2,063 research outputs found
A novel 3D volumetric method for directly quantifying porosity and pore space morphology in flocculated suspended sediments.
Flocculated suspended sediments (flocs) are found in a variety of environments globally, and their transport and behavior bear substantial importance to several industries including fisheries, aquaculture, and shipping. Additionally, the modelling of their behavior is important for estuarine and coastal flood prediction and defence, and the process of flocculation occurs in other unrelated industries such as paper and chemical production. Floc porosity is conventionally assessed using inferential indirect or proxy data approaches. These methods underestimate floc porosity % by c. 30% and cannot measure the micro-scale complexity of these pore spaces and networks, rendering inputs to models sub-optimal. This study introduces a novel 3D porosity and pore space quantification protocol, that produces directly quantified porosity % and pore space data.•3D floc data from micro-CT scanning is segmented volumetrically•This segmented volume is quantified to extract porosity and several pore space parameters from the floc structure
Neurophysiological evidence of motor preparation in inner speech and the effect of content predictability
Self-generated overt actions are preceded by a slow negativity as measured by electroencephalogram, which has been associated with motor preparation. Recent studies have shown that this neural activity is modulated by the predictability of action outcomes. It is unclear whether inner speech is also preceded by a motor-related negativity and inf luenced by the same factor. In three experiments, we compared the contingent negative variation elicited in a cue paradigm in an active vs. passive condition. In Experiment 1, participants produced an inner phoneme, at which an audible phoneme whose identity was unpredictable was concurrently presented. We found that while passive listening elicited a late contingent negative variation, inner speech production generated a more negative late contingent negative variation. In Experiment 2, the same pattern of results was found when participants were instead asked to overtly vocalize the phoneme. In Experiment 3, the identity of the audible phoneme was made predictable by establishing probabilistic expectations. We observed a smaller late contingent negative variation in the inner speech condition when the identity of the audible phoneme was predictable, but not in the passive condition. These findings suggest that inner speech is associated with motor preparatory activity that may also represent the predicted action-effects of covert actions
Forecasting Player Behavioral Data and Simulating in-Game Events
Understanding player behavior is fundamental in game data science. Video
games evolve as players interact with the game, so being able to foresee player
experience would help to ensure a successful game development. In particular,
game developers need to evaluate beforehand the impact of in-game events.
Simulation optimization of these events is crucial to increase player
engagement and maximize monetization. We present an experimental analysis of
several methods to forecast game-related variables, with two main aims: to
obtain accurate predictions of in-app purchases and playtime in an operational
production environment, and to perform simulations of in-game events in order
to maximize sales and playtime. Our ultimate purpose is to take a step towards
the data-driven development of games. The results suggest that, even though the
performance of traditional approaches such as ARIMA is still better, the
outcomes of state-of-the-art techniques like deep learning are promising. Deep
learning comes up as a well-suited general model that could be used to forecast
a variety of time series with different dynamic behaviors
Passive Transdermal Systems Whitepaper Incorporating Current Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) Development Principles
In this whitepaper, the Manufacturing Technical Committee (MTC) of the Product Quality Research Institute has updated the 1997 Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems Scale-Up and Post Approval Change workshop report findings to add important new product development and control principles. Important topics reviewed include ICH harmonization, quality by design, process analytical technologies, product and process validation, improvements to control of critical excipients, and discussion of Food and Drug Administration’s Guidance on Residual Drug in Transdermal and Related Drug Delivery Systems as well as current thinking and trends on in vitro–in vivo correlation considerations for transdermal systems
Supersymmetric QCD: Exact Results and Strong Coupling
We revisit two longstanding puzzles in supersymmetric gauge theories. The
first concerns the question of the holomorphy of the coupling, and related to
this the possible definition of an exact (NSVZ) beta function. The second
concerns instantons in pure gluodynamics, which appear to give sensible, exact
results for certain correlation functions, which nonetheless differ from those
