532 research outputs found
Affluent Activists and New Tactics: The Changing Face of the Chinese Environmental Movement
This article will discuss a shift taking place within the Chinese environmental movement. The work of Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations, the established face of the movement, has been characterized by efforts to work within the constraints set by the government. The emergence of directly confrontational protests led by members of the middle class represents a shift in the movement as a whole. These protests have emerged as the result of the growing level of middle class environmental consciousness and the government’s inadequate response to environmental problems. This is reflected in citizens’ frustration over the lack of government transparency and public consultation. While protests can be perceived as a threat to the careful organization and methodical strategies of ENGOs, both have a role to play in the fight against China’s pollution and environmental degradation
The neural network of saccadic foreknowledge.
Foreknowledge about upcoming events may be exploited to optimize behavioural responses. In a previous work, using an eye movement paradigm, we showed that different types of partial foreknowledge have different effects on saccadic efficiency. In the current study, we investigated the neural circuitry involved in processing of partial foreknowledge using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Fourteen subjects performed a mixed antisaccade, prosaccade paradigm with blocks of no foreknowledge, complete foreknowledge or partial foreknowledge about stimulus location, response direction or task. We found that saccadic foreknowledge is processed primarily within the well-known oculomotor network for saccades and antisaccades. Moreover, we found a consistent decrease in BOLD activity in the primary and secondary visual cortex in all foreknowledge conditions compared to the no-foreknowledge conditions. Furthermore we found that the different types of partial foreknowledge are processed in distinct brain areas: response foreknowledge is processed in the frontal eye field, while stimulus foreknowledge is processed in the frontal and parietal eye field. Task foreknowledge, however, revealed no positive BOLD correlate. Our results show different patterns of engagement in the saccade-related neural network depending upon precisely what type of information is known ahead
Refactoring, reengineering and evolution: paths to Geant4 uncertainty quantification and performance improvement
Ongoing investigations for the improvement of Geant4 accuracy and
computational performance resulting by refactoring and reengineering parts of
the code are discussed. Issues in refactoring that are specific to the domain
of physics simulation are identified and their impact is elucidated.
Preliminary quantitative results are reported.Comment: To be published in the Proc. CHEP (Computing in High Energy Physics)
201
Bub1 and Bub3 promote the conversion from monopolar to bipolar chromosome attachment independently of shugoshin
The eukaryotic spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) delays anaphase in the presence of chromosome attachment errors. Bub3 has been reported to be required for SAC activity in all eukaryotes examined so far. We find that Bub3, unlike its binding partner Bub1, is not essential for the SAC in fission yeast. As Bub3 is needed for the efficient kinetochore localization of Bub1, and of Mad1, Mad2 and Mad3, this implies that most SAC proteins do not need to be enriched at the kinetochores for the SAC to function. We find that Bub3 is also dispensable for shugoshin localization to the centromeres, which is the second known function of Bub1. Instead, Bub3, together with Bub1, has a specific function in promoting the conversion from chromosome mono-orientation to bi-orientation
Research in Geant4 electromagnetic physics design, and its effects on computational performance and quality assurance
The Geant4 toolkit offers a rich variety of electromagnetic physics models;
so far the evaluation of this Geant4 domain has been mostly focused on its
physics functionality, while the features of its design and their impact on
simulation accuracy, computational performance and facilities for verification
and validation have not been the object of comparable attention yet, despite
the critical role they play in many experimental applications. A new project is
in progress to study the application of new design concepts and software
techniques in Geant4 electromagnetic physics, and to evaluate how they can
improve on the current simulation capabilities. The application of a
policy-based class design is investigated as a means to achieve the objective
of granular decomposition of processes; this design technique offers various
advantages in terms of flexibility of configuration and computational
performance. The current Geant4 physics models have been re-implemented
according to the new design as a pilot project. The main features of the new
design and first results of performance improvement and testing simplification
are presented; they are relevant to many Geant4 applications, where
computational speed and the containment of resources invested in simulation
production and quality assurance play a critical role.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures and images, to appear in proceedings of the
Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference 2009, Orland
Quantifying the unknown: issues in simulation validation and their experimental impact
The assessment of the reliability of Monte Carlo simulations is discussed,
with emphasis on uncertainty quantification and the related impact on
experimental results. Methods and techniques to account for epistemic
uncertainties, i.e. for intrinsic knowledge gaps in physics modeling, are
discussed with the support of applications to concrete experimental scenarios.
Ongoing projects regarding the investigation of epistemic uncertainties in the
Geant4 simulation toolkit are reported.Comment: To be published in the Proceedings of the 13th ICATPP Conference on
Astroparticle, Particle, Space Physics and Detectors for Physics
Applications, Villa Olmo, Como, 3-7 October 201
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