sparrows categorically perceive the notes that constitute their learned songs and then investigate how categorical boundaries differ according to context. We clustered notes according to their acoustic structure, and found statistical evidence for clustering into 10 population-wide note types. Examining how three related types were perceived, we found, in both discrimination and labeling tests, that an “intermediate” note type is categorized with a “short” type when it occurs at the beginning of a song syllable, but with a “long” type at the end of a syllable. In sum, three produced note-type clusters appear to be underlain by two perceived categories. Thus, in birdsong, as in human speech, categorical perception is context-dependent, and as is the case for human phonology, there is a complex relationship between underlying categorical representations and surface forms. Our results therefore suggest that complex phonology can evolve even in the absence of rich linguistic components, like syntax and semantics. PMID:25561538

  3. Segmentation precedes face categorization under suboptimal conditions.

    PubMed

    Van Den Boomen, Carlijn; Fahrenfort, Johannes J; Snijders, Tineke M; Kemner, Chantal

    2015-01-01

    Both categorization and segmentation processes play a crucial role in face perception. However, the functional relation between these subprocesses is currently unclear. The present study investigates the temporal relation between segmentation-related and category-selective responses in the brain, using electroencephalography (EEG). Surface segmentation and category content were both manipulated using texture-defined objects, including faces. This allowed us to study brain activity related to segmentation and to categorization. In the main experiment, participants viewed texture-defined objects for a duration of 800 ms. EEG results revealed that segmentation-related responses precede category-selective responses. Three additional experiments revealed that the presence and timing of categorization depends on stimulus properties and presentation duration. Photographic objects were presented for a long and short (92 ms) duration and evoked fast category-selective responses in both cases. On the other hand, presentation of texture-defined objects for a short duration only evoked segmentation-related but no category-selective responses. Category-selective responses were much slower when evoked by texture-defined than by photographic objects. We suggest that in case of categorization of objects under suboptimal conditions, such as when low-level stimulus properties are not sufficient for fast object categorization, segmentation facilitates the slower categorization process.

  4. Segmentation precedes face categorization under suboptimal conditions

    PubMed Central

    Van Den Boomen, Carlijn; Fahrenfort, Johannes J.; Snijders, Tineke M.; Kemner, Chantal

    2015-01-01

    Both categorization and segmentation processes play a crucial role in face perception. However, the functional relation between these subprocesses is currently unclear. The present study investigates the temporal relation between segmentation-related and category-selective responses in the brain, using electroencephalography (EEG). Surface segmentation and category content were both manipulated using texture-defined objects, including faces. This allowed us to study brain activity related to segmentation and to categorization. In the main experiment, participants viewed texture-defined objects for a duration of 800 ms. EEG results revealed that segmentation-related responses precede category-selective responses. Three additional experiments revealed that the presence and timing of categorization depends on stimulus properties and presentation duration. Photographic objects were presented for a long and short (92 ms) duration and evoked fast category-selective responses in both cases. On the other hand, presentation of texture-defined objects for a short duration only evoked segmentation-related but no category-selective responses. Category-selective responses were much slower when evoked by texture-defined than by photographic objects. We suggest that in case of categorization of objects under suboptimal conditions, such as when low-level stimulus properties are not sufficient for fast object categorization, segmentation facilitates the slower categorization process. PMID:26074838

  5. Absolute Quantitation of Water and Metabolites in the Human Brain. II. Metabolite Concentrations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kreis, R.; Ernst, T.; Ross, B. D.

    A method for determining absolute metabolite concentrations with in vivo1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy is presented. Using the compartmentation model introduced in the preceding paper of this series ( J. Magn. Reson. B102, 1, 1993), it is possible to express NMR results in terms of most commonly used concentration units. The proposed scheme, involving the measurement of an external standard as well as of the localized water signal, is verified on cerebral spectra obtained from 22 subjects. Besides concentrations, longitudinal and transverse relaxation times are determined for parietal white and occipital gray matter. The determination of these quantities crucially depends on the analysis of the T2 signal decay as a function of echo time. The in vivo concentrations of the four metabolites N-acetyl aspartate, creatine plus phosphocreatine, choline, and myo-inositol are in good agreement with biochemical determinations performed in vitro. Two clinical examples emphasize the relevance of absolute quantitation in the investigation of human neuropathology and normal development.

  6. Multiracial Children's and Adults' Categorizations of Multiracial Individuals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roberts, Steven O.; Gelman, Susan A.

    2017-01-01

    Research has explored how multiracial individuals are categorized by monoracial individuals, but it has not yet explored how they are categorized by multiracial individuals themselves. We examined how multiracial children (aged 4-9 years old) and adults categorized multiracial targets (presented with and without parentage information). When…

  7. A Probabilistic Model of Cross-Categorization

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shafto, Patrick; Kemp, Charles; Mansinghka, Vikash; Tenenbaum, Joshua B.

    2011-01-01

    Most natural domains can be represented in multiple ways: we can categorize foods in terms of their nutritional content or social role, animals in terms of their taxonomic groupings or their ecological niches, and musical instruments in terms of their taxonomic categories or social uses. Previous approaches to modeling human categorization have…

  8. Target categorization of aerosol and clouds by continuous multiwavelength-polarization lidar measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baars, Holger; Seifert, Patric; Engelmann, Ronny; Wandinger, Ulla

    2017-09-01

    Absolute calibrated signals at 532 and 1064 nm and the depolarization ratio from a multiwavelength lidar are used to categorize primary aerosol but also clouds in high temporal and spatial resolution. Automatically derived particle backscatter coefficient profiles in low temporal resolution (30 min) are applied to calibrate the lidar signals. From these calibrated lidar signals, new atmospheric parameters in temporally high resolution (quasi-particle-backscatter coefficients) are derived. By using thresholds obtained from multiyear, multisite EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network) measurements, four aerosol classes (small; large, spherical; large, non-spherical; mixed, partly non-spherical) and several cloud classes (liquid, ice) are defined. Thus, particles are classified by their physical features (shape and size) instead of by source. The methodology is applied to 2 months of continuous observations (24 h a day, 7 days a week) with the multiwavelength-Raman-polarization lidar PollyXT during the High-Definition Clouds and Precipitation for advancing Climate Prediction (HD(CP)2) Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE) in spring 2013. Cloudnet equipment was operated continuously directly next to the lidar and is used for comparison. By discussing three 24 h case studies, it is shown that the aerosol discrimination is very feasible and informative and gives a good complement to the Cloudnet target categorization. Performing the categorization for the 2-month data set of the entire HOPE campaign, almost 1 million pixel (5 min × 30 m) could be analysed with the newly developed tool. We find that the majority of the aerosol trapped in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) was composed of small particles as expected for a heavily populated and industrialized area. Large, spherical aerosol was observed mostly at the top of the PBL and close to the identified cloud bases, indicating the importance of hygroscopic growth of the particles at high relative

  9. The absolute magnitudes of RR Lyraes from HIPPARCOS parallaxes and proper motions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fernley, J.; Barnes, T. G.; Skillen, I.; Hawley, S. L.; Hanley, C. J.; Evans, D. W.; Solano, E.; Garrido, R.

    1998-02-01

    We have used HIPPARCOS proper motions and the method of Statistical Parallax to estimate the absolute magnitude of RR Lyrae stars. In addition we used the HIPPARCOS parallax of RR Lyrae itself to determine it's absolute magnitude. These two results are in excellent agreement with each other and give a zero-point for the RR Lyrae M_v,[Fe/H] relation of 0.77+/-0.15 at [Fe/H]=-1.53. This zero-point is in good agreement with that obtained recently by several groups using Baade-Wesselink methods which, averaged over the results from the different groups, gives M_v = 0.73+/-0.14 at [Fe/H]=-1.53. Taking the HIPPARCOS based zero-point and a value of 0.18+/-0.03 for the slope of the M_v,[Fe/H] relation from the literature we find firstly, the distance modulus of the LMC is 18.26+/-0.15 and secondly, the mean age of the Globular Clusters is 17.4+/-3.0 GYrs. These values are compared with recent estimates based on other "standard candles" that have also been calibrated with HIPPARCOS data. It is clear that, in addition to astrophysical problems, there are also problems in the application of HIPPARCOS data that are not yet fully understood. Table 1, which contains the basic data for the RR Lyraes, is available only at CDS. It may be retrieved via anonymous FTP at cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via the Web at http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html

  10. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis on an absolute scale in scanning transmission electron microscopy.

    PubMed

    Chen, Z; D'Alfonso, A J; Weyland, M; Taplin, D J; Allen, L J; Findlay, S D

    2015-10-01

    We demonstrate absolute scale agreement between the number of X-ray counts in energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy using an atomic-scale coherent electron probe and first-principles simulations. Scan-averaged spectra were collected across a range of thicknesses with precisely determined and controlled microscope parameters. Ionization cross-sections were calculated using the quantum excitation of phonons model, incorporating dynamical (multiple) electron scattering, which is seen to be important even for very thin specimens. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Experiments on Supervised Learning Algorithms for Text Categorization

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Namburu, Setu Madhavi; Tu, Haiying; Luo, Jianhui; Pattipati, Krishna R.

    2005-01-01

    Modern information society is facing the challenge of handling massive volume of online documents, news, intelligence reports, and so on. How to use the information accurately and in a timely manner becomes a major concern in many areas. While the general information may also include images and voice, we focus on the categorization of text data in this paper. We provide a brief overview of the information processing flow for text categorization, and discuss two supervised learning algorithms, viz., support vector machines (SVM) and partial least squares (PLS), which have been successfully applied in other domains, e.g., fault diagnosis [9]. While SVM has been well explored for binary classification and was reported as an efficient algorithm for text categorization, PLS has not yet been applied to text categorization. Our experiments are conducted on three data sets: Reuter's- 21578 dataset about corporate mergers and data acquisitions (ACQ), WebKB and the 20-Newsgroups. Results show that the performance of PLS is comparable to SVM in text categorization. A major drawback of SVM for multi-class categorization is that it requires a voting scheme based on the results of pair-wise classification. PLS does not have this drawback and could be a better candidate for multi-class text categorization.

  12. Categorization and Sensorimotor Interaction with Objects

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Iachini, Tina; Borghi, Anna M.; Senese, Vincenzo Paolo

    2008-01-01

    Three experiments were aimed at verifying whether the modality of interaction with objects and the goals defined by the task influences the weight of the properties used for categorization. In Experiment 1 we used everyday objects (cups and glasses). In order to exclude that the results depended on pre-stored categorical knowledge and to assess…

  13. A complete categorization of multiscale models of infectious disease systems.

    PubMed

    Garira, Winston

    2017-12-01

    Modelling of infectious disease systems has entered a new era in which disease modellers are increasingly turning to multiscale modelling to extend traditional modelling frameworks into new application areas and to achieve higher levels of detail and accuracy in characterizing infectious disease systems. In this paper we present a categorization framework for categorizing multiscale models of infectious disease systems. The categorization framework consists of five integration frameworks and five criteria. We use the categorization framework to give a complete categorization of host-level immuno-epidemiological models (HL-IEMs). This categorization framework is also shown to be applicable in categorizing other types of multiscale models of infectious diseases beyond HL-IEMs through modifying the initial categorization framework presented in this study. Categorization of multiscale models of infectious disease systems in this way is useful in bringing some order to the discussion on the structure of these multiscale models.

  14. The Neural Basis of Contextual Influences on Face Categorization

    PubMed Central

    Freeman, Jonathan B.; Ma, Yina; Barth, Maria; Young, Steven G.; Han, Shihui; Ambady, Nalini

    2015-01-01

    From only brief exposure to a face, individuals spontaneously categorize another's race. Recent behavioral evidence suggests that visual context may affect such categorizations. We used fMRI to examine the neural basis of contextual influences on the race categorization of faces. Participants categorized the race of faces that varied along a White-Asian morph continuum and were surrounded by American, neutral, or Chinese scene contexts. As expected, the context systematically influenced categorization responses and their efficiency (response times). Neuroimaging results indicated that the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) exhibited highly sensitive, graded responses to the compatibility of facial and contextual cues. These regions showed linearly increasing responses as a face became more White when in an American context, and linearly increasing responses as a face became more Asian when in a Chinese context. Further, RSC activity partially mediated the effect of this face-context compatibility on the efficiency of categorization responses. Together, the findings suggest a critical role of the RSC and OFC in driving contextual influences on face categorization, and highlight the impact of extraneous cues beyond the face in categorizing other people. PMID:24006403

  15. Selective attention, diffused attention, and the development of categorization.

    PubMed

    Deng, Wei Sophia; Sloutsky, Vladimir M

    2016-12-01

    How do people learn categories and what changes with development? The current study attempts to address these questions by focusing on the role of attention in the development of categorization. In Experiment 1, participants (adults, 7-year-olds, and 4-year-olds) were trained with novel categories consisting of deterministic and probabilistic features, and their categorization and memory for features were tested. In Experiment 2, participants' attention was directed to the deterministic feature, and in Experiment 3 it was directed to the probabilistic features. Attentional cueing affected categorization and memory in adults and 7-year-olds: these participants relied on the cued features in their categorization and exhibited better memory of cued than of non-cued features. In contrast, in 4-year-olds attentional cueing affected only categorization, but not memory: these participants exhibited equally good memory for both cued and non-cued features. Furthermore, across the experiments, 4-year-olds remembered non-cued features better than adults. These results coupled with computational simulations provide novel evidence (1) pointing to differences in category representation and mechanisms of categorization across development, (2) elucidating the role of attention in the development of categorization, and (3) suggesting an important distinction between representation and decision factors in categorization early in development. These issues are discussed with respect to theories of categorization and its development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Selective Attention, Diffused Attention, and the Development of Categorization

    PubMed Central

    Deng, Wei (Sophia); Sloutsky, Vladimir M.

    2016-01-01

    How do people learn categories and what changes with development? The current study attempts to address these questions by focusing on the role of attention in the development of categorization. In Experiment 1, participants (adults, 7-year-olds, and 4-year-olds) were trained with novel categories consisting of deterministic and probabilistic features, and their categorization and memory for features were tested. In Experiment 2, participants’ attention was directed to the deterministic feature, and in Experiment 3 it was directed to the probabilistic features. Attentional cuing affected categorization and memory in adults and 7-year-olds: these participants relied on the cued features in their categorization and exhibited better memory of cued than of non-cued features. In contrast, in 4-year-olds attentional cueing affected only categorization, but not memory: these participants exhibited equally good memory for both cued and non-cued features. Furthermore, across the experiments, 4-year-olds remembered non-cued features better than adults. These results coupled with computational simulations provide novel evidence (1) pointing to differences in category representation and mechanisms of categorization across development, (2) elucidating the role of attention in the development of categorization, and (3) suggesting an important distinction between representation and decision factors in categorization early in development. These issues are discussed with respect to theories of categorization and its development. PMID:27721103

  17. An absolute sodium abundance for a cloud-free 'hot Saturn' exoplanet.

    PubMed

    Nikolov, N; Sing, D K; Fortney, J J; Goyal, J M; Drummond, B; Evans, T M; Gibson, N P; De Mooij, E J W; Rustamkulov, Z; Wakeford, H R; Smalley, B; Burgasser, A J; Hellier, C; Helling, Ch; Mayne, N J; Madhusudhan, N; Kataria, T; Baines, J; Carter, A L; Ballester, G E; Barstow, J K; McCleery, J; Spake, J J

    2018-05-01

    Broad absorption signatures from alkali metals, such as the sodium (Na I) and potassium (K I) resonance doublets, have long been predicted in the optical atmospheric spectra of cloud-free irradiated gas giant exoplanets 1-3 . However, observations have revealed only the narrow cores of these features rather than the full pressure-broadened profiles 4-6 . Cloud and haze opacity at the day-night planetary terminator are considered to be responsible for obscuring the absorption-line wings, which hinders constraints on absolute atmospheric abundances 7-9 . Here we report an optical transmission spectrum for the 'hot Saturn' exoplanet WASP-96b obtained with the Very Large Telescope, which exhibits the complete pressure-broadened profile of the sodium absorption feature. The spectrum is in excellent agreement with cloud-free, solar-abundance models assuming chemical equilibrium. We are able to measure a precise, absolute sodium abundance of logε Na  = [Formula: see text], and use it as a proxy for the planet's atmospheric metallicity relative to the solar value (Z p /Z ʘ  = [Formula: see text]). This result is consistent with the mass-metallicity trend observed for Solar System planets and exoplanets 10-12 .

  18. An absolute sodium abundance for a cloud-free `hot Saturn' exoplanet

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nikolov, N.; Sing, D. K.; Fortney, J. J.; Goyal, J. M.; Drummond, B.; Evans, T. M.; Gibson, N. P.; De Mooij, E. J. W.; Rustamkulov, Z.; Wakeford, H. R.; Smalley, B.; Burgasser, A. J.; Hellier, C.; Helling, Ch.; Mayne, N. J.; Madhusudhan, N.; Kataria, T.; Baines, J.; Carter, A. L.; Ballester, G. E.; Barstow, J. K.; McCleery, J.; Spake, J. J.

    2018-05-01

    Broad absorption signatures from alkali metals, such as the sodium (Na i) and potassium (K i) resonance doublets, have long been predicted in the optical atmospheric spectra of cloud-free irradiated gas giant exoplanets1-3. However, observations have revealed only the narrow cores of these features rather than the full pressure-broadened profiles4-6. Cloud and haze opacity at the day-night planetary terminator are considered to be responsible for obscuring the absorption-line wings, which hinders constraints on absolute atmospheric abundances7-9. Here we report an optical transmission spectrum for the `hot Saturn' exoplanet WASP-96b obtained with the Very Large Telescope, which exhibits the complete pressure-broadened profile of the sodium absorption feature. The spectrum is in excellent agreement with cloud-free, solar-abundance models assuming chemical equilibrium. We are able to measure a precise, absolute sodium abundance of logɛNa = 6.9-0.4+0.6, and use it as a proxy for the planet's atmospheric metallicity relative to the solar value (Zp/Zʘ = 2.3-1.7+8.9). This result is consistent with the mass-metallicity trend observed for Solar System planets and exoplanets10-12.

  19. Absolute single-photoionization cross sections of Se 2 + : Experiment and theory

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Macaluso, D. A.; Aguilar, A.; Kilcoyne, A. L. D.

    2015-12-28

    Absolute single-photoionization cross-section measurements for Se 2+ ions were performed at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory using the merged-beams photo-ion technique. Measurements were made at a photon energy resolution of 24 ± 3 meV in the photon energy range 23.5-42.5 eV, spanning the ground state and low-lying metastable state ionization thresholds. Here, to clearly resolve the resonant structure near the ground-state threshold, high-resolution measurements were made from 30.0 to 31.9 eV at a photon energy resolution of 6.7 ± 0.7 meV. Numerous resonance features observed in the experimental spectra are assigned and their energies and quantummore » defects tabulated. The high-resolution cross-section measurements are compared with large-scale, state-of-the-art theoretical cross-section calculations obtained from the Dirac Coulomb R -matrix method. Suitable agreement is obtained over the entire photon energy range investigated. In conclusion, these results are an experimental determination of the absolute photoionization cross section of doubly ionized selenium and include a detailed analysis of the photoionization resonance spectrum of this ion.« less

  20. Absolute dose calculations for Monte Carlo simulations of radiotherapy beams

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Popescu, I. A.; Shaw, C. P.; Zavgorodni, S. F.; Beckham, W. A.

    2005-07-01

    Monte Carlo (MC) simulations have traditionally been used for single field relative comparisons with experimental data or commercial treatment planning systems (TPS). However, clinical treatment plans commonly involve more than one field. Since the contribution of each field must be accurately quantified, multiple field MC simulations are only possible by employing absolute dosimetry. Therefore, we have developed a rigorous calibration method that allows the incorporation of monitor units (MU) in MC simulations. This absolute dosimetry formalism can be easily implemented by any BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc user, and applies to any configuration of open and blocked fields, including intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans. Our approach involves the relationship between the dose scored in the monitor ionization chamber of a radiotherapy linear accelerator (linac), the number of initial particles incident on the target, and the field size. We found that for a 10 × 10 cm2 field of a 6 MV photon beam, 1 MU corresponds, in our model, to 8.129 × 1013 ± 1.0% electrons incident on the target and a total dose of 20.87 cGy ± 1.0% in the monitor chambers of the virtual linac. We present an extensive experimental verification of our MC results for open and intensity-modulated fields, including a dynamic 7-field IMRT plan simulated on the CT data sets of a cylindrical phantom and of a Rando anthropomorphic phantom, which were validated by measurements using ionization chambers and thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD). Our simulation results are in excellent agreement with experiment, with percentage differences of less than 2%, in general, demonstrating the accuracy of our Monte Carlo absolute dose calculations.

  1. Absolute dose calculations for Monte Carlo simulations of radiotherapy beams.

    PubMed

    Popescu, I A; Shaw, C P; Zavgorodni, S F; Beckham, W A

    2005-07-21

    Monte Carlo (MC) simulations have traditionally been used for single field relative comparisons with experimental data or commercial treatment planning systems (TPS). However, clinical treatment plans commonly involve more than one field. Since the contribution of each field must be accurately quantified, multiple field MC simulations are only possible by employing absolute dosimetry. Therefore, we have developed a rigorous calibration method that allows the incorporation of monitor units (MU) in MC simulations. This absolute dosimetry formalism can be easily implemented by any BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc user, and applies to any configuration of open and blocked fields, including intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans. Our approach involves the relationship between the dose scored in the monitor ionization chamber of a radiotherapy linear accelerator (linac), the number of initial particles incident on the target, and the field size. We found that for a 10 x 10 cm2 field of a 6 MV photon beam, 1 MU corresponds, in our model, to 8.129 x 10(13) +/- 1.0% electrons incident on the target and a total dose of 20.87 cGy +/- 1.0% in the monitor chambers of the virtual linac. We present an extensive experimental verification of our MC results for open and intensity-modulated fields, including a dynamic 7-field IMRT plan simulated on the CT data sets of a cylindrical phantom and of a Rando anthropomorphic phantom, which were validated by measurements using ionization chambers and thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD). Our simulation results are in excellent agreement with experiment, with percentage differences of less than 2%, in general, demonstrating the accuracy of our Monte Carlo absolute dose calculations.

  2. The neural basis for novel semantic categorization.

    PubMed

    Koenig, Phyllis; Smith, Edward E; Glosser, Guila; DeVita, Chris; Moore, Peachie; McMillan, Corey; Gee, Jim; Grossman, Murray

    2005-01-15

    We monitored regional cerebral activity with BOLD fMRI during acquisition of a novel semantic category and subsequent categorization of test stimuli by a rule-based strategy or a similarity-based strategy. We observed different patterns of activation in direct comparisons of rule- and similarity-based categorization. During rule-based category acquisition, subjects recruited anterior cingulate, thalamic, and parietal regions to support selective attention to perceptual features, and left inferior frontal cortex to helps maintain rules in working memory. Subsequent rule-based categorization revealed anterior cingulate and parietal activation while judging stimuli whose conformity with the rules was readily apparent, and left inferior frontal recruitment during judgments of stimuli whose conformity was less apparent. By comparison, similarity-based category acquisition showed recruitment of anterior prefrontal and posterior cingulate regions, presumably to support successful retrieval of previously encountered exemplars from long-term memory, and bilateral temporal-parietal activation for perceptual feature integration. Subsequent similarity-based categorization revealed temporal-parietal, posterior cingulate, and anterior prefrontal activation. These findings suggest that large-scale networks support relatively distinct categorization processes during the acquisition and judgment of semantic category knowledge.

  3. Spinal intra-operative three-dimensional navigation with infra-red tool tracking: correlation between clinical and absolute engineering accuracy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guha, Daipayan; Jakubovic, Raphael; Gupta, Shaurya; Yang, Victor X. D.

    2017-02-01

    Computer-assisted navigation (CAN) may guide spinal surgeries, reliably reducing screw breach rates. Definitions of screw breach, if reported, vary widely across studies. Absolute quantitative error is theoretically a more precise and generalizable metric of navigation accuracy, but has been computed variably and reported in fewer than 25% of clinical studies of CAN-guided pedicle screw accuracy. We reviewed a prospectively-collected series of 209 pedicle screws placed with CAN guidance to characterize the correlation between clinical pedicle screw accuracy, based on postoperative imaging, and absolute quantitative navigation accuracy. We found that acceptable screw accuracy was achieved for significantly fewer screws based on 2mm grade vs. Heary grade, particularly in the lumbar spine. Inter-rater agreement was good for the Heary classification and moderate for the 2mm grade, significantly greater among radiologists than surgeon raters. Mean absolute translational/angular accuracies were 1.75mm/3.13° and 1.20mm/3.64° in the axial and sagittal planes, respectively. There was no correlation between clinical and absolute navigation accuracy, in part because surgeons appear to compensate for perceived translational navigation error by adjusting screw medialization angle. Future studies of navigation accuracy should therefore report absolute translational and angular errors. Clinical screw grades based on post-operative imaging, if reported, may be more reliable if performed in multiple by radiologist raters.

  4. Forecasting Error Calculation with Mean Absolute Deviation and Mean Absolute Percentage Error

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khair, Ummul; Fahmi, Hasanul; Hakim, Sarudin Al; Rahim, Robbi

    2017-12-01

    Prediction using a forecasting method is one of the most important things for an organization, the selection of appropriate forecasting methods is also important but the percentage error of a method is more important in order for decision makers to adopt the right culture, the use of the Mean Absolute Deviation and Mean Absolute Percentage Error to calculate the percentage of mistakes in the least square method resulted in a percentage of 9.77% and it was decided that the least square method be worked for time series and trend data.

  5. [Perceptual categorization of emotional expression cued by ones back posture].

    PubMed

    Sogon, S; Doi, K

    1986-04-01

    Subjects looked at 8 mm motion pictures of the bodily movement from rear view perspective of male and female communicators, who faced to emotionally-toned scenes. If the subjects detected some sign of emotional expression, they rated the relevance of expression on five point scale. Varimax rotated factor analysis yielded three factors: F1 rejection-acceptance, F2 avoidance-approach, and F3 sadness. Rejection was categorized as expressions of anger, disgust, and contempt, while anger was categorized when a clenched fist with forward and extended arm were observed. Disgust and contempt were categorized when stationary posture was observed. Acceptance was categorized when the signs of affection, anticipation, and acceptance were observed. Avoidance was categorized when signs of fear and surprise were observed. A typical fear was categorized when signs of freezing was observed, surprise was categorized by stepping back, and sadness was categorized by crouching and self attachment.

  6. Absolute cross-sections for DNA strand breaks and crosslinks induced by low energy electrons

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Wenzhuang; Chen, Shiliang; Dong, Yanfang; Cloutier, Pierre; Sanche, Léon

    2016-01-01

    Absolute cross sections (CSs) for the interaction of low energy electrons with condensed macromolecules are essential parameters to accurately model ionizing radiation induced reactions. To determine CSs for various conformational DNA damage induced by 2–20 eV electrons, we investigated the influence of the attenuation length (AL) and penetration factor (f) using a mathematical model. Solid films of super-coiled plasmid DNA with thicknesses of 10, 15 and 20 nm were irradiated with 4.6, 5.6, 9.6 and 14.6 eV electrons. DNA conformational changes were quantified by gel electrophoresis, and the respective yields were extrapolated from exposure–response curves. The absolute CS, AL and f values were generated by applying the model developed by Rezaee et al. The values of AL were found to lie between 11 and 16 nm with the maximum at 14.6 eV. The absolute CSs for the loss of the supercoiled (LS) configuration and production of crosslinks (CL), single strand breaks (SSB) and double strand breaks (DSB) induced by 4.6, 5.6, 9.6 and 14.6 eV electrons are obtained. The CSs for SSB are smaller, but similar to those for LS, indicating that SSB are the main conformational damage. The CSs for DSB and CL are about one order of magnitude smaller than those of LS and SSB. The value of f is found to be independent of electron energy, which allows extending the absolute CSs for these types of damage within the range 2–20 eV, from previous measurements of effective CSs. When comparison is possible, the absolute CSs are found to be in good agreement with those obtained from previous similar studies with double-stranded DNA. The high values of the absolute CSs of 4.6 and 9.6 eV provide quantitative evidence for the high efficiency of low energy electrons to induce DNA damage via the formation of transient anions. PMID:27878170

  7. Absolute cross-sections for DNA strand breaks and crosslinks induced by low energy electrons.

    PubMed

    Chen, Wenzhuang; Chen, Shiliang; Dong, Yanfang; Cloutier, Pierre; Zheng, Yi; Sanche, Léon

    2016-12-07

    Absolute cross sections (CSs) for the interaction of low energy electrons with condensed macromolecules are essential parameters to accurately model ionizing radiation induced reactions. To determine CSs for various conformational DNA damage induced by 2-20 eV electrons, we investigated the influence of the attenuation length (AL) and penetration factor (f) using a mathematical model. Solid films of supercoiled plasmid DNA with thicknesses of 10, 15 and 20 nm were irradiated with 4.6, 5.6, 9.6 and 14.6 eV electrons. DNA conformational changes were quantified by gel electrophoresis, and the respective yields were extrapolated from exposure-response curves. The absolute CS, AL and f values were generated by applying the model developed by Rezaee et al. The values of AL were found to lie between 11 and 16 nm with the maximum at 14.6 eV. The absolute CSs for the loss of the supercoiled (LS) configuration and production of crosslinks (CL), single strand breaks (SSB) and double strand breaks (DSB) induced by 4.6, 5.6, 9.6 and 14.6 eV electrons are obtained. The CSs for SSB are smaller, but similar to those for LS, indicating that SSB are the main conformational damage. The CSs for DSB and CL are about one order of magnitude smaller than those of LS and SSB. The value of f is found to be independent of electron energy, which allows extending the absolute CSs for these types of damage within the range 2-20 eV, from previous measurements of effective CSs. When comparison is possible, the absolute CSs are found to be in good agreement with those obtained from previous similar studies with double-stranded DNA. The high values of the absolute CSs of 4.6 and 9.6 eV provide quantitative evidence for the high efficiency of low energy electrons to induce DNA damage via the formation of transient anions.

  8. Explanation and Categorization: How "Why?" Informs "What?"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lombrozo, Tania

    2009-01-01

    Recent theoretical and empirical work suggests that explanation and categorization are intimately related. This paper explores the hypothesis that explanations can help structure conceptual representations, and thereby influence the relative importance of features in categorization decisions. In particular, features may be differentially important…

  9. Ultra Rapid Object Categorization: Effects of Level, Animacy and Context

    PubMed Central

    Praß, Maren; Grimsen, Cathleen; König, Martina; Fahle, Manfred

    2013-01-01

    It is widely agreed that in object categorization bottom-up and top-down influences interact. How top-down processes affect categorization has been primarily investigated in isolation, with only one higher level process at a time being manipulated. Here, we investigate the combination of different top-down influences (by varying the level of category, the animacy and the background of the object) and their effect on rapid object categorization. Subjects participated in a two-alternative forced choice rapid categorization task, while we measured accuracy and reaction times. Subjects had to categorize objects on the superordinate, basic or subordinate level. Objects belonged to the category animal or vehicle and each object was presented on a gray, congruent (upright) or incongruent (inverted) background. The results show that each top-down manipulation impacts object categorization and that they interact strongly. The best categorization was achieved on the superordinate level, providing no advantage for basic level in rapid categorization. Categorization between vehicles was faster than between animals on the basic level and vice versa on the subordinate level. Objects in homogenous gray background (context) yielded better overall performance than objects embedded in complex scenes, an effect most prominent on the subordinate level. An inverted background had no negative effect on object categorization compared to upright scenes. These results show how different top-down manipulations, such as category level, category type and background information, are related. We discuss the implications of top-down interactions on the interpretation of categorization results. PMID:23840810

  10. Ultra rapid object categorization: effects of level, animacy and context.

    PubMed

    Praß, Maren; Grimsen, Cathleen; König, Martina; Fahle, Manfred

    2013-01-01

    It is widely agreed that in object categorization bottom-up and top-down influences interact. How top-down processes affect categorization has been primarily investigated in isolation, with only one higher level process at a time being manipulated. Here, we investigate the combination of different top-down influences (by varying the level of category, the animacy and the background of the object) and their effect on rapid object categorization. Subjects participated in a two-alternative forced choice rapid categorization task, while we measured accuracy and reaction times. Subjects had to categorize objects on the superordinate, basic or subordinate level. Objects belonged to the category animal or vehicle and each object was presented on a gray, congruent (upright) or incongruent (inverted) background. The results show that each top-down manipulation impacts object categorization and that they interact strongly. The best categorization was achieved on the superordinate level, providing no advantage for basic level in rapid categorization. Categorization between vehicles was faster than between animals on the basic level and vice versa on the subordinate level. Objects in homogenous gray background (context) yielded better overall performance than objects embedded in complex scenes, an effect most prominent on the subordinate level. An inverted background had no negative effect on object categorization compared to upright scenes. These results show how different top-down manipulations, such as category level, category type and background information, are related. We discuss the implications of top-down interactions on the interpretation of categorization results.

  11. Operativity and the Superordinate Categorization of Artifacts.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ricco, Robert B.; Beilin, Harry

    1992-01-01

    The relative consistency in categorization by age-equivalent groups of preoperational and concrete-operational first graders was assessed across two categorization tasks employing color drawings of exemplars of superordinate artifact categories. Results are discussed in terms of the utilization and acquisition of knowledge about superordinate…

  12. 28 CFR 75.3 - Categorization of records.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Categorization of records. 75.3 Section 75.3 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (CONTINUED) CHILD PROTECTION RESTORATION AND...; RECORDKEEPING AND RECORD-INSPECTION PROVISIONS § 75.3 Categorization of records. Records required to be...

  13. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... INSURANCE (1950- ) Coverage of Employees of State and Local Governments What Groups of Employees May Be Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent...

  14. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... INSURANCE (1950- ) Coverage of Employees of State and Local Governments What Groups of Employees May Be Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent...

  15. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... INSURANCE (1950- ) Coverage of Employees of State and Local Governments What Groups of Employees May Be Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent...

  16. Visual Categorization of Natural Movies by Rats

    PubMed Central

    Vinken, Kasper; Vermaercke, Ben

    2014-01-01

    Visual categorization of complex, natural stimuli has been studied for some time in human and nonhuman primates. Recent interest in the rodent as a model for visual perception, including higher-level functional specialization, leads to the question of how rodents would perform on a categorization task using natural stimuli. To answer this question, rats were trained in a two-alternative forced choice task to discriminate movies containing rats from movies containing other objects and from scrambled movies (ordinate-level categorization). Subsequently, transfer to novel, previously unseen stimuli was tested, followed by a series of control probes. The results show that the animals are capable of acquiring a decision rule by abstracting common features from natural movies to generalize categorization to new stimuli. Control probes demonstrate that they did not use single low-level features, such as motion energy or (local) luminance. Significant generalization was even present with stationary snapshots from untrained movies. The variability within and between training and test stimuli, the complexity of natural movies, and the control experiments and analyses all suggest that a more high-level rule based on more complex stimulus features than local luminance-based cues was used to classify the novel stimuli. In conclusion, natural stimuli can be used to probe ordinate-level categorization in rats. PMID:25100598

  17. Semantic categorization: a comparison between deaf and hearing children.

    PubMed

    Ormel, Ellen A; Gijsel, Martine A R; Hermans, Daan; Bosman, Anna M T; Knoors, Harry; Verhoeven, Ludo

    2010-01-01

    Learning to read is a major obstacle for children who are deaf. The otherwise significant role of phonology is often limited as a result of hearing loss. However, semantic knowledge may facilitate reading comprehension. One important aspect of semantic knowledge concerns semantic categorization. In the present study, the quality of the semantic categorization of both deaf and hearing children was examined for written words and pictures at two categorization levels. The deaf children performed better at the picture condition compared to the written word condition, while the hearing children performed similarly at pictures and written words. The hearing children outperformed the deaf children, in particular for written words. In addition, the results of the deaf children for the written words correlated to their sign vocabulary and sign language comprehension. The increase in semantic categorization was limited across elementary school grade levels. Readers will be able to: (1) understand several semantic categorization differences between groups of deaf and hearing children; (2) describe factors that may affect the development of semantic categorization, in particular the relationship between sign language skills and semantic categorization for deaf children. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Categorization of fragrance contact allergens for prioritization of preventive measures: clinical and experimental data and consideration of structure-activity relationships.

    PubMed

    Uter, Wolfgang; Johansen, Jeanne D; Börje, Anna; Karlberg, Ann-Therese; Lidén, Carola; Rastogi, Suresh; Roberts, David; White, Ian R

    2013-10-01

    Contact allergy to fragrances is still relatively common, affecting ∼ 16% of patients patch tested for suspected allergic contact dermatitis, considering all current screening allergens. The objective of the review is to systematically retrieve, evaluate and classify evidence on contact allergy to fragrances, in order to arrive at recommendations for targeting of primary and secondary prevention. Besides published evidence on contact allergy in humans, animal data (local lymph node assay), annual use volumes and structure-activity relationships (SARs) were considered for an algorithmic categorization of substances as contact allergens. A total of 54 individual chemicals and 28 natural extracts (essential oils) can be categorized as established contact allergens in humans, including all 26 substances previously identified as contact allergens (SCCNFP/0017/98). Twelve of the 54 individual chemicals are considered to be of special concern, owing to the high absolute number of reported cases of contact allergy (>100). Additionally, 18 single substances and one natural mixture are categorized as established contact allergens in animals. SARs, combined with limited human evidence, contributed to the categorization of a further 26 substances as likely contact allergens. In conclusion, the presence of 127 single fragrance substances and natural mixtures should, owing to their skin sensitizing properties, be disclosed, for example on the label. As an additional preventive measure, the maximum use concentration of 11 substances of special concern should be limited to 100 ppm. The substance hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde and the two ingredients chloroatranol and atranol in the natural extracts Evernia prunastri and Evernia furfuracea should not be present in cosmetic products. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. Aging, culture, and memory for categorically processed information.

    PubMed

    Yang, Lixia; Chen, Wenfeng; Ng, Andy H; Fu, Xiaolan

    2013-11-01

    Literature on cross-cultural differences in cognition suggests that categorization, as an information processing and organization strategy, was more often used by Westerners than by East Asians, particularly for older adults. This study examines East-West cultural differences in memory for categorically processed items and sources in young and older Canadians and native Chinese with a conceptual source memory task (Experiment 1) and a reality monitoring task (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, participants encoded photographic faces of their own ethnicity that were artificially categorized into GOOD or EVIL characters and then completed a source memory task in which they identified faces as old-GOOD, old-EVIL, or new. In Experiment 2, participants viewed a series of words, each followed either by a corresponding image (i.e., SEEN) or by a blank square within which they imagined an image for the word (i.e., IMAGINED). At test, they decided whether the test words were old-SEEN, old-IMAGINED, or new. In general, Canadians outperformed Chinese in memory for categorically processed information, an effect more pronounced for older than for young adults. Extensive exercise of culturally preferred categorization strategy differentially benefits Canadians and reduces their age group differences in memory for categorically processed information.

  20. EFFECTS OF TALKER GENDER ON DIALECT CATEGORIZATION

    PubMed Central

    CLOPPER, CYNTHIA G.; CONREY, BRIANNA; PISONI, DAVID B.

    2011-01-01

    The identification of the gender of an unfamiliar talker is an easy and automatic process for naïve adult listeners. Sociolinguistic research has consistently revealed gender differences in the production of linguistic variables. Research on the perception of dialect variation, however, has been limited almost exclusively to male talkers. In the present study, naïve participants were asked to categorize unfamiliar talkers by dialect using sentence-length utterances under three presentation conditions: male talkers only, female talkers only, and a mixed gender condition. The results revealed no significant differences in categorization performance across the three presentation conditions. However, a clustering analysis of the listeners’ categorization errors revealed significant effects of talker gender on the underlying perceptual similarity spaces. The present findings suggest that naïve listeners are sensitive to gender differences in speech production and are able to use those differences to reliably categorize unfamiliar male and female talkers by dialect. PMID:21423866

  1. Categorization of Quantum Mechanics Problems by Professors and Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Shih-Yin; Singh, Chandralekha

    2010-01-01

    We discuss the categorization of 20 quantum mechanics problems by physics professors and undergraduate students from two honours-level quantum mechanics courses. Professors and students were asked to categorize the problems based upon similarity of solution. We also had individual discussions with professors who categorized the problems. Faculty…

  2. Pragmatic and Prescriptive Aspects of Children's Categorization

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kalish, Charles W.

    2007-01-01

    Categorization judgments may be right or wrong and more or less useful. When a child calls a whale "a fish," is she making an error, or just describing an interesting similarity? This chapter explores the challenges children face in learning to conform to conventions governing categorization. (Contains 1 figure.)

  3. Instance-based categorization: automatic versus intentional forms of retrieval.

    PubMed

    Neal, A; Hesketh, B; Andrews, S

    1995-03-01

    Two experiments are reported which attempt to disentangle the relative contribution of intentional and automatic forms of retrieval to instance-based categorization. A financial decision-making task was used in which subjects had to decide whether a bank would approve loans for a series of applicants. Experiment 1 found that categorization was sensitive to instance-specific knowledge, even when subjects had practiced using a simple rule. L. L. Jacoby's (1991) process-dissociation procedure was adapted for use in Experiment 2 to infer the relative contribution of intentional and automatic retrieval processes to categorization decisions. The results provided (1) strong evidence that intentional retrieval processes influence categorization, and (2) some preliminary evidence suggesting that automatic retrieval processes may also contribute to categorization decisions.

  4. Variance computations for functional of absolute risk estimates.

    PubMed

    Pfeiffer, R M; Petracci, E

    2011-07-01

    We present a simple influence function based approach to compute the variances of estimates of absolute risk and functions of absolute risk. We apply this approach to criteria that assess the impact of changes in the risk factor distribution on absolute risk for an individual and at the population level. As an illustration we use an absolute risk prediction model for breast cancer that includes modifiable risk factors in addition to standard breast cancer risk factors. Influence function based variance estimates for absolute risk and the criteria are compared to bootstrap variance estimates.

  5. Variance computations for functional of absolute risk estimates

    PubMed Central

    Pfeiffer, R.M.; Petracci, E.

    2011-01-01

    We present a simple influence function based approach to compute the variances of estimates of absolute risk and functions of absolute risk. We apply this approach to criteria that assess the impact of changes in the risk factor distribution on absolute risk for an individual and at the population level. As an illustration we use an absolute risk prediction model for breast cancer that includes modifiable risk factors in addition to standard breast cancer risk factors. Influence function based variance estimates for absolute risk and the criteria are compared to bootstrap variance estimates. PMID:21643476

  6. Effects of categorization method, regression type, and variable distribution on the inflation of Type-I error rate when categorizing a confounding variable.

