The scientific study of inspiration in the creative process: challenges and opportunities

Inspiration is a motivational state that compels individuals to bring ideas into fruition. Creators have long argued that inspiration is important to the creative process, but until recently, scientists have not investigated this claim. In this article, we review challenges to the study of creative inspiration, as well as solutions to these challenges afforded by theoretical and empirical work on inspiration over the past decade. First, we discuss the problem of definitional ambiguity, which has been addressed through an integrative process of construct conceptualization. Second, we discuss the challenge of how to operationalize inspiration. This challenge has been overcome by the development and validation of the Inspiration Scale (IS), which may be used to assess trait or state inspiration. Third, we address ambiguity regarding how inspiration differs from related concepts (creativity, insight, positive affect) by discussing discriminant validity. Next, we discuss the preconception that inspiration is less important than perspiration (effort), and we review empirical evidence that inspiration and effort both play important- but different-roles in the creative process. Finally, with many challenges overcome, we argue that the foundation is now set for a new generation of research focused on neural under pinnings. We discuss potential challenges to and opportunities for the neuroscientific study of inspiration. A better understanding of the biological basis of inspiration will illuminate the process through which creative ideas fire the soul, such that individuals are compelled to transform ideas into products and solutions that may benefit society

Crowd behaviour during high-stress evacuations in an immersive virtual environment

Understanding the collective dynamics of crowd movements during stressful emergency situations is central to reducing the risk of deadly crowd disasters. Yet, their systematic experimental study remains a challenging open problem due to ethical and methodological constraints. In this paper, we demonstrate the viability of shared 3D virtual environments as an experimental platform for conducting crowd experiments with real people. In particular, we show that crowds of real human subjects moving and interacting in an immersive 3D virtual environment exhibit typical patterns of real crowds as observed in real-life crowded situations. These include the manifestation of social conventions and the emergence of self-organized patterns during egress scenarios. High-stress evacuation experiments conducted in this virtual environment reveal movements characterized by mass herding and dangerous overcrowding as they occur in crowd disasters. We describe the behavioral mechanisms at play under such extreme conditions and identify critical zones where overcrowding may occur. Furthermore, we show that herding spontaneously emerges from a density effect without the need to assume an increase of the individual tendency to imitate peers. Our experiments reveal the promise of immersive virtual environments as an ethical, cost-efficient, yet accurate platform for exploring crowd behaviour in high-risk situations with real human subjects.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

Phonics Instruction

One of the main research questions answered through this poster presentation is as follows: Is it possible to teach phonics in non-phonemic language? Can we in fact teach students to read phonetically when everyday language does not always follow the rules of phonics. Phonics instruction is essential for beginning readers both with and without disabilities. Phonics instruction has evolved over time from traditional approaches to ever advancing and engaging interactive methods, most recentlyvia interactive tablets. Tablets support the delivery of instruction to students in the area of phonics. Overall, research conducted for this poster presentation highlighted effective strategies and key components of phonics instruction in the modern day classroom

Table-driven software architecture for a stitching system

Native code for a CNC stitching machine is generated by generating a geometry model of a preform; generating tool paths from the geometry model, the tool paths including stitching instructions for making stitches; and generating additional instructions indicating thickness values. The thickness values are obtained from a lookup table. When the stitching machine runs the native code, it accesses a lookup table to determine a thread tension value corresponding to the thickness value. The stitching machine accesses another lookup table to determine a thread path geometry value corresponding to the thickness value

Automated gantry-type stitching system

A stitching system includes a gantry that is movable along a material support table. Mounted to the gantry are a plurality of stitching heads and bobbins. The stitching heads are individually controllable in a z-direction, and the bobbins are individually controllable in the z-direction. Each stitching head is paired with a bobbin. Each pair of stitching heads and the bobbins is controlled synchronously in the z-direction. The stitching system is well-suited for stitching preforms of aircraft wing covers and other preforms having variable thickness and compound, contoured three-dimensional surfaces

Description of the novel perchlorate-reducing bacteria Dechlorobacter hydrogenophilus gen. nov., sp. nov. and Propionivibrio militaris, sp. nov.

