WorldWideScience

Sample records for higher-order cognitive activities

  1. A Content Analysis of General Chemistry Laboratory Manuals for Evidence of Higher-Order Cognitive Tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domin, Daniel S.

    1999-01-01

    The science laboratory instructional environment is ideal for fostering the development of problem-solving, manipulative, and higher-order thinking skills: the skills needed by today's learner to compete in an ever increasing technology-based society. This paper reports the results of a content analysis of ten general chemistry laboratory manuals. Three experiments from each manual were examined for evidence of higher-order cognitive activities. Analysis was based upon the six major cognitive categories of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The results of this study show that the overwhelming majority of general chemistry laboratory manuals provide tasks that require the use of only the lower-order cognitive skills: knowledge, comprehension, and application. Two of the laboratory manuals were disparate in having activities that utilized higher-order cognition. I describe the instructional strategies used within these manuals to foster higher-order cognitive development.

  2. Sleep inertia, sleep homeostatic and circadian influences on higher-order cognitive functions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burke, Tina M; Scheer, Frank A J L; Ronda, Joseph M; Czeisler, Charles A; Wright, Kenneth P

    2015-08-01

    Sleep inertia, sleep homeostatic and circadian processes modulate cognition, including reaction time, memory, mood and alertness. How these processes influence higher-order cognitive functions is not well known. Six participants completed a 73-day-long study that included two 14-day-long 28-h forced desynchrony protocols to examine separate and interacting influences of sleep inertia, sleep homeostasis and circadian phase on higher-order cognitive functions of inhibitory control and selective visual attention. Cognitive performance for most measures was impaired immediately after scheduled awakening and improved during the first ~2-4 h of wakefulness (decreasing sleep inertia); worsened thereafter until scheduled bedtime (increasing sleep homeostasis); and was worst at ~60° and best at ~240° (circadian modulation, with worst and best phases corresponding to ~09:00 and ~21:00 hours, respectively, in individuals with a habitual wake time of 07:00 hours). The relative influences of sleep inertia, sleep homeostasis and circadian phase depended on the specific higher-order cognitive function task examined. Inhibitory control appeared to be modulated most strongly by circadian phase, whereas selective visual attention for a spatial-configuration search task was modulated most strongly by sleep inertia. These findings demonstrate that some higher-order cognitive processes are differentially sensitive to different sleep-wake regulatory processes. Differential modulation of cognitive functions by different sleep-wake regulatory processes has important implications for understanding mechanisms contributing to performance impairments during adverse circadian phases, sleep deprivation and/or upon awakening from sleep. © 2015 European Sleep Research Society.

  3. A single dose of oxytocin nasal spray improves higher-order social cognition in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guastella, Adam J; Ward, Philip B; Hickie, Ian B; Shahrestani, Sara; Hodge, Marie Antoinette Redoblado; Scott, Elizabeth M; Langdon, Robyn

    2015-11-01

    Schizophrenia is associated with significant impairments in both higher and lower order social cognitive performance and these impairments contribute to poor social functioning. People with schizophrenia report poor social functioning to be one of their greatest unmet treatment needs. Recent studies have suggested the potential of oxytocin as such a treatment, but mixed results render it uncertain what aspects of social cognition are improved by oxytocin and, subsequently, how oxytocin might best be applied as a therapeutic. The aim of this study was to determine whether a single dose of oxytocin improved higher-order and lower-order social cognition performance for patients with schizophrenia across a well-established battery of social cognition tests. Twenty-one male patients received both a single dose of oxytocin nasal spray (24IU) and a placebo, two weeks apart in a randomized within-subjects placebo controlled design. Following each administration, participants completed the social cognition tasks, as well as a test of general neurocognition. Results revealed that oxytocin particularly enhanced performance on higher order social cognition tasks, with no effects on general neurocognition. Results for individual tasks showed most improvement on tests measuring appreciation of indirect hints and recognition of social faux pas. These results suggest that oxytocin, if combined to enhance social cognition learning, may be beneficial when targeted at higher order social cognition domains. This study also suggests that these higher order tasks, which assess social cognitive processing in a social communication context, may provide useful markers of response to oxytocin in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. What the CERAD Battery Can Tell Us about Executive Function as a Higher-Order Cognitive Faculty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rochelle E. Tractenberg

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Executive function (EF is believed to control or influence the integration and application of cognitive functions such as attention and memory and is an important area of research in cognitive aging. Recent studies and reviews have concluded that there is no single test for EF. Results from first-order latent variable modeling have suggested that little, if any, variability in cognitive performance can be directly (and uniquely attributed to EF; so instead, we modeled EF, as it is conceptualized, as a higher-order function, using elements of the CERAD neuropsychological battery. Responses to subtests from two large, independent cohorts of nondemented elderly persons were modeled with three theoretically plausible structural models using confirmatory factor analysis. Robust fit statistics, generated for the two cohorts separately, were consistent and support the conceptualization of EF as a higher-order cognitive faculty. Although not specifically designed to assess EF, subtests of the CERAD battery provide theoretically and empirically robust evidence about the nature of EF in elderly adults.

  5. Strategic Learning in Youth with Traumatic Brain Injury: Evidence for Stall in Higher-Order Cognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gamino, Jacquelyn F.; Chapman, Sandra B.; Cook, Lori G.

    2009-01-01

    Little is known about strategic learning ability in preteens and adolescents with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Strategic learning is the ability to combine and synthesize details to form abstracted gist-based meanings, a higher-order cognitive skill associated with frontal lobe functions and higher classroom performance. Summarization tasks were…

  6. Cognitive analysis of physicians' medication ordering activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pelayo, Sylvia; Leroy, Nicolas; Guerlinger, Sandra; Degoulet, Patrice; Meaux, Jean-Jacques; Beuscart-Zéphir, Marie-Catherine

    2005-01-01

    Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) addresses critical functions in healthcare systems. As the name clearly indicates, these systems focus on order entry. With regard to medication orders, such systems generally force physicians to enter exhaustively documented orders. But a cognitive analysis of the physician's medication ordering task shows that order entry is the last (and least) important step of the entire cognitive therapeutic decision making task. We performed a comparative analysis of these complex cognitive tasks in two working environments, computer-based and paper-based. The results showed that information gathering, selection and interpretation are critical cognitive functions to support the therapeutic decision making. Thus the most important requirement from the physician's perspective would be an efficient display of relevant information provided first in the form of a summarized view of the patient's current treatment, followed by in a more detailed focused display of those items pertinent to the current situation. The CPOE system examined obviously failed to provide the physicians this critical summarized view. Following these results, consistent with users' complaints, the Company decided to engage in a significant re-engineering process of their application.

  7. Higher-order force moments of active particles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nasouri, Babak; Elfring, Gwynn J.

    2018-04-01

    Active particles moving through fluids generate disturbance flows due to their activity. For simplicity, the induced flow field is often modeled by the leading terms in a far-field approximation of the Stokes equations, whose coefficients are the force, torque, and stresslet (zeroth- and first-order force moments) of the active particle. This level of approximation is quite useful, but may also fail to predict more complex behaviors that are observed experimentally. In this study, to provide a better approximation, we evaluate the contribution of the second-order force moments to the flow field and, by reciprocal theorem, present explicit formulas for the stresslet dipole, rotlet dipole, and potential dipole for an arbitrarily shaped active particle. As examples of this method, we derive modified Faxén laws for active spherical particles and resolve higher-order moments for active rod-like particles.

  8. The impact of constructivist teaching strategies on the acquisition of higher order cognition and learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merrill, Alison Saricks

    The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative mixed design study was to compare the effectiveness of brain-based teaching strategies versus a traditional lecture format in the acquisition of higher order cognition as determined by test scores. A second purpose was to elicit student feedback about the two teaching approaches. The design was a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design study with repeated measures on the last factor. The independent variables were type of student, teaching method, and a within group change over time. Dependent variables were a between group comparison of pre-test, post-test gain scores and a within and between group comparison of course examination scores. A convenience sample of students enrolled in medical-surgical nursing was used. One group (n=36) was made up of traditional students and the other group (n=36) consisted of second-degree students. Four learning units were included in this study. Pre- and post-tests were given on the first two units. Course examinations scores from all four units were compared. In one cohort two of the units were taught via lecture format and two using constructivist activities. These methods were reversed for the other cohort. The conceptual basis for this study derives from neuroscience and cognitive psychology. Learning is defined as the growth of new dendrites. Cognitive psychologists view learning as a constructive activity in which new knowledge is built on an internal foundation of existing knowledge. Constructivist teaching strategies are designed to stimulate the brain's natural learning ability. There was a statistically significant difference based on type of teaching strategy (t = -2.078, df = 270, p = .039, d = .25)) with higher mean scores on the examinations covering brain-based learning units. There was no statistical significance based on type of student. Qualitative data collection was conducted in an on-line forum at the end of the semester. Students had overall positive responses about the

  9. Higher-order chaotic oscillator using active bessel filter

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lindberg, Erik; Mykolaitis, Gytis; Bumelien, Skaidra

    2010-01-01

    A higher-order oscillator, including a nonlinear unit and an 8th-order low-pass active Bessel filter is described. The Bessel unit plays the role of "three-in-one": a delay line, an amplifier and a filter. Results of hardware experiments and numerical simulation are presented. Depending...

  10. Recurrent activity in higher order, modality non-specific brain regions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lou, Hans Olav Christensen; Joensson, Morten; Biermann-Ruben, Katja

    2011-01-01

    It has been proposed that the workings of the brain are mainly intrinsically generated recurrent neuronal activity, with sensory inputs as modifiers of such activity in both sensory and higher order modality non-specific regions. This is supported by the demonstration of recurrent neuronal activity...... in the visual system as a response to visual stimulation. In contrast recurrent activity has never been demonstrated before in higher order modality non-specific regions. Using magneto-encephalography and Granger causality analysis, we tested in a paralimbic network the hypothesis that stimulation may enhance...... causal recurrent interaction between higher-order, modality non-specific regions. The network includes anterior cingulate/medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate/medial parietal cortices together with pulvinar thalami, a network known to be effective in autobiographic memory retrieval and self...

  11. Analogy, higher order thinking, and education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richland, Lindsey Engle; Simms, Nina

    2015-01-01

    Analogical reasoning, the ability to understand phenomena as systems of structured relationships that can be aligned, compared, and mapped together, plays a fundamental role in the technology rich, increasingly globalized educational climate of the 21st century. Flexible, conceptual thinking is prioritized in this view of education, and schools are emphasizing 'higher order thinking', rather than memorization of a cannon of key topics. The lack of a cognitively grounded definition for higher order thinking, however, has led to a field of research and practice with little coherence across domains or connection to the large body of cognitive science research on thinking. We review literature on analogy and disciplinary higher order thinking to propose that relational reasoning can be productively considered the cognitive underpinning of higher order thinking. We highlight the utility of this framework for developing insights into practice through a review of mathematics, science, and history educational contexts. In these disciplines, analogy is essential to developing expert-like disciplinary knowledge in which concepts are understood to be systems of relationships that can be connected and flexibly manipulated. At the same time, analogies in education require explicit support to ensure that learners notice the relevance of relational thinking, have adequate processing resources available to mentally hold and manipulate relations, and are able to recognize both the similarities and differences when drawing analogies between systems of relationships. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  12. Effects of Higher-order Cognitive Strategy Training on Gist Reasoning and Fact Learning in Adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacquelyn F Gamino

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Improving the reasoning skills of adolescents across the United States has become a major concern for educators and scientists who are dedicated to identifying evidence-based protocols to improve student outcome. This small sample randomized, control pilot study sought to determine the efficacy of higher-order cognitive training on gist-reasoning and fact-learning in an inner-city public middle school. The study compared gist-reasoning and fact-learning performances after training in a smaller sample when tested in Spanish, many of the students’ native language, versus English. The 54 eighth grade students who participated in this pilot study were enrolled in an urban middle school, predominantly from lower socio-economic status families, and were primarily of minority descent. The students were randomized into one of three groups, one that learned cognitive strategies promoting abstraction of meaning, a group that learned rote memory strategies, or a control group to ascertain the impact of each program on gist-reasoning and fact-learning from text-based information. We found that the students who had cognitive strategy instruction that entailed abstraction of meaning significantly improved their gist-reasoning and fact-learning ability. The students who learned rote memory strategies significantly improved their fact-learning scores from a text but not gist-reasoning ability. The control group showed no significant change in either gist-reasoning or fact-learning ability. A trend toward significant improvement in overall reading scores for the group that learned to abstract meaning as well as a significant correlation between gist-reasoning ability and the critical thinking on a state-mandated standardized reading test was also found. There were no significant differences between English and Spanish performance of gist reasoning and fact learning. Our findings suggest that teaching higher-order cognitive strategies facilitates gist

  13. Normal weight children have higher cognitive performance - Independent of physical activity, sleep, and diet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hjorth, Mads F; Sørensen, Louise B; Andersen, Rikke; Dyssegaard, Camilla B; Ritz, Christian; Tetens, Inge; Michaelsen, Kim F; Astrup, Arne; Egelund, Niels; Sjödin, Anders

    2016-10-15

    Aside from the health consequences, observational studies indicate that being overweight may also negatively affect cognitive function. However, existing evidence has to a large extent not controlled for the possible confounding effect of having different lifestyles. Therefore, the objective was to examine the independent associations between weight status and lifestyle indicators with cognitive performance in 8-11year old Danish children. The analyses included 828 children (measured in 2011-2012) each having one to three measurement occasions separated by approximately 100days. Dietary intake, physical activity, sedentary time, and sleep duration were measured using dietary records and accelerometers. The Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire was used to access sleep problems and the Andersen test was carried out to estimate cardio-respiratory fitness (CRF). Weight status (underweight, normal weight, and overweight/obese) was defined according to body mass index and cognitive performance was assessed using the d2-test of attention, a reading test, and a math test. A linear mixed model including a number of fixed and random effects was used to test associations between lifestyle indicators as well as BMI category and cognitive performance. After adjustment for demographics, socioeconomics, and multiple lifestyle indicators, normal weight children had higher cognitive test scores than overweight/obese and underweight children of up to 89% and 48% of expected learning within one school year (Pbreakfast consumption, fewer sleep problems, higher CRF, less total physical activity, more sedentary time, and less light physical activity were associated with higher cognitive performance independently of each other in at least one of the three cognitive tests (Pperformance compared to overweight/obese as well as underweight children, independent of multiple lifestyle indicators. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Normal weight children have higher cognitive performance – Independent of physical activity, sleep, and diet

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hjorth, Mads F.; Sørensen, Louise B.; Andersen, Rikke

    2016-01-01

    % of expected learning within one school year (P breakfast consumption, fewer sleep problems, higher CRF, less total physical activity, more sedentary time, and less light physical activity were associated with higher cognitive performance independently of each other in at least one of the three...

  15. Higher-order thinking in foreign language learning

    OpenAIRE

    Bastos, Ascensão; Ramos, Altina

    2017-01-01

    A project is being conducted in English as a foreign language (EFL), involving eleventh graders in formal and non-formal learning contexts, in a Portuguese high school. The goal of this study is to examine the impact of cognitive tools and higher-order thinking processes on the learning of EFL and achievement of larger processes oriented to action, involving problem solving, decision-making and creation of new products. YouTube videos emerge as cognitive tools in the process. Final results sh...

  16. From higher order thinking to higher order behavior: exploring the relationship between early cognitive skills and social competence in black boys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Kristin M; Barbarin, Oscar A; Brown, Jeffrey M

    2013-01-01

    This study examines the relations of higher order (i.e., abstract) thinking (HOT) skills to specific domains of social competence in Black boys (n = 108) attending publicly sponsored prekindergarten (pre-K) programs. Data for the study were collected as part of the National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) Multi-State Study, a national, longitudinal study examining the quality and outcomes in a representative sample of publicly sponsored pre-K programs in six states (N = 240). Pre-K and kindergarten teachers rated randomly selected children on measures of abstract thinking, self-regulation, and social functioning at the beginning and end of each school year. Applying structural equation modeling, compared with earlier time points, HOT measured in the fall of kindergarten significantly predicted each of the domains of social competence in the spring of kindergarten, with the exception of peer social skills, while controlling for general cognitive ability. Results suggest that early intervention to improve HOT may be an effective and more focused approach to address concerns about Black boys' early social competencies in specific domains and potentially reduce the risk of later social difficulties. © 2013 American Orthopsychiatric Association.

  17. PRE-SERVICE MATHEMATICS TEACHERS’ CONCEPTION OF HIGHER-ORDER THINKING LEVEL IN BLOOM'S TAXONOMY

    OpenAIRE

    Damianus D Samo

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to explore pre-service mathematics teachers' conception of higher-order thinking in Bloom's Taxonomy, to explore pre-service mathematics teachers' ability in categorizing six cognitive levels of Bloom's Taxonomy as lower-order thinking and higher-order thinking, and pre-service mathematics teachers' ability in identifying some questionable items as lower-order and higher-order thinking. The higher-order thinking is the type of non-algorithm thinking which include ...

  18. Leisure activity associated with cognitive ability level, but not cognitive change

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gow, Alan John; Avlund, Kirsten; Mortensen, Erik L

    2014-01-01

    Although activity participation is promoted as cognitively protective, critical questions of causality remain. In a cohort followed every 5 years from age 75 to 85 years, potential reciprocal associations between level and change in leisure activity participation and level and change in cognitive...... abilities were examined. Participants in the Glostrup 1914 Cohort, a longitudinal study of aging, completed standardized cognitive ability tests and reported their leisure activity participation (11 activities defined a leisure activity score) at ages 75, 80, and 85. Higher leisure activity was associated...... with higher cognitive ability (significant correlations ranged from 0.15 to 0.31, p cognitive ability declined significantly. Growth curve models, which provided latent variables for level of and 10-year change in both leisure activity...

  19. Redesigning a course to help students achieve higher-order cognitive thinking skills: from goals and mechanics to student outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casagrand, Janet; Semsar, Katharine

    2017-06-01

    Here we describe a 4-yr course reform and its outcomes. The upper-division neurophysiology course gradually transformed from a traditional lecture in 2004 to a more student-centered course in 2008, through the addition of evidence-based active learning practices, such as deliberate problem-solving practice on homework and peer learning structures, both inside and outside of class. Due to the incremental nature of the reforms and absence of pre-reform learning assessments, we needed a way to retrospectively assess the effectiveness of our efforts. To do this, we first looked at performance on 12 conserved exam questions. Students performed significantly higher post-reform on questions requiring lower-level cognitive skills and those requiring higher-level cognitive skills. Furthermore, student performance on conserved questions was higher post-reform in both the top and bottom quartiles of students, although lower-quartile student performance did not improve until after the first exam. To examine student learning more broadly, we also used Bloom's taxonomy to quantify a significant increase in the Bloom's level of exams, with students performing equally well post-reform on exams that had over twice as many questions at higher cognitive skill levels. Finally, we believe that four factors provided critical contributions to the success of the course reform, including: transformation efforts across multiple course components, alignment between formative and evaluative course materials, student buy-in to course instruction, and instructional support. This reform demonstrates both the effectiveness of incorporating student-centered, active learning into our course, and the utility of using Bloom's level as a metric to assess course reform. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

  20. Predicting early academic achievement: The role of higher-versus lower-order personality traits

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zupančič Maja

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The study explored the role of children’s (N = 193 individual differences and parental characteristics at the beginning of the first year of schooling in predicting students’ attainment of academic standards at the end of the year. Special attention was paid to children’s personality as perceived by the teachers’ assistants. Along with parents’ education, parenting practices and first-graders’ cognitive ability, the incremental predictive power of children’s higher-order (robust personality traits was compared to the contribution of lower-order (specific traits in explaining academic achievement. The specific traits provided a somewhat more accurate prediction than the robust traits. Unique contributions of maternal authoritative parenting, children’s cognitive ability, and personality to academic achievement were established. The ratings of first-graders’ conscientiousness (a higher-order trait improved the prediction of academic achievement based on parenting and cognitive ability by 12%, whereas assistant teacher’s perceived children’s intelligence and low antagonism (lower-order traits improved the prediction by 17%.

  1. Alignment of learning objectives and assessments in therapeutics courses to foster higher-order thinking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    FitzPatrick, Beverly; Hawboldt, John; Doyle, Daniel; Genge, Terri

    2015-02-17

    To determine whether national educational outcomes, course objectives, and classroom assessments for 2 therapeutics courses were aligned for curricular content and cognitive processes, and if they included higher-order thinking. Document analysis and student focus groups were used. Outcomes, objectives, and assessment tasks were matched for specific therapeutics content and cognitive processes. Anderson and Krathwohl's Taxonomy was used to define higher-order thinking. Students discussed whether assessments tested objectives and described their thinking when responding to assessments. There were 7 outcomes, 31 objectives, and 412 assessment tasks. The alignment for content and cognitive processes was not satisfactory. Twelve students participated in the focus groups. Students thought more short-answer questions than multiple choice questions matched the objectives for content and required higher-order thinking. The alignment analysis provided data that could be used to reveal and strengthen the enacted curriculum and improve student learning.

  2. Visual Acuity does not Moderate Effect Sizes of Higher-Level Cognitive Tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houston, James R.; Bennett, Ilana J.; Allen, Philip A.; Madden, David J.

