Event completion: Event based inferences distort memory in a matter of seconds

a b s t r a c t We present novel evidence that implicit causal inferences distort memory for events only seconds after viewing. Adults watched videos of someone launching (or throwing) an object. However, the videos omitted the moment of contact (or release). Subjects falsely reported seeing the moment of contact when it was implied by subsequent footage but did not do so when the contact was not implied. Causal implications were disrupted either by replacing the resulting flight of the ball with irrelevant video or by scrambling event segments. Subjects in the different causal implication conditions did not differ on false alarms for other moments of the event, nor did they differ in general recognition accuracy. These results suggest that as people perceive events, they generate rapid conceptual interpretations that can have a powerful effect on how events are remembered

Mapping Lyme Disease Incidence for Diagnostic and Preventive Decisions, Maryland

To support diagnostic and preventive decision making, we analyzed incidence of Lyme disease in Maryland on the zip code level. Areas of high incidence were identified on the Upper Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay and in counties north and east of Baltimore City. These latter foci, especially, are not visible when mapping Lyme disease on the county level.

Causal perception is constrained by principles of Newtonian mechanics

Humans irresistibly perceive certain events as causal. We show, for the first time, that there is not one monolithicrepresentation of causality in perception. Rather, there are multiple categories of causal events in perception, one of which isconstrained by an approximation of a Newtonian mechanical principle: in an elastic collision, a struck object cannot move atmore than double the speed of the object striking it. We show that adults are sensitive to causal (but not non-causal) eventsthat violate this principle in a visual search task (Experiment 1), that this sensitivity is due to a categorical boundary and notthe salience of this event (Experiment 2), and that the threshold for detecting these events approximates this Newtonian limit(Experiment 3). Finally, we argue that categorical boundaries are a core feature of causal perception, as they are present aroundthe age at which causal perception first emerges (Experiment 4)

Rotating Component Modal Analysis and Resonance Avoidance - An Update

TutorialRotating disk and blade fatigue failures are usually a low percentage of failures in most machinery types, but other than coupling / shaft end failures remain some of the most problematic for extensive repairs. High-cycle fatigue failures of rotating disks and blades are not common in most machinery types, but when they occur, they require extensive repairs and resolution can be problematic. This paper is an update of the tutorial given at the 2004 Turbomachinery Symposium focusing on high-cycle fatigue failures in steam turbines, centrifugal and axial gas compressors in refineries and process plants. The failure theories and many of the descriptions for cases given in 2004 have been updated to include blade resonance concerns for potential flow as well as vane and blade wake effects. Disk vibratory modes can be of concern in many machines, but of little concern in others as will be explained. In addition, vibratory modes are included where blades are coupled via communication with the main disk. Over the past decade, fluid-structure-interaction computational methods and modal testing have improved and have been applied to failure theories and problem resolution in the given cases. There is also added information on the effects of mistuning blades and disks, some beneficial and some with serious concerns for increased resonant amplification. Finally, knowledge about acoustic pressure pulsation excitation, particularly for centrifugal impellers at rotating blade passing frequency, has been greatly expanded. A review of acoustics calculations for failure prevention, mainly for high-pressure applications is covered here

The Birth of an Ultra-Luminous X-ray Source in M83

A previously undetected X-ray source (L_X<10**36 erg/s) in the strongly star-forming galaxy M83 entered an ultraluminous state between August 2009 and December 2010. It was first seen with Chandra on 23 December 2010 at L_X ~ 4 10**39 ergs/s, and has remained ultraluminous through our most recent observations in December 2011, with typical flux variation of a factor of two. The spectrum is well fitted by a combination of absorbed power-law and disk black-body models. While the relative contributions of the models varies with time, we have seen no evidence for a canonical state transition. The luminosity and spectral properties are consistent with accretion powered by a black hole with M_BH ~ 40-100 solar masses. In July 2011 we found a luminous, blue optical counterpart which had not been seen in deep HST observations obtained in August 2009. These optical observations suggest that the donor star is a low-mass star undergoing Roche-lobe overflow, and that the blue optical emission seen during the outburst is coming from an irradiated accretion disk. This source shows that ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with low-mass companions are an important component of the ULX population in star-forming galaxies, and provides further evidence that the blue optical counterparts of some ULXs need not indicate a young, high-mass companion, but rather that they may indicate X-ray reprocessing.Comment: 40 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Hard Thermal Photon Production in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