Novel dissimilatory perchlorate-reducing bacteria (DPRB) were isolated from enrichments conducted under conditions different from those of all previously described DPRB. Strain LT-1T was enriched using medium buffered at pH 6.6 with 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (MES) and had only 95% 16S rRNA gene identity with its closest relative, Azonexus caeni. Strain MPT was enriched in the cathodic chamber of a perchlorate-reducing bioelectrical reactor (BER) and together with an additional strain, CR (99% 16S rRNA gene identity), had 97% 16S rRNA gene identity with Propionivibrio limicola. The use of perchlorate and other electron acceptors distinguished strains MPT and CR from P. limicola physiologically. Strain LT-1T had differences in electron donor utilization and optimum growth temperatures from A. caeni. Strains LT-1T and MPT are the first DPRB to be described in the Betaproteobacteria outside of the Dechloromonas and Azospira genera. On the basis of phylogenetic and physiological features, strain LT-1T represents a novel genus in the Rhodocyclaceae; strain MPT represents a novel species within the genus Propionivibrio. The names Dechlorobacter hydrogenophilus gen. nov., sp. nov and Propionivibrio militaris sp. nov. are proposed

Best Practices for Successfully Writing and Publishing a Genome Announcement in Microbiology Resource Announcements

Microbiology Resource Announcements (MRA) provides peer-reviewed announcements of scientific resources for the microbial research community. We describe the best practices for writing an announcement that ensures that these publications are truly useful resources. Adhering to these best practices can lead to successful publication without the need for extensive revisions

Single-cell enabled comparative genomics of a deep ocean SAR11 bathytype

Bacterioplankton of the SAR11 clade are the most abundant microorganisms in marine systems, usually representing 25% or more of the total bacterial cells in seawater worldwide. SAR11 is divided into subclades with distinct spatiotemporal distributions (ecotypes), some of which appear to be specific to deep water. Here we examine the genomic basis for deep ocean distribution of one SAR11 bathytype (depth-specific ecotype), subclade Ic. Four single-cell Ic genomes, with estimated completeness of 55%–86%, were isolated from 770 m at station ALOHA and compared with eight SAR11 surface genomes and metagenomic datasets. Subclade Ic genomes dominated metagenomic fragment recruitment below the euphotic zone. They had similar COG distributions, high local synteny and shared a large number (69%) of orthologous clusters with SAR11 surface genomes, yet were distinct at the 16S rRNA gene and amino-acid level, and formed a separate, monophyletic group in phylogenetic trees. Subclade Ic genomes were enriched in genes associated with membrane/cell wall/envelope biosynthesis and showed evidence of unique phage defenses. The majority of subclade Ic-specfic genes were hypothetical, and some were highly abundant in deep ocean metagenomic data, potentially masking mechanisms for niche differentiation. However, the evidence suggests these organisms have a similar metabolism to their surface counterparts, and that subclade Ic adaptations to the deep ocean do not involve large variations in gene content, but rather more subtle differences previously observed deep ocean genomic data, like preferential amino-acid substitutions, larger coding regions among SAR11 clade orthologs, larger intergenic regions and larger estimated average genome size.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The article is copyrighted by the International Society for Microbial Ecology and published by the Nature Publishing Group. It can be found at: http://www.nature.com/ismej/index.htm

The SAR11 Group of Alpha-Proteobacteria Is Not Related to the Origin of Mitochondria

Although free living, members of the successful SAR11 group of marine alpha-proteobacteria contain a very small and A+T rich genome, two features that are typical of mitochondria and related obligate intracellular parasites such as the Rickettsiales. Previous phylogenetic analyses have suggested that Candidatus Pelagibacter ubique, the first cultured member of this group, is related to the Rickettsiales+mitochondria clade whereas others disagree with this conclusion. In order to determine the evolutionary position of the SAR11 group and its relationship to the origin of mitochondria, we have performed phylogenetic analyses on the concatenation of 24 proteins from 5 mitochondria and 71 proteobacteria. Our results support that SAR11 group is not the sistergroup of the Rickettsiales+mitochondria clade and confirm that the position of this group in the alpha-proteobacterial tree is strongly affected by tree reconstruction artefacts due to compositional bias. As a consequence, genome reduction and bias toward a high A+T content may have evolved independently in the SAR11 species, which points to a different direction in the quest for the closest relatives to mitochondria and Rickettsiales. In addition, our analyses raise doubts about the monophyly of the newly proposed Pelagibacteraceae family

Achievement motives and emotional processes in children during problem-solving: Two experimental studies of their relation to performance in different achievement goal conditions

In two studies, the influence of key emotional and motivational factors on performance in different achievement goal-type situations is examined. In study 1, based on 314 sixth-graders, two types of goal situations were induced; performance and mastery. The goals were examined with respect to important antecedents (e.g., motive dispositions) and several consequences (e.g., performance, satisfaction, pleasant affect, worry, and emotionality). The results showed that the motive to achieve success (Ms) produced positive affects, satisfaction, and increased performance, whereas the motive to avoid failure (Mf) produced worries and performance reduction. In study 2, based on 331 sixth-graders, three types of goal situations were induced; performance–approach, performance–avoidance, and mastery goals. The findings revealed that the most important single factors positively related to performance were Ms and mastery–goal situation. In addition, high Ms pupils performed better under mastery condition than under performance condition. Finally, avoidance-goal situation accentuate the negative effects of high Mf on performance