5,702 research outputs found
Selectivity and Metaplasticity in a Unified Calcium-Dependent Model
A unified, biophysically motivated Calcium-Dependent Learning model has been shown to account for various rate-based and spike time-dependent paradigms for inducing synaptic plasticity. Here, we investigate the properties of this model for a multi-synapse neuron that receives inputs with different spike-train statistics. In addition, we present a physiological form of metaplasticity, an activity-driven regulation mechanism, that is essential for the robustness of the model. A neuron thus implemented develops stable and selective receptive fields, given various input statistic
Student perspectives on the relationship between a curve and its tangent in the transition from Euclidean Geometry to Analysis
The tangent line is a central concept in many mathematics and science courses. In this paper we describe a model of students’ thinking – concept images as well as ability in symbolic manipulation – about the tangent line of a curve as it has developed through students’ experiences in Euclidean Geometry and Analysis courses. Data was collected through a questionnaire administered to 196 Year 12 students. Through Latent Class Analysis, the participants were classified in three hierarchical groups representing the transition from a Geometrical Global perspective on the tangent line to an Analytical Local perspective. In the light of this classification, and through qualitative explanations of the students’ responses, we describe students’ thinking about tangents in terms of seven factors. We confirm the model constituted by these seven factors through Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Maximal-entropy random walk unifies centrality measures
In this paper analogies between different (dis)similarity matrices are
derived. These matrices, which are connected to path enumeration and random
walks, are used in community detection methods or in computation of centrality
measures for complex networks. The focus is on a number of known centrality
measures, which inherit the connections established for similarity matrices.
These measures are based on the principal eigenvector of the adjacency matrix,
path enumeration, as well as on the stationary state, stochastic matrix or mean
first-passage times of a random walk. Particular attention is paid to the
maximal-entropy random walk, which serves as a very distinct alternative to the
ordinary random walk used in network analysis.
The various importance measures, defined both with the use of ordinary random
walk and the maximal-entropy random walk, are compared numerically on a set of
benchmark graphs. It is shown that groups of centrality measures defined with
the two random walks cluster into two separate families. In particular, the
group of centralities for the maximal-entropy random walk, connected to the
eigenvector centrality and path enumeration, is strongly distinct from all the
other measures and produces largely equivalent results.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Formalising behaviour trees with CSP
Behaviour Trees is a novel approach for requirements engineering. It advocates a graphical tree notation that is easy to use and to understand. Individual requirements axe modelled as single trees which later on are integrated into a model of the system as a whole. We develop a formal semantics for a subset of Behaviour Trees using CSP. This work, on one hand, provides tool support for Behaviour Trees. On the other hand, it builds a front-end to a subset of the CSP notation and gives CSP users a new modelling strategy which is well suited to the challenges of requirements engineering
The representational dynamics of task and object processing in humans
Despite the importance of an observer’s goals in determining how a visual object is categorized, surprisingly little is known about how humans process the task context in which objects occur and how it may interact with the processing of objects. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and multivariate techniques, we studied the spatial and temporal dynamics of task and object processing. Our results reveal a sequence of separate but overlapping task-related processes spread across frontoparietal and occipitotemporal cortex. Task exhibited late effects on object processing by selectively enhancing task-relevant object features, with limited impact on the overall pattern of object representations. Combining MEG and fMRI data, we reveal a parallel rise in task-related signals throughout the cerebral cortex, with an increasing dominance of task over object representations from early to higher visual areas. Collectively, our results reveal the complex dynamics underlying task and object representations throughout human cortex
Further study of the Over-Barrier Model to compute charge exchange processes
In this paper we study theoretically the process of electron capture between
one-optical-electron atoms (e.g. hydrogenlike or alkali atoms) and ions at
low-to-medium impact velocities () working on a modification
of an already developed classical In this work we present an improvement over
the Over Barrier Model (OBM) described in a recent paper [F. Sattin, Phys. Rev.
