Sample records for mutually responsive orientation

  1. Pathways to Conscience: Early Mother-Child Mutually Responsive Orientation and Children's Moral Emotion, Conduct, and Cognition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kochanska, Grazyna; Forman, David R.; Aksan, Nazan; Dunbar, Stephen B.

    2005-01-01

    Background: Associations between early mother-child mutually responsive orientation (MRO) and children's conscience have been previously established, but the mechanisms accounting for those links are not understood. We examined three such mediational mechanisms: (a) the child's enhanced enjoyment of interactions with the mother, (b) increased…

  2. Supporting parent-child interactions: music therapy as an intervention for promoting mutually responsive orientation.

    PubMed

    Pasiali, Varvara

    2012-01-01

    Music therapists working with families address relationship and interpersonal communication issues. Few controlled studies exist in the literature but a growing body of documented practice is emerging. This study makes a contribution by documenting how music therapy supports mutuality and reciprocity in parent-child interactions. This study investigated mutually responsive orientation (MRO) behaviors of young children (aged 3-5) and their family members during music therapy. Participants were 4 families with low income and history of maternal depression as common risk factors. Data were collected by videotaping sessions, creating field notes and analytic memos, conducting parent interviews and reviewing parent journals. A cross-case analysis using MRO theory as a conceptualizing framework was used for the purpose of data reduction. Greeting and farewell rituals, and the flexibility of music-based therapeutic applications facilitated development of coordinated routines. Therapist's actions (e.g., encouraging and modeling musical interactions) and bidirectional parent-child actions (e.g., joint attention, turn-taking, being playful) facilitated harmonious communication. Behaviors promoting mutual cooperation were evident when adults attempted to scaffold a child's participation or when children sought comfort from parents, engaged in social referencing and made requests that shaped the direction of the session. The novelty of musical tasks captivated attention, increasing impulse inhibition. Parent actions (e.g., finding delight in watching their child participate, acting silly) and parent-child interactions (e.g., play exploration, shared excitement, cuddling) contributed to positive emotional ambiance. Music therapy assisted development of MRO within parent-child dyads by providing opportunities to rehearse adaptive ways of connecting with each other. Results of this study may serve as an archetypal model guiding clinical treatment planning.

  3. Dominance of Spouse Orientation and Perceived Couple Mutuality.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomas, Antoinette D.; Dudek, Stephanie Z.

    Interactions between husbands and wives are often assessed in terms of power distribution, based on decision-making outcomes. To examine the association of the dominance of "spouse" over "parents" and "peers" orientation with perceived behavioral and affective mutuality in the couple's financial management, couples…

  4. Population dynamics and mutualism: Functional responses of benefits and costs

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Holland, J. Nathaniel; DeAngelis, Donald L.; Bronstein, Judith L.

    2002-01-01

    We develop an approach for studying population dynamics resulting from mutualism by employing functional responses based on density‐dependent benefits and costs. These functional responses express how the population growth rate of a mutualist is modified by the density of its partner. We present several possible dependencies of gross benefits and costs, and hence net effects, to a mutualist as functions of the density of its partner. Net effects to mutualists are likely a monotonically saturating or unimodal function of the density of their partner. We show that fundamental differences in the growth, limitation, and dynamics of a population can occur when net effects to that population change linearly, unimodally, or in a saturating fashion. We use the mutualism between senita cactus and its pollinating seed‐eating moth as an example to show the influence of different benefit and cost functional responses on population dynamics and stability of mutualisms. We investigated two mechanisms that may alter this mutualism's functional responses: distribution of eggs among flowers and fruit abortion. Differences in how benefits and costs vary with density can alter the stability of this mutualism. In particular, fruit abortion may allow for a stable equilibrium where none could otherwise exist.

  5. Creative tensions: mutual responsiveness adapted to private sector research and development.

    PubMed

    Sonck, Matti; Asveld, Lotte; Landeweerd, Laurens; Osseweijer, Patricia

    2017-09-07

    The concept of mutual responsiveness is currently based on little empirical data in the literature of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). This paper explores RRI's idea of mutual responsiveness in the light of recent RRI case studies on private sector research and development (R&D). In RRI, responsible innovation is understood as a joint endeavour of innovators and societal stakeholders, who become mutually responsive to each other in defining the 'right impacts' of the innovation in society, and in steering the innovation towards realising those impacts. Yet, the case studies identified several reasons for why the idea of mutual responsiveness does not always appear feasible or desirable in actual R&D situations. Inspired by the discrepancies between theory and practice, we suggest three further elaborations for the concept of responsiveness in RRI. Process-responsiveness is suggested for identifying situations that require stakeholder involvement specifically during R&D. Product-responsiveness is suggested for mobilising the potential of innovation products to be adaptable according to diverse stakeholder needs. Presponsiveness is suggested as responsiveness towards stakeholders that are not (yet) reachable at a given time of R&D. Our aim is to contribute to a more tangible understanding of responsiveness in RRI, and suggest directions for further analysis in upcoming RRI case studies.

  6. Mutual information and the fidelity of response of gene regulatory models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tabbaa, Omar P.; Jayaprakash, C.

    2014-08-01

    We investigate cellular response to extracellular signals by using information theory techniques motivated by recent experiments. We present results for the steady state of the following gene regulatory models found in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells: a linear transcription-translation model and a positive or negative auto-regulatory model. We calculate both the information capacity and the mutual information exactly for simple models and approximately for the full model. We find that (1) small changes in mutual information can lead to potentially important changes in cellular response and (2) there are diminishing returns in the fidelity of response as the mutual information increases. We calculate the information capacity using Gillespie simulations of a model for the TNF-α-NF-κ B network and find good agreement with the measured value for an experimental realization of this network. Our results provide a quantitative understanding of the differences in cellular response when comparing experimentally measured mutual information values of different gene regulatory models. Our calculations demonstrate that Gillespie simulations can be used to compute the mutual information of more complex gene regulatory models, providing a potentially useful tool in synthetic biology.

  7. Evolution of plant–pollinator mutualisms in response to climate change

    PubMed Central

    Gilman, R Tucker; Fabina, Nicholas S; Abbott, Karen C; Rafferty, Nicole E

    2012-01-01

    Climate change has the potential to desynchronize the phenologies of interdependent species, with potentially catastrophic effects on mutualist populations. Phenologies can evolve, but the role of evolution in the response of mutualisms to climate change is poorly understood. We developed a model that explicitly considers both the evolution and the population dynamics of a plant–pollinator mutualism under climate change. How the populations evolve, and thus whether the populations and the mutualism persist, depends not only on the rate of climate change but also on the densities and phenologies of other species in the community. Abundant alternative mutualist partners with broad temporal distributions can make a mutualism more robust to climate change, while abundant alternative partners with narrow temporal distributions can make a mutualism less robust. How community composition and the rate of climate change affect the persistence of mutualisms is mediated by two-species Allee thresholds. Understanding these thresholds will help researchers to identify those mutualisms at highest risk owing to climate change. PMID:25568025

  8. Mother-Infant Responsiveness: Timing, Mutual Regulation, and Interactional Context.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Van Egeren, Laurie A,; Barratt, Marguerite S.; Roach, Mary A.

    2001-01-01

    Investigated from a dynamic systems perspective mutual regulation during naturalistic interaction of mothers with their 4-month-olds. Found that mothers and infants communicated primarily through vocal signals and responses. Levels of contingent responsiveness between partners were significantly associated and occurred within distinct behavioral…

  9. The Architecture of Interdependent Minds: A Motivation-Management Theory of Mutual Responsiveness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murray, Sandra L.; Holmes, John G.

    2009-01-01

    A model of mutual responsiveness in adult romantic relationships is proposed. Behaving responsively in conflict-of-interest situations requires one partner to resist the temptation to be selfish and the other partner to resist the temptation to protect against exploitation. Managing risk and the attendant temptations of self-interest require the…

  10. Antagonists in Mutual Antipathies: A Person-Oriented Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Guroglu, Berna; Haselager, Gerbert J. T.; van Lieshout, Cornelis F. M.; Scholte, Ron H. J.

    2009-01-01

    This study investigated the heterogeneity of mutual antipathy relationships. Separate cluster analyses of peer interactions of early adolescents (mean age 11 years) and adolescents (mean age of 14) yielded 3 "types of individuals" in each age group, namely Prosocial, Antisocial, and Withdrawn. Prevalence analysis of the 6 possible combinations of…

  11. Mutual orientation of three magnetic tensors in a polycrystalline dipeptide by dipole-modulated 15N chemical shift spectroscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hartzell, C. J.; Pratum, T. K.; Drobny, G.

    1987-10-01

    This study demonstrates the mutual orientation of three tensor interactions in a single NMR experiment. The orientation of the 15N chemical shift tensor relative to the molecular frame has thus been determined in polycrystalline L-[1-13C] alanyl-L-[15N] alanine. The 13C-15N and 15N-1H dipole interactions are determined using the 1H dipole-modulated, 13C dipole-coupled 15N spectrum obtained as a transform of the data in t2. From simulations of the experimental spectra, two sets of polar angles have been determined relating the 13C-15N and 15N-1H dipoles to the 15N chemical shift tensor. The values determined are βCN =106°, αCN =5° and βNH =-19°, αNH =12°. The experiment verifies, without reference to single crystal data, that σ33 lies in the peptide plane and σ22 is nearly perpendicular to the plane.

  12. Child Temperament Moderates Effects of Parent-Child Mutuality on Self-Regulation: A Relationship-Based Path for Emotionally Negative Infants

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, Sanghag; Kochanska, Grazyna

    2012-01-01

    This study examined infants' negative emotionality as moderating the effect of parent-child mutually responsive orientation (MRO) on children's self-regulation (n = 102). Negative emotionality was observed in anger-eliciting episodes and in interactions with parents at 7 months. MRO was coded in naturalistic interactions at 15 months.…

  13. Mutuality and the social regulation of neural threat responding

    PubMed Central

    Coan, James A.; Kasle, Shelley; Jackson, Alice; Schaefer, Hillary S.; Davidson, Richard J.

    2014-01-01

    Recent studies have shown that the presence of a caring relational partner can attenuate neural responses to threat. Here we report reanalyzed data from Coan, Schaefer, and Davidson (2006), investigating the role of relational mutuality in the neural response to threat. Mutuality reflects the degree to which couple members show mutual interest in the sharing of internal feelings, thoughts, aspirations, and joys – a vital form of responsiveness in attachment relationships. We predicted that wives who were high (versus low) in perceived mutuality, and who attended the study session with their husbands, would show reduced neural threat reactivity in response to mild electric shocks. We also explored whether this effect would depend on physical contact (handholding). As predicted, we observed that higher mutuality scores corresponded with decreased neural threat responding in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and supplementary motor cortex. These effects were independent of hand-holding condition. These findings suggest that higher perceived mutuality corresponds with decreased self-regulatory effort and attenuated preparatory motor activity in response to threat cues, even in the absence of direct physical contact with social resources. PMID:23547803

  14. Relationship between mother-infant mutual dyadic responsiveness and premature infant development as measured by the Bayley III at 6 weeks corrected age.

    PubMed

    White-Traut, Rosemary C; Rankin, Kristin M; Yoder, Joe; Zawacki, Laura; Campbell, Suzann; Kavanaugh, Karen; Brandon, Debra; Norr, Kathleen F

    2018-06-01

    The quality of mother-preterm infant interaction has been identified as a key factor in influencing the infant's later development and language acquisition. The relationship between mother-infant responsiveness and later development may be evident early in infancy, a time period which has been understudied. Describe the relationship between mother-infant mutual dyadic responsiveness and premature infant development. This study employed a secondary analysis of data from the 6-week corrected age (CA) follow-up visit of the Hospital-Home Transition: Optimizing Prematures' Environment (H-HOPE) study, a randomized clinical trial testing the efficacy of a mother- and infant- focused intervention for improving outcomes among premature infants. Premature infants born between 29 and 34 weeks gestational age and their mothers who had social-environmental risks. At 6-weeks corrected age, a play session was coded for the quality of mutual responsiveness (Dyadic Mutuality Code). Development was assessed via the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 3rd edition. Of 137 mother-infant dyads, high, medium and low mutual responsiveness was observed for 35.8%, 34.3% and 29.9%, respectively. Overall motor, language and cognitive scores were 115.8 (SD = 8.2), 108.0 (7.7) and 109.3 (7.9). Multivariable linear models showed infants in dyads with high versus low mutual responsiveness had higher scores on the motor (β = 3.07, p = 0.06) and language (β = 4.47, p = 0.006) scales. High mutual responsiveness in mother-premature infant dyads is associated with significantly better language development and marginally better motor development. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Binocular combination of stimulus orientation.

    PubMed

    Yehezkel, O; Ding, J; Sterkin, A; Polat, U; Levi, D M

    2016-11-01

    When two sine waves that differ slightly in orientation are presented to the two eyes separately, a single cyclopean sine wave is perceived. However, it is unclear how the brain calculates its orientation. Here, we used a signal detection rating method to estimate the perceived orientation when the two eyes were presented with Gabor patches that differed in both orientation and contrast. We found a nearly linear combination of orientation when both targets had the same contrast. However, the binocular percept shifted away from the linear prediction towards the orientation with the higher contrast, depending on both the base contrast and the contrast ratio. We found that stimuli that differ slightly in orientation are combined into a single percept, similarly for monocular and binocular presentation, with a bias that depends on the interocular contrast ratio. Our results are well fitted by gain-control models, and are consistent with a previous study that favoured the DSKL model that successfully predicts binocular phase and contrast combination and binocular contrast discrimination. In this model, the departures from linearity may be explained on the basis of mutual suppression and mutual enhancement, both of which are stronger under dichoptic than monocular conditions.

  16. [Maintaining solidarity: is mutuality the solution?].

    PubMed

    Gevers, J K M; Ploem, M C

    2013-01-01

    Solidarity is essentially the willingness to contribute to the community and its demands, which may even involve contributing more than one is expecting to receive. Another principle is mutuality: this refers to a balance between rights and obligations or between mutual obligations. In its advisory document 'The importance of mutuality......solidarity takes work!', The Dutch Council for Public Health and Health Care underlines the importance of ensuring solidarity within the Dutch health care system, e.g. by encouraging patients to take responsibility for their own health, possibly by introducing elements of mutuality. In our contribution, we comment on the Council's advice. Although we fully agree with the overall conclusion that solidarity should be maintained within the system, we do not see how the introduction of increased mutuality will contribute to this goal.

  17. Parents Helping Parents: Mutual Parenting Network Handbook.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simkinson, Charles H.; Redmond, Robert F.

    Guidelines for mutual parenting are provided in this handbook. "Mutual parenting" means that everyone in the community shares the responsibility for the safety and well-being of the community's youngsters. Several topics are discussed in the 15 brief chapters of the handbook. Chapters 1 through 3 focus on the formation of a mutual…

  18. Motivational orientation modulates the neural response to reward.

    PubMed

    Linke, Julia; Kirsch, Peter; King, Andrea V; Gass, Achim; Hennerici, Michael G; Bongers, André; Wessa, Michèle

    2010-02-01

    Motivational orientation defines the source of motivation for an individual to perform a particular action and can either originate from internal desires (e.g., interest) or external compensation (e.g., money). To this end, motivational orientation should influence the way positive or negative feedback is processed during learning situations and this might in turn have an impact on the learning process. In the present study, we thus investigated whether motivational orientation, i.e., extrinsic and intrinsic motivation modulates the neural response to reward and punishment as well as learning from reward and punishment in 33 healthy individuals. To assess neural responses to reward, punishment and learning of reward contingencies we employed a probabilistic reversal learning task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation were assessed with a self-report questionnaire. Rewarding trials fostered activation in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate gyrus (ACC) as well as the amygdala and nucleus accumbens, whereas for punishment an increased neural response was observed in the medial and inferior prefrontal cortex, the superior parietal cortex and the insula. High extrinsic motivation was positively correlated to increased neural responses to reward in the ACC, amygdala and putamen, whereas a negative relationship between intrinsic motivation and brain activation in these brain regions was observed. These findings show that motivational orientation indeed modulates the responsiveness to reward delivery in major components of the human reward system and therefore extends previous results showing a significant influence of individual differences in reward-related personality traits on the neural processing of reward. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Induction logging device with a pair of mutually perpendicular bucking coils

    DOEpatents

    Koelle, Alfred R.; Landt, Jeremy A.

    1981-01-01

    An instrument is disclosed for mapping vertical conductive fractures in a resistive bedrock, magnetically inducing eddy currents by a pair of vertically oriented, mutually perpendicular, coplanar coils. The eddy currents drive magnetic fields which are picked up by a second, similar pair of coils.

  20. Medical image registration based on normalized multidimensional mutual information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Qi; Ji, Hongbing; Tong, Ming

    2009-10-01

    Registration of medical images is an essential research topic in medical image processing and applications, and especially a preliminary and key step for multimodality image fusion. This paper offers a solution to medical image registration based on normalized multi-dimensional mutual information. Firstly, affine transformation with translational and rotational parameters is applied to the floating image. Then ordinal features are extracted by ordinal filters with different orientations to represent spatial information in medical images. Integrating ordinal features with pixel intensities, the normalized multi-dimensional mutual information is defined as similarity criterion to register multimodality images. Finally the immune algorithm is used to search registration parameters. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed registration scheme.

  1. 26 CFR 1.831-3 - Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, mutual...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, mutual fire insurance companies issuing perpetual policies, and mutual fire or flood insurance companies operating on the basis of premium deposits; taxable years...

  2. 26 CFR 1.831-3 - Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, mutual...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, mutual fire insurance companies issuing perpetual policies, and mutual fire or flood insurance companies operating on the basis of premium deposits; taxable years...

  3. 26 CFR 1.831-3 - Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, mutual...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, mutual fire insurance companies issuing perpetual policies, and mutual fire or flood insurance companies operating on the basis of premium deposits; taxable years...

  4. 26 CFR 1.831-3 - Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, mutual...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, mutual fire insurance companies issuing perpetual policies, and mutual fire or flood insurance companies operating on the basis of premium deposits; taxable years...

  5. Elastic response of (001)-oriented PWA 1480 single crystal - The influence of secondary orientation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kalluri, Sreeramesh; Abdul-Azis, Ali; Mcgaw, Michael

    1991-01-01

    The influence of secondary orientation on the elastic response of a zone axis (001)-oriented nickel-base single-crystal superalloy, PWA 1480, was investigated under mechanical loading conditions by applying finite element techniques. Elastic stress analyses were performed with a commercially available finite element code. Secondary orientation of the single-crystal superalloy was offset with respect to the global coordinate system in increments from 0 to 90 deg and stresses developed within the single crystal were determined for each loading condition. The results indicated that the stresses were strongly influenced by the angular offset between the secondary crystal orientation and the global coordinate system. The degree of influence was found to vary with the type of loading condition (mechanical, thermal, or combined) imposed on the single-crystal superalloy.

  6. Count me in: response to sexual orientation measures among older adults.

    PubMed

    Fredriksen-Goldsen, Karen I; Kim, Hyun-Jun

    2015-07-01

    Health disparities exist among sexual minority older adults. Yet, health and aging surveys rarely include sexual orientation measures and when they do, they often exclude older adults from being asked about sexual orientation. This is the first population-based study to assess item nonresponse to sexual orientation measures by age and change over time. We compare response rates and examine time trends in response patterns using adjusted logistic regressions. Among adults aged 65 and older, the nonresponse rate on sexual orientation is lower than income. While older adults show higher nonresponse rates on sexual orientation than younger adults, the nonresponse rates have significantly decreased over time. By 2010, only 1.23% of older adults responded don't know/not sure, with 1.55% refusing to answer sexual orientation questions. Decisions to not ask sexual orientation among older adults must be reconsidered, given documented health disparities and rapidly changing social trends in the understanding of diverse sexualities. © The Author(s) 2014.

  7. The "where is it?" reflex: autoshaping the orienting response.

    PubMed

    Buzsáki, G

    1982-05-01

    The goal of this review is to compare two divergent lines of research on signal-centered behavior: the orienting reflex (OR) and autoshaping. A review of conditioning experiments in animals and humans suggests that the novelty hypothesis of the OR is no longer tenable. Only stimuli that represent biological "relevance" elicit ORs. A stimulus may be relevant a priori (i.e., unconditioned) or as a result of conditioning. Exposure to a conditioned stimulus (CS) that predicts a positive reinforcer causes the animal to orient to it throughout conditioning. Within the CS-US interval, the initial CS-directed orienting response is followed by US-directed tendencies. Experimental evidence is shown that the development and maintenance of the conditioned OR occur in a similar fashion both in response-independent (classical) and response-dependent (instrumental) paradigms. It is proposed that the conditioned OR and the signal-directed autoshaped response are identical. Signals predicting aversive events repel the subject from the source of the CS. It is suggested that the function of the CS is not only to signal the probability of US occurrence, but also to serve as a spatial cue to guide the animal in the environment.

  8. The "where is it?" reflex: autoshaping the orienting response.

    PubMed Central

    Buzsáki, G

    1982-01-01

    The goal of this review is to compare two divergent lines of research on signal-centered behavior: the orienting reflex (OR) and autoshaping. A review of conditioning experiments in animals and humans suggests that the novelty hypothesis of the OR is no longer tenable. Only stimuli that represent biological "relevance" elicit ORs. A stimulus may be relevant a priori (i.e., unconditioned) or as a result of conditioning. Exposure to a conditioned stimulus (CS) that predicts a positive reinforcer causes the animal to orient to it throughout conditioning. Within the CS-US interval, the initial CS-directed orienting response is followed by US-directed tendencies. Experimental evidence is shown that the development and maintenance of the conditioned OR occur in a similar fashion both in response-independent (classical) and response-dependent (instrumental) paradigms. It is proposed that the conditioned OR and the signal-directed autoshaped response are identical. Signals predicting aversive events repel the subject from the source of the CS. It is suggested that the function of the CS is not only to signal the probability of US occurrence, but also to serve as a spatial cue to guide the animal in the environment. PMID:7097153

  9. Reducing Deviance Through Youths' Mutual Aid Group Dynamics.

    PubMed

    Cheung, Chau-kiu; Ngai, Steven Sek-yum

    2016-01-01

    The mutual aid group, as supported by the social worker, emerges to play a vital role in helping group members reduce their deviance or behavioral problem. However, how the collaboration of the group and social worker accomplishes the reduction has remained uncharted. Based on social capital theory, mutual aid and cohesion within the group and social workers' specific aid for the group are likely responsible for the reduction. The test of such hypotheses relies on a two-wave panel survey of the members of 60 mutual aid groups who had deviant behavioral problems, located in Hong Kong, China. These groups had 241 youths completing both initial and 1-year follow-up surveys. Results manifested the direct or unconditional contributions of mutual aid, group cohesion, and social workers' specific aid to reducing deviance. Hence, social workers can enhance the effectiveness of the mutual aid group in reducing youths' deviance. © The Author(s) 2014.

  10. Identifying Driver Genomic Alterations in Cancers by Searching Minimum-Weight, Mutually Exclusive Sets

    PubMed Central

    Lu, Songjian; Lu, Kevin N.; Cheng, Shi-Yuan; Hu, Bo; Ma, Xiaojun; Nystrom, Nicholas; Lu, Xinghua

    2015-01-01

    An important goal of cancer genomic research is to identify the driving pathways underlying disease mechanisms and the heterogeneity of cancers. It is well known that somatic genome alterations (SGAs) affecting the genes that encode the proteins within a common signaling pathway exhibit mutual exclusivity, in which these SGAs usually do not co-occur in a tumor. With some success, this characteristic has been utilized as an objective function to guide the search for driver mutations within a pathway. However, mutual exclusivity alone is not sufficient to indicate that genes affected by such SGAs are in common pathways. Here, we propose a novel, signal-oriented framework for identifying driver SGAs. First, we identify the perturbed cellular signals by mining the gene expression data. Next, we search for a set of SGA events that carries strong information with respect to such perturbed signals while exhibiting mutual exclusivity. Finally, we design and implement an efficient exact algorithm to solve an NP-hard problem encountered in our approach. We apply this framework to the ovarian and glioblastoma tumor data available at the TCGA database, and perform systematic evaluations. Our results indicate that the signal-oriented approach enhances the ability to find informative sets of driver SGAs that likely constitute signaling pathways. PMID:26317392

  11. Asteroid shapes and pole orientation from visual and infrared photometry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tedesco, E. F.

    1986-01-01

    The shape and pole orientation of asteroid 16 Psyche was determined. New evidence supporting the shorter, five hour, period for 4 Vesta was presented. The first mutual eclipse event between Pluto and Charon was detected. The organization of an international campaign to obtain lightcurves and other data on the Pluto-Charon mutual events was started.

  12. Responses to Orientation Discontinuities in V1 and V2: Physiological Dissociations and Functional Implications

    PubMed Central

    Purpura, Keith P.; Victor, Jonathan D.

    2014-01-01

    Segmenting the visual image into objects is a crucial stage of visual processing. Object boundaries are typically associated with differences in luminance, but discontinuities in texture also play an important role. We showed previously that a subpopulation of neurons in V2 in anesthetized macaques responds to orientation discontinuities parallel to their receptive field orientation. Such single-cell responses could be a neurophysiological correlate of texture boundary detection. Neurons in V1, on the other hand, are known to have contextual response modulations such as iso-orientation surround suppression, which also produce responses to orientation discontinuities. Here, we use pseudorandom multiregion grating stimuli of two frame durations (20 and 40 ms) to probe and compare texture boundary responses in V1 and V2 in anesthetized macaque monkeys. In V1, responses to texture boundaries were observed for only the 40 ms frame duration and were independent of the orientation of the texture boundary. However, in transient V2 neurons, responses to such texture boundaries were robust for both frame durations and were stronger for boundaries parallel to the neuron's preferred orientation. The dependence of these processes on stimulus duration and orientation indicates that responses to texture boundaries in V2 arise independently of contextual modulations in V1. In addition, because the responses in transient V2 neurons are sensitive to the orientation of the texture boundary but those of V1 neurons are not, we suggest that V2 responses are the correlate of texture boundary detection, whereas contextual modulation in V1 serves other purposes, possibly related to orientation “pop-out.” PMID:24599456

  13. Levisohn's Orientations: A Response from the Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lehman, Marjorie

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents the author's response to Jon A. Levisohn's article entitled "A Menu of Orientations in the Teaching of Rabbinic Literature." Levisohn has made a significant contribution to the scholarship of teaching in his article proposing that the teaching of rabbinic literature is most successfully accomplished when teachers think about…

  14. Elastic response of zone axis (001)-oriented PWA 1480 single crystal: The influence of secondary orientation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kalluri, Sreeramesh; Abdul-Aziz, Ali; Mcgaw, Michael A.

    1991-01-01

    The influence of secondary orientation on the elastic response of a zone axis (001)-oriented nickel-base single-crystal superalloy, PWA 1480, was investigated under mechanical loading conditions by applying finite element techniques. Elastic stress analyses were performed with a commercially available finite element code. Secondary orientation of the single-crystal superalloy was offset with respect to the global coordinate system in increments from 0 to 90 deg and stresses developed within the single crystal were determined for each loading condition. The results indicated that the stresses were strongly influenced by the angular offset between the secondary crystal orientation and the global coordinate system. The degree of influence was found to vary with the type of loading condition (mechanical, thermal, or combined) imposed on the single-crystal superalloy.

  15. Pro-Social Goals in Achievement Situations: Amity Goal Orientation Enhances the Positive Effects of Mastery Goal Orientation.

    PubMed

    Levontin, Liat; Bardi, Anat

    2018-04-01

    Research has neglected the utility of pro-social goals within achievement situations. In this article, four studies demonstrate that amity goal orientation, promoting mutual success of oneself together with others, enhances the utility of mastery goal orientation. We demonstrate this in longitudinally predicting performance (Studies 1 and 2) and in maintaining motivation after a disappointing performance (Studies 3 and 4). The studies demonstrate the same interaction effect in academic and in work achievement contexts. Specifically, whereas amity goal orientation did not predict achievement on its own, it enhanced the positive effect of mastery goal orientation. Together, these studies establish the importance of amity goal orientation while also advancing our understanding of the effects of other achievement goal orientations. We suggest future directions in examining the utility of amity goals in other contexts.

  16. AN ORIENTATIONAL RESPONSE TO WEAK GAMMA RADIATION

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

    Brown, F.A. Jr.

    1963-10-01

    The common planarian worm, Duesia dorotocephsla, displays a significant orientational response to increase in Cs/sup 137/ gamma radiation when the increase is no greater than six times background. The worms are able to distinguish the direction of the weak gamma source, turning away from it, whether it is presented on the right or left side. The response sign is, therefore, the same as that of the response of these negatively phototactic worms to visible light. There is a clear compass-directional relationship of the responsiveness to the experimental gamma radiation. A conspicuous negative response is present when the worms are travelingmore » northward or southward in the earth's field with the gamma change in an east-west axis. No statistically significant mean turning response to the gamma radiation is found when the worms are traveling eastward or westward in the earth's field with the gamma change in a north-south axis. The previously observed annual fluctuation in the character of the monthly orientational rhythm of north-directed worms has been confirmed in an additional year of study. During colder months, the rhythm is monthly; during warmer months it is semi-monthly. There is a semi-monthly fluctuation in the response of Dugesia to weak gamma radiation during mid-morning hours, the worms turning away from the source for four days prior to new end full moon, and toward it for two days following new and full moon. The stronger the field strength, up to 9 times backgound, the larger the amplitude of the rhythm. There is a direct relationship between intensities of gamma radiation between that of background and nine times backgound, and the strength of the negative response of the worms. Evidence suggests that the negative response of Dugesia to a gamma source may be modified by experimental alteration of the natural ambient electrostatic field. Some possible biological significances of this remarkable responsiveness to gamma radiation, and its particular

  17. Effect of acculturation and mutuality on family loyalty among Mexican American caregivers of elders.

    PubMed

    Kao, Hsueh-Fen S; An, Kyungeh

    2012-06-01

    Informal family care for elders is conventional in Mexican American communities despite increasing intergenerational gaps in filial values. In our study, we explored whether acculturation and dyadic mutuality, as perceived by Mexican American family caregivers, explain the caregivers' expectations of family loyalty toward elderly relatives. A nonexperimental, correlational design with convenience sampling was used in El Paso, Texas, from October 2007 to January 2008. Three bilingual promotoras collected data from 193 Mexican American adult caregivers of community-dwelling elders using three scales designed for Mexican Americans: the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans II-Short Form, the Mutuality Scale, and the Expectations of Family Loyalty of Children Toward Elderly Relatives Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to analyze the data. Acculturation had a marginal effect (r = .21, p < .05), but mutuality presented a strong correlation (r = .45, p < .001) with the expectations of family loyalty toward elderly relatives. There was no significant correlation between acculturation and mutuality (r = .05). Although Mexican American caregivers with strong Mexican orientation may have high expectations of family loyalty toward elderly relatives, mutuality exhibits more significant effects on expectations. Among Mexican Americans, mutuality between the caregiving dyad, as perceived by caregivers, may be a better predictor of filial values than caregivers' acculturation alone. It may be useful to incorporate the dual paradigm of acculturation and mutuality into immigrant family care for elderly relatives. © 2012 Sigma Theta Tau International.

  18. Physicians Mutual Aid Group: A Response to AIDS-Related Burnout.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garside, Bruce

    1993-01-01

    Describes origins and functioning of physician's mutual aid group for physicians providing primary care to people with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Offers suggestions related to overcoming resistance physicians might have to participating in such a group and reviews modalities that were helpful in facilitating participants' ability…

  19. Cortical Activity during Manual Response Inhibition Guided by Color and Orientation Cues

    PubMed Central

    Cai, Weidong; Leung, Hoi-Chung

    2009-01-01

    It has been suggested that the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) plays a critical role in manual response inhibition, although neuroimaging studies of healthy adults have also reported widespread activations in other cortical regions during a variety of response inhibition tasks. We conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment to examine whether the activation of the IFG is dependent on the type of visuo-motor associations during response inhibition by varying the feature of the stop signal (color vs. orientation) in the stop-signal task. Results from 12 subjects showed that the bilateral ventral posterior IFG, anterior insula, inferior frontal junction (IFJ), middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and fusiform gyrus (FG) are active during response inhibition cued by both color and orientation stop signals. While only the MTG showed differential activity to the two stop signals, both MTG and FG showed significantly stronger activity during successful than unsuccessful stopping of unwanted responses cued by orientation and color, respectively. Our findings suggest that the right ventral posterior IFG may play a more general role in response inhibition regardless of the feature of the visual signal, while successful inhibition may depend on efficient processing of the signal. PMID:19401178

  20. A predator-prey model with a holling type I functional response including a predator mutual interference

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Seo, G.; DeAngelis, D.L.

    2011-01-01

    The most widely used functional response in describing predator-prey relationships is the Holling type II functional response, where per capita predation is a smooth, increasing, and saturating function of prey density. Beddington and DeAngelis modified the Holling type II response to include interference of predators that increases with predator density. Here we introduce a predator-interference term into a Holling type I functional response. We explain the ecological rationale for the response and note that the phase plane configuration of the predator and prey isoclines differs greatly from that of the Beddington-DeAngelis response; for example, in having three possible interior equilibria rather than one. In fact, this new functional response seems to be quite unique. We used analytical and numerical methods to show that the resulting system shows a much richer dynamical behavior than the Beddington-DeAngelis response, or other typically used functional responses. For example, cyclic-fold, saddle-fold, homoclinic saddle connection, and multiple crossing bifurcations can all occur. We then use a smooth approximation to the Holling type I functional response with predator mutual interference to show that these dynamical properties do not result from the lack of smoothness, but rather from subtle differences in the functional responses. ?? 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

  1. Basolateral amygdala lesions abolish mutual reward preferences in rats.

    PubMed

    Hernandez-Lallement, Julen; van Wingerden, Marijn; Schäble, Sandra; Kalenscher, Tobias

    2016-01-01

    In a recent study, we demonstrated that rats prefer mutual rewards in a Prosocial Choice Task. Here, employing the same task, we show that the integrity of basolateral amygdala was necessary for the expression of mutual reward preferences. Actor rats received bilateral excitotoxic (n=12) or sham lesions (n=10) targeting the basolateral amygdala and were subsequently tested in a Prosocial Choice Task where they could decide between rewarding ("Both Reward") or not rewarding a partner rat ("Own Reward"), either choice yielding identical reward to the actors themselves. To manipulate the social context and control for secondary reinforcement sources, actor rats were paired with either a partner rat (partner condition) or with an inanimate rat toy (toy condition). Sham-operated animals revealed a significant preference for the Both-Reward-option in the partner condition, but not in the toy condition. Amygdala-lesioned animals exhibited significantly lower Both-Reward preferences than the sham group in the partner but not in the toy condition, suggesting that basolateral amygdala was required for the expression of mutual reward preferences. Critically, in a reward magnitude discrimination task in the same experimental setup, both sham-operated and amygdala-lesioned animals preferred large over small rewards, suggesting that amygdala lesion effects were restricted to decision making in social contexts, leaving self-oriented behavior unaffected. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Probability and the changing shape of response distributions for orientation.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Britt

    2014-11-18

    Spatial attention and feature-based attention are regarded as two independent mechanisms for biasing the processing of sensory stimuli. Feature attention is held to be a spatially invariant mechanism that advantages a single feature per sensory dimension. In contrast to the prediction of location independence, I found that participants were able to report the orientation of a briefly presented visual grating better for targets defined by high probability conjunctions of features and locations even when orientations and locations were individually uniform. The advantage for high-probability conjunctions was accompanied by changes in the shape of the response distributions. High-probability conjunctions had error distributions that were not normally distributed but demonstrated increased kurtosis. The increase in kurtosis could be explained as a change in the variances of the component tuning functions that comprise a population mixture. By changing the mixture distribution of orientation-tuned neurons, it is possible to change the shape of the discrimination function. This prompts the suggestion that attention may not "increase" the quality of perceptual processing in an absolute sense but rather prioritizes some stimuli over others. This results in an increased number of highly accurate responses to probable targets and, simultaneously, an increase in the number of very inaccurate responses. © 2014 ARVO.

  3. Tunable photoelectric response in NiO-based heterostructures by various orientations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Luo, Yidong; Qiao, Lina; Zhang, Qinghua; Xu, Haomin; Shen, Yang; Lin, Yuanhua; Nan, Cewen

    2018-02-01

    We engineered various orientations of NiO layers for NiO-based heterostructures (NiO/Au/STO) to investigate their effects on the generation of hot electrons and holes. Our calculation and experimental results suggested that bandgap engineering and the orientation of the hole transport layer (NiO) were crucial elements for the optimization of photoelectric responses. The (100)-orientated NiO/Au/STO achieved the highest photo-current density (˜30 μA/cm2) compared with (111) and (110)-orientated NiO films, which was attributed to the (100) films's lowest effective mass of photogenerated holes (˜1.82 m0) and the highest efficiency of separating and transferring electron-holes of the (100)-orientated sample. Our results opened a direction to design a high efficiency photoelectric solar cell.

  4. Ethics of care in medical tourism: Informal caregivers' narratives of responsibility, vulnerability and mutuality.

    PubMed

    Whitmore, Rebecca; Crooks, Valorie A; Snyder, Jeremy

    2015-09-01

    This study examines the experiences of informal caregivers in medical tourism through an ethics of care lens. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 Canadians who had accompanied their friends or family members abroad for surgery, asking questions that dealt with their experiences prior to, during and after travel. Thematic analysis revealed three themes central to an ethics of care: responsibility, vulnerability and mutuality. Ethics of care theorists have highlighted how care has been historically devalued. We posit that medical tourism reproduces dominant narratives about care in a novel care landscape. Informal care goes unaccounted for by the industry, as it occurs in largely private spaces at a geographic distance from the home countries of medical tourists. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Contextual influence on orientation discrimination of humans and responses of neurons in V1 of alert monkeys.

    PubMed

    Li, W; Thier, P; Wehrhahn, C

    2000-02-01

    We studied the effects of various patterns as contextual stimuli on human orientation discrimination, and on responses of neurons in V1 of alert monkeys. When a target line is presented along with various contextual stimuli (masks), human orientation discrimination is impaired. For most V1 neurons, responses elicited by a line in the receptive field (RF) center are suppressed by these contextual patterns. Orientation discrimination thresholds of human observers are elevated slightly when the target line is surrounded by orthogonal lines. For randomly oriented lines, thresholds are elevated further and even more so for lines parallel to the target. Correspondingly, responses of most V1 neurons to a line are suppressed. Although contextual lines inhibit the amplitude of orientation tuning functions of most V1 neurons, they do not systematically alter the tuning width. Elevation of human orientation discrimination thresholds decreases with increasing curvature of masking lines, so does the inhibition of V1 neuronal responses. A mask made of straight lines yields the strongest interference with human orientation discrimination and produces the strongest suppression of neuronal responses. Elevation of human orientation discrimination thresholds is highest when a mask covers only the immediate vicinity of the target line. Increasing the masking area results in less interference. On the contrary, suppression of neuronal responses in V1 increases with increasing mask size. Our data imply that contextual interference observed in human orientation discrimination is in part directly related to contextual inhibition of neuronal activity in V1. However, the finding that interference with orientation discrimination is weaker for larger masks suggests a figure-ground segregation process that is not located in V1.

  6. Cross Correlation versus Normalized Mutual Information on Image Registration

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tan, Bin; Tilton, James C.; Lin, Guoqing

    2016-01-01

    This is the first study to quantitatively assess and compare cross correlation and normalized mutual information methods used to register images in subpixel scale. The study shows that the normalized mutual information method is less sensitive to unaligned edges due to the spectral response differences than is cross correlation. This characteristic makes the normalized image resolution a better candidate for band to band registration. Improved band-to-band registration in the data from satellite-borne instruments will result in improved retrievals of key science measurements such as cloud properties, vegetation, snow and fire.

  7. Orientations and Relative Shear-strain Response Coefficients for PBO Gladwin Tensor Strainmeters from Teleseismic Love Waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Roeloffs, E. A.

    2016-12-01

    A Gladwin Tensor Strainmeter (GTSM) is designed to measure changes of the horizontal strain tensor, derived as linear combinations of radial elongations or contractions of the strainmeter's cylindrical housing measured at four azimuths. Each radial measurement responds to changes in the areal, horizontal shear and vertical components of the strain tensor in the surrounding formation. The elastic response coefficients to these components depend on the relative elastic moduli of the housing, formation, and cement. These coefficients must be inferred for each strainmeter after it is cemented into its borehole by analyzing the instrument response to well-characterized strain signals such as earth tides. For some GTSMs of the Earthscope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), however, reconciling observed earth-tide signals with modeled tidal strains requires response coefficients that differ substantially between the instrument's four gauges, and/or orientation corrections of tens of degrees. GTSM response coefficients can also be estimated from high-resolution records of teleseismic Love waves from great earthquakes around the world. Such records can be used in conjunction with apparent propagation azimuths from nearby broadband seismic stations to determine the GTSM's orientation. Knowing the orientation allows the ratios between the shear strain response coefficients of a GTSM's four gauges to be estimated. Applying this analysis to 14 PBO GTSMs confirms that orientations of some instruments differ significantly from orientations measured during installation. Orientations inferred from earth-tide response tend to agree with those inferred from Love waves for GTSMs far from tidal water bodies, but to differ for GTSMs closer to coastlines. Orientations derived from teleseismic Love waves agree with those estimated by Grant and Langston (2010) using strains from a broadband seismic array near Anza, California. PBO GTSM recordings of teleseismic Love waves show differences of

  8. Child Temperament Moderates Effects of Parent-Child Mutuality on Self-Regulation: A Relationship-Based Path for Emotionally Negative Infants

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Sanghag; Kochanska, Grazyna

    2012-01-01

    This study examined infants’ negative emotionality as moderating the effect of parent-child Mutually Responsive Orientation (MRO) on children’s self-regulation (N=102). Negative emotionality was observed in anger-eliciting episodes and in interactions with parents at 7 months. MRO was coded in naturalistic interactions at 15 months. Self-regulation was measured at 25 months in effortful control battery and as self-regulated compliance to parental requests and prohibitions. Negative emotionality moderated the effects of mother-child MRO. Highly negative infants were less self-regulated when they were in unresponsive relationships (low MRO), but more self-regulated when in responsive relationships (high MRO). For infants not prone to negative emotionality, there was no link between MRO and self-regulation. The “regions-of-significance” analysis supported the differential susceptibility model not the diathesis-stress model. PMID:22670684

  9. A 3-year study of addiction mutual-help group participation following intensive outpatient treatment.

    PubMed

    Kelly, John F; Stout, Robert; Zywiak, William; Schneider, Robert

    2006-08-01

    Addiction-focused mutual-help group participation is associated with better substance use disorder (SUD) treatment outcomes. However, little has been documented regarding which types of mutual-help organizations patients attend, what levels of participation may be beneficial, and which patients, in particular, are more or less likely to participate. Furthermore, much of the evidence supporting the use of these organizations comes from studies examining participation and outcomes concurrently, raising doubts about cause-effect connections, and little is known about influences that may moderate the degree of any general benefit. Alcohol-dependent outpatients (N=227; 27% female; M age=42) enrolled in a randomized-controlled telephone case monitoring trial were assessed at treatment intake and at 1, 2, and 3 years postdischarge. Lagged-panel, hierarchical linear models tested whether mutual-help group participation in the first and second year following treatment predicted subsequent outcomes and whether these effects were moderated by gender, concurrent axis I diagnosis, religious preference, and prior mutual-help experience. Robust regression curve analysis was used to examine dose-response relationships between mutual-help and outcomes. Mutual-help participation was associated with both greater abstinence and fewer drinks per drinking day and this relationship was not found to be influenced by gender, Axis I diagnosis, religious preference, or prior mutual-help participation. Mutual-help participants attended predominantly Alcoholics Anonymous and tended to be Caucasian, be more educated, have prior mutual-help experience, and have more severe alcohol involvement. Dose-response curve analyses suggested that even small amounts of participation may be helpful in increasing abstinence, whereas higher doses may be needed to reduce relapse intensity. Use of mutual-help groups following intensive outpatient SUD treatment appears to be beneficial for many different types

  10. Auditory and visual orienting responses in listeners with and without hearing-impairment

    PubMed Central

    Brimijoin, W. Owen; McShefferty, David; Akeroyd, Michael A.

    2015-01-01

    Head movements are intimately involved in sound localization and may provide information that could aid an impaired auditory system. Using an infrared camera system, head position and orientation was measured for 17 normal-hearing and 14 hearing-impaired listeners seated at the center of a ring of loudspeakers. Listeners were asked to orient their heads as quickly as was comfortable toward a sequence of visual targets, or were blindfolded and asked to orient toward a sequence of loudspeakers playing a short sentence. To attempt to elicit natural orienting responses, listeners were not asked to reorient their heads to the 0° loudspeaker between trials. The results demonstrate that hearing-impairment is associated with several changes in orienting responses. Hearing-impaired listeners showed a larger difference in auditory versus visual fixation position and a substantial increase in initial and fixation latency for auditory targets. Peak velocity reached roughly 140 degrees per second in both groups, corresponding to a rate of change of approximately 1 microsecond of interaural time difference per millisecond of time. Most notably, hearing-impairment was associated with a large change in the complexity of the movement, changing from smooth sigmoidal trajectories to ones characterized by abruptly-changing velocities, directional reversals, and frequent fixation angle corrections. PMID:20550266

  11. Persistence of pollination mutualisms in the presence of ants.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yuanshi; Wang, Shikun

    2015-01-01

    This paper considers plant-pollinator-ant systems in which the plant-pollinator interaction is mutualistic but ants have both positive and negative effects on plants. The ants also interfere with pollinators by preventing them from accessing plants. While a Beddington-DeAngelis (BD) formula can describe the plant-pollinator interaction, the formula is extended in this paper to characterize the pollination mutualism under the ant interference. Then, a plant-pollinator-ant system with the extended BD functional response is discussed, and global dynamics of the model demonstrate the mechanisms by which pollination mutualism can persist in the presence of ants. When the ant interference is strong, it can result in extinction of pollinators. Moreover, if the ants depend on pollination mutualism for survival, the strong interference could drive pollinators into extinction, which consequently lead to extinction of the ants themselves. When the ant interference is weak, a cooperation between plant-ant and plant-pollinator mutualisms could occur, which promotes survival of both ants and pollinators, especially in the case that ants (respectively, pollinators) cannot survive in the absence of pollinators (respectively, ants). Even when the level of ant interference remains invariant, varying ants' negative effect on plants can result in survival/extinction of both ants and pollinators. Therefore, our results provide an explanation for the persistence of pollination mutualism when there exist ants.

  12. Assessment of sexual orientation using the hemodynamic brain response to visual sexual stimuli.

    PubMed

    Ponseti, Jorge; Granert, Oliver; Jansen, Olav; Wolff, Stephan; Mehdorn, Hubertus; Bosinski, Hartmut; Siebner, Hartwig

    2009-06-01

    The assessment of sexual orientation is of importance to the diagnosis and treatment of sex offenders and paraphilic disorders. Phallometry is considered gold standard in objectifying sexual orientation, yet this measurement has been criticized because of its intrusiveness and limited reliability. To evaluate whether the spatial response pattern to sexual stimuli as revealed by a change in blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal can be used for individual classification of sexual orientation. We used a preexisting functional MRI (fMRI) data set that had been acquired in a nonclinical sample of 12 heterosexual men and 14 homosexual men. During fMRI, participants were briefly exposed to pictures of same-sex and opposite-sex genitals. Data analysis involved four steps: (i) differences in the BOLD response to female and male sexual stimuli were calculated for each subject; (ii) these contrast images were entered into a group analysis to calculate whole-brain difference maps between homosexual and heterosexual participants; (iii) a single expression value was computed for each subject expressing its correspondence to the group result; and (iv) based on these expression values, Fisher's linear discriminant analysis and the kappa-nearest neighbor classification method were used to predict the sexual orientation of each subject. Sensitivity and specificity of the two classification methods in predicting individual sexual orientation. Both classification methods performed well in predicting individual sexual orientation with a mean accuracy of >85% (Fisher's linear discriminant analysis: 92% sensitivity, 85% specificity; kappa-nearest neighbor classification: 88% sensitivity, 92% specificity). Despite the small sample size, the functional response patterns of the brain to sexual stimuli contained sufficient information to predict individual sexual orientation with high accuracy. These results suggest that fMRI-based classification methods hold promise for the diagnosis

  13. Why power matters: creating a foundation of mutual support in couple relationships.

    PubMed

    Knudson-Martin, Carmen

    2013-03-01

    Research shows that equal power helps couples create intimacy and relationship success. However, though couples increasingly desire equal relationships, cultural models of mutual support are not well developed. Clinicians often approach heterosexual couple therapy as though partners are inherently equal, thus reinforcing unacknowledged gender inequities. This article examines research that shows why power imbalances are destructive to intimate relationships and focuses on four gender-related aspects of mutual support: (a) shared relational responsibility, (b) mutual vulnerability, (c) mutual attunement, and (d) shared influence. Case examples illustrate how socio-emotional attunement, interrupting the flow of power, and introducing alternative relational experience help couple therapists identify and address power disparities in these important relational processes. Encouraging the powerful person to take relational initiative and introducing alternative gender discourse are especially important. © FPI, Inc.

  14. Connectedness and Autonomy Support in Parent-Child Relationships: Links to Children's Socioemotional Orientation and Peer Relationships.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clark, Karen E.; Ladd, Gary W.

    2000-01-01

    Examined the constructs of connectedness and autonomy in relation to 5-year-olds' relational competence, including socioemotional orientation, friendship, and peer acceptance. Found that connectedness was correlated with children's socioemotional orientations, number of mutual friendships, and peer acceptance, and that the relation between…

  15. Pharmacy students' attitudes about treating patients with alcohol addiction after attending a required mutual support group.

    PubMed

    Neville, Michael W

    2014-03-12

    To implement required attendance at mutual support groups for addiction recovery as a pharmacy skills laboratory exercise, and to evaluate how attendance affected pharmacy students' attitudes about caring for patients with addiction. Third-year (P3) pharmacy students enrolled in a Pharmacy Skills Laboratory course were required to watch an introductory video about Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and then attend 2 "open meetings" during the semester. Students submitted a written reflection as proof of attendance. Pharmacy students who agreed to participate in the study completed the Short Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Perception Questionnaire (SAAPPQ) during the course orientation and again at the end of the semester. Mutual support group attendance significantly affected the students' attitudes within the domains of role adequacy, task specific self-esteem, and work satisfaction. Significant changes were not observed within the domains of motivation and role legitimacy. Mutual support group attendance exposed pharmacy students to the negative effects of alcohol abuse and increased their self-confidence to provide care to patients with alcohol addiction.

  16. Mutuality in the provision of Scottish healthcare.

    PubMed

    Howieson, Brian

    2015-11-01

    The backdrop to this article is provided by the Better Health, Better Care Action Plan (Scottish Government, 2007), Section 1 of which is entitled 'Towards a Mutual NHS'. According to Better Health, Better Care (Scottish Government, 2007: 5): 'Mutual organisations are designed to serve their members. They are designed to gather people around a common sense of purpose. They are designed to bring the organisation together in what people often call "co-production."' The aim of this article is to précis the current knowledge of mutuality in the provision of Scottish healthcare. In detail, it will: introduce the 'mutual' organisation; offer a historical perspective of mutuality; suggest why healthcare mutuality is important; and briefly, detail the differences in mutual health-care policy in England and Scotland. It is hoped that this analysis will help researchers and practitioners alike appreciate further the philosophy of mutuality in the provision of Scottish healthcare. © The Author(s) 2015.

  17. The evolution of plant-insect mutualisms.

    PubMed

    Bronstein, Judith L; Alarcón, Ruben; Geber, Monica

    2006-01-01

    Mutualisms (cooperative interactions between species) have had a central role in the generation and maintenance of life on earth. Insects and plants are involved in diverse forms of mutualism. Here we review evolutionary features of three prominent insect-plant mutualisms: pollination, protection and seed dispersal. We focus on addressing five central phenomena: evolutionary origins and maintenance of mutualism; the evolution of mutualistic traits; the evolution of specialization and generalization; coevolutionary processes; and the existence of cheating. Several features uniting very diverse insect-plant mutualisms are identified and their evolutionary implications are discussed: the involvement of one mobile and one sedentary partner; natural selection on plant rewards; the existence of a continuum from specialization to generalization; and the ubiquity of cheating, particularly on the part of insects. Plant-insect mutualisms have apparently both arisen and been lost repeatedly. Many adaptive hypotheses have been proposed to explain these transitions, and it is unlikely that any one of them dominates across interactions differing so widely in natural history. Evolutionary theory has a potentially important, but as yet largely unfilled, role to play in explaining the origins, maintenance, breakdown and evolution of insect-plant mutualisms.

  18. Orientation-specific responses to sustained uniaxial stretching in focal adhesion growth and turnover

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Yun; Pasapera, Ana M.; Koretsky, Alan P.; Waterman, Clare M.

    2013-01-01

    Cells are mechanosensitive to extracellular matrix (ECM) deformation, which can be caused by muscle contraction or changes in hydrostatic pressure. Focal adhesions (FAs) mediate the linkage between the cell and the ECM and initiate mechanically stimulated signaling events. We developed a stretching apparatus in which cells grown on fibronectin-coated elastic substrates can be stretched and imaged live to study how FAs dynamically respond to ECM deformation. Human bone osteosarcoma epithelial cell line U2OS was transfected with GFP-paxillin as an FA marker and subjected to sustained uniaxial stretching. Two responses at different timescales were observed: rapid FA growth within seconds after stretching, and delayed FA disassembly and loss of cell polarity that occurred over tens of minutes. Rapid FA growth occurred in all cells; however, delayed responses to stretch occurred in an orientation-specific manner, specifically in cells with their long axes perpendicular to the stretching direction, but not in cells with their long axes parallel to stretch. Pharmacological treatments demonstrated that FA kinase (FAK) promotes but Src inhibits rapid FA growth, whereas FAK, Src, and calpain 2 all contribute to delayed FA disassembly and loss of polarity in cells perpendicular to stretching. Immunostaining for phospho-FAK after stretching revealed that FAK activation was maximal at 5 s after stretching, specifically in FAs oriented perpendicular to stretch. We hypothesize that orientation-specific activation of strain/stress-sensitive proteins in FAs upstream to FAK and Src promote orientation-specific responses in FA growth and disassembly that mediate polarity rearrangement in response to sustained stretch. PMID:23754369

  19. Emergence of ratio-dependent and predator-dependent functional responses for pollination mutualism and seed parasitism

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    DeAngelis, Donald L.; Holland, J. Nathaniel

    2006-01-01

    Prey (N) dependence [g(N)], predator (P) dependence [g(P) or g(N,P)], and ratio dependence [f(P/N)] are often seen as contrasting forms of the predator's functional response describing predator consumption rates on prey resources in predator–prey and parasitoid–host interactions. Analogously, prey-, predator-, and ratio-dependent functional responses are apparently alternative functional responses for other types of consumer–resource interactions. These include, for example, the fraction of flowers pollinated or seeds parasitized in pollination (pre-dispersal) seed-parasitism mutualisms, such as those between fig wasps and fig trees or yucca moths and yucca plants. Here we examine the appropriate functional responses for how the fraction of flowers pollinated and seeds parasitized vary with the density of pollinators (predator dependence) or the ratio of pollinator and flower densities (ratio dependence). We show that both types of functional responses can emerge from minor, but biologically important variations on a single model. An individual-based model was first used to describe plant–pollinator interactions. Conditional upon on whether the number of flowers visited by the pollinator was limited by factors other than search time (e.g., by the number of eggs it had to lay, if it was also a seed parasite), and on whether the pollinator could directly find flowers on a plant, or had to search, the simulation results lead to either a predator-dependent or a ratio-dependent functional response. An analytic model was then used to show mathematically how these two cases can arise.