    PubMed

    Barnwell-Ménard, Jean-Louis; Li, Qing; Cohen, Alan A

    2015-03-15

    The loss of signal associated with categorizing a continuous variable is well known, and previous studies have demonstrated that this can lead to an inflation of Type-I error when the categorized variable is a confounder in a regression analysis estimating the effect of an exposure on an outcome. However, it is not known how the Type-I error may vary under different circumstances, including logistic versus linear regression, different distributions of the confounder, and different categorization methods. Here, we analytically quantified the effect of categorization and then performed a series of 9600 Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the Type-I error inflation associated with categorization of a confounder under different regression scenarios. We show that Type-I error is unacceptably high (>10% in most scenarios and often 100%). The only exception was when the variable categorized was a continuous mixture proxy for a genuinely dichotomous latent variable, where both the continuous proxy and the categorized variable are error-ridden proxies for the dichotomous latent variable. As expected, error inflation was also higher with larger sample size, fewer categories, and stronger associations between the confounder and the exposure or outcome. We provide online tools that can help researchers estimate the potential error inflation and understand how serious a problem this is. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  7. Debiased estimates for NEO orbits, absolute magnitudes, and source regions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Granvik, Mikael; Morbidelli, Alessandro; Jedicke, Robert; Bolin, Bryce T.; Bottke, William; Beshore, Edward C.; Vokrouhlicky, David; Nesvorny, David; Michel, Patrick

    2017-10-01

    The debiased absolute-magnitude and orbit distributions as well as source regions for near-Earth objects (NEOs) provide a fundamental frame of reference for studies on individual NEOs as well as on more complex population-level questions. We present a new four-dimensional model of the NEO population that describes debiased steady-state distributions of semimajor axis (a), eccentricity (e), inclination (i), and absolute magnitude (H). We calibrate the model using NEO detections by the 703 and G96 stations of the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) during 2005-2012 corresponding to objects with 17absolute sense using the biases computed for CSS (Jedicke et al. 2016, Icarus 266, 173). The model makes use of six source regions or escape routes from the main asteroid belt as identified by Granvik et al. (2017, A&A 598, A52) in addition to Jupiter-family comets: Hungaria and Phocaea asteroids, and main-belt asteroids escaping through the ν6, 3:1J, 5:2J and 2:1J resonance complexes. We account for the destruction of asteroids with small perihelion distances (Granvik et al. 2016, Nature 530, 303) by fitting a penalty function in perihelion distance. Our model accurately reproduces the observed distribution of NEOs and the predicted numbers, particularly for the larger NEOs, are in agreement with other contemporary estimates. Our model also provides updated estimates for the likelihood of the various source regions and escape routes as a function of NEO (a,e,i,H) parameters. We present the model and its predictions, and discuss them in the context of other contemporary estimates.

  8. 7 CFR 1b.3 - Categorical exclusions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Categorical exclusions. 1b.3 Section 1b.3 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT § 1b.3 Categorical exclusions... individual or cumulative effect on the human environment and are excluded from the preparation of...

  9. Medical Evidence Influence on Inpatients and Nurses Pain Ratings Agreement

    PubMed Central

    Samolsky Dekel, Boaz Gedaliahu; Gori, Alberto; Vasarri, Alessio; Sorella, Maria Cristina; Di Nino, Gianfranco; Melotti, Rita Maria

    2016-01-01

    Biased pain evaluation due to automated heuristics driven by symptom uncertainty may undermine pain treatment; medical evidence moderators are thought to play a role in such circumstances. We explored, in this cross-sectional survey, the effect of such moderators (e.g., nurse awareness of patients' pain experience and treatment) on the agreement between n = 862 inpatients' self-reported pain and n = 115 nurses' pain ratings using a numerical rating scale. We assessed the mean of absolute difference, agreement (κ-statistics), and correlation (Spearman rank) of inpatients and nurses' pain ratings and analyzed congruence categories' (CCs: underestimation, congruence, and overestimation) proportions and dependence upon pain categories for each medical evidence moderator (χ 2 analysis). Pain ratings agreement and correlation were limited; the CCs proportions were further modulated by the studied moderators. Medical evidence promoted in nurses overestimation of low and underestimation of high inpatients' self-reported pain. Knowledge of the negative influence of automated heuristics driven by symptoms uncertainty and medical-evidence moderators on pain evaluation may render pain assessment more accurate. PMID:27445633

  10. Visual categorization of natural movies by rats.

    PubMed

    Vinken, Kasper; Vermaercke, Ben; Op de Beeck, Hans P

    2014-08-06

    Visual categorization of complex, natural stimuli has been studied for some time in human and nonhuman primates. Recent interest in the rodent as a model for visual perception, including higher-level functional specialization, leads to the question of how rodents would perform on a categorization task using natural stimuli. To answer this question, rats were trained in a two-alternative forced choice task to discriminate movies containing rats from movies containing other objects and from scrambled movies (ordinate-level categorization). Subsequently, transfer to novel, previously unseen stimuli was tested, followed by a series of control probes. The results show that the animals are capable of acquiring a decision rule by abstracting common features from natural movies to generalize categorization to new stimuli. Control probes demonstrate that they did not use single low-level features, such as motion energy or (local) luminance. Significant generalization was even present with stationary snapshots from untrained movies. The variability within and between training and test stimuli, the complexity of natural movies, and the control experiments and analyses all suggest that a more high-level rule based on more complex stimulus features than local luminance-based cues was used to classify the novel stimuli. In conclusion, natural stimuli can be used to probe ordinate-level categorization in rats. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/3410645-14$15.00/0.

  11. Absolute Summ

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Phillips, Alfred, Jr.

    Summ means the entirety of the multiverse. It seems clear, from the inflation theories of A. Guth and others, that the creation of many universes is plausible. We argue that Absolute cosmological ideas, not unlike those of I. Newton, may be consistent with dynamic multiverse creations. As suggested in W. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and with the Anthropic Principle defended by S. Hawking, et al., human consciousness, buttressed by findings of neuroscience, may have to be considered in our models. Predictability, as A. Einstein realized with Invariants and General Relativity, may be required for new ideas to be part of physics. We present here a two postulate model geared to an Absolute Summ. The seedbed of this work is part of Akhnaton's philosophy (see S. Freud, Moses and Monotheism). Most important, however, is that the structure of human consciousness, manifest in Kenya's Rift Valley 200,000 years ago as Homo sapiens, who were the culmination of the six million year co-creation process of Hominins and Nature in Africa, allows us to do the physics that we do. .

  12. System for pathology categorization and retrieval in chest radiographs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Avni, Uri; Greenspan, Hayit; Konen, Eli; Sharon, Michal; Goldberger, Jacob

    2011-03-01

    In this paper we present an overview of a system we have been developing for the past several years for efficient image categorization and retrieval in large radiograph archives. The methodology is based on local patch representation of the image content, using a bag of visual words approach and similarity-based categorization with a kernel based SVM classifier. We show an application to pathology-level categorization of chest x-ray data, the most popular examination in radiology. Our study deals with pathology detection and identification of individual pathologies including right and left pleural effusion, enlarged heart and cases of enlarged mediastinum. The input from a radiologist provided a global label for the entire image (healthy/pathology), and the categorization was conducted on the entire image, with no need for segmentation algorithms or any geometrical rules. An automatic diagnostic-level categorization, even on such an elementary level as healthy vs pathological, provides a useful tool for radiologists on this popular and important examination. This is a first step towards similarity-based categorization, which has a major clinical implications for computer-assisted diagnostics.

  13. Inter-rater reliability of categorical versus continuous scoring of fish vitality: Does it affect the utility of the reflex action mortality predictor (RAMP) approach?

    PubMed Central

    Yochum, Noëlle; Kochzius, Marc; Ampe, Bart; Tuyttens, Frank A. M.

    2017-01-01

    Scoring reflex responsiveness and injury of aquatic organisms has gained popularity as predictors of discard survival. Given this method relies upon the individual interpretation of scoring criteria, an evaluation of its robustness is done here to test whether protocol-instructed, multiple raters with diverse backgrounds (research scientist, technician, and student) are able to produce similar or the same reflex and injury score for one of the same flatfish (European plaice, Pleuronectes platessa) after experiencing commercial fishing stressors. Inter-rater reliability for three raters was assessed by using a 3-point categorical scale (‘absent’, ‘weak’, ‘strong’) and a tagged visual analogue continuous scale (tVAS, a 10 cm bar split in three labelled sections: 0 for ‘absent’, ‘weak’, ‘moderate’, and ‘strong’) for six reflex responses, and a 4-point scale for four injury types. Plaice (n = 304) were sampled from 17 research beam-trawl deployments during four trips. Fleiss kappa (categorical scores) and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC, continuous scores) indicated variable inter-rater agreement by reflex type (ranging between 0.55 and 0.88, and 67% and 91% for Fleiss kappa and ICC, respectively), with least agreement among raters on extent of injury (Fleiss kappa between 0.08 and 0.27). Despite differences among raters, which did not significantly influence the relationship between impairment and predicted survival, combining categorical reflex and injury scores always produced a close relationship of such vitality indices and observed delayed mortality. The use of the continuous scale did not improve fit of these models compared with using the reflex impairment index based on categorical scores. Given these findings, we recommend using a 3-point categorical over a continuous scale. We also determined that training rather than experience of raters minimised inter-rater differences. Our results suggest that cost-efficient reflex

  14. Absolute calorimetric calibration of low energy brachytherapy sources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stump, Kurt E.

    the current instrument to direct further work in this field. It has been found that for sources with powers above approximately 2 muW the instrument is able to determine the source power in agreement to within less than 7% of what is expected based upon the current source strength standard. For lower power sources, the agreement is still within the uncertainty of the power measurement, but the calorimeter noise dominates. Thus, to provide absolute calibration of lower power sources additional measures must be taken. The conclusion of this thesis describes these measures and how they will improve the factors that limit the current instrument. The results of the work presented in this thesis establish the methodology of active radiometric calorimetey for the absolute calibration of radioactive sources. The method is an improvement over previous techniques in that there is no reliance upon the thermal properties of the materials used or the heat flow pathways on the source measurements. The initial work presented here will help to shape future refinements of this technique to allow lower power sources to be calibrated with high precision and high accuracy.

  15. Absolute optical metrology : nanometers to kilometers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dubovitsky, Serge; Lay, O. P.; Peters, R. D.; Liebe, C. C.

    2005-01-01

    We provide and overview of the developments in the field of high-accuracy absolute optical metrology with emphasis on space-based applications. Specific work on the Modulation Sideband Technology for Absolute Ranging (MSTAR) sensor is described along with novel applications of the sensor.

  16. Absolute measurement of the 242Pu neutron-capture cross section

    DOE PAGES

    Buckner, M. Q.; Wu, C. Y.; Henderson, R. A.; ...

    2016-04-21

    Here, the absolute neutron-capture cross section of 242Pu was measured at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center using the Detector for Advanced Neutron-Capture Experiments array along with a compact parallel-plate avalanche counter for fission-fragment detection. The first direct measurement of the 242Pu(n,γ) cross section was made over the incident neutron energy range from thermal to ≈ 6 keV, and the absolute scale of the (n,γ) cross section was set according to the known 239Pu(n,f) resonance at E n,R = 7.83 eV. This was accomplished by adding a small quantity of 239Pu to the 242Pu sample. The relative scale of themore » cross section, with a range of four orders of magnitude, was determined for incident neutron energies from thermal to ≈ 40 keV. Our data, in general, are in agreement with previous measurements and those reported in ENDF/B-VII.1; the 242Pu(n,γ) cross section at the E n,R = 2.68 eV resonance is within 2.4% of the evaluated value. However, discrepancies exist at higher energies; our data are ≈30% lower than the evaluated data at E n ≈ 1 keV and are approximately 2σ away from the previous measurement at E n ≈ 20 keV.« less

  17. SU-F-T-76: Total Skin Electron Therapy: An-End-To-End Examination of the Absolute Dosimetry with a Rando Phantom

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cui, G; Ha, J; Zhou, S

    Purpose: To examine and validate the absolute dose for total skin electron therapy (TSET) through an end-to-end test with a Rando phantom using optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters (OSLDs) and EBT3 radiochromic films. Methods: A Varian Trilogy linear accelerator equipped with the special procedure 6 MeV HDTSe- was used to perform TSET irradiations using a modified Stanford 6-dual-field technique. The absolute dose was calibrated using a Markus ion chamber at a reference depth of 1.3cm at 100 cm SSD with a field size of 36 × 36 cm at the isocenter in solid water slabs. The absolute dose was cross validatedmore » by a farmer ion chamber. Then the dose rate in the unit of cGy/Mu was calibrated using the Markus chamber at the treatment position. OSLDs were used to independently verify the dose using the calibrated dose rate. Finally, a patient treatment plan (200 cGy/cycle) was delivered in the QA mode to a Rando phantom, which had 16 pairs of OSLDs and EBT3 films taped onto its surface at different anatomical positions. The doses recorded were read out to validate the absolute dosimetry for TSET. Results: The OSLD measurements were within 7% agreement with the planned dose except the shoulder areas, where the doses recorded were 23% lower on average than those of the planned. The EBT3 film measurements were within 10% agreement with the planned dose except the shoulder and the scalp vertex areas, where the respective doses recorded were 18% and 14% lower on average than those of the planned. The OSLDs gave more consistent dose measurements than those of the EBT3 films. Conclusion: The absolute dosimetry for TSET was validated by an end-to-end test with a Rando phantom using the OSLDs and EBT3 films. The beam calibration and monitor unit calculations were confirmed.« less

  18. Unsupervised Categorization in a Sample of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Edwards, Darren J.; Perlman, Amotz; Reed, Phil

    2012-01-01

    Studies of supervised Categorization have demonstrated limited Categorization performance in participants with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), however little research has been conducted regarding unsupervised Categorization in this population. This study explored unsupervised Categorization using two stimulus sets that differed in their…

  19. Feature Screening for Ultrahigh Dimensional Categorical Data with Applications.

    PubMed

    Huang, Danyang; Li, Runze; Wang, Hansheng

    2014-01-01

    Ultrahigh dimensional data with both categorical responses and categorical covariates are frequently encountered in the analysis of big data, for which feature screening has become an indispensable statistical tool. We propose a Pearson chi-square based feature screening procedure for categorical response with ultrahigh dimensional categorical covariates. The proposed procedure can be directly applied for detection of important interaction effects. We further show that the proposed procedure possesses screening consistency property in the terminology of Fan and Lv (2008). We investigate the finite sample performance of the proposed procedure by Monte Carlo simulation studies, and illustrate the proposed method by two empirical datasets.

  20. A global algorithm for estimating Absolute Salinity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McDougall, T. J.; Jackett, D. R.; Millero, F. J.; Pawlowicz, R.; Barker, P. M.

    2012-12-01

    The International Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater - 2010 has defined the thermodynamic properties of seawater in terms of a new salinity variable, Absolute Salinity, which takes into account the spatial variation of the composition of seawater. Absolute Salinity more accurately reflects the effects of the dissolved material in seawater on the thermodynamic properties (particularly density) than does Practical Salinity. When a seawater sample has standard composition (i.e. the ratios of the constituents of sea salt are the same as those of surface water of the North Atlantic), Practical Salinity can be used to accurately evaluate the thermodynamic properties of seawater. When seawater is not of standard composition, Practical Salinity alone is not sufficient and the Absolute Salinity Anomaly needs to be estimated; this anomaly is as large as 0.025 g kg-1 in the northernmost North Pacific. Here we provide an algorithm for estimating Absolute Salinity Anomaly for any location (x, y, p) in the world ocean. To develop this algorithm, we used the Absolute Salinity Anomaly that is found by comparing the density calculated from Practical Salinity to the density measured in the laboratory. These estimates of Absolute Salinity Anomaly however are limited to the number of available observations (namely 811). In order to provide a practical method that can be used at any location in the world ocean, we take advantage of approximate relationships between Absolute Salinity Anomaly and silicate concentrations (which are available globally).

  1. The Characteristics and Limits of Rapid Visual Categorization

    PubMed Central

    Fabre-Thorpe, Michèle

    2011-01-01

    Visual categorization appears both effortless and virtually instantaneous. The study by Thorpe et al. (1996) was the first to estimate the processing time necessary to perform fast visual categorization of animals in briefly flashed (20 ms) natural photographs. They observed a large differential EEG activity between target and distracter correct trials that developed from 150 ms after stimulus onset, a value that was later shown to be even shorter in monkeys! With such strong processing time constraints, it was difficult to escape the conclusion that rapid visual categorization was relying on massively parallel, essentially feed-forward processing of visual information. Since 1996, we have conducted a large number of studies to determine the characteristics and limits of fast visual categorization. The present chapter will review some of the main results obtained. I will argue that rapid object categorizations in natural scenes can be done without focused attention and are most likely based on coarse and unconscious visual representations activated with the first available (magnocellular) visual information. Fast visual processing proved efficient for the categorization of large superordinate object or scene categories, but shows its limits when more detailed basic representations are required. The representations for basic objects (dogs, cars) or scenes (mountain or sea landscapes) need additional processing time to be activated. This finding is at odds with the widely accepted idea that such basic representations are at the entry level of the system. Interestingly, focused attention is still not required to perform these time consuming basic categorizations. Finally we will show that object and context processing can interact very early in an ascending wave of visual information processing. We will discuss how such data could result from our experience with a highly structured and predictable surrounding world that shaped neuronal visual selectivity. PMID

  2. Absolute instability of the Gaussian wake profile

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hultgren, Lennart S.; Aggarwal, Arun K.

    1987-01-01

    Linear parallel-flow stability theory has been used to investigate the effect of viscosity on the local absolute instability of a family of wake profiles with a Gaussian velocity distribution. The type of local instability, i.e., convective or absolute, is determined by the location of a branch-point singularity with zero group velocity of the complex dispersion relation for the instability waves. The effects of viscosity were found to be weak for values of the wake Reynolds number, based on the center-line velocity defect and the wake half-width, larger than about 400. Absolute instability occurs only for sufficiently large values of the center-line wake defect. The critical value of this parameter increases with decreasing wake Reynolds number, thereby indicating a shrinking region of absolute instability with decreasing wake Reynolds number. If backflow is not allowed, absolute instability does not occur for wake Reynolds numbers smaller than about 38.

  3. 49 CFR 236.709 - Block, absolute.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Block, absolute. 236.709 Section 236.709 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION... Block, absolute. A block in which no train is permitted to enter while it is occupied by another train. ...

  4. 49 CFR 236.709 - Block, absolute.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Block, absolute. 236.709 Section 236.709 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION... Block, absolute. A block in which no train is permitted to enter while it is occupied by another train. ...

  5. Absolute quantification of microbial taxon abundances.

    PubMed

    Props, Ruben; Kerckhof, Frederiek-Maarten; Rubbens, Peter; De Vrieze, Jo; Hernandez Sanabria, Emma; Waegeman, Willem; Monsieurs, Pieter; Hammes, Frederik; Boon, Nico

    2017-02-01

    High-throughput amplicon sequencing has become a well-established approach for microbial community profiling. Correlating shifts in the relative abundances of bacterial taxa with environmental gradients is the goal of many microbiome surveys. As the abundances generated by this technology are semi-quantitative by definition, the observed dynamics may not accurately reflect those of the actual taxon densities. We combined the sequencing approach (16S rRNA gene) with robust single-cell enumeration technologies (flow cytometry) to quantify the absolute taxon abundances. A detailed longitudinal analysis of the absolute abundances resulted in distinct abundance profiles that were less ambiguous and expressed in units that can be directly compared across studies. We further provide evidence that the enrichment of taxa (increase in relative abundance) does not necessarily relate to the outgrowth of taxa (increase in absolute abundance). Our results highlight that both relative and absolute abundances should be considered for a comprehensive biological interpretation of microbiome surveys.

  6. A comparison of absolute calibrations of a radiation thermometer based on a monochromator and a tunable source

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Keawprasert, T.; Anhalt, K.; Taubert, D. R.; Sperling, A.; Schuster, M.; Nevas, S.

    2013-09-01

    An LP3 radiation thermometer was absolutely calibrated at a newly developed monochromator-based set-up and the TUneable Lasers in Photometry (TULIP) facility of PTB in the wavelength range from 400 nm to 1100 nm. At both facilities, the spectral radiation of the respective sources irradiates an integrating sphere, thus generating uniform radiance across its precision aperture. The spectral irradiance of the integrating sphere is determined via an effective area of a precision aperture and a Si trap detector, traceable to the primary cryogenic radiometer of PTB. Due to the limited output power from the monochromator, the absolute calibration was performed with the measurement uncertainty of 0.17 % (k = 1), while the respective uncertainty at the TULIP facility is 0.14 %. Calibration results obtained by the two facilities were compared in terms of spectral radiance responsivity, effective wavelength and integral responsivity. It was found that the measurement results in integral responsivity at the both facilities are in agreement within the expanded uncertainty (k = 2). To verify the calibration accuracy, the absolutely calibrated radiation thermometer was used to measure the thermodynamic freezing temperatures of the PTB gold fixed-point blackbody.

  7. Absolute Humidity and the Seasonality of Influenza (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shaman, J. L.; Pitzer, V.; Viboud, C.; Grenfell, B.; Goldstein, E.; Lipsitch, M.

    2010-12-01

    Much of the observed wintertime increase of mortality in temperate regions is attributed to seasonal influenza. A recent re-analysis of laboratory experiments indicates that absolute humidity strongly modulates the airborne survival and transmission of the influenza virus. Here we show that the onset of increased wintertime influenza-related mortality in the United States is associated with anomalously low absolute humidity levels during the prior weeks. We then use an epidemiological model, in which observed absolute humidity conditions temper influenza transmission rates, to successfully simulate the seasonal cycle of observed influenza-related mortality. The model results indicate that direct modulation of influenza transmissibility by absolute humidity alone is sufficient to produce this observed seasonality. These findings provide epidemiological support for the hypothesis that absolute humidity drives seasonal variations of influenza transmission in temperate regions. In addition, we show that variations of the basic and effective reproductive numbers for influenza, caused by seasonal changes in absolute humidity, are consistent with the general timing of pandemic influenza outbreaks observed for 2009 A/H1N1 in temperate regions. Indeed, absolute humidity conditions correctly identify the region of the United States vulnerable to a third, wintertime wave of pandemic influenza. These findings suggest that the timing of pandemic influenza outbreaks is controlled by a combination of absolute humidity conditions, levels of susceptibility and changes in population mixing and contact rates.

  8. Experimental Fuels Facility Re-categorization Based on Facility Segmentation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Reiss, Troy P.; Andrus, Jason

    The Experimental Fuels Facility (EFF) (MFC-794) at the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) located on the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site was originally constructed to provide controlled-access, indoor storage for radiological contaminated equipment. Use of the facility was expanded to provide a controlled environment for repairing contaminated equipment and characterizing, repackaging, and treating waste. The EFF facility is also used for research and development services, including fuel fabrication. EFF was originally categorized as a LTHC-3 radiological facility based on facility operations and facility radiological inventories. Newly planned program activities identified the need to receive quantities of fissionable materials in excessmore » of the single parameter subcritical limit in ANSI/ANS-8.1, “Nuclear Criticality Safety in Operations with Fissionable Materials Outside Reactors” (identified as “criticality list” quantities in DOE-STD-1027-92, “Hazard Categorization and Accident Analysis Techniques for Compliance with DOE Order 5480.23, Nuclear Safety Analysis Reports,” Attachment 1, Table A.1). Since the proposed inventory of fissionable materials inside EFF may be greater than the single parameter sub-critical limit of 700 g of U-235 equivalent, the initial re-categorization is Hazard Category (HC) 2 based upon a potential criticality hazard. This paper details the facility hazard categorization performed for the EFF. The categorization was necessary to determine (a) the need for further safety analysis in accordance with LWP-10802, “INL Facility Categorization,” and (b) compliance with 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 830, Subpart B, “Safety Basis Requirements.” Based on the segmentation argument presented in this paper, the final hazard categorization for the facility is LTHC-3. Department of Energy Idaho (DOE-ID) approval of the final hazard categorization determined by this hazard assessment document (HAD) was required

  9. Categorical organization in free recall across culture and age.

    PubMed

    Gutchess, Angela H; Yoon, Carolyn; Luo, Ting; Feinberg, Fred; Hedden, Trey; Jing, Qicheng; Nisbett, Richard E; Park, Denise C

    2006-01-01

    Cross-cultural differences in cognition suggest that Westerners use categories more than Easterners, but these differences have only been investigated in young adults. The contributions of cognitive resource and the extent of cultural exposure are explored for free recall by investigating cross-cultural differences in categorical organization in younger and older adults. Cultural differences in the use of categories should be larger for elderly than young because categorization is a well-practiced strategy for Westerners, but age-related cognitive resource limitations may make the strategy difficult for elderly Easterners to implement. Therefore, we expect that cultural differences in categorization will be magnified in elderly adults relative to younger adults, with Americans categorizing more than Chinese. Across two studies, 112 young and 112 elderly drawn from two cultures (American and Chinese) encoded words presented in their native language. One word list contained categorically-unrelated words and the other, categorically-related words; both lists were presented in the participants' native language. In experiment 1, the words were strong category associates, and in experiment 2, the words were weak category associates. Participants recalled all the words they could remember, and the number of words recalled and degree of clustering by category were analyzed. As predicted, cultural differences emerged for the elderly, with East-Asians using categories less than Americans during recall of highly-associated category exemplars (experiment 1). For recall of low-associate exemplars, East-Asians overall categorized less than Americans (experiment 2). Surprisingly, these differences in the use of categories did not lead to cultural differences in the number of words recalled. The expected effects of age were apparent with elderly recalling less than young, but in contrast to previous studies, elderly also categorized less than young. These studies provide support

  10. Dynamics of feature categorization.

    PubMed

    Martí, Daniel; Rinzel, John

    2013-01-01

    In visual and auditory scenes, we are able to identify shared features among sensory objects and group them according to their similarity. This grouping is preattentive and fast and is thought of as an elementary form of categorization by which objects sharing similar features are clustered in some abstract perceptual space. It is unclear what neuronal mechanisms underlie this fast categorization. Here we propose a neuromechanistic model of fast feature categorization based on the framework of continuous attractor networks. The mechanism for category formation does not rely on learning and is based on biologically plausible assumptions, for example, the existence of populations of neurons tuned to feature values, feature-specific interactions, and subthreshold-evoked responses upon the presentation of single objects. When the network is presented with a sequence of stimuli characterized by some feature, the network sums the evoked responses and provides a running estimate of the distribution of features in the input stream. If the distribution of features is structured into different components or peaks (i.e., is multimodal), recurrent excitation amplifies the response of activated neurons, and categories are singled out as emerging localized patterns of elevated neuronal activity (bumps), centered at the centroid of each cluster. The emergence of bump states through sequential, subthreshold activation and the dependence on input statistics is a novel application of attractor networks. We show that the extraction and representation of multiple categories are facilitated by the rich attractor structure of the network, which can sustain multiple stable activity patterns for a robust range of connectivity parameters compatible with cortical physiology.

  11. Music of the 7Ts: Predicting and Decoding Multivoxel fMRI Responses with Acoustic, Schematic, and Categorical Music Features

    PubMed Central

    Casey, Michael A.

    2017-01-01

    Underlying the experience of listening to music are parallel streams of auditory, categorical, and schematic qualia, whose representations and cortical organization remain largely unresolved. We collected high-field (7T) fMRI data in a music listening task, and analyzed the data using multivariate decoding and stimulus-encoding models. Twenty subjects participated in the experiment, which measured BOLD responses evoked by naturalistic listening to twenty-five music clips from five genres. Our first analysis applied machine classification to the multivoxel patterns that were evoked in temporal cortex. Results yielded above-chance levels for both stimulus identification and genre classification–cross-validated by holding out data from multiple of the stimuli during model training and then testing decoding performance on the held-out data. Genre model misclassifications were significantly correlated with those in a corresponding behavioral music categorization task, supporting the hypothesis that geometric properties of multivoxel pattern spaces underlie observed musical behavior. A second analysis employed a spherical searchlight regression analysis which predicted multivoxel pattern responses to music features representing melody and harmony across a large area of cortex. The resulting prediction-accuracy maps yielded significant clusters in the temporal, frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes, as well as in the parahippocampal gyrus and the cerebellum. These maps provide evidence in support of our hypothesis that geometric properties of music cognition are neurally encoded as multivoxel representational spaces. The maps also reveal a cortical topography that differentially encodes categorical and absolute-pitch information in distributed and overlapping networks, with smaller specialized regions that encode tonal music information in relative-pitch representations. PMID:28769835

  12. Quantification of Absolute Fat Mass by Magnetic Resonance Imaging: a Validation Study against Chemical Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Hu, Houchun H.; Li, Yan; Nagy, Tim R.; Goran, Michael I.; Nayak, Krishna S.

    2011-01-01

    Objective To develop a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based approach for quantifying absolute fat mass in organs, muscles, and adipose tissues, and to validate its accuracy against reference chemical analysis (CA). Methods Chemical-shift imaging can accurately decompose water and fat signals from the acquired MRI data. A proton density fat fraction (PDFF) can be computed from the separated images, and reflects the relative fat content on a voxel-by-voxel basis. The PDFF is mathematically closely related to the fat mass fraction and can be converted to absolute fat mass in grams by multiplying by the voxel volume and the mass density of fat. In this validation study, 97 freshly excised and unique samples from four pigs, comprising of organs, muscles, and adipose and lean tissues were imaged by MRI and then analyzed independently by CA. Linear regression was used to assess correlation, agreement, and measurement differences between MRI and CA. Results Considering all 97 samples, a strong correlation and agreement was obtained between MRI and CA-derived fat mass (slope = 1.01, intercept = 1.99g, r2 = 0.98, p < 0.01). The mean difference d between MRI and CA was 2.17±3.40g. MRI did not exhibit any tendency to under or overestimate CA (p > 0.05). When considering samples from each pig separately, the results were (slope = 1.05, intercept = 1.11g, r2 = 0.98, d = 2.66±4.36g), (slope = 0.99, intercept = 2.33g, r2 = 0.99, d = 1.88±2.68g), (slope = 1.07, intercept = 1.52g, r2 = 0.96, d = 2.73±2.50g), and (slope=0.92, intercept=2.84g, r2 = 0.97, d = 1.18±3.90g), respectively. Conclusion Chemical-shift MRI and PDFF provides an accurate means of determining absolute fat mass in organs, muscles, and adipose and lean tissues. PMID:23204926

  13. Multivariate sensitivity to voice during auditory categorization.

    PubMed

    Lee, Yune Sang; Peelle, Jonathan E; Kraemer, David; Lloyd, Samuel; Granger, Richard

    2015-09-01

    Past neuroimaging studies have documented discrete regions of human temporal cortex that are more strongly activated by conspecific voice sounds than by nonvoice sounds. However, the mechanisms underlying this voice sensitivity remain unclear. In the present functional MRI study, we took a novel approach to examining voice sensitivity, in which we applied a signal detection paradigm to the assessment of multivariate pattern classification among several living and nonliving categories of auditory stimuli. Within this framework, voice sensitivity can be interpreted as a distinct neural representation of brain activity that correctly distinguishes human vocalizations from other auditory object categories. Across a series of auditory categorization tests, we found that bilateral superior and middle temporal cortex consistently exhibited robust sensitivity to human vocal sounds. Although the strongest categorization was in distinguishing human voice from other categories, subsets of these regions were also able to distinguish reliably between nonhuman categories, suggesting a general role in auditory object categorization. Our findings complement the current evidence of cortical sensitivity to human vocal sounds by revealing that the greatest sensitivity during categorization tasks is devoted to distinguishing voice from nonvoice categories within human temporal cortex. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

  14. The Curious Case of Orthographic Distinctiveness: Disruption of Categorical Processing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McDaniel, Mark A.; Cahill, Michael J.; Bugg, Julie M.

    2016-01-01

    How does orthographic distinctiveness affect recall of structured (categorized) word lists? On one theory, enhanced item-specific information (e.g., more distinct encoding) in concert with robust relational information (e.g., categorical information) optimally supports free recall. This predicts that for categorically structured lists,…

  15. Absolute x-ray dosimetry on a synchrotron medical beam line with a graphite calorimeter.

    PubMed

    Harty, P D; Lye, J E; Ramanathan, G; Butler, D J; Hall, C J; Stevenson, A W; Johnston, P N

    2014-05-01

    The absolute dose rate of the Imaging and Medical Beamline (IMBL) on the Australian Synchrotron was measured with a graphite calorimeter. The calorimetry results were compared to measurements from the existing free-air chamber, to provide a robust determination of the absolute dose in the synchrotron beam and provide confidence in the first implementation of a graphite calorimeter on a synchrotron medical beam line. The graphite calorimeter has a core which rises in temperature when irradiated by the beam. A collimated x-ray beam from the synchrotron with well-defined edges was used to partially irradiate the core. Two filtration sets were used, one corresponding to an average beam energy of about 80 keV, with dose rate about 50 Gy/s, and the second filtration set corresponding to average beam energy of 90 keV, with dose rate about 20 Gy/s. The temperature rise from this beam was measured by a calibrated thermistor embedded in the core which was then converted to absorbed dose to graphite by multiplying the rise in temperature by the specific heat capacity for graphite and the ratio of cross-sectional areas of the core and beam. Conversion of the measured absorbed dose to graphite to absorbed dose to water was achieved using Monte Carlo calculations with the EGSnrc code. The air kerma measurements from the free-air chamber were converted to absorbed dose to water using the AAPM TG-61 protocol. Absolute measurements of the IMBL dose rate were made using the graphite calorimeter and compared to measurements with the free-air chamber. The measurements were at three different depths in graphite and two different filtrations. The calorimetry measurements at depths in graphite show agreement within 1% with free-air chamber measurements, when converted to absorbed dose to water. The calorimetry at the surface and free-air chamber results show agreement of order 3% when converted to absorbed dose to water. The combined standard uncertainty is 3.9%. The good agreement of

  16. Low absolute neutrophil counts in African infants.

    PubMed

    Kourtis, Athena P; Bramson, Brian; van der Horst, Charles; Kazembe, Peter; Ahmed, Yusuf; Chasela, Charles; Hosseinipour, Mina; Knight, Rodney; Lugalia, Lebah; Tegha, Gerald; Joaki, George; Jafali, Robert; Jamieson, Denise J

    2005-07-01

    Infants of African origin have a lower normal range of absolute neutrophil counts than white infants; this fact, however, remains under appreciated by clinical researchers in the United States. During the initial stages of a clinical trial in Malawi, the authors noted an unexpectedly high number of infants with absolute neutrophil counts that would be classifiable as neutropenic using the National Institutes of Health's Division of AIDS toxicity tables. The authors argue that the relevant Division of AIDS table does not take into account the available evidence of low absolute neutrophil counts in African infants and that a systematic collection of data from many African settings might help establish the absolute neutrophil count cutpoints to be used for defining neutropenia in African populations.

  17. Absolute colorimetric characterization of a DSLR camera

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guarnera, Giuseppe Claudio; Bianco, Simone; Schettini, Raimondo

    2014-03-01

    A simple but effective technique for absolute colorimetric camera characterization is proposed. It offers a large dynamic range requiring just a single, off-the-shelf target and a commonly available controllable light source for the characterization. The characterization task is broken down in two modules, respectively devoted to absolute luminance estimation and to colorimetric characterization matrix estimation. The characterized camera can be effectively used as a tele-colorimeter, giving an absolute estimation of the XYZ data in cd=m2. The user is only required to vary the f - number of the camera lens or the exposure time t, to better exploit the sensor dynamic range. The estimated absolute tristimulus values closely match the values measured by a professional spectro-radiometer.

  18. Categorization and Affect: Evidence for Intra-Hemispheric Interactions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ramon, Dan; Doron, Yonit; Faust, Miriam

    2007-01-01

    Both emotional reactivity and categorization have long been studied within the framework of hemispheric asymmetry. However, little attempt has been made to integrate both research areas using any form of neuropsychological research, despite behavioral data suggesting a consistent relationship between affective and categorization processes. The…

  19. The time course from gender categorization to gender-stereotype activation.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Xiaobin; Li, Qiong; Sun, Shan; Zuo, Bin

    2018-02-01

    Social categorization is the foundation of stereotype activation, and the process from social categorization to stereotype activation is rapid. However, the time from social categorization to stereotype activation is unknown. This study involves a real-time measurement of the time course of gender-stereotype activation beginning with gender categorization using event-related potential technology with a face as the priming stimulus. We found that 195 ms after a face stimulus was presented, brain waves stimulated by male or female gender categorization showed a clear separation, with male faces stimulating larger N200 waves. In addition, 475 ms after a face stimulus appeared or 280 ms after the gendercategorization process occurred, gender-stereotype-consistent and gender-stereotype-inconsistent stimuli were distinct, with gender-stereotype-inconsistent stimuli inducing larger N400 waves. These results indicate that during gender-stereotype activation by face perception, gender categorization occurs approximately 195 ms after seeing a face stimulus and a gender stereotype is activated at approximately 475 ms.

  20. An enquiry into the process of categorization of pictures and words.

    PubMed

    Viswanathan, Madhubalan; Childers, Terry L

    2003-02-01

    This paper reports a series of experiments conducted to study the categorization of pictures and words. Whereas some studies reported in the past have found a picture advantage in categorization, other studies have yielded no differences between pictures and words. This paper used an experimental paradigm designed to overcome some methodological problems to examine picture-word categorization. The results of one experiment were consistent with an advantage for pictures in categorization. To identify the source of the picture advantage in categorization, two more experiments were conducted. Findings suggest that semantic relatedness may play an important role in the categorization of both pictures and words. We explain these findings by suggesting that pictures simultaneously access both their concept and visually salient features whereas words may initially access their concept and may subsequently activate features. Therefore, pictures have an advantage in categorization by offering multiple routes to semantic processing.

  1. Using Log Linear Analysis for Categorical Family Variables.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moen, Phyllis

    The Goodman technique of log linear analysis is ideal for family research, because it is designed for categorical (non-quantitative) variables. Variables are dichotomized (for example, married/divorced, childless/with children) or otherwise categorized (for example, level of permissiveness, life cycle stage). Contingency tables are then…

  2. 42 CFR 405.213 - Re-evaluation of a device categorization.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Re-evaluation of a device categorization. 405.213... Decisions That Relate to Health Care Technology § 405.213 Re-evaluation of a device categorization. (a... experimental/investigational (Category A) may request re-evaluation of the categorization decision. (2) A...

  3. 42 CFR 405.213 - Re-evaluation of a device categorization.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Re-evaluation of a device categorization. 405.213... Decisions That Relate to Health Care Technology § 405.213 Re-evaluation of a device categorization. (a... experimental/investigational (Category A) may request re-evaluation of the categorization decision. (2) A...

  4. Cryogenic, Absolute, High Pressure Sensor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chapman, John J. (Inventor); Shams. Qamar A. (Inventor); Powers, William T. (Inventor)

    2001-01-01

    A pressure sensor is provided for cryogenic, high pressure applications. A highly doped silicon piezoresistive pressure sensor is bonded to a silicon substrate in an absolute pressure sensing configuration. The absolute pressure sensor is bonded to an aluminum nitride substrate. Aluminum nitride has appropriate coefficient of thermal expansion for use with highly doped silicon at cryogenic temperatures. A group of sensors, either two sensors on two substrates or four sensors on a single substrate are packaged in a pressure vessel.

  5. Determination of the absolute configurations of synthetic daunorubicin analogues using vibrational circular dichroism spectroscopy and density functional theory.

    PubMed

    Yang, Guochun; Tran, Ha; Fan, Eric; Shi, Wei; Lowary, Todd L; Xu, Yunjie

    2010-08-01

    The absolute configurations of three synthesized anthracycline analogues have been determined using vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy and the density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The experimental VCD spectra of the three compounds have been measured for the first time in the film state, prepared from their CDCl(3) solutions. Conformational searches for the monomers and some dimers of the three compounds have been performed at the DFT level using the B3LYP functional and the 6-311G** and 6-311++G** basis sets. The corresponding vibrational absorption and VCD spectra have been calculated. The good agreement between the experimental and the calculated spectra allows one to assign the absolute configurations of the three compounds with high confidence. In addition, the dominant conformers of the three compounds have also been identified. Copyright 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  6. A note by any other name: Intonation context rapidly changes absolute note judgments.

    PubMed

    Van Hedger, Stephen C; Heald, Shannon L M; Uddin, Sophia; Nusbaum, Howard C

    2018-04-30

    Absolute pitch (AP) judgments, by definition, do not require a reference note, and thus might be viewed as context independent. Here, we specifically test whether short-term exposure to particular intonation contexts influences AP categorization on a rapid time scale and whether such context effects can change from moment to moment. In Experiment 1, participants heard duets in which a "lead" instrument always began before a "secondary" instrument. Both instruments independently varied on intonation (flat, in-tune, or sharp). Despite participants being instructed to judge only the intonation of the secondary instrument, we found that participants treated the lead instrument's intonation as "in-tune" and intonation judgments of the secondary instrument were relativized against this standard. In Experiment 2, participants heard a short antecedent context melody (flat, in-tune, or sharp) followed by an isolated target note (flat, in-tune, or sharp). Target note intonation judgments were once again relativized against the context melody's intonation, though only for notes that were experienced in the context or implied by the context key signature. Moreover, maximally contrastive intonation combinations of context and target engendered systematic note misclassifications. For example, a flat melody resulted in a greater likelihood of misclassifying a "sharp F-sharp" as a "G." These results highlight that both intonation and note category judgments among AP possessors are rapidly modified by the listening environment on the order of seconds, arguing against an invariant mental representation of the absolute pitches of notes. Implications for general auditory theories of perception are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  7. Absolute Income, Relative Income, and Happiness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ball, Richard; Chernova, Kateryna

    2008-01-01

    This paper uses data from the World Values Survey to investigate how an individual's self-reported happiness is related to (i) the level of her income in absolute terms, and (ii) the level of her income relative to other people in her country. The main findings are that (i) both absolute and relative income are positively and significantly…

  8. Categorical Perception of Emotional Facial Expressions in Preschoolers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cheal, Jenna L.; Rutherford, M. D.

    2011-01-01

    Adults perceive emotional facial expressions categorically. In this study, we explored categorical perception in 3.5-year-olds by creating a morphed continuum of emotional faces and tested preschoolers' discrimination and identification of them. In the discrimination task, participants indicated whether two examples from the continuum "felt the…

  9. Semantic Categorization Precedes Affective Evaluation of Visual Scenes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nummenmaa, Lauri; Hyona, Jukka; Calvo, Manuel G.

    2010-01-01

    We compared the primacy of affective versus semantic categorization by using forced-choice saccadic and manual response tasks. Participants viewed paired emotional and neutral scenes involving humans or animals flashed rapidly in extrafoveal vision. Participants were instructed to categorize the targets by saccading toward the location occupied by…

  10. Uncovering contrast categories in categorization with a probabilistic threshold model.

    PubMed

    Verheyen, Steven; De Deyne, Simon; Dry, Matthew J; Storms, Gert

    2011-11-01

    A contrast category effect on categorization occurs when the decision to apply a category term to an entity not only involves a comparison between the entity and the target category but is also influenced by a comparison of the entity with 1 or more alternative categories from the same domain as the target. Establishing a contrast category effect on categorization in natural language categories has proven to be laborious, especially when the categories concerned are natural kinds situated at the superordinate level of abstraction. We conducted 3 studies with these categories to look for an influence on categorization of both similarity to the target category and similarity to a contrast category. The results are analyzed with a probabilistic threshold model that assumes categorization decisions arise from the placement of threshold criteria by individual categorizers along a single scale that holds the experimental stimuli. The stimuli's positions along the scale are shown to be influenced by similarity to both target and contrast. These findings suggest that the prevalence of contrast category effects on categorization might have been underestimated. Additional analyses demonstrate how the proposed model can be employed in future studies to systematically investigate the origins of contrast category effects on categorization.

  11. Self-Referenced Method for Estimating Refractive Index and Absolute Absorption of Loose Semiconductor Powders

    DOE PAGES

    Huang, Huafeng; Colabello, Diane M.; Sklute, Elizabeth C.; ...

