Patterns in the Pythagorean Configuration and Some Extensions: The Power of Interactive Geometry Software

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Contreras, José

2015-01-01

In this paper I describe classroom experiences with pre-service secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs) investigating and extending patterns embedded in the Pythagorean configuration. This geometric figure is a fruitful source of mathematical tasks to help students, including PSMTs, further develop habits of mind such as visualization,…

Data Embedding for Covert Communications, Digital Watermarking, and Information Augmentation

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-03-01

proposed an image authentication algorithm based on the fragility of messages embedded in digital images using LSB encoding. In [Walt95], he proposes...Invertibility 2/ 3 SAMPLE DATA EMBEDDING TECHNIQUES 23 3.1 SPATIAL TECHNIQUES 23 LSB Encoding in Intensity Images 23 Data embedding...ATTACK 21 FIGURE 6. EFFECTS OF LSB ENCODING 25 FIGURE 7. ALGORITHM FOR EZSTEGO 28 FIGURE 8. DATA EMBEDDING IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN 30 FIGURE 9

Embedded performance validity testing in neuropsychological assessment: Potential clinical tools.

PubMed

Rickards, Tyler A; Cranston, Christopher C; Touradji, Pegah; Bechtold, Kathleen T

2018-01-01

The article aims to suggest clinically-useful tools in neuropsychological assessment for efficient use of embedded measures of performance validity. To accomplish this, we integrated available validity-related and statistical research from the literature, consensus statements, and survey-based data from practicing neuropsychologists. We provide recommendations for use of 1) Cutoffs for embedded performance validity tests including Reliable Digit Span, California Verbal Learning Test (Second Edition) Forced Choice Recognition, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test Combination Score, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test Failure to Maintain Set, and the Finger Tapping Test; 2) Selecting number of performance validity measures to administer in an assessment; and 3) Hypothetical clinical decision-making models for use of performance validity testing in a neuropsychological assessment collectively considering behavior, patient reporting, and data indicating invalid or noncredible performance. Performance validity testing helps inform the clinician about an individual's general approach to tasks: response to failure, task engagement and persistence, compliance with task demands. Data-driven clinical suggestions provide a resource to clinicians and to instigate conversation within the field to make more uniform, testable decisions to further the discussion, and guide future research in this area.

Cortical underconnectivity coupled with preserved visuospatial cognition in autism: Evidence from an fMRI study of an embedded figures task.

PubMed

Damarla, Saudamini Roy; Keller, Timothy A; Kana, Rajesh K; Cherkassky, Vladimir L; Williams, Diane L; Minshew, Nancy J; Just, Marcel Adam

2010-10-01

Individuals with high-functioning autism sometimes exhibit intact or superior performance on visuospatial tasks, in contrast to impaired functioning in other domains such as language comprehension, executive tasks, and social functions. The goal of the current study was to investigate the neural bases of preserved visuospatial processing in high-functioning autism from the perspective of the cortical underconnectivity theory. We used a combination of behavioral, functional magnetic resonance imaging, functional connectivity, and corpus callosum morphometric methodological tools. Thirteen participants with high-functioning autism and 13 controls (age-, IQ-, and gender-matched) were scanned while performing an Embedded Figures Task. Despite the ability of the autism group to attain behavioral performance comparable to the control group, the brain imaging results revealed several group differences consistent with the cortical underconnectivity account of autism. First, relative to controls, the autism group showed less activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal and inferior parietal areas and more activation in visuospatial (bilateral superior parietal extending to inferior parietal and right occipital) areas. Second, the autism group demonstrated lower functional connectivity between higher-order working memory/executive areas and visuospatial regions (between frontal and parietal-occipital). Third, the size of the corpus callosum (an index of anatomical connectivity) was positively correlated with frontal-posterior (parietal and occipital) functional connectivity in the autism group. Thus, even in the visuospatial domain, where preserved performance among people with autism is observed, the neuroimaging signatures of cortical underconnectivity persist.

Cortical underconnectivity coupled with preserved visuospatial cognition in autism: Evidence from an fMRI study of an embedded figures task

PubMed Central

Damarla, Saudamini Roy; Keller, Timothy A.; Kana, Rajesh K.; Cherkassky, Vladimir L.; Williams, Diane L.; Minshew, Nancy J.; Just, Marcel Adam

2010-01-01

Individuals with high-functioning autism sometimes exhibit intact or superior performance on visuospatial tasks, in contrast to impaired functioning in other domains such as language comprehension, executive tasks, and social functions. The goal of the current study was to investigate the neural bases of preserved visuospatial processing in high-functioning autism from the perspective of the cortical underconnectivity theory. We used a combination of behavioral, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), functional connectivity, and corpus callosum morphometric methodological tools. Thirteen participants with high-functioning autism and thirteen controls (age-, IQ-, and gender-matched) were scanned while performing an Embedded Figures Task (EFT). Despite the ability of the autism group to attain behavioral performance comparable to the control group, the brain imaging results revealed several group differences consistent with the cortical underconnectivity account of autism. First, relative to controls, the autism group showed less activation in left dorsolateral prefrontal and inferior parietal areas and more activation in visuospatial (bilateral superior parietal extending to inferior parietal and right occipital) areas. Second, the autism group demonstrated lower functional connectivity between higher-order working memory/executive areas and visuospatial regions (between frontal and parietal-occipital). Third, the size of the corpus callosum (an index of anatomical connectivity) was positively correlated with frontal-posterior (parietal and occipital) functional connectivity in the autism group. Thus, even in the visuospatial domain, where preserved performance among people with autism is observed, the neuroimaging signatures of cortical underconnectivity persist. PMID:20740492

Autonomy of Lower-Level Perception from Global Processing in Autism: Evidence from Brain Activation and Functional Connectivity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Yanni; Cherkassky, Vladimir L.; Minshew, Nancy J.; Just, Marcel Adam

2011-01-01

Previous behavioral studies have shown that individuals with autism are less hindered by interference from global processing during the performance of lower-level perceptual tasks, such as finding embedded figures. The primary goal of this study was to examine the brain manifestation of such atypicality in high-functioning autism using fMRI.…

Embedding and Publishing Interactive, 3-Dimensional, Scientific Figures in Portable Document Format (PDF) Files

PubMed Central

Barnes, David G.; Vidiassov, Michail; Ruthensteiner, Bernhard; Fluke, Christopher J.; Quayle, Michelle R.; McHenry, Colin R.

2013-01-01

With the latest release of the S2PLOT graphics library, embedding interactive, 3-dimensional (3-d) scientific figures in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files is simple, and can be accomplished without commercial software. In this paper, we motivate the need for embedding 3-d figures in scholarly articles. We explain how 3-d figures can be created using the S2PLOT graphics library, exported to Product Representation Compact (PRC) format, and included as fully interactive, 3-d figures in PDF files using the movie15 LaTeX package. We present new examples of 3-d PDF figures, explain how they have been made, validate them, and comment on their advantages over traditional, static 2-dimensional (2-d) figures. With the judicious use of 3-d rather than 2-d figures, scientists can now publish, share and archive more useful, flexible and faithful representations of their study outcomes. The article you are reading does not have embedded 3-d figures. The full paper, with embedded 3-d figures, is recommended and is available as a supplementary download from PLoS ONE (File S2). PMID:24086243

Embedding and publishing interactive, 3-dimensional, scientific figures in Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

PubMed

Barnes, David G; Vidiassov, Michail; Ruthensteiner, Bernhard; Fluke, Christopher J; Quayle, Michelle R; McHenry, Colin R

2013-01-01

With the latest release of the S2PLOT graphics library, embedding interactive, 3-dimensional (3-d) scientific figures in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files is simple, and can be accomplished without commercial software. In this paper, we motivate the need for embedding 3-d figures in scholarly articles. We explain how 3-d figures can be created using the S2PLOT graphics library, exported to Product Representation Compact (PRC) format, and included as fully interactive, 3-d figures in PDF files using the movie15 LaTeX package. We present new examples of 3-d PDF figures, explain how they have been made, validate them, and comment on their advantages over traditional, static 2-dimensional (2-d) figures. With the judicious use of 3-d rather than 2-d figures, scientists can now publish, share and archive more useful, flexible and faithful representations of their study outcomes. The article you are reading does not have embedded 3-d figures. The full paper, with embedded 3-d figures, is recommended and is available as a supplementary download from PLoS ONE (File S2).

Visual Search Targeting Either Local or Global Perceptual Processes Differs as a Function of Autistic-Like Traits in the Typically Developing Population

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almeida, Renita A.; Dickinson, J. Edwin; Maybery, Murray T.; Badcock, Johanna C.; Badcock, David R.

2013-01-01

Relative to low scorers, high scorers on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) show enhanced performance on the Embedded Figures Test and the Radial Frequency search task (RFST), which has been attributed to both enhanced local processing and differences in combining global percepts. We investigate the role of local and global processing further using…

A simplified plastic embedding and immunohistologic technique for immunophenotypic analysis of human hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues.

PubMed Central

Casey, T. T.; Cousar, J. B.; Collins, R. D.

1988-01-01

Routine fixation and paraffin embedding destroys many hematopoietic and lymphoid differentiation antigens detected by flow cytometry or frozen section immunohistochemistry. On the other hand, morphologic evaluation is difficult in flow cytometric or frozen section studies. A simplified three-step plastic embedding system using acetone-fixed tissues embedded in glycol-methacrylate (GMA) resin has been found to provide both excellent morphologic and antigenic preservation. With our system, a wide variety of antigens are detected in plastic sections without trypsinization or prolonged embedding procedures; pan-B (CD19, CD22), pan-T (CD7, CD5, CD3, CD2), T-subset (CD4, CD8, CD1, CD25) markers as well as surface immunoglobulin and markers for myeloid and mononuclear-phagocyte cells are preserved. In summary, modifications of plastic embedding techniques used in this study simplify the procedure, apparently achieve excellent antigenic preservation, and facilitate evaluation of morphologic details in relation to immunocytochemical markers. Images Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 PMID:3282442

Shape-specific perceptual learning in a figure-ground segregation task.

PubMed

Yi, Do-Joon; Olson, Ingrid R; Chun, Marvin M

2006-03-01

What does perceptual experience contribute to figure-ground segregation? To study this question, we trained observers to search for symmetric dot patterns embedded in random dot backgrounds. Training improved shape segmentation, but learning did not completely transfer either to untrained locations or to untrained shapes. Such partial specificity persisted for a month after training. Interestingly, training on shapes in empty backgrounds did not help segmentation of the trained shapes in noisy backgrounds. Our results suggest that perceptual training increases the involvement of early sensory neurons in the segmentation of trained shapes, and that successful segmentation requires perceptual skills beyond shape recognition alone.

Embedded Figures Detection in Autism and Typical Development: Preliminary Evidence of a Double Dissociation in Relationships with Visual Search

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jarrold, Christopher; Gilchrist, Iain D.; Bender, Alison

2005-01-01

Individuals with autism show relatively strong performance on tasks that require them to identify the constituent parts of a visual stimulus. This is assumed to be the result of a bias towards processing the local elements in a display that follows from a weakened ability to integrate information at the global level. The results of the current…

Relationships among gender, cognitive style, academic major, and performance on the Piaget water-level task.

PubMed

Hammer, R E; Hoffer, N; King, W L

1995-06-01

Many researchers have found that more college-age adults than would be expected fail Piaget's water-level task, with women failing more frequently than men. It has been hypothesized that differences in cognitive style may account for performance differences on the water-level task. In the present study, 27 male and 27 female architectural students and 27 male and 27 female liberal-arts students were assessed for their performance on both Piaget's Water-level Task and Witkin's Group Embedded Figures Test. No difference was found in performance of male and female architectural students on either task, but male liberal-arts students scored significantly higher than female liberal-arts students on both measures. A disembedding cognitive style predicted success on the water-level task for the architectural students but not for the liberal arts students.

Support for a Link between the Local Processing Bias and Social Deficits in Autism: An Investigation of Embedded Figures Test Performance in Non-Clinical Individuals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell-Smith, Suzanna N.; Maybery, Murray T.; Bayliss, Donna M.; Sng, Adelln A. H.

2012-01-01

The aim of this investigation was to explore the degree to which specific subsets of autistic-like traits relate to performance on the Embedded Figures Test (Witkin et al. in A manual for the embedded figures test. Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA, 1971). In the first group-based investigation with this focus, students were selected…

Spatial cognition in autism spectrum disorders: superior, impaired, or just intact?

PubMed

Edgin, Jamie O; Pennington, Bruce F

2005-12-01

The profile of spatial ability is of interest across autism spectrum disorders (ASD) because of reported spatial strengths in ASD and due to the recent association of Asperger's syndrome with Nonverbal Learning Disability. Spatial functions were examined in relation to two cognitive theories in autism: the central coherence and executive function (EF) theories. Performance on spatial tasks, EFs, and global/local processing was compared in children with ASD and controls. While the ASD group had faster reaction times on the Embedded Figures task, spatial performance was intact, but not superior, on other tasks. There was no evidence for impairments in EF or in processing global/local information, therefore contradicting these two theories. The implications of these results for these two theories are discussed.

Modularity and hierarchical organization of action programs in children's acquisition of graphic skills.

PubMed

Manoel, Edison de J; Dantas, Luiz; Gimenez, Roberto; de Oliveira, Dalton Lustosa

2011-10-01

The organization of actions is based on modules in memory as a result of practice, easing the demand of performing more complex actions. If this modularization occurs, the elements of the module must remain invariant in new tasks. To test this hypothesis, 35 children, age 10 yr., practiced a graphic criterion task on a digital tablet and completed a complex graphic task enclosing the previous one. Total movement and pause times to draw the figure indicated skill acquisition. A module was identified by the variability of relative timing, pause time, and sequencing. Total movement to perform the criterion task did not increase significantly when it was embedded in the more complex task. Modularity was evidenced by the stability of relative timing and pause time and sequencing. The spatial position of new elements did not perturb the module, so the grammar of action may still have been forming.

A Near Term Approach to Embedded Training: Battle Command Visualization 101

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-05-01

Example of Task Guidance area at the end of Module 1, Exercise 1 (Level 1) ...... 26 Figure 9 Example of Robo -Scout information, accessed through the...unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) sensor, the Robo -Scout. They will be equipped with both passive and active systems to provide target acquisition, real...PIR# Track of Update RqieTemplated Required 1 Tracked & NAI 1, 2 S, T S200 synthetic L 2 hrs Vehicle type, Intel, Fires (PIR 1) Wheeled aperture radar

Gender differences in patterns of spatial ability, environmental cognition, and math and English achievement in late adolescence.

PubMed

Pearson, J L; Ferguson, L R

1989-01-01

Relationships were explored among three measures of spatial ability--the Embedded Figures Test (EFT), the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), and the Differential Aptitude Spatial Relations subtest (DAT)--an environmental cognition task (MAP), American College Testing (ACT) math and English achievement, and gender in a sample of 282 undergraduates. Variance attributable to gender among the spatial tasks ranged from 0.5% in the EFT to 12% in the MRT. Gender accounted for only 1% of the variance in the MAP task. Gender differences were noted in regression analyses; women's math and English achievement scores were both predictive of spatial ability, while for men, only math achievement was predictive of spatial ability. The results were interpreted as substantiating sex role socialization theory of cognitive abilities.

Relations Between Embedded Figures Test Performance and Dimensions of the I-E Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strahan, Robert; Huth, Helga

1975-01-01

Relations between an embedded figures measure of field independence and various dimensions of Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale were investigated. The general absence of significant correlations suggests that these variables are essentially unrelated. (Author)

Exploring the benefit of synaesthetic colours: Testing for “pop-out” in individuals with grapheme–colour synaesthesia

PubMed Central

Rich, Anina N.; Karstoft, Karen-Inge

2013-01-01

In grapheme–colour synaesthesia, letters, numbers, and words elicit involuntary colour experiences. Recently, there has been much emphasis on individual differences and possible subcategories of synaesthetes with different underlying mechanisms. In particular, there are claims that for some, synaesthesia occurs prior to attention and awareness of the inducing stimulus. We first characterized our sample using two versions of the “Synaesthetic Congruency Task” to distinguish “projector” and “associator” synaesthetes who may differ in the extent to which their synaesthesia depends on attention and awareness. We then used a novel modification of the “Embedded Figures Task” that included a set-size manipulation to look for evidence of preattentive “pop-out” from synaesthetic colours, at both a group and an individual level. We replicate an advantage for synaesthetes over nonsynaesthetic controls on the Embedded Figures Task in accuracy, but find no support for pop-out of synaesthetic colours. We conclude that grapheme–colour synaesthetes are fundamentally similar in their visual processing to the general population, with the source of their unusual conscious colour experiences occurring late in the cognitive hierarchy. PMID:23768150

Embedded Figures Test Performance in the Broader Autism Phenotype: A Meta-Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cribb, Serena J.; Olaithe, Michelle; Di Lorenzo, Renata; Dunlop, Patrick D.; Maybery, Murray T.

2016-01-01

People with autism show superior performance to controls on the Embedded Figures Test (EFT). However, studies examining the relationship between autistic-like traits and EFT performance in neurotypical individuals have yielded inconsistent findings. To examine the inconsistency, a meta-analysis was conducted of studies that (a) compared high and…

Is anorexia nervosa a version of autism spectrum disorders?

PubMed

Oldershaw, Anna; Treasure, Janet; Hambrook, David; Tchanturia, Kate; Schmidt, Ulrike

2011-01-01

Similarities have been noted between cognitive profiles of anorexia nervosa (AN) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, there are no direct comparison studies. This study aimed to compare the cognitive profile of AN against published ASD data on tasks measuring empathy, executive function and central coherence. Currently ill AN outpatients (n = 40) were statistically compared against published ASD scores on Reading the Mind in the Eyes, Voice and Films tasks (assessing empathy), Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) (assessing executive function) and Embedded Figures Task (EFT) (assessing detail focus aspect of central coherence). Cognitive profiles of the groups were statistically similar, except for differences in the relative patterns of empathy scores. The cognitive profile in current AN resembles that of ASD with important clinical implications. Replication studies with planned comparisons, examination of the state-or trait-nature of AN profile and clarification of factors underpinning similarities are required in order to broaden understanding of both disorders. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Brief Report: Eye-Movement Patterns during an Embedded Figures Test in Children with ASD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keehn, Brandon; Brenner, Laurie A.; Ramos, Aurora I.; Lincoln, Alan J.; Marshall, Sandra P.; Muller, Ralph-Axel

2009-01-01

The present study examined fixation frequency and duration during an Embedded Figures Test (EFT) in an effort to better understand the attentional and perceptual processes by which individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) achieve accelerated EFT performance. In particular, we aimed to elucidate differences in the patterns of eye-movement in…

International Field Reversible Thermal Connector (RevCon) Challenge

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-01

Design ....................................................................... 80 Figure 74: Pulsating - heat - pipe Embedded Design Delivered by MissStateU...University MissStateU finally delivered a pulsating - heat - pipe thermal connector. However, the performance did not amaze the audiences. The size and...We also cannot observe any oscillating dynamics during heating . Figure 74: Pulsating - heat - pipe Embedded Design Delivered by MissStateU

A Metaanalysis of Perceptual Organization in Schizophrenia, Schizotypy, and Other High-Risk Groups Based on Variants of the Embedded Figures Task

PubMed Central

Panton, Kirsten R.; Badcock, David R.; Badcock, Johanna C.

2016-01-01

Current research on perceptual organization in schizophrenia frequently employs shapes with regularly sampled contours (fragmented stimuli), in noise fields composed of similar elements, to elicit visual abnormalities. However, perceptual organization is multi-factorial and, in earlier studies, continuous contours have also been employed in tasks assessing the ability to extract shapes from a background. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies using closed-contour stimuli, including the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) and related tasks, both in people with schizophrenia and in healthy schizotypes and relatives, considered at increased risk for psychosis. Eleven studies met the selection criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis, including six that used a between-groups study design (i.e., perceptual organization abilities of schizophrenia/high-risk groups were compared to healthy or clinical controls), and five that treated schizophrenia symptoms or schizotypy traits and indices of perceptual organization as continuous variables. Effect sizes and heterogeneity statistics were calculated, and the risk of publication bias was explored. A significant, moderate effect for EFT performance was found with studies that compared performance of schizophrenia/high-risk groups to a healthy or patient comparison group (d = −0.523, p < 0.001). However, significant heterogeneity was also found amongst the schizotypy, but not schizophrenia studies, as well as studies using accuracy, but not reaction time as a measure of performance. A non-significant correlation was found for the studies that examined schizophrenia symptoms or schizotypy traits as continuous variables (r = 0.012, p = 0.825). These results suggest that deficits in perceptual organization of non-fragmented stimuli are found when differences between schizophrenia/high-risk groups and comparison groups are maximized. These findings should motivate further investigation of perceptual organization abilities with closed-contour stimuli both in schizophrenia and high-risk groups, which is pertinent to current initiatives to improve the assessment and treatment of cognition in schizophrenia. PMID:26941688

A Metaanalysis of Perceptual Organization in Schizophrenia, Schizotypy, and Other High-Risk Groups Based on Variants of the Embedded Figures Task.

PubMed

Panton, Kirsten R; Badcock, David R; Badcock, Johanna C

2016-01-01

Current research on perceptual organization in schizophrenia frequently employs shapes with regularly sampled contours (fragmented stimuli), in noise fields composed of similar elements, to elicit visual abnormalities. However, perceptual organization is multi-factorial and, in earlier studies, continuous contours have also been employed in tasks assessing the ability to extract shapes from a background. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies using closed-contour stimuli, including the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) and related tasks, both in people with schizophrenia and in healthy schizotypes and relatives, considered at increased risk for psychosis. Eleven studies met the selection criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis, including six that used a between-groups study design (i.e., perceptual organization abilities of schizophrenia/high-risk groups were compared to healthy or clinical controls), and five that treated schizophrenia symptoms or schizotypy traits and indices of perceptual organization as continuous variables. Effect sizes and heterogeneity statistics were calculated, and the risk of publication bias was explored. A significant, moderate effect for EFT performance was found with studies that compared performance of schizophrenia/high-risk groups to a healthy or patient comparison group (d = -0.523, p < 0.001). However, significant heterogeneity was also found amongst the schizotypy, but not schizophrenia studies, as well as studies using accuracy, but not reaction time as a measure of performance. A non-significant correlation was found for the studies that examined schizophrenia symptoms or schizotypy traits as continuous variables (r = 0.012, p = 0.825). These results suggest that deficits in perceptual organization of non-fragmented stimuli are found when differences between schizophrenia/high-risk groups and comparison groups are maximized. These findings should motivate further investigation of perceptual organization abilities with closed-contour stimuli both in schizophrenia and high-risk groups, which is pertinent to current initiatives to improve the assessment and treatment of cognition in schizophrenia.

Brief Report: The Relationship between Visual Acuity, the Embedded Figures Test and Systemizing in Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brosnan, Mark J.; Gwilliam, Lucy R.; Walker, Ian

2012-01-01

Enhanced performance upon the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has informed psychological theories of the non-social aspects that characterise ASD. The Extreme Male Brain theory of autism proposes that enhanced visual acuity underpins greater attention to detail (assessed by the EFT) which is a…

Bilingual and Monolingual Idiom Processing Is Cut from the Same Cloth: The Role of the L1 in Literal and Figurative Meaning Activation

PubMed Central

Beck, Sara D.; Weber, Andrea

2016-01-01

The present study examines non-native (L2) and native (L1) listeners' access to figurative idiomatic meaning and literal constituent meaning in two cross-modal priming experiments. Proficient German learners of English (L2) and native speakers of American English (L1) responded to English target words preceded by English idioms embedded in non-biasing prime sentences in a lexical decision task. English idioms differed in levels of translatability: Lexical level idioms had word-for-word translation equivalents in German, while post-lexical level idioms had matching idiomatic concepts in German but could not be translated word for word. Target words either related to the figurative meaning of the idiom or related to the literal meaning of the final constituent word of the idiom (e.g., to pull someone's leg, literal target: walk, figurative target: joke). Both L1 and L2 listeners showed facilitatory priming for literally- and figuratively-related target words compared to unrelated control target words, with only marginal differences between the listener groups. No effect of translatability was found; that is, the existence of word-for-word translation equivalents in German neither facilitated nor hindered meaning activation for German L2 listeners. The results are interpreted in the context of L1 and L2 models of idiom processing as well as further relevant translation studies. PMID:27667979

Bilingual and Monolingual Idiom Processing Is Cut from the Same Cloth: The Role of the L1 in Literal and Figurative Meaning Activation.

PubMed

Beck, Sara D; Weber, Andrea

2016-01-01

The present study examines non-native (L2) and native (L1) listeners' access to figurative idiomatic meaning and literal constituent meaning in two cross-modal priming experiments. Proficient German learners of English (L2) and native speakers of American English (L1) responded to English target words preceded by English idioms embedded in non-biasing prime sentences in a lexical decision task. English idioms differed in levels of translatability: Lexical level idioms had word-for-word translation equivalents in German, while post-lexical level idioms had matching idiomatic concepts in German but could not be translated word for word. Target words either related to the figurative meaning of the idiom or related to the literal meaning of the final constituent word of the idiom (e.g., to pull someone's leg, literal target: walk, figurative target: joke). Both L1 and L2 listeners showed facilitatory priming for literally- and figuratively-related target words compared to unrelated control target words, with only marginal differences between the listener groups. No effect of translatability was found; that is, the existence of word-for-word translation equivalents in German neither facilitated nor hindered meaning activation for German L2 listeners. The results are interpreted in the context of L1 and L2 models of idiom processing as well as further relevant translation studies.

A new cue to figure-ground coding: top-bottom polarity.

PubMed

Hulleman, Johan; Humphreys, Glyn W

2004-11-01

We present evidence for a new figure-ground cue: top-bottom polarity. In an explicit reporting task, participants were more likely to interpret stimuli with a wide base and a narrow top as a figure. A similar advantage for wide-based stimuli also occurred in a visual short-term memory task, where the stimuli had ambiguous figure-ground relations. Further support comes from a figural search task. Figural search is a discrimination task in which participants are set to search for a symmetric target in a display with ambiguous figure-ground organization. We show that figural search was easier when stimuli with a top-bottom polarity were placed in an orientation where they had a wide base and a narrow top, relative to when this orientation was inverted. This polarity effect was present when participants were set to use color to parse figure from ground, and it was magnified when the participants did not have any foreknowledge of the color of the symmetric target. Taken together the results suggest that top-bottom polarity influences figure-ground assignment, with wide base stimuli being preferred as a figure. In addition, the figural search task can serve as a useful procedure to examine figure-ground assignment.

Curriculum-Embedded Assessment in Mathematics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doig, Brian

The curriculum-embedded procedures used to construct, validate, and refine assessment tasks for mathematics are described and discussed. Curriculum-embedded assessment places assessment tasks in the day-to-day context of the classroom. The test of a curriculum-embedded task is whether it could be regarded as curriculum material per se. In…

The influence of sex and empathy on putting oneself in the shoes of others.

PubMed

Mohr, Christine; Rowe, Angela C; Blanke, Olaf

2010-05-01

We tested whether putting oneself in the shoes of others is easier for women, possibly as a function of individuals' empathy levels, and whether any sex difference might be modulated by the sex of presented figures. Participants (N=100, 50 women) imagined (a) being in the spatial position of front-facing and back-facing female and male figures (third person perspective (3PP) task) and (b) that the figures were their own mirror reflections (first person perspective (1PP) task). After mentally taking the figure's position, individuals decided whether the indicated hand of the figure would be their own left or right hand. Contrary to our hypothesis, results from the 3PP-task showed higher rotational costs for women than men, suggesting that mental rotation rather than social strategies had been employed. However, faster responding by women with higher empathy scores would appear to indicate that some women engaged social perspective taking strategies irrespective of the figures' position. Figures' sex was relevant to task performance as higher rotational costs were observed for male figures in the 3PP-task for both sexes and for female figures in the 1PP-task for women. We argue that these latter findings indicate that performance was facilitated and/or inhibited towards figures associated with specific social and emotional implications.

Disembedding performance in children and adolescents with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism.

PubMed

Kaland, Nils; Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Smith, Lars

2007-01-01

The aim of the present study was to assess the findings, reported in earlier studies, that individuals with autism spectrum disorders process visuo-spatial tasks faster than typically developing control persons. The participants in the present study were children and adolescents with Asperger syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA) (N = 13), and a matched group of typically developing children and adolescents (N = 13). The results showed that the participants in the clinical group performed marginally less well than those in the control group on both the Block Design Test and the Embedded Figures Test, but the differences were not statistically significant. Thus, earlier findings suggesting that individuals with autism spectrum disorders solve non-social cognitive tasks faster than typically developing control persons were not replicated. The results are discussed with special reference to the hypothesis of weak central coherence.

A Validated Set of MIDAS V5 Task Network Model Scenarios to Evaluate Nextgen Closely Spaced Parallel Operations Concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gore, Brian Francis; Hooey, Becky Lee; Haan, Nancy; Socash, Connie; Mahlstedt, Eric; Foyle, David C.

2013-01-01

The Closely Spaced Parallel Operations (CSPO) scenario is a complex, human performance model scenario that tested alternate operator roles and responsibilities to a series of off-nominal operations on approach and landing (see Gore, Hooey, Mahlstedt, Foyle, 2013). The model links together the procedures, equipment, crewstation, and external environment to produce predictions of operator performance in response to Next Generation system designs, like those expected in the National Airspaces NextGen concepts. The task analysis that is contained in the present report comes from the task analysis window in the MIDAS software. These tasks link definitions and states for equipment components, environmental features as well as operational contexts. The current task analysis culminated in 3300 tasks that included over 1000 Subject Matter Expert (SME)-vetted, re-usable procedural sets for three critical phases of flight; the Descent, Approach, and Land procedural sets (see Gore et al., 2011 for a description of the development of the tasks included in the model; Gore, Hooey, Mahlstedt, Foyle, 2013 for a description of the model, and its results; Hooey, Gore, Mahlstedt, Foyle, 2013 for a description of the guidelines that were generated from the models results; Gore, Hooey, Foyle, 2012 for a description of the models implementation and its settings). The rollout, after landing checks, taxi to gate and arrive at gate illustrated in Figure 1 were not used in the approach and divert scenarios exercised. The other networks in Figure 1 set up appropriate context settings for the flight deck.The current report presents the models task decomposition from the tophighest level and decomposes it to finer-grained levels. The first task that is completed by the model is to set all of the initial settings for the scenario runs included in the model (network 75 in Figure 1). This initialization process also resets the CAD graphic files contained with MIDAS, as well as the embedded operator models that comprise MIDAS. Following the initial settings, the model progresses to begin the first tasks required of the two flight deck operators, the Captain (CA) and the First Officer (FO). The task sets will initialize operator specific settings prior to loading all of the alerts, probes, and other events that occur in the scenario. As a note, the CA and FO were terms used in developing this model but the CA can also be thought of as the Pilot Flying (PF), while the FO can be considered the Pilot-Not-Flying (PNF)or Pilot Monitoring (PM). As such, the document refers to the operators as PFCA and PNFFO respectively.

Parallel and competitive processes in hierarchical analysis: perceptual grouping and encoding of closure.

PubMed

Han, S; Humphreys, G W; Chen, L

1999-10-01

The role of perceptual grouping and the encoding of closure of local elements in the processing of hierarchical patterns was studied. Experiments 1 and 2 showed a global advantage over the local level for 2 tasks involving the discrimination of orientation and closure, but there was a local advantage for the closure discrimination task relative to the orientation discrimination task. Experiment 3 showed a local precedence effect for the closure discrimination task when local element grouping was weakened by embedding the stimuli from Experiment 1 in a background made up of cross patterns. Experiments 4A and 4B found that dissimilarity of closure between the local elements of hierarchical stimuli and the background figures could facilitate the grouping of closed local elements and enhanced the perception of global structure. Experiment 5 showed that the advantage for detecting the closure of local elements in hierarchical analysis also held under divided- and selective-attention conditions. Results are consistent with the idea that grouping between local elements takes place in parallel and competes with the computation of closure of local elements in determining the selection between global and local levels of hierarchical patterns for response.

Seismic Stability of St. Stephen Hydropower Plant, South Carolina

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-11-01

looking from the fish-lift side ....................................... 9 Figure 1-9. Upstream T- beam connection : shim plates welded to embedded wall (an...Figure 1-10. Downstream T- beam connection : T- beam bearing plate rests on Neoprene pad, bolt through plate with slotted holes (an ideal roller condition...37 Figure 4-1. Beam - column model of the erection bay

Image segregation in strabismic amblyopia.

PubMed

Levi, Dennis M

2007-06-01

Humans with naturally occurring amblyopia show deficits thought to involve mechanisms downstream of V1. These include excessive crowding, abnormal global image processing, spatial sampling and symmetry detection and undercounting. Several recent studies suggest that humans with naturally occurring amblyopia show deficits in global image segregation. The current experiments were designed to study figure-ground segregation in amblyopic observers with documented deficits in crowding, symmetry detection, spatial sampling and counting, using similar stimuli. Observers had to discriminate the orientation of a figure (an "E"-like pattern made up of 17 horizontal Gabor patches), embedded in a 7x7 array of Gabor patches. When the 32 "background" patches are vertical, the "E" pops-out, due to segregation by orientation and performance is perfect; however, if the background patches are all, or mostly horizontal, the "E" is camouflaged, and performance is random. Using a method of constant stimuli, we varied the number of "background" patches that were vertical and measured the probability of correct discrimination of the global orientation of the E (up/down/left/right). Surprisingly, amblyopes who showed strong crowding and deficits in symmetry detection and counting, perform normally or very nearly so in this segregation task. I therefore conclude that these deficits are not a consequence of abnormal segregation of figure from background.

Assessment and Classification of Cognitive Decrements Associated with High Workload and Extended Work Periods in a UAV Setting

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-01

Percentage of distracters hit for the high workload condition as a function of time-on- task...a function of time-on- task .... 8 Figure 4. Effort scores for the high workload condition as a function of time-on-task ................ 9...Figure 5. Mental demand for the high workload condition as a function of time-on-task ........... 9 Figure 6. Average power for site Oz, alpha band

An empirically derived figure of merit for the quality of overall task performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lemay, Moira

1989-01-01

The need to develop an operationally relevant figure of merit for the quality of performance of a complex system such as an aircraft cockpit stems from a hypothesized dissociation between measures of performance and those of workload. Performance can be measured in terms of time, errors, or a combination of these. In most tasks performed by expert operators, errors are relatively rare and often corrected in time to avoid consequences. Moreover, perfect performance is seldom necessary to accomplish a particular task. Moreover, how well an expert performs a complex task consisting of a series of discrete cognitive tasks superimposed on a continuous task, such as flying an aircraft, does not depend on how well each discrete task is performed, but on their smooth sequencing. This makes the amount of time spent on each subtask of paramount importance in measuring overall performance, since smooth sequencing requires a minimum amount of time spent on each task. Quality consists in getting tasks done within a crucial time interval while maintaining acceptable continuous task performance. Thus, a figure of merit for overall quality of performance should be primarily a measure of time to perform discrete subtasks combined with a measure of basic vehicle control. Thus, the proposed figure of merit requires doing a task analysis on a series of performance, or runs, of a particular task, listing each discrete task and its associated time, and calculating the mean and standard deviation of these times, along with the mean and standard deviation of tracking error for the whole task. A set of simulator data on 30 runs of a landing task was obtained and a figure of merit will be calculated for each run. The figure of merit will be compared for voice and data link, so that the impact of this technology on total crew performance (not just communication performance) can be assessed. The effect of data link communication on other cockpit tasks will also be considered.

Maritime Domain Awareness: C4I for the 1000 Ship Navy

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-04

unit action, provide unit sensed contacts, coordinate unit operations, process unit information, release image , and release contact report, Figure 33...Intelligence Tasking Request Intelligence Summary Release Unit Person Incident Release Unit Vessel Incident Process Intelligence Tasking Release Image ...xi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Functional Problem Sequence Process Flow. ....................................................4 Figure 2. United

Public accountants' field dependence: Canadian evidence.

PubMed

Hicks, Elizabeth; Bagg, Robert; Doyle, Wendy; Young, Jeffrey D

2007-12-01

The cognitive styles of 113 practicing, professional accountants from Nova Scotia, Canada were examined using the Group Embedded Figures Test. They completed a demographic survey for descriptive information as well as their rank in the firm and preferred area of professional practice. Analysis suggested professional accountants tend to be more analytical than intuitive in cognitive style and, consistent with recent findings in other fields, men and women in accounting do not appear to be different in cognitive style. No statistically significant differences were found on the embedded figures scores across ranks of trainee, manager, and partner or across select, preferred areas of professional practice.

Secure Automated Microgrid Energy System (SAMES)

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

with embedded algorithm to share power between each other; • Wind Turbine (WT) Simulator, max 80 kW (4×20 kW), 480 V, Running Wind Generation...Temp, Rain, Wind ........................ 39 Figure 22. Point Loma, Box and Whisker Plot, Hourly Sum of Consumption ............................ 40...Figure 27. Coronado, Consumption vs Average Daily SD Temp, Rainfall, Wind ....................... 44 Figure 28. Naval Base Point Loma, One Line, Solar

Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance. Phase 3. Volume 2. Progress Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-07-01

computer-simulated NDI eddy-current task developed by Dr. Colin G. Drury and his colleagues at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. The task...to lower cost and increase performance ............... 28 Figure 3.2 Comparison of development and delivery costs for CBT and traditional training...Active Female Aircraft Mechanics. . 110 Figure 5.1 NDI Inspection Task Simulation ( Drury et al., 1992) ............... 147 Figure 5.2 Mean Misses and

Visual Creativity across Cultures: A Comparison between Italians and Japanese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmiero, Massimiliano; Nakatani, Chie; van Leeuwen, Cees

2017-01-01

Culture-related differences in visual creativity were investigated, comparing Italian and Japanese participants in terms of divergent (figural completion task) and product-oriented thinking (figural combination task). Visual restructuring ability was measured as the ability to reinterpret ambiguous figures and was included as a covariate. Results…

NPS-SCAT; Communications System Design, Test and Integration of NPS’ First CubeSat

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

18 c. MHX (Primary Transceiver) Wakeup Task ...19 d. Transmit MHX (Primary Transceiver) Task .20 e. Receive MHX (Primary Transceiver...Beacon Antenna Deploy Task......................17  Figure 8.  Collect Data Task...............................19  Figure 9.  MHX Wakeup Task...to provide education while keeping scheduling and cost minimal, and maintaining a standard for building a launchable spacecraft. The CubeSat

Quantitative Analysis of Bone Microstructure Using Tomosynthesis

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-01

resolution of separation, thickness, distances, in-plane and out-of-plane geometric distortion, and density linearity. 5 To assess the minimum spacing... geometric accuracy phantom was created using four 1 mm beads, placed in four corners at 35 mm apart (Figure 1f). An embedded human vertebra was also...included in the phantom as a realistic reference material (Figure 1g). Figure 1: Tray of phantoms to assess DTS resolution, geometric distortion

Quantitative Analysis of Bone Microstructure Using Tomosynthesis

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-01

resolution of separation, thickness, distances, in-plane and out-of-plane geometric distortion, and density linearity. To assess the minimum spacing...volume, a geometric accuracy phantom was created using four 1 mm beads, placed in four corners at 35 mm apart (Figure 1f). An embedded human vertebra...was also included in the phantom as a realistic reference material (Figure 1g). Figure 1: Tray of phantoms to assess DTS resolution, geometric

Functional neural correlates of figure copy and recall task performances in cognitively impaired individuals: an 18F-FDG-PET study.

PubMed

Han, Ji Young; Byun, Min Soo; Seo, Eun Hyun; Yi, Dahyun; Choe, Young Min; Sohn, Bo Kyung; Choi, Hyo Jung; Baek, Hyewon; Lee, Jun Ho; Kim, Hyun Jung; Woo, Jong Inn; Lee, Dong Yong

2015-12-02

Figure copy and recall tasks from the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT) and the Consortium to Establish a Registry of Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) neuropsychological battery are used widely to assess visuospatial function in cognitively impaired (CI) individuals. We aimed to identify functional neural correlates of figure copy and recall task performances as measured by the BVRT and the CERAD constructional praxis (CP) and CP recall (CR) in CI individuals. Both tasks were administered to 64 CI individuals with early or prodromal stage Alzheimer's disease and 36 cognitively normal individuals. Voxel-wise correlations between test scores and regional cerebral glucose metabolism (rCMglc) measured by fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose PET in CI participants were analyzed. BVRT figure copy task performance was associated with rCMglc of the bilateral posterior brain regions including the parieto-temporo-occipital regions, whereas the BVRT figure recall task performance was predominantly correlated with rCMglc of the left parietal and temporo-occipital regions. Meanwhile, CERAD CP performance was associated mainly with rCMglc of the left prefrontal and temporo-occipital areas as well as in the bilateral parietal regions, whereas CERAD CR performance was correlated with rCMglc of the right prefrontal, parietal, and temporal regions. In conclusion, the functional neural correlates of the two tasks were markedly different, suggesting that these tasks might measure different visuospatial functions. Our findings contribute toward understanding the functional neuroanatomical aspects of these tasks, which is useful for both interpreting the task results as well as for more sophisticated utilization of these tasks for probing specific neuroanatomical functions.

Web-Based Learning: Cognitive Styles and Instructional Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alomyan, Hesham Raji

2016-01-01

This paper reports a study, which investigated whether different instructional strategies might interact with individual's cognitive style in learning. A web-based learning package was designed employing three strategies, Interactive Concept Maps, Illustration with Embedded Text and Text-Only. Group Embedded Figure Test was administered to 178…

A Comparative Field Study of Permastripe(Trademark) Polymer Concrete and Waterborne Airfield Pavement Markings

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-06-01

mounted to a self-propelled lawn mower (Figure 4). This resulted in acceptable Permastripe™ line thickness (25 to 30 mils). However, bead embedment...Permastripe™ markings were sprayed using a modified drywall texture application device mounted on a modified self-propelled lawn mower (Figure 4). This

Effect of practice and training in spatial skills on embedded figures scores of males and females.

PubMed

Johnson, S; Flinn, J M; Tyer, Z E

1979-06-01

The effect of practice and training in spatial skills on scores obtained by male and female students on the Embedded Figures Test was examined. Forms A and B were administered 6 wk. apart to three groups of subjects (ns = 28, 27, 27) enrolled in drafting, mathematics, and liberal arts courses. During the pretest-posttest period the drafting students received training while the other two groups served as controls. Analysis indicated (1) no initial sex difference in test scores; (2) liberal arts students differed significantly from drafting and mathematics students, but there was no significant difference between the last two groups; (3) all groups improved with practice; (4) women receiving training improved more than women who did not; (5) there was a trend toward women receiving spatial training scoring more poorly than males receiving training on the pretest, but there was no significant difference on the posttest. These results suggest that sex differences in embedded-figures scores found by many previous experimenters may have been associated with differences in prior experience in spatial skills and by a confounding of sex with area of academic study.

Feature-Oriented Domain Analysis (FODA) Feasibility Study

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-11-01

controlling the synchronous behavior of the task. A task may wait for one or more synchronizing or message queue events. "* Each task is designed using the...Comparative Study 13 2.2.1. The Genesis System 13 2.2.2. MCC Work 15 2.2.2.1. The DESIRE Design Recovery Tool 15 0 2.2.2.2. Domain Analysis Method 1f...Illustration 43 Figure 6-1: Architectural Layers 48 Figure 6-2: Window Management Subsystem Design Structure 49 Figure 7-1: Function of a Window Manager

Identity and Inner-City Youth: Beyond Ethnicity and Gender.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heath, Shirley Brice, Ed.; McLaughlin, Milbrey W., Ed.

How ethnic identity and gender figure in building the embedded identities of youth in different contexts is examined, focusing on the self-concepts of inner-city youth. The voices of urban youth argue that their embedded identities, or multilayered self-conceptions, represent far more than simple labels of ethnic or racial membership. After an…

Not Just "Small Potatoes": Knowledge of the Idiomatic Meanings of Collocations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macis, Marijana; Schmitt, Norbert

2017-01-01

This study investigated learner knowledge of the figurative meanings of 30 collocations that can be both literal and figurative. One hundred and seven Chilean Spanish-speaking university students of English were asked to complete a meaning-recall collocation test in which the target items were embedded in non-defining sentences. Results showed…

Architectures for Device Aware Network

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-03-01

68 b. PDA in DAN Mode ............................................................. 69 c. Cell Phone in DAN Mode...68 Figure 15. PDA in DAN Mode - Reduced Resolution Image ..................................... 69 Figure 16. Cell Phone in DAN Mode -No Image...computer, notebook computer, cell phone and a host of networked embedded systems) may have extremely differing capabilities and resources to retrieve and

Commentary on "How Task Features Impact Evidence from Assessments Embedded in Simulations and Games" by Almond et al.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Timms, Mike

2014-01-01

In his commentary on "How Task Features Impact Evidence from Assessments Embedded in Simulations and Games" by Almond et al., Mike Timms writes that his own research has involved the use of embedded assessments using simulations in interactive learning environments, and the Evidence Centered Design (ECD) approach has provided a solid…

From flint to stainless steel: observations on surgical instrument composition.

PubMed Central

Kirkup, J.

1993-01-01

Man's failure to extract deeply embedded thorns and arrowheads, with bare hands and teeth, stimulated 'instrument substitutes' mimicking these appendages. Evidence from primitive communities suggest animal, plant and mineral items were employed, both before and after metal became the standard material of today's armamentarium. Changing surgical instrument composition has mirrored concurrent technology and manufacturing methods both of which are reviewed. Particular significance is accorded flint, bronze, crucible steel, thermal sterilisation, nickel-plate, stainless steel and disposable plastics. The paper is based on an exhibition From Flint to Stainless Steel on display at the College. Images Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 PMID:8215156

Visual search performance in the autism spectrum II: the radial frequency search task with additional segmentation cues.

PubMed

Almeida, Renita A; Dickinson, J Edwin; Maybery, Murray T; Badcock, Johanna C; Badcock, David R

2010-12-01

The Embedded Figures Test (EFT) requires detecting a shape within a complex background and individuals with autism or high Autism-spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores are faster and more accurate on this task than controls. This research aimed to uncover the visual processes producing this difference. Previously we developed a search task using radial frequency (RF) patterns with controllable amounts of target/distracter overlap on which high AQ participants showed more efficient search than low AQ observers. The current study extended the design of this search task by adding two lines which traverse the display on random paths sometimes intersecting target/distracters, other times passing between them. As with the EFT, these lines segment and group the display in ways that are task irrelevant. We tested two new groups of observers and found that while RF search was slowed by the addition of segmenting lines for both groups, the high AQ group retained a consistent search advantage (reflected in a shallower gradient for reaction time as a function of set size) over the low AQ group. Further, the high AQ group were significantly faster and more accurate on the EFT compared to the low AQ group. That is, the results from the present RF search task demonstrate that segmentation and grouping created by intersecting lines does not further differentiate the groups and is therefore unlikely to be a critical factor underlying the EFT performance difference. However, once again, we found that superior EFT performance was associated with shallower gradients on the RF search task. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Degradation Analysis Methodology for Maintenance Tasks

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-05-12

Support Maintenance Company ......... ................... ...... 115 ................. .................. ,.... - ’ vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1-I...Versus Individual Effectiveness ..................... 115 5-4. Effectiveiess Results for Threat One ..................... 117 5-5. Effectiveness...model does not differenti - ate between a task which requires a high degree of fine finger dexteri- ty from another task involving only gross body

Using Multiple Dialog Modes in a User-System Interface to Accomodate Different Levels of User Experience: An Experimental Study.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-01-01

Chapter it Research Methodology This chapter describes the methodology and the experimental design used for this research. Prior to discussing the...50 Experimental Design ............................... 50 Task/Treatm ent ................................... 55 Task Design ...Figure 3.3 Interface Experiment Elements ............... 54 Figure 3.4 Experimental Design ....................... 55 Figure 3.5 Subject Assignment

Development of a User-Defined Stressor in the Improved Performance Research Integration Tool (IMPRINT) for Conducting Tasks in a Moving Vehicle

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

task termine if in travel la ons, visual recognitio nd information proce visual recognitio uation will yiee Δ = (0accuracy .37 * 06463) + (0.63 * 0.11...mission Figure 2. User-defined stresso err int face . 8 Figure 3. Stressor levels in IMPRINT. Figure 4. Accuracy stressor definition

Thermoelectric effect in an Aharonov-Bohm ring with an embedded quantum dot.

PubMed

Zheng, Jun; Chi, Feng; Lu, Xiao-Dong; Zhang, Kai-Cheng

2012-02-28

Thermoelectric effect is studied in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer with an embedded quantum dot (QD) in the Coulomb blockade regime. The electrical conductance, electron thermal conductance, thermopower, and thermoelectric figure-of-merit are calculated by using the Keldysh Green's function method. It is found that the figure-of-merit ZT of the QD ring may be quite high due to the Fano effect originated from the quantum interference effect. Moreover, the thermoelectric efficiency is sensitive to the magnitude of the dot-lead and inter-lead coupling strengthes. The effect of intradot Coulomb repulsion on ZT is significant in the weak-coupling regime, and then large ZT values can be obtained at rather high temperature.

Embedded Simultaneous Prompting Procedure to Teach STEM Content to High School Students with Moderate Disabilities in an Inclusive Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heinrich, Sara; Collins, Belva C.; Knight, Victoria; Spriggs, Amy D.