  20. Effect of stacking sequence on the coefficients of mutual influence of composite laminates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dupir (Hudișteanu, I.; Țăranu, N.; Axinte, A.

    2016-11-01

    Fiber reinforced polymeric (FRP) composites are nowadays widely used in engineering applications due to their outstanding features, such as high specific strength and specific stiffness as well as good corrosion resistance. A major advantage of fibrous polymeric composites is that their anisotropy can be controlled through suitable choice of the influencing parameters. The unidirectional fiber reinforced composites provide much higher longitudinal mechanical properties compared to the transverse ones. Therefore, composite laminates are formed by stacking two or more laminas, with different fiber orientations, as to respond to complex states of stresses. These laminates experience the effect of axial-shear coupling, which is caused by applying normal or shear stresses, implying shear or normal strains, respectively. The normal-shear coupling is expressed by the coefficients of mutual influence. They are engineering constants of primary interest for composite laminates, since the mismatch of the material properties between adjacent layers can produce interlaminar stresses and/or plies delamination. The paper presents the variation of the in-plane and flexural coefficients of mutual influence for three types of multi-layered composites, with different stacking sequences. The results are obtained using the Classical Lamination Theory (CLT) and are illustrated graphically in terms of fiber orientations, for asymmetric, antisymmetric and symmetric laminates. Conclusions are formulated on the variation of these coefficients, caused by the stacking sequence.

  1. A consumer-resource approach to the density-dependent population dynamics of mutualism.

    PubMed

    Holland, J Nathaniel; DeAngelis, Donald L

    2010-05-01

    Like predation and competition, mutualism is now recognized as a consumer-resource (C-R) interaction, including, in particular, bi-directional (e.g., coral, plant-mycorrhizae) and uni-directional (e.g., ant-plant defense, plant-pollinator) C-R mutualisms. Here, we develop general theory for the density-dependent population dynamics of mutualism based on the C-R mechanism of interspecific interaction. To test the influence of C-R interactions on the dynamics and stability of bi- and uni-directional C-R mutualisms, we developed simple models that link consumer functional response of one mutualistic species with the resources supplied by another. Phase-plane analyses show that the ecological dynamics of C-R mutualisms are stable in general. Most transient behavior leads to an equilibrium of mutualistic coexistence, at which both species densities are greater than in the absence of interactions. However, due to the basic nature of C-R interactions, certain density-dependent conditions can lead to C-R dynamics characteristic of predator-prey interactions, in which one species overexploits and causes the other to go extinct. Consistent with empirical phenomena, these results suggest that the C-R interaction can provide a broad mechanism for understanding density-dependent population dynamics of mutualism. By unifying predation, competition, and mutualism under the common ecological framework of consumer-resource theory, we may also gain a better understanding of the universal features of interspecific interactions in general.

  2. A consumer-resource approach to the density-dependent population dynamics of mutualism

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Holland, J. Nathaniel; DeAngelis, Donald L.

    2010-01-01

    Like predation and competition, mutualism is now recognized as a consumer resource (C-R) interaction, including, in particular, bi-directional (e.g., coral, plant- mycorrhizae) and uni-directional (e.g., ant-plant defense, plant-pollinator) C-R mutualisms. Here, we develop general theory for the density-dependent population dynamics of mutualism based on the C-R mechanism of interspecific interaction. To test the influence of C-R interactions on the dynamics and stability of bi- and uni-directional C-R mutualisms, we developed simple models that link consumer functional response of one mutualistic species with the resources supplied by another. Phase-plane analyses show that the ecological dynamics of C-R mutualisms are stable in general. Most transient behavior leads to an equilibrium of mutualistic coexistence, at which both species densities are greater than in the absence of interactions. However, due to the basic nature of C-R interactions, certain density-dependent conditions can lead to C-R dynamics characteristic of predator-prey interactions, in which one species overexploits and causes the other to go extinct. Consistent with empirical phenomena, these results suggest that the C-R interaction can provide a broad mechanism for understanding density-dependent population dynamics of mutualism. By unifying predation, competition, and mutualism under the common ecological framework of consumer-resource theory, we may also gain a better understanding of the universal features of interspecific interactions in general.

  3. Looking for Martian True Polar Wander in mutually oriented slices of ALH84001

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buz, J.; Murphy, T. G.; Kirschvink, J. L.

    2016-12-01

    True polar wander (TPW) on Mars has been hypothesized based on a variety of observations including geoid instability [1], locations of apparent polar deposits [2], and locations of magnetic anomalies [3, 4]. A proposed driving force for TPW is redistribution of mass on the surface of the planet such as by extensive volcanism events [5]. The majority of TPW modeling research has been using orbital datasets and modeling. However, laboratory analyses of Martian samples should also be conducted to test for Martian TPW. The Martian meteorite, ALH84001, is a prime sample for observing Martian TPW because of its preservation of thermal remanent magnetization from Mars [6]. Previous work on the sample has demonstrated that the interior of the meteorite was not heated above 40 C during transport from Mars to Earth and that there is a heterogeneous magnetization within the meteorite [7]. Within the meteorite are a series of fracture-filling carbonate blebs which contain magnetite and pyrrhotite with original remanence. These carbonates are presumed to have precipitated onto the meteorite [8]. We have divided a fracture-containing portion of the meteorite into three sets of sequential, mutually oriented slices. Using an ultra-high resolution scanning SQuID magnetometer we are able to visualize the magnetization within each slice. We are able to model each magnetic scan as a series of discrete dipoles using a modification from Lima and Weiss [9]. Our results demonstrate that within one of our slice sequences the dipoles lie along a great circle path. Dipoles lying along an arc in a stereographic projection can be interpreted as resulting from TPW if there is a significant amount of time from start to end of magnetization. Our ongoing work includes continued analysis and scanning of our slices as well as statistical tests for confirming if the dipoles lie along an arc. [1] Sprenke, KF et al. 2005 Icarus 174(2) 486-9 [2] Perron, JT et al. 2007 Nature 447(7146) 840-3 [3

  4. Mutually unbiased product bases for multiple qudits

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

    McNulty, Daniel; Pammer, Bogdan; Weigert, Stefan

    We investigate the interplay between mutual unbiasedness and product bases for multiple qudits of possibly different dimensions. A product state of such a system is shown to be mutually unbiased to a product basis only if each of its factors is mutually unbiased to all the states which occur in the corresponding factors of the product basis. This result implies both a tight limit on the number of mutually unbiased product bases which the system can support and a complete classification of mutually unbiased product bases for multiple qubits or qutrits. In addition, only maximally entangled states can be mutuallymore » unbiased to a maximal set of mutually unbiased product bases.« less

  5. Inducting Newly Placed Teachers: Orientation Responsibilities of the School Administrator. OSSC Bulletin Vol. 21, No. 10.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Badertscher, James A.

    This bulletin is designed to provide an overview of teacher orientation practices and suggestions. Its primary audience is the building principals who find themselves responsible for orientation activities. The contents are based on extensive literature reviews, orientation materials and methods used by several selected Oregon school districts,…

  6. One-sided and mutually aggressive couples: Differences in attachment, conflict prevalence, and coping.

    PubMed

    Burk, William J; Seiffge-Krenke, Inge

    2015-12-01

    This study investigated concurrent links between adolescent romantic couples' reports of aggression (relational and physical) and relationship functioning (e.g., attachment security, conflict prevalence, coping strategies, jealousy, and affiliative and romantic relationship quality) using a pattern-oriented approach. The sample included 194 romantic partner dyads (Mage=16.99 years for females and Mage=18.41 years for males). A hierarchical cluster analysis identified five distinct subgroups of dyads based on male and female reports of relational and physical aggression, ranging from nonaggressive couples (42%), to those characterized by aggressive females (18%), aggressive males (14%), physically aggressive females (20%), and mutually aggressive females and males (6%). Clusters in which one partner was perceived as either relationally or physically aggressive were characterized by higher rates of conflict, less adaptive coping, and more jealousy (particularly in males). The mutually aggressive couples showed the least adaptive relationship functioning, with high rates of conflict, a deficit in reflection and emotion regulation in conflict situations, and a lack of affiliative relationship qualities. The discussion focuses on the formative character of aggression in these early romantic relations, the aggravating impact of mutual aggression on relationship functioning, and the gender-specific functions of aggression in relationships characterized by unilateral aggression. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Sharks modulate their escape behavior in response to predator size, speed and approach orientation.

    PubMed

    Seamone, Scott; Blaine, Tristan; Higham, Timothy E

    2014-12-01

    Escape responses are often critical for surviving predator-prey interactions. Nevertheless, little is known about how predator size, speed and approach orientation impact escape performance, especially in larger prey that are primarily viewed as predators. We used realistic shark models to examine how altering predatory behavior and morphology (size, speed and approach orientation) influences escape behavior and performance in Squalus acanthias, a shark that is preyed upon by apex marine predators. Predator models induced C-start escape responses, and increasing the size and speed of the models triggered a more intense response (increased escape turning rate and acceleration). In addition, increased predator size resulted in greater responsiveness from the sharks. Among the responses, predator approach orientation had the most significant impact on escapes, such that the head-on approach, as compared to the tail-on approach, induced greater reaction distances and increased escape turning rate, speed and acceleration. Thus, the anterior binocular vision in sharks renders them less effective at detecting predators approaching from behind. However, it appears that sharks compensate by performing high-intensity escapes, likely induced by the lateral line system, or by a sudden visual flash of the predator entering their field of view. Our study reveals key aspects of escape behavior in sharks, highlighting the modulation of performance in response to predator approach. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  8. From parent-child mutuality to security to socialization outcomes: developmental cascade toward positive adaptation in preadolescence.

    PubMed

    Kim, Sanghag; Boldt, Lea J; Kochanska, Grazyna

    2015-01-01

    A developmental cascade from positive early parent-child relationship to child security with the parent to adaptive socialization outcomes, proposed in attachment theory and often implicitly accepted but rarely formally tested, was examined in 100 mothers, fathers, and children followed from toddler age to preadolescence. Parent-child Mutually Responsive Orientation (MRO) was observed in lengthy interactions at 38, 52, 67, and 80 months; children reported their security with parents at age eight. Socialization outcomes (parent- and child-reported cooperation with parental monitoring and teacher-reported school competence) were assessed at age 10. Mediation was tested with PROCESS. The parent-child history of MRO significantly predicted both mother-child and father-child security. For mother-child dyads, security mediated links between history of MRO and cooperation with maternal monitoring and school competence, controlling for developmental continuity of the studied constructs. For father-child dyads, the mediation effect was not evident.

  9. Conceptualizing psychological processes in response to globalization: Components, antecedents, and consequences of global orientations.

    PubMed

    Chen, Sylvia Xiaohua; Lam, Ben C P; Hui, Bryant P H; Ng, Jacky C K; Mak, Winnie W S; Guan, Yanjun; Buchtel, Emma E; Tang, Willie C S; Lau, Victor C Y

    2016-02-01

    The influences of globalization have permeated various aspects of life in contemporary society, from technical innovations, economic development, and lifestyles, to communication patterns. The present research proposed a construct termed global orientation to denote individual differences in the psychological processes of acculturating to the globalizing world. It encompasses multicultural acquisition as a proactive response and ethnic protection as a defensive response to globalization. Ten studies examined the applicability of global orientations among majority and minority groups, including immigrants and sojourners, in multicultural and relatively monocultural contexts, and across Eastern and Western cultures. Multicultural acquisition is positively correlated with both independent and interdependent self-construals, bilingual proficiency and usage, and dual cultural identifications. Multicultural acquisition is promotion-focused, while ethnic protection is prevention-focused and related to acculturative stress. Global orientations affect individuating and modest behavior over and above multicultural ideology, predict overlap with outgroups over and above political orientation, and predict psychological adaptation, sociocultural competence, tolerance, and attitudes toward ethnocultural groups over and above acculturation expectations/strategies. Global orientations also predict English and Chinese oral presentation performance in multilevel analyses and the frequency and pleasantness of intercultural contact in cross-lagged panel models. We discuss how the psychological study of global orientations contributes to theory and research on acculturation, cultural identity, and intergroup relations. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  10. Couple-Oriented Education and Support Intervention for Osteoarthritis: Effects on Spouses’ Support and Responses to Patient Pain

    PubMed Central

    Martire, Lynn M.; Schulz, Richard; Keefe, Francis J.; Rudy, Thomas E.; Starz, Terence W.

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine whether a couple-oriented education and support intervention for osteoarthritis was more efficacious than a similar patient-oriented intervention in terms of enhancing spouses’ support of patients and their positive and negative responses to patient pain. Repeated-measures analyses of covariance with the completers sample (N = 103 dyads) showed that at the postintervention assessment, patients in the couple-oriented intervention reported a greater decrease in their spouses’ punishing responses (e.g., anger, irritation) than did patients in the patient-oriented intervention. In addition, a trend effect was observed in regard to the advantage of couple-oriented intervention for increasing spouses’ attempts to distract patients from their pain. At the 6-month follow-up, patients in the couple-oriented intervention reported greater increased spouse support than those in the patient-oriented intervention. Findings illustrate the value of examining change in specific types of marital interactions targeted in a couples intervention, and the need to strengthen the impact of future couple-oriented interventions. PMID:19946460

  11. Responsibility/Threat Overestimation Moderates the Relationship Between Contamination-Based Disgust and Obsessive-Compulsive Concerns About Sexual Orientation.

    PubMed

    Ching, Terence H W; Williams, Monnica T; Siev, Jedidiah; Olatunji, Bunmi O

    2018-05-01

    Disgust has been shown to perform a "disease-avoidance" function in contamination fears. However, no studies have examined the relevance of disgust to obsessive-compulsive (OC) concerns about sexual orientation (e.g., fear of one's sexual orientation transforming against one's will, and compulsive avoidance of same-sex and/or gay or lesbian individuals to prevent that from happening). Therefore, we investigated whether the specific domain of contamination-based disgust (i.e., evoked by the perceived threat of transmission of essences between individuals) predicted OC concerns about sexual orientation, and whether this effect was moderated/amplified by obsessive beliefs, in evaluation of a "sexual orientation transformation-avoidance" function. We recruited 283 self-identified heterosexual college students (152 females, 131 males; mean age = 20.88 years, SD = 3.19) who completed three measures assessing disgust, obsessive beliefs, and OC concerns about sexual orientation. Results showed that contamination-based disgust (β = .17), responsibility/threat overestimation beliefs (β = .15), and their interaction (β = .17) each uniquely predicted OC concerns about sexual orientation, ts = 2.22, 2.50, and 2.90, ps < .05. Post hoc probing indicated that high contamination-based disgust accompanied by strong responsibility/threat overestimation beliefs predicted more severe OC concerns about sexual orientation, β = .48, t = 3.24, p < .001. The present study, therefore, provided preliminary evidence for a "sexual orientation transformation-avoidance" process underlying OC concerns about sexual orientation in heterosexual college students, which is facilitated by contamination-based disgust, and exacerbated by responsibility/threat overestimation beliefs. Treatment for OC concerns about sexual orientation should target such beliefs.

  12. Responsive and Proactive Stakeholder Orientation in Public Universities: Antecedents and Consequences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alarcón-del-Amo, María-del-Carmen; Casablancas-Segura, Carme; Llonch, Joan

    2016-01-01

    This study, based on institutional theory, dynamic capabilities, and stakeholder theory, investigates the relationships between the antecedents of responsive and proactive stakeholder orientation and their consequences in the public university context. The results obtained mainly stress that the mimetic effect of copying successful university…

  13. Mutualisms and Population Regulation: Mechanism Matters

    PubMed Central

    Jha, Shalene; Allen, David; Liere, Heidi; Perfecto, Ivette; Vandermeer, John

    2012-01-01

    For both applied and theoretical ecological science, the mutualism between ants and their hemipteran partners is iconic. In this well-studied interaction, ants are assumed to provide hemipterans protection from natural enemies in exchange for nutritive honeydew. Despite decades of research and the potential importance in pest control, the precise mechanism producing this mutualism remains contested. By analyzing maximum likelihood parameter estimates of a hemipteran population model, we show that the mechanism of the mutualism is direct, via improved hemipteran growth rates, as opposed to the frequently assumed indirect mechanism, via harassment of the specialist parasites and predators of the hemipterans. Broadly, this study demonstrates that the management of mutualism-based ecosystem services requires a mechanistic understanding of mutualistic interactions. A consequence of this finding is the counter intuitive demonstration that preserving ant participation in the ant-hemipteran mutualism may be the best way of insuring pest control. PMID:22927978

  14. Economic contract theory tests models of mutualism.

    PubMed

    Weyl, E Glen; Frederickson, Megan E; Yu, Douglas W; Pierce, Naomi E

    2010-09-07

    Although mutualisms are common in all ecological communities and have played key roles in the diversification of life, our current understanding of the evolution of cooperation applies mostly to social behavior within a species. A central question is whether mutualisms persist because hosts have evolved costly punishment of cheaters. Here, we use the economic theory of employment contracts to formulate and distinguish between two mechanisms that have been proposed to prevent cheating in host-symbiont mutualisms, partner fidelity feedback (PFF) and host sanctions (HS). Under PFF, positive feedback between host fitness and symbiont fitness is sufficient to prevent cheating; in contrast, HS posits the necessity of costly punishment to maintain mutualism. A coevolutionary model of mutualism finds that HS are unlikely to evolve de novo, and published data on legume-rhizobia and yucca-moth mutualisms are consistent with PFF and not with HS. Thus, in systems considered to be textbook cases of HS, we find poor support for the theory that hosts have evolved to punish cheating symbionts; instead, we show that even horizontally transmitted mutualisms can be stabilized via PFF. PFF theory may place previously underappreciated constraints on the evolution of mutualism and explain why punishment is far from ubiquitous in nature.

  15. Economic contract theory tests models of mutualism

    PubMed Central

    Weyl, E. Glen; Frederickson, Megan E.; Yu, Douglas W.; Pierce, Naomi E.

    2010-01-01

    Although mutualisms are common in all ecological communities and have played key roles in the diversification of life, our current understanding of the evolution of cooperation applies mostly to social behavior within a species. A central question is whether mutualisms persist because hosts have evolved costly punishment of cheaters. Here, we use the economic theory of employment contracts to formulate and distinguish between two mechanisms that have been proposed to prevent cheating in host–symbiont mutualisms, partner fidelity feedback (PFF) and host sanctions (HS). Under PFF, positive feedback between host fitness and symbiont fitness is sufficient to prevent cheating; in contrast, HS posits the necessity of costly punishment to maintain mutualism. A coevolutionary model of mutualism finds that HS are unlikely to evolve de novo, and published data on legume–rhizobia and yucca–moth mutualisms are consistent with PFF and not with HS. Thus, in systems considered to be textbook cases of HS, we find poor support for the theory that hosts have evolved to punish cheating symbionts; instead, we show that even horizontally transmitted mutualisms can be stabilized via PFF. PFF theory may place previously underappreciated constraints on the evolution of mutualism and explain why punishment is far from ubiquitous in nature. PMID:20733067

  16. Mother- and father-child mutuality in Anglo and Indian British families: a link with lower externalizing problems.

    PubMed

    Deater-Deckard, Kirby; Atzaba-Poria, Naama; Pike, Alison

    2004-12-01

    We observed mother- and father-child dyadic mutuality (responsiveness, interaction reciprocity, and cooperation), and its association with child behavior problems, in a socioeconomically and ethnically diverse sample of 125 male (51%) and female 7-to-9-year-old children. Dyadic mutuality and positivity were coded from in-home videotaped structured tasks, and parents completed ratings of child externalizing problems. Mothers showed more mutuality than fathers. The same child showed moderately similar mutuality with both of her or his parents (r = .47). Mutuality was higher among Anglo parents compared to Indian parents, an effect that was due in part to acculturation (i.e., years since immigration, native language use, traditional native culture attitudes). Greater mutuality, when coupled with dyadic positive affect, was associated with fewer externalizing problems (R2 = .24). This pattern held across gender, ethnic, and sociocconomic groups.

  17. Two Methods of Interpersonal Skills Training; Conceptual- versus Response-Oriented Approaches.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bohart, Arthur C.; And Others

    1979-01-01

    Training people in warmth, empathy, and genuineness might fulfill a specific helping role and increase their general social comfort for others. By using conceptual and response-oriented approaches, authors show that training individuals to be effective counselors also helped them be more interpersonally effective. (Author/BEF)

  18. The Specificity of Women's Sexual Response and Its Relationship with Sexual Orientations: A Review and Ten Hypotheses.

    PubMed

    Chivers, Meredith L

    2017-07-01

    Category-specific sexual response describes a pattern wherein the individual shows significantly greater responses to preferred versus nonpreferred categories of sexual stimuli; this pattern is described as gender specific for sexual orientation to gender, or gender nonspecific if lacking response differentiation by gender cues. Research on the gender specificity of women's sexual response has consistently produced sexual orientation effects, such that androphilic women (sexually attracted to adult males) typically show gender-nonspecific patterns of genital response and gynephilic women (sexually attracted to adult females) show more gender-specific responses. As research on the category specificity of sexual response has grown, this pattern has also been observed for other measures of sexual response. In this review, I use the Incentive Motivation and Information Processing Models as complementary frameworks to organize the empirical literature examining the gender specificity of women's sexual response at each stage of sexual stimulus processing and response. Collectively, these data disconfirm models of sexual orientation that equate androphilic women's sexual attractions with their sexual responses to sexual stimuli. I then discuss 10 hypotheses that might explain variability in the specificity of sexual response among androphilic and gynephilic women, and conclude with recommendations for future research on the (non)specificity of sexual response.

  19. High-Oriented Thermoelectric Nano-Bulk Fabricated from Thermoelectric Ink

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Koyano, M.; Mizutani, S.; Hayashi, Y.; Nishino, S.; Miyata, M.; Tanaka, T.; Fukuda, K.

    2017-05-01

    Printing technology is expected to provide innovative and environmentally friendly processes for thermoelectric (TE) module fabrication. As described in this paper, we propose an orientation control process using plastic deformation at high temperatures and present high-oriented TE nano-bulks fabricated from bismuth telluride (Bi-Te) TE inks using this process. In the case of n-type Bi-Te, surface x-ray diffraction reveals that crystalline grains in the plastic-deformed nano-bulk demonstrate a c-plane orientation parallel to the pressed face. According to the high orientation, electrical resistivity ρ, thermal conductivity κ, and figure of merit ZT show anisotropic behavior. It is noteworthy that ( ZT)// almost reaches unity ( ZT)// ˜1 at 340 K, even at low temperatures of the plastic deformation process. In contrast, the ZT of plastic-deformed p-type nano-bulk indicates isotropic behavior. The difference in the process temperature dependence of ZT suggests that n-type and p-type nano-bulk orientation mechanisms mutually differ.

  20. Grief and Palliative Care: Mutuality

    PubMed Central

    Moon, Paul J

    2013-01-01

    Grief and palliative care are interrelated and perhaps mutually inclusive. Conceptually and practically, grief intimately relates to palliative care, as both domains regard the phenomena of loss, suffering, and a desire for abatement of pain burden. Moreover, the notions of palliative care and grief may be construed as being mutually inclusive in terms of one cueing the other. As such, the discussions in this article will center on the conceptualizations of the mutuality between grief and palliative care related to end-of-life circumstances. Specifically, the complementarity of grief and palliative care, as well as a controvertible view thereof, will be considered. PMID:25278758

  1. A Decision-Based Methodology for Object Oriented-Design

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-12-16

    willing to take the time to meet together weekly for mutual encouragement and prayer . Their friendship, uncompromising standards, and lifestyle were...assume the validity of the object-oriented and software engineering principles involved, and define and proto- type a generic, language independent...mean- ingful labels for variables, abstraction requires the ability to define new types that relieve the programmer from having to know or mess with

  2. Making time for learning-oriented leadership in multidisciplinary hospital management groups.

    PubMed

    Singer, Sara J; Hayes, Jennifer E; Gray, Garry C; Kiang, Mathew V

    2015-01-01

    Although the clinical requirements of health care delivery imply the need for interdisciplinary management teams to work together to promote frontline learning, such interdisciplinary, learning-oriented leadership is atypical. We designed this study to identify behaviors enabling groups of diverse managers to perform as learning-oriented leadership teams on behalf of quality and safety. We randomly selected 12 of 24 intact groups of hospital managers from one hospital to participate in a Safety Leadership Team Training program. We collected primary data from March 2008 to February 2010 including pre- and post-staff surveys, multiple interviews, observations, and archival data from management groups. We examined the level and trend in frontline perceptions of managers' learning-oriented leadership following the intervention and ability of management groups to achieve objectives on targeted improvement projects. Among the 12 intervention groups, we identified higher- and lower-performing intervention groups and behaviors that enabled higher performers to work together more successfully. Management groups that achieved more of their performance goals and whose staff perceived more and greater improvement in their learning-oriented leadership after participation in Safety Leadership Team Training invested in structures that created learning capacity and conscientiously practiced prescribed learning-oriented management and problem-solving behaviors. They made the time to do these things because they envisioned the benefits of learning, valued the opportunity to learn, and maintained an environment of mutual respect and psychological safety within their group. Learning in management groups requires vision of what learning can accomplish; will to explore, practice, and build learning capacity; and mutual respect that sustains a learning environment.

  3. The influence of primary and secondary orientations on the elastic response of a nickel-base single-crystal superalloy

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Abdul-Aziz, Ali; Kalluri, Sreeramesh; Mcgaw, Michael A.

    1993-01-01

    The influence of primary orientation on the elastic response of a (001)-oriented nickel-base single-crystal superalloy, PWA 1480, was investigated under mechanical, thermal, and combined thermal and mechanical loading conditions using finite element techniques. Elastic stress analyses were performed using the MARC finite element code on a square plate of PWA 1480 material. Primary orientation of the single crystal superalloy was varied in increments of 2 deg, from 0 to 10 deg, from the (001) direction. Two secondary orientations (0 and 45 deg) were considered, with respect to the global coordinate system, as the primary orientation angle was varied. The stresses developed within the single crystal plate were determined for each loading condition. In this paper, the influence of the angular offset between the primary crystal orientation and the loading direction on the elastic stress response of the PWA 1480 plate is presented for different loading conditions. The influence of primary orientation angle, when constrained between the bounds considered, was not found to be as significant as the influence of the secondary orientation angle, which is not typically controlled.

  4. From Parent-Child Mutuality to Security to Socialization Outcomes: Developmental Cascade toward Positive Adaptation in Preadolescence

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Sanghag; Boldt, Lea J.; Kochanska, Grazyna

    2016-01-01

    A developmental cascade from positive early parent-child relationship to child security with the parent to adaptive socialization outcomes, proposed in attachment theory and often implicitly accepted but rarely formally tested, was examined in 100 mothers, fathers, and children followed from toddler age to preadolescence. Parent-child Mutually Responsive Orientation (MRO) was observed in lengthy interactions at 38, 52, 67, and 80 months; children reported their security with parents at age 8. Socialization outcomes (parent- and child-reported cooperation with parental monitoring and teacher-reported school competence) were assessed at age 10. Mediation was tested with PROCESS (Hayes, 2013). The parent-child history of MRO significantly predicted both mother-child and father-child security. For mother-child dyads, security mediated links between history of MRO and cooperation with maternal monitoring and school competence, controlling for developmental continuity of the studied constructs. For father-child dyads, the mediation effect was not evident. PMID:26258443

  5. Voluntary Tools Of The Environmental Oriented Product Policy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rusko, Miroslav

    2015-06-01

    Environmentally oriented product policy is in general determined by the relationships between its aims - subjects - objects - tools. It is based on the integrated approach to the product life cycle, which anticipates an enormous amount of information. It has to solve the questions of the international trade as well as the rules of the International Trade Organization. New forms of preventive environmental strategies and especially Green Marketing are being introduced helping to solve environmental problems and environmental motivation of producers. Many producers face great attention of the public regarding their approach to the environment. Despite the fact that the customers buy products fairly prudently and their behaviour is markedly affected by prices, a particular part of the population prefers the products that do not burden the environment. This brings about a situation, in which the producers within their mutual competition and in relation to customers are enforced to behave responsibly.

  6. 26 CFR 1.831-1 - Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, and...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, and mutual fire insurance companies issuing perpetual... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Other Insurance Companies § 1.831-1 Tax on...

  7. 26 CFR 1.831-1 - Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, and...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, and mutual fire insurance companies issuing perpetual... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES Other Insurance Companies § 1.831-1 Tax on insurance...

  8. 26 CFR 1.831-1 - Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, and...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, and mutual fire insurance companies issuing perpetual... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Other Insurance Companies § 1.831-1 Tax on...

  9. 26 CFR 1.831-1 - Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, and...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, and mutual fire insurance companies issuing perpetual... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Other Insurance Companies § 1.831-1 Tax on...

  10. 26 CFR 1.831-1 - Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, and...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, and mutual fire insurance companies issuing perpetual... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Other Insurance Companies § 1.831-1 Tax on...

  11. The political (and physiological) divide: Political orientation, performance monitoring, and the anterior cingulate response.

    PubMed

    Weissflog, Meghan; Choma, Becky L; Dywan, Jane; van Noordt, Stefon J R; Segalowitz, Sidney J

    2013-01-01

    Our goal was to test a model of sociopolitical attitudes that posits a relationship between individual differences in liberal versus conservative political orientation and differential levels of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) responsivity. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) while participants who varied along a unidimensional liberal-conservative continuum engaged in a standard Go/NoGo task. We also measured component attitudes of political orientation in the form of traditionalism (degree of openness to social change) and egalitarianism (a preference for social equality). Generally, participants who reported a more liberal political orientation made fewer errors and produced larger ACC-generated ERPs (the error-related negativity, or ERN and the NoGo N2). This ACC activation, especially as indicated by a larger NoGo N2, was most strongly associated with greater preference for social equality. Performance accuracy, however, was most strongly associated with greater openness to social change. These data are consistent with a social neuroscience view that sociopolitical attitudes are related to aspects of neurophysiological responsivity. They also indicate that a bidimensional model of political orientation can enhance our interpretation of the nature of these associations.

  12. Constraining Binary Asteroid Mass Distributions Based On Mutual Motion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davis, Alex B.; Scheeres, Daniel J.

    2017-06-01

    The mutual gravitational potential and torques of binary asteroid systems results in a complex coupling of attitude and orbital motion based on the mass distribution of each body. For a doubly-synchronous binary system observations of the mutual motion can be leveraged to identify and measure the unique mass distributions of each body. By implementing arbitrary shape and order computation of the full two-body problem (F2BP) equilibria we study the influence of asteroid asymmetries on separation and orientation of a doubly-synchronous system. Additionally, simulations of binary systems perturbed from doubly-synchronous behavior are studied to understand the effects of mass distribution perturbations on precession and nutation rates such that unique behaviors can be isolated and used to measure asteroid mass distributions. We apply our investigation to the Trojan binary asteroid system 617 Patroclus and Menoetius (1906 VY), which will be the final flyby target of the recently announced LUCY Discovery mission in March 2033. This binary asteroid system is of particular interest due to the results of a recent stellar occultation study (DPS 46, id.506.09) that suggests the system to be doubly-synchronous and consisting of two-similarly sized oblate ellipsoids, in addition to suggesting the presence mass asymmetries resulting from an impact crater on the southern limb of Menoetius.

  13. Orientation and length of mammalian skeletal myocytes in response to a unidirectional stretch

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Collinsworth, A. M.; Torgan, C. E.; Nagda, S. N.; Rajalingam, R. J.; Kraus, W. E.; Truskey, G. A.

    2000-01-01

    Effects of mechanical forces exerted on mammalian skeletal muscle cells during development were studied using an in vitro model to unidirectionally stretch cultured C2C12 cells grown on silastic membrane. Previous models to date have not studied these responses of the mammalian system specifically. The silastic membrane upon which these cells were grown exhibited linear strain behavior over the range of 3.6-14.6% strain, with a Poisson's ratio of approximately 0.5. To mimic murine in utero long bone growth, cell substrates were stretched at an average strain rate of 2.36%/day for 4 days or 1.77%/day for 6 days with an overall membrane strain of 9.5% and 10.6%, respectively. Both control and stretched fibers stained positively for the contractile protein, alpha-actinin, demonstrating muscle fiber development. An effect of stretch on orientation and length of myofibers was observed. At both strain rates, stretched fibers aligned at a smaller angle relative to the direction of stretch and were significantly longer compared to randomly oriented control fibers. There was no effect of duration of stretch on orientation or length, suggesting the cellular responses are independent of strain rate for the range tested. These results demonstrate that, under conditions simulating mammalian long bone growth, cultured myocytes respond to mechanical forces by lengthening and orienting along the direction of stretch.

  14. Responses of squirrel monkeys to their experimentally modified mobbing calls

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fichtel, Claudia; Hammerschmidt, Kurt

    2003-05-01

    Previous acoustic analyses suggested emotion-correlated changes in the acoustic structure of squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) vocalizations. Specifically, calls given in aversive contexts were characterized by an upward shift in frequencies, often accompanied by an increase in amplitude. In order to test whether changes in frequencies or amplitude are indeed relevant for conspecific listeners, playback experiments were conducted in which either frequencies or amplitude of mobbing calls were modified. Latency and first orienting response were measured in playback experiments with six adult squirrel monkeys. After broadcasting yaps with increased frequencies or amplitude, squirrel monkeys showed a longer orienting response towards the speaker than after the corresponding control stimuli. Furthermore, after broadcasting yaps with decreased frequencies or amplitude, squirrel monkeys showed a shorter orienting response towards the speaker than after the corresponding manipulated calls with higher frequencies or amplitude. These results suggest that changes in frequencies or amplitude were perceived by squirrel monkeys, indicating that the relationship between call structure and the underlying affective state of the caller agreed with the listener's assessment of the calls. However, a simultaneous increase in frequencies and amplitude did not lead to an enhanced response, compared to each single parameter. Thus, from the receiver's perspective, both call parameters may mutually replace each other.

  15. Mutual information-based facial expression recognition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hazar, Mliki; Hammami, Mohamed; Hanêne, Ben-Abdallah

    2013-12-01

    This paper introduces a novel low-computation discriminative regions representation for expression analysis task. The proposed approach relies on interesting studies in psychology which show that most of the descriptive and responsible regions for facial expression are located around some face parts. The contributions of this work lie in the proposition of new approach which supports automatic facial expression recognition based on automatic regions selection. The regions selection step aims to select the descriptive regions responsible or facial expression and was performed using Mutual Information (MI) technique. For facial feature extraction, we have applied Local Binary Patterns Pattern (LBP) on Gradient image to encode salient micro-patterns of facial expressions. Experimental studies have shown that using discriminative regions provide better results than using the whole face regions whilst reducing features vector dimension.

  16. Transcription-Replication Conflict Orientation Modulates R-Loop Levels and Activates Distinct DNA Damage Responses.

    PubMed

    Hamperl, Stephan; Bocek, Michael J; Saldivar, Joshua C; Swigut, Tomek; Cimprich, Karlene A

    2017-08-10

    Conflicts between transcription and replication are a potent source of DNA damage. Co-transcriptional R-loops could aggravate such conflicts by creating an additional barrier to replication fork progression. Here, we use a defined episomal system to investigate how conflict orientation and R-loop formation influence genome stability in human cells. R-loops, but not normal transcription complexes, induce DNA breaks and orientation-specific DNA damage responses during conflicts with replication forks. Unexpectedly, the replisome acts as an orientation-dependent regulator of R-loop levels, reducing R-loops in the co-directional (CD) orientation but promoting their formation in the head-on (HO) orientation. Replication stress and deregulated origin firing increase the number of HO collisions leading to genome-destabilizing R-loops. Our findings connect DNA replication to R-loop homeostasis and suggest a mechanistic basis for genome instability resulting from deregulated DNA replication, observed in cancer and other disease states. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Mutual benefits in academic-service partnership: An integrative review.

    PubMed

    Sadeghnezhad, Maliheh; Heshmati Nabavi, Fatemeh; Najafi, Fereshteh; Kareshki, Hossein; Esmaily, Habibollah

    2018-05-30

    Academic and service institutions involve with many challenges. Partnership programs are a golden opportunity to achieve mutual benefits to overcome these challenges. Identifying mutual benefits is the cornerstone of forming a successful partnership and guarantee to its continuity. There are definitions and instances of mutual benefits in the literature related to partnership programs, but there is no coherent evidence and clear picture of these benefits. This study is conducted to identify mutual benefits in academic-service partnership by analyzing the definitions and instances of it in the literature. An integrative review of key papers regarding mutual benefits in academic-service partnership was undertaken. This review was guided by the framework described by Whittemore and Knafl. Search of the following databases was conducted: MEDLINE, ERIC, Google Scholar, Emerald Insight and Science Direct. The search terms were mutual benefits, mutual gains, mutual interest, mutual expectations, mutual goals, mutual demand, partnership, collaboration, academic-service partnership and academic service collaboration. Cooper's five-stage integrative review method was used. Quality evaluation of articles was conducted. Data were abstracted from included articles. The analysis was conducted based on the qualitative content analysis of the literature suggested by Zhang and Wildemuth. 28 articles were included in this review. Mutual benefits are described in four categories include: synergy in training and empowerment of human resources, education improvement, access to shared resources, facilitate production and application of beneficial knowledge into practice. Mutual benefits in the academic-service partnership include a range of goals, interests, expectations, and needs of partner organizations that is achievable and measurable through joint planning and collaboration. We suggest academic and service policymakers to consider these benefits in the planning and evaluating

  18. Development of the PRO-SDLS: A Measure of Self-Direction in Learning Based on the Personal Responsibility Orientation Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stockdale, Susan L.; Brockett, Ralph G.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid instrument to measure self-directedness in learning among college students based on an operationalization of the personal responsibility orientation (PRO) model of self-direction in learning. The resultant 25-item Personal Responsibility Orientation to Self-Direction in Learning Scale…

  19. Strategy Diversity Stabilizes Mutualism through Investment Cycles, Phase Polymorphism, and Spatial Bubbles

    PubMed Central

    Boza, Gergely; Kun, Ádám; Scheuring, István; Dieckmann, Ulf

    2012-01-01

    There is continuing interest in understanding factors that facilitate the evolution and stability of cooperation within and between species. Such interactions will often involve plasticity in investment behavior, in response to the interacting partner's investments. Our aim here is to investigate the evolution and stability of reciprocal investment behavior in interspecific interactions, a key phenomenon strongly supported by experimental observations. In particular, we present a comprehensive analysis of a continuous reciprocal investment game between mutualists, both in well-mixed and spatially structured populations, and we demonstrate a series of novel mechanisms for maintaining interspecific mutualism. We demonstrate that mutualistic partners invariably follow investment cycles, during which mutualism first increases, before both partners eventually reduce their investments to zero, so that these cycles always conclude with full defection. We show that the key mechanism for stabilizing mutualism is phase polymorphism along the investment cycle. Although mutualistic partners perpetually change their strategies, the community-level distribution of investment levels becomes stationary. In spatially structured populations, the maintenance of polymorphism is further facilitated by dynamic mosaic structures, in which mutualistic partners form expanding and collapsing spatial bubbles or clusters. Additionally, we reveal strategy-diversity thresholds, both for well-mixed and spatially structured mutualistic communities, and discuss factors for meeting these thresholds, and thus maintaining mutualism. Our results demonstrate that interspecific mutualism, when considered as plastic investment behavior, can be unstable, and, in agreement with empirical observations, may involve a polymorphism of investment levels, varying both in space and in time. Identifying the mechanisms maintaining such polymorphism, and hence mutualism in natural communities, provides a significant

  20. Strategy diversity stabilizes mutualism through investment cycles, phase polymorphism, and spatial bubbles.

    PubMed

    Boza, Gergely; Kun, Adám; Scheuring, István; Dieckmann, Ulf

    2012-01-01

    There is continuing interest in understanding factors that facilitate the evolution and stability of cooperation within and between species. Such interactions will often involve plasticity in investment behavior, in response to the interacting partner's investments. Our aim here is to investigate the evolution and stability of reciprocal investment behavior in interspecific interactions, a key phenomenon strongly supported by experimental observations. In particular, we present a comprehensive analysis of a continuous reciprocal investment game between mutualists, both in well-mixed and spatially structured populations, and we demonstrate a series of novel mechanisms for maintaining interspecific mutualism. We demonstrate that mutualistic partners invariably follow investment cycles, during which mutualism first increases, before both partners eventually reduce their investments to zero, so that these cycles always conclude with full defection. We show that the key mechanism for stabilizing mutualism is phase polymorphism along the investment cycle. Although mutualistic partners perpetually change their strategies, the community-level distribution of investment levels becomes stationary. In spatially structured populations, the maintenance of polymorphism is further facilitated by dynamic mosaic structures, in which mutualistic partners form expanding and collapsing spatial bubbles or clusters. Additionally, we reveal strategy-diversity thresholds, both for well-mixed and spatially structured mutualistic communities, and discuss factors for meeting these thresholds, and thus maintaining mutualism. Our results demonstrate that interspecific mutualism, when considered as plastic investment behavior, can be unstable, and, in agreement with empirical observations, may involve a polymorphism of investment levels, varying both in space and in time. Identifying the mechanisms maintaining such polymorphism, and hence mutualism in natural communities, provides a significant

  1. Generalized mutual information and Tsirelson's bound

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wakakuwa, Eyuri; Murao, Mio

    2014-12-01

    We introduce a generalization of the quantum mutual information between a classical system and a quantum system into the mutual information between a classical system and a system described by general probabilistic theories. We apply this generalized mutual information (GMI) to a derivation of Tsirelson's bound from information causality, and prove that Tsirelson's bound can be derived from the chain rule of the GMI. By using the GMI, we formulate the "no-supersignalling condition" (NSS), that the assistance of correlations does not enhance the capability of classical communication. We prove that NSS is never violated in any no-signalling theory.

  2. Generalized mutual information and Tsirelson's bound

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

    Wakakuwa, Eyuri; Murao, Mio

    2014-12-04

    We introduce a generalization of the quantum mutual information between a classical system and a quantum system into the mutual information between a classical system and a system described by general probabilistic theories. We apply this generalized mutual information (GMI) to a derivation of Tsirelson's bound from information causality, and prove that Tsirelson's bound can be derived from the chain rule of the GMI. By using the GMI, we formulate the 'no-supersignalling condition' (NSS), that the assistance of correlations does not enhance the capability of classical communication. We prove that NSS is never violated in any no-signalling theory.

  3. Orientation-specific contextual modulation of the fMRI BOLD response to luminance and chromatic gratings in human visual cortex.

    PubMed

    McDonald, J Scott; Seymour, Kiley J; Schira, Mark M; Spehar, Branka; Clifford, Colin W G

    2009-05-01

    The responses of orientation-selective neurons in primate visual cortex can be profoundly affected by the presence and orientation of stimuli falling outside the classical receptive field. Our perception of the orientation of a line or grating also depends upon the context in which it is presented. For example, the perceived orientation of a grating embedded in a surround tends to be repelled from the predominant orientation of the surround. Here, we used fMRI to investigate the basis of orientation-specific surround effects in five functionally-defined regions of visual cortex: V1, V2, V3, V3A/LO1 and hV4. Test stimuli were luminance-modulated and isoluminant gratings that produced responses similar in magnitude. Less BOLD activation was evident in response to gratings with parallel versus orthogonal surrounds across all the regions of visual cortex investigated. When an isoluminant test grating was surrounded by a luminance-modulated inducer, the degree of orientation-specific contextual modulation was no larger for extrastriate areas than for V1, suggesting that the observed effects might originate entirely in V1. However, more orientation-specific modulation was evident in extrastriate cortex when both test and inducer were luminance-modulated gratings than when the test was isoluminant; this difference was significant in area V3. We suggest that the pattern of results in extrastriate cortex may reflect a refinement of the orientation-selectivity of surround suppression specific to the colour of the surround or, alternatively, processes underlying the segmentation of test and inducer by spatial phase or orientation when no colour cue is available.

  4. 12 CFR 239.3 - Mutual holding company reorganizations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Mutual holding company reorganizations. 239.3 Section 239.3 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Mutual Holding Companies § 239.3...

  5. 12 CFR 239.3 - Mutual holding company reorganizations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Mutual holding company reorganizations. 239.3 Section 239.3 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Mutual Holding Companies § 239.3...

  6. 12 CFR 239.3 - Mutual holding company reorganizations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Mutual holding company reorganizations. 239.3 Section 239.3 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Mutual Holding Companies § 239.3...

  7. Prisoners or Volunteers: Developing Mutual Respect in the Elementary Science Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Huber, Richard A.; And Others

    This study was conducted to investigate how teacher educators might help preservice teachers enrolled in a science methods course understand the need for mutual respect rather than coercion between pupil and teacher in an elementary classroom. An evaluation instrument was developed that consisted of a pre and post open-ended response to a…

  8. Joint eigenvector estimation from mutually anisotropic tensors improves susceptibility tensor imaging of the brain, kidney, and heart.

    PubMed

    Dibb, Russell; Liu, Chunlei

    2017-06-01

    To develop a susceptibility-based MRI technique for probing microstructure and fiber architecture of magnetically anisotropic tissues-such as central nervous system white matter, renal tubules, and myocardial fibers-in three dimensions using susceptibility tensor imaging (STI) tools. STI can probe tissue microstructure, but is limited by reconstruction artifacts because of absent phase information outside the tissue and noise. STI accuracy may be improved by estimating a joint eigenvector from mutually anisotropic susceptibility and relaxation tensors. Gradient-recalled echo image data were simulated using a numerical phantom and acquired from the ex vivo mouse brain, kidney, and heart. Susceptibility tensor data were reconstructed using STI, regularized STI, and the proposed algorithm of mutually anisotropic and joint eigenvector STI (MAJESTI). Fiber map and tractography results from each technique were compared with diffusion tensor data. MAJESTI reduced the estimated susceptibility tensor orientation error by 30% in the phantom, 36% in brain white matter, 40% in the inner medulla of the kidney, and 45% in myocardium. This improved the continuity and consistency of susceptibility-based fiber tractography in each tissue. MAJESTI estimation of the susceptibility tensors yields lower orientation errors for susceptibility-based fiber mapping and tractography in the intact brain, kidney, and heart. Magn Reson Med 77:2331-2346, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

  9. The mutual inductance calculation between circular and quadrilateral coils at arbitrary attitudes using a rotation matrix for airborne transient electromagnetic systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ji, Yanju; Wang, Hongyuan; Lin, Jun; Guan, Shanshan; Feng, Xue; Li, Suyi

    2014-12-01

    Performance testing and calibration of airborne transient electromagnetic (ATEM) systems are conducted to obtain the electromagnetic response of ground loops. It is necessary to accurately calculate the mutual inductance between transmitting coils, receiving coils and ground loops to compute the electromagnetic responses. Therefore, based on Neumann's formula and the measured attitudes of the coils, this study deduces the formula for the mutual inductance calculation between circular and quadrilateral coils, circular and circular coils, and quadrilateral and quadrilateral coils using a rotation matrix, and then proposes a method to calculate the mutual inductance between two coils at arbitrary attitudes (roll, pitch, and yaw). Using coil attitude simulated data of an ATEM system, we calculate the mutual inductance of transmitting coils and ground loops at different attitudes, analyze the impact of coil attitudes on mutual inductance, and compare the computational accuracy and speed of the proposed method with those of other methods using the same data. The results show that the relative error of the calculation is smaller and that the speed-up is significant compared to other methods. Moreover, the proposed method is also applicable to the mutual inductance calculation of polygonal and circular coils at arbitrary attitudes and is highly expandable.

  10. Mutual Mentoring Makes Better Mentors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Blaha, Cindy; Bug, Amy; Cox, Anne; Fritz, Linda; Whitten, Barbara

    2011-03-01

    In this talk we discuss one of the impacts of an NSF ADVANCE sponsored horizontal, mutual mentoring alliance. Our cohort of five women physicists at liberal arts colleges has found that mutual mentoring has had a profound impact on many aspects of our professional lives. In this talk we will describe how our peer-to-peer mentoring has enabled us to become better mentors for our undergraduate students, for recent graduates beginning their careers and for colleagues at local and neighboring institutions.

  11. Orientation-selective Responses in the Mouse Lateral Geniculate Nucleus

    PubMed Central

    Zhao, Xinyu; Chen, Hui; Liu, Xiaorong

    2013-01-01

    The dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) receives visual information from the retina and transmits it to the cortex. In this study, we made extracellular recordings in the dLGN of both anesthetized and awake mice, and found that a surprisingly high proportion of cells were selective for stimulus orientation. The orientation selectivity of dLGN cells was unchanged after silencing the visual cortex pharmacologically, indicating that it is not due to cortical feedback. The orientation tuning of some dLGN cells correlated with their elongated receptive fields, while in others orientation selectivity was observed despite the fact that their receptive fields were circular, suggesting that their retinal input might already be orientation selective. Consistently, we revealed orientation/axis-selective ganglion cells in the mouse retina using multielectrode arrays in an in vitro preparation. Furthermore, the orientation tuning of dLGN cells was largely maintained at different stimulus contrasts, which could be sufficiently explained by a simple linear feedforward model. We also compared the degree of orientation selectivity in different visual structures under the same recording condition. Compared with the dLGN, orientation selectivity is greatly improved in the visual cortex, but is similar in the superior colliculus, another major retinal target. Together, our results demonstrate prominent orientation selectivity in the mouse dLGN, which may potentially contribute to visual processing in the cortex. PMID:23904611

  12. Sex-oriented stable matchings of the marriage problem with correlated and incomplete information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Caldarelli, Guido; Capocci, Andrea; Laureti, Paolo

    2001-10-01

    In the stable marriage problem two sets of agents must be paired according to mutual preferences, which may happen to conflict. We present two generalizations of its sex-oriented version, aiming to take into account correlations between the preferences of agents and costly information. Their effects are investigated both numerically and analytically.

  13. Activity-dependent gene expression in honey bee mushroom bodies in response to orientation flight.

    PubMed

    Lutz, Claudia C; Robinson, Gene E

    2013-06-01

    The natural history of adult worker honey bees (Apis mellifera) provides an opportunity to study the molecular basis of learning in an ecological context. Foragers must learn to navigate between the hive and floral locations that may be up to miles away. Young pre-foragers prepare for this task by performing orientation flights near the hive, during which they begin to learn navigational cues such as the appearance of the hive, the position of landmarks, and the movement of the sun. Despite well-described spatial learning and navigation behavior, there is currently limited information on the neural basis of insect spatial learning. We found that Egr, an insect homolog of Egr-1, is rapidly and transiently upregulated in the mushroom bodies in response to orientation. This result is the first example of an Egr-1 homolog acting as a learning-related immediate-early gene in an insect and also demonstrates that honey bee orientation uses a molecular mechanism that is known to be involved in many other forms of learning. This transcriptional response occurred both in naïve bees and in foragers induced to re-orient. Further experiments suggest that visual environmental novelty, rather than exercise or memorization of specific visual cues, acts as the stimulus for Egr upregulation. Our results implicate the mushroom bodies in spatial learning and emphasize the deep conservation of Egr-related pathways in experience-dependent plasticity.

  14. Cardiac responses predict decisions: an investigation of the relation between orienting response and decisions in the ultimatum game.

    PubMed

    Osumi, Takahiro; Ohira, Hideki

    2009-10-01

    Emotion-based behaviors in humans cannot be fully explained by economic rationality. Particularly, in the ultimatum game, which incorporates conflict between self-interest and fairness, negative emotions evoked by an unfair offer seem to promote an economically irrational decision. In accordance with this suggestion, the previous studies have reported that physiological arousal is associated with rejecting unfair offers. In the present study, we investigated electrocardiogram and electrodermal activities in individuals which received fair, advantageously unfair, and disadvantageously unfair offers to specify the relations of the orienting and the defensive responses with these offers and with the decisions to accept and reject them. The results indicated that when an offer that would be rejected was presented, heart rate initially decelerated more than when an offer that would be accepted was presented. Additionally, there was a linear relationship between the deceleration and unfairness of offers. On the other hand, such different patterns were not seen in late cardiac acceleration or electrodermal response. The results suggest that because of perception of disadvantage and unpleasantness in a social context, the orienting response is evoked when an offer will be rejected. In addition, these results are discussed regarding the effect of the autonomic activity in decision-making.

  15. Group Differences in the Mutual Gaze of Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bard, Kim A.; Myowa-Yamakoshi, Masako; Tomonaga, Masaki; Tanaka, Masayuki; Costall, Alan; Matsuzawa, Tetsuro

    2005-01-01

    A comparative developmental framework was used to determine whether mutual gaze is unique to humans and, if not, whether common mechanisms support the development of mutual gaze in chimpanzees and humans. Mother-infant chimpanzees engaged in approximately 17 instances of mutual gaze per hour. Mutual gaze occurred in positive, nonagonistic…

  16. 12 CFR 575.12 - Conversion or liquidation of mutual holding companies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Conversion or liquidation of mutual holding... MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES § 575.12 Conversion or liquidation of mutual holding companies. (a) Conversion... stock issued by the parent mutual holding company in connection with the conversion of the parent mutual...

  17. Chlorzoxazone esters of some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAI) carboxylic acids as mutual prodrugs: design, synthesis, pharmacological investigations and docking studies.

    PubMed

    Abdel-Azeem, Ahmed Z; Abdel-Hafez, Atef A; El-Karamany, Gamal S; Farag, Hassan H

    2009-05-15

    The discovery of the inducible isoform of cyclooxygenase enzyme (COX-2) spurred the search for anti-inflammatory agents devoid of the undesirable effects associated with classical NSAIDs. New chlorzoxazone ester prodrugs (6-8) of some acidic NSAIDs (1-3) were designed, synthesized and evaluated as mutual prodrugs with the aim of improving the therapeutic potency and retard the adverse effects of gastrointestinal origin. The structure of the synthesized mutual ester prodrugs (6-8) were confirmed by IR, (1)H NMR, mass spectroscopy (MS) and their purity was ascertained by TLC and elemental analyses. In vitro chemical stability revealed that the synthesized ester prodrugs (6-8) are chemically stable in hydrochloric acid buffer pH 1.2 as a non-enzymatic simulated gastric fluid (SGF) and in phosphate buffer pH 7.4 as non-enzymatic simulated intestinal fluid (SIF). In 80% human plasma, the mutual prodrugs were found to be susceptible to enzymatic hydrolysis at relatively faster rate (t(1/2) approximately 37 and 34 min for prodrugs 6 and 7, respectively). Mutual ester prodrugs (6-8) were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxation activities. Scanning electromicrographs of the stomach showed that the ester prodrugs induced very little irritancy in the gastric mucosa of rats after oral administration for 4days. In addition, docking of the mutual ester prodrugs (6-8) into COX-2 active site was conducted in order to predict the affinity and orientation of these prodrugs at the enzyme active site.

