Modeling the Human Decision Making Process in Maritime Interdiction Using Conceptual Blending Theory

Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) papers and Behavior Representation in Modeling and Simulation (BRIMS)This paper describes a model of the human decision-making process in maritime interdiction tactical operation using conceptual blending theory (CBT) and software blending mechanism. CBT explains how humans think using blending operations on mental spaces. This paper uses CBT to model Boyd’s Observation-Orientation- Decision-Act Loop Theory, a mental process used by military commanders to make decisions. The software blending mechanism is implemented using the Naval Postgraduate School’s first-generation Software Blending library. Military expert’s experiences were captured using a similar strategy implemented in the threat assessment model created by Liebhaber and Feher. Probability Estimates of Event (PEoE) is used to represent the significant of each possible tactic used by potential threats. Several PEoE are used to represent the mental patterns for recognizing a threat situation. Finally, decisions are derived using linear assignment, an optimality approach that considers threat attack probability, goals and interdiction resource effectiveness. The model was tested in a simulated maritime threat environment in order to evaluate its ability to coordinate interdictions by patrol crafts. These test results were reviewed by experienced naval warfare officers who gave feedback on the quality of the software generated decisions

Sleep, watch, and extended cognition in Spenserian epic and Shakespearean drama / Slaap, wake en gesitueerde cognitie in de epiek van Spenser en het toneelwerk van Shakespeare

Stephanie Schierhuber studied sleep in early modern literature and drama. She found that sleepers use cognitive extension to outsource their attentional capacity during sleep in order to mitigate vulnerability. Her research provides a means for literary scholars to interpret sleep and contributes to the development of extended mind theory. [Full abstracts within the thesis are in English and Dutch

The fascination of evil: mental malpractice in Shakespearean tragedy

The first part of this thesis offers a study of the phenomenon of fascination as it was understood in early modern England—specifically in its relation to magic, demonology and witchcraft. It examines fascination’s place within cultural traditions, and its operation within perception theory and the psychophysiology of the early modern medical understanding. It also examines some ways in which fascination operates within a theatrical context, and encounters the discourse of early modern “anti-theatricalists.” The second part of the thesis is an analysis of the Shakespearean tragic hero’s encounter with elements of fascinating bewitchment, and the problems of discerning reality through the mesmeric pull of misperception. The specific subjects of the dramatic analysis are Othello and Macbeth

"Passion is Catching": Emotional Contagion and Affective Action in Select Works by Shakespeare

Growing out of recent scholarship on humoral theory and emotions in early modern literary texts, this dissertation explores the idea that Shakespearean emotions are contagious. Tears, rage, compassion, fear, affection, horror, and laughter travel invisible pathways from character to character in his texts, reinforcing an implicit scheme of emotional transmission harkening back to Plato and Aristotle. Whether generated internally or imposed from the outside, these passions have the ability to wreak havoc on individuals, communities, and even countries, because passions can, and often do, lead to action. This work examines three of Shakespeare's tragic works, the poem Rape of Lucrece and two plays: Othello and Julius Caesar. In the chapter on Rape of Lucrece, beauty is the root of the violent, contagious action driving the tale. Tarquin himself is ravished by Lucrece's beauty. Overwhelmed by a “rage of lust,” the prince must exorcise his excess humors through rape to regain equilibrium. Lucrece is infected with his “load of lust” during the rape and then kills herself, passing on Tarquin's beauty–inspired violence to Collatine and the nobles in a mutated form—the lust for vengeance. Through her act of self–violence, Lucrece transforms the original contagion into a force which purges Rome of the Tarquins' rule. For Julius Caesar, I trace Shakespeare's descriptions of environmental events in Julian Rome and how these correspond to the emotional complexion of the agents in the play. I identify fear as the main emotional vector in this play and illustrate how the imagination takes on a crucial role in the misregulation of the humors, a situation that, in turn, creates the ideal environment for violent action. The chapter dedicated to Othello examines the false transmission of emotion perpetrated by Iago to destroy Othello. Iago develops false emotional paradigms, reframing his hatred for the general with trappings of love; successfully communicating the degree of his passion without the content, Iago is able to fool Othello into believing Desdemona is false. Despite his demand for “ocular proof,” the Moor becomes overwhelmed by the force of Iago's emotions and becomes an instrument of “honest” Iago's virulent hate

Advances in therapeutic peptides targeting G protein-coupled receptors.

Dysregulation of peptide-activated pathways causes a range of diseases, fostering the discovery and clinical development of peptide drugs. Many endogenous peptides activate G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) - nearly 50 GPCR peptide drugs have been approved to date, most of them for metabolic disease or oncology, and more than 10 potentially first-in-class peptide therapeutics are in the pipeline. The majority of existing peptide therapeutics are agonists, which reflects the currently dominant strategy of modifying the endogenous peptide sequence of ligands for peptide-binding GPCRs. Increasingly, novel strategies are being employed to develop both agonists and antagonists, to both introduce chemical novelty and improve drug-like properties. Pharmacodynamic improvements are evolving to allow biasing ligands to activate specific downstream signalling pathways, in order to optimize efficacy and reduce side effects. In pharmacokinetics, modifications that increase plasma half-life have been revolutionary. Here, we discuss the current status of the peptide drugs targeting GPCRs, with a focus on evolving strategies to improve pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties.Wellcome Trust [WT107715/Z/15/Z], Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre Biomedical Resources Gran

The Witches and the Witch: Verdi's Macbeth

The witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth equivocate between the demons of random malevolence and ordinary (if exceptionally nasty) old women; and both King James I, whose book on witchcraft may have influenced Shakespeare, and A. W. Schlegel, whose essay on Macbeth certainly influenced Verdi, also stress this ambiguity. In his treatment of Lady Macbeth, Verdi uses certain musical patterns associated with the witches; and like the witches, who sound sometimes tame and frivolous, sometimes like incarnations of supernatural evil, Lady Macbeth hovers insecurely between roles: she is a hybrid of ambitious wife and agent of hell.English and American Literature and Languag

Microfluidic fabrication of gadolinium-doped hydroxyapatite for theragnostic applications

Among the several possible uses of nanoparticulated systems in biomedicine, their potential as theragnostic agents has received significant interest in recent times. In this work, we have taken advantage of the medical applications of Gadolinium as a contrast agent with the versatility and huge array of possibilities that microfluidics can help to create doped Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles with magnetic properties in an efficient and functional way. First, with the help of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), we performed a complete and precise study of all the elements and phases of our device to guarantee that our microfluidic system worked in the laminar regime and was not affected by the presence of nanoparticles through the flow requisite that is essential to guarantee homogeneous diffusion between the elements or phases in play. Then the obtained biomaterials were physiochemically characterized by means of XRD, FE-SEM, EDX, confocal Raman microscopy, and FT-IR, confirming the successful incorporation of the lanthanide element Gadolinium in part of the Ca (II) binding sites. Finally, the magnetic characterization confirmed the paramagnetic behaviour of the nanoparticles, demonstrating that, with a simple and automatized system, it is possible to obtain advanced nanomaterials that can offer a promising and innovative solution in theragnostic applications.M.S.: R.R. and J.M.R. thank Xunta de Galicia for support (ED431B 2022/36), R.R. is granted by the Program for the requalification, international mobility, and attraction of talent in the Spanish university system, modality Margarita Salas. J.M. and I.F.L. acknowledge support from the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (project PID2019-104296GB-I00), and I.F.L. from Xunta de Galicia (grant ED481A-2020/149)