197 research outputs found
Ecuador's election of the Global South's first wheelchair-using president can drive vital debate on disability and development
For the international disability community, LenĂn Moreno's presidency has the potential to cement the future of what disability and development means, not only in Ecuador, but also in other developing countries around the world, write Terhas Clark and Alejandra Carvajal
Drosophila gurken (TGFα) mRNA Localizes as Particles that Move within the Oocyte in Two Dynein-Dependent Steps
AbstractIn Drosophila oocytes, gurken mRNA localization orientates the TGF-α signal to establish the anteroposterior and dorsoventral axes. We have elucidated the path and mechanism of gurken mRNA localization by time-lapse cinematography of injected fluorescent transcripts in living oocytes. gurken RNA assembles into particles that move in two distinct steps, both requiring microtubules and cytoplasmic Dynein. gurken particles first move toward the anterior and then turn and move dorsally toward the oocyte nucleus. We present evidence suggesting that the two steps of gurken RNA transport occur on distinct arrays of microtubules. Such distinct microtubule networks could provide a general mechanism for one motor to transport different cargos to distinct subcellular destinations
A transdisciplinary view on curiosity beyond linguistic humans: animals, infants, and artificial intelligence
ABSTRACTCuriosity is a core driver for lifeâlong learning, problemâsolving and decisionâmaking. In a broad sense, curiosity is defined as the intrinsically motivated acquisition of novel information. Despite a decadesâlong history of curiosity research and the earliest human theories arising from studies of laboratory rodents, curiosity has mainly been considered in two camps: âlinguistic humanâ and âotherâ. This is despite psychology being heritable, and there are many continuities in cognitive capacities across the animal kingdom. Boundaryâpushing crossâdisciplinary debates on curiosity are lacking, and the relative exclusion of preâlinguistic infants and nonâhuman animals has led to a scientific impasse which more broadly impedes the development of artificially intelligent systems modelled on curiosity in natural agents. In this review, we synthesize literature across multiple disciplines that have studied curiosity in nonâverbal systems. By highlighting how similar findings have been produced across the separate disciplines of animal behaviour, developmental psychology, neuroscience, and computational cognition, we discuss how this can be used to advance our understanding of curiosity. We propose, for the first time, how features of curiosity could be quantified and therefore studied more operationally across systems: across different species, developmental stages, and natural or artificial agents
A transdisciplinary view on curiosity beyond linguistic humans:animals, infants, and artificial intelligence
Curiosity is a core driver for life-long learning, problem-solving and decision-making. In a broad sense, curiosity is defined as the intrinsically motivated acquisition of novel information. Despite a decades-long history of curiosity research and the earliest human theories arising from studies of laboratory rodents, curiosity has mainly been considered in two camps: âlinguistic humanâ and âotherâ. This is despite psychology being heritable, and there are many continuities in cognitive capacities across the animal kingdom. Boundary-pushing cross-disciplinary debates on curiosity are lacking, and the relative exclusion of pre-linguistic infants and non-human animals has led to a scientific impasse which more broadly impedes the development of artificially intelligent systems modelled on curiosity in natural agents. In this review, we synthesize literature across multiple disciplines that have studied curiosity in non-verbal systems. By highlighting how similar findings have been produced across the separate disciplines of animal behaviour, developmental psychology, neuroscience, and computational cognition, we discuss how this can be used to advance our understanding of curiosity. We propose, for the first time, how features of curiosity could be quantified and therefore studied more operationally across systems: across different species, developmental stages, and natural or artificial agents
LETâs CONNECT community mentorship program for youths with peer social problems: Preliminary findings from a randomized effectiveness trial
