506 research outputs found
Line Orientation Adaptation: Local or Global?
Prolonged exposure to an oriented line shifts the perceived orientation of a subsequently observed line in the opposite direction, a phenomenon known as the tilt aftereffect (TAE). Here we consider whether the TAE for line stimuli is mediated by a mechanism that integrates the local parts of the line into a single global entity prior to the site of adaptation, or the result of the sum of local TAEs acting separately on the parts of the line. To test between these two alternatives we used the fact the TAE transfers almost completely across luminance contrast polarity [1]. We measured the TAE using adaptor and test lines that (1) either alternated in luminance polarity or were of a single polarity, and (2) either alternated in local orientation or were of a single orientation. We reasoned that if the TAE was agnostic to luminance polarity and was parts-based, we should obtain large TAEs using alternating-polarity adaptors with single-polarity tests. However we found that (i) TAEs using one-alternating-polarity adaptors with all-white tests were relatively small, increased slightly for two-alternating-polarity adaptors, and were largest with all-white or all-black adaptors. (ii) however TAEs were relatively large when the test was one-alternating polarity, irrespective of the adaptor type. (iii) The results with orientation closely mirrored those obtained with polarity with the difference that the TAE transfer across orthogonal orientations was weak. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the TAE for lines is mediated by a global shape mechanism that integrates the parts of lines into whole prior to the site of orientation adaptation. The asymmetry in the magnitude of TAE depending on whether the alternating-polarity lines was the adaptor or test can be explained by an imbalance in the population of neurons sensitive to 1(st)-and 2(nd)-order lines, with the 2(nd)-order lines being encoded by a subset of the mechanisms sensitive to 1(st)-order lines.This research was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) grant #RGPIN 121713-11 given to FK and
Australian Research Council grant DP110101511 to JB. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of
the manuscript
Dynamics of contextual modulation of perceived shape in human vision
In biological vision, contextual modulation refers to the influence of a surround pattern on either the perception of, or the neural responses to, a target pattern. One studied form of contextual modulation deals with the effect of a surround texture on the perceived shape of a contour, in the context of the phenomenon known as the shape aftereffect. In the shape aftereffect, prolonged viewing, or adaptation to a particular contour’s shape causes a shift in the perceived shape of a subsequently viewed contour. Shape aftereffects are suppressed when the adaptor contour is surrounded by a texture of similarly-shaped contours, a surprising result given that the surround contours are all potential adaptors. Here we determine the motion and temporal properties of this form of contextual modulation. We varied the relative motion directions, speeds and temporal phases between the central adaptor contour and the surround texture and measured for each manipulation the degree to which the shape aftereffect was suppressed. Results indicate that contextual modulation of shape processing is selective to motion direction, temporal frequency and temporal phase. These selectivities are consistent with one aim of vision being to segregate contours that define objects from those that form textured surfaces
The influence of external electric fields on proton transfer tautomerism in the guanine-cytosine base pair
The Watson-Crick base pair proton transfer tautomers would be widely considered as a source of spontaneous mutations in DNA replication if not for their short lifetimes and thermodynamic instability. This work investigates the effects external electric fields have on the stability of the guanine-cytosine proton transfer tautomers within a realistic strand of aqueous DNA using a combination of ensemble-based classical molecular dynamics (MD) coupled to quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM). Performing an ensemble of calculations accounts for the stochastic aspects of the simulations while allowing for easier identification of systematic errors. The methodology applied in this work has previously been shown to estimate base pair proton transfer rate coefficients that are in good agreement with recent experimental data. A range of electric fields in the order of 104 to 109 V m-1 is investigated based on their real-life medicinal applications which include gene therapy and cancer treatments. The MD trajectories confirm that electric fields up to 1.00 × 109 V m-1 have a negligible influence on the structure of the base pairs within DNA. The QM/MM results show that the application of large external electric fields (1.00 × 109 V m-1) parallel to the hydrogen bonds increases the thermodynamic population of the tautomers by up to one order of magnitude; moreover, the lifetimes of the tautomers remain insignificant when compared to the timescale of DNA replication
The influence of base pair tautomerism on single point mutations in aqueous DNA
The relationship between base pair hydrogen bond proton transfer and the rate of spontaneous single point mutations at ambient temperatures and pressures in aqueous DNA is investigated. By using an ensemble-based multiscale computational modelling method, statistically robust rates of proton transfer for the A:T and G:C base pairs within a solvated DNA dodecamer are calculated. Several different proton transfer pathways are observed within the same base pair. It is shown that, in G:C, the double proton transfer tautomer is preferred, while the single proton transfer process is favoured in A:T. The reported range of rate coefficients for double proton transfer is consistent with recent experimental data. Notwithstanding the approximately 1000 times more common presence of single proton transfer products from A:T, observationally there is bias towards G:C to A:T mutations in a wide range of living organisms. We infer that the double proton transfer reactions between G:C base pairs have a negligible contribution towards this bias for the following reasons: (i) the maximum half-life of the G*:C* tautomer is in the range of picoseconds, which is significantly smaller than the milliseconds it takes for DNA to unwind during replication, (ii) statistically, the majority of G*:C* tautomers revert back to their canonical forms through a barrierless process, and (iii) the thermodynamic instability of the tautomers with respect to the canonical base pairs. Through similar reasoning, we also deduce that proton transfer in the A:T base pair does not contribute to single point mutations in DNA
Local cloning of entangled states
We investigate the conditions under which a set \SC of pure bipartite
quantum states on a system can be locally cloned deterministically
by separable operations, when at least one of the states is full Schmidt rank.
