Functional and structural brain differences associated with mirror-touch synaesthesia

Observing touch is known to activate regions of the somatosensory cortex but the interpretation of this finding is controversial (e.g. does it reflect the simulated action of touching or the simulated reception of touch?). For most people, observing touch is not linked to reported experiences of feeling touch but in some people it is (mirror-touch synaesthetes). We conducted an fMRI study in which participants (mirror-touch synaesthetes, controls) watched movies of stimuli (face, dummy, object) being touched or approached. In addition we examined whether mirror touch synaesthesia is associated with local changes of grey and white matter volume in the brain using VBM (voxel-based morphometry). Both synaesthetes and controls activated the somatosensory system (primary and secondary somatosensory cortices, SI and SII) when viewing touch, and the same regions were activated (by a separate localiser) when feeling touch — i.e. there is a mirror system for touch. However, when comparing the two groups, we found evidence that SII seems to play a particular important role in mirror-touch synaesthesia: in synaesthetes, but not in controls, posterior SII was active for watching touch to a face (in addition to SI and posterior temporal lobe); activity in SII correlated with subjective intensity measures of mirror-touch synaesthesia (taken outside the scanner), and we observed an increase in grey matter volume within the SII of the synaesthetes' brains. In addition, the synaesthetes showed hypo-activity when watching touch to a dummy in posterior SII. We conclude that the secondary somatosensory cortex has a key role in this form of synaesthesia

Slowly varying control parameters, delayed bifurcations and the stability of spikes in reaction-diffusion systems

We present three examples of delayed bifurcations for spike solutions of reaction-diffusion systems. The delay effect results as the system passes slowly from a stable to an unstable regime, and was previously analysed in the context of ODE's in [P.Mandel, T.Erneux, J.Stat.Phys, 1987]. It was found that the instability would not be fully realized until the system had entered well into the unstable regime. The bifurcation is said to have been "delayed" relative to the threshold value computed directly from a linear stability analysis. In contrast, we analyze the delay effect in systems of PDE's. In particular, for spike solutions of singularly perturbed generalized Gierer-Meinhardt (GM) and Gray-Scott (GS) models, we analyze three examples of delay resulting from slow passage into regimes of oscillatory and competition instability. In the first example, for the GM model on the infinite real line, we analyze the delay resulting from slowly tuning a control parameter through a Hopf bifurcation. In the second example, we consider a Hopf bifurcation on a finite one-dimensional domain. In this scenario, as opposed to the extrinsic tuning of a system parameter through a bifurcation value, we analyze the delay of a bifurcation triggered by slow intrinsic dynamics of the PDE system. In the third example, we consider competition instabilities of the GS model triggered by the extrinsic tuning of a feed rate parameter. In all cases, we find that the system must pass well into the unstable regime before the onset of instability is fully observed, indicating delay. We also find that delay has an important effect on the eventual dynamics of the system in the unstable regime. We give analytic predictions for the magnitude of the delays as obtained through analysis of certain explicitly solvable nonlocal eigenvalue problems. The theory is confirmed by numerical solutions of the full PDE systems.Comment: 31 pages, 20 figures, submitted to Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomen

A descriptive study of the yearly activities of instructional technology support personnel in selected public school systems of Tennessee, academic year 2001-2002

This descriptive study involved the exploration of the annual activities of a selected subset of the technical support staff and technical coordinators within the Tennessee public school systems. The study focused on how the technical support personnel\u27s allocation of time for general support and computer-related support varied by the factors of supported student population, experience, education, gender, and salary. The population of the study was defined by an existing electronic mailing (email) list used to provide an informal method of communication between the participants. The data for this study was obtained through the use of an on-line questionnaire with the participants being notified of its location via email. From the study population of 192 individuals, 136 valid questionnaire responses were received. Once the data had been collected, One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) procedures were used to determine if statistically significant differences existed for each of the independent variables of supported student population, experience, education, gender, and salary. Categorizing the activities within general support, computer-related support, and methods of support provided the dependent variables for the ANOV A procedures. Where statistically significant differences occurred, the Tukey post-hoc was used to determine the amount of difference and its direction. A variety of descriptive statistics were also generated. The largest portion (43%) of the average participant\u27s time during the school year was spent supporting computer-related technologies, and most of this time was spent supporting existing technologies. Salary and experience have the greatest effect upon the duties of technical support personnel. As salary or years of experience increased, so too did the amount of time per year spent on administrative functions. Conversely, the lower one\u27s salary or years of experience, the greater the chance of performing computer-related support. Gender had little impact upon the allocation of time spent providing support though minor differences existed in the methods of providing that support. While support via email was almost as important as support via telephone, in most instances, the participant visited the area in which support was needed

The development of spirituality and ethics in the work of Arthur Koestler, 1937-1959

