1,538 research outputs found
The neural basis of authenticity recognition in laughter and crying
Deciding whether othersâ emotions are genuine is essential for successful communication and social relationships. While previous fMRI studies suggested that differentiation between authentic and acted emotional expressions involves higher-order brain areas, the time course of authenticity discrimination is still unknown. To address this gap, we tested the impact of authenticity discrimination on event-related potentials (ERPs) related to emotion, motivational salience, and higher-order cognitive processing (N100, P200 and late positive complex, the LPC), using vocalised non-verbal expressions of sadness (crying) and happiness (laughter) in a 32-participant, within-subject study. Using a repeated measures 2-factor (authenticity, emotion) ANOVA, we show that N100âs amplitude was larger in response to authentic than acted vocalisations, particularly in cries, while P200âs was larger in response to acted vocalisations, particularly in laughs. We suggest these results point to two different mechanisms: (1) a larger N100 in response to authentic vocalisations is consistent with its link to emotional content and arousal (putatively larger amplitude for genuine emotional expressions); (2) a larger P200 in response to acted ones is in line with evidence relating it to motivational salience (putatively larger for ambiguous emotional expressions). Complementarily, a significant main effect of emotion was found on P200 and LPC amplitudes, in that the two were larger for laughs than cries, regardless of authenticity. Overall, we provide the first electroencephalographic examination of authenticity discrimination and propose that authenticity processing of othersâ vocalisations is initiated early, along that of their emotional content or category, attesting for its evolutionary relevance for trust and bond formation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Cost-benefit analysis for commissioning decisions in GEO600
Gravitational wave interferometers are complex instruments, requiring years
of commissioning to achieve the required sensitivities for the detection of
gravitational waves, of order 10^-21 in dimensionless detector strain, in the
tens of Hz to several kHz frequency band. Investigations carried out by the
GEO600 detector characterisation group have shown that detector
characterisation techniques are useful when planning for commissioning work. At
the time of writing, GEO600 is the only large scale laser interferometer
currently in operation running with a high duty factor, 70%, limited chiefly by
the time spent commissioning the detector. The number of observable
gravitational wave sources scales as the product of the volume of space to
which the detector is sensitive and the observation time, so the goal of
commissioning is to improve the detector sensitivity with the least possible
detector down time. We demonstrate a method for increasing the number of
sources observable by such a detector, by assessing the severity of
non-astrophysical noise contaminations to efficiently guide commissioning. This
method will be particularly useful in the early stages and during the initial
science runs of the aLIGO and adVirgo detectors, as they are brought up to
design performance.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figures, 2 table
GEO 600 and the GEO-HF upgrade program: successes and challenges
The German-British laser-interferometric gravitational wave detector GEO 600
is in its 14th year of operation since its first lock in 2001. After GEO 600
participated in science runs with other first-generation detectors, a program
known as GEO-HF began in 2009. The goal was to improve the detector sensitivity
at high frequencies, around 1 kHz and above, with technologically advanced yet
minimally invasive upgrades. Simultaneously, the detector would record science
quality data in between commissioning activities. As of early 2014, all of the
planned upgrades have been carried out and sensitivity improvements of up to a
factor of four at the high-frequency end of the observation band have been
achieved. Besides science data collection, an experimental program is ongoing
with the goal to further improve the sensitivity and evaluate future detector
technologies. We summarize the results of the GEO-HF program to date and
discuss its successes and challenges
Characterization of E'delta and triplet point defects in oxygen deficient amorphous silicon dioxide
We report an experimental study by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) of
gamma ray irradiation induced point defects in oxygen deficient amorphous SiO2
materials. We have found that three intrinsic (E'gamma, E'delta and triplet)
and one extrinsic ([AlO4]0) paramagnetic centers are induced. All the
paramagnetic defects but E'gamma center are found to reach a concentration
limit value for doses above 10^3 kGy, suggesting a generation process from
precursors. Isochronal thermal treatments of a sample irradiated at 10^3 kGy
have shown that for T>500 K the concentrations of E'gamma and E'delta centers
increase concomitantly to the decrease of [AlO4]0. This occurrence speaks for
an hole transfer process from [AlO4]0 centers to diamagnetic precursors of E'
centers proving the positive charge state of the thermally induced E'gamma and
E'delta centers and giving insight on the origin of E'gamma from an oxygen
vacancy. A comparative study of the E'delta center and of the 10 mT doublet EPR
signals on three distinct materials subjected to isochronal and isothermal
treatments, has shown a quite general linear correlation between these two EPR
signals. This result confirms the attribution of the 10 mT doublet to the
hyperfine structure of the E'delta center, originating from the interaction of
the unpaired electron with a nucleus of 29Si (I=1/2). Analogies between the
microwave saturation properties of E'gamma and E'delta centers and between
those of their hyperfine structures are found and suggest that the unpaired
electron wave function involves similar Si sp3 hybrid orbitals; specifically,
for the E'delta the unpaired electron is supposed to be delocalized over four
such orbitals of four equivalent Si atoms.Comment: Approved for publication in Physical Review
"Oh! What a tangled web we weave": Englishness, communicative leisure, identity work and the cultural web of the English folk morris dance scene
In this paper, we consider the relationship between Englishness and the English folk morris dance scene, considering how the latter draws from and reinforces the former. Englishness is considered within the context of the cultural web; a tool more often applied to business management but linked to a sociological viewpoint here. By doing so, we draw the connections between this structured business model and the cultural identity of Englishness. Then, we use the framework of the cultural web and theories of leisure, culture and identity to understand how morris dancers see their role as dancers and âcommunicative leisureâ agents in consciously defending Englishness, English traditions and inventions, the practices and traditions of folk and morris, and the various symbolic communities they inhabit. We argue that most morris dancers in our research become and maintain their leisured identities as dancers because they are attracted to the idea of tradition â even if that tradition is invented and open to change
Polarization observables in p-d scattering below 30 MeV
Differential and total breakup cross sections as well as vector and tensor
analyzing powers for p-d scattering are studied for energies above the deuteron
breakup threshold up to E(lab)=28 MeV. The p-d scattering wave function is
expanded in terms of the correlated hyperspherical harmonic basis and the
elastic S-matrix is obtained using the Kohn variational principle in its
complex form. The effects of the Coulomb interaction, which are expected to be
important in this energy range, have been rigorously taken into account. The
Argonne AV18 interaction and the Urbana URIX three-nucleon potential have been
used to perform a comparison to the available experimental data.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figure
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