Multilingualism in London: LUCIDE City Report

This report is produced for LUCIDE (Languages in Urban Contexts: Integration and Diversity in Europe) project and network, funded by the EU Lifelong learning programme 2010- 2014, based on the collected primary and secondary data. It includes a brief historic overview of London’s demolinguistic features and a range of evidence relevant to current manifestations of multilingualism and plurilingualism in this global city. Considering the size, population and complexity of London our specific focus is on one local authority (out of an existing 33): the City of Westminster, geographically the heart of this metropolis. Westminster is in many ways representative of London language trends. It shows some of the most prominent features of multilingualism in London: an extraordinary linguistic variety with a wide distribution of languages, where no one language is dominant. Nevertheless, we also make reference to examples of multilingualism from outside Westminster, when we have considered it to be pertinent

A Bayesian test for the appropriateness of a model in the biomagnetic inverse problem

This paper extends the work of Clarke [1] on the Bayesian foundations of the biomagnetic inverse problem. It derives expressions for the expectation and variance of the a posteriori source current probability distribution given a prior source current probability distribution, a source space weight function and a data set. The calculation of the variance enables the construction of a Bayesian test for the appropriateness of any source model that is chosen as the a priori infomation. The test is illustrated using both simulated (multi-dipole) data and the results of a study of early latency processing of images of human faces. [1] C.J.S. Clarke. Error estimates in the biomagnetic inverse problem. Inverse Problems, 10:77--86, 1994.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figures. Submitted to Inverse Problem

Towards disappearing user interfaces for ubiquitous computing: human enhancement from sixth sense to super senses

The enhancement of human senses electronically is possible when pervasive computers interact unnoticeably with humans in Ubiquitous Computing. The design of computer user interfaces towards “disappearing” forces the interaction with humans using a content rather than a menu driven approach, thus the emerging requirement for huge number of non-technical users interfacing intuitively with billions of computers in the Internet of Things is met. Learning to use particular applications in Ubiquitous Computing is either too slow or sometimes impossible so the design of user interfaces must be naturally enough to facilitate intuitive human behaviours. Although humans from different racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds own the same physiological sensory system, the perception to the same stimuli outside the human bodies can be different. A novel taxonomy for Disappearing User Interfaces (DUIs) to stimulate human senses and to capture human responses is proposed. Furthermore, applications of DUIs are reviewed. DUIs with sensor and data fusion to simulate the Sixth Sense is explored. Enhancement of human senses through DUIs and Context Awareness is discussed as the groundwork enabling smarter wearable devices for interfacing with human emotional memories

Effects of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine Administration on Retinal Physiology in the Rat

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ecstasy) is known to produce euphoric states, but may also cause adverse consequences in humans, such as hyperthermia and neurocognitive deficits. Although MDMA consumption has been associated with visual problems, the effects of this recreational drug in retinal physiology have not been addressed hitherto. In this work, we evaluated the effect of a single MDMA administration in the rat electroretinogram (ERG). Wistar rats were administered MDMA (15 mg/kg) or saline and ERGs were recorded before (Baseline ERG), and 3 h, 24 h, and 7 days after treatment. A high temperature (HT) saline-treated control group was also included. Overall, significantly augmented and shorter latency ERG responses were found in MDMA and HT groups 3 h after treatment when compared to Baseline. Twenty-four hours after treatment some of the alterations found at 3 h, mainly characterized by shorter latency, tended to return to Baseline values. However, MDMA-treated animals still presented increased scotopic a-wave and b-wave amplitudes compared to Baseline ERGs, which were independent of temperature elevation though the latter might underlie the acute ERG alterations observed 3 h after MDMA administration. Seven days after MDMA administration recovery from these effects had occurred. The effects seem to stem from specific changes observed at the a-wave level, which indicates that MDMA affects subacutely (at 24 h) retinal physiology at the outer retinal (photoreceptor/bipolar) layers. In conclusion, we have found direct evidence that MDMA causes subacute enhancement of the outer retinal responses (most prominent in the a-wave), though ERG alterations resume within one week. These changes in photoreceptor/bipolar cell physiology may have implications for the understanding of the subacute visual manifestations induced by MDMA in humans

Neural Mechanisms of Human Perceptual Learning: Electrophysiological Evidence for a Two-Stage Process