    2017-04-23

    The absolute absorption coefficient, α(E), is a critical design parameter for devices using semiconductors for light harvesting associated with renewable energy production, both for classic technologies such as photovoltaics and for emerging technologies such as direct solar fuel production. While α(E) is well-known for many classic simple semiconductors used in photovoltaic applications, the absolute values of α(E) are typically unknown for the complex semiconductors being explored for solar fuel production due to the absence of single crystals or crystalline epitaxial films that are needed for conventional methods of determining α(E). In this work, a simple self-referenced method for estimating bothmore » the refractive indices, n(E), and absolute absorption coefficients, α(E), for loose powder samples using diffuse reflectance data is demonstrated. In this method, the sample refractive index can be deduced by refining n to maximize the agreement between the relative absorption spectrum calculated from bidirectional reflectance data (calculated through a Hapke transform which depends on n) and integrating sphere diffuse reflectance data (calculated through a Kubleka–Munk transform which does not depend on n). This new method can be quickly used to screen the suitability of emerging semiconductor systems for light-harvesting applications. The effectiveness of this approach is tested using the simple classic semiconductors Ge and Fe 2O 3 as well as the complex semiconductors La 2MoO 5 and La 4Mo 2O 11. The method is shown to work well for powders with a narrow size distribution (exemplified by Fe 2O 3) and to be ineffective for semiconductors with a broad size distribution (exemplified by Ge). As such, it provides a means for rapidly estimating the absolute optical properties of complex solids which are only available as loose powders.« less

  12. Universal Cosmic Absolute and Modern Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kostro, Ludwik

    The official Sciences, especially all natural sciences, respect in their researches the principle of methodic naturalism i.e. they consider all phenomena as entirely natural and therefore in their scientific explanations they do never adduce or cite supernatural entities and forces. The purpose of this paper is to show that Modern Science has its own self-existent, self-acting, and self-sufficient Natural All-in Being or Omni-Being i.e. the entire Nature as a Whole that justifies the scientific methodic naturalism. Since this Natural All-in Being is one and only It should be considered as the own scientifically justified Natural Absolute of Science and should be called, in my opinion, the Universal Cosmic Absolute of Modern Science. It will be also shown that the Universal Cosmic Absolute is ontologically enormously stratified and is in its ultimate i.e. in its most fundamental stratum trans-reistic and trans-personal. It means that in its basic stratum. It is neither a Thing or a Person although It contains in Itself all things and persons with all other sentient and conscious individuals as well, On the turn of the 20th century the Science has begun to look for a theory of everything, for a final theory, for a master theory. In my opinion the natural Universal Cosmic Absolute will constitute in such a theory the radical all penetrating Ultimate Basic Reality and will substitute step by step the traditional supernatural personal Absolute.

  13. Toddlers' categorization of typical and scrambled dolls and cars.

    PubMed

    Heron, Michelle; Slaughter, Virginia

    2008-09-01

    Previous research has demonstrated discrimination of scrambled from typical human body shapes at 15-18 months of age [Slaughter, V., & Heron, M. (2004). Origins and early development of human body knowledge. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 69]. In the current study 18-, 24- and 30-month-old infants were presented with four typical and four scrambled dolls in a sequential touching procedure, to assess the development of explicit categorization of human body shapes. Infants were also presented with typical and scrambled cars, allowing comparison of infants' categorization of scrambled and typical exemplars in a different domain. Spontaneous comments regarding category membership were recorded. Girls categorized dolls and cars as typical or scrambled at 30 months, whereas boys only categorized the cars. Earliest categorization was for typical and scrambled cars, at 24 months, but only for boys. Language-based knowledge, coded from infants' comments, followed the same pattern. This suggests that human body knowledge does not have privileged status in infancy. Gender differences in performance are discussed.

  14. First absolute wind measurements in the middle atmosphere of Mars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lellouch, Emmanuel; Goldstein, Jeffrey J.; Bougher, Stephen W.; Paubert, Gabriel; Rosenqvist, Jan

    1991-12-01

    The first absolute wind measurements in the middle atmosphere of Mars (40-70 km) were obtained from Doppler shifts in the J = 2-1 CO transition at 230.538 GHz. During the 1988 opposition, this line was observed at 100 kHz resolution with the IRAM 30 m telescope. The 12-arcsec FWHM beam of the facility allowed spatial resolution of the Martian disk (23.8 arcsec). The high S/N of the data allowed measurement of winds with a 1-sigma absolute line-of-sight accuracy of 20 m/s. The measurements, performed during southern summer solstice, stress the Southern Hemisphere and clearly indicate a global easterlies flow. If modeled by a broad easterly jet with a maximum centered at 20 S, and extending 80 deg in latitude, the jet core velocity is found to have a chi-sq minimum at 160 m/s, generally consistent with predictions for broad summer easterly jets near 50 km as proposed by theoretical models. If the flow is modeled instead by a planet-wide solid rotator zonal flow which is restricted to the Southern Hemisphere or equatorial regions, the velocity of the easterlies is nearly the same. These wind measurements, together with the temperature measurements of Deming et al. (1986), provide the first experimental rough picture of the middle atmosphere circulation of Mars, in general agreement with the Jaquin axisymmetric middle atmosphere model and the current Mars GCM model of Pollack et al. (1990).

  15. Inter-Rater Agreement of Auscultation, Palpable Fremitus, and Ventilator Waveform Sawtooth Patterns Between Clinicians.

    PubMed

    Berry, Marc P; Martí, Joan-Daniel; Ntoumenopoulos, George

    2016-10-01

    Clinicians often use numerous bedside assessments for secretion retention in participants who are receiving invasive mechanical ventilation. This study aimed to evaluate inter-rater agreement between clinicians when using standard clinical assessments of secretion retention and whether differences in clinician experience influenced inter-rater agreement. Seventy-one mechanically ventilated participants were assessed by a research clinician and by one of 13 ICU clinicians. Each clinician conducted a standardized assessment of lung auscultation, palpation for chest-wall (rhonchal) fremitus, and ventilator inspiratory/expiratory flow-time waveforms for the sawtooth pattern. On the presence of breath sounds, agreement ranged from absolute to moderate in the upper zones and the lower zones, respectively. Kappa values for abnormal and adventitious lung sounds achieved moderate agreement in the upper zones, less than chance agreement to substantial agreement in the middle zones, and moderate agreement to almost perfect agreement in the lower zones. Moderate to almost perfect agreement was established for palpable fremitus in the upper zones, moderate to substantial agreement in the middle zones, and less than chance to moderate agreement in the lower zones. Inter-rater agreement on the presence of expiratory sawtooth pattern identification showed moderate agreement. The level of percentage agreement between the research and ICU clinicians for each respiratory assessment studied did not relate directly to level of clinical experience. Inter-rater agreement for all assessments showed variability between lung regions but maintained reasonable percentage agreement in mechanically ventilated participants. The level of percentage agreement achieved between clinicians did not directly relate to clinical experience for all respiratory assessments. Therefore, these respiratory assessments should not necessarily be viewed in isolation but interpreted within the context of a full

  16. Jasminum sambac flower absolutes from India and China--geographic variations.

    PubMed

    Braun, Norbert A; Sim, Sherina

    2012-05-01

    Seven Jasminum sambac flower absolutes from different locations in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu were analyzed using GC and GC-MS. Focus was placed on 41 key ingredients to investigate geographic variations in this species. These seven absolutes were compared with an Indian bud absolute and commercially available J. sambac flower absolutes from India and China. All absolutes showed broad variations for the 10 main ingredients between 8% and 96%. In addition, the odor of Indian and Chinese J. sambac flower absolutes were assessed.

  17. Effects of classification context on categorization in natural categories.

    PubMed

    Hampton, James A; Dubois, Danièle; Yeh, Wenchi

    2006-10-01

    The patterns of classification of borderline instances of eight common taxonomic categories were examined under three different instructional conditions to test two predictions: first, that lack of a specified context contributes to vagueness in categorization, and second, that altering the purpose of classification can lead to greater or lesser dependence on similarity in classification. The instructional conditions contrasted purely pragmatic with more technical/quasi-legal contexts as purposes for classification, and these were compared with a no-context control. The measures of category vagueness were between-subjects disagreement and within-subjects consistency, and the measures of similarity-based categorization were category breadth and the correlation of instance categorization probability with mean rated typicality, independently measured in a neutral context. Contrary to predictions, none of the measures of vagueness, reliability, category breadth, or correlation with typicality were generally affected by the instructional setting as a function of pragmatic versus technical purposes. Only one subcondition, in which a situational context was implied in addition to a purposive context, produced a significant change in categorization. Further experiments demonstrated that the effect of context was not increased when participants talked their way through the task, and that a technical context did not elicit more all-or-none categorization than did a pragmatic context. These findings place an important boundary condition on the effects of instructional context on conceptual categorization.

  18. The effect of embodied emotive states on cognitive categorization.

    PubMed

    Price, Tom F; Harmon-Jones, Eddie

    2010-12-01

    Research has uncovered that positive affect broadens cognitive categorization. The motivational dimensional model, however, posits that positive affect is not a unitary construct with only one cognitive consequence. Instead, this model puts forth that there are different positive affects varying in approach motivational intensity. According to this model, only positive affects lower in motivational intensity should broaden cognitive processes, whereas positive affects higher in motivational intensity should narrow cognitive processes. Consistent with these predictions, high approach positive affect has been shown to narrow attention, whereas low approach positive affect has been shown to broaden it (Gable & Harmon-Jones, 2008). High approach positive affect, therefore, might narrow categorization. Two experiments investigated this possibility by having participants respond to cognitive categorization tasks in 3 body postures designed to elicit different levels of approach motivation: reclining backward, which should evoke low approach motivation; sitting upright, which should evoke moderate approach motivation; and leaning forward, which should evoke high approach motivation. Participants smiled while in each posture in order to experience positive affect. Experiment 1 provided initial support for the idea that high approach positive affect narrows categorization and low approach positive affect broadens categorization. Experiment 2 replicated these findings with improved smiling instructions. These results extend previous work by showing that the motivational model's predictions hold for basic attentional processes as well as higher level cognitive processes such as categorization.

  19. Natural Object Categorization.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1987-11-01

    6-A194 103 NATURAL OBJECT CATEGORIZATION(U) MASSACHUSETTS INST OF 1/3 TECH CAMBRIDGE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LAB R F DBICK NOY 87 AI-TR-1091 NBSSI4...ORGANI1ZATION NAME AN40 ACORES$ 10. PROGRAM ELEMENT. PROJECT. TASK Artificial Inteligence Laboratory AREA A WORK UNIT MUMBERS 545 Technology Square Cambridge...describes research done at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of

  20. Categorizing document by fuzzy C-Means and K-nearest neighbors approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Priandini, Novita; Zaman, Badrus; Purwanti, Endah

    2017-08-01

    Increasing of technology had made categorizing documents become important. It caused by increasing of number of documents itself. Managing some documents by categorizing is one of Information Retrieval application, because it involve text mining on its process. Whereas, categorization technique could be done both Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) and K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) method. This experiment would consolidate both methods. The aim of the experiment is increasing performance of document categorize. First, FCM is in order to clustering training documents. Second, KNN is in order to categorize testing document until the output of categorization is shown. Result of the experiment is 14 testing documents retrieve relevantly to its category. Meanwhile 6 of 20 testing documents retrieve irrelevant to its category. Result of system evaluation shows that both precision and recall are 0,7.

  1. Advancing Absolute Calibration for JWST and Other Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rieke, George; Bohlin, Ralph; Boyajian, Tabetha; Carey, Sean; Casagrande, Luca; Deustua, Susana; Gordon, Karl; Kraemer, Kathleen; Marengo, Massimo; Schlawin, Everett; Su, Kate; Sloan, Greg; Volk, Kevin

    2017-10-01

    We propose to exploit the unique optical stability of the Spitzer telescope, along with that of IRAC, to (1) transfer the accurate absolute calibration obtained with MSX on very bright stars directly to two reference stars within the dynamic range of the JWST imagers (and of other modern instrumentation); (2) establish a second accurate absolute calibration based on the absolutely calibrated spectrum of the sun, transferred onto the astronomical system via alpha Cen A; and (3) provide accurate infrared measurements for the 11 (of 15) highest priority stars with no such data but with accurate interferometrically measured diameters, allowing us to optimize determinations of effective temperatures using the infrared flux method and thus to extend the accurate absolute calibration spectrally. This program is integral to plans for an accurate absolute calibration of JWST and will also provide a valuable Spitzer legacy.

  2. Absolute radiometric calibration of advanced remote sensing systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Slater, P. N.

    1982-01-01

    The distinction between the uses of relative and absolute spectroradiometric calibration of remote sensing systems is discussed. The advantages of detector-based absolute calibration are described, and the categories of relative and absolute system calibrations are listed. The limitations and problems associated with three common methods used for the absolute calibration of remote sensing systems are addressed. Two methods are proposed for the in-flight absolute calibration of advanced multispectral linear array systems. One makes use of a sun-illuminated panel in front of the sensor, the radiance of which is monitored by a spectrally flat pyroelectric radiometer. The other uses a large, uniform, high-radiance reference ground surface. The ground and atmospheric measurements required as input to a radiative transfer program to predict the radiance level at the entrance pupil of the orbital sensor are discussed, and the ground instrumentation is described.

  3. Debiased orbit and absolute-magnitude distributions for near-Earth objects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Granvik, Mikael; Morbidelli, Alessandro; Jedicke, Robert; Bolin, Bryce; Bottke, William F.; Beshore, Edward; Vokrouhlický, David; Nesvorný, David; Michel, Patrick

    2018-09-01

    The debiased absolute-magnitude and orbit distributions as well as source regions for near-Earth objects (NEOs) provide a fundamental frame of reference for studies of individual NEOs and more complex population-level questions. We present a new four-dimensional model of the NEO population that describes debiased steady-state distributions of semimajor axis, eccentricity, inclination, and absolute magnitude H in the range 17 < H < 25. The modeling approach improves upon the methodology originally developed by Bottke et al. (2000, Science 288, 2190-2194) in that it is, for example, based on more realistic orbit distributions and uses source-specific absolute-magnitude distributions that allow for a power-law slope that varies with H. We divide the main asteroid belt into six different entrance routes or regions (ER) to the NEO region: the ν6, 3:1J, 5:2J and 2:1J resonance complexes as well as Hungarias and Phocaeas. In addition we include the Jupiter-family comets as the primary cometary source of NEOs. We calibrate the model against NEO detections by Catalina Sky Surveys' stations 703 and G96 during 2005-2012, and utilize the complementary nature of these two systems to quantify the systematic uncertainties associated to the resulting model. We find that the (fitted) H distributions have significant differences, although most of them show a minimum power-law slope at H ∼ 20. As a consequence of the differences between the ER-specific H distributions we find significant variations in, for example, the NEO orbit distribution, average lifetime, and the relative contribution of different ERs as a function of H. The most important ERs are the ν6 and 3:1J resonance complexes with JFCs contributing a few percent of NEOs on average. A significant contribution from the Hungaria group leads to notable changes compared to the predictions by Bottke et al. in, for example, the orbit distribution and average lifetime of NEOs. We predict that there are 962-56+52 (802-42+48

  4. Novel Multi-Party Quantum Key Agreement Protocol with G-Like States and Bell States

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Min, Shi-Qi; Chen, Hua-Ying; Gong, Li-Hua

    2018-03-01

    A significant aspect of quantum cryptography is quantum key agreement (QKA), which ensures the security of key agreement protocols by quantum information theory. The fairness of an absolute security multi-party quantum key agreement (MQKA) protocol demands that all participants can affect the protocol result equally so as to establish a shared key and that nobody can determine the shared key by himself/herself. We found that it is difficult for the existing multi-party quantum key agreement protocol to withstand the collusion attacks. Put differently, it is possible for several cooperated and untruthful participants to determine the final key without being detected. To address this issue, based on the entanglement swapping between G-like state and Bell states, a new multi-party quantum key agreement protocol is put forward. The proposed protocol makes full use of EPR pairs as quantum resources, and adopts Bell measurement and unitary operation to share a secret key. Besides, the proposed protocol is fair, secure and efficient without involving a third party quantum center. It demonstrates that the protocol is capable of protecting users' privacy and meeting the requirement of fairness. Moreover, it is feasible to carry out the protocol with existing technologies.

  5. Novel Multi-Party Quantum Key Agreement Protocol with G-Like States and Bell States

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Min, Shi-Qi; Chen, Hua-Ying; Gong, Li-Hua

    2018-06-01

    A significant aspect of quantum cryptography is quantum key agreement (QKA), which ensures the security of key agreement protocols by quantum information theory. The fairness of an absolute security multi-party quantum key agreement (MQKA) protocol demands that all participants can affect the protocol result equally so as to establish a shared key and that nobody can determine the shared key by himself/herself. We found that it is difficult for the existing multi-party quantum key agreement protocol to withstand the collusion attacks. Put differently, it is possible for several cooperated and untruthful participants to determine the final key without being detected. To address this issue, based on the entanglement swapping between G-like state and Bell states, a new multi-party quantum key agreement protocol is put forward. The proposed protocol makes full use of EPR pairs as quantum resources, and adopts Bell measurement and unitary operation to share a secret key. Besides, the proposed protocol is fair, secure and efficient without involving a third party quantum center. It demonstrates that the protocol is capable of protecting users' privacy and meeting the requirement of fairness. Moreover, it is feasible to carry out the protocol with existing technologies.

  6. The Absolute Proper Motion of NGC 6397 Revisited

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rees, Richard; Cudworth, Kyle

    2018-01-01

    We compare several determinations of the absolute proper motion of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 6397: (1) our own determination relative to field stars derived from scans of 38 photographic plates spanning 97 years in epoch; (2) using our proper motion membership to identify cluster stars in various catalogs in the literature (UCAC4, UCAC5, PPMXL, HSOY, Tycho-2, Hipparcos, TGAS); (3) published results from the Yale SPM Program (both tied to Hipparcos and relative to galaxies) and two from HST observations relative to galaxies. The various determinations are not in good agreement. Curiously, the Yale SPM relative to galaxies does not agree with the HST determinations, and the individual HST error ellipses are close to each other but do not overlap. The Yale SPM relative to galaxies does agree with our determination, Tycho-2, and the Yale SPM tied to Hipparcos. It is not clear which of the current determinations is most reliable; we have found evidence of systematic errors in some of them (including one of the HST determinations). This research has been partially supported by the NSF.

  7. Out of sight, out of mind: Categorization learning and normal aging.

    PubMed

    Schenk, Sabrina; Minda, John P; Lech, Robert K; Suchan, Boris

    2016-10-01

    The present combined EEG and eye tracking study examined the process of categorization learning at different age ranges and aimed to investigate to which degree categorization learning is mediated by visual attention and perceptual strategies. Seventeen young subjects and ten elderly subjects had to perform a visual categorization task with two abstract categories. Each category consisted of prototypical stimuli and an exception. The categorization of prototypical stimuli was learned very early during the experiment, while the learning of exceptions was delayed. The categorization of exceptions was accompanied by higher P150, P250 and P300 amplitudes. In contrast to younger subjects, elderly subjects had problems in the categorization of exceptions, but showed an intact categorization performance for prototypical stimuli. Moreover, elderly subjects showed higher fixation rates for important stimulus features and higher P150 amplitudes, which were positively correlated with the categorization performances. These results indicate that elderly subjects compensate for cognitive decline through enhanced perceptual and attentional processing of individual stimulus features. Additionally, a computational approach has been applied and showed a transition away from purely abstraction-based learning to an exemplar-based learning in the middle block for both groups. However, the calculated models provide a better fit for younger subjects than for elderly subjects. The current study demonstrates that human categorization learning is based on early abstraction-based processing followed by an exemplar-memorization stage. This strategy combination facilitates the learning of real world categories with a nuanced category structure. In addition, the present study suggests that categorization learning is affected by normal aging and modulated by perceptual processing and visual attention. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Learning and transfer of category knowledge in an indirect categorization task.

    PubMed

    Helie, Sebastien; Ashby, F Gregory

    2012-05-01

    Knowledge representations acquired during category learning experiments are 'tuned' to the task goal. A useful paradigm to study category representations is indirect category learning. In the present article, we propose a new indirect categorization task called the "same"-"different" categorization task. The same-different categorization task is a regular same-different task, but the question asked to the participants is about the stimulus category membership instead of stimulus identity. Experiment 1 explores the possibility of indirectly learning rule-based and information-integration category structures using the new paradigm. The results suggest that there is little learning about the category structures resulting from an indirect categorization task unless the categories can be separated by a one-dimensional rule. Experiment 2 explores whether a category representation learned indirectly can be used in a direct classification task (and vice versa). The results suggest that previous categorical knowledge acquired during a direct classification task can be expressed in the same-different categorization task only when the categories can be separated by a rule that is easily verbalized. Implications of these results for categorization research are discussed.

  9. Absolute distance measurement with correction of air refractive index by using two-color dispersive interferometry.

    PubMed

    Wu, Hanzhong; Zhang, Fumin; Liu, Tingyang; Li, Jianshuang; Qu, Xinghua

    2016-10-17

    Two-color interferometry is powerful for the correction of the air refractive index especially in the turbulent air over long distance, since the empirical equations could introduce considerable measurement uncertainty if the environmental parameters cannot be measured with sufficient precision. In this paper, we demonstrate a method for absolute distance measurement with high-accuracy correction of air refractive index using two-color dispersive interferometry. The distances corresponding to the two wavelengths can be measured via the spectrograms captured by a CCD camera pair in real time. In the long-term experiment of the correction of air refractive index, the experimental results show a standard deviation of 3.3 × 10-8 for 12-h continuous measurement without the precise knowledge of the environmental conditions, while the variation of the air refractive index is about 2 × 10-6. In the case of absolute distance measurement, the comparison with the fringe counting interferometer shows an agreement within 2.5 μm in 12 m range.

  10. PFC neurons reflect categorical decisions about ambiguous stimuli.

    PubMed

    Roy, Jefferson E; Buschman, Timothy J; Miller, Earl K

    2014-06-01

    We examined whether PFC neuron activity reflects categorical decisions in monkeys categorizing ambiguous stimuli. A morphing system was used to systematically vary stimulus shape and precisely define category boundaries. Ambiguous stimuli were centered on a category boundary, that is, they were a mix of 50% of two prototypes and therefore had no category information, so monkeys guessed at their category membership. We found that the monkeys' trial-by-trial decision about the category membership of an ambiguous image was reflected in PFC activity. Activity to the same ambiguous image differed significantly, depending on which category the monkey had assigned it to. This effect only occurred when that scheme was behaviorally relevant. These indicate that PFC activity reflects categorical decisions.

  11. Overcoming default categorical bias in spatial memory.

    PubMed

    Sampaio, Cristina; Wang, Ranxiao Frances

    2010-12-01

    In the present study, we investigated whether a strong default categorical bias can be overcome in spatial memory by using alternative membership information. In three experiments, we tested location memory in a circular space while providing participants with an alternative categorization. We found that visual presentation of the boundaries of the alternative categories (Experiment 1) did not induce the use of the alternative categories in estimation. In contrast, visual cuing of the alternative category membership of a target (Experiment 2) and unique target feature information associated with each alternative category (Experiment 3) successfully led to the use of the alternative categories in estimation. Taken together, the results indicate that default categorical bias in spatial memory can be overcome when appropriate cues are provided. We discuss how these findings expand the category adjustment model (Huttenlocher, Hedges, & Duncan, 1991) in spatial memory by proposing a retrieval-based category adjustment (RCA) model.

  12. Absolute cross sections of the 86Sr(α,n)89Zr reaction at energies of astrophysical interest

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oprea, Andreea; Glodariu, Tudor; Filipescu, Dan; Gheorghe, Ioana; Mitu, Andreea; Boromiza, Marian; Bucurescu, Dorel; Costache, Cristian; Cata-Danil, Irina; Florea, Nicoleta; Ghita, Dan Gabriel; Ionescu, Alina; Marginean, Nicolae; Marginean, Raluca; Mihai, Constantin; Mihai, Radu; Negret, Alexandru; Nita, Cristina; Olacel, Adina; Pascu, Sorin; Sotty, Cristophe; Suvaila, Rares; Stan, Lucian; Stroe, Lucian; Serban, Andreea; Stiru, Irina; Toma, Sebastian; Turturica, Andrei; Ujeniuc, Sorin

    2017-09-01

    Absolute cross sections for the 86Sr(α,n)89Zr reaction at energies close to the Gamow window are reported. Three thin SrF2 targets were irradiated using the 9 MV Tandem facility in IFIN-HH Bucharest that delivered α beams for the activation process. Two high-purity Germanium detectors were used to measure the induced activity of 89Zr in a low background environment. The experimental results are in very good agreement with Hauser-Feshbach statistical model calculations performed with the TALYS code.

  13. Evaluating Random Error in Clinician-Administered Surveys: Theoretical Considerations and Clinical Applications of Interobserver Reliability and Agreement.

    PubMed

    Bennett, Rebecca J; Taljaard, Dunay S; Olaithe, Michelle; Brennan-Jones, Chris; Eikelboom, Robert H

    2017-09-18

    The purpose of this study is to raise awareness of interobserver concordance and the differences between interobserver reliability and agreement when evaluating the responsiveness of a clinician-administered survey and, specifically, to demonstrate the clinical implications of data types (nominal/categorical, ordinal, interval, or ratio) and statistical index selection (for example, Cohen's kappa, Krippendorff's alpha, or interclass correlation). In this prospective cohort study, 3 clinical audiologists, who were masked to each other's scores, administered the Practical Hearing Aid Skills Test-Revised to 18 adult owners of hearing aids. Interobserver concordance was examined using a range of reliability and agreement statistical indices. The importance of selecting statistical measures of concordance was demonstrated with a worked example, wherein the level of interobserver concordance achieved varied from "no agreement" to "almost perfect agreement" depending on data types and statistical index selected. This study demonstrates that the methodology used to evaluate survey score concordance can influence the statistical results obtained and thus affect clinical interpretations.

  14. Brain activity across the development of automatic categorization: A comparison of categorization tasks using multi-voxel pattern analysis

    PubMed Central

    Soto, Fabian A.; Waldschmidt, Jennifer G.; Helie, Sebastien; Ashby, F. Gregory

    2013-01-01

    Previous evidence suggests that relatively separate neural networks underlie initial learning of rule-based and information-integration categorization tasks. With the development of automaticity, categorization behavior in both tasks becomes increasingly similar and exclusively related to activity in cortical regions. The present study uses multi-voxel pattern analysis to directly compare the development of automaticity in different categorization tasks. Each of three groups of participants received extensive training in a different categorization task: either an information-integration task, or one of two rule-based tasks. Four training sessions were performed inside an MRI scanner. Three different analyses were performed on the imaging data from a number of regions of interest (ROIs). The common patterns analysis had the goal of revealing ROIs with similar patterns of activation across tasks. The unique patterns analysis had the goal of revealing ROIs with dissimilar patterns of activation across tasks. The representational similarity analysis aimed at exploring (1) the similarity of category representations across ROIs and (2) how those patterns of similarities compared across tasks. The results showed that common patterns of activation were present in motor areas and basal ganglia early in training, but only in the former later on. Unique patterns were found in a variety of cortical and subcortical areas early in training, but they were dramatically reduced with training. Finally, patterns of representational similarity between brain regions became increasingly similar across tasks with the development of automaticity. PMID:23333700

  15. Velocity-based motion categorization by pigeons.

    PubMed

    Cook, Robert G; Beale, Kevin; Koban, Angie

    2011-04-01

    To examine if animals could learn action-like categorizations in a manner similar to noun-based categories, eight pigeons were trained to categorize rates of object motion. Testing 40 different objects in a go/no-go discrimination, pigeons were first trained to discriminate between fast and slow rates of object rotation around their central y-axis. They easily learned this velocity discrimination and transferred it to novel objects and rates. This discrimination also transferred to novel types of motions including the other two axes of rotation and two new translations around the display. Comparable tests with rapid and slow changes in the objects' size, color, and shape failed to support comparable transfer. This difference in discrimination transfer between motion-based and property-based changes suggests the pigeons had learned motion concept rather than one based on change per se. The results provide evidence that pigeons can acquire an understanding of motion-based actions, at least with regard to the property of object velocity. This may be similar to our use of verbs and adverbs to categorize different classes of behavior or motion (e.g., walking, jogging, or running slow vs. fast).

  16. Racial Categorization Predicts Implicit Racial Bias in Preschool Children.

    PubMed

    Setoh, Peipei; Lee, Kristy J J; Zhang, Lijun; Qian, Miao K; Quinn, Paul C; Heyman, Gail D; Lee, Kang

    2017-06-12

    This research investigated the relation between racial categorization and implicit racial bias in majority and minority children. Chinese and Indian 3- to 7-year-olds from Singapore (N = 158) categorized Chinese and Indian faces by race and had their implicit and explicit racial biases measured. Majority Chinese children, but not minority Indian children, showed implicit bias favoring own race. Regardless of ethnicity, children's racial categorization performance correlated positively with implicit racial bias. Also, Chinese children, but not Indian children, displayed explicit bias favoring own race. Furthermore, children's explicit bias was unrelated to racial categorization performance and implicit bias. The findings support a perceptual-social linkage in the emergence of implicit racial bias and have implications for designing programs to promote interracial harmony. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

  17. Validity and reliability of naturalistic driving scene categorization Judgments from crowdsourcing.

    PubMed

    Cabrall, Christopher D D; Lu, Zhenji; Kyriakidis, Miltos; Manca, Laura; Dijksterhuis, Chris; Happee, Riender; de Winter, Joost

    2018-05-01

    A common challenge with processing naturalistic driving data is that humans may need to categorize great volumes of recorded visual information. By means of the online platform CrowdFlower, we investigated the potential of crowdsourcing to categorize driving scene features (i.e., presence of other road users, straight road segments, etc.) at greater scale than a single person or a small team of researchers would be capable of. In total, 200 workers from 46 different countries participated in 1.5days. Validity and reliability were examined, both with and without embedding researcher generated control questions via the CrowdFlower mechanism known as Gold Test Questions (GTQs). By employing GTQs, we found significantly more valid (accurate) and reliable (consistent) identification of driving scene items from external workers. Specifically, at a small scale CrowdFlower Job of 48 three-second video segments, an accuracy (i.e., relative to the ratings of a confederate researcher) of 91% on items was found with GTQs compared to 78% without. A difference in bias was found, where without GTQs, external workers returned more false positives than with GTQs. At a larger scale CrowdFlower Job making exclusive use of GTQs, 12,862 three-second video segments were released for annotation. Infeasible (and self-defeating) to check the accuracy of each at this scale, a random subset of 1012 categorizations was validated and returned similar levels of accuracy (95%). In the small scale Job, where full video segments were repeated in triplicate, the percentage of unanimous agreement on the items was found significantly more consistent when using GTQs (90%) than without them (65%). Additionally, in the larger scale Job (where a single second of a video segment was overlapped by ratings of three sequentially neighboring segments), a mean unanimity of 94% was obtained with validated-as-correct ratings and 91% with non-validated ratings. Because the video segments overlapped in full for

  18. Family matters: dyadic agreement in end-of-life medical decision making.

    PubMed

    Schmid, Bettina; Allen, Rebecca S; Haley, Philip P; Decoster, Jamie

    2010-04-01

    We examined race/ethnicity and cultural context within hypothetical end-of-life medical decision scenarios and its influence on patient-proxy agreement. Family dyads consisting of an older adult and 1 family member, typically an adult child, responded to questions regarding the older adult's preferences for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, artificial feeding and fluids, and palliative care in hypothetical illness scenarios. The responses of 34 Caucasian dyads and 30 African American dyads were compared to determine the extent to which family members could accurately predict the treatment preferences of their older relative. We found higher treatment preference agreement among African American dyads compared with Caucasian dyads when considering overall raw difference scores (i.e., overtreatment errors can compensate for undertreatment errors). Prior advance care planning moderated the effect such that lower levels of advance care planning predicted undertreatment errors among African American proxies and overtreatment errors among Caucasian proxies. In contrast, no racial/ethnic differences in treatment preference agreement were found within absolute difference scores (i.e., total error, regardless of the direction of error). This project is one of the first to examine the mediators and moderators of dyadic racial/cultural differences in treatment preference agreement for end-of-life care in hypothetical illness scenarios. Future studies should use mixed method approaches to explore underlying factors for racial differences in patient-proxy agreement as a basis for developing culturally sensitive interventions to reduce racial disparities in end-of-life care options.

  19. Linking Comparisons of Absolute Gravimeters: A Proof of Concept for a new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wziontek, H.; Palinkas, V.; Falk, R.; Vaľko, M.

    2016-12-01

    Since decades, absolute gravimeters are compared on a regular basis on an international level, starting at the International Bureau for Weights and Measures (BIPM) in 1981. Usually, these comparisons are based on constant reference values deduced from all accepted measurements acquired during the comparison period. Temporal changes between comparison epochs are usually not considered. Resolution No. 2, adopted by IAG during the IUGG General Assembly in Prague 2015, initiates the establishment of a Global Absolute Gravity Reference System based on key comparisons of absolute gravimeters (AG) under the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) in order to establish a common level in the microGal range. A stable and unique reference frame can only be achieved, if different AG are taking part in different kind of comparisons. Systematic deviations between the respective comparison reference values can be detected, if the AG can be considered stable over time. The continuous operation of superconducting gravimeters (SG) on selected stations further supports the temporal link of comparison reference values by establishing a reference function over time. By a homogenous reprocessing of different comparison epochs and including AG and SG time series at selected stations, links between several comparisons will be established and temporal comparison reference functions will be derived. By this, comparisons on a regional level can be traced to back to the level of key comparisons, providing a reference for other absolute gravimeters. It will be proved and discussed, how such a concept can be used to support the future absolute gravity reference system.

  20. Absolute extinction and the influence of environment - Dark cloud sight lines toward VCT 10, 30, and Walker 67

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cardelli, Jason A.; Clayton, Geoffrey C.

    1991-01-01

    The range of validity of the average absolute extinction law (AAEL) proposed by Cardelli et al. (1988 and 1989) is investigated, combining published visible and NIR data with IUE UV observations for three lines of sight through dense dark cloud environments with high values of total-to-selective extinction. The characteristics of the data sets and the reduction and parameterization methods applied are described in detail, and the results are presented in extensive tables and graphs. Good agreement with the AAEL is demonstrated for wavelengths from 3.4 microns to 250 nm, but significant deviations are found at shorter wavelengths (where previous studies of lines of sight through bright nebulosity found good agreement with the AAEL). These differences are attributed to the effects of coatings on small-bump and FUV grains.

  1. Does Categorization Method Matter in Exploring Volume-Outcome Relation? A Multiple Categorization Methods Comparison in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery Surgical Site Infection.

    PubMed

    Yu, Tsung-Hsien; Tung, Yu-Chi; Chung, Kuo-Piao

    2015-08-01

    Volume-infection relation studies have been published for high-risk surgical procedures, although the conclusions remain controversial. Inconsistent results may be caused by inconsistent categorization methods, the definitions of service volume, and different statistical approaches. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a relation exists between provider volume and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgical site infection (SSI) using different categorization methods. A population-based cross-sectional multi-level study was conducted. A total of 10,405 patients who received CABG surgery between 2006 and 2008 in Taiwan were recruited. The outcome of interest was surgical site infection for CABG surgery. The associations among several patient, surgeon, and hospital characteristics was examined. The definition of surgeons' and hospitals' service volume was the cumulative CABG service volumes in the previous year for each CABG operation and categorized by three types of approaches: Continuous, quartile, and k-means clustering. The results of multi-level mixed effects modeling showed that hospital volume had no association with SSI. Although the relation between surgeon volume and surgical site infection was negative, it was inconsistent among the different categorization methods. Categorization of service volume is an important issue in volume-infection study. The findings of the current study suggest that different categorization methods might influence the relation between volume and SSI. The selection of an optimal cutoff point should be taken into account for future research.

  2. Cross-cultural differences in categorical memory errors.

    PubMed

    Schwartz, Aliza J; Boduroglu, Aysecan; Gutchess, Angela H

    2014-06-01

    Cultural differences occur in the use of categories to aid accurate recall of information. This study investigated whether culture also contributed to false (erroneous) memories, and extended cross-cultural memory research to Turkish culture, which is shaped by Eastern and Western influences. Americans and Turks viewed word pairs, half of which were categorically related and half unrelated. Participants then attempted to recall the second word from the pair in response to the first word cue. Responses were coded as correct, as blanks, or as different types of errors. Americans committed more categorical errors than did Turks, and Turks mistakenly recalled more non-categorically related list words than did Americans. These results support the idea that Americans use categories either to organize information in memory or to support retrieval strategies to a greater extent than Turks and suggest that culture shapes not only accurate recall but also erroneous distortions of memory. © 2014 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  3. Tooth shade measurements under standard and nonstandard illumination and their agreement with skin color.

    PubMed

    Al-Dwairi, Ziad; Shaweesh, Ashraf; Kamkarfar, Sohrab; Kamkarfar, Shahrzad; Borzabadi-Farahani, Ali; Lynch, Edward

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between skin color (shade) and tooth shade under standard and nonstandard illumination sources. Four hundred Jordanian participants (200 males, 200 females, 20 to 50 years of age) were studied. Skin colors were assessed and categorized using the L'Oreal and Revlon foundation shade guides (light, medium, dark). The Vita Pan Classical Shade Guide (VPCSG; Vident) and digital Vita EasyShade Intraoral Dental Spectrophotometer (VESIDS; Vident) were used to select shades in the middle thirds of maxillary central incisors; tooth shades were classified into four categories (highest, high, medium, low). Significant gender differences were observed for skin colors (P = .000) and tooth shade guide systems (P = .001 and .050 for VPCSG and VESIDS, respectively). The observed agreement was 100% and 93% for skin and tooth shade guides, respectively. The corresponding kappa statistic values were 1.00 and 0.79, respectively (substantial agreement, P < .001). The observed agreement between skin color and tooth shades (VPCSG and VESIDS) was approximately 50%. The digital tooth shade guide system can be a satisfactory substitute for classical tooth shade guides and clinical shade matching. There was only moderate agreement between skin color and tooth shade.

  4. Assessing the influence of rater and subject characteristics on measures of agreement for ordinal ratings.

    PubMed

    Nelson, Kerrie P; Mitani, Aya A; Edwards, Don

    2017-09-10

    Widespread inconsistencies are commonly observed between physicians' ordinal classifications in screening tests results such as mammography. These discrepancies have motivated large-scale agreement studies where many raters contribute ratings. The primary goal of these studies is to identify factors related to physicians and patients' test results, which may lead to stronger consistency between raters' classifications. While ordered categorical scales are frequently used to classify screening test results, very few statistical approaches exist to model agreement between multiple raters. Here we develop a flexible and comprehensive approach to assess the influence of rater and subject characteristics on agreement between multiple raters' ordinal classifications in large-scale agreement studies. Our approach is based upon the class of generalized linear mixed models. Novel summary model-based measures are proposed to assess agreement between all, or a subgroup of raters, such as experienced physicians. Hypothesis tests are described to formally identify factors such as physicians' level of experience that play an important role in improving consistency of ratings between raters. We demonstrate how unique characteristics of individual raters can be assessed via conditional modes generated during the modeling process. Simulation studies are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed methods and summary measure of agreement. The methods are applied to a large-scale mammography agreement study to investigate the effects of rater and patient characteristics on the strength of agreement between radiologists. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  5. Investigating Absolute Value: A Real World Application

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kidd, Margaret; Pagni, David

    2009-01-01

    Making connections between various representations is important in mathematics. In this article, the authors discuss the numeric, algebraic, and graphical representations of sums of absolute values of linear functions. The initial explanations are accessible to all students who have experience graphing and who understand that absolute value simply…

  6. A Note on the Interpretation of Weighted Kappa and its Relations to Other Rater Agreement Statistics for Metric Scales

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schuster, Christof

    2004-01-01

    This article presents a formula for weighted kappa in terms of rater means, rater variances, and the rater covariance that is particularly helpful in emphasizing that weighted kappa is an absolute agreement measure in the sense that it is sensitive to differences in rater's marginal distributions. Specifically, rater mean differences will decrease…

  7. Stimulus probability effects in absolute identification.

    PubMed

    Kent, Christopher; Lamberts, Koen

    2016-05-01

    This study investigated the effect of stimulus presentation probability on accuracy and response times in an absolute identification task. Three schedules of presentation were used to investigate the interaction between presentation probability and stimulus position within the set. Data from individual participants indicated strong effects of presentation probability on both proportion correct and response times. The effects were moderated by the ubiquitous stimulus position effect. The accuracy and response time data were predicted by an exemplar-based model of perceptual cognition (Kent & Lamberts, 2005). The bow in discriminability was also attenuated when presentation probability for middle items was relatively high, an effect that will constrain future model development. The study provides evidence for item-specific learning in absolute identification. Implications for other theories of absolute identification are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  8. ProbCD: enrichment analysis accounting for categorization uncertainty.

    PubMed

    Vêncio, Ricardo Z N; Shmulevich, Ilya

    2007-10-12

    As in many other areas of science, systems biology makes extensive use of statistical association and significance estimates in contingency tables, a type of categorical data analysis known in this field as enrichment (also over-representation or enhancement) analysis. In spite of efforts to create probabilistic annotations, especially in the Gene Ontology context, or to deal with uncertainty in high throughput-based datasets, current enrichment methods largely ignore this probabilistic information since they are mainly based on variants of the Fisher Exact Test. We developed an open-source R-based software to deal with probabilistic categorical data analysis, ProbCD, that does not require a static contingency table. The contingency table for the enrichment problem is built using the expectation of a Bernoulli Scheme stochastic process given the categorization probabilities. An on-line interface was created to allow usage by non-programmers and is available at: http://xerad.systemsbiology.net/ProbCD/. We present an analysis framework and software tools to address the issue of uncertainty in categorical data analysis. In particular, concerning the enrichment analysis, ProbCD can accommodate: (i) the stochastic nature of the high-throughput experimental techniques and (ii) probabilistic gene annotation.

  9. Absolute Equation-of-State Measurement for Polystyrene from 25 - 60 Mbar Using a Spherically Converging Shock Wave

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Glenzer, Siegfried

    We have developed an experimental platform for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) that uses spherically converging shock waves for absolute equation of state (EOS) measurements along the principal Hugoniot. In this Letter we present radiographic compression measurements for polystyrene that were taken at shock pressures reaching 60 Mbar (6 TPa). This significantly exceeds previously published results obtained on the Nova laser [Cauble et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 1248 (1998)] at strongly improved precision, allowing to discriminate between different EOS models. We find excellent agreement with Kohn-Sham Density Functional Theory based molecular dynamics simulations.

  10. Metallicity and absolute magnitude calibrations for UBV photometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Karataş, Y.; Schuster, W. J.

    2006-10-01

    Calibrations are presented here for metallicity ([Fe/H]) in terms of the ultraviolet excess, [δ(U - B) at B - V = 0.6, hereafter δ0.6], and also for the absolute visual magnitude (MV) and its difference with respect to the Hyades (ΔMHV) in terms of δ0.6 and (B - V), making use of high-resolution spectroscopic abundances from the literature and Hipparcos parallaxes. The relation [Fe/H]-δ0.6 has been derived for dwarf plus turn-off stars, and also for dwarf, turn-off, plus subgiant stars classified using the MV-(B - V)0 plane of Fig. 11, which is calibrated with isochrones from Bergbusch & VandenBerg (and also VandenBerg & Clem). The [Fe/H]-δ0.6 relations in our equations (5) and (6) agree well with those of Carney, as can be seen from Fig. 5(a). Within the uncertainties, the zero-points, +0.13(+/-0.05) of equation (5) and +0.13(+/-0.04) of equation (6), are in good agreement with the photometric ones of Cameron and of Carney, and close to the spectroscopic ones of Cayrel et al. and of Boesgaard & Friel for the Hyades open cluster. Good quantitative agreement between our estimated [Fe/H] abundances with those from uvby-β photometry and spectroscopic [Fe/H]spec values demonstrates that our equation (6) can be used in deriving quality photometric metal abundances for field stars and clusters using UBV data from various photometric surveys. For dwarf and turn-off stars, a new hybrid MV calibration is presented, based on Hipparcos parallaxes with σπ/π <= 0.1 and with a dispersion of +/-0.24 in MV. This hybrid MV calibration contains δ0.6 and (B - V) terms, plus higher order cross-terms of these, and is valid for the ranges of +0.37 <= (B - V)0 <= +0.88,- 0.10 <= δ0.6 <= +0.29 and 3.44 <= MV <= 7.23. For dwarf and turn-off stars, the relation for ΔMHV is revised and updated in terms of (B - V) and δ0.6, for the ranges of -0.10 <= δ0.6 <= +0.29, and +0.49 <= (B - V)0 <= +0.89, again making use of Hipparcos parallaxes with σπ/π <= 0.1. These parallaxes for

  11. A Regional Categorization for "New-Type Urbanization" in China.

    PubMed

    Fang, Chuanglin; Ma, Haitao; Wang, Jing

    2015-01-01

    Regional differences in the character of urbanization in China are substantial. The promotion of what has been termed "new-type urbanization" cannot, as a result of these regional differences, be expected to follow a universal approach--rather, such a development must objectively adhere to locational and category-specific principles and adopt differentiated urbanization development models. Regional categorization is often used in geography, but is rarely deployed in research addressing human and social problems relating to urbanization. In March 2014, China published the National New-type Urbanization Plan (2014-2020), which calls for the scientific and reasonable planning of "new-type urbanization," and appropriate regional categorizations are urgently needed in order to guide this reform. Responding to this challenge, this research engaged in the design of a "dominantly quantitative analysis, qualitatively supplemented" method in order to divide China into 5 main regions and 47 sub-regions in terms of new-type urbanization. The paper discusses the features and key problems of each region. This study introduces a new method for regional categorization, thereby remedying the lack of regional categorization in relation to "new-type urbanization" in China, and ultimately promoting the development of regional categorization in the humanities as a valuable reference for healthy and sustainable Chinese urbanization.

