165 research outputs found
Individual psychological traits predict the activity of limbic and prefrontal areas
No full textCharacterizing the neurofunctional correlates of individual psychological differences is one of
the most challenging issues in today’s cognitive neuroscience. Crucially, it requires careful
selection of psychological trait measures, state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques, and large
participants’ samples. Here we leverage the HCP1200 database (Van Essen et al., 2013) to
explore whether and how cognitive and emotional traits, measured through a comprehensive set
of questionnaires and computer-based tasks (Barch et al., 2013), predict regional brain activation
during a highly demanding cognitive task (2-back WM) and an emotion recognition task, across
a sample of 894 healthy volunteers.
Four factors (fluid intelligence, executive functioning, spatial orientation, and negative affect)
extracted from the individual scores in the NIH Toolbox, Penn Emotion Recognition Test, and
Penn Progressive Matrices Task were used as predictors of regional activations in limbic and
prefrontal regions of interest defined based on group activations estimated through a standard
whole-brain random-effects analysis in a standard surface space.
Higher fluid intelligence was associated with higher activity in dorsolateral and ventrolateral
prefrontal cortex during fear processing. The activation of amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus
were positively correlated with spatial orientation during angry faces. These result shows how
limbic and prefrontal areas are correlated with individual psychological traits
Multiple candidates for the ventral intraparietal area (VIP) in humans
No full textThe macaque ventral intraparietal area (VIP) in the fundus of the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) is
functionally characterized by its response to multimodal (visual, tactile, auditory) stimuli moving
within peripersonal space – especially around the face. In humans, possible VIP homologues
have been identified in the IPS using different criteria, such as by presenting visuotactile stimuli
on/around the face or by showing coherently moving visual stimuli. It is unclear whether these
methods converge into a common definition of VIP, with a recent review (Foster et al. 2022)
suggesting the existence of up to there different VIP candidates in the human IPS.
Here we tackled this issue by analyzing an fMRI dataset acquired on 15 human volunteers (10
females, 35– 48 years) under two conditions: while observing optic flow patterns (coherently
moving visual dots) and random motion patterns in alternating blocks, and – in separate scans –
while being tactilely stimulated on several locations on the face through air puffs. Images were
preprocessed with fMRIprep and analyzed through a standard whole-brain random-effects
approach, using a surface-based general linear model in fsLR32 space.
In both hemispheres we observed a parietal region in the dorsal bank of the IPS (LH: -30 -45 60;
RH: 34 -48 59) which was activated by contralateral air puffs. This VIP candidate was close to,
but not overlapping with a more posterior IPS region activated by optic flow vs. random motion
patterns (LH: -24 -64 49; RH: 22 -64 55). Both regions were more strongly activated in the left
hemisphere.
These results show that several functional properties which have been associated with monkey
VIP may be instead localized in distinct, though neighboring, IPS regions in humans, giving
direct support to Foster’s (2022) hypothesis of a VIP expansion into different regions in humans
The Rhetoric of Krishna versus the Counter-Rhetoric of Vyas: The Place of Commiseration in the Mahabharat
No full textIn the context of the mixed perception among scholars whether the Mahabharat is a pacifist or a militant text, this paper analyzes the rhetorical project of the epic to examine its position on violence. Highlighting the existence of two main arguments in the Mahabharat, this paper argues that the author has crafted a grand rhetorical project to question the dominant war ideology of the time that Krishna presents as the divine necessity. Historically, the emergence of Krishna—one of the major characters of the epic—as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu in Hindu tradition and the extraction and elevation of the Bhagavad Gita from the epic as an independent text have undermined the complexity of Vyas’ rhetoric. This paper places Krishna’s argument within the broad rhetorical scheme of the epic and demonstrates how Vyas has represented Krishna’s rhetoric of ‘just war’ only to illustrate its pitfalls. By directing his narrative lens to the devastating consequences of the war in the later parts of the epic, Vyas problematizes Krishna’s insistence on the need to suppress human emotions to attain a higher cognitive and ontological condition. What emerges is the difference between how Vyas and Krishna view the status of feeling: the scientist Krishna thinks that human emotions and individual lives are trivial, incidental instances in the cosmic game—something not worthy of a warrior’s concern; Vyas’ rhetoric, this paper argues, restores the significance of ordinary human emotions. It is a war—not human life and feeling—that arises as a futile enterprise in Vyas’ rhetoric
