Category cued recall evokes a generate-recognize retrieval process.

PubMed

Hunt, R Reed; Smith, Rebekah E; Toth, Jeffrey P

2016-03-01

The experiments reported here were designed to replicate and extend McCabe, Roediger, and Karpicke's (2011) finding that retrieval in category cued recall involves both controlled and automatic processes. The extension entailed identifying whether distinctive encoding affected 1 or both of these 2 processes. The first experiment successfully replicated McCabe et al., but the second, which added a critical baseline condition, produced data inconsistent with a 2 independent process model of recall. The third experiment provided evidence that retrieval in category cued recall reflects a generate-recognize strategy, with the effect of distinctive processing being localized to recognition. Overall, the data suggest that category cued recall evokes a generate-recognize retrieval strategy and that the subprocesses underlying this strategy can be dissociated as a function of distinctive versus relational encoding processes. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Category Cued Recall Evokes a Generate-Recognize Retrieval Process

PubMed Central

Hunt, R. Reed; Smith, Rebekah E.; Toth, Jeffrey P.

2015-01-01

The experiments reported here were designed to replicate and extend McCabe, Roediger, and Karpicke’s (2011) finding that retrieval in category cued recall involves both controlled and automatic processes. The extension entailed identifying whether distinctive encoding affected one or both of these two processes. The first experiment successfully replicated McCabe et al., but the second, which added a critical baseline condition, produced data inconsistent with a two independent process model of recall. The third experiment provided evidence that retrieval in category cued recall reflects a generate-recognize strategy, with the effect of distinctive processing being localized to recognition. Overall, the data suggest that category cued recall evokes a generate-recognize retrieval strategy and that the sub-processes underlying this strategy can be dissociated as a function of distinctive versus relational encoding processes. PMID:26280355

On Determinatives and the Category-Function Distinction: A Reply to Brett Reynolds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lenchuk, Iryna; Ahmed, Amer

2014-01-01

This article examines the arguments made in the article "Determiners, Feline Marsupials, and the Category-Function Distinction: A Critique of ELT Grammars" by Brett Reynolds recently published in the "TESL Canada Journal" (2013). In our response, we demonstrate that the author's arguments are problematic on both…

Typology of patients with fibromyalgia: cluster analysis of duloxetine study patients.

PubMed

Lipkovich, Ilya A; Choy, Ernest H; Van Wambeke, Peter; Deberdt, Walter; Sagman, Doron

2014-12-23

To identify distinct groups of patients with fibromyalgia (FM) with respect to multiple outcome measures. Data from 631 duloxetine-treated women in 4 randomized, placebo-controlled trials were included in a cluster analysis based on outcomes after up to 12 weeks of treatment. Corresponding classification rules were constructed using a classification tree method. Probabilities for transitioning from baseline to Week 12 category were estimated for placebo and duloxetine patients (Ntotal = 1188) using logistic regression. Five clusters were identified, from "worst" (high pain levels and severe mental/physical impairment) to "best" (low pain levels and nearly normal mental/physical function). For patients with moderate overall severity, mental and physical symptoms were less correlated, resulting in 2 distinct clusters based on these 2 symptom domains. Three key variables with threshold values were identified for classification of patients: Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) pain interference overall scores of <3.29 and <7.14, respectively, a Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) interference with work score of <2, and an FIQ depression score of ≥5. Patient characteristics and frequencies per baseline category were similar between treatments; >80% of patients were in the 3 worst categories. Duloxetine patients were significantly more likely to improve after 12 weeks than placebo patients. A sustained effect was seen with continued duloxetine treatment. FM patients are heterogeneous and can be classified into distinct subgroups by simple descriptive rules derived from only 3 variables, which may guide individual patient management. Duloxetine showed higher improvement rates than placebo and had a sustained effect beyond 12 weeks.

Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration: clinical staging data.

PubMed

Rice, T W; Apperson-Hansen, C; DiPaola, L M; Semple, M E; Lerut, T E M R; Orringer, M B; Chen, L-Q; Hofstetter, W L; Smithers, B M; Rusch, V W; Wijnhoven, B P L; Chen, K N; Davies, A R; D'Journo, X B; Kesler, K A; Luketich, J D; Ferguson, M K; Räsänen, J V; van Hillegersberg, R; Fang, W; Durand, L; Allum, W H; Cecconello, I; Cerfolio, R J; Pera, M; Griffin, S M; Burger, R; Liu, J-F; Allen, M S; Law, S; Watson, T J; Darling, G E; Scott, W J; Duranceau, A; Denlinger, C E; Schipper, P H; Ishwaran, H; Blackstone, E H

2016-10-01

To address uncertainty of whether clinical stage groupings (cTNM) for esophageal cancer share prognostic implications with pathologic groupings after esophagectomy alone (pTNM), we report data-simple descriptions of patient characteristics, cancer categories, and non-risk-adjusted survival-for clinically staged patients from the Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration (WECC). Thirty-three institutions from six continents submitted data using variables with standard definitions: demographics, comorbidities, clinical cancer categories, and all-cause mortality from first management decision. Of 22,123 clinically staged patients, 8,156 had squamous cell carcinoma, 13,814 adenocarcinoma, 116 adenosquamous carcinoma, and 37 undifferentiated carcinoma. Patients were older (62 years) men (80%) with normal body mass index (18.5-25 mg/kg 2 , 47%), little weight loss (2.4 ± 7.8 kg), 0-1 ECOG performance status (67%), and history of smoking (67%). Cancers were cT1 (12%), cT2 (22%), cT3 (56%), cN0 (44%), cM0 (95%), and cG2-G3 (89%); most involved the distal esophagus (73%). Non-risk-adjusted survival for squamous cell carcinoma was not distinctive for early cT or cN; for adenocarcinoma, it was distinctive for early versus advanced cT and for cN0 versus cN+. Patients with early cancers had worse survival and those with advanced cancers better survival than expected from equivalent pathologic categories based on prior WECC pathologic data. Thus, clinical and pathologic categories do not share prognostic implications. This makes clinically based treatment decisions difficult and pre-treatment prognostication inaccurate. These data will be the basis for the 8th edition cancer staging manuals following risk adjustment for patient characteristics, cancer categories, and treatment characteristics and should direct 9th edition data collection. © 2016 International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus.

Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration: clinical staging data

PubMed Central

Rice, T. W.; Apperson-Hansen, C.; DiPaola, L. M.; Semple, M. E.; Lerut, T. E. M. R.; Orringer, M. B.; Chen, L.-Q.; Hofstetter, W. L.; Smithers, B. M.; Rusch, V. W.; Wijnhoven, B. P. L.; Chen, K. N.; Davies, A. R.; D’Journo, X. B.; Kesler, K. A.; Luketich, J. D.; Ferguson, M. K.; Räsänen, J. V.; van Hillegersberg, R.; Fang, W.; Durand, L.; Allum, W. H.; Cecconello, I.; Cerfolio, R. J.; Pera, M.; Griffin, S. M.; Burger, R.; Liu, J.-F; Allen, M. S.; Law, S.; Watson, T. J.; Darling, G. E.; Scott, W. J.; Duranceau, A.; Denlinger, C. E.; Schipper, P. H.; Ishwaran, H.; Blackstone, E. H.

2017-01-01

SUMMARY To address uncertainty of whether clinical stage groupings (cTNM) for esophageal cancer share prognostic implications with pathologic groupings after esophagectomy alone (pTNM), we report data—simple descriptions of patient characteristics, cancer categories, and non-risk-adjusted survival—for clinically staged patients from the Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration (WECC). Thirty-three institutions from six continents submitted data using variables with standard definitions: demographics, comorbidities, clinical cancer categories, and all-cause mortality from first management decision. Of 22,123 clinically staged patients, 8,156 had squamous cell carcinoma, 13,814 adenocarcinoma, 116 adenosquamous carcinoma, and 37 undifferentiated carcinoma. Patients were older (62 years) men (80%) with normal body mass index (18.5–25 mg/kg2, 47%), little weight loss (2.4 ± 7.8 kg), 0–1 ECOG performance status (67%), and history of smoking (67%). Cancers were cT1 (12%), cT2 (22%), cT3 (56%), cNO (44%), cMO (95%), and cG2–G3 (89%); most involved the distal esophagus (73%). Non-risk-adjusted survival for squamous cell carcinoma was not distinctive for early cT or cN; for adenocarcinoma, it was distinctive for early versus advanced cT and for cNO versus cN+. Patients with early cancers had worse survival and those with advanced cancers better survival than expected from equivalent pathologic categories based on prior WECC pathologic data. Thus, clinical and pathologic categories do not share prognostic implications. This makes clinically based treatment decisions difficult and pre-treatment prognostication inaccurate. These data will be the basis for the 8th edition cancer staging manuals following risk adjustment for patient characteristics, cancer categories, and treatment characteristics and should direct 9th edition data collection. PMID:27731549

Proteomics of Dense Core Secretory Vesicles Reveal Distinct Protein Categories for Secretion of Neuroeffectors for Cell-Cell Communication

PubMed Central

Wegrzyn, Jill L.; Bark, Steven J.; Funkelstein, Lydiane; Mosier, Charles; Yap, Angel; Kazemi-Esfarjani, Parasa; La Spada, Albert; Sigurdson, Christina; O’Connor, Daniel T.; Hook, Vivian

2010-01-01

Regulated secretion of neurotransmitters and neurohumoural factors from dense core secretory vesicles provides essential neuroeffectors for cell-cell communication in the nervous and endocrine systems. This study provides comprehensive proteomic characterization of the categories of proteins in chromaffin dense core secretory vesicles that participate in cell-cell communication from the adrenal medulla. Proteomic studies were conducted by nano-HPLC Chip MS/MS tandem mass spectrometry. Results demonstrate that these secretory vesicles contain proteins of distinct functional categories consisting of neuropeptides and neurohumoural factors, protease systems, neurotransmitter enzymes and transporters, receptors, enzymes for biochemical processes, reduction/oxidation regulation, ATPases, protein folding, lipid biochemistry, signal transduction, exocytosis, calcium regulation, as well as structural and cell adhesion proteins. The secretory vesicle proteomic data identified 371 distinct proteins in the soluble fraction and 384 distinct membrane proteins, for a total of 686 distinct secretory vesicle proteins. Notably, these proteomic analyses illustrate the presence of several neurological disease-related proteins in these secretory vesicles, including huntingtin interacting protein, cystatin C, ataxin 7, and prion protein. Overall, these findings demonstrate that multiple protein categories participate in dense core secretory vesicles for production, storage, and secretion of bioactive neuroeffectors for cell-cell communication in health and disease. PMID:20695487

A Developmental Examination of the Conceptual Structure of Animal, Artifact, and Human Social Categories across Two Cultural Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhodes, Marjorie; Gelman, Susan A.

2009-01-01

Previous research indicates that the ontological status that adults attribute to categories varies systematically by domain. For example, adults view distinctions between different animal species as natural and objective, but view distinctions between different kinds of furniture as more conventionalized and subjective. The present work (N=435;…

Autism Spectrum Disorders as a Qualitatively Distinct Category from Typical Behavior in a Large, Clinically Ascertained Sample

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frazier, Thomas W.; Youngstrom, Eric A.; Sinclair, Leslie; Kubu, Cynthia S.; Law, Paul; Rezai, Ali; Constantino, John N.; Eng, Charis

2010-01-01

The present study evaluated the hypothesis that autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are best represented as a discrete category distinct from typical behavior within autism-affected families. The latent structure, categorical versus dimensional, of ASDs informs future diagnostic revisions, clinical assessment, and the design of future research. Data…

Profiling Learners' Achievement Goals when Completing Academic Essays

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ng, Chi-Hung Clarence

2009-01-01

This study explored adult learners' goal profiles in relation to the completion of a compulsory academic essay. Based on learners' scores on items assessing mastery, performance-approach, and work-avoidance goals, cluster analyses produced three distinct categories of learners: performance-focused, work-avoidant, and multiple-goal learners. These…

Incidental Auditory Category Learning

PubMed Central

Gabay, Yafit; Dick, Frederic K.; Zevin, Jason D.; Holt, Lori L.

2015-01-01

Very little is known about how auditory categories are learned incidentally, without instructions to search for category-diagnostic dimensions, overt category decisions, or experimenter-provided feedback. This is an important gap because learning in the natural environment does not arise from explicit feedback and there is evidence that the learning systems engaged by traditional tasks are distinct from those recruited by incidental category learning. We examined incidental auditory category learning with a novel paradigm, the Systematic Multimodal Associations Reaction Time (SMART) task, in which participants rapidly detect and report the appearance of a visual target in one of four possible screen locations. Although the overt task is rapid visual detection, a brief sequence of sounds precedes each visual target. These sounds are drawn from one of four distinct sound categories that predict the location of the upcoming visual target. These many-to-one auditory-to-visuomotor correspondences support incidental auditory category learning. Participants incidentally learn categories of complex acoustic exemplars and generalize this learning to novel exemplars and tasks. Further, learning is facilitated when category exemplar variability is more tightly coupled to the visuomotor associations than when the same stimulus variability is experienced across trials. We relate these findings to phonetic category learning. PMID:26010588

Associative learning in baboons (Papio papio) and humans (Homo sapiens): species differences in learned attention to visual features.

PubMed

Fagot, J; Kruschke, J K; Dépy, D; Vauclair, J

1998-10-01

We examined attention shifting in baboons and humans during the learning of visual categories. Within a conditional matching-to-sample task, participants of the two species sequentially learned two two-feature categories which shared a common feature. Results showed that humans encoded both features of the initially learned category, but predominantly only the distinctive feature of the subsequently learned category. Although baboons initially encoded both features of the first category, they ultimately retained only the distinctive features of each category. Empirical data from the two species were analyzed with the 1996 ADIT connectionist model of Kruschke. ADIT fits the baboon data when the attentional shift rate is zero, and the human data when the attentional shift rate is not zero. These empirical and modeling results suggest species differences in learned attention to visual features.

Brain activation of semantic category-based grouping in multiple identity tracking task

PubMed Central

Wei, Liuqing; Lyu, Chuang; Hu, Siyuan; Li, Zhen

2017-01-01

Using Multiple Identity Tracking task and the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology, the present study aimed to isolate and visualize the functional anatomy of neural systems involved in the semantic category-based grouping process. Three experiment conditions were selected and compared: the category-based targets grouping (TG) condition, the targets-distractors grouping (TDG) condition and the homogenous condition. In the TG condition, observers could utilize the categorical distinction between targets and distractors, to construct a uniform presentation of targets, that is, to form a group of the targets to facilitate tracking. In the TDG condition, half the targets and half the distractors belonged to the same category. Observers had to inhibit the grouping of targets and distractors in one category to complete tracking. In the homogenous condition, where targets and distractors consisted of the same objects, no grouping could be formed. The “TG-Homogenous” contrast (p<0.01) revealed the activation of the left fusiform and the pars triangularis of inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). The “TG-TDG” contrast only revealed the activation of the left anterior cingulate gyrus (ACC). The fusiform and IFG pars triangularis might participate in the representation of semantic knowledge, IFG pars triangularis might relate intensely with the classification of semantic categories. The ACC might be responsible for the initiation and maintenance of grouping representation. PMID:28505166

One Label or Two? Linguistic Influences on the Similarity Judgment of Objects between English and Japanese Speakers

PubMed Central

Masuda, Takahiko; Ishii, Keiko; Miwa, Koji; Rashid, Marghalara; Lee, Hajin; Mahdi, Rania

2017-01-01

Recent findings have re-examined the linguistic influence on cognition and perception, while identifying evidence that supports the Whorfian hypothesis. We examine how English and Japanese speakers perceive similarity of pairs of objects, by using two sets of stimuli: one in which two distinct linguistic categories apply to respective object images in English, but only one linguistic category applies in Japanese; and another in which two distinct linguistic categories apply to respective object images in Japanese, but only one applies in English. We conducted four studies and tested different groups of participants in each of them. In Study 1, we asked participants to name the two objects before engaging in the similarity judgment task. Here, we expected a strong linguistic effect. In Study 2, we asked participants to engage in the same task without naming, where we assumed that the condition is close enough to our daily visual information processing where language is not necessarily prompted. We further explored whether the language still influences the similarity perception by asking participants to engage in the same task basing on the visual similarity (Study 3) and the functional similarity (Study 4). The results overall indicated that English and Japanese speakers perceived the two objects to be more similar when they were in the same linguistic categories than when they were in different linguistic categories in their respective languages. Implications for research testing the Whorfian hypothesis and the requirement for methodological development beyond behavioral measures are discussed. PMID:29018375

Do animals and furniture items elicit different brain responses in human infants?

PubMed

Jeschonek, Susanna; Marinovic, Vesna; Hoehl, Stefanie; Elsner, Birgit; Pauen, Sabina

2010-11-01

One of the earliest categorical distinctions to be made by preverbal infants is the animate-inanimate distinction. To explore the neural basis for this distinction in 7-8-month-olds, an equal number of animal and furniture pictures was presented in an ERP-paradigm. The total of 118 pictures, all looking different from each other, were presented in a semi-randomized order for 1000ms each. Infants' brain responses to exemplars from both categories differed systematically regarding the negative central component (Nc: 400-600ms) at anterior channels. More specifically, the Nc was enhanced for animals in one subgroup of infants, and for furniture items in another subgroup of infants. Explorative analyses related to categorical priming further revealed category-specific differences in brain responses in the late time window (650-1550ms) at right frontal channels: Unprimed stimuli (preceded by a different-category item) elicited a more positive response as compared to primed stimuli (preceded by a same-category item). In sum, these findings suggest that the infant's brain discriminates exemplars from both global domains. Given the design of our task, we conclude that processes of category identification are more likely to account for our findings than processes of on-line category formation during the experimental session. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Being Precise about Lexical Vagueness. York Papers in Linguistics., No. 6.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leech, Geoffrey N.

This paper accepts Labov's (1973) criticisms of the categorial approach, i.e., the view that linguistic units are categories which are discrete, invariant, qualitatively distinct, conjunctively defined, and composed of atomic primes, and follows Labov in attempting to develop a non-categorial (or fuzzy-categorial) approach to lexical semantics,…

Enhancement: are ethicists excessively influenced by baseless speculations?

PubMed

Jones, D G

2006-12-01

Most commentators draw a sharp distinction between therapy and enhancement, applauding therapy and rejecting enhancement. Not only is this distinction unclear but enhancement is often seen in grandiose terms in which human beings are radically transformed. Such far-reaching visions are then used to reject current procedures such as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. To overcome this highly problematic impasse, enhancement has been divided into three categories, ranging from the health-related enhancement of category 1, through the non-health-related enhancement of category 2, to the transhumanism or posthumanism of category 3. Arguably, most enhancements are of the category 1 variety, and hence closely related to treatment. Also, we are already enhanced, when compared with our forebears. It is only when we accept this and dispense with baseless speculation will we be in a position to conduct ethical discussions within a realistic framework.

Gender Identity and the Overexcitability Profiles of Gifted College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Nancy B.; Falk, R. Frank; Huang, Yinmei

2009-01-01

Traditional sex-based categories are giving way to more expanded notions of gender among young men and women today. Along with feminine and masculine personalities, some individuals combine both for a more androgynous persona, whereas others exhibit few distinctly feminine or masculine characteristics. In a study of 118 gifted college students,…

Drug delivery in cancer using liposomes.

PubMed

Dass, Crispin R

2008-01-01

There are various types of liposomes used for cancer therapy, but these can all be placed into three distinct categories based on the surface charge of vesicles: neutral, anionic and cationic. This chapter describes the more rigorous and easy methods used for liposome manufacture, with references, to aid the reader in preparing these formulations in-house.

Emotion differentiation dissected: between-category, within-category, and integral emotion differentiation, and their relation to well-being.

PubMed

Erbas, Yasemin; Ceulemans, Eva; Blanke, Elisabeth S; Sels, Laura; Fischer, Agneta; Kuppens, Peter

2018-04-24

Emotion differentiation, the ability to describe and label our own emotions in a differentiated and specific manner, has been repeatedly associated with well-being. However, it is unclear exactly what type of differentiation is most strongly related to well-being: the ability to make fine-grained distinctions between emotions that are relatively closely related (e.g. anger and irritation), the ability to make larger distinctions between very distinct emotions (e.g. anger and sadness), or the combination of both. To determine which type of differentiation is most predictive of well-being, we performed a comprehensive meta-analysis across six datasets. We examined the correlations between these three types of differentiation and several indicators of well-being (depression, emotional clarity, and self-esteem). Results showed that individuals differentiated most between very distinct emotions and least between more related emotions, and that an index computed across emotions from both the same and different emotion categories was most strongly associated with well-being indicators.

Impact of feature saliency on visual category learning.

PubMed

Hammer, Rubi

2015-01-01

People have to sort numerous objects into a large number of meaningful categories while operating in varying contexts. This requires identifying the visual features that best predict the 'essence' of objects (e.g., edibility), rather than categorizing objects based on the most salient features in a given context. To gain this capacity, visual category learning (VCL) relies on multiple cognitive processes. These may include unsupervised statistical learning, that requires observing multiple objects for learning the statistics of their features. Other learning processes enable incorporating different sources of supervisory information, alongside the visual features of the categorized objects, from which the categorical relations between few objects can be deduced. These deductions enable inferring that objects from the same category may differ from one another in some high-saliency feature dimensions, whereas lower-saliency feature dimensions can best differentiate objects from distinct categories. Here I illustrate how feature saliency affects VCL, by also discussing kinds of supervisory information enabling reflective categorization. Arguably, principles debated here are often being ignored in categorization studies.

Impact of feature saliency on visual category learning

PubMed Central

Hammer, Rubi

2015-01-01

People have to sort numerous objects into a large number of meaningful categories while operating in varying contexts. This requires identifying the visual features that best predict the ‘essence’ of objects (e.g., edibility), rather than categorizing objects based on the most salient features in a given context. To gain this capacity, visual category learning (VCL) relies on multiple cognitive processes. These may include unsupervised statistical learning, that requires observing multiple objects for learning the statistics of their features. Other learning processes enable incorporating different sources of supervisory information, alongside the visual features of the categorized objects, from which the categorical relations between few objects can be deduced. These deductions enable inferring that objects from the same category may differ from one another in some high-saliency feature dimensions, whereas lower-saliency feature dimensions can best differentiate objects from distinct categories. Here I illustrate how feature saliency affects VCL, by also discussing kinds of supervisory information enabling reflective categorization. Arguably, principles debated here are often being ignored in categorization studies. PMID:25954220

One Giant Leap for Categorizers: One Small Step for Categorization Theory

PubMed Central

Smith, J. David; Ell, Shawn W.

2015-01-01

We explore humans’ rule-based category learning using analytic approaches that highlight their psychological transitions during learning. These approaches confirm that humans show qualitatively sudden psychological transitions during rule learning. These transitions contribute to the theoretical literature contrasting single vs. multiple category-learning systems, because they seem to reveal a distinctive learning process of explicit rule discovery. A complete psychology of categorization must describe this learning process, too. Yet extensive formal-modeling analyses confirm that a wide range of current (gradient-descent) models cannot reproduce these transitions, including influential rule-based models (e.g., COVIS) and exemplar models (e.g., ALCOVE). It is an important theoretical conclusion that existing models cannot explain humans’ rule-based category learning. The problem these models have is the incremental algorithm by which learning is simulated. Humans descend no gradient in rule-based tasks. Very different formal-modeling systems will be required to explain humans’ psychology in these tasks. An important next step will be to build a new generation of models that can do so. PMID:26332587

Postural Communication of Emotion: Perception of Distinct Poses of Five Discrete Emotions.

PubMed

Lopez, Lukas D; Reschke, Peter J; Knothe, Jennifer M; Walle, Eric A

2017-01-01

Emotion can be communicated through multiple distinct modalities. However, an often-ignored channel of communication is posture. Recent research indicates that bodily posture plays an important role in the perception of emotion. However, research examining postural communication of emotion is limited by the variety of validated emotion poses and unknown cohesion of categorical and dimensional ratings. The present study addressed these limitations. Specifically, we examined individuals' (1) categorization of emotion postures depicting 5 discrete emotions (joy, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust), (2) categorization of different poses depicting the same discrete emotion, and (3) ratings of valence and arousal for each emotion pose. Findings revealed that participants successfully categorized each posture as the target emotion, including disgust. Moreover, participants accurately identified multiple distinct poses within each emotion category. In addition to the categorical responses, dimensional ratings of valence and arousal revealed interesting overlap and distinctions between and within emotion categories. These findings provide the first evidence of an identifiable posture for disgust and instantiate the principle of equifinality of emotional communication through the inclusion of distinct poses within emotion categories. Additionally, the dimensional ratings corroborated the categorical data and provide further granularity for future researchers to consider in examining how distinct emotion poses are perceived.

Distribution of beach litter along the coastline of Cádiz, Spain.

PubMed

Williams, Allan Thomas; Randerson, Peter; Di Giacomo, Carlo; Anfuso, Giorgio; Macias, Ana; Perales, José Antonio

2016-06-15

A total of 59 categories of litter items were found at 20 beaches (13 mechanically cleaned, 7 non-cleaned) in the Cádiz tourist environment, Spain. Cluster Analysis and Principal Components Analysis were used to highlight similarities and contrasts between sites and/or associations between litter categories. Multivariate analyses separated beaches according to the total numbers of litter items present. Non-cleaned sites showed a variety of litter category abundance with distinct origins and abundant, ubiquitous items (plastic and glass fragments). Of the 7 non-cleaned beaches (49 litter categories) river-mouth sites were distinct due with high numbers of litter items. The sheltered inner part of Cádiz Bay beaches had a wide range of litter type. Many sites were associated with locally deposited recreational litter categories; while industrial/commercial/fishing categories were abundant only at a few sites, indicating items transported onto the shore from the Guadalete river. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brain responses to social norms: Meta-analyses of fMRI studies.

PubMed

Zinchenko, Oksana; Arsalidou, Marie

2018-02-01

Social norms have a critical role in everyday decision-making, as frequent interaction with others regulates our behavior. Neuroimaging studies show that social-based and fairness-related decision-making activates an inconsistent set of areas, which sometimes includes the anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and others lateral prefrontal cortices. Social-based decision-making is complex and variability in findings may be driven by socio-cognitive activities related to social norms. To distinguish among social-cognitive activities related to social norms, we identified 36 eligible articles in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) literature, which we separate into two categories (a) social norm representation and (b) norm violations. The majority of original articles (>60%) used tasks associated with fairness norms and decision-making, such as ultimatum game, dictator game, or prisoner's dilemma; the rest used tasks associated to violation of moral norms, such as scenarios and sentences of moral depravity ratings. Using quantitative meta-analyses, we report common and distinct brain areas that show concordance as a function of category. Specifically, concordance in ventromedial prefrontal regions is distinct to social norm representation processing, whereas concordance in right insula, dorsolateral prefrontal, and dorsal cingulate cortices is distinct to norm violation processing. We propose a neurocognitive model of social norms for healthy adults, which could help guide future research in social norm compliance and mechanisms of its enforcement. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Compensatory processing during rule-based category learning in older adults.

PubMed

Bharani, Krishna L; Paller, Ken A; Reber, Paul J; Weintraub, Sandra; Yanar, Jorge; Morrison, Robert G

2016-01-01

Healthy older adults typically perform worse than younger adults at rule-based category learning, but better than patients with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. To further investigate aging's effect on rule-based category learning, we monitored event-related potentials (ERPs) while younger and neuropsychologically typical older adults performed a visual category-learning task with a rule-based category structure and trial-by-trial feedback. Using these procedures, we previously identified ERPs sensitive to categorization strategy and accuracy in young participants. In addition, previous studies have demonstrated the importance of neural processing in the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal lobe for this task. In this study, older adults showed lower accuracy and longer response times than younger adults, but there were two distinct subgroups of older adults. One subgroup showed near-chance performance throughout the procedure, never categorizing accurately. The other subgroup reached asymptotic accuracy that was equivalent to that in younger adults, although they categorized more slowly. These two subgroups were further distinguished via ERPs. Consistent with the compensation theory of cognitive aging, older adults who successfully learned showed larger frontal ERPs when compared with younger adults. Recruitment of prefrontal resources may have improved performance while slowing response times. Additionally, correlations of feedback-locked P300 amplitudes with category-learning accuracy differentiated successful younger and older adults. Overall, the results suggest that the ability to adapt one's behavior in response to feedback during learning varies across older individuals, and that the failure of some to adapt their behavior may reflect inadequate engagement of prefrontal cortex.

Compensatory Processing During Rule-Based Category Learning in Older Adults

PubMed Central

Bharani, Krishna L.; Paller, Ken A.; Reber, Paul J.; Weintraub, Sandra; Yanar, Jorge; Morrison, Robert G.

2016-01-01

Healthy older adults typically perform worse than younger adults at rule-based category learning, but better than patients with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. To further investigate aging's effect on rule-based category learning, we monitored event-related potentials (ERPs) while younger and neuropsychologically typical older adults performed a visual category-learning task with a rule-based category structure and trial-by-trial feedback. Using these procedures, we previously identified ERPs sensitive to categorization strategy and accuracy in young participants. In addition, previous studies have demonstrated the importance of neural processing in the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal lobe for this task. In this study, older adults showed lower accuracy and longer response times than younger adults, but there were two distinct subgroups of older adults. One subgroup showed near-chance performance throughout the procedure, never categorizing accurately. The other subgroup reached asymptotic accuracy that was equivalent to that in younger adults, although they categorized more slowly. These two subgroups were further distinguished via ERPs. Consistent with the compensation theory of cognitive aging, older adults who successfully learned showed larger frontal ERPs when compared with younger adults. Recruitment of prefrontal resources may have improved performance while slowing response times. Additionally, correlations of feedback-locked P300 amplitudes with category-learning accuracy differentiated successful younger and older adults. Overall, the results suggest that the ability to adapt one's behavior in response to feedback during learning varies across older individuals, and that the failure of some to adapt their behavior may reflect inadequate engagement of prefrontal cortex. PMID:26422522

Neural differentiation of lexico-syntactic categories or semantic features? event-related potential evidence for both.

PubMed

Kellenbach, Marion L; Wijers, Albertus A; Hovius, Marjolijn; Mulder, Juul; Mulder, Gijsbertus

2002-05-15

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to investigate whether processing differences between nouns and verbs can be accounted for by the differential salience of visual-perceptual and motor attributes in their semantic specifications. Three subclasses of nouns and verbs were selected, which differed in their semantic attribute composition (abstract, high visual, high visual and motor). Single visual word presentation with a recognition memory task was used. While multiple robust and parallel ERP effects were observed for both grammatical class and attribute type, there were no interactions between these. This pattern of effects provides support for lexical-semantic knowledge being organized in a manner that takes account both of category-based (grammatical class) and attribute-based distinctions.

Heterogeneity in perceptual category learning by high functioning children with autism spectrum disorder

PubMed Central

Mercado, Eduardo; Church, Barbara A.; Coutinho, Mariana V. C.; Dovgopoly, Alexander; Lopata, Christopher J.; Toomey, Jennifer A.; Thomeer, Marcus L.

2015-01-01

Previous research suggests that high functioning (HF) children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) sometimes have problems learning categories, but often appear to perform normally in categorization tasks. The deficits that individuals with ASD show when learning categories have been attributed to executive dysfunction, general deficits in implicit learning, atypical cognitive strategies, or abnormal perceptual biases and abilities. Several of these psychological explanations for category learning deficits have been associated with neural abnormalities such as cortical underconnectivity. The present study evaluated how well existing neurally based theories account for atypical perceptual category learning shown by HF children with ASD across multiple category learning tasks involving novel, abstract shapes. Consistent with earlier results, children’s performances revealed two distinct patterns of learning and generalization associated with ASD: one was indistinguishable from performance in typically developing children; the other revealed dramatic impairments. These two patterns were evident regardless of training regimen or stimulus set. Surprisingly, some children with ASD showed both patterns. Simulations of perceptual category learning could account for the two observed patterns in terms of differences in neural plasticity. However, no current psychological or neural theory adequately explains why a child with ASD might show such large fluctuations in category learning ability across training conditions or stimulus sets. PMID:26157368

The Construct Validity of the Category Test: Is It a Measure of Reasoning or Intelligence?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnstone, Brick; And Others

1997-01-01

The construct validity of the Category Test (W. C. Halstead, 1947) was studied for 308 adults with heterogeneous cognitive dysfunction. Factor analysis indicated that Category subtests load on three factors distinct from intelligence: (1) symbol recognition/counting; (2) spatial position reasoning; (3) and proportional reasoning. Clinical…

Accounting for a Functional Category: German "Drohen" "to Threaten"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heine, Bernd; Miyashita, Hiroyuki

2008-01-01

In many languages there are words that behave like lexical verbs and on the one hand and like functional categories expressing distinctions of tense, aspect, modality, etc. on the other. The grammatical status of such words is frequently controversial; while some authors treat them as belonging to one and the same grammatical category, others…

Perceptual advantage for category-relevant perceptual dimensions: the case of shape and motion.

PubMed

Folstein, Jonathan R; Palmeri, Thomas J; Gauthier, Isabel

2014-01-01

Category learning facilitates perception along relevant stimulus dimensions, even when tested in a discrimination task that does not require categorization. While this general phenomenon has been demonstrated previously, perceptual facilitation along dimensions has been documented by measuring different specific phenomena in different studies using different kinds of objects. Across several object domains, there is support for acquired distinctiveness, the stretching of a perceptual dimension relevant to learned categories. Studies using faces and studies using simple separable visual dimensions have also found evidence of acquired equivalence, the shrinking of a perceptual dimension irrelevant to learned categories, and categorical perception, the local stretching across the category boundary. These later two effects are rarely observed with complex non-face objects. Failures to find these effects with complex non-face objects may have been because the dimensions tested previously were perceptually integrated. Here we tested effects of category learning with non-face objects categorized along dimensions that have been found to be processed by different areas of the brain, shape and motion. While we replicated acquired distinctiveness, we found no evidence for acquired equivalence or categorical perception.

Boys will be boys; cows will be cows: Children’s essentialist reasoning about gender categories and animal species

PubMed Central

Taylor, Marianne G.; Rhodes, Marjorie; Gelman, Susan A.

2010-01-01

Two studies (N = 456) compared the development of concepts of animal species and human gender, using a switched-at-birth reasoning task. Younger children (5- and 6-year-olds) treated animal species and human gender as equivalent; they made similar levels of category-based inferences and endorsed similar explanations for development in these two domains. In contrast, 10-year-olds and adults treated gender and species concepts as distinct from one another. They viewed gender-linked behavioral properties as open to environmental influence, and endorsed environment-based mechanisms to explain gender development. At all ages, children demonstrated differentiated reasoning about physical and behavioral properties, although this differentiation became more stable with age. The role of psychological essentialism in guiding conceptual development is discussed. PMID:19467004

Boys will be boys; cows will be cows: children's essentialist reasoning about gender categories and animal species.

PubMed

Taylor, Marianne G; Rhodes, Marjorie; Gelman, Susan A

2009-01-01

Two studies (N = 456) compared the development of concepts of animal species and human gender, using a switched-at-birth reasoning task. Younger children (5- and 6-year-olds) treated animal species and human gender as equivalent; they made similar levels of category-based inferences and endorsed similar explanations for development in these 2 domains. In contrast, 10-year-olds and adults treated gender and species concepts as distinct from one another. They viewed gender-linked behavioral properties as open to environmental influence and endorsed environment-based mechanisms to explain gender development. At all ages, children demonstrated differentiated reasoning about physical and behavioral properties, although this differentiation became more stable with age. The role of psychological essentialism in guiding conceptual development is discussed.

The typical structure of tornado proximity soundings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaefer, Joseph T.; Livingston, Richard L.

1988-05-01

An objective scheme based on empirical orthogonal function analysis to detect patterns in a single or multivariate data set is developed and applied to rawinsonde observations taken in the near-tornado environment. If only temperature data are considered, two distinct categories, differentiated chiefly by the tropopause height, are found. When moisture observations are included with the temperatures, the separation between categories becomes less distinct. However, it is noted that within the near-tornado environment there is an inverse relationship between the degree of observed convective and conditional instability. Analysis of only the winds shows that a low-level veering with height is the rule. However, the strength of the veering can vary considerably. When the temperature, moisture, and winds are treated in concert, two categories again appear. One group occurs with strong winds and a low tropopause, while the other group features weak winds and a high tropopause. These groups correspond to "springtime" and "summertime" synoptic situations, respectively. Comparisons of the various analyses indicate that the near-tornado environment typically features a balance between the strength of the veering of the winds and the amount of conditional instability present. Summer tornadoes feature strong conditional instability and weak winds, while springtime tornadoes occur with stronger veering and convective instability. The strongest tornadoes occur with springtime-type conditions.

[Health-related quality of life across weight categories in childhood].

PubMed

Piqueras, José A; Orgilés, Mireia; Espada, José P; Carballo, José L

2012-01-01

To analyze differences in health-related quality of life across weight categories based on body mass index in boys and girls aged 8 to 12 years old. A cross-sectional study with 678 schoolchildren aged between 8 and 12 years from the province of Alicante (Spain) was conducted. The scores on the dimensions of health-related quality of life, assessed by the Spanish version of the Child Health and Illness Profile-Child Edition, across the weight categories (according to the World Health Organization Child Growth Standards) and sex, were compared. Overweight or obesity was found in 28.2% and 15.3% of the sample, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) across the weight categories on the distinct dimensions of health-related quality of life. Children are unaware of the impact of obesity on quality of life. Interventions to increase knowledge of this issue are required. Copyright © 2011 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Premorbid expertise produces category-specific impairment in a domain-general semantic disorder.

PubMed

Jefferies, Elizabeth; Rogers, Timothy T; Ralph, Matthew A Lambon

2011-10-01

For decades, category-specific semantic impairment - i.e., better comprehension of items from one semantic category than another - has been the driving force behind many claims about the organisation of conceptual knowledge in the brain. Double dissociations between patients with category-specific disorders are widely interpreted as showing that different conceptual domains are necessarily supported by functionally independent systems. We show that, to the contrary, even strong or classical dissociations can also arise from individual differences in premorbid expertise. We examined two patients with global and progressive semantic degradation who, unusually, had known areas of premorbid expertise. Patient 1, a former automotive worker, showed selective preservation of car knowledge, whereas Patient 2, a former botanist, showed selective preservation of information about plants. In non-expert domains, these patients showed the typical pattern: i.e., an inability to differentiate between highly similar concepts (e.g., rose and daisy), but retention of broader distinctions (e.g., between rose and cat). Parallel distributed processing (PDP) models of semantic cognition show that expertise in a particular domain increases the differentiation of specific-level concepts, such that the semantic distance between these items resembles non-expert basic-level distinctions. We propose that these structural changes interact with global semantic degradation, particularly when expert knowledge is acquired early and when exposure to expert concepts continues during disease progression. Therefore, category-specific semantic impairment can arise from at least two distinct mechanisms: damage to representations that are critical for a particular category (e.g., knowledge of hand shape and action for the category 'tools') and differences in premorbid experience. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

EEG Decoding of Semantic Category Reveals Distributed Representations for Single Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Brian; Poesio, Massimo; Bovolo, Francesca; Bruzzone, Lorenzo; Dalponte, Michele; Lakany, Heba

2011-01-01

Achieving a clearer picture of categorial distinctions in the brain is essential for our understanding of the conceptual lexicon, but much more fine-grained investigations are required in order for this evidence to contribute to lexical research. Here we present a collection of advanced data-mining techniques that allows the category of individual…

Physical Experience Leads to Enhanced Object Perception in Parietal Cortex: Insights from Knot Tying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cross, Emily S.; Cohen, Nichola Rice; de C. Hamilton, Antonia F.; Ramsey, Richard; Wolford, George; Grafton, Scott T.

2012-01-01

What does it mean to "know" what an object is? Viewing objects from different categories (e.g., tools vs. animals) engages distinct brain regions, but it is unclear whether these differences reflect object categories themselves or the tendency to interact differently with objects from different categories (grasping tools, not animals). Here we…

Delineating the Boundaries of Infants' Spatial Categories: The Case of Containment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rigney, Jennifer; Wang, Su-hua

2015-01-01

Spatial categorization has a long history in the research of infant cognition and perception. Many conclusions are drawn from the approach wherein infants are habituated to examples of a spatial category X and then display an attention recovery (i.e., dishabituation) to a contrasting category Y. However, the distinction infants make between X and…

Category-dependent and category-independent goal-value codes in human ventromedial prefrontal cortex

PubMed Central

McNamee, Daniel; Rangel, Antonio; O’Doherty, John P

2013-01-01

To choose between manifestly distinct options, it is suggested that the brain assigns values to goals using a common currency. Although previous studies have reported activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) correlating with the value of different goal stimuli, it remains unclear whether such goal-value representations are independent of the associated stimulus categorization, as required by a common currency. Using multivoxel pattern analyses on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, we found a region of medial prefrontal cortex to contain a distributed goal-value code that is independent of stimulus category. More ventrally in the vmPFC, we found spatially distinct areas of the medial orbitofrontal cortex to contain unique category-dependent distributed value codes for food and consumer items. These results implicate the medial prefrontal cortex in the implementation of a common currency and suggest a ventral versus dorsal topographical organization of value signals in the vmPFC. PMID:23416449

More than a name: Heterogeneity in characteristics of models of maternity care reported from the Australian Maternity Care Classification System validation study.

PubMed

Donnolley, Natasha R; Chambers, Georgina M; Butler-Henderson, Kerryn A; Chapman, Michael G; Sullivan, Elizabeth A

2017-08-01

Without a standard terminology to classify models of maternity care, it is problematic to compare and evaluate clinical outcomes across different models. The Maternity Care Classification System is a novel system developed in Australia to classify models of maternity care based on their characteristics and an overarching broad model descriptor (Major Model Category). This study aimed to assess the extent of variability in the defining characteristics of models of care grouped to the same Major Model Category, using the Maternity Care Classification System. All public hospital maternity services in New South Wales, Australia, were invited to complete a web-based survey classifying two local models of care using the Maternity Care Classification System. A descriptive analysis of the variation in 15 attributes of models of care was conducted to evaluate the level of heterogeneity within and across Major Model Categories. Sixty-nine out of seventy hospitals responded, classifying 129 models of care. There was wide variation in a number of important attributes of models classified to the same Major Model Category. The category of 'Public hospital maternity care' contained the most variation across all characteristics. This study demonstrated that although models of care can be grouped into a distinct set of Major Model Categories, there are significant variations in models of the same type. This could result in seemingly 'like' models of care being incorrectly compared if grouped only by the Major Model Category. Copyright © 2017 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Suspecies criterion in ectoparasites (based on the example of bird lice)].

PubMed

Eichler, W

1977-01-01

It has been proved on Mallophaga that the notion "hostal subspecies" can be applied at the level of intraspecies categories to constant parasites possessing, distinct specificity. The notion should be applied in those cases when there are but small differences between groups of parasites from different hosts (e. g. in sizes) and when hosts belong to different species of the same genus.

Toward criteria for pragmatic measurement in implementation research and practice: a stakeholder-driven approach using concept mapping.

PubMed

Powell, Byron J; Stanick, Cameo F; Halko, Heather M; Dorsey, Caitlin N; Weiner, Bryan J; Barwick, Melanie A; Damschroder, Laura J; Wensing, Michel; Wolfenden, Luke; Lewis, Cara C

2017-10-03

Advancing implementation research and practice requires valid and reliable measures of implementation determinants, mechanisms, processes, strategies, and outcomes. However, researchers and implementation stakeholders are unlikely to use measures if they are not also pragmatic. The purpose of this study was to establish a stakeholder-driven conceptualization of the domains that comprise the pragmatic measure construct. It built upon a systematic review of the literature and semi-structured stakeholder interviews that generated 47 criteria for pragmatic measures, and aimed to further refine that set of criteria by identifying conceptually distinct categories of the pragmatic measure construct and providing quantitative ratings of the criteria's clarity and importance. Twenty-four stakeholders with expertise in implementation practice completed a concept mapping activity wherein they organized the initial list of 47 criteria into conceptually distinct categories and rated their clarity and importance. Multidimensional scaling, hierarchical cluster analysis, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The 47 criteria were meaningfully grouped into four distinct categories: (1) acceptable, (2) compatible, (3) easy, and (4) useful. Average ratings of clarity and importance at the category and individual criteria level will be presented. This study advances the field of implementation science and practice by providing clear and conceptually distinct domains of the pragmatic measure construct. Next steps will include a Delphi process to develop consensus on the most important criteria and the development of quantifiable pragmatic rating criteria that can be used to assess measures.

Functional connectivity constrains the category-related organization of human ventral occipitotemporal cortex

PubMed Central

Stevens, W. Dale; Tessler, Michael Henry; Peng, Cynthia S.; Martin, Alex

2015-01-01

One of the most robust and oft-replicated findings in cognitive neuroscience is that several spatially distinct, functionally dissociable ventral occipitotemporal cortex (VOTC) regions respond preferentially to different categories of concrete entities. However, the determinants of this category-related organization remain to be fully determined. One recent proposal is that privileged connectivity of these VOTC regions with other regions that store and/or process category-relevant properties may be a major contributing factor. To test this hypothesis, we used a multi-category functional MRI localizer to individually define category-related brain regions of interest (ROIs) in a large group of subjects (n=33). We then used these ROIs in resting-state functional connectivity MRI analyses to explore spontaneous functional connectivity among these regions. We demonstrate that during rest, distinct category-preferential VOTC regions show differentially stronger functional connectivity with other regions that have congruent category-preference, as defined by the functional localizer. Importantly, a ‘tool’-preferential region in the left medial fusiform gyrus showed differentially stronger functional connectivity with other left lateralized cortical regions associated with perceiving and knowing about common tools – posterior middle temporal gyrus (involved in perception of non-biological motion), lateral parietal cortex (critical for reaching, grasping, manipulating), and ventral premotor cortex (involved in storing/executing motor programs) – relative to other category-related regions in VOTC of both the right and left hemisphere. Our findings support the claim that privileged connectivity with other cortical regions that store and/or process category-relevant properties constrains the category-related organization of VOTC. PMID:25704493

Analysis Of Ultra Compact Ionized Hydrogen Regions Within The Northern Half Of The Galactic Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruce, John

2011-01-01

From a catalog of 199 candidate ultra compact (UC) HII regions 123 sources included in the the intersection of the GLIMPSE (8 μm),Cornish (6 cm), and Bolocam ( 1.1 mm) galactic plane surveys (BGPS) were analyzed. The sources were sorted based on 6 cm morphology and coincidence with 8 μm bubbles. The 1.1 mm flux attributes were measured and calculations were performed to determine the ionized hydrogen contributions to the 1.1 mm flux. The category averages and frequencies were obtained as well. Significant differences in HII percentages were present among the morphology groups but ranged widely, without apparent distinction, between the bubble forming and triggered source categories.

Horses for courses: analytical tools to explore planetary boundaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Vuuren, D. P.; Lucas, P. L.; Häyhä, T.; Cornell, S. E.; Stafford-Smith, M.

2015-09-01

There is a need for further integrated research on developing a set of sustainable development objectives, based on the proposed framework of planetary boundaries indicators. The relevant research questions are divided in this paper into four key categories, related to the underlying processes and selection of key indicators, understanding the impacts of different exposure levels and influence of connections between different types of impacts, a better understanding of different response strategies and the available options to implement changes. Clearly, different categories of scientific disciplines and associated models exist that can contribute to the necessary analysis, noting that the distinctions between them are fuzzy. In the paper, we both indicate how different models relate to the four categories of questions but also how further insights can be obtained by connecting the different disciplines (without necessarily fully integrating them). Research on integration can support planetary boundary quantification in a credible way, linking human drivers and social and biophysical impacts.

Egosyntonic and egodystonic: accounting for continuities and discontinuities between personality traits and personality disorders.

PubMed

Paris, Joel

2015-02-01

Egosyntonic and egodystonic features describe differences between trait-based and state-based mental disorders. Many diagnoses, most particularly personality disorder (PD), show both features. These complex forms of psychopathology are an amalgam of traits and symptoms in which both egosyntonicity and egodystonicity can be present but vary in prominence. This distinction might help resolve the long-standing controversy as to whether PDs are best classified using dimensions or categories. Narrative review. PDs in which egosyntonic features tend to predominate can be understood as amplified trait profiles. PDs associated with highly egodystonic clinical symptoms that more closely resemble major mental disorders may be usefully classified using both categories and dimensions. PDs with stronger egosyntonic features are more suitable for dimensional diagnosis. When egodystonic symptoms are more prominent, categorical diagnoses can be useful.

Relative risk of probabilistic category learning deficits in patients with schizophrenia and their siblings

PubMed Central

Weickert, Thomas W.; Goldberg, Terry E.; Egan, Michael F.; Apud, Jose A.; Meeter, Martijn; Myers, Catherine E.; Gluck, Mark A; Weinberger, Daniel R.

2010-01-01

Background While patients with schizophrenia display an overall probabilistic category learning performance deficit, the extent to which this deficit occurs in unaffected siblings of patients with schizophrenia is unknown. There are also discrepant findings regarding probabilistic category learning acquisition rate and performance in patients with schizophrenia. Methods A probabilistic category learning test was administered to 108 patients with schizophrenia, 82 unaffected siblings, and 121 healthy participants. Results Patients with schizophrenia displayed significant differences from their unaffected siblings and healthy participants with respect to probabilistic category learning acquisition rates. Although siblings on the whole failed to differ from healthy participants on strategy and quantitative indices of overall performance and learning acquisition, application of a revised learning criterion enabling classification into good and poor learners based on individual learning curves revealed significant differences between percentages of sibling and healthy poor learners: healthy (13.2%), siblings (34.1%), patients (48.1%), yielding a moderate relative risk. Conclusions These results clarify previous discrepant findings pertaining to probabilistic category learning acquisition rate in schizophrenia and provide the first evidence for the relative risk of probabilistic category learning abnormalities in unaffected siblings of patients with schizophrenia, supporting genetic underpinnings of probabilistic category learning deficits in schizophrenia. These findings also raise questions regarding the contribution of antipsychotic medication to the probabilistic category learning deficit in schizophrenia. The distinction between good and poor learning may be used to inform genetic studies designed to detect schizophrenia risk alleles. PMID:20172502

Infants' use of category knowledge and object attributes when segregating objects at 8.5 months of age.

PubMed

Needham, Amy; Cantlon, Jessica F; Ormsbee Holley, Susan M

2006-12-01

The current research investigates infants' perception of a novel object from a category that is familiar to young infants: key rings. We ask whether experiences obtained outside the lab would allow young infants to parse the visible portions of a partly occluded key ring display into one single unit, presumably as a result of having categorized it as a key ring. This categorization was marked by infants' perception of the keys and ring as a single unit that should move together, despite their attribute differences. We showed infants a novel key ring display in which the keys and ring moved together as one rigid unit (Move-together event) or the ring moved but the keys remained stationary throughout the event (Move-apart event). Our results showed that 8.5-month-old infants perceived the keys and ring as connected despite their attribute differences, and that their perception of object unity was eliminated as the distinctive attributes of the key ring were removed. When all of the distinctive attributes of the key ring were removed, the 8.5-month-old infants perceived the display as two separate units, which is how younger infants (7-month-old) perceived the key ring display with all its distinctive attributes unaltered. These results suggest that on the basis of extensive experience with an object category, infants come to identify novel members of that category and expect them to possess the attributes typical of that category.

Validity of St Gallen risk categories in prognostication of breast cancer patients in Southern Sri Lanka.

PubMed

Peiris, Harshini; Mudduwa, Lakmini; Thalagala, Neil; Jayatilake, Kamani

2018-01-31

Although, there are many developments in the field of management, breast cancer is still the commonest cause of cancer related deaths in women in Sri Lanka. This emphasizes the need for validation of treatment protocols that are used in Sri Lanka for managing breast cancers. There are no published papers on treatment and survival of breast cancer patients in Sri Lanka. Hence this study was designed to determine the validity of St Gallen risk categories based on the survival outcomes of breast cancer patients in Southern Sri Lanka. This retro-prospective study included all female breast cancer patients who had sought the immunohistochemistry services of our unit from May 2006 to December 2012. Patients who had neo-adjuvant chemotherapy were excluded. Patients were stratified according to the St Gallen risk categories; low-risk (LR), intermediate-risk (IR) and high-risk (HR), which is used in deciding on the adjuvant treatment. IR category was subdivided based on presence/absence of 1-3 positive-nodes (absent-IR1, present-IR2) and HR on the number of positive-nodes(1-3 lymph nodes;HR1,> 3 lymph nodes;HR2). Kaplan-Meier and Cox-regression models were used in the survival analysis. This study included 713breast cancer patients (LR-2%, IR1-45%, IR2-10%, HR1-13%, HR2-30%). Five year breast cancer specific survival (BCSS)wasLR-100%, IR-91%, HR-66% and the recurrence free survival (RFS) was LR-85%, IR-84%, HR-65%. BCSS and RFS curves were significantly different between the three risk categories (p < 0.001). No survival difference was evident between the IR1 and IR2 (BCSS-p = 0.232, RFS-p = 0.118). HR1 and HR2 had a distinctly different BCSS (p = 0.033) with no difference in RFS (p = 0.190). This study validates the St Gallen risk categorization of female breast cancer patients in our setting. However, the HR includes two subsets of patients with a distinct difference in BCSS.

Serial position functions in general knowledge.

PubMed

Kelley, Matthew R; Neath, Ian; Surprenant, Aimée M

2015-11-01

Serial position functions with marked primacy and recency effects are ubiquitous in episodic memory tasks. The demonstrations reported here explored whether bow-shaped serial position functions would be observed when people ordered exemplars from various categories along a specified dimension. The categories and dimensions were: actors and age; animals and weight; basketball players and height; countries and area; and planets and diameter. In all cases, a serial position function was observed: People were more accurate to order the youngest and oldest actors, the lightest and heaviest animals, the shortest and tallest basketball players, the smallest and largest countries, and the smallest and largest planets, relative to intermediate items. The results support an explanation of serial position functions based on relative distinctiveness, which predicts that serial position functions will be observed whenever a set of items can be sensibly ordered along a particular dimension. The serial position function arises because the first and last items enjoy a benefit of having no competitors on 1 side and therefore have enhanced distinctiveness relative to mid-dimension items, which suffer by having many competitors on both sides. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

An Examination of Aviation Accidents Associated with Turbulence, Wind Shear and Thunderstorm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, Joni K.

2013-01-01

The focal point of the study reported here was the definition and examination of turbulence, wind shear and thunderstorm in relation to aviation accidents. NASA project management desired this information regarding distinct subgroups of atmospheric hazards, in order to better focus their research portfolio. A seven category expansion of Kaplan's turbulence categories was developed, which included wake turbulence, mountain wave turbulence, clear air turbulence, cloud turbulence, convective turbulence, thunderstorm without mention of turbulence, and low altitude wind shear, microburst or turbulence (with no mention of thunderstorms).More than 800 accidents from flights based in the United States during 1987-2008 were selected from a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) database. Accidents were selected for inclusion in this study if turbulence, thunderstorm, wind shear or microburst was considered either a cause or a factor in the accident report, and each accident was assigned to only one hazard category. This report summarizes the differences between the categories in terms of factors such as flight operations category, aircraft engine type, the accident's geographic location and time of year, degree of injury to aircraft occupants, aircraft damage, age and certification of the pilot and the phase of flight at the time of the accident.

A Note on DeCaro, Thomas, and Beilock (2008): Further Data Demonstrate Complexities in the Assessment of Information-Integration Category Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tharp, Ian J.; Pickering, Alan D.

2009-01-01

DeCaro et al. [DeCaro, M. S., Thomas, R. D., & Beilock, S. L. (2008). "Individual differences in category learning: Sometimes less working memory capacity is better than more." "Cognition, 107"(1), 284-294] explored how individual differences in working memory capacity differentially mediate the learning of distinct category structures.…

Mother-Child Conversations about Pictures and Objects: Referring to Categories and Individuals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gelman, Susan A.; Chesnick, Robert J.; Waxman, Sandra R.

2005-01-01

The distinction between individuals (e.g., Rin-Tin-Tin) and categories (e.g., dogs) is fundamental in human thought. Two studies examined factors that influence when 2- to 3-year-old children and adults focus on individuals versus categories. Mother-child dyads were presented with pictures and toys (e.g., a picture of a boat or a toy boat).…

How discordant morphological and molecular evolution among microorganisms can revise our notions of biodiversity on earth

PubMed Central

Lahr, Daniel J. G.; Laughinghouse, H. Dail; Oliverio, Angela; Gao, Feng; Katz, Laura A.

2014-01-01

Microscopy has revealed a tremendous diversity of bacterial and eukaryotic forms. More recent molecular analyses show discordance in estimates of biodiversity based on morphological analyses. Moreover, phylogenetic analyses of the diversity of microbial forms have revealed evidence of convergence at scales as large as interdomain – i.e. convergent forms shared between bacteria and eukaryotes. Here, we highlight examples of such discordance, focusing on exemplary lineages such as testate amoebae, ciliates and cyanobacteria, which have long histories of morphological study. We discuss examples in two categories: 1) morphologically identical (or highly similar) individuals that are genetically distinct and 2) morphologically distinct individuals that are genetically distinct. We argue that hypotheses about discordance can be tested using the concept of neutral morphologies, or more broadly neutral phenotypes, as a null hypothesis. PMID:25156897

Molecular Inversion Probe Analysis of Gene Copy Alterations Reveals Distinct Categories of Colorectal Carcinoma

PubMed Central

Ji, Hanlee; Kumm, Jochen; Zhang, Michael; Farnam, Kyle; Salari, Keyan; Faham, Malek; Ford, James M.; Davis, Ronald W.

2006-01-01

Genomic instability is a major feature of neoplastic development in colorectal carcinoma and other cancers. Specific genomic instability events, such as deletions in chromosomes and other alterations in gene copy number, have potential utility as biologically relevant prognostic biomarkers. For example, genomic deletions on chromosome arm 18q are an indicator of colorectal carcinoma behavior and potentially useful as a prognostic indicator. Adapting a novel genomic technology called molecular inversion probes which can determine gene copy alterations, such as genomic deletions, we designed a set of probes to interrogate several hundred individual exons of >200 cancer genes with an overall distribution covering all chromosome arms. In addition, >100 probes were designed in close proximity of microsatellite markers on chromosome arm 18q. We analyzed a set of colorectal carcinoma cell lines and primary colorectal tumor samples for gene copy alterations and deletion mutations in exons. Based on clustering analysis, we distinguished the different categories of genomic instability among the colorectal cancer cell lines. Our analysis of primary tumors uncovered several distinct categories of colorectal carcinoma, each with specific patterns of 18q deletions and deletion mutations in specific genes. This finding has potential clinical ramifications given the application of 18q loss of heterozygosity events as a potential indicator for adjuvant treatment in stage II colorectal carcinoma. PMID:16912164

Effects-based chemical category approach for prioritization of low affinity estrogenic chemicals.

PubMed

Hornung, M W; Tapper, M A; Denny, J S; Kolanczyk, R C; Sheedy, B R; Hartig, P C; Aladjov, H; Henry, T R; Schmieder, P K

2014-01-01

Regulatory agencies are charged with addressing the endocrine disrupting potential of large numbers of chemicals for which there is often little or no data on which to make decisions. Prioritizing the chemicals of greatest concern for further screening for potential hazard to humans and wildlife is an initial step in the process. This paper presents the collection of in vitro data using assays optimized to detect low affinity estrogen receptor (ER) binding chemicals and the use of that data to build effects-based chemical categories following QSAR approaches and principles pioneered by Gilman Veith and colleagues for application to environmental regulatory challenges. Effects-based chemical categories were built using these QSAR principles focused on the types of chemicals in the specific regulatory domain of concern, i.e. non-steroidal industrial chemicals, and based upon a mechanistic hypothesis of how these non-steroidal chemicals of seemingly dissimilar structure to 17ß-estradiol (E2) could interact with the ER via two distinct binding types. Chemicals were also tested to solubility thereby minimizing false negatives and providing confidence in determination of chemicals as inactive. The high-quality data collected in this manner were used to build an ER expert system for chemical prioritization described in a companion article in this journal.

Words and Pictures as Distinct Encoding Categories in Short-Term Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wells, J. Elisabeth

1973-01-01

Results of this experiment show a considerable release from proactive inhibition with a shift from words to pictures or pictures to words, thus adding one more change to the considerable number of category changes which produce the release phenomenon. (Author/CB)

Interpretation of Whorf from Different Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Yanlong

2016-01-01

The paper interprets Whorf's notion by turning to his original writings. Specifically, the paper makes a detailed analysis of Whorf's notion from anthropological linguistics, which largely deals with his famous distinction between overt category and covert category and his detailed description of the American Indian language Hopi; contrastive…

Clinical Evaluation of Tinnitus.

