Do You See What Eyes See? Implementing Inattentional Blindness

This paper presents a computational model of visual attention incorporating a cognitive imperfection known as inattentional blindness. We begin by presenting four factors that determine successful attention allocation: conspicuity, mental workload, expectation and capacity. We then propose a framework to study the effects of those factors on an unexpected object and conduct an experiment to measure the corresponding subjective awareness level. Finally, we discuss the application of a visual attention model for conversational agents

Vortex dissipation and level dynamics for the layered superconductors with impurities

We study parametric level statistics of the discretized excitation spectra inside a moving vortex core in layered superconductors with impurities. The universal conductivity is evaluated numerically for the various values of rescaled vortex velocities $\kappa$ from the clean case to the dirty limit case. The random matrix theoretical prediction is verified numerically in the large $\kappa$ regime. On the contrary in the low velocity regime, we observe $\sigma_{xx} \propto \kappa^{2/3}$ which is consistent with the theoretical result for the super-clean case, where the energy dissipation is due to the Landau-Zener transition which takes place at the points called ``avoided crossing''.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, REVTeX3.

“The Job Has Become Advocating for the Job”: Threats to Funding Dramatically Influence Program Outcomes

As public health funding is increasingly threatened, a better understanding is needed about how periods of funding uncertainty impact program staff, activities, and outcomes. In North Carolina, 2 years of uncertainty and threats of funding cuts for a statewide youth tobacco prevention initiative contributed to reduced grantee morale and confidence about achieving program goals, displaced focus from core program activities, and caused premature loss of personnel, resulting in substantially reduced program activities and outcomes. The range of negative impacts of funding uncertainty and threats highlights the need for programs to create an infrastructure to support ongoing sustainability planning and activities

Effects of electrical stimulation of dorsal raphe nucleus on neuronal response properties of barrel cortex layer IV neurons following long-term sensory deprivation

Abstract: Objective To evaluate the effect of electrical stimulation of dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) on response properties of layer IV barrel cortex neurons following long-term sensory deprivation. Methods: Male Wistar rats were divided into sensory-deprived (SD) and control (unplucked) groups. In SD group, all vibrissae except the D2 vibrissa were plucked on postnatal day one, and kept plucked for a period of 60 d. After that, whisker regrowth was allowed for 8-10 d. The D2 principal whisker (PW) and the D1 adjacent whisker (AW) were either deflected singly or both deflected in a serial order that the AW was deflected 20 ms before PW deflection for assessing lateral inhibition, and neuronal responses were recorded from layer IV of the D2 barrel cortex. DRN was electrically stimulated at inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs) ranging from 0 to 800 ms before whisker deflection. Results: PW-evoked responses increased in the SD group with DRN electrical stimulation at ISIs of 50 ms and 100 ms, whereas AW-evoked responses increased at ISI of 800 ms in both groups. Whisker plucking before DRN stimulation could enhance the responsiveness of barrel cortex neurons to PW deflection and decrease the responsiveness to AW deflection. DRN electrical stimulation significantly reduced this difference only in PW-evoked responses between groups. Besides, no DRN stimulation-related changes in response latency were observed following PW or AW deflection in either group. Moreover, condition test (CT) ratio increased in SD rats, while DRN stimulation did not affect the CT ratio in either group. There was no obvious change in 5-HT2A receptor protein density in barrel cortex between SD and control groups. Conclusion: These results suggest that DRN electrical stimulation can modulate information processing in the SD barrel cortex

Finite temperature mobility of a particle coupled to a fermion environment

We study numerically the finite temperature and frequency mobility of a particle coupled by a local interaction to a system of spinless fermions in one dimension. We find that when the model is integrable (particle mass equal to the mass of fermions) the static mobility diverges. Further, an enhanced mobility is observed over a finite parameter range away from the integrable point. We present a novel analysis of the finite temperature static mobility based on a random matrix theory description of the many-body Hamiltonian.Comment: 11 pages (RevTeX), 5 Postscript files, compressed using uufile

Verkeer is als water... : overlast, veiligheid, bereikbaarheid en landschapskwaliteit in de casus Erp, Brabant

Verkeersdruk zorgt voor overlast in het dorp Erp. Al jaren wordt gepraat over een oplossing voor dit probleem. Recentelijk heeft deze discussie meer vaart gekregen door het voornemen van de gemeenteraad een rondweg om Erp aan te leggen. Reden om Wageningen UR de verkeersstromen te laten onderzoeken, om uit de impasse te komen. De overlast blijkt te bestaan uit twee los van elkaar staande verkeersstromen: verkeer dat dóór het verblijfsgebied rijdt (met name verkeer dat Boekel en Erp gebruikt om naar Veghel en ’s Hertogenbosch te gaan) en verkeer van binnen het verblijfsgebied (in deze verkeersstroom is het vooral het vrachtverkeer van en naar het industrieterrein dat overlast veroorzaakt). Deze twee verkeersstromen staan niet alleen los van elkaar, ze verschillen ook in niveau: regionaal versus lokaal