2016-01-01

Effects of an embedded simultaneous prompting procedure to teach STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) content to three secondary students with moderate intellectual disabilities in an inclusive general education classroom were evaluated in the current study. Students learned discrete (i.e., geometric figures, science vocabulary, or use of…

How Does Sam Feel?: Children's Labelling and Drawing of Basic Emotions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brechet, Claire; Baldy, Rene; Picard, Delphine

2009-01-01

This study compares the ability of children aged from 6 to 11 to freely produce emotional labels based on detailed scenarios (labelling task), and their ability to depict basic emotions in their human figure drawing (subsequent drawing task). This comparison assesses the relevance of the use of a human figure drawing task in order to test…

An Investigation of the Visual and Tactile Spatial Reasoning Abilities of the Hearing Impaired/Deaf Student.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hauptman, Anna R.

Two experiments involving 42 students from the Model Secondary School for the Deaf investigated both the visual and tactile components in the processing of spatial information. Test measures used were the Figures Rotations Test, Group Embedded Figures Test, and Tactile Rotations Test. The study suggested that spatial reasoning is a determining…

Cue combination in a combined feature contrast detection and figure identification task.

PubMed

Meinhardt, Günter; Persike, Malte; Mesenholl, Björn; Hagemann, Cordula

2006-11-01

Target figures defined by feature contrast in spatial frequency, orientation or both cues had to be detected in Gabor random fields and their shape had to be identified in a dual task paradigm. Performance improved with increasing feature contrast and was strongly correlated among both tasks. Subjects performed significantly better with combined cues than with single cues. The improvement due to cue summation was stronger than predicted by the assumption of independent feature specific mechanisms, and increased with the performance level achieved with single cues until it was limited by ceiling effects. Further, cue summation was also strongly correlated among tasks: when there was benefit due to the additional cue in feature contrast detection, there was also benefit in figure identification. For the same performance level achieved with single cues, cue summation was generally larger in figure identification than in feature contrast detection, indicating more benefit when processes of shape and surface formation are involved. Our results suggest that cue combination improves spatial form completion and figure-ground segregation in noisy environments, and therefore leads to more stable object vision.

Influence of Sensory Dependence on Postural Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Santana, Patricia A.; Mulavara, Ajitkumar P.; Fiedler, Matthew J.

2011-01-01

The current project is part of an NSBRI funded project, "Development of Countermeasures to Aid Functional Egress from the Crew Exploration Vehicle Following Long-Duration Spaceflight." The development of this countermeasure is based on the use of imperceptible levels of electrical stimulation to the balance organs of the inner ear to assist and enhance the response of a person s sensorimotor function. These countermeasures could be used to increase an astronaut s re-adaptation rate to Earth s gravity following long-duration space flight. The focus of my project is to evaluate and examine the correlation of sensory preferences for vision and vestibular systems. Disruption of the sensorimotor functions following space flight affects posture, locomotion and spatial orientation tasks in astronauts. The Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), the Rod and Frame Test (RFT) and the Computerized Dynamic Posturography Test (CDP) are measurements used to examine subjects visual and vestibular sensory preferences. The analysis of data from these tasks will assist in relating the visual dependence measures recognized in the GEFT and RFT with vestibular dependence measures recognized in the stability measures obtained during CDP. Studying the impact of sensory dependence on the performance in varied tasks will help in the development of targeted countermeasures to help astronauts readapt to gravitational changes after long duration space flight.

Figure/ground segregation from temporal delay is best at high spatial frequencies.

PubMed

Kojima, H

1998-12-01

Two experiments investigated the role of spatial frequency in performance of a figure/ground segregation task based on temporal cues. Figure orientation was much easier to judge when figure and ground portions of the target were defined exclusively by random texture composed entirely of high spatial frequencies. When target components were defined by low spatial frequencies only, the task was nearly impossible except with long temporal delay between figure and ground. These results are inconsistent with the hypothesis that M-cell activity is primarily responsible for figure/ground segregation from temporal delay. Instead, these results point to a distinction between temporal integration and temporal differentiation. Additionally, the present results can be related to recent work on the binding of spatial features over time.

Effects of Embedded Processing Tasks on Learning Outcomes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hobbs, D. J.

1987-01-01

Describes a British study with undergraduate accountancy students which compared the quantitative and qualitative effects of three types of embedded tasks or questions--relational-semantic, transpose-semantic, and non-semantic--on learning outcomes. Variables investigated included mathematical background, recall, and comprehension. Relevance of…

Firmware Counterfeiting and Modification Attacks on Programmable Logic Controllers

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

86 5.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Appendix A: ControlLogix Firmware Operation Flowcharts ...direct analysis of firmware on the device. 87 Appendix A: ControlLogix Firmware Operation Flowcharts Figure A.1: Overview of ControlLogix L61 operation...105 [43] Oshana, Rob. “Introduction to JTAG”. Embedded, October 29, 2002. URL http://www.embedded.com/electronics-blogs/ beginner -s-corner/4024466

Complete Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) Analyses of I-walls Embedded in Level Ground During Flood Loading

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

at the ground surface el 0 ft versus water elevation...sheet pile at the ground surface . ................ 62  Figure 3.24. Total displacements for a water elevation of 16.5 ft and a gap tip elevation of -11...103  Figure 4.19. Relative horizontal displacements of the sheet pile at the ground surface

Field Dependence-Independence as Visuospatial and Executive Functioning in Working Memory: Implications for Instructional Systems Design and Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rittschof, Kent A.

2010-01-01

Field dependence-independence (FDI) has long been conceptualized and discussed as a cognitive style relevant to numerous educational approaches and outcomes. However, the FDI construct is most often measured as a cognitive ability, as opposed to a style, using instruments such as the Group-Embedded Figures test (GEFT) or the Hidden Figures Test…

Covert Half Duplex Data Link Using Radar-Embedded Communications With Various Modulation Schemes

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-12-01

27 Figure 4.1 Comparison of Theoretical, Radar-Pulse-Only Matched Filter , and the Radar...CommunicationsMatched Filtered PD Curves versus SNR for RCR = 0 dB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Figure 4.2 Comparison of Theoretical, Radar...Pulse-Only Matched Filter , and the Radar-CommunicationsMatched Filtered PD Curves versus SNR for RCR = [3, 6, 10] dB

Multi-Task Learning with Low Rank Attribute Embedding for Multi-Camera Person Re-Identification.

PubMed

Su, Chi; Yang, Fan; Zhang, Shiliang; Tian, Qi; Davis, Larry Steven; Gao, Wen

2018-05-01

We propose Multi-Task Learning with Low Rank Attribute Embedding (MTL-LORAE) to address the problem of person re-identification on multi-cameras. Re-identifications on different cameras are considered as related tasks, which allows the shared information among different tasks to be explored to improve the re-identification accuracy. The MTL-LORAE framework integrates low-level features with mid-level attributes as the descriptions for persons. To improve the accuracy of such description, we introduce the low-rank attribute embedding, which maps original binary attributes into a continuous space utilizing the correlative relationship between each pair of attributes. In this way, inaccurate attributes are rectified and missing attributes are recovered. The resulting objective function is constructed with an attribute embedding error and a quadratic loss concerning class labels. It is solved by an alternating optimization strategy. The proposed MTL-LORAE is tested on four datasets and is validated to outperform the existing methods with significant margins.

Cross-cultural aspect of the Group Embedded Figures Test: norms for Turkish eighth graders.

PubMed

Cakan, Mehtap

2003-10-01

The Group Embedded Figures Test was administered to 206 Turkish (123 boys versus 83 girls) eighth grade students. Distribution characteristics, item analysis, reliability, and internal consistency are presented. No sex differences on subsections or the full scale were found. Socioeconomic status as indicated by parental education was significantly associated with the cognitive style scores of the students. Subjects whose fathers had a higher education outperformed those whose fathers had less education. No significant differences in students' means were found among groups whose mothers had low, middle, and high education. The Turkish sample showed the same performance as a 5th grade American sample, and Canadian 8th graders outperformed the Turkish participants. The practice effects are also discussed.

Thermoelectric effect in an Aharonov-Bohm ring with an embedded quantum dot

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Thermoelectric effect is studied in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer with an embedded quantum dot (QD) in the Coulomb blockade regime. The electrical conductance, electron thermal conductance, thermopower, and thermoelectric figure-of-merit are calculated by using the Keldysh Green's function method. It is found that the figure-of-merit ZT of the QD ring may be quite high due to the Fano effect originated from the quantum interference effect. Moreover, the thermoelectric efficiency is sensitive to the magnitude of the dot-lead and inter-lead coupling strengthes. The effect of intradot Coulomb repulsion on ZT is significant in the weak-coupling regime, and then large ZT values can be obtained at rather high temperature. PMID:22369454

Word Spotting.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McQueen, James

1996-01-01

Summarizes the use of word-spotting in psycholinguistic research. Notes that listeners hear a list of nonsense words, some of which contain embedded real words, and they detect those embedded words, a task designed to study the segmentation of continuous speech. Describes the task and summarizes its advantages and disadvantages. (12 references)…

Effects of orientation on Rey complex figure performance.

PubMed

Ferraro, F Richard; Grossman, Jennifer; Bren, Amy; Hoverson, Allysa

2002-10-01

An experiment was performed that examined the impact of stimulus orientation on performance on the Rey complex figure. A total of 48 undergraduates (24 men, 24 women) were randomly assigned to one of four Rey figure orientation groups (0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and 270 degrees ). Participants followed standard procedures for the Rey figure, initially copying it in whatever orientation group they were assigned to. Next, all participants performed a 15-20 min lexical decision experiment, used as a filler task. Finally, and unbeknownest to them, participants were asked to recall as much of the figure as they could. As expected, results revealed a main effect of Task (F = 83.92, p < .01), in which copy performance was superior to recall performance. However, the main effect for orientation was not significant, nor did orientation interact with task (Fs < .68, ps > .57). The results are important from an applied setting, especially if testing conditions are less than optimal and a fixed stimulus position is not possible (e.g., testing at the bedside).

Modality independence of order coding in working memory: Evidence from cross-modal order interference at recall.

PubMed

Vandierendonck, André

2016-01-01

Working memory researchers do not agree on whether order in serial recall is encoded by dedicated modality-specific systems or by a more general modality-independent system. Although previous research supports the existence of autonomous modality-specific systems, it has been shown that serial recognition memory is prone to cross-modal order interference by concurrent tasks. The present study used a serial recall task, which was performed in a single-task condition and in a dual-task condition with an embedded memory task in the retention interval. The modality of the serial task was either verbal or visuospatial, and the embedded tasks were in the other modality and required either serial or item recall. Care was taken to avoid modality overlaps during presentation and recall. In Experiment 1, visuospatial but not verbal serial recall was more impaired when the embedded task was an order than when it was an item task. Using a more difficult verbal serial recall task, verbal serial recall was also more impaired by another order recall task in Experiment 2. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis of modality-independent order coding. The implications for views on short-term recall and the multicomponent view of working memory are discussed.

[Visual perception of Japanese characters and complicated figures: developmental changes of visual P300 event-related potentials].

PubMed

Sata, Yoshimi; Inagaki, Masumi; Shirane, Seiko; Kaga, Makiko

2002-07-01

In order to evaluate developmental change of visual perception, the P300 event-related potentials (ERPs) of visual oddball task were recorded in 34 healthy volunteers ranging from 7 to 37 years of age. The latency and amplitude of visual P300 in response to the Japanese ideogram stimuli (a pair of familiar Kanji characters or unfamiliar Kanji characters) and a pair of meaningless complicated figures were measured. Visual P300 was dominant at parietal area in almost all subjects. There was a significant difference of P300 latency among the three tasks. Reaction time to the both kind of Kanji tasks were significantly shorter than those to the complicated figure task. P300 latencies to the familiar Kanji, unfamiliar Kanji and figure stimuli decreased until 25.8, 26.9 and 29.4 years of age, respectively, and regression analysis revealed that a positive quadratic function could be fitted to the data. Around 9 years of age, the P300 latency/age slope was largest in the unfamiliar Kanji task. These findings suggest that visual P300 development depends on both the complexity of the tasks and specificity of the stimuli, which might reflect the variety in visual information processing.

An enhanced Ada run-time system for real-time embedded processors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sims, J. T.

1991-01-01

An enhanced Ada run-time system has been developed to support real-time embedded processor applications. The primary focus of this development effort has been on the tasking system and the memory management facilities of the run-time system. The tasking system has been extended to support efficient and precise periodic task execution as required for control applications. Event-driven task execution providing a means of task-asynchronous control and communication among Ada tasks is supported in this system. Inter-task control is even provided among tasks distributed on separate physical processors. The memory management system has been enhanced to provide object allocation and protected access support for memory shared between disjoint processors, each of which is executing a distinct Ada program.

The relationship between executive functioning, central coherence, and repetitive behaviors in the high-functioning autism spectrum.

PubMed

South, Mikle; Ozonoff, Sally; McMahon, William M

2007-09-01

This study examined the relationship between everyday repetitive behavior (primary symptoms of autism) and performance on neuropsychological tests of executive function and central coherence (secondary symptoms). It was hypothesized that the frequency and intensity of repetitive behavior would be positively correlated with laboratory measures of cognitive rigidity and weak central coherence. Participants included 19 individuals (ages 10-19) with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD group) and 18 age- and IQ-matched typically developing controls (TD group). There was partial support in the ASD group for the link between repetitive behavior and executive performance (the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task). There was no support for a link between repetitive behavior and measures of central coherence (a Gestalt Closure test and the Embedded Figures Test). Further research on repetitive behaviors in autism may benefit from a focus on narrow behavioral and cognitive constructs rather than general categories.

Figure-ground segmentation can occur without attention.

PubMed

Kimchi, Ruth; Peterson, Mary A

2008-07-01

The question of whether or not figure-ground segmentation can occur without attention is unresolved. Early theorists assumed it can, but the evidence is scant and open to alternative interpretations. Recent research indicating that attention can influence figure-ground segmentation raises the question anew. We examined this issue by asking participants to perform a demanding change-detection task on a small matrix presented on a task-irrelevant scene of alternating regions organized into figures and grounds by convexity. Independently of any change in the matrix, the figure-ground organization of the scene changed or remained the same. Changes in scene organization produced congruency effects on target-change judgments, even though, when probed with surprise questions, participants could report neither the figure-ground status of the region on which the matrix appeared nor any change in that status. When attending to the scene, participants reported figure-ground status and changes to it highly accurately. These results clearly demonstrate that figure-ground segmentation can occur without focal attention.

Informational primacy of visual dimensions: specialized roles for luminance and chromaticity in figure-ground perception.

PubMed

Yamagishi, N; Melara, R D

2001-07-01

Three experiments were conducted to examine the distinct contributions of two visual dimensions to figure-ground segregation. In each experiment, pattern identification was assessed by asking observers to judge whether a near-threshold test pattern was the same or different in shape to a high-contrast comparison pattern. A test pattern could differ from its background along one dimension, either luminance (luminance tasks) or chromaticity (chromaticity tasks). In each task, performance in a baseline condition, in which the test pattern was intact, was compared with performance in each of several degradation conditions, in which either the contour or the surface of the figure was degraded, using either partial occlusion (Experiment 1) or ramping (Experiments 2 and 3) of figure-ground differences. In each experiment, performance in luminance tasks was worst when the contour was degraded, whereas performance in chromaticity tasks was worst when the surface was degraded. This interaction was found even when spatial frequencies were fixed across test patterns by low-pass filtering. The results are consistent with a late (postfiltering) dual-mechanism system that processes luminance information to extract boundary representations and chromaticity information to extract surface representations.

Brief report: eye-movement patterns during an embedded figures test in children with ASD.

PubMed

Keehn, Brandon; Brenner, Laurie A; Ramos, Aurora I; Lincoln, Alan J; Marshall, Sandra P; Müller, Ralph-Axel

2009-02-01

The present study examined fixation frequency and duration during an Embedded Figures Test (EFT) in an effort to better understand the attentional and perceptual processes by which individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) achieve accelerated EFT performance. In particular, we aimed to elucidate differences in the patterns of eye-movement in ASD and typically developing (TD) children, thus providing evidence relevant to the competing theories of weak central coherence (WCC) and enhanced perceptual functioning. Consistent with prior EFT studies, we found accelerated response time (RT) in children with ASD. No group differences were seen for fixation frequency, but the ASD group made significantly shorter fixations compared to the TD group. Eye-movement results indicate that RT advantage in ASD is related to both WCC and enhanced perceptual functioning.

Comparative Analysis of Multiple-Award Task Order Contracting and Its Impacts on Acquisition Reform

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-12-01

24 Figure 2. DoD Improperly Directed Task Order Actions..... 49 Figure 3. Overview of the Domestic B2B Market, 1999-2003. 62 Figure 4...year 2000. The technology schedules amassed nearly $8.1 billion in sales with 60.8 percent of all activity. FSS charges agencies a one percent fee...second with $1 billion in sales . GSA manages five of the ten most lucrative contracts. The National Aeronautical Space Administration’s (NASA

Further Thoughts on "How Task Features Impact Evidence from Assessments Embedded in Simulations and Games"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliveri, María Elena; Khan, Saad

2014-01-01

María Oliveri, and Saad Khan write that the article: "How Task Features Impact Evidence from Assessments Embedded in Simulations and Games" provided helpful illustrations regarding the implementation of evidence-centered assessment design (Mislevy & Haertel, 2006; Mislevy, Steinberg, & Almond, 1999) with games and simulations.…

Deficient motion-defined and texture-defined figure-ground segregation in amblyopic children.

PubMed

Wang, Jane; Ho, Cindy S; Giaschi, Deborah E

2007-01-01

Motion-defined form deficits in the fellow eye and the amblyopic eye of children with amblyopia implicate possible direction-selective motion processing or static figure-ground segregation deficits. Deficient motion-defined form perception in the fellow eye of amblyopic children may not be fully accounted for by a general motion processing deficit. This study investigates the contribution of figure-ground segregation deficits to the motion-defined form perception deficits in amblyopia. Performances of 6 amblyopic children (5 anisometropic, 1 anisostrabismic) and 32 control children with normal vision were assessed on motion-defined form, texture-defined form, and global motion tasks. Performance on motion-defined and texture-defined form tasks was significantly worse in amblyopic children than in control children. Performance on global motion tasks was not significantly different between the 2 groups. Faulty figure-ground segregation mechanisms are likely responsible for the observed motion-defined form perception deficits in amblyopia.

Aristotelian syllogisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ollongren, Alexander

2011-02-01

Aristotelian assertive syllogistic logic (without modalities) is embedded in the author's Lingua Cosmica. The well-known basic structures of assertions and conversions between them in this logic are represented in LINCOS. Since these representations correspond with set-theoretic operations, the latter are embedded in LINCOS as well. Based on this valid argumentation in Aristotle's sense is obtained for four important so-called perfect figures. Their constructive (intuitionistic) verifications are of a surprisingly elegant simplicity.

PrOtocols for WatERmarking (POWER)

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-01

22. Page 57 of 94 Figure 22: Exemplary watermark structure incl. the structure of the embedded ToC The segmented watermarking approach for...somewhere within the cover. The addresses addressSLji belonging to the different access levels Li are stored in a table of contents ( ToC ) entry, along...then embedded into the ToC -segment Stoc. Several assumptions have to be made before describing the actual functions of the presented system

Perception and Production of the Human Figure in Drawings by Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Itskowitz, Rivka

This research deals with the development and relative importance of both the conceptual-cognitive and the aesthetic-affective aspect of the perceptual process at various age levels of children. Three tasks were chosen: (1) sorting drawings of human figures--a task that represents a more conceptual function; (2) expressing preferences for those…

The creative brain in the figural domain: Distinct patterns of EEG alpha power during idea generation and idea elaboration.

PubMed

Rominger, Christian; Papousek, Ilona; Perchtold, Corinna M; Weber, Bernhard; Weiss, Elisabeth M; Fink, Andreas

2018-02-13

This study investigated EEG activity in the upper alpha band during the well-known Picture Completion Task of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT), a widely used creative ideation task in the figural domain. The application of a sophisticated computerized version of the TTCT facilitating the online assessment and digitalizing of participant's drawings allowed to separate two central stages of the creative ideation process (i.e., idea generation and idea elaboration). During idea generation, the participants' task was to generate an initial draft of an original and creative completion of the presented abstract lines and figures of the TTCT. During idea elaboration, the participants were required to mentally improve the originality of the initially generated idea/draft. Creative ideation in this figural task was generally associated with comparatively strong desynchronization of upper alpha power over parietal and occipital sites, indicating high visual/figural processing demands. Interestingly, the stage of idea elaboration was accompanied by a relative increase of upper alpha power at parietal and occipital sites compared to the stage of idea generation, indicating heightened top-down processing demands. Furthermore, task performance was associated with relative increases of upper alpha power at frontal sites and relative decreases at centro-temporal sites from the stage of idea generation to idea elaboration. This association suggests the importance of increased inhibitory control over stimulus-based bottom-up information and motor imagery in order to achieve more creative outputs. Taken together these findings add to the relevant literature in that they a) extend research on the relationship between EEG alpha activity and creativity to the figural domain, and b) support a multistage view of creative ideation, involving cognitive control and mental imagery as important components of creativity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A comparison of human performance in figural and navigational versions of the traveling salesman problem.

PubMed

Blaser, R E; Wilber, Julie

2013-11-01

Performance on a typical pen-and-paper (figural) version of the Traveling Salesman Problem was compared to performance on a room-sized navigational version of the same task. Nine configurations were designed to examine the use of the nearest-neighbor (NN), cluster approach, and convex-hull strategies. Performance decreased with an increasing number of nodes internal to the hull, and improved when the NN strategy produced the optimal path. There was no overall difference in performance between figural and navigational task modalities. However, there was an interaction between modality and configuration, with evidence that participants relied more heavily on the NN strategy in the figural condition. Our results suggest that participants employed similar, but not identical, strategies when solving figural and navigational versions of the problem. Surprisingly, there was no evidence that participants favored global strategies in the figural version and local strategies in the navigational version.

Tools for Embedded Computing Systems Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

A workshop was held to assess the state of tools for embedded systems software and to determine directions for tool development. A synopsis of the talk and the key figures of each workshop presentation, together with chairmen summaries, are presented. The presentations covered four major areas: (1) tools and the software environment (development and testing); (2) tools and software requirements, design, and specification; (3) tools and language processors; and (4) tools and verification and validation (analysis and testing). The utility and contribution of existing tools and research results for the development and testing of embedded computing systems software are described and assessed.

Visual Puzzles, Figure Weights, and Cancellation: Some Preliminary Hypotheses on the Functional and Neural Substrates of These Three New WAIS-IV Subtests

PubMed Central

McCrea, Simon M.; Robinson, Thomas P.

2011-01-01

In this study, five consecutive patients with focal strokes and/or cortical excisions were examined with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and Wechsler Memory Scale—Fourth Editions along with a comprehensive battery of other neuropsychological tasks. All five of the lesions were large and typically involved frontal, temporal, and/or parietal lobes and were lateralized to one hemisphere. The clinical case method was used to determine the cognitive neuropsychological correlates of mental rotation (Visual Puzzles), Piagetian balance beam (Figure Weights), and visual search (Cancellation) tasks. The pattern of results on Visual Puzzles and Figure Weights suggested that both subtests involve predominately right frontoparietal networks involved in visual working memory. It appeared that Visual Puzzles could also critically rely on the integrity of the left temporoparietal junction. The left temporoparietal junction could be involved in temporal ordering and integration of local elements into a nonverbal gestalt. In contrast, the Figure Weights task appears to critically involve the right temporoparietal junction involved in numerical magnitude estimation. Cancellation was sensitive to left frontotemporal lesions and not right posterior parietal lesions typical of other visual search tasks. In addition, the Cancellation subtest was sensitive to verbal search strategies and perhaps object-based attention demands, thereby constituting a unique task in comparison with previous visual search tasks. PMID:22389807

A study of cognitive loading in dual-coding theory.

PubMed

Ishi, H; Yamauchi, H

1994-08-01

15 university students were engaged in a task of recalling sentences with and without figures. Analysis of the number recalled indicated that cognitive loading for sentences with figures was more effective than for recall of sentences without figures.

Local and global processing in block design tasks in children with dyslexia or nonverbal learning disability.

PubMed

Cardillo, Ramona; Mammarella, Irene C; Garcia, Ricardo Basso; Cornoldi, Cesare

2017-05-01

Visuo-constructive and perceptual abilities have been poorly investigated in children with learning disabilities. The present study focused on local or global visuospatial processing in children with nonverbal learning disability (NLD) and dyslexia compared with typically-developing (TD) controls. Participants were presented with a modified block design task (BDT), in both a typical visuo-constructive version that involves reconstructing figures from blocks, and a perceptual version in which respondents must rapidly match unfragmented figures with a corresponding fragmented target figure. The figures used in the tasks were devised by manipulating two variables: the perceptual cohesiveness and the task uncertainty, stimulating global or local processes. Our results confirmed that children with NLD had more problems with the visuo-constructive version of the task, whereas those with dyslexia showed only a slight difficulty with the visuo-constructive version, but were in greater difficulty with the perceptual version, especially in terms of response times. These findings are interpreted in relation to the slower visual processing speed of children with dyslexia, and to the visuo-constructive problems and difficulty in using flexibly-experienced global vs local processes of children with NLD. The clinical and educational implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sequential recognition of the pre-mRNA branch point by U2AF65 and a novel spliceosome-associated 28-kDa protein.

PubMed Central

Gaur, R K; Valcárcel, J; Green, M R

1995-01-01

Splicing of pre-mRNAs occurs via a lariat intermediate in which an intronic adenosine, embedded within a branch point sequence, forms a 2',5'-phosphodiester bond (RNA branch) with the 5' end of the intron. How the branch point is recognized and activated remains largely unknown. Using site-specific photochemical cross-linking, we have identified two proteins that specifically interact with the branch point during the splicing reaction. U2AF65, an essential splicing factor that binds to the adjacent polypyrimidine tract, crosslinks to the branch point at the earliest stage of spliceosome formation in an ATP-independent manner. A novel 28-kDa protein, which is a constituent of the mature spliceosome, contacts the branch point after the first catalytic step. Our results indicate that the branch point is sequentially recognized by distinct splicing factors in the course of the splicing reaction. Images FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2 FIGURE 3 FIGURE 4 FIGURE 5 FIGURE 6 FIGURE 7 FIGURE 8 FIGURE 9 PMID:7493318

Speculation detection for Chinese clinical notes: Impacts of word segmentation and embedding models.

PubMed

Zhang, Shaodian; Kang, Tian; Zhang, Xingting; Wen, Dong; Elhadad, Noémie; Lei, Jianbo

2016-04-01

Speculations represent uncertainty toward certain facts. In clinical texts, identifying speculations is a critical step of natural language processing (NLP). While it is a nontrivial task in many languages, detecting speculations in Chinese clinical notes can be particularly challenging because word segmentation may be necessary as an upstream operation. The objective of this paper is to construct a state-of-the-art speculation detection system for Chinese clinical notes and to investigate whether embedding features and word segmentations are worth exploiting toward this overall task. We propose a sequence labeling based system for speculation detection, which relies on features from bag of characters, bag of words, character embedding, and word embedding. We experiment on a novel dataset of 36,828 clinical notes with 5103 gold-standard speculation annotations on 2000 notes, and compare the systems in which word embeddings are calculated based on word segmentations given by general and by domain specific segmenters respectively. Our systems are able to reach performance as high as 92.2% measured by F score. We demonstrate that word segmentation is critical to produce high quality word embedding to facilitate downstream information extraction applications, and suggest that a domain dependent word segmenter can be vital to such a clinical NLP task in Chinese language. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Explaining and Controlling for the Psychometric Properties of Computer-Generated Figural Matrix Items

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freund, Philipp Alexander; Hofer, Stefan; Holling, Heinz

2008-01-01

Figural matrix items are a popular task type for assessing general intelligence (Spearman's g). Items of this kind can be constructed rationally, allowing the implementation of computerized generation algorithms. In this study, the influence of different task parameters on the degree of difficulty in matrix items was investigated. A sample of N =…

Operational testing of a figure of merit for overall task performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lemay, Moira

1990-01-01

An overall indicator or figure of merit (FOM), for the quality of pilot performance is needed to define optimal workload levels, predict system failure, measure the impact of new automation in the cockpit, and define the relative contributions of subtasks to overall task performance. A normative FOM was developed based on the calculation of a standard score for each component of a complex task. It reflected some effects, detailed in an earlier study, of the introduction of new data link technology into the cockpit. Since the technique showed promise, further testing was done. A new set of data was obtained using the recently developed Multi-Attribute Task Battery. This is a complex battery consisting of four tasks which can be varied in task demand, and on which performance measures can be obtained. This battery was presented to 12 subjects in a 20 minute trial at each of three levels of workload or task demand, and performance measures collected on all four tasks. The NASA-TLX workload rating scale was presented at minutes 6, 12, and 18, of each trial. A figure of merit was then obtained for each run of the battery by calculating a mean, SD, and standard score for each task. Each task contributed its own proportion to the overall FOM, and relative contributions changed with increasing workload. Thus, the FOM shows the effect of task changes, not only on the individual task that is changed, but also on the performance of other tasks and of the whole task. The cost to other tasks of maintaining constant performance on an individual task can be quantified.

Mechanism-Based Design for High-Temperature, High-Performance Composites. Book 4

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-09-01

composite specimen as well as unstressed ( unembedded ) fibers to obtain a reliable unstressed peak position. Temperature was recorded for all samples by use...the unembedded and embedded sapphire fibers is show in Figure 5. It is clearly seen that there is a shift to blue wavelengths (lower wavelength) for...temperature which creates thermal distortions in the grating and spectrometer. 1000 800 600 c 400 200 Unstressed fiber ( unembedded ) Embedded

Item difficulty and item validity for the Children's Group Embedded Figures Test.

PubMed

Rusch, R R; Trigg, C L; Brogan, R; Petriquin, S

1994-02-01

The validity and reliability of the Children's Group Embedded Figures Test was reported for students in Grade 2 by Cromack and Stone in 1980; however, a search of the literature indicates no evidence for internal consistency or item analysis. Hence the purpose of this study was to examine the item difficulty and item validity of the test with children in Grades 1 and 2. Confusion in the literature over development and use of this test was seemingly resolved through analysis of these descriptions and through an interview with the test developer. One early-appearing item was unreasonably difficult. Two or three other items were quite difficult and made little contribution to the total score. Caution is recommended, however, in any reordering or elimination of items based on these findings, given the limited number of subjects (n = 84).

Exploratory Visual Analytics of a Dynamically Built Network of Nodes in a WebGL-Enabled Browser

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

dimensionality reduction, feature extraction, high-dimensional data, t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding, neighbor retrieval visualizer, visual...WebGL-enabled rendering is supported natively by browsers such as the latest Mozilla Firefox , Google Chrome, and Microsoft Internet Explorer 11. At the...appropriate names. The resultant 26-node network is displayed in a Mozilla Firefox browser in figure 2 (also see appendix B). 3 Figure 1. The

Design and Control of Omnidirectional Unmanned Ground Vehicles for Rough Terrain

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-29

company, Quantum Signal. This rigid body dynamics simulation, housed within the Autonomous Navigation and Virtual Environment Laboratory (ANVEL) software...72 Figure 22: PIC main code. Page 24 of 72 Figure 23: PIC interrupt code. 3.3 Central Body Embedded Electronics As described above...located on the main body of the vehicle. This section describes how the on-board electronics works. The outline of the code is presented as is how

Overcoming Autophagy to Induce Apoptosis in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

staining with antibodies against Ki67 or AR. The same analysis was done for the metformin group and got comparable results. Figure 8. Two sets of...were parafilm embedded and sectioned for H&E and immunohistochemical staining with antibodies against Ki67 or AR (Figure 9). H&E staining showed...combination group measured only 16% of the control. The immunohistochemical staining of representative samples clearly showed inhibition of pSrc by sara

The reliability and clinical correlates of figure-ground perception in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Malaspina, Dolores; Simon, Naomi; Goetz, Raymond R; Corcoran, Cheryl; Coleman, Eliza; Printz, David; Mujica-Parodi, Lilianne; Wolitzky, Rachel

2004-01-01

Schizophrenia subjects are impaired in a number of visual attention paradigms. However, their performance on tests of figure-ground visual perception (FGP), which requires subjects to visually discriminate figures embedded in a rival background, is relatively unstudied. We examined FGP in 63 schizophrenia patients and 27 control subjects and found that the patients performed the FGP test reliably and had significantly lower FGP scores than the control subjects. Figure-ground visual perception was significantly correlated with other neuropsychological test scores and was inversely related to negative symptoms. It was unrelated to antipsychotic medication treatment. Figure-ground visual perception depends on "top down" processing of visual stimuli, and thus this data suggests that dysfunction in the higher-level pathways that modulate visual perceptual processes may also be related to a core defect in schizophrenia.

Enhancement of object-permanence performance in the Down's syndrome infant.

PubMed

Morss, J R

1984-01-01

Four infants with Down's syndrome (aged 19-33 months) were presented with a restructured version of an object-permanence task. Restructuring consisted of the embedding of single trials of the task within a sequence of simpler, related steps. Following failure on a standard presentation of the task, three Down's syndrome (DS) infants demonstrated success on trials embedded in the training sequence. Comparison was made with the performance of normal infants (aged 14-19 months) matched in terms of failure on the pre-test. Only two out of nine normal infants registered success on the embedded trials. Results are discussed in terms of the differences between the DS infant and the normal infant, and the former's reliance on the deliberate structuring of his learning environment by a parent or educator.

Developing the Impossible Figures Task to Assess Visual-Spatial Talents among Chinese Students: A Rasch Measurement Model Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, David W.

2010-01-01

Data of item responses to the Impossible Figures Task (IFT) from 492 Chinese primary, secondary, and university students were analyzed using the dichotomous Rasch measurement model. Item difficulty estimates and person ability estimates located on the same logit scale revealed that the pooled sample of Chinese students, who were relatively highly…

Figure-ground asymmetries in the Implicit Association Test (IAT).

PubMed

Rothermund, K; Wentura, D

2001-01-01

Based on the assumption that binary classification tasks are often processed asymmetrically (figure-ground asymmetries), two experiments showed that association alone cannot account for effects observed in the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Experiment 1 (N = 16) replicated a standard version of the IAT effect using old vs. young names as target categories and good and bad words as attribute categories. However, reliable compatibility effects were also found for a modified version of the task in which neutral words vs. nonwords instead of good vs. bad words were used as attribute categories. In Experiment 2 (N = 8), a reversed IAT effect was observed after the figure-ground asymmetry in the target dimension had been inverted by a previous go/nogo detection task in which participants searched for exemplars of the category "young." The experiments support the hypothesis that figure-ground asymmetries produce compatibility effects in the IAT and suggest that IAT effects do not rely exclusively on evaluative associations between the target and attribute categories.

A Verification Method of Inter-Task Cooperation in Embedded Real-time Systems and its Evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshida, Toshio

In software development process of embedded real-time systems, the design of the task cooperation process is very important. The cooperating process of such tasks is specified by task cooperation patterns. Adoption of unsuitable task cooperation patterns has fatal influence on system performance, quality, and extendibility. In order to prevent repetitive work caused by the shortage of task cooperation performance, it is necessary to verify task cooperation patterns in an early software development stage. However, it is very difficult to verify task cooperation patterns in an early software developing stage where task program codes are not completed yet. Therefore, we propose a verification method using task skeleton program codes and a real-time kernel that has a function of recording all events during software execution such as system calls issued by task program codes, external interrupts, and timer interrupt. In order to evaluate the proposed verification method, we applied it to the software development process of a mechatronics control system.

Predicting Clinical Outcome Using Brain Activation Associated with Set-Shifting and Central Coherence Skills in Anorexia Nervosa

PubMed Central

Garrett, Amy; Lock, James; Datta, Nandini; Beenhaker, Judy; Kesler, Shelli R.; Reiss, Allan L.

2014-01-01

Background Patients with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) have neuropsychological deficits in set shifting (SS) and central coherence (CC) consistent with an inflexible thinking style and overly detailed processing style, respectively. This study investigates brain activation during SS and CC tasks in patients with AN and tests whether this activation is a biomarker that predicts response to treatment. Methods : FMRI data were collected from 21 females with AN while performing a SS task (the Wisconsin Card Sort) and a CC task (embedded figures), and used to predict outcome following 16 weeks of treatment (either 16 weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy or 8 weeks cognitive remediation training followed by 8 weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy). Results Significant activation during the SS task included bilateral dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and left anterior middle frontal gyrus. Higher scores on the neuropsychological test of SS (measured outside the scanner at baseline) were correlated with greater DLPFC and VLPFC activation. Improvements in SS following treatment were significantly predicted by a combination of low VLPFC and high anterior middle frontal activation (R squared = .68, p=.001). For the CC task, the visual and parietal areas were activated, but were not significantly correlated with neuropsychological measures of CC and did not predict outcome. Conclusion Cognitive flexibility requires the support of several prefrontal cortex resources. As previous studies suggest that the VLPFC is important for selecting responses, patients who demonstrate that deficit may benefit the most from cognitive therapy with or without cognitive remediation training. The ability to sustain inhibition of an unwanted response, subserved by the anterior middle frontal gyrus, is a cognitive feature that predicts favorable outcome to cognitive treatment. CC deficits may not be an effective predictor of clinical outcome. PMID:25027478

Circuit-Switched Memory Access in Photonic Interconnection Networks for High-Performance Embedded Computing

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-07-22

dependent , providing a natural bandwidth match between compute cores and the memory subsystem. • High Bandwidth Dcnsity. Waveguides crossing the chip...simulate this memory access architecture on a 2S6-core chip with a concentrated 64-node network lIsing detailed traces of high-performance embedded...memory modulcs, wc placc memory access poi nts (MAPs) around the pcriphery of the chip connected to thc nctwork. These MAPs, shown in Figure 4, contain

Characterizing and Targeting Bone Marrow-Derived Inflammatory Cells in Driving the Malignancy and Progression of Childhood Astrocytic Brain Tumors

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

to C57/Bl6 mice to create allograft glioma. In addition, xenograft models with human glioma cell lines are also utilized. Furthermore, we also have...of low-grade astrocytoma patients (LGA) vs glioblastoma patients (GBM). Figure 2. IHC of CD11b (infiltrated myeloid cells) on archived...paraffin embedded tumor tissue from low-grade astrocytoma patients (grade II) vs glioblastoma patients (grade IV). 6 Figure 3. Characterizing

Multivariate Visualization in Social Sciences and Survey Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

uses bubbles indicating Walmart store locations. The bubble size is misleading as it does not reflect the amount of stores or the size of any store...displaying survey data, the bubbles’ exact location is relevant, indicating Walmart store locations. Yau’s choropleth (Figure 2.7, right chart) displays...is able to see the embedded image. 14 Figure 2.7: Point-based bubbles (left) display the the locations of Walmart stores at some point in the stores

Perseveration Found in a Human Drawing Task: Six-Fingered Hands Drawn by Patients with Right Anterior Insula and Operculum Damage

PubMed Central

Niki, Chiharu; Maruyama, Takashi; Muragaki, Yoshihiro; Kumada, Takatsune

2014-01-01

Background. Perseveration has been observed in a number of behavioural contexts, including speaking, writing, and drawing. However, no previous report describes patients who show perseveration only for drawing a human figure. Objective. The present report describes a group of patients who show body awareness-related cognitive impairment during a human figure drawing task, a different presentation from previously described neuropsychological cases. Methods. Participants were 15 patients who had a frontal lobe brain tumour around the insula cortex of the right hemisphere and had subsequently undergone a neurosurgical resective operation. Participants were asked to draw a human figure in both “hands-down” and “hands-up” configurations. Results. Eight of the 15 patients drew a human figure with six fingers during the “hands-up” and the “hands-down” human figure drawing tasks (one patient drew eight fingers). A statistical analysis of potential lesion areas revealed damage to the right anterior frontal insula and operculum in this group of patients relative to the five-finger drawing group. Conclusions. Our findings reveal a newly described neuropsychological phenomenon that could reflect impairment in attention directed towards body representations. PMID:24876665

Pupils' over-reliance on linearity: a scholastic effect?

PubMed

Van Dooren, Wim; De Bock, Dirk; Janssens, Dirk; Verschaffel, Lieven

2007-06-01

From upper elementary education on, children develop a tendency to over-use linearity. Particularly, it is found that many pupils assume that if a figure enlarges k times, the area enlarges k times too. However, most research was conducted with traditional, school-like word problems. This study examines whether pupils also over-use linearity if non-linear problems are embedded in meaningful, authentic performance tasks instead of traditional, school-like word problems, and whether this experience influences later behaviour. Ninety-three sixth graders from two primary schools in Flanders, Belgium. Pupils received a pre-test with traditional word problems. Those who made a linear error on the non-linear area problem were subjected to individual interviews. They received one new non-linear problem, in the S-condition (again a traditional, scholastic word problem), D-condition (the same word problem with a drawing) or P-condition (a meaningful performance-based task). Shortly afterwards, pupils received a post-test, containing again a non-linear word problem. Most pupils from the S-condition displayed linear reasoning during the interview. Offering drawings (D-condition) had a positive effect, but presenting the problem as a performance task (P-condition) was more beneficial. Linear reasoning was nearly absent in the P-condition. Remarkably, at the post-test, most pupils from all three groups again applied linear strategies. Pupils' over-reliance on linearity seems partly elicited by the school-like word problem format of test items. Pupils perform much better if non-linear problems are offered as performance tasks. However, a single experience does not change performances on a comparable word problem test afterwards.

Collaborative Research and Development (CR&D). Task Order 0061: Modeling Complex Structural Geometry and Process Interaction

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-01

a Titanium and Gamma-TiAl Alloy, JOM, September 2005, 50-54 4 Chapter 1 [ref3] Caton, M.J., Jha, S.K., Larsen, J.M., Rosenberger, A.H., TMS...Figure 5: Notch 3 strain distribution at 900MPa 25 Chapter 3 Figure 6 : Notch 3 inverse pole figure of local microstructure. Figure 7: Notch 4 ...showing the local grain structure Figure 6 : Local strain distribution at 986MPa calculated from 36 Chapter 4 Figure 7: Secondary electron

Scintillator fiber optic long counter

DOEpatents

McCollum, T.; Spector, G.B.

1994-03-29

A flat response position sensitive neutron detector capable of providing neutron spectroscopic data utilizing scintillator fiber optic filaments embedded in a neutron moderating housing having an open end through which neutrons enter to be detected is described. 11 figures.

The effect of human engagement depicted in contextual photographs on the visual attention patterns of adults with traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Thiessen, Amber; Brown, Jessica; Beukelman, David; Hux, Karen

2017-09-01

Photographs are a frequently employed tool for the rehabilitation of adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working with these individuals must select photos that are easily identifiable and meaningful to their clients. In this investigation, we examined the visual attention response to camera- (i.e., depicted human figure looking toward camera) and task-engaged (i.e., depicted human figure looking at and touching an object) contextual photographs for a group of adults with TBI and a group of adults without neurological conditions. Eye-tracking technology served to accurately and objectively measure visual fixations. Although differences were hypothesized given the cognitive deficits associated with TBI, study results revealed little difference in the visual fixation patterns of adults with and without TBI. Specifically, both groups of participants tended to fixate rapidly on the depicted human figure and fixate more on objects in which a human figure was task-engaged than when a human figure was camera-engaged. These results indicate that strategic placement of human figures in a contextual photograph may modify the way in which individuals with TBI visually attend to and interpret photographs. In addition, task-engagement appears to have a guiding effect on visual attention that may be of benefit to SLPs hoping to select more effective contextual photographs for their clients with TBI. Finally, the limited differences in visual attention patterns between individuals with TBI and their age and gender matched peers without neurological impairments indicates that these two groups find similar photograph regions to be worthy of visual fixation. Readers will gain knowledge regarding the photograph selection process for individuals with TBI. In addition, readers will be able to identify camera- and task-engaged photographs and to explain why task-engagement may be a beneficial component of contextual photographs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The STRONG STAR Multidisciplinary PTSD Research Consortium

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-01

hippocampus. Figure 2.7 shows the effects of adult and prenatal stress on plasma corticosterone levels (Task 1 Step 12; Task 2, Step 11). Prenatal...measure both basal and acute stress-induced levels of corticosterone and ACTH. Figure 2.7: Effect of prenatal...we administered the natural glucocorticoid agonist corticosterone . We also began another model in which we hoped to measure the effect of the

Embedded Picture Mnemonics to Learn Letters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shmidman, Adina; Ehri, Linnea

2010-01-01

Can embedded mnemonics ease the task of learning a foreign alphabet? English-speaking preschoolers (N = 36, M = 5;2 years) were taught 10 Hebrew letter-sound relations. Experimental letters were learned with mnemonics that embedded letter shapes in drawings of objects whose shapes resembled the letters and whose English names began with the…

Abraham Lincoln and Harry Potter: children's differentiation between historical and fantasy characters.

PubMed

Corriveau, Kathleen H; Kim, Angie L; Schwalen, Courtney E; Harris, Paul L

2009-11-01

Based on the testimony of others, children learn about a variety of figures that they never meet. We ask when and how they are able to differentiate between the historical figures that they learn about (e.g., Abraham Lincoln) and fantasy characters (e.g., Harry Potter). Experiment 1 showed that both younger (3- and 4-year-olds) and older children (5-, 6-, and 7-year-olds) understand the status of familiar figures, correctly judging historical figures to be real and fictional figures to be pretend. However, when presented with information about novel figures embedded in either a realistic narrative or a narrative with obvious fantasy elements, only older children used the narrative to make an appropriate assessment of the status of the protagonist. In Experiment 2, 3-, and 4-year-olds were prompted to judge whether the story events were really possible or not. Those who did so accurately were able to deploy that judgment to correctly assess the status of the protagonist.

Object-based and egocentric mental rotation performance in older adults: the importance of gender differences and motor ability.

PubMed

Jansen, Petra; Kaltner, Sandra

2014-01-01

In this study, mental rotation performance was assessed in both an object-based task, human figures and letters as stimuli, and in an egocentric-based task, a human figure as a stimulus, in 60 older persons between 60 and 71 years old (30 women, 30 men). Additionally all participants completed three motor tests measuring balance and mobility. The results show that the reaction time was slower for letters than for both human figure tasks and the mental rotation speed was faster over all for egocentric mental rotation tasks. Gender differences were found in the accuracy measurement, favoring males, and were independent of stimulus type, kind of transformation, and angular disparity. Furthermore, a regression analysis showed that the accuracy rate for object-based transformations with body stimuli could be predicted by gender and balance ability. This study showed that the mental rotation performance in older adults depends on stimulus type, kind of transformation, and gender and that performance partially relates to motor ability.

Extraction and labeling high-resolution images from PDF documents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chachra, Suchet K.; Xue, Zhiyun; Antani, Sameer; Demner-Fushman, Dina; Thoma, George R.

2013-12-01

Accuracy of content-based image retrieval is affected by image resolution among other factors. Higher resolution images enable extraction of image features that more accurately represent the image content. In order to improve the relevance of search results for our biomedical image search engine, Open-I, we have developed techniques to extract and label high-resolution versions of figures from biomedical articles supplied in the PDF format. Open-I uses the open-access subset of biomedical articles from the PubMed Central repository hosted by the National Library of Medicine. Articles are available in XML and in publisher supplied PDF formats. As these PDF documents contain little or no meta-data to identify the embedded images, the task includes labeling images according to their figure number in the article after they have been successfully extracted. For this purpose we use the labeled small size images provided with the XML web version of the article. This paper describes the image extraction process and two alternative approaches to perform image labeling that measure the similarity between two images based upon the image intensity projection on the coordinate axes and similarity based upon the normalized cross-correlation between the intensities of two images. Using image identification based on image intensity projection, we were able to achieve a precision of 92.84% and a recall of 82.18% in labeling of the extracted images.

An Empirical Test of Legitimation as a Status Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shelly, Ann Converse; Shelly, Robert K.

2011-01-01

Legitimation includes authorization of position occupants by external authority figures or their endorsement by members of task groups. Endorsed authority figures are more likely to direct interaction and influence the actions of group members than authorized authority figures. Interaction dynamics that lead to legitimation in groups are explored…

Evidence for modality-independent order coding in working memory.

PubMed

Depoorter, Ann; Vandierendonck, André

2009-03-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the representation of serial order in working memory, more specifically whether serial order is coded by means of a modality-dependent or a modality-independent order code. This was investigated by means of a series of four experiments based on a dual-task methodology in which one short-term memory task was embedded between the presentation and recall of another short-term memory task. Two aspects were varied in these memory tasks--namely, the modality of the stimulus materials (verbal or visuo-spatial) and the presence of an order component in the task (an order or an item memory task). The results of this study showed impaired primary-task recognition performance when both the primary and the embedded task included an order component, irrespective of the modality of the stimulus materials. If one or both of the tasks did not contain an order component, less interference was found. The results of this study support the existence of a modality-independent order code.

Measurement of Radiation Protection Factors for Contaminated Vehicles

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-03-01

sources, developed by the Aberdeen Test Center in the USA. Point sources of 6°Co are embedded in a blanket (on a 0.5 m grid) and draped over a vehicle...constructing a similar facility. Thus, a different approach is desired. This is achieved through the arrangement depicted in Figure 1. A rubber tube is draped ...Figure 1: Experimental set-up. A rubber tube was draped over the Grizzly at one foot intervals along the side ofthe Grizzly. Two motors (one shown at

Familiar shapes attract attention in figure-ground displays.