Artículo de publicación ISIBackground: Humans and other animals change the way they perceive the world due to experience. This process has been labeled as perceptual learning, and implies that adult nervous systems can adaptively modify the way in which they process sensory stimulation. However, the mechanisms by which the brain modifies this capacity have not been sufficiently analyzed. Methodology/Principal Findings: We studied the neural mechanisms of human perceptual learning by combining electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings of brain activity and the assessment of psychophysical performance during training in a visual search task. All participants improved their perceptual performance as reflected by an increase in sensitivity (d') and a decrease in reaction time. The EEG signal was acquired throughout the entire experiment revealing amplitude increments, specific and unspecific to the trained stimulus, in event-related potential (ERP) components N2pc and P3 respectively. P3 unspecific modification can be related to context or task-based learning, while N2pc may be reflecting a more specific attentional-related boosting of target detection. Moreover, bell and U-shaped profiles of oscillatory brain activity in gamma (30-60 Hz) and alpha (8-14 Hz) frequency bands may suggest the existence of two phases for learning acquisition, which can be understood as distinctive optimization mechanisms in stimulus processing.This research was supported by CONICYT doctoral grant to C.M.H. and by an ECOS-Sud/CONICYT grant C08S02 and FONDECYT 1090612 grant to D.C. and F.A

Understanding Actions of Others: The Electrodynamics of the Left and Right Hemispheres. A High-Density EEG Neuroimaging Study

Background: When we observe an individual performing a motor act (e.g. grasping a cup) we get two types of information on the basis of how the motor act is done and the context: what the agent is doing (i.e. grasping) and the intention underlying it (i.e. grasping for drinking). Here we examined the temporal dynamics of the brain activations that follow the observation of a motor act and underlie the observer’s capacity to understand what the agent is doing and why. Methodology/Principal Findings: Volunteers were presented with two-frame video-clips. The first frame (T0) showed an object with or without context; the second frame (T1) showed a hand interacting with the object. The volunteers were instructed to understand the intention of the observed actions while their brain activity was recorded with a high-density 128-channel EEG system. Visual event-related potentials (VEPs) were recorded time-locked with the frame showing the hand-object interaction (T1). The data were analyzed by using electrical neuroimaging, which combines a cluster analysis performed on the group-averaged VEPs with the localization of the cortical sources that give rise to different spatiotemporal states of the global electrical field. Electrical neuroimaging results revealed four major steps: 1) bilateral posterior cortical activations; 2) a strong activation of the left posterior temporal and inferior parietal cortices with almost a complete disappearance of activations in the right hemisphere; 3) a significant increase of the activations of the right temporo-parieta

Configurational asymmetry in vernier offset detection

Two psychophysical experiments were conducted at the horizontal and vertical orientations respectively, demonstrating substantial main effect of configuration, but no effect of offset direction on vernier acuity. In Experiment 1, a pair of horizontal bars were arranged side by side with a large gap between them. The observers were, on average, significantly better at discriminating a vertical offset if the right-hand bar was below the left-hand bar than vice versa, regardless of which bar they experienced as displaced and which as constant. A similar asymmetry was evident in Experiment 2 where observers judged horizontal offset for a pair of vertically oriented bars, where one was placed above the other. In this case average performance was better if the upper bar was on the right of the lower bar rather than on its left. There were large individual variations in the asymmetrical trend, but the effect could not be explained by subjective response bias. Furthermore, vernier acuity improved significantly and the asymmetry decreased more or less as a function of training. The average asymmetrical trend was consistent across training days and across two orientations, which indicates that the processing of line vernier stimuli is possibly configuration-specific in the cardinal orientation

The what and why of perceptual asymmetries in the visual domain

Perceptual asymmetry is one of the most important characteristics of our visual functioning. We carefully reviewed the scientific literature in order to examine such asymmetries, separating them into two major categories: within-visual field asymmetries and between-visual field asymmetries. We explain these asymmetries in terms of perceptual aspects or tasks, the what of the asymmetries; and in terms of underlying mechanisms, the why of the asymmetries. Tthe within-visual field asymmetries are fundamental to orientation, motion direction, and spatial frequency processing. between-visual field asymmetries have been reported for a wide range of perceptual phenomena. foveal dominance over the periphery, in particular, has been prominent for visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and colour discrimination. Tthis also holds true for object or face recognition and reading performance. upper-lower visual field asymmetries in favour of the lower have been demonstrated for temporal and contrast sensitivities, visual acuity, spatial resolution, orientation, hue and motion processing. Iin contrast, the upper field advantages have been seen in visual search, apparent size, and object recognition tasks. left-right visual field asymmetries include the left field dominance in spatial (e.g., orientation) processing and the right field dominance in non-spatial (e.g., temporal) processing. left field is also better at low spatial frequency or global and coordinate spatial processing, whereas the right field is better at high spatial frequency or local and categorical spatial processing. All these asymmetries have inborn neural/physiological origins, the primary why, but can be also susceptible to visual experience, the critical why (promotes or blocks the asymmetries by altering neural functions)