PubMed

Hertzano, Ronna; Teplitzky, Taylor B; Eisenman, David J

2016-05-01

The clinical evaluation of patients with tinnitus differs based on whether the tinnitus is subjective or objective. Subjective tinnitus is usually associated with a hearing loss, and therefore, the clinical evaluation is focused on an otologic and audiologic evaluation with adjunct imaging/tests as necessary. Objective tinnitus is divided into perception of an abnormal somatosound or abnormal perception of a normal somatosound. The distinction between these categories is usually possible based on a history, physical examination, and audiogram, leading to directed imaging to identify the underlying abnormality. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The brain basis of emotion: A meta-analytic review

PubMed Central

Lindquist, Kristen A.; Wager, Tor D.; Kober, Hedy; Bliss-Moreau, Eliza; Barrett, Lisa Feldman

2015-01-01

Researchers have wondered how the brain creates emotions since the early days of psychological science. With a surge of studies in affective neuroscience in recent decades, scientists are poised to answer this question. In this article, we present a meta-analytic summary of the human neuroimaging literature on emotion. We compare the locationist approach (i.e., the hypothesis that discrete emotion categories consistently and specifically correspond to distinct brain regions) with the psychological constructionist approach (i.e., the hypothesis that discrete emotion categories are constructed of more general brain networks not specific to those categories) to better understand the brain basis of emotion. We review both locationist and psychological constructionist hypotheses of brain–emotion correspondence and report meta-analytic findings bearing on these hypotheses. Overall, we found little evidence that discrete emotion categories can be consistently and specifically localized to distinct brain regions. Instead, we found evidence that is consistent with a psychological constructionist approach to the mind: a set of interacting brain regions commonly involved in basic psychological operations of both an emotional and non-emotional nature are active during emotion experience and perception across a range of discrete emotion categories. PMID:22617651

Category Cued Recall Evokes a Generate-Recognize Retrieval Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunt, R. Reed; Smith, Rebekah E.; Toth, Jeffrey P.

2016-01-01

The experiments reported here were designed to replicate and extend McCabe, Roediger, and Karpicke's (2011) finding that retrieval in category cued recall involves both controlled and automatic processes. The extension entailed identifying whether distinctive encoding affected 1 or both of these 2 processes. The first experiment successfully…

From Cultural Distance to Skills Deficits: "Expatriates," "Migrants" and Swiss Integration Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeung, Shirley

2016-01-01

This article examines two social categories brought into being by recent migration policies in Switzerland: the expatriate (or "expat") and the migrant. Treating these categories as relationally constituted, the article explores how this distinction was constructed and managed in response to processes of European harmonization in the…

The nature and time-course of medial temporal lobe contributions to semantic retrieval: an fMRI study on verbal fluency.

PubMed

Sheldon, Signy; Moscovitch, Morris

2012-06-01

Recent investigations have shown that the medial temporal lobe (MTL), a region thought to be exclusive to episodic memory, can also influence performance on tests of semantic memory. The present study examined further the nature of MTL contributions to semantic memory tasks by tracking MTL activation as participants performed category fluency, a traditional test of semantic retrieval. For categories that were inherently autobiographical (e.g. names of friends), the MTLs were activated throughout the time period in which items were generated, consistent with the MTLs role in retrieving autobiographical memories. For categories that could not benefit from autobiographical or spatial/context information (e.g. governmental offices), the MTL was not implicated at any time point. For categories for which both prototypical and episodically-related information exists (e.g. kitchen utensils), there was more robust MTL activity for the open-ended, late generation periods compared with the more well-defined, early item generation time periods. We interpret these results as suggesting that early in the generation phase, responses are based on well-rehearsed prototypical knowledge whereas later performance relies more on open-ended strategies, such as deriving exemplars from personally relevant contextual information (e.g. imagining one's own kitchen). These findings and interpretation were consistent with the results of an initial, separate behavioral study (Expt 1), that used the distinctiveness of responses as a measure of open-endedness across the generation phase: Response distinctiveness corresponded to the predicted open-endedness of the various tasks at early and late phases. Overall, this is consistent with the view that as generation of semantic information becomes open-ended, it recruits processes from other domains, such as episodic memory, to support performance. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Proportion and characteristics of men with unknown risk category in the National Prostate Cancer Register of Sweden.

PubMed

Tomic, Katarina; Westerberg, Marcus; Robinson, David; Garmo, Hans; Stattin, Pär

2016-12-01

Knowledge on missing data in a clinical cancer register is important to assess the validity of research results. For analysis of prostate cancer (Pca), risk category, a composite variable based on serum levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA), stage, and Gleason score, is crucial for treatment decisions and a strong determinant of outcome. The aim of this study was to assess the proportion and characteristics of men in the National Prostate Cancer Register (NPCR) of Sweden with unknown risk category. Men diagnosed with Pca between 1998 and 2012 registered in NPCR with known or unknown risk category were compared with respect to age, socioeconomic factors, comorbidity, cancer characteristics, cancer treatment, and mortality from Pca and other causes. In total, 3315 of 129 391 (3%) men had unknown risk category. Compared to other men in NPCR, these men more often had a concomitant bladder cancer diagnosis, 19% versus 1%, diagnosis of benign prostatic hyperplasia 31% versus 5%, received unspecified Pca treatment 16% versus 3%, had higher comorbidity, Charlson Comorbidity Index 2 or higher, 34% versus 13%, and had lower Pca mortality 12% versus 30%, but similar mortality from other causes. Men with unknown risk category were rare in NPCR but distinctly different from other men in NPCR in many aspects including higher comorbidity and lower Pca mortality.

A Bayesian Model of Category-Specific Emotional Brain Responses

PubMed Central

Wager, Tor D.; Kang, Jian; Johnson, Timothy D.; Nichols, Thomas E.; Satpute, Ajay B.; Barrett, Lisa Feldman

2015-01-01

Understanding emotion is critical for a science of healthy and disordered brain function, but the neurophysiological basis of emotional experience is still poorly understood. We analyzed human brain activity patterns from 148 studies of emotion categories (2159 total participants) using a novel hierarchical Bayesian model. The model allowed us to classify which of five categories—fear, anger, disgust, sadness, or happiness—is engaged by a study with 66% accuracy (43-86% across categories). Analyses of the activity patterns encoded in the model revealed that each emotion category is associated with unique, prototypical patterns of activity across multiple brain systems including the cortex, thalamus, amygdala, and other structures. The results indicate that emotion categories are not contained within any one region or system, but are represented as configurations across multiple brain networks. The model provides a precise summary of the prototypical patterns for each emotion category, and demonstrates that a sufficient characterization of emotion categories relies on (a) differential patterns of involvement in neocortical systems that differ between humans and other species, and (b) distinctive patterns of cortical-subcortical interactions. Thus, these findings are incompatible with several contemporary theories of emotion, including those that emphasize emotion-dedicated brain systems and those that propose emotion is localized primarily in subcortical activity. They are consistent with componential and constructionist views, which propose that emotions are differentiated by a combination of perceptual, mnemonic, prospective, and motivational elements. Such brain-based models of emotion provide a foundation for new translational and clinical approaches. PMID:25853490

The uses and abuses of the coherence – correspondence distinction

PubMed Central

Polonioli, Andrea

2015-01-01

Kenneth Hammond introduced a distinction between coherence and correspondence criteria of rationality as a tool in the study of judgment and decision-making. This distinction has been widely used in the field. Yet, as this paper seeks to show, the relevant notions of coherence and correspondence have been progressively considered to be too narrow and have undergone non-trivial conceptual changes since their original introduction. I try to show, first, that the proliferation of conceptualizations of coherence and correspondence has created confusion in the literature and that appealing to such notions has not helped to elucidate discussions over the nature of rational judgment and decision-making. Nevertheless, I also argue for a reframing of the debate. In fact, what seems to underlie several contemporary appeals to the notions of coherence and correspondence is best explained in terms of a contrast between what I call rule-based and goal-based rationality. Whilst these categories do need further refinement, they do seem to be useful for organizing and understanding research on rational judgment and decision-making. PMID:25983700

Double dissociation of semantic categories in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Gonnerman, L M; Andersen, E S; Devlin, J T; Kempler, D; Seidenberg, M S

1997-04-01

Data that demonstrate distinct patterns of semantic impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are presented. Findings suggest that while groups of mild-moderate patients may not display category specific impairments, some individual patients do show selective impairment of either natural kinds or artifacts. We present a model of semantic organization in which category specific impairments arise from damage to distributed features underlying different types of categories. We incorporate the crucial notions of intercorrelations and distinguishing features, allowing us to demonstrate (1) how category specific impairments can result from widespread damage and (2) how selective deficits in AD reflect different points in the progression of impairment. The different patterns of impairment arise from an interaction between the nature of the semantic categories and the progression of damage.

75 FR 32482 - Investigational New Drug Applications; Co-development of Investigational Drugs

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-08

...- infectives, seizure disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and any other therapeutic category in which such co..., cardiovascular diseases, and any other therapeutic category in which such co-development is likely to occur. III... distinct investigational drugs intended to be used in combination to treat a disease or condition. FDA is...

Learning Phonemes with a Proto-Lexicon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Andrew; Peperkamp, Sharon; Dupoux, Emmanuel

2013-01-01

Before the end of the first year of life, infants begin to lose the ability to perceive distinctions between sounds that are not phonemic in their native language. It is typically assumed that this developmental change reflects the construction of language-specific phoneme categories, but how these categories are learned largely remains a mystery.…

Judgments Relative to Patterns: How Temporal Sequence Patterns Affect Judgments and Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kusev, Petko; Ayton, Peter; van Schaik, Paul; Tsaneva-Atanasova, Krasimira; Stewart, Neil; Chater, Nick

2011-01-01

RESix experiments studied relative frequency judgment and recall of sequentially presented items drawn from 2 distinct categories (i.e., city and animal). The experiments show that judged frequencies of categories of sequentially encountered stimuli are affected by certain properties of the sequence configuration. We found (a) a "first-run…

Distinct cortical areas for names of numbers and body parts independent of language and input modality.

PubMed

Le Clec'H, G; Dehaene, S; Cohen, L; Mehler, J; Dupoux, E; Poline, J B; Lehéricy, S; van de Moortele, P F; Le Bihan, D

2000-10-01

Some models of word comprehension postulate that the processing of words presented in different modalities and languages ultimately converges toward common cerebral systems associated with semantic-level processing and that the localization of these systems may vary with the category of semantic knowledge being accessed. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate this hypothesis with two categories of words, numerals, and body parts, for which the existence of distinct category-specific areas is debated in neuropsychology. Across two experiments, one with a blocked design and the other with an event-related design, a reproducible set of left-hemispheric parietal and prefrontal areas showed greater activation during the manipulation of topographical knowledge about body parts and a right-hemispheric parietal network during the manipulation of numerical quantities. These results complement the existing neuropsychological and brain-imaging literature by suggesting that within the extensive network of bilateral parietal regions active during both number and body-part processing, a subset shows category-specific responses independent of the language and modality of presentation. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

Knowledge of the human body: a distinct semantic domain.

PubMed

Coslett, H Branch; Saffran, Eleanor M; Schwoebel, John

2002-08-13

Patients with selective deficits in the naming and comprehension of animals, plants, and artifacts have been reported. These descriptions of specific semantic category deficits have contributed substantially to the understanding of the architecture of semantic representations. This study sought to further understanding of the organization of the semantic system by demonstrating that another semantic category, knowledge of the human body, may be selectively preserved. The performance of a patient with semantic dementia was compared with the performance of healthy controls on a variety of tasks assessing distinct types of body representations, including the body schema, body image, and body structural description. Despite substantial deficits on tasks involving language and knowledge of the world generally, the patient performed normally on all tests of body knowledge except body part naming; even in this naming task, however, her performance with body parts was significantly better than on artifacts. The demonstration that body knowledge may be preserved despite substantial semantic deficits involving other types of semantic information argues that body knowledge is a distinct and dissociable semantic category. These data are interpreted as support for a model of semantics that proposes that knowledge is distributed across different cortical regions reflecting the manner in which the information was acquired.

The perception of phonological quantity based on durational cues by native speakers, second-language users and nonspeakers of Finnish.

PubMed

Ylinen, Sari; Shestakova, Anna; Alku, Paavo; Huotilainen, Minna

2005-01-01

Some languages, such as Finnish, use speech-sound duration as the primary cue for a phonological quantity distinction. For second-language (L2) learners, quantity is often difficult to master if speech-sound duration plays a less important role in the phonology of their native language (L1). By comparing the categorization performance of native speakers of Finnish, Russian L2 users of Finnish, and non-Finnish-speaking Russians, the present study aimed to determine whether the L2 users, whose native language does not have a quantity distinction, have been able to establish categories for Finnish quantity. The results suggest that the native speakers and some of the L2 users that have been exposed to Finnish for a longer time have access to phonological quantity categories, whereas the L2 users with shorter exposure and the non-Finnish-speaking subjects do not. In addition, by comparing categorization and discrimination tasks it was found that the native speakers show a phoneme-boundary effect for quantity that is cued by duration only, whereas the non-Finnish-speaking subjects and the subjects with low proficiency in Finnish do not.

Depression among unaccompanied minor refugees: the relative contribution of general and acculturation-specific daily hassles.

PubMed

Keles, Serap; Friborg, Oddgeir; Idsøe, Thormod; Sirin, Selcuk; Oppedal, Brit

2016-01-01

This study is designed to provide an empirical conceptualization of daily hassles among unaccompanied refugees, and whether they might affect mental health of young refugees after resettlement. First, we examined the underlying structure of daily hassles conceptualized as measuring general and acculturation-specific hassles. Second, we examined whether these two distinct categories of daily hassles significantly contribute to depression above and beyond the impact of premigration trauma. The study was based on self-report questionnaire data collected from 895 unaccompanied refugees who had been granted residence in Norway. Using structural equation modeling, the results confirmed the grouping of hassles in two general categories, which explained 43% of the variance in depression. The findings underscore the importance of current life conditions for unaccompanied refugees' mental health.

Decoding Spontaneous Emotional States in the Human Brain

PubMed Central

Kragel, Philip A.; Knodt, Annchen R.; Hariri, Ahmad R.; LaBar, Kevin S.

2016-01-01

Pattern classification of human brain activity provides unique insight into the neural underpinnings of diverse mental states. These multivariate tools have recently been used within the field of affective neuroscience to classify distributed patterns of brain activation evoked during emotion induction procedures. Here we assess whether neural models developed to discriminate among distinct emotion categories exhibit predictive validity in the absence of exteroceptive emotional stimulation. In two experiments, we show that spontaneous fluctuations in human resting-state brain activity can be decoded into categories of experience delineating unique emotional states that exhibit spatiotemporal coherence, covary with individual differences in mood and personality traits, and predict on-line, self-reported feelings. These findings validate objective, brain-based models of emotion and show how emotional states dynamically emerge from the activity of separable neural systems. PMID:27627738

Convergence between a mosquito-eating predator's natural diet and its prey-choice behaviour

PubMed Central

Jackson, Robert R.; Deng, Chan

2016-01-01

On the basis of 1115 records of Evarcha culicivora feeding in the field, we can characterize this East African jumping spider (Salticidae) as being distinctively stenophagic. We can also, on the basis of laboratory prey-choice experiments, characterize E. culicivora as having a specialized prey-classification system and a hierarchy of innate preferences for various categories of mosquitoes and other arthropods. Prey from the field belonged to 10 arthropod orders, but 94.5% of the prey records were dipterans. Mosquitoes were the dominant prey (80.2% of the records), with the majority (82.9%) of the mosquitoes being females, and thereafter midges were the most common prey (9.2% of the records). Preference profiles that were determined from experiments showed strong convergence with natural diet in some, but not all, instances. In experiments, E. culicivora adults appeared to distinguish between six prey categories and juveniles between seven, with blood-carrying anopheline female mosquitoes being ranked highest in preference. For adults, this was followed by blood-carrying culicine female mosquitoes and then anopheline female mosquitoes not carrying blood, but these two preferences were reversed for juveniles. Moreover, for juveniles, but not for adults, anopheline male mosquitoes seem to be a distinct prey category ranked in preference after blood-carrying culicine females and, for both adults and juveniles, preference for midges is evident when the alternatives are not mosquitoes. These findings illustrate the importance of going beyond simply specifying preferred prey categories when characterizing predators as ‘specialized’ and a need to make clear conceptual distinctions between a predator's natural diet, the prey categories that are relevant to the predator, and the predator's prey-choicebehaviour. PMID:28083103

Distinct progression of the deterioration of thematic and taxonomic links in natural and manufactured objects in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Simoes Loureiro, Isabelle; Lefebvre, Laurent

2016-10-01

Taxonomic and thematic relationships are core elements of lexico-semantic networks. However, the weight of both links differs in semantic memory, with distinct support for natural and manufactured objects: natural objects tend to be more taxonomically identified while manufactured objects benefit more from the underlying thematic relationships. Alzheimer's disease (AD) causes early semantic memory impairment characterized by a category-specific deterioration, where natural objects are more sensitive to the disease than manufactured objects. However, relatively few studies have examined the progressive deterioration of specific thematic versus taxonomic relations in both categories of objects in AD. To better understand semantic memory disorganization in AD and analyze the potential interaction effect between the category (natural/manufactured), the condition (thematic/taxonomic) and AD, we will investigate the lexico-semantic network in 82 AD patients (divided into three groups depending on their global cognitive deterioration and their performance in a preliminary semantic knowledge questionnaire (mild (AD1), moderate (AD2) and advanced (AD3) stages of semantic knowledge alteration). The experimental protocol contains two tasks: an implicit semantic priming paradigm and an explicit card-sorting test that uses the same items, equally divided between natural and manufactured objects. Results show a distinct taxonomic and thematic evolution pattern with early taxonomic deterioration. Natural objects are also more vulnerable to the disease. Lastly, there is an interaction effect between the category and the condition in the priming task indicating that natural objects are more taxonomically organized and manufactured objects benefit more from both thematic and taxonomic organizations, reinforcing the idea of the robustness of this category. The theoretical accounts of these observations will be discussed in detail. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PredictSNP2: A Unified Platform for Accurately Evaluating SNP Effects by Exploiting the Different Characteristics of Variants in Distinct Genomic Regions

PubMed Central

Brezovský, Jan

2016-01-01

An important message taken from human genome sequencing projects is that the human population exhibits approximately 99.9% genetic similarity. Variations in the remaining parts of the genome determine our identity, trace our history and reveal our heritage. The precise delineation of phenotypically causal variants plays a key role in providing accurate personalized diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of inherited diseases. Several computational methods for achieving such delineation have been reported recently. However, their ability to pinpoint potentially deleterious variants is limited by the fact that their mechanisms of prediction do not account for the existence of different categories of variants. Consequently, their output is biased towards the variant categories that are most strongly represented in the variant databases. Moreover, most such methods provide numeric scores but not binary predictions of the deleteriousness of variants or confidence scores that would be more easily understood by users. We have constructed three datasets covering different types of disease-related variants, which were divided across five categories: (i) regulatory, (ii) splicing, (iii) missense, (iv) synonymous, and (v) nonsense variants. These datasets were used to develop category-optimal decision thresholds and to evaluate six tools for variant prioritization: CADD, DANN, FATHMM, FitCons, FunSeq2 and GWAVA. This evaluation revealed some important advantages of the category-based approach. The results obtained with the five best-performing tools were then combined into a consensus score. Additional comparative analyses showed that in the case of missense variations, protein-based predictors perform better than DNA sequence-based predictors. A user-friendly web interface was developed that provides easy access to the five tools’ predictions, and their consensus scores, in a user-understandable format tailored to the specific features of different categories of variations. To enable comprehensive evaluation of variants, the predictions are complemented with annotations from eight databases. The web server is freely available to the community at http://loschmidt.chemi.muni.cz/predictsnp2. PMID:27224906

PredictSNP2: A Unified Platform for Accurately Evaluating SNP Effects by Exploiting the Different Characteristics of Variants in Distinct Genomic Regions.

PubMed

Bendl, Jaroslav; Musil, Miloš; Štourač, Jan; Zendulka, Jaroslav; Damborský, Jiří; Brezovský, Jan

2016-05-01

An important message taken from human genome sequencing projects is that the human population exhibits approximately 99.9% genetic similarity. Variations in the remaining parts of the genome determine our identity, trace our history and reveal our heritage. The precise delineation of phenotypically causal variants plays a key role in providing accurate personalized diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of inherited diseases. Several computational methods for achieving such delineation have been reported recently. However, their ability to pinpoint potentially deleterious variants is limited by the fact that their mechanisms of prediction do not account for the existence of different categories of variants. Consequently, their output is biased towards the variant categories that are most strongly represented in the variant databases. Moreover, most such methods provide numeric scores but not binary predictions of the deleteriousness of variants or confidence scores that would be more easily understood by users. We have constructed three datasets covering different types of disease-related variants, which were divided across five categories: (i) regulatory, (ii) splicing, (iii) missense, (iv) synonymous, and (v) nonsense variants. These datasets were used to develop category-optimal decision thresholds and to evaluate six tools for variant prioritization: CADD, DANN, FATHMM, FitCons, FunSeq2 and GWAVA. This evaluation revealed some important advantages of the category-based approach. The results obtained with the five best-performing tools were then combined into a consensus score. Additional comparative analyses showed that in the case of missense variations, protein-based predictors perform better than DNA sequence-based predictors. A user-friendly web interface was developed that provides easy access to the five tools' predictions, and their consensus scores, in a user-understandable format tailored to the specific features of different categories of variations. To enable comprehensive evaluation of variants, the predictions are complemented with annotations from eight databases. The web server is freely available to the community at http://loschmidt.chemi.muni.cz/predictsnp2.

Retrieval-induced forgetting in schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Nestor, Paul G.; Piech, Richard; Allen, Christopher; Niznikiewicz, Margaret; Shenton, Martha; McCarley, Robert W.

2009-01-01

Retrieving category associates (e.g., FRUIT-ORANGE) may induce forgetting other category members (e.g., FRUIT-BANANA), a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). We designed 2 experiments to examine the role of RIF in the associative memory impairment of schizophrenia (SZ). Subjects studied 36 category-exemplar pairs, generated from 6 categories composed of 6 members each. For half of the studied category-exemplar pairs, subjects practiced retrieval by completing word stems, followed by a delayed category-cued recall on all of the practiced and unpracticed items. Experiment 1 used unrelated category exemplars-pairs (e.g., FRUIT-ORANGE, METALS-IRON), whereas experiment 2 included related category exemplar pairs (e.g., COTTON-SHIRT, LEATHER-SKIRT). SZ showed reduced associative memory but normal RIF for unrelated categories used in experiment 1. For experiment 2, SZ showed a significant decline in associative memory for related but not unrelated category-exemplars in comparison to controls. Results suggested faulty specificity/distinctiveness for encoding and retrieval, but not abnormal RIF in the associative memory disturbance of SZ. PMID:15885511

Retrieval-induced forgetting in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Nestor, Paul G; Piech, Richard; Allen, Christopher; Niznikiewicz, Margaret; Shenton, Martha; McCarley, Robert W

2005-06-15

Retrieving category associates (e.g., FRUIT-ORANGE) may induce forgetting other category members (e.g., FRUIT-BANANA), a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). We designed 2 experiments to examine the role of RIF in the associative memory impairment of schizophrenia (SZ). Subjects studied 36 category-exemplar pairs, generated from 6 categories composed of 6 members each. For half of the studied category-exemplar pairs, subjects practiced retrieval by completing word stems, followed by a delayed category-cued recall on all of the practiced and unpracticed items. Experiment 1 used unrelated category exemplars-pairs (e.g., FRUIT-ORANGE, METALS-IRON), whereas experiment 2 included related category exemplar pairs (e.g., COTTON-SHIRT, LEATHER-SKIRT). SZ showed reduced associative memory but normal RIF for unrelated categories used in experiment 1. For experiment 2, SZ showed a significant decline in associative memory for related but not unrelated category-exemplars in comparison to controls. Results suggested faulty specificity/distinctiveness for encoding and retrieval, but not abnormal RIF in the associative memory disturbance of SZ.

Re-Evaluating Dissociations between Implicit and Explicit Category Learning: An Event-Related fMRI Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gureckis, Todd M.; James, Thomas W.; Nosofsky, Robert M.

2011-01-01

Recent fMRI studies have found that distinct neural systems may mediate perceptual category learning under implicit and explicit learning conditions. In these previous studies, however, different stimulus-encoding processes may have been associated with implicit versus explicit learning. The present design was aimed at decoupling the influence of…

Phonetic Category Cues in Adult-Directed Speech: Evidence from Three Languages with Distinct Vowel Characteristics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pons, Ferran; Biesanz, Jeremy C.; Kajikawa, Sachiyo; Fais, Laurel; Narayan, Chandan R.; Amano, Shigeaki; Werker, Janet F.

2012-01-01

Using an artificial language learning manipulation, Maye, Werker, and Gerken (2002) demonstrated that infants' speech sound categories change as a function of the distributional properties of the input. In a recent study, Werker et al. (2007) showed that Infant-directed Speech (IDS) input contains reliable acoustic cues that support distributional…

Different categories of living and non-living sound-sources activate distinct cortical networks

PubMed Central

Engel, Lauren R.; Frum, Chris; Puce, Aina; Walker, Nathan A.; Lewis, James W.

2009-01-01

With regard to hearing perception, it remains unclear as to whether, or the extent to which, different conceptual categories of real-world sounds and related categorical knowledge are differentially represented in the brain. Semantic knowledge representations are reported to include the major divisions of living versus non-living things, plus more specific categories including animals, tools, biological motion, faces, and places—categories typically defined by their characteristic visual features. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify brain regions showing preferential activity to four categories of action sounds, which included non-vocal human and animal actions (living), plus mechanical and environmental sound-producing actions (non-living). The results showed a striking antero-posterior division in cortical representations for sounds produced by living versus non-living sources. Additionally, there were several significant differences by category, depending on whether the task was category-specific (e.g. human or not) versus non-specific (detect end-of-sound). In general, (1) human-produced sounds yielded robust activation in the bilateral posterior superior temporal sulci independent of task. Task demands modulated activation of left-lateralized fronto-parietal regions, bilateral insular cortices, and subcortical regions previously implicated in observation-execution matching, consistent with “embodied” and mirror-neuron network representations subserving recognition. (2) Animal action sounds preferentially activated the bilateral posterior insulae. (3) Mechanical sounds activated the anterior superior temporal gyri and parahippocampal cortices. (4) Environmental sounds preferentially activated dorsal occipital and medial parietal cortices. Overall, this multi-level dissociation of networks for preferentially representing distinct sound-source categories provides novel support for grounded cognition models that may underlie organizational principles for hearing perception. PMID:19465134

Cultural transmission of social essentialism

PubMed Central

Rhodes, Marjorie; Leslie, Sarah-Jane; Tworek, Christina M.

2012-01-01

Social essentialism entails the belief that certain social categories (e.g., gender, race) mark fundamentally distinct kinds of people. Essentialist beliefs have pernicious consequences, supporting social stereotyping and contributing to prejudice. How does social essentialism develop? In the studies reported here, we tested the hypothesis that generic language facilitates the cultural transmission of social essentialism. Two studies found that hearing generic language about a novel social category diverse for race, ethnicity, age, and sex led 4-y-olds and adults to develop essentialist beliefs about that social category. A third study documented that experimentally inducing parents to hold essentialist beliefs about a novel social category led them to produce more generic language when discussing the category with their children. Thus, generic language facilitates the transmission of essentialist beliefs about social categories from parents to children. PMID:22869722

14- to 16-Month-Olds Attend to Distinct Labels in an Inductive Reasoning Task.

PubMed

Switzer, Jessica L; Graham, Susan A

2017-01-01

We examined how naming objects with unique labels influenced infants' reasoning about the non-obvious properties of novel objects. Seventy 14- to 16-month-olds participated in an imitation-based inductive inference task during which they were presented with target objects possessing a non-obvious sound property, followed by test objects that varied in shape similarity in comparison to the target. Infants were assigned to one of two groups: a No Label group in which objects were introduced with a general attentional phrase (i.e., "Look at this one") and a Distinct Label group in which target and test objects were labeled with two distinct count nouns (i.e., fep vs. wug ). Infants in the Distinct Label group performed significantly fewer target actions on the high-similarity objects than infants in the No Label group but did not differ in performance of actions on the low-similarity object. Within the Distinct Label group, performance on the inductive inference task was related to age, but not to working memory, inhibitory control, or vocabulary. Within the No Label condition, performance on the inductive inference task was related to a measure of inhibitory control. Our findings suggest that between 14- and 16-months, infants begin to use labels to carve out distinct categories, even when objects are highly perceptually similar.

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

PubMed

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

2015-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate to what extent shared and distinct brain mechanisms are possibly subserving the processing of visual supra-categorical and categorical knowledge as observed with event-related potentials of the brain. Access time to these knowledge types was also investigated. Picture pairs of animals, objects, and mixed types were presented. Participants were asked to decide whether each pair contained pictures belonging to the same category (either animals or man-made objects) or to different categories by pressing one of two buttons. Response accuracy and reaction times (RTs) were also recorded. Both ERPs and RTs were grand-averaged separately for the same-different supra-categories and the animal-object categories. Behavioral performance was faster for more endomorphic pairs, i.e., animals vs. objects and same vs. different category pairs. For ERPs, a modulation of the earliest C1 and subsequent P1 responses to the same vs. different supra-category pairs, but not to the animal vs. object category pairs, was found. This finding supports the view that early afferent processing in the striate cortex can be boosted as a by-product of attention allocated to the processing of shapes and basic features that are mismatched, but not to their semantic quintessence, during same-different supra-categorical judgment. Most importantly, the fact that this processing accrual occurred independent of a traditional experimental condition requiring selective attention to a stimulus source out of the various sources addressed makes it conceivable that this processing accrual may arise from the attentional demand deriving from the alternate focusing of visual attention within and across stimulus categorical pairs' basic structural features. Additional posterior ERP reflections of the brain more prominently processing animal category and same-category pairs were observed at the N1 and N2 levels, respectively, as well as at a late positive complex level, overall most likely related to different stages of analysis of the greater endomorphy of these shape groups. Conversely, an enhanced fronto-central and fronto-lateral N2 as well as a centro-parietal N400 to man-made objects and different-category pairs were found, possibly indexing processing of these entities' lower endomorphy and isomorphy at the basic features and semantic levels, respectively. Overall, the present ERP results revealed shared and distinct mechanisms of access to supra-categorical and categorical knowledge in the same way in which shared and distinct neural representations underlie the processing of diverse semantic categories. Additionally, they outlined the serial nature of categorical and supra-categorical representations, indicating the sequential steps of access to these separate knowledge types. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Category and stereotype activation revisited.

PubMed

Akrami, Nazar; Ekehammar, Bo; Araya, Tadesse

2006-12-01

In Study 1 (N= 230), we found that the participants' explicit prejudice was not related to their knowledge of cultural stereotypes of immigrants in Sweden, and that they associated the social category immigrants with the same national/ethnic categories. In Study 2 (N= 88), employing the category and stereotype words obtained in Study 1 as primes, we examined whether participants with varying degrees of explicit prejudice differed in their automatic stereotyping and implicit prejudice when primed with category or stereotypical words. In accord with our hypothesis, and contrary to previous findings, the results showed that people's explicit prejudice did not affect their automatic stereotyping and implicit prejudice, neither in the category nor stereotype priming condition. Study 3 (N= 62), employing category priming using facial photographs of Swedes and immigrants as primes, showed that participants' implicit prejudice was not moderated by their explicit prejudice. The outcome is discussed in relation to the distinction between category and stereotype priming and in terms of the associative strength between a social category and its related stereotypes.

Biological origins of color categorization.

PubMed

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

2017-05-23

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

Biological origins of color categorization

PubMed Central

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

2017-01-01

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

Investigation of the Characteristics of Students Classified under Autism and Their Educational Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dekeyzer, Lori Lynn

2009-01-01

With passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1990, autism was recognized as a distinct special education category. Subsequently, there has been a steady increase in the number of students qualified in the schools to receive special education services under this category. There are a number of questions as to the types of…

Classification of Depressive Disorders in DSM-V: Proposal for a Two-Dimension System

PubMed Central

Klein, Daniel N.

2011-01-01

The number of categories and specifiers for mood disorders has increased with each successive edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM). Many of these categories and specifiers can be viewed as an effort to map the various permutations of severity and chronicity that characterize the depressive disorders. However, this has resulted in a system that is unnecessarily complex and unwieldy, and created problems with artificial distinctions between categories and artifactual comorbidity, and at the same time obscures what may be more fundamental distinctions. A potentially useful and more parsimonious approach to capturing much of the heterogeneity of depressive disorders is to classify the depressive disorders along two dimensions, one reflecting severity and the other chronicity. Considerations in the development of these dimensions are discussed, and a set of examples is presented. Although further research and discussion are needed to determine the optimal form of these dimensions, the next edition of the DSM should consider replacing many of the existing categories and specifiers for depressive disorders with the simpler approach of classifying depressive disorders using the two dimensions of severity and chronicity. PMID:18729608

ISOZYMES OF ACID PHOSPHATASE IN NORMAL AND CALMETTE-GUÉRIN BACILLUS-INDUCED RABBIT ALVEOLAR MACROPHAGES

PubMed Central

Axline, S. G.

1968-01-01

The acid phosphatase activity of normal alveolar and BCG-induced alveolar macrophages has been examined. Five electrophoretically distinct forms of acid phosphatase have been identified in both normal and BCG-induced macrophages. The acid phosphatases can be divided into two major categories. One category, containing four distinct forms, is readily solubilized after repeated freezing and thawing or mechanical disruption The second category, containing one form, is firmly bound to the lysosomal membrane and can be solubilized by treatment of the lysosomal fraction with Triton X-100. The Triton-extractable acid phosphatase and the predominant aqueous soluble acid phosphatase have been shown to differ in the degree of membrane binding, in solubility, in net charge, and in molecular weight. The two pre-dominant phosphatases possess identical pH optimum and do not differ in response to enzyme inhibitors. BCG stimulation has been shown to result in a nearly twofold increase in acid phosphatase activity. A nearly proportionate increase in the major acid phosphatase forms has been observed. PMID:4878908

Antecedents of Coping with the Disease in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Qualitative Content Analysis

PubMed Central

Dehghani, Ali; Dehghan Nayeri, Nahid; Ebadi, Abbas

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: Due to many physical and mental disorders that occur in multiple sclerosis patients, identifying the factors affecting coping based on the experiences of patients using qualitative study is essential to improve their quality of life. This study was conducted to explore the antecedents of coping with the disease in patients with multiple sclerosis. Methods: This is a qualitative study conducted on 11 patients with multiple sclerosis in 2015 in Tehran, Iran. These patients were selected based on purposive sampling. Data were collected using semi-structured and in-depth interviews and coded. These data were analyzed using the conventional content analysis. The rigor of qualitative data using the criteria proposed by Guba and Lincoln were assessed. Results: Five main categories were revealed: (1) social support, (2) lenience, (3) reliance on faith, (4) knowledge of multiple sclerosis and modeling, and (5) economic and environmental situation. Each category had several distinct sub-categories. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that coping with multiple sclerosis is a complex, multidimensional and contextual concept that is affected by various factors in relation to the context of Iran. The findings of the study can provide the healthcare professionals with deeper recognition and understanding of these antecedents to improve successful coping in Iranian patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. PMID:28097178

Modality in Amele and Other Papuan Languages.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, John R.

1990-01-01

Data are presented from Amele and other Papuan languages to show how the medial verb form is marked for a binary distinction of realis versus irrealis modality. It is demonstrated that in these languages realis-irrealis distinction interacts with categories of tense and mood marked on the final verb to divide them into domains of realis and…

Academic performance and career choices of older medical students at the University of Otago.

PubMed

Shelker, William; Belton, Alison; Glue, Paul

2011-11-25

To compare the academic performance and postgraduate career choices of a cohort of medical students who are older and more life experienced at time of medical school entry ("Other Category" students) with students admitted through standard entry admission pathways. Examination performance, graduation rates, postgraduate specialisation and geographical location were compared between Other Category students and students entering via Standard Entry admission (including competitive first year entry and competitive graduate entry immediately after completing a Bachelor's degree). Compared with Standard Entry students, Other Category students had equivalent examination pass rates, significantly higher rates of distinction passes in examinations in Year 2 (OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.05, 3.29; p=0.03) and Year 5 (OR 2.36; 95% CI 1.27, 4.37; p=0.005), and equivalent graduation rates. Retention of Other Category graduates in New Zealand was 14% higher than Standard Entry students over 10 years post-graduation (p<0.0001), and a higher proportion had specialised in General Practice (p=0.04). Compared with Standard Entry students, Other Category medical students had higher rates of distinction grades in examination results, higher rates of retention in NZ post-graduation, and a higher proportion taking up general practice as a specialty. These findings may be relevant in planning for recruitment and training of the future medical workforce in New Zealand.

The contribution of temporary storage and executive processes to category learning.

PubMed

Wang, Tengfei; Ren, Xuezhu; Schweizer, Karl

2015-09-01

Three distinctly different working memory processes, temporary storage, mental shifting and inhibition, were proposed to account for individual differences in category learning. A sample of 213 participants completed a classic category learning task and two working memory tasks that were experimentally manipulated for tapping specific working memory processes. Fixed-links models were used to decompose data of the category learning task into two independent components representing basic performance and improvement in performance in category learning. Processes of working memory were also represented by fixed-links models. In a next step the three working memory processes were linked to components of category learning. Results from modeling analyses indicated that temporary storage had a significant effect on basic performance and shifting had a moderate effect on improvement in performance. In contrast, inhibition showed no effect on any component of the category learning task. These results suggest that temporary storage and the shifting process play different roles in the course of acquiring new categories. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Using endemic road features to create self-explaining roads and reduce vehicle speeds.

PubMed

Charlton, Samuel G; Mackie, Hamish W; Baas, Peter H; Hay, Karen; Menezes, Miguel; Dixon, Claire

2010-11-01

This paper describes a project undertaken to establish a self-explaining roads (SER) design programme on existing streets in an urban area. The methodology focussed on developing a process to identify functional road categories and designs based on endemic road characteristics taken from functional exemplars in the study area. The study area was divided into two sections, one to receive SER treatments designed to maximise visual differences between road categories, and a matched control area to remain untreated for purposes of comparison. The SER design for local roads included increased landscaping and community islands to limit forward visibility, and removal of road markings to create a visually distinct road environment. In comparison, roads categorised as collectors received increased delineation, addition of cycle lanes, and improved amenity for pedestrians. Speed data collected 3 months after implementation showed a significant reduction in vehicle speeds on local roads and increased homogeneity of speeds on both local and collector roads. The objective speed data, combined with residents' speed choice ratings, indicated that the project was successful in creating two discriminably different road categories. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Landscape-scale spatial abundance distributions discriminate core from random components of boreal lake bacterioplankton.

PubMed

Niño-García, Juan Pablo; Ruiz-González, Clara; Del Giorgio, Paul A

2016-12-01

Aquatic bacterial communities harbour thousands of coexisting taxa. To meet the challenge of discriminating between a 'core' and a sporadically occurring 'random' component of these communities, we explored the spatial abundance distribution of individual bacterioplankton taxa across 198 boreal lakes and their associated fluvial networks (188 rivers). We found that all taxa could be grouped into four distinct categories based on model statistical distributions (normal like, bimodal, logistic and lognormal). The distribution patterns across lakes and their associated river networks showed that lake communities are composed of a core of taxa whose distribution appears to be linked to in-lake environmental sorting (normal-like and bimodal categories), and a large fraction of mostly rare bacteria (94% of all taxa) whose presence appears to be largely random and linked to downstream transport in aquatic networks (logistic and lognormal categories). These rare taxa are thus likely to reflect species sorting at upstream locations, providing a perspective of the conditions prevailing in entire aquatic networks rather than only in lakes. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Unsupervised symmetrical trademark image retrieval in soccer telecast using wavelet energy and quadtree decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ong, Swee Khai; Lim, Wee Keong; Soo, Wooi King

2013-04-01

Trademark, a distinctive symbol, is used to distinguish products or services provided by a particular person, group or organization from other similar entries. As trademark represents the reputation and credit standing of the owner, it is important to differentiate one trademark from another. Many methods have been proposed to identify, classify and retrieve trademarks. However, most methods required features database and sample sets for training prior to recognition and retrieval process. In this paper, a new feature on wavelet coefficients, the localized wavelet energy, is introduced to extract features of trademarks. With this, unsupervised content-based symmetrical trademark image retrieval is proposed without the database and prior training set. The feature analysis is done by an integration of the proposed localized wavelet energy and quadtree decomposed regional symmetrical vector. The proposed framework eradicates the dependence on query database and human participation during the retrieval process. In this paper, trademarks for soccer games sponsors are the intended trademark category. Video frames from soccer telecast are extracted and processed for this study. Reasonably good localization and retrieval results on certain categories of trademarks are achieved. A distinctive symbol is used to distinguish products or services provided by a particular person, group or organization from other similar entries.

Do infant Japanese macaques ( Macaca fuscata) categorize objects without specific training?

PubMed

Murai, Chizuko; Tomonaga, Masaki; Kamegai, Kimi; Terazawa, Naoko; Yamaguchi, Masami K

2004-01-01

In the present study, we examined whether infant Japanese macaques categorize objects without any training, using a similar technique also used with human infants (the paired-preference method). During the familiarization phase, subjects were presented twice with two pairs of different objects from one global-level category. During the test phase, they were presented twice with a pair consisting of a novel familiar-category object and a novel global-level category object. The subjects were tested with three global-level categories (animal, furniture, and vehicle). It was found that they showed significant novelty preferences as a whole, indicating that they processed similarities between familiarization objects and novel familiar-category objects. These results suggest that subjects responded distinctively to objects without training, indicating the possibility that infant macaques possess the capacity for categorization.

Gender-based prototype formation in face recognition.

PubMed

Baudouin, Jean-Yves; Brochard, Renaud

2011-07-01

The role of gender categories in prototype formation during face recognition was investigated in 2 experiments. The participants were asked to learn individual faces and then to recognize them. During recognition, individual faces were mixed with faces, which were blended faces of same or different genders. The results of the 2 experiments showed that blended faces made with learned individual faces were recognized, even though they had never been seen before. In Experiment 1, this effect was stronger when faces belonged to the same gender category (same-sex blended faces), but it also emerged across gender categories (cross-sex blended faces). Experiment 2 further showed that this prototype effect was not affected by the presentation order for same-sex blended faces: The effect was equally strong when the faces were presented one after the other during learning or alternated with faces of the opposite gender. By contrast, the prototype effect across gender categories was highly sensitive to the temporal proximity of the faces blended into the blended faces and almost disappeared when other faces were intermixed. These results indicate that distinct neural populations code for female and male faces. However, the formation of a facial representation can also be mediated by both neural populations. The implications for face-space properties and face-encoding processes are discussed.

Long-term changes after brief dynamic psychotherapy: symptomatic versus dynamic assessments.

PubMed

Høglend, P; Sørlie, T; Sørbye, O; Heyerdahl, O; Amlo, S

1992-08-01

Dynamic change in psychotherapy, as measured by theory-related or mode-specific instruments, have been criticized for being too intercorrelated with symptomatic change measures. In this study, long-term changes after brief dynamic psychotherapy were studied in 45 moderately disturbed neurotic patients by a reliable outcome battery. The factor structure of all the change variables suggested that they tapped 2 distinct and stable sources of variance: dynamic and symptomatic change. The categories of overall dynamic change were different from categories of change on the Global Assessment Scale. A small systematic difference was found between the categories of overall dynamic change and the categories of target complaints change also, due to false solutions of dynamic conflicts.

Multivariate neural biomarkers of emotional states are categorically distinct

PubMed Central

Kragel, Philip A.

2015-01-01

Understanding how emotions are represented neurally is a central aim of affective neuroscience. Despite decades of neuroimaging efforts addressing this question, it remains unclear whether emotions are represented as distinct entities, as predicted by categorical theories, or are constructed from a smaller set of underlying factors, as predicted by dimensional accounts. Here, we capitalize on multivariate statistical approaches and computational modeling to directly evaluate these theoretical perspectives. We elicited discrete emotional states using music and films during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Distinct patterns of neural activation predicted the emotion category of stimuli and tracked subjective experience. Bayesian model comparison revealed that combining dimensional and categorical models of emotion best characterized the information content of activation patterns. Surprisingly, categorical and dimensional aspects of emotion experience captured unique and opposing sources of neural information. These results indicate that diverse emotional states are poorly differentiated by simple models of valence and arousal, and that activity within separable neural systems can be mapped to unique emotion categories. PMID:25813790

14- to 16-Month-Olds Attend to Distinct Labels in an Inductive Reasoning Task

PubMed Central

Switzer, Jessica L.; Graham, Susan A.

2017-01-01

We examined how naming objects with unique labels influenced infants’ reasoning about the non-obvious properties of novel objects. Seventy 14- to 16-month-olds participated in an imitation-based inductive inference task during which they were presented with target objects possessing a non-obvious sound property, followed by test objects that varied in shape similarity in comparison to the target. Infants were assigned to one of two groups: a No Label group in which objects were introduced with a general attentional phrase (i.e., “Look at this one”) and a Distinct Label group in which target and test objects were labeled with two distinct count nouns (i.e., fep vs. wug). Infants in the Distinct Label group performed significantly fewer target actions on the high-similarity objects than infants in the No Label group but did not differ in performance of actions on the low-similarity object. Within the Distinct Label group, performance on the inductive inference task was related to age, but not to working memory, inhibitory control, or vocabulary. Within the No Label condition, performance on the inductive inference task was related to a measure of inhibitory control. Our findings suggest that between 14- and 16-months, infants begin to use labels to carve out distinct categories, even when objects are highly perceptually similar. PMID:28484410

Do recognizable lifetime eating disorder phenotypes naturally occur in a culturally asian population? A combined latent profile and taxometric approach.

PubMed

Thomas, Jennifer J; Eddy, Kamryn T; Ruscio, John; Ng, King Lam; Casale, Kristen E; Becker, Anne E; Lee, Sing

2015-05-01

We examined whether empirically derived eating disorder (ED) categories in Hong Kong Chinese patients (N = 454) would be consistent with recognizable lifetime ED phenotypes derived from latent structure models of European and American samples. We performed latent profile analysis (LPA) using indicator variables from data collected during routine assessment, and then applied taxometric analysis to determine whether latent classes were qualitatively versus quantitatively distinct. Latent profile analysis identified four classes: (i) binge/purge (47%); (ii) non-fat-phobic low-weight (34%); (iii) fat-phobic low-weight (12%); and (iv) overweight disordered eating (6%). Taxometric analysis identified qualitative (categorical) distinctions between the binge/purge and non-fat-phobic low-weight classes, and also between the fat-phobic and non-fat-phobic low-weight classes. Distinctions between the fat-phobic low-weight and binge/purge classes were indeterminate. Empirically derived categories in Hong Kong showed recognizable correspondence with recognizable lifetime ED phenotypes. Although taxometric findings support two distinct classes of low weight EDs, LPA findings also support heterogeneity among non-fat-phobic individuals. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Category-Specific Neural Oscillations Predict Recall Organization During Memory Search

PubMed Central

Morton, Neal W.; Kahana, Michael J.; Rosenberg, Emily A.; Baltuch, Gordon H.; Litt, Brian; Sharan, Ashwini D.; Sperling, Michael R.; Polyn, Sean M.

2013-01-01

Retrieved-context models of human memory propose that as material is studied, retrieval cues are constructed that allow one to target particular aspects of past experience. We examined the neural predictions of these models by using electrocorticographic/depth recordings and scalp electroencephalography (EEG) to characterize category-specific oscillatory activity, while participants studied and recalled items from distinct, neurally discriminable categories. During study, these category-specific patterns predict whether a studied item will be recalled. In the scalp EEG experiment, category-specific activity during study also predicts whether a given item will be recalled adjacent to other same-category items, consistent with the proposal that a category-specific retrieval cue is used to guide memory search. Retrieved-context models suggest that integrative neural circuitry is involved in the construction and maintenance of the retrieval cue. Consistent with this hypothesis, we observe category-specific patterns that rise in strength as multiple same-category items are studied sequentially, and find that individual differences in this category-specific neural integration during study predict the degree to which a participant will use category information to organize memory search. Finally, we track the deployment of this retrieval cue during memory search: Category-specific patterns are stronger when participants organize their responses according to the category of the studied material. PMID:22875859

[Asperger syndrome: evolution of the concept and current clinical data].

PubMed

Aussilloux, C; Baghdadli, A

2008-05-01

Although Asperger syndrome is described by international classifications as a category of pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), its validity as a specific entity distinct from autistic disorders remains controversial. The syndrome, first described by Hans Asperger, could not be distinguished from high functioning autism (onset, symptoms, outcome...). However, international classifications propose a distinction between the two syndromes based on a delayed onset, the absence of speech delay, the presence of motor disorders and a better outcome in Asperger syndrome. This categorical differentiation is not confirmed by current studies and in the absence of biological markers, no clinical, neuropsychological or epidemiological criteria makes it possible to distinguish high functioning autism from Asperger syndrome. From a clinical perspective, it is nevertheless of interest to isolate Asperger syndrome from other autistic disorders to propose specific assessment and therapy.

Accuracy and speed of material categorization in real-world images.

PubMed

Sharan, Lavanya; Rosenholtz, Ruth; Adelson, Edward H

2014-08-13

It is easy to visually distinguish a ceramic knife from one made of steel, a leather jacket from one made of denim, and a plush toy from one made of plastic. Most studies of material appearance have focused on the estimation of specific material properties such as albedo or surface gloss, and as a consequence, almost nothing is known about how we recognize material categories like leather or plastic. We have studied judgments of high-level material categories with a diverse set of real-world photographs, and we have shown (Sharan, 2009) that observers can categorize materials reliably and quickly. Performance on our tasks cannot be explained by simple differences in color, surface shape, or texture. Nor can the results be explained by observers merely performing shape-based object recognition. Rather, we argue that fast and accurate material categorization is a distinct, basic ability of the visual system. © 2014 ARVO.

Classifying threats with a 14-MeV neutron interrogation system.

PubMed

Strellis, Dan; Gozani, Tsahi

2005-01-01

SeaPODDS (Sea Portable Drug Detection System) is a non-intrusive tool for detecting concealed threats in hidden compartments of maritime vessels. This system consists of an electronic neutron generator, a gamma-ray detector, a data acquisition computer, and a laptop computer user-interface. Although initially developed to detect narcotics, recent algorithm developments have shown that the system is capable of correctly classifying a threat into one of four distinct categories: narcotic, explosive, chemical weapon, or radiological dispersion device (RDD). Detection of narcotics, explosives, and chemical weapons is based on gamma-ray signatures unique to the chemical elements. Elements are identified by their characteristic prompt gamma-rays induced by fast and thermal neutrons. Detection of RDD is accomplished by detecting gamma-rays emitted by common radioisotopes and nuclear reactor fission products. The algorithm phenomenology for classifying threats into the proper categories is presented here.

Nutrient control of gene expression in Drosophila: microarray analysis of starvation and sugar-dependent response

PubMed Central

Zinke, Ingo; Schütz, Christina S.; Katzenberger, Jörg D.; Bauer, Matthias; Pankratz, Michael J.

2002-01-01

We have identified genes regulated by starvation and sugar signals in Drosophila larvae using whole-genome microarrays. Based on expression profiles in the two nutrient conditions, they were organized into different categories that reflect distinct physiological pathways mediating sugar and fat metabolism, and cell growth. In the category of genes regulated in sugar-fed, but not in starved, animals, there is an upregulation of genes encoding key enzymes of the fat biosynthesis pathway and a downregulation of genes encoding lipases. The highest and earliest activated gene upon sugar ingestion is sugarbabe, a zinc finger protein that is induced in the gut and the fat body. Identification of potential targets using microarrays suggests that sugarbabe functions to repress genes involved in dietary fat breakdown and absorption. The current analysis provides a basis for studying the genetic mechanisms underlying nutrient signalling. PMID:12426388

Accuracy and speed of material categorization in real-world images

PubMed Central

Sharan, Lavanya; Rosenholtz, Ruth; Adelson, Edward H.

2014-01-01

It is easy to visually distinguish a ceramic knife from one made of steel, a leather jacket from one made of denim, and a plush toy from one made of plastic. Most studies of material appearance have focused on the estimation of specific material properties such as albedo or surface gloss, and as a consequence, almost nothing is known about how we recognize material categories like leather or plastic. We have studied judgments of high-level material categories with a diverse set of real-world photographs, and we have shown (Sharan, 2009) that observers can categorize materials reliably and quickly. Performance on our tasks cannot be explained by simple differences in color, surface shape, or texture. Nor can the results be explained by observers merely performing shape-based object recognition. Rather, we argue that fast and accurate material categorization is a distinct, basic ability of the visual system. PMID:25122216

On developing a knowledge base in infancy.

PubMed

Mandler, J M; McDonough, L

1998-11-01

The development of conceptual categories from 7 to 11 months of age was explored in 5 experiments using an object-examination task. Infants in this age range categorized the global domains of animals, vehicles, and furniture. Plants and kitchen utensils were tested at 11 months, and these domains were also categorized. When 9-month-olds were tested on kitchen utensils, they did not categorize them. Subdivisions within the animal and furniture domains were also examined. Infants did not show any subcategorization of furniture. In the animal domain both 9- and 11-month-olds responded to the life-form distinction between dogs and birds, but they did not differentiate the mammal categories of dogs and cats until 11 months. This early organization of the conceptual system into global domains that become increasingly differentiated is discussed in relation to the adult conceptual system and its breakdown in semantic dementia.

Individual recognition based on communication behaviour of male fowl.

PubMed

Smith, Carolynn L; Taubert, Jessica; Weldon, Kimberly; Evans, Christopher S

2016-04-01

Correctly directing social behaviour towards a specific individual requires an ability to discriminate between conspecifics. The mechanisms of individual recognition include phenotype matching and familiarity-based recognition. Communication-based recognition is a subset of familiarity-based recognition wherein the classification is based on behavioural or distinctive signalling properties. Male fowl (Gallus gallus) produce a visual display (tidbitting) upon finding food in the presence of a female. Females typically approach displaying males. However, males may tidbit without food. We used the distinctiveness of the visual display and the unreliability of some males to test for communication-based recognition in female fowl. We manipulated the prior experience of the hens with the males to create two classes of males: S(+) wherein the tidbitting signal was paired with a food reward to the female, and S (-) wherein the tidbitting signal occurred without food reward. We then conducted a sequential discrimination test with hens using a live video feed of a familiar male. The results of the discrimination tests revealed that hens discriminated between categories of males based on their signalling behaviour. These results suggest that fowl possess a communication-based recognition system. This is the first demonstration of live-to-video transfer of recognition in any species of bird. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Divergent Human Cortical Regions for Processing Distinct Acoustic-Semantic Categories of Natural Sounds: Animal Action Sounds vs. Vocalizations

PubMed Central

Webster, Paula J.; Skipper-Kallal, Laura M.; Frum, Chris A.; Still, Hayley N.; Ward, B. Douglas; Lewis, James W.

2017-01-01

A major gap in our understanding of natural sound processing is knowledge of where or how in a cortical hierarchy differential processing leads to categorical perception at a semantic level. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we sought to determine if and where cortical pathways in humans might diverge for processing action sounds vs. vocalizations as distinct acoustic-semantic categories of real-world sound when matched for duration and intensity. This was tested by using relatively less semantically complex natural sounds produced by non-conspecific animals rather than humans. Our results revealed a striking double-dissociation of activated networks bilaterally. This included a previously well described pathway preferential for processing vocalization signals directed laterally from functionally defined primary auditory cortices to the anterior superior temporal gyri, and a less well-described pathway preferential for processing animal action sounds directed medially to the posterior insulae. We additionally found that some of these regions and associated cortical networks showed parametric sensitivity to high-order quantifiable acoustic signal attributes and/or to perceptual features of the natural stimuli, such as the degree of perceived recognition or intentional understanding. Overall, these results supported a neurobiological theoretical framework for how the mammalian brain may be fundamentally organized to process acoustically and acoustic-semantically distinct categories of ethologically valid, real-world sounds. PMID:28111538

Signals, cues and the nature of mimicry

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

‘Mimicry’ is used in the evolutionary and ecological literature to describe diverse phenomena. Many are textbook examples of natural selection's power to produce stunning adaptations. However, there remains a lack of clarity over how mimetic resemblances are conceptually related to each other. The result is that categories denoting the traditional subdivisions of mimicry are applied inconsistently across studies, hindering attempts at conceptual unification. This review critically examines the logic by which mimicry can be conceptually organized and analysed. It highlights the following three evolutionarily relevant distinctions. (i) Are the model's traits being mimicked signals or cues? (ii) Does the mimic signal a fitness benefit or fitness cost in order to manipulate the receiver's behaviour? (iii) Is the mimic's signal deceptive? The first distinction divides mimicry into two broad categories: ‘signal mimicry’ and ‘cue mimicry’. ‘Signal mimicry’ occurs when mimic and model share the same receiver, and ‘cue mimicry’ when mimic and model have different receivers or when there is no receiver for the model's trait. ‘Masquerade’ fits conceptually within cue mimicry. The second and third distinctions divide both signal and cue mimicry into four types each. These are the three traditional mimicry categories (aggressive, Batesian and Müllerian) and a fourth, often overlooked category for which the term ‘rewarding mimicry’ is suggested. Rewarding mimicry occurs when the mimic's signal is non-deceptive (as in Müllerian mimicry) but where the mimic signals a fitness benefit to the receiver (as in aggressive mimicry). The existence of rewarding mimicry is a logical extension of the criteria used to differentiate the three well-recognized forms of mimicry. These four forms of mimicry are not discrete, immutable types, but rather help to define important axes along which mimicry can vary. PMID:28202806

The 2016 revision of the WHO Classification of Central Nervous System Tumours: retrospective application to a cohort of diffuse gliomas.

PubMed

Rogers, Te Whiti; Toor, Gurvinder; Drummond, Katharine; Love, Craig; Field, Kathryn; Asher, Rebecca; Tsui, Alpha; Buckland, Michael; Gonzales, Michael

2018-03-01

The classification of central nervous system tumours has more recently been shaped by a focus on molecular pathology rather than histopathology. We re-classified 82 glial tumours according to the molecular-genetic criteria of the 2016 revision of the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Tumours of the Central Nervous System. Initial diagnoses and grading were based on the morphological criteria of the 2007 WHO scheme. Because of the impression of an oligodendroglial component on initial histological assessment, each tumour was tested for co-deletion of chromosomes 1p and 19q and mutations of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH-1 and 2) genes. Additionally, expression of proteins encoded by alpha-thalassemia X-linked mental retardation (ATRX) and TP53 genes was assessed by immunohistochemistry. We found that all but two tumours could be assigned to a specific category in the 2016 revision. The most common change in diagnosis was from oligoastrocytoma to specifically astrocytoma or oligodendroglioma. Analysis of progression free survival (PFS) for WHO grade II and III tumours showed that the objective criteria of the 2016 revision separated diffuse gliomas into three distinct molecular categories: chromosome 1p/19q co-deleted/IDH mutant, intact 1p/19q/IDH mutant and IDH wild type. No significant difference in PFS was found when comparing IDH mutant grade II and III tumours suggesting that IDH status is more informative than tumour grade. The segregation into distinct molecular sub-types that is achieved by the 2016 revision provides an objective evidence base for managing patients with grade II and III diffuse gliomas based on prognosis.

Cohen's Linearly Weighted Kappa Is a Weighted Average of 2 x 2 Kappas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warrens, Matthijs J.

2011-01-01

An agreement table with [n as an element of N is greater than or equal to] 3 ordered categories can be collapsed into n - 1 distinct 2 x 2 tables by combining adjacent categories. Vanbelle and Albert ("Stat. Methodol." 6:157-163, 2009c) showed that the components of Cohen's weighted kappa with linear weights can be obtained from these n - 1…

Potato leafroll virus structural proteins manipulate overlapping, yet distinct protein interaction networks during infection.

PubMed

DeBlasio, Stacy L; Johnson, Richard; Sweeney, Michelle M; Karasev, Alexander; Gray, Stewart M; MacCoss, Michael J; Cilia, Michelle

2015-06-01

Potato leafroll virus (PLRV) produces a readthrough protein (RTP) via translational readthrough of the coat protein amber stop codon. The RTP functions as a structural component of the virion and as a nonincorporated protein in concert with numerous insect and plant proteins to regulate virus movement/transmission and tissue tropism. Affinity purification coupled to quantitative MS was used to generate protein interaction networks for a PLRV mutant that is unable to produce the read through domain (RTD) and compared to the known wild-type PLRV protein interaction network. By quantifying differences in the protein interaction networks, we identified four distinct classes of PLRV-plant interactions: those plant and nonstructural viral proteins interacting with assembled coat protein (category I); plant proteins in complex with both coat protein and RTD (category II); plant proteins in complex with the RTD (category III); and plant proteins that had higher affinity for virions lacking the RTD (category IV). Proteins identified as interacting with the RTD are potential candidates for regulating viral processes that are mediated by the RTP such as phloem retention and systemic movement and can potentially be useful targets for the development of strategies to prevent infection and/or viral transmission of Luteoviridae species that infect important crop species. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A preliminary typology of caregivers and effects on service utilization of caregiver counseling.

