Cross-Modal Information Transfer and the Effect of Concurrent Task-load

People's everyday lives offer plenty of situations where complex processing of information takes place, in which information needs to transfer across modalities to achieve a behavioral goal. The study examined the differential effects on object detection by a visual, verbal, or auditory cue held in working memory (WM), and the role of concurrent cognitive task-load on the final detection of that cue. Three experiments, all using same stimuli set but in different modalities, subjects held in memory a representation of a novel cue for a speeded detection in a search display at the end of each trial. The cue stimulus could be an image (visual), the name (verbal) or the sound (auditory) of a common animal or object. A mental arithmetic task was interleaved between the cue presentation and the cue detection. The results showed that information held in WM, either in verbal or auditory form, can efficiently transfer across modalities to complete a visual detection task for a representation of the initial WM-cue. The speed of detection was not affected by the cross-modal transfer of cue information but there was some detrimental effect on detection that could distinctively be attributed to the cognitive task-load. Together, these findings may provide some evidence for the role of the episodic buffer component of WM in integrating multimodal information originated from different sources, hence supporting the notion of the supramodal nature of WM. The results have been discussed in light of Baddeley's and Cowan's theoretical WM frameworks.</p

The sustainability of Reconstruction and Development Programme Houses : 2004 to 2006 : a case study of Litchis Bay, East London

The South African government has endeavored to provide settlement to citizens and policies have been formulated since 1994 to guide these efforts. The South African Constitution (1996, section 26) stated that everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing. Furthermore the African National Congress’s Freedom Charter (1955) made it clear that: “there shall be houses, security and comfort for all, everybody shall have the right to live where they choose, to be decently housed, and to bring up their families in comfort and security. Slums shall be demolished and new suburbs built, where all shall have transport, roads, lights, playing fields, crèches and social centers”. However, after 19 years of democracy the state of housing is still a critical issue that addresses whether development has served to further the cause of sustainable development with respect to the pillars of human settlement such as shelter, infrastructure and economic opportunities. The study was conducted in the Litchis Bay settlement in East London, Eastern Cape Province. Mixed approaches of quantitative and qualitative methods were used to solicit data. Random Sampling techniques were conducted to select the sample population. Data was captured on Excel sheets to generate graphs. Findings of the study and conclusions were drawn. Therefore when measuring the term ‘sustainable human settlement’ against the findings on RDP houses in Litchis Bay, one can conclude that sustainable human settlement is not fully absorbed in defining the sustainability of RDP houses in Litchis Bay. Moreover the majority of houses have defects, and social amenities are not easily accessible

Can Personality Traits Modulate Student Engagement With Learning And Their Attitude To Employability?

Student engagement in Higher Education is the focus of considerable research, particularly in terms of predicting educational achievement and retention. Less research has examined the predictors of engagement. The current study (students N = 117, staff N = 35) explores the predictive role of personality in a multidimensional model of engagement. Given recent tensions between the importance of employability and the time academics have to deliver this, a second objective was to examine the correlation between student and staff perceptions of employability. Results found no differences between student and staff attitudes towards employability and further revealed that students' attitudes became less positive over time. Differential patterns of trait relations were found for components of engagement, though agreeableness and conscientiousness were consistent predictors. Findings of individual differences are encouraging in terms of integrating different practices so that different personalities can be engaged. Finally, the decrease in students' attitudes towards engagement and employability highlights important areas for future investigation

Toward improvement of the properties of parts manufactured by FFF ( Fused Filament Fabrication) through understanding the influence of temperature and rheological behaviour on the coalescence phenomenon

In this paper, the printing temperature ranges of PLA and PEEK, two semi-crystalline thermoplastics, have been investigated for the Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) process. The printing range, comprised between the melting temperature and the degradation of each polymer, is 160°C to 190°C for PLA and 350°C to 390°C for PEEK. The complex viscosity has been measured for both polymers within the printing range. The kinetics of coalescence has been registered by measuring the bonding length between two filaments of the same polymer according to the temperature. At 167°C, the filaments of PLA reached the maximum value of bonding length. For PEEK, the filaments reached the maximum value of bonding length at 380°C. For the both materials, the final height of the filament is 80% of the initial diameter. The comparison of the obtained results with experimental study and predictive model shows a good agreement when the polymer is totally in fusion state

Evaluation of two semi-selective media to detect Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens in bean seeds

