The Role of Ankle Proprioception for Balance Control in relation to Sports Performance and Injury

PubMed Central

Han, Jia; Waddington, Gordon; Adams, Roger; Liu, Yu

2015-01-01

Balance control improvement is one of the most important goals in sports and exercise. Better balance is strongly positively associated with enhanced athletic performance and negatively associated with lower limb sports injuries. Proprioception plays an essential role in balance control, and ankle proprioception is arguably the most important. This paper reviews ankle proprioception and explores synergies with balance control, specifically in a sporting context. Central processing of ankle proprioceptive information, along with other sensory information, enables integration for balance control. When assessing ankle proprioception, the most generalizable findings arise from methods that are ecologically valid, allow proprioceptive signals to be integrated with general vision in the central nervous system, and reflect the signal-in-noise nature of central processing. Ankle proprioceptive intervention concepts driven by such a central processing theory are further proposed and discussed for the improvement of balance control in sport. PMID:26583139

Information Processing by Schizophrenics When Task Complexity Increases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirt, Michael; And Others

1977-01-01

The performance of hospitalized paranoid schizophrenics, nonparanoids, and hospitalized controls was compared on motor, perceptual, and cognitive tasks of increasing complexity. The data were examined within the context of comparing differential predictions made by input and central processing theories of information-processing deficit. (Editor)

Central Localization of Plasticity Involved in Appetitive Conditioning in "Lymnaea"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Straub, Volko A.; Styles, Benjamin J.; Ireland, Julie S.; O'Shea, Michael; Benjamin, Paul R.

2004-01-01

Learning to associate a conditioned (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) results in changes in the processing of CS information. Here, we address directly the question whether chemical appetitive conditioning of "Lymnaea" feeding behavior involves changes in the peripheral and/or central processing of the CS by using extracellular recording…

Auditory Processing Disorders: An Overview. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ciocci, Sandra R.

This digest presents an overview of children with auditory processing disorders (APDs), children who can typically hear information but have difficulty attending to, storing, locating, retrieving, and/or clarifying that information to make it useful for academic and social purposes. The digest begins by describing central auditory processing and…

Are visual peripheries forever young?

PubMed

Burnat, Kalina

2015-01-01

The paper presents a concept of lifelong plasticity of peripheral vision. Central vision processing is accepted as critical and irreplaceable for normal perception in humans. While peripheral processing chiefly carries information about motion stimuli features and redirects foveal attention to new objects, it can also take over functions typical for central vision. Here I review the data showing the plasticity of peripheral vision found in functional, developmental, and comparative studies. Even though it is well established that afferent projections from central and peripheral retinal regions are not established simultaneously during early postnatal life, central vision is commonly used as a general model of development of the visual system. Based on clinical studies and visually deprived animal models, I describe how central and peripheral visual field representations separately rely on early visual experience. Peripheral visual processing (motion) is more affected by binocular visual deprivation than central visual processing (spatial resolution). In addition, our own experimental findings show the possible recruitment of coarse peripheral vision for fine spatial analysis. Accordingly, I hypothesize that the balance between central and peripheral visual processing, established in the course of development, is susceptible to plastic adaptations during the entire life span, with peripheral vision capable of taking over central processing.

A Module for Hospital Central Processing Technicians on Decontamination, Assembly and Wrapping Concepts of GYN Hysterectomy Instruments.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wojcik, Roseann B.; Moseley, James L.

This learning module can be used as an orientation guide, inservice tool, or resource guide for hospital central processing department technicians and instructors. It contains information sheets, worksheets, worksheet answers, a posttest, and posttest answers on correct procedures for decontaminating, assembling, and wrapping the medical…

Distributed Data Collection for the ATLAS EventIndex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez, J.; Fernández Casaní, A.; González de la Hoz, S.

2015-12-01

The ATLAS EventIndex contains records of all events processed by ATLAS, in all processing stages. These records include the references to the files containing each event (the GUID of the file) and the internal pointer to each event in the file. This information is collected by all jobs that run at Tier-0 or on the Grid and process ATLAS events. Each job produces a snippet of information for each permanent output file. This information is packed and transferred to a central broker at CERN using an ActiveMQ messaging system, and then is unpacked, sorted and reformatted in order to be stored and catalogued into a central Hadoop server. This contribution describes in detail the Producer/Consumer architecture to convey this information from the running jobs through the messaging system to the Hadoop server.

Working memory capacity and visual-verbal cognitive load modulate auditory-sensory gating in the brainstem: toward a unified view of attention.

PubMed

Sörqvist, Patrik; Stenfelt, Stefan; Rönnberg, Jerker

2012-11-01

Two fundamental research questions have driven attention research in the past: One concerns whether selection of relevant information among competing, irrelevant, information takes place at an early or at a late processing stage; the other concerns whether the capacity of attention is limited by a central, domain-general pool of resources or by independent, modality-specific pools. In this article, we contribute to these debates by showing that the auditory-evoked brainstem response (an early stage of auditory processing) to task-irrelevant sound decreases as a function of central working memory load (manipulated with a visual-verbal version of the n-back task). Furthermore, individual differences in central/domain-general working memory capacity modulated the magnitude of the auditory-evoked brainstem response, but only in the high working memory load condition. The results support a unified view of attention whereby the capacity of a late/central mechanism (working memory) modulates early precortical sensory processing.

Extending the amygdala in theories of threat processing

PubMed Central

Fox, Andrew S.; Oler, Jonathan A.; Tromp, Do P.M.; Fudge, Julie L.; Kalin, Ned H.

2015-01-01

The central extended amygdala is an evolutionarily conserved set of interconnected brain regions that play an important role in threat processing to promote survival. Two core components of the central extended amygdala, the central nucleus of the amygdala (Ce) and the lateral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) are highly similar regions that serve complimentary roles by integrating fear- and anxiety-relevant information. Survival depends on the central extended amygdala's ability to rapidly integrate and respond to threats that vary in their immediacy, proximity, and characteristics. Future studies will benefit from understanding alterations in central extended amygdala function in relation to stress-related psychopathology. PMID:25851307

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention.

PubMed

O'Hare, Aminda J; Atchley, Ruth Ann; Young, Keith M

2017-11-16

Two dominant theories on lateralized processing of emotional information exist in the literature. One theory posits that unpleasant emotions are processed by right frontal regions, while pleasant emotions are processed by left frontal regions. The other theory posits that the right hemisphere is more specialized for the processing of emotional information overall, particularly in posterior regions. Assessing the different roles of the cerebral hemispheres in processing emotional information can be difficult without the use of neuroimaging methodologies, which are not accessible or affordable to all scientists. Divided visual field presentation of stimuli can allow for the investigation of lateralized processing of information without the use of neuroimaging technology. This study compared central versus divided visual field presentations of emotional images to assess differences in motivated attention between the two hemispheres. The late positive potential (LPP) was recorded using electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERPs) methodologies to assess motivated attention. Future work will pair this paradigm with a more active behavioral task to explore the behavioral impacts on the attentional differences found.

Insights on Information Absorption and Transmission Rates in C2I Settings

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-09-01

Development Activity, Ft Leavenworth, KS, 1978. Craik , F.I.M., and Lockhart , R.S. Levels of processing : A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal... Craik & Lockhart , 1972; Baddeley, 1978). However, the idea is that the resulting information is relegated to central processing and thereby brought to...SYSTEM 9 ambient conditions: * luminence level , legibility t2 Information Processing : e training decoding, translating/trans- USER 0 experience scribing

Iterative Neighbour-Information Gathering for Ranking Nodes in Complex Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Shuang; Wang, Pei; Lü, Jinhu

2017-01-01

Designing node influence ranking algorithms can provide insights into network dynamics, functions and structures. Increasingly evidences reveal that node’s spreading ability largely depends on its neighbours. We introduce an iterative neighbourinformation gathering (Ing) process with three parameters, including a transformation matrix, a priori information and an iteration time. The Ing process iteratively combines priori information from neighbours via the transformation matrix, and iteratively assigns an Ing score to each node to evaluate its influence. The algorithm appropriates for any types of networks, and includes some traditional centralities as special cases, such as degree, semi-local, LeaderRank. The Ing process converges in strongly connected networks with speed relying on the first two largest eigenvalues of the transformation matrix. Interestingly, the eigenvector centrality corresponds to a limit case of the algorithm. By comparing with eight renowned centralities, simulations of susceptible-infected-removed (SIR) model on real-world networks reveal that the Ing can offer more exact rankings, even without a priori information. We also observe that an optimal iteration time is always in existence to realize best characterizing of node influence. The proposed algorithms bridge the gaps among some existing measures, and may have potential applications in infectious disease control, designing of optimal information spreading strategies.

Improving financial performance by modeling and analysis of radiology procedure scheduling at a large community hospital.

PubMed

Lu, Lingbo; Li, Jingshan; Gisler, Paula

2011-06-01

Radiology tests, such as MRI, CT-scan, X-ray and ultrasound, are cost intensive and insurance pre-approvals are necessary to get reimbursement. In some cases, tests may be denied for payments by insurance companies due to lack of pre-approvals, inaccurate or missing necessary information. This can lead to substantial revenue losses for the hospital. In this paper, we present a simulation study of a centralized scheduling process for outpatient radiology tests at a large community hospital (Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky). Based on analysis of the central scheduling process, a simulation model of information flow in the process has been developed. Using such a model, the root causes of financial losses associated with errors and omissions in this process were identified and analyzed, and their impacts were quantified. In addition, "what-if" analysis was conducted to identify potential process improvement strategies in the form of recommendations to the hospital leadership. Such a model provides a quantitative tool for continuous improvement and process control in radiology outpatient test scheduling process to reduce financial losses associated with process error. This method of analysis is also applicable to other departments in the hospital.

Preliminary design review package for the solar heating and cooling central data processing system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

The Central Data Processing System (CDPS) is designed to transform the raw data collected at remote sites into performance evaluation information for assessing the performance of solar heating and cooling systems. Software requirements for the CDPS are described. The programming standards to be used in development, documentation, and maintenance of the software are discussed along with the CDPS operations approach in support of daily data collection and processing.

Reading Comprehension in Children with ADHD: Cognitive Underpinnings of the Centrality Deficit

PubMed Central

Miller, Amanda C.; Keenan, Janice M.; Betjemann, Rebecca S.; Willcutt, Erik; Pennington, Bruce F.; Olson, Richard K.

2012-01-01

We examined reading comprehension in children with ADHD by assessing their ability to build a coherent mental representation that allows them to recall central and peripheral information. We compared children with ADHD (mean age 9.78) to word reading-matched controls (mean age 9.89) on their ability to retell a passage. We found that even though children with ADHD recalled more central than peripheral information, they showed their greatest deficit, relative to controls, on central information – a centrality deficit (Miller & Keenan, 2009). We explored the cognitive underpinnings of this deficit using regressions to compare how well cognitive factors (working memory, inhibition, processing speed, and IQ) predicted the ability to recall central information, after controlling for word reading ability, and whether these cognitive factors interacted with ADHD symptoms. Working memory accounted for the most unique variance. Although previous evidence for reading comprehension difficulties in children with ADHD have been mixed, this study suggests that even when word reading ability is controlled, children with ADHD have difficulty building a coherent mental representation, and this difficulty is likely related to deficits in working memory. PMID:23054132

Speech Research: A Report on the Status and Progress of Studies on the Nature of Speech , Instrumentation for Its Investigation, and Practical Applications, 1 October-31 December 1971.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turney, Michael T.; And Others

This report on speech research contains papers describing experiments involving both information processing and speech production. The papers concerned with information processing cover such topics as peripheral and central processes in vision, separate speech and nonspeech processing in dichotic listening, and dichotic fusion along an acoustic…

Social adaptation in multi-agent model of linguistic categorization is affected by network information flow.

PubMed

Zubek, Julian; Denkiewicz, Michał; Barański, Juliusz; Wróblewski, Przemysław; Rączaszek-Leonardi, Joanna; Plewczynski, Dariusz

2017-01-01

This paper explores how information flow properties of a network affect the formation of categories shared between individuals, who are communicating through that network. Our work is based on the established multi-agent model of the emergence of linguistic categories grounded in external environment. We study how network information propagation efficiency and the direction of information flow affect categorization by performing simulations with idealized network topologies optimizing certain network centrality measures. We measure dynamic social adaptation when either network topology or environment is subject to change during the experiment, and the system has to adapt to new conditions. We find that both decentralized network topology efficient in information propagation and the presence of central authority (information flow from the center to peripheries) are beneficial for the formation of global agreement between agents. Systems with central authority cope well with network topology change, but are less robust in the case of environment change. These findings help to understand which network properties affect processes of social adaptation. They are important to inform the debate on the advantages and disadvantages of centralized systems.

Social adaptation in multi-agent model of linguistic categorization is affected by network information flow

PubMed Central

Denkiewicz, Michał; Barański, Juliusz; Wróblewski, Przemysław; Rączaszek-Leonardi, Joanna; Plewczynski, Dariusz

2017-01-01

This paper explores how information flow properties of a network affect the formation of categories shared between individuals, who are communicating through that network. Our work is based on the established multi-agent model of the emergence of linguistic categories grounded in external environment. We study how network information propagation efficiency and the direction of information flow affect categorization by performing simulations with idealized network topologies optimizing certain network centrality measures. We measure dynamic social adaptation when either network topology or environment is subject to change during the experiment, and the system has to adapt to new conditions. We find that both decentralized network topology efficient in information propagation and the presence of central authority (information flow from the center to peripheries) are beneficial for the formation of global agreement between agents. Systems with central authority cope well with network topology change, but are less robust in the case of environment change. These findings help to understand which network properties affect processes of social adaptation. They are important to inform the debate on the advantages and disadvantages of centralized systems. PMID:28809957

LANDSAT demonstration/application and GIS integration in south central Alaska

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burns, A. W.; Derrenbacher, W.

1981-01-01

Automated geographic information systems were developed for two sites in Southcentral Alaska to serve as tests for both the process of integrating classified LANDSAT data into a comprehensive environmental data base and the process of using automated information in land capability/suitability analysis and environmental planning. The Big Lake test site, located approximately 20 miles north of the City of Anchorage, comprises an area of approximately 150 square miles. The Anchorage Hillside test site, lying approximately 5 miles southeast of the central part of the city, extends over an area of some 25 square miles. Map construction and content is described.

DAMT - DISTRIBUTED APPLICATION MONITOR TOOL (HP9000 VERSION)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keith, B.

1994-01-01

Typical network monitors measure status of host computers and data traffic among hosts. A monitor to collect statistics about individual processes must be unobtrusive and possess the ability to locate and monitor processes, locate and monitor circuits between processes, and report traffic back to the user through a single application program interface (API). DAMT, Distributed Application Monitor Tool, is a distributed application program that will collect network statistics and make them available to the user. This distributed application has one component (i.e., process) on each host the user wishes to monitor as well as a set of components at a centralized location. DAMT provides the first known implementation of a network monitor at the application layer of abstraction. Potential users only need to know the process names of the distributed application they wish to monitor. The tool locates the processes and the circuit between them, and reports any traffic between them at a user-defined rate. The tool operates without the cooperation of the processes it monitors. Application processes require no changes to be monitored by this tool. Neither does DAMT require the UNIX kernel to be recompiled. The tool obtains process and circuit information by accessing the operating system's existing process database. This database contains all information available about currently executing processes. Expanding the information monitored by the tool can be done by utilizing more information from the process database. Traffic on a circuit between processes is monitored by a low-level LAN analyzer that has access to the raw network data. The tool also provides features such as dynamic event reporting and virtual path routing. A reusable object approach was used in the design of DAMT. The tool has four main components; the Virtual Path Switcher, the Central Monitor Complex, the Remote Monitor, and the LAN Analyzer. All of DAMT's components are independent, asynchronously executing processes. The independent processes communicate with each other via UNIX sockets through a Virtual Path router, or Switcher. The Switcher maintains a routing table showing the host of each component process of the tool, eliminating the need for each process to do so. The Central Monitor Complex provides the single application program interface (API) to the user and coordinates the activities of DAMT. The Central Monitor Complex is itself divided into independent objects that perform its functions. The component objects are the Central Monitor, the Process Locator, the Circuit Locator, and the Traffic Reporter. Each of these objects is an independent, asynchronously executing process. User requests to the tool are interpreted by the Central Monitor. The Process Locator identifies whether a named process is running on a monitored host and which host that is. The circuit between any two processes in the distributed application is identified using the Circuit Locator. The Traffic Reporter handles communication with the LAN Analyzer and accumulates traffic updates until it must send a traffic report to the user. The Remote Monitor process is replicated on each monitored host. It serves the Central Monitor Complex processes with application process information. The Remote Monitor process provides access to operating systems information about currently executing processes. It allows the Process Locator to find processes and the Circuit Locator to identify circuits between processes. It also provides lifetime information about currently monitored processes. The LAN Analyzer consists of two processes. Low-level monitoring is handled by the Sniffer. The Sniffer analyzes the raw data on a single, physical LAN. It responds to commands from the Analyzer process, which maintains the interface to the Traffic Reporter and keeps track of which circuits to monitor. DAMT is written in C-language for HP-9000 series computers running HP-UX and Sun 3 and 4 series computers running SunOS. DAMT requires 1Mb of disk space and 4Mb of RAM for execution. This package requires MIT's X Window System, Version 11 Revision 4, with OSF/Motif 1.1. The HP-9000 version (GSC-13589) includes sample HP-9000/375 and HP-9000/730 executables which were compiled under HP-UX, and the Sun version (GSC-13559) includes sample Sun3 and Sun4 executables compiled under SunOS. The standard distribution medium for the HP version of DAMT is a .25 inch HP pre-formatted streaming magnetic tape cartridge in UNIX tar format. It is also available on a 4mm magnetic tape in UNIX tar format. The standard distribution medium for the Sun version of DAMT is a .25 inch streaming magnetic tape cartridge in UNIX tar format. It is also available on a 3.5 inch diskette in UNIX tar format. DAMT was developed in 1992.

The influence of (central) auditory processing disorder in speech sound disorders.

PubMed

Barrozo, Tatiane Faria; Pagan-Neves, Luciana de Oliveira; Vilela, Nadia; Carvallo, Renata Mota Mamede; Wertzner, Haydée Fiszbein

2016-01-01

Considering the importance of auditory information for the acquisition and organization of phonological rules, the assessment of (central) auditory processing contributes to both the diagnosis and targeting of speech therapy in children with speech sound disorders. To study phonological measures and (central) auditory processing of children with speech sound disorder. Clinical and experimental study, with 21 subjects with speech sound disorder aged between 7.0 and 9.11 years, divided into two groups according to their (central) auditory processing disorder. The assessment comprised tests of phonology, speech inconsistency, and metalinguistic abilities. The group with (central) auditory processing disorder demonstrated greater severity of speech sound disorder. The cutoff value obtained for the process density index was the one that best characterized the occurrence of phonological processes for children above 7 years of age. The comparison among the tests evaluated between the two groups showed differences in some phonological and metalinguistic abilities. Children with an index value above 0.54 demonstrated strong tendencies towards presenting a (central) auditory processing disorder, and this measure was effective to indicate the need for evaluation in children with speech sound disorder. Copyright © 2015 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

The economics of central billing offices.

PubMed

Woodcock, E; Nguyen, L

2000-01-01

The anticipation of economies of scale in physician billing has led many medical practices to consolidate their billing operations. This article analyzes these economies of scale, comparing performance indicators from centralized and decentralized operations. While consolidation provides compliance, control and information, diseconomies of scale can exist in the centralized receivables management process. The authors conclude that physician practices should consider a hybrid approach to billing, thus reaping the benefits of both centralization and decentralization.

[Hygiene requirements for the level of intellectual intensivity loads in foreign language learning].

PubMed

Ivashchenko, S N

2013-01-01

The material of this article provides information about the basics of hygiene conditions and nature of intellectual loads of students of secondary schools in the perception of information in a foreign language. Are the most favorable conditions for the successful training of perception and assimilation of information supplied in the course of the learning process in one foreign language or some more different ones? It was found that the process of perception and assimilation of educational information in foreign languages is associated with some degree of mental and emotional stress of students. At the same time, the effectiveness of the learning process depends on the degree of stress. Certain parameters of the psychological and emotional stress students usually have a stimulating effect on their central nervous system. Another level, the psychological and emotional stress of students on the contrary, causes a braking effect of functional activity of the relevant structures of the central nervous system of students and reduces the effectiveness of training.

Expect the unexpected: a paradoxical effect of cue validity on the orienting of attention.

PubMed

Jollie, Ashley; Ivanoff, Jason; Webb, Nicole E; Jamieson, Andrew S

2016-10-01

Predictive central cues generate location-based expectancies, voluntary shifts of attention, and facilitate target processing. Often, location-based expectancies and voluntary attention are confounded in cueing tasks. Here we vary the predictability of central cues to determine whether they can evoke the inhibition of target processing in three go/no-go experiments. In the first experiment, the central cue was uninformative and did not predict the target's location. Importantly, these cues did not seem to affect target processing. In the second experiment, the central cue indicated the most or the least likely location of the target. Surprisingly, both types of cues facilitated target processing at the cued location. In the third experiment, the central cue predicted the most likely location of a no-go target, but it did not provide relevant information pertaining to the location of the go target. Again, the central cue facilitated processing of the go target. These results suggest that efforts to strategically allocate inhibition may be thwarted by the paradoxical monitoring of the cued location. The current findings highlight the need to further explore the relationship between location-based expectancies and spatial attention in cueing tasks.

NIMH Prototype Management Information System for Community Mental Health Centers

PubMed Central

Wurster, Cecil R.; Goodman, John D.

1980-01-01

Various approaches to centralized support of computer applications in health care are described. The NIMH project to develop a prototype Management Information System (MIS) for community mental health centers is presented and discussed as a centralized development of an automated data processing system for multiple user organizations. The NIMH program is summarized, the prototype MIS is characterized, and steps taken to provide for the differing needs of the mental health centers are highlighted.

BIO-Plex Information System Concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Harry; Boulanger, Richard; Arnold, James O. (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

This paper describes a suggested design for an integrated information system for the proposed BIO-Plex (Bioregenerative Planetary Life Support Systems Test Complex) at Johnson Space Center (JSC), including distributed control systems, central control, networks, database servers, personal computers and workstations, applications software, and external communications. The system will have an open commercial computing and networking, architecture. The network will provide automatic real-time transfer of information to database server computers which perform data collection and validation. This information system will support integrated, data sharing applications for everything, from system alarms to management summaries. Most existing complex process control systems have information gaps between the different real time subsystems, between these subsystems and central controller, between the central controller and system level planning and analysis application software, and between the system level applications and management overview reporting. An integrated information system is vitally necessary as the basis for the integration of planning, scheduling, modeling, monitoring, and control, which will allow improved monitoring and control based on timely, accurate and complete data. Data describing the system configuration and the real time processes can be collected, checked and reconciled, analyzed and stored in database servers that can be accessed by all applications. The required technology is available. The only opportunity to design a distributed, nonredundant, integrated system is before it is built. Retrofit is extremely difficult and costly.

Improving management decision processes through centralized communication linkages

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simanton, D. F.; Garman, J. R.

1985-01-01

Information flow is a critical element to intelligent and timely decision-making. At NASA's Johnson Space Center the flow of information is being automated through the use of a centralized backbone network. The theoretical basis of this network, its implications to the horizontal and vertical flow of information, and the technical challenges involved in its implementation are the focus of this paper. The importance of the use of common tools among programs and some future concerns related to file transfer, graphics transfer, and merging of voice and data are also discussed.

DNA → RNA: What Do Students Think the Arrow Means?

PubMed Central

Fisk, J. Nick; Newman, Dina L.

2014-01-01

The central dogma of molecular biology, a model that has remained intact for decades, describes the transfer of genetic information from DNA to protein though an RNA intermediate. While recent work has illustrated many exceptions to the central dogma, it is still a common model used to describe and study the relationship between genes and protein products. We investigated understanding of central dogma concepts and found that students are not primed to think about information when presented with the canonical figure of the central dogma. We also uncovered conceptual errors in student interpretation of the meaning of the transcription arrow in the central dogma representation; 36% of students (n = 128; all undergraduate levels) described transcription as a chemical conversion of DNA into RNA or suggested that RNA existed before the process of transcription began. Interviews confirm that students with weak conceptual understanding of information flow find inappropriate meaning in the canonical representation of central dogma. Therefore, we suggest that use of this representation during instruction can be counterproductive unless educators are explicit about the underlying meaning. PMID:26086664

Informal Learning Processes in a Worker Co-Operative. NALL Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quarter, Jack; Midha, Harish

A study was conducted to understand the informal learning processes of the members of a worker natural foods store cooperative, The Big Carrot, in Toronto. Eight members with central roles in the natural foods retailer were interviewed. In addition, key documents and other writings on the cooperative were examined. The data indicate that members…

Value Driven Information Processing and Fusion

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-01

consensus approach allows a decentralized approach to achieve the optimal error exponent of the centralized counterpart, a conclusion that is signifi...SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: The objective of the project is to develop a general framework for value driven decentralized information processing...including: optimal data reduction in a network setting for decentralized inference with quantization constraint; interactive fusion that allows queries and

Tinnitus sensitization: Sensory and psychophysiological aspects of a new pathway of acquired centralization of chronic tinnitus.

PubMed

Zenner, Hans P; Pfister, Markus; Birbaumer, Niels

2006-12-01

Acquired centralized tinnitus (ACT) is the most frequent form of chronic tinnitus. The proposed ACT sensitization (ACTS) assumes a peripheral initiation of tinnitus whereby sensitizing signals from the auditory system establish new neuronal connections in the brain. Consequently, permanent neurophysiological malfunction within the information-processing modules results. Successful treatment has to target these malfunctioning information processing. We present in this study the neurophysiological and psychophysiological aspects of a recently suggested neurophysiological model, which may explain the symptoms caused by central cognitive tinnitus sensitization. Although conditioned reflexes, as a causal agent of chronic tinnitus, respond to extinction procedures, sensitization may initiate a vicious circle of overexcitation of the auditory system, resisting extinction and habituation. We used the literature database as indicated under "References" covering English and German works. For the ACTS model we extracted neurophysiological hypotheses of the auditory stimulus processing and the neuronal connections of the central auditory system with other brain regions to explain the malfunctions of auditory information processing. The model does not assume information-processing changes specific for tinnitus but treats the processing of tinnitus signals comparable with the processing of other external stimuli. The model uses the extensive knowledge available on sensitization of perception and memory processes and highlights the similarities of tinnitus with central neuropathic pain. Quality, validity, and comparability of the extracted data were evaluated by peer reviewing. Statistical techniques were not used. According to the tinnitus sensitization model, a tinnitus signal originates (as a type I-IV tinnitus) in the cochlea. In the brain, concerned with perception and cognition, the 1) conditioned associations, as postulated by the tinnitus model of Jastreboff, and the 2) unconditioned sensitized stimulus responses, as postulated in the present ACTS model, are actively connected with and attributed to the tinnitus signal. Attention to the tinnitus constitutes a typical undesired sensitized response. Some of the tinnitus-associated attributes may be called essential, unconditioned sensitization attributes. By a process called facilitation, the tinnitus' essential attributes are suggested to activate the tinnitus response. The result is an undesired increase in responsivity, such as an increase in attentional focus to the eliciting tinnitus stimulus. The mechanisms underlying sensitization are known as a specific nonassociative learning process producing a structural fixation of long-term facilitation at the synaptic level. This sensitization model may be important for the development of a sensitization-specific treatment if extinction procedures alone do not lead to satisfactory outcome. Inasmuch as this model considers sensitization as a nonassociative learning process based on cortical plasticity, it is reasonable to assume that this learning process can be altered by counteracting learning procedures. These counteracting learning procedures may consist of tinnitus-specific cognitive and behavioral procedures.

32 CFR 2001.34 - Referrals.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... actions and decisions in a manner that facilitates archival processing for public access. Central agency... Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense INFORMATION SECURITY OVERSIGHT OFFICE, NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION CLASSIFIED NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION Declassification § 2001.34...

Materials, Processes, and Environmental Engineering Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, Margo M.

1993-01-01

Attention is given to the Materials, Processes, and Environmental Engineering Network (MPEEN), which was developed as a central holding facility for materials testing information generated by the Materials and Processes Laboratory of NASA-Marshall. It contains information from other NASA centers and outside agencies, and also includes the NASA Environmental Information System (NEIS) and Failure Analysis Information System (FAIS) data. The data base is NEIS, which is accessible through MPEEN. Environmental concerns are addressed regarding materials identified by the NASA Operational Environment Team (NOET) to be hazardous to the environment. The data base also contains the usage and performance characteristics of these materials.

Is central dogma a global property of cellular information flow?

PubMed Central

Piras, Vincent; Tomita, Masaru; Selvarajoo, Kumar

2012-01-01

The central dogma of molecular biology has come under scrutiny in recent years. Here, we reviewed high-throughput mRNA and protein expression data of Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and several mammalian cells. At both single cell and population scales, the statistical comparisons between the entire transcriptomes and proteomes show clear correlation structures. In contrast, the pair-wise correlations of single transcripts to proteins show nullity. These data suggest that the organizing structure guiding cellular processes is observed at omics-wide scale, and not at single molecule level. The central dogma, thus, globally emerges as an average integrated flow of cellular information. PMID:23189060

Is central dogma a global property of cellular information flow?

PubMed

Piras, Vincent; Tomita, Masaru; Selvarajoo, Kumar

2012-01-01

The central dogma of molecular biology has come under scrutiny in recent years. Here, we reviewed high-throughput mRNA and protein expression data of Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and several mammalian cells. At both single cell and population scales, the statistical comparisons between the entire transcriptomes and proteomes show clear correlation structures. In contrast, the pair-wise correlations of single transcripts to proteins show nullity. These data suggest that the organizing structure guiding cellular processes is observed at omics-wide scale, and not at single molecule level. The central dogma, thus, globally emerges as an average integrated flow of cellular information.

Social value and individual choice: The value of a choice-based decision-making process in a collectively funded health system.

PubMed

Espinoza, Manuel Antonio; Manca, Andrea; Claxton, Karl; Sculpher, Mark

2018-02-01

Evidence about cost-effectiveness is increasingly being used to inform decisions about the funding of new technologies that are usually implemented as guidelines from centralized decision-making bodies. However, there is also an increasing recognition for the role of patients in determining their preferred treatment option. This paper presents a method to estimate the value of implementing a choice-based decision process using the cost-effectiveness analysis toolbox. This value is estimated for 3 alternative scenarios. First, it compares centralized decisions, based on population average cost-effectiveness, against a decision process based on patient choice. Second, it compares centralized decision based on patients' subgroups versus an individual choice-based decision process. Third, it compares a centralized process based on average cost-effectiveness against a choice-based process where patients choose according to a different measure of outcome to that used by the centralized decision maker. The methods are applied to a case study for the management of acute coronary syndrome. It is concluded that implementing a choice-based process of treatment allocation may be an option in collectively funded health systems. However, its value will depend on the specific health problem and the social values considered relevant to the health system. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

System Description and Status Report: California Education Information System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento.

The California Education Information System (CEIS) consists of two subsystems of computer programs designed to process business and pupil data for local school districts. Creating and maintaining records concerning the students in the schools, the pupil subsystem provides for a central repository of school district identification information and a…

Future electro-optical sensors and processing in urban operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grönwall, Christina; Schwering, Piet B.; Rantakokko, Jouni; Benoist, Koen W.; Kemp, Rob A. W.; Steinvall, Ove; Letalick, Dietmar; Björkert, Stefan

2013-10-01

In the electro-optical sensors and processing in urban operations (ESUO) study we pave the way for the European Defence Agency (EDA) group of Electro-Optics experts (IAP03) for a common understanding of the optimal distribution of processing functions between the different platforms. Combinations of local, distributed and centralized processing are proposed. In this way one can match processing functionality to the required power, and available communication systems data rates, to obtain the desired reaction times. In the study, three priority scenarios were defined. For these scenarios, present-day and future sensors and signal processing technologies were studied. The priority scenarios were camp protection, patrol and house search. A method for analyzing information quality in single and multi-sensor systems has been applied. A method for estimating reaction times for transmission of data through the chain of command has been proposed and used. These methods are documented and can be used to modify scenarios, or be applied to other scenarios. Present day data processing is organized mainly locally. Very limited exchange of information with other platforms is present; this is performed mainly at a high information level. Main issues that arose from the analysis of present-day systems and methodology are the slow reaction time due to the limited field of view of present-day sensors and the lack of robust automated processing. Efficient handover schemes between wide and narrow field of view sensors may however reduce the delay times. The main effort in the study was in forecasting the signal processing of EO-sensors in the next ten to twenty years. Distributed processing is proposed between hand-held and vehicle based sensors. This can be accompanied by cloud processing on board several vehicles. Additionally, to perform sensor fusion on sensor data originating from different platforms, and making full use of UAV imagery, a combination of distributed and centralized processing is essential. There is a central role for sensor fusion of heterogeneous sensors in future processing. The changes that occur in the urban operations of the future due to the application of these new technologies will be the improved quality of information, with shorter reaction time, and with lower operator load.

System design package for the solar heating and cooling central data processing system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The central data processing system provides the resources required to assess the performance of solar heating and cooling systems installed at remote sites. These sites consist of residential, commercial, government, and educational types of buildings, and the solar heating and cooling systems can be hot-water, space heating, cooling, and combinations of these. The instrumentation data associated with these systems will vary according to the application and must be collected, processed, and presented in a form which supports continuity of performance evaluation across all applications. Overall software system requirements were established for use in the central integration facility which transforms raw data collected at remote sites into performance evaluation information for assessing the performance of solar heating and cooling systems.

Extending the NIF DISCO framework to automate complex workflow: coordinating the harvest and integration of data from diverse neuroscience information resources

PubMed Central

Marenco, Luis N.; Wang, Rixin; Bandrowski, Anita E.; Grethe, Jeffrey S.; Shepherd, Gordon M.; Miller, Perry L.

2014-01-01

This paper describes how DISCO, the data aggregator that supports the Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF), has been extended to play a central role in automating the complex workflow required to support and coordinate the NIF’s data integration capabilities. The NIF is an NIH Neuroscience Blueprint initiative designed to help researchers access the wealth of data related to the neurosciences available via the Internet. A central component is the NIF Federation, a searchable database that currently contains data from 231 data and information resources regularly harvested, updated, and warehoused in the DISCO system. In the past several years, DISCO has greatly extended its functionality and has evolved to play a central role in automating the complex, ongoing process of harvesting, validating, integrating, and displaying neuroscience data from a growing set of participating resources. This paper provides an overview of DISCO’s current capabilities and discusses a number of the challenges and future directions related to the process of coordinating the integration of neuroscience data within the NIF Federation. PMID:25018728

Extending the NIF DISCO framework to automate complex workflow: coordinating the harvest and integration of data from diverse neuroscience information resources.

PubMed

Marenco, Luis N; Wang, Rixin; Bandrowski, Anita E; Grethe, Jeffrey S; Shepherd, Gordon M; Miller, Perry L

2014-01-01

This paper describes how DISCO, the data aggregator that supports the Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF), has been extended to play a central role in automating the complex workflow required to support and coordinate the NIF's data integration capabilities. The NIF is an NIH Neuroscience Blueprint initiative designed to help researchers access the wealth of data related to the neurosciences available via the Internet. A central component is the NIF Federation, a searchable database that currently contains data from 231 data and information resources regularly harvested, updated, and warehoused in the DISCO system. In the past several years, DISCO has greatly extended its functionality and has evolved to play a central role in automating the complex, ongoing process of harvesting, validating, integrating, and displaying neuroscience data from a growing set of participating resources. This paper provides an overview of DISCO's current capabilities and discusses a number of the challenges and future directions related to the process of coordinating the integration of neuroscience data within the NIF Federation.

Lyceum: A Multi-Protocol Digital Library Gateway

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maa, Ming-Hokng; Nelson, Michael L.; Esler, Sandra L.

1997-01-01

Lyceum is a prototype scalable query gateway that provides a logically central interface to multi-protocol and physically distributed, digital libraries of scientific and technical information. Lyceum processes queries to multiple syntactically distinct search engines used by various distributed information servers from a single logically central interface without modification of the remote search engines. A working prototype (http://www.larc.nasa.gov/lyceum/) demonstrates the capabilities, potentials, and advantages of this type of meta-search engine by providing access to over 50 servers covering over 20 disciplines.

The Magical Mystery Four: How is Working Memory Capacity Limited, and Why?

PubMed Central

Cowan, Nelson

2009-01-01

Working memory storage capacity is important because cognitive tasks can be completed only with sufficient ability to hold information as it is processed. The ability to repeat information depends on task demands but can be distinguished from a more constant, underlying mechanism: a central memory store limited to 3 to 5 meaningful items in young adults. I will discuss why this central limit is important, how it can be observed, how it differs among individuals, and why it may occur. PMID:20445769

Centralized Storm Information System (CSIS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norton, C. C.

1985-01-01

A final progress report is presented on the Centralized Storm Information System (CSIS). The primary purpose of the CSIS is to demonstrate and evaluate real time interactive computerized data collection, interpretation and display techniques as applied to severe weather forecasting. CSIS objectives pertaining to improved severe storm forecasting and warning systems are outlined. The positive impact that CSIS has had on the National Severe Storms Forecast Center (NSSFC) is discussed. The benefits of interactive processing systems on the forecasting ability of the NSSFC are described.

The role of women in the donation consent decision: building on previous research.

PubMed

Dodd-McCue, Diane; Tartaglia, Alexander; Cowherd, Robin

2007-09-01

Recently published findings emphasize the dominant role of women in the donation discussion. With some noteworthy exceptions, the empirical literature on gender and donation, and the role of gender in healthcare decisions as well as donation, is limited. To provide preliminary information needed to begin theoretical or framework development and to initiate more rigorous research on the role of gender in donation discussions. This exploratory study is a descriptive qualitative retrospective study using focus group methodology. Two focus groups were conducted in 2 major cities in the organ procurement organization's service area. Participants were women who were involved in the donation discussion within the past 5 years; 6 participated in 1 session, 8 in the other. The focus group discussions highlight the role of women in the donation process relative to information needs, information usage, and the ensuring dynamics of the donation discussion. Compared to men, women tend to seek more information and reframe this information for others. Because women are frequently central in family communication networks, they serve as a communication conduit for other family members and may influence others. Involving key women decision makers in the early stages of the donation discussion and providing information elaboration build on women's central placement and role in family communication network processes. The significance of women's central placement may carry cultural implications, particularly for racial or ethnic groups with strong matriarchal or extended kinship structures.

The Structural Underpinnings of Policy Learning: A Classroom Policy Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bird, Stephen

This paper investigates the relationship between the centrality of individual actors in a social network structure and their policy learning performance. In a dynamic comparable to real-world policy networks, results from a classroom simulation demonstrate a strong relationship between centrality in social learning networks and grade performance. Previous research indicates that social network centrality should have a positive effect on learning in other contexts and this link is tested in a policy learning context. Second, the distinction between collaborative learning versus information diffusion processes in policy learning is examined. Third, frequency of interaction is analyzed to determine whether consistent, frequent tics have a greater impact on the learning process. Finally, the data arc analyzed to determine if the benefits of centrality have limitations or thresholds when benefits no longer accrue. These results demonstrate the importance of network structure, and support a collaborative conceptualization of the policy learning process.

Weak central coherence in weight-restored adolescent anorexia nervosa: Characteristics and remediation.

PubMed

Weinbach, Noam; Perry, Amit; Sher, Helene; Lock, James D; Henik, Avishai

2017-08-01

Weak central coherence (WCC) refers to a bias towards processing details (local processing) at the expense of paying attention to the bigger picture (global processing). Multiple studies reported WCC in adults with anorexia nervosa (AN). Evidence for WCC in adolescents with AN has been inconsistent. The current study characterizes WCC in weight-restored adolescents with AN (WR-AN) using a direct measure of WCC, and examines whether WCC can be remediated by increasing alertness level-a manipulation that was found useful in enhancing global processing in healthy individuals and clinical populations. 40 adolescents (18 WR-AN and 22 healthy adolescents) performed a global/local processing task (Navon task). Auditory alerting cues that elevate alertness level were integrated into the task. Both groups processed global information faster than local information. However, compared with controls, adolescents with WR-AN were better at ignoring an irrelevant bigger picture while attending to details (smaller global interference) and had greater difficulty ignoring irrelevant details while attending to the bigger picture (larger local interference). These differences were attenuated when adolescents with WR-AN were under a state of high alertness. Additionally, the local interference effect was positively correlated with three independent self-report questionnaires assessing eating disorders symptomatology. This study suggests that abnormal interference by irrelevant global and local information is a central characteristic of WCC in adolescents with WR-AN that cannot be accounted for by enduring illness or malnourishment. Additionally, this study demonstrates that WCC can be temporarily remediated by encouraging a state of high alertness. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Image processing mini manual

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matthews, Christine G.; Posenau, Mary-Anne; Leonard, Desiree M.; Avis, Elizabeth L.; Debure, Kelly R.; Stacy, Kathryn; Vonofenheim, Bill

1992-01-01

The intent is to provide an introduction to the image processing capabilities available at the Langley Research Center (LaRC) Central Scientific Computing Complex (CSCC). Various image processing software components are described. Information is given concerning the use of these components in the Data Visualization and Animation Laboratory at LaRC.

In silico Interrogation of Insect Central Complex Suggests Computational Roles for the Ellipsoid Body in Spatial Navigation.

PubMed

Fiore, Vincenzo G; Kottler, Benjamin; Gu, Xiaosi; Hirth, Frank

2017-01-01

The central complex in the insect brain is a composite of midline neuropils involved in processing sensory cues and mediating behavioral outputs to orchestrate spatial navigation. Despite recent advances, however, the neural mechanisms underlying sensory integration and motor action selections have remained largely elusive. In particular, it is not yet understood how the central complex exploits sensory inputs to realize motor functions associated with spatial navigation. Here we report an in silico interrogation of central complex-mediated spatial navigation with a special emphasis on the ellipsoid body. Based on known connectivity and function, we developed a computational model to test how the local connectome of the central complex can mediate sensorimotor integration to guide different forms of behavioral outputs. Our simulations show integration of multiple sensory sources can be effectively performed in the ellipsoid body. This processed information is used to trigger continuous sequences of action selections resulting in self-motion, obstacle avoidance and the navigation of simulated environments of varying complexity. The motor responses to perceived sensory stimuli can be stored in the neural structure of the central complex to simulate navigation relying on a collective of guidance cues, akin to sensory-driven innate or habitual behaviors. By comparing behaviors under different conditions of accessible sources of input information, we show the simulated insect computes visual inputs and body posture to estimate its position in space. Finally, we tested whether the local connectome of the central complex might also allow the flexibility required to recall an intentional behavioral sequence, among different courses of actions. Our simulations suggest that the central complex can encode combined representations of motor and spatial information to pursue a goal and thus successfully guide orientation behavior. Together, the observed computational features identify central complex circuitry, and especially the ellipsoid body, as a key neural correlate involved in spatial navigation.

In silico Interrogation of Insect Central Complex Suggests Computational Roles for the Ellipsoid Body in Spatial Navigation

PubMed Central

Fiore, Vincenzo G.; Kottler, Benjamin; Gu, Xiaosi; Hirth, Frank

2017-01-01

The central complex in the insect brain is a composite of midline neuropils involved in processing sensory cues and mediating behavioral outputs to orchestrate spatial navigation. Despite recent advances, however, the neural mechanisms underlying sensory integration and motor action selections have remained largely elusive. In particular, it is not yet understood how the central complex exploits sensory inputs to realize motor functions associated with spatial navigation. Here we report an in silico interrogation of central complex-mediated spatial navigation with a special emphasis on the ellipsoid body. Based on known connectivity and function, we developed a computational model to test how the local connectome of the central complex can mediate sensorimotor integration to guide different forms of behavioral outputs. Our simulations show integration of multiple sensory sources can be effectively performed in the ellipsoid body. This processed information is used to trigger continuous sequences of action selections resulting in self-motion, obstacle avoidance and the navigation of simulated environments of varying complexity. The motor responses to perceived sensory stimuli can be stored in the neural structure of the central complex to simulate navigation relying on a collective of guidance cues, akin to sensory-driven innate or habitual behaviors. By comparing behaviors under different conditions of accessible sources of input information, we show the simulated insect computes visual inputs and body posture to estimate its position in space. Finally, we tested whether the local connectome of the central complex might also allow the flexibility required to recall an intentional behavioral sequence, among different courses of actions. Our simulations suggest that the central complex can encode combined representations of motor and spatial information to pursue a goal and thus successfully guide orientation behavior. Together, the observed computational features identify central complex circuitry, and especially the ellipsoid body, as a key neural correlate involved in spatial navigation. PMID:28824390

Eye Movement Correlates of Acquired Central Dyslexia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schattka, Kerstin I.; Radach, Ralph; Huber, Walter

2010-01-01

Based on recent progress in theory and measurement techniques, the analysis of eye movements has become one of the major methodological tools in experimental reading research. Our work uses this approach to advance the understanding of impaired information processing in acquired central dyslexia of stroke patients with aphasia. Up to now there has…

75 FR 70268 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; NIH NCI Central Institutional Review Board (CIRB...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-17

... number. Proposed Collection: Title: NIH NCI Central Institutional Review Board (CIRB). Type of... is absent of conflicts of interest with the protocols under review. Tools utilized to accomplish this... information on workflow and processes of CIRB operations as well as a non-disclosure agreement. A conflict of...

A Latent Variable Approach to Executive Control in Healthy Ageing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adrover-Roig, Daniel; Sese, Albert; Barcelo, Francisco; Palmer, Alfonso

2012-01-01

It is a well-established finding that the central executive is fractionated in at least three separable component processes: Updating, Shifting, and Inhibition of information (Miyake et al., 2000). However, the fractionation of the central executive among the elderly has been less well explored, and Miyake's et al. latent structure has not yet…

Direct versus indirect processing changes the influence of color in natural scene categorization.

PubMed

Otsuka, Sachio; Kawaguchi, Jun

2009-10-01

We examined whether participants would use a negative priming (NP) paradigm to categorize color and grayscale images of natural scenes that were presented peripherally and were ignored. We focused on (1) attentional resources allocated to natural scenes and (2) direct versus indirect processing of them. We set up low and high attention-load conditions, based on the set size of the searched stimuli in the prime display (one and five). Participants were required to detect and categorize the target objects in natural scenes in a central visual search task, ignoring peripheral natural images in both the prime and probe displays. The results showed that, irrespective of attention load, NP was observed for color scenes but not for grayscale scenes. We did not observe any effect of color information in central visual search, where participants responded directly to natural scenes. These results indicate that, in a situation in which participants indirectly process natural scenes, color information is critical to object categorization, but when the scenes are processed directly, color information does not contribute to categorization.

Scale-Up Information for Gas-Phase Ammonia Treatment of Uranium in the Vadose Zone at the Hanford Site Central Plateau

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

Truex, Michael J.; Szecsody, James E.; Zhong, Lirong

Uranium is present in the vadose zone at the Hanford Central Plateau and is of concern for protection of groundwater. The Deep Vadose Zone Treatability Test Plan for the Hanford Central Plateau identified gas-phase treatment and geochemical manipulation as potentially effective treatment approaches for uranium and technetium in the Hanford Central Plateau vadose zone. Based on laboratory evaluation, use of ammonia vapor was selected as the most promising uranium treatment candidate for further development and field testing. While laboratory tests have shown that ammonia treatment effectively reduces the mobility of uranium, additional information is needed to enable deployment of thismore » technology for remediation. Of importance for field applications are aspects of the technology associated with effective distribution of ammonia to a targeted treatment zone, understanding the fate of injected ammonia and its impact on subsurface conditions, and identifying effective monitoring approaches. In addition, information is needed to select equipment and operational parameters for a field design. As part of development efforts for the ammonia technology for remediation of vadose zone uranium contamination, field scale-up issues were identified and have been addressed through a series of laboratory and modeling efforts. This report presents a conceptual description for field application of the ammonia treatment process, engineering calculations to support treatment design, ammonia transport information, field application monitoring approaches, and a discussion of processes affecting the fate of ammonia in the subsurface. The report compiles this information from previous publications and from recent research and development activities. The intent of this report is to provide technical information about these scale-up elements to support the design and operation of a field test for the ammonia treatment technology.« less

Cartographic Encounters at the Bureau of Indian Affairs Geographic Information System Center of Calculation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Mark H.

2012-01-01

The centering processes of geographic information system (GIS) development at the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was an extension of past cartographic encounters with American Indians through the central control of geospatial technologies, uneven development of geographic information resources, and extension of technically dependent…

Lifelong Learning and the Information Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boucouvalas, Marcie

Society is currently in the process of shifting its central focus from the production and distribution of material goods to the production and distribution of information. Indeed, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal that the majority of people are now involved in occupations that center around information rather than around industry.…

A Planning Process Addresses an Organizational and Support Crisis in Information Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Keith R.; Davenport, Richard W.

1996-01-01

An institutionwide strategic planning effort at Central Michigan University, in response to a need for rapid and significant changes in its information technology infrastructure, is outlined. The effort resulted in a matrix governance structure for information technology that acknowledges the value of both distributed support and a strong central…

Bus 54 -- Where are you? A school bus intelligent information system

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

Truett, L.F.; Moore, S.; Tonn, B.

1998-07-01

Although major accidents involving school buses are rare (only about 0.3% of all fatal crashes since 1986 are classified as school-bus-related), even minor accidents and breakdowns cause a great deal of parental anxiety. The objective of this research is to design an efficient, cost-effective, accurate, and secure system that will track individual school buses and communicate appropriate information to the school system`s central administration unit, to the school transportation administrator, and to parents of children on the bus. The greatest benefit of the proposed information system is that parents and officials can always know the location and condition (these conditionsmore » would vary depending on the needs of a particular school system) of the school buses. In case of an accident or mechanical problem, when emergency crews are needed, they can be dispatched almost immediately with a good understanding of the problem and the exact location of the bus. In addition to being able to track the bus while the child is on board, parents will be able to determine the location of their child`s bus prior to its arrival in the morning in order to prevent the child from needing to wait outside in inclement weather. The information available to parents can also be expanded to include maps of limited routes (e.g., snow routes). Basically, the Bus 54 concept consists of a bus component and a central data processing unit. Each bus will be outfitted with a global positioning satellite (GPS) device, a wireless communication device, and wireless data communication service. The central data processing unit will receive and process information from the buses and provide information access to parents and officials via an Internet link.« less

Composing Models of Geographic Physical Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hofer, Barbara; Frank, Andrew U.

Processes are central for geographic information science; yet geographic information systems (GIS) lack capabilities to represent process related information. A prerequisite to including processes in GIS software is a general method to describe geographic processes independently of application disciplines. This paper presents such a method, namely a process description language. The vocabulary of the process description language is derived formally from mathematical models. Physical processes in geography can be described in two equivalent languages: partial differential equations or partial difference equations, where the latter can be shown graphically and used as a method for application specialists to enter their process models. The vocabulary of the process description language comprises components for describing the general behavior of prototypical geographic physical processes. These process components can be composed by basic models of geographic physical processes, which is shown by means of an example.

Inertial vestibular coding of motion: concepts and evidence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hess, B. J.; Angelaki, D. E.

1997-01-01

Central processing of inertial sensory information about head attitude and motion in space is crucial for motor control. Vestibular signals are coded relative to a non-inertial system, the head, that is virtually continuously in motion. Evidence for transformation of vestibular signals from head-fixed sensory coordinates to gravity-centered coordinates have been provided by studies of the vestibulo-ocular reflex. The underlying central processing depends on otolith afferent information that needs to be resolved in terms of head translation related inertial forces and head attitude dependent pull of gravity. Theoretical solutions have been suggested, but experimental evidence is still scarce. It appears, along these lines, that gaze control systems are intimately linked to motor control of head attitude and posture.

The use of higher-order statistics in rapid object categorization in natural scenes.

PubMed

Banno, Hayaki; Saiki, Jun

2015-02-04

We can rapidly and efficiently recognize many types of objects embedded in complex scenes. What information supports this object recognition is a fundamental question for understanding our visual processing. We investigated the eccentricity-dependent role of shape and statistical information for ultrarapid object categorization, using the higher-order statistics proposed by Portilla and Simoncelli (2000). Synthesized textures computed by their algorithms have the same higher-order statistics as the originals, while the global shapes were destroyed. We used the synthesized textures to manipulate the availability of shape information separately from the statistics. We hypothesized that shape makes a greater contribution to central vision than to peripheral vision and that statistics show the opposite pattern. Results did not show contributions clearly biased by eccentricity. Statistical information demonstrated a robust contribution not only in peripheral but also in central vision. For shape, the results supported the contribution in both central and peripheral vision. Further experiments revealed some interesting properties of the statistics. They are available for a limited time, attributable to the presence or absence of animals without shape, and predict how easily humans detect animals in original images. Our data suggest that when facing the time constraint of categorical processing, higher-order statistics underlie our significant performance for rapid categorization, irrespective of eccentricity. © 2015 ARVO.

Individual versus group decision making: Jurors’ reliance on central and peripheral information to evaluate expert testimony

PubMed Central

Bottoms, Bette L.; Peter-Hagene, Liana C.

2017-01-01

To investigate dual-process persuasion theories in the context of group decision making, we studied low and high need-for-cognition (NFC) participants within a mock trial study. Participants considered plaintiff and defense expert scientific testimony that varied in argument strength. All participants heard a cross-examination of the experts focusing on peripheral information (e.g., credentials) about the expert, but half were randomly assigned to also hear central information highlighting flaws in the expert’s message (e.g., quality of the research presented by the expert). Participants rendered pre- and post-group-deliberation verdicts, which were considered “scientifically accurate” if the verdicts reflected the strong (versus weak) expert message, and “scientifically inaccurate” if they reflected the weak (versus strong) expert message. For individual participants, we replicated studies testing classic persuasion theories: Factors promoting reliance on central information (i.e., central cross-examination, high NFC) improved verdict accuracy because they sensitized individual participants to the quality discrepancy between the experts’ messages. Interestingly, however, at the group level, the more that scientifically accurate mock jurors discussed peripheral (versus central) information about the experts, the more likely their group was to reach the scientifically accurate verdict. When participants were arguing for the scientifically accurate verdict consistent with the strong expert message, peripheral comments increased their persuasiveness, which made the group more likely to reach the more scientifically accurate verdict. PMID:28931011

Individual versus group decision making: Jurors' reliance on central and peripheral information to evaluate expert testimony.

PubMed

Salerno, Jessica M; Bottoms, Bette L; Peter-Hagene, Liana C

2017-01-01

To investigate dual-process persuasion theories in the context of group decision making, we studied low and high need-for-cognition (NFC) participants within a mock trial study. Participants considered plaintiff and defense expert scientific testimony that varied in argument strength. All participants heard a cross-examination of the experts focusing on peripheral information (e.g., credentials) about the expert, but half were randomly assigned to also hear central information highlighting flaws in the expert's message (e.g., quality of the research presented by the expert). Participants rendered pre- and post-group-deliberation verdicts, which were considered "scientifically accurate" if the verdicts reflected the strong (versus weak) expert message, and "scientifically inaccurate" if they reflected the weak (versus strong) expert message. For individual participants, we replicated studies testing classic persuasion theories: Factors promoting reliance on central information (i.e., central cross-examination, high NFC) improved verdict accuracy because they sensitized individual participants to the quality discrepancy between the experts' messages. Interestingly, however, at the group level, the more that scientifically accurate mock jurors discussed peripheral (versus central) information about the experts, the more likely their group was to reach the scientifically accurate verdict. When participants were arguing for the scientifically accurate verdict consistent with the strong expert message, peripheral comments increased their persuasiveness, which made the group more likely to reach the more scientifically accurate verdict.