  12. A Conceptual Approach to Absolute Value Equations and Inequalities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ellis, Mark W.; Bryson, Janet L.

    2011-01-01

    The absolute value learning objective in high school mathematics requires students to solve far more complex absolute value equations and inequalities. When absolute value problems become more complex, students often do not have sufficient conceptual understanding to make any sense of what is happening mathematically. The authors suggest that the…

  13. Categorical encoding of color in the brain.

    PubMed

    Bird, Chris M; Berens, Samuel C; Horner, Aidan J; Franklin, Anna

    2014-03-25

    The areas of the brain that encode color categorically have not yet been reliably identified. Here, we used functional MRI adaptation to identify neuronal populations that represent color categories irrespective of metric differences in color. Two colors were successively presented within a block of trials. The two colors were either from the same or different categories (e.g., "blue 1 and blue 2" or "blue 1 and green 1"), and the size of the hue difference was varied. Participants performed a target detection task unrelated to the difference in color. In the middle frontal gyrus of both hemispheres and to a lesser extent, the cerebellum, blood-oxygen level-dependent response was greater for colors from different categories relative to colors from the same category. Importantly, activation in these regions was not modulated by the size of the hue difference, suggesting that neurons in these regions represent color categorically, regardless of metric color difference. Representational similarity analyses, which investigated the similarity of the pattern of activity across local groups of voxels, identified other regions of the brain (including the visual cortex), which responded to metric but not categorical color differences. Therefore, categorical and metric hue differences appear to be coded in qualitatively different ways and in different brain regions. These findings have implications for the long-standing debate on the origin and nature of color categories, and also further our understanding of how color is processed by the brain.

  14. Categorical encoding of color in the brain

    PubMed Central

    Bird, Chris M.; Berens, Samuel C.; Horner, Aidan J.; Franklin, Anna

    2014-01-01

    The areas of the brain that encode color categorically have not yet been reliably identified. Here, we used functional MRI adaptation to identify neuronal populations that represent color categories irrespective of metric differences in color. Two colors were successively presented within a block of trials. The two colors were either from the same or different categories (e.g., “blue 1 and blue 2” or “blue 1 and green 1”), and the size of the hue difference was varied. Participants performed a target detection task unrelated to the difference in color. In the middle frontal gyrus of both hemispheres and to a lesser extent, the cerebellum, blood-oxygen level-dependent response was greater for colors from different categories relative to colors from the same category. Importantly, activation in these regions was not modulated by the size of the hue difference, suggesting that neurons in these regions represent color categorically, regardless of metric color difference. Representational similarity analyses, which investigated the similarity of the pattern of activity across local groups of voxels, identified other regions of the brain (including the visual cortex), which responded to metric but not categorical color differences. Therefore, categorical and metric hue differences appear to be coded in qualitatively different ways and in different brain regions. These findings have implications for the long-standing debate on the origin and nature of color categories, and also further our understanding of how color is processed by the brain. PMID:24591602

  15. Absolute pitch in a four-year-old boy with autism.

    PubMed

    Brenton, James N; Devries, Seth P; Barton, Christine; Minnich, Heike; Sokol, Deborah K

    2008-08-01

    Absolute pitch is the ability to identify the pitch of an isolated tone. We report on a 4-year-old boy with autism and absolute pitch, one of the youngest reported in the literature. Absolute pitch is thought to be attributable to a single gene, transmitted in an autosomal-dominant fashion. The association of absolute pitch with autism raises the speculation that this talent could be linked to a genetically distinct subset of children with autism. Further, the identification of absolute pitch in even young children with autism may lead to a lifelong skill.

  16. Objectives and Strategies in the Layperson's Categorization of Behavior.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hoffman, Curt; Mischel, Walter

    The effects of observational purpose are thought to impact on such diverse processes as categorization, behavior perception, trait ascription, and memory. The role of observational purpose in the categorization of behavior was explored to determine whether differences between trait and goal concepts affect certain information-processing…

  17. Moral absolutism and abortion: Alan Donagan on the hysterectomy and craniotomy cases.

    PubMed

    Reynolds, Terrence

    1985-07-01

    Reynolds argues that the nonconsequentialist moral theory proposed by Alan Donagan in his book The Theory of Morality (University of Chicago Press; 1977) does not resolve the cases in which craniotomy or removal of a cancerous uterus appears necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman. Donagan's absolute prohibition against the murder of the innocent and his rejection of the principle of double effect have led him to view the fetus as a pursuer or assailant or to assert the theory of proleptic agreement--that in risk taking ventures the parties may agree that killing one person to save the lives of the others will be accepted. Reynolds holds these arguments to be inapplicable in therapeutic abortions involving craniotomy or hysterectomy and concludes that Donagan's absolutist theory must be reexamined.

  18. Response-Time Tests of Logical-Rule Models of Categorization

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Little, Daniel R.; Nosofsky, Robert M.; Denton, Stephen E.

    2011-01-01

    A recent resurgence in logical-rule theories of categorization has motivated the development of a class of models that predict not only choice probabilities but also categorization response times (RTs; Fific, Little, & Nosofsky, 2010). The new models combine mental-architecture and random-walk approaches within an integrated framework and…

  19. Classification/Categorization Model of Instruction for Learning Disabled Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Freund, Lisa A.

    1987-01-01

    Learning-disabled students deficient in classification and categorization require specific instruction in these skills. Use of a classification/categorization instructional model improved the questioning strategies of 60 learning-disabled students, aged 10 to 12. The use of similar models is discussed as a basis for instruction in science, social…

  20. Categorizing Drugs and Drug-Taking: A More Meaningful Approach.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gold, Robert S.; Duncan, David F.

    This document reviews various definitions of the nature and classification of drugs. Difficulties with existing categorizations which use such bases as clinical utility, molecular structure, effects on the central nervous system, legality, and hazard potential are disucssed. A more meaningful categorization based on the availability and sources of…

  1. Working Memory Capacity and Categorization: Individual Differences and Modeling

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lewandowsky, Stephan

    2011-01-01

    Working memory is crucial for many higher-level cognitive functions, ranging from mental arithmetic to reasoning and problem solving. Likewise, the ability to learn and categorize novel concepts forms an indispensable part of human cognition. However, very little is known about the relationship between working memory and categorization, and…

  2. The Absolute Spectrum Polarimeter (ASP)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kogut, A. J.

    2010-01-01

    The Absolute Spectrum Polarimeter (ASP) is an Explorer-class mission to map the absolute intensity and linear polarization of the cosmic microwave background and diffuse astrophysical foregrounds over the full sky from 30 GHz to 5 THz. The principal science goal is the detection and characterization of linear polarization from an inflationary epoch in the early universe, with tensor-to-scalar ratio r much greater than 1O(raised to the power of { -3}) and Compton distortion y < 10 (raised to the power of{-6}). We describe the ASP instrument and mission architecture needed to detect the signature of an inflationary epoch in the early universe using only 4 semiconductor bolometers.

  3. The absolute disparity anomaly and the mechanism of relative disparities.

    PubMed

    Chopin, Adrien; Levi, Dennis; Knill, David; Bavelier, Daphne

    2016-06-01

    There has been a long-standing debate about the mechanisms underlying the perception of stereoscopic depth and the computation of the relative disparities that it relies on. Relative disparities between visual objects could be computed in two ways: (a) using the difference in the object's absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1) or (b) using relative disparities based on the differences in the monocular separations between objects (Hypothesis 2). To differentiate between these hypotheses, we measured stereoscopic discrimination thresholds for lines with different absolute and relative disparities. Participants were asked to judge the depth of two lines presented at the same distance from the fixation plane (absolute disparity) or the depth between two lines presented at different distances (relative disparity). We used a single stimulus method involving a unique memory component for both conditions, and no extraneous references were available. We also measured vergence noise using Nonius lines. Stereo thresholds were substantially worse for absolute disparities than for relative disparities, and the difference could not be explained by vergence noise. We attribute this difference to an absence of conscious readout of absolute disparities, termed the absolute disparity anomaly. We further show that the pattern of correlations between vergence noise and absolute and relative disparity acuities can be explained jointly by the existence of the absolute disparity anomaly and by the assumption that relative disparity information is computed from absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1).

  4. The absolute disparity anomaly and the mechanism of relative disparities

    PubMed Central

    Chopin, Adrien; Levi, Dennis; Knill, David; Bavelier, Daphne

    2016-01-01

    There has been a long-standing debate about the mechanisms underlying the perception of stereoscopic depth and the computation of the relative disparities that it relies on. Relative disparities between visual objects could be computed in two ways: (a) using the difference in the object's absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1) or (b) using relative disparities based on the differences in the monocular separations between objects (Hypothesis 2). To differentiate between these hypotheses, we measured stereoscopic discrimination thresholds for lines with different absolute and relative disparities. Participants were asked to judge the depth of two lines presented at the same distance from the fixation plane (absolute disparity) or the depth between two lines presented at different distances (relative disparity). We used a single stimulus method involving a unique memory component for both conditions, and no extraneous references were available. We also measured vergence noise using Nonius lines. Stereo thresholds were substantially worse for absolute disparities than for relative disparities, and the difference could not be explained by vergence noise. We attribute this difference to an absence of conscious readout of absolute disparities, termed the absolute disparity anomaly. We further show that the pattern of correlations between vergence noise and absolute and relative disparity acuities can be explained jointly by the existence of the absolute disparity anomaly and by the assumption that relative disparity information is computed from absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1). PMID:27248566

  5. Taxonomic and ad hoc categorization within the two cerebral hemispheres.

    PubMed

    Shen, Yeshayahu; Aharoni, Bat-El; Mashal, Nira

    2015-01-01

    A typicality effect refers to categorization which is performed more quickly or more accurately for typical than for atypical members of a given category. Previous studies reported a typicality effect for category members presented in the left visual field/right hemisphere (RH), suggesting that the RH applies a similarity-based categorization strategy. However, findings regarding the typicality effect within the left hemisphere (LH) are less conclusive. The current study tested the pattern of typicality effects within each hemisphere for both taxonomic and ad hoc categories, using words presented to the left or right visual fields. Experiment 1 tested typical and atypical members of taxonomic categories as well as non-members, and Experiment 2 tested typical and atypical members of ad hoc categories as well as non-members. The results revealed a typicality effect in both hemispheres and in both types of categories. Furthermore, the RH categorized atypical stimuli more accurately than did the LH. Our findings suggest that both hemispheres rely on a similarity-based categorization strategy, but the coarse semantic coding of the RH seems to facilitate the categorization of atypical members.

  6. The construction of categorization judgments: using subjective confidence and response latency to test a distributed model.

    PubMed

    Koriat, Asher; Sorka, Hila

    2015-01-01

    The classification of objects to natural categories exhibits cross-person consensus and within-person consistency, but also some degree of between-person variability and within-person instability. What is more, the variability in categorization is also not entirely random but discloses systematic patterns. In this study, we applied the Self-Consistency Model (SCM, Koriat, 2012) to category membership decisions, examining the possibility that confidence judgments and decision latency track the stable and variable components of categorization responses. The model assumes that category membership decisions are constructed on the fly depending on a small set of clues that are sampled from a commonly shared population of pertinent clues. The decision and confidence are based on the balance of evidence in favor of a positive or a negative response. The results confirmed several predictions derived from SCM. For each participant, consensual responses to items were more confident than non-consensual responses, and for each item, participants who made the consensual response tended to be more confident than those who made the nonconsensual response. The difference in confidence between consensual and nonconsensual responses increased with the proportion of participants who made the majority response for the item. A similar pattern was observed for response speed. The pattern of results obtained for cross-person consensus was replicated by the results for response consistency when the responses were classified in terms of within-person agreement across repeated presentations. These results accord with the sampling assumption of SCM, that confidence and response speed should be higher when the decision is consistent with what follows from the entire population of clues than when it deviates from it. Results also suggested that the context for classification can bias the sample of clues underlying the decision, and that confidence judgments mirror the effects of context on

  7. 42 CFR 405.753 - Appeal of a categorization of a device.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Appeal of a categorization of a device. 405.753... Under Medicare Part A § 405.753 Appeal of a categorization of a device. (a) CMS's acceptance of the FDA categorization of a device as an experimental/investigational (Category A) device under § 405.203 is a national...

  8. 42 CFR 405.877 - Appeal of a categorization of a device.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Appeal of a categorization of a device. 405.877... Part B Program § 405.877 Appeal of a categorization of a device. (a) CMS's acceptance of the FDA categorization of a device as an experimental/investigational (Category A) device under § 405.203 is a national...

  9. 42 CFR 405.877 - Appeal of a categorization of a device.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Appeal of a categorization of a device. 405.877... Part B Program § 405.877 Appeal of a categorization of a device. (a) CMS's acceptance of the FDA categorization of a device as an experimental/investigational (Category A) device under § 405.203 is a national...

  10. 42 CFR 405.753 - Appeal of a categorization of a device.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Appeal of a categorization of a device. 405.753... Under Medicare Part A § 405.753 Appeal of a categorization of a device. (a) CMS's acceptance of the FDA categorization of a device as an experimental/investigational (Category A) device under § 405.203 is a national...

  11. Dual PECCS: a cognitive system for conceptual representation and categorization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lieto, Antonio; Radicioni, Daniele P.; Rho, Valentina

    2017-03-01

    In this article we present an advanced version of Dual-PECCS, a cognitively-inspired knowledge representation and reasoning system aimed at extending the capabilities of artificial systems in conceptual categorization tasks. It combines different sorts of common-sense categorization (prototypical and exemplars-based categorization) with standard monotonic categorization procedures. These different types of inferential procedures are reconciled according to the tenets coming from the dual process theory of reasoning. On the other hand, from a representational perspective, the system relies on the hypothesis of conceptual structures represented as heterogeneous proxytypes. Dual-PECCS has been experimentally assessed in a task of conceptual categorization where a target concept illustrated by a simple common-sense linguistic description had to be identified by resorting to a mix of categorization strategies, and its output has been compared to human responses. The obtained results suggest that our approach can be beneficial to improve the representational and reasoning conceptual capabilities of standard cognitive artificial systems, and - in addition - that it may be plausibly applied to different general computational models of cognition. The current version of the system, in fact, extends our previous work, in that Dual- PECCS is now integrated and tested into two cognitive architectures, ACT-R and CLARION, implementing different assumptions on the underlying invariant structures governing human cognition. Such integration allowed us to extend our previous evaluation.

  12. The Near-infrared Tip of the Red Giant Branch. II. An Absolute Calibration in the Large Magellanic Cloud

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hoyt, Taylor J.; Freedman, Wendy L.; Madore, Barry F.; Seibert, Mark; Beaton, Rachael L.; Hatt, Dylan; Jang, In Sung; Lee, Myung Gyoon; Monson, Andrew J.; Rich, Jeffrey A.

    2018-05-01

    We present a new empirical JHK absolute calibration of the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We use published data from the extensive Near-Infrared Synoptic Survey containing 3.5 million stars, 65,000 of which are red giants that fall within one magnitude of the TRGB. Adopting the TRGB slopes from a companion study of the isolated dwarf galaxy IC 1613, as well as an LMC distance modulus of μ 0 = 18.49 mag from (geometric) detached eclipsing binaries, we derive absolute JHK zero points for the near-infrared TRGB. For a comparison with measurements in the bar alone, we apply the calibrated JHK TRGB to a 500 deg2 area of the 2MASS survey. The TRGB reveals the 3D structure of the LMC with a tilt in the direction perpendicular to the major axis of the bar, which is in agreement with previous studies.

  13. The assignment of scores procedure for ordinal categorical data.

    PubMed

    Chen, Han-Ching; Wang, Nae-Sheng

    2014-01-01

    Ordinal data are the most frequently encountered type of data in the social sciences. Many statistical methods can be used to process such data. One common method is to assign scores to the data, convert them into interval data, and further perform statistical analysis. There are several authors who have recently developed assigning score methods to assign scores to ordered categorical data. This paper proposes an approach that defines an assigning score system for an ordinal categorical variable based on underlying continuous latent distribution with interpretation by using three case study examples. The results show that the proposed score system is well for skewed ordinal categorical data.

  14. Relationship between listeners' nonnative speech recognition and categorization abilities

    PubMed Central

    Atagi, Eriko; Bent, Tessa

    2015-01-01

    Enhancement of the perceptual encoding of talker characteristics (indexical information) in speech can facilitate listeners' recognition of linguistic content. The present study explored this indexical-linguistic relationship in nonnative speech processing by examining listeners' performance on two tasks: nonnative accent categorization and nonnative speech-in-noise recognition. Results indicated substantial variability across listeners in their performance on both the accent categorization and nonnative speech recognition tasks. Moreover, listeners' accent categorization performance correlated with their nonnative speech-in-noise recognition performance. These results suggest that having more robust indexical representations for nonnative accents may allow listeners to more accurately recognize the linguistic content of nonnative speech. PMID:25618098

  15. Absolute dimensions and masses of eclipsing binaries. V. IQ Persei

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lacy, C.H.; Frueh, M.L.

    1985-08-01

    New photometric and spectroscopic observations of the 1.7 day eclipsing binary IQ Persei (B8 + A6) have been analyzed to yield very accurate fundamental properties of the system. Reticon spectroscopic observations obtained at McDonald Observatory were used to determine accurate radial velocities of both stars in this slightly eccentric large light-ratio binary. A new set of VR light curves obtained at McDonald Observatory were analyzed by synthesis techniques, and previously published UBV light curves were reanalyzed to yield accurate photometric orbits. Orbital parameters derived from both sets of photometric observations are in excellent agreement. The absolute dimensions, masses, luminosities, andmore » apsidal motion period (140 yr) derived from these observations agree well with the predictions of theoretical stellar evolution models. The A6 secondary is still very close to the zero-age main sequence. The B8 primary is about one-third of the way through its main-sequence evolution. 27 references.« less

  16. Categorical Representation of Facial Expressions in the Infant Brain

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leppanen, Jukka M.; Richmond, Jenny; Vogel-Farley, Vanessa K.; Moulson, Margaret C.; Nelson, Charles A.

    2009-01-01

    Categorical perception, demonstrated as reduced discrimination of within-category relative to between-category differences in stimuli, has been found in a variety of perceptual domains in adults. To examine the development of categorical perception in the domain of facial expression processing, we used behavioral and event-related potential (ERP)…

  17. 42 CFR 405.203 - FDA categorization of investigational devices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false FDA categorization of investigational devices. 405... Coverage Decisions That Relate to Health Care Technology § 405.203 FDA categorization of investigational devices. (a) The FDA assigns a device with an FDA-approved IDE to one of two categories: (1) Experimental...

  18. 42 CFR 405.203 - FDA categorization of investigational devices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false FDA categorization of investigational devices. 405... Coverage Decisions That Relate to Health Care Technology § 405.203 FDA categorization of investigational devices. (a) The FDA assigns a device with an FDA-approved IDE to one of two categories: (1) Experimental...

  19. 42 CFR 405.203 - FDA categorization of investigational devices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false FDA categorization of investigational devices. 405... Coverage Decisions That Relate to Health Care Technology § 405.203 FDA categorization of investigational devices. (a) The FDA assigns a device with an FDA-approved IDE to one of two categories: (1) Experimental...

  20. 42 CFR 405.203 - FDA categorization of investigational devices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false FDA categorization of investigational devices. 405... Coverage Decisions That Relate to Health Care Technology § 405.203 FDA categorization of investigational devices. (a) The FDA assigns a device with an FDA-approved IDE to one of two categories: (1) Experimental...

  1. 42 CFR 405.203 - FDA categorization of investigational devices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false FDA categorization of investigational devices. 405... Coverage Decisions That Relate to Health Care Technology § 405.203 FDA categorization of investigational devices. (a) The FDA assigns a device with an FDA-approved IDE to one of two categories: (1) Experimental...

  2. Introducing the Mean Absolute Deviation "Effect" Size

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gorard, Stephen

    2015-01-01

    This paper revisits the use of effect sizes in the analysis of experimental and similar results, and reminds readers of the relative advantages of the mean absolute deviation as a measure of variation, as opposed to the more complex standard deviation. The mean absolute deviation is easier to use and understand, and more tolerant of extreme…

  3. Monolithically integrated absolute frequency comb laser system

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wanke, Michael C.

    2016-07-12

    Rather than down-convert optical frequencies, a QCL laser system directly generates a THz frequency comb in a compact monolithically integrated chip that can be locked to an absolute frequency without the need of a frequency-comb synthesizer. The monolithic, absolute frequency comb can provide a THz frequency reference and tool for high-resolution broad band spectroscopy.

  4. Clustering Categorical Data Using Community Detection Techniques

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    With the advent of the k-modes algorithm, the toolbox for clustering categorical data has an efficient tool that scales linearly in the number of data items. However, random initialization of cluster centers in k-modes makes it hard to reach a good clustering without resorting to many trials. Recently proposed methods for better initialization are deterministic and reduce the clustering cost considerably. A variety of initialization methods differ in how the heuristics chooses the set of initial centers. In this paper, we address the clustering problem for categorical data from the perspective of community detection. Instead of initializing k modes and running several iterations, our scheme, CD-Clustering, builds an unweighted graph and detects highly cohesive groups of nodes using a fast community detection technique. The top-k detected communities by size will define the k modes. Evaluation on ten real categorical datasets shows that our method outperforms the existing initialization methods for k-modes in terms of accuracy, precision, and recall in most of the cases. PMID:29430249

  5. Motivated social categorization: fundamental motives enhance people's sensitivity to basic social categories.

    PubMed

    Maner, Jon K; Miller, Saul L; Moss, Justin H; Leo, Jennifer L; Plant, E Ashby

    2012-07-01

    This article presents an evolutionary framework for identifying the characteristics people use to categorize members of their social world. Findings suggest that fundamental social motives lead people to implicitly categorize social targets based on whether those targets display goal-relevant phenotypic traits. A mate-search prime caused participants to categorize opposite-sex targets (but not same-sex targets) based on their level of physical attractiveness (Experiment 1). A mate-guarding prime interacted with relationship investment, causing participants to categorize same-sex targets (but not opposite-sex targets) based on their physical attractiveness (Experiment 2). A self-protection prime interacted with chronic beliefs about danger, increasing participants' tendency to categorize targets based on their racial group membership (Black or White; Experiment 3). This work demonstrates that people categorize others based on whether they display goal-relevant characteristics reflecting high levels of perceived desirability or threat. Social categorization is guided by fundamental evolved motives designed to enhance adaptive social outcomes. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved

  6. The realization of the dipole (γ, γ) method and its application to determine the absolute optical oscillator strengths of helium.

    PubMed

    Xu, Long-Quan; Liu, Ya-Wei; Kang, Xu; Ni, Dong-Dong; Yang, Ke; Hiraoka, Nozomu; Tsuei, Ku-Ding; Zhu, Lin-Fan

    2015-12-17

    The dipole (γ, γ) method, which is the inelastic x-ray scattering operated at a negligibly small momentum transfer, is proposed and realized to determine the absolute optical oscillator strengths of the vanlence-shell excitations of atoms and molecules. Compared with the conventionally used photoabsorption method, this new method is free from the line saturation effect, which can seriously limit the accuracies of the measured photoabsorption cross sections for discrete transitions with narrow natural linewidths. Furthermore, the Bethe-Born conversion factor of the dipole (γ, γ) method varies much more slowly with the excitation energy than does that of the dipole (e, e) method. Absolute optical oscillator strengths for the excitations of 1s(2) → 1 snp(n = 3-7) of atomic helium have been determined using the high-resolution dipole (γ, γ) method, and the excellent agreement of the present measurements with both those measured by the dipole (e, e) method and the previous theoretical calculations indicates that the dipole (γ, γ) method is a powerful tool to measure the absolute optical oscillator strengths of the valence-shell excitations of atoms and molecules.

  7. Decoding task-based attentional modulation during face categorization.

    PubMed

    Chiu, Yu-Chin; Esterman, Michael; Han, Yuefeng; Rosen, Heather; Yantis, Steven

    2011-05-01

    Attention is a neurocognitive mechanism that selects task-relevant sensory or mnemonic information to achieve current behavioral goals. Attentional modulation of cortical activity has been observed when attention is directed to specific locations, features, or objects. However, little is known about how high-level categorization task set modulates perceptual representations. In the current study, observers categorized faces by gender (male vs. female) or race (Asian vs. White). Each face was perceptually ambiguous in both dimensions, such that categorization of one dimension demanded selective attention to task-relevant information within the face. We used multivoxel pattern classification to show that task-specific modulations evoke reliably distinct spatial patterns of activity within three face-selective cortical regions (right fusiform face area and bilateral occipital face areas). This result suggests that patterns of activity in these regions reflect not only stimulus-specific (i.e., faces vs. houses) responses but also task-specific (i.e., race vs. gender) attentional modulation. Furthermore, exploratory whole-brain multivoxel pattern classification (using a searchlight procedure) revealed a network of dorsal fronto-parietal regions (left middle frontal gyrus and left inferior and superior parietal lobule) that also exhibit distinct patterns for the two task sets, suggesting that these regions may represent abstract goals during high-level categorization tasks.

  8. Modelling eye movements in a categorical search task

    PubMed Central

    Zelinsky, Gregory J.; Adeli, Hossein; Peng, Yifan; Samaras, Dimitris

    2013-01-01

    We introduce a model of eye movements during categorical search, the task of finding and recognizing categorically defined targets. It extends a previous model of eye movements during search (target acquisition model, TAM) by using distances from an support vector machine classification boundary to create probability maps indicating pixel-by-pixel evidence for the target category in search images. Other additions include functionality enabling target-absent searches, and a fixation-based blurring of the search images now based on a mapping between visual and collicular space. We tested this model on images from a previously conducted variable set-size (6/13/20) present/absent search experiment where participants searched for categorically defined teddy bear targets among random category distractors. The model not only captured target-present/absent set-size effects, but also accurately predicted for all conditions the numbers of fixations made prior to search judgements. It also predicted the percentages of first eye movements during search landing on targets, a conservative measure of search guidance. Effects of set size on false negative and false positive errors were also captured, but error rates in general were overestimated. We conclude that visual features discriminating a target category from non-targets can be learned and used to guide eye movements during categorical search. PMID:24018720

  9. Absolute rate constants for the reaction of OH with cyclopentane and cycloheptane from 233 to 351 K.

    PubMed

    Gennaco, Michael A; Huang, Yi-wen; Hannun, Reem A; Dransfield, Timothy J

    2012-12-27

    Absolute rate constant measurements for the reactions of OH with cyclopentane and cycloheptane in the gas phase in 6-8 Torr of nitrogen from 233 to 351 K in the Harvard University High-Pressure Flow System (HPFS) are reported. Hydroxyl concentrations were measured using laser-induced fluorescence, and alkane concentrations were measured using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Results were fit to a modified Arrhenius equation based on transition state theory (ignoring tunneling): k(T) = B e(-E(a)/T)/T(1 - e(-1.44ν(1)/T))(2)(1 - e(-1.44ν(2)/T)), with ν(1) and ν(2) bending frequencies set to 280 and 500 cm(-1) . Results were as follows for E(a) (K) and k (298) (10(-12) cm(3) s(-1)): cyclopentane, 460 ± 32, 4.85; cycloheptane, 319 ± 36, 9.84. This work represents the second absolute temperature-dependent rate constant measurement reported for cycloheptane, and the third absolute temperature-dependent rate constant measurement reported near room temperature for the reaction of OH and cyclopentane. For the title reactions, the reaction barriers reported here are in agreement with the reaction barrier previously reported for cyclohexane and considerably higher than the barrier previously reported for cyclo-octane, a result that is not predicted by our current understanding of hydrocarbon reactivity.

  10. Electronic Absolute Cartesian Autocollimator

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Leviton, Douglas B.

    2006-01-01

    An electronic absolute Cartesian autocollimator performs the same basic optical function as does a conventional all-optical or a conventional electronic autocollimator but differs in the nature of its optical target and the manner in which the position of the image of the target is measured. The term absolute in the name of this apparatus reflects the nature of the position measurement, which, unlike in a conventional electronic autocollimator, is based absolutely on the position of the image rather than on an assumed proportionality between the position and the levels of processed analog electronic signals. The term Cartesian in the name of this apparatus reflects the nature of its optical target. Figure 1 depicts the electronic functional blocks of an electronic absolute Cartesian autocollimator along with its basic optical layout, which is the same as that of a conventional autocollimator. Referring first to the optical layout and functions only, this or any autocollimator is used to measure the compound angular deviation of a flat datum mirror with respect to the optical axis of the autocollimator itself. The optical components include an illuminated target, a beam splitter, an objective or collimating lens, and a viewer or detector (described in more detail below) at a viewing plane. The target and the viewing planes are focal planes of the lens. Target light reflected by the datum mirror is imaged on the viewing plane at unit magnification by the collimating lens. If the normal to the datum mirror is parallel to the optical axis of the autocollimator, then the target image is centered on the viewing plane. Any angular deviation of the normal from the optical axis manifests itself as a lateral displacement of the target image from the center. The magnitude of the displacement is proportional to the focal length and to the magnitude (assumed to be small) of the angular deviation. The direction of the displacement is perpendicular to the axis about which the

  11. 7 CFR 520.5 - Categorical exclusions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... trade representation and market development activities overseas. (b) ARS categorical exclusions. ARS... controlled in whole or in part by ARS; (2) Research programs or projects of limited size and magnitude or...

  12. 7 CFR 520.5 - Categorical exclusions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... trade representation and market development activities overseas. (b) ARS categorical exclusions. ARS... controlled in whole or in part by ARS; (2) Research programs or projects of limited size and magnitude or...

  13. 7 CFR 520.5 - Categorical exclusions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... trade representation and market development activities overseas. (b) ARS categorical exclusions. ARS... controlled in whole or in part by ARS; (2) Research programs or projects of limited size and magnitude or...

  14. 7 CFR 520.5 - Categorical exclusions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... trade representation and market development activities overseas. (b) ARS categorical exclusions. ARS... controlled in whole or in part by ARS; (2) Research programs or projects of limited size and magnitude or...

  15. 7 CFR 520.5 - Categorical exclusions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... trade representation and market development activities overseas. (b) ARS categorical exclusions. ARS... controlled in whole or in part by ARS; (2) Research programs or projects of limited size and magnitude or...

  16. Absolute Quantification of Human Liver Phosphorus-Containing Metabolites In Vivo Using an Inhomogeneous Spoiling Magnetic Field Gradient

    PubMed Central

    Bashir, Adil; Gropler, Robert; Ackerman, Joseph

    2015-01-01

    Purpose Absolute concentrations of high-energy phosphorus (31P) metabolites in liver provide more important insight into physiologic status of liver disease compared to resonance integral ratios. A simple method for measuring absolute concentrations of 31P metabolites in human liver is described. The approach uses surface spoiling inhomogeneous magnetic field gradient to select signal from liver tissue. The technique avoids issues caused by respiratory motion, chemical shift dispersion associated with linear magnetic field gradients, and increased tissue heat deposition due to radiofrequency absorption, especially at high field strength. Methods A method to localize signal from liver was demonstrated using superficial and highly non-uniform magnetic field gradients, which eliminate signal(s) from surface tissue(s) located between the liver and RF coil. A double standard method was implemented to determine absolute 31P metabolite concentrations in vivo. 8 healthy individuals were examined in a 3 T MR scanner. Results Concentrations of metabolites measured in eight healthy individuals are: γ-adenosine triphosphate (ATP) = 2.44 ± 0.21 (mean ± sd) mmol/l of wet tissue volume, α-ATP = 3.2 ± 0.63 mmol/l, β-ATP = 2.98 ± 0.45 mmol/l, inorganic phosphates (Pi) = 1.87 ± 0.25 mmol/l, phosphodiesters (PDE) = 10.62 ± 2.20 mmol/l and phosphomonoesters (PME) = 2.12 ± 0.51 mmol/l. All are in good agreement with literature values. Conclusions The technique offers robust and fast means to localize signal from liver tissue, allows absolute metabolite concentration determination, and avoids problems associated with constant field gradient (linear field variation) localization methods. PMID:26633549

  17. Neuronal Categorization and Discrimination of Social Behaviors in Primate Prefrontal Cortex

    PubMed Central

    Tsunada, Joji; Sawaguchi, Toshiyuki

    2012-01-01

    It has been implied that primates have an ability to categorize social behaviors between other individuals for the execution of adequate social-interactions. Since the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) is involved in both the categorization and the processing of social information, the primate LPFC may be involved in the categorization of social behaviors. To test this hypothesis, we examined neuronal activity in the LPFC of monkeys during presentations of two types of movies of social behaviors (grooming, mounting) and movies of plural monkeys without any eye- or body-contacts between them (no-contacts movies). Although the monkeys were not required to categorize and discriminate the movies in this task, a subset of neurons sampled from the LPFC showed a significantly different activity during the presentation of a specific type of social behaviors in comparison with the others. These neurons categorized social behaviors at the population level and, at the individual neuron level, the majority of the neurons discriminated each movie within the same category of social behaviors. Our findings suggest that a fraction of LPFC neurons process categorical and discriminative information of social behaviors, thereby contributing to the adaptation to social environments. PMID:23285110

  18. The Research of Tax Text Categorization based on Rough Set

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Bin; Xu, Guang; Xu, Qian; Zhang, Nan

    To solve the problem of effective of categorization of text data in taxation system, the paper analyses the text data and the size calculation of key issues first, then designs text categorization based on rough set model.

  19. Agreement of glaucoma specialists and experienced optometrists in gonioscopy and optic disc evaluation

    PubMed Central

    Kumar, Addepalli U.; Jonnadula, Ganesh B.; Garudadri, Chandrasekhar; Rao, Harsha L.; Senthil, Sirisha; Papas, Eric B.; Sankaridurg, Padmaja; Khanna, Rohit C.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose To compare the diagnostic performance of glaucoma specialists and experienced optometrists in gonioscopy and optic disc assessment. Methods This study was done to validate the diagnostic performance of two experienced optometrists for using their skills of detecting glaucoma using gonioscopy and optic disc assessment in a major epidemiological study, the L V Prasad Eye Institute Glaucoma Epidemiology and Molecular Genetics Study (LVPEI-GLEAMS). Gonioscopic findings for 150 eyes were categorized as 0, 1 and 2 for open angle, primary angle closure suspect (PACS) and primary angle closure (PAC) respectively. Optic disc findings for 200 eyes were categorized as 0, 1 and 2 for normal, suspects and glaucomatous respectively. Weighted kappa (κ) and diagnostic accuracy parameters were calculated. Two optometrists (#1 and #2) participated in the study. Results Agreement between glaucoma specialists and optometrist for interpretation of gonioscopy to discriminate PACS and PAC from open angles and for interpretation of optic disc to discriminate glaucomatous and suspicious discs from normal, the kappa (κ) was 0.92 and 0.84 and 0.90 and 0.89 for optometrists #1 and #2 respectively. Sensitivities and specificities were above 90% for gonioscopy. Optic disc evaluation had specificities greater than 95% to discriminate normal from glaucomatous discs while the sensitivities were 83% and 93% for optometrists #1 and #2 respectively. Conclusion Agreement between optometrists and glaucoma specialists, in diagnostic performance of gonioscopy and optic assessment was excellent with high sensitivity and specificity. Hence, we conclude that the experienced optometrists can detect glaucoma accurately in the LVPEI-GLEAMS.

  20. Gender and Prior Science Achievement Affect Categorization on a Procedural Learning Task

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hong, Jon-Chao; Lu, Chow-Chin; Wang, Jen-Lian; Liao, Shin; Wu, Ming-Ray; Hwang, Ming-Yueh; Lin, Pei-Hsin

    2013-01-01

    Categorization is one of the main mental processes by which perception and conception develop. Nevertheless, categorization receives little attention with the development of critical thinking in Taiwan elementary schools. Thus, the present study investigates the effect that individual differences have on performing categorization tasks.…

  1. Supervised versus unsupervised categorization: two sides of the same coin?

    PubMed

    Pothos, Emmanuel M; Edwards, Darren J; Perlman, Amotz

    2011-09-01

    Supervised and unsupervised categorization have been studied in separate research traditions. A handful of studies have attempted to explore a possible convergence between the two. The present research builds on these studies, by comparing the unsupervised categorization results of Pothos et al. ( 2011 ; Pothos et al., 2008 ) with the results from two procedures of supervised categorization. In two experiments, we tested 375 participants with nine different stimulus sets and examined the relation between ease of learning of a classification, memory for a classification, and spontaneous preference for a classification. After taking into account the role of the number of category labels (clusters) in supervised learning, we found the three variables to be closely associated with each other. Our results provide encouragement for researchers seeking unified theoretical explanations for supervised and unsupervised categorization, but raise a range of challenging theoretical questions.

  2. Categorization of extraneous matter in cotton using machine vision systems

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The Cotton Trash Identification System (CTIS) developed at the Southwestern Cotton Ginning Research Laboratory was evaluated for identification and categorization of extraneous matter in cotton. The CTIS bark/grass categorization was evaluated with USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) extraneou...

  3. Same-Different Categorization in Rats

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wasserman, Edward A.; Castro, Leyre; Freeman, John H.

    2012-01-01

    Same-different categorization is a fundamental feat of human cognition. Although birds and nonhuman primates readily learn same-different discriminations and successfully transfer them to novel stimuli, no such demonstration exists for rats. Using a spatial discrimination learning task, we show that rats can both learn to discriminate arrays of…

  4. The Development of Causal Categorization

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hayes, Brett K.; Rehder, Bob

    2012-01-01

    Two experiments examined the impact of causal relations between features on categorization in 5- to 6-year-old children and adults. Participants learned artificial categories containing instances with causally related features and noncausal features. They then selected the most likely category member from a series of novel test pairs.…

  5. CATEGORIZATION OF EXTRANEOUS MATTER IN COTTON USING MACHINE VISION SYSTEMS

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The Cotton Trash Identification System (CTIS) was developed at the Southwestern Cotton Ginning Research Laboratory to identify and categorize extraneous matter in cotton. The CTIS bark/grass categorization was evaluated with USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) extraneous matter calls assigned ...

  6. Disentangling multimodal processes in social categorization.

    PubMed

    Slepian, Michael L

    2015-03-01

    The current work examines the role of sensorimotor processes (manipulating whether visual exposure to hard and soft stimuli encourage sensorimotor simulation) and metaphor processes (assessing whether participants have understanding of a pertinent metaphor: "hard" Republicans and "soft" Democrats) in social categorization. Using new methodology to disassociate these multimodal processes (i.e., semantic, metaphoric, and sensorimotoric), the current work demonstrates that both sensorimotor and metaphor processes, combined, are needed to find an effect upon conceptual processing, providing evidence in support of the combined importance of these two theorized components. When participants comprehended the metaphor of hard Republicans and soft Democrats, and when encouraged to simulate sensorimotor experiences of hard and soft stimuli, those stimuli influenced categorization of faces as Republican and Democrat. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. The roles of categorical and coordinate spatial relations in recognizing buildings.

    PubMed

    Palermo, Liana; Piccardi, Laura; Nori, Raffaella; Giusberti, Fiorella; Guariglia, Cecilia

    2012-11-01

    Categorical spatial information is considered more useful for recognizing objects, and coordinate spatial information for guiding actions--for example, during navigation or grasping. In contrast with this assumption, we hypothesized that buildings, unlike other categories of objects, require both categorical and coordinate spatial information in order to be recognized. This hypothesis arose from evidence that right-brain-damaged patients have deficits in both coordinate judgments and recognition of buildings and from the fact that buildings are very useful for guiding navigation in urban environments. To test this hypothesis, we assessed 210 healthy college students while they performed four different tasks that required categorical and coordinate judgments and the recognition of common objects and buildings. Our results showed that both categorical and coordinate spatial representations are necessary to recognize a building, whereas only categorical representations are necessary to recognize an object. We discuss our data in view of a recent neural framework for visuospatial processing, suggesting that recognizing buildings may specifically activate the parieto-medial-temporal pathway.

  8. Sulfur-based absolute quantification of proteins using isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Hyun-Seok; Heun Kim, Sook; Jeong, Ji-Seon; Lee, Yong-Moon; Yim, Yong-Hyeon

    2015-10-01

    An element-based reductive approach provides an effective means of realizing International System of Units (SI) traceability for high-purity biological standards. Here, we develop an absolute protein quantification method using double isotope dilution (ID) inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) combined with microwave-assisted acid digestion for the first time. We validated the method and applied it to certify the candidate protein certified reference material (CRM) of human growth hormone (hGH). The concentration of hGH was determined by analysing the total amount of sulfur in hGH. Next, the size-exclusion chromatography method was used with ICP-MS to characterize and quantify sulfur-containing impurities. By subtracting the contribution of sulfur-containing impurities from the total sulfur content in the hGH CRM, we obtained a SI-traceable certification value. The quantification result obtained with the present method based on sulfur analysis was in excellent agreement with the result determined via a well-established protein quantification method based on amino acid analysis using conventional acid hydrolysis combined with an ID liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The element-based protein quantification method developed here can be generally used for SI-traceable absolute quantification of proteins, especially pure-protein standards.

  9. Pseudolongitudinal Investigation on Chinese Students' Categorization of Kinematics and Mechanics Problems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhu, Guangtian; Wang, Jue

    2017-01-01

    Students' categorization of physics problems reflects their expertise in problem solving. We conducted a pseudolongitudinal study to investigate the development of students' categorization ability. Over 250 Chinese students from grade 10 to grade 12 were asked to categorize 20 problems of kinematics and mechanics into suitable categories based on…

  10. A reappraisal of the uncanny valley: categorical perception or frequency-based sensitization?

    PubMed Central

    Burleigh, Tyler J.; Schoenherr, Jordan R.

