317 research outputs found

    (b2023 to 2014) The UNBELIEVABLE similarities between the ideas of some people (2006-2016) and my ideas (2002-2008) in physics (quantum mechanics, cosmology), cognitive neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and philosophy (this manuscript would require a REVOLUTION in international academy environment!)

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    (b2023 to 2014) The UNBELIEVABLE similarities between the ideas of some people (2006-2016) and my ideas (2002-2008) in physics (quantum mechanics, cosmology), cognitive neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and philosophy (this manuscript would require a REVOLUTION in international academy environment!

    Lysolipids are prominent in subretinal drusenoid deposits, a high-risk phenotype in age-related macular degeneration

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    IntroductionAge related macular degeneration (AMD) causes legal blindness worldwide, with few therapeutic targets in early disease and no treatments for 80% of cases. Extracellular deposits, including drusen and subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDD; also called reticular pseudodrusen), disrupt cone and rod photoreceptor functions and strongly confer risk for advanced disease. Due to the differential cholesterol composition of drusen and SDD, lipid transfer and cycling between photoreceptors and support cells are candidate dysregulated pathways leading to deposit formation. The current study explores this hypothesis through a comprehensive lipid compositional analysis of SDD.MethodsHistology and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the morphology of SDD. Highly sensitive tools of imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) and nano liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (nLC-MS/MS) in positive and negative ion modes were used to spatially map and identify SDD lipids, respectively. An interpretable supervised machine learning approach was utilized to compare the lipid composition of SDD to regions of uninvolved retina across 1873 IMS features and to automatically discern candidate markers for SDD. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to localize secretory phospholipase A2 group 5 (PLA2G5). ResultsAmong the 1873 detected features in IMS data, three lipid classes, including lysophosphatidylcholine (LysoPC), lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LysoPE) and lysophosphatidic acid (LysoPA) were observed nearly exclusively in SDD while presumed precursors, including phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidic acid (PA) lipids were detected in SDD and adjacent photoreceptor outer segments. Molecular signals specific to SDD were found in central retina and elsewhere. IHC results indicated abundant PLA2G5 in photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). DiscussionThe abundance of lysolipids in SDD implicates lipid remodeling or degradation in deposit formation, consistent with ultrastructural evidence of electron dense lipid-containing structures distinct from photoreceptor outer segment disks and immunolocalization of secretory PLA2G5 in photoreceptors and RPE. Further studies are required to understand the role of lipid signals observed in and around SDD

    A fault tolerant, peer-to-peer based scheduler for home grids

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    This thesis presents a fault-tolerant, Peer-to-Peer (P2P) based grid scheduling system for highly dynamic and highly heterogeneous environments, such as home networks, where we can find a variety of devices (laptops, PCs, game consoles, etc.) and networks. The number of devices found in a house that are capable of processing data has been increasing in the last few years. However, being able to process data does not mean that these devices are powerful, and, in a home environment, there will be a demand for some applications that need significant computing resources, beyond the capabilities of a single domestic device, such as a set top box (examples of such applications are TV recommender systems, image processing and photo indexing systems). A computational grid is a possible solution for this problem, but the constrained environment in the home makes it difficult to use conventional grid scheduling technologies, which demand a powerful infrastructure. Our solution is based on the distribution of the matchmaking task among providers, leaving the final allocation decision to a central scheduler that can be running on a limited device without a big loss in performance. We evaluate our solution by simulating different scenarios and configurations against the Opportunistic Load Balance (OLB) scheduling heuristic, which we found to be the best option for home grids from the existing solutions that we analysed. The results have shown that our solution performs similar or better to OLB. Furthermore, our solution also provides fault tolerance, which is not achieved with OLB, and we have formally verified the behaviour our solution against two cases of network partition failure

    The conception of New Venture Ideas by novice entrepreneurs: A question of nature or nurture?

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    This research aims to further understanding around the cognitive mechanisms lying behind the generation of entrepreneurial New Venture Ideas (NVIs). It assesses the extent to which this competency is innate or one which is capable of being proactively developed. This has particular salience in the context of novice entrepreneurs, a group lacking the knowledge corridors and cognitive frameworks of their serial or portfolio counterparts. Innovative in nature, NVIs represent the first candidate concepts for new means-end relationships. Existing as cognitive products at the very start of the entrepreneurial journey, significant academic attention has focused on the cognitive micro-foundations that influence their conception. Nonetheless, notable gaps in this body of work remain, not least in how different cognitive antecedents impact upon NVI quality. This thesis looks at these issues through three independent but inter-related studies. The first undertakes a systematic literature review of the existing empirical research to elucidate the extent, and associated transmission methods, through which entrepreneurship education and training (EET) supports opportunity identification. The second takes a quantitative approach to observe how an individual’s innate cognitive capabilities, notably those aspects of intelligence related to executive functioning, explain significant inter-person performance differences when it comes to entrepreneurial ideation. The third adopts an experimental methodology, to assess the extent to which the use of cognitive heuristics, in this case analogical reasoning, impacts on performance outcomes in the conception of NVIs, and the extent to which it can be supported. Collectively this study finds that EET interventions, innate cognitive capabilities, and cognitive heuristics all contribute to NVI quality. It highlights the potency of nurturing interventions but simultaneously illustrates their limitations. With different cognitive antecedents shown to exude varying degrees of malleability, this research has relevance to both the structure, and expectations, of EET programmes dedicated to the ‘fuzzy front’ end of entrepreneurship
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