Effects of speeding up or slowing down animate or inanimate motions on timing

It has recently been suggested that time perception and motor timing are influenced by the presence of biological movements and animacy in the visual scene. Here, we investigated the interactions among timing, speed and animacy in two experiments. In Experiment 1, observers had to press a button in synchrony with the landing of a falling ball while a dancer or a whirligig moved in the background of the scene. The speed of these two characters was artificially changed across sessions. We found striking differences in the timing of button-press responses as a function of the condition. Responses were delayed considerably with increasing speed of the whirligig. By contrast, the effect of the dancer's speed was weaker and in the opposite direction. In Experiment 2, we assessed the perceived animacy of these characters and found that the dancer was rated as much more animate than the whirligig, irrespective of the character speed. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that event timers are selectively biased as a function of perceived animacy, implicating high-level mechanisms for time modulation. However, response timing interacts with perceived animacy and speed in a complex manner

Programming and Audits Committee Meeting Agenda 10/26/2011

Student Government Senate Committee on Programming and Audits meeting agenda for 10/26/201

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR): an application for evaluating the state of maintenance of the building coating

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a non-destructive methodology. For the localisation of buried structures, it uses short time duration electromagnetic (EM) pulses lasting from about 1 ns to about 30 ns. Therefore, GPR is characterised by a wide frequency band ranging from 10 MHz to some GHz, and is useful in the localisation of EM discontinuities in the subsurface with high resolution. This paper describes an application of GPR to evaluate the state of maintenance of some travertine panels attached to the inside walls of a building housing the Bank of Naples in Campobasso and in danger of falling because of the numerous voids present between the wall and the panels. The aim of the survey was to assess whether the GPR technique could be used to detect the voids behind the travertine panels. The study was made to assist the design of the restoration works of the travertine covering. Because of the very narrow thickness of both the travertine plates and the voids, special care was needed in the acquisition and processing steps. The measurements were performed on two panels: one purposely put on to the laboratory wall with a known position of the voids; the other one selected from among the panels to be restored. Although pushed to the limit of the resolution achievable by the available antenna, the study has given quite good results

Humoral immunological parameters in Italian patients with oral lichen planus

Serum humoral immunological parameters were determined in 25 patients with atrophic-erosive forms of oral lichen planus (OLP) (Group 1), in 28 patients with reticular-plaque-like lesions of OLP (Group 2) and in 21 healthy patients without oral lesions (Group 3). Comparing patients affected by atrophic-erosive forms of OLP (Group 1) with normal Controls (Group 3), increased levels of serum IgG approaching the statistical significance were found (Kruskal-Wallis test p = 0.0572). It was also found a significantly higher value of kappa (Kruskal-Wallis test p = 0.0017; Mann-Whitney test with Bonferroni’s correction p < 0.001) and lambda (Kruskal-Wallis test p = 0.0346; Mann-Whitney test with Bonferroni’s correction p = 0.013) light chains in patients with atrophic-erosive OLP (Group 1) as compared with normal controls (Group 3). However these higher levels were probably caused by strong prevalence of chronic liver diseases (40%), in patients with atrophic-erosive variety of OLP. No one of these patients was affected by autoimmune liver disease. No differences were noted between atrophic-erosive OLP (Group 1) and hyperkeratosic OLP (Group 2). This study does not confirm the suggestion that patients with OLP may have a generalized immunologic disorder and it also add some evidences that the role of humoral immunity in the pathogenesis of OLP is probably secondary to the cell-mediated reaction against basal keratinocytes.Les principaux aspects de l’immunologie humorale ont été évalués dans deux groupes de malades porteur d’un lichen plan de la muqueuse buccale, 25 à formes atrophiques-érosives (Groupe 1), 28 à formes en réseaux ou en plaques blanches (Groupe 2), et chez 21 sujets sains. Au terme de cette étude les différences les plus remarquables sont les suivantes: le taux des IgG sériques est nettement plus élevé chez les sujets du Groupe 1 ce qui est presque significatif par rapport au Groupe 3 (p = 0.0577). L’analyse statistique a surtout révélé des différences significatives entre le Groupe 1 et le Groupe 3 (contrôle) en ce qui concerne les taux sériques des chaînes Kappa (Kruskal-Wallis test p = 0.0017; Mann-Whitney test corrigé par Bonferroni p < 0.001 ) et des chaînes Lambda (Kruskal-Wallis test p = 0.0346; Mann-Whitney test corrigé par Bonferroni p = 0.013). Aucune autre différence significative entre les trois groupes n’a été observee. Nous pensons que ces résultats sont probablement dus à la présence d’une hépatopathie chronique non auto-immune qui a été diagnostiquée dans 40% des cas du Groupe 1. Cette étude ne confirme donc pas la thèse selon laquelle les sujets atteints de lichen plan buccal pourraient avoir une défaillance de l’immunité humorale. Elle nous permet de penser que le rôle de cette dernière dans la pathogénèse de la maladie est probablement secondaire à la réaction cellulaire dirigée contre les kératinocytes

Phenotypic analysis of peripheral blood cell immunity in Italian patients with different varieties of oral lichen planus

