619 research outputs found
Non-equilibrium dynamics of an active colloidal "chucker"
We report Monte Carlo simulations of the dynamics of a "chucker": a colloidal
particle which emits smaller solute particles from its surface, isotropically
and at a constant rate k_c. We find that the diffusion constant of the chucker
increases for small k_c, as recently predicted theoretically. At large k_c the
chucker diffuses more slowly due to crowding effects. We compare our simulation
results to those of a "point particle" Langevin dynamics scheme in which the
solute concentration field is calculated analytically, and in which
hydrodynamic effects can be included albeit in an approximate way. By
simulating the dragging of a chucker, we obtain an estimate of its apparent
mobility coefficient which violates the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. We
also characterise the probability density profile for a chucker which sediments
onto a surface which either repels or absorbs the solute particles, and find
that the steady state distributions are very different in the two cases. Our
simulations are inspired by the biological example of
exopolysaccharide-producing bacteria, as well as by recent experimental,
simulation and theoretical work on phoretic colloidal "swimmers".Comment: re-submission after referee's comment
Augmenting Group Performance in Target-Face Recognition via Collaborative Brain-Computer Interfaces for Surveillance Applications
This paper presents a hybrid collaborative brain- computer interface (cBCI) to improve group-based recognition of target faces in crowded scenes recorded from surveillance cameras. The cBCI uses a combination of neural features extracted from EEG and response times to estimate the decision confidence of the users. Group decisions are then obtained by weighing individual responses according to these confidence estimates. Results obtained with 10 participants indicate that the proposed cBCI improves decision errors by up to 7% over traditional group decisions based on majority. Moreover, the confidence estimates obtained by the cBCI are more accurate and robust than the confidence reported by the participants after each decision. These results show that cBCIs can be an effective means of human augmentation in realistic scenarios
CES-530: Collaborative Brain-Computer Interface for Aiding Decision-making
We look at the possibility of integrating the percepts from multiple non-communicating observers as a means of achieving better joint perception and better group decisions. Our approach involves the combination of a brain-computer interface with human behavioural responses. To test ideas in controlled conditions, we asked observers to perform a simple matching task involving the rapid sequential presentation of pairs of visual patterns and the subsequent decision as whether the two patterns in a pair were the same or different. We recorded the response times of observers as well as a neural feature which predicts incorrect decisions and, thus, indirectly indicates the confidence of the decisions made by the observers. We then built a composite neuro-behavioural feature which optimally combines the two measures. For group decisions, we uses a majority rule and three rules which weigh the decisions of each observer based on response times and our neural and neuro-behavioural features. Results indicate that the integration of behavioural responses and neural features can significantly improve accuracy when compared with the majority rule. An analysis of event-related potentials indicates that substantial differences are present in the proximity of the response for correct and incorrect trials, further corroborating the idea of using hybrids of brain-computer interfaces and traditional strategies for improving decision making
A Collaborative BCI Trained to Aid Group Decisions in a Visual Search Task Works Well with Similar Tasks
This study tests the possibility of using collaborative brain-computer interfaces (cBCIs) trained with EEG data collected during a decision task to enhance group performance in similar tasks
ON THE HARMFUL CONSEQUENCES OF WAR: CAN CROATIAN AND BOSNIAN EXPERIENCE HELP UKRAINIAN REFUGEES?
Attracted Diffusion-Limited Aggregation
In this paper, we present results of extensive Monte Carlo simulations of
diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) with a seed placed on an attractive plane
as a simple model in connection with the electrical double layers. We compute
the fractal dimension of the aggregated patterns as a function of the
attraction strength \alpha. For the patterns grown in both two and three
dimensions, the fractal dimension shows a significant dependence on the
attraction strength for small values of \alpha, and approaches to that of the
ordinary two-dimensional (2D) DLA in the limit of large \alpha. For
non-attracting case with \alpha=1, our results in three dimensions reproduce
the patterns of 3D ordinary DLA, while in two dimensions our model leads to
formation of a compact cluster with dimension two. For intermediate \alpha, the
3D clusters have quasi-2D structure with a fractal dimension very close to that
of the ordinary 2D-DLA. This allows one to control morphology of a growing
cluster by tuning a single external parameter \alpha.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. E (2012
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