Comparou-se a eficiência dos meios semi-seletivos MSCFF e CNS modificado para a detecção de Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (Cff) através dos métodos de repicagem por estria e por espalhamento, em sementes de feijoeiro. Duas amostras foram subdivididas em quatro de 500 g cada, imersas em 600 mL de água destilada esterilizada, por 18 h a 5ºC, e as suspensões obtidas foram repicadas para ambos os meios. Após incubação das placas a 28ºC por 72 e 144 horas, procedeu-se à avaliação qualitativa de crescimento de Cff, comparando-se com um isolado padrão. Colônias com características típicas de Cff foram observadas nos dois meios de cultura. Algumas colônias foram purificadas e submetidas à reação de polimerase em cadeia (Bio-PCR), com iniciadores específicos para Cff, e a teste de hipersensibilidade em folhas de fumo. Nas duas avaliações realizadas observou-se crescimento característico de Cff no meio MSCFF, para as amostras de sementes, nos dois métodos de repicagem utilizados. No meio CNS modificado, a bactéria só foi detectada nas amostras de sementes 144 horas após a incubação, independente do método utilizado. Os resultados evidenciaram uma maior rapidez no crescimento de Cff no meio semi-seletivo MSCFF. Os isolados bacterianos foram identificados como Cff através de PCR e reação positiva de hipersensibilidade em fumo.This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of the semi-selective MSCFF and modified CNS culture media in detecting Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (Cff) in bean seeds, using the streak and spread plate techniques. Four 500 g subsamples, obtained from two samples of bean seeds, were immersed in 600 mL of sterile distilled water for 18 h at 5ºC. Suspensions were picked and transferred to plates with both culture media. Plates were then incubated at 28ºC, and bacterial growth on both media was evaluated 72 and 144 hours later, compared to the growth of a Cff reference strain. Both media revealed the presence of Cff colonies. Typical colonies were isolated for PCR analyses and pathogenicity tests on tobacco leaves. A characteristic Cff growth on MSCFF medium was observed for the seed samples, for the two plate techniques used, in both evaluations. On the modified CNS culture medium, the bacterial growth was only detected in seed samples after 144 hours of incubation, regardless of the plate technique used. The results showed Cff grew faster on the MSCFF semi-selective culture medium. Bacterial isolates tested were identified as Cff by both PCR analyses and a positive tobacco hypersensitivity reaction

Bone CLARITY: Clearing, imaging, and computational analysis of osteoprogenitors within intact bone marrow

Bone tissue harbors unique and essential physiological processes, such as hematopoiesis, bone growth, and bone remodeling. To enable visualization of these processes at the cellular level in an intact environment, we developed “Bone CLARITY,” a bone tissue clearing method. We used Bone CLARITY and a custom-built light-sheet fluorescence microscope to detect the endogenous fluorescence of Sox9-tdTomato+ osteoprogenitor cells in the tibia, femur, and vertebral column of adult transgenic mice. To obtain a complete distribution map of these osteoprogenitor cells, we developed a computational pipeline that semiautomatically detects individual Sox9-tdTomato+ cells in their native three-dimensional environment. Our computational method counted all labeled osteoprogenitor cells without relying on sampling techniques and displayed increased precision when compared with traditional stereology techniques for estimating the total number of these rare cells. We demonstrate the value of the clearing-imaging pipeline by quantifying changes in the population of Sox9-tdTomato–labeled osteoprogenitor cells after sclerostin antibody treatment. Bone tissue clearing is able to provide fast and comprehensive visualization of biological processes in intact bone tissue

Smart Grid Technologies for Efficiency Improvement of Integrated Industrial Electric System

The purpose of this research is to identify the need of Smart Grid Technologies in communication between industrial plants with co-generation capability and the electric utilities in providing the most optimum scheme for buying and selling of electricity in such a way that the fuel consumption is minimized, reliability is increased, and time to restore the system is reduced. A typical industrial plant load profile based on statistical mean and variance of industrial plants\u27 load requirement is developed, and used in determining the minimum cost of producing the next megawatt-hours by a typical electric utility. The 24-hour load profile and optimal power flow program are used to simulate the IEEE 39 Bus Test System. The methodology for the use of smart grid technology in fuel saving is documented in the thesis. The results obtained from this research shall be extended to include several industrial plants served by electric utilities in future work by the UNO research team

Pedagogies of Defiance

Beginning from Paulo Freire's insistence that ‘Education either functions as an instrument to bring about conformity or freedom,' we can begin to unpack the political function of Higher Education in the UK. This essay uses auto-ethnographic fragments alongside examples of marketisation and securitisation in universities, in order to consider the dissonance between the university's role in authoritarian nationalism and its embrace of the language of ‘decolonisation.' Turning to the educational power of protest as a means to develop institutional disloyalty, this essay suggests that we can draw on the lessons of anticolonial and migrant struggles to construct a pedagogy of defiance beyond the university’s limits

Rapid interrogation of the physical and chemical characteristics of salbutamol sulphate aerosol from a pressurised metered-dose inhaler (pMDI)

Individual micron-sized solid particles from a Salamols pharmaceutical inhaler are stably captured in air using an optical trap for the first time. Raman spectroscopy of the levitated particles allows online interrogation of composition and deliquescent phase change within a high humidity environment that mimics the particle’s travel from inhaler to lun

A Machine Learning Approach to Understanding Emerging Markets

Logistic providers have learned to efficiently serve their existing customer bases with optimized routes and transportation resource allocation. The problem arises when there is potential for logistics growth in an emerging market with no previous data. The purpose of this work is to use industry data for previously known and well-documented markets to apply data analytic techniques such as machine learning to investigate the uncertainty in a new market. The thesis looks into machine learning techniques to predict miles per stop given historical data. It mainly focuses on Random Forest Regression Analysis, but concludes that additional techniques, such as Polynomial Regression are promising for this problem. Additionally, data processing and cleansing is implemented on a model different than what is currently being used by the logistic provider. The results indicate that through the use of polynomial regression on pre-processed and cleaned data, a 75% improvement in performance can be achieve in comparison to the baseline established by the logistics provider