We allow for the possibility of cloning using a resource state that is less
than maximally entangled. Our results include that: (i) all states in \SC
must be full Schmidt rank and equally entangled under the -concurrence
measure, and (ii) the set \SC can be extended to a larger clonable set
generated by a finite group of order , the number of states in the
larger set. It is then shown that any local cloning apparatus is capable of
cloning a number of states that divides exactly. We provide a complete
solution for two central problems in local cloning, giving necessary and
sufficient conditions for (i) when a set of maximally entangled states can be
locally cloned, valid for all ; and (ii) local cloning of entangled qubit
states with non-vanishing entanglement. In both of these cases, a maximally
entangled resource is necessary and sufficient, and the states must be related
to each other by local unitary "shift" operations. These shifts are determined
by the group structure, so need not be simple cyclic permutations. Assuming
this shifted form and partially entangled states, then in D=3 we show that a
maximally entangled resource is again necessary and sufficient, while for
higher dimensional systems, we find that the resource state must be strictly
more entangled than the states in \SC. All of our necessary conditions for
separable operations are also necessary conditions for LOCC, since the latter
is a proper subset of the former. In fact, all our results hold for LOCC, as
our sufficient conditions are demonstrated for LOCC, directly.Comment: REVTEX 15 pages, 1 figure, minor modifications. Same as the published
version. Any comments are welcome
QUANTIFYING FIT IN ICE HOCKEY SKATE BOOTS
Skates are specifically designed for the hockey game context. It is vital that skates be chosen in relation with proper size and shape, as well as with respect to play style and position (Pearsall et al. 2000). To provide optimal function, they must "fit". Fit infers many traits: to fit snugly around the contours of the bony ankle and foot structures, to provide stability, and to avoid discomfort. Nonetheless, players have often sacrificed "fit for comfort" at the expense of "fit for performance". Comfort and fit are interrelated qualities and important factors for footwear in recreational and physical activities. Increasing interest in footwear comfort resulted in several investigations that associated comfort with plantar pressure distribution (Chen et al.1994). To date, improved ratings for shoes comfort can be done by adding a control condition to the testing protocol and using a visual analog scale (VAS) to assess comfort (Mundermann et al. 2002). Little have been done in assessing fit in ice hockey boots. The purpose of this study is to quantify fit in the ice hockey skate boots by means of pressure distribution measures in conjunction with perceptual VAS ratings
Quantum Error Correcting Codes Using Qudit Graph States
Graph states are generalized from qubits to collections of qudits of
arbitrary dimension , and simple graphical methods are used to construct
both additive and nonadditive quantum error correcting codes. Codes of distance
2 saturating the quantum Singleton bound for arbitrarily large and are
constructed using simple graphs, except when is odd and is even.
Computer searches have produced a number of codes with distances 3 and 4, some
previously known and some new. The concept of a stabilizer is extended to
general , and shown to provide a dual representation of an additive graph
code.Comment: Version 4 is almost exactly the same as the published version in
Phys. Rev.
The Socialization of Primary School Pupils through Motor Games
This paper aims to bring to the forefront the most important connecting element of society, namely socialization. Improving socialization through motor games is, perhaps, a solution to many problems, as children align emotionally, emotionally, volitionally, physically, cognitively, etc. The study was conducted on a sample of 59 students aged 6 to 9 years. The sociometric technique was used to determine negative, positive, and neutral interpersonal relationships by age level before and after the use of the chosen motor games. The index of preferred status, cohesion index, arithmetic mean and progress rate were used for statistical interpretation
Multipartite Entanglement Evolution Under Separable Operations
We study how multi-partite entanglement evolves under the paradigm of
separable operations, which include the local operations and classical
communication (LOCC) as a special case. We prove that the average "decay" of
entanglement induced by a separable operation is measure independent (among
SL-invariant ones) and state independent: the ratio between the average output
entanglement and the initial entanglement is solely a function of the separable
operation, regardless of the input state and of the SL-invariant entanglement
measure being used. We discuss the "disentangling power" of a quantum channel
and show that it exhibits a similar state invariance as the average
entanglement decay ratio. Our Rapid Communication significantly extends the
bipartite results of Ref. [1-3] as well as the multi-partite one of Ref. [4],
all of the previous work being restricted to one-sided or particular noise
models.Comment: Replaced by the published version, comments are welcome
Information theoretic treatment of tripartite systems and quantum channels
A Holevo measure is used to discuss how much information about a given POVM
on system is present in another system , and how this influences the
presence or absence of information about a different POVM on in a third
system . The main goal is to extend information theorems for mutually
unbiased bases or general bases to arbitrary POVMs, and especially to
generalize "all-or-nothing" theorems about information located in tripartite
systems to the case of \emph{partial information}, in the form of quantitative
inequalities. Some of the inequalities can be viewed as entropic uncertainty
relations that apply in the presence of quantum side information, as in recent
work by Berta et al. [Nature Physics 6, 659 (2010)]. All of the results also
apply to quantum channels: e.g., if \EC accurately transmits certain POVMs,
the complementary channel \FC will necessarily be noisy for certain other
POVMs. While the inequalities are valid for mixed states of tripartite systems,
restricting to pure states leads to the basis-invariance of the difference
between the information about contained in and .Comment: 21 pages. An earlier version of this paper attempted to prove our
main uncertainty relation, Theorem 5, using the achievability of the Holevo
quantity in a coding task, an approach that ultimately failed because it did
not account for locking of classical correlations, e.g. see [DiVincenzo et
al. PRL. 92, 067902 (2004)]. In the latest version, we use a very different
approach to prove Theorem
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