Time to guide: evidence for delayed attentional guidance in contextual cueing

Contextual cueing experiments show that, when displays are repeated, reaction times (RTs) to find a target decrease over time even when the observers are not aware of the repetition. Recent evidence suggests that this benefit in standard contextual cueing tasks is not likely to be due to an improvement in attentional guidance (Kunar, Flusberg, Horowitz, & Wolfe, 2007). Nevertheless, we ask whether guidance can help participants find the target in a repeated display, if they are given sufficient time to encode the display. In Experiment 1 we increased the display complexity so that it took participants longer to find the target. Here we found a larger effect of guidance than in a condition with shorter RTs. Experiment 2 gave participants prior exposure to the display context. The data again showed that with more time participants could implement guidance to help find the target, provided that there was something in the search stimuli locations to guide attention to. The data suggest that, although the benefit in a standard contextual cueing task is unlikely to be a result of guidance, guidance can play a role if it is given time to develop

Investigation of the Thomson scattering-ECE discrepancy in ICRF heated plasmas at Alcator C-Mod

This paper reports on new experiments at Alcator C-Mod that were performed in order to investigate the long-standing, unresolved discrepancy between Thomson scattering (TS) and electron cyclotron emission (ECE) measurements of electron temperature in high temperature tokamak plasmas. Ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) heating is used to produce high temperature conditions where the type of TS-ECE discrepancy observed in the past at JET and TFTR should become observable. At Alcator C-Mod, plasmas with Te(0) up to 8 keV are obtained using ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH), ICRF mode conversion heating and a combination of the two heating methods in order to explore the hypothesis that the presence of ICRH-generated fast ions may be related to the discrepancy. In all high temperature cases, the TS and ECE measurements of electron temperature agree to within experimental uncertainties. We find no evidence for the type of discrepancy reported at JET and TFTR. These results show that the TS-ECE discrepancy does not depend on high temperatures alone and also that the presence of ICRH-generated fast ions is insufficient to cause the TS-ECE discrepancy.United States. Dept. of Energy (DE-FC02-99ER54512

Still moving toward automation of the systematic review process: a summary of discussions at the third meeting of the International Collaboration for Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR)

The third meeting of the International Collaboration for Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR) was held 17–18 October 2017 in London, England. ICASR is an interdisciplinary group whose goal is to maximize the use of technology for conducting rapid, accurate, and efficient systematic reviews of scientific evidence. The group seeks to facilitate the development and widespread acceptance of automated techniques for systematic reviews. The meeting’s conclusion was that the most pressing needs at present are to develop approaches for validating currently available tools and to provide increased access to curated corpora that can be used for validation. To that end, ICASR’s short-term goals in 2018–2019 are to propose and publish protocols for key tasks in systematic reviews and to develop an approach for sharing curated corpora for validating the automation of the key tasks

High-field side scrape-off layer investigation: Plasma profiles and impurity screening behavior in near-double-null configurations

New experiments on Alcator C-Mod reveal that the favorable impurity screening characteristics of the high-field side (HFS) scrape-off layer (SOL), previously reported for single null geometries, is retained in double null configurations, despite the formation of an extremely thin SOL. In balanced double-null, nitrogen injected locally into the HFS SOL is better screened by a factor of 2.5 compared to the same injection into the low field side (LFS) SOL. This result is insensitive to plasma current and Greenwald fraction. Nitrogen injected into the HFS SOL is not as well screened (only a factor of 1.5 improvement over LFS) in unbalanced double-null discharges, when the primary divertor is in the direction of B×∇B. In this configuration, impurity ‘plume’ emission patterns indicate that an opposing E × B drift competes with the parallel impurity flow to the divertor. In balanced double-null plasmas, the dispersal pattern exhibits a dominant E × B motion. Unbalanced discharges with the primary divertor opposite the direction of B×∇B exhibit excellent HFS screening characteristics – a factor of 5 enhancement compared to LFS. These data support the idea that future tokamaks should locate all RF actuators and close-fitting wall structures on the HFS and employ near-double-null magnetic topologies, both to precisely control plasma conditions at the antenna/plasma interface and to maximally mitigate the impact of local impurity sources arising from plasma-material interactions. Keywords: Alcator C-Mod; Impurity screening; Double null; High field side scrape-off layerUnited States. Department of Energy (Contract DE-FC02-99ER54512

No sex scandals please, we're French: French attitudes towards politicians' public and private conduct

The notion of distinct ‘public’ and ‘private’ spheres underpins much normative and practical engagement with political misconduct. What is less clear is whether citizens draw distinctions between misdemeanours in the ‘public’ and ‘private’ spheres, and whether they judge these in systematically different ways. This paper explores attitudes to political misconduct in France. French citizens are often said to be particularly relaxed about politicians’ private affairs, but there has been little empirical evidence for this proposition. Drawing on original survey data, this paper demonstrates clearly that French citizens draw a sharp distinction between politicians’ public and private transgressions, and are more tolerant of the latter

