Theory of Mind Temperament and Prosocial Behavior in Preschoolers

Theory of mind is the ability to understand that others have thoughts, beliefs, or ideas that differ from one’s own. This study investigated the relationship between theory-of-mind and prosocial behavior in 42 preschoolers. Prosocial behavior is defined as voluntary actions intended to benefit another. The role of temperament was also examined in terms of the relationship between prosocial behavior and theory of mind. The researcher went to two preschools and administered a battery of seven theory-of-mind tasks individually to each child (Wellman & Lui, 2004). Parents completed a temperament questionnaire measuring emotionality, activity, sociability, and shyness. Teachers rated each child’s prosocial behavior. It was hypothesized that prosocial behavior would positively correlate with theory-of-mind skills; this was not supported. It was also hypothesized that theory-of-mind and prosocial behavior would correlate positively with the temperament dimension of sociability, and would correlate negatively with the dimensions of shyness and emotionality. However, only emotionality correlated with theory of mind, with more emotional children having significantly lower theory-of-mind scores. More active children were rated as more prosocial, while those who were more shy were less prosocial. Results are discussed in terms of adapting children’s environments to accommodate their temperaments and promote prosocial and theory-of-mind development

MARTA East Line Tunnels under I-285, Atlanta, Georgia

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority combined three new technologies − microtunneling, jet grouting, and rock-socketed minipiles − to successfully construct twin rail tunnels under an eight-lane highway with as little as 4-1/2 feet of cover. Geotechnical parameters, tunneling method selection, and construction methods are discussed. Ground response and monitoring are summarized

Temperature-sensitive Tien Shan tree ring chronologies show multi-centennial growth trends

Two millennia-length juniper ring width chronologies, processed to preserve multi-centennial growth trends, are presented for the Alai Range of the western Tien Shan in Kirghizia. The chronologies average the information from seven near-timberline sampling sites, and likely reflect summer temperature variation. For comparison, chronologies are also built using standard dendrochronological techniques. We briefly discuss some qualities of these "inter-decadal” records, and show the low frequency components removed by the standardization process include a long-term negative trend in the first half of the last millennium and a long-term positive trend since about AD 1800. The multi-centennial scale Alai Range chronologies, where these trends are retained, are both systematically biased (but in an opposite sense) in their low frequency domains. Nevertheless, they represent the best constraints and estimates of long-term summer temperature variation, and reflect the Medieval Warm Period, the Little Ice Age, and a period of warming since about the middle of the nineteenth centur

An open framework for risk management

Risk assessment methodologies are ready to enter their third generation. In this next generation, assessment will be based on a whole system understanding of the system to be assessed. To realize this vision of risk management, the authors have begun development of an extensible software tool kit. This tool kit breaks with the traditional approach to assessment by having the analyst spend the majority of the assessment time building an explicit model that documents in a single framework the various facets of the system, such as the system`s behavior, structure, and history. Given this explicit model of the system, a computer is able to automatically produce a standard assessment products, such as fault trees and event trees. This brings with it a number of advantages relative to current risk management tools. Among these are a greater sense of completeness and correctness in assessment results and the ability to preserve and later employ lessons learned

Antibacterial Gene Transfer Across the Tree of Life

Though horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is widespread, genes and taxa experience biased rates of transferability. Curiously, independent transmission of homologous DNA to archaea, bacteria, eukaryotes, and viruses is extremely rare and often defies ecological and functional explanations. Here, we demonstrate that a bacterial lysozyme family integrated independently in all domains of life across diverse environments, generating the only glycosyl hydrolase 25 muramidases in plants and archaea. During coculture of a hydrothermal vent archaeon with a bacterial competitor, muramidase transcription is upregulated. Moreover, recombinant lysozyme exhibits broad-spectrum antibacterial action in a dose-dependent manner. Similar to bacterial transfer of antibiotic resistance genes, transfer of a potent antibacterial gene across the universal tree seemingly bestows a niche-transcending adaptation that trumps the barriers against parallel HGT to all domains. The discoveries also comprise the first characterization of an antibacterial gene in archaea and support the pursuit of antibiotics in this underexplored group

Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety System (IVBSS): Heavy truck extended pilot test summary report