Quantitative analysis of peripheral blood lymphocytes was carried out in 25 patients with atrophic-erosive type of oral lichen planus (OLP) (Group 1), in 28 patients with reticular-plaque like lesions of OLP (Group 2) and in 21 healthy patients (Group 3) by using flow cytometry. CD4 + subsets decreased significantly in patients with reticular-plaque like varieties when compared with healthy patients (Group 3) (One way analysis of variance p = 0.039; t-test with Bonferroni correction p< 0.05). Moreover, in patients with hyperkeratosic forms of OLP (Group 2) CD8 + cell populations were significantly higher than in controls (Group 3) (Kruskal-Wallis test p = 0.035; Mann-Whitney test with Bonferroni’s correction p< 0.0001) and consequently CD4/CD8 ratio was significantly lower in patients with reticular-plaque like lesions than in controls (Kruskal-Wallis test p = 0.01; Mann-Whitney test with Bonferroni’s correction p = 0.013). No statistical differences between patients of Group 1 (atrophic-erosive OLP) and the other two Groups (hyperkeratosic OLP and healthy controls) were detected. 40% of the patients of Group 1 were affected by chronic hepatopathies, most of which were related to hepatitis C virus (HCV), but the data were not substantially modified after adjustment for the patients with chronic liver disease HCV positive. There is no clear evidence that these results indicate the existence of a different pathogenetic mechanism between erosive-atrophic and hyperkeratosic types of OLP. On the other hand, these results and the previously reported immunohistochemical findings suggest that quantitative alterations of peripheral blood lymphocytes in hyperkeratosic varieties of OLP could represent a shift of CD4 + cells from the vascular to the oral mucosa compartment.Les lymphocytes du sang périphérique ont été évalués par cytométrie de flux dans deux groupes de malades porteurs d’un lichen plan de la muqueuse buccale: 25 à forme atrophique-érosive (Groupe 1), 28 à forme en réseaux ou en plaques blanches (Groupe 2), et chez 21 sujets sains (Groupe 3). Au terme de cette étude les différences les plus remarquables ont été les suivantes: diminution de la fraction CD4 + et une augmentation de la fraction CD8 + dans le Groupe 2 (réseaux et plaques blanches) comparés au Groupe 3 (contrôle), la différence est statistiquement significative (One ways analysis of variance p = 0.039, t test corrigé par Bonferroni p<0.05 pour CD4 + et Kruskal-Wallis test p = 0.035, Mann-Whitney test corrigé par Bonferroni p< 0.001 pour CD8 + ) par conséquent le rapport CD4/CD8 du Groupe 2 a été significativement plus bas par rapport au Groupe 3 (Kruskal-Wallis test p = 0.014; Mann-Whitney test corrigé par Bonferroni p = 0.013). Aucune autre différence significative entre les trois groupes n’a été observée, en particulier avec le Groupe 1 (formes atrophiques-érosives) dont il faut signaler que le 40% des sujets sont porteurs d’une hépatopathie chronique souvent due au virus de l’hépatite C. En conclusion la différence des résultats entre les groupes 1 et 2 ne permet pas d’affirmer l’existence d’une pathogénie différente entre les formes atrophiques-érosives et les formes en réseaux ou en plaques, elle est en accord avec les précédentes études en histo-immunochimie. Il est possible que la diminution des lymphocytes CD4 + soit secondaire au déplacement de cette population cellulaire du compartement vasculaire de la muqueuse affectée par le lichen plan.

Fabrication and Characterization of Molybdenum Tips for Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy

We present a method for the preparation of bulk molybdenum tips for scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy (STM - STS) and we assess their potential in performing high resolution imaging and local spectroscop by measurements on different single crystal surfaces in UHV, namely Au(111), Si(111)-7x7 and titanium oxide 2D ordered nanostructures supported on Au(111). The fabrication method is versatile and can be extended to other metals, e.g. cobalt

Integrated geophysical and geological investigations applied to sedimentary rock mass characterization

The Salento Peninsula (south-eastern Italy) is characterized by sedimentary rocks. The carbonatic nature of the rocks means they are affected by karst phenomena, forming such features as sinkholes, collapsed dolines and caverns, as a result of chemical leaching of carbonates by percolating water. The instability of these phenomena often produces land subsidence problems. The importance of these events is increasing due to growing urbanization, numerous quarries affecting both the subsoil and the surface, and an important coastline characterized by cliffs. This paper focuses on geological and geophysical methods for the characterization of soft sedimentary rock, and presents the results of a study carried out in an urban area of Salento. Taking the Q system derived by Barton (2002) as the starting point for the rock mass classification, a new approach and a modification of the Barton method are proposed. The new equation proposed for the classification of sedimentary rock mass (Qsrm) takes account of the permeability of the rock masses, the geometry of the exposed rock face and their types (for example, quarry face, coastal cliff or cavity), the nature of the lithotypes that constitute the exposed sequence, and their structure and texture. This study revises the correlation between Vp and Q derived by Barton (2002), deriving a new empirical equation correlating P-wave velocities and Qsrm values in soft sedimentary rock. We also present a case history in which stratigraphical surveys, Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), and seismic surveys were applied to in situ investigations of subsidence phenomena in an urban area to estimate rock mass quality. Our work shows that in the analysis of ground safety it is important to establish the rock mass quality of the subsurface structures; geophysical exploration can thus play a key role in the assessment of subsidence risk