  18. Cyclic Strain Resistance, Stress Response, Fatigue Life, and Fracture Behavior of High Strength Low Alloy Steel 300 M

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manigandan, K.; Srivatsan, T. S.; Tammana, Deepthi; Poorgangi, Behrang; Vasudevan, Vijay K.

    2014-05-01

    The focus of this technical manuscript is a record of the specific role of microstructure and test specimen orientation on cyclic stress response, cyclic strain resistance, and cyclic stress versus strain response, deformation and fracture behavior of alloy steel 300 M. The cyclic strain amplitude-controlled fatigue properties of this ultra-high strength alloy steel revealed a linear trend for the variation of log elastic strain amplitude with log reversals-to-failure, and log plastic strain amplitude with log reversals-to-failure for both longitudinal and transverse orientations. Test specimens of the longitudinal orientation showed only a marginal improvement over the transverse orientation at equivalent values of plastic strain amplitude. Cyclic stress response revealed a combination of initial hardening for the first few cycles followed by gradual softening for a large portion of fatigue life before culminating in rapid softening prior to catastrophic failure by fracture. Fracture characteristics of test specimens of this alloy steel were different at both the macroscopic and fine microscopic levels over the entire range of cyclic strain amplitudes examined. Both macroscopic and fine microscopic observations revealed fracture to be a combination of both brittle and ductile mechanisms. The underlying mechanisms governing stress response, deformation characteristics, fatigue life, and final fracture behavior are presented and discussed in light of the competing and mutually interactive influences of test specimen orientation, intrinsic microstructural effects, deformation characteristics of the microstructural constituents, cyclic strain amplitude, and response stress.

  19. Head orientation affects the intracranial pressure response resulting from shock wave loading in the rat.

    PubMed

    Dal Cengio Leonardi, Alessandra; Keane, Nickolas J; Bir, Cynthia A; Ryan, Anne G; Xu, Liaosa; Vandevord, Pamela J

    2012-10-11

    Since an increasing number of returning military personnel are presenting with neurological manifestations of traumatic brain injury (TBI), there has been a great focus on the effects resulting from blast exposure. It is paramount to resolve the physical mechanism by which the critical stress is being inflicted on brain tissue from blast wave encounters with the head. This study quantitatively measured the effect of head orientation on intracranial pressure (ICP) of rats exposed to a shock wave. Furthermore, the study examined how skull maturity affects ICP response of animals exposed to shock waves at various orientations. Results showed a significant increase in ICP values in larger rats at any orientation. Furthermore, when side-ICP values were compared to the other orientations, the peak pressures were significantly lower suggesting a relation between ICP and orientation of the head due to geometry of the skull and location of sutures. This finding accentuates the importance of skull dynamics in explaining possible injury mechanisms during blast. Also, the rate of pressure change was measured and indicated that the rate was significantly higher when the top of the head was facing the shock front. The results confirm that the biomechanical response of the superior rat skull is distinctive compared to other areas of the skull, suggesting a skull flexure mechanism. These results not only present insights into the mechanism of brain injury, but also provide information which can be used for designing more effective protective head gear. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Benefit and cost curves for typical pollination mutualisms.

    PubMed

    Morris, William F; Vázquez, Diego P; Chacoff, Natacha P

    2010-05-01

    Mutualisms provide benefits to interacting species, but they also involve costs. If costs come to exceed benefits as population density or the frequency of encounters between species increases, the interaction will no longer be mutualistic. Thus curves that represent benefits and costs as functions of interaction frequency are important tools for predicting when a mutualism will tip over into antagonism. Currently, most of what we know about benefit and cost curves in pollination mutualisms comes from highly specialized pollinating seed-consumer mutualisms, such as the yucca moth-yucca interaction. There, benefits to female reproduction saturate as the number of visits to a flower increases (because the amount of pollen needed to fertilize all the flower's ovules is finite), but costs continue to increase (because pollinator offspring consume developing seeds), leading to a peak in seed production at an intermediate number of visits. But for most plant-pollinator mutualisms, costs to the plant are more subtle than consumption of seeds, and how such costs scale with interaction frequency remains largely unknown. Here, we present reasonable benefit and cost curves that are appropriate for typical pollinator-plant interactions, and we show how they can result in a wide diversity of relationships between net benefit (benefit minus cost) and interaction frequency. We then use maximum-likelihood methods to fit net-benefit curves to measures of female reproductive success for three typical pollination mutualisms from two continents, and for each system we chose the most parsimonious model using information-criterion statistics. We discuss the implications of the shape of the net-benefit curve for the ecology and evolution of plant-pollinator mutualisms, as well as the challenges that lie ahead for disentangling the underlying benefit and cost curves for typical pollination mutualisms.

  1. Mutually unbiased bases and semi-definite programming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brierley, Stephen; Weigert, Stefan

    2010-11-01

    A complex Hilbert space of dimension six supports at least three but not more than seven mutually unbiased bases. Two computer-aided analytical methods to tighten these bounds are reviewed, based on a discretization of parameter space and on Gröbner bases. A third algorithmic approach is presented: the non-existence of more than three mutually unbiased bases in composite dimensions can be decided by a global optimization method known as semidefinite programming. The method is used to confirm that the spectral matrix cannot be part of a complete set of seven mutually unbiased bases in dimension six.

  2. Sexual Orientation as a Peripheral Cue in Advertising: Effects of Models' Sexual Orientation, Argument Strength, and Involvement on Responses to Magazine Ads.

    PubMed

    Ivory, Adrienne Holz

    2017-10-12

    This study examines how sexual orientation of couples featured in magazine advertisements affects heterosexual viewers' responses using the elaboration likelihood model as a framework. A 3 × 2 × 2 × 3 experiment tested effects of sexual orientation, argument strength, involvement, and attitudes toward homosexuality on heterosexuals' attitudes toward the couple, advertisement, brand, and product, purchase intentions, and recall. Results indicate that consumers were accepting of ads with lesbian portrayals. Participants showed more negative attitudes toward gay male portrayals, but attitudes toward heterosexual and lesbian ads were similar. This effect was moderated by participants' attitudes toward homosexuals. Low-involvement consumers showed more negative attitudes toward homosexual portrayals than toward heterosexual portrayals, indicating that sexual orientation may have served as a peripheral cue negatively impacting attitudes toward the couple and ad under low elaboration. These effects were not observed for attitudes toward the brand and product, purchase intentions, or recall.

  3. 7 CFR 550.13 - Mutuality of interest.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Mutuality of interest. 550.13 Section 550.13 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT.... Mutual interest exists when both parties benefit in the same qualitative way from the objectives of the...

  4. 7 CFR 550.13 - Mutuality of interest.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Mutuality of interest. 550.13 Section 550.13 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT.... Mutual interest exists when both parties benefit in the same qualitative way from the objectives of the...

  5. 7 CFR 550.13 - Mutuality of interest.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Mutuality of interest. 550.13 Section 550.13 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT.... Mutual interest exists when both parties benefit in the same qualitative way from the objectives of the...

  6. 7 CFR 550.13 - Mutuality of interest.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Mutuality of interest. 550.13 Section 550.13 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT.... Mutual interest exists when both parties benefit in the same qualitative way from the objectives of the...

  7. 7 CFR 550.13 - Mutuality of interest.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Mutuality of interest. 550.13 Section 550.13 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT.... Mutual interest exists when both parties benefit in the same qualitative way from the objectives of the...

  8. Orientation-Cue Invariant Population Responses to Contrast-Modulated and Phase-Reversed Contour Stimuli in Macaque V1 and V2

    PubMed Central

    An, Xu; Gong, Hongliang; Yin, Jiapeng; Wang, Xiaochun; Pan, Yanxia; Zhang, Xian; Lu, Yiliang; Yang, Yupeng; Toth, Zoltan; Schiessl, Ingo; McLoughlin, Niall; Wang, Wei

    2014-01-01

    Visual scenes can be readily decomposed into a variety of oriented components, the processing of which is vital for object segregation and recognition. In primate V1 and V2, most neurons have small spatio-temporal receptive fields responding selectively to oriented luminance contours (first order), while only a subgroup of neurons signal non-luminance defined contours (second order). So how is the orientation of second-order contours represented at the population level in macaque V1 and V2? Here we compared the population responses in macaque V1 and V2 to two types of second-order contour stimuli generated either by modulation of contrast or phase reversal with those to first-order contour stimuli. Using intrinsic signal optical imaging, we found that the orientation of second-order contour stimuli was represented invariantly in the orientation columns of both macaque V1 and V2. A physiologically constrained spatio-temporal energy model of V1 and V2 neuronal populations could reproduce all the recorded population responses. These findings suggest that, at the population level, the primate early visual system processes the orientation of second-order contours initially through a linear spatio-temporal filter mechanism. Our results of population responses to different second-order contour stimuli support the idea that the orientation maps in primate V1 and V2 can be described as a spatial-temporal energy map. PMID:25188576

  9. Nuclear weapons in the 1980s: MAD versus NUTS. Mutual hostage relationship of the superpowers

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

    Keeny, S.M. Jr.; Panofsky, W.K.H.

    Critics of the strategic relationship of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) developed during the 1960s claim it immorally holds entire civilian populations hostage. Some advocate the Nuclear Utilization Target Selection (NUTS) concept, while others argue for a defense-oriented military posture. The interrelationships of these concepts are examined against the background of stockpiled nuclear weapons capable of massive devastation, the technical limits to defense, and the uncertainty that a nuclear war could be controlled. The evidence shows that a MAD world prevails despite NUTS proposals, which may have increased the danger by giving nuclear war the illusion of acceptability. (DCK)

  10. (Mutual Security Mutual Affluence) Negative Factors = Sustained Stability: A Framework for Establishing Stability Between Like States

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-03-31

    160-163. 2 The Concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) dates back to the post-WWFI em and the Cold War where the United States and Soviet Unions...United States. Following its defeat in W\\VH, Japan was in shambles. The bombing campaigns left nine million Japanese homeless and three million more...the United States, the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris in 2015, and the bombings in Istanbul in 2016. Michael Bamier, “From Mutual Assistance to

  11. 26 CFR 1.1502-42 - Mutual savings banks, etc.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 12 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Mutual savings banks, etc. 1.1502-42 Section 1... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Special Taxes and Taxpayers § 1.1502-42 Mutual savings banks, etc. (a) In general. This section applies to mutual s avings banks and other institutions described in section...

  12. 12 CFR 563.74 - Mutual capital certificates.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... otherwise be required by applicable law. (e) Filing requirements. The application for issuance of mutual... of filing of the application are in accordance with the provisions of this section. (b) Eligibility... mutual capital certificates; (E) Action is sought to be authorized which would increase the number of a...

  13. Mutual proximity graphs for improved reachability in music recommendation.

    PubMed

    Flexer, Arthur; Stevens, Jeff

    2018-01-01

    This paper is concerned with the impact of hubness, a general problem of machine learning in high-dimensional spaces, on a real-world music recommendation system based on visualisation of a k-nearest neighbour (knn) graph. Due to a problem of measuring distances in high dimensions, hub objects are recommended over and over again while anti-hubs are nonexistent in recommendation lists, resulting in poor reachability of the music catalogue. We present mutual proximity graphs, which are an alternative to knn and mutual knn graphs, and are able to avoid hub vertices having abnormally high connectivity. We show that mutual proximity graphs yield much better graph connectivity resulting in improved reachability compared to knn graphs, mutual knn graphs and mutual knn graphs enhanced with minimum spanning trees, while simultaneously reducing the negative effects of hubness.

  14. 26 CFR 1.1502-42 - Mutual savings banks, etc.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 12 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Mutual savings banks, etc. 1.1502-42 Section 1... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES Special Taxes and Taxpayers § 1.1502-42 Mutual savings banks, etc. (a) In general. This section applies to mutual s avings banks and other institutions described in section 593(a). (b...

  15. Inertial Orientation Trackers with Drift Compensation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Foxlin, Eric M.

    2008-01-01

    A class of inertial-sensor systems with drift compensation has been invented for use in measuring the orientations of human heads (and perhaps other, similarly sized objects). These systems can be designed to overcome some of the limitations of prior orientation-measuring systems that are based, variously, on magnetic, optical, mechanical-linkage, and acoustical principles. The orientation signals generated by the systems of this invention could be used for diverse purposes, including controlling head-orientation-dependent virtual reality visual displays or enabling persons whose limbs are paralyzed to control machinery by means of head motions. The inventive concept admits to variations too numerous to describe here, making it necessary to limit this description to a typical system, the selected aspects of which are illustrated in the figure. A set of sensors is mounted on a bracket on a band or a cap that gently but firmly grips the wearer s head to be tracked. Among the sensors are three drift-sensitive rotationrate sensors (e.g., integrated-circuit angular- rate-measuring gyroscopes), which put out DC voltages nominally proportional to the rates of rotation about their sensory axes. These sensors are mounted in mutually orthogonal orientations for measuring rates of rotation about the roll, pitch, and yaw axes of the wearer s head. The outputs of these rate sensors are conditioned and digitized, and the resulting data are fed to an integrator module implemented in software in a digital computer. In the integrator module, the angular-rate signals are jointly integrated by any of several established methods to obtain a set of angles that represent approximately the orientation of the head in an external, inertial coordinate system. Because some drift is always present as a component of an angular position computed by integrating the outputs of angular-rate sensors, the orientation signal is processed further in a drift-compensator software module.

  16. Whose Orientations?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gutoff, Joshua

    2010-01-01

    This article presents the author's response to Jon A. Levisohn's article entitled "A Menu of Orientations in the Teaching of Rabbinic Literature." While the "menu" Levisohn describes in his groundbreaking work on orientations to the teaching of rabbinic texts will almost certainly be refined over time, even as it stands this article should be of…

  17. Future Orientation among Students Exposed to School Bullying and Cyberbullying Victimization.

    PubMed

    Låftman, Sara B; Alm, Susanne; Sandahl, Julia; Modin, Bitte

    2018-03-27

    Future orientation can be defined as an individual's thoughts, beliefs, plans, and hopes for the future. Earlier research has shown adolescents' future orientation to predict outcomes later in life, which makes it relevant to analyze differences in future orientation among youth. The aim of the present study was to analyze if bullying victimization was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting a pessimistic future orientation among school youth. To be able to distinguish between victims and bully-victims (i.e., students who are both bullies and victims), we also took perpetration into account. The data were derived from the Stockholm School Survey performed in 2016 among ninth grade students (ages 15-16 years) ( n = 5144). Future orientation and involvement in school bullying and in cyberbullying were based on self-reports. The statistical method used was binary logistic regression. The results demonstrated that victims and bully-victims of school bullying and of cyberbullying were more likely to report a pessimistic future orientation compared with students not involved in bullying. These associations were shown also when involvement in school bullying and cyberbullying were mutually adjusted. The findings underline the importance of anti-bullying measures that target both school bullying and cyberbullying.

  18. Trajectory Orientation: A Technology-Enabled Concept Requiring a Shift in Controller Roles and Responsibilities

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Leiden, Ken; Green, Steven

    2000-01-01

    The development of a decision support tool (DST) for the en-route domain with accurate conflict prediction time horizons of 20 minutes has introduced an interesting problem. A 20 minute time horizon for conflict prediction often results in the predicted conflict occurring one or more sectors downstream from the sector controller who "owns" (i-e., is responsible for the safe separation of aircraft) one or both of the aircraft in the conflict pair. Based on current roles and responsibilities of today's en route controllers, the upstream controller would not resolve this conflict. In most cases, the downstream controller would wait until the conflicting aircraft entered higher sector before resolving the conflict. This results in a delay of several minutes from the time when the conflict was initially predicted. This delay is inefficient from both a controller workload and user's cost of operations perspective. Trajectory orientation, a new concept for facilitating an efficient, conflict-free flight path across several sectors while conforming to metering or miles-in-trail spacing, is proposed as an alternative to today's sector-oriented method. This concept necessitates a fundamental shift in thinking about inter-sector coordination. Instead of operating independently, with the main focus on protecting their internal airspace, controllers would work cooperatively, depending on each other for well-planned, conflict-free flow of aircraft. To support the trajectory orientation concept, a long time horizon (15 to 20 minutes) for conflict prediction and resolution would most likely be a primary requirement. In addition, new tools, such as controller-pilot data link will be identified to determine their necessity and applicability for trajectory orientation. Finally, with significant controller participation from selected Air Route Traffic Control Centers, potential shifts in R-side/D-side roles and responsibilities as well as the creation of a new controller position for

  19. Bright Lights and Questions: Using Mutual Interrogation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adam, Aishikin; Alangui, Willy; Barton, Bill

    2010-01-01

    Mutual Interrogation is a research methodology for ethnomathematics proposed by Alangui in 2006 in an attempt to avoid the potential inequality set up when a restricted cultural practice is viewed through the lens of the near-universal and highly developed research domain of mathematics. Using three significant examples of mutual interrogation in…

  20. Covalent capture of oriented calix[6]arene rotaxanes by a metal-free active template approach.

    PubMed

    Orlandini, Guido; Ragazzon, Giulio; Zanichelli, Valeria; Secchi, Andrea; Silvi, Serena; Venturi, Margherita; Arduini, Arturo; Credi, Alberto

    2017-06-01

    We describe the active template effect of a calix[6]arene host towards the alkylation of a complexed pyridylpyridinium guest. The acceleration of the reaction within the cavity is significant and rim-selective, enabling the efficient preparation of rotaxanes with full control of the mutual orientation of their nonsymmetric components.

  1. Mutual proximity graphs for improved reachability in music recommendation

    PubMed Central

    Flexer, Arthur; Stevens, Jeff

    2018-01-01

    This paper is concerned with the impact of hubness, a general problem of machine learning in high-dimensional spaces, on a real-world music recommendation system based on visualisation of a k-nearest neighbour (knn) graph. Due to a problem of measuring distances in high dimensions, hub objects are recommended over and over again while anti-hubs are nonexistent in recommendation lists, resulting in poor reachability of the music catalogue. We present mutual proximity graphs, which are an alternative to knn and mutual knn graphs, and are able to avoid hub vertices having abnormally high connectivity. We show that mutual proximity graphs yield much better graph connectivity resulting in improved reachability compared to knn graphs, mutual knn graphs and mutual knn graphs enhanced with minimum spanning trees, while simultaneously reducing the negative effects of hubness. PMID:29348779

  2. 26 CFR 1.831-3 - Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, mutual...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... premium deposits not required for losses, expenses or reserves is returned or credited to the policyholder..., and mutual fire or flood insurance companies operating on the basis of premium deposits; taxable years... operating on the basis of premium deposits; taxable years beginning after December 31, 1962. (a) All...

  3. Fault orientations in extensional and conjugate strike-slip environments and their implications

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Thatcher, W.; Hill, D.P.

    1991-01-01

    Seismically active conjugate strike-slip faults in California and Japan typically have mutually orthogonal right- and left-lateral fault planes. Normal-fault dips at earthquake nucleation depths are concentrated between 40?? and 50??. The observed orientations and their strong clustering are surprising, because conventional faulting theory suggests fault initiation with conjugate 60?? and 120?? intersecting planes and 60?? normal-fault dip or fault reactivation with a broad range of permitted orientations. The observations place new constraints on the mechanics of fault initiation, rotation, and evolutionary development. We speculate that the data could be explained by fault rotation into the observed orientations and deactivation for greater rotation or by formation of localized shear zones beneath the brittle-ductile transition in Earth's crust. Initiation as weak frictional faults seems unlikely. -Authors

  4. An ant-plant mutualism through the lens of cGMP-dependent kinase genes.

    PubMed

    Malé, Pierre-Jean G; Turner, Kyle M; Doha, Manjima; Anreiter, Ina; Allen, Aaron M; Sokolowski, Marla B; Frederickson, Megan E

    2017-09-13

    In plant-animal mutualisms, how an animal forages often determines how much benefit its plant partner receives. In many animals, foraging behaviour changes in response to foraging gene expression or activation of the cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) that foraging encodes. Here, we show that this highly conserved molecular mechanism affects the outcome of a plant-animal mutualism. We studied the two PKG genes of Allomerus octoarticulatus, an Amazonian ant that defends the ant-plant Cordia nodosa against herbivores. Some ant colonies are better 'bodyguards' than others. Working in the field in Peru, we found that colonies fed with a PKG activator recruited more workers to attack herbivores than control colonies. This resulted in less herbivore damage. PKG gene expression in ant workers correlated with whether an ant colony discovered an herbivore and how much damage herbivores inflicted on leaves in a complex way; natural variation in expression levels of the two genes had significant interaction effects on ant behaviour and herbivory. Our results suggest a molecular basis for ant protection of plants in this mutualism. © 2017 The Author(s).

  5. Multimodal registration via spatial-context mutual information.

    PubMed

    Yi, Zhao; Soatto, Stefano

    2011-01-01

    We propose a method to efficiently compute mutual information between high-dimensional distributions of image patches. This in turn is used to perform accurate registration of images captured under different modalities, while exploiting their local structure otherwise missed in traditional mutual information definition. We achieve this by organizing the space of image patches into orbits under the action of Euclidean transformations of the image plane, and estimating the modes of a distribution in such an orbit space using affinity propagation. This way, large collections of patches that are equivalent up to translations and rotations are mapped to the same representative, or "dictionary element". We then show analytically that computing mutual information for a joint distribution in this space reduces to computing mutual information between the (scalar) label maps, and between the transformations mapping each patch into its closest dictionary element. We show that our approach improves registration performance compared with the state of the art in multimodal registration, using both synthetic and real images with quantitative ground truth.

  6. 31 CFR 1024.320 - Reports by mutual funds of suspicious transactions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Reports by mutual funds of suspicious... (Continued) FINANCIAL CRIMES ENFORCEMENT NETWORK, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY RULES FOR MUTUAL FUNDS Reports Required To Be Made By Mutual Funds § 1024.320 Reports by mutual funds of suspicious transactions. (a...

  7. Contrasting motivational orientation and evaluative coding accounts: on the need to differentiate the effectors of approach/avoidance responses.

    PubMed

    Kozlik, Julia; Neumann, Roland; Lozo, Ljubica

    2015-01-01

    Several emotion theorists suggest that valenced stimuli automatically trigger motivational orientations and thereby facilitate corresponding behavior. Positive stimuli were thought to activate approach motivational circuits which in turn primed approach-related behavioral tendencies whereas negative stimuli were supposed to activate avoidance motivational circuits so that avoidance-related behavioral tendencies were primed (motivational orientation account). However, recent research suggests that typically observed affective stimulus-response compatibility phenomena might be entirely explained in terms of theories accounting for mechanisms of general action control instead of assuming motivational orientations to mediate the effects (evaluative coding account). In what follows, we explore to what extent this notion is applicable. We present literature suggesting that evaluative coding mechanisms indeed influence a wide variety of affective stimulus-response compatibility phenomena. However, the evaluative coding account does not seem to be sufficient to explain affective S-R compatibility effects. Instead, several studies provide clear evidence in favor of the motivational orientation account that seems to operate independently of evaluative coding mechanisms. Implications for theoretical developments and future research designs are discussed.

  8. Contrasting motivational orientation and evaluative coding accounts: on the need to differentiate the effectors of approach/avoidance responses

    PubMed Central

    Kozlik, Julia; Neumann, Roland; Lozo, Ljubica

    2015-01-01

    Several emotion theorists suggest that valenced stimuli automatically trigger motivational orientations and thereby facilitate corresponding behavior. Positive stimuli were thought to activate approach motivational circuits which in turn primed approach-related behavioral tendencies whereas negative stimuli were supposed to activate avoidance motivational circuits so that avoidance-related behavioral tendencies were primed (motivational orientation account). However, recent research suggests that typically observed affective stimulus–response compatibility phenomena might be entirely explained in terms of theories accounting for mechanisms of general action control instead of assuming motivational orientations to mediate the effects (evaluative coding account). In what follows, we explore to what extent this notion is applicable. We present literature suggesting that evaluative coding mechanisms indeed influence a wide variety of affective stimulus–response compatibility phenomena. However, the evaluative coding account does not seem to be sufficient to explain affective S–R compatibility effects. Instead, several studies provide clear evidence in favor of the motivational orientation account that seems to operate independently of evaluative coding mechanisms. Implications for theoretical developments and future research designs are discussed. PMID:25983718

  9. Sublethal exposure to methoxyfenozide-treated surfaces reduces the attractiveness and responsiveness in adult oriental fruit moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).

    PubMed

    Reinke, Michael D; Barrett, Bruce A

    2007-02-01

    The chemical communication (female attractiveness and male responsiveness) of adult oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), exposed to surfaces treated with the ecdysteroid agonist methoxyfenozide for 48 h were investigated in two laboratory wind tunnel assays. The recapture assay examined the ability of treated males to orient to a single cage of treated females, and the data gathered were mean percentage of males recaptured per treatment. The male sexual behavior assay examined some specific orientation behaviors (associated with sexual excitability) of treated males when they were given a choice of two competing pheromone sources (cages of treated females), and the data gathered were mean time males spent in upwind plume orientations and at source contact (female cage) per treatment. Data from the recapture assay suggests that exposure to methoxyfenozide impacts male responsiveness more than female attractiveness. In contrast, data from the sexual behavior assay strongly revealed that exposure to methoxyfenozide-treated surfaces does negatively impact both the ability of calling females to attract males and of aroused males to display sustained upwind flight behavior and time spent at the female cages.

  10. Mutual information against correlations in binary communication channels.

    PubMed

    Pregowska, Agnieszka; Szczepanski, Janusz; Wajnryb, Eligiusz

    2015-05-19

    Explaining how the brain processing is so fast remains an open problem (van Hemmen JL, Sejnowski T., 2004). Thus, the analysis of neural transmission (Shannon CE, Weaver W., 1963) processes basically focuses on searching for effective encoding and decoding schemes. According to the Shannon fundamental theorem, mutual information plays a crucial role in characterizing the efficiency of communication channels. It is well known that this efficiency is determined by the channel capacity that is already the maximal mutual information between input and output signals. On the other hand, intuitively speaking, when input and output signals are more correlated, the transmission should be more efficient. A natural question arises about the relation between mutual information and correlation. We analyze the relation between these quantities using the binary representation of signals, which is the most common approach taken in studying neuronal processes of the brain. We present binary communication channels for which mutual information and correlation coefficients behave differently both quantitatively and qualitatively. Despite this difference in behavior, we show that the noncorrelation of binary signals implies their independence, in contrast to the case for general types of signals. Our research shows that the mutual information cannot be replaced by sheer correlations. Our results indicate that neuronal encoding has more complicated nature which cannot be captured by straightforward correlations between input and output signals once the mutual information takes into account the structure and patterns of the signals.

  11. Goal orientation profile differences on perceived motivational climate, perceived peer relationships, and motivation-related responses of youth athletes.

    PubMed

    Smith, Alan L; Balaguer, Isabel; Duda, Joan L

    2006-12-01

    The aims of this study were twofold: (a) to determine if dispositional achievement goal orientation profiles that are reported in the literature would be observed in a sample of youth athletes, and (b) to examine potential achievement goal orientation profile differences on perceptions of the motivational climate, perceptions of peer relationships, and motivation-related responses. Male soccer players (n=223) aged 9-12 years (mean=10.9, s=0.6) completed a multi-section questionnaire containing assessments of dispositional goal (task, ego) orientations, the perceived task- and ego-involving features of the motivational climate, perceived peer acceptance and friendship quality (positive friendship quality, conflict), perceived ability, soccer enjoyment, and satisfaction with one's performance and the team. Four profiles were observed that closely matched those observed by Hodge and Petlichkoff (2000), though in the present study a lower proportion of participants exhibited achievement goal profiles consisting of relatively high ego orientation. Achievement goal profile differences were found for all variables except positive friendship quality, with a general trend for those reporting relatively lower task goal orientation to exhibit less adaptive responses. Overall, the findings support achievement goal frameworks (e.g. Nicholls, 1989) and suggest that further examination of dispositional achievement goals may afford a deeper understanding of social relationships and motivational processes in youth sport.

  12. 31 CFR 1024.220 - Customer identification programs for mutual funds.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... mutual funds. 1024.220 Section 1024.220 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and... FUNDS Programs § 1024.220 Customer identification programs for mutual funds. (a) Customer identification program: minimum requirements—(1) In general. A mutual fund must implement a written Customer...

  13. Patient Safety Culture in Mutual Insurance Companies in Spain.

    PubMed

    Manzanera, Rafael; Mira, José Joaquín; Plana, Manel; Moya, Daniel; Guilabert, Mercedes; Ortner, Jordi

    2017-02-22

    The aim of the study was to assess the safety culture in a mutual insurance sector, searching for improvement opportunities. This sector offers health insurance for work-related injuries and occupational illnesses and represents an annual volume of patients corresponding to approximately 10% of the working population in Europe. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the safety culture in the mutual insurance sector in Spain. All physicians, nurses, and physiotherapists (N = 816) working in the organization in hospitals, outpatient clinics, and managerial settings were invited to reply to an online survey. A total of 499 professionals completed the questionnaire (response rate, 61%). Two dimensions were assessed: attitudinal (5 items) and instrumental (5 items). There were no differences between professional profiles or centers in the attitudinal (7.8; standard deviation, 1.3; 95% confidence interval, 7.6-7.9) or instrumental (8.5; standard deviation, 1.0; 95% confidence interval, 8.5-8.6) factors. The lowest level of implementation (<9 points) was related to the following: open disclosure after an adverse event (73%), having a quality and safety plan (75%), prioritizing the improvement of patient care (75%), and involving patients when making decisions on potential treatments (63%). Managers showed lower scores than the rest of professionals' groups (P < 0.05). This intent is to introduce a patient safety culture assessment in the mutual insurance companies. These results may encourage the implementation of quality and safety plans in this sector by paying more attention to attitudinal aspects.

  14. Freedom and imperative: mutual care between older spouses with physical disabilities.

    PubMed

    Torgé, Cristina Joy

    2014-05-01

    This article explores mutual caregiving between older spouses aging with physical disabilities. Nine older couples, where both partners had lived long lives with physical disabilities, were interviewed as dyads about mutual caregiving. The couples not only had access to different kinds and degrees of formal support but also provided mutual care to each other in a variety of ways. Interview coding using grounded theory led to two overarching categories from which motivation for mutual caregiving could be understood. These categories were Mutual care as freedom and Mutual care as imperative. The results extend understanding about how older couples with disabilities attached meaning to their mutual caregiving, and why mutual care was sometimes preferable, despite the availability of other sources of help and despite practical difficulties of providing this help. These findings suggest that health care professionals need to be sensitive to the dynamics of the couple relationship and carefully explore the couple's preferences for how formal support can best be provided in ways that honor and sustain the integrity of the couple relationship.

  15. 77 FR 48566 - The Hartford Mutual Funds, Inc., et al.;

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-14

    ...] The Hartford Mutual Funds, Inc., et al.; Notice of Application August 8, 2012. AGENCY: Securities and... to invest in certain financial instruments. Applicants: The Hartford Mutual Funds, Inc., The Hartford Mutual Funds II, Inc., Hartford Series Fund, Inc., Hartford HLS Series Fund II, Inc., Hartford Variable...

  16. Mutual information and spontaneous symmetry breaking

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamma, A.; Giampaolo, S. M.; Illuminati, F.

    2016-01-01

    We show that the metastable, symmetry-breaking ground states of quantum many-body Hamiltonians have vanishing quantum mutual information between macroscopically separated regions and are thus the most classical ones among all possible quantum ground states. This statement is obvious only when the symmetry-breaking ground states are simple product states, e.g., at the factorization point. On the other hand, symmetry-breaking states are in general entangled along the entire ordered phase, and to show that they actually feature the least macroscopic correlations compared to their symmetric superpositions is highly nontrivial. We prove this result in general, by considering the quantum mutual information based on the two-Rényi entanglement entropy and using a locality result stemming from quasiadiabatic continuation. Moreover, in the paradigmatic case of the exactly solvable one-dimensional quantum X Y model, we further verify the general result by considering also the quantum mutual information based on the von Neumann entanglement entropy.

  17. 76 FR 35084 - Mutual to Stock Conversion Application

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-06-15

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Thrift Supervision Mutual to Stock Conversion Application... invite comments on the following information collection. Title of Proposal: Mutual to Stock Conversion... and soundness of the proposed stock conversion. The purpose of the information collection is to...

  18. 24 CFR 203.420 - Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. 203.420 Section 203.420 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban... and Distributive Shares § 203.420 Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. The Mutual Mortgage...

  19. 24 CFR 203.420 - Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. 203.420 Section 203.420 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban... and Distributive Shares § 203.420 Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. The Mutual Mortgage...

  20. 24 CFR 203.420 - Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. 203.420 Section 203.420 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban... and Distributive Shares § 203.420 Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. The Mutual Mortgage...

  1. 24 CFR 203.420 - Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. 203.420 Section 203.420 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban... and Distributive Shares § 203.420 Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. The Mutual Mortgage...

  2. 24 CFR 203.420 - Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. 203.420 Section 203.420 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban... and Distributive Shares § 203.420 Nature of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. The Mutual Mortgage...

  3. Modelling nutritional mutualisms: challenges and opportunities for data integration.

    PubMed

    Clark, Teresa J; Friel, Colleen A; Grman, Emily; Shachar-Hill, Yair; Friesen, Maren L

    2017-09-01

    Nutritional mutualisms are ancient, widespread, and profoundly influential in biological communities and ecosystems. Although much is known about these interactions, comprehensive answers to fundamental questions, such as how resource availability and structured interactions influence mutualism persistence, are still lacking. Mathematical modelling of nutritional mutualisms has great potential to facilitate the search for comprehensive answers to these and other fundamental questions by connecting the physiological and genomic underpinnings of mutualisms with ecological and evolutionary processes. In particular, when integrated with empirical data, models enable understanding of underlying mechanisms and generalisation of principles beyond the particulars of a given system. Here, we demonstrate how mathematical models can be integrated with data to address questions of mutualism persistence at four biological scales: cell, individual, population, and community. We highlight select studies where data has been or could be integrated with models to either inform model structure or test model predictions. We also point out opportunities to increase model rigour through tighter integration with data, and describe areas in which data is urgently needed. We focus on plant-microbe systems, for which a wealth of empirical data is available, but the principles and approaches can be generally applied to any nutritional mutualism. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  4. 76 FR 20459 - Mutual to Stock Conversion Application

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-04-12

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Thrift Supervision Mutual to Stock Conversion Application... collection. Title of Proposal: Mutual to Stock Conversion Application. OMB Number: 1550-0014. Form Numbers... furnished in the application in order to determine the safety and soundness of the proposed stock conversion...

  5. Orientation selective deep brain stimulation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lehto, Lauri J.; Slopsema, Julia P.; Johnson, Matthew D.; Shatillo, Artem; Teplitzky, Benjamin A.; Utecht, Lynn; Adriany, Gregor; Mangia, Silvia; Sierra, Alejandra; Low, Walter C.; Gröhn, Olli; Michaeli, Shalom

    2017-02-01

    Objective. Target selectivity of deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy is critical, as the precise locus and pattern of the stimulation dictates the degree to which desired treatment responses are achieved and adverse side effects are avoided. There is a clear clinical need to improve DBS technology beyond currently available stimulation steering and shaping approaches. We introduce orientation selective neural stimulation as a concept to increase the specificity of target selection in DBS. Approach. This concept, which involves orienting the electric field along an axonal pathway, was tested in the corpus callosum of the rat brain by freely controlling the direction of the electric field on a plane using a three-electrode bundle, and monitoring the response of the neurons using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Computational models were developed to further analyze axonal excitability for varied electric field orientation. Main results. Our results demonstrated that the strongest fMRI response was observed when the electric field was oriented parallel to the axons, while almost no response was detected with the perpendicular orientation of the electric field relative to the primary fiber tract. These results were confirmed by computational models of the experimental paradigm quantifying the activation of radially distributed axons while varying the primary direction of the electric field. Significance. The described strategies identify a new course for selective neuromodulation paradigms in DBS based on axonal fiber orientation.

  6. Reconnection Dynamics and Mutual Friction in Quantum Turbulence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Laurie, Jason; Baggaley, Andrew W.

    2015-07-01

    We investigate the behaviour of the mutual friction force in finite temperature quantum turbulence in He, paying particular attention to the role of quantized vortex reconnections. Through the use of the vortex filament model, we produce three experimentally relevant types of vortex tangles in steady-state conditions, and examine through statistical analysis, how local properties of the tangle influence the mutual friction force. Finally, by monitoring reconnection events, we present evidence to indicate that vortex reconnections are the dominant mechanism for producing areas of high curvature and velocity leading to regions of high mutual friction, particularly for homogeneous and isotropic vortex tangles.

  7. Limiting the cost of mutualism: the defensive role of elongated gynophore in the leafflower-moth mutualism.

    PubMed

    Furukawa, Saori; Kawakita, Atsushi

    2017-08-01

    Mutualisms are interactions from which both partners benefit but may collapse if mutualists' costs and benefits are not aligned. Host sanctions are one mechanism whereby hosts selectively allocate resources to the more cooperative partners and thereby reduce the fitness of overexploiters; however, many mutualisms lack apparent means of host sanctions. In mutualisms between plants and pollinating seed parasites, such as those between leafflowers and leafflower moths, pollinators consume subsets of the seeds as larval food in return for their pollination service. Plants may select against overexploiters by selectively aborting flowers with a heavy egg load, but in many leafflower species, seeds are fully eaten in some fruits, suggesting that such a mechanism is not present in all species. Instead, the fruits of Breynia vitis-idaea have stalk-like structures (gynophore) through which early-instar moth larvae must bore to reach seeds. Examination of moth mortality in fruits with different gynophore lengths suggested that fruits with longer gynophore had higher moth mortality and, therefore, less seed damage. Most moth mortality occurred at the egg stage or as early larval instar before moths reached the seeds, consistent with the view that gynophore functions to prevent moth access to seeds. Gynophore length was unaffected by plant size, extent of moth oviposition, or geography; thus, it is most likely genetically controlled. Because gynophores do not elongate in related species whose pollinators oviposit directly into the ovary, the gynophore in B. vitis-idaea may have evolved as a defense to limit the cost of the mutualism.

  8. Hierarchical clustering using mutual information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kraskov, A.; Stögbauer, H.; Andrzejak, R. G.; Grassberger, P.

    2005-04-01

    We present a conceptually simple method for hierarchical clustering of data called mutual information clustering (MIC) algorithm. It uses mutual information (MI) as a similarity measure and exploits its grouping property: The MI between three objects X, Y, and Z is equal to the sum of the MI between X and Y, plus the MI between Z and the combined object (XY). We use this both in the Shannon (probabilistic) version of information theory and in the Kolmogorov (algorithmic) version. We apply our method to the construction of phylogenetic trees from mitochondrial DNA sequences and to the output of independent components analysis (ICA) as illustrated with the ECG of a pregnant woman.

  9. 12 CFR 333.4 - Conversions from mutual to stock form.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Conversions from mutual to stock form. 333.4... GENERAL POLICY EXTENSION OF CORPORATE POWERS Regulations § 333.4 Conversions from mutual to stock form. (a) Scope. This section applies to the conversion of insured mutual state savings banks to the stock form of...

  10. Impact of Mutual Mentoring on Research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Whitten, Barbara; Blaha, Cynthia; Bug, Amy; Cox, Anne; Fritz, Linda

    2011-03-01

    In this talk we discuss one of the impacts of an NSF ADVANCE sponsored horizontal, mutual mentoring alliance. Our cohort of five women physicists at liberal arts colleges has found that mutual mentoring has had a profound impact on many aspects of our professional lives. In this talk we will give some specific ways that we have supported and helped to expand each other's research. For some new areas of research were opened, for others new focus was brought to existing areas, and still others found acceptance for where they were.

  11. Future Orientation among Students Exposed to School Bullying and Cyberbullying Victimization

    PubMed Central

    Låftman, Sara B.; Alm, Susanne; Sandahl, Julia; Modin, Bitte

    2018-01-01

    Future orientation can be defined as an individual’s thoughts, beliefs, plans, and hopes for the future. Earlier research has shown adolescents’ future orientation to predict outcomes later in life, which makes it relevant to analyze differences in future orientation among youth. The aim of the present study was to analyze if bullying victimization was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting a pessimistic future orientation among school youth. To be able to distinguish between victims and bully-victims (i.e., students who are both bullies and victims), we also took perpetration into account. The data were derived from the Stockholm School Survey performed in 2016 among ninth grade students (ages 15–16 years) (n = 5144). Future orientation and involvement in school bullying and in cyberbullying were based on self-reports. The statistical method used was binary logistic regression. The results demonstrated that victims and bully-victims of school bullying and of cyberbullying were more likely to report a pessimistic future orientation compared with students not involved in bullying. These associations were shown also when involvement in school bullying and cyberbullying were mutually adjusted. The findings underline the importance of anti-bullying measures that target both school bullying and cyberbullying. PMID:29584631

  12. The Development of Mutuality in Natural Small Groups.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baker, Paul Morgan

    1983-01-01

    Describes factors affecting the development of mutuality of attraction in natural small groups, and tests the hypothesis of the acquaintance process in 41 female residents of three floors of a university dormitory over the course of a year. Two floors showed definite increases in dyadic mutuality over time. (JAC)

  13. 24 CFR 203.422 - Right and liability under Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... Mortgage Insurance Fund and Distributive Shares § 203.422 Right and liability under Mutual Mortgage... to any liability arising under the mutuality of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Right and liability under Mutual...

  14. 24 CFR 203.422 - Right and liability under Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... Mortgage Insurance Fund and Distributive Shares § 203.422 Right and liability under Mutual Mortgage... to any liability arising under the mutuality of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Right and liability under Mutual...

  15. Anisotropic Negative Thermal Expansion Behavior of the As-Fabricated Ti-Rich and Equiatomic Ti-Ni Alloys Induced by Preferential Grain Orientation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Zhong-Xun; Ma, Xiao; Cao, Shan-Shan; Ke, Chang-Bo; Zhang, Xin-Ping

    2017-12-01

    The present study focuses on the anisotropic negative thermal expansion (NTE) behaviors of Ti-rich (Ti54Ni46) and equiatomic Ti-Ni (Ti50Ni50) alloys fabricated by vacuum arc melting and without subsequent plastic deformation. Both alloys exhibit NTE responses in vertical and horizontal directions, and the total strains and CTEs of the NTE stage along the two mutually perpendicular measuring directions are obviously different, indicating obvious anisotropic NTE behavior of the alloys. Besides, the numerical differences between the starting temperature of NTE and austenitic transformation and between the finishing temperature of NTE and austenitic transformation are very small, which indicates that an apparent relationship exists between the NTE behavior and the phase transformation. The microstructure in the vertical cross sections shows obviously preferential orientation characteristics: Ti2Ni phases of both alloys grow along the vertical direction, and B19' martensite of Ti50Ni50 alloy has distinct preferential orientation, which results from a large temperature gradient between the top and the bottom of the button ingots during solidification. The microstructure with preferential orientation induces the anisotropic NTE behavior of the samples.

  16. Anisotropic Negative Thermal Expansion Behavior of the As-Fabricated Ti-Rich and Equiatomic Ti-Ni Alloys Induced by Preferential Grain Orientation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Zhong-Xun; Ma, Xiao; Cao, Shan-Shan; Ke, Chang-Bo; Zhang, Xin-Ping

    2018-03-01

    The present study focuses on the anisotropic negative thermal expansion (NTE) behaviors of Ti-rich (Ti54Ni46) and equiatomic Ti-Ni (Ti50Ni50) alloys fabricated by vacuum arc melting and without subsequent plastic deformation. Both alloys exhibit NTE responses in vertical and horizontal directions, and the total strains and CTEs of the NTE stage along the two mutually perpendicular measuring directions are obviously different, indicating obvious anisotropic NTE behavior of the alloys. Besides, the numerical differences between the starting temperature of NTE and austenitic transformation and between the finishing temperature of NTE and austenitic transformation are very small, which indicates that an apparent relationship exists between the NTE behavior and the phase transformation. The microstructure in the vertical cross sections shows obviously preferential orientation characteristics: Ti2Ni phases of both alloys grow along the vertical direction, and B19' martensite of Ti50Ni50 alloy has distinct preferential orientation, which results from a large temperature gradient between the top and the bottom of the button ingots during solidification. The microstructure with preferential orientation induces the anisotropic NTE behavior of the samples.

  17. Mutual Intelligibility between Closely Related Languages in Europe

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gooskens, Charlotte; van Heuven, Vincent J.; Golubovic, Jelena; Schüppert, Anja; Swarte, Femke; Voigt, Stefanie

    2018-01-01

    By means of a large-scale web-based investigation, we established the degree of mutual intelligibility of 16 closely related spoken languages within the Germanic, Slavic and Romance language families in Europe. We first present the results of a selection of 1833 listeners representing the mutual intelligibility between young, educated Europeans…

  18. Equitability, mutual information, and the maximal information coefficient.

    PubMed

    Kinney, Justin B; Atwal, Gurinder S

    2014-03-04

    How should one quantify the strength of association between two random variables without bias for relationships of a specific form? Despite its conceptual simplicity, this notion of statistical "equitability" has yet to receive a definitive mathematical formalization. Here we argue that equitability is properly formalized by a self-consistency condition closely related to Data Processing Inequality. Mutual information, a fundamental quantity in information theory, is shown to satisfy this equitability criterion. These findings are at odds with the recent work of Reshef et al. [Reshef DN, et al. (2011) Science 334(6062):1518-1524], which proposed an alternative definition of equitability and introduced a new statistic, the "maximal information coefficient" (MIC), said to satisfy equitability in contradistinction to mutual information. These conclusions, however, were supported only with limited simulation evidence, not with mathematical arguments. Upon revisiting these claims, we prove that the mathematical definition of equitability proposed by Reshef et al. cannot be satisfied by any (nontrivial) dependence measure. We also identify artifacts in the reported simulation evidence. When these artifacts are removed, estimates of mutual information are found to be more equitable than estimates of MIC. Mutual information is also observed to have consistently higher statistical power than MIC. We conclude that estimating mutual information provides a natural (and often practical) way to equitably quantify statistical associations in large datasets.

  19. Evolutionary origin of insect–Wolbachia nutritional mutualism

    PubMed Central

    Nikoh, Naruo; Hosokawa, Takahiro; Moriyama, Minoru; Oshima, Kenshiro; Hattori, Masahira; Fukatsu, Takema

    2014-01-01

    Obligate insect–bacterium nutritional mutualism is among the most sophisticated forms of symbiosis, wherein the host and the symbiont are integrated into a coherent biological entity and unable to survive without the partnership. Originally, however, such obligate symbiotic bacteria must have been derived from free-living bacteria. How highly specialized obligate mutualisms have arisen from less specialized associations is of interest. Here we address this evolutionary issue by focusing on an exceptional insect–Wolbachia nutritional mutualism. Although Wolbachia endosymbionts are ubiquitously found in diverse insects and generally regarded as facultative/parasitic associates for their insect hosts, a Wolbachia strain associated with the bedbug Cimex lectularius, designated as wCle, was shown to be essential for host’s growth and reproduction via provisioning of B vitamins. We determined the 1,250,060-bp genome of wCle, which was generally similar to the genomes of insect-associated facultative Wolbachia strains, except for the presence of an operon encoding the complete biotin synthetic pathway that was acquired via lateral gene transfer presumably from a coinfecting endosymbiont Cardinium or Rickettsia. Nutritional and physiological experiments, in which wCle-infected and wCle-cured bedbugs of the same genetic background were fed on B-vitamin–manipulated blood meals via an artificial feeding system, demonstrated that wCle certainly synthesizes biotin, and the wCle-provisioned biotin significantly contributes to the host fitness. These findings strongly suggest that acquisition of a single gene cluster consisting of biotin synthesis genes underlies the bedbug–Wolbachia nutritional mutualism, uncovering an evolutionary transition from facultative symbiosis to obligate mutualism facilitated by lateral gene transfer in an endosymbiont lineage. PMID:24982177

  20. Public-channel cryptography based on mutual chaos pass filters.

    PubMed

    Klein, Einat; Gross, Noam; Kopelowitz, Evi; Rosenbluh, Michael; Khaykovich, Lev; Kinzel, Wolfgang; Kanter, Ido

    2006-10-01

    We study the mutual coupling of chaotic lasers and observe both experimentally and in numeric simulations that there exists a regime of parameters for which two mutually coupled chaotic lasers establish isochronal synchronization, while a third laser coupled unidirectionally to one of the pair does not synchronize. We then propose a cryptographic scheme, based on the advantage of mutual coupling over unidirectional coupling, where all the parameters of the system are public knowledge. We numerically demonstrate that in such a scheme the two communicating lasers can add a message signal (compressed binary message) to the transmitted coupling signal and recover the message in both directions with high fidelity by using a mutual chaos pass filter procedure. An attacker, however, fails to recover an errorless message even if he amplifies the coupling signal.

  1. Thermal and physiologic responses to 1200-MHz radiofrequency radiation: Differences between exposure in E and H orientation

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

    Jauchem, J.R.; Frei, M.R.; Padilla, J.M.

    1990-09-01

    Ketamine-anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to far-field 1200-MHz continuous wave radiofrequency radiation in both E and H orientations (long axis of animal parallel to electric or magnetic field, respectively). Power densities were used that resulted in equivalent whole-body specific absorption rates of approximately 8 W/kg in both orientations (20 mW/cm{sup 2} for E and 45 mW/cm{sup 2} for H). Exposure was conducted to repeatedly increase colonic temperature from 38.5 to 39.5{degrees}C in both orientations in the same animal. Irradiation in E orientation resulted in greater colonic, tympanic, left subcutaneous (side toward antenna), and tail heating. The results indicated a moremore » uniform distribution of heat than that which occurred in previous experiments of 2450-MHz irradiation in E and H orientation. A lack of significant differences in blood pressure and heart rate responses between exposures in the two orientations in this study suggest that greater peripheral heating, as was seen in the earlier study of 2450 MHz, is necessary for these differences to occur.« less

  2. Weber-aware weighted mutual information evaluation for infrared-visible image fusion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Luo, Xiaoyan; Wang, Shining; Yuan, Ding

    2016-10-01

    A performance metric for infrared and visible image fusion is proposed based on Weber's law. To indicate the stimulus of source images, two Weber components are provided. One is differential excitation to reflect the spectral signal of visible and infrared images, and the other is orientation to capture the scene structure feature. By comparing the corresponding Weber component in infrared and visible images, the source pixels can be marked with different dominant properties in intensity or structure. If the pixels have the same dominant property label, the pixels are grouped to calculate the mutual information (MI) on the corresponding Weber components between dominant source and fused images. Then, the final fusion metric is obtained via weighting the group-wise MI values according to the number of pixels in different groups. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed metric performs well on popular image fusion cases and outperforms other image fusion metrics.

  3. Holographic mutual information of two disjoint spheres

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Bin; Fan, Zhong-Ying; Li, Wen-Ming; Zhang, Cheng-Yong

    2018-04-01

    We study quantum corrections to holographic mutual information for two disjoint spheres at a large separation by using the operator product expansion of the twist field. In the large separation limit, the holographic mutual information is vanishing at the semiclassical order, but receive quantum corrections from the fluctuations. We show that the leading contributions from the quantum fluctuations take universal forms as suggested from the boundary CFT. We find the universal behavior for the scalar, the vector, the tensor and the fermionic fields by treating these fields as free fields propagating in the fixed background and by using the 1 /n prescription. In particular, for the fields with gauge symmetries, including the massless vector boson and massless graviton, we find that the gauge parts in the propagators play an indispensable role in reading the leading order corrections to the bulk mutual information.

  4. Analysis of high-frequency oscillations in mutually-coupled nano-lasers.

    PubMed

    Han, Hong; Shore, K Alan

    2018-04-16

    The dynamics of mutually coupled nano-lasers has been analyzed using rate equations which include the Purcell cavity-enhanced spontaneous emission factor F and the spontaneous emission coupling factor β. It is shown that in the mutually-coupled system, small-amplitude oscillations with frequencies of order 100 GHz are generated and are maintained with remarkable stability. The appearance of such high-frequency oscillations is associated with the effective reduction of the carrier lifetime for larger values of the Purcell factor, F, and spontaneous coupling factor, β. In mutually-coupled nano-lasers the oscillation frequency changes linearly with the frequency detuning between the lasers. For non-identical bias currents, the oscillation frequency of mutually-coupled nano-lasers also increases with bias current. The stability of the oscillations which appear in mutually coupled nano-lasers offers opportunities for their practical applications and notably in photonic integrated circuits.

  5. 78 FR 53175 - The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, et al.;

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-08-28

    ...] The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, et al.; Notice of Application Agency: Securities and... the Act from Section 17(a) of the Act. Applicants: The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company (the... Account B, the ``Annuity Accounts'') and Northwestern Mutual Variable Life Account (``VL Account'') and...

  6. 12 CFR 543.9 - Application for conversion to Federal mutual charter.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Application for conversion to Federal mutual... FEDERAL MUTUAL SAVINGS ASSOCIATIONS-INCORPORATION, ORGANIZATION, AND CONVERSION Conversion § 543.9 Application for conversion to Federal mutual charter. (a)(1) Filing. Any depository institution that proposes...

  7. 12 CFR 543.9 - Application for conversion to Federal mutual charter.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Application for conversion to Federal mutual... FEDERAL MUTUAL SAVINGS ASSOCIATIONS-INCORPORATION, ORGANIZATION, AND CONVERSION Conversion § 543.9 Application for conversion to Federal mutual charter. (a)(1) Filing. Any depository institution that proposes...

  8. Evolutionary dynamics of fluctuating populations with strong mutualism

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chotibut, Thiparat; Nelson, David

    2013-03-01

    Evolutionary game theory with finite interacting populations is receiving increased attention, including subtle phenomena associated with number fluctuations, i.e., ``genetic drift.'' Models of cooperation and competition often utilize a simplified Moran model, with a strictly fixed total population size. We explore a more general evolutionary model with independent fluctuations in the numbers of two distinct species, in a regime characterized by ``strong mutualism.'' The model has two absorbing states, each corresponding to fixation of one of the two species, and allows exploration of the interplay between growth, competition, and mutualism. When mutualism is favored, number fluctuations eventually drive the system away from a stable fixed point, characterized by cooperation, to one of the absorbing states. Well-mixed populations will thus be taken over by a single species in a finite time, despite the bias towards cooperation. We calculate both the fixation probability and the mean fixation time as a function of the initial conditions and carrying capacities in the strong mutualism regime, using the method of matched asymptotic expansions. Our results are compared to computer simulations.