PubMed

Pepin, Renee; Williams, Ashley A; Anderson, Lindsay N; Qualls, Sara H

2013-01-01

Caregivers (CGs) of older adults have unique and diverse needs for intervention. The present studies describe the characteristics of CGs and caregiving situations and how these relate to CG therapy utilization patterns in a community mental health setting. Study 1: Through chart review, the researchers explored service utilization patterns and identified preliminary typologies of Caregiver Family Therapy (CFT) clients, N = 23. Study 2: By conducting a second chart review, the researchers sought to determine whether the categories that emerged in Study 1 applied to a second group of CFT clients, N = 36. Study 1: Four distinct categories of CGs emerged: High-Distress (high disorganization, high complexity), Resourceful but At-Risk (low disorganization, high complexity), Non-Committal (high disorganization, low complexity), and Model CGs (low disorganization, low complexity). Study 2: While the ability to classify CGs into category proved to have some inconsistencies, preliminary evidence suggests the ability to predict utilization once CGs were placed into category was good. In Study 2 a fifth category emerged: High Functioning but Static, which suggests CGs were on a continuum ranging from high to low on family organizational style and CG situation complexity. While caregiving situations vary widely among families and across time, this article provides a preliminary typology of CGs that may assist clinicians in tailoring CG interventions to meet the needs of their clients based on information garnered early in therapy, perhaps as early as the intake process.

A Preliminary Typology of Caregivers and Effects on Service Utilization of Caregiver Counseling

PubMed Central

Pepin, Renee; Williams, Ashley A.; Anderson, Lindsay N.; Qualls, Sara H.

2014-01-01

Objectives Caregivers (CGs) of older adults have unique and diverse needs for intervention. The present studies describe the characteristics of CGs and caregiving situations and how these relate to CG therapy utilization patterns in a community mental health setting. Method Study 1: Through chart review, the researchers explored service utilization patterns and identified preliminary typologies of Caregiver Family Therapy (CFT) clients, N = 23. Study 2: By conducting a second chart review, the researchers sought to determine whether the categories that emerged in Study 1 applied to a second group of CFT clients, N = 36. Results Study 1: Four distinct categories of caregivers emerged: High-Distress (high disorganization, high complexity), Resourceful but At-Risk (low disorganization, high complexity), Non-Committal (high disorganization, low complexity), and Model CGs (low disorganization, low complexity). Study 2: While the ability to classify CGs into category proved to have some inconsistencies, preliminary evidence suggests the ability to predict utilization once CGs were placed into category was good. In Study 2 a fifth category emerged: High Functioning but Static, which suggests CGs were on a continuum ranging from high to low on family organizational style and CG situation complexity. Conclusion While caregiving situations vary widely among families and across time, this paper provides a preliminary typology of CGs that may assist clinicians in tailoring CG interventions to meet the needs of their clients based on information garnered early in therapy, perhaps as early as the intake process. PMID:23336319

Global Characterization of Biomass-Burning Patterns using Satellite Measurements of Fire Radiative Energy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ichoku, Charles; Giglio, Louis; Wooster, Martin J.; Remer, Lorraine A.

2008-01-01

Remote sensing is the most practical means of measuring energy release from large open-air biomass burning. Satellite measurement of fire radiative energy (FRE) release rate or power (FRP) enables distinction between fires of different strengths. Based on a 1-km resolution fire data acquired globally by the MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) sensor aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites from 2000 to 2006, instanteaneous FRP values ranged between 0.02 MW and 1866 MW, with global daily means ranging between 20 and 40 MW. Regionally, at the Aqua-MODIS afternoon overpass, the mean FRP values for Alaska, Western US, Western Australia, Quebec and the rest of Canada are significantly higher than these global means, with Quebec having the overall highest value of 85 MW. Analysis of regional mean FRP per unit area of land (FRP flux) shows that a peak fire season in certain regions, fires can be responsible for up to 0.2 W/m(sup 2) at peak time of day. Zambia has the highest regional monthly mean FRP flux of approximately 0.045 W/m(sup 2) at peak time of day and season, while the Middle East has the lowest value of approximately 0.0005 W/m(sup 2). A simple scheme based on FRP has been devised to classify fires into five categories, to facilitate fire rating by strength, similar to earthquakes and hurricanes. The scheme uses MODIS measurements of FRP at 1-km resolution as follows: catagory 1 (less than 100 MW), category 2 (100 to less than 500 MW), category 3 (500 to less than 1000 MW), category 4 (1000 to less than 1500 MW), catagory 5 (greater than or equal to 1500 MW). In most regions of the world, over 90% of fires fall into category 1, while only less than 1% fall into each of categories 3 to 5, although these proportions may differ significantly from day to day and by season. The frequency of occurence of the larger fires is region specific, and could not be explained by ecosystem type alone. Time-series analysis of the propertions of higher category fires based on MODIS measured FRP from 2002 to 2006 does not show any moticeable trend because of the short time period.

Property content guides children's memory for social learning episodes.

PubMed

Riggs, Anne E; Kalish, Charles W; Alibali, Martha W

2014-05-01

How do children's interpretations of the generality of learning episodes affect what they encode? In the present studies, we investigated the hypothesis that children encode distinct aspects of learning episodes containing generalizable and non-generalizable properties. Two studies with preschool (N=50) and young school-aged children (N=49) reveal that their encoding is contingent on the generalizability of the property they are learning. Children remembered generalizable properties (e.g., morphological or normative properties) more than non-generalizable properties (e.g., historical events or preferences). Conversely, they remembered category exemplars associated with non-generalizable properties more than category exemplars associated with generalizable properties. The findings highlight the utility of remembering distinct aspects of social learning episodes for children's future generalization. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Goal-Directed Visual Processing Differentially Impacts Human Ventral and Dorsal Visual Representations

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Recent studies have challenged the ventral/“what” and dorsal/“where” two-visual-processing-pathway view by showing the existence of “what” and “where” information in both pathways. Is the two-pathway distinction still valid? Here, we examined how goal-directed visual information processing may differentially impact visual representations in these two pathways. Using fMRI and multivariate pattern analysis, in three experiments on human participants (57% females), by manipulating whether color or shape was task-relevant and how they were conjoined, we examined shape-based object category decoding in occipitotemporal and parietal regions. We found that object category representations in all the regions examined were influenced by whether or not object shape was task-relevant. This task effect, however, tended to decrease as task-relevant and irrelevant features were more integrated, reflecting the well-known object-based feature encoding. Interestingly, task relevance played a relatively minor role in driving the representational structures of early visual and ventral object regions. They were driven predominantly by variations in object shapes. In contrast, the effect of task was much greater in dorsal than ventral regions, with object category and task relevance both contributing significantly to the representational structures of the dorsal regions. These results showed that, whereas visual representations in the ventral pathway are more invariant and reflect “what an object is,” those in the dorsal pathway are more adaptive and reflect “what we do with it.” Thus, despite the existence of “what” and “where” information in both visual processing pathways, the two pathways may still differ fundamentally in their roles in visual information representation. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Visual information is thought to be processed in two distinctive pathways: the ventral pathway that processes “what” an object is and the dorsal pathway that processes “where” it is located. This view has been challenged by recent studies revealing the existence of “what” and “where” information in both pathways. Here, we found that goal-directed visual information processing differentially modulates shape-based object category representations in the two pathways. Whereas ventral representations are more invariant to the demand of the task, reflecting what an object is, dorsal representations are more adaptive, reflecting what we do with the object. Thus, despite the existence of “what” and “where” information in both pathways, visual representations may still differ fundamentally in the two pathways. PMID:28821655

Attention and implicit memory in the category-verification and lexical decision tasks.

PubMed

Mulligan, Neil W; Peterson, Daniel

2008-05-01

Prior research on implicit memory appeared to support 3 generalizations: Conceptual tests are affected by divided attention, perceptual tasks are affected by certain divided-attention manipulations, and all types of priming are affected by selective attention. These generalizations are challenged in experiments using the implicit tests of category verification and lexical decision. First, both tasks were unaffected by divided-attention tasks known to impact other priming tasks. Second, both tasks were unaffected by a manipulation of selective attention in which colored words were either named or their colors identified. Thus, category verification, unlike other conceptual tasks, appears unaffected by divided attention, and some selective-attention tasks, and lexical decision, unlike other perceptual tasks, appears unaffected by a difficult divided-attention task and some selective-attention tasks. Finally, both tasks were affected by a selective-attention task in which attention was manipulated across objects (rather than within objects), indicating some susceptibility to selective attention. The results contradict an analysis on the basis of the conceptual-perceptual distinction and other more specific hypotheses but are consistent with the distinction between production and identification priming.

Asbestos/NESHAP regulated asbestos-containing-materials guidance

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

Shafer, R.; Throwe, S.; Salgado, O.

In the initial Asbestos NESHAP rule promulgated in 1973, a distinction was made between building materials that would readily release asbestos fibers when damaged or disturbed and those materials that were unlikely to result in significant fiber release. The terms friable and nonfriable were used to make this distinction. EPA has since determined that, if severely damaged, otherwise nonfriable materials can release significant amounts of asbestos fibers. Regulated Asbestos-Containing Material (RACM) is (a) friable asbestos material, (b) Category 1 nonfriable ACM that has become friable, (c) Category 1 nonfriable ACM that will be or has been subjected to sanding, grinding,more » cutting, or abrading, or (d) Category 2 nonfriable ACM that has a high probability of becoming or has become crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by the forces expected to act on the material in the course of demolition or renovation operations. The purpose of the document is to assist asbestos inspectors and the regulated community in determining whether or not a material is RACM and thus subject to the Asbestos NESHAP.« less

Manpower Staffing, Emergency Department Access and Consequences on Patient Outcomes

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-06-01

distance to the nearest hospital have higher death rates than those zip codes which experience a change. However, we hesitate to conclude that this may...1. Trend Analysis of Mortality Rates by Distance Categories: 1990-2004 Figure 6 presents heart-related death rates for the State of California from...1990- 2004. The graph shows a distinct layering of heart-related death rates across the three distance categories. The population which experiences

"Vague and artificial": the historically elusive distinction between pure and applied science.

PubMed

Gooday, Graeme

2012-09-01

This essay argues for the historicity of applied science as a contested category within laissez-faire Victorian British science. This distinctively pre-twentieth-century notion of applied science as a self-sustaining, autonomous enterprise was thrown into relief from the 1880s by a campaign on the part of T. H. Huxley and his followers to promote instead the primacy of "pure" science. Their attempt to relegate applied science to secondary status involved radically reconfiguring it as the mere application of pre-existing pure science. This new notion of extrinsically funded pure science that would produce only contingently future social benefits as a mere by-product came under pressure during World War I, when military priorities focused attention once again on science for immediate utility. This threatened the Cambridge-based promoters of self-referential pure science who collectively published Science and the Nation in 1917. Yet most contributors to this work discussed forms of "applied" science that had no prior "pure" form. Even the U.K.'s leading government scientist, Lord Moulton, dismissed the book's provocative distinction between pure and applied science as unhelpfully "vague and artificial."

Limits of Generalization between Categories and Implications for Theories of Category Specificity

PubMed Central

Bukach, Cindy M.; Phillips, W. Stewart; Gauthier, Isabel

2010-01-01

Both domain-specific and expertise accounts of category specialization assume that generalization occurs within a domain but not between domains. Yet it is often difficult to define the boundaries and critical features of object domains. Differences in how categories are defined make it difficult to adjudicate between accounts of category specificity and may lead to contradictory results. For example, evidence for whether car experts recruit the fusiform face area is mixed and this inconsistency may be due to the inclusion of antique cars in one of the studies. The current study tested the generalization of expertise from modern to antique cars and found that modern car experts showed expert discrimination and holistic processing of modern cars, but not antique cars. These findings suggest that the neural specialization underlying perceptual expertise is highly specific and may not generalize to distinct subclasses, even when they share some degree of perceptual and conceptual features. PMID:20952784

Multi-faceted Rasch measurement and bias patterns in EFL writing performance assessment.

PubMed

He, Tung-Hsien; Gou, Wen Johnny; Chien, Ya-Chen; Chen, I-Shan Jenny; Chang, Shan-Mao

2013-04-01

This study applied multi-faceted Rasch measurement to examine rater bias in the assessment of essays written by college students learning English as a foreign language. Four raters who had received different academic training from four distinctive disciplines applied a six-category rating scale to analytically rate essays on an argumentative topic and on a descriptive topic. FACETS, a Rasch computer program, was utilized to pinpoint bias patterns by analyzing the rater-topic, rater-category, and topic-category interactions. Results showed: argumentative essays were rated more severely than were descriptive essays; the linguistics-major rater was the most lenient rater, while the literature-major rater was the severest one; and the category of language use received the severest ratings, whereas content was given the most lenient ratings. The severity hierarchies for raters, essay topics, and rating categories suggested that raters' academic training and their perceptions of the importance of categories were associated with their bias patterns. Implications for rater training are discussed.

Training Humans to Categorize Monkey Calls: Auditory Feature- and Category-Selective Neural Tuning Changes.

PubMed

Jiang, Xiong; Chevillet, Mark A; Rauschecker, Josef P; Riesenhuber, Maximilian

2018-04-18

Grouping auditory stimuli into common categories is essential for a variety of auditory tasks, including speech recognition. We trained human participants to categorize auditory stimuli from a large novel set of morphed monkey vocalizations. Using fMRI-rapid adaptation (fMRI-RA) and multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) techniques, we gained evidence that categorization training results in two distinct sets of changes: sharpened tuning to monkey call features (without explicit category representation) in left auditory cortex and category selectivity for different types of calls in lateral prefrontal cortex. In addition, the sharpness of neural selectivity in left auditory cortex, as estimated with both fMRI-RA and MVPA, predicted the steepness of the categorical boundary, whereas categorical judgment correlated with release from adaptation in the left inferior frontal gyrus. These results support the theory that auditory category learning follows a two-stage model analogous to the visual domain, suggesting general principles of perceptual category learning in the human brain. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neuronal integration in visual cortex elevates face category tuning to conscious face perception

PubMed Central

Fahrenfort, Johannes J.; Snijders, Tineke M.; Heinen, Klaartje; van Gaal, Simon; Scholte, H. Steven; Lamme, Victor A. F.

2012-01-01

The human brain has the extraordinary capability to transform cluttered sensory input into distinct object representations. For example, it is able to rapidly and seemingly without effort detect object categories in complex natural scenes. Surprisingly, category tuning is not sufficient to achieve conscious recognition of objects. What neural process beyond category extraction might elevate neural representations to the level where objects are consciously perceived? Here we show that visible and invisible faces produce similar category-selective responses in the ventral visual cortex. The pattern of neural activity evoked by visible faces could be used to decode the presence of invisible faces and vice versa. However, only visible faces caused extensive response enhancements and changes in neural oscillatory synchronization, as well as increased functional connectivity between higher and lower visual areas. We conclude that conscious face perception is more tightly linked to neural processes of sustained information integration and binding than to processes accommodating face category tuning. PMID:23236162

Exosomal microRNA Biomarkers: Emerging Frontiers in Colorectal and Other Human Cancers

PubMed Central

Goel, Ajay; Tovar-Camargo, Oscar A; Toden, Shusuke

2016-01-01

Diagnostic strategies, particularly non-invasive blood-based screening approaches, are gaining increased attention for the early detection and attenuation of mortality associated with colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the majority of current screening approaches are inadequate at replacing the conventional CRC diagnostic procedures. Yet, due to technological advances and a better understanding of molecular events underlying human cancer, a new category of biomarkers are on the horizon. Recent evidence indicates that cells release a distinct class of small vesicles called ‘exosomes’, which contain nucleic acids and proteins that reflect and typify host-cell molecular architecture. Intriguingly, exosomes released from cancer cells have a distinct genetic and epigenetic makeup, which allows them to undertake their tumorigenic function. From a clinical standpoint, these unique cancer-specific fingerprints present in exosomes appear to be detectable in a small amount of blood, making them very attractive substrates for developing cancer biomarkers, particularly noninvasive diagnostic approaches. PMID:26892862

On the Origins and Control of Community Types in the Human Microbiome

PubMed Central

Cao, Hong-Tai; Weiss, Scott T.; Liu, Yang-Yu

2016-01-01

Microbiome-based stratification of healthy individuals into compositional categories, referred to as “enterotypes” or “community types”, holds promise for drastically improving personalized medicine. Despite this potential, the existence of community types and the degree of their distinctness have been highly debated. Here we adopted a dynamic systems approach and found that heterogeneity in the interspecific interactions or the presence of strongly interacting species is sufficient to explain community types, independent of the topology of the underlying ecological network. By controlling the presence or absence of these strongly interacting species we can steer the microbial ecosystem to any desired community type. This open-loop control strategy still holds even when the community types are not distinct but appear as dense regions within a continuous gradient. This finding can be used to develop viable therapeutic strategies for shifting the microbial composition to a healthy configuration. PMID:26866806

Multivariate neural biomarkers of emotional states are categorically distinct.

PubMed

Kragel, Philip A; LaBar, Kevin S

2015-11-01

Understanding how emotions are represented neurally is a central aim of affective neuroscience. Despite decades of neuroimaging efforts addressing this question, it remains unclear whether emotions are represented as distinct entities, as predicted by categorical theories, or are constructed from a smaller set of underlying factors, as predicted by dimensional accounts. Here, we capitalize on multivariate statistical approaches and computational modeling to directly evaluate these theoretical perspectives. We elicited discrete emotional states using music and films during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Distinct patterns of neural activation predicted the emotion category of stimuli and tracked subjective experience. Bayesian model comparison revealed that combining dimensional and categorical models of emotion best characterized the information content of activation patterns. Surprisingly, categorical and dimensional aspects of emotion experience captured unique and opposing sources of neural information. These results indicate that diverse emotional states are poorly differentiated by simple models of valence and arousal, and that activity within separable neural systems can be mapped to unique emotion categories. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Geomagnetic excursions in the Brunhes and Matuyama Chrons: Do they come in bunches?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Channell, J. E. T.

2012-04-01

Geomagnetic excursions, defined here as brief directional aberrations of the main dipole field outside the range of expected secular variation, remain controversial. Poorly-correlated records of apparent excursions from lavas and sediments can often be assigned to sampling artifacts, sedimentological phenomena, volcanic terrane effects, or local secular variation, rather than behavior of the main dipole field. Although records of magnetic excursions date from the 1960s, the number of Brunhes excursions in recent reviews of the subject have reached the 12-17 range, of which only about ~7 are adequately and/or consistently recorded. For the Matuyama Chron, the current inventory of excursions stands at about 10. The better quality excursion records, with reasonable age control, imply millennial-scale or even sub-millennial-scale durations. When "adequately" recorded, excursions are manifest as paired polarity reversals flanking virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) that reach high latitudes in the opposite hemisphere. At the young end of the excursion record, the Mono Lake (~33 ka) and Laschamp (~41 ka) excursions are well documented, although records of the former are not widely distributed. Several excursions younger than the Mono Lake excursion (at 17 ka and 25 ka) have recently been recorded in lavas and sediments, respectively. Is the 17-41 ka interval characterized by multiple excursions? Similarly, multiple excursions have been recorded in the 188-238 ka interval that encompasses records of the Iceland Basin excursion (~188 ka) and the Pringle Falls (PF) excursion. The PF excursion has been assigned ages in the 211-238 ka range. Does this mean that this interval is also characterized by several discrete excursions? The 500-600 ka interval incorporates not only the Big Lost excursion at ~565 ka, but also anomalous magnetization directions from lava flows, particularly in the West Eifel volcanics that yield mid-latitude northern-hemisphere VGPs with a range of Ar/Ar ages. The key question is whether such intervals of mid-latitude VGPs denote high-amplitude secular variation or inadequately recorded magnetic excursions. We propose that excursions characterized by high VGP latitudes in the opposite hemisphere should be termed Category 1 excursions, and those manifest by low/mid-latitude VGPs should be termed Category 2 excursions. In the future, improved records may "elevate" Category 2 excursions to Category 1. We do not view this subdivision of Category 1 and Category 2 excursions as necessarily a geomagnetic distinction, but possibly a distinction based on recording fidelity.

Interobserver agreement on Poser's and the new McDonald's diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Zipoli, V; Portaccio, E; Siracusa, G; Pracucci, G; Sorbi, S; Amato, M P

2003-10-01

We assessed the interobserver agreement on the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a study sample consisting of 41 MS (15 relapsing remitting, two secondary progressive, five primary progressive and 19 presenting their first clinical attack) and three non-MS cases. Clinical and paraclinical information was recorded in standardized forms. Four neurologists were asked to make a diagnosis using Poser's and McDonald's criteria and to assess MRI scans according to the McDonald's guidelines. In terms of the kappa statistic (kappa), we found a moderate agreement on the overall diagnosis using both Poser's and McDonald's criteria (kappa, respectively 0.57 and 0.52). As for distinct diagnostic categories, we observed a moderate to substantial agreement for the three McDonald categories (range of kappa values 0.49-0.64) and a fair to substantial agreement for the nine Poser categories (range of kappa values 0.37-0.67). Taking into account clinical information, the agreement on dissemination over time was substantially higher (kappa = 0.69) than that found on dissemination over space (kappa = 0.46). In contrast, for MRI assessment, the agreement for spatial dissemination was substantial (kappa = 0.74) compared with the fair agreement (kappa = 0.25) yielded by dissemination over time. The new McDonald's criteria yield a good overall diagnostic reliability, and compare favourably with Poser's classification in terms of agreement on distinct diagnostic categories.

Statistical modeling of urban air temperature distributions under different synoptic conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beck, Christoph; Breitner, Susanne; Cyrys, Josef; Hald, Cornelius; Hartz, Uwe; Jacobeit, Jucundus; Richter, Katja; Schneider, Alexandra; Wolf, Kathrin

2015-04-01

Within urban areas air temperature may vary distinctly between different locations. These intra-urban air temperature variations partly reach magnitudes that are relevant with respect to human thermal comfort. Therefore and furthermore taking into account potential interrelations with other health related environmental factors (e.g. air quality) it is important to estimate spatial patterns of intra-urban air temperature distributions that may be incorporated into urban planning processes. In this contribution we present an approach to estimate spatial temperature distributions in the urban area of Augsburg (Germany) by means of statistical modeling. At 36 locations in the urban area of Augsburg air temperatures are measured with high temporal resolution (4 min.) since December 2012. These 36 locations represent different typical urban land use characteristics in terms of varying percentage coverages of different land cover categories (e.g. impervious, built-up, vegetated). Percentage coverages of these land cover categories have been extracted from different sources (Open Street Map, European Urban Atlas, Urban Morphological Zones) for regular grids of varying size (50, 100, 200 meter horizonal resolution) for the urban area of Augsburg. It is well known from numerous studies that land use characteristics have a distinct influence on air temperature and as well other climatic variables at a certain location. Therefore air temperatures at the 36 locations are modeled utilizing land use characteristics (percentage coverages of land cover categories) as predictor variables in Stepwise Multiple Regression models and in Random Forest based model approaches. After model evaluation via cross-validation appropriate statistical models are applied to gridded land use data to derive spatial urban air temperature distributions. Varying models are tested and applied for different seasons and times of the day and also for different synoptic conditions (e.g. clear and calm situations, cloudy and windy situations). Based on hourly air temperature data from our measurements in the urban area of Augsburg distinct temperature differences between locations with different urban land use characteristics are revealed. Under clear and calm weather conditions differences between mean hourly air temperatures reach values around 8°C. Whereas during cloudy and windy weather maximum differences in mean hourly air temperatures do not exceed 5°C. Differences appear usually slightly more pronounced in summer than in winter. First results from the application of statistical modeling approaches reveal promising skill of the models in terms of explained variances reaching up to 60% in leave-one-out cross-validation experiments. The contribution depicts the methodology of our approach and presents and discusses first results.

Patients' ratings of genetic conditions validate a taxonomy to simplify decisions about preconception carrier screening via genome sequencing.

PubMed

Leo, Michael C; McMullen, Carmit; Wilfond, Benjamin S; Lynch, Frances L; Reiss, Jacob A; Gilmore, Marian J; Himes, Patricia; Kauffman, Tia L; Davis, James V; Jarvik, Gail P; Berg, Jonathan S; Harding, Cary; Kennedy, Kathleen A; Simpson, Dana Kostiner; Quigley, Denise I; Richards, C Sue; Rope, Alan F; Goddard, Katrina A B

2016-03-01

Advances in genome sequencing and gene discovery have created opportunities to efficiently assess more genetic conditions than ever before. Given the large number of conditions that can be screened, the implementation of expanded carrier screening using genome sequencing will require practical methods of simplifying decisions about the conditions for which patients want to be screened. One method to simplify decision making is to generate a taxonomy based on expert judgment. However, expert perceptions of condition attributes used to classify these conditions may differ from those used by patients. To understand whether expert and patient perceptions differ, we asked women who had received preconception genetic carrier screening in the last 3 years to fill out a survey to rate the attributes (predictability, controllability, visibility, and severity) of several autosomal recessive or X-linked genetic conditions. These conditions were classified into one of five taxonomy categories developed by subject experts (significantly shortened lifespan, serious medical problems, mild medical problems, unpredictable medical outcomes, and adult-onset conditions). A total of 193 women provided 739 usable ratings across 20 conditions. The mean ratings and correlations demonstrated that participants made distinctions across both attributes and categories. Aggregated mean attribute ratings across categories demonstrated logical consistency between the key features of each attribute and category, although participants perceived little difference between the mild and serious categories. This study provides empirical evidence for the validity of our proposed taxonomy, which will simplify patient decisions for results they would like to receive from preconception carrier screening via genome sequencing. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Behavior-specific changes in transcriptional modules lead to distinct and predictable neurogenomic states

PubMed Central

Chandrasekaran, Sriram; Ament, Seth A.; Eddy, James A.; Rodriguez-Zas, Sandra L.; Schatz, Bruce R.; Price, Nathan D.; Robinson, Gene E.

2011-01-01

Using brain transcriptomic profiles from 853 individual honey bees exhibiting 48 distinct behavioral phenotypes in naturalistic contexts, we report that behavior-specific neurogenomic states can be inferred from the coordinated action of transcription factors (TFs) and their predicted target genes. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering of these transcriptomic profiles showed three clusters that correspond to three ecologically important behavioral categories: aggression, maturation, and foraging. To explore the genetic influences potentially regulating these behavior-specific neurogenomic states, we reconstructed a brain transcriptional regulatory network (TRN) model. This brain TRN quantitatively predicts with high accuracy gene expression changes of more than 2,000 genes involved in behavior, even for behavioral phenotypes on which it was not trained, suggesting that there is a core set of TFs that regulates behavior-specific gene expression in the bee brain, and other TFs more specific to particular categories. TFs playing key roles in the TRN include well-known regulators of neural and behavioral plasticity, e.g., Creb, as well as TFs better known in other biological contexts, e.g., NF-κB (immunity). Our results reveal three insights concerning the relationship between genes and behavior. First, distinct behaviors are subserved by distinct neurogenomic states in the brain. Second, the neurogenomic states underlying different behaviors rely upon both shared and distinct transcriptional modules. Third, despite the complexity of the brain, simple linear relationships between TFs and their putative target genes are a surprisingly prominent feature of the networks underlying behavior. PMID:21960440

Auditory object salience: human cortical processing of non-biological action sounds and their acoustic signal attributes

PubMed Central

Lewis, James W.; Talkington, William J.; Tallaksen, Katherine C.; Frum, Chris A.

2012-01-01

Whether viewed or heard, an object in action can be segmented as a distinct salient event based on a number of different sensory cues. In the visual system, several low-level attributes of an image are processed along parallel hierarchies, involving intermediate stages wherein gross-level object form and/or motion features are extracted prior to stages that show greater specificity for different object categories (e.g., people, buildings, or tools). In the auditory system, though relying on a rather different set of low-level signal attributes, meaningful real-world acoustic events and “auditory objects” can also be readily distinguished from background scenes. However, the nature of the acoustic signal attributes or gross-level perceptual features that may be explicitly processed along intermediate cortical processing stages remain poorly understood. Examining mechanical and environmental action sounds, representing two distinct non-biological categories of action sources, we had participants assess the degree to which each sound was perceived as object-like versus scene-like. We re-analyzed data from two of our earlier functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task paradigms (Engel et al., 2009) and found that scene-like action sounds preferentially led to activation along several midline cortical structures, but with strong dependence on listening task demands. In contrast, bilateral foci along the superior temporal gyri (STG) showed parametrically increasing activation to action sounds rated as more “object-like,” independent of sound category or task demands. Moreover, these STG regions also showed parametric sensitivity to spectral structure variations (SSVs) of the action sounds—a quantitative measure of change in entropy of the acoustic signals over time—and the right STG additionally showed parametric sensitivity to measures of mean entropy and harmonic content of the environmental sounds. Analogous to the visual system, intermediate stages of the auditory system appear to process or extract a number of quantifiable low-order signal attributes that are characteristic of action events perceived as being object-like, representing stages that may begin to dissociate different perceptual dimensions and categories of every-day, real-world action sounds. PMID:22582038

Fine-grained leukocyte classification with deep residual learning for microscopic images.

PubMed

Qin, Feiwei; Gao, Nannan; Peng, Yong; Wu, Zizhao; Shen, Shuying; Grudtsin, Artur

2018-08-01

Leukocyte classification and cytometry have wide applications in medical domain, previous researches usually exploit machine learning techniques to classify leukocytes automatically. However, constrained by the past development of machine learning techniques, for example, extracting distinctive features from raw microscopic images are difficult, the widely used SVM classifier only has relative few parameters to tune, these methods cannot efficiently handle fine-grained classification cases when the white blood cells have up to 40 categories. Based on deep learning theory, a systematic study is conducted on finer leukocyte classification in this paper. A deep residual neural network based leukocyte classifier is constructed at first, which can imitate the domain expert's cell recognition process, and extract salient features robustly and automatically. Then the deep neural network classifier's topology is adjusted according to the prior knowledge of white blood cell test. After that the microscopic image dataset with almost one hundred thousand labeled leukocytes belonging to 40 categories is built, and combined training strategies are adopted to make the designed classifier has good generalization ability. The proposed deep residual neural network based classifier was tested on microscopic image dataset with 40 leukocyte categories. It achieves top-1 accuracy of 77.80%, top-5 accuracy of 98.75% during the training procedure. The average accuracy on the test set is nearly 76.84%. This paper presents a fine-grained leukocyte classification method for microscopic images, based on deep residual learning theory and medical domain knowledge. Experimental results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of our approach. Extended experiments support that the fine-grained leukocyte classifier could be used in real medical applications, assist doctors in diagnosing diseases, reduce human power significantly. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Feature-based versus category-based induction with uncertain categories.

PubMed

Griffiths, Oren; Hayes, Brett K; Newell, Ben R

2012-05-01

Previous research has suggested that when feature inferences have to be made about an instance whose category membership is uncertain, feature-based inductive reasoning is used to the exclusion of category-based induction. These results contrast with the observation that people can and do use category-based induction when category membership is known. The present experiments examined the conditions that drive feature-based and category-based strategies in induction under category uncertainty. Specifically, 2 experiments investigated whether reliance on feature-based inductive strategies is a product of the lack of coherence in the categories used in previous research or is due to the use of a decision-only induction procedure. Experiment 1 found that feature-based reasoning remained the preferred strategy even when categories with relatively high internal coherence were used. Experiment 2 found a shift toward category-based reasoning when participants were trained to classify category members prior to feature induction. Together, these results suggest that an appropriate conceptual representation must be formed through experience with a category before it is likely to be used as a basis for feature induction. (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

A sequence-based hybrid predictor for identifying conformationally ambivalent regions in proteins.

PubMed

Liu, Yu-Cheng; Yang, Meng-Han; Lin, Win-Li; Huang, Chien-Kang; Oyang, Yen-Jen

2009-12-03

Proteins are dynamic macromolecules which may undergo conformational transitions upon changes in environment. As it has been observed in laboratories that protein flexibility is correlated to essential biological functions, scientists have been designing various types of predictors for identifying structurally flexible regions in proteins. In this respect, there are two major categories of predictors. One category of predictors attempts to identify conformationally flexible regions through analysis of protein tertiary structures. Another category of predictors works completely based on analysis of the polypeptide sequences. As the availability of protein tertiary structures is generally limited, the design of predictors that work completely based on sequence information is crucial for advances of molecular biology research. In this article, we propose a novel approach to design a sequence-based predictor for identifying conformationally ambivalent regions in proteins. The novelty in the design stems from incorporating two classifiers based on two distinctive supervised learning algorithms that provide complementary prediction powers. Experimental results show that the overall performance delivered by the hybrid predictor proposed in this article is superior to the performance delivered by the existing predictors. Furthermore, the case study presented in this article demonstrates that the proposed hybrid predictor is capable of providing the biologists with valuable clues about the functional sites in a protein chain. The proposed hybrid predictor provides the users with two optional modes, namely, the high-sensitivity mode and the high-specificity mode. The experimental results with an independent testing data set show that the proposed hybrid predictor is capable of delivering sensitivity of 0.710 and specificity of 0.608 under the high-sensitivity mode, while delivering sensitivity of 0.451 and specificity of 0.787 under the high-specificity mode. Though experimental results show that the hybrid approach designed to exploit the complementary prediction powers of distinctive supervised learning algorithms works more effectively than conventional approaches, there exists a large room for further improvement with respect to the achieved performance. In this respect, it is of interest to investigate the effects of exploiting additional physiochemical properties that are related to conformational ambivalence. Furthermore, it is of interest to investigate the effects of incorporating lately-developed machine learning approaches, e.g. the random forest design and the multi-stage design. As conformational transition plays a key role in carrying out several essential types of biological functions, the design of more advanced predictors for identifying conformationally ambivalent regions in proteins deserves our continuous attention.

Race, money and medicines.

PubMed

Bloche, M Gregg

2006-01-01

Taking notice of race is both risky and inevitable, in medicine no less than in other endeavors. On the one hand, race can be a useful stand-in for unstudied genetic and environmental factors that yield differences in disease expression and therapeutic response. Attention to race can make a therapeutic difference, to the point of saving lives. On the other hand, racial distinctions have social meanings that are often pejorative or worse, especially when these distinctions are cast as culturally or biologically fixed. I argue in this essay that we should start with a presumption against racial categories in medicine, but permit their use when it might prolong lives or meaningfully improve health. Use of racial categories should be understood as an interim step; follow-up inquiry into the factors that underlie race-correlated clinical differences is important both to improve the efficacy of clinical care and to prevent race in itself from being misunderstood as a biological determinant. If we pursue such inquiry with vigor, the pernicious effects of racial categories on public understanding can be managed. But perverse market and regulatory incentives create the danger that use of race will be "locked-in," once drugs or other therapies are approved. These incentives should be revisited.

Urn model for products’ shares in international trade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbier, Matthieu; Lee, D.-S.

2017-12-01

International trade fluxes evolve as countries revise their portfolios of trade products towards economic development. Accordingly products’ shares in international trade vary with time, reflecting the transfer of capital between distinct industrial sectors. Here we analyze the share of hundreds of product categories in world trade for four decades and find a scaling law obeyed by the annual variation of product share, which informs us of how capital flows and interacts over the product space. A model of stochastic transfer of capital between products based on the observed scaling relation is proposed and shown to reproduce exactly the empirical share distribution. The model allows analytic solutions as well as numerical simulations, which predict a pseudo-condensation of capital onto few product categories and when it will occur. At the individual level, our model finds certain products unpredictable, the excess or deficient growth of which with respect to the model prediction is shown to be correlated with the nature of goods.

A group ICA based framework for evaluating resting fMRI markers when disease categories are unclear: application to schizophrenia, bipolar, and schizoaffective disorders

PubMed Central

Du, Yuhui; Pearlson, Godfrey D; Liu, Jingyu; Sui, Jing; Yu, Qingbao; He, Hao; Castro, Eduardo; Calhoun, Vince D.

2015-01-01

Schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BP) and schizoaffective disorder (SAD) share some common symptoms, and there is a debate about whether SAD is an independent category. To the best of our knowledge, no study has been done to differentiate these three disorders or to investigate the distinction of SAD as an independent category using fMRI data. The present study is aimed to explore biomarkers from resting-state fMRI networks for differentiating these disorders and investigate the relationship among these disorders based on fMRI networks with an emphasis on SAD. Firstly, a novel group ICA method, group information guided independent component analysis (GIG-ICA), was applied to extract subject-specific brain networks from fMRI data of 20 healthy controls (HC), 20 SZ patients, 20 BP patients, 20 patients suffering SAD with manic episodes (SADM), and 13 patients suffering SAD with depressive episodes exclusively (SADD). Then, five-level one-way analysis of covariance and multiclass support vector machine recursive feature elimination were employed to identify discriminative regions from the networks. Subsequently, the t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) projection and the hierarchical clustering methods were implemented to investigate the relationship among those groups. Finally, to evaluate the generalization ability, 16 new subjects were classified based on the found regions and the trained model using original 93 subjects. Results show that the discriminative regions mainly include frontal, parietal, precuneus, cingulate, supplementary motor, cerebellar, insula and supramarginal cortices, which performed well in distinguishing different groups. SADM and SADD were the most similar to each other, although SADD had greater similarity to SZ compared to other groups, which indicates SAD may be an independent category. BP was closer to HC compared with other psychotic disorders. In summary, resting-state fMRI brain networks extracted via GIG-ICA provide a promising potential to differentiate SZ, BP, and SAD. PMID:26216278

A global assessment of wildfire risks to human and environmental water security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinne, François-Nicolas; Parisien, Marc-André; Flannigan, Mike; Miller, Carol; Bladon, Kevin D.

2017-04-01

Extreme wildfire events extensively affect hydrosystem stability and generate an important threat to the reliability of the water supply for human and natural communities. While actively studied at the watershed scale, the development of a global vision of wildfire risk to water security has only been undertaken recently, pointing at potential water security concerns in an era of global changes. In order to address this concern, we propose a global-scale analysis of the wildfire risk to surface water supplies based on the Driving forces-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) framework. This framework relies on the cause-and-effect relationships existing between the five categories of the DPSIR chain. Based on the literature, we gathered an extensive set of spatial indicators relevant to fire-induced hydrological hazards and water consumption patterns by human and natural communities. Each indicator was assigned a DPSIR category. Then, we collapsed the information in each category using a principal component analysis in order to extract the most relevant pixel-based information provided by each spatial indicator. Finally, we compiled our five categories using an additive indexation process to produce a spatially-explicit index of the wildfire-water risk (WWR). For comparison purposes, we aggregated index scores by global hydrological regions, or hydrobelts, for analysis. Overall, our results show a distinct pattern of medium-to-high risk levels in areas where sizeable wildfire activity, water resources, and water consumption are concomitant, which mainly encompasses temperate and sub-tropical zones. A closer look at hydrobelts reveals differences in the factors driving the risk, with fire activity being the primary factor of risk in the circumboreal forest, and freshwater resource density being prevalent in tropical areas. We also identified major urban areas across the world whose source waters should be protected from extreme fire events, particularly when they are dependent on mountainous headwaters. This study offers new insights towards a better understanding of global water security issues that can inform and help guide international water governance.

Enhancing masculinity by slandering homosexuals: the role of homophobic epithets in heterosexual gender identity.

PubMed

Carnaghi, Andrea; Maass, Anne; Fasoli, Fabio

2011-12-01

The current studies investigate the effects of homophobic labels on the self-perception of heterosexual males, hypothesizing that when exposed to homophobic epithets, they are motivated to underline their masculinity and claim a distinctly heterosexual identity by taking distance from homosexuals and, to a lesser degree, from women. Heterosexual male participants were subliminally (Study 1) and supraliminally (Study 2) primed either by a homophobic epithet or by a category label, and completed the Traditional Beliefs About Gender and Gender Identity scale. Participants stressed their heterosexual identity, but not their gender distinctiveness, when exposed to homophobic epithets, compared to category labels. Study 2 demonstrated that the relation between the homophobic label and the participants' heterosexual identity was mediated by how negatively they reacted to the antigay label. Heterosexual identity was enhanced in reaction to homophobic labels but not to an equally derogatory label referring to regional identity. Results are discussed within an intergroup framework.

Effects of language experience on pre-categorical perception: Distinguishing general from specialized processes in speech perception.

PubMed

Iverson, Paul; Wagner, Anita; Rosen, Stuart

2016-04-01

Cross-language differences in speech perception have traditionally been linked to phonological categories, but it has become increasingly clear that language experience has effects beginning at early stages of perception, which blurs the accepted distinctions between general and speech-specific processing. The present experiments explored this distinction by playing stimuli to English and Japanese speakers that manipulated the acoustic form of English /r/ and /l/, in order to determine how acoustically natural and phonologically identifiable a stimulus must be for cross-language discrimination differences to emerge. Discrimination differences were found for stimuli that did not sound subjectively like speech or /r/ and /l/, but overall they were strongly linked to phonological categorization. The results thus support the view that phonological categories are an important source of cross-language differences, but also show that these differences can extend to stimuli that do not clearly sound like speech.

Linking language and categorization in infancy

PubMed Central

Ferguson, Brock; Waxman, Sandra

2017-01-01

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

Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli

PubMed Central

Nataro, James P.; Kaper, James B.

1998-01-01

Escherichia coli is the predominant nonpathogenic facultative flora of the human intestine. Some E. coli strains, however, have developed the ability to cause disease of the gastrointestinal, urinary, or central nervous system in even the most robust human hosts. Diarrheagenic strains of E. coli can be divided into at least six different categories with corresponding distinct pathogenic schemes. Taken together, these organisms probably represent the most common cause of pediatric diarrhea worldwide. Several distinct clinical syndromes accompany infection with diarrheagenic E. coli categories, including traveler’s diarrhea (enterotoxigenic E. coli), hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (enterohemorrhagic E. coli), persistent diarrhea (enteroaggregative E. coli), and watery diarrhea of infants (enteropathogenic E. coli). This review discusses the current level of understanding of the pathogenesis of the diarrheagenic E. coli strains and describes how their pathogenic schemes underlie the clinical manifestations, diagnostic approach, and epidemiologic investigation of these important pathogens. PMID:9457432

Linking language and categorization in infancy.

PubMed

Ferguson, Brock; Waxman, Sandra

2017-05-01

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

Feature-Based versus Category-Based Induction with Uncertain Categories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffiths, Oren; Hayes, Brett K.; Newell, Ben R.

2012-01-01

Previous research has suggested that when feature inferences have to be made about an instance whose category membership is uncertain, feature-based inductive reasoning is used to the exclusion of category-based induction. These results contrast with the observation that people can and do use category-based induction when category membership is…

Toward DSM-V: an item response theory analysis of the diagnostic process for DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence in adolescents.

PubMed

Gelhorn, Heather; Hartman, Christie; Sakai, Joseph; Stallings, Michael; Young, Susan; Rhee, Soo Hyun; Corley, Robin; Hewitt, John; Hopfer, Christian; Crowley, Thomas

2008-11-01

Item response theory analyses were used to examine alcohol abuse and dependence symptoms and diagnoses in adolescents. Previous research suggests that the DSM-IV alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms in adolescents may be characterized by a single dimension. The present study extends prior research with a larger and more comprehensive sample and an examination of an alternative diagnostic algorithm for AUDs. Approximately 5,587 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years from adjudicated, clinical, and community samples were administered structured clinical interviews. Analyses were conducted to examine the severity of alcohol abuse and dependence symptoms and the severity of alcohol use problems (AUDs) within the diagnostic categories created by the DSM-IV. Although the DSM-IV diagnostic categories differ in severity of AUDs, there is substantial overlap and inconsistency in AUD severity of persons across these categories. Item Response Theory-based AUD severity estimates suggest that many persons diagnosed with abuse have AUD severity greater than persons with dependence. Similarly, many persons who endorse some symptoms but do not qualify for a diagnosis (i.e., diagnostic orphans) have more severe AUDs than persons with an abuse diagnosis. Additionally, two dependence items, "tolerance" and "larger/longer," show differences in severity between samples. The distinction between DSM-IV abuse and dependence based on severity can be improved using an alternative diagnostic algorithm that considers all of the alcohol abuse and dependence symptoms conjointly.

Positive Coping: A Unique Characteristic to Pre-Hospital Emergency Personnel.

PubMed

Ebadi, Abbas; Froutan, Razieh

2017-01-01

It is important to gain a thorough understanding of positive coping methods adopted by medical emergency personnel to manage stressful situations associated with accidents and emergencies. Thus, the purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of positive coping strategies used by emergency medical service providers. This study was conducted using a qualitative content analysis method. The study participants included 28 pre-hospital emergency personnel selected from emergency medical service providers in bases located in different regions of the city of Mashhad, Iran, from April to November 2016. The purposive sampling method also was used in this study, which was continued until data saturation was reached. To collect the data, semistructured open interviews, observations, and field notes were used. Four categories and 10 subcategories were extracted from the data on the experiences of pre-hospital emergency personnel related to positive coping strategies. The four categories included work engagement, smart capability, positive feedback, and crisis pioneering. All the obtained categories had their own subcategories, which were determined based on their distinctly integrated properties. The results of this study show that positive coping consists of several concepts used by medical emergency personnel, management of stressful situations, and ultimately quality of pre-hospital clinical services. Given the fact that efficient methods such as positive coping can prevent debilitating stress in an individual, pre-hospital emergency authorities should seek to build and strengthen "positive coping" characteristics in pre-hospital medical emergency personnel to deal with accidents, emergencies, and injuries through adopting regular and dynamic policies.

Judgments relative to patterns: how temporal sequence patterns affect judgments and memory.

PubMed

Kusev, Petko; Ayton, Peter; van Schaik, Paul; Tsaneva-Atanasova, Krasimira; Stewart, Neil; Chater, Nick

2011-12-01

Six experiments studied relative frequency judgment and recall of sequentially presented items drawn from 2 distinct categories (i.e., city and animal). The experiments show that judged frequencies of categories of sequentially encountered stimuli are affected by certain properties of the sequence configuration. We found (a) a first-run effect whereby people overestimated the frequency of a given category when that category was the first repeated category to occur in the sequence and (b) a dissociation between judgments and recall; respondents may judge 1 event more likely than the other and yet recall more instances of the latter. Specifically, the distribution of recalled items does not correspond to the frequency estimates for the event categories, indicating that participants do not make frequency judgments by sampling their memory for individual items as implied by other accounts such as the availability heuristic (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973) and the availability process model (Hastie & Park, 1986). We interpret these findings as reflecting the operation of a judgment heuristic sensitive to sequential patterns and offer an account for the relationship between memory and judged frequencies of sequentially encountered stimuli.

Attitudes and evaluative practices: category vs. item and subjective vs. objective constructions in everyday food assessments.

PubMed

Wiggins, Sally; Potter, Jonathan

2003-12-01

In social psychology, evaluative expressions have traditionally been understood in terms of their relationship to, and as the expression of, underlying 'attitudes'. In contrast, discursive approaches have started to study evaluative expressions as part of varied social practices, considering what such expressions are doing rather than their relationship to attitudinal objects or other putative mental entities. In this study the latter approach will be used to examine the construction of food and drink evaluations in conversation. The data are taken from a corpus of family mealtimes recorded over a period of months. The aim of this study is to highlight two distinctions that are typically obscured in traditional attitude work ('subjective' vs. 'objective' expressions, category vs. item evaluations). A set of extracts is examined to document the presence of these distinctions in talk that evaluates food and the way they are used and rhetorically developed to perform particular activities (accepting/refusing food, complimenting the food provider, persuading someone to eat). The analysis suggests that researchers (a) should be aware of the potential significance of these distinctions; (b) should be cautious when treating evaluative terms as broadly equivalent and (c) should be cautious when blurring categories and instances. This analysis raises the broader question of how far evaluative practices may be specific to particular domains, and what this specificity might consist in. It is concluded that research in this area could benefit from starting to focus on the role of evaluations in practices and charting their association with specific topics and objects.

An exploratory investigation of purging disorder.

PubMed

Smith, Kathryn E; Crowther, Janis H

2013-01-01

Purging Disorder (PD) is an understudied pattern of behaviors within the Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) category. Such categorization may suggest that PD is not clinically significant as other eating disorders. However, evidence has suggested that PD is associated with significant impairments in psychosocial functioning and well-being. Despite the apparent clinical significance of PD, it remains to be determined if PD is distinct from other clinically significant eating disorders. The present study sought to assess the phenomenology, clinical significance, and distinctiveness of PD. Group scores on measures of eating pathology, body image disturbance, and psychological correlates were compared using MANOVA among a female undergraduate sample (N=94) meeting diagnostic criteria for PD (n=20), Bulimia Nervosa (BN; n=35), restrained eating (n=18), and healthy controls (n=21). Overall, results indicated the PD group reported less severe symptoms than BN but more severe symptoms than controls. The PD and restraint groups were similar on most variables (including subjective binge behavior), with the exception of perfectionism and hunger. Findings support the conceptualization of PD as existing along a spectrum of bulimic spectrum disorders rather than as a distinct diagnostic category. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A comparison of acceleration methods for solving the neutron transport k-eigenvalue problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Willert, Jeffrey; Park, H.; Knoll, D. A.

2014-10-01

Over the past several years a number of papers have been written describing modern techniques for numerically computing the dominant eigenvalue of the neutron transport criticality problem. These methods fall into two distinct categories. The first category of methods rewrite the multi-group k-eigenvalue problem as a nonlinear system of equations and solve the resulting system using either a Jacobian-Free Newton-Krylov (JFNK) method or Nonlinear Krylov Acceleration (NKA), a variant of Anderson Acceleration. These methods are generally successful in significantly reducing the number of transport sweeps required to compute the dominant eigenvalue. The second category of methods utilize Moment-Based Acceleration (or High-Order/Low-Order (HOLO) Acceleration). These methods solve a sequence of modified diffusion eigenvalue problems whose solutions converge to the solution of the original transport eigenvalue problem. This second class of methods is, in our experience, always superior to the first, as most of the computational work is eliminated by the acceleration from the LO diffusion system. In this paper, we review each of these methods. Our computational results support our claim that the choice of which nonlinear solver to use, JFNK or NKA, should be secondary. The primary computational savings result from the implementation of a HOLO algorithm. We display computational results for a series of challenging multi-dimensional test problems.

Electrophysiological correlates of implicit valenced self-processing in high vs. low self-esteem individuals.

PubMed

Grundy, John G; Benarroch, Miriam F F; Lebarr, A Nicole; Shedden, Judith M

2015-01-01

We provide the first high-temporal resolution account of the self-esteem implicit association test (IAT; Greenwald & Farnham, 2000) to highlight important similarities and differences between the cognitive processes corresponding to implicit valenced self-processing in high vs. low self-esteem individuals. We divided individuals into high and low self-esteem groups based on the Rosenberg self-esteem scale (Rosenberg, 1965) and administered the self-esteem IAT while recording electroencephalographic data. We show that the P2 captured group (high vs. low self-esteem) differences, the N250 and the late parietal positivity (LPP) captured differences corresponding to category pairing (self/positive vs. self/negative pairing), and the N1, P2, and P300-400 components captured interactions between self-esteem groups and whether the self was paired with positive or negative categories in the IAT. Overall, both high and low self-esteem groups were sensitive to the distinction between positive and negative information in relation to the self (me/negative generally displayed larger event-related potential amplitudes than me/positive), but for high self-esteem individuals, this difference was generally larger, earlier, and most pronounced over left-hemisphere electrodes. These electrophysiological differences may reflect differences in attentional resources devoted to teasing apart these two oppositely valenced associations. High self-esteem individuals appear to devote more automatic (early) attentional resources to strengthen the distinction between positively or negatively valenced information in relation to the self.

Reduced verbal fluency for proper names in nondemented patients with Parkinson's disease: a quantitative and qualitative analysis.

PubMed

Fine, Eric M; Delis, Dean C; Paul, Brianna M; Filoteo, J Vincent

2011-02-01

There has been an increasing interest within neuropsychology in comparing verbal fluency for different grammatical classes (e.g., verb generation vs. noun generation) in neurological populations, including Parkinson's disease (PD). However, to our knowledge, few studies have compared verbal fluency for common nouns and proper names in PD. Common nouns and proper names differ in terms of their semantic characteristics, as categories of common nouns are organized hierarchically based on semantics, while categories of proper nouns lack a well-defined semantic organization. In addition, there is accumulating evidence that the retrieval of these distinct grammatical classes are subserved by somewhat distinct neural systems. Given that verbal fluency deficits are among the first impairments to emerge in PD, and that such deficits are predictors of future cognitive decline, it is important to examine all aspects of verbal fluency in this population. For the current study, we compared the performance of a group of 32 nondemented PD patients with 32 healthy participants (HP) on verbal fluency tasks for common nouns (animals) and proper names (boys' first names). A significant interaction between verbal fluency task and diagnostic status emerged, as the PD group performed significantly worse on only the proper name fluency task. This finding may reflect the absence of well-defined semantic organization that structures the verbal search for first names, thus placing a greater onus on strategic or "executive" verbal retrieval processes.

Behavior-based aggregation of land categories for temporal change analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aldwaik, Safaa Zakaria; Onsted, Jeffrey A.; Pontius, Robert Gilmore, Jr.

2015-03-01

Comparison between two time points of the same categorical variable for the same study extent can reveal changes among categories over time, such as transitions among land categories. If many categories exist, then analysis can be difficult to interpret. Category aggregation is the procedure that combines two or more categories to create a single broader category. Aggregation can simplify interpretation, and can also influence the sizes and types of changes. Some classifications have an a priori hierarchy to facilitate aggregation, but an a priori aggregation might make researchers blind to important category dynamics. We created an algorithm to aggregate categories in a sequence of steps based on the categories' behaviors in terms of gross losses and gross gains. The behavior-based algorithm aggregates net gaining categories with net gaining categories and aggregates net losing categories with net losing categories, but never aggregates a net gaining category with a net losing category. The behavior-based algorithm at each step in the sequence maintains net change and maximizes swap change. We present a case study where data from 2001 and 2006 for 64 land categories indicate change on 17% of the study extent. The behavior-based algorithm produces a set of 10 categories that maintains nearly the original amount of change. In contrast, an a priori aggregation produces 10 categories while reducing the change to 9%. We offer a free computer program to perform the behavior-based aggregation.

Systolic blood pressure and cardiovascular mortality in middle-aged and elderly adults - The Singapore Chinese Health Study.

PubMed

Koh, Angela S; Talaei, Mohammad; Pan, An; Wang, Renwei; Yuan, Jian-Min; Koh, Woon-Puay

2016-09-15

While elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) is related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, it is unclear if the optimal SBP level may differ by age or the presence of underlying CVD. We investigated the association between SBP categories and CVD mortality among middle-aged and elderly adults with and without CVD history. We used data from 30,692 participants of the population-based Singapore Chinese Health Study who had blood pressures measured using a standard protocol at ages 48-85years between 1994 and 2005. Information on lifestyle factors were collected at recruitment (1993-1998) and during follow-up interviews (1999 and 2004). Mortality was identified via nationwide registry linkage up to 31 December 2014. SBP 120-139mmHg category was associated with lowest risk of CVD mortality in both age-groups of <60 and 60+years, as well as in those with and without underlying coronary heart disease or stroke. Overall, compared to this category, CVD risk was non-significantly increased in lower SBP categories and significantly increased in the higher SBP categories. The risk estimates associated with elevated SBP were higher among those <60years compared to their older counterparts, but less distinct between those with and without underlying CVD. SBP 120-139mmHg was associated with the lowest risk of CVD mortality in middle aged and elderly adults, regardless of underlying CVD. Although risks in both adult groups were similar, there is a greater risk associated with higher SBP among those aged below 60years, highlighting a greater urgency of treatment in this younger group. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorders based on Rome III criteria in a pediatric gastroenterology clinic.

PubMed

Talachian, Elham; Bidari, Ali; Zahmatkesh, Hamed

2015-01-01

Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) entail several distinct conditions that collectively account for a sizeable proportion of patients complaining of abdominal pain. Physicians' awareness is fundamental to avoid unnecessary evaluations and to alleviate stress-related problems. This study aimed to assess the relative frequencies of FGIDs and related categories in a selected Iranian population. We conducted this cross-sectional study in a gastroenterology clinic of a tertiary care pediatric hospital in Iran. Children and adolescents between the age of 4 and 18 years referred to the clinic from October 2011 to February 2013 were enrolled if they were diagnosed with FGID according to the Rome III criteria. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic characteristics, pain location, duration and frequency, associated symptoms, and pertinent family history. We used descriptive analyses to show mean (±SD) and relative frequencies of categories of FGIDs. We diagnosed 183 (114 female) with FGIDs out of 1307 children and adolescents who were visited in the clinic. There was history of psychiatric disorders in 42 (22.9%) participants, and migraine headaches and gastrointestinal disorders were at least in one of the parents in 21 (11.5%) and 64 (34.9%) participants, respectively. We defined 84 (46%) patients under Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) category, 38 (21%) under Abdominal Migraine, 26 (14%) under Functional Abdominal Pain, 21 (11%) under Functional Dyspepsia, and 7 (4%) under Functional Abdominal Pain Syndrome. Seven children (4%) had no defining feature for FGID categories and therefore labeled as unclassified. FGID was a prevalent diagnosis among children and adolescents with abdominal pain. IBS was the largest category. Only a minority were unclassifiable under the Rome III criteria, indicating improved differentiation characteristics of Rome III criteria compared to the Rome II version.

Video-assisted segmentation of speech and audio track

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandit, Medha; Yusoff, Yusseri; Kittler, Josef; Christmas, William J.; Chilton, E. H. S.

1999-08-01

Video database research is commonly concerned with the storage and retrieval of visual information invovling sequence segmentation, shot representation and video clip retrieval. In multimedia applications, video sequences are usually accompanied by a sound track. The sound track contains potential cues to aid shot segmentation such as different speakers, background music, singing and distinctive sounds. These different acoustic categories can be modeled to allow for an effective database retrieval. In this paper, we address the problem of automatic segmentation of audio track of multimedia material. This audio based segmentation can be combined with video scene shot detection in order to achieve partitioning of the multimedia material into semantically significant segments.

Parental social support and the physical activity-related behaviors of youth: a review.

PubMed

Beets, Michael W; Cardinal, Bradley J; Alderman, Brandon L

2010-10-01

Social support from parents serves as one of the primary influences of youth physical activity-related behaviors. A systematic review was conducted on the relationship of parental social support to the physical activity-related behaviors of youth. Four categories of social support were identified, falling under two distinct mechanisms-tangible and intangible. Tangible social support is divided into two categories: instrumental-purchasing equipment/payment of fees and transportation-and conditional-doing activity with and watching/supervision. Intangible social support is divided into the two categories of motivational- encouragement and praise-and informational-discussing benefits of. The majority of studies demonstrated positive associations among selected measures of parental tangible and intangible social support and youth activity. Overall, parental social support demonstrated positive effects. Many studies, however, combine social support categories and/or respondents into composite measures, making it difficult to disentangle the specific effects of parents and the type of support provided.

TOWARD A MODERN THEORY OF CASE.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

FILLMORE, CHARLES J.

THE PAPER QUESTIONS THE ADEQUACY OF CHOMSKY'S PROPOSALS FOR FORMALLY RECONSTRUCTING THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES AND GRAMMATICAL FUNCTIONS. THE DEEP STRUCTURE VALIDITY OF THE NOTIONS "SUBJECT" AND "OBJECT" IS ALSO QUESTIONED. THE WRITER PROPOSES TO RECOGNIZE, INSTEAD, VARIOUS INTRODUCED NOUN PHRASES SUGGESTIVE…

The development of automaticity in short-term memory search: Item-response learning and category learning.

PubMed

Cao, Rui; Nosofsky, Robert M; Shiffrin, Richard M

2017-05-01

In short-term-memory (STM)-search tasks, observers judge whether a test probe was present in a short list of study items. Here we investigated the long-term learning mechanisms that lead to the highly efficient STM-search performance observed under conditions of consistent-mapping (CM) training, in which targets and foils never switch roles across trials. In item-response learning, subjects learn long-term mappings between individual items and target versus foil responses. In category learning, subjects learn high-level codes corresponding to separate sets of items and learn to attach old versus new responses to these category codes. To distinguish between these 2 forms of learning, we tested subjects in categorized varied mapping (CV) conditions: There were 2 distinct categories of items, but the assignment of categories to target versus foil responses varied across trials. In cases involving arbitrary categories, CV performance closely resembled standard varied-mapping performance without categories and departed dramatically from CM performance, supporting the item-response-learning hypothesis. In cases involving prelearned categories, CV performance resembled CM performance, as long as there was sufficient practice or steps taken to reduce trial-to-trial category-switching costs. This pattern of results supports the category-coding hypothesis for sufficiently well-learned categories. Thus, item-response learning occurs rapidly and is used early in CM training; category learning is much slower but is eventually adopted and is used to increase the efficiency of search beyond that available from item-response learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Children's Category-Based Inferences Affect Classification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Brian H.; Gelman, Susan A.; Rosengren, Karl S.