    2016-01-01

    Background Declining visual capacities in older adults have been posited as a driving force behind adult age differences in higher-order cognitive functions (e.g., the “common cause” hypothesis of Lindenberger & Baltes, 1994). McGowan, Patterson and Jordan (2013) also found that a surprisingly large number of published cognitive aging studies failed to include adequate measures of visual acuity. However, a recent meta-analysis of three studies (LaFleur & Salthouse, 2014) failed to find evidence that visual acuity moderated or mediated age differences in higher-level cognitive processes. In order to provide a more extensive test of whether visual acuity moderates age differences in higher-level cognitive processes, we conducted a more extensive meta-analysis of topic. Methods Using results from 456 studies, we calculated effect sizes for the main effect of age across four cognitive domains (attention, executive function, memory, and perception/language) separately for five levels of visual acuity criteria (no criteria, undisclosed criteria, self-reported acuity, 20/80-20/31, and 20/30 or better). Results As expected, age had a significant effect on each cognitive domain. However, these age effects did not further differ as a function of visual acuity criteria. Conclusion The current meta-analytic, cross-sectional results suggest that visual acuity is not significantly related to age group differences in higher-level cognitive performance—thereby replicating LaFleur and Salthouse (2014). Further efforts are needed to determine whether other measures of visual functioning (e.g. contrast sensitivity, luminance) affect age differences in cognitive functioning. PMID:27070044

  3. Higher-Order Cyclostationarity Detection for Spectrum Sensing

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    Julien Renard

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Recent years have shown a growing interest in the concept of Cognitive Radios (CRs, able to access portions of the electromagnetic spectrum in an opportunistic operating way. Such systems require efficient detectors able to work in low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR environments, with little or no information about the signals they are trying to detect. Energy detectors are widely used to perform such blind detection tasks, but quickly reach the so-called SNR wall below which detection becomes impossible Tandra (2005. Cyclostationarity detectors are an interesting alternative to energy detectors, as they exploit hidden periodicities present in man-made signals, but absent in noise. Such detectors use quadratic transformations of the signals to extract the hidden sine-waves. While most of the literature focuses on the second-order transformations of the signals, we investigate the potential of higher-order transformations of the signals. Using the theory of Higher-Order Cyclostationarity (HOCS, we derive a fourth-order detector that performs similarly to the second-order ones to detect linearly modulated signals, at SNR around 0 dB, which may be used if the signals of interest do not exhibit second-order cyclostationarity. More generally this paper reviews the relevant aspects of the cyclostationary and HOCS theory, and shows their potential for spectrum sensing.

  4. Critical and Higher Order Thinking in Online Threaded Discussions in the Slovak Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katarina Pisutova-Gerber

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available This article describes and analyzes efforts to use collaborative asynchronous discussion forums in a three semester online education program for NGO leaders and managers in Slovakia. Slovakia, as a country with autocratic styles of teacher-centered education, presents strong barriers to the implementation of collaborative learning activities. The authors used Garrison’s four stage cognitive processing categories to analyze some of the online discussions in the program. The two higher order critical thinking categories – integration and solution – appeared in student discussions only when prompted by specific instructional techniques.

  5. In-Service Teacher Education: Asking Questions for Higher Order Thinking in Visual Literacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moodley, Visvaganthie

    2013-01-01

    The kinds of questions teachers ask may thwart or promote learner high-order thinking; teachers themselves must have expertise in questioning skills to promote higher order cognition among learners. Drawing on experiential knowledge of assessment, and as an English-teaching professional development programme (PDP) facilitator, I demonstrate that…

  6. In-service teacher education: asking questions for higher order thinking in visual literacy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Visvaganthie Moodley

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The kinds of questions teachers ask may thwart or promote learner high-order thinking; teachers themselves must have expertise in questioning skills to promote higher order cognition among learners. Drawing on experiential knowledge of assessment, and as an English-teaching professional development programme (PDP facilitator, I demonstrate that within the framework of a carefully structured subject-specific PDP, teachers can be taught how to enhance thinking skills in the English visual literacy (VL learning classroom. Guided by an earlier taxonomy of cognition, and using qualitative methodology, the paper analyses data obtained from: (i observation notes and examination equivalents of 40 teachers from various public schools in Gauteng who were engaged in the Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE, English specialization programme; and (ii a case study of three teachers by means of semi-structured interviews, and a study of their lesson plans and worksheets.The paper examines, specifically, teachers' choice of texts and questions asked, for English second-language learners for the teaching of VL. It concludes by suggesting that if teachers themselves are first engaged in the cognitive processes they wish learners to acquire, they are better positioned to promote higher order among their learners.

  7. Developmental maturation of dynamic causal control signals in higher-order cognition: a neurocognitive network model.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaustubh Supekar

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Cognitive skills undergo protracted developmental changes resulting in proficiencies that are a hallmark of human cognition. One skill that develops over time is the ability to problem solve, which in turn relies on cognitive control and attention abilities. Here we use a novel multimodal neurocognitive network-based approach combining task-related fMRI, resting-state fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI to investigate the maturation of control processes underlying problem solving skills in 7-9 year-old children. Our analysis focused on two key neurocognitive networks implicated in a wide range of cognitive tasks including control: the insula-cingulate salience network, anchored in anterior insula (AI, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex, and the fronto-parietal central executive network, anchored in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and posterior parietal cortex (PPC. We found that, by age 9, the AI node of the salience network is a major causal hub initiating control signals during problem solving. Critically, despite stronger AI activation, the strength of causal regulatory influences from AI to the PPC node of the central executive network was significantly weaker and contributed to lower levels of behavioral performance in children compared to adults. These results were validated using two different analytic methods for estimating causal interactions in fMRI data. In parallel, DTI-based tractography revealed weaker AI-PPC structural connectivity in children. Our findings point to a crucial role of AI connectivity, and its causal cross-network influences, in the maturation of dynamic top-down control signals underlying cognitive development. Overall, our study demonstrates how a unified neurocognitive network model when combined with multimodal imaging enhances our ability to generalize beyond individual task-activated foci and provides a common framework for elucidating key features of brain and cognitive

  8. John Carroll’s Views on Intelligence: Bi-Factor vs. Higher-Order Models

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    A. Alexander Beaujean

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The development of factor models is inextricably tied to the history of intelligence research. One of the most commonly-cited scholars in the field is John Carroll, whose three-stratum theory of cognitive ability has been one of the most influential models of cognitive ability in the past 20 years. Nonetheless, there is disagreement about how Carroll conceptualized the factors in his model. Some argue that his model is best represented through a higher-order model, while others argue that a bi-factor model is a better representation. Carroll was explicit about what he perceived the best way to represent his model, but his writings are not always easy to understand. In this article, I clarify his position by first describing the details and implications of bi-factor and higher-order models then show that Carroll’s published views are better represented by a bi-factor model.

  9. Temperature dependent investigation on optically active process of higher-order bands in irradiated silicon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shi Yi; Nanjing Univ., JS; Wu Fengmei; Nanjing Univ., JS; Zheng Youdou; Nanjing Univ., JS; Suezawa, M.; Imai, M.; Sumino, K.

    1996-01-01

    Optically active processes of the higher-order bands (HOB) are investigated at different temperatures in fast neutron irradiated silicon using Fourier transform infrared absorption measurement. It is shown that the optically active process is nearly temperature independent below 80 K, the slow decay process remains up to a heating temperature of 180 K. The observations are analyzed in terms of the relaxation behavior of photoexcited carriers governed by fast neutron radiation induced defect clusters. (orig.)

  10. Psilocybin disrupts sensory and higher order cognitive processing but not pre-attentive cognitive processing-study on P300 and mismatch negativity in healthy volunteers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bravermanová, Anna; Viktorinová, Michaela; Tylš, Filip; Novák, Tomáš; Androvičová, Renáta; Korčák, Jakub; Horáček, Jiří; Balíková, Marie; Griškova-Bulanova, Inga; Danielová, Dominika; Vlček, Přemysl; Mohr, Pavel; Brunovský, Martin; Koudelka, Vlastimil; Páleníček, Tomáš

    2018-02-01

    Disruption of auditory event-related evoked potentials (ERPs) P300 and mismatch negativity (MMN), electrophysiological markers of attentive and pre-attentive cognitive processing, is repeatedly described in psychosis and schizophrenia. Similar findings were observed in a glutamatergic model of psychosis, but the role of serotonergic 5-HT 2A receptors in information processing is less clear. We studied ERPs in a serotonergic model of psychosis, induced by psilocybin, a psychedelic with 5-HT 2A/C agonistic properties, in healthy volunteers. Twenty subjects (10M/10F) were given 0.26 mg/kg of psilocybin orally in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over design. ERPs (P300, MMN) were registered during the peak of intoxication. Correlations between measured electrophysiological variables and psilocin serum levels and neuropsychological effects were also analyzed. Psilocybin induced robust psychedelic effects and psychotic-like symptoms, decreased P300 amplitude (p = 0.009) but did not affect the MMN. Psilocybin's disruptive effect on P300 correlated with the intensity of the psychedelic state, which was dependent on the psilocin serum levels. We also observed a decrease in N100 amplitude (p = 0.039) in the P300 paradigm and a negative correlation between P300 and MMN amplitude (p = 0.014). Even though pre-attentive cognition (MMN) was not affected, processing at the early perceptual level (N100) and in higher-order cognition (P300) was significantly disrupted by psilocybin. Our results have implications for the role of 5-HT 2A receptors in altered information processing in psychosis and schizophrenia.

  11. The advantage of higher-order theory of mind in the game of limited bidding

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De Weerd, H.; Verheij, B.; van Eijck, J.; Verbrugge, L. C.

    2011-01-01

    Higher-order theory of mind is the ability to recursively model mental states of other agents. It is known that adults in general can reason adequately at the second order (covering attributions like "Alice knows that Bob knows that she wrote a novel under pseudonym"), but there are cognitive limits

  12. Higher-order (non-)modularity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Appel, Claus; van Oostrom, Vincent; Simonsen, Jakob Grue

    2010-01-01

    We show that, contrary to the situation in first-order term rewriting, almost none of the usual properties of rewriting are modular for higher-order rewriting, irrespective of the higher-order rewriting format. We show that for the particular format of simply typed applicative term rewriting...... systems modularity of confluence, normalization, and termination can be recovered by imposing suitable linearity constraints....

  13. Order information coding in working memory: Review of behavioural studies and cognitive mechanisms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbara Dolenc

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Executive processes, such as coding for sequential order, are of extreme importance for higher-order cognitive tasks. One of the significant questions is, how order information is coded in working memory and what cognitive mechanisms and processes mediate it. The aim of this review paper is to summarize results of studies that explore whether order and item memory are two separable processes. Furthermore, we reviewed evidence for each of the proposed cognitive mechanism that might mediate order processing. Previous behavioural and neuroimaging data suggest different representation and processing of item and order information in working memory. Both information are maintained and recalled separately and this separation seems to hold for recognition as well as for recall. To explain the result of studies of order coding, numerous cognitive mechanisms were proposed. We focused on four different mechanisms by which order information might be coded and retrieved, namely inter-item associations, direct coding, hierarchical coding and magnitude coding. Each of the mechanisms can explain some of the aspect of order information coding, however none of them is able to explain all of the empirical findings. Due to its complex nature it is not surprising that a single mechanism has difficulties accounting for all the behavioral data and order memory may be more accurately characterized as the result of a set of mechanisms rather than a single one. Moreover, the findings beget a question of whether different types of memory for order information might exist.

  14. Psychosocial Practices that Enhance Cognitive Activity in Dementia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neslihan Lok

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The daily lives of individuals with dementia, cognitive aspects need to be strengthened in order to maintain the quality. For this reason, dementia, cognitive, psycho-social applications there is a need to increase activity. Dementia drug treatment interventions used as an aid to increase cognitive activity. These interventions, behavior, emotion, perception and stimulation-oriented approaches can be classified into four groups. Dementia cognitive enhancer activity and an older group, this intervention and dissemination practices for selecting the most appropriate method to be applied. All psychosocial practices to increase cognitive activity psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse specialists, psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists can with the condition to study the relevant therapy. [Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry 2014; 6(3.000: 210-216

  15. Certified higher-order recursive path ordering

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koprowski, A.; Pfenning, F.

    2006-01-01

    The paper reports on a formalization of a proof of wellfoundedness of the higher-order recursive path ordering (HORPO) in the proof checker Coq. The development is axiom-free and fully constructive. Three substantive parts that could be used also in other developments are the formalizations of the

  16. Birth Order and Child Cognitive Outcomes: An Exploration of the Parental Time Mechanism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monfardini, Chiara; See, Sarah Grace

    2016-01-01

    Higher birth order positions are associated with poorer outcomes due to smaller shares of resources received within the household. Using a sample of Panel Study of Income Dynamics-Child Development Supplement children, we investigate if the negative birth order effect we find in cognitive outcomes is due to unequal allocation of mother and father…

  17. Predicting perceptual learning from higher-order cortical processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Fang; Huang, Jing; Lv, Yaping; Ma, Xiaoli; Yang, Bin; Wang, Encong; Du, Boqi; Li, Wu; Song, Yan

    2016-01-01

    Visual perceptual learning has been shown to be highly specific to the retinotopic location and attributes of the trained stimulus. Recent psychophysical studies suggest that these specificities, which have been associated with early retinotopic visual cortex, may in fact not be inherent in perceptual learning and could be related to higher-order brain functions. Here we provide direct electrophysiological evidence in support of this proposition. In a series of event-related potential (ERP) experiments, we recorded high-density electroencephalography (EEG) from human adults over the course of learning in a texture discrimination task (TDT). The results consistently showed that the earliest C1 component (68-84ms), known to reflect V1 activity driven by feedforward inputs, was not modulated by learning regardless of whether the behavioral improvement is location specific or not. In contrast, two later posterior ERP components (posterior P1 and P160-350) over the occipital cortex and one anterior ERP component (anterior P160-350) over the prefrontal cortex were progressively modified day by day. Moreover, the change of the anterior component was closely correlated with improved behavioral performance on a daily basis. Consistent with recent psychophysical and imaging observations, our results indicate that perceptual learning can mainly involve changes in higher-level visual cortex as well as in the neural networks responsible for cognitive functions such as attention and decision making. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Intellectual and physical activities, but not social activities, are associated with better global cognition: a multi-site evaluation of the cognition and lifestyle activity study for seniors in Asia (CLASSA).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lam, Linda C W; Ong, Paulus Anam; Dikot, Yustiani; Sofiatin, Yulia; Wang, Huali; Zhao, Mei; Li, Wenxiu; Dominguez, Jacqueline; Natividad, Boots; Yusoff, Suraya; Fu, Jong-Ling; Senanarong, Vorapun; Fung, Ada W T; Lai, Ken

    2015-09-01

    population ageing will lead to a leap in the dementia population in Asia. However, information about potentials for low-cost and low-risk interventions is limited. to study the associations between lifestyle activities and global cognition from the Cognitive and Lifestyle Activity Study for Seniors in Asia (CLASSA). a cross-sectional study. we studied the association between global cognition and lifestyle activity participation in community living older adults (60 years or over) across nine sites in East Asia. A standardised lifestyle activity questionnaire exploring activities from four categories (intellectual, physical, social and recreational) was used to measure the pattern. Global cognition was categorised by locally validated versions of Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) or Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) (good cognition, GC-scored at the top 25% among participants with no significant cognitive deficit (SCD); normal cognition, NC-middle 50% among participants with no SCD; mild cognitive deficit, MCD-lowest 25% among participants with no SCD; SCD-below local cut-offs for dementia). two thousand four hundred and four (1,009 men; 1,395 women) participants were recruited. The mean age was 71.0 (7.2) years. A higher variety of intellectual and physical activities were associated with GC; more social activities were associated with higher risks of having impaired cognition (multinomial logistic regression). The same association was found in participants with no SCD and had regular activities for over 10 years (n = 574). intellectual activity and physical exercise were associated with better cognitive states in Asian older adults. Community-based intervention may take considerations into specific types of activities to optimise cognition. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  19. Information Communication Technology in the Form of an Expert System Shell as a Cognitive Tool to Facilitate Higher-Order Thinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, Gary W.; Knoetze, Johan G.

    2014-01-01

    Information communication technology is capable of contributing supplementary teaching and learning strategies that can be used to address various educational challenges faced by higher education. Students who enter South African higher education institutions are often academically under-prepared and have not developed the cognitive skills…

  20. Chronnectome fingerprinting: Identifying individuals and predicting higher cognitive functions using dynamic brain connectivity patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jin; Liao, Xuhong; Xia, Mingrui; He, Yong

    2018-02-01

    The human brain is a large, interacting dynamic network, and its architecture of coupling among brain regions varies across time (termed the "chronnectome"). However, very little is known about whether and how the dynamic properties of the chronnectome can characterize individual uniqueness, such as identifying individuals as a "fingerprint" of the brain. Here, we employed multiband resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from the Human Connectome Project (N = 105) and a sliding time-window dynamic network analysis approach to systematically examine individual time-varying properties of the chronnectome. We revealed stable and remarkable individual variability in three dynamic characteristics of brain connectivity (i.e., strength, stability, and variability), which was mainly distributed in three higher order cognitive systems (i.e., default mode, dorsal attention, and fronto-parietal) and in two primary systems (i.e., visual and sensorimotor). Intriguingly, the spatial patterns of these dynamic characteristics of brain connectivity could successfully identify individuals with high accuracy and could further significantly predict individual higher cognitive performance (e.g., fluid intelligence and executive function), which was primarily contributed by the higher order cognitive systems. Together, our findings highlight that the chronnectome captures inherent functional dynamics of individual brain networks and provides implications for individualized characterization of health and disease. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  1. Higher Order Loess Terracettes and Related Ungulate Activities in Western Pottawattamie County, Iowa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weihs, B. J.

    2009-12-01

    Terracettes are small, quasi-parallel, staircase-like, stepped landforms. They are generally less than a meter in tread width and riser height and as long as 300 meters, located transversely along slopes. Many theories purport to explain the mechanisms that cause them, including animal disturbance, soil creep, solifluction (gelifluction), slumping and rotational slippage, regolith control, vegetation control, subsidence, and anthropogenic or tectonic activities. This thesis was aimed at morphologically characterizing terracettes in the western Iowa Loess Hills, with an emphasis on further classifying the forms morphogenetically. Onsite observations suggest that terracettes in this area are highly associated with anthropogenically induced grazing of domestic ungulates such as cattle, horses, and sheep, as well as deer. A new class of terracette (higher order or mega-terracette) is proposed that characterizes (and differentiates) the study area forms based on size, in that the study area contains terracettes that are an order above those discussed by other authors (sub-meter). This new addition to the current standard (tear terracettes-risers bare of vegetation, and normal terracettes-normal to the slope), as suggested by Anderson (1972), will add to the local understanding of the forms, and especially to the theory of polygenesis in which terracettes can result from a host of processes. This new class of terracette (mega) is higher magnitude, and directly related to ungulate activities such as geophagy, soil transport (from hooves), compaction, smearing, pawing, and wallowing (dust bathing) as well as the effects of variable soil moisture on erosion of the forms used by the animals. High magnitude terracettes in western Pottawattamie County, Iowa

  2. Higher Order Expectations in Asset Pricing

    OpenAIRE

    Philippe BACCHETTA; Eric VAN WINCOOP

    2004-01-01

    We examine formally Keynes' idea that higher order beliefs can drive a wedge between an asset price and its fundamental value based on expected future payoffs. Higher order expectations add an additional term to a standard asset pricing equation. We call this the higher order wedge, which depends on the difference between higher and first order expectations of future payoffs. We analyze the determinants of this wedge and its impact on the equilibrium price. In the context of a dynamic noisy r...

  3. Higher-Order Spectrum in Understanding Nonlinearity in EEG Rhythms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cauchy Pradhan

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The fundamental nature of the brain's electrical activities recorded as electroencephalogram (EEG remains unknown. Linear stochastic models and spectral estimates are the most common methods for the analysis of EEG because of their robustness, simplicity of interpretation, and apparent association with rhythmic behavioral patterns in nature. In this paper, we extend the use of higher-order spectrum in order to indicate the hidden characteristics of EEG signals that simply do not arise from random processes. The higher-order spectrum is an extension Fourier spectrum that uses higher moments for spectral estimates. This essentially nullifies all Gaussian random effects, therefore, can reveal non-Gaussian and nonlinear characteristics in the complex patterns of EEG time series. The paper demonstrates the distinguishing features of bispectral analysis for chaotic systems, filtered noises, and normal background EEG activity. The bispectrum analysis detects nonlinear interactions; however, it does not quantify the coupling strength. The squared bicoherence in the nonredundant region has been estimated to demonstrate nonlinear coupling. The bicoherence values are minimal for white Gaussian noises (WGNs and filtered noises. Higher bicoherence values in chaotic time series and normal background EEG activities are indicative of nonlinear coupling in these systems. The paper shows utility of bispectral methods as an analytical tool in understanding neural process underlying human EEG patterns.

  4. An initial framework for the language of higher-order thinking mathematics practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Staples, Megan E.; Truxaw, Mary P.

    2012-09-01

    This article presents an examination of the language demands of cognitively demanding tasks and proposes an initial framework for the language demands of higher-order mathematics thinking practices. We articulate four categories for this framework: language of generalisation, language of comparison, language of proportional reasoning, and language of analysing impact. These categories were developed out of our collaborative work to design and implement higher-order thinking tasks with a group of Grade 9 (14- and 15-year-olds) teachers teaching in a linguistically diverse setting; analyses of student work samples on these tasks; and our knowledge of the literature. We describe each type of language demand and then analyse student work in each category to reveal linguistic challenges facing students as they engage these mathematical tasks. Implications for teaching and professional development are discussed.

