Decreasing predictability of visual motion enhances feed-forward processing in visual cortex when stimuli are behaviorally relevant

Recent views of information processing in the (human) brain emphasize the hierarchical structure of the central nervous system, which is assumed to form the basis of a functional hierarchy. Hierarchical predictive processing refers to the notion that higher levels try to predict activity in lower areas, while lower levels transmit a prediction error up the hierarchy whenever the predictions fail. The present study aims at testing hypothetical modulatory effects of unpredictable visual motion on forward connectivities within the visual cortex. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was acquired from 35 healthy volunteers while viewing a moving ball under three different levels of predictability. In two different runs subjects were asked to attend to direction changes in the ball’s motion, where a button-press was required in one of these runs only. Dynamic causal modeling was applied to a network comprising V1, V5 and posterior parietal cortex in the right hemisphere. The winning model of a Bayesian model selection indicated an enhanced strength in the forward connection from V1 to V5 with decreasing predictability for the run requiring motor response. These results support the notion of hierarchical predictive processing in the sense of an augmented bottom-up transmission of prediction error with increasing uncertainty about motion direction. This finding may be of importance for promoting our understanding of trait characteristics in psychiatric disorders, as an increased forward propagation of prediction error is assumed to underlie schizophrenia and may be observable at early stages of the disease

Информационная система учета и анализа доставки товара в торговой сети магазинов "О'кей"

Объектом исследование является процесс учета и анализа доставки товара в торговой сети. Цель работы – разработка информационной системы для учета и анализа доставки товара в торговой сети магазинов "О`Кей". В процессе исследования проводился теоретический анализ, обзор аналогов, проектирование и разработка информационной системы. В результате разработана информационная система, реализующая функции: Учет информации о транспорте, торгово-складских точках сети, расчет процесса доставки, анализ процесса доставки Среда разработки: "1С: Предприятие 8.3". Степень внедрения: Опытная эксплуатация. Область применения: Отдел доставки.The object of the study is the process of accounting and analysis of the delivery of goods in the trading network. The purpose of the work is the development of an information system for accounting and analysis of the delivery of goods in the trading network of "O'Kay" stores. In the process of the research, a theoretical analysis, a review of analogs, design and development of an information system were carried out. As a result, an information system has been developed that implements the functions: Accounting information on transport, trade and warehouse points of the network, calculation of the delivery process, analysis of the delivery process Development environment: "1C: Enterprise 8.3". Degree of implementation: Experimental operation. Scope: Delivery department

Система обработки данных по оптическим и микрофизическим характеристикам аэродисперсной среды для оценки ослабления лучистой энергии

Разработана информационно-вычислительная система, реализующая численный эксперимент по определению ослабления и пропускания оптического излучения аэродисперсной средой. В качестве моделей отдельных рассеивателей рассмотрены столбики, пластинки, сферы, а также их агрегатов. В систему включаются архивы баз данных Aeronet и Hitran оптических и микрофизических характеристик кристаллических облаков. Программный комплекс ориентирован на обработку данных по ослаблению видимого и ИК излучения. Сравнительный анализ данных численного и натурного экспериментов показал возможность оценки физико-химических параметров среды

State of ions copper(II) and cobalt(II) in phase carboxyl cation resin according to the methods ESDR and EPR

The properties of the Tokheim-250 carboxylic cation exchange resin and its selectivity to Co2 + and Ni2+ ions are studied. The values of the sorption capacity for the Co2+ and Ni2+ ions, the effective ionization constant of the functional groups (pKa = 6,59), and the values of the ion distribution coefficients (~ 103) are calculated. Founded that the selectivity of the sorption of Co2+ increased to Ni2 +. In this regard, carboxylic cation exchanger Tokem-250 samples with nickel ion was used to create spherical catalysts. The developed spherical materials have catalytic activity in the reactions of deep and partial oxidation of n-heptane

Development of knowledge management systems on the basis of unified ontological knowledge base

Creation of knowledge management system on the basis of a united model of knowledge organisation described in the form of the system of ontologies supplement each other is suggested. The base organization ontology and a set of ontologies of knowledge fields are included in the system. The construction variant of such model of knowledge is described and structure of knowledge control system on its basis is suggested

Corrigendum: The Influence of Task-Irrelevant Flankers Depends on the Composition of Emotion Categories