2005-01-01

Children learn many new categories and make inferences about these categories. Much work has examined how children make inferences on the basis of category knowledge. However, inferences may also affect what is learned about a category. Four experiments examine whether category-based inferences during category learning influence category knowledge…

Human Amygdala Tracks a Feature-Based Valence Signal Embedded within the Facial Expression of Surprise.

PubMed

Kim, M Justin; Mattek, Alison M; Bennett, Randi H; Solomon, Kimberly M; Shin, Jin; Whalen, Paul J

2017-09-27

Human amygdala function has been traditionally associated with processing the affective valence (negative vs positive) of an emotionally charged event, especially those that signal fear or threat. However, this account of human amygdala function can be explained by alternative views, which posit that the amygdala might be tuned to either (1) general emotional arousal (activation vs deactivation) or (2) specific emotion categories (fear vs happy). Delineating the pure effects of valence independent of arousal or emotion category is a challenging task, given that these variables naturally covary under many circumstances. To circumvent this issue and test the sensitivity of the human amygdala to valence values specifically, we measured the dimension of valence within the single facial expression category of surprise. Given the inherent valence ambiguity of this category, we show that surprised expression exemplars are attributed valence and arousal values that are uniquely and naturally uncorrelated. We then present fMRI data from both sexes, showing that the amygdala tracks these consensus valence values. Finally, we provide evidence that these valence values are linked to specific visual features of the mouth region, isolating the signal by which the amygdala detects this valence information. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT There is an open question as to whether human amygdala function tracks the valence value of cues in the environment, as opposed to either a more general emotional arousal value or a more specific emotion category distinction. Here, we demonstrate the utility of surprised facial expressions because exemplars within this emotion category take on valence values spanning the dimension of bipolar valence (positive to negative) at a consistent level of emotional arousal. Functional neuroimaging data showed that amygdala responses tracked the valence of surprised facial expressions, unconfounded by arousal. Furthermore, a machine learning classifier identified particular visual features of the mouth region that predicted this valence effect, isolating the specific visual signal that might be driving this neural valence response. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/379510-09$15.00/0.

14 CFR 27.671 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... STANDARDS: NORMAL CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Design and Construction Control Systems § 27.671 General. (a) Each control and control system must operate with the ease, smoothness, and positiveness appropriate to its function. (b) Each element of each flight control system must be designed, or distinctively and permanently...

14 CFR 27.671 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... STANDARDS: NORMAL CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Design and Construction Control Systems § 27.671 General. (a) Each control and control system must operate with the ease, smoothness, and positiveness appropriate to its function. (b) Each element of each flight control system must be designed, or distinctively and permanently...

Negative Certainty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ariso, José María

2017-01-01

The definitions of "negative knowledge" and the studies in this regard published to date have not considered the categorial distinction Wittgenstein established between knowledge and certainty. Hence, the important role that certainty, despite its omission, should have in these definitions and studies has not yet been shown. In this…

14 CFR 27.671 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... STANDARDS: NORMAL CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Design and Construction Control Systems § 27.671 General. (a) Each control and control system must operate with the ease, smoothness, and positiveness appropriate to its function. (b) Each element of each flight control system must be designed, or distinctively and permanently...

14 CFR 29.671 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Design and Construction Control Systems § 29.671 General. (a) Each control and control system must operate with the ease, smoothness, and positiveness appropriate to its function. (b) Each element of each flight control system must be designed, or distinctively and permanently...

14 CFR 25.671 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction Control Systems § 25.671 General. (a) Each control and control system must operate with the ease, smoothness, and positiveness appropriate to its function. (b) Each element of each flight control system must be designed, or distinctively and permanently...

14 CFR 25.671 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction Control Systems § 25.671 General. (a) Each control and control system must operate with the ease, smoothness, and positiveness appropriate to its function. (b) Each element of each flight control system must be designed, or distinctively and permanently...

14 CFR 25.671 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction Control Systems § 25.671 General. (a) Each control and control system must operate with the ease, smoothness, and positiveness appropriate to its function. (b) Each element of each flight control system must be designed, or distinctively and permanently...

14 CFR 27.671 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... STANDARDS: NORMAL CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Design and Construction Control Systems § 27.671 General. (a) Each control and control system must operate with the ease, smoothness, and positiveness appropriate to its function. (b) Each element of each flight control system must be designed, or distinctively and permanently...

14 CFR 27.671 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... STANDARDS: NORMAL CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Design and Construction Control Systems § 27.671 General. (a) Each control and control system must operate with the ease, smoothness, and positiveness appropriate to its function. (b) Each element of each flight control system must be designed, or distinctively and permanently...

14 CFR 25.671 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction Control Systems § 25.671 General. (a) Each control and control system must operate with the ease, smoothness, and positiveness appropriate to its function. (b) Each element of each flight control system must be designed, or distinctively and permanently...

Multiple systems of category learning.

PubMed

Smith, Edward E; Grossman, Murray

2008-01-01

We review neuropsychological and neuroimaging evidence for the existence of three qualitatively different categorization systems. These categorization systems are themselves based on three distinct memory systems: working memory (WM), explicit long-term memory (explicit LTM), and implicit long-term memory (implicit LTM). We first contrast categorization based on WM with that based on explicit LTM, where the former typically involves applying rules to a test item and the latter involves determining the similarity between stored exemplars or prototypes and a test item. Neuroimaging studies show differences between brain activity in normal participants as a function of whether they are instructed to categorize novel test items by rule or by similarity to known category members. Rule instructions typically lead to more activation in frontal or parietal areas, associated with WM and selective attention, whereas similarity instructions may activate parietal areas associated with the integration of perceptual features. Studies with neurological patients in the same paradigms provide converging evidence, e.g., patients with Alzheimer's disease, who have damage in prefrontal regions, are more impaired with rule than similarity instructions. Our second contrast is between categorization based on explicit LTM with that based on implicit LTM. Neuropsychological studies with patients with medial-temporal lobe damage show that patients are impaired on tasks requiring explicit LTM, but perform relatively normally on an implicit categorization task. Neuroimaging studies provide converging evidence: whereas explicit categorization is mediated by activation in numerous frontal and parietal areas, implicit categorization is mediated by a deactivation in posterior cortex.

Neurology of anomia in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia

PubMed Central

Rogalski, Emily; Wieneke, Christina; Cobia, Derin; Rademaker, Alfred; Thompson, Cynthia; Weintraub, Sandra

2009-01-01

The semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is characterized by the combination of word comprehension deficits, fluent aphasia and a particularly severe anomia. In this study, two novel tasks were used to explore the factors contributing to the anomia. The single most common factor was a blurring of distinctions among members of a semantic category, leading to errors of overgeneralization in word–object matching tasks as well as in word definitions and object descriptions. This factor was more pronounced for natural kinds than artifacts. In patients with the more severe anomias, conceptual maps were more extensively disrupted so that inter-category distinctions were as impaired as intra-category distinctions. Many objects that could not be named aloud could be matched to the correct word in patients with mild but not severe anomia, reflecting a gradual intensification of the semantic factor as the naming disorder becomes more severe. Accurate object descriptions were more frequent than accurate word definitions and all patients experienced prominent word comprehension deficits that interfered with everyday activities but no consequential impairment of object usage or face recognition. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed three characteristics: greater atrophy of the left hemisphere; atrophy of anterior components of the perisylvian language network in the superior and middle temporal gyri; and atrophy of anterior components of the face and object recognition network in the inferior and medial temporal lobes. The left sided asymmetry and perisylvian extension of the atrophy explains the more profound impairment of word than object usage and provides the anatomical basis for distinguishing the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia from the partially overlapping group of patients that fulfil the widely accepted diagnostic criteria for semantic dementia. PMID:19506067

Neurology of anomia in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia.

PubMed

Mesulam, Marsel; Rogalski, Emily; Wieneke, Christina; Cobia, Derin; Rademaker, Alfred; Thompson, Cynthia; Weintraub, Sandra

2009-09-01

The semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is characterized by the combination of word comprehension deficits, fluent aphasia and a particularly severe anomia. In this study, two novel tasks were used to explore the factors contributing to the anomia. The single most common factor was a blurring of distinctions among members of a semantic category, leading to errors of overgeneralization in word-object matching tasks as well as in word definitions and object descriptions. This factor was more pronounced for natural kinds than artifacts. In patients with the more severe anomias, conceptual maps were more extensively disrupted so that inter-category distinctions were as impaired as intra-category distinctions. Many objects that could not be named aloud could be matched to the correct word in patients with mild but not severe anomia, reflecting a gradual intensification of the semantic factor as the naming disorder becomes more severe. Accurate object descriptions were more frequent than accurate word definitions and all patients experienced prominent word comprehension deficits that interfered with everyday activities but no consequential impairment of object usage or face recognition. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed three characteristics: greater atrophy of the left hemisphere; atrophy of anterior components of the perisylvian language network in the superior and middle temporal gyri; and atrophy of anterior components of the face and object recognition network in the inferior and medial temporal lobes. The left sided asymmetry and perisylvian extension of the atrophy explains the more profound impairment of word than object usage and provides the anatomical basis for distinguishing the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia from the partially overlapping group of patients that fulfil the widely accepted diagnostic criteria for semantic dementia.

Predicting category intuitiveness with the rational model, the simplicity model, and the generalized context model.

PubMed

Pothos, Emmanuel M; Bailey, Todd M

2009-07-01

Naïve observers typically perceive some groupings for a set of stimuli as more intuitive than others. The problem of predicting category intuitiveness has been historically considered the remit of models of unsupervised categorization. In contrast, this article develops a measure of category intuitiveness from one of the most widely supported models of supervised categorization, the generalized context model (GCM). Considering different category assignments for a set of instances, the authors asked how well the GCM can predict the classification of each instance on the basis of all the other instances. The category assignment that results in the smallest prediction error is interpreted as the most intuitive for the GCM-the authors refer to this way of applying the GCM as "unsupervised GCM." The authors systematically compared predictions of category intuitiveness from the unsupervised GCM and two models of unsupervised categorization: the simplicity model and the rational model. The unsupervised GCM compared favorably with the simplicity model and the rational model. This success of the unsupervised GCM illustrates that the distinction between supervised and unsupervised categorization may need to be reconsidered. However, no model emerged as clearly superior, indicating that there is more work to be done in understanding and modeling category intuitiveness.

The neural basis of visual word form processing: a multivariate investigation.

PubMed

Nestor, Adrian; Behrmann, Marlene; Plaut, David C

2013-07-01

Current research on the neurobiological bases of reading points to the privileged role of a ventral cortical network in visual word processing. However, the properties of this network and, in particular, its selectivity for orthographic stimuli such as words and pseudowords remain topics of significant debate. Here, we approached this issue from a novel perspective by applying pattern-based analyses to functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Specifically, we examined whether, where and how, orthographic stimuli elicit distinct patterns of activation in the human cortex. First, at the category level, multivariate mapping found extensive sensitivity throughout the ventral cortex for words relative to false-font strings. Secondly, at the identity level, the multi-voxel pattern classification provided direct evidence that different pseudowords are encoded by distinct neural patterns. Thirdly, a comparison of pseudoword and face identification revealed that both stimulus types exploit common neural resources within the ventral cortical network. These results provide novel evidence regarding the involvement of the left ventral cortex in orthographic stimulus processing and shed light on its selectivity and discriminability profile. In particular, our findings support the existence of sublexical orthographic representations within the left ventral cortex while arguing for the continuity of reading with other visual recognition skills.

Classification of select category A and B bacteria by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samuels, Alan C.; Snyder, A. Peter; St. Amant, Diane; Emge, Darren K.; Minter, Jennifer; Campbell, Mark; Tripathi, Ashish

2008-04-01

Relatively few reports have investigated the determination and classification of pathogens such as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Category A Bacillus anthracis spores and cells (BA), Yersinia species, Francisella tularensis (FT), and Category B Brucella species from FTIR spectra. We investigated the classification ability of the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of viable pathogenic and non-pathogenic NIAID Category A and B bacteria. The impact of different growth media, growth time and temperature, rolling circle filter of the data, and wavelength range were investigated for their microorganism differentiation. Various 2-D PC plots provided differential degrees of separation with respect to the four viable, bacterial genera including the BA sub-categories of pathogenic spores, vegetative cells, and nonpathogenic vegetative cells. FT spectra were separated from that of the three other genera. The BA pathogenic spore strains 1029, LA1, and Ames were clearly differentiated from the rest of the dataset. Yersinia species were distinctly separated from the remaining dataset and could also be classified by growth media. This work provided evidence that FTIR spectroscopy can separate the four major pathogenic bacterial genera of NIAID Category A and B biological threat agents.

Positive Coping: A Unique Characteristic to Pre-Hospital Emergency Personnel

PubMed Central

Ebadi, Abbas; Froutan, Razieh

2017-01-01

Introduction It is important to gain a thorough understanding of positive coping methods adopted by medical emergency personnel to manage stressful situations associated with accidents and emergencies. Thus, the purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of positive coping strategies used by emergency medical service providers. Methods This study was conducted using a qualitative content analysis method. The study participants included 28 pre-hospital emergency personnel selected from emergency medical service providers in bases located in different regions of the city of Mashhad, Iran, from April to November 2016. The purposive sampling method also was used in this study, which was continued until data saturation was reached. To collect the data, semistructured open interviews, observations, and field notes were used. Results Four categories and 10 subcategories were extracted from the data on the experiences of pre-hospital emergency personnel related to positive coping strategies. The four categories included work engagement, smart capability, positive feedback, and crisis pioneering. All the obtained categories had their own subcategories, which were determined based on their distinctly integrated properties. Conclusion The results of this study show that positive coping consists of several concepts used by medical emergency personnel, management of stressful situations, and ultimately quality of pre-hospital clinical services. Given the fact that efficient methods such as positive coping can prevent debilitating stress in an individual, pre-hospital emergency authorities should seek to build and strengthen “positive coping” characteristics in pre-hospital medical emergency personnel to deal with accidents, emergencies, and injuries through adopting regular and dynamic policies. PMID:28243409

Search for Patterns of Functional Specificity in the Brain: A Nonparametric Hierarchical Bayesian Model for Group fMRI Data

PubMed Central

Sridharan, Ramesh; Vul, Edward; Hsieh, Po-Jang; Kanwisher, Nancy; Golland, Polina

2012-01-01

Functional MRI studies have uncovered a number of brain areas that demonstrate highly specific functional patterns. In the case of visual object recognition, small, focal regions have been characterized with selectivity for visual categories such as human faces. In this paper, we develop an algorithm that automatically learns patterns of functional specificity from fMRI data in a group of subjects. The method does not require spatial alignment of functional images from different subjects. The algorithm is based on a generative model that comprises two main layers. At the lower level, we express the functional brain response to each stimulus as a binary activation variable. At the next level, we define a prior over sets of activation variables in all subjects. We use a Hierarchical Dirichlet Process as the prior in order to learn the patterns of functional specificity shared across the group, which we call functional systems, and estimate the number of these systems. Inference based on our model enables automatic discovery and characterization of dominant and consistent functional systems. We apply the method to data from a visual fMRI study comprised of 69 distinct stimulus images. The discovered system activation profiles correspond to selectivity for a number of image categories such as faces, bodies, and scenes. Among systems found by our method, we identify new areas that are deactivated by face stimuli. In empirical comparisons with perviously proposed exploratory methods, our results appear superior in capturing the structure in the space of visual categories of stimuli. PMID:21884803

Generics license 30-month-olds’ inferences about the atypical properties of novel kinds

PubMed Central

Graham, Susan A.; Gelman, Susan A.; Clarke, Jessica

2016-01-01

We examined whether the distinction between generic and nongeneric language provides toddlers with a rapid and efficient means to learn about kinds. In Experiment 1, we examined 30-month-olds’ willingness to extend atypical properties to members of an unfamiliar category when the properties were introduced in one of three ways: a) using a generic noun phrase (“Blicks drink ketchup”); b) using a nongeneric noun phrase (“These blicks drink ketchup”); and c) using an attentional phrase (“Look at this”). Hearing a generic noun phrase boosted toddlers’ extension of properties to both the model exemplars and to novel members of the same category, relative to when a property had been introduced with a nongeneric noun phrase or an attentional phrase. In Experiment 2, properties were introduced with a generic noun phrase and toddlers extended novel properties to members of the same-category, but not to an out-of-category object. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that generics highlight the stability of a feature and foster generalization of the property to novel within-category exemplars. PMID:27505699

Medical History as an Introduction to Clinical Reasoning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maulitz, Russell C.; And Others

1983-01-01

An elective course in the history of medicine focuses on clinical thinking using the case study method. Course goals include: student recognition of clinical reasoning as a historical process; understanding of distinctions between disease categories and etiological frameworks; and different conceptualizations (etiological and syndromic) of…

Uniting Generations through Children's Story Books

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chowdhary, Usha

2004-01-01

This study examined the role of children's story books in uniting generations. Thematic similarities and distinctions depicted in 101 children's story books on intergenerational linkages were examined. They utilized five categories: caring and sharing, fun with grandparents, depiction of multicultural families, relationship with non-relatives, and…

Structural Brain Abnormalities in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Patients with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brieber, Sarah; Neufang, Susanne; Bruning, Nicole; Kamp-Becker, Inge; Remschmidt, Helmut; Herpertz-Dahlmann, Beate; Fink, Gereon R.; Konrad, Kerstin

2007-01-01

Background: Although autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are two distinct neurodevelopmental diseases, they share behavioural, neuropsychological and neurobiological characteristics. For the identification of endophenotypes across diagnostic categories, further investigations of phenotypic overlap…

Dreams of Death.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrett, Deirdre

1989-01-01

Examined frequency and characteristics of overt dreams of dying among healthy young adults. Dreams of dying were found to be rare but distinctive content category, representing overwhelmingly pleasant dreams. Over one-half of death dreams involved lengthy afterlife sequence, remainder focused on process of death. Death dreams of these healthy…

Measurement system analysis of viscometers used for drilling mud characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mat-Shayuti, M. S.; Adzhar, S. N.

2017-07-01

Viscometers in the Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University Teknologi MARA, are subject to heavy utilization from the members of the faculty. Due to doubts surrounding their result integrity and maintenance management, Measurement System Analysis was executed. 5 samples of drilling muds with varied barite content from 5 - 25 weight% were prepared and their rheological properties determined in 3 trials by 3 operators using the viscometers. Gage Linearity and Bias Study were performed using Minitab software and the result shows high biases in the range of 19.2% to 38.7%, with non-linear trend along the span of measurements. Gage Repeatability & Reproducibility (Nested) analysis later produces Percent Repeatability & Reproducibility more than 7.7% and Percent Tolerance above 30%. Lastly, good and marginal Distinct Categories output are seen among the results. Despite acceptable performance of the measurement system in Distinct Categories, the poor results in accuracy, linearity, and Percent Repeatability & Reproducibility render the gage generally not capable. Improvement to the measurement system is imminent.

Emerging category representation in the visual forebrain hierarchy of pigeons (Columba livia).

PubMed

Azizi, Amir Hossein; Pusch, Roland; Koenen, Charlotte; Klatt, Sebastian; Bröcker, Franziska; Thiele, Samuel; Kellermann, Janosch; Güntürkün, Onur; Cheng, Sen

2018-06-06

Recognizing and categorizing visual stimuli are cognitive functions vital for survival, and an important feature of visual systems in primates as well as in birds. Visual stimuli are processed along the ventral visual pathway. At every stage in the hierarchy, neurons respond selectively to more complex features, transforming the population representation of the stimuli. It is therefore easier to read-out category information in higher visual areas. While explicit category representations have been observed in the primate brain, less is known on equivalent processes in the avian brain. Even though their brain anatomies are radically different, it has been hypothesized that visual object representations are comparable across mammals and birds. In the present study, we investigated category representations in the pigeon visual forebrain using recordings from single cells responding to photographs of real-world objects. Using a linear classifier, we found that the population activity in the visual associative area mesopallium ventrolaterale (MVL) distinguishes between animate and inanimate objects, although this distinction is not required by the task. By contrast, a population of cells in the entopallium, a region that is lower in the hierarchy of visual areas and that is related to the primate extrastriate cortex, lacked this information. A model that pools responses of simple cells, which function as edge detectors, can account for the animate vs. inanimate categorization in the MVL, but performance in the model is based on different features than in MVL. Therefore, processing in MVL cells is very likely more abstract than simple computations on the output of edge detectors. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Using a Topological Model in Psychology: Developing Sense and Choice Categories.

PubMed

Mammen, Jens

2016-06-01

A duality of sense categories and choice categories is introduced to map two distinct but co-operating ways in which we as humans are relating actively to the world. We are sensing similarities and differences in our world of objects and persons, but we are also as bodies moving around in this world encountering, selecting, and attaching to objects beyond our sensory interactions and in this way also relating to the individual objects' history. This duality is necessary if we shall understand man as relating to the historical depth of our natural and cultural world, and to understand our cognitions and affections. Our personal affections and attachments, as well as our shared cultural values are centered around objects and persons chosen as reference points and landmarks in our lives, uniting and separating, not to be understood only in terms of sensory selections. The ambition is to bridge the gap between psychology as part of Naturwissenschaft and of Geisteswissenschaft, and at the same time establish a common frame for understanding cognition and affection, and our practical and cultural life (Mammen and Mironenko 2015). The duality of sense and choice categories can be described formally using concepts from modern mathematics, primarily topology, surmounting the reductions rooted in the mechanistic concepts from Renaissance science and mathematics. The formal description is based on 11 short and simple axioms held in ordinary language and visualized with instructive figures. The axioms are bridging psychology and mathematics and not only enriching psychology but also opening for a new interpretation of parts of the foundation of mathematics and logic.

The spectrum of muscle histopathologic findings in 42 weak scleroderma patients

PubMed Central

Paik, Julie J.; Wigley, Fredrick M.; Lloyd, Thomas E.; Corse, Andrea M.; Casciola-Rosen, Livia; Shah, Ami A.; Boin, Francesco; Hummers, Laura K.; Mammen, Andrew L.

2015-01-01

Objective To determine if distinct muscle pathological features exist in scleroderma subjects with weakness. Methods This retrospective study included weak scleroderma subjects with muscle biopsies available for review. Biopsies were systematically assessed for individual pathologic features including inflammation, necrosis, fibrosis, and acute neurogenic atrophy. Based on the aggregate individual features, biopsies were assigned a histopathologic category of polymyositis, dermatomyositis, necrotizing myopathy, non-specific myositis, “acute denervation”, “fibrosis only”, or “other”. Clinical data analyzed included autoantibody profiles, scleroderma subtype and disease duration, Medsger muscle severity scores, creatine kinase (CK), electromyography (EMG), and muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results 42 subjects (79% female and 64% diffuse scleroderma) were included in this study. Necrosis (67%), inflammation (48%), acute neurogenic atrophy (48%), and fibrosis (33%) were the most prevalent pathologic features. The presence of fibrosis was strongly associated with anti-PM-Scl antibodies. Histopathologic categories included non-specific myositis (36%), necrotizing myopathy (21%), dermatomyositis (7%), “acute denervation” (7%), “fibrosis only” (7%), and polymyositis (5%). Disease duration of scleroderma at the time of muscle biopsy was shorter in polymyositis than other histopathologic categories. Patients with anti-PM-Scl and Scl-70 antibodies also had a shorter disease duration than those with other auto-antibody profiles. Conclusion Non-specific myositis and necrotizing myopathy were the most common histopathologic categories in weak scleroderma subjects. Surprisingly, nearly half of the subjects studied had histological evidence of acute motor denervation (acute neurogenic atrophy); this has not been previously reported. Taken together, these observations suggest that a variety of pathologic mechanisms may underlie the development of myopathy in scleroderma. PMID:25989455

The effect of speaking style on a locus equation characterization of stop place of articulation.

PubMed

Sussman, H M; Dalston, E; Gumbert, S

1998-01-01

Locus equations were employed to assess the phonetic stability and distinctiveness of stop place categories in reduced speech. Twenty-two speakers produced stop consonant + vowel utterances in citation and spontaneous speech. Coarticulatory increases in hypoarticulated speech were documented only for /dV/ and [gV] productions in front vowel contexts. Coarticulatory extents for /bV/ and [gV] in back vowel contexts remained stable across style changes. Discriminant analyses showed equivalent levels of correct classification across speaking styles. CV reduction was quantified by use of Euclidean distances separating stop place categories. Despite sensitivity of locus equation parameters to articulatory differences encountered in informal speech, stop place categories still maintained a clear separability when plotted in a higher-order slope x y-intercept acoustic space.

HIV risks vary according to type of sex work in a cross-sectional survey from Nagaland, India.

PubMed

O'Halloran, Anna B Z; Armstrong, Gregory; Medhi, Gajendra K; Sono, Collins Z; Mahanta, Jagadish; Kermode, Michelle

2014-11-12

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a significant problem among female sex workers (FSWs) in Nagaland, India. Place of solicitation and sex vary considerably in this context. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between categories of sex work and HIV risks. In 2009 a survey was undertaken among 417 FSWs in Dimapur, Nagaland using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and blood and urine samples. Using this data, we constructed a typology of sex work by combining usual place of solicitation and place of sex, and examined variations in demographics, sex work patterns, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV prevalence across typology categories. Binary logistic regression analyses were done to examine the association between category of sex work and HIV, STIs, and condom use. By combining place of solicitation with place of sex, seven distinct categories of sex work emerged. The largest category were women who usually solicited in a public place and had sex in a rented room or lodge (31.7%, n = 132). One-tenth of participants were HIV positive (10.3%) and 35.4% had at least one STI (reactive syphilis serology, gonorrhoea or chlamydia). FSWs who both solicited and entertained in a rented room or lodge (OR = 13.3; 95% CI 2.2, 81.5) and those who solicited by phone and had sex in a rented room or lodge (OR = 6.3; 95% CI 1.0, 38.0) were more likely to be HIV positive compared to home-based FSWs. Women who both solicited and entertained in public (OR = 6.7; 95% CI 1.6, 28.0) and who solicited in public and entertained in a rented room or lodge (OR = 2.5; 95% CI 1.1, 6.0) were more likely to test positive for an STI compared to home-based FSWs. The results indicate that different categories of sex work are associated with different HIV and STI risk profiles. Local contextual understanding of the different types of sex work and the associated levels of risk assist NGOs to target their interventions more effectively and efficiently in order to reduce STI and HIV prevalence among FSWs and their clients.

Categorical speech processing in Broca's area: an fMRI study using multivariate pattern-based analysis.

PubMed

Lee, Yune-Sang; Turkeltaub, Peter; Granger, Richard; Raizada, Rajeev D S

2012-03-14

Although much effort has been directed toward understanding the neural basis of speech processing, the neural processes involved in the categorical perception of speech have been relatively less studied, and many questions remain open. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we probed the cortical regions mediating categorical speech perception using an advanced brain-mapping technique, whole-brain multivariate pattern-based analysis (MVPA). Normal healthy human subjects (native English speakers) were scanned while they listened to 10 consonant-vowel syllables along the /ba/-/da/ continuum. Outside of the scanner, individuals' own category boundaries were measured to divide the fMRI data into /ba/ and /da/ conditions per subject. The whole-brain MVPA revealed that Broca's area and the left pre-supplementary motor area evoked distinct neural activity patterns between the two perceptual categories (/ba/ vs /da/). Broca's area was also found when the same analysis was applied to another dataset (Raizada and Poldrack, 2007), which previously yielded the supramarginal gyrus using a univariate adaptation-fMRI paradigm. The consistent MVPA findings from two independent datasets strongly indicate that Broca's area participates in categorical speech perception, with a possible role of translating speech signals into articulatory codes. The difference in results between univariate and multivariate pattern-based analyses of the same data suggest that processes in different cortical areas along the dorsal speech perception stream are distributed on different spatial scales.

Homosexuality as a Discrete Class.

PubMed

Norris, Alyssa L; Marcus, David K; Green, Bradley A

2015-12-01

Previous research on the latent structure of sexual orientation has returned conflicting results, with some studies finding a dimensional structure (i.e., ranging quantitatively along a spectrum) and others a taxonic structure (i.e., categories of individuals with distinct orientations). The current study used a sample (N = 33,525) from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). A series of taxometric analyses were conducted using three indicators of sexual orientation: identity, behavior, and attraction. These analyses, performed separately for women and men, revealed low-base-rate same-sex-oriented taxa for men (base rate = 3.0%) and women (base rate = 2.7%). Generally, taxon membership conferred an increased risk for psychiatric and substance-use disorders. Although taxa were present for men and women, women demonstrated greater sexual fluidity, such that any level of same-sex sexuality conferred taxon membership for men but not for women. © The Author(s) 2015.

Comparison of the frequency of bacterial and viral infections among children with community-acquired pneumonia hospitalized across distinct severity categories: a prospective cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Nascimento-Carvalho, Amanda C; Ruuskanen, Olli; Nascimento-Carvalho, Cristiana M

2016-07-22

The comparison of the frequencies of bacterial and viral infections among children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) admitted in distinct severity categories, in an original study, is lacking in literature to-date. We aimed to achieve this goal. Children aged 2-59-months-old hospitalized with CAP were included in this prospective study in Salvador, Brazil. Clinical data and biological samples were collected to investigate 11 viruses and 8 bacteria. Severity was assessed by using the World Health Organization criteria. One hundred eighty-one patients were classified as "non-severe" (n = 53; 29.3 %), "severe" (n = 111; 61.3 %), or "very severe" (n = 17; 9.4 %) CAP. Overall, aetiology was detected among 156 (86.2 %) cases; viral (n = 84; 46.4 %), bacterial (n = 26; 14.4 %) and viral-bacterial (n = 46; 25.4 %) infections were identified. Viral infection frequency was similar in severe/very severe and non-severe cases (46.1 % vs. 47.2 %; p = 0.9). Pneumococcal infection increased across "non-severe" (13.2 %), "severe" (23.4 %), and "very severe" (35.3 %) cases (qui-squared test for trend p = 0.04). Among patients with detected aetiology, after excluding cases with co-infection, the frequency of sole bacterial infection was different (p = 0.04) among the categories; non-severe (12.5 %), severe (29.3 %) or very severe (55.6 %). Among these patients, sole bacterial infection was independently associated with severity (OR = 4.4 [95 % CI:1.1-17.6]; p = 0.04) in a model controlled for age (OR = 0.7 [95 % CI:0.5-1.1]; p = 0.1). A substantial proportion of cases in distinct severity subgroups had respiratory viral infections, which did not differ between severity categories. Bacterial infection, particularly pneumococcal infection, was more likely among severe/very severe cases.

Different Measures of Structural Similarity Tap Different Aspects of Visual Object Processing

PubMed Central

Gerlach, Christian

2017-01-01

The structural similarity of objects has been an important variable in explaining why some objects are easier to categorize at a superordinate level than to individuate, and also why some patients with brain injury have more difficulties in recognizing natural (structurally similar) objects than artifacts (structurally distinct objects). In spite of its merits as an explanatory variable, structural similarity is not a unitary construct, and it has been operationalized in different ways. Furthermore, even though measures of structural similarity have been successful in explaining task and category-effects, this has been based more on implication than on direct empirical demonstrations. Here, the direct influence of two different measures of structural similarity, contour overlap and within-item structural diversity, on object individuation (object decision) and superordinate categorization performance is examined. Both measures can account for performance differences across objects, but in different conditions. It is argued that this reflects differences between the measures in whether they tap: (i) global or local shape characteristics, and (ii) between- or within-category structural similarity. PMID:28861027

[Interprofessional collaboration in the Family Health Strategy: implications for the provision of care and work management].

PubMed

Matuda, Caroline Guinoza; Pinto, Nicanor Rodrigues da Silva; Martins, Cleide Lavieri; Frazão, Paulo

2015-08-01

Interprofessional collaboration is seen as a resource for tackling model of care and workforce problems. The scope of this study was to understand the perception about the shared work and interprofessional collaboration of professionals who work in primary health care. A qualitative study was conducted in São Paulo city. In-depth interviews were performed with professionals from distinct categories who worked in the Family Health Strategy and Support Center for Family Health. The results highlighted the empirical 'professional interaction' and 'production goals' categories. The forms of interaction, the role of specialized matrix support and the perspective in which production goals are perceived by the professionals pointed to tensions between traditional professional logic and collaboration logic. It also revealed the tensions between a model based on specialized procedures and a more collaborative model centered on health needs of families and of the community. The sharing of responsibilities and practices, changes in the logic of patient referral to specialized services and inadequate organizational arrangements remain major challenges to the integration of interprofessional collaboration for the development of new care practices.

Neural Systems behind Word and Concept Retrieval

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Damasio, H.; Tranel, D.; Grabowski, T.; Adolphs, R.; Damasio, A.

2004-01-01

Using both the lesion method and functional imaging (positron emission tomography) in large cohorts of subjects investigated with the same experimental tasks, we tested the following hypotheses: (A) that the retrieval of words which denote concrete entities belonging to distinct conceptual categories depends upon partially segregated regions in…

Estimating the Nominal Response Model under Nonnormal Conditions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Preston, Kathleen Suzanne Johnson; Reise, Steven Paul

2014-01-01

The nominal response model (NRM), a much understudied polytomous item response theory (IRT) model, provides researchers the unique opportunity to evaluate within-item category distinctions. Polytomous IRT models, such as the NRM, are frequently applied to psychological assessments representing constructs that are unlikely to be normally…

Introduction to Childhood Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kehily, Mary Jane, Ed.

2004-01-01

Educationalists and social scientists are increasingly interested in childhood as a distinct social category, and Childhood Studies is now a recognized area of research and analysis. This book brings together the key themes of Childhood Studies in a broad and accessible introduction for students and practitioners working in this field.…

Informal Learning after Organizational Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reardon, Robert F.

2004-01-01

This inductive, qualitative study investigates how learning took place among nine experienced engineers in an industrial setting after a major reorganization. A thematic analysis of the transcripts revealed that the learning was informal and that it fell into three distinct categories: learning new workflows, learning about the chemical process,…

14 CFR 29.671 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... function. (b) Each element of each flight control system must be designed, or distinctively and permanently... system. (c) A means must be provided to allow full control movement of all primary flight controls prior... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Design and Construction Control Systems § 29.671 General. (a) Each...

Psychometric modeling of abuse and dependence symptoms across six illicit substances indicates novel dimensions of misuse

PubMed Central

Clark, Shaunna L.; Gillespie, Nathan A.; Adkins, Daniel E.; Kendler, Kenneth S.; Neale, Michael C.

2015-01-01

Aims This study explored the factor structure of DSM III-R/IV symptoms for substance abuse and dependence across six illicit substance categories in a population-based sample of males. Method DSM III-R/IV drug abuse and dependence symptoms for cannabis, sedatives, stimulants, cocaine, opioids and hallucinogens from 4179 males born 1940-1970 from the population-based Virginia Adult Twin Study of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders were analyzed. Confirmatory factor analyses tested specific hypotheses regarding the latent structure of substance misuse for a comprehensive battery of 13 misuse symptoms measured across six illicit substance categories (78 items). Results Among the models fit, the latent structure of substance misuse was best represented by a combination of substance-specific factors and misuse symptom-specific factors. We found no support for a general liability factor to illicit substance misuse. Conclusions Results indicate that liability to misuse illicit substances is drug class specific, with little evidence for a general liability factor. Additionally, unique dimensions capturing propensity toward specific misuse symptoms (e.g., tolerance, withdrawal) across substances were identified. While this finding requires independent replication, the possibility of symptom-specific misuse factors, present in multiple substances, raises the prospect of genetic, neurobiological and behavioral predispositions toward distinct, narrowly defined features of drug abuse and dependence. PMID:26517709

Low back related leg pain: an investigation of construct validity of a new classification system.

PubMed

Schäfer, Axel G M; Hall, Toby M; Rolke, Roman; Treede, Rolf-Detlef; Lüdtke, Kerstin; Mallwitz, Joachim; Briffa, Kathryn N

2014-01-01

Leg pain is associated with back pain in 25-65% of all cases and classified as somatic referred pain or radicular pain. However, distinction between the two may be difficult as different pathomechanisms may cause similar patterns of pain. Therefore a pathomechanism based classification system was proposed, with four distinct hierarchical and mutually exclusive categories: Neuropathic Sensitization (NS) comprising major features of neuropathic pain with sensory sensitization; Denervation (D) arising from significant axonal compromise; Peripheral Nerve Sensitization (PNS) with marked nerve trunk mechanosensitivity; and Musculoskeletal (M) with pain referred from musculoskeletal structures. To investigate construct validity of the classification system. Construct validity was investigated by determining the relationship of nerve functioning with subgroups of patients and asymptomatic controls. Thus somatosensory profiles of subgroups of patients with low back related leg pain (LBRLP) and healthy controls were determined by a comprehensive quantitative sensory test (QST) protocol. It was hypothesized that subgroups of patients and healthy controls would show differences in QST profiles relating to underlying pathomechanisms. 77 subjects with LBRLP were recruited and classified in one of the four groups. Additionally, 18 age and gender matched asymptomatic controls were measured. QST revealed signs of pain hypersensitivity in group NS and sensory deficits in group D whereas Groups PNS and M showed no significant differences when compared to the asymptomatic group. These findings support construct validity for two of the categories of the new classification system, however further research is warranted to achieve construct validation of the classification system as a whole.

RNA Expression Analysis of Passive Transfer Myasthenia Supports Extraocular Muscle as a Unique Immunological Environment

PubMed Central

Zhou, Yuefang; Kaminski, Henry J.; Gong, Bendi; Cheng, Georgiana; Feuerman, Jason M.; Kusner, Linda

2014-01-01

Purpose. Myasthenia gravis demonstrates a distinct predilection for involvement of the extraocular muscles (EOM), and we have hypothesized that this may be due to a unique immunological environment. To assess this hypothesis, we took an unbiased approach to analyze RNA expression profiles in EOM, diaphragm, and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) in rats with experimentally acquired myasthenia gravis (EAMG). Methods. Experimentally acquired myasthenia gravis was induced in rats by intraperitoneal injection of antibody directed against the acetylcholine receptor (AChR), whereas control rats received antibody known to bind the AChR but not induce disease. After 48 hours, animals were killed and muscles analyzed by RNA expression profiling. Profiling results were validated using qPCR and immunohistochemical analysis. Results. Sixty-two genes common among all muscle groups were increased in expression. These fell into four major categories: 12.8% stress response, 10.5% immune response, 10.5% metabolism, and 9.0% transcription factors. EOM expressed 212 genes at higher levels, not shared by the other two muscles, and a preponderance of EOM gene changes fell into the immune response category. EOM had the most uniquely reduced genes (126) compared with diaphragm (26) and EDL (50). Only 18 downregulated genes were shared by the three muscles. Histological evaluation and disease load index (sum of fold changes for all genes) demonstrated that EOM had the greatest degree of pathology. Conclusions. Our studies demonstrated that consistent with human myasthenia gravis, EOM demonstrates a distinct RNA expression signature from EDL and diaphragm, which is based on differences in the degree of muscle injury and inflammatory response. PMID:24917137

The home health workforce: a distinction between worker categories.

PubMed

Stone, Robyn; Sutton, Janet P; Bryant, Natasha; Adams, Annelise; Squillace, Marie

2013-01-01

The demand for home health aides is expected to rise, despite concerns about the sustainability of this workforce. Home health workers receive low wages and little training and have high turnover. It is difficult to recruit and retain workers to improve clinical outcomes. This study presents national estimates to examine how home health workers and the subgroup of workers differ in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, compensation, benefits, satisfaction, and retention. Hospice aides fare better than other categories of workers and are less likely to leave their job. Policymakers should consider strategies to increase the quality and stability of this workforce.

Studies of Implicit Prototype Extraction In Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Early Alzheimer’s Disease

PubMed Central

Nosofsky, Robert M.; Denton, Stephen E.; Zaki, Safa R.; Murphy-Knudsen, Anne F.; Unverzagt, Frederick W.

2013-01-01

Studies of incidental category learning support the hypothesis of an implicit prototype-extraction system which is distinct from explicit memory (Smith, 2008). In those studies, patients with explicit-memory impairments due to damage to the medial-temporal lobe performed normally in implicit categorization tasks (Bozoki, Grossman, & Smith, 2006; Knowlton & Squire, 1993). However, alternative interpretations are that: i) even people with impairments to a single memory system have sufficient resources to succeed on the particular categorization tasks that have been tested (Nosofsky & Zaki, 1998; Zaki & Nosofsky, 2001); and ii) working memory can be used at time of test to learn the categories (Palmeri & Flanery, 1999). In the present experiments, patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s disease were tested in prototype-extraction tasks to examine these possibilities. In a categorization task involving discrete-feature stimuli, the majority of subjects relied on memories for exceedingly few features, even when the task structure strongly encouraged reliance on broad-based prototypes. In a dot-pattern categorization task, even the memory-impaired patients were able to use working memory at time of test to extract the category structure (at least for the stimulus set used in past work). We argue that the results weaken the past case made in favor of a separate system of implicit-prototype extraction. PMID:22746953

Human dietary δ(15)N intake: representative data for principle food items.

PubMed

Huelsemann, F; Koehler, K; Braun, H; Schaenzer, W; Flenker, U

2013-09-01

Dietary analysis using δ(15)N values of human remains such as bone and hair is usually based on general principles and limited data sets. Even for modern humans, the direct ascertainment of dietary δ(15)N is difficult and laborious, due to the complexity of metabolism and nitrogen fractionation, differing dietary habits and variation of δ(15)N values of food items. The objective of this study was to summarize contemporary regional experimental and global literature data to ascertain mean representative δ(15)N values for distinct food categories. A comprehensive data set of more than 12,000 analyzed food samples was summarized from the literature. Data originated from studies dealing with (1) authenticity tracing or origin control of food items, and (2) effects of fertilization or nutrition on δ(15)N values of plants or animals. Regional German food δ(15)N values revealed no major differences compared with the mean global values derived from the literature. We found that, in contrast to other food categories, historical faunal remains of pig and poultry are significantly enriched in (15)N compared to modern samples. This difference may be due to modern industrialized breeding practices. In some food categories variations in agricultural and feeding regimens cause significant differences in δ(15)N values that may lead to misinterpretations when only limited information is available. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Feedback-based probabilistic category learning is selectively impaired in attention/hyperactivity deficit disorder.

PubMed

Gabay, Yafit; Goldfarb, Liat

2017-07-01

Although Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is closely linked to executive function deficits, it has recently been attributed to procedural learning impairments that are quite distinct from the former. These observations challenge the ability of the executive function framework solely to account for the diverse range of symptoms observed in ADHD. A recent neurocomputational model emphasizes the role of striatal dopamine (DA) in explaining ADHD's broad range of deficits, but the link between this model and procedural learning impairments remains unclear. Significantly, feedback-based procedural learning is hypothesized to be disrupted in ADHD because of the involvement of striatal DA in this type of learning. In order to test this assumption, we employed two variants of a probabilistic category learning task known from the neuropsychological literature. Feedback-based (FB) and paired associate-based (PA) probabilistic category learning were employed in a non-medicated sample of ADHD participants and neurotypical participants. In the FB task, participants learned associations between cues and outcomes initially by guessing and subsequently through feedback indicating the correctness of the response. In the PA learning task, participants viewed the cue and its associated outcome simultaneously without receiving an overt response or corrective feedback. In both tasks, participants were trained across 150 trials. Learning was assessed in a subsequent test without a presentation of the outcome or corrective feedback. Results revealed an interesting disassociation in which ADHD participants performed as well as control participants in the PA task, but were impaired compared with the controls in the FB task. The learning curve during FB training differed between the two groups. Taken together, these results suggest that the ability to incrementally learn by feedback is selectively disrupted in ADHD participants. These results are discussed in relation to both the ADHD dopaminergic dysfunction model and recent findings implicating procedural learning impairments in those with ADHD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Emotion words and categories: evidence from lexical decision.

PubMed

Scott, Graham G; O'Donnell, Patrick J; Sereno, Sara C

2014-05-01

We examined the categorical nature of emotion word recognition. Positive, negative, and neutral words were presented in lexical decision tasks. Word frequency was additionally manipulated. In Experiment 1, "positive" and "negative" categories of words were implicitly indicated by the blocked design employed. A significant emotion-frequency interaction was obtained, replicating past research. While positive words consistently elicited faster responses than neutral words, only low frequency negative words demonstrated a similar advantage. In Experiments 2a and 2b, explicit categories ("positive," "negative," and "household" items) were specified to participants. Positive words again elicited faster responses than did neutral words. Responses to negative words, however, were no different than those to neutral words, regardless of their frequency. The overall pattern of effects indicates that positive words are always facilitated, frequency plays a greater role in the recognition of negative words, and a "negative" category represents a somewhat disparate set of emotions. These results support the notion that emotion word processing may be moderated by distinct systems.

Variation in the pattern of omissions and substitutions of grammatical morphemes in the spontaneous speech of so-called agrammatic patients.

PubMed

Miceli, G; Silveri, M C; Romani, C; Caramazza, A

1989-04-01

We describe the patterns of omissions (and substitutions) of freestanding grammatical morphemes and the patterns of substitutions of bound grammatical morphemes in 20 so-called agrammatic patients. Extreme variation was observed in the patterns of omissions and substitutions of grammatical morphemes, both in terms of the distribution of errors for different grammatical morphemes as well as in terms of the distribution of omissions versus substitutions. Results are discussed in the context of current debates concerning the possibility of a theoretically motivated distinction between the clinical categories of agrammatism and paragrammatism and, more generally, concerning the theoretical usefulness of any clinical category. The conclusion is reached that the observed heterogeneity in the production of grammatical morphemes among putatively agrammatic patients renders the clinical category of agrammatism, and by extension all other clinical categories from the classical classification scheme (e.g., Broca's aphasia, Wernicke's aphasia, and so forth) to more recent classificatory attempts (e.g., surface dyslexia, deep dysgraphia, and so forth), theoretically useless.

Standing at the crossroads: Identity and recognition of the Applied Science Technologist in British Columbia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roemer, Thomas

Modern technical education in British Columbia has been affected by two societal trends: in industry, engineering technology evolved as a discipline to bridge the increasing chasm between the process-oriented skill sets of tradespersons/technicians, and the declarative knowledge focus of engineering; in education, the provincial college and institute system was created to address the need for a new post-secondary credential situated between trades certificates and university degrees. The Applied Science Technologist arguably forms the intersection of these two concepts. Almost forty years after its inception, it is timely to ask if the original model has matured into a distinct occupational category in industry, education, and in the public mind. The thesis proposes three environments, the Formative, Market and Public Domain, respectively. Interviews, surveys and personal experience afforded insights into the dynamics of these domains with respect to a fledgling occupational category, while the socio-philosophical concepts of culture, habitus and social imaginary provide the tools to interpret the findings. The thesis postulates that an emerging occupational category will not only challenge existing cultures and habitus, but that over time it will influence the imaginaries of each domain and society as a whole. Ultimately, the occupational category will be truly successful only when the general public is able to distinguish it from related disciplines. Charles Taylor's writings on multiculturalism are used to discuss identity and recognition of the Applied Science Technologist in each domain while Pierre Bourdieu's perspectives on the existence of habitus and self-proliferating elites form the framework to examine the relationships between technologists and engineers. Taylor's theory of multiple concurrent social imaginaries guides the comparison of divergent expectations among academic, career and vocational instructors at British Columbia's colleges. The thesis concludes with recommendations for the sustainability of the Applied Science Technologist as distinct occupational category. Keywords. engineering technology; community college; diploma; recognition; identity; social imaginaries

Losing the music: aging affects the perception and subcortical neural representation of musical harmony.

PubMed

Bones, Oliver; Plack, Christopher J

2015-03-04

When two musical notes with simple frequency ratios are played simultaneously, the resulting musical chord is pleasing and evokes a sense of resolution or "consonance". Complex frequency ratios, on the other hand, evoke feelings of tension or "dissonance". Consonance and dissonance form the basis of harmony, a central component of Western music. In earlier work, we provided evidence that consonance perception is based on neural temporal coding in the brainstem (Bones et al., 2014). Here, we show that for listeners with clinically normal hearing, aging is associated with a decline in both the perceptual distinction and the distinctiveness of the neural representations of different categories of two-note chords. Compared with younger listeners, older listeners rated consonant chords as less pleasant and dissonant chords as more pleasant. Older listeners also had less distinct neural representations of consonant and dissonant chords as measured using a Neural Consonance Index derived from the electrophysiological "frequency-following response." The results withstood a control for the effect of age on general affect, suggesting that different mechanisms are responsible for the perceived pleasantness of musical chords and affective voices and that, for listeners with clinically normal hearing, age-related differences in consonance perception are likely to be related to differences in neural temporal coding. Copyright © 2015 Bones and Plack.

Losing the Music: Aging Affects the Perception and Subcortical Neural Representation of Musical Harmony

PubMed Central

Plack, Christopher J.

2015-01-01

When two musical notes with simple frequency ratios are played simultaneously, the resulting musical chord is pleasing and evokes a sense of resolution or “consonance”. Complex frequency ratios, on the other hand, evoke feelings of tension or “dissonance”. Consonance and dissonance form the basis of harmony, a central component of Western music. In earlier work, we provided evidence that consonance perception is based on neural temporal coding in the brainstem (Bones et al., 2014). Here, we show that for listeners with clinically normal hearing, aging is associated with a decline in both the perceptual distinction and the distinctiveness of the neural representations of different categories of two-note chords. Compared with younger listeners, older listeners rated consonant chords as less pleasant and dissonant chords as more pleasant. Older listeners also had less distinct neural representations of consonant and dissonant chords as measured using a Neural Consonance Index derived from the electrophysiological “frequency-following response.” The results withstood a control for the effect of age on general affect, suggesting that different mechanisms are responsible for the perceived pleasantness of musical chords and affective voices and that, for listeners with clinically normal hearing, age-related differences in consonance perception are likely to be related to differences in neural temporal coding. PMID:25740534

The DSM diagnostic criteria for vaginismus.

PubMed

Binik, Yitzchak M

2010-04-01

Vaginal spasm has been considered the defining diagnostic characteristic of vaginismus for approximately 150 years. This remarkable consensus, based primarily on expert clinical opinion, is preserved in the DSM-IV-TR. The available empirical research, however, does not support this definition nor does it support the validity of the DSM-IV-TR distinction between vaginismus and dyspareunia. The small body of research concerning other possible ways or methods of diagnosing vaginismus is critically reviewed. Based on this review, it is proposed that the diagnoses of vaginismus and dyspareunia be collapsed into a single diagnostic entity called "genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder." This diagnostic category is defined according to the following five dimensions: percentage success of vaginal penetration; pain with vaginal penetration; fear of vaginal penetration or of genito-pelvic pain during vaginal penetration; pelvic floor muscle dysfunction; medical co-morbidity.

29 CFR 776.18 - Employees of producers for commerce.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., if not actually a part of such production, is “closely related” and “directly essential” to it, 86.... 679. 87 No distinction of economic or statutory significance can be drawn between such work in a... within this category. (b) Employments not directly essential to production distinguished. Employees of a...

Determiners, Feline Marsupials, and the Category-Function Distinction: A Critique of ELT Grammars

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reynolds, Brett

2013-01-01

The concept of determiners is widely employed in linguistics, but mostly absent from English Language Teaching (ELT) materials (dictionaries, teacher-reference books, and student-oriented texts). Among those employing the concept, there is near-universal confusion between determiners and pronouns, arising mainly from an analytical and…

Meaning and Implications of Being Labelled a Predominantly White Institution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bourke, Brian

2016-01-01

Institutions of higher learning are regularly identified in scholarship and conversation by their racial composition, which generally reflects a distinction between predominantly white institutions (PWIs), and minority-serving institutions (MSIs). While PWI is not an official designation for any institution in the United Stated, six categories of…

Choosers, Obstructed Choosers, and Nonchoosers: A Framework for Defaulting in Schooling Choices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delale-O'Connor, Lori

2018-01-01

Background/Context: Prior research overlooks the importance of drawing distinctions within the category of defaulters or "nonchoosers" in schooling choices. Defaulters are both a theoretically and empirically interesting population, and understanding the processes by which families come to or are assigned the default school offers…

Animate and Inanimate Objects in Human Visual Cortex: Evidence for Task-Independent Category Effects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiggett, Alison J.; Pritchard, Iwan C.; Downing, Paul E.

2009-01-01

Evidence from neuropsychology suggests that the distinction between animate and inanimate kinds is fundamental to human cognition. Previous neuroimaging studies have reported that viewing animate objects activates ventrolateral visual brain regions, whereas inanimate objects activate ventromedial regions. However, these studies have typically…

Conceptual and Linguistic Representations of Kinds and Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prasada, Sandeep; Hennefield, Laura; Otap, Daniel

2012-01-01

We investigate the hypothesis that our conceptual systems provide two formally distinct ways of representing categories by investigating the manner in which lexical nominals (e.g., "tree," "picnic table") and phrasal nominals (e.g., "black bird," "birds that like rice") are interpreted. Four experiments found that lexical nominals may be mapped…

Plant tolerance: A unique approach to control hemipteran pests

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Plant tolerance to insect pests has been indicated to be a unique category of resistance, however, very little information is available on the mechanism of tolerance against insect pests. Tolerance is distinctive in terms of the plant’s ability to withstand or recover from herbivore injury through g...

77 FR 64959 - Endangered and Threatened Species; Initiation of 5-Year Review for the Southern Distinct...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-24

... North American Green Sturgeon AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and...: Chris Yates, ATTN: Green Sturgeon Status Review, National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Region... determination or most recent status review. Categories of requested information include: (1) Species biology...

75 FR 55579 - Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-13

... balance sheet data on major categories of consumer and business credit receivables and on major short-term... items are collected to provide a full balance sheet. A supplemental section collects data on securitized... two columns to create a clearer distinction among broad balance sheet data items, which are collected...

Teleworking: Guidelines for Good Practice. IES Report 329.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huws, Ursula; And Others

Because teleworking presents major new challenges to human resource managers, trade unions, and others involved in the development of good employment practices, this book provides practical guidelines for good practice in regard to teleworkers that recognize that teleworking is not a single category, but covers at least five distinct groups with…

14 CFR 25.207 - Stall warning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Stall warning. 25.207 Section 25.207... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Flight Stalls § 25.207 Stall warning. (a) Stall warning with... be clear and distinctive to the pilot in straight and turning flight. (b) The warning must be...

14 CFR 23.207 - Stall warning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Stall warning. 23.207 Section 23.207... STANDARDS: NORMAL, UTILITY, ACROBATIC, AND COMMUTER CATEGORY AIRPLANES Flight Stalls § 23.207 Stall warning. (a) There must be a clear and distinctive stall warning, with the flaps and landing gear in any...

14 CFR 25.207 - Stall warning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Stall warning. 25.207 Section 25.207... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Flight Stalls § 25.207 Stall warning. (a) Stall warning with... be clear and distinctive to the pilot in straight and turning flight. (b) The warning must be...

14 CFR 23.207 - Stall warning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Stall warning. 23.207 Section 23.207... STANDARDS: NORMAL, UTILITY, ACROBATIC, AND COMMUTER CATEGORY AIRPLANES Flight Stalls § 23.207 Stall warning. (a) There must be a clear and distinctive stall warning, with the flaps and landing gear in any...

14 CFR 23.207 - Stall warning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Stall warning. 23.207 Section 23.207... STANDARDS: NORMAL, UTILITY, ACROBATIC, AND COMMUTER CATEGORY AIRPLANES Flight Stalls § 23.207 Stall warning. (a) There must be a clear and distinctive stall warning, with the flaps and landing gear in any...

14 CFR 25.207 - Stall warning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Stall warning. 25.207 Section 25.207... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Flight Stalls § 25.207 Stall warning. (a) Stall warning with... be clear and distinctive to the pilot in straight and turning flight. (b) The warning must be...

14 CFR 23.207 - Stall warning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Stall warning. 23.207 Section 23.207... STANDARDS: NORMAL, UTILITY, ACROBATIC, AND COMMUTER CATEGORY AIRPLANES Flight Stalls § 23.207 Stall warning. (a) There must be a clear and distinctive stall warning, with the flaps and landing gear in any...

14 CFR 25.207 - Stall warning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Stall warning. 25.207 Section 25.207... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Flight Stalls § 25.207 Stall warning. (a) Stall warning with... be clear and distinctive to the pilot in straight and turning flight. (b) The warning must be...

14 CFR 25.207 - Stall warning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Stall warning. 25.207 Section 25.207... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Flight Stalls § 25.207 Stall warning. (a) Stall warning with... be clear and distinctive to the pilot in straight and turning flight. (b) The warning must be...

14 CFR 23.207 - Stall warning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Stall warning. 23.207 Section 23.207... STANDARDS: NORMAL, UTILITY, ACROBATIC, AND COMMUTER CATEGORY AIRPLANES Flight Stalls § 23.207 Stall warning. (a) There must be a clear and distinctive stall warning, with the flaps and landing gear in any...

Evidence for a Multi-Dimensional Latent Structural Model of Externalizing Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Witkiewitz, Katie; King, Kevin; McMahon, Robert J.; Wu, Johnny; Luk, Jeremy; Bierman, Karen L.; Coie, John D.; Dodge, Kenneth A.; Greenberg, Mark T.; Lochman, John E.; Pinderhughes, Ellen E.

2013-01-01

Strong associations between conduct disorder (CD), antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and substance use disorders (SUD) seem to reflect a general vulnerability to externalizing behaviors. Recent studies have characterized this vulnerability on a continuous scale, rather than as distinct categories, suggesting that the revision of the…

Conflicting Approaches to Reading Research and Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Frank

Reading research and reading instruction can each be grouped in two distinct categories, depending on the assumed source of control for the particular reading act that is studied or taught. "Outside-in" theorists view the reading process as beginning with print and ending with some representation or interpretation inside the brain, while…

Pointing As a Socio-Pragmatic Cue to Particular vs.Generic Reference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyer, Meredith; Baldwin, Dare A.

2013-01-01

Generic noun phrases, or generics, refer to abstract kind categories ("Dogs" bark) rather than particular individuals ("Those dogs" bark). How do children distinguish these distinct kinds of reference? We examined the role of one socio-pragmatic cue, namely pointing, in producing and comprehending generic versus particular…

Methodological Ambiguities of the Projective Technique: An Overview and Attempt to Clarify.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Veiel, H.; Coles, E. M.

1982-01-01

Definitions of projective tests are critiqued. A distinction is made between projective tests and projective techniques. The unique feature of the latter is its scoring process: response categories are intensionally defined and comprise infinite sets of responses. A continuity from psychometric to projective tests is argued. Statistical…

National Curricula in Norway and Finland: The Role of Learning Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mølstad, Christina Elde; Karseth, Berit

2016-01-01

The core curricular category of "learning outcomes" has entered the educational policy scene in Europe. While content-oriented curricula have dominated the Nordic countries, a shift towards outcomes can also be observed. In this article, we describe the fundamental distinctions between "Didaktik" and learning outcomes and…

Hippocampal activation during episodic and semantic memory retrieval: comparing category production and category cued recall.

PubMed

Ryan, Lee; Cox, Christine; Hayes, Scott M; Nadel, Lynn

2008-01-01

Whether or not the hippocampus participates in semantic memory retrieval has been the focus of much debate in the literature. However, few neuroimaging studies have directly compared hippocampal activation during semantic and episodic retrieval tasks that are well matched in all respects other than the source of the retrieved information. In Experiment 1, we compared hippocampal fMRI activation during a classic semantic memory task, category production, and an episodic version of the same task, category cued recall. Left hippocampal activation was observed in both episodic and semantic conditions, although other regions of the brain clearly distinguished the two tasks. Interestingly, participants reported using retrieval strategies during the semantic retrieval task that relied on autobiographical and spatial information; for example, visualizing themselves in their kitchen while producing items for the category kitchen utensils. In Experiment 2, we considered whether the use of these spatial and autobiographical retrieval strategies could have accounted for the hippocampal activation observed in Experiment 1. Categories were presented that elicited one of three retrieval strategy types, autobiographical and spatial, autobiographical and nonspatial, and neither autobiographical nor spatial. Once again, similar hippocampal activation was observed for all three category types, regardless of the inclusion of spatial or autobiographical content. We conclude that the distinction between semantic and episodic memory is more complex than classic memory models suggest.