Parallel session 2b : Institutional management
No full textPresented Titles: An Exploration on the Overseas High-Level Talents Policy in China\u27s Double First-Class Universities in the Post-Epidemic Era [Author: Mian Lin] What Are the Challenges of the Mainland China Universities Encounter in Support of Psychological Adjustment of International Students Under the COVID-19? — a Preliminary Review of Controversial “Buddy Programme” [Author: Zeyu Kang] Effectiveness and Challenges in Engineering Education During COVID-19: A Case Study of Hong Kong [Authors: Anand Vyas; Chun-wah Leung; Wai-on Wong
Manufacturing of glass-fiber-reinforced dicyclopentadiene-matrix composites via frontal polymerization
No full textThe student, Sagar Ketan Vyas, accepted the attached license on 2020-03-05 at 10:28.A homogenized reaction-diffusion model is used to study the mechanism of frontal polymerization in glass-fiber-reinforced dicyclopentadiene-matrix composites by studying the effects of the material properties of the reinforcing phase on the velocity, temperature, and width of the reaction front. This model is also nondimensionalized and expressed in a general form in terms of two nondimensional parameters dependent on the material properties and cure kinetics of the composite system. The general nature of this formulation is exploited to generate a large dataset of reaction front velocities for resin chemistries that are similar to dicyclopentadiene (DCPD), which serves as the reference resin in this work. Finally, the homogenized reaction-diffusion model is used to investigate the temperature spike that occurs when two reaction fronts merge. A method to estimate the energy associated with the thermal spike is developed and applied to size a metal heat sink introduced to eliminate the thermal spike.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2022-05-01The student, Sagar Ketan Vyas, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2020-03-05 at 11:12.This Thesis was approved for publication on 2020-03-09 at 16:11.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #14886 on 2020-08-25 at 17:26:55Made available in DSpace on 2020-08-26T23:51:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3
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Previous issue date: 2020-03-09Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 115698
Lift date: 2022-08-26T23:51:32Z
Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemEmbargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 115698
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Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemEmbargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 115698
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Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemEmbargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 115698
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Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemEmbargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 115698
Lift date: 2022-08-26T23:58:55Z
Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemAuthor requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemU of I Onl
Open distance learning for sustainable development in India
No full textOpen and distance learning (ODL) is considered a significant medium for sustainable development in the information age of advanced learning. India, which is considered as the case study for this article, is facing the challenges of knowledge and information upgrading. In order to meet the demands of globalisation for sustainable development, in 1985 the Government of India established the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) by an Act of Parliament at national level. The aim of this article is to establish a coalition between ODL and sustainable development for the social, economic, vocational and educational strengthening of communities. The article explores the implementation of ODL methodologies that are utilised to empower the rural masses and functionaries in rural India. The author acknowledges that education and training in a non-formal setting can be significant in providing development at grass-root levels; and that ODL methodologies may have the potential to meet the requirements of education for sustainable development (ESD). The article, holistically, suggests the futuristic model(s) of distance training as a transformed form of capacity building. There is a need for a developmental model of education that provides for quality education, and offers the possibility of sustainable development to learners, job seekers and society as a whole.http://millennium.nwu.ac.za/search~S4?/sProgressio/sprogressio/1%2C2%2C2%2CB/c8561230868&FF=sprogressio+online&1%2C1%2C%2C1%2C
ODL for sustainable development in India
No full textOpen and distance learning (ODL) is considered a significant medium for sustainable
development in the information age of advanced learning. India, which is considered
as the case study for this article, is facing the challenges of knowledge and information
upgrading. In order to meet the demands of globalisation for sustainable development,
in 1985 the Government of India established the Indira Gandhi National Open
University (IGNOU) by an Act of Parliament at national level.