    2015-01-01

    The uncanny valley (UCV) hypothesis describes a non-linear relationship between perceived human-likeness and affective response. The “uncanny valley” refers to an intermediate level of human-likeness that is associated with strong negative affect. Recent studies have suggested that the uncanny valley might result from the categorical perception of human-like stimuli during identification. When presented with stimuli sharing human-like traits, participants attempt to segment the continuum in “human” and “non-human” categories. Due to the ambiguity of stimuli located at a category boundary, categorization difficulty gives rise to a strong, negative affective response. Importantly, researchers who have studied the UCV in terms of categorical perception have focused on categorization responses rather than affective ratings. In the present study, we examined whether the negative affect associated with the UCV might be explained in terms of an individual's degree of exposure to stimuli. In two experiments, we tested a frequency-based model against a categorical perception model using a category-learning paradigm. We manipulated the frequency of exemplars that were presented to participants from two categories during a training phase. We then examined categorization and affective responses functions, as well as the relationship between categorization and affective responses. Supporting previous findings, categorization responses suggested that participants acquired novel category structures that reflected a category boundary. These category structures appeared to influence affective ratings of eeriness. Crucially, participants' ratings of eeriness were additionally affected by exemplar frequency. Taken together, these findings suggest that the UCV is determined by both categorical properties as well as the frequency of individual exemplars retained in memory. PMID:25653623

  11. Calibration strategies for the determination of stable carbon absolute isotope ratios in a glycine candidate reference material by elemental analyser-isotope ratio mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Dunn, Philip J H; Malinovsky, Dmitry; Goenaga-Infante, Heidi

    2015-04-01

    We report a methodology for the determination of the stable carbon absolute isotope ratio of a glycine candidate reference material with natural carbon isotopic composition using EA-IRMS. For the first time, stable carbon absolute isotope ratios have been reported using continuous flow rather than dual inlet isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Also for the first time, a calibration strategy based on the use of synthetic mixtures gravimetrically prepared from well characterised, highly (13)C-enriched and (13)C-depleted glycines was developed for EA-IRMS calibration and generation of absolute carbon isotope ratio values traceable to the SI through calibration standards of known purity. A second calibration strategy based on converting the more typically determined delta values on the Vienna PeeDee Belemnite (VPDB) scale using literature values for the absolute carbon isotope ratio of VPDB itself was used for comparison. Both calibration approaches provided results consistent with those previously reported for the same natural glycine using MC-ICP-MS; absolute carbon ratios of 10,649 × 10(-6) with an expanded uncertainty (k = 2) of 24 × 10(-6) and 10,646 × 10(-6) with an expanded uncertainty (k = 2) of 88 × 10(-6) were obtained, respectively. The absolute carbon isotope ratio of the VPDB standard was found to be 11,115 × 10(-6) with an expanded uncertainty (k = 2) of 27 × 10(-6), which is in excellent agreement with previously published values.

  12. Atypical Categorization in Children with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

    PubMed Central

    Church, Barbara A.; Krauss, Maria S.; Lopata, Christopher; Toomey, Jennifer A.; Thomeer, Marcus L.; Coutinho, Mariana V.; Volker, Martin A.; Mercado, Eduardo

    2010-01-01

    Children with autism spectrum disorder process many perceptual and social events differently from typically developing children, suggesting that they may also form and recognize categories differently. We used a dot pattern categorization task and prototype comparison modeling to compare categorical processing in children with high functioning autism spectrum disorder and matched typical controls. We were interested in whether there were differences in how children with autism use average similarity information about a category to make decisions. During testing, the group with autism spectrum disorder endorsed prototypes less and was seemingly less sensitive to differences between to-be-categorized items and the prototype. The findings suggest that individuals with high functioning autism spectrum disorder are less likely to use overall average similarity when forming categories or making categorical decisions. Such differences in category formation and use may negatively impact processing of socially relevant information, such as facial expressions. PMID:21169581

  13. The effect of integration masking on visual processing in perceptual categorization.

    PubMed

    Hélie, Sébastien

    2017-08-01

    Learning to recognize and categorize objects is an essential cognitive skill allowing animals to function in the world. However, animals rarely have access to a canonical view of an object in an uncluttered environment. Hence, it is essential to study categorization under noisy, degraded conditions. In this article, we explore how the brain processes categorization stimuli in low signal-to-noise conditions using multivariate pattern analysis. We used an integration masking paradigm with mask opacity of 50%, 60%, and 70% inside a magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The results show that mask opacity affects blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal in visual processing areas (V1, V2, V3, and V4) but does not affect the BOLD signal in brain areas traditionally associated with categorization (prefrontal cortex, striatum, hippocampus). This suggests that when a stimulus is difficult to extract from its background (e.g., low signal-to-noise ratio), the visual system extracts the stimulus and that activity in areas typically associated with categorization are not affected by the difficulty level of the visual conditions. We conclude with implications of this result for research on visual attention, categorization, and the integration of these fields. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Software error data collection and categorization

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ostrand, T. J.; Weyuker, E. J.

    1982-01-01

    Software errors detected during development of an interactive special purpose editor system were studied. This product was followed during nine months of coding, unit testing, function testing, and system testing. A new error categorization scheme was developed.

  15. Measurement of absolute response functions and detection efficiencies of an NE213 scintillator up to 600 MeV

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kajimoto, Tsuyoshi; Shigyo, Nobuhiro; Sanami, Toshiya; Ishibashi, Kenji; Haight, Robert C.; Fotiades, Nikolaos

    2011-02-01

    Absolute neutron response functions and detection efficiencies of an NE213 liquid scintillator that was 12.7 cm in diameter and 12.7 cm in thickness were measured for neutron energies between 15 and 600 MeV at the Weapons Neutron Research facility of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. The experiment was performed with continuous-energy neutrons on a spallation neutron source by 800-MeV proton incidence. The incident neutron flux was measured using a 238U fission ionization chamber. Measured response functions and detection efficiencies were compared with corresponding calculations using the SCINFUL-QMD code. The calculated and experimental values were in good agreement for data below 70 MeV. However, there were discrepancies in the energy region between 70 and 150 MeV. Thus, the code was partly modified and the revised code provided better agreement with the experimental data.

  16. A Regional Categorization for “New-Type Urbanization” in China

    PubMed Central

    Fang, Chuanglin; Ma, Haitao; Wang, Jing

    2015-01-01

    Regional differences in the character of urbanization in China are substantial. The promotion of what has been termed “new-type urbanization” cannot, as a result of these regional differences, be expected to follow a universal approach—rather, such a development must objectively adhere to locational and category-specific principles and adopt differentiated urbanization development models. Regional categorization is often used in geography, but is rarely deployed in research addressing human and social problems relating to urbanization. In March 2014, China published the National New-type Urbanization Plan (2014–2020), which calls for the scientific and reasonable planning of “new-type urbanization,” and appropriate regional categorizations are urgently needed in order to guide this reform. Responding to this challenge, this research engaged in the design of a “dominantly quantitative analysis, qualitatively supplemented” method in order to divide China into 5 main regions and 47 sub-regions in terms of new-type urbanization. The paper discusses the features and key problems of each region. This study introduces a new method for regional categorization, thereby remedying the lack of regional categorization in relation to “new-type urbanization” in China, and ultimately promoting the development of regional categorization in the humanities as a valuable reference for healthy and sustainable Chinese urbanization. PMID:26237405

  17. Using, Seeing, Feeling, and Doing Absolute Value for Deeper Understanding

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ponce, Gregorio A.

    2008-01-01

    Using sticky notes and number lines, a hands-on activity is shared that anchors initial student thinking about absolute value. The initial point of reference should help students successfully evaluate numeric problems involving absolute value. They should also be able to solve absolute value equations and inequalities that are typically found in…

  18. Interobserver agreement on histopathological lesions in class III or IV lupus nephritis.

    PubMed

    Wilhelmus, Suzanne; Cook, H Terence; Noël, Laure-Hélène; Ferrario, Franco; Wolterbeek, Ron; Bruijn, Jan A; Bajema, Ingeborg M

    2015-01-07

    To treat lupus nephritis effectively, proper identification of the histologic class is essential. Although the classification system for lupus nephritis is nearly 40 years old, remarkably few studies have investigated interobserver agreement. Interobserver agreement among nephropathologists was studied, particularly with respect to the recognition of class III/IV lupus nephritis lesions, and possible causes of disagreement were determined. A link to a survey containing pictures of 30 glomeruli was provided to all 360 members of the Renal Pathology Society; 34 responses were received from 12 countries (a response rate of 9.4%). The nephropathologist was asked whether glomerular lesions were present that would categorize the biopsy as class III/IV. If so, additional parameters were scored. To determine the interobserver agreement among the participants, κ or intraclass correlation values were calculated. The intraclass correlation or κ-value was also calculated for two separate levels of experience (specifically, nephropathologists who were new to the field or moderately experienced [less experienced] and nephropathologists who were highly experienced). Intraclass correlation for the presence of a class III/IV lesion was 0.39 (poor). The κ/intraclass correlation values for the additional parameters were as follows: active, chronic, or both: 0.36; segmental versus global: 0.39; endocapillary proliferation: 0.46; influx of inflammatory cells: 0.32; swelling of endothelial cells: 0.46; extracapillary proliferation: 0.57; type of crescent: 0.46; and wire loops: 0.35. The highly experienced nephropathologists had significantly less interobserver variability compared with the less experienced nephropathologists (P=0.004). There is generally poor agreement in terms of recognizing class III/IV lesions. Because experience clearly increases interobserver agreement, this agreement may be improved by training nephropathologists. These results also underscore the importance of

  19. Absolute nuclear material assay using count distribution (LAMBDA) space

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Prasad, Mano K.; Snyderman, Neal J.; Rowland, Mark S.

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  20. Planck absolute entropy of a rotating BTZ black hole

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riaz, S. M. Jawwad

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, the Planck absolute entropy and the Bekenstein-Smarr formula of the rotating Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) black hole are presented via a complex thermodynamical system contributed by its inner and outer horizons. The redefined entropy approaches zero as the temperature of the rotating BTZ black hole tends to absolute zero, satisfying the Nernst formulation of a black hole. Hence, it can be regarded as the Planck absolute entropy of the rotating BTZ black hole.

  1. Absolute nuclear material assay using count distribution (LAMBDA) space

    DOEpatents

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2012-06-05

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  2. Categorization difficulty modulates the mediated route for response selection in task switching.

    PubMed

    Schneider, Darryl W

    2017-12-22

    Conflict during response selection in task switching is indicated by the response congruency effect: worse performance for incongruent targets (requiring different responses across tasks) than for congruent targets (requiring the same response). The effect can be explained by dual-task processing in a mediated route for response selection, whereby targets are categorized with respect to both tasks. In the present study, the author tested predictions for the modulation of response congruency effects by categorization difficulty derived from a relative-speed-of-processing hypothesis. Categorization difficulty was manipulated for the relevant and irrelevant task dimensions in a novel spatial task-switching paradigm that involved judging the locations of target dots in a grid, without repetition of dot configurations. Response congruency effects were observed and they varied systematically with categorization difficulty (e.g., being larger when irrelevant categorization was easy than when it was hard). These results are consistent with the relative-speed-of-processing hypothesis and suggest that task-switching models that implement variations of the mediated route for response selection need to address the time course of categorization.

  3. Organization, Breadth of Categorization and Free-Recall Learning in Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Strassberg-Rosenberg, Barbara; Shuell, Thomas J.

    The primary objective of this study was to determine the existence of a relationship between free-recall learning and breadth of categorization, an independent measure of conceptual organization. The relationship between breadth of categorization and more conventional measures of organization was also investigated. Two free-recall tasks…

  4. An Exemplar-Model Account of Feature Inference from Uncertain Categorizations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nosofsky, Robert M.

    2015-01-01

    In a highly systematic literature, researchers have investigated the manner in which people make feature inferences in paradigms involving uncertain categorizations (e.g., Griffiths, Hayes, & Newell, 2012; Murphy & Ross, 1994, 2007, 2010a). Although researchers have discussed the implications of the results for models of categorization and…

  5. Developmental differences in the naming of contextually non-categorical objects.

    PubMed

    Ozcan, Mehmet

    2012-02-01

    This study investigates the naming process of contextually non-categorical objects in children from 3 to 9 plus 13-year-olds. 112 children participated in the study. Children were asked to narrate a story individually while looking at Mercer Mayer's textless, picture book Frog, where are you? The narratives were audio recorded and transcribed. Texts were analyzed to find out how children at different ages name contextually non-categorical objects, tree and its parts in this case. Our findings revealed that increasing age in children is a positive factor in naming objects that are parts or extended forms of an object which itself constitutes a basic category in a certain context. Younger children used categorical names more frequently to refer to parts or disfigured forms of the object than older children and adults while older children and adults used specified names to refer to the parts or extended forms of the categorical names.

  6. Dorsal hippocampus is necessary for visual categorization in rats.

    PubMed

    Kim, Jangjin; Castro, Leyre; Wasserman, Edward A; Freeman, John H

    2018-02-23

    The hippocampus may play a role in categorization because of the need to differentiate stimulus categories (pattern separation) and to recognize category membership of stimuli from partial information (pattern completion). We hypothesized that the hippocampus would be more crucial for categorization of low-density (few relevant features) stimuli-due to the higher demand on pattern separation and pattern completion-than for categorization of high-density (many relevant features) stimuli. Using a touchscreen apparatus, rats were trained to categorize multiple abstract stimuli into two different categories. Each stimulus was a pentagonal configuration of five visual features; some of the visual features were relevant for defining the category whereas others were irrelevant. Two groups of rats were trained with either a high (dense, n = 8) or low (sparse, n = 8) number of category-relevant features. Upon reaching criterion discrimination (≥75% correct, on 2 consecutive days), bilateral cannulas were implanted in the dorsal hippocampus. The rats were then given either vehicle or muscimol infusions into the hippocampus just prior to various testing sessions. They were tested with: the previously trained stimuli (trained), novel stimuli involving new irrelevant features (novel), stimuli involving relocated features (relocation), and a single relevant feature (singleton). In training, the dense group reached criterion faster than the sparse group, indicating that the sparse task was more difficult than the dense task. In testing, accuracy of both groups was equally high for trained and novel stimuli. However, both groups showed impaired accuracy in the relocation and singleton conditions, with a greater deficit in the sparse group. The testing data indicate that rats encode both the relevant features and the spatial locations of the features. Hippocampal inactivation impaired visual categorization regardless of the density of the category-relevant features for

  7. The functional architecture of the ventral temporal cortex and its role in categorization

    PubMed Central

    Grill-Spector, Kalanit; Weiner, Kevin S.

    2014-01-01

    Visual categorization is thought to occur in the human ventral temporal cortex (VTC), but how this categorization is achieved is still largely unknown. In this Review, we consider the computations and representations that are necessary for categorization and examine how the microanatomical and macroanatomical layout of the VTC might optimize them to achieve rapid and flexible visual categorization. We propose that efficient categorization is achieved by organizing representations in a nested spatial hierarchy in the VTC. This spatial hierarchy serves as a neural infrastructure for the representational hierarchy of visual information in the VTC and thereby enables flexible access to category information at several levels of abstraction. PMID:24962370

  8. Beyond Nonutilization: Irrelevant Cues Can Gate Learning in Probabilistic Categorization

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Little, Daniel R.; Lewandowsky, Stephan

    2009-01-01

    In probabilistic categorization, also known as multiple cue probability learning (MCPL), people learn to predict a discrete outcome on the basis of imperfectly valid cues. In MCPL, normatively irrelevant cues are usually ignored, which stands in apparent conflict with recent research in deterministic categorization that has shown that people…

  9. Essentialism and Racial Bias Jointly Contribute to the Categorization of Multiracial Individuals.

    PubMed

    Ho, Arnold K; Roberts, Steven O; Gelman, Susan A

    2015-10-01

    Categorizations of multiracial individuals provide insight into the psychological mechanisms driving social stratification, but few studies have explored the interplay of cognitive and motivational underpinnings of these categorizations. In the present study, we integrated research on racial essentialism (i.e., the belief that race demarcates unobservable and immutable properties) and negativity bias (i.e., the tendency to weigh negative entities more heavily than positive entities) to explain why people might exhibit biases in the categorization of multiracial individuals. As theorized, racial essentialism, both dispositional (Study 1) and experimentally induced (Study 2), led to the categorization of Black-White multiracial individuals as Black, but only among individuals evaluating Black people more negatively than White people. These findings demonstrate how fundamental cognitive and motivational biases interact to influence the categorization of multiracial individuals. © The Author(s) 2015.

  10. Improved absolute calibration of LOPES measurements and its impact on the comparison with REAS 3.11 and CoREAS simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Apel, W. D.; Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C.; Bähren, L.; Bekk, K.; Bertaina, M.; Biermann, P. L.; Blümer, J.; Bozdog, H.; Brancus, I. M.; Cantoni, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Daumiller, K.; de Souza, V.; Di Pierro, F.; Doll, P.; Engel, R.; Falcke, H.; Fuchs, B.; Gemmeke, H.; Grupen, C.; Haungs, A.; Heck, D.; Hiller, R.; Hörandel, J. R.; Horneffer, A.; Huber, D.; Huege, T.; Isar, P. G.; Kampert, K.-H.; Kang, D.; Krömer, O.; Kuijpers, J.; Link, K.; Łuczak, P.; Ludwig, M.; Mathes, H. J.; Melissas, M.; Morello, C.; Nehls, S.; Oehlschläger, J.; Palmieri, N.; Pierog, T.; Rautenberg, J.; Rebel, H.; Roth, M.; Rühle, C.; Saftoiu, A.; Schieler, H.; Schmidt, A.; Schoo, S.; Schröder, F. G.; Sima, O.; Toma, G.; Trinchero, G. C.; Weindl, A.; Wochele, J.; Zabierowski, J.; Zensus, J. A.

    2016-02-01

    LOPES was a digital antenna array detecting the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. The calibration of the absolute amplitude scale of the measurements was done using an external, commercial reference source, which emits a frequency comb with defined amplitudes. Recently, we obtained improved reference values by the manufacturer of the reference source, which significantly changed the absolute calibration of LOPES. We reanalyzed previously published LOPES measurements, studying the impact of the changed calibration. The main effect is an overall decrease of the LOPES amplitude scale by a factor of 2.6 ± 0.2, affecting all previously published values for measurements of the electric-field strength. This results in a major change in the conclusion of the paper 'Comparing LOPES measurements of air-shower radio emission with REAS 3.11 and CoREAS simulations' published by Apel et al. (2013) : With the revised calibration, LOPES measurements now are compatible with CoREAS simulations, but in tension with REAS 3.11 simulations. Since CoREAS is the latest version of the simulation code incorporating the current state of knowledge on the radio emission of air showers, this new result indicates that the absolute amplitude prediction of current simulations now is in agreement with experimental data.

  11. Consumer psychology: categorization, inferences, affect, and persuasion.

    PubMed

    Loken, Barbara

    2006-01-01

    This chapter reviews research on consumer psychology with emphasis on the topics of categorization, inferences, affect, and persuasion. The chapter reviews theory-based empirical research during the period 1994-2004. Research on categorization includes empirical research on brand categories, goals as organizing frameworks and motivational bases for judgments, and self-based processing. Research on inferences includes numerous types of inferences that are cognitively and/or experienced based. Research on affect includes the effects of mood on processing and cognitive and noncognitive bases for attitudes and intentions. Research on persuasion focuses heavily on the moderating role of elaboration and dual-process models, and includes research on attitude strength responses, advertising responses, and negative versus positive evaluative dimensions.

  12. Healthcare professionals' agreement on clinical relevance of drug-related problems among elderly patients.

    PubMed

    Bech, Christine Flagstad; Frederiksen, Tine; Villesen, Christine Tilsted; Højsted, Jette; Nielsen, Per Rotbøll; Kjeldsen, Lene Juel; Nørgaard, Lotte Stig; Christrup, Lona Louring

    2018-02-01

    Background Disagreement among healthcare professionals on the clinical relevance of drug-related problems can lead to suboptimal treatment and increased healthcare costs. Elderly patients with chronic non-cancer pain and comorbidity are at increased risk of drug related problems compared to other patient groups due to complex medication regimes and transition of care. Objective To investigate the agreement among healthcare professionals on their classification of clinical relevance of drug-related problems in elderly patients with chronic non-cancer pain and comorbidity. Setting Multidisciplinary Pain Centre, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. Method A pharmacist performed medication review on elderly patients with chronic non-cancer pain and comorbidity, identified their drug-related problems and classified these problems in accordance with an existing categorization system. A five-member clinical panel rated the drug-related problems' clinical relevance in accordance with a five-level rating scale, and their agreement was compared using Fleiss' κ. Main outcome measure Healthcare professionals' agreement on clinical relevance of drug related problems, using Fleiss' κ. Results Thirty patients were included in the study. A total of 162 drug related problems were identified, out of which 54% were of lower clinical relevance (level 0-2) and 46% of higher clinical relevance (level 3-4). Only slight agreement (κ = 0.12) was found between the panellists' classifications of clinical relevance using a five-level rating scale. Conclusion The clinical pharmacist identified drug related problems of lower and higher clinical relevance. Poor overall agreement on the severity of the drug related problems was found among the panelists.

  13. Enhancing chemistry problem-solving achievement using problem categorization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bunce, Diane M.; Gabel, Dorothy L.; Samuel, John V.

    The enhancement of chemistry students' skill in problem solving through problem categorization is the focus of this study. Twenty-four students in a freshman chemistry course for health professionals are taught how to solve problems using the explicit method of problem solving (EMPS) (Bunce & Heikkinen, 1986). The EMPS is an organized approach to problem analysis which includes encoding the information given in a problem (Given, Asked For), relating this to what is already in long-term memory (Recall), and planning a solution (Overall Plan) before a mathematical solution is attempted. In addition to the EMPS training, treatment students receive three 40-minute sessions following achievement tests in which they are taught how to categorize problems. Control students use this time to review the EMPS solutions of test questions. Although problem categorization is involved in one section of the EMPS (Recall), treatment students who received specific training in problem categorization demonstrate significantly higher achievement on combination problems (those problems requiring the use of more than one chemical topic for their solution) at (p = 0.01) than their counterparts. Significantly higher achievement for treatment students is also measured on an unannounced test (p = 0.02). Analysis of interview transcripts of both treatment and control students illustrates a Rolodex approach to problem solving employed by all students in this study. The Rolodex approach involves organizing equations used to solve problems on mental index cards and flipping through them, matching units given when a new problem is to be solved. A second phenomenon observed during student interviews is the absence of a link in the conceptual understanding of the chemical concepts involved in a problem and the problem-solving skills employed to correctly solve problems. This study shows that explicit training in categorization skills and the EMPS can lead to higher achievement in complex problem

  14. Novalis' Poetic Uncertainty: A "Bildung" with the Absolute

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mika, Carl

    2016-01-01

    Novalis, the Early German Romantic poet and philosopher, had at the core of his work a mysterious depiction of the "absolute." The absolute is Novalis' name for a substance that defies precise knowledge yet calls for a tentative and sensitive speculation. How one asserts a truth, represents an object, and sets about encountering things…

  15. Adaptive categorization of ART networks in robot behavior learning using game-theoretic formulation.

    PubMed

    Fung, Wai-keung; Liu, Yun-hui

    2003-12-01

    Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) networks are employed in robot behavior learning. Two of the difficulties in online robot behavior learning, namely, (1) exponential memory increases with time, (2) difficulty for operators to specify learning tasks accuracy and control learning attention before learning. In order to remedy the aforementioned difficulties, an adaptive categorization mechanism is introduced in ART networks for perceptual and action patterns categorization in this paper. A game-theoretic formulation of adaptive categorization for ART networks is proposed for vigilance parameter adaptation for category size control on the categories formed. The proposed vigilance parameter update rule can help improving categorization performance in the aspect of category number stability and solve the problem of selecting initial vigilance parameter prior to pattern categorization in traditional ART networks. Behavior learning using physical robot is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive categorization mechanism in ART networks.

  16. Population-based absolute risk estimation with survey data

    PubMed Central

    Kovalchik, Stephanie A.; Pfeiffer, Ruth M.

    2013-01-01

    Absolute risk is the probability that a cause-specific event occurs in a given time interval in the presence of competing events. We present methods to estimate population-based absolute risk from a complex survey cohort that can accommodate multiple exposure-specific competing risks. The hazard function for each event type consists of an individualized relative risk multiplied by a baseline hazard function, which is modeled nonparametrically or parametrically with a piecewise exponential model. An influence method is used to derive a Taylor-linearized variance estimate for the absolute risk estimates. We introduce novel measures of the cause-specific influences that can guide modeling choices for the competing event components of the model. To illustrate our methodology, we build and validate cause-specific absolute risk models for cardiovascular and cancer deaths using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Our applications demonstrate the usefulness of survey-based risk prediction models for predicting health outcomes and quantifying the potential impact of disease prevention programs at the population level. PMID:23686614

  17. 12 CFR 133.5 - Related agreements considered a single agreement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... agreement. 133.5 Section 133.5 Banks and Banking COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY DISCLOSURE AND REPORTING OF CRA-RELATED AGREEMENTS § 133.5 Related agreements considered a single agreement... § 133.2 of this part. (a) Agreements entered into by same parties. All written agreements to which an...

  18. 32 CFR 989.13 - Categorical exclusion.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... significant cumulative environmental impact. (4) Socioeconomic effects only. (5) Similarity to actions previously assessed and found to have no significant environmental impacts. (c) CATEXs apply to actions in... ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ANALYSIS PROCESS (EIAP) § 989.13 Categorical exclusion. (a) CATEXs define those categories...

  19. Absolute marine gravimetry with matter-wave interferometry.

    PubMed

    Bidel, Y; Zahzam, N; Blanchard, C; Bonnin, A; Cadoret, M; Bresson, A; Rouxel, D; Lequentrec-Lalancette, M F

    2018-02-12

    Measuring gravity from an aircraft or a ship is essential in geodesy, geophysics, mineral and hydrocarbon exploration, and navigation. Today, only relative sensors are available for onboard gravimetry. This is a major drawback because of the calibration and drift estimation procedures which lead to important operational constraints. Atom interferometry is a promising technology to obtain onboard absolute gravimeter. But, despite high performances obtained in static condition, no precise measurements were reported in dynamic. Here, we present absolute gravity measurements from a ship with a sensor based on atom interferometry. Despite rough sea conditions, we obtained precision below 10 -5  m s -2 . The atom gravimeter was also compared with a commercial spring gravimeter and showed better performances. This demonstration opens the way to the next generation of inertial sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope) based on atom interferometry which should provide high-precision absolute measurements from a moving platform.

  20. Important historical efforts at emergency department categorization in the United States and implications for regionalization.

    PubMed

    Mehrotra, Abhishek; Sklar, David P; Tayal, Vivek S; Kocher, Keith E; Handel, Daniel A; Myles Riner, R

    2010-12-01

    This article is drawn from a report created for the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Emergency Department (ED) Categorization Task Force and also reflects the proceedings of a breakout session, "Beyond ED Categorization-Matching Networks to Patient Needs," at the 2010 Academic Emergency Medicine consensus conference, "Beyond Regionalization: Integrated Networks of Emergency Care." The authors describe a brief history of the significant national and state efforts at categorization and suggest reasons why many of these efforts failed to persevere or gain wider implementation. The history of efforts to categorize hospital (and ED) emergency services demonstrates recognition of the potential benefits of categorization, but reflects repeated failures to implement full categorization systems or limited excursions into categorization through licensing of EDs or designation of receiving and referral facilities. An understanding of the history of hospital and ED categorization could better inform current efforts to develop categorization schemes and processes. 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

  1. Linking language and categorization in infancy

    PubMed Central

    Ferguson, Brock; Waxman, Sandra

    2017-01-01

    Language exerts a powerful influence on our concepts. We review evidence documenting the developmental origins of a precocious link between language and object categories in very young infants. This collection of studies documents a cascading process in which early links between language and cognition provide the foundation for later, more precise ones. We propose that, early in life, language promotes categorization at least in part through its status as a social, communicative signal. But over the first year, infants home in on the referential power of language and, by their second year, begin teasing apart distinct kinds of names (e.g., nouns, adjectives) and their relation to distinct kinds of concepts (e.g., object categories, properties). To complement this proposal, we also relate this evidence to several alternative accounts of language’s effect on categorization, appealing to similarity (labels-as-features), familiarity (auditory overshadowing), and communicative biases (natural pedagogy). PMID:27830633

  2. Linking language and categorization in infancy.

    PubMed

    Ferguson, Brock; Waxman, Sandra

    2017-05-01

    Language exerts a powerful influence on our concepts. We review evidence documenting the developmental origins of a precocious link between language and object categories in very young infants. This collection of studies documents a cascading process in which early links between language and cognition provide the foundation for later, more precise ones. We propose that, early in life, language promotes categorization at least in part through its status as a social, communicative signal. But over the first year, infants home in on the referential power of language and, by their second year, begin teasing apart distinct kinds of names (e.g. nouns, adjectives) and their relation to distinct kinds of concepts (e.g. object categories, properties). To complement this proposal, we also relate this evidence to several alternative accounts of language's effect on categorization, appealing to similarity ('labels-as-features'), familiarity ('auditory overshadowing'), and communicative biases ('natural pedagogy').

  3. Metacognitive deficits in categorization tasks in a population with impaired inner speech.

    PubMed

    Langland-Hassan, Peter; Gauker, Christopher; Richardson, Michael J; Dietz, Aimee; Faries, Frank R

    2017-11-01

    This study examines the relation of language use to a person's ability to perform categorization tasks and to assess their own abilities in those categorization tasks. A silent rhyming task was used to confirm that a group of people with post-stroke aphasia (PWA) had corresponding covert language production (or "inner speech") impairments. The performance of the PWA was then compared to that of age- and education-matched healthy controls on three kinds of categorization tasks and on metacognitive self-assessments of their performance on those tasks. The PWA showed no deficits in their ability to categorize objects for any of the three trial types (visual, thematic, and categorial). However, on the categorial trials, their metacognitive assessments of whether they had categorized correctly were less reliable than those of the control group. The categorial trials were distinguished from the others by the fact that the categorization could not be based on some immediately perceptible feature or on the objects' being found together in a type of scenario or setting. This result offers preliminary evidence for a link between covert language use and a specific form of metacognition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. [Clinical application of "categorization by analogy" in acupuncture for pain syndromes].

    PubMed

    Chen, Xiaojun

    2018-03-12

    The"categorization by analogy"is one of the most primitive thinking methods for ancient people to explore the world, which has exerted far-reaching impact on the origin and development of TCM. With examples of Sanjian (LI 3) for neck pain, Chize (LU 5) for low back pain and Chengshan (BL 57) for dysmenorrhea, the clinical application of"categorization by analogy"in acupuncture for pain syndromes was discussed, hoping more acupuncturists will pay attention to the guiding role of"categorization by analogy"in acupuncture clinical treatment.

  5. The absolute dynamic ocean topography (ADOT)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bosch, Wolfgang; Savcenko, Roman

    The sea surface slopes relative to the geoid (an equipotential surface) basically carry the in-formation on the absolute velocity field of the surface circulation. Pure oceanographic models may remain unspecific with respect to the absolute level of the ocean topography. In contrast, the geodetic approach to estimate the ocean topography as difference between sea level and the geoid gives by definition an absolute dynamic ocean topography (ADOT). This approach requires, however, a consistent treatment of geoid and sea surface heights, the first being usually derived from a band limited spherical harmonic series of the Earth gravity field and the second observed with much higher spectral resolution by satellite altimetry. The present contribution shows a procedure for estimating the ADOT along the altimeter profiles, preserving as much sea surface height details as the consistency w.r.t. the geoid heights will allow. The consistent treatment at data gaps and the coast is particular demanding and solved by a filter correction. The ADOT profiles are inspected for their innocent properties towards the coast and compared to external estimates of the ocean topography or the velocity field of the surface circulation as derived, for example, by ARGO floats.

  6. Absolute configuration of a chiral CHD group via neutron diffraction: confirmation of the absolute stereochemistry of the enzymatic formation of malic acid

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bau, R.; Brewer, I.; Chiang, M.Y.

    Neutron diffraction has been used to monitor the absolute stereochemistry of an enzymatic reaction. (-)(2S)malic-3-d acid was prepared by the action of fumarase on fumaric acid in D/sub 2/O. After a large number of cations were screened, it was found that (+)(R)..cap alpha..-phenylethylamine forms the large crystals necessary for a neutron diffraction analysis. The subsequent structure determination showed that (+)(R)..cap alpha..-phenylethylammonium (-)(2S)malate-3-d has an absolute configuration of R at the CHD site. This result confirms the absolute stereochemistry of fumarate-to-malate transformation as catalyzed by the enzyme fumarase.

  7. Implicit Self-Importance in an Interpersonal Pronoun Categorization Task.

    PubMed

    Fetterman, Adam K; Robinson, Michael D; Gilbertson, Elizabeth P

    2014-06-01

    Object relations theories emphasize the manner in which the salience/importance of implicit representations of self and other guide interpersonal functioning. Two studies and a pilot test (total N = 304) sought to model such representations. In dyadic contexts, the self is a "you" and the other is a "me", as verified in a pilot test. Study 1 then used a simple categorization task and found evidence for implicit self-importance: The pronoun "you" was categorized more quickly and accurately when presented in a larger font size, whereas the pronoun "me" was categorized more quickly and accurately when presented in a smaller font size. Study 2 showed that this pattern possesses value in understanding individual differences in interpersonal functioning. As predicted, arrogant people scored higher in implicit self-importance in the paradigm. Findings are discussed from the perspective of dyadic interpersonal dynamics.

  8. The Absolute Magnitude of the Sun in Several Filters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Willmer, Christopher N. A.

    2018-06-01

    This paper presents a table with estimates of the absolute magnitude of the Sun and the conversions from vegamag to the AB and ST systems for several wide-band filters used in ground-based and space-based observatories. These estimates use the dustless spectral energy distribution (SED) of Vega, calibrated absolutely using the SED of Sirius, to set the vegamag zero-points and a composite spectrum of the Sun that coadds space-based observations from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared with models of the Solar atmosphere. The uncertainty of the absolute magnitudes is estimated by comparing the synthetic colors with photometric measurements of solar analogs and is found to be ∼0.02 mag. Combined with the uncertainty of ∼2% in the calibration of the Vega SED, the errors of these absolute magnitudes are ∼3%–4%. Using these SEDs, for three of the most utilized filters in extragalactic work the estimated absolute magnitudes of the Sun are M B = 5.44, M V = 4.81, and M K = 3.27 mag in the vegamag system and M B = 5.31, M V = 4.80, and M K = 5.08 mag in AB.

  9. Absolute calibration of sniffer probes on Wendelstein 7-X

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moseev, D.; Laqua, H. P.; Marsen, S.; Stange, T.; Braune, H.; Erckmann, V.; Gellert, F.; Oosterbeek, J. W.

    2016-08-01

    Here we report the first measurements of the power levels of stray radiation in the vacuum vessel of Wendelstein 7-X using absolutely calibrated sniffer probes. The absolute calibration is achieved by using calibrated sources of stray radiation and the implicit measurement of the quality factor of the Wendelstein 7-X empty vacuum vessel. Normalized absolute calibration coefficients agree with the cross-calibration coefficients that are obtained by the direct measurements, indicating that the measured absolute calibration coefficients and stray radiation levels in the vessel are valid. Close to the launcher, the stray radiation in the empty vessel reaches power levels up to 340 kW/m2 per MW injected beam power. Furthest away from the launcher, i.e., half a toroidal turn, still 90 kW/m2 per MW injected beam power is measured.

  10. Absolute calibration of sniffer probes on Wendelstein 7-X.

    PubMed

    Moseev, D; Laqua, H P; Marsen, S; Stange, T; Braune, H; Erckmann, V; Gellert, F; Oosterbeek, J W

    2016-08-01

    Here we report the first measurements of the power levels of stray radiation in the vacuum vessel of Wendelstein 7-X using absolutely calibrated sniffer probes. The absolute calibration is achieved by using calibrated sources of stray radiation and the implicit measurement of the quality factor of the Wendelstein 7-X empty vacuum vessel. Normalized absolute calibration coefficients agree with the cross-calibration coefficients that are obtained by the direct measurements, indicating that the measured absolute calibration coefficients and stray radiation levels in the vessel are valid. Close to the launcher, the stray radiation in the empty vessel reaches power levels up to 340 kW/m(2) per MW injected beam power. Furthest away from the launcher, i.e., half a toroidal turn, still 90 kW/m(2) per MW injected beam power is measured.

  11. Preparation of an oakmoss absolute with reduced allergenic potential.

    PubMed

    Ehret, C; Maupetit, P; Petrzilka, M; Klecak, G

    1992-06-01

    Synopsis Oakmoss absolute, an extract of the lichen Evernia prunastri, is known to cause allergenic skin reactions due to the presence of certain aromatic aldehydes such as atranorin, chloratranorin, ethyl hematommate and ethyl chlorohematommate. In this paper it is shown that treatment of Oakmoss absolute with amino acids such as lysine and/or leucine, lowers considerably the content of these allergenic constituents including atranol and chloratranol. The resulting Oakmoss absolute, which exhibits an excellent olfactive quality, was tested extensively in comparative studies on guinea pigs and on man. The results of the Guinea Pig Maximization Test (GPMT) and Human Repeated Insult Patch Test (HRIPT) indicate that, in comparison with the commercial test sample, the allergenicity of this new quality of Oakmoss absolute was considerably reduced, and consequently better skin tolerance of this fragrance for man was achieved.

  12. The Effects of Phonetic Similarity and List Length on Children's Sound Categorization Performance.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Snowling, Margaret J.; And Others

    1994-01-01

    Examined the phonological analysis and verbal working memory components of the sound categorization task and their relationships to reading skill differences. Children were tested on sound categorization by having them identify odd words in sequences. Sound categorization performance was sensitive to individual differences in speech perception…

  13. Object Categorization: Reversals and Explanations of the Basic-Level Advantage

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rogers, Timothy T.; Patterson, Karalyn

    2007-01-01

    People are generally faster and more accurate to name or categorize objects at the basic level (e.g., dog) relative to more general (animal) or specific (collie) levels, an effect replicated in Experiment 1 for categorization of object pictures. To some, this pattern suggests a dual-process mechanism, in which objects first activate basic-level…

  14. Absolute comparison of simulated and experimental protein-folding dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Snow, Christopher D.; Nguyen, Houbi; Pande, Vijay S.; Gruebele, Martin

    2002-11-01

    Protein folding is difficult to simulate with classical molecular dynamics. Secondary structure motifs such as α-helices and β-hairpins can form in 0.1-10µs (ref. 1), whereas small proteins have been shown to fold completely in tens of microseconds. The longest folding simulation to date is a single 1-µs simulation of the villin headpiece; however, such single runs may miss many features of the folding process as it is a heterogeneous reaction involving an ensemble of transition states. Here, we have used a distributed computing implementation to produce tens of thousands of 5-20-ns trajectories (700µs) to simulate mutants of the designed mini-protein BBA5. The fast relaxation dynamics these predict were compared with the results of laser temperature-jump experiments. Our computational predictions are in excellent agreement with the experimentally determined mean folding times and equilibrium constants. The rapid folding of BBA5 is due to the swift formation of secondary structure. The convergence of experimentally and computationally accessible timescales will allow the comparison of absolute quantities characterizing in vitro and in silico (computed) protein folding.

  15. Space-by-time manifold representation of dynamic facial expressions for emotion categorization

    PubMed Central

    Delis, Ioannis; Chen, Chaona; Jack, Rachael E.; Garrod, Oliver G. B.; Panzeri, Stefano; Schyns, Philippe G.

    2016-01-01

    Visual categorization is the brain computation that reduces high-dimensional information in the visual environment into a smaller set of meaningful categories. An important problem in visual neuroscience is to identify the visual information that the brain must represent and then use to categorize visual inputs. Here we introduce a new mathematical formalism—termed space-by-time manifold decomposition—that describes this information as a low-dimensional manifold separable in space and time. We use this decomposition to characterize the representations used by observers to categorize the six classic facial expressions of emotion (happy, surprise, fear, disgust, anger, and sad). By means of a Generative Face Grammar, we presented random dynamic facial movements on each experimental trial and used subjective human perception to identify the facial movements that correlate with each emotion category. When the random movements projected onto the categorization manifold region corresponding to one of the emotion categories, observers categorized the stimulus accordingly; otherwise they selected “other.” Using this information, we determined both the Action Unit and temporal components whose linear combinations lead to reliable categorization of each emotion. In a validation experiment, we confirmed the psychological validity of the resulting space-by-time manifold representation. Finally, we demonstrated the importance of temporal sequencing for accurate emotion categorization and identified the temporal dynamics of Action Unit components that cause typical confusions between specific emotions (e.g., fear and surprise) as well as those resolving these confusions. PMID:27305521

  16. Physics of negative absolute temperatures.

    PubMed

    Abraham, Eitan; Penrose, Oliver

    2017-01-01

    Negative absolute temperatures were introduced into experimental physics by Purcell and Pound, who successfully applied this concept to nuclear spins; nevertheless, the concept has proved controversial: a recent article aroused considerable interest by its claim, based on a classical entropy formula (the "volume entropy") due to Gibbs, that negative temperatures violated basic principles of statistical thermodynamics. Here we give a thermodynamic analysis that confirms the negative-temperature interpretation of the Purcell-Pound experiments. We also examine the principal arguments that have been advanced against the negative temperature concept; we find that these arguments are not logically compelling, and moreover that the underlying "volume" entropy formula leads to predictions inconsistent with existing experimental results on nuclear spins. We conclude that, despite the counterarguments, negative absolute temperatures make good theoretical sense and did occur in the experiments designed to produce them.

  17. Categorization skills and recall in brain damaged children: a multiple case study.

    PubMed

    Mello, Claudia Berlim de; Muszkat, Mauro; Xavier, Gilberto Fernando; Bueno, Orlando Francisco Amodeo

    2009-09-01

    During development, children become capable of categorically associating stimuli and of using these relationships for memory recall. Brain damage in childhood can interfere with this development. This study investigated categorical association of stimuli and recall in four children with brain damages. The etiology, topography and timing of the lesions were diverse. Tasks included naming and immediate recall of 30 perceptually and semantically related figures, free sorting, delayed recall, and cued recall of the same material. Traditional neuropsychological tests were also employed. Two children with brain damage sustained in middle childhood relied on perceptual rather than on categorical associations in making associations between figures and showed deficits in delayed or cued recall, in contrast to those with perinatal lesions. One child exhibited normal performance in recall despite categorical association deficits. The present results suggest that brain damaged children show deficits in categorization and recall that are not usually identified in traditional neuropsychological tests.

  18. Absolute gravimetry for monitoring geodynamics in Greenland.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nielsen, E.; Strykowski, G.; Forsberg, R.

    2015-12-01

    Here are presented the preliminary results of the absolute gravity measurements done in Greenland by DTU Space with their A10 absolute gravimeter (the A10-019). The purpose, besides establishing and maintaining a national gravity network, is to study geodynamics.The absolute gravity measurements are juxtaposed with the permanent GNET GNSS stations. The first measurements were conducted in 2009 and a few sites have been re-visited. As of present is there a gravity value at 18 GNET sites.There are challenges in interpreting the measurements from Greenland and several signals has to be taken into account, besides the geodynamical signals originating from the changing load of the ice, there is also a clear signal of direct attraction from different masses. Here are presented the preliminary results of our measurements in Greenland and attempts explain them through modelling of the geodynamical signals and the direct attraction from the ocean and ice.

  19. Strongly nonlinear theory of rapid solidification near absolute stability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kowal, Katarzyna N.; Altieri, Anthony L.; Davis, Stephen H.

    2017-10-01

    We investigate the nonlinear evolution of the morphological deformation of a solid-liquid interface of a binary melt under rapid solidification conditions near two absolute stability limits. The first of these involves the complete stabilization of the system to cellular instabilities as a result of large enough surface energy. We derive nonlinear evolution equations in several limits in this scenario and investigate the effect of interfacial disequilibrium on the nonlinear deformations that arise. In contrast to the morphological stability problem in equilibrium, in which only cellular instabilities appear and only one absolute stability boundary exists, in disequilibrium the system is prone to oscillatory instabilities and a second absolute stability boundary involving attachment kinetics arises. Large enough attachment kinetics stabilize the oscillatory instabilities. We derive a nonlinear evolution equation to describe the nonlinear development of the solid-liquid interface near this oscillatory absolute stability limit. We find that strong asymmetries develop with time. For uniform oscillations, the evolution equation for the interface reduces to the simple form f''+(βf')2+f =0 , where β is the disequilibrium parameter. Lastly, we investigate a distinguished limit near both absolute stability limits in which the system is prone to both cellular and oscillatory instabilities and derive a nonlinear evolution equation that captures the nonlinear deformations in this limit. Common to all these scenarios is the emergence of larger asymmetries in the resulting shapes of the solid-liquid interface with greater departures from equilibrium and larger morphological numbers. The disturbances additionally sharpen near the oscillatory absolute stability boundary, where the interface becomes deep-rooted. The oscillations are time-periodic only for small-enough initial amplitudes and their frequency depends on a single combination of physical parameters, including the

  20. CATREG SOFTWARE FOR CATEGORICAL REGRESSION ANALYSIS

    EPA Science Inventory

    CatReg is a computer program, written in the R (http://cran.r-project.org) programming language, to support the conduct of exposure-response analyses by toxicologists and health scientists. CatReg can be used to perform categorical regressi...