Temporal Processing Dysfunction in Schizophrenia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carroll, Christine A.; Boggs, Jennifer; O'Donnell, Brian F.; Shekhar, Anantha; Hetrick, William P.

2008-01-01

Schizophrenia may be associated with a fundamental disturbance in the temporal coordination of information processing in the brain, leading to classic symptoms of schizophrenia such as thought disorder and disorganized and contextually inappropriate behavior. Despite the growing interest and centrality of time-dependent conceptualizations of the…

Decentralized modal identification using sparse blind source separation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadhu, A.; Hazra, B.; Narasimhan, S.; Pandey, M. D.

2011-12-01

Popular ambient vibration-based system identification methods process information collected from a dense array of sensors centrally to yield the modal properties. In such methods, the need for a centralized processing unit capable of satisfying large memory and processing demands is unavoidable. With the advent of wireless smart sensor networks, it is now possible to process information locally at the sensor level, instead. The information at the individual sensor level can then be concatenated to obtain the global structure characteristics. A novel decentralized algorithm based on wavelet transforms to infer global structure mode information using measurements obtained using a small group of sensors at a time is proposed in this paper. The focus of the paper is on algorithmic development, while the actual hardware and software implementation is not pursued here. The problem of identification is cast within the framework of under-determined blind source separation invoking transformations of measurements to the time-frequency domain resulting in a sparse representation. The partial mode shape coefficients so identified are then combined to yield complete modal information. The transformations are undertaken using stationary wavelet packet transform (SWPT), yielding a sparse representation in the wavelet domain. Principal component analysis (PCA) is then performed on the resulting wavelet coefficients, yielding the partial mixing matrix coefficients from a few measurement channels at a time. This process is repeated using measurements obtained from multiple sensor groups, and the results so obtained from each group are concatenated to obtain the global modal characteristics of the structure.

Learner Perception of Personal Spaces of Information (PSIs): A Mental Model Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hardof-Jaffe, Sharon; Aladjem, Ruthi

2018-01-01

A personal space of information (PSI) refers to the collection of digital information items created, saved and organized, on digital devices. PSIs play a central and significant role in learning processes. This study explores the mental models and perceptions of PSIs by learners, using drawing analysis. Sixty-three graduate students were asked to…

Information processing characteristics in subtypes of multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

De Sonneville, L M J; Boringa, J B; Reuling, I E W; Lazeron, R H C; Adèr, H J; Polman, C H

2002-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate information processing characteristics in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). We selected 53 patients with MS and 58 matched healthy controls. Using computerized tests, we investigated focused, divided, sustained attention, and executive function, and attempted to pinpoint deficits in attentional control to peripheral or central processing stages. The results substantiate the hypothesis that the slowing of attention-demanding (controlled) information processing underlying more complex cognitive skills is general, i.e. irrespective of type of controlled processing, with MS patients being 40% slower than controls. MS patients may suffer from focused, and divided and sustained attention deficits, as well as from compromised central processing stages, with secondary progressive (SP) patients showing the most extensive range of deficits, closely followed by primary progressive (PP) patients, while relapsing-remitting (RR) patients appear to be much less affected. General slowing appears to be highest in PP and SP type MS patients (50% slower) versus relapsing-remitting MS (24% slower). In contrast to most previous results, (complex) processing speed appeared to be robustly correlated with severity of MS as measured by the expanded disability status scale and with disease duration. Patients did much less differ in accuracy of processing from controls, suggesting the importance of using time strategies in planning everyday life and job activities to compensate for or alleviate MS-related speed handicaps. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Differential encoding of spatial information among retinal on cone bipolar cells

PubMed Central

Purgert, Robert J.

2015-01-01

The retina is the first stage of visual processing. It encodes elemental features of visual scenes. Distinct cone bipolar cells provide the substrate for this to occur. They encode visual information, such as color and luminance, a principle known as parallel processing. Few studies have directly examined whether different forms of spatial information are processed in parallel among cone bipolar cells. To address this issue, we examined the spatial information encoded by mouse ON cone bipolar cells, the subpopulation excited by increments in illumination. Two types of spatial processing were identified. We found that ON cone bipolar cells with axons ramifying in the central inner plexiform layer were tuned to preferentially encode small stimuli. By contrast, ON cone bipolar cells with axons ramifying in the proximal inner plexiform layer, nearest the ganglion cell layer, were tuned to encode both small and large stimuli. This dichotomy in spatial tuning is attributable to amacrine cells providing stronger inhibition to central ON cone bipolar cells compared with proximal ON cone bipolar cells. Furthermore, background illumination altered this difference in spatial tuning. It became less pronounced in bright light, as amacrine cell-driven inhibition became pervasive among all ON cone bipolar cells. These results suggest that differential amacrine cell input determined the distinct spatial encoding properties among ON cone bipolar cells. These findings enhance the known parallel processing capacity of the retina. PMID:26203104

Structural and process factors affecting the implementation of antimicrobial resistance prevention and control strategies in U.S. hospitals.

PubMed

Chou, Ann F; Yano, Elizabeth M; McCoy, Kimberly D; Willis, Deanna R; Doebbeling, Bradley N

2008-01-01

To address increases in the incidence of infection with antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention proposed two sets of strategies to (a) optimize antibiotic use and (b) prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistance and control transmission. However, little is known about the implementation of these strategies. Our objective is to explore organizational structural and process factors that facilitate the implementation of National Foundation for Infectious Diseases/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strategies in U.S. hospitals. We surveyed 448 infection control professionals from a national sample of hospitals. Clinically anchored in the Donabedian model that defines quality in terms of structural and process factors, with the structural domain further informed by a contingency approach, we modeled the degree to which National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strategies were implemented as a function of formalization and standardization of protocols, centralization of decision-making hierarchy, information technology capabilities, culture, communication mechanisms, and interdepartmental coordination, controlling for hospital characteristics. Formalization, standardization, centralization, institutional culture, provider-management communication, and information technology use were associated with optimal antibiotic use and enhanced implementation of strategies that prevent and control antimicrobial resistance spread (all p < .001). However, interdepartmental coordination for patient care was inversely related with antibiotic use in contrast to antimicrobial resistance spread prevention and control (p < .0001). Formalization and standardization may eliminate staff role conflict, whereas centralized authority may minimize ambiguity. Culture and communication likely promote internal trust, whereas information technology use helps integrate and support these organizational processes. These findings suggest concrete strategies for evaluating current capabilities to implement effective practices and foster and sustain a culture of patient safety.

The use of a policy dialogue to facilitate evidence-informed policy development for improved access to care: the case of the Winnipeg Central Intake Service (WCIS).

PubMed

Damani, Zaheed; MacKean, Gail; Bohm, Eric; DeMone, Brie; Wright, Brock; Noseworthy, Tom; Holroyd-Leduc, Jayna; Marshall, Deborah A

2016-10-18

Policy dialogues are critical for developing responsive, effective, sustainable, evidence-informed policy. Our multidisciplinary team, including researchers, physicians and senior decision-makers, comprehensively evaluated The Winnipeg Central Intake Service, a single-entry model in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to improve patient access to hip/knee replacement surgery. We used the evaluation findings to develop five evidence-informed policy directions to help improve access to scheduled clinical services across Manitoba. Using guiding principles of public participation processes, we hosted a policy roundtable meeting to engage stakeholders and use their input to refine the policy directions. Here, we report on the use and input of a policy roundtable meeting and its role in contributing to the development of evidence-informed policy. Our evidence-informed policy directions focused on formal measurement/monitoring of quality, central intake as a preferred model for service delivery, provincial scope, transparent processes/performance indicators, and patient choice of provider. We held a policy roundtable meeting and used outcomes of facilitated discussions to refine these directions. Individuals from our team and six stakeholder groups across Manitoba participated (n = 44), including patients, family physicians, orthopaedic surgeons, surgical office assistants, Winnipeg Central Intake team, and administrators/managers. We developed evaluation forms to assess the meeting process, and collected decision-maker partners' perspectives on the value of the policy roundtable meeting and use of policy directions to improve access to scheduled clinical services after the meeting, and again 15 months later. We analyzed roundtable and evaluation data using thematic analysis to identify key themes. Four key findings emerged. First, participants supported all policy directions, with revisions and key implementation considerations identified. Second, participants felt the policy roundtable meeting achieved its purpose (to engage stakeholders, elicit feedback, refine policy directions). Third, our decision-maker partners' expectations of the policy roundtable meeting were exceeded; they re-affirmed its value and described the refined policy directions as foundational to establishing the vocabulary, vision and framework for improving access to scheduled clinical services in Manitoba. Finally, our adaptation of key design elements was conducive to discussion of issues surrounding access to care. Our policy roundtable process was an effective tool for acquiring broad input from stakeholders, refining policy directions and forming the necessary consensus starting points to move towards evidence-informed policy.

[Inappropriateness in ionizing imaging. The central node of the informed consent: from "event" model to "process" model].

PubMed

Dodaro, Antonio; Recchia, Virginia

2011-11-01

The phenomenon of inappropriateness in ionizing imaging and medical interventions is large-scale and increasing. This tendency causes noteworthy damages to health and to patient's autonomy. Moreover, this trend causes a huge increment of health expenditures, waiting lists, organizational conflicts, judicial disputes, insurance compensations. The actual passive signature on unreadable templates of informed consent in the Italian hospital context constitutes, by a matter of facts, a central node of inappropriateness problem. This way to manage informed consent - "event" model - mortifies the patient's right to decide freely and deliberately, being him unaware of biological consequences of clinical-therapeutical interventions on himself and his progeny's health. Physician himself can generate arbitrary clinical acts, with heavy deontological and legal consequences. Hence, informed consent in ionizing imaging necessitates a particular "process" management, useful to convey a series of other clinical and organisational processes towards a full realisation of therapeutic alliance among physician and patient. This review aims at highlighting - in a juridical and communicative key - a range of tools which are applicable to contrasting the hospital abuse of ionizing radiations, for defending both patients' health and patients' dignity, being them primarily persons and citizens of a rule-of-law State.

32 CFR 1900.34 - Requests for expedited processing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Requests for expedited processing. 1900.34 Section 1900.34 National Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY PUBLIC ACCESS TO CIA RECORDS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) Additional Administrative...

32 CFR 1900.34 - Requests for expedited processing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Requests for expedited processing. 1900.34 Section 1900.34 National Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY PUBLIC ACCESS TO CIA RECORDS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) Additional Administrative...

Assessing Presidential Character: Degradation Rituals in Political Campaigns.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bennett, W. Lance

1981-01-01

Considers the consequences of taking political blunders seriously as central objects of electoral discourse. Explores gaffes as possible degradation rituals and as contributions to the definition of the electoral process and to the information needs of voters who must make decisions within that process. (PD)

The Central Amygdala Projection to the Substantia Nigra Reflects Prediction Error Information in Appetitive Conditioning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Hongjoo J.; Gallagher, Michela; Holland, Peter C.

2010-01-01

The central amygdala nucleus (CeA) plays a critical role in cognitive processes beyond fear conditioning. For example, intact CeA function is essential for enhancing attention to conditioned stimuli (CSs). Furthermore, this enhanced attention depends on the CeA's connections to the nigrostriatal system. In the current study, we examined the role…

Room To Grow? Facilities Programming for Colleges and Universities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Roger; Adams, Tom

2001-01-01

Asserts that campus space needs could be remedied by moving centrally located service delivery organizations, such as fleet vehicle maintenance facilities. Describes the process of operational and space needs assessment; this process provides information that enables architects to plan for appropriate adjacencies, correct space allocation, and…

The Demonstration of Short-Term Consolidation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jolicoeur, Pierre; Dell'Acqua, Roberto

1998-01-01

Results of seven experiments involving 112 college students or staff using a dual-task approach provide evidence that encoding information into short-term memory involves a distinct process termed short-term consolidation (STC). Results suggest that STC has limited capacity and that it requires central processing mechanisms. (SLD)

Perspectives on the Pure-Tone Audiogram.

PubMed

Musiek, Frank E; Shinn, Jennifer; Chermak, Gail D; Bamiou, Doris-Eva

The pure-tone audiogram, though fundamental to audiology, presents limitations, especially in the case of central auditory involvement. Advances in auditory neuroscience underscore the considerably larger role of the central auditory nervous system (CANS) in hearing and related disorders. Given the availability of behavioral audiological tests and electrophysiological procedures that can provide better insights as to the function of the various components of the auditory system, this perspective piece reviews the limitations of the pure-tone audiogram and notes some of the advantages of other tests and procedures used in tandem with the pure-tone threshold measurement. To review and synthesize the literature regarding the utility and limitations of the pure-tone audiogram in determining dysfunction of peripheral sensory and neural systems, as well as the CANS, and to identify other tests and procedures that can supplement pure-tone thresholds and provide enhanced diagnostic insight, especially regarding problems of the central auditory system. A systematic review and synthesis of the literature. The authors independently searched and reviewed literature (journal articles, book chapters) pertaining to the limitations of the pure-tone audiogram. The pure-tone audiogram provides information as to hearing sensitivity across a selected frequency range. Normal or near-normal pure-tone thresholds sometimes are observed despite cochlear damage. There are a surprising number of patients with acoustic neuromas who have essentially normal pure-tone thresholds. In cases of central deafness, depressed pure-tone thresholds may not accurately reflect the status of the peripheral auditory system. Listening difficulties are seen in the presence of normal pure-tone thresholds. Suprathreshold procedures and a variety of other tests can provide information regarding other and often more central functions of the auditory system. The audiogram is a primary tool for determining type, degree, and configuration of hearing loss; however, it provides the clinician with information regarding only hearing sensitivity, and no information about central auditory processing or the auditory processing of real-world signals (i.e., speech, music). The pure-tone audiogram offers limited insight into functional hearing and should be viewed only as a test of hearing sensitivity. Given the limitations of the pure-tone audiogram, a brief overview is provided of available behavioral tests and electrophysiological procedures that are sensitive to the function and integrity of the central auditory system, which provide better diagnostic and rehabilitative information to the clinician and patient. American Academy of Audiology

[Central nervous system control of energy homeostasis].

PubMed

Machleidt, F; Lehnert, H

2011-03-01

The brain is continuously supplied with information about the distribution and amount of energy stores from the body periphery. Endocrine, autonomic and cognitive-hedonic signals are centrally integrated and exert effects on the whole organism via anabolic and catabolic pathways. The adiposity signals insulin and leptin reflect the amount of body fat and are part of a negative feedback mechanism between the periphery and the central nervous system. The hypothalamic arcuate nucleus is the most important central nervous structure, which integrates this information. Furthermore, the CNS is able to directly measure and to respond to changes in the concentration of certain nutrients. In order to develop effective therapies for the treatment of disorders of energy balance the further elucidation of these neuro-biological processes is of crucial importance. This article provides an overview of the CNS regulation of metabolism and its underlying molecular mechanisms. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Towards Ontology-Driven Information Systems: Guidelines to the Creation of New Methodologies to Build Ontologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soares, Andrey

2009-01-01

This research targeted the area of Ontology-Driven Information Systems, where ontology plays a central role both at development time and at run time of Information Systems (IS). In particular, the research focused on the process of building domain ontologies for IS modeling. The motivation behind the research was the fact that researchers have…

A Computerized Hospital Patient Information Management System

PubMed Central

Wig, Eldon D.

1982-01-01

The information processing needs of a hospital are many, with varying degrees of complexity. The prime concern in providing an integrated hospital information management system lies in the ability to process the data relating to the single entity for which every hospital functions - the patient. This paper examines the PRIMIS computer system developed to accommodate hospital needs with respect to a central patient registry, inpatients (i.e., Admission/Transfer/Discharge), and out-patients. Finally, the potential for expansion to permit the incorporation of more hospital functions within PRIMIS is examined.

Neuromechanics: an integrative approach for understanding motor control.

PubMed

Nishikawa, Kiisa; Biewener, Andrew A; Aerts, Peter; Ahn, Anna N; Chiel, Hillel J; Daley, Monica A; Daniel, Thomas L; Full, Robert J; Hale, Melina E; Hedrick, Tyson L; Lappin, A Kristopher; Nichols, T Richard; Quinn, Roger D; Satterlie, Richard A; Szymik, Brett

2007-07-01

Neuromechanics seeks to understand how muscles, sense organs, motor pattern generators, and brain interact to produce coordinated movement, not only in complex terrain but also when confronted with unexpected perturbations. Applications of neuromechanics include ameliorating human health problems (including prosthesis design and restoration of movement following brain or spinal cord injury), as well as the design, actuation and control of mobile robots. In animals, coordinated movement emerges from the interplay among descending output from the central nervous system, sensory input from body and environment, muscle dynamics, and the emergent dynamics of the whole animal. The inevitable coupling between neural information processing and the emergent mechanical behavior of animals is a central theme of neuromechanics. Fundamentally, motor control involves a series of transformations of information, from brain and spinal cord to muscles to body, and back to brain. The control problem revolves around the specific transfer functions that describe each transformation. The transfer functions depend on the rules of organization and operation that determine the dynamic behavior of each subsystem (i.e., central processing, force generation, emergent dynamics, and sensory processing). In this review, we (1) consider the contributions of muscles, (2) sensory processing, and (3) central networks to motor control, (4) provide examples to illustrate the interplay among brain, muscles, sense organs and the environment in the control of movement, and (5) describe advances in both robotics and neuromechanics that have emerged from application of biological principles in robotic design. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that (1) intrinsic properties of muscle contribute to dynamic stability and control of movement, particularly immediately after perturbations; (2) proprioceptive feedback reinforces these intrinsic self-stabilizing properties of muscle; (3) control systems must contend with inevitable time delays that can simplify or complicate control; and (4) like most animals under a variety of circumstances, some robots use a trial and error process to tune central feedforward control to emergent body dynamics.

Neuro-Oscillatory Mechanisms of Intersensory Selective Attention and Task Switching in School-Aged Children, Adolescents and Young Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Jeremy W.; Foxe, John J.; Molholm, Sophie

2016-01-01

The ability to attend to one among multiple sources of information is central to everyday functioning. Just as central is the ability to switch attention among competing inputs as the task at hand changes. Such processes develop surprisingly slowly, such that even into adolescence, we remain slower and more error prone at switching among tasks…

Forecasting the Future Food Service World of Work. Final Report. Volume II. Centralized Food Service Systems. Service Management Reports.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powers, Thomas F., Ed.; Swinton, John R., Ed.

Volume II of a three-volume study on the future of the food service industry considers the effects that centralized food production will have on the future of food production systems. Based on information from the Fair Acres Project and the Michigan State University Vegetable Processing Center, the authors describe the operations of a centralized…

Self-Study Report for Candidacy. Prepared by Mennonite College of Nursing for the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mennonite Coll. of Nursing, Bloomington, IN.

A self-evaluation report by the Mennonite College of Nursing, which is applying for candidacy status with the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, is presented. Information is provided on the evolution of the program and the program evaluation process, as well as strengths and concerns of the college and plans for further…

[Medical specialization in Chile. A centralized vision].

PubMed

Clouet-Huerta, Diego E; González, Bárbara; Correa, Katherine

2017-11-01

Medical graduates face different postgraduate training options, but their priority is to obtain a primary medical specialty, defined as a specialty that does not derive from other. There are different specialty training programs in Chile, which can be dependent or independent of the Ministry of Health. The information about these programs is available in different Internet sites. However a centralized information service that groups and synthetize these programs is lacking, hampering graduate choice decisions. This article aims to review all specialization program modalities, providing a general vision of the institutional structure and implications that govern the specialization process in Chile.

The source of dual-task limitations: Serial or parallel processing of multiple response selections?

PubMed Central

Marois, René

2014-01-01

Although it is generally recognized that the concurrent performance of two tasks incurs costs, the sources of these dual-task costs remain controversial. The serial bottleneck model suggests that serial postponement of task performance in dual-task conditions results from a central stage of response selection that can only process one task at a time. Cognitive-control models, by contrast, propose that multiple response selections can proceed in parallel, but that serial processing of task performance is predominantly adopted because its processing efficiency is higher than that of parallel processing. In the present study, we empirically tested this proposition by examining whether parallel processing would occur when it was more efficient and financially rewarded. The results indicated that even when parallel processing was more efficient and was incentivized by financial reward, participants still failed to process tasks in parallel. We conclude that central information processing is limited by a serial bottleneck. PMID:23864266

FAST-TRAC evaluation : evaluation summary report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

FAST-TRAC is an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) that integrates advanced traffic control with a variety of advanced traffic information systems through centralized collection, processing, and dissemination of traffic data. The Road Commission...

A centralized informatics infrastructure for the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network.

PubMed

Pan, Jeng-Jong; Nahm, Meredith; Wakim, Paul; Cushing, Carol; Poole, Lori; Tai, Betty; Pieper, Carl F

2009-02-01

Clinical trial networks (CTNs) were created to provide a sustaining infrastructure for the conduct of multisite clinical trials. As such, they must withstand changes in membership. Centralization of infrastructure including knowledge management, portfolio management, information management, process automation, work policies, and procedures in clinical research networks facilitates consistency and ultimately research. In 2005, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) CTN transitioned from a distributed data management model to a centralized informatics infrastructure to support the network's trial activities and administration. We describe the centralized informatics infrastructure and discuss our challenges to inform others considering such an endeavor. During the migration of a clinical trial network from a decentralized to a centralized data center model, descriptive data were captured and are presented here to assess the impact of centralization. We present the framework for the informatics infrastructure and evaluative metrics. The network has decreased the time from last patient-last visit to database lock from an average of 7.6 months to 2.8 months. The average database error rate decreased from 0.8% to 0.2%, with a corresponding decrease in the interquartile range from 0.04%-1.0% before centralization to 0.01-0.27% after centralization. Centralization has provided the CTN with integrated trial status reporting and the first standards-based public data share. A preliminary cost-benefit analysis showed a 50% reduction in data management cost per study participant over the life of a trial. A single clinical trial network comprising addiction researchers and community treatment programs was assessed. The findings may not be applicable to other research settings. The identified informatics components provide the information and infrastructure needed for our clinical trial network. Post centralization data management operations are more efficient and less costly, with higher data quality.

Object-Based Attention Overrides Perceptual Load to Modulate Visual Distraction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cosman, Joshua D.; Vecera, Shaun P.

2012-01-01

The ability to ignore task-irrelevant information and overcome distraction is central to our ability to efficiently carry out a number of tasks. One factor shown to strongly influence distraction is the perceptual load of the task being performed; as the perceptual load of task-relevant information processing increases, the likelihood that…

CARETS: A prototype regional environmental information system. Volume 12: User evaluation of experimental land use maps and related products from the central Atlantic test site

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alexander, R. H. (Principal Investigator); Mcginty, H. K., III

1975-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Recommendations resulting from the CARETS evaluation reflect the need to establish a flexible and reliable system for providing more detailed raw and processed land resource information as well as the need to improve the methods of making information available to users.

Incorporating A Structured Writing Process into Existing CLS Curricula.

PubMed

Honeycutt, Karen; Latshaw, Sandra

2014-01-01

Good communication and critical thinking are essential skills for all successful professionals, including Clinical Laboratory Science/Medical Laboratory Science (CLS/MLS) practitioners. Professional programs can incorporate writing assignments into their curricula to improve student written communication and critical thinking skills. Clearly defined, scenario-focused writing assignments provide student practice in clearly articulating responses to proposed problems or situations, researching and utilizing informational resources, and applying and synthesizing relevant information. Assessment rubrics, structured feedback, and revision writing methodologies help guide students through the writing process. This article describes how a CLS Program in a public academic medical center, located in the central United States (US) serving five centrally-located US states has incorporated writing intensive assignments into an existing 11-month academic year using formal, informal and reflective writing to improve student written communication and critical thinking skills. Faculty members and employers of graduates assert that incorporating writing intensive requirements have better prepared students for their professional role to effectively communicate and think critically.

From IHE Audit Trails to XES Event Logs Facilitating Process Mining.

PubMed

Paster, Ferdinand; Helm, Emmanuel

2015-01-01

Recently Business Intelligence approaches like process mining are applied to the healthcare domain. The goal of process mining is to gain process knowledge, compliance and room for improvement by investigating recorded event data. Previous approaches focused on process discovery by event data from various specific systems. IHE, as a globally recognized basis for healthcare information systems, defines in its ATNA profile how real-world events must be recorded in centralized event logs. The following approach presents how audit trails collected by the means of ATNA can be transformed to enable process mining. Using the standardized audit trails provides the ability to apply these methods to all IHE based information systems.

System Evaluation and Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of a Commercial-Scale High-Temperature Electrolysis Hydrogen Production Plant

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

Edwin A. Harvego; James E. O'Brien; Michael G. McKellar

2012-11-01

Results of a system evaluation and lifecycle cost analysis are presented for a commercial-scale high-temperature electrolysis (HTE) central hydrogen production plant. The plant design relies on grid electricity to power the electrolysis process and system components, and industrial natural gas to provide process heat. The HYSYS process analysis software was used to evaluate the reference central plant design capable of producing 50,000 kg/day of hydrogen. The HYSYS software performs mass and energy balances across all components to allow optimization of the design using a detailed process flow sheet and realistic operating conditions specified by the analyst. The lifecycle cost analysismore » was performed using the H2A analysis methodology developed by the Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen Program. This methodology utilizes Microsoft Excel spreadsheet analysis tools that require detailed plant performance information (obtained from HYSYS), along with financial and cost information to calculate lifecycle costs. The results of the lifecycle analyses indicate that for a 10% internal rate of return, a large central commercial-scale hydrogen production plant can produce 50,000 kg/day of hydrogen at an average cost of $2.68/kg. When the cost of carbon sequestration is taken into account, the average cost of hydrogen production increases by $0.40/kg to $3.08/kg.« less

Altered central nervous system processing of baroreceptor input following hindlimb unloading in rats

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moffitt, J. A.; Schadt, J. C.; Hasser, E. M.

1999-01-01

The effect of cardiovascular deconditioning on central nervous system processing of baroreceptor afferent activity was evaluated following 14 days of hindlimb unloading (HU). Inactin-anesthetized rats were instrumented with catheters, renal sympathetic nerve electrodes, and aortic depressor nerve electrodes for measurement of mean arterial pressure, heart rate, renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA), and aortic depressor nerve activity (ADNA). Baroreceptor and baroreflex functions were assessed during infusion of phenylephrine and sodium nitroprusside. Central processing of baroreceptor afferent input was evaluated by linear regression relating RSNA to ADNA. The maximum baroreflex-elicited increase in RSNA was significantly reduced in HU rats (122 +/- 3.8 vs. 144 +/- 4.9% of baseline RSNA), whereas ADNA was not altered. The slope (-0.18 +/- 0.04 vs. -0.40 +/- 0.04) and y-intercept (121 +/- 3.2 vs. 146 +/- 4.3) of the linear regression relating increases in efferent RSNA to decreases in afferent ADNA during hypotension were significantly reduced in HU rats. There were no differences during increases in arterial pressure. Results demonstrate that the attenuation in baroreflex-mediated increases in RSNA following HU is due to changes in central processing of baroreceptor afferent information rather than aortic baroreceptor function.

Gravitational Study of the Central Nervous System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horowitz, J. M.

1983-01-01

A series of experiments conducted at 1G are discussed with reference to the role of calcium ions in information processing by the central nervous system. A technique is described which allows thin sections of a mammalian hippocampus to be isolated while maintaining neural activity. Two experiments carried out in hypergravic fields are also addressed; one investigating altered stimulation in the auditory system, the other determining temperature regulation responses in hypergravic fields.

Reliance on shallow soil water in a mixed-hardwood forest in central Pennsylvania

Treesearch

Katie P. Gaines; Jane W. Stanley; Frederick C. Meinzer; Katherine A. McCulloh; David R. Woodruff; Weile Chen; Thomas S. Adams; Henry Lin; David M. Eissenstat; Nathan Phillips

2015-01-01

We investigated depth of water uptake of trees on shale-derived soils in order to assess the importance of roots over a meter deep as a driver of water use in a central Pennsylvania catchment. This information is not only needed to improve basic understanding of water use in these forests but also to improve descriptions of root function at depth in hydrologic process...

Neural Correlates of Audiovisual Integration of Semantic Category Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Zhonghua; Zhang, Ruiling; Zhang, Qinglin; Liu, Qiang; Li, Hong

2012-01-01

Previous studies have found a late frontal-central audiovisual interaction during the time period about 150-220 ms post-stimulus. However, it is unclear to which process is this audiovisual interaction related: to processing of acoustical features or to classification of stimuli? To investigate this question, event-related potentials were recorded…

Share Your Voice: Online Community Building during Reaffirmation of Accreditation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kruse, Brenda; Bonura, Kimberlee Bethany; James, Suzanne G.; Potler, Shelley

2013-01-01

Walden University recently underwent a successful reaffirmation of accreditation process with The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. As part of the 3-year process, a committee, named the Education and Communication working group, was formed to inform and engage with the entire Walden community. The…

Meaning Making: What Reflective Essays Reveal about Biology Students' Conceptions about Natural Selection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balgopal, Meena M.; Montplaisir, Lisa M.

2011-01-01

The process of reflective writing can play a central role in making meaning as learners process new information and connect it to prior knowledge. An examination of the written discourse can therefore be revealing of learners' cognitive understanding and affective (beliefs, feelings, motivation to learn) responses to concepts. Despite reflective…

DEC Personnel Preparation Standards: Revision 2005-2008

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lifter, Karin; Chandler, Lynette K.; Cochran, Deborah C.; Dinnebeil, Laurie A.; Gallagher, Peggy A.; Christensen, Kimberly A.; Stayton, Vicki D.

2011-01-01

The revision and process of validation of standards for early childhood special education (ECSE) and early intervention (EI) personnel at the initial and advanced levels of preparation, which occurred during 2005-2008, are described to provide a record of the process and to inform future cycles of standards revision. Central components focus on…

An Ontology and a Software Framework for Competency Modeling and Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paquette, Gilbert

2007-01-01

The importance given to competency management is well justified. Acquiring new competencies is the central goal of any education or knowledge management process. Thus, it must be embedded in any software framework as an instructional engineering tool, to inform the runtime environment of the knowledge that is processed by actors, and their…

The Historical Evolutionary Process, by Organization and Function, of the Office of Strategic Services’ Assessment and Selection Program.

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-06-04

This study examines the historical evolution, by organization and functional process, of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Assessment and...the organizational evolution is traced through examination of America’s first central intelligence agency, the Office of the Coordinator of Information

The RCP Information Laboratory (iLab): breaking the cycle of poor data quality.

PubMed

Croft, Giles P; Williams, John G

2005-01-01

A review of data quality in the NHS by the Audit Commission cited a lack of clinician involvement in the validation and use of centrally held activity data as one of the key issues to resolve. The perception that hospital episode statistics cannot support the needs of the individual clinician results in mistrust and disinterest. This in turn leads to under-development of such data from a clinical perspective, and the cycle continues. The RCP Information Laboratory (iLab) aims to address this problem by accessing, analysing and presenting information from these central repositories concerning the activity of visiting individual consultant physicians. With support from iLab staff--an information analyst and a clinician--local data quality issues are highlighted and local solutions sought. The information obtained can be used as an objective measure of activity to support the processes of appraisal and revalidation.

Construction of In-house Databases in a Corporation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sano, Hikomaro

This report outlines “Repoir” (Report information retrieval) system of Toyota Central R & D Laboratories, Inc. as an example of in-house information retrieval system. The online system was designed to process in-house technical reports with the aid of a mainframe computer and has been in operation since 1979. Its features are multiple use of the information for technical and managerial purposes and simplicity in indexing and data input. The total number of descriptors, specially selected for the system, was minimized for ease of indexing. The report also describes the input items, processing flow and typical outputs in kanji letters.

Critical role for cochlear hair cell BK channels for coding the temporal structure and dynamic range of auditory information for central auditory processing

PubMed Central

Kurt, Simone; Sausbier, Matthias; Rüttiger, Lukas; Brandt, Niels; Moeller, Christoph K.; Kindler, Jennifer; Sausbier, Ulrike; Zimmermann, Ulrike; van Straaten, Harald; Neuhuber, Winfried; Engel, Jutta; Knipper, Marlies; Ruth, Peter; Schulze, Holger

2012-01-01

Large conductance, voltage- and Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) channels in inner hair cells (IHCs) of the cochlea are essential for hearing. However, germline deletion of BKα, the pore-forming subunit KCNMA1 of the BK channel, surprisingly did not affect hearing thresholds in the first postnatal weeks, even though altered IHC membrane time constants, decreased IHC receptor potential alternating current/direct current ratio, and impaired spike timing of auditory fibers were reported in these mice. To investigate the role of IHC BK channels for central auditory processing, we generated a conditional mouse model with hair cell-specific deletion of BKα from postnatal day 10 onward. This had an unexpected effect on temporal coding in the central auditory system: neuronal single and multiunit responses in the inferior colliculus showed higher excitability and greater precision of temporal coding that may be linked to the improved discrimination of temporally modulated sounds observed in behavioral training. The higher precision of temporal coding, however, was restricted to slower modulations of sound and reduced stimulus-driven activity. This suggests a diminished dynamic range of stimulus coding that is expected to impair signal detection in noise. Thus, BK channels in IHCs are crucial for central coding of the temporal fine structure of sound and for detection of signals in a noisy environment.—Kurt, S., Sausbier, M., Rüttiger, L., Brandt, N., Moeller, C. K., Kindler, J., Sausbier, U., Zimmermann, U., van Straaten, H., Neuhuber, W., Engel, J., Knipper, M., Ruth, P., Schulze, H. Critical role for cochlear hair cell BK channels for coding the temporal structure and dynamic range of auditory information for central auditory processing. PMID:22691916

Transient Dissipation and Structural Costs of Physical Information Transduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boyd, Alexander B.; Mandal, Dibyendu; Riechers, Paul M.; Crutchfield, James P.

2017-06-01

A central result that arose in applying information theory to the stochastic thermodynamics of nonlinear dynamical systems is the information-processing second law (IPSL): the physical entropy of the Universe can decrease if compensated by the Shannon-Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy change of appropriate information-carrying degrees of freedom. In particular, the asymptotic-rate IPSL precisely delineates the thermodynamic functioning of autonomous Maxwellian demons and information engines. How do these systems begin to function as engines, Landauer erasers, and error correctors? We identify a minimal, and thus inescapable, transient dissipation of physical information processing, which is not captured by asymptotic rates, but is critical to adaptive thermodynamic processes such as those found in biological systems. A component of transient dissipation, we also identify an implementation-dependent cost that varies from one physical substrate to another for the same information processing task. Applying these results to producing structured patterns from a structureless information reservoir, we show that "retrodictive" generators achieve the minimal costs. The results establish the thermodynamic toll imposed by a physical system's structure as it comes to optimally transduce information.

The neural time course of art perception: an ERP study on the processing of style versus content in art.

PubMed

Augustin, M Dorothee; Defranceschi, Birgit; Fuchs, Helene K; Carbon, Claus-Christian; Hutzler, Florian

2011-06-01

A central prerequisite to understand the phenomenon of art in psychological terms is to investigate the nature of the underlying perceptual and cognitive processes. Building on a study by Augustin, Leder, Hutzler, and Carbon (2008) the current ERP study examined the neural time course of two central aspects of representational art, one of which is closely related to object- and scene perception, the other of which is art-specific: content and style. We adapted a paradigm that has repeatedly been employed in psycholinguistics and that allows one to examine the neural time course of two processes in terms of when sufficient information is available to allow successful classification. Twenty-two participants viewed pictures that systematically varied in style and content and conducted a combined go/nogo dual choice task. The dependent variables of interest were the Lateralised Readiness Potential (LRP) and the N200 effect. Analyses of both measures support the notion that in the processing of art style follows content, with style-related information being available at around 224 ms or between 40 and 94 ms later than content-related information. The paradigm used here offers a promising approach to further explore the time course of art perception, thus helping to unravel the perceptual and cognitive processes that underlie the phenomenon of art and the fascination it exerts. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Informed Dialogue: Using Research to Shape Education Policy Around the World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reimers, Fernando; McGinn, Noel

This book is about how the process of deciding about education, or education policymaking, can be informed by research-based knowledge. Part 1 offers three chapters that attempt to clarify the central issues caught up in the problem of knowledge utilization--why there is so little utilization of research in educational policymaking, how research…

Differential reward coding in the subdivisions of the primate caudate during an oculomotor task.

PubMed

Nakamura, Kae; Santos, Gustavo S; Matsuzaki, Ryuichi; Nakahara, Hiroyuki

2012-11-07

The basal ganglia play a pivotal role in reward-oriented behavior. The striatum, an input channel of the basal ganglia, is composed of subdivisions that are topographically connected with different cortical and subcortical areas. To test whether reward information is differentially processed in the different parts of the striatum, we compared reward-related neuronal activity along the dorsolateral-ventromedial axis in the caudate nucleus of monkeys performing an asymmetrically rewarded oculomotor task. In a given block, a target in one position was associated with a large reward, whereas the other target was associated with a small reward. The target position-reward value contingency was switched between blocks. We found the following: (1) activity that reflected the block-wise reward contingency emerged before the appearance of a visual target, and it was more prevalent in the dorsal, rather than central and ventral, caudate; (2) activity that was positively related to the reward size of the current trial was evident, especially after reward delivery, and it was more prevalent in the ventral and central, rather than dorsal, caudate; and (3) activity that was modulated by the memory of the outcomes of the previous trials was evident in the dorsal and central caudate. This multiple reward information, together with the target-direction information, was represented primarily by individual caudate neurons, and the different reward information was represented in caudate subpopulations with distinct electrophysiological properties, e.g., baseline firing and spike width. These results suggest parallel processing of different reward information by the basal ganglia subdivisions defined by extrinsic connections and intrinsic properties.

Using texts in science education: cognitive processes and knowledge representation.

PubMed

van den Broek, Paul

2010-04-23

Texts form a powerful tool in teaching concepts and principles in science. How do readers extract information from a text, and what are the limitations in this process? Central to comprehension of and learning from a text is the construction of a coherent mental representation that integrates the textual information and relevant background knowledge. This representation engenders learning if it expands the reader's existing knowledge base or if it corrects misconceptions in this knowledge base. The Landscape Model captures the reading process and the influences of reader characteristics (such as working-memory capacity, reading goal, prior knowledge, and inferential skills) and text characteristics (such as content/structure of presented information, processing demands, and textual cues). The model suggests factors that can optimize--or jeopardize--learning science from text.

The central amygdala controls learning in the lateral amygdala

PubMed Central

Yu, Kai; Ahrens, Sandra; Zhang, Xian; Schiff, Hillary; Ramakrishnan, Charu; Fenno, Lief; Deisseroth, Karl; Zhao, Fei; Luo, Min-Hua; Gong, Ling; He, Miao; Zhou, Pengcheng; Paninski, Liam; Li, Bo

2018-01-01

Experience-driven synaptic plasticity in the lateral amygdala (LA) is thought to underlie the formation of associations between sensory stimuli and an ensuing threat. However, how the central amygdala (CeA) participates in such learning process remains unclear. Here we show that PKC-δ-expressing CeA neurons are essential for the synaptic plasticity underlying learning in the LA, as they convey information about unconditioned stimulus to LA neurons during fear conditioning. PMID:29184202

77 FR 26660 - Guidelines for the Transfer of Excess Computers or Other Technical Equipment Pursuant to Section...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-07

....usda.gov . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A. Background A proposed rule was published in the Federal.... Computers or other technical equipment means central processing units, laptops, desktops, computer mouses...

Physical models of biological information and adaptation.

PubMed

Stuart, C I

1985-04-07

The bio-informational equivalence asserts that biological processes reduce to processes of information transfer. In this paper, that equivalence is treated as a metaphor with deeply anthropomorphic content of a sort that resists constitutive-analytical definition, including formulation within mathematical theories of information. It is argued that continuance of the metaphor, as a quasi-theoretical perspective in biology, must entail a methodological dislocation between biological and physical science. It is proposed that a general class of functions, drawn from classical physics, can serve to eliminate the anthropomorphism. Further considerations indicate that the concept of biological adaptation is central to the general applicability of the informational idea in biology; a non-anthropomorphic treatment of adaptive phenomena is suggested in terms of variational principles.

Connectionism, parallel constraint satisfaction processes, and gestalt principles: (re) introducing cognitive dynamics to social psychology.

PubMed

Read, S J; Vanman, E J; Miller, L C

1997-01-01

We argue that recent work in connectionist modeling, in particular the parallel constraint satisfaction processes that are central to many of these models, has great importance for understanding issues of both historical and current concern for social psychologists. We first provide a brief description of connectionist modeling, with particular emphasis on parallel constraint satisfaction processes. Second, we examine the tremendous similarities between parallel constraint satisfaction processes and the Gestalt principles that were the foundation for much of modem social psychology. We propose that parallel constraint satisfaction processes provide a computational implementation of the principles of Gestalt psychology that were central to the work of such seminal social psychologists as Asch, Festinger, Heider, and Lewin. Third, we then describe how parallel constraint satisfaction processes have been applied to three areas that were key to the beginnings of modern social psychology and remain central today: impression formation and causal reasoning, cognitive consistency (balance and cognitive dissonance), and goal-directed behavior. We conclude by discussing implications of parallel constraint satisfaction principles for a number of broader issues in social psychology, such as the dynamics of social thought and the integration of social information within the narrow time frame of social interaction.

The Power of Teacher Selection to Improve Education. Evidence Speaks Reports, Vol 1, #12

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacob, Brian A.

2016-01-01

This report describes the findings from a new study of the teacher selection process in Washington, DC public schools. In 2009, the district created a centralized application process to streamline hiring by screening out less desirable candidates. Following the collection of standard information, applicants are asked to complete up to three…

Last but not least.

PubMed

Shapiro, Arthur G; Hamburger, Kai

2007-01-01

A central tenet of Gestalt psychology is that the visual scene can be separated into figure and ground. The two illusions we present demonstrate that Gestalt processes can group spatial contrast information that cuts across the figure/ground separation. This finding suggests that visual processes that organise the visual scene do not necessarily require structural segmentation as their primary input.

Attachment and the processing of social information across the life span: theory and evidence.

PubMed

Dykas, Matthew J; Cassidy, Jude

2011-01-01

Researchers have used J. Bowlby's (1969/1982, 1973, 1980, 1988) attachment theory frequently as a basis for examining whether experiences in close personal relationships relate to the processing of social information across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. We present an integrative life-span-encompassing theoretical model to explain the patterns of results that have emerged from these studies. The central proposition is that individuals who possess secure experience-based internal working models of attachment will process--in a relatively open manner--a broad range of positive and negative attachment-relevant social information. Moreover, secure individuals will draw on their positive attachment-related knowledge to process this information in a positively biased schematic way. In contrast, individuals who possess insecure internal working models of attachment will process attachment-relevant social information in one of two ways, depending on whether the information could cause the individual psychological pain. If processing the information is likely to lead to psychological pain, insecure individuals will defensively exclude this information from further processing. If, however, the information is unlikely to lead to psychological pain, then insecure individuals will process this information in a negatively biased schematic fashion that is congruent with their negative attachment-related experiences. In a comprehensive literature review, we describe studies that illustrate these patterns of attachment-related information processing from childhood to adulthood. This review focuses on studies that have examined specific components (e.g., attention and memory) and broader aspects (e.g., attributions) of social information processing. We also provide general conclusions and suggestions for future research.

DNA → RNA: What Do Students Think the Arrow Means?

PubMed

Wright, L Kate; Fisk, J Nick; Newman, Dina L

2014-01-01

The central dogma of molecular biology, a model that has remained intact for decades, describes the transfer of genetic information from DNA to protein though an RNA intermediate. While recent work has illustrated many exceptions to the central dogma, it is still a common model used to describe and study the relationship between genes and protein products. We investigated understanding of central dogma concepts and found that students are not primed to think about information when presented with the canonical figure of the central dogma. We also uncovered conceptual errors in student interpretation of the meaning of the transcription arrow in the central dogma representation; 36% of students (n = 128; all undergraduate levels) described transcription as a chemical conversion of DNA into RNA or suggested that RNA existed before the process of transcription began. Interviews confirm that students with weak conceptual understanding of information flow find inappropriate meaning in the canonical representation of central dogma. Therefore, we suggest that use of this representation during instruction can be counterproductive unless educators are explicit about the underlying meaning. © 2014 L. K. Wright et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2014 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Determination of differential cross sections and kinetic energy release of co-products from central sliced images in photo-initiated dynamic processes.

PubMed

Chen, Kuo-mei; Chen, Yu-wei

2011-04-07

For photo-initiated inelastic and reactive collisions, dynamic information can be extracted from central sliced images of state-selected Newton spheres of product species. An analysis framework has been established to determine differential cross sections and the kinetic energy release of co-products from experimental images. When one of the reactants exhibits a high recoil speed in a photo-initiated dynamic process, the present theory can be employed to analyze central sliced images from ion imaging or three-dimensional sliced fluorescence imaging experiments. It is demonstrated that the differential cross section of a scattering process can be determined from the central sliced image by a double Legendre moment analysis, for either a fixed or continuously distributed recoil speeds in the center-of-mass reference frame. Simultaneous equations which lead to the determination of the kinetic energy release of co-products can be established from the second-order Legendre moment of the experimental image, as soon as the differential cross section is extracted. The intensity distribution of the central sliced image, along with its outer and inner ring sizes, provide all the clues to decipher the differential cross section and the kinetic energy release of co-products.

The interaction of psychological and physiological homeostatic drives and role of general control principles in the regulation of physiological systems, exercise and the fatigue process - The Integrative Governor theory.

PubMed

St Clair Gibson, A; Swart, J; Tucker, R

2018-02-01

Either central (brain) or peripheral (body physiological system) control mechanisms, or a combination of these, have been championed in the last few decades in the field of Exercise Sciences as how physiological activity and fatigue processes are regulated. In this review, we suggest that the concept of 'central' or 'peripheral' mechanisms are both artificial constructs that have 'straight-jacketed' research in the field, and rather that competition between psychological and physiological homeostatic drives is central to the regulation of both, and that governing principles, rather than distinct physical processes, underpin all physical system and exercise regulation. As part of the Integrative Governor theory we develop in this review, we suggest that both psychological and physiological drives and requirements are underpinned by homeostatic principles, and that regulation of the relative activity of each is by dynamic negative feedback activity, as the fundamental general operational controller. Because of this competitive, dynamic interplay, we propose that the activity in all systems will oscillate, that these oscillations create information, and comparison of this oscillatory information with either prior information, current activity, or activity templates create efferent responses that change the activity in the different systems in a similarly dynamic manner. Changes in a particular system are always the result of perturbations occurring outside the system itself, the behavioural causative 'history' of this external activity will be evident in the pattern of the oscillations, and awareness of change occurs as a result of unexpected rather than planned change in physiological activity or psychological state.

Seven durable ideas.

PubMed

Glaser, John P

2008-01-01

Partners Healthcare, and its affiliated hospitals, have a long track record of accomplishments in clinical information systems implementations and research. Seven ideas have shaped the information systems strategies and tactics at Partners; centrality of processes, organizational partnerships, progressive incrementalism, agility, architecture, embedded research, and engage the field. This article reviews the ideas and discusses the rationale and steps taken to put the ideas into practice.

Seven Durable Ideas

PubMed Central

Glaser, John P.

2008-01-01

Partners Healthcare, and its affiliated hospitals, have a long track record of accomplishments in clinical information systems implementations and research. Seven ideas have shaped the information systems strategies and tactics at Partners; centrality of processes, organizational partnerships, progressive incrementalism, agility, architecture, embedded research, and engage the field. This article reviews the ideas and discusses the rationale and steps taken to put the ideas into practice. PMID:18308978

On Roles of Models in Information Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sølvberg, Arne

The increasing penetration of computers into all aspects of human activity makes it desirable that the interplay among software, data and the domains where computers are applied is made more transparent. An approach to this end is to explicitly relate the modeling concepts of the domains, e.g., natural science, technology and business, to the modeling concepts of software and data. This may make it simpler to build comprehensible integrated models of the interactions between computers and non-computers, e.g., interaction among computers, people, physical processes, biological processes, and administrative processes. This chapter contains an analysis of various facets of the modeling environment for information systems engineering. The lack of satisfactory conceptual modeling tools seems to be central to the unsatisfactory state-of-the-art in establishing information systems. The chapter contains a proposal for defining a concept of information that is relevant to information systems engineering.

Transfer Entropy and Transient Limits of Computation

PubMed Central

Prokopenko, Mikhail; Lizier, Joseph T.

2014-01-01

Transfer entropy is a recently introduced information-theoretic measure quantifying directed statistical coherence between spatiotemporal processes, and is widely used in diverse fields ranging from finance to neuroscience. However, its relationships to fundamental limits of computation, such as Landauer's limit, remain unknown. Here we show that in order to increase transfer entropy (predictability) by one bit, heat flow must match or exceed Landauer's limit. Importantly, we generalise Landauer's limit to bi-directional information dynamics for non-equilibrium processes, revealing that the limit applies to prediction, in addition to retrodiction (information erasure). Furthermore, the results are related to negentropy, and to Bremermann's limit and the Bekenstein bound, producing, perhaps surprisingly, lower bounds on the computational deceleration and information loss incurred during an increase in predictability about the process. The identified relationships set new computational limits in terms of fundamental physical quantities, and establish transfer entropy as a central measure connecting information theory, thermodynamics and theory of computation. PMID:24953547

[Automated processing of data from the 1985 population and housing census].

PubMed

Cholakov, S

1987-01-01

The author describes the method of automated data processing used in the 1985 census of Bulgaria. He notes that the computerization of the census involves decentralization and the use of regional computing centers as well as data processing at the Central Statistical Office's National Information Computer Center. Special attention is given to problems concerning the projection and programming of census data. (SUMMARY IN ENG AND RUS)

Programmed cell death acts at different stages of Drosophila neurodevelopment to shape the central nervous system

PubMed Central

Desplan, Claude

2016-01-01

Nervous system development is a process that integrates cell proliferation, differentiation and programmed cell death (PCD). PCD is an evolutionary conserved mechanism and a fundamental developmental process by which the final cell number in a nervous system is established. In vertebrates and invertebrates, PCD can be determined intrinsically by cell lineage and age, as well as extrinsically by nutritional, metabolic and hormonal states. Drosophila has been an instrumental model for understanding how this mechanism is regulated. We review the role of PCD in Drosophila central nervous system development from neural progenitors to neurons, its molecular mechanism and function, how it is regulated and implemented, and how it ultimately shapes the fly central nervous system from the embryo to the adult. Finally, we discuss ideas that emerge while integrating this information. PMID:27404003

The impact of migration on the sexual health, behaviours and attitudes of Central and East European gay/bisexual men in London.

PubMed

Mole, Richard C M; Parutis, Violetta; Gerry, Christopher J; Burns, Fiona M

2014-02-01

Building on an earlier quantitative study which found that gay/bisexual men from Central and Eastern Europe were at greater risk of sexual ill health following migration to the UK, the aim of this qualitative study is to explore how the process of migration itself may have influenced the migrants' sexual behaviour and attitudes. To address these questions, we conducted 17 in-depth interviews in London with gay/bisexual male migrants from Central and Eastern Europe, drawing on Fisher and Fisher's Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model as an interpretive framework. We find that the sexual behaviours of our respondents have been significantly influenced by the process of migration itself. In particular, extricating themselves from the traditional systems of social control in their home societies and having greater access to gay venues in London resulted in their increased sexual activity, particularly in the first phase of migration. High-risk sexual behaviour was found to be a factor of sexual mixing, the use of commercial sex and perceptions of risk in the UK vis-á-vis Central and Eastern Europe, with each of these factors also influenced by the process of migration. Risk-prevention behaviour depended upon the possession of appropriate risk-prevention information, motivation to use condoms and appropriate behavioural skills, with the latter two factors in particular influenced by social mores in the home country and the UK. The interviews suggested a number of migration-related factors that increased the STI and HIV risk for these migrants. A number of potentially important policy recommendations stem from our analysis.

Collecting conditions usage metadata to optimize current and future ATLAS software and processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rinaldi, L.; Barberis, D.; Formica, A.; Gallas, E. J.; Oda, S.; Rybkin, G.; Verducci, M.; ATLAS Collaboration

2017-10-01

Conditions data (for example: alignment, calibration, data quality) are used extensively in the processing of real and simulated data in ATLAS. The volume and variety of the conditions data needed by different types of processing are quite diverse, so optimizing its access requires a careful understanding of conditions usage patterns. These patterns can be quantified by mining representative log files from each type of processing and gathering detailed information about conditions usage for that type of processing into a central repository.

Product diffusion through on-demand information-seeking behaviour.

PubMed

Riedl, Christoph; Bjelland, Johannes; Canright, Geoffrey; Iqbal, Asif; Engø-Monsen, Kenth; Qureshi, Taimur; Sundsøy, Pål Roe; Lazer, David

2018-02-01

Most models of product adoption predict S-shaped adoption curves. Here we report results from two country-scale experiments in which we find linear adoption curves. We show evidence that the observed linear pattern is the result of active information-seeking behaviour: individuals actively pulling information from several central sources facilitated by modern Internet searches. Thus, a constant baseline rate of interest sustains product diffusion, resulting in a linear diffusion process instead of the S-shaped curve of adoption predicted by many diffusion models. The main experiment seeded 70 000 (48 000 in Experiment 2) unique voucher codes for the same product with randomly sampled nodes in a social network of approximately 43 million individuals with about 567 million ties. We find that the experiment reached over 800 000 individuals with 80% of adopters adopting the same product-a winner-take-all dynamic consistent with search engine driven rankings that would not have emerged had the products spread only through a network of social contacts. We provide evidence for (and characterization of) this diffusion process driven by active information-seeking behaviour through analyses investigating (a) patterns of geographical spreading; (b) the branching process; and (c) diffusion heterogeneity. Using data on adopters' geolocation we show that social spreading is highly localized, while on-demand diffusion is geographically independent. We also show that cascades started by individuals who actively pull information from central sources are more effective at spreading the product among their peers. © 2018 The Authors.

Product diffusion through on-demand information-seeking behaviour

PubMed Central

Bjelland, Johannes; Canright, Geoffrey; Iqbal, Asif; Qureshi, Taimur; Sundsøy, Pål Roe

2018-01-01

Most models of product adoption predict S-shaped adoption curves. Here we report results from two country-scale experiments in which we find linear adoption curves. We show evidence that the observed linear pattern is the result of active information-seeking behaviour: individuals actively pulling information from several central sources facilitated by modern Internet searches. Thus, a constant baseline rate of interest sustains product diffusion, resulting in a linear diffusion process instead of the S-shaped curve of adoption predicted by many diffusion models. The main experiment seeded 70 000 (48 000 in Experiment 2) unique voucher codes for the same product with randomly sampled nodes in a social network of approximately 43 million individuals with about 567 million ties. We find that the experiment reached over 800 000 individuals with 80% of adopters adopting the same product—a winner-take-all dynamic consistent with search engine driven rankings that would not have emerged had the products spread only through a network of social contacts. We provide evidence for (and characterization of) this diffusion process driven by active information-seeking behaviour through analyses investigating (a) patterns of geographical spreading; (b) the branching process; and (c) diffusion heterogeneity. Using data on adopters' geolocation we show that social spreading is highly localized, while on-demand diffusion is geographically independent. We also show that cascades started by individuals who actively pull information from central sources are more effective at spreading the product among their peers. PMID:29467257

Evolution of the archaeal and mammalian information processing systems: towards an archaeal model for human disease.

