Comparison and contrast in perceptual categorization

People categorized pairs of perceptual stimuli that varied in both category membership and pairwise similarity. Experiments 1 and 2 showed categorization of 1 color of a pair to be reliably contrasted from that of the other. This similarity-based contrast effect occurred only when the context stimulus was relevant for the categorization of the target (Experiment 3). The effect was not simply owing to perceptual color contrast (Experiment 4), and it extended to pictures from common semantic categories (Experiment 5). Results were consistent with a sign-and-magnitude version of N. Stewart and G. D. A. Brown's (2005) similarity-dissimilarity generalized context model, in which categorization is affected by both similarity to and difference from target categories. The data are also modeled with criterion setting theory (M. Treisman & T. C. Williams, 1984), in which the decision criterion is systematically shifted toward the mean of the current stimuli

Meta-analysis of the effect of an essential oil–containing mouthrinse on gingivitis and plaque

AbstractBackgroundStandard recommendations for oral hygiene practices have focused on mechanical methods (toothbrushing and interdental cleaning). Published evidence indicates antimicrobial mouthrinses provide oral health benefits beyond mechanical methods alone. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the combined effectiveness of mechanical methods with essential oil–containing mouthrinses (MMEO) versus mechanical methods (MM) alone in achieving site-specific, healthy gingival tissue and reducing plaque and gingivitis.Types of Studies ReviewedAll industry-sponsored clinical trials investigating the antigingivitis and antiplaque effects of essential oil (EO)–containing mouthrinses conducted from 1980 to 2012 were reviewed; 29 of 32 studies met the inclusion criteria of 6 months or longer duration, randomized, observer-masked, placebo-controlled, and with individual-level site-specific data. By-study treatment effects were estimated through generalized linear models for binary data and analysis of covariance for continuous data, and then combined using standard meta-analysis techniques; heterogeneity was also assessed.ResultsSummary odds ratios for a healthy gingival site and for a plaque-free site were, respectively, 5.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.3-7.5) and 7.8 (95% CI, 5.4-11.2) for MMEO participants versus MM participants at 6 months. The summary percentage reductions in whole-mouth mean gingivitis and plaque at 6 months were 16.0 (95% CI, 11.3-20.7) and 27.7 (95% CI, 22.4-32.9), respectively. Responder analyses using aggregate individual-level data showed 44.8% of MMEO participants and 14.4% of MM participants achieved at least 50% healthy sites in their mouths at 6 months. Similarly, 36.9% of MMEO participants and 5.5% of MM participants achieved at least 50% plaque-free sites in their mouths at 6 months.Conclusions and Practical ImplicationsThis is the first meta-analysis to demonstrate the clinically significant, site-specific benefit of adjunctive EO treatment in people within a 6-month period (that is, between dental visits)

The one-loop six-dimensional hexagon integral with three massive corners

We compute the six-dimensional hexagon integral with three non-adjacent external masses analytically. After a simple rescaling, it is given by a function of six dual conformally invariant cross-ratios. The result can be expressed as a sum of 24 terms involving only one basic function, which is a simple linear combination of logarithms, dilogarithms, and trilogarithms of uniform degree three transcendentality. Our method uses differential equations to determine the symbol of the function, and an algorithm to reconstruct the latter from its symbol. It is known that six-dimensional hexagon integrals are closely related to scattering amplitudes in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory, and we therefore expect our result to be helpful for understanding the structure of scattering amplitudes in this theory, in particular at two loops.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figure

Rare Copy Number Variants in \u3cem\u3eNRXN1\u3c/em\u3e and \u3cem\u3eCNTN6\u3c/em\u3e Increase Risk for Tourette Syndrome