  1. A European approach to categorizing medicines for fitness to drive: outcomes of the DRUID project

    PubMed Central

    Ravera, Silvia; Monteiro, Susana P; de Gier, Johan Jacob; van der Linden, Trudy; Gómez-Talegón, Trinidad; Álvarez, F Javier

    2012-01-01

    AIMS To illustrate (i) the criteria and the development of the DRUID categorization system, (ii) the number of medicines that have currently been categorized, (iii) the added value of the DRUID categorization system and (iv) the next steps in the implementation of the DRUID system. METHODS The development of the DRUID categorization system was based on several criteria. The following steps were considered: (i) conditions of use of the medicine, (ii) pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic data, (iii) pharmacovigilance data, including prevalence of undesirable effects, (iv) experimental and epidemiological data, (v) additional data derived from the patient information leaflet, existing categorization systems and (vi) final categorization. DRUID proposed four tiered categories for medicines and driving. RESULTS In total, 3054 medicines were reviewed and over 1541 medicines were categorized (the rest were no longer on the EU market). Nearly half of the 1541 medicines were categorized 0 (no or negligible influence on fitness to drive), about 26% were placed in category I (minor influence on fitness to drive) and 17% were categorized as II or III (moderate or severe influence on fitness to drive). CONCLUSIONS The current DRUID categorization system established and defined standardized and harmonized criteria to categorize commonly used medications, based on their influence on fitness to drive. Further efforts are needed to implement the DRUID categorization system at a European level and further activities should be undertaken in order to reinforce the awareness of health care professionals and patients on the effects of medicines on fitness to drive. PMID:22452358

  2. Mammographic Breast Density Assessment Using Automated Volumetric Software and Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BIRADS) Categorization by Expert Radiologists.

    PubMed

    Damases, Christine N; Brennan, Patrick C; Mello-Thoms, Claudia; McEntee, Mark F

    2016-01-01

    To investigate agreement on mammographic breast density (MD) assessment between automated volumetric software and Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BIRADS) categorization by expert radiologists. Forty cases of left craniocaudal and mediolateral oblique mammograms from 20 women were used. All images had their volumetric density classified using Volpara density grade (VDG) and average volumetric breast density percentage. The same images were then classified into BIRADS categories (I-IV) by 20 American Board of Radiology examiners. The results demonstrated a moderate agreement (κ = 0.537; 95% CI = 0.234-0.699) between VDG classification and radiologists' BIRADS density assessment. Interreader agreement using BIRADS also demonstrated moderate agreement (κ = 0.565; 95% CI = 0.519-0.610) ranging from 0.328 to 0.669. Radiologists' average BIRADS was lower than average VDG scores by 0.33, with their mean being 2.13, whereas the mean VDG was 2.48 (U = -3.742; P < 0.001). VDG and BIRADS showed a very strong positive correlation (ρ = 0.91; P < 0.001) as did BIRADS and average volumetric breast density percentage (ρ = 0.94; P < 0.001). Automated volumetric breast density assessment shows moderate agreement and very strong correlation with BIRADS; interreader variations still exist within BIRADS. Because of the increasing importance of MD measurement in clinical management of patients, widely accepted, reproducible, and accurate measures of MD are required. Copyright © 2016 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Implicit Self-Importance in an Interpersonal Pronoun Categorization Task

    PubMed Central

    Fetterman, Adam K.; Robinson, Michael D.; Gilbertson, Elizabeth P.

    2014-01-01

    Object relations theories emphasize the manner in which the salience/importance of implicit representations of self and other guide interpersonal functioning. Two studies and a pilot test (total N = 304) sought to model such representations. In dyadic contexts, the self is a “you” and the other is a “me”, as verified in a pilot test. Study 1 then used a simple categorization task and found evidence for implicit self-importance: The pronoun “you” was categorized more quickly and accurately when presented in a larger font size, whereas the pronoun “me” was categorized more quickly and accurately when presented in a smaller font size. Study 2 showed that this pattern possesses value in understanding individual differences in interpersonal functioning. As predicted, arrogant people scored higher in implicit self-importance in the paradigm. Findings are discussed from the perspective of dyadic interpersonal dynamics. PMID:25419089

  4. Effects of age on cognitive control during semantic categorization.

    PubMed

    Mudar, Raksha A; Chiang, Hsueh-Sheng; Maguire, Mandy J; Spence, Jeffrey S; Eroh, Justin; Kraut, Michael A; Hart, John

    2015-01-01

    We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to study age effects of perceptual (basic-level) vs. perceptual-semantic (superordinate-level) categorization on cognitive control using the go/nogo paradigm. Twenty-two younger (11 M; 21 ± 2.2 years) and 22 older adults (9 M; 63 ± 5.8 years) completed two visual go/nogo tasks. In the single-car task (SiC) (basic), go/nogo responses were made based on single exemplars of a car (go) and a dog (nogo). In the object animal task (ObA) (superordinate), responses were based on multiple exemplars of objects (go) and animals (nogo). Each task consisted of 200 trials: 160 (80%) 'go' trials that required a response through button pressing and 40 (20%) 'nogo' trials that required inhibition/withholding of a response. ERP data revealed significantly reduced nogo-N2 and nogo-P3 amplitudes in older compared to younger adults, whereas go-N2 and go-P3 amplitudes were comparable in both groups during both categorization tasks. Although the effects of categorization levels on behavioral data and P3 measures were similar in both groups with longer response times, lower accuracy scores, longer P3 latencies, and lower P3 amplitudes in ObA compared to SiC, N2 latency revealed age group differences moderated by the task. Older adults had longer N2 latency for ObA compared to SiC, in contrast, younger adults showed no N2 latency difference between SiC and ObA. Overall, these findings suggest that age differentially affects neural processing related to cognitive control during semantic categorization. Furthermore, in older adults, unlike in younger adults, levels of categorization modulate neural processing related to cognitive control even at the early stages (N2). Published by Elsevier B.V.

  5. Absolute far-ultraviolet spectrophotometry of hot subluminous stars from Voyager

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Holberg, J. B.; Ali, B.; Carone, T. E.; Polidan, R. S.

    1991-01-01

    Observations, obtained with the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometers, are presented of absolute fluxes for two well-known hot subluminous stars: BD + 28 deg 4211, an sdO, and G191 - B2B, a hot DA white dwarf. Complete absolute energy distributions for these two stars, from the Lyman limit at 912 A to 1 micron, are given. For BD + 28 deg 4211, a single power law closely represents the entire observed energy distribution. For G191 - B2B, a pure hydrogen model atmosphere provides an excellent match to the entire absolute energy distribution. Voyager absolute fluxes are discussed in relation to those reported from various sounding rocket experiments, including a recent rocket observation of BD + 28 deg 4211.

  6. CATEGORICAL REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF ACUTE INHALATION TOXICITY DATA FOR HYDROGEN SULFIDE

    EPA Science Inventory

    Categorical regression is one of the tools offered by the U.S. EPA for derivation of acute reference exposures (AREs), which are dose-response assessments for acute exposures to inhaled chemicals. Categorical regression is used as a meta-analytical technique to calculate probabi...

  7. A Novel Artificial Bee Colony Based Clustering Algorithm for Categorical Data

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Data with categorical attributes are ubiquitous in the real world. However, existing partitional clustering algorithms for categorical data are prone to fall into local optima. To address this issue, in this paper we propose a novel clustering algorithm, ABC-K-Modes (Artificial Bee Colony clustering based on K-Modes), based on the traditional k-modes clustering algorithm and the artificial bee colony approach. In our approach, we first introduce a one-step k-modes procedure, and then integrate this procedure with the artificial bee colony approach to deal with categorical data. In the search process performed by scout bees, we adopt the multi-source search inspired by the idea of batch processing to accelerate the convergence of ABC-K-Modes. The performance of ABC-K-Modes is evaluated by a series of experiments in comparison with that of the other popular algorithms for categorical data. PMID:25993469

  8. A novel artificial bee colony based clustering algorithm for categorical data.

    PubMed

    Ji, Jinchao; Pang, Wei; Zheng, Yanlin; Wang, Zhe; Ma, Zhiqiang

    2015-01-01

    Data with categorical attributes are ubiquitous in the real world. However, existing partitional clustering algorithms for categorical data are prone to fall into local optima. To address this issue, in this paper we propose a novel clustering algorithm, ABC-K-Modes (Artificial Bee Colony clustering based on K-Modes), based on the traditional k-modes clustering algorithm and the artificial bee colony approach. In our approach, we first introduce a one-step k-modes procedure, and then integrate this procedure with the artificial bee colony approach to deal with categorical data. In the search process performed by scout bees, we adopt the multi-source search inspired by the idea of batch processing to accelerate the convergence of ABC-K-Modes. The performance of ABC-K-Modes is evaluated by a series of experiments in comparison with that of the other popular algorithms for categorical data.

  9. From Hubble's NGSL to Absolute Fluxes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Heap, Sara R.; Lindler, Don

    2012-01-01

    Hubble's Next Generation Spectral Library (NGSL) consists of R-l000 spectra of 374 stars of assorted temperature, gravity, and metallicity. Each spectrum covers the wavelength range, 0.18-1.00 microns. The library can be viewed and/or downloaded from the website, http://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/stisngsll. Stars in the NGSL are now being used as absolute flux standards at ground-based observatories. However, the uncertainty in the absolute flux is about 2%, which does not meet the requirements of dark-energy surveys. We are therefore developing an observing procedure that should yield fluxes with uncertainties less than 1 % and will take part in an HST proposal to observe up to 15 stars using this new procedure.

  10. Object categorization by wild ranging birds-Winter feeder experiments.

    PubMed

    Nováková, Nela; Veselý, Petr; Fuchs, Roman

    2017-10-01

    The object categorization is only scarcely studied using untrained wild ranging animals and relevant stimuli. We tested the importance of the spatial position of features salient for categorization of a predator using wild ranging birds (titmice) visiting a winter feeder. As a relevant stimulus we used a dummy of a raptor, the European sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), placed at the feeding location. This dummy was designed to be dismantled into three parts and rearranged with the head in the correct position, in the middle or at the bottom of the dummy. When the birds had the option of visiting an alternative feeder with a dummy pigeon, they preferred this option to visiting the feeder with the dummy sparrowhawk with the head in any of the three positions. When the birds had the option of visiting an alternative feeder with an un-rearranged dummy sparrowhawk, they visited both feeders equally often, and very scarcely. This suggests that the titmice considered all of the sparrowhawk modifications as being dangerous, and equally dangerous as the un-rearranged sparrowhawk. The position of the head was not the most important cue for categorization. The presence of the key features was probably sufficient for categorization, and their mutual spatial position was of lower importance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Absolute versus relative measures of plasma fatty acids and health outcomes: example of phospholipid omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and all-cause mortality in women.

    PubMed

    Miura, Kyoko; Hughes, Maria Celia B; Ungerer, Jacobus P J; Smith, David D; Green, Adèle C

    2018-03-01

    In a well-characterised community-based prospective study, we aimed to systematically assess the differences in associations of plasma omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid (FA) status with all-cause mortality when plasma FA status is expressed in absolute concentrations versus relative levels. In a community sample of 564 women aged 25-75 years in Queensland, Australia, baseline plasma phospholipid FA levels were measured using gas chromatography. Specific FAs analysed were eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, total long-chain omega-3 FAs, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, and total omega-6 FAs. Levels of each FA were expressed in absolute amounts (µg/mL) and relative levels (% of total FAs) and divided into thirds. Deaths were monitored for 17 years and hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals calculated to assess risk of death according to absolute versus relative plasma FA levels. In total 81 (14%) women died during follow-up. Agreement between absolute and relative measures of plasma FAs was higher in omega-3 than omega-6 FAs. The results of multivariate analyses for risk of all-cause mortality were generally similar with risk tending to inverse associations with plasma phospholipid omega-3 FAs and no association with omega-6 FAs. Sensitivity analyses examining effects of age and presence of serious medical conditions on risk of mortality did not alter findings. The directions and magnitude of associations with mortality of absolute versus relative FA levels were comparable. However, plasma FA expressed as absolute concentrations may be preferred for ease of comparison and since relative units can be deduced from absolute units.

  12. 12 CFR 1815.110 - Categorical exclusion.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 9 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Categorical exclusion. 1815.110 Section 1815..., equipment, supplies and services; space acquisition; property management; and security); (b) Actions... of 200,000 square feet or less of existing commercial space when all the following conditions are met...

  13. 12 CFR 1815.110 - Categorical exclusion.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 9 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Categorical exclusion. 1815.110 Section 1815..., equipment, supplies and services; space acquisition; property management; and security); (b) Actions... of 200,000 square feet or less of existing commercial space when all the following conditions are met...

  14. 12 CFR 1815.110 - Categorical exclusion.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 10 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Categorical exclusion. 1815.110 Section 1815..., equipment, supplies and services; space acquisition; property management; and security); (b) Actions... of 200,000 square feet or less of existing commercial space when all the following conditions are met...

  15. Interobserver Agreement for Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS)-Based Standardized Algorithms for the Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in High-Risk Patients.

    PubMed

    Schellhaas, Barbara; Pfeifer, Lukas; Kielisch, Christian; Goertz, Ruediger Stephan; Neurath, Markus F; Strobel, Deike

    2018-06-07

     This pilot study aimed at assessing interobserver agreement with two contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) algorithms for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in high-risk patients.  Focal liver lesions in 55 high-risk patients were assessed independently by three blinded observers with two standardized CEUS algorithms: ESCULAP (Erlanger Synopsis of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound for Liver Lesion Assessment in Patients at risk) and ACR-CEUS-LI-RADSv.2016 (American College of Radiology CEUS-Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System). Lesions were categorized according to size and ultrasound contrast enhancement in the arterial, portal-venous and late phase. Interobserver agreement for assessment of enhancement pattern and categorization was compared between both CEUS algorithms. Additionally, diagnostic accuracy for the definitive diagnosis of HCC was compared. Histology and/or CE-MRI and follow-up served as reference standards.  55 patients were included in the study (male/female, 44/ 11; mean age: 65.9 years). 90.9 % had cirrhosis. Histological findings were available in 39/55 lesions (70.9 %). Reference standard of the 55 lesions revealed 48 HCCs, 2 intrahepatic cholangiocellular carcinomas (ICCs), and 5 non-HCC-non-ICC lesions. Interobserver agreement was moderate to substantial for arterial phase hyperenhancement (ĸ = 0.53 - 0.67), and fair to moderate for contrast washout in the portal-venous or late phase (ĸ = 0.33 - 0.53). Concerning the CEUS-based algorithms, the interreader agreement was substantial for the ESCULAP category (ĸ = 0.64 - 0.68) and fair for the CEUS-LI-RADS ® category (ĸ = 0.3 - 0.39). Disagreement between observers was mostly due to different perception of washout.  Interobserver agreement is better for ESCULAP than for CEUS-LI-RADS ® . This is mostly due to the fact that perception of contrast washout varies between different observers. However, interobserver agreement is good for

  16. Absolute calibration of optical flats

    DOEpatents

    Sommargren, Gary E.

    2005-04-05

    The invention uses the phase shifting diffraction interferometer (PSDI) to provide a true point-by-point measurement of absolute flatness over the surface of optical flats. Beams exiting the fiber optics in a PSDI have perfect spherical wavefronts. The measurement beam is reflected from the optical flat and passed through an auxiliary optic to then be combined with the reference beam on a CCD. The combined beams include phase errors due to both the optic under test and the auxiliary optic. Standard phase extraction algorithms are used to calculate this combined phase error. The optical flat is then removed from the system and the measurement fiber is moved to recombine the two beams. The newly combined beams include only the phase errors due to the auxiliary optic. When the second phase measurement is subtracted from the first phase measurement, the absolute phase error of the optical flat is obtained.

  17. Are Categorical Spatial Relations Encoded by Shifting Visual Attention between Objects?

    PubMed Central

    Uttal, David; Franconeri, Steven

    2016-01-01

    Perceiving not just values, but relations between values, is critical to human cognition. We tested the predictions of a proposed mechanism for processing categorical spatial relations between two objects—the shift account of relation processing—which states that relations such as ‘above’ or ‘below’ are extracted by shifting visual attention upward or downward in space. If so, then shifts of attention should improve the representation of spatial relations, compared to a control condition of identity memory. Participants viewed a pair of briefly flashed objects and were then tested on either the relative spatial relation or identity of one of those objects. Using eye tracking to reveal participants’ voluntary shifts of attention over time, we found that when initial fixation was on neither object, relational memory showed an absolute advantage for the object following an attention shift, while identity memory showed no advantage for either object. This result is consistent with the shift account of relation processing. When initial fixation began on one of the objects, identity memory strongly benefited this fixated object, while relational memory only showed a relative benefit for objects following an attention shift. This result is also consistent, although not as uniquely, with the shift account of relation processing. Taken together, we suggest that the attention shift account provides a mechanistic explanation for the overall results. This account can potentially serve as the common mechanism underlying both linguistic and perceptual representations of spatial relations. PMID:27695104

  18. Are Categorical Spatial Relations Encoded by Shifting Visual Attention between Objects?

    PubMed

    Yuan, Lei; Uttal, David; Franconeri, Steven

    2016-01-01

    Perceiving not just values, but relations between values, is critical to human cognition. We tested the predictions of a proposed mechanism for processing categorical spatial relations between two objects-the shift account of relation processing-which states that relations such as 'above' or 'below' are extracted by shifting visual attention upward or downward in space. If so, then shifts of attention should improve the representation of spatial relations, compared to a control condition of identity memory. Participants viewed a pair of briefly flashed objects and were then tested on either the relative spatial relation or identity of one of those objects. Using eye tracking to reveal participants' voluntary shifts of attention over time, we found that when initial fixation was on neither object, relational memory showed an absolute advantage for the object following an attention shift, while identity memory showed no advantage for either object. This result is consistent with the shift account of relation processing. When initial fixation began on one of the objects, identity memory strongly benefited this fixated object, while relational memory only showed a relative benefit for objects following an attention shift. This result is also consistent, although not as uniquely, with the shift account of relation processing. Taken together, we suggest that the attention shift account provides a mechanistic explanation for the overall results. This account can potentially serve as the common mechanism underlying both linguistic and perceptual representations of spatial relations.

  19. FNAC Aided Diagnosis and Categorization of Hepatoblastoma:: A Report of Three Cases.

    PubMed

    Bera, Goutam; Das, Ram Narayan; Islam, Nelofar; Roy, Paromita; Mishra, Prafulla Kumar; Datta, Chhanda; Chaudhuri, Manoj Kumar; Chatterjee, Uttara

    2017-01-01

    Hepatoblastoma is the most common primary malignant hepatic tumour of infancy and early childhood. Histologically hepatoblastomas are categorized into pure epithelial and mixed epithelial-mesenchymal types and epithelial type is further subcategorized into pure fetal type, fetal and embryonal type, pure embryonal, and small cell types. This categorization has been shown to have prognostic and therapeutic implication. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is useful in pre-operative diagnosis and categorization in most cases of hepatoblastomas. Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) stain can be helpful to differentiate fetal subtype from embryonal subtype of hepatoblastoma. Here we describe three cases of hepatoblastomas diagnosed and categorized on cytology with subsequent confirmation on histological examination. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2017;45:77-82. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. Final report of the regional key comparison EURAMET.M.G-K1: European Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters ECAG-2011

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Francis, Olivier; Klein, Gilbert; Baumann, Henri; Dando, Nicolas; Tracey, Ray; Ullrich, Christian; Castelein, Stefaan; Hua, Hu; Kang, Wu; Chongyang, Shen; Songbo, Xuan; Hongbo, Tan; Zhengyuan, Li; Pálinkás, Vojtech; Kostelecký, Jakub; Mäkinen, Jaakko; Näränen, Jyri; Merlet, Sébastien; Farah, Tristan; Guerlin, Christine; Pereira Dos Santos, Franck; Le Moigne, Nicolas; Champollion, Cédric; Deville, Sabrina; Timmen, Ludger; Falk, Reinhard; Wilmes, Herbert; Iacovone, Domenico; Baccaro, Francesco; Germak, Alessandro; Biolcati, Emanuele; Krynski, Jan; Sekowski, Marcin; Olszak, Tomasz; Pachuta, Andrzej; Agren, Jonas; Engfeldt, Andreas; Reudink, René; Inacio, Pedro; McLaughlin, Daniel; Shannon, Geoff; Eckl, Marc; Wilkins, Tim; van Westrum, Derek; Billson, Ryan

    2012-01-01

    During November 2011 a EURAMET key comparison of absolute gravimeters was organized in the Underground Laboratory for Geodynamics in Walferdange, Luxemburg. The comparison assembled 22 participants coming from 16 countries and four different continents. The comparison was divided into two parts: a key comparison that included six National Metrology Institutes or Designated Institutes, and a pilot study including all participants. The global result given by the pilot study confirms that all instruments are absolutely coherent with each other. The results obtained in the key comparison confirm a good agreement between the NMI instruments. Finally, a link to ICAG-2009 shows also that the NMI gravimeters are stable in time. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

  1. Clinical performance of an objective methodology to categorize tear film lipid layer patterns

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Garcia-Resua, Carlos; Pena-Verdeal, Hugo; Giraldez, Maria J.; Yebra-Pimentel, Eva

    2017-08-01

    Purpose: To validate the performance of a new objective application designated iDEAS (Dry Eye Assessment System) to categorize different zones of lipid layer patterns (LLPs) in one image. Material and methods: Using the Tearscopeplus and a digital camera attached to a slit-lamp, 50 images were captured and analyzed by 4 experienced optometrists. In each image the observers outlined tear film zones that they clearly identified as a specific LLP. Further, the categorization made by the 4 optometrists (called observer 1, 2, 3 and 4) was compared with the automatic system included in iDEAS (5th observer). Results: In general, observer 3 classified worse than all observers (observers 1, 2, 4 and automatic application, Wilcoxon test, <0.05). The automatic system behaved similar to the remaining three observers (observer 1, 2 and 4) showing differences only for Open meshwork LLP when comparing with observer 4 (Wilcoxon test, p=0.02). For the remaining two observers (observer 1 and 2) there was not found statistical differences (Wilcoxon test, >0.05). Furthermore, we obtained a set of photographs per LLP category for which all optometrists showed agreement by using the new tool. After examining them, we detected the more characteristic features for each LLP to enhance the description of the patterns implemented by Guillon. Conclusions: The automatic application included in the iDEAS framework is able to provide zones similar to the annotations made by experienced optometrists. Thus, the manual process done by experts can be automated with the benefits of being unaffected by subjective factors.

  2. Probative value of absolute and relative judgments in eyewitness identification.

    PubMed

    Clark, Steven E; Erickson, Michael A; Breneman, Jesse

    2011-10-01

    It is well-accepted that eyewitness identification decisions based on relative judgments are less accurate than identification decisions based on absolute judgments. However, the theoretical foundation for this view has not been established. In this study relative and absolute judgments were compared through simulations of the WITNESS model (Clark, Appl Cogn Psychol 17:629-654, 2003) to address the question: Do suspect identifications based on absolute judgments have higher probative value than suspect identifications based on relative judgments? Simulations of the WITNESS model showed a consistent advantage for absolute judgments over relative judgments for suspect-matched lineups. However, simulations of same-foils lineups showed a complex interaction based on the accuracy of memory and the similarity relationships among lineup members.

  3. 36 CFR 220.6 - Categorical exclusions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... extraordinary circumstances related to the proposed action and if: (1) The proposed action is within one of the... designated areas, such as wilderness, wilderness study areas, or national recreation areas; (iv) Inventoried...) The mere presence of one or more of these resource conditions does not preclude use of a categorical...

  4. 36 CFR 220.6 - Categorical exclusions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... extraordinary circumstances related to the proposed action and if: (1) The proposed action is within one of the... designated areas, such as wilderness, wilderness study areas, or national recreation areas; (iv) Inventoried...) The mere presence of one or more of these resource conditions does not preclude use of a categorical...

  5. 36 CFR 220.6 - Categorical exclusions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... extraordinary circumstances related to the proposed action and if: (1) The proposed action is within one of the... designated areas, such as wilderness, wilderness study areas, or national recreation areas; (iv) Inventoried...) The mere presence of one or more of these resource conditions does not preclude use of a categorical...

  6. 36 CFR 220.6 - Categorical exclusions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... extraordinary circumstances related to the proposed action and if: (1) The proposed action is within one of the... designated areas, such as wilderness, wilderness study areas, or national recreation areas; (iv) Inventoried...) The mere presence of one or more of these resource conditions does not preclude use of a categorical...

  7. 36 CFR 220.6 - Categorical exclusions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... extraordinary circumstances related to the proposed action and if: (1) The proposed action is within one of the... designated areas, such as wilderness, wilderness study areas, or national recreation areas; (iv) Inventoried...) The mere presence of one or more of these resource conditions does not preclude use of a categorical...

  8. A Geometrical Framework for Covariance Matrices of Continuous and Categorical Variables

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vernizzi, Graziano; Nakai, Miki

    2015-01-01

    It is well known that a categorical random variable can be represented geometrically by a simplex. Accordingly, several measures of association between categorical variables have been proposed and discussed in the literature. Moreover, the standard definitions of covariance and correlation coefficient for continuous random variables have been…

  9. Grains are similarly categorized by 8- to 13-year-old children

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    This study assessed how 8- to 13-year-old children categorized and labeled grain foods and how these categories and labels were influenced by child characteristics. The main hypotheses were that children categorized foods in consistent ways and these food categories differed from the professional fo...

  10. Categorization of In-use Radioactive Sealed Sources in Egypt

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hasan, M.A.; Mohamed, Y.T.; El Haleim, K.A.

    2006-07-01

    Radioactive sealed sources have widespread applications in industry, medicine, research and education. While most sources are of relatively low activity, there are many of medium or very high activity. The mismanagement of high activity sources is responsible for most of the radiological accidents that result in loss of life or disabling injuries. Because of the variety of applications and activities of radioactive sources, a categorization system is necessary so that the controls that are applied to the sources are adequate with its radiological risk. The aim of this work is to use the international Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) categorization systemmore » to provide a simple, logical system for grading radioactive sealed sources in Egypt. The categorizations of radioactive sealed sources are based on their potential to cause harm to human health. This study revealed that total of 1916 sources have been used in Egypt in the different applications with a total activity of 89400 Ci according to available data in October 2005. (authors)« less

  11. Multivariate neural biomarkers of emotional states are categorically distinct

    PubMed Central

    Kragel, Philip A.

    2015-01-01

    Understanding how emotions are represented neurally is a central aim of affective neuroscience. Despite decades of neuroimaging efforts addressing this question, it remains unclear whether emotions are represented as distinct entities, as predicted by categorical theories, or are constructed from a smaller set of underlying factors, as predicted by dimensional accounts. Here, we capitalize on multivariate statistical approaches and computational modeling to directly evaluate these theoretical perspectives. We elicited discrete emotional states using music and films during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Distinct patterns of neural activation predicted the emotion category of stimuli and tracked subjective experience. Bayesian model comparison revealed that combining dimensional and categorical models of emotion best characterized the information content of activation patterns. Surprisingly, categorical and dimensional aspects of emotion experience captured unique and opposing sources of neural information. These results indicate that diverse emotional states are poorly differentiated by simple models of valence and arousal, and that activity within separable neural systems can be mapped to unique emotion categories. PMID:25813790

  12. Perceptual Simulation in Gender Categorization: Associations between Gender, Vertical Height, and Spatial Size

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Xiaobin; Li, Qiong; Eskine, Kendall J.; Zuo, Bin

    2014-01-01

    The current studies extend perceptual symbol systems theory to the processing of gender categorization by revealing that gender categorization recruits perceptual simulations of spatial height and size dimensions. In study 1, categorization of male faces were faster when the faces were in the “up” (i.e., higher on the vertical axis) rather than the “down” (i.e., lower on the vertical axis) position and vice versa for female face categorization. Study 2 found that responses to male names depicted in larger font were faster than male names depicted in smaller font, whereas opposite response patterns were given for female names. Study 3 confirmed that the effect in Study 2 was not due to metaphoric relationships between gender and social power. Together, these findings suggest that representation of gender (social categorization) also involves processes of perceptual simulation. PMID:24587022

  13. Perceptual simulation in gender categorization: associations between gender, vertical height, and spatial size.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Xiaobin; Li, Qiong; Eskine, Kendall J; Zuo, Bin

    2014-01-01

    The current studies extend perceptual symbol systems theory to the processing of gender categorization by revealing that gender categorization recruits perceptual simulations of spatial height and size dimensions. In study 1, categorization of male faces were faster when the faces were in the "up" (i.e., higher on the vertical axis) rather than the "down" (i.e., lower on the vertical axis) position and vice versa for female face categorization. Study 2 found that responses to male names depicted in larger font were faster than male names depicted in smaller font, whereas opposite response patterns were given for female names. Study 3 confirmed that the effect in Study 2 was not due to metaphoric relationships between gender and social power. Together, these findings suggest that representation of gender (social categorization) also involves processes of perceptual simulation.

  14. Determination of Absolute Zero Using a Computer-Based Laboratory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amrani, D.

    2007-01-01

    We present a simple computer-based laboratory experiment for evaluating absolute zero in degrees Celsius, which can be performed in college and undergraduate physical sciences laboratory courses. With a computer, absolute zero apparatus can help demonstrators or students to observe the relationship between temperature and pressure and use…

  15. Atmospheric Longwave Irradiance Uncertainty: Pyrgeometers Compared to an Absolute Sky-Scanning Radiometer, Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer, and Radiative Transfer Model Calculations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Philipona, J. R.; Dutton, Ellsworth G.; Stoffel, T.

    2001-06-04

    Because atmospheric longwave radiation is one of the most fundamental elements of an expected climate change, there has been a strong interest in improving measurements and model calculations in recent years. Important questions are how reliable and consistent are atmospheric longwave radiation measurements and calculations and what are the uncertainties? The First International Pyrgeometer and Absolute Sky-scanning Radiometer Comparison, which was held at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program's Souther Great Plains site in Oklahoma, answers these questions at least for midlatitude summer conditions and reflects the state of the art for atmospheric longwave radiation measurements and calculations. The 15 participatingmore » pyrgeometers were all calibration-traced standard instruments chosen from a broad international community. Two new chopped pyrgeometers also took part in the comparison. And absolute sky-scanning radiometer (ASR), which includes a pyroelectric detector and a reference blackbody source, was used for the first time as a reference standard instrument to field calibrate pyrgeometers during clear-sky nighttime measurements. Owner-provided and uniformly determined blackbody calibration factors were compared. Remarkable improvements and higher pyrgeometer precision were achieved with field calibration factors. Results of nighttime and daytime pyrgeometer precision and absolute uncertainty are presented for eight consecutive days of measurements, during which period downward longwave irradiance varied between 260 and 420 W m-2. Comparisons between pyrgeometers and the absolute ASR, the atmospheric emitted radiance interferometer, and radiative transfer models LBLRTM and MODTRAN show a surprisingly good agreement of <2 W m-2 for nighttime atmospheric longwave irradiance measurements and calculations.« less

  16. Computationally Aided Absolute Stereochemical Determination of Enantioenriched Amines.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Jun; Gholami, Hadi; Ding, Xinliang; Chun, Minji; Vasileiou, Chrysoula; Nehira, Tatsuo; Borhan, Babak

    2017-03-17

    A simple and efficient protocol for sensing the absolute stereochemistry and enantiomeric excess of chiral monoamines is reported. Preparation of the sample requires a single-step reaction of the 1,1'-(bromomethylene)dinaphthalene (BDN) with the chiral amine. Analysis of the exciton coupled circular dichroism generated from the BDN-derivatized chiral amine sample, along with comparison to conformational analysis performed computationally, yields the absolute stereochemistry of the parent chiral monoamine.

  17. The relationship between visual search and categorization of own- and other-age faces.

    PubMed

    Craig, Belinda M; Lipp, Ottmar V

    2018-03-13

    Young adult participants are faster to detect young adult faces in crowds of infant and child faces than vice versa. These findings have been interpreted as evidence for more efficient attentional capture by own-age than other-age faces, but could alternatively reflect faster rejection of other-age than own-age distractors, consistent with the previously reported other-age categorization advantage: faster categorization of other-age than own-age faces. Participants searched for own-age faces in other-age backgrounds or vice versa. Extending the finding to different other-age groups, young adult participants were faster to detect young adult faces in both early adolescent (Experiment 1) and older adult backgrounds (Experiment 2). To investigate whether the own-age detection advantage could be explained by faster categorization and rejection of other-age background faces, participants in experiments 3 and 4 also completed an age categorization task. Relatively faster categorization of other-age faces was related to relatively faster search through other-age backgrounds on target absent trials but not target present trials. These results confirm that other-age faces are more quickly categorized and searched through and that categorization and search processes are related; however, this correlational approach could not confirm or reject the contribution of background face processing to the own-age detection advantage. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

  18. Effects of categorization training in patients with TBI during postacute rehabilitation: preliminary findings.

    PubMed

    Constantinidou, Fofi; Thomas, Robin D; Scharp, Victoria L; Laske, Kate M; Hammerly, Mark D; Guitonde, Suchita

    2005-01-01

    Previous research suggests that traumatic brain injury (TBI) interferes with the ability to extract and use attributes to describe objects. This study explored the effects of a systematic Categorization Program (CP) in participants with TBI and noninjured controls. Ten persons with moderate to severe TBI who received comprehensive postacute rehabilitation services and 13 matched noninjured controls participated in the study. All participants received CP training for 3 to 5 hours per week for 10 to 12 weeks that consisted of 8 levels and targeted concept formation, object categorization, and decision-making abilities. The Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory-3 (MPAI-3) and the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ). Two Categorization Tests (administered pretraining and posttraining) and 3 Probe Tasks (administered at specified intervals during training) assessed skills relating to categorization. Both groups showed significant improvement in categorization performance after the CP training on the 2 Categorization Tests related to the CP. They also were able to generalize and apply categorization and sorting skills in new situations (as measured by the Probe Tasks). Participants with TBI had improved functional outcome performance measured by the MPAI-3 and the CIQ. The systematic and hierarchical structure of the CP is beneficial to participants with TBI during postacute rehabilitation. This study contributes to the growing body of evidence supporting cognitive rehabilitation after moderate to severe TBI.

  19. Use of Absolute and Comparative Performance Feedback in Absolute and Comparative Judgments and Decisions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moore, Don A.; Klein, William M. P.

    2008-01-01

    Which matters more--beliefs about absolute ability or ability relative to others? This study set out to compare the effects of such beliefs on satisfaction with performance, self-evaluations, and bets on future performance. In Experiment 1, undergraduate participants were told they had answered 20% correct, 80% correct, or were not given their…

  20. Ontology-Based Learner Categorization through Case Based Reasoning and Fuzzy Logic

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sarwar, Sohail; García-Castro, Raul; Qayyum, Zia Ul; Safyan, Muhammad; Munir, Rana Faisal

    2017-01-01

    Learner categorization has a pivotal role in making e-learning systems a success. However, learner characteristics exploited at abstract level of granularity by contemporary techniques cannot categorize the learners effectively. In this paper, an architecture of e-learning framework has been presented that exploits the machine learning based…

  1. Mixed foods are similarly categorized by 8-13 year old children

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Food search in a computerized 24-h dietary recall (24hdr) for children should be easiest when the categories reflect children's categorization of foods, in contrast to professional categories. This study assessed how 8- to 13-year-old children categorized and labeled mixed foods (e.g., fried rice, l...

  2. A Special Application of Absolute Value Techniques in Authentic Problem Solving

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stupel, Moshe

    2013-01-01

    There are at least five different equivalent definitions of the absolute value concept. In instances where the task is an equation or inequality with only one or two absolute value expressions, it is a worthy educational experience for learners to solve the task using each one of the definitions. On the other hand, if more than two absolute value…

  3. Structure elucidation and absolute stereochemistry of isomeric monoterpene chromane esters.

    PubMed

    Batista, João M; Batista, Andrea N L; Mota, Jonas S; Cass, Quezia B; Kato, Massuo J; Bolzani, Vanderlan S; Freedman, Teresa B; López, Silvia N; Furlan, Maysa; Nafie, Laurence A

    2011-04-15

    Six novel monoterpene chromane esters were isolated from the aerial parts of Peperomia obtusifolia (Piperaceae) using chiral chromatography. This is the first time that chiral chromane esters of this kind, ones with a tethered chiral terpene, have been isolated in nature. Due to their structural features, it is not currently possible to assess directly their absolute stereochemistry using any of the standard classical approaches, such as X-ray crystallography, NMR, optical rotation, or electronic circular dichroism (ECD). Herein we report the absolute configuration of these molecules, involving four chiral centers, using vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) and density functional theory (DFT) (B3LYP/6-31G*) calculations. This work further reinforces the capability of VCD to determine unambiguously the absolute configuration of structurally complex molecules in solution, without crystallization or derivatization, and demonstrates the sensitivity of VCD to specify the absolute configuration for just one among a number of chiral centers. We also demonstrate the sufficiency of using the so-called inexpensive basis set 6-31G* compared to the triple-ζ basis set TZVP for absolute configuration analysis of larger molecules using VCD. Overall, this work extends our knowledge of secondary metabolites in plants and provides a straightforward way to determine the absolute configuration of complex natural products involving a chiral parent moiety combined with a chiral terpene adduct.

  4. Bio-Inspired Stretchable Absolute Pressure Sensor Network

    PubMed Central

    Guo, Yue; Li, Yu-Hung; Guo, Zhiqiang; Kim, Kyunglok; Chang, Fu-Kuo; Wang, Shan X.

    2016-01-01

    A bio-inspired absolute pressure sensor network has been developed. Absolute pressure sensors, distributed on multiple silicon islands, are connected as a network by stretchable polyimide wires. This sensor network, made on a 4’’ wafer, has 77 nodes and can be mounted on various curved surfaces to cover an area up to 0.64 m × 0.64 m, which is 100 times larger than its original size. Due to Micro Electro-Mechanical system (MEMS) surface micromachining technology, ultrathin sensing nodes can be realized with thicknesses of less than 100 µm. Additionally, good linearity and high sensitivity (~14 mV/V/bar) have been achieved. Since the MEMS sensor process has also been well integrated with a flexible polymer substrate process, the entire sensor network can be fabricated in a time-efficient and cost-effective manner. Moreover, an accurate pressure contour can be obtained from the sensor network. Therefore, this absolute pressure sensor network holds significant promise for smart vehicle applications, especially for unmanned aerial vehicles. PMID:26729134

  5. Federal Student Assistance and Categorical Programs.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fadil, Virginia, Comp.; Thrift, Julianne Still, Comp.

    A collection of descriptions and funding histories of federal student assistance and categorical programs of concern to independent institutions is presented. Designed to be used as a quick-reference guide for public policy deliberations, this is the first report produced by the NAICU Office of Research for the State-National Information Network…

  6. Moral absolutism and ectopic pregnancy.

    PubMed

    Kaczor, C

    2001-02-01

    If one accepts a version of absolutism that excludes the intentional killing of any innocent human person from conception to natural death, ectopic pregnancy poses vexing difficulties. Given that the embryonic life almost certainly will die anyway, how can one retain one's moral principle and yet adequately respond to a situation that gravely threatens the life of the mother and her future fertility? The four options of treatment most often discussed in the literature are non-intervention, salpingectomy (removal of tube with embryo), salpingostomy (removal of embryo alone), and use of methotrexate (MXT). In this essay, I review these four options and introduce a fifth (the milking technique). In order to assess these options in terms of the absolutism mentioned, it will also be necessary to discuss various accounts of the intention/foresight distinction. I conclude that salpingectomy, salpingostomy, and the milking technique are compatible with absolutist presuppositions, but not the use of methotrexate.

  7. Extent of agreement between the body fluid model of Sysmex XN-20 and the manual microscopy method.

    PubMed

    Huang, Wei-Hua; Lu, Lin-Peng; Wu, Kang; Guo, Fang-Yu; Guo, Jie; Yu, Jing-Long; Zhou, Dao-Yin; Sun, Yi; Deng, An-Mei

    2017-09-01

    Although the correlations concerning cellular component analysis between the Sysmex XN-20 body fluid (BF) model and manual microscopy have been investigated by several studies, the extent of agreement between these two methods has not been investigated. A total of 90 BF samples were prospectively collected and analyzed using the Sysmex XN-20 BF model and microscopy. The extent of agreement between these two methods was evaluated using the Bland-Altman approach. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was employed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of high-fluorescence (HF) BF cells for malignant diseases. The agreements of white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), and percentages of neutrophils, lymphocytes, and monocytes between the Sysmex XN-20 BF model and manual microscopy were imperfect. The areas under the ROC curves for absolute and relative HF cells were 0.67 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.56-0.78) and 0.60 (95% CI: 0.48-0.72), respectively. Due to the Sysmex XN-20 BF model's imperfect agreement with manual microscopy and its weak diagnostic accuracy for malignant diseases, the current evidence does not support replacing manual microscopy with this model in clinical practice. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Absolute irradiance of the Moon for on-orbit calibration

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Stone, T.C.; Kieffer, H.H.; ,

    2002-01-01

    The recognized need for on-orbit calibration of remote sensing imaging instruments drives the ROLO project effort to characterize the Moon for use as an absolute radiance source. For over 5 years the ground-based ROLO telescopes have acquired spatially-resolved lunar images in 23 VNIR (Moon diameter ???500 pixels) and 9 SWIR (???250 pixels) passbands at phase angles within ??90 degrees. A numerical model for lunar irradiance has been developed which fits hundreds of ROLO images in each band, corrected for atmospheric extinction and calibrated to absolute radiance, then integrated to irradiance. The band-coupled extinction algorithm uses absorption spectra of several gases and aerosols derived from MODTRAN to fit time-dependent component abundances to nightly observations of standard stars. The absolute radiance scale is based upon independent telescopic measurements of the star Vega. The fitting process yields uncertainties in lunar relative irradiance over small ranges of phase angle and the full range of lunar libration well under 0.5%. A larger source of uncertainty enters in the absolute solar spectral irradiance, especially in the SWIR, where solar models disagree by up to 6%. Results of ROLO model direct comparisons to spacecraft observations demonstrate the ability of the technique to track sensor responsivity drifts to sub-percent precision. Intercomparisons among instruments provide key insights into both calibration issues and the absolute scale for lunar irradiance.

  9. High-resolution absolute position detection using a multiple grating

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schilling, Ulrich; Drabarek, Pawel; Kuehnle, Goetz; Tiziani, Hans J.

    1996-08-01

    To control electro-mechanical engines, high-resolution linear and rotary encoders are needed. Interferometric methods (grating interferometers) promise a resolution of a few nanometers, but have an ambiguity range of some microns. Incremental encoders increase the absolute measurement range by counting the signal periods starting from a defined initial point. In many applications, however, it is not possible to move to this initial point, so that absolute encoders have to be used. Absolute encoders generally have a scale with two or more tracks placed next to each other. Therefore, they use a two-dimensional grating structure to measure a one-dimensional position. We present a new method, which uses a one-dimensional structure to determine the position in one dimension. It is based on a grating with a large grating period up to some millimeters, having the same diffraction efficiency in several predefined diffraction orders (multiple grating). By combining the phase signals of the different diffraction orders, it is possible to establish the position in an absolute range of the grating period with a resolution like incremental grating interferometers. The principal functionality was demonstrated by applying the multiple grating in a heterodyne grating interferometer. The heterodyne frequency was generated by a frequency modulated laser in an unbalanced interferometer. In experimental measurements an absolute range of 8 mm was obtained while achieving a resolution of 10 nm.