Hippocampal Activation during Episodic and Semantic Memory Retrieval: Comparing Category Production and Category Cued Recall

PubMed Central

Ryan, Lee; Cox, Christine; Hayes, Scott M.; Nadel, Lynn

2008-01-01

Whether or not the hippocampus participates in semantic memory retrieval has been the focus of much debate in the literature. However, few neuroimaging studies have directly compared hippocampal activation during semantic and episodic retrieval tasks that are well matched in all respects other than the source of the retrieved information. In Experiment 1, we compared hippocampal fMRI activation during a classic semantic memory task, category production, and an episodic version of the same task, category cued recall. Left hippocampal activation was observed in both episodic and semantic conditions, although other regions of the brain clearly distinguished the two tasks. Interestingly, participants reported using retrieval strategies during the semantic retrieval task that relied on autobiographical and spatial information; for example, visualizing themselves in their kitchen while producing items for the category kitchen utensils. In Experiment 2, we considered whether the use of these spatial and autobiographical retrieval strategies could have accounted for the hippocampal activation observed in Experiment 1. Categories were presented that elicited one of three retrieval strategy types, autobiographical and spatial, autobiographical and nonspatial, and neither autobiographical nor spatial. Once again, similar hippocampal activation was observed for all three category types, regardless of the inclusion of spatial or autobiographical content. We conclude that the distinction between semantic and episodic memory is more complex than classic memory models suggest. PMID:18420234

Should OCD leave the anxiety disorders in DSM-V? The case for obsessive compulsive-related disorders.

PubMed

Hollander, Eric; Braun, Ashley; Simeon, Daphne

2008-01-01

Recently in 2006, a group of experts in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive compulsive-related disorders (OCRDs) convened in Washington, DC, to review existing data on the relationships between these various disorders, and to suggest approaches to address the gaps in our knowledge, in preparation for the upcoming Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (Fifth Edition) (DSM-V). As a result of this meeting, the Research Planning Agenda for DSM-V: OCRD Work Group suggested removing OCD from the anxiety disorders, where it is currently found. This proposal is in accordance with the current International Classification of Mental Disorders (ICD-10) classification of OCD as a separate category from the anxiety disorders. Although the ICD-10 places both OCD and the anxiety disorders under the umbrella category of "neurotic, stress-related, and somatoform disorders," they are two separate categories, distinct from one another. As OCD and other putative OCRDs share aspects of phenomenology, comorbidity, neurotransmitter/peptide systems, neurocircuitry, familial and genetic factors, and treatment response, it was proposed to create a new category in DSM-V entitled OCRDs. Alternatively, the OCRDs might be conceptualized as a new category within the broader category of anxiety disorders. Future studies are needed to better define the relationships among these disorders, and to study boundary issues for this proposed category. There are both advantages and disadvantages in creating a new diagnostic category in DSM-V, and these are discussed in this article.

Object detection in natural scenes: Independent effects of spatial and category-based attention.

PubMed

Stein, Timo; Peelen, Marius V

2017-04-01

Humans are remarkably efficient in detecting highly familiar object categories in natural scenes, with evidence suggesting that such object detection can be performed in the (near) absence of attention. Here we systematically explored the influences of both spatial attention and category-based attention on the accuracy of object detection in natural scenes. Manipulating both types of attention additionally allowed for addressing how these factors interact: whether the requirement for spatial attention depends on the extent to which observers are prepared to detect a specific object category-that is, on category-based attention. The results showed that the detection of targets from one category (animals or vehicles) was better than the detection of targets from two categories (animals and vehicles), demonstrating the beneficial effect of category-based attention. This effect did not depend on the semantic congruency of the target object and the background scene, indicating that observers attended to visual features diagnostic of the foreground target objects from the cued category. Importantly, in three experiments the detection of objects in scenes presented in the periphery was significantly impaired when observers simultaneously performed an attentionally demanding task at fixation, showing that spatial attention affects natural scene perception. In all experiments, the effects of category-based attention and spatial attention on object detection performance were additive rather than interactive. Finally, neither spatial nor category-based attention influenced metacognitive ability for object detection performance. These findings demonstrate that efficient object detection in natural scenes is independently facilitated by spatial and category-based attention.

Shapes, scents and sounds: quantifying the full multi-sensory basis of conceptual knowledge.

PubMed

Hoffman, Paul; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A

2013-01-01

Contemporary neuroscience theories assume that concepts are formed through experience in multiple sensory-motor modalities. Quantifying the contribution of each modality to different object categories is critical to understanding the structure of the conceptual system and to explaining category-specific knowledge deficits. Verbal feature listing is typically used to elicit this information but has a number of drawbacks: sensory knowledge often cannot easily be translated into verbal features and many features are experienced in multiple modalities. Here, we employed a more direct approach in which subjects rated their knowledge of objects in each sensory-motor modality separately. Compared with these ratings, feature listing over-estimated the importance of visual form and functional knowledge and under-estimated the contributions of other sensory channels. An item's sensory rating proved to be a better predictor of lexical-semantic processing speed than the number of features it possessed, suggesting that ratings better capture the overall quantity of sensory information associated with a concept. Finally, the richer, multi-modal rating data not only replicated the sensory-functional distinction between animals and non-living things but also revealed novel distinctions between different types of artefact. Hierarchical cluster analyses indicated that mechanical devices (e.g., vehicles) were distinct from other non-living objects because they had strong sound and motion characteristics, making them more similar to animals in this respect. Taken together, the ratings align with neuroscience evidence in suggesting that a number of distinct sensory processing channels make important contributions to object knowledge. Multi-modal ratings for 160 objects are provided as supplementary materials. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cognitive Bias for Learning Speech Sounds From a Continuous Signal Space Seems Nonlinguistic.

PubMed

van der Ham, Sabine; de Boer, Bart

2015-10-01

When learning language, humans have a tendency to produce more extreme distributions of speech sounds than those observed most frequently: In rapid, casual speech, vowel sounds are centralized, yet cross-linguistically, peripheral vowels occur almost universally. We investigate whether adults' generalization behavior reveals selective pressure for communication when they learn skewed distributions of speech-like sounds from a continuous signal space. The domain-specific hypothesis predicts that the emergence of sound categories is driven by a cognitive bias to make these categories maximally distinct, resulting in more skewed distributions in participants' reproductions. However, our participants showed more centered distributions, which goes against this hypothesis, indicating that there are no strong innate linguistic biases that affect learning these speech-like sounds. The centralization behavior can be explained by a lack of communicative pressure to maintain categories.

Personal Familiarity Influences the Processing of Upright and Inverted Faces in Infants

PubMed Central

Balas, Benjamin J.; Nelson, Charles A.; Westerlund, Alissa; Vogel-Farley, Vanessa; Riggins, Tracy; Kuefner, Dana

2009-01-01

Infant face processing becomes more selective during the first year of life as a function of varying experience with distinct face categories defined by species, race, and age. Given that any individual face belongs to many such categories (e.g. A young Caucasian man's face) we asked how the neural selectivity for one aspect of facial appearance was affected by category membership along another dimension of variability. 6-month-old infants were shown upright and inverted pictures of either their own mother or a stranger while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. We found that the amplitude of the P400 (a face-sensitive ERP component) was only sensitive to the orientation of the mother's face, suggesting that “tuning” of the neural response to faces is realized jointly across multiple dimensions of face appearance. PMID:20204154

Cognitive Bias for Learning Speech Sounds From a Continuous Signal Space Seems Nonlinguistic

PubMed Central

de Boer, Bart

2015-01-01

When learning language, humans have a tendency to produce more extreme distributions of speech sounds than those observed most frequently: In rapid, casual speech, vowel sounds are centralized, yet cross-linguistically, peripheral vowels occur almost universally. We investigate whether adults’ generalization behavior reveals selective pressure for communication when they learn skewed distributions of speech-like sounds from a continuous signal space. The domain-specific hypothesis predicts that the emergence of sound categories is driven by a cognitive bias to make these categories maximally distinct, resulting in more skewed distributions in participants’ reproductions. However, our participants showed more centered distributions, which goes against this hypothesis, indicating that there are no strong innate linguistic biases that affect learning these speech-like sounds. The centralization behavior can be explained by a lack of communicative pressure to maintain categories. PMID:27648212

Studying abroad inclusively: Reflections by college students with and without intellectual disability.

PubMed

Prohn, Seb M; Kelley, Kelly R; Westling, David L

2016-12-01

Postsecondary education programs have increased opportunities for students with and without intellectual disabilities to study abroad as inclusive classes. Using open-coding qualitative techniques, the authors examined an inclusive study abroad group's daily reflective journals during a study abroad trip to London and Dublin. Three shared categories emerged from analysis: personal development, bonding/social inclusion, and learning from English and Irish adults with intellectual disabilities. Each group reported two distinct categories as well. Students with intellectual disabilities described the importance of mobility/transportation and fun, while their classmates without intellectual disabilities described the importance of inclusive learning and an increasing awareness of barriers to full participation for people with disabilities. Student-constructed categories are used to describe the benefits of inclusive study abroad and build future inclusive international opportunities. © The Author(s) 2015.

Geometric Patterns for Neighboring Bases Near the Stacked State in Nucleic Acid Strands.

PubMed

Sedova, Ada; Banavali, Nilesh K

2017-03-14

Structural variation in base stacking has been analyzed frequently in isolated double helical contexts for nucleic acids, but not as often in nonhelical geometries or in complex biomolecular environments. In this study, conformations of two neighboring bases near their stacked state in any environment are comprehensively characterized for single-strand dinucleotide (SSD) nucleic acid crystal structure conformations. An ensemble clustering method is used to identify a reduced set of representative stacking geometries based on pairwise distances between select atoms in consecutive bases, with multiple separable conformational clusters obtained for categories divided by nucleic acid type (DNA/RNA), SSD sequence, stacking face orientation, and the presence or absence of a protein environment. For both DNA and RNA, SSD conformations are observed that are either close to the A-form, or close to the B-form, or intermediate between the two forms, or further away from either form, illustrating the local structural heterogeneity near the stacked state. Among this large variety of distinct conformations, several common stacking patterns are observed between DNA and RNA, and between nucleic acids in isolation or in complex with proteins, suggesting that these might be stable stacking orientations. Noncanonical face/face orientations of the two bases are also observed for neighboring bases in the same strand, but their frequency is much lower, with multiple SSD sequences across categories showing no occurrences of such unusual stacked conformations. The resulting reduced set of stacking geometries is directly useful for stacking-energy comparisons between empirical force fields, prediction of plausible localized variations in single-strand structures near their canonical states, and identification of analogous stacking patterns in newly solved nucleic acid containing structures.

Multivariate sensitivity to voice during auditory categorization.

PubMed

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

2015-09-01

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

Category representations in the brain are both discretely localized and widely distributed.

PubMed

Shehzad, Zarrar; McCarthy, Gregory

2018-06-01

Whether category information is discretely localized or represented widely in the brain remains a contentious issue. Initial functional MRI studies supported the localizationist perspective that category information is represented in discrete brain regions. More recent fMRI studies using machine learning pattern classification techniques provide evidence for widespread distributed representations. However, these latter studies have not typically accounted for shared information. Here, we find strong support for distributed representations when brain regions are considered separately. However, localized representations are revealed by using analytical methods that separate unique from shared information among brain regions. The distributed nature of shared information and the localized nature of unique information suggest that brain connectivity may encourage spreading of information but category-specific computations are carried out in distinct domain-specific regions. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Whether visual category information is localized in unique domain-specific brain regions or distributed in many domain-general brain regions is hotly contested. We resolve this debate by using multivariate analyses to parse functional MRI signals from different brain regions into unique and shared variance. Our findings support elements of both models and show information is initially localized and then shared among other regions leading to distributed representations being observed.

Reflectance of vegetation, soil, and water

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiegand, C. L. (Principal Investigator)

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. The ability to read the 24-channel MSS CCT tapes, select specified agricultural land use areas from the CCT, and perform multivariate statistical and pattern recognition analyses has been demonstrated. The 5 optimum channels chosen for classifying an agricultural scene were, in the order of their selection the far red visible, short reflective IR, visible blue, thermal infrared, and ultraviolet portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, respectively. Although chosen by a training set containing only vegetal categories, the optimum 4 channels discriminated pavement, water, bare soil, and building roofs, as well as the vegetal categories. Among the vegetal categories, sugar cane and cotton had distinctive signatures that distinguished them from grass and citrus. Acreages estimated spectrally by the computer for the test scene were acceptably close to acreages estimated from aerial photographs for cotton, sugar cane, and water. Many nonfarmable land resolution elements representing drainage ditch, field road, and highway right-of-way as well as farm headquarters area fell into the grass, bare soil plus weeds, and citrus categories and lessened the accuracy of the farmable acreage estimates in these categories. The expertise developed using the 24-channel data will be applied to the ERTS-1 data.

Predicting Vulnerabilities of North American Shorebirds to Climate Change

PubMed Central

Galbraith, Hector; DesRochers, David W.; Brown, Stephen; Reed, J. Michael

2014-01-01

Despite an increase in conservation efforts for shorebirds, there are widespread declines of many species of North American shorebirds. We wanted to know whether these declines would be exacerbated by climate change, and whether relatively secure species might become at–risk species. Virtually all of the shorebird species breeding in the USA and Canada are migratory, which means climate change could affect extinction risk via changes on the breeding, wintering, and/or migratory refueling grounds, and that ecological synchronicities could be disrupted at multiple sites. To predict the effects of climate change on shorebird extinction risks, we created a categorical risk model complementary to that used by Partners–in–Flight and the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan. The model is based on anticipated changes in breeding, migration, and wintering habitat, degree of dependence on ecological synchronicities, migration distance, and degree of specialization on breeding, migration, or wintering habitat. We evaluated 49 species, and for 3 species we evaluated 2 distinct populations each, and found that 47 (90%) taxa are predicted to experience an increase in risk of extinction. No species was reclassified into a lower–risk category, although 6 species had at least one risk factor decrease in association with climate change. The number of species that changed risk categories in our assessment is sensitive to how much of an effect of climate change is required to cause the shift, but even at its least sensitive, 20 species were at the highest risk category for extinction. Based on our results it appears that shorebirds are likely to be highly vulnerable to climate change. Finally, we discuss both how our approach can be integrated with existing risk assessments and potential future directions for predicting change in extinction risk due to climate change. PMID:25268907

Group supervision for healthcare professionals within primary care for patients with psychosomatic health problems: a pilot intervention study.

PubMed

Bullington, Jennifer; Cronqvist, Agneta

2018-03-01

In primary health care, efficacious treatment strategies are lacking for these patients, although the most prominent symptoms accounting for consultation in primary care often cannot be related to any biological causes. The aim was to explore whether group supervision from a specific phenomenological theory of psychosomatics could provide healthcare professionals treating patients with psychosomatic health issues within primary care a deeper understanding of these conditions and stimulate profession-specific treatment strategies. Our research questions were as follows: (i) What is the healthcare professionals' understanding of psychosomatics before and after the intervention? (ii) What are the treatment strategies for this group of patients before and after the intervention? The study was an explorative qualitative intervention pilot study. The six participants from a primary healthcare setting in a medium-sized city in Sweden participated in the study. A supervision group was formed, based on a mix of professions, age, gender and years of clinical experience. Supervision consisted of one 75-minutes meeting every month during the course of 6 months. Participants were interviewed before and after the supervision intervention. The study showed two distinct categories emerged from the data. One category of healthcare professionals espoused a psycho-educative approach, while the other lacked a cohesive approach. The supervision improved the second category of healthcare professionals' understanding of psychosomatics. The psycho-educative group did not change their understanding of psychosomatics, although they felt strengthened in their approach by the supervision. Profession-specific strategies were not developed. This pilot study indicates that a relatively short supervision intervention can aid clinicians in their clinical encounters with these patients; however, further research is necessary to ascertain the value of the specific phenomenologically based supervision intervention. © 2017 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Predicting vulnerabilities of North American shorebirds to climate change.

PubMed

Galbraith, Hector; DesRochers, David W; Brown, Stephen; Reed, J Michael

2014-01-01

Despite an increase in conservation efforts for shorebirds, there are widespread declines of many species of North American shorebirds. We wanted to know whether these declines would be exacerbated by climate change, and whether relatively secure species might become at-risk species. Virtually all of the shorebird species breeding in the USA and Canada are migratory, which means climate change could affect extinction risk via changes on the breeding, wintering, and/or migratory refueling grounds, and that ecological synchronicities could be disrupted at multiple sites. To predict the effects of climate change on shorebird extinction risks, we created a categorical risk model complementary to that used by Partners-in-Flight and the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan. The model is based on anticipated changes in breeding, migration, and wintering habitat, degree of dependence on ecological synchronicities, migration distance, and degree of specialization on breeding, migration, or wintering habitat. We evaluated 49 species, and for 3 species we evaluated 2 distinct populations each, and found that 47 (90%) taxa are predicted to experience an increase in risk of extinction. No species was reclassified into a lower-risk category, although 6 species had at least one risk factor decrease in association with climate change. The number of species that changed risk categories in our assessment is sensitive to how much of an effect of climate change is required to cause the shift, but even at its least sensitive, 20 species were at the highest risk category for extinction. Based on our results it appears that shorebirds are likely to be highly vulnerable to climate change. Finally, we discuss both how our approach can be integrated with existing risk assessments and potential future directions for predicting change in extinction risk due to climate change.

Therapist strategies early in therapy associated with good or poor outcomes among clients with low proactive agency.

PubMed

von der Lippe, Anna Louise; Oddli, Hanne Weie; Halvorsen, Margrethe Seeger

2017-09-10

Within a mixed methods program of research the present study aimed at expanding knowledge about interactions in the initial therapeutic collaboration by combining focus on client interpersonal style and therapist contribution. The study involves in-depth analyses of therapist-client interactions in the initial two sessions of good and poor outcome therapies. Based on interpersonal theory and previous research, the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-64-C) was used to define poor outcome cases, that is, low proactive agency cases. To compare good and poor outcome cases matched on this interpersonal pattern, cases were drawn from two different samples; nine poor outcome cases from a large multi-site outpatient clinic study and nine good outcome cases from a process-outcome study of highly experienced therapists. Qualitative analysis of therapist behaviors resulted in 2 main categories, fostering client's proactive agentic involvement in change work and discouraging client's proactive agentic involvement in change work, 8 categories and 22 sub-categories. The findings revealed distinct and cohesive differences in therapist behaviors between the two outcome groups, and point to the particular therapist role of fostering client agency through engagement in a shared work on change when clients display strong unassertiveness and low readiness for change. Clinical or Methodological Significance Summary: The present analysis combines focus on client interpersonal style, therapist strategies/process and outcome. The categories generated from the present grounded theory analysis may serve as a foundation for identifying interactions that are associated with agentic involvement in future process research and practice, and hence we have formulated principles/strategies that were identified by the analysis.

Mapping the emotional landscape: The role of specific emotions in conceptual categorization.

PubMed

Zhu, Nan; Cai, Yong-hua; Sun, Fa-wei; Yang-yang, Yi-fan

2015-07-01

Although researchers generally subscribe to the opinion that emotions play a critical role in cognition, very few (see Niedenthal, Halberstadt, & Innes-Ker, 1999) have examined the specific interaction between the emotional state of the perceiver and the emotional meaning of stimuli in conceptual categorization - an important aspect of "higher-level" cognition. Niedenthal et al. (1999) advanced a fine-grained theory of emotional response categorization, arguing that emotional states increase the tendency to categorize concepts into a predictable set of emotional response categories characterized by the common, distinct emotional responses elicited by the concepts. Based on the pioneering work of Niedenthal et al., we further argued that (1) the specific emotion experienced by the individual should selectively facilitate the categorization of concepts associated with the same emotion, (2) both in terms of category inclusion and category exclusion, and (3) this facilitation effect should not be contingent on the awareness of the emotional state. In three experiments, participants were induced to experience different emotional states through movies or a facial-feedback manipulation. They judged whether or not a target concept belonged to the same category as the two comparison concepts. Some of the concept triads shared emotional associations, while others didn't. Results showed that emotive participants had a greater tendency than those in a neutral mood to group concepts according to their emotional associations, and to distinguish concepts with different emotional associations. They were also more efficient in categorizing concepts that had specific emotional meaning corresponding to their own emotional state than to other emotional concepts. Furthermore, participants posing a disgust expression without their knowledge showed higher tendency to categorize concepts according to their relevance to disgust. Implications and potential applications of the findings were discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Understanding women's experiences of distress during pregnancy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

PubMed

Kaaya, S F; Mbwambo, J K; Fawzi, M C Smith; Van Den Borne, H; Schaalma, H; Leshabari, M T

2010-01-01

Several studies show depression is common during pregnancy. However, there is limited information in Tanzania on the magnitude of perceived distress during pregnancy and meanings ascribed to such distress. A descriptive survey collected data using unstructured interviews from 12 traditional practitioners and 10 peri-urban women with previous pregnancy related mental health concerns identified using a depression vignette. The objectives were to describe the sources and characteristics of distress during pregnancy, and idioms of distress that could inform cultural adaptation of depression screening tools. Narrative analysis showed an emergent category of "problematic pregnancies" framed women's recollections of prolonged periods of sadness. This experience was qualified using various idioms of distress that were differentially emphasized depending on informant's perceived causes of health concern. The idiom kusononeka was consistently used to describe extreme sadness across causal categories and clustered with at least two typical features of major depression. This suggested existence of a construct with similarities to biomedical criteria for depression. "Thinking too much" emerged as a distinctive expression associated with prolonged sadness. Distinctive expressions of social functioning impairments were identified that can inform depression severity assessments. In conclusion, contextual inquiry into experiences of psychological distress showed distinct local idioms that clustered in patterns similar to symptoms of biomedical depressive episodes. Further studies to assess the utility of local idioms of distress and distress related functional impairment in depression assessment tools are warranted.

[: an expert report by Dr. Egas Moniz on homosexuality].

PubMed

Molina Artaloytia, Francisco

2016-01-01

At the beginning of the 20th century, the noted Nobel prize-winning Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz made an expert analysis on homosexuality in a marriage annulment case of major value as an example of the effective application of sexological knowledge of that period. Contemporary republican legislation established marriage annulment in medical terms and punished relations between persons of the same sex, or contra natura. In his report, Moniz attempted to interpret distinctive elements of the life of the subject using sexological categories, illustrating the interaction between these categories and the changing forms adopted by homosexuality (or homosexual people) of the time.

Expert recommendations for implementing change (ERIC): protocol for a mixed methods study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Identifying feasible and effective implementation strategies that are contextually appropriate is a challenge for researchers and implementers, exacerbated by the lack of conceptual clarity surrounding terms and definitions for implementation strategies, as well as a literature that provides imperfect guidance regarding how one might select strategies for a given healthcare quality improvement effort. In this study, we will engage an Expert Panel comprising implementation scientists and mental health clinical managers to: establish consensus on a common nomenclature for implementation strategy terms, definitions and categories; and develop recommendations to enhance the match between implementation strategies selected to facilitate the use of evidence-based programs and the context of certain service settings, in this case the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) mental health services. Methods/Design This study will use purposive sampling to recruit an Expert Panel comprising implementation science experts and VA mental health clinical managers. A novel, four-stage sequential mixed methods design will be employed. During Stage 1, the Expert Panel will participate in a modified Delphi process in which a published taxonomy of implementation strategies will be used to establish consensus on terms and definitions for implementation strategies. In Stage 2, the panelists will complete a concept mapping task, which will yield conceptually distinct categories of implementation strategies as well as ratings of the feasibility and effectiveness of each strategy. Utilizing the common nomenclature developed in Stages 1 and 2, panelists will complete an innovative menu-based choice task in Stage 3 that involves matching implementation strategies to hypothetical implementation scenarios with varying contexts. This allows for quantitative characterizations of the relative necessity of each implementation strategy for a given scenario. In Stage 4, a live web-based facilitated expert recommendation process will be employed to establish expert recommendations about which implementations strategies are essential for each phase of implementation in each scenario. Discussion Using a novel method of selecting implementation strategies for use within specific contexts, this study contributes to our understanding of implementation science and practice by sharpening conceptual distinctions among a comprehensive collection of implementation strategies. PMID:24669765

Peripheral zone lesions of intermediary risk in multiparametric prostate MRI: Frequency and validation of the PI-RADSv2 risk stratification algorithm based on focal contrast enhancement.

PubMed

Benndorf, Matthias; Waibel, Lorenz; Krönig, Malte; Jilg, Cordula Annette; Langer, Mathias; Krauss, Tobias

2018-02-01

To validate the risk stratification algorithm of the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADSv2) for intermediary risk lesions (PI-RADSv2 category 3) in the peripheral zone based on focal contrast enhancement and to compare cancer rates in category 3, upgraded category 4 and category 4 based on markedly low ADC value. We retrospectively analyze 172 consecutive patients undergoing prostate MRI with 315 histopathologically verified lesions. We select all lesions either assigned category 3 or category 4 in the peripheral zone for further analysis. We compare cancer rates with the two-sided chi-squared test. To determine inter-observer agreement about contrast enhancement two blinded radiologists evaluate the subset of category 3 lesions based on the diffusion weighted sequence. The frequency of peripheral PI-RADS 3, upgraded PI-RADS 4 and PI-RADS 4 lesions based on markedly low ADC value is 10.8%, 10.8% and 20.3%, respectively. Cancer rates (significant cancer only) in these subgroups are 8.8% (3/34), 23.5% (8/34) and 40.6% (26/64), P < 0.01. Inter-observer agreement is moderate for evaluation of contrast enhancement with kappa values between 0.46 and 0.5. We demonstrate a trend of increasing cancer rate from PI-RADSv2 category 3 to upgraded category 4 to category 4 based on markedly low ADC value. Peripheral lesions of intermediary risk in the diffusion weighted sequence account for 21.6% of all prostate lesions encountered. Since it is likely that patient management recommendations will be linked to assessment categories in future versions of PI-RADS, cancer rates in upgraded category 4 and category 4 based on markedly low ADC values should be in a similar range. We conclude that in future studies of PI-RADSv2 upgraded category 4 and category 4 based on markedly low ADC value should be reported separately to generate a database for meta-analysis of cancer rates. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Barnum Effect and Chaos Theory: Exploring College Student ACOA Traits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fineran, Kerrie; Laux, John M.; Seymour, Jennifer; Thomas, Tequilla

2010-01-01

The literature both supports and challenges the notion that adult children of alcoholics are a distinct and homogenous group. College students (n = 200) were placed into one of four categories: Adult Children of Alcoholics, Adverse Childhood Event Group, Alcohol and Adverse Childhood Event Group, and the No Adverse Event Group. Participating…

Addressing the Complex Needs of Students with Attachment Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Losinski, Mickey; Katsiyannis, Antonis; White, Sherry; Wiseman, Nicole

2016-01-01

Attachment disorders are a relatively rare condition affecting children. This is particularly true for those who are adopted or living in foster care, and are thought to be attributed to an interruption in the bonding between a child and his or her caregiver. Attachment disorders are divided into two distinct categories: a predominately withdrawn…

Retrieval-Induced Forgetting: A Developmental Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ford, Ruth M.; Keating, Sam; Patel, Rina

2004-01-01

Two studies examined the possibility of retrieval-induced forgetting by 7-year-olds. Children heard a story while viewing pictures of events mentioned in the story, each highlighting objects drawn from two distinct semantic categories (e.g. animals and food). Over the next several days, children were asked the same yes/no questions about half the…

Personality Characteristics, Interpersonal Values and Leadership Attitudes of Mid-Level Managers. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Staff, Bruce S.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether or not there is a distinctive set of personality traits, interpersonal values, and leadership attitudes for mid-level managers. The study analyzed three occupational categories: banking, food marketing, and retailing. One hundred eighty-five individuals (sixty from banking, sixty from food…

Decline as a disease category: Is it helpful?

Treesearch

M.E. Ostry; R.C. Venette; J. Juzwik

2011-01-01

Many, but not all, forest pathologists use "decline" to describe forest tree diseases of complex etiology. We contend that this distinction from abiotic or biotic diseases is completely arbitrary, has caused undue confusion, and provides no practical insights for forest managers. All diseases are complex and can be characterized within the conceptual...

Cycle Commuting and Perceptions of Barriers: Stages of Change, Gender and Occupation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Bekkum, Jennifer E.; Williams, Joanne M.; Morris, Paul Graham

2011-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate perceptions of cycle commuting barriers in relation to stage of change, gender and occupational role. Stage of change is a key construct of the transtheoretical model of behaviour change that defines behavioural readiness (intentions and actions) into five distinct categories.…

Visual Search Asymmetries within Color-Coded and Intensity-Coded Displays

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yamani, Yusuke; McCarley, Jason S.

2010-01-01

Color and intensity coding provide perceptual cues to segregate categories of objects within a visual display, allowing operators to search more efficiently for needed information. Even within a perceptually distinct subset of display elements, however, it may often be useful to prioritize items representing urgent or task-critical information.…

14 CFR 91.189 - Category II and III operations: General operating rules.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... references for the intended runway is distinctly visible and identifiable to the pilot: (i) The approach... execute an appropriate missed approach whenever, prior to touchdown, the requirements of paragraph (d) of... familiarity with, the aircraft and the procedures to be used; and (3) The instrument panel in front of the...

14 CFR 91.189 - Category II and III operations: General operating rules.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... references for the intended runway is distinctly visible and identifiable to the pilot: (i) The approach... execute an appropriate missed approach whenever, prior to touchdown, the requirements of paragraph (d) of... familiarity with, the aircraft and the procedures to be used; and (3) The instrument panel in front of the...

TAFE Diploma Graduates: Personal Capital Investments and Returns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Linde, Chris

2008-01-01

TAFE currently uses the NCVER Student Outcomes Survey (SOS) to determine outcomes related to TAFE diploma programs. The SOS measures TAFE outcomes in terms of three major categories: skills development, employment and further study. This study introduces the notion of personal capital as distinct from human capital. It argues that, while valuable,…

Distinct Transfer Effects of Training Different Facets of Working Memory Capacity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

von Bastian, Claudia C.; Oberauer, Klaus

2013-01-01

The impact of working memory training on a broad set of transfer tasks was examined. Each of three groups of participants trained one specific functional category of working memory capacity: storage and processing, relational integration, and supervision. A battery comprising tests to measure working memory, task shifting, inhibition, and…

Ian Hacking, Learner Categories and Human Taxonomies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Andrew

2008-01-01

I use Ian Hacking's views to explore ways of classifying people, exploiting his distinction between indifferent kinds and interactive kinds, and his accounts of how we "make up" people. The natural kind/essentialist approach to indifferent kinds is explored in some depth. I relate this to debates in psychiatry about the existence of mental…

Insider-Outsider Perspective: Revisiting the Conceptual Framework of Research Methodology in Language Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nakata, Yoshiyuki

2015-01-01

The present paper discusses three types of research perspective on the insider-outsider continuum: outsider research, (insider's) outsider research, and insider research. It examines the essential features of the insider-outsider distinction with reference to categories such as researcher, students, classroom context, contribution, control of…

22 CFR 706.21 - Requester categories.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... commercial use. (d) A News Media Request is a request made by a representative of the news media in that capacity. A representative of the news media is defined as any person or entity that actively gathers... materials into a distinct work, and distributes that work to an audience. The term “news” means information...

The Emergence of Phonetic Categories in Korean-English Bilingual Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Sue Ann S.; Iverson, Gregory K.

2017-01-01

The present study examined the speech production of three-year-old Korean-English bilingual (KEB) children. English and Korean stops, as well as front vowels in both languages, were compared acoustically among the KEB children, then also measured against those of their age-equivalent monolingual counterparts. Evidence of distinctive phonetic…

Trajectories of Youthful Antisocial Behavior: Categories or Continua?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walters, Glenn D.; Ruscio, John

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether qualitatively distinct trajectories of antisocial behavior could be identified in 1,708 children (843 boys, 865 girls) from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Data (NLSY-C). Repeated ratings were made on the Behavior Problems Index (BPI: Peterson and Zill "Journal of Marriage and…

Parental Social Support and the Physical Activity-Related Behaviors of Youth: A Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beets, Michael W.; Cardinal, Bradley J.; Alderman, Brandon L.

2010-01-01

Social support from parents serves as one of the primary influences of youth physical activity-related behaviors. A systematic review was conducted on the relationship of parental social support to the physical activity-related behaviors of youth. Four categories of social support were identified, falling under two distinct mechanisms--tangible…

Plate Tectonics in the Classification of Personality Disorder: Shifting to a Dimensional Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Widiger, Thomas A.; Trull, Timothy J.

2007-01-01

The diagnostic categories of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders were developed in the spirit of a traditional medical model that considers mental disorders to be qualitatively distinct conditions (see, e.g., American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Work is now beginning on the fifth edition…

Attentional Requirements for the Selection of Words from Different Grammatical Categories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ayora, Pauline; Janssen, Niels; Dell'Acqua, Roberto; Alario, F.-Xavier

2009-01-01

Two grammatical classes are commonly distinguished in psycholinguistic research. The open-class includes content words such as nouns, whereas the closed-class includes function words such as determiners. A standing issue is to identify whether these words are retrieved through similar or distinct selection mechanisms. We report a comparative…

Social Psychology and Gender: A New Direction through Feminist Theory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grella, Christine E.

Traditionally, social psychology has conceptualized sex and gender as subject variables with sex as a biological substrate and gender as a sociocultural consequence of sex. These ideas rest on the assumption of two distinct biological categories. However, gender is better thought of in dialectical rather than oppositional terms. Gender is both…

Debating Historical Propositions: Toward a Unique Genre of NEDA Debate.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, David K.

The best way to develop a unique identity for the National Education Debate Association (NEDA) is to debate propositions distinct from National Debate Tournament (NDT) and the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA). A neglected area of debate includes propositions temporally framed in the past. Yet, the present propositional categories of…

Psychological constructionism and cultural neuroscience.

PubMed

Hechtman, Lisa A; Pornpattananangkul, Narun; Chiao, Joan Y

2012-06-01

Lindquist et al. argue that emotional categories do not map onto distinct regions within the brain, but rather, arise from basic psychological processes, including conceptualization, executive attention, and core affect. Here, we use examples from cultural neuroscience to argue that psychological constructionism, not locationism, captures the essential role of emotion in the social and cultural brain.

Disease-associated variants in different categories of disease located in distinct regulatory elements.

PubMed

Ma, Meng; Ru, Ying; Chuang, Ling-Shiang; Hsu, Nai-Yun; Shi, Li-Song; Hakenberg, Jörg; Cheng, Wei-Yi; Uzilov, Andrew; Ding, Wei; Glicksberg, Benjamin S; Chen, Rong

2015-01-01

The invention of high throughput sequencing technologies has led to the discoveries of hundreds of thousands of genetic variants associated with thousands of human diseases. Many of these genetic variants are located outside the protein coding regions, and as such, it is challenging to interpret the function of these genetic variants by traditional genetic approaches. Recent genome-wide functional genomics studies, such as FANTOM5 and ENCODE have uncovered a large number of regulatory elements across hundreds of different tissues or cell lines in the human genome. These findings provide an opportunity to study the interaction between regulatory elements and disease-associated genetic variants. Identifying these diseased-related regulatory elements will shed light on understanding the mechanisms of how these variants regulate gene expression and ultimately result in disease formation and progression. In this study, we curated and categorized 27,558 Mendelian disease variants, 20,964 complex disease variants, 5,809 cancer predisposing germline variants, and 43,364 recurrent cancer somatic mutations. Compared against nine different types of regulatory regions from FANTOM5 and ENCODE projects, we found that different types of disease variants show distinctive propensity for particular regulatory elements. Mendelian disease variants and recurrent cancer somatic mutations are 22-fold and 10- fold significantly enriched in promoter regions respectively (q<0.001), compared with allele-frequency-matched genomic background. Separate from these two categories, cancer predisposing germline variants are 27-fold enriched in histone modification regions (q<0.001), 10-fold enriched in chromatin physical interaction regions (q<0.001), and 6-fold enriched in transcription promoters (q<0.001). Furthermore, Mendelian disease variants and recurrent cancer somatic mutations share very similar distribution across types of functional effects. We further found that regulatory regions are located within over 50% coding exon regions. Transcription promoters, methylation regions, and transcription insulators have the highest density of disease variants, with 472, 239, and 72 disease variants per one million base pairs, respectively. Disease-associated variants in different disease categories are preferentially located in particular regulatory elements. These results will be useful for an overall understanding about the differences among the pathogenic mechanisms of various disease-associated variants.

Disease-associated variants in different categories of disease located in distinct regulatory elements

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background The invention of high throughput sequencing technologies has led to the discoveries of hundreds of thousands of genetic variants associated with thousands of human diseases. Many of these genetic variants are located outside the protein coding regions, and as such, it is challenging to interpret the function of these genetic variants by traditional genetic approaches. Recent genome-wide functional genomics studies, such as FANTOM5 and ENCODE have uncovered a large number of regulatory elements across hundreds of different tissues or cell lines in the human genome. These findings provide an opportunity to study the interaction between regulatory elements and disease-associated genetic variants. Identifying these diseased-related regulatory elements will shed light on understanding the mechanisms of how these variants regulate gene expression and ultimately result in disease formation and progression. Results In this study, we curated and categorized 27,558 Mendelian disease variants, 20,964 complex disease variants, 5,809 cancer predisposing germline variants, and 43,364 recurrent cancer somatic mutations. Compared against nine different types of regulatory regions from FANTOM5 and ENCODE projects, we found that different types of disease variants show distinctive propensity for particular regulatory elements. Mendelian disease variants and recurrent cancer somatic mutations are 22-fold and 10- fold significantly enriched in promoter regions respectively (q<0.001), compared with allele-frequency-matched genomic background. Separate from these two categories, cancer predisposing germline variants are 27-fold enriched in histone modification regions (q<0.001), 10-fold enriched in chromatin physical interaction regions (q<0.001), and 6-fold enriched in transcription promoters (q<0.001). Furthermore, Mendelian disease variants and recurrent cancer somatic mutations share very similar distribution across types of functional effects. We further found that regulatory regions are located within over 50% coding exon regions. Transcription promoters, methylation regions, and transcription insulators have the highest density of disease variants, with 472, 239, and 72 disease variants per one million base pairs, respectively. Conclusions Disease-associated variants in different disease categories are preferentially located in particular regulatory elements. These results will be useful for an overall understanding about the differences among the pathogenic mechanisms of various disease-associated variants. PMID:26110593

Training in Temporal Information Processing Ameliorates Phonetic Identification.

PubMed

Szymaszek, Aneta; Dacewicz, Anna; Urban, Paulina; Szelag, Elzbieta

2018-01-01

Many studies revealed a link between temporal information processing (TIP) in a millisecond range and speech perception. Previous studies indicated a dysfunction in TIP accompanied by deficient phonemic hearing in children with specific language impairment (SLI). In this study we concentrate in SLI on phonetic identification, using the voice-onset-time (VOT) phenomenon in which TIP is built-in. VOT is crucial for speech perception, as stop consonants (like /t/ vs. /d/) may be distinguished by an acoustic difference in time between the onsets of the consonant (stop release burst) and the following vibration of vocal folds (voicing). In healthy subjects two categories (voiced and unvoiced) are determined using VOT task. The present study aimed at verifying whether children with SLI indicate a similar pattern of phonetic identification as their healthy peers and whether the intervention based on TIP results in improved performance on the VOT task. Children aged from 5 to 8 years ( n = 47) were assigned into two groups: normal children without any language disability (NC, n = 20), and children with SLI ( n = 27). In the latter group participants were randomly classified into two treatment subgroups, i.e., experimental temporal training (EG, n = 14) and control non-temporal training (CG, n = 13). The analyzed indicators of phonetic identification were: (1) the boundary location (α) determined as the VOT value corresponding to 50% voicing/unvoicing distinctions; (2) ranges of voiced/unvoiced categories; (3) the slope of identification curve (β) reflecting the identification correctness; (4) percent of voiced distinctions within the applied VOT spectrum. The results indicated similar α values and similar ranges of voiced/unvoiced categories between SLI and NC. However, β in SLI was significantly higher than that in NC. After the intervention, the significant improvement of β was observed only in EG. They achieved the level of performance comparable to that observed in NC. The training-related improvement in CG was non-significant. Furthermore, only in EG the β values in post-test correlated with measures of TIP as well as with phonemic hearing obtained in our previous studies. These findings provide another evidence that TIP is omnipresent in language communication and reflected not only in phonemic hearing but also in phonetic identification.

Bottlenecks in the diagnosis of hypochondriasis.

PubMed

Schmidt, A J

1994-01-01

This review deals with diagnostic problems in DSM-III-R hypochondriasis. A first category of problems is directly connected with the definition of hypochondriasis. The following topics are discussed: the distinction between hypochondriasis and hypochondriacal attitude, the personality aspects of hypochondriasis, and the role of medical findings in the diagnosis. This is followed by a discussion of problems as to the distinction between hypochondriasis and related disorders. This concerns the status of hypochondriasis as a primary or secondary disorder in depression and the relationship with anxiety disorders (especially panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder [OCD]) and the somatization disorder. The DSM-III-R classification of hypochondriasis as a somatoform disorder is disputed. A third category of problems lies in the measurement of hypochondriasis. The scope and quality of the most frequently used questionnaires for measuring hypochondriasis are poor. In research, on the basis of a single questionnaire and without due consideration of medical findings, the diagnosis of hypochondriasis is applied too soon. Finally, it is briefly indicated that the lack of diagnostic clarity affects the way in which the patient is approached in clinical practice.

Culture, category salience, and inductive reasoning.

PubMed

Choi, I; Nisbett, R E; Smith, E E

1997-12-01

The role of category salience in category-based induction was demonstrated in two ways: (i) temporarily increasing category salience facilitated category-based induction, and (ii) this effect was moderated by cultural differences that we predicted would be related to chronic category salience. Subjects for whom categories were presumed to be more accessible (Americans) were not as much influenced by manipulations to increase category salience as subjects who were presumed to have lower chronic accessibility of categories (Koreans). However, as anticipated, this pattern was reversed for inferences about behavioral properties of social categories. Due to the 'interdependent' nature of their culture, Koreans presumably have relatively higher chronic accessibility for social categories than do relatively 'independent' Americans, and hence were not influenced as much by increasing category salience.

Discontinuous categories affect information-integration but not rule-based category learning.

PubMed

Maddox, W Todd; Filoteo, J Vincent; Lauritzen, J Scott; Connally, Emily; Hejl, Kelli D

2005-07-01

Three experiments were conducted that provide a direct examination of within-category discontinuity manipulations on the implicit, procedural-based learning and the explicit, hypothesis-testing systems proposed in F. G. Ashby, L. A. Alfonso-Reese, A. U. Turken, and E. M. Waldron's (1998) competition between verbal and implicit systems model. Discontinuous categories adversely affected information-integration but not rule-based category learning. Increasing the magnitude of the discontinuity did not lead to a significant decline in performance. The distance to the bound provides a reasonable description of the generalization profile associated with the hypothesis-testing system, whereas the distance to the bound plus the distance to the trained response region provides a reasonable description of the generalization profile associated with the procedural-based learning system. These results suggest that within-category discontinuity differentially impacts information-integration but not rule-based category learning and provides information regarding the detailed processing characteristics of each category learning system. ((c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).

Is better beautiful or is beautiful better? Exploring the relationship between beauty and category structure.

PubMed

Sanders, Megan; Davis, Tyler; Love, Bradley C

2013-06-01

We evaluate two competing accounts of the relationship between beauty and category structure. According to the similarity-based view, beauty arises from category structure such that central items are favored due to their increased fluency. In contrast, the theory-based view holds that people's theories of beauty shape their perceptions of categories. In the present study, subjects learned to categorize abstract paintings into meaningfully labeled categories and rated the paintings' beauty, value, and typicality. Inconsistent with the similarity-based view, beauty ratings were highly correlated across conditions despite differences in fluency and assigned category structure. Consistent with the theory-based view, beautiful paintings were treated as central members for categories expected to contain beautiful paintings (e.g., art museum pieces), but not in others (e.g., student show pieces). These results suggest that the beauty of complex, real-world stimuli is not determined by fluency within category structure but, instead, interacts with people's prior knowledge to structure categories.

The evolution of endometrial carcinoma classification through application of immunohistochemistry and molecular diagnostics: past, present and future.

PubMed

Goebel, Emily A; Vidal, August; Matias-Guiu, Xavier; Blake Gilks, C

2017-12-12

Uterine cancer was first subclassified based on anatomic site, separating those tumours arising from the endometrium from cervical cancers. There was then further subclassification of endometrial cancers based on cell type, and this correlated with the Type I and Type II categories identified through the epidemiological studies of Bokhman, with endometrioid carcinoma corresponding (approximately) to Type I and serous carcinoma to Type II. These histotypes are not clearly separable in practice, however, with considerable interobserver variability in histotype diagnosis, especially for high-grade tumours. There followed studies of immunomarkers and then mutational studies of single genes, in attempts to improve subclassification. While these have revealed significant differences in protein expression and mutation profiles between endometrioid and serous carcinomas, there is also considerable overlap, so that there remain challenges in subclassification of endometrial carcinoma. Gene panel testing, using next-generation sequencing, was applied to endometrial cancers and highlighted that there are tumours that show genetic alterations intermediate between classic Type I/endometrioid and Type II/serous carcinomas. The Cancer Genome Atlas studies of endometrioid and serous carcinoma offered revolutionary insight into the subclassification of endometrial carcinoma, i.e. that there are four distinct categories of endometrial carcinoma, rather than two, based on genomic architecture. In this review, we provide an overview of immunohistochemical and molecular markers in endometrial carcinoma and comment on the important future directions in endometrial carcinoma subclassification arising from The Cancer Genome Atlas results.

Shore zone land use and land cover: Central Atlantic Regional Ecological Test Site

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dolan, R.; Hayden, B.P.; Vincent, C.L.

1974-01-01

Anderson's 1972 United States Geological Survey classification in modified form was applied to the barrier-island coastline within the CARETS region. High-altitude, color-infrared photography of December, 1972, and January, 1973, served as the primary data base in this study. The CARETS shore zone studied was divided into six distinct geographical regions; area percentages for each class in the modified Anderson classification are presented. Similarities and differences between regions are discussed within the framework of man's modification of these landscapes. The results of this study are presented as a series of 19 maps of land-use categories. Recommendations are made for a remote-sensing system for monitoring the CARETS shore zone within the context of the dynamics of the landscapes studied.

Stratospheric warmings: Synoptic, dynamic and general-circulation aspects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcinturff, R. M. (Editor)

1978-01-01

Synoptic descriptions consist largely of case studies, which involve a distinction between major and minor warmings. Results of energetics studies show the importance of tropospheric-stratospheric interaction, and the significance of the pressure-work term near the tropopause. Theoretical studies have suggested the role of wave-zonal flow interaction as well as nonlinear interaction between eddies, chemical and photochemical reactions, boundary forcing, and other factors. Numerical models have been based on such considerations, and these are discussed under various categories. Some indication is given as to why some of the models have been more successful than others in simulating warnings. The question of ozone and its role in warmings is briefly discussed. Finally, a broad view is taken of stratospheric warmings in relation to man's activities.

Dissociating early- and late-selection processes in recall: the mixed blessing of categorized study lists.

PubMed

Guzel, Mehmet A; Higham, Philip A

2013-07-01

Two experiments are reported in which we used type-2 signal detection theory to separate the effects of semantic categorization on early- and late-selection processes in free and cued recall. In Experiment 1, participants studied cue-target pairs for which the targets belonged to two, six, or 24 semantic categories, and later the participants were required to recall the targets either with (cued recall) or without (free recall) the studied cues. A confidence rating and a report decision were also required, so that we could compute both forced-report quantity and metacognitive resolution (type-2 discrimination), which served as our estimates of early- and late-selection processes, respectively. Consistent with prior research, having fewer categories enhanced the early-selection process (in performance, two > six > 24 categories). However, in contrast, the late-selection process was impaired (24 > six = two categories). In Experiment 2, encoding of paired associates, for which the targets belonged to either two or 20 semantic categories, was manipulated by having participants either form interactive images or engage in rote repetition. Having fewer categories again was associated with enhanced early selection (two > 20 categories); this effect was greater for rote repetition than for interactive imagery, and greater for free recall than for cued recall. However, late selection again showed the opposite pattern (20 > two categories), even with interactive-imagery encoding, which formed distinctive, individuated memory traces. The results are discussed in terms of early- and late-selection processes in retrieval, as well as overt versus covert recognition.

Conceptual influences on category-based induction

PubMed Central

Gelman, Susan A.; Davidson, Natalie S.

2013-01-01

One important function of categories is to permit rich inductive inferences. Prior work shows that children use category labels to guide their inductive inferences. However, there are competing theories to explain this phenomenon, differing in the roles attributed to conceptual information versus perceptual similarity. Seven experiments with 4- to 5-year-old children and adults (N = 344) test these theories by teaching categories for which category membership and perceptual similarity are in conflict, and varying the conceptual basis of the novel categories. Results indicate that for non-natural kind categories that have little conceptual coherence, children make inferences based on perceptual similarity, whereas adults make inferences based on category membership. In contrast, for basic- and ontological-level categories that have a principled conceptual basis, children and adults alike make use of category membership more than perceptual similarity as the basis of their inferences. These findings provide evidence in favor of the role of conceptual information in preschoolers’ inferences, and further demonstrate that labeled categories are not all equivalent; they differ in their inductive potential. PMID:23517863

Hierarchical control of procedural and declarative category-learning systems

PubMed Central

Turner, Benjamin O.; Crossley, Matthew J.; Ashby, F. Gregory

2017-01-01

Substantial evidence suggests that human category learning is governed by the interaction of multiple qualitatively distinct neural systems. In this view, procedural memory is used to learn stimulus-response associations, and declarative memory is used to apply explicit rules and test hypotheses about category membership. However, much less is known about the interaction between these systems: how is control passed between systems as they interact to influence motor resources? Here, we used fMRI to elucidate the neural correlates of switching between procedural and declarative categorization systems. We identified a key region of the cerebellum (left Crus I) whose activity was bidirectionally modulated depending on switch direction. We also identified regions of the default mode network (DMN) that were selectively connected to left Crus I during switching. We propose that the cerebellum—in coordination with the DMN—serves a critical role in passing control between procedural and declarative memory systems. PMID:28213114

Emerging Issues in Virus Taxonomy

PubMed Central

Mahy, Brian W.J.

2004-01-01

Viruses occupy a unique position in biology. Although they possess some of the properties of living systems such as having a genome, they are actually nonliving infectious entities and should not be considered microorganisms. A clear distinction should be drawn between the terms virus, virion, and virus species. Species is the most fundamental taxonomic category used in all biological classification. In 1991, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) decided that the category of virus species should be used in virus classification together with the categories of genus and family. More than 50 ICTV study groups were given the task of demarcating the 1,550 viral species that were recognized in the 7th ICTV report, which was published in 2000. We briefly describe the changes in virus classification that were introduced in that report. We also discuss recent proposals to introduce a nonlatinized binomial nomenclature for virus species. PMID:15078590

Recognizing intentions in infant-directed speech: evidence for universals.

PubMed

Bryant, Gregory A; Barrett, H Clark

2007-08-01

In all languages studied to date, distinct prosodic contours characterize different intention categories of infant-directed (ID) speech. This vocal behavior likely exists universally as a species-typical trait, but little research has examined whether listeners can accurately recognize intentions in ID speech using only vocal cues, without access to semantic information. We recorded native-English-speaking mothers producing four intention categories of utterances (prohibition, approval, comfort, and attention) as both ID and adult-directed (AD) speech, and we then presented the utterances to Shuar adults (South American hunter-horticulturalists). Shuar subjects were able to reliably distinguish ID from AD speech and were able to reliably recognize the intention categories in both types of speech, although performance was significantly better with ID speech. This is the first demonstration that adult listeners in an indigenous, nonindustrialized, and nonliterate culture can accurately infer intentions from both ID speech and AD speech in a language they do not speak.

Ethnographic analysis: a study of classroom environments.

PubMed

Griswold, L A

1994-05-01

Occupational therapists assess and adapt an environment to enhance clients' abilities to function. Therapists working in schools may assess several classroom environments in a week. Identifying relevant information in an efficient manner is essential yet presents a challenge for school therapists. In this study, ethnographic research methodology was used to analyze the plethora of data gained from observations in eight classrooms. Three major categories were identified to structure observations: activities, people, and communication. These categories were used to compile a Classroom Observation Guide that gives therapists relevant questions to ask in each category. Using the Classroom Observation Guide, occupational therapists can recommend classroom activities that suit a particular teacher's style. For example, working with a teacher who prefers structural activities with clear time and space boundaries for one specific purpose, a therapist might suggest organized sensorimotor games with a distinct purpose to be carried out for a given time period.

Universal power law of the gravity wave manifestation in the AIM CIPS polar mesospheric cloud images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rong, Pingping; Yue, Jia; Russell, James M., III; Siskind, David E.; Randall, Cora E.

2018-01-01

We aim to extract a universal law that governs the gravity wave manifestation in polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs). Gravity wave morphology and the clarity level of display vary throughout the wave population manifested by the PMC albedo data. Higher clarity refers to more distinct exhibition of the features, which often correspond to larger variances and a better-organized nature. A gravity wave tracking algorithm based on the continuous Morlet wavelet transform is applied to the PMC albedo data at 83 km altitude taken by the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) Cloud Imaging and Particle Size (CIPS) instrument to obtain a large ensemble of the gravity wave detections. The horizontal wavelengths in the range of ˜ 20-60 km are the focus of the study. It shows that the albedo (wave) power statistically increases as the background gets brighter. We resample the wave detections to conform to a normal distribution to examine the wave morphology and display clarity beyond the cloud brightness impact. Sample cases are selected at the two tails and the peak of the normal distribution to represent the full set of wave detections. For these cases the albedo power spectra follow exponential decay toward smaller scales. The high-albedo-power category has the most rapid decay (i.e., exponent = -3.2) and corresponds to the most distinct wave display. The wave display becomes increasingly blurrier for the medium- and low-power categories, which hold the monotonically decreasing spectral exponents of -2.9 and -2.5, respectively. The majority of waves are straight waves whose clarity levels can collapse between the different brightness levels, but in the brighter background the wave signatures seem to exhibit mildly turbulent-like behavior.

Category vs. Object Knowledge in Category-Based Induction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Gregory L.; Ross, Brian H.

2010-01-01

In one form of category-based induction, people make predictions about unknown properties of objects. There is a tension between predictions made based on the object's specific features (e.g., objects above a certain size tend not to fly) and those made by reference to category-level knowledge (e.g., birds fly). Seven experiments with artificial…

Categorization for Faces and Tools—Two Classes of Objects Shaped by Different Experience—Differs in Processing Timing, Brain Areas Involved, and Repetition Effects

PubMed Central

Kozunov, Vladimir; Nikolaeva, Anastasia; Stroganova, Tatiana A.

2018-01-01

The brain mechanisms that integrate the separate features of sensory input into a meaningful percept depend upon the prior experience of interaction with the object and differ between categories of objects. Recent studies using representational similarity analysis (RSA) have characterized either the spatial patterns of brain activity for different categories of objects or described how category structure in neuronal representations emerges in time, but never simultaneously. Here we applied a novel, region-based, multivariate pattern classification approach in combination with RSA to magnetoencephalography data to extract activity associated with qualitatively distinct processing stages of visual perception. We asked participants to name what they see whilst viewing bitonal visual stimuli of two categories predominantly shaped by either value-dependent or sensorimotor experience, namely faces and tools, and meaningless images. We aimed to disambiguate the spatiotemporal patterns of brain activity between the meaningful categories and determine which differences in their processing were attributable to either perceptual categorization per se, or later-stage mentalizing-related processes. We have extracted three stages of cortical activity corresponding to low-level processing, category-specific feature binding, and supra-categorical processing. All face-specific spatiotemporal patterns were associated with bilateral activation of ventral occipito-temporal areas during the feature binding stage at 140–170 ms. The tool-specific activity was found both within the categorization stage and in a later period not thought to be associated with binding processes. The tool-specific binding-related activity was detected within a 210–220 ms window and was located to the intraparietal sulcus of the left hemisphere. Brain activity common for both meaningful categories started at 250 ms and included widely distributed assemblies within parietal, temporal, and prefrontal regions. Furthermore, we hypothesized and tested whether activity within face and tool-specific binding-related patterns would demonstrate oppositely acting effects following procedural perceptual learning. We found that activity in the ventral, face-specific network increased following the stimuli repetition. In contrast, tool processing in the dorsal network adapted by reducing its activity over the repetition period. Altogether, we have demonstrated that activity associated with visual processing of faces and tools during the categorization stage differ in processing timing, brain areas involved, and in their dynamics underlying stimuli learning. PMID:29379426

Categorization for Faces and Tools-Two Classes of Objects Shaped by Different Experience-Differs in Processing Timing, Brain Areas Involved, and Repetition Effects.

PubMed

Kozunov, Vladimir; Nikolaeva, Anastasia; Stroganova, Tatiana A

2017-01-01

The brain mechanisms that integrate the separate features of sensory input into a meaningful percept depend upon the prior experience of interaction with the object and differ between categories of objects. Recent studies using representational similarity analysis (RSA) have characterized either the spatial patterns of brain activity for different categories of objects or described how category structure in neuronal representations emerges in time, but never simultaneously. Here we applied a novel, region-based, multivariate pattern classification approach in combination with RSA to magnetoencephalography data to extract activity associated with qualitatively distinct processing stages of visual perception. We asked participants to name what they see whilst viewing bitonal visual stimuli of two categories predominantly shaped by either value-dependent or sensorimotor experience, namely faces and tools, and meaningless images. We aimed to disambiguate the spatiotemporal patterns of brain activity between the meaningful categories and determine which differences in their processing were attributable to either perceptual categorization per se , or later-stage mentalizing-related processes. We have extracted three stages of cortical activity corresponding to low-level processing, category-specific feature binding, and supra-categorical processing. All face-specific spatiotemporal patterns were associated with bilateral activation of ventral occipito-temporal areas during the feature binding stage at 140-170 ms. The tool-specific activity was found both within the categorization stage and in a later period not thought to be associated with binding processes. The tool-specific binding-related activity was detected within a 210-220 ms window and was located to the intraparietal sulcus of the left hemisphere. Brain activity common for both meaningful categories started at 250 ms and included widely distributed assemblies within parietal, temporal, and prefrontal regions. Furthermore, we hypothesized and tested whether activity within face and tool-specific binding-related patterns would demonstrate oppositely acting effects following procedural perceptual learning. We found that activity in the ventral, face-specific network increased following the stimuli repetition. In contrast, tool processing in the dorsal network adapted by reducing its activity over the repetition period. Altogether, we have demonstrated that activity associated with visual processing of faces and tools during the categorization stage differ in processing timing, brain areas involved, and in their dynamics underlying stimuli learning.

Indexing thoracic CT reports using a preliminary version of a standardized radiological lexicon (RadLex).

PubMed

Marwede, Dirk; Schulz, Thomas; Kahn, Thomas

2008-12-01

To validate a preliminary version of a radiological lexicon (RadLex) against terms found in thoracic CT reports and to index report content in RadLex term categories. Terms from a random sample of 200 thoracic CT reports were extracted using a text processor and matched against RadLex. Report content was manually indexed by two radiologists in consensus in term categories of Anatomic Location, Finding, Modifier, Relationship, Image Quality, and Uncertainty. Descriptive statistics were used and differences between age groups and report types were tested for significance using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney Test (significance level <0.05). From 363 terms extracted, 304 (84%) were found and 59 (16%) were not found in RadLex. Report indexing showed a mean of 16.2 encoded items per report and 3.2 Finding per report. Term categories most frequently encoded were Modifier (1,030 of 3,244, 31.8%), Anatomic Location (813, 25.1%), Relationship (702, 21.6%) and Finding (638, 19.7%). Frequency of indexed items per report was higher in older age groups, but no significant difference was found between first study and follow up study reports. Frequency of distinct findings per report increased with patient age (p < 0.05). RadLex already covers most terms present in thoracic CT reports based on a small sample analysis from one institution. Applications for report encoding need to be developed to validate the lexicon against a larger sample of reports and address the issue of automatic relationship encoding.