  5. Cognitive stimulation in healthy older adults: a cognitive stimulation program using leisure activities compared to a conventional cognitive stimulation program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grimaud, Élisabeth; Taconnat, Laurence; Clarys, David

    2017-06-01

    The aim of this study was to compare two methods of cognitive stimulation for the cognitive functions. The first method used an usual approach, the second used leisure activities in order to assess their benefits on cognitive functions (speed of processing; working memory capacity and executive functions) and psychoaffective measures (memory span and self esteem). 67 participants over 60 years old took part in the experiment. They were divided into three groups: 1 group followed a program of conventional cognitive stimulation, 1 group a program of cognitive stimulation using leisure activities and 1 control group. The different measures have been evaluated before and after the training program. Results show that the cognitive stimulation program using leisure activities is as effective on memory span, updating and memory self-perception as the program using conventional cognitive stimulation, and more effective on self-esteem than the conventional program. There is no difference between the two stimulated groups and the control group on speed of processing. Neither of the two cognitive stimulation programs provides a benefit over shifting and inhibition. These results indicate that it seems to be possible to enhance working memory and to observe far transfer benefits over self-perception (self-esteem and memory self-perception) when using leisure activities as a tool for cognitive stimulation.

  6. Dual-Process Theories of Higher Cognition: Advancing the Debate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Jonathan St B T; Stanovich, Keith E

    2013-05-01

    Dual-process and dual-system theories in both cognitive and social psychology have been subjected to a number of recently published criticisms. However, they have been attacked as a category, incorrectly assuming there is a generic version that applies to all. We identify and respond to 5 main lines of argument made by such critics. We agree that some of these arguments have force against some of the theories in the literature but believe them to be overstated. We argue that the dual-processing distinction is supported by much recent evidence in cognitive science. Our preferred theoretical approach is one in which rapid autonomous processes (Type 1) are assumed to yield default responses unless intervened on by distinctive higher order reasoning processes (Type 2). What defines the difference is that Type 2 processing supports hypothetical thinking and load heavily on working memory. © The Author(s) 2013.

  7. Order-sorted Algebraic Specifications with Higher-order Functions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haxthausen, Anne Elisabeth

    1995-01-01

    This paper gives a proposal for how order-sorted algebraic specification languages can be extended with higher-order functions. The approach taken is a generalisation to the order-sorted case of an approach given by Mller, Tarlecki and Wirsing for the many-sorted case. The main idea in the proposal...

  8. The relation of education, occupation, and cognitive activity to cognitive status in old age: the role of physical frailty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ihle, Andreas; Gouveia, Élvio R; Gouveia, Bruna R; Freitas, Duarte L; Jurema, Jefferson; Odim, Angenay P; Kliegel, Matthias

    2017-09-01

    It remains unclear so far whether the role of cognitive reserve may differ between physically frail compared to less frail individuals. Therefore, the present study set out to investigate the relation of key markers of cognitive reserve to cognitive status in old age and its interplay with physical frailty in a large sample of older adults. We assessed Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in 701 older adults. We measured grip strength as indicator of physical frailty and interviewed individuals on their education, past occupation, and cognitive leisure activity. Greater grip strength, longer education, higher cognitive level of job, and greater engaging in cognitive leisure activity were significantly related to higher MMSE scores. Moderation analyses showed that the relations of education, cognitive level of job, and cognitive leisure activity to MMSE scores were significantly larger in individuals with lower, compared to those with greater grip strength. Cognitive status in old age may more strongly depend on cognitive reserve accumulated during the life course in physically frail (compared to less frail) older adults. These findings may be explained by cross-domain compensation effects in vulnerable individuals.

  9. Higher-Order Hierarchies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ernst, Erik

    2003-01-01

    This paper introduces the notion of higher-order inheritance hierarchies. They are useful because they provide well-known benefits of object-orientation at the level of entire hierarchies-benefits which are not available with current approaches. Three facets must be adressed: First, it must be po...

  10. Simulated and Virtual Science Laboratory Experiments: Improving Critical Thinking and Higher-Order Learning Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simon, Nicole A.

    Virtual laboratory experiments using interactive computer simulations are not being employed as viable alternatives to laboratory science curriculum at extensive enough rates within higher education. Rote traditional lab experiments are currently the norm and are not addressing inquiry, Critical Thinking, and cognition throughout the laboratory experience, linking with educational technologies (Pyatt & Sims, 2007; 2011; Trundle & Bell, 2010). A causal-comparative quantitative study was conducted with 150 learners enrolled at a two-year community college, to determine the effects of simulation laboratory experiments on Higher-Order Learning, Critical Thinking Skills, and Cognitive Load. The treatment population used simulated experiments, while the non-treatment sections performed traditional expository experiments. A comparison was made using the Revised Two-Factor Study Process survey, Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, and the Scientific Attitude Inventory survey, using a Repeated Measures ANOVA test for treatment or non-treatment. A main effect of simulated laboratory experiments was found for both Higher-Order Learning, [F (1, 148) = 30.32,p = 0.00, eta2 = 0.12] and Critical Thinking Skills, [F (1, 148) = 14.64,p = 0.00, eta 2 = 0.17] such that simulations showed greater increases than traditional experiments. Post-lab treatment group self-reports indicated increased marginal means (+4.86) in Higher-Order Learning and Critical Thinking Skills, compared to the non-treatment group (+4.71). Simulations also improved the scientific skills and mastery of basic scientific subject matter. It is recommended that additional research recognize that learners' Critical Thinking Skills change due to different instructional methodologies that occur throughout a semester.

  11. Challenges in higher order mode Raman amplifiers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rottwitt, Karsten; Nielsen, Kristian; Friis, Søren Michael Mørk

    2015-01-01

    A higher order Raman amplifier model that take random mode coupling into account ispresented. Mode dependent gain and signal power fluctuations at the output of the higher order modeRaman amplifier are discussed......A higher order Raman amplifier model that take random mode coupling into account ispresented. Mode dependent gain and signal power fluctuations at the output of the higher order modeRaman amplifier are discussed...

  12. HIGHER ORDER THINKING IN TEACHING GRAMMAR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Citra Dewi

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper discussed about how to enhance students’ higher order thinking that should be done by teacher in teaching grammar. Usually teaching grammar was boring and has the same way to learn like change the pattern of sentence into positive, negative and introgative while the students’ need more various way to develop their thinking. The outcome of students’ competence in grammar sometimes not sufficient enough when the students’ occured some test international standart like Test of English Foreign Language, International English Language Testing. Whereas in TOEFL test it needed higher order thinking answer, so teacher should develop students’ higher order thingking in daily teaching grammar in order to make the students’ enhance their thinking are higher. The method was used in this paper by using field study based on the experience of teaching grammar. It can be shown by students’ toefl score was less in stucture and written expression. The result of this paper was after teacher gave some treatments to enhance students’ higher order thinking in teaching grammar, the students’ toefl scores are sufficient enough as a part of stucture and written expression. It can concluded that it needed some strategies to enhancce students higher order thinking by teaching grammar it can make students’ higher toefl score. Teachers should be creative and inovative to teach the students’ started from giving the students’ question or test in teaching grammar.

  13. COGNITIVE COMPETENCE COMPARED TO COGNITIVE INDEPENDENCE AND COGNITIVE ACTIVITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irina B. Shmigirilova

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The research is aimed at identifying the essence of the cognitive competence concept in comparison with the concepts of cognitive independence and activity.Methods: The methodology implies a theoretical analysis of psychopedagogical and methodological materials on the cognitive competence formation; generalized teaching experience; empirical methods of direct observations of educational process in the secondary school classrooms; interviews with school teachers and pupils.Results: The research outcomes reveal a semantic intersection between the cognitive competence, independence and activity, and their distinctive features. The paper emphasizes the importance of cognitive competence as an adaptive mechanism in situations of uncertainty and instability.Scientific novelty: The author clarifies the concept of cognitive competence regarding it as a multi-component and systematic characteristic of a personality.Practical significance: The research findings can be used by specialists in didactics developing the teaching techniques of cognitive competence formation for schoolchildren.

  14. Analysis of EMG Signals in Aggressive and Normal Activities by Using Higher-Order Spectra

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Necmettin Sezgin

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The analysis and classification of electromyography (EMG signals are very important in order to detect some symptoms of diseases, prosthetic arm/leg control, and so on. In this study, an EMG signal was analyzed using bispectrum, which belongs to a family of higher-order spectra. An EMG signal is the electrical potential difference of muscle cells. The EMG signals used in the present study are aggressive or normal actions. The EMG dataset was obtained from the machine learning repository. First, the aggressive and normal EMG activities were analyzed using bispectrum and the quadratic phase coupling of each EMG episode was determined. Next, the features of the analyzed EMG signals were fed into learning machines to separate the aggressive and normal actions. The best classification result was 99.75%, which is sufficient to significantly classify the aggressive and normal actions.

  15. Analysis of EMG Signals in Aggressive and Normal Activities by Using Higher-Order Spectra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sezgin, Necmettin

    2012-01-01

    The analysis and classification of electromyography (EMG) signals are very important in order to detect some symptoms of diseases, prosthetic arm/leg control, and so on. In this study, an EMG signal was analyzed using bispectrum, which belongs to a family of higher-order spectra. An EMG signal is the electrical potential difference of muscle cells. The EMG signals used in the present study are aggressive or normal actions. The EMG dataset was obtained from the machine learning repository. First, the aggressive and normal EMG activities were analyzed using bispectrum and the quadratic phase coupling of each EMG episode was determined. Next, the features of the analyzed EMG signals were fed into learning machines to separate the aggressive and normal actions. The best classification result was 99.75%, which is sufficient to significantly classify the aggressive and normal actions. PMID:23193379

  16. Cognitive Activities and Instrumental Activity of Daily Living in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takehiko Doi

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Aims: This study aimed to identify differences in the implementation of cognitive activities and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs between healthy individuals and subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI. Methods: The study included 2,498 cognitively healthy subjects (mean age, 71.2 ± 5.1 years and 809 MCI subjects (mean age, 71.8 ± 5.4 years. The subjects were interviewed regarding their participation in cognitive activities and the implementation of IADLs. Results: We found a significant association between participation in any cognitive activities (p Conclusions: Our study revealed that greater participation in cognitive activity was associated with lower odds of MCI. Participation in cognitive activities may reflect differences between healthy and MCI subjects. To clarify the causal relationship between cognitive activities and MCI, further studies are required.

  17. Physical activity level in people with age related white matter changes correlates to better motor performance, lower comorbidity and higher cognitive level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pettersson, Anna F; Wahlund, Lars-Olof; Bronge, Lena; Olsson, Elisabeth; Amberla, Kaarina; Baezner, Hansjoerg; Crisby, Milita

    2017-07-12

    Physical activity plays a pivotal role in the development of disability and may modify the negative effect of vascular risk factors on progression of both cardio and cerebrovascular disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the activity level in people with age-related white matter changes as identified on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in relation to motor performance, cognition and perceived health. Data came from the first year follow up of one participating centers of the LADIS study. Fifty one subjects were first enrolled in the study. Complete first year follow up data was available for 41 subjects. Information on comorbidity, physical activity level, physical function, cognition, level of white matter changes and perceived health was collected. Physical activity level was classified with a yes or no question and with the Frenchay Activities Index (FAI). Only 36% of the subjects in this study were physically active according to the yes/no question. 27.5% of the subjects were active according to the FAI score which evaluates the everyday activities. Being active discriminated subjects with better physical function. Subjects active according to the FAI score had a higher cognitive level (p ≤ 0.01), lower comorbidity (p = 0.02) and performed better on all motor function tasks as assessed by walking speed (p ≤ 0.01) and the Short Physical Performance battery (SPPB) (p ≤ 0.01). Being physically active seems to be a long term protective factor. In our study, the majority of subjects with Age Related White Mattter Changes (ARWMC) with no or mild Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL) disability did not attain recommended level of activity at first year follow up. Whether or not increasing physical activity may slow down cognitive decline and lessen development of disability in physically inactive subjects with manifest ARWC remains to be studied. not applicable.

  18. Protein scaffolds and higher-order complexes in synthetic biology

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    den Hamer, A.; Rosier, B.J.H.M.; Brunsveld, L.; de Greef, T.F.A.; Ryadnov, M.; Brunsveld, L.; Suga, H.

    2017-01-01

    Interactions between proteins control molecular functions such as signalling or metabolic activity. Assembly of proteins via scaffold proteins or in higher-order complexes is a key regulatory mechanism. Understanding and functionally applying this concept requires the construction, study, and

  19. Active sources in the cutoff of centrifugal fans to reduce the blade tones at higher-order duct mode frequencies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neise, W.; Koopmann, G. H.

    1991-01-01

    A previously developed (e.g., Neise and Koopmann, 1984; Koopmann et al., 1988) active noise control technique in which the unwanted acoustic signals from centrifugal fans are suppressed by placing two externally driven sources near the cutoff of the casing was applied to the frequency region where not only plane sound waves are propagational in the fan ducts but also higher-order acoustic modes. Using a specially designed fan noise testing facility, the performance of two fans (280-mm impeller diam and 508 mm diam) was monitored with static pressure taps mounted peripherally around the inlet nozzle. Experimental results show that the aerodynamically generated source pressure field around the cutoff is too complex to be successfully counterimaged by only two active sources introduced in this region. It is suggested that, for an efficient application of this noise control technique in the higher-order mode frequency regime, it is neccessary to use an active source involving larger number of individually driven loudspeakers.

  20. The role of formative feedback in promoting higher order thinking ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The role of formative feedback in promoting higher order thinking skills in ... activities, task characteristics, validating students' thinking, and providing feedback. ... Keywords: classroom environment, formative assessment, formative feedback, ...

  1. Higher-Order Program Generation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rhiger, Morten

    for OCaml, a dialect of ML, that provides run-time code generation for OCaml programs. We apply these byte-code combinators in semantics-directed compilation for an imperative language and in run-time specialization using type-directed partial evaluation. Finally, we present an approach to compiling goal......This dissertation addresses the challenges of embedding programming languages, specializing generic programs to specific parameters, and generating specialized instances of programs directly as executable code. Our main tools are higher-order programming techniques and automatic program generation....... It is our thesis that they synergize well in the development of customizable software. Recent research on domain-specific languages propose to embed them into existing general-purpose languages. Typed higher-order languages have proven especially useful as meta languages because they provide a rich...

  2. A Case Study: Dual-Process Theories of Higher Cognition-Commentary on Evans & Stanovich (2013).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osman, Magda

    2013-05-01

    Dual-process theories of higher order cognition (DPTs) have been enjoying much success, particularly since Kahneman's 2002 Nobel prize address and recent book Thinking, Fast and Slow (2009). Historically, DPTs have attempted to provide a conceptual framework that helps classify and predict differences in patterns of behavior found under some circumstances and not others in a host of reasoning, judgment, and decision-making tasks. As evidence has changed and techniques for examining behavior have moved on, so too have DPTs. Killing two birds with one stone, Evans and Stanovich (2013, this issue) respond to five main criticisms of DPTs. Along with addressing each criticism in turn, they set out to clarify the essential defining characteristics that distinguish one form of higher order cognition from the other. The aim of this commentary is to consider the defining characteristics of Type 1 and Type 2 processing that have been proposed and to suggest that the evidence can be taken to support quantitative differences rather than qualitatively distinct processes. © The Author(s) 2013.

  3. Frontiers of higher order fuzzy sets

    CERN Document Server

    Tahayori, Hooman

    2015-01-01

    Frontiers of Higher Order Fuzzy Sets, strives to improve the theoretical aspects of general and Interval Type-2 fuzzy sets and provides a unified representation theorem for higher order fuzzy sets. Moreover, the book elaborates on the concept of gradual elements and their integration with the higher order fuzzy sets. This book also introduces new frameworks for information granulation based on general T2FSs, IT2FSs, Gradual elements, Shadowed sets and rough sets. In particular, the properties and characteristics of the new proposed frameworks are studied. Such new frameworks are shown to be more capable to be exploited in real applications. Higher order fuzzy sets that are the result of the integration of general T2FSs, IT2FSs, gradual elements, shadowed sets and rough sets will be shown to be suitable to be applied in the fields of bioinformatics, business, management, ambient intelligence, medicine, cloud computing and smart grids. Presents new variations of fuzzy set frameworks and new areas of applicabili...

  4. Association between Cognitive Activity and Cognitive Function in Older Hispanics

    OpenAIRE

    Marquine, María J.; Segawa, Eisuke; Wilson, Robert S.; Bennett, David A.; Barnes, Lisa L.

    2012-01-01

    There is limited research on the association between participation in cognitively stimulating activity and cognitive function in older Hispanics. The main purpose of the present study was to explore whether frequency of cognitive activity and its association with cognitive function in Hispanics is comparable to that of non-Hispanics. In a multiethnic cohort of 1571 non-demented older adults, we assessed past and current cognitive activity, availability of cognitive resources in the home in ch...

  5. Higher order harmonics of reactor neutron equation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Fu; Hu Yongming; Luo Zhengpei

    1996-01-01

    The flux mapping method using the higher order harmonics of the neutron equation is proposed. Based on the bi-orthogonality of the higher order harmonics, the process and formulas for higher order harmonics calculation are derived via the source iteration method with source correction. For the first time, not only any order harmonics for up-to-3-dimensional geometry are achieved, but also the preliminary verification to the capability for flux mapping have been carried out

  6. XY model with higher-order exchange.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Žukovič, Milan; Kalagov, Georgii

    2017-08-01

    An XY model, generalized by inclusion of up to an infinite number of higher-order pairwise interactions with an exponentially decreasing strength, is studied by spin-wave theory and Monte Carlo simulations. At low temperatures the model displays a quasi-long-range-order phase characterized by an algebraically decaying correlation function with the exponent η=T/[2πJ(p,α)], nonlinearly dependent on the parameters p and α that control the number of the higher-order terms and the decay rate of their intensity, respectively. At higher temperatures the system shows a crossover from the continuous Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless to the first-order transition for the parameter values corresponding to a highly nonlinear shape of the potential well. The role of topological excitations (vortices) in changing the nature of the transition is discussed.

  7. Higher-Order Minimal Functional Graphs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jones, Neil D; Rosendahl, Mads

    1994-01-01

    We present a minimal function graph semantics for a higher-order functional language with applicative evaluation order. The semantics captures the intermediate calls performed during the evaluation of a program. This information may be used in abstract interpretation as a basis for proving...

  8. Higher-Order Generalized Invexity in Control Problems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. K. Padhan

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available We introduce a higher-order duality (Mangasarian type and Mond-Weir type for the control problem. Under the higher-order generalized invexity assumptions on the functions that compose the primal problems, higher-order duality results (weak duality, strong duality, and converse duality are derived for these pair of problems. Also, we establish few examples in support of our investigation.

  9. The Association Between Physical Activity and Cognitive Function With Considerations by Social Risk Status.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frith, Emily; Loprinzi, Paul D

    2017-11-01

    We evaluated the association between physical activity and cognitive function among a national sample of the broader U.S. adult population, with consideration by social risk. Data from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used to identify 2031 older adults, ages 60-85. Social risk was classified by measuring four NHANES variables, namely poverty level, education, minority status, and social living status, which were graded on a scale of 0-4, with higher scores corresponding with higher social risk. The Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) was used to assess cognitive function. Physical activity was assessed via a validated self-report questionnaire. After adjustments, meeting physical activity guidelines (vs not) was associated with greater cognitive function (β = 3.0, 95% CI [1.5, 4.4], p cognitive function. Meeting physical activity guidelines (vs. not) was not associated with higher cognitive function among those with a social risk score of of 3 (β = -0.01; 95% CI [-6.3, 6.4], p = 0.99) or a social risk score of 4 (β = -6.8, 95% CI [-15.7, 2.0], p = 0.12). In this national sample of older adults, meeting physical activity guidelines, and degree of social risk were independently associated with cognitive function. However, physical activity was not associated with cognitive function among older adults with the highest degree of social risk.

  10. Neural classifiers for learning higher-order correlations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gueler, M.

    1999-01-01

    Studies by various authors suggest that higher-order networks can be more powerful and biologically more plausible with respect to the more traditional multilayer networks. These architecture make explicit use of nonlinear interactions between input variables in the form of higher-order units or product units. If it is known a priori that the problem to be implemented possesses a given set of invariances like in the translation, rotation, and scale invariant recognition problems, those invariances can be encoded, thus eliminating all higher-order terms which are incompatible with the invariances. In general, however, it is a serious set-back that the complexity of learning increases exponentially with the size of inputs. This paper reviews higher-order networks and introduces an implicit representation in which learning complexity is mainly decided by the number of higher-order terms to be learned and increases only linearly with the input size

  11. Neural Classifiers for Learning Higher-Order Correlations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Güler, Marifi

    1999-01-01

    Studies by various authors suggest that higher-order networks can be more powerful and are biologically more plausible with respect to the more traditional multilayer networks. These architectures make explicit use of nonlinear interactions between input variables in the form of higher-order units or product units. If it is known a priori that the problem to be implemented possesses a given set of invariances like in the translation, rotation, and scale invariant pattern recognition problems, those invariances can be encoded, thus eliminating all higher-order terms which are incompatible with the invariances. In general, however, it is a serious set-back that the complexity of learning increases exponentially with the size of inputs. This paper reviews higher-order networks and introduces an implicit representation in which learning complexity is mainly decided by the number of higher-order terms to be learned and increases only linearly with the input size.

  12. Higher-order structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromatin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lowary, P.T.; Widom, J.