PubMed

Lyu, Zhe; Whitman, William B

2017-01-01

Current evolutionary models suggest that Eukaryotes originated from within Archaea instead of being a sister lineage. To test this model of ancient evolution, we review recent studies and compare the three major information processing subsystems of replication, transcription and translation in the Archaea and Eukaryotes. Our hypothesis is that if the Eukaryotes arose within the archaeal radiation, their information processing systems will appear to be one of kind and not wholly original. Within the Eukaryotes, the mammalian or human systems are emphasized because of their importance in understanding health. Biochemical as well as genetic studies provide strong evidence for the functional similarity of archaeal homologs to the mammalian information processing system and their dissimilarity to the bacterial systems. In many independent instances, a simple archaeal system is functionally equivalent to more elaborate eukaryotic homologs, suggesting that evolution of complexity is likely an central feature of the eukaryotic information processing system. Because fewer components are often involved, biochemical characterizations of the archaeal systems are often easier to interpret. Similarly, the archaeal cell provides a genetically and metabolically simpler background, enabling convenient studies on the complex information processing system. Therefore, Archaea could serve as a parsimonious and tractable host for studying human diseases that arise in the information processing systems.

Egocentric Direction and Position Perceptions are Dissociable Based on Only Static Lane Edge Information

PubMed Central

Nakashima, Ryoichi; Iwai, Ritsuko; Ueda, Sayako; Kumada, Takatsune

2015-01-01

When observers perceive several objects in a space, at the same time, they should effectively perceive their own position as a viewpoint. However, little is known about observers’ percepts of their own spatial location based on the visual scene information viewed from them. Previous studies indicate that two distinct visual spatial processes exist in the locomotion situation: the egocentric position perception and egocentric direction perception. Those studies examined such perceptions in information rich visual environments where much dynamic and static visual information was available. This study examined these two perceptions in information of impoverished environments, including only static lane edge information (i.e., limited information). We investigated the visual factors associated with static lane edge information that may affect these perceptions. Especially, we examined the effects of the two factors on egocentric direction and position perceptions. One is the “uprightness factor” that “far” visual information is seen at upper location than “near” visual information. The other is the “central vision factor” that observers usually look at “far” visual information using central vision (i.e., foveal vision) whereas ‘near’ visual information using peripheral vision. Experiment 1 examined the effect of the “uprightness factor” using normal and inverted road images. Experiment 2 examined the effect of the “central vision factor” using normal and transposed road images where the upper half of the normal image was presented under the lower half. Experiment 3 aimed to replicate the results of Experiments 1 and 2. Results showed that egocentric direction perception is interfered with image inversion or image transposition, whereas egocentric position perception is robust against these image transformations. That is, both “uprightness” and “central vision” factors are important for egocentric direction perception, but not for egocentric position perception. Therefore, the two visual spatial perceptions about observers’ own viewpoints are fundamentally dissociable. PMID:26648895

Counting abilities in autism: possible implications for central coherence theory.

PubMed

Jarrold, C; Russell, J

1997-02-01

We examined the claim that children with autism have a "weak drive for central coherence" which biases them towards processing information at an analytic rather than global level. This was done by investigating whether children with autism would rapidly and automatically enumerate a number of dots presented in a canonical form, or count each dot individually to obtain the total. The time taken to count stimuli was compared across three participant groups: children with autism, children with moderate learning difficulties, and normally developing children. There were 22 children in each group, and individuals were matched across groups on the basis of verbal mental age. Results implied that children with autism did show a tendency towards an analytic level of processing. However, though the groups differed on measures of counting speeds, the number or children showing patterns of global or analytic processing did not differ significantly across the groups. Whether these results implicate a weak drive for central coherence in autism, which is both specific to, and pervasive in the disorder, is discussed.

Concept of Integrated Information Systems of Rail Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siergiejczyk, Mirosław; Gago, Stanisław

This paper will present a need to create integrated information systems of the rail transport and their links with other means of public transportation. IT standards will be discussed that are expected to create the integrated information systems of the rail transport. Also the main tasks will be presented of centralized information systems, the concept of their architecture, business processes and their implementation as well as the proposed measures to secure data. A method shall be proposed to implement a system to inform participants of rail transport in Polish conditions.

Bayesian networks and information theory for audio-visual perception modeling.

PubMed

Besson, Patricia; Richiardi, Jonas; Bourdin, Christophe; Bringoux, Lionel; Mestre, Daniel R; Vercher, Jean-Louis

2010-09-01

Thanks to their different senses, human observers acquire multiple information coming from their environment. Complex cross-modal interactions occur during this perceptual process. This article proposes a framework to analyze and model these interactions through a rigorous and systematic data-driven process. This requires considering the general relationships between the physical events or factors involved in the process, not only in quantitative terms, but also in term of the influence of one factor on another. We use tools from information theory and probabilistic reasoning to derive relationships between the random variables of interest, where the central notion is that of conditional independence. Using mutual information analysis to guide the model elicitation process, a probabilistic causal model encoded as a Bayesian network is obtained. We exemplify the method by using data collected in an audio-visual localization task for human subjects, and we show that it yields a well-motivated model with good predictive ability. The model elicitation process offers new prospects for the investigation of the cognitive mechanisms of multisensory perception.

Dynamic frontotemporal systems process space and time in working memory

PubMed Central

Adams, Jenna N.; Solbakk, Anne-Kristin; Endestad, Tor; Larsson, Pål G.; Ivanovic, Jugoslav; Meling, Torstein R.; Lin, Jack J.; Knight, Robert T.

2018-01-01

How do we rapidly process incoming streams of information in working memory, a cognitive mechanism central to human behavior? Dominant views of working memory focus on the prefrontal cortex (PFC), but human hippocampal recordings provide a neurophysiological signature distinct from the PFC. Are these regions independent, or do they interact in the service of working memory? We addressed this core issue in behavior by recording directly from frontotemporal sites in humans performing a visuospatial working memory task that operationalizes the types of identity and spatiotemporal information we encounter every day. Theta band oscillations drove bidirectional interactions between the PFC and medial temporal lobe (MTL; including the hippocampus). MTL theta oscillations directed the PFC preferentially during the processing of spatiotemporal information, while PFC theta oscillations directed the MTL for all types of information being processed in working memory. These findings reveal an MTL theta mechanism for processing space and time and a domain-general PFC theta mechanism, providing evidence that rapid, dynamic MTL–PFC interactions underlie working memory for everyday experiences. PMID:29601574

Neural plasticity in amplitude of low frequency fluctuation, cortical hub construction, regional homogeneity resulting from working memory training.

PubMed

Takeuchi, Hikaru; Taki, Yasuyuki; Nouchi, Rui; Sekiguchi, Atsushi; Kotozaki, Yuka; Nakagawa, Seishu; Makoto Miyauchi, Carlos; Sassa, Yuko; Kawashima, Ryuta

2017-05-03

Working memory training (WMT) induces changes in cognitive function and various neurological systems. Here, we investigated changes in recently developed resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging measures of global information processing [degree of the cortical hub, which may have a central role in information integration in the brain, degree centrality (DC)], the magnitude of intrinsic brain activity [fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (fALFF)], and local connectivity (regional homogeneity) in young adults, who either underwent WMT or received no intervention for 4 weeks. Compared with no intervention, WMT increased DC in the anatomical cluster, including anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Furthermore, WMT increased fALFF in the anatomical cluster including the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), frontopolar area and mPFC. WMT increased regional homogeneity in the anatomical cluster that spread from the precuneus to posterior cingulate cortex and posterior parietal cortex. These results suggest WMT-induced plasticity in spontaneous brain activity and global and local information processing in areas of the major networks of the brain during rest.

Modes of Visual Recognition and Perceptually Relevant Sketch-based Coding for Images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jobson, Daniel J.

1991-01-01

A review of visual recognition studies is used to define two levels of information requirements. These two levels are related to two primary subdivisions of the spatial frequency domain of images and reflect two distinct different physical properties of arbitrary scenes. In particular, pathologies in recognition due to cerebral dysfunction point to a more complete split into two major types of processing: high spatial frequency edge based recognition vs. low spatial frequency lightness (and color) based recognition. The former is more central and general while the latter is more specific and is necessary for certain special tasks. The two modes of recognition can also be distinguished on the basis of physical scene properties: the highly localized edges associated with reflectance and sharp topographic transitions vs. smooth topographic undulation. The extreme case of heavily abstracted images is pursued to gain an understanding of the minimal information required to support both modes of recognition. Here the intention is to define the semantic core of transmission. This central core of processing can then be fleshed out with additional image information and coding and rendering techniques.

Spreading dynamics in complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pei, Sen; Makse, Hernán A.

2013-12-01

Searching for influential spreaders in complex networks is an issue of great significance for applications across various domains, ranging from epidemic control, innovation diffusion, viral marketing, and social movement to idea propagation. In this paper, we first display some of the most important theoretical models that describe spreading processes, and then discuss the problem of locating both the individual and multiple influential spreaders respectively. Recent approaches in these two topics are presented. For the identification of privileged single spreaders, we summarize several widely used centralities, such as degree, betweenness centrality, PageRank, k-shell, etc. We investigate the empirical diffusion data in a large scale online social community—LiveJournal. With this extensive dataset, we find that various measures can convey very distinct information of nodes. Of all the users in the LiveJournal social network, only a small fraction of them are involved in spreading. For the spreading processes in LiveJournal, while degree can locate nodes participating in information diffusion with higher probability, k-shell is more effective in finding nodes with a large influence. Our results should provide useful information for designing efficient spreading strategies in reality.

A fault-tolerant information processing concept for space vehicles.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hopkins, A. L., Jr.

1971-01-01

A distributed fault-tolerant information processing system is proposed, comprising a central multiprocessor, dedicated local processors, and multiplexed input-output buses connecting them together. The processors in the multiprocessor are duplicated for error detection, which is felt to be less expensive than using coded redundancy of comparable effectiveness. Error recovery is made possible by a triplicated scratchpad memory in each processor. The main multiprocessor memory uses replicated memory for error detection and correction. Local processors use any of three conventional redundancy techniques: voting, duplex pairs with backup, and duplex pairs in independent subsystems.

Embracing the quantum limit in silicon computing.

PubMed

Morton, John J L; McCamey, Dane R; Eriksson, Mark A; Lyon, Stephen A

2011-11-16

Quantum computers hold the promise of massive performance enhancements across a range of applications, from cryptography and databases to revolutionary scientific simulation tools. Such computers would make use of the same quantum mechanical phenomena that pose limitations on the continued shrinking of conventional information processing devices. Many of the key requirements for quantum computing differ markedly from those of conventional computers. However, silicon, which plays a central part in conventional information processing, has many properties that make it a superb platform around which to build a quantum computer. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

TNFa/TNFR2 signaling is required for glial ensheathment at the dorsal root entry zone

PubMed Central

Smith, Cody J.; Bagnat, Michel; Deppmann, Christopher D.

2017-01-01

Somatosensory information from the periphery is routed to the spinal cord through centrally-projecting sensory axons that cross into the central nervous system (CNS) via the dorsal root entry zone (DREZ). The glial cells that ensheath these axons ensure rapid propagation of this information. Despite the importance of this glial-axon arrangement, how this afferent nerve is assembled during development is unknown. Using in vivo, time-lapse imaging we show that as centrally-projecting pioneer axons from dorsal root ganglia (DRG) enter the spinal cord, they initiate expression of the cytokine TNFalpha. This induction coincides with ensheathment of these axons by associated glia via a TNF receptor 2 (TNFR2)-mediated process. This work identifies a signaling cascade that mediates peripheral glial-axon interactions and it functions to ensure that DRG afferent projections are ensheathed after pioneer axons complete their navigation, which promotes efficient somatosensory neural function. PMID:28379965

Positive and negative affective processing exhibit dissociable functional hubs during the viewing of affective pictures.

PubMed

Zhang, Wenhai; Li, Hong; Pan, Xiaohong

2015-02-01

Recent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies using graph theory metrics have revealed that the functional network of the human brain possesses small-world characteristics and comprises several functional hub regions. However, it is unclear how the affective functional network is organized in the brain during the processing of affective information. In this study, the fMRI data were collected from 25 healthy college students as they viewed a total of 81 positive, neutral, and negative pictures. The results indicated that affective functional networks exhibit weaker small-worldness properties with higher local efficiency, implying that local connections increase during viewing affective pictures. Moreover, positive and negative emotional processing exhibit dissociable functional hubs, emerging mainly in task-positive regions. These functional hubs, which are the centers of information processing, have nodal betweenness centrality values that are at least 1.5 times larger than the average betweenness centrality of the network. Positive affect scores correlated with the betweenness values of the right orbital frontal cortex (OFC) and the right putamen in the positive emotional network; negative affect scores correlated with the betweenness values of the left OFC and the left amygdala in the negative emotional network. The local efficiencies in the left superior and inferior parietal lobe correlated with subsequent arousal ratings of positive and negative pictures, respectively. These observations provide important evidence for the organizational principles of the human brain functional connectome during the processing of affective information. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Field of Vision Influences Sensory-Motor Control of Skilled and Less-Skilled Dart Players

PubMed Central

Rienhoff, Rebecca; Baker, Joseph; Fischer, Lennart; Strauss, Bernd; Schorer, Jörg

2012-01-01

One characteristic of perceptual expertise in sport and other domains is known as ’the quiet eye', which assumes that fixated information is processed during gaze stability and insufficient spatial information leads to a decrease in performance. The aims of this study were a) replicating inter- and intra-group variability and b) investigating the extent to which quiet eye supports information pick-up of varying fields of vision (i.e., central versus peripheral) using a specific eye-tracking paradigm to compare different skill levels in a dart throwing task. Differences between skill levels were replicated at baseline, but no significant differences in throwing performance were revealed among the visual occlusion conditions. Findings are generally in line with the association between quiet eye duration and aiming performance, but raise questions regarding the relevance of central vision information pick-up for the quiet eye. Key pointsInvestigation of throwing performance and quiet eye duration in dart throwing under several vision conditionsFirst investigation using a dynamic occlusion paradigm, manipulating field of vision in situReplication of previous findings concerning throwing performance and quiet eye durationNew insights about the role of central (and peripheral) vision concerning the quiet eye phenomena PMID:24149366

Attributing Social and Physical Meaning to Ambiguous Visual Displays in Individuals with Higher-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klin, Ami; Jones, Warren

2006-01-01

The weak central coherence (WCC) account of autism characterizes the learning style of individuals with this condition as favoring localized and fragmented (to the detriment of global and integrative) processing of information. This pattern of learning is thought to lead to deficits in aspects of perception (e.g., face processing), cognition, and…

Object Selection Costs in Visual Working Memory: A Diffusion Model Analysis of the Focus of Attention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sewell, David K.; Lilburn, Simon D.; Smith, Philip L.

2016-01-01

A central question in working memory research concerns the degree to which information in working memory is accessible to other cognitive processes (e.g., decision-making). Theories assuming that the focus of attention can only store a single object at a time require the focus to orient to a target representation before further processing can…

Histamine H1 receptor antagonist cetirizine impairs working memory processing speed, but not episodic memory.

PubMed

van Ruitenbeek, P; Vermeeren, A; Riedel, W J

2010-09-01

The histaminergic neurotransmitter system is currently under investigation as a target for drug treatment of cognitive deficits in clinical disorders. The therapeutic potential of new drugs may initially be screened using a model of histaminergic dysfunction, for example, as associated with the use of centrally active antihistamines. Of the selective second generation antihistamines, cetirizine has been found to have central nervous system effects. The aim of the present study was to determine whether cetirizine can be used as a tool to model cognitive deficits associated with histaminergic hypofunction. The study was conducted according to a three-way, double-blind, cross-over design. Treatments were single oral doses of cetirizine 10 and 20 mg and placebo. Effects on cognition were assessed using tests of word learning, memory scanning, vigilance, divided attention, tracking and visual information processing speed. Cetirizine 10 mg impaired tracking performance and both doses impaired memory scanning speed. None of the other measures indicated impaired performance. Cetirizine affects information processing speed, but these effects were not sufficient to serve as a model for cognitive deficits in clinical disorders.

Evaluation of transboundary environmental issues in Central Europe

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

Engi, D.; Kapustka, L.A.; Williams, B.A.

1997-05-01

Central Europe has experienced environmental degradation for hundreds of years. The proximity of countries, their shared resources, and transboundary movement of environmental pollution, create the potential for regional environmental strife. The goal of this project was to identify the sources and sinks of environmental pollution in Central Europe and evaluate the possible impact of transboundary movement of pollution on the countries of Central Europe. In meeting the objectives of identifying sources of contaminants, determining transboundary movement of contaminants, and assessing socio-economic implications, large quantities of disparate data were examined. To facilitate use of the data, the authors refined mapping proceduresmore » that enable processing information from virtually any map or spreadsheet data that can be geo-referenced. Because the procedure is freed from a priori constraints of scale that confound most Geographical Information Systems, they have the capacity to generate new projections and apply sophisticated statistical analyses to the data. The analysis indicates substantial environmental problems. While transboundary pollution issues may spawn conflict among the Central European countries and their neighbors, it appears that common environmental problems facing the entire region have had the effect of bringing the countries together, even though opportunities for deteriorating relationships may still arise.« less

Information Assurance Technology Analysis Center Information Assurance Tools Report Intrusion Detection

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-01-01

such as central processing unit (CPU) usage, disk input/output (I/O), memory usage, user activity, and number of logins attempted. The statistics... EMERALD Commercial anomaly detection, system monitoring SRI porras@csl.sri.com www.csl.sri.com/ emerald /index. html Gabriel Commercial system...sensors, it starts to protect the network with minimal configuration and maximum intelligence. T 11 EMERALD TITLE EMERALD (Event Monitoring

A Rose in Any Other Font Would Not Smell as Sweet: Effects of Perceptual Fluency on Categorization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oppenheimer, Daniel M.; Frank, Michael C.

2008-01-01

Fluency--the ease with which people process information--is a central piece of information we take into account when we make judgments about the world. Prior research has shown that fluency affects judgments in a wide variety of domains, including frequency, familiarity, and confidence. In this paper, we present evidence that fluency also plays a…

Effects of Brazilian scorpion venoms on the central nervous system.

PubMed

Nencioni, Ana Leonor Abrahão; Neto, Emidio Beraldo; de Freitas, Lucas Alves; Dorce, Valquiria Abrão Coronado

2018-01-01

In Brazil, the scorpion species responsible for most severe incidents belong to the Tityus genus and, among this group, T. serrulatus , T. bahiensis , T. stigmurus and T. obscurus are the most dangerous ones. Other species such as T. metuendus , T. silvestres, T. brazilae , T. confluens , T. costatus , T. fasciolatus and T. neglectus are also found in the country, but the incidence and severity of accidents caused by them are lower. The main effects caused by scorpion venoms - such as myocardial damage, cardiac arrhythmias, pulmonary edema and shock - are mainly due to the release of mediators from the autonomic nervous system. On the other hand, some evidence show the participation of the central nervous system and inflammatory response in the process. The participation of the central nervous system in envenoming has always been questioned. Some authors claim that the central effects would be a consequence of peripheral stimulation and would be the result, not the cause, of the envenoming process. Because, they say, at least in adult individuals, the venom would be unable to cross the blood-brain barrier. In contrast, there is some evidence showing the direct participation of the central nervous system in the envenoming process. This review summarizes the major findings on the effects of Brazilian scorpion venoms on the central nervous system, both clinically and experimentally. Most of the studies have been performed with T. serrulatus and T. bahiensis . Little information is available regarding the other Brazilian Tityus species.

Assessment and manifestation of central sensitisation across different chronic pain conditions.

PubMed

Arendt-Nielsen, L; Morlion, B; Perrot, S; Dahan, A; Dickenson, A; Kress, H G; Wells, C; Bouhassira, D; Mohr Drewes, A

2018-02-01

Different neuroplastic processes can occur along the nociceptive pathways and may be important in the transition from acute to chronic pain and for diagnosis and development of optimal management strategies. The neuroplastic processes may result in gain (sensitisation) or loss (desensitisation) of function in relation to the incoming nociceptive signals. Such processes play important roles in chronic pain, and although the clinical manifestations differ across condition processes, they share some common mechanistic features. The fundamental understanding and quantitative assessment of particularly some of the central sensitisation mechanisms can be translated from preclinical studies into the clinic. The clinical perspectives are implementation of such novel information into diagnostics, mechanistic phenotyping, prevention, personalised treatment, and drug development. The aims of this paper are to introduce and discuss (1) some common fundamental central pain mechanisms, (2) how they may translate into the clinical signs and symptoms across different chronic pain conditions, (3) how to evaluate gain and loss of function using quantitative pain assessment tools, and (4) the implications for optimising prevention and management of pain. The chronic pain conditions selected for the paper are neuropathic pain in general, musculoskeletal pain (chronic low back pain and osteoarthritic pain in particular), and visceral pain (irritable bowel syndrome in particular). The translational mechanisms addressed are local and widespread sensitisation, central summation, and descending pain modulation. Central sensitisation is an important manifestation involved in many different chronic pain conditions. Central sensitisation can be different to assess and evaluate as the manifestations vary from pain condition to pain condition. Understanding central sensitisation may promote better profiling and diagnosis of pain patients and development of new regimes for mechanism based therapy. Some of the mechanisms underlying central sensitisation can be translated from animals to humans providing new options in development of therapies and profiling drugs under development. © 2017 European Pain Federation - EFIC®.

Designing systems to satisfy their users - The coming changes in aviation weather and the development of a central weather processor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bush, M. W.

1984-01-01

Attention is given to the development history of the Central Weather Processor (CWP) program of the Federal Aviation Administration. The CWP will interface with high speed digital communications links, accept data and information products from new sources, generate data processing products, and provide meteorologists with the capability to automate data retrieval and dissemination. The CWP's users are operational (air traffic controllers, meteorologists and pilots), institutional (logistics, maintenance, testing and evaluation personnel), and administrative.

The prefrontal landscape: implications of functional architecture for understanding human mentation and the central executive.

PubMed

Goldman-Rakic, P S

1996-10-29

The functional architecture of prefrontal cortex is central to our understanding of human mentation and cognitive prowess. This region of the brain is often treated as an undifferentiated structure, on the one hand, or as a mosaic of psychological faculties, on the other. This paper focuses on the working memory processor as a specialization of prefrontal cortex and argues that the different areas within prefrontal cortex represent iterations of this function for different information domains, including spatial cognition, object cognition and additionally, in humans, semantic processing. According to this parallel processing architecture, the 'central executive' could be considered an emergent property of multiple domain-specific processors operating interactively. These processors are specializations of different prefrontal cortical areas, each interconnected both with the domain-relevant long-term storage sites in posterior regions of the cortex and with appropriate output pathways.

Identifying multiple influential spreaders based on generalized closeness centrality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Huan-Li; Ma, Chuang; Xiang, Bing-Bing; Tang, Ming; Zhang, Hai-Feng

2018-02-01

To maximize the spreading influence of multiple spreaders in complex networks, one important fact cannot be ignored: the multiple spreaders should be dispersively distributed in networks, which can effectively reduce the redundance of information spreading. For this purpose, we define a generalized closeness centrality (GCC) index by generalizing the closeness centrality index to a set of nodes. The problem converts to how to identify multiple spreaders such that an objective function has the minimal value. By comparing with the K-means clustering algorithm, we find that the optimization problem is very similar to the problem of minimizing the objective function in the K-means method. Therefore, how to find multiple nodes with the highest GCC value can be approximately solved by the K-means method. Two typical transmission dynamics-epidemic spreading process and rumor spreading process are implemented in real networks to verify the good performance of our proposed method.

Cooperative working of bacterial chromosome replication proteins generated by a reconstituted protein expression system

PubMed Central

Fujiwara, Kei; Katayama, Tsutomu; Nomura, Shin-ichiro M.

2013-01-01

Replication of all living cells relies on the multirounds flow of the central dogma. Especially, expression of DNA replication proteins is a key step to circulate the processes of the central dogma. Here we achieved the entire sequential transcription–translation–replication process by autonomous expression of chromosomal DNA replication machineries from a reconstituted transcription–translation system (PURE system). We found that low temperature is essential to express a complex protein, DNA polymerase III, in a single tube using the PURE system. Addition of the 13 genes, encoding initiator, DNA helicase, helicase loader, RNA primase and DNA polymerase III to the PURE system gave rise to a DNA replication system by a coupling manner. An artificial genetic circuit demonstrated that the DNA produced as a result of the replication is able to provide genetic information for proteins, indicating the in vitro central dogma can sequentially undergo two rounds. PMID:23737447

Application Transparent HTTP Over a Disruption Tolerant Smartnet

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

American Standard Code for Information Interchange BP Bundle Protocol BPA bundle protocol agent CLA convergence layer adapters CPU central processing...forwarding them through the plugin pipeline. The initial version of the DTNInput plugin uses the BBN Spindle bundle protocol agent ( BPA ) implementation

RMP Guidance for Chemical Distributors - Chapter 9: Risk Management Plan

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

You must submit one RMP for all of covered processes, using free software RMP*eSubmit on EPA's Central Data Exchange (CDX), and fully update and resubmit at least every five years. You may claim confidential business information and trade secrets.

Perspectives of young Chinese Singaporean women on seeking and processing information to decide about vaccinating against human papillomavirus.

PubMed

Basnyat, Iccha; Lim, Cheryl

2017-07-06

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination uptake in Singapore is low among young women. Low uptake has been found to be linked to low awareness. Thus, this study aimed to understand active and passive vaccine information-seeking behavior. Furthermore, guided by the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), this study examined young women's (aged 21-26 years) processing of information they acquired in their decision to get vaccinated. ELM postulates that information processing could be through the central (i.e., logic-based) or peripheral (i.e., heuristic-based) route. Twenty-six in-depth interviews were conducted from January to March 2016. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Two meta-themes-information acquisition and vaccination decision-revealed the heuristic-based information processing was employed. These young women acquired information passively within their social network and actively in healthcare settings. However, they used heuristic cues, such as closeness and trust, to process the information. Similarly, vaccination decisions revealed that women relied on heuristic cues, such as sense of belonging and validation among peers and source credibility and likability in medical settings, in their decision to get vaccinated. The findings of this study highlight that intervention efforts should focus on strengthening social support among personal networks to increase the uptake of the vaccine.

A comparative approach for the investigation of biological information processing: An examination of the structure and function of computer hard drives and DNA

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background The robust storage, updating and utilization of information are necessary for the maintenance and perpetuation of dynamic systems. These systems can exist as constructs of metal-oxide semiconductors and silicon, as in a digital computer, or in the "wetware" of organic compounds, proteins and nucleic acids that make up biological organisms. We propose that there are essential functional properties of centralized information-processing systems; for digital computers these properties reside in the computer's hard drive, and for eukaryotic cells they are manifest in the DNA and associated structures. Methods Presented herein is a descriptive framework that compares DNA and its associated proteins and sub-nuclear structure with the structure and function of the computer hard drive. We identify four essential properties of information for a centralized storage and processing system: (1) orthogonal uniqueness, (2) low level formatting, (3) high level formatting and (4) translation of stored to usable form. The corresponding aspects of the DNA complex and a computer hard drive are categorized using this classification. This is intended to demonstrate a functional equivalence between the components of the two systems, and thus the systems themselves. Results Both the DNA complex and the computer hard drive contain components that fulfill the essential properties of a centralized information storage and processing system. The functional equivalence of these components provides insight into both the design process of engineered systems and the evolved solutions addressing similar system requirements. However, there are points where the comparison breaks down, particularly when there are externally imposed information-organizing structures on the computer hard drive. A specific example of this is the imposition of the File Allocation Table (FAT) during high level formatting of the computer hard drive and the subsequent loading of an operating system (OS). Biological systems do not have an external source for a map of their stored information or for an operational instruction set; rather, they must contain an organizational template conserved within their intra-nuclear architecture that "manipulates" the laws of chemistry and physics into a highly robust instruction set. We propose that the epigenetic structure of the intra-nuclear environment and the non-coding RNA may play the roles of a Biological File Allocation Table (BFAT) and biological operating system (Bio-OS) in eukaryotic cells. Conclusions The comparison of functional and structural characteristics of the DNA complex and the computer hard drive leads to a new descriptive paradigm that identifies the DNA as a dynamic storage system of biological information. This system is embodied in an autonomous operating system that inductively follows organizational structures, data hierarchy and executable operations that are well understood in the computer science industry. Characterizing the "DNA hard drive" in this fashion can lead to insights arising from discrepancies in the descriptive framework, particularly with respect to positing the role of epigenetic processes in an information-processing context. Further expansions arising from this comparison include the view of cells as parallel computing machines and a new approach towards characterizing cellular control systems. PMID:20092652

A comparative approach for the investigation of biological information processing: an examination of the structure and function of computer hard drives and DNA.

PubMed

D'Onofrio, David J; An, Gary

2010-01-21

The robust storage, updating and utilization of information are necessary for the maintenance and perpetuation of dynamic systems. These systems can exist as constructs of metal-oxide semiconductors and silicon, as in a digital computer, or in the "wetware" of organic compounds, proteins and nucleic acids that make up biological organisms. We propose that there are essential functional properties of centralized information-processing systems; for digital computers these properties reside in the computer's hard drive, and for eukaryotic cells they are manifest in the DNA and associated structures. Presented herein is a descriptive framework that compares DNA and its associated proteins and sub-nuclear structure with the structure and function of the computer hard drive. We identify four essential properties of information for a centralized storage and processing system: (1) orthogonal uniqueness, (2) low level formatting, (3) high level formatting and (4) translation of stored to usable form. The corresponding aspects of the DNA complex and a computer hard drive are categorized using this classification. This is intended to demonstrate a functional equivalence between the components of the two systems, and thus the systems themselves. Both the DNA complex and the computer hard drive contain components that fulfill the essential properties of a centralized information storage and processing system. The functional equivalence of these components provides insight into both the design process of engineered systems and the evolved solutions addressing similar system requirements. However, there are points where the comparison breaks down, particularly when there are externally imposed information-organizing structures on the computer hard drive. A specific example of this is the imposition of the File Allocation Table (FAT) during high level formatting of the computer hard drive and the subsequent loading of an operating system (OS). Biological systems do not have an external source for a map of their stored information or for an operational instruction set; rather, they must contain an organizational template conserved within their intra-nuclear architecture that "manipulates" the laws of chemistry and physics into a highly robust instruction set. We propose that the epigenetic structure of the intra-nuclear environment and the non-coding RNA may play the roles of a Biological File Allocation Table (BFAT) and biological operating system (Bio-OS) in eukaryotic cells. The comparison of functional and structural characteristics of the DNA complex and the computer hard drive leads to a new descriptive paradigm that identifies the DNA as a dynamic storage system of biological information. This system is embodied in an autonomous operating system that inductively follows organizational structures, data hierarchy and executable operations that are well understood in the computer science industry. Characterizing the "DNA hard drive" in this fashion can lead to insights arising from discrepancies in the descriptive framework, particularly with respect to positing the role of epigenetic processes in an information-processing context. Further expansions arising from this comparison include the view of cells as parallel computing machines and a new approach towards characterizing cellular control systems.

The space science data service: A study of its efficiencies and costs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vette, J. I.; Hilberg, R. H.; Zuhl, D. E.; West, A. E.

1979-01-01

Factors affecting the overall advantages and disadvantages of a centralized facility for both the data base and processing capability for NASA's Office of Space Science programs are examined in an effort to determine the best approach to data management in the light of the increasing number of data bits collected annually. Selected issues considered relate to software and storage savings, security precautions, and the phase-in plan. Information on the current mode of processing and on the potential impact of changes resulting from a conversion to a space science data base service was obtained from five user groups and is presented as an aid in determining the dollar benefits and advantages of a centralized system.

Recognition of central sensitization in patients with musculoskeletal pain: Application of pain neurophysiology in manual therapy practice.

PubMed

Nijs, Jo; Van Houdenhove, Boudewijn; Oostendorp, Rob A B

2010-04-01

Central sensitization plays an important role in the pathophysiology of numerous musculoskeletal pain disorders, yet it remains unclear how manual therapists can recognize this condition. Therefore, mechanism based clinical guidelines for the recognition of central sensitization in patients with musculoskeletal pain are provided. By using our current understanding of central sensitization during the clinical assessment of patients with musculoskeletal pain, manual therapists can apply the science of nociceptive and pain processing neurophysiology to the practice of manual therapy. The diagnosis/assessment of central sensitization in individual patients with musculoskeletal pain is not straightforward, however manual therapists can use information obtained from the medical diagnosis, combined with the medical history of the patient, as well as the clinical examination and the analysis of the treatment response in order to recognize central sensitization. The clinical examination used to recognize central sensitization entails the distinction between primary and secondary hyperalgesia. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Beyond informed consent.

PubMed Central

Bhutta, Zulfiqar A.

2004-01-01

Although a relatively recent phenomenon, the role of informed consent in human research is central to its ethical regulation and conduct. However, guidelines often recommend procedures for obtaining informed consent (usually written consent) that are difficult to implement in developing countries. This paper reviews the guidelines for obtaining informed consent and also discusses prevailing views on current controversies, ambiguities and problems with these guidelines and suggests potential solutions. The emphasis in most externally sponsored research projects in developing countries is on laborious documentation of several mechanical aspects of the research process rather than on assuring true comprehension and voluntary participation. The onus for the oversight of this process is often left to overworked and ill-equipped local ethics review committees. Current guidelines and processes for obtaining informed consent should be reviewed with the specific aim of developing culturally appropriate methods of sharing information about the research project and obtaining and documenting consent that is truly informed. Further research is needed to examine the validity and user friendliness of innovations in information sharing procedures for obtaining consent in different cultural settings. PMID:15643799

Focal and Ambient Processing of Built Environments: Intellectual and Atmospheric Experiences of Architecture

PubMed Central

Rooney, Kevin K.; Condia, Robert J.; Loschky, Lester C.

2017-01-01

Neuroscience has well established that human vision divides into the central and peripheral fields of view. Central vision extends from the point of gaze (where we are looking) out to about 5° of visual angle (the width of one’s fist at arm’s length), while peripheral vision is the vast remainder of the visual field. These visual fields project to the parvo and magno ganglion cells, which process distinctly different types of information from the world around us and project that information to the ventral and dorsal visual streams, respectively. Building on the dorsal/ventral stream dichotomy, we can further distinguish between focal processing of central vision, and ambient processing of peripheral vision. Thus, our visual processing of and attention to objects and scenes depends on how and where these stimuli fall on the retina. The built environment is no exception to these dependencies, specifically in terms of how focal object perception and ambient spatial perception create different types of experiences we have with built environments. We argue that these foundational mechanisms of the eye and the visual stream are limiting parameters of architectural experience. We hypothesize that people experience architecture in two basic ways based on these visual limitations; by intellectually assessing architecture consciously through focal object processing and assessing architecture in terms of atmosphere through pre-conscious ambient spatial processing. Furthermore, these separate ways of processing architectural stimuli operate in parallel throughout the visual perceptual system. Thus, a more comprehensive understanding of architecture must take into account that built environments are stimuli that are treated differently by focal and ambient vision, which enable intellectual analysis of architectural experience versus the experience of architectural atmosphere, respectively. We offer this theoretical model to help advance a more precise understanding of the experience of architecture, which can be tested through future experimentation. (298 words) PMID:28360867

Focal and Ambient Processing of Built Environments: Intellectual and Atmospheric Experiences of Architecture.

PubMed

Rooney, Kevin K; Condia, Robert J; Loschky, Lester C

2017-01-01

Neuroscience has well established that human vision divides into the central and peripheral fields of view. Central vision extends from the point of gaze (where we are looking) out to about 5° of visual angle (the width of one's fist at arm's length), while peripheral vision is the vast remainder of the visual field. These visual fields project to the parvo and magno ganglion cells, which process distinctly different types of information from the world around us and project that information to the ventral and dorsal visual streams, respectively. Building on the dorsal/ventral stream dichotomy, we can further distinguish between focal processing of central vision, and ambient processing of peripheral vision. Thus, our visual processing of and attention to objects and scenes depends on how and where these stimuli fall on the retina. The built environment is no exception to these dependencies, specifically in terms of how focal object perception and ambient spatial perception create different types of experiences we have with built environments. We argue that these foundational mechanisms of the eye and the visual stream are limiting parameters of architectural experience. We hypothesize that people experience architecture in two basic ways based on these visual limitations; by intellectually assessing architecture consciously through focal object processing and assessing architecture in terms of atmosphere through pre-conscious ambient spatial processing. Furthermore, these separate ways of processing architectural stimuli operate in parallel throughout the visual perceptual system. Thus, a more comprehensive understanding of architecture must take into account that built environments are stimuli that are treated differently by focal and ambient vision, which enable intellectual analysis of architectural experience versus the experience of architectural atmosphere, respectively. We offer this theoretical model to help advance a more precise understanding of the experience of architecture, which can be tested through future experimentation. (298 words).

Landauer in the Age of Synthetic Biology: Energy Consumption and Information Processing in Biochemical Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehta, Pankaj; Lang, Alex H.; Schwab, David J.

2016-03-01

A central goal of synthetic biology is to design sophisticated synthetic cellular circuits that can perform complex computations and information processing tasks in response to specific inputs. The tremendous advances in our ability to understand and manipulate cellular information processing networks raises several fundamental physics questions: How do the molecular components of cellular circuits exploit energy consumption to improve information processing? Can one utilize ideas from thermodynamics to improve the design of synthetic cellular circuits and modules? Here, we summarize recent theoretical work addressing these questions. Energy consumption in cellular circuits serves five basic purposes: (1) increasing specificity, (2) manipulating dynamics, (3) reducing variability, (4) amplifying signal, and (5) erasing memory. We demonstrate these ideas using several simple examples and discuss the implications of these theoretical ideas for the emerging field of synthetic biology. We conclude by discussing how it may be possible to overcome these limitations using "post-translational" synthetic biology that exploits reversible protein modification.

Neural Network Processing of Natural Language: II. Towards a Unified Model of Corticostriatal Function in Learning Sentence Comprehension and Non-Linguistic Sequencing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dominey, Peter Ford; Inui, Toshio; Hoen, Michel

2009-01-01

A central issue in cognitive neuroscience today concerns how distributed neural networks in the brain that are used in language learning and processing can be involved in non-linguistic cognitive sequence learning. This issue is informed by a wealth of functional neurophysiology studies of sentence comprehension, along with a number of recent…

Looking at faces from different angles: Europeans fixate different features in Asian and Caucasian faces.

PubMed

Brielmann, Aenne A; Bülthoff, Isabelle; Armann, Regine

2014-07-01

Race categorization of faces is a fast and automatic process and is known to affect further face processing profoundly and at earliest stages. Whether processing of own- and other-race faces might rely on different facial cues, as indicated by diverging viewing behavior, is much under debate. We therefore aimed to investigate two open questions in our study: (1) Do observers consider information from distinct facial features informative for race categorization or do they prefer to gain global face information by fixating the geometrical center of the face? (2) Does the fixation pattern, or, if facial features are considered relevant, do these features differ between own- and other-race faces? We used eye tracking to test where European observers look when viewing Asian and Caucasian faces in a race categorization task. Importantly, in order to disentangle centrally located fixations from those towards individual facial features, we presented faces in frontal, half-profile and profile views. We found that observers showed no general bias towards looking at the geometrical center of faces, but rather directed their first fixations towards distinct facial features, regardless of face race. However, participants looked at the eyes more often in Caucasian faces than in Asian faces, and there were significantly more fixations to the nose for Asian compared to Caucasian faces. Thus, observers rely on information from distinct facial features rather than facial information gained by centrally fixating the face. To what extent specific features are looked at is determined by the face's race. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Outline of Toshiba Business Information Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagata, Yoshihiro

Toshiba Business Information Center gathers and stores inhouse and external business information used in common within the Toshiba Corp., and provides companywide circulation, reference and other services. The Center established centralized information management system by employing decentralized computers, electronic file apparatus (30cm laser disc) and other office automation equipments. Online retrieval through LAN is available to search the stored documents and increasing copying requests are processed by electronic file. This paper describes the purpose of establishment of the Center, the facilities, management scheme, systematization of the files and the present situation and plan of each information service.

Narrative comprehension in 4-7-year-old children with autism: testing the Weak Central Coherence account.

PubMed

Nuske, Heather Joy; Bavin, Edith L

2011-01-01

Despite somewhat spared structural language development in high-functioning autism, communicative comprehension deficits persist. Comprehension involves the integration of meaning: global processing is required. The Weak Central Coherence theory suggests that individuals with autism are biased to process information locally. This cognitive style may impair comprehension, particularly if inferencing is required. However, task performance may be facilitated by this cognitive style if local processing is required. The current study was designed to examine the extent to which the 'weak central coherence' cognitive style affects comprehension and inferential processing of spoken narratives. The children with autism were expected to perform comparatively poorer on inferences relating to event scripts and comparatively better on inferences requiring deductive reasoning. Fourteen high-functioning children with autism were recruited from databases of various autism organizations (mean age = 6:7, 13 males, one female) and were matched on a receptive vocabulary and a picture-completion task with 14 typically developing children recruited from a local childcare centre (mean age = 4:10, seven males, seven females). The children were read short stories and asked questions about the stories. Results indicated that the children with autism were less able to make inferences based on event scripts, but the groups did not differ significantly on inferences requiring deductive logical reasoning. Despite similar group performance on questions relating to the main idea of the stories, only for the typically developing group was good performance on extracting the main idea of the narratives significantly correlated with performance on all other comprehension tasks. Findings provide some support for the Weak Central Coherence theory and demonstrate that young children with autism do not spontaneously integrate information in order to make script inferences, as do typically developing children. These findings may help to explain communicative problems of young children with autism and can be applied to intervention programme development. More research on the link between a 'weak central coherence' cognitive style and communicative comprehension in autism will be valuable in understanding the comprehension deficits associated with autism. © 2010 Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists.

A Study of Novice Systems Analysis Problem Solving Behaviors Using Protocol Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-09-01

conducted. Each subject was given the same task to perform. The task involved a case study (Appendix B) of a utility company’s customer order processing system...behavior (Ramesh, 1989). The task was to design a customer order processing system that utilized a centralized telephone answering service center...of the utility company’s customer order processing system that was developed based on information obtained by a large systems consulting firm during

Materials, processes, and environmental engineering network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, Margo M.

1993-01-01

The Materials, Processes, and Environmental Engineering Network (MPEEN) was developed as a central holding facility for materials testing information generated by the Materials and Processes Laboratory. It contains information from other NASA centers and outside agencies, and also includes the NASA Environmental Information System (NEIS) and Failure Analysis Information System (FAIS) data. Environmental replacement materials information is a newly developed focus of MPEEN. This database is the NASA Environmental Information System, NEIS, which is accessible through MPEEN. Environmental concerns are addressed regarding materials identified by the NASA Operational Environment Team, NOET, to be hazardous to the environment. An environmental replacement technology database is contained within NEIS. Environmental concerns about materials are identified by NOET, and control or replacement strategies are formed. This database also contains the usage and performance characteristics of these hazardous materials. In addition to addressing environmental concerns, MPEEN contains one of the largest materials databases in the world. Over 600 users access this network on a daily basis. There is information available on failure analysis, metals and nonmetals testing, materials properties, standard and commercial parts, foreign alloy cross-reference, Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) data, and Materials and Processes Selection List data.

Healthy participants in phase I clinical trials: the quality of their decision to take part.

PubMed

Rabin, Cheryl; Tabak, Nili

2006-08-01

This study was set out to test the quality of the decision-making process of healthy volunteers in clinical trials. Researchers fear that the decision to volunteer for clinical trials is taken inadequately and that the signature on the consent forms, meant to affirm that consent was 'informed', is actually insubstantial. The study design was quasi-experimental, using a convenience quota sample. Over a period of a year, candidates were approached during their screening process for a proposed clinical trial, after concluding the required 'Informed Consent' procedure. In all, 100 participants in phase I trials filled out questionnaires based ultimately on the Janis and Mann model of vigilant information processing, during their stay in the research centre. Only 35% of the participants reached a 'quality decision'. There is a definite correlation between information processing and quality decision-making. However, many of the healthy research volunteers (58%) do not seek out information nor check alternatives before making a decision. Full disclosure is essential to a valid informed consent procedure but not sufficient; emphasis must be put on having the information understood and assimilated. Research nurses play a central role in achieving this objective.

TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE TELEPHONE INDUSTRY, 1965-75.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LUSKIN, SHELDON H.; AND OTHERS

ELECTRONIC SOLID STATE SWITCHING SYSTEMS, COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES, SEMIAUTOMATIC INFORMATION SERVICES, AUTOMATIC INTERCEPTING AND DATA PROCESSING, AND DEDICATED PLANT, THE PERMANENT ASSIGNMENT OF LINES FROM A CENTRAL OFFICE TO EACH ACTUAL AND POTENTIAL SUBSCRIBER, ARE SOME OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS WHICH WILL BRING SIGNIFICANT MANPOWER…

77 FR 31387 - Remanded Biological Opinions on the Coordinated Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-25

... process will be accepted on or before June 28, 2012. ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Janice Pi[ntilde... FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janice Pi[ntilde]ero at (916) 414- 2428; or email at [email protected

Microcomputers in Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Cheryl A.

Designed to answer basic questions educators have about microcomputer hardware and software and their applications in teaching, this paper describes the revolution in computer technology that has resulted from the development of the microchip processor and provides information on the major computer components; i.e.; input, central processing unit,…

46 CFR 161.002-18 - Method of application for type approval.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... the system's instruction manual, including information concerning installation, programming, operation... section. (4) Three copies of a list prepared by the manufacturer that contains the name, model number, and... cabinet, detector, zone card, isolator, central processing unit, zener barrier, special purpose module, or...

Learning Disability: An Educational Adventure. The 1967 Kappa Delta Pi Lecture.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kephart, Newell C.

Educational implications and symptoms are described for learning disorders, the disruption in the processing of information within the central nervous system caused by brain damage, emotional disturbance, or inadequate presentation of learning experiences. Developmental sequences, developmental progression, and restoration of development are…

Power of theta waves in the EEG of human subjects increases during recall of haptic information.

PubMed

Grunwald, M; Weiss, T; Krause, W; Beyer, L; Rost, R; Gutberlet, I; Gertz, H J

1999-02-05

Several studies have reported a functional relationship between spectral power within the theta-band of the EEG (theta-power) and memory load while processing visual or semantic information. We investigated theta power during the processing of different complex haptic stimuli using a delayed recall design. The haptic explorations consisted of palpating the structure of twelve sunken reliefs with closed eyes. Subjects had to reproduce each relief by drawing it 10 s after the end of the exploration. The relationship between mean theta power and mean exploration time was analysed using a regression model. A linear relationship was found between the exploration time and theta power over fronto-central regions (Fp1, Fp2, F3, F7, F8, Fz, C3) directly before the recall of the relief. This result is interpreted in favour of the hypothesis that fronto-central theta power of the EEG correlates with the load of working memory independent of stimulus modality.

The sound manifesto

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Donnell, Michael J.; Bisnovatyi, Ilia

2000-11-01

Computing practice today depends on visual output to drive almost all user interaction. Other senses, such as audition, may be totally neglected, or used tangentially, or used in highly restricted specialized ways. We have excellent audio rendering through D-A conversion, but we lack rich general facilities for modeling and manipulating sound comparable in quality and flexibility to graphics. We need coordinated research in several disciplines to improve the use of sound as an interactive information channel. Incremental and separate improvements in synthesis, analysis, speech processing, audiology, acoustics, music, etc. will not alone produce the radical progress that we seek in sonic practice. We also need to create a new central topic of study in digital audio research. The new topic will assimilate the contributions of different disciplines on a common foundation. The key central concept that we lack is sound as a general-purpose information channel. We must investigate the structure of this information channel, which is driven by the cooperative development of auditory perception and physical sound production. Particular audible encodings, such as speech and music, illuminate sonic information by example, but they are no more sufficient for a characterization than typography is sufficient for characterization of visual information. To develop this new conceptual topic of sonic information structure, we need to integrate insights from a number of different disciplines that deal with sound. In particular, we need to coordinate central and foundational studies of the representational models of sound with specific applications that illuminate the good and bad qualities of these models. Each natural or artificial process that generates informative sound, and each perceptual mechanism that derives information from sound, will teach us something about the right structure to attribute to the sound itself. The new Sound topic will combine the work of computer scientists with that of numerical mathematicians studying sonification, psychologists, linguists, bioacousticians, and musicians to illuminate the structure of sound from different angles. Each of these disciplines deals with the use of sound to carry a different sort of information, under different requirements and constraints. By combining their insights, we can learn to understand of the structure of sound in general.

The evolution of the cancer formulary review in Canada: Can centralization improve the use of economic evaluation?

PubMed

Wranik, W Dominika; Gambold, Liesl; Hanson, Natasha; Levy, Adrian

2017-04-01

Public reimbursement of drugs is a costly proposition for health care systems. Decisions to add drugs to the public formulary are often guided by review processes and committees. The evolution of the formulary review process in Canada's publicly funded health system is characterized by increased centralization and systematization. In the past, the review of evidence and recommendation was conducted at the regional level, but was replaced with the pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review in 2011. We assess the extent to which centralization and systematization of the review process have responded to past challenges, focusing on the use of economic evaluation in the process. Past challenges with economic evaluation experienced by regionalized review committees were identified from literature and qualitative data collected in the province of Nova Scotia. We categorize these using a typology with a macro-, meso, and micro-level hierarchy, which provides a useful framework for understanding at which level change is required, and who has the authority to influence change. Using grounded theory methods, we identify approaches used by Nova Scotia past committee members to compensate for perceived shortcomings of the process. These include an undue reliance on other committee members, on the multidisciplinarity of the committee, and on past decisions. Using a policy analysis approach, we argue that centralization and systematization of the review process only partially address the shortcomings of the previous regionalized process. Lessons from Canada can inform policy discussions across all health systems, where similar challenges with the formulary review process have been identified. © 2016 The Authors. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2016 The Authors. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Quantum information processing in the radical-pair mechanism: Haberkorn's theory violates the Ozawa entropy bound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mouloudakis, K.; Kominis, I. K.

2017-02-01

Radical-ion-pair reactions, central for understanding the avian magnetic compass and spin transport in photosynthetic reaction centers, were recently shown to be a fruitful paradigm of the new synthesis of quantum information science with biological processes. We show here that the master equation so far constituting the theoretical foundation of spin chemistry violates fundamental bounds for the entropy of quantum systems, in particular the Ozawa bound. In contrast, a recently developed theory based on quantum measurements, quantum coherence measures, and quantum retrodiction, thus exemplifying the paradigm of quantum biology, satisfies the Ozawa bound as well as the Lanford-Robinson bound on information extraction. By considering Groenewold's information, the quantum information extracted during the reaction, we reproduce the known and unravel other magnetic-field effects not conveyed by reaction yields.

Counter-regulating on the Internet: Threat elicits preferential processing of positive information.

PubMed

Greving, Hannah; Sassenberg, Kai; Fetterman, Adam

2015-09-01

The Internet is a central source of information. It is increasingly used for information search in self-relevant domains (e.g., health). Self-relevant topics are also associated with specific emotions and motivational states. For example, individuals may fear serious illness and feel threatened. Thus far, the impact of threat has received little attention in Internet-based research. The current studies investigated how threat influences Internet search. Threat is known to elicit the preferential processing of positive information. The self-directed nature of Internet search should particularly provide opportunities for such processing behavior. We predicted that during Internet search, more positive information would be processed (i.e., allocated more attention to) and more positive knowledge would be acquired under threat than in a control condition. Three experiments supported this prediction: Under threat, attention is directed more to positive web pages (Study 1) and positive links (Study 2), and more positive information is acquired (Studies 1 and 3) than in a control condition. Notably, the effect on knowledge acquisition was mediated by the effect on attention allocation during an actual Internet search (Study 1). Thus, Internet search under threat leads to selective processing of positive information and dampens threatened individuals' negative affect. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

The impact of storage on processing: how is information maintained in working memory?

PubMed

Vergauwe, Evie; Camos, Valérie; Barrouillet, Pierre

2014-07-01

Working memory is typically defined as a system devoted to the simultaneous maintenance and processing of information. However, the interplay between these 2 functions is still a matter of debate in the literature, with views ranging from complete independence to complete dependence. The time-based resource-sharing model assumes that a central bottleneck constrains the 2 functions to alternate in such a way that maintenance activities postpone concurrent processing, with each additional piece of information to be maintained resulting in an additional postponement. Using different kinds of memoranda, we examined in a series of 7 experiments the effect of increasing memory load on different processing tasks. The results reveal that, insofar as attention is needed for maintenance, processing times linearly increase at a rate of about 50 ms per verbal or visuospatial memory item, suggesting a very fast refresh rate in working memory. Our results also show an asymmetry between verbal and spatial information, in that spatial information can solely rely on attention for its maintenance while verbal information can also rely on a domain-specific maintenance mechanism independent from attention. The implications for the functioning of working memory are discussed, with a specific focus on how information is maintained in working memory. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

A comparison of decentralized, distributed, and centralized vibro-acoustic control.

PubMed

Frampton, Kenneth D; Baumann, Oliver N; Gardonio, Paolo

2010-11-01

Direct velocity feedback control of structures is well known to increase structural damping and thus reduce vibration. In multi-channel systems the way in which the velocity signals are used to inform the actuators ranges from decentralized control, through distributed or clustered control to fully centralized control. The objective of distributed controllers is to exploit the anticipated performance advantage of the centralized control while maintaining the scalability, ease of implementation, and robustness of decentralized control. However, and in seeming contradiction, some investigations have concluded that decentralized control performs as well as distributed and centralized control, while other results have indicated that distributed control has significant performance advantages over decentralized control. The purpose of this work is to explain this seeming contradiction in results, to explore the effectiveness of decentralized, distributed, and centralized vibro-acoustic control, and to expand the concept of distributed control to include the distribution of the optimization process and the cost function employed.

Vitality Forms Processing in the Insula during Action Observation: A Multivoxel Pattern Analysis

PubMed Central

Di Cesare, Giuseppe; Valente, Giancarlo; Di Dio, Cinzia; Ruffaldi, Emanuele; Bergamasco, Massimo; Goebel, Rainer; Rizzolatti, Giacomo

2016-01-01

Observing the style of an action done by others allows the observer to understand the cognitive state of the agent. This information has been defined by Stern “vitality forms”. Previous experiments showed that the dorso-central insula is selectively active both during vitality form observation and execution. In the present study, we presented participants with videos showing hand actions performed with different velocities and asked them to judge either their vitality form (gentle, neutral, rude) or their velocity (slow, medium, fast). The aim of the present study was to assess, using multi-voxel pattern analysis, whether vitality forms and velocities of observed goal-directed actions are differentially processed in the insula, and more specifically whether action velocity is encoded per se or it is an element that triggers neural populations of the insula encoding the vitality form. The results showed that, consistently across subjects, in the dorso-central sector of the insula there were voxels selectively tuned to vitality forms, while voxel tuned to velocity were rare. These results indicate that the dorso-central insula, which previous data showed to be involved in the vitality form processing, contains voxels specific for the action style processing. PMID:27375461

Vitality Forms Processing in the Insula during Action Observation: A Multivoxel Pattern Analysis.