Frontoparietal Activation Distinguishes Face and Space from Artifact Concepts

PubMed Central

Chen, Chi-Hua; Zeki, Semir

2012-01-01

Empirical and theoretical studies suggest that human knowledge is partly based on innate concepts that are experience-independent. We can, therefore, consider concepts underlying our knowledge as being broadly divided into inherited and acquired ones. Using fMRI, we studied the brain reaction in 20 subjects to violation of face, space (inherited), and artifact (acquired) concepts by presenting them with deformed faces, impossible figures (i.e., impossible chairs), and deformed planes, respectively, as well as their normal counterparts. Violation of the inherited concepts of face and space led to significant activation in frontoparietal cortex, whereas artifacts did not, thus distinguishing neurologically between the two categories. Participants were further exposed to these deformities daily for 1 month to test the supposition that inherited concepts are not modifiable, hence that prolonged exposure would not change the brain circuits that are engaged when viewing them. Consistent with this supposition, our results showed no significant change in activation for both categories, suggesting that such concepts are stable at the neural level at least within a time frame of 1 month. Finally, we investigated the regions of the brain that are critical for object representation. Our results show distinct and overlapping areas in the ventral visual cortex for all three categories, with faces activating the ventral visual cortex inferiorly, especially centered on right fusiform gyrus, and chairs and planes activating more diffuse regions, overlapping with the superior part of face region and mainly located in middle occipital cortex and parietal areas. PMID:21254806

Mathematical Modeling of Language Games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loreto, Vittorio; Baronchelli, Andrea; Puglisi, Andrea

In this chapter we explore several language games of increasing complexity. We first consider the so-called Naming Game, possibly the simplest example of the complex processes leading progressively to the establishment of human-like languages. In this framework, a globally shared vocabulary emerges as a result of local adjustments of individual word-meaning association. The emergence of a common vocabulary only represents a first stage while it is interesting to investigate the emergence of higher forms of agreement, e.g., compositionality, categories, syntactic or grammatical structures. As an example in this direction we consider the so-called Category Game. Here one focuses on the process by which a population of individuals manages to categorize a single perceptually continuous channel. The problem of the emergence of a discrete shared set of categories out of a continuous perceptual channel is a notoriously difficult problem relevant for color categorization, vowels formation, etc. The central result here is the emergence of a hierarchical category structure made of two distinct levels: a basic layer, responsible for fine discrimination of the environment, and a shared linguistic layer that groups together perceptions to guarantee communicative success.

Processing of probabilistic information in weight perception and motor prediction.

PubMed

Trampenau, Leif; van Eimeren, Thilo; Kuhtz-Buschbeck, Johann

2017-02-01

We studied the effects of probabilistic cues, i.e., of information of limited certainty, in the context of an action task (GL: grip-lift) and of a perceptual task (WP: weight perception). Normal subjects (n = 22) saw four different probabilistic visual cues, each of which announced the likely weight of an object. In the GL task, the object was grasped and lifted with a pinch grip, and the peak force rates indicated that the grip and load forces were scaled predictively according to the probabilistic information. The WP task provided the expected heaviness related to each probabilistic cue; the participants gradually adjusted the object's weight until its heaviness matched the expected weight for a given cue. Subjects were randomly assigned to two groups: one started with the GL task and the other one with the WP task. The four different probabilistic cues influenced weight adjustments in the WP task and peak force rates in the GL task in a similar manner. The interpretation and utilization of the probabilistic information was critically influenced by the initial task. Participants who started with the WP task classified the four probabilistic cues into four distinct categories and applied these categories to the subsequent GL task. On the other side, participants who started with the GL task applied three distinct categories to the four cues and retained this classification in the following WP task. The initial strategy, once established, determined the way how the probabilistic information was interpreted and implemented.

Learning homophones in context: Easy cases are favored in the lexicon of natural languages.

PubMed

Dautriche, Isabelle; Fibla, Laia; Fievet, Anne-Caroline; Christophe, Anne

2018-08-01

Even though ambiguous words are common in languages, children find it hard to learn homophones, where a single label applies to several distinct meanings (e.g., Mazzocco, 1997). The present work addresses this apparent discrepancy between learning abilities and typological pattern, with respect to homophony in the lexicon. In a series of five experiments, 20-month-old French children easily learnt a pair of homophones if the two meanings associated with the phonological form belonged to different syntactic categories, or to different semantic categories. However, toddlers failed to learn homophones when the two meanings were distinguished only by different grammatical genders. In parallel, we analyzed the lexicon of four languages, Dutch, English, French and German, and observed that homophones are distributed non-arbitrarily in the lexicon, such that easily learnable homophones are more frequent than hard-to-learn ones: pairs of homophones are preferentially distributed across syntactic and semantic categories, but not across grammatical gender. We show that learning homophones is easier than previously thought, at least when the meanings of the same phonological form are made sufficiently distinct by their syntactic or semantic context. Following this, we propose that this learnability advantage translates into the overall structure of the lexicon, i.e., the kinds of homophones present in languages exhibit the properties that make them learnable by toddlers, thus allowing them to remain in languages. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of a black-footed ferret resource utilization function model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eads, D.A.; Millspaugh, J.J.; Biggins, D.E.; Jachowski, D.S.; Livieri, T.M.

2011-01-01

Resource utilization function (RUF) models permit evaluation of potential habitat for endangered species; ideally such models should be evaluated before use in management decision-making. We evaluated the predictive capabilities of a previously developed black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) RUF. Using the population-level RUF, generated from ferret observations at an adjacent yet distinct colony, we predicted the distribution of ferrets within a black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colony in the Conata Basin, South Dakota, USA. We evaluated model performance, using data collected during post-breeding spotlight surveys (2007-2008) by assessing model agreement via weighted compositional analysis and count-metrics. Compositional analysis of home range use and colony-level availability, and core area use and home range availability, demonstrated ferret selection of the predicted Very high and High occurrence categories in 2007 and 2008. Simple count-metrics corroborated these findings and suggested selection of the Very high category in 2007 and the Very high and High categories in 2008. Collectively, these results suggested that the RUF was useful in predicting occurrence and intensity of space use of ferrets at our study site, the 2 objectives of the RUF. Application of this validated RUF would increase the resolution of habitat evaluations, permitting prediction of the distribution of ferrets within distinct colonies. Additional model evaluation at other sites, on other black-tailed prairie dog colonies of varying resource configuration and size, would increase understanding of influences upon model performance and the general utility of the RUF. ?? 2011 The Wildlife Society.

Self-report captures 27 distinct categories of emotion bridged by continuous gradients.

PubMed

Cowen, Alan S; Keltner, Dacher

2017-09-19

Emotions are centered in subjective experiences that people represent, in part, with hundreds, if not thousands, of semantic terms. Claims about the distribution of reported emotional states and the boundaries between emotion categories-that is, the geometric organization of the semantic space of emotion-have sparked intense debate. Here we introduce a conceptual framework to analyze reported emotional states elicited by 2,185 short videos, examining the richest array of reported emotional experiences studied to date and the extent to which reported experiences of emotion are structured by discrete and dimensional geometries. Across self-report methods, we find that the videos reliably elicit 27 distinct varieties of reported emotional experience. Further analyses revealed that categorical labels such as amusement better capture reports of subjective experience than commonly measured affective dimensions (e.g., valence and arousal). Although reported emotional experiences are represented within a semantic space best captured by categorical labels, the boundaries between categories of emotion are fuzzy rather than discrete. By analyzing the distribution of reported emotional states we uncover gradients of emotion-from anxiety to fear to horror to disgust, calmness to aesthetic appreciation to awe, and others-that correspond to smooth variation in affective dimensions such as valence and dominance. Reported emotional states occupy a complex, high-dimensional categorical space. In addition, our library of videos and an interactive map of the emotional states they elicit (https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/emogifs/map.html) are made available to advance the science of emotion.

Exploration of the reasons for dropping out of psychotherapy: A qualitative study.

PubMed

Khazaie, Habibolah; Rezaie, Leeba; Shahdipour, Niloofar; Weaver, Patrick

2016-06-01

Elucidating the reasons for dropping out of psychotherapy can lead to the development of interventions aimed at reducing patient drop out. The present study aimed to explore patients' reasons for dropping out of psychotherapy in Kermanshah, Iran. The present qualitative study was performed using conventional content analysis. The current sample included 15 participants consisting of 7 patients who dropped out of psychotherapy and 8 psychotherapists who have previously experienced patient dropout. A semi-structured interview was used for data collection. All interviews were audio recorded and subsequently transcribed. Content analysis using constant comparisons was performed for transcribed interviews. Four main categories emerged as reasons for dropping out of psychotherapy: dissatisfaction with the quality of psychotherapy, financial problems in psychotherapy, unprepared socio-cultural context of psychotherapy, and psychotherapy as a non-user friendly treatment. Additionally, specific subcategories within each main category were documented. The results revealed distinct reasons for psychotherapy drop out in the current Iranian-based sample. These identified reasons should be considered and addressed at the onset of treatment as well as in the development of formal interventions aimed at reducing dropout. Further research investigating the antecedents leading to patient drop out is recommended. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Symptoms and lesion localization in visual agnosia].

PubMed

Suzuki, Kyoko

2004-11-01

There are two cortical visual processing streams, the ventral and dorsal stream. The ventral visual stream plays the major role in constructing our perceptual representation of the visual world and the objects within it. Disturbance of visual processing at any stage of the ventral stream could result in impairment of visual recognition. Thus we need systematic investigations to diagnose visual agnosia and its type. Two types of category-selective visual agnosia, prosopagnosia and landmark agnosia, are different from others in that patients could recognize a face as a face and buildings as buildings, but could not identify an individual person or building. Neuronal bases of prosopagnosia and landmark agnosia are distinct. Importance of the right fusiform gyrus for face recognition was confirmed by both clinical and neuroimaging studies. Landmark agnosia is related to lesions in the right parahippocampal gyrus. Enlarged lesions including both the right fusiform and parahippocampal gyri can result in prosopagnosia and landmark agnosia at the same time. Category non-selective visual agnosia is related to bilateral occipito-temporal lesions, which is in agreement with the results of neuroimaging studies that revealed activation of the bilateral occipito-temporal during object recognition tasks.

STDP in lateral connections creates category-based perceptual cycles for invariance learning with multiple stimuli.

PubMed

Evans, Benjamin D; Stringer, Simon M

2015-04-01

Learning to recognise objects and faces is an important and challenging problem tackled by the primate ventral visual system. One major difficulty lies in recognising an object despite profound differences in the retinal images it projects, due to changes in view, scale, position and other identity-preserving transformations. Several models of the ventral visual system have been successful in coping with these issues, but have typically been privileged by exposure to only one object at a time. In natural scenes, however, the challenges of object recognition are typically further compounded by the presence of several objects which should be perceived as distinct entities. In the present work, we explore one possible mechanism by which the visual system may overcome these two difficulties simultaneously, through segmenting unseen (artificial) stimuli using information about their category encoded in plastic lateral connections. We demonstrate that these experience-guided lateral interactions robustly organise input representations into perceptual cycles, allowing feed-forward connections trained with spike-timing-dependent plasticity to form independent, translation-invariant output representations. We present these simulations as a functional explanation for the role of plasticity in the lateral connectivity of visual cortex.

Category-based attentional guidance can operate in parallel for multiple target objects.

PubMed

Jenkins, Michael; Grubert, Anna; Eimer, Martin

2018-05-01

The question whether the control of attention during visual search is always feature-based or can also be based on the category of objects remains unresolved. Here, we employed the N2pc component as an on-line marker for target selection processes to compare the efficiency of feature-based and category-based attentional guidance. Two successive displays containing pairs of real-world objects (line drawings of kitchen or clothing items) were separated by a 10 ms SOA. In Experiment 1, target objects were defined by their category. In Experiment 2, one specific visual object served as target (exemplar-based search). On different trials, targets appeared either in one or in both displays, and participants had to report the number of targets (one or two). Target N2pc components were larger and emerged earlier during exemplar-based search than during category-based search, demonstrating the superior efficiency of feature-based attentional guidance. On trials where target objects appeared in both displays, both targets elicited N2pc components that overlapped in time, suggesting that attention was allocated in parallel to these target objects. Critically, this was the case not only in the exemplar-based task, but also when targets were defined by their category. These results demonstrate that attention can be guided by object categories, and that this type of category-based attentional control can operate concurrently for multiple target objects. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Speech-Sound Duration Processing in a Second Language is Specific to Phonetic Categories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nenonen, Sari; Shestakova, Anna; Huotilainen, Minna; Naatanen, Risto

2005-01-01

The mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the auditory event-related potential was used to determine the effect of native language, Russian, on the processing of speech-sound duration in a second language, Finnish, that uses duration as a cue for phonological distinction. The native-language effect was compared with Finnish vowels that either can…

Land Application of Wastes: An Educational Program. Waste Application Systems - Module 12, Objectives, and Script.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clarkson, W. W.; And Others

Land application systems are discussed with reference to the options available for applying wastewater and sludge to the site. Spray systems, surface flow methods, and sludge application schemes are all included with discussions of the advantages and disadvantages of each option within these categories. A distinction is made between the choice of…

Lexical Collocations (Verb + Noun) across Written Academic Genres in English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ordem, Eser; Bada, Erdogan

2016-01-01

The dominance of syntactic studies in linguistics has caused lexis and grammar to be perceived as two distinct categories. With introduction of the paradigm of cognitive linguistics, the studies in syntax have been replaced by those in lexis and concepts. Semantics has come to the fore through the studies in cognitive linguistics, and there has…

Do Lions Have Manes? For Children, Generics Are about Kinds Rather than Quantities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brandone, Amanda C.; Cimpian, Andrei; Leslie, Sarah-Jane; Gelman, Susan A.

2012-01-01

Generic statements (e.g., "Lions have manes") make claims about kinds (e.g., lions as a category) and, for adults, are distinct from quantificational statements (e.g., "Most lions have manes"), which make claims about how many individuals have a given property. This article examined whether young children also understand that generics do not…

Self-Surveillance by Adolescents and Young Adults Transitioning to Self-Management of a Chronic Genetic Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giarelli, Ellen; Bernhardt, Barbara A.; Pyeritz, Reed E.

2010-01-01

Adolescents and young adults with Marfan syndrome (MFS) use information from self-surveillance to manage their disorder. Thirty-seven male and female adolescents with MFS aged 14 to 21 years were interviewed. They identified 58 distinct self-surveillance behaviors that fell into four categories and multiple subcategories (SCs): tracking phenotype…

Conceptual Distinctiveness Supports Detailed Visual Long-Term Memory for Real-World Objects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Konkle, Talia; Brady, Timothy F.; Alvarez, George A.; Oliva, Aude

2010-01-01

Humans have a massive capacity to store detailed information in visual long-term memory. The present studies explored the fidelity of these visual long-term memory representations and examined how conceptual and perceptual features of object categories support this capacity. Observers viewed 2,800 object images with a different number of exemplars…

Dropout Rates, Student Momentum, and Course Walls: A New Tool for Distance Education Designers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christensen, Steven S.; Spackman, Jonathan S.

2017-01-01

This paper explores a new tool for instructional designers. By calculating and graphing the Student Momentum Indicator (M) for 196 university-level online courses and by employing the constant comparative method within the grounded theory framework, eight distinct graph shapes emerged as meaningful categories of dropout behavior. Several of the…

Moderate Learning Difficulties: Searching for Clarity and Understanding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norwich, Brahm; Ylonen, Annamari; Gwernan-Jones, Ruth

2014-01-01

The concept of moderate learning difficulties (MLD) is not clearly understood in its definition and in its general use. Nevertheless, as a distinct area of special educational needs (SEN) this category has constituted about a quarter of all of those pupils identified as having SEN in England. This paper reports the analysis of findings from an…

Cybersecurity Education in Community Colleges across America: A Survey of Four Approaches by Five Institutions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Robert D.; Hawthorne, Elizabeth K.

This document describes four distinct approaches to education in the area of cybersecurity currently taught at community colleges across America. The four broad categories of instruction are: (1) degree program--four semesters of study leading to an associate's degree; (2) certificate program--two semesters leading to an institution-conferred…

Fair Access to Higher Education: Analysis of a Targeted Incentive Educational Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Le Chapelain, Charlotte

2007-01-01

Social inequality with regard to education seems to be mainly the result of two factors: the reduced success of certain socio-economical categories within the education system and distinct educational requirements once the compulsory education period is over. In this article, we shall focus on the inequality stemming from the choices and personal…

Siren call of metaphor: subverting the proper task of neuroscience.

PubMed

Werner, Gerhard

2004-09-01

Under the assumption that nervous systems form a distinct category among the objects in Nature, applying metaphors of psychological and behavioral science disciplines is flawed and invites confusion. Moreover, such practices obscure and detract from the primary task of Neurophysiology: to investigate the intrinsic properties of nervous systems, uncontaminated with concepts borrowed from other disciplines.

Studies of Implicit Prototype Extraction in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Early Alzheimer's Disease

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nosofsky, Robert M.; Denton, Stephen E.; Zaki, Safa R.; Murphy-Knudsen, Anne F.; Unverzagt, Frederick W.

2012-01-01

Studies of incidental category learning support the hypothesis of an implicit prototype-extraction system that is distinct from explicit memory (Smith, 2008). In those studies, patients with explicit-memory impairments due to damage to the medial-temporal lobe performed normally in implicit categorization tasks (Bozoki, Grossman, & Smith, 2006;…

When Induction Meets Memory: Evidence for Gradual Transition from Similarity-Based to Category-Based Induction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fisher, Anna V.; Sloutsky, Vladimir M.

2005-01-01

The ability to perform induction appears early; however, underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Some argue that early induction is category based, whereas others suggest that early induction is similarity based. Category- and similarity-based induction should result in different memory traces and thus in different memory accuracy. Performing…

Clinical and epidemiological correlates of the neurohistology of cases of histologically unconfirmed, clinically suspect bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

PubMed

Wells, G A; Sayers, A R; Wilesmith, J W

1995-03-04

The associations between three major categories of the neurohistological diagnoses and the epidemiological data were examined in unconfirmed cases of clinically suspect bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The diagnostic categories were focal spongiosis of white matter (37 cases), encephalic listeriosis (13 cases) and no significant lesions (78 cases). An additional control category of 200 confirmed cases of BSE were included for comparison. Epidemiological variables were the frequencies of specific clinical signs, the season of clinical onset, the age, the duration of the clinical signs and the geographical origin of the cases. Discriminant analysis was used to assess the contribution of these variables to the distinction between the diagnostic categories. The analyses characterised the cases of listeriosis by their shortest clinical duration, the greater prevalences of certain clinical signs and their occurrence mainly in winter and spring, consistent with current understanding of the disease. Cases of focal spongiosis, a lesion of unknown significance, but potentially with a metabolic causation, were tentatively separable from cases with no significant lesions by their winter onset. The results also confirmed that among the categories, the cases of BSE had the longest clinical duration. Despite their statistical significance, the findings do not have sufficient predictive power to be of value in making clinical decisions.

Behçet's: A Disease or a Syndrome? Answer from an Expression Profiling Study.

PubMed

Oğuz, Ali Kemal; Yılmaz, Seda Taşır; Oygür, Çağdaş Şahap; Çandar, Tuba; Sayın, Irmak; Kılıçoğlu, Sibel Serin; Ergün, İhsan; Ateş, Aşkın; Özdağ, Hilal; Akar, Nejat

2016-01-01

Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic, relapsing, multisystemic inflammatory disorder with unanswered questions regarding its etiology/pathogenesis and classification. Distinct manifestation based subsets, pronounced geographical variations in expression, and discrepant immunological abnormalities raised the question whether Behçet's is "a disease or a syndrome". To answer the preceding question we aimed to display and compare the molecular mechanisms underlying distinct subsets of BD. For this purpose, the expression data of the gene expression profiling and association study on BD by Xavier et al (2013) was retrieved from GEO database and reanalysed by gene expression data analysis/visualization and bioinformatics enrichment tools. There were 15 BD patients (B) and 14 controls (C). Three subsets of BD patients were generated: MB (isolated mucocutaneous manifestations, n = 7), OB (ocular involvement, n = 4), and VB (large vein thrombosis, n = 4). Class comparison analyses yielded the following numbers of differentially expressed genes (DEGs); B vs C: 4, MB vs C: 5, OB vs C: 151, VB vs C: 274, MB vs OB: 215, MB vs VB: 760, OB vs VB: 984. Venn diagram analysis showed that there were no common DEGs in the intersection "MB vs C" ∩ "OB vs C" ∩ "VB vs C". Cluster analyses successfully clustered distinct expressions of BD. During gene ontology term enrichment analyses, categories with relevance to IL-8 production (MB vs C) and immune response to microorganisms (OB vs C) were differentially enriched. Distinct subsets of BD display distinct expression profiles and different disease associated pathways. Based on these clear discrepancies, the designation as "Behçet's syndrome" (BS) should be encouraged and future research should take into consideration the immunogenetic heterogeneity of BS subsets. Four gene groups, namely, negative regulators of inflammation (CD69, CLEC12A, CLEC12B, TNFAIP3), neutrophil granule proteins (LTF, OLFM4, AZU1, MMP8, DEFA4, CAMP), antigen processing and presentation proteins (CTSS, ERAP1), and regulators of immune response (LGALS2, BCL10, ITCH, CEACAM8, CD36, IL8, CCL4, EREG, NFKBIZ, CCR2, CD180, KLRC4, NFAT5) appear to be instrumental in BS immunopathogenesis.

Different influences on lexical priming for integrative, thematic, and taxonomic relations

PubMed Central

Jones, Lara L.; Golonka, Sabrina

2012-01-01

Word pairs may be integrative (i.e., combination of two concepts into one meaningful entity; e.g., fruit—cake), thematically related (i.e., connected in time and place; e.g., party—cake), and/or taxonomically related (i.e., shared features and category co-members; e.g., muffin—cake). Using participant ratings and computational measures, we demonstrated distinct patterns across measures of similarity and co-occurrence, and familiarity for each relational construct in two different item sets. In a standard lexical decision task (LDT) with various delays between prime and target presentation (SOAs), target RTs and priming magnitudes were consistent across the three relations for both item sets. However, across the SOAs, there were distinct patterns among the three relations on some of the underlying measures influencing target word recognition (LSA, Google, and BEAGLE). These distinct patterns suggest different mechanisms of lexical priming and further demonstrate that integrative relations are distinct from thematic and taxonomic relations. PMID:22798950

Change Is Never Easy, but It Is Possible: Reflections on Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Two Years After Its Introduction in the DSM-5.

PubMed

Norris, Mark L; Katzman, Debra K

2015-07-01

One of the most significant changes to the section on Feeding and Eating Disorders in the DSM-5 was that feeding disorder of infancy or early childhood was renamed avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder or ARFID, and the criteria was significantly expanded. This diagnostic category was informed by field studies, analysis, and expert opinion. To date, research exploring the prevalence, clinical characteristics and utility have helped substantiate the recognition and need for the diagnostic category of AFRID as a distinct eating disorder diagnosis in the DSM-5. Copyright © 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An investigation of time course of category and semantic priming.

PubMed

Ray, Suchismita

2008-04-01

Low semantically similar exemplars in a category demonstrate the category-priming effect through priming of the category (i.e., exemplar-category-exemplar), whereas high semantically similar exemplars in the same category demonstrate the semantic-priming effect (i.e., direct activation of one high semantically similar exemplar by another). The author asked whether the category- and semantic-priming effects are based on a common memory process. She examined this question by testing the time courses of category- and semantic-priming effects. She tested participants on either category- or semantic-priming paradigm at 2 different time intervals (6 min and 42 min) by using a lexical decision task using exemplars from categories. Results showed that the time course of category priming was different from that of semantic priming. The author concludes that these 2 priming effects are based on 2 separate memory processes.

When More Is Less: Feedback Effects in Perceptual Category Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maddox, W. Todd; Love, Bradley C.; Glass, Brian D.; Filoteo, J. Vincent

2008-01-01

Rule-based and information-integration category learning were compared under minimal and full feedback conditions. Rule-based category structures are those for which the optimal rule is verbalizable. Information-integration category structures are those for which the optimal rule is not verbalizable. With minimal feedback subjects are told whether…

Acute myeloid/T-lymphoblastic leukaemia (AMTL): a distinct category of acute leukaemias with common pathogenesis in need of improved therapy.

PubMed

Gutierrez, Alejandro; Kentsis, Alex

2018-03-01

Advances in the classification of acute leukaemias have led to improved outcomes for a substantial fraction of patients. However, chemotherapy resistance remains a major problem for specific subsets of acute leukaemias. Here, we propose that a molecularly distinct subtype of acute leukaemia with shared myeloid and T cell lymphoblastic features, which we term acute myeloid/T-lymphoblastic leukaemia (AMTL), is divided across 3 diagnostic categories owing to variable expression of markers deemed to be defining of myeloid and T-lymphoid lineages, such as myeloperoxidase and CD3. This proposed diagnostic group is supported by (i) retained myeloid differentiation potential during early T cell lymphoid development, (ii) recognition that some cases of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) harbour hallmarks of T cell development, such as T-cell receptor gene rearrangements and (iii) common gene mutations in subsets of AML and T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL), including WT1, PHF6, RUNX1 and BCL11B. This proposed diagnostic entity overlaps with early T cell precursor (ETP) T-ALL and T cell/myeloid mixed phenotype acute leukaemias (MPALs), and also includes a subset of leukaemias currently classified as AML with features of T-lymphoblastic development. The proposed classification of AMTL as a distinct entity would enable more precise prospective diagnosis and permit the development of improved therapies for patients whose treatment is inadequate with current approaches. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Fine-mapping the MHC locus in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) reveals genetic heterogeneity corresponding to distinct adult inflammatory arthritic diseases

PubMed Central

Hinks, A; Cobb, J; Ainsworth, H C; Marion, M C; Comeau, M E; Sudman, M; Han, B; Becker, M L; Bohnsack, J F; de Bakker, P I W; Haas, J P; Hazen, M; Lovell, D J; Nigrovic, P A; Nordal, E; Punnaro, M; Rosenberg, A M; Rygg, M; Wise, C A; Videm, V; Wedderburn, L R; Yarwood, A; Yeung, R S M; Prahalad, S; Langefeld, C D; Raychaudhuri, S; Thompson, S D; Thomson, W

2017-01-01

Objectives Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a heterogeneous group of diseases, comprising seven categories. Genetic data could potentially be used to help redefine JIA categories and improve the current classification system. The human leucocyte antigen (HLA) region is strongly associated with JIA. Fine-mapping of the region was performed to look for similarities and differences in HLA associations between the JIA categories and define correspondences with adult inflammatory arthritides. Methods Dense genotype data from the HLA region, from the Immunochip array for 5043 JIA cases and 14 390 controls, were used to impute single-nucleotide polymorphisms, HLA classical alleles and amino acids. Bivariate analysis was performed to investigate genetic correlation between the JIA categories. Conditional analysis was used to identify additional effects within the region. Comparison of the findings with those in adult inflammatory arthritic diseases was performed. Results We identified category-specific associations and have demonstrated for the first time that rheumatoid factor (RF)-negative polyarticular JIA and oligoarticular JIA are genetically similar in their HLA associations. We also observe that each JIA category potentially has an adult counterpart. The RF-positive polyarthritis association at HLA-DRB1 amino acid at position 13 mirrors the association in adult seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Interestingly, the combined oligoarthritis and RF-negative polyarthritis dataset shares the same association with adult seronegative RA. Conclusions The findings suggest the value of using genetic data in helping to classify the categories of this heterogeneous disease. Mapping JIA categories to adult counterparts could enable shared knowledge of disease pathogenesis and aetiology and facilitate transition from paediatric to adult services. PMID:27998952

Fine-mapping the MHC locus in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) reveals genetic heterogeneity corresponding to distinct adult inflammatory arthritic diseases.

PubMed

Hinks, A; Bowes, J; Cobb, J; Ainsworth, H C; Marion, M C; Comeau, M E; Sudman, M; Han, B; Becker, M L; Bohnsack, J F; de Bakker, P I W; Haas, J P; Hazen, M; Lovell, D J; Nigrovic, P A; Nordal, E; Punnaro, M; Rosenberg, A M; Rygg, M; Smith, S L; Wise, C A; Videm, V; Wedderburn, L R; Yarwood, A; Yeung, R S M; Prahalad, S; Langefeld, C D; Raychaudhuri, S; Thompson, S D; Thomson, W

2017-04-01

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a heterogeneous group of diseases, comprising seven categories. Genetic data could potentially be used to help redefine JIA categories and improve the current classification system. The human leucocyte antigen (HLA) region is strongly associated with JIA. Fine-mapping of the region was performed to look for similarities and differences in HLA associations between the JIA categories and define correspondences with adult inflammatory arthritides. Dense genotype data from the HLA region, from the Immunochip array for 5043 JIA cases and 14 390 controls, were used to impute single-nucleotide polymorphisms, HLA classical alleles and amino acids. Bivariate analysis was performed to investigate genetic correlation between the JIA categories. Conditional analysis was used to identify additional effects within the region. Comparison of the findings with those in adult inflammatory arthritic diseases was performed. We identified category-specific associations and have demonstrated for the first time that rheumatoid factor (RF)-negative polyarticular JIA and oligoarticular JIA are genetically similar in their HLA associations. We also observe that each JIA category potentially has an adult counterpart. The RF-positive polyarthritis association at HLA-DRB1 amino acid at position 13 mirrors the association in adult seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Interestingly, the combined oligoarthritis and RF-negative polyarthritis dataset shares the same association with adult seronegative RA. The findings suggest the value of using genetic data in helping to classify the categories of this heterogeneous disease. Mapping JIA categories to adult counterparts could enable shared knowledge of disease pathogenesis and aetiology and facilitate transition from paediatric to adult services. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

An Online Compendium of CHO RNA-Seq Data Allows Identification of CHO Cell Line-specific Transcriptomic Signatures.

PubMed

Singh, Ankita; Kildegaard, Helene F; Andersen, Mikael R

2018-05-15

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines can fold, assemble and modify proteins post-translationally to produce human-like proteins; as a consequence, it is the single most common expression systems for industrial production of recombinant therapeutic proteins. A thorough knowledge of cultivation conditions of different CHO cell lines has been developed over the last decade, but comprehending gene or pathway-specific distinctions between CHO cell lines at transcriptome level remains a challenge. To address these challenges, we compiled a compendium of 23 RNA-Seq studies from public and in-house data on CHO cell lines, i.e. CHO-S, CHO-K1 and DG44. Significantly differentially expressed (DE) genes particularly related to subcellular structure and macromolecular categories were used to identify differences between the cell lines. A R-based web application was developed specifically for CHO cell lines to further visualize expression values across different cell lines, and make available the normalized full CHO data set graphically as a CHO research community resource. This study quantitatively categorizes CHO cell lines based on patterns at transcriptomic level and detects gene and pathway specific key distinctions among sibling cell lines. Studies such as this can be used to select desired characteristics across various CHO cell lines. Furthermore, the availability of the data as an internet-based application can be applied to broad range of CHO engineering applications. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

A Study of the Gamma-Ray Burst Fundamental Plane

DOE PAGES

Dainotti, M. G.; Hernandez, X.; Postnikov, S.; ...

2017-10-17

Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with a plateau phase in their X-ray afterglows obey a 3D relation, between the rest-frame time at the end of the plateau, T a, its corresponding X-ray luminosity, L a, and the peak luminosity in the prompt emission, L peak. This 3D relation identifies a GRB fundamental plane whose existence we here confirm. Here we include the most recent GRBs observed by Swift to define a "gold sample" (45 GRBs) and obtain an intrinsic scatter about the plane compatible within 1σ with the previous result. We compare GRB categories, such as short GRBs with extended emissionmore » (SEE), X-ray flashes, GRBs associated with supernovae, a sample of only long-duration GRBs (132), selected from the total sample by excluding GRBs of the previous categories, and the gold sample, composed by GRBs with light curves with good data coverage and relatively flat plateaus. We find that the relation planes for each of these categories are not statistically different from the gold fundamental plane, with the exception of the SSE, which are hence identified as a physically distinct class. The gold fundamental plane has an intrinsic scatter smaller than any plane derived from the other sample categories. Thus, the distance of any particular GRB category from this plane becomes a key parameter. We computed the several category planes with T a as a dependent parameter obtaining for each category smaller intrinsic scatters (reaching a reduction of 24% for the long GRBs). The fundamental plane is independent from several prompt and afterglow parameters.« less

Witchcraft illness in the Evuzok nosological system.

PubMed

Guimera, L M

1978-12-01

The Evuzok nosological system is structured with respect to two frames of reference, one designating illness as an empirical reality (descriptive subsystem), the other designating it according to its religious, magical and social significance (etiological subsystem). The articulation of these two subsystems is brought about in the process of diagnosis. Having examined this system as a whole, the author devotes his attention to a particular set of etiological categories, those which associate illness with witchcraft (nocturnal illnesses). He attempts to define their distinctive traits and, from this, to determine their common elemental structure. This study, based on a number of years of fieldwork, is part of an ongoing research program on African folk-medicine pursued by the Laboratoire d'Ethnologie et de Sociologie Comparative of the Université de Paris X.

A tale of two agnosias: distinctions between form and integrative agnosia.

PubMed

Riddoch, M Jane; Humphreys, Glyn W; Akhtar, Nabeela; Allen, Harriet; Bracewell, R Martyn; Schofield, Andrew J

2008-02-01

The performance of two patients with visual agnosia was compared across a number of tests examining visual processing. The patients were distinguished by having dorsal and medial ventral extrastriate lesions. While inanimate objects were disadvantaged for the patient with a dorsal extrastriate lesion, animate items are disadvantaged for the patient with the medial ventral extrastriate lesion. The patients also showed contrasting patterns of performance on the Navon Test: The patient with a dorsal extrastriate lesion demonstrated a local bias while the patient with a medial ventral extrastriate lesion had a global bias. We propose that the dorsal and medial ventral visual pathways may be characterized at an extrastriate level by differences in local relative to more global visual processing and that this can link to visually based category-specific deficits in processing.

Development of remote sensing techniques capable of delineating soils as an aid to soil survey

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coleman, T. L.; Montgomery, O. L.

1988-01-01

Eighty-one benchmark soils from Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Mississippi were evaluated to determine the feasibility of spectrally differentiating among soil categories. Relationships among spectral properties that occur between soils and within soils were examined, using discriminant analysis. Soil spectral data were obtained from air-dried samples using an Exotech Model 20C field spectroradiometer (0.37 to 2.36 microns). Differentiating among the orders, suborders, great groups, and subgroups using reflectance spectra achieved varying percentages of accuracy. Six distinct reflectance curve forms were developed from the air-dried samples based on the shape and presence or absence of adsorption bands. Iron oxide and organic matter content were the dominant soil parameters affecting the spectral characteristics for differentiating among and between these soils.

Optical processing for landmark identification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Casasent, D.; Luu, T. K.

1981-01-01

A study of optical pattern recognition techniques, available components and airborne optical systems for use in landmark identification was conducted. A data base of imagery exhibiting multisensor, seasonal, snow and fog cover, exposure, and other differences was assembled. These were successfully processed in a scaling optical correlator using weighted matched spatial filter synthesis. Distinctive data classes were defined and a description of the data (with considerable input information and content information) emerged from this study. It has considerable merit with regard to the preprocessing needed and the image difference categories advanced. A optical pattern recognition airborne applications was developed, assembled and demontrated. It employed a laser diode light source and holographic optical elements in a new lensless matched spatial filter architecture with greatly reduced size and weight, as well as component positioning toleranced.

Clonal selection versus clonal cooperation: the integrated perception of immune objects

PubMed Central

Nataf, Serge

2016-01-01

Analogies between the immune and nervous systems were first envisioned by the immunologist Niels Jerne who introduced the concepts of antigen "recognition" and immune "memory". However, since then, it appears that only the cognitive immunology paradigm proposed by Irun Cohen, attempted to further theorize the immune system functions through the prism of neurosciences. The present paper is aimed at revisiting this analogy-based reasoning. In particular, a parallel is drawn between the brain pathways of visual perception and the processes allowing the global perception of an "immune object". Thus, in the visual system, distinct features of a visual object (shape, color, motion) are perceived separately by distinct neuronal populations during a primary perception task. The output signals generated during this first step instruct then an integrated perception task performed by other neuronal networks. Such a higher order perception step is by essence a cooperative task that is mandatory for the global perception of visual objects. Based on a re-interpretation of recent experimental data, it is suggested that similar general principles drive the integrated perception of immune objects in secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs). In this scheme, the four main categories of signals characterizing an immune object (antigenic, contextual, temporal and localization signals) are first perceived separately by distinct networks of immunocompetent cells.  Then, in a multitude of SLO niches, the output signals generated during this primary perception step are integrated by TH-cells at the single cell level. This process eventually generates a multitude of T-cell and B-cell clones that perform, at the scale of SLOs, an integrated perception of immune objects. Overall, this new framework proposes that integrated immune perception and, consequently, integrated immune responses, rely essentially on clonal cooperation rather than clonal selection. PMID:27830060

Birth Order: A Phenomenon in Search of an Explanation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGurk, Harry; Lewis, Michael

Fifty-two 44-month-old children were observed in a nursery school over a period of two weeks with peer and adult oriented behaviors recorded, and data analyzed in terms of the subjects' sex and birth order. Sex effects were as expected, but birth-order effects highlighted the second-born child as representing a distinct category. In particular,…

No One Here Gets out Alive: Educational Implications of Duomining as Aesthetic Ground in Psychological Horror

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grant, James

2016-01-01

Considering works of Horror artistic manifestations of cultural nightmares, the author takes up the charge that dreams deserve a place in the study of curriculum. Utilizing an object-oriented approach to aesthetic and educational inquiry, the author first develops a theory of Horror that divides the genre into the distinct categories of…

The Latent Structure of Life-Course-Persistent Antisocial Behavior: Is Moffitt's Developmental Taxonomy a True Taxonomy?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walters, Glenn D.

2011-01-01

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether life-course-persistent (LCP) and adolescence-limited (AL) antisocial behavior form distinct categories or lie along a common dimension. Method: Taxometric analyses were performed on 2,175 men and women from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Data (Center for Human Resource…

Who Are the Most Disadvantaged? Factors Associated with the Achievement of Students with Low Socio-Economic Backgrounds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bellibas, Mehmet Sükrü

2016-01-01

Analysis of the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and student achievement has been prevalent in the literature, yet research focusing on the association between factors and the achievement of school populations with distinct categories of SES is limited. The purpose of the present study was to investigate various relevant student,…

Parent Advocacy: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kidder, Annie

2011-01-01

Parent advocacy is a complicated beast. Parent advocates for the most part, are born from three distinct impetuses: a desire to fix something for their own child or children; anger about a new policy being imposed; or a collective drive to create a new service or program. Just as it is impossible to relegate all parent advocacy into one category,…

Two ways to listen: Do L2-dominant bilinguals perceive stop voicing according to language mode?

PubMed Central

Antoniou, Mark; Tyler, Michael D.; Best, Catherine T.

2012-01-01

How listeners categorize two phones predicts the success with which they will discriminate the given phonetic distinction. In the case of bilinguals, such perceptual patterns could reveal whether the listener’s two phonological systems are integrated or separate. This is of particular interest when a given contrast is realized differently in each language, as is the case with Greek and English stop-voicing distinctions. We had Greek–English early sequential bilinguals and Greek and English monolinguals (baselines) categorize, rate, and discriminate stop-voicing contrasts in each language. All communication with each group of bilinguals occurred solely in one language mode, Greek or English. The monolingual groups showed the expected native-language constraints, each perceiving their native contrast more accurately than the opposing nonnative contrast. Bilinguals’ category-goodness ratings for the same physical stimuli differed, consistent with their language mode, yet their discrimination performance was unaffected by language mode and biased toward their dominant language (English). We conclude that bilinguals integrate both languages in a common phonetic space that is swayed by their long-term dominant language environment for discrimination, but that they selectively attend to language-specific phonetic information for phonologically motivated judgments (category-goodness ratings). PMID:22844163

Lipidomics reveals a remarkable diversity of lipids in human plasma.

PubMed

Quehenberger, Oswald; Armando, Aaron M; Brown, Alex H; Milne, Stephen B; Myers, David S; Merrill, Alfred H; Bandyopadhyay, Sibali; Jones, Kristin N; Kelly, Samuel; Shaner, Rebecca L; Sullards, Cameron M; Wang, Elaine; Murphy, Robert C; Barkley, Robert M; Leiker, Thomas J; Raetz, Christian R H; Guan, Ziqiang; Laird, Gregory M; Six, David A; Russell, David W; McDonald, Jeffrey G; Subramaniam, Shankar; Fahy, Eoin; Dennis, Edward A

2010-11-01

The focus of the present study was to define the human plasma lipidome and to establish novel analytical methodologies to quantify the large spectrum of plasma lipids. Partial lipid analysis is now a regular part of every patient's blood test and physicians readily and regularly prescribe drugs that alter the levels of major plasma lipids such as cholesterol and triglycerides. Plasma contains many thousands of distinct lipid molecular species that fall into six main categories including fatty acyls, glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, sterols, and prenols. The physiological contributions of these diverse lipids and how their levels change in response to therapy remain largely unknown. As a first step toward answering these questions, we provide herein an in-depth lipidomics analysis of a pooled human plasma obtained from healthy individuals after overnight fasting and with a gender balance and an ethnic distribution that is representative of the US population. In total, we quantitatively assessed the levels of over 500 distinct molecular species distributed among the main lipid categories. As more information is obtained regarding the roles of individual lipids in health and disease, it seems likely that future blood tests will include an ever increasing number of these lipid molecules.

Linguistic relativity.

PubMed

Wolff, Phillip; Holmes, Kevin J

2011-05-01

The central question in research on linguistic relativity, or the Whorfian hypothesis, is whether people who speak different languages think differently. The recent resurgence of research on this question can be attributed, in part, to new insights about the ways in which language might impact thought. We identify seven categories of hypotheses about the possible effects of language on thought across a wide range of domains, including motion, color, spatial relations, number, and false belief understanding. While we do not find support for the idea that language determines the basic categories of thought or that it overwrites preexisting conceptual distinctions, we do find support for the proposal that language can make some distinctions difficult to avoid, as well as for the proposal that language can augment certain types of thinking. Further, we highlight recent evidence suggesting that language may induce a relatively schematic mode of thinking. Although the literature on linguistic relativity remains contentious, there is growing support for the view that language has a profound effect on thought. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 253-265 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.104 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rapid visual perception of interracial crowds: Racial category learning from emotional segregation.

PubMed

Lamer, Sarah Ariel; Sweeny, Timothy D; Dyer, Michael Louis; Weisbuch, Max

2018-05-01

Drawing from research on social identity and ensemble coding, we theorize that crowd perception provides a powerful mechanism for social category learning. Crowds include allegiances that may be distinguished by visual cues to shared behavior and mental states, providing perceivers with direct information about social groups and thus a basis for learning social categories. Here, emotion expressions signaled group membership: to the extent that a crowd exhibited emotional segregation (i.e., was segregated into emotional subgroups), a visible characteristic (race) that incidentally distinguished emotional subgroups was expected to support categorical distinctions. Participants were randomly assigned to view interracial crowds in which emotion differences between (black vs. white) subgroups were either small (control condition) or large (emotional segregation condition). On each trial, participants saw crowds of 12 faces (6 black, 6 white) for roughly 300 ms and were asked to estimate the average emotion of the entire crowd. After all trials, participants completed a racial categorization task and self-report measure of race essentialism. As predicted, participants exposed to emotional segregation (vs. control) exhibited stronger racial category boundaries and stronger race essentialism. Furthermore, such effects accrued via ensemble coding, a visual mechanism that summarizes perceptual information: emotional segregation strengthened participants' racial category boundaries to the extent that segregation limited participants' abilities to integrate emotion across racial subgroups. Together with evidence that people observe emotional segregation in natural environments, these findings suggest that crowd perception mechanisms support racial category boundaries and race essentialism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The (Biological or Cultural) Essence of Essentialism: Implications for Policy Support among Dominant and Subordinated Groups

PubMed Central

Soylu Yalcinkaya, Nur; Estrada-Villalta, Sara; Adams, Glenn

2017-01-01

Most research links (racial) essentialism to negative intergroup outcomes. We propose that this conclusion reflects both a narrow conceptual focus on biological/genetic essence and a narrow research focus from the perspective of racially dominant groups. We distinguished between beliefs in biological and cultural essences, and we investigated the implications of this distinction for support of social justice policies (e.g., affirmative action) among people with dominant (White) and subordinated (e.g., Black, Latino) racial identities in the United States. Whereas, endorsement of biological essentialism may have similarly negative implications for social justice policies across racial categories, we investigated the hypothesis that endorsement of cultural essentialism would have different implications across racial categories. In Studies 1a and 1b, we assessed the properties of a cultural essentialism measure we developed using two samples with different racial/ethnic compositions. In Study 2, we collected data from 170 participants using an online questionnaire to test the implications of essentialist beliefs for policy support. Consistent with previous research, we found that belief in biological essentialism was negatively related to policy support for participants from both dominant and subordinated categories. In contrast, the relationship between cultural essentialism and policy support varied across identity categories in the hypothesized way: negative for participants from the dominant category but positive for participants from subordinated categories. Results suggest that cultural essentialism may provide a way of identification that subordinated communities use to mobilize support for social justice. PMID:28611723

Towards a Uniform Metrological Assessment of Grating-Based Optical Fiber Sensors: From Refractometers to Biosensors

PubMed Central

Chiavaioli, Francesco; Gouveia, Carlos A. J.; Jorge, Pedro A. S.; Baldini, Francesco

2017-01-01

A metrological assessment of grating-based optical fiber sensors is proposed with the aim of providing an objective evaluation of the performance of this sensor category. Attention was focused on the most common parameters, used to describe the performance of both optical refractometers and biosensors, which encompassed sensitivity, with a distinction between volume or bulk sensitivity and surface sensitivity, resolution, response time, limit of detection, specificity (or selectivity), reusability (or regenerability) and some other parameters of generic interest, such as measurement uncertainty, accuracy, precision, stability, drift, repeatability and reproducibility. Clearly, the concepts discussed here can also be applied to any resonance-based sensor, thus providing the basis for an easier and direct performance comparison of a great number of sensors published in the literature up to now. In addition, common mistakes present in the literature made for the evaluation of sensor performance are highlighted, and lastly a uniform performance assessment is discussed and provided. Finally, some design strategies will be proposed to develop a grating-based optical fiber sensing scheme with improved performance. PMID:28635665

Outcome prediction in home- and community-based brain injury rehabilitation using the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory.

PubMed

Malec, James F; Parrot, Devan; Altman, Irwin M; Swick, Shannon

2015-01-01

The objective of the study was to develop statistical formulas to predict levels of community participation on discharge from post-hospital brain injury rehabilitation using retrospective data analysis. Data were collected from seven geographically distinct programmes in a home- and community-based brain injury rehabilitation provider network. Participants were 642 individuals with post-traumatic brain injury. Interventions consisted of home- and community-based brain injury rehabilitation. The main outcome measure was the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory (MPAI-4) Participation Index. Linear discriminant models using admission MPAI-4 Participation Index score and log chronicity correctly predicted excellent (no to minimal participation limitations), very good (very mild participation limitations), good (mild participation limitations), and limited (significant participation limitations) outcome levels at discharge. Predicting broad outcome categories for post-hospital rehabilitation programmes based on admission assessment data appears feasible and valid. Equations to provide patients and families with probability statements on admission about expected levels of outcome are provided. It is unknown to what degree these prediction equations can be reliably applied and valid in other settings.

Towards a Uniform Metrological Assessment of Grating-Based Optical Fiber Sensors: From Refractometers to Biosensors.

PubMed

Chiavaioli, Francesco; Gouveia, Carlos A J; Jorge, Pedro A S; Baldini, Francesco

2017-06-21

A metrological assessment of grating-based optical fiber sensors is proposed with the aim of providing an objective evaluation of the performance of this sensor category. Attention was focused on the most common parameters, used to describe the performance of both optical refractometers and biosensors, which encompassed sensitivity, with a distinction between volume or bulk sensitivity and surface sensitivity, resolution, response time, limit of detection, specificity (or selectivity), reusability (or regenerability) and some other parameters of generic interest, such as measurement uncertainty, accuracy, precision, stability, drift, repeatability and reproducibility. Clearly, the concepts discussed here can also be applied to any resonance-based sensor, thus providing the basis for an easier and direct performance comparison of a great number of sensors published in the literature up to now. In addition, common mistakes present in the literature made for the evaluation of sensor performance are highlighted, and lastly a uniform performance assessment is discussed and provided. Finally, some design strategies will be proposed to develop a grating-based optical fiber sensing scheme with improved performance.

A modular microfluidic architecture for integrated biochemical analysis.

PubMed

Shaikh, Kashan A; Ryu, Kee Suk; Goluch, Edgar D; Nam, Jwa-Min; Liu, Juewen; Thaxton, C Shad; Chiesl, Thomas N; Barron, Annelise E; Lu, Yi; Mirkin, Chad A; Liu, Chang

2005-07-12

Microfluidic laboratory-on-a-chip (LOC) systems based on a modular architecture are presented. The architecture is conceptualized on two levels: a single-chip level and a multiple-chip module (MCM) system level. At the individual chip level, a multilayer approach segregates components belonging to two fundamental categories: passive fluidic components (channels and reaction chambers) and active electromechanical control structures (sensors and actuators). This distinction is explicitly made to simplify the development process and minimize cost. Components belonging to these two categories are built separately on different physical layers and can communicate fluidically via cross-layer interconnects. The chip that hosts the electromechanical control structures is called the microfluidic breadboard (FBB). A single LOC module is constructed by attaching a chip comprised of a custom arrangement of fluid routing channels and reactors (passive chip) to the FBB. Many different LOC functions can be achieved by using different passive chips on an FBB with a standard resource configuration. Multiple modules can be interconnected to form a larger LOC system (MCM level). We demonstrated the utility of this architecture by developing systems for two separate biochemical applications: one for detection of protein markers of cancer and another for detection of metal ions. In the first case, free prostate-specific antigen was detected at 500 aM concentration by using a nanoparticle-based bio-bar-code protocol on a parallel MCM system. In the second case, we used a DNAzyme-based biosensor to identify the presence of Pb(2+) (lead) at a sensitivity of 500 nM in <1 nl of solution.

Resistance switching behavior of atomic layer deposited SrTiO3 film through possible formation of Sr2Ti6O13 or Sr1Ti11O20 phases

PubMed Central

Lee, Woongkyu; Yoo, Sijung; Yoon, Kyung Jean; Yeu, In Won; Chang, Hye Jung; Choi, Jung-Hae; Hoffmann-Eifert, Susanne; Waser, Rainer; Hwang, Cheol Seong

2016-01-01

Identification of microstructural evolution of nanoscale conducting phase, such as conducting filament (CF), in many resistance switching (RS) devices is a crucial factor to unambiguously understand the electrical behaviours of the RS-based electronic devices. Among the diverse RS material systems, oxide-based redox system comprises the major category of these intriguing electronic devices, where the local, along both lateral and vertical directions of thin films, changes in oxygen chemistry has been suggested to be the main RS mechanism. However, there are systems which involve distinctive crystallographic phases as CF; the Magnéli phase in TiO2 is one of the very well-known examples. The current research reports the possible presence of distinctive local conducting phase in atomic layer deposited SrTiO3 RS thin film. The conducting phase was identified through extensive transmission electron microscopy studies, which indicated that oxygen-deficient Sr2Ti6O13 or Sr1Ti11O20 phase was presumably present mainly along the grain boundaries of SrTiO3 after the unipolar set switching in Pt/TiN/SrTiO3/Pt structure. A detailed electrical characterization revealed that the samples showed typical bipolar and complementary RS after the memory cell was unipolar reset. PMID:26830978

The Role of Visual and Semantic Properties in the Emergence of Category-Specific Patterns of Neural Response in the Human Brain.

PubMed

Coggan, David D; Baker, Daniel H; Andrews, Timothy J

2016-01-01

Brain-imaging studies have found distinct spatial and temporal patterns of response to different object categories across the brain. However, the extent to which these categorical patterns of response reflect higher-level semantic or lower-level visual properties of the stimulus remains unclear. To address this question, we measured patterns of EEG response to intact and scrambled images in the human brain. Our rationale for using scrambled images is that they have many of the visual properties found in intact images, but do not convey any semantic information. Images from different object categories (bottle, face, house) were briefly presented (400 ms) in an event-related design. A multivariate pattern analysis revealed categorical patterns of response to intact images emerged ∼80-100 ms after stimulus onset and were still evident when the stimulus was no longer present (∼800 ms). Next, we measured the patterns of response to scrambled images. Categorical patterns of response to scrambled images also emerged ∼80-100 ms after stimulus onset. However, in contrast to the intact images, distinct patterns of response to scrambled images were mostly evident while the stimulus was present (∼400 ms). Moreover, scrambled images were able to account only for all the variance in the intact images at early stages of processing. This direct manipulation of visual and semantic content provides new insights into the temporal dynamics of object perception and the extent to which different stages of processing are dependent on lower-level or higher-level properties of the image.

The history of generalized anxiety disorder as a diagnostic category.

PubMed

Crocq, Marc-Antoine

2017-06-01

From the 19th century into the 20th century, the terms used to diagnose generalized anxiety included "pantophobia" and "anxiety neurosis." Such terms designated paroxysmal manifestations (panic attacks) as well as interparoxysmal phenomenology (the apprehensive mental state). Also, generalized anxiety was considered one of numerous symptoms of neurasthenia, a vaguely defined illness. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) appeared as a diagnostic category in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM-III ) in 1980, when anxiety neurosis was split into GAD and panic disorder. The distinct responses these two disorders had to imipramine therapy was one reason to distinguish between the two. Since the revised DSM-III ( DSM-III-R ), worry about a number of life circumstances has been gradually emphasized as the distinctive symptom of GAD. Thus, a cognitive aspect of anxiety has become the core criterion of GAD. The validity of GAD as an independent category has been questioned from DSM-III up to preparation of DSM-5 . Areas of concern have included the difficulty to establish clear boundaries between GAD and (i) personality dimensions, (ii) other anxiety-spectrum disorders, and (iii) nonbipolar depression. The National Institute of Mental Health has recently proposed the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), a framework destined to facilitate biological research into the etiology of mental symptoms. Within the RDoC framework, generalized anxiety might be studied as a dimension denominated "anxious apprehension" that would typically fit into the research domain called "negative valence systems" and the more specific construct termed "potential threat."

The history of generalized anxiety disorder as a diagnostic category

PubMed Central

Crocq, Marc-Antoine

2017-01-01

From the 19th century into the 20th century, the terms used to diagnose generalized anxiety included “pantophobia” and “anxiety neurosis.” Such terms designated paroxysmal manifestations (panic attacks) as well as interparoxysmal phenomenology (the apprehensive mental state). Also, generalized anxiety was considered one of numerous symptoms of neurasthenia, a vaguely defined illness. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) appeared as a diagnostic category in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) in 1980, when anxiety neurosis was split into GAD and panic disorder. The distinct responses these two disorders had to imipramine therapy was one reason to distinguish between the two. Since the revised DSM-III (DSM-III-R), worry about a number of life circumstances has been gradually emphasized as the distinctive symptom of GAD. Thus, a cognitive aspect of anxiety has become the core criterion of GAD. The validity of GAD as an independent category has been questioned from DSM-III up to preparation of DSM-5. Areas of concern have included the difficulty to establish clear boundaries between GAD and (i) personality dimensions, (ii) other anxiety-spectrum disorders, and (iii) nonbipolar depression. The National Institute of Mental Health has recently proposed the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), a framework destined to facilitate biological research into the etiology of mental symptoms. Within the RDoC framework, generalized anxiety might be studied as a dimension denominated “anxious apprehension” that would typically fit into the research domain called “negative valence systems” and the more specific construct termed “potential threat.” PMID:28867935

Fine-grained semantic categorization across the abstract and concrete domains.

PubMed

Ghio, Marta; Vaghi, Matilde Maria Serena; Tettamanti, Marco

2013-01-01

A consolidated approach to the study of the mental representation of word meanings has consisted in contrasting different domains of knowledge, broadly reflecting the abstract-concrete dichotomy. More fine-grained semantic distinctions have emerged in neuropsychological and cognitive neuroscience work, reflecting semantic category specificity, but almost exclusively within the concrete domain. Theoretical advances, particularly within the area of embodied cognition, have more recently put forward the idea that distributed neural representations tied to the kinds of experience maintained with the concepts' referents might distinguish conceptual meanings with a high degree of specificity, including those within the abstract domain. Here we report the results of two psycholinguistic rating studies incorporating such theoretical advances with two main objectives: first, to provide empirical evidence of fine-grained distinctions within both the abstract and the concrete semantic domains with respect to relevant psycholinguistic dimensions; second, to develop a carefully controlled linguistic stimulus set that may be used for auditory as well as visual neuroimaging studies focusing on the parametrization of the semantic space beyond the abstract-concrete dichotomy. Ninety-six participants rated a set of 210 sentences across pre-selected concrete (mouth, hand, or leg action-related) and abstract (mental state-, emotion-, mathematics-related) categories, with respect either to different semantic domain-related scales (rating study 1), or to concreteness, familiarity, and context availability (rating study 2). Inferential statistics and correspondence analyses highlighted distinguishing semantic and psycholinguistic traits for each of the pre-selected categories, indicating that a simple abstract-concrete dichotomy is not sufficient to account for the entire semantic variability within either domains.

Fine-Grained Semantic Categorization across the Abstract and Concrete Domains

PubMed Central

Tettamanti, Marco

2013-01-01

A consolidated approach to the study of the mental representation of word meanings has consisted in contrasting different domains of knowledge, broadly reflecting the abstract-concrete dichotomy. More fine-grained semantic distinctions have emerged in neuropsychological and cognitive neuroscience work, reflecting semantic category specificity, but almost exclusively within the concrete domain. Theoretical advances, particularly within the area of embodied cognition, have more recently put forward the idea that distributed neural representations tied to the kinds of experience maintained with the concepts' referents might distinguish conceptual meanings with a high degree of specificity, including those within the abstract domain. Here we report the results of two psycholinguistic rating studies incorporating such theoretical advances with two main objectives: first, to provide empirical evidence of fine-grained distinctions within both the abstract and the concrete semantic domains with respect to relevant psycholinguistic dimensions; second, to develop a carefully controlled linguistic stimulus set that may be used for auditory as well as visual neuroimaging studies focusing on the parametrization of the semantic space beyond the abstract-concrete dichotomy. Ninety-six participants rated a set of 210 sentences across pre-selected concrete (mouth, hand, or leg action-related) and abstract (mental state-, emotion-, mathematics-related) categories, with respect either to different semantic domain-related scales (rating study 1), or to concreteness, familiarity, and context availability (rating study 2). Inferential statistics and correspondence analyses highlighted distinguishing semantic and psycholinguistic traits for each of the pre-selected categories, indicating that a simple abstract-concrete dichotomy is not sufficient to account for the entire semantic variability within either domains. PMID:23825625

Subtle perceptions of male sexual orientation influence occupational opportunities.

PubMed

Rule, Nicholas O; Bjornsdottir, R Thora; Tskhay, Konstantin O; Ambady, Nalini

2016-12-01

Theories linking the literatures on stereotyping and human resource management have proposed that individuals may enjoy greater success obtaining jobs congruent with stereotypes about their social categories or traits. Here, we explored such effects for a detectable, but not obvious, social group distinction: male sexual orientation. Bridging previous work on prejudice and occupational success with that on social perception, we found that perceivers rated gay and straight men as more suited to professions consistent with stereotypes about their groups (nurses, pediatricians, and English teachers vs. engineers, managers, surgeons, and math teachers) from mere photos of their faces. Notably, distinct evaluations of the gay and straight men emerged based on perceptions of their faces with no explicit indication of sexual orientation. Neither perceivers' expertise with hiring decisions nor diagnostic information about the targets eliminated these biases, but encouraging fair decisions did contribute to partly ameliorating the differences. Mediation analysis further showed that perceptions of the targets' sexual orientations and facial affect accounted for these effects. Individuals may therefore infer characteristics about individuals' group memberships from their faces and use this information in a way that meaningfully influences evaluations of their suitability for particular jobs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Triage of mass casualties in war conditions: realities and lessons learned.

PubMed

Rigal, Sylvain; Pons, François

2013-08-01

The authors made a retrospective analysis of three triage situations of war wounded in Chad and Rwanda in which mass casualties overwhelmed available medical facilities. The triage classification is based on the waiting period for surgery. The categories are: extreme, first, second and third emergencies, expectant, walking wounded. In Chad, 23 wounded adults were received in 24 hours, and 19 were operated up on within 48 hours. In Rwanda 1, 94 wounded were received in two hours, of whom 68 were operated upon, 23 on the first day. In Rwanda 2, 59 wounded were received in 12 hours, treatment of extreme and first emergencies required 48 hours, while second and third emergencies were treated during the three following days. These episodes were very different when considering the setting, the number of casualties, the type of wounds, the logistical and medical difficulties. The authors report the difficulties faced and the lessons learned. "Il faut toujours commencer par le plus douloureusement blessé sans avoir égard aux rangs et aux distinctions." You must always begin with those who are most seriously wounded without regard to rank or other distinction. Baron Larrey (1766-1842), surgeon to Napoléon's Imperial Guard.

Development of Category-based Induction and Semantic Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fisher, Anna V.; Godwin, Karrie E.; Matlen, Bryan J.; Unger, Layla

2015-01-01

Category-based induction is a hallmark of mature cognition; however, little is known about its origins. This study evaluated the hypothesis that category-based induction is related to semantic development. Computational studies suggest that early on there is little differentiation among concepts, but learning and development lead to increased…

Comparison of Self-Report Versus Sensor-Based Methods for Measuring the Amount of Upper Limb Activity Outside the Clinic.