PubMed

Nelson, Rolf A; Palmer, Stephen E

2007-04-01

We report five experiments that explore the effect of figure-ground factors on attention. We hypothesized that figural cues, such as familiar shape, would draw attention to the figural side in an attentional cuing task using bipartite figure-ground displays. The first two experiments used faces in profile as the familiar shape and found a perceptual advantage for targets presented on the meaningful side of the central contour in detection speed (Experiment 1) and discrimination accuracy (Experiment 2). The third experiment demonstrated the figural advantage in response time (RT) with nine other familiar shapes (including a sea horse, a guitar, a fir tree, etc.), but only when targets appeared in close proximity to the contour. A fourth experiment obtained a figural advantage in a discrimination task with the larger set of familiar shapes. The final experiment ruled out eye movements as a possible confounding factor by replicating the RT advantage for targets on the figural side of face displays when all trials containing eye movements were eliminated. The results are discussed in terms of ecological influences on attention, and are cast within the framework of Yantis and Jonides's hypothesis that attention is exogenously drawn to the onset of new perceptual objects. We argue that the figural side constitutes an "object" whereas the ground side does not, and that figural cues such as shape familiarity are effective in determining which areas represent objects.

Assessing the Use of Game-Based Exercises in the Staff Attack-the-Network Course

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

B-1 vi CONTENTS (continued) Page LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1. EDGE PLAYER AVATAR ...players to control an in-game avatar (see Figure 1), navigate terrain, and use vehicles, 3 equipment, and tools for a variety of social-cultural task... Avatar . Figure 2. EDGE Operational Environment. Method The basic methodology consisted of collecting pre-test and post-test knowledge

Harnessing Macroscopic Forces in Catalysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-11-09

Figure 1. Schematic representation of biasing reaction selectivity via mechanocatalysis. A catalyst, “ mcat ”, is embedded in an elastomeric support...Deformation of the elastomeric support transfers mechanical stress to mcat . Under stress-free conditions, mcat catalyzes the transformation of reactant

Embedded real-time operating system micro kernel design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Xiao-hui; Li, Ming-qiang; Wang, Xin-zheng

2005-12-01

Embedded systems usually require a real-time character. Base on an 8051 microcontroller, an embedded real-time operating system micro kernel is proposed consisting of six parts, including a critical section process, task scheduling, interruption handle, semaphore and message mailbox communication, clock managent and memory managent. Distributed CPU and other resources are among tasks rationally according to the importance and urgency. The design proposed here provides the position, definition, function and principle of micro kernel. The kernel runs on the platform of an ATMEL AT89C51 microcontroller. Simulation results prove that the designed micro kernel is stable and reliable and has quick response while operating in an application system.

Creativity of Field-dependent and Field-independent Students in Posing Mathematical Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azlina, N.; Amin, S. M.; Lukito, A.

2018-01-01

This study aims at describing the creativity of elementary school students with different cognitive styles in mathematical problem-posing. The posed problems were assessed based on three components of creativity, namely fluency, flexibility, and novelty. The free-type problem posing was used in this study. This study is a descriptive research with qualitative approach. Data collections were conducted through written task and task-based interviews. The subjects were two elementary students. One of them is Field Dependent (FD) and the other is Field Independent (FI) which were measured by GEFT (Group Embedded Figures Test). Further, the data were analyzed based on creativity components. The results show thatFD student’s posed problems have fulfilled the two components of creativity namely fluency, in which the subject posed at least 3 mathematical problems, and flexibility, in whichthe subject posed problems with at least 3 different categories/ideas. Meanwhile,FI student’s posed problems have fulfilled all three components of creativity, namely fluency, in which thesubject posed at least 3 mathematical problems, flexibility, in which thesubject posed problems with at least 3 different categories/ideas, and novelty, in which the subject posed problems that are purely the result of her own ideas and different from problems they have known.

Conditioning Military Women for Optimal Performance: Effects of Contraceptive Use

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-10-01

illnesses (i.e. the common cold, sore throat, influenza, mononucleosis ) that afflict soldiers and athletes during physical training (52). The...goal: bring the number to 15 in each treatment group). Task 26: Submit final report when required. Task 27: Prepare abstracts for submission to...absence of any DEPO subjects, trends (and treatment effects) are impossible to discern. INF-g See Figure 8 (all experimental groups combined). This figure

Neurophysiological correlates of relatively enhanced local visual search in autistic adolescents.

PubMed

Manjaly, Zina M; Bruning, Nicole; Neufang, Susanne; Stephan, Klaas E; Brieber, Sarah; Marshall, John C; Kamp-Becker, Inge; Remschmidt, Helmut; Herpertz-Dahlmann, Beate; Konrad, Kerstin; Fink, Gereon R

2007-03-01

Previous studies found normal or even superior performance of autistic patients on visuospatial tasks requiring local search, like the Embedded Figures Task (EFT). A well-known interpretation of this is "weak central coherence", i.e. autistic patients may show a reduced general ability to process information in its context and may therefore have a tendency to favour local over global aspects of information processing. An alternative view is that the local processing advantage in the EFT may result from a relative amplification of early perceptual processes which boosts processing of local stimulus properties but does not affect processing of global context. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 12 autistic adolescents (9 Asperger and 3 high-functioning autistic patients) and 12 matched controls to help distinguish, on neurophysiological grounds, between these two accounts of EFT performance in autistic patients. Behaviourally, we found autistic individuals to be unimpaired during the EFT while they were significantly worse at performing a closely matched control task with minimal local search requirements. The fMRI results showed that activations specific for the local search aspects of the EFT were left-lateralised in parietal and premotor areas for the control group (as previously demonstrated for adults), whereas for the patients these activations were found in right primary visual cortex and bilateral extrastriate areas. These results suggest that enhanced local processing in early visual areas, as opposed to impaired processing of global context, is characteristic for performance of the EFT by autistic patients.

Neurophysiological correlates of relatively enhanced local visual search in autistic adolescents

PubMed Central

Manjaly, Zina M.; Bruning, Nicole; Neufang, Susanne; Stephan, Klaas E.; Brieber, Sarah; Marshall, John C.; Kamp-Becker, Inge; Remschmidt, Helmut; Herpertz-Dahlmann, Beate; Konrad, Kerstin; Fink, Gereon R.

2007-01-01

Previous studies found normal or even superior performance of autistic patients on visuospatial tasks requiring local search, like the Embedded Figures Task (EFT). A well-known interpretation of this is “weak central coherence”, i.e. autistic patients may show a reduced general ability to process information in its context and may therefore have a tendency to favour local over global aspects of information processing. An alternative view is that the local processing advantage in the EFT may result from a relative amplification of early perceptual processes which boosts processing of local stimulus properties but does not affect processing of global context. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 12 autistic adolescents (9 Asperger and 3 high-functioning autistic patients) and 12 matched controls to help distinguish, on neurophysiological grounds, between these two accounts of EFT performance in autistic patients. Behaviourally, we found autistic individuals to be unimpaired during the EFT while they were significantly worse at performing a closely matched control task with minimal local search requirements. The fMRI results showed that activations specific for the local search aspects of the EFT were left-lateralised in parietal and premotor areas for the control group (as previously demonstrated for adults), whereas for the patients these activations were found in right primary visual cortex and bilateral extrastriate areas. These results suggest that enhanced local processing in early visual areas, as opposed to impaired processing of global context, is characteristic for performance of the EFT by autistic patients. PMID:17240169

Combining computer game-based behavioural experiments with high-density EEG and infrared gaze tracking.

PubMed

Yoder, Keith J; Belmonte, Matthew K

2010-12-16

Experimental paradigms are valuable insofar as the timing and other parameters of their stimuli are well specified and controlled, and insofar as they yield data relevant to the cognitive processing that occurs under ecologically valid conditions. These two goals often are at odds, since well controlled stimuli often are too repetitive to sustain subjects' motivation. Studies employing electroencephalography (EEG) are often especially sensitive to this dilemma between ecological validity and experimental control: attaining sufficient signal-to-noise in physiological averages demands large numbers of repeated trials within lengthy recording sessions, limiting the subject pool to individuals with the ability and patience to perform a set task over and over again. This constraint severely limits researchers' ability to investigate younger populations as well as clinical populations associated with heightened anxiety or attentional abnormalities. Even adult, non-clinical subjects may not be able to achieve their typical levels of performance or cognitive engagement: an unmotivated subject for whom an experimental task is little more than a chore is not the same, behaviourally, cognitively, or neurally, as a subject who is intrinsically motivated and engaged with the task. A growing body of literature demonstrates that embedding experiments within video games may provide a way between the horns of this dilemma between experimental control and ecological validity. The narrative of a game provides a more realistic context in which tasks occur, enhancing their ecological validity (Chaytor & Schmitter-Edgecombe, 2003). Moreover, this context provides motivation to complete tasks. In our game, subjects perform various missions to collect resources, fend off pirates, intercept communications or facilitate diplomatic relations. In so doing, they also perform an array of cognitive tasks, including a Posner attention-shifting paradigm (Posner, 1980), a go/no-go test of motor inhibition, a psychophysical motion coherence threshold task, the Embedded Figures Test (Witkin, 1950, 1954) and a theory-of-mind (Wimmer & Perner, 1983) task. The game software automatically registers game stimuli and subjects' actions and responses in a log file, and sends event codes to synchronise with physiological data recorders. Thus the game can be combined with physiological measures such as EEG or fMRI, and with moment-to-moment tracking of gaze. Gaze tracking can verify subjects' compliance with behavioural tasks (e.g. fixation) and overt attention to experimental stimuli, and also physiological arousal as reflected in pupil dilation (Bradley et al., 2008). At great enough sampling frequencies, gaze tracking may also help assess covert attention as reflected in microsaccades - eye movements that are too small to foveate a new object, but are as rapid in onset and have the same relationship between angular distance and peak velocity as do saccades that traverse greater distances. The distribution of directions of microsaccades correlates with the (otherwise) covert direction of attention (Hafed & Clark, 2002).

Syntactic Structure and Artificial Grammar Learning: The Learnability of Embedded Hierarchical Structures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Vries, Meinou H.; Monaghan, Padraic; Knecht, Stefan; Zwitserlood, Pienie

2008-01-01

Embedded hierarchical structures, such as "the rat the cat ate was brown", constitute a core generative property of a natural language theory. Several recent studies have reported learning of hierarchical embeddings in artificial grammar learning (AGL) tasks, and described the functional specificity of Broca's area for processing such structures.…

Report of the Nuclear Propulsion Mission Analysis, Figures of Merit Subpanel: Quantifiable figures of merit for nuclear thermal propulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haynes, Davy A.

1991-01-01

The results of an inquiry by the Nuclear Propulsion Mission Analysis, Figures of Merit subpanel are given. The subpanel was tasked to consider the question of what are the appropriate and quantifiable parameters to be used in the definition of an overall figure of merit (FoM) for Mars transportation system (MTS) nuclear thermal rocket engines (NTR). Such a characterization is needed to resolve the NTR engine design trades by a logical and orderly means, and to provide a meaningful method for comparison of the various NTR engine concepts. The subpanel was specifically tasked to identify the quantifiable engine parameters which would be the most significant engine factors affecting an overall FoM for a MTS and was not tasked with determining 'acceptable' or 'recommended' values for the identified parameters. In addition, the subpanel was asked not to define an overall FoM for a MTS. Thus, the selection of a specific approach, applicable weighting factors, to any interrelationships, for establishing an overall numerical FoM were considered beyond the scope of the subpanel inquiry.

Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Future Strategic Strike Skills

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-01

25 Figure 11: Re - entry Systems – Critical Skills...SKILLS___________________________________________________25 Figure 9: Guidance – Critical Skills Figure 10: Re - entry Systems – Critical Skills ICBMS/BASING...ability to survive intercontinental ballistic missile re - entry and then to operate effectively thereafter, is another area where current skills are

Does strategy instruction on the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure task lead to transferred performance improvement on the Modified Taylor Complex Figure task? A randomized controlled trial in school-aged children.

PubMed

Resch, Christine; Keulers, Esther; Martens, Rosa; van Heugten, Caroline; Hurks, Petra

2018-04-05

Providing children with organizational strategy instruction on the Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) has previously been found to improve organizational and accuracy performance on this task. It is unknown whether strategy instruction on the ROCF would also transfer to performance improvement on copying and the recall of another complex figure. Participants were 98 typically developing children (aged 9.5-12.6 years, M = 10.6). Children completed the ROCF (copy and recall) as a pretest. Approximately a month later, they were randomized to complete the ROCF with strategy instruction in the form of a stepwise administration of the ROCF or again in the standard format. All children then copied and recalled the Modified Taylor Complex Figure (MTCF). All productions were assessed in terms of organization, accuracy and completion time. Organization scores for the MTCF did not differ for the two groups for the copy production, but did differ for the recall production, indicating transfer. Accuracy and completion times did not differ between groups. Performance on all measures, except copy accuracy, improved between pretest ROCF and posttest MTCF production for both groups, suggesting practice effects. Findings indicate that transfer of strategy instruction from one complex figure to another is only present for organization of recalled information. The increase in RCF-OSS scores did not lead to a higher accuracy or a faster copy or recall.

Mental Rotation Performance in Male Soccer Players

PubMed Central

Jansen, Petra; Lehmann, Jennifer; Van Doren, Jessica

2012-01-01

It is the main goal of this study to investigate the visual-spatial cognition in male soccer players. Forty males (20 soccer players and 20 non-athletes) solved a chronometric mental rotation task with both cubed and embodied figures (human figures, body postures). The results confirm previous results that all participants had a lower mental rotation speed for cube figures compared to embodied figures and a higher error rate for cube figures, but only at angular disparities greater than 90°. It is a new finding that soccer–players showed a faster reaction time for embodied stimuli. Because rotation speed did not differ between soccer-players and non-athletes this finding cannot be attributed to the mental rotation process itself but instead to differences in one of the following processes which are involved in a mental rotation task: the encoding process, the maintanence of readiness, or the motor process. The results are discussed against the background of the influence on longterm physical activity on mental rotation and the context of embodied cognition. PMID:23119073

Children's colour choices for completing drawings of affectively characterised topics.

PubMed

Burkitt, Esther; Barrett, Martyn; Davis, Alyson

2003-03-01

This study was designed to explore whether or not children systematically use particular colours when completing drawings of affectively characterised topics. Three hundred and thirty 4-11-year-old children were subdivided into three conditions, colouring in a drawing of a man, a dog, or a tree, respectively. The children completed two test sessions in counterbalanced order. In one session, children rated and ranked ten colours in order of preference. In the other session, children completed three colouring tasks in which they had to colour in three identical figures but which had been given different affective characterisations: a neutrally characterised figure, a figure characterised as nasty, and a figure characterised as nice. It was found that, in all age groups and for all topics, the children used their more preferred colours for the nice figures, their least preferred colours for the nasty figures, and colours rated intermediately for the neutral figures. It was also found that, in all age groups and for all topics, black tended to be the most frequently chosen colour for colouring in the drawings of the negatively characterised figures. By contrast, primary colours were predominantly selected for the neutral figure, while a wide range of mainly primary and secondary colours were chosen for colouring in the nice figure. These results suggest that children are able to alter systematically their use of colour during picture completion tasks in response to differential affective topic characterisations, and that even very young children are able to use colours symbolically.

Real-world navigation in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: The relation to visuospatial memory and volume of hippocampal subregions.

PubMed

Peter, Jessica; Sandkamp, Richard; Minkova, Lora; Schumacher, Lena V; Kaller, Christoph P; Abdulkadir, Ahmed; Klöppel, Stefan

2018-01-31

Spatial disorientation is a frequent symptom in Alzheimer's disease and in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In the clinical routine, spatial orientation is less often tested with real-world navigation but rather with 2D visuoconstructive tasks. However, reports about the association between the two types of tasks are sparse. Additionally, spatial disorientation has been linked to volume of the right hippocampus but it remains unclear whether right hippocampal subregions have differential involvement in real-world navigation. Yet, this would help uncover different functional roles of the subregions, which would have important implications for understanding the neuronal underpinnings of navigation skills. We compared patients with amnestic MCI (aMCI; n = 25) and healthy elderly controls (HC; n = 25) in a real-world navigation task that engaged different spatial processes. The association between real-world navigation and different visuoconstructive tasks was tested (i.e., figures from the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease; CERAD, the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure task; and clock drawing). Furthermore, the relation between spatial navigation and volume of right hippocampal subregions was examined. Linear regression and relative weight analysis were applied for statistical analyses. Patients with aMCI were significantly less able to correctly navigate through a route compared to HC but had comparable map drawing and landmark recognition skills. The association between visuoconstructive tasks and real-world navigation was only significant when using the visuospatial memory component of the Rey figure. In aMCI, more volume of the right hippocampal tail was significantly associated with better navigation skills, while volume of the right CA2/3 region was a significant predictor in HC. Standard visuoconstructive tasks (e.g., the CERAD figures or clock drawing) are not sufficient to detect real-world spatial disabilities in aMCI. Consequently, more complex visuoconstructive tasks (i.e., the Rey figure) should be routinely included in the assessment of cognitive functions in the context of AD. Moreover, in those elderly individuals with impaired complex visuospatial memory, route finding behaviour should be evaluated in detail. Regarding the contribution of hippocampal subregions to spatial navigation, the right hippocampal tail seems to be particularly important for patients with aMCI, while the CA2/3 region appears to be more relevant in HC. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multi-Agent Framework for the Fair Division of Resources and Tasks

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

144 B.1.2 Application of Shake Out Algorithm to JFK Airport Test Data.........................144 B.2 Generalization...145 Figure B–2: Available Aircraft Inventory at JFK Airport ............................................. 148 Figure B–3...Available Aircraft Inventory at JFK Airport after the first shake out ....... 148 Figure B–4: Inventory Vectors for Second and Third Shake Outs

Transformation of the Incomplete Figure in Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noda, Mitsuru

2014-01-01

This study aims to examine the developmental changes in young children's perception. A matching completion task consisting of three geometric figures and one bird-like figure were completed by children 3-5 years of age ("N" = 99). The rotation effect, in which the correct response decreased with orientation (45°, 90° 135°, and 180°), was…

Multi-modal demands of a smartphone used to place calls and enter addresses during highway driving relative to two embedded systems.

PubMed

Reimer, Bryan; Mehler, Bruce; Reagan, Ian; Kidd, David; Dobres, Jonathan

2016-12-01

There is limited research on trade-offs in demand between manual and voice interfaces of embedded and portable technologies. Mehler et al. identified differences in driving performance, visual engagement and workload between two contrasting embedded vehicle system designs (Chevrolet MyLink and Volvo Sensus). The current study extends this work by comparing these embedded systems with a smartphone (Samsung Galaxy S4). None of the voice interfaces eliminated visual demand. Relative to placing calls manually, both embedded voice interfaces resulted in less eyes-off-road time than the smartphone. Errors were most frequent when calling contacts using the smartphone. The smartphone and MyLink allowed addresses to be entered using compound voice commands resulting in shorter eyes-off-road time compared with the menu-based Sensus but with many more errors. Driving performance and physiological measures indicated increased demand when performing secondary tasks relative to 'just driving', but were not significantly different between the smartphone and embedded systems. Practitioner Summary: The findings show that embedded system and portable device voice interfaces place fewer visual demands on the driver than manual interfaces, but they also underscore how differences in system designs can significantly affect not only the demands placed on drivers, but also the successful completion of tasks.

An Architecture for Coexistence with Multiple Users in Frequency Hopping Cognitive Radio Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

the base WARP system, a custom IP core written in VHDL , and the Virtex IV’s embedded PowerPC core with C code to implement the radio and hopset...shown in Appendix C as Figure C.2. All VHDL code necessary to implement this IP core is included in Appendix G. 69 Figure 3.19: FPGA bus structure...subsystem functionality. A total of 1,430 lines of VHDL code were implemented for this research. 1 library ieee; 2 use ieee.std logic 1164.all; 3 use

An initial test of a normative Figure Of Merit for the quality of overall task performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lemay, Moira; Comstock, J. R., Jr.

1990-01-01

An overall indicator, or Figure Of Merit (FOM), of the quality of crew/vehicle system performance is needed to establish the effect of workload on efficiency and to identify overload conditions. A normative FOM is proposed in which performance is measured on a representative task and a normative data base obtained. FOMs for subsequent executions of the task are then reported in terms of weighted deviations from average task performance. Performance of discrete tasks is measured primarily in terms of subtask time and errors. Discrete task performance is then combined with a measure of continuous vehicle control. In order to test the normative FOM procedure, the technique was applied to an existing set of data from a simulated landing task in which standard communications with ATC was compared with a data link communications system. The results indicated that while mean task performance was not affected, task variability, as measured by the FOM, was significantly higher when data link communications were used. In order to establish the sensitivity of the normative FOM method, further testing of the measure is recommended.

A framework for biomedical figure segmentation towards image-based document retrieval

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

The figures included in many of the biomedical publications play an important role in understanding the biological experiments and facts described within. Recent studies have shown that it is possible to integrate the information that is extracted from figures in classical document classification and retrieval tasks in order to improve their accuracy. One important observation about the figures included in biomedical publications is that they are often composed of multiple subfigures or panels, each describing different methodologies or results. The use of these multimodal figures is a common practice in bioscience, as experimental results are graphically validated via multiple methodologies or procedures. Thus, for a better use of multimodal figures in document classification or retrieval tasks, as well as for providing the evidence source for derived assertions, it is important to automatically segment multimodal figures into subfigures and panels. This is a challenging task, however, as different panels can contain similar objects (i.e., barcharts and linecharts) with multiple layouts. Also, certain types of biomedical figures are text-heavy (e.g., DNA sequences and protein sequences images) and they differ from traditional images. As a result, classical image segmentation techniques based on low-level image features, such as edges or color, are not directly applicable to robustly partition multimodal figures into single modal panels. In this paper, we describe a robust solution for automatically identifying and segmenting unimodal panels from a multimodal figure. Our framework starts by robustly harvesting figure-caption pairs from biomedical articles. We base our approach on the observation that the document layout can be used to identify encoded figures and figure boundaries within PDF files. Taking into consideration the document layout allows us to correctly extract figures from the PDF document and associate their corresponding caption. We combine pixel-level representations of the extracted images with information gathered from their corresponding captions to estimate the number of panels in the figure. Thus, our approach simultaneously identifies the number of panels and the layout of figures. In order to evaluate the approach described here, we applied our system on documents containing protein-protein interactions (PPIs) and compared the results against a gold standard that was annotated by biologists. Experimental results showed that our automatic figure segmentation approach surpasses pure caption-based and image-based approaches, achieving a 96.64% accuracy. To allow for efficient retrieval of information, as well as to provide the basis for integration into document classification and retrieval systems among other, we further developed a web-based interface that lets users easily retrieve panels containing the terms specified in the user queries. PMID:24565394

Discriminative graph embedding for label propagation.

PubMed

Nguyen, Canh Hao; Mamitsuka, Hiroshi

2011-09-01

In many applications, the available information is encoded in graph structures. This is a common problem in biological networks, social networks, web communities and document citations. We investigate the problem of classifying nodes' labels on a similarity graph given only a graph structure on the nodes. Conventional machine learning methods usually require data to reside in some Euclidean spaces or to have a kernel representation. Applying these methods to nodes on graphs would require embedding the graphs into these spaces. By embedding and then learning the nodes on graphs, most methods are either flexible with different learning objectives or efficient enough for large scale applications. We propose a method to embed a graph into a feature space for a discriminative purpose. Our idea is to include label information into the embedding process, making the space representation tailored to the task. We design embedding objective functions that the following learning formulations become spectral transforms. We then reformulate these spectral transforms into multiple kernel learning problems. Our method, while being tailored to the discriminative tasks, is efficient and can scale to massive data sets. We show the need of discriminative embedding on some simulations. Applying to biological network problems, our method is shown to outperform baselines.

Multiple Embedded Processors for Fault-Tolerant Computing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bolotin, Gary; Watson, Robert; Katanyoutanant, Sunant; Burke, Gary; Wang, Mandy

2005-01-01

A fault-tolerant computer architecture has been conceived in an effort to reduce vulnerability to single-event upsets (spurious bit flips caused by impingement of energetic ionizing particles or photons). As in some prior fault-tolerant architectures, the redundancy needed for fault tolerance is obtained by use of multiple processors in one computer. Unlike prior architectures, the multiple processors are embedded in a single field-programmable gate array (FPGA). What makes this new approach practical is the recent commercial availability of FPGAs that are capable of having multiple embedded processors. A working prototype (see figure) consists of two embedded IBM PowerPC 405 processor cores and a comparator built on a Xilinx Virtex-II Pro FPGA. This relatively simple instantiation of the architecture implements an error-detection scheme. A planned future version, incorporating four processors and two comparators, would correct some errors in addition to detecting them.

Coherence and Cognitive Style.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, James D.

A study investigated the relationship between cognitive style and coherence in discourse. The primary hypothesis was that coherence would vary bimodally by cognitive style classification. Forty-four freshman composition students from three west coast colleges completed the Culture Fair Intelligence Test, the Group Embedded Figures Test, and the…

Software systems for modeling articulated figures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Phillips, Cary B.

1989-01-01

Research in computer animation and simulation of human task performance requires sophisticated geometric modeling and user interface tools. The software for a research environment should present the programmer with a powerful but flexible substrate of facilities for displaying and manipulating geometric objects, yet insure that future tools have a consistent and friendly user interface. Jack is a system which provides a flexible and extensible programmer and user interface for displaying and manipulating complex geometric figures, particularly human figures in a 3D working environment. It is a basic software framework for high-performance Silicon Graphics IRIS workstations for modeling and manipulating geometric objects in a general but powerful way. It provides a consistent and user-friendly interface across various applications in computer animation and simulation of human task performance. Currently, Jack provides input and control for applications including lighting specification and image rendering, anthropometric modeling, figure positioning, inverse kinematics, dynamic simulation, and keyframe animation.

The broader cognitive phenotype of autism in parents: how specific is the tendency for local processing and executive dysfunction?

PubMed

Bölte, Sven; Poustka, Fritz

2006-06-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the tendency for local processing style ('weak central coherence') and executive dysfunction in parents of subjects with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared with parents of individuals with early onset schizophrenia (EOS) and mental retardation (MR). Sixty-two parents of subjects with ASD, 36 parents of subjects with EOS and 30 parents of subjects with MR were examined. Data on two scales indicative of local visual processing (Embedded Figures Test, Block Design) and on three executive function tests (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Tower of Hanoi, Trailmaking Test) were collected for all participants. Parents of subjects with ASD performed significantly faster on the Embedded Figures Test compared with both control samples. No other substantial group differences were observed. The findings indicate that an increased tendency for local processing in terms of visual disembedding could be a relatively specific core feature of the broader cognitive phenotype of autism in parents.

Potential for bias in epidemiologic studies that rely on glass-based retrospective assessment of radon.

PubMed Central

Weinberg, C R

1995-01-01

Retrospective assessment of exposure to radon remains the greatest challenge in epidemiologic efforts to assess lung cancer risk associated with residential exposure. An innovative technique based on measurement of alpha-emitting, long-lived daughters embedded by recoil into household glass may one day provide improved radon dosimetry. Particulate air pollution is known, however, to retard the plate-out of radon daughters. This would be expected to result in a differential effect on dosimetry, where the calibration curve relating the actual historical radon exposure to the remaining alpha-activity in the glass would be different in historically smoky and nonsmoky environments. The resulting "measurement confounding" can distort inferences about the effect of radon and can also produce spurious evidence for synergism between radon exposure and cigarette smoking. Images Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 4. PMID:8605854

Both physical exercise and progressive muscle relaxation reduce the facing-the-viewer bias in biological motion perception.

PubMed

Heenan, Adam; Troje, Nikolaus F

2014-01-01

Biological motion stimuli, such as orthographically projected stick figure walkers, are ambiguous about their orientation in depth. The projection of a stick figure walker oriented towards the viewer, therefore, is the same as its projection when oriented away. Even though such figures are depth-ambiguous, however, observers tend to interpret them as facing towards them more often than facing away. Some have speculated that this facing-the-viewer bias may exist for sociobiological reasons: Mistaking another human as retreating when they are actually approaching could have more severe consequences than the opposite error. Implied in this hypothesis is that the facing-towards percept of biological motion stimuli is potentially more threatening. Measures of anxiety and the facing-the-viewer bias should therefore be related, as researchers have consistently found that anxious individuals display an attentional bias towards more threatening stimuli. The goal of this study was to assess whether physical exercise (Experiment 1) or an anxiety induction/reduction task (Experiment 2) would significantly affect facing-the-viewer biases. We hypothesized that both physical exercise and progressive muscle relaxation would decrease facing-the-viewer biases for full stick figure walkers, but not for bottom- or top-half-only human stimuli, as these carry less sociobiological relevance. On the other hand, we expected that the anxiety induction task (Experiment 2) would increase facing-the-viewer biases for full stick figure walkers only. In both experiments, participants completed anxiety questionnaires, exercised on a treadmill (Experiment 1) or performed an anxiety induction/reduction task (Experiment 2), and then immediately completed a perceptual task that allowed us to assess their facing-the-viewer bias. As hypothesized, we found that physical exercise and progressive muscle relaxation reduced facing-the-viewer biases for full stick figure walkers only. Our results provide further support that the facing-the-viewer bias for biological motion stimuli is related to the sociobiological relevance of such stimuli.

Both Physical Exercise and Progressive Muscle Relaxation Reduce the Facing-the-Viewer Bias in Biological Motion Perception

PubMed Central

Heenan, Adam; Troje, Nikolaus F.

2014-01-01

Biological motion stimuli, such as orthographically projected stick figure walkers, are ambiguous about their orientation in depth. The projection of a stick figure walker oriented towards the viewer, therefore, is the same as its projection when oriented away. Even though such figures are depth-ambiguous, however, observers tend to interpret them as facing towards them more often than facing away. Some have speculated that this facing-the-viewer bias may exist for sociobiological reasons: Mistaking another human as retreating when they are actually approaching could have more severe consequences than the opposite error. Implied in this hypothesis is that the facing-towards percept of biological motion stimuli is potentially more threatening. Measures of anxiety and the facing-the-viewer bias should therefore be related, as researchers have consistently found that anxious individuals display an attentional bias towards more threatening stimuli. The goal of this study was to assess whether physical exercise (Experiment 1) or an anxiety induction/reduction task (Experiment 2) would significantly affect facing-the-viewer biases. We hypothesized that both physical exercise and progressive muscle relaxation would decrease facing-the-viewer biases for full stick figure walkers, but not for bottom- or top-half-only human stimuli, as these carry less sociobiological relevance. On the other hand, we expected that the anxiety induction task (Experiment 2) would increase facing-the-viewer biases for full stick figure walkers only. In both experiments, participants completed anxiety questionnaires, exercised on a treadmill (Experiment 1) or performed an anxiety induction/reduction task (Experiment 2), and then immediately completed a perceptual task that allowed us to assess their facing-the-viewer bias. As hypothesized, we found that physical exercise and progressive muscle relaxation reduced facing-the-viewer biases for full stick figure walkers only. Our results provide further support that the facing-the-viewer bias for biological motion stimuli is related to the sociobiological relevance of such stimuli. PMID:24987956

Applications of mental rotation figures of the Shepard and Metzler type and description of a mental rotation stimulus library.

PubMed

Peters, Michael; Battista, Christian

2008-04-01

The 3D cube figures used by Shepard and Metzler [Shepard, R. N., & Metzler, J. (1971). Mental rotation of three-dimensional objects. Science, 171, 701-703] have been applied in a broad range of studies on mental rotation. This note provides a brief background on these figures, their general use in cognitive psychology and their role in studying spatial behavior. In particular, it is pointed out that large sex differences with the 3D mental rotation figures tend to be observed only in particular tasks, such as the Vandenberg and Kuse test [Vandenberg, S. G., & Kuse, A. R. (1978). Mental rotations, a group test of three-dimensional spatial visualization. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 47, 599-604] that involve multiple figures within a single problem. In contrast, pairwise presentation of the same 3D figures yields either small or no significant sex differences. In the context of the very broad range of ongoing research done with 3D figures, and the desirability of uniformity in the stimulus material used, we introduce a library of 16 cube mental rotation figures, each presented in orientations ranging from 0 to 360 degr in 5 degr steps, and with its mirror image, for a total of 2336 figures. This library, freely available to researchers, will help in the creation of mental rotation tasks both for presentation on the computer screen and for pencil and paper applications.

Outcomes-Balanced Framework for Emergency Management: A Predictive Model for Preparedness

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

Management Total Quality Management (TQM) was developed by W. Edwards Deming in the post-World War II reconstruction period in Japan. It ushered in a...FIGURES Figure 1. From Total Quality Management Principles ....................................................30 Figure 2. Outcomes Logic Model (After...THIRA Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment TQM Total Quality Management UTL Universal Task List xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS German

AIR VEHICLE INTEGRATION AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH (AVIATR) Task Order 0015: Predictive Capability for Hypersonic Structural Response and Life Prediction: Phase 1-Identification of Knowledge Gaps, Volume 1: Nonproprietary Version

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

22 Figure 23. Flow Type and the reference empirical model ............................................................ 24 Figure 24. Baseline...Trajectory ...................................................................................................... 25 Figure 25. Flow Features Important...94 viii GLOSSARY ACCTE Advanced Ceramic Composites for Turbine Engines AFRL Air Force Research Laboratory AoA Angle of Attack ASE

The Role of Inhibitory Control in the Development of Human Figure Drawing in Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riggs, Kevin J.; Jolley, Richard P.; Simpson, Andrew

2013-01-01

We investigated the role of inhibitory control in young children's human figure drawing. We used the Bear-Dragon task as a measure of inhibitory control and used the classification system devised by Cox and Parkin to measure the development of human figure drawing. We tested 50 children aged between 40 and 64 months. Regression analysis showed…

Presentation Format and Syllogistic Reasoning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Espino, Orlando; Santamaria, Carlos

2013-01-01

Figural effect is a response bias that depends on the arrangement of the terms in syllogisms. The usual pattern in construction tasks is that participants tend to give A-C responses when the syllogisms are in figure 4(A-B/B-C), while the majority of their conclusions are in the opposite direction (C-A) for syllogisms in figure 1 (B-A/C-B). We…

Effect of subliminal visual material on an auditory signal detection task.

PubMed

Moroney, E; Bross, M

1984-02-01

An experiment assessed the effect of subliminally embedded, visual material on an auditory detection task. 22 women and 19 men were presented tachistoscopically with words designated as "emotional" or "neutral" on the basis of prior GSRs and a Word Rating List under four conditions: (a) Unembedded Neutral, (b) Embedded Neutral, (c) Unembedded Emotional, and (d) Embedded Emotional. On each trial subjects made forced choices concerning the presence or absence of an auditory tone (1000 Hz) at threshold level; hits and false alarm rates were used to compute non-parametric indices for sensitivity (A') and response bias (B"). While over-all analyses of variance yielded no significant differences, further examination of the data suggests the presence of subliminally "receptive" and "non-receptive" subpopulations.

Response Selection Difficulty and Asymmetrical Costs of Switching Between Tasks and Stimuli: No Evidence for an Exogenous Component of Task-Set Reconfiguration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hubner, Mike; Kluwe, Rainer H.; Luna-Rodriguez, Aquiles; Peters, Alexandra

2004-01-01

Four task-switching experiments examined the notion of an exogenous component of task-set reconfiguration (i.e., a process needed to shift task set that is not initiated in the absence of a task-associated figuration stimulus). The authors varied the complexity and familiarity of stimulus-response (SR) mapping rules to produce differentially…

Segment Fixed Priority Scheduling for Self Suspending Real Time Tasks

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-11

Segment-Fixed Priority Scheduling for Self-Suspending Real -Time Tasks Junsung Kim, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie...4 2.1 Application of a Multi-Segment Self-Suspending Real -Time Task Model ............................. 5 3 Fixed Priority Scheduling...1 Figure 2: A multi-segment self-suspending real -time task model

[Neuronal activity of monkey dorso-lateral premotor cortex during tasks of figure recognition guided motor sequence vs memorized spatial motor sequence].

PubMed

Chen, Y C; Huang, F D; Chen, N H; Shou, J Y; Wu, L

1998-04-01

In the last 2-3 decades the role of the premotor cortex (PM) of monkey in memorized spatial sequential (MSS) movements has been amply investigated. However, it is as yet not known whether PM participates in the movement sequence behaviour guided by recognition of visual figures (i.e. the figure-recognition sequence, FRS). In the present work three monkeys were trained to perform both FRS and MSS tasks. Postmortem examination showed that 202 cells were in the dorso-lateral premotor cortex. Among 111 cells recorded during the two tasks, more than 50% changed their activity during the cue periods in either task. During the response period, the ratios of cells with changes of firing rate in both FRS and MSS were high and roughly equal to each other, while during the image period, the proportion in the FRS (83.7%) was significantly higher than that in the MSS (66.7%). Comparison of neuronal activities during same motor sequence of two different tasks showed that during the image periods PM neuronal activities were more closely related to the FRS task, while during the cue periods no difference could be found. Analysis of cell responses showed that the neurons with longer latency were much more in MSS than in FRS in either cue or image period. The present results indicate that the premotor cortex participates in FRS motor sequence as well as in MSS and suggest that the dorso-lateral PM represents another subarea in function shared by both FRS and MSS tasks. However, in view of the differences of PM neuronal responses in cue or image periods of FRS and MSS tasks, it seems likely that neural networks involved in FRS and MSS tasks are different.

Hybrid Techniques for Quantum Circuit Simulation

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-02-01

Detailed theorems and proofs describing these results are included in our published manuscript [10]. Embedding of stabilizer geometry in the Hilbert ...space. We also describe how the discrete embedding of stabilizer geometry in Hilbert space complicates several natural geometric tasks. As described...the Hilbert space in which they are embedded, and that they are arranged in a fairly uniform pattern. These factors suggest that, if one seeks a

The role of attention in figure-ground segregation in areas V1 and V4 of the visual cortex.

PubMed

Poort, Jasper; Raudies, Florian; Wannig, Aurel; Lamme, Victor A F; Neumann, Heiko; Roelfsema, Pieter R

2012-07-12

Our visual system segments images into objects and background. Figure-ground segregation relies on the detection of feature discontinuities that signal boundaries between the figures and the background and on a complementary region-filling process that groups together image regions with similar features. The neuronal mechanisms for these processes are not well understood and it is unknown how they depend on visual attention. We measured neuronal activity in V1 and V4 in a task where monkeys either made an eye movement to texture-defined figures or ignored them. V1 activity predicted the timing and the direction of the saccade if the figures were task relevant. We found that boundary detection is an early process that depends little on attention, whereas region filling occurs later and is facilitated by visual attention, which acts in an object-based manner. Our findings are explained by a model with local, bottom-up computations for boundary detection and feedback processing for region filling. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The relationship between bilingualism and selective attention in young adults: Evidence from an ambiguous figures task.

PubMed

Chung-Fat-Yim, Ashley; Sorge, Geoff B; Bialystok, Ellen

2017-03-01

Previous research has shown that bilinguals outperform monolinguals on a variety of tasks that have been described as involving executive functioning, but the precise mechanism for those effects or a clear definition for "executive function" is unknown. This uncertainty has led to a number of studies for which no performance difference between monolingual and bilingual adults has been detected. One approach to clarifying these issues comes from research with children showing that bilinguals were more able than their monolingual peers to perceive both interpretations of an ambiguous figure, an ability that is more tied to a conception of selective attention than to specific components of executive function. The present study extends this notion to adults by assessing their ability to see the alternative image in an ambiguous figure. Bilinguals performed this task more efficiently than monolinguals by requiring fewer cues to identify the second image. This finding has implications for the role of selective attention in performance differences between monolinguals and bilinguals.

[Motivation effect on power changes in the brain biopotentials in the figurative and verbal creativity tasks].

PubMed

Razumnikova, O M; Vol'f, N V; Tarasova, I V

2007-01-01

Effect of extrinsic motivation stimulating the most original problem solving during verbal and figurative divergent thinking was studied by EEG mapping. The righthanded university students (27 males and 26 females) participated in the experiments. An instruction "to create the most original solution" as compared to condition with an instruction "to create any solution" induced an increase in the baseline power of the alpha 1 and alpha 2 rhythms most pronounced in the posterior cortex. Task-related desynchronization of the alpha rhythms was higher but the beta-2 synchronization was lower after the former than after the latter instruction. Differences in the asymmetry of the alpha 1 and alpha 2 rhythms in the parietal and temporal regions of hemispheres suggested the right hemisphere dominance in intrinsic alertness and evoked activation related to divergent thinking. The findings were common and gender-independent in both figurative and verbal tasks suggesting a generalized influence of extrinsic motivation on creative activity.

Research on SAW Sensor Bias Stability

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-10-01

9Rockwell International MRDC4 1082 . 4AR TABLE OF CONTENTS LISTOF FGURS........................................ ge APECSLIST OF FIGURES...MRDC4 1082 . 4AR LIST OF FIGURES (continued) Figure Page 12. Theoretical behavior of resonator aging using logarithmic rate law with different B...3 180’ es Q % Rockwell International MRDC4 1082 . 4AR 3.0 TECHNICAL RESULTS During the first year of this program, the specific technical tasks were

Design Considerations for Remotely Operated Welding in Space: Task Definition and Visual Weld Monitoring Experiment

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-05-01

processes [48] ................ 91 Figure 4.14 Energy effectiveness comparison between EBW, GMAW , and PAW [48...1 10 Figure 5.2 The spectrum of control modes [76] ................. 112 Figure 5.3 Levels of control for GMAW [26...vehicular activity FTS Flight Telerobotic Servicer GMAW Gas metal arc welding GTAW Gas tungsten arc welding LEO Low-earth orbit NDT Non-destructive test

Magnetoencephalographic responses to illusory figures: early evoked gamma is affected by processing of stimulus features.

PubMed

Herrmann, C S; Mecklinger, A

2000-12-01

We examined evoked and induced responses in event-related fields and gamma activity in the magnetoencephalogram (MEG) during a visual classification task. The objective was to investigate the effects of target classification and the different levels of discrimination between certain stimulus features. We performed two experiments, which differed only in the subjects' task while the stimuli were identical. In Experiment 1, subjects responded by a button-press to rare Kanizsa squares (targets) among Kanizsa triangles and non-Kanizsa figures (standards). This task requires the processing of both stimulus features (colinearity and number of inducer disks). In Experiment 2, the four stimuli of Experiment 1 were used as standards and the occurrence of an additional stimulus without any feature overlap with the Kanizsa stimuli (a rare and highly salient red fixation cross) had to be detected. Discrimination of colinearity and number of inducer disks was not necessarily required for task performance. We applied a wavelet-based time-frequency analysis to the data and calculated topographical maps of the 40 Hz activity. The early evoked gamma activity (100-200 ms) in Experiment 1 was higher for targets as compared to standards. In Experiment 2, no significant differences were found in the gamma responses to the Kanizsa figures and non-Kanizsa figures. This pattern of results suggests that early evoked gamma activity in response to visual stimuli is affected by the targetness of a stimulus and the need to discriminate between the features of a stimulus.

The Development of Metaphor Comprehension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broderick, Victor K.

A study to investigate the development of children's ability to relate concepts and thus understand metaphors by examining their performance on three concept-relating tasks is reported. Abstract-metaphoric, concrete-metaphoric, and literal taxonomic relationships were embedded in an analogy-like binary choice task. In this type of task, the…

Multi-modal demands of a smartphone used to place calls and enter addresses during highway driving relative to two embedded systems

PubMed Central

Reimer, Bryan; Mehler, Bruce; Reagan, Ian; Kidd, David; Dobres, Jonathan

2016-01-01

Abstract There is limited research on trade-offs in demand between manual and voice interfaces of embedded and portable technologies. Mehler et al. identified differences in driving performance, visual engagement and workload between two contrasting embedded vehicle system designs (Chevrolet MyLink and Volvo Sensus). The current study extends this work by comparing these embedded systems with a smartphone (Samsung Galaxy S4). None of the voice interfaces eliminated visual demand. Relative to placing calls manually, both embedded voice interfaces resulted in less eyes-off-road time than the smartphone. Errors were most frequent when calling contacts using the smartphone. The smartphone and MyLink allowed addresses to be entered using compound voice commands resulting in shorter eyes-off-road time compared with the menu-based Sensus but with many more errors. Driving performance and physiological measures indicated increased demand when performing secondary tasks relative to ‘just driving’, but were not significantly different between the smartphone and embedded systems. Practitioner Summary: The findings show that embedded system and portable device voice interfaces place fewer visual demands on the driver than manual interfaces, but they also underscore how differences in system designs can significantly affect not only the demands placed on drivers, but also the successful completion of tasks. PMID:27110964

Birth Order and Field Dependence-Independence: A Failure to Replicate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finley, Gordon E.; Solla, Joseph

1975-01-01

The Children's Embedded Figures Test was individually administered to 116 Caucasian, middle class, second grade children. Results suggest that a child's early experience in a particular birth order position may not be related to the development of field dependence-independence in any unambiguous and simple fashion. (Author/ED)

Gender Differences in Field-Dependence and Educational Style.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fritz, Robert L.

1994-01-01

Secondary marketing students (n=144) completed the Group Embedded Figures Test and Educational Style Preference Inventory. Gender differences were found in information processing strategies and on 12 of 19 conative variables representing the way moods and emotions act as filters to produce selective attention. These differences could be most…

Geometric subspace methods and time-delay embedding for EEG artifact removal and classification.

PubMed

Anderson, Charles W; Knight, James N; O'Connor, Tim; Kirby, Michael J; Sokolov, Artem

2006-06-01

Generalized singular-value decomposition is used to separate multichannel electroencephalogram (EEG) into components found by optimizing a signal-to-noise quotient. These components are used to filter out artifacts. Short-time principal components analysis of time-delay embedded EEG is used to represent windowed EEG data to classify EEG according to which mental task is being performed. Examples are presented of the filtering of various artifacts and results are shown of classification of EEG from five mental tasks using committees of decision trees.

The Effects of Embedding Generative Cognitive Strategies in Science Software.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barba, Robertta H.; Merchant, Linda J.

1990-01-01

Discussed is whether embedding generative cognitive strategies in microcomputer courseware improves student performance on cognitive assessment measures and on insect classification tasks. The effects of transactional software on students' knowledge of insect anatomy and principles of insect classification were also investigated. (KR)

Young children’s ability to use 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional symbols to show placements of body touches and hidden objects

PubMed Central

Lytle, Nicole; London, Kamala; Bruck, Maggie

2015-01-01

In two experiments, we investigated 3- to 5-year-old children’s ability to use dolls and human figure drawings as symbols to map body touches. In Experiment 1 stickers were placed on different locations of children’s bodies, and they were asked to indicate the location of the sticker using three different symbols: a doll, a human figure drawing, and the adult researcher. Performance on the tasks increased with age, but many 5-year-olds did not attain perfect performance. Surprisingly, younger children made more errors on the 2D human figure drawing task compared to the 3D doll and adult tasks. In Experiment 2, we compared children’s ability to use 3D and 2D symbols to indicate body touch as well as to guide their search for a hidden object. We replicated the findings of Experiment 1 for the body touch task: for younger children, 3D symbols were easier to use than 2D symbols. However, the reverse pattern was found for the object locations task with children showing superior performance using 2D drawings over 3D models. Though children showed developmental improvements in using dolls and drawings to show where they were touched, less than two-thirds of the 5-year-olds performed perfectly on the touch tasks. Developmental as well as forensic implications of these results are discussed. PMID:25781003

Bilateral lesions of nucleus subpretectalis/interstitio-pretecto-subpretectalis (SP/IPS) selectively impair figure-ground discrimination in pigeons.

PubMed

Scully, Erin N; Acerbo, Martin J; Lazareva, Olga F

2014-01-01

Earlier, we reported that nucleus rotundus (Rt) together with its inhibitory complex, nucleus subpretectalis/interstitio-pretecto-subpretectalis (SP/IPS), had significantly higher activity in pigeons performing figure-ground discrimination than in the control group that did not perform any visual discriminations. In contrast, color discrimination produced significantly higher activity than control in the Rt but not in the SP/IPS. Finally, shape discrimination produced significantly lower activity than control in both the Rt and the SP/IPS. In this study, we trained pigeons to simultaneously perform three visual discriminations (figure-ground, color, and shape) using the same stimulus displays. When birds learned to perform all three tasks concurrently at high levels of accuracy, we conducted bilateral chemical lesions of the SP/IPS. After a period of recovery, the birds were retrained on the same tasks to evaluate the effect of lesions on maintenance of these discriminations. We found that the lesions of the SP/IPS had no effect on color or shape discrimination and that they significantly impaired figure-ground discrimination. Together with our earlier data, these results suggest that the nucleus Rt and the SP/IPS are the key structures involved in figure-ground discrimination. These results also imply that thalamic processing is critical for figure-ground segregation in avian brain.

Girls in detail, boys in shape: gender differences when drawing cubes in depth.

PubMed

Lange-Küttner, C; Ebersbach, M

2013-08-01

The current study tested gender differences in the developmental transition from drawing cubes in two- versus three dimensions (3D), and investigated the underlying spatial abilities. Six- to nine-year-old children (N = 97) drew two occluding model cubes and solved several other spatial tasks. Girls more often unfolded the various sides of the cubes into a layout, also called diagrammatic cube drawing (object design detail). In girls, the best predictor for drawing the cubes was Mental Rotation Test (MRT) accuracy. In contrast, boys were more likely to preserve the optical appearance of the cube array. Their drawing in 3D was best predicted by MRT reaction time and the Embedded Figures Test (EFT). This confirmed boys' stronger focus on the contours of an object silhouette (object shape). It is discussed whether the two gender-specific approaches to drawing in three dimensions reflect two sides of the appearance-reality distinction in drawing, that is graphic syntax of object design features versus visual perception of projective space. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.