This report describes the findings and recommendations from the heavy-truck (HT) extended pilot test (EPT) conducted by University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) and its partners under the Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems (IVBSS) program. The EPT was conducted to provide evidence of system performance (alert rate and reliable operation) and driver acceptance prior to conduct of the field operational test (FOT). The results of this test were to be used to modify the HT system performance and functionality as required, prior to the start of the FOT. The EPT entailed use of an integrated crash warning system in a heavy truck by seven drivers, over a period of five days each, in the course of their regular duties as drivers for Con-way Freight at the Ann Arbor distribution center. The test lasted four weeks starting on November 10 and ending December 12, 2008; the resultant data represent 5,300 miles of system use. The extended pilot test of the heavy truck platform on the IVBSS program successfully evaluated system performance and driver acceptance. Driver recruitment and training procedures were tested, as were the driver survey and debriefing methodologies. The warning system and data acquisition hardware operated reliably through the EPT. However, the warning system had an alert rate that was higher than anticipated based on previous testing. Nonetheless, drivers were generally still accepting of the system. Valuable data obtained from the EPT have led to further system performance improvements in the detection of stopped and slower-moving objects by the FCW subsystem in order to reduce the alert rate, and these enhancements have been implemented into the heavy truck fleet for the full field operational test.U.S. Department of Transportationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62989/1/102284.pd

The thermodynamic evolution of the cosmological event horizon

By manipulating the integral expression for the proper radius $R_e$ of the cosmological event horizon (CEH) in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe, we obtain an analytical expression for the change \dd R_e in response to a uniform fluctuation \dd\rho in the average cosmic background density $\rho$. We stipulate that the fluctuation arises within a vanishing interval of proper time, during which the CEH is approximately stationary, and evolves subsequently such that \dd\rho/\rho is constant. The respective variations 2\pi R_e \dd R_e and \dd E_e in the horizon entropy $S_e$ and enclosed energy $E_e$ should be therefore related through the cosmological Clausius relation. In that manner we find that the temperature $T_e$ of the CEH at an arbitrary time in a flat FRW universe is $E_e/S_e$, which recovers asymptotically the usual static de Sitter temperature. Furthermore, it is proven that during radiation-dominance and in late times the CEH conforms to the fully dynamical First Law T_e \drv S_e = P\drv V_e - \drv E_e, where $V_e$ is the enclosed volume and $P$ is the average cosmic pressure.Comment: 6 page

Robotic Pick-and-Place of Novel Objects in Clutter with Multi-Affordance Grasping and Cross-Domain Image Matching

This paper presents a robotic pick-and-place system that is capable of grasping and recognizing both known and novel objects in cluttered environments. The key new feature of the system is that it handles a wide range of object categories without needing any task-specific training data for novel objects. To achieve this, it first uses a category-agnostic affordance prediction algorithm to select and execute among four different grasping primitive behaviors. It then recognizes picked objects with a cross-domain image classification framework that matches observed images to product images. Since product images are readily available for a wide range of objects (e.g., from the web), the system works out-of-the-box for novel objects without requiring any additional training data. Exhaustive experimental results demonstrate that our multi-affordance grasping achieves high success rates for a wide variety of objects in clutter, and our recognition algorithm achieves high accuracy for both known and novel grasped objects. The approach was part of the MIT-Princeton Team system that took 1st place in the stowing task at the 2017 Amazon Robotics Challenge. All code, datasets, and pre-trained models are available online at http://arc.cs.princeton.eduComment: Project webpage: http://arc.cs.princeton.edu Summary video: https://youtu.be/6fG7zwGfIk

Playing it cool: Characterizing social play, bout termination, and candidate play signals of juvenile and infant Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana)

Play behaviors and signals during playful interactions with juvenile conspecifics are important for both the social and cognitive development of young animals. The social organization of a species can also influence juvenile social play. We examined the relationships among play behaviors, candidate play signals, and play bout termination in Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) during juvenile and infant social play to characterize the species play style. As Tibetan macaques are despotic and live in groups with strict linear dominance hierarchies and infrequent reconciliation, we predicted that play would be at risk of misinterpretation by both the individuals engaged in the play bout and by those watching, possibly leading to injury of the players. Animals living in such societies might need to frequently and clearly signal playful intent to play partners and other group members to avoid aggressive outcomes. We gathered video data on 21 individually-identified juvenile and infant macaques (one month to five years of age) from the Valley of the Wild Monkeys, Mt. Huangshan, China. We used all-occurrence sampling to record play behaviors and candidate play signals based on an ethogram. We predicted that play groups would use multiple candidate play signals in a variety of contexts and in association with the number of audience members in proximity to the players and play bout length. In the 283 playful interactions we scored, juvenile and infant macaques used multiple body and facial candidate play signals. Our data showed that juvenile and infant Tibetan macaques use a versatile repertoire of play behaviors and signals to sustain play

Molecular Beams

Contains reports on five research projects