  9. Sexual orientation-related differences in prepulse inhibition of the human startle response.

    PubMed

    Rahman, Qazi; Kumari, Veena; Wilson, Glenn D

    2003-10-01

    Prepulse inhibition (PPI) refers to a reduction in the startle response to a strong sensory stimulus when this stimulus is preceded by a weaker stimulus--the prepulse. PPI reflects a nonlearned sensorimotor gating mechanism and also shows a robust gender difference, with women exhibiting lower PPI than men. The present study examined the eyeblink startle responses to acoustic stimuli of 59 healthy heterosexual and homosexual men and women. Homosexual women showed significantly masculinized PPI compared with heterosexual women, whereas no difference was observed in PPI between homosexual and heterosexual men. These data provide the first evidence for within-gender differences in basic sensorimotor gating mechanisms and implicate the known neural substrates of PPI in human sexual orientation. (c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved

  10. Mutual information in the evolution of trajectories in discrete aiming movements.

    PubMed

    Lai, Shih-Chiung; Mayer-Kress, Gottfried; Newell, Karl M

    2008-07-01

    This study investigated the mutual information in the trajectories of discrete aiming movements on a computer controlled graphics tablet where movement time ( 300 - 2050 ms) was manipulated in a given distance (100 mm) and movement distance (15-240 mm) in 2 given movement times (300 ms and 800 ms ). For the distance-fixed conditions, there was higher mutual information in the slower movements in the 0 vs. 80-100% trajectory point comparisons, whereas the mutual information was higher for the faster movements when comparing within the 80 and 100% points of the movement trajectory. For the time-fixed conditions, the spatial constraints led to a decreasing pattern of the mutual information throughout the points of the trajectory, with the highest mutual information found in the 80 vs. 100% comparison. Overall, the pattern of mutual information reveals systematic modulation of the trajectories between the attractive fixed point of the target as a function of movement condition. These mutual information patterns are postulated to be the consequence of the different relative contributions of feedforward and feedback control processes in trajectory formation as a function of task constraints.

  11. 77 FR 73700 - Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, et al;

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-11

    ... Life Insurance Company, et al; Notice of Application December 5, 2012. AGENCY: Securities and Exchange... Section 17(a) of the Act. APPLICANTS: Mutual of America Life Insurance Company (``Mutual of America''), Wilton Reassurance Life Company of New York (``Wilton,'' and, together with Mutual of America Life...

  12. 31 CFR 1024.210 - Anti-money laundering programs for mutual funds.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... mutual funds. 1024.210 Section 1024.210 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and... FUNDS Programs § 1024.210 Anti-money laundering programs for mutual funds. (a) Effective July 24, 2002, each mutual fund shall develop and implement a written anti-money laundering program reasonably...

  13. 12 CFR 239.9 - Conversion or liquidation of mutual holding companies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Conversion or liquidation of mutual holding companies. 239.9 Section 239.9 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Mutual Holding...

  14. 12 CFR 239.9 - Conversion or liquidation of mutual holding companies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Conversion or liquidation of mutual holding companies. 239.9 Section 239.9 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Mutual Holding...

  15. 12 CFR 239.9 - Conversion or liquidation of mutual holding companies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Conversion or liquidation of mutual holding companies. 239.9 Section 239.9 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Mutual Holding...

  16. Mutual Coupling and Compensation in FMCW MIMO Radar Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schmid, Christian M.; Feger, Reinhard; Wagner, Christoph; Stelzer, Andreas

    2011-09-01

    This paper deals with mutual coupling, its effects and the compensation thereof in frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) array radar systems. Starting with a signal model we introduce mutual coupling and its primary sources in FMCW MIMO systems. We also give a worst-case boundary of the effects that mutual coupling can have on the side lobe level of an array. A method of dealing with and compensating for these effects is covered in this paper and verified by measurements from a 77-GHz FMCW radar system.

  17. 47 CFR 90.165 - Procedures for mutually exclusive applications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    .... 90.165 Section 90.165 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND... Governing Facilities Used to Provide Commercial Mobile Radio Services § 90.165 Procedures for mutually exclusive applications. Mutually exclusive commercial mobile radio service applications are processed in...

  18. Sex Differences in Orienting to Pictures with and without Humans: Evidence from the Cardiac Evoked Response (ECR) and the Cortical Long Latency Parietal Positivity (LPP)

    PubMed Central

    Althaus, Monika; Groen, Yvonne; van der Schaft, Lutske; Minderaa, Ruud B.; Tucha, Oliver; Mulder, Lambertus J. M.; Wijers, Albertus A.

    2014-01-01

    Objective This study investigated the effect of social relevance in affective pictures on two orienting responses, i.e. the evoked cardiac response (ECR), and a long latency cortical evoked potential (LPP) and whether this effect would differ between males and females. Assuming that orienting to affective social information is fundamental to experiencing affective empathy, associations between self-report measures of empathy and the two orienting responses were investigated. Method ECRs were obtained from 34 female and 30 male students, and LPPs from 25 female and 27 male students viewing 414 pictures from the International Affective Picture System. Pictures portrayed pleasant, unpleasant and neutral scenes with and without humans. Results Both the ECR and LPP showed the largest response to pictures with humans in unpleasant situations. For both measures, the responses to pictures with humans correlated with self-report measures of empathy. While we found a greater male than female responsiveness to the pictures without humans in the ECR, a greater female than male responsiveness was observed in the LPP response to pictures with humans. Conclusion and Significance The sensitivity of these orienting responses to social relevance and their differential contribution to the prediction of individual differences underline the validity of their combined use in clinical studies investigating individuals with social disabilities. PMID:25330003

  19. Mutual Information Rate and Bounds for It

    PubMed Central

    Baptista, Murilo S.; Rubinger, Rero M.; Viana, Emilson R.; Sartorelli, José C.; Parlitz, Ulrich; Grebogi, Celso

    2012-01-01

    The amount of information exchanged per unit of time between two nodes in a dynamical network or between two data sets is a powerful concept for analysing complex systems. This quantity, known as the mutual information rate (MIR), is calculated from the mutual information, which is rigorously defined only for random systems. Moreover, the definition of mutual information is based on probabilities of significant events. This work offers a simple alternative way to calculate the MIR in dynamical (deterministic) networks or between two time series (not fully deterministic), and to calculate its upper and lower bounds without having to calculate probabilities, but rather in terms of well known and well defined quantities in dynamical systems. As possible applications of our bounds, we study the relationship between synchronisation and the exchange of information in a system of two coupled maps and in experimental networks of coupled oscillators. PMID:23112809

  20. Psychophysiological responses of junior orienteers under competitive pressure.

    PubMed

    Robazza, Claudio; Izzicupo, Pascal; D'Amico, Maria Angela; Ghinassi, Barbara; Crippa, Maria Chiara; Di Cecco, Vincenzo; Ruiz, Montse C; Bortoli, Laura; Di Baldassarre, Angela

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to examine psychobiosocial states, cognitive functions, endocrine responses (i.e., salivary cortisol and chromogranin A), and performance under competitive pressure in orienteering athletes. The study was grounded in the individual zones of optimal functioning (IZOF) and biopsychosocial models. Fourteen junior orienteering athletes (7 girls and 7 boys), ranging in age from 15 to 20 years (M = 16.93, SD = 1.77) took part in a two-day competitive event. To enhance competitive pressure, emphasis was placed on the importance of the competition and race outcome. Psychophysiological and performance data were collected at several points before, during, and after the races. Results showed that an increase in cortisol levels was associated with competitive pressure and reflected in higher perceived exertion (day 1, r = .32; day 2, r = .46), higher intensity of dysfunctional states (day 1, r = .59; day 2, r = .55), lower intensity of functional states (day 1, r = -.36; day 2, r = -.33), and decay in memory (day 1, r = -.27; day 2, r = -.35), visual attention (day 1, r = -.56; day 2, r = -.35), and attention/mental flexibility (day 1, r = .16; day 2, r = .26) tasks. The second day we observed better performance times, lower intensity of dysfunctional states, lower cortisol levels, improved visual attention and attention/mental flexibility (p < .050). Across the two competition days, chromogranin A levels were higher (p < .050) on the most difficult loops of the race in terms of both physical and psychological demands. Findings suggest emotional, cognitive, psychophysiological, and performance variables to be related and to jointly change across different levels of cognitive and physical load. Overall results are discussed in light of the IZOF and biopsychosocial models. The procedure adopted in the study also supports the feasibility of including additional cognitive load for possible practical applications.

  1. Psychophysiological responses of junior orienteers under competitive pressure

    PubMed Central

    Izzicupo, Pascal; D’Amico, Maria Angela; Ghinassi, Barbara; Crippa, Maria Chiara; Di Cecco, Vincenzo; Ruiz, Montse C.; Bortoli, Laura; Di Baldassarre, Angela

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to examine psychobiosocial states, cognitive functions, endocrine responses (i.e., salivary cortisol and chromogranin A), and performance under competitive pressure in orienteering athletes. The study was grounded in the individual zones of optimal functioning (IZOF) and biopsychosocial models. Fourteen junior orienteering athletes (7 girls and 7 boys), ranging in age from 15 to 20 years (M = 16.93, SD = 1.77) took part in a two-day competitive event. To enhance competitive pressure, emphasis was placed on the importance of the competition and race outcome. Psychophysiological and performance data were collected at several points before, during, and after the races. Results showed that an increase in cortisol levels was associated with competitive pressure and reflected in higher perceived exertion (day 1, r = .32; day 2, r = .46), higher intensity of dysfunctional states (day 1, r = .59; day 2, r = .55), lower intensity of functional states (day 1, r = -.36; day 2, r = -.33), and decay in memory (day 1, r = -.27; day 2, r = -.35), visual attention (day 1, r = -.56; day 2, r = -.35), and attention/mental flexibility (day 1, r = .16; day 2, r = .26) tasks. The second day we observed better performance times, lower intensity of dysfunctional states, lower cortisol levels, improved visual attention and attention/mental flexibility (p < .050). Across the two competition days, chromogranin A levels were higher (p < .050) on the most difficult loops of the race in terms of both physical and psychological demands. Findings suggest emotional, cognitive, psychophysiological, and performance variables to be related and to jointly change across different levels of cognitive and physical load. Overall results are discussed in light of the IZOF and biopsychosocial models. The procedure adopted in the study also supports the feasibility of including additional cognitive load for possible practical applications. PMID:29698498

  2. Mutual gravitational potential, force, and torque of a homogeneous polyhedron and an extended body: an application to binary asteroids

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shi, Yu; Wang, Yue; Xu, Shijie

    2017-11-01

    Binary systems are quite common within the populations of near-Earth asteroids, main-belt asteroids, and Kuiper belt asteroids. The dynamics of binary systems, which can be modeled as the full two-body problem, is a fundamental problem for their evolution and the design of relevant space missions. This paper proposes a new shape-based model for the mutual gravitational potential of binary asteroids, differing from prior approaches such as inertia integrals, spherical harmonics, or symmetric trace-free tensors. One asteroid is modeled as a homogeneous polyhedron, while the other is modeled as an extended rigid body with arbitrary mass distribution. Since the potential of the polyhedron is precisely described in a closed form, the mutual gravitational potential can be formulated as a volume integral over the extended body. By using Taylor expansion, the mutual potential is then derived in terms of inertia integrals of the extended body, derivatives of the polyhedron's potential, and the relative location and orientation between the two bodies. The gravitational forces and torques acting on the two bodies described in the body-fixed frame of the polyhedron are derived in the form of a second-order expansion. The gravitational model is then used to simulate the evolution of the binary asteroid (66391) 1999 KW4, and compared with previous results in the literature.

  3. Using Audience Response Systems to Encourage Student Engagement and Reflection on Ethical Orientation and Behavior

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Micheletto, Melinda J.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to use an audience response system (ARS) to engage students in classroom discussions concerning sensitive and controversial topics (e.g., business ethics), assess student's ethical orientation and conduct in unethical behaviors, and encourage reflection on their personal level of ethicality. Students used ARS devices…

  4. Mutuality, empowerment and the health-wealth model: the Scottish context.

    PubMed

    Howieson, Brian

    2013-06-01

    This paper will offer an alternative paradigm to healthcare delivery by introducing the concept of mutuality and empowerment into the existing health-wealth model. The backdrop is provided by Better Health, Better Care (Scottish Government 2007), Section 1 of which is entitled 'Towards a Mutual NHS'. In detail, the paper will: revisit what is meant by mutuality; advance the meaning of the 'public interest'; explore empowerment and community empowerment and its relationship to health; and introduce a model, which tries to link these concepts and terms together. It is hoped that this analysis will help researchers and practitioners alike further appreciate the important concept of mutuality and empowerment into the existing health-wealth model.

  5. When orienting and anticipation dissociate--a case for scoring electrodermal responses in multiple latency windows in studies of human fear conditioning.

    PubMed

    Luck, Camilla C; Lipp, Ottmar V

    2016-02-01

    Electrodermal activity in studies of human fear conditioning is often scored by distinguishing two electrodermal responses occurring during the conditional stimulus-unconditional stimulus interval. These responses, known as first interval responding (FIR) and second interval responding (SIR), are reported to be differentially sensitive to the effects of orienting and anticipation. Recently, the FIR/SIR scoring convention has been questioned, with some arguing in favor of scoring a single response within the entire conditional stimulus-unconditional stimulus interval (entire interval responding, EIR). EIR can be advantageous in practical terms but may fail to capture experimental effects when manipulations produce dissociations between orienting and anticipation. As an illustration, we rescored the data reported by Luck and Lipp (2015b) using both FIR/SIR and EIR scoring techniques and provide evidence that the EIR scoring technique fails to detect the effects of instructed extinction, an experimental manipulation which produces a dissociation between orienting and anticipation. Thus, using a technique that scores electrodermal response indices of fear conditioning in multiple latency windows is recommended. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. 47 CFR 22.131 - Procedures for mutually exclusive applications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... SERVICES PUBLIC MOBILE SERVICES Licensing Requirements and Procedures Applications and Notifications § 22... procedures in this section for processing mutually exclusive applications in the Public Mobile Services... 47 Telecommunication 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Procedures for mutually exclusive applications...

  7. Permutation auto-mutual information of electroencephalogram in anesthesia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liang, Zhenhu; Wang, Yinghua; Ouyang, Gaoxiang; Voss, Logan J.; Sleigh, Jamie W.; Li, Xiaoli

    2013-04-01

    Objective. The dynamic change of brain activity in anesthesia is an interesting topic for clinical doctors and drug designers. To explore the dynamical features of brain activity in anesthesia, a permutation auto-mutual information (PAMI) method is proposed to measure the information coupling of electroencephalogram (EEG) time series obtained in anesthesia. Approach. The PAMI is developed and applied on EEG data collected from 19 patients under sevoflurane anesthesia. The results are compared with the traditional auto-mutual information (AMI), SynchFastSlow (SFS, derived from the BIS index), permutation entropy (PE), composite PE (CPE), response entropy (RE) and state entropy (SE). Performance of all indices is assessed by pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) modeling and prediction probability. Main results. The PK/PD modeling and prediction probability analysis show that the PAMI index correlates closely with the anesthetic effect. The coefficient of determination R2 between PAMI values and the sevoflurane effect site concentrations, and the prediction probability Pk are higher in comparison with other indices. The information coupling in EEG series can be applied to indicate the effect of the anesthetic drug sevoflurane on the brain activity as well as other indices. The PAMI of the EEG signals is suggested as a new index to track drug concentration change. Significance. The PAMI is a useful index for analyzing the EEG dynamics during general anesthesia.

  8. Graph-state formalism for mutually unbiased bases

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Spengler, Christoph; Kraus, Barbara

    2013-11-01

    A pair of orthonormal bases is called mutually unbiased if all mutual overlaps between any element of one basis and an arbitrary element of the other basis coincide. In case the dimension, d, of the considered Hilbert space is a power of a prime number, complete sets of d+1 mutually unbiased bases (MUBs) exist. Here we present a method based on the graph-state formalism to construct such sets of MUBs. We show that for n p-level systems, with p being prime, one particular graph suffices to easily construct a set of pn+1 MUBs. In fact, we show that a single n-dimensional vector, which is associated with this graph, can be used to generate a complete set of MUBs and demonstrate that this vector can be easily determined. Finally, we discuss some advantages of our formalism regarding the analysis of entanglement structures in MUBs, as well as experimental realizations.

  9. Multiparty quantum mutual information: An alternative definition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kumar, Asutosh

    2017-07-01

    Mutual information is the reciprocal information that is common to or shared by two or more parties. Quantum mutual information for bipartite quantum systems is non-negative, and bears the interpretation of total correlation between the two subsystems. This may, however, no longer be true for three or more party quantum systems. In this paper, we propose an alternative definition of multipartite information, taking into account the shared information between two and more parties. It is non-negative, observes monotonicity under partial trace as well as completely positive maps, and equals the multipartite information measure in literature for pure states. We then define multiparty quantum discord, and give some examples. Interestingly, we observe that quantum discord increases when a measurement is performed on a large number of subsystems. Consequently, the symmetric quantum discord, which involves a measurement on all parties, reveals the maximal quantumness. This raises a question on the interpretation of measured mutual information as a classical correlation.

  10. Cross-orientation suppression in human visual cortex

    PubMed Central

    Heeger, David J.

    2011-01-01

    Cross-orientation suppression was measured in human primary visual cortex (V1) to test the normalization model. Subjects viewed vertical target gratings (of varying contrasts) with or without a superimposed horizontal mask grating (fixed contrast). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the activity in each of several hypothetical channels (corresponding to subpopulations of neurons) with different orientation tunings and fit these orientation-selective responses with the normalization model. For the V1 channel maximally tuned to the target orientation, responses increased with target contrast but were suppressed when the horizontal mask was added, evident as a shift in the contrast gain of this channel's responses. For the channel maximally tuned to the mask orientation, a constant baseline response was evoked for all target contrasts when the mask was absent; responses decreased with increasing target contrast when the mask was present. The normalization model provided a good fit to the contrast-response functions with and without the mask. In a control experiment, the target and mask presentations were temporally interleaved, and we found no shift in contrast gain, i.e., no evidence for suppression. We conclude that the normalization model can explain cross-orientation suppression in human visual cortex. The approach adopted here can be applied broadly to infer, simultaneously, the responses of several subpopulations of neurons in the human brain that span particular stimulus or feature spaces, and characterize their interactions. In addition, it allows us to investigate how stimuli are represented by the inferred activity of entire neural populations. PMID:21775720

  11. The Interaction of Pedagogical Approach, Gender, Self-Regulation, and Goal Orientation Using Student Response System Technology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Edens, Kellah M.

    2008-01-01

    This research compares a behaviorally based approach for using electronic student response system (SRS) technology with a metacognitive-oriented approach to determine effects on attendance, preparation for class, and achievement. Also examined are the interaction effects of pedagogical approach with self-regulatory and motivational characteristics…

  12. The shark Chiloscyllium griseum can orient using turn responses before and after partial telencephalon ablation.

    PubMed

    Fuss, Theodora; Bleckmann, Horst; Schluessel, Vera

    2014-01-01

    This study assessed spatial memory and orientation strategies in Chiloscyllium griseum. In the presence of visual landmarks, six sharks were trained in a fixed turn response. Group 1 started from two possible compartments approaching two goal locations, while group 2 started from and approached only one location, respectively. The learning criterion was reached within 9 ± 5.29 (group 1) and 8.3 ± 3.51 sessions (group 2). Transfer tests revealed that sharks had applied a direction strategy, possibly in combination with some form of place learning. Without visual cues, sharks relied solely on the former. To identify the underlying neural substrate(s), telencephalic were lesioned and performance compared before and after surgery. Ablation of the dorsal and medial pallia only had an effect on one shark (group 1), indicating that the acquisition and retention of previously gained knowledge were unaffected in the remaining four individuals. Nonetheless, the shark re-learned the task. In summary, C. griseum can utilize fixed turn responses to navigate to a goal; there is also some evidence for the use of external visual landmarks while orienting. Probably, strategies can be used alone or in combination. Neither the dorsal nor medial pallium seems to be responsible for the acquisition and processing of egocentric information.

  13. Mutually Exclusive, Complementary, or . . .

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schloemer, Cathy G.

    2016-01-01

    Whether students are beginning their study of probability or are well into it, distinctions between complementary sets and mutually exclusive sets can be confusing. Cathy Schloemer writes in this article that for years she used typical classroom examples but was not happy with the student engagement or the level of understanding they produced.…

  14. Assessment of mutual understanding of physician patient encounters: development and validation of a Mutual Understanding Scale (MUS) in a multicultural general practice setting.

    PubMed

    Harmsen, J A M; Bernsen, R M D; Meeuwesen, L; Pinto, D; Bruijnzeels, M A

    2005-11-01

    Mutual understanding between physician and patient is essential for good quality of care; however, both parties have different views on health complaints and treatment. This study aimed to develop and validate a measure of mutual understanding (MU) in a multicultural setting. The study included 986 patients from 38 general practices. GPs completed a questionnaire and patients were interviewed after the consultation. To assess mutual understanding the answers from GP and patient to questions about different consultation aspects were compared. An expert panel, using nominal group technique, developed criteria for mutual understanding on consultation aspects and secondly, established a ranking to combine all aspects into an overall consultation judgement. Regarding construct validity, patients' ethnicity, age and language proficiency were the most important predictors for MU. Regarding criterion validity, all GP-related criteria (the GPs perception of his ability to explain to the patient, the patient's ability to explain to the GP, and the patient's understanding of consultation aspects), were well-related to MU. The same can be said of patient's consultation satisfaction and feeling that the GP was considerate. We conclude that the Mutual Understanding Scale is regarded a reliable and valid measure to be used in large-scale quantitative studies.

  15. Entropic uncertainty relations and locking: Tight bounds for mutually unbiased bases

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

    Ballester, Manuel A.; Wehner, Stephanie

    We prove tight entropic uncertainty relations for a large number of mutually unbiased measurements. In particular, we show that a bound derived from the result by Maassen and Uffink [Phys. Rev. Lett. 60, 1103 (1988)] for two such measurements can in fact be tight for up to {radical}(d) measurements in mutually unbiased bases. We then show that using more mutually unbiased bases does not always lead to a better locking effect. We prove that the optimal bound for the accessible information using up to {radical}(d) specific mutually unbiased bases is log d/2, which is the same as can be achievedmore » by using only two bases. Our result indicates that merely using mutually unbiased bases is not sufficient to achieve a strong locking effect and we need to look for additional properties.« less

  16. Mutuality, Self-Silencing, and Disordered Eating in College Women

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wechsler, Lisa S.; Riggs, Shelley A.; Stabb, Sally D.; Marshall, David M.

    2006-01-01

    The current study examined patterns of association among mutuality, self-silencing, and disordered eating in an ethnically diverse sample of college women (N = 149). Partner mutuality and overall self-silencing were negatively correlated and together were associated with six disordered eating indices. All four self-silencing subscales were…

  17. Mutual Adaptaion in Action

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siskin, Leslie Santee

    2016-01-01

    Building on an expanded concept of mutual adaptation, this chapter explores a distinctive and successful aspect of International Baccalaureate's effort to scale up, as they moved to expand their programs and support services in Title I schools. Based on a three-year, mixed-methods study, it offers a case where we see not only local adaptations…

  18. The mutuality metaphor: understanding healthcare provision in NHS Scotland.

    PubMed

    Howieson, Brian

    2016-06-20

    Purpose - Better Health, Better Care Action Plan (Scottish Government, 2007) sets out how the Scottish Government intends to strengthen public ownership of the National Health Service in Scotland. The purpose of this paper is to advance extant knowledge by understanding how a state-led mutual health policy may be interpreted, and importantly, communicated. Design/methodology/approach - The definitional problem of mutuality will be discussed and analysed in terms of how it is (or perhaps should be) communicated? will be offered. Findings - It actually may be more instructive to think of, and communicate, mutuality as a metaphor to aid understanding of the openness and fluidity found in NHS Scotland. Research limitations/implications - The existence of paradox and ambiguity does not, however, negate the usefulness of the term "mutuality". Quite the opposite in fact: it is precisely by examining healthcare and its delivery through the lens of mutuality (rather than rejecting its complexity as a failure) that this amorphousness can be better appreciated. Practical implications - There is a need for more public, professional, and academic debate to explore and clarify its implementation, and how it is to be led. This must be provided whilst recognising the daily imperatives that NHS leaders must face. This would suggest, therefore, that a dual development path may help. Originality/value - Although Better Health, Better Care Action Plan was published in 2007, some eight years on there is still confusion and misunderstanding as to what mutuality in healthcare is, not only in policy and theory, but also in practice. It is hoped that this analysis will help address, in part, some of this confusion and misunderstanding.

  19. Spatial Mutual Information Based Hyperspectral Band Selection for Classification

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    The amount of information involved in hyperspectral imaging is large. Hyperspectral band selection is a popular method for reducing dimensionality. Several information based measures such as mutual information have been proposed to reduce information redundancy among spectral bands. Unfortunately, mutual information does not take into account the spatial dependency between adjacent pixels in images thus reducing its robustness as a similarity measure. In this paper, we propose a new band selection method based on spatial mutual information. As validation criteria, a supervised classification method using support vector machine (SVM) is used. Experimental results of the classification of hyperspectral datasets show that the proposed method can achieve more accurate results. PMID:25918742

  20. Mutually unbiased coarse-grained measurements of two or more phase-space variables

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Paul, E. C.; Walborn, S. P.; Tasca, D. S.; Rudnicki, Łukasz

    2018-05-01

    Mutual unbiasedness of the eigenstates of phase-space operators—such as position and momentum, or their standard coarse-grained versions—exists only in the limiting case of infinite squeezing. In Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 040403 (2018), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.040403, it was shown that mutual unbiasedness can be recovered for periodic coarse graining of these two operators. Here we investigate mutual unbiasedness of coarse-grained measurements for more than two phase-space variables. We show that mutual unbiasedness can be recovered between periodic coarse graining of any two nonparallel phase-space operators. We illustrate these results through optics experiments, using the fractional Fourier transform to prepare and measure mutually unbiased phase-space variables. The differences between two and three mutually unbiased measurements is discussed. Our results contribute to bridging the gap between continuous and discrete quantum mechanics, and they could be useful in quantum-information protocols.

  1. Interactive Computerized Video Orientation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Briesacker, Jeanie

    In response to California State Assembly Bill (AB) 3, which requires the state's community colleges to implement orientations and other specified matriculation services, Fullerton College (FC) developed two orientation videos in 1989 for native speakers of English and English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) students. The videos were used by counselors…

  2. Hardware device binding and mutual authentication

    DOEpatents

    Hamlet, Jason R; Pierson, Lyndon G

    2014-03-04

    Detection and deterrence of device tampering and subversion by substitution may be achieved by including a cryptographic unit within a computing device for binding multiple hardware devices and mutually authenticating the devices. The cryptographic unit includes a physically unclonable function ("PUF") circuit disposed in or on the hardware device, which generates a binding PUF value. The cryptographic unit uses the binding PUF value during an enrollment phase and subsequent authentication phases. During a subsequent authentication phase, the cryptographic unit uses the binding PUF values of the multiple hardware devices to generate a challenge to send to the other device, and to verify a challenge received from the other device to mutually authenticate the hardware devices.

  3. Nonrigid mammogram registration using mutual information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wirth, Michael A.; Narhan, Jay; Gray, Derek W. S.

    2002-05-01

    Of the papers dealing with the task of mammogram registration, the majority deal with the task by matching corresponding control-points derived from anatomical landmark points. One of the caveats encountered when using pure point-matching techniques is their reliance on accurately extracted anatomical features-points. This paper proposes an innovative approach to matching mammograms which combines the use of a similarity-measure and a point-based spatial transformation. Mutual information is a cost-function used to determine the degree of similarity between the two mammograms. An initial rigid registration is performed to remove global differences and bring the mammograms into approximate alignment. The mammograms are then subdivided into smaller regions and each of the corresponding subimages is matched independently using mutual information. The centroids of each of the matched subimages are then used as corresponding control-point pairs in association with the Thin-Plate Spline radial basis function. The resulting spatial transformation generates a nonrigid match of the mammograms. The technique is illustrated by matching mammograms from the MIAS mammogram database. An experimental comparison is made between mutual information incorporating purely rigid behavior, and that incorporating a more nonrigid behavior. The effectiveness of the registration process is evaluated using image differences.

  4. The Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure in young children: responsiveness and minimal clinically important difference.

    PubMed

    Gaunt, D M; Metcalfe, C; Ridd, M

    2016-11-01

    The Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM) has been recommended as the core patient-reported outcome measure for trials of eczema treatments. Using data from the Choice of Moisturiser for Eczema Treatment randomized feasibility study, we assess the responsiveness to change and determine the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) of the POEM in young children with eczema. Responsiveness to change by repeated administrations of the POEM was investigated in relation to change recalled using the Parent Global Assessment (PGA) measure. Five methods of determining the MCID of the POEM were employed; three anchor-based methods using PGA as the anchor: the within-patient score change, between-patient score change and sensitivity and specificity method, and two distribution-based methods: effect size estimate and the one half standard deviation of the baseline distribution of POEM scores. Successive POEM scores were found to be responsive to change in eczema severity. The MCID of the POEM change score, in relation to a slight improvement in eczema severity as recalled by parents on the PGA, estimated by the within-patient score change (4.27), the between-patient score change (2.89) and the sensitivity and specificity method (3.00) was similar to the one half standard deviation of the POEM baseline scores (2.94) and the effect size estimate (2.50). The Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure as applied to young children is responsive to change, and the MCID is around 3. This study will encourage the use of POEM and aid in determining sample size for future randomized controlled trials of treatments for eczema in young children. © 2016 The Authors. Allergy Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Improving Orientation Outcomes: Implementation of Phased Orientation Process in an Intermediate Special Care Nursery.

    PubMed

    Rivera, Emily K; Shedenhelm, Heidi J; Gibbs, Ardyce L

    2015-01-01

    In response to changing needs of registered nurse orientees, the staff education committee in the Intermediate Special Care Nursery has implemented a phased orientation process. This phased process includes a mentoring experience postorientation to support a new nurse through the first year of employment. Since implementing the phased orientation process in the Intermediate Special Care Nursery, orientee satisfaction and preparation to practice have increased, and length of orientation has decreased.

  6. Antagonisms, mutualisms and commensalisms affect outbreak dynamics of the southern pine beetle

    Treesearch

    Richard W. Hofstetter; James T. Cronin; Kier D. Klepzig; John C. Moser; Matthew P. Ayres

    2005-01-01

    Feedback from community interactions involving mutualisms are a rarely explored mechanism for generating complex population dynamics. We examined the effects of two linked mutualisms on the population dynamics of a beetle that exhibits outbreak dynamics. One mutualism involves an obligate association between the bark beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis...

  7. Orientation of liquid crystalline blue phases on unidirectionally orienting surfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takahashi, Misaki; Ohkawa, Takuma; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Fukuda, Jun-ichi; Kikuchi, Hirostugu; Ozaki, Masanori

    2018-03-01

    Liquid crystalline cholesteric blue phases (BPs) continue to attract interest due to their fast response times and quasi-polarization-independent phase modulation capabilities. Various approaches have recently been proposed to control the crystal orientation of BPs on substrates; however, their basic orientation properties on standard, unidirectionally orienting alignment layers have not been investigated in detail. Through analysis of the azimuthal orientation of Kossel diagrams, we study the 3D crystal orientation of a BP material—with a phase sequence of cholesteric, BP I, and BP II—on unidirectionally orienting surfaces prepared using two methods: rubbing and photoalignment. BP II grown from the isotropic phase is sensitive to surface conditions, with different crystal planes orienting on the two substrates. On the other hand, strong thermal hysteresis is observed in BPs grown through a different liquid crystal phase, implying that the preceding structure determines the orientation. More specifically, the BP II-I transition is accompanied by a rotation of the crystal such that the crystal direction defined by certain low-value Miller indices transform into different directions, and within the allowed rotations, different azimuthal configurations are obtained in the same cell depending on the thermal process. Our findings demonstrate that, for the alignment control of BPs, the thermal process is as important as the properties of the alignment layer.

  8. Subcortical orientation biases explain orientation selectivity of visual cortical cells.

    PubMed

    Vidyasagar, Trichur R; Jayakumar, Jaikishan; Lloyd, Errol; Levichkina, Ekaterina V

    2015-04-01

    The primary visual cortex of carnivores and primates shows an orderly progression of domains of neurons that are selective to a particular orientation of visual stimuli such as bars and gratings. We recorded from single-thalamic afferent fibers that terminate in these domains to address the issue whether the orientation sensitivity of these fibers could form the basis of the remarkable orientation selectivity exhibited by most cortical cells. We first performed optical imaging of intrinsic signals to obtain a map of orientation domains on the dorsal aspect of the anaesthetized cat's area 17. After confirming using electrophysiological recordings the orientation preferences of single neurons within one or two domains in each animal, we pharmacologically silenced the cortex to leave only the afferent terminals active. The inactivation of cortical neurons was achieved by the superfusion of either kainic acid or muscimol. Responses of single geniculate afferents were then recorded by the use of high impedance electrodes. We found that the orientation preferences of the afferents matched closely with those of the cells in the orientation domains that they terminated in (Pearson's r = 0.633, n = 22, P = 0.002). This suggests a possible subcortical origin for cortical orientation selectivity. © 2015 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American Physiological Society and The Physiological Society.

  9. Rényi generalizations of the conditional quantum mutual information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berta, Mario; Seshadreesan, Kaushik P.; Wilde, Mark M.

    2015-02-01

    The conditional quantum mutual information I(A; B|C) of a tripartite state ρABC is an information quantity which lies at the center of many problems in quantum information theory. Three of its main properties are that it is non-negative for any tripartite state, that it decreases under local operations applied to systems A and B, and that it obeys the duality relation I(A; B|C) = I(A; B|D) for a four-party pure state on systems ABCD. The conditional mutual information also underlies the squashed entanglement, an entanglement measure that satisfies all of the axioms desired for an entanglement measure. As such, it has been an open question to find Rényi generalizations of the conditional mutual information, that would allow for a deeper understanding of the original quantity and find applications beyond the traditional memoryless setting of quantum information theory. The present paper addresses this question, by defining different α-Rényi generalizations Iα(A; B|C) of the conditional mutual information, some of which we can prove converge to the conditional mutual information in the limit α → 1. Furthermore, we prove that many of these generalizations satisfy non-negativity, duality, and monotonicity with respect to local operations on one of the systems A or B (with it being left as an open question to prove that monotonicity holds with respect to local operations on both systems). The quantities defined here should find applications in quantum information theory and perhaps even in other areas of physics, but we leave this for future work. We also state a conjecture regarding the monotonicity of the Rényi conditional mutual informations defined here with respect to the Rényi parameter α. We prove that this conjecture is true in some special cases and when α is in a neighborhood of one.

  10. Nonlinear pattern analysis of ventricular premature beats by mutual information

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Osaka, M.; Saitoh, H.; Yokoshima, T.; Kishida, H.; Hayakawa, H.; Cohen, R. J.

    1997-01-01

    The frequency of ventricular premature beats (VPBs) has been related to the risk of mortality. However, little is known about the temporal pattern of occurrence of VPBs and its relationship to autonomic activity. Hence, we applied a general correlation measure, mutual information, to quantify how VPBs are generated over time. We also used mutual information to determine the correlation between VPB production and heart rate in order to evaluate effects of autonomic activity on VPB production. We examined twenty subjects with more than 3000 VPBs/day and simulated random time series of VPB occurrence. We found that mutual information values could be used to characterize quantitatively the temporal patterns of VPB generation. Our data suggest that VPB production is not random and VPBs generated with a higher value of mutual information may be more greatly affected by autonomic activity.

  11. 12 CFR 239.12 - Communication between members of a mutual holding company.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Communication between members of a mutual holding company. 239.12 Section 239.12 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Mutual Holding...

  12. 12 CFR 239.12 - Communication between members of a mutual holding company.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Communication between members of a mutual holding company. 239.12 Section 239.12 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Mutual Holding...

  13. 12 CFR 239.12 - Communication between members of a mutual holding company.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Communication between members of a mutual holding company. 239.12 Section 239.12 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Mutual Holding...

  14. Reducing Interpolation Artifacts for Mutual Information Based Image Registration

    PubMed Central

    Soleimani, H.; Khosravifard, M.A.

    2011-01-01

    Medical image registration methods which use mutual information as similarity measure have been improved in recent decades. Mutual Information is a basic concept of Information theory which indicates the dependency of two random variables (or two images). In order to evaluate the mutual information of two images their joint probability distribution is required. Several interpolation methods, such as Partial Volume (PV) and bilinear, are used to estimate joint probability distribution. Both of these two methods yield some artifacts on mutual information function. Partial Volume-Hanning window (PVH) and Generalized Partial Volume (GPV) methods are introduced to remove such artifacts. In this paper we show that the acceptable performance of these methods is not due to their kernel function. It's because of the number of pixels which incorporate in interpolation. Since using more pixels requires more complex and time consuming interpolation process, we propose a new interpolation method which uses only four pixels (the same as PV and bilinear interpolations) and removes most of the artifacts. Experimental results of the registration of Computed Tomography (CT) images show superiority of the proposed scheme. PMID:22606673

  15. FAST TRACK COMMUNICATION: Affine constellations without mutually unbiased counterparts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weigert, Stefan; Durt, Thomas

    2010-10-01

    It has been conjectured that a complete set of mutually unbiased bases in a space of dimension d exists if and only if there is an affine plane of order d. We introduce affine constellations and compare their existence properties with those of mutually unbiased constellations. The observed discrepancies make a deeper relation between the two existence problems unlikely.

  16. [The health care system requires individuals to take more personal responsibility].

    PubMed

    Schaefer, Corinna; Weißbach, Lothar

    2012-01-01

    In the health care context, the phrase "personal responsibility" is frequently used as a euphemism for restricting publicly funded health care services. The concept of responsibility, however, primarily comprises the individual's own autonomous choices in consideration of their possible implications. In order to be able to act responsibly in respect to health care issues, the individual must rely on objective information about the possible consequences of his or her decision. The current profit-oriented competitive medical care environment prevents the distribution of objective information. A mutually supportive community benefits from its members acting responsibly, since citizens are capable of supporting themselves before they avail themselves of community support. This requires the State to respect the individual and his or her autonomous decision-making. If the community established rules as to what is considered a healthy lifestyle or even required people to adopt one, it would, to a large part, take away the citizens' autonomy and thus prevent them to assume responsibility. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

  17. Retinal constraints on orientation specificity in cat visual cortex.

    PubMed

    Schall, J D; Vitek, D J; Leventhal, A G

    1986-03-01

    determined. A comparison of the orientations of neighboring cells indicates that other than a mutual tendency to be oriented radially, ganglion cells with similar orientations are not clustered in the retina. Reconstructions of electrode penetrations into regions of visual cortex representing peripheral retina indicate that columns subserving radial orientations are wider than those subserving nonradial orientations. Our results provide evidence that the distribution of the preferred orientations of simple cells in visual cortex subserving any region of the visual field matches the distribution of the orientations of the ganglion cells subserving the same region of the visual field.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

  18. Application of data envelopment analysis in measuring the efficiency of mutual fund

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nik, Marzieh Geramian; Mihanzadeh, Hooman; Izadifar, Mozhgan; Nik, Babak Geramian

    2015-05-01

    The growth of mutual fund industry during the past decades emphasizes the importance of this investment vehicle particularly in prosperity of financial markets and in turn, financial growth of each country. Therefore, evaluating the relative efficiency of mutual funds as investment tool is of importance. In this study, a combined model of DEA (data envelopment analysis), and goal programming (GoDEA) approaches contributes widely to analyze the return efficiency of Mutual Funds in an attempt to separate efficient and inefficient Funds as well as identifying the inefficiency resources. Mixed asset local funds, which are managed jointly by CIMB and Public Mutual Berhad, have been selected for the purpose of this paper. As a result, Public Small Cap Fund (P Small Cap) is regarded as the most efficient mutual fund during the period of study. The integrated model aims to first guide investors to choose the best performing fund among other mutual funds, secondly provides the realistic and appropriate benchmark in compare to other classic method, and finally confirms the utility of data envelopment analysis (DEA) as decision-making tool.

  19. Mutual antagonism of target of rapamycin and calcineurin signaling.

    PubMed

    Mulet, Jose M; Martin, Dietmar E; Loewith, Robbie; Hall, Michael N

    2006-11-03

    Growth and stress are generally incompatible states. Stressed cells adapt to an insult by restraining growth, and conversely, growing cells keep stress responses at bay. This is evident in many physiological settings, including for example, the effect of stress on the immune or nervous system, but the underlying signaling mechanisms mediating such mutual antagonism are poorly understood. In eukaryotes, a central activator of cell growth is the protein kinase target of rapamycin (TOR) and its namesake signaling network. Calcineurin is a conserved, Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase and target of the immunosuppressant FK506 (tacrolimus) that is activated in yeast during stress to promote cell survival. Here we show yeast mutants defective for TOR complex 2 (TORC2) or the essential homologous TORC2 effectors, SLM1 and SLM2, exhibited constitutive activation of calcineurin-dependent transcription and actin depolarization. Conversely, cells defective in calcineurin exhibited SLM1 hyperphosphorylation and enhanced interaction between TORC2 and SLM1. Furthermore, a mutant SLM1 protein (SLM1(DeltaC14)) lacking a sequence related to the consensus calcineurin docking site (PxIxIT) was insensitive to calcineurin, and SLM1(Delta)(C14) slm2 mutant cells were hypersensitive to oxidative stress. Thus, TORC2-SLM signaling negatively regulates calcineurin, and calcineurin negatively regulates TORC2-SLM. These findings provide a molecular basis for the mutual antagonism of growth and stress.

  20. 47 CFR 101.51 - Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive applications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive....51 Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive applications. (a) In order to expedite action on... this section if: (1) The applications are entitled to comparative consideration pursuant to § 101.45...

  1. 47 CFR 101.51 - Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive applications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive....51 Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive applications. (a) In order to expedite action on... this section if: (1) The applications are entitled to comparative consideration pursuant to § 101.45...

  2. 47 CFR 101.51 - Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive applications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive....51 Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive applications. (a) In order to expedite action on... this section if: (1) The applications are entitled to comparative consideration pursuant to § 101.45...

  3. 47 CFR 101.51 - Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive applications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive....51 Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive applications. (a) In order to expedite action on... this section if: (1) The applications are entitled to comparative consideration pursuant to § 101.45...

  4. 47 CFR 101.51 - Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive applications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive....51 Comparative evaluation of mutually exclusive applications. (a) In order to expedite action on... this section if: (1) The applications are entitled to comparative consideration pursuant to § 101.45...

  5. 31 CFR 103.131 - Customer identification programs for mutual funds.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Finance FINANCIAL RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING OF CURRENCY AND FOREIGN TRANSACTIONS Anti-Money Laundering Programs Anti-Money Laundering Programs § 103.131 Customer identification programs for mutual funds. (a... mutual fund's anti-money laundering program required under the regulations implementing 31 U.S.C. 5318(h...

  6. Occurrence and characteristics of mutual interference between LIDAR scanners

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Gunzung; Eom, Jeongsook; Park, Seonghyeon; Park, Yongwan

    2015-05-01

    The LIDAR scanner is at the heart of object detection of the self-driving car. Mutual interference between LIDAR scanners has not been regarded as a problem because the percentage of vehicles equipped with LIDAR scanners was very rare. With the growing number of autonomous vehicle equipped with LIDAR scanner operated close to each other at the same time, the LIDAR scanner may receive laser pulses from other LIDAR scanners. In this paper, three types of experiments and their results are shown, according to the arrangement of two LIDAR scanners. We will show the probability that any LIDAR scanner will interfere mutually by considering spatial and temporal overlaps. It will present some typical mutual interference scenario and report an analysis of the interference mechanism.

  7. 31 CFR 1024.210 - Anti-money laundering programs for mutual funds.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... Finance (Continued) FINANCIAL CRIMES ENFORCEMENT NETWORK, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY RULES FOR MUTUAL... board of directors or trustees. A mutual fund shall make its anti-money laundering program available for...

  8. 31 CFR 1024.210 - Anti-money laundering programs for mutual funds.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... Finance (Continued) FINANCIAL CRIMES ENFORCEMENT NETWORK, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY RULES FOR MUTUAL... board of directors or trustees. A mutual fund shall make its anti-money laundering program available for...

  9. 31 CFR 1024.210 - Anti-money laundering programs for mutual funds.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... Finance (Continued) FINANCIAL CRIMES ENFORCEMENT NETWORK, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY RULES FOR MUTUAL... board of directors or trustees. A mutual fund shall make its anti-money laundering program available for...

  10. The effects of paradigmatic orientations of education research and discourse

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Smithson, John Lawrence

    This essay presents an examination of contemporary disputes over methodological and epistemological foundations underlying inquiry within the field of education research; investigating the obstacles to communication and understanding found in scholarly exchanges occurring across competing paradigmatic orientations. Terminological challenges to cross-paradigmatic communication are examined, identifying three specific terminological difficulties, referred to as homonym, contextual, and onti-stemic problems. Nicholas Burbules' model of dialogue, based upon characteristics of convergence, divergence, inclusive and critical traits, is adopted and applied to a sample of cross-paradigmatic exchanges found in recent educational research journals. Examination of those exchanges reveals certain strategies associated with cross-paradigmatic communication. These strategies, labeled as trivialization, caricaturization, and re-direction, are shown to be detrimental to the mutual understanding of the interlocutors. The model is then extended to address examples of paradigmatic orientations within methodological and epistemological contexts in order to consider the relationship between the various orientations represented in the literature of interest. Methodological and epistemological orientations are shown to be loosely coupled, with unexpected shifts in paradigmatic values found among researchers' methodological and epistemological commitments. Finally, the nature of the relationship between competing paradigmatic orientations is examined, with particular attention given to four types of incommensurability (ontological, linguistic, epistemological, and values incommensurability). I conclude that, though difficult, cross-paradigmatic communication is necessary in order to provide a multi-paradigmatic perspective that takes us beyond the fractured picture of educational phenomena available from current research approaches.

  11. A Computational Study of How Orientation Bias in the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus Can Give Rise to Orientation Selectivity in Primary Visual Cortex

    PubMed Central

    Kuhlmann, Levin; Vidyasagar, Trichur R.

    2011-01-01

    Controversy remains about how orientation selectivity emerges in simple cells of the mammalian primary visual cortex. In this paper, we present a computational model of how the orientation-biased responses of cells in lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) can contribute to the orientation selectivity in simple cells in cats. We propose that simple cells are excited by lateral geniculate fields with an orientation-bias and disynaptically inhibited by unoriented lateral geniculate fields (or biased fields pooled across orientations), both at approximately the same retinotopic co-ordinates. This interaction, combined with recurrent cortical excitation and inhibition, helps to create the sharp orientation tuning seen in simple cell responses. Along with describing orientation selectivity, the model also accounts for the spatial frequency and length–response functions in simple cells, in normal conditions as well as under the influence of the GABAA antagonist, bicuculline. In addition, the model captures the response properties of LGN and simple cells to simultaneous visual stimulation and electrical stimulation of the LGN. We show that the sharp selectivity for stimulus orientation seen in primary visual cortical cells can be achieved without the excitatory convergence of the LGN input cells with receptive fields along a line in visual space, which has been a core assumption in classical models of visual cortex. We have also simulated how the full range of orientations seen in the cortex can emerge from the activity among broadly tuned channels tuned to a limited number of optimum orientations, just as in the classical case of coding for color in trichromatic primates. PMID:22013414

  12. Evaluation of trauma service orientation.

    PubMed

    Schott, Eric

    2010-02-01

    Orientation of residents to clinical services may be criticized as cumbersome, dull, and simplytoo much information. With the mandated resident-hour restrictions, the question arose: Do residents perceive the orientation to our trauma service as worthwhile? Residents attend a standardized orientation lecture on the first day of the rotation. Three weeks later, an eight-item, five-point Likert-scale survey is distributed to assess the residents' perceptions of the value of the orientation. Responses to each item were examined. Fifty-four (92%) of the residents completed the questionnaire between September 2005 and August 2006. Most indicated that orientation was helpful (85%), the Trauma Resuscitation DVD was informative (82%), the review of procedures was helpful (82%), and the instructor's knowledge was adequate (94%). Most (92%) disagreed with the statement that orientation should not be offered. Careful attention to orientation content and format is important to the perception that the orientation is worthwhile.

  13. Nectar bacteria, but not yeast, weaken a plant-pollinator mutualism.

    PubMed

    Vannette, Rachel L; Gauthier, Marie-Pierre L; Fukami, Tadashi

    2013-02-07

    Mutualistic interactions are often subject to exploitation by species that are not directly involved in the mutualism. Understanding which organisms act as such 'third-party' species and how they do so is a major challenge in the current study of mutualistic interactions. Here, we show that even species that appear ecologically similar can have contrasting effects as third-party species. We experimentally compared the effects of nectar-inhabiting bacteria and yeasts on the strength of a mutualism between a hummingbird-pollinated shrub, Mimulus aurantiacus, and its pollinators. We found that the common bacterium Gluconobacter sp., but not the common yeast Metschnikowia reukaufii, reduced pollination success, seed set and nectar consumption by pollinators, thereby weakening the plant-pollinator mutualism. We also found that the bacteria reduced nectar pH and total sugar concentration more greatly than the yeasts did and that the bacteria decreased glucose concentration and increased fructose concentration whereas the yeasts affected neither. These distinct changes to nectar chemistry may underlie the microbes' contrasting effects on the mutualism. Our results suggest that it is necessary to understand the determinants of microbial species composition in nectar and their differential modification of floral rewards to explain the mutual benefits that plants and pollinators gain from each other.

  14. Nectar bacteria, but not yeast, weaken a plant–pollinator mutualism

    PubMed Central

    Vannette, Rachel L.; Gauthier, Marie-Pierre L.; Fukami, Tadashi

    2013-01-01

    Mutualistic interactions are often subject to exploitation by species that are not directly involved in the mutualism. Understanding which organisms act as such ‘third-party’ species and how they do so is a major challenge in the current study of mutualistic interactions. Here, we show that even species that appear ecologically similar can have contrasting effects as third-party species. We experimentally compared the effects of nectar-inhabiting bacteria and yeasts on the strength of a mutualism between a hummingbird-pollinated shrub, Mimulus aurantiacus, and its pollinators. We found that the common bacterium Gluconobacter sp., but not the common yeast Metschnikowia reukaufii, reduced pollination success, seed set and nectar consumption by pollinators, thereby weakening the plant–pollinator mutualism. We also found that the bacteria reduced nectar pH and total sugar concentration more greatly than the yeasts did and that the bacteria decreased glucose concentration and increased fructose concentration whereas the yeasts affected neither. These distinct changes to nectar chemistry may underlie the microbes' contrasting effects on the mutualism. Our results suggest that it is necessary to understand the determinants of microbial species composition in nectar and their differential modification of floral rewards to explain the mutual benefits that plants and pollinators gain from each other. PMID:23222453

  15. Mutually orthogonal Latin squares from the inner products of vectors in mutually unbiased bases

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hall, Joanne L.; Rao, Asha

    2010-04-01

    Mutually unbiased bases (MUBs) are important in quantum information theory. While constructions of complete sets of d + 1 MUBs in {\\bb C}^d are known when d is a prime power, it is unknown if such complete sets exist in non-prime power dimensions. It has been conjectured that complete sets of MUBs only exist in {\\bb C}^d if a maximal set of mutually orthogonal Latin squares (MOLS) of side length d also exists. There are several constructions (Roy and Scott 2007 J. Math. Phys. 48 072110; Paterek, Dakić and Brukner 2009 Phys. Rev. A 79 012109) of complete sets of MUBs from specific types of MOLS, which use Galois fields to construct the vectors of the MUBs. In this paper, two known constructions of MUBs (Alltop 1980 IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 26 350-354 Wootters and Fields 1989 Ann. Phys. 191 363-381), both of which use polynomials over a Galois field, are used to construct complete sets of MOLS in the odd prime case. The MOLS come from the inner products of pairs of vectors in the MUBs.

  16. Divergence in an obligate mutualism is not explained by divergent climatic factors

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Godsoe, W.; Strand, Espen; Smith, C.I.; Yoder, J.B.; Esque, T.C.; Pellmyr, O.

    2009-01-01

    Adaptation to divergent environments creates and maintains biological diversity, but we know little about the importance of different agents of ecological divergence. Coevolution in obligate mutualisms has been hypothesized to drive divergence, but this contention has rarely been tested against alternative ecological explanations. Here, we use a well-established example of coevolution in an obligate pollination mutualism, Yucca brevifolia and its two pollinating yucca moths, to test the hypothesis that divergence in this system is the result of mutualists adapting to different abiotic environments as opposed to coevolution between mutualists. ??? We used a combination of principal component analyses and ecological niche modeling to determine whether varieties of Y. brevifolia associated with different pollinators specialize on different environments. ??? Yucca brevifolia occupies a diverse range of climates. When the two varieties can disperse to similar environments, they occupy similar habitats. ??? This suggests that the two varieties have not specialized on distinct habitats. In turn, this suggests that nonclimatic factors, such as the biotic interaction between Y. brevifolia and its pollinators, are responsible for evolutionary divergence in this system. ?? New Phytologist (2009).

  17. Quantum correlation in degenerate optical parametric oscillators with mutual injections

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takata, Kenta; Marandi, Alireza; Yamamoto, Yoshihisa

    2015-10-01

    We theoretically and numerically study the quantum dynamics of two degenerate optical parametric oscillators with mutual injections. The cavity mode in the optical coupling path between the two oscillator facets is explicitly considered. Stochastic equations for the oscillators and mutual injection path based on the positive P representation are derived. The system of two gradually pumped oscillators with out-of-phase mutual injections is simulated, and its quantum state is investigated. When the incoherent loss of the oscillators other than the mutual injections is small, the squeezed quadratic amplitudes p ̂ in the oscillators are positively correlated near the oscillation threshold. It indicates finite quantum correlation, estimated via Gaussian quantum discord, and the entanglement between the intracavity subharmonic fields. When the loss in the injection path is low, each oscillator around the phase transition point forms macroscopic superposition even under a small pump noise. It suggests that the squeezed field stored in the low-loss injection path weakens the decoherence in the oscillators.

