Traveling waves of excitation in neural field models

Field models provide an elegant mathematical framework to analyze large-scale patterns of neural activity. On the microscopic level, these models are usually based on either a firing-rate picture or integrate-and-fire dynamics. This article shows that in spite of the large conceptual differences between the two types of dynamics, both generate closely related plane-wave solutions. Furthermore, for a large group of models, estimates about the network connectivity derived from the speed of these plane waves only marginally depend on the assumed class of microscopic dynamics. We derive quantitative results about this phenomenon and discuss consequences for the interpretation of experimental data

Hypermatrix factors for string and membrane junctions

The adjoint representations of the Lie algebras of the classical groups SU(n), SO(n), and Sp(n) are, respectively, tensor, antisymmetric, and symmetric products of two vector spaces, and hence are matrix representations. We consider the analogous products of three vector spaces and study when they appear as summands in Lie algebra decompositions. The Z3-grading of the exceptional Lie algebras provide such summands and provides representations of classical groups on hypermatrices. The main natural application is a formal study of three-junctions of strings and membranes. Generalizations are also considered.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, presentation improved, minor correction

Parental bonding and identity style as correlates of self-esteem among adult adoptees and nonadoptees

Adult adoptees (n equals 100) and non-adoptees (n equals 100) were compared with regard to selfesteem, identity processing style, and parental bonding. While some differences were found with regard to self-esteem, maternal care, and maternal overprotection, these differences were qualified by reunion status such that only reunited adoptees differed significantly from nonadoptees. Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that parental bonding and identity processing style were more important than adoptive status per se in predicting self esteem. Implications for practitioners who work with adoptees are discussed

Stubborn Things: An Empirical Approach to Facts, Opinions, and the First Amendment

This essay offers an empirical approach to the problem, rooted in an argument that the underlying rationale for the fact/opinion distinction in compelled speech doctrine tells us something about how this distinction should be policed. Commercial speech enjoys protection by virtue of its value to listeners, it is from the listener\u27s vantage point, then, that courts should assess whether a compelled disclosure is fact or opinion. And if we are interested in learning how disclosures will affect listeners, we might try asking them, just as courts adjudicating trademark suits frequently use consumer surveys to determine how customers understand the meaning of logos and slogans. To this end, the essay reports the results of an original survey that presented respondents with the disclosures at issue in a number of recent compelled speech cases. The survey asked the respondents to categorize these disclosures as conveying facts or opinions, and the respondents ultimately proved adept at distinguishing between the two-an outcome that suggests that consumer surveys could be a valuable resource for courts as they grapple with disclosures in the First Amendment context. The survey also indicated that the respondents had dramatically different understandings than the D.C. Circuit of the controversial disclosures at issue in NAM and R.J. Reynolds This finding offers a new and important perspective on how courts should treat these, and similar, forms of mandated speech in the ongoing legal battles over their constitutional validity

Stubborn Things: An Empirical Approach to Facts, Opinions, and the First Amendment

This essay offers an empirical approach to the problem, rooted in an argument that the underlying rationale for the fact/opinion distinction in compelled speech doctrine tells us something about how this distinction should be policed. Commercial speech enjoys protection by virtue of its value to listeners, it is from the listener\u27s vantage point, then, that courts should assess whether a compelled disclosure is fact or opinion. And if we are interested in learning how disclosures will affect listeners, we might try asking them, just as courts adjudicating trademark suits frequently use consumer surveys to determine how customers understand the meaning of logos and slogans. To this end, the essay reports the results of an original survey that presented respondents with the disclosures at issue in a number of recent compelled speech cases. The survey asked the respondents to categorize these disclosures as conveying facts or opinions, and the respondents ultimately proved adept at distinguishing between the two-an outcome that suggests that consumer surveys could be a valuable resource for courts as they grapple with disclosures in the First Amendment context. The survey also indicated that the respondents had dramatically different understandings than the D.C. Circuit of the controversial disclosures at issue in NAM and R.J. Reynolds This finding offers a new and important perspective on how courts should treat these, and similar, forms of mandated speech in the ongoing legal battles over their constitutional validity

Adelmo Genro Filho e o jornalismo

 Palestra proferida em 18 de agosto de 1988, no auditório do Centro de Convivência da UFSC, e que integra o seminário “Revolucionar o Marxismo”, realizado em homenagem a Adelmo Genro Filho. Além dessa palestra, o evento teve outras duas mesas temáticas que aconteceram nos dias 17 e 19 de agosto respectivamente: “Adelmo Genro Filho e a Política”, com palestras de Sergio Weigert e Vitor Schmidt; e “Adelmo Genro Filho e a Filosofia”, com palestras de José Miguel Quedi Martins e Sergio Weigert.  Transcrição e notas de Felipe Simão Pontes

Make Me Democratic, But Not Yet: Sunrise lawmaking and Democratic Constitutionalism

Sunrise amendments -constitutional provisions that only take effect after a substantial time delay-could revolutionize American politics. Yet they remain undertheorized and unfamiliar. This Article presents the first comprehensive examination of sunrise lawmaking. It first explores a theoretical puzzle. On the one hand, sunrise lawmaking resuscitates the possibility of using Article V amendments to forge a more perfect union by inducing disinterested behavior from legislators. On the other, it exacerbates the counter-majoritarian difficulty inherent in all constitutional lawmaking. When one generation passes a law that affects exclusively its successors, it sidesteps the traditional forms of democratic accountability that constrain and legitimate the legislative process. The Article accordingly argues that while sunrise lawmaking holds considerable promise, it should be confined to democracy-enhancing reforms that increase future generations\u27 capacity to govern themselves. With this normative framework in place, the Article turns to the question of how time delays have actually been used in American constitutional history. It identifies six different instances of sunrise lawmaking in the U.S. Constitution. It argues that several of these illustrate how sunrise lawmaking can enhance the democratic character of American government, but at least one offers a cautionary tale of how temporal dislocation in constitutional lawmaking can have pernicious consequences