PubMed

Waddell, Kimberly J; Lang, Catherine E

2018-03-10

To compare self-reported with sensor-measured upper limb (UL) performance in daily life for individuals with chronic (≥6mo) UL paresis poststroke. Secondary analysis of participants enrolled in a phase II randomized, parallel, dose-response UL movement trial. This analysis compared the accuracy and consistency between self-reported UL performance and sensor-measured UL performance at baseline and immediately post an 8-week intensive UL task-specific intervention. Outpatient rehabilitation. Community-dwelling individuals with chronic (≥6mo) UL paresis poststroke (N=64). Not applicable. Motor Activity Log amount of use scale and the sensor-derived use ratio from wrist-worn accelerometers. There was a high degree of variability between self-reported UL performance and the sensor-derived use ratio. Using sensor-based values as a reference, 3 distinct categories were identified: accurate reporters (reporting difference ±0.1), overreporters (difference >0.1), and underreporters (difference <-0.1). Five of 64 participants accurately self-reported UL performance at baseline and postintervention. Over half of participants (52%) switched categories from pre-to postintervention (eg, moved from underreporting preintervention to overreporting postintervention). For the consistent reporters, no participant characteristics were found to influence whether someone over- or underreported performance compared with sensor-based assessment. Participants did not consistently or accurately self-report UL performance when compared with the sensor-derived use ratio. Although self-report and sensor-based assessments are moderately associated and appear similar conceptually, these results suggest self-reported UL performance is often not consistent with sensor-measured performance and the measures cannot be used interchangeably. Copyright © 2018 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differences Between Japanese and U.S. Children's Performance on "Zoo U": A Game-Based Social Skills Assessment.

PubMed

Craig, Ashley B; DeRosier, Melissa E; Watanabe, Yayoi

2015-08-01

The purpose of this study was to test whether and how performance on a digital game-based social skills assessment tool, "Zoo U" (3C Institute, Durham, NC), differed for children in the United States and Japan across six core social skills. "Zoo U" was administered to 497 third and fourth grade children from the United States and Japan (46 percent Japanese) by teachers and researchers, respectively. U.S. children received the original version of "Zoo U," and Japanese children received a fully translated Japanese version of the program. Scoring of each of the six social skills is built into the "Zoo U" software, with specific scoring algorithms for each grade level that provide both a continuous scale score and cutoffs for three distinct performance categories: high, average, and low. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to assess differences by cultural group on each of the six continuous social skill scores, controlling for gender and grade level. Results revealed significant differences on four of the six skills in expected directions. Chi-squared and odds ratios analyses were then conducted on the assignment of children into each of the performance categories by cultural group, revealing additional nuance to the cultural differences identified in the MANOVA consistent with existing literature. We were able to replicate known cultural differences between U.S. and Japanese children with a simple direct translation of a Web-based social skills assessment game, "Zoo U." Our results provide preliminary support for the potential of game-based assessment methods to provide efficient and valid social skill assessments to children around the world.

Sex work and the construction of intimacies: meanings and work pragmatics in rural Malawi.

PubMed

Tavory, Iddo; Poulin, Michelle

2012-05-01

This article focuses on Malawian sex workers' understandings of exchange and intimacy, showing how multiple historically emergent categories and specific work pragmatics produce specific patterns of relational meanings. As we show, sex workers make sense of their relationships with clients through two categories. The first is sex work; the second is the chibwenzi , an intimate premarital relational category that emerged from pre-colonial transformations in courtship practices. These categories, in turn, are also shaped differently in different work settings. We use narratives from in-depth interviews with 45 sex workers and bar managers in southern Malawi to describe how the everyday pragmatics of two forms of sex work-performed by "bargirls" and "freelancers"-foster distinct understandings of relationships between them and men they have sex with. Bargirls, who work and live in bars, blurred the boundaries between "regulars" and chibwenzi; freelancers, who are not tethered to a specific work environment, often subverted the meanings of the chibwenzi , presenting these relationships as both intimate and emotionally distant. Through this comparison, we thus refine an approach to the study of the intimacy-exchange nexus, and use it to capture the complexities of gender relations in post-colonial Malawi.

Public Health Nurses' Activities for Suicide Prevention in Japan.

PubMed

Marutani, Miki; Yamamoto-Mitani, Noriko; Kodama, Shimpei

2016-07-01

Suicide is a major health issue worldwide, including in Japan. Japanese public health nurses (PHNs) play a distinctive role in suicide prevention, although few studies have delineated this role. The purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual framework that elucidates PHNs' activities for suicide prevention. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2012-2013 with 15 PHNs who worked in Tokyo metropolitan regions. Data were analyzed qualitatively using grounded theory, and a conceptual framework with seven categories was developed. Three phases that depict the PHNs' suicide prevention activities emerged. Phase I, Pursuing to understand suicide cases, included two categories: tracing back individual suicide cases and raising consciousness among the general public. Phase II, Spreading a web of care, included three categories: knitting a caring network, weaving regular programs into the web, and continuing to be a member of the web. Phase III, Maintaining motivation and commitment, included two categories: legitimatizing suicide prevention and cultivating continued commitment in the community. The activities of suicide prevention by PHNs included a process of developing a caring network that lead to the enhancement of the caring capacity of the community as a whole. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Moisture source classification of heavy precipitation events in Switzerland in the last 130 years (1871-2011)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aemisegger, Franziska; Piaget, Nicolas

2017-04-01

A new weather-system oriented classification framework of extreme precipitation events leading to large-scale floods in Switzerland is presented on this poster. Thirty-six high impact floods in the last 130 years are assigned to three representative categories of atmospheric moisture origin and transport patterns. The methodology underlying this moisture source classification combines information of the airmass history in the twenty days preceding the precipitation event with humidity variations along the large-scale atmospheric transport systems in a Lagrangian approach. The classification scheme is defined using the 33-year ERA-Interim reanalysis dataset (1979-2011) and is then applied to the Twentieth Century Reanalysis (1871-2011) extreme precipitation events as well as the 36 selected floods. The three defined categories are characterised by different dominant moisture uptake regions including the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean and continental Europe. Furthermore, distinct anomalies in the large-scale atmospheric flow are associated with the different categories. The temporal variations in the relative importance of the three categories over the last 130 years provides new insights into the impact of changing climate conditions on the dynamical mechanisms leading to heavy precipitation in Switzerland.

Incisor microwear and diet in three species of Colobus.

PubMed

Kelley, J

1990-01-01

Examination of incisor microwear in three species of Colobus revealed that the predominantly folivorous C. badius more closely resembles C. satanas, a seed predator/folivore, than C. guereza, another predominantly folivorous species. This demonstrates that species of the same broad dietary category can have very different patterns of incisor microwear, indicative of differences in food procurement behavior and/or the physical properties of dietary items for some portion of the diet. Conversely, species of different categories can have microwear patterns that, superficially at least, are quite similar. The dissimilarity in incisor microwear between C. badius and C. guereza is mirrored to a certain extent in molar microwear, although the differences are not nearly so great on the molars. The differences between C. badius and C. guereza may involve different food items in the major, folivorous portions of their diets, or they may relate to differences in the very minor fruit and bark components. The similar microwear patterns of C. badius and C. satanas demonstrate that incisor microwear by itself is unreliable for assigning fossil species to broad dietary categories. Incisor microwear can be used to infer finer dietary distinctions in fossil species for which dietary category has been determined by other means.

Automated strip-mine and reclamation mapping from ERTS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rogers, R. H. (Principal Investigator); Reed, L. E.; Pettyjohn, W. A.

1974-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Computer processing techniques were applied to ERTS-1 computer-compatible tape (CCT) data acquired in August 1972 on the Ohio Power Company's coal mining operation in Muskingum County, Ohio. Processing results succeeded in automatically classifying, with an accuracy greater than 90%: (1) stripped earth and major sources of erosion; (2) partially reclaimed areas and minor sources of erosion; (3) water with sedimentation; (4) water without sedimentation; and (5) vegetation. Computer-generated tables listing the area in acres and square kilometers were produced for each target category. Processing results also included geometrically corrected map overlays, one for each target category, drawn on a transparent material by a pen under computer control. Each target category is assigned a distinctive color on the overlay to facilitate interpretation. The overlays, drawn at a scale of 1:250,000 when placed over an AMS map of the same area, immediately provided map locations for each target. These mapping products were generated at a tenth of the cost of conventional mapping techniques.

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha and nitric oxide response in different categories of tuberculosis patients.

PubMed

Chakraborty, U; Goswami, A; Saha, S; Mukherjee, T; Dey, S K; Majumdar, S; Pal, N K

2013-04-01

To compare the magnitude of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and nitric oxide (NO) response in different categories of active tuberculosis (TB) patients by ex vivo experiment. New, relapsed (recurrent), miliary and pleural effusion TB cases were recruited with matched healthy controls. TNF-α and NO were measured from the culture supernatant of peripheral blood monocytes derived from cases and controls with and without challenge with live Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. TNF-α and NO production varied significantly among the different categories of TB patients. The magnitude was highest among patients with pleural effusion and lowest in miliary TB cases. In between, progressive decreases in response were noted in new and relapse cases. Overall, positive correlations between TNF-α and NO were noted among the diseased and healthy groups. Distinct TNF-α and NO levels appear to be associated with different clinical forms of TB and might help to assess prognosis and contribute to a better understanding of underlying immunopathological mechanisms.

Semantic Cuing and the Scale Insensitivity of Recency and Contiguity

PubMed Central

Polyn, Sean M.; Erlikhman, Gennady; Kahana, Michael J.

2012-01-01

In recalling a set of previously experienced events, people exhibit striking effects of recency, contiguity, and similarity: Recent items tend to be recalled best and first, and items that were studied in neighboring positions or that are similar to one another in some other way tend to evoke one another during recall. Effects of recency and contiguity have most often been investigated in tasks that require people to recall random word lists. Similarity effects have most often been studied in tasks that require people to recall categorized word lists. Here we examine recency and contiguity effects in lists composed of items drawn from 3 distinct taxonomic categories and in which items from a given category are temporally separated from one another by items from other categories, all of which are tested for recall. We find evidence for long-term recency and for long-range contiguity, bolstering support for temporally sensitive models of memory and highlighting the importance of understanding the interaction between temporal and semantic information during memory search. PMID:21299330

Is the Lateralized Categorical Perception of Color a Situational Effect of Language on Color Perception?

PubMed

Zhong, Weifang; Li, You; Huang, Yulan; Li, He; Mo, Lei

2018-01-01

This study investigated whether and how a person's varied series of lexical categories corresponding to different discriminatory characteristics of the same colors affect his or her perception of colors. In three experiments, Chinese participants were primed to categorize four graduated colors-specifically dark green, light green, light blue, and dark blue-into green and blue; light color and dark color; and dark green, light green, light blue, and dark blue. The participants were then required to complete a visual search task. Reaction times in the visual search task indicated that different lateralized categorical perceptions (CPs) of color corresponded to the various priming situations. These results suggest that all of the lexical categories corresponding to different discriminatory characteristics of the same colors can influence people's perceptions of colors and that color perceptions can be influenced differently by distinct types of lexical categories depending on the context. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

The influence of context on distinct facial expressions of disgust.

PubMed

Reschke, Peter J; Walle, Eric A; Knothe, Jennifer M; Lopez, Lukas D

2018-06-11

Face perception is susceptible to contextual influence and perceived physical similarities between emotion cues. However, studies often use structurally homogeneous facial expressions, making it difficult to explore how within-emotion variability in facial configuration affects emotion perception. This study examined the influence of context on the emotional perception of categorically identical, yet physically distinct, facial expressions of disgust. Participants categorized two perceptually distinct disgust facial expressions, "closed" (i.e., scrunched nose, closed mouth) and "open" (i.e., scrunched nose, open mouth, protruding tongue), that were embedded in contexts comprising emotion postures and scenes. Results demonstrated that the effect of nonfacial elements was significantly stronger for "open" disgust facial expressions than "closed" disgust facial expressions. These findings provide support that physical similarity within discrete categories of facial expressions is mutable and plays an important role in affective face perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

High temporal-resolution view of transcription and chromatin states across distinct metabolic states in budding yeast

PubMed Central

Kuang, Zheng; Cai, Ling; Zhang, Xuekui; Ji, Hongkai; Tu, Benjamin P.; Boeke, Jef D.

2014-01-01

Under continuous, glucose-limited conditions, budding yeast exhibit robust metabolic cycles associated with major oscillations of gene expression. How such fluctuations are linked to changes in chromatin status is not well understood. Here we examine the correlated genome-wide transcription and chromatin states across the yeast metabolic cycle at unprecedented temporal resolution, revealing a “just-in-time supply chain” by which components from specific cellular processes such as ribosome biogenesis become available in a highly coordinated manner. We identify distinct chromatin and splicing patterns associated with different gene categories and determine the relative timing of chromatin modifications to maximal transcription. There is unexpected variation in the chromatin modification and expression relationship, with histone acetylation peaks occurring with varying timing and “sharpness” relative to RNA expression both within and between cycle phases. Chromatin modifier occupancy reveals subtly distinct spatial and temporal patterns compared to the modifications themselves. PMID:25173176

The evaluation of sources of knowledge underlying different conceptual categories.

PubMed

Gainotti, Guido; Spinelli, Pietro; Scaricamazza, Eugenia; Marra, Camillo

2013-01-01

According to the "embodied cognition" theory and the "sensory-motor model of semantic knowledge": (a) concepts are represented in the brain in the same format in which they are constructed by the sensory-motor system and (b) various conceptual categories differ according to the weight of different kinds of information in their representation. In this study, we tried to check the second assumption by asking normal elderly subjects to subjectively evaluate the role of various perceptual, motor and language-mediated sources of knowledge in the construction of different semantic categories. Our first aim was to rate the influence of different sources of knowledge in the representation of animals, plant life and artifact categories, rather than in living and non-living beings, as many previous studies on this subject have done. We also tried to check the influence of age and stimulus modality on these evaluations of the "sources of knowledge" underlying different conceptual categories. The influence of age was checked by comparing results obtained in our group of elderly subjects with those obtained in a previous study, conducted with a similar methodology on a sample of young students. And the influence of stimulus modality was assessed by presenting the stimuli in the verbal modality to 50 subjects and in the pictorial modality to 50 other subjects. The distinction between "animals" and "plant life" in the "living" categories was confirmed by analyzing their prevalent sources of knowledge and by a cluster analysis, which allowed us to distinguish "plant life" items from animals. Furthermore, results of the study showed: (a) that our subjects considered the visual modality as the main source of knowledge for all categories taken into account; and (b) that in biological categories the next most important source of information was represented by other perceptual modalities, whereas in artifacts it was represented by the actions performed with them. Finally, age and stimulus modality did not significantly influence judgment of relevance of the sources of knowledge involved in the construction of different conceptual categories.

On the nosology and pathogenesis of Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome: genotype-phenotype correlation analysis of 80 patients and literature review.

PubMed

Zollino, Marcella; Murdolo, Marina; Marangi, Giuseppe; Pecile, Vanna; Galasso, Cinzia; Mazzanti, Laura; Neri, Giovanni

2008-11-15

Based on genotype-phenotype correlation analysis of 80 Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) patients, as well as on review of relevant literature, we add further insights to the following aspects of WHS: (1) clinical delineation and phenotypic categories; (2) characterization of the basic genomic defect, mechanisms of origin and familiarity; (3) identification of prognostic factors for mental retardation; (4) chromosome mapping of the distinctive clinical signs, in an effort to identify pathogenic genes. Clinically, we consider that minimal diagnostic criteria for WHS, defining a "core" phenotype, are typical facial appearance, mental retardation, growth delay and seizures (or EEG anomalies). Three different categories of the WHS phenotype were defined, generally correlating with the extent of the 4p deletion. The first one comprises a small deletion not exceeding 3.5 Mb, that is usually associated with a mild phenotype, lacking major malformations. This category is likely under-diagnosed. The second and by far the more frequent category is identified by large deletions, averaging between 5 and 18 Mb, and causes the widely recognizable WHS phenotype. The third clinical category results from a very large deletion exceeding 22-25 Mb causing a severe phenotype, that can hardly be defined as typical WHS. Genetically, de novo chromosome abnormalities in WHS include pure deletions but also complex rearrangements, mainly unbalanced translocations. With the exception of t(4p;8p), WHS-associated chromosome abnormalities are neither mediated by segmental duplications, nor associated with a parental inversion polymorphism on 4p16.3. Factors involved in prediction of prognosis include the extent of the deletion, the occurrence of complex chromosome anomalies, and the severity of seizures. We found that the core phenotype maps within the terminal 1.9 Mb region of chromosome 4p. Therefore, WHSCR-2 should be considered the critical region for this condition. We also confirmed that the pathogenesis of WHS is multigenic. Specific and independent chromosome regions were characterized for growth delay and seizures, as well as for the additional clinical signs that characterize this condition. With the exception of parental balanced translocations, familial recurrence is uncommon.

Body experience and mental representation of body image in patients with haematological malignancies and cancer as assessed with the Body Grid.

PubMed

Weber, C; Bronner, E; Thier, P; Schoeneich, F; Walter, O; Klapp, B F; Kingreen, D

2001-12-01

The domain of body image plays a central role in the quality of life of patients with haematological malignancies and metastasized cancer, since the disease itself as well as the enrolled therapies interfere with psychological and bodily well-being. We approached this highly subjective field by using the repertory grid technique and hypothesized that patients would display a restricted body image, focusing on functional aspects of the body. In all, 55 in-patients (27 men, 28 women, M age = 45.7 yrs, N = 46 with haematological malignancies, N = 9 with metastasized cancer), at the time of initial diagnosis, were included in the study and assessed with the Body Grid, an instrument specifically designed by us for the exploration of body image. The data were analysed by principal component analysis (PCA) and construct categorization. Further, 42 chronic tinnitus sufferers (20 male, 22 female, M age = 46.5 yrs) served as a comparison group. Based on the constructs elicited, six construct categories were formulated in the sense of a first attempt of a hierarchical model (emotion, control, activity, strength, function, appearance). The central constructs (373 construct pairs) were assigned to these categories by three inter-raters. The categories appeared in the following order of frequency: function (27.1%), emotion (20.4%), strength (20.1%), activity (15%), control (10.2%) and appearance (7.2%). PCA indicated that the patients mainly demonstrated a restricted view of their body. In the tinnitus group, the most frequent category proved to be activity (21.3%), closely followed by function (21.1%) and control (20.9%). The body image was also restricted (PCA). The restriction of body image, together with the specific construct choice, seen in the haematology and cancer patients reflects the existential threat of the disease and may serve as a coping strategy. The high percentage of emotional constructs may mirror the patients' need for further support. The distinct distribution of construct categories in the two different patient samples supports the applicability of the proposed preliminary model.

Deafness for the meanings of number words

PubMed Central

Caño, Agnès; Rapp, Brenda; Costa, Albert; Juncadella, Montserrat

2008-01-01

We describe the performance of an aphasic individual who showed a selective impairment affecting his comprehension of auditorily presented number words and not other word categories. His difficulty in number word comprehension was restricted to the auditory modality, given that with visual stimuli (written words, Arabic numerals and pictures) his comprehension of number and non-number words was intact. While there have been previous reports of selective difficulty or sparing of number words at the semantic and post-semantic levels, this is the first reported case of a pre-semantic deficit that is specific to the category of number words. This constitutes evidence that lexical semantic distinctions are respected by modality-specific neural mechanisms responsible for providing access to the meanings of words. PMID:17915265

Two-Stage Categorization in Brand Extension Evaluation: Electrophysiological Time Course Evidence

PubMed Central

Wang, Xiaoyi

2014-01-01

A brand name can be considered a mental category. Similarity-based categorization theory has been used to explain how consumers judge a new product as a member of a known brand, a process called brand extension evaluation. This study was an event-related potential study conducted in two experiments. The study found a two-stage categorization process reflected by the P2 and N400 components in brand extension evaluation. In experiment 1, a prime–probe paradigm was presented in a pair consisting of a brand name and a product name in three conditions, i.e., in-category extension, similar-category extension, and out-of-category extension. Although the task was unrelated to brand extension evaluation, P2 distinguished out-of-category extensions from similar-category and in-category ones, and N400 distinguished similar-category extensions from in-category ones. In experiment 2, a prime–probe paradigm with a related task was used, in which product names included subcategory and major-category product names. The N400 elicited by subcategory products was more significantly negative than that elicited by major-category products, with no salient difference in P2. We speculated that P2 could reflect the early low-level and similarity-based processing in the first stage, whereas N400 could reflect the late analytic and category-based processing in the second stage. PMID:25438152

Molecular neurobiology of Drosophila taste

PubMed Central

Freeman, Erica Gene; Dahanukar, Anupama

2015-01-01

Drosophila is a powerful model in which to study the molecular and cellular basis of taste coding. Flies sense tastants via populations of taste neurons that are activated by compounds of distinct categories. The past few years have borne witness to studies that define the properties of taste neurons, identifying functionally distinct classes of sweet and bitter taste neurons that express unique subsets of gustatory receptor (Gr) genes, as well as water, salt, and pheromone sensing neurons that express members of the pickpocket (ppk) or ionotropic receptor (Ir) families. There has also been significant progress in terms of understanding how tastant information is processed and conveyed to higher brain centers, and modulated by prior dietary experience or starvation. PMID:26102453

Characterizing Rule-Based Category Learning Deficits in Patients with Parkinson's Disease

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Filoteo, J. Vincent; Maddox, W. Todd; Ing, A. David; Song, David D.

2007-01-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and normal controls were tested in three category learning experiments to determine if previously observed rule-based category learning impairments in PD patients were due to deficits in selective attention or working memory. In Experiment 1, optimal categorization required participants to base their decision on a…

Rule-Based and Information-Integration Category Learning in Normal Aging

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maddox, W. Todd; Pacheco, Jennifer; Reeves, Maia; Zhu, Bo; Schnyer, David M.

2010-01-01

The basal ganglia and prefrontal cortex play critical roles in category learning. Both regions evidence age-related structural and functional declines. The current study examined rule-based and information-integration category learning in a group of older and younger adults. Rule-based learning is thought to involve explicit, frontally mediated…

Periodontitis: Consensus report of workgroup 2 of the 2017 World Workshop on the Classification of Periodontal and Peri-Implant Diseases and Conditions.

PubMed

Papapanou, Panos N; Sanz, Mariano; Buduneli, Nurcan; Dietrich, Thomas; Feres, Magda; Fine, Daniel H; Flemmig, Thomas F; Garcia, Raul; Giannobile, William V; Graziani, Filippo; Greenwell, Henry; Herrera, David; Kao, Richard T; Kebschull, Moritz; Kinane, Denis F; Kirkwood, Keith L; Kocher, Thomas; Kornman, Kenneth S; Kumar, Purnima S; Loos, Bruno G; Machtei, Eli; Meng, Huanxin; Mombelli, Andrea; Needleman, Ian; Offenbacher, Steven; Seymour, Gregory J; Teles, Ricardo; Tonetti, Maurizio S

2018-06-01

A new periodontitis classification scheme has been adopted, in which forms of the disease previously recognized as "chronic" or "aggressive" are now grouped under a single category ("periodontitis") and are further characterized based on a multi-dimensional staging and grading system. Staging is largely dependent upon the severity of disease at presentation as well as on the complexity of disease management, while grading provides supplemental information about biological features of the disease including a history-based analysis of the rate of periodontitis progression; assessment of the risk for further progression; analysis of possible poor outcomes of treatment; and assessment of the risk that the disease or its treatment may negatively affect the general health of the patient. Necrotizing periodontal diseases, whose characteristic clinical phenotype includes typical features (papilla necrosis, bleeding, and pain) and are associated with host immune response impairments, remain a distinct periodontitis category. Endodontic-periodontal lesions, defined by a pathological communication between the pulpal and periodontal tissues at a given tooth, occur in either an acute or a chronic form, and are classified according to signs and symptoms that have direct impact on their prognosis and treatment. Periodontal abscesses are defined as acute lesions characterized by localized accumulation of pus within the gingival wall of the periodontal pocket/sulcus, rapid tissue destruction and are associated with risk for systemic dissemination. © 2018 American Academy of Periodontology and European Federation of Periodontology.

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

Jakob, Christian

This report summarises an investigation into the relationship of tropical thunderstorms to the atmospheric conditions they are embedded in. The study is based on the use of radar observations at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement site in Darwin run under the auspices of the DOE Atmospheric Systems Research program. Linking the larger scales of the atmosphere with the smaller scales of thunderstorms is crucial for the development of the representation of thunderstorms in weather and climate models, which is carried out by a process termed parametrisation. Through the analysis of radar and wind profiler observations the project made several fundamental discoveriesmore » about tropical storms and quantified the relationship of the occurrence and intensity of these storms to the large-scale atmosphere. We were able to show that the rainfall averaged over an area the size of a typical climate model grid-box is largely controlled by the number of storms in the area, and less so by the storm intensity. This allows us to completely rethink the way we represent such storms in climate models. We also found that storms occur in three distinct categories based on their depth and that the transition between these categories is strongly related to the larger scale dynamical features of the atmosphere more so than its thermodynamic state. Finally, we used our observational findings to test and refine a new approach to cumulus parametrisation which relies on the stochastic modelling of the area covered by different convective cloud types.« less

Distinct neuropsychological subgroups in typically developing youth inform heterogeneity in children with ADHD

PubMed Central

Fair, Damien A.; Bathula, Deepti; Nikolas, Molly A.; Nigg, Joel T.

2012-01-01

Research and clinical investigations in psychiatry largely rely on the de facto assumption that the diagnostic categories identified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) represent homogeneous syndromes. However, the mechanistic heterogeneity that potentially underlies the existing classification scheme might limit discovery of etiology for most developmental psychiatric disorders. Another, perhaps less palpable, reality may also be interfering with progress—heterogeneity in typically developing populations. In this report we attempt to clarify neuropsychological heterogeneity in a large dataset of typically developing youth and youth with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), using graph theory and community detection. We sought to determine whether data-driven neuropsychological subtypes could be discerned in children with and without the disorder. Because individual classification is the sine qua non for eventual clinical translation, we also apply support vector machine-based multivariate pattern analysis to identify how well ADHD status in individual children can be identified as defined by the community detection delineated subtypes. The analysis yielded several unique, but similar subtypes across both populations. Just as importantly, comparing typically developing children with ADHD children within each of these distinct subgroups increased diagnostic accuracy. Two important principles were identified that have the potential to advance our understanding of typical development and developmental neuropsychiatric disorders. The first tenet suggests that typically developing children can be classified into distinct neuropsychological subgroups with high precision. The second tenet proposes that some of the heterogeneity in individuals with ADHD might be “nested” in this normal variation. PMID:22474392

Extra virgin (EV) and ordinary (ON) olive oils: distinction and detection of adulteration (EV with ON) as determined by direct infusion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and chemometric approaches.

PubMed

Alves, Júnia de O; Neto, Waldomiro B; Mitsutake, Hery; Alves, Paulo S P; Augusti, Rodinei

2010-07-15

Extra virgin (EV), the finest and most expensive among all the olive oil grades, is often adulterated by the cheapest and lowest quality ordinary (ON) olive oil. A new methodology is described herein that provides a simple, rapid, and accurate way not only to detect such type of adulteration, but also to distinguish between these olive oil grades (EV and ON). This approach is based on the application of direct infusion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in the positive ion mode, ESI(+)-MS, followed by the treatment of the MS data via exploratory statistical approaches, PCA (principal component analysis) and HCA (hierarchical clustering analysis). Ten distinct brands of each EV and ON olive oil, acquired at local stores, were analyzed by ESI(+)-MS and the results from HCA and PCA clearly indicated the formation of two distinct groups related to these two categories. For the adulteration study, one brand of each olive oil grade (EV and ON) was selected. The counterfeit samples (a total of 20) were then prepared by adding assorted proportions, from 1 to 20% w/w, with increments of 1% w/w, of the ON to the EV olive oil. The PCA and HCA methodologies, applied to the ESI(+)-MS data from the counterfeit (20) and authentic (10) EV samples, were able to readily detect adulteration, even at levels as low as 1% w/w. Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Encodings of implied motion for animate and inanimate object categories in the two visual pathways.

PubMed

Lu, Zhengang; Li, Xueting; Meng, Ming

2016-01-15

Previous research has proposed two separate pathways for visual processing: the dorsal pathway for "where" information vs. the ventral pathway for "what" information. Interestingly, the middle temporal cortex (MT) in the dorsal pathway is involved in representing implied motion from still pictures, suggesting an interaction between motion and object related processing. However, the relationship between how the brain encodes implied motion and how the brain encodes object/scene categories is unclear. To address this question, fMRI was used to measure activity along the two pathways corresponding to different animate and inanimate categories of still pictures with different levels of implied motion speed. In the visual areas of both pathways, activity induced by pictures of humans and animals was hardly modulated by the implied motion speed. By contrast, activity in these areas correlated with the implied motion speed for pictures of inanimate objects and scenes. The interaction between implied motion speed and stimuli category was significant, suggesting different encoding mechanisms of implied motion for animate-inanimate distinction. Further multivariate pattern analysis of activity in the dorsal pathway revealed significant effects of stimulus category that are comparable to the ventral pathway. Moreover, still pictures of inanimate objects/scenes with higher implied motion speed evoked activation patterns that were difficult to differentiate from those evoked by pictures of humans and animals, indicating a functional role of implied motion in the representation of object categories. These results provide novel evidence to support integrated encoding of motion and object categories, suggesting a rethink of the relationship between the two visual pathways. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Study of the Gamma-Ray Burst Fundamental Plane

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

Dainotti, M. G.; Hernandez, X.; Postnikov, S.

2017-10-20

Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with a plateau phase in their X-ray afterglows obey a 3D relation, between the rest-frame time at the end of the plateau, T {sub a} , its corresponding X-ray luminosity, L {sub a} , and the peak luminosity in the prompt emission, L {sub peak}. This 3D relation identifies a GRB fundamental plane whose existence we here confirm. Here we include the most recent GRBs observed by Swift to define a “gold sample” (45 GRBs) and obtain an intrinsic scatter about the plane compatible within 1 σ with the previous result. We compare GRB categories, suchmore » as short GRBs with extended emission (SEE), X-ray flashes, GRBs associated with supernovae, a sample of only long-duration GRBs (132), selected from the total sample by excluding GRBs of the previous categories, and the gold sample, composed by GRBs with light curves with good data coverage and relatively flat plateaus. We find that the relation planes for each of these categories are not statistically different from the gold fundamental plane, with the exception of the SSE, which are hence identified as a physically distinct class. The gold fundamental plane has an intrinsic scatter smaller than any plane derived from the other sample categories. Thus, the distance of any particular GRB category from this plane becomes a key parameter. We computed the several category planes with T {sub a} as a dependent parameter obtaining for each category smaller intrinsic scatters (reaching a reduction of 24% for the long GRBs). The fundamental plane is independent from several prompt and afterglow parameters.« less

The Cultural Evolution of Structured Languages in an Open-Ended, Continuous World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carr, Jon W.; Smith, Kenny; Cornish, Hannah; Kirby, Simon

2017-01-01

Language maps signals onto meanings through the use of two distinct types of structure. First, the space of meanings is discretized into categories that are shared by all users of the language. Second, the signals employed by the language are compositional: The meaning of the whole is a function of its parts and the way in which those parts are…

The Structure of Self-Serving Cognitive Distortions: A Validation of the "How I Think" Questionnaire in a Sample of Italian Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bacchini, Dario; De Angelis, Grazia; Affuso, Gaetana; Brugman, Daniel

2016-01-01

This study aims to investigate the structure of self-serving cognitive distortions (CD), evaluating the psychometric properties of the How I Think Questionnaire in a sample of Italian adolescents. A confirmatory factor analysis supported the distinction between four categories of CD and the use of a single second-order dimension of CD. Reliability…

Validation of Proposed DSM-5 Criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder

PubMed Central

Frazier, Thomas W.; Youngstrom, Eric A.; Speer, Leslie; Embacher, Rebecca; Law, Paul; Constantino, John; Findling, Robert L.; Hardan, Antonio Y.; Eng, Charis

2011-01-01

Objective The primary aim of the present study was to evaluate the validity of proposed DSM-5 criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Method We analyzed symptoms from 14,744 siblings (8,911 ASD; 5,863 non-ASD) included in a national registry, the Interactive Autism Network. Youth aged 2–18 were included if at least one child in the family was diagnosed with ASD. Caregivers reported symptoms using the Social Responsiveness Scale and the Social Communication Questionnaire. The structure of autism symptoms was examined using latent variable models that included categories, dimensions, or hybrid models specifying categories and sub-dimensions. Diagnostic efficiency statistics evaluated the proposed DSM-5 algorithm in identifying ASD. Results A hybrid model that included both a category (ASD vs. non-ASD) and two symptom dimensions (social communication/interaction and restricted/repetitive behaviors) was more parsimonious than all other models and replicated across measures and sub-samples. Empirical classifications from this hybrid model closely mirrored clinical ASD diagnoses (90% overlap), implying a broad ASD category distinct from non-ASD. DSM-5 criteria had superior specificity relative to DSM-IV-TR criteria (.97 vs. .86), however sensitivity was lower (.81 vs. .95). Relaxing DSM-5 criteria by requiring one less symptom criterion increased sensitivity (.93 vs. .81), with minimal reduction in specificity (.95 vs. .97). Conclusions Results supported the validity of proposed DSM-5 criteria for ASD as provided in Phase I field trials criteria. Increased specificity of DSM-5 relative to DSM-IV-TR may reduce false positive diagnoses, a particularly relevant consideration for low base rate clinical settings. Phase II testing of DSM-5 should consider a relaxed algorithm, without which as many as 12% of ASD-affected individuals, particularly females, will be missed. Relaxed DSM-5 criteria may improve identification of ASD, decreasing societal costs through appropriate early diagnosis and maximizing intervention resources. PMID:22176937

Molecular aspects of aromatic C additions to soils: Implications of char quality for ecosystem functionality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keiluweit, M.; Nico, P. S.; Johnson, M. G.; Kleber, M.

2009-12-01

Solid residues of incomplete combustion (biochar or char) are continuously being added to soils due to natural vegetation fires in many ecosystems. However, new strategies for carbon sequestration in soils are likely to include the active addition of biochar to soils. Since biochar is a highly aromatic organic material such additions will modify the native molecular structure of soil organic matter and thus alter interactions with the global atmosphere and hydrosphere. Here we present a molecular level assessment of the physical organization and chemical complexity of biomass-derived chars and, specifically, that of aromatic carbon in char structures. Differences among wood and grass charred at temperatures from 100 to 700°C are investigated. BET-N2 surface area, X-ray diffraction (XRD), synchrotron-based Near-edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy results demonstrate how the two plant precursor materials undergo analogous, but quantitatively different physical-chemical transitions as charring intensity increases. These changes suggest the existence of four distinct physical and chemical categories of char. We find that each category of char consists of a unique mixture of chemical phases and physical states: (i) in transition chars the crystalline character of the precursor materials is preserved, (ii) in amorphous chars the heat-altered molecules and incipient aromatic polycondensates are randomly mixed, (iii) composite chars consist of poorly ordered graphene stacks embedded in amorphous phases, and (iv) turbostratic chars are dominated by turbostratic (disordered) graphitic crystallites. There is wide variation in both the chemical and the physical nature of aromatic carbon among these char categories. In this presentation we will point out how molecular variations among the aromatic components of the different char categories translate into differences in their ability to: (i) persist in the environment, (ii) function as environmental sorbents, and (iii) to enable the soil to provide environmental services.

Computerized Classification of Pneumoconiosis on Digital Chest Radiography Artificial Neural Network with Three Stages.

PubMed

Okumura, Eiichiro; Kawashita, Ikuo; Ishida, Takayuki

2017-08-01

It is difficult for radiologists to classify pneumoconiosis from category 0 to category 3 on chest radiographs. Therefore, we have developed a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system based on a three-stage artificial neural network (ANN) method for classification based on four texture features. The image database consists of 36 chest radiographs classified as category 0 to category 3. Regions of interest (ROIs) with a matrix size of 32 × 32 were selected from chest radiographs. We obtained a gray-level histogram, histogram of gray-level difference, gray-level run-length matrix (GLRLM) feature image, and gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCOM) feature image in each ROI. For ROI-based classification, the first ANN was trained with each texture feature. Next, the second ANN was trained with output patterns obtained from the first ANN. Finally, we obtained a case-based classification for distinguishing among four categories with the third ANN method. We determined the performance of the third ANN by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The areas under the ROC curve (AUC) of the highest category (severe pneumoconiosis) case and the lowest category (early pneumoconiosis) case were 0.89 ± 0.09 and 0.84 ± 0.12, respectively. The three-stage ANN with four texture features showed the highest performance for classification among the four categories. Our CAD system would be useful for assisting radiologists in classification of pneumoconiosis from category 0 to category 3.

An empirical review of antimalarial quality field surveys: the importance of characterising outcomes.

PubMed

Grech, James; Robertson, James; Thomas, Jackson; Cooper, Gabrielle; Naunton, Mark; Kelly, Tamsin

2018-01-05

For decades, thousands of people have been dying from malaria infections because of poor-quality medicines (PQMs). While numerous efforts have been initiated to reduce their presence, PQMs are still risking the lives of those seeking treatment. This review addresses the importance of characterising results of antimalarial medicine field surveys based upon the agreement of clearly defined definitions. Medicines found to be of poor quality can be falsified or counterfeit, substandard or degraded. The distinction between these categories is important as each category requires a different countermeasure. To observe the current trends in the reporting of field surveys, a systematic literature search of six academic databases resulted in the quantitative analysis of 61 full-text journal articles. Information including sample size, sampling method, geographical regions, analytical techniques, and characterisation conclusions was observed for each. The lack of an accepted uniform reporting system has resulted in varying, incomplete reports, which may not include important information that helps form effective countermeasures. The programmes influencing medicine quality such as prequalification, procurement services, awareness and education can be supported with the information derived from characterised results. The implementation of checklists such as the Medicine Quality Assessment Reporting Guidelines will further strengthen the battle against poor-quality antimalarials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Home energy management (HEM) database: A list with coded attributes of 308 devices commercially available in the US.

PubMed

Pritoni, Marco; Ford, Rebecca; Karlin, Beth; Sanguinetti, Angela

2018-02-01

Policymakers worldwide are currently discussing whether to include home energy management (HEM) products in their portfolio of technologies to reduce carbon emissions and improve grid reliability. However, very little data is available about these products. Here we present the results of an extensive review including 308 HEM products available on the US market in 2015-2016. We gathered these data from publicly available sources such as vendor websites, online marketplaces and other vendor documents. A coding guide was developed iteratively during the data collection and utilized to classify the devices. Each product was coded based on 96 distinct attributes, grouped into 11 categories: Identifying information, Product components, Hardware, Communication, Software, Information - feedback, Information - feedforward, Control, Utility interaction, Additional benefits and Usability. The codes describe product features and functionalities, user interaction and interoperability with other devices. A mix of binary attributes and more descriptive codes allow to sort and group data without losing important qualitative information. The information is stored in a large spreadsheet included with this article, along with an explanatory coding guide. This dataset is analyzed and described in a research article entitled "Categories and functionality of smart home technology for energy management" (Ford et al., 2017) [1].

Dynamic molecular structure of plant biomass-derived black carbon (biochar)

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

Keiluweit, M.; Nico, P.S.; Johnson, M.G.

2009-11-15

Char black carbon (BC), the solid residue of incomplete combustion, is continuously being added to soils and sediments due to natural vegetation fires, anthropogenic pollution, and new strategies for carbon sequestration ('biochar'). Here we present a molecular-level assessment of the physical organization and chemical complexity of biomass-derived chars and, specifically, that of aromatic carbon in char structures. BET-N{sub 2} surface area, X-ray diffraction (XRD), synchrotron-based Near-edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy are used to show how two plant materials (wood and grass) undergo analogous, but quantitatively different physical-chemical transitions as charring temperature increases frommore » 100 to 700 C. These changes suggest the existence of four distinct categories of char consisting of a unique mixture of chemical phases and physical states: (i) in transition chars the crystalline character of the precursor materials is preserved, (ii) in amorphous chars the heat-altered molecules and incipient aromatic polycondensates are randomly mixed, (iii) composite chars consist of poorly ordered graphene stacks embedded in amorphous phases, and (iv) turbostratic chars are dominated by disordered graphitic crystallites. The molecular variations among the different char categories translate into differences in their ability to persist in the environment and function as environmental sorbents.« less

Language-Invariant Verb Processing Regions in Spanish-English Bilinguals

PubMed Central

Willms, Joanna L.; Shapiro, Kevin A.; Peelen, Marius V.; Pajtas, Petra E.; Costa, Albert; Moo, Lauren R.; Caramazza, Alfonso

2011-01-01

Nouns and verbs are fundamental grammatical building blocks of all languages. Studies of brain-damaged patients and healthy individuals have demonstrated that verb processing can be dissociated from noun processing at a neuroanatomical level. In cases where bilingual patients have a noun or verb deficit, the deficit has been observed in both languages. This suggests that the noun-verb distinction may be based on neural components that are common across languages. Here we investigated the cortical organization of grammatical categories in healthy, early Spanish-English bilinguals using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a morphophonological alternation task. Four regions showed greater activity for verbs than for nouns in both languages: left posterior middle temporal gyrus (LMTG), left middle frontal gyrus (LMFG), pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), and right middle occipital gyrus (RMOG); no regions showed greater activation for nouns. Multi-voxel pattern analysis within verb-specific regions showed indistinguishable activity patterns for English and Spanish, indicating language-invariant bilingual processing. In LMTG and LMFG, patterns were more similar within than across grammatical category, both within and across languages, indicating language-invariant grammatical class information. These results suggest that the neural substrates underlying verb-specific processing are largely independent of language in bilinguals, both at the macroscopic neuroanatomical level and at the level of voxel activity patterns. PMID:21515387

[Prevention of stress in the workplace].

PubMed

Vaccani, R

2009-01-01

The chronological/logical path goes from the base distinction that classify the stressing phenomena between the two categories, eu-stress and dis-stress. It is underlined the subjective characteristic of stressing processes, the statement that what might be eu-stress for someone can be dis-stress for others. The organizational setting can be considered as a privileged preventive intervention area. Therefore it is suggested this categorization for the stress organizational causes: Causes connected to the organizational system (Incoherencies or structural understaffing, procedural incoherencies); Causes connected to the wrong alignment of competencies; Causes connected to the wrong alignment of aptitudes; Causes connected to the social dynamics of abuse of power. The categories to differentiate the stress organizational causes are proposed to give a useful glossary to design various preventive actions: Preventive actions on the organizational setting; Preventive actions through education; Preventive actions about role redesign; Preventive actions aimed at sustaining ethical social cohabitation. Finally, it is assessed that the approach to organizational stress requires an holistic, multi disciplinary perspective analysis, able to connect the ethic and qualitative characteristic of the markets (closed and open markets) to the organizational setting, to the subject peculiar character at work and its impact with working roles, to the social dynamics derived from hierarchical roles, to the organizational moods, to the individual perceptions, to the clinical paths.

Intrapartum fetal heart rate monitoring: evaluation of a standardized system of interpretation for prediction of metabolic acidosis at delivery and neonatal neurological morbidity.

PubMed

Soncini, Emanuele; Paganelli, Simone; Vezzani, Cristina; Gargano, Giancarlo; Giovanni Battista, La Sala

2014-09-01

To assess the ability of the intrapartum fetal heart rate interpretation system developed in 2008 by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to predict fetal metabolic acidosis at delivery and neonatal neurological morbidity. We analyzed the intrapartum fetal heart rate tracings of 314 singleton fetuses at ≥ 37 weeks using the NICHD three-tier system of interpretation: Category I (normal), Category II (indeterminate) and Category III (abnormal). Category II was further divided into Category IIA, with moderate fetal heart rate variability or accelerations, and Category IIB, with minimal/absent fetal heart rate variability and no accelerations. The presence and duration of the different patterns were compared with several clinical neonatal outcomes and with umbilical artery acid-base balance at birth. The mean values of pH and base excess decreased proportionally as tracings worsened (p < 0.001). The duration of at least 30 min for Category III tracings was highly predictive of a pH <7.00 and a base excess ≤-12 mmol/L. The same was true for the duration of Category IIB tracings that lasted for at least 50 min. Our study demonstrates that the interpretation of fetal heart rate tracings based on a strictly standardized system is closely associated with umbilical artery acid-base status at delivery.

The Role of Corticostriatal Systems in Speech Category Learning

PubMed Central

Yi, Han-Gyol; Maddox, W. Todd; Mumford, Jeanette A.; Chandrasekaran, Bharath

2016-01-01

One of the most difficult category learning problems for humans is learning nonnative speech categories. While feedback-based category training can enhance speech learning, the mechanisms underlying these benefits are unclear. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we investigated neural and computational mechanisms underlying feedback-dependent speech category learning in adults. Positive feedback activated a large corticostriatal network including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, inferior parietal lobule, middle temporal gyrus, caudate, putamen, and the ventral striatum. Successful learning was contingent upon the activity of domain-general category learning systems: the fast-learning reflective system, involving the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that develops and tests explicit rules based on the feedback content, and the slow-learning reflexive system, involving the putamen in which the stimuli are implicitly associated with category responses based on the reward value in feedback. Computational modeling of response strategies revealed significant use of reflective strategies early in training and greater use of reflexive strategies later in training. Reflexive strategy use was associated with increased activation in the putamen. Our results demonstrate a critical role for the reflexive corticostriatal learning system as a function of response strategy and proficiency during speech category learning. Keywords: category learning, fMRI, corticostriatal systems, speech, putamen PMID:25331600

A Comparison of the neural correlates that underlie rule-based and information-integration category learning.

PubMed

Carpenter, Kathryn L; Wills, Andy J; Benattayallah, Abdelmalek; Milton, Fraser

2016-10-01

The influential competition between verbal and implicit systems (COVIS) model proposes that category learning is driven by two competing neural systems-an explicit, verbal, system, and a procedural-based, implicit, system. In the current fMRI study, participants learned either a conjunctive, rule-based (RB), category structure that is believed to engage the explicit system, or an information-integration category structure that is thought to preferentially recruit the implicit system. The RB and information-integration category structures were matched for participant error rate, the number of relevant stimulus dimensions, and category separation. Under these conditions, considerable overlap in brain activation, including the prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, and the hippocampus, was found between the RB and information-integration category structures. Contrary to the predictions of COVIS, the medial temporal lobes and in particular the hippocampus, key regions for explicit memory, were found to be more active in the information-integration condition than in the RB condition. No regions were more activated in RB than information-integration category learning. The implications of these results for theories of category learning are discussed. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3557-3574, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

'Strange money': risk, finance and socialized debt.

PubMed

Dodd, Nigel

2011-03-01

This paper explores an essential but neglected aspect of recent discussions of the banking and financial system, namely money itself. Specifically, I take up a distinction drawn by Susan Strange which has never been fully elaborated: between a financial system that is global, and an international monetary system that remains largely territorial. I propose a sociological elaboration of this distinction by examining each category, 'finance' and 'money', in terms of its distinctive orientation to risk and debt. Money is distinguished by its high degree of liquidity and low degree of risk, corresponding to expectations that derive from its status as a 'claim upon society'- a form of socialized debt. But as Strange argued, these features of money are being undermined by the proliferation of sophisticated instruments of financial risk management -'strange money'- that, as monetary substitutes, both weaken states' capacity to manage money, and more broadly, contribute to 'overbanking'. The ultimate danger, according to Strange, is the 'death of money'. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of the distinction for sociological arguments about the changing nature of money. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2011.

[The role, power and health of women].

PubMed

Yang, Yu-O; Chen, Chung-Hey

2007-04-01

Women's health issues, often addressed together with reproduction and children's health under the broad based "women and children's health" category, receive inadequate attention from the medical system. In retrospect, the social construct of the female role has been grounded in the physiological nature of sex. Thus, women are often treated based on their stereotypical roles (e.g., mother, daughter-in-law, wife, daughter) rather than on their needs as distinct individuals. Although modern society was built by women and men together, patriarchal values continue to relegate the social status and value of women to that of assistant. Social opportunity remains significantly different for men and women, with discrimination persisting. The status and value of women are often ignored in both the public and private sectors. While status and power influences the health of women, such mechanisms are rarely discussed in the medical field. This paper discusses how women's social status has been formed by social and economic development, how it has been ignored, and the influence of such developments on women's health.

Cultural affiliation and the importance of health care attributes. Marketers can develop segmentation strategies for targeted patient groups.

PubMed

Dolinsky, A L; Stinerock, R

1998-01-01

Culturally based values are known to influence consumer purchase decisions, but little is known about how those values affect health care choices. To rectify that situation and provide health care marketers with a framework for developing culturally based segmentation strategies, the authors undertook an exploratory research project in which Hispanic-, African-, and Anglo-Americans were asked to rate the importance of 16 different health care attributes. Those attributes can be grouped under five categories: quality of physician, quality of nurses and other medical staff, economic issues, access to health care, and nonmedically related experiential aspects. Survey responses identified distinct differences in the importance attached to the various attributes by the three cultural groups. The study also looks at the impact of six demographic and social characteristics on the evaluations made by each cultural group. Those characteristics are educational level, gender, age, health status, marital status, and number of people living in the household.

Supporting drivers in forming correct expectations about transitions between rural road categories.

PubMed

Stelling-Konczak, Agnieszka; Aarts, Letty; Duivenvoorden, Kirsten; Goldenbeld, Charles

2011-01-01

In order to support drivers in forming the right expectations on the road, road categories are being made recognisable and predictable in the Netherlands. The present study investigated which of the selected road layouts can make rural road categories most recognisable for road users, especially in transitions from one road category to another. A second objective was to study whether explicit information could contribute to a better recognisability of transitions. The experiment was performed with a series of photographs showing sections of two road categories with an intersection in between. The road layout of road categories varied in markings and separation of driving direction (within-subjects factor). Informed and non-informed participants (between-subjects factor) had to indicate their expectations regarding speed limit and access restriction of each road section, before and after a transition. The results show that for transitions between distributor and through roads, the physicality of separation of driving direction is a better distinctive characteristic than the currently used edge marking. The green centre marking on through roads also enhances recognisability, but only with additional information. As far as transitions between distributor and access roads are concerned, the results demonstrate that this type of transitions is better recognised when no markings on access roads are present. Physical separation of driving directions on distributor roads also improves recognisability, although this layout is associated with higher speed limits. Providing explicit information has in general a positive effect on the reconisability of transitions. Implications are discussed in the light of potential safety effects. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Narratives of psychiatric malingering in works of fiction.

PubMed

Kuperman, V

2006-12-01

This paper argues that the representation of psychiatric malingering in literary and cinematographic narratives informs societal stereotypes, and thus influences the clinical phenomenology of malingering. The study aims to identify sociocultural models of malingering in contemporary Western society based on the narrative analysis of about 60 fictional and non-fiction texts. Two behavioural patterns derived from the Foucauldian categories folly and madness are recognisable in naïve conceptualisations of fake insanity. Fabricated significations of deviation originate in grand societal narratives rather than in medical discourse, and construct characters such as animal like underdeveloped simpletons or detached, irrational, violent madmen. Each pattern stems from its own archaic conceptual basis and dictates a distinct framework for strategies of malingering. The semiotic structure of artistic narratives of malingering is discussed in comparison with the symptomatology of existing psychiatric models.

Absolute radiometric calibration of advanced remote sensing systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Slater, P. N.

1982-01-01

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

Exploring students' patterns of reasoning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matloob Haghanikar, Mojgan

As part of a collaborative study of the science preparation of elementary school teachers, we investigated the quality of students' reasoning and explored the relationship between sophistication of reasoning and the degree to which the courses were considered inquiry oriented. To probe students' reasoning, we developed open-ended written content questions with the distinguishing feature of applying recently learned concepts in a new context. We devised a protocol for developing written content questions that provided a common structure for probing and classifying students' sophistication level of reasoning. In designing our protocol, we considered several distinct criteria, and classified students' responses based on their performance for each criterion. First, we classified concepts into three types: Descriptive, Hypothetical, and Theoretical and categorized the abstraction levels of the responses in terms of the types of concepts and the inter-relationship between the concepts. Second, we devised a rubric based on Bloom's revised taxonomy with seven traits (both knowledge types and cognitive processes) and a defined set of criteria to evaluate each trait. Along with analyzing students' reasoning, we visited universities and observed the courses in which the students were enrolled. We used the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) to rank the courses with respect to characteristics that are valued for the inquiry courses. We conducted logistic regression for a sample of 18courses with about 900 students and reported the results for performing logistic regression to estimate the relationship between traits of reasoning and RTOP score. In addition, we analyzed conceptual structure of students' responses, based on conceptual classification schemes, and clustered students' responses into six categories. We derived regression model, to estimate the relationship between the sophistication of the categories of conceptual structure and RTOP scores. However, the outcome variable with six categories required a more complicated regression model, known as multinomial logistic regression, generalized from binary logistic regression. With the large amount of collected data, we found that the likelihood of the higher cognitive processes were in favor of classes with higher measures on inquiry. However, the usage of more abstract concepts with higher order conceptual structures was less prevalent in higher RTOP courses.

Differential impact of relevant and irrelevant dimension primes on rule-based and information-integration category learning.

PubMed

Grimm, Lisa R; Maddox, W Todd

2013-11-01

Research has identified multiple category-learning systems with each being "tuned" for learning categories with different task demands and each governed by different neurobiological systems. Rule-based (RB) classification involves testing verbalizable rules for category membership while information-integration (II) classification requires the implicit learning of stimulus-response mappings. In the first study to directly test rule priming with RB and II category learning, we investigated the influence of the availability of information presented at the beginning of the task. Participants viewed lines that varied in length, orientation, and position on the screen, and were primed to focus on stimulus dimensions that were relevant or irrelevant to the correct classification rule. In Experiment 1, we used an RB category structure, and in Experiment 2, we used an II category structure. Accuracy and model-based analyses suggested that a focus on relevant dimensions improves RB task performance later in learning while a focus on an irrelevant dimension improves II task performance early in learning. © 2013.

Strategic considerations for support of humans in space and Moon/Mars exploration missions. Life sciences research and technology programs, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

Summary charts of the following topics are presented: the Percentage of Critical Questions in Constrained and Robust Programs; the Executive Committee and AMAC Disposition of Critical Questions for Constrained and Robust Programs; and the Requirements for Ground-based Research and Flight Platforms for Constrained and Robust Programs. Data Tables are also presented and cover the following: critical questions from all Life Sciences Division Discipline Science Plans; critical questions listed by category and criticality; all critical questions which require ground-based research; critical questions that would utilize spacelabs listed by category and criticality; critical questions that would utilize Space Station Freedom (SSF) listed by category and criticality; critical questions that would utilize the SSF Centrifuge; facility listed by category and criticality; critical questions that would utilize a Moon base listed by category and criticality; critical questions that would utilize robotic missions listed by category and criticality; critical questions that would utilize free flyers listed by category and criticality; and critical questions by deliverables.

The impact of category structure and training methodology on learning and generalizing within-category representations.

PubMed

Ell, Shawn W; Smith, David B; Peralta, Gabriela; Hélie, Sébastien

2017-08-01

When interacting with categories, representations focused on within-category relationships are often learned, but the conditions promoting within-category representations and their generalizability are unclear. We report the results of three experiments investigating the impact of category structure and training methodology on the learning and generalization of within-category representations (i.e., correlational structure). Participants were trained on either rule-based or information-integration structures using classification (Is the stimulus a member of Category A or Category B?), concept (e.g., Is the stimulus a member of Category A, Yes or No?), or inference (infer the missing component of the stimulus from a given category) and then tested on either an inference task (Experiments 1 and 2) or a classification task (Experiment 3). For the information-integration structure, within-category representations were consistently learned, could be generalized to novel stimuli, and could be generalized to support inference at test. For the rule-based structure, extended inference training resulted in generalization to novel stimuli (Experiment 2) and inference training resulted in generalization to classification (Experiment 3). These data help to clarify the conditions under which within-category representations can be learned. Moreover, these results make an important contribution in highlighting the impact of category structure and training methodology on the generalization of categorical knowledge.

Carbon Dioxide Utilization (CO2U) ICEF Roadmap 2.0. Draft October 2017

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

Sandalow, David; Aines, Roger; Friedmann, Julio

Last year, experts from CO 2 Sciences, Columbia University and Valence Strategic came together to develop a roadmap. That document, Carbon Dioxide Utilization ICEF Roadmap 1.0, released at the UNFCCC Marrakesh Climate Change Conference in 2016, surveyed the commercial and technical landscape of CO 2 conversion and use. The document provided extensive background and analysis and has helped to provide a foundation for additional studies, including this one.This roadmap is meant to complement and expand upon the work of its predecessor. Based in part on a workshop at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy in July 2017, it exploresmore » three distinct categories of CO 2-based products, the technologies that can be harnessed to convert CO2 to these products, and the associated research and development needs. It also explores the complicated topic of life cycle analysis—critically important when considering the climate impacts of CO 2 conversion and use—as well as policy tools that could be used to promote CO 2-based products.« less

Category Coherence and Category-Based Property Induction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rehder, Bob; Hastie, Reid

2004-01-01

One important property of human object categories is that they define the sets of exemplars to which newly observed properties are generalized. We manipulated the causal knowledge associated with novel categories and assessed the resulting strength of property inductions. We found that the theoretical coherence afforded to a category by…

Top-Level Categories of Constitutively Organized Material Entities - Suggestions for a Formal Top-Level Ontology

PubMed Central

Vogt, Lars; Grobe, Peter; Quast, Björn; Bartolomaeus, Thomas

2011-01-01

Background Application oriented ontologies are important for reliably communicating and managing data in databases. Unfortunately, they often differ in the definitions they use and thus do not live up to their potential. This problem can be reduced when using a standardized and ontologically consistent template for the top-level categories from a top-level formal foundational ontology. This would support ontological consistency within application oriented ontologies and compatibility between them. The Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) is such a foundational ontology for the biomedical domain that has been developed following the single inheritance policy. It provides the top-level template within the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontologies Foundry. If it wants to live up to its expected role, its three top-level categories of material entity (i.e., ‘object’, ‘fiat object part’, ‘object aggregate’) must be exhaustive, i.e. every concrete material entity must instantiate exactly one of them. Methodology/Principal Findings By systematically evaluating all possible basic configurations of material building blocks we show that BFO's top-level categories of material entity are not exhaustive. We provide examples from biology and everyday life that demonstrate the necessity for two additional categories: ‘fiat object part aggregate’ and ‘object with fiat object part aggregate’. By distinguishing topological coherence, topological adherence, and metric proximity we furthermore provide a differentiation of clusters and groups as two distinct subcategories for each of the three categories of material entity aggregates, resulting in six additional subcategories of material entity. Conclusions/Significance We suggest extending BFO to incorporate two additional categories of material entity as well as two subcategories for each of the three categories of material entity aggregates. With these additions, BFO would exhaustively cover all top-level types of material entity that application oriented ontologies may use as templates. Our result, however, depends on the premise that all material entities are organized according to a constitutive granularity. PMID:21533043

An evidence-based diagnostic classification system for low back pain

PubMed Central

Vining, Robert; Potocki, Eric; Seidman, Michael; Morgenthal, A. Paige

2013-01-01

Introduction: While clinicians generally accept that musculoskeletal low back pain (LBP) can arise from specific tissues, it remains difficult to confirm specific sources. Methods: Based on evidence supported by diagnostic utility studies, doctors of chiropractic functioning as members of a research clinic created a diagnostic classification system, corresponding exam and checklist based on strength of evidence, and in-office efficiency. Results: The diagnostic classification system contains one screening category, two pain categories: Nociceptive, Neuropathic, one functional evaluation category, and one category for unknown or poorly defined diagnoses. Nociceptive and neuropathic pain categories are each divided into 4 subcategories. Conclusion: This article describes and discusses the strength of evidence surrounding diagnostic categories for an in-office, clinical exam and checklist tool for LBP diagnosis. The use of a standardized tool for diagnosing low back pain in clinical and research settings is encouraged. PMID:23997245

Quantitation of Alkaline Phosphatase Isoenzymes Using Agarose Containing Wheat Germ Lectin

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-07-01

Gunshot M 40 179 150 16 13 0 Altered Mental Status M 39 1683 1650 0 33 0 Anemia, Chronic Dis. F 82 220 156 27 37 0 Arthritis , Rheumatoid M 70 79 26 0 53 0...34 5 Alkaline Phosphatase Isoenzyme Study on 210 Patients with Elevated Total Alkaline Phosphatase...46 6 Alkaline Phosphatase Isoenzyme Clinical Correlation Summary on 6 Distinct Disease Categories Containing 131 Patients

Figuration of the Folk: The Nature and Use of a Universal Linguistic Category

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phelan, Mark

2010-01-01

If Sally knows Sid to be a hard worker, she might make the point by asserting, "Sid is a hard worker." Or she might say, "Sid is a Sherman tank." We all recognize the first as an instance of literal language and the second as an instance of figurative language, specifically, a metaphor. This distinction is common even to people remote from us in…

Advanced Satellite Hardware/Software System Study.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-04-15

forest vs. pine forest vs. mixed hardwood forest or sand vs. soil vs. rock. Such differences can be used as the basis for secondary distinctions such...this category; however, it usually implies a more restrictive defintion .) ChanRe Detection/Monitoring - To discern the occurrence of changes, both rapid...currently available, several manufacturers expect to market units by 1981. Preliminary specifications for one system indicate a capacity of 2.5 GB per

Expert Systems and Command, Control, and Communication System Acquisition

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-03-01

Systems and Command, Control, and Communicaton System Acquisition 12 Personal Author(s) James E. Minnema 13a Type of Report 13b Time Covered 14 Date...isolated strategic planning, unstructured problems, the author feels that this category should also include problems involving the integration of...distinct operational or management control, and structured or semi-structured problem efforts. The reason for this is that integration of a number of

Formal and Informal Work Group Relationships With Performance: A Moderation Model Using Social

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-01

networks can be divided into two main categories: formal and informal (Scott, 2000). Similar distinctions have been made between task and social cohesion (Mullen...Cooper, 1994; Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985; Zaccaro & Lowe, 1986; Zaccaro & McCoy, 1988). Social cohesion has been defined as...performance and social cohesion and performance (Beal et al., 2003). This move toward a multidimensional view of cohesion is consistent with the

The modern Japanese color lexicon.