    1989-01-01

    We have developed a method for partially purifying chromatin from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast) to a level suitable for studies of its higher-order folding. This has required the use of yeast strains that are free of the ubiquitous yeast killer virus. Results from dynamic light scattering, electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction show that the yeast chromatin undergoes a cation-dependent folding into 30-nm filaments that resemble those characteristic of higher-cell chromatin; moreover, the packing of nucleosomes within the yeast 30-nm filaments is similar to that of higher cells. These results imply that yeast has a protein or protein domain that serves the role of the histone H 1 found in higher cells; physical and genetic studies of the yeast activity could help elucidate the structure and function of H 1. Images of the yeast 30-nm filaments can be used to test crossed-linker models for 30-nm filament structure

  13. Higher order antibunching in intermediate states

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Verma, Amit; Sharma, Navneet K.; Pathak, Anirban

    2008-01-01

    Since the introduction of binomial state as an intermediate state, different intermediate states have been proposed. Different nonclassical effects have also been reported in these intermediate states. But till now higher order antibunching is predicted in only one type of intermediate state, which is known as shadowed negative binomial state. Recently we have shown that the higher order antibunching is not a rare phenomenon [P. Gupta, P. Pandey, A. Pathak, J. Phys. B 39 (2006) 1137]. To establish our earlier claim further, here we have shown that the higher order antibunching can be seen in different intermediate states, such as binomial state, reciprocal binomial state, hypergeometric state, generalized binomial state, negative binomial state and photon added coherent state. We have studied the possibility of observing the higher order subpoissonian photon statistics in different limits of intermediate states. The effects of different control parameters on the depth of non classicality have also been studied in this connection and it has been shown that the depth of nonclassicality can be tuned by controlling various physical parameters

  14. A Higher-Order Colon Translation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Danvy, Olivier; Nielsen, Lasse Reichstein

    2001-01-01

    A lambda-encoding such as the CPS transformation gives rise to administrative redexes. In his seminal article ``Call-by-name, call-by-value and the lambda-calculus'', 25 years ago, Plotkin tackled administrative reductions using a so-called ``colon translation.'' 10 years ago, Danvy and Filinski...... integrated administrative reductions in the CPS transformation, making it operate in one pass. The technique applies to other lambda-encodings (e.g., variants of CPS), but we do not see it used in practice--instead, Plotkin's colon translation appears to be favored. Therefore, in an attempt to link both...... techniques, we recast Plotkin's proof of Indifference and Simulation to the higher-order specification of the one-pass CPS transformation. To this end, we extend his colon translation from first order to higher order...

  15. Longitudinal effects of physical activity on self-efficacy and cognitive processing of active and sedentary elderly women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sofia Rosanti

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Previous studies support that regular physical activity in aging contributes as a protective factor against cognitive decline and improves mood states. However, there is a lack of longitudinal studies in this area. Objective: To observe possible changes in cognition related with physical activity. Methods: This study reassessed, after one-year period, 31 elderly women divided into two groups, sedentary versus active, using behavioral scales and cognitive tests. Results: The active group exhibited significantly enhanced performance in general cognitive function, particularly on tasks of episodic memory and praxis, and also on the mood states scale compared to the sedentary group. The active women also reported higher self-efficacy. Conclusion: Long-term physical activity promoted improvement on quality of life in the elderly women.

  16. A Paraconsistent Higher Order Logic

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Villadsen, Jørgen

    2004-01-01

    of paraconsistent logics in knowledge-based systems, logical semantics of natural language, etc. Higher order logics have the advantages of being expressive and with several automated theorem provers available. Also the type system can be helpful. We present a concise description of a paraconsistent higher order...... of the logic is examined by a case study in the domain of medicine. Thus we try to build a bridge between the HOL and MVL communities. A sequent calculus is proposed based on recent work by Muskens. Many non-classical logics are, at the propositional level, funny toys which work quite good, but when one wants...

  17. Effects of Preretirement Work Complexity and Postretirement Leisure Activity on Cognitive Aging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finkel, Deborah; Pedersen, Nancy L.

    2016-01-01

    Objectives: We examined the influence of postretirement leisure activity on longitudinal associations between work complexity in main lifetime occupation and trajectories of cognitive change before and after retirement. Methods: Information on complexity of work with data, people, and things, leisure activity participation in older adulthood, and four cognitive factors (verbal, spatial, memory, and speed) was available from 421 individuals in the longitudinal Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging. Participants were followed for an average of 14.2 years (SD = 7.1 years) and up to 23 years across eight cognitive assessments. Most of the sample (88.6%) completed at least three cognitive assessments. Results: Results of growth curve analyses indicated that higher complexity of work with people significantly attenuated cognitive aging in verbal skills, memory, and speed of processing controlling for age, sex, and education. When leisure activity was added, greater cognitive and physical leisure activity was associated with reduced cognitive aging in verbal skills, speed of processing, and memory (for cognitive activity only). Discussion: Engagement in cognitive or physical leisure activities in older adulthood may compensate for cognitive disadvantage potentially imposed by working in occupations that offer fewer cognitive challenges. These results may provide a platform to encourage leisure activity participation in those retiring from less complex occupations. PMID:25975289

  18. The reciprocal relationship between participation in leisure activities and cognitive functioning: the moderating effect of self-rated literacy level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lifshitz-Vahav, Hefziba; Shrira, Amit; Bodner, Ehud

    2017-05-01

    Participation in leisure activities is beneficial for cognitive functioning of older adults, but it is less known whether it is also beneficial for those with low basic cognitive level. This study examined the reciprocal relationship between participating in leisure activities and cognitive functioning among low and higher literacy level older adults. Respondents aged 60 years and older who participated in both first waves (2005-2006 and 2009-2010) of the Israeli component of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE-Israel) were divided into low (n = 139) and higher literacy level respondents (n = 714). They reported participation in leisure activities and completed measures of cognitive functioning at both waves. Cross-lagged models showed that participation in leisure activities predicted higher cognitive functioning four years later only among older adults with low literacy level. On the other hand, cognitive functioning predicted more participation in leisure activities four years later only among higher literacy level older adults. Participating in leisure activities may be especially beneficial to cognitive functioning among older adults with low literacy level, as their initial low cognitive level allows more room for cognitive improvement than among higher literacy level older adults. Public efforts aimed at increasing participation in leisure activities may therefore target particularly older adults with low basic cognitive level.

  19. Recognition of higher order patterns in proteins: immunologic kernels.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert D Bremel

    Full Text Available By applying analysis of the principal components of amino acid physical properties we predicted cathepsin cleavage sites, MHC binding affinity, and probability of B-cell epitope binding of peptides in tetanus toxin and in ten diverse additional proteins. Cross-correlation of these metrics, for peptides of all possible amino acid index positions, each evaluated in the context of a ±25 amino acid flanking region, indicated that there is a strongly repetitive pattern of short peptides of approximately thirty amino acids each bounded by cathepsin cleavage sites and each comprising B-cell linear epitopes, MHC-I and MHC-II binding peptides. Such "immunologic kernel" peptides comprise all signals necessary for adaptive immunologic cognition, response and recall. The patterns described indicate a higher order spatial integration that forms a symbolic logic coordinating the adaptive immune system.

  20. Higher-order force gradient symplectic algorithms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chin, Siu A.; Kidwell, Donald W.

    2000-12-01

    We show that a recently discovered fourth order symplectic algorithm, which requires one evaluation of force gradient in addition to three evaluations of the force, when iterated to higher order, yielded algorithms that are far superior to similarly iterated higher order algorithms based on the standard Forest-Ruth algorithm. We gauge the accuracy of each algorithm by comparing the step-size independent error functions associated with energy conservation and the rotation of the Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector when solving a highly eccentric Kepler problem. For orders 6, 8, 10, and 12, the new algorithms are approximately a factor of 103, 104, 104, and 105 better.

  1. Effect of Leisure Activities on Inflammation and Cognitive Function in an Aging Sample

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedman, Elliot; Quinn, Jill; Chen, Ding-Geng (Din); Mapstone, Mark

    2012-01-01

    Cardiovascular disease risk factors (CVDRFs) increase the risk of dementia. The purpose of this study was to examine whether leisure activities (mental, physical, and social activities) modified the effect of CVDRFs on inflammatory markers and cognitive function in middle and old age. A secondary-data analysis study was conducted using data from 405 middle-age participants (40 –59 years) and 342 old-age participants (60 – 84 years) who participated in the Survey of Midlife Development in the United States. CVDRFs were obtained from a combination of self-report medical history and blood-based biomarkers. Three CVDRF groups (≤1, 2, and ≥3 CVDRFs) were identified. More CVDRFs were significantly associated with higher levels of inflammatory markers in both age groups, and associated with lower levels of executive function in the old age group. CVDRFs were not related to the frequency of leisure activities in either age group. After controlling for covariates, higher levels of physical activities were significantly associated with lower levels of inflammatory markers, and higher levels of mental activities were associated with higher levels of cognitive function. In the old age group, physical activities also moderated the effect of CVDRFs on episodic memory, and mental activities moderated the effect of CVDRFs on interleukin-6. Multiple CVDRFs may be associated with poorer cognitive function and higher inflammatory markers, but middle-age and older adults with CVDRFs may not engage in frequent physical and cognitive activities that may be protective. It is important to develop strategies to facilitate engagement in these activities from midlife. PMID:22377120

  2. Skinner-Rusk unified formalism for higher-order systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prieto-Martínez, Pedro Daniel; Román-Roy, Narciso

    2012-07-01

    The Lagrangian-Hamiltonian unified formalism of R. Skinner and R. Rusk was originally stated for autonomous dynamical systems in classical mechanics. It has been generalized for non-autonomous first-order mechanical systems, first-order and higher-order field theories, and higher-order autonomous systems. In this work we present a generalization of this formalism for higher-order non-autonomous mechanical systems.

  3. The Association Between Physical Activity and Cognitive Function With Considerations by Social Risk Status

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emily Frith

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available We evaluated the association between physical activity and cognitive function among a national sample of the broader U.S. adult population, with consideration by social risk. Data from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES were used to identify 2031 older adults, ages 60-85. Social risk was classified by measuring four NHANES variables, namely poverty level, education, minority status, and social living status, which were graded on a scale of 0-4, with higher scores corresponding with higher social risk. The Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST was used to assess cognitive function. Physical activity was assessed via a validated self-report questionnaire. After adjustments, meeting physical activity guidelines (vs not was associated with greater cognitive function (β = 3.0, 95% CI [1.5, 4.4], p < 0.001. In this same model, social risk status was also independently associated with cognitive function. Meeting physical activity guidelines (vs. not was not associated with higher cognitive function among those with a social risk score of of 3 (β = -0.01; 95% CI [-6.3, 6.4], p = 0.99 or a social risk score of 4 (β = -6.8, 95% CI [-15.7, 2.0], p = 0.12. In this national sample of older adults, meeting physical activity guidelines, and degree of social risk were independently associated with cognitive function. However, physical activity was not associated with cognitive function among older adults with the highest degree of social risk.

  4. Effects of multicomponent training of cognitive control on cognitive function and brain activation in older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Hoyoung; Chey, Jeanyung; Lee, Sanghun

    2017-11-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in cognitive functions and brain activation after multicomponent training of cognitive control in non-demented older adults, utilizing neuropsychological tests and fMRI. We developed and implemented a computerized Multicomponent Training of Cognitive Control (MTCC), characterized by task variability and adaptive procedures, in order to maximize training effects in cognitive control and transfer to other cognitive domains. Twenty-seven community-dwelling adults, aged 64-77 years, without any history of neurological or psychiatric problems, participated in this study (14 in the training group and 13 in the control group). The MTCC was administered to the participants assigned to the training group for 8 weeks, while those in the control group received no training. Neuropsychological tests and fMRI were administered prior to and after the training. Trained participants showed improvements in cognitive control, recognition memory and general cognitive functioning. Furthermore, the MTCC led to an increased brain activation of the regions adjacent to the baseline cognitive control-related areas in the frontoparietal network. Future studies are necessary to confirm our hypothesis that MTCC improves cognitive functioning of healthy elderly individuals by expanding their frontoparietal network that is involved in cognitive control. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Brain activity related to serial cognitive performance resembles circuitry of higher order motor control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Jong, BM; vanZomeren, AH; Willemsen, ATM; Paans, AMJ

    Differences between two states of cerebral activation were studied in eight subjects by positron emission tomography (PET) of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and subsequent statistical parameter mapping. Subjects had to respond to a row of numbers presented on tape. In one condition they had to

  6. Educating Grade 6 students for higher-order thinking and its influence on creativity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wajeeh Daher

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Educating students for higher-order thinking provides them with tools that turn them into more critical thinkers. This supports them in overcoming life problems that they encounter, as well as becoming an integral part of the society. This students’ education is attended to by educational organisations that emphasise the positive consequences of educating students for higher-order thinking, including creative thinking. One way to do that is through educational programmes that educate for higher-order thinking. One such programme is the Cognitive Research Trust (CoRT thinking programme. The present research intended to examine the effect of the participation of Grade 6 students in a CoRT programme on their creative thinking. Fifty-three students participated in the research; 27 participated in a CoRT programme, while 26 did not participate in such programme. The ANCOVA test showed that the students who participated in the CoRT programme outperformed significantly, in creative thinking, the students who did not. Moreover, the students in the CoRT programme whose achievement scores were between 86 and 100 outperformed significantly the other achievement groups of students. Furthermore, students with reported high ability outperformed significantly the other ability groups of students. The results did not show statistically significant differences in students’ creativity attributed to gender.

  7. Neural correlates of reappraisal considering working memory capacity and cognitive flexibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaehringer, Jenny; Falquez, Rosalux; Schubert, Anna-Lena; Nees, Frauke; Barnow, Sven

    2018-01-09

    Cognitive reappraisal of emotion is strongly related to long-term mental health. Therefore, the exploration of underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms has become an essential focus of research. Considering that reappraisal and executive functions rely on a similar brain network, the question arises whether behavioral differences in executive functions modulate neural activity during reappraisal. Using functional neuroimaging, the present study aimed to analyze the role of working memory capacity (WMC) and cognitive flexibility in brain activity during down-regulation of negative emotions by reappraisal in N = 20 healthy participants. Results suggests that WMC and cognitive flexibility were negatively correlated with prefrontal activity during reappraisal condition. Here, results also revealed a negative correlation between cognitive flexibility and amygdala activation. These findings provide first hints that (1) individuals with lower WMC and lower cognitive flexibility might need more higher-order cognitive neural resources in order to down-regulate negative emotions and (2) cognitive flexibility relates to emotional reactivity during reappraisal.

  8. Higher-order curvature terms and extended inflation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Yun

    1990-01-01

    We consider higher-order curvature terms in context of the Brans-Dicke theory of gravity, and investigate the effects of these terms on extended inflationary theories. We find that the higher-order curvature terms tend to speed up inflation, although the original extended-inflation solutions are stable when these terms are small. Analytical solutions are found for two extreme cases: when the higher-order curvature terms are small, and when they dominate. A conformal transformation is employed in solving the latter case, and some of the subtleties in this technique are discussed. We note that percolation is less likely to occur when the higher-order curvature terms are present. An upper bound on α is expected if we are to avoid excessive and inadequate percolation of true-vacuum bubbles

  9. Higher order mode optical fiber Raman amplifiers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rottwitt, Karsten; Friis, Søren Michael Mørk; Usuga Castaneda, Mario A.

    2016-01-01

    We review higher order mode Raman amplifiers and discuss recent theoretical as well as experimental results including system demonstrations.......We review higher order mode Raman amplifiers and discuss recent theoretical as well as experimental results including system demonstrations....

  10. Nonlocal higher order evolution equations

    KAUST Repository

    Rossi, Julio D.

    2010-06-01

    In this article, we study the asymptotic behaviour of solutions to the nonlocal operator ut(x, t)1/4(-1)n-1 (J*Id -1)n (u(x, t)), x ∈ ℝN, which is the nonlocal analogous to the higher order local evolution equation vt(-1)n-1(Δ)nv. We prove that the solutions of the nonlocal problem converge to the solution of the higher order problem with the right-hand side given by powers of the Laplacian when the kernel J is rescaled in an appropriate way. Moreover, we prove that solutions to both equations have the same asymptotic decay rate as t goes to infinity. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.

  11. Conceptualizing and Assessing Higher-Order Thinking in Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Afflerbach, Peter; Cho, Byeong-Young; Kim, Jong-Yun

    2015-01-01

    Students engage in higher-order thinking as they read complex texts and perform complex reading-related tasks. However, the most consequential assessments, high-stakes tests, are currently limited in providing information about students' higher-order thinking. In this article, we describe higher-order thinking in relation to reading. We provide a…

  12. Application of Mass Lumped Higher Order Finite Elements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    J. Chen, H.R. Strauss, S.C. Jardin, W. Park, L.E. Sugiyama, G. Fu, J. Breslau

    2005-01-01

    There are many interesting phenomena in extended-MHD such as anisotropic transport, mhd, 2-fluid effects stellarator and hot particles. Any one of them challenges numerical analysts, and researchers are seeking for higher order methods, such as higher order finite difference, higher order finite elements and hp/spectral elements. It is true that these methods give more accurate solution than their linear counterparts. However, numerically they are prohibitively expensive. Here we give a successful solution of this conflict by applying mass lumped higher order finite elements. This type of elements not only keep second/third order accuracy but also scale closely to linear elements by doing mass lumping. This is especially true for second order lump elements. Full M3D and anisotropic transport models are studied

  13. Activity flow over resting-state networks shapes cognitive task activations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Michael W; Ito, Takuya; Bassett, Danielle S; Schultz, Douglas H

    2016-12-01

    Resting-state functional connectivity (FC) has helped reveal the intrinsic network organization of the human brain, yet its relevance to cognitive task activations has been unclear. Uncertainty remains despite evidence that resting-state FC patterns are highly similar to cognitive task activation patterns. Identifying the distributed processes that shape localized cognitive task activations may help reveal why resting-state FC is so strongly related to cognitive task activations. We found that estimating task-evoked activity flow (the spread of activation amplitudes) over resting-state FC networks allowed prediction of cognitive task activations in a large-scale neural network model. Applying this insight to empirical functional MRI data, we found that cognitive task activations can be predicted in held-out brain regions (and held-out individuals) via estimated activity flow over resting-state FC networks. This suggests that task-evoked activity flow over intrinsic networks is a large-scale mechanism explaining the relevance of resting-state FC to cognitive task activations.

  14. Comparable cortical activation with inferior performance in women during a novel cognitive inhibition task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halari, R; Kumari, V

    2005-03-07

    Men are hypothesised to perform better than women at tasks requiring cognitive inhibition. The present study applied whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural correlates of cognitive inhibition using a novel task, requiring detection of numbers decreasing in numerical order, in relation to sex. The study involved 19 young healthy subjects (9 men, 10 women). Behavioural sex differences favouring men were found on the inhibition, but not on the automatization (i.e. detection of numbers increasing in numerical order), condition of the task. Significant areas of activation associated with cognitive inhibition included the right inferior prefrontal and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, left inferior and superior parietal lobes, and bilateral temporal regions across men and women. No brain region was significantly differently activated in men and women. Our findings demonstrate that (a) cognitive inhibition is dependent on intact processes within frontal and parietal regions, and (b) women show inferior cognitive inhibition despite of comparable activation to men in relevant regions. Equated behavioural performance may elicit sex differences in brain activation.

  15. Do cognitive leisure activities really matter in the relationship between education and cognition? Evidence from the aging, demographics, and memory study (ADAMS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Yura; Chi, Iris

    2016-01-01

    Increasing demand for early detection and prevention of dementia has shifted recent attention toward cognitive impairment with no dementia (CIND), which is often considered a possible risk path to dementia. Education and cognitive leisure activities are major predictors featured in dementia studies. However, the definition of cognitive leisure activities often has been inconsistent and diverse. This study explored different domains of these activities and their moderating roles on the relationship between education and cognition. A sample of 704 participants aged 70 or older was drawn from the national Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to assess two domains from cognitive leisure activities: literacy and visuospatial activities. Multinomial logistic regression tested the main and moderating roles of each domain on cognition categorized as no impairment, CIND, and dementia. Individuals with greater engagement in both literacy and visuospatial activities were more likely to have no cognitive impairment than CIND. Individuals with greater engagement in literacy activities were less likely to have dementia compared to CIND. Literacy activities and education years had a significant interaction effect. Individuals with higher education seem to benefit more by engaging in literacy activities, as evidenced by decreased odds of having dementia. Engagement in cognitive leisure activities for both cognitively intact and impaired older adults is suggested, with more focus on literacy activities for cognitively impaired and highly educated older adults.

  16. The Link between Higher Order Thinking Skills, Representation and Concepts in Enhancing TIMSS Tasks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nor’ain Mohd. Tajudin

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Students’ performances in TIMSS have featured strongly in recent discussions and debates about the quality of mathematical learning outcomes both from teachers and policy makers. Findings of TIMSS trends showed that most high school students in Malaysia continue to perform at less than satisfactory levels, particularly, in tasks that are cognitively demanding. In this article, we present a critical analysis of selected TIMSS Tasks and demonstrate how to support students better in the use of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS in making progress with such tasks. In so doing we present analyses of TIMSS tasks and a model of these tasks that relate HOTS, representation and concepts which can be utilised by teachers to understand the role of HOTS better in empowering students shift to higher levels of cognitive funtioning in the context of tackling TIMSS and similarly demanding tasks. Our analyses and model provide an important starting point for the design of future professional development programs for Malaysian mathematics teachers in reconceptualising HOTS and implementing them in regular classrooms.

  17. Higher-order techniques in computational electromagnetics

    CERN Document Server

    Graglia, Roberto D

    2016-01-01

    Higher-Order Techniques in Computational Electromagnetics explains 'high-order' techniques that can significantly improve the accuracy, computational cost, and reliability of computational techniques for high-frequency electromagnetics, such as antennas, microwave devices and radar scattering applications.

