Relative Hemispheric Involvement During Arousal and Inhibition of Affect

The predominant view of hemispheric contributions to emotional ity focuses upon the inherent emotionality of the right hemisphere, in contrast to the logical, rational, nonemotional characteristics of the left hemisphere. However, recent research has also implicated contri butions of the left hemisphere during affective arousal (d\u27Elia & Perris, 1973, 1974; Ehrlichman & Wiener, Notes 10, 11; Harman & Ray, 1977; Tucker, Antes, Stenslie & Barnhardt, 1978; Tucker, Roth & Shearer, Note 7). Some reports have implicated the left hemisphere in negative affect (Ehrlichman & Wiener, Notes 10, 11; Harman & Ray, 1977), and the right hemisphere in positive affect (Ehrlichman & Wiener, Notes 10, 11). Others have suggested interactional conceptualizations of hemispheric contributions to emotionality (e.g., Bakan, Note 5; Galin, 1974, 1977; Tucker, Note 12), for which tentative empirical support has been reported (Tucker, Antes, Stenslie & Barnhardt, 1978; Tucker, Roth & Shearer, Note 7). From an interactional viewpoint, a given hemisphere is neither inherently rational or emotional, nor inherently positive or negative: subjective emotion is a result of the interaction between the primitive, spontaneous right hemisphere and the inhibiting, constricting left hemisphere. The present study sought to lend direction to further theorizing about the role of the cerebral hemispheres in emotionality through vary ing both the positive vs. negative dimension of the affective state, and the inhibitory vs. facilitative orientation with which the individual approaches affective arousal. Sexual arousal and aversive arousal were chosen as prototypic examples of affective arousal with positive and negative valences, respectively. Prescreened sexual and aversive slides were shown individually to 48 Introductory Psychology students (24 males, 24 females), under instructions to either facilitate or inhibit arousal. During each of the four counterbalanced, within-subjects con ditions (i.e., positive-inhibit, positive-facilitate, negative-inhibit, negative-facilitate), relative hemispheric activation was assessed via an index of auditory attentional bias (Kinsbourne, 1970; Tucker, Antes, Stenslie & Barnhardt, 1978). No direct indication of differential hemispheric involvement, as evidenced by mean attentional bias across conditions, was observed for the grouped data; a slight right bias was evident across conditions. Prediction of attentional bias using subject involvement ratings sug gested that both success in generating aversive arousal and lack of suc cess in inhibiting aversive arousal were accompanied by relatively greater right hemisphere involvement. However, greater right hemisphere activation was characterized by less physical arousal, thus emphasizing the heterogeneous nature of aversive arousal. Trait Anxiety Inventory, Sex-Guilt Inventory, and Stroop Color-Word Test scores were not effec tive predictors of attentional bias. Under instructions to facilitate arousal, subjects tended to report cognition characterized by imagery, global perception of the slides, and absence of internal verbal dialogue. Under instructions to inhibit arousal, subjects tended to report cognition characterized by internal verbal dialogue, analytic perception of the slides, and absence of imagery. Parallels were drawn between the differential cognitive strategies reported by subjects across the facilitation vs. inhibition dimension, and the differential processing characteristics of the cere bral hemispheres. These categorical data suggest relatively greater right hemisphere involvement during facilitation of arousal and rela tively greater left hemisphere involvement during inhibition of arousal, across both positive and negative affect. This result was not corrobo rated by attentional bias data; possible difficulties with the atten- tional bias paradigm are discussed. The attentional bias data do not support earlier reports that the left hemisphere is characterized by negative affect (Ehrlichman & Wiener, Notes 10, 11; Harman & Ray, 1977), while the right hemisphere is characterized by positive affect (Ehrlichman & Wiener, Notes 10, 11). In the present study, the facilitation of aversive arousal was character ized by less left and more right hemispheric involvement, while the results for sexual arousal were insignificant. Categorical analyses of subjects\u27 descriptions of their experience provide tentative support for a model of hemispheric contributions to emotionality which focuses upon the interaction between an inhibiting, constricting left hemisphere and a primitive, spontaneous right hemisphere. Implications for future research, psychopathology, and psychotherapy are discussed

Earthquake recurrence as a record breaking process

Extending the central concept of recurrence times for a point process to recurrent events in space-time allows us to characterize seismicity as a record breaking process using only spatiotemporal relations among events. Linking record breaking events with edges between nodes in a graph generates a complex dynamical network isolated from any length, time or magnitude scales set by the observer. For Southern California, the network of recurrences reveals new statistical features of seismicity with robust scaling laws. The rupture length and its scaling with magnitude emerges as a generic measure for distance between recurrent events. Further, the relative separations for subsequent records in space (or time) form a hierarchy with unexpected scaling properties

Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) structural verification test report

Structural load tests on the Long Duration Exposure Facility's (LDEF) primary structure were conducted. These tests had three purposes: (1) demonstrate structural adequacy of the assembled LDEF primary structure when subjected to anticipated flight loads; (2) verify analytical models and methods used in loads and stress analysis; and (3) perform tests to comply with the Space Transportation System (STS) requirements. Test loads were based on predicted limit loads which consider all flight events. Good agreement is shown between predicted and observed load, strain, and deflection data. Test data show that the LDEF structure was subjected to 1.2 times limit load to meet the STS requirements. The structural adequacy of the LDEF is demonstrated

The separation of the Cerenkov light and particle fronts in extensive air showers at sea level

This thesis describes a study of the separation of Cerenkov light and particle frontsin large cosmic ray air showers. The work was carried out during the winters of 1975/76 and 1976/77 at the British Universities Joint Air Shower array at Haverah Park. A description of the work to date on Cerenkov light in air showers is given to complement the study. A theoretical treatment, based on computer simulations, of the separation is given as well as the experimental results obtained during the two seasons. A description of a more advanced experiment studying Cerenkov light in E.A.S. is also presented. The experimental work described was the responsibility of the author

Segregation by thermal diffusion in granular shear flows

Segregation by thermal diffusion of an intruder immersed in a sheared granular gas is analyzed from the (inelastic) Boltzmann equation. Segregation is induced by the presence of a temperature gradient orthogonal to the shear flow plane and parallel to gravity. We show that, like in analogous systems without shear, the segregation criterion yields a transition between upwards segregation and downwards segregation. The form of the phase diagrams is illustrated in detail showing that they depend sensitively on the value of gravity relative to the thermal gradient. Two specific situations are considered: i) absence of gravity, and ii) homogeneous temperature. We find that both mechanisms (upwards and downwards segregation) are stronger and more clearly separated when compared with segregation criteria in systems without shear.Comment: 8 figures. To appear in J. Stat. Mec

An experimental study investigating the ability of volunteers to identify squirrel species from tail–hair samples

Un estudio experimental sobre la capacidad de los voluntarios de reconocer las especies de ardilla a partir de muestras de pelo de la cola Las trampas de pelo, que permiten recoger los pelos de la nuca, se utilizan ampliamente para establecer la presencia de la ardilla común (Sciurus vulgaris) y la ardilla gris (Sciurus carolinensis). No obstante, es un método que requiere mucho tiempo y se presta a errores de identificación. Una alternativa es recoger pelos de la cola mediante cintas adhesivas colocadas en postes que sostienen un cebo en la parte superior. Sin embargo, no existen datos sobre la precisión de la identificación del pelo de la cola. En este estudio se informa de un experimento en que se ofreció una breve sesión formativa a las personas antes de que identificaran las muestras de pelo de las cuatro especies. El índice de identificación correcta fue del 96,5% para los pelos de la ardilla gris y del 77,5% para los de la ardilla común, lo que sugiere que los pelos de la cola pueden proporcionar un método rápido, fácil y preciso de identificar ambas especies.Hair–tubes, collecting nape hairs, are widely used for establishing the presence of red (Sciurus vulgaris) and grey (Sciurus carolinensis) squirrels. However it is time–consuming and prone to identification errors. An alternative is to collect tail hairs from sticky pads on baited poles. However, there is no evidence concerning identification accuracy of tail hairs. This study reports an experiment in which subjects underwent a short training session before identifying hair samples from four species. There was a 96.5% correct identification rate for grey squirrel hairs, and 77.5% for red squirrels, which suggests that tail hairs collection may provide a quick, easy and accurate method of identification for both species.Un estudio experimental sobre la capacidad de los voluntarios de reconocer las especies de ardilla a partir de muestras de pelo de la cola Las trampas de pelo, que permiten recoger los pelos de la nuca, se utilizan ampliamente para establecer la presencia de la ardilla común (Sciurus vulgaris) y la ardilla gris (Sciurus carolinensis). No obstante, es un método que requiere mucho tiempo y se presta a errores de identificación. Una alternativa es recoger pelos de la cola mediante cintas adhesivas colocadas en postes que sostienen un cebo en la parte superior. Sin embargo, no existen datos sobre la precisión de la identificación del pelo de la cola. En este estudio se informa de un experimento en que se ofreció una breve sesión formativa a las personas antes de que identificaran las muestras de pelo de las cuatro especies. El índice de identificación correcta fue del 96,5% para los pelos de la ardilla gris y del 77,5% para los de la ardilla común, lo que sugiere que los pelos de la cola pueden proporcionar un método rápido, fácil y preciso de identificar ambas especies