obtained using systematic weak coupling expansions. For the first question, we
extend an earlier proposal of Arkani-Hamed and Murayama, showing that if their
regulated action is written suitably, the holomorphy of the couplings is
manifest, and it is easy to determine the renormalization scheme for which the
NSVZ formula holds. This scheme, however, is seen to be one of an infinite
class of schemes, each leading to an exact beta function; the NSVZ scheme,
while simple, is not selected by any compelling physical consideration. For the
second question, we explain why the instanton computation in the pure
supersymmetric gauge theory is not reliable, even at short distances. The
semiclassical expansion about the instanton is purely formal; if infrared
divergences appear, they spoil arguments based on holomorphy. We demonstrate
that infrared divergences do not occur in the perturbation expansion about the
instanton, but explain that there is no reason to think this captures all
contributions from the sector with unit topological charge. That one expects
additional contributions is illustrated by dilute gas corrections. These are
infrared divergent, and so difficult to define, but if non-zero give order one,
holomorphic, corrections to the leading result. Exploiting an earlier analysis
of Davies et al, we demonstrate that in the theory compactified on a circle of
radius beta, due to infrared effects, finite contributions indeed arise which
are not visible in the formal limit that beta goes to infinity.Comment: 28 pages, two references added, one typo correcte
X-ray Absorption and Reflection in Active Galactic Nuclei
X-ray spectroscopy offers an opportunity to study the complex mixture of
emitting and absorbing components in the circumnuclear regions of active
galactic nuclei, and to learn about the accretion process that fuels AGN and
the feedback of material to their host galaxies. We describe the spectral
signatures that may be studied and review the X-ray spectra and spectral
variability of active galaxies, concentrating on progress from recent Chandra,
XMM-Newton and Suzaku data for local type 1 AGN. We describe the evidence for
absorption covering a wide range of column densities, ionization and dynamics,
and discuss the growing evidence for partial-covering absorption from data at
energies > 10 keV. Such absorption can also explain the observed X-ray spectral
curvature and variability in AGN at lower energies and is likely an important
factor in shaping the observed properties of this class of source.
Consideration of self-consistent models for local AGN indicates that X-ray
spectra likely comprise a combination of absorption and reflection effects from
material originating within a few light days of the black hole as well as on
larger scales. It is likely that AGN X-ray spectra may be strongly affected by
the presence of disk-wind outflows that are expected in systems with high
accretion rates, and we describe models that attempt to predict the effects of
radiative transfer through such winds, and discuss the prospects for new data
to test and address these ideas.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Review. 58
pages, 9 figures. V2 has fixed an error in footnote
Patterns of primary care and mortality among patients with schizophrenia or diabetes: a cluster analysis approach to the retrospective study of healthcare utilization
Abstract Background Patients with schizophrenia have difficulty managing their medical healthcare needs, possibly resulting in delayed treatment and poor outcomes. We analyzed whether patients reduced primary care use over time, differentially by diagnosis with schizophrenia, diabetes, or both schizophrenia and diabetes. We also assessed whether such patterns of primary care use were a significant predictor of mortality over a 4-year period. Methods The Veterans Healthcare Administration (VA) is the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States. Administrative extracts of the VA's all-electronic medical records were studied. Patients over age 50 and diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2002 were age-matched 1:4 to diabetes patients. All patients were followed through 2005. Cluster analysis explored trajectories of primary care use. Proportional hazards regression modelled the impact of these primary care utilization trajectories on survival, controlling for demographic and clinical covariates. Results Patients comprised three diagnostic groups: diabetes only (n = 188,332), schizophrenia only (n = 40,109), and schizophrenia with diabetes (Scz-DM, n = 13,025). Cluster analysis revealed four distinct trajectories of primary care use: consistent over time, increasing over time, high and decreasing, low and decreasing. Patients with schizophrenia only were likely to have low-decreasing use (73% schizophrenia-only vs 54% Scz-DM vs 52% diabetes). Increasing use was least common among schizophrenia patients (4% vs 8% Scz-DM vs 7% diabetes) and was associated with improved survival. Low-decreasing primary care, compared to consistent use, was associated with shorter survival controlling for demographics and case-mix. The observational study was limited by reliance on administrative data. Conclusion Regular primary care and high levels of primary care were associated with better survival for patients with chronic illness, whether psychiatric or medical. For schizophrenia patients, with or without comorbid diabetes, primary care offers a survival benefit, suggesting that innovations in treatment retention targeting at-risk groups can offer significant promise of improving outcomes.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78274/1/1472-6963-9-127.xmlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78274/2/1472-6963-9-127.pdfPeer Reviewe
Neural correlates of enhanced visual short-term memory for angry faces: An fMRI study
Copyright: © 2008 Jackson et al.Background: Fluid and effective social communication requires that both face identity and emotional expression information are encoded and maintained in visual short-term memory (VSTM) to enable a coherent, ongoing picture of the world and its players. This appears to be of particular evolutionary importance when confronted with potentially threatening displays of emotion - previous research has shown better VSTM for angry versus happy or neutral face identities.Methodology/Principal Findings: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, here we investigated the neural correlates of this angry face benefit in VSTM. Participants were shown between one and four to-be-remembered angry, happy, or neutral faces, and after a short retention delay they stated whether a single probe face had been present or not in the previous display. All faces in any one display expressed the same emotion, and the task required memory for face identity. We find enhanced VSTM for angry face identities and describe the right hemisphere brain network underpinning this effect, which involves the globus pallidus, superior temporal sulcus, and frontal lobe. Increased activity in the globus pallidus was significantly correlated with the angry benefit in VSTM. Areas modulated by emotion were distinct from those modulated by memory load.Conclusions/Significance: Our results provide evidence for a key role of the basal ganglia as an interface between emotion and cognition, supported by a frontal, temporal, and occipital network.The authors were supported by a Wellcome Trust grant (grant number 077185/Z/05/Z) and by BBSRC (UK) grant BBS/B/16178
Memory and mental time travel in humans and social robots
From neuroscience, brain imaging, and the psychology of memory we are beginning to assemble an integrated theory of the brain sub-systems and pathways that allow the compression, storage and reconstruction of memories for past events and their use in contextualizing the present and reasoning about the future—mental time travel (MTT). Using computational models, embedded in humanoid robots, we are seeking to test the sufficiency of this theoretical account and to evaluate the usefulness of brain-inspired memory systems for social robots. In this contribution, we describe the use of machine learning techniques—Gaussian process latent variable models—to build a multimodal memory system for the iCub humanoid robot and summarise results of the deployment of this system for human-robot interaction. We also outline the further steps required to create a more complete robotic implementation of human-like autobiographical memory and MTT. We propose that generative memory models, such as those that form the core of our robot memory system, can provide a solution to the symbol grounding problem in embodied artificial intelligence
Interleukin 7 from Maternal Milk Crosses the Intestinal Barrier and Modulates T- Cell Development in Offspring
Background
Breastfeeding protects against illnesses and death in hazardous environments, an
effect partly mediated by improved immune function. One hypothesis suggests that
factors within milk supplement the inadequate immune response of the offspring,
but this has not been able to account for a series of observations showing that
factors within maternally derived milk may supplement the development of the
immune system through a direct effect on the primary lymphoid organs. In a
previous human study we reported evidence suggesting a link between IL-7 in
breast milk and the thymic output of infants. Here we report evidence in mice of
direct action of maternally-derived IL-7 on T cell development in the offspring.
Methods and Findings
We have used recombinant IL-7 labelled with a fluorescent dye to trace the
movement in live mice of IL-7 from the stomach across the gut and into the
lymphoid tissues. To validate the functional ability of maternally derived IL-
7 we cross fostered IL-7 knock-out mice onto normal wild type mothers. Subsets
of thymocytes and populations of peripheral T cells were significantly higher
than those found in knock-out mice receiving milk from IL-7 knock-out mothers.
Conclusions/Significance Our study provides direct evidence that interleukin 7,
a factor which is critical in the development of T lymphocytes, when maternally
derived can transfer across the intestine of the offspring, increase T cell
production in the thymus and support the survival of T cells in the peripheral
secondary lymphoid tissue
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