  18. Stabilization of a bat-pitcher plant mutualism.

    PubMed

    Schöner, Michael G; Schöner, Caroline R; Ermisch, Rebecca; Puechmaille, Sébastien J; Grafe, T Ulmar; Tan, Moi Chan; Kerth, Gerald

    2017-10-13

    Despite the long persistence of many mutualisms, it is largely unknown which mechanisms stabilize these interactions. This is especially true if only one mutualism partner can choose alternative partners while the other cannot, resulting in a power asymmetry. According to biological market theory the choosing partner should prefer the more dependent partner if the latter offers commodities of higher quality than its competitors. We tested this prediction using Bornean carnivorous pitcher plants (Nepenthes hemsleyana) that strongly rely on faecal nitrogen of bats (Kerivoula hardwickii) which roost inside the pitchers. The bats also roost in furled leaves of various plants. Surprisingly, during field observations the bats did not always choose N. hemsleyana pitchers despite their superior quality but were generally faithful either to pitchers or to furled leaves. In behavioural experiments 21% of the leaf-roosting bats switched to pitchers, while the majority of these bats and all pitcher-roosting individuals were faithful to the roost type in which we had found them. Genetic differentiation cannot explain this faithfulness, which likely results from different roosting traditions. Such traditions could have stabilizing or destabilizing effects on various mutualisms and should be investigated in more detail.

  19. 26 CFR 1.822-5 - Mutual insurance company taxable income.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Mutual insurance company taxable income. 1.822-5... TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Mutual Insurance Companies (other Than Life and Certain Marine Insurance Companies and Other Than Fire Or Flood Insurance Companies Which Operate on Basis of...

  20. 26 CFR 1.822-5 - Mutual insurance company taxable income.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Mutual insurance company taxable income. 1.822-5... TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Mutual Insurance Companies (other Than Life and Certain Marine Insurance Companies and Other Than Fire Or Flood Insurance Companies Which Operate on Basis of...

  1. 26 CFR 1.822-5 - Mutual insurance company taxable income.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Mutual insurance company taxable income. 1.822-5... TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Mutual Insurance Companies (other Than Life and Certain Marine Insurance Companies and Other Than Fire Or Flood Insurance Companies Which Operate on Basis of...

  2. 26 CFR 1.822-5 - Mutual insurance company taxable income.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Mutual insurance company taxable income. 1.822-5... TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Mutual Insurance Companies (other Than Life and Certain Marine Insurance Companies and Other Than Fire Or Flood Insurance Companies Which Operate on Basis of...

  3. Stakeholders' Responses to CSR Tradeoffs: When Other-Orientation and Trust Trump Material Self-Interest

    PubMed Central

    Bridoux, Flore; Stofberg, Nicole; Den Hartog, Deanne

    2016-01-01

    When investing in corporate social responsibility (CSR), managers may strive for a win-win scenario where all stakeholders end up better off, but they may not always be able to avoid trading off stakeholders' interests. To provide guidance to managers who have to make tradeoffs, this study used a vignette-based experiment to explore stakeholders' intention to associate with a firm (i.e., buy from or become an employee) that trades off CSR directed at the stakeholders' own group (self-directed CSR) and CSR directed at another stakeholder group (other-directed CSR). Results show that stakeholders were not systematically more attracted to a firm that favors their own group over another stakeholder group. Specifically, stakeholders' other-orientation moderated their reaction to tradeoffs: stakeholders higher on other-orientation were willing to forego some material benefits to associate with a firm that treated suppliers in developing countries significantly better than its competitors, whereas stakeholders lower on other-orientation were more attracted to a firm favoring their own stakeholder group. Other-orientation also moderated reactions to tradeoffs involving the environment, although high CSR directed at the environment did not compensate for low self-directed CSR even for stakeholders higher on other-orientation. Second, the vignette study showed that trust mediated the relationship between tradeoffs and stakeholders' reactions. The study contributes first and foremost to the burgeoning literature on CSR tradeoffs and to the multimotive approach to CSR, which claims that other motives can drive stakeholders' reactions to CSR in addition to self-interest. First, it provides further evidence that studying CSR tradeoffs is important to understand both (prospective) employees' and customers' reactions to CSR-related activities. Second, it identifies other-orientation as a motive-related individual difference that explains heterogeneity in stakeholders' reactions to

  4. Stakeholders' Responses to CSR Tradeoffs: When Other-Orientation and Trust Trump Material Self-Interest.

    PubMed

    Bridoux, Flore; Stofberg, Nicole; Den Hartog, Deanne

    2015-01-01

    When investing in corporate social responsibility (CSR), managers may strive for a win-win scenario where all stakeholders end up better off, but they may not always be able to avoid trading off stakeholders' interests. To provide guidance to managers who have to make tradeoffs, this study used a vignette-based experiment to explore stakeholders' intention to associate with a firm (i.e., buy from or become an employee) that trades off CSR directed at the stakeholders' own group (self-directed CSR) and CSR directed at another stakeholder group (other-directed CSR). Results show that stakeholders were not systematically more attracted to a firm that favors their own group over another stakeholder group. Specifically, stakeholders' other-orientation moderated their reaction to tradeoffs: stakeholders higher on other-orientation were willing to forego some material benefits to associate with a firm that treated suppliers in developing countries significantly better than its competitors, whereas stakeholders lower on other-orientation were more attracted to a firm favoring their own stakeholder group. Other-orientation also moderated reactions to tradeoffs involving the environment, although high CSR directed at the environment did not compensate for low self-directed CSR even for stakeholders higher on other-orientation. Second, the vignette study showed that trust mediated the relationship between tradeoffs and stakeholders' reactions. The study contributes first and foremost to the burgeoning literature on CSR tradeoffs and to the multimotive approach to CSR, which claims that other motives can drive stakeholders' reactions to CSR in addition to self-interest. First, it provides further evidence that studying CSR tradeoffs is important to understand both (prospective) employees' and customers' reactions to CSR-related activities. Second, it identifies other-orientation as a motive-related individual difference that explains heterogeneity in stakeholders' reactions to

  5. Rényi generalizations of the conditional quantum mutual information

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

    Berta, Mario; Seshadreesan, Kaushik P.; Wilde, Mark M.

    2015-02-15

    The conditional quantum mutual information I(A; B|C) of a tripartite state ρ{sub ABC} is an information quantity which lies at the center of many problems in quantum information theory. Three of its main properties are that it is non-negative for any tripartite state, that it decreases under local operations applied to systems A and B, and that it obeys the duality relation I(A; B|C) = I(A; B|D) for a four-party pure state on systems ABCD. The conditional mutual information also underlies the squashed entanglement, an entanglement measure that satisfies all of the axioms desired for an entanglement measure. As such,more » it has been an open question to find Rényi generalizations of the conditional mutual information, that would allow for a deeper understanding of the original quantity and find applications beyond the traditional memoryless setting of quantum information theory. The present paper addresses this question, by defining different α-Rényi generalizations I{sub α}(A; B|C) of the conditional mutual information, some of which we can prove converge to the conditional mutual information in the limit α → 1. Furthermore, we prove that many of these generalizations satisfy non-negativity, duality, and monotonicity with respect to local operations on one of the systems A or B (with it being left as an open question to prove that monotonicity holds with respect to local operations on both systems). The quantities defined here should find applications in quantum information theory and perhaps even in other areas of physics, but we leave this for future work. We also state a conjecture regarding the monotonicity of the Rényi conditional mutual informations defined here with respect to the Rényi parameter α. We prove that this conjecture is true in some special cases and when α is in a neighborhood of one.« less

  6. Supranormal orientation selectivity of visual neurons in orientation-restricted animals.

    PubMed

    Sasaki, Kota S; Kimura, Rui; Ninomiya, Taihei; Tabuchi, Yuka; Tanaka, Hiroki; Fukui, Masayuki; Asada, Yusuke C; Arai, Toshiya; Inagaki, Mikio; Nakazono, Takayuki; Baba, Mika; Kato, Daisuke; Nishimoto, Shinji; Sanada, Takahisa M; Tani, Toshiki; Imamura, Kazuyuki; Tanaka, Shigeru; Ohzawa, Izumi

    2015-11-16

    Altered sensory experience in early life often leads to remarkable adaptations so that humans and animals can make the best use of the available information in a particular environment. By restricting visual input to a limited range of orientations in young animals, this investigation shows that stimulus selectivity, e.g., the sharpness of tuning of single neurons in the primary visual cortex, is modified to match a particular environment. Specifically, neurons tuned to an experienced orientation in orientation-restricted animals show sharper orientation tuning than neurons in normal animals, whereas the opposite was true for neurons tuned to non-experienced orientations. This sharpened tuning appears to be due to elongated receptive fields. Our results demonstrate that restricted sensory experiences can sculpt the supranormal functions of single neurons tailored for a particular environment. The above findings, in addition to the minimal population response to orientations close to the experienced one, agree with the predictions of a sparse coding hypothesis in which information is represented efficiently by a small number of activated neurons. This suggests that early brain areas adopt an efficient strategy for coding information even when animals are raised in a severely limited visual environment where sensory inputs have an unnatural statistical structure.

  7. Supranormal orientation selectivity of visual neurons in orientation-restricted animals

    PubMed Central

    Sasaki, Kota S.; Kimura, Rui; Ninomiya, Taihei; Tabuchi, Yuka; Tanaka, Hiroki; Fukui, Masayuki; Asada, Yusuke C.; Arai, Toshiya; Inagaki, Mikio; Nakazono, Takayuki; Baba, Mika; Kato, Daisuke; Nishimoto, Shinji; Sanada, Takahisa M.; Tani, Toshiki; Imamura, Kazuyuki; Tanaka, Shigeru; Ohzawa, Izumi

    2015-01-01

    Altered sensory experience in early life often leads to remarkable adaptations so that humans and animals can make the best use of the available information in a particular environment. By restricting visual input to a limited range of orientations in young animals, this investigation shows that stimulus selectivity, e.g., the sharpness of tuning of single neurons in the primary visual cortex, is modified to match a particular environment. Specifically, neurons tuned to an experienced orientation in orientation-restricted animals show sharper orientation tuning than neurons in normal animals, whereas the opposite was true for neurons tuned to non-experienced orientations. This sharpened tuning appears to be due to elongated receptive fields. Our results demonstrate that restricted sensory experiences can sculpt the supranormal functions of single neurons tailored for a particular environment. The above findings, in addition to the minimal population response to orientations close to the experienced one, agree with the predictions of a sparse coding hypothesis in which information is represented efficiently by a small number of activated neurons. This suggests that early brain areas adopt an efficient strategy for coding information even when animals are raised in a severely limited visual environment where sensory inputs have an unnatural statistical structure. PMID:26567927

  8. Spatially oriented plasmonic ‘nanograter’ structures

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Zhe; Cui, Ajuan; Gong, Zhijie; Li, Hongqiang; Xia, Xiaoxiang; Shen, Tiehan H.; Li, Junjie; Yang, Haifang; Li, Wuxia; Gu, Changzhi

    2016-01-01

    One of the key motivations in producing 3D structures has always been the realization of metamaterials with effective constituent properties that can be tuned in all propagation directions at various frequencies. Here, we report the investigation of spatially oriented “Nanograter” structures with orientation-dependent responses over a wide spectrum by focused-ion-beam based patterning and folding of thin film nanostructures. Au nano units of different shapes, standing along specifically designated orientations, were fabricated. Experimental measurements and simulation results show that such structures offer an additional degree of freedom for adjusting optical properties with the angle of inclination, in additional to the size of the structures. The response frequency can be varied in a wide range (8 μm–14 μm) by the spatial orientation (0°–180°) of the structures, transforming the response from magnetic into electric coupling. This may open up prospects for the fabrication of 3D nanostructures as optical interconnects, focusing elements and logic elements, moving toward the realization of 3D optical circuits. PMID:27357610

  9. Exploring Proxy Measures of Mutuality for Strategic Partnership Development: A Case Study.

    PubMed

    Mayo-Gamble, Tilicia L; Barnes, Priscilla A; Sherwood-Laughlin, Catherine M; Reece, Michael; DeWeese, Sandy; Kennedy, Carol Weiss; Valenta, Mary Ann

    2017-07-01

    Partnerships between academic and clinical-based health organizations are becoming increasingly important in improving health outcomes. Mutuality is recognized as a vital component of these partnerships. If partnerships are to achieve mutuality, there is a need to define what it means to partnering organizations. Few studies have described the elements contributing to mutuality, particularly in new relationships between academic and clinical partners. This study seeks to identify how mutuality is expressed and to explore potential proxy measures of mutuality for an alliance consisting of a hospital system and a School of Public Health. Key informant interviews were conducted with faculty and hospital representatives serving on the partnership steering committee. Key informants were asked about perceived events that led to the development of the Alliance; perceived goals, expectations, and outcomes; and current/future roles with the Alliance. Four proxy measures of mutuality for an academic-clinical partnership were identified: policy directives, community beneficence, procurement of human capital, and partnership longevity. Findings can inform the development of tools for assisting in strengthening relationships and ensuring stakeholders' interests align with the mission and goal of the partnership by operationalizing elements necessary to evaluate the progress of the partnership.

  10. Coarse-Scale Biases for Spirals and Orientation in Human Visual Cortex

    PubMed Central

    Heeger, David J.

    2013-01-01

    Multivariate decoding analyses are widely applied to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, but there is controversy over their interpretation. Orientation decoding in primary visual cortex (V1) reflects coarse-scale biases, including an over-representation of radial orientations. But fMRI responses to clockwise and counter-clockwise spirals can also be decoded. Because these stimuli are matched for radial orientation, while differing in local orientation, it has been argued that fine-scale columnar selectivity for orientation contributes to orientation decoding. We measured fMRI responses in human V1 to both oriented gratings and spirals. Responses to oriented gratings exhibited a complex topography, including a radial bias that was most pronounced in the peripheral representation, and a near-vertical bias that was most pronounced near the foveal representation. Responses to clockwise and counter-clockwise spirals also exhibited coarse-scale organization, at the scale of entire visual quadrants. The preference of each voxel for clockwise or counter-clockwise spirals was predicted from the preferences of that voxel for orientation and spatial position (i.e., within the retinotopic map). Our results demonstrate a bias for local stimulus orientation that has a coarse spatial scale, is robust across stimulus classes (spirals and gratings), and suffices to explain decoding from fMRI responses in V1. PMID:24336733

  11. Edge orientation signals in tactile afferents of macaques

    PubMed Central

    Suresh, Aneesha K.

    2016-01-01

    The orientation of edges indented into the skin has been shown to be encoded in the responses of neurons in primary somatosensory cortex in a manner that draws remarkable analogies to their counterparts in primary visual cortex. According to the classical view, orientation tuning arises from the integration of untuned input from thalamic neurons with aligned but spatially displaced receptive fields (RFs). In a recent microneurography study with human subjects, the precise temporal structure of the responses of individual mechanoreceptive afferents to scanned edges was found to carry information about their orientation. This putative mechanism could in principle contribute to or complement the classical rate-based code for orientation. In the present study, we further examine orientation information carried by mechanoreceptive afferents of Rhesus monkeys. To this end, we record the activity evoked in cutaneous mechanoreceptive afferents when edges are indented into or scanned across the skin. First, we confirm that information about the edge orientation can be extracted from the temporal patterning in afferent responses of monkeys, as is the case in humans. Second, we find that while the coarse temporal profile of the response can be predicted linearly from the layout of the RF, the fine temporal profile cannot. Finally, we show that orientation signals in tactile afferents are often highly dependent on stimulus features other than orientation, which complicates putative decoding strategies. We discuss the challenges associated with establishing a neural code at the somatosensory periphery, where afferents are exquisitely sensitive and nearly deterministic. PMID:27655968

  12. 78 FR 4145 - Proposed Recommendations Regarding Money Market Mutual Fund Reform

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-18

    ... FINANCIAL STABILITY OVERSIGHT COUNCIL Proposed Recommendations Regarding Money Market Mutual Fund Reform AGENCY: Financial Stability Oversight Council. ACTION: Proposed recommendation; extension of...'') published in the Federal Register proposed recommendations regarding money market mutual funds (``MMFs...

  13. The measurement of threat orientations.

    PubMed

    Thompson, Suzanne C; Schlehofer, Michèle M; Bovin, Michelle J

    2006-01-01

    To develop measures of 3 threat orientations that affect responses to health behavior messages. In Study 1, college students (N = 47) completed items assessing threat orientations and health behaviors. In Study 2, college students and community adults (N = 110) completed the threat orientation items and measures of convergent and discriminant validity. In Study 1, the control-based, denial-based, and heightened-sensitivity-based threat orientation scales demonstrated good internal consistency and correlated with engagement in health behaviors. In Study 2, the convergent and discriminant validity of the 3 measures was established. The 3 scales have good internal reliability and construct validity.

  14. 26 CFR 1.822-5 - Mutual insurance company taxable income.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Mutual insurance company taxable income. 1.822-5... TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES Mutual Insurance Companies (other Than Life and Certain Marine Insurance Companies and Other Than Fire Or Flood Insurance Companies Which Operate on Basis of Perpetual Policies Or...

  15. Mutual Injection Locking of Monolithically Integrated Coupled-Cavity DBR Lasers

    DOE PAGES

    Tauke-Pedretti, Anna; Vawter, G. Allen; Skogen, Erik J.; ...

    2011-07-01

    We present a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) composed of two strongly coupled distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) lasers. This PIC utilizes the dynamics of mutual injection locking to increase the relaxation resonance frequency from 3 GHz to beyond 30 GHz. Mutual injection-locking and external injection-locking operation are then compared.

  16. The Mutual Storytelling Writing Game.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scorzelli, James F.; Gold, Julie

    1999-01-01

    Because of differences in cultural backgrounds and learning styles, some children have a difficult time verbalizing their emotions or appear resistant to talking about themselves. Describes a technique, referred to as the mutual storytelling writing game, that has been found to be useful for children who have difficulty in engaging in traditional…

  17. Mutual Respect and Civic Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bird, Colin

    2010-01-01

    Contemporary theories of civic education frequently appeal to an ideal of mutual respect in the context of ethical, ethical and religious disagreement. This paper critically examines two recently popular criticisms of this ideal. The first, coming from a postmodern direction, charges that the ideal is hypocritical in its effort to be maximally…

  18. A Family-Oriented Decision-Making Model for Human Research in Mainland China.

    PubMed

    Rui, Deng

    2015-08-01

    This essay argues that individual-oriented informed consent is inadequate to protect human research subjects in mainland China. The practice of family-oriented decision-making is better suited to guide moral research conduct. The family's role in medical decision-making originates from the mutual benevolence that exists among family members, and is in accordance with family harmony, which is the aim of Confucian society. I argue that the practice of informed consent for medical research on human subjects ought to remain family-oriented in mainland China. This essay explores the main features of this model of informed consent and demonstrates the proper authority of the family. The family's participation in decision-making as a whole does not negate or deny the importance of the individual who is the subject of the choice, but rather acts more fully to protect research subjects. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  19. B Cell Antigen Receptor Signaling and Internalization Are Mutually Exclusive Events

    PubMed Central

    Hou, Ping; Araujo, Elizabeth; Zhao, Tong; Zhang, Miao; Massenburg, Don; Veselits, Margaret; Doyle, Colleen; Dinner, Aaron R; Clark, Marcus R

    2006-01-01

    Engagement of the B cell antigen receptor initiates two concurrent processes, signaling and receptor internalization. While both are required for normal humoral immune responses, the relationship between these two processes is unknown. Herein, we demonstrate that following receptor ligation, a small subpopulation of B cell antigen receptors are inductively phosphorylated and selectively retained at the cell surface where they can serve as scaffolds for the assembly of signaling molecules. In contrast, the larger population of non-phosphorylated receptors is rapidly endocytosed. Each receptor can undergo only one of two mutually exclusive fates because the tyrosine-based motifs that mediate signaling when phosphorylated mediate internalization when not phosphorylated. Mathematical modeling indicates that the observed competition between receptor phosphorylation and internalization enhances signaling responses to low avidity ligands. PMID:16719564

  20. Enhanced mutual capture of colored solitons by matched modulator

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Feigenbaum, Eyal; Orenstein, Meir

    2004-08-01

    The mutual capture of two colored solitons is enhanced by a modulator, to a level which enables its practical exploitation, e.g., for a read- write mechanism in a soliton buffer. The enhanced capture was analyzed using closed form particle-like soliton perturbation, and verified by numerical simulations. Optimal modulator frequency and modulation depth are obtained. This mutual capture can be utilized for all-optical soliton logic and memory.

  1. 24 CFR 203.421 - Allocation of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund income or loss.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... Mortgage Insurance Fund and Distributive Shares § 203.421 Allocation of Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund... of the entire Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, such net income or such loss to the General Surplus... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Allocation of Mutual Mortgage...

  2. Mutually unbiased projectors and duality between lines and bases in finite quantum systems

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

    Shalaby, M.; Vourdas, A., E-mail: a.vourdas@bradford.ac.uk

    2013-10-15

    Quantum systems with variables in the ring Z(d) are considered, and the concepts of weak mutually unbiased bases and mutually unbiased projectors are discussed. The lines through the origin in the Z(d)×Z(d) phase space, are classified into maximal lines (sets of d points), and sublines (sets of d{sub i} points where d{sub i}|d). The sublines are intersections of maximal lines. It is shown that there exists a duality between the properties of lines (resp., sublines), and the properties of weak mutually unbiased bases (resp., mutually unbiased projectors). -- Highlights: •Lines in discrete phase space. •Bases in finite quantum systems. •Dualitymore » between bases and lines. •Weak mutually unbiased bases.« less

  3. Cooperation in Academic Negotiations: A Guide to Mutual Gains Bargaining.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Birnbaum, Robert; And Others

    A guide to mutual gains bargaining (MGB) is presented for faculty union leaders and college administrators, as well as school systems. MGB is based on applied behavioral sciences concepts and the use of bargaining teams and emphasizes problem-solving and improving communications and campus relationships. Two different uses of the mutual gains…

  4. 12 CFR 12.101 - National bank disclosure of remuneration for mutual fund transactions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... mutual fund transactions. 12.101 Section 12.101 Banks and Banking COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY, DEPARTMENT... Interpretations § 12.101 National bank disclosure of remuneration for mutual fund transactions. A national bank... by § 12.4, for mutual fund transactions by providing this information to the customer in a current...

  5. 12 CFR 12.101 - National bank disclosure of remuneration for mutual fund transactions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... mutual fund transactions. 12.101 Section 12.101 Banks and Banking COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY, DEPARTMENT... Interpretations § 12.101 National bank disclosure of remuneration for mutual fund transactions. A national bank... by § 12.4, for mutual fund transactions by providing this information to the customer in a current...

  6. 26 CFR 1.501(c)(14)-1 - Credit unions and mutual insurance funds.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 7 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Credit unions and mutual insurance funds. 1.501(c... unions and mutual insurance funds. Credit unions (other than Federal credit unions described in section 501(c)(1)) without capital stock, organized and operated for mutual purposes and without profit, are...

  7. 26 CFR 1.501(c)(14)-1 - Credit unions and mutual insurance funds.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 7 2011-04-01 2009-04-01 true Credit unions and mutual insurance funds. 1.501(c... unions and mutual insurance funds. Credit unions (other than Federal credit unions described in section 501(c)(1)) without capital stock, organized and operated for mutual purposes and without profit, are...

  8. Supermode noise suppression with mutual injection locking for coupled optoelectronic oscillator.

    PubMed

    Dai, Jian; Liu, Anni; Liu, Jingliang; Zhang, Tian; Zhou, Yue; Yin, Feifei; Dai, Yitang; Liu, Yuanan; Xu, Kun

    2017-10-30

    The coupled optoelectronic oscillator (COEO) is typically used to generate high frequency spectrally pure microwave signal with serious sidemodes noise. We propose and experimentally demonstrate a simple scheme for supermode suppression with mutual injection locking between the COEO (master oscillator with multi-modes oscillation) and the embedded free-running oscillator (slave oscillator with single-mode oscillation). The master and slave oscillators share the same electrical feedback path, which means that the mutually injection-locked COEO brings no additional hardware complexity. Owing to the mode matching and mutually injection locking effect, 9.999 GHz signal has been successfully obtained by the mutually injection-locked COEO with the phase noise about -117 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset frequency. Besides, the supermode noise can be significantly suppressed more than 50 dB to below -120 dBc.

  9. Long-range mutual synchronization of spin Hall nano-oscillators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Awad, A. A.; Dürrenfeld, P.; Houshang, A.; Dvornik, M.; Iacocca, E.; Dumas, R. K.; Åkerman, J.

    2017-03-01

    The spin Hall effect in a non-magnetic metal with spin-orbit coupling injects transverse spin currents into adjacent magnetic layers, where the resulting spin transfer torque can drive spin wave auto-oscillations. Such spin Hall nano-oscillators (SHNOs) hold great promise as extremely compact and broadband microwave signal generators and magnonic spin wave injectors. Here we show that SHNOs can also be mutually synchronized with unprecedented efficiency. We demonstrate mutual synchronization of up to nine individual SHNOs, each separated by 300 nm. Through further tailoring of the connection regions we can extend the synchronization range to 4 μm. The mutual synchronization is observed electrically as an increase in the power and coherence of the microwave signal, and confirmed optically using micro-Brillouin light scattering microscopy as two spin wave regions sharing the same spectral content, in agreement with our micromagnetic simulations.

  10. A novel structure of transmission line pulse transformer with mutually coupled windings.

    PubMed

    Yu, Binxiong; Su, Jiancang; Li, Rui; Zhao, Liang; Zhang, Xibo; Wang, Junjie

    2014-03-01

    A novel structure of transmission line transformer (TLT) with mutually coupled windings is described in this paper. All transmission lines except the first stage of the transformer are wound on a common ferrite core for the TLT with this structure. A referral method was introduced to analyze the TLT with this structure, and an analytic expression of the step response was derived. It is shown that a TLT with this structure has a significantly slower droop rate than a TLT with other winding structures and the number of ferrite cores needed is largely reduced. A four-stage TLT with this structure was developed, whose input and output impedance were 4.2 Ω and 67.7 Ω, respectively. A frequency response test of the TLT was carried out. The test results showed that pulse response time of the TLT is several nanoseconds. The TLT described in this paper has the potential to be used as a rectangle pulse transformer with very fast response time.

  11. Design of High Impedance Electromagnetic Surfaces for Mutual Coupling Reduction in Patch Antenna Array.

    PubMed

    Islam, Mohammad Tariqul; Alam, Md Shahidul

    2013-01-07

    A compact planar meander-bridge high impedance electromagnetic structure (MBHIES) was designed and its bandgap characteristics, mutual coupling reduction abilities were studied and compared in detail. Several parametric analyses were performed to obtain optimized design values and the transmission responses were calculated through the suspended microstrip line and waveguide simulation methods. The achieved bandgap is 2.3 GHz (2.55-4.85 GHz) with -61 dB minimum transmission coefficient level at the center frequency of 3.6 GHz. To see the effectiveness, the proposed design was inserted between a microstrip patch antenna array which operates at 3.8 GHz and whose operating bandwidth falls within the MBHIES bandgap. The surface wave suppression phenomenon was analyzed and simulated results are verified by measuring the fabricated prototypes, both are in good agreement. The configuration reduced the mutual coupling by 20.69 dB in simulation and 19.18 dB in measurement, without affecting the radiation characteristics of the array but increasing the gain slightly.

  12. Exponential Modelling for Mutual-Cohering of Subband Radar Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Siart, U.; Tejero, S.; Detlefsen, J.

    2005-05-01

    Increasing resolution and accuracy is an important issue in almost any type of radar sensor application. However, both resolution and accuracy are strongly related to the available signal bandwidth and energy that can be used. Nowadays, often several sensors operating in different frequency bands become available on a sensor platform. It is an attractive goal to use the potential of advanced signal modelling and optimization procedures by making proper use of information stemming from different frequency bands at the RF signal level. An important prerequisite for optimal use of signal energy is coherence between all contributing sensors. Coherent multi-sensor platforms are greatly expensive and are thus not available in general. This paper presents an approach for accurately estimating object radar responses using subband measurements at different RF frequencies. An exponential model approach allows to compensate for the lack of mutual coherence between independently operating sensors. Mutual coherence is recovered from the a-priori information that both sensors have common scattering centers in view. Minimizing the total squared deviation between measured data and a full-range exponential signal model leads to more accurate pole angles and pole magnitudes compared to single-band optimization. The model parameters (range and magnitude of point scatterers) after this full-range optimization process are also more accurate than the parameters obtained from a commonly used super-resolution procedure (root-MUSIC) applied to the non-coherent subband data.

  13. Patterns of Wildlife Value Orientations

    Treesearch

    Harry C. Zinn; Michael J. Manfredo; Susan C. Barro

    2002-01-01

    Public value orientations toward wildlife may be growing less utilitarian and more protectionist. To better understand one aspect of this trend, we investigated patterns of wildlife value orientations within families. Using a mail survey, we sampled Pennsylvania and Colorado hunting license holders 50 or older; obtaining a 54% response rate (n = 599). Males (94% of...

  14. Magnetic Response of Aromatic Rings Under Rotation: Aromatic Shielding Cone of Benzene Upon Different Orientations of the Magnetic Field.

    PubMed

    Papadopoulos, A G; Charistos, N D; Muñoz-Castro, A

    2017-06-20

    The induced shielding cone is one of the most characteristic aspects of aromatic species. Herein, we explore its behavior under different orientations of the applied magnetic field by evaluating the overall and dissected π- and σ-electron contributions. Our results shed light onto the orientation dependence behavior of the shielding cone, unraveling a characteristic pattern upon rotation of the aromatic ring. This pattern decreases the long range of the magnetic response, such that it resembles the behavior under constant molecular tumbling in solution. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  15. Problem decomposition by mutual information and force-based clustering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Otero, Richard Edward

    The scale of engineering problems has sharply increased over the last twenty years. Larger coupled systems, increasing complexity, and limited resources create a need for methods that automatically decompose problems into manageable sub-problems by discovering and leveraging problem structure. The ability to learn the coupling (inter-dependence) structure and reorganize the original problem could lead to large reductions in the time to analyze complex problems. Such decomposition methods could also provide engineering insight on the fundamental physics driving problem solution. This work forwards the current state of the art in engineering decomposition through the application of techniques originally developed within computer science and information theory. The work describes the current state of automatic problem decomposition in engineering and utilizes several promising ideas to advance the state of the practice. Mutual information is a novel metric for data dependence and works on both continuous and discrete data. Mutual information can measure both the linear and non-linear dependence between variables without the limitations of linear dependence measured through covariance. Mutual information is also able to handle data that does not have derivative information, unlike other metrics that require it. The value of mutual information to engineering design work is demonstrated on a planetary entry problem. This study utilizes a novel tool developed in this work for planetary entry system synthesis. A graphical method, force-based clustering, is used to discover related sub-graph structure as a function of problem structure and links ranked by their mutual information. This method does not require the stochastic use of neural networks and could be used with any link ranking method currently utilized in the field. Application of this method is demonstrated on a large, coupled low-thrust trajectory problem. Mutual information also serves as the basis for an

  16. 76 FR 36625 - Mutual Holding Company

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-06-22

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Thrift Supervision Mutual Holding Company AGENCY: Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice and request for comment. SUMMARY: The proposed... Collection Comments, Chief Counsel's Office, Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC...

  17. Economic game theory for mutualism and cooperation.

    PubMed

    Archetti, Marco; Scheuring, István; Hoffman, Moshe; Frederickson, Megan E; Pierce, Naomi E; Yu, Douglas W

    2011-12-01

    We review recent work at the interface of economic game theory and evolutionary biology that provides new insights into the evolution of partner choice, host sanctions, partner fidelity feedback and public goods. (1) The theory of games with asymmetrical information shows that the right incentives allow hosts to screen-out parasites and screen-in mutualists, explaining successful partner choice in the absence of signalling. Applications range from ant-plants to microbiomes. (2) Contract theory distinguishes two longstanding but weakly differentiated explanations of host response to defectors: host sanctions and partner fidelity feedback. Host traits that selectively punish misbehaving symbionts are parsimoniously interpreted as pre-adaptations. Yucca-moth and legume-rhizobia mutualisms are argued to be examples of partner fidelity feedback. (3) The theory of public goods shows that cooperation in multi-player interactions can evolve in the absence of assortment, in one-shot social dilemmas among non-kin. Applications include alarm calls in vertebrates and exoenzymes in microbes. 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

  18. Modeling the effect of orientation on the shock response of a damageable composite material

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lukyanov, Alexander A.

    2012-10-01

    A carbon fiber-epoxy composite (CFEC) shock response in the through thickness orientation and in one of the fiber directions is significantly different. The hydrostatic pressure inside anisotropic materials depends on deviatoric strain components as well as volumetric strain. Non-linear effects, such as shock effects, can be incorporated through the volumetric straining in the material. Thus, a new basis is required to couple the anisotropic material stiffness and strength with anisotropic shock effects, associated energy dependence, and damage softening process. This article presents these constitutive equations for shock wave modeling of a damageable carbon fiber-epoxy composite. Modeling the effect of fiber orientation on the shock response of a CFEC has been performed using a generalized decomposition of the stress tensor [A. A. Lukyanov, Int. J. Plast. 24, 140 (2008)] and Mie-Grüneisen's extrapolation of high-pressure shock Hugoniot states to other thermodynamics states for shocked CFEC materials. The three-wave structure (non-linear anisotropic, fracture, and isotropic elastic waves) that accompanies damage softening process is also proposed in this work for describing CFEC behavior under shock loading which allows to remove any discontinuities observed in the linear case for relation between shock velocities and particle velocities [A. A. Lukyanov, Eur. Phys. J. B 74, 35 (2010)]. Different Hugoniot stress levels are obtained when the material is impacted in different directions; their good agreement with the experiment demonstrates that the anisotropic equation of state, strength, and damage model are adequate for the simulation of shock wave propagation within damageable CFEC material. Remarkably, in the through thickness orientation, the material behaves similar to a simple polymer whereas in the fiber direction, the proposed in this paper model explains an initial ramp, before at sufficiently high stresses, and a much faster rising shock above it. The

  19. Empirical study of the tails of mutual fund size

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schwarzkopf, Yonathan; Farmer, J. Doyne

    2010-06-01

    The mutual fund industry manages about a quarter of the assets in the U.S. stock market and thus plays an important role in the U.S. economy. The question of how much control is concentrated in the hands of the largest players is best quantitatively discussed in terms of the tail behavior of the mutual fund size distribution. We study the distribution empirically and show that the tail is much better described by a log-normal than a power law, indicating less concentration than, for example, personal income. The results are highly statistically significant and are consistent across fifteen years. This contradicts a recent theory concerning the origin of the power law tails of the trading volume distribution. Based on the analysis in a companion paper, the log-normality is to be expected, and indicates that the distribution of mutual funds remains perpetually out of equilibrium.

  20. 77 FR 42553 - Surety Companies Acceptable on Federal Bonds-Termination and Merger: Harleysville Mutual...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-07-19

    ...--Termination and Merger: Harleysville Mutual Insurance Company (NAIC 14168) AGENCY: Financial Management... company merged with and into Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company (NAIC 23787) effective May 1, 2012. The surviving corporation of the merger activity is Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company (NAIC 23787), an Ohio...

  1. 77 FR 25212 - Praxis Mutual Funds and Everence Community Investments, Inc.; Notice of Application

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-04-27

    ... Mutual Funds and Everence Community Investments, Inc.; Notice of Application April 23, 2012. AGENCY... Act to permit certain transactions. Applicants: Praxis Mutual Funds (``Trust'') and Everence Community... development investment program. \\1\\ MMA Praxis Mutual Funds, et al., Investment Company Act Release Nos. 25263...

  2. Prediction of microsleeps using pairwise joint entropy and mutual information between EEG channels.

    PubMed

    Baseer, Abdul; Weddell, Stephen J; Jones, Richard D

    2017-07-01

    Microsleeps are involuntary and brief instances of complete loss of responsiveness, typically of 0.5-15 s duration. They adversely affect performance in extended attention-driven jobs and can be fatal. Our aim was to predict microsleeps from 16 channel EEG signals. Two information theoretic concepts - pairwise joint entropy and mutual information - were independently used to continuously extract features from EEG signals. k-nearest neighbor (kNN) with k = 3 was used to calculate both joint entropy and mutual information. Highly correlated features were discarded and the rest were ranked using Fisher score followed by an average of 3-fold cross-validation area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic (AUC ROC ). Leave-one-out method (LOOM) was performed to test the performance of microsleep prediction system on independent data. The best prediction for 0.25 s ahead was AUCROC, sensitivity, precision, geometric mean (GM), and φ of 0.93, 0.68, 0.33, 0.75, and 0.38 respectively with joint entropy using single linear discriminant analysis (LDA) classifier.

  3. An Orientation & Leadership Training Handbook for International Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hansen, M. Eileen

    This handbook provides guidance for implementing orientation activities for international students at Middlesex County College (MCC), in New Jersey. An introduction describes the development of MCC's orientation plan, indicating that, in response to problems faced by international students, the college developed an overnight orientation and…

  4. Complex degree of mutual anisotropy in diagnostics of biological tissues physiological changes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ushenko, Yu. A.; Dubolazov, O. V.; Karachevtcev, A. O.; Zabolotna, N. I.

    2011-05-01

    To characterize the degree of consistency of parameters of the optically uniaxial birefringent protein nets of blood plasma a new parameter - complex degree of mutual anisotropy is suggested. The technique of polarization measuring the coordinate distributions of the complex degree of mutual anisotropy of blood plasma is developed. It is shown that statistic approach to the analysis of complex degree of mutual anisotropy distributions of blood plasma is effective in the diagnosis and differentiation of acute inflammation - acute and gangrenous appendicitis.

  5. Complex degree of mutual anisotropy in diagnostics of biological tissues physiological changes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ushenko, Yu. A.; Dubolazov, A. V.; Karachevtcev, A. O.; Zabolotna, N. I.

    2011-09-01

    To characterize the degree of consistency of parameters of the optically uniaxial birefringent protein nets of blood plasma a new parameter - complex degree of mutual anisotropy is suggested. The technique of polarization measuring the coordinate distributions of the complex degree of mutual anisotropy of blood plasma is developed. It is shown that statistic approach to the analysis of complex degree of mutual anisotropy distributions of blood plasma is effective in the diagnosis and differentiation of acute inflammation - acute and gangrenous appendicitis.

  6. Hierarchical mutual information for the comparison of hierarchical community structures in complex networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Perotti, Juan Ignacio; Tessone, Claudio Juan; Caldarelli, Guido

    2015-12-01

    The quest for a quantitative characterization of community and modular structure of complex networks produced a variety of methods and algorithms to classify different networks. However, it is not clear if such methods provide consistent, robust, and meaningful results when considering hierarchies as a whole. Part of the problem is the lack of a similarity measure for the comparison of hierarchical community structures. In this work we give a contribution by introducing the hierarchical mutual information, which is a generalization of the traditional mutual information and makes it possible to compare hierarchical partitions and hierarchical community structures. The normalized version of the hierarchical mutual information should behave analogously to the traditional normalized mutual information. Here the correct behavior of the hierarchical mutual information is corroborated on an extensive battery of numerical experiments. The experiments are performed on artificial hierarchies and on the hierarchical community structure of artificial and empirical networks. Furthermore, the experiments illustrate some of the practical applications of the hierarchical mutual information, namely the comparison of different community detection methods and the study of the consistency, robustness, and temporal evolution of the hierarchical modular structure of networks.

  7. Invasive species management restores a plant-pollinator mutualism in Hawaii

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hanna, Cause; Foote, David; Kremen, Claire

    2013-01-01

    1.The management and removal of invasive species may give rise to unanticipated changes in plant–pollinator mutualisms because they can alter the composition and functioning of plant–pollinator interactions in a variety of ways. To utilize a functional approach for invasive species management, we examined the restoration of plant–pollinator mutualisms following the large-scale removal of an invasive nectar thief and arthropod predator, Vespula pensylvanica. 2.We reduced V. pensylvanica populations in large plots managed over multiple years to examine the response of plant–pollinator mutualisms and the fruit production of a functionally important endemic Hawaiian tree species, Metrosideros polymorpha. To integrate knowledge of the invader's behaviour and the plant's mating system, we determined the efficacy of V. pensylvanica as a pollinator of M. polymorpha and quantified the dependence of M. polymorpha on animal pollination (e.g. level of self-compatibility and pollen limitation). 3.The reduction of V. pensylvanica in managed sites, when compared to unmanaged sites, resulted in a significant increase in the visitation rates of effective bee pollinators (e.g. introduced Apis mellifera and native Hylaeus spp.) and in the fruit production of M. polymorpha. 4.Apis mellifera, following the management of V. pensylvanica, appears to be acting as a substitute pollinator for M. polymorpha, replacing extinct or threatened bird and bee species in our study system. 5.Synthesis and applications. Fruit production of the native M. polymorpha was increased after management of the invasive pollinator predator V. pensylvanica; however, the main pollinators were no longer native but introduced. This research thus demonstrates the diverse impacts of introduced species on ecological function and the ambiguous role they play in restoration. We recommend incorporating ecological function and context into invasive species management as this approach may enable conservation

  8. Chronic inflammation and cancer: potential chemoprevention through nuclear factor kappa B and p53 mutual antagonism

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF- κB) as a mechanism of host defense against infection and stress is the central mediator of inflammatory responses. A normal (acute) inflammatory response is activated on urgent basis and is auto-regulated. Chronic inflammation that results due to failure in the regulatory mechanism, however, is largely considered as a critical determinant in the initiation and progression of various forms of cancer. Mechanistically, NF- κB favors this process by inducing various genes responsible for cell survival, proliferation, migration, invasion while at the same time antagonizing growth regulators including tumor suppressor p53. It has been shown by various independent investigations that a down regulation of NF- κB activity directly, or indirectly through the activation of the p53 pathway reduces tumor growth substantially. Therefore, there is a huge effort driven by many laboratories to understand the NF- κB signaling pathways to intervene the function of this crucial player in inflammation and tumorigenesis in order to find an effective inhibitor directly, or through the p53 tumor suppressor. We discuss here on the role of NF- κB in chronic inflammation and cancer, highlighting mutual antagonism between NF- κB and p53 pathways in the process. We also discuss prospective pharmacological modulators of these two pathways, including those that were already tested to affect this mutual antagonism. PMID:25152696

  9. Long-range RNA pairings contribute to mutually exclusive splicing

    PubMed Central

    Yue, Yuan; Yang, Yun; Dai, Lanzhi; Cao, Guozheng; Chen, Ran; Hong, Weiling; Liu, Baoping; Shi, Yang; Meng, Yijun; Shi, Feng; Xiao, Mu; Jin, Yongfeng

    2016-01-01

    Mutually exclusive splicing is an important means of increasing the protein repertoire, by which the Down's syndrome cell adhesion molecule (Dscam) gene potentially generates 38,016 different isoforms in Drosophila melanogaster. However, the regulatory mechanisms remain obscure due to the complexity of the Dscam exon cluster. Here, we reveal a molecular model for the regulation of the mutually exclusive splicing of the serpent pre-mRNA based on competition between upstream and downstream RNA pairings. Such dual RNA pairings confer fine tuning of the inclusion of alternative exons. Moreover, we demonstrate that the splicing outcome of alternative exons is mediated in relative pairing strength-correlated mode. Combined comparative genomics analysis and experimental evidence revealed similar bidirectional structural architectures in exon clusters 4 and 9 of the Dscam gene. Our findings provide a novel mechanistic framework for the regulation of mutually exclusive splicing and may offer potentially applicable insights into long-range RNA–RNA interactions in gene regulatory networks. PMID:26554032

  10. Sparse Bayesian learning for DOA estimation with mutual coupling.

    PubMed

    Dai, Jisheng; Hu, Nan; Xu, Weichao; Chang, Chunqi

    2015-10-16

    Sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) has given renewed interest to the problem of direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation. It is generally assumed that the measurement matrix in SBL is precisely known. Unfortunately, this assumption may be invalid in practice due to the imperfect manifold caused by unknown or misspecified mutual coupling. This paper describes a modified SBL method for joint estimation of DOAs and mutual coupling coefficients with uniform linear arrays (ULAs). Unlike the existing method that only uses stationary priors, our new approach utilizes a hierarchical form of the Student t prior to enforce the sparsity of the unknown signal more heavily. We also provide a distinct Bayesian inference for the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm, which can update the mutual coupling coefficients more efficiently. Another difference is that our method uses an additional singular value decomposition (SVD) to reduce the computational complexity of the signal reconstruction process and the sensitivity to the measurement noise.

  11. Caregiving and mutuality among long-term colorectal cancer survivors with ostomies: qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Altschuler, Andrea; Liljestrand, Petra; Grant, Marcia; Hornbrook, Mark C; Krouse, Robert S; McMullen, Carmit K

    2018-02-01

    The cancer caregiving literature focuses on the early phases of survivorship, but caregiving can continue for decades when cancer creates disability. Survivors with an ostomy following colorectal cancer (CRC) have caregiving needs that may last decades. Mutuality has been identified as a relationship component that can affect caregiving. This paper discusses how mutuality may affect long-term ostomy caregiving. We conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 31 long-term CRC survivors with ostomies and their primary informal caregivers. Interviewees were members of an integrated health care delivery system in the USA. We used inductive theme analysis techniques to analyze the interviews. Most survivors were 71 years of age or older (67%), female (55%), and with some college education (54%). Two thirds lived with and received care from spouses. Caregiving ranged from minimal support to intimate assistance with daily ostomy care. While some survivors received caregiving far beyond what was needed, others did not receive adequate caregiving for their health care needs. Low mutuality created challenges for ostomy caregiving. Mutuality impacts the quality of caregiving, and this quality may change over time, depending on various factors. Emotional feedback and amplification is the proposed mechanism by which mutuality may shift over time. Survivorship care should include assessment and support of mutuality as a resource to enhance health outcomes and quality of life for survivors with long-term caregiving needs and their caregivers. Appropriate questionnaires can be identified or developed to assess mutuality over the survivorship trajectory.

  12. Mutual understanding: a communication model for general practice.

    PubMed

    Hantho, Arne; Jensen, Lena; Malterud, Kirsti

    2002-12-01

    To present our pursuits towards development of a simple model for clinical communication intended for application by the practitioner as a tool for enhancing mutual understanding. Inspired by theories about patient-centredness and interactive modes of understanding, and supported by the perspectives of the Danish philosopher Niels Thomassen, we reviewed audiotapes from our own consultations. Recognising four dimensions assumed to be essential for mutual understanding in the transcripts, we explored these dimensions further. We present a communication model consisting of the following dimensions: The Framework, within which the communication takes place; The Subject, about which the communication takes place; The Persons, between whom the communication takes place; and The Action, verbally and non-verbally, through which communication takes place. We describe these dimensions in detail. The nature of the dimensions indicates that there is an interrelationship between them, implying that the character of the communication may change if one of the factors is changed. Analysis of an ongoing or recent consultation completed in accordance with these four dimensions allows the doctor to refocus the communication, thus leading to a more extensive mutual understanding and perhaps enhanced freedom of action.

  13. Dispersal Mutualism Incorporated into Large-Scale, Infrequent Disturbances

    PubMed Central

    Parker, V. Thomas

    2015-01-01

    Because of their influence on succession and other community interactions, large-scale, infrequent natural disturbances also should play a major role in mutualistic interactions. Using field data and experiments, I test whether mutualisms have been incorporated into large-scale wildfire by whether the outcomes of a mutualism depend on disturbance. In this study a seed dispersal mutualism is shown to depend on infrequent, large-scale disturbances. A dominant shrubland plant (Arctostaphylos species) produces seeds that make up a persistent soil seed bank and requires fire to germinate. In post-fire stands, I show that seedlings emerging from rodent caches dominate sites experiencing higher fire intensity. Field experiments show that rodents (Perimyscus californicus, P. boylii) do cache Arctostaphylos fruit and bury most seed caches to a sufficient depth to survive a killing heat pulse that a fire might drive into the soil. While the rodent dispersal and caching behavior itself has not changed compared to other habitats, the environmental transformation caused by wildfire converts the caching burial of seed from a dispersal process to a plant fire adaptive trait, and provides the context for stimulating subsequent life history evolution in the plant host. PMID:26151560

  14. 31 CFR 103.15 - Reports by mutual funds of suspicious transactions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... suspected terrorist financing or ongoing money laundering schemes, a mutual fund shall immediately notify by... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Reports by mutual funds of suspicious transactions. 103.15 Section 103.15 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance...

  15. Mutuality in Cambodian International University Partnerships: Looking beyond the Global Discourse

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leng, Phirom

    2016-01-01

    This study examines the mutuality issue in international partnership programs between Cambodian universities and universities in France, the USA, Japan and South Korea. It adopts Galtung's and Held's four aspects of mutuality as its conceptual framework and follows a qualitative case study research design. The study finds that most partnership…

  16. Effects of static orientation upon human optokinetic afternystagmus

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wall, C. 3rd; Merfeld, D. M.; Zupan, L.

    1999-01-01

    "Normal" human subjects were placed in a series of 5 static orientations with respect to gravity and were asked to view an optokinetic display moving at a constant angular velocity. The axis of rotation coincided with the subject's rostro-caudal axis and produced horizontal optokinetic nystagmus and afternystagmus. Wall (1) previously reported that these optokinetic afternystagmus responses were not well characterized by parametric fits to slow component velocity. The response for nose-up, however, was larger than for nose-down. This suggested that the horizontal eye movements measured during optokinetic stimulation might include an induced linear VOR component as presented in the body of this paper. To investigate this hypothesis, another analysis of these data has been made using cumulative slow component eye position. Some subjects' responses had reversals in afternystagmus direction. These reversals were "filled in" by a zero slow component velocity. This method of analysis gives a much more consistent result across subjects and shows that, on average, responses from the nose-down horizontal (prone) orientation are greatly reduced (p < 0.05) compared to other horizontal and vertical orientations. Average responses are compared to responses predicted by a model previously used to predict successfully the responses to post-rotatory nystagmus after earth horizontal axis rotation. Ten of 11 subjects had larger responses in their supine than their prone orientation. Application of horizontal axis optokinetic afternystagmus for clinical otolith function testing, and implications for altered gravity experiments are discussed.

  17. Dissociation of neural mechanisms underlying orientation processing in humans

    PubMed Central

    Ling, Sam; Pearson, Joel; Blake, Randolph

    2009-01-01

    Summary Orientation selectivity is a fundamental, emergent property of neurons in early visual cortex, and discovery of that property [1, 2] dramatically shaped how we conceptualize visual processing [3–6]. However, much remains unknown about the neural substrates of these basic building blocks of perception, and what is known primarily stems from animal physiology studies. To probe the neural concomitants of orientation processing in humans, we employed repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to attenuate neural responses evoked by stimuli presented within a local region of the visual field. Previous physiological studies have shown that rTMS can significantly suppress the neuronal spiking activity, hemodynamic responses, and local field potentials within a focused cortical region [7, 8]. By suppressing neural activity with rTMS, we were able to dissociate components of the neural circuitry underlying two distinct aspects of orientation processing: selectivity and contextual effects. Orientation selectivity gauged by masking was unchanged by rTMS, whereas an otherwise robust orientation repulsion illusion was weakened following rTMS. This dissociation implies that orientation processing relies on distinct mechanisms, only one of which was impacted by rTMS. These results are consistent with models positing that orientation selectivity is largely governed by the patterns of convergence of thalamic afferents onto cortical neurons, with intracortical activity then shaping population responses contained within those orientation-selective cortical neurons. PMID:19682905

  18. Reflexive Orienting in Response to Short- and Long-Duration Gaze Cues in Young, Young-Old, and Old-Old Adults

    PubMed Central

    Gayzur, Nora D.; Langley, Linda K.; Kelland, Chris; Wyman, Sara V.; Saville, Alyson L.; Ciernia, Annie T.; Padmanabhan, Ganesh

    2013-01-01

    Shifting visual focus based on the perceived gaze direction of another person is one form of joint attention. The present study investigated if this socially-relevant form of orienting is reflexive and whether it is influenced by age. Green and Woldorff (2012) argued that rapid cueing effects (faster responses to validly-cued targets than to invalidly-cued targets) were limited to conditions in which a cue overlapped in time with a target. They attributed slower responses following invalid cues to the time needed to resolve incongruent spatial information provided by the concurrently-presented cue and target. The present study examined orienting responses of young (18-31 years), young-old (60-74 years), and old-old adults (75-91 years) following uninformative central gaze cues that overlapped in time with the target (Experiment 1) or that were removed prior to target presentation (Experiment 2). When the cue and target overlapped, all three groups localized validly-cued targets faster than invalidly-cued targets, and validity effects emerged earlier for the two younger groups (at 100 ms post cue onset) than for the old-old group (at 300 ms post cue onset). With a short duration cue (Experiment 2), validity effects developed rapidly (by 100 ms) for all three groups, suggesting that validity effects resulted from reflexive orienting based on gaze cue information rather than from cue-target conflict. Thus, although old-old adults may be slow to disengage from persistent gaze cues, attention continues to be reflexively guided by gaze cues late in life. PMID:24170377

  19. Evolutionary stability of mutualism: interspecific population regulation as an evolutionarily stable strategy

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Holland, J. Nathaniel; DeAngelis, Donald L.; Schultz, Stewart T.

    2004-01-01

    Interspecific mutualisms are often vulnerable to instability because low benefit : cost ratios can rapidly lead to extinction or to the conversion of mutualism to parasite–host or predator–prey interactions. We hypothesize that the evolutionary stability of mutualism can depend on how benefits and costs to one mutualist vary with the population density of its partner, and that stability can be maintained if a mutualist can influence demographic rates and regulate the population density of its partner. We test this hypothesis in a model of mutualism with key features of senita cactus (Pachycereus schottii) – senita moth (Upiga virescens) interactions, in which benefits of pollination and costs of larval seed consumption to plant fitness depend on pollinator density. We show that plants can maximize their fitness by allocating resources to the production of excess flowers at the expense of fruit. Fruit abortion resulting from excess flower production reduces pre–adult survival of the pollinating seed–consumer, and maintains its density beneath a threshold that would destabilize the mutualism. Such a strategy of excess flower production and fruit abortion is convergent and evolutionarily stable against invasion by cheater plants that produce few flowers and abort few to no fruit. This novel mechanism of achieving evolutionarily stable mutualism, namely interspecific population regulation, is qualitatively different from other mechanisms invoking partner choice or selective rewards, and may be a general process that helps to preserve mutualistic interactions in nature.

  20. Evolutionary stability of mutualism: interspecific population regulation as an evolutionarily stable strategy.

    PubMed

    Holland, J Nathaniel; DeAngelis, Donald L; Schultz, Stewart T

    2004-09-07

    Interspecific mutualisms are often vulnerable to instability because low benefit : cost ratios can rapidly lead to extinction or to the conversion of mutualism to parasite-host or predator-prey interactions. We hypothesize that the evolutionary stability of mutualism can depend on how benefits and costs to one mutualist vary with the population density of its partner, and that stability can be maintained if a mutualist can influence demographic rates and regulate the population density of its partner. We test this hypothesis in a model of mutualism with key features of senita cactus (Pachycereus schottii)-senita moth (Upiga virescens) interactions, in which benefits of pollination and costs of larval seed consumption to plant fitness depend on pollinator density. We show that plants can maximize their fitness by allocating resources to the production of excess flowers at the expense of fruit. Fruit abortion resulting from excess flower production reduces pre-adult survival of the pollinating seed-consumer, and maintains its density beneath a threshold that would destabilize the mutualism. Such a strategy of excess flower production and fruit abortion is convergent and evolutionarily stable against invasion by cheater plants that produce few flowers and abort few to no fruit. This novel mechanism of achieving evolutionarily stable mutualism, namely interspecific population regulation, is qualitatively different from other mechanisms invoking partner choice or selective rewards, and may be a general process that helps to preserve mutualistic interactions in nature.

