Evidence for the Concreteness of Abstract Language: A Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies

The neural mechanisms subserving the processing of abstract concepts remain largely debated. Even within the embodiment theoretical framework, most authors suggest that abstract concepts are coded in a linguistic propositional format, although they do not completely deny the role of sensorimotor and emotional experiences in coding it. To our knowledge, only one recent proposal puts forward that the processing of concrete and abstract concepts relies on the same mechanisms, with the only difference being in the complexity of the underlying experiences. In this paper, we performed a meta-analysis using the Activation Likelihood Estimates (ALE) method on 33 functional neuroimaging studies that considered activations related to abstract and concrete concepts. The results suggest that (1) concrete and abstract concepts share the recruitment of the temporo-fronto-parietal circuits normally involved in the interactions with the physical world, (2) processing concrete concepts recruits fronto-parietal areas better than abstract concepts, and (3) abstract concepts recruit Broca’s region more strongly than concrete ones. Based on anatomical and physiological evidence, Broca’s region is not only a linguistic region mainly devoted to speech production, but it is endowed with complex motor representations of different biological effectors. Hence, we propose that the stronger recruitment of this region for abstract concepts is expression of the complex sensorimotor experiences underlying it, rather than evidence of a purely linguistic format of its processing

Quantum nonlocality in two three-level systems

Recently a new Bell inequality has been introduced by Collins et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 040404 (2002)], which is strongly resistant to noise for maximally entangled states of two d-dimensional quantum systems. We prove that a larger violation, or equivalently a stronger resistance to noise, is found for a nonmaximally entangled state. It is shown that the resistance to noise is not a good measure of nonlocality and we introduce some other possible measures. The nonmaximally entangled state turns out to be more robust also for these alternative measures. From these results it follows that two von Neumann measurements per party may be not optimal for detecting nonlocality. For d=3,4, we point out some connections between this inequality and distillability. Indeed, we demonstrate that any state violating it, with the optimal von Neumann settings, is distillable

GEOMATIC TECHNIQUES FOR THE OPTIMIZATION OF SKI RESOURCES

Climate change is already affecting the entire world, with extreme weather conditions such as drought, heat waves, heavy rain, floods and landslides becoming more frequent, including Europe. In according to Paris agreement and relative European announcement of Carbon neutrality (by 2050), the saving of water and energy supplies is a fundamental aspect in the management of resources in production, sports, hospitality facilities and so on. Some methodologies for the optimization of the consumption of natural resources are required. This article describes an activity aimed at measuring, monitoring and analysing the thickness of the snowpack on the ski slopes during the winter season to permit a sustainable approach of snowmaking in alpine ski areas . The authors propose a methodology based on the integration of multitemporal surface (ground/snow) survey by Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV) and low cost GNSS receivers mounted on snow groomers for a RTK (Real Time Kinematic) solution. To obtain a complete snow surface digital models with poor detailed images on ski slopes, some pre-processing techniques have been analysed to locally improve contrast and details with a local high pass filtering. The methodology has been employed in two study areas (Limone Piemonte, Prato Nevoso) located in the province of Cuneo, in the southern alpine area of Piedmont

A diffusion model approach to analyzing performance on the flanker task: the role of the DLPFC

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) are involved in conflict detection and conflict resolution, respectively. Here, we investigate how lifelong bilingualism induces neuroplasticity to these structures by employing a novel analysis of behavioural performance. We correlated grey matter volume (GMV) in seniors reported by Abutalebi et al. (2015) with behavioral Flanker task performance fitted using the diffusion model (Ratcliff, 1978). As predicted, we observed significant correlations between GMV in the DLPFC and Flanker performance. However, for monolinguals the non-decision time parameter was significantly correlated with GMV in the left DLPFC, whereas for bilinguals the correlation was significant in the right DLPFC. We also found a significant correlation between age and GMV in left DLPFC and the non-decision time parameter for the conflict effect for monolinguals only. We submit that this is due to cumulative demands on cognitive control over a lifetime of bilingual language processin

Infrared and Raman spectroscopic features of the self-interstitial defect in diamond from exact-exchange hybrid DFT calculations