A {\bf 62}, 042711 (2000)]. We show that: i) one of the two free parameters
there introduced actually comes out consistently from the starting assumptions
underlying the model; ii) the modified model thus obtained is as much accurate
as the former one. Furthermore, we show that OBMs are able to accurately
predict some recent results of state selective electron capture, at odds with
what previously supposed.Comment: RevTeX, 7 pages, 4 eps figures. To appear in Physical Review A
(2001-september issue
Critical behavior at Mott-Anderson transition: a TMT-DMFT perspective
We present a detailed analysis of the critical behavior close to the
Mott-Anderson transition. Our findings are based on a combination of numerical
and analytical results obtained within the framework of Typical-Medium Theory
(TMT-DMFT) - the simplest extension of dynamical mean field theory (DMFT)
capable of incorporating Anderson localization effects. By making use of
previous scaling studies of Anderson impurity models close to the
metal-insulator transition, we solve this problem analytically and reveal the
dependence of the critical behavior on the particle-hole symmetry. Our main
result is that, for sufficiently strong disorder, the Mott-Anderson transition
is characterized by a precisely defined two-fluid behavior, in which only a
fraction of the electrons undergo a "site selective" Mott localization; the
rest become Anderson-localized quasiparticles.Comment: 4+ pages, 4 figures, v2: minor changes, accepted for publication in
Phys. Rev. Let
AToM3: A Tool for Multi-formalism and Meta-modelling
The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45923-5_12Proceedings of 5th International Conference, FASE 2002 Held as Part of the Joint European Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software, ETAPS 2002 Grenoble, France, April 8–12, 2002This article introduces the combined use of multi-formalism modelling and meta-modelling to facilitate computer assisted modelling of complex systems. The approach allows one to model different parts of a system using different formalisms. Models can be automatically converted between formalisms thanks to information found in a Formalism Transformation Graph (FTG), proposed by the authors. To aid in the automatic generation of multi-formalism modelling tools, formalisms are modelled in their own right (at a meta-level) within an appropriate formalism. This has been implemented in the interactive tool AToM3. This tool is used to describe formalisms commonly used in the simulation of dynamical systems, as well as to generate custom tools to process (create, edit, transform, simulate, optimise, ...) models expressed in the corresponding formalism. AToM3 relies on graph rewriting techniques and graph grammars to perform the transformations between formalisms as well as for other tasks, such as code generation and operational semantics specification.This paper has been partially sponsored by the Spanish Interdepartmental Commission
of Science and Technology (CICYT), project number TEL1999-0181.
Prof.Vangheluwe gratefully acknowledges partial support for this work by a
National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Individual
Research Grant
Compact Drawings of 1-Planar Graphs with Right-Angle Crossings and Few Bends
We study the following classes of beyond-planar graphs: 1-planar, IC-planar,
and NIC-planar graphs. These are the graphs that admit a 1-planar, IC-planar,
and NIC-planar drawing, respectively. A drawing of a graph is 1-planar if every
edge is crossed at most once. A 1-planar drawing is IC-planar if no two pairs
of crossing edges share a vertex. A 1-planar drawing is NIC-planar if no two
pairs of crossing edges share two vertices. We study the relations of these
beyond-planar graph classes (beyond-planar graphs is a collective term for the
primary attempts to generalize the planar graphs) to right-angle crossing (RAC)
graphs that admit compact drawings on the grid with few bends. We present four
drawing algorithms that preserve the given embeddings. First, we show that
every -vertex NIC-planar graph admits a NIC-planar RAC drawing with at most
one bend per edge on a grid of size . Then, we show that
every -vertex 1-planar graph admits a 1-planar RAC drawing with at most two
bends per edge on a grid of size . Finally, we make two
known algorithms embedding-preserving; for drawing 1-planar RAC graphs with at
most one bend per edge and for drawing IC-planar RAC graphs straight-line
Drawing Trees with Perfect Angular Resolution and Polynomial Area
We study methods for drawing trees with perfect angular resolution, i.e.,
with angles at each node v equal to 2{\pi}/d(v). We show:
1. Any unordered tree has a crossing-free straight-line drawing with perfect
angular resolution and polynomial area.
2. There are ordered trees that require exponential area for any
crossing-free straight-line drawing having perfect angular resolution.
3. Any ordered tree has a crossing-free Lombardi-style drawing (where each
edge is represented by a circular arc) with perfect angular resolution and
polynomial area. Thus, our results explore what is achievable with
straight-line drawings and what more is achievable with Lombardi-style
drawings, with respect to drawings of trees with perfect angular resolution.Comment: 30 pages, 17 figure
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