  1. Evaluative priming in a semantic flanker task: ERP evidence for a mutual facilitation explanation.

    PubMed

    Schmitz, Melanie; Wentura, Dirk; Brinkmann, Thorsten A

    2014-03-01

    In semantic flanker tasks, target categorization response times are affected by the semantic compatibility of the flanker and target. With positive and negative category exemplars, we investigated the influence of evaluative congruency (whether flanker and target share evaluative valence) on the flanker effect, using behavioral and electrophysiological measures. We hypothesized a moderation of the flanker effect by evaluative congruency on the basis of the assumption that evaluatively congruent concepts mutually facilitate each other's activation (see Schmitz & Wentura in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 38:984-1000, 2012). Applying an onset delay of 50 ms for the flanker, we aimed to decrease the facilitative effect of an evaluatively congruent flanker on target encoding and, at the same time, increase the facilitative effect of an evaluatively congruent target on flanker encoding. As a consequence of increased flanker activation in the case of evaluative congruency, we expected a semantically incompatible flanker to interfere with the target categorization to a larger extent (as compared with an evaluatively incongruent pairing). Confirming our hypotheses, the flanker effect significantly depended on evaluative congruency, in both mean response times and N2 mean amplitudes. Thus, the present study provided behavioral and electrophysiological evidence for the mutual facilitation of evaluatively congruent concepts. Implications for the representation of evaluative connotations of semantic concepts are discussed.

  2. 12 CFR 250.406 - Serving member bank and investment advisor with mutual fund affiliation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... mutual fund affiliation. 250.406 Section 250.406 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED... Section 32 of the Glass-Steagall Act § 250.406 Serving member bank and investment advisor with mutual fund... management services to mutual funds and others (“Manager”) and as director of a member bank. (b) Section 32...

  3. A Wolff in sheep's clothing: trabecular bone adaptation in response to changes in joint loading orientation.

    PubMed

    Barak, Meir M; Lieberman, Daniel E; Hublin, Jean-Jacques

    2011-12-01

    This study tests Wolff's law of trabecular bone adaptation by examining if induced changes in joint loading orientation cause corresponding adjustments in trabecular orientation. Two groups of sheep were exercised at a trot, 15 min/day for 34 days on an inclined (7°) or level (0°) treadmills. Incline trotting caused the sheep to extend their tarsal joints by 3-4.5° during peak loading (P<0.01) but has no effect on carpal joint angle (P=0.984). Additionally, tarsal joint angle in the incline group sheep were maintained more extended throughout the day using elevated platform shoes on their forelimbs. A third "sedentary group" group did not run but wore platform shoes throughout the day. As predicted by Wolff's law, trabecular orientation in the distal tibia (tarsal joint) were more obtuse by 2.7 to 4.3° in the incline group compared to the level group; trabecular orientation was not significantly different in the sedentary and level groups. In addition, trabecular orientations in the distal radius (carpal joint) of the sedentary, level and incline groups did not differ between groups, and were aligned almost parallel to the radius long axis, corresponding to the almost straight carpal joint angle at peak loading. Measurements of other trabecular bone parameters revealed additional responses to loading, including significantly higher bone volume fraction (BV/TV), Trabecular number (Tb.N) and trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), lower trabecular spacing (Tb.Sp), and less rod-shaped trabeculae (higher structure model index, SMI) in the exercised than sedentary sheep. Overall, these results demonstrate that trabecular bone dynamically adjusts and realigns itself in very precise relation to changes in peak loading direction, indicating that Wolff's law is not only accurate but also highly sensitive. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Aspects of mutually unbiased bases in odd-prime-power dimensions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chaturvedi, S.

    2002-04-01

    We rephrase the Wootters-Fields construction [W. K. Wootters and B. C. Fields, Ann. Phys. 191, 363 (1989)] of a full set of mutually unbiased bases in a complex vector space of dimensions N=pr, where p is an odd prime, in terms of the character vectors of the cyclic group G of order p. This form may be useful in explicitly writing down mutually unbiased bases for N=pr.

  5. Mutual-Information-Based Incremental Relaying Communications for Wireless Biomedical Implant Systems

    PubMed Central

    Liao, Yangzhe; Cai, Qing; Ai, Qingsong; Liu, Quan

    2018-01-01

    Network lifetime maximization of wireless biomedical implant systems is one of the major research challenges of wireless body area networks (WBANs). In this paper, a mutual information (MI)-based incremental relaying communication protocol is presented where several on-body relay nodes and one coordinator are attached to the clothes of a patient. Firstly, a comprehensive analysis of a system model is investigated in terms of channel path loss, energy consumption, and the outage probability from the network perspective. Secondly, only when the MI value becomes smaller than the predetermined threshold is data transmission allowed. The communication path selection can be either from the implanted sensor to the on-body relay then forwards to the coordinator or from the implanted sensor to the coordinator directly, depending on the communication distance. Moreover, mathematical models of quality of service (QoS) metrics are derived along with the related subjective functions. The results show that the MI-based incremental relaying technique achieves better performance in comparison to our previous proposed protocol techniques regarding several selected performance metrics. The outcome of this paper can be applied to intra-body continuous physiological signal monitoring, artificial biofeedback-oriented WBANs, and telemedicine system design. PMID:29419784

  6. Mutual-Information-Based Incremental Relaying Communications for Wireless Biomedical Implant Systems.

    PubMed

    Liao, Yangzhe; Leeson, Mark S; Cai, Qing; Ai, Qingsong; Liu, Quan

    2018-02-08

    Network lifetime maximization of wireless biomedical implant systems is one of the major research challenges of wireless body area networks (WBANs). In this paper, a mutual information (MI)-based incremental relaying communication protocol is presented where several on-body relay nodes and one coordinator are attached to the clothes of a patient. Firstly, a comprehensive analysis of a system model is investigated in terms of channel path loss, energy consumption, and the outage probability from the network perspective. Secondly, only when the MI value becomes smaller than the predetermined threshold is data transmission allowed. The communication path selection can be either from the implanted sensor to the on-body relay then forwards to the coordinator or from the implanted sensor to the coordinator directly, depending on the communication distance. Moreover, mathematical models of quality of service (QoS) metrics are derived along with the related subjective functions. The results show that the MI-based incremental relaying technique achieves better performance in comparison to our previous proposed protocol techniques regarding several selected performance metrics. The outcome of this paper can be applied to intra-body continuous physiological signal monitoring, artificial biofeedback-oriented WBANs, and telemedicine system design.

  7. The upcoming mutual event season for the Patroclus-Menoetius Trojan binary

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grundy, W. M.; Noll, K. S.; Buie, M. W.; Levison, H. F.

    2018-05-01

    We present new Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based Keck observations and new Keplerian orbit solutions for the mutual orbit of binary Jupiter Trojan asteroid (617) Patroclus and Menoetius, targets of NASA's Lucy mission. We predict event times for the upcoming mutual event season, which is anticipated to run from late 2017 through mid 2019.

  8. Mutual Impact of Diabetes Mellitus and Tuberculosis in China.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Jun; Zhang, Hui; Zhao, Yan Lin; Wang, Li Xia; Chen, Ming Ting

    2017-05-01

    China has a double burden of diabetes mellitus and tuberculosis, and many studies have been carried out on the mutual impact of these two diseases. This paper systematically reviewed studies conducted in China covering the mutual impact of epidemics of diabetes and tuberculosis, the impact of diabetes on multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and on the tuberculosis clinical manifestation and treatment outcome, the yields of bi-directional screening, and economic evaluation for tuberculosis screening among diabetes patients. Copyright © 2017 The Editorial Board of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences. Published by China CDC. All rights reserved.

  9. Supplemental choline does not attenuate the effects of neonatal ethanol administration on habituation of the heart rate orienting response in rats

    PubMed Central

    Hunt, Pamela S.; Jacobson, Sarah E.; Kim, Sarah

    2014-01-01

    Several studies using rodent subjects have now shown that extra dietary choline may prevent or even reverse the deleterious effects of pre- and early post-natal ethanol administration. Choline supplementation has been shown to attenuate many, although not all, of ethanol’s effects on brain development and behavior. Our laboratory has consistently reported impaired habituation of the heart rate orienting response to a novel olfactory stimulus in animals exposed to ethanol on postnatal days (PD) 4–9. Here we examine whether supplemental choline given both during and after ethanol administration could alleviate these ethanol-induced deficits. Subjects were given 5 g/kg/day ethanol or sham intubations on PD 4–9. Half of the subjects in each group were given a single daily s.c. injection of choline chloride on PD 4–20, while the other half were injected daily with saline. Pups were tested for heart rate orienting and response habituation in a single test session on PD 23. Results replicated the ethanol-induced impairment in response habituation. However, choline supplementation had no effect on orienting or habituation in either neonatal treatment group. These findings indicate that habituation deficits induced by ethanol are not alleviated by extra dietary choline using these parameters. Choline holds great promise as a treatment for some fetal alcohol effects, but is not an effective treatment for all ethanol-related deficits. PMID:24907459

  10. 78 FR 24445 - Symetra Mutual Funds Trust, et al.; Notice of Application

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-25

    ... Mutual Funds Trust, et al.; Notice of Application April 19, 2013 AGENCY: Securities and Exchange... shareholder approval and would grant relief from certain disclosure requirements. Applicants: Symetra Mutual Funds Trust (the ``Trust'') and Symetra Investment Management, Inc. (the ``Adviser''). Filing Dates: The...

  11. On the use of response surface methodology to predict and interpret the preferred c-axis orientation of sputtered AlN thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Adamczyk, J.; Horny, N.; Tricoteaux, A.; Jouan, P.-Y.; Zadam, M.

    2008-01-01

    This paper deals with experimental design applied to response surface methodology (RSM) in order to determine the influence of the discharge conditions on preferred c-axis orientation of sputtered AlN thin films. The thin films have been deposited by DC reactive magnetron sputtering on Si (1 0 0) substrates. The preferred orientation was evaluated using a conventional Bragg-Brentano X-ray diffractometer ( θ-2 θ) with the CuKα radiation. We have first determined the experimental domain for 3 parameters: sputtering pressure (2-6 mTorr), discharge current (312-438 mA) and nitrogen percentage (17-33%). For the setup of the experimental design we have used a three factors Doehlert matrix which allows the use of the statistical response surface methodology (RSM) in a spherical domain. A four dimensional surface response, which represents the (0 0 0 2) peak height as a function of sputtering pressure, discharge current and nitrogen percentage, was obtained. It has been found that the main interaction affecting the preferential c-axis orientation was the pressure-nitrogen percentage interaction. It has been proved that a Box-Cox transformation is a very useful method to interpret and discuss the experimental results and leads to predictions in good agreement with experiments.

  12. Design of High Impedance Electromagnetic Surfaces for Mutual Coupling Reduction in Patch Antenna Array

    PubMed Central

    Islam, Mohammad Tariqul; Alam, Md. Shahidul

    2013-01-01

    A compact planar meander-bridge high impedance electromagnetic structure (MBHIES) was designed and its bandgap characteristics, mutual coupling reduction abilities were studied and compared in detail. Several parametric analyses were performed to obtain optimized design values and the transmission responses were calculated through the suspended microstrip line and waveguide simulation methods. The achieved bandgap is 2.3 GHz (2.55–4.85 GHz) with −61 dB minimum transmission coefficient level at the center frequency of 3.6 GHz. To see the effectiveness, the proposed design was inserted between a microstrip patch antenna array which operates at 3.8 GHz and whose operating bandwidth falls within the MBHIES bandgap. The surface wave suppression phenomenon was analyzed and simulated results are verified by measuring the fabricated prototypes, both are in good agreement. The configuration reduced the mutual coupling by 20.69 dB in simulation and 19.18 dB in measurement, without affecting the radiation characteristics of the array but increasing the gain slightly. PMID:28809299

  13. The roles of tolerance in the evolution, maintenance and breakdown of mutualism

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Edwards, David P.

    2009-10-01

    Tolerance strategies are cost-reduction mechanisms that enable organisms to recover some of the fitness lost to damage, but impose limited or no cost on antagonists. They are frequently invoked in studies of plant-herbivore and of host-parasite interactions, but the possible roles of tolerance in mutualism (interspecific cooperation) have yet to be thoroughly examined. This review identifies candidate roles for tolerance in the evolution, maintenance and breakdown of mutualism. Firstly, by reducing the cost of damage, tolerance provides a key pathway by which pre-mutualistic hosts can reduce the cost of association with their parasites, promoting cooperation. This holds for the evolution of ‘evolved dependency’ type mutualism, where a host requires an antagonist that does not direct any reward to their partner for some resource, and of ‘outright mutualism’, where participants directly trade benefits. Secondly, in outright mutualism, tolerance might maintain cooperation by reducing the cost of a persisting negative trait in a symbiotic partner. Finally, the evolution of tolerance might also provide a pathway out of mutualism because the host could evolve a cheaper alternative to continued cooperation with its mutualistic partner, permitting autonomy. A key consequence of tolerance is that it contrasts with partner choice mechanisms that impose large costs on cheats, and I highlight understanding any trade-off between tolerance and partner choice as an important research topic in the evolution of cooperation. I conclude by identifying tolerance as part of a more general phenomenon of co-adaptation in mutualism and parasitism that drives the evolution of the cost/benefit ratio from the interaction.

  14. Long adaptation reveals mostly attractive shifts of orientation tuning in cat primary visual cortex.

    PubMed

    Ghisovan, N; Nemri, A; Shumikhina, S; Molotchnikoff, S

    2009-12-15

    In the adult brain, sensory cortical neurons undergo transient changes of their response properties following prolonged exposure to an appropriate stimulus (adaptation). In cat V1, orientation-selective cells shift their preferred orientation after being adapted to a non-preferred orientation. There are conflicting reports as to the direction of those shifts, towards (attractive) or away (repulsive) from the adapter. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying attractive shifts remain unexplained. In the present investigation we show that attractive shifts are the most frequent outcome of a 12 min adaptation. Overall, cells displaying selectivity for oblique orientations exhibit significantly larger shifts than cells tuned to cardinal orientations. In addition, cells selective to cardinal orientations had larger shift amplitudes when the absolute difference between the original preferred orientation and the adapting orientation increased. Conversely, cells tuned to oblique orientations exhibited larger shift amplitudes when this absolute orientation difference was narrower. Hence, neurons tuned to oblique contours appear to show more plasticity in response to small perturbations. Two different mechanisms appear to produce attractive and repulsive orientation shifts. Attractive shifts result from concurrent response depression on the non-adapted flank and selective response facilitation on the adapted flank of the orientation tuning curve. In contrast, repulsive shifts are caused solely by response depression on the adapted flank. We suggest that an early mechanism leads to repulsive shifts while attractive shifts engage a subsequent late facilitation. A potential role for attractive shifts may be improved stimulus discrimination around the adapting orientation.

  15. Long-range RNA pairings contribute to mutually exclusive splicing.

    PubMed

    Yue, Yuan; Yang, Yun; Dai, Lanzhi; Cao, Guozheng; Chen, Ran; Hong, Weiling; Liu, Baoping; Shi, Yang; Meng, Yijun; Shi, Feng; Xiao, Mu; Jin, Yongfeng

    2016-01-01

    Mutually exclusive splicing is an important means of increasing the protein repertoire, by which the Down's syndrome cell adhesion molecule (Dscam) gene potentially generates 38,016 different isoforms in Drosophila melanogaster. However, the regulatory mechanisms remain obscure due to the complexity of the Dscam exon cluster. Here, we reveal a molecular model for the regulation of the mutually exclusive splicing of the serpent pre-mRNA based on competition between upstream and downstream RNA pairings. Such dual RNA pairings confer fine tuning of the inclusion of alternative exons. Moreover, we demonstrate that the splicing outcome of alternative exons is mediated in relative pairing strength-correlated mode. Combined comparative genomics analysis and experimental evidence revealed similar bidirectional structural architectures in exon clusters 4 and 9 of the Dscam gene. Our findings provide a novel mechanistic framework for the regulation of mutually exclusive splicing and may offer potentially applicable insights into long-range RNA-RNA interactions in gene regulatory networks. © 2015 Yue et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press for the RNA Society.

  16. Mutual coupling, channel model, and BER for curvilinear antenna arrays

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Zhiyong

    This dissertation introduces a wireless communications system with an adaptive beam-former and investigates its performance with different antenna arrays. Mutual coupling, real antenna elements and channel models are included to examine the system performance. In a beamforming system, mutual coupling (MC) among the elements can significantly degrade the system performance. However, MC effects can be compensated if an accurate model of mutual coupling is available. A mutual coupling matrix model is utilized to compensate mutual coupling in the beamforming of a uniform circular array (UCA). Its performance is compared with other models in uplink and downlink beamforming scenarios. In addition, the predictions are compared with measurements and verified with results from full-wave simulations. In order to accurately investigate the minimum mean-square-error (MSE) of an adaptive array in MC, two different noise models, the environmental and the receiver noise, are modeled. The minimum MSEs with and without data domain MC compensation are analytically compared. The influence of mutual coupling on the convergence is also examined. In addition, the weight compensation method is proposed to attain the desired array pattern. Adaptive arrays with different geometries are implemented with the minimum MSE algorithm in the wireless communications system to combat interference at the same frequency. The bit-error-rate (BER) of systems with UCA, uniform rectangular array (URA) and UCA with center element are investigated in additive white Gaussian noise plus well-separated signals or random direction signals scenarios. The output SINR of an adaptive array with multiple interferers is analytically examined. The influence of the adaptive algorithm convergence on the BER is investigated. The UCA is then investigated in a narrowband Rician fading channel. The channel model is built and the space correlations are examined. The influence of the number of signal paths, number of the

  17. Mutual information-based analysis of JPEG2000 contexts.

    PubMed

    Liu, Zhen; Karam, Lina J

    2005-04-01

    Context-based arithmetic coding has been widely adopted in image and video compression and is a key component of the new JPEG2000 image compression standard. In this paper, the contexts used in JPEG2000 are analyzed using the mutual information, which is closely related to the compression performance. We first show that, when combining the contexts, the mutual information between the contexts and the encoded data will decrease unless the conditional probability distributions of the combined contexts are the same. Given I, the initial number of contexts, and F, the final desired number of contexts, there are S(I, F) possible context classification schemes where S(I, F) is called the Stirling number of the second kind. The optimal classification scheme is the one that gives the maximum mutual information. Instead of using an exhaustive search, the optimal classification scheme can be obtained through a modified generalized Lloyd algorithm with the relative entropy as the distortion metric. For binary arithmetic coding, the search complexity can be reduced by using dynamic programming. Our experimental results show that the JPEG2000 contexts capture the correlations among the wavelet coefficients very well. At the same time, the number of contexts used as part of the standard can be reduced without loss in the coding performance.

  18. Induced and evoked neural correlates of orientation selectivity in human visual cortex.

    PubMed

    Koelewijn, Loes; Dumont, Julie R; Muthukumaraswamy, Suresh D; Rich, Anina N; Singh, Krish D

    2011-02-14

    Orientation discrimination is much better for patterns oriented along the horizontal or vertical (cardinal) axes than for patterns oriented obliquely, but the neural basis for this is not known. Previous animal neurophysiology and human neuroimaging studies have demonstrated only a moderate bias for cardinal versus oblique orientations, with fMRI showing a larger response to cardinals in primary visual cortex (V1) and EEG demonstrating both increased magnitudes and reduced latencies of transient evoked responses. Here, using MEG, we localised and characterised induced gamma and transient evoked responses to stationary circular grating patches of three orientations (0, 45, and 90° from vertical). Surprisingly, we found that the sustained gamma response was larger for oblique, compared to cardinal, stimuli. This "inverse oblique effect" was also observed in the earliest (80 ms) evoked response, whereas later responses (120 ms) showed a trend towards the reverse, "classic", oblique response. Source localisation demonstrated that the sustained gamma and early evoked responses were localised to medial visual cortex, whilst the later evoked responses came from both this early visual area and a source in a more inferolateral extrastriate region. These results suggest that (1) the early evoked and sustained gamma responses manifest the initial tuning of V1 neurons, with the stronger response to oblique stimuli possibly reflecting increased tuning widths for these orientations, and (2) the classic behavioural oblique effect is mediated by an extrastriate cortical area and may also implicate feedback from extrastriate to primary visual cortex. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Competition as a mechanism structuring mutualisms

    Treesearch

    Robert J. Warren; Itamar Giladi; Mark A. Bradford

    2014-01-01

    Summary 1. Hutchinsonian niche theory posits that organisms have fundamental abiotic resource requirements from which they are limited by competition. Organisms also have fundamental biotic requirements, such as mutualists, for which they also might compete. 2. We test this idea with a widespread ant–plant mutualism. Ant-mediated seed dispersal (myrmecochory) in...

  20. Reconstructing regulatory networks from the dynamic plasticity of gene expression by mutual information

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Jianxin; Chen, Bo; Wang, Yaqun; Wang, Ningtao; Garbey, Marc; Tran-Son-Tay, Roger; Berceli, Scott A.; Wu, Rongling

    2013-01-01

    The capacity of an organism to respond to its environment is facilitated by the environmentally induced alteration of gene and protein expression, i.e. expression plasticity. The reconstruction of gene regulatory networks based on expression plasticity can gain not only new insights into the causality of transcriptional and cellular processes but also the complex regulatory mechanisms that underlie biological function and adaptation. We describe an approach for network inference by integrating expression plasticity into Shannon’s mutual information. Beyond Pearson correlation, mutual information can capture non-linear dependencies and topology sparseness. The approach measures the network of dependencies of genes expressed in different environments, allowing the environment-induced plasticity of gene dependencies to be tested in unprecedented details. The approach is also able to characterize the extent to which the same genes trigger different amounts of expression in response to environmental changes. We demonstrated the usefulness of this approach through analysing gene expression data from a rabbit vein graft study that includes two distinct blood flow environments. The proposed approach provides a powerful tool for the modelling and analysis of dynamic regulatory networks using gene expression data from distinct environments. PMID:23470995

  1. Mutual information estimation reveals global associations between stimuli and biological processes

    PubMed Central

    Suzuki, Taiji; Sugiyama, Masashi; Kanamori, Takafumi; Sese, Jun

    2009-01-01

    Background Although microarray gene expression analysis has become popular, it remains difficult to interpret the biological changes caused by stimuli or variation of conditions. Clustering of genes and associating each group with biological functions are often used methods. However, such methods only detect partial changes within cell processes. Herein, we propose a method for discovering global changes within a cell by associating observed conditions of gene expression with gene functions. Results To elucidate the association, we introduce a novel feature selection method called Least-Squares Mutual Information (LSMI), which computes mutual information without density estimaion, and therefore LSMI can detect nonlinear associations within a cell. We demonstrate the effectiveness of LSMI through comparison with existing methods. The results of the application to yeast microarray datasets reveal that non-natural stimuli affect various biological processes, whereas others are no significant relation to specific cell processes. Furthermore, we discover that biological processes can be categorized into four types according to the responses of various stimuli: DNA/RNA metabolism, gene expression, protein metabolism, and protein localization. Conclusion We proposed a novel feature selection method called LSMI, and applied LSMI to mining the association between conditions of yeast and biological processes through microarray datasets. In fact, LSMI allows us to elucidate the global organization of cellular process control. PMID:19208155

  2. A Study of Shared-Memory Mutual Exclusion Protocols Using CADP

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mateescu, Radu; Serwe, Wendelin

    Mutual exclusion protocols are an essential building block of concurrent systems: indeed, such a protocol is required whenever a shared resource has to be protected against concurrent non-atomic accesses. Hence, many variants of mutual exclusion protocols exist in the shared-memory setting, such as Peterson's or Dekker's well-known protocols. Although the functional correctness of these protocols has been studied extensively, relatively little attention has been paid to their non-functional aspects, such as their performance in the long run. In this paper, we report on experiments with the performance evaluation of mutual exclusion protocols using Interactive Markov Chains. Steady-state analysis provides an additional criterion for comparing protocols, which complements the verification of their functional properties. We also carefully re-examined the functional properties, whose accurate formulation as temporal logic formulas in the action-based setting turns out to be quite involved.

  3. Wideband Direction of Arrival Estimation in the Presence of Unknown Mutual Coupling

    PubMed Central

    Li, Weixing; Zhang, Yue; Lin, Jianzhi; Guo, Rui; Chen, Zengping

    2017-01-01

    This paper investigates a subarray based algorithm for direction of arrival (DOA) estimation of wideband uniform linear array (ULA), under the presence of frequency-dependent mutual coupling effects. Based on the Toeplitz structure of mutual coupling matrices, the whole array is divided into the middle subarray and the auxiliary subarray. Then two-sided correlation transformation is applied to the correlation matrix of the middle subarray instead of the whole array. In this way, the mutual coupling effects can be eliminated. Finally, the multiple signal classification (MUSIC) method is utilized to derive the DOAs. For the condition when the blind angles exist, we refine DOA estimation by using a simple approach based on the frequency-dependent mutual coupling matrixes (MCMs). The proposed method can achieve high estimation accuracy without any calibration sources. It has a low computational complexity because iterative processing is not required. Simulation results validate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed algorithm. PMID:28178177

  4. 12 CFR 575.7 - Issuances of stock by savings association subsidiaries of mutual holding companies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2014-01-01 2012-01-01 true Issuances of stock by savings association..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES § 575.7 Issuances of stock by savings association subsidiaries of mutual holding companies. (a) Requirements. No savings association subsidiary of a mutual...

  5. 12 CFR 575.7 - Issuances of stock by savings association subsidiaries of mutual holding companies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2013-01-01 2012-01-01 true Issuances of stock by savings association..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES § 575.7 Issuances of stock by savings association subsidiaries of mutual holding companies. (a) Requirements. No savings association subsidiary of a mutual...

  6. 12 CFR 575.7 - Issuances of stock by savings association subsidiaries of mutual holding companies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Issuances of stock by savings association..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES § 575.7 Issuances of stock by savings association subsidiaries of mutual holding companies. (a) Requirements. No savings association subsidiary of a mutual...

  7. Mutual support groups for long-term recipients of TANF.

    PubMed

    Anderson-Butcher, Dawn; Khairallah, Angela Oliver; Race-Bigelow, Janis

    2004-01-01

    This study examined the effect of involvement in mutual support groups on long-term recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other vulnerable individuals. From qualitative interviews with nine group members, the study identified key themes, benefits, and barriers related to involvement in the groups. Content analysis of the data revealed insights about characteristics of effective self-help and mutual support groups, which social workers and other professionals can use to develop effective support groups in the future. Participants discussed benefits for themselves and their families, such as enhanced parenting and social skills, increased knowledge, and enhanced self-esteem.

  8. A role for parasites in stabilising the fig-pollinator mutualism.

    PubMed

    Dunn, Derek W; Segar, Simon T; Ridley, Jo; Chan, Ruth; Crozier, Ross H; Yu, Douglas W; Cook, James M

    2008-03-11

    Mutualisms are interspecific interactions in which both players benefit. Explaining their maintenance is problematic, because cheaters should outcompete cooperative conspecifics, leading to mutualism instability. Monoecious figs (Ficus) are pollinated by host-specific wasps (Agaonidae), whose larvae gall ovules in their "fruits" (syconia). Female pollinating wasps oviposit directly into Ficus ovules from inside the receptive syconium. Across Ficus species, there is a widely documented segregation of pollinator galls in inner ovules and seeds in outer ovules. This pattern suggests that wasps avoid, or are prevented from ovipositing into, outer ovules, and this results in mutualism stability. However, the mechanisms preventing wasps from exploiting outer ovules remain unknown. We report that in Ficus rubiginosa, offspring in outer ovules are vulnerable to attack by parasitic wasps that oviposit from outside the syconium. Parasitism risk decreases towards the centre of the syconium, where inner ovules provide enemy-free space for pollinator offspring. We suggest that the resulting gradient in offspring viability is likely to contribute to selection on pollinators to avoid outer ovules, and by forcing wasps to focus on a subset of ovules, reduces their galling rates. This previously unidentified mechanism may therefore contribute to mutualism persistence independent of additional factors that invoke plant defences against pollinator oviposition, or physiological constraints on pollinators that prevent oviposition in all available ovules.

  9. A Role for Parasites in Stabilising the Fig-Pollinator Mutualism

    PubMed Central

    Dunn, Derek W; Segar, Simon T; Ridley, Jo; Chan, Ruth; Crozier, Ross H; Yu, Douglas W; Cook, James M

    2008-01-01

    Mutualisms are interspecific interactions in which both players benefit. Explaining their maintenance is problematic, because cheaters should outcompete cooperative conspecifics, leading to mutualism instability. Monoecious figs (Ficus) are pollinated by host-specific wasps (Agaonidae), whose larvae gall ovules in their “fruits” (syconia). Female pollinating wasps oviposit directly into Ficus ovules from inside the receptive syconium. Across Ficus species, there is a widely documented segregation of pollinator galls in inner ovules and seeds in outer ovules. This pattern suggests that wasps avoid, or are prevented from ovipositing into, outer ovules, and this results in mutualism stability. However, the mechanisms preventing wasps from exploiting outer ovules remain unknown. We report that in Ficus rubiginosa, offspring in outer ovules are vulnerable to attack by parasitic wasps that oviposit from outside the syconium. Parasitism risk decreases towards the centre of the syconium, where inner ovules provide enemy-free space for pollinator offspring. We suggest that the resulting gradient in offspring viability is likely to contribute to selection on pollinators to avoid outer ovules, and by forcing wasps to focus on a subset of ovules, reduces their galling rates. This previously unidentified mechanism may therefore contribute to mutualism persistence independent of additional factors that invoke plant defences against pollinator oviposition, or physiological constraints on pollinators that prevent oviposition in all available ovules. PMID:18336072

  10. 26 CFR 1.594-1 - Mutual savings banks conducting life insurance business.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 7 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Mutual savings banks conducting life insurance... savings banks conducting life insurance business. (a) Scope of application. Section 594 applies to the case of a mutual savings bank not having capital stock represented by shares which conducts a life...

  11. 26 CFR 1.594-1 - Mutual savings banks conducting life insurance business.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 7 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Mutual savings banks conducting life insurance... savings banks conducting life insurance business. (a) Scope of application. Section 594 applies to the case of a mutual savings bank not having capital stock represented by shares which conducts a life...

  12. 47 CFR 24.431 - Mutually exclusive applications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Mutually exclusive applications. 24.431 Section 24.431 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES... result in a material impairment to service rendered to the public despite full cooperation in good faith...

  13. 47 CFR 24.431 - Mutually exclusive applications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Mutually exclusive applications. 24.431 Section 24.431 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES... result in a material impairment to service rendered to the public despite full cooperation in good faith...

  14. Optical method for the determination of grain orientation in films

    DOEpatents

    Maris, Humphrey J.

    2001-01-01

    A method for the determination of grain orientation in a film sample is provided comprising the steps of measuring a first transient optical response of the film and determining the contribution to the transient optical response arising from a change in the energy distribution of the electrons in the sample, determining the contribution to the transient optical response arising from a propagating strain pulse within the sample, and determining the contribution to the transient optical response arising from a change in sample temperature of the sample. The grain orientation of the sample may be determined using the contributions to the transient optical response arising from the change in the energy distribution of the electrons, the propagating strain pulse, and the change in sample temperature. Additionally, a method for determination of the thickness of a film sample is provided. The grain orientation of the sample is first determined. The grain orientation, together with the velocity of sound and a propagation time of a strain pulse through the sample are then used to determine the thickness of the film sample.

  15. Optical method for the determination of grain orientation in films

    DOEpatents

    Maris, Humphrey J.

    2003-05-13

    A method for the determination of grain orientation in a film sample is provided comprising the steps of measuring a first transient optical response of the film and determining the contribution to the transient optical response arising from a change in the energy distribution of the electrons in the sample, determining the contribution to the transient optical response arising from a propagating strain pulse within the sample, and determining the contribution to the transient optical response arising from a change in sample temperature of the sample. The grain orientation of the sample may be determined using the contributions to the transient optical response arising from the change in the energy distribution of the electrons, the propagating strain pulse, and the change in sample temperature. Additionally, a method for determination of the thickness of a film sample is provided. The grain orientation of the sample is first determined. The grain orientation, together with the velocity of sound and a propagation time of a strain pulse through the sample are then used to determine the thickness of the film sample.

  16. Perceptual learning selectively refines orientation representations in early visual cortex.

    PubMed

    Jehee, Janneke F M; Ling, Sam; Swisher, Jascha D; van Bergen, Ruben S; Tong, Frank

    2012-11-21

    Although practice has long been known to improve perceptual performance, the neural basis of this improvement in humans remains unclear. Using fMRI in conjunction with a novel signal detection-based analysis, we show that extensive practice selectively enhances the neural representation of trained orientations in the human visual cortex. Twelve observers practiced discriminating small changes in the orientation of a laterally presented grating over 20 or more daily 1 h training sessions. Training on average led to a twofold improvement in discrimination sensitivity, specific to the trained orientation and the trained location, with minimal improvement found for untrained orthogonal orientations or for orientations presented in the untrained hemifield. We measured the strength of orientation-selective responses in individual voxels in early visual areas (V1-V4) using signal detection measures, both before and after training. Although the overall amplitude of the BOLD response was no greater after training, practice nonetheless specifically enhanced the neural representation of the trained orientation at the trained location. This training-specific enhancement of orientation-selective responses was observed in the primary visual cortex (V1) as well as higher extrastriate visual areas V2-V4, and moreover, reliably predicted individual differences in the behavioral effects of perceptual learning. These results demonstrate that extensive training can lead to targeted functional reorganization of the human visual cortex, refining the cortical representation of behaviorally relevant information.

  17. A linear model fails to predict orientation selectivity of cells in the cat visual cortex.

    PubMed Central

    Volgushev, M; Vidyasagar, T R; Pei, X

    1996-01-01

    1. Postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) evoked by visual stimulation in simple cells in the cat visual cortex were recorded using in vivo whole-cell technique. Responses to small spots of light presented at different positions over the receptive field and responses to elongated bars of different orientations centred on the receptive field were recorded. 2. To test whether a linear model can account for orientation selectivity of cortical neurones, responses to elongated bars were compared with responses predicted by a linear model from the receptive field map obtained from flashing spots. 3. The linear model faithfully predicted the preferred orientation, but not the degree of orientation selectivity or the sharpness of orientation tuning. The ratio of optimal to non-optimal responses was always underestimated by the model. 4. Thus non-linear mechanisms, which can include suppression of non-optimal responses and/or amplification of optimal responses, are involved in the generation of orientation selectivity in the primary visual cortex. PMID:8930828

  18. Mutual help in SETIs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Melia, F.; Frisch, D. H.

    1985-06-01

    Techniques to establish communication between earth and extraterrestrial intelligent beings are examined analytically, emphasizing that the success of searches for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETIs) depends on the selection by both sender and receiver of one of a few mutually helpful SETI strategies. An equation for estimating the probability that an SETI will result in the recognition of an ETI signal is developed, and numerical results for various SETI strategies are presented in tables. A minimum approach employing 10 40-m 20-kW dish antennas for a 30-yr SETI in a 2500-light-year disk is proposed.

  19. A morphological basis for orientation tuning in primary visual cortex.

    PubMed

    Mooser, François; Bosking, William H; Fitzpatrick, David

    2004-08-01

    Feedforward connections are thought to be important in the generation of orientation-selective responses in visual cortex by establishing a bias in the sampling of information from regions of visual space that lie along a neuron's axis of preferred orientation. It remains unclear, however, which structural elements-dendrites or axons-are ultimately responsible for conveying this sampling bias. To explore this question, we have examined the spatial arrangement of feedforward axonal connections that link non-oriented neurons in layer 4 and orientation-selective neurons in layer 2/3 of visual cortex in the tree shrew. Target sites of labeled boutons in layer 2/3 resulting from focal injections of biocytin in layer 4 show an orientation-specific axial bias that is sufficient to confer orientation tuning to layer 2/3 neurons. We conclude that the anisotropic arrangement of axon terminals is the principal source of the orientation bias contributed by feedforward connections.

  20. 26 CFR 1.501(c)(15)-1 - Mutual insurance companies or associations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 7 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Mutual insurance companies or associations. 1... Mutual insurance companies or associations. (a) Taxable years beginning after December 31, 1962. An insurance company or association described in section 501(c)(15) is exempt under section 501(a) if it is a...

  1. 26 CFR 1.501(c)(15)-1 - Mutual insurance companies or associations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 7 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Mutual insurance companies or associations. 1... Mutual insurance companies or associations. (a) Taxable years beginning after December 31, 1962. An insurance company or association described in section 501(c)(15) is exempt under section 501(a) if it is a...

  2. Utilizing Mutual Aid in Reducing Adolescent Substance Use and Developing Group Engagement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mogro-Wilson, Cristina; Letendre, Joan; Toi, Hiroki; Bryan, Janelle

    2015-01-01

    Objective: This study assessed the effectiveness of mutual aid groups for high school students. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was applied to 242 adolescents, where every other adolescent was assigned to the intervention or the control condition. The study evaluated the influence of implementing mutual aid groups in decreasing perceived risk…

  3. 12 CFR >appendix A to Part 239 - Mutual Holding Company Model Charter

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Mutual Holding Company Model Charter A >Appendix A to Part 239 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Pt. 239, App. A >Appendix A to...

  4. 45 CFR 30.27 - Mutual release of the debtor and the Government.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Mutual release of the debtor and the Government. 30.27 Section 30.27 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL ADMINISTRATION CLAIMS COLLECTION Debt Compromise § 30.27 Mutual release of the debtor and the Government. In all...

  5. Response of amphibian egg cytoplasm to novel gravity orientation and centrifugation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Neff, A. W.; Wakahara, M.; Jurand, A.; Malacinski, G. M.

    1983-01-01

    The effects of inversion and centrifugation on the compartmentalization of cytoplasm in Xenopus laevis eggs are investigated experimentally. The rearrangement of yolk-platelet compartments (YPC) characterized by morphology, density, and viscosity differences is studied in fertilized, unfertilized, and unfertilized electrically activated eggs in normal, and inverted positions and with and without centrifugation at 10-183 x g for 5 min. The eggs are fixed and embedded in plastic or paraffin prior to sagittal sectioning (0.5, 4, or 8 microns) and microscopic examination; the results are presented in a diagram and discussed. A density-compartment model combining both animal/vegetal and dorsal/ventral polarities is proposed: YPC determined without gravity orientation during oogenesis respond to both sperm entrance point and gravity after fertilization, and the response involves breaking of the radial symmetry of the egg. It is predicted that Xenopus eggs in a microgravity environment will encounter difficulties in establishing a primary embryonic axis.

  6. Supplemental choline does not attenuate the effects of neonatal ethanol administration on habituation of the heart rate orienting response in rats.

    PubMed

    Hunt, Pamela S; Jacobson, Sarah E; Kim, Sarah

    2014-01-01

    Several studies using rodent subjects have now shown that extra dietary choline may prevent or even reverse the deleterious effects of pre- and early post-natal ethanol administration. Choline supplementation has been shown to attenuate many, although not all, of ethanol's effects on brain development and behavior. Our laboratory has consistently reported impaired habituation of the heart rate orienting response to a novel olfactory stimulus in animals exposed to ethanol on postnatal days (PD) 4-9. Here we examine whether supplemental choline given both during and after ethanol administration could alleviate these ethanol-induced deficits. Subjects were given 5g/kg/day ethanol or sham intubations on PD 4-9. Half of the subjects in each group were given a single daily s.c. injection of choline chloride on PD 4-20, while the other half were injected daily with saline. Pups were tested for heart rate orienting and response habituation in a single test session on PD 23. Results replicated the ethanol-induced impairment in response habituation. However, choline supplementation had no effect on orienting or habituation in either neonatal treatment group. These findings indicate that habituation deficits induced by ethanol are not alleviated by extra dietary choline using these parameters. Choline holds great promise as a treatment for some fetal alcohol effects, but is not an effective treatment for all ethanol-related deficits. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. From Corporate Social Responsibility, through Entrepreneurial Orientation, to Knowledge Sharing: A Study in Cai Luong (Renovated Theatre) Theatre Companies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tuan, Luu Trong

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to examine the role of antecedents such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) and entrepreneurial orientation in the chain effect to knowledge sharing among members of Cai Luong theatre companies in the Vietnamese context. Knowledge sharing contributes to the depth of the knowledge pool of both the individuals and the…

  8. 77 FR 5089 - Surety Companies Acceptable on Federal Bonds-Name Change: American Hardware Mutual Insurance Company

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-01

    ... Change: American Hardware Mutual Insurance Company AGENCY: Financial Management Service, Fiscal Service... American Hardware Mutual Insurance Company (NAIC 13331) has changed its name to Motorists Commercial Mutual Insurance Company, effective April 25, 2011. Federal bond-approving officials should annotate their...

  9. Measuring the Recovery Orientation of ACT

    PubMed Central

    Salyers, Michelle P.; Stull, Laura G.; Rollins, Angela L.; McGrew, John H.; Hicks, Lia J.; Thomas, Dave; Strieter, Doug

    2014-01-01

    Background Approaches to measuring recovery orientation are needed, particularly for programs that may struggle with implementing recovery-oriented treatment. Objective A mixed methods comparative study was conducted to explore effective approaches to measuring recovery orientation of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams. Design Two ACT teams exhibiting high and low recovery orientation were compared using surveys, treatment plan ratings, diaries of treatment visits, and team-leader-reported treatment control mechanisms. Results The recovery-oriented team differed on one survey measure (higher expectations for consumer recovery), treatment planning (greater consumer involvement and goal-directed content), and use of control mechanisms (less use of representative payee, agency-held lease, daily medication delivery, and family involvement). Staff and consumer diaries showed the most consistent differences (e.g., conveying hope and choice) and were the least susceptible to observer bias, but had the lowest response rates. Conclusions Several practices differentiate recovery orientation on ACT teams, and a mixed-methods assessment approach is feasible. PMID:23690285

  10. Mutual Alignment Comparison Facilitates Abstraction and Transfer of a Complex Scientific Concept

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Orton, Judy M.; Anggoro, Florencia K.; Jee, Benjamin D.

    2012-01-01

    Learning about a scientific concept often occurs in the context of unfamiliar examples. Mutual alignment analogy--a type of analogical comparison in which the analogues are only partially understood--has been shown to facilitate learning from unfamiliar examples . In the present study, we examined the role of mutual alignment analogy in the…

  11. 26 CFR 1.501(c)(15)-1 - Mutual insurance companies or associations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 7 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Mutual insurance companies or associations. 1.501... Mutual insurance companies or associations. (a) Taxable years beginning after December 31, 1962. An insurance company or association described in section 501(c)(15) is exempt under section 501(a) if it is a...

  12. 26 CFR 1.501(c)(15)-1 - Mutual insurance companies or associations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 7 2014-04-01 2013-04-01 true Mutual insurance companies or associations. 1.501... Mutual insurance companies or associations. (a) Taxable years beginning after December 31, 1962. An insurance company or association described in section 501(c)(15) is exempt under section 501(a) if it is a...

  13. 26 CFR 1.501(c)(15)-1 - Mutual insurance companies or associations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 7 2011-04-01 2009-04-01 true Mutual insurance companies or associations. 1.501... Mutual insurance companies or associations. (a) Taxable years beginning after December 31, 1962. An insurance company or association described in section 501(c)(15) is exempt under section 501(a) if it is a...

  14. Learning Words over Time: The Role of Stimulus Repetition in Mutual Exclusivity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mather, Emily; Plunkett, Kim

    2009-01-01

    During the second year of life, infants develop a preference to attach novel labels to novel objects. This behavior is commonly known as "mutual exclusivity" (Markman, 1989). In an intermodal preferential looking experiment with 19.5- and 22.5-month-olds, stimulus repetition was critical for observing mutual exclusivity. On the first…

  15. 12 CFR Appendix C to Part 239 - Mutual Holding Company Model Bylaws

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Mutual Holding Company Model Bylaws C Appendix C to Part 239 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Pt. 239, App. C Appendix C to Part 239...

  16. 12 CFR Appendix C to Part 239 - Mutual Holding Company Model Bylaws

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Mutual Holding Company Model Bylaws C Appendix C to Part 239 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Pt. 239, App. C Appendix C to Part 239...

  17. 12 CFR Appendix A to Part 239 - Mutual Holding Company Model Charter

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Mutual Holding Company Model Charter A Appendix A to Part 239 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Pt. 239, App. A Appendix A to Part 239...

  18. 12 CFR Appendix C to Part 239 - Mutual Holding Company Model Bylaws

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Mutual Holding Company Model Bylaws C Appendix C to Part 239 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Pt. 239, App. C Appendix C to Part 239...

  19. 12 CFR Appendix A to Part 239 - Mutual Holding Company Model Charter

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Mutual Holding Company Model Charter A Appendix A to Part 239 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) MUTUAL HOLDING COMPANIES (REGULATION MM) Pt. 239, App. A Appendix A to Part 239...

  20. Electrophysiological and behavioral responses of oriental fruit moth to the monoterpenoid citral alone and in combination with sex pheromone.

    PubMed

    Faraone, N; D'Errico, G; Caleca, V; Cristofaro, A De; Trimble, R M

    2013-04-01

    The monoterpenoid citral synergized the electroantennogram (EAG) response of male Grapholita molesta (Busck) antennae to its main pheromone compound Z8-12:OAc. The response to a 10-μg pheromone stimulus increased by 32, 45, 54, 71 and 94% with the addition of 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 μg of citral, respectively. There was no detectable response to 0.1, 1, or 10 μg of citral; the response to 100 and 1,000 μg of citral was 31 and 79% of the response to 10 μg of Z8-12:OAc. In a flight tunnel, citral affected the mate-seeking behavior of males. There was a 66% reduction in the number of males orientating by flight to a virgin calling female when citral was emitted at 1,000 ng/min ≍1 cm downwind from a female. Pheromone and citral induced sensory adaptation in male antennae, but citral did not synergize the effect of pheromone. The exposure of antennae to 1 ng Z8-12:OAc/m(3) air, 1 ng citral/m3 air, 1 ng Z8-12:OAc + 1 ng citral/m3 air, or to 1 ng Z8-12:OAc + 100 ng citral/m3 air for 15 min resulted in a similar reduction in EAG response of 47-63%. The exposure of males to these same treatments for 15 min had no effect on their ability to orientate to a virgin calling female in a flight tunnel. The potential for using citral to control G. molesta by mating disruption is discussed.

  1. 76 FR 71437 - Mutual Savings Association Advisory Committee

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-11-17

    ... the public interest in order for the OCC to study the needs of and challenges facing mutual savings... for their time, but are eligible for reimbursement of travel expenses in accordance with applicable...

  2. Defense mutualisms enhance plant diversification

    PubMed Central

    Weber, Marjorie G.; Agrawal, Anurag A.

    2014-01-01

    The ability of plants to form mutualistic relationships with animal defenders has long been suspected to influence their evolutionary success, both by decreasing extinction risk and by increasing opportunity for speciation through an expanded realized niche. Nonetheless, the hypothesis that defense mutualisms consistently enhance plant diversification across lineages has not been well tested due to a lack of phenotypic and phylogenetic information. Using a global analysis, we show that the >100 vascular plant families in which species have evolved extrafloral nectaries (EFNs), sugar-secreting organs that recruit arthropod mutualists, have twofold higher diversification rates than families that lack species with EFNs. Zooming in on six distantly related plant clades, trait-dependent diversification models confirmed the tendency for lineages with EFNs to display increased rates of diversification. These results were consistent across methodological approaches. Inference using reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to model the placement and number of rate shifts revealed that high net diversification rates in EFN clades were driven by an increased number of positive rate shifts following EFN evolution compared with sister clades, suggesting that EFNs may be indirect facilitators of diversification. Our replicated analysis indicates that defense mutualisms put lineages on a path toward increased diversification rates within and between clades, and is concordant with the hypothesis that mutualistic interactions with animals can have an impact on deep macroevolutionary patterns and enhance plant diversity. PMID:25349406

  3. Defense mutualisms enhance plant diversification.

    PubMed

    Weber, Marjorie G; Agrawal, Anurag A

    2014-11-18

    The ability of plants to form mutualistic relationships with animal defenders has long been suspected to influence their evolutionary success, both by decreasing extinction risk and by increasing opportunity for speciation through an expanded realized niche. Nonetheless, the hypothesis that defense mutualisms consistently enhance plant diversification across lineages has not been well tested due to a lack of phenotypic and phylogenetic information. Using a global analysis, we show that the >100 vascular plant families in which species have evolved extrafloral nectaries (EFNs), sugar-secreting organs that recruit arthropod mutualists, have twofold higher diversification rates than families that lack species with EFNs. Zooming in on six distantly related plant clades, trait-dependent diversification models confirmed the tendency for lineages with EFNs to display increased rates of diversification. These results were consistent across methodological approaches. Inference using reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to model the placement and number of rate shifts revealed that high net diversification rates in EFN clades were driven by an increased number of positive rate shifts following EFN evolution compared with sister clades, suggesting that EFNs may be indirect facilitators of diversification. Our replicated analysis indicates that defense mutualisms put lineages on a path toward increased diversification rates within and between clades, and is concordant with the hypothesis that mutualistic interactions with animals can have an impact on deep macroevolutionary patterns and enhance plant diversity.

  4. Mutual Information between Discrete Variables with Many Categories using Recursive Adaptive Partitioning

    PubMed Central

    Seok, Junhee; Seon Kang, Yeong

    2015-01-01

    Mutual information, a general measure of the relatedness between two random variables, has been actively used in the analysis of biomedical data. The mutual information between two discrete variables is conventionally calculated by their joint probabilities estimated from the frequency of observed samples in each combination of variable categories. However, this conventional approach is no longer efficient for discrete variables with many categories, which can be easily found in large-scale biomedical data such as diagnosis codes, drug compounds, and genotypes. Here, we propose a method to provide stable estimations for the mutual information between discrete variables with many categories. Simulation studies showed that the proposed method reduced the estimation errors by 45 folds and improved the correlation coefficients with true values by 99 folds, compared with the conventional calculation of mutual information. The proposed method was also demonstrated through a case study for diagnostic data in electronic health records. This method is expected to be useful in the analysis of various biomedical data with discrete variables. PMID:26046461

  5. Determination of eddy current response with magnetic measurements.

    PubMed

    Jiang, Y Z; Tan, Y; Gao, Z; Nakamura, K; Liu, W B; Wang, S Z; Zhong, H; Wang, B B

    2017-09-01

    Accurate mutual inductances between magnetic diagnostics and poloidal field coils are an essential requirement for determining the poloidal flux for plasma equilibrium reconstruction. The mutual inductance calibration of the flux loops and magnetic probes requires time-varying coil currents, which also simultaneously drive eddy currents in electrically conducting structures. The eddy current-induced field appearing in the magnetic measurements can substantially increase the calibration error in the model if the eddy currents are neglected. In this paper, an expression of the magnetic diagnostic response to the coil currents is used to calibrate the mutual inductances, estimate the conductor time constant, and predict the eddy currents response. It is found that the eddy current effects in magnetic signals can be well-explained by the eddy current response determination. A set of experiments using a specially shaped saddle coil diagnostic are conducted to measure the SUNIST-like eddy current response and to examine the accuracy of this method. In shots that include plasmas, this approach can more accurately determine the plasma-related response in the magnetic signals by eliminating the field due to the eddy currents produced by the external field.

  6. Development of in situ two-coil mutual inductance technique in a multifunctional scanning tunneling microscope.

    PubMed

    Duan, Ming-Chao; Liu, Zhi-Long; Ge, Jian-Feng; Tang, Zhi-Jun; Wang, Guan-Yong; Wang, Zi-Xin; Guan, Dandan; Li, Yao-Yi; Qian, Dong; Liu, Canhua; Jia, Jin-Feng

    2017-07-01

    Superconducting thin films have been a focal point for intensive research efforts since their reduced dimension allows for a wide variety of quantum phenomena. Many of these films, fabricated in UHV chambers, are highly vulnerable to air exposure, making it difficult to measure intrinsic superconducting properties such as zero resistance and perfect diamagnetism with ex situ experimental techniques. Previously, we developed a multifunctional scanning tunneling microscope (MSTM) containing in situ four-point probe (4PP) electrical transport measurement capability in addition to the usual STM capabilities [Ge et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 86, 053903 (2015)]. Here we improve this MSTM via development of both transmission and reflection two-coil mutual inductance techniques for in situ measurement of the diamagnetic response of a superconductor. This addition does not alter the original STM and 4PP functions of the MSTM. We demonstrate the performance of the two-coil mutual inductance setup on a 10-nm-thick NbN thin film grown on a Nb-doped SrTiO 3 (111) substrate.

  7. 77 FR 8956 - Surety Companies Acceptable on Federal Bonds: Integrity Mutual Insurance Company

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-15

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Fiscal Service Surety Companies Acceptable on Federal Bonds: Integrity Mutual Insurance Company AGENCY: Financial Management Service, Fiscal Service, Department of the Treasury... hereby issued under 31 U.S.C. 9305 to the following company: Integrity Mutual Insurance Company (NAIC...

  8. Quality assurance, benchmarking, assessment and mutual international recognition of qualifications.

    PubMed

    Hobson, R; Rolland, S; Rotgans, J; Schoonheim-Klein, M; Best, H; Chomyszyn-Gajewska, M; Dymock, D; Essop, R; Hupp, J; Kundzina, R; Love, R; Memon, R A; Moola, M; Neumann, L; Ozden, N; Roth, K; Samwel, P; Villavicencio, J; Wright, P; Harzer, W

    2008-02-01

    The aim of this report is to provide guidance to assist in the international convergence of quality assurance, benchmarking and assessment systems to improve dental education. Proposals are developed for mutual recognition of qualifications, to aid international movement and exchange of staff and students including and supporting developing countries. Quality assurance is the responsibility of all staff involved in dental education and involves three levels: internal, institutional and external. Benchmarking information provides a subject framework. Benchmarks are useful for a variety of purposes including design and validation of programmes, examination and review; they can also strengthen the accreditation process undertaken by professional and statutory bodies. Benchmark information can be used by institutions as part of their programme approval process, to set degree standards. The standards should be developed by the dental academic community through formal groups of experts. Assessment outcomes of student learning are a measure of the quality of the learning programme. The goal of an effective assessment strategy should be that it provides the starting point for students to adopt a positive approach to effective and competent practice, reflective and lifelong learning. All assessment methods should be evidence based or based upon research. Mutual recognition of professional qualifications means that qualifications gained in one country (the home country) are recognized in another country (the host country). It empowers movement of skilled workers, which can help resolve skills shortages within participating countries. These proposals are not intended to be either exhaustive or prescriptive; they are purely for guidance and derived from the identification of what is perceived to be 'best practice'.