Face recognition usually takes place in a social context, where faces are surrounded by other stimuli. These can act as distracting flankers which impair recognition. Previous work has suggested that flankers expressing negative emotions distract more than positive ones. However, the various negative emotions differ in their relative impact and it is unclear whether all negative emotions are equally distracting. We investigated the impact of three negative (angry, fearful, sad) and one positive (happy) facial flanker conditions on target recognition in an emotion discrimination task. We examined the effect of the receiver’s gender, and the impact of two different temporal delays between flanker and target onset, as stimulus onset asynchrony is assumed to affect distractor strength. Participants identified and rated the emotional intensity of target faces surrounded by either face (emotional and neutral) or non-face flankers. Target faces were presented either simultaneously with the flankers, or delayed by 300 ms. Contrary to our hypothesis, negative flankers did not exert stronger distraction effects than positive or neutral flankers. However, happy flankers reduced recognition performance. Results of a follow-up experiment with a balanced number of emotion categories (one positive, one negative and one neutral flanker condition) suggest that the distraction effect of emotional flankers depends on the composition of the emotion categories. Additionally, congruency effects were found to be valence-specific and overruled by threat stimuli. Females responded more quickly and rated targets in happy flankers as less intense. This indicates a gender difference in emotion processing, with greater sensitivity to facial flankers in women. Targets were rated as more intense when they were presented without a temporal delay, possibly due to a stronger flanker contrast. These three experiments show that an exceptional processing of threat-related flanker stimuli depends on emotion category composition, which should be considered a mediating factor when examining emotional context effects

Disorder-specific characteristics of borderline personality disorder with co-occurring depression and its comparison with major depression: An fMRI study with emotional interference task

AbstractBorderline personality disorder (BPD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) are both associated with abnormalities in the regulation of emotion, with BPD being highly comorbid with MDD. Disorder-specific dysfunctions in BPD, however, have hardly been addressed, hence the lack of knowledge pertaining to the specificity of emotion processing deficits and their commonality with MDD.24 healthy comparison subjects, 21 patients with MDD, and 13 patients with comorbid BPD and MDD (BPD+MDD group) were studied using functional MRI. The subjects were required to perform an emotional interference task that entailed categorizing facial affect while ignoring words that labeled the emotional contents of the external stimuli.Collapsing across emotional face types, we observed that participants with BPD+MDD uniquely displayed a greater involvement of the visual areas and the cerebellum. During emotional conflict processing, on the other hand, the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) appeared to be affected in both patient groups. In comparison to the HC, the MDD group showed differences also in the posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) and the inferior parietal lobule (IPL).Thus, our data indicate dysfunctionality in the neural circuitry responsible for emotional conflict control in both disorders. The enhanced visual cortex activation in BPD+MDD suggests the visual system's hyperresponsiveness to faces at an early perceptual level. Not being associated with co-occurring depression, this effect in BPD+MDD appears to represent specific personality traits such as disturbed reactivity toward emotionally expressive facial stimuli

Estimation and correction of geometric distortions in side-scan sonar images

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution March 1990This thesis introduces a new procedure for the enhancement of acoustic images of the bottom of the sea produced by side-scan sonars. Specifically, it addresses the problem of estimating and correcting geometric distortions frequently observed in such images as a consequence of motion instabilities of the sonar array. This procedure estimates the geometric distortions from the image itself, without requiring any navigational or attitude measurements. A mathematical model for the distortions is derived from the geometry of the problem, and is applied to estimates of the local degree of geometric distortion obtained by cross-correlating segments of adjacent lines of the image. The model parameters are then recursively estimated through deterministic least-squares estimation. An alternative approach based on adaptive Kalman filtering is also proposed, providing a natural framework in which a priori information about the array dynamics may be easily incorporated. The estimates of the parameters of the distortion model are used to rectify the image, and may also be used for estimating the attitude parameters of the array. A simulation is employed to evaluate the effectiveness of this technique and examples of its application to high-resolution side-scan sonar images are provided.This work was produced under sponsorship of the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient{jico e Tecnol6gico (CNPq), an agency of the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil, and was supported in part by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency monitored by the Office of Naval Research under Grant No. N00014-89-J-1489, in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. MIP 87-14969, and in part by Sanders Associates, Incorporated