Optimal exposure techniques for iodinated contrast enhanced breast CT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glick, Stephen J.; Makeev, Andrey

2016-03-01

Screening for breast cancer using mammography has been very successful in the effort to reduce breast cancer mortality, and its use has largely resulted in the 30% reduction in breast cancer mortality observed since 1990 [1]. However, diagnostic mammography remains an area of breast imaging that is in great need for improvement. One imaging modality proposed for improving the accuracy of diagnostic workup is iodinated contrast-enhanced breast CT [2]. In this study, a mathematical framework is used to evaluate optimal exposure techniques for contrast-enhanced breast CT. The ideal observer signal-to-noise ratio (i.e., d') figure-of-merit is used to provide a task performance based assessment of optimal acquisition parameters under the assumptions of a linear, shift-invariant imaging system. A parallel-cascade model was used to estimate signal and noise propagation through the detector, and a realistic lesion model with iodine uptake was embedded into a structured breast background. Ideal observer performance was investigated across kVp settings, filter materials, and filter thickness. Results indicated many kVp spectra/filter combinations can improve performance over currently used x-ray spectra.

Embedded interruptions and task complexity influence schema-related cognitive load progression in an abstract learning task.

PubMed

Wirzberger, Maria; Esmaeili Bijarsari, Shirin; Rey, Günter Daniel

2017-09-01

Cognitive processes related to schema acquisition comprise an essential source of demands in learning situations. Since the related amount of cognitive load is supposed to change over time, plausible temporal models of load progression based on different theoretical backgrounds are inspected in this study. A total of 116 student participants completed a basal symbol sequence learning task, which provided insights into underlying cognitive dynamics. Two levels of task complexity were determined by the amount of elements within the symbol sequence. In addition, interruptions due to an embedded secondary task occurred at five predefined stages over the task. Within the resulting 2x5-factorial mixed between-within design, the continuous monitoring of efficiency in learning performance enabled assumptions on relevant resource investment. From the obtained results, a nonlinear change of learning efficiency over time seems most plausible in terms of cognitive load progression. Moreover, different effects of the induced interruptions show up in conditions of task complexity, which indicate the activation of distinct cognitive mechanisms related to structural aspects of the task. Findings are discussed in the light of evidence from research on memory and information processing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improving Written Communication Through Perspective-taking

PubMed Central

Traxler, Matthew J.; Gernsbacher, Morton Ann

2014-01-01

To convey their ideas successfully, writers must envision how readers will interpret their texts. In our previous research (Traxler & Gernsbacher, 1992), we discovered that writers who received feedback from their readers successfully revised descriptions of geometric figures, whereas writers who did not receive feedback did not. We also discovered that writers who received feedback from their readers on one set of descriptions wrote better descriptions of a new set of geometric figures. We concluded that feedback—even a minimal form of feedback—helps writers learn to envision how readers will interpret their texts. In the present research, we investigated another way that writers can learn to envision how readers will interpret their texts. Our treatment placed writers “in their readers’ shoes”. In three experiments, half the writers performed a task that their readers would subsequently perform, and the other half of the writers performed a control task. In our first and second experiments, the writers who gained their readers’ perspective by performing their readers’ task successfully revised their descriptions of geometric figures, whereas writers who performed the control task did not. In our third experiment, we discovered that writers who performed their readers’ task did not improve their descriptions merely because they were exposed to examples of other writers’ descriptions. We concluded that gaining their readers’ perspective helps writers communicate more clearly because perspective-taking helps writers form a mental representation of how readers interpret their texts. PMID:25404785

Knowledge of Curriculum Embedded Mathematics: Exploring a Critical Domain of Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Remillard, Janine; Kim, Ok-Kyeong

2017-01-01

This paper proposes a framework for identifying the mathematical knowledge teachers activate when using curriculum resources. We use the term "knowledge of curriculum embedded mathematics" (KCEM) to refer to the mathematics knowledge activated by teachers when reading and interpreting mathematical tasks, instructional designs, and…

Development of detection and recognition of orientation of geometric and real figures.

PubMed

Stein, N L; Mandler, J M

1975-06-01

Black and white kindergarten and second-grade children were tested for accuracy of detection and recognition of orientation and location changes in pictures of real-world and geometric figures. No differences were found in accuracy of recognition between the 2 kinds of pictures, but patterns of verbalization differed on specific transformations. Although differences in accuracy were found between kindergarten and second grade on an initial recognition task, practice on a matching-to-sample task eliminated differences on a second recognition task. Few ethnic differences were found on accuracy of recognition, but significant differences were found in amount of verbal output on specific transformations. For both groups, mention of orientation changes was markedly reduced when location changes were present.

Comprehension and production of idioms in dysphasia.

PubMed

Bush, P G; Drummond, S S

1985-10-01

The comprehension and production of idioms was investigated in 10 dysphasic adults. Two different tasks, one comprehension and the other production, were developed. The production task required the subject to verbally explain 15 idioms. The comprehension task necessitated the selection of the correct figurative representation of the idiom from four illustrations: a literal, a literal variation, a figurative, and an unrelated picture. Results indicated no significant correlation between overall comprehension and production performances. No significant difference was found between the comprehension or the production of idioms when type or severity of dysphasia was considered. A significant difference was found, however, in the type of incorrect response, in that subjects selected the literal depiction more often than other foil representations for the comprehension.

The effects of different tasks on the comprehension and production of idioms in children.

PubMed

Levorato, M C; Cacciari, C

1995-10-01

The present study investigated the developmental processes which lead from a literal interpretation of idiomatic expression to the ability of comprehending and producing them figuratively. A Model of the Development of Figurative Competence was presented according to which acquisition of idioms occurs as part of the general process of language and world knowledge development. Three experiments were carried out with second- and fourth-grade children, in which comprehension tasks - Recall, Multiple Choice, Paraphrase - and a production task - Completion - were employed. The results showed that younger children are more literally oriented than older children who in turn are more idiomatically oriented and that children of both age groups found it more difficult to produce idiomatic expressions than to comprehend them.

Dynamic Constellation Tasking and Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

14 2.4. DARPA SeeMe Concept................................................................................20...11 Figure 3. DARPA SeeMe Satellite (Artist’s Concept) .................................................... 20 Figure 4...concept has not been adopted, it may one day find use with the DMC or other satellite systems. 2.4. DARPA SeeMe Concept The Defense Advance Research

Some Prerequisites in Learning to Solve Figural Analogy Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagner, James

A series of three experiments was conducted for the purposes of (1) clarifying problems of previous research on the relationship between working memory capacity and performance on figural analogy tasks, and (2) exploring developmental issues concerning executive strategies, working memory capacity, and perceptual processing. Directly manipulating…

Energy efficiency of task allocation for embedded JPEG systems.

PubMed

Fan, Yang-Hsin; Wu, Jan-Ou; Wang, San-Fu

2014-01-01

Embedded system works everywhere for repeatedly performing a few particular functionalities. Well-known products include consumer electronics, smart home applications, and telematics device, and so forth. Recently, developing methodology of embedded systems is applied to conduct the design of cloud embedded system resulting in the applications of embedded system being more diverse. However, the more energy consumes result from the more embedded system works. This study presents hyperrectangle technology (HT) to embedded system for obtaining energy saving. The HT adopts drift effect to construct embedded systems with more hardware circuits than software components or vice versa. It can fast construct embedded system with a set of hardware circuits and software components. Moreover, it has a great benefit to fast explore energy consumption for various embedded systems. The effects are presented by assessing a JPEG benchmarks. Experimental results demonstrate that the HT, respectively, achieves the energy saving by 29.84%, 2.07%, and 68.80% on average to GA, GHO, and Lin.

Energy Efficiency of Task Allocation for Embedded JPEG Systems

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Embedded system works everywhere for repeatedly performing a few particular functionalities. Well-known products include consumer electronics, smart home applications, and telematics device, and so forth. Recently, developing methodology of embedded systems is applied to conduct the design of cloud embedded system resulting in the applications of embedded system being more diverse. However, the more energy consumes result from the more embedded system works. This study presents hyperrectangle technology (HT) to embedded system for obtaining energy saving. The HT adopts drift effect to construct embedded systems with more hardware circuits than software components or vice versa. It can fast construct embedded system with a set of hardware circuits and software components. Moreover, it has a great benefit to fast explore energy consumption for various embedded systems. The effects are presented by assessing a JPEG benchmarks. Experimental results demonstrate that the HT, respectively, achieves the energy saving by 29.84%, 2.07%, and 68.80% on average to GA, GHO, and Lin. PMID:24982983

The Relationships between Cognitive Style of Field Dependence and Learner Variables in E-Learning Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sozcu, Omer Faruk

2014-01-01

This study examines the relationships between cognitive styles of field dependent learners with their attitudes towards e-learning (distance education) and instructional behavior in e-learning instruction. The Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) and the attitude survey (for students' preferences) towards e-learning instruction as distance education…

Individual Differences in the Processing of Written Sarcasm and Metaphor: Evidence from Eye Movements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olkoniemi, Henri; Ranta, Henri; Kaakinen, Johanna K.

2016-01-01

The present study examined individual differences in the processing of different forms of figurative language. Sixty participants read sarcastic, metaphorical, and literal sentences embedded in story contexts while their eye movements were recorded, and responded to a text memory and an inference question after each story. Individual differences…

Family Interaction and Cognitive Style: Situation and Cross-Sex Effects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dreyer, Albert S.

This study was designed to examine the family interaction differentiating the families of field dependent and field independent children. A total of 300 white, middle class, kindergarten children were tested with the Portable Rod and Frame Test and the Children.s Embedded Figures Test and were classified as field dependent or field independent…

Identifying Sources of Bias in EFL Writing Assessment through Multiple Trait Scoring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salmani-Nodoushan, Mohammad Ali

2009-01-01

For purposes of the present study, it was hypothesized that field (in)dependence would introduce systematic variance into EFL learners' performance on composition tests. 1743 freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior students all majoring in English at different Iranian universities and colleges took the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT). The…

Cross Relationships between Cognitive Styles and Learner Variables in Online Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oh, Eunjoo; Lim, Doohun

2005-01-01

This study examines how students' cognitive styles are correlated with their attitudes toward online education and learning behaviors in online learning environments. The Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) and the attitude survey toward online instruction were administered to 104 students enrolled in various online courses at the University of…

Embedded Carbon Nanotube Networks for Damage Precursor Detection

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

3Thostenson, E. T.; Chou, T.-W. Carbon Nanotube Networks: Sensing of Distributed Strain and Damage for Life Prediction and Self - Healing . Advanced...3 Figure 2. Rubber dogbone mold...room temperature vulcanizing rubber to create the final mold. The rubber was mixed with Tin NW Catalyst at a 10:1 ratio. The viscous liquid rubber

Relationship between Spatial Abilities, Mental Rotation and Functional Anatomy Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guillot, Aymeric; Champely, Stephane; Batier, Christophe; Thiriet, Patrice; Collet, Christian

2007-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between visuo-spatial representation, mental rotation (MR) and functional anatomy examination results. A total of 184 students completed the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), Mental Rotation Test (MRT) and Gordon Test of Visual Imagery Control. The time spent on personal assignment was also considered.…

Are the Autism and Positive Schizotypy Spectra Diametrically Opposed in Local versus Global Processing?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell-Smith, Suzanna N.; Maybery, Murray T.; Bayliss, Donna M.

2010-01-01

Crespi and Badcock (2008) proposed that autism and psychosis represent two extremes on a cognitive spectrum with normality at its center. Their specific claim that autistic and positive schizophrenia traits contrastingly affect preference for local versus global processing was investigated by examining Embedded Figures Test performance in two…

Learning How They Learn: A Review of the Literature on Learning Styles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Vicki A.

The literature on learning styles is full of unresolved issues, both theoretical and practical. Early research into learning styles includes that of H. A. Witkin, who developed the Embedded Figures Test in the late 1960s. This test determines the "field dependence" or "field independence" of individuals, marking their global…

Cross-Cultural Variations in Identifying Embedded Figures: Comparisons from the United States, Germany, Russia, and Malaysia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuhnen, Ulrich; Hannover, Bettina; Roeder, Ute; Shah, Ashiq Ali; Schubert, Benjamin; Upmeyer, Arnold; Zakaria, Saliza

2001-01-01

Examined cross-cultural differences in field dependence, hypothesizing differences according to the degree of individualism or collectivism within college students' respective cultures. Data from U.S., German, Russian, and Malaysian students indicated that field dependence did not differ between samples representing similar cultures. U.S. And…

How Task Features Impact Evidence from Assessments Embedded in Simulations and Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almond, Russell G.; Kim, Yoon Jeon; Velasquez, Gertrudes; Shute, Valerie J.

2014-01-01

One of the key ideas of evidence-centered assessment design (ECD) is that task features can be deliberately manipulated to change the psychometric properties of items. ECD identifies a number of roles that task-feature variables can play, including determining the focus of evidence, guiding form creation, determining item difficulty and…

Cognitive Processes Embedded in Self-Explanations of Solving Technical Problems: Implications for Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maughan, George R.

2007-01-01

This qualitative research examines the cognitive processes embedded in self-explanations of automobile and motorcycle service technicians performing troubleshooting tasks and solving technical problems. In-depth interviews were conducted with twelve service technicians who have obtained the designation of "master technician" or equivalent within…

Detecting distortion: bridging visual and quantitative reasoning on similarity tasks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, Dana C.; Lo, Jane-Jane

2014-03-01

This study is focused on identifying and describing the reasoning patterns of middle grade students when examining potentially similar figures. Described here is a framework that includes 11 strategies that students used during clinical interview to differentiate similar and non-similar figures. Two factors were found to influence the strategies students selected: the complexity of the figures being compared and the type of distortion present in nonsimilar pairings. Data from this study support the theory that distortions are identified as a dominant property of figures and that students use the presence and absence of distortion to visually decide if two figures are similar. Furthermore, this study shows that visual reasoning is not as primitive or nonconstructive as represented in earlier literature and supports students who are developing numeric reasoning strategies. This illuminates possible pathways students may take when advancing from using visual and additive reasoning strategies to using multiplicative proportional reasoning on similarity tasks. In particular, distortion detection is a visual activity that enables students to reflect upon and evaluate the validity and accuracy of differentiation and quantify perceived relationships leading to ratio. This study has implications for curriculum developers as well as future research.

Syllogistic Reasoning Tasks, A Methodological Review.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-07-01

and that Figure 1 syllogisms were easier than the Figure 4, con- firmed the results reported by Frase (1968). Syllogism figure also had an effect on...241 In other words, both premises must assert class inclusion to entail an af- firmative conclusion. But class inclusion can be expressed only by...34There are no unicorns " does not. * The particular propositions (I, 0) have existential import, while the two * universal propositions (A, E) do not

EASE (Experimental Assembly of Structures in EVA) overview of selected results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Akin, David L.

1987-01-01

Experimental Assembly of Structures in EVA (EASE) objectives, experimental protocol, neutral buoyancy simulation, task time distribution, assembly task performance, metabolic rate/biomedical readouts are summarized. This presentation is shown in charts, figures, and graphs.

Differences in autonomic physiological responses between good and poor inductive reasoners.

PubMed

Melis, C; van Boxtel, A

2001-11-01

We investigated individual- and task-related differences in autonomic physiological responses induced by time limited figural and verbal inductive reasoning tasks. In a group of 52 participants, the percentage of correctly responded task items was evaluated together with nine different autonomic physiological response measures and respiration rate (RR). Weighted multidimensional scaling analyses of the physiological responses revealed three underlying dimensions, primarily characterized by RR, parasympathetic, and sympathetic activity. RR and sympathetic activity appeared to be relatively more important response dimensions for poor reasoners, whereas parasympathetic responsivity was relatively more important for good reasoners. These results suggest that poor reasoners showed higher levels of cognitive processing intensity than good reasoners. Furthermore, for the good reasoners, the dimension of sympathetic activity was relatively more important during the figural than during the verbal reasoning task, which was explained in terms of hemispheric lateralization in autonomic function.

Human task animation from performance models and natural language input

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Esakov, Jeffrey; Badler, Norman I.; Jung, Moon

1989-01-01

Graphical manipulation of human figures is essential for certain types of human factors analyses such as reach, clearance, fit, and view. In many situations, however, the animation of simulated people performing various tasks may be based on more complicated functions involving multiple simultaneous reaches, critical timing, resource availability, and human performance capabilities. One rather effective means for creating such a simulation is through a natural language description of the tasks to be carried out. Given an anthropometrically-sized figure and a geometric workplace environment, various simple actions such as reach, turn, and view can be effectively controlled from language commands or standard NASA checklist procedures. The commands may also be generated by external simulation tools. Task timing is determined from actual performance models, if available, such as strength models or Fitts' Law. The resulting action specification are animated on a Silicon Graphics Iris workstation in real-time.

Peek-a-What? Infants' Response to the Still-Face Task after Normal and Interrupted Peek-a-Boo

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bigelow, Ann E.; Best, Caitlin

2013-01-01

Infants' sensitivity to the vitality or tension envelope within dyadic social exchanges was investigated by examining their responses following normal and interrupted games of peek-a-boo embedded in a Still-Face Task. Infants 5-6 months old engaged in two modified Still-Face Tasks with their mothers. In one task, the initial interaction ended with…

A lateralization of function approach to sex differences in spatial ability: a reexamination.

PubMed

Rilea, Stacy L

2008-07-01

The current study assessed the lateralization of function hypothesis (Rilea, S. L., Roskos-Ewoldsen, B., & Boles, D. (2004). Sex differences in spatial ability: A lateralization of function approach. Brain and Cognition, 56, 332-343) which suggested that it was the interaction of brain organization and the type of spatial task that led to sex differences in spatial ability. A second purpose was to evaluate explanations for their unexpected findings on the mental rotation task. In Experiment 1, participants completed the Water Level, Paper Folding, and mental rotation tasks (using an object-based or self-based perspective), presented bilaterally. Sex differences were only observed on the Water Level Task; a right hemisphere advantage was observed on Water Level and mental rotation tasks. In Experiment 2, a human stick figure or a polygon was mentally rotated. Men outperformed women when rotating polygons, but not when rotating stick figures. Men demonstrated a right hemisphere advantage when rotating polygons; women showed no hemisphere differences for either stimulus. Thus, hemisphere processing, task complexity, and stimulus type may influence performance for men and women across different spatial measures.

A Tale of Two Types of Perspective Taking: Sex Differences in Spatial Ability.

PubMed

Tarampi, Margaret R; Heydari, Nahal; Hegarty, Mary

2016-11-01

Sex differences in favor of males have been documented in measures of spatial perspective taking. In this research, we examined whether social factors (i.e., stereotype threat and the inclusion of human figures in tasks) account for these differences. In Experiment 1, we evaluated performance when perspective-taking tests were framed as measuring either spatial or social (empathetic) perspective-taking abilities. In the spatial condition, tasks were framed as measures of spatial ability on which males have an advantage. In the social condition, modified tasks contained human figures and were framed as measures of empathy on which females have an advantage. Results showed a sex difference in favor of males in the spatial condition but not the social condition. Experiments 2 and 3 indicated that both stereotype threat and including human figures contributed to these effects. Results suggest that females may underperform on spatial tests in part because of negative performance expectations and the character of the spatial tests rather than because of actual lack of abilities. © The Author(s) 2016.

Hypoxia, Monitoring, and Mitigation System

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-01

Oxygen Saturation Measured via Pulse - Oximeter SRS Software Requirements Specification SW Software TI Texas Instruments uPROC Micro-Processor USAARL...Financial) Table of Figures Figure 1: Pulse OX custom module...Tasks 3, 4 and 5 have not been exercised. Sensor definition testing continued on the custom pulse -ox design. Additional refinement on the pulse

Network Routing Using the Network Tasking Order, a Chron Approach

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-26

57  Figure 4.6: Maximum bandwidth possible. ..................................................................... 58  Figure 4.7: MikroTik Router...iv xii RouterOS MikroTik Router Operating System...traffic through the network. Within the ESXi platform, four MikroTik Router Operating Systems (RouterOS) are installed. Within ESXi, the network

A Computer Graphics Human Figure Application Of Biostereometrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fetter, William A.

1980-07-01

A study of improved computer graphic representation of the human figure is being conducted under a National Science Foundation grant. Special emphasis is given biostereometrics as a primary data base from which applications requiring a variety of levels of detail may be prepared. For example, a human figure represented by a single point can be very useful in overview plots of a population. A crude ten point figure can be adequate for queuing theory studies and simulated movement of groups. A one hundred point figure can usefully be animated to achieve different overall body activities including male and female figures. A one thousand point figure si-milarly animated, begins to be useful in anthropometrics and kinesiology gross body movements. Extrapolations of this order-of-magnitude approach ultimately should achieve very complex data bases and a program which automatically selects the correct level of detail for the task at hand. See Summary Figure 1.

Can grapheme-color synesthesia be induced by hypnosis?

PubMed Central

Anderson, Hazel P.; Seth, Anil K.; Dienes, Zoltan; Ward, Jamie

2014-01-01

Grapheme-color synesthesia is a perceptual experience where graphemes, letters or words evoke a specific color, which are experienced either as spatially coincident with the grapheme inducer (projector sub-type) or elsewhere, perhaps without a definite spatial location (associator sub-type). Here, we address the question of whether synesthesia can be rapidly produced using a hypnotic color suggestion to examine the possibility of “hypnotic synesthesia”, i.e., subjectively experienced color hallucinations similar to those experienced by projector synesthetes. We assess the efficacy of this intervention using an “embedded figures” test, in which participants are required to detect a shape (e.g., a square) composed of local graphemic elements. For grapheme-color synesthetes, better performance on the task has been linked to a higher proportion of graphemes perceived as colored. We found no performance benefits on this test when using a hypnotic suggestion, as compared to a no-suggestion control condition. The same result was found when participants were separated according to the degree to which they were susceptible to the suggestion (number of colored trials perceived). However, we found a relationship between accuracy and subjective reports of color in those participants who reported a large proportion of colored trials: trials in which the embedded figure was accurately recognized (relative to trials in which it was not) were associated with reports of more intense colors occupying a greater spatial extent. Collectively, this implies that hypnotic color was only perceived after shape detection rather than aiding in shape detection via color-based perceptual grouping. The results suggest that hypnotically induced colors are not directly comparable to synesthetic ones. PMID:24829555

Orbit Transfer Rocket Engine Technology - 7.5K-LB Thrust Rocket Engine Preliminary Design

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-10-15

AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION October, 1993 r W NASA-Lewis Research Center Cleveland, Ohio 44135 94-08572 Contract Nc. NAS3-23773 Task B.7 and D.5 4I3’OA4 3 ...APPROACH 1 4.0 SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2 5.0 TECHNICAL DISCUSSIONS 3 6.0 PROGRAM WORK PLAN 5 6.1 Engine Analysis 5 6.2 Component Analysis 15 6.2.1...FIGURES Page Figure 1 Advanced Engine Studv Logic Diagram 4 Figure 2 Design Point Engine Pertormance at Full Thrust & MR = 6.0 7 Figure 3 Off-Design

Differential contribution of early visual areas to the perceptual process of contour processing.

PubMed

Schira, Mark M; Fahle, Manfred; Donner, Tobias H; Kraft, Antje; Brandt, Stephan A

2004-04-01

We investigated contour processing and figure-ground detection within human retinotopic areas using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 6 healthy and naïve subjects. A figure (6 degrees side length) was created by a 2nd-order texture contour. An independent and demanding foveal letter-discrimination task prevented subjects from noticing this more peripheral contour stimulus. The contour subdivided our stimulus into a figure and a ground. Using localizers and retinotopic mapping stimuli we were able to subdivide each early visual area into 3 eccentricity regions corresponding to 1) the central figure, 2) the area along the contour, and 3) the background. In these subregions we investigated the hemodynamic responses to our stimuli and compared responses with or without the contour defining the figure. No contour-related blood oxygenation level-dependent modulation in early visual areas V1, V3, VP, and MT+ was found. Significant signal modulation in the contour subregions of V2v, V2d, V3a, and LO occurred. This activation pattern was different from comparable studies, which might be attributable to the letter-discrimination task reducing confounding attentional modulation. In V3a, but not in any other retinotopic area, signal modulation corresponding to the central figure could be detected. Such contextual modulation will be discussed in light of the recurrent processing hypothesis and the role of visual awareness.

Applying dynamic priority scheduling scheme to static systems of pinwheel task model in power-aware scheduling.

PubMed

Seol, Ye-In; Kim, Young-Kuk

2014-01-01

Power-aware scheduling reduces CPU energy consumption in hard real-time systems through dynamic voltage scaling (DVS). In this paper, we deal with pinwheel task model which is known as static and predictable task model and could be applied to various embedded or ubiquitous systems. In pinwheel task model, each task's priority is static and its execution sequence could be predetermined. There have been many static approaches to power-aware scheduling in pinwheel task model. But, in this paper, we will show that the dynamic priority scheduling results in power-aware scheduling could be applied to pinwheel task model. This method is more effective than adopting the previous static priority scheduling methods in saving energy consumption and, for the system being still static, it is more tractable and applicable to small sized embedded or ubiquitous computing. Also, we introduce a novel power-aware scheduling algorithm which exploits all slacks under preemptive earliest-deadline first scheduling which is optimal in uniprocessor system. The dynamic priority method presented in this paper could be applied directly to static systems of pinwheel task model. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm with the algorithmic complexity of O(n) reduces the energy consumption by 10-80% over the existing algorithms.

Applying Dynamic Priority Scheduling Scheme to Static Systems of Pinwheel Task Model in Power-Aware Scheduling

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Power-aware scheduling reduces CPU energy consumption in hard real-time systems through dynamic voltage scaling (DVS). In this paper, we deal with pinwheel task model which is known as static and predictable task model and could be applied to various embedded or ubiquitous systems. In pinwheel task model, each task's priority is static and its execution sequence could be predetermined. There have been many static approaches to power-aware scheduling in pinwheel task model. But, in this paper, we will show that the dynamic priority scheduling results in power-aware scheduling could be applied to pinwheel task model. This method is more effective than adopting the previous static priority scheduling methods in saving energy consumption and, for the system being still static, it is more tractable and applicable to small sized embedded or ubiquitous computing. Also, we introduce a novel power-aware scheduling algorithm which exploits all slacks under preemptive earliest-deadline first scheduling which is optimal in uniprocessor system. The dynamic priority method presented in this paper could be applied directly to static systems of pinwheel task model. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm with the algorithmic complexity of O(n) reduces the energy consumption by 10–80% over the existing algorithms. PMID:25121126

Preliminary investigation of visual attention to human figures in photographs: potential considerations for the design of aided AAC visual scene displays.

PubMed

Wilkinson, Krista M; Light, Janice

2011-12-01

Many individuals with complex communication needs may benefit from visual aided augmentative and alternative communication systems. In visual scene displays (VSDs), language concepts are embedded into a photograph of a naturalistic event. Humans play a central role in communication development and might be important elements in VSDs. However, many VSDs omit human figures. In this study, the authors sought to describe the distribution of visual attention to humans in naturalistic scenes as compared with other elements. Nineteen college students observed 8 photographs in which a human figure appeared near 1 or more items that might be expected to compete for visual attention (such as a Christmas tree or a table loaded with food). Eye-tracking technology allowed precise recording of participants' gaze. The fixation duration over a 7-s viewing period and latency to view elements in the photograph were measured. Participants fixated on the human figures more rapidly and for longer than expected based on the size of these figures, regardless of the other elements in the scene. Human figures attract attention in a photograph even when presented alongside other attractive distracters. Results suggest that humans may be a powerful means to attract visual attention to key elements in VSDs.

Enhanced spin figure of merit in an Aharonov-Bohm ring with a double quantum dot

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

Zhou, Xingfei; Qi, Fenghua; Jin, Guojun, E-mail: gjin@nju.edu.cn

2014-04-21

We theoretically investigate the thermoelectric effects in an Aharonov-Bohm ring with a serially coupled double quantum dot embedded in one arm. An external magnetic field is perpendicularly applied to the two dots. Using the nonequilibrium Green's function method in the linear-response regime, we calculate the charge and spin figures of merit. When the energy levels of the two quantum dots are equal and the system is connected to two normal leads, a large spin figure of merit (Z{sub s}T ≈ 4.5) accompanying with a small charge figure of merit (Z{sub c}T ≈ 0) can be generated due to the remarkable bipolar effect. Further, whenmore » the system is connected to two ferromagnetic leads, the spin figure of merit can reach even a higher value about 9. Afterwards, we find that Z{sub s}T is enhanced while Z{sub c}T is reduced in the coaction of the Aharonov-Bohm flux and Rashba spin-orbit coupling. It is argued that the bipolar effect is positive (negative) to spin (charge) figure of merit in the presence of level detuning of the two quantum dots and intradot Coulomb interactions, respectively. Also, we propose a possible experiment to verify our results.« less

Science 102: This Month's Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robertson, Bill

2015-01-01

This task asks readers to figure out why when you stir a cup of hot liquid and tap on the side of the cup with a spoon, the pitch of sound starts low and ends up high. The solution to last month's tasks relating to the circumference of the Earth and how many stars are in the (visible) sky is also presented.

Influence of Cognitive Styles on Technical Drawing Students' Achievements in Senior Secondary School in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owodunni, A. Samuel; Sanni, AbdulRahman; Nwokolo-Ojo, Joy; Igwe, C. Obeta

2017-01-01

There are different cognitive strategies for processing information which in turn influence students' academic achievement. This paper reports an investigation of cognitive styles and achievement scores of secondary school students. In the study, the standardised Group Embedded Figures Test was used to determine the influence of student's…

Bootstrap versus Statistical Effect Size Corrections: A Comparison with Data from the Finding Embedded Figures Test.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Bruce; Melancon, Janet G.

Effect sizes have been increasingly emphasized in research as more researchers have recognized that: (1) all parametric analyses (t-tests, analyses of variance, etc.) are correlational; (2) effect sizes have played an important role in meta-analytic work; and (3) statistical significance testing is limited in its capacity to inform scientific…

Cognitive Style and Self-Efficacy: Predicting Student Success in Online Distance Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeTure, Monica

2004-01-01

This study was designed to identify those learner attributes that may be used to predict student success (in terms of grade point average) in a Web-based distance education setting. Students enrolled in six Web-based, general education distance education courses at a community college were asked to complete the Group Embedded Figures Test for…

Embedding Language Support in Developmental Mathematics Lessons: Exploring the Value of Design as Professional Development for Community College Mathematics Instructors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gomez, Kimberley; Gomez, Louis M.; Rodela, Katherine C.; Horton, Emily S.; Cunningham, Jahneille; Ambrocio, Rocio

2015-01-01

Three community college faculty members used improvement science techniques to design, develop, and refine contextualized developmental mathematics lessons, where language and literacy pedagogy and related supports figured prominently in these instructional materials. This article reports on the role that their design experiences played in…

Effect of Instructional Strategies and Individual Differences: A Meta-Analytic Assessment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Rose M.; Dwyer, Francis

2005-01-01

This meta-analytic study is unique and significant in that all the 1,341 learners in 11 studies completed the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), interacted with the same instructional module, and completed the same five criterion tests measuring different types of educational objectives. Studies varied in presentation mode and type of independent…

Becoming Artist, Becoming Educated, Becoming Undone: Toward a Nomadic Perspective of College Student Identity Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark-Keefe, Kelly

2014-01-01

In this article, I place my ethnographic project among undergraduate university art students and their professor in dialog with Rosi Braidotti's figuration of the nomadic subject and her reflections on the importance of creating theoretical alternatives for mapping the embedded and embodied social positions that we inhabit. As educational…

Effects of Teaching Approach on Problem Solving Ability of Agricultural Education Students with Varying Learning Styles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dyer, James E.; Osborne, Edward W.

1996-01-01

One group of Illinois secondary agriculture students was taught using a problem-solving approach (PSA), the other with a subject-matter approach (SMA). A problem-solving posttest and Group Embedded Figures Test showed significantly higher problem-solving ability in the PSA group. Field independent learners in the PSA group significantly increased…

Superior Disembedding in Children with ASD: New Tests Using Abstract, Meaningful, and 3D Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van der Hallen, Ruth; Chamberlain, Rebecca; de-Wit, Lee; Wagemans, Johan

2018-01-01

Since its initial development, the embedded figures test (EFT) has been used extensively to measure local-global perceptual style. However, little is known about the perceptual factors that influence target detection. The current study aimed to investigate "disembedding" in children with and without ASD, aged 8-15 years, using the newly…

Real-Time Considerations for Rugged Embedded Systems

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

Tumeo, Antonino; Ceriani, Marco; Palermo, Gianluca

This chapter introduces the characterizing aspects of embedded systems, and discusses the specific features that a designer should address to an embedded system “rugged”, i.e., able to operate reliably in harsh environments. The chapter addresses both the hardware and the less obvious software aspect. After presenting a current list of certifications for ruggedization, the chapters present a case study that focuses on the interaction of the hardware and software layers in reactive real-time system. In particular, it shows how the use of fast FPGA prototyping could provide insights on unexpected factors that influence the performance and thus responsiveness to eventsmore » of a scheduling algorithm for multiprocessor systems that manages both periodic, hard real-time task, and aperiodic tasks. The main lesson is that to make the system “rugged”, a designer should consider these issues by, for example, overprovisioning resources and/or computation capabilities.« less

SOAR: An Architecture for General Intelligence

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-12-01

these tasks, and (3) learn about all aspects of the tasks and its performance on them. Soar has existed since mid 1982 as an experimental software system...intelligence. Soar’s behavior has already been studied over a range of tasks and methods (Figure 1), which sample its intended range, though...in multiple small tasks: Generate and test, AND/OR search, hill climbing ( simple and steepest-ascent), means-ends analysis, operator subgoaling

Edge-Assignment and Figure-Ground Segmentation in Short-Term Visual Matching.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Driver, Jon; Baylis, Gordon

1996-01-01

Eight experiments involving 99 college students examined the role of edge-assignment in a contour matching task. Edge-matching performance was not based solely on a raw description of the edges themselves. Results suggest a pervasive tendency within the visual system to go beyond the edges toward figural shapes. (SLD)

Visual Detection and Identification Are Not the Same: Evidence from Psychophysics and fMRI

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Straube, Sirko; Fahle, Manfred

2011-01-01

Sometimes object detection as opposed to identification is sufficient to initiate the appropriate action. To explore the neural origin of behavioural differences between the two tasks, we combine psychophysical measurements and fMRI, specifically contrasting shape detection versus identification of a figure. This figure consisted of Gabor elements…

Psychobiological Assessment and Enhancement of Team Cohesion and Psychological Resilience in ROTC Cadets Using a Virtual-Reality Team Cohesion Test

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

including empathy , personality, and IQ questionnaires, are correlated with either the UAV (see Figure 5) or subarctic survival task (see Figure 6...Measure of five factor model of personality, IRI (Interpersonal Reactivity Index): empathy test, AMNART (American version of the National Adult Reading

Functional Evaluation of Hidden Figures Object Analysis in Children with Autistic Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malisza, Krisztina L.; Clancy, Christine; Shiloff, Deborah; Foreman, Derek; Holden, Jeanette; Jones, Cheryl; Paulson, K.; Summers, Randy; Yu, C. T.; Chudley, Albert E.

2011-01-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during performance of a hidden figures task (HFT) was used to compare differences in brain function in children diagnosed with autism disorder (AD) compared to children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and typical controls (TC). Overall greater functional MRI activity was observed in…

Detecting Distortion: Bridging Visual and Quantitative Reasoning on Similarity Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cox, Dana C.; Lo, Jane-Jane

2014-01-01

This study is focused on identifying and describing the reasoning patterns of middle grade students when examining potentially similar figures. Described here is a framework that includes 11 strategies that students used during clinical interview to differentiate similar and non-similar figures. Two factors were found to influence the strategies…

Ego depletion in visual perception: Ego-depleted viewers experience less ambiguous figure reversal.

PubMed

Wimmer, Marina C; Stirk, Steven; Hancock, Peter J B

2017-10-01

This study examined the effects of ego depletion on ambiguous figure perception. Adults (N = 315) received an ego depletion task and were subsequently tested on their inhibitory control abilities that were indexed by the Stroop task (Experiment 1) and their ability to perceive both interpretations of ambiguous figures that was indexed by reversal (Experiment 2). Ego depletion had a very small effect on reducing inhibitory control (Cohen's d = .15) (Experiment 1). Ego-depleted participants had a tendency to take longer to respond in Stroop trials. In Experiment 2, ego depletion had small to medium effects on the experience of reversal. Ego-depleted viewers tended to take longer to reverse ambiguous figures (duration to first reversal) when naïve of the ambiguity and experienced less reversal both when naïve and informed of the ambiguity. Together, findings suggest that ego depletion has small effects on inhibitory control and small to medium effects on bottom-up and top-down perceptual processes. The depletion of cognitive resources can reduce our visual perceptual experience.

Strength of figure-ground activity in monkey primary visual cortex predicts saccadic reaction time in a delayed detection task.

PubMed

Supèr, Hans; Lamme, Victor A F

2007-06-01

When and where are decisions made? In the visual system a saccade, which is a fast shift of gaze toward a target in the visual scene, is the behavioral outcome of a decision. Current neurophysiological data and reaction time models show that saccadic reaction times are determined by a build-up of activity in motor-related structures, such as the frontal eye fields. These structures depend on the sensory evidence of the stimulus. Here we use a delayed figure-ground detection task to show that late modulated activity in the visual cortex (V1) predicts saccadic reaction time. This predictive activity is part of the process of figure-ground segregation and is specific for the saccade target location. These observations indicate that sensory signals are directly involved in the decision of when and where to look.

Effects of saturation and contrast polarity on the figure-ground organization of color on gray.

PubMed

Dresp-Langley, Birgitta; Reeves, Adam

2014-01-01

Poorly saturated colors are closer to a pure gray than strongly saturated ones and, therefore, appear less "colorful."Color saturation is effectively manipulated in the visual arts for balancing conflicting sensations and moods and for inducing the perception of relative distance in the pictorial plane. While perceptual science has proven quite clearly that the luminance contrast of any hue acts as a self-sufficient cue to relative depth in visual images, the role of color saturation in such figure-ground organization has remained unclear. We presented configurations of colored inducers on gray "test" backgrounds to human observers. Luminance and saturation of the inducers was uniform on each trial, but varied across trials. We ran two separate experimental tasks. In the relative background brightness task, perceptual judgments indicated whether the apparent brightness of the gray test background contrasted with, assimilated to, or appeared equal (no effect) to that of a comparison background with the same luminance contrast. Contrast polarity and its interaction with color saturation affected response proportions for contrast, assimilation and no effect. In the figure-ground task, perceptual judgments indicated whether the inducers appeared to lie in front of, behind, or in the same depth with the background. Strongly saturated inducers produced significantly larger proportions of foreground effects indicating that these inducers stand out as figure against the background. Weakly saturated inducers produced significantly larger proportions of background effects, indicating that these inducers are perceived as lying behind the backgrounds. We infer that color saturation modulates figure-ground organization, both directly by determining relative inducer depth, and indirectly, and in interaction with contrast polarity, by affecting apparent background brightness. The results point toward a hitherto undocumented functional role of color saturation in the genesis of form, and in particular figure-ground percepts in the absence of chromatostereopsis.

Effects of saturation and contrast polarity on the figure-ground organization of color on gray

PubMed Central

Dresp-Langley, Birgitta; Reeves, Adam

2014-01-01

Poorly saturated colors are closer to a pure gray than strongly saturated ones and, therefore, appear less “colorful.”Color saturation is effectively manipulated in the visual arts for balancing conflicting sensations and moods and for inducing the perception of relative distance in the pictorial plane. While perceptual science has proven quite clearly that the luminance contrast of any hue acts as a self-sufficient cue to relative depth in visual images, the role of color saturation in such figure-ground organization has remained unclear. We presented configurations of colored inducers on gray “test” backgrounds to human observers. Luminance and saturation of the inducers was uniform on each trial, but varied across trials. We ran two separate experimental tasks. In the relative background brightness task, perceptual judgments indicated whether the apparent brightness of the gray test background contrasted with, assimilated to, or appeared equal (no effect) to that of a comparison background with the same luminance contrast. Contrast polarity and its interaction with color saturation affected response proportions for contrast, assimilation and no effect. In the figure-ground task, perceptual judgments indicated whether the inducers appeared to lie in front of, behind, or in the same depth with the background. Strongly saturated inducers produced significantly larger proportions of foreground effects indicating that these inducers stand out as figure against the background. Weakly saturated inducers produced significantly larger proportions of background effects, indicating that these inducers are perceived as lying behind the backgrounds. We infer that color saturation modulates figure-ground organization, both directly by determining relative inducer depth, and indirectly, and in interaction with contrast polarity, by affecting apparent background brightness. The results point toward a hitherto undocumented functional role of color saturation in the genesis of form, and in particular figure-ground percepts in the absence of chromatostereopsis. PMID:25339931

Heartbeat-based error diagnosis framework for distributed embedded systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, Swagat; Khilar, Pabitra Mohan

2012-01-01

Distributed Embedded Systems have significant applications in automobile industry as steer-by-wire, fly-by-wire and brake-by-wire systems. In this paper, we provide a general framework for fault detection in a distributed embedded real time system. We use heartbeat monitoring, check pointing and model based redundancy to design a scalable framework that takes care of task scheduling, temperature control and diagnosis of faulty nodes in a distributed embedded system. This helps in diagnosis and shutting down of faulty actuators before the system becomes unsafe. The framework is designed and tested using a new simulation model consisting of virtual nodes working on a message passing system.

Heartbeat-based error diagnosis framework for distributed embedded systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, Swagat; Khilar, Pabitra Mohan

2011-12-01

Distributed Embedded Systems have significant applications in automobile industry as steer-by-wire, fly-by-wire and brake-by-wire systems. In this paper, we provide a general framework for fault detection in a distributed embedded real time system. We use heartbeat monitoring, check pointing and model based redundancy to design a scalable framework that takes care of task scheduling, temperature control and diagnosis of faulty nodes in a distributed embedded system. This helps in diagnosis and shutting down of faulty actuators before the system becomes unsafe. The framework is designed and tested using a new simulation model consisting of virtual nodes working on a message passing system.

Configuration color vision tests: the interaction between aging and the complexity of figure-ground segregation.

PubMed

Stanford, T; Pollack, R H

1984-09-01

A cross-sectional study comparing response time and the percentage of items correctly identified in three color vision tests (Pflügertrident, HRR-AO pseudoisochromatic plates, and AO pseudoisochromatic plates) was carried out on 72 women (12 in each decade) ranging from ages 20 to 79 years. Overall, time scores increased across the age groups. Analysis of the correctness scores indicated that the AO pseudoisochromatic plates requiring the identification of numbers was more difficult than the other tests which consisted of geometric forms or the letter E. This differential difficulty increased as a function of age. There was no indication of color defect per se which led to the conclusion that figure complexity may be the key variable determining performance. The results were similar to those obtained by Lee and Pollack (1978) in their study of the Embedded Figures Test.

Connecting Lines of Research on Task Model Variables, Automatic Item Generation, and Learning Progressions in Game-Based Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graf, Edith Aurora

2014-01-01

In "How Task Features Impact Evidence from Assessments Embedded in Simulations and Games," Almond, Kim, Velasquez, and Shute have prepared a thought-provoking piece contrasting the roles of task model variables in a traditional assessment of mathematics word problems to their roles in "Newton's Playground," a game designed…

Figure-ground segregation at contours: a neural mechanism in the visual cortex of the alert monkey.

PubMed

Baumann, R; van der Zwan, R; Peterhans, E

1997-06-01

An important task of vision is the segregation of figure and ground in situations of spatial occlusion. Psychophysical evidence suggests that the depth order at contours is defined early in visual processing. We have analysed this process in the visual cortex of the alert monkey. The animals were trained on a visual fixation task which reinforced foveal viewing. During periods of active visual fixation, we recorded the responses of single neurons in striate and prestriate cortex (areas V1, V2, and V3/V3A). The stimuli mimicked situations of spatial occlusion, usually a uniform light (or dark) rectangle overlaying a grating texture of opposite contrast. The direction of figure and ground at the borders of these rectangles was defined by the direction of the terminating grating lines (occlusion cues). Neuronal responses were analysed with respect to figure-ground direction and contrast polarity at such contours. Striate neurons often failed to respond to such stimuli, or were selective for contrast polarity; others were non-selective. Some neurons preferred a certain combination of figure-ground direction and contrast polarity. These neurons were rare both in striate and prestriate cortex. The majority of neurons signalled figure-ground direction independent of contrast polarity. These neurons were only found in prestriate cortex. We explain these responses in terms of a model which also explains neuronal signals of illusory contours. These results suggest that occlusion cues are used at an early level of processing to segregate figure and ground at contours.

Verifying the Modal Logic Cube Is an Easy Task (For Higher-Order Automated Reasoners)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benzmüller, Christoph

Prominent logics, including quantified multimodal logics, can be elegantly embedded in simple type theory (classical higher-order logic). Furthermore, off-the-shelf reasoning systems for simple type type theory exist that can be uniformly employed for reasoning within and about embedded logics. In this paper we focus on reasoning about modal logics and exploit our framework for the automated verification of inclusion and equivalence relations between them. Related work has applied first-order automated theorem provers for the task. Our solution achieves significant improvements, most notably, with respect to elegance and simplicity of the problem encodings as well as with respect to automation performance.

Semantics Boosts Syntax in Artificial Grammar Learning Tasks with Recursion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fedor, Anna; Varga, Mate; Szathmary, Eors

2012-01-01

Center-embedded recursion (CER) in natural language is exemplified by sentences such as "The malt that the rat ate lay in the house." Parsing center-embedded structures is in the focus of attention because this could be one of the cognitive capacities that make humans distinct from all other animals. The ability to parse CER is usually…

Short-term effects of using verbal instructions and demonstration at the beginning of learning a complex skill in figure skating.

PubMed

Haguenauer, Marianne; Fargier, Patrick; Legreneur, Pierre; Dufour, Anne-Béatrice; Cogerino, Geneviève; Begon, Mickaël; Monteil, Karine M

2005-02-01

This study examined whether providing verbal instructions plus demonstration and task repetition facilitates the early acquisition of a sport skill for which learners had a prior knowledge of the individual motor components. After one demonstration of the task by an expert, 18 novice skaters practiced a figure skating jump during a 15-min. period. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups: a group provided with a verbal instruction that specified the subgoals of the task (Subgoals group), a group provided with a verbal instruction that used a metaphor (Metaphoric group), and a group not receiving any specific instruction during training (Control group). Subjects were filmed prior to and immediately following the practice session. Analysis indicated that the modifications of performance were related to the demonstration and the subsequent task repetitions only. Providing additional verbal instructions generated no effect. Therefore, guiding the learner toward a solution to the task problem by means of verbal instruction seems to be ineffective if done too early in the course of learning.

Exploring the Effect of Embedded Scaffolding Within Curricular Tasks on Third-Grade Students' Model-Based Explanations about Hydrologic Cycling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zangori, Laura; Forbes, Cory T.; Schwarz, Christina V.

2015-10-01

Opportunities to generate model-based explanations are crucial for elementary students, yet are rarely foregrounded in elementary science learning environments despite evidence that early learners can reason from models when provided with scaffolding. We used a quasi-experimental research design to investigate the comparative impact of a scaffold test condition consisting of embedded physical scaffolds within a curricular modeling task on third-grade (age 8-9) students' formulation of model-based explanations for the water cycle. This condition was contrasted to the control condition where third-grade students used a curricular modeling task with no embedded physical scaffolds. Students from each condition ( n scaffold = 60; n unscaffold = 56) generated models of the water cycle before and after completion of a 10-week water unit. Results from quantitative analyses suggest that students in the scaffolded condition represented and linked more subsurface water process sequences with surface water process sequences than did students in the unscaffolded condition. However, results of qualitative analyses indicate that students in the scaffolded condition were less likely to build upon these process sequences to generate model-based explanations and experienced difficulties understanding their models as abstracted representations rather than recreations of real-world phenomena. We conclude that embedded curricular scaffolds may support students to consider non-observable components of the water cycle but, alone, may be insufficient for generation of model-based explanations about subsurface water movement.

Human-Robot Cooperation with Commands Embedded in Actions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobayashi, Kazuki; Yamada, Seiji

In this paper, we first propose a novel interaction model, CEA (Commands Embedded in Actions). It can explain the way how some existing systems reduce the work-load of their user. We next extend the CEA and build ECEA (Extended CEA) model. The ECEA enables robots to achieve more complicated tasks. On this extension, we employ ACS (Action Coding System) which can describe segmented human acts and clarifies the relationship between user's actions and robot's actions in a task. The ACS utilizes the CEA's strong point which enables a user to send a command to a robot by his/her natural action for the task. The instance of the ECEA led by using the ACS is a temporal extension which has the user keep a final state of a previous his/her action. We apply the temporal extension of the ECEA for a sweeping task. The high-level task, a cooperative task between the user and the robot can be realized. The robot with simple reactive behavior can sweep the region of under an object when the user picks up the object. In addition, we measure user's cognitive loads on the ECEA and a traditional method, DCM (Direct Commanding Method) in the sweeping task, and compare between them. The results show that the ECEA has a lower cognitive load than the DCM significantly.

NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine impairs feature integration in visual perception.