International audienceQuantum-mechanical calculations are performed to investigate the structural, electronic, and infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopic features of one of the most common radiation-induced defects in diamond: the “dumb-bell” 〈100〉 split self-interstitial. A periodic super-cell approach is used in combination with all-electron basis sets and hybrid functionals of density-functional-theory (DFT), which include a fraction of exact non-local exchange and are known to provide a correct description of the electronic spin localization at the defect, at variance with simpler formulations of the DFT. The effects of both defect concentration and spin state are explicitly addressed. Geometrical constraints are found to prevent the formation of a double bond between the two three-fold coordinated carbon atoms. In contrast, two unpaired electrons are fully localized on each of the carbon atoms involved in the defect. The open-shell singlet state is slightly more stable than the triplet (the energy difference being just 30 meV, as the unpaired electrons occupy orthogonal orbitals) while the closed-shell solution is less stable by about 1.55 eV. The formation energy of the defect from pristine diamond is about 12 eV. The Raman spectrum presents only two peaks of low intensity at wave-numbers higher than the pristine diamond peak (characterized by normal modes extremely localized on the defect), whose positions strongly depend on defect concentration as they blue shift up to 1550 and 1927 cm−1 at infinite defect dilution. The first of these peaks, also IR active, is characterized by a very high IR intensity, and might then be related to the strong experimental feature of the IR spectrum occurring at 1570 cm−1. A second very intense IR peak appears at about 500 cm−1, which, despite being originated from a “wagging” motion of the self-interstitial defect, exhibits a more collective, less localized character

GEOMATIC TECHNIQUES FOR THE OPTIMIZATION OF SKI RESOURCES

Abstract. Climate change is already affecting the entire world, with extreme weather conditions such as drought, heat waves, heavy rain, floods and landslides becoming more frequent, including Europe. In according to Paris agreement and relative European announcement of Carbon neutrality (by 2050), the saving of water and energy supplies is a fundamental aspect in the management of resources in production, sports, hospitality facilities and so on. Some methodologies for the optimization of the consumption of natural resources are required. This article describes an activity aimed at measuring, monitoring and analysing the thickness of the snowpack on the ski slopes during the winter season to permit a sustainable approach of snowmaking in alpine ski areas . The authors propose a methodology based on the integration of multitemporal surface (ground/snow) survey by Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV) and low cost GNSS receivers mounted on snow groomers for a RTK (Real Time Kinematic) solution. To obtain a complete snow surface digital models with poor detailed images on ski slopes, some pre-processing techniques have been analysed to locally improve contrast and details with a local high pass filtering. The methodology has been employed in two study areas (Limone Piemonte, Prato Nevoso) located in the province of Cuneo, in the southern alpine area of Piedmont

New results for maize crops cultivated in the no-tillage system at the "Ramira" agricultural company from Mârşa, Giurgiu county

In Romania, maize is the main cultivated plan and maize crops are extremely important from an economic point of view. Research with the no-tillage system applied to maize crops were made in the Romanian Plain, Şarpe (1968, 1987, 2000, 2008, 2009), in Banat, Motiu (2004) and in the Flood Plain of the Danube River, Şarpe (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008). The results obtained in Romania confirm the results of the research made in other countries: Philips and Young (1973), Roller (1999), Derpsch (2001). "Ramira " is the first agricultural company from Giurgiu County which in 2009 cultivated maize in the no-tillage system on a 200 hectares area of land, the results obtained being quite remarkable. In the conventional system, under the weather conditions of the year 2009, the grain yield recorded from the maize crops amounted to 7,200 kg/ha, while in the no-tillage system a grain yield of 7,500 kg/ha was recorded - so the yields obtained in the technological systems were practically equal. However, there were small differences in terms of fuel consumption. For example, in the no-tillage system, a 78 litres/ha fuel consumption was recorded, while in the notillage system this amounted to only 25 litres/ha. Big differences were also recorded as regards the expenses in the conventional and no-tillage systems. In the conventional system, the expenses made for all the mechanical works performed from the sowing stage to the harvesting stage, these expenses amounted to RON 2,350.00 per hectare, while in the no-tillage system, they amounted to only RON 610,00 per hectare

A cellular-resolution atlas of the larval zebrafish brain

Understanding brain-wide neuronal dynamics requires a detailed map of the underlying circuit architecture. We built an interactive cellular-resolution atlas of the zebrafish brain at 6 days post-fertilization (dpf) based on the reconstructions of over 2,000 individually GFP-labeled neurons. We clustered our dataset in "morphotypes,'' establishing a unique database of quantitatively described neuronal morphologies together with their spatial coordinates in vivo. Over 100 transgene expression patterns were imaged separately and co-registered with the single-neuron atlas. By annotating 72 non-overlapping brain regions, we generated from our dataset an inter-areal wiring diagram of the larval brain, which serves as ground truth for synapse-scale, electron microscopic reconstructions. Interrogating our atlas by "virtual tract tracing'' has already revealed previously unknown wiring principles in the tectum and the cerebellum. In conclusion, we present here an evolving computational resource and visualization tool, which will be essential to map function to structure in a vertebrate brain