817 research outputs found
Energy Scaling of Minimum-Bias Tunes
We propose that the flexibility offered by modern event-generator tuning
tools allows for more than just obtaining "best fits" to a collection of data.
In particular, we argue that the universality of the underlying physics model
can be tested by performing several, mutually independent, optimizations of the
generator parameters in different physical regions. For regions in which these
optimizations return similar and self-consistent parameter values, the model
can be considered universal. Deviations from this behavior can be associated
with a breakdown of the modeling, with the nature of the deviations giving
clues as to the nature of the breakdown. We apply this procedure to study the
energy scaling of a class of minimum-bias models based on multiple parton
interactions (MPI) and pT-ordered showers, implemented in the Pythia 6.4
generator. We find that a parameter controlling the strength of color
reconnections in the final state is the most important source of
non-universality in this model.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, 4 table
Top-down contingent feature-specific orienting with and without awareness of the visual input
In the present article, the role of endogenous feature-specific orienting for
conscious and unconscious vision is reviewed. We start with an overview of
orienting. We proceed with a review of masking research, and the definition of
the criteria of experimental protocols that demonstrate endogenous and exogenous
orienting, respectively. Against this background of criteria, we assess studies
of unconscious orienting and come to the conclusion that so far studies of
unconscious orienting demonstrated endogenous feature-specific orienting. The
review closes with a discussion of the role of unconscious orienting in action
control
Beaver Research in the Uvs Nuur Region
In 1985, 1988, and 2002 Castor fiber birulai was introduced to the Tes Gol of the Uvs Nuur basin in North-western Mongolia. The beavers migrated through the Republic of Tyva and settled in the middle part of Tes Gol near the Tyvinian-Mongolian border. About 10 colonies were recorded in this region in 2002. Strict protection of Castor fiber birulai has to be ensured in Mongolia and the Republic of Tyva in future
Ocean warming, a rapid distributional shift, and the hybridization of a coastal fish species
Despite increasing awareness of large-scale climate-driven distribution shifts in the marine environment, no study has linked rapid ocean warming to a shift in distribution and consequent hybridization of a marine fish species. This study describes rapid warming (0.8 °C per decade) in the coastal waters of the Angola-Benguela Frontal Zone over the last three decades and a concomitant shift by a temperature sensitive coastal fish species (Argyrosomus coronus) southward from Angola into Namibia. In this context, rapid shifts in distribution across Economic Exclusive Zones will complicate the management of fishes, particularly when there is a lack of congruence in the fisheries policy between nations. Evidence for recent hybridization between A. coronus and a congener, A. inodorus, indicate that the rapid shift in distribution of A. coronus has placed adults of the two species in contact during their spawning events. Ocean warming may therefore revert established species isolation mechanisms and alter the evolutionary history of fishes. While the consequences of the hybridization on the production of the resource remain unclear, this will most likely introduce additional layers of complexity to their management
Follow the sign! Top-down contingent attentional capture of masked arrow cues
Arrow cues and other overlearned spatial symbols automatically orient attention
according to their spatial meaning. This renders them similar to exogenous cues
that occur at stimulus location. Exogenous cues trigger shifts of attention even
when they are presented subliminally. Here, we investigate to what extent the
mechanisms underlying the orienting of attention by exogenous cues and by arrow
cues are comparable by analyzing the effects of visible and masked arrow cues on
attention. In Experiment 1, we presented arrow cues with overall 50% validity.