PubMed

Meuwese, Julia D I; van Loon, Anouk M; Scholte, H Steven; Lirk, Philipp B; Vulink, Nienke C C; Hollmann, Markus W; Lamme, Victor A F

2013-01-01

Recurrent interactions between neurons in the visual cortex are crucial for the integration of image elements into coherent objects, such as in figure-ground segregation of textured images. Blocking N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in monkeys can abolish neural signals related to figure-ground segregation and feature integration. However, it is unknown whether this also affects perceptual integration itself. Therefore, we tested whether ketamine, a non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist, reduces feature integration in humans. We administered a subanesthetic dose of ketamine to healthy subjects who performed a texture discrimination task in a placebo-controlled double blind within-subject design. We found that ketamine significantly impaired performance on the texture discrimination task compared to the placebo condition, while performance on a control fixation task was much less impaired. This effect is not merely due to task difficulty or a difference in sedation levels. We are the first to show a behavioral effect on feature integration by manipulating the NMDA receptor in humans.

Visuo-Spatial Performance in Autism: A Meta-Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muth, Anne; Hönekopp, Johannes; Falter, Christine M.

2014-01-01

Visuo-spatial skills are believed to be enhanced in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). This meta-analysis tests the current state of evidence for Figure Disembedding, Block Design, Mental Rotation and Navon tasks in ASD and neurotypicals. Block Design (d = 0.32) and Figure Disembedding (d = 0.26) showed superior performance for ASD with large…

Enhanced spatial resolution on figures versus grounds

PubMed Central

Hecht, Lauren N.; Cosman, Joshua D.; Vecera, Shaun P.

2016-01-01

Much is known about the cues that determine figure-ground assignment, but less is known about the consequences of figure-ground assignment on later visual processing. Previous work has demonstrated that regions assigned figural status are subjectively more shape-like and salient than background regions. The increase in subjective salience of figural regions could be caused by a number of processes, one of which may be enhanced perceptual processing (e.g., an enhanced neural representation) of figures relative to grounds. We explored this hypothesis by having observers perform a perceptually demanding spatial resolution task in which targets appeared either on figure or ground regions. To rule out a purely attentional account of figural salience, observers discriminated targets on the basis of a region’s color (red or green), which was equally likely to define the figure or the ground. The results of our experiments show that targets appearing on figures were discriminated more accurately than those appearing in ground regions. In addition, targets appearing on figures were discriminated better than those presented in regions considered figurally neutral, but targets appearing within ground regions were discriminated more poorly than those appearing in figurally neutral regions. Taken together, our findings suggest that when two regions share a contour, regions assigned as figure are perceptually enhanced, whereas regions assigned as grounds are perceptually suppressed. PMID:27048441

Enhanced spatial resolution on figures versus grounds.

PubMed

Hecht, Lauren N; Cosman, Joshua D; Vecera, Shaun P

2016-07-01

Much is known about the cues that determine figure-ground assignment, but less is known about the consequences of figure-ground assignment on later visual processing. Previous work has demonstrated that regions assigned figural status are subjectively more shape-like and salient than background regions. The increase in subjective salience of figural regions could be caused by a number of processes, one of which may be enhanced perceptual processing (e.g., an enhanced neural representation) of figures relative to grounds. We explored this hypothesis by having observers perform a perceptually demanding spatial resolution task in which targets appeared on either figure or ground regions. To rule out a purely attentional account of figural salience, observers discriminated targets on the basis of a region's color (red or green), which was equally likely to define the figure or the ground. The results of our experiments showed that targets appearing on figures were discriminated more accurately than those appearing in ground regions. In addition, targets appearing on figures were discriminated better than those presented in regions considered figurally neutral, but targets appearing within ground regions were discriminated more poorly than those appearing in figurally neutral regions. Taken together, our findings suggest that when two regions share a contour, regions assigned as figure are perceptually enhanced, whereas regions assigned as ground are perceptually suppressed.

Learning in shifts of transient attention improves recognition of parts of ambiguous figure-ground displays.

PubMed

Kristjánsson, Arni

2009-04-24

Previously demonstrated learning effects in shifts of transient attention have only been shown to result in beneficial effects upon secondary discrimination tasks and affect landing points of express saccades. Can such learning result in more direct effects upon perception than previously demonstrated? Observers performed a cued Vernier acuity discrimination task where the cue was one of a set of ambiguous figure-ground displays (with a black and white part). The critical measure was whether, if a target appeared consistently within a part of a cue of a certain brightness, this would result in learning effects and whether such learning would then affect recognition of the cue parts. Critically the target always appeared within the same part of each individual cue. Some cues were used in early parts of streaks of repetition of cue-part brightness, and others in latter parts of such streaks. All the observers showed learning in shifts of transient attention, with improved performance the more often the target appeared within the part of the cue of the same brightness. Subsequently the observers judged whether cue-parts had been parts of the cues used on the preceding discrimination task. Recognition of the figure parts, where the target had consistently appeared, improved strongly with increased length of streaks of repetition of cue-part brightness. Learning in shifts of transient attention leads not only to faster attention shifts but to direct effects upon perception, in this case recognition of parts of figure-ground ambiguous cues.

Strategy modulates spatial perspective-taking: evidence for dissociable disembodied and embodied routes

PubMed Central

Gardner, Mark R.; Brazier, Mark; Edmonds, Caroline J.; Gronholm, Petra C.

2013-01-01

Previous research provides evidence for a dissociable embodied route to spatial perspective-taking that is under strategic control. The present experiment investigated further the influence of strategy on spatial perspective-taking by assessing whether participants may also elect to employ a separable “disembodied” route loading on inhibitory control mechanisms. Participants (N = 92) undertook both the “own body transformation” (OBT) perspective-taking task, requiring speeded spatial judgments made from the perspective of an observed figure, and a control task measuring ability to inhibit spatially compatible responses in the absence of a figure. Perspective-taking performance was found to be related to performance on the response inhibition control task, in that participants who tended to take longer to adopt a new perspective also tended to show a greater elevation in response times when inhibiting spatially compatible responses. This relationship was restricted to those participants reporting that they adopted the perspective of another by reversing left and right whenever confronted with a front-view figure; it was absent in those participants who reported perspective-taking by mentally transforming their spatial orientation to align with that of the figure. Combined with previously published results, these findings complete a double dissociation between embodied and disembodied routes to spatial perspective-taking, implying that spatial perspective-taking is subject to modulation by strategy, and suggesting that embodied routes to perspective-taking may place minimal demands on domain general executive functions. PMID:23964229

Lossless Data Embedding—New Paradigm in Digital Watermarking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fridrich, Jessica; Goljan, Miroslav; Du, Rui

2002-12-01

One common drawback of virtually all current data embedding methods is the fact that the original image is inevitably distorted due to data embedding itself. This distortion typically cannot be removed completely due to quantization, bit-replacement, or truncation at the grayscales 0 and 255. Although the distortion is often quite small and perceptual models are used to minimize its visibility, the distortion may not be acceptable for medical imagery (for legal reasons) or for military images inspected under nonstandard viewing conditions (after enhancement or extreme zoom). In this paper, we introduce a new paradigm for data embedding in images (lossless data embedding) that has the property that the distortion due to embedding can be completely removed from the watermarked image after the embedded data has been extracted. We present lossless embedding methods for the uncompressed formats (BMP, TIFF) and for the JPEG format. We also show how the concept of lossless data embedding can be used as a powerful tool to achieve a variety of nontrivial tasks, including lossless authentication using fragile watermarks, steganalysis of LSB embedding, and distortion-free robust watermarking.

Role of the Visuomotor System in On-Line Attenuation of a Premovement Illusory Bias in Grip Aperture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heath, M.; Rival, C.

2005-01-01

In this investigation participants formulated a grip aperture (GA) consistent with the size of an object embedded within a Muller-Lyer (ML) figure prior to initiating visually guided grasping movements. The accuracy of the grasping response was emphasized to determine whether or not the visuomotor system might resolve the premovement bias in GA…

Advanced Soldier Wearable Embedded Training System Final Report

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-10-21

Rechargeable Battery Packs Ø Battery Chemistry: LiIon CONTRACT NO. PART NUMBER REV SHEET N61339-04-C-0051 98-P59921E - 22 Approved For...Electronics Board................................................................................ 24 Figure 12 Sensor Battery Charger...using on the LW-SI program along with the common single battery type being used on the LW-SI program. This also includes the reuse of the actual

The Relationship between Learning Style, Academic Major, and Academic Performance of College Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cano, Jamie

1999-01-01

Results of the Group Embedded Figures Test and Myers Briggs Type Indicator for 178 agricultural education freshmen showed 56% were field independent (FI); field dependent (FD) and FI students differed in choice of major; FD students were more likely to have lower grade point average; and as their style moved from dependence to independence, grade…

Superior Disembedding Performance of High-Functioning Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Their Parents: The Need for Subtle Measures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Jonge, Maretha V.; Kemner, Chantal; van Engeland, Herman

2006-01-01

We assessed the disembedding performance on the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) of high-functioning subjects with autism or autism spectrum disorders from multi-incidence families and the performance of their parents. The individuals with autism spectrum disorders were significantly faster than matched controls in locating the shape, but their parents…

Self-Healing composites for Mitigation of Impact Damage in US Army Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-12-01

triggering mechanism for self-healing, rupturing the embedded microcapsules and releasing healing agent into In this study, fiber-reinforced...through the inclusion of urea-formaldehyde properties in self-healing materials have focused on microcapsules containing dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) monotonic...systems, healing is Figure 1: (a) Optical micrograph and (b) schematic demonstrating accomplished by incorporating a microencapsulated the self-healing

Preliminary Investigation of Visual Attention to Human Figures in Photographs: Potential Considerations for the Design of Aided AAC Visual Scene Displays

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilkinson, Krista M.; Light, Janice

2011-01-01

Purpose: Many individuals with complex communication needs may benefit from visual aided augmentative and alternative communication systems. In visual scene displays (VSDs), language concepts are embedded into a photograph of a naturalistic event. Humans play a central role in communication development and might be important elements in VSDs.…

Tunable Patch Antennas Using Microelectromechanical Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-11

Figure 28, was selected as most suitable to this application. MetalMUMPs is a surface micromachining process with polysilicon , silicon nitride, nickel...yields. MEMS Variable Capacitor Design The MEMS capacitors reported here were an original design that features nickel and polysilicon layers as...the movable plates of a variable parallel plate capacitor. The polysilicon layer was embedded in silicon nitride for electrical isolation and suspended

The Process of Designing Task Features

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bauer, Malcolm

2014-01-01

Malcolm Bauer, from Education Testing Services, provides his comments on the Focus article in this issue of "Measurement" entitled : "How Task Features Impact Evidence from Assessments Embedded in Simulations and Games" (Russell G. Almond, Yoon Jeon Kim, Gertrudes Velasquez, Valerie J. Shute). Bauer begins his remarks by noting…

Selected options supporting use of the group embedded figures test in modeling achievement in clinical laboratory science programs.

PubMed

Powell, M E

1995-01-01

To identify, in light of predicted future shortages of allied-health personnel, student and curricular characteristics of clinical laboratory science (CLS) programs relevant to recruitment and retention at the baccalaureate level. Not applicable. Not applicable. Options for modeling achievement in CLS programs are developed, and designs and procedures for clarifying procedural questions are considered in a context of delivery of instruction for specialized curricula and skill development. Considerable attention is given to the potential for using the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) in modeling, advising, designing curricula, and monitoring quality improvement of programs and graduates. Not applicable. Supporting evidence is supplied from the literature for options in developing an appropriate model for examining those salient variables known to have linkages to achievement. An argument is presented for better understanding of antecedent variables affecting achievement and retention of CLS students. In addition, a case is made for development of an appropriate model examining variables identified in the literature as being linked to achievement. Dynamic models based on these considerations should be developed chronologically from entry through graduation with emphasis on growth at year-end milestones.

[Gender differences in EEG coherence changes during figural creative thinking: the efficacy coupling].

PubMed

Vol'f, N V; Tarasova, I V; Razumnikova, O M

2009-01-01

The study was aimed to explore the features of interaction between cortical areas during figural creative task performance in high- and low-creative men and women. We divided the participants into two groups with high and low creativity by the median of originality score. EEG was recorded at rest and during task performance (Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking "Incomplete figures"). The EEG coherence was computed in six frequency bands from theta1 to beta2. We analyzed the total values of coherence for each of 16 sites, calculated separately for intrahemispheric and interhemispheric connections. In the theta2, alphal, and alpha2 bands, coherence values decreased in task performance as compared to baseline in subjects with lower originality scores, whereas in subjects with higher scores, they increased in the theta2 and alpha1 bands. The decrease in the alpha2 band in the higher-creativity group was significantly lower in comparison with the decrease in the lower-score group. In the alpha2 band, the interaction of gender, creativity, laterality, and electrode position factors was also found during analysis of task-induced coherence changes. Further examination of the interaction showed the similarity of EEG coherence patterns in men and women with opposite creative abilities and higher values of task-induced coherence changes in the anterior regions of the left hemisphere and posterior regions of the right hemisphere in high-creative in comparison with low-creative men. The findings are discussed in terms of different cognitive strategies used by men and women that may have the same results in creative problem solving.

Individuals with Low Working Memory Spans Show Greater Interference from Irrelevant Information Because of Poor Source Monitoring, Not Greater Activation

PubMed Central

Lilienthal, Lindsey; Rose, Nathan S.; Tamez, Elaine; Myerson, Joel; Hale, Sandra

2014-01-01

Although individuals with high and low working memory (WM) span appear to differ in the extent to which irrelevant information interferes with their performance on WM tasks, the locus of this interference is not clear. The present study investigated whether, when performing a WM task, high- and low-span individuals differ in the activation of formerly relevant, but now irrelevant items, and/or in their ability to correctly identify such irrelevant items. This was done in two experiments, both of which used modified complex WM span tasks. In Experiment 1, the span task included an embedded lexical decision task designed to obtain an implicit measure of the activation of both currently and formerly relevant items. In Experiment 2, the span task included an embedded recognition judgment task designed to obtain an explicit measure of both item and source recognition ability. The results of these experiments indicate that low-span individuals do not hold irrelevant information in a more active state in memory than high-span individuals, but rather that low-span individuals are significantly poorer at identifying such information as irrelevant at the time of retrieval. These results suggest that differences in the ability to monitor the source of information, rather than differences in the activation of irrelevant information, are the more important determinant of performance on WM tasks. PMID:25921723

Debugging embedded computer programs. [tactical missile computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kemp, G. H.

1980-01-01

Every embedded computer program must complete its debugging cycle using some system that will allow real time debugging. Many of the common items addressed during debugging are listed. Seven approaches to debugging are analyzed to evaluate how well they treat those items. Cost evaluations are also included in the comparison. The results indicate that the best collection of capabilities to cover the common items present in the debugging task occurs in the approach where a minicomputer handles the environment simulation with an emulation of some kind representing the embedded computer. This approach can be taken at a reasonable cost. The case study chosen is an embedded computer in a tactical missile. Several choices of computer for the environment simulation are discussed as well as different approaches to the embedded emulator.

Army Task Force on Behavioral Health: Corrective Action Plan

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

Veterans Affairs Legal Section KNOWLEDGE MGMT SECTION • KMO • CAA Analyst Figure I-1. Task Force Organization. ACRONYM Key ASA(M&RA): Assistant...Army Audit Agency OTIG: Office of the Inspector General OTSG: Office of the Surgeon General KMO : Knowledge Management Officer CAA: Center for

Can Embedded Annotations Help High School Students Perform Problem Solving Tasks Using a Web-Based Historical Document?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, John K.; Calandra, Brendan

2004-01-01

Two versions of a Web site on the United States Constitution were used by students in separate high school history classes to solve problems that emerged from four constitutional scenarios. One site contained embedded conceptual scaffolding devices in the form of textual annotations; the other did not. The results of our study demonstrated the…

Run-time implementation issues for real-time embedded Ada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maule, Ruth A.

1986-01-01

A motivating factor in the development of Ada as the department of defense standard language was the high cost of embedded system software development. It was with embedded system requirements in mind that many of the features of the language were incorporated. Yet it is the designers of embedded systems that seem to comprise the majority of the Ada community dissatisfied with the language. There are a variety of reasons for this dissatisfaction, but many seem to be related in some way to the Ada run-time support system. Some of the areas in which the inconsistencies were found to have the greatest impact on performance from the standpoint of real-time systems are presented. In particular, a large part of the duties of the tasking supervisor are subject to the design decisions of the implementer. These include scheduling, rendezvous, delay processing, and task activation and termination. Some of the more general issues presented include time and space efficiencies, generic expansions, memory management, pragmas, and tracing features. As validated compilers become available for bare computer targets, it is important for a designer to be aware that, at least for many real-time issues, all validated Ada compilers are not created equal.

Flexible Visual Processing in Young Adults with Autism: The Effects of Implicit Learning on a Global-Local Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayward, Dana A.; Shore, David I.; Ristic, Jelena; Kovshoff, Hanna; Iarocci, Grace; Mottron, Laurent; Burack, Jacob A.

2012-01-01

We utilized a hierarchical figures task to determine the default level of perceptual processing and the flexibility of visual processing in a group of high-functioning young adults with autism (n = 12) and a typically developing young adults, matched by chronological age and IQ (n = 12). In one task, participants attended to one level of the…

Electromagnetic Evidence of Altered Visual Processing in Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neumann, Nicola; Dubischar-Krivec, Anna M.; Poustka, Fritz; Birbaumer, Niels; Bolte, Sven; Braun, Christoph

2011-01-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate intact or superior local processing of visual-spatial tasks. We investigated the hypothesis that in a disembedding task, autistic individuals exhibit a more local processing style than controls, which is reflected by altered electromagnetic brain activity in response to embedded stimuli…

Inter-cellular spike coincidences in visual detection tasks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, Roman; Heinze, Sabine

2002-06-01

Synchronized spike activity is discussed as a possible representational code for object integration and as a neuronal basis of attention, perception and awareness. As a byproduct of experiments in which monkeys were trained to detect simple figures composed of single Gabor patches in a noisy background of similar elements, we found in special cases increased spike synchrony above chance level specifically related to figure detection. The long latency of this effect is difficult to interpret. It may be a sign of the cognitive state of an animal when it perceives the figure.

Compact, Low-Noise Magnetic Sensor with Fluxgate (DC) and Induction (AC) Modes of Operation

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-01

induction sensor and the fluxgate magnetometer . ......................................... 2 Figure 3.1 - Impulse response of a 4” long coil (#6...Block diagram of the Year 2, Task 2 fluxgate magnetometer . ................................... 6 Figure 3.3 - FIS-prototype magnetic-field...and demonstrated an innovative dual-mode, fluxgate -induction sensor (FIS) that combines a fluxgate magnetometer and an electromagnetic (EM) induction

Implementing Best Practices for Major Business Processes in the Department of Defense

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-24

95 Figures and Tables Figure 1- Past budget declines following major military engagements...US Navy and COL Leslie Caballero, US Army served as the military representatives. APPROACH The Task Group’s draft findings and recommendations were...Group interviewed over 30 individuals from government, think tanks, and private industry, including current and recent DoD senior military and

CASTLE BRAVO: Fifty Years of Legend and Lore. A Guide to Off-Site Radiation Exposures

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-31

Radiological Surveys ............................................................... 90 4.2 The HASL Fixed Instrument Network...87 Figure 4-1. The radiation survey party comes ashore on Rongelap Island, 20 April 1954 .......... 89 Figure 4-2. The task... survey party from the USS Nicholas (DDE-449) lands at Rongelap Island. Note anticontamination booties worn over shoes. 9 March 1954

The Fleeting Nature of Sex Differences in Spatial Ability.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alderton, David L.

Gender differences were examined on three computer-administered spatial processing tasks: (1) the Intercept task, requiring processing dynamic or moving figures; (2) the mental rotation test, employing rotated asymmetric polygons; and (3) the integrating details test, in which subjects performed a complex visual synthesis. Participants were about…

Active Disaster Response System for a Smart Building

PubMed Central

Lin, Chun-Yen; Chu, Edward T.-H; Ku, Lun-Wei; Liu, Jane W. S.

2014-01-01

Disaster warning and surveillance systems have been widely applied to help the public be aware of an emergency. However, existing warning systems are unable to cooperate with household appliances or embedded controllers; that is, they cannot provide enough time for preparedness and evacuation, especially for disasters like earthquakes. In addition, the existing warning and surveillance systems are not responsible for collecting sufficient information inside a building for relief workers to conduct a proper rescue action after a disaster happens. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of a proof of concept prototype, named the active disaster response system (ADRS), which automatically performs emergency tasks when an earthquake happens. ADRS can interpret Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) messages, published by an official agency, and actuate embedded controllers to perform emergency tasks to respond to the alerts. Examples of emergency tasks include opening doors and windows and cutting off power lines and gas valves. In addition, ADRS can maintain a temporary network by utilizing the embedded controllers; hence, victims trapped inside a building are still able to post emergency messages if the original network is disconnected. We conducted a field trial to evaluate the effectiveness of ADRS after an earthquake happened. Our results show that compared to manually operating emergency tasks, ADRS can reduce the operation time by up to 15 s, which is long enough for people to get under sturdy furniture, or to evacuate from the third floor to the first floor, or to run more than 100 m. PMID:25237897

Opposing dorsal/ventral stream dynamics during figure-ground segregation.

PubMed

Wokke, Martijn E; Scholte, H Steven; Lamme, Victor A F

2014-02-01

The visual system has been commonly subdivided into two segregated visual processing streams: The dorsal pathway processes mainly spatial information, and the ventral pathway specializes in object perception. Recent findings, however, indicate that different forms of interaction (cross-talk) exist between the dorsal and the ventral stream. Here, we used TMS and concurrent EEG recordings to explore these interactions between the dorsal and ventral stream during figure-ground segregation. In two separate experiments, we used repetitive TMS and single-pulse TMS to disrupt processing in the dorsal (V5/HMT⁺) and the ventral (lateral occipital area) stream during a motion-defined figure discrimination task. We presented stimuli that made it possible to differentiate between relatively low-level (figure boundary detection) from higher-level (surface segregation) processing steps during figure-ground segregation. Results show that disruption of V5/HMT⁺ impaired performance related to surface segregation; this effect was mainly found when V5/HMT⁺ was perturbed in an early time window (100 msec) after stimulus presentation. Surprisingly, disruption of the lateral occipital area resulted in increased performance scores and enhanced neural correlates of surface segregation. This facilitatory effect was also mainly found in an early time window (100 msec) after stimulus presentation. These results suggest a "push-pull" interaction in which dorsal and ventral extrastriate areas are being recruited or inhibited depending on stimulus category and task demands.

Stochastic correlative firing for figure-ground segregation.

PubMed

Chen, Zhe

2005-03-01

Segregation of sensory inputs into separate objects is a central aspect of perception and arises in all sensory modalities. The figure-ground segregation problem requires identifying an object of interest in a complex scene, in many cases given binaural auditory or binocular visual observations. The computations required for visual and auditory figure-ground segregation share many common features and can be cast within a unified framework. Sensory perception can be viewed as a problem of optimizing information transmission. Here we suggest a stochastic correlative firing mechanism and an associative learning rule for figure-ground segregation in several classic sensory perception tasks, including the cocktail party problem in binaural hearing, binocular fusion of stereo images, and Gestalt grouping in motion perception.

Investigating the Effect of Voltage-Switching on Low-Energy Task Scheduling in Hard Real-Time Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-01-01

We investigate the effect of voltage-switching on task execution times and energy consumption for dual-speed hard real - time systems , and present a...scheduling algorithm and apply it to two real-life task sets. Our results show that energy can be conserved in embedded real - time systems using energy...aware task scheduling. We also show that switching times have a significant effect on the energy consumed in hard real - time systems .

Edge-assignment and figure-ground segmentation in short-term visual matching.

PubMed

Driver, J; Baylis, G C

1996-12-01

Eight experiments examined the role of edge-assignment in a contour matching task. Subjects judged whether the jagged vertical edge of a probe shape matched the jagged edge that divided two adjoining shapes in an immediately preceding figure-ground display. Segmentation factors biased assignment of this dividing edge toward a figural shape on just one of its sides. Subjects were faster and more accurate at matching when the probe edge had a corresponding assignment. The rapid emergence of this effect provides an on-line analog of the long-term memory advantage for figures over grounds which Rubin (1915/1958) reported. The present on-line advantage was found when figures were defined by relative contrast and size, or by symmetry, and could not be explained solely by the automatic drawing of attention toward the location of the figural region. However, deliberate attention to one region of an otherwise ambiguous figure-ground display did produce the advantage. We propose that one-sided assignment of dividing edges may be obligatory in vision.

Word Spotting and Recognition with Embedded Attributes.

PubMed

Almazán, Jon; Gordo, Albert; Fornés, Alicia; Valveny, Ernest

2014-12-01

This paper addresses the problems of word spotting and word recognition on images. In word spotting, the goal is to find all instances of a query word in a dataset of images. In recognition, the goal is to recognize the content of the word image, usually aided by a dictionary or lexicon. We describe an approach in which both word images and text strings are embedded in a common vectorial subspace. This is achieved by a combination of label embedding and attributes learning, and a common subspace regression. In this subspace, images and strings that represent the same word are close together, allowing one to cast recognition and retrieval tasks as a nearest neighbor problem. Contrary to most other existing methods, our representation has a fixed length, is low dimensional, and is very fast to compute and, especially, to compare. We test our approach on four public datasets of both handwritten documents and natural images showing results comparable or better than the state-of-the-art on spotting and recognition tasks.

Task performance in astronomical adaptive optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrett, Harrison H.; Myers, Kyle J.; Devaney, Nicholas; Dainty, J. C.; Caucci, Luca

2006-06-01

In objective or task-based assessment of image quality, figures of merit are defined by the performance of some specific observer on some task of scientific interest. This methodology is well established in medical imaging but is just beginning to be applied in astronomy. In this paper we survey the theory needed to understand the performance of ideal or ideal-linear (Hotelling) observers on detection tasks with adaptive-optical data. The theory is illustrated by discussing its application to detection of exoplanets from a sequence of short-exposure images.

The Biological Embedding of Child Abuse and Neglect Implications for Policy and Practice. Social Policy Report. Volume 28, Number 1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaffee, Sara R.; Christian, Cindy W.

2014-01-01

Each year within the US alone over 770,000 children are victimized by abuse and neglect (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2010), and this figure is likely to underestimate the extent of the problem. Researchers have long recognized that maltreatment has adverse effects on children's mental health and academic achievement. Studies of…

Teaching Sustainability through System Dynamics: Exploring Stocks and Flows Embedded in Dynamic Computer Models of an Agricultural Land Management System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pallant, Amy; Lee, Hee-Sun

2017-01-01

During the past several decades, there has been a growing awareness of the ways humans affect Earth systems. As global problems emerge, educating the next generation of citizens to be able to make informed choices related to future outcomes is increasingly important. The challenge for educators is figuring out how to prepare students to think…

Computer vision camera with embedded FPGA processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lecerf, Antoine; Ouellet, Denis; Arias-Estrada, Miguel

2000-03-01

Traditional computer vision is based on a camera-computer system in which the image understanding algorithms are embedded in the computer. To circumvent the computational load of vision algorithms, low-level processing and imaging hardware can be integrated in a single compact module where a dedicated architecture is implemented. This paper presents a Computer Vision Camera based on an open architecture implemented in an FPGA. The system is targeted to real-time computer vision tasks where low level processing and feature extraction tasks can be implemented in the FPGA device. The camera integrates a CMOS image sensor, an FPGA device, two memory banks, and an embedded PC for communication and control tasks. The FPGA device is a medium size one equivalent to 25,000 logic gates. The device is connected to two high speed memory banks, an IS interface, and an imager interface. The camera can be accessed for architecture programming, data transfer, and control through an Ethernet link from a remote computer. A hardware architecture can be defined in a Hardware Description Language (like VHDL), simulated and synthesized into digital structures that can be programmed into the FPGA and tested on the camera. The architecture of a classical multi-scale edge detection algorithm based on a Laplacian of Gaussian convolution has been developed to show the capabilities of the system.

Real-Time, Multiple, Pan/Tilt/Zoom, Computer Vision Tracking, and 3D Position Estimating System for Unmanned Aerial System Metrology

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-18

of the enclosed tasks plus the last parallel task for a total of five parallel tasks for one iteration, i). for j = 1…N for i = 1… 8 Figure...drizzling juices culminating in a state of salivating desire to cut a piece and enjoy. On the other hand, the smell could be that of a pungent, unpleasant

Assessment of CT image quality using a Bayesian approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reginatto, M.; Anton, M.; Elster, C.

2017-08-01

One of the most promising approaches for evaluating CT image quality is task-specific quality assessment. This involves a simplified version of a clinical task, e.g. deciding whether an image belongs to the class of images that contain the signature of a lesion or not. Task-specific quality assessment can be done by model observers, which are mathematical procedures that carry out the classification task. The most widely used figure of merit for CT image quality is the area under the ROC curve (AUC), a quantity which characterizes the performance of a given model observer. In order to estimate AUC from a finite sample of images, different approaches from classical statistics have been suggested. The goal of this paper is to introduce task-specific quality assessment of CT images to metrology and to propose a novel Bayesian estimation of AUC for the channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) applied to the task of detecting a lesion at a known image location. It is assumed that signal-present and signal-absent images follow multivariate normal distributions with the same covariance matrix. The Bayesian approach results in a posterior distribution for the AUC of the CHO which provides in addition a complete characterization of the uncertainty of this figure of merit. The approach is illustrated by its application to both simulated and experimental data.

Distinct roles of the cortical layers of area V1 in figure-ground segregation.

PubMed

Self, Matthew W; van Kerkoerle, Timo; Supèr, Hans; Roelfsema, Pieter R

2013-11-04

What roles do the different cortical layers play in visual processing? We recorded simultaneously from all layers of the primary visual cortex while monkeys performed a figure-ground segregation task. This task can be divided into different subprocesses that are thought to engage feedforward, horizontal, and feedback processes at different time points. These different connection types have different patterns of laminar terminations in V1 and can therefore be distinguished with laminar recordings. We found that the visual response started 40 ms after stimulus presentation in layers 4 and 6, which are targets of feedforward connections from the lateral geniculate nucleus and distribute activity to the other layers. Boundary detection started shortly after the visual response. In this phase, boundaries of the figure induced synaptic currents and stronger neuronal responses in upper layer 4 and the superficial layers ~70 ms after stimulus onset, consistent with the hypothesis that they are detected by horizontal connections. In the next phase, ~30 ms later, synaptic inputs arrived in layers 1, 2, and 5 that receive feedback from higher visual areas, which caused the filling in of the representation of the entire figure with enhanced neuronal activity. The present results reveal unique contributions of the different cortical layers to the formation of a visual percept. This new blueprint of laminar processing may generalize to other tasks and to other areas of the cerebral cortex, where the layers are likely to have roles similar to those in area V1. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhancing Problem-Solving Capabilities Using Object-Oriented Programming Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Unuakhalu, Mike F.

2009-01-01

This study integrated object-oriented programming instruction with transfer training activities in everyday tasks, which might provide a mechanism that can be used for efficient problem solving. Specifically, a Visual BASIC embedded with everyday tasks group was compared to another group exposed to Visual BASIC instruction only. Subjects were 40…

Category Induction via Distributional Analysis: Evidence from a Serial Reaction Time Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunt, Ruskin H.; Aslin, Richard N.

2010-01-01

Category formation lies at the heart of a number of higher-order behaviors, including language. We assessed the ability of human adults to learn, from distributional information alone, categories embedded in a sequence of input stimuli using a serial reaction time task. Artificial grammars generated corpora of input strings containing a…

The Institutional Organisation of Knowledge Transfer and Its Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Heide, Sjors; van der Sijde, Peter C.; Terlouw, Cees

2008-01-01

How do European universities organise the knowledge transfer (KT) task? We consider the institutional organisation of knowledge transfer as encompassing 1) the knowledge transfer office structure, i.e. the way universities have embedded and organise their KT activities, 2) the focus towards the KT task, linked to the KT strategy, and 3) the KT…

The effects of 'ecstasy' (MDMA) on visuospatial memory performance: findings from a systematic review with meta-analyses.

PubMed

Murphy, Philip N; Bruno, Raimondo; Ryland, Ida; Wareing, Michele; Fisk, John E; Montgomery, Catharine; Hilton, Joanne

2012-03-01

To review, with meta-analyses where appropriate, performance differences between ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) users and non-users on a wider range of visuospatial tasks than previously reviewed. Such tasks have been shown to draw upon working memory executive resources. Abstract databases were searched using the United Kingdom National Health Service Evidence Health Information Resource. Inclusion criteria were publication in English language peer-reviewed journals and the reporting of new findings regarding human ecstasy-users' performance on visuospatial tasks. Data extracted included specific task requirements to provide a basis for meta-analyses for categories of tasks with similar requirements. Fifty-two studies were identified for review, although not all were suitable for meta-analysis. Significant weighted mean effect sizes indicating poorer performance by ecstasy users compared with matched controls were found for tasks requiring recall of spatial stimulus elements, recognition of figures and production/reproduction of figures. There was no evidence of a linear relationship between estimated ecstasy consumption and effect sizes. Given the networked nature of processing for spatial and non-spatial visual information, future scanning and imaging studies should focus on brain activation differences between ecstasy users and non-users in the context of specific tasks to facilitate identification of loci of potentially compromised activity in users. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

FAILSAFE Health Management for Embedded Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horvath, Gregory A.; Wagner, David A.; Wen, Hui Ying; Barry, Matthew

2010-01-01

The FAILSAFE project is developing concepts and prototype implementations for software health management in mission- critical, real-time embedded systems. The project unites features of the industry-standard ARINC 653 Avionics Application Software Standard Interface and JPL s Mission Data System (MDS) technology (see figure). The ARINC 653 standard establishes requirements for the services provided by partitioned, real-time operating systems. The MDS technology provides a state analysis method, canonical architecture, and software framework that facilitates the design and implementation of software-intensive complex systems. The MDS technology has been used to provide the health management function for an ARINC 653 application implementation. In particular, the focus is on showing how this combination enables reasoning about, and recovering from, application software problems.

Performance Modeling of the ADA Rendezvous

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-10-01

queueing network of figure 2, SERVERTASK can complete only one rendezvous at a time. Thus, the rate that the rendezvous requests are processed at the... Network 1, SERVERTASK competes with the traffic tasks of Server Processor. Each time SERVERTASK gains access to the processor, SERVERTASK completes...Client Processor Server Processor Software Server Nek Netork2 Figure 10. A conceptualization of the algorithm. The SERVERTASK software server of Network 2

Computer Directed Training System (CDTS), User’s Manual

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-07-01

lessons, together with an estimate of the time required for completion. a. BSCOl0. This lesson in BASIC ( Beginners All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code...A2-8 FIGURESj Figure A2-1. Training Systems Manager and Training Monitors Responsibility Flowchart ...training at the site. Therefore, the TSM must be knowledgeable in the various tasks required. Figure A2-1 illustrates the position in the flowchart . These

Hierarchical Control of Semi-Autonomous Teams Under Uncertainty (HICST)

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-05-01

17 2.4 Module 4: Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2.5... Database SoW 1 2 34 5 Txt file: paths Figure 3: Integration of modules 1-5. The modules make provision for human intervention, not indicated in the...figure. SoW is ‘state of the world’. 3. Task execution; 4. Database for state estimation; 5. Java interface to OEP; 6. Robust dynamic programming for

Efficient Measurement of Multiparticle Entanglement with Embedding Quantum Simulator.

PubMed

Chen, Ming-Cheng; Wu, Dian; Su, Zu-En; Cai, Xin-Dong; Wang, Xi-Lin; Yang, Tao; Li, Li; Liu, Nai-Le; Lu, Chao-Yang; Pan, Jian-Wei

2016-02-19

The quantum measurement of entanglement is a demanding task in the field of quantum information. Here, we report the direct and scalable measurement of multiparticle entanglement with embedding photonic quantum simulators. In this embedding framework [R. Di Candia et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 240502 (2013)], the N-qubit entanglement, which does not associate with a physical observable directly, can be efficiently measured with only two (for even N) and six (for odd N) local measurement settings. Our experiment uses multiphoton quantum simulators to mimic dynamical concurrence and three-tangle entangled systems and to track their entanglement evolutions.

First-Graders' Spatial-Mathematical Reasoning about Plane and Solid Shapes and Their Representations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hallowell, David A.; Okamoto, Yukari; Romo, Laura F.; La Joy, Jonna R.

2015-01-01

The primary goal of the study was to explore first-grade children's reasoning about plane and solid shapes across various kinds of geometric representations. Children were individually interviewed while completing a shape-matching task developed for this study. This task required children to compose and decompose geometric figures to identify…

Affect Response to Simulated Information Attack during Complex Task Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-02

AND FRUSTRATION ........................ 42 FIGURE 27. TASK LOAD INDEX OF MENTAL DEMAND, TEMPORAL DEMAND, AND PHYSICAL DEMAND...situational awareness, affect, and trait characteristics interact with human performance during cyberspace attacks in the physical and information...Operator state was manipulated using emotional stimulation portrayed through the presentation of video segments. The effect of emotions on

ESL Students' Interaction in Second Life: Task-Based Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jee, Min Jung

2010-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to explore ESL students' interactions in task-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) in Second Life, a virtual environment by which users can interact through representational figures. I investigated Low-Intermediate and High-Intermediate ESL students' interaction patterns before, during, and…

Communication Strategies for Shared-Bus Embedded Multiprocessors

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-09-01

target architecture [10]. We utilize the task execution model in [11], where each task vi in the task graph G = (V,E) is associated with three possible...predictability is therefore an interesting and important direction for further study. REFERENCES [1] T. Kogel, M. Doerper, A. Wieferink, R. Leupers, G ...Proceedings of Real-Time Technology and Applications Symposium, 1995, pp. 164–173. [11] S. Hua, G . Qu, and S. Bhattacharyya, “Energy reduction technique

DeTEXT: A Database for Evaluating Text Extraction from Biomedical Literature Figures

PubMed Central

Yin, Xu-Cheng; Yang, Chun; Pei, Wei-Yi; Man, Haixia; Zhang, Jun; Learned-Miller, Erik; Yu, Hong

2015-01-01

Hundreds of millions of figures are available in biomedical literature, representing important biomedical experimental evidence. Since text is a rich source of information in figures, automatically extracting such text may assist in the task of mining figure information. A high-quality ground truth standard can greatly facilitate the development of an automated system. This article describes DeTEXT: A database for evaluating text extraction from biomedical literature figures. It is the first publicly available, human-annotated, high quality, and large-scale figure-text dataset with 288 full-text articles, 500 biomedical figures, and 9308 text regions. This article describes how figures were selected from open-access full-text biomedical articles and how annotation guidelines and annotation tools were developed. We also discuss the inter-annotator agreement and the reliability of the annotations. We summarize the statistics of the DeTEXT data and make available evaluation protocols for DeTEXT. Finally we lay out challenges we observed in the automated detection and recognition of figure text and discuss research directions in this area. DeTEXT is publicly available for downloading at http://prir.ustb.edu.cn/DeTEXT/. PMID:25951377

On the generality of the topological theory of visual shape perception.

PubMed

Kanbe, Fumio

2013-01-01

This study used a series of six closely related experiments to examine whether individuals use topological structures to discriminate figures. Strict control was exerted over the selection of stimuli, which were a specific type of randomly generated lined figures that can be classified using isomorphic sets defined by graph theory. Any two figures within an isomorphic set possessed the same topological structure. The experiments described here used a same/different discrimination task with simultaneously presented pairs of figures: (a) identical pairs (Id pairs), in which each pair of figures had the same topological and superficial properties; (b) nonidentical and isomorphic pairs (Iso pairs), in which each pair had the same topological but different superficial properties; and (c) nonidentical and nonisomorphic pairs (Noniso pairs), in which each pair had different topological properties. Within these experiments I varied the conditions related to the intersecting line segments, presentation of points defining each figure, figure complexity, stimulus aspect ratios, and the parity of the total line-segment lengths between the figures in each pair. These variations showed that the latencies for making accurate discriminations were shorter for Noniso pairs than for Iso pairs, suggesting that individuals are sensitive to topology when distinguishing figures.

fMRI of parents of children with Asperger Syndrome: a pilot study.

PubMed

Baron-Cohen, Simon; Ring, Howard; Chitnis, Xavier; Wheelwright, Sally; Gregory, Lloyd; Williams, Steve; Brammer, Mick; Bullmore, Ed

2006-06-01

People with autism or Asperger Syndrome (AS) show altered patterns of brain activity during visual search and emotion recognition tasks. Autism and AS are genetic conditions and parents may show the 'broader autism phenotype.' (1) To test if parents of children with AS show atypical brain activity during a visual search and an empathy task; (2) to test for sex differences during these tasks at the neural level; (3) to test if parents of children with autism are hyper-masculinized, as might be predicted by the 'extreme male brain' theory. We used fMRI during a visual search task (the Embedded Figures Test (EFT)) and an emotion recognition test (the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' (or Eyes) test). Twelve parents of children with AS, vs. 12 sex-matched controls. Factorial analysis was used to map main effects of sex, group (parents vs. controls), and sexxgroup interaction on brain function. An ordinal ANOVA also tested for regions of brain activity where females>males>fathers=mothers, to test for parental hyper-masculinization. RESULTS ON EFT TASK: Female controls showed more activity in extrastriate cortex than male controls, and both mothers and fathers showed even less activity in this area than sex-matched controls. There were no differences in group activation between mothers and fathers of children with AS. The ordinal ANOVA identified two specific regions in visual cortex (right and left, respectively) that showed the pattern Females>Males>Fathers=Mothers, both in BA 19. RESULTS ON EYES TASK: Male controls showed more activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus than female controls, and both mothers and fathers showed even more activity in this area compared to sex-matched controls. Female controls showed greater bilateral inferior frontal activation than males. This was not seen when comparing mothers to males, or mothers to fathers. The ordinal ANOVA identified two specific regions that showed the pattern Females>Males>Mothers=Fathers: left medial temporal gyrus (BA 21) and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA 44). Parents of children with AS show atypical brain function during both visual search and emotion recognition, in the direction of hyper-masculinization of the brain. Because of the small sample size, and lack of age-matching between parents and controls, such results constitute a pilot study that needs replicating with larger samples.

Research of polishing process to control the iron contamination on the magnetorheological finished KDP crystal surface.

PubMed

Chen, Shaoshan; Li, Shengyi; Peng, Xiaoqiang; Hu, Hao; Tie, Guipeng

2015-02-20

A new nonaqueous and abrasive-free magnetorheological finishing (MRF) method is adopted for processing a KDP crystal. MRF polishing is easy to result in the embedding of carbonyl iron (CI) powders; meanwhile, Fe contamination on the KDP crystal surface will affect the laser induced damage threshold seriously. This paper puts forward an appropriate MRF polishing process to avoid the embedding. Polishing results show that the embedding of CI powders can be avoided by controlling the polishing parameters. Furthermore, on the KDP crystal surface, magnetorheological fluids residua inevitably exist after polishing and in which the Fe contamination cannot be removed completely by initial ultrasonic cleaning. To solve this problem, a kind of ion beam figuring (IBF) polishing is introduced to remove the impurity layer. Then the content of Fe element contamination and the depth of impurity elements are measured by time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. The measurement results show that there are no CI powders embedding in the MRF polished surface and no Fe contamination after the IBF polishing process, respectively. That verifies the feasibility of MRF polishing-IBF polishing (cleaning) for processing a KDP crystal.

Redundancy management for efficient fault recovery in NASA's distributed computing system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malek, Miroslaw; Pandya, Mihir; Yau, Kitty

1991-01-01

The management of redundancy in computer systems was studied and guidelines were provided for the development of NASA's fault-tolerant distributed systems. Fault recovery and reconfiguration mechanisms were examined. A theoretical foundation was laid for redundancy management by efficient reconfiguration methods and algorithmic diversity. Algorithms were developed to optimize the resources for embedding of computational graphs of tasks in the system architecture and reconfiguration of these tasks after a failure has occurred. The computational structure represented by a path and the complete binary tree was considered and the mesh and hypercube architectures were targeted for their embeddings. The innovative concept of Hybrid Algorithm Technique was introduced. This new technique provides a mechanism for obtaining fault tolerance while exhibiting improved performance.

Active Nodal Task Seeking for High-Performance, Ultra-Dependable Computing

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-07-01

implementation. Figure 1 shows a hardware organization of ANTS: stand-alone computing nodes inter - connected by buses. 2.1 Run Time Partitioning The...nodes in 14 respond to changing loads [27] or system reconfiguration [26]. Existing techniques are all source-initiated or server-initiated [27]. 5.1...short-running task segments. The task segments must be short-running in order that processors will become avalable often enough to satisfy changing

The Time and Effort in Taking Care for Children with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities: A Study on Care Load and Support

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tadema, Annemarie C.; Vlaskamp, Carla

2010-01-01

Raising children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities is considered to be extremely difficult for parents, but figures on the content and amount of time needed for the caring task of parents is lacking. Data on what the caring task actually means (in terms of amount of time and type of task) is needed to be able to understand the…

The Effect of Visual Task Difficulty on the Fixation-Related Lambda Response

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-02-01

than limiting eye movements in experimental paradigms. The lambda response, a prominent neural signature of the fixation-related potential, has been...release; distribution is unlimited. v List of Figures Fig. 1 Task layout. The left image shows the layout of the experimental environment while a...on an invisible 7 × 7 grid. Fig. 1 Task layout. The left image shows the layout of the experimental environment while a participant performs the

Preliminary study of gaze toward humans in photographs by individuals with autism, Down syndrome, or other intellectual disabilities: implications for design of visual scene displays.

PubMed

Wilkinson, Krista M; Light, Janice

2014-06-01

Visual scene displays (VSDs) are a form of augmentative and alternative communication display in which language concepts are embedded into an image of a naturalistic event. VSDs are based on the theory that language learning occurs through interactions with other people, and recommendations for VSD design have emphasized using images of these events that include humans. However, many VSDs also include other items that could potentially be distracting. We examined gaze fixation in 18 school-aged participants with and without severe intellectual/developmental disabilities (i.e., individuals with typical development, autism, Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities) while they viewed photographs with human figures of various sizes and locations in the image, appearing alongside other interesting, and potentially distracting items. In all groups, the human figures attracted attention rapidly (within 1.5 seconds). The proportions of each participant's own fixation time spent on the human figures were similar across all groups, as were the proportions of total fixations made to the human figures. Although the findings are preliminary, this initial evidence supports the inclusion of humans in VSD images.

Internship Abstract and Final Reflection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sandor, Edward

2016-01-01

The primary objective for this internship is the evaluation of an embedded natural language processor (NLP) as a way to introduce voice control into future space suits. An embedded natural language processor would provide an astronaut hands-free control for making adjustments to the environment of the space suit and checking status of consumables procedures and navigation. Additionally, the use of an embedded NLP could potentially reduce crew fatigue, increase the crewmember's situational awareness during extravehicular activity (EVA) and improve the ability to focus on mission critical details. The use of an embedded NLP may be valuable for other human spaceflight applications desiring hands-free control as well. An embedded NLP is unique because it is a small device that performs language tasks, including speech recognition, which normally require powerful processors. The dedicated device could perform speech recognition locally with a smaller form-factor and lower power consumption than traditional methods.

Air & Space Power Journal. Volume 27, Number 4, July-August 2013

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-08-01

with old-fashioned radio communications . Meanwhile, our cyber warrior has successfully isolated the hack and goes on the counteroffensive with an...impostors is best solved with technological solutions. • Radio frequency identication • Biometrics • Embedded security markers Figure 4. Defectors...Museum, 26 July 1948, http://www.trumanlibrary.org/9981a.htm. 21. Jones, “ Community Defense in Afghanistan,” 11 . July–August 2013 Air & Space Power

Fabrication Security and Trust of Domain-Specific ASIC Processors

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-30

embedded in the design. For example , an ASIC processor potentially has a 10-1,000X performance advantage over its FPGA and GPP counterparts, but...paper by summarizing our lessons learned from this project and suggests a few research directions. II. DOMAIN-SPECIFIC ASIC PROCESSORS As Figure 1 has...sponsored by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering under Air Force Contract #FA8721-05-C-0002. Opinions, interpretations

The influence of idiomatic salience during the comprehension of ambiguous idioms by patients with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Iakimova, Galina; Passerieux, Christine; Denhière, Guy; Laurent, Jean-Paul; Vistoli, Damien; Vilain, Jeanne; Hardy-Baylé, Marie-Christine

2010-05-15

This study investigates whether figurative comprehension in schizophrenia is influenced by the salience of idiomatic meaning, and whether it is affected by clinical and demographic factors and IQ. Twenty-seven schizophrenic patients and 25 healthy participants performed a semantic relatedness judgement task which required the comprehension of idioms with two plausible meanings (literal and figurative). The study also used literal expressions. The figurative meaning of the idioms was less salient (ILS), more salient (IFS), or equally salient (IES) compared to the literal meaning. The results showed "a salience effect" (i.e., all participants understood the salient meanings better than the less salient meanings). There was also a "figurativeness effect" (i.e., healthy individuals understood the figurative meaning of IES better than the literal meaning but not schizophrenic patients). In patients, their thought disorder influenced the figurative comprehension of IFS. The verbal IQ influenced the figurative comprehension of ILS. The thought disorder, the verbal IQ, and the educational level influenced the figurative comprehension of IES. The patients' clinically evaluated concretism was associated with a reduced figurative comprehension of IFS and IES evaluated at a cognitive level. The results are discussed in relation to cognitive mechanisms which underscore figurative comprehension in schizophrenia. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Relationship Between Subthreshold Autistic Traits, Ambiguous Figure Perception and Divergent Thinking.

