1,720,967 research outputs found

    Fearful faces modulate spatial processing in peripersonal space: An ERP study

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    Peripersonal space (PPS) represents the region of space surrounding the body. A pivotal function of PPS is to coordinate defensive responses to threat. We have previously shown that a centrally-presented, looming fearful face, signalling a potential threat in one's surroundings, modulates spatial processing by promoting a redirection of sensory resources away from the face towards the periphery, where the threat may be expected – but only when the face is presented in near, rather than far space. Here, we use electrophysiological measures to investigate the neural mechanism underlying this effect. Participants made simple responses to tactile stimuli delivered on the cheeks, while watching task-irrelevant neutral or fearful avatar faces, looming towards them either in near or far space. Simultaneously with the tactile stimulation, a ball with a checkerboard pattern (probe) appeared to the left or right of the avatar face. Crucially, this probe could either be close to the avatar face, and thus more central in the participant's vision, or further away from the avatar face, and thus more peripheral in the participant's vision. Electroencephalography was continuously recorded. Behavioural results confirmed that in near space only, and for fearful relative to neutral faces, tactile processing was facilitated by the peripheral compared to the central probe. This behavioural effect was accompanied by a reduction of the N1 mean amplitude elicited by the peripheral probe for fearful relative to neutral faces. Moreover, the faster the participants responded to tactile stimuli with the peripheral probe, relative to the central, the smaller was their N1. Together these results, suggest that fearful faces intruding into PPS may increase expectation of a visual event occurring in the periphery. This fear-induced effect would enhance the defensive function of PPS when it is most needed, i.e., when the source of threat is nearby, but its location remains unknown

    The spatial logic of fear

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    Peripersonal space (PPS) refers to the space surrounding the body. PPS is characterised by distinctive patterns of multisensory integration and sensory-motor interaction. In addition, facial expressions have been shown to modulate PPS representation. In this study we tested whether fearful faces lead to a different distribution of spatial attention, compared to neutral and joyful faces. Participants responded to tactile stimuli on the cheeks, while watching looming neutral, joyful (Experiment 1) or fearful (Experiment 2) faces of an avatar, appearing in far or near space. To probe spatial attention, when the tactile stimulus was delivered, a static ball briefly appeared central or peripheral in participant's vision, respectively ≈1° or ≈10° to the left or right of the face. With neutral and joyful faces, simple reactions to tactile stimuli were facilitated in near rather than in far space, replicating classic PPS effects, and in the presence of central rather than peripheral ball, suggesting that attention may be focused in the immediate surrounding of the face. However, when the face was fearful, response to tactile stimuli was modulated not only by the distance of the face from the participant, but also by the position of the ball. Specifically, in near space only, response to tactile stimuli was additionally facilitated by the peripheral compared to the central ball. These results suggest that as fearful faces come closer to the body, they promote a redirection of attention towards the periphery. Given the sensory-motor functions of PPS, this fear-evoked redirection of attention would enhance the defensive function of PPS specifically when it is most needed, i.e. when the source of threat is nearby, but its location has not yet been identified

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods

    Author Index

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    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

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    We have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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