Visible cues, but not masked cues, lead to shifts of attention. In Experiment 2,
the arrow cues had an overall validity of 80%. Now both visible and masked
arrows lead to shifts of attention. This is in line with findings that
subliminal exogenous cues capture attention only in a top-down contingent
manner, that is, when the cues fit the observer’s intentions
Neuro-cognitive mechanisms of conscious and unconscious visual perception: From a plethora of phenomena to general principles
Psychological and neuroscience approaches have promoted much progress in
elucidating the cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie phenomenal visual
awareness during the last decades. In this article, we provide an overview of
the latest research investigating important phenomena in conscious and
unconscious vision. We identify general principles to characterize conscious and
unconscious visual perception, which may serve as important building blocks for
a unified model to explain the plethora of findings. We argue that in particular
the integration of principles from both conscious and unconscious vision is
advantageous and provides critical constraints for developing adequate
theoretical models. Based on the principles identified in our review, we outline
essential components of a unified model of conscious and unconscious visual
perception. We propose that awareness refers to consolidated
visual representations, which are accessible to the entire brain and therefore
globally available. However, visual awareness not only depends
on consolidation within the visual system, but is additionally the result of a
post-sensory gating process, which is mediated by higher-level cognitive control
mechanisms. We further propose that amplification of visual representations by
attentional sensitization is not exclusive to the domain of conscious
perception, but also applies to visual stimuli, which remain unconscious.
Conscious and unconscious processing modes are highly interdependent with
influences in both directions. We therefore argue that exactly this
interdependence renders a unified model of conscious and unconscious visual
perception valuable. Computational modeling jointly with focused experimental
research could lead to a better understanding of the plethora of empirical
phenomena in consciousness research
The role of the central stellar cluster in active galactic nuclei. I. Semi-analytical model
The subject of the paper is the role of the massive stellar cluster in the
activity phenomenon and in the structure of active galactic nuclei. We
introduce a simple model of stellar dynamics in the internal part of the
cluster, which allows us to include both the star-disk and the star-star
interactions. It is shown that the properties of the distribution of stars in
the vicinity of the black hole are determined both by the interaction of the
stars with the accretion disk and by the pair gravitational and contact
interaction between the stars. We calculate the distribution of stars in the
central parts of the cluster and we discuss possible effects of stellar
mass-loss due to the star-disk interaction. Finally, we study the implications
of the central cluster for active galactic nuclei activity. We model the broad
line region assuming that the gaseous wakes, following stars after each disk
crossing, play the role of the broad line region clouds, and we calculate the
corresponding line profiles. We also analyze the contribution of star-star and
star-disk collisions to active galactic nuclei variability.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic
Multiplicity Distributions and Rapidity Gaps
I examine the phenomenology of particle multiplicity distributions, with
special emphasis on the low multiplicities that are a background in the study
of rapidity gaps. In particular, I analyze the multiplicity distribution in a
rapidity interval between two jets, using the HERWIG QCD simulation with some
necessary modifications. The distribution is not of the negative binomial form,
and displays an anomalous enhancement at zero multiplicity. Some useful
mathematical tools for working with multiplicity distributions are presented.
It is demonstrated that ignoring particles with pt<0.2 has theoretical
advantages, in addition to being convenient experimentally.Comment: 24 pages, LaTeX, MSUHEP/94071
Sensorimotor supremacy: Investigating conscious and unconscious vision by masked priming
According to the sensorimotor supremacy hypothesis, conscious perception draws on
motor action. In the present report, we will sketch two lines of potential
development in the field of masking research based on the sensorimotor supremacy
hypothesis. In the first part of the report, evidence is reviewed that masked,
invisible stimuli can affect motor responses, attention shifts, and semantic
processes. After the review of the corresponding evidence – so-called masked
priming effects – an approach based on the sensorimotor supremacy hypothesis is
detailed as to how the question of a unitary mechanism of unconscious vision can
be pursued by masked priming studies. In the second part of the report,
different models and theories of backward masking and masked priming are
reviewed. Types of models based on the sensorimotor hypothesis are discussed
that can take into account ways in which sensorimotor processes (reflected in
masked priming effects) can affect conscious vision under backward masking
conditions
Diffractive Dissociation and Eikonalization in High Energy pp and p Collisions
We show that eikonal corrections imposed on diffraction dissociation
processes calculated in the triple Regge limit, produce a radical change in the
energy dependence of the predicted cross section. The induced correction is
shown to be in general agreement with the new experimental data measured at the
Tevatron.Comment: 11 pages LATEX, ( two figures not included obtainable from authors)
(TAUP 2066-93 and FERMILAB PUB 93/ T
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