The aim of this article is to establish a coalition between ODL and sustainable
development for the social, economic, vocational and educational strengthening of
communities. The article explores the implementation of ODL methodologies that
are utilised to empower the rural masses and functionaries in rural India. The author
acknowledges that education and training in a non-formal setting can be significant
in providing development at grass-root levels; and that ODL methodologies may have
the potential to meet the requirements of education for sustainable development (ESD).
The article, holistically, suggests the futuristic model(s) of distance training as a
transformed form of capacity building. There is a need for a developmental model of
education that provides for quality education, and offers the possibility of sustainable
development to learners, job seekers and society as a whol
Target updating during reach-to-grasp actions in a virtual environment: behavioural correlates & pilot fMRI data
No full textInvestigating online sensorimotor interactions with neuroimaging techniques is highly challenging, both theoretically and methodologically. Little is known about how potential actions are selected and reprogrammed during ongoing movements, and how learning effects are triggered when updating internal models.
We first conducted a behavioural study adapting to a virtual environment a reaching-to-grasp task requiring online adjustments to a changing target, while recording kinematics and psychophysiological measures (HRV). Then, we piloted an fMRI study leveraging a novel system we developed (Motion Online Tracking Under MRI: MOTUM), that combines virtual reality (VR) with an amagnetic motion tracking setup to stream kinematics in real-time into an MRI-compatible VR headset.
Behavioral performance (accuracy, time to contact) generally improved in trials following an online adjustment. Univariate analyses of preliminary fMRI data showed that online motor program adjustments were supported by a parieto-frontal network involving supramarginal gyrus (SMG) and dorsal premotor cortex (PMd). This pilot study offers the first working example of online hand tracking with VR under fMRI and suggests that SMG triggers a cascade of events crucial for learning and for signalling urgency for a rapid action reprogramming, which is gated by premotor areas
Black market premia, exchange rate unification, and inflation in sub-Saharan Africa
No full textIn countries where the black market premium on foreign exchange is exceptionally high, often more than 100 percent, lowering the black market rate to a level close to the market determined official rate will improve the balance of payments and increase exports. Floating the currency to depreciate the real exchange rate and make exports more competitive can raise inflation substantially, however, as governments replace the lost revenue from exports. Inflation will occur even if real government spending remains constant unless there are new taxes or spending cuts to compensate for the loss of implicit tax revenues. To avoid costly surges in inflation, exchange rate reform may have to proceed slowly, otherwise the depreciation is likely to meet with considerable political and social opposition as inflation rises. Once the government closes the spread between the official and black market rates, it faces a decision on whether to continue with a float permanently. Evidence from developing countries over the next few years should give some insights into this issue.Economic Stabilization,Environmental Economics&Policies,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets,Economic Theory&Research
Usable Web 2.0 privacy management and medical imaging search: an ontology-based approach
No full textOntology is the study of categorization of concepts and their relations. In this thesis, I provide insight towards an idea of using ontology-based approach for systems of which I present it in two different contexts. First application is in User Privacy Management in Web 2.0 and the other is in Medical Imaging Search. Both applications use user-defined annotations within a standard framework to achieve the desired results. The central idea of our technique is that users are not required to have prior knowledge about the structure of the ontology to use the system. In the first application we use annotated data in Web 2.0 social networking applications to predict privacy preferences of users and automatically derive policies for shared content. We carry out a series of user studies to evaluate the accuracy of our prediction techniques. Our analysis gives encouraging results on the feasibility of using annotations for privacy management in Web 2.0. The second application is a system for annotation and retrieval of medical images, and is built on semantic web standards. By annotating data according to standard medical ontologies, it allows the user to construct complex queries that utilize background knowledge from the underlying ontologies. Our ontology-based approach allows for several features not available in existing keyword-based search engines.M.S.Includes abstractIncludes bibliographical referencesby Nitya Vya
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