  18. Leisure activities, cognition and dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hui-Xin; Xu, Weili; Pei, Jin-Jing

    2012-03-01

    Accumulated evidence shows that leisure activities have a positive impact on cognitive function and dementia. This review aimed to systematically summarize the current evidence on this topic taking into account the limitations of the studies and biological plausibility for the underlying mechanisms linking cognition, dementia and leisure activities, with special attention on mental, physical and social activities. We included only longitudinal studies, with a follow-up time of at least 2 years, published in English from 1991 to March 2011 on leisure activities and cognition (n=29) or dementia (n=23) and provided some evidence from intervention studies on the topic. A protective effect of mental activity on cognitive function has been consistently reported in both observational and interventional studies. The association of mental activity with the risk of dementia was robust in observational studies but inconsistent in clinical trials. The protective effect of physical activity on the risk of cognitive decline and dementia has been reported in most observational studies, but has been less evident in interventional studies. Current evidence concerning the beneficial effect of other types of leisure activities on the risk of dementia is still limited and results are inconsistent. For future studies it is imperative that the assessment of leisure activities is standardized, for example, the frequency, intensity, duration and the type of activity; and also that the cognitive test batteries and the definition of cognitive decline are harmonized/standardized. Further, well designed studies with long follow-up times are necessary. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Imaging Brain Aging and Neurodegenerative disease. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Recent and past musical activity predicts cognitive aging variability: direct comparison with general lifestyle activities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanna-Pladdy, Brenda; Gajewski, Byron

    2012-01-01

    Studies evaluating the impact of modifiable lifestyle factors on cognition offer potential insights into sources of cognitive aging variability. Recently, we reported an association between extent of musical instrumental practice throughout the life span (greater than 10 years) on preserved cognitive functioning in advanced age. These findings raise the question of whether there are training-induced brain changes in musicians that can transfer to non-musical cognitive abilities to allow for compensation of age-related cognitive declines. However, because of the relationship between engagement in general lifestyle activities and preserved cognition, it remains unclear whether these findings are specifically driven by musical training or the types of individuals likely to engage in greater activities in general. The current study controlled for general activity level in evaluating cognition between musicians and nomusicians. Also, the timing of engagement (age of acquisition, past versus recent) was assessed in predictive models of successful cognitive aging. Seventy age and education matched older musicians (>10 years) and non-musicians (ages 59-80) were evaluated on neuropsychological tests and general lifestyle activities. Musicians scored higher on tests of phonemic fluency, verbal working memory, verbal immediate recall, visuospatial judgment, and motor dexterity, but did not differ in other general leisure activities. Partition analyses were conducted on significant cognitive measures to determine aspects of musical training predictive of enhanced cognition. The first partition analysis revealed education best predicted visuospatial functions in musicians, followed by recent musical engagement which offset low education. In the second partition analysis, early age of musical acquisition (memory in musicians, while analyses for other measures were not predictive. Recent and past musical activity, but not general lifestyle activities, predicted variability

  20. Associations between cognitively stimulating leisure activities, cognitive function and age-related cognitive decline.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferreira, Nicola; Owen, Adrian; Mohan, Anita; Corbett, Anne; Ballard, Clive

    2015-04-01

    Emerging literature suggests that lifestyle factors may play an important role in reducing age-related cognitive decline. There have, however, been few studies investigating the role of cognitively stimulating leisure activities in maintaining cognitive health. This study sought to identify changes in cognitive performance with age and to investigate associations of cognitive performance with several key cognitively stimulating leisure activities. Over 65,000 participants provided demographic and lifestyle information and completed tests of grammatical reasoning, spatial working memory, verbal working memory and episodic memory. Regression analyses suggested that frequency of engaging in Sudoku or similar puzzles was significantly positively associated with grammatical reasoning, spatial working memory and episodic memory scores. Furthermore, for participants aged under 65 years, frequency of playing non-cognitive training computer games was also positively associated with performance in the same cognitive domains. The results also suggest that grammatical reasoning and episodic memory are particularly vulnerable to age-related decline. Further investigation to determine the potential benefits of participating in Sudoku puzzles and non-cognitive computer games is indicated, particularly as they are associated with grammatical reasoning and episodic memory, cognitive domains found to be strongly associated with age-related cognitive decline. Results of this study have implications for developing improved guidance for the public regarding the potential value of cognitively stimulating leisure activities. The results also suggest that grammatical reasoning and episodic memory should be targeted in developing appropriate outcome measures to assess efficacy of future interventions, and in developing cognitive training programmes to prevent or delay cognitive decline. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  1. Higher order Lie-Baecklund symmetries of evolution equations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roy Chowdhury, A.; Roy Chowdhury, K.; Paul, S.

    1983-10-01

    We have considered in detail the analysis of higher order Lie-Baecklund symmetries for some representative nonlinear evolution equations. Until now all such symmetry analyses have been restricted only to the first order of the infinitesimal parameter. But the existence of Baecklund transformation (which can be shown to be an overall sum of higher order Lie-Baecklund symmetries) makes it necessary to search for such higher order Lie-Baecklund symmetries directly without taking recourse to the Baecklund transformation or inverse scattering technique. (author)

  2. Activities, self-referent memory beliefs, and cognitive performance: evidence for direct and mediated relations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jopp, Daniela; Hertzog, Christopher

    2007-12-01

    In this study, the authors investigated the role of activities and self-referent memory beliefs for cognitive performance in a life-span sample. A factor analysis identified 8 activity factors, including Developmental Activities, Experiential Activities, Social Activities, Physical Activities, Technology Use, Watching Television, Games, and Crafts. A second-order general activity factor was significantly related to a general factor of cognitive function as defined by ability tests. Structural regression models suggested that prediction of cognition by activity level was partially mediated by memory beliefs, controlling for age, education, health, and depressive affect. Models adding paths from general and specific activities to aspects of crystallized intelligence suggested additional unique predictive effects for some activities. In alternative models, nonsignificant effects of beliefs on activities were detected when cognition predicted both variables, consistent with the hypothesis that beliefs derive from monitoring cognition and have no influence on activity patterns. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

  3. Recent and Past Musical Activity Predicts Cognitive Aging Variability: Direct Comparison with Leisure Activities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brenda eHanna-Pladdy

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Studies evaluating the impact of modifiable lifestyle factors on cognition offer potential insights into sources of cognitive aging variability. Recently, we reported an association between extent of musical instrumental practice throughout the life span (greater than 10 years on preserved cognitive functioning in advanced age . These findings raise the question of whether there are training-induced brain changes in musicians that can transfer to nonmusical cognitive abilities to allow for compensation of age-related cognitive declines. However, because of the relationship between engagement in lifestyle activities and preserved cognition, it remains unclear whether these findings are specifically driven by musical training or the types of individuals likely to engage in greater activities in general. The current study examined the type of leisure activity (musical versus other as well as the timing of engagement (age of acquisition, past versus recent in predictive models of successful cognitive aging. Seventy age and education matched older musicians (> 10 years and nonmusicians (ages 59-80 were evaluated on neuropsychological tests and life-style activities (AAP. Partition analyses were conducted on significant cognitive measures to explain performance variance in musicians. Musicians scored higher on tests of phonemic fluency, verbal immediate recall, judgment of line orientation (JLO, and Letter Number Sequencing (LNS, but not the AAP. The first partition analysis revealed education best predicted JLO in musicians, followed by recent musical engagement which offset low education. In the second partition analysis, early age of musical acquisition (< 9 years predicted enhanced LNS in musicians, while analyses for AAP, verbal recall and fluency were not predictive. Recent and past musical activity, but not leisure activity, predicted variability across verbal and visuospatial domains in aging. Early musical acquisition predicted auditory

  4. A longitudinal study of higher-order thinking skills: working memory and fluid reasoning in childhood enhance complex problem solving in adolescence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greiff, Samuel; Wüstenberg, Sascha; Goetz, Thomas; Vainikainen, Mari-Pauliina; Hautamäki, Jarkko; Bornstein, Marc H.

    2015-01-01

    Scientists have studied the development of the human mind for decades and have accumulated an impressive number of empirical studies that have provided ample support for the notion that early cognitive performance during infancy and childhood is an important predictor of later cognitive performance during adulthood. As children move from childhood into adolescence, their mental development increasingly involves higher-order cognitive skills that are crucial for successful planning, decision-making, and problem solving skills. However, few studies have employed higher-order thinking skills such as complex problem solving (CPS) as developmental outcomes in adolescents. To fill this gap, we tested a longitudinal developmental model in a sample of 2,021 Finnish sixth grade students (M = 12.41 years, SD = 0.52; 1,041 female, 978 male, 2 missing sex). We assessed working memory (WM) and fluid reasoning (FR) at age 12 as predictors of two CPS dimensions: knowledge acquisition and knowledge application. We further assessed students’ CPS performance 3 years later as a developmental outcome (N = 1696; M = 15.22 years, SD = 0.43; 867 female, 829 male). Missing data partly occurred due to dropout and technical problems during the first days of testing and varied across indicators and time with a mean of 27.2%. Results revealed that FR was a strong predictor of both CPS dimensions, whereas WM exhibited only a small influence on one of the two CPS dimensions. These results provide strong support for the view that CPS involves FR and, to a lesser extent, WM in childhood and from there evolves into an increasingly complex structure of higher-order cognitive skills in adolescence. PMID:26283992

  5. A longitudinal study of higher-order thinking skills: working memory and fluid reasoning in childhood enhance complex problem solving in adolescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greiff, Samuel; Wüstenberg, Sascha; Goetz, Thomas; Vainikainen, Mari-Pauliina; Hautamäki, Jarkko; Bornstein, Marc H

    2015-01-01

    Scientists have studied the development of the human mind for decades and have accumulated an impressive number of empirical studies that have provided ample support for the notion that early cognitive performance during infancy and childhood is an important predictor of later cognitive performance during adulthood. As children move from childhood into adolescence, their mental development increasingly involves higher-order cognitive skills that are crucial for successful planning, decision-making, and problem solving skills. However, few studies have employed higher-order thinking skills such as complex problem solving (CPS) as developmental outcomes in adolescents. To fill this gap, we tested a longitudinal developmental model in a sample of 2,021 Finnish sixth grade students (M = 12.41 years, SD = 0.52; 1,041 female, 978 male, 2 missing sex). We assessed working memory (WM) and fluid reasoning (FR) at age 12 as predictors of two CPS dimensions: knowledge acquisition and knowledge application. We further assessed students' CPS performance 3 years later as a developmental outcome (N = 1696; M = 15.22 years, SD = 0.43; 867 female, 829 male). Missing data partly occurred due to dropout and technical problems during the first days of testing and varied across indicators and time with a mean of 27.2%. Results revealed that FR was a strong predictor of both CPS dimensions, whereas WM exhibited only a small influence on one of the two CPS dimensions. These results provide strong support for the view that CPS involves FR and, to a lesser extent, WM in childhood and from there evolves into an increasingly complex structure of higher-order cognitive skills in adolescence.

  6. Electromagnetic cloaking in higher order spherical cloaks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sidhwa, H. H.; Aiyar, R. P. R. C.; Kulkarni, S. V.

    2017-06-01

    The inception of transformation optics has led to the realisation of the invisibility devices for various applications, one of which is spherical cloaking. In this paper, a formulation for a higher-order spherical cloak has been proposed to reduce its physical thickness significantly by introducing a nonlinear relation between the original and transformed coordinate systems and it has been verified using the ray tracing approach. Analysis has been carried out to observe the anomalies in the variation of refractive index for higher order cloaks indicating the presence of poles in the relevant equations. Furthermore, a higher-order spherical cloak with predefined values of the material characteristics on its inner and outer surfaces has been designed for practical application.

  7. Failing to get the gist of what's being said: background noise impairs higher-order cognitive processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marsh, John E; Ljung, Robert; Nöstl, Anatole; Threadgold, Emma; Campbell, Tom A

    2015-01-01

    A dynamic interplay is known to exist between auditory processing and human cognition. For example, prior investigations of speech-in-noise have revealed there is more to learning than just listening: Even if all words within a spoken list are correctly heard in noise, later memory for those words is typically impoverished. These investigations supported a view that there is a "gap" between the intelligibility of speech and memory for that speech. Here, the notion was that this gap between speech intelligibility and memorability is a function of the extent to which the spoken message seizes limited immediate memory resources (e.g., Kjellberg et al., 2008). Accordingly, the more difficult the processing of the spoken message, the less resources are available for elaboration, storage, and recall of that spoken material. However, it was not previously known how increasing that difficulty affected the memory processing of semantically rich spoken material. This investigation showed that noise impairs higher levels of cognitive analysis. A variant of the Deese-Roediger-McDermott procedure that encourages semantic elaborative processes was deployed. On each trial, participants listened to a 36-item list comprising 12 words blocked by each of 3 different themes. Each of those 12 words (e.g., bed, tired, snore…) was associated with a "critical" lure theme word that was not presented (e.g., sleep). Word lists were either presented without noise or at a signal-to-noise ratio of 5 decibels upon an A-weighting. Noise reduced false recall of the critical words, and decreased the semantic clustering of recall. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

  8. Higher-order Jordan Osserman pseudo-Riemannian manifolds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gilkey, Peter B; Ivanova, Raina; Zhang Tan

    2002-01-01

    We study the higher-order Jacobi operator in pseudo-Riemannian geometry. We exhibit a family of manifolds so that this operator has constant Jordan normal form on the Grassmannian of subspaces of signature (r, s) for certain values of (r, s). These pseudo-Riemannian manifolds are new and non-trivial examples of higher-order Osserman manifolds

  9. Higher-order Jordan Osserman pseudo-Riemannian manifolds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gilkey, Peter B [Mathematics Department, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403 (United States); Ivanova, Raina [Mathematics Department, University of Hawaii - Hilo, 200 W Kawili St, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States); Zhang Tan [Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Murray State University, Murray, KY 42071 (United States)

    2002-09-07

    We study the higher-order Jacobi operator in pseudo-Riemannian geometry. We exhibit a family of manifolds so that this operator has constant Jordan normal form on the Grassmannian of subspaces of signature (r, s) for certain values of (r, s). These pseudo-Riemannian manifolds are new and non-trivial examples of higher-order Osserman manifolds.

  10. Representing cognitive activities and errors in HRA trees

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gertman, D.I.

    1992-01-01

    A graphic representation method is presented herein for adapting an existing technology--human reliability analysis (HRA) event trees, used to support event sequence logic structures and calculations--to include a representation of the underlying cognitive activity and corresponding errors associated with human performance. The analyst is presented with three potential means of representing human activity: the NUREG/CR-1278 HRA event tree approach; the skill-, rule- and knowledge-based paradigm; and the slips, lapses, and mistakes paradigm. The above approaches for representing human activity are integrated in order to produce an enriched HRA event tree -- the cognitive event tree system (COGENT)-- which, in turn, can be used to increase the analyst's understanding of the basic behavioral mechanisms underlying human error and the representation of that error in probabilistic risk assessment. Issues pertaining to the implementation of COGENT are also discussed

  11. Cross-Sectional Relationships of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior With Cognitive Function in Older Adults With Probable Mild Cognitive Impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falck, Ryan S; Landry, Glenn J; Best, John R; Davis, Jennifer C; Chiu, Bryan K; Liu-Ambrose, Teresa

    2017-10-01

    Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) represents a transition between normal cognitive aging and dementia and may represent a critical time frame for promoting cognitive health through behavioral strategies. Current evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior are important for cognition. However, it is unclear whether there are differences in PA and sedentary behavior between people with probable MCI and people without MCI or whether the relationships of PA and sedentary behavior with cognitive function differ by MCI status. The aims of this study were to examine differences in PA and sedentary behavior between people with probable MCI and people without MCI and whether associations of PA and sedentary behavior with cognitive function differed by MCI status. This was a cross-sectional study. Physical activity and sedentary behavior in adults dwelling in the community (N = 151; at least 55 years old) were measured using a wrist-worn actigraphy unit. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment was used to categorize participants with probable MCI (scores of Cognitive function was indexed using the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive-Plus (ADAS-Cog Plus). Physical activity and sedentary behavior were compared based on probable MCI status, and relationships of ADAS-Cog Plus with PA and sedentary behavior were examined by probable MCI status. Participants with probable MCI (n = 82) had lower PA and higher sedentary behavior than participants without MCI (n = 69). Higher PA and lower sedentary behavior were associated with better ADAS-Cog Plus performance in participants without MCI (β = -.022 and β = .012, respectively) but not in participants with probable MCI (β cognitive function. The diagnosis of MCI was not confirmed with a physician; therefore, this study could not conclude how many of the participants categorized as having probable MCI would actually have been diagnosed with MCI by a physician. Participants with probable MCI were less active

  12. Higher-Order Sensory Cortex Drives Basolateral Amygdala Activity during the Recall of Remote, but Not Recently Learned Fearful Memories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cambiaghi, Marco; Grosso, Anna; Likhtik, Ekaterina; Mazziotti, Raffaele; Concina, Giulia; Renna, Annamaria; Sacco, Tiziana; Gordon, Joshua A; Sacchetti, Benedetto

    2016-02-03

    Negative experiences are quickly learned and long remembered. Key unresolved issues in the field of emotional memory include identifying the loci and dynamics of memory storage and retrieval. The present study examined neural activity in the higher-order auditory cortex Te2 and basolateral amygdala (BLA) and their crosstalk during the recall of recent and remote fear memories. To this end, we obtained local field potentials and multiunit activity recordings in Te2 and BLA of rats that underwent recall at 24 h and 30 d after the association of an acoustic conditioned (CS, tone) and an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US, electric shock). Here we show that, during the recall of remote auditory threat memories in rats, the activity of the Te2 and BLA is highly synchronized in the theta frequency range. This functional connectivity stems from memory consolidation processes because it is present during remote, but not recent, memory retrieval. Moreover, the observed increase in synchrony is cue and region specific. A preponderant Te2-to-BLA directionality characterizes this dialogue, and the percentage of time Te2 theta leads the BLA during remote memory recall correlates with a faster latency to freeze to the auditory conditioned stimulus. The blockade of this information transfer via Te2 inhibition with muscimol prevents any retrieval-evoked neuronal activity in the BLA and animals are unable to retrieve remote memories. We conclude that memories stored in higher-order sensory cortices drive BLA activity when distinguishing between learned threatening and neutral stimuli. How and where in the brain do we store the affective/motivational significance of sensory stimuli acquired through life experiences? Scientists have long investigated how "limbic" structures, such as the amygdala, process affective stimuli. Here we show that retrieval of well-established threat memories requires the functional interplay between higher-order components of the auditory cortex and the

  13. III. The importance of physical activity and aerobic fitness for cognitive control and memory in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaddock-Heyman, Laura; Hillman, Charles H; Cohen, Neal J; Kramer, Arthur F

    2014-12-01

    In this chapter, we review literature that examines the association among physical activity, aerobic fitness, cognition, and the brain in elementary school children (ages 7-10 years). Specifically, physical activity and higher levels of aerobic fitness in children have been found to benefit brain structure, brain function, cognition, and school achievement. For example, higher fit children have larger brain volumes in the basal ganglia and hippocampus, which relate to superior performance on tasks of cognitive control and memory, respectively, when compared to their lower fit peers. Higher fit children also show superior brain function during tasks of cognitive control, better scores on tests of academic achievement, and higher performance on a real-world street crossing task, compared to lower fit and less active children. The cross-sectional findings are strengthened by a few randomized, controlled trials, which demonstrate that children randomly assigned to a physical activity intervention group show greater brain and cognitive benefits compared to a control group. Because these findings suggest that the developing brain is plastic and sensitive to lifestyle factors, we also discuss typical structural and functional brain maturation in children to provide context in which to interpret the effects of physical activity and aerobic fitness on the developing brain. This research is important because children are becoming increasingly sedentary, physically inactive, and unfit. An important goal of this review is to emphasize the importance of physical activity and aerobic fitness for the cognitive and brain health of today's youth. © 2014 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

  14. Difference equations in massive higher order calculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bierenbaum, I.; Bluemlein, J.; Klein, S.; Schneider, C.

    2007-07-01

    The calculation of massive 2-loop operator matrix elements, required for the higher order Wilson coefficients for heavy flavor production in deeply inelastic scattering, leads to new types of multiple infinite sums over harmonic sums and related functions, which depend on the Mellin parameter N. We report on the solution of these sums through higher order difference equations using the summation package Sigma. (orig.)

  15. Higher-order harmonics of general limited diffraction Bessel beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ding De-Sheng; Huang Jin-Huang

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we extensively study the higher-order harmonic generation of the general limited diffraction m -th-order Bessel beam. The analysis is based on successive approximations of the Khokhlov–Zabolotskaya–Kuznetsov (KZK) equation. Asymptotic expansions are presented for higher-order harmonic Bessel beams in near and far fields. The validity of asymptotic approximation is also analyzed. The higher-order harmonic of the Bessel beam with the lowest zero-order is taken as a special example. (special topic)

  16. Missing in Action: Writing Process-Based Instructional Practices and Measures of Higher-Order Literacy Achievement in Predominantly Urban Elementary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Briddell, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    This study of 1,974 fifth grade students investigated potential relationships between writing process-based instruction practices and higher-order thinking measured by a standardized literacy assessment. Writing process is defined as a highly complex, socio-cognitive process that includes: planning, text production, review, metacognition, writing…

  17. Psychological biases affecting human cognitive performance in dynamic operational environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takano, Kenichi; Reason, J.