  9. Role Orientation of Certified Athletic Trainers at Institutions of Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brumels, Kirk; Beach, Andrea

    2008-01-01

    Objective: This study examined the role orientation hierarchy among teaching, research, service, and administrative responsibilities of certified athletic trainers (ATCs) employed at the collegiate level. Design and Setting: Four single response role orientation questions regarding their actual, ideal, promoted, and most appropriate role…

  10. Mutual best friendship involvement, best friends' rejection sensitivity, and psychological maladaptation.

    PubMed

    Bowker, Julie C; Thomas, Katelyn K; Norman, Kelly E; Spencer, Sarah V

    2011-05-01

    Rejection sensitivity (RS) refers to the tendency to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and overreact to experiences of possible rejection. RS is a clear risk factor for psychological maladaptation during early adolescence. However, there is growing evidence of significant heterogeneity in the psychological correlates of RS. To investigate when RS poses the greatest psychological risk during early adolescence, this study examines mutual best friendship involvement (or lack thereof) and the best friends' RS as potential moderators of the associations between RS and psychological difficulties. Participants were 150 7th grade students (58 boys; M age = 13.05 years) who nominated their best friends, and reported on their RS, social anxiety, and self-esteem. Results from a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that mutual best friendship involvement and best friends' RS were both significant moderators when fear of negative evaluation (a type of social anxiety) served as the dependent variable. The association between RS and fear of negative evaluation was stronger for adolescents without mutual best friends than adolescents with mutual best friends. In addition, the association between RS and fear of negative evaluation was the strongest for adolescents whose best friends were highly rejection sensitive (relative to adolescents whose best friends were moderately or low in RS). Findings highlight the importance of considering best friendships in studies of RS and strongly suggest that, although having mutual best friendships may be protective for rejection sensitive adolescents, having a rejection sensitive best friend may exacerbate difficulties. The significance of friends in the lives of rejection sensitive adolescents is discussed as well as possible applied implications of the findings and study limitations.

  11. Research on electricity consumption forecast based on mutual information and random forests algorithm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shi, Jing; Shi, Yunli; Tan, Jian; Zhu, Lei; Li, Hu

    2018-02-01

    Traditional power forecasting models cannot efficiently take various factors into account, neither to identify the relation factors. In this paper, the mutual information in information theory and the artificial intelligence random forests algorithm are introduced into the medium and long-term electricity demand prediction. Mutual information can identify the high relation factors based on the value of average mutual information between a variety of variables and electricity demand, different industries may be highly associated with different variables. The random forests algorithm was used for building the different industries forecasting models according to the different correlation factors. The data of electricity consumption in Jiangsu Province is taken as a practical example, and the above methods are compared with the methods without regard to mutual information and the industries. The simulation results show that the above method is scientific, effective, and can provide higher prediction accuracy.

  12. Perceptual Learning Selectively Refines Orientation Representations in Early Visual Cortex

    PubMed Central

    Jehee, Janneke F.M.; Ling, Sam; Swisher, Jascha D.; van Bergen, Ruben S.; Tong, Frank

    2013-01-01

    Although practice has long been known to improve perceptual performance, the neural basis of this improvement in humans remains unclear. Using fMRI in conjunction with a novel signal detection-based analysis, we show that extensive practice selectively enhances the neural representation of trained orientations in the human visual cortex. Twelve observers practiced discriminating small changes in the orientation of a laterally presented grating over 20 or more daily one-hour training sessions. Training on average led to a two-fold improvement in discrimination sensitivity, specific to the trained orientation and the trained location, with minimal improvement found for untrained orthogonal orientations or for orientations presented in the untrained hemifield. We measured the strength of orientation-selective responses in individual voxels in early visual areas (V1–V4) using signal detection measures, both pre- and post-training. Although the overall amplitude of the BOLD response was no greater after training, practice nonetheless specifically enhanced the neural representation of the trained orientation at the trained location. This training-specific enhancement of orientation-selective responses was observed in the primary visual cortex (V1) as well as higher extrastriate visual areas V2–V4, and moreover, reliably predicted individual differences in the behavioral effects of perceptual learning. These results demonstrate that extensive training can lead to targeted functional reorganization of the human visual cortex, refining the cortical representation of behaviorally relevant information. PMID:23175828

  13. Secure anonymous mutual authentication for star two-tier wireless body area networks.

    PubMed

    Ibrahim, Maged Hamada; Kumari, Saru; Das, Ashok Kumar; Wazid, Mohammad; Odelu, Vanga

    2016-10-01

    Mutual authentication is a very important service that must be established between sensor nodes in wireless body area network (WBAN) to ensure the originality and integrity of the patient's data sent by sensors distributed on different parts of the body. However, mutual authentication service is not enough. An adversary can benefit from monitoring the traffic and knowing which sensor is in transmission of patient's data. Observing the traffic (even without disclosing the context) and knowing its origin, it can reveal to the adversary information about the patient's medical conditions. Therefore, anonymity of the communicating sensors is an important service as well. Few works have been conducted in the area of mutual authentication among sensor nodes in WBAN. However, none of them has considered anonymity among body sensor nodes. Up to our knowledge, our protocol is the first attempt to consider this service in a two-tier WBAN. We propose a new secure protocol to realize anonymous mutual authentication and confidential transmission for star two-tier WBAN topology. The proposed protocol uses simple cryptographic primitives. We prove the security of the proposed protocol using the widely-accepted Burrows-Abadi-Needham (BAN) logic, and also through rigorous informal security analysis. In addition, to demonstrate the practicality of our protocol, we evaluate it using NS-2 simulator. BAN logic and informal security analysis prove that our proposed protocol achieves the necessary security requirements and goals of an authentication service. The simulation results show the impact on the various network parameters, such as end-to-end delay and throughput. The nodes in the network require to store few hundred bits. Nodes require to perform very few hash invocations, which are computationally very efficient. The communication cost of the proposed protocol is few hundred bits in one round of communication. Due to the low computation cost, the energy consumed by the nodes is

  14. An introductory orientation to clinical pathology core and on-call responsibilities.

    PubMed

    Pappas, A A; Drew, M J; Flick, J; Fink, L; Fuller, G L; Hough, A J

    1994-05-01

    An introductory 4-week orientation for clinical pathology is described. There were 76 hours of lectures, 74 hours of conferences, and 68 hours of laboratories for a total of 221 hours. During the orientation, all calls handled by the residents were evaluated as to resolution, patient outcome, and interaction required. Eighty calls were received during the orientation from 57 technologists (71%), 16 physicians (20%), and seven nurses (9%). The calls originated concerning the following: blood banking, 37 (46%); hematology, 21 (27%); chemistry, 14 (18%); microbiology, five (6%); and administration, three (4%). Sixty percent of the calls were consultative and 40% were supervisory. Ninety-nine percent were handled appropriately by the residents. Patient outcome was moderately or significantly affected in 44% of all calls, divided between 67% of all consultative calls and 9% of all supervisory calls. Significant pathologist interaction was required in 49% of all calls, divided between 71% of the consultative calls and 16% of the supervisory calls. Using this integrated, dynamic system of resident instruction, on-call experience, and evaluation, residents quickly gain confidence in handling call, didactic clinical consultation, and patient management. The orientation and on-call system described provides for a relevant and dynamic system for resident education.

  15. Empowering Public Welfare Workers through Mutual Support.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sherman, Wendy Ruth; Wenocur, Stanley

    1983-01-01

    Examines the organizational binds facing social workers concerned with the provision of services to clients in times of fiscal restraint. Suggests a mutual support group as a step toward empowerment. Workers may shift from a support group to a coalition for action as change agents within institutional settings. (JAC)

  16. Spatial orientation in weightlessness and readaptation to earth's gravity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Young, L. R.; Oman, C. M.; Lichtenberg, B. K.; Watt, D. G. D.; Money, K. E.

    1984-01-01

    Unusual vestibular responses to head movements in weightlessness may produce spatial orientation illusions and symptoms of space motion sickness. An integrated set of experiments was performed during Spacelab 1, as well as before and after the flight, to evaluate responses mediated by the otolith organs and semicircular canals. A variety of measurements were used, including eye movements, postural control, perception of orientation, and susceptibility to space sickness.

  17. Mutual diffusion coefficients of heptane isomers in nitrogen: A molecular dynamics study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chae, Kyungchan; Violi, Angela

    2011-01-01

    The accurate knowledge of transport properties of pure and mixture fluids is essential for the design of various chemical and mechanical systems that include fluxes of mass, momentum, and energy. In this study we determine the mutual diffusion coefficients of mixtures composed of heptane isomers and nitrogen using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with fully atomistic intermolecular potential parameters, in conjunction with the Green-Kubo formula. The computed results were compared with the values obtained using the Chapman-Enskog (C-E) equation with Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential parameters derived from the correlations of state values: MD simulations predict a maximum difference of 6% among isomers while the C-E equation presents that of 3% in the mutual diffusion coefficients in the temperature range 500-1000 K. The comparison of two approaches implies that the corresponding state principle can be applied to the models, which are only weakly affected by the anisotropy of the interaction potentials and the large uncertainty will be included in its application for complex polyatomic molecules. The MD simulations successfully address the pure effects of molecular structure among isomers on mutual diffusion coefficients by revealing that the differences of the total mutual diffusion coefficients for the six mixtures are caused mainly by heptane isomers. The cross interaction potential parameters, collision diameter σ _{12}, and potential energy well depth \\varepsilon _{12} of heptane isomers and nitrogen mixtures were also computed from the mutual diffusion coefficients.

  18. Information trimming: Sufficient statistics, mutual information, and predictability from effective channel states

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    James, Ryan G.; Mahoney, John R.; Crutchfield, James P.

    2017-06-01

    One of the most basic characterizations of the relationship between two random variables, X and Y , is the value of their mutual information. Unfortunately, calculating it analytically and estimating it empirically are often stymied by the extremely large dimension of the variables. One might hope to replace such a high-dimensional variable by a smaller one that preserves its relationship with the other. It is well known that either X (or Y ) can be replaced by its minimal sufficient statistic about Y (or X ) while preserving the mutual information. While intuitively reasonable, it is not obvious or straightforward that both variables can be replaced simultaneously. We demonstrate that this is in fact possible: the information X 's minimal sufficient statistic preserves about Y is exactly the information that Y 's minimal sufficient statistic preserves about X . We call this procedure information trimming. As an important corollary, we consider the case where one variable is a stochastic process' past and the other its future. In this case, the mutual information is the channel transmission rate between the channel's effective states. That is, the past-future mutual information (the excess entropy) is the amount of information about the future that can be predicted using the past. Translating our result about minimal sufficient statistics, this is equivalent to the mutual information between the forward- and reverse-time causal states of computational mechanics. We close by discussing multivariate extensions to this use of minimal sufficient statistics.

  19. The UT 7/8 February 2013 Sila-Nunam Mutual Event and Future Predictions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Benecchi, S. D.; Noll, K. S.; Thirouin, A.; Ryan, E.; Grundy, W. M.; Verbiscer, A.; Doressoundiram, A.; Hestroffer, D.; Beaton, R.; Rabinowitz, D.; hide

    2013-01-01

    A superior mutual event of the Kuiper Belt binary system (79360) Sila-Nunam was observed over 15.47 h on UT 7/8 February 2013 by a coordinated effort at four different telescope facilities; it started approximately 1.5 h earlier than anticipated, the duration was approximately 9.5 h (about 10% longer than predicted), and was slightly less deep than predicted. It is the first full event observed for a comparably sized binary Kuiper Belt object. We provide predictions for future events refined by this and other partial mutual event observations obtained since the mutual event season began.

  20. 12 CFR 221.116 - Bank loans to replenish working capital used to purchase mutual fund shares.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... purchase mutual fund shares. 221.116 Section 221.116 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED... Bank loans to replenish working capital used to purchase mutual fund shares. (a) In a situation considered by the Board of Governors, a business concern (X) proposed to purchase mutual fund shares, from...

  1. 12 CFR 221.116 - Bank loans to replenish working capital used to purchase mutual fund shares.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... purchase mutual fund shares. 221.116 Section 221.116 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED... Bank loans to replenish working capital used to purchase mutual fund shares. (a) In a situation considered by the Board of Governors, a business concern (X) proposed to purchase mutual fund shares, from...

  2. Masking reduces orientation selectivity in rat visual cortex

    PubMed Central

    Alwis, Dasuni S.; Richards, Katrina L.

    2016-01-01

    In visual masking the perception of a target stimulus is impaired by a preceding (forward) or succeeding (backward) mask stimulus. The illusion is of interest because it allows uncoupling of the physical stimulus, its neuronal representation, and its perception. To understand the neuronal correlates of masking, we examined how masks affected the neuronal responses to oriented target stimuli in the primary visual cortex (V1) of anesthetized rats (n = 37). Target stimuli were circular gratings with 12 orientations; mask stimuli were plaids created as a binarized sum of all possible target orientations. Spatially, masks were presented either overlapping or surrounding the target. Temporally, targets and masks were presented for 33 ms, but the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of their relative appearance was varied. For the first time, we examine how spatially overlapping and center-surround masking affect orientation discriminability (rather than visibility) in V1. Regardless of the spatial or temporal arrangement of stimuli, the greatest reductions in firing rate and orientation selectivity occurred for the shortest SOAs. Interestingly, analyses conducted separately for transient and sustained target response components showed that changes in orientation selectivity do not always coincide with changes in firing rate. Given the near-instantaneous reductions observed in orientation selectivity even when target and mask do not spatially overlap, we suggest that monotonic visual masking is explained by a combination of neural integration and lateral inhibition. PMID:27535373

  3. A Philological Orientation?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fonrobert, Charlotte Elisheva

    2010-01-01

    This article presents the author's response to Jon A. Levisohn's article entitled "A Menu of Orientations in the Teaching of Rabbinic Literature." As someone who is experimenting not only with how to teach rabbinic texts but with which texts to select in virtually every course the author teaches for American undergraduate as well as graduate…

  4. Exometabolomics Assisted Design and Validation of Synthetic Obligate Mutualism

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

    Kosina, Suzanne M.; Danielewicz, Megan A.; Mohammed, Mujahid

    Synthetic microbial ecology has the potential to enhance the productivity and resiliency of biotechnology processes compared to approaches using single isolates. Engineering microbial consortia is challenging; however, one approach that has attracted significant attention is the creation of synthetic obligate mutualism using auxotrophic mutants that depend on each other for exchange or cross-feeding of metabolites. In this paper, we describe the integration of mutant library fitness profiling with mass spectrometry based exometabolomics as a method for constructing synthetic mutualism based on cross-feeding. Two industrially important species lacking known ecological interactions, Zymomonas mobilis and Escherichia coli, were selected as the testmore » species. Amino acid exometabolites identified in the spent medium of Z. mobilis were used to select three corresponding E. coli auxotrophs (proA, pheA and IlvA), as potential E. coli counterparts for the coculture. A pooled mutant fitness assay with a Z. mobilis transposon mutant library was used to identify mutants with improved growth in the presence of E. coli. An auxotroph mutant in a gene (ZMO0748) with sequence similarity to cysteine synthase A (cysK), was selected as the Z. mobilis counterpart for the coculture. Exometabolomic analysis of spent E. coli medium identified glutathione related metabolites as potentially available for rescue of the Z. mobilis cysteine synthase mutant. Three sets of cocultures between the Z. mobilis auxotroph and each of the three E. coli auxotrophs were monitored by optical density for growth and analyzed by flow cytometry to confirm high cell counts for each species. Taken together, our methods provide a technological framework for creating synthetic mutualisms combining existing screening based methods and exometabolomics for both the selection of obligate mutualism partners and elucidation of metabolites involved in auxotroph rescue.« less

  5. Exometabolomics Assisted Design and Validation of Synthetic Obligate Mutualism.

    PubMed

    Kosina, Suzanne M; Danielewicz, Megan A; Mohammed, Mujahid; Ray, Jayashree; Suh, Yumi; Yilmaz, Suzan; Singh, Anup K; Arkin, Adam P; Deutschbauer, Adam M; Northen, Trent R

    2016-07-15

    Synthetic microbial ecology has the potential to enhance the productivity and resiliency of biotechnology processes compared to approaches using single isolates. Engineering microbial consortia is challenging; however, one approach that has attracted significant attention is the creation of synthetic obligate mutualism using auxotrophic mutants that depend on each other for exchange or cross-feeding of metabolites. Here, we describe the integration of mutant library fitness profiling with mass spectrometry based exometabolomics as a method for constructing synthetic mutualism based on cross-feeding. Two industrially important species lacking known ecological interactions, Zymomonas mobilis and Escherichia coli, were selected as the test species. Amino acid exometabolites identified in the spent medium of Z. mobilis were used to select three corresponding E. coli auxotrophs (proA, pheA and IlvA), as potential E. coli counterparts for the coculture. A pooled mutant fitness assay with a Z. mobilis transposon mutant library was used to identify mutants with improved growth in the presence of E. coli. An auxotroph mutant in a gene (ZMO0748) with sequence similarity to cysteine synthase A (cysK), was selected as the Z. mobilis counterpart for the coculture. Exometabolomic analysis of spent E. coli medium identified glutathione related metabolites as potentially available for rescue of the Z. mobilis cysteine synthase mutant. Three sets of cocultures between the Z. mobilis auxotroph and each of the three E. coli auxotrophs were monitored by optical density for growth and analyzed by flow cytometry to confirm high cell counts for each species. Taken together, our methods provide a technological framework for creating synthetic mutualisms combining existing screening based methods and exometabolomics for both the selection of obligate mutualism partners and elucidation of metabolites involved in auxotroph rescue.

  6. Exometabolomics Assisted Design and Validation of Synthetic Obligate Mutualism

    DOE PAGES

    Kosina, Suzanne M.; Danielewicz, Megan A.; Mohammed, Mujahid; ...

    2016-02-17

    Synthetic microbial ecology has the potential to enhance the productivity and resiliency of biotechnology processes compared to approaches using single isolates. Engineering microbial consortia is challenging; however, one approach that has attracted significant attention is the creation of synthetic obligate mutualism using auxotrophic mutants that depend on each other for exchange or cross-feeding of metabolites. In this paper, we describe the integration of mutant library fitness profiling with mass spectrometry based exometabolomics as a method for constructing synthetic mutualism based on cross-feeding. Two industrially important species lacking known ecological interactions, Zymomonas mobilis and Escherichia coli, were selected as the testmore » species. Amino acid exometabolites identified in the spent medium of Z. mobilis were used to select three corresponding E. coli auxotrophs (proA, pheA and IlvA), as potential E. coli counterparts for the coculture. A pooled mutant fitness assay with a Z. mobilis transposon mutant library was used to identify mutants with improved growth in the presence of E. coli. An auxotroph mutant in a gene (ZMO0748) with sequence similarity to cysteine synthase A (cysK), was selected as the Z. mobilis counterpart for the coculture. Exometabolomic analysis of spent E. coli medium identified glutathione related metabolites as potentially available for rescue of the Z. mobilis cysteine synthase mutant. Three sets of cocultures between the Z. mobilis auxotroph and each of the three E. coli auxotrophs were monitored by optical density for growth and analyzed by flow cytometry to confirm high cell counts for each species. Taken together, our methods provide a technological framework for creating synthetic mutualisms combining existing screening based methods and exometabolomics for both the selection of obligate mutualism partners and elucidation of metabolites involved in auxotroph rescue.« less

  7. The effect of professional partnership on the development of a mutual-help organization.

    PubMed

    Salem, Deborah A; Reischl, Thomas M; Randall, Katie W

    2008-09-01

    The effects of partnership between Schizophrenics Anonymous (SA, a mutual-help organization) and the Mental Health Association in Michigan (MHAM, a professionally staffed advocacy organization) on SA's growth and development were explored. Following the initiation of a formal partnership, SA groups were more available throughout the state, more likely to be associated with formal mental health settings, and less likely to have leaders who had been participants in other SA groups. Groups with consumer leaders had significantly greater longevity than groups with professional leaders. Changes in the organizational structure and process of SA were also identified. SA leaders reported that SA moved from a collective to a more bureaucratic structure. As a result, there was greater consistency, administrative capacity, and response capacity. This enhanced capacity came with costs reported by SA leaders. The leadership role of SA members became less defined. SA members expressed concerns about the more hierarchical structure of SA's organization, decreased consumer control, increased professional involvement in SA, and an excessive focus on group development as opposed to group maintenance. Mental Health Association in Michigan staff reported that MHAM was also impacted by the partnership, both with regard to internal functioning and external perception. Implications for effective partnerships between mutual-help and professional organizations are discussed.

  8. Knowing where is different from knowing what: Distinct response time profiles and accuracy effects for target location, orientation, and color probability.

    PubMed

    Jabar, Syaheed B; Filipowicz, Alex; Anderson, Britt

    2017-11-01

    When a location is cued, targets appearing at that location are detected more quickly. When a target feature is cued, targets bearing that feature are detected more quickly. These attentional cueing effects are only superficially similar. More detailed analyses find distinct temporal and accuracy profiles for the two different types of cues. This pattern parallels work with probability manipulations, where both feature and spatial probability are known to affect detection accuracy and reaction times. However, little has been done by way of comparing these effects. Are probability manipulations on space and features distinct? In a series of five experiments, we systematically varied spatial probability and feature probability along two dimensions (orientation or color). In addition, we decomposed response times into initiation and movement components. Targets appearing at the probable location were reported more quickly and more accurately regardless of whether the report was based on orientation or color. On the other hand, when either color probability or orientation probability was manipulated, response time and accuracy improvements were specific for that probable feature dimension. Decomposition of the response time benefits demonstrated that spatial probability only affected initiation times, whereas manipulations of feature probability affected both initiation and movement times. As detection was made more difficult, the two effects further diverged, with spatial probability disproportionally affecting initiation times and feature probability disproportionately affecting accuracy. In conclusion, all manipulations of probability, whether spatial or featural, affect detection. However, only feature probability affects perceptual precision, and precision effects are specific to the probable attribute.

  9. The initiation of mutual-help groups within residential treatment settings.

    PubMed

    Salem, D A; Gant, L; Campbell, R

    1998-08-01

    Mutual- and self-help groups for persons with severe mental illness have typically been most accessible to individuals who live independently. In an effort to make their organization more accessible to those who live in residential treatment facilities, Schizophrenics Anonymous (SA) ran introductory mutual-help meetings in four group homes. The results of a quantitative/qualitative case study of this effort are reported. The SA meetings were characterized as more and less successful based on the criteria of residents' attendance, participation, evaluation of the meetings, and interest in continued participation. The following characteristics distinguished between more and less successful meetings: staff support, referent power (i.e., identification with group leaders), and resident characteristics (e.g., gender, education, marital status, level of symptomatology). In spite of behavioral and self-reported evidence of interest and involvement in the meetings and the potential for continued involvement in the organization, no group home residents continued their participation in SA following the introductory meetings. This finding is interpreted from an institutional theory perspective that focuses on incompatibility between the ideologies underlying mutual help and the residential treatment system.

  10. 26 CFR 1.592-1 - Repayment of certain loans by mutual savings banks, building and loan associations, and...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... is wholly owned by the United States, or by any mutual fund established under the authority of the... 26 Internal Revenue 7 2011-04-01 2009-04-01 true Repayment of certain loans by mutual savings... (CONTINUED) Mutual Savings Banks, Etc. § 1.592-1 Repayment of certain loans by mutual savings banks, building...

  11. 26 CFR 1.592-1 - Repayment of certain loans by mutual savings banks, building and loan associations, and...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... is wholly owned by the United States, or by any mutual fund established under the authority of the... 26 Internal Revenue 7 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Repayment of certain loans by mutual savings... (CONTINUED) Mutual Savings Banks, Etc. § 1.592-1 Repayment of certain loans by mutual savings banks, building...

  12. Integrated semiconductor twin-microdisk laser under mutually optical injection

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

    Zou, Ling-Xiu; Liu, Bo-Wen; Lv, Xiao-Meng

    2015-05-11

    We experimentally study the characteristics of an integrated semiconductor twin-microdisk laser under mutually optical injection through a connected optical waveguide. Based on the lasing spectra, four-wave mixing, injection locking, and period-two oscillation states are observed due to the mutually optical injection by adjusting the injected currents applied to the two microdisks. The enhanced 3 dB bandwidth is realized for the microdisk laser at the injection locking state, and photonic microwave is obtained from the electrode of the microdisk laser under the period-two oscillation state. The plentifully dynamical states similar as semiconductor lasers subject to external optical injection are realized due tomore » strong optical interaction between the two microdisks.« less

  13. Optimal estimator model for human spatial orientation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Borah, J.; Young, L. R.; Curry, R. E.

    1979-01-01

    A model is being developed to predict pilot dynamic spatial orientation in response to multisensory stimuli. Motion stimuli are first processed by dynamic models of the visual, vestibular, tactile, and proprioceptive sensors. Central nervous system function is then modeled as a steady-state Kalman filter which blends information from the various sensors to form an estimate of spatial orientation. Where necessary, this linear central estimator has been augmented with nonlinear elements to reflect more accurately some highly nonlinear human response characteristics. Computer implementation of the model has shown agreement with several important qualitative characteristics of human spatial orientation, and it is felt that with further modification and additional experimental data the model can be improved and extended. Possible means are described for extending the model to better represent the active pilot with varying skill and work load levels.

  14. Mutuality and reciprocity in the psychological contracts of employees and employers.

    PubMed

    Dabos, Guillermo E; Rousseau, Denise M

    2004-02-01

    The authors assessed the joint perceptions of the employee and his or her employer to examine mutuality and reciprocity in the employment relationship. Paired psychological contract reports were obtained from 80 employee-employer dyads in 16 university-based research centers. On the basis of in-depth study of the research setting, research directors were identified as primary agents for the university (employer) in shaping the terms of employment of staff scientists (employees). By assessing the extent of consistency between employee and employer beliefs regarding their exchange agreement, the present study mapped the variation and consequences of mutuality and reciprocity in psychological contracts. Results indicate that both mutuality and reciprocity are positively related to archival indicators of research productivity and career advancement, in addition to self-reported measures of Met Expectations and intention to continue working with the employer. Implications for psychological contract theory are presented. ((c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)

  15. Mutual Vulnerability: A Key Principle in a Humanising Pedagogy in Post-Conflict Societies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zinn, Denise; Proteus, Kimberley; Keet, Andre

    2009-01-01

    In this article we argue that education in post-conflict and traumatised societies should be partly underpinned by the principle of "mutual vulnerability" as central to a humanising pedagogy. We explain the conceptual links between "reconciliation pedagogies", "mutual vulnerability" and "humanising pedagogies" and associate them with the broader…

  16. Mothers' power assertion; children's negative, adversarial orientation; and future behavior problems in low-income families: early maternal responsiveness as a moderator of the developmental cascade.

    PubMed

    Kim, Sanghag; Kochanska, Grazyna

    2015-02-01

    Parental power assertion, a key dimension of family environment, generally sets in motion detrimental developmental cascades; however, evidence suggests that other qualities of parenting, such as responsiveness, can significantly moderate those processes. Mechanisms that account for such moderating effects are not fully understood. We propose a conceptual model of processes linking parental power assertion, parental responsiveness, children's negative, adversarial, rejecting orientation toward the parent, and behavior problems. We test that model in a short-term longitudinal design involving 186 low-income, ethnically diverse mothers and their toddlers. When children were 30 months, the dyads were observed in multiple, lengthy, naturalistic laboratory interactions to assess behaviorally mothers' responsiveness and their power-assertive control style. At 33 months, we observed behavioral indicators of children's negative, adversarial, rejecting orientation toward the mothers in several naturalistic and standardized paradigms. At 40 months, mothers rated children's behavior problems. The proposed moderated mediation sequence, tested using a new approach, PROCESS (Hayes, 2013), was supported. The indirect effect from maternal power assertion to children's negative, adversarial orientation to future behavior problems was present when mothers' responsiveness was either low or average but absent when mothers were highly responsive. This study elucidates a potential process that may link parental power assertion with behavior problems and highlights how positive aspects of parenting can moderate this process and defuse maladaptive developmental cascades. It also suggests possible targets for parenting intervention and prevention efforts. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

  17. The Evolution of Mutual Mate Choice under Direct Benefits.

    PubMed

    Courtiol, Alexandre; Etienne, Loïc; Feron, Romain; Godelle, Bernard; Rousset, François

    2016-11-01

    In nature, the intensity of mate choice (i.e., choosiness) is highly variable within and between sexes. Despite growing empirical evidence of male and/or mutual mate choice, theoretical investigations of the joint evolution of female and male choosiness are few. In addition, previous approaches have often assumed an absence of trade-off between the direct benefits per mating and the lower mating rate that results from being choosy. Here we model the joint evolution of female and male choosiness when it is solely ruled by this fundamental trade-off. We show that this trade-off can generate a diversity of stable combinations of choosiness. Mutual mate choice can evolve only if both females and males exhibit long latency after mating. Furthermore, we show that an increase in choosiness in one sex does not necessarily prevent the evolution of mutual mate choice; the outcome depends on details shaping the trade-off: the life history, the decision rule for mate choice, and how the fecundity of a pair is shaped by the quality of both individuals. Last, we discuss the power of the sensitivity of the relative searching time (i.e., of the proportion of a lifetime spent searching for mates) as a predictor of the joint evolution of choosiness.

  18. Part mutual information for quantifying direct associations in networks.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Juan; Zhou, Yiwei; Zhang, Xiujun; Chen, Luonan

    2016-05-03

    Quantitatively identifying direct dependencies between variables is an important task in data analysis, in particular for reconstructing various types of networks and causal relations in science and engineering. One of the most widely used criteria is partial correlation, but it can only measure linearly direct association and miss nonlinear associations. However, based on conditional independence, conditional mutual information (CMI) is able to quantify nonlinearly direct relationships among variables from the observed data, superior to linear measures, but suffers from a serious problem of underestimation, in particular for those variables with tight associations in a network, which severely limits its applications. In this work, we propose a new concept, "partial independence," with a new measure, "part mutual information" (PMI), which not only can overcome the problem of CMI but also retains the quantification properties of both mutual information (MI) and CMI. Specifically, we first defined PMI to measure nonlinearly direct dependencies between variables and then derived its relations with MI and CMI. Finally, we used a number of simulated data as benchmark examples to numerically demonstrate PMI features and further real gene expression data from Escherichia coli and yeast to reconstruct gene regulatory networks, which all validated the advantages of PMI for accurately quantifying nonlinearly direct associations in networks.

  19. Development of stock correlation networks using mutual information and financial big data.

    PubMed

    Guo, Xue; Zhang, Hu; Tian, Tianhai

    2018-01-01

    Stock correlation networks use stock price data to explore the relationship between different stocks listed in the stock market. Currently this relationship is dominantly measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. However, financial data suggest that nonlinear relationships may exist in the stock prices of different shares. To address this issue, this work uses mutual information to characterize the nonlinear relationship between stocks. Using 280 stocks traded at the Shanghai Stocks Exchange in China during the period of 2014-2016, we first compare the effectiveness of the correlation coefficient and mutual information for measuring stock relationships. Based on these two measures, we then develop two stock networks using the Minimum Spanning Tree method and study the topological properties of these networks, including degree, path length and the power-law distribution. The relationship network based on mutual information has a better distribution of the degree and larger value of the power-law distribution than those using the correlation coefficient. Numerical results show that mutual information is a more effective approach than the correlation coefficient to measure the stock relationship in a stock market that may undergo large fluctuations of stock prices.

  20. Development of stock correlation networks using mutual information and financial big data

    PubMed Central

    Guo, Xue; Zhang, Hu

    2018-01-01

    Stock correlation networks use stock price data to explore the relationship between different stocks listed in the stock market. Currently this relationship is dominantly measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. However, financial data suggest that nonlinear relationships may exist in the stock prices of different shares. To address this issue, this work uses mutual information to characterize the nonlinear relationship between stocks. Using 280 stocks traded at the Shanghai Stocks Exchange in China during the period of 2014-2016, we first compare the effectiveness of the correlation coefficient and mutual information for measuring stock relationships. Based on these two measures, we then develop two stock networks using the Minimum Spanning Tree method and study the topological properties of these networks, including degree, path length and the power-law distribution. The relationship network based on mutual information has a better distribution of the degree and larger value of the power-law distribution than those using the correlation coefficient. Numerical results show that mutual information is a more effective approach than the correlation coefficient to measure the stock relationship in a stock market that may undergo large fluctuations of stock prices. PMID:29668715

  1. [The development of the public health system between an increasing market orientation (commercialisation) and social responsibility].

    PubMed

    Trabert, G

    2008-02-01

    The development of the public health system between an increasing market orientation (commercialisation) and social responsibility is critically reflected by examining the medical care of those who are deprived. Poverty in Germany is dramatically increasing. There are confirmed findings on the correlation of being poor and being ill. Poverty leads to an increased number of cases of illness and a higher mortality rate. And vice versa, chronic illnesses very often cause impoverishment. This correlation has largely been ignored not only by the public but also by experts, especially when public health-care issues are on the political agenda. With reference to the current discussion about public health-care and the widespread disregard of the living conditions of the poor, the categories of "reasonable behaviour" (Kant) and "communicative behaviour" (Habermas) are reflected on in a philosophical excursion. Further interest groups affecting the political sphere, such as the pharmaceutical industry, the medical profession, patients and scientists are also examined with regard to public health-care. What are the premises of a health-care discussion that is controlled by economic considerations, particularly when keeping in mind the humanistic and Christian ethics of our society? And what does this mean for our responsibility for those who are handicapped and are in need of our help? Do decision makers and participants of the health-care discussion satisfy these ethical challenges? And what are the effects of the so-called "social peace" on social cooperation and economic power of a country? The increasing market orientation (commercialisation) of the public health sector can only be accepted on the basis of practiced humanity and social responsibility. In the light of a human public health-care, deprived people are in need of our solidarity.

  2. Natural selective attention: Orienting and emotion

    PubMed Central

    BRADLEY, MARGARET M.

    2013-01-01

    The foundations of orienting and attention are hypothesized to stem from activation of defensive and appetitive motivational systems that evolved to protect and sustain the life of the individual. Motivational activation initiates a cascade of perceptual and motor processes that facilitate the selection of appropriate behavior. Among these are detection of significance, indexed by a late centro-parietal positivity in the event-related potential, enhanced perceptual processing, indexed by a initial cardiac deceleration, and preparation for action, indexed by electrodermal changes. Data exploring the role of stimulus novelty and significance in orienting are presented that indicate different components of the orienting response habituate at different rates. Taken together, it is suggested that orienting is mediated by activation of fundamental motivational systems that have evolved to support survival. PMID:18778317

  3. The Responses of Ozone Density to Solar Activity in the Mesopause Region and the Mutual Relationship Based on SABER Measurements During 2002-2016

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tang, Chaoli; Wu, Bo; Wei, Yuanyuan; Qing, Chun; Dai, Congming; Li, Jianyu; Wei, Heli

    2018-04-01

    This paper is aimed to investigate the mutual relationship between ozone-density at cold-point mesopause (O3-CPM) and solar activity globally using Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) measurements and the 10.7 cm-solar-radio-flux (F10.7) data set. For this purpose, the global latitude regions are divided into 16 latitude bins. The global changes of O3-CPM are presented in mesopause region during 2002-2016. SABER has documented dramatic variability in O3-CPM on time scale of the 11-year solar cycle. The observed changes in the global O3-CPM correlate well with the changes in solar activity during 2002-2016 with correlation coefficient of 0.92, and the global solar response of O3-CPM is (20.18 ± 2.24)%/100 solar flux units in mesopause. Then, the latitudinal distribution of O3-CPM and its solar cycle dependence are presented for 16 latitude bins. The latitudinal correlation analysis shows that the O3-CPM is significantly correlated to the solar cycle at or above the 95% confidence level for each latitude bin from 84°S to 70°N, and the correlation coefficients are remarkably higher in the southern hemisphere than for corresponding latitudes in the northern hemisphere. The latitudinal distribution of O3-CPM takes on a W shape on a global scale, and the distribution of solar response of O3-CPM is seen in a strong south-north asymmetry between the two hemispheres. The solar response of O3-CPM in latitudinal distribution decreases gradually from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere, and the standard deviation of solar response increases gradually from the equator to the pole in each hemisphere.

  4. Cycle/Cocycle Oblique Projections on Oriented Graphs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Polettini, Matteo

    2015-01-01

    It is well known that the edge vector space of an oriented graph can be decomposed in terms of cycles and cocycles (alias cuts, or bonds), and that a basis for the cycle and the cocycle spaces can be generated by adding and removing edges to an arbitrarily chosen spanning tree. In this paper, we show that the edge vector space can also be decomposed in terms of cycles and the generating edges of cocycles (called cochords), or of cocycles and the generating edges of cycles (called chords). From this observation follows a construction in terms of oblique complementary projection operators. We employ this algebraic construction to prove several properties of unweighted Kirchhoff-Symanzik matrices, encoding the mutual superposition between cycles and cocycles. In particular, we prove that dual matrices of planar graphs have the same spectrum (up to multiplicities). We briefly comment on how this construction provides a refined formalization of Kirchhoff's mesh analysis of electrical circuits, which has lately been applied to generic thermodynamic networks.

  5. Combating isolation: Building mutual mentoring networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cox, Anne J.

    2015-12-01

    Women physicists can often feel isolated at work. Support from a grant through the ADVANCE program of the National Science Foundation (U.S. government funding) created mutual mentoring networks aimed at combating isolation specifically for women faculty at undergraduate-only institutions. This paper will discuss the organization of one such network, what contributed to its success, some of the outcomes, and how it might be implemented in other contexts.

  6. Diffusive coevolution and mutualism maintenance mechanisms in a fig-fig wasp system.

    PubMed

    Wang, Rui-Wu; Sun, Bao-Fa; Zheng, Qi

    2010-05-01

    In reciprocal mutualism systems, the exploitation events by exploiters might disrupt the reciprocal mutualism, wherein one exploiter species might even exclude other coexisting exploiter species over an evolutionary time frame. What remains unclear is how such a community is maintained. Niche partitioning, or spatial heterogeneity among the mutualists and exploiters, is generally believed to enable stability within a mutualistic system. However, our examination of a reciprocal mutualism between a fig species (Ficus racemosa) and its pollinator wasp (Ceratosolen fusciceps) shows that spatial niche partitioning does not sufficiently prevent exploiters from overexploiting the common resource (i.e., the female flowers), because of the considerable niche overlap between the mutualists and exploiters. In response to an exploiter, our experiment shows that the fig can (1) abort syconia-containing flowers that have been galled by the exploiter, Apocryptophagus testacea, which oviposits before the pollinators do; and (2) retain syconia-containing flowers galled by Apocryptophagus mayri, which oviposit later than pollinators. However, as a result of (2), there is decreased development of adult non-pollinators or pollinator species in syconia that have not been sufficiently pollinated, but not aborted. Such discriminative abortion of figs or reduction in offspring development of exploiters while rewarding cooperative individuals with higher offspring development by the fig will increase the fitness of cooperative pollinating wasps, but decrease the fitness of exploiters. The fig-fig wasp interactions are diffusively coevolved, a case in which fig wasps diversify their genotype, phenotype, or behavior as a result of competition between wasps, while figs diverge their strategies to facilitate the evolution of cooperative fig waps or lessen the detrimental behavior by associated fig wasps. In habitats or syconia that suffer overexploitation, discriminative abortion of figs or

  7. Estimation of time-delayed mutual information and bias for irregularly and sparsely sampled time-series

    PubMed Central

    Albers, D. J.; Hripcsak, George

    2012-01-01

    A method to estimate the time-dependent correlation via an empirical bias estimate of the time-delayed mutual information for a time-series is proposed. In particular, the bias of the time-delayed mutual information is shown to often be equivalent to the mutual information between two distributions of points from the same system separated by infinite time. Thus intuitively, estimation of the bias is reduced to estimation of the mutual information between distributions of data points separated by large time intervals. The proposed bias estimation techniques are shown to work for Lorenz equations data and glucose time series data of three patients from the Columbia University Medical Center database. PMID:22536009

  8. Effectiveness of dual focus mutual aid for co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders: a review and synthesis of the "Double Trouble" in Recovery evaluation.

    PubMed

    Magura, Stephen

    2008-01-01

    Over 5 million adults in the United States have a co-occurring substance use disorder and serious psychological distress. Mutual aid (self-help) can usefully complement treatment, but people with co-occurring substance use and psychiatric disorders often encounter a lack of empathy and acceptance in traditional mutual aid groups. Double Trouble in Recovery (DTR) is a dual focus fellowship whose mission is to bring the benefits of mutual aid to persons recovering from co-occurring disorders. An evaluation of DTR was conducted by interviewing 310 persons attending 24 DTR meetings in New York City (NYC) in 1998 and following them up for 2 years, in 1999 and 2000. The evaluation produced 13 articles in 12 peer-reviewed journals, the main results of which are summarized here. The sample's characteristics were as follows: mean age, 40 years; women, 28%; black, 59%; white, 25%; Hispanic, 14%; never married, 63%; live in supported community residence, 53%; high school graduate or GED, 60%; arrested as adult, 63%; diagnoses of: schizophrenia, 39%; major depression, 21%; or bipolar disorder, 20%; currently prescribed psychiatric medication, 92%; primary substance used, current or past: cocaine/crack, 42%; alcohol 34%; or heroin, 11%. Overall, the findings indicate that DTR participation has both direct and indirect effects on several important components of recovery: drug/alcohol abstinence, psychiatric medication adherence, self-efficacy for recovery, and quality of life. The study also identified several "common" therapeutic factors (e.g., internal motivation and social support) and unique mutual aid processes (helper-therapy and reciprocal learning) that mediate the influence of DTR participation on recovery. For clinicians, these results underline the importance of fostering stable affiliation with specialized dual focus 12-step groups for their patients with co-occurring disorders, as part of a comprehensive recovery-oriented treatment approach.

  9. A Lightweight RFID Mutual Authentication Protocol Based on Physical Unclonable Function.

    PubMed

    Xu, He; Ding, Jie; Li, Peng; Zhu, Feng; Wang, Ruchuan

    2018-03-02

    With the fast development of the Internet of Things, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has been widely applied into many areas. Nevertheless, security problems of the RFID technology are also gradually exposed, when it provides life convenience. In particular, the appearance of a large number of fake and counterfeit goods has caused massive loss for both producers and customers, for which the clone tag is a serious security threat. If attackers acquire the complete information of a tag, they can then obtain the unique identifier of the tag by some technological means. In general, because there is no extra identifier of a tag, it is difficult to distinguish an original tag and its clone one. Once the legal tag data is obtained, attackers can be able to clone this tag. Therefore, this paper shows an efficient RFID mutual verification protocol. This protocol is based on the Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) and the lightweight cryptography to achieve efficient verification of a single tag. The protocol includes three process: tag recognition, mutual verification and update. The tag recognition is that the reader recognizes the tag; mutual verification is that the reader and tag mutually verify the authenticity of each other; update is supposed to maintain the latest secret key for the following verification. Analysis results show that this protocol has a good balance between performance and security.

  10. A Lightweight RFID Mutual Authentication Protocol Based on Physical Unclonable Function

    PubMed Central

    Ding, Jie; Zhu, Feng; Wang, Ruchuan

    2018-01-01

    With the fast development of the Internet of Things, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has been widely applied into many areas. Nevertheless, security problems of the RFID technology are also gradually exposed, when it provides life convenience. In particular, the appearance of a large number of fake and counterfeit goods has caused massive loss for both producers and customers, for which the clone tag is a serious security threat. If attackers acquire the complete information of a tag, they can then obtain the unique identifier of the tag by some technological means. In general, because there is no extra identifier of a tag, it is difficult to distinguish an original tag and its clone one. Once the legal tag data is obtained, attackers can be able to clone this tag. Therefore, this paper shows an efficient RFID mutual verification protocol. This protocol is based on the Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) and the lightweight cryptography to achieve efficient verification of a single tag. The protocol includes three process: tag recognition, mutual verification and update. The tag recognition is that the reader recognizes the tag; mutual verification is that the reader and tag mutually verify the authenticity of each other; update is supposed to maintain the latest secret key for the following verification. Analysis results show that this protocol has a good balance between performance and security. PMID:29498684

  11. Role of inhibition in the specification of orientation selectivity of cells in the cat striate cortex.

    PubMed

    Bonds, A B

    1989-01-01

    Mechanisms supporting orientation selectivity of cat striate cortical cells were studied by stimulation with two superimposed sine-wave gratings of different orientations. One grating (base) generated a discharge of known amplitude which could be modified by the second grating (mask). Masks presented at nonoptimal orientations usually reduced the base-generated response, but the degree of reduction varied widely between cells. Cells with narrow orientation tuning tended to be more susceptible to mask presence than broadly tuned cells; similarly, simple cells generally showed more response reduction than did complex cells. The base and mask stimuli were drifted at different temporal frequencies which, in simple cells, permitted the identification of individual response components from each stimulus. This revealed that the reduction of the base response by the mask usually did not vary regularly with mask orientation, although response facilitation from the mask was orientation selective. In some sharply tuned simple cells, response reduction had clear local maxima near the limits of the cell's orientation-tuning function. Response reduction resulted from a nearly pure rightward shift of the response versus log contrast function. The lowest mask contrast yielding reduction was within 0.1-0.3 log unit of the lowest contrast effective for excitation. The temporal-frequency bandpass of the response-reduction mechanism resembled that of most cortical cells. The spatial-frequency bandpass was much broader than is typical for single cortical cells, spanning essentially the entire visual range of the cat. These findings are compatible with a model in which weak intrinsic orientation-selective excitation is enhanced in two stages: (1) control of threshold by nonorientation-selective inhibition that is continuously dependent on stimulus contrast; and (2) in the more narrowly tuned cells, orientation-selective inhibition that has local maxima serving to increase the slope of

  12. Light-dependent magnetoreception: orientation behaviour of migratory birds under dim red light.

    PubMed

    Wiltschko, Roswitha; Munro, Ursula; Ford, Hugh; Stapput, Katrin; Wiltschko, Wolfgang

    2008-10-01

    Magnetic compass orientation in migratory birds has been shown to be based on radical pair processes and to require light from the short wavelength part of the spectrum up to 565 nm Green. Under dim red light of 645 nm wavelength and 1 mW m(-2) intensity, Australian silvereyes and European robins showed a westerly tendency that did not change between spring and autumn, identifying it as a 'fixed direction' response. A thorough analysis revealed that this orientation did not involve the inclination compass, but was a response based on the polarity of the magnetic field. Furthermore, in contrast to the orientation under short-wavelength light, it could be disrupted by local anaesthesia of the upper beak where iron-containing receptors are located, indicating that it is controlled by these receptors. The similarity of the response under dim red light to the response in total darkness suggests that the two responses may be identical. These findings indicate that the observed 'fixed direction' response under dim red light is fundamentally different from the normal compass orientation, which is based on radical pair processes.

  13. Organic Learning: Mutual Enterprise and the Learning and Skills Agenda. Policy Discussion Paper.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yeo, Stephen

    The term "cooperative and mutual enterprises" (CMEs) was developed in 1999 by a mutuality task force in Oxfordshire, England, as a modern way of reasserting the notion of the adult education movement as a cooperative movement for social (democratic) inclusion. CMEs recall the tradition of learning through clubs, unions, mechanics'…

  14. Bet hedging based cooperation can limit kin selection and form a basis for mutualism.

    PubMed

    Uitdehaag, Joost C M

    2011-07-07

    Mutualism is a mechanism of cooperation in which partners that differ help each other. As such, mutualism opposes mechanisms of kin selection and tag-based selection (for example the green beard mechanism), which are based on giving exclusive help to partners that are related or carry the same tag. In contrast to kin selection, which is a basis for parochialism and intergroup warfare, mutualism can therefore be regarded as a mechanism that drives peaceful coexistence between different groups and individuals. Here the competition between mutualism and kin (tag) selection is studied. In a model where kin selection and tag-based selection are dominant, mutualism is promoted by introducing environmental fluctuations. These fluctuations cause reduction in reproductive success by the mechanism of variance discount. The best strategy to counter variance discount is to share with agents who experience the most anticorrelated fluctuations, a strategy called bet hedging. In this way, bet hedging stimulates cooperation with the most unrelated partners, which is a basis for mutualism. Analytic results and simulations reveal that, if this effect is large enough, mutualistic strategies can dominate kin selective strategies. In addition, mutants of these mutualistic strategies that experience fluctuations that are more anticorrelated to their partner, can outcompete wild type, which can lead to the evolution of specialization. In this way, the evolutionary success of mutualistic strategies can be explained by bet hedging-based cooperation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Electrically detected crystal orientation dependent spin-Rabi beat oscillation of c-Si(111)/SiO2 interface states

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Paik, Seoyoung; Lee, Sang-Yun; McCamey, Dane R.; Boehme, Christoph

    2011-12-01

    Electrically detected spin-Rabi beat oscillation of pairs of paramagnetic near interface states at the phosphorous doped (1016 cm-3) Si(111)/SiO2 interface is reported. Due to the g-factor anisotropy of the Pb center (a silicon surface dangling bond), one can tune intrapair Larmor frequency differences (Larmor separations) by orientation of the crystal with regard to an external magnetic field. Since Larmor separation governs the number of beating spin pairs, crystal orientation can control the beat current. This is used to identify spin states that are paired by mutual electronic transitions. The experiments confirm the presence of the previously reported 31P-Pb transition and provide direct experimental evidence of the previously hypothesized Pb-E' center (a near interface SiO2 bulk state) transition.

  16. Functional implications of orientation maps in primary visual cortex

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Koch, Erin; Jin, Jianzhong; Alonso, Jose M.; Zaidi, Qasim

    2016-11-01

    Stimulus orientation in the primary visual cortex of primates and carnivores is mapped as iso-orientation domains radiating from pinwheel centres, where orientation preferences of neighbouring cells change circularly. Whether this orientation map has a function is currently debated, because many mammals, such as rodents, do not have such maps. Here we show that two fundamental properties of visual cortical responses, contrast saturation and cross-orientation suppression, are stronger within cat iso-orientation domains than at pinwheel centres. These differences develop when excitation (not normalization) from neighbouring oriented neurons is applied to different cortical orientation domains and then balanced by inhibition from un-oriented neurons. The functions of the pinwheel mosaic emerge from these local intra-cortical computations: Narrower tuning, greater cross-orientation suppression and higher contrast gain of iso-orientation cells facilitate extraction of object contours from images, whereas broader tuning, greater linearity and less suppression of pinwheel cells generate selectivity for surface patterns and textures.

  17. Alerting, orienting or executive attention networks: differential patters of pupil dilations

    PubMed Central

    Geva, Ronny; Zivan, Michal; Warsha, Aviv; Olchik, Dov

    2013-01-01

    Attention capacities, alerting responses, orienting to sensory stimulation, and executive monitoring of performance are considered independent yet interrelated systems. These operations play integral roles in regulating the behavior of diverse species along the evolutionary ladder. Each of the primary attention constructs—alerting, orienting, and executive monitoring—involves salient autonomic correlates as evidenced by changes in reactive pupil dilation (PD), heart rate, and skin conductance. Recent technological advances that use remote high-resolution recording may allow the discernment of temporo-spatial attributes of autonomic responses that characterize the alerting, orienting, and executive monitoring networks during free viewing, irrespective of voluntary performance. This may deepen the understanding of the roles of autonomic regulation in these mental operations and may deepen our understanding of behavioral changes in verbal as well as in non-verbal species. The aim of this study was to explore differences between psychosensory PD responses in alerting, orienting, and executive conflict monitoring tasks to generate estimates of concurrent locus coeruleus (LC) noradrenergic input trajectories in healthy human adults using the attention networks test (ANT). The analysis revealed a construct-specific pattern of pupil responses: alerting is characterized by an early component (Pa), its acceleration enables covert orienting, and executive control is evidenced by a prominent late component (Pe). PD characteristics seem to be task-sensitive, allowing exploration of mental operations irrespective of conscious voluntary responses. These data may facilitate development of studies designed to assess mental operations in diverse species using autonomic responses. PMID:24133422

  18. [Pharmaco-economics: a point of view of the mutualities].

    PubMed

    Legrand, D; Simon, I

    1998-05-01

    In Belgium, the mutualities are responsible for their budgets. They are playing an important role in drug pricing and reimbursement procedures. This document aims at explaining our line of arguments for a critical evaluation and the place for a pharmacoeconomic evaluation in the Belgian social security system. The available economic data for each molecule or pathology are essential but insufficient. Economic evaluations could help to reveal the costs and benefits of different uses of medical therapies and could thereby enhance the resources allocation in a health care system. But this science is still in its infancy, and in practice, the methodological quality of this kind of study is often weak. Furthermore it is not easy to transfer those evaluations to the Belgian reimburse systems. The clinical efficacy and the transparency is price setting should remain the two most important criterions to build reimbursement rules in order to ensure right price, rational use of medicine and accessibility for all.

  19. Measuring sexual orientation in adolescent health surveys: evaluation of eight school-based surveys.

    PubMed

    Saewyc, Elizabeth M; Bauer, Greta R; Skay, Carol L; Bearinger, Linda H; Resnick, Michael D; Reis, Elizabeth; Murphy, Aileen

    2004-10-01

    To examine the performance of various items measuring sexual orientation within 8 school-based adolescent health surveys in the United States and Canada from 1986 through 1999. Analyses examined nonresponse and unsure responses to sexual orientation items compared with other survey items, demographic differences in responses, tests for response set bias, and congruence of responses to multiple orientation items; analytical methods included frequencies, contingency tables with Chi-square, and ANOVA with least significant differences (LSD)post hoc tests; all analyses were conducted separately by gender. In all surveys, nonresponse rates for orientation questions were similar to other sexual questions, but not higher; younger students, immigrants, and students with learning disabilities were more likely to skip items or select "unsure." Sexual behavior items had the lowest nonresponse, but fewer than half of all students reported sexual behavior, limiting its usefulness for indicating orientation. Item placement in the survey, wording, and response set bias all appeared to influence nonresponse and unsure rates. Specific recommendations include standardizing wording across future surveys, and pilot testing items with diverse ages and ethnic groups of teens before use. All three dimensions of orientation should be assessed where possible; when limited to single items, sexual attraction may be the best choice. Specific wording suggestions are offered for future surveys.

  20. Side-band mutual interactions in the magnetosphere

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chang, D. C. D.; Helliwell, R. A.; Bell, T. F.

    1980-01-01

    Sideband mutual interactions between VLF waves in the magnetosphere are investigated. Results of an experimental program involving the generation of sidebands by means of frequency shift keying are presented which indicate that the energetic electrons in the magnetosphere can interact only with sidebands generated by signals with short modulation periods. Using the value of the memory time during which electrons interact with the waves implied by the above result, it is estimated that the length of the electron interaction region in the magnetosphere is between 4000 and 2000 km. Sideband interactions are found to be similar to those between constant-frequency signals, exhibiting suppression and energy coupling. Results from a second sideband transmitting program show that for most cases the coherence bandwidth of sidebands is about 50 Hz. Sideband mutual interactions are then explained by the overlap of the ranges of the parallel velocity of the electrons which the sidebands organize, and the wave intensity in the interaction region is estimated to be 2.5-10 milli-gamma, in agreement with satellite measurements.