This study examined the effectiveness of LETâs CONNECT (LC), a community mentorship program for youths who report peer social problems, which is based on a positive youth development framework. Participants were 218 youths (66.5% girls), aged 12 to 15 years, who were recruited from an urban medical emergency department and screened positive for bullying victimization, bullying perpetration, and/or low social connectedness. Youths were randomized to LC (n = 106) or the control condition (n = 112). Sixâmonth outcomes were assessed with selfâreport measures of youth social connectedness, community connectedness, thwarted belongingness, depression, selfâesteem, and suicidal ideation. LC was associated with a significant increase in only one of these outcomes, social connectedness (effect size = 0.4). It was associated consistently with trendâlevel positive changes for thwarted belongingness (decreased), depression (decreased), community connectedness, and selfâesteem (effect sizes = 0.2). There was no effect on suicidal ideation (effect size = 0.0), and although not a primary outcome, eight youths in the LC condition and seven youths in the control condition engaged in suicidal behavior between baseline and followâup. Although LC effect sizes are consistent with those from previous studies of community mentorship, there were multiple challenges to LC implementation that affected dosage and intervention fidelity, and that may account for the lack of stronger positive effects.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145529/1/jcop21979.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145529/2/jcop21979_am.pd
Software Citation Implementation Challenges
The main output of the FORCE11 Software Citation working group
(https://www.force11.org/group/software-citation-working-group) was a paper on
software citation principles (https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj-cs.86) published in
September 2016. This paper laid out a set of six high-level principles for
software citation (importance, credit and attribution, unique identification,
persistence, accessibility, and specificity) and discussed how they could be
used to implement software citation in the scholarly community. In a series of
talks and other activities, we have promoted software citation using these
increasingly accepted principles. At the time the initial paper was published,
we also provided guidance and examples on how to make software citable, though
we now realize there are unresolved problems with that guidance. The purpose of
this document is to provide an explanation of current issues impacting
scholarly attribution of research software, organize updated implementation
guidance, and identify where best practices and solutions are still needed
Fermion mass relations in a supersymmetric SO(10) theory
Neutrino and charged fermion masses provide important constraints on grand
unified theories. We illustrate this by focusing on a renormalizable,
supersymmetric SO(10) theory proposed long ago, that recently attracted great
interest in view of its minimality. We show how the nature of the light Higgs,
which depends on the GUT scale fields, gets reflected on the precise
predictions for fermion masses and mixings. We exemplify this on the case of
dominant Type II see-saw, which gets severely constrained and is likely to
fail.Comment: Based on talks given by G. Senjanovic in the plenary session of
PASCOS05 Conference and by A. Melfo at the 2005 Gran Sasso Summer Institut
Are technological projects reducing social inequalities and improving people's well-being? A capability approach analysis of renewable energy-based electrification projects in Cajamarca, Peru
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Journal of Human Development and Capabilities on 18/11/2013, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2013.837035".[EN] This paper analyses four renewable energy-based electrification projects that were implemented by the non-governmental organization Practical Action in the rural area of Cajamarca, Peru. Using the capability approach, the research examines the effect of the projects on the things people value. It confirms that projects provide different benefits to the communities (reducing air pollution caused by candles and kerosene, improving access to communication through television and radio, providing the possibility of night study under appropriate light, etc.), but also detects an expansion of the capabilities in other areas not considered by the non-governmental organization such as those related to religion, leisure or community participation. However, the expansion of capabilities is different for men and women. The study reveals the limitations of interventions designed to supply technology, electrification in this particular case, which do not take into account certain elements that can make the use of technology contribute unequally to the expansion of people's capabilities. The paper concludes that technological projects can generate inequalities, and some recommendations are presented in order to address these issues when planning interventions.We would like to thank the people from the Peruvian communities where the case study was implemented. Many thanks also to Practical Action-Peru for their collaboration, and to the Centro de CooperaciĂłn al Desarrollo of our University who granted this research through Adsideo 2010, and special thanks to JosĂ© Sastre for his involvement during the fieldwork.FernĂĄndez-Baldor MartĂnez, Ă.; Boni AristizĂĄbal, A.; Lillo Rodrigo, P.; Hueso, A. (2014). Are technological projects reducing social inequalities and improving people's well-being? A capability approach analysis of renewable energy-based electrification projects in Cajamarca, Peru. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. 15(1):13-27. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2013.837035S132715
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