PubMed

Best, Catherine; Arora, Shruti; Porter, Fiona; Doherty, Martin

2015-12-01

This research investigates the paradox of creativity in autism. That is, whether people with subclinical autistic traits have cognitive styles conducive to creativity or whether they are disadvantaged by the implied cognitive and behavioural rigidity of the autism phenotype. The relationship between divergent thinking (a cognitive component of creativity), perception of ambiguous figures, and self-reported autistic traits was evaluated in 312 individuals in a non-clinical sample. High levels of autistic traits were significantly associated with lower fluency scores on the divergent thinking tasks. However autistic traits were associated with high numbers of unusual responses on the divergent thinking tasks. Generation of novel ideas is a prerequisite for creative problem solving and may be an adaptive advantage associated with autistic traits.

Learning to See Teaching in New Ways: A Foundation for Maintaining Cognitive Demand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tekkumru Kisa, Miray; Stein, Mary Kay

2015-01-01

Students' opportunities to learn how to think are embedded in the instructional tasks with which they are invited to engage in the classroom. Prior research has revealed that the selection and use of cognitively demanding tasks does not guarantee high-level student thinking during their enactment. To address this challenge, we designed and…

Differences in the Processing of Prefixes and Suffixes Revealed by a Letter-Search Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beyersmann, Elisabeth; Ziegler, Johannes C.; Grainger, Jonathan

2015-01-01

A letter-search task was used to test the hypothesis that affixes are chunked during morphological processing and that such chunking might operate differently for prefixes and suffixes. Participants had to detect a letter target that was embedded either in a prefix or suffix (e.g., "R" in "propoint" or "filmure") or…

Shape Memory Polymer Self-Deploying Membrane Reflectors

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-30

stability relative to their [Candidate A] counterparts and very low moisture uptake. Initial attempts to incorporate [this particular constituent] were...specimen (Figure 19). The sample was then reheated and "deployed" (Figure 20) while being held with the bend axis oriented vertically such that gravity...addressed as a separate task for the purposes of describing Statement of Work content, material process development was conducted in parallel with and

High School Students' Forming 3D Objects Using Technological and Non-Technological Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Okumus, Samet; Hollebrands, Karen

2016-01-01

We analyzed the ways in which two high school students formed 3D objects from the rotation of 2D figures. The students participated in a task-based interview using paper-and-pencil, manipulatives, and Cabri 3D. The results indicated that they had difficulty using paper-and-pencil to rotate 2D figures to form 3D objects. Their difficulty stemmed…

Evaluation of Domain-Specific Collaboration Interfaces for Team Command and Control Tasks

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-05-01

Technologies 1.1.1. Virtual Whiteboard Cognitive theories relating the utilization, storage, and retrieval of verbal and spatial information, such as...AE Spatial emergent SE Auditory linguistic AL Spatial positional SP Facial figural FF Spatial quantitative SQ Facial motive FM Tactile figural...driven by the auditory linguistic (AL), short-term memory (STM), spatial attentive (SA), visual temporal (VT), and vocal process (V) subscales. 0

One Dimensional Analysis of Inertially Confined Plasmas.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-03-01

Confinement Fuel Pellet’ - 3 2 General Flowchart for Program MOXNEX 8 3 General Program Organization of Subroutine ALPHA1 - 1J- 4 Values of <ov...is dumped in the current cell. Subprogram ALPHA1 calls 14 other subroutines to complete its tasks. General program organization is seen in Figure 3...OEROSITION T Figure 3. General Program Organization of Subroutine ALPHA1 6. Subroutine HTFLX. This subroutine computes the energy transfer

Uncovering the cognitive processes underlying mental rotation: an eye-movement study.

PubMed

Xue, Jiguo; Li, Chunyong; Quan, Cheng; Lu, Yiming; Yue, Jingwei; Zhang, Chenggang

2017-08-30

Mental rotation is an important paradigm for spatial ability. Mental-rotation tasks are assumed to involve five or three sequential cognitive-processing states, though this has not been demonstrated experimentally. Here, we investigated how processing states alternate during mental-rotation tasks. Inference was carried out using an advanced statistical modelling and data-driven approach - a discriminative hidden Markov model (dHMM) trained using eye-movement data obtained from an experiment consisting of two different strategies: (I) mentally rotate the right-side figure to be aligned with the left-side figure and (II) mentally rotate the left-side figure to be aligned with the right-side figure. Eye movements were found to contain the necessary information for determining the processing strategy, and the dHMM that best fit our data segmented the mental-rotation process into three hidden states, which we termed encoding and searching, comparison, and searching on one-side pair. Additionally, we applied three classification methods, logistic regression, support vector model and dHMM, of which dHMM predicted the strategies with the highest accuracy (76.8%). Our study did confirm that there are differences in processing states between these two of mental-rotation strategies, and were consistent with the previous suggestion that mental rotation is discrete process that is accomplished in a piecemeal fashion.

Deep learning for pharmacovigilance: recurrent neural network architectures for labeling adverse drug reactions in Twitter posts.

PubMed

Cocos, Anne; Fiks, Alexander G; Masino, Aaron J

2017-07-01

Social media is an important pharmacovigilance data source for adverse drug reaction (ADR) identification. Human review of social media data is infeasible due to data quantity, thus natural language processing techniques are necessary. Social media includes informal vocabulary and irregular grammar, which challenge natural language processing methods. Our objective is to develop a scalable, deep-learning approach that exceeds state-of-the-art ADR detection performance in social media. We developed a recurrent neural network (RNN) model that labels words in an input sequence with ADR membership tags. The only input features are word-embedding vectors, which can be formed through task-independent pretraining or during ADR detection training. Our best-performing RNN model used pretrained word embeddings created from a large, non-domain-specific Twitter dataset. It achieved an approximate match F-measure of 0.755 for ADR identification on the dataset, compared to 0.631 for a baseline lexicon system and 0.65 for the state-of-the-art conditional random field model. Feature analysis indicated that semantic information in pretrained word embeddings boosted sensitivity and, combined with contextual awareness captured in the RNN, precision. Our model required no task-specific feature engineering, suggesting generalizability to additional sequence-labeling tasks. Learning curve analysis showed that our model reached optimal performance with fewer training examples than the other models. ADR detection performance in social media is significantly improved by using a contextually aware model and word embeddings formed from large, unlabeled datasets. The approach reduces manual data-labeling requirements and is scalable to large social media datasets. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

Detecting spam comments on Indonesia’s Instagram posts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Septiandri, Ali Akbar; Wibisono, Okiriza

2017-01-01

In this paper we experimented with several feature sets for detecting spam comments in social media contents authored by Indonesian public figures. We define spam comments as comments which have promotional purposes (e.g. referring other users to products and services) and thus not related to the content to which the comments are posted. Three sets of features are evaluated for detecting spams: (1) hand-engineered features such as comment length, number of capital letters, and number of emojis, (2) keyword features such as whether the comment contains advertising words or product-related words, and (3) text features, namely, bag-of-words, TF-IDF, and fastText embeddings, each combined with latent semantic analysis. With 24,000 manually-annotated comments scraped from Instagram posts authored by more than 100 Indonesian public figures, we compared the performance of these feature sets and their combinations using 3 popular classification algorithms: Na¨ıve Bayes, SVM, and XGBoost. We find that using all three feature sets (with fastText embedding for the text features) gave the best F 1-score of 0.9601 on a holdout dataset. More interestingly, fastText embedding combined with hand-engineered features (i.e. without keyword features) yield similar F 1-score of 0.9523, and McNemar’s test failed to reject the hypothesis that the two results are not significantly different. This result is important as keyword features are largely dependent on the dataset and may not be as generalisable as the other feature sets when applied to new data. For future work, we hope to collect bigger and more diverse dataset of Indonesian spam comments, improve our model’s performance and generalisability, and publish a programming package for others to reliably detect spam comments.

Effects of System Timing Parameters on Operator Performance in a Personnel Records Task

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-03-01

work sampling, embedded performance measures, and operator satisfaction ratings) are needed to provide a complete analysis of the effects of the four...HFL-8 l-l/NPRDC-8 1-1 March 1981 EFFECTS OF SYSTEM TIMING PARAMETERS ON OPERATOR PERFORMANCE IN A PERSONNEL RECORDS TASK Robert C. Williges Beverly H...and Subtitle) S. TYPE OF REPORT & PERIOD COVERED EFFECTS OF SYSTEM TIMING PARAMETERS ON OPERATOR PERFORMANCE IN A PERSONNEL RECORDS TASK Final

A search asymmetry reversed by figure-ground assignment.

PubMed

Humphreys, G W; Müller, H

2000-05-01

We report evidence demonstrating that a search asymmetry favoring concave over convex targets can be reversed by altering the figure-ground assignment of edges in shapes. Visual search for a concave target among convex distractors is faster than search for a convex target among concave distractors (a search asymmetry). By using shapes with ambiguous local figure-ground relations, we demonstrated that search can be efficient (with search slopes around 10 ms/item) or inefficient (with search slopes around 30-40 ms/item) with the same stimuli, depending on whether edges are assigned to concave or convex "figures." This assignment process can operate in a top-down manner, according to the task set. The results suggest that attention is allocated to spatial regions following the computation of figure-ground relations in parallel across the elements present. This computation can also be modulated by top-down processes.

Factors Influencing Right Hemisphere Engagement During Metaphor Comprehension

PubMed Central

Diaz, Michele T.; Eppes, Anna

2018-01-01

Although the left hemisphere is critical for language, clinical, behavioral, and neuroimaging research suggest that the right hemisphere also contributes to language comprehension. In particular, research has suggested that figurative language may be one type of language that preferentially engages right hemisphere regions. However, there is disagreement about whether these regions within the right hemisphere are sensitive to figurative language per se or to other factors that co-vary with figurativeness. In this article, we will review the neuroimaging literature on figurative language processing, focusing on metaphors, within the context of several theoretical perspectives that have been proposed about hemispheric function in language. Then we will examine three factors that may influence right hemisphere engagement: novelty, task difficulty, and context. We propose that factors that increase integration demands drive right hemisphere involvement in language processing, and that such recruitment is not limited to figurative language. PMID:29643825

Electrophysiological Repetition Effects in Persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment depend upon Working Memory Demand.

PubMed

Broster, Lucas S; Jenkins, Shonna L; Holmes, Sarah D; Edwards, Matthew G; Jicha, Gregory A; Jiang, Yang

2018-05-07

Forms of implicit memory, including repetition effects, are preserved relative to explicit memory in clinical Alzheimer's disease. Consequently, cognitive interventions for persons with Alzheimer's disease have been developed that leverage this fact. However, despite the clinical robustness of behavioral repetition effects, altered neural mechanisms of repetition effects are studied as biomarkers of both clinical Alzheimer's disease and pre-morbid Alzheimer's changes in the brain. We hypothesized that the clinical preservation of behavioral repetition effects results in part from concurrent operation of discrete memory systems. We developed two experiments that included probes of emotional repetition effects differing in that one included an embedded working memory task. We found that neural repetition effects manifested in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, the earliest form of clinical Alzheimer's disease, during emotional working memory tasks, but they did not manifest during the task that lacked the embedded working memory manipulation. Specifically, the working memory task evoked neural repetition effects in the P600 time-window, but the same neural mechanism was only minimally implicated in the task without a working memory component. We also found that group differences in behavioral repetition effects were smaller in the experiment with a working memory task. We suggest that cross-domain cognitive challenge can expose "defunct" neural capabilities of individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Impact of 360-degree Sensor Information on Vehicle Commander Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-01

Questionnaire .....................................3  2.2.2  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) Task Load Index ( NASA - TLX ...Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index ( NASA - TLX ) Questionnaire 63  Appendix D. Usability and Exit Interview Questionnaires 65  Appendix E...49  Figure 33. Mean workload rating for the NASA - TLX subscales

An Analysis of How and Why High School Geometry Teachers Implement Dynamic Geometry Software Tasks for Student Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nirode, Wayne

2012-01-01

This study examined teachers' use of student tasks involving dynamic geometry software, in which a figure is constructed then altered while maintaining its constructed properties. Although researchers, professional organizations, and policy makers generally have been proponents of dynamic geometry for instruction, there is little research about…

Computer-Mediated Training Tools to Enhance Joint Task Force Cognitive Leadership Skills

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-04-01

University); and 5d. TASK NUMBER Barclay Lewis (American Systems) 5e. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ...ple G am ing Platform D ecisive A ction for Training ..................................................... 43 6. Perform ance M etrics...Figure 15: Automated Performance Measurement System ................................................................... 48 iv COMPUTER-MEDIATED TRAINING

How Stimulus and Task Complexity Affect Monitoring in High-Functioning Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koolen, Sophieke; Vissers, Constance Th. W. M.; Egger, Jos I. M.; Verhoeven, Ludo

2014-01-01

The present study examined whether individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are able to update and monitor working memory representations of visual input, and whether performance is influenced by stimulus and task complexity. 15 high-functioning adults with ASD and 15 controls were asked to allocate either elements of abstract figures or…

Diagnosis of multiple sclerosis from EEG signals using nonlinear methods.

PubMed

Torabi, Ali; Daliri, Mohammad Reza; Sabzposhan, Seyyed Hojjat

2017-12-01

EEG signals have essential and important information about the brain and neural diseases. The main purpose of this study is classifying two groups of healthy volunteers and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients using nonlinear features of EEG signals while performing cognitive tasks. EEG signals were recorded when users were doing two different attentional tasks. One of the tasks was based on detecting a desired change in color luminance and the other task was based on detecting a desired change in direction of motion. EEG signals were analyzed in two ways: EEG signals analysis without rhythms decomposition and EEG sub-bands analysis. After recording and preprocessing, time delay embedding method was used for state space reconstruction; embedding parameters were determined for original signals and their sub-bands. Afterwards nonlinear methods were used in feature extraction phase. To reduce the feature dimension, scalar feature selections were done by using T-test and Bhattacharyya criteria. Then, the data were classified using linear support vector machines (SVM) and k-nearest neighbor (KNN) method. The best combination of the criteria and classifiers was determined for each task by comparing performances. For both tasks, the best results were achieved by using T-test criterion and SVM classifier. For the direction-based and the color-luminance-based tasks, maximum classification performances were 93.08 and 79.79% respectively which were reached by using optimal set of features. Our results show that the nonlinear dynamic features of EEG signals seem to be useful and effective in MS diseases diagnosis.

Texture Segregation Causes Early Figure Enhancement and Later Ground Suppression in Areas V1 and V4 of Visual Cortex.

PubMed

Poort, Jasper; Self, Matthew W; van Vugt, Bram; Malkki, Hemi; Roelfsema, Pieter R

2016-10-01

Segregation of images into figures and background is fundamental for visual perception. Cortical neurons respond more strongly to figural image elements than to background elements, but the mechanisms of figure-ground modulation (FGM) are only partially understood. It is unclear whether FGM in early and mid-level visual cortex is caused by an enhanced response to the figure, a suppressed response to the background, or both.We studied neuronal activity in areas V1 and V4 in monkeys performing a texture segregation task. We compared texture-defined figures with homogeneous textures and found an early enhancement of the figure representation, and a later suppression of the background. Across neurons, the strength of figure enhancement was independent of the strength of background suppression.We also examined activity in the different V1 layers. Both figure enhancement and ground suppression were strongest in superficial and deep layers and weaker in layer 4. The current-source density profiles suggested that figure enhancement was caused by stronger synaptic inputs in feedback-recipient layers 1, 2, and 5 and ground suppression by weaker inputs in these layers, suggesting an important role for feedback connections from higher level areas. These results provide new insights into the mechanisms for figure-ground organization. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

MSL: Facilitating automatic and physical analysis of published scientific literature in PDF format.

PubMed

Ahmed, Zeeshan; Dandekar, Thomas

2015-01-01

Published scientific literature contains millions of figures, including information about the results obtained from different scientific experiments e.g. PCR-ELISA data, microarray analysis, gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry data, DNA/RNA sequencing, diagnostic imaging (CT/MRI and ultrasound scans), and medicinal imaging like electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), echocardiography  (ECG), positron-emission tomography (PET) images. The importance of biomedical figures has been widely recognized in scientific and medicine communities, as they play a vital role in providing major original data, experimental and computational results in concise form. One major challenge for implementing a system for scientific literature analysis is extracting and analyzing text and figures from published PDF files by physical and logical document analysis. Here we present a product line architecture based bioinformatics tool 'Mining Scientific Literature (MSL)', which supports the extraction of text and images by interpreting all kinds of published PDF files using advanced data mining and image processing techniques. It provides modules for the marginalization of extracted text based on different coordinates and keywords, visualization of extracted figures and extraction of embedded text from all kinds of biological and biomedical figures using applied Optimal Character Recognition (OCR). Moreover, for further analysis and usage, it generates the system's output in different formats including text, PDF, XML and images files. Hence, MSL is an easy to install and use analysis tool to interpret published scientific literature in PDF format.

Software Product Lines: Report of the 2010 US Army Software Product Line Workshop

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-01

requirements and statement of work ( SOW ) tasks can be in- cluded in the request for proposal (RFP) and the contract. 2.2.1 Basic Product Line Acquisition... SOW tasks in Figure 1. Two additional tasks (at the third tier level) ac- count for sustaining the production capability over the life cycle and...Acquisition Strategy RFP and SOW Initial Product Line Scope Product Line Business Case Capability Description Document Teaming Product Line

Globally inconsistent figure/ground relations induced by a negative part.

PubMed

Kim, Sung-Ho; Feldman, Jacob

2009-09-10

Figure/ground interpretation is a dynamic and complex process involving the cooperation and competition of a number of perceptual factors. Most research has assumed that figure/ground assignment is globally consistent along the entire contour of a single figure, meaning that the one side of each boundary is interpreted as figure along the entire length of the boundary, and the other side interpreted as ground. We investigated a situation that challenges this assumption, because local cues to figure/ground conflict with global cues: a "negative part," a contour region that appears locally convex but that the global form requires be concave. To measure figure/ground assignment, we use a new task based on local contour motion attribution that allows us to measure border ownership locally at points along the contour. The results from two experiments showed that the more salient a negative part is, the more border ownership tended to locally reverse within it, creating an inconsistency in figure/ground assignments along the contour. This suggests that border ownership assignment is not an all-or-none process, but rather a locally autonomous process that is not strictly constrained by global cues.

Executive function and functional and structural brain differences in middle-age adults with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Braden, B Blair; Smith, Christopher J; Thompson, Amiee; Glaspy, Tyler K; Wood, Emily; Vatsa, Divya; Abbott, Angela E; McGee, Samuel C; Baxter, Leslie C

2017-12-01

There is a rapidly growing group of aging adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who may have unique needs, yet cognitive and brain function in older adults with ASD is understudied. We combined functional and structural neuroimaging and neuropsychological tests to examine differences between middle-aged men with ASD and matched neurotypical (NT) men. Participants (ASD, n = 16; NT, n = 17) aged 40-64 years were well-matched according to age, IQ (range: 83-131), and education (range: 9-20 years). Middle-age adults with ASD made more errors on an executive function task (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test) but performed similarly to NT adults on tests of delayed verbal memory (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test) and local visual search (Embedded Figures Task). Independent component analysis of a functional MRI working memory task (n-back) completed by most participants (ASD = 14, NT = 17) showed decreased engagement of a cortico-striatal-thalamic-cortical neural network in older adults with ASD. Structurally, older adults with ASD had reduced bilateral hippocampal volumes, as measured by FreeSurfer. Findings expand our understanding of ASD as a lifelong condition with persistent cognitive and functional and structural brain differences evident at middle-age. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1945-1959. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. We compared cognitive abilities and brain measures between 16 middle-age men with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 17 typical middle-age men to better understand how aging affects an older group of adults with ASD. Men with ASD made more errors on a test involving flexible thinking, had less activity in a flexible thinking brain network, and had smaller volume of a brain structure related to memory than typical men. We will follow these older adults over time to determine if aging changes are greater for individuals with ASD. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Can You Play with Fire and Not Hurt Yourself? A Comparative Study in Figurative Language Comprehension between Individuals with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder

PubMed Central

Chahboun, Sobh; Vulchanov, Valentin; Saldaña, David; Eshuis, Hendrik

2016-01-01

Individuals with High functioning autism (HFA) are distinguished by relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive skills. However, problems with pragmatic language skills have been consistently reported across the autistic spectrum, even when structural language is intact. Our main goal was to investigate how highly verbal individuals with autism process figurative language and whether manipulation of the stimuli presentation modality had an impact on the processing. We were interested in the extent to which visual context, e.g., an image corresponding either to the literal meaning or the figurative meaning of the expression may facilitate responses to such expressions. Participants with HFA and their typically developing peers (matched on intelligence and language level) completed a cross-modal sentence-picture matching task for figurative expressions and their target figurative meaning represented in images. We expected that the individuals with autism would have difficulties in appreciating the non-literal nature of idioms and metaphors, despite intact structural language skills. Analyses of accuracy and reaction times showed clearly that the participants with autism performed at a lower level than their typically developing peers. Moreover, the modality in which the stimuli were presented was an important variable in task performance for the more transparent expressions. The individuals with autism displayed higher error rates and greater reaction latencies in the auditory modality compared to the visual stimulus presentation modality, implying more difficulty. Performance differed depending on type of expression. Participants had more difficulty understanding the culturally-based expressions, but not expressions grounded in human experience (biological idioms). This research highlights the importance of stimulus presentation modality and that this can lead to differences in figurative language comprehension between typically and atypically developing individuals. The current study also contributes to current debates on the role of structural language in figurative language comprehension in autism. PMID:28036344

Can You Play with Fire and Not Hurt Yourself? A Comparative Study in Figurative Language Comprehension between Individuals with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder.

PubMed

Chahboun, Sobh; Vulchanov, Valentin; Saldaña, David; Eshuis, Hendrik; Vulchanova, Mila

2016-01-01

Individuals with High functioning autism (HFA) are distinguished by relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive skills. However, problems with pragmatic language skills have been consistently reported across the autistic spectrum, even when structural language is intact. Our main goal was to investigate how highly verbal individuals with autism process figurative language and whether manipulation of the stimuli presentation modality had an impact on the processing. We were interested in the extent to which visual context, e.g., an image corresponding either to the literal meaning or the figurative meaning of the expression may facilitate responses to such expressions. Participants with HFA and their typically developing peers (matched on intelligence and language level) completed a cross-modal sentence-picture matching task for figurative expressions and their target figurative meaning represented in images. We expected that the individuals with autism would have difficulties in appreciating the non-literal nature of idioms and metaphors, despite intact structural language skills. Analyses of accuracy and reaction times showed clearly that the participants with autism performed at a lower level than their typically developing peers. Moreover, the modality in which the stimuli were presented was an important variable in task performance for the more transparent expressions. The individuals with autism displayed higher error rates and greater reaction latencies in the auditory modality compared to the visual stimulus presentation modality, implying more difficulty. Performance differed depending on type of expression. Participants had more difficulty understanding the culturally-based expressions, but not expressions grounded in human experience (biological idioms). This research highlights the importance of stimulus presentation modality and that this can lead to differences in figurative language comprehension between typically and atypically developing individuals. The current study also contributes to current debates on the role of structural language in figurative language comprehension in autism.

Comprehension of metaphors in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Mossaheb, Nilufar; Aschauer, Harald N; Stoettner, Susanne; Schmoeger, Michaela; Pils, Nicole; Raab, Monika; Willinger, Ulrike

2014-05-01

Metaphors, mainly proverbs and idiomatic expressions of ordinary life are commonly used as a model for concretism. Previous studies have shown impaired metaphor comprehension in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders compared to either psychiatric or non-psychiatric control subject. The aim of this study was to detect possible quantitative differences in figurative processing between patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and healthy controls. In order to analyse possible dissociations of different aspects of figurative speech, a range of metaphor tasks was used to distinguish between recognition of familiar metaphors, paraphrasing the meaning of the latter and generating novel metaphors: we used a standard proverb test for conventional metaphors consisting of a multiple-choice and a paraphrasing task, and the Metaphoric Triads Test for the assessment of novel metaphors. We included 40 patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and 43 healthy control subjects. Our results showed that patients had impaired figurative speech processing regarding novel and conventional metaphors. Associations with cognitive functions were detected. Performance on the paraphrasing task was associated with the severity of negative symptoms. We conclude that patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders do exhibit impairments in the recognition and paraphrasing of conventional and the generation of novel metaphors and that some cognitive domains as well the extent of negative symptoms might be associated with these deficits. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rapid figure-ground responses to stereograms reveal an advantage for a convex foreground.

PubMed

Bertamini, Marco; Lawson, Rebecca

2008-01-01

Convexity has long been recognised as a factor that affects figure - ground segmentation, even when pitted against other factors such as symmetry [Kanizsa and Gerbino, 1976 Art and Artefacts Ed.M Henle (New York: Springer) pp 25-32]. It is accepted in the literature that the difference between concave and convex contours is important for the visual system, and that there is a prior expectation favouring convexities as figure. We used bipartite stimuli and a simple task in which observers had to report whether the foreground was on the left or the right. We report objective evidence that supports the idea that convexity affects figure-ground assignment, even though our stimuli were not pictorial in that depth order was specified unambiguously by binocular disparity.

Texture Segregation Causes Early Figure Enhancement and Later Ground Suppression in Areas V1 and V4 of Visual Cortex

PubMed Central

Poort, Jasper; Self, Matthew W.; van Vugt, Bram; Malkki, Hemi; Roelfsema, Pieter R.

2016-01-01

Segregation of images into figures and background is fundamental for visual perception. Cortical neurons respond more strongly to figural image elements than to background elements, but the mechanisms of figure–ground modulation (FGM) are only partially understood. It is unclear whether FGM in early and mid-level visual cortex is caused by an enhanced response to the figure, a suppressed response to the background, or both. We studied neuronal activity in areas V1 and V4 in monkeys performing a texture segregation task. We compared texture-defined figures with homogeneous textures and found an early enhancement of the figure representation, and a later suppression of the background. Across neurons, the strength of figure enhancement was independent of the strength of background suppression. We also examined activity in the different V1 layers. Both figure enhancement and ground suppression were strongest in superficial and deep layers and weaker in layer 4. The current–source density profiles suggested that figure enhancement was caused by stronger synaptic inputs in feedback-recipient layers 1, 2, and 5 and ground suppression by weaker inputs in these layers, suggesting an important role for feedback connections from higher level areas. These results provide new insights into the mechanisms for figure–ground organization. PMID:27522074

Implementation of and Ada real-time executive: A case study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laird, James D.; Burton, Bruce A.; Koppes, Mary R.

1986-01-01

Current Ada language implementations and runtime environments are immature, unproven and are a key risk area for real-time embedded computer system (ECS). A test-case environment is provided in which the concerns of the real-time, ECS community are addressed. A priority driven executive is selected to be implemented in the Ada programming language. The model selected is representative of real-time executives tailored for embedded systems used missile, spacecraft, and avionics applications. An Ada-based design methodology is utilized, and two designs are considered. The first of these designs requires the use of vendor supplied runtime and tasking support. An alternative high-level design is also considered for an implementation requiring no vendor supplied runtime or tasking support. The former approach is carried through to implementation.

The brain may know more than cognitive theory can tell us: a reply to Ted Parks.

PubMed

Dresp, B; Spillmann, L

2001-01-01

In reply to Parks' interpretation of Rock's cognitive theory of illusory figures, we maintain our point of view that such a theory has limited heuristic and explanatory power because it fails to predict subjects' responses in psychophysical tasks. As a result, the theoretical framework defended by Parks is not appropriate for suggesting candidate mechanisms of brain-behaviour function that could underly the phenomenal emergence of such figures.

Electrophysiological correlates of figure-ground segregation directly reflect perceptual saliency.

PubMed

Straube, Sirko; Grimsen, Cathleen; Fahle, Manfred

2010-03-05

In a figure identification task, we investigated the influence of different visual cue configurations (spatial frequency, orientation or a combination of both) on the human EEG. Combining psychophysics with ERP and time-frequency analysis, we show that the neural response at about 200ms reflects perceptual saliency rather than physical cue contrast. Increasing saliency caused (i) a negative shift of the posterior P2 coinciding with a power decrease in the posterior theta-band and (ii) an amplitude and latency increase of the posterior P3. We demonstrate that visual cues interact for a percept that is non-linearly related to the physical figure-ground properties.

Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills and Writing Skills through the Variation in Non-Traditional Writing Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinaga, Parlindungan; Feranie, Shelly

2017-01-01

The research aims to identify the impacts of embedding non-traditional writing tasks within the course of modern physics conducted to the students of Physics Education and Physics Study Programs. It employed a quasi-experimental method with the pretest-posttest control group design. The used instruments were tests on conceptual mastery, tests on…

Implementation of a Localized Task-Based Course in an EFL Context: A Study of Students' Evolving Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Youjin; Jung, Yeonjoo; Tracy-Ventura, Nicole

2017-01-01

Despite a strong pedagogical orientation, the majority of research examining the effectiveness of task-based language teaching (TBLT) and perceptions toward TBLT has been investigated in isolation rather than embedded in larger curricular contexts (McDonough, 2015]). The current study examines the process of developing a TBLT curriculum in South…

Creating an Online Laboratory

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-18

Problem (TSP) to solve, a canonical computer science problem that involves identifying the shortest itinerary for a hypothetical salesman traveling among a...also created working versions of the travelling salesperson problem , prisoners’ dilemma, public goods game, ultimatum game, word ladders, and...the task within networks of others performing the task. Thus, we built five problems which could be embedded in networks: the traveling salesperson

Role of Two Types of Syntactic Embedding in Belief Attribution in Adults with or without Asperger Syndrome

PubMed Central

Burnel, Morgane Clémentine; Perrone-Bertolotti, Marcela; Durrleman, Stephanie; Reboul, Anne C.; Baciu, Monica

2017-01-01

The role of syntax in belief attribution (BA) is not completely understood in healthy adults and understudied in adults with autism spectrum disorder. Embedded syntax could be useful either for the development of Theory of Mind (ToM) (Emergence account) or more generally over the lifespan (Reasoning account). Two hypotheses have been explored, one suggesting that embedding itself (Relatives and Complement sentences and Metarepresentation account) is important for ToM and another one considering that the embedding of a false proposition into a true one (Complement sentences and Misrepresentation account) is important. The goals of this study were to evaluate (1) the role of syntax in ToM (Emergence vs. Reasoning account), (2) the type of syntax implied in ToM (Metarepresentation vs. Misrepresentation account), and (3) the verbally mediated strategies which compensate for ToM deficits in adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS). Fifty NeuroTypical (NT) adults and 22 adults with AS were involved in a forced-choice task including ±ToM tasks (BA and a control task, physical causation, PC) under four Interference conditions (silence, syllable repetition, relative sentences repetition, and complement sentences repetition). The non-significant ±ToM × Interference interaction effect in the NT group did not support the Reasoning account and thus suggests that syntax is useful only for ToM development (i.e., Emergence account). Results also indicated that repeating complement clauses put NT participants in a dual task whereas repeating relative clauses did not, suggesting that repeating relatives is easier for NT than repeating complements. This could be an argument in favor of the Misrepresentation account. However, this result should be interpreted with caution because our results did not support the Reasoning account. Moreover, AS participants (but not NT participants) were more disrupted by ±ToM tasks when asked to repeat complement sentences compared to relative clause sentences. This result is in favor of the Misrepresentation account and indirectly suggests verbally mediated strategies for ToM in AS. To summarize, our results are in favor of the Emergence account in NT and of Reasoning and Misrepresentation accounts in adults with AS. Overall, this suggests that adults with AS use complement syntax to compensate for ToM deficits. PMID:28553246

Role of Two Types of Syntactic Embedding in Belief Attribution in Adults with or without Asperger Syndrome.

PubMed

Burnel, Morgane Clémentine; Perrone-Bertolotti, Marcela; Durrleman, Stephanie; Reboul, Anne C; Baciu, Monica

2017-01-01

The role of syntax in belief attribution (BA) is not completely understood in healthy adults and understudied in adults with autism spectrum disorder. Embedded syntax could be useful either for the development of Theory of Mind (ToM) ( Emergence account) or more generally over the lifespan ( Reasoning account). Two hypotheses have been explored, one suggesting that embedding itself (Relatives and Complement sentences and Metarepresentation account) is important for ToM and another one considering that the embedding of a false proposition into a true one (Complement sentences and Misrepresentation account) is important. The goals of this study were to evaluate (1) the role of syntax in ToM ( Emergence vs. Reasoning account), (2) the type of syntax implied in ToM ( Metarepresentation vs. Misrepresentation account), and (3) the verbally mediated strategies which compensate for ToM deficits in adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS). Fifty NeuroTypical (NT) adults and 22 adults with AS were involved in a forced-choice task including ±ToM tasks (BA and a control task, physical causation, PC) under four Interference conditions (silence, syllable repetition, relative sentences repetition, and complement sentences repetition). The non-significant ±ToM × Interference interaction effect in the NT group did not support the Reasoning account and thus suggests that syntax is useful only for ToM development (i.e., Emergence account). Results also indicated that repeating complement clauses put NT participants in a dual task whereas repeating relative clauses did not, suggesting that repeating relatives is easier for NT than repeating complements. This could be an argument in favor of the Misrepresentation account. However, this result should be interpreted with caution because our results did not support the Reasoning account. Moreover, AS participants (but not NT participants) were more disrupted by ±ToM tasks when asked to repeat complement sentences compared to relative clause sentences. This result is in favor of the Misrepresentation account and indirectly suggests verbally mediated strategies for ToM in AS. To summarize, our results are in favor of the Emergence account in NT and of Reasoning and Misrepresentation accounts in adults with AS. Overall, this suggests that adults with AS use complement syntax to compensate for ToM deficits.

Corrosion Induced Loss of Capacity and Development of a Guided Wave Condition Assessment Method for Multistrand Anchor Systems Used in Corps Projects

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-08-01

installing high-capacity, post-tensioned foundation anchors. These stressed steel tendons have been used to strengthen hydraulic concrete structures and to...Field Inspection in Mass Concrete .................................... 32 3.3 NDT Technologies in General for Seven Strand Wire Cable Inspection...rod end of a 1.31-inch-diameter grease embedded trunion anchor rod with concrete termination. ..................... 37 Figure 32. 441 Khz narrow

A Study of the Charge Trap Transistor (CTT) for Post-Fab Modification of Wafers

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-04-01

conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies of endorsements, either...applicability of the charge trap transistor (CTT) for embedded memory applications. Two case uses are considered (1) as a digital multi-time...28 Figure 38: (a) Weight-Dependent Plasticity when Five Trapping/Detrapping Pulses are applied in the LTD/LTP Regimes, respectively and (b

Field and Laboratory Studies for Increasing the Intrinsic Reward Value in Navy Jobs and Careers.

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-08-31

Cabe, P.A. The relation be- tween embedded figures test performance and simulator behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology , 1969, 5_3, 253-254. Blood... Psychology , 1973, 99, 137-139. Moses, J.L. Selecting vigilant types: Predicting vigilance per- formance by means of a field dependence test ...Laboratory Studies for Increasing the Intrinsic Reward Value in Navy Jobs and Careers Gerald V. Barrett Faye H. Dambrot Department of Psychology

Visuo-spatial performance in autism: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Muth, Anne; Hönekopp, Johannes; Falter, Christine M

2014-12-01

Visuo-spatial skills are believed to be enhanced in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). This meta-analysis tests the current state of evidence for Figure Disembedding, Block Design, Mental Rotation and Navon tasks in ASD and neurotypicals. Block Design (d = 0.32) and Figure Disembedding (d = 0.26) showed superior performance for ASD with large heterogeneity that is unaccounted for. No clear differences were found for Mental Rotation. ASD samples showed a stronger local processing preference for Navon tasks (d = 0.35); less clear evidence for performance differences of a similar magnitude emerged. We discuss the meta-analysis results together with other findings relating to visuo-spatial processing and three cognitive theories of ASD: Weak Central Coherence, Enhanced Perceptual Functioning and Extreme Male Brain theory.

Intelligence of Mexican American Children: A Field Study Comparing Neo-Piagetian and Traditional Capacity and Achievement Measures.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Avila, Edward A.; Havassy, Barbara

Approximately 1,225 Mexican American and Anglo American children in grades 1-6 (ages 6-14) from California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas were tested using school achievement and IQ standardized tests and four Piagetian-derived measures (Cartoon Conservation Scales, Water Level Task, Figural Intersection Test, and Serial Task). The field study's…

Verifiable Task Assignment and Scheduling Controller

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-07-01

15 Figure 8. Summary of results for NASA -TLX overall workload and individual...using the NASA Task Load Index ( NASA -TLX; Hart & Staveland, 1988), which was completed using a computerized version of the questionnaire. The...filled out the NASA -TLX. Then prior to the second trial, participants were trained on how to use SPEC. SPEC training consisted of: an explanation of the

Attention to local and global levels of hierarchical Navon figures affects rapid scene categorization.

PubMed

Brand, John; Johnson, Aaron P

2014-01-01

In four experiments, we investigated how attention to local and global levels of hierarchical Navon figures affected the selection of diagnostic spatial scale information used in scene categorization. We explored this issue by asking observers to classify hybrid images (i.e., images that contain low spatial frequency (LSF) content of one image, and high spatial frequency (HSF) content from a second image) immediately following global and local Navon tasks. Hybrid images can be classified according to either their LSF, or HSF content; thus, making them ideal for investigating diagnostic spatial scale preference. Although observers were sensitive to both spatial scales (Experiment 1), they overwhelmingly preferred to classify hybrids based on LSF content (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, we demonstrated that LSF based hybrid categorization was faster following global Navon tasks, suggesting that LSF processing associated with global Navon tasks primed the selection of LSFs in hybrid images. In Experiment 4, replicating Experiment 3 but suppressing the LSF information in Navon letters by contrast balancing the stimuli examined this hypothesis. Similar to Experiment 3, observers preferred to classify hybrids based on LSF content; however and in contrast, LSF based hybrid categorization was slower following global than local Navon tasks.

Attention to local and global levels of hierarchical Navon figures affects rapid scene categorization

PubMed Central

Brand, John; Johnson, Aaron P.

2014-01-01

In four experiments, we investigated how attention to local and global levels of hierarchical Navon figures affected the selection of diagnostic spatial scale information used in scene categorization. We explored this issue by asking observers to classify hybrid images (i.e., images that contain low spatial frequency (LSF) content of one image, and high spatial frequency (HSF) content from a second image) immediately following global and local Navon tasks. Hybrid images can be classified according to either their LSF, or HSF content; thus, making them ideal for investigating diagnostic spatial scale preference. Although observers were sensitive to both spatial scales (Experiment 1), they overwhelmingly preferred to classify hybrids based on LSF content (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, we demonstrated that LSF based hybrid categorization was faster following global Navon tasks, suggesting that LSF processing associated with global Navon tasks primed the selection of LSFs in hybrid images. In Experiment 4, replicating Experiment 3 but suppressing the LSF information in Navon letters by contrast balancing the stimuli examined this hypothesis. Similar to Experiment 3, observers preferred to classify hybrids based on LSF content; however and in contrast, LSF based hybrid categorization was slower following global than local Navon tasks. PMID:25520675

Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Tactical Battlefield Communications,

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-02-01

Communications, in and Intelligence (ASD/C3I); and LTG John Woodward, J6. The Task Force comprised fourteen experts from government, industry, and academe. The...O’Berry (USAF-Retired) Col Bobby Smart (USAF) Professor Stewart Personick Mr. Mark Rich Mr. Peter D. Steensma DSB Staff Assistant Mr. John ...were: The Honorable Dr. Jacques Gansler, USD/AT&L, the Honorable Art Money, ASD/C3I and LTG John Woodward, JCS-J6. The Task Force membership (Figure

Living well in the Neuropolis

PubMed Central

Fitzgerald, Des; Rose, Nikolas; Singh, Ilina

2016-01-01

Abstract This paper is about the relationship between cities and brains: it charts the back‐and‐forth between the hectic, stressful lives of urban citizens, and a psychological and neurobiological literature that claims to make such stress both visible and knowable. But beyond such genealogical labour, the paper also asks: what can a sociology concerned with the effects of ‘biosocial’ agencies take from a scientific literature on the urban brain? What might sociology even contribute to that literature, in its turn? To investigate these possibilities, the paper centres on the emergence and description of what it calls ‘the Neuropolis’ – a term it deploys to hold together both an intellectual and scientific figure and a real, physical enclosure. The Neuropolis is an image of the city embedded in neuropsychological concepts and histories, but it also describes an embodied set of (sometimes pathological) relations and effects that take places between cities and the people who live in them. At the heart of the paper is an argument that finding a way to thread these phenomena together might open up new paths for thinking about ‘good’ life in the contemporary city. Pushing at this claim, the paper argues that mapping the relations, histories, spaces, and people held together by this term is a vital task for the future of urban sociology. PMID:27397945

Measuring information processing in a client with extreme agitation following traumatic brain injury using the Perceive, Recall, Plan and Perform System of Task Analysis.

PubMed

Nott, Melissa T; Chapparo, Christine

2008-09-01

Agitation following traumatic brain injury is characterised by a heightened state of activity with disorganised information processing that interferes with learning and achieving functional goals. This study aimed to identify information processing problems during task performance of a severely agitated adult using the Perceive, Recall, Plan and Perform (PRPP) System of Task Analysis. Second, this study aimed to examine the sensitivity of the PRPP System to changes in task performance over a short period of rehabilitation, and third, to evaluate the guidance provided by the PRPP in directing intervention. A case study research design was employed. The PRPP System of Task Analysis was used to assess changes in task embedded information processing capacity during occupational therapy intervention with a severely agitated adult in a rehabilitation context. Performance is assessed on three selected tasks over a one-month period. Information processing difficulties during task performance can be clearly identified when observing a severely agitated adult following a traumatic brain injury. Processing skills involving attention, sensory processing and planning were most affected at this stage of rehabilitation. These processing difficulties are linked to established descriptions of agitated behaviour. Fluctuations in performance across three tasks of differing processing complexity were evident, leading to hypothesised relationships between task complexity, environment and novelty with information processing errors. Changes in specific information processing capacity over time were evident based on repeated measures using the PRPP System of Task Analysis. This lends preliminary support for its utility as an outcome measure, and raises hypotheses about the type of therapy required to enhance information processing in people with severe agitation. The PRPP System is sensitive to information processing changes in severely agitated adults when used to reassess performance over short intervals and can provide direct guidance to occupational therapy intervention to improve task embedded information processing by categorising errors under four stages of an information processing model: Perceive, Recall, Plan and Perform.

Lossless data embedding for all image formats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fridrich, Jessica; Goljan, Miroslav; Du, Rui

2002-04-01

Lossless data embedding has the property that the distortion due to embedding can be completely removed from the watermarked image without accessing any side channel. This can be a very important property whenever serious concerns over the image quality and artifacts visibility arise, such as for medical images, due to legal reasons, for military images or images used as evidence in court that may be viewed after enhancement and zooming. We formulate two general methodologies for lossless embedding that can be applied to images as well as any other digital objects, including video, audio, and other structures with redundancy. We use the general principles as guidelines for designing efficient, simple, and high-capacity lossless embedding methods for three most common image format paradigms - raw, uncompressed formats (BMP), lossy or transform formats (JPEG), and palette formats (GIF, PNG). We close the paper with examples of how the concept of lossless data embedding can be used as a powerful tool to achieve a variety of non-trivial tasks, including elegant lossless authentication using fragile watermarks. Note on terminology: some authors coined the terms erasable, removable, reversible, invertible, and distortion-free for the same concept.

Embedded System Implementation on FPGA System With μCLinux OS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fairuz Muhd Amin, Ahmad; Aris, Ishak; Syamsul Azmir Raja Abdullah, Raja; Kalos Zakiah Sahbudin, Ratna

2011-02-01

Embedded systems are taking on more complicated tasks as the processors involved become more powerful. The embedded systems have been widely used in many areas such as in industries, automotives, medical imaging, communications, speech recognition and computer vision. The complexity requirements in hardware and software nowadays need a flexibility system for further enhancement in any design without adding new hardware. Therefore, any changes in the design system will affect the processor that need to be changed. To overcome this problem, a System On Programmable Chip (SOPC) has been designed and developed using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). A softcore processor, NIOS II 32-bit RISC, which is the microprocessor core was utilized in FPGA system together with the embedded operating system(OS), μClinux. In this paper, an example of web server is explained and demonstrated

High-Performance Flexible Transparent Electrode with an Embedded Metal Mesh Fabricated by Cost-Effective Solution Process.

PubMed

Khan, Arshad; Lee, Sangeon; Jang, Taehee; Xiong, Ze; Zhang, Cuiping; Tang, Jinyao; Guo, L Jay; Li, Wen-Di

2016-06-01

A new structure of flexible transparent electrodes is reported, featuring a metal mesh fully embedded and mechanically anchored in a flexible substrate, and a cost-effective solution-based fabrication strategy for this new transparent electrode. The embedded nature of the metal-mesh electrodes provides a series of advantages, including surface smoothness that is crucial for device fabrication, mechanical stability under high bending stress, strong adhesion to the substrate with excellent flexibility, and favorable resistance against moisture, oxygen, and chemicals. The novel fabrication process replaces vacuum-based metal deposition with an electrodeposition process and is potentially suitable for high-throughput, large-volume, and low-cost production. In particular, this strategy enables fabrication of a high-aspect-ratio (thickness to linewidth) metal mesh, substantially improving conductivity without considerably sacrificing transparency. Various prototype flexible transparent electrodes are demonstrated with transmittance higher than 90% and sheet resistance below 1 ohm sq(-1) , as well as extremely high figures of merit up to 1.5 × 10(4) , which are among the highest reported values in recent studies. Finally using our embedded metal-mesh electrode, a flexible transparent thin-film heater is demonstrated with a low power density requirement, rapid response time, and a low operating voltage. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Visual information processing in the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus): mental rotation or rotational invariance?

PubMed

Burmann, Britta; Dehnhardt, Guido; Mauck, Björn

2005-01-01

Mental rotation is a widely accepted concept indicating an image-like mental representation of visual information and an analogue mode of information processing in certain visuospatial tasks. In the task of discriminating between image and mirror-image of rotated figures, human reaction times increase with the angular disparity between the figures. In animals, tests of this kind yield inconsistent results. Pigeons were found to use a time-independent rotational invariance, possibly indicating a non-analogue information processing system that evolved in response to the horizontal plane of reference birds perceive during flight. Despite similar ecological demands concerning the visual reference plane, a sea lion was found to use mental rotation in similar tasks, but its processing speed while rotating three-dimensional stimuli seemed to depend on the axis of rotation in a different way than found for humans in similar tasks. If ecological demands influence the way information processing systems evolve, hominids might have secondarily lost the ability of rotational invariance while retreating from arboreal living and evolving an upright gait in which the vertical reference plane is more important. We therefore conducted mental rotation experiments with an arboreal living primate species, the lion-tailed macaque. Performing a two-alternative matching-to-sample procedure, the animal had to decide between rotated figures representing image and mirror-image of a previously shown upright sample. Although non-rotated stimuli were recognized faster than rotated ones, the animal's mean reaction times did not clearly increase with the angle of rotation. These results are inconsistent with the mental rotation concept but also cannot be explained assuming a mere rotational invariance. Our study thus seems to support the idea of information processing systems evolving gradually in response to specific ecological demands.

Adaptive Architectures for Effects Based Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-08-12

laLb c d elfl I A IB Ic d e f Parent 2 Figure 3: One-Point Crossover System Architectures Lab 85 Aug-06 6.4. ECAD -EA Methodology The previous two...that accomplishes this task is termed as ECAD -EA (Effective Courses of Action Determination Using Evolutionary Algorithms). Besides a completely...items are given below followed by their explanations, while Figure 4 shows the inputs and outputs of the ECAD -EA methodology in the form of a block

Metallic and Ceramic Materials Research. Task Order 0005: Metallic, Materials, Methods, Characterization and Testing Research

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-10-01

articles and papers, and is referenced in the text. 15. SUBJECT TERMS high entropy alloys, titanium, inertia welding 16. SECURITY...A. Approved for public release; distribution unlimited. List of Figures Figure 1: (a) Fracture surface of a LSHR/Mar-M247 weld specimen fractured...in Mar-M247 region ~6 mm apart from the weld interface. (b-c) Higher magnification images illustrating (b) a blocky, faceted appearance of fracture

Rehabilitation of Visual and Perceptual Dysfunction After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-26

about this amount. 10 C. Collision judgments in  virtual  mall walking simulator The virtual mall is a virtual reality model of a real shopping...expanded vision from the prisms (Figure 5b). Figure 4. Illustration of the virtual reality mall set-up and collision judgment task. Participants...1 AD_________________ Award Number: W81XWH-11-2-0082 TITLE: Rehabilitation of Visual and Perceptual Dysfunction after Severe

Proposed structure of putative glucose channel in GLUT1 facilitative glucose transporter.

PubMed Central

Zeng, H; Parthasarathy, R; Rampal, A L; Jung, C Y

1996-01-01

A family of structurally related intrinsic membrane proteins (facilitative glucose transporters) catalyzes the movement of glucose across the plasma membrane of animal cells. Evidence indicates that these proteins show a common structural motif where approximately 50% of the mass is embedded in lipid bilayer (transmembrane domain) in 12 alpha-helices (transmembrane helices; TMHs) and accommodates a water-filled channel for substrate passage (glucose channel) whose tertiary structure is currently unknown. Using recent advances in protein structure prediction algorithms we proposed here two three-dimensional structural models for the transmembrane glucose channel of GLUT1 glucose transporter. Our models emphasize the physical dimension and water accessibility of the channel, loop lengths between TMHs, the macrodipole orientation in four-helix bundle motif, and helix packing energy. Our models predict that five TMHs, either TMHs 3, 4, 7, 8, 11 (Model 1) or TMHs 2, 5, 11, 8, 7 (Model 2), line the channel, and the remaining TMHs surround these channel-lining TMHs. We discuss how our models are compatible with the experimental data obtained with this protein, and how they can be used in designing new biochemical and molecular biological experiments in elucidation of the structural basis of this important protein function. Images FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2 FIGURE 4 FIGURE 5 PMID:8770183

Phenotypic relationships of prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia to invasive prostatic carcinoma.