Temporal fluctuations of waves in weakly nonlinear disordered media

We consider the multiple scattering of a scalar wave in a disordered medium with a weak nonlinearity of Kerr type. The perturbation theory, developed to calculate the temporal autocorrelation function of scattered wave, fails at short correlation times. A self-consistent calculation shows that for nonlinearities exceeding a certain threshold value, the multiple-scattering speckle pattern becomes unstable and exhibits spontaneous fluctuations even in the absence of scatterer motion. The instability is due to a distributed feedback in the system "coherent wave + nonlinear disordered medium". The feedback is provided by the multiple scattering. The development of instability is independent of the sign of nonlinearity.Comment: RevTeX, 15 pages (including 5 figures), accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Which Kubo formula gives the exact conductance of a mesoscopic disordered system?

In both research and textbook literature one often finds two ``different'' Kubo formulas for the zero-temperature conductance of a non-interacting Fermi system. They contain a trace of the product of velocity operators and single-particle (retarded and advanced) Green operators: $\text{Tr} (\hat{v}_x \hat{G}^r \hat{v}_x \hat{G}^a)$ or $\text{Tr} (\hat{v}_x \text{Im} \hat{G} \hat{v}_x \text{Im} \hat{G})$. The study investigates the relationship between these expressions, as well as the requirements of current conservation, through exact evaluation of such quantum-mechanical traces for a nanoscale (containing 1000 atoms) mesoscopic disordered conductor. The traces are computed in the semiclassical regime (where disorder is weak) and, more importantly, in the nonperturbative transport regime (including the region around localization-delocalization transition) where concept of mean free path ceases to exist. Since quantum interference effects for such strong disorder are not amenable to diagrammatic or nonlinear $\sigma$-model techniques, the evolution of different Green function terms with disorder strength provides novel insight into the development of an Anderson localized phase.Comment: 7 pages, 5 embedded EPS figures, final published version (note: PRB article has different title due to editorial censorship

Development and Function of Immune Cells in an Adolescent Patient with a Deficiency in the Interleukin-10 Receptor

OBJECTIVE:: Monogenic defects in the interleukin-10 (IL-10) pathway are extremely rare and cause infantile-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-like pathology. Understanding how immune responses are dysregulated in monogenic IBD-like diseases can provide valuable insight in “classical” IBD pathogenesis. Here, we studied long-term immune cell development and function in an adolescent IL-10 receptor (IL10RA)-deficient patient who presented in infancy with severe colitis and fistulizing perianal disease and is currently treated with immune suppressants. METHODS:: Biomaterial was collected from the IL10RA-deficient patient, pediatric IBD patients and healthy controls. The frequency and phenotype of immune cells were determined in peripheral blood and intestinal biopsies by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. Functional changes in monocyte-derived dendritic cells and T cells were assessed by in vitro activation assays. RESULTS:: The IL10RA-deficient immune system developed normally with respect to numbers and phenotype of circulating immune cells. Despite normal co-stimulatory molecule expression, bacterial lipopolysaccharide-stimulated monocyte-derived dendritic cells from the IL10RA-deficient patient released increased amounts of TNFα compared to healthy controls. Upon T-cell receptor ligation, IL10RA-deficient peripheral blood mononuclear cells released increased amounts of T cell cytokines IFNγ and IL-17 agreeing with high numbers of T-bet and IL-17 cells in intestinal biopsies taken at disease onset. In vitro, the immunosuppressive drug thalidomide used to treat the patient decreased peripheral blood mononuclear cell-derived TNFα production. CONCLUSIONS:: With time and during immunosuppressive treatment the IL10RA- deficient immune system develops relatively normally. Upon activation, IL-10 is crucial for controlling excessive inflammatory cytokine release by dendritic cells and preventing IFNγ and IL-17-mediated T-cell responses

Novel GCH1 variant in Dopa-responsive dystonia and Parkinson's disease

Background: GTP cyclohydrolase I (GCH1) mutations are the commonest cause of Dopa-responsive dystonia (DRD). Clinical phenotypes can be broad, even within a single family. Methods: We present clinical, genetic and functional imaging data on a British kindred in which affected subjects display phenotypes ranging from DRD to Parkinson's disease (PD). Twelve family members were studied. Clinical examination, dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging, and molecular genetic analysis of GCH1 and the commonest known familial PD-related genes were performed. Results: We have identified a novel missense variant, c.5A>G, p.(Glu2Gly), within the GCH1 gene in affected family members displaying a range of phenotypes. Two affected subjects carrying this variant had abnormal DAT imaging. These two with abnormal DAT imaging had a PD phenotype, while the remaining three subjects with the novel GCH1 variant had normal DAT imaging and a DRD phenotype. Conclusions: We propose that this GCH1 variant is pathogenic in this family and these findings suggest that similar mechanisms involving abnormal GTP cyclohydolase I may underlie both PD and DRD. GCH1 genetic testing should be considered in patients with PD and a family history of DRD