  10. Experience-Based and On-Line Categorization of Objects in Early Infancy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bornstein, Marc H.; Mash, Clay

    2010-01-01

    What processes do infants employ in categorizing? Infants might categorize on line as they encounter category-related entities; alternatively, infants might depend on prior experience with entities in formulating categories. These alternatives were tested in forty-four 5-month-olds. Infants who were familiarized in the laboratory with a category…

  11. Interpretable Categorization of Heterogeneous Time Series Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lee, Ritchie; Kochenderfer, Mykel J.; Mengshoel, Ole J.; Silbermann, Joshua

    2017-01-01

    We analyze data from simulated aircraft encounters to validate and inform the development of a prototype aircraft collision avoidance system. The high-dimensional and heterogeneous time series dataset is analyzed to discover properties of near mid-air collisions (NMACs) and categorize the NMAC encounters. Domain experts use these properties to better organize and understand NMAC occurrences. Existing solutions either are not capable of handling high-dimensional and heterogeneous time series datasets or do not provide explanations that are interpretable by a domain expert. The latter is critical to the acceptance and deployment of safety-critical systems. To address this gap, we propose grammar-based decision trees along with a learning algorithm. Our approach extends decision trees with a grammar framework for classifying heterogeneous time series data. A context-free grammar is used to derive decision expressions that are interpretable, application-specific, and support heterogeneous data types. In addition to classification, we show how grammar-based decision trees can also be used for categorization, which is a combination of clustering and generating interpretable explanations for each cluster. We apply grammar-based decision trees to a simulated aircraft encounter dataset and evaluate the performance of four variants of our learning algorithm. The best algorithm is used to analyze and categorize near mid-air collisions in the aircraft encounter dataset. We describe each discovered category in detail and discuss its relevance to aircraft collision avoidance.

  12. What is a Planet?-Categorizing Objects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lebofsky, Larry A.

    2009-05-01

    Observing, communicating, comparing, organizing, relating, and inferring are fundamental to scientific thinking processes. Teaching this way, rather than just teaching "the facts,” is also important for developing the critical thinking skills of our future generations of a scientifically literate society. Since the IAU started its discussions on a definition of a planet in 2005, I have been presenting a hands-on activity called "What is a Planet?” at the annual meeting of the DPS. This activity has been designed for short (20 minute) to long (two hour) presentations depending on the venue and the audience. This has been presented to elementary-grade students, middle school students, K-12 teachers, and scientists and educators. Depending on the amount of time available, I show students how people, as well as scientists group or categorize things such as plants and animals, cats and dog, etc. The students are then broken up into groups. Science is usually done by teams of scientists working together, not as individuals working alone. I assess their prior knowledge (how many planets, their names, their properties, etc.). They also do a hands-on group activity where they group/categorize ten spheres by their properties (size, color, etc.). Finally we discuss the process by which the IAU came up with a definition of a planet. I then discuss with them why some scientists, including myself, do not agree with this definition: as with the spheres, there may be more than one "right” answer. There are many ways to look at the properties of objects in the Solar System and group them into planets and other designations. This is the way that science should be done, to look at all of the properties of an object and categorize them in a meaningful way. There may be more than one right answer.

  13. Absolute cascade-free cross-sections for the 2S to 2P transition in Zn(+) using electron-energy-loss and merged-beams methods

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Smith, Steven J.; Man, K.-F.; Chutjian, A.; Mawhorter, R. J.; Williams, I. D.

    1991-01-01

    Absolute cascade-free excitation cross-sections in an ion have been measured for the resonance 2S to 2P transition in Zn(+) using electron-energy-loss and merged electron-ion beams methods. Measurements were carried out at electron energies of below threshold to 6 times threshold. Comparisons are made with 2-, 5-, and 15-state close-coupling and distorted-wave theories. There is good agreement between experiment and the 15-state close-coupling cross-sections over the energy range of the calculations.

  14. Absolute Distance Measurement with the MSTAR Sensor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lay, Oliver P.; Dubovitsky, Serge; Peters, Robert; Burger, Johan; Ahn, Seh-Won; Steier, William H.; Fetterman, Harrold R.; Chang, Yian

    2003-01-01

    The MSTAR sensor (Modulation Sideband Technology for Absolute Ranging) is a new system for measuring absolute distance, capable of resolving the integer cycle ambiguity of standard interferometers, and making it possible to measure distance with sub-nanometer accuracy. The sensor uses a single laser in conjunction with fast phase modulators and low frequency detectors. We describe the design of the system - the principle of operation, the metrology source, beamlaunching optics, and signal processing - and show results for target distances up to 1 meter. We then demonstrate how the system can be scaled to kilometer-scale distances.

  15. Categorical Data Analysis Using a Skewed Weibull Regression Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Caron, Renault; Sinha, Debajyoti; Dey, Dipak; Polpo, Adriano

    2018-03-01

    In this paper, we present a Weibull link (skewed) model for categorical response data arising from binomial as well as multinomial model. We show that, for such types of categorical data, the most commonly used models (logit, probit and complementary log-log) can be obtained as limiting cases. We further compare the proposed model with some other asymmetrical models. The Bayesian as well as frequentist estimation procedures for binomial and multinomial data responses are presented in details. The analysis of two data sets to show the efficiency of the proposed model is performed.

  16. Absolute spectrum and charge ratio of cosmic ray muons in the energy region from 0.2 GeV to 100 GeV at 600 m above sea level

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    De Pascale, M. P.; Morselli, A.; Picozza, P.; Golden, R. L.; Grimani, C.; Kimbell, B. L.; Stephens, S. A.; Stochaj, S. J.; Webber, W. R.; Basini, G.

    1993-01-01

    We have determined the momentum spectrum and charge ratio of muons in the region from 250 MeV/c to 100 GeV/c using a superconducting magnetic spectrometer. The absolute differential spectrum of muons obtained in this experiment at 600 m above sea level is in good agreement with the previous measurements at sea level. The differential spectrum can be represented by a power law with a varying index, which is consistent with zero below 450 MeV/c and steepens to a value of -2.7 +/- 0.1 between 20 and 100 GeV/c. The integral f1ux of muons measured in this experiment span a very large range of momentum and is in excellent agreement with the earlier results. The positive to negative muon ratio appears to be constant in the entire momentum range covered in this experiment within the errors and the mean value is 1.220 +/- 0.044. The absolute momentum spectrum and the charge ratio measured in this experiment are also consistent with the theoretical expectations. This is the only experiment which covers a wide range of nearly three decades in momentum from a very low momentum.

  17. Absolute reactivity calibration of accelerator-driven systems after RACE-T experiments

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jammes, C. C.; Imel, G. R.; Geslot, B.

    2006-07-01

    The RACE-T experiments that were held in november 2005 in the ENEA-Casaccia research center near Rome allowed us to improve our knowledge of the experimental techniques for absolute reactivity calibration at either startup or shutdown phases of accelerator-driven systems. Various experimental techniques for assessing a subcritical level were inter-compared through three different subcritical configurations SC0, SC2 and SC3, about -0.5, -3 and -6 dollars, respectively. The area-ratio method based of the use of a pulsed neutron source appears as the most performing. When the reactivity estimate is expressed in dollar unit, the uncertainties obtained with the area-ratio method were lessmore » than 1% for any subcritical configuration. The sensitivity to measurement location was about slightly more than 1% and always less than 4%. Finally, it is noteworthy that the source jerk technique using a transient caused by the pulsed neutron source shutdown provides results in good agreement with those obtained from the area-ratio technique. (authors)« less

  18. Absolute and Relative Socioeconomic Health Inequalities across Age Groups

    PubMed Central

    van Zon, Sander K. R.; Bültmann, Ute; Mendes de Leon, Carlos F.; Reijneveld, Sijmen A.

    2015-01-01

    Background The magnitude of socioeconomic health inequalities differs across age groups. It is less clear whether socioeconomic health inequalities differ across age groups by other factors that are known to affect the relation between socioeconomic position and health, like the indicator of socioeconomic position, the health outcome, gender, and as to whether socioeconomic health inequalities are measured in absolute or in relative terms. The aim is to investigate whether absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differ across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome and gender. Methods The study sample was derived from the baseline measurement of the LifeLines Cohort Study and consisted of 95,432 participants. Socioeconomic position was measured as educational level and household income. Physical and mental health were measured with the RAND-36. Age concerned eleven 5-years age groups. Absolute inequalities were examined by comparing means. Relative inequalities were examined by comparing Gini-coefficients. Analyses were performed for both health outcomes by both educational level and household income. Analyses were performed for all age groups, and stratified by gender. Results Absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differed across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome, and gender. Absolute inequalities were most pronounced for mental health by household income. They were larger in younger than older age groups. Relative inequalities were most pronounced for physical health by educational level. Gini-coefficients were largest in young age groups and smallest in older age groups. Conclusions Absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differed cross-sectionally across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome and gender. Researchers should critically consider the implications of choosing a specific age group, in addition to the indicator of

  19. Some things ought never be done: moral absolutes in clinical ethics.

    PubMed

    Pellegrino, Edmund D

    2005-01-01

    Moral absolutes have little or no moral standing in our morally diverse modern society. Moral relativism is far more palatable for most ethicists and to the public at large. Yet, when pressed, every moral relativist will finally admit that there are some things which ought never be done. It is the rarest of moral relativists that will take rape, murder, theft, child sacrifice as morally neutral choices. In general ethics, the list of those things that must never be done will vary from person to person. In clinical ethics, however, the nature of the physician-patient relationship is such that certain moral absolutes are essential to the attainment of the good of the patient - the end of the relationship itself. These are all derivatives of the first moral absolute of all morality: Do good and avoid evil. In the clinical encounter, this absolute entails several subsidiary absolutes - act for the good of the patient, do not kill, keep promises, protect the dignity of the patient, do not lie, avoid complicity with evil. Each absolute is intrinsic to the healing and helping ends of the clinical encounter.

  20. Absolute and relative educational inequalities in depression in Europe.

    PubMed

    Dudal, Pieter; Bracke, Piet

    2016-09-01

    To investigate (1) the size of absolute and relative educational inequalities in depression, (2) their variation between European countries, and (3) their relationship with underlying prevalence rates. Analyses are based on the European Social Survey, rounds three and six (N = 57,419). Depression is measured using the shortened Centre of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Education is coded by use of the International Standard Classification of Education. Country-specific logistic regressions are applied. Results point to an elevated risk of depressive symptoms among the lower educated. The cross-national patterns differ between absolute and relative measurements. For men, large relative inequalities are found for countries including Denmark and Sweden, but are accompanied by small absolute inequalities. For women, large relative and absolute inequalities are found in Belgium, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Results point to an empirical association between inequalities and the underlying prevalence rates. However, the strength of the association is only moderate. This research stresses the importance of including both measurements for comparative research and suggests the inclusion of the level of population health in research into inequalities in health.

  1. Same-gender distractors are not so easy to reject: ERP evidence of gender categorization.

    PubMed

    Rakić, Tamara; Steffens, Melanie C; Wiese, Holger

    2018-05-07

    Social categorization appears to be an automatic process that occurs during person perception. Understanding social categorization better is important because mere categorization can lead to stereotype activation and, in turn, to discrimination. In the present study we used a novel approach to examine event-related potentials (ERPs) of gender categorization in the "Who said what?" memory paradigm, thus allowing for a more in-depth understanding of the specific mechanisms underlying identity versus categorization processing. After observing video clips showing a "discussion" among female and male targets, participants were shown individual statements, each accompanied by one of the discussants' faces. While we measured ERPs, participants had to decide whether or not a given statement had previously been made by the person with the accompanying face. In same-person trials, statements were paired with the correct person, whereas in the distractor trials, either a same-gender or a different-gender distractor was shown. As expected, participants were able to reject different-gender distractors faster than same-gender distractors, and they were more likely to falsely choose yes for a same-gender than for a different-gender distractor. Both findings indicate gender-based categorization. ERPs, analyzed in a 300- to 400-ms time window at occipito-temporal channels, indicated more negative amplitudes for yes responses both for the same person and for same-gender distractors, relative to different-gender distractors. Overall, these results show gender-based categorization even when the task was to assess the identifying information in a gender-neutral context. These findings are interpreted as showing that gender categorization occurs automatically during person perception, but later than race- or age-based categorization.

  2. Parent-Child Agreement on Parent-to-Child Maltreatment.

    PubMed

    Compier-de Block, Laura H C G; Alink, Lenneke R A; Linting, Mariëlle; van den Berg, Lisa J M; Elzinga, Bernet M; Voorthuis, Alexandra; Tollenaar, Marieke S; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J

    2017-01-01

    Parent-child agreement on child maltreatment was examined in a multigenerational study. Questionnaires on perpetrated and experienced child maltreatment were completed by 138 parent-child pairs. Multi-level analyses were conducted to explore whether parents and children agreed about levels of parent-to-child maltreatment (convergence), and to examine whether parents and children reported equal levels of child maltreatment (absolute differences). Direct and moderating effects of age and gender were examined as potential factors explaining differences between parent and child report. The associations between parent- and child-reported maltreatment were significant for all subtypes, but the strength of the associations was low to moderate. Moreover, children reported more parent-to-child neglect than parents did. Older participants reported more experienced maltreatment than younger participants, without evidence for differences in actual exposure. These findings support the value of multi-informant assessment of child maltreatment to improve accuracy, but also reveal the divergent perspectives of parents and children on child maltreatment.

  3. Bifactor Structure for the Categorical Chinese Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.

    PubMed

    Xu, Menglin; Leung, Shing-On

    2016-10-11

    Recently, the bifactor model was suggested for the latent structure of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). The present paper investigates (i) the differences among bifactor, bifactor negative and other models; (ii) the effects of treating data as both categorical vs continuous; (iii) whether a problematic item in the Chinese RSES should be removed; and (iv) whether the final scoring would be affected. With a sample of 1.734 grade 4-6 school pupils in Hong Kong, we used BIC differences in addition to the usual model fit indices, and found that there was strong evidence for using the bifactor model (RMSEA = .052, 90% CI [.043, .062], CFI = .992, TLI = .984 for 9-item RSES categorical). Little difference is found between treating data as categorical or continuous for fit indices, but the factor loading patterns are better in categorical case. Keeping a problematic item has little effect on fit indices, but would lead to unexpected negative loading. The ranking of loadings within positive and negative items across different conditions are the same, which has important effects on scoring. Loadings in the method effects in the bifactor models are all positive (p < .001), which is different from previous research. All models show similar results on scoring, and support the usual simple sum score in most practice.

  4. Categorization of extremely brief auditory stimuli: domain-specific or domain-general processes?

    PubMed

    Bigand, Emmanuel; Delbé, Charles; Gérard, Yannick; Tillmann, Barbara

    2011-01-01

    The present study investigated the minimum amount of auditory stimulation that allows differentiation of spoken voices, instrumental music, and environmental sounds. Three new findings were reported. 1) All stimuli were categorized above chance level with 50 ms-segments. 2) When a peak-level normalization was applied, music and voices started to be accurately categorized with 20 ms-segments. When the root-mean-square (RMS) energy of the stimuli was equalized, voice stimuli were better recognized than music and environmental sounds. 3) Further psychoacoustical analyses suggest that the categorization of extremely brief auditory stimuli depends on the variability of their spectral envelope in the used set. These last two findings challenge the interpretation of the voice superiority effect reported in previously published studies and propose a more parsimonious interpretation in terms of an emerging property of auditory categorization processes.

  5. Relativistic Absolutism in Moral Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vogt, W. Paul

    1982-01-01

    Discusses Emile Durkheim's "Moral Education: A Study in the Theory and Application of the Sociology of Education," which holds that morally healthy societies may vary in culture and organization but must possess absolute rules of moral behavior. Compares this moral theory with current theory and practice of American educators. (MJL)

  6. A New Distance Metric for Unsupervised Learning of Categorical Data.

    PubMed

    Jia, Hong; Cheung, Yiu-Ming; Liu, Jiming

    2016-05-01

    Distance metric is the basis of many learning algorithms, and its effectiveness usually has a significant influence on the learning results. In general, measuring distance for numerical data is a tractable task, but it could be a nontrivial problem for categorical data sets. This paper, therefore, presents a new distance metric for categorical data based on the characteristics of categorical values. In particular, the distance between two values from one attribute measured by this metric is determined by both the frequency probabilities of these two values and the values of other attributes that have high interdependence with the calculated one. Dynamic attribute weight is further designed to adjust the contribution of each attribute-distance to the distance between the whole data objects. Promising experimental results on different real data sets have shown the effectiveness of the proposed distance metric.

  7. Measuring agreement between cervical vertebrae and hand-wrist maturation in determining skeletal age: reassessing the theory in patients with short stature.

    PubMed

    Danaei, Shahla Momeni; Karamifar, Amirali; Sardarian, Ahmadreza; Shahidi, Shoaleh; Karamifar, Hamdollah; Alipour, Abbas; Ghodsi Boushehri, Sahar

    2014-09-01

    The objective of this study was to determine the degree of agreement between hand-wrist radiography and cervical vertebral maturation analysis in patients diagnosed with short stature. A cross-sectional study was designed; 178 patients (90 girls, 88 boys) diagnosed with short stature and seeking treatment were selected. The patients were divided into 2 groups (76 with familial short stature, 102 with nonfamilial short stature). Hand-wrist and lateral cephalometric radiographs were obtained from the patients. The hand-wrist radiographs were analyzed using the Fishman method, and the lateral cephalometric views were categorized according to the method of Hassel and Farman. The degree of agreement between the 2 methods of predicting skeletal maturation was measured by calculating the contingency coefficient and the weighted kappa statistic. A high degree of agreement was observed between the 2 methods of analyzing skeletal maturation. It was also observed that agreement was higher in girls in the familial short-stature group, whereas boys had higher agreement in the nonfamilial short-stature group. Cervical vertebral maturation can be a valuable substitute for hand-wrist radiography in patients with short stature. Copyright © 2014 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Perceptual sensitivity to spectral properties of earlier sounds during speech categorization.

    PubMed

    Stilp, Christian E; Assgari, Ashley A

    2018-02-28

    Speech perception is heavily influenced by surrounding sounds. When spectral properties differ between earlier (context) and later (target) sounds, this can produce spectral contrast effects (SCEs) that bias perception of later sounds. For example, when context sounds have more energy in low-F 1 frequency regions, listeners report more high-F 1 responses to a target vowel, and vice versa. SCEs have been reported using various approaches for a wide range of stimuli, but most often, large spectral peaks were added to the context to bias speech categorization. This obscures the lower limit of perceptual sensitivity to spectral properties of earlier sounds, i.e., when SCEs begin to bias speech categorization. Listeners categorized vowels (/ɪ/-/ɛ/, Experiment 1) or consonants (/d/-/g/, Experiment 2) following a context sentence with little spectral amplification (+1 to +4 dB) in frequency regions known to produce SCEs. In both experiments, +3 and +4 dB amplification in key frequency regions of the context produced SCEs, but lesser amplification was insufficient to bias performance. This establishes a lower limit of perceptual sensitivity where spectral differences across sounds can bias subsequent speech categorization. These results are consistent with proposed adaptation-based mechanisms that potentially underlie SCEs in auditory perception. Recent sounds can change what speech sounds we hear later. This can occur when the average frequency composition of earlier sounds differs from that of later sounds, biasing how they are perceived. These "spectral contrast effects" are widely observed when sounds' frequency compositions differ substantially. We reveal the lower limit of these effects, as +3 dB amplification of key frequency regions in earlier sounds was enough to bias categorization of the following vowel or consonant sound. Speech categorization being biased by very small spectral differences across sounds suggests that spectral contrast effects occur

  9. The Education of the Categorical Imperative

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnston, James Scott

    2006-01-01

    In this article, I examine anew the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant and its contributions to educational theory. I make four claims. First, that Kant should be read as having the Categorical Imperative develop out of subjective maxims. Second, that moral self-perfection is the aim of moral education. Third, that moral self-perfection develops by…

  10. Memory, reasoning, and categorization: parallels and common mechanisms

    PubMed Central

    Hayes, Brett K.; Heit, Evan; Rotello, Caren M.

    2014-01-01

    Traditionally, memory, reasoning, and categorization have been treated as separate components of human cognition. We challenge this distinction, arguing that there is broad scope for crossover between the methods and theories developed for each task. The links between memory and reasoning are illustrated in a review of two lines of research. The first takes theoretical ideas (two-process accounts) and methodological tools (signal detection analysis, receiver operating characteristic curves) from memory research and applies them to important issues in reasoning research: relations between induction and deduction, and the belief bias effect. The second line of research introduces a task in which subjects make either memory or reasoning judgments for the same set of stimuli. Other than broader generalization for reasoning than memory, the results were similar for the two tasks, across a variety of experimental stimuli and manipulations. It was possible to simultaneously explain performance on both tasks within a single cognitive architecture, based on exemplar-based comparisons of similarity. The final sections explore evidence for empirical and processing links between inductive reasoning and categorization and between categorization and recognition. An important implication is that progress in all three of these fields will be expedited by further investigation of the many commonalities between these tasks. PMID:24987380

  11. Memory, reasoning, and categorization: parallels and common mechanisms.

    PubMed

    Hayes, Brett K; Heit, Evan; Rotello, Caren M

    2014-01-01

    Traditionally, memory, reasoning, and categorization have been treated as separate components of human cognition. We challenge this distinction, arguing that there is broad scope for crossover between the methods and theories developed for each task. The links between memory and reasoning are illustrated in a review of two lines of research. The first takes theoretical ideas (two-process accounts) and methodological tools (signal detection analysis, receiver operating characteristic curves) from memory research and applies them to important issues in reasoning research: relations between induction and deduction, and the belief bias effect. The second line of research introduces a task in which subjects make either memory or reasoning judgments for the same set of stimuli. Other than broader generalization for reasoning than memory, the results were similar for the two tasks, across a variety of experimental stimuli and manipulations. It was possible to simultaneously explain performance on both tasks within a single cognitive architecture, based on exemplar-based comparisons of similarity. The final sections explore evidence for empirical and processing links between inductive reasoning and categorization and between categorization and recognition. An important implication is that progress in all three of these fields will be expedited by further investigation of the many commonalities between these tasks.

  12. Determining absolute protein numbers by quantitative fluorescence microscopy.

    PubMed

    Verdaasdonk, Jolien Suzanne; Lawrimore, Josh; Bloom, Kerry

    2014-01-01

    Biological questions are increasingly being addressed using a wide range of quantitative analytical tools to examine protein complex composition. Knowledge of the absolute number of proteins present provides insights into organization, function, and maintenance and is used in mathematical modeling of complex cellular dynamics. In this chapter, we outline and describe three microscopy-based methods for determining absolute protein numbers--fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, stepwise photobleaching, and ratiometric comparison of fluorescence intensity to known standards. In addition, we discuss the various fluorescently labeled proteins that have been used as standards for both stepwise photobleaching and ratiometric comparison analysis. A detailed procedure for determining absolute protein number by ratiometric comparison is outlined in the second half of this chapter. Counting proteins by quantitative microscopy is a relatively simple yet very powerful analytical tool that will increase our understanding of protein complex composition. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Multivariate neural biomarkers of emotional states are categorically distinct.

    PubMed

    Kragel, Philip A; LaBar, Kevin S

    2015-11-01

    Understanding how emotions are represented neurally is a central aim of affective neuroscience. Despite decades of neuroimaging efforts addressing this question, it remains unclear whether emotions are represented as distinct entities, as predicted by categorical theories, or are constructed from a smaller set of underlying factors, as predicted by dimensional accounts. Here, we capitalize on multivariate statistical approaches and computational modeling to directly evaluate these theoretical perspectives. We elicited discrete emotional states using music and films during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Distinct patterns of neural activation predicted the emotion category of stimuli and tracked subjective experience. Bayesian model comparison revealed that combining dimensional and categorical models of emotion best characterized the information content of activation patterns. Surprisingly, categorical and dimensional aspects of emotion experience captured unique and opposing sources of neural information. These results indicate that diverse emotional states are poorly differentiated by simple models of valence and arousal, and that activity within separable neural systems can be mapped to unique emotion categories. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  14. Relative and absolute reliability of measures of linoleic acid-derived oxylipins in human plasma.

    PubMed

    Gouveia-Figueira, Sandra; Bosson, Jenny A; Unosson, Jon; Behndig, Annelie F; Nording, Malin L; Fowler, Christopher J

    2015-09-01

    Modern analytical techniques allow for the measurement of oxylipins derived from linoleic acid in biological samples. Most validatory work has concerned extraction techniques, repeated analysis of aliquots from the same biological sample, and the influence of external factors such as diet and heparin treatment upon their levels, whereas less is known about the relative and absolute reliability of measurements undertaken on different days. A cohort of nineteen healthy males were used, where samples were taken at the same time of day on two occasions, at least 7 days apart. Relative reliability was assessed using Lin's concordance correlation coefficients (CCC) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Absolute reliability was assessed by Bland-Altman analyses. Nine linoleic acid oxylipins were investigated. ICC and CCC values ranged from acceptable (0.56 [13-HODE]) to poor (near zero [9(10)- and 12(13)-EpOME]). Bland-Altman limits of agreement were in general quite wide, ranging from ±0.5 (12,13-DiHOME) to ±2 (9(10)-EpOME; log10 scale). It is concluded that relative reliability of linoleic acid-derived oxylipins varies between lipids with compounds such as the HODEs showing better relative reliability than compounds such as the EpOMEs. These differences should be kept in mind when designing and interpreting experiments correlating plasma levels of these lipids with factors such as age, body mass index, rating scales etc. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Validation of the modified 4-tiered categorization system through comparison with the 5-tiered categorization system of the 2015 American Thyroid Association guidelines for classifying small thyroid nodules on ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Lee, Ji Hye; Han, Kyunghwa; Kim, Eun-Kyung; Moon, Hee Jung; Yoon, Jung Hyun; Park, Vivian Y; Kwak, Jin Young

    2017-11-01

    The purpose of this study was to validate the modified 4-tiered categorization system and to compare stratification of malignancy risk in small thyroid nodules with the 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) management guidelines. From January 2015 to December 2015, 737 thyroid nodules measured ≥ 1 cm and <2 cm were included in this study. Each nodule was assigned a category with the ultrasonographic patterns described by the 2015 ATA guidelines. On univariate analysis, there was no difference of malignancy risk between low suspicion and very low suspicion nodules (P = .584). Therefore, we suggested a modified 4-tiered categorization, which combines very low suspicion and low suspicion nodules into the "revised low suspicion" category. Specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and accuracy were higher with the modified 4-tiered categorization system (P < .001 for all). The modified 4-tiered categorization system allows more efficient management with better diagnostic performance than the 2015 ATA categorization system in small thyroid nodules. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Establishing Ion Ratio Thresholds Based on Absolute Peak Area for Absolute Protein Quantification using Protein Cleavage Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry

    PubMed Central

    Loziuk, Philip L.; Sederoff, Ronald R.; Chiang, Vincent L.; Muddiman, David C.

    2014-01-01

    Quantitative mass spectrometry has become central to the field of proteomics and metabolomics. Selected reaction monitoring is a widely used method for the absolute quantification of proteins and metabolites. This method renders high specificity using several product ions measured simultaneously. With growing interest in quantification of molecular species in complex biological samples, confident identification and quantitation has been of particular concern. A method to confirm purity or contamination of product ion spectra has become necessary for achieving accurate and precise quantification. Ion abundance ratio assessments were introduced to alleviate some of these issues. Ion abundance ratios are based on the consistent relative abundance (RA) of specific product ions with respect to the total abundance of all product ions. To date, no standardized method of implementing ion abundance ratios has been established. Thresholds by which product ion contamination is confirmed vary widely and are often arbitrary. This study sought to establish criteria by which the relative abundance of product ions can be evaluated in an absolute quantification experiment. These findings suggest that evaluation of the absolute ion abundance for any given transition is necessary in order to effectively implement RA thresholds. Overall, the variation of the RA value was observed to be relatively constant beyond an absolute threshold ion abundance. Finally, these RA values were observed to fluctuate significantly over a 3 year period, suggesting that these values should be assessed as close as possible to the time at which data is collected for quantification. PMID:25154770

  17. Hierarchical Rhetorical Sentence Categorization for Scientific Papers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rachman, G. H.; Khodra, M. L.; Widyantoro, D. H.

    2018-03-01

    Important information in scientific papers can be composed of rhetorical sentences that is structured from certain categories. To get this information, text categorization should be conducted. Actually, some works in this task have been completed by employing word frequency, semantic similarity words, hierarchical classification, and the others. Therefore, this paper aims to present the rhetorical sentence categorization from scientific paper by employing TF-IDF and Word2Vec to capture word frequency and semantic similarity words and employing hierarchical classification. Every experiment is tested in two classifiers, namely Naïve Bayes and SVM Linear. This paper shows that hierarchical classifier is better than flat classifier employing either TF-IDF or Word2Vec, although it increases only almost 2% from 27.82% when using flat classifier until 29.61% when using hierarchical classifier. It shows also different learning model for child-category can be built by hierarchical classifier.

  18. Essential Oils, Part VI: Sandalwood Oil, Ylang-Ylang Oil, and Jasmine Absolute.

    PubMed

    de Groot, Anton C; Schmidt, Erich

    In this article, some aspects of sandalwood oil, ylang-ylang oil, and jasmine absolute are discussed including their botanical origin, uses of the plants and the oils and absolute, chemical composition, contact allergy to and allergic contact dermatitis from these essential oils and absolute, and their causative allergenic ingredients.

  19. USE OF LETHALITY DATA DURING CATEGORICAL REGRESSION MODELING OF ACUTE REFERENCE EXPOSURES

    EPA Science Inventory

    Categorical regression is being considered by the U.S. EPA as an additional tool for derivation of acute reference exposures (AREs) to be used for human health risk assessment for exposure to inhaled chemicals. Categorical regression is used to calculate probability-response fun...

  20. Relationships between Categorical Perception of Phonemes, Phoneme Awareness, and Visual Attention Span in Developmental Dyslexia.

    PubMed

    Zoubrinetzky, Rachel; Collet, Gregory; Serniclaes, Willy; Nguyen-Morel, Marie-Ange; Valdois, Sylviane

    2016-01-01

    We tested the hypothesis that the categorical perception deficit of speech sounds in developmental dyslexia is related to phoneme awareness skills, whereas a visual attention (VA) span deficit constitutes an independent deficit. Phoneme awareness tasks, VA span tasks and categorical perception tasks of phoneme identification and discrimination using a d/t voicing continuum were administered to 63 dyslexic children and 63 control children matched on chronological age. Results showed significant differences in categorical perception between the dyslexic and control children. Significant correlations were found between categorical perception skills, phoneme awareness and reading. Although VA span correlated with reading, no significant correlations were found between either categorical perception or phoneme awareness and VA span. Mediation analyses performed on the whole dyslexic sample suggested that the effect of categorical perception on reading might be mediated by phoneme awareness. This relationship was independent of the participants' VA span abilities. Two groups of dyslexic children with a single phoneme awareness or a single VA span deficit were then identified. The phonologically impaired group showed lower categorical perception skills than the control group but categorical perception was similar in the VA span impaired dyslexic and control children. The overall findings suggest that the link between categorical perception, phoneme awareness and reading is independent from VA span skills. These findings provide new insights on the heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia. They suggest that phonological processes and VA span independently affect reading acquisition.

  1. Relationships between Categorical Perception of Phonemes, Phoneme Awareness, and Visual Attention Span in Developmental Dyslexia

    PubMed Central

    Zoubrinetzky, Rachel; Collet, Gregory; Serniclaes, Willy; Nguyen-Morel, Marie-Ange; Valdois, Sylviane

    2016-01-01

    We tested the hypothesis that the categorical perception deficit of speech sounds in developmental dyslexia is related to phoneme awareness skills, whereas a visual attention (VA) span deficit constitutes an independent deficit. Phoneme awareness tasks, VA span tasks and categorical perception tasks of phoneme identification and discrimination using a d/t voicing continuum were administered to 63 dyslexic children and 63 control children matched on chronological age. Results showed significant differences in categorical perception between the dyslexic and control children. Significant correlations were found between categorical perception skills, phoneme awareness and reading. Although VA span correlated with reading, no significant correlations were found between either categorical perception or phoneme awareness and VA span. Mediation analyses performed on the whole dyslexic sample suggested that the effect of categorical perception on reading might be mediated by phoneme awareness. This relationship was independent of the participants’ VA span abilities. Two groups of dyslexic children with a single phoneme awareness or a single VA span deficit were then identified. The phonologically impaired group showed lower categorical perception skills than the control group but categorical perception was similar in the VA span impaired dyslexic and control children. The overall findings suggest that the link between categorical perception, phoneme awareness and reading is independent from VA span skills. These findings provide new insights on the heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia. They suggest that phonological processes and VA span independently affect reading acquisition. PMID:26950210

  2. Meta-analytical synthesis of regression coefficients under different categorization scheme of continuous covariates.

    PubMed

    Yoneoka, Daisuke; Henmi, Masayuki

    2017-11-30

    Recently, the number of clinical prediction models sharing the same regression task has increased in the medical literature. However, evidence synthesis methodologies that use the results of these regression models have not been sufficiently studied, particularly in meta-analysis settings where only regression coefficients are available. One of the difficulties lies in the differences between the categorization schemes of continuous covariates across different studies. In general, categorization methods using cutoff values are study specific across available models, even if they focus on the same covariates of interest. Differences in the categorization of covariates could lead to serious bias in the estimated regression coefficients and thus in subsequent syntheses. To tackle this issue, we developed synthesis methods for linear regression models with different categorization schemes of covariates. A 2-step approach to aggregate the regression coefficient estimates is proposed. The first step is to estimate the joint distribution of covariates by introducing a latent sampling distribution, which uses one set of individual participant data to estimate the marginal distribution of covariates with categorization. The second step is to use a nonlinear mixed-effects model with correction terms for the bias due to categorization to estimate the overall regression coefficients. Especially in terms of precision, numerical simulations show that our approach outperforms conventional methods, which only use studies with common covariates or ignore the differences between categorization schemes. The method developed in this study is also applied to a series of WHO epidemiologic studies on white blood cell counts. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  3. Absolute Flux Calibration of the IRAC Instrument on the Spitzer Space Telescope Using Hubble Space Telescope Flux Standards

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bohlin, R. C.; Gordon, K. D.; Rieke, G. H.; Ardila, D.; Carey, S.; Deustua, S.; Engelbracht, C.; Ferguson, H. C.; Flanagan, K.; Kalirai, J.; Meixner, M.; Noriega-Crespo, A.; Su, K. Y. L.; Tremblay, P.-E.

    2011-05-01

    The absolute flux calibration of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be based on a set of stars observed by the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. In order to cross-calibrate the two facilities, several A, G, and white dwarf stars are observed with both Spitzer and Hubble and are the prototypes for a set of JWST calibration standards. The flux calibration constants for the four Spitzer IRAC bands 1-4 are derived from these stars and are 2.3%, 1.9%, 2.0%, and 0.5% lower than the official cold-mission IRAC calibration of Reach et al., i.e., in agreement within their estimated errors of ~2%. The causes of these differences lie primarily in the IRAC data reduction and secondarily in the spectral energy distributions of our standard stars. The independent IRAC 8 μm band-4 fluxes of Rieke et al. are about 1.5% ± 2% higher than those of Reach et al. and are also in agreement with our 8 μm result.

  4. Using warnings to reduce categorical false memories in younger and older adults.

    PubMed

    Carmichael, Anna M; Gutchess, Angela H

    2016-07-01

    Warnings about memory errors can reduce their incidence, although past work has largely focused on associative memory errors. The current study sought to explore whether warnings could be tailored to specifically reduce false recall of categorical information in both younger and older populations. Before encoding word pairs designed to induce categorical false memories, half of the younger and older participants were warned to avoid committing these types of memory errors. Older adults who received a warning committed fewer categorical memory errors, as well as other types of semantic memory errors, than those who did not receive a warning. In contrast, young adults' memory errors did not differ for the warning versus no-warning groups. Our findings provide evidence for the effectiveness of warnings at reducing categorical memory errors in older adults, perhaps by supporting source monitoring, reduction in reliance on gist traces, or through effective metacognitive strategies.

  5. Agreement between FRAX scores calculated with and without bone mineral density in women with osteopenia in Turkey.

    PubMed

    Olmez Sarikaya, Nese; Kapar Yavasi, Secil; Tan, Gulten; Satiroglu, Servet; Yildiz, Arife Hilal; Oz, Bengi; Yoleri, Ozlem; Memis, Asuman

    2014-12-01

    This study aimed to analyze the agreement between FRAX scores calculated with and without femoral neck (FN) bone mineral density (BMD) and to investigate the resultant treatment recommendations in women with osteopenia. A cross-sectional review of postmenopausal women who were referred for DXA evaluation was conducted. One hundred twenty-nine postmenopausal women aged 40 years and older with osteopenia [FN T-score between -1 and (-2.5)] were recruited for the study. Absolute agreement between FRAX scores calculated with and without BMD was analyzed by intraclass correlation analysis (ICC). Thresholds recommended by National Osteoporosis Foundation were used for treatment recommendations. Correlation between demographic factors and the difference in BMD+ and BMD- FRAX scores was analyzed by Spearman correlation test. Agreement levels and treatment recommendations were also analyzed in 112/129 patients without previous fracture. Agreement between BMD+ and BMD- MO and hip FRAX scores was good (ICC 0.867) and fair to good (ICC 0.641), respectively. In patients without previous fracture, agreement between MO and hip fracture probabilities was good (ICC = 0.838 and ICC = 0.778, respectively). Treatment recommendations with respect to treatment threshold of ≥3 for hip fracture probabilities were identical in 120/129 (93 %) cases. Difference between BMD+ and BMD- fracture probabilities was correlated with age and FN BMD. In most cases, FRAX without BMD provided the same treatment recommendations as FRAX with BMD in postmenopausal women with osteopenia. Exclusion of patients with previous fracture yielded better agreement levels.

  6. Objective categorization of interferential tear film lipid layer pattern: validation of the technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    García-Resúa, C.; Giráldez, M. J.; Barreira, N.; Penedo, M. G.; Yebra-Pimentel, E.

    2011-05-01

    Purpose: The lipid layer of the tear film limits evaporation during the inter-blink interval and also affects tear stability. This study was designed to validate a new software application designed to characterize the tear film lipid layer through texture and colour pattern recognition. Methods: Using the Tearscope-plus (slit lamp magnification 200X), the lipid layer was examined in 105 healthy young adults and interference photographs acquired with a Topcon DV-3 digital camera. The photographs were classified by the new software and by 2 further observers (observer 1 and observer 2) with experience in examining the eye surface. Results: Strong correlation was detected between the categories determined by the new application, observer 1 and observer 2 (Cramer's V, from 0.81 to 0.87, p<0.001). Best agreement (96.2%) was noted between the new method and observers 1 and 2 for recognizing meshwork patterns, whereas observers 1 and 2 showed greatest correspondence when classifying colour fringe patterns. Conclusions: The new application can objectively categorize LLPs using the Tearscope-plus.

  7. Temporal Dynamics of Microbial Rhodopsin Fluorescence Reports Absolute Membrane Voltage

    PubMed Central

    Hou, Jennifer H.; Venkatachalam, Veena; Cohen, Adam E.

    2014-01-01

    Plasma membrane voltage is a fundamentally important property of a living cell; its value is tightly coupled to membrane transport, the dynamics of transmembrane proteins, and to intercellular communication. Accurate measurement of the membrane voltage could elucidate subtle changes in cellular physiology, but existing genetically encoded fluorescent voltage reporters are better at reporting relative changes than absolute numbers. We developed an Archaerhodopsin-based fluorescent voltage sensor whose time-domain response to a stepwise change in illumination encodes the absolute membrane voltage. We validated this sensor in human embryonic kidney cells. Measurements were robust to variation in imaging parameters and in gene expression levels, and reported voltage with an absolute accuracy of 10 mV. With further improvements in membrane trafficking and signal amplitude, time-domain encoding of absolute voltage could be applied to investigate many important and previously intractable bioelectric phenomena. PMID:24507604

  8. Children's use of comparison and function in novel object categorization.

    PubMed

    Kimura, Katherine; Hunley, Samuel B; Namy, Laura L

    2018-06-01

    Although young children often rely on salient perceptual cues, such as shape, when categorizing novel objects, children eventually shift towards deeper relational reasoning about category membership. This study investigates what information young children use to classify novel instances of familiar categories. Specifically, we investigated two sources of information that have the potential to facilitate the classification of novel exemplars: (1) comparison of familiar category instances, and (2) attention to function information that might direct children's attention to functionally relevant perceptual features. Across two experiments, we found that comparing two perceptually similar category members-particularly when function information was also highlighted-led children to discover non-obvious relational features that supported their categorization of novel category instances. Together, these findings demonstrate that comparison may aid in novel object categorization by heightening the salience of less obvious, yet functionally relevant, relational structures that support conceptual reasoning. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  9. Extracommunicative functions of language: verbal interference causes selective categorization impairments.

    PubMed

    Lupyan, Gary

    2009-08-01

    In addition to its communicative functions, language has been argued to have a variety of extracommunicative functions, as assessed by its causal involvement in putatively nonlinguistic tasks. In the present work, I argue that language may be critically involved in the ability of human adults to categorize objects on a specific dimension (e.g., color) while abstracting over other dimensions (e.g., size). This ability is frequently impaired in aphasic patients. The present work demonstrates that normal participants placed under conditions of verbal interference show a pattern of deficits strikingly similar to that of aphasic patients: impaired taxonomic categorization along perceptual dimensions, and preserved thematic categorization. A control experiment using a visuospatial-interference task failed to find this selective pattern of deficits. The present work has implications for understanding the online role of language in normal cognition and supports the claim that language is causally involved in nonverbal cognition.

  10. 242Pu absolute neutron-capture cross section measurement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buckner, M. Q.; Wu, C. Y.; Henderson, R. A.; Bucher, B.; Chyzh, A.; Bredeweg, T. A.; Baramsai, B.; Couture, A.; Jandel, M.; Mosby, S.; O'Donnell, J. M.; Ullmann, J. L.

    2017-09-01

    The absolute neutron-capture cross section of 242Pu was measured at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center using the Detector for Advanced Neutron-Capture Experiments array along with a compact parallel-plate avalanche counter for fission-fragment detection. During target fabrication, a small amount of 239Pu was added to the active target so that the absolute scale of the 242Pu(n,γ) cross section could be set according to the known 239Pu(n,f) resonance at En,R = 7.83 eV. The relative scale of the 242Pu(n,γ) cross section covers four orders of magnitude for incident neutron energies from thermal to ≈ 40 keV. The cross section reported in ENDF/B-VII.1 for the 242Pu(n,γ) En,R = 2.68 eV resonance was found to be 2.4% lower than the new absolute 242Pu(n,γ) cross section.

  11. Categorization and prioritization of flight deck information

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jonsson, Jon E.; Ricks, Wendell R.

    1993-01-01

    The paper describes an experiment whose objectives were to: (1) make initial inferences about categories into which pilots place information; and (2) empirically determine how pilots mentally represent flight deck information, and how their cognitive processes of categorization and prioritization act upon those representations.

  12. Agreement between children and parents demonstrated that illness-related absenteeism was validly reported by children.