The recent status of hard thermal photon production in relativistic heavy ion collisions is reviewed and the current rates are presented with emphasis on corrected bremsstrahlung processes in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) and quark-hadron duality. Employing Bjorken hydrodynamics with an EOS supporting the phase transition from QGP to hot hadron gas (HHG), thermal photon spectra are computed. For SPS 158 GeV Pb+Pb collisions, comparison with other theoretical results and the WA98 direct photon data indicates significant contributions due to prompt photons. Extrapolating the presented approach to RHIC and LHC experiments, predictions of the thermal photon spectrum show a QGP outshining the HHG in the high-pT-region.Comment: 20 pages with 8 figures. v3: Erratum to [Phys. Lett. B 510 (2001) 98] with correctly labeled Figs. 2, 4, and 5 adde

Cellular Internalization and Degradation of Antithrombin III-Thrombin, Heparin Cofactor II-Thrombin, and -Antitrypsin-Trypsin Complexes Is Mediated by the Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor-related Protein

The inhibition of proteinase activity by members of the serine proteinase inhibitor (serpin) family is a critical regulatory mechanism for a variety of biological processes. Once formed, the serpin enzyme complexes (SECs) are removed from the circulation by a hepatic receptor. The present study suggests that this receptor is very likely the low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP), a prominent liver receptor. In vitro binding studies revealed that antithrombin III (ATIII)-thrombin, heparin cofactor II (HCII)-thrombin, and alpha1-antitrypsin (alpha1AT)-trypsin bound to purified LRP, and their binding was inhibited by the 39-kDa receptor-associated protein (RAP), an antagonist of LRP-ligand binding activity. In contrast, native or modified forms of the inhibitors were unable to bind to LRP. Mouse embryonic fibroblasts, which express LRP, mediate the cellular internalization leading to degradation of these SECs, while mouse fibroblasts genetically deficient in LRP showed no capacity to internalize and degrade these complexes. SECs were also degraded by HepG2 cells, and this process was inhibited by LRP antibodies, RAP, and chloroquine. The cellular-mediated uptake and degradation was specific for SECs; native or modified forms of the inhibitors were not internalized and degraded. Finally, in vivo clearance studies in rats demonstrated that RAP inhibited the clearance of ATIII-125I-thrombin complexes from the circulation. Together, these results indicate that LRP functions as a liver receptor responsible for the plasma clearance of SECs

Androgen profiles among Egyptian adults considering liver status

Background and aim:  Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and environmental hepatotoxins may have an indirect influence on health by altering the synthesis and function of hormones, particularly reproductive hormones. We aimed to evaluate liver diseases and sex steroid hormones in Egypt, which has the highest prevalence of HCV worldwide. Methods:  We measured markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV), HCV and schistosomiasis infection as well as liver function in 159 apparently healthy subjects. We measured total testosterone (T), sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and albumin, and calculated the free androgen index. Results:  Anti-HCV antibodies were detected in 51% of men and 42% of women. Based on HCV reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) of 44 men and 33 women, 11% of men and 21% of women showed HCV viremia. There was schistosomiasis in 25% of men and 9% of women, and mixed HCV viremia and schistosomiasis in 57% of men and 52% of women. Compared with men with schistosomiasis only (mean 593.3 ± 73.4 ng/dL), T was higher in men with mixed HCV viremia and schistosomiasis (mean 854.5 ± 47.9 ng/dL; P  = 0.006) and men with mixed chronic HCV and schistosomiasis (mean 812.1 ± 43.3 ng/dL; P  = 0.001). Men with mixed chronic HCV and schistosomiasis had also significantly higher SHBG (mean 57.7 ± 3.9 ng/dL) than males with schistosomiasis only (mean 34.8 ± SE 4.5 ng/dL; P  = 0.0003). Conclusion:  Future investigations should consider that a high prevalence of asymptomatic liver disease may alter associations between hormone concentrations and chronic disease etiology.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72021/1/j.1440-1746.2007.04949.x.pd