101 research outputs found
Breeding amphibians in captivity
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73877/1/j.1748-1090.1977.tb00864.x.pd
Object Affordances Tune Observers' Prior Expectations about Tool-Use Behaviors
Learning about the function and use of tools through observation requires the ability to exploit one's own knowledge derived from past experience. It also depends on the detection of low-level local cues that are rooted in the tool's perceptual properties. Best known as ‘affordances’, these cues generate biomechanical priors that constrain the number of possible motor acts that are likely to be performed on tools. The contribution of these biomechanical priors to the learning of tool-use behaviors is well supported. However, it is not yet clear if, and how, affordances interact with higher-order expectations that are generated from past experience – i.e. probabilistic exposure – to enable observational learning of tool use. To address this question we designed an action observation task in which participants were required to infer, under various conditions of visual uncertainty, the intentions of a demonstrator performing tool-use behaviors. Both the probability of observing the demonstrator achieving a particular tool function and the biomechanical optimality of the observed movement were varied. We demonstrate that biomechanical priors modulate the extent to which participants' predictions are influenced by probabilistically-induced prior expectations. Biomechanical and probabilistic priors have a cumulative effect when they ‘converge’ (in the case of a probabilistic bias assigned to optimal behaviors), or a mutually inhibitory effect when they actively ‘diverge’ (in the case of probabilistic bias assigned to suboptimal behaviors)
X-ray fluorescence study of organic-inorganic polymer conversion into ceramics induced by ion irradiation
Millennials in the Workplace: A Communication Perspective on Millennials’ Organizational Relationships and Performance
Stereotypes about Millennials, born between 1979 and 1994, depict them as self-centered, unmotivated, disrespectful, and disloyal, contributing to widespread concern about how communication with Millennials will affect organizations and how they will develop relationships with other organizational members. We review these purported characteristics, as well as Millennials’ more positive qualities—they work well in teams, are motivated to have an impact on their organizations, favor open and frequent communication with their supervisors, and are at ease with communication technologies. We discuss Millennials’ communicated values and expectations and their potential effect on coworkers, as well as how workplace interaction may change Millennials
Soft-x-ray fluorescence study of the quasi-one-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet tetraphenylverdazyl
Recent developments in genetics and medically assisted reproduction : from research to clinical applications
Two leading European professional societies, the European Society of Human Genetics and the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology, have worked together since 2004 to evaluate the impact of fast research advances at the interface of assisted reproduction and genetics, including their application into clinical practice. In September 2016, the expert panel met for the third time. The topics discussed highlighted important issues covering the impacts of expanded carrier screening, direct-to-consumer genetic testing, voiding of the presumed anonymity of gamete donors by advanced genetic testing, advances in the research of genetic causes underlying male and female infertility, utilisation of massively parallel sequencing in preimplantation genetic testing and non-invasive prenatal screening, mitochondrial replacement in human oocytes, and additionally, issues related to cross-generational epigenetic inheritance following IVF and germline genome editing. The resulting paper represents a consensus of both professional societies involved.Peer reviewe
Object manipulation and tool use in Nicobar long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis umbrosus)
This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in International Journal of Primatology on 08/09/2020, available online: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10764-020-00141-y
The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Object manipulation and tool use by non-human primates have received considerable
attention from primatologists and anthropologists, because of their broad implications
for understanding the evolution of tool use in humans. To date, however, most of the
studies on this topic have focused on apes, given their close evolutionary relationship
with humans. In contrast, fewer studies on tool use and object manipulation have been
conducted on monkeys. Documenting and studying object manipulation and tool use in
species that are more distantly related to humans can provide a broader perspective
on the evolutionary origins of this behaviour. We present a detailed description of toolaided behaviours and object manipulation by Nicobar long-tailed macaques ( Macaca
fascicularis umbrosus ) living along the coastlines of Great Nicobar Island. We made
observations from December 2018 to March 2019, using ad libitum and focal
sampling methods. We observed behaviours related to object manipulation and tool
use in six different behavioural contexts (foraging, hygiene, communication, play, selfdirected and self-hygiene behaviour) involving eight different types of objects, namely
resonance rod, play object, rolling platform, scraping tool, dental groom, pounding
substrate, leaves as grip pads and wipers, and stimulation tool. We observed that
males were involved in tool use and object manipulation more frequently than females.
Our results add to existing records of object manipulation, tool-use behaviour and tool
variants displayed by non-human primates, showing that Nicobar macaques perform
multiple and diverse tool-aided behaviours
Impact of genomics on the field of probiotic research: historical perspectives to modern paradigms
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