Identification of Mutant Genes and Introgressed Tiger Salamander DNA in the Laboratory Axolotl, \u3cem\u3eAmbystoma mexicanum\u3c/em\u3e

The molecular genetic toolkit of the Mexican axolotl, a classic model organism, has matured to the point where it is now possible to identify genes for mutant phenotypes. We used a positional cloning–candidate gene approach to identify molecular bases for two historic axolotl pigment phenotypes: white and albino. White (d/d) mutants have defects in pigment cell morphogenesis and differentiation, whereas albino (a/a) mutants lack melanin. We identified in white mutants a transcriptional defect in endothelin 3 (edn3), encoding a peptide factor that promotes pigment cell migration and differentiation in other vertebrates. Transgenic restoration of Edn3 expression rescued the homozygous white mutant phenotype. We mapped the albino locus to tyrosinase (tyr) and identified polymorphisms shared between the albino allele (tyra) and tyr alleles in a Minnesota population of tiger salamanders from which the albino trait was introgressed. tyra has a 142 bp deletion and similar engineered alleles recapitulated the albinophenotype. Finally, we show that historical introgression of tyrasignificantly altered genomic composition of the laboratory axolotl, yielding a distinct, hybrid strain of ambystomatid salamander. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of identifying genes for traits in the laboratory Mexican axolotl

External excitation of a short-wavelength fluctuation in the Alcator C-Mod edge plasma and its relationship to the quasi-coherent mode

A novel “Shoelace” antenna has been used to inductively excite a short-wavelength edge fluctuation in a tokamak boundary layer for the first time. The principal design parameters, k[subscript ⊥] = 1.5 ± 0.1 cm[superscript −1] and 45 < f < 300 kHz, match the Quasi-Coherent Mode (QCM, k[subscript ⊥] ∼ 1.5 cm[superscript −1], f ∼ 50−150 kHz) in Alcator C-Mod, responsible for exhausting impurities in the steady-state, ELM-free Enhanced D[subscript α] H-mode. In H-mode, whether or not there is a QCM, the antenna drives coherent, field-aligned perturbations in density, [˜ over n][subscript e], and field, [˜ over B][subscript θ], which are guided by field lines, propagate in the electron diamagnetic drift direction, and exhibit a weakly damped (γ/ω[subscript 0] ∼ 5%−10%) resonance near the natural QCM frequency. This result is significant, offering the possibility that externally driven modes may be used to enhance particle transport. In L-mode, the antenna drives only a non-resonant [˜ over B][subscript θ] response. The facts that the driven mode has the same wave number and propagation direction as the QCM, and is resonant at the QCM frequency, suggest the antenna may couple to this mode, which we have shown elsewhere to be predominantly drift-mode-like [B. LaBombard et al., Phys. Plasmas 21, 056108 (2014)].United States. Dept. of Energy (Cooperative Agreement DE-FC02-99ER54512

Impact of centralising acute stroke services in English metropolitan areas on mortality and length of hospital stay: difference-in-differences analysis

Objective: To investigate whether centralisation of acute stroke services in two metropolitan areas of England was associated with changes in mortality and length of hospital stay. Design: Analysis of difference-in-differences between regions with patient level data from the hospital episode statistics database linked to mortality data supplied by the Office for National Statistics. Setting: Acute stroke services in Greater Manchester and London, England. Participants: 258 915 patients with stroke living in urban areas and admitted to hospital in January 2008 to March 2012. Interventions “Hub and spoke” model for acute stroke care. In London hyperacute care was provided to all patients with stroke. In Greater Manchester hyperacute care was provided to patients presenting within four hours of developing symptoms of stroke. Main outcome measures Mortality from any cause and at any place at 3, 30, and 90 days after hospital admission; length of hospital stay. Results: In London there was a significant decline in risk adjusted mortality at 3, 30, and 90 days after admission. At 90 days the absolute reduction was −1.1% (95% confidence interval −2.1 to −0.1; relative reduction 5%), indicating 168 fewer deaths (95% confidence interval 19 to 316) during the 21 month period after reconfiguration in London. In both areas there was a significant decline in risk adjusted length of hospital stay: −2.0 days in Greater Manchester (95% confidence interval −2.8 to −1.2; 9%) and −1.4 days in London (−2.3 to −0.5; 7%). Reductions in mortality and length of hospital stay were largely seen among patients with ischaemic stroke. Conclusions: A centralised model of acute stroke care, in which hyperacute care is provided to all patients with stroke across an entire metropolitan area, can reduce mortality and length of hospital stay