PubMed Central

Nagle, R. B.; Brawer, M. K.; Kittelson, J.; Clark, V.

1991-01-01

Thirty-one snap-frozen human prostate specimens containing examples of benign hyperplasia, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), and invasive carcinoma were analyzed using a panel of 24 antibodies and one lectin. Twenty-seven additional routinely processed radical prostatectomy specimens were studied using selected probes known to work on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded material. Three probes, anticytokeratin KA4, anti-vimentin V9, and the lectin from Ulex europaeus (UEA-1), demonstrated phenotypic similarities between PIN and invasive carcinoma. Whereas the luminal cells of normal or hyperplastic prostatic epithelium are minimally reactive with KA4 (4%) or UEA-1 (0%) and strongly reactive with anti-vimentin (91%), both the PIN and invasive carcinoma are reactive with KA4 (89% and 93%, respectively) and UEA-1 (96% and 93%, respectively) and minimally reactive with anti-vimentin (15% and 0%, respectively). The increased KA4 staining was shown to be in part due to detection of cytokeratin 19, by using cytokeratin-19-specific antibodies, 4.62 and LP2K. The reasons for the increased expression of this cytokeratin and the decreased expression of vimentin are unclear but seem to indicate a phenotypic relationship between the PIN lesions and invasive carcinoma. Images Figure 4 Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 PMID:1987760

Fracture Mechanics Method for Word Embedding Generation of Neural Probabilistic Linguistic Model.

PubMed

Bi, Size; Liang, Xiao; Huang, Ting-Lei

2016-01-01

Word embedding, a lexical vector representation generated via the neural linguistic model (NLM), is empirically demonstrated to be appropriate for improvement of the performance of traditional language model. However, the supreme dimensionality that is inherent in NLM contributes to the problems of hyperparameters and long-time training in modeling. Here, we propose a force-directed method to improve such problems for simplifying the generation of word embedding. In this framework, each word is assumed as a point in the real world; thus it can approximately simulate the physical movement following certain mechanics. To simulate the variation of meaning in phrases, we use the fracture mechanics to do the formation and breakdown of meaning combined by a 2-gram word group. With the experiments on the natural linguistic tasks of part-of-speech tagging, named entity recognition and semantic role labeling, the result demonstrated that the 2-dimensional word embedding can rival the word embeddings generated by classic NLMs, in terms of accuracy, recall, and text visualization.

An Embedded Sensor Node Microcontroller with Crypto-Processors.

PubMed

Panić, Goran; Stecklina, Oliver; Stamenković, Zoran

2016-04-27

Wireless sensor network applications range from industrial automation and control, agricultural and environmental protection, to surveillance and medicine. In most applications, data are highly sensitive and must be protected from any type of attack and abuse. Security challenges in wireless sensor networks are mainly defined by the power and computing resources of sensor devices, memory size, quality of radio channels and susceptibility to physical capture. In this article, an embedded sensor node microcontroller designed to support sensor network applications with severe security demands is presented. It features a low power 16-bitprocessor core supported by a number of hardware accelerators designed to perform complex operations required by advanced crypto algorithms. The microcontroller integrates an embedded Flash and an 8-channel 12-bit analog-to-digital converter making it a good solution for low-power sensor nodes. The article discusses the most important security topics in wireless sensor networks and presents the architecture of the proposed hardware solution. Furthermore, it gives details on the chip implementation, verification and hardware evaluation. Finally, the chip power dissipation and performance figures are estimated and analyzed.

An Embedded Sensor Node Microcontroller with Crypto-Processors

PubMed Central

Panić, Goran; Stecklina, Oliver; Stamenković, Zoran

2016-01-01

Wireless sensor network applications range from industrial automation and control, agricultural and environmental protection, to surveillance and medicine. In most applications, data are highly sensitive and must be protected from any type of attack and abuse. Security challenges in wireless sensor networks are mainly defined by the power and computing resources of sensor devices, memory size, quality of radio channels and susceptibility to physical capture. In this article, an embedded sensor node microcontroller designed to support sensor network applications with severe security demands is presented. It features a low power 16-bitprocessor core supported by a number of hardware accelerators designed to perform complex operations required by advanced crypto algorithms. The microcontroller integrates an embedded Flash and an 8-channel 12-bit analog-to-digital converter making it a good solution for low-power sensor nodes. The article discusses the most important security topics in wireless sensor networks and presents the architecture of the proposed hardware solution. Furthermore, it gives details on the chip implementation, verification and hardware evaluation. Finally, the chip power dissipation and performance figures are estimated and analyzed. PMID:27128925

Age-Related Changes in Temporal Allocation of Visual Attention: Evidence from the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) Paradigm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger, Carole; Valdois, Sylviane; Lallier, Marie; Donnadieu, Sophie

2015-01-01

The present study explored the temporal allocation of attention in groups of 8-year-old children, 10-year-old children, and adults performing a rapid serial visual presentation task. In a dual-condition task, participants had to detect a briefly presented target (T2) after identifying an initial target (T1) embedded in a random series of…

Space Flight Resource Management Training for International Space Station Flight Controllers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

O'Keefe, William S.

2011-01-01

Training includes both SFRM-dedicated lessons and SFRM training embedded into technical lessons. Goal is to reduce certification times by 50% and integrated simulations by 75-90%. SFRM is practiced, evaluated and debriefed in part task trainers and full-task simulation lessons. SFRM model and training are constantly being evaluated against student/management feedback, best practices from industry/ military, and latest research.

How children understand idioms in discourse.

PubMed

Cacciari, C; Levorato, M C

1989-06-01

Some studies have shown that children tend to interpret figurative language literally. Our hypothesis is that they can reach an idiomatic competence if idioms are presented within a rich informational environment allowing children to grasp their figurative sense. First and third graders were presented with narratives biased both to the figurative meaning of idioms (experiment 1) and to the literal meaning (experiment 2) and then given a comprehension task. Experiment 3 was designed to investigate children's production of idioms as compared to the comprehension abilities explored in experiments 1 and 2. Results show that informative contexts can improve children's ability to perceive idiomatic meanings even at the age of seven; and that children are less able to produce idioms than to comprehend them. Generally results emphasize that children seem able to perceive that language can be both figurative and literal.

Real time UNIX in embedded control-a case study within the context of LynxOS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kleines, H.; Zwoll, K.

1996-02-01

Intelligent communication controllers for a layered protocol profile are a typical example of an embedded control application, where the classical approach for the software development is based on a proprietary real-time operating system kernel under which the individual layers are implemented as tasks. Based on the exemplary implementation of a derivative of MAP 3.0, an unusual and innovative approach is presented, where the protocol software is implemented under the UNIX-compatible real-time operating system LynxOS. The overall design of the embedded control application is presented under a more general view and economical implications as well as aspects of the development environment and performance are discussed

Influence of cognitive style on information processing and selection of yogurt labels: Insights from an eye-tracking study.

PubMed

Mawad, Franco; Trías, Marcela; Giménez, Ana; Maiche, Alejandro; Ares, Gastón

2015-08-01

Cognitive styles are characteristic and stable ways in which people acquire, organize and use information for solving problems and making decisions. Field dependence/independence is one of the most studied cognitive styles. Field independent subjects are characterized by having less difficulty in separating information from its contextual surroundings and being less likely to be influenced by external cues than field dependent individuals. The present work aimed at studying the influence of field dependence/independence cognitive style on consumers' visual processing and choice of yogurt labels. One hundred and thirty three consumers completed a choice conjoint task. They were asked to select their preferred yogurt label from each of 16 pairs of labels. While they completed the task their eye movements were recorded using an eye-tracker. Then, consumers were asked to complete the Group Embedded Figure Test to determine their cognitive style. Consumers were divided into two groups with different cognitive styles: 58% of the sample was characterized as field dependent and 42% as field independent. When making their choices, field dependent consumers tended to engage in less thoughtful information processing than field independent consumers and they made fewer fixations on traditional nutritional information. Besides, cognitive style significantly affected the relative importance of fat and sugar content on consumer choices and modulated the influence of the traffic light system. Field dependent consumers gave less importance to the nutritional composition of the yogurts than field independent consumers for selecting their preferred label. Results from this work suggest that studying the psychological underpinnings of consumers' decision making process when selecting food products has a great potential to contribute to a better understanding of how eating patterns and consumer preferences are shaped. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spatial cognition and science achievement: The contribution of intrinsic and extrinsic spatial skills from 7 to 11 years.

PubMed

Hodgkiss, Alex; Gilligan, Katie A; Tolmie, Andrew K; Thomas, Michael S C; Farran, Emily K

2018-01-22

Prior longitudinal and correlational research with adults and adolescents indicates that spatial ability is a predictor of science learning and achievement. However, there is little research to date with primary-school aged children that addresses this relationship. Understanding this association has the potential to inform curriculum design and support the development of early interventions. This study examined the relationship between primary-school children's spatial skills and their science achievement. Children aged 7-11 years (N = 123) completed a battery of five spatial tasks, based on a model of spatial ability in which skills fall along two dimensions: intrinsic-extrinsic; static-dynamic. Participants also completed a curriculum-based science assessment. Controlling for verbal ability and age, mental folding (intrinsic-dynamic spatial ability), and spatial scaling (extrinsic-static spatial ability) each emerged as unique predictors of overall science scores, with mental folding a stronger predictor than spatial scaling. These spatial skills combined accounted for 8% of the variance in science scores. When considered by scientific discipline, mental folding uniquely predicted both physics and biology scores, and spatial scaling accounted for additional variance in biology and variance in chemistry scores. The children's embedded figures task (intrinsic-static spatial ability) only accounted for variance in chemistry scores. The patterns of association were consistent across the age range. Spatial skills, particularly mental folding, spatial scaling, and disembedding, are predictive of 7- to 11-year-olds' science achievement. These skills make a similar contribution to performance for each age group. © 2018 The Authors. British Journal of Education Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.

Analysis of Elastic and Electrical Fields in Quantum Structures by Novel Green’s Functions and Related Boundary Integral Methods

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

arbitrarily shaped polygon QWR inclusion/inhomogeneity with eigenstrain ∗Ijγ in an anisotropic substrate... eigenstrain *ijγ is applied to the QWR which is an arbitrarily shaped polygon .................................. 42 3.2 A square InAs QWR embedded in...the QWR domain V and to 0 outside. Figure 2.1 An arbitrarily shaped polygon QWR inclusion/inhomogeneity with eigenstrain ∗Ijγ in an anisotropic

Effect of Nanoscale Fillers on the Local Mechanical Behavior of Polymer Nanocomposites

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-01

the interparticle spacing can be related to the particle volume fraction, vp, and the particle diameter, d, by [2] r = d 6v„ d) I I (b) Figure...VGCNFs), namely as- fabricated (PR-24-XT PS), high temperature hear treated (PR-24-XT-HHT-LD), and high temperature hear treated and oxidatively...Therefore, hear treatment had a severe effect on the fracture toughness of composites with embedded VGCNFs. This agrees with composite level

Gleeble Testing of Tungsten Samples

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-02-01

as a diffusion barrier to prevent the tungsten samples from fusing to the tungsten carbide inserts at elevated temperatures. After the anvils were...anvils with removable tungsten carbide inserts. The inserts were 19.05 mm (0.75 in) in diameter and 25.4 mm (1 in) long; they were purchased from...rhenium are shown in tables 6 and 7 and figure 7. The sample tested at 1300 °C, T4, partially embedded into the tungsten carbide (WC) inserts during

Embedding Fonts in MetaPost Output

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-19

by John Hobby ) based on Donald Knuth’s META- FONT [4] with high quality PostScript output. An outstanding feature of MetaPost is that typeset fonts in...output, the graphics are perfectly scalable to any arbitrary res- olution. John Hobby , its author, writes: “[MetaPost] is really a programming lan- guage...for generating graphics, especially fig- ures for TEX [5] and troff documents.” This quote by Hobby indicates that MetaPost figures are not only

Human Performance Review of the Retail Repair Parts Supply System. Volume II.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-02-01

transsexual adults were tested by LaTorre, Gossmann, and Piper (1976) on the Embedded-figures Test. It was found that the males were more field independent...than females, and that the transsexuals were as field dependent as the females. In this case the male trans- sexuals behaved like the female group in...1976. LaTorre, R. A., Gossmann, I., & Piper, W. E. Cognitive style, hemi- spheric specialization, and tested abilities of transsexuals and

Embedded pitch adapters: A high-yield interconnection solution for strip sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ullán, M.; Allport, P. P.; Baca, M.; Broughton, J.; Chisholm, A.; Nikolopoulos, K.; Pyatt, S.; Thomas, J. P.; Wilson, J. A.; Kierstead, J.; Kuczewski, P.; Lynn, D.; Hommels, L. B. A.; Fleta, C.; Fernandez-Tejero, J.; Quirion, D.; Bloch, I.; Díez, S.; Gregor, I. M.; Lohwasser, K.; Poley, L.; Tackmann, K.; Hauser, M.; Jakobs, K.; Kuehn, S.; Mahboubi, K.; Mori, R.; Parzefall, U.; Clark, A.; Ferrere, D.; Gonzalez Sevilla, S.; Ashby, J.; Blue, A.; Bates, R.; Buttar, C.; Doherty, F.; McMullen, T.; McEwan, F.; O'Shea, V.; Kamada, S.; Yamamura, K.; Ikegami, Y.; Nakamura, K.; Takubo, Y.; Unno, Y.; Takashima, R.; Chilingarov, A.; Fox, H.; Affolder, A. A.; Casse, G.; Dervan, P.; Forshaw, D.; Greenall, A.; Wonsak, S.; Wormald, M.; Cindro, V.; Kramberger, G.; Mandić, I.; Mikuž, M.; Gorelov, I.; Hoeferkamp, M.; Palni, P.; Seidel, S.; Taylor, A.; Toms, K.; Wang, R.; Hessey, N. P.; Valencic, N.; Hanagaki, K.; Dolezal, Z.; Kodys, P.; Bohm, J.; Mikestikova, M.; Bevan, A.; Beck, G.; Milke, C.; Domingo, M.; Fadeyev, V.; Galloway, Z.; Hibbard-Lubow, D.; Liang, Z.; Sadrozinski, H. F.-W.; Seiden, A.; To, K.; French, R.; Hodgson, P.; Marin-Reyes, H.; Parker, K.; Jinnouchi, O.; Hara, K.; Bernabeu, J.; Civera, J. V.; Garcia, C.; Lacasta, C.; Marti i Garcia, S.; Rodriguez, D.; Santoyo, D.; Solaz, C.; Soldevila, U.

2016-09-01

A proposal to fabricate large area strip sensors with integrated, or embedded, pitch adapters is presented for the End-cap part of the Inner Tracker in the ATLAS experiment. To implement the embedded pitch adapters, a second metal layer is used in the sensor fabrication, for signal routing to the ASICs. Sensors with different embedded pitch adapters have been fabricated in order to optimize the design and technology. Inter-strip capacitance, noise, pick-up, cross-talk, signal efficiency, and fabrication yield have been taken into account in their design and fabrication. Inter-strip capacitance tests taking into account all channel neighbors reveal the important differences between the various designs considered. These tests have been correlated with noise figures obtained in full assembled modules, showing that the tests performed on the bare sensors are a valid tool to estimate the final noise in the full module. The full modules have been subjected to test beam experiments in order to evaluate the incidence of cross-talk, pick-up, and signal loss. The detailed analysis shows no indication of cross-talk or pick-up as no additional hits can be observed in any channel not being hit by the beam above 170 mV threshold, and the signal in those channels is always below 1% of the signal recorded in the channel being hit, above 100 mV threshold. First results on irradiated mini-sensors with embedded pitch adapters do not show any change in the interstrip capacitance measurements with only the first neighbors connected.

An effective convolutional neural network model for Chinese sentiment analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yu; Chen, Mengdong; Liu, Lianzhong; Wang, Yadong

2017-06-01

Nowadays microblog is getting more and more popular. People are increasingly accustomed to expressing their opinions on Twitter, Facebook and Sina Weibo. Sentiment analysis of microblog has received significant attention, both in academia and in industry. So far, Chinese microblog exploration still needs lots of further work. In recent years CNN has also been used to deal with NLP tasks, and already achieved good results. However, these methods ignore the effective use of a large number of existing sentimental resources. For this purpose, we propose a Lexicon-based Sentiment Convolutional Neural Networks (LSCNN) model focus on Weibo's sentiment analysis, which combines two CNNs, trained individually base on sentiment features and word embedding, at the fully connected hidden layer. The experimental results show that our model outperforms the CNN model only with word embedding features on microblog sentiment analysis task.

Jointly learning word embeddings using a corpus and a knowledge base

PubMed Central

Bollegala, Danushka; Maehara, Takanori; Kawarabayashi, Ken-ichi

2018-01-01

Methods for representing the meaning of words in vector spaces purely using the information distributed in text corpora have proved to be very valuable in various text mining and natural language processing (NLP) tasks. However, these methods still disregard the valuable semantic relational structure between words in co-occurring contexts. These beneficial semantic relational structures are contained in manually-created knowledge bases (KBs) such as ontologies and semantic lexicons, where the meanings of words are represented by defining the various relationships that exist among those words. We combine the knowledge in both a corpus and a KB to learn better word embeddings. Specifically, we propose a joint word representation learning method that uses the knowledge in the KBs, and simultaneously predicts the co-occurrences of two words in a corpus context. In particular, we use the corpus to define our objective function subject to the relational constrains derived from the KB. We further utilise the corpus co-occurrence statistics to propose two novel approaches, Nearest Neighbour Expansion (NNE) and Hedged Nearest Neighbour Expansion (HNE), that dynamically expand the KB and therefore derive more constraints that guide the optimisation process. Our experimental results over a wide-range of benchmark tasks demonstrate that the proposed method statistically significantly improves the accuracy of the word embeddings learnt. It outperforms a corpus-only baseline and reports an improvement of a number of previously proposed methods that incorporate corpora and KBs in both semantic similarity prediction and word analogy detection tasks. PMID:29529052

BDM-KAT; Report of Research Results

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-03-31

relations, constraints TASK PRC>CESS MODEL TASK MICRO FOR SENSOR DATA Figure 4. Computer Network for the Intelligent Control of the HIP Process...prototyped and used in preliminary knowledge acquisition for an intelligent process controller for Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP). Both the volume of...information collected and structured and Lhe value of that knowledge for the developing controller attest to the value of the concepts implemented in BDM

Advanced Alarm Systems: Revision of Guidance and Its Technical Basis

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-11-01

was required to generalize from the unique aspects of individual experiments and studies to actual applications in the workplace . This is because...types of equipment used). For example , laboratory experiments often do not involve tasks of the complexity of NPP operations, and most experiments do...Cognitive Compatibility, Situation Awareness, Task Compatibility, and Timeliness. Figure 3.3 Example of an alarm system design review guideline Each

Rapid Dispersion of Polymicrobial Wound Biofilms with Depolymerase Enzymes

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-01

reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of...second annual report for DM102823. The first annual report covered the following aims: Aim 1. Task 1. IACUC review Aim 1. Task 2. Bioinformatic...mannosidase from New England Biolabs and evaluated its anti -biofilm properties. Preliminary data (figure, next page) suggests that this enzyme cleaves

Masking interrupts figure-ground signals in V1.

PubMed

Lamme, Victor A F; Zipser, Karl; Spekreijse, Henk

2002-10-01

In a backward masking paradigm, a target stimulus is rapidly (<100 msec) followed by a second stimulus. This typically results in a dramatic decrease in the visibility of the target stimulus. It has been shown that masking reduces responses in V1. It is not known, however, which process in V1 is affected by the mask. In the past, we have shown that in V1, modulations of neural activity that are specifically related to figure-ground segregation can be recorded. Here, we recorded from awake macaque monkeys, engaged in a task where they had to detect figures from background in a pattern backward masking paradigm. We show that the V1 figure-ground signals are selectively and fully suppressed at target-mask intervals that psychophysically result in the target being invisible. Initial response transients, signalling the features that make up the scene, are not affected. As figure-ground modulations depend on feedback from extrastriate areas, these results suggest that masking selectively interrupts the recurrent interactions between V1 and higher visual areas.

Brain bases for auditory stimulus-driven figure-ground segregation.

PubMed

Teki, Sundeep; Chait, Maria; Kumar, Sukhbinder; von Kriegstein, Katharina; Griffiths, Timothy D

2011-01-05

Auditory figure-ground segregation, listeners' ability to selectively hear out a sound of interest from a background of competing sounds, is a fundamental aspect of scene analysis. In contrast to the disordered acoustic environment we experience during everyday listening, most studies of auditory segregation have used relatively simple, temporally regular signals. We developed a new figure-ground stimulus that incorporates stochastic variation of the figure and background that captures the rich spectrotemporal complexity of natural acoustic scenes. Figure and background signals overlap in spectrotemporal space, but vary in the statistics of fluctuation, such that the only way to extract the figure is by integrating the patterns over time and frequency. Our behavioral results demonstrate that human listeners are remarkably sensitive to the appearance of such figures. In a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, aimed at investigating preattentive, stimulus-driven, auditory segregation mechanisms, naive subjects listened to these stimuli while performing an irrelevant task. Results demonstrate significant activations in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the superior temporal sulcus related to bottom-up, stimulus-driven figure-ground decomposition. We did not observe any significant activation in the primary auditory cortex. Our results support a role for automatic, bottom-up mechanisms in the IPS in mediating stimulus-driven, auditory figure-ground segregation, which is consistent with accumulating evidence implicating the IPS in structuring sensory input and perceptual organization.

The Yin and the Yang of visuo-spatial neglect: a case study.

PubMed

Marshall, J C; Halligan, P W

1994-09-01

We report a patient (R.B.) who has shown gross left visuo-spatial neglect over the 3 years since he sustained a right parietal infarct. Although his neglect is severe on such tasks as line bisection, cancellation, and drawing, there are some domains of preserved perceptual performance: he can perceive subjective contours, he can use lateral symmetry as a cue to figure-ground segregation, and he benefits from some forms of global cueing. In a series of five experiments, we show that R.B. has a selective inability to analyse and copy accurately the left contours of geometric nonsense-figures. These results hold even when there is a single vertical contour (to be copied) that divides a rectangle or a circle into two sub-figures; this physically-identical boundary is copied more accurately when it is cued as the right edge of the left sub-figure than when it is cued as the left edge of the right sub-figure. These effects are not influenced by a manipulation in which R.B. is required to trace the outline of the relevant sub-figure with his finger immediately prior to drawing his copy. The results are interpreted in terms of classical Gestalt theories of figure-ground assignment. Pre-attentive (global) figure-ground parsing is basically intact; but when focal attention is demanded, only the right side of an object is coded as figure.

Performance of an Embedded Platform Aggregating and Executing Core Vehicular Interation for C4ISR/EW Interoperability (VICTORY) Services

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-01

ELECTRONICS AND ARCHITECTURE (VEA) MINI-SYMPOSIUM AUGUST 14-16, TROY MICHIGAN Performance of an Embedded Platform Aggregating and Executing...NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) UBT Technologies,3250 W. Big Beaver Rd.,Ste. 329, Troy ,MI...Technology Symposium August 14-16 Troy , Michigan 14. ABSTRACT The Vehicular Integration for C4ISR/EW Interoperability (VICTORY) Standard adopts many

[Intelligence and creativity changes induced by pathological growth of space-occupying cerebral lesion].

PubMed

Perfil'ev, A M; Razumnikova, O M; Stupak, V V

2013-01-01

Creativity and intelligence changes depending on tumor localization in frontal or parietal cortex before surgical procedure in 24 patients in comparison with control group are studied. Brain damage-induced intelligence impairment and a decrease of fluency, flexibility of figural divergent thinking, and originality of verbal one without specificity of tumor localization were found. Intelligence decrease was more presented while performing of figural tasks and least of all in verbal ones. The left prefrontal brain damage induced a decrease of all components of intelligence and a trend to a decrease of verbal creativity and figural fluency. The right parietal brain lesion was more associated with a decline of divergent thinking originality.

MSL: Facilitating automatic and physical analysis of published scientific literature in PDF format

PubMed Central

Ahmed, Zeeshan; Dandekar, Thomas

2018-01-01

Published scientific literature contains millions of figures, including information about the results obtained from different scientific experiments e.g. PCR-ELISA data, microarray analysis, gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry data, DNA/RNA sequencing, diagnostic imaging (CT/MRI and ultrasound scans), and medicinal imaging like electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), echocardiography  (ECG), positron-emission tomography (PET) images. The importance of biomedical figures has been widely recognized in scientific and medicine communities, as they play a vital role in providing major original data, experimental and computational results in concise form. One major challenge for implementing a system for scientific literature analysis is extracting and analyzing text and figures from published PDF files by physical and logical document analysis. Here we present a product line architecture based bioinformatics tool ‘Mining Scientific Literature (MSL)’, which supports the extraction of text and images by interpreting all kinds of published PDF files using advanced data mining and image processing techniques. It provides modules for the marginalization of extracted text based on different coordinates and keywords, visualization of extracted figures and extraction of embedded text from all kinds of biological and biomedical figures using applied Optimal Character Recognition (OCR). Moreover, for further analysis and usage, it generates the system’s output in different formats including text, PDF, XML and images files. Hence, MSL is an easy to install and use analysis tool to interpret published scientific literature in PDF format. PMID:29721305

Increased task-uncorrelated muscle activity in childhood dystonia.

PubMed

Lunardini, Francesca; Maggioni, Serena; Casellato, Claudia; Bertucco, Matteo; Pedrocchi, Alessandra L G; Sanger, Terence D

2015-06-12

Even if movement abnormalities in dystonia are obvious on observation-based examinations, objective measures to characterize dystonia and to gain insights into its pathophysiology are still strongly needed. We hypothesize that motor abnormalities in childhood dystonia are partially due to the inability to suppress involuntary variable muscle activity irrelevant to the achievement of the desired motor task, resulting in the superposition of unwanted motion components on the desired movement. However, it is difficult to separate and quantify appropriate and inappropriate motor signals combined in the same muscle, especially during movement. We devise an innovative and practical method to objectively measure movement abnormalities during the performance of a continuous figure-eight writing task in 7 children with dystonia and 9 age-matched healthy controls. During the execution of a continuous writing task, muscle contractions should occur at frequencies that match the frequencies of the writing outcome. We compare the power spectra of kinematic trajectories and electromyographic signals of 8 upper limb muscles to separate muscle activity with the same frequency content of the figure-eight movement (task-correlated) from activity occurring at frequencies extraneous to the task (task-uncorrelated). Children with dystonia present a greater magnitude of task-uncorrelated muscle components. The motor performance achieved by children with dystonia is characterized by an overall lower quality, with high spatial and temporal variability and an altered trade-off between speed and accuracy. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that, in childhood dystonia, the ability to appropriately suppress variable and uncorrelated elements of movement is impaired. Here we present a proof-of-concept of a promising tool to characterize the phenomenology of movement disorders and to inform the design of neurorehabilitation therapies.

Dynamic changes in functional cerebral connectivity of spatial cognition during the menstrual cycle.

PubMed

Weis, Susanne; Hausmann, Markus; Stoffers, Barbara; Sturm, Walter

2011-10-01

Functional cerebral asymmetries (FCAs) in women have been shown to vary with changing levels of sex hormones during the menstrual cycle. Previous studies have suggested that interhemispheric interaction forms a key component in generating FCAs and it has been shown behaviorally and by functional imaging that interhemispheric interaction changes during the menstrual cycle, at least for a left hemisphere dominant task. We used functional MRI and an analysis of functional connectivity to examine whether changes in right hemisphere advantage for a figure comparison task as found in behavioral studies, are based on comparable mechanisms like those identified for the verbal task. Women were examined three times during the menstrual cycle, during the menstrual, follicular and luteal phases. The behavioral data confirmed the right hemisphere advantage for the figure comparison task as well as changes of the right hemisphere advantage during the menstrual cycle. Imaging data showed cycle phase-related changes in lateralized brain activation within the task-dominant hemisphere and changes in connectivity between nonhomotopic areas of both hemispheres, suggesting that changes in functional brain organization in women during the menstrual cycle are not only restricted to hormone-related changes of interhemispheric inhibition between homotopic areas, as has been proposed earlier, but might additionally apply to changes of neuronal processes within the hemispheres which seem to be modulated by heterotopic functional connectivity between hemispheres. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Comparing fusion techniques for the ImageCLEF 2013 medical case retrieval task.

PubMed

G Seco de Herrera, Alba; Schaer, Roger; Markonis, Dimitrios; Müller, Henning

2015-01-01

Retrieval systems can supply similar cases with a proven diagnosis to a new example case under observation to help clinicians during their work. The ImageCLEFmed evaluation campaign proposes a framework where research groups can compare case-based retrieval approaches. This paper focuses on the case-based task and adds results of the compound figure separation and modality classification tasks. Several fusion approaches are compared to identify the approaches best adapted to the heterogeneous data of the task. Fusion of visual and textual features is analyzed, demonstrating that the selection of the fusion strategy can improve the best performance on the case-based retrieval task. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reduced Performance in Balance, Walking and Turning Tasks is Associated with Increased Neck Tone in Parkinson's Disease

PubMed Central

Franzén, Erika; Paquette, Caroline; Gurfinkel, Victor S; Cordo, Paul J; Nutt, John G; Horak, Fay B

2009-01-01

Rigidity or hypertonicity is a cardinal symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD). We hypothesized that hypertonicity of the body axis affects functional performance of tasks involving balance, walking and turning. The magnitude of axial postural tone in the neck, trunk and hip segments of 15 subjects with PD (both ON and OFF levodopa) and 15 control subjects was quantified during unsupported standing in an axial twisting device in our laboratory as resistance to torsional rotation. Subjects also performed six functional tests (walking in a figure of eight [Figure of Eight], Timed Up & Go, Berg Balance Scale, supine rolling task [rollover], Functional Reach, and standing 360-deg turn-in-place) in the ON and OFF state. Results showed that PD subjects had increased tone throughout the axis compared to control subjects (p=0.008) and that this increase was most prominent in the neck. In PD subjects, axial tone was related to functional performance, but most strongly for tone at the neck and accounted for an especially large portion of the variability in the performance of the Figure of Eight test (rOFF=0.68 and rON=0.74, p<0.05) and the Rollover test (rOFF=0.67and rON=0.55, p<0.05). Our results suggest that neck tone plays a significant role in functional mobility and that abnormally high postural tone may be an important contributor to balance and mobility disorders in individuals with PD. PMID:19573528

Optical Strategies for Studying Metastatic Mechanisms, Tumor Cell Detection and Treatment of Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-10-01

increase in VEGF- A levels following PDT treatment (Figure 7) of orthotopic prostate tumors. Task 2: Design of optical monitoring tools to detect circulating...in intracellular VEGF- A (Figure 5, B) at 0,5 J/cm 2 (1.6 fold). Surprisingly we did not measure any significant increase in intracellular VEGF- A ... levels at the lower dose (0,25 J/cm 2). VEGF-A is known to be regulated at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. We therefore used primers

METALLIC AND CERAMIC MATERIALS RESEARCH Task Order 0003: Metallic Materials, Processing and Performance Development for Air Force Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-10-01

journal articles and papers, and is referenced in the text. 15. SUBJECT TERMS high entropy alloys, titanium, inertia welding 16. SECURITY...Backscatter electron image and (b) inverse pole figure map of the IFW region showing transition from a flat (right) to wavy (left) weld interface...appearance. The weld interface is outlined by a white line in figure (b). The LSHR alloy is below the IFW interface and it is darker than the Mar-M247

Autonomous Control Modes and Optimized Path Guidance for Shipboard Landing in High Sea States

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-11-16

a degraded visual environment, workload during the landing task begins to approach the limits of a human pilot’s capability. It is a similarly...Figure 2. Approach Trajectory ±4 ft landing error ±8 ft landing error ±12 ft landing error Flight Path -3000...heave and yaw axes. Figure 5. Open loop system generation ±4 ft landing error ±8 ft landing error ±12 ft landing error -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4

Manufacturing Technology Support (MATES). Task Order 0021: Air Force Technology and Industrial Base Research and Analysis, Subtask Order 06: Direct Digital Manufacturing

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-08-01

industries and key players providing equipment include Flow and OMAX. The decision tree for waterjet machining is shown in Figure 28. Figure 28...about the melt pool. Process parameters including powder flow , laser power, and scan speed are adjusted accordingly • Multiple materials o BD...project.eu.com/home/home_page_static.jsp o Working with multiple partners; one is Cochlear . Using LMD or SLM to fabricate cochlear implants with 10

Air Asset to Mission Assignment for Dynamic High-Threat Environments in Real-Time

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-01

39 Initial Distribution List 41 viii List of Figures Figure 2.1 Joint Air Tasking Cycle (JCS 2014). An iterative 120-hour cycle for planners within the...minutes of on- staion time, or “playtime”, with a total of two GBU -16 laser-guided bomb (LGB) and an Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared (ATFLIR...proba- bility of survival against the SA-2 and SA-3 systems, respectively. A GBU -16 LGB has no standoff capability and 90%, 60%, and 70% probability of

Discrimination of phoneme length differences in word and sentence contexts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawai, Norimune; Carrell, Thomas

2005-09-01

The ability of listeners to discriminate phoneme duration differences within word and sentence contexts was measured. This investigation was part of a series of studies examining the audibility and perceptual importance of speech modifications produced by stuttering intervention techniques. Just noticeable differences (jnd's) of phoneme lengths were measured via the parameter estimation by sequential testing (PEST) task, an adaptive tracking procedure. The target phonemes were digitally manipulated to vary from normal (130 m) to prolonged (210 m) duration in 2-m increments. In the first condition the phonemes were embedded in words. In the second condition the phonemes were embedded within words, which were further embedded in sentences. A four-interval forced-choice (4IAX) task was employed on each trial, and the PEST procedure determined the duration at which each listener correctly detected a difference between the normal duration and the test duration 71% of the time. The results revealed that listeners were able to reliably discriminate approximately 15-m differences in word context and 10-m differences in sentence context. An independent t-test showed a difference in discriminability between word and sentence contexts to be significant. These results indicate that duration differences were better perceived within a sentence context.

An embedded multi-core parallel model for real-time stereo imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Wenjing; Hu, Jian; Niu, Jingyu; Li, Chuanrong; Liu, Guangyu

2018-04-01

The real-time processing based on embedded system will enhance the application capability of stereo imaging for LiDAR and hyperspectral sensor. The task partitioning and scheduling strategies for embedded multiprocessor system starts relatively late, compared with that for PC computer. In this paper, aimed at embedded multi-core processing platform, a parallel model for stereo imaging is studied and verified. After analyzing the computing amount, throughout capacity and buffering requirements, a two-stage pipeline parallel model based on message transmission is established. This model can be applied to fast stereo imaging for airborne sensors with various characteristics. To demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the parallel model, a parallel software was designed using test flight data, based on the 8-core DSP processor TMS320C6678. The results indicate that the design performed well in workload distribution and had a speed-up ratio up to 6.4.

[Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT): elements for construct validity in Portuguese adolescents].

PubMed

Oliveira, Ema; Almeida, Leandro; Ferrándiz, Carmen; Ferrando, Mercedes; Sainz, Marta; Prieto, María Dolores

2009-11-01

The aim of this work is to study the unidimensional and multidimensional nature of creativity when assessed through divergent thinking tasks, as proposed in Torrance's battery (Torrance Creative Thinking Test, TTCT). This battery is made up of various tasks with verbal and figurative content, aimed at estimating the level of creativity according to the dimensions or cognitive functions of fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration of the individuals' ideas. This work used a sample of 595 Portuguese students from 5th and 6th grade. The results of confirmatory factor analysis reveals that the unidimensional model (a general factor of creativity) and the model of factors as a function of the cognitive dimensions of creativity, based on task content, do not fit well. The model with the best fit has a hierarchical factor structure, in which the first level comprises the factors for each of the subtests applied and the second level includes verbal or figurative content. The difficulty to verify the structural validity of the TTCT is noted, and the need for further studies to achieve, in practice, better individual creativity scores.

Cross-cultural differences for three visual memory tasks in Brazilian children.

PubMed

Santos, F H; Mello, C B; Bueno, O F A; Dellatolas, G

2005-10-01

Norms for three visual memory tasks, including Corsi's block tapping test and the BEM 144 complex figures and visual recognition, were developed for neuropsychological assessment in Brazilian children. The tasks were measured in 127 children ages 7 to 10 years from rural and urban areas of the States of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. Analysis indicated age-related but not sex-related differences. A cross-cultural effect was observed in relation to copying and recall of Complex pictures. Different performances between rural and urban children were noted.

Embedding an Identity-Matching Task within a Prompting Hierarchy to Facilitate Acquisition of Conditional Discriminations in Children with Autism

PubMed Central

Fisher, Wayne W; Kodak, Tiffany; Moore, James W

2007-01-01

Least-to-most prompting hierarchies (e.g., progressing from verbal to modeled to physical prompts until the target response occurs) may be ineffective when the prompts do not cue the individual to attend to the relevant stimulus dimensions. In such cases, emission of the target response persistently requires one or more of the higher level prompts, a condition called prompt dependence (Clark & Green, 2004). Reinforcement of differential observing responses (DORs) has sometimes been used to ensure that participants attend to the relevant stimulus dimensions in matching-to-sample (MTS) tasks (e.g., Dube & McIlvane, 1999). For 2 participants with autism, we embedded an identity-matching task within a prompting hierarchy as a DOR to increase the likelihood that the participants attended to and discriminated the relevant features of the comparison stimuli in an MTS task. This procedure was compared with a traditional least-to-most prompting hierarchy and a no-reinforcement control condition in a multielement design. Results for both participants indicated that mastery-level acquisition of spoken-word-to-picture relations occurred only under the identity-matching condition. Findings are discussed relative to the use of DORs to facilitate acquisition of conditional discriminations in persons with autism or other conditions who do not attend to the comparison stimuli. PMID:17970262

Embedding an identity-matching task within a prompting hierarchy to facilitate acquisition of conditional discriminations in children with autism.

PubMed

Fisher, Wayne W; Kodak, Tiffany; Moore, James W

2007-01-01

Least-to-most prompting hierarchies (e.g., progressing from verbal to modeled to physical prompts until the target response occurs) may be ineffective when the prompts do not cue the individual to attend to the relevant stimulus dimensions. In such cases, emission of the target response persistently requires one or more of the higher level prompts, a condition called prompt dependence (Clark & Green, 2004). Reinforcement of differential observing responses (DORs) has sometimes been used to ensure that participants attend to the relevant stimulus dimensions in matching-to-sample (MTS) tasks (e.g., Dube & McIlvane, 1999). For 2 participants with autism, we embedded an identity-matching task within a prompting hierarchy as a DOR to increase the likelihood that the participants attended to and discriminated the relevant features of the comparison stimuli in an MTS task. This procedure was compared with a traditional least-to-most prompting hierarchy and a no-reinforcement control condition in a multielement design. Results for both participants indicated that mastery-level acquisition of spoken-word-to-picture relations occurred only under the identity-matching condition. Findings are discussed relative to the use of DORs to facilitate acquisition of conditional discriminations in persons with autism or other conditions who do not attend to the comparison stimuli.

Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of Optimal Cutting Temperature (OCT) Embedded Core-Needle Biopsy of Lung Cancer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xiaozheng; Huffman, Kenneth E.; Fujimoto, Junya; Canales, Jamie Rodriguez; Girard, Luc; Nie, Guangjun; Heymach, John V.; Wistuba, Igacio I.; Minna, John D.; Yu, Yonghao

2017-10-01

With recent advances in understanding the genomic underpinnings and oncogenic drivers of pathogenesis in different subtypes, it is increasingly clear that proper pretreatment diagnostics are essential for the choice of appropriate treatment options for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Tumor tissue preservation in optimal cutting temperature (OCT) compound is commonly used in the surgical suite. However, proteins recovered from OCT-embedded specimens pose a challenge for LC-MS/MS experiments, due to the large amounts of polymers present in OCT. Here we present a simple workflow for whole proteome analysis of OCT-embedded NSCLC tissue samples, which involves a simple trichloroacetic acid precipitation step. Comparisons of protein recovery between frozen versus OCT-embedded tissue showed excellent consistency with more than 9200 proteins identified. Using an isobaric labeling strategy, we quantified more than 5400 proteins in tumor versus normal OCT-embedded core needle biopsy samples. Gene ontology analysis indicated that a number of proliferative as well as squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) marker proteins were overexpressed in the tumor, consistent with the patient's pathology based diagnosis of "poorly differentiated SqCC". Among the most downregulated proteins in the tumor sample, we noted a number of proteins with potential immunomodulatory functions. Finally, interrogation of the aberrantly expressed proteins using a candidate approach and cross-referencing with publicly available databases led to the identification of potential druggable targets in DNA replication and DNA damage repair pathways. We conclude that our approach allows LC-MS/MS proteomic analyses on OCT-embedded lung cancer specimens, opening the way to bring powerful proteomics into the clinic. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Phase-specific Surround suppression in Mouse Primary Visual Cortex Correlates with Figure Detection Behavior Based on Phase Discontinuity.

PubMed

Li, Fengling; Jiang, Weiqian; Wang, Tian-Yi; Xie, Taorong; Yao, Haishan

2018-05-21

In the primary visual cortex (V1), neuronal responses to stimuli within the receptive field (RF) are modulated by stimuli in the RF surround. A common effect of surround modulation is surround suppression, which is dependent on the feature difference between stimuli within and surround the RF and is suggested to be involved in the perceptual phenomenon of figure-ground segregation. In this study, we examined the relationship between feature-specific surround suppression of V1 neurons and figure detection behavior based on figure-ground feature difference. We trained freely moving mice to perform a figure detection task using figure and ground gratings that differed in spatial phase. The performance of figure detection increased with the figure-ground phase difference, and was modulated by stimulus contrast. Electrophysiological recordings from V1 in head-fixed mice showed that the increase in phase difference between stimuli within and surround the RF caused a reduction in surround suppression, which was associated with an increase in V1 neural discrimination between stimuli with and without RF-surround phase difference. Consistent with the behavioral performance, the sensitivity of V1 neurons to RF-surround phase difference could be influenced by stimulus contrast. Furthermore, inhibiting V1 by optogenetically activating either parvalbumin (PV)- or somatostatin (SOM)-expressing inhibitory neurons both decreased the behavioral performance of figure detection. Thus, the phase-specific surround suppression in V1 represents a neural correlate of figure detection behavior based on figure-ground phase discontinuity. Copyright © 2018 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Guidelines on genetic evaluation and management of Lynch syndrome: a consensus statement by the US Multi-Society Task Force on colorectal cancer.

PubMed

Giardiello, Francis M; Allen, John I; Axilbund, Jennifer E; Boland, C Richard; Burke, Carol A; Burt, Randall W; Church, James M; Dominitz, Jason A; Johnson, David A; Kaltenbach, Tonya; Levin, Theodore R; Lieberman, David A; Robertson, Douglas J; Syngal, Sapna; Rex, Douglas K

2014-08-01

The Multi-Society Task Force, in collaboration with invited experts, developed guidelines to assist health care providers with the appropriate provision of genetic testing and management of patients at risk for and affected with Lynch syndrome as follows: Figure 1 provides a colorectal cancer risk assessment tool to screen individuals in the office or endoscopy setting; Figure 2 illustrates a strategy for universal screening for Lynch syndrome by tumor testing of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer; Figures 3-6 provide algorithms for genetic evaluation of affected and at-risk family members of pedigrees with Lynch syndrome; Table 10 provides guidelines for screening at-risk and affected persons with Lynch syndrome; and Table 12 lists the guidelines for the management of patients with Lynch syndrome. A detailed explanation of Lynch syndrome and the methodology utilized to derive these guidelines, as well as an explanation of, and supporting literature for, these guidelines are provided. Copyright © 2014 American Gastroenterological Association, American College of Gastroenterology, the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impaired temporal, not just spatial, resolution in amblyopia.

PubMed

Spang, Karoline; Fahle, Manfred

2009-11-01

In amblyopia, neuronal deficits deteriorate spatial vision including visual acuity, possibly because of a lack of use-dependent fine-tuning of afferents to the visual cortex during infancy; but temporal processing may deteriorate as well. Temporal, rather than spatial, resolution was investigated in patients with amblyopia by means of a task based on time-defined figure-ground segregation. Patients had to indicate the quadrant of the visual field where a purely time-defined square appeared. The results showed a clear decrease in temporal resolution of patients' amblyopic eyes compared with the dominant eyes in this task. The extent of this decrease in figure-ground segregation based on time of motion onset only loosely correlated with the decrease in spatial resolution and spanned a smaller range than did the spatial loss. Control experiments with artificially induced blur in normal observers confirmed that the decrease in temporal resolution was not simply due to the acuity loss. Amblyopia not only decreases spatial resolution, but also temporal factors such as time-based figure-ground segregation, even at high stimulus contrasts. This finding suggests that the realm of neuronal processes that may be disturbed in amblyopia is larger than originally thought.

Changes in gait while backward counting in demented older adults with frontal lobe dysfunction.

PubMed

Allali, Gilles; Kressig, Reto W; Assal, Frédéric; Herrmann, François R; Dubost, Véronique; Beauchet, Olivier

2007-10-01

Gait disorders caused by dementia have been associated with frontal lobe dysfunction. Dual-tasking is used to explore the involvement of cortical level in gait control. It has been shown that dual-task induced gait changes that could be related to (1) the efficiency of executive function, (2) the level of difficulty involved in the walking-associated task, or (3) the articulo-motor components comprised in the walking-associated task. A better understanding of dual-task related changes in demented subjects with frontal lobe dysfunction could help us to clarify the role of the frontal lobe in motor gait control. To assess and compare the effects of two mental arithmetic tasks involving similar articulo-motor components but different level of difficulty on the mean values and coefficient of variation (CV) of stride time among demented older adults with impaired executive function. The mean values and coefficients of variation of stride time were measured using a GAITRite-System among 16 demented older adults with impaired executive function while walking with and without forward counting (FC) and backward counting (BC). The mean values and CV of stride time were significantly higher under both dual-task conditions than during a simple walking task (p<0.05). The change in CV of stride time during BC was significantly higher when compared with the change during FC (p=0.015), whereas the change in mean value was not significant (p=0.056). There was no difference between the dual-task and single task condition as far the number of enumerated figures were concerned (p=0.678 for FC and p=0.069 for BC), but significantly fewer figures were enumerated while BC compared with FC (p<0.001). BC provoked more changes in gait parameters than FC with major modification in gait variability related to an inappropriate focusing of attention. These findings suggest that the CV may be a suitable criterion for the assessment of gait control.

Extracting similar terms from multiple EMR-based semantic embeddings to support chart reviews.

PubMed

Cheng Ye, M S; Fabbri, Daniel

2018-05-21

Word embeddings project semantically similar terms into nearby points in a vector space. When trained on clinical text, these embeddings can be leveraged to improve keyword search and text highlighting. In this paper, we present methods to refine the selection process of similar terms from multiple EMR-based word embeddings, and evaluate their performance quantitatively and qualitatively across multiple chart review tasks. Word embeddings were trained on each clinical note type in an EMR. These embeddings were then combined, weighted, and truncated to select a refined set of similar terms to be used in keyword search and text highlighting. To evaluate their quality, we measured the similar terms' information retrieval (IR) performance using precision-at-K (P@5, P@10). Additionally a user study evaluated users' search term preferences, while a timing study measured the time to answer a question from a clinical chart. The refined terms outperformed the baseline method's information retrieval performance (e.g., increasing the average P@5 from 0.48 to 0.60). Additionally, the refined terms were preferred by most users, and reduced the average time to answer a question. Clinical information can be more quickly retrieved and synthesized when using semantically similar term from multiple embeddings. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Running the figure to the ground: figure-ground segmentation during visual search.

PubMed

Ralph, Brandon C W; Seli, Paul; Cheng, Vivian O Y; Solman, Grayden J F; Smilek, Daniel

2014-04-01

We examined how figure-ground segmentation occurs across multiple regions of a visual array during a visual search task. Stimuli consisted of arrays of black-and-white figure-ground images in which roughly half of each image depicted a meaningful object, whereas the other half constituted a less meaningful shape. The colours of the meaningful regions of the targets and distractors were either the same (congruent) or different (incongruent). We found that incongruent targets took longer to locate than congruent targets (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) and that this segmentation-congruency effect decreased when the number of search items was reduced (Experiment 2). Furthermore, an analysis of eye movements revealed that participants spent more time scrutinising the target before confirming its identity on incongruent trials than on congruent trials (Experiment 3). These findings suggest that the distractor context influences target segmentation and detection during visual search. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cutting solid figures by plane - analytical solution and spreadsheet implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benacka, Jan

2012-07-01

In some secondary mathematics curricula, there is a topic called Stereometry that deals with investigating the position and finding the intersection, angle, and distance of lines and planes defined within a prism or pyramid. Coordinate system is not used. The metric tasks are solved using Pythagoras' theorem, trigonometric functions, and sine and cosine rules. The basic problem is to find the section of the figure by a plane that is defined by three points related to the figure. In this article, a formula is derived that gives the positions of the intersection points of such a plane and the figure edges, that is, the vertices of the section polygon. Spreadsheet implementations of the formula for cuboid and right rectangular pyramids are presented. The user can check his/her graphical solution, or proceed if he/she is not able to complete the section.