    PubMed

    Denbæk, Anne Maj; Bonnesen, Camilla Thørring; Andersen, Anette; Holstein, Bjørn Evald; Laursen, Bjarne; Due, Pernille; Johansen, Anette

    2016-01-01

    To examine the agreement between children's and parents' reporting of illness-related absenteeism from school and to examine predictors for disagreement between children and parents. A total of 8,438 schoolchildren aged from 5 to 15 years (grade 0-8) and one parent of each child were invited to participate in the Hi Five baseline study. The response rate for children answering a questionnaire was 89% (n = 7,525), and 36% of the parents (n = 3,008) participated in a weekly illness registration study using text messages (short message service) over a period of 22 weeks. Text messages and questionnaire data were linked at the individual level, leaving 2,269 child-parent pairs in the analysis, corresponding to 27% of the eligible sample. The agreement between children's and parents' reports of illness-related absenteeism was good, with high absolute agreement and slight to moderate Ƙ values. Agreement was lowest for 6- to 8-year-olds and highest for 11- to 12-year-olds. Children's reports of illness symptoms and parents' reports of their children's illnesses in the preceding week were strong predictors for children reporting illness-related absenteeism when parents did not. Illness-related absenteeism can be reported by children, and children report higher prevalence of illness-related absenteeism than parents. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Reader variability in breast density estimation from full-field digital mammograms: the effect of image postprocessing on relative and absolute measures.

    PubMed

    Keller, Brad M; Nathan, Diane L; Gavenonis, Sara C; Chen, Jinbo; Conant, Emily F; Kontos, Despina

    2013-05-01

    Mammographic breast density, a strong risk factor for breast cancer, may be measured as either a relative percentage of dense (ie, radiopaque) breast tissue or as an absolute area from either raw (ie, "for processing") or vendor postprocessed (ie, "for presentation") digital mammograms. Given the increasing interest in the incorporation of mammographic density in breast cancer risk assessment, the purpose of this study is to determine the inherent reader variability in breast density assessment from raw and vendor-processed digital mammograms, because inconsistent estimates could to lead to misclassification of an individual woman's risk for breast cancer. Bilateral, mediolateral-oblique view, raw, and processed digital mammograms of 81 women were retrospectively collected for this study (N = 324 images). Mammographic percent density and absolute dense tissue area estimates for each image were obtained from two radiologists using a validated, interactive software tool. The variability of interreader agreement was not found to be affected by the image presentation style (ie, raw or processed, F-test: P > .5). Interreader estimates of relative and absolute breast density are strongly correlated (Pearson r > 0.84, P < .001) but systematically different (t-test, P < .001) between the two readers. Our results show that mammographic density may be assessed with equal reliability from either raw or vendor postprocessed images. Furthermore, our results suggest that the primary source of density variability comes from the subjectivity of the individual reader in assessing the absolute amount of dense tissue present in the breast, indicating the need to use standardized tools to mitigate this effect. Copyright © 2013 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Absolute empirical rate coefficient for the excitation of the 117.6 nm line in C III

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gardner, L. D.; Daw, A. N.; Janzen, P. H.; Atkins, N.; Kohl, J. L.

    2005-05-01

    We have measured the absolute cross sections for electron impact excitation (EIE) of C2+ (2s2p 3P° - 2p2 3P) for energies from below threshold to 17 eV above and derived EIE rate coefficients required for astrophysical applications. The uncertainty in the rate coefficient at a typical solar temperature of formation of C2+ is less than ± 6 %. Ions are produced in a 5 GHz Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) ion source, extracted, formed into a beam, and transported to a collision chamber where they collide with electrons from an electron beam inclined at 45 degrees. The beams are modulated and the radiation from the decay of the excited ions at λ 117.6 nm is detected synchronously using an absolutely calibrated optical system that subtends slightly over π steradians. The fractional population of the C2+ metastable state in the incident ion beam has been determined experimentally to be 0.42 ± 0.03 (1.65 σ). At the reported ± 15 % total experimental uncertainty level (1.65 σ), the measured structure and absolute scale of the cross section are in fairly good agreement with 6-term close-coupling R-matrix calculations and 90-term R-matrix with pseudo-states calculations, although some minor differences are seen just above threshold. As density-sensitive line intensity ratios vary by only about a factor of 5 as the density changes by nearly a factor of 100, even a 30 % uncertainty in the excitation rate can lead to a factor of 3 error in density. This work is supported by NASA Supporting Research and Technology grants NAG5- 9516 and NAG5-12863 in Solar and Heliospheric Physics and by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

  15. [Prognostic value of absolute monocyte count in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia].

    PubMed

    Szerafin, László; Jakó, János; Riskó, Ferenc

    2015-04-01

    The low peripheral absolute lymphocyte and high monocyte count have been reported to correlate with poor clinical outcome in various lymphomas and other cancers. However, a few data known about the prognostic value of absolute monocyte count in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. The aim of the authors was to investigate the impact of absolute monocyte count measured at the time of diagnosis in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia on the time to treatment and overal survival. Between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2012, 223 patients with newly-diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukaemia were included. The rate of patients needing treatment, time to treatment, overal survival and causes of mortality based on Rai stages, CD38, ZAP-70 positivity and absolute monocyte count were analyzed. Therapy was necessary in 21.1%, 57.4%, 88.9%, 88.9% and 100% of patients in Rai stage 0, I, II, III an IV, respectively; in 61.9% and 60.8% of patients exhibiting CD38 and ZAP-70 positivity, respectively; and in 76.9%, 21.2% and 66.2% of patients if the absolute monocyte count was <0.25 G/l, between 0.25-0.75 G/l and >0.75 G/l, respectively. The median time to treatment and the median overal survival were 19.5, 65, and 35.5 months; and 41.5, 65, and 49.5 months according to the three groups of monocyte counts. The relative risk of beginning the therapy was 1.62 (p<0.01) in patients with absolute monocyte count <0.25 G/l or >0.75 G/l, as compared to those with 0.25-0.75 G/l, and the risk of overal survival was 2.41 (p<0.01) in patients with absolute monocyte count lower than 0.25 G/l as compared to those with higher than 0.25 G/l. The relative risks remained significant in Rai 0 patients, too. The leading causes of mortality were infections (41.7%) and the chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (58.3%) in patients with low monocyte count, while tumours (25.9-35.3%) and other events (48.1 and 11.8%) occurred in patients with medium or high monocyte counts. Patients with low and high monocyte

  16. Overdistribution Illusions: Categorical Judgments Produce Them, Confidence Ratings Reduce Them

    PubMed Central

    Brainerd, C. J.; Nakamura, K.; Reyna, V. F.; Holliday, R. E.

    2017-01-01

    Overdistribution is a form of memory distortion in which an event is remembered as belonging to too many episodic states, states that are logically or empirically incompatible with each other. We investigated a response formatting method of suppressing two basic types of overdistribution, disjunction and conjunction illusions, which parallel some classic illusions in the judgment and decision making literature. In this method, subjects respond to memory probes by rating their confidence that test cues belong to specific episodic states (e.g., presented on List 1, presented on List 2), rather than by making the usual categorical judgments about those states. The central prediction, which was derived from the task calibration principle of fuzzy-trace theory, was that confidence ratings should reduce overdistribution by diminishing subjects’ reliance on noncompensatory gist memories. The data of three experiments agreed with that prediction. In Experiment 1, there were reliable disjunction illusions with categorical judgments but not with confidence ratings. In Experiment 2, both response formats produced reliable disjunction illusions, but those for confidence ratings were much smaller than those for categorical judgments. In Experiment 3, there were reliable conjunction illusions with categorical judgments but not with confidence ratings. Apropos of recent controversies over confidence-accuracy correlations in memory, such correlations were positive for hits, negative for correct rejections, and the two types of correlations were of equal magnitude. PMID:28054811

  17. Successful associateship agreements.

    PubMed

    Crafton, B C

    1997-08-01

    When evaluating potential associateship agreements, dentists need to recognize and understand how status, noncompete clauses, scheduling and compensation affect the strength of an associateship agreement. Dentists should not enter an associateship agreement without fully understanding the agreement and its obligations or without the help of an accountant and an attorney.

  18. The Problem of Evaluative Categorization of Human Intelligence in Linguistic World Images

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abisheva, Klara M.; Dossanova, Altynay Zh.; Ismakova, Bibissara S.; Aupova, Gulbagira K.; Ayapbergenov, Bulat K.; Tlegenova, Kulyan A.

    2016-01-01

    The aim of the research is to determine the peculiarities of the evaluative categorization of human intelligence in linguistic world images. The study describes the interdisciplinary approach to studying evaluative categorization, which assumes the use of complex methodology including the anthropocentric, the interdisciplinary, and the cognitive…

  19. 42 CFR 435.1007 - Categorically needy, medically needy, and qualified Medicare beneficiaries.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Categorically needy, medically needy, and qualified Medicare beneficiaries. 435.1007 Section 435.1007 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES... Limitations on Ffp § 435.1007 Categorically needy, medically needy, and qualified Medicare beneficiaries. (a...

  20. Illustrating Services Integration from Categorical Bases. Human Services Monograph Series No. 3.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Horton, Gerald T.; And Others

    This report focuses on one method of human services integration--starting with a categorical funding and program base which is expanded to integrate complementary services and resources into a comprehensive service package. The four projects examined illustrate the following initial categorical bases: Community mental health services, primarily…

  1. Confidence-Accuracy Calibration in Absolute and Relative Face Recognition Judgments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weber, Nathan; Brewer, Neil

    2004-01-01

    Confidence-accuracy (CA) calibration was examined for absolute and relative face recognition judgments as well as for recognition judgments from groups of stimuli presented simultaneously or sequentially (i.e., simultaneous or sequential mini-lineups). When the effect of difficulty was controlled, absolute and relative judgments produced…

  2. The Role of Common Motor Responses in Stimulus Categorization by Preschool Children

    PubMed Central

    Mahoney, Amanda M; Miguel, Caio F; Ahearn, William H; Bell, Julianne

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the role of common motor responses as the “speaker” behavior on stimulus class formation, and the emergence of functional classes. Experiment 1 examined whether training one motor response to a set of three stimuli and a second motor response to another set of three stimuli would result in correct category-sort responses for 5 typically developing preschool children. Three of the children passed the categorization tests. Experiment 2 examined whether the classes formed in Experiment 1 were functional classes, and whether participants who did not pass categorization tests in Experiment 1 would do so following common vocal tact training. The 2 participants who failed categorization tests in Experiment 1 passed these tests in Experiment 2, although none of the participants passed the tests for functional classes. The results of the current study did not unequivocally support the naming hypothesis. Future research should therefore evaluate other possible sources of control that aid in stimulus categorization. PMID:21541124

  3. Categorical Variables in Multiple Regression: Some Cautions.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Grady, Kevin E.; Medoff, Deborah R.

    1988-01-01

    Limitations of dummy coding and nonsense coding as methods of coding categorical variables for use as predictors in multiple regression analysis are discussed. The combination of these approaches often yields estimates and tests of significance that are not intended by researchers for inclusion in their models. (SLD)

  4. Reliable absolute analog code retrieval approach for 3D measurement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, Shuang; Zhang, Jing; Yu, Xiaoyang; Sun, Xiaoming; Wu, Haibin; Chen, Deyun

    2017-11-01

    The wrapped phase of phase-shifting approach can be unwrapped by using Gray code, but both the wrapped phase error and Gray code decoding error can result in period jump error, which will lead to gross measurement error. Therefore, this paper presents a reliable absolute analog code retrieval approach. The combination of unequal-period Gray code and phase shifting patterns at high frequencies are used to obtain high-frequency absolute analog code, and at low frequencies, the same unequal-period combination patterns are used to obtain the low-frequency absolute analog code. Next, the difference between the two absolute analog codes was employed to eliminate period jump errors, and a reliable unwrapped result can be obtained. Error analysis was used to determine the applicable conditions, and this approach was verified through theoretical analysis. The proposed approach was further verified experimentally. Theoretical analysis and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach can perform reliable analog code unwrapping.

  5. 43 CFR 46.215 - Categorical exclusions: Extraordinary circumstances.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969 Initiating the NEPA Process § 46.215 Categorical... determined by the Responsible Official. (a) Have significant impacts on public health or safety. (b) Have...

  6. Method and apparatus for two-dimensional absolute optical encoding

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Leviton, Douglas B. (Inventor)

    2004-01-01

    This invention presents a two-dimensional absolute optical encoder and a method for determining position of an object in accordance with information from the encoder. The encoder of the present invention comprises a scale having a pattern being predetermined to indicate an absolute location on the scale, means for illuminating the scale, means for forming an image of the pattern; and detector means for outputting signals derived from the portion of the image of the pattern which lies within a field of view of the detector means, the field of view defining an image reference coordinate system, and analyzing means, receiving the signals from the detector means, for determining the absolute location of the object. There are two types of scale patterns presented in this invention: grid type and starfield type.

  7. New design and facilities for the International Database for Absolute Gravity Measurements (AGrav): A support for the Establishment of a new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wziontek, Hartmut; Falk, Reinhard; Bonvalot, Sylvain; Rülke, Axel

    2017-04-01

    After about 10 years of successful joint operation by BGI and BKG, the International Database for Absolute Gravity Measurements "AGrav" (see references hereafter) was under a major revision. The outdated web interface was replaced by a responsive, high level web application framework based on Python and built on top of Pyramid. Functionality was added, like interactive time series plots or a report generator and the interactive map-based station overview was updated completely, comprising now clustering and the classification of stations. Furthermore, the database backend was migrated to PostgreSQL for better support of the application framework and long-term availability. As comparisons of absolute gravimeters (AG) become essential to realize a precise and uniform gravity standard, the database was extended to document the results on international and regional level, including those performed at monitoring stations equipped with SGs. By this it will be possible to link different AGs and to trace their equivalence back to the key comparisons under the auspices of International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) as the best metrological realization of the absolute gravity standard. In this way the new AGrav database accommodates the demands of the new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System as recommended by the IAG Resolution No. 2 adopted in Prague 2015. The new database will be presented with focus on the new user interface and new functionality, calling all institutions involved in absolute gravimetry to participate and contribute with their information to built up a most complete picture of high precision absolute gravimetry and improve its visibility. A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) will be provided by BGI to contributors to give a better traceability and facilitate the referencing of their gravity surveys. Links and references: BGI mirror site : http://bgi.obs-mip.fr/data-products/Gravity-Databases/Absolute-Gravity-data/ BKG mirror site: http

  8. Memory Training for Older Adults with Low Education: Mental Images versus Categorization

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    da Silva, Henrique Salmazo; Yassuda, Monica Sanches

    2009-01-01

    This study aimed to describe the benefits of memory training for older adults with low education. Twenty-nine healthy older adults with zero to two years of formal education participated. Sixteen participants received training based on categorization (categorization group = CATG) and 13 received training based on mental images (imagery…

  9. Absolute calibration of neutron detectors on the C-2U advanced beam-driven FRC.

    PubMed

    Magee, R M; Clary, R; Korepanov, S; Jauregui, F; Allfrey, I; Garate, E; Valentine, T; Smirnov, A

    2016-11-01

    In the C-2U fusion energy experiment, high power neutral beam injection creates a large fast ion population that sustains a field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma. The diagnosis of the fast ion pressure in these high-performance plasmas is therefore critical, and the measurement of the flux of neutrons from the deuterium-deuterium (D-D) fusion reaction is well suited to the task. Here we describe the absolute, in situ calibration of scintillation neutron detectors via two independent methods: firing deuterium beams into a high density gas target and calibration with a 2 × 10 7 n/s AmBe source. The practical issues of each method are discussed and the resulting calibration factors are shown to be in good agreement. Finally, the calibration factor is applied to C-2U experimental data where the measured neutron rate is found to exceed the classical expectation.

  10. Social Categorization on Perception Bias in the Practice of Microteaching

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hong, Jon-Chao; Hwang, Ming-Yueh; Lu, Chow-Chin; Tsai, Chi-Ruei

    2017-02-01

    Microteaching has gained considerable attention for its effectiveness in rapid and contextual training in professional development programs. However, the interpretive quality of the teaching demonstration and peer feedback may influence individuals' attribution and self-correction, leading to ineffective learning. In this study, a microteaching workshop in a professional development program for 78 elementary school science teachers was investigated. The results showed that the effectiveness of microteaching was negatively affected by participants' perception bias due to social categorization. Moreover, it was indicated that the participants' perception of the in-group and out-group, classified by the degree of the individuals' science knowledge, fostered social categorization. Participants tended to experience perception conflicts caused by their inability to see personal faults, and a typical perception bias of "seeing one's own strengths and seeing others' shortcomings" was more frequently recognized in the out-group. These results converge to highlight the importance of social categorization in perception bias relevant to microteaching.

  11. Unsupervised categorization with individuals diagnosed as having moderate traumatic brain injury: Over-selective responding.

    PubMed

    Edwards, Darren J; Wood, Rodger

    2016-01-01

    This study explored over-selectivity (executive dysfunction) using a standard unsupervised categorization task. Over-selectivity has been demonstrated using supervised categorization procedures (where training is given); however, little has been done in the way of unsupervised categorization (without training). A standard unsupervised categorization task was used to assess levels of over-selectivity in a traumatic brain injury (TBI) population. Individuals with TBI were selected from the Tertiary Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic at Swansea University and were asked to categorize two-dimensional items (pictures on cards), into groups that they felt were most intuitive, and without any learning (feedback from experimenter). This was compared against categories made by a control group for the same task. The findings of this study demonstrate that individuals with TBI had deficits for both easy and difficult categorization sets, as indicated by a larger amount of one-dimensional sorting compared to control participants. Deficits were significantly greater for the easy condition. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of over-selectivity, and the processes that underlie this deficit. Also, the implications for using this procedure as a screening measure for over-selectivity in TBI are discussed.

  12. Ability to Categorize Food Predicts Hypothetical Food Choices in Head Start Preschoolers.

    PubMed

    Nicholson, Jody S; Barton, Jennifer M; Simons, Ali L

    2018-03-01

    To investigate whether preschoolers are able to identify and categorize foods, and whether their ability to classify food as healthy predicts their hypothetical food choice. Structured interviews and body measurements with preschoolers, and teacher reports of classroom performance. Six Head Start centers in a large southeastern region. A total of 235 preschoolers (mean age [SD], 4.73 [0.63] years; 45.4% girls). Teachers implemented a nutrition education intervention across the 2014-2015 school year in which children were taught to identify and categorize food as sometimes (ie, unhealthy) and anytime (ie, healthy). Preschooler responses to a hypothetical snack naming, classifying, and selection scenario. Hierarchical regression analyses to examine predictors of child hypothetical food selection. While controlling for child characteristics and cognitive functioning, preschoolers who were better at categorizing food as healthy or unhealthy were more likely to say they would choose the healthy food. Low-contrast food pairs in which food had to be classified based on multiple dimensions were outside the cognitive abilities of the preschoolers. Nutrition interventions may be more effective in helping children make healthy food choices if developmental limitations in preschoolers' abilities to categorize food is addressed in their curriculum. Classification of food into evaluative categories is challenging for this age group. Categorizing on multiple dimensions is difficult, and dichotomous labeling of food as good or bad is not always accurate in directing children toward making food choices. Future research could evaluate further preschoolers' developmental potential for food categorization and nutrition decision making and consider factors that influence healthy food choices at both snack and mealtime. Copyright © 2017 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. 237Np absolute delayed neutron yield measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Doré, D.; Ledoux, X.; Nolte, R.; Gagnon-Moisan, F.; Thulliez, L.; Litaize, O.; Roettger, S.; Serot, O.

    2017-09-01

    237Np absolute delayed neutron yields have been measured at different incident neutron energies from 1.5 to 16 MeV. The experiment was performed at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) facility where the Van de Graaff accelerator and the cyclotron CV28 delivered 9 different neutron energy beams using p+T, d+D and d+T reactions. The detection system is made up of twelve 3He tubes inserted into a polyethylene cylinder. In this paper, the experimental setup and the data analysis method are described. The evolution of the absolute DN yields as a function of the neutron incident beam energies are presented and compared to experimental data found in the literature and data from the libraries.

  14. An absolute measure for a key currency

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oya, Shunsuke; Aihara, Kazuyuki; Hirata, Yoshito

    It is generally considered that the US dollar and the euro are the key currencies in the world and in Europe, respectively. However, there is no absolute general measure for a key currency. Here, we investigate the 24-hour periodicity of foreign exchange markets using a recurrence plot, and define an absolute measure for a key currency based on the strength of the periodicity. Moreover, we analyze the time evolution of this measure. The results show that the credibility of the US dollar has not decreased significantly since the Lehman shock, when the Lehman Brothers bankrupted and influenced the economic markets, and has increased even relatively better than that of the euro and that of the Japanese yen.

  15. A cortical framework for invariant object categorization and recognition.

    PubMed

    Rodrigues, João; Hans du Buf, J M

    2009-08-01

    In this paper we present a new model for invariant object categorization and recognition. It is based on explicit multi-scale features: lines, edges and keypoints are extracted from responses of simple, complex and end-stopped cells in cortical area V1, and keypoints are used to construct saliency maps for Focus-of-Attention. The model is a functional but dichotomous one, because keypoints are employed to model the "where" data stream, with dynamic routing of features from V1 to higher areas to obtain translation, rotation and size invariance, whereas lines and edges are employed in the "what" stream for object categorization and recognition. Furthermore, both the "where" and "what" pathways are dynamic in that information at coarse scales is employed first, after which information at progressively finer scales is added in order to refine the processes, i.e., both the dynamic feature routing and the categorization level. The construction of group and object templates, which are thought to be available in the prefrontal cortex with "what" and "where" components in PF46d and PF46v, is also illustrated. The model was tested in the framework of an integrated and biologically plausible architecture.

  16. Non-Invasive Method of Determining Absolute Intracranial Pressure

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Yost, William T. (Inventor); Cantrell, John H., Jr. (Inventor); Hargens, Alan E. (Inventor)

    2004-01-01

    A method is presented for determining absolute intracranial pressure (ICP) in a patient. Skull expansion is monitored while changes in ICP are induced. The patient's blood pressure is measured when skull expansion is approximately zero. The measured blood pressure is indicative of a reference ICP value. Subsequently, the method causes a known change in ICP and measured the change in skull expansion associated therewith. The absolute ICP is a function of the reference ICP value, the known change in ICP and its associated change in skull expansion; and a measured change in skull expansion.

  17. A highly accurate absolute gravimetric network for Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ullrich, Christian; Ruess, Diethard; Butta, Hubert; Qirko, Kristaq; Pavicevic, Bozidar; Murat, Meha

    2016-04-01

    The objective of this project is to establish a basic gravity network in Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro to enable further investigations in geodetic and geophysical issues. Therefore the first time in history absolute gravity measurements were performed in these countries. The Norwegian mapping authority Kartverket is assisting the national mapping authorities in Kosovo (KCA) (Kosovo Cadastral Agency - Agjencia Kadastrale e Kosovës), Albania (ASIG) (Autoriteti Shtetëror i Informacionit Gjeohapësinor) and in Montenegro (REA) (Real Estate Administration of Montenegro - Uprava za nekretnine Crne Gore) in improving the geodetic frameworks. The gravity measurements are funded by Kartverket. The absolute gravimetric measurements were performed from BEV (Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying) with the absolute gravimeter FG5-242. As a national metrology institute (NMI) the Metrology Service of the BEV maintains the national standards for the realisation of the legal units of measurement and ensures their international equivalence and recognition. Laser and clock of the absolute gravimeter were calibrated before and after the measurements. The absolute gravimetric survey was carried out from September to October 2015. Finally all 8 scheduled stations were successfully measured: there are three stations located in Montenegro, two stations in Kosovo and three stations in Albania. The stations are distributed over the countries to establish a gravity network for each country. The vertical gradients were measured at all 8 stations with the relative gravimeter Scintrex CG5. The high class quality of some absolute gravity stations can be used for gravity monitoring activities in future. The measurement uncertainties of the absolute gravity measurements range around 2.5 micro Gal at all stations (1 microgal = 10-8 m/s2). In Montenegro the large gravity difference of 200 MilliGal between station Zabljak and Podgorica can be even used for calibration of relative gravimeters

  18. Dual-mode nested search method for categorical uncertain multi-objective optimization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tang, Long; Wang, Hu

    2016-10-01

    Categorical multi-objective optimization is an important issue involved in many matching design problems. Non-numerical variables and their uncertainty are the major challenges of such optimizations. Therefore, this article proposes a dual-mode nested search (DMNS) method. In the outer layer, kriging metamodels are established using standard regular simplex mapping (SRSM) from categorical candidates to numerical values. Assisted by the metamodels, a k-cluster-based intelligent sampling strategy is developed to search Pareto frontier points. The inner layer uses an interval number method to model the uncertainty of categorical candidates. To improve the efficiency, a multi-feature convergent optimization via most-promising-area stochastic search (MFCOMPASS) is proposed to determine the bounds of objectives. Finally, typical numerical examples are employed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed DMNS method.

  19. Chemical composition of French mimosa absolute oil.

    PubMed

    Perriot, Rodolphe; Breme, Katharina; Meierhenrich, Uwe J; Carenini, Elise; Ferrando, Georges; Baldovini, Nicolas

    2010-02-10

    Since decades mimosa (Acacia dealbata) absolute oil has been used in the flavor and perfume industry. Today, it finds an application in over 80 perfumes, and its worldwide industrial production is estimated five tons per year. Here we report on the chemical composition of French mimosa absolute oil. Straight-chain analogues from C6 to C26 with different functional groups (hydrocarbons, esters, aldehydes, diethyl acetals, alcohols, and ketones) were identified in the volatile fraction. Most of them are long-chain molecules: (Z)-heptadec-8-ene, heptadecane, nonadecane, and palmitic acid are the most abundant, and constituents such as 2-phenethyl alcohol, methyl anisate, and ethyl palmitate are present in smaller amounts. The heavier constituents were mainly triterpenoids such as lupenone and lupeol, which were identified as two of the main components. (Z)-Heptadec-8-ene, lupenone, and lupeol were quantified by GC-MS in SIM mode using external standards and represents 6%, 20%, and 7.8% (w/w) of the absolute oil. Moreover, odorant compounds were extracted by SPME and analyzed by GC-sniffing leading to the perception of 57 odorant zones, of which 37 compounds were identified by their odorant description, mass spectrum, retention index, and injection of the reference compound.

  20. Measurement of absolute gravity acceleration in Firenze

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Angelis, M.; Greco, F.; Pistorio, A.; Poli, N.; Prevedelli, M.; Saccorotti, G.; Sorrentino, F.; Tino, G. M.

    2011-01-01

    This paper reports the results from the accurate measurement of the acceleration of gravity g taken at two separate premises in the Polo Scientifico of the University of Firenze (Italy). In these laboratories, two separate experiments aiming at measuring the Newtonian constant and testing the Newtonian law at short distances are in progress. Both experiments require an independent knowledge on the local value of g. The only available datum, pertaining to the italian zero-order gravity network, was taken more than 20 years ago at a distance of more than 60 km from the study site. Gravity measurements were conducted using an FG5 absolute gravimeter, and accompanied by seismic recordings for evaluating the noise condition at the site. The absolute accelerations of gravity at the two laboratories are (980 492 160.6 ± 4.0) μGal and (980 492 048.3 ± 3.0) μGal for the European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (LENS) and Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, respectively. Other than for the two referenced experiments, the data here presented will serve as a benchmark for any future study requiring an accurate knowledge of the absolute value of the acceleration of gravity in the study region.

  1. Absolute angular encoder based on optical diffraction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Jian; Zhou, Tingting; Yuan, Bo; Wang, Liqiang

    2015-08-01

    A new encoding method for absolute angular encoder based on optical diffraction was proposed in the present study. In this method, an encoder disc is specially designed that a series of elements are uniformly spaced in one circle and each element is consisted of four diffraction gratings, which are tilted in the directions of 30°, 60°, -60° and -30°, respectively. The disc is illuminated by a coherent light and the diffractive signals are received. The positions of diffractive spots are used for absolute encoding and their intensities are for subdivision, which is different from the traditional optical encoder based on transparent/opaque binary principle. Since the track's width in the disc is not limited in the diffraction pattern, it provides a new way to solve the contradiction between the size and resolution, which is good for minimization of encoder. According to the proposed principle, the diffraction pattern disc with a diameter of 40 mm was made by lithography in the glass substrate. A prototype of absolute angular encoder with a resolution of 20" was built up. Its maximum error was tested as 78" by comparing with a small angle measuring system based on laser beam deflection.

  2. Categorization and Reasoning among Tree Experts: Do All Roads Lead to Rome?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Medin, Douglas L.; And Others

    1997-01-01

    Results of two experiments concerned with categorization among different types of tree experts (4 taxonomists, 10 landscape workers, and 10 park maintenance employees in the first experiment and a subset of these experts in the second) show a pattern of similarities and differences. Implications for theories of categorization are discussed. (SLD)

  3. Decision-Tree Models of Categorization Response Times, Choice Proportions, and Typicality Judgments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lafond, Daniel; Lacouture, Yves; Cohen, Andrew L.

    2009-01-01

    The authors present 3 decision-tree models of categorization adapted from T. Trabasso, H. Rollins, and E. Shaughnessy (1971) and use them to provide a quantitative account of categorization response times, choice proportions, and typicality judgments at the individual-participant level. In Experiment 1, the decision-tree models were fit to…

  4. Expert and novice categorization of introductory physics problems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wolf, Steven Frederick

    Since it was first published 30 years ago, Chi et al.'s seminal paper on expert and novice categorization of introductory problems led to a plethora of follow-up studies within and outside of the area of physics [Chi et al. Cognitive Science 5, 121 -- 152 (1981)]. These studies frequently encompass "card-sorting" exercises whereby the participants group problems. The study firmly established the paradigm that novices categorize physics problems by "surface features" (e.g. "incline," "pendulum," "projectile motion,"... ), while experts use "deep structure" (e.g. "energy conservation," "Newton 2,"... ). While this technique certainly allows insights into problem solving approaches, simple descriptive statistics more often than not fail to find significant differences between experts and novices. In most experiments, the clean-cut outcome of the original study cannot be reproduced. Given the widespread implications of the original study, the frequent failure to reproduce its findings warrants a closer look. We developed a less subjective statistical analysis method for the card sorting outcome and studied how the "successful" outcome of the experiment depends on the choice of the original card set. Thus, in a first step, we are moving beyond descriptive statistics, and develop a novel microscopic approach that takes into account the individual identity of the cards and uses graph theory and models to visualize, analyze, and interpret problem categorization experiments. These graphs are compared macroscopically, using standard graph theoretic statistics, and microscopically, using a distance metric that we have developed. This macroscopic sorting behavior is described using our Cognitive Categorization Model. The microscopic comparison allows us to visualize our sorters using Principal Components Analysis and compare the expert sorters to the novice sorters as a group. In the second step, we ask the question: Which properties of problems are most important in problem

  5. Bayesian data fusion for spatial prediction of categorical variables in environmental sciences

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gengler, Sarah; Bogaert, Patrick

    2014-12-01

    First developed to predict continuous variables, Bayesian Maximum Entropy (BME) has become a complete framework in the context of space-time prediction since it has been extended to predict categorical variables and mixed random fields. This method proposes solutions to combine several sources of data whatever the nature of the information. However, the various attempts that were made for adapting the BME methodology to categorical variables and mixed random fields faced some limitations, as a high computational burden. The main objective of this paper is to overcome this limitation by generalizing the Bayesian Data Fusion (BDF) theoretical framework to categorical variables, which is somehow a simplification of the BME method through the convenient conditional independence hypothesis. The BDF methodology for categorical variables is first described and then applied to a practical case study: the estimation of soil drainage classes using a soil map and point observations in the sandy area of Flanders around the city of Mechelen (Belgium). The BDF approach is compared to BME along with more classical approaches, as Indicator CoKringing (ICK) and logistic regression. Estimators are compared using various indicators, namely the Percentage of Correctly Classified locations (PCC) and the Average Highest Probability (AHP). Although BDF methodology for categorical variables is somehow a simplification of BME approach, both methods lead to similar results and have strong advantages compared to ICK and logistic regression.

  6. Neural Trade-Offs between Recognizing and Categorizing Own- and Other-Race Faces

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Jiangang; Wang, Zhe; Feng, Lu; Li, Jun; Tian, Jie; Lee, Kang

    2015-01-01

    Behavioral research has suggested a trade-off relationship between individual recognition and race categorization of own- and other-race faces, which is an important behavioral marker of face processing expertise. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying this trade-off. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methodology, we concurrently asked participants to recognize and categorize own- and other-race faces to examine the neural correlates of this trade-off relationship. We found that for other-race faces, the fusiform face area (FFA) and occipital face area (OFA) responded more to recognition than categorization, whereas for own-race faces, the responses were equal for the 2 tasks. The right superior temporal sulcus (STS) responses were the opposite to those of the FFA and OFA. Further, recognition enhanced the functional connectivity from the right FFA to the right STS, whereas categorization enhanced the functional connectivity from the right OFA to the right STS. The modulatory effects of these 2 couplings were negatively correlated. Our findings suggested that within the core face processing network, although recognizing and categorizing own- and other-race faces activated the same neural substrates, there existed neural trade-offs whereby their activations and functional connectivities were modulated by face race type and task demand due to one's differential processing expertise with own- and other-race faces. PMID:24591523

  7. Categorically Not!

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cole, K. C.

    2011-04-01

    The artist Bob Miller liked to say that the worst disease afflicting humankind is ``hardening of the categories'' - the tendency to cram subjects into boxes labeled ``science,'' ``art,'' ``politics,'' ``economics,'' ``play'' - labels that are as outdated and meaningless as divisions between the colors on a continuous spectrum. Over the past 10 years, KC Cole has been organizing free form events that tear down these artificial barriers, and with intriguing results: actors gain insights into character from a topologist; a choreographer solves engineering problems through her knowledge of motion; neuroscientists learn about intuition from filmmakers and string theorists. Categorically Not! - as the series is called - is not (merely) an attempt to ``popularize'' science by looking at it through unlikely lenses, but a real exploration into the deep connections that both illuminate and energize all fields of study. It is a ``people's'' salon, free and open to the general public. Cole will talk about how she overcomes ``hardening of the categories'' not just through events, but also in her popular magazine and newspaper articles, books, radio commentaries, and teaching at USC's Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism.

  8. An absolute instrument for determination of the speed of sound in water

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Li, Zhiwei; Zhu, Junchao; Zhang, Baofeng, E-mail: zhangbaofeng@263.net

    An apparatus for the absolute determination of the sound speed in water based on the time-of-flight technique is described. The time measurement is realized by hardware circuits and the distance measurement by a double-beam plane-mirror interferometer. A highly accurate time chip, with a resolution of approximately 90 ps, is employed for time measurements. The acoustic path length is adjustable and can be measured directly. Two transducers are used for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals without reflection. The transducers are immersed in a thermostatic vessel that maintains bath temperature with high stability. The speed of sound in pure water was measuredmore » at ambient pressure and at the temperatures 308 K, 303 K, 298 K, and 293 K. The achieved measurement uncertainties are 2 mK for temperature and 0.045 m/s for speed of sound. The results are compared to data from the literature, equation of state models, and measurements by two commercial sensors in the same experiment, showing excellent agreement among them.« less

  9. Absolute Radiometric Calibration of EUNIS-06

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thomas, R. J.; Rabin, D. M.; Kent, B. J.; Paustian, W.

    2007-01-01

    The Extreme-Ultraviolet Normal-Incidence Spectrometer (EUNIS) is a soundingrocket payload that obtains imaged high-resolution spectra of individual solar features, providing information about the Sun's corona and upper transition region. Shortly after its successful initial flight last year, a complete end-to-end calibration was carried out to determine the instrument's absolute radiometric response over its Longwave bandpass of 300 - 370A. The measurements were done at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in England, using the same vacuum facility and EUV radiation source used in the pre-flight calibrations of both SOHO/CDS and Hinode/EIS, as well as in three post-flight calibrations of our SERTS sounding rocket payload, the precursor to EUNIS. The unique radiation source provided by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) had been calibrated to an absolute accuracy of 7% (l-sigma) at 12 wavelengths covering our bandpass directly against the Berlin electron storage ring BESSY, which is itself a primary radiometric source standard. Scans of the EUNIS aperture were made to determine the instrument's absolute spectral sensitivity to +- 25%, considering all sources of error, and demonstrate that EUNIS-06 was the most sensitive solar E W spectrometer yet flown. The results will be matched against prior calibrations which relied on combining measurements of individual optical components, and on comparisons with theoretically predicted 'insensitive' line ratios. Coordinated observations were made during the EUNIS-06 flight by SOHO/CDS and EIT that will allow re-calibrations of those instruments as well. In addition, future EUNIS flights will provide similar calibration updates for TRACE, Hinode/EIS, and STEREO/SECCHI/EUVI.

  10. Explaining the Timing of Natural Scene Understanding with a Computational Model of Perceptual Categorization

    PubMed Central

    Sofer, Imri; Crouzet, Sébastien M.; Serre, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    Observers can rapidly perform a variety of visual tasks such as categorizing a scene as open, as outdoor, or as a beach. Although we know that different tasks are typically associated with systematic differences in behavioral responses, to date, little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Here, we implemented a single integrated paradigm that links perceptual processes with categorization processes. Using a large image database of natural scenes, we trained machine-learning classifiers to derive quantitative measures of task-specific perceptual discriminability based on the distance between individual images and different categorization boundaries. We showed that the resulting discriminability measure accurately predicts variations in behavioral responses across categorization tasks and stimulus sets. We further used the model to design an experiment, which challenged previous interpretations of the so-called “superordinate advantage.” Overall, our study suggests that observed differences in behavioral responses across rapid categorization tasks reflect natural variations in perceptual discriminability. PMID:26335683

  11. Cerebellar tDCS Does Not Enhance Performance in an Implicit Categorization Learning Task.

    PubMed

    Verhage, Marie C; Avila, Eric O; Frens, Maarten A; Donchin, Opher; van der Geest, Jos N

    2017-01-01

    Background: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a form of non-invasive electrical stimulation that changes neuronal excitability in a polarity and site-specific manner. In cognitive tasks related to prefrontal and cerebellar learning, cortical tDCS arguably facilitates learning, but the few studies investigating cerebellar tDCS, however, are inconsistent. Objective: We investigate the effect of cerebellar tDCS on performance of an implicit categorization learning task. Methods: Forty participants performed a computerized version of an implicit categorization learning task where squares had to be sorted into two categories, according to an unknown but fixed rule that integrated both the size and luminance of the square. Participants did one round of categorization to familiarize themselves with the task and to provide a baseline of performance. After that, 20 participants received anodal tDCS (20 min, 1.5 mA) over the right cerebellum, and 19 participants received sham stimulation and simultaneously started a second session of the categorization task using a new rule. Results: As expected, subjects performed better in the second session than in the first, baseline session, showing increased accuracy scores and reduced reaction times. Over trials, participants learned the categorization rule, improving their accuracy and reaction times. However, we observed no effect of anodal tDCS stimulation on overall performance or on learning, compared to sham stimulation. Conclusion: These results suggest that cerebellar tDCS does not modulate performance and learning on an implicit categorization task.

  12. 10 CFR Appendix M to Part 110 - Categorization of Nuclear Material d

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Categorization of Nuclear Material d M Appendix M to Part 110 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) EXPORT AND IMPORT OF NUCLEAR EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL Pt. 110, App. M Appendix M to Part 110—Categorization of Nuclear Material d [From IAEA INFCIRC/225...

  13. 10 CFR Appendix M to Part 110 - Categorization of Nuclear Material d

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Categorization of Nuclear Material d M Appendix M to Part 110 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) EXPORT AND IMPORT OF NUCLEAR EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL Pt. 110, App. M Appendix M to Part 110—Categorization of Nuclear Material d [From IAEA INFCIRC/225...

  14. 10 CFR Appendix M to Part 110 - Categorization of Nuclear Material d

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Categorization of Nuclear Material d M Appendix M to Part 110 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) EXPORT AND IMPORT OF NUCLEAR EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL Pt. 110, App. M Appendix M to Part 110—Categorization of Nuclear Material d [From IAEA INFCIRC/225...

  15. 10 CFR Appendix M to Part 110 - Categorization of Nuclear Material d

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Categorization of Nuclear Material d M Appendix M to Part 110 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) EXPORT AND IMPORT OF NUCLEAR EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL Pt. 110, App. M Appendix M to Part 110—Categorization of Nuclear Material d [From IAEA INFCIRC/225...

  16. 10 CFR Appendix M to Part 110 - Categorization of Nuclear Material d

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Categorization of Nuclear Material d M Appendix M to Part 110 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) EXPORT AND IMPORT OF NUCLEAR EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL Pt. 110, App. M Appendix M to Part 110—Categorization of Nuclear Material d [From IAEA INFCIRC/225...

  17. Interobserver agreement and diagnostic accuracy of brain magnetic resonance imaging in dogs.

    PubMed

    Leclerc, Mylène-Kim; d'Anjou, Marc-André; Blond, Laurent; Carmel, Éric Norman; Dennis, Ruth; Kraft, Susan L; Matthews, Andrea R; Parent, Joane M

    2013-06-15

    To evaluate interobserver agreement and diagnostic accuracy of brain MRI in dogs. Evaluation study. 44 dogs. 5 board-certified veterinary radiologists with variable MRI experience interpreted transverse T2-weighted (T2w), T2w fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), and T1-weighted-FLAIR; transverse, sagittal, and dorsal T2w; and T1-weighted-FLAIR postcontrast brain sequences (1.5 T). Several imaging parameters were scored, including the following: lesion (present or absent), lesion characteristics (axial localization, mass effect, edema, hemorrhage, and cavitation), contrast enhancement characteristics, and most likely diagnosis (normal, neoplastic, inflammatory, vascular, metabolic or toxic, or other). Magnetic resonance imaging diagnoses were determined initially without patient information and then repeated, providing history and signalment. For all cases and readers, MRI diagnoses were compared with final diagnoses established with results from histologic examination (when available) or with other pertinent clinical data (CSF analysis, clinical response to treatment, or MRI follow-up). Magnetic resonance scores were compared between examiners with κ statistics. Reading agreement was substantial to almost perfect (0.64 < κ < 0.86) when identifying a brain lesion on MRI; fair to moderate (0.14 < κ < 0.60) when interpreting hemorrhage, edema, and pattern of contrast enhancement; fair to substantial (0.22 < κ < 0.74) for dural tail sign and categorization of margins of enhancement; and moderate to substantial (0.40 < κ < 0.78) for axial localization, presence of mass effect, cavitation, intensity, and distribution of enhancement. Interobserver agreement was moderate to substantial for categories of diagnosis (0.56 < κ < 0.69), and agreement with the final diagnosis was substantial regardless of whether patient information was (0.65 < κ < 0.76) or was not (0.65 < κ < 0.68) provided. The present study found that whereas some MRI features such as edema

  18. Neurophysiological Evidence for Categorical Perception of Color

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holmes, Amanda; Franklin, Anna; Clifford, Alexandra; Davies, Ian

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this investigation was to examine the time course and the relative contributions of perceptual and post-perceptual processes to categorical perception (CP) of color. A visual oddball task was used with standard and deviant stimuli from same (within-category) or different (between-category) categories, with chromatic separations for…

  19. Development of Abstract Grammatical Categorization in Infants

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cyr, Marilyn; Shi, Rushen

    2013-01-01

    This study examined abstract syntactic categorization in infants, using the case of grammatical gender. Ninety-six French-learning 14-, 17-, 20-, and 30-month-olds completed the study. In a preferential looking procedure infants were tested on their generalized knowledge of grammatical gender involving pseudonouns and gender-marking determiners.…

  20. Categorizing and Promoting Reversibility of Mathematical Concepts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simon, Martin A.; Kara, Melike; Placa, Nicora; Sandir, Hakan

    2016-01-01

    Reversibility of concepts, a key aspect of mathematical development, is often problematic for learners. In this theoretical paper, we present a typology we have developed for categorizing the different reverse concepts that can be related to a particular initial concept and explicate the relationship among these different reverse concepts. We…