PubMed

Di Cesare, Giuseppe; Valente, Giancarlo; Di Dio, Cinzia; Ruffaldi, Emanuele; Bergamasco, Massimo; Goebel, Rainer; Rizzolatti, Giacomo

2016-01-01

Observing the style of an action done by others allows the observer to understand the cognitive state of the agent. This information has been defined by Stern "vitality forms". Previous experiments showed that the dorso-central insula is selectively active both during vitality form observation and execution. In the present study, we presented participants with videos showing hand actions performed with different velocities and asked them to judge either their vitality form (gentle, neutral, rude) or their velocity (slow, medium, fast). The aim of the present study was to assess, using multi-voxel pattern analysis, whether vitality forms and velocities of observed goal-directed actions are differentially processed in the insula, and more specifically whether action velocity is encoded per se or it is an element that triggers neural populations of the insula encoding the vitality form. The results showed that, consistently across subjects, in the dorso-central sector of the insula there were voxels selectively tuned to vitality forms, while voxel tuned to velocity were rare. These results indicate that the dorso-central insula, which previous data showed to be involved in the vitality form processing, contains voxels specific for the action style processing.

Motivation for health information seeking and processing about clinical trial enrollment.

PubMed

Yang, Z Janet; McComas, Katherine; Gay, Geri; Leonard, John P; Dannenberg, Andrew J; Dillon, Hildy

2010-07-01

Low patient accrual in clinical trials poses serious concerns for the advancement of medical science in the United States. Past research has identified health communication as a crucial step in overcoming barriers to enrollment. However, few communication scholars have studied this problem from a sociopsychological perspective to understand what motivates people to look for or pay attention to information about clinical trial enrollment. This study applies the model of Risk Information Seeking and Processing (RISP) to this context of health decision making. By recognizing the uncertainties embedded in clinical trials, we view clinical trial enrollment as a case study of risk. With data from a random-digit-dial telephone survey of 500 adults living in the United States, we used structural equation modeling to test the central part of the RISP model. In particular, we examined the role of optimistic feelings, as a type of positive affect, in motivating information seeking and processing. Our results indicated that rather than exerting an indirect influence on information seeking through motivating a psychological need for more information, optimistic feelings have more direct relationships with information seeking and processing. Similarly, informational subjective norms also exhibit a more direct relationship with information seeking and processing. These results suggest merit in applying the RISP model to study health decision making related to clinical trial enrollment. Our findings also render practical implications on how to improve communication about clinical trial enrollment.

Recovery of speed of information processing in closed-head-injury patients.

PubMed

Zwaagstra, R; Schmidt, I; Vanier, M

1996-06-01

After severe traumatic brain injury, patients almost invariably demonstrate a slowing of reaction time, reflecting a slowing of central information processing. Methodological problems associated with the traditional method for the analysis of longitudinal data (MANOVA) severely complicate studies on cognitive recovery. It is argued that multilevel models are often better suited for the analysis of improvement over time in clinical settings. Multilevel models take into account individual differences in both overall performance level and recovery. These models enable individual predictions for the recovery of speed of information processing. Recovery is modelled in a group of closed-head-injury patients (N = 24). Recovery was predicted by age and severity of injury, as indicated by coma duration. Over a period up to 44 months post trauma, reaction times were found to decrease faster for patients with longer coma duration.

Building Automation Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Honeywell, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.

A number of different automation systems for use in monitoring and controlling building equipment are described in this brochure. The system functions include--(1) collection of information, (2) processing and display of data at a central panel, and (3) taking corrective action by sounding alarms, making adjustments, or automatically starting and…

Echolocation: A Study of Auditory Functioning in Blind and Sighted Subjects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arias, C.; And Others

1993-01-01

This study evaluated the peripheral and central auditory functioning (and thus the potential to perceive obstacles through reflected sound) of eight totally blind persons and eight sighted persons. The blind subjects were able to process auditory information faster than the control group. (Author/DB)

Black Lights: Chaos, Complexity, and the Promise of Information Warfare

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-01-01

control— cybernetics—and the etymology of control, a term which comes from the Latin contrarotulare, mean- ing to mark similarities and differences...in the brain and central nervous system. Chemistry domi- nated life processes for four billion years until primitive electronics became important when

Rangeland and Oak Relationships

Treesearch

Dick R. McCleery

1991-01-01

Hardwood rangelands are becoming an endangered resource on the Central Coast of California. Straightforward inventory processes and management guidelines on which to base sound management decisions provide the landowner the tools to protect and utilize these important hardwood resources. Utilizing a WOODLAND INFORMATION STICK and a ZIG ZAG TRANSECT, landowners can...

77 FR 47065 - Central Arizona Project-Rate Order No. WAPA-158

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-07

... to (602) 605-2490, attention: Jack Murray. Western will post official comments received via letter... period to ensure they are considered in Western's decision process. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jack Murray, Rates Manager, Desert Southwest Customer Service Regional Office, Western Area Power...

48 CFR 204.1103 - Procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... information as recorded in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database at the time of award. (2) When... record is active in the CCR database; and (ii) The contractor's Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS... database, the contracting officer shall process a novation or change-of-name agreement, or an address...

48 CFR 204.1103 - Procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... information as recorded in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database at the time of award. (2) When... record is active in the CCR database; and (ii) The contractor's Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS... database, the contracting officer shall process a novation or change-of-name agreement, or an address...

48 CFR 204.1103 - Procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... information as recorded in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database at the time of award. (2) When... record is active in the CCR database; and (ii) The contractor's Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS... database, the contracting officer shall process a novation or change-of-name agreement, or an address...

32 CFR 299.5 - Procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... PROGRAM NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL SECURITY SERVICE (NSA/CSS) FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT PROGRAM.../CSS by other government agencies shall be placed in the processing queue according to the date the... placed in the queue according to the date of the requester's letter. (d) The FOIA office shall maintain...

Improving informed consent: Stakeholder views

PubMed Central

Anderson, Emily E.; Newman, Susan B.; Matthews, Alicia K.

2017-01-01

Purpose Innovation will be required to improve the informed consent process in research. We aimed to obtain input from key stakeholders—research participants and those responsible for obtaining informed consent—to inform potential development of a multimedia informed consent “app.” Methods This descriptive study used a mixed-methods approach. Five 90-minute focus groups were conducted with volunteer samples of former research participants and researchers/research staff responsible for obtaining informed consent. Participants also completed a brief survey that measured background information and knowledge and attitudes regarding research and the use of technology. Established qualitative methods were used to conduct the focus groups and data analysis. Results We conducted five focus groups with 41 total participants: three groups with former research participants (total n = 22), and two groups with researchers and research coordinators (total n = 19). Overall, individuals who had previously participated in research had positive views regarding their experiences. However, further discussion elicited that the informed consent process often did not meet its intended objectives. Findings from both groups are presented according to three primary themes: content of consent forms, experience of the informed consent process, and the potential of technology to improve the informed consent process. A fourth theme, need for lay input on informed consent, emerged from the researcher groups. Conclusions Our findings add to previous research that suggests that the use of interactive technology has the potential to improve the process of informed consent. However, our focus-group findings provide additional insight that technology cannot replace the human connection that is central to the informed consent process. More research that incorporates the views of key stakeholders is needed to ensure that multimedia consent processes do not repeat the mistakes of paper-based consent forms. PMID:28949896

Improving informed consent: Stakeholder views.

PubMed

Anderson, Emily E; Newman, Susan B; Matthews, Alicia K

2017-01-01

Innovation will be required to improve the informed consent process in research. We aimed to obtain input from key stakeholders-research participants and those responsible for obtaining informed consent-to inform potential development of a multimedia informed consent "app." This descriptive study used a mixed-methods approach. Five 90-minute focus groups were conducted with volunteer samples of former research participants and researchers/research staff responsible for obtaining informed consent. Participants also completed a brief survey that measured background information and knowledge and attitudes regarding research and the use of technology. Established qualitative methods were used to conduct the focus groups and data analysis. We conducted five focus groups with 41 total participants: three groups with former research participants (total n = 22), and two groups with researchers and research coordinators (total n = 19). Overall, individuals who had previously participated in research had positive views regarding their experiences. However, further discussion elicited that the informed consent process often did not meet its intended objectives. Findings from both groups are presented according to three primary themes: content of consent forms, experience of the informed consent process, and the potential of technology to improve the informed consent process. A fourth theme, need for lay input on informed consent, emerged from the researcher groups. Our findings add to previous research that suggests that the use of interactive technology has the potential to improve the process of informed consent. However, our focus-group findings provide additional insight that technology cannot replace the human connection that is central to the informed consent process. More research that incorporates the views of key stakeholders is needed to ensure that multimedia consent processes do not repeat the mistakes of paper-based consent forms.

77 FR 43078 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Information Collection; Central Contractor Registration

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-23

...; Information Collection; Central Contractor Registration AGENCY: Department of Defense (DOD), General Services... requirement concerning the Central Contractor Registration database. Public comments are particularly invited... Information Collection 9000- 0159, Central Contractor Registration, by any of the following methods...

78 FR 12316 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Information Collection; Central Contractor Registration

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-22

...; Information Collection; Central Contractor Registration AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DOD), General... collection requirement concerning the Central Contractor Registration database. A notice was published in the... Information Collection 9000- 0159, Central Contractor Registration, by any of the following methods...

Working Memory in the Prefrontal Cortex

PubMed Central

Funahashi, Shintaro

2017-01-01

The prefrontal cortex participates in a variety of higher cognitive functions. The concept of working memory is now widely used to understand prefrontal functions. Neurophysiological studies have revealed that stimulus-selective delay-period activity is a neural correlate of the mechanism for temporarily maintaining information in working memory processes. The central executive, which is the master component of Baddeley’s working memory model and is thought to be a function of the prefrontal cortex, controls the performance of other components by allocating a limited capacity of memory resource to each component based on its demand. Recent neurophysiological studies have attempted to reveal how prefrontal neurons achieve the functions of the central executive. For example, the neural mechanisms of memory control have been examined using the interference effect in a dual-task paradigm. It has been shown that this interference effect is caused by the competitive and overloaded recruitment of overlapping neural populations in the prefrontal cortex by two concurrent tasks and that the information-processing capacity of a single neuron is limited to a fixed level, can be flexibly allocated or reallocated between two concurrent tasks based on their needs, and enhances behavioral performance when its allocation to one task is increased. Further, a metamemory task requiring spatial information has been used to understand the neural mechanism for monitoring its own operations, and it has been shown that monitoring the quality of spatial information represented by prefrontal activity is an important factor in the subject's choice and that the strength of spatially selective delay-period activity reflects confidence in decision-making. Although further studies are needed to elucidate how the prefrontal cortex controls memory resource and supervises other systems, some important mechanisms related to the central executive have been identified. PMID:28448453

Teachers' Experiences with the Data-Driven Decision Making Process in Increasing Students' Reading Achievement in a Title I Elementary Public School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atkinson, Linton

2015-01-01

This paper is a research dissertation based on a qualitative case study conducted on Teachers' Experiences within a Data-Driven Decision Making (DDDM) process. The study site was a Title I elementary school in a large school district in Central Florida. Background information is given in relation to the need for research that was conducted on the…

Central and peripheral nervous systems: master controllers in cancer metastasis.

PubMed

Shi, Ming; Liu, Dan; Yang, Zhengyan; Guo, Ning

2013-12-01

Central and sympathetic nervous systems govern functional activities of many organs. Solid tumors like organs are also innervated by sympathetic nerve fibers. Neurotransmitters released from sympathetic nerve fibers can modulate biological behaviors of tumor cells. Multiple physiologic processes of tumor development may be dominated by central and sympathetic nervous systems as well. Recent studies suggest that dysfunction of central and sympathetic nervous systems and disorder of the hormone network induced by psychological stress may influence malignant progression of cancer by inhibiting the functions of immune system, regulating metabolic reprogramming of tumor cells, and inducing interactions between tumor and stromal cells. Over-release of inflammatory cytokines by tumors may aggravate emotional disorder, triggering the vicious cycles in tumor microenvironment and host macroenvironment. It is reasonable to hypothesize that cancer progression may be controlled by central and sympathetic nervous systems. In this review, we will focus on the recent information about the impacts of central and sympathetic nervous systems on tumor invasion and metastasis.

Reasoning in explanation-based decision making.

PubMed

Pennington, N; Hastie, R

1993-01-01

A general theory of explanation-based decision making is outlined and the multiple roles of inference processes in the theory are indicated. A typology of formal and informal inference forms, originally proposed by Collins (1978a, 1978b), is introduced as an appropriate framework to represent inferences that occur in the overarching explanation-based process. Results from the analysis of verbal reports of decision processes are presented to demonstrate the centrality and systematic character of reasoning in a representative legal decision-making task.

Using social network analysis to examine the decision-making process on new vaccine introduction in Nigeria.

PubMed

Wonodi, C B; Privor-Dumm, L; Aina, M; Pate, A M; Reis, R; Gadhoke, P; Levine, O S

2012-05-01

The decision-making process to introduce new vaccines into national immunization programmes is often complex, involving many stakeholders who provide technical information, mobilize finance, implement programmes and garner political support. Stakeholders may have different levels of interest, knowledge and motivations to introduce new vaccines. Lack of consensus on the priority, public health value or feasibility of adding a new vaccine can delay policy decisions. Efforts to support country-level decision-making have largely focused on establishing global policies and equipping policy makers with the information to support decision-making on new vaccine introduction (NVI). Less attention has been given to understanding the interactions of policy actors and how the distribution of influence affects the policy process and decision-making. Social network analysis (SNA) is a social science technique concerned with explaining social phenomena using the structural and relational features of the network of actors involved. This approach can be used to identify how information is exchanged and who is included or excluded from the process. For this SNA of vaccine decision-making in Nigeria, we interviewed federal and state-level government officials, officers of bilateral and multilateral partner organizations, and other stakeholders such as health providers and the media. Using data culled from those interviews, we performed an SNA in order to map formal and informal relationships and the distribution of influence among vaccine decision-makers, as well as to explore linkages and pathways to stakeholders who can influence critical decisions in the policy process. Our findings indicate a relatively robust engagement of key stakeholders in Nigeria. We hypothesized that economic stakeholders and implementers would be important to ensure sustainable financing and strengthen programme implementation, but some economic and implementation stakeholders did not appear centrally on the map; this may suggest a need to strengthen the decision-making processes by engaging these stakeholders more centrally and earlier.

75 FR 43166 - Information Collection; Central Contractor Registration Requirements for Prime Grant Recipients

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-23

...] Information Collection; Central Contractor Registration Requirements for Prime Grant Recipients AGENCY: Office... information collection requirement regarding Central Contractor Registration Requirements for Prime Grant... for the proper performance of functions of the Central Contractor Registration Requirements for Prime...

Study on intelligent processing system of man-machine interactive garment frame model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shuwang; Yin, Xiaowei; Chang, Ruijiang; Pan, Peiyun; Wang, Xuedi; Shi, Shuze; Wei, Zhongqian

2018-05-01

A man-machine interactive garment frame model intelligent processing system is studied in this paper. The system consists of several sensor device, voice processing module, mechanical parts and data centralized acquisition devices. The sensor device is used to collect information on the environment changes brought by the body near the clothes frame model, the data collection device is used to collect the information of the environment change induced by the sensor device, voice processing module is used for speech recognition of nonspecific person to achieve human-machine interaction, mechanical moving parts are used to make corresponding mechanical responses to the information processed by data collection device.it is connected with data acquisition device by a means of one-way connection. There is a one-way connection between sensor device and data collection device, two-way connection between data acquisition device and voice processing module. The data collection device is one-way connection with mechanical movement parts. The intelligent processing system can judge whether it needs to interact with the customer, realize the man-machine interaction instead of the current rigid frame model.

Battle-Wise: Seeking Time-Information Superiority in Networked Warfare

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-07-01

idiosyncratic and thus not repeatable—each person’s perceptions , experiences, and thought processes are different. This makes it difficult to rely on... perception management’ is central to the conduct of its war with the West.”26 It does not require dedicated information-network infrastructure or expensive...to leave a house after several failed attempts to fight flare-ups in the first floor kitchen. The chief attributed his decision to extrasensory

Processes for Assessing Outcomes of Multi-national Missions (Processus d’evaluation des resultats de missions multinationales)

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-11-01

la raison d’être du recueil des données relatives aux variables centrales afin de soutenir ces efforts dans...communs utilisés par les pays membres et un ensemble central d’indicateurs complétant les Mesures de Performance (MOP) et Mesures d’Efficacité (MOE...dénomination « STO », « RTO » ou « AGARD » selon le cas, suivi du numéro de série. Des informations analogues, telles que le titre est la date de

Feminist-informed participatory action research: a methodology of choice for examining critical nursing issues.

PubMed

Corbett, Andrea M; Francis, Karen; Chapman, Ysanne

2007-04-01

Identifying a methodology to guide a study that aims to enhance service delivery can be challenging. Participatory action research offers a solution to this challenge as it both informs and is informed by critical social theory. In addition, using a feminist lens helps acquiesce this approach as a suitable methodology for changing practice. This methodology embraces empowerment self-determination and the facilitation of agreed change as central tenets that guide the research process. Encouraged by the work of Foucault, Friere, Habermas, and Maguire, this paper explicates the philosophical assumptions underpinning critical social theory and outlines how feminist influences are complimentary in exploring the processes and applications of nursing research that seeks to embrace change.

Micro-Enterprises: What They Are and What They Can Be.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaddar, M., Comp.; Gerbouin-Rerolle, P., Comp.

1994-01-01

Noting the failure of large, centralized production systems in developing countries, this journal issue describes the functions, types, and strategies of micro-enterprises in the modernization process of developing countries, especially in Africa. The journal analyzes the characteristics and failures of micro-enterprises and informal industries,…

Infants' Meaning-Making and the Development of Mental Health Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tronick, Ed; Beeghly, Marjorie

2011-01-01

We argue that infant meaning-making processes are a central mechanism governing both typical and pathological outcomes. Infants, as open dynamic systems, must constantly garner information to increase their complexity and coherence. They fulfill this demand by making nonverbal "meaning"--affects, movements, representations--about themselves in…

Psychoanalytically Informed Teachers: The Need for Observational Training in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Andrew

2016-01-01

Much of the professional development offered to school teachers centers on quantifiable aspects of teaching and learning that correlate to external inspection processes. Insufficient attention is given to the student-teacher relationship and the dynamics contained within; in more "challenging" schools, this is central to the progress of…

76 FR 7827 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection Requests

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-11

.... Baseline data for the B&B:08 cohort were collected as part of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study... administrative data sources, including the Central Processing System, the National Student Loan Data System, and the National Student Clearinghouse. This request also requests a waiver of the 60-day Federal Register...

12 CFR 1402.22 - Fees to be charged.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION RELEASING INFORMATION Fees for Provision of...) (i.e., basic pay plus 16 percent of that rate) of the employee(s) making the search. (c) Computer... the cost of operating the central processing unit for that portion of operating time that is directly...

12 CFR 1402.22 - Fees to be charged.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION RELEASING INFORMATION Fees for Provision of...) (i.e., basic pay plus 16 percent of that rate) of the employee(s) making the search. (c) Computer... the cost of operating the central processing unit for that portion of operating time that is directly...

12 CFR 1402.22 - Fees to be charged.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION RELEASING INFORMATION Fees for Provision of...) (i.e., basic pay plus 16 percent of that rate) of the employee(s) making the search. (c) Computer... the cost of operating the central processing unit for that portion of operating time that is directly...

12 CFR 1402.22 - Fees to be charged.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION RELEASING INFORMATION Fees for Provision of...) (i.e., basic pay plus 16 percent of that rate) of the employee(s) making the search. (c) Computer... the cost of operating the central processing unit for that portion of operating time that is directly...

12 CFR 1402.22 - Fees to be charged.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION RELEASING INFORMATION Fees for Provision of...) (i.e., basic pay plus 16 percent of that rate) of the employee(s) making the search. (c) Computer... the cost of operating the central processing unit for that portion of operating time that is directly...

Accreditation Outcome Scores: Teacher Attitudes toward the Accreditation Process and Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ulmer, Phillip Gregory

2015-01-01

Accreditation is an essential component in the history of education in the United States and is a central catalyst for quality education, continuous improvement, and positive growth in student achievement. Although previous researchers identified teachers as an essential component in meeting accreditation outcomes, additional information was…

VizioMetrics: Mining the Scientific Visual Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Po-Shen

2017-01-01

Scientific results are communicated visually in the literature through diagrams, visualizations, and photographs. In this thesis, we developed a figure processing pipeline to classify more than 8 million figures from PubMed Central into different figure types and study the resulting patterns of visual information as they relate to scholarly…

12 CFR 403.9 - Fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... SECURITY INFORMATION § 403.9 Fees. The following specific fees shall be applicable with respect to services... records, per hour or fraction thereof: (i) Professional $11.00 (ii) Clerical 6.00 (b) Computer service charges per second for actual use of computer central processing unit .25 (c) Copies made by photostat or...

12 CFR 403.9 - Fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... SECURITY INFORMATION § 403.9 Fees. The following specific fees shall be applicable with respect to services... records, per hour or fraction thereof: (i) Professional $11.00 (ii) Clerical 6.00 (b) Computer service charges per second for actual use of computer central processing unit .25 (c) Copies made by photostat or...

12 CFR 403.9 - Fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... SECURITY INFORMATION § 403.9 Fees. The following specific fees shall be applicable with respect to services... records, per hour or fraction thereof: (i) Professional $11.00 (ii) Clerical 6.00 (b) Computer service charges per second for actual use of computer central processing unit .25 (c) Copies made by photostat or...

12 CFR 403.9 - Fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... SECURITY INFORMATION § 403.9 Fees. The following specific fees shall be applicable with respect to services... records, per hour or fraction thereof: (i) Professional $11.00 (ii) Clerical 6.00 (b) Computer service charges per second for actual use of computer central processing unit .25 (c) Copies made by photostat or...

12 CFR 403.9 - Fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... SECURITY INFORMATION § 403.9 Fees. The following specific fees shall be applicable with respect to services... records, per hour or fraction thereof: (i) Professional $11.00 (ii) Clerical 6.00 (b) Computer service charges per second for actual use of computer central processing unit .25 (c) Copies made by photostat or...

The Uncertain Future of the Central City.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sternlieb, George; Hughes, James W.

This paper describes the decline and polarization of American cities into two separate and coterminous systems: the city of the poor, characterized by the function of redistribution (i.e., public welfare benefits); and the city of the elite, a city of information processing, economic facilitation, and consumption. Demographic trends and social and…

Perceptual conflict during sensorimotor integration processes - a neurophysiological study in response inhibition.

PubMed

Chmielewski, Witold X; Beste, Christian

2016-05-25

A multitude of sensory inputs needs to be processed during sensorimotor integration. A crucial factor for detecting relevant information is its complexity, since information content can be conflicting at a perceptual level. This may be central to executive control processes, such as response inhibition. This EEG study aims to investigate the system neurophysiological mechanisms behind effects of perceptual conflict on response inhibition. We systematically modulated perceptual conflict by integrating a Global-local task with a Go/Nogo paradigm. The results show that conflicting perceptual information, in comparison to non-conflicting perceptual information, impairs response inhibition performance. This effect was evident regardless of whether the relevant information for response inhibition is displayed on the global, or local perceptual level. The neurophysiological data suggests that early perceptual/ attentional processing stages do not underlie these modulations. Rather, processes at the response selection level (P3), play a role in changed response inhibition performance. This conflict-related impairment of inhibitory processes is associated with activation differences in (inferior) parietal areas (BA7 and BA40) and not as commonly found in the medial prefrontal areas. This suggests that various functional neuroanatomical structures may mediate response inhibition and that the functional neuroanatomical structures involved depend on the complexity of sensory integration processes.

Cortical Hubs Form a Module for Multisensory Integration on Top of the Hierarchy of Cortical Networks

PubMed Central

Zamora-López, Gorka; Zhou, Changsong; Kurths, Jürgen

2009-01-01

Sensory stimuli entering the nervous system follow particular paths of processing, typically separated (segregated) from the paths of other modal information. However, sensory perception, awareness and cognition emerge from the combination of information (integration). The corticocortical networks of cats and macaque monkeys display three prominent characteristics: (i) modular organisation (facilitating the segregation), (ii) abundant alternative processing paths and (iii) the presence of highly connected hubs. Here, we study in detail the organisation and potential function of the cortical hubs by graph analysis and information theoretical methods. We find that the cortical hubs form a spatially delocalised, but topologically central module with the capacity to integrate multisensory information in a collaborative manner. With this, we resolve the underlying anatomical substrate that supports the simultaneous capacity of the cortex to segregate and to integrate multisensory information. PMID:20428515

Forest fire autonomous decision system based on fuzzy logic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lei, Z.; Lu, Jianhua

2010-11-01

The proposed system integrates GPS / pseudolite / IMU and thermal camera in order to autonomously process the graphs by identification, extraction, tracking of forest fire or hot spots. The airborne detection platform, the graph-based algorithms and the signal processing frame are analyzed detailed; especially the rules of the decision function are expressed in terms of fuzzy logic, which is an appropriate method to express imprecise knowledge. The membership function and weights of the rules are fixed through a supervised learning process. The perception system in this paper is based on a network of sensorial stations and central stations. The sensorial stations collect data including infrared and visual images and meteorological information. The central stations exchange data to perform distributed analysis. The experiment results show that working procedure of detection system is reasonable and can accurately output the detection alarm and the computation of infrared oscillations.

Network news: prime time for systems biology of the plant circadian clock.

PubMed

McClung, C Robertson; Gutiérrez, Rodrigo A

2010-12-01

Whole-transcriptome analyses have established that the plant circadian clock regulates virtually every plant biological process and most prominently hormonal and stress response pathways. Systems biology efforts have successfully modeled the plant central clock machinery and an iterative process of model refinement and experimental validation has contributed significantly to the current view of the central clock machinery. The challenge now is to connect this central clock to the output pathways for understanding how the plant circadian clock contributes to plant growth and fitness in a changing environment. Undoubtedly, systems approaches will be needed to integrate and model the vastly increased volume of experimental data in order to extract meaningful biological information. Thus, we have entered an era of systems modeling, experimental testing, and refinement. This approach, coupled with advances from the genetic and biochemical analyses of clock function, is accelerating our progress towards a comprehensive understanding of the plant circadian clock network. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Non-canonical Reticular-Limbic Central Auditory Pathway via Medial Septum Contributes to Fear Conditioning.

PubMed

Zhang, Guang-Wei; Sun, Wen-Jian; Zingg, Brian; Shen, Li; He, Jufang; Xiong, Ying; Tao, Huizhong W; Zhang, Li I

2018-01-17

In the mammalian brain, auditory information is known to be processed along a central ascending pathway leading to auditory cortex (AC). Whether there exist any major pathways beyond this canonical auditory neuraxis remains unclear. In awake mice, we found that auditory responses in entorhinal cortex (EC) cannot be explained by a previously proposed relay from AC based on response properties. By combining anatomical tracing and optogenetic/pharmacological manipulations, we discovered that EC received auditory input primarily from the medial septum (MS), rather than AC. A previously uncharacterized auditory pathway was then revealed: it branched from the cochlear nucleus, and via caudal pontine reticular nucleus, pontine central gray, and MS, reached EC. Neurons along this non-canonical auditory pathway responded selectively to high-intensity broadband noise, but not pure tones. Disruption of the pathway resulted in an impairment of specifically noise-cued fear conditioning. This reticular-limbic pathway may thus function in processing aversive acoustic signals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quenching of dynamic nuclear polarization by spin-orbit coupling in GaAs quantum dots.

PubMed

Nichol, John M; Harvey, Shannon P; Shulman, Michael D; Pal, Arijeet; Umansky, Vladimir; Rashba, Emmanuel I; Halperin, Bertrand I; Yacoby, Amir

2015-07-17

The central-spin problem is a widely studied model of quantum decoherence. Dynamic nuclear polarization occurs in central-spin systems when electronic angular momentum is transferred to nuclear spins and is exploited in quantum information processing for coherent spin manipulation. However, the mechanisms limiting this process remain only partially understood. Here we show that spin-orbit coupling can quench dynamic nuclear polarization in a GaAs quantum dot, because spin conservation is violated in the electron-nuclear system, despite weak spin-orbit coupling in GaAs. Using Landau-Zener sweeps to measure static and dynamic properties of the electron spin-flip probability, we observe that the size of the spin-orbit and hyperfine interactions depends on the magnitude and direction of applied magnetic field. We find that dynamic nuclear polarization is quenched when the spin-orbit contribution exceeds the hyperfine, in agreement with a theoretical model. Our results shed light on the surprisingly strong effect of spin-orbit coupling in central-spin systems.

The Soviet Far East Buildup and Soviet Risk-Taking against China.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-08-01

This report reflects information available through August 1982. - vii - SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The Soviet military buildup in Siberia, Central Asia, and...In the process , the number of divisions of all strength levels deployed appear to have increased from roughly 20 at the outset to about 40 early in...the study reviews the circumstances under which the Soviets began the post-Khrushchev buildup that is still in process . It examines the initial

Dynamic control and information processing in chemical reaction systems by tuning self-organization behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebiedz, Dirk; Brandt-Pollmann, Ulrich

2004-09-01

Specific external control of chemical reaction systems and both dynamic control and signal processing as central functions in biochemical reaction systems are important issues of modern nonlinear science. For example nonlinear input-output behavior and its regulation are crucial for the maintainance of the life process that requires extensive communication between cells and their environment. An important question is how the dynamical behavior of biochemical systems is controlled and how they process information transmitted by incoming signals. But also from a general point of view external forcing of complex chemical reaction processes is important in many application areas ranging from chemical engineering to biomedicine. In order to study such control issues numerically, here, we choose a well characterized chemical system, the CO oxidation on Pt(110), which is interesting per se as an externally forced chemical oscillator model. We show numerically that tuning of temporal self-organization by input signals in this simple nonlinear chemical reaction exhibiting oscillatory behavior can in principle be exploited for both specific external control of dynamical system behavior and processing of complex information.

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System - Near-Term Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Behnke, Jeanne; Mitchell, Andrew; Ramapriyan, Hampapuram

2018-01-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of the NASA Earth observation program since the 1990's. EOSDIS manages data covering a wide range of Earth science disciplines including cryosphere, land cover change, polar processes, field campaigns, ocean surface, digital elevation, atmosphere dynamics and composition, and inter-disciplinary research, and many others. One of the key components of EOSDIS is a set of twelve discipline-based Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) distributed across the United States. Managed by NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project at Goddard Space Flight Center, these DAACs serve over 3 million users globally. The ESDIS Project provides the infrastructure support for EOSDIS, which includes other components such as the Science Investigator-led Processing systems (SIPS), common metadata and metrics management systems, specialized network systems, standards management, and centralized support for use of commercial cloud capabilities. Given the long-term requirements, and the rapid pace of information technology and changing expectations of the user community, EOSDIS has evolved continually over the past three decades. However, many challenges remain. Challenges addressed in this paper include: growing volume and variety, achieving consistency across a diverse set of data producers, managing information about a large number of datasets, migration to a cloud computing environment, optimizing data discovery and access, incorporating user feedback from a diverse community, keeping metadata updated as data collections grow and age, and ensuring that all the content needed for understanding datasets by future users is identified and preserved.

Otolith-Canal Convergence In Vestibular Nuclei Neurons

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dickman, J. David; Si, Xiao-Hong

2002-01-01

The current final report covers the period from June 1, 1999 to May 31, 2002. The primary objective of the investigation was to determine how information regarding head movements and head position relative to gravity is received and processed by central vestibular nuclei neurons in the brainstem. Specialized receptors in the vestibular labyrinths of the inner ear function to detect angular and linear accelerations of the head, with receptors located in the semicircular canals transducing rotational head movements and receptors located in the otolith organs transducing changes in head position relative to gravity or linear accelerations of the head. The information from these different receptors is then transmitted to central vestibular nuclei neurons which process the input signals, then project the appropriate output information to the eye, head, and body musculature motor neurons to control compensatory reflexes. Although a number of studies have reported on the responsiveness of vestibular nuclei neurons, it has not yet been possible to determine precisely how these cells combine the information from the different angular and linear acceleration receptors into a correct neural output signal. In the present project, rotational and linear motion stimuli were separately delivered while recording responses from vestibular nuclei neurons that were characterized according to direct input from the labyrinth and eye movement sensitivity. Responses from neurons receiving convergent input from the semicircular canals and otolith organs were quantified and compared to non-convergent neurons.

A National Approach to Reimbursement Decision-Making on Drugs for Rare Diseases in Canada? Insights from Across the Ponds.

PubMed

Short, Hilary; Stafinski, Tania; Menon, Devidas

2015-05-01

Regardless of the type of health system or payer, coverage decisions on drugs for rare diseases (DRDs) are challenging. While these drugs typically represent the only active treatment option for a progressive and/or life-threatening condition, evidence of clinical benefit is often limited because of small patient populations and the costs are high. Thus, decisions come with considerable uncertainty and risk. In Canada, interest in developing a pan-Canadian decision-making approach informed by international experiences exists. To develop an inventory of existing policies and processes for making coverage decisions on DRDs around the world. A systematic review of published and unpublished documents describing current policies and processes in the top 20 gross domestic product countries was conducted. Bibliographic databases, the Internet and government/health technology assessment organization websites in each country were searched. Two researchers independently extracted information and tabulated it to facilitate qualitative comparative analyses. Policy experts from each country were contacted and asked to review the information collected for accuracy and completeness. Almost all countries have multiple mechanisms through which coverage for a DRD may be sought. However, they typically begin with a review that follows the same process as drugs for more common conditions (i.e., the centralized review process), although specific submission requirements could differ (e.g., no need to submit a cost-effectiveness analysis). When drugs fail to receive a positive recommendation/decision, they are reconsidered by "safety net"-type programs. Eligibility criteria vary across countries, as do the decision options, which may be applied to individual patients or patient groups. With few exceptions, countries have not created separate centralized review processes for DRDs. Instead, they have modified components of existing mechanisms and added safety nets. Copyright © 2015 Longwoods Publishing.

Neural bases of eye and gaze processing: The core of social cognition

PubMed Central

Itier, Roxane J.; Batty, Magali

2014-01-01

Eyes and gaze are very important stimuli for human social interactions. Recent studies suggest that impairments in recognizing face identity, facial emotions or in inferring attention and intentions of others could be linked to difficulties in extracting the relevant information from the eye region including gaze direction. In this review, we address the central role of eyes and gaze in social cognition. We start with behavioral data demonstrating the importance of the eye region and the impact of gaze on the most significant aspects of face processing. We review neuropsychological cases and data from various imaging techniques such as fMRI/PET and ERP/MEG, in an attempt to best describe the spatio-temporal networks underlying these processes. The existence of a neuronal eye detector mechanism is discussed as well as the links between eye gaze and social cognition impairments in autism. We suggest impairments in processing eyes and gaze may represent a core deficiency in several other brain pathologies and may be central to abnormal social cognition. PMID:19428496

Functional Neuronal Processing of Human Body Odors

PubMed Central

Lundström, Johan N.; Olsson, Mats J.

2013-01-01

Body odors carry informational cues of great importance for individuals across a wide range of species, and signals hidden within the body odor cocktail are known to regulate several key behaviors in animals. For a long time, the notion that humans may be among these species has been dismissed. We now know, however, that each human has a unique odor signature that carries information related to his or her genetic makeup, as well as information about personal environmental variables, such as diet and hygiene. Although a substantial number of studies have investigated the behavioral effects of body odors, only a handful have studied central processing. Recent studies have, however, demonstrated that the human brain responds to fear signals hidden within the body odor cocktail, is able to extract kin specific signals, and processes body odors differently than other perceptually similar odors. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the current knowledge of how the human brain processes body odors and the potential importance these signals have for us in everyday life. PMID:20831940

Methods study for the relocation of visual information in central scotoma cases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scherlen, Anne-Catherine; Gautier, Vincent

2005-03-01

In this study we test the benefit on the reading performance of different ways to relocating the visual information present under the scotoma. The relocation (or unmasking) allows to compensate the loss of information and avoid the patient developing driving strategies not adapted for the reading. Eight healthy subjects were tested on a reading task, on each a central scotoma of various sizes was simulated. We then evaluate the reading speed (words/min) during three visual information relocation methods: all masked information is relocated - on both side of scotoma, - on the right of scotoma, - and only essentials letters for the word recognition too on the right of scotoma. We compare these reading speeds versus the pathological condition, ie without relocating visual information. Our results show that unmasking strategy improve the reading speed when all the visual information is unmask to the right of scotoma, this only for large scotoma. Taking account the word morphology, the perception of only certain letters outside the scotoma can be sufficient to improve the reading speed. A deepening of reading processes in the presence of a scotoma will then allows a new perspective for visual information unmasking. Multidisciplinary competences brought by engineers, ophtalmologists, linguists, clinicians would allow to optimize the reading benefit brought by the unmasking.

Differentiating between appraisal process and product in cognitive theories of posttraumatic stress

PubMed Central

Nanney, John T.; Constans, Joseph I.; Kimbrell, Timothy A.; Kramer, Teresa L.; Pyne, Jeffrey M.

2014-01-01

Biased appraisal is central to cognitive theories of posttraumatic stress, but little research has examined the potentially distinct meanings of the term. The on-going process of appraising social information and the beliefs that emerge as products of that process can be distinguished conceptually. The present study sought to examine if these two meanings are empirically distinct as well, and if so, to begin exploring potential relations between these appraisal constructs and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Soldiers (N = 424) preparing for deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan were administered measures of each construct. Results of confirmatory factor analysis suggest that the appraisal process and the products of that process (i.e., beliefs) are indeed distinct. Structural equation models are consistent with cognitive bias and social information processing literatures which posit that a biased appraisal process may contribute to the development of dysfunctional beliefs and posttraumatic stress symptoms following trauma. The potential utility of distinctly conceptualizing and measuring the appraisal process in both clinical and research settings is discussed. PMID:26147520

Differentiating between appraisal process and product in cognitive theories of posttraumatic stress.

PubMed

Nanney, John T; Constans, Joseph I; Kimbrell, Timothy A; Kramer, Teresa L; Pyne, Jeffrey M

2015-07-01

Biased appraisal is central to cognitive theories of posttraumatic stress, but little research has examined the potentially distinct meanings of the term. The ongoing process of appraising social information and the beliefs that emerge as products of that process can be distinguished conceptually. This study sought to examine whether these 2 meanings are empirically distinct as well, and if so, to begin exploring potential relations between these appraisal constructs and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Soldiers (N = 424) preparing for deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan were administered measures of each construct. Results of confirmatory factor analysis suggest that the appraisal process and the products of that process (i.e., beliefs) are indeed distinct. Structural equation models are consistent with cognitive bias and social information processing literatures, which posit that a biased appraisal process may contribute to the development of dysfunctional beliefs and posttraumatic stress symptoms following trauma. The potential utility of distinctly conceptualizing and measuring the appraisal process in both clinical and research settings is discussed. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

A common perceptual temporal limit of binding synchronous inputs across different sensory attributes and modalities.

PubMed

Fujisaki, Waka; Nishida, Shin'ya

2010-08-07

The human brain processes different aspects of the surrounding environment through multiple sensory modalities, and each modality can be subdivided into multiple attribute-specific channels. When the brain rebinds sensory content information ('what') across different channels, temporal coincidence ('when') along with spatial coincidence ('where') provides a critical clue. It however remains unknown whether neural mechanisms for binding synchronous attributes are specific to each attribute combination, or universal and central. In human psychophysical experiments, we examined how combinations of visual, auditory and tactile attributes affect the temporal frequency limit of synchrony-based binding. The results indicated that the upper limits of cross-attribute binding were lower than those of within-attribute binding, and surprisingly similar for any combination of visual, auditory and tactile attributes (2-3 Hz). They are unlikely to be the limits for judging synchrony, since the temporal limit of a cross-attribute synchrony judgement was higher and varied with the modality combination (4-9 Hz). These findings suggest that cross-attribute temporal binding is mediated by a slow central process that combines separately processed 'what' and 'when' properties of a single event. While the synchrony performance reflects temporal bottlenecks existing in 'when' processing, the binding performance reflects the central temporal limit of integrating 'when' and 'what' properties.

Image enhancements of Landsat 8 (OLI) and SAR data for preliminary landslide identification and mapping applied to the central region of Kenya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mwaniki, M. W.; Kuria, D. N.; Boitt, M. K.; Ngigi, T. G.

2017-04-01

Image enhancements lead to improved performance and increased accuracy of feature extraction, recognition, identification, classification and hence change detection. This increases the utility of remote sensing to suit environmental applications and aid disaster monitoring of geohazards involving large areas. The main aim of this study was to compare the effect of image enhancement applied to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data and Landsat 8 imagery in landslide identification and mapping. The methodology involved pre-processing Landsat 8 imagery, image co-registration, despeckling of the SAR data, after which Landsat 8 imagery was enhanced by Principal and Independent Component Analysis (PCA and ICA), a spectral index involving bands 7 and 4, and using a False Colour Composite (FCC) with the components bearing the most geologic information. The SAR data were processed using textural and edge filters, and computation of SAR incoherence. The enhanced spatial, textural and edge information from the SAR data was incorporated to the spectral information from Landsat 8 imagery during the knowledge based classification. The methodology was tested in the central highlands of Kenya, characterized by rugged terrain and frequent rainfall induced landslides. The results showed that the SAR data complemented Landsat 8 data which had enriched spectral information afforded by the FCC with enhanced geologic information. The SAR classification depicted landslides along the ridges and lineaments, important information lacking in the Landsat 8 image classification. The success of landslide identification and classification was attributed to the enhanced geologic features by spectral, textural and roughness properties.

The extended amygdala and salt appetite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, A. K.; de Olmos, J.; Pastuskovas, C. V.; Zardetto-Smith, A. M.; Vivas, L.

1999-01-01

Both chemo- and mechanosensitive receptors are involved in detecting changes in the signals that reflect the status of body fluids and of blood pressure. These receptors are located in the systemic circulatory system and in the sensory circumventricular organs of the brain. Under conditions of body fluid deficit or of marked changes in fluid distribution, multiple inputs derived from these humoral and neural receptors converge on key areas of the brain where the information is integrated. The result of this central processing is the mobilization of homeostatic behaviors (thirst and salt appetite), hormone release, autonomic changes, and cardiovascular adjustments. This review discusses the current understanding of the nature and role of the central and systemic receptors involved in the facilitation and inhibition of thirst and salt appetite and on particular components of the central neural network that receive and process input derived from fluid- and cardiovascular-related sensory systems. Special attention is paid to the structures of the lamina terminalis, the area postrema, the lateral parabrachial nucleus, and their association with the central nucleus of the amygdala and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in controlling the behaviors that participate in maintaining body fluid and cardiovascular homeostasis.

What Can Be Learned from a Laboratory Model of Conceptual Change? Descriptive Findings and Methodological Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohlsson, Stellan; Cosejo, David G.

2014-01-01

The problem of how people process novel and unexpected information--"deep learning" (Ohlsson in "Deep learning: how the mind overrides experience." Cambridge University Press, New York, 2011)--is central to several fields of research, including creativity, belief revision, and conceptual change. Researchers have not converged…

7 CFR 59.103 - Mandatory weekly reporting for steers and heifers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... heifer packer processing plant shall report to the Secretary on the first reporting day of each week, not later than 9 a.m. central time, the following information applicable to the prior slaughter week... that were slaughtered; (4) The quantity of cattle delivered under a formula marketing arrangement that...

Protecting Students' Intellectual Property in the Web Plagiarism Detection Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butakov, Sergey; Dyagilev, Vadim; Tskhay, Alexander

2012-01-01

Learning management systems (LMS) play a central role in communications in online and distance education. In the digital era, with all the information now accessible at students' fingertips, plagiarism detection services (PDS) have become a must-have part of LMS. Such integration provides a seamless experience for users, allowing PDS to check…

Measuring ICT Use and Contributing Conditions in Primary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vanderlinde, Ruben; Aesaert, Koen; van Braak, Johan

2015-01-01

Information and communication technology (ICT) use became of major importance for primary schools across the world as ICT has the potential to foster teaching and learning processes. ICT use is therefore a central measurement concept (dependent variable) in many ICT integration studies. This data paper presents two datasets (2008 and 2011) that…

A Computational Account of Children's Analogical Reasoning: Balancing Inhibitory Control in Working Memory and Relational Representation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrison, Robert G.; Doumas, Leonidas A. A.; Richland, Lindsey E.

2011-01-01

Theories accounting for the development of analogical reasoning tend to emphasize either the centrality of relational knowledge accretion or changes in information processing capability. Simulations in LISA (Hummel & Holyoak, 1997, 2003), a neurally inspired computer model of analogical reasoning, allow us to explore how these factors may…

Stevensville West Central Study

Treesearch

J. G. Jones; J. D. Chew; N. K. Christianson; D. J. Silvieus; C. A. Stewart

2000-01-01

This paper reports on an application of two modeling systems in the assessment and planning effort for a 58,038-acre area on the Bitterroot National Forest: SIMulating Vegetative Patterns and Processes at Landscape ScaLEs (SIMPPLLE), and Multi-resource Analysis and Geographic Information System (MAGIS). SIMPPLLE was a useful model for tracking and analyzing an...

Lexicality Drives Audio-Motor Transformations in Broca's Area

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kotz, S. A.; D'Ausilio, A.; Raettig, T.; Begliomini, C.; Craighero, L.; Fabbri-Destro, M.; Zingales, C.; Haggard, P.; Fadiga, L.

2010-01-01

Broca's area is classically associated with speech production. Recently, Broca's area has also been implicated in speech perception and non-linguistic information processing. With respect to the latter function, Broca's area is considered to be a central area in a network constituting the human mirror system, which maps observed or heard actions…

Modeling the Effects of Reading Lessons on Text Processing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Omanson, Richard C.; And Others

A study evaluated the effectiveness of various models constructed to account for how children read and comprehended a story presented in a directed reading lesson. A commercial directed reading lesson was revised to introduce information related to the story and to help the children form a "map" of the central story content. Data were…

National Education Standards: The Complex Challenge for Educational Leaders.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faidley, Ray; Musser, Steven

1991-01-01

National standards for education are important elements in the excellence process, but standards imposed by a central authority simply do not work in the Information Era. It would be wise to increase teachers' decision-making role in establishing and implementing local level excellence standards and train teachers to employ the Japanese "kaizen"…

Working Memory Encoding Delays Top-Down Attention to Visual Cortex

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scalf, Paige E.; Dux, Paul E.; Marois, Rene

2011-01-01

The encoding of information from one event into working memory can delay high-level, central decision-making processes for subsequent events [e.g., Jolicoeur, P., & Dell'Acqua, R. The demonstration of short-term consolidation. "Cognitive Psychology, 36", 138-202, 1998, doi:10.1006/cogp.1998.0684]. Working memory, however, is also believed to…

40 CFR 725.975 - EPA approval of alternative control measures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

...) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND REVIEW PROCESSES FOR MICROORGANISMS Additional... EPA via EPA's Central Data Exchange (CDX) using EPA-provided e-PMN software in the manner set forth in § 725.25(c). See 40 CFR 720.40(a)(2)(iv) for information on how to obtain e-PMN software. Support...

40 CFR 725.975 - EPA approval of alternative control measures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

...) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND REVIEW PROCESSES FOR MICROORGANISMS Additional... EPA via EPA's Central Data Exchange (CDX) using EPA-provided e-PMN software in the manner set forth in § 725.25(c). See 40 CFR 720.40(a)(2)(iv) for information on how to obtain e-PMN software. Support...

40 CFR 725.975 - EPA approval of alternative control measures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

...) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND REVIEW PROCESSES FOR MICROORGANISMS Additional... EPA via EPA's Central Data Exchange (CDX) using EPA-provided e-PMN software in the manner set forth in § 725.25(c). See 40 CFR 720.40(a)(2)(iv) for information on how to obtain e-PMN software. Support...

A computational modeling of semantic knowledge in reading comprehension: Integrating the landscape model with latent semantic analysis.

PubMed

Yeari, Menahem; van den Broek, Paul

2016-09-01

It is a well-accepted view that the prior semantic (general) knowledge that readers possess plays a central role in reading comprehension. Nevertheless, computational models of reading comprehension have not integrated the simulation of semantic knowledge and online comprehension processes under a unified mathematical algorithm. The present article introduces a computational model that integrates the landscape model of comprehension processes with latent semantic analysis representation of semantic knowledge. In three sets of simulations of previous behavioral findings, the integrated model successfully simulated the activation and attenuation of predictive and bridging inferences during reading, as well as centrality estimations and recall of textual information after reading. Analyses of the computational results revealed new theoretical insights regarding the underlying mechanisms of the various comprehension phenomena.

76 FR 62630 - Information Security Regulations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-11

... CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 32 CFR Part 1902 Information Security Regulations AGENCY: Central Intelligence Agency. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Central Intelligence agency is removing certain information security regulations which have become outdated. The Executive Order upon which the regulations...

The Neurobiology Shaping Affective Touch: Expectation, Motivation, and Meaning in the Multisensory Context

PubMed Central

Ellingsen, Dan-Mikael; Leknes, Siri; Løseth, Guro; Wessberg, Johan; Olausson, Håkan

2016-01-01

Inter-individual touch can be a desirable reward that can both relieve negative affect and evoke strong feelings of pleasure. However, if other sensory cues indicate it is undesirable to interact with the toucher, the affective experience of the same touch may be flipped to disgust. While a broad literature has addressed, on one hand the neurophysiological basis of ascending touch pathways, and on the other hand the central neurochemistry involved in touch behaviors, investigations of how external context and internal state shapes the hedonic value of touch have only recently emerged. Here, we review the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms responsible for the integration of tactile “bottom–up” stimuli and “top–down” information into affective touch experiences. We highlight the reciprocal influences between gentle touch and contextual information, and consider how, and at which levels of neural processing, top-down influences may modulate ascending touch signals. Finally, we discuss the central neurochemistry, specifically the μ-opioids and oxytocin systems, involved in affective touch processing, and how the functions of these neurotransmitters largely depend on the context and motivational state of the individual. PMID:26779092

Mental Representation in The Thought of Sidney Blatt: Developmental Processes.

PubMed

Auerbach, John S; Diamond, Diana

2017-06-01

Mental representation was a central construct in Sidney Blatt's contributions to psychology and psychoanalysis. This brief review demonstrates that Blatt's understanding of representation was always informed by basic psychoanalytic concepts like the centrality of early caregiver-infant relationships and of unconscious mental processes. Although Blatt's earlier writings were informed by psychoanalytic ego psychology and Piagetian cognitive developmental psychology, they focused nonetheless on how an individual uses bodily and relational experiences to construct an object world; they also consistently presented object representations as having significant unconscious dimensions. From the mid-1980s onward, Blatt's contributions, in dialogue with his many students, moved in an even more experiential/relational direction and manifested the influence of attachment theory, parent-infant interaction research, and intersubjectivity theory. They also incorporated contemporary cognitive psychology, with its emphasis on implicit or procedural, rather than explicit, dimensions as a means of accounting for aspects of object representations that are not in conscious awareness. Throughout his career, however, Blatt regarded mental representation as the construct that mediates between the child's earliest bodily and relational experiences and the mature adult's symbolic, most emotionally profound capacities.

Integrating High-Reliability Principles to Transform Access and Throughput by Creating a Centralized Operations Center.

PubMed

Davenport, Paul B; Carter, Kimberly F; Echternach, Jeffrey M; Tuck, Christopher R

2018-02-01

High-reliability organizations (HROs) demonstrate unique and consistent characteristics, including operational sensitivity and control, situational awareness, hyperacute use of technology and data, and actionable process transformation. System complexity and reliance on information-based processes challenge healthcare organizations to replicate HRO processes. This article describes a healthcare organization's 3-year journey to achieve key HRO features to deliver high-quality, patient-centric care via an operations center powered by the principles of high-reliability data and software to impact patient throughput and flow.

A Time-Space Domain Information Fusion Method for Specific Emitter Identification Based on Dempster-Shafer Evidence Theory.

PubMed

Jiang, Wen; Cao, Ying; Yang, Lin; He, Zichang

2017-08-28

Specific emitter identification plays an important role in contemporary military affairs. However, most of the existing specific emitter identification methods haven't taken into account the processing of uncertain information. Therefore, this paper proposes a time-space domain information fusion method based on Dempster-Shafer evidence theory, which has the ability to deal with uncertain information in the process of specific emitter identification. In this paper, radars will generate a group of evidence respectively based on the information they obtained, and our main task is to fuse the multiple groups of evidence to get a reasonable result. Within the framework of recursive centralized fusion model, the proposed method incorporates a correlation coefficient, which measures the relevance between evidence and a quantum mechanical approach, which is based on the parameters of radar itself. The simulation results of an illustrative example demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively deal with uncertain information and get a reasonable recognition result.

Disturbed holistic processing in autism spectrum disorders verified by two cognitive tasks requiring perception of complex visual stimuli.

PubMed

Nakahachi, Takayuki; Yamashita, Ko; Iwase, Masao; Ishigami, Wataru; Tanaka, Chitaru; Toyonaga, Koji; Maeda, Shizuyo; Hirotsune, Hideto; Tei, Yosyo; Yokoi, Koichi; Okajima, Shoji; Shimizu, Akira; Takeda, Masatoshi

2008-06-30

Central coherence is a key concept in research on autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It refers to the process in which diverse information is integrated and higher meaning is constructed in context. A malfunction in this process could result in abnormal attention to partial information in preference to the whole. To verify this hypothesis, we studied the performance of two visual tasks by 10 patients with autistic disorder or Asperger's disorder and by 26 (experiment 1) or 25 (experiment 2) normal subjects. In experiment 1, the subjects memorized pictures, some pictures with a change related to the main theme (D1) and others with a change not related to the main theme (D2); then the same pictures were randomly presented to the subjects who were asked to find the change. In experiment 2, the subjects were presented pictures of a normal (N) or a Thatcherized (T) face arranged side by side inversely (I) or uprightly (U) and to judge them as the same or different. In experiment 1, ASD subjects exhibited significantly lower rates of correct responses in D1 but not in D2. In experiment 2, ASD subjects exhibited significantly longer response times in NT-U but not in TN-I. These results showed a deficit in holistic processing, which is consistent with weak central coherence in ASD.

The Federal Aviation Administration/Massachusetts Institute of Technology (FAA/MIT) Lincoln Laboratory Doppler weather radar program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, James E.

1988-01-01

The program focuses on providing real-time information on hazardous aviation weather to end users such as air traffic control and pilots. Existing systems will soon be replaced by a Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD), which will be concerned with detecting such hazards as heavy rain and hail, turbulence, low-altitude wind shear, and mesocyclones and tornadoes. Other systems in process are the Central Weather Processor (CWP), and the terminal Doppler weather radar (TDWR). Weather measurements near Memphis are central to ongoing work, especially in the area of microbursts and wind shear.

Compressive sensing of high betweenness centrality nodes in networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahyar, Hamidreza; Hasheminezhad, Rouzbeh; Ghalebi K., Elahe; Nazemian, Ali; Grosu, Radu; Movaghar, Ali; Rabiee, Hamid R.

2018-05-01

Betweenness centrality is a prominent centrality measure expressing importance of a node within a network, in terms of the fraction of shortest paths passing through that node. Nodes with high betweenness centrality have significant impacts on the spread of influence and idea in social networks, the user activity in mobile phone networks, the contagion process in biological networks, and the bottlenecks in communication networks. Thus, identifying k-highest betweenness centrality nodes in networks will be of great interest in many applications. In this paper, we introduce CS-HiBet, a new method to efficiently detect top- k betweenness centrality nodes in networks, using compressive sensing. CS-HiBet can perform as a distributed algorithm by using only the local information at each node. Hence, it is applicable to large real-world and unknown networks in which the global approaches are usually unrealizable. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated by extensive simulations on several synthetic and real-world networks. The experimental results demonstrate that CS-HiBet outperforms the best existing methods with notable improvements.

Crustal insights from gravity and aeromagnetic analysis: Central North Slope, Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Saltus, R.W.; Potter, C.J.; Phillips, J.D.