  1. When selves have sex: what the phenomenology of trans sexuality can teach about sexual orientation.

    PubMed

    Bettcher, Talia Mae

    2014-01-01

    In this article, Bettcher argues that sexual attraction must be reconceptualized in light of transgender experience. In particular, Bettcher defends the theory of "erotic structuralism," which replaces an exclusively other-directed account of gendered attraction with one that includes a gendered eroticization of self as an essential component. This erotic experience of self is necessary for other-directed gendered desire, where the two are bound together and mutually informing. One consequence of the theory is that the controversial notion of "autogynephilia" is rejected. Another consequence is that the distinction between gender identity and sexual orientation is softened.

  2. 12 CFR 204.124 - Repurchase agreement involving shares of a money market mutual fund whose portfolio consists...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... money market mutual fund whose portfolio consists wholly of United States Treasury and Federal agency... § 204.124 Repurchase agreement involving shares of a money market mutual fund whose portfolio consists... (i.e., money market mutual funds) provided the portfolios of such companies consist solely of...

  3. 12 CFR 204.124 - Repurchase agreement involving shares of a money market mutual fund whose portfolio consists...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... money market mutual fund whose portfolio consists wholly of United States Treasury and Federal agency... § 204.124 Repurchase agreement involving shares of a money market mutual fund whose portfolio consists... (i.e., money market mutual funds) provided the portfolios of such companies consist solely of...

  4. Sensitivity Profile for Orientation Selectivity in the Visual Cortex of Goggle-Reared Mice

    PubMed Central

    Yoshida, Takamasa; Ozawa, Katsuya; Tanaka, Shigeru

    2012-01-01

    It has been widely accepted that ocular dominance in the responses of visual cortical neurons can change depending on visual experience in a postnatal period. However, experience-dependent plasticity for orientation selectivity, which is another important response property of visual cortical neurons, is not yet fully understood. To address this issue, using intrinsic signal imaging and two-photon calcium imaging we attempted to observe the alteration of orientation selectivity in the visual cortex of juvenile and adult mice reared with head-mounted goggles, through which animals can experience only the vertical orientation. After one week of goggle rearing, the density of neurons optimally responding to the exposed orientation increased, while that responding to unexposed orientations decreased. These changes can be interpreted as a reallocation of preferred orientations among visually responsive neurons. Our obtained sensitivity profile for orientation selectivity showed a marked peak at 5 weeks and sustained elevation at 12 weeks and later. These features indicate the existence of a critical period between 4 and 7 weeks and residual orientation plasticity in adult mice. The presence of a dip in the sensitivity profile at 10 weeks suggests that different mechanisms are involved in orientation plasticity in childhood and adulthood. PMID:22792390

  5. Mutual Group Hypnosis: A Social Interaction Analysis.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sanders, Shirley

    Mutual Group Hypnosis is discussed in terms of its similarity to group dynamics in general and in terms of its similarity to a social interaction program (Role Modeling) designed to foster the expression of warmth and acceptance among group members. Hypnosis also fosters a regression to prelogical thought processes in the service of the ego. Group…

  6. 78 FR 35359 - Surety Companies Acceptable on Federal Bonds: Amendment-Liberty Mutual Insurance Company

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-06-12

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Fiscal Service Surety Companies Acceptable on Federal Bonds: Amendment--Liberty Mutual Insurance Company AGENCY: Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Fiscal Service, Department of the... been amended: Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (NAIC 23043), which was listed in the Treasury...

  7. Mutually opposing forces during locomotion can eliminate the tradeoff between maneuverability and stability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cowan, Noah; Sefati, Shahin; Neveln, Izaak; Roth, Eatai; Mitchell, Terence; Snyder, James; Maciver, Malcolm; Fortune, Eric

    A surprising feature of animal locomotion is that organisms typically produce substantial forces in directions other than what is necessary to move the animal through its environment, such as perpendicular to, or counter to, the direction of travel. The effect of these forces has been difficult to observe because they are often mutually opposing and therefore cancel out. Using a combination of robotic physical modeling, computational modeling, and biological experiments, we discovered that these forces serve an important role: to simplify and enhance the control of locomotion. Specifically, we examined a well-suited model system, the glass knifefish Eigenmannia virescens, which produces mutually opposing forces during a hovering behavior. By systematically varying the locomotor parameters of our biomimetic robot, and measuring the resulting forces and kinematics, we demonstrated that the production and differential control of mutually opposing forces is a strategy that generates passive stabilization while simultaneously enhancing maneuverability. Mutually opposing forces during locomotion are widespread across animal taxa, and these results indicate that such forces can eliminate the tradeoff between stability and maneuverability, thereby simplifying robotic and neural control.

  8. The Impact of Different Sources of Fluctuations on Mutual Information in Biochemical Networks

    PubMed Central

    Chevalier, Michael; Venturelli, Ophelia; El-Samad, Hana

    2015-01-01

    Stochastic fluctuations in signaling and gene expression limit the ability of cells to sense the state of their environment, transfer this information along cellular pathways, and respond to it with high precision. Mutual information is now often used to quantify the fidelity with which information is transmitted along a cellular pathway. Mutual information calculations from experimental data have mostly generated low values, suggesting that cells might have relatively low signal transmission fidelity. In this work, we demonstrate that mutual information calculations might be artificially lowered by cell-to-cell variability in both initial conditions and slowly fluctuating global factors across the population. We carry out our analysis computationally using a simple signaling pathway and demonstrate that in the presence of slow global fluctuations, every cell might have its own high information transmission capacity but that population averaging underestimates this value. We also construct a simple synthetic transcriptional network and demonstrate using experimental measurements coupled to computational modeling that its operation is dominated by slow global variability, and hence that its mutual information is underestimated by a population averaged calculation. PMID:26484538

  9. Community-orientated primary health care. The responsibility of the team for the health of the total population.

    PubMed

    Epstein, L; Eshed, H

    1988-02-20

    Community-orientated primary health care (COPHC) is presented as a framework for the delivery of primary health care based on the epidemiologically assessed needs of the population. It requires that the health team and the responsible agencies or institutions take upon themselves responsibility for the provision of care in relation to these measured needs of all those persons entitled to the service. This epidemiological diagnosis of community health conditions will include both the measurement of the distribution of health and disease states in the community as well as the possible causes for this distribution--this is in order to plan possible intervention adequately. It is concluded that COPHC is to the advantage of the community, the health team and the health care system.

  10. Parameter motivated mutual correlation analysis: Application to the study of currency exchange rates based on intermittency parameter and Hurst exponent

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cristescu, Constantin P.; Stan, Cristina; Scarlat, Eugen I.; Minea, Teofil; Cristescu, Cristina M.

    2012-04-01

    We present a novel method for the parameter oriented analysis of mutual correlation between independent time series or between equivalent structures such as ordered data sets. The proposed method is based on the sliding window technique, defines a new type of correlation measure and can be applied to time series from all domains of science and technology, experimental or simulated. A specific parameter that can characterize the time series is computed for each window and a cross correlation analysis is carried out on the set of values obtained for the time series under investigation. We apply this method to the study of some currency daily exchange rates from the point of view of the Hurst exponent and the intermittency parameter. Interesting correlation relationships are revealed and a tentative crisis prediction is presented.

  11. 5 CFR 2640.201 - Exemptions for interests in mutual funds, unit investment trusts, and employee benefit plans.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... in several mutual funds whose portfolios contain stock in a small computer company. Each mutual fund... computer company. Example 2 to paragraph (a): A nonsupervisory employee of the Department of Energy owns... shares in the XYZ Health Sciences Fund, a sector mutual fund invested primarily in health-related...

  12. 5 CFR 2640.201 - Exemptions for interests in mutual funds, unit investment trusts, and employee benefit plans.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... in several mutual funds whose portfolios contain stock in a small computer company. Each mutual fund... computer company. Example 2 to paragraph (a): A nonsupervisory employee of the Department of Energy owns... shares in the XYZ Health Sciences Fund, a sector mutual fund invested primarily in health-related...

  13. 5 CFR 2640.201 - Exemptions for interests in mutual funds, unit investment trusts, and employee benefit plans.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... in several mutual funds whose portfolios contain stock in a small computer company. Each mutual fund... computer company. Example 2 to paragraph (a): A nonsupervisory employee of the Department of Energy owns... shares in the XYZ Health Sciences Fund, a sector mutual fund invested primarily in health-related...

  14. 5 CFR 2640.201 - Exemptions for interests in mutual funds, unit investment trusts, and employee benefit plans.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... in several mutual funds whose portfolios contain stock in a small computer company. Each mutual fund... computer company. Example 2 to paragraph (a): A nonsupervisory employee of the Department of Energy owns... shares in the XYZ Health Sciences Fund, a sector mutual fund invested primarily in health-related...

  15. 5 CFR 2640.201 - Exemptions for interests in mutual funds, unit investment trusts, and employee benefit plans.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... in several mutual funds whose portfolios contain stock in a small computer company. Each mutual fund... computer company. Example 2 to paragraph (a): A nonsupervisory employee of the Department of Energy owns... shares in the XYZ Health Sciences Fund, a sector mutual fund invested primarily in health-related...

  16. The Relationship Between Mutuality and Health-Related Quality of Life in Adult Child Caregivers in China.

    PubMed

    Pan, Yuqin; Jones, Patricia S; Pothier, Patricia

    2017-08-01

    The strain inherent in caregiving relationships between adult children and aging parents is a prominent issue in contemporary China due to a combination of demographic and socioeconomic changes. The purpose of this study was to explore how mutuality, a positive quality of caregiving relationships, contributes to the physical health and mental health (health-related quality of life [HRQoL]) of adult child caregivers [ACCs] of parent stroke survivors. A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted on a nonproportional quota sample of 126 ACCs, using questionnaires of demographics, the 15-item Mutuality Scale, and the Second Version of the Standard 12-Item Health Survey (SF-12v2). Higher mutuality was found to be correlated with better caregiver physical health and mental health. However, after adjusting for the covariates, mutuality significantly explained 4.6% of the variance of caregiver physical health (β = .22, ΔR 2 = .046, p < .01) but it did not significantly explain the variance of caregiver mental health. Although multiple factors correlate with Chinese family caregivers' HRQoL, this was the first study exploring the impact of caregiver-care receiver dyadic relationships on caregiver HRQoL in mainland China by using a mutuality scale with SF-12v2. Despite the fact that the Chinese tradition of filial piety can facilitate mutuality, socioeconomic changes and legislation that require adult children to care for aging parents appear to create high stress among family caregivers. Higher levels of mutuality contribute to better physical health in Chinese family caregivers. Therefore, culturally appropriate family nursing strategies and social policies in China could enhance caregiver mutuality and potentially promote their HRQoL, in particular physical health.

  17. Environmental variation shifts the relationship between trees and scatterhoarders along the continuum from mutualism to antagonism.

    PubMed

    Sawaya, Gina M; Goldberg, Adam S; Steele, Michael A; Dalgleish, Harmony J

    2018-05-01

    The conditional mutualism between scatterhoarders and trees varies on a continuum from mutualism to antagonism and can change across time and space, and among species. We examined 4 tree species (red oak [Quercus rubra], white oak [Quercus alba], American chestnut [Castanea dentata] and hybrid chestnut [C. dentata × Castanea mollissima) across 5 sites and 3 years to quantify the variability in this conditional mutualism. We used a published model to compare the rates of seed emergence with and without burial to the probability that seeds will be cached and left uneaten by scatterhoarders to quantify variation in the conditional mutualism that can be explained by environmental variation among sites, years, species, and seed provenance within species. All species tested had increased emergence when buried. However, comparing benefits of burial to the probability of caching by scatterhoarders indicated a mutualism in red oak, while white oak was nearly always antagonistic. Chestnut was variable around the boundary between mutualism and antagonism, indicating a high degree of context dependence in the relationship with scatterhoarders. We found that different seed provenances did not vary in their potential for mutualism. Temperature did not explain microsite differences in seed emergence in any of the species tested. In hybrid chestnut only, emergence on the surface declined with soil moisture in the fall. By quantifying the variation in the conditional mutualism that was not caused by changes in scatterhoarder behavior, we show that environmental conditions and seed traits are an important and underappreciated component of the variation in the relationship between trees and scatterhoarders. © 2018 International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  18. Anemomenotatic orientation in beetles and scorpions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Linsenmair, K. E.

    1972-01-01

    Orientation, by beetles and scorpions, according to wind direction and force are analyzed. Major efforts were made to determine: (1) which physical qualities of the air current influence anemomenotaxis, (2) which physiological mechanism is responsible for such orientation, (3) which sense organs do beetles and scorpions use to perceive wind directions, and (4) what the biological significance of anemomenotaxis in the beetle and scorpion is. Experimental results show that the trichobothria in scorpions perceives wind direction; in the beetle it is perceived by sense organs excited by pendicellus-flagellum joint movements. A compensation mechanism is suggested as the basis for anemomenotactic orientation. It was also suggested that the biological significance of anemomenotaxis in scorpions is space orientation; while in beetles it was found to be part of the appetitive behavior used to search for olfactory sign stimuli.

  19. A weighted exact test for mutually exclusive mutations in cancer

    PubMed Central

    Leiserson, Mark D.M.; Reyna, Matthew A.; Raphael, Benjamin J.

    2016-01-01

    Motivation: The somatic mutations in the pathways that drive cancer development tend to be mutually exclusive across tumors, providing a signal for distinguishing driver mutations from a larger number of random passenger mutations. This mutual exclusivity signal can be confounded by high and highly variable mutation rates across a cohort of samples. Current statistical tests for exclusivity that incorporate both per-gene and per-sample mutational frequencies are computationally expensive and have limited precision. Results: We formulate a weighted exact test for assessing the significance of mutual exclusivity in an arbitrary number of mutational events. Our test conditions on the number of samples with a mutation as well as per-event, per-sample mutation probabilities. We provide a recursive formula to compute P-values for the weighted test exactly as well as a highly accurate and efficient saddlepoint approximation of the test. We use our test to approximate a commonly used permutation test for exclusivity that conditions on per-event, per-sample mutation frequencies. However, our test is more efficient and it recovers more significant results than the permutation test. We use our Weighted Exclusivity Test (WExT) software to analyze hundreds of colorectal and endometrial samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas, which are two cancer types that often have extremely high mutation rates. On both cancer types, the weighted test identifies sets of mutually exclusive mutations in cancer genes with fewer false positives than earlier approaches. Availability and Implementation: See http://compbio.cs.brown.edu/projects/wext for software. Contact: braphael@cs.brown.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:27587696

  20. Conversion from mutual helicity to self-helicity observed with IRIS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, L. P.; Peter, H.; Chen, F.; Zhang, J.

    2014-10-01

    Context. In the upper atmosphere of the Sun observations show convincing evidence for crossing and twisted structures, which are interpreted as mutual helicity and self-helicity. Aims: We use observations with the new Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) to show the conversion of mutual helicity into self-helicity in coronal structures on the Sun. Methods: Using far UV spectra and slit-jaw images from IRIS and coronal images and magnetograms from SDO, we investigated the evolution of two crossing loops in an active region, in particular, the properties of the Si IV line profile in cool loops. Results: In the early stage two cool loops cross each other and accordingly have mutual helicity. The Doppler shifts in the loops indicate that they wind around each other. As a consequence, near the crossing point of the loops (interchange) reconnection sets in, which heats the plasma. This is consistent with the observed increase of the line width and of the appearance of the loops at higher temperatures. After this interaction, the two new loops run in parallel, and in one of them shows a clear spectral tilt of the Si IV line profile. This is indicative of a helical (twisting) motion, which is the same as to say that the loop has self-helicity. Conclusions: The high spatial and spectral resolution of IRIS allowed us to see the conversion of mutual helicity to self-helicity in the (interchange) reconnection of two loops. This is observational evidence for earlier theoretical speculations. Movie associated with Fig. 1 and Appendix A are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

  1. INTEGRATION OF PARTICLE-GAS SYSTEMS WITH STIFF MUTUAL DRAG INTERACTION

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

    Yang, Chao-Chin; Johansen, Anders, E-mail: ccyang@astro.lu.se, E-mail: anders@astro.lu.se

    2016-06-01

    Numerical simulation of numerous mm/cm-sized particles embedded in a gaseous disk has become an important tool in the study of planet formation and in understanding the dust distribution in observed protoplanetary disks. However, the mutual drag force between the gas and the particles can become so stiff—particularly because of small particles and/or strong local solid concentration—that an explicit integration of this system is computationally formidable. In this work, we consider the integration of the mutual drag force in a system of Eulerian gas and Lagrangian solid particles. Despite the entanglement between the gas and the particles under the particle-mesh construct,more » we are able to devise a numerical algorithm that effectively decomposes the globally coupled system of equations for the mutual drag force, and makes it possible to integrate this system on a cell-by-cell basis, which considerably reduces the computational task required. We use an analytical solution for the temporal evolution of each cell to relieve the time-step constraint posed by the mutual drag force, as well as to achieve the highest degree of accuracy. To validate our algorithm, we use an extensive suite of benchmarks with known solutions in one, two, and three dimensions, including the linear growth and the nonlinear saturation of the streaming instability. We demonstrate numerical convergence and satisfactory consistency in all cases. Our algorithm can, for example, be applied to model the evolution of the streaming instability with mm/cm-sized pebbles at high mass loading, which has important consequences for the formation scenarios of planetesimals.« less

  2. Reading Readiness and Early Linguistic Skills as a Function of Individual Differences in the Orienting Response. Working Paper No. 94.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berkowitz, Gloria D.; Farley, Frank H.

    The research paradigm of Farley and Manske on individual differences in the orienting response (OR) defined by heart rate (HR) deceleration was extended to performance in reading readiness tasks. The OR was measured in 114 kindergarteners. Fifteen trials of pure tone stimulation (1000 cps, 61 db) followed by a 16th trial at 2000 cps and a…

  3. An ants-eye view of an ant-plant protection mutualism

    PubMed Central

    Lanan, M. C.; Bronstein, J. L.

    2013-01-01

    Ant protection of extrafloral nectar-secreting plants (EFN plants) is a common form of mutualism found in most habitats around the world. However, very few studies have considered these mutualisms from the ant, rather than the plant, perspective. In particular, a whole-colony perspective that takes into account the spatial structure and nest arrangement of the ant colonies that visit these plants has been lacking, obscuring when and how colony-level foraging decisions might affect tending rates on individual plants. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that recruitment of Crematogaster opuntiae (Buren) ant workers to the extrafloral nectar-secreting cactus Ferocactus wislizeni (Englem) is not independent between plants up to 5m apart. Colony territories of C. opuntiae are large, covering areas of up to 5000m2, and workers visit between five and thirty-four extrafloral nectar-secreting barrel cacti within the territories. These ants are highly polydomous, with up to twenty nest entrances dispersed throughout the territory and interconnected by trail networks. Our study demonstrates that worker recruitment is not independent within large polydomous ant colonies, highlighting the importance of considering colonies rather than individual workers as the relevant study unit within ant/plant protection mutualisms PMID:23515612

  4. Contrast invariance of orientation tuning in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the feline visual system.

    PubMed

    Viswanathan, Sivaram; Jayakumar, Jaikishan; Vidyasagar, Trichur R

    2015-09-01

    Responses of most neurons in the primary visual cortex of mammals are markedly selective for stimulus orientation and their orientation tuning does not vary with changes in stimulus contrast. The basis of such contrast invariance of orientation tuning has been shown to be the higher variability in the response for low-contrast stimuli. Neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), which provides the major visual input to the cortex, have also been shown to have higher variability in their response to low-contrast stimuli. Parallel studies have also long established mild degrees of orientation selectivity in LGN and retinal cells. In our study, we show that contrast invariance of orientation tuning is already present in the LGN. In addition, we show that the variability of spike responses of LGN neurons increases at lower stimulus contrasts, especially for non-preferred orientations. We suggest that such contrast- and orientation-sensitive variability not only explains the contrast invariance observed in the LGN but can also underlie the contrast-invariant orientation tuning seen at the level of the primary visual cortex. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. An externally oriented style of thinking as a moderator of responses to affective films in women.

    PubMed

    Davydov, Dmitry M; Luminet, Olivier; Zech, Emmanuelle

    2013-02-01

    This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that differences in alexithymia would moderate coupling in physiological and subjective-experiential responses to two affective films, which were shown to induce a common negative (sad) feeling, but to provoke different hyper- or hypo-arousal physiological responses (e.g., heart rate acceleration or deceleration) associated with antipathic or empathic context, respectively (Davydov et al., 2011). Only women were studied as persons showing more reactivity to sad films than men. Reactivity was evaluated for facial behavior, physiological arousal, and subjective experience. Some other affective and cognitive disposition factors (e.g., depression and defensiveness) were considered for evaluating their probable mediation of the alexithymia's effects. While subjective experience was not affected by alexithymia, high scorers on the externally-oriented thinking factor showed reduced physiological reactivity in both film conditions. These effects were mediated through different disposition factors: either low affectivity (low depressed mood), which mediated alexithymia's effect on hyper-arousal responses (e.g., decrease of heart rate acceleration), or impression management (other-deception), which mediated alexithymia's effect on hypo-arousal responses (e.g., decrease of heart rate deceleration). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Effectiveness of Dual Focus Mutual Aid for Co-occurring Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders: A Review and Synthesis of the “Double Trouble” in Recovery Evaluation

    PubMed Central

    Magura, Stephen

    2010-01-01

    Over five million adults in the U.S. have a co-occurring substance use disorder and serious psychological distress. Mutual aid (“self-help”) can usefully complement treatment, but people with co-occurring substance use and psychiatric disorders often encounter a lack of empathy and acceptance in traditional mutual aid groups. Double Trouble in Recovery (DTR) is a dual focus fellowship whose mission is to bring the benefits of mutual aid to persons recovering from co-occurring disorders. An evaluation of DTR was conducted by interviewing 310 persons attending 24 DTR meetings in New York City in 1998 and following them up for two years, in 1999 and 2000. The evaluation produced 13 articles in 12 peer reviewed journals, the main results of which are summarized here. The sample’s characteristics were: mean age, 40 years; women, 28%; black, 59%; white, 25%; Hispanic, 14%; never married, 63%; live in supported community residence, 53%; high school graduate or GED, 60%; arrested as adult, 63%; diagnoses of: schizophrenia, 39%; major depression, 21%; or bipolar disorder; 20%; currently prescribed psychiatric medication, 92%; primary substance used, current or past: cocaine/crack, 42%; alcohol 34%; or heroin, 11%. Overall, the findings indicate that DTR participation has both direct and indirect effects on several important components of recovery: drug/alcohol abstinence, psychiatric medication adherence, self-efficacy for recovery, and quality of life. The study also identified several “common” therapeutic factors (e.g., internal motivation, social support) and unique mutual aid processes (helper-therapy, reciprocal learning) that mediate the influence of DTR participation on recovery. For clinicians, these results underline the importance of fostering stable affiliation with specialized dual focus 12-step groups for their patients with co-occurring disorders, as part of a comprehensive recovery-oriented treatment approach. PMID:19016171

  7. 75 FR 77048 - Mutual Savings Association Advisory Committee

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-12-10

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Thrift Supervision [Docket ID OTS-2010-0033] Mutual Savings Association Advisory Committee AGENCY: Department of the Treasury, Office of Thrift Supervision. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Acting Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision has determined that the renewal...

  8. Evolution of the Fusarium–Euwallacea ambrosia beetle mutualism

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The Euwallacea – Fusarium mutualistic symbiosis represents one of the independent evolutionary origins of fungus-farming. Diversification time estimates place the evolutionary origin of this mutualism in the early Miocene approximately 21 million years ago. Fusarium is best known as one of the most ...

  9. Parallel mutual information estimation for inferring gene regulatory networks on GPUs

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background Mutual information is a measure of similarity between two variables. It has been widely used in various application domains including computational biology, machine learning, statistics, image processing, and financial computing. Previously used simple histogram based mutual information estimators lack the precision in quality compared to kernel based methods. The recently introduced B-spline function based mutual information estimation method is competitive to the kernel based methods in terms of quality but at a lower computational complexity. Results We present a new approach to accelerate the B-spline function based mutual information estimation algorithm with commodity graphics hardware. To derive an efficient mapping onto this type of architecture, we have used the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) programming model to design and implement a new parallel algorithm. Our implementation, called CUDA-MI, can achieve speedups of up to 82 using double precision on a single GPU compared to a multi-threaded implementation on a quad-core CPU for large microarray datasets. We have used the results obtained by CUDA-MI to infer gene regulatory networks (GRNs) from microarray data. The comparisons to existing methods including ARACNE and TINGe show that CUDA-MI produces GRNs of higher quality in less time. Conclusions CUDA-MI is publicly available open-source software, written in CUDA and C++ programming languages. It obtains significant speedup over sequential multi-threaded implementation by fully exploiting the compute capability of commonly used CUDA-enabled low-cost GPUs. PMID:21672264

  10. [Acceptability of implementation of mutual health in a Senegalese rural area].

    PubMed

    Faye, A; Diop, C T; Ndiaye, P; Tal-Dia, A

    2011-10-01

    Funding for healthcare poses a major problem in developing countries. The purpose of this study was to assess public perceptions toward the implementation of mutual healthcare coverage in rural Senegal. A descriptive transversal study was conducted from 24/09/07 to 05/10/07 in a randomly selected sample of 208 heads of households living in the rural communities of Ngogom and Réfane. Data were collected by means of individual interviews and focus group discussions. Topics included population health, community solidarity, health insurance and implementation of mutual healthcare insurance. The sample population was 94% male, 91% married, 36% uneducated and 11% unemployed. Household income was irregular in 36% and 84% had no savings. In case of medical emergency, 43% relied on family for assistance, 36% had no recourse and 21% would have to contract, a loan. Nearly half the sample population, i.e., 46%, were familiar with the principle of mutual healthcare insurance and 98% wanted to join. The main reasons for wanting to join were to reduce medical costs (57%), improve access to care (25%) and build community solidarity (11%). In focus groups, people expressed the need for micro health insurance. Findings also showed good community dynamics and a tradition of pooling resources to implement collective activities. The public perception of mutual healthcare insurance is favorable. However, due to economic difficulties, support from political and health authorities will be needed.

  11. Mothers’ Power Assertion, Children’s Negative, Adversarial Orientation, and Future Behavior Problems in Low-Income Families: Early Maternal Responsiveness as a Moderator of the Developmental Cascade

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Sanghag; Kochanska, Grazyna

    2014-01-01

    Parental power assertion, a key dimension of family environment, generally sets in motion detrimental developmental cascades; however, evidence suggests that other qualities of parenting, such as responsiveness, can significantly moderate those processes. Mechanisms that account for such moderating effects are not fully understood. We propose a conceptual model of processes linking parental power assertion, parental responsiveness, children’s negative, adversarial, rejecting orientation toward the parent, and behavior problems. We test that model in a short-term longitudinal design involving 186 low-income, ethnically diverse mothers and their toddlers. When children were 30 months, the dyads were observed in multiple, lengthy, naturalistic laboratory interactions to assess behaviorally mothers’ responsiveness and their power-assertive control style. At 33 months, we observed behavioral indicators of children’s negative, adversarial, rejecting orientation toward the mothers in several naturalistic and standardized paradigms. At 40 months, mothers rated children’s behavior problems. The proposed moderated mediation sequence, tested using a new approach, PROCESS (Hayes, 2013), was supported. The indirect effect from maternal power assertion to children’s negative, adversarial orientation to future behavior problems was present when mothers’ responsiveness was either low or average but absent when mothers were highly responsive. This study elucidates a potential process that may link parental power assertion with behavior problems and highlights how positive aspects of parenting can moderate this process and defuse maladaptive developmental cascades. It also suggests possible targets for parenting intervention and prevention efforts. PMID:25401483

  12. Embedded sensor having an identifiable orientation

    DOEpatents

    Bennett, Thomas E.; Nelson, Drew V.

    2002-01-01

    An apparatus and method is described wherein a sensor, such as a mechanical strain sensor, embedded in a fiber core, is "flagged" to identify a preferred orientation of the sensor. The identifying "flag" is a composite material, comprising a plurality of non-woven filaments distributed in a resin matrix, forming a small planar tab. The fiber is first subjected to a stimulus to identify the orientation providing the desired signal response, and then sandwiched between first and second layers of the composite material. The fiber, and therefore, the sensor orientation is thereby captured and fixed in place. The process for achieving the oriented fiber includes, after identifying the fiber orientation, carefully laying the oriented fiber onto the first layer of composite, moderately heating the assembled layer for a short period in order to bring the composite resin to a "tacky" state, heating the second composite layer as the first, and assembling the two layers together such that they merge to form a single consolidated block. The consolidated block achieving a roughly uniform distribution of composite filaments near the embedded fiber such that excess resin is prevented from "pooling" around the periphery of the fiber.

  13. Endogenous orienting in the archer fish.

    PubMed

    Saban, William; Sekely, Liora; Klein, Raymond M; Gabay, Shai

    2017-07-18

    The literature has long emphasized the neocortex's role in volitional processes. In this work, we examined endogenous orienting in an evolutionarily older species, the archer fish, which lacks neocortex-like cells. We used Posner's classic endogenous cuing task, in which a centrally presented, spatially informative cue is followed by a target. The fish responded to the target by shooting a stream of water at it. Interestingly, the fish demonstrated a human-like "volitional" facilitation effect: their reaction times to targets that appeared on the side indicated by the precue were faster than their reaction times to targets on the opposite side. The fish also exhibited inhibition of return, an aftermath of orienting that commonly emerges only in reflexive orienting tasks in human participants. We believe that this pattern demonstrates the acquisition of an arbitrary connection between spatial orienting and a nonspatial feature of a centrally presented stimulus in nonprimate species. In the literature on human attention, orienting in response to such contingencies has been strongly associated with volitional control. We discuss the implications of these results for the evolution of orienting, and for the study of volitional processes in all species, including humans.

  14. Endogenous orienting in the archer fish

    PubMed Central

    Sekely, Liora; Klein, Raymond M.; Gabay, Shai

    2017-01-01

    The literature has long emphasized the neocortex’s role in volitional processes. In this work, we examined endogenous orienting in an evolutionarily older species, the archer fish, which lacks neocortex-like cells. We used Posner’s classic endogenous cuing task, in which a centrally presented, spatially informative cue is followed by a target. The fish responded to the target by shooting a stream of water at it. Interestingly, the fish demonstrated a human-like “volitional” facilitation effect: their reaction times to targets that appeared on the side indicated by the precue were faster than their reaction times to targets on the opposite side. The fish also exhibited inhibition of return, an aftermath of orienting that commonly emerges only in reflexive orienting tasks in human participants. We believe that this pattern demonstrates the acquisition of an arbitrary connection between spatial orienting and a nonspatial feature of a centrally presented stimulus in nonprimate species. In the literature on human attention, orienting in response to such contingencies has been strongly associated with volitional control. We discuss the implications of these results for the evolution of orienting, and for the study of volitional processes in all species, including humans. PMID:28673997

  15. [Perinatal clomiphene citrate treatment changes sexual orientations of male mice].

    PubMed

    He, Feng-Qin; Zhang, Heng-Rui

    2013-10-01

    Perinatal period and adolescence are critical for brain development, which is the biological basis of an individual's sexual orientation and sexual behavior. In this study, animals were divided into two groups and their sexual orientations were observed: one group experienced drug treatments during the perinatal period, and the other group was castrated at puberty. The results showed that estradiol treatment had no effect on mature male offspring's sexual orientations, but 9 days and 14 days of clomiphene citrate treatment significantly increased the chance of homosexuality and effeminized behavior. In addition, the sexual orientation of mature normal male offspring, which were castrated when they were 21 days old,was not significant different from the control animals. These findings suggest that the inhibition of perinatal estrogen activities could suppress individual male-typical responses, enhance female-typical responses and induce homosexual orientations. Moreover, the masculinizing effects of estrogen were more obvious during perinatal period than adolescence.

  16. Live and Web-based orientations are comparable for a required rotation.

    PubMed

    Prunuske, Jacob

    2010-03-01

    Studies show equivalency in knowledge when measured following Web-based learning and live lecture. However, the effectiveness of a Web-based orientation for a required clinical rotation is unknown. Medical students viewed a Web-based orientation and completed a 13-item evaluation before beginning a required 6-week community medicine rotation. Evaluation data from 2007-2008 live orientation sessions were compared to responses from 2008-2009 Web-based orientation sessions. Data were analyzed by two-sample tests of proportion. A total of 169 students completed surveys during the study period--78 following the live and 91 following the Web-based orientation. Response rates were equal in the two groups. The survey tool had a high level of reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.96). There was no statistical difference in student evaluations for 12 of 13 orientation evaluation items. Live and Web-based formats are comparable for presenting orientation materials to a required clinical rotation. Students felt the purpose of the rotation, educational goals, course structure, and requirements were clearly presented regardless of format. Transition from a live to Web-based format reduced faculty time required to present at rotation orientations.

  17. Entanglement entropy and mutual information production rates in acoustic black holes.

    PubMed

    Giovanazzi, Stefano

    2011-01-07

    A method to investigate acoustic Hawking radiation is proposed, where entanglement entropy and mutual information are measured from the fluctuations of the number of particles. The rate of entropy radiated per one-dimensional (1D) channel is given by S=κ/12, where κ is the sound acceleration on the sonic horizon. This entropy production is accompanied by a corresponding formation of mutual information to ensure the overall conservation of information. The predictions are confirmed using an ab initio analytical approach in transonic flows of 1D degenerate ideal Fermi fluids.

  18. 12 CFR 220.118 - Time of payment for mutual fund shares purchased in a special cash account.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Time of payment for mutual fund shares...) Interpretations § 220.118 Time of payment for mutual fund shares purchased in a special cash account. (a) The Board has recently considered the question whether, in connection with the purchase of mutual fund...

  19. 12 CFR 220.118 - Time of payment for mutual fund shares purchased in a special cash account.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Time of payment for mutual fund shares...) Interpretations § 220.118 Time of payment for mutual fund shares purchased in a special cash account. (a) The Board has recently considered the question whether, in connection with the purchase of mutual fund...

  20. Fathers' Orientation to their Children's Autism Diagnosis: A Grounded Theory Study.

    PubMed

    Hannon, Michael D; Hannon, LaChan V

    2017-07-01

    Sixteen fathers of individuals with autism were interviewed to develop a grounded theory explaining how they learned about their children's autism diagnosis. Results suggest the orientation process entails at least two phases: orienting oneself and orienting others. The orienting oneself phase entailed fathers having suspicion of developmental differences, engaging in research and education activities, having their children formally evaluated; inquiring about their children's prognosis, and having curiosities about autism's etiology. The orienting others phase entailed orientating family members and orienting members of their broader communities. Recommendations for responsive service provision, support for fathers, and future research are offered.

  1. Electrophysiological correlates of retrieval orientation in reality monitoring.

    PubMed

    Rosburg, Timm; Mecklinger, Axel; Johansson, Mikael

    2011-02-14

    Retrieval orientation describes the modulation in the processing of retrieval cues by the nature of the targeted material in memory. Retrieval orientation is usually investigated by analyzing the cortical responses to new (unstudied) material when different memory contents are targeted. This approach avoids confounding effects of retrieval success. We investigated the neural correlates of retrieval orientation in reality monitoring with event-related potentials (ERPs) and assessed the impact of retrieval accuracy on obtained ERP measures. Thirty-two subjects studied visually presented object names that were followed either by a picture of that object (perceived condition) or by the instruction to mentally generate such a picture (imagine condition). Subsequently, subjects had to identify object names of one study condition and reject object names of the second study condition together with newly presented object names. The data analysis showed that object names were more accurately identified when they had been presented in the perceived condition. Two topographically distinct ERP effects of retrieval orientation were revealed: From 600 to 1100 ms after stimulus representation, ERPs were more positive at frontal electrode sites when object names from the imagine condition were targeted. The analysis of response-locked ERP data revealed an additional effect at posterior electrode sites, with more negative ERPs shortly after response onset when items from the imagine condition were targeted. The ERP effect at frontal electrode sites, but not at posterior electrode sites was modulated by relative memory accuracy, with stronger effects in subjects who had lower memory accuracy for items of the imagine condition. The findings are suggestive for a contribution of frontal brain areas to retrieval orientation processes in reality monitoring and indicate that neural correlates of retrieval orientation can be modulated by retrieval effort, with stronger activation of these

  2. Mutual synchronization of weakly coupled gyrotrons

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

    Rozental, R. M.; Glyavin, M. Yu.; Sergeev, A. S.

    2015-09-15

    The processes of synchronization of two weakly coupled gyrotrons are studied within the framework of non-stationary equations with non-fixed longitudinal field structure. With the allowance for a small difference of the free oscillation frequencies of the gyrotrons, we found a certain range of parameters where mutual synchronization is possible while a high electronic efficiency is remained. It is also shown that synchronization regimes can be realized even under random fluctuations of the parameters of the electron beams.

  3. Mutual information as an order parameter for quantum synchronization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ameri, V.; Eghbali-Arani, M.; Mari, A.; Farace, A.; Kheirandish, F.; Giovannetti, V.; Fazio, R.

    2015-01-01

    Spontaneous synchronization is a fundamental phenomenon, important in many theoretical studies and applications. Recently, this effect has been analyzed and observed in a number of physical systems close to the quantum-mechanical regime. In this work we propose mutual information as a useful order parameter which can capture the emergence of synchronization in very different contexts, ranging from semiclassical to intrinsically quantum-mechanical systems. Specifically, we first study the synchronization of two coupled Van der Pol oscillators in both classical and quantum regimes and later we consider the synchronization of two qubits inside two coupled optical cavities. In all these contexts, we find that mutual information can be used as an appropriate figure of merit for determining the synchronization phases independently of the specific details of the system.

  4. Role of mutual punishment in the snowdrift game

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Han-Xin; Wang, Zhen

    2015-09-01

    The effects of punishment on cooperation have drawn increasing attention. In this paper, we propose a new mechanism of punishment, in which an individual will punish each neighbor if their strategies are different, and vice versa. We incorporate the mutual punishment into the snowdrift game. Results for well-mixed and structured populations have shown that, for no punishment or small values of punishment fine, the fraction of cooperators continuously decreases with the temptation to defect. However, for large values of punishment fine, there exists an abrupt transition point, at which the fraction of cooperators suddenly drops from 1 to 0. Compared to no punishment, mutual punishment promotes cooperation when the temptation to defect is small but inhibits cooperation when the temptation to defect is large. For weak (strong) temptation to defect, the cooperation level increases (decreases) with the punishment fine. For moderate temptation to defect, there exists an optimal value of the punishment fine that leads to the highest cooperation level.

  5. Kinematic responses to changes in walking orientation and gravitational load in Drosophila melanogaster.

    PubMed

    Mendes, César S; Rajendren, Soumya V; Bartos, Imre; Márka, Szabolcs; Mann, Richard S

    2014-01-01

    Walking behavior is context-dependent, resulting from the integration of internal and external influences by specialized motor and pre-motor centers. Neuronal programs must be sufficiently flexible to the locomotive challenges inherent in different environments. Although insect studies have contributed substantially to the identification of the components and rules that determine locomotion, we still lack an understanding of how multi-jointed walking insects respond to changes in walking orientation and direction and strength of the gravitational force. In order to answer these questions we measured with high temporal and spatial resolution the kinematic properties of untethered Drosophila during inverted and vertical walking. In addition, we also examined the kinematic responses to increases in gravitational load. We find that animals are capable of shifting their step, spatial and inter-leg parameters in order to cope with more challenging walking conditions. For example, flies walking in an inverted orientation decreased the duration of their swing phase leading to increased contact with the substrate and, as a result, greater stability. We also find that when flies carry additional weight, thereby increasing their gravitational load, some changes in step parameters vary over time, providing evidence for adaptation. However, above a threshold that is between 1 and 2 times their body weight flies display locomotion parameters that suggest they are no longer capable of walking in a coordinated manner. Finally, we find that functional chordotonal organs are required for flies to cope with additional weight, as animals deficient in these proprioceptors display increased sensitivity to load bearing as well as other locomotive defects.

  6. Fostering Practical Young Engineers through Mutual Exchange Internship Program between Japan and China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Suda, Yoshiaki; Kawasaki, Hiroharu; Shigematsu, Toshinobu; Ono, Bunji; Watanabe, Tetsuya; Morishita, Koji; Inoue, Masahiro

    Sasebo National College of Technology started a mutual exchange internship program in 2005 in partnership with Xiamen University of Technology. The aim of this program is to educate and train young Japanese engineers who can apply their knowledge and skills fully to their work in the factories in China. This program also aims to educate and train young Chinese engineers who will acquire not only technological knowledge and skills but also an understanding of the organizational structure and cultural background of Japanese companies. By deepening mutual understanding between Japan and China through this program, young Japanese and Chinese engineers can work toward their common goal of economic prosperity in their respective countries, while building partnerships based on mutual trust and respect.

  7. Aversive learning shapes neuronal orientation tuning in human visual cortex.

    PubMed

    McTeague, Lisa M; Gruss, L Forest; Keil, Andreas

    2015-07-28

    The responses of sensory cortical neurons are shaped by experience. As a result perceptual biases evolve, selectively facilitating the detection and identification of sensory events that are relevant for adaptive behaviour. Here we examine the involvement of human visual cortex in the formation of learned perceptual biases. We use classical aversive conditioning to associate one out of a series of oriented gratings with a noxious sound stimulus. After as few as two grating-sound pairings, visual cortical responses to the sound-paired grating show selective amplification. Furthermore, as learning progresses, responses to the orientations with greatest similarity to the sound-paired grating are increasingly suppressed, suggesting inhibitory interactions between orientation-selective neuronal populations. Changes in cortical connectivity between occipital and fronto-temporal regions mirror the changes in visuo-cortical response amplitudes. These findings suggest that short-term behaviourally driven retuning of human visual cortical neurons involves distal top-down projections as well as local inhibitory interactions.

  8. Polarization Control of Morphological Pattern Orientation During Light-Mediated Synthesis of Nanostructured Se–Te Films

    DOE PAGES

    Carim, Azhar I.; Batara, Nicolas A.; Premkumar, Anjali; ...

    2015-11-23

    The template-free growth of well ordered, highly anisotropic lamellar structures has been demonstrated during the photoelectrodeposition of Se–Te films, wherein the orientation of the pattern can be directed by orienting the linear polarization of the incident light. This control mechanism was investigated further herein by examining the morphologies of films grown photoelectrochemically using light from two simultaneous sources that had mutually different linear polarizations. Photoelectrochemical growth with light from two nonorthogonally polarized same-wavelength sources generated lamellar morphologies in which the long axes of the lamellae were oriented parallel to the intensity-weighted average polarization orientation. Simulations of light scattering at themore » solution–film interface were consistent with this observation. Computer modeling of these growths using combined full-wave electromagnetic and Monte Carlo growth simulations successfully reproduced the experimental morphologies and quantitatively agreed with the pattern orientations observed experimentally by considering only the fundamental light-material interactions during growth. Deposition with light from two orthogonally polarized same-wavelength as well as different-wavelength sources produced structures that consisted of two intersecting sets of orthogonally oriented lamellae in which the relative heights of the two sets could be varied by adjusting the relative source intensities. Simulations of light absorption were performed in analogous, idealized intersecting lamellar structures and revealed that the lamellae preferentially absorbed light polarized with the electric field vector along their long axes. In conclusion, these data sets cumulatively indicate that anisotropic light scattering and light absorption generated by the light polarization produces the anisotropic morphology and that the resultant morphology is a function of all illumination inputs despite differing

  9. Mutual Intercultural Relations among University Students in Canada

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gui, Yongxia; Safdar, Saba; Berry, John

    2016-01-01

    The current study examies the views of both international and domestic students in Canada using the conceptual and empirical framework from the MIRIPS (Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies) project (http://www.victoria.ac.nz/cacr/research/mirips). Two hypotheses were examined. First is the "multiculturalism hypothesis"…

  10. Spatial Orienting of Attention in Dyslexic Adults Using Directional and Alphabetic Cues

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Judge, Jeannie; Knox, Paul C.; Caravolas, Marketa

    2013-01-01

    Spatial attention performance was investigated in adults with dyslexia. Groups with and without dyslexia completed literacy/phonological tasks as well as two spatial cueing tasks, in which attention was oriented in response to a centrally presented pictorial (arrow) or alphabetic (letter) cue. Cued response times and orienting effects were largely…

  11. On MIMO-UFMC in the Presence of Phase Noise and Antenna Mutual Coupling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Xiaoming; Zhang, Shuai; Zhang, Anxue

    2017-11-01

    The universal filtered multicarrier (UFMC) technique has been proposed as a waveform candidate for the fifth generation (5G) communications and beyond 5G. Compared with conventional orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), UFMC has lower out-of-band emission and is also compatible with the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technique. However, like other multicarrier waveforms, it suffers from phase noise of imperfect oscillator. In contrast to the rich literature on phase noise effect on MIMO-OFDM (where the antenna mutual coupling effect is usually omitted though), there is little work investigating the phase noise effect on MIMO-UFMC. In this paper, we study the MIMO-UFMC systems in the presence of phase noise and with/without mutual coupling effect. A phase noise mitigation scheme for MIMO-UFMC systems is presented. The scheme does not require detailed knowledge of the phase noise statistics and can effectively mitigate the phase noise within each UFMC symbol. Moreover, it is shown that at small antenna separations, the performance of the MIMO-UFMC system taking the mutual coupling effect into account is better than that when the mutual coupling effect is overlooked.

  12. TELEsarPHONE: Mutual Telexistence Master-Slave Communication System Based on Retroreflective Projection Technology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tachi, Susumu; Kawakami, Naoki; Nii, Hideaki; Watanabe, Kouichi; Minamizawa, Kouta

    TELEsarPHONE is a conceptual prototype of a mutual telexistence system, designed for face-to-face telecommunication via robots. Because of the development of telexistence technology, we can acquire a feeling that we are present in several actual remote places using remote robots as our surrogates and can work and act freely there. However, people in the place where someone telexists using a robot see only the robot, and they cannot feel the existence of the telexisting person. Mutual telexistence aims to solve this problem so that the existence of a telexisting person (visitor) is apparent to the people in the remote environment by providing mutual sensations of presence. On the basis of the concept of mutual telexistence, we have designed and developed a prototype of a telexistence master-slave system for remote communication by applying retroreflective projection technology. In the TELEsarPHONE system, the face and chest of the slave robot TELESAR II are covered by retroreflective material. To provide the feeling of existence, the real-time image of the visitor is projected onto the robot so that people can see the visitor in real time.

  13. Mutual learning and reverse innovation--where next?

    PubMed

    Crisp, Nigel

    2014-03-28

    There is a clear and evident need for mutual learning in global health systems. It is increasingly recognized that innovation needs to be sourced globally and that we need to think in terms of co-development as ideas are developed and spread from richer to poorer countries and vice versa. The Globalization and Health journal's ongoing thematic series, "Reverse innovation in global health systems: learning from low-income countries" illustrates how mutual learning and ideas about so-called "reverse innovation" or "frugal innovation" are being developed and utilized by researchers and practitioners around the world. The knowledge emerging from the series is already catalyzing change and challenging the status quo in global health. The path to truly "global innovation flow", although not fully established, is now well under way. Mobilization of knowledge and resources through continuous communication and awareness raising can help sustain this movement. Global health learning laboratories, where partners can support each other in generating and sharing lessons, have the potential to construct solutions for the world. At the heart of this dialogue is a focus on creating practical local solutions and, simultaneously, drawing out the lessons for the whole world.

  14. Experimental study of the mutual influence of fibre Faraday elements in a spun-fibre interferometer

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

    Gubin, V P; Morshnev, S K; Przhiyalkovsky, Ya V

    2015-08-31

    An all-spun-fibre linear reflective interferometer with two linked Faraday fibre coils is studied. It is found experimentally that there is mutual influence of Faraday fibre coils in this interferometer. It manifests itself as an additional phase shift of the interferometer response, which depends on the circular birefringence induced by the Faraday effect in both coils. In addition, the interferometer contrast and magneto-optical sensitivity of one of the coils change. A probable physical mechanism of the discovered effect is the distributed coupling of orthogonal polarised waves in the fibre medium, which is caused by fibre bend in the coil. (interferometry)

  15. Automatic estimation of retinal nerve fiber bundle orientation in SD-OCT images using a structure-oriented smoothing filter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ghafaryasl, Babak; Baart, Robert; de Boer, Johannes F.; Vermeer, Koenraad A.; van Vliet, Lucas J.

    2017-02-01

    Optical coherence tomography (OCT) yields high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the retina. A better understanding of retinal nerve fiber bundle (RNFB) trajectories in combination with visual field data may be used for future diagnosis and monitoring of glaucoma. However, manual tracing of these bundles is a tedious task. In this work, we present an automatic technique to estimate the orientation of RNFBs from volumetric OCT scans. Our method consists of several steps, starting from automatic segmentation of the RNFL. Then, a stack of en face images around the posterior nerve fiber layer interface was extracted. The image showing the best visibility of RNFB trajectories was selected for further processing. After denoising the selected en face image, a semblance structure-oriented filter was applied to probe the strength of local linear structure in a discrete set of orientations creating an orientation space. Gaussian filtering along the orientation axis in this space is used to find the dominant orientation. Next, a confidence map was created to supplement the estimated orientation. This confidence map was used as pixel weight in normalized convolution to regularize the semblance filter response after which a new orientation estimate can be obtained. Finally, after several iterations an orientation field corresponding to the strongest local orientation was obtained. The RNFB orientations of six macular scans from three subjects were estimated. For all scans, visual inspection shows a good agreement between the estimated orientation fields and the RNFB trajectories in the en face images. Additionally, a good correlation between the orientation fields of two scans of the same subject was observed. Our method was also applied to a larger field of view around the macula. Manual tracing of the RNFB trajectories shows a good agreement with the automatically obtained streamlines obtained by fiber tracking.

  16. Growth-independent cross-feeding modifies boundaries for coexistence in a bacterial mutualism.

    PubMed

    McCully, Alexandra L; LaSarre, Breah; McKinlay, James B

    2017-09-01

    Nutrient cross-feeding can stabilize microbial mutualisms, including those important for carbon cycling in nutrient-limited anaerobic environments. It remains poorly understood how nutrient limitation within natural environments impacts mutualist growth, cross-feeding levels and ultimately mutualism dynamics. We examined the effects of nutrient limitation within a mutualism using theoretical and experimental approaches with a synthetic anaerobic coculture pairing fermentative Escherichia coli and phototrophic Rhodopseudomonas palustris. In this coculture, E. coli and R. palustris resemble an anaerobic food web by cross-feeding essential carbon (organic acids) and nitrogen (ammonium) respectively. Organic acid cross-feeding stemming from E. coli fermentation can continue in a growth-independent manner during nitrogen limitation, while ammonium cross-feeding by R. palustris is growth-dependent. When ammonium cross-feeding was limited, coculture trends changed yet coexistence persisted under both homogenous and heterogenous conditions. Theoretical modelling indicated that growth-independent fermentation was crucial to sustain cooperative growth under conditions of low nutrient exchange. In contrast to stabilization at most cell densities, growth-independent fermentation inhibited mutualistic growth when the E. coli cell density was adequately high relative to that of R. palustris. Thus, growth-independent fermentation can conditionally stabilize or destabilize a mutualism, indicating the potential importance of growth-independent metabolism for nutrient-limited mutualistic communities. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  17. Mesoscopic model for filament orientation in growing actin networks: the role of obstacle geometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weichsel, Julian; Schwarz, Ulrich S.

    2013-03-01

    Propulsion by growing actin networks is a universal mechanism used in many different biological systems, ranging from the sheet-like lamellipodium of crawling animal cells to the actin comet tails induced by certain bacteria and viruses in order to move within their host cells. Although the core molecular machinery for actin network growth is well preserved in all of these cases, the geometry of the propelled obstacle varies considerably. During recent years, filament orientation distribution has emerged as an important observable characterizing the structure and dynamical state of the growing network. Here we derive several continuum equations for the orientation distribution of filaments growing behind stiff obstacles of various shapes and validate the predicted steady state orientation patterns by stochastic computer simulations based on discrete filaments. We use an ordinary differential equation approach to demonstrate that for flat obstacles of finite size, two fundamentally different orientation patterns peaked at either ±35° or +70°/0°/ - 70° exhibit mutually exclusive stability, in agreement with earlier results for flat obstacles of very large lateral extension. We calculate and validate phase diagrams as a function of model parameters and show how this approach can be extended to obstacles with piecewise straight contours. For curved obstacles, we arrive at a partial differential equation in the continuum limit, which again is in good agreement with the computer simulations. In all cases, we can identify the same two fundamentally different orientation patterns, but only within an appropriate reference frame, which is adjusted to the local orientation of the obstacle contour. Our results suggest that two fundamentally different network architectures compete with each other in growing actin networks, irrespective of obstacle geometry, and clarify how simulated and electron tomography data have to be analyzed for non-flat obstacle geometries.

  18. Synchronization in human musical rhythms and mutually interacting complex systems

    PubMed Central

    Hennig, Holger

    2014-01-01

    Though the music produced by an ensemble is influenced by multiple factors, including musical genre, musician skill, and individual interpretation, rhythmic synchronization is at the foundation of musical interaction. Here, we study the statistical nature of the mutual interaction between two humans synchronizing rhythms. We find that the interbeat intervals of both laypeople and professional musicians exhibit scale-free (power law) cross-correlations. Surprisingly, the next beat to be played by one person is dependent on the entire history of the other person’s interbeat intervals on timescales up to several minutes. To understand this finding, we propose a general stochastic model for mutually interacting complex systems, which suggests a physiologically motivated explanation for the occurrence of scale-free cross-correlations. We show that the observed long-term memory phenomenon in rhythmic synchronization can be imitated by fractal coupling of separately recorded or synthesized audio tracks and thus applied in electronic music. Though this study provides an understanding of fundamental characteristics of timing and synchronization at the interbrain level, the mutually interacting complex systems model may also be applied to study the dynamics of other complex systems where scale-free cross-correlations have been observed, including econophysics, physiological time series, and collective behavior of animal flocks. PMID:25114228

  19. International Mutual Recognition: Progress and Prospects. Working Paper.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hager, Paul

    Increasing the mobility of service providers, including professionals, via mutual recognition (of regulatory systems) agreements (MRAs) has become a significant issue worldwide. Despite increasing interest in MRAs, it may be argued that MRAs are but one of a larger range of major developments that have fueled current interest in occupational…

  20. Mutual Information Item Selection in Adaptive Classification Testing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weissman, Alexander

    2007-01-01

    A general approach for item selection in adaptive multiple-category classification tests is provided. The approach uses mutual information (MI), a special case of the Kullback-Leibler distance, or relative entropy. MI works efficiently with the sequential probability ratio test and alleviates the difficulties encountered with using other local-…