This thesis examines the development of Arthur Koestler's spirituality and ethics, from the publication of The Gladiators in 1939 to The Sleepwalkers twenty years later, drawing upon the extensive material within Edinburgh's Koestler Archive.Where his work has often been divided into "political" and "scientific" phases, this thesis adopts a unified approach based on the single hierarchical system that arose from Koestler's analysis of human freedom. The ethical trilogy - The Gladiators, Darkness at Noon and Arrival and Departure - revealed Koestler's continuing abhorrence of the deterministic philosophy he had espoused within the Communist Party. After his abandonment of revolutionary ethics, Koestler proposed an ethical hierarchy to understand the allegorical figures of his eponymous essay, The Yogi and the Commissar.Arthur Koestler viewed society as constantly shifting between the polar opposites of Yogi and Commissar. Hierarchical ethics sought to transcend both poles. What emerged was a more optimistic, lifeenhancing ethic than has hitherto been acknowledged. The work of Richard Hillary, George Orwell and Michael Polanyi enabled Koestler to refine his theory, the outcome of which was evident in the 1946 League and the anti-hanging campaign a decade later.In his scientific writing, Koestler sought to understand the movement of individuals within the hierarchy. If scientific models could be utilised to explain moral and creative insight, he also become convinced, earlier than one might suppose, that the evolution of the human brain was the cause behind the failure of the species to ascend the ethical hierarchy.Biological factors alone do not account for the irrational ethic that survives Koestler's dystopic vision. The thesis presents evidence that this ethical system contains an essential spiritual element traceable to its author's mystical experience whilst imprisoned in Seville. Thus the principle underlying his work and aspirations for humankind, postHiroshima, is of a spiritual reality, the admission of which is necessary before a holistic working ethic can be embraced

The summertime plankton community at South Georgia (Southern Ocean): comparing the historical (1926/27) and modern (post 1995) records.

The earliest comprehensive plankton sampling programme in the Southern Ocean was 32 undertaken during the early part of last century by Discovery Investigations to gain a 33 greater scientific understanding of whale stocks and their summer feeding grounds. An 34 initial survey was carried out around South Georgia during December 1926 and January 35 1927 to describe the distribution of plankton during the summer, and to serve as a 36 baseline against which to compare future surveys. We have reanalysed phytoplankton and 37 zooplankton data from this survey and elucidated patterns of community distribution and 38 compared them with our recent understanding of the ecosystem based on contemporary 39 data. Analysis of Discovery data identified five groups of stations with characteristic 40 phytoplankton communities which were almost entirely consistent with the original 41 analysis conducted by Hardy and Gunther (1935). Major groupings were located at the 42 western end of the island and over the northern shelf where Corethron spp. were 43 dominant, and to the south and east where a more diverse flora included high abundances 44 of Nitzschia seriata. Major zooplankton-station groupings were located over the inner 45 shelf which was characterised by a high abundance of Drepanopus forcipatus and in 46 oceanic water >500 m deep that were dominated by Foraminifera, Oithona spp., 47 Ctenocalanus vanus, and Calanoides acutus. Stations along the middle and outer shelf 48 regions to the north and west, were characterised by low overall abundance. There was 49 some evidence that groupings of stations to the north of the island originated in different 50 water masses on either side of the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front, the 51 major frontal system in the deep ocean close to South Georgia. However, transect lines 52 during 1926/27 did not extend far enough offshore to sample this frontal region 53 3 adequately. Interannual variability of zooplankton abundance was assessed from stations 54 which were sampled repeatedly during 7 recent British Antarctic Survey cruises (1995-55 2005) to the region and following taxonomic harmonization and numerical 56 standardization (ind. m-3), a subset of 45 taxonomic categories of zooplankton (species 57 and higher taxa) from 1926/27, were compared with similar data obtained during the 58 BAS cruises using a linear model. Initially comparisons were restricted to BAS stations 59 that lay within 40 km of Discovery stations although a comparison was also made using 60 all available data. Despite low abundance values in 1926/27, in neither comparison did 61 Discovery data differ significantly from BAS data. Calculation of the percentage 62 similarity index across cruises did not reveal any systematic differences in species 63 composition between 1926/27 and the present. In the light of ocean warming trends, the 64 existence of more subtle changes in species composition is not ruled out, but an absence 65 of finely resolved time-series data make this impossible to determine

Effects of the private-label invasion in food industries

Using supermarket scanner data, we test a variety of hypotheses from trade journals about the invasion of private-label food products. According to conventional industry wisdom, name-brand firms defended their brands against new private-label products by lowering their prices, engaging in additional promotional activities, and increasingly differentiating their products. Our empirical evidence is inconsistent with these beliefs.private label; entry; price; promotional activity; differentiation; supermarket