2006-01-01

Aeromagnetic and gravity data are processed and interpreted to reveal deep and shallow information about the crustal structure of the central North Slope, Alaska. Regional aeromagnetic anomalies primarily reflect deep crustal features. Regional gravity anomalies are more complex and require detailed analysis. We constrain our geophysical models with seismic data and interpretations along two transects including the Trans-Alaska Crustal Transect. Combined geophysical analysis reveals a remarkable heterogeneity of the pre-Mississippian basement. In the central North Slope, pre-Mississippian basement consists of two distinct geophysical domains. To the southwest, the basement is dense and highly magnetic; this basement is likely mafic and mechanically strong, possibly acting as a buttress to basement involvement in Brooks Range thrusting. To the northeast, the central North Slope basement consists of lower density, moderately magnetic rocks with several discrete regions (intrusions?) of more magnetic rocks. A conjugate set of geophysical trends, northwest-southeast and southwest-northeast, may be a factor in the crustal response to tectonic compression in this domain. High-resolution gravity and aeromagnetic data, where available, reflect details of shallow fault and fold structure. The maps and profile models in this report should provide useful guidelines and complementary information for regional structural studies, particularly in combination with detailed seismic reflection interpretations. Future challenges include collection of high-resolution gravity and aeromagnetic data for the entire North Slope as well as additional deep crustal information from seismic, drilling, and other complementary methods. Copyrights ?? 2006. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

76 FR 59071 - Freedom of Information Act Regulations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-23

... CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 32 CFR Part 1900 Freedom of Information Act Regulations AGENCY: Central Intelligence Agency. ACTION: Proposed rule. SUMMARY: Consistent with the Freedom of Information...,'' and Executive Orders 13526 and 13392, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has undertaken and...

Army Airspace Command and Control (A2C2): Action Plan for Issue Resolution

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-09-01

INFO Information INTEL Intelligence IPR In-Process Review IVIS Inter-Vehicular Information System JACC Joint Airspace Control Center JAOC Joint Air...base, centralized such as intelligence at Fort Huachuca and combat service support at Fort Lee , or a combination of both. It is no longer efficient to...Regiment (ATS) Ft. Bragg, NC 28307 ATTN: AFZF-ATS-C (LTC Ledbetter ) (919) 396-8899/7649 Bldg 87009, 16th Street Ft. Hood, TX 76544 Commander, 1st

Implementation of a Research Information Management System in a Pediatric Hospital.

PubMed

Kissling, Alison D; Ballinger, Kimberly D

2018-01-01

Faculty publications have been collected in universities, health, and medical institutions for many years, and Cincinnati Children's is no exception. Since 1949, a yearly list of faculty publications was manually compiled using multiple data sources and disseminated by the Edward L. Pratt Research Library. Products to centralize faculty publication collection and analysis with bibliometric tools are growing in popularity. This article will review the collaborative decision to choose a Research Information Management System and the implementation process including successes, challenges, and future opportunities.

Guiding the Process of Culturally Competent Care With Hispanic Patients: A Grounded Theory Study.

PubMed

Sobel, Linda L; Metzler Sawin, Erika

2016-05-01

To explore nursing care actions that lead to culturally competent care for Hispanic patients. Nurses report apprehension when delivering nursing care because of language barriers and a lack of Hispanic cultural understanding. Research is needed to inform culturally aware nursing practice actions for Hispanic patients. The study used a qualitative, grounded theory design to address the questions: (a) What cultural knowledge should nurses have when caring for Hispanic patients and families and (b) What nursing actions should nurses take to provide culturally competent care? Hispanic lay health promoters and Hispanic community members were interviewed to make recommendations for care. A model was identified that informs culturally competent nursing care. "Connectedness," the central phenomenon, describes nursing actions and contains subthemes explaining influences on nursing care. "Up to You" and "At the Mercy of the System" are descriptive themes influencing connectedness. Connectedness is central to culturally well-informed nurse-patient interactions. © The Author(s) 2014.

Affective bias as a rational response to the statistics of rewards and punishments.

PubMed

Pulcu, Erdem; Browning, Michael

2017-10-04

Affective bias, the tendency to differentially prioritise the processing of negative relative to positive events, is commonly observed in clinical and non-clinical populations. However, why such biases develop is not known. Using a computational framework, we investigated whether affective biases may reflect individuals' estimates of the information content of negative relative to positive events. During a reinforcement learning task, the information content of positive and negative outcomes was manipulated independently by varying the volatility of their occurrence. Human participants altered the learning rates used for the outcomes selectively, preferentially learning from the most informative. This behaviour was associated with activity of the central norepinephrine system, estimated using pupilometry, for loss outcomes. Humans maintain independent estimates of the information content of distinct positive and negative outcomes which may bias their processing of affective events. Normalising affective biases using computationally inspired interventions may represent a novel approach to treatment development.

Affective bias as a rational response to the statistics of rewards and punishments

PubMed Central

Pulcu, Erdem

2017-01-01

Affective bias, the tendency to differentially prioritise the processing of negative relative to positive events, is commonly observed in clinical and non-clinical populations. However, why such biases develop is not known. Using a computational framework, we investigated whether affective biases may reflect individuals’ estimates of the information content of negative relative to positive events. During a reinforcement learning task, the information content of positive and negative outcomes was manipulated independently by varying the volatility of their occurrence. Human participants altered the learning rates used for the outcomes selectively, preferentially learning from the most informative. This behaviour was associated with activity of the central norepinephrine system, estimated using pupilometry, for loss outcomes. Humans maintain independent estimates of the information content of distinct positive and negative outcomes which may bias their processing of affective events. Normalising affective biases using computationally inspired interventions may represent a novel approach to treatment development. PMID:28976304

Making sense of adolescent decision-making: challenge and reality.

PubMed

Unguru, Yoram

2011-08-01

Few topics in pediatric bioethics are as vexing as decision-making. Decision-making in pediatrics presents challenges for children, parents, and physicians alike. The related, yet distinct, concepts of assent and consent are central to pediatric decision-making. Although informed consent is largely regarded as a worthwhile adult principle, assent has been, and continues to be, mired in debate. Controversial subjects include a meaningful definition of assent; how old children should be to assent; who should be included in the assent process; parental permission; how to resolve disputes between children and their parents; the relationship between assent and consent; the quantity and quality of information to disclose to children and their families; how much and what information children desire and need; the necessity and methods for assessing both children's understanding of disclosed information and of the assent process itself; reconciling ethical and legal attitudes toward assent; and finally, an effective, practical, and realistically applicable decision-making model.

Extended spider cognition.

PubMed

Japyassú, Hilton F; Laland, Kevin N

2017-05-01

There is a tension between the conception of cognition as a central nervous system (CNS) process and a view of cognition as extending towards the body or the contiguous environment. The centralised conception requires large or complex nervous systems to cope with complex environments. Conversely, the extended conception involves the outsourcing of information processing to the body or environment, thus making fewer demands on the processing power of the CNS. The evolution of extended cognition should be particularly favoured among small, generalist predators such as spiders, and here, we review the literature to evaluate the fit of empirical data with these contrasting models of cognition. Spiders do not seem to be cognitively limited, displaying a large diversity of learning processes, from habituation to contextual learning, including a sense of numerosity. To tease apart the central from the extended cognition, we apply the mutual manipulability criterion, testing the existence of reciprocal causal links between the putative elements of the system. We conclude that the web threads and configurations are integral parts of the cognitive systems. The extension of cognition to the web helps to explain some puzzling features of spider behaviour and seems to promote evolvability within the group, enhancing innovation through cognitive connectivity to variable habitat features. Graded changes in relative brain size could also be explained by outsourcing information processing to environmental features. More generally, niche-constructed structures emerge as prime candidates for extending animal cognition, generating the selective pressures that help to shape the evolving cognitive system.

Information seeking for making evidence-informed decisions: a social network analysis on the staff of a public health department in Canada.

PubMed

Yousefi-Nooraie, Reza; Dobbins, Maureen; Brouwers, Melissa; Wakefield, Patricia

2012-05-16

Social network analysis is an approach to study the interactions and exchange of resources among people. It can help understanding the underlying structural and behavioral complexities that influence the process of capacity building towards evidence-informed decision making. A social network analysis was conducted to understand if and how the staff of a public health department in Ontario turn to peers to get help incorporating research evidence into practice. The staff were invited to respond to an online questionnaire inquiring about information seeking behavior, identification of colleague expertise, and friendship status. Three networks were developed based on the 170 participants. Overall shape, key indices, the most central people and brokers, and their characteristics were identified. The network analysis showed a low density and localized information-seeking network. Inter-personal connections were mainly clustered by organizational divisions; and people tended to limit information-seeking connections to a handful of peers in their division. However, recognition of expertise and friendship networks showed more cross-divisional connections. Members of the office of the Medical Officer of Health were located at the heart of the department, bridging across divisions. A small group of professional consultants and middle managers were the most-central staff in the network, also connecting their divisions to the center of the information-seeking network. In each division, there were some locally central staff, mainly practitioners, who connected their neighboring peers; but they were not necessarily connected to other experts or managers. The methods of social network analysis were useful in providing a systems approach to understand how knowledge might flow in an organization. The findings of this study can be used to identify early adopters of knowledge translation interventions, forming Communities of Practice, and potential internal knowledge brokers.

Transitions between central and peripheral vision create spatial/temporal distortions: a hypothesis concerning the perceived break of the curveball.

PubMed

Shapiro, Arthur; Lu, Zhong-Lin; Huang, Chang-Bing; Knight, Emily; Ennis, Robert

2010-10-13

The human visual system does not treat all parts of an image equally: the central segments of an image, which fall on the fovea, are processed with a higher resolution than the segments that fall in the visual periphery. Even though the differences between foveal and peripheral resolution are large, these differences do not usually disrupt our perception of seamless visual space. Here we examine a motion stimulus in which the shift from foveal to peripheral viewing creates a dramatic spatial/temporal discontinuity. The stimulus consists of a descending disk (global motion) with an internal moving grating (local motion). When observers view the disk centrally, they perceive both global and local motion (i.e., observers see the disk's vertical descent and the internal spinning). When observers view the disk peripherally, the internal portion appears stationary, and the disk appears to descend at an angle. The angle of perceived descent increases as the observer views the stimulus from further in the periphery. We examine the first- and second-order information content in the display with the use of a three-dimensional Fourier analysis and show how our results can be used to describe perceived spatial/temporal discontinuities in real-world situations. The perceived shift of the disk's direction in the periphery is consistent with a model in which foveal processing separates first- and second-order motion information while peripheral processing integrates first- and second-order motion information. We argue that the perceived distortion may influence real-world visual observations. To this end, we present a hypothesis and analysis of the perception of the curveball and rising fastball in the sport of baseball. The curveball is a physically measurable phenomenon: the imbalance of forces created by the ball's spin causes the ball to deviate from a straight line and to follow a smooth parabolic path. However, the curveball is also a perceptual puzzle because batters often report that the flight of the ball undergoes a dramatic and nearly discontinuous shift in position as the ball nears home plate. We suggest that the perception of a discontinuous shift in position results from differences between foveal and peripheral processing.

Investigating the mechanisms responsible for the lack of surface energy balance closure in a central Amazonian tropical rainforest

DOE PAGES

Gerken, Tobias; Ruddell, Benjamin L.; Fuentes, Jose D.; ...

2017-04-29

This work investigates the diurnal and seasonal behavior of the energy balance residual (E) that results from the observed difference between available energy and the turbulent fluxes of sensible heat (H) and latent heat (LE) at the FLUXNET BR-Ma2 site located in the Brazilian central Amazon rainforest. The behavior of E is analyzed by extending the eddy covariance averaging length from 30 min to 4 h and by applying an Information Flow Dynamical Process Network to diagnose processes and conditions affecting E across different seasons. Results show that the seasonal turbulent flux dynamics and the Bowen ratio are primarily drivenmore » by net radiation (R n), with substantial sub-seasonal variability. The Bowen ratio increased from 0.25 in April to 0.4 at the end of September. Extension of the averaging length from 0.5 (94.6% closure) to 4 h and thus inclusion of longer timescale eddies and mesoscale processes closes the energy balance and lead to an increase in the Bowen ratio, thus highlighting the importance of additional H to E. Information flow analysis reveals that the components of the energy balance explain between 25 and 40% of the total Shannon entropy with higher values during the wet season than the dry season. Dry season information flow from the buoyancy flux to E are 30–50% larger than that from H, indicating the potential importance of buoyancy fluxes to closing E. While the low closure highlights additional sources not captured in the flux data and random measurement errors contributing to E, the findings of the information flow and averaging length analysis are consistent with the impact of mesoscale circulations, which tend to transport more H than LE, on the lack of closure.« less

Investigating the mechanisms responsible for the lack of surface energy balance closure in a central Amazonian tropical rainforest

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

Gerken, Tobias; Ruddell, Benjamin L.; Fuentes, Jose D.

This work investigates the diurnal and seasonal behavior of the energy balance residual (E) that results from the observed difference between available energy and the turbulent fluxes of sensible heat (H) and latent heat (LE) at the FLUXNET BR-Ma2 site located in the Brazilian central Amazon rainforest. The behavior of E is analyzed by extending the eddy covariance averaging length from 30 min to 4 h and by applying an Information Flow Dynamical Process Network to diagnose processes and conditions affecting E across different seasons. Results show that the seasonal turbulent flux dynamics and the Bowen ratio are primarily drivenmore » by net radiation (R n), with substantial sub-seasonal variability. The Bowen ratio increased from 0.25 in April to 0.4 at the end of September. Extension of the averaging length from 0.5 (94.6% closure) to 4 h and thus inclusion of longer timescale eddies and mesoscale processes closes the energy balance and lead to an increase in the Bowen ratio, thus highlighting the importance of additional H to E. Information flow analysis reveals that the components of the energy balance explain between 25 and 40% of the total Shannon entropy with higher values during the wet season than the dry season. Dry season information flow from the buoyancy flux to E are 30–50% larger than that from H, indicating the potential importance of buoyancy fluxes to closing E. While the low closure highlights additional sources not captured in the flux data and random measurement errors contributing to E, the findings of the information flow and averaging length analysis are consistent with the impact of mesoscale circulations, which tend to transport more H than LE, on the lack of closure.« less

Meeting of the Central and Eastern U.S. (CEUS) Earthquake Hazards Program October 28–29, 2009

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tuttle, Martitia; Boyd, Oliver; McCallister, Natasha

2013-01-01

On October 28th and 29th, 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program held a meeting of Central and Eastern United States investigators and interested parties in Memphis, Tennessee. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together the Central and Eastern United States earthquake-hazards community to present and discuss recent research results, to promote communication and collaboration, to garner input regarding future research priorities, to inform the community about research opportunities afforded by the 2010–2012 arrival of EarthScope/USArray in the central United States, and to discuss plans for the upcoming bicentennial of the 1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes. The two-day meeting included several keynote speakers, oral and poster presentations by attendees, and breakout sessions. The meeting is summarized in this report and can be subdivided into four primary sections: (1) summaries of breakout discussion groups; (2) list of meeting participants; (3) submitted abstracts; and (4) slide presentations. The abstracts and slides are included “as submitted” by the meeting participants and have not been subject to any formal peer review process; information contained in these sections reflects the opinions of the presenter at the time of the meeting and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey.

μ-Opioid Receptor-Mediated Inhibition of Intercalated Neurons and Effect on Synaptic Transmission to the Central Amygdala.

PubMed

Blaesse, Peter; Goedecke, Lena; Bazelot, Michaël; Capogna, Marco; Pape, Hans-Christian; Jüngling, Kay

2015-05-13

The amygdala is a key region for the processing of information underlying fear, anxiety, and fear extinction. Within the local neuronal networks of the amygdala, a population of inhibitory, intercalated neurons (ITCs) modulates the flow of information among various nuclei of amygdala, including the basal nucleus (BA) and the centromedial nucleus (CeM) of the amygdala. These ITCs have been shown to be important during fear extinction and are target of a variety of neurotransmitters and neuropeptides. Here we provide evidence that the activation of μ-opioid receptors (MORs) by the specific agonist DAMGO ([D-Ala2,N-Me-Phe4,Gly5-ol]-Enkephalin) hyperpolarizes medially located ITCs (mITCs) in acute brain slices of mice. Moreover, we use whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in combination with local electrical stimulation or glutamate uncaging to analyze the effect of MOR activation on local microcircuits. We show that the GABAergic transmission between mITCs and CeM neurons is attenuated by DAMGO, whereas the glutamatergic transmission on CeM neurons and mITCs is unaffected. Furthermore, MOR activation induced by theta burst stimulation in BA suppresses plastic changes of feedforward inhibitory transmission onto CeM neurons as revealed by the MOR antagonist CTAP d-Phe-Cys-Tyr-d-Trp-Arg-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH2. In summary, the mITCs constitute a target for the opioid system, and therefore, the activation of MOR in ITCs might play a central role in the modulation of the information processing between the basolateral complex of the amygdala and central nuclei of the amygdala. Copyright © 2015 Blaesse, Goedecke et al.

Working Memory Deficits in Boys with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): The Contribution of Central Executive and Subsystem Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rapport, Mark D.; Alderson, R. Matt; Kofler, Michael J.; Sarver, Dustin E.; Bolden, Jennifer; Sims, Valerie

2008-01-01

The current study investigated contradictory findings from recent experimental and meta-analytic studies concerning working memory deficits in ADHD. Working memory refers to the cognitive ability to temporarily store and mentally manipulate limited amounts of information for use in guiding behavior. Phonological (verbal) and visuospatial…

Bus-Programmable Slave Card

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, William A.

1990-01-01

Slave microprocessors in multimicroprocessor computing system contains modified circuit cards programmed via bus connecting master processor with slave microprocessors. Enables interactive, microprocessor-based, single-loop control. Confers ability to load and run program from master/slave bus, without need for microprocessor development station. Tristate buffers latch all data and information on status. Slave central processing unit never connected directly to bus.

32 CFR 1901.21 - Processing requests for access to or amendment of records.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY PUBLIC RIGHTS UNDER THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974 Action on Privacy Act Requests... requester cites one Act in the request, both, or neither. This action is taken in order to ensure the... written response, shall so inform the requester and advise of his or her right to an administrative appeal...

A Model System for the Study of Gene Expression in the Undergraduate Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hargadon, Kristian M.

2016-01-01

The flow of genetic information from DNA to RNA to protein, otherwise known as the "central dogma" of biology, is one of the most basic and overarching concepts in the biological sciences. Nevertheless, numerous studies have reported student misconceptions at the undergraduate level of this fundamental process of gene expression. This…

A Model Based Framework for Semantic Interpretation of Architectural Construction Drawings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babalola, Olubi Oluyomi

2011-01-01

The study addresses the automated translation of architectural drawings from 2D Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) data into a Building Information Model (BIM), with emphasis on the nature, possible role, and limitations of a drafting language Knowledge Representation (KR) on the problem and process. The central idea is that CAD to BIM translation is a…

Analysis of the Demand for Distance Education at Eastern and Central European Higher Education Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vasilevska, Daina; Rivza, Baiba; Pivac, Tatjana; Alekneviciene, Vilija; Parlinska, Agnieszka

2017-01-01

Distance education as one of the new and perspective forms of completing higher education increases in popularity around the world. At the same time, the development of this model of education generates new problems: organization of the study process and information security. Distance learning allows solving a problem of accessibility of higher…

Managing Selection for Electronic Resources: Kent State University Develops a New System to Automate Selection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Downey, Kay

2012-01-01

Kent State University has developed a centralized system that manages the communication and work related to the review and selection of commercially available electronic resources. It is an automated system that tracks the review process, provides selectors with price and trial information, and compiles reviewers' feedback about the resource. It…

The UARS and open data system concept and analysis study. Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mittal, M.; Nebb, J.; Woodward, H.

1983-01-01

Alternative concepts for a common design for the UARS and OPEN Central Data Handling Facility (CDHF) are offered. The designs are consistent with requirements shared by UARS and OPEN and the data storage and data processing demands of these missions. Because more detailed information is available for UARS, the design approach was to size the system and to select components for a UARS CDHF, but in a manner that does not optimize the CDHF at the expense of OPEN. Costs for alternative implementations of the UARS designs are presented showing that the system design does not restrict the implementation to a single manufacturer. Processing demands on the alternative UARS CDHF implementations are discussed. With this information at hand together with estimates for OPEN processing demands, it is shown that any shortfall in system capability for OPEN support can be remedied by either component upgrades or array processing attachments rather than a system redesign.

Encapsulated social perception of emotional expressions.

PubMed

Smortchkova, Joulia

2017-01-01

In this paper I argue that the detection of emotional expressions is, in its early stages, informationally encapsulated. I clarify and defend such a view via the appeal to data from social perception on the visual processing of faces, bodies, facial and bodily expressions. Encapsulated social perception might exist alongside processes that are cognitively penetrated, and that have to do with recognition and categorization, and play a central evolutionary function in preparing early and rapid responses to the emotional stimuli. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ms_lims, a simple yet powerful open source laboratory information management system for MS-driven proteomics.

PubMed

Helsens, Kenny; Colaert, Niklaas; Barsnes, Harald; Muth, Thilo; Flikka, Kristian; Staes, An; Timmerman, Evy; Wortelkamp, Steffi; Sickmann, Albert; Vandekerckhove, Joël; Gevaert, Kris; Martens, Lennart

2010-03-01

MS-based proteomics produces large amounts of mass spectra that require processing, identification and possibly quantification before interpretation can be undertaken. High-throughput studies require automation of these various steps, and management of the data in association with the results obtained. We here present ms_lims (http://genesis.UGent.be/ms_lims), a freely available, open-source system based on a central database to automate data management and processing in MS-driven proteomics analyses.

Informing Hospital Change Processes through Visualization and Simulation: A Case Study at a Children's Emergency Clinic.

PubMed

Persson, Johanna; Dalholm, Elisabeth Hornyánszky; Johansson, Gerd

2014-01-01

To demonstrate the use of visualization and simulation tools in order to involve stakeholders and inform the process in hospital change processes, illustrated by an empirical study from a children's emergency clinic. Reorganization and redevelopment of a hospital is a complex activity that involves many stakeholders and demands. Visualization and simulation tools have proven useful for involving practitioners and eliciting relevant knowledge. More knowledge is desired about how these tools can be implemented in practice for hospital planning processes. A participatory planning process including practitioners and researchers was executed over a 3-year period to evaluate a combination of visualization and simulation tools to involve stakeholders in the planning process and to elicit knowledge about needs and requirements. The initial clinic proposal from the architect was discarded as a result of the empirical study. Much general knowledge about the needs of the organization was extracted by means of the adopted tools. Some of the tools proved to be more accessible than others for the practitioners participating in the study. The combination of tools added value to the process by presenting information in alternative ways and eliciting questions from different angles. Visualization and simulation tools inform a planning process (or other types of change processes) by providing the means to see beyond present demands and current work structures. Long-term involvement in combination with accessible tools is central for creating a participatory setting where the practitioners' knowledge guides the process. © 2014 Vendome Group, LLC.

Scene and human face recognition in the central vision of patients with glaucoma

PubMed Central

Aptel, Florent; Attye, Arnaud; Guyader, Nathalie; Boucart, Muriel; Chiquet, Christophe; Peyrin, Carole

2018-01-01

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) firstly mainly affects peripheral vision. Current behavioral studies support the idea that visual defects of patients with POAG extend into parts of the central visual field classified as normal by static automated perimetry analysis. This is particularly true for visual tasks involving processes of a higher level than mere detection. The purpose of this study was to assess visual abilities of POAG patients in central vision. Patients were assigned to two groups following a visual field examination (Humphrey 24–2 SITA-Standard test). Patients with both peripheral and central defects and patients with peripheral but no central defect, as well as age-matched controls, participated in the experiment. All participants had to perform two visual tasks where low-contrast stimuli were presented in the central 6° of the visual field. A categorization task of scene images and human face images assessed high-level visual recognition abilities. In contrast, a detection task using the same stimuli assessed low-level visual function. The difference in performance between detection and categorization revealed the cost of high-level visual processing. Compared to controls, patients with a central visual defect showed a deficit in both detection and categorization of all low-contrast images. This is consistent with the abnormal retinal sensitivity as assessed by perimetry. However, the deficit was greater for categorization than detection. Patients without a central defect showed similar performances to the controls concerning the detection and categorization of faces. However, while the detection of scene images was well-maintained, these patients showed a deficit in their categorization. This suggests that the simple loss of peripheral vision could be detrimental to scene recognition, even when the information is displayed in central vision. This study revealed subtle defects in the central visual field of POAG patients that cannot be predicted by static automated perimetry assessment using Humphrey 24–2 SITA-Standard test. PMID:29481572

Comprehending expository texts: the dynamic neurobiological correlates of building a coherent text representation

PubMed Central

Swett, Katherine; Miller, Amanda C.; Burns, Scott; Hoeft, Fumiko; Davis, Nicole; Petrill, Stephen A.; Cutting, Laurie E.

2013-01-01

Little is known about the neural correlates of expository text comprehension. In this study, we sought to identify neural networks underlying expository text comprehension, how those networks change over the course of comprehension, and whether information central to the overall meaning of the text is functionally distinct from peripheral information. Seventeen adult subjects read expository passages while being scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). By convolving phrase onsets with the hemodynamic response function (HRF), we were able to identify regions that increase and decrease in activation over the course of passage comprehension. We found that expository text comprehension relies on the co-activation of the semantic control network and regions in the posterior midline previously associated with mental model updating and integration [posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and precuneus (PCU)]. When compared to single word comprehension, left PCC and left Angular Gyrus (AG) were activated only for discourse-level comprehension. Over the course of comprehension, reliance on the same regions in the semantic control network increased, while a parietal region associated with attention [intraparietal sulcus (IPS)] decreased. These results parallel previous findings in narrative comprehension that the initial stages of mental model building require greater visuospatial attention processes, while maintenance of the model increasingly relies on semantic integration regions. Additionally, we used an event-related analysis to examine phrases central to the text's overall meaning vs. peripheral phrases. It was found that central ideas are functionally distinct from peripheral ideas, showing greater activation in the PCC and PCU, while over the course of passage comprehension, central and peripheral ideas increasingly recruit different parts of the semantic control network. The finding that central information elicits greater response in mental model updating regions than peripheral ideas supports previous behavioral models on the cognitive importance of distinguishing textual centrality. PMID:24376411

A comprehensive wiring diagram of the protocerebral bridge for visual information processing in the Drosophila brain.

PubMed

Lin, Chih-Yung; Chuang, Chao-Chun; Hua, Tzu-En; Chen, Chun-Chao; Dickson, Barry J; Greenspan, Ralph J; Chiang, Ann-Shyn

2013-05-30

How the brain perceives sensory information and generates meaningful behavior depends critically on its underlying circuitry. The protocerebral bridge (PB) is a major part of the insect central complex (CX), a premotor center that may be analogous to the human basal ganglia. Here, by deconstructing hundreds of PB single neurons and reconstructing them into a common three-dimensional framework, we have constructed a comprehensive map of PB circuits with labeled polarity and predicted directions of information flow. Our analysis reveals a highly ordered information processing system that involves directed information flow among CX subunits through 194 distinct PB neuron types. Circuitry properties such as mirroring, convergence, divergence, tiling, reverberation, and parallel signal propagation were observed; their functional and evolutional significance is discussed. This layout of PB neuronal circuitry may provide guidelines for further investigations on transformation of sensory (e.g., visual) input into locomotor commands in fly brains. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Archive of Digital Boomer Seismic Reflection Data Collected During USGS Field Activity 08LCA04 in Lakes Cherry, Helen, Hiawassee, Louisa, and Prevatt, Central Florida, September 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harrison, Arnell S.; Dadisman, Shawn V.; Davis, Jeffrey B.; Flocks, James G.; Wiese, Dana S.

2009-01-01

From September 2 through 4, 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey and St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) conducted geophysical surveys in Lakes Cherry, Helen, Hiawassee, Louisa, and Prevatt, central Florida. This report serves as an archive of unprocessed digital boomer seismic reflection data, trackline maps, navigation files, GIS information, FACS logs, and formal FGDC metadata. Filtered and gained digital images of the seismic profiles are also provided. The archived trace data are in standard Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) SEG-Y format (Barry and others, 1975) and may be downloaded and processed with commercial or public domain software such as Seismic Unix (SU). Example SU processing scripts and USGS software for viewing the SEG-Y files (Zihlman, 1992) are also provided.

Modulation of central serotonin affects emotional information processing in impulsive aggressive personality disorder.

PubMed

Lee, Royce J; Gill, Andrew; Chen, Bing; McCloskey, Michael; Coccaro, Emil F

2012-06-01

The mechanistic model whereby serotonin affects impulsive aggression is not completely understood. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that depletion of serotonin reserves by tryptophan depletion affects emotional information processing in susceptible individuals. The effect of tryptophan (vs placebo) depletion on processing of Ekman emotional faces was compared in impulsive aggressive personality disordered, male and female adults with normal controls. All subjects were free of psychotropic medications, medically healthy, nondepressed, and substance free. Additionally, subjective mood state and vital signs were monitored. For emotion recognition, a significant interaction of Aggression × Drug × Sex (F(1, 31) = 7.687, P = 0.009) was found, with male normal controls but not impulsive aggressive males showing increased recognition of fear. For intensity ratings of emotional faces, a significant interaction was discovered of Drug × Group × Sex (F(1, 31) = 5.924, P = 0.021), with follow-up tests revealing that males with intermittent explosive disorder tended to increase intensity ratings of angry faces after tryptophan depletion. Additionally, tryptophan depletion was associated with increased heart rate in all subjects, and increased intensity of the subjective emotional state of "anger" in impulsive aggressive subjects. Individuals with clinically relevant levels of impulsive aggression may be susceptible to effects of serotonergic depletion on emotional information processing, showing a tendency to exaggerate their impression of the intensity of angry expressions and to report an angry mood state after tryptophan depletion. This may reflect heightened sensitivity to the effects of serotonergic dysregulation, and suggests that what underlies impulsive aggression is either supersensitivity to serotonergic disturbances or susceptibility to fluctuations in central serotonergic availability.

Data Processing Center of Radioastron Project: 3 years of operation.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shatskaya, Marina

ASC DATA PROCESSING CENTER (DPC) of Radioastron Project is a fail-safe complex centralized system of interconnected software/ hardware components along with organizational procedures. Tasks facing of the scientific data processing center are organization of service information exchange, collection of scientific data, storage of all of scientific data, data science oriented processing. DPC takes part in the informational exchange with two tracking stations in Pushchino (Russia) and Green Bank (USA), about 30 ground telescopes, ballistic center, tracking headquarters and session scheduling center. Enormous flows of information go to Astro Space Center. For the inquiring of enormous data volumes we develop specialized network infrastructure, Internet channels and storage. The computer complex has been designed at the Astro Space Center (ASC) of Lebedev Physical Institute and includes: - 800 TB on-line storage, - 2000 TB hard drive archive, - backup system on magnetic tapes (2000 TB); - 24 TB redundant storage at Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory; - Web and FTP servers, - DPC management and data transmission networks. The structure and functions of ASC Data Processing Center are fully adequate to the data processing requirements of the Radioastron Mission and has been successfully confirmed during Fringe Search, Early Science Program and first year of Key Science Program.

Moving data off the shelf and into action: an intervention to improve data-informed decision making in Côte d'Ivoire.

PubMed

Nutley, Tara; Gnassou, Léontine; Traore, Moussa; Bosso, Abitche Edwige; Mullen, Stephanie

2014-01-01

Improving a health system requires data, but too often they are unused or under-used by decision makers. Without interventions to improve the use of data in decision making, health systems cannot meet the needs of the populations they serve. In 2008, in Côte d'Ivoire, data were largely unused in health decision-making processes. To implement and evaluate an intervention to improve the use of data in decision making in Cote d'Ivoire. From 2008 to 2012, Cote d'Ivoire sought to improve the use of national health data through an intervention that broadens participation in and builds links between data collection and decision-making processes; identifies information needs; improves data quality; builds capacity to analyze, synthesize, and interpret data; and develops policies to support data use. To assess the results, a Performance of Routine Information System Management Assessment was conducted before and after the intervention using a combination of purposeful and random sampling. In 2008, the sample consisted of the central level, 12 districts, and 119 facilities, and in 2012, the sample consisted of the central level, 20 districts, and 190 health facilities. To assess data use, we developed dichotomous indicators: discussions of analysis findings, decisions taken based on the analysis, and decisions referred to upper management for action. We aggregated the indicators to generate a composite, continuous index of data use. From 2008 to 2012, the district data-use score increased from 40 to 70%; the facility score remained the same - 38%. The central score is not reported, because of a methodological difference in the two assessments. The intervention improved the use of data in decision making at the district level in Côte d'Ivoire. This study provides an example of, and guidance for, implementing a large-scale intervention to improve data-informed decision making.

Overview of the Smart Network Element Architecture and Recent Innovations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perotti, Jose M.; Mata, Carlos T.; Oostdyk, Rebecca L.

2008-01-01

In industrial environments, system operators rely on the availability and accuracy of sensors to monitor processes and detect failures of components and/or processes. The sensors must be networked in such a way that their data is reported to a central human interface, where operators are tasked with making real-time decisions based on the state of the sensors and the components that are being monitored. Incorporating health management functions at this central location aids the operator by automating the decision-making process to suggest, and sometimes perform, the action required by current operating conditions. Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM) aims to incorporate data from many sources, including real-time and historical data and user input, and extract information and knowledge from that data to diagnose failures and predict future failures of the system. By distributing health management processing to lower levels of the architecture, there is less bandwidth required for ISHM, enhanced data fusion, make systems and processes more robust, and improved resolution for the detection and isolation of failures in a system, subsystem, component, or process. The Smart Network Element (SNE) has been developed at NASA Kennedy Space Center to perform intelligent functions at sensors and actuators' level in support of ISHM.

Total quality management: It works for aerospace information services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erwin, James; Eberline, Carl; Colquitt, Wanda

1993-01-01

Today we are in the midst of information and 'total quality' revolutions. At the NASA STI Program's Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI), we are focused on using continuous improvements techniques to enrich today's services and products and to ensure that tomorrow's technology supports the TQM-based improvement of future STI program products and services. The Continuous Improvements Program at CASI is the foundation for Total Quality Management in products and services. The focus is customer-driven; its goal, to identify processes and procedures that can be improved and new technologies that can be integrated with the processes to gain efficiencies, provide effectiveness, and promote customer satisfaction. This Program seeks to establish quality through an iterative defect prevention approach that is based on the incorporation of standards and measurements into the processing cycle. Four projects are described that utilize cross-functional, problem-solving teams for identifying requirements and defining tasks and task standards, management participation, attention to critical processes, and measurable long-term goals. The implementation of these projects provides the customer with measurably improved access to information that is provided through several channels: the NASA STI Database, document requests for microfiche and hardcopy, and the Centralized Help Desk.

Development of a model for whole brain learning of physiology.

PubMed

Eagleton, Saramarie; Muller, Anton

2011-12-01

In this report, a model was developed for whole brain learning based on Curry's onion model. Curry described the effect of personality traits as the inner layer of learning, information-processing styles as the middle layer of learning, and environmental and instructional preferences as the outer layer of learning. The model that was developed elaborates on these layers by relating the personality traits central to learning to the different quadrants of brain preference, as described by Neethling's brain profile, as the inner layer of the onion. This layer is encircled by the learning styles that describe different information-processing preferences for each brain quadrant. For the middle layer, the different stages of Kolb's learning cycle are classified into the four brain quadrants associated with the different brain processing strategies within the information processing circle. Each of the stages of Kolb's learning cycle is also associated with a specific cognitive learning strategy. These two inner circles are enclosed by the circle representing the role of the environment and instruction on learning. It relates environmental factors that affect learning and distinguishes between face-to-face and technology-assisted learning. This model informs on the design of instructional interventions for physiology to encourage whole brain learning.

77 FR 3433 - Notice of Request for Extension of Approval of an Information Collection; Importation of Tomatoes...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-24

... Collection; Importation of Tomatoes From Certain Central American Countries AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health... collection associated with regulations for the importation of tomatoes from certain Central American... INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on regulations for the importation of tomatoes from certain Central...

The ends of uncertainty: Air quality science and planning in Central California

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

Fine, James

Air quality planning in Central California is complicated and controversial despite millions of dollars invested to improve scientific understanding. This research describes and critiques the use of photochemical air quality simulation modeling studies in planning to attain standards for ground-level ozone in the San Francisco Bay Area and the San Joaquin Valley during the 1990's. Data are gathered through documents and interviews with planners, modelers, and policy-makers at public agencies and with representatives from the regulated and environmental communities. Interactions amongst organizations are diagramed to identify significant nodes of interaction. Dominant policy coalitions are described through narratives distinguished by theirmore » uses of and responses to uncertainty, their exposures to risks, and their responses to the principles of conservatism, civil duty, and caution. Policy narratives are delineated using aggregated respondent statements to describe and understand advocacy coalitions. I found that models impacted the planning process significantly, but were used not purely for their scientific capabilities. Modeling results provided justification for decisions based on other constraints and political considerations. Uncertainties were utilized opportunistically by stakeholders instead of managed explicitly. Ultimately, the process supported the partisan views of those in control of the modeling. Based on these findings, as well as a review of model uncertainty analysis capabilities, I recommend modifying the planning process to allow for the development and incorporation of uncertainty information, while addressing the need for inclusive and meaningful public participation. By documenting an actual air quality planning process these findings provide insights about the potential for using new scientific information and understanding to achieve environmental goals, most notably the analysis of uncertainties in modeling applications. Concurrently, needed uncertainty information is identified and capabilities to produce it are assessed. Practices to facilitate incorporation of uncertainty information are suggested based on research findings, as well as theory from the literatures of the policy sciences, decision sciences, science and technology studies, consensus-based and communicative planning, and modeling.« less

Processing of angular motion and gravity information through an internal model.

PubMed

Laurens, Jean; Straumann, Dominik; Hess, Bernhard J M

2010-09-01

The vestibular organs in the base of the skull provide important information about head orientation and motion in space. Previous studies have suggested that both angular velocity information from the semicircular canals and information about head orientation and translation from the otolith organs are centrally processed in an internal model of head motion, using the principles of optimal estimation. This concept has been successfully applied to model behavioral responses to classical vestibular motion paradigms. This study measured the dynamic of the vestibuloocular reflex during postrotatory tilt, tilt during the optokinetic afternystagmus, and off-vertical axis rotation. The influence of otolith signal on the VOR was systematically varied by using a series of tilt angles. We found that the time constants of responses varied almost identically as a function of gravity in these paradigms. We show that Bayesian modeling could predict the experimental results in an accurate and consistent manner. In contrast to other approaches, the Bayesian model also provides a plausible explanation of why these vestibulooculo motor responses occur as a consequence of an internal process of optimal motion estimation.

Quantum technologies with hybrid systems

PubMed Central

Kurizki, Gershon; Bertet, Patrice; Kubo, Yuimaru; Mølmer, Klaus; Petrosyan, David; Rabl, Peter; Schmiedmayer, Jörg

2015-01-01

An extensively pursued current direction of research in physics aims at the development of practical technologies that exploit the effects of quantum mechanics. As part of this ongoing effort, devices for quantum information processing, secure communication, and high-precision sensing are being implemented with diverse systems, ranging from photons, atoms, and spins to mesoscopic superconducting and nanomechanical structures. Their physical properties make some of these systems better suited than others for specific tasks; thus, photons are well suited for transmitting quantum information, weakly interacting spins can serve as long-lived quantum memories, and superconducting elements can rapidly process information encoded in their quantum states. A central goal of the envisaged quantum technologies is to develop devices that can simultaneously perform several of these tasks, namely, reliably store, process, and transmit quantum information. Hybrid quantum systems composed of different physical components with complementary functionalities may provide precisely such multitasking capabilities. This article reviews some of the driving theoretical ideas and first experimental realizations of hybrid quantum systems and the opportunities and challenges they present and offers a glance at the near- and long-term perspectives of this fascinating and rapidly expanding field. PMID:25737558

Quantum technologies with hybrid systems.

PubMed

Kurizki, Gershon; Bertet, Patrice; Kubo, Yuimaru; Mølmer, Klaus; Petrosyan, David; Rabl, Peter; Schmiedmayer, Jörg

2015-03-31

An extensively pursued current direction of research in physics aims at the development of practical technologies that exploit the effects of quantum mechanics. As part of this ongoing effort, devices for quantum information processing, secure communication, and high-precision sensing are being implemented with diverse systems, ranging from photons, atoms, and spins to mesoscopic superconducting and nanomechanical structures. Their physical properties make some of these systems better suited than others for specific tasks; thus, photons are well suited for transmitting quantum information, weakly interacting spins can serve as long-lived quantum memories, and superconducting elements can rapidly process information encoded in their quantum states. A central goal of the envisaged quantum technologies is to develop devices that can simultaneously perform several of these tasks, namely, reliably store, process, and transmit quantum information. Hybrid quantum systems composed of different physical components with complementary functionalities may provide precisely such multitasking capabilities. This article reviews some of the driving theoretical ideas and first experimental realizations of hybrid quantum systems and the opportunities and challenges they present and offers a glance at the near- and long-term perspectives of this fascinating and rapidly expanding field.

Quantum technologies with hybrid systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurizki, Gershon; Bertet, Patrice; Kubo, Yuimaru; Mølmer, Klaus; Petrosyan, David; Rabl, Peter; Schmiedmayer, Jörg

2015-03-01

An extensively pursued current direction of research in physics aims at the development of practical technologies that exploit the effects of quantum mechanics. As part of this ongoing effort, devices for quantum information processing, secure communication, and high-precision sensing are being implemented with diverse systems, ranging from photons, atoms, and spins to mesoscopic superconducting and nanomechanical structures. Their physical properties make some of these systems better suited than others for specific tasks; thus, photons are well suited for transmitting quantum information, weakly interacting spins can serve as long-lived quantum memories, and superconducting elements can rapidly process information encoded in their quantum states. A central goal of the envisaged quantum technologies is to develop devices that can simultaneously perform several of these tasks, namely, reliably store, process, and transmit quantum information. Hybrid quantum systems composed of different physical components with complementary functionalities may provide precisely such multitasking capabilities. This article reviews some of the driving theoretical ideas and first experimental realizations of hybrid quantum systems and the opportunities and challenges they present and offers a glance at the near- and long-term perspectives of this fascinating and rapidly expanding field.

The Central American Network for Disaster and Health Information.

PubMed

Arnesen, Stacey J; Cid, Victor H; Scott, John C; Perez, Ricardo; Zervaas, Dave

2007-07-01

This paper describes an international outreach program to support rebuilding Central America's health information infrastructure after several natural disasters in the region, including Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and two major earthquakes in 2001. The National Library of Medicine joined forces with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, and the Regional Center of Disaster Information for Latin America and the Caribbean (CRID) to strengthen libraries and information centers in Central America and improve the availability of and access to health and disaster information in the region by developing the Central American Network for Disaster and Health Information (CANDHI). Through CRID, the program created ten disaster health information centers in medical libraries and disaster-related organizations in six countries. This project served as a catalyst for the modernization of several medical libraries in Central America. The resulting CANDHI provides much needed electronic access to public health "gray literature" on disasters, as well as access to numerous health information resources. CANDHI members assist their institutions and countries in a variety of disaster preparedness activities through collecting and disseminating information.

Altered Topology in Information Processing of a Narrated Story in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Yogev-Seligmann, Galit; Oren, Noga; Ash, Elissa L; Hendler, Talma; Giladi, Nir; Lerner, Yulia

2016-05-03

The ability to store, integrate, and manipulate information declines with aging. These changes occur earlier, faster, and to a greater degree as a result of neurodegeneration. One of the most common and early characteristics of cognitive decline is difficulty with comprehension of information. The neural mechanisms underlying this breakdown of information processing are poorly understood. Using functional MRI and natural stimuli (e.g., stories), we mapped the neural mechanisms by which the human brain accumulates and processes information with increasing duration and complexity in participants with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and healthy older adults. To explore the mechanisms of information processing, we measured the reliability of brain responses elicited by listening to different versions of a narrated story created by segmenting the story into words, sentences, and paragraphs and then scrambling the segments. Comparing healthy older adults and participants with aMCI revealed that in both groups, all types of stimuli similarly recruited primary auditory areas. However, prominent differences between groups were found at the level of processing long and complex stimuli. In healthy older adults, parietal and frontal regions demonstrated highly synchronized responses in both the paragraph and full story conditions, as has been previously reported in young adults. Participants with aMCI, however, exhibited a robust functional shift of long time scale processing to the pre- and post-central sulci. Our results suggest that participants with aMCI experienced a functional shift of higher order auditory information processing, possibly reflecting a functional response to concurrent or impending neuronal or synaptic loss. This observation might assist in understanding mechanisms of cognitive decline in aMCI.

Chronic pain and pain processing in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Blanchet, Pierre J; Brefel-Courbon, Christine

2017-10-12

Pain is experienced by the vast majority of patients living with Parkinson's disease. It is most often of nociceptive origin, but may also be ascribed to neuropathic (radicular or central) or miscellaneous sources. The recently validated King's Parkinson's Disease Pain Scale is based on 7 domains including musculoskeletal pain, chronic body pain (central or visceral), fluctuation-related pain, nocturnal pain, oro-facial pain, pain with discolouration/oedema/swelling, and radicular pain. The basal ganglia integrate incoming nociceptive information and contribute to coordinated motor responses in pain avoidance and nocifensive behaviors. In Parkinson's disease, nigral and extra-nigral pathology, involving cortical areas, brainstem nuclei, and spinal cord, may contribute to abnormal central nociceptive processing in patients experiencing pain or not. The dopamine deficit lowers multimodal pain thresholds that are amenable to correction following levodopa dosing. Functional brain imaging with positron emission tomography following administration of H 2 15 O revealed abnormalities in the sensory discriminative processing of pain (insula/SII), as well as in the affective motivational processing of pain (anterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex). Pain management is dependent on efforts invested in diagnostic accuracy to distinguish nociceptive from neuropathic pain. Treatment requires an integrated approach including strategies to lessen levodopa-related response fluctuations, in addition to other pharmacological and non-pharmacological options such as deep brain stimulation and rehabilitation. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Dynamic neural processing of linguistic cues related to death.

PubMed

Liu, Xi; Shi, Zhenhao; Ma, Yina; Qin, Jungang; Han, Shihui

2013-01-01

Behavioral studies suggest that humans evolve the capacity to cope with anxiety induced by the awareness of death's inevitability. However, the neurocognitive processes that underlie online death-related thoughts remain unclear. Our recent functional MRI study found that the processing of linguistic cues related to death was characterized by decreased neural activity in human insular cortex. The current study further investigated the time course of neural processing of death-related linguistic cues. We recorded event-related potentials (ERP) to death-related, life-related, negative-valence, and neutral-valence words in a modified Stroop task that required color naming of words. We found that the amplitude of an early frontal/central negativity at 84-120 ms (N1) decreased to death-related words but increased to life-related words relative to neutral-valence words. The N1 effect associated with death-related and life-related words was correlated respectively with individuals' pessimistic and optimistic attitudes toward life. Death-related words also increased the amplitude of a frontal/central positivity at 124-300 ms (P2) and of a frontal/central positivity at 300-500 ms (P3). However, the P2 and P3 modulations were observed for both death-related and negative-valence words but not for life-related words. The ERP results suggest an early inverse coding of linguistic cues related to life and death, which is followed by negative emotional responses to death-related information.

A common perceptual temporal limit of binding synchronous inputs across different sensory attributes and modalities

PubMed Central

Fujisaki, Waka; Nishida, Shin'ya

2010-01-01

The human brain processes different aspects of the surrounding environment through multiple sensory modalities, and each modality can be subdivided into multiple attribute-specific channels. When the brain rebinds sensory content information (‘what’) across different channels, temporal coincidence (‘when’) along with spatial coincidence (‘where’) provides a critical clue. It however remains unknown whether neural mechanisms for binding synchronous attributes are specific to each attribute combination, or universal and central. In human psychophysical experiments, we examined how combinations of visual, auditory and tactile attributes affect the temporal frequency limit of synchrony-based binding. The results indicated that the upper limits of cross-attribute binding were lower than those of within-attribute binding, and surprisingly similar for any combination of visual, auditory and tactile attributes (2–3 Hz). They are unlikely to be the limits for judging synchrony, since the temporal limit of a cross-attribute synchrony judgement was higher and varied with the modality combination (4–9 Hz). These findings suggest that cross-attribute temporal binding is mediated by a slow central process that combines separately processed ‘what’ and ‘when’ properties of a single event. While the synchrony performance reflects temporal bottlenecks existing in ‘when’ processing, the binding performance reflects the central temporal limit of integrating ‘when’ and ‘what’ properties. PMID:20335212

Advancing the science of forensic data management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naughton, Timothy S.

2002-07-01

Many individual elements comprise a typical forensics process. Collecting evidence, analyzing it, and using results to draw conclusions are all mutually distinct endeavors. Different physical locations and personnel are involved, juxtaposed against an acute need for security and data integrity. Using digital technologies and the Internet's ubiquity, these diverse elements can be conjoined using digital data as the common element. This result is a new data management process that can be applied to serve all elements of the community. The first step is recognition of a forensics lifecycle. Evidence gathering, analysis, storage, and use in legal proceedings are actually just distinct parts of a single end-to-end process, and thus, it is hypothesized that a single data system that can also accommodate each constituent phase using common network and security protocols. This paper introduces the idea of web-based Central Data Repository. Its cornerstone is anywhere, anytime Internet upload, viewing, and report distribution. Archives exist indefinitely after being created, and high-strength security and encryption protect data and ensure subsequent case file additions do not violate chain-of-custody or other handling provisions. Several legal precedents have been established for using digital information in courts of law, and in fact, effective prosecution of cyber crimes absolutely relies on its use. An example is a US Department of Agriculture division's use of digital images to back up its inspection process, with pictures and information retained on secure servers to enforce the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. Forensics is a cumulative process. Secure, web-based data management solutions, such as the Central Data Repository postulated here, can support each process step. Logically marrying digital technologies with Internet accessibility should help nurture a thought process to explore alternatives that make forensics data accessible to authorized individuals, whenever and wherever they need it.

Adaptation of vestibular signals for self-motion perception

PubMed Central

St George, Rebecca J; Day, Brian L; Fitzpatrick, Richard C

2011-01-01

A fundamental concern of the brain is to establish the spatial relationship between self and the world to allow purposeful action. Response adaptation to unvarying sensory stimuli is a common feature of neural processing, both peripherally and centrally. For the semicircular canals, peripheral adaptation of the canal-cupula system to constant angular-velocity stimuli dominates the picture and masks central adaptation. Here we ask whether galvanic vestibular stimulation circumvents peripheral adaptation and, if so, does it reveal central adaptive processes. Transmastoidal bipolar galvanic stimulation and platform rotation (20 deg s−1) were applied separately and held constant for 2 min while perceived rotation was measured by verbal report. During real rotation, the perception of turn decayed from the onset of constant velocity with a mean time constant of 15.8 s. During galvanic-evoked virtual rotation, the perception of rotation initially rose but then declined towards zero over a period of ∼100 s. For both stimuli, oppositely directed perceptions of similar amplitude were reported when stimulation ceased indicating signal adaptation at some level. From these data the time constants of three independent processes were estimated: (i) the peripheral canal-cupula adaptation with time constant 7.3 s, (ii) the central ‘velocity-storage’ process that extends the afferent signal with time constant 7.7 s, and (iii) a long-term adaptation with time constant 75.9 s. The first two agree with previous data based on constant-velocity stimuli. The third component decayed with the profile of a real constant angular acceleration stimulus, showing that the galvanic stimulus signal bypasses the peripheral transformation so that the brainstem sees the galvanic signal as angular acceleration. An adaptive process involving both peripheral and central processes is indicated. Signals evoked by most natural movements will decay peripherally before adaptation can exert an appreciable effect, making a specific vestibular behavioural role unlikely. This adaptation appears to be a general property of the internal coding of self-motion that receives information from multiple sensory sources and filters out the unvarying components regardless of their origin. In this instance of a pure vestibular sensation, it defines the afferent signal that represents the stationary or zero-rotation state. PMID:20937715

Review of cost versus scale: water and wastewater treatment and reuse processes.

PubMed

Guo, Tianjiao; Englehardt, James; Wu, Tingting

2014-01-01

The US National Research Council recently recommended direct potable water reuse (DPR), or potable water reuse without environmental buffer, for consideration to address US water demand. However, conveyance of wastewater and water to and from centralized treatment plants consumes on average four times the energy of treatment in the USA, and centralized DPR would further require upgradient distribution of treated water. Therefore, information on the cost of unit treatment processes potentially useful for DPR versus system capacity was reviewed, converted to constant 2012 US dollars, and synthesized in this work. A logarithmic variant of the Williams Law cost function was found applicable over orders of magnitude of system capacity, for the subject processes: activated sludge, membrane bioreactor, coagulation/flocculation, reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, peroxone and granular activated carbon. Results are demonstrated versus 10 DPR case studies. Because economies of scale found for capital equipment are counterbalanced by distribution/collection network costs, further study of the optimal scale of distributed DPR systems is suggested.

It's what's on the outside that matters: an advantage for external features in children's word recognition.

PubMed

Webb, Tessa M; Beech, John R; Mayall, Kate M; Andrews, Antony S

2006-06-01

The relative importance of internal and external letter features of words in children's developing reading was investigated to clarify further the nature of early featural analysis. In Experiment 1, 72 6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds read aloud words displayed as wholes, external features only (central features missing, thereby preserving word shape information), or internal features only (central features preserved). There was an improvement in the processing of external features compared with internal features as reading experience increased. Experiment 2 examined the processing of the internal and external features of words employing a forward priming paradigm with 60 8-, 10-, and 12-year-olds. Reaction times to internal feature primes were equivalent to a nonprime blank condition, whereas responses to external feature primes were faster than those to the other two prime types. This advantage for the external features of words is discussed in terms of an early and enduring role for processing the external visual features in words during reading development.

Predictive biophysical modeling and understanding of the dynamics of mRNA translation and its evolution

PubMed Central

Zur, Hadas; Tuller, Tamir

2016-01-01

mRNA translation is the fundamental process of decoding the information encoded in mRNA molecules by the ribosome for the synthesis of proteins. The centrality of this process in various biomedical disciplines such as cell biology, evolution and biotechnology, encouraged the development of dozens of mathematical and computational models of translation in recent years. These models aimed at capturing various biophysical aspects of the process. The objective of this review is to survey these models, focusing on those based and/or validated on real large-scale genomic data. We consider aspects such as the complexity of the models, the biophysical aspects they regard and the predictions they may provide. Furthermore, we survey the central systems biology discoveries reported on their basis. This review demonstrates the fundamental advantages of employing computational biophysical translation models in general, and discusses the relative advantages of the different approaches and the challenges in the field. PMID:27591251

Information processing in the CNS: a supramolecular chemistry?

