41,406 research outputs found
Switching to the rubber hand
Inducing the rubber hand illusion (RHI) requires that participants look at an imitation hand while it is stroked in synchrony with their occluded biological hand. Previous explanations of the RHI have emphasized multisensory integration, and excluded higher cognitive functions. We investigated the relationship between the RHI and higher cognitive functions by experimentally testing task switch (as measured by switch cost) and mind wandering (as measured by SART score); we also included a questionnaire for attentional control that comprises two subscales, attention-shift and attention-focus. To assess experience of RHI, the Botvinick and Cohen (1998) questionnaire was used and illusion onset time was recorded. Our results indicate that rapidity of onset reliably indicates illusion strength. Regression analysis revealed that participants evincing less switch cost and higher attention-shift scores had faster RHI onset times, and that those with higher attention-shift scores experienced the RHI more vividly. These results suggest that the multi-sensory hypothesis is not sufficient to explain the illusion: higher cognitive functions should be taken into account when explaining variation in the experience of ownership for the rubber hand
Optimal random search for a single hidden target
A single target is hidden at a location chosen from a predetermined
probability distribution. Then, a searcher must find a second probability
distribution from which random search points are sampled such that the target
is found in the minimum number of trials. Here it will be shown that if the
searcher must get very close to the target to find it, then the best search
distribution is proportional to the square root of the target distribution. For
a Gaussian target distribution, the optimum search distribution is
approximately a Gaussian with a standard deviation that varies inversely with
how close the searcher must be to the target to find it. For a network, where
the searcher randomly samples nodes and looks for the fixed target along edges,
the optimum is to either sample a node with probability proportional to the
square root of the out degree plus one or not at all.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
Applications of fibrous substrates containing insolubilized phase change polymers
Incorporation of polyethylene glycols into fibrous substrates produces several improved functional properties when they are insolubilized by crosslinking with a methylolamide resin or by polyacetal formation by their reaction with glyoxal. The range of molecular weights of polyols that may be insolubilized is broad as are the curing conditions (0.25-10 min at 80-200C). Most representative fiber types and blends (natural and synthetic) and all types of fabric constructions (woven, nonwoven and knit) have been modified by incorporation of the bound polyols. The most novel property is the thermal adaptability of the modified substrates to many climatic conditions. This adaptability is due to the high latent heat of the crosslinked polyols that function as phase change materials, the hydrophilic nature of the crosslinked polymer and its enhanced thermal conductivity. Other enhanced properties imparted to fabrics include flex and flat abrasion, antimicrobial activity, reduced static charge, resistance to oily soils, resiliency, wind resistance and reduced lint loss. Applications commercialized in the U.S. and Japan include sportswear and skiwear. Several examples of electric sets of properties useful for specific end uses are given. In addition, other uses are biomedical horticultural, aerospace, indoor insulation, automotive interiors and components and packaging material
Guidance and control strategies for aerospace vehicles
A simplified method of matched asymptotic expansions was developed where the common part in composite solution is generated as a polynomial in stretched variable instead of actually evaluating the same from the outer solution. This methodology was applied to the solution of the exact equations for three dimensional atmospheric entry problems. Compared to previous works, the present simplified methodology yields explicit analytical expressions for various components of the composite solution without resorting to any type of transcendental equations to be solved only by numerical methods. The optimal control problem arising in the noncoplanar orbital transfer employing aeroassist was also addressed
Guidance and control strategies for aerospace vehicles
The optimal control problem arising in coplanar orbital transfer employing aeroassist technology and the fuel-optimal control problem arising in orbital transfer vehicles employing aeroassist technology are addressed
Serotonin and motherhood: From molecules to mood
Emerging research points to a valuable role of the monoamine neurotransmitter, serotonin, in the display of maternal behaviors and reproduction-associated plasticity in the maternal brain. Serotonin is also implicated in the pathophysiology of numerous affective disorders and likely plays an important role in the pathophysiology of maternal mental illness. Therefore, the main goals of this review are to detail: 1) how the serotonin system of the female brain changes across pregnancy and postpartum; 2) the role of the central serotonergic system in maternal caregiving and maternal aggression; and 3) how the serotonin system and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications (SSRIs) are involved in the treatment of maternal mental illness. Although there is much work to be done, studying the central serotonin system’s multifaceted role in the maternal brain is vital to our understanding of the processes governing matrescence and the maintenance of motherhood
New Approach to Parton Shower MC's for Precision QCD Theory: HERWIRI1.0(31)
By implementing the new IR-improved
Dokshitzer-Gribov-Lipatov-Altarelli-Parisi-Callan-Symanzik (DGLAP-CS) kernels
recently developed by one of us in the HERWIG6.5 environment we generate a new
MC, HERWIRI1.0(31), for hadron-hadron scattering at high energies. We use MC
data to illustrate the comparison between the parton shower generated by the
standard DGLAP-CS kernels and that generated by the new IR-improved DGLAP-CS
kernels. The interface to MC@NLO, MC@NLO/HERWIRI, is illustrated. Comparisons
with FNAL data and some discussion of possible implications for LHC
phenomenology are also presented.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures; published versio
Superconductivity of disordered Dirac fermions
We study the effect of disorder on massless, spinful Dirac fermions in two
spatial dimensions with attractive interactions, and show that the combination
of disorder and attractive interactions is deadly to the Dirac semimetal phase.
First, we derive the zero temperature phase diagram of a clean Dirac fermion
system with tunable doping level ({\mu}) and attraction strength (g). We show
that it contains two phases: a superconductor and a Dirac semimetal. Then, we
show that arbitrarily weak disorder destroys the Dirac semimetal, turning it
into a superconductor. We discuss the strength of the superconductivity for
both long range and short range disorder. For long range disorder, the
superconductivity is exponentially weak in the disorder strength. For short
range disorder, a uniform mean field analysis predicts that superconductivity
should be doubly exponentially weak in the disorder strength. However, a more
careful treatment of mesoscopic fluctuations suggests that locally
superconducting puddles should form at a much higher temperature, and should
establish global phase coherence at a temperature that is only exponentially
small in weak disorder. We also discuss the effect of disorder on the quantum
critical point of the clean system, building in the effect of disorder through
a replica field theory. We show that disorder is a relevant perturbation to the
supersymmetric quantum critical point. We expect that in the presence of
attractive interactions, the flow away from the critical point ends up in the
superconducting phase, although firm conclusions cannot be drawn since the
renormalization group analysis flows to strong coupling. We argue that although
we expect the quantum critical point to get buried under a superconducting
phase, signatures of the critical point may be visible in the finite
temperature quantum critical regime.Comment: Added some discussion, particularly pertaining to proximity effec
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