PubMed

Kuriki, Ichiro; Lange, Ryan; Muto, Yumiko; Brown, Angela M; Fukuda, Kazuho; Tokunaga, Rumi; Lindsey, Delwin T; Uchikawa, Keiji; Shioiri, Satoshi

2017-03-01

Despite numerous prior studies, important questions about the Japanese color lexicon persist, particularly about the number of Japanese basic color terms and their deployment across color space. Here, 57 native Japanese speakers provided monolexemic terms for 320 chromatic and 10 achromatic Munsell color samples. Through k-means cluster analysis we revealed 16 statistically distinct Japanese chromatic categories. These included eight chromatic basic color terms (aka/red, ki/yellow, midori/green, ao/blue, pink, orange, cha/brown, and murasaki/purple) plus eight additional terms: mizu ("water")/light blue, hada ("skin tone")/peach, kon ("indigo")/dark blue, matcha ("green tea")/yellow-green, enji/maroon, oudo ("sand or mud")/mustard, yamabuki ("globeflower")/gold, and cream. Of these additional terms, mizu was used by 98% of informants, and emerged as a strong candidate for a 12th Japanese basic color term. Japanese and American English color-naming systems were broadly similar, except for color categories in one language (mizu, kon, teal, lavender, magenta, lime) that had no equivalent in the other. Our analysis revealed two statistically distinct Japanese motifs (or color-naming systems), which differed mainly in the extension of mizu across our color palette. Comparison of the present data with an earlier study by Uchikawa & Boynton (1987) suggests that some changes in the Japanese color lexicon have occurred over the last 30 years.

Beyond the realism debate: The metaphysics of 'racial' distinctions.

PubMed

Lemeire, Olivier

2016-10-01

The current metaphysical race debate is very much focused on the realism question whether races exist. In this paper I argue against the importance of this question. Philosophers, biologists and anthropologists expect that answering this question will tell them something substantive about the metaphysics of racial classifications, and will help them to decide whether it is justified to use racial categories in scientific research and public policy. I argue that there are two reasons why these expectations are not fulfilled. First of all, the realism question about race leads to a very broad philosophical debate about the semantics of general terms and the criteria for real kinds, rather than to a debate about the metaphysics of racial categories specifically. Secondly, there is a type of race realism that is so toothless that it is almost completely uninformative about the metaphysics of race. In response to these worries, I argue that the metaphysical race debate should rather be focused on the question in what way and to what extent 'racial' distinctions can ground the epistemic practices of various scientific disciplines. I spell out what I mean by this, and go on to demonstrate that trying to answer this question leads to a more fruitful metaphysical debate. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Health and morality: two conceptually distinct categories?

PubMed

Tengland, Per-Anders

2012-03-01

When seeing immoral actions, criminal or not, we sometimes deem the people who perform them unhealthy. This is especially so if the actions are of a serious nature, e.g. involving murder, assault, or rape. We turn our moral evaluation into an evaluation about health and illness. This tendency is partly supported by some diagnoses found in the DMS-IV, such as Antisocial personality disorder, and the ICD-10, such as Dissocial personality disorder. The aim of the paper is to answer the question: How analytically sound is the inclusion of morality into a theory of health? The holistic theory of Lennart Nordenfelt is used as a starting point, and it is used as an example of a theory where morality and health are conceptually distinct categories. Several versions of a pluralistic holistic theory are then discussed in order to see if, and if so, how, morality can be conceptually related to health. It is concluded that moral abilities (and dispositions) can be seen as being part of the individual's health. It is harder to incorporate moral virtues and moral actions into such a theory. However, if immoral actions "cluster" in an individual, and are of a severe kind, causing serious harm to other people, it is more likely that the person, for those reasons only, be deemed unhealthy.

A Feature-Reinforcement-Based Approach for Supporting Poly-Lingual Category Integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Chih-Ping; Chen, Chao-Chi; Cheng, Tsang-Hsiang; Yang, Christopher C.

Document-category integration (or category integration for short) is fundamental to many e-commerce applications, including information integration along supply chains and information aggregation by intermediaries. Because of the trend of globalization, the requirement for category integration has been extended from monolingual to poly-lingual settings. Poly-lingual category integration (PLCI) aims to integrate two document catalogs, each of which consists of documents written in a mix of languages. Several category integration techniques have been proposed in the literature, but these techniques focus only on monolingual category integration rather than PLCI. In this study, we propose a feature-reinforcement-based PLCI (namely, FR-PLCI) technique that takes into account the master documents of all languages when integrating source documents (in the source catalog) written in a specific language into the master catalog. Using the monolingual category integration (MnCI) technique as a performance benchmark, our empirical evaluation results show that our proposed FR-PLCI technique achieves better integration accuracy than MnCI does in both English and Chinese category integration tasks.

'Paranoia and its historical development (systematized delusion)', by Eugenio Tanzi (1884).

PubMed

Castagnini, Augusto

2016-06-01

This was the first paper by the Italian alienist Eugenio Tanzi (1856-1934). It surveyed existing works and provided an analysis of clinical categories such as monomania, sensory madness, moral insanity, Wahnsinn, Verrücktheit and systematized delusions, which had been used in France, Germany, Britain and Italy since the early nineteenth century to deal with paranoia. As pointed out by Tanzi, discrepancies and discontinuities in diagnostic concepts affected both psychiatric nosology and practice. Paranoia (from the Greek παρά and νοια) made for greater clarity in psychiatric terminology, and denoted a broad category, including both acute and chronic delusional states which were considered to be distinct from mania and melancholia, and usually not to lead to mental deterioration. © The Author(s) 2016.

Data acquisition and analysis in the DOE/NASA Wind Energy Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neustadter, H. E.

1980-01-01

Four categories of data systems, each responding to a distinct information need are presented. The categories are: control, technology, engineering and performance. The focus is on the technology data system which consists of the following elements: sensors which measure critical parameters such as wind speed and direction, output power, blade loads and strains, and tower vibrations; remote multiplexing units (RMU) mounted on each wind turbine which frequency modulate, multiplex and transmit sensor outputs; the instrumentation available to record, process and display these signals; and centralized computer analysis of data. The RMU characteristics and multiplexing techniques are presented. Data processing is illustrated by following a typical signal through instruments such as the analog tape recorder, analog to digital converter, data compressor, digital tape recorder, video (CRT) display, and strip chart recorder.

Self-organization in neural networks - Applications in structural optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hajela, Prabhat; Fu, B.; Berke, Laszlo

1993-01-01

The present paper discusses the applicability of ART (Adaptive Resonance Theory) networks, and the Hopfield and Elastic networks, in problems of structural analysis and design. A characteristic of these network architectures is the ability to classify patterns presented as inputs into specific categories. The categories may themselves represent distinct procedural solution strategies. The paper shows how this property can be adapted in the structural analysis and design problem. A second application is the use of Hopfield and Elastic networks in optimization problems. Of particular interest are problems characterized by the presence of discrete and integer design variables. The parallel computing architecture that is typical of neural networks is shown to be effective in such problems. Results of preliminary implementations in structural design problems are also included in the paper.

Different groups, different motives: identity motives underlying changes in identification with novel groups.

PubMed

Easterbrook, Matt; Vignoles, Vivian L

2012-08-01

Social identification is known to have wide-reaching implications, but theorists disagree about the underlying motives. Integrating motivated identity construction theory with recent social identity research, the authors predicted which motives underlie identification with two types of groups: interpersonal networks and social categories. In a five-wave longitudinal study of social identity processes among 268 new university residents, multilevel analyses showed that motives involved in identity enactment processes--self-esteem, belonging, and efficacy--significantly predicted within-person changes in identification with flatmates (an interpersonal network group), whereas motives involved in identity definition processes--meaning, self-esteem, and distinctiveness--significantly predicted within-person changes in identification with halls of residence (an abstract social category). This article discusses implications for research into identity motives and social identity.

Plate tectonics in the classification of personality disorder: shifting to a dimensional model.

PubMed

Widiger, Thomas A; Trull, Timothy J

2007-01-01

The diagnostic categories of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders were developed in the spirit of a traditional medical model that considers mental disorders to be qualitatively distinct conditions (see, e.g., American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Work is now beginning on the fifth edition of this influential diagnostic manual. It is perhaps time to consider a fundamental shift in how psychopathology is conceptualized and diagnosed. More specifically, it may be time to consider a shift to a dimensional classification of personality disorder that would help address the failures of the existing diagnostic categories as well as contribute to an integration of the psychiatric diagnostic manual with psychology's research on general personality structure. (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved

Shotgun Metagenomic Profiles Have a High Capacity To Discriminate Samples of Activated Sludge According to Wastewater Type

PubMed Central

Ibarbalz, Federico M.; Orellana, Esteban; Figuerola, Eva L. M.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to investigate whether functions encoded in the metagenome could improve our ability to understand the link between microbial community structures and functions in activated sludge. By analyzing data sets from six industrial and six municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), covering different configurations, operational conditions, and geographic regions, we found that wastewater influent composition was an overriding factor shaping the metagenomic composition of the activated sludge samples. Community GC content profiles were conserved within treatment plants on a time scale of years and between treatment plants with similar influent wastewater types. Interestingly, GC contents of the represented phyla covaried with the average GC contents of the corresponding WWTP metagenome. This suggests that the factors influencing nucleotide composition act similarly across taxa and thus the variation in nucleotide contents is driven by environmental differences between WWTPs. While taxonomic richness and functional richness were correlated, shotgun metagenomics complemented taxon-based analyses in the task of classifying microbial communities involved in wastewater treatment systems. The observed taxonomic dissimilarity between full-scale WWTPs receiving influent types with varied compositions, as well as the inferred taxonomic and functional assignment of recovered genomes from each metagenome, were consistent with underlying differences in the abundance of distinctive sets of functional categories. These conclusions were robust with respect to plant configuration, operational and environmental conditions, and even differences in laboratory protocols. IMPORTANCE This work contributes to the elucidation of drivers of microbial community assembly in wastewater treatment systems. Our results are significant because they provide clear evidence that bacterial communities in WWTPs assemble mainly according to influent wastewater characteristics. Differences in bacterial community structures between WWTPs were consistent with differences in the abundance of distinctive sets of functional categories, which were related to the metabolic potential that would be expected according to the source of the wastewater. PMID:27316957

Keratosis lichenoides chronica: proposal of a concept.

PubMed

Böer, Almut

2006-06-01

It has been a subject of controversy whether keratosis lichenoides chronica (KLC) is a distinctive inflammatory disease of the skin or whether it represents a manifestation of another well-known disease, such as lichen planus, lupus erythematosus, or lichen simplex chronicus. In search of clear criteria for diagnosis of KLC the entire literature pertinent to the subject was studied and findings clinical and histopathologic as they were telegraphed in them were compared with a patient of my own experience. Review of the literature reveals more than 60 patients in whom the diagnosis of KLC was made. Three categories emerge based on whether the findings presented in a particular article (1) do not permit any diagnosis to be rendered; (2) do allow a diagnosis specific to be made, such as of lichen simplex, lichen planus, or lupus erythematosus; or (3) do not correspond to any disease well defined, such as lichen simplex, lichen planus, lupus erythematosus, but seem to show attributes morphologic, clinically and histopathologically, that are repeatable. Patients diagnosed as having KLC obviously represent a potpourri of different diseases, the most common of them being lichen simplex chronicus, lichen planus, and lupus erythematosus. Fewer than 25 patients reported on, however, presented themselves with lesions very similar to one another clinically, namely, an eruption that involved the face in a manner reminiscent of seborrheic dermatitis and with tiny papules on the trunk and extremities, which assumed linear and reticulate shapes by way of confluence of lesions. Individual papules were infundibulocentric and acrosyringocentric. Findings histopathologic were those of a lichenoid interface dermatitis affiliated with numerous necrotic keratocytes and covered by parakeratosis housing neutrophils in staggered fashion. These patients seem to have an authentic and distinctive condition that is exceedingly rare. In conclusion, the diagnosis of KLC should be made only for patients who present themselves with features clinical and findings histopathologic that resemble closely those of what is summarized in this article under category 3.

[Comparing the Health Needs of Older Aboriginal and Older Ethnic Chinese Individuals in Taiwan].

PubMed

Lee, Ling-Ling; Lin, Shu-Shuan; Yen, Chia-Feng; Chuang, Jui-Ling

2016-04-01

Providing healthcare to older people is an essential policy in Taiwan. Previous studies have assessed the health needs of older people residing in urban areas. Evidence related to the differences in healthcare needs between older aboriginal and older ethnic Chinese people in Taiwan is insufficient. As both groups exhibit mutually distinct physical and socio-cultural attributes, understanding their different health needs is necessary to provide tailored and effective healthcare. To investigate the distinct health needs of older aboriginal and older ethnic Chinese using a comprehensive health-needs assessment tool. A cross-sectional study design was used. Older people aged 65 or over were proportionally sampled from communities. The Elderly Assessment System Care Standard instrument was used to collect data through interviews held in participant homes or in community activity centers between October 20th and December 20th, 2011. A total of 180 older people were recruited. A majority of participants had at least one chronic disease, disability, or frailty. Across a range of dimensions and categories of health needs, older aboriginal people had statistically significant higher health needs than non-aboriginal ones. However, older ethnic Chinese participants had higher levels of need in the domains of housing/financing and social participation/isolation. Regression analysis found that independence, risk of frailty, and risk of falls explained the majority of health needs, with R2 values of 64% and 69.6% for older aboriginal and older ethnic Chinese participants, respectively. However, the respective impact of these three categories on overall health needs varied between the two groups. Based on our findings, healthcare providers should focus on improving the self-care capabilities of older aboriginal people and on reducing the risk of breakdowns in care for older ethnic Chinese people in order to enhance the quality of elderly care in Taiwan.

Suggesting the cytologic diagnosis of noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFTP): A retrospective analysis of atypical and suspicious nodules.

PubMed

Strickland, Kyle C; Howitt, Brooke E; Barletta, Justine A; Cibas, Edmund S; Krane, Jeffrey F

2018-02-01

The term "noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features" (NIFTP) has replaced a subset of follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma due to the indolent behavior of such tumors. NIFTPs are most often classified in an "indeterminate" diagnostic category. In the current study, the authors sought to identify cytologic features helpful in distinguishing NIFTP from other entities in these categories, particularly benign nodules. The authors retrospectively evaluated a consecutive cohort of 130 thyroid fine-needle aspiration (FNA) specimens with an indeterminate diagnosis and available histopathologic follow-up. All FNA specimens were evaluated using the ThinPrep method. Each FNA was blindly reviewed by 2 board-certified cytopathologists, who assessed overall cellularity; architectural parameters; and nuclear features, including nuclear pallor and fine chromatin, distinct nucleoli, and irregular nuclear membranes. Each case received a score of 0 to 3, based on the presence or absence of these 3 nuclear features. Nuclear but not architectural features appeared to distinguish NIFTP from benign nodules. Ninety-one percent of the NIFTPs (32 of 35 NIFTPs) received a score of ≥2, compared with 35% of benign nodules (23 of 66 benign nodules) (P<.0001). In contrast, NIFTP could not be differentiated from the invasive/infiltrative follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma using these criteria (P = 1.000). Nuclear scoring was found to be especially useful in atypia of undetermined significance/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS); a score ≥2 enriched for NIFTP (39% vs 3% of AUS cases with a score <2), whereas a score <2 was more likely benign (85% vs 50% of AUS cases with a score ≥2). In indeterminate FNA specimens, the distinction of a possible NIFTP from a benign thyroid nodule can be suggested using a simple nuclear scoring system that is most valuable in AUS aspirates. Cancer Cytopathol 2018;126:86-93. © 2017 American Cancer Society. © 2017 American Cancer Society.

Rule-Based Category Learning in Down Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phillips, B. Allyson; Conners, Frances A.; Merrill, Edward; Klinger, Mark R.

2014-01-01

Rule-based category learning was examined in youths with Down syndrome (DS), youths with intellectual disability (ID), and typically developing (TD) youths. Two tasks measured category learning: the Modified Card Sort task (MCST) and the Concept Formation test of the Woodcock-Johnson-III (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001). In regression-based…

Behçet's: A Disease or a Syndrome? Answer from an Expression Profiling Study

PubMed Central

Oğuz, Ali Kemal; Yılmaz, Seda Taşır; Oygür, Çağdaş Şahap; Çandar, Tuba; Sayın, Irmak; Kılıçoğlu, Sibel Serin; Ergün, İhsan; Ateş, Aşkın; Özdağ, Hilal; Akar, Nejat

2016-01-01

Behçet’s disease (BD) is a chronic, relapsing, multisystemic inflammatory disorder with unanswered questions regarding its etiology/pathogenesis and classification. Distinct manifestation based subsets, pronounced geographical variations in expression, and discrepant immunological abnormalities raised the question whether Behçet’s is “a disease or a syndrome”. To answer the preceding question we aimed to display and compare the molecular mechanisms underlying distinct subsets of BD. For this purpose, the expression data of the gene expression profiling and association study on BD by Xavier et al (2013) was retrieved from GEO database and reanalysed by gene expression data analysis/visualization and bioinformatics enrichment tools. There were 15 BD patients (B) and 14 controls (C). Three subsets of BD patients were generated: MB (isolated mucocutaneous manifestations, n = 7), OB (ocular involvement, n = 4), and VB (large vein thrombosis, n = 4). Class comparison analyses yielded the following numbers of differentially expressed genes (DEGs); B vs C: 4, MB vs C: 5, OB vs C: 151, VB vs C: 274, MB vs OB: 215, MB vs VB: 760, OB vs VB: 984. Venn diagram analysis showed that there were no common DEGs in the intersection “MB vs C” ∩ “OB vs C” ∩ “VB vs C”. Cluster analyses successfully clustered distinct expressions of BD. During gene ontology term enrichment analyses, categories with relevance to IL-8 production (MB vs C) and immune response to microorganisms (OB vs C) were differentially enriched. Distinct subsets of BD display distinct expression profiles and different disease associated pathways. Based on these clear discrepancies, the designation as “Behçet’s syndrome” (BS) should be encouraged and future research should take into consideration the immunogenetic heterogeneity of BS subsets. Four gene groups, namely, negative regulators of inflammation (CD69, CLEC12A, CLEC12B, TNFAIP3), neutrophil granule proteins (LTF, OLFM4, AZU1, MMP8, DEFA4, CAMP), antigen processing and presentation proteins (CTSS, ERAP1), and regulators of immune response (LGALS2, BCL10, ITCH, CEACAM8, CD36, IL8, CCL4, EREG, NFKBIZ, CCR2, CD180, KLRC4, NFAT5) appear to be instrumental in BS immunopathogenesis. PMID:26890122

Flat Urothelial Lesions With Atypia: Interobserver Concordance and Added Value of Immunohistochemical Profiling.

PubMed

Lawless, Margaret E; Tretiakova, Maria S; True, Lawrence D; Vakar-Lopez, Funda

2018-03-01

Distinguishing urothelial carcinoma in situ (CIS) from other flat lesions of the urinary bladder with cytologic atypia is critically important for the management of patients with bladder neoplasia. However, there is high interpathologist variability in making these distinctions. The aim of this study is to assess interobserver agreement between general and specialized genitourinary pathologists, and to compare these diagnoses with those rendered after an immunohistochemical panel is performed. We hypothesized that addition of a set of immunohistochemical stains would reduce the number of cases classified within intermediate categories of atypia of uncertain significance and low-grade dysplasia. Two genitourinary pathologists independently assessed haematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained sections of 127 bladder biopsies from each of the 4 International Society of Urological Pathology/World Health Organization categories of flat lesions diagnosed by general pathologists. A subset of biopsies from 49 patients was reassessed after staining with a 3-antibody panel (CD44, CK20, and p53) and the results were correlated with patient follow-up. Based on these immunohistochemistry (IHC) stains, 26 cases (53.1%) were recategorized. Of most clinical importance, 5 of 27 cases (18.5%) originally diagnosed as either atypia of uncertain significance or low-grade dysplasia were recategorized as CIS, and recurrent disease was identified on subsequent biopsies. None of the 10 cases diagnosed as CIS based on H&E stains were recategorized. This triad of IHC stains can improve the precision of pathologic diagnosis of histologically atypical urothelial lesions of flat bladder mucosa. We recommend that pathologists apply this set of IHC stains to such lesions they find problematic based on H&E stains.

THE MOLECULAR PATHOLOGY OF MELANOMA: AN INTEGRATED TAXONOMY OF MELANOCYTIC NEOPLASIA

PubMed Central

Bastian, Boris C.

2016-01-01

Melanomas are comprised of multiple biologically distinct categories, which differ in cell of origin, age of onset, clinical and histologic presentation, pattern of metastasis, ethnic distribution, causative role of UV radiation, predisposing germ line alterations, mutational processes, and patterns of somatic mutations. Neoplasms are initiated by gain of function mutations in one of several primary oncogenes, typically leading to benign melanocytic nevi with characteristic histologic features. The progression of nevi is restrained by multiple tumor suppressive mechanisms. Secondary genetic alterations override these barriers and promote intermediate or overtly malignant tumors along distinct progression trajectories. The current knowledge about pathogenesis, clinical, histological and genetic features of primary melanocytic neoplasms is reviewed and integrated into a taxonomic framework. PMID:24460190

Sex work and the construction of intimacies: meanings and work pragmatics in rural Malawi

PubMed Central

Tavory, Iddo; Poulin, Michelle

2017-01-01

This article focuses on Malawian sex workers’ understandings of exchange and intimacy, showing how multiple historically emergent categories and specific work pragmatics produce specific patterns of relational meanings. As we show, sex workers make sense of their relationships with clients through two categories. The first is sex work; the second is the chibwenzi, an intimate premarital relational category that emerged from pre-colonial transformations in courtship practices. These categories, in turn, are also shaped differently in different work settings. We use narratives from in-depth interviews with 45 sex workers and bar managers in southern Malawi to describe how the everyday pragmatics of two forms of sex work—performed by “bargirls” and “freelancers”—foster distinct understandings of relationships between them and men they have sex with. Bargirls, who work and live in bars, blurred the boundaries between “regulars” and chibwenzi; freelancers, who are not tethered to a specific work environment, often subverted the meanings of the chibwenzi, presenting these relationships as both intimate and emotionally distant. Through this comparison, we thus refine an approach to the study of the intimacy-exchange nexus, and use it to capture the complexities of gender relations in post-colonial Malawi. PMID:28936026

The categorical structure of semantic memory for famous people: a new approach using release from proactive interference.

PubMed

Darling, Stephen; Valentine, Tim

2005-05-01

Memory for familiar people is essential to understand their identity and guide social interaction. Nevertheless, we know surprisingly little about the structure of such memory. Previous research has assumed that semantic memory for people has a categorical structure, but recently it was proposed that memory for people consists only of associations and lacks any categorical structure. Four experiments are reported that use a novel approach by adapting the 'release from proactive interference' (RPI) methodology for use with lists of famous names. Proactive interference occurs when items presented on successive trials are drawn from the same category. Recall can improve following a change to a different category. Sets of names were selected relating to aspects previously demonstrated, on the basis of reaction time data, to form a category (occupation) and a property (nationality) of celebrities (Johnston & Bruce, 1990). RPI was observed for a change at both levels of representation but was only present without explicitly cueing the change of set when the stimuli differed at the category level. At the property level, RPI was only evident when change of set was explicitly cued. RPI was absent at the set change in a novel, ad hoc distinction suggesting that the effect reflected the underlying memory structure.

Distinct brain activity in processing negative pictures of animals and objects --- the role of human contexts

PubMed Central

Cao, Zhijun; Zhao, Yanbing; Tan, Tengteng; Chen, Gang; Ning, Xueling; Zhan, Lexia; Yang, Jiongjiong

2013-01-01

Previous studies have shown that the amygdala is important in processing not only animate entities but also social information. It remains to be determined to what extent the factors of category and social context interact to modulate the activities of the amygdala and cortical regions. In this study, pictures depicting animals and inanimate objects in negative and neutral levels were presented. The contexts of the pictures differed in whether they included human/human parts. The factors of valence, arousal, familiarity and complexity of pictures were controlled across categories. The results showed that the amygdala activity was modulated by category and contextual information. Under the nonhuman context condition, the amygdala responded more to animals than objects for both negative and neutral pictures. In contrast, under the human context condition, the amygdala showed stronger activity for negative objects than animals. In addition to cortical regions related to object action, functional and effective connectivity analyses showed that the anterior prefrontal cortex interacted with the amygdala more for negative objects (vs. animals) in the human context condition, by a top-down modulation of the anterior prefrontal cortex to the amygdala. These results highlighted the effects of category and human contexts on modulating brain activity in emotional processing. PMID:24099847

Subclassification of the "grey zone" of thyroid cytology; a retrospective descriptive study with clinical, cytological, and histological correlation.

PubMed

Bonzanini, Mariella; Amadori, Pierluigi; Morelli, Luca; Fasanella, Silvia; Pertile, Riccardo; Mattiuzzi, Angela; Marini, Giorgio; Niccolini, Mauro; Tirone, Giuseppe; Rigamonti, Marco; Dalla Palma, Paolo

2011-01-01

Undetermined thyroid cytology precludes any definitive distinction between malignant and benign lesions. Recently several classifications have been proposed to split this category into two or more cytological subcategories related to different malignancy risk rates. The current study was performed retrospectively to investigate the results obtained separating "undetermined" cytologic reports into two categories: "follicular lesion" (FL) and "atypia of undetermined significance" (AUS). Biochemical, clinical, and echographic features of each category were also retrospectively analyzed. Altogether, 316 undetermined fine-needle aspirated cytologies (FNACs) were reclassified as 74 FL and 242 AUS. Histological control leads to a diagnosis of carcinomas, adenomas, and nonneoplastic lesions, respectively, in 42.2%, 20%, and 37.8% of AUS and in 8.3%, 69.4%, and 22.2% of FL. Among biochemical, clinical, cytological, and echographic outcomes, altered thyroid autoantibodies, multiple versus single nodule, AUS versus FL, and presence of intranodular vascular flow were statistically significant to differentiate adenoma from carcinoma and from nonneoplastic lesions, whereas no significant differences were found between carcinomas and nonneoplastic lesions for these parameters. The results of this retrospective study show that undetermined FNAC category can further be subclassified in AUS and FL, the former showing higher malignancy rate. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm our results.

Flood risk and cultural heritage: the case study of Florence (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arrighi, Chiara; Castelli, Fabio; Brugioni, Marcello; Franceschini, Serena; Mazzanti, Bernardo

2016-04-01

Cultural heritage plays a key role for communities in terms of both identity and economic value. It is often under serious threat by natural hazards, nevertheless, quantitative assessments of risk are quite uncommon. This work addresses the flood risk assessment to cultural heritage in an exemplary art city, which is Florence, Italy. The risk assessment method here adopted borrows the most common definition of flood risk as the product of hazard, vulnerability and exposure, with some necessary adjustments. The risk estimation is carried out at the building scale for the whole UNESCO site, which coincides with the historical centre of the city. A distinction in macro- and micro-damage categories has been made according to the vulnerability of the objects at risk. Two damage macro-categories are selected namely cultural buildings and contents. Cultural buildings are classified in damage micro-categories as churches/religious complexes, libraries/archives and museums. The damages to the contents are estimated for four micro-categories: paintings, sculptures, books/prints and goldsmith's art. Data from hydraulic simulations for different recurrence scenarios, historical reports of the devastating 1966 flood and the cultural heritage recognition sheets allow estimating and mapping the annual expected number of works of art lost in absence of risk mitigation strategies.

Similarity-Dissimilarity Competition in Disjunctive Classification Tasks

PubMed Central

Mathy, Fabien; Haladjian, Harry H.; Laurent, Eric; Goldstone, Robert L.

2013-01-01

Typical disjunctive artificial classification tasks require participants to sort stimuli according to rules such as “x likes cars only when black and coupe OR white and SUV.” For categories like this, increasing the salience of the diagnostic dimensions has two simultaneous effects: increasing the distance between members of the same category and increasing the distance between members of opposite categories. Potentially, these two effects respectively hinder and facilitate classification learning, leading to competing predictions for learning. Increasing saliency may lead to members of the same category to be considered less similar, while the members of separate categories might be considered more dissimilar. This implies a similarity-dissimilarity competition between two basic classification processes. When focusing on sub-category similarity, one would expect more difficult classification when members of the same category become less similar (disregarding the increase of between-category dissimilarity); however, the between-category dissimilarity increase predicts a less difficult classification. Our categorization study suggests that participants rely more on using dissimilarities between opposite categories than finding similarities between sub-categories. We connect our results to rule- and exemplar-based classification models. The pattern of influences of within- and between-category similarities are challenging for simple single-process categorization systems based on rules or exemplars. Instead, our results suggest that either these processes should be integrated in a hybrid model, or that category learning operates by forming clusters within each category. PMID:23403979

Translational ethics: an analytical framework of translational movements between theory and practice and a sketch of a comprehensive approach.

PubMed

Bærøe, Kristine

2014-09-30

Translational research in medicine requires researchers to identify the steps to transfer basic scientific discoveries from laboratory benches to bedside decision-making, and eventually into clinical practice. On a parallel track, philosophical work in ethics has not been obliged to identify the steps to translate theoretical conclusions into adequate practice. The medical ethicist A. Cribb suggested some years ago that it is now time to debate 'the business of translational' in medical ethics. Despite the very interesting and useful perspective on the field of medical ethics launched by Cribb, the debate is still missing. In this paper, I take up Cribb's invitation and discuss further analytic distinctions needed to base an ethics aiming to translate between theory and practice. The analytic distinctions needed to base an ethics aiming to translate between theory and practice are identified as 'movements of translation'. I explore briefly what would constitute success and limitations to these intended translational movements by addressing the challenges of the epistemological gap between philosophical and practical ethics. The categories of translational movements I suggest can serve as a starting point for a systematic, collective self-inspection and discussion of the merits and limitations of the various academic and practical activities that bioethicists are engaged in. I further propose that translational ethics could be considered as a new discipline of ethical work constructively structured around compositions of translational movements. Breaking the idea of translational ethics into distinct translational movements provide us with a nuanced set of conditions to explore and discuss the justification and limitations of various efforts carried out in the field of bioethics. In this sense, the proposed framework could be a useful vehicle for augmented collective, self-reflexivity among both philosophers and practitioners who are 'doing bioethics'. Also, carefully designed, overall approaches combining justified, self-reflexive philosophical and practical efforts according to the suggested distinctions could be expected to realise - or at least improve a facilitation of - translation of ethics across the theory-practice gap.

High-Resolution Spatial Distribution and Estimation of Access to Improved Sanitation in Kenya.

PubMed

Jia, Peng; Anderson, John D; Leitner, Michael; Rheingans, Richard

2016-01-01

Access to sanitation facilities is imperative in reducing the risk of multiple adverse health outcomes. A distinct disparity in sanitation exists among different wealth levels in many low-income countries, which may hinder the progress across each of the Millennium Development Goals. The surveyed households in 397 clusters from 2008-2009 Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys were divided into five wealth quintiles based on their national asset scores. A series of spatial analysis methods including excess risk, local spatial autocorrelation, and spatial interpolation were applied to observe disparities in coverage of improved sanitation among different wealth categories. The total number of the population with improved sanitation was estimated by interpolating, time-adjusting, and multiplying the surveyed coverage rates by high-resolution population grids. A comparison was then made with the annual estimates from United Nations Population Division and World Health Organization /United Nations Children's Fund Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation. The Empirical Bayesian Kriging interpolation produced minimal root mean squared error for all clusters and five quintiles while predicting the raw and spatial coverage rates of improved sanitation. The coverage in southern regions was generally higher than in the north and east, and the coverage in the south decreased from Nairobi in all directions, while Nyanza and North Eastern Province had relatively poor coverage. The general clustering trend of high and low sanitation improvement among surveyed clusters was confirmed after spatial smoothing. There exists an apparent disparity in sanitation among different wealth categories across Kenya and spatially smoothed coverage rates resulted in a closer estimation of the available statistics than raw coverage rates. Future intervention activities need to be tailored for both different wealth categories and nationally where there are areas of greater needs when resources are limited.

Scaling-laws of human broadcast communication enable distinction between human, corporate and robot Twitter users.

PubMed

Tavares, Gabriela; Faisal, Aldo

2013-01-01

Human behaviour is highly individual by nature, yet statistical structures are emerging which seem to govern the actions of human beings collectively. Here we search for universal statistical laws dictating the timing of human actions in communication decisions. We focus on the distribution of the time interval between messages in human broadcast communication, as documented in Twitter, and study a collection of over 160,000 tweets for three user categories: personal (controlled by one person), managed (typically PR agency controlled) and bot-controlled (automated system). To test our hypothesis, we investigate whether it is possible to differentiate between user types based on tweet timing behaviour, independently of the content in messages. For this purpose, we developed a system to process a large amount of tweets for reality mining and implemented two simple probabilistic inference algorithms: 1. a naive Bayes classifier, which distinguishes between two and three account categories with classification performance of 84.6% and 75.8%, respectively and 2. a prediction algorithm to estimate the time of a user's next tweet with an R(2) ≈ 0.7. Our results show that we can reliably distinguish between the three user categories as well as predict the distribution of a user's inter-message time with reasonable accuracy. More importantly, we identify a characteristic power-law decrease in the tail of inter-message time distribution by human users which is different from that obtained for managed and automated accounts. This result is evidence of a universal law that permeates the timing of human decisions in broadcast communication and extends the findings of several previous studies of peer-to-peer communication.

Scaling-Laws of Human Broadcast Communication Enable Distinction between Human, Corporate and Robot Twitter Users

PubMed Central

Tavares, Gabriela; Faisal, Aldo

2013-01-01

Human behaviour is highly individual by nature, yet statistical structures are emerging which seem to govern the actions of human beings collectively. Here we search for universal statistical laws dictating the timing of human actions in communication decisions. We focus on the distribution of the time interval between messages in human broadcast communication, as documented in Twitter, and study a collection of over 160,000 tweets for three user categories: personal (controlled by one person), managed (typically PR agency controlled) and bot-controlled (automated system). To test our hypothesis, we investigate whether it is possible to differentiate between user types based on tweet timing behaviour, independently of the content in messages. For this purpose, we developed a system to process a large amount of tweets for reality mining and implemented two simple probabilistic inference algorithms: 1. a naive Bayes classifier, which distinguishes between two and three account categories with classification performance of 84.6% and 75.8%, respectively and 2. a prediction algorithm to estimate the time of a user's next tweet with an . Our results show that we can reliably distinguish between the three user categories as well as predict the distribution of a user's inter-message time with reasonable accuracy. More importantly, we identify a characteristic power-law decrease in the tail of inter-message time distribution by human users which is different from that obtained for managed and automated accounts. This result is evidence of a universal law that permeates the timing of human decisions in broadcast communication and extends the findings of several previous studies of peer-to-peer communication. PMID:23843945

Skeletal muscle metastases on magnetic resonance imaging: analysis of 31 cases.

PubMed

Li, Qi; Wang, Lei; Pan, Shinong; Shu, Hong; Ma, Ying; Lu, Zaiming; Fu, Xihu; Jiang, Bo; Guo, Qiyong

2016-01-01

To investigate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of skeletal muscle metastases (SMM). The records of 31 patients with proven SMM were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical history, type of primary malignancy, location of metastases, and MRI features of SMM were evaluated. Based on MRI findings, SMM were divided into three MRI types. The correlation between MRI types with ages and pathology category, between MRI types of SMM and ages, as well as MRI types of SMM and pathology category were analysed with Spearman's rho. The most common primary tumour was genital tumour (25.8%) and bronchial carcinoma (19.4%), and the most common cell type was adenocarcinoma (58.1%). SMM were located in the iliopsoas muscle (26.3%), paravertebral muscles (21.1%), and upper extremity muscles (18.4%). MRI features: (1) Type-I localised lesions (12.90%), round-like mass limited to local regions with heterogeneous iso-signal intensity in T1WI and heterogeneous hyper-intensity in T2WI; (2) Type-II diffuse lesions without bone destruction (35.48%), abnormal diffuse swelling of the muscle with irregular boundaries and slightly hypo- to iso-intensity in T1WI and hyper-intensity in T2WI; and (3) Type-III diffuse lesions with bone destruction (51.61%), distinct irregular lump with iso-intensity in T1WI and heterogeneous hyper-intensity in T2WI with adjacent bone invasion. There was positive correlation between MRI types and ages (r = 0.431, p < 0.05). There were no significant differences of MRI types with pathology category (p > 0.05). SMM features on MRI can be broadly used to classify lesions, which is beneficial for SMM diagnosis.

Skeletal muscle metastases on magnetic resonance imaging: analysis of 31 cases

PubMed Central

Li, Qi; Wang, Lei; Shu, Hong; Ma, Ying; Lu, Zaiming; Fu, Xihu; Jiang, Bo; Guo, Qiyong

2016-01-01

Aim of the study To investigate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of skeletal muscle metastases (SMM). Material and methods The records of 31 patients with proven SMM were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical history, type of primary malignancy, location of metastases, and MRI features of SMM were evaluated. Based on MRI findings, SMM were divided into three MRI types. The correlation between MRI types with ages and pathology category, between MRI types of SMM and ages, as well as MRI types of SMM and pathology category were analysed with Spearman's rho. Results The most common primary tumour was genital tumour (25.8%) and bronchial carcinoma (19.4%), and the most common cell type was adenocarcinoma (58.1%). SMM were located in the iliopsoas muscle (26.3%), paravertebral muscles (21.1%), and upper extremity muscles (18.4%). MRI features: (1) Type-I localised lesions (12.90%), round-like mass limited to local regions with heterogeneous iso-signal intensity in T1WI and heterogeneous hyper-intensity in T2WI; (2) Type-II diffuse lesions without bone destruction (35.48%), abnormal diffuse swelling of the muscle with irregular boundaries and slightly hypo- to iso-intensity in T1WI and hyper-intensity in T2WI; and (3) Type-III diffuse lesions with bone destruction (51.61%), distinct irregular lump with iso-intensity in T1WI and heterogeneous hyper-intensity in T2WI with adjacent bone invasion. There was positive correlation between MRI types and ages (r = 0.431, p < 0.05). There were no significant differences of MRI types with pathology category (p > 0.05). Conclusions SMM features on MRI can be broadly used to classify lesions, which is beneficial for SMM diagnosis. PMID:27647989

Trend of Narratives in the Age of Misinformation.

PubMed

Bessi, Alessandro; Zollo, Fabiana; Del Vicario, Michela; Scala, Antonio; Caldarelli, Guido; Quattrociocchi, Walter

2015-01-01

Social media enabled a direct path from producer to consumer of contents changing the way users get informed, debate, and shape their worldviews. Such a disintermediation might weaken consensus on social relevant issues in favor of rumors, mistrust, or conspiracy thinking-e.g., chem-trails inducing global warming, the link between vaccines and autism, or the New World Order conspiracy. Previous studies pointed out that consumers of conspiracy-like content are likely to aggregate in homophile clusters-i.e., echo-chambers. Along this path we study, by means of a thorough quantitative analysis, how different topics are consumed inside the conspiracy echo-chamber in the Italian Facebook. Through a semi-automatic topic extraction strategy, we show that the most consumed contents semantically refer to four specific categories: environment, diet, health, and geopolitics. We find similar consumption patterns by comparing users activity (likes and comments) on posts belonging to these different semantic categories. Finally, we model users mobility across the distinct topics finding that the more a user is active, the more he is likely to span on all categories. Once inside a conspiracy narrative users tend to embrace the overall corpus.

[Study on the excavated wooden carved acupuncture statue of the Western Han Dynasty in Laoguanshan].

PubMed

Huang, L X

2017-05-28

The painted red lines on the wooden carved acupuncture statue of Western Han Dynasty in Laoguanshan, illustrate the running courses of the"eleven meridians"on the body surface in the early meridian doctrine. The carved white lines show the body surface running courses of the"twelve meridians"in the meridian doctrine and the Sanjiao images in Sanjiao doctrine. The dots on the wooden carved acupuncture statue are of two categories, one of them is of regulatory, round and concave spots, which are carved before the process of lacquer undercoat. The other category is of different sizes and in irregular forms, which are carved simultaneously with those white lines. Altogether there are over one hundred dots in these two categories, representing the mai shu (transport point of vessels). The wooden carved acupuncture statue reflects the distinct characteristics on the running courses of meridians, Sanjiao doctrine, the nomenclature and localization of" mai shu "in Bianque medicine, which provides the most powerful evidence for the confirmation of the correlation between Laoguanshan excavated documents and Bianque medicine.

What's in the input? Frequent frames in child-directed speech offer distributional cues to grammatical categories in Spanish and English

PubMed Central

Weisleder, Adriana; Waxman, Sandra R.

2010-01-01

Recent analyses have revealed that child-directed speech contains distributional regularities that could, in principle, support young children's discovery of distinct grammatical categories (noun, verb, adjective). In particular, a distributional unit known as the frequent frame appears to be especially informative (Mintz, 2003). However, analyses have focused almost exclusively on the distributional information available in English. Because languages differ considerably in how the grammatical forms are marked within utterances, the scarcity of cross-linguistic evidence represents an unfortunate gap. We therefore advance the developmental evidence by analyzing the distributional information available in frequent frames across two languages (Spanish and English), across sentence positions (phrase medial and phrase final), and across grammatical forms (noun, verb, adjective). We selected six parent-child corpora from the CHILDES database (3 English; 3 Spanish), and analyzed the input when children were 2;6 years or younger. In each language, frequent frames did indeed offer systematic cues to grammatical category assignment. We also identify differences in the accuracy of these frames across languages, sentences positions, and grammatical classes. PMID:19698207

What's in the input? Frequent frames in child-directed speech offer distributional cues to grammatical categories in Spanish and English.

PubMed

Weisleder, Adriana; Waxman, Sandra R

2010-11-01

Recent analyses have revealed that child-directed speech contains distributional regularities that could, in principle, support young children's discovery of distinct grammatical categories (noun, verb, adjective). In particular, a distributional unit known as the frequent frame appears to be especially informative (Mintz, 2003). However, analyses have focused almost exclusively on the distributional information available in English. Because languages differ considerably in how the grammatical forms are marked within utterances, the scarcity of cross-linguistic evidence represents an unfortunate gap. We therefore advance the developmental evidence by analyzing the distributional information available in frequent frames across two languages (Spanish and English), across sentence positions (phrase medial and phrase final), and across grammatical forms (noun, verb, adjective). We selected six parent-child corpora from the CHILDES database (three English; three Spanish), and analyzed the input when children were aged 2 ; 6 or younger. In each language, frequent frames did indeed offer systematic cues to grammatical category assignment. We also identify differences in the accuracy of these frames across languages, sentences positions and grammatical classes.

The Neural Correlates of Desire

PubMed Central

Kawabata, Hideaki; Zeki, Semir

2008-01-01

In an event-related fMRI study, we scanned eighteen normal human subjects while they viewed three categories of pictures (events, objects and persons) which they classified according to desirability (desirable, indifferent or undesirable). Each category produced activity in a distinct part of the visual brain, thus reflecting its functional specialization. We used conjunction analysis to learn whether there is a brain area which is always active when a desirable picture is viewed, regardless of the category to which it belongs. The conjunction analysis of the contrast desirable > undesirable revealed activity in the superior orbito-frontal cortex. This activity bore a positive linear relationship to the declared level of desirability. The conjunction analysis of desirable > indifferent revealed activity in the mid-cingulate cortex and in the anterior cingulate cortex. In the former, activity was greater for desirable and undesirable stimuli than for stimuli classed as indifferent. Other conjunction analyses produced no significant effects. These results show that categorizing any stimulus according to its desirability activates three different brain areas: the superior orbito-frontal, the mid-cingulate, and the anterior cingulate cortices. PMID:18728753

The neural basis for category-specific knowledge: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Grossman, Murray; Koenig, Phyllis; DeVita, Chris; Glosser, Guila; Alsop, David; Detre, John; Gee, James

2002-04-01

Functional neuroimaging studies of healthy adults have associated different categories of knowledge with distinct activation patterns. The basis for these recruitment patterns has been controversial, due in part to the limited range of categories that has been studied. We used fMRI to monitor regional cortical recruitment patterns while subjects were exposed to printed names of Animals, Implements, and Abstract nouns. Both Implements and Abstract nouns were related to recruitment of left posterolateral temporal cortex and left prefrontal cortex, and Abstract nouns additionally recruited posterolateral temporal and prefrontal regions of the right hemisphere. Animals were associated with activation of ventral-medial occipital cortex in the left hemisphere at a level that approaches significance. These findings are not consistent with the "sensory-motor" model proposed to explain the neural representation of word knowledge. We suggest instead a neural model of semantic memory that reflects the processes common to understanding Implements and Abstract nouns and a selective sensitivity, possibly evolving from adaptive pressures, to the overlapping, intercorrelated visual characteristics of Animals. (C)2002 Elsevier Science (USA).

Classification of occupational activity categories using accelerometry: NHANES 2003-2004.

PubMed

Steeves, Jeremy A; Tudor-Locke, Catrine; Murphy, Rachel A; King, George A; Fitzhugh, Eugene C; Harris, Tamara B

2015-06-30

An individual's occupational activity (OA) may contribute significantly to daily physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB). However, there is little consensus about which occupational categories involve high OA or low OA, and the majority of categories are unclassifiable with current methods. The purpose of this study was to present population estimates of accelerometer-derived PA and SB variables for adults (n = 1112, 20-60 years) working the 40 occupational categories collected during the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). ActiGraph accelerometer-derived total activity counts/day (TAC), activity counts/minute, and proportion of wear time spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA [MVPA], lifestyle, and light PA organized by occupational category were ranked in ascending order and SB was ranked in descending order. Summing the ranks of the six accelerometer-derived variables generated a summary score for each occupational category, which was re-ranked in ascending order. Higher rankings indicated higher levels of OA, lower rankings indicated lower levels of OA. Tertiles of the summary score were used to establish three mutually exclusive accelerometer-determined OA groupings: high OA, intermediate OA, and low OA. According to their summary score, 'farm and nursery workers' were classified as high OA and 'secretaries, stenographers, and typists' were classified as low OA. Consistent with previous research, some low OA occupational categories (e.g., 'engineers, architects, and scientists', 'technicians and related support occupations', 'management related occupations', 'executives, administrators, and managers', 'protective services', and 'writers, artists, entertainers, and athletes') associated with higher education and income had relatively greater amounts of MVPA compared to other low OA occupational categories, likely due to the greater percentage of men in those occupations and/or the influence of higher levels of leisure time PA. Men had more TAC, activity counts/minute and time in MVPA, but similar proportions of SB compared to women in all three OA groupings. Objectively measured PA allowed for a more precise estimate of the amount of PA and SB associated with different occupations and facilitated systematic classification of the 40 different occupational categories into three distinct OA groupings. This information provides new opportunities to explore the relationship between OA and health outcomes.

Degrees of systematic thoroughness: A text analysis of student technical science writing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esch, Catherine Julia

This dissertation investigates student technical science writing and use of evidence. Student writers attended a writing-intensive undergraduate university oceanography course where they were required to write a technical paper drawing from an instructor-designed software program, Our Dynamic Planet. This software includes multiple interactive geological data sets relevant to plate tectonics. Through qualitative text analysis of students science writing, two research questions frame the study asking: How are the papers textually structured? Are there distinctions between high- and low-rated papers? General and specific text characteristics within three critical sections of the technical paper are identified and analyzed (Observations, Interpretations, Conclusions). Specific text characteristics consist of typical types of figures displayed in the papers, and typical statements within each paper section. Data gathering consisted of collecting 15 student papers which constitute the population of study. An analytical method was designed to manage and analyze the text characteristics. It has three stages: identifying coding categories, re-formulating the categories, and configuring categories. Three important elements emerged that identified notable distinctions in paper quality: data display and use, narration of complex geological feature relationships, and overall organization of text structure. An inter-rater coding concordance check was conducted, and showed high concordance ratios for the coding of each section: Observations = 0.95; Interpretations = 0.93; and Conclusions = 0.87. These categories collectively reveal a larger pattern of general differences in the paper quality levels (high, low, medium). This variation in the quality of papers demonstrates degrees of systematic thoroughness, which is defined as how systematically each student engages in the tasks of the assignment, and how thoroughly and consistently the student follows through on that systematic commitment. Characterizations of each paper level indicate areas that can be explored to develop an explicit instructional pedagogy to support a greater number of low and medium level students. Implications suggest most students require greater explicit instruction. This involves having students pay more attention to detail, and to demonstrate greater follow through in order to produce a solid scientific argument in their technical papers.

Episodic memory for natural and transformed food.

PubMed

Aiello, Marilena; Vignando, Miriam; Foroni, Francesco; Pergola, Giulio; Rossi, Paola; Silveri, Maria Caterina; Rumiati, Raffaella I

2018-05-10

It has been proposed that the conceptual knowledge of food and its putative subdivision into natural (i.e., fruit/vegetables) and transformed (i.e., food that underwent thermic or non-thermic processing) may follow the living/non-living distinction. In the present study, we investigated whether the advantage for living things compared to non-living things observed in episodic memory (the so-called animacy effect) extends to natural foods and transformed foods respectively. We pursued this issue in two experiments. In Experiment 1, we measured episodic memory for natural and transformed foods in young participants. In Experiment 2, we enrolled dementia-free centenarians, patients with Alzheimer's disease (DAT), Progressive primary aphasia (PPA), and healthy controls whose episodic memory was also tested for living/non-living things. Results showed that young participants had better recognition memory for transformed foods compared to natural foods. This difference disappeared in centenarians and patients. However, centenarians and PPA exhibited enhanced levels of false alarms (FA) with natural food, and DAT patients with both natural and transformed food. As far as the living/non-living distinction is concerned, the episodic memory for the living category appears more resilient to the decline compared to the non-living category in patients, particularly those with PPA. In conclusion, our study shows that transformed food is better remembered than natural food, suggesting that it is more salient and possibly relevant from an evolutionary perspective. The natural/transformed distinction appears susceptible to erosion only in the presence of a high degree of episodic memory impairment. These results offer novel insight on episodic memory of food, and also extend the current knowledge on the animacy effect in episodic memory. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration: pathologic staging data.

PubMed

Rice, T W; Chen, L-Q; Hofstetter, W L; Smithers, B M; Rusch, V W; Wijnhoven, B P L; Chen, K L; Davies, A R; D'Journo, X B; Kesler, K A; Luketich, J D; Ferguson, M K; Räsänen, J V; van Hillegersberg, R; Fang, W; Durand, L; Cecconello, I; Allum, W H; Cerfolio, R J; Pera, M; Griffin, S M; Burger, R; Liu, J-F; Allen, M S; Law, S; Watson, T J; Darling, G E; Scott, W J; Duranceau, A; Denlinger, C E; Schipper, P H; Lerut, T E M R; Orringer, M B; Ishwaran, H; Apperson-Hansen, C; DiPaola, L M; Semple, M E; Blackstone, E H

2016-10-01

We report data-simple descriptions of patient characteristics, cancer categories, and non-risk-adjusted survival-for patients with pathologically staged cancer of the esophagus and esophagogastric junction after resection or ablation with no preoperative therapy from the Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration (WECC). Thirty-three institutions from six continents submitted de-identified data using standard definitions: demographics, comorbidities, clinical cancer categories, and all-cause mortality from first management decision. Of 13,300 patients, 5,631 had squamous cell carcinoma, 7,558 adenocarcinoma, 85 adenosquamous carcinoma, and 26 undifferentiated carcinoma. Patients were older (62 years) men (80%) with normal body mass index (51%), little weight loss (1.8 kg), 0-2 ECOG performance status (83%), and a history of smoking (70%). Cancers were pT1 (24%), pT2 (15%), pT3 (50%), pN0 (52%), pM0 (93%), and pG2-G3 (78%); most involved distal esophagus (71%). Non-risk-adjusted survival for both squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma was monotonic and distinctive across pTNM. Survival was more distinctive for adenocarcinoma than squamous cell carcinoma when pT was ordered by pN. Survival for pTis-1 adenocarcinoma was better than for squamous cell carcinoma, although monotonic and distinctive for both. WECC pathologic staging data is improved over that of the 7th edition, with more patients studied and patient and cancer variables collected. These data will be the basis for the 8th edition cancer staging manuals following risk adjustment for patient, cancer, and treatment characteristics, and should direct 9th edition data collection. However, the role of pure pathologic staging as the principal point of reference for esophageal cancer staging is waning. © 2016 International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus.

Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration: pathologic staging data

PubMed Central

Rice, T. W.; Chen, L.-Q.; Hofstetter, W. L.; Smithers, B.M.; Rusch, V. W.; Wijnhoven, B. P. L.; Chen, K. L.; Davies, A. R.; D’Journo, X. B.; Kesler, K. A.; Luketich, J. D.; Ferguson, M. K.; Räsänen, J. V.; van Hillegersberg, R.; Fang, W.; Durand, L.; Cecconello, I.; Allum, W. H.; Cerfolio, R. J.; Pera, M.; Griffin, S. M.; Burger, R.; Liu, J.-F; Allen, M. S.; Law, S.; Watson, T. J.; Darling, G. E.; Scott, W. J.; Duranceau, A.; Denlinger, C. E.; Schipper, P. H.; Lerut, T. E. M. R.; Orringer, M. B.; Ishwaran, H.; Apperson-Hansen, C.; DiPaola, L. M.; Semple, M. E.; Blackstone, E. H.

2017-01-01

SUMMARY We report data—simple descriptions of patient characteristics, cancer categories, and non–risk-adjusted survival—for patients with pathologically staged cancer of the esophagus and esophagogastric junction after resection or ablation with no preoperative therapy from the Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration (WECC). Thirty-three institutions from six continents submitted de-identified data using standard definitions: demographics, comorbidities, clinical cancer categories, and all-cause mortality from first management decision. Of 13,300 patients, 5,631 had squamous cell carcinoma, 7,558 adenocarcinoma, 85 adenosquamous carcinoma, and 26 undifferentiated carcinoma. Patients were older (62 years) men (80%) with normal body mass index (51%), little weight loss (1.8 kg), 0–2 ECOG performance status (83%), and a history of smoking (70%). Cancers were pT1 (24%), pT2 (15%), pT3 (50%), pN0 (52%), pM0 (93%), and pG2–G3 (78%); most involved distal esophagus (71%). Non–risk-adjusted survival for both squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma was monotonic and distinctive across pTNM. Survival was more distinctive for adenocarcinoma than squamous cell carcinoma when pT was ordered by pN. Survival for pTis-1 adenocarcinoma was better than for squamous cell carcinoma, although monotonic and distinctive for both. WECC pathologic staging data is improved over that of the 7th edition, with more patients studied and patient and cancer variables collected. These data will be the basis for the 8th edition cancer staging manuals following risk adjustment for patient, cancer, and treatment characteristics, and should direct 9th edition data collection. However, the role of pure pathologic staging as the principal point of reference for esophageal cancer staging is waning. PMID:27731547

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and Chronic Fatigue (CF) are distinguished accurately: results of supervised learning techniques applied on clinical and inflammatory data.

PubMed

Maes, Michael; Twisk, Frank N M; Johnson, Cort

2012-12-30

There is much debate on the diagnostic classification of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and chronic fatigue (CF). Post-exertional malaise (PEM) is stressed as a key feature. This study examines whether CF and CFS, with and without PEM, are distinct diagnostic categories. Fukuda's criteria were used to diagnose 144 patients with chronic fatigue and identify patients with CFS and CF, i.e. those not fulfilling the Fukuda's criteria. PEM was rated by means of a scale with defined scale steps between 0 and 6. CFS patients were divided into those with PEM lasting more than 24h (labeled: ME) and without PEM (labeled: CFS). The 12-item Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (FF) Rating Scale was used to measure severity of illness. Plasma interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α, and lysozyme, and serum neopterin were employed as external validating criteria. Using fatigue, a subjective feeling of infection and PEM we found that ME, CFS, and CF were distinct categories. Patients with ME had significantly higher scores on concentration difficulties and a subjective experience of infection, and higher levels of IL-1, TNFα, and neopterin than patients with CFS. These biomarkers were significantly higher in ME and CFS than in CF patients. PEM loaded highly on the first two factors subtracted from the data set, i.e. "malaise-sickness" and "malaise-hyperalgesia". Fukuda's criteria are adequate to make a distinction between ME/CFS and CF, but ME/CFS patients should be subdivided into ME (with PEM) and CFS (without PEM). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Faculty Self-Reported Assessment Survey (FRAS): Differentiating Faculty Knowledge and Experience in Assessment

PubMed Central

Hanauer, David I.; Bauerle, Cynthia

2015-01-01

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education reform efforts have called for widespread adoption of evidence-based teaching in which faculty members attend to student outcomes through assessment practice. Awareness about the importance of assessment has illuminated the need to understand what faculty members know and how they engage with assessment knowledge and practice. The Faculty Self-Reported Assessment Survey (FRAS) is a new instrument for evaluating science faculty assessment knowledge and experience. Instrument validation was composed of two distinct studies: an empirical evaluation of the psychometric properties of the FRAS and a comparative known-groups validation to explore the ability of the FRAS to differentiate levels of faculty assessment experience. The FRAS was found to be highly reliable (α = 0.96). The dimensionality of the instrument enabled distinction of assessment knowledge into categories of program design, instrumentation, and validation. In the known-groups validation, the FRAS distinguished between faculty groups with differing levels of assessment experience. Faculty members with formal assessment experience self-reported higher levels of familiarity with assessment terms, higher frequencies of assessment activity, increased confidence in conducting assessment, and more positive attitudes toward assessment than faculty members who were novices in assessment. These results suggest that the FRAS can reliably and validly differentiate levels of expertise in faculty knowledge of assessment. PMID:25976653

Multilayer scaffolds in orthopaedic tissue engineering.

PubMed

Atesok, Kivanc; Doral, M Nedim; Karlsson, Jon; Egol, Kenneth A; Jazrawi, Laith M; Coelho, Paulo G; Martinez, Amaury; Matsumoto, Tomoyuki; Owens, Brett D; Ochi, Mitsuo; Hurwitz, Shepard R; Atala, Anthony; Fu, Freddie H; Lu, Helen H; Rodeo, Scott A

2016-07-01

The purpose of this study was to summarize the recent developments in the field of tissue engineering as they relate to multilayer scaffold designs in musculoskeletal regeneration. Clinical and basic research studies that highlight the current knowledge and potential future applications of the multilayer scaffolds in orthopaedic tissue engineering were evaluated and the best evidence collected. Studies were divided into three main categories based on tissue types and interfaces for which multilayer scaffolds were used to regenerate: bone, osteochondral junction and tendon-to-bone interfaces. In vitro and in vivo studies indicate that the use of stratified scaffolds composed of multiple layers with distinct compositions for regeneration of distinct tissue types within the same scaffold and anatomic location is feasible. This emerging tissue engineering approach has potential applications in regeneration of bone defects, osteochondral lesions and tendon-to-bone interfaces with successful basic research findings that encourage clinical applications. Present data supporting the advantages of the use of multilayer scaffolds as an emerging strategy in musculoskeletal tissue engineering are promising, however, still limited. Positive impacts of the use of next generation scaffolds in orthopaedic tissue engineering can be expected in terms of decreasing the invasiveness of current grafting techniques used for reconstruction of bone and osteochondral defects, and tendon-to-bone interfaces in near future.