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a model neuropsychiatric disorder thought to arise from abnormal development and/or maintenance of cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits. TS is highly heritable, but its underlying genetic causes are still elusive, and no genome-wide significant loci have been discovered to date. We analyzed a European ancestry sample of 2,434 TS cases and 4,093 ancestry-matched controls for rare (\u3c 1% frequency) copy-number variants (CNVs) using SNP microarray data. We observed an enrichment of global CNV burden that was prominent for large (\u3e 1 Mb), singleton events (OR = 2.28, 95% CI [1.39–3.79], p = 1.2 × 10−3) and known, pathogenic CNVs (OR = 3.03 [1.85–5.07], p = 1.5 × 10−5). We also identified two individual, genome-wide significant loci, each conferring a substantial increase in TS risk (NRXN1 deletions, OR = 20.3, 95% CI [2.6–156.2]; CNTN6 duplications, OR = 10.1, 95% CI [2.3–45.4]). Approximately 1% of TS cases carry one of these CNVs, indicating that rare structural variation contributes significantly to the genetic architecture of TS

Reinventing grounded theory: some questions about theory, ground and discovery

Grounded theory’s popularity persists after three decades of broad-ranging critique. In this article three problematic notions are discussed—‘theory,’ ‘ground’ and ‘discovery’—which linger in the continuing use and development of grounded theory procedures. It is argued that far from providing the epistemic security promised by grounded theory, these notions—embodied in continuing reinventions of grounded theory—constrain and distort qualitative inquiry, and that what is contrived is not in fact theory in any meaningful sense, that ‘ground’ is a misnomer when talking about interpretation and that what ultimately materializes following grounded theory procedures is less like discovery and more akin to invention. The procedures admittedly provide signposts for qualitative inquirers, but educational researchers should be wary, for the significance of interpretation, narrative and reflection can be undermined in the procedures of grounded theory

The 'lost child' as figure of trauma and recovery in early post-war cinema: Fred Zinnemann's The Search (1948) and Natan Gross's Unzere Kinder (1948)

The article examines the figure of the ‘lost child’ in feature films of the immediate post-war period. The figure’s enormous symbolic value as innocent victim and future generation, granted the ‘lost child’ a key position in post-war discourse, including films which tried to grapple with the moral and physical destruction of the continent after 1945. National film industries, particularly of the perpetrator nation, employed the ‘lost child’ for genre stories in which the post-war chaos is being mastered and a new, masculine national self is re-built. However, films made by victim groups outside a national context rely on the ‘lost child’ to broach the destruction of their identity by war and persecution. Analysing two films, Fred Zinnemann’s The Search (1948) and Nata Gross’s Unzere Kinder (1948), I argue that they use the child figure to deal with traumatization and make it part of the reconstruction of communal intergenerational relations. This does not result in stories of masculine mastery but in narratives that incorporate moments of trauma process emerging around destroyed mother-child relations. The films, encoding traumatization in film language, develop a rich cinematic language along questions of identity and form a first instance of posttraumatic cinema

US Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter 2017: Community Report

This white paper summarizes the workshop "U.S. Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter" held at University of Maryland on March 23-25, 2017.Comment: 102 pages + reference

Synaptic processes and immune-related pathways implicated in Tourette syndrome

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder of complex genetic architecture involving multiple interacting genes. Here, we sought to elucidate the pathways that underlie the neurobiology of the disorder through genome-wide analysis. We analyzed genome-wide genotypic data of 3581 individuals with TS and 7682 ancestry-matched controls and investigated associations of TS with sets of genes that are expressed in particular cell types and operate in specific neuronal and glial functions. We employed a self-contained, set-based association method (SBA) as well as a competitive gene set method (MAGMA) using individual-level genotype data to perform a comprehensive investigation of the biological background of TS. Our SBA analysis identified three significant gene sets after Bonferroni correction, implicating ligand-gated ion channel signaling, lymphocytic, and cell adhesion and transsynaptic signaling processes. MAGMA analysis further supported the involvement of the cell adhesion and trans-synaptic signaling gene set. The lymphocytic gene set was driven by variants in FLT3, raising an intriguing hypothesis for the involvement of a neuroinflammatory element in TS pathogenesis. The indications of involvement of ligand-gated ion channel signaling reinforce the role of GABA in TS, while the association of cell adhesion and trans-synaptic signaling gene set provides additional support for the role of adhesion molecules in neuropsychiatric disorders. This study reinforces previous findings but also provides new insights into the neurobiology of TS