PubMed

Tozzi, Arturo

2015-10-01

How does central nervous system process information? Current theories are based on two tenets: (a) information is transmitted by action potentials, the language by which neurons communicate with each other-and (b) homogeneous neuronal assemblies of cortical circuits operate on these neuronal messages where the operations are characterized by the intrinsic connectivity among neuronal populations. In this view, the size and time course of any spike is stereotypic and the information is restricted to the temporal sequence of the spikes; namely, the "neural code". However, an increasing amount of novel data point towards an alternative hypothesis: (a) the role of neural code in information processing is overemphasized. Instead of simply passing messages, action potentials play a role in dynamic coordination at multiple spatial and temporal scales, establishing network interactions across several levels of a hierarchical modular architecture, modulating and regulating the propagation of neuronal messages. (b) Information is processed at all levels of neuronal infrastructure from macromolecules to population dynamics. For example, intra-neuronal (changes in protein conformation, concentration and synthesis) and extra-neuronal factors (extracellular proteolysis, substrate patterning, myelin plasticity, microbes, metabolic status) can have a profound effect on neuronal computations. This means molecular message passing may have cognitive connotations. This essay introduces the concept of "supramolecular chemistry", involving the storage of information at the molecular level and its retrieval, transfer and processing at the supramolecular level, through transitory non-covalent molecular processes that are self-organized, self-assembled and dynamic. Finally, we note that the cortex comprises extremely heterogeneous cells, with distinct regional variations, macromolecular assembly, receptor repertoire and intrinsic microcircuitry. This suggests that every neuron (or group of neurons) embodies different molecular information that hands an operational effect on neuronal computation.

Emotional Cues during Simultaneous Face and Voice Processing: Electrophysiological Insights

PubMed Central

Liu, Taosheng; Pinheiro, Ana; Zhao, Zhongxin; Nestor, Paul G.; McCarley, Robert W.; Niznikiewicz, Margaret A.

2012-01-01

Both facial expression and tone of voice represent key signals of emotional communication but their brain processing correlates remain unclear. Accordingly, we constructed a novel implicit emotion recognition task consisting of simultaneously presented human faces and voices with neutral, happy, and angry valence, within the context of recognizing monkey faces and voices task. To investigate the temporal unfolding of the processing of affective information from human face-voice pairings, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) to these audiovisual test stimuli in 18 normal healthy subjects; N100, P200, N250, P300 components were observed at electrodes in the frontal-central region, while P100, N170, P270 were observed at electrodes in the parietal-occipital region. Results indicated a significant audiovisual stimulus effect on the amplitudes and latencies of components in frontal-central (P200, P300, and N250) but not the parietal occipital region (P100, N170 and P270). Specifically, P200 and P300 amplitudes were more positive for emotional relative to neutral audiovisual stimuli, irrespective of valence, whereas N250 amplitude was more negative for neutral relative to emotional stimuli. No differentiation was observed between angry and happy conditions. The results suggest that the general effect of emotion on audiovisual processing can emerge as early as 200 msec (P200 peak latency) post stimulus onset, in spite of implicit affective processing task demands, and that such effect is mainly distributed in the frontal-central region. PMID:22383987

A Toolkit for Active Object-Oriented Databases with Application to Interoperability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Roger

1996-01-01

In our original proposal we stated that our research would 'develop a novel technology that provides a foundation for collaborative information processing.' The essential ingredient of this technology is the notion of 'deltas,' which are first-class values representing collections of proposed updates to a database. The Heraclitus framework provides a variety of algebraic operators for building up, combining, inspecting, and comparing deltas. Deltas can be directly applied to the database to yield a new state, or used 'hypothetically' in queries against the state that would arise if the delta were applied. The central point here is that the step of elevating deltas to 'first-class' citizens in database programming languages will yield tremendous leverage on the problem of supporting updates in collaborative information processing. In short, our original intention was to develop the theoretical and practical foundation for a technology based on deltas in an object-oriented database context, develop a toolkit for active object-oriented databases, and apply this toward collaborative information processing.

A Toolkit for Active Object-Oriented Databases with Application to Interoperability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Roger

1996-01-01

In our original proposal we stated that our research would 'develop a novel technology that provides a foundation for collaborative information processing.' The essential ingredient of this technology is the notion of 'deltas,' which are first-class values representing collections of proposed updates to a database. The Heraclitus framework provides a variety of algebraic operators for building up, combining, inspecting, and comparing deltas. Deltas can be directly applied to the database to yield a new state, or used 'hypothetically' in queries against the state that would arise if the delta were applied. The central point here is that the step of elevating deltas to 'first-class' citizens in database programming languages will yield tremendous leverage on the problem of supporting updates in collaborative information processing. In short, our original intention was to develop the theoretical and practical foundation for a technology based on deltas in an object- oriented database context, develop a toolkit for active object-oriented databases, and apply this toward collaborative information processing.

The design, status and performance of the ZEUS central tracking detector electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cussans, D. G.; Fawcett, H. F.; Foster, B.; Gilmore, R. S.; Heath, G. P.; Llewellyn, T. J.; Malos, J.; Morgado, C. J. S.; Tapper, R. J.; Gingrich, D. M.; Harnew, N.; Hallam-Baker, P.; Nash, J.; Khatri, T.; Shield, P. D.; McArthur, I.; Topp-Jorgensen, S.; Wilson, F. F.; Allen, D.; Baird, S. A.; Carter, R.; Galagardera, S.; Gibson, M. D.; Hatley, R. S.; Jeffs, M.; Milborrow, R.; Morissey, M.; Quinton, S. P. H.; White, D. J.; Lane, J.; Nixon, G.; Postranecky, M.; Jamdagni, A. K.; Marcou, C.; Miller, D. B.; Toudup, L.

1992-05-01

The readout system developed for the ZEUS central trackign detector (CDT) is described. The CTD is required to provide an accurate measurement of the sagitta and energy loss of charged particles as well as provide fast trigger information. This must be carried out in the HERA environment in which beams cross every 96 ns. The first two aims are achieved by digitizing chamber pulses using a pipelined 104 MHz FADC system. The trigger uses a fast determination of the difference in the arrival times of a pulse at each end of the CTD. It processes this data and gives information to the ZEUS global first level trigger. The modules are housed in custom-built racks and crates and read out using a DAQ system based on Transputer readout controllers. These also monitor data quality and produce data for the ZEUS second level Trigger.

A Powerful Antidote, a Strange Camel and Turkish Pepper: Iberian Science, the Discovery of the New World and the Early Modem Czech Lands.

PubMed

Cerna, Jana

2016-08-01

This article analyses the reception of knowledge about new world nature, and, more specifically, the reception of Iberian scientific knowledge of nature in the Americas, in the early modem Czech lands. It shows how the process of the reception of information about nature in the new world differed among the urban classes, intellectuals and the nobility; particular attention is paid to herbals, cosmographical works and travel reports. On the one hand, the study reveals that the efforts of Central European intellectuals to interpret new world nature were limited by the lack of necessary data and experience, which led to some misinterpretations and simplifications. On the other hand, it shows these Central European scholars to be fully-fledged members of an information network, whose works share many of the same characteristics as Iberian and, in general, early modem European science.

Land Use and Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Irwin, Daniel E.

2004-01-01

The overall purpose of this training session is to familiarize Central American project cooperators with the remote sensing and image processing research that is being conducted by the NASA research team and to acquaint them with the data products being produced in the areas of Land Cover and Land Use Change and carbon modeling under the NASA SERVIR project. The training session, therefore, will be both informative and practical in nature. Specifically, the course will focus on the physics of remote sensing, various satellite and airborne sensors (Landsat, MODIS, IKONOS, Star-3i), processing techniques, and commercial off the shelf image processing software.

Functional neuronal processing of human body odors.

PubMed

Lundström, Johan N; Olsson, Mats J

2010-01-01

Body odors carry informational cues of great importance for individuals across a wide range of species, and signals hidden within the body odor cocktail are known to regulate several key behaviors in animals. For a long time, the notion that humans may be among these species has been dismissed. We now know, however, that each human has a unique odor signature that carries information related to his or her genetic makeup, as well as information about personal environmental variables, such as diet and hygiene. Although a substantial number of studies have investigated the behavioral effects of body odors, only a handful have studied central processing. Recent studies have, however, demonstrated that the human brain responds to fear signals hidden within the body odor cocktail, is able to extract kin specific signals, and processes body odors differently than other perceptually similar odors. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the current knowledge of how the human brain processes body odors and the potential importance these signals have for us in everyday life. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An integrative neural model of social perception, action observation, and theory of mind.

PubMed

Yang, Daniel Y-J; Rosenblau, Gabriela; Keifer, Cara; Pelphrey, Kevin A

2015-04-01

In the field of social neuroscience, major branches of research have been instrumental in describing independent components of typical and aberrant social information processing, but the field as a whole lacks a comprehensive model that integrates different branches. We review existing research related to the neural basis of three key neural systems underlying social information processing: social perception, action observation, and theory of mind. We propose an integrative model that unites these three processes and highlights the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), which plays a central role in all three systems. Furthermore, we integrate these neural systems with the dual system account of implicit and explicit social information processing. Large-scale meta-analyses based on Neurosynth confirmed that the pSTS is at the intersection of the three neural systems. Resting-state functional connectivity analysis with 1000 subjects confirmed that the pSTS is connected to all other regions in these systems. The findings presented in this review are specifically relevant for psychiatric research especially disorders characterized by social deficits such as autism spectrum disorder. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An integrative neural model of social perception, action observation, and theory of mind

PubMed Central

Yang, Daniel Y.-J.; Rosenblau, Gabriela; Keifer, Cara; Pelphrey, Kevin A.

2016-01-01

In the field of social neuroscience, major branches of research have been instrumental in describing independent components of typical and aberrant social information processing, but the field as a whole lacks a comprehensive model that integrates different branches. We review existing research related to the neural basis of three key neural systems underlying social information processing: social perception, action observation, and theory of mind. We propose an integrative model that unites these three processes and highlights the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), which plays a central role in all three systems. Furthermore, we integrate these neural systems with the dual system account of implicit and explicit social information processing. Large-scale meta-analyses based on Neurosynth confirmed that the pSTS is at the intersection of the three neural systems. Resting-state functional connectivity analysis with 1000 subjects confirmed that the pSTS is connected to all other regions in these systems. The findings presented in this review are specifically relevant for psychiatric research especially disorders characterized by social deficits such as autism spectrum disorder. PMID:25660957

Working memory deficits in high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: neuropsychological and neuroimaging correlates.

PubMed

Barendse, Evelien M; Hendriks, Marc Ph; Jansen, Jacobus Fa; Backes, Walter H; Hofman, Paul Am; Thoonen, Geert; Kessels, Roy Pc; Aldenkamp, Albert P

2013-06-04

Working memory is a temporary storage system under attentional control. It is believed to play a central role in online processing of complex cognitive information and may also play a role in social cognition and interpersonal interactions. Adolescents with a disorder on the autism spectrum display problems in precisely these domains. Social impairments, communication difficulties, and repetitive interests and activities are core domains of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and executive function problems are often seen throughout the spectrum. As the main cognitive theories of ASD, including the theory of mind deficit hypotheses, weak central coherence account, and the executive dysfunction theory, still fail to explain the broad spectrum of symptoms, a new perspective on the etiology of ASD is needed. Deficits in working memory are central to many theories of psychopathology, and are generally linked to frontal-lobe dysfunction. This article will review neuropsychological and (functional) brain imaging studies on working memory in adolescents with ASD. Although still disputed, it is concluded that within the working memory system specific problems of spatial working memory are often seen in adolescents with ASD. These problems increase when information is more complex and greater demands on working memory are made. Neuroimaging studies indicate a more global working memory processing or connectivity deficiency, rather than a focused deficit in the prefrontal cortex. More research is needed to relate these working memory difficulties and neuroimaging results in ASD to the behavioral difficulties as seen in individuals with a disorder on the autism spectrum.

Mismatch negativity as a potential neurobiological marker of early-stage Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia.

PubMed

Jiang, Shixiang; Yan, Chang; Qiao, Zhengxue; Yao, Haiqian; Jiang, Shiquan; Qiu, Xiaohui; Yang, Xiuxian; Fang, Deyu; Yang, Yanjie; Zhang, Limei; Wang, Lina; Zhang, Liming

2017-04-24

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VD) are serious, irreversible forms of cognitive impairment, which means that an early diagnosis is essential to slow down their progression. One potential neurophysiological biomarker of these diseases is the mismatch negativity (MMN) event-related potentials (ERP) component, which reflects an automatic detection mechanism at the pre-attentive stages of information processing. We evaluated the auditory MMN response in individuals from two patient groups: those in the prodromal stages of AD (P-AD) and those in the prodromal stages of VD (P-VD). Thirty patients (15 P-AD patients and 15 P-VD patients) and 30 age-matched controls were recruited to undergo electrophysiological recordings during the presentation of an auditory deviant-standard-reverse oddball paradigm that was used to elicit genuine MMN responses. We show that over the frontal-central area, the mean amplitude of the MMN was significantly reduced in both the P-AD (p=0.017) and P-VD groups (p=0.013) compared with controls. The MMN peak latency in P-VD patients was significantly shorter than in controls (p=0.027). No MMN response differences between the P-AD and P-VD were found in either the frontal-central or the temporal areas. These results indicate that P-AD and P-VD patients exhibit impaired pre-attentive information processing mechanisms as revealed by the frontal-central area MMN response, which is associated with sensory memory and cognitive deficits. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

On-road anomaly detection by multimodal sensor analysis and multimedia processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orhan, Fatih; Eren, P. E.

2014-03-01

The use of smartphones in Intelligent Transportation Systems is gaining popularity, yet many challenges exist in developing functional applications. Due to the dynamic nature of transportation, vehicular social applications face complexities such as developing robust sensor management, performing signal and image processing tasks, and sharing information among users. This study utilizes a multimodal sensor analysis framework which enables the analysis of sensors in multimodal aspect. It also provides plugin-based analyzing interfaces to develop sensor and image processing based applications, and connects its users via a centralized application as well as to social networks to facilitate communication and socialization. With the usage of this framework, an on-road anomaly detector is being developed and tested. The detector utilizes the sensors of a mobile device and is able to identify anomalies such as hard brake, pothole crossing, and speed bump crossing. Upon such detection, the video portion containing the anomaly is automatically extracted in order to enable further image processing analysis. The detection results are shared on a central portal application for online traffic condition monitoring.

The combined influence of central and peripheral routes in the online persuasion process.

PubMed

SanJosé-Cabezudo, Rebeca; Gutiérrez-Arranz, Ana M; Gutiérrez-Cillán, Jesús

2009-06-01

The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) is one of the most widely used psychological theories in academic literature to account for how advertising information is processed. The current work seeks to overturn one of the basic principles of the ELM and takes account of new variables in the model that help to explain the online persuasion process more clearly. Specifically, we posit that in a context of high-involvement exposure to advertising (e.g., Web pages), central and peripheral processing routes may act together. In a repeated-measures experimental design, 112 participants were exposed to two Web sites of a fictitious travel agency, differing only in their design--serious versus amusing. Findings evidence that a peripheral cue, such as how the Web pages are presented, does prove relevant when attempting to reflect the level of effectiveness. Moreover, if we take account of individuals' motivation when accessing the Internet, whether cognitive or affective, the motivation will impact their response to the Web site design. The work contributes to ELM literature and may help firms to pinpoint those areas and features of Internet advertising that prove most efficient.

The role of inhibition for working memory processes: ERP evidence from a short-term storage task.

PubMed

Getzmann, Stephan; Wascher, Edmund; Schneider, Daniel

2018-05-01

Human working memory is the central unit for short-term storage of information. In addition to the selection and adequate storage of relevant information, the suppression of irrelevant stimuli from the environment seems to be of importance for working memory processes. To learn more about the interplay of information uptake and inhibition of irrelevant information, the present study used ERP measures and a short-term storage and retrieval task, in which pairs of either numbers or letters had to be compared. Random sequences of four stimuli (two numbers and two letters) were presented, with either the numbers or the letters being relevant for comparison. The analysis of ERPs to each of the four stimuli indicated more pronounced P2 and P3b amplitudes for relevant than irrelevant stimuli. In contrast, the N2 (reflecting inhibitory control) was only elicited by irrelevant stimuli. Moreover, the N2 amplitude of the second irrelevant stimulus was associated with behavioral performance, indicating the importance of inhibition of task-irrelevant stimuli for working memory processes. In sum, the findings demonstrate the role of cognitive control mechanisms for protecting relevant contents in working memory against irrelevant information. © 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Environment spectrum and coherence behaviours in a rare-earth doped crystal for quantum memory.

PubMed

Gong, Bo; Tu, Tao; Zhou, Zhong-Quan; Zhu, Xing-Yu; Li, Chuan-Feng; Guo, Guang-Can

2017-12-21

We theoretically investigate the dynamics of environment and coherence behaviours of the central ion in a quantum memory based on a rare-earth doped crystal. The interactions between the central ion and the bath spins suppress the flip-flop rate of the neighbour bath spins and yield a specific environment spectral density S(ω). Under dynamical decoupling pulses, this spectrum provides a general scaling for the coherence envelope and coherence time, which significantly extend over a range on an hour-long time scale. The characterized environment spectrum with ultra-long coherence time can be used to implement various quantum communication and information processing protocols.

Centralized database for interconnection system design. [for spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Billitti, Joseph W.

1989-01-01

A database application called DFACS (Database, Forms and Applications for Cabling and Systems) is described. The objective of DFACS is to improve the speed and accuracy of interconnection system information flow during the design and fabrication stages of a project, while simultaneously supporting both the horizontal (end-to-end wiring) and the vertical (wiring by connector) design stratagems used by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) project engineering community. The DFACS architecture is centered around a centralized database and program methodology which emulates the manual design process hitherto used at JPL. DFACS has been tested and successfully applied to existing JPL hardware tasks with a resulting reduction in schedule time and costs.

American Society of Clinical Oncology policy statement: oversight of clinical research.

PubMed

2003-06-15

Well-publicized lapses in the review or implementation of clinical research studies have raised public questions about the integrity of the clinical research process. Public trust in the integrity of research is critical not only for funding and participation in clinical trials but also for confidence in the treatments that result from the trials. The questions raised by these unfortunate cases pose an important opportunity to reassess the clinical trials oversight system to ensure the integrity of clinical research and the safety of those who enroll in clinical trials. Since its inception, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has worked for the advancement of cancer treatments through clinical research and to help patients gain prompt access to scientifically excellent and ethically unimpeachable clinical trials. As an extension of its mission, ASCO is affirming with this policy statement the critical importance of a robust review and oversight system to ensure that clinical trials participants give fully informed consent and that their safety is a top priority. Ensuring the integrity of research cannot be stressed enough because of its seminal connection to the advancement of clinical cancer treatment. The overall goal of this policy is to enhance public trust in the cancer clinical trials process. To achieve this, the following elements are essential: 1. Ensure safety precautions for clinical trial participants and their fully informed consent. 2. Ensure the validity and integrity of scientific research. 3. Enhance the educational training of clinical scientists and research staff to ensure the highest standards of research conduct. 4. Promote accountability and responsibility among all those involved in clinical research (not just those serving on institutional review boards [IRBs], but also institutional officials, researchers, sponsors, and participants) and ensure support for an effective oversight process. 5. Enhance the professional and public understanding of clinical research oversight. 6. Enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the clinical research oversight system. This policy statement makes recommendations in several areas that serve as principles to support an improved system of oversight for clinical research. ASCO will work with all parties involved in the clinical research system to develop the steps necessary to implement these recommendations. Centralized Trial Review: A large percentage of oncology clinical trials are coordinated through the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) system of cooperative groups, which already incorporates centralized scientific review. As such, there is a tremendous opportunity to employ a centralized mechanism to provide ethical review by highly trained IRB members, allowing local IRBs to take advantage of the financial and time efficiencies that central review provides. Centralized review boards (CRBs) would also contribute consistency and efficiency to the process. Once successfully completed, the review would represent an approval to open the protocol at all of the institutions that have subscribed to the centralized review system. Local IRBs would be able to devote time usually spent on initial review to ongoing monitoring of the trial taking place at their institution. Considering the enormous size and complexity of the clinical research enterprise, ASCO envisions multiple CRBs, which could be distributed as regional review boards. Central review will use a single protocol and consent form, and monitor and evaluate adverse events (AEs) on a global basis, eliminating many of the time-consuming steps for the local IRB. Global monitoring and assessment of AEs has real potential to enhance trial participants' safety by giving local institutions more information on the overall trial and enabling them to devote more time to ongoing review of the trial onsite. Use of a CRB also has real potential to reduce the costs of clinical trial oversight by allowing local IRBs to eliminate the costs of initial review. These efficiencies will likely lead to institutions redirecting funds toward monitoring ongoing trials. Although a CRB has potential to improve the efficiency of the process, a CRB could also have tremendous ability to delay valuable trials. Checks and balances must be included in the newly devised system to ensure timely review and appeals of CRB actions. ASCO proposes the advent of a new pilot program for centralizing review of clinical trials. It requires clear engagement of all stakeholders in planning the experiment, clear articulation of the goals, and assurance of federal regulatory protection for institutions choosing to participate. If successful, this CRB pilot project could be expanded to include multi-institutional industry-sponsored research. Education and Training:Education and training are critical to the ultimate success of an improved oversight system. All members of the research team should receive comprehensive education on conducting scientifically and ethically valid clinical research. The curriculum should also include information on the prevailing local and federal regulations that pertain to the clinical trials process. IRB members should also receive ongoing education and training in the review of clinical research protocols. IRB training should pay particular attention to nonscientific members to give them the tools necessary to speak on behalf of research participants. ASCO should develop a curriculum that focuses on the proper conduct of human research and emphasize ethically sound clinical research in the context of its Annual Meeting. Informed Consent: Investigators and review boards have specific roles to play in ensuring the education of trial participants through the informed consent process, both when they are considering trial enrollment and as they participate in the trial. Review boards and investigators should focus primarily on the informed consent process, rather than the informed consent documents. Federal Oversight: The federal government has an important role to play in the oversight of clinical research. This role should be expanded to cover all research, not just that which is funded by the federal government or conducted with the oversight of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) and the FDA should provide clear regulatory support and guidance for local institutions that choose to employ a CRB. In the case of the pilot CRB discussed in this policy statement, it should serve as the preferred option for the cancer cooperative group clinical trials. Ideally, the federal government should unify and streamline its regulations for the oversight of clinical research. Resources Supporting Clinical Research Infrastructure:An effective oversight process demands the highest quality scientific and ethical review and onsite monitoring of the safety of trial participants. This can only be accomplished by the involvement of an experienced IRB that receives funding, resources, and institutional support enabling it to fulfill its mandate. Critical to the integrity of research is the absence of bias in the process. ASCO strongly recommends the adoption of standards for the identification, management, and, where appropriate, elimination of conflicts of interests, whether they are actual, potential, or apparent.

21 CFR 1305.24 - Central processing of orders.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... or more registered locations and maintains a central processing computer system in which orders are... order with all linked records on the central computer system. (b) A company that has central processing... the company owns and operates. ...

21 CFR 1305.24 - Central processing of orders.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... or more registered locations and maintains a central processing computer system in which orders are... order with all linked records on the central computer system. (b) A company that has central processing... the company owns and operates. ...

21 CFR 1305.24 - Central processing of orders.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... or more registered locations and maintains a central processing computer system in which orders are... order with all linked records on the central computer system. (b) A company that has central processing... the company owns and operates. ...

21 CFR 1305.24 - Central processing of orders.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... or more registered locations and maintains a central processing computer system in which orders are... order with all linked records on the central computer system. (b) A company that has central processing... the company owns and operates. ...

21 CFR 1305.24 - Central processing of orders.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... or more registered locations and maintains a central processing computer system in which orders are... order with all linked records on the central computer system. (b) A company that has central processing... the company owns and operates. ...

Sex differences in the influence of body mass index on anatomical architecture of brain networks.

PubMed

Gupta, A; Mayer, E A; Hamadani, K; Bhatt, R; Fling, C; Alaverdyan, M; Torgerson, C; Ashe-McNalley, C; Van Horn, J D; Naliboff, B; Tillisch, K; Sanmiguel, C P; Labus, J S

2017-08-01

The brain has a central role in regulating ingestive behavior in obesity. Analogous to addiction behaviors, an imbalance in the processing of rewarding and salient stimuli results in maladaptive eating behaviors that override homeostatic needs. We performed network analysis based on graph theory to examine the association between body mass index (BMI) and network measures of integrity, information flow and global communication (centrality) in reward, salience and sensorimotor regions and to identify sex-related differences in these parameters. Structural and diffusion tensor imaging were obtained in a sample of 124 individuals (61 males and 63 females). Graph theory was applied to calculate anatomical network properties (centrality) for regions of the reward, salience and sensorimotor networks. General linear models with linear contrasts were performed to test for BMI and sex-related differences in measures of centrality, while controlling for age. In both males and females, individuals with high BMI (obese and overweight) had greater anatomical centrality (greater connectivity) of reward (putamen) and salience (anterior insula) network regions. Sex differences were observed both in individuals with normal and elevated BMI. In individuals with high BMI, females compared to males showed greater centrality in reward (amygdala, hippocampus and nucleus accumbens) and salience (anterior mid-cingulate cortex) regions, while males compared to females had greater centrality in reward (putamen) and sensorimotor (posterior insula) regions. In individuals with increased BMI, reward, salience and sensorimotor network regions are susceptible to topological restructuring in a sex-related manner. These findings highlight the influence of these regions on integrative processing of food-related stimuli and increased ingestive behavior in obesity, or in the influence of hedonic ingestion on brain topological restructuring. The observed sex differences emphasize the importance of considering sex differences in obesity pathophysiology.

Sex Differences in the Influence of Body Mass Index on Anatomical Architecture of Brain Networks

PubMed Central

Gupta, Arpana; Mayer, Emeran A.; Hamadani, Kareem; Bhatt, Ravi; Fling, Connor; Alaverdyan, Mher; Torgenson, Carinna; Ashe-McNalley, Cody; Van Horn, John D; Naliboff, Bruce; Tillisch, Kirsten; Sanmiguel, Claudia P.; Labus, Jennifer S.

2017-01-01

Background/Objective The brain plays a central role in regulating ingestive behavior in obesity. Analogous to addiction behaviors, an imbalance in the processing of rewarding and salient stimuli results in maladaptive eating behaviors that override homeostatic needs. We performed network analysis based on graph theory to examine the association between body mass index (BMI) and network measures of integrity, information flow, and global communication (centrality) in reward, salience and sensorimotor regions, and to identify sex-related differences in these parameters. Subjects/Methods Structural and diffusion tensor imaging were obtained in a sample of 124 individuals (61 males and 63 females). Graph theory was applied to calculate anatomical network properties (centrality) for regions of the reward, salience, and sensorimotor networks. General linear models with linear contrasts were performed to test for BMI and sex-related differences in measures of centrality, while controlling for age. Results In both males and females, individuals with high BMI (obese and overweight) had greater anatomical centrality (greater connectivity) of reward (putamen) and salience (anterior insula) network regions. Sex differences were observed both in individuals with normal and elevated BMI. In individuals with high BMI, females compared to males showed greater centrality in reward (amygdala, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens) and salience (anterior mid cingulate cortex) regions, while males compared to females had greater centrality in reward (putamen) and sensorimotor (posterior insula) regions. Conclusions In individuals with increased BMI, reward, salience, and sensorimotor network regions are susceptible to topological restructuring in a sex related manner. These findings highlight the influence of these regions on integrative processing of food-related stimuli and increased ingestive behavior in obesity, or in the influence of hedonic ingestion on brain topological restructuring. The observed sex differences emphasize the importance of considering sex differences in obesity pathophysiology. PMID:28360430

Designer cell signal processing circuits for biotechnology

PubMed Central

Bradley, Robert W.; Wang, Baojun

2015-01-01

Microorganisms are able to respond effectively to diverse signals from their environment and internal metabolism owing to their inherent sophisticated information processing capacity. A central aim of synthetic biology is to control and reprogramme the signal processing pathways within living cells so as to realise repurposed, beneficial applications ranging from disease diagnosis and environmental sensing to chemical bioproduction. To date most examples of synthetic biological signal processing have been built based on digital information flow, though analogue computing is being developed to cope with more complex operations and larger sets of variables. Great progress has been made in expanding the categories of characterised biological components that can be used for cellular signal manipulation, thereby allowing synthetic biologists to more rationally programme increasingly complex behaviours into living cells. Here we present a current overview of the components and strategies that exist for designer cell signal processing and decision making, discuss how these have been implemented in prototype systems for therapeutic, environmental, and industrial biotechnological applications, and examine emerging challenges in this promising field. PMID:25579192

Creative thinking as orchestrated by semantic processing vs. cognitive control brain networks.

PubMed

Abraham, Anna

2014-01-01

Creativity is primarily investigated within the neuroscientific perspective as a unitary construct. While such an approach is beneficial when trying to infer the general picture regarding creativity and brain function, it is insufficient if the objective is to uncover the information processing brain mechanisms by which creativity occurs. As creative thinking emerges through the dynamic interplay between several cognitive processes, assessing the neural correlates of these operations would enable the development and characterization of an information processing framework from which to better understand this complex ability. This article focuses on two aspects of creative cognition that are central to generating original ideas. "Conceptual expansion" refers to the ability to widen one's conceptual structures to include unusual or novel associations, while "overcoming knowledge constraints" refers to our ability to override the constraining influence imposed by salient or pertinent knowledge when trying to be creative. Neuroimaging and neuropsychological evidence is presented to illustrate how semantic processing and cognitive control networks in the brain differentially modulate these critical facets of creative cognition.

Extending SME to Handle Large-Scale Cognitive Modeling.

PubMed

Forbus, Kenneth D; Ferguson, Ronald W; Lovett, Andrew; Gentner, Dedre

2017-07-01

Analogy and similarity are central phenomena in human cognition, involved in processes ranging from visual perception to conceptual change. To capture this centrality requires that a model of comparison must be able to integrate with other processes and handle the size and complexity of the representations required by the tasks being modeled. This paper describes extensions to Structure-Mapping Engine (SME) since its inception in 1986 that have increased its scope of operation. We first review the basic SME algorithm, describe psychological evidence for SME as a process model, and summarize its role in simulating similarity-based retrieval and generalization. Then we describe five techniques now incorporated into the SME that have enabled it to tackle large-scale modeling tasks: (a) Greedy merging rapidly constructs one or more best interpretations of a match in polynomial time: O(n 2 log(n)); (b) Incremental operation enables mappings to be extended as new information is retrieved or derived about the base or target, to model situations where information in a task is updated over time; (c) Ubiquitous predicates model the varying degrees to which items may suggest alignment; (d) Structural evaluation of analogical inferences models aspects of plausibility judgments; (e) Match filters enable large-scale task models to communicate constraints to SME to influence the mapping process. We illustrate via examples from published studies how these enable it to capture a broader range of psychological phenomena than before. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Elements of a comprehensive theory of infant imitation.

PubMed

Meltzoff, Andrew N

2017-01-01

Imitation is central to human development. Imitation involves mapping between the perception and production of actions. Imitation after delays implicates preverbal memory. Imitation of people informs us about infants' processing of social events. A comprehensive theory needs to account for the origins, mechanisms, and functions of imitation. Neonatal imitation illuminates how the initial state engenders and supports rapid social learning.

Toward an Integrated Gender-Linked Model of Aggression Subtypes in Early and Middle Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ostrov, Jamie M.; Godleski, Stephanie A.

2010-01-01

An integrative model is proposed for understanding the development of physical and relational aggression in early and middle childhood. The central goal was to posit a new theoretical framework that expands on existing social-cognitive and gender schema models (i.e., Social Information-Processing Model of Children's Adjustment [N. R. Crick & K. A.…

Assisting a College's Service Area in the Transition to the New Technology Society through Strategic Planning and Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Groff, Warren H.

North Central Technical College's (NCTC's) strategic planning and human resource development model is described in this paper in terms of its role in assisting the college's service area in adapting to new technologies. First, background information is presented on NCTC's planning process with respect to the strategic goal areas of: (1)…

Leveraging constraints and biotelemetry data to pinpoint repetitively used spatial features

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brost, Brian M.; Hooten, Mevin B.; Small, Robert J.

2016-01-01

Satellite telemetry devices collect valuable information concerning the sites visited by animals, including the location of central places like dens, nests, rookeries, or haul‐outs. Existing methods for estimating the location of central places from telemetry data require user‐specified thresholds and ignore common nuances like measurement error. We present a fully model‐based approach for locating central places from telemetry data that accounts for multiple sources of uncertainty and uses all of the available locational data. Our general framework consists of an observation model to account for large telemetry measurement error and animal movement, and a highly flexible mixture model specified using a Dirichlet process to identify the location of central places. We also quantify temporal patterns in central place use by incorporating ancillary behavioral data into the model; however, our framework is also suitable when no such behavioral data exist. We apply the model to a simulated data set as proof of concept. We then illustrate our framework by analyzing an Argos satellite telemetry data set on harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the Gulf of Alaska, a species that exhibits fidelity to terrestrial haul‐out sites.

Effects of long-term non-traumatic noise exposure on the adult central auditory system. Hearing problems without hearing loss.

PubMed

Eggermont, Jos J

2017-09-01

It is known that hearing loss induces plastic changes in the brain, causing loudness recruitment and hyperacusis, increased spontaneous firing rates and neural synchrony, reorganizations of the cortical tonotopic maps, and tinnitus. Much less in known about the central effects of exposure to sounds that cause a temporary hearing loss, affect the ribbon synapses in the inner hair cells, and cause a loss of high-threshold auditory nerve fibers. In contrast there is a wealth of information about central effects of long-duration sound exposures at levels ≤80 dB SPL that do not even cause a temporary hearing loss. The central effects for these moderate level exposures described in this review include changes in central gain, increased spontaneous firing rates and neural synchrony, and reorganization of the cortical tonotopic map. A putative mechanism is outlined, and the effect of the acoustic environment during the recovery process is illustrated. Parallels are drawn with hearing problems in humans with long-duration exposures to occupational noise but with clinical normal hearing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Centralized versus decentralized decision-making for recycled material flows.

PubMed

Hong, I-Hsuan; Ammons, Jane C; Realff, Matthew J

2008-02-15

A reverse logistics system is a network of transportation logistics and processing functions that collect, consolidate, refurbish, and demanufacture end-of-life products. This paper examines centralized and decentralized models of decision-making for material flows and associated transaction prices in reverse logistics networks. We compare the application of a centralized model for planning reverse production systems, where a single planner is acquainted with all of the system information and has the authority to determine decision variables for the entire system, to a decentralized approach. In the decentralized approach, the entities coordinate between tiers of the system using a parametrized flow function and compete within tiers based on reaching a price equilibrium. We numerically demonstrate the increase in the total net profit of the centralized system relative to the decentralized one. This implies that one may overestimate the system material flows and profit if the system planner utilizes a centralized viewto predict behaviors of independent entities in the system and that decentralized contract mechanisms will require careful design to avoid losses in the efficiency and scope of these systems.

The New Neurobiology of Autism

PubMed Central

Minshew, Nancy J.; Williams, Diane L.

2008-01-01

This review covers a fraction of the new research developments in autism but establishes the basic elements of the new neurobiologic understanding of autism. Autism is a polygenetic developmental neurobiologic disorder with multiorgan system involvement, though it predominantly involves central nervous system dysfunction. The evidence supports autism as a disorder of the association cortex, both its neurons and their projections. In particular, it is a disorder of connectivity, which appears, from current evidence, to primarily involve intrahemispheric connectivity. The focus of connectivity studies thus far has been on white matter, but alterations in functional magnetic resonance imaging activation suggest that intracortical connectivity is also likely to be disturbed. Furthermore, the disorder has a broad impact on cognitive and neurologic functioning. Deficits in high-functioning individuals occur in processing that places high demands on integration of information and coordination of multiple neural systems. Intact or enhanced abilities share a dependence on low information-processing demands and local neural connections. This multidomain model with shared characteristics predicts an underlying pathophysiologic mechanism that impacts the brain broadly, according to a common neurobiologic principle. The multiorgan system involvement and diversity of central nervous system findings suggest an epigenetic mechanism. PMID:17620483

Informatics in radiology: automated Web-based graphical dashboard for radiology operational business intelligence.

PubMed

Nagy, Paul G; Warnock, Max J; Daly, Mark; Toland, Christopher; Meenan, Christopher D; Mezrich, Reuben S

2009-11-01

Radiology departments today are faced with many challenges to improve operational efficiency, performance, and quality. Many organizations rely on antiquated, paper-based methods to review their historical performance and understand their operations. With increased workloads, geographically dispersed image acquisition and reading sites, and rapidly changing technologies, this approach is increasingly untenable. A Web-based dashboard was constructed to automate the extraction, processing, and display of indicators and thereby provide useful and current data for twice-monthly departmental operational meetings. The feasibility of extracting specific metrics from clinical information systems was evaluated as part of a longer-term effort to build a radiology business intelligence architecture. Operational data were extracted from clinical information systems and stored in a centralized data warehouse. Higher-level analytics were performed on the centralized data, a process that generated indicators in a dynamic Web-based graphical environment that proved valuable in discussion and root cause analysis. Results aggregated over a 24-month period since implementation suggest that this operational business intelligence reporting system has provided significant data for driving more effective management decisions to improve productivity, performance, and quality of service in the department.

NEIS (NASA Environmental Information System)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cook, Beth

1995-01-01

The NASA Environmental Information System (NEIS) is a tool to support the functions of the NASA Operational Environment Team (NOET). The NEIS is designed to provide a central environmental technology resource drawing on all NASA centers' capabilities, and to support program managers who must ultimately deliver hardware compliant with performance specifications and environmental requirements. The NEIS also tracks environmental regulations, usages of materials and processes, and new technology developments. It has proven to be a useful instrument for channeling information throughout the aerospace community, NASA, other federal agencies, educational institutions, and contractors. The associated paper will discuss the dynamic databases within the NEIS, and the usefulness it provides for environmental compliance efforts.

High rate information systems - Architectural trends in support of the interdisciplinary investigator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Handley, Thomas H., Jr.; Preheim, Larry E.

1990-01-01

Data systems requirements in the Earth Observing System (EOS) Space Station Freedom (SSF) eras indicate increasing data volume, increased discipline interplay, higher complexity and broader data integration and interpretation. A response to the needs of the interdisciplinary investigator is proposed, considering the increasing complexity and rising costs of scientific investigation. The EOS Data Information System, conceived to be a widely distributed system with reliable communication links between central processing and the science user community, is described. Details are provided on information architecture, system models, intelligent data management of large complex databases, and standards for archiving ancillary data, using a research library, a laboratory and collaboration services.

An Analysis of Automated Solutions for the Certification and Accreditation of Navy Medicine Information Assets

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-09-01

discovery of network security threats and vulnerabilities will be done by doing penetration testing during the C&A process. This can be done on a...2.1.1; Appendix E, J COBR -1 Protection of Backup and Restoration Assets Availability 1.3.1; 2.1.3; 2.1.7; 3.1; 4.3; Appendix J, M CODB-2 Data... discovery , inventory, scanning and loading of C&A information in its central database, (2) automatic generation of the SRTM , (3) automatic generation

Is Social Categorization the Missing Link Between Weak Central Coherence and Mental State Inference Abilities in Autism? Preliminary Evidence from a General Population Sample.

PubMed

Skorich, Daniel P; May, Adrienne R; Talipski, Louisa A; Hall, Marnie H; Dolstra, Anita J; Gash, Tahlia B; Gunningham, Beth H

2016-03-01

We explore the relationship between the 'theory of mind' (ToM) and 'central coherence' difficulties of autism. We introduce covariation between hierarchically-embedded categories and social information--at the local level, the global level, or at both levels simultaneously--within a category confusion task. We then ask participants to infer the mental state of novel category members, and measure participants' autism-spectrum quotient (AQ). Results reveal a positive relationship between AQ and the degree of local/global social categorization, which in turn predicts the pattern of mental state inferences. These results provide preliminary evidence for a causal relationship between central coherence and ToM abilities. Implications with regard to ToM processes, social categorization, intervention, and the development of a unified account of autism are discussed.

Assessment Study on Sensors and Automation in the Industries of the Future. Reports on Industrial Controls, Information Processing, Automation, and Robotics

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

Bennett, Bonnie; Boddy, Mark; Doyle, Frank

This report presents the results of an expert study to identify research opportunities for Sensors & Automation, a sub-program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Industrial Technologies Program (ITP). The research opportunities are prioritized by realizable energy savings. The study encompasses the technology areas of industrial controls, information processing, automation, and robotics. These areas have been central areas of focus of many Industries of the Future (IOF) technology roadmaps. This report identifies opportunities for energy savings as a direct result of advances in these areas and also recognizes indirect means of achieving energy savings, such as product quality improvement,more » productivity improvement, and reduction of recycle.« less

Migraine, vertigo and migrainous vertigo: Links between vestibular and pain mechanisms.

PubMed

Balaban, Carey D

2011-01-01

This review develops the hypothesis that co-morbid balance disorders and migraine can be understood as additive effects of processing afferent vestibular and pain information in pre-parabrachial and pre-thalamic pathways, that have consequences on cortical mechanisms influencing perception, interoception and affect. There are remarkable parallel neurochemical phenotypes for inner ear and trigeminal ganglion cells and these afferent channels appear to converge in shared central pathways for vestibular and nociceptive information processing. These pathways share expression of receptors targeted by anti-migraine drugs. New evidence is also presented regarding the distribution of serotonin receptors in the planum semilunatum of the primate cristae ampullaris, which may indicate involvement of inner ear ionic homeostatic mechanisms in audiovestibular symptoms that can accompany migraine.

The influence of (central) auditory processing disorder on the severity of speech-sound disorders in children.

PubMed

Vilela, Nadia; Barrozo, Tatiane Faria; Pagan-Neves, Luciana de Oliveira; Sanches, Seisse Gabriela Gandolfi; Wertzner, Haydée Fiszbein; Carvallo, Renata Mota Mamede

2016-02-01

To identify a cutoff value based on the Percentage of Consonants Correct-Revised index that could indicate the likelihood of a child with a speech-sound disorder also having a (central) auditory processing disorder . Language, audiological and (central) auditory processing evaluations were administered. The participants were 27 subjects with speech-sound disorders aged 7 to 10 years and 11 months who were divided into two different groups according to their (central) auditory processing evaluation results. When a (central) auditory processing disorder was present in association with a speech disorder, the children tended to have lower scores on phonological assessments. A greater severity of speech disorder was related to a greater probability of the child having a (central) auditory processing disorder. The use of a cutoff value for the Percentage of Consonants Correct-Revised index successfully distinguished between children with and without a (central) auditory processing disorder. The severity of speech-sound disorder in children was influenced by the presence of (central) auditory processing disorder. The attempt to identify a cutoff value based on a severity index was successful.

Consciousness: a unique way of processing information.

PubMed

Marchetti, Giorgio

2018-02-08

In this article, I argue that consciousness is a unique way of processing information, in that: it produces information, rather than purely transmitting it; the information it produces is meaningful for us; the meaning it has is always individuated. This uniqueness allows us to process information on the basis of our personal needs and ever-changing interactions with the environment, and consequently to act autonomously. Three main basic cognitive processes contribute to realize this unique way of information processing: the self, attention and working memory. The self, which is primarily expressed via the central and peripheral nervous systems, maps our body, the environment, and our relations with the environment. It is the primary means by which the complexity inherent to our composite structure is reduced into the "single voice" of a unique individual. It provides a reference system that (albeit evolving) is sufficiently stable to define the variations that will be used as the raw material for the construction of conscious information. Attention allows for the selection of those variations in the state of the self that are most relevant in the given situation. Attention originates and is deployed from a single locus inside our body, which represents the center of the self, around which all our conscious experiences are organized. Whatever is focused by attention appears in our consciousness as possessing a spatial quality defined by this center and the direction toward which attention is focused. In addition, attention determines two other features of conscious experience: periodicity and phenomenal quality. Self and attention are necessary but not sufficient for conscious information to be produced. Complex forms of conscious experiences, such as the various modes of givenness of conscious experience and the stream of consciousness, need a working memory mechanism to assemble the basic pieces of information selected by attention.

Central as well as Peripheral Attentional Bottlenecks in Dual-Task Performance Activate Lateral Prefrontal Cortices

PubMed Central

Szameitat, André J.; Vanloo, Azonya; Müller, Hermann J.

2016-01-01

Human information processing suffers from severe limitations in parallel processing. In particular, when required to respond to two stimuli in rapid succession, processing bottlenecks may appear at central and peripheral stages of task processing. Importantly, it has been suggested that executive functions are needed to resolve the interference arising at such bottlenecks. The aims of the present study were to test whether central attentional limitations (i.e., bottleneck at the decisional response selection stage) as well as peripheral limitations (i.e., bottleneck at response initiation) both demand executive functions located in the lateral prefrontal cortex. For this, we re-analyzed two previous studies, in which a total of 33 participants performed a dual-task according to the paradigm of the psychological refractory period (PRP) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In one study (N = 17), the PRP task consisted of two two-choice response tasks known to suffer from a central bottleneck (CB group). In the other study (N = 16), the PRP task consisted of two simple-response tasks known to suffer from a peripheral bottleneck (PB group). Both groups showed considerable dual-task costs in form of slowing of the second response in the dual-task (PRP effect). Imaging results are based on the subtraction of both single-tasks from the dual-task within each group. In the CB group, the bilateral middle frontal gyri and inferior frontal gyri were activated. Higher activation in these areas was associated with lower dual-task costs. In the PB group, the right middle frontal and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) were activated. Here, higher activation was associated with higher dual-task costs. In conclusion we suggest that central and peripheral bottlenecks both demand executive functions located in lateral prefrontal cortices (LPFC). Differences between the CB and PB groups with respect to the exact prefrontal areas activated and the correlational patterns suggest that the executive functions resolving interference at least partially differ between the groups. PMID:27014044

The quantum mitochondrion and optimal health

PubMed Central

Nunn, Alistair V.W.; Guy, Geoffrey W.; Bell, Jimmy D.

2016-01-01

A sufficiently complex set of molecules, if subject to perturbation, will self-organize and show emergent behaviour. If such a system can take on information it will become subject to natural selection. This could explain how self-replicating molecules evolved into life and how intelligence arose. A pivotal step in this evolutionary process was of course the emergence of the eukaryote and the advent of the mitochondrion, which both enhanced energy production per cell and increased the ability to process, store and utilize information. Recent research suggest that from its inception life embraced quantum effects such as ‘tunnelling’ and ‘coherence’ while competition and stressful conditions provided a constant driver for natural selection. We believe that the biphasic adaptive response to stress described by hormesis–a process that captures information to enable adaptability, is central to this whole process. Critically, hormesis could improve mitochondrial quantum efficiency, improving the ATP/ROS ratio, whereas inflammation, which is tightly associated with the aging process, might do the opposite. This all suggests that to achieve optimal health and healthy aging, one has to sufficiently stress the system to ensure peak mitochondrial function, which itself could reflect selection of optimum efficiency at the quantum level. PMID:27528758

Adapting the CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System to OGC standards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valentine, D. W.; Whitenack, T.; Zaslavsky, I.

2010-12-01

The CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System (HIS) provides web and desktop client access to hydrologic observations via water data web services using an XML schema called “WaterML”. The WaterML 1.x specification and the corresponding Water Data Services have been the backbone of the HIS service-oriented architecture (SOA) and have been adopted for serving hydrologic data by several federal agencies and many academic groups. The central discovery service, HIS Central, is based on an metadata catalog that references 4.7 billion observations, organized as 23 million data series from 1.5 million sites from 51 organizations. Observations data are published using HydroServer nodes that have been deployed at 18 organizations. Usage of HIS has increased by 8x from 2008 to 2010, and doubled in usage from 1600 data series a day in 2009 to 3600 data series a day in the first half of 2010. The HIS central metadata catalog currently harvests information from 56 Water Data Services. We collaborate on the catalog updates with two federal partners, USGS and US EPA: their data series are periodically reloaded into the HIS metadata catalog. We are pursuing two main development directions in the HIS project: Cloud-based computing, and further compliance with Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards. The goal of moving to cloud-computing is to provide a scalable collaborative system with a simpler deployment and less dependence of hardware maintenance and staff. This move requires re-architecting the information models underlying the metadata catalog, and Water Data Services to be independent of the underlying relational database model, allowing for implementation on both relational databases, and cloud-based processing systems. Cloud-based HIS central resources can be managed collaboratively; partners share responsibility for their metadata by publishing data series information into the centralized catalog. Publishing data series will use REST-based service interfaces, like OData, as the basis for ingesting data series information into a cloud-hosted catalog. The future HIS services involve providing information via OGC Standards that will allow for observational data access from commercial GIS applications. Use of standards will allow for tools to access observational data from other projects using standards, such as the Ocean Observatories Initiative, and for tools from such projects to be integrated into the HIS toolset. With international collaborators, we have been developing a water information exchange language called “WaterML 2.0” which will be used to deliver observations data over OGC Sensor Observation Services (SOS). A software stack of OGC standard services will provide access to HIS information. In addition to SOS, Web Mapping and Feature Services (WMS, and WFS) will provide access to location information. Catalog Services for the Web (CSW) will provide a catalog for water information that is both centralized, and distributed. We intend the OGC standards supplement the existing HIS service interfaces, rather than replace the present service interfaces. The ultimate goal of this development is expand access to hydrologic observations data, and create an environment where these data can be seamlessly integrated with standards-compliant data resources.

Event-related desynchronization (ERD) in the alpha band during a hand mental rotation task.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaogang; Bin, Guangyu; Daly, Ian; Gao, Xiaorong

2013-04-29

Recent studies have demonstrated that mentally rotating the hands involves participants engaging in motor imagery processing. However, far less is known about the possible neurophysiological basis of such processing. To contribute to a better understanding of hand mental rotation processing, event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) methods were applied to electroencephalography (EEG) data collected from participants mentally rotating their hands. Time-frequency analyses revealed that alpha-band power suppression was larger over central-parietal regions. This is in accordance with motor imagery findings suggesting that the motor regions may be involved in processing or detection of kinaesthetic information. Furthermore, the presence of a significant negative correlation between reaction times (RTs) and alpha-band power suppression over central regions is illustrated. These findings are consistent with the neural efficiency hypothesis, which proposes the non-use of many brain regions irrelevant for the task performance as well as the more focused use of specific task-related regions in individuals with better performance. These results indicate that ERSP provides some independent insights into the mental rotation process and further confirms that parietal and motor cortices are involved in mental rotation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Central American Network for Disaster and Health Information

PubMed Central

Arnesen, Stacey J.; Cid, Victor H.; Scott, John C.; Perez, Ricardo; Zervaas, Dave

2007-01-01

Purpose: This paper describes an international outreach program to support rebuilding Central America's health information infrastructure after several natural disasters in the region, including Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and two major earthquakes in 2001. Setting, Participants, and Description: The National Library of Medicine joined forces with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, and the Regional Center of Disaster Information for Latin America and the Caribbean (CRID) to strengthen libraries and information centers in Central America and improve the availability of and access to health and disaster information in the region by developing the Central American Network for Disaster and Health Information (CANDHI). Through CRID, the program created ten disaster health information centers in medical libraries and disaster-related organizations in six countries. Results/Outcome: This project served as a catalyst for the modernization of several medical libraries in Central America. The resulting CANDHI provides much needed electronic access to public health “gray literature” on disasters, as well as access to numerous health information resources. CANDHI members assist their institutions and countries in a variety of disaster preparedness activities through collecting and disseminating information. PMID:17641767

Scalable software-defined optical networking with high-performance routing and wavelength assignment algorithms.

PubMed

Lee, Chankyun; Cao, Xiaoyuan; Yoshikane, Noboru; Tsuritani, Takehiro; Rhee, June-Koo Kevin

2015-10-19

The feasibility of software-defined optical networking (SDON) for a practical application critically depends on scalability of centralized control performance. The paper, highly scalable routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) algorithms are investigated on an OpenFlow-based SDON testbed for proof-of-concept demonstration. Efficient RWA algorithms are proposed to achieve high performance in achieving network capacity with reduced computation cost, which is a significant attribute in a scalable centralized-control SDON. The proposed heuristic RWA algorithms differ in the orders of request processes and in the procedures of routing table updates. Combined in a shortest-path-based routing algorithm, a hottest-request-first processing policy that considers demand intensity and end-to-end distance information offers both the highest throughput of networks and acceptable computation scalability. We further investigate trade-off relationship between network throughput and computation complexity in routing table update procedure by a simulation study.

Operational Experience with the Frontier System in CMS

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

Blumenfeld, Barry; Dykstra, Dave; Kreuzer, Peter

2012-06-20

The Frontier framework is used in the CMS experiment at the LHC to deliver conditions data to processing clients worldwide, including calibration, alignment, and configuration information. Each central server at CERN, called a Frontier Launchpad, uses tomcat as a servlet container to establish the communication between clients and the central Oracle database. HTTP-proxy Squid servers, located close to clients, cache the responses to queries in order to provide high performance data access and to reduce the load on the central Oracle database. Each Frontier Launchpad also has its own reverse-proxy Squid for caching. The three central servers have been deliveringmore » about 5 million responses every day since the LHC startup, containing about 40 GB data in total, to more than one hundred Squid servers located worldwide, with an average response time on the order of 10 milliseconds. The Squid caches deployed worldwide process many more requests per day, over 700 million, and deliver over 40 TB of data. Several monitoring tools of the tomcat log files, the accesses of the Squids on the central Launchpad servers, and the availability of remote Squids have been developed to guarantee the performance of the service and make the system easily maintainable. Following a brief introduction of the Frontier framework, we describe the performance of this highly reliable and stable system, detail monitoring concerns and their deployment, and discuss the overall operational experience from the first two years of LHC data-taking.« less

Operational Experience with the Frontier System in CMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blumenfeld, Barry; Dykstra, Dave; Kreuzer, Peter; Du, Ran; Wang, Weizhen

2012-12-01

The Frontier framework is used in the CMS experiment at the LHC to deliver conditions data to processing clients worldwide, including calibration, alignment, and configuration information. Each central server at CERN, called a Frontier Launchpad, uses tomcat as a servlet container to establish the communication between clients and the central Oracle database. HTTP-proxy Squid servers, located close to clients, cache the responses to queries in order to provide high performance data access and to reduce the load on the central Oracle database. Each Frontier Launchpad also has its own reverse-proxy Squid for caching. The three central servers have been delivering about 5 million responses every day since the LHC startup, containing about 40 GB data in total, to more than one hundred Squid servers located worldwide, with an average response time on the order of 10 milliseconds. The Squid caches deployed worldwide process many more requests per day, over 700 million, and deliver over 40 TB of data. Several monitoring tools of the tomcat log files, the accesses of the Squids on the central Launchpad servers, and the availability of remote Squids have been developed to guarantee the performance of the service and make the system easily maintainable. Following a brief introduction of the Frontier framework, we describe the performance of this highly reliable and stable system, detail monitoring concerns and their deployment, and discuss the overall operational experience from the first two years of LHC data-taking.

MISSE in the Materials and Processes Technical Information System (MAPTIS )

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burns, DeWitt; Finckenor, Miria; Henrie, Ben

2013-01-01

Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) data is now being collected and distributed through the Materials and Processes Technical Information System (MAPTIS) at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. MISSE data has been instrumental in many programs and continues to be an important source of data for the space community. To facilitate great access to the MISSE data the International Space Station (ISS) program office and MAPTIS are working to gather this data into a central location. The MISSE database contains information about materials, samples, and flights along with pictures, pdfs, excel files, word documents, and other files types. Major capabilities of the system are: access control, browsing, searching, reports, and record comparison. The search capabilities will search within any searchable files so even if the desired meta-data has not been associated data can still be retrieved. Other functionality will continue to be added to the MISSE database as the Athena Platform is expanded

Using Ontologies to Formalize Services Specifications in Multi-Agent Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Breitman, Karin Koogan; Filho, Aluizio Haendchen; Haeusler, Edward Hermann

2004-01-01

One key issue in multi-agent systems (MAS) is their ability to interact and exchange information autonomously across applications. To secure agent interoperability, designers must rely on a communication protocol that allows software agents to exchange meaningful information. In this paper we propose using ontologies as such communication protocol. Ontologies capture the semantics of the operations and services provided by agents, allowing interoperability and information exchange in a MAS. Ontologies are a formal, machine processable, representation that allows to capture the semantics of a domain and, to derive meaningful information by way of logical inference. In our proposal we use a formal knowledge representation language (OWL) that translates into Description Logics (a subset of first order logic), thus eliminating ambiguities and providing a solid base for machine based inference. The main contribution of this approach is to make the requirements explicit, centralize the specification in a single document (the ontology itself), at the same that it provides a formal, unambiguous representation that can be processed by automated inference machines.