An Exploratory Usability Evaluation of Colorado State University Libraries' Digital Collections and the Western Waters Digital Library Web Sites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zimmerman, Don; Paschal, Dawn Bastian

2009-01-01

In an exploratory study, participants (n = 18) completed 11 usability tasks to assess ease of use of two Web sites, and then a Web site perception questionnaire for each. Participants rated both Web sites positively, but 25% and 36% could not complete all tasks; doing so required more than a minute to complete. (Contains 2 figures and 7 tables.)

What Do Children Know about the Interior of the Body? A Comparison of Two Methods of Investigation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deluca, Paolo

This research compared two methods used to investigate the knowledge of internal body parts by children ages 4 to 9 years. Subjects were 50 Italian children: 18 preschoolers, 21 first graders, and 11 second or third graders. Children performed two tasks, a Drawing Task in which they drew on the outline of a human figure all the body parts they…

The Effects of Study Tasks in a Computer-Based Chemistry Learning Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Urhahne, Detlef; Nick, Sabine; Poepping, Anna Christin; Schulz, Sarah Jayne

2013-12-01

The present study examines the effects of different study tasks on the acquisition of knowledge about acids and bases in a computer-based learning environment. Three different task formats were selected to create three treatment conditions: learning with gap-fill and matching tasks, learning with multiple-choice tasks, and learning only from text and figures without any additional tasks. Participants were 196 ninth-grade students who learned with a self-developed multimedia program in a pretest-posttest control group design. Research results reveal that gap-fill and matching tasks were most effective in promoting knowledge acquisition, followed by multiple-choice tasks, and no tasks at all. The findings are in line with previous research on this topic. The effects can possibly be explained by the generation-recognition model, which predicts that gap-fill and matching tasks trigger more encompassing learning processes than multiple-choice tasks. It is concluded that instructional designers should incorporate more challenging study tasks for enhancing the effectiveness of computer-based learning environments.

A Randomized Clinical Trial of the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality vs. Enhanced Care as Usual for Suicidal Soldiers

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-01

are those of the author(s) and should not be construed as an official Department of the Army position, policy or decision unless so designated by...paragraph) describes the subject, purpose and scope of the research. This study is designed to investigate the effectiveness of a novel clinical... tests of significance shall be applied to all data whenever possible. Figures and graphs referenced in the text may be embedded in the text or

A Hybrid Approach to Composite Damage and Failure Analysis Combining Synergistic Damage Mechanics and Peridynamics

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-30

Model Assembly of the RYE The size of the embedding composite region was determined based on Hill ’ s criterion, which states that uniform displacement ...traction at the boundary where displacement was applied was monitored. The results are as shown in Figure 2. The studies show that the size of the...EFFECTIVE OMPO !TE MATRIX Under transverse displacement at the boundary of the model assembly, the response of the inner RYE was monitored. The

An Embedded Fusion Processor

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-10-01

available from rooksj~,rl.af.mil [4] J. Lyke and G. Forman "Microengineering Aerospace Systems" H . Helvajian editor, The Aerospace Press 1999, Chapter 8...e h I O iinterface chip, and Synchronous Dynamic Random 1K-byte. The only consequence is that after the FIFO is Access Memory (SDRAM). Each interface...shown in figure 4a, that will be used for the 1/O interconnects in place of the perimeter bond pads used in the MCM3A. The 6’ h layer is used to

Chip-To-Chip Optical Interconnection Using MEMS Mirrors

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-26

the Figure 2.3: SEM of a 2D micromirror with embedded polysilicon circuit paths within the frame structures which drives individual thermal actuation...single-crystal silicon micromirror for large bi-directional 2d scanning applications,” Sens. and Actuators, A, vol. 130-131, pp. 454–460, 8/14 2006. 14...thesis (m.s.), AFIT, Mar 2008. AFIT/GEO/ENP/08-03. 17. B. McCarthy, V. M. Bright, and J. A. Neff, “A multi-component solder self- assembled micromirror

Cone-Beam Computed Tomography for Image-Guided Radiation Therapy of Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

pelvis phantom was also imaged, consisting of a partial skeleton ranging from the L1 lumbar vertebra through the mid femur, embedded in lucite formed...been applied in the pelvis phantom scan to see the correction effects for a more realistic case, and the results are displayed in Fig. 5. 10 33 (a) (b...c) Figure 5: Transverse slice images of the reconstructed pelvis phantom scanned with Cu1-filter are displayed; (a) No correction, (b) scatter

Development of a Test Battery to Assess Mental Flexibility Based on Sternberg’s Theory of Successful Intelligence

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

on such tests as the Embedded Figures Test ( EFT ) (Witkin et al., 1971) or the Rod and Frame Test (RFT) (Witkin, Dyk, Faterson, Goodenough, & Karp...one starts to tap sources of individual differences measured little or not at all by such tests. Thus, when assessing intelligence, it is important to...in requiring verbal skills or the ability to analyze one’s own ideas-Sternberg & Lubart, 1995) but also tap skills beyond those measured even by

Visual Exploration of Semantic Relationships in Neural Word Embeddings

DOE PAGES

Liu, Shusen; Bremer, Peer-Timo; Thiagarajan, Jayaraman J.; ...

2017-08-29

Constructing distributed representations for words through neural language models and using the resulting vector spaces for analysis has become a crucial component of natural language processing (NLP). But, despite their widespread application, little is known about the structure and properties of these spaces. To gain insights into the relationship between words, the NLP community has begun to adapt high-dimensional visualization techniques. Particularly, researchers commonly use t-distributed stochastic neighbor embeddings (t-SNE) and principal component analysis (PCA) to create two-dimensional embeddings for assessing the overall structure and exploring linear relationships (e.g., word analogies), respectively. Unfortunately, these techniques often produce mediocre or evenmore » misleading results and cannot address domain-specific visualization challenges that are crucial for understanding semantic relationships in word embeddings. We introduce new embedding techniques for visualizing semantic and syntactic analogies, and the corresponding tests to determine whether the resulting views capture salient structures. Additionally, we introduce two novel views for a comprehensive study of analogy relationships. Finally, we augment t-SNE embeddings to convey uncertainty information in order to allow a reliable interpretation. Combined, the different views address a number of domain-specific tasks difficult to solve with existing tools.« less

Minimizing embedding impact in steganography using trellis-coded quantization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filler, Tomáš; Judas, Jan; Fridrich, Jessica

2010-01-01

In this paper, we propose a practical approach to minimizing embedding impact in steganography based on syndrome coding and trellis-coded quantization and contrast its performance with bounds derived from appropriate rate-distortion bounds. We assume that each cover element can be assigned a positive scalar expressing the impact of making an embedding change at that element (single-letter distortion). The problem is to embed a given payload with minimal possible average embedding impact. This task, which can be viewed as a generalization of matrix embedding or writing on wet paper, has been approached using heuristic and suboptimal tools in the past. Here, we propose a fast and very versatile solution to this problem that can theoretically achieve performance arbitrarily close to the bound. It is based on syndrome coding using linear convolutional codes with the optimal binary quantizer implemented using the Viterbi algorithm run in the dual domain. The complexity and memory requirements of the embedding algorithm are linear w.r.t. the number of cover elements. For practitioners, we include detailed algorithms for finding good codes and their implementation. Finally, we report extensive experimental results for a large set of relative payloads and for different distortion profiles, including the wet paper channel.

Visual Exploration of Semantic Relationships in Neural Word Embeddings

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

Liu, Shusen; Bremer, Peer-Timo; Thiagarajan, Jayaraman J.

Constructing distributed representations for words through neural language models and using the resulting vector spaces for analysis has become a crucial component of natural language processing (NLP). But, despite their widespread application, little is known about the structure and properties of these spaces. To gain insights into the relationship between words, the NLP community has begun to adapt high-dimensional visualization techniques. Particularly, researchers commonly use t-distributed stochastic neighbor embeddings (t-SNE) and principal component analysis (PCA) to create two-dimensional embeddings for assessing the overall structure and exploring linear relationships (e.g., word analogies), respectively. Unfortunately, these techniques often produce mediocre or evenmore » misleading results and cannot address domain-specific visualization challenges that are crucial for understanding semantic relationships in word embeddings. We introduce new embedding techniques for visualizing semantic and syntactic analogies, and the corresponding tests to determine whether the resulting views capture salient structures. Additionally, we introduce two novel views for a comprehensive study of analogy relationships. Finally, we augment t-SNE embeddings to convey uncertainty information in order to allow a reliable interpretation. Combined, the different views address a number of domain-specific tasks difficult to solve with existing tools.« less

Real time UNIX in embedded control -- A case study within context of LynxOS

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

Kleines, H.; Zwoll, K.

1996-02-01

Intelligent communication controllers for a layered protocol profile are a typical example of an embedded control application, where the classical approach for the software development is based on a proprietary real-time operating system kernel under which the individual layers are implemented as tasks. Based on the exemplary implementation of a derivative of MAP 3.0, an unusual and innovative approach is presented, where the protocol software is implemented under the UNIX-compatible real-time operating system LynxOS. The overall design of the embedded control application is presented under a more general view and economical implications as well as aspects of the development environmentmore » and performance are discussed.« less

The effect of embedded bonus rounds on slot machine preference.

PubMed

Belisle, Jordan; Owens, Kelti; Dixon, Mark R; Malkin, Albert; Jordan, Sam D

2017-04-01

Twenty-three university students completed a simulated slot machine task involving the concurrent presentation of two slot machines that were varied both in win density and the inclusion of a bonus round feature to evaluate the effect of embedded bonus rounds on participant response allocation. The results suggest that participants allocated a greater percentage of responses to machines with embedded bonus rounds across both dense (Bonus: M = 68.4, SD = 19.2; No Bonus: M = 51.2; 9.6) and lean (Bonus: M = 48.8, SD = 9.6; No Bonus: M = 31.6, SD = 19.2) reinforcement schedules, in which the overall reinforcement rate across all machines was held constant. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

A biomedical sensor system for real-time monitoring of astronauts' physiological parameters during extra-vehicular activities.

PubMed

Fei, Ding-Yu; Zhao, Xiaoming; Boanca, Cosmin; Hughes, Esther; Bai, Ou; Merrell, Ronald; Rafiq, Azhar

2010-07-01

To design and test an embedded biomedical sensor system that can monitor astronauts' comprehensive physiological parameters, and provide real-time data display during extra-vehicle activities (EVA) in the space exploration. An embedded system was developed with an array of biomedical sensors that can be integrated into the spacesuit. Wired communications were tested for physiological data acquisition and data transmission to a computer mounted on the spacesuit during task performances simulating EVA sessions. The sensor integration, data collection and communication, and the real-time data monitoring were successfully validated in the NASA field tests. The developed system may work as an embedded system for monitoring health status during long-term space mission. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Safe and Efficient Support for Embeded Multi-Processors in ADA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruiz, Jose F.

2010-08-01

New software demands increasing processing power, and multi-processor platforms are spreading as the answer to achieve the required performance. Embedded real-time systems are also subject to this trend, but in the case of real-time mission-critical systems, the properties of reliability, predictability and analyzability are also paramount. The Ada 2005 language defined a subset of its tasking model, the Ravenscar profile, that provides the basis for the implementation of deterministic and time analyzable applications on top of a streamlined run-time system. This Ravenscar tasking profile, originally designed for single processors, has proven remarkably useful for modelling verifiable real-time single-processor systems. This paper proposes a simple extension to the Ravenscar profile to support multi-processor systems using a fully partitioned approach. The implementation of this scheme is simple, and it can be used to develop applications amenable to schedulability analysis.

Learning to Link Visual Contours

PubMed Central

Li, Wu; Piëch, Valentin; Gilbert, Charles D.

2008-01-01

SUMMARY In complex visual scenes, linking related contour elements is important for object recognition. This process, thought to be stimulus driven and hard wired, has substrates in primary visual cortex (V1). Here, however, we find contour integration in V1 to depend strongly on perceptual learning and top-down influences that are specific to contour detection. In naive monkeys the information about contours embedded in complex backgrounds is absent in V1 neuronal responses, and is independent of the locus of spatial attention. Training animals to find embedded contours induces strong contour-related responses specific to the trained retinotopic region. These responses are most robust when animals perform the contour detection task, but disappear under anesthesia. Our findings suggest that top-down influences dynamically adapt neural circuits according to specific perceptual tasks. This may serve as a general neuronal mechanism of perceptual learning, and reflect top-down mediated changes in cortical states. PMID:18255036

Interference testing methods of large astronomical mirrors base on lenses and CGH wavefront correctors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdulkadyrov, Magomed A.; Belousov, Sergey P.; Patrikeev, Vladimir E.; Semenov, Alexandr P.

2010-07-01

Since last years and at present days LZOS, JSC has been producing a range of primary mirrors of astronomical telescopes with diameter more than 1m under contracts with foreign companies. Simultaneous testing of an aspherical surface figure by means of a lens corrector and CGH (computer generated hologram) corrector, testing of the corrector using the CGH allow challenging the task of definite testing of the mirrors surfaces figure. The results of successful figuring of the mirrors with diameter up to 4m like VISTA Project (Southern European Observatory), TNT (Thai National telescope, Australia - Thailand), LCO telescopes (Las Cumbres Observatory, USA; Russian national projects and meeting these mirrors specifications' requirements are all considered as the sufficient evidence.

Who is eating up the world's aquifers? Unsustainable irrigation embedded in global food trade.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalin, C.; Wada, Y.; Kastner, T.; Puma, M. J.

2016-12-01

Recent hydrological modelling and Earth observations have located and quantified alarming groundwater depletion over the world. This is primarily due to water withdrawals for irrigation, but the connections with their main driver, global food consumption, have not yet been explored. We provide the first quantification of groundwater depletion embedded in the world's food trade by combining unique global, crop-specific estimates of non-renewable groundwater abstraction with international food trade. We show that approximately ten percent of non-renewable groundwater irrigation use is embedded in food trade, of which two thirds are exported by Pakistan, the United States and India alone. A vast majority of the world's population lives in countries sourcing nearly all their staple crop imports from partners who deplete groundwater to produce these crops, highlighting unsustainablility of global food production and water use. Groups of countries are found particularly exposed to decreased food supply as they both produce and import food irrigated from quickly depleting aquifers. Figure caption: Embedded groundwater depletion in international trade of crop commodities in 2010 (km3/y). Large importing nations are shown in bold, italic font and large exporters in bold, underlined font. Ribbons' colors indicate the country of export. Note that, for clarity, we only display the links with a weight of at least 1% that of the largest link.

Sex and hemisphere differences when mentally rotating meaningful and meaningless stimuli.

PubMed

Rilea, Stacy L

2008-05-01

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the influence of stimulus type and sex on strategy use and hemispheric processing during the mental rotation task. Participants included 67 right-handed men and women who completed three mental rotation tasks, all presented bilaterally. Participants rotated human stick figures, alphanumeric stimuli, and a two-dimensional (2D) meaningless object. No hemispheric differences were observed when rotating human stick figures, suggesting that men and women may rely on the same strategy. A left hemisphere advantage was observed in women when rotating alphanumeric stimuli, suggesting they may be relying on a verbal strategy, whereas no hemispheric differences were observed for men. Finally, inconsistent with predictions, no hemisphere differences were observed when rotating two-dimensional objects. The findings from the current study suggest that both the meaningfulness and the type of stimulus presented may influence strategy use differently for men and women.

An Intelligent Man-Machine Interface—Multi-Robot Control Adapted for Task Engagement Based on Single-Trial Detectability of P300

PubMed Central

Kirchner, Elsa A.; Kim, Su K.; Tabie, Marc; Wöhrle, Hendrik; Maurus, Michael; Kirchner, Frank

2016-01-01

Advanced man-machine interfaces (MMIs) are being developed for teleoperating robots at remote and hardly accessible places. Such MMIs make use of a virtual environment and can therefore make the operator immerse him-/herself into the environment of the robot. In this paper, we present our developed MMI for multi-robot control. Our MMI can adapt to changes in task load and task engagement online. Applying our approach of embedded Brain Reading we improve user support and efficiency of interaction. The level of task engagement was inferred from the single-trial detectability of P300-related brain activity that was naturally evoked during interaction. With our approach no secondary task is needed to measure task load. It is based on research results on the single-stimulus paradigm, distribution of brain resources and its effect on the P300 event-related component. It further considers effects of the modulation caused by a delayed reaction time on the P300 component evoked by complex responses to task-relevant messages. We prove our concept using single-trial based machine learning analysis, analysis of averaged event-related potentials and behavioral analysis. As main results we show (1) a significant improvement of runtime needed to perform the interaction tasks compared to a setting in which all subjects could easily perform the tasks. We show that (2) the single-trial detectability of the event-related potential P300 can be used to measure the changes in task load and task engagement during complex interaction while also being sensitive to the level of experience of the operator and (3) can be used to adapt the MMI individually to the different needs of users without increasing total workload. Our online adaptation of the proposed MMI is based on a continuous supervision of the operator's cognitive resources by means of embedded Brain Reading. Operators with different qualifications or capabilities receive only as many tasks as they can perform to avoid mental overload as well as mental underload. PMID:27445742

Quantum Optimization of Fully Connected Spin Glasses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venturelli, Davide; Mandrà, Salvatore; Knysh, Sergey; O'Gorman, Bryan; Biswas, Rupak; Smelyanskiy, Vadim

2015-07-01

Many NP-hard problems can be seen as the task of finding a ground state of a disordered highly connected Ising spin glass. If solutions are sought by means of quantum annealing, it is often necessary to represent those graphs in the annealer's hardware by means of the graph-minor embedding technique, generating a final Hamiltonian consisting of coupled chains of ferromagnetically bound spins, whose binding energy is a free parameter. In order to investigate the effect of embedding on problems of interest, the fully connected Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model with random ±1 couplings is programmed on the D-Wave TwoTM annealer using up to 270 qubits interacting on a Chimera-type graph. We present the best embedding prescriptions for encoding the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick problem in the Chimera graph. The results indicate that the optimal choice of embedding parameters could be associated with the emergence of the spin-glass phase of the embedded problem, whose presence was previously uncertain. This optimal parameter setting allows the performance of the quantum annealer to compete with (and potentially outperform, in the absence of analog control errors) optimized simulated annealing algorithms.

Decreasing Cognitive Load for Novice EFL Learners: Effects of Question and Descriptive Advance Organizers in Facilitating EFL Learners' Comprehension of an Animation-Based Content Lesson

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Huifen; Chen, Tsuiping

2006-01-01

Cognitive load can be defined as the amount of mental effort that performing a specific task imposes on a learner's cognitive system. It can be measured by the number of new concepts embedded in a learning task. English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, with their limited English proficiency and minimal entry knowledge of a subject matter,…

The Use of Color as a Third Dimension on Maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cid, X.; Lopez, R.; Lazarus, S.

2007-12-01

As experts, we are trained to understand color schemes used in visualizations in our respective scientific fields. As experts we also forget how complicated graphics can be when viewed for the first time. Previous studies have shown that three-dimensional diagrams can produce a cognitive overload when rendered on a two-dimensional surface, so the same might apply to graphics that use color as a third dimension. This study was conducted to investigate the use of color as a third dimension. We looked at the use of color as a scale height on a basic topographic map, as well as the use of color as temperature. Fifty-four undergraduates from two different physics courses and REU programs during the spring and summer semesters in 2007 were given surveys regarding the use of color. Of these 54 students, eight students were chosen to participate in interviews designed to investigate, in more detail, the responses provided by the students in the hopes to discover where confusions occur. It was found that students have an embedded color scheme for temperatures of red representing hot and blue representing cold as a product of societal influences, which was expected, but there was no embedded color scheme when color was applied to height. We found that students did not have a preference when viewing a topographic map with different color schemes, but did prefer the color scheme of the figure that they viewed first. We observed that the students did have an embedded notion of what the topographic figure was representing, and tried to fit the color scheme shown to match their idea. During the interviews we also found that even the slightest deviations from a specific color scheme gives rise to confusion. These results, therefore, show the importance of detail consistency when using visualizations in a lecture where the population is composed of novices.

Two types of putative preneoplastic lesions identified by hexosaminidase activity in whole-mounts of colons from F344 rats treated with carcinogen.

PubMed Central

Pretlow, T. P.; O'Riordan, M. A.; Spancake, K. M.; Pretlow, T. G.

1993-01-01

Previous studies identified as putative preneoplastic lesions 1) enzyme-altered foci in sections of methacrylate-embedded colon and 2) aberrant crypts in methylene blue-stained unembedded (whole-mount) colon and established that aberrant crypts embedded in methacrylate had enzyme alterations. We have now studied histochemically demonstrable hexosaminidase activity in unembedded or whole-mount preparations of colons from carcinogen-treated rats. These preparations have revealed two populations of crypts that are enzyme-altered: those that are morphologically altered or aberrant and those that are morphologically normal. Both populations can be quantified rigorously in less than an hour with whole-mount preparations reacted for hexosaminidase. The demonstration of phenotypic characteristics with histochemical techniques in whole-mount preparations should have wide applicability to functional studies in many normal and diseased tissues. Images Figure 1 PMID:8506941

Early stages of figure-ground segregation during perception of the face-vase.

PubMed

Pitts, Michael A; Martínez, Antígona; Brewer, James B; Hillyard, Steven A

2011-04-01

The temporal sequence of neural processes supporting figure-ground perception was investigated by recording ERPs associated with subjects' perceptions of the face-vase figure. In Experiment 1, subjects continuously reported whether they perceived the face or the vase as the foreground figure by pressing one of two buttons. Each button press triggered a probe flash to the face region, the vase region, or the borders between the two. The N170/vertex positive potential (VPP) component of the ERP elicited by probes to the face region was larger when subjects perceived the faces as figure. Preceding the N170/VPP, two additional components were identified. First, when the borders were probed, ERPs differed in amplitude as early as 110 msec after probe onset depending on subjects' figure-ground perceptions. Second, when the face or vase regions were probed, ERPs were more positive (at ∼ 150-200 msec) when that region was perceived as figure versus background. These components likely reflect an early "border ownership" stage, and a subsequent "figure-ground segregation" stage of processing. To explore the influence of attention on these stages of processing, two additional experiments were conducted. In Experiment 2, subjects selectively attended to the face or vase region, and the same early ERP components were again produced. In Experiment 3, subjects performed an identical selective attention task, but on a display lacking distinctive figure-ground borders, and neither of the early components were produced. Results from these experiments suggest sequential stages of processing underlying figure-ground perception, each which are subject to modifications by selective attention.

Calculations of the electrostatic potential adjacent to model phospholipid bilayers.

PubMed Central

Peitzsch, R M; Eisenberg, M; Sharp, K A; McLaughlin, S

1995-01-01

We used the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation to calculate electrostatic potentials in the aqueous phase adjacent to model phospholipid bilayers containing mixtures of zwitterionic lipids (phosphatidylcholine) and acidic lipids (phosphatidylserine or phosphatidylglycerol). The aqueous phase (relative permittivity, epsilon r = 80) contains 0.1 M monovalent salt. When the bilayers contain < 11% acidic lipid, the -25 mV equipotential surfaces are discrete domes centered over the negatively charged lipids and are approximately twice the value calculated using Debye-Hückel theory. When the bilayers contain > 25% acidic lipid, the -25 mV equipotential profiles are essentially flat and agree well with the values calculated using Gouy-Chapman theory. When the bilayers contain 100% acidic lipid, all of the equipotential surfaces are flat and agree with Gouy-Chapman predictions (including the -100 mV surface, which is located only 1 A from the outermost atoms). Even our model bilayers are not simple systems: the charge on each lipid is distributed over several atoms, these partial charges are non-coplanar, there is a 2 A ion-exclusion region (epsilon r = 80) adjacent to the polar headgroups, and the molecular surface is rough. We investigated the effect of these four factors using smooth (or bumpy) epsilon r = 2 slabs with embedded point charges: these factors had only minor effects on the potential in the aqueous phase. Images FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2 FIGURE 3 FIGURE 4 PMID:7756540

Progress In Plasma Accelerator Development for Dynamic Formation of Plasma Liners

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thio, Y. C. Francis; Eskridge, Richard; Martin, Adam; Smith, James; Lee, Michael; Cassibry, Jason T.; Griffin, Steven; Rodgers, Stephen L. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

An experimental plasma accelerator for magnetic target fusion (MTF) applications under development at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center is described. The accelerator is a coaxial pulsed plasma thruster (Figure 1). It has been tested experimentally and plasma jet velocities of approx.50 km/sec have been obtained. The plasma jet has been photographed with 10-ns exposure times to reveal a stable and repeatable plasma structure (Figure 2). Data for velocity profile information has been obtained using light pipes and magnetic probes embedded in the gun walls to record the plasma and current transit respectively at various barrel locations. Preliminary spatially resolved spectral data and magnetic field probe data are also presented. A high speed triggering system has been developed and tested as a means of reducing the gun "jitter". This jitter is being characterized and future work for second generation "ultra-low jitter" gun development is being identified.

Figure Text Extraction in Biomedical Literature

PubMed Central

Kim, Daehyun; Yu, Hong

2011-01-01

Background Figures are ubiquitous in biomedical full-text articles, and they represent important biomedical knowledge. However, the sheer volume of biomedical publications has made it necessary to develop computational approaches for accessing figures. Therefore, we are developing the Biomedical Figure Search engine (http://figuresearch.askHERMES.org) to allow bioscientists to access figures efficiently. Since text frequently appears in figures, automatically extracting such text may assist the task of mining information from figures. Little research, however, has been conducted exploring text extraction from biomedical figures. Methodology We first evaluated an off-the-shelf Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tool on its ability to extract text from figures appearing in biomedical full-text articles. We then developed a Figure Text Extraction Tool (FigTExT) to improve the performance of the OCR tool for figure text extraction through the use of three innovative components: image preprocessing, character recognition, and text correction. We first developed image preprocessing to enhance image quality and to improve text localization. Then we adapted the off-the-shelf OCR tool on the improved text localization for character recognition. Finally, we developed and evaluated a novel text correction framework by taking advantage of figure-specific lexicons. Results/Conclusions The evaluation on 382 figures (9,643 figure texts in total) randomly selected from PubMed Central full-text articles shows that FigTExT performed with 84% precision, 98% recall, and 90% F1-score for text localization and with 62.5% precision, 51.0% recall and 56.2% F1-score for figure text extraction. When limiting figure texts to those judged by domain experts to be important content, FigTExT performed with 87.3% precision, 68.8% recall, and 77% F1-score. FigTExT significantly improved the performance of the off-the-shelf OCR tool we used, which on its own performed with 36.6% precision, 19.3% recall, and 25.3% F1-score for text extraction. In addition, our results show that FigTExT can extract texts that do not appear in figure captions or other associated text, further suggesting the potential utility of FigTExT for improving figure search. PMID:21249186

Figure text extraction in biomedical literature.

PubMed

Kim, Daehyun; Yu, Hong

2011-01-13

Figures are ubiquitous in biomedical full-text articles, and they represent important biomedical knowledge. However, the sheer volume of biomedical publications has made it necessary to develop computational approaches for accessing figures. Therefore, we are developing the Biomedical Figure Search engine (http://figuresearch.askHERMES.org) to allow bioscientists to access figures efficiently. Since text frequently appears in figures, automatically extracting such text may assist the task of mining information from figures. Little research, however, has been conducted exploring text extraction from biomedical figures. We first evaluated an off-the-shelf Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tool on its ability to extract text from figures appearing in biomedical full-text articles. We then developed a Figure Text Extraction Tool (FigTExT) to improve the performance of the OCR tool for figure text extraction through the use of three innovative components: image preprocessing, character recognition, and text correction. We first developed image preprocessing to enhance image quality and to improve text localization. Then we adapted the off-the-shelf OCR tool on the improved text localization for character recognition. Finally, we developed and evaluated a novel text correction framework by taking advantage of figure-specific lexicons. The evaluation on 382 figures (9,643 figure texts in total) randomly selected from PubMed Central full-text articles shows that FigTExT performed with 84% precision, 98% recall, and 90% F1-score for text localization and with 62.5% precision, 51.0% recall and 56.2% F1-score for figure text extraction. When limiting figure texts to those judged by domain experts to be important content, FigTExT performed with 87.3% precision, 68.8% recall, and 77% F1-score. FigTExT significantly improved the performance of the off-the-shelf OCR tool we used, which on its own performed with 36.6% precision, 19.3% recall, and 25.3% F1-score for text extraction. In addition, our results show that FigTExT can extract texts that do not appear in figure captions or other associated text, further suggesting the potential utility of FigTExT for improving figure search.

3D laser scanning for quality control and assurance in bridge deck construction.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-08-01

The inspection of installations of rebar and other embedded components in bridge deck construction is a tedious : task for eld inspectors, requiring considerable eld time for measurement and verication against code requirement. The verica...

Comprehension of Idioms in Turkish Aphasic Participants.

PubMed

Aydin, Burcu; Barin, Muzaffer; Yagiz, Oktay

2017-12-01

Brain damaged participants offer an opportunity to evaluate the cognitive and linguistic processes and make assumptions about how the brain works. Cognitive linguists have been investigating the underlying mechanisms of idiom comprehension to unravel the ongoing debate on hemispheric specialization in figurative language comprehension. The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the comprehension of idiomatic expressions in left brain damaged (LBD) aphasic, right brain damaged (RBD) and healthy control participants. Idiom comprehension in eleven LBD aphasic participants, ten RBD participants and eleven healthy control participants were assessed with three tasks: String to Picture Matching Task, Literal Sentence Comprehension Task and Oral Idiom Definition Task. The results of the tasks showed that in overall idiom comprehension category, the left brain-damaged aphasic participants interpret idioms more literally compared to right brain-damaged participants. What is more, there is a significant difference in opaque idiom comprehension implying that left brain-damaged aphasic participants perform worse compared to right brain-damaged participants. On the other hand, there is no statistically significant difference in scores of transparent idiom comprehension between the left brain-damaged aphasic and right brain-damaged participants. This result also contribute to the idea that while figurative processing system is damaged in LBD aphasics, the literal comprehension mechanism is spared to some extent. The results of this study support the view that idiom comprehension sites are mainly left lateralized. Furthermore, the results of this study are in consistence with the Giora's Graded Salience Hypothesis.

Motor Cortex Stimulation Reverses Maladaptive Plasticity Following Spinal Cord Injury

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

Additional anesthesia (10 mg/kg intraperitoneal, diluted ketamine 1:10 in saline) was administered whenneeded. Local anesthetic (2% lidocaine)was applied to...cord lesion. Under aseptic conditions, and using ketamine/xylazine anesthesia Figure 5. A representative example of a PO neuron in response to the... localized (Task 1b). • We found that the majority of ZI units enhanced by MCS receive direct inputs from the motor cortex (Task 1b). • We

Design Evaluation for Personnel, Training and Human Factors (DEPTH) Final Report.

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-01-17

human activity was primarily intended to facilitate man-machine design analyses of complex systems. By importing computer aided design (CAD) data, the human figure models and analysis algorithms can help to ensure components can be seen, reached, lifted and removed by most maintainers. These simulations are also useful for logistics data capture, training, and task analysis. DEPTH was also found to be useful in obtaining task descriptions for technical

Toward a Model of Expert Knowledge Structure and Their Role in Cognitive Task Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-11-01

ONR. I I ’Ibis project addressed the role of knowledge organization in skilled cognitive task performance. In particular, this work focused on three...aspects. I EDETERMKNOWLEDGES STRUCTURE MEASURES Figure 1. Knowledge Structure Domain. The work performed under this contract is divided into three...for knowledge structure development would lead to a more global training approach. As such, this effort attempted to define the scope of further work

Automated Support for da Vinci Surgical System

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-01

MScore, which provides objective assessment measuring robotic surgery skills across all computed metrics (Figure 7). In addition to viewing single ...holding an object. Data Collection & Analysis (Task 5)  Preliminary Experiments  During the first phase of data collection, a single performance of...a single task (anastomosis) trial was recorded from six different users – three each for the da Vinci and the dV-Trainer platforms. On each platform

X3D-Earth: Full Globe Coverage Utilizing Multiple Dataset

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

DtedNvtProcessor Class ..................................................128 Figure 63. Subversion Checkout in Netbeans ...to the Ant build.xml file within a NetBeans Project: <target name=“moveToHamming” depends=““> <scp todir=“user@hamming.uc.nps.edu:/work/user/DTED...This task was generated using the NetBeans IDE (can be downloaded at www.netbeans.org). The task was then executed within NetBeans . This type of

Grouping puts figure-ground assignment in context by constraining propagation of edge-assignment

PubMed Central

Brooks, Joseph L.; Driver, Jon

2010-01-01

Figure-ground organization involves assignment of edges to a figural shape on one or the other side of each dividing edge. Established visual cues for edge-assignment primarily concern relatively local rather than contextual factors. Here we show that assignment for a locally-unbiased edge can be affected by assignment of a remote contextual edge that has its own locally-biased assignment. We find that such propagation of edge-assignment from the biased remote context occurs only when the biased and unbiased edges are grouped. This new principle, whereby grouping constrains propagation of figural edge-assignment, emerges from both subjective reports and from an objective short-term edge-matching task. It generalizes from moving displays involving grouping by common fate and collinearity, to static displays with grouping by similarity of edge-contrast polarity, or apparent occlusion. Our results identify a new contextual influence upon edge-assignment. They also identify a new mechanistic relation between grouping and figure-ground processes, whereby grouping between remote elements can constrain propagation of edge-assignment between those elements. PMID:20436200

Figures of merit for self-beating filtered microwave photonic systems.

PubMed

Pérez, Daniel; Gasulla, Ivana; Capmany, José; Fandiño, Javier S; Muñoz, Pascual; Alavi, Hossein

2016-05-02

We present a model to compute the figures of merit of self-beating Microwave Photonic systems, a novel class of systems that work on a self-homodyne fashion by sharing the same laser source for information bearing and local oscillator tasks. General and simplified expressions are given and, as an example, we have considered their application to the design of a tunable RF MWP BS/UE front end for band selection, based on a Chebyshev Type-II optical filter. The applicability and usefulness of the model are also discussed.

Building a Better Model: A Personalized Breast Cancer Risk Model Incorporating Breast Density to Stratify Risk and Improve Application of Resources

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

conducted a second round of focus groups in early 2013, designed as group self-administered pre- tests followed by a group debriefing. The first...procedures for team communication and coordination (month 1) Completed. A listserve was developed for the group early on . Bi-weekly conference calls were... group has developed an automated 2D method. Figure 7 shows the automated 2D (area) results on the same dataset presented in Task 4 (figures 1 and 2). The

Building a Better Model: A Personalized Breast Cancer Risk Model Incorporating Breast Density to Stratify Risk and Improve Application of Resources

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

designed as group self-administered pre- tests followed by a group debriefing. The first group was conducted in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the second...coordination (month 1) Completed. A listserve was developed for the group early on . Bi-weekly conference calls were held on Tuesdays at noon. An agenda...Yaffe’s group has developed an automated 2D method. Figure 7 shows the automated 2D (area) results on the same dataset presented in Task 4 (figures 1

Development of a Retractable Compressible Fluid Suspension System. Task 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-06-01

the design and fabrication cost of the suspension units, the roadwheel hub and spindle currently used on the AAV -7AI amphibious vehicle dre to be...SUSPENSION HOUSING FIGURE .5. FEM HOUSING STRESS ANALYSIS, SOLID MODEL, SECTION VIEW -16- ,"~1 /IZ4: 45 "" / EAL UN ~iST=h~~ / 6DIE5.8la DTJJ.-RER.SUSP. HSC ...SHX M1784 DS=-792 IIDDEN - 9983 -1779 Ti___ 4869 5_ 6334 64959- 71784 DTli--RETR. SUSP. HSC .,CiASE1:HAX VERT, 29K OUT FIGURE 7. PIVOT SHAFT, SOLID

Engineering and Development Support of General Decon Technology for the U.S. Army’s Installation Restoration Program. Task 2. Treatment of Explosives Contaminated Lagoon Sediment. Phase 1. Literature Review and Evaluation

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-04-01

128 32. Effects of UV, Ozone and UV-Ozone on the Degradation of Pink Water at Zero Flow ............ ................. 130 33. Formation of...Nitrate Ion During UV-Ozonolysis of TNT in Zero Flow Mode ........ ... ........................ ..... 132 34. Detailed Analysis of Run 7-12...the Degradation of Pink Water at Zero Flow* (Layne et al., 1980) *This figure represents a combination of Figures 5 and 7 in the report. 130 - -+ TNT

Prospective memory: effects of divided attention on spontaneous retrieval.

PubMed

Harrison, Tyler L; Mullet, Hillary G; Whiffen, Katie N; Ousterhout, Hunter; Einstein, Gilles O

2014-02-01

We examined the effects of divided attention on the spontaneous retrieval of a prospective memory intention. Participants performed an ongoing lexical decision task with an embedded prospective memory demand, and also performed a divided-attention task during some segments of lexical decision trials. In all experiments, monitoring was highly discouraged, and we observed no evidence that participants engaged monitoring processes. In Experiment 1, performing a moderately demanding divided-attention task (a digit detection task) did not affect prospective memory performance. In Experiment 2, performing a more challenging divided-attention task (random number generation) impaired prospective memory. Experiment 3 showed that this impairment was eliminated when the prospective memory cue was perceptually salient. Taken together, the results indicate that spontaneous retrieval is not automatic and that challenging divided-attention tasks interfere with spontaneous retrieval and not with the execution of a retrieved intention.

The Development of an Embedded Figures Test for the Detection of Feigned Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Adulthood

PubMed Central

Fuermaier, Anselm B. M.; Tucha, Oliver; Koerts, Janneke; Grabski, Meryem; Lange, Klaus W.; Weisbrod, Matthias; Aschenbrenner, Steffen; Tucha, Lara

2016-01-01

Objectives It has been shown that an increasing number of adults deliberately feign attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which demonstrates the need for new tests designed to detect feigned ADHD. Methods An Embedded Figures Test (EFT) was developed for the detection of feigned ADHD in adulthood. EFT performance of 51 adults with ADHD was compared to the performance of 52 matched healthy individuals, as well as to 268 undergraduate students who were randomly allocated in a simulation design to one of four experimental conditions, i.e. a control group, a naïve simulation group, a symptom-coached simulation group or a test-coached simulation group. Furthermore, an independent sample of 11 adults with ADHD as well as a sample of 17 clinicians experienced in the work with adults with ADHD were assessed for further validation of the EFT. Results The EFT was relatively easy to perform for both patients with ADHD and healthy comparisons as shown by low error rates and non-significant group differences. However, simulation groups differed from patients with ADHD by significant and large effects. An EFT index for the prediction of feigned ADHD was derived based on logistic regression coefficients. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) demonstrated good classification accuracy of feigned ADHD relative to ADHD (AUC = 94.8%), i.e. high sensitivity (88%) and specificity (90%). Conclusions This study supports the utility of the EFT for the detection of feigned adult ADHD. PMID:27732620

The Development of an Embedded Figures Test for the Detection of Feigned Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Adulthood.

PubMed

Fuermaier, Anselm B M; Tucha, Oliver; Koerts, Janneke; Grabski, Meryem; Lange, Klaus W; Weisbrod, Matthias; Aschenbrenner, Steffen; Tucha, Lara

2016-01-01

It has been shown that an increasing number of adults deliberately feign attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which demonstrates the need for new tests designed to detect feigned ADHD. An Embedded Figures Test (EFT) was developed for the detection of feigned ADHD in adulthood. EFT performance of 51 adults with ADHD was compared to the performance of 52 matched healthy individuals, as well as to 268 undergraduate students who were randomly allocated in a simulation design to one of four experimental conditions, i.e. a control group, a naïve simulation group, a symptom-coached simulation group or a test-coached simulation group. Furthermore, an independent sample of 11 adults with ADHD as well as a sample of 17 clinicians experienced in the work with adults with ADHD were assessed for further validation of the EFT. The EFT was relatively easy to perform for both patients with ADHD and healthy comparisons as shown by low error rates and non-significant group differences. However, simulation groups differed from patients with ADHD by significant and large effects. An EFT index for the prediction of feigned ADHD was derived based on logistic regression coefficients. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) demonstrated good classification accuracy of feigned ADHD relative to ADHD (AUC = 94.8%), i.e. high sensitivity (88%) and specificity (90%). This study supports the utility of the EFT for the detection of feigned adult ADHD.

EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL STUDY OF ATTENTION REGULATION DURING ILLUSORY FIGURE CATEGORIZATION TASK IN ADHD, AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER, AND TYPICAL CHILDREN.

PubMed

Sokhadze, Estate M; Baruth, Joshua M; Sears, Lonnie; Sokhadze, Guela E; El-Baz, Ayman S; Williams, Emily; Klapheke, Robert; Casanova, Manuel F

2012-01-01

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are very common developmental disorders which share some similar symptoms of social, emotional, and attentional deficits. This study is aimed to help understand the differences and similarities of these deficits using analysis of dense-array event-related potentials (ERP) during an illusory figure recognition task. Although ADHD and ASD seem very distinct, they have been shown to share some similarities in their symptoms. Our hypothesis was that children with ASD will show less pronounced differences in ERP responses to target and non-target stimuli as compared to typical children, and to a lesser extent, ADHD. Participants were children with ASD (N=16), ADHD (N=16), and controls (N=16). EEG was collected using a 128 channel EEG system. The task involved the recognition of a specific illusory shape, in this case a square or triangle, created by three or four inducer disks. There were no between group differences in reaction time (RT) to target stimuli, but both ASD and ADHD committed more errors, specifically the ASD group had statistically higher commission error rate than controls. Post-error RT in ASD group was exhibited in a post-error speeding rather than corrective RT slowing typical for the controls. The ASD group also demonstrated an attenuated error-related negativity (ERN) as compared to ADHD and controls. The fronto-central P200, N200, and P300 were enhanced and less differentiated in response to target and non-target figures in the ASD group. The same ERP components were marked by more prolonged latencies in the ADHD group as compared to both ASD and typical controls. The findings are interpreted according to the "minicolumnar" hypothesis proposing existence of neuropathological differences in ASD and ADHD, specifically minicolumnar number/width morphometry spectrum differences. In autism, a model of local hyperconnectivity and long-range hypoconnectivity explains many of the behavioral and cognitive deficits present in the condition, while the inverse arrangement of local hypoconnectivity and long-range hyperconnectivity in ADHD explains some deficits typical for this disorder. The current ERP study supports the proposed suggestion that some between group differences could be manifested in the frontal ERP indices of executive functions during performance on an illusory figure categorization task.

Post-stroke aphasia recovery assessed with fMRI and a picture identification task

PubMed Central

Szaflarski, Jerzy P.; Eaton, Kenneth; Ball, Angel L.; Banks, Christi; Vannest, Jennifer; Allendorfer, Jane B.; Page, Stephen; Holland, Scott K.

2010-01-01

Background Stroke patients often display deficits in language function such as correctly naming objects. Our aim was to evaluate the reliability and the patterns of post-stroke language recovery using a picture identification task during fMRI at 4T. Material and Methods 4 healthy and 4 left MCA stroke subjects with chronic (>1 year) aphasia. Ten fMRI scans were performed for each subject over a 10-week period using a picture identification task. Active condition involved presenting subjects with a panel of 4 figures (e.g., drawings of 4 animals) every 6 seconds; subjects indicated which figure matched the written name in the center. Control condition was same/different judgment task of pairs of geometric figures (squares, octagons or combination) presented every 6 seconds. Thirty-second active/control blocks were repeated 5 times each; responses were recorded. Results Patients and controls exhibited similar demographic characteristics: age (46 vs. 53 years), personal handedness (EHI; 89 vs. 95), familial handedness (93 vs. 95) or years of education (14.3 vs. 14.8). For the active condition, controls performed better than patients (97.7% vs. 89.1%, p<0.001); performance was similar for the control condition (99.5% vs. 98.8%, p=0.23). During fMRI, controls exhibited bilateral, L>R positive blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) activations in frontal and temporal language areas and symmetric retro-splenial and posterior cingulate areas and symmetric negative BOLD activations in bilateral fronto-temporal language networks. However, the patient group showed positive BOLD activations predominantly in peri-stroke areas and negative BOLD activations in the unaffected (right) hemisphere. Both the control and patient groups displayed high activation reliability (as measured by the ICC) in left frontal and temporal language areas, although the ICC in frontal regions of the patients was spread over a much larger peri-stroke area. Conclusion This study documents the utility of the picture identification task for post-stroke language recovery evaluation. Study data suggest that adult stroke patients utilize functional peri-stroke areas to perform language functions. PMID:20719532

Task Integration Facilitates Multitasking.

PubMed

de Oliveira, Rita F; Raab, Markus; Hegele, Mathias; Schorer, Jörg

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate multi-task integration in a continuous tracking task. We were particularly interested in how manipulating task structure in a dual-task situation affects learning of a constant segment embedded in a pursuit-tracking task. Importantly, we examined if dual-task effects could be attributed to task integration by varying the structural similarity and difficulty of the primary and secondary tasks. In Experiment 1 participants performed a pursuit tracking task while counting high-pitched tones and ignoring low-pitched tones. The tones were either presented randomly or structurally 250 ms before each tracking turn. Experiment 2 increased the motor load of the secondary tasks by asking participants to tap their feet to the tones. Experiment 3 further increased motor load of the primary task by increasing its speed and having participants tracking with their non-dominant hand. The results show that dual-task interference can be moderated by secondary task conditions that match the structure of the primary task. Therefore our results support proposals of task integration in continuous tracking paradigms. We conclude that multi-tasking is not always detrimental for motor learning but can be facilitated through task-integration.

Colour expectations during object perception are associated with early and late modulations of electrophysiological activity.

PubMed

Stojanoski, Bobby Boge; Niemeier, Matthias

2015-10-01

It is well known that visual expectation and attention modulate object perception. Yet, the mechanisms underlying these top-down influences are not completely understood. Event-related potentials (ERPs) indicate late contributions of expectations to object processing around the P2 or N2. This is true independent of whether people expect objects (vs. no objects) or specific shapes, hence when expectations pertain to complex visual features. However, object perception can also benefit from expecting colour information, which can facilitate figure/ground segregation. Studies on attention to colour show attention-sensitive modulations of the P1, but are limited to simple transient detection paradigms. The aim of the current study was to examine whether expecting simple features (colour information) during challenging object perception tasks produce early or late ERP modulations. We told participants to expect an object defined by predominantly black or white lines that were embedded in random arrays of distractor lines and then asked them to report the object's shape. Performance was better when colour expectations were met. ERPs revealed early and late phases of modulation. An early modulation at the P1/N1 transition arguably reflected earlier stages of object processing. Later modulations, at the P3, could be consistent with decisional processes. These results provide novel insights into feature-specific contributions of visual expectations to object perception.

Development of low-stress Iridium coatings for astronomical x-ray mirrors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Döhring, Thorsten; Probst, Anne-Catherine; Stollenwerk, Manfred; Wen, Mingwu; Proserpio, Laura

2016-07-01

Previously used mirror technologies are not suitable for the challenging needs of future X-ray telescopes. This is why the required high precision mirror manufacturing triggers new technical developments around the world. Some aspects of X-ray mirrors production are studied within the interdisciplinary project INTRAAST, a German acronym for "industry transfer of astronomical mirror technologies". The project is embedded in a cooperation of Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences and the Max-Planck-Institute for extraterrestrial Physics. One important task is the development of low-stress Iridium coatings for X-ray mirrors based on slumped thin glass substrates. The surface figure of the glass substrates is measured before and after the coating process by optical methods. Correlating the surface shape deformation to the parameters of coating deposition, here especially to the Argon sputtering pressure, allows for an optimization of the process. The sputtering parameters also have an influence on the coating layer density and on the micro-roughness of the coatings, influencing their X-ray reflection properties. Unfortunately the optimum coating process parameters seem to be contrarious: low Argon pressure resulted in better micro-roughness and higher density, whereas higher pressure leads to lower coating stress. Therefore additional measures like intermediate coating layers and temperature treatment will be considered for further optimization. The technical approach for the low-stress Iridium coating development, the experimental equipment, and the obtained first experimental results are presented within this paper.

Investigation of x-ray spectra for iodinated contrast-enhanced dedicated breast CT

PubMed Central

Glick, Stephen J.; Makeev, Andrey

2017-01-01

Abstract. Screening for breast cancer with mammography has been very successful, resulting in part to a reduction of breast cancer mortality by approximately 39% since 1990. However, mammography still has limitations in performance, especially for women with dense breast tissue. Iodinated contrast-enhanced, dedicated breast CT (BCT) has been proposed to improve lesion analysis and the accuracy of diagnostic workup for patients suspected of having breast cancer. A mathematical analysis to explore the use of various x-ray filters for iodinated contrast-enhanced BCT is presented. To assess task-based performance, the ideal linear observer signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is used as a figure-of-merit under the assumptions of a linear, shift-invariant imaging system. To estimate signal and noise propagation through the BCT detector, a parallel-cascade model was used. The lesion model was embedded into a structured background and included a realistic level of iodine uptake. SNR was computed for 84,000 different exposure settings by varying the kV setting, x-ray filter materials and thickness, breast size, and composition and radiation dose. It is shown that some x-ray filter material/thickness combinations can provide up to 75% improvement in the linear ideal observer SNR over a conventionally used x-ray filter for BCT. This improvement in SNR can be traded off for substantial reductions in mean glandular dose. PMID:28149923