    1999-01-01

    In order to identify cognitive error mechanisms observed in the dynamic operational environment, the following materials were analyzed giving special attention to psychological biases, together with possible cognitive tasks and these location, and internal and external performance shaping factors: (a) 13 human factors analyses of US nuclear power plant accidents, (b) 14 cases of Japanese nuclear power plant incidents, and (c) 23 cases collected in simulator experiments. In the resulting analysis, the most frequently identified cognitive process associated with error productions was situation assessment, and following varieties were KB processes and response planning, all of that were the higher cognitive activities. Over 70% of human error cases, psychological bias was affecting to cognitive errors, especially those to higher cognitive activities. In addition, several error occurrence patterns, including relations between cognitive process, biases, and PSFs were identified by the multivariate analysis. According to the identified error patterns, functions that an operator support system have to equip were discussed and specified for design base considerations. (author)

  18. Consequences of Stimulus Type on Higher-Order Processing in Single-Sided Deaf Cochlear Implant Users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finke, Mareike; Sandmann, Pascale; Bönitz, Hanna; Kral, Andrej; Büchner, Andreas

    2016-01-01

    Single-sided deaf subjects with a cochlear implant (CI) provide the unique opportunity to compare central auditory processing of the electrical input (CI ear) and the acoustic input (normal-hearing, NH, ear) within the same individual. In these individuals, sensory processing differs between their two ears, while cognitive abilities are the same irrespectively of the sensory input. To better understand perceptual-cognitive factors modulating speech intelligibility with a CI, this electroencephalography study examined the central-auditory processing of words, the cognitive abilities, and the speech intelligibility in 10 postlingually single-sided deaf CI users. We found lower hit rates and prolonged response times for word classification during an oddball task for the CI ear when compared with the NH ear. Also, event-related potentials reflecting sensory (N1) and higher-order processing (N2/N4) were prolonged for word classification (targets versus nontargets) with the CI ear compared with the NH ear. Our results suggest that speech processing via the CI ear and the NH ear differs both at sensory (N1) and cognitive (N2/N4) processing stages, thereby affecting the behavioral performance for speech discrimination. These results provide objective evidence for cognition to be a key factor for speech perception under adverse listening conditions, such as the degraded speech signal provided from the CI. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  19. Education, leisure activities and cognitive and functional ability of Alzheimer's disease patients: A follow-up study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sobral, Margarida; Paúl, Constança

    2013-01-01

    Education and participation in leisure activities appear to be highly relevant variables in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and usually form the basis of the Cognitive Reserve construct. [A] To determine the association between education, cognitive and functional ability of AD patients; [B] To determine the association between participation in leisure activities and cognitive and functional ability of AD patients; [C] To evaluate the association of education and participation in leisure activities in the course of AD. Functional and neuropsychological abilities of 120 outpatients with probable AD were evaluated at baseline, at 36 and 54 months. Data collected at baseline included socio-demographics, clinical variables, education and frequency of participation in leisure activities throughout life. All participants and/or caregivers answered the questionnaire, "Participation in leisure activities throughout life" while patients completed the MMSE, the Clinical Dementia Rating scale, neuropsychological tests from the Lisbon Screening for Dementia Assessment, Barthel Index and Lawton and Brody's Index. AD patients with higher levels of education achieved better results on cognitive tests. The participants with higher participation in leisure activities exhibited better results on cognitive and functional tests than those with lower participation. The disease progression was linear and progressed similarly regardless of the level of education of participants. However, the results suggest a slower disease progression in patients with a higher level of participation in leisure activities throughout their lives. AD patients with high education and high participation in leisure activities may benefit from a slower cognitive and functional decline after diagnosis of AD.

  20. Education, leisure activities and cognitive and functional ability of Alzheimer's disease patients: A follow-up study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sobral, Margarida; Paúl, Constança

    2013-01-01

    Education and participation in leisure activities appear to be highly relevant variables in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and usually form the basis of the Cognitive Reserve construct. OBJECTIVE [A] To determine the association between education, cognitive and functional ability of AD patients; [B] To determine the association between participation in leisure activities and cognitive and functional ability of AD patients; [C] To evaluate the association of education and participation in leisure activities in the course of AD. METHODS Functional and neuropsychological abilities of 120 outpatients with probable AD were evaluated at baseline, at 36 and 54 months. Data collected at baseline included socio-demographics, clinical variables, education and frequency of participation in leisure activities throughout life. All participants and/or caregivers answered the questionnaire, "Participation in leisure activities throughout life" while patients completed the MMSE, the Clinical Dementia Rating scale, neuropsychological tests from the Lisbon Screening for Dementia Assessment, Barthel Index and Lawton and Brody's Index. RESULTS AD patients with higher levels of education achieved better results on cognitive tests. The participants with higher participation in leisure activities exhibited better results on cognitive and functional tests than those with lower participation. The disease progression was linear and progressed similarly regardless of the level of education of participants. However, the results suggest a slower disease progression in patients with a higher level of participation in leisure activities throughout their lives. CONCLUSION AD patients with high education and high participation in leisure activities may benefit from a slower cognitive and functional decline after diagnosis of AD. PMID:29213838

  1. Systematic review of the neural basis of social cognition in patients with mood disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cusi, Andrée M; Nazarov, Anthony; Holshausen, Katherine; Macqueen, Glenda M; McKinnon, Margaret C

    2012-05-01

    This review integrates neuroimaging studies of 2 domains of social cognition--emotion comprehension and theory of mind (ToM)--in patients with major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. The influence of key clinical and method variables on patterns of neural activation during social cognitive processing is also examined. Studies were identified using PsycINFO and PubMed (January 1967 to May 2011). The search terms were "fMRI," "emotion comprehension," "emotion perception," "affect comprehension," "affect perception," "facial expression," "prosody," "theory of mind," "mentalizing" and "empathy" in combination with "major depressive disorder," "bipolar disorder," "major depression," "unipolar depression," "clinical depression" and "mania." Taken together, neuroimaging studies of social cognition in patients with mood disorders reveal enhanced activation in limbic and emotion-related structures and attenuated activity within frontal regions associated with emotion regulation and higher cognitive functions. These results reveal an overall lack of inhibition by higher-order cognitive structures on limbic and emotion-related structures during social cognitive processing in patients with mood disorders. Critically, key variables, including illness burden, symptom severity, comorbidity, medication status and cognitive load may moderate this pattern of neural activation. Studies that did not include control tasks or a comparator group were included in this review. Further work is needed to examine the contribution of key moderator variables and to further elucidate the neural networks underlying altered social cognition in patients with mood disorders. The neural networks under lying higher-order social cognitive processes, including empathy, remain unexplored in patients with mood disorders.

  2. Higher-order harmonics of general limited diffraction Bessel beams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, De-Sheng; Huang, Jin-Huang

    2016-12-01

    In this paper, we extensively study the higher-order harmonic generation of the general limited diffraction m-th-order Bessel beam. The analysis is based on successive approximations of the Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov (KZK) equation. Asymptotic expansions are presented for higher-order harmonic Bessel beams in near and far fields. The validity of asymptotic approximation is also analyzed. The higher-order harmonic of the Bessel beam with the lowest zero-order is taken as a special example. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11074038 and 11374051).

  3. Higher order QCD corrections in small x physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chachamis, G.

    2006-11-01

    We study higher order QCD corrections in small x Physics. The numerical implementation of the full NLO photon impact factor is the remaining necessary piece for the testing of the NLO BFKL resummation against data from physical processes, such as γ * γ * collisions. We perform the numerical integration over phase space for the virtual corrections to the NLO photon impact factor. This, along with the previously calculated real corrections, makes feasible in the near future first estimates for the γ*γ* total cross section, since the convolution of the full impact factor with the NLO BFKL gluon Green's function is now straightforward. The NLO corrections for the photon impact factor are sizeable and negative. In the second part of this thesis, we estimate higher order correction to the BK equation. We are mainly interested in whether partonic saturation delays or not in rapidity when going beyond the leading order. In our investigation, we use the so called 'rapidity veto' which forbid two emissions to be very close in rapidity, to 'switch on' higher order corrections to the BK equation. From analytic and numerical analysis, we conclude that indeed saturation does delay in rapidity when higher order corrections are taken into account. In the last part, we investigate higher order QCD corrections as additional corrections to the Electroweak (EW) sector. The question of whether BFKL corrections are of any importance in the Regge limit for the EW sector seems natural; although they arise in higher loop level, the accumulation of logarithms in energy s at high energies, cannot be dismissed without an investigation. We focus on the process γγ→ZZ. We calculate the pQCD corrections in the forward region at leading logarithmic (LL) BFKL accuracy, which are of the order of few percent at the TeV energy scale. (orig.)

  4. Higher order QCD corrections in small x physics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chachamis, G.

    2006-11-15

    We study higher order QCD corrections in small x Physics. The numerical implementation of the full NLO photon impact factor is the remaining necessary piece for the testing of the NLO BFKL resummation against data from physical processes, such as {gamma}{sup *}{gamma}{sup *} collisions. We perform the numerical integration over phase space for the virtual corrections to the NLO photon impact factor. This, along with the previously calculated real corrections, makes feasible in the near future first estimates for the {gamma}*{gamma}* total cross section, since the convolution of the full impact factor with the NLO BFKL gluon Green's function is now straightforward. The NLO corrections for the photon impact factor are sizeable and negative. In the second part of this thesis, we estimate higher order correction to the BK equation. We are mainly interested in whether partonic saturation delays or not in rapidity when going beyond the leading order. In our investigation, we use the so called 'rapidity veto' which forbid two emissions to be very close in rapidity, to 'switch on' higher order corrections to the BK equation. From analytic and numerical analysis, we conclude that indeed saturation does delay in rapidity when higher order corrections are taken into account. In the last part, we investigate higher order QCD corrections as additional corrections to the Electroweak (EW) sector. The question of whether BFKL corrections are of any importance in the Regge limit for the EW sector seems natural; although they arise in higher loop level, the accumulation of logarithms in energy s at high energies, cannot be dismissed without an investigation. We focus on the process {gamma}{gamma}{yields}ZZ. We calculate the pQCD corrections in the forward region at leading logarithmic (LL) BFKL accuracy, which are of the order of few percent at the TeV energy scale. (orig.)

  5. Nonlocal higher order evolution equations

    KAUST Repository

    Rossi, Julio D.; Schö nlieb, Carola-Bibiane

    2010-01-01

    In this article, we study the asymptotic behaviour of solutions to the nonlocal operator ut(x, t)1/4(-1)n-1 (J*Id -1)n (u(x, t)), x ∈ ℝN, which is the nonlocal analogous to the higher order local evolution equation vt(-1)n-1(Δ)nv. We prove

  6. Unambiguous formalism for higher order Lagrangian field theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campos, Cedric M; De Leon, Manuel; De Diego, David MartIn; Vankerschaver, Joris

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to propose an unambiguous intrinsic formalism for higher order field theories which avoids the arbitrariness in the generalization of the conventional description of field theories, and implies the existence of different Cartan forms and Legendre transformations. We propose a differential-geometric setting for the dynamics of a higher order field theory, based on the Skinner and Rusk formalism for mechanics. This approach incorporates aspects of both the Lagrangian and the Hamiltonian description, since the field equations are formulated using the Lagrangian on a higher order jet bundle and the canonical multisymplectic form on its affine dual. As both of these objects are uniquely defined, the Skinner-Rusk approach has the advantage that it does not suffer from the arbitrariness in conventional descriptions. The result is that we obtain a unique and global intrinsic version of the Euler-Lagrange equations for higher order field theories. Several examples illustrate our construction.

  7. Meditation in Higher Education: Does It Enhance Cognition?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helber, Casey; Zook, Nancy A.; Immergut, Matthew

    2012-01-01

    We predicted that students in a sociology course that included contemplative practices (i.e., mindfulness meditation) would show an increase in performance on higher level cognitive abilities (executive functions) over the semester compared to a control group of students. Change in executive functions performance was not significantly different…

  8. Correlation between Cognitive Functions and Activity of Daily Living among Post-Stroke Patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kurniawan Prakoso

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Background: Cognitive impairment is one of the most common post-stroke complications; however, neither patients nor health professionals are often aware of this complication. The impact of cognitive impairment on quality of life is reflected through basic activity daily living (bADL and instrumental activity daily living (IADL. Prior studies concerning the correlation between cognitive impairment and activity daily living has shown contradictive results. This study was conducted in order to analyze the correlation between the cognitive functions and activity daily living in post stroke patients at Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out to 23 post-stroke patients from September–November 2015. Samples were collected through consecutive sampling at Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital. Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE was used to assess the cognitive functions and Lawton and Brody Scale to assess both bADL and IADL. Spearman correlation was selected to analyze the existing correlation between each cognitive domain and activity daily living. Results: Spearman statistical correlation showed an insignificant correlation between the cognitive functions and bADL (r2=0.181, p=0.408 and a significant correlation with IADL was obtained (r2=0.517, p=0.03. The only cognitive domain positively correlated with IADL was orientation to time and verbal recall. Conclusions: There is a correlation between cognitive functions and IADL among post-stroke patients at Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital.

  9. The association between aerobic fitness and cognitive function in older men mediated by frontal lateralization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hyodo, Kazuki; Dan, Ippeita; Kyutoku, Yasushi; Suwabe, Kazuya; Byun, Kyeongho; Ochi, Genta; Kato, Morimasa; Soya, Hideaki

    2016-01-15

    Previous studies have shown that higher aerobic fitness is related to higher cognitive function and higher task-related prefrontal activation in older adults. However, a holistic picture of these factors has yet to be presented. As a typical age-related change of brain activation, less lateralized activity in the prefrontal cortex during cognitive tasks has been observed in various neuroimaging studies. Thus, this study aimed to reveal the relationship between aerobic fitness, cognitive function, and frontal lateralization. Sixty male older adults each performed a submaximal incremental exercise test to determine their oxygen intake (V·O2) at ventilatory threshold (VT) in order to index their aerobic fitness. They performed a color-word Stroop task while prefrontal activation was monitored using functional near infrared spectroscopy. As an index of cognitive function, Stroop interference time was analyzed. Partial correlation analyses revealed significant correlations among higher VT, shorter Stroop interference time and greater left-lateralized dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activation when adjusting for education. Moreover, mediation analyses showed that left-lateralized DLPFC activation significantly mediated the association between VT and Stroop interference time. These results suggest that higher aerobic fitness is associated with cognitive function via lateralized frontal activation in older adults. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. The Contribution of Generative Leisure Activities to Cognitive Function among Sri Lankan Elderly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maselko, Joanna; Sebranek, Matthew; Mun, Mirna Hodzic; Perera, Bilesha; Ahs, Jill; Østbye, Truls

    2014-01-01

    OBJECTIVES Although a substantive body of research has shown a protective association between leisure activities and cognitive function, consistent evidence is lacking about which specific types of activities should be promoted. The objective of this analysis was to examine the unique contribution of generative leisure activities, defined as activities motivated by “a concern for others and a need to contribute something to the next generation” (Erikson). DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. SETTING Peri-urban and rural area in southern Sri Lanka. PARTICIPANTS Community dwelling adults aged 60+ (n=252). MEASUREMENTS Main predictors were leisure activities grouped into generative, social, or solitary. Main outcome was cognitive function assessed with Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE). RESULTS We found that more frequent engagement in generative leisure activities was associated with higher levels of cognitive function, independent of the impact of other social and solitary leisure activities. In a fully adjusted model combining all three leisure activities, generative activities independently predicted cognitive function as measured with the MoCA (β =0.47 (0.11 to 0.83) and the IQCODE (β = -0.81 (-1.54 to -0.09)). In this combined model, solitary activities were also independently associated with slower cognitive decline with the MoCA (β =0.40 (0.16, 0.64), but not with IQCODE (β =-0.38 (-0.88, 0.12)); the association with social activities did not reach statistical significance with either measure. These associations did not differ meaningfully by gender. CONCLUSION Generative leisure activities are a promising area for the development of interventions aimed at reducing cognitive decline among the elderly. PMID:25139145

  11. [Relationship between cognitive function and physical activities: a longitudinal study among community-dwelling elderly].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konagaya, Yoko; Watanabe, Tomoyuki; Ohta, Toshiki

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether physical activities reduce the risk of cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly. We investigated correlations between cognitive functions at baseline and physical activities, correlations between cognitive functions at baseline and cognitive decline over 4 years, as well as correlations between physical activity at baseline and cognitive decline over 4 years. At baseline, 2,431 community-dwelling elderly completed the cognitive screening by telephone (TICS-J), and answered the questionnaires about physical activities. Of these, 1,040 subjects again completed the TICS-J over 4 years. Physical activities contained moving ability, walking frequency, walking speed, the exercise frequency. At baseline, 870 elderly (age 75.87±4.96 (mean±SD) years, duration of education 11.05±2.41) showed normal cognitive functions and 170 (79.19±6.22, 9.61±2.23) showed cognitive impairment. The total TICS-J score was significantly higher in cognitive normal subjects compared with that of cognitive impaired subjects (36.02±1.89, 30.19±2.25, respectively, p<0.001). Logistic regression analyses showed that moving ability significantly reduced the risk of cognitive impairment in an unadjusted model, and walking speed also reduced the risk of cognitive impairment at baseline even in an adjusted model. Cognitive function at baseline might be a predictor of cognitive function over 4 years. The longitudinal study revealed that walking speed and exercise frequency significantly correlate with maintenance of cognitive function over 4 years. This study provides that physical activities, especially walking speed have significant correlation with cognitive function.

  12. 199. Disrupted Integration in Early Psychosis: A Preliminary Exploration of the Relationship Between Neural Synchronization and Higher Order Cognition in a First-Episode Psychosis Sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leonhardt, Bethany; Vohs, Jennifer; Lysaker, Paul; Bartolomeo, Lisa; O’Donnell, Brian; Breier, Alan

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Background: Disruptions in the ability to integrate information into complex ideas needed to make sense of and recover from psychiatric challenges are considered a core source of dysfunction in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). These disruptions are believed to take place at the level of basic brain functioning through neural synchrony and neurocognitive functioning in which information is encountered, encoded and available for memory and at the level of higher order cognition in which ideas are formed and reflected upon. In this study, we sought to explore the link of difficulties in integration at the level of basic brain functioning with integration at the level of self-reflectivity and insight in first episode patients. The role of disrupted integration has particular importance in early phases of illness, as it may impact the likelihood that an individual is able to move toward recovery. As more work is done in early intervention in SSD, it is pivotal that underlying factors that impact ability to recover are investigated. Methods: To assess the ability to integrate information at the level of basic brain function we used electroencephalography (EEG) collected using an Auditory Steady State Response (ASSR) and the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). To assess integration at the level of conscious reflection we used the Metacognition Assessment Scale Abbreviated and insight we used the Scale to Assess Awareness of Mental Disorders (SUMD). Participants were 14 adults with first episode psychosis. Results: Pearson correlations were calculated to assess the relationship of EEG power across a range of frequency bands and neurocognition with MAS-A total scores and SUMD insight score. These revealed that the MAS-A total score was significantly negatively correlated with gamma activity, and was positively correlated with BACS total score. SUMD insight was significantly positively correlated with gamma activity, and negatively

  13. Time-Discrete Higher-Order ALE Formulations: Stability

    KAUST Repository

    Bonito, Andrea; Kyza, Irene; Nochetto, Ricardo H.

    2013-01-01

    on the stability of the PDE but may influence that of a discrete scheme. We examine this critical issue for higher-order time stepping without space discretization. We propose time-discrete discontinuous Galerkin (dG) numerical schemes of any order for a time

  14. The Meaning of Higher-Order Factors in Reflective-Measurement Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eid, Michael; Koch, Tobias

    2014-01-01

    Higher-order factor analysis is a widely used approach for analyzing the structure of a multidimensional test. Whenever first-order factors are correlated researchers are tempted to apply a higher-order factor model. But is this reasonable? What do the higher-order factors measure? What is their meaning? Willoughby, Holochwost, Blanton, and Blair…

  15. Nil Bohr-sets and almost automorphy of higher order

    CERN Document Server

    Huang, Wen; Ye, Xiangdong

    2016-01-01

    Two closely related topics, higher order Bohr sets and higher order almost automorphy, are investigated in this paper. Both of them are related to nilsystems. In the first part, the problem which can be viewed as the higher order version of an old question concerning Bohr sets is studied: for any d\\in \\mathbb{N} does the collection of \\{n\\in \\mathbb{Z}: S\\cap (S-n)\\cap\\ldots\\cap (S-dn)\

  16. Are Fit Indices Biased in Favor of Bi-Factor Models in Cognitive Ability Research?: A Comparison of Fit in Correlated Factors, Higher-Order, and Bi-Factor Models via Monte Carlo Simulations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grant B. Morgan

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Bi-factor confirmatory factor models have been influential in research on cognitive abilities because they often better fit the data than correlated factors and higher-order models. They also instantiate a perspective that differs from that offered by other models. Motivated by previous work that hypothesized an inherent statistical bias of fit indices favoring the bi-factor model, we compared the fit of correlated factors, higher-order, and bi-factor models via Monte Carlo methods. When data were sampled from a true bi-factor structure, each of the approximate fit indices was more likely than not to identify the bi-factor solution as the best fitting. When samples were selected from a true multiple correlated factors structure, approximate fit indices were more likely overall to identify the correlated factors solution as the best fitting. In contrast, when samples were generated from a true higher-order structure, approximate fit indices tended to identify the bi-factor solution as best fitting. There was extensive overlap of fit values across the models regardless of true structure. Although one model may fit a given dataset best relative to the other models, each of the models tended to fit the data well in absolute terms. Given this variability, models must also be judged on substantive and conceptual grounds.