Impact of centrality on cooperative processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reia, Sandro M.; Herrmann, Sebastian; Fontanari, José F.

2017-02-01

The solution of today's complex problems requires the grouping of task forces whose members are usually connected remotely over long physical distances and different time zones. Hence, understanding the effects of imposed communication patterns (i.e., who can communicate with whom) on group performance is important. Here we use an agent-based model to explore the influence of the betweenness centrality of the nodes on the time the group requires to find the global maxima of NK-fitness landscapes. The agents cooperate by broadcasting messages, informing on their fitness to their neighbors, and use this information to copy the more successful agents in their neighborhood. We find that for easy tasks (smooth landscapes), the topology of the communication network has no effect on the performance of the group, and that the more central nodes are the most likely to find the global maximum first. For difficult tasks (rugged landscapes), however, we find a positive correlation between the variance of the betweenness among the network nodes and the group performance. For these tasks, the performances of individual nodes are strongly influenced by the agents' dispositions to cooperate and by the particular realizations of the rugged landscapes.

Memory and Common Ground Processes in Language Use

PubMed Central

Brown-Schmidt, Sarah; Duff, Melissa C.

2018-01-01

During communication, we form assumptions about what our communication partners know and believe. Information that is mutually known between the discourse partners—their common ground—serves as a backdrop for successful communication. Here we present an introduction to the focus of this topic, which is the role of memory in common ground and language use. Two types of questions emerge as central to understanding the relationship between memory and common ground, specifically questions having to do with the representation of common ground in memory, and the use of common ground during language processing. PMID:27797165

Disconnection of network hubs and cognitive impairment after traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Fagerholm, Erik D; Hellyer, Peter J; Scott, Gregory; Leech, Robert; Sharp, David J

2015-06-01

Traumatic brain injury affects brain connectivity by producing traumatic axonal injury. This disrupts the function of large-scale networks that support cognition. The best way to describe this relationship is unclear, but one elegant approach is to view networks as graphs. Brain regions become nodes in the graph, and white matter tracts the connections. The overall effect of an injury can then be estimated by calculating graph metrics of network structure and function. Here we test which graph metrics best predict the presence of traumatic axonal injury, as well as which are most highly associated with cognitive impairment. A comprehensive range of graph metrics was calculated from structural connectivity measures for 52 patients with traumatic brain injury, 21 of whom had microbleed evidence of traumatic axonal injury, and 25 age-matched controls. White matter connections between 165 grey matter brain regions were defined using tractography, and structural connectivity matrices calculated from skeletonized diffusion tensor imaging data. This technique estimates injury at the centre of tract, but is insensitive to damage at tract edges. Graph metrics were calculated from the resulting connectivity matrices and machine-learning techniques used to select the metrics that best predicted the presence of traumatic brain injury. In addition, we used regularization and variable selection via the elastic net to predict patient behaviour on tests of information processing speed, executive function and associative memory. Support vector machines trained with graph metrics of white matter connectivity matrices from the microbleed group were able to identify patients with a history of traumatic brain injury with 93.4% accuracy, a result robust to different ways of sampling the data. Graph metrics were significantly associated with cognitive performance: information processing speed (R(2) = 0.64), executive function (R(2) = 0.56) and associative memory (R(2) = 0.25). These results were then replicated in a separate group of patients without microbleeds. The most influential graph metrics were betweenness centrality and eigenvector centrality, which provide measures of the extent to which a given brain region connects other regions in the network. Reductions in betweenness centrality and eigenvector centrality were particularly evident within hub regions including the cingulate cortex and caudate. Our results demonstrate that betweenness centrality and eigenvector centrality are reduced within network hubs, due to the impact of traumatic axonal injury on network connections. The dominance of betweenness centrality and eigenvector centrality suggests that cognitive impairment after traumatic brain injury results from the disconnection of network hubs by traumatic axonal injury. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.

Electrophysiological Evidence for Hyperfocusing of Spatial Attention in Schizophrenia.

PubMed

Kreither, Johanna; Lopez-Calderon, Javier; Leonard, Carly J; Robinson, Benjamin M; Ruffle, Abigail; Hahn, Britta; Gold, James M; Luck, Steven J

2017-04-05

A recently proposed hyperfocusing hypothesis of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia proposes that people with schizophrenia (PSZ) tend to concentrate processing resources more narrowly but more intensely than healthy control subjects (HCS). The present study tests a key prediction of this hypothesis, namely, that PSZ will hyperfocus on information presented at the center of gaze. This should lead to greater filtering of peripheral stimuli when the task requires focusing centrally but reduced filtering of central stimuli when the task requires attending broadly in the periphery. These predictions were tested in a double oddball paradigm, in which frequent standard stimuli and rare oddball stimuli were presented at central and peripheral locations while event-related potentials were recorded. Participants were instructed to discriminate between the standard and oddball stimuli at either the central location or at the peripheral locations. PSZ and HCS showed opposite patterns of spatial bias at the level of early sensory processing, as assessed with the P1 component: PSZ exhibited stronger sensory suppression of peripheral stimuli when the task required attending narrowly to the central location, whereas HCS exhibited stronger sensory suppression of central stimuli when the task required attending broadly to the peripheral locations. Moreover, PSZ exhibited a stronger stimulus categorization response than HCS, as assessed with the P3b component, for central stimuli when the task required attending to the peripheral region. These results provide strong evidence of hyperfocusing in PSZ, which may provide a unified mechanistic account of multiple aspects of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Schizophrenia clearly involves impaired attention, but attention is complex, and delineating the precise nature of attentional dysfunction in schizophrenia has been difficult. The present study tests a new hyperfocusing hypothesis, which proposes that people with schizophrenia (PSZ) tend to concentrate processing resources more intensely but more narrowly than healthy control subjects (HCS). Using electrophysiological measures of sensory and cognitive processing, we found that PSZ were actually superior to HCS in focusing attention at the point of gaze and filtering out peripheral distractors when the task required a narrow focusing of attention. This finding of superior filtering in PSZ supports the hyperfocusing hypothesis, which may provide the mechanism underlying a broad range of cognitive impairments in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/373813-11$15.00/0.

Electrophysiological Evidence for Hyperfocusing of Spatial Attention in Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Kreither, Johanna; Lopez-Calderon, Javier; Leonard, Carly J.; Robinson, Benjamin M.; Ruffle, Abigail; Hahn, Britta; Gold, James M.

2017-01-01

A recently proposed hyperfocusing hypothesis of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia proposes that people with schizophrenia (PSZ) tend to concentrate processing resources more narrowly but more intensely than healthy control subjects (HCS). The present study tests a key prediction of this hypothesis, namely, that PSZ will hyperfocus on information presented at the center of gaze. This should lead to greater filtering of peripheral stimuli when the task requires focusing centrally but reduced filtering of central stimuli when the task requires attending broadly in the periphery. These predictions were tested in a double oddball paradigm, in which frequent standard stimuli and rare oddball stimuli were presented at central and peripheral locations while event-related potentials were recorded. Participants were instructed to discriminate between the standard and oddball stimuli at either the central location or at the peripheral locations. PSZ and HCS showed opposite patterns of spatial bias at the level of early sensory processing, as assessed with the P1 component: PSZ exhibited stronger sensory suppression of peripheral stimuli when the task required attending narrowly to the central location, whereas HCS exhibited stronger sensory suppression of central stimuli when the task required attending broadly to the peripheral locations. Moreover, PSZ exhibited a stronger stimulus categorization response than HCS, as assessed with the P3b component, for central stimuli when the task required attending to the peripheral region. These results provide strong evidence of hyperfocusing in PSZ, which may provide a unified mechanistic account of multiple aspects of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Schizophrenia clearly involves impaired attention, but attention is complex, and delineating the precise nature of attentional dysfunction in schizophrenia has been difficult. The present study tests a new hyperfocusing hypothesis, which proposes that people with schizophrenia (PSZ) tend to concentrate processing resources more intensely but more narrowly than healthy control subjects (HCS). Using electrophysiological measures of sensory and cognitive processing, we found that PSZ were actually superior to HCS in focusing attention at the point of gaze and filtering out peripheral distractors when the task required a narrow focusing of attention. This finding of superior filtering in PSZ supports the hyperfocusing hypothesis, which may provide the mechanism underlying a broad range of cognitive impairments in schizophrenia. PMID:28283557

Solving the influence maximization problem reveals regulatory organization of the yeast cell cycle.

PubMed

Gibbs, David L; Shmulevich, Ilya

2017-06-01

The Influence Maximization Problem (IMP) aims to discover the set of nodes with the greatest influence on network dynamics. The problem has previously been applied in epidemiology and social network analysis. Here, we demonstrate the application to cell cycle regulatory network analysis for Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Fundamentally, gene regulation is linked to the flow of information. Therefore, our implementation of the IMP was framed as an information theoretic problem using network diffusion. Utilizing more than 26,000 regulatory edges from YeastMine, gene expression dynamics were encoded as edge weights using time lagged transfer entropy, a method for quantifying information transfer between variables. By picking a set of source nodes, a diffusion process covers a portion of the network. The size of the network cover relates to the influence of the source nodes. The set of nodes that maximizes influence is the solution to the IMP. By solving the IMP over different numbers of source nodes, an influence ranking on genes was produced. The influence ranking was compared to other metrics of network centrality. Although the top genes from each centrality ranking contained well-known cell cycle regulators, there was little agreement and no clear winner. However, it was found that influential genes tend to directly regulate or sit upstream of genes ranked by other centrality measures. The influential nodes act as critical sources of information flow, potentially having a large impact on the state of the network. Biological events that affect influential nodes and thereby affect information flow could have a strong effect on network dynamics, potentially leading to disease. Code and data can be found at: https://github.com/gibbsdavidl/miergolf.

Keep an eye on your hands: on the role of visual mechanisms in processing of haptic space

PubMed Central

Zuidhoek, Sander; Noordzij, Matthijs L.; Kappers, Astrid M. L.

2008-01-01

The present paper reviews research on a haptic orientation processing. Central is a task in which a test bar has to be set parallel to a reference bar at another location. Introducing a delay between inspecting the reference bar and setting the test bar leads to a surprising improvement. Moreover, offering visual background information also elevates performance. Interestingly, (congenitally) blind individuals do not or to a weaker extent show the improvement with time, while in parallel to this, they appear to benefit less from spatial imagery processing. Together this strongly points to an important role for visual processing mechanisms in the perception of haptic inputs. PMID:18196305

ILRS Website Update

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Noll, Carey E.; Torrence, Mark H.; Pollack, Nathan H.; Tyahla, Lori J.

2013-01-01

The ILRS website, http://ilrs.gsfc.nasa.gov, is the central source of information for all aspects of the service. The website provides information on the organization and operation of the ILRS and descriptions of ILRS components data, and products. Furthermore, the website provides an entry point to the archive of these data products available through the data centers. Links are provided to extensive information on the ILRS network stations including performance assesments and data quality evaluations. Descriptions of suported satellite missions (current, future, and past) are provided to aid in station acquisition and data analysis. The website was reently redesigned. Content was reviewed during the update process, ensuring information is current and useful. This poster will provide specific examples of key sections, applicaitons, and webpages.

ADASS Web Database XML Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barg, M. I.; Stobie, E. B.; Ferro, A. J.; O'Neil, E. J.

In the spring of 2000, at the request of the ADASS Program Organizing Committee (POC), we began organizing information from previous ADASS conferences in an effort to create a centralized database. The beginnings of this database originated from data (invited speakers, participants, papers, etc.) extracted from HyperText Markup Language (HTML) documents from past ADASS host sites. Unfortunately, not all HTML documents are well formed and parsing them proved to be an iterative process. It was evident at the beginning that if these Web documents were organized in a standardized way, such as XML (Extensible Markup Language), the processing of this information across the Web could be automated, more efficient, and less error prone. This paper will briefly review the many programming tools available for processing XML, including Java, Perl and Python, and will explore the mapping of relational data from our MySQL database to XML.

DNA codes for nanoscience.

PubMed

Samorì, Bruno; Zuccheri, Giampaolo

2005-02-11

The nanometer scale is a special place where all sciences meet and develop a particularly strong interdisciplinarity. While biology is a source of inspiration for nanoscientists, chemistry has a central role in turning inspirations and methods from biological systems to nanotechnological use. DNA is the biological molecule by which nanoscience and nanotechnology is mostly fascinated. Nature uses DNA not only as a repository of the genetic information, but also as a controller of the expression of the genes it contains. Thus, there are codes embedded in the DNA sequence that serve to control recognition processes on the atomic scale, such as the base pairing, and others that control processes taking place on the nanoscale. From the chemical point of view, DNA is the supramolecular building block with the highest informational content. Nanoscience has therefore the opportunity of using DNA molecules to increase the level of complexity and efficiency in self-assembling and self-directing processes.

Individual Differences in Effectiveness of Cochlear Implants in Children Who Are Prelingually Deaf: New Process Measures of Performance

PubMed Central

Pisoni, David B.; Cleary, Miranda; Geers, Ann E.; Tobey, Emily A.

2011-01-01

The efficacy of cochlear implants in children who are deaf has been firmly established in the literature. However, the effectiveness of cochlear implants varies widely and is influenced by demographic and experiential factors. Several key findings suggest new directions for research on central auditory factors that underlie the effectiveness of cochlear implants. First, enormous individual differences have been observed in both adults and children on a wide range of audiological outcome measures. Some patients show large increases in speech perception scores after implantation, whereas others display only modest gains on standardized tests. Second, age of implantation and length of deafness affect all outcome measures. Children implanted at younger ages do better than children implanted at older ages, and children who have been deaf for shorter periods do better than children who have been deaf for longer periods. Third, communication mode affects outcome measures. Children from “oral-only” environments do much better on standardized tests that assess phonological processing skills than children who use Total Communication. Fourth, at the present time there are no preimplant predictors of outcome performance in young children. The underlying perceptual, cognitive, and linguistic abilities and skills emerge after implantation and improve over time. Finally, there are no significant differences in audiological outcome measures among current implant devices or processing strategies. This finding suggests that the major source of variance in outcome measures lies in the neural and cognitive information processing operations that the user applies to the signal provided by the implant. Taken together, this overall pattern of results suggests that higher-level central processes such as perception, attention, learning, and memory may play important roles in explaining the large individual differences observed among users of cochlear implants. Investigations of the content and flow of information in the central nervous system and interactions between sensory input and stored knowledge may provide important new insights into the basis of individual differences. Knowledge about the underlying basis of individual differences may also help in developing new intervention strategies to improve the effectiveness of cochlear implants in children who show relatively poor development of oral/aural language skills. PMID:21666760

A Focus on Polarity: Investigating the Role of Orientation Cues in Mediating Student Performance on mRNA Synthesis Tasks in an Introductory Cell and Molecular Biology Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olimpo, Jeffrey T.; Quijas, Daniel A.; Quintana, Anita M.

2017-01-01

The central dogma has served as a foundational model for information flow, exchange, and storage in the biological sciences for several decades. Despite its continued importance, however, recent research suggests that novices in the domain possess several misconceptions regarding the aforementioned processes, including those pertaining…

Sex Differences in Face Processing: Are Women Less Lateralized and Faster than Men?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Godard, Ornella; Fiori, Nicole

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of sex on hemispheric asymmetry and cooperation in a face recognition task. We used a masked priming paradigm in which the prime stimulus was centrally presented; it could be a bisymmetric face or a hemi-face in which facial information was presented in the left or the right visual field and…

ONR Far East Scientific Information Bulletin. Volume 14, Number 1. HEISEI, Achieving Universal Peace

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-03-01

grounding gated for basic and central meanings, traced in the Western classics and Indo-European for subsequent etymological development, comparative...controlled properties at reasonable costs. diamond films, processing conditions for Diamond for industrial applications the fabrication of diamond films... applications such as diamondlike films, are beginning to reach heat sinks will also become economically the industrial marketplace. The precise

Death of a Special Person: The Grieving Process. Symposium (University of Central Texas, Killean, Texas, November 13, 1991).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dean, Diana; And Others

This document is the transcript of a symposium that presented information to persons employed or anticipating employment in the human services field in order to assist them in providing support for survivors attempting to cope with the death of a special person. The symposium included the following topics: models of responses to bereavement (those…

Information Processing Research.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-05-01

concentrated mainly on the Hitech chess machine, which achieves its success from parallelism in the right places. Hitech has now reached a National rating...includes local user workstations, a set of central server workstations each acting as a host for a Warp machine, and a few Warp multiprocessors. The... successful completion. A quorum for an operation is any such set of sites. Neces- sary and sufficient constraints on quorum intersections are derived

Spatial and temporal patterns of root distribution in developing stands of four woody crop species grown with drip irrigation and fertilization

Treesearch

Mark Coleman

2007-01-01

In forest trees, roots mediate such significant carbon fluxes as primary production and soil C02 efflux. Despite the central role of roots in these critical processes, information on root distribution during stand establishment is limited, yet must be described to accurately predict how various forest types, which are growing with a range of...

18 Minutes and 11 Seconds Online: Exploring the Cogntive Processes of 12 Good Writers Writing on the Internet

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zheng, Jinjie

2013-01-01

New technologies and Internet resources are becoming more and more integral to 21st century writing. To write well in the 21st century requires the coordination of new technologies, new skills, and new information. The central challenge to coordinate these new elements of contemporary writing is the deictic influence they have on writing.…

Chapter 7. Information needs: Flammulated owls

Treesearch

D. Archibald McCallum

1994-01-01

Many kinds of basic information are required to devise a comprehensive and well-informed conservation strategy for this species. It is imperative that a unified, centrally directed approach be taken to obtain this information. Central oversight will make the effort more efficient and cost effective.

Neuronal modelling of baroreflex response to orthostatic stress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samin, Azfar

The accelerations experienced in aerial combat can cause pilot loss of consciousness (GLOC) due to a critical reduction in cerebral blood circulation. The development of smart protective equipment requires understanding of how the brain processes blood pressure (BP) information in response to acceleration. We present a biologically plausible model of the Baroreflex to investigate the neural correlates of short-term BP control under acceleration or orthostatic stress. The neuronal network model, which employs an integrate-and-fire representation of a biological neuron, comprises the sensory, motor, and the central neural processing areas that form the Baroreflex. Our modelling strategy is to test hypotheses relating to the encoding mechanisms of multiple sensory inputs to the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), the site of central neural processing. The goal is to run simulations and reproduce model responses that are consistent with the variety of available experimental data. Model construction and connectivity are inspired by the available anatomical and neurophysiological evidence that points to a barotopic organization in the NTS, and the presence of frequency-dependent synaptic depression, which provides a mechanism for generating non-linear local responses in NTS neurons that result in quantifiable dynamic global baroreflex responses. The entire physiological range of BP and rate of change of BP variables is encoded in a palisade of NTS neurons in that the spike responses approximate Gaussian 'tuning' curves. An adapting weighted-average decoding scheme computes the motor responses and a compensatory signal regulates the heart rate (HR). Model simulations suggest that: (1) the NTS neurons can encode the hydrostatic pressure difference between two vertically separated sensory receptor regions at +Gz, and use changes in that difference for the regulation of HR; (2) even though NTS neurons do not fire with a cardiac rhythm seen in the afferents, pulse-rhythmic activity is regained downstream provided the input phase information in preserved centrally; (3) frequency-dependent synaptic depression, which causes temporal variations in synaptic strength due to changes in input frequency, is a possible mechanism of non-linear dynamic baroreflex gain control. Synaptic depression enables the NTS neuron to encode dBP/dt but to lose information about the steady state firing of the afferents.

Transitions between Central and Peripheral Vision Create Spatial/Temporal Distortions: A Hypothesis Concerning the Perceived Break of the Curveball

PubMed Central

Shapiro, Arthur; Lu, Zhong-Lin; Huang, Chang-Bing; Knight, Emily; Ennis, Robert

2010-01-01

Background The human visual system does not treat all parts of an image equally: the central segments of an image, which fall on the fovea, are processed with a higher resolution than the segments that fall in the visual periphery. Even though the differences between foveal and peripheral resolution are large, these differences do not usually disrupt our perception of seamless visual space. Here we examine a motion stimulus in which the shift from foveal to peripheral viewing creates a dramatic spatial/temporal discontinuity. Methodology/Principal Findings The stimulus consists of a descending disk (global motion) with an internal moving grating (local motion). When observers view the disk centrally, they perceive both global and local motion (i.e., observers see the disk's vertical descent and the internal spinning). When observers view the disk peripherally, the internal portion appears stationary, and the disk appears to descend at an angle. The angle of perceived descent increases as the observer views the stimulus from further in the periphery. We examine the first- and second-order information content in the display with the use of a three-dimensional Fourier analysis and show how our results can be used to describe perceived spatial/temporal discontinuities in real-world situations. Conclusions/Significance The perceived shift of the disk's direction in the periphery is consistent with a model in which foveal processing separates first- and second-order motion information while peripheral processing integrates first- and second-order motion information. We argue that the perceived distortion may influence real-world visual observations. To this end, we present a hypothesis and analysis of the perception of the curveball and rising fastball in the sport of baseball. The curveball is a physically measurable phenomenon: the imbalance of forces created by the ball's spin causes the ball to deviate from a straight line and to follow a smooth parabolic path. However, the curveball is also a perceptual puzzle because batters often report that the flight of the ball undergoes a dramatic and nearly discontinuous shift in position as the ball nears home plate. We suggest that the perception of a discontinuous shift in position results from differences between foveal and peripheral processing. PMID:20967247

Information Quality in Regulatory Decision Making: Peer Review versus Good Laboratory Practice.

PubMed

McCarty, Lynn S; Borgert, Christopher J; Mihaich, Ellen M

2012-07-01

There is an ongoing discussion on the provenance of toxicity testing data regarding how best to ensure its validity and credibility. A central argument is whether journal peer-review procedures are superior to Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) standards employed for compliance with regulatory mandates. We sought to evaluate the rationale for regulatory decision making based on peer-review procedures versus GLP standards. We examined pertinent published literature regarding how scientific data quality and validity are evaluated for peer review, GLP compliance, and development of regulations. Some contend that peer review is a coherent, consistent evaluative procedure providing quality control for experimental data generation, analysis, and reporting sufficient to reliably establish relative merit, whereas GLP is seen as merely a tracking process designed to thwart investigator corruption. This view is not supported by published analyses pointing to subjectivity and variability in peer-review processes. Although GLP is not designed to establish relative merit, it is an internationally accepted quality assurance, quality control method for documenting experimental conduct and data. Neither process is completely sufficient for establishing relative scientific soundness. However, changes occurring both in peer-review processes and in regulatory guidance resulting in clearer, more transparent communication of scientific information point to an emerging convergence in ensuring information quality. The solution to determining relative merit lies in developing a well-documented, generally accepted weight-of-evidence scheme to evaluate both peer-reviewed and GLP information used in regulatory decision making where both merit and specific relevance inform the process.

Groundwater availability of the Central Valley Aquifer, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Faunt, Claudia C.

2009-01-01

California's Central Valley covers about 20,000 square miles and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. More than 250 different crops are grown in the Central Valley with an estimated value of $17 billion per year. This irrigated agriculture relies heavily on surface-water diversions and groundwater pumpage. Approximately one-sixth of the Nation's irrigated land is in the Central Valley, and about one-fifth of the Nation's groundwater demand is supplied from its aquifers. The Central Valley also is rapidly becoming an important area for California's expanding urban population. Since 1980, the population of the Central Valley has nearly doubled from 2 million to 3.8 million people. The Census Bureau projects that the Central Valley's population will increase to 6 million people by 2020. This surge in population has increased the competition for water resources within the Central Valley and statewide, which likely will be exacerbated by anticipated reductions in deliveries of Colorado River water to southern California. In response to this competition for water, a number of water-related issues have gained prominence: conservation of agricultural land, conjunctive use, artificial recharge, hydrologic implications of land-use change, and effects of climate variability. To provide information to stakeholders addressing these issues, the USGS Groundwater Resources Program made a detailed assessment of groundwater availability of the Central Valley aquifer system, that includes: (1) the present status of groundwater resources; (2) how these resources have changed over time; and (3) tools to assess system responses to stresses from future human uses and climate variability and change. This effort builds on previous investigations, such as the USGS Central Valley Regional Aquifer System and Analysis (CV-RASA) project and several other groundwater studies in the Valley completed by Federal, State and local agencies at differing scales. The principal product of this new assessment is a tool referred to as the Central Valley Hydrologic Model (CVHM) that accounts for integrated, variable water supply and demand, and simulates surface-water and groundwater-flow across the entire Central Valley system. The development of the CVHM comprised four major elements: (1) a comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS) to compile, analyze and visualize data; (2) a texture model to characterize the aquifer system;(3) estimates of water-budget components by numerically modeling the hydrologic system with the Farm Process (FMP); and (4) simulations to assess and quantify hydrologic conditions.

Dynamic Neural Processing of Linguistic Cues Related to Death

PubMed Central

Ma, Yina; Qin, Jungang; Han, Shihui

2013-01-01

Behavioral studies suggest that humans evolve the capacity to cope with anxiety induced by the awareness of death’s inevitability. However, the neurocognitive processes that underlie online death-related thoughts remain unclear. Our recent functional MRI study found that the processing of linguistic cues related to death was characterized by decreased neural activity in human insular cortex. The current study further investigated the time course of neural processing of death-related linguistic cues. We recorded event-related potentials (ERP) to death-related, life-related, negative-valence, and neutral-valence words in a modified Stroop task that required color naming of words. We found that the amplitude of an early frontal/central negativity at 84–120 ms (N1) decreased to death-related words but increased to life-related words relative to neutral-valence words. The N1 effect associated with death-related and life-related words was correlated respectively with individuals’ pessimistic and optimistic attitudes toward life. Death-related words also increased the amplitude of a frontal/central positivity at 124–300 ms (P2) and of a frontal/central positivity at 300–500 ms (P3). However, the P2 and P3 modulations were observed for both death-related and negative-valence words but not for life-related words. The ERP results suggest an early inverse coding of linguistic cues related to life and death, which is followed by negative emotional responses to death-related information. PMID:23840787

Spatial Associations and Network Dynamics Between the Vaccine Exemption Dicsussion in Twitter and the Corresponding Geographic Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coronado, Alejandra

Recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States have drawn attention to the phenomena of vaccine hesitancy and refusal. Hesitancy is seen through the increasing use of exemptions from state vaccine mandates and the recent use of social media for expressing opinions and perspectives related to vaccination. This research places the vaccination narrative into a geographic context and seeks to understand the relationship between vaccine refusal in physical space and the vaccine discussion in cyberspace. Vaccines have long been considered an effective means of eradicating diseases. Recently, however, California has experienced a decline in vaccination rates and an increase in vaccine exemptions. Until the passing of Senate Bill 277 (SB277) in 2015, children were allowed by California law to skip immunizations if a parent submitted a personal beliefs exemption (PBEs). Under SB277, children who are not vaccinated cannot attend school. Some children are still allowed to skip immunizations by submitting a medical exemption (PMEs) at enrollment. Other children are conditionally admitted to school on the 'condition' that they complete any remaining vaccinations when due. This research analyzed the spatial distribution of vaccine exemptions in kindergarten schools in California using the 2015-2016 school immunization data. The two methods used for analysis included Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) and choropleth maps using data aggregated by county. The results from the choropleth maps show that personal belief exemptions for public, private, and charter kindergarten schools are highly concentrated in northern and rural counties. Aggregating vaccine exemptions at the county level and normalizing by school enrollment showed that counties with high ratios of vaccine exemptions vary across public, private, and charter schools. This research also explored the diffusion networks of the vaccine exemption topic in Twitter. Twitter messages related to the California vaccine exemption topic were collected for the whole United States. However, this research only focused on analyzing tweets in California. Two types of information diffusion networks, retweet network and mention network, were examined. This research quantified the influence of users in the networks by applying two network metrics--degree centrality and betweenness centrality. Degree centrality measures the number of connections of a node and is useful to asses which nodes are central for spreading information and influencing others in their immediate neighborhood. Betweenness centrality identifies brokers of information or nodes that connect disparate clusters. Nodes with high betweenness centrality have control over the flow of information in the network. The results suggest that influential users are ranked differently by degree centrality and betweenness centrality for both networks. The results showed that ordinary users may also have strong impacts in the diffusion of information as seen by their high betweenness values despite their low degree centrality. Retweets were found to be more prominent in the diffusion of the vaccine exemption topic compared to mentions. Social network analysis does not capture diffusion processes from a spatial perspective. This research included the spatial context of the mention and retweet networks by using the location information embedded in each node. Nodes were aggregated at the county level and social networks were transformed into visual maps with spatial context. In addition to spatial networks, this research also created chord diagrams to represent the outbound flow and interactions between counties. The findings suggest that county population plays a role in the diffusion of information by social media. Highly populated counties, such as Los Angeles and Sacramento provided a large amount of mention and retweet activity. Additionally, the mention and retweet spatial networks showed counties to have higher in-degree value than out-degree values which indicates more in-flow hubs than out-flow hubs in the network. Unlike the results from the inter-personal social networks, the mention and retweet networks showed that the counties with the highest degree centralities also resulted being the counties with the highest betweenness centrality. Highly populated counties, such as Los Angeles and Sacramento, had very high betweenness centralities in both retweet and mention activity, which means that they served as the bridge and information broker for spreading information related to the vaccine exemption topic. This research is important because most vaccine literature is written from an epidemiological perspective and lacks a geographical component. This research presented an example of applying the spatial social network concept for studying the interaction dynamics between geographic areas. This research expanded studying inter-personal diffusion networks by adding a spatial component. The objective of this research was to study vaccine exemption use and information diffusion across a cyber-physical space in means of better understanding the dynamics of public opinions, views, and responses to the vaccine exemption topic. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

Information seeking for making evidence-informed decisions: a social network analysis on the staff of a public health department in Canada

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Social network analysis is an approach to study the interactions and exchange of resources among people. It can help understanding the underlying structural and behavioral complexities that influence the process of capacity building towards evidence-informed decision making. A social network analysis was conducted to understand if and how the staff of a public health department in Ontario turn to peers to get help incorporating research evidence into practice. Methods The staff were invited to respond to an online questionnaire inquiring about information seeking behavior, identification of colleague expertise, and friendship status. Three networks were developed based on the 170 participants. Overall shape, key indices, the most central people and brokers, and their characteristics were identified. Results The network analysis showed a low density and localized information-seeking network. Inter-personal connections were mainly clustered by organizational divisions; and people tended to limit information-seeking connections to a handful of peers in their division. However, recognition of expertise and friendship networks showed more cross-divisional connections. Members of the office of the Medical Officer of Health were located at the heart of the department, bridging across divisions. A small group of professional consultants and middle managers were the most-central staff in the network, also connecting their divisions to the center of the information-seeking network. In each division, there were some locally central staff, mainly practitioners, who connected their neighboring peers; but they were not necessarily connected to other experts or managers. Conclusions The methods of social network analysis were useful in providing a systems approach to understand how knowledge might flow in an organization. The findings of this study can be used to identify early adopters of knowledge translation interventions, forming Communities of Practice, and potential internal knowledge brokers. PMID:22591757

Maximising information recovery from rank-order codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sen, B.; Furber, S.

2007-04-01

The central nervous system encodes information in sequences of asynchronously generated voltage spikes, but the precise details of this encoding are not well understood. Thorpe proposed rank-order codes as an explanation of the observed speed of information processing in the human visual system. The work described in this paper is inspired by the performance of SpikeNET, a biologically inspired neural architecture using rank-order codes for information processing, and is based on the retinal model developed by VanRullen and Thorpe. This model mimics retinal information processing by passing an input image through a bank of Difference of Gaussian (DoG) filters and then encoding the resulting coefficients in rank-order. To test the effectiveness of this encoding in capturing the information content of an image, the rank-order representation is decoded to reconstruct an image that can be compared with the original. The reconstruction uses a look-up table to infer the filter coefficients from their rank in the encoded image. Since the DoG filters are approximately orthogonal functions, they are treated as their own inverses in the reconstruction process. We obtained a quantitative measure of the perceptually important information retained in the reconstructed image relative to the original using a slightly modified version of an objective metric proposed by Petrovic. It is observed that around 75% of the perceptually important information is retained in the reconstruction. In the present work we reconstruct the input using a pseudo-inverse of the DoG filter-bank with the aim of improving the reconstruction and thereby extracting more information from the rank-order encoded stimulus. We observe that there is an increase of 10 - 15% in the information retrieved from a reconstructed stimulus as a result of inverting the filter-bank.

Assessing the impact of case sensitivity and term information gain on biomedical concept recognition.

PubMed

Groza, Tudor; Verspoor, Karin

2015-01-01

Concept recognition (CR) is a foundational task in the biomedical domain. It supports the important process of transforming unstructured resources into structured knowledge. To date, several CR approaches have been proposed, most of which focus on a particular set of biomedical ontologies. Their underlying mechanisms vary from shallow natural language processing and dictionary lookup to specialized machine learning modules. However, no prior approach considers the case sensitivity characteristics and the term distribution of the underlying ontology on the CR process. This article proposes a framework that models the CR process as an information retrieval task in which both case sensitivity and the information gain associated with tokens in lexical representations (e.g., term labels, synonyms) are central components of a strategy for generating term variants. The case sensitivity of a given ontology is assessed based on the distribution of so-called case sensitive tokens in its terms, while information gain is modelled using a combination of divergence from randomness and mutual information. An extensive evaluation has been carried out using the CRAFT corpus. Experimental results show that case sensitivity awareness leads to an increase of up to 0.07 F1 against a non-case sensitive baseline on the Protein Ontology and GO Cellular Component. Similarly, the use of information gain leads to an increase of up to 0.06 F1 against a standard baseline in the case of GO Biological Process and Molecular Function and GO Cellular Component. Overall, subject to the underlying token distribution, these methods lead to valid complementary strategies for augmenting term label sets to improve concept recognition.

A Parallel and Distributed Processing Model of Joint Attention, Social-Cognition and Autism

PubMed Central

Mundy, Peter; Sullivan, Lisa; Mastergeorge, Ann M.

2009-01-01

Scientific Abstract The impaired development of joint attention is a cardinal feature of autism. Therefore, understanding the nature of joint attention is a central to research on this disorder. Joint attention may be best defined in terms of an information processing system that begins to develop by 4–6 months of age. This system integrates the parallel processing of internal information about one’s own visual attention with external information about the visual attention of other people. This type of joint encoding of information about self and other attention requires the activation of a distributed anterior and posterior cortical attention network. Genetic regulation, in conjunction with self-organizing behavioral activity guides the development of functional connectivity in this network. With practice in infancy the joint processing of self-other attention becomes automatically engaged as an executive function. It can be argued that this executive joint-attention is fundamental to human learning, as well as the development of symbolic thought, social-cognition and social-competence throughout the life span. One advantage of this parallel and distributed processing model of joint attention (PDPM) is that it directly connects theory on social pathology to a range of phenomenon in autism associated with neural connectivity, constructivist and connectionist models of cognitive development, early intervention, activity-dependent gene expression, and atypical ocular motor control. PMID:19358304

The Structure of Dark Matter Halos in Dwarf Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burkert, A.

1995-07-01

Recent observations indicate that dark matter halos have flat central density profiles. Cosmological simulations with nonbaryonic dark matter, however, predict self-similar halos with central density cusps. This contradiction has lead to the conclusion that dark matter must be baryonic. Here it is shown that the dark matter halos of dwarf spiral galaxies represent a one-parameter family with self-similar density profiles. The observed global halo parameters are coupled with each other through simple scaling relations which can be explained by the standard cold dark matter model if one assumes that all the halos formed from density fluctuations with the same primordial amplitude. We find that the finite central halo densities correlate with the other global parameters. This result rules out scenarios where the flat halo cores formed subsequently through violent dynamical processes in the baryonic component. These cores instead provide important information on the origin and nature of dark matter in dwarf galaxies.

Game Analysis of Water Pollution Control in China’s Watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shu Wen

2018-05-01

Water pollution in the river basin is an important environmental management problem in China. At present, China’s environmental governance has entered the policy game stage centered on related interests. There are two main focus areas. First, it aims to resolve the conflict between the central government, local governments, and enterprises in terms of the utilization of basin resources and the environment. Second, it is responsible for the implementation of environmental policy. By analyzing the relationships between the central government, local governments, and enterprises in the process of water pollution control in the river basin, this study examines the environmental regulation of the central government and the collusion between local governments and enterprises to pollute the environment. To achieve this, game theory is applied from the perspective of information economics. Lastly, the study proposes corresponding policy recommendations in order to get out of the “prisoner’s dilemma”.

Assistive technology for ultrasound-guided central venous catheter placement.

PubMed

Ikhsan, Mohammad; Tan, Kok Kiong; Putra, Andi Sudjana

2018-01-01

This study evaluated the existing technology used to improve the safety and ease of ultrasound-guided central venous catheterization. Electronic database searches were conducted in Scopus, IEEE, Google Patents, and relevant conference databases (SPIE, MICCAI, and IEEE conferences) for related articles on assistive technology for ultrasound-guided central venous catheterization. A total of 89 articles were examined and pointed to several fields that are currently the focus of improvements to ultrasound-guided procedures. These include improving needle visualization, needle guides and localization technology, image processing algorithms to enhance and segment important features within the ultrasound image, robotic assistance using probe-mounted manipulators, and improving procedure ergonomics through in situ projections of important information. Probe-mounted robotic manipulators provide a promising avenue for assistive technology developed for freehand ultrasound-guided percutaneous procedures. However, there is currently a lack of clinical trials to validate the effectiveness of these devices.

Lateralized hybrid faces: evidence of a valence-specific bias in the processing of implicit emotions.

PubMed

Prete, Giulia; Laeng, Bruno; Tommasi, Luca

2014-01-01

It is well known that hemispheric asymmetries exist for both the analyses of low-level visual information (such as spatial frequency) and high-level visual information (such as emotional expressions). In this study, we assessed which of the above factors underlies perceptual laterality effects with "hybrid faces": a type of stimulus that allows testing for unaware processing of emotional expressions, when the emotion is displayed in the low-frequency information while an image of the same face with a neutral expression is superimposed to it. Despite hybrid faces being perceived as neutral, the emotional information modulates observers' social judgements. In the present study, participants were asked to assess friendliness of hybrid faces displayed tachistoscopically, either centrally or laterally to fixation. We found a clear influence of the hidden emotions also with lateral presentations. Happy faces were rated as more friendly and angry faces as less friendly with respect to neutral faces. In general, hybrid faces were evaluated as less friendly when they were presented in the left visual field/right hemisphere than in the right visual field/left hemisphere. The results extend the validity of the valence hypothesis in the specific domain of unaware (subcortical) emotion processing.

Neighborhood comparison operator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gennery, Donald B. (Inventor)

1987-01-01

Digital values in a moving window are compared by an operator having nine comparators (18) connected to line buffers (16) for receiving a succession of central pixels together with eight neighborhood pixels. A single bit of program control determines whether the neighborhood pixels are to be compared with the central pixel or a threshold value. The central pixel is always compared with the threshold. The comparator output, plus 2 bits indicating odd-even pixel/line information about the central pixel, addresses a lookup table (20) to provide 14 bits of information, including 2 bits which control a selector (22) to pass either the central pixel value, the other 12 bits of table information, or the bit-wise logic OR of all neighboring pixels.

Central Satellite Data Repository Supporting Research and Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, W.; Brust, J.

2015-12-01

Near real-time satellite data is critical to many research and development activities of atmosphere, land, and ocean processes. Acquiring and managing huge volumes of satellite data without (or with less) latency in an organization is always a challenge in the big data age. An organization level data repository is a practical solution to meeting this challenge. The STAR (Center for Satellite Applications and Research of NOAA) Central Data Repository (SCDR) is a scalable, stable, and reliable repository to acquire, manipulate, and disseminate various types of satellite data in an effective and efficient manner. SCDR collects more than 200 data products, which are commonly used by multiple groups in STAR, from NOAA, GOES, Metop, Suomi NPP, Sentinel, Himawari, and other satellites. The processes of acquisition, recording, retrieval, organization, and dissemination are performed in parallel. Multiple data access interfaces, like FTP, FTPS, HTTP, HTTPS, and RESTful, are supported in the SCDR to obtain satellite data from their providers through high speed internet. The original satellite data in various raster formats can be parsed in the respective adapter to retrieve data information. The data information is ingested to the corresponding partitioned tables in the central database. All files are distributed equally on the Network File System (NFS) disks to balance the disk load. SCDR provides consistent interfaces (including Perl utility, portal, and RESTful Web service) to locate files of interest easily and quickly and access them directly by over 200 compute servers via NFS. SCDR greatly improves collection and integration of near real-time satellite data, addresses satellite data requirements of scientists and researchers, and facilitates their primary research and development activities.

Centralized operations and maintenance planning at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopez, Bernhard; Whyborn, Nicholas D.; Guniat, Serge; Hernandez, Octavio; Gairing, Stefan

2016-07-01

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a joint project between astronomical organizations in Europe, North America, and East Asia, in collaboration with the Republic of Chile. ALMA consists of 54 twelve-meter antennas and 12 seven-meter antennas operating as an aperture synthesis array in the (sub)millimeter wavelength range. Since the inauguration of the observatory back in March 2013 there has been a continuous effort to establish solid operations processes for effective and efficient management of technical and administrative tasks on site. Here a key aspect had been the centralized maintenance and operations planning: input is collected from science stakeholders, the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) and from the technical teams spread around the world, then this information is analyzed and consolidated based on the established maintenance strategy, the observatory long-term plan and the short-term priorities definitions. This paper presents the high-level process that has been developed for the planning and scheduling of planned- and unplanned maintenance tasks, and for site operations like the telescope array reconfiguration campaigns. We focus on the centralized planning approach by presenting its genesis, its current implementation for the observatory operations including related planning products, and we explore the necessary next steps in order to fully achieve a comprehensive centralized planning approach for ALMA in steady-state operations.

Document Examination: Applications of Image Processing Systems.

PubMed

Kopainsky, B

1989-12-01

Dealing with images is a familiar business for an expert in questioned documents: microscopic, photographic, infrared, and other optical techniques generate images containing the information he or she is looking for. A recent method for extracting most of this information is digital image processing, ranging from the simple contrast and contour enhancement to the advanced restoration of blurred texts. When combined with a sophisticated physical imaging system, an image pricessing system has proven to be a powerful and fast tool for routine non-destructive scanning of suspect documents. This article reviews frequent applications, comprising techniques to increase legibility, two-dimensional spectroscopy (ink discrimination, alterations, erased entries, etc.), comparison techniques (stamps, typescript letters, photo substitution), and densitometry. Computerized comparison of handwriting is not included. Copyright © 1989 Central Police University.

P300 event-related potentials in children with dyslexia.

PubMed

Papagiannopoulou, Eleni A; Lagopoulos, Jim

2017-04-01

To elucidate the timing and the nature of neural disturbances in dyslexia and to further understand the topographical distribution of these, we examined entire brain regions employing the non-invasive auditory oddball P300 paradigm in children with dyslexia and neurotypical controls. Our findings revealed abnormalities for the dyslexia group in (i) P300 latency, globally, but greatest in frontal brain regions and (ii) decreased P300 amplitude confined to the central brain regions (Fig. 1). These findings reflect abnormalities associated with a diminished capacity to process mental workload as well as delayed processing of this information in children with dyslexia. Furthermore, the topographical distribution of these findings suggests a distinct spatial distribution for the observed P300 abnormalities. This information may be useful in future therapeutic or brain stimulation intervention trials.

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

Lockwood, Jr., Neil; McLellan, Jason G; Crossley, Brian

The Resident Fish Stock Status above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams Project, commonly known as the Joint Stock Assessment Project (JSAP) is a management tool using ecosystem principles to manage artificial fish assemblages and native fish in altered environments existing in the Columbia River System above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams (blocked area). The three-phase approach of this project will enhance the fisheries resources of the blocked area by identifying data gaps, filling data gaps with research, and implementing management recommendations based on research results. The Blocked Area fisheries information housed in a central location will allow managersmore » to view the entire system while making decisions, rather than basing management decisions on isolated portions of the system. The JSAP (NWPPC program measure 10.8B.26) is designed and guided jointly by fisheries managers in the blocked area and the Columbia Basin blocked area management plan (1998). The initial year of the project (1997) identified the need for a central data storage and analysis facility, coordination with the StreamNet project, compilation of blocked area fisheries information, and a report on the ecological condition of the Spokane River System. These needs were addressed in 1998 by acquiring a central location with a data storage and analysis system, coordinating a pilot project with StreamNet, compiling fisheries distribution data throughout the blocked area, identifying data gaps based on compiled information, and researching the ecological condition of the Spokane River. In order to ensure that any additional information collected throughout the life of this project will be easily stored and manipulated by the central storage facility, it was necessary to develop standardized methodologies between the JSAP fisheries managers. The use of common collection and analytical tools is essential to the process of streamlining joint management decisions. In 1999 and 2000 the project began to address some of the identified data gaps, throughout the blocked area, with a variety of newly developed sampling projects, as well as, continuing with ongoing data collection of established projects.« less

Strengths and weaknesses in the implementation of maternal and perinatal death reviews in Tanzania: perceptions, processes and practice.

PubMed

Armstrong, C E; Lange, I L; Magoma, M; Ferla, C; Filippi, V; Ronsmans, C

2014-09-01

Tanzania institutionalised maternal and perinatal death reviews (MPDR) in 2006, yet there is scarce evidence on the extent and quality of implementation of the system. We reviewed the national policy documentation and explored stakeholders' involvement in, and perspectives of, the role and practices of MPDR in district and regional hospitals, and assessed current capacity for achieving MPDR. We reviewed the national MPDR guidelines and conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. Thirty-two informants in Mara Region were interviewed within health administration and hospitals, and five informants were included at the central level. Interviews were analysed for comparison of statements across health system level, hospital, profession and MPDR experience. The current MPDR system does not function adequately to either perform good quality reviews or fulfil the aspiration to capture every facility-based maternal and perinatal death. Informants at all levels express differing understandings of the purpose of MPDR. Hospital reviews fail to identify appropriate challenges and solutions at the facility level. Staff are committed to the process of maternal death review, with routine documentation and reporting, yet action and response are insufficient. The confusion between MPDR and maternal death surveillance and response results in a system geared towards data collection and surveillance, failing to explore challenges and solutions from within the remit of the hospital team. This reduces the accountability of the health workers and undermines opportunities to improve quality of care. We recommend initiatives to strengthen the quality of facility-level reviews in order to establish a culture of continuous quality of care improvement and a mechanism of accountability within facilities. Effective facility reviews are an important peer-learning process that should remain central to quality of care improvement strategies. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creating of Central Geospatial Database of the Slovak Republic and Procedures of its Revision

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miškolci, M.; Šafář, V.; Šrámková, R.

2016-06-01

The article describes the creation of initial three dimensional geodatabase from planning and designing through the determination of technological and manufacturing processes to practical using of Central Geospatial Database (CGD - official name in Slovak language is Centrálna Priestorová Databáza - CPD) and shortly describes procedures of its revision. CGD ensures proper collection, processing, storing, transferring and displaying of digital geospatial information. CGD is used by Ministry of Defense (MoD) for defense and crisis management tasks and by Integrated rescue system. For military personnel CGD is run on MoD intranet, and for other users outside of MoD is transmutated to ZbGIS (Primary Geodatabase of Slovak Republic) and is run on public web site. CGD is a global set of geo-spatial information. CGD is a vector computer model which completely covers entire territory of Slovakia. Seamless CGD is created by digitizing of real world using of photogrammetric stereoscopic methods and measurements of objects properties. Basic vector model of CGD (from photogrammetric processing) is then taken out to the field for inspection and additional gathering of objects properties in the whole area of mapping. Finally real-world objects are spatially modeled as a entities of three-dimensional database. CGD gives us opportunity, to get know the territory complexly in all the three spatial dimensions. Every entity in CGD has recorded the time of collection, which allows the individual to assess the timeliness of information. CGD can be utilized for the purposes of geographical analysis, geo-referencing, cartographic purposes as well as various special-purpose mapping and has the ambition to cover the needs not only the MoD, but to become a reference model for the national geographical infrastructure.

Exploring how different modes of governance act across health system levels to influence primary healthcare facility managers' use of information in decision-making: experience from Cape Town, South Africa.

PubMed

Scott, Vera; Gilson, Lucy

2017-09-15

Governance, which includes decision-making at all levels of the health system, and information have been identified as key, interacting levers of health system strengthening. However there is an extensive literature detailing the challenges of supporting health managers to use formal information from health information systems (HISs) in their decision-making. While health information needs differ across levels of the health system there has been surprisingly little empirical work considering what information is actually used by primary healthcare facility managers in managing, and making decisions about, service delivery. This paper, therefore, specifically examines experience from Cape Town, South Africa, asking the question: How is primary healthcare facility managers' use of information for decision-making influenced by governance across levels of the health system? The research is novel in that it both explores what information these facility managers actually use in decision-making, and considers how wider governance processes influence this information use. An academic researcher and four facility managers worked as co-researchers in a multi-case study in which three areas of management were served as the cases. There were iterative cycles of data collection and collaborative analysis with individual and peer reflective learning over a period of three years. Central governance shaped what information and knowledge was valued - and, therefore, generated and used at lower system levels. The central level valued formal health information generated in the district-based HIS which therefore attracted management attention across the levels of the health system in terms of design, funding and implementation. This information was useful in the top-down practices of planning and management of the public health system. However, in facilities at the frontline of service delivery, there was a strong requirement for local, disaggregated information and experiential knowledge to make locally-appropriate and responsive decisions, and to perform the people management tasks required. Despite central level influences, modes of governance operating at the subdistrict level had influence over what information was valued, generated and used locally. Strengthening local level managers' ability to create enabling environments is an important leverage point in supporting informed local decision-making, and, in turn, translating national policies and priorities, including equity goals, into appropriate service delivery practices.

Conflict Tasks of Different Types Divergently Affect the Attentional Processing of Gaze and Arrow.

PubMed

Fan, Lingxia; Yu, Huan; Zhang, Xuemin; Feng, Qing; Sun, Mengdan; Xu, Mengsi

2018-01-01

The present study explored the attentional processing mechanisms of gaze and arrow cues in two different types of conflict tasks. In Experiment 1, participants performed a flanker task in which gaze and arrow cues were presented as central targets or bilateral distractors. The congruency between the direction of the target and the distractors was manipulated. Results showed that arrow distractors greatly interfered with the attentional processing of gaze, while the processing of arrow direction was immune to conflict from gaze distractors. Using a spatial compatibility task, Experiment 2 explored the conflict effects exerted on gaze and arrow processing by their relative spatial locations. When the direction of the arrow was in conflict with its spatial layout on screen, response times were slowed; however, the encoding of gaze was unaffected by spatial location. In general, processing to an arrow cue is less influenced by bilateral gaze cues but is affected by irrelevant spatial information, while processing to a gaze cue is greatly disturbed by bilateral arrows but is unaffected by irrelevant spatial information. Different effects on gaze and arrow cues by different types of conflicts may reflect two relatively distinct specific modes of the attentional process.

Cognitive and behavioural assessment of people with traumatic brain injury in the work place: occupational therapists' perceptions.

PubMed

Bootes, Kylie; Chapparo, Christine J

2002-01-01

Cognitive and behavioural impairments, in the absence of severe physical disability, are commonly related to poor return to work outcomes for people with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Along with other health professionals, occupational therapists make judgements about cognitive and behavioural dimensions of work capacity of clients with TBI during the return to work process. Unlike many physical functional capacity evaluations, there is no standard method that therapists use to assess the ability of people with TBI to perform cognitive operations required for work. Little is known about what information occupational therapists use in their assessment of cognitive and behavioural aspects of client performance within the work place. This study employed qualitative research methods to determine what information is utilised by 20 therapists who assess the work capacity of people with TBI in the workplace. Results indicated that the process of making judgements about cognitive and behavioural competence within the work place is a multifaceted process. Therapists triangulate client information from multiple sources and types of data to produce an accurate view of client work capacity. Central to this process is the relationship between the client, the job and the work environment.

Dominance of objects over context in a mediotemporal lobe model of schizophrenia.

PubMed

Talamini, Lucia M; Meeter, Martijn

2009-08-04

A large body of evidence suggests impaired context processing in schizophrenia. Here we propose that this impairment arises from defective integration of mediotemporal 'what' and 'where' routes, carrying object and spatial information to the hippocampus. We have previously shown, in a mediotemporal lobe (MTL) model, that the abnormal connectivity between MTL regions observed in schizophrenia can explain the episodic memory deficits associated with the disorder. Here we show that the same neuropathology leads to several context processing deficits observed in patients with schizophrenia: 1) failure to choose subordinate stimuli over dominant ones when the former fit the context, 2) decreased contextual constraints in memory retrieval, as reflected in increased false alarm rates and 3) impaired retrieval of contextual information in source monitoring. Model analyses show that these deficits occur because the 'schizophrenic MTL' forms fragmented episodic representations, in which objects are overrepresented at the expense of spatial contextual information. These findings highlight the importance of MTL neuropathology in schizophrenia, demonstrating that it may underlie a broad spectrum of deficits, including context processing and memory impairments. It is argued that these processing deficits may contribute to central schizophrenia symptoms such as contextually inappropriate behavior, associative abnormalities, conversational drift, concreteness and delusions.

Functional neuroanatomy of the rhinophore of Archidoris pseudoargus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wertz, Adrian; Rössler, Wolfgang; Obermayer, Malu; Bickmeyer, Ulf

2007-06-01

For sea slugs, chemosensory information represents an important sensory modality, because optical and acoustical information are limited. In the present study, we focussed on the neuroanatomy of the rhinophores and processing of olfactory stimuli in the rhinophore ganglion of Archidoris pseudoargus, belonging to the order of Nudibranchia in the subclass of Opisthobranchia. Histological techniques, fluorescent markers, and immunohistochemistry were used to analyse neuroanatomical features of the rhinophore. A large ganglion and a prominent central lymphatic channel are surrounded by longitudinal muscles. Many serotonin-immunoreactive (IR) processes were found around the centre and between the ganglion and the highly folded lobes of the rhinophore, but serotonin-IR cell bodies were absent inside the rhinophore. In contrast to the conditions recently found in Aplysia punctata, we found no evidence for the presence of olfactory glomeruli within the rhinophore. Using calcium-imaging techniques with Fura II as a calcium indicator, we found differential calcium responses in various regions within the ganglion to stimulation of the rhinophore with different amino acids. The lack of glomeruli in the rhinophores induces functional questions about processing of chemical information in the rhinophore.

Visuospatial bootstrapping: Binding useful visuospatial information during verbal working memory encoding does not require set-shifting executive resources.

PubMed

Calia, Clara; Darling, Stephen; Havelka, Jelena; Allen, Richard J

2018-05-01

Immediate serial recall of digits is better when the digits are shown by highlighting them in a familiar array, such as a phone keypad, compared with presenting them serially in a single location, a pattern referred to as "visuospatial bootstrapping." This pattern implies the establishment of temporary links between verbal and spatial working memory, alongside access to information in long-term memory. However, the role of working memory control processes like those implied by the "Central Executive" in bootstrapping has not been directly investigated. Here, we report a study addressing this issue, focusing on executive processes of attentional shifting. Tasks in which information has to be sequenced are thought to be heavily dependent on shifting. Memory for digits presented in keypads versus single locations was assessed under two secondary task load conditions, one with and one without a sequencing requirement, and hence differing in the degree to which they invoke shifting. Results provided clear evidence that multimodal binding (visuospatial bootstrapping) can operate independently of this form of executive control process.