Underground Farm Petroleum Storage Tanks

Protection of farmstead water supplies is a topic which should be a prime concern of every rural landowner. Contamination of underground and surface water supplies by pesticides, fertilizers and petroleum products is a real and present hazard of modern agricultural operations. Contaminated soil and water sources can result in immediate, obvious losses such as unhealthy livestock and the need to develop alternative water sources, and long term losses such as reduced land values

Prevention of emergence agitation in seven children receiving low-dose ketamine and propofol total intravenous anesthesia

Emergence agitation (EA) can be a distressing side effect of pediatric anesthesia. We observed no recurrence of EA after a low-dose ketamine infusion was added to propofol total intravenous anesthesia in a series of seven pediatric oncology patients repetitively anesthetized for radiation therapy. EA had been documented in all seven patients but did not recur in any of 122 subsequent anesthetics in which this technique was used. Based on these findings, we recommend the addition of low-dose ketamine to propofol infusions for total intravenous anesthesia in order to prevent EA in children with a history of EA

CELLULAR DIFFERENTIATION OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM OF MICE : V. CLASS DIFFERENTIATION IN MARROW PRECURSORS OF PLAQUE-FORMING CELLS

Marrow cells and thymocytes of unprimed donor mice were mixed in vitro and transplanted into X-irradiated syngeneic hosts. 18 hr later sheep erythrocytes were injected to induce immune responses. Splenic plaque-forming cells (PFC) secreting IgM (direct PFC) or IgG (indirect PFC) hemolytic antibody were enumerated at the time of peak responses. By transplanting graded and limiting numbers of marrow cells with 5 x 107 thymocytes, inocula were found that contained few precursors of PFC (P-PFC) reaching the recipient spleens, interacting with thymocytes, and generating PFC. However, the frequency of responses in relation to the number of grafted marrow cells did not follow Poisson statistics, presumably because the interaction of marrow cells with thymocytes was more complex than a single or a one-to-one cell event. The frequency of direct PFC responses was greater than that of indirect PFC responses in 13 of 15 groups of mice tested. This was interpreted as evidence for the existence of two classes of P-PFC, each of which was restricted to generate either direct or indirect PFC. The precursors of direct PFC were ∼ 15 times more frequent than those of indirect PFC. Since thymic antigen-reactive cells were not differentiated for antibody class, it follows that antigen-sensitive units reactive to sheep erythrocytes owe their class restriction to specialized marrow cells. Specialization of P-PFC may have arisen within marrow cell lines by differentiation, or may have been conferred upon P-PFC by interaction with other cells, including those of the irradiated host

Integration Of An Extended Octagonal Ring Transducer And Soil Coulterometer For Identifying Soil Compaction

The soil coulterometer is an “on‐the‐go” electro‐mechanical system which collects impedance force data at multiple depths using an oscillating coulter. During the initial testing (summer 2006), only vertical soil impedance force data was collected using a pressure sensor. To improve the performance of the coulterometer, an extended octagonal ring transducer was integrated into the system to collect both the horizontal and vertical impedance forces given by the soil. In the summer of 2007, data was collected using the revised sensor from a typical central Kentucky field setting in a 0.8‐ha (2‐acre) plot. Four passes were made with the coulterometer. Seventy five coulter oscillations between depths of 100 mm (4 in.) and 305 mm (12 in.) were obtained for each pass. Ten standard cone penetrometer measurements were taken for each pass between depths of 100 mm (4 in.) and 305 mm (12 in.) using a multi‐probe soil cone penetrometer. Three soil bulk density and water content measurements between depths of 100 mm (4 in.) and 305 mm (12 in.) in steps of 50 mm (2 in.) were taken for each pass using a nuclear soil moisture/density gauge. Simple linear regression analysis was used to find the relationship between coulter indices (kN/m), cone index (MPa), dry soil bulk density (Mg/m3) and water content (%).Coefficients of determination (R2) as high as 0.996 were obtained between coulter indices and dry soil bulk density measurements and 0.998 for coulter indices and water content measurements