  17. Higher order cumulants in colorless partonic plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cherif, S. [Sciences and Technologies Department, University of Ghardaia, Ghardaia, Algiers (Algeria); Laboratoire de Physique et de Mathématiques Appliquées (LPMA), ENS-Kouba (Bachir El-Ibrahimi), Algiers (Algeria); Ahmed, M. A. A. [Department of Physics, College of Science, Taibah University Al-Madinah Al-Mounawwarah KSA (Saudi Arabia); Department of Physics, Taiz University in Turba, Taiz (Yemen); Laboratoire de Physique et de Mathématiques Appliquées (LPMA), ENS-Kouba (Bachir El-Ibrahimi), Algiers (Algeria); Ladrem, M., E-mail: mladrem@yahoo.fr [Department of Physics, College of Science, Taibah University Al-Madinah Al-Mounawwarah KSA (Saudi Arabia); Laboratoire de Physique et de Mathématiques Appliquées (LPMA), ENS-Kouba (Bachir El-Ibrahimi), Algiers (Algeria)

    2016-06-10

    Any physical system considered to study the QCD deconfinement phase transition certainly has a finite volume, so the finite size effects are inevitably present. This renders the location of the phase transition and the determination of its order as an extremely difficult task, even in the simplest known cases. In order to identify and locate the colorless QCD deconfinement transition point in finite volume T{sub 0}(V), a new approach based on the finite-size cumulant expansion of the order parameter and the ℒ{sub m,n}-Method is used. We have shown that both cumulants of higher order and their ratios, associated to the thermodynamical fluctuations of the order parameter, in QCD deconfinement phase transition behave in a particular enough way revealing pronounced oscillations in the transition region. The sign structure and the oscillatory behavior of these in the vicinity of the deconfinement phase transition point might be a sensitive probe and may allow one to elucidate their relation to the QCD phase transition point. In the context of our model, we have shown that the finite volume transition point is always associated to the appearance of a particular point in whole higher order cumulants under consideration.

  18. Aging, physical activity, and cognitive processing: an examination of P300.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDowell, K; Kerick, S E; Santa Maria, D L; Hatfield, B D

    2003-01-01

    Physical activity appears to attenuate the decline of cognitive function typically observed in older men and women. The P300 component of the event-related potential (ERP) is particularly affected by aging and allows for basic neurobiological assessment of cognitive function. Three aspects of the P300 component (i.e. latency, amplitude, and area under the curve (AUC)), elicited by an oddball task, were derived to assess cognitive function in young and older participants (N=73) who were further classified as high- and low-active. The low-active elderly participants exhibited larger AUC values than those observed in all other groups which were undifferentiated. That is, the high-active elderly and the young participants exhibited smaller AUC values than the low-active older group. In conclusion, higher levels of physical activity in the elderly may be associated with a reduction in the neural resources allocated in response to simple cognitive challenge. This interpretation is consistent with the concept of psychomotor efficiency proposed by Hatfield and Hillman [The psychophysiology of sport: a mechanistic understanding of the psychology of superior performance. In: Singer RN, Hausenbias HA, Janelle CM, editors. Handbook of sport psychology. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley; 2001, p. 362-88].

  19. On the expressiveness and decidability of higher-order process calculi

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lanese, Ivan; Perez, Jorge A.; Sangiorgi, Davide; Schmitt, Alan

    In higher-order process calculi, the values exchanged in communications may contain processes. A core calculus of higher-order concurrency is studied; it has only the operators necessary to express higher-order communications: input prefix, process output, and parallel composition. By exhibiting a

  20. Multilevel Fast Multipole Method for Higher Order Discretizations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borries, Oscar Peter; Meincke, Peter; Jorgensen, Erik

    2014-01-01

    The multi-level fast multipole method (MLFMM) for a higher order (HO) discretization is demonstrated on high-frequency (HF) problems, illustrating for the first time how an efficient MLFMM for HO can be achieved even for very large groups. Applying several novel ideas, beneficial to both lower...... order and higher order discretizations, results from a low-memory, high-speed MLFMM implementation of a HO hierarchical discretization are shown. These results challenge the general view that the benefits of HO and HF-MLFMM cannot be combined....

  1. Higher-order modulation instability in nonlinear fiber optics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erkintalo, Miro; Hammani, Kamal; Kibler, Bertrand; Finot, Christophe; Akhmediev, Nail; Dudley, John M; Genty, Goëry

    2011-12-16

    We report theoretical, numerical, and experimental studies of higher-order modulation instability in the focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation. This higher-order instability arises from the nonlinear superposition of elementary instabilities, associated with initial single breather evolution followed by a regime of complex, yet deterministic, pulse splitting. We analytically describe the process using the Darboux transformation and compare with experiments in optical fiber. We show how a suitably low frequency modulation on a continuous wave field induces higher-order modulation instability splitting with the pulse characteristics at different phases of evolution related by a simple scaling relationship. We anticipate that similar processes are likely to be observed in many other systems including plasmas, Bose-Einstein condensates, and deep water waves. © 2011 American Physical Society

  2. Higher-order rewriting and partial evaluation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Danvy, Olivier; Rose, Kristoffer H.

    1998-01-01

    We demonstrate the usefulness of higher-order rewriting techniques for specializing programs, i.e., for partial evaluation. More precisely, we demonstrate how casting program specializers as combinatory reduction systems (CRSs) makes it possible to formalize the corresponding program...

  3. Higher-Order Separation Logic in Isabelle/HOLCF

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Varming, Carsten; Birkedal, Lars

    2008-01-01

    We formalize higher-order separation logic for a first-order imperative language with procedures and local variables in Isabelle/HOLCF. The assertion language is modeled in such a way that one may use any theory defined in Isabelle/HOLCF to construct assertions, e.g., primitive recursion, least o...

  4. Meta-Logical Reasoning in Higher-Order Logic

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Villadsen, Jørgen; Schlichtkrull, Anders; Hess, Andreas Viktor

    The semantics of first-order logic (FOL) can be described in the meta-language of higher-order logic (HOL). Using HOL one can prove key properties of FOL such as soundness and completeness. Furthermore, one can prove sentences in FOL valid using the formalized FOL semantics. To aid...

  5. Marketing activities of higher education institutions

    OpenAIRE

    Varađanin Vladimir

    2017-01-01

    Public sector marketing is a modern-day scientific discipline which is getting more and more attention. Institutions of higher education provide a specific kind of services to their users, which makes these institutions a part of the public sector. Due to dynamic changes in the environment, the demands and needs of higher education institution's users change, which makes it necessary to monitor these changes through certain marketing activities and adjust to them in order to satisfy the users...

  6. COMPUTER EXPERIMENTS WITH FINITE ELEMENTS OF HIGHER ORDER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khomchenko A.

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with the problem of constructing the basic functions of a quadrilateral finite element of the fifth order by the means of the computer algebra system Maple. The Lagrangian approximation of such a finite element contains 36 nodes: 20 nodes perimeter and 16 internal nodes. Alternative models with reduced number of internal nodes are considered. Graphs of basic functions and cognitive portraits of lines of zero level are presented. The work is aimed at studying the possibilities of using modern information technologies in the teaching of individual mathematical disciplines.

  7. Higher-Order and Symbolic Computation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Danvy, Olivier; Mason, Ian

    2008-01-01

    a series of implementaions that properly account for multiple invocations of the derivative-taking opeatro. In "Adapting Functional Programs to Higher-Order Logic," Scott Owens and Konrad Slind present a variety of examples of terminiation proofs of functional programs written in HOL proof systems. Since......-calculus programs, historically. The anaylsis determines the possible locations of ambients and mirrors the temporla sequencing of actions in the structure of types....

  8. All-fiber Raman Probe using Higher Order Modes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Stine Højer Møller; Rishøj, Lars Søgaard; Rottwitt, Karsten

    2013-01-01

    We demonstrate the first all-fiber Raman probe utilizing higher order modes for the excitation. The spectrum of cyclohexane is measured using both the fundamental mode as well as in-fiber-generated Bessel-like modes.......We demonstrate the first all-fiber Raman probe utilizing higher order modes for the excitation. The spectrum of cyclohexane is measured using both the fundamental mode as well as in-fiber-generated Bessel-like modes....

  9. Asymptotic Expansions for Higher-Order Scalar Difference Equations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pituk Mihály

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available We give an asymptotic expansion of the solutions of higher-order Poincaré difference equation in terms of the characteristic solutions of the limiting equation. As a consequence, we obtain an asymptotic description of the solutions approaching a hyperbolic equilibrium of a higher-order nonlinear difference equation with sufficiently smooth nonlinearity. The proof is based on the inversion formula for the z -transform and the residue theorem.

  10. Functional MR mapping of higher cognitive brain functions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bellemann, M.E.; Spitzer, M.; Brix, G.; Kammer, T.; Loose, R.; Schwartz, A.; Gueckel, F.

    1995-01-01

    Fifteen normal subjects were examined on a conventional 1.5-T MR system to visualize cortical activation during the performance of high-level cognitive tasks. A computer-controlled videoprojector was employed to present psychometrically optimized activation paradigms. Reaction times and error rates of the volunteers were acquired online during stimulus presentation. The time course of cortical activation was measured in a series of strongly T 2 *-weighted gradient-echo images from three or four adjacent slices. For anatomical correlation, picture elements showing a stimulus-related significant signal increase were color-coded and superimposed on T 1 -weighted spin-echo images. Analysis of the fMRI data revealed a subtle (range 2-5%), but statistically significant increase in signal intensity during the periods of induced cortical activation. Judgment of semantic relatedness of word pairs, for example, activated selectively cortical areas in left frontal and left temporal brain regions. The strength of cortex activation in the semantic task decreased significantly in the course of stimulus presentation and was paralleled by a decrease in the corresponding reaction times. With its move into the area of cognitive neuroscience, fMRI calls both for the careful design of activation schemes and for the acquisition of behavioral data. For example, brain regions involved in language processing could only be identified clearly when psychometrically matched activation paradigms were employed. The reaction time data correlated well with selective learning and thus helped to facilitate interpretation of the fMRI data sets. (orig.) [de

  11. Optimizing students’ scientific communication skills through higher order thinking virtual laboratory (HOTVL)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sapriadil, S.; Setiawan, A.; Suhandi, A.; Malik, A.; Safitri, D.; Lisdiani, S. A. S.; Hermita, N.

    2018-05-01

    Communication skill is one skill that is very needed in this 21st century. Preparing and teaching this skill in teaching physics is relatively important. The focus of this research is to optimizing of students’ scientific communication skills after the applied higher order thinking virtual laboratory (HOTVL) on topic electric circuit. This research then employed experimental study particularly posttest-only control group design. The subject in this research involved thirty senior high school students which were taken using purposive sampling. A sample of seventy (70) students participated in the research. An equivalent number of thirty five (35) students were assigned to the control and experimental group. The results of this study found that students using higher order thinking virtual laboratory (HOTVL) in laboratory activities had higher scientific communication skills than students who used the verification virtual lab.

  12. On the origin of higher braces and higher-order derivations

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Markl, Martin

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 10, č. 3 (2015), s. 637-667 ISSN 2193-8407 Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : Koszul braces * Börjeseon braces * higher-order derivation Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.600, year: 2015 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40062-014-0079-2

  13. Higher order correlations in computed particle distributions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanerfeld, H.; Herrmannsfeldt, W.; Miller, R.H.

    1989-03-01

    The rms emittances calculated for beam distributions using computer simulations are frequently dominated by higher order aberrations. Thus there are substantial open areas in the phase space plots. It has long been observed that the rms emittance is not an invariant to beam manipulations. The usual emittance calculation removes the correlation between transverse displacement and transverse momentum. In this paper, we explore the possibility of defining higher order correlations that can be removed from the distribution to result in a lower limit to the realizable emittance. The intent is that by inserting the correct combinations of linear lenses at the proper position, the beam may recombine in a way that cancels the effects of some higher order forces. An example might be the non-linear transverse space charge forces which cause a beam to spread. If the beam is then refocused so that the same non-linear forces reverse the inward velocities, the resulting phase space distribution may reasonably approximate the original distribution. The approach to finding the location and strength of the proper lens to optimize the transported beam is based on work by Bruce Carlsten of Los Alamos National Laboratory. 11 refs., 4 figs

  14. Perturbative theory of higher-order collision-enhanced wave mixing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trebino, R.; Rahn, L.A.

    1989-01-01

    This paper reports on collision-enhanced resonances which represent an interesting class of nonlinear- optical processes. They occur because collisional dephasing can rephase quantum-mechanical amplitudes that ordinarily cancel out exactly, thereby allowing otherwise unobservable wave-mixing resonances to be seen. This is an especially interesting phenomenon because these resonances are coherent effects that are induced by an incoherent process (collisional dephasing). First predicted in the late 1970s and eventually observed in 1981, these novel effects have now been seen in a wide variety of four-wave-mixing experiments, ranging from self-focusing to coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy. Recently, the authors have extended these observations to higher order, where the authors have shown both experimentally and theoretically the higher-order, collision-enhanced effects exist in nonlinear optics, appearing as subharmonics of two-photon resonances. Indeed, the authors have found that collision-enhanced processes are ideal systems for studying higher-order, nonlinear-optical effects because very high orders can be made to contribute with little or no saturation braodening. Experiments on sodium in a flame using six- and eight-wave-mixing geometries have revealed still higher-order effects (at least as high- order as χ (13) )

  15. Classical higher-order processes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Montesi, Fabrizio

    2017-01-01

    Classical Processes (CP) is a calculus where the proof theory of classical linear logic types processes à la Π-calculus, building on a Curry-Howard correspondence between session types and linear propositions. We contribute to this research line by extending CP with process mobility, inspired...... by the Higher-Order Π-calculus. The key to our calculus is that sequents are asymmetric: one side types sessions as in CP and the other types process variables, which can be instantiated with process values. The controlled interaction between the two sides ensures that process variables can be used at will......, but always respecting the linear usage of sessions expected by the environment....

  16. Contribution of generative leisure activities to cognitive function in elderly Sri Lankan adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maselko, Joanna; Sebranek, Matthew; Mun, Mirna H; Perera, Bilesha; Ahs, Jill; Ostbye, Truls

    2014-09-01

    To examine the unique contribution of generative leisure activities, defined as activities motivated by a concern for others and a need to contribute something to the next generation. Cross-sectional survey. Peri-urban and rural area in southern Sri Lanka. Community-dwelling adults aged 60 and older (N = 252). The main predictors were leisure activities, grouped into generative, social, or solitary. The main outcome was cognitive function, assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE). More-frequent engagement in generative leisure activities was associated with higher levels of cognitive function, independent of the effect of other social and solitary leisure activities. In a fully adjusted model combining all three leisure activities, generative activities independently predicted cognitive function as measured using the MoCA (β = 0.47, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.11-0.83) and the IQCODE (β = -0.81, 95% CI = -1.54 to -0.09). In this combined model, solitary activities were also independently associated with slower cognitive decline using the MoCA (β = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.16-0.64) but not the IQCODE (β = -0.38, 95% CI = -0.88-0.12); the association with social activities did not reach statistical significance with either measure. These associations did not differ meaningfully according to sex. Generative leisure activities are a promising area for the development of interventions aimed at reducing cognitive decline in elderly adults. © 2014, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2014, The American Geriatrics Society.

  17. Higher-order phase transitions on financial markets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasprzak, A.; Kutner, R.; Perelló, J.; Masoliver, J.

    2010-08-01

    Statistical and thermodynamic properties of the anomalous multifractal structure of random interevent (or intertransaction) times were thoroughly studied by using the extended continuous-time random walk (CTRW) formalism of Montroll, Weiss, Scher, and Lax. Although this formalism is quite general (and can be applied to any interhuman communication with nontrivial priority), we consider it in the context of a financial market where heterogeneous agent activities can occur within a wide spectrum of time scales. As the main general consequence, we found (by additionally using the Saddle-Point Approximation) the scaling or power-dependent form of the partition function, Z(q'). It diverges for any negative scaling powers q' (which justifies the name anomalous) while for positive ones it shows the scaling with the general exponent τ(q'). This exponent is the nonanalytic (singular) or noninteger power of q', which is one of the pilar of higher-order phase transitions. In definition of the partition function we used the pausing-time distribution (PTD) as the central one, which takes the form of convolution (or superstatistics used, e.g. for describing turbulence as well as the financial market). Its integral kernel is given by the stretched exponential distribution (often used in disordered systems). This kernel extends both the exponential distribution assumed in the original version of the CTRW formalism (for description of the transient photocurrent measured in amorphous glassy material) as well as the Gaussian one sometimes used in this context (e.g. for diffusion of hydrogen in amorphous metals or for aging effects in glasses). Our most important finding is the third- and higher-order phase transitions, which can be roughly interpreted as transitions between the phase where high frequency trading is most visible and the phase defined by low frequency trading. The specific order of the phase transition directly depends upon the shape exponent α defining the stretched

  18. Failing to Get the Gist of What’s Being Said: Background Noise Impairs Higher Order Cognitive Processing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Everett Marsh

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available A dynamic interplay is known to exist between auditory processing and human cognition. For example, prior investigations of speech-in-noise have revealed there is more to learning than just listening: Even if all words within a spoken list correctly heard in noise, later memory for those words is typically impoverished. At such low signal-to-noise ratios when listeners could identify words, those participants could not necessarily remember those words. These investigations supported a view that there is a gap between the intelligibility of speech and memory for that speech. Here, the notion was that this gap between speech intelligibility and memorability is a function of the extent to which the spoken message seizes limited immediate memory resources (e.g., Kjellberg, Ljung, & Hallman, 2008. Accordingly, the more difficult the processing of the spoken message, the less resources are available for elaboration, storage, and recall of that spoken material. However, it was not previously known how increasing that difficulty affected the memory processing of semantically rich spoken material. This investigation showed that noise impairs higher levels of cognitive analysis. A variant of the Deese-Roediger-McDermott procedure that encourages semantic elaborative processes was deployed. On each trial, participants listened to a 36-item list comprising 12 words blocked by each of 3 different themes. Each of those 12 words (e.g., bed, tired, snore… was associated with a critical lure theme word that was not presented (e.g., sleep. Word lists were either presented without noise or at a signal-to-noise ratio of 5 decibels upon an A-weighting. Noise reduced false recall of the critical words, and decreased the semantic clustering of recall. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

  19. Asymptotic Expansions for Higher-Order Scalar Difference Equations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ravi P. Agarwal

    2007-04-01

    Full Text Available We give an asymptotic expansion of the solutions of higher-order Poincaré difference equation in terms of the characteristic solutions of the limiting equation. As a consequence, we obtain an asymptotic description of the solutions approaching a hyperbolic equilibrium of a higher-order nonlinear difference equation with sufficiently smooth nonlinearity. The proof is based on the inversion formula for the z -transform and the residue theorem.

  20. Cognitively Stimulating Activities: Effects on Cognition across Four Studies with up to 21 Years of Longitudinal Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meghan B. Mitchell

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Engagement in cognitively stimulating activities has been considered to maintain or strengthen cognitive skills, thereby minimizing age-related cognitive decline. While the idea that there may be a modifiable behavior that could lower risk for cognitive decline is appealing and potentially empowering for older adults, research findings have not consistently supported the beneficial effects of engaging in cognitively stimulating tasks. Using observational studies of naturalistic cognitive activities, we report a series of mixed effects models that include baseline and change in cognitive activity predicting cognitive outcomes over up to 21 years in four longitudinal studies of aging. Consistent evidence was found for cross-sectional relationships between level of cognitive activity and cognitive test performance. Baseline activity at an earlier age did not, however, predict rate of decline later in life, thus not supporting the concept that engaging in cognitive activity at an earlier point in time increases one's ability to mitigate future age-related cognitive decline. In contrast, change in activity was associated with relative change in cognitive performance. Results therefore suggest that change in cognitive activity from one's previous level has at least a transitory association with cognitive performance measured at the same point in time.

  1. Unmaking old age: political and cognitive formats of active ageing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lassen, Aske Juul; Moreira, Tiago

    2014-01-01

    Active ageing is a policy tool that dominates the way the ageing society has been constituted during the last decades. The authors argue that active ageing is an attempt at unmaking the concept of old age, by engaging in the plasticity of ageing in various ways. Through a document study...... of the different epistemes, models and forms used in the constitution of active ageing policies, the authors show how active ageing is not one coordinated set of policy instruments, but comes in different formats. In the WHO, active ageing configures individual lifestyle in order to expand the plasticity of ageing......, based on epidemiological and public health conventions. In the EU, active ageing reforms the retirement behaviour of populations in order to integrate the plasticity of ageing into the institutions, based on social gerontological and demographic conventions. These conventional arrangements are cognitive...

  2. The association of educational attainment, cognitive level of job, and leisure activities during the course of adulthood with cognitive performance in old age: the role of openness to experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ihle, Andreas; Oris, Michel; Fagot, Delphine; Maggiori, Christian; Kliegel, Matthias

    2016-05-01

    The relevance of mental health for everyday life functioning and well-being is crucial. In this context, higher educational attainment, higher cognitive level of one's occupation, and more engaging in stimulating leisure activities have been found to be associated with better cognitive functioning in old age. Yet, the detailed pattern of the potential interplay of such a cognitively engaged lifestyle with personality dimensions, such as openness to experience, in their relations to cognitive functioning remains unclear. Two thousand eight hundred and twelve older adults served as sample for the present study. Psychometric tests on verbal abilities and processing speed were administered. In addition, individuals were retrospectively interviewed on their educational attainment, occupation, and regarding 18 leisure activities that had been carried out in mid-life. Moreover, openness to experience was assessed. We found that the effect of openness to experience on cognitive functioning was mediated by educational attainment, cognitive level of job, and engaging in different leisure activities. Data were not better described by alternative moderation models testing for interactive (i.e. dependent) effects of openness to experience and cognitively stimulating engagement. To explain interindividual differences in cognitive functioning in old age, present data are in line with a mechanism in which individuals with high openness to experience may have been more engaged in stimulating activities in early and mid-life. Possibly by increasing their cognitive reserve throughout adulthood, this may finally enhance their cognitive performance level later in old age.