Nurses' professionalism in Canada: a labor process analysis.

PubMed

Campbell, M L

1992-01-01

This article draws on a body of research conducted by the author over the past ten years on the social organization of nursing work. It explores questions surrounding nurses' contemporary labor process control and its meaning for nurses' professionalization and proletarianization. Both are dynamic processes, changing as public administration of the Canadian health care system changes and as nurses are successful in winning more complete self-regulation. Nurses are currently being articulated more and more securely to dominant ideas of public sector management through textually mediated technologies. Nurses find new upwardly mobile careers and challenging, responsible, and more respected work. However, as the generation of objective information for professional accountability, cost-accounting, and managerial decision-making becomes unified in computerized patient information systems, producing and using such information becomes a central and determining core of everyday nursing work. It organizes nurses into a "managed" practice of patient care, contradictory for them in many ways. Outstanding among these contradictions is a new professionalized standpoint of cost-efficiency that subordinates nurses' traditional interests and grounding of their work in the standpoint of care.

Negative Emotion Weakens the Degree of Self-Reference Effect: Evidence from ERPs

PubMed Central

Fan, Wei; Zhong, Yiping; Li, Jin; Yang, Zilu; Zhan, Youlong; Cai, Ronghua; Fu, Xiaolan

2016-01-01

We investigated the influence of negative emotion on the degree of self-reference effect using event-related potentials (ERPs). We presented emotional pictures and self-referential stimuli (stimuli that accelerate and improve processing and improve memory of information related to an individual’s self-concept) in sequence. Participants judged the color of the target stimulus (self-referential stimuli). ERP results showed that the target stimuli elicited larger P2 amplitudes under neutral conditions than under negative emotional conditions. Under neutral conditions, N2 amplitudes for highly self-relevant names (target stimulus) were smaller than those for any other names. Under negative emotional conditions, highly and moderately self-referential stimuli activated smaller N2 amplitudes. P3 amplitudes activated by self-referential processing under negative emotional conditions were smaller than neutral conditions. In the left and central sites, highly self-relevant names activated larger P3 amplitudes than any other names. But in the central sites, moderately self-relevant names activated larger P3 amplitudes than non-self-relevant names. The findings indicate that negative emotional processing could weaken the degree of self-reference effect. PMID:27733836

New strategies in drug discovery.

PubMed

Ohlstein, Eliot H; Johnson, Anthony G; Elliott, John D; Romanic, Anne M

2006-01-01

Gene identification followed by determination of the expression of genes in a given disease and understanding of the function of the gene products is central to the drug discovery process. The ability to associate a specific gene with a disease can be attributed primarily to the extraordinary progress that has been made in the areas of gene sequencing and information technologies. Selection and validation of novel molecular targets have become of great importance in light of the abundance of new potential therapeutic drug targets that have emerged from human gene sequencing. In response to this revolution within the pharmaceutical industry, the development of high-throughput methods in both biology and chemistry has been necessitated. Further, the successful translation of basic scientific discoveries into clinical experimental medicine and novel therapeutics is an increasing challenge. As such, a new paradigm for drug discovery has emerged. This process involves the integration of clinical, genetic, genomic, and molecular phenotype data partnered with cheminformatics. Central to this process, the data generated are managed, collated, and interpreted with the use of informatics. This review addresses the use of new technologies that have arisen to deal with this new paradigm.

The impact of systemic cortical alterations on perception

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zheng

2011-12-01

Perception is the process of transmitting and interpreting sensory information, and the primary somatosensory (SI) area in the human cortex is the main sensory receptive area for the sensation of touch. The elaborate neuroanatomical connectivity that subserves the neuronal communication between adjacent and near-adjacent regions within sensory cortex has been widely recognized to be essential to normal sensory function. As a result, systemic cortical alterations that impact the cortical regional interaction, as associated with many neurological disorders, are expected to have significant impact on sensory perception. Recently, our research group has developed a novel sensory diagnostic system that employs quantitative sensory testing methods and is able to non-invasively assess central nervous system healthy status. The intent of this study is to utilize quantitative sensory testing methods that were designed to generate discriminable perception to objectively and quantitatively assess the impacts of different conditions on human sensory information processing capacity. The correlation between human perceptions with observations from animal research enables a better understanding of the underlying neurophysiology of human perception. Additional findings on different subject populations provide valuable insight of the underlying mechanisms for the development and maintenance of different neurological diseases. During the course of the study, several protocols were designed and utilized. And this set of sensory-based perceptual metrics was employed to study the effects of different conditions (non-noxious thermal stimulation, chronic pain stage, and normal aging) on sensory perception. It was found that these conditions result in significant deviations of the subjects' tactile information processing capacities from normal values. Although the observed shift of sensory detection sensitivity could be a result of enhanced peripheral activity, the changes in the effects of adaptation most likely reflect changes in central nervous system. The findings in this work provide valuable information for better understanding the underlying mechanisms involved in the development and maintenance of different neurological conditions.

Exposed Fractured Bedrock in the Central Pit of a Crater

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-11-09

This HiRISE image shows the central pit feature of an approximately 20-kilometer diameter complex crater in located at 304.480 degrees east, -11.860 degrees south, just north of the Valles Marineris. Here we can observe a partial ring of light-toned, massive and fractured bedrock, which has been exposed by the impact-forming event, and via subsequent erosion that typically obscure the bedrock of complex central features. Features such as this one are of particular interest as they provide scientists with numerous exposures of bedrock that can be readily observed from orbit and originate from the deep Martian subsurface. Unlike on Earth, plate tectonics do not appear to be active on Mars. Thus, much of the Martian subsurface is not directly observable through uplift, erosion and exposure of mountain chains, which provide the majority of bedrock exposures on Earth. Exposures of subsurface materials generated by these features provides us with some of the only "windows" into the subsurface geology. This makes the study of impact craters an invaluable source of information when trying to understand, not only the impact process, but also the composition and history of Mars. Although much of what we see here is composed of massive and fractured bedrock, there are zones of rock fragmentation, called "brecciation." These fragmented rocks (a.k.a., breccias) are best viewed in the eastern portion of the central pit, which was captured in a previous HiRISE image. Additionally, we see some occurrences of impact melt-bearing deposits that surround and coat the bedrock exposed within the central pit. Several dunes are on the surface throughout the central pit and surrounding crater floor. The mechanisms behind the formation of central features, particularly central pits, are not completely understood. Geologic mapping of these circumferential "mega" blocks of bedrock indicate radial and concentric fracturing that is consistent with deformation through uplift. The exposed bedrock shows well-expressed lineament features that are likely fractures and faults formed during the uplift process. Studies of the bedrock, and such structures in this image, allows us better to understand the formative events and physical processes responsible for their formation. Current research suggests that their formation is the result of some component of uplift followed by collapse. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21205

Centralized drug review processes: are they fair?

PubMed

Mitton, Craig R; McMahon, Meghan; Morgan, Steve; Gibson, Jennifer

2006-07-01

Numerous countries have implemented centralized drug review processes to assist in making drug coverage decisions. In addition to examining the final recommendations of these bodies, it is also important to ensure fairness in decision making. Accountability for reasonableness is an ethics-based framework for examining the fairness of priority setting processes. The objective of this study was to assess the fairness of four internationally established centralized drug review processes using accountability for reasonableness. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with stakeholders in Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the UK (n=16). Participants were asked to evaluate their country's centralized drug review process against the four conditions of accountability for reasonableness. Each centralized drug review process satisfied at least one of the four ethical conditions, but none satisfied all four conditions. All participants viewed transparency as critical to both the legitimacy and fairness of centralized drug review processes. Additional strides need to be made in each of the four countries under study to improve the fairness of their centralized drug review processes. Ideally, a fair priority setting process should foster constructive stakeholder engagement and enhance the legitimacy of decisions made in assessing pharmaceutical products for funding. As policy makers are under increasing scrutiny in allocating limited resources, fair process should be seen as a critical component of such activity. This study represents the first attempt to conduct an international comparison of the fairness of centralized drug review agencies in the eyes of participating stakeholders.

The Structures of Centralized Governmental Privacy Protection: Approaches, Models, and Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaeger, Paul T.; McClure, Charles R.; Fraser, Bruce T.

2002-01-01

Asserts that the federal government should adopt a centralized governmental structure for the privacy protection of personal information and data. Discusses the roles of federal law, federal agencies, and the judiciary; the concept of information privacy; the impact of current technologies; and models of centralized government structures for…

Centralized Authorization Using a Direct Service, Part II

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

Wachsmann, A

Authorization is the process of deciding if entity X is allowed to have access to resource Y. Determining the identity of X is the job of the authentication process. One task of authorization in computer networks is to define and determine which user has access to which computers in the network. On Linux, the tendency exists to create a local account for each single user who should be allowed to logon to a computer. This is typically the case because a user not only needs login privileges to a computer but also additional resources like a home directory to actuallymore » do some work. Creating a local account on every computer takes care of all this. The problem with this approach is that these local accounts can be inconsistent with each other. The same user name could have a different user ID and/or group ID on different computers. Even more problematic is when two different accounts share the same user ID and group ID on different computers: User joe on computer1 could have user ID 1234 and group ID 56 and user jane on computer2 could have the same user ID 1234 and group ID 56. This is a big security risk in case shared resources like NFS are used. These two different accounts are the same for an NFS server so that these users can wipe out each other's files. The solution to this inconsistency problem is to have only one central, authoritative data source for this kind of information and a means of providing all your computers with access to this central source. This is what a ''Directory Service'' is. The two directory services most widely used for centralizing authorization data are the Network Information Service (NIS, formerly known as Yellow Pages or YP) and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).« less

ONR (Office of Naval Research) Far East Scientific Information Bulletin. Volume 14, Number 1, January-March 1989

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-03-01

central meanings, traced in the Western classics and Indo-European for subsequent etymological development, comparative linguistics, Dr. Thieme has and...properties at reasonable costs. diamond films, processing conditions for Diamond for industrial applications the fabrication of diamond films, applica- is... applications such as diamondlike films, are beginning to reach heat sinks will also become economically the industrial marketplace. The precise feasible

Information Processing Research

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-01-01

the Hitech chess machine, which achieves its success from parallelism in the right places. Hitech has now reached a National rating of 2359, making it...outset that success depended on building real systems and subjecting them to use by a large number of faculty and students within the Department. We...central server workstations each acting as a host for a Warp machine, and a few Warp multiprocessors. The command interpreter is executed in Lisp on

The gustatory system of lampreys.

PubMed

Barreiro-Iglesias, Antón; Anadón, Ramón; Rodicio, María Celina

2010-01-01

The present is a review of the gustatory system of lampreys, which are representative of the earliest vertebrates. They are the oldest extant vertebrates that possess taste buds. Because of the phylogenetic position of lampreys, the study of their gustatory system will provide important information to help understand the early evolution of this system in vertebrates. The taste buds of larval lampreys, which are papillae located on the first six pairs of gill arches facing the water current, respond to classical taste substances. They consist of two types of tall differentiated cells, serotonergic biciliated taste receptors ('light' cells) and microvillous sustentacular cells ('dark cells'). The taste buds also contain basal proliferative cells. Afferent gustatory fibers of the glossopharyngeal and vagal nerves innervate the taste buds of lampreys and contact the basal surface of the biciliated cells without entering the bud. Central processes of the glossopharyngeal and vagal cranial nerves terminate in a caudal rhombencephalic region that may correspond to the nucleus of the solitary tract of gnathostomes. To date, most studies in lampreys have focused on characterizing taste buds; future research should focus on the central processing of the gustatory information. Here we will review the current knowledge about the gustatory system of lampreys to provide a basis for establishing the direction of further studies of this chemosensory system. Copyright 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Are central institutional review boards the solution? The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Working Group's report on optimizing the IRB process.

PubMed

Mascette, Alice M; Bernard, Gordon R; Dimichele, Donna; Goldner, Jesse A; Harrington, Robert; Harris, Paul A; Leeds, Hilary S; Pearson, Thomas A; Ramsey, Bonnie; Wagner, Todd H

2012-12-01

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health convened a working group in June 2011 to examine alternative institutional review board (IRB) models. The working group was held in response to proposed changes in the regulations for government-supported research and the proliferation of multicenter clinical trials where multiple individual reviews may be inefficient. Group members included experts in heart, lung, and blood research, research oversight, bioethics, health economics, regulations, and information technology (IT). The group discussed alternative IRB models, ethical concerns, metrics for evaluating IRBs, IT needs, and economic considerations. Participants noted research gaps in IRB best practices and in metrics. The group arrived at recommendations for process changes, such as defining specific IRB performance requirements in funding announcements, requiring funded researchers to use more efficient alternative IRB models, and developing IT systems to facilitate information sharing and collaboration among IRBs. Despite the success of the National Cancer Institute's central IRB (CIRB), the working group, concerned about the creation costs and unknown cost-efficiency of a new CIRB, and about the risk of shifting the burden of dealing with multiple IRBs from sponsors to research institutions, did not recommend the creation of an NHLBI-funded CIRB.

Working memory activation of neural networks in the elderly as a function of information processing phase and task complexity.

PubMed

Charroud, Céline; Steffener, Jason; Le Bars, Emmanuelle; Deverdun, Jérémy; Bonafe, Alain; Abdennour, Meriem; Portet, Florence; Molino, François; Stern, Yaakov; Ritchie, Karen; Menjot de Champfleur, Nicolas; Akbaraly, Tasnime N

2015-11-01

Changes in working memory are sensitive indicators of both normal and pathological brain aging and associated disability. The present study aims to further understanding of working memory in normal aging using a large cohort of healthy elderly in order to examine three separate phases of information processing in relation to changes in task load activation. Using covariance analysis, increasing and decreasing neural activation was observed on fMRI in response to a delayed item recognition task in 337 cognitively healthy elderly persons as part of the CRESCENDO (Cognitive REServe and Clinical ENDOphenotypes) study. During three phases of the task (stimulation, retention, probe), increased activation was observed with increasing task load in bilateral regions of the prefrontal cortex, parietal lobule, cingulate gyrus, insula and in deep gray matter nuclei, suggesting an involvement of central executive and salience networks. Decreased activation associated with increasing task load was observed during the stimulation phase, in bilateral temporal cortex, parietal lobule, cingulate gyrus and prefrontal cortex. This spatial distribution of decreased activation is suggestive of the default mode network. These findings support the hypothesis of an increased activation in salience and central executive networks and a decreased activation in default mode network concomitant to increasing task load. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Visual Predictions in the Orbitofrontal Cortex Rely on Associative Content

PubMed Central

Chaumon, Maximilien; Kveraga, Kestutis; Barrett, Lisa Feldman; Bar, Moshe

2014-01-01

Predicting upcoming events from incomplete information is an essential brain function. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) plays a critical role in this process by facilitating recognition of sensory inputs via predictive feedback to sensory cortices. In the visual domain, the OFC is engaged by low spatial frequency (LSF) and magnocellular-biased inputs, but beyond this, we know little about the information content required to activate it. Is the OFC automatically engaged to analyze any LSF information for meaning? Or is it engaged only when LSF information matches preexisting memory associations? We tested these hypotheses and show that only LSF information that could be linked to memory associations engages the OFC. Specifically, LSF stimuli activated the OFC in 2 distinct medial and lateral regions only if they resembled known visual objects. More identifiable objects increased activity in the medial OFC, known for its function in affective responses. Furthermore, these objects also increased the connectivity of the lateral OFC with the ventral visual cortex, a crucial region for object identification. At the interface between sensory, memory, and affective processing, the OFC thus appears to be attuned to the associative content of visual information and to play a central role in visuo-affective prediction. PMID:23771980

The quantum mitochondrion and optimal health.

PubMed

Nunn, Alistair V W; Guy, Geoffrey W; Bell, Jimmy D

2016-08-15

A sufficiently complex set of molecules, if subject to perturbation, will self-organize and show emergent behaviour. If such a system can take on information it will become subject to natural selection. This could explain how self-replicating molecules evolved into life and how intelligence arose. A pivotal step in this evolutionary process was of course the emergence of the eukaryote and the advent of the mitochondrion, which both enhanced energy production per cell and increased the ability to process, store and utilize information. Recent research suggest that from its inception life embraced quantum effects such as 'tunnelling' and 'coherence' while competition and stressful conditions provided a constant driver for natural selection. We believe that the biphasic adaptive response to stress described by hormesis-a process that captures information to enable adaptability, is central to this whole process. Critically, hormesis could improve mitochondrial quantum efficiency, improving the ATP/ROS ratio, whereas inflammation, which is tightly associated with the aging process, might do the opposite. This all suggests that to achieve optimal health and healthy aging, one has to sufficiently stress the system to ensure peak mitochondrial function, which itself could reflect selection of optimum efficiency at the quantum level. © 2016 The Author(s). published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

A pragmatics' view of patient identification.

PubMed

Lichtner, Valentina; Galliers, Julia R; Wilson, Stephanie

2010-10-01

Patient identification is a central safety critical aspect of healthcare work. Most healthcare activities require identification of patients by healthcare staff, often in connection with the use of patient records. Indeed, the increasing reliance on electronic systems makes the correct matching of patients with their records a keystone for patient safety. Most research on patient identification has been carried out in hospital settings. The aim was to investigate the process of identification of patients and their records in the context of a primary healthcare clinic. A qualitative field study was carried out at a Walk-In Centre in London (UK). The identification of patients and their records was found to be a context-dependent process, both when formalised in procedures and when relying on informal practices. The authors discovered a range of formal and informal patient identifiers were used in this setting, depending on the task at hand. The theoretical lens of Pragmatics was applied to offer an explanation of this identification process. Context provides the cognitive scaffolding for a process of 'suitably constrained guesswork' about the identity of patients and their records. Implications for practice and for system design are discussed. Practitioners and technology designers should be aware of the risk for misidentifications inherent in this natural information processing activity.

Exploring the process of capacity-building among community-based health promotion workers in Alberta, Canada.

PubMed

Montemurro, Genevieve R; Raine, Kim D; Nykiforuk, Candace I J; Mayan, Maria

2014-09-01

Community capacity-building is a central element to health promotion. While capacity-building features, domains and relationships to program sustainability have been well examined, information on the process of capacity-building as experienced by practitioners is needed. This study examined this process as experienced by coordinators working within a community-based chronic disease prevention project implemented in four communities in Alberta (Canada) from 2005-2010 using a case study approach with a mixed-method design. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews, a focus group and program documents tracking coordinator activity. Qualitative analysis followed the constant comparative method using open, axial and selective coding. Quantitative data were analyzed for frequency of major activity distribution. Capacity-building process involves distinct stages of networking, information exchange, partnering, prioritizing, planning/implementing and supporting/ sustaining. Stages are incremental though not always linear. Contextual factors exert a great influence on the process. Implications for research, practice and policy are discussed. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Creative thinking as orchestrated by semantic processing vs. cognitive control brain networks

PubMed Central

Abraham, Anna

2014-01-01

Creativity is primarily investigated within the neuroscientific perspective as a unitary construct. While such an approach is beneficial when trying to infer the general picture regarding creativity and brain function, it is insufficient if the objective is to uncover the information processing brain mechanisms by which creativity occurs. As creative thinking emerges through the dynamic interplay between several cognitive processes, assessing the neural correlates of these operations would enable the development and characterization of an information processing framework from which to better understand this complex ability. This article focuses on two aspects of creative cognition that are central to generating original ideas. “Conceptual expansion” refers to the ability to widen one’s conceptual structures to include unusual or novel associations, while “overcoming knowledge constraints” refers to our ability to override the constraining influence imposed by salient or pertinent knowledge when trying to be creative. Neuroimaging and neuropsychological evidence is presented to illustrate how semantic processing and cognitive control networks in the brain differentially modulate these critical facets of creative cognition. PMID:24605098

Neighborhood comparison operator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gennery, D. B. (Inventor)

1985-01-01

Digital values in a moving window are compared by an operator having nine comparators connected to line buffers for receiving a succession of central pixels together with eight neighborhood pixels. A single bit of program control determines whether the neighborhood pixels are to be compared with the central pixel or a threshold value. The central pixel is always compared with the threshold. The omparator output plus 2 bits indicating odd-even pixel/line information about the central pixel addresses a lookup table to provide 14 bits of information, including 2 bits which control a selector to pass either the central pixel value, the other 12 bits of table information, or the bit-wise logical OR of all nine pixels through circuit that implements a very wide OR gate.

Regional Neural Response Differences in the Determination of Faces or Houses Positioned in a Wide Visual Field

PubMed Central

Wu, Jinglong; Chen, Kewei; Imajyo, Satoshi; Ohno, Seiichiro; Kanazawa, Susumu

2013-01-01

In human visual cortex, the primary visual cortex (V1) is considered to be essential for visual information processing; the fusiform face area (FFA) and parahippocampal place area (PPA) are considered as face-selective region and places-selective region, respectively. Recently, a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study showed that the neural activity ratios between V1 and FFA were constant as eccentricities increasing in central visual field. However, in wide visual field, the neural activity relationships between V1 and FFA or V1 and PPA are still unclear. In this work, using fMRI and wide-view present system, we tried to address this issue by measuring neural activities in V1, FFA and PPA for the images of faces and houses aligning in 4 eccentricities and 4 meridians. Then, we further calculated ratio relative to V1 (RRV1) as comparing the neural responses amplitudes in FFA or PPA with those in V1. We found V1, FFA, and PPA showed significant different neural activities to faces and houses in 3 dimensions of eccentricity, meridian, and region. Most importantly, the RRV1s in FFA and PPA also exhibited significant differences in 3 dimensions. In the dimension of eccentricity, both FFA and PPA showed smaller RRV1s at central position than those at peripheral positions. In meridian dimension, both FFA and PPA showed larger RRV1s at upper vertical positions than those at lower vertical positions. In the dimension of region, FFA had larger RRV1s than PPA. We proposed that these differential RRV1s indicated FFA and PPA might have different processing strategies for encoding the wide field visual information from V1. These different processing strategies might depend on the retinal position at which faces or houses are typically observed in daily life. We posited a role of experience in shaping the information processing strategies in the ventral visual cortex. PMID:23991147

Centralized Duplicate Removal Video Storage System with Privacy Preservation in IoT.

PubMed

Yan, Hongyang; Li, Xuan; Wang, Yu; Jia, Chunfu

2018-06-04

In recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has found wide application and attracted much attention. Since most of the end-terminals in IoT have limited capabilities for storage and computing, it has become a trend to outsource the data from local to cloud computing. To further reduce the communication bandwidth and storage space, data deduplication has been widely adopted to eliminate the redundant data. However, since data collected in IoT are sensitive and closely related to users' personal information, the privacy protection of users' information becomes a challenge. As the channels, like the wireless channels between the terminals and the cloud servers in IoT, are public and the cloud servers are not fully trusted, data have to be encrypted before being uploaded to the cloud. However, encryption makes the performance of deduplication by the cloud server difficult because the ciphertext will be different even if the underlying plaintext is identical. In this paper, we build a centralized privacy-preserving duplicate removal storage system, which supports both file-level and block-level deduplication. In order to avoid the leakage of statistical information of data, Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) technology is utilized to protect the deduplication process on the cloud server. The results of the experimental analysis demonstrate that the new scheme can significantly improve the deduplication efficiency and enhance the security. It is envisioned that the duplicated removal system with privacy preservation will be of great use in the centralized storage environment of IoT.

Investigating action understanding: inferential processes versus action simulation.

PubMed

Brass, Marcel; Schmitt, Ruth M; Spengler, Stephanie; Gergely, György

2007-12-18

In our daily life, we continuously monitor others' behaviors and interpret them in terms of goals, intentions, and reasons. Despite their central importance for predicting and interpreting each other's actions, the functional mechanisms and neural circuits involved in action understanding remain highly controversial. Two alternative accounts have been advanced. Simulation theory assumes that we understand actions by simulating the observed behavior through a direct matching process that activates the mirror-neuron circuit. The alternative interpretive account assumes that action understanding is based on specialized inferential processes activating brain areas with no mirror properties. Although both approaches recognize the central role of contextual information in specifying action intentions, their respective accounts of this process differ in significant respects. Here, we investigated the role of context in action understanding by using functional brain imaging while participants observed an unusual action in implausible versus plausible contexts. We show that brain areas that are part of a network involved in inferential interpretive processes of rationalization and mentalization but that lack mirror properties are more active when the action occurs in an implausible context. However, no differential activation was found in the mirror network. Our findings support the assumption that action understanding in novel situations is primarily mediated by an inferential interpretive system rather than the mirror system.

Synaptic unreliability facilitates information transmission in balanced cortical populations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gatys, Leon A.; Ecker, Alexander S.; Tchumatchenko, Tatjana; Bethge, Matthias

2015-06-01

Synaptic unreliability is one of the major sources of biophysical noise in the brain. In the context of neural information processing, it is a central question how neural systems can afford this unreliability. Here we examine how synaptic noise affects signal transmission in cortical circuits, where excitation and inhibition are thought to be tightly balanced. Surprisingly, we find that in this balanced state synaptic response variability actually facilitates information transmission, rather than impairing it. In particular, the transmission of fast-varying signals benefits from synaptic noise, as it instantaneously increases the amount of information shared between presynaptic signal and postsynaptic current. Furthermore we show that the beneficial effect of noise is based on a very general mechanism which contrary to stochastic resonance does not reach an optimum at a finite noise level.

A hybrid system identification methodology for wireless structural health monitoring systems based on dynamic substructuring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dragos, Kosmas; Smarsly, Kay

2016-04-01

System identification has been employed in numerous structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. Traditional system identification methods usually rely on centralized processing of structural response data to extract information on structural parameters. However, in wireless SHM systems the centralized processing of structural response data introduces a significant communication bottleneck. Exploiting the merits of decentralization and on-board processing power of wireless SHM systems, many system identification methods have been successfully implemented in wireless sensor networks. While several system identification approaches for wireless SHM systems have been proposed, little attention has been paid to obtaining information on the physical parameters (e.g. stiffness, damping) of the monitored structure. This paper presents a hybrid system identification methodology suitable for wireless sensor networks based on the principles of component mode synthesis (dynamic substructuring). A numerical model of the monitored structure is embedded into the wireless sensor nodes in a distributed manner, i.e. the entire model is segmented into sub-models, each embedded into one sensor node corresponding to the substructure the sensor node is assigned to. The parameters of each sub-model are estimated by extracting local mode shapes and by applying the equations of the Craig-Bampton method on dynamic substructuring. The proposed methodology is validated in a laboratory test conducted on a four-story frame structure to demonstrate the ability of the methodology to yield accurate estimates of stiffness parameters. Finally, the test results are discussed and an outlook on future research directions is provided.

Intensity-based segmentation and visualization of cells in 3D microscopic images using the GPU

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Mi-Sun; Lee, Jeong-Eom; Jeon, Woong-ki; Choi, Heung-Kook; Kim, Myoung-Hee

2013-02-01

3D microscopy images contain abundant astronomical data, rendering 3D microscopy image processing time-consuming and laborious on a central processing unit (CPU). To solve these problems, many people crop a region of interest (ROI) of the input image to a small size. Although this reduces cost and time, there are drawbacks at the image processing level, e.g., the selected ROI strongly depends on the user and there is a loss in original image information. To mitigate these problems, we developed a 3D microscopy image processing tool on a graphics processing unit (GPU). Our tool provides efficient and various automatic thresholding methods to achieve intensity-based segmentation of 3D microscopy images. Users can select the algorithm to be applied. Further, the image processing tool provides visualization of segmented volume data and can set the scale, transportation, etc. using a keyboard and mouse. However, the 3D objects visualized fast still need to be analyzed to obtain information for biologists. To analyze 3D microscopic images, we need quantitative data of the images. Therefore, we label the segmented 3D objects within all 3D microscopic images and obtain quantitative information on each labeled object. This information can use the classification feature. A user can select the object to be analyzed. Our tool allows the selected object to be displayed on a new window, and hence, more details of the object can be observed. Finally, we validate the effectiveness of our tool by comparing the CPU and GPU processing times by matching the specification and configuration.

Development of a Centralized Automated Scientific and Technical Information Service in the People's Republic of Bulgaria.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiratsov, P.

1983-01-01

Discusses the design and organization of the Automated Information Centre, a centralized automated scientific and technical information service established within the main organ of Bulgaria's National System for Scientific and Technical Information, with UNESCO and United Nations Development Program assistance. Problems and perspectives for…

Preserved figure-ground segregation and symmetry perception in visual neglect.

PubMed

Driver, J; Baylis, G C; Rafal, R D

1992-11-05

A central controversy in current research on visual attention is whether figures are segregated from their background preattentively, or whether attention is first directed to unstructured regions of the image. Here we present neurological evidence for the former view from studies of a brain-injured patient with visual neglect. His attentional impairment arises after normal segmentation of the image into figures and background has taken place. Our results indicate that information which is neglected and unavailable to higher levels of visual processing can nevertheless be processed by earlier stages in the visual system concerned with segmentation.

Lessons Learned from Participatory Design in Dementia Care: Placing Care Partners at the Centre.

PubMed

Hendriks, Niels; Slegers, Karin; Wilkinson, Andrea

2017-01-01

In this paper we analyze the participatory design (PD) process of a health information technology (HIT) project. This project, AToM was situated in dementia care and involved partners from academia, industry and care. The analysis specifically focuses on the role of the care partners in the PD process. We will show that the conditions to enable 'good participatory design' were not fully met and we present a set of actions to prevent this in future HIT projects. Central to our recommended approach is placing the care partners at the centre of the PD project.

Memory and Common Ground Processes in Language Use.

PubMed

Brown-Schmidt, Sarah; Duff, Melissa C

2016-10-01

During communication, we form assumptions about what our communication partners know and believe. Information that is mutually known between the discourse partners-their common ground-serves as a backdrop for successful communication. Here we present an introduction to the focus of this topic, which is the role of memory in common ground and language use. Two types of questions emerge as central to understanding the relationship between memory and common ground, specifically questions having to do with the representation of common ground in memory, and the use of common ground during language processing. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Feature binding, attention and object perception.

PubMed Central

Treisman, A

1998-01-01

The seemingly effortless ability to perceive meaningful objects in an integrated scene actually depends on complex visual processes. The 'binding problem' concerns the way in which we select and integrate the separate features of objects in the correct combinations. Experiments suggest that attention plays a central role in solving this problem. Some neurological patients show a dramatic breakdown in the ability to see several objects; their deficits suggest a role for the parietal cortex in the binding process. However, indirect measures of priming and interference suggest that more information may be implicitly available than we can consciously access. PMID:9770223

Installing an Integrated Information System in a Centralized Network.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mendelson, Andrew D.

1992-01-01

Many schools are looking at ways to centralize the distribution and retrieval of video, voice, and data transmissions in an integrate information system (IIS). A centralized system offers greater control of hardware and software. Describes media network planning to retrofit an Illinois' high school with a fiber optic-based IIS. (MLF)

Relationships Among Peripheral and Central Electrophysiological Measures of Spatial and Spectral Selectivity and Speech Perception in Cochlear Implant Users.

PubMed

Scheperle, Rachel A; Abbas, Paul J

2015-01-01

The ability to perceive speech is related to the listener's ability to differentiate among frequencies (i.e., spectral resolution). Cochlear implant (CI) users exhibit variable speech-perception and spectral-resolution abilities, which can be attributed in part to the extent of electrode interactions at the periphery (i.e., spatial selectivity). However, electrophysiological measures of peripheral spatial selectivity have not been found to correlate with speech perception. The purpose of this study was to evaluate auditory processing at the periphery and cortex using both simple and spectrally complex stimuli to better understand the stages of neural processing underlying speech perception. The hypotheses were that (1) by more completely characterizing peripheral excitation patterns than in previous studies, significant correlations with measures of spectral selectivity and speech perception would be observed, (2) adding information about processing at a level central to the auditory nerve would account for additional variability in speech perception, and (3) responses elicited with spectrally complex stimuli would be more strongly correlated with speech perception than responses elicited with spectrally simple stimuli. Eleven adult CI users participated. Three experimental processor programs (MAPs) were created to vary the likelihood of electrode interactions within each participant. For each MAP, a subset of 7 of 22 intracochlear electrodes was activated: adjacent (MAP 1), every other (MAP 2), or every third (MAP 3). Peripheral spatial selectivity was assessed using the electrically evoked compound action potential (ECAP) to obtain channel-interaction functions for all activated electrodes (13 functions total). Central processing was assessed by eliciting the auditory change complex with both spatial (electrode pairs) and spectral (rippled noise) stimulus changes. Speech-perception measures included vowel discrimination and the Bamford-Kowal-Bench Speech-in-Noise test. Spatial and spectral selectivity and speech perception were expected to be poorest with MAP 1 (closest electrode spacing) and best with MAP 3 (widest electrode spacing). Relationships among the electrophysiological and speech-perception measures were evaluated using mixed-model and simple linear regression analyses. All electrophysiological measures were significantly correlated with each other and with speech scores for the mixed-model analysis, which takes into account multiple measures per person (i.e., experimental MAPs). The ECAP measures were the best predictor. In the simple linear regression analysis on MAP 3 data, only the cortical measures were significantly correlated with speech scores; spectral auditory change complex amplitude was the strongest predictor. The results suggest that both peripheral and central electrophysiological measures of spatial and spectral selectivity provide valuable information about speech perception. Clinically, it is often desirable to optimize performance for individual CI users. These results suggest that ECAP measures may be most useful for within-subject applications when multiple measures are performed to make decisions about processor options. They also suggest that if the goal is to compare performance across individuals based on a single measure, then processing central to the auditory nerve (specifically, cortical measures of discriminability) should be considered.

Identifying the source of fluvial terrace deposits using XRF scanning and Canonical Discriminant Analysis: A case study of the Chihshang terraces, eastern Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Queenie; Lee, Jian-Cheng; Hunag, Jyh-Jaan; Wei, Kuo-Yen; Chen, Yue-Gau; Byrne, Timothy B.

2018-05-01

The source of fluvial deposits in terraces provides important information about the catchment fluvial processes and landform evolution. In this study, we propose a novel approach that combines high-resolution Itrax-XRF scanning and Canonical Discriminant Analysis (CDA) to identify the source of fine-grained fluvial terrace deposits. We apply this approach to a group of terraces that are located on the hanging wall of the Chihshang Fault in eastern Taiwan with two possible sources, the Coastal Range on the east and the Central Range on the west. Our results of standard samples from the two potential sources show distinct ranges of canonical variables, which provided a better separation ability than individual chemical elements. We then tested the possibility of using this approach by applying it to several samples with known sediment sources and obtain positive results. Applying this same approach to the fine-grained sediments in Chihshang terraces indicates that they are mostly composed of Coastal Range material but also contain some inputs from the Central Range. In two lowest terraces T1 and T2, the fine-grained deposits show significant Central Range component. For terrace T4, the results show less Central Range input and a trend of decreasing Central Range influences up section. The Coastal Range material becomes dominant in the two highest terraces T7 and T10. Sediments in terrace T5 appear to have been potentially altered by post-deposition chemical alteration processes and are not included in the analysis. Our results show that the change in source material in the terraces deposits was relatively gradual rather than the sharp changes suggested by the composition of the gravels and conglomerates. We suggest that this change in sources is related to the change in dominant fluvial processes that controlled by the tectonic activity.

Textpresso Central: a customizable platform for searching, text mining, viewing, and curating biomedical literature.

PubMed

Müller, H-M; Van Auken, K M; Li, Y; Sternberg, P W

2018-03-09

The biomedical literature continues to grow at a rapid pace, making the challenge of knowledge retrieval and extraction ever greater. Tools that provide a means to search and mine the full text of literature thus represent an important way by which the efficiency of these processes can be improved. We describe the next generation of the Textpresso information retrieval system, Textpresso Central (TPC). TPC builds on the strengths of the original system by expanding the full text corpus to include the PubMed Central Open Access Subset (PMC OA), as well as the WormBase C. elegans bibliography. In addition, TPC allows users to create a customized corpus by uploading and processing documents of their choosing. TPC is UIMA compliant, to facilitate compatibility with external processing modules, and takes advantage of Lucene indexing and search technology for efficient handling of millions of full text documents. Like Textpresso, TPC searches can be performed using keywords and/or categories (semantically related groups of terms), but to provide better context for interpreting and validating queries, search results may now be viewed as highlighted passages in the context of full text. To facilitate biocuration efforts, TPC also allows users to select text spans from the full text and annotate them, create customized curation forms for any data type, and send resulting annotations to external curation databases. As an example of such a curation form, we describe integration of TPC with the Noctua curation tool developed by the Gene Ontology (GO) Consortium. Textpresso Central is an online literature search and curation platform that enables biocurators and biomedical researchers to search and mine the full text of literature by integrating keyword and category searches with viewing search results in the context of the full text. It also allows users to create customized curation interfaces, use those interfaces to make annotations linked to supporting evidence statements, and then send those annotations to any database in the world. Textpresso Central URL: http://www.textpresso.org/tpc.

Spectral characteristics of the Hellenic vertical network - Validation over Central and Northern Greece using GOCE/GRACE global geopotential models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andritsanos, Vassilios D.; Vergos, George S.; Grigoriadis, Vassilios N.; Pagounis, Vassilios; Tziavos, Ilias N.

2014-05-01

The Elevation project, funded by the action "Archimedes III - Funding of research groups in T.E.I.", co-financed by the E.U. (European Social Fund) and national funds under the Operational Program "Education and Lifelong Learning 2007-2013" aims mainly to the validation of the Hellenic vertical datum. This validation is carried out over two areas under study, one in Central and another in Northern Greece. During the first stage of the validation process, satellite-only as well as combined satellite-terrestrial models of the Earth's geopotential are used. GOCE and GRACE satellite information is compared against recently measured GPS/Levelling observations at specific benchmarks of the vertical network in Attiki (Central Greece) and Thessaloniki (Northern Greece). A spectral enhancement approach is followed where, given the GOCE/GRACE GGM truncation degree, EGM2008 is used to fill-in the medium and high-frequency content along with RTM effects for the high and ultra high part. The second stage is based on the localization of possible blunders of the vertical network using the spectral information derived previously. The undoubted accuracy of the contemporary global models at the low frequency band leads to some initial conclusions about the consistency of the Hellenic vertical datum.

The Multiplex Network of EU Lobby Organizations.

PubMed

Zeng, An; Battiston, Stefano

2016-01-01

The practice of lobbying in the interest of economic or social groups plays an important role in the policy making process of most economies. While no data is available at this stage to examine the success of lobbies in exerting influence on specific policy issues, we perform a first systematic multi-layer network analysis of a large lobby registry. Here we focus on the domains of finance and climate and we combine information on affiliation and client relations from the EU transparency register with information about shareholding and interlocking directorates of firms. We find that the network centrality of lobby organizations has no simple relation with their lobbying budget. Moreover, different layers of the multiplex network provide complementary information to characterize organizations' potential influence. At the aggregate level, it appears that while the domains of finance and climate are separated on the layer of affiliation relations, they become intertwined when economic relations are considered. Because groups of interest differ not only in their budget and network centrality but also in terms of their internal cohesiveness, drawing a map of both connections across and within groups is a precondition to better understand the dynamics of influence on policy making and the forces at play.

The Multiplex Network of EU Lobby Organizations

PubMed Central

Zeng, An; Battiston, Stefano

2016-01-01

The practice of lobbying in the interest of economic or social groups plays an important role in the policy making process of most economies. While no data is available at this stage to examine the success of lobbies in exerting influence on specific policy issues, we perform a first systematic multi-layer network analysis of a large lobby registry. Here we focus on the domains of finance and climate and we combine information on affiliation and client relations from the EU transparency register with information about shareholding and interlocking directorates of firms. We find that the network centrality of lobby organizations has no simple relation with their lobbying budget. Moreover, different layers of the multiplex network provide complementary information to characterize organizations’ potential influence. At the aggregate level, it appears that while the domains of finance and climate are separated on the layer of affiliation relations, they become intertwined when economic relations are considered. Because groups of interest differ not only in their budget and network centrality but also in terms of their internal cohesiveness, drawing a map of both connections across and within groups is a precondition to better understand the dynamics of influence on policy making and the forces at play. PMID:27792734

Using scenarios to capture work processes in shared home care.

PubMed

Hägglund, Maria; Scandurra, Isabella; Koch, Sabine

2007-01-01

Shared home care is increasingly common, and in order to develop ICT that support such complex cooperative work it is crucial obtain an understanding of the work routines, information demands, and other central preconditions at the clinical level before the development is initiated. Scenarios are proposed as a technique that can be useful for capturing work processes in shared home care and experiences from the Old@Home project are presented. The scenarios are useful not only in the initial phases of the development project but throughout the development process, improving the accessibility of end user requirements and usability issues for the design team, and as a basis for use cases and further design.

The good, the bad, and the hungry: how the central brain codes odor valence to facilitate food approach in Drosophila.

PubMed

Sachse, Silke; Beshel, Jennifer

2016-10-01

All animals must eat in order to survive but first they must successfully locate and appraise food resources in a manner consonant with their needs. To accomplish this, external sensory information, in particular olfactory food cues, need to be detected and appropriately categorized. Recent advances in Drosophila point to the existence of parallel processing circuits within the central brain that encode odor valence, supporting approach and avoidance behaviors. Strikingly, many elements within these neural systems are subject to modification as a function of the fly's satiety state. In this review we describe those advances and their potential impact on the decision to feed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mechanisms of selective attention and space motion sickness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kohl, R. L.

1987-01-01

The neural mismatch theory of space motion sickness asserts that the central and peripheral autonomic sequelae of discordant sensory input arise from central integrative processes falling to reconcile patterns of incoming sensory information with existing memory. Stated differently, perceived novelty reaches a stress level as integrative mechanisms fail to return a sense of control to the individual in the new environment. Based on evidence summarized here, the severity of the neural mismatch may be dependent upon the relative amount of attention selectively afforded to each sensory input competing for control of behavior. Components of the limbic system may play important roles in match-mismatch operations, be therapeutically modulated by antimotion sickness drugs, and be optimally positioned to control autonomic output.

The Contextualized Technology Adaptation Process (CTAP): Optimizing Health Information Technology to Improve Mental Health Systems.

PubMed

Lyon, Aaron R; Wasse, Jessica Knaster; Ludwig, Kristy; Zachry, Mark; Bruns, Eric J; Unützer, Jürgen; McCauley, Elizabeth

2016-05-01

Health information technologies have become a central fixture in the mental healthcare landscape, but few frameworks exist to guide their adaptation to novel settings. This paper introduces the contextualized technology adaptation process (CTAP) and presents data collected during Phase 1 of its application to measurement feedback system development in school mental health. The CTAP is built on models of human-centered design and implementation science and incorporates repeated mixed methods assessments to guide the design of technologies to ensure high compatibility with a destination setting. CTAP phases include: (1) Contextual evaluation, (2) Evaluation of the unadapted technology, (3) Trialing and evaluation of the adapted technology, (4) Refinement and larger-scale implementation, and (5) Sustainment through ongoing evaluation and system revision. Qualitative findings from school-based practitioner focus groups are presented, which provided information for CTAP Phase 1, contextual evaluation, surrounding education sector clinicians' workflows, types of technologies currently available, and influences on technology use. Discussion focuses on how findings will inform subsequent CTAP phases, as well as their implications for future technology adaptation across content domains and service sectors.

The birth of quantum networks: merging remote entanglement with local multi-qubit control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanson, Ronald

The realization of a highly connected network of qubit registers is a central challenge for quantum information processing and long-distance quantum communication. Diamond spins associated with NV centers are promising building blocks for such a network: they combine a coherent spin-photon interface that has already enabled creation of spin-spin entanglement over 1km with a local register of robust and well-controlled nuclear spin qubits for information processing and error correction. We are now entering a new research stage in which we can exploit these features simultaneously and build multi-qubit networks. I will present our latest results towards the first of such experiments: entanglement distillation between remote quantum network nodes. Finally, I will discuss the challenges and opportunities ahead on the road to large-scale networks of qubit registers for quantum computation and communication.

Using SIR (Scientific Information Retrieval System) for data management during a field program

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

Tichler, J.L.

As part of the US Department of Energy's program, PRocessing of Emissions by Clouds and Precipitation (PRECP), a team of scientists from four laboratories conducted a study in north central New York State, to characterize the chemical and physical processes occurring in winter storms. Sampling took place from three aircraft, two instrumented motor homes and a network of 26 surface precipitation sampling sites. Data management personnel were part of the field program, using a portable IBM PC-AT computer to enter information as it became available during the field study. Having the same database software on the field computer and onmore » the cluster of VAX 11/785 computers in use aided database development and the transfer of data between machines. 2 refs., 3 figs., 5 tabs.« less

Microscopic information processing and communication in crowd dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henein, Colin Marc; White, Tony

2010-11-01

Due, perhaps, to the historical division of crowd dynamics research into psychological and engineering approaches, microscopic crowd models have tended toward modelling simple interchangeable particles with an emphasis on the simulation of physical factors. Despite the fact that people have complex (non-panic) behaviours in crowd disasters, important human factors in crowd dynamics such as information discovery and processing, changing goals and communication have not yet been well integrated at the microscopic level. We use our Microscopic Human Factors methodology to fuse a microscopic simulation of these human factors with a popular microscopic crowd model. By tightly integrating human factors with the existing model we can study the effects on the physical domain (movement, force and crowd safety) when human behaviour (information processing and communication) is introduced. In a large-room egress scenario with ample exits, information discovery and processing yields a crowd of non-interchangeable individuals who, despite close proximity, have different goals due to their different beliefs. This crowd heterogeneity leads to complex inter-particle interactions such as jamming transitions in open space; at high crowd energies, we found a freezing by heating effect (reminiscent of the disaster at Central Lenin Stadium in 1982) in which a barrier formation of naïve individuals trying to reach blocked exits prevented knowledgeable ones from exiting. Communication, when introduced, reduced this barrier formation, increasing both exit rates and crowd safety.

Data on nearshore wave process and surficial beach deposits, central Tamil Nadu coast, India.

PubMed

Joevivek, V; Chandrasekar, N

2017-08-01

The chronicles of nearshore morphology and surficial beach deposits provide valuable information about the nature of the beach condition and the depositional environment. It imparts an understanding about the spatial and temporal relationship of nearshore waves and its influence over the distribution of beach sediments. This article contains data about wave and sediment dynamics of the ten sandy beaches along the central Tamil Nadu coast, India. This present dataset comprises nearshore wave parameters, breaker wave type, beach morphodynamic state, grain size distribution and weight percentage of heavy and light mineral distribution. The dataset will figure out the beach morphology and hydrodynamic condition with respect to the different monsoonal season. This will act as a field reference to realize the coastal dynamics in an open sea condition. The nearshore entities were obtained from the intensive field survey between January 2011 and December 2011, while characteristics of beach sediments are examined by the chemical process in the laboratory environment.

A Systematic Analysis of Candidate Genes Associated with Nicotine Addiction

PubMed Central

Liu, Meng; Li, Xia; Fan, Rui; Liu, Xinhua; Wang, Ju

2015-01-01

Nicotine, as the major psychoactive component of tobacco, has broad physiological effects within the central nervous system, but our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying its neuronal effects remains incomplete. In this study, we performed a systematic analysis on a set of nicotine addiction-related genes to explore their characteristics at network levels. We found that NAGenes tended to have a more moderate degree and weaker clustering coefficient and to be less central in the network compared to alcohol addiction-related genes or cancer genes. Further, clustering of these genes resulted in six clusters with themes in synaptic transmission, signal transduction, metabolic process, and apoptosis, which provided an intuitional view on the major molecular functions of the genes. Moreover, functional enrichment analysis revealed that neurodevelopment, neurotransmission activity, and metabolism related biological processes were involved in nicotine addiction. In summary, by analyzing the overall characteristics of the nicotine addiction related genes, this study provided valuable information for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying nicotine addiction. PMID:26097843

The role of central and peripheral vision in expert decision making.

PubMed

Ryu, Donghyun; Abernethy, Bruce; Mann, David L; Poolton, Jamie M; Gorman, Adam D

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of central and peripheral vision in expert decision making. A gaze-contingent display was used to selectively present information to the central and peripheral areas of the visual field while participants performed a decision-making task. Eleven skilled and eleven less-skilled male basketball players watched video clips of basketball scenarios in three different viewing conditions: full-image control, moving window (central vision only), and moving mask (peripheral vision only). At the conclusion of each clip participants were required to decide whether it was more appropriate for the ball-carrier to pass the ball or to drive to the basket. The skilled players showed significantly higher response accuracy and faster response times compared with their lesser-skilled counterparts in all three viewing conditions, demonstrating superiority in information extraction that held irrespective of whether they were using central or peripheral vision. The gaze behaviour of the skilled players was less influenced by the gaze-contingent manipulations, suggesting they were better able to use the remaining information to sustain their normal gaze behaviour. The superior capacity of experts to interpret dynamic visual information is evident regardless of whether the visual information is presented across the whole visual field or selectively to either central or peripheral vision alone.

How do illness-anxious individuals process health-threatening information? A systematic review of evidence for the cognitive-behavioral model.

PubMed

Leonidou, Chrysanthi; Panayiotou, Georgia

2018-08-01

According to the cognitive-behavioral model, illness anxiety is developed and maintained through biased processing of health-threatening information and maladaptive responses to such information. This study is a systematic review of research that attempted to validate central tenets of the cognitive-behavioral model regarding etiological and maintenance mechanisms in illness anxiety. Sixty-two studies, including correlational and experimental designs, were identified through a systematic search of databases and were evaluated for their quality. Outcomes were synthesized following a qualitative thematic approach under categories of theoretically driven mechanisms derived from the cognitive-behavioral model: attention, memory and interpretation biases, perceived awareness and inaccuracy in perception of somatic sensations, negativity bias, emotion dysregulation, and behavioral avoidance. Findings partly support the cognitive-behavioral model, but several of its hypothetical mechanisms only receive weak support due to the scarcity of relevant studies. Directions for future research are suggested based on identified gaps in the existing literature. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How music training enhances working memory: a cerebrocerebellar blending mechanism that can lead equally to scientific discovery and therapeutic efficacy in neurological disorders.

PubMed

Vandervert, Larry

2015-01-01

Following in the vein of studies that concluded that music training resulted in plastic changes in Einstein's cerebral cortex, controlled research has shown that music training (1) enhances central executive attentional processes in working memory, and (2) has also been shown to be of significant therapeutic value in neurological disorders. Within this framework of music training-induced enhancement of central executive attentional processes, the purpose of this article is to argue that: (1) The foundational basis of the central executive begins in infancy as attentional control during the establishment of working memory, (2) In accordance with Akshoomoff, Courchesne and Townsend's and Leggio and Molinari's cerebellar sequence detection and prediction models, the rigors of volitional control demands of music training can enhance voluntary manipulation of information in thought and movement, (3) The music training-enhanced blending of cerebellar internal models in working memory as can be experienced as intuition in scientific discovery (as Einstein often indicated) or, equally, as moments of therapeutic advancement toward goals in the development of voluntary control in neurological disorders, and (4) The blending of internal models as in (3) thus provides a mechanism by which music training enhances central executive processes in working memory that can lead to scientific discovery and improved therapeutic outcomes in neurological disorders. Within the framework of Leggio and Molinari's cerebellar sequence detection model, it is determined that intuitive steps forward that occur in both scientific discovery and during therapy in those with neurological disorders operate according to the same mechanism of adaptive error-driven blending of cerebellar internal models. It is concluded that the entire framework of the central executive structure of working memory is a product of the cerebrocerebellar system which can, through the learning of internal models, incorporate the multi-dimensional rigor and volitional-control demands of music training and, thereby, enhance voluntary control. It is further concluded that this cerebrocerebellar view of the music training-induced enhancement of central executive control in working memory provides a needed mechanism to explain both the highest level of scientific discovery and the efficacy of music training in the remediation of neurological impairments.

Visual attention.

PubMed

Evans, Karla K; Horowitz, Todd S; Howe, Piers; Pedersini, Roccardo; Reijnen, Ester; Pinto, Yair; Kuzmova, Yoana; Wolfe, Jeremy M

2011-09-01

A typical visual scene we encounter in everyday life is complex and filled with a huge amount of perceptual information. The term, 'visual attention' describes a set of mechanisms that limit some processing to a subset of incoming stimuli. Attentional mechanisms shape what we see and what we can act upon. They allow for concurrent selection of some (preferably, relevant) information and inhibition of other information. This selection permits the reduction of complexity and informational overload. Selection can be determined both by the 'bottom-up' saliency of information from the environment and by the 'top-down' state and goals of the perceiver. Attentional effects can take the form of modulating or enhancing the selected information. A central role for selective attention is to enable the 'binding' of selected information into unified and coherent representations of objects in the outside world. In the overview on visual attention presented here we review the mechanisms and consequences of selection and inhibition over space and time. We examine theoretical, behavioral and neurophysiologic work done on visual attention. We also discuss the relations between attention and other cognitive processes such as automaticity and awareness. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 503-514 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.127 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A Scalable Monitoring for the CMS Filter Farm Based on Elasticsearch

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

Andre, J.M.; et al.

2015-12-23

A flexible monitoring system has been designed for the CMS File-based Filter Farm making use of modern data mining and analytics components. All the metadata and monitoring information concerning data flow and execution of the HLT are generated locally in the form of small documents using the JSON encoding. These documents are indexed into a hierarchy of elasticsearch (es) clusters along with process and system log information. Elasticsearch is a search server based on Apache Lucene. It provides a distributed, multitenant-capable search and aggregation engine. Since es is schema-free, any new information can be added seamlessly and the unstructured informationmore » can be queried in non-predetermined ways. The leaf es clusters consist of the very same nodes that form the Filter Farm thus providing natural horizontal scaling. A separate central” es cluster is used to collect and index aggregated information. The fine-grained information, all the way to individual processes, remains available in the leaf clusters. The central es cluster provides quasi-real-time high-level monitoring information to any kind of client. Historical data can be retrieved to analyse past problems or correlate them with external information. We discuss the design and performance of this system in the context of the CMS DAQ commissioning for LHC Run 2.« less

Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Explosive Detection Technology

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-05-01

of these per unit volume is C, = 2.0 ct /cm 3/sec. For the 10 metals make the activity concentration significantly seconds that the bag is in the...Hopfield Network CI Chemical Ionization CL Chemiluminescence CLD Chemiluminescence Detector CPU Central Processing Unit CT Computed Tomography CW...NOTICE This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the Interest of Information exchange. The United

Extending Organizational Contingency Theory to Team Performance - An Information Processing and Knowledge Flows Perspective

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-01

University Press. Yin, R.K. 2003. Case study research : Design and methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Yukl, G. 2001...Contingency theory has retained a central place in organization studies research for over half a century. Beginning with the seminal works by Burns and...particularly useful for research designs grounded in contingency theory (Schoonhoven 1981 p. 351; Gupta & Govindarajan 1984; Venkatraman 1989), and

Increasing complexity with quantum physics.

PubMed

Anders, Janet; Wiesner, Karoline

2011-09-01

We argue that complex systems science and the rules of quantum physics are intricately related. We discuss a range of quantum phenomena, such as cryptography, computation and quantum phases, and the rules responsible for their complexity. We identify correlations as a central concept connecting quantum information and complex systems science. We present two examples for the power of correlations: using quantum resources to simulate the correlations of a stochastic process and to implement a classically impossible computational task.