On two problems of Erdos and Hechler: New methods in singular Madness

For an infinite cardinal mu, MAD(mu) denotes the set of all cardinalities of nontrivial maximal almost disjoint families over mu. Erdos and Hechler proved the consistency of [mu in MAD(mu)] for a singular cardinal mu and asked if it was ever possible for a singular mu that [mu notin MAD(mu)], and also whether 2^{cf(mu)} [mu in MAD(mu)] for every singular cardinal mu. We introduce a new method for controlling MAD(mu) for a singular mu and, among other new results about the structure of MAD(mu) for singular mu, settle both problems affirmatively

Beyond MAD

"The temptation to escape the logic of mutually assured destruction may be too powerful to resist." Ivan Safranchuk is the director of the Moscow office of the World Security Institute

Fibroblast growth factors 1 and 2 in cerebrospinal fluid are associated with HIV disease, methamphetamine use, and neurocognitive functioning.

BackgroundHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and methamphetamine use commonly affect neurocognitive (NC) functioning. We evaluated the relationships between NC functioning and two fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) in volunteers who differed in HIV serostatus and methamphetamine dependence (MAD).MethodsA total of 100 volunteers were categorized into four groups based on HIV serostatus and MAD in the prior year. FGF-1 and FGF-2 were measured in cerebrospinal fluid by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays along with two reference biomarkers (monocyte chemotactic protein [MCP]-1 and neopterin). Comprehensive NC testing was summarized by global and domain impairment ratings.ResultsSixty-three volunteers were HIV+ and 59 had a history of MAD. FGF-1, FGF-2, and both reference biomarkers differed by HIV and MAD status. For example, FGF-1 levels were lower in subjects who had either HIV or MAD than in HIV- and MAD- controls (P=0.003). Multivariable regression identified that global NC impairment was associated with an interaction between FGF-1 and FGF-2 (model R(2)=0.09, P=0.01): higher FGF-2 levels were only associated with neurocognitive impairment among subjects who had lower FGF-1 levels. Including other covariates in the model (including antidepressant use) strengthened the model (model R(2)=0.18, P=0.004) but did not weaken the association with FGF-1 and FGF-2. Lower FGF-1 levels were associated with impairment in five of seven cognitive domains, more than FGF-2, MCP-1, or neopterin.ConclusionThese findings provide in vivo support that HIV and MAD alter expression of FGFs, which may contribute to the NC abnormalities associated with these conditions. These cross-sectional findings cannot establish causality and the therapeutic benefits of recombinant FGF-1 need to be investigated

Σ21\Sigma^1_2 and Π11\Pi^1_1 mad families

We answer in the affirmative the following question of J\"org Brendle: If there is a $\Sigma^1_2$ mad family, is there then a $\Pi^1_1$ mad family?Comment: This will appear in the Journal of Symbolic Logic (March 2014

Madness decolonized?: Madness as transnational identity in Gail Hornstein’s Agnes’s Jacket

The US psychologist Gail Hornstein’s monograph Agnes’s Jacket: A Psychologist’s Search for the Meanings of Madness (2009) is an important intervention in the identity politics of the mad movement. Hornstein offers a resignified vision of mad identity that embroiders the central trope of an “anti-colonial” struggle to reclaim the experiential world “colonized” by psychiatry. A series of literal and figurative appeals make recourse to the inner world and (corresponding) cultural world of the mad, as well as to the ethno-symbolic cultural materials of dormant nationhood. This rhetoric is augmented by a model in which the mad comprise a diaspora without an origin, coalescing into a single transnational community. The mad are also depicted as persons displaced from their metaphorical homeland, the “inner” world “colonized” by the psychiatric regime. There are a number of difficulties with Hornstein’s rhetoric, however. Her “ethnicity-and-rights” response to the oppression of the mad is symptomatic of Western parochialism, while her proposed transmutation of putative psychopathology from limit upon identity to parameter of successful identity is open to contestation. Moreover, unless one accepts Hornstein’s porous vision of mad identity, her self-ascribed insider status in relation to the mad community may present a problematic “re-colonization” of mad experience

When are abrupt onsets found efficiently in complex visual search? : evidence from multi-element asynchronous dynamic search

Previous work has found that search principles derived from simple visual search tasks do not necessarily apply to more complex search tasks. Using a Multielement Asynchronous Dynamic (MAD) visual search task, in which high numbers of stimuli could either be moving, stationary, and/or changing in luminance, Kunar and Watson (M. A Kunar & D. G. Watson, 2011, Visual search in a Multi-element Asynchronous Dynamic (MAD) world, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Vol 37, pp. 1017-1031) found that, unlike previous work, participants missed a higher number of targets with search for moving items worse than for static items and that there was no benefit for finding targets that showed a luminance onset. In the present research, we investigated why luminance onsets do not capture attention and whether luminance onsets can ever capture attention in MAD search. Experiment 1 investigated whether blinking stimuli, which abruptly offset for 100 ms before reonsetting-conditions known to produce attentional capture in simpler visual search tasks-captured attention in MAD search, and Experiments 2-5 investigated whether giving participants advance knowledge and preexposure to the blinking cues produced efficient search for blinking targets. Experiments 6-9 investigated whether unique luminance onsets, unique motion, or unique stationary items captured attention. The results found that luminance onsets captured attention in MAD search only when they were unique, consistent with a top-down unique feature hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)

When are abrupt onsets found efficiently in complex visual search? : evidence from multi-element asynchronous dynamic search

Previous work has found that search principles derived from simple visual search tasks do not necessarily apply to more complex search tasks. Using a Multielement Asynchronous Dynamic (MAD) visual search task, in which high numbers of stimuli could either be moving, stationary, and/or changing in luminance, Kunar and Watson (M. A Kunar & D. G. Watson, 2011, Visual search in a Multi-element Asynchronous Dynamic (MAD) world, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Vol 37, pp. 1017-1031) found that, unlike previous work, participants missed a higher number of targets with search for moving items worse than for static items and that there was no benefit for finding targets that showed a luminance onset. In the present research, we investigated why luminance onsets do not capture attention and whether luminance onsets can ever capture attention in MAD search. Experiment 1 investigated whether blinking stimuli, which abruptly offset for 100 ms before reonsetting-conditions known to produce attentional capture in simpler visual search tasks-captured attention in MAD search, and Experiments 2-5 investigated whether giving participants advance knowledge and preexposure to the blinking cues produced efficient search for blinking targets. Experiments 6-9 investigated whether unique luminance onsets, unique motion, or unique stationary items captured attention. The results found that luminance onsets captured attention in MAD search only when they were unique, consistent with a top-down unique feature hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)