  3. Higher-order tensors in diffusion imaging

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schultz, T.; Fuster, A.; Ghosh, A.; Deriche, R.; Florack, L.M.J.; Lim, L.H.; Westin, C.-F.; Vilanova, A.; Burgeth, B.

    2014-01-01

    Diffusion imaging is a noninvasive tool for probing the microstructure of fibrous nerve and muscle tissue. Higher-order tensors provide a powerful mathematical language to model and analyze the large and complex data that is generated by its modern variants such as High Angular Resolution Diffusion

  4. Higher incidence of mild cognitive impairment in familial hypercholesterolemia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zambón, D.; Quintana, M.; Mata, P.; Alonso, R.; Benavent, J.; Cruz-Sánchez, F.; Gich, J.; Pocoví, M.; Civeira, F.; Capurro, S.; Bachman, D.; Sambamurti, K.; Nicholas, J.; Pappolla, M. A.

    2010-01-01

    Objective Hypercholesterolemia is an early risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors may be involved in this disorder. Our objective was to determine the risk of mild cognitive impairment in a population of patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, a condition involving LDL receptors dysfunction and life long hypercholesterolemia. Methods Using a cohort study design, patients with (N=47) meeting inclusion criteria and comparison patients without familial hypercholesterolemia (N=70) were consecutively selected from academic specialty and primary care clinics respectively. All patients were older than 50 years. Those with disorders which could impact cognition, including history of stroke or transient ischemic attacks, were excluded from both groups. Thirteen standardized neuropsychological tests were performed in all subjects. Mutational analysis was performed in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia and brain imaging was obtained in those with familial hypercholesterolemia and mild cognitive impairment. Results Patients with familial hypercholesterolemia showed a very high incidence of mild cognitive impairment compared to those without familial hypercholesterolemia (21.3% vs. 2.9%; p = 0.00). This diagnosis was unrelated to structural pathology or white matter disease. There were significant differences between the familial hypercholesterolemia and the no-familial hypercholesterolemia groups in several cognitive measures, all in the direction of worse performance for familial hypercholesterolemia patients, independent of apoE4 or apoE2 status. Conclusions Because prior studies have shown that older patients with sporadic hypercholesterolemia do not show higher incidence of mild cognitive impairment, the findings presented here suggest that early exposure to elevated cholesterol or LDL receptors dysfunction may be risk factors for mild cognitive impairment. PMID:20193836

  5. Theorem Proving In Higher Order Logics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carreno, Victor A. (Editor); Munoz, Cesar A.; Tahar, Sofiene

    2002-01-01

    The TPHOLs International Conference serves as a venue for the presentation of work in theorem proving in higher-order logics and related areas in deduction, formal specification, software and hardware verification, and other applications. Fourteen papers were submitted to Track B (Work in Progress), which are included in this volume. Authors of Track B papers gave short introductory talks that were followed by an open poster session. The FCM 2002 Workshop aimed to bring together researchers working on the formalisation of continuous mathematics in theorem proving systems with those needing such libraries for their applications. Many of the major higher order theorem proving systems now have a formalisation of the real numbers and various levels of real analysis support. This work is of interest in a number of application areas, such as formal methods development for hardware and software application and computer supported mathematics. The FCM 2002 consisted of three papers, presented by their authors at the workshop venue, and one invited talk.

  6. Late life leisure activities and risk of cognitive decline.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hui-Xin; Jin, Yinlong; Hendrie, Hugh C; Liang, Chaoke; Yang, Lili; Cheng, Yibin; Unverzagt, Frederick W; Ma, Feng; Hall, Kathleen S; Murrell, Jill R; Li, Ping; Bian, Jianchao; Pei, Jin-Jing; Gao, Sujuan

    2013-02-01

    Studies concerning the effect of different types of leisure activities on various cognitive domains are limited. This study tests the hypothesis that mental, physical, and social activities have a domain-specific protection against cognitive decline. A cohort of a geographically defined population in China was examined in 2003-2005 and followed for an average of 2.4 years. Leisure activities were assessed in 1,463 adults aged 65 years and older without cognitive or physical impairment at baseline, and their cognitive performances were tested at baseline and follow-up examinations. High level of mental activity was related to less decline in global cognition (β = -.23, p Leisure activities in old age may protect against cognitive decline for both women and men, and different types of activities seem to benefit different cognitive domains.

  7. Exact solutions to two higher order nonlinear Schroedinger equations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Liping; Zhang Jinliang

    2007-01-01

    Using the homogeneous balance principle and F-expansion method, the exact solutions to two higher order nonlinear Schroedinger equations which describe the propagation of femtosecond pulses in nonlinear fibres are obtained with the aid of a set of subsidiary higher order ordinary differential equations (sub-equations for short)

  8. Self-similarity of higher-order moving averages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arianos, Sergio; Carbone, Anna; Türk, Christian

    2011-10-01

    In this work, higher-order moving average polynomials are defined by straightforward generalization of the standard moving average. The self-similarity of the polynomials is analyzed for fractional Brownian series and quantified in terms of the Hurst exponent H by using the detrending moving average method. We prove that the exponent H of the fractional Brownian series and of the detrending moving average variance asymptotically agree for the first-order polynomial. Such asymptotic values are compared with the results obtained by the simulations. The higher-order polynomials correspond to trend estimates at shorter time scales as the degree of the polynomial increases. Importantly, the increase of polynomial degree does not require to change the moving average window. Thus trends at different time scales can be obtained on data sets with the same size. These polynomials could be interesting for those applications relying on trend estimates over different time horizons (financial markets) or on filtering at different frequencies (image analysis).

  9. Cognitive profiles and heritability estimates in the Old Order Amish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuehner, Ryan M; Kochunov, Peter; Nugent, Katie L; Jurius, Deanna E; Savransky, Anya; Gaudiot, Christopher; Bruce, Heather A; Gold, James; Shuldiner, Alan R; Mitchell, Braxton D; Hong, L Elliot

    2016-08-01

    This study aimed to establish the applicability of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) in the Old Order Amish (OOA) and to assess the genetic contribution toward the RBANS total score and its cognitive domains using a large family-based sample of OOA. RBANS data were collected in 103 OOA individuals from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, including 85 individuals without psychiatric illness and 18 individuals with current psychiatric diagnoses. The RBANS total score and all five cognitive domains of in nonpsychiatric OOA were within half a SD of the normative data of the general population. The RBANS total score was highly heritable (h=0.51, P=0.019). OOA with psychiatric diagnoses had a numerically lower RBANS total score and domain scores compared with the nonpsychiatric participants. The RBANS appears to be a suitable cognitive battery for the OOA population as measurements obtained from the OOA are comparable with normative data in the US population. The heritability estimated from the OOA is in line with heritabilities of other cognitive batteries estimated in other populations. These results support the use of RBANS in cognitive assessment, clinical care, and behavioral genetic studies of neuropsychological functioning in this population.

  10. Participation in recreation and cognitive activities as a predictor of cognitive performance of adults with/without Down syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lifshitz-Vahav, Hefziba; Shnitzer, Shlomit; Mashal, Nira

    2016-09-01

    The Cognitive Activity Theory suggests an association between participation in cognitive activities during midlife and cognitive functioning in the short term. We examined the impact of participation in cognitively stimulating activities conveyed during leisure activities on crystallized and fluid tests' performance among adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). Adults (n = 32; chronological age = 25-55) with non-specific ID and with Down syndrome rated the frequency of their participation in leisure activities. Pursuits included more cognitively involving (reading, participating in academic courses) and less cognitively involving (cooking, dancing) activities. Three judges ranked activities according to their cognitive load on a 1 (few cognitive components) to 5 (many cognitive components) points scale. The findings indicate two new scales: cognitively stimulating activities and recreational stimulating activities. The crystallized battery included phonemic fluency, synonyms, idioms, and verbal metaphors. The fluid battery included the Homophone Meaning Generation Test, Metaphoric Triad Test, Novel Metaphors Test, and Trail Making Test. Hierarchal regression with chronological and mental age, recreational, and cognitively stimulating activities indicated that participation in recreational activities contributed significantly to the explained variance of word fluency. Participation in cognitive activities contributed significantly to the explained variance of most of the crystallized and fluid tests. The findings support the Cognitive Activity Theory in populations with ID. The findings also support the Compensation Age Theory: not only endogenous factors (age, etiology, IQ level), but also exogenous factors such as life style determining the cognitive functioning of adults with ID. However, frequency and the cognitive load of the activities influenced their cognitive functioning.

  11. Compiler-Directed Transformation for Higher-Order Stencils

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Basu, Protonu [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Hall, Mary [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Williams, Samuel [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Straalen, Brian Van [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Oliker, Leonid [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Colella, Phillip [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2015-07-20

    As the cost of data movement increasingly dominates performance, developers of finite-volume and finite-difference solutions for partial differential equations (PDEs) are exploring novel higher-order stencils that increase numerical accuracy and computational intensity. This paper describes a new compiler reordering transformation applied to stencil operators that performs partial sums in buffers, and reuses the partial sums in computing multiple results. This optimization has multiple effect son improving stencil performance that are particularly important to higher-order stencils: exploits data reuse, reduces floating-point operations, and exposes efficient SIMD parallelism to backend compilers. We study the benefit of this optimization in the context of Geometric Multigrid (GMG), a widely used method to solvePDEs, using four different Jacobi smoothers built from 7-, 13-, 27-and 125-point stencils. We quantify performance, speedup, andnumerical accuracy, and use the Roofline model to qualify our results. Ultimately, we obtain over 4× speedup on the smoothers themselves and up to a 3× speedup on the multigrid solver. Finally, we demonstrate that high-order multigrid solvers have the potential of reducing total data movement and energy by several orders of magnitude.

  12. Higher-Order Components for Grid Programming

    CERN Document Server

    Dünnweber, Jan

    2009-01-01

    Higher-Order Components were developed within the CoreGRID European Network of Excellence and have become an optional extension of the popular Globus middleware. This book provides the reader with hands-on experience, describing a collection of example applications from various fields of science and engineering, including biology and physics.

  13. Higher order aberrations of the eye: Part one

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marsha Oberholzer

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This article is the first in a series of two articles that provide a comprehensive literature review of higher order aberrations (HOAs of the eye. The present article mainly explains the general principles of such HOAs as well as HOAs of importance, and the measuring apparatus used to measure HOAs of the eye. The second article in the series discusses factors contributing to variable results in measurements of HOAs of the eye. Keywords: Higher order aberrations; wavefront aberrations; aberrometer

  14. Lagrangian-Hamiltonian unified formalism for autonomous higher order dynamical systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prieto-Martinez, Pedro Daniel; Roman-Roy, Narciso

    2011-01-01

    The Lagrangian-Hamiltonian unified formalism of Skinner and Rusk was originally stated for autonomous dynamical systems in classical mechanics. It has been generalized for non-autonomous first-order mechanical systems, as well as for first-order and higher order field theories. However, a complete generalization to higher order mechanical systems is yet to be described. In this work, after reviewing the natural geometrical setting and the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms for higher order autonomous mechanical systems, we develop a complete generalization of the Lagrangian-Hamiltonian unified formalism for these kinds of systems, and we use it to analyze some physical models from this new point of view. (paper)

  15. Higher Order Lagrange Finite Elements In M3D

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, J.; Strauss, H.R.; Jardin, S.C.; Park, W.; Sugiyama, L.E.; Fu, G.; Breslau, J.

    2004-01-01

    The M3D code has been using linear finite elements to represent multilevel MHD on 2-D poloidal planes. Triangular higher order elements, up to third order, are constructed here in order to provide M3D the capability to solve highly anisotropic transport problems. It is found that higher order elements are essential to resolve the thin transition layer characteristic of the anisotropic transport equation, particularly when the strong anisotropic direction is not aligned with one of the Cartesian coordinates. The transition layer is measured by the profile width, which is zero for infinite anisotropy. It is shown that only higher order schemes have the ability to make this layer converge towards zero when the anisotropy gets stronger and stronger. Two cases are considered. One has the strong transport direction partially aligned with one of the element edges, the other doesn't have any alignment. Both cases have the strong transport direction misaligned with the grid line by some angles

  16. An Algorithm for Higher Order Hopf Normal Forms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.Y.T. Leung

    1995-01-01

    Full Text Available Normal form theory is important for studying the qualitative behavior of nonlinear oscillators. In some cases, higher order normal forms are required to understand the dynamic behavior near an equilibrium or a periodic orbit. However, the computation of high-order normal forms is usually quite complicated. This article provides an explicit formula for the normalization of nonlinear differential equations. The higher order normal form is given explicitly. Illustrative examples include a cubic system, a quadratic system and a Duffing–Van der Pol system. We use exact arithmetic and find that the undamped Duffing equation can be represented by an exact polynomial differential amplitude equation in a finite number of terms.

  17. Higher-Order Synaptic Interactions Coordinate Dynamics in Recurrent Networks.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brendan Chambers

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Linking synaptic connectivity to dynamics is key to understanding information processing in neocortex. Circuit dynamics emerge from complex interactions of interconnected neurons, necessitating that links between connectivity and dynamics be evaluated at the network level. Here we map propagating activity in large neuronal ensembles from mouse neocortex and compare it to a recurrent network model, where connectivity can be precisely measured and manipulated. We find that a dynamical feature dominates statistical descriptions of propagating activity for both neocortex and the model: convergent clusters comprised of fan-in triangle motifs, where two input neurons are themselves connected. Fan-in triangles coordinate the timing of presynaptic inputs during ongoing activity to effectively generate postsynaptic spiking. As a result, paradoxically, fan-in triangles dominate the statistics of spike propagation even in randomly connected recurrent networks. Interplay between higher-order synaptic connectivity and the integrative properties of neurons constrains the structure of network dynamics and shapes the routing of information in neocortex.

  18. Higher-Order Hybrid Gaussian Kernel in Meshsize Boosting Algorithm

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In this paper, we shall use higher-order hybrid Gaussian kernel in a meshsize boosting algorithm in kernel density estimation. Bias reduction is guaranteed in this scheme like other existing schemes but uses the higher-order hybrid Gaussian kernel instead of the regular fixed kernels. A numerical verification of this scheme ...

  19. Higher Order and Fractional Diffusive Equations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Assante

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available We discuss the solution of various generalized forms of the Heat Equation, by means of different tools ranging from the use of Hermite-Kampé de Fériet polynomials of higher and fractional order to operational techniques. We show that these methods are useful to obtain either numerical or analytical solutions.

  20. Higher fasting glucose is associated with poorer cognition among healthy young adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawkins, Misty A W; Gunstad, John; Calvo, Dayana; Spitznagel, Mary Beth

    2016-02-01

    Obesity is associated with cognitive deficits; however, the mechanisms are unclear, especially among otherwise healthy adults. Our objectives were to examine (a) whether obesity is linked to elevations in fasting glucose and (b) whether these elevations are associated with cognitive impairment among otherwise healthy young adults. Participants were 35 normal weight adults and 35 young adults with obesity who completed a task from the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics-4 (ANAM-4). Measured body mass index (BMI) and fasting blood glucose levels (mg/dL) were examined. Persons with obesity had higher fasting glucose levels than normal weight persons (p = .03). After applying Bonferroni correction for multiple tests, higher fasting glucose predicted less accurate performance on tests of inhibitory control: Go/No-Go Commission Errors (β = .33, p = .004). No effects were observed for sustained attention or working memory (ps ≥. 049). Persons with glucose levels in the prediabetes range had nearly twice as many errors as those with normal glucose, a large effect that was independent of BMI. Young adults who were obese but otherwise healthy had higher fasting glucose levels compared with normal weight peers. Higher glucose levels were associated with poorer cognitive performance on tests of inhibitory control, especially among individuals with prediabetes levels. Thus, subclinical elevations in blood glucose may contribute to cognitive impairment and, ultimately, greater impulsivity-well in advance of the development of chronic disease states (e.g., insulin resistance or Type 2 diabetes) and independently of excess adiposity--though prospective studies are needed to determine directionality of this relationship. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  1. Generating higher-order Lie algebras by expanding Maurer-Cartan forms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caroca, R.; Merino, N.; Salgado, P.; Perez, A.

    2009-01-01

    By means of a generalization of the Maurer-Cartan expansion method, we construct a procedure to obtain expanded higher-order Lie algebras. The expanded higher-order Maurer-Cartan equations for the case G=V 0 +V 1 are found. A dual formulation for the S-expansion multialgebra procedure is also considered. The expanded higher-order Maurer-Cartan equations are recovered from S-expansion formalism by choosing a special semigroup. This dual method could be useful in finding a generalization to the case of a generalized free differential algebra, which may be relevant for physical applications in, e.g., higher-spin gauge theories.

  2. Modular specification and verification for higher-order languages with state

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svendsen, Kasper

    The overall topic of this thesis is modular reasoning for higher-order languages with state. The thesis consists of four mostly independent chapters that each deal with a different aspect of reasoning about higher-order languages with state. The unifying theme throughout all four chapters is higher....... The third chapter of the thesis is a case study of the C# joins library. What makes this library interesting as a case study is that it combines a lot of advanced features (higher-order code with effects, concurrency, recursion through the store, shared mutable state, and fine-grained synchronization...

  3. Marketing activities of higher education institutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Varađanin Vladimir

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Public sector marketing is a modern-day scientific discipline which is getting more and more attention. Institutions of higher education provide a specific kind of services to their users, which makes these institutions a part of the public sector. Due to dynamic changes in the environment, the demands and needs of higher education institution's users change, which makes it necessary to monitor these changes through certain marketing activities and adjust to them in order to satisfy the users' needs. Each higher education institution sets its own goals which, broadly speaking, are to meet their own needs, the needs of students and the society as a whole. Therefore, when formulating a strategy for achieving the objectives of higher education institutions, it is necessary to have timely information from the environment. The modern approach to business puts forward the service users' needs. When it comes to institutions of higher education, the users are primarily students, who thus get the most attention. Keeping this in mind, we have conducted a research among students in order to identify the choice factors influencing their higher education institution selection process. The results obtained should provide guidelines for creating an adequate marketing mix in order to gain competitive advantage on the market for higher education. In the research descriptive and comparative methods were used. In the practical part of the research, survey technique was applied by means of a non-standardized questionnaire. The research results imply that the analysis of the factors influencing the process of selecting the higher education institution enables the creation of an adequate combination of instruments in a marketing mix which can then be used as an instrument for gaining competitive advantage.

  4. Higher Self-Control Capacity Predicts Lower Anxiety-Impaired Cognition during Math Examinations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertrams, Alex; Baumeister, Roy F; Englert, Chris

    2016-01-01

    We assumed that self-control capacity, self-efficacy, and self-esteem would enable students to keep attentional control during tests. Therefore, we hypothesized that the three personality traits would be negatively related to anxiety-impaired cognition during math examinations. Secondary school students (N = 158) completed measures of self-control capacity, self-efficacy, and self-esteem at the beginning of the school year. Five months later, anxiety-impaired cognition during math examinations was assessed. Higher self-control capacity, but neither self-efficacy nor self-esteem, predicted lower anxiety-impaired cognition 5 months later, over and above baseline anxiety-impaired cognition. Moreover, self-control capacity was indirectly related to math grades via anxiety-impaired cognition. The findings suggest that improving self-control capacity may enable students to deal with anxiety-related problems during school tests.

  5. Finding Higher Order Differentials of MISTY1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsunoo, Yukiyasu; Saito, Teruo; Kawabata, Takeshi; Nakagawa, Hirokatsu

    MISTY1 is a 64-bit block cipher that has provable security against differential and linear cryptanalysis. MISTY1 is one of the algorithms selected in the European NESSIE project, and it is recommended for Japanese e-Government ciphers by the CRYPTREC project. In this paper, we report on 12th order differentials in 3-round MISTY1 with FL functions and 44th order differentials in 4-round MISTY1 with FL functions both previously unknown. We also report that both data complexity and computational complexity of higher order differential attacks on 6-round MISTY1 with FL functions and 7-round MISTY1 with FL functions using the 46th order differential can be reduced to as much as 1/22 of the previous values by using multiple 44th order differentials simultaneously.

  6. Practical implementation of a higher order transverse leakage approximation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prinsloo, Rian H.; Tomašević

    2011-01-01

    Transverse integrated nodal diffusion methods currently represent the standard in full core neutronic simulation. The primary shortcoming in this approach, be it via the Analytic Nodal Method or Nodal Expansion Method, is the utilization of the quadratic transverse leakage approximation. This approach, although proven to work well for typical LWR problems, is not consistent with the formulation of nodal methods and can cause accuracy and convergence problems. In this work an improved, consistent quadratic leakage approximation is formulated, which derives from the class of higher order nodal methods developed some years ago. In this new approach, only information relevant to describing the transverse leak- age terms in the zero-order nodal equations are obtained from the higher order formalism. The method yields accuracy comparable to full higher order methods, but does not suffer from the same computational burden which these methods typically incur. (author)

  7. Higher class groups of Eichler orders

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo Xuejun; Kuku, Aderemi

    2003-11-01

    In this paper, we prove that if A is a quaternion algebra and Λ an Eichler order in A, then the only p-torsion possible in even dimensional higher class groups Cl 2n (Λ) (n ≥ 1) are for those rational primes p which lie under prime ideals of O F at which Λ are not maximal. (author)

  8. Higher-Order Integral Equation Methods in Computational Electromagnetics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Erik; Meincke, Peter

    Higher-order integral equation methods have been investigated. The study has focused on improving the accuracy and efficiency of the Method of Moments (MoM) applied to electromagnetic problems. A new set of hierarchical Legendre basis functions of arbitrary order is developