Expanding simulation models of emotional understanding: The case for different modalities, body-state simulation prominence and developmental trajectories

Recent models of emotion recognition suggest that when people perceive an emotional expression, they partially activate the respective emotion in themselves, providing a basis for the recognition of that emotion. Much of the focus of these models and of their evidential basis has been on sensorimotor simulation as a basis for facial expression recognition – the idea, in short, that coming to know what another feels involves simulating in your brain the motor plans and associated sensory representations engaged by the other person’s brain in producing the facial expression that you see. In this review article, we argue that simulation accounts of emotion recognition would benefit from three key extensions. First, that fuller consideration be given to simulation of bodily and vocal expressions, given that the body and voice are also important expressive channels for providing cues to another’s emotional state. Second, that simulation of other aspects of the perceived emotional state, such as changes in the autonomic nervous system and viscera, might have a more prominent role in underpinning emotion recognition than is typically proposed. Sensorimotor simulation models tend to relegate such body-state simulation to a subsidiary role, despite the plausibility of body-state simulation being able to underpin emotion recognition in the absence of typical sensorimotor simulation. Third, that simulation models of emotion recognition be extended to address how embodied processes and emotion recognition abilities develop through the lifespan. It is not currently clear how this system of sensorimotor and body-state simulation develops and in particular how this affects the development of emotion recognition ability. We review recent findings from the emotional body recognition literature and integrate recent evidence regarding the development of mimicry and interoception to significantly expand simulation models of emotion recognition

Petrography and Geochemistry of Metals in Almahata Sitta Ureilites

Ureilites are ultramafic achondrites, predominantly composed of olivine and pyroxenes with accessory carbon, metal and sulfide. The majority of ureilites are believed to represent the mantle of the ureilite parent body (UPB) [1]. Although ureilites have lost much of their original metal [2], the metal that remains retains a record of the formative processes. Almahata Sitta is predominantly composed of unbrecciated ureilites with a wide range of silicate compositions [3,4]. As a fall it presents a rare opportunity to examine fresh ureilite metal in-situ, and analyzing their highly siderophile element (HSE) ratios gives clues to their formation. Bulk siderophile element analyses of Almahata Sitta fall within the range observed in other ureilites [5]. We have examined the metals in seven ureilitic samples of Almahata Sitta (AS) and one associated chondrite fragment (AS#25)

A WARNING ABOUT USING PREDICTED VALUES TO ESTIMATE DESCRIPTIVE MEASURES

In a recent article in the Journal, Ogburn et al. highlighted the issues with using predicted values when estimating associations or effects. While the authors cautioned against using predicted values to estimate associations or effects, they noted that predictions can be useful for descriptive purposes. In this work, we highlight the issues with using individual-level predicted values to estimate population-level descriptive parameter

Cyclotron effective masses in layered metals

Many layered metals such as quasi-two-dimensional organic molecular crystals show properties consistent with a Fermi liquid description at low temperatures. The effective masses extracted from the temperature dependence of the magnetic oscillations observed in these materials are in the range, m^*_c/m_e \sim 1-7, suggesting that these systems are strongly correlated. However, the ratio m^*_c/m_e contains both the renormalization due to the electron-electron interaction and the periodic potential of the lattice. We show that for any quasi-two-dimensional band structure, the cyclotron mass is proportional to the density of states at the Fermi energy. Due to Luttinger's theorem, this result is also valid in the presence of interactions. We then evaluate m_c for several model band structures for the \beta, \kappa, and \theta families of (BEDT-TTF)_2X, where BEDT-TTF is bis-(ethylenedithia-tetrathiafulvalene) and X is an anion. We find that for \kappa-(BEDT-TTF)_2X, the cyclotron mass of the \beta-orbit, m^{*\beta}_c, is close to 2 m^{*\alpha}_c, where m^{*\alpha}_c is the effective mass of the \alpha- orbit. This result is fairly insensitive to the band structure details. For a wide range of materials we compare values of the cyclotron mass deduced from band structure calculations to values deduced from measurements of magnetic oscillations and the specific heat coefficient.Comment: 12 pages, 3 eps figure

Superconducting p-branes and Extremal Black Holes

In Einstein-Maxwell theory, magnetic flux lines are `expelled' from a black hole as extremality is approached, in the sense that the component of the field strength normal to the horizon goes to zero. Thus, extremal black holes are found to exhibit the sort of `Meissner effect' which is characteristic of superconducting media. We review some of the evidence for this effect, and do present new evidence for it using recently found black hole solutions in string theory and Kaluza-Klein theory. We also present some new solutions, which arise naturally in string theory, which are non-superconducting extremal black holes. We present a nice geometrical interpretation of these effects derived by looking carefully at the higher dimensional configurations from which the lower dimensional black hole solutions are obtained. We show that other extremal solitonic objects in string theory (such as p-branes) can also display superconducting properties. In particular, we argue that the relativistic London equation will hold on the worldvolume of `light' superconducting p-branes (which are embedded in flat space), and that minimally coupled zero modes will propagate in the adS factor of the near-horizon geometries of `heavy', or gravitating, superconducting p-branes.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figure

Hydrogen-Helium Mixtures at High Pressure

The properties of hydrogen-helium mixtures at high pressure are crucial to address important questions about the interior of Giant planets e.g. whether Jupiter has a rocky core and did it emerge via core accretion? Using path integral Monte Carlo simulations, we study the properties of these mixtures as a function of temperature, density and composition. The equation of state is calculated and compared to chemical models. We probe the accuracy of the ideal mixing approximation commonly used in such models. Finally, we discuss the structure of the liquid in terms of pair correlation functions.Comment: Proceedings article of the 5th Conference on Cryocrystals and Quantum Crystals in Wroclaw, Poland, submitted to J. Low. Temp. Phys. (2004

Meta-Analysis and Sparse-Data Bias

Meta-analyses are undertaken to combine information from a set of studies, often in settings where some of the individual study-specific estimates are based on relatively small study samples. Finite sample bias may occur when maximum likelihood estimates of associations are obtained by fitting logistic regression models to sparse data sets. Here we show that combining information from small studies by undertaking a meta-analytical summary of logistic regression estimates can propagate such sparse-data bias. In simulations, we illustrate 2 challenges encountered in meta-analyses of logistic regression results in settings of sparse data: 1) bias in the summary meta-analytical result and 2) confidence interval coverage that can worsen rather than improve, in terms of being less than nominal, as the number of studies in the meta-analysis increases

Entanglement between a qubit and the environment in the spin-boson model

The quantitative description of the quantum entanglement between a qubit and its environment is considered. Specifically, for the ground state of the spin-boson model, the entropy of entanglement of the spin is calculated as a function of $\alpha$, the strength of the ohmic coupling to the environment, and $\epsilon$, the level asymmetry. This is done by a numerical renormalization group treatment of the related anisotropic Kondo model. For $\epsilon=0$, the entanglement increases monotonically with $\alpha$, until it becomes maximal for $\alpha \lim 1^-$. For fixed $\epsilon>0$, the entanglement is a maximum as a function of $\alpha$ for a value, $\alpha = \alpha_M < 1$.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Shortened version restricted to groundstate entanglemen

What are communities of practice? A comparative review of four seminal works

This paper is a comparative review of four seminal works on communities of practice. It is argued that the ambiguities of the terms community and practice are a source of the concept's reusability allowing it to be reappropriated for different purposes, academic and practical. However, it is potentially confusing that the works differ so markedly in their conceptualizations of community, learning, power and change, diversity and informality. The three earlier works are underpinned by a common epistemological view, but Lave and Wenger's 1991 short monograph is often read as primarily about the socialization of newcomers into knowledge by a form of apprenticeship, while the focus in Brown and Duguid's article of the same year is, in contrast, on improvising new knowledge in an interstitial group that forms in resistance to management. Wenger's 1998 book treats communities of practice as the informal relations and understandings that develop in mutual engagement on an appropriated joint enterprise, but his focus is the impact on individual identity. The applicability of the concept to the heavily individualized and tightly managed work of the twenty-first century is questionable. The most recent work by Wenger – this time with McDermott and Snyder as coauthors – marks a distinct shift towards a managerialist stance. The proposition that managers should foster informal horizontal groups across organizational boundaries is in fact a fundamental redefinition of the concept. However it does identify a plausible, if limited, knowledge management (KM) tool. This paper discusses different interpretations of the idea of 'co-ordinating' communities of practice as a management ideology of empowerment