Facilitating goal-oriented behaviour in the Stroop task: when executive control is influenced by automatic processing.

A portion of Stroop interference is thought to arise from a failure to maintain goal-oriented behaviour (or goal neglect). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether goal- relevant primes could enhance goal maintenance and reduce the Stroop interference effect. Here it is shown that primes related to the goal of responding quickly in the Stroop task (e.g. fast, quick, hurry) substantially reduced Stroop interference by reducing reaction times to incongruent trials but increasing reaction times to congruent and neutral trials. No effects of the primes were observed on errors. The effects on incongruent, congruent and neutral trials are explained in terms of the influence of the primes on goal maintenance. The results show that goal priming can facilitate goal-oriented behaviour and indicate that automatic processing can modulate executive control

Quantitative Games under Failures

We study a generalisation of sabotage games, a model of dynamic network games introduced by van Benthem. The original definition of the game is inherently finite and therefore does not allow one to model infinite processes. We propose an extension of the sabotage games in which the first player (Runner) traverses an arena with dynamic weights determined by the second player (Saboteur). In our model of quantitative sabotage games, Saboteur is now given a budget that he can distribute amongst the edges of the graph, whilst Runner attempts to minimise the quantity of budget witnessed while completing his task. We show that, on the one hand, for most of the classical cost functions considered in the literature, the problem of determining if Runner has a strategy to ensure a cost below some threshold is EXPTIME-complete. On the other hand, if the budget of Saboteur is fixed a priori, then the problem is in PTIME for most cost functions. Finally, we show that restricting the dynamics of the game also leads to better complexity

70 Years of Human Rights in Global Health: Drawing on a Contentious Past to Secure a Hopeful Future

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on Dec 10, 1948, established a modern human rights foundation that has become a cornerstone of global health, central to public health policies, programmes, and practices. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of this seminal declaration, we trace the evolution of human rights in global health, linking the past, present, and future of health as a human right. This future remains uncertain. As contemporary challenges imperil continuing advancements, threatening both human rights protections and global health governance, the future will depend, as it has in the past, on sustained political engagement to realise human rights in global health

Phase structure of SU(3) gauge theory with two flavors of symmetric-representation fermions

We have performed numerical simulations of SU(3) gauge theory coupled to Nf=2 flavors of symmetric representation fermions. The fermions are discretized with the tadpole-improved clover action. Our simulations are done on lattices of length L=6, 8, and 12. In all simulation volumes we observe a crossover from a strongly coupled confined phase to a weak coupling deconfined phase. Degeneracies in screening masses, plus the behavior of the pseudoscalar decay constant, indicate that the deconfined phase is also a phase in which chiral symmetry is restored. The movement of the confinement transition as the volume is changed is consistent with avoidance of the basin of attraction of an infrared fixed point of the massless theory.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure

Optimized imaging using non-rigid registration

The extraordinary improvements of modern imaging devices offer access to data with unprecedented information content. However, widely used image processing methodologies fall far short of exploiting the full breadth of information offered by numerous types of scanning probe, optical, and electron microscopies. In many applications, it is necessary to keep measurement intensities below a desired threshold. We propose a methodology for extracting an increased level of information by processing a series of data sets suffering, in particular, from high degree of spatial uncertainty caused by complex multiscale motion during the acquisition process. An important role is played by a nonrigid pixel-wise registration method that can cope with low signal-to-noise ratios. This is accompanied by formulating objective quality measures which replace human intervention and visual inspection in the processing chain. Scanning transmission electron microscopy of siliceous zeolite material exhibits the above-mentioned obstructions and therefore serves as orientation and a test of our procedures

Taphonomic evidence for Late Pleistocene transitions in coral reef community composition, San Salvador, Bahamas

Over the past 20 years, the composi­ tion of Caribbean coral reef communities has changed drastically. The ecology of modern reefs, however, has only been studied since the late 1950\u27s. Thus, only a thirty year data set on changes in coral community composi­ tion exists with which to assess the current faunal transition. The need for longer term data has been recognized by marine ecologists as essential for determining whether the cur­ rent transition is part of a long tenn cycle or itself is an unprecedented phenomenon. On Telephone Pole Reef, San Salva­ dor, Bahamas, a transition from Acropora cer­ vicornis dominance to that of Porites porites has been observed in recent years. Dead A. cervicornisa specimens found at this locality display high levels of taphonomic alteration, which may serve as a marker for prior transi­ tions of this type in other reefs. It is not known, however, if a transition of this nature occurred in the past. The fossil record provides precisely the database required for answering this ques­ tion. A detailed examination of the fossil reef at Cockburn Town, San Salvador, Bahamas, has been performed in order to evaluate whether it preserves evidence of community transitions analogous to those occurring today. Specimens of fossil corals were collected from six stratigraphic horizons and a variety of ta-phonomic were obtained. Although different styles of preservation characterize specific ho­ rizons in the fossil reef, evidence does not ex­ ist for a Pleistocene precedent for the transi­ tion currently observed offshore

Measurement-based approach to entanglement generation in coupled quantum dots

Measurements provide a novel mechanism for generating the entanglement resource necessary for performing scalable quantum computation. Recently, we proposed a method for performing parity measurements in a coupled quantum dot system. In this paper we generalise this scheme and perform a comprehensive analytic and numerical study of environmental factors. We calculate the effects of possible error sources including non-ideal photon detectors, ineffective spin-selective excitation and dot distinguishability (both spatial and spectral). Furthermore, we present an experimental approach for verifying the success of the parity measurement

Public Use of an Online Advanced Traveler Guidance Information System: Trust in the e-Service and the Agency

Public transit system web sites have become a tool of choice for many citizens to obtain transit route information and to assist with trip planning. For many of these citizens, the web interface has become the only method of communication with the public service agency and the primary method of obtaining information about transit services. This model-based, multi-method study analyzes data from more than 450 survey respondents and twenty-four focus group participants, seeks to understand the end user citizen trust experience in their interaction with e-government transit web sites. Results of this e-service study provide useful insights into how citizen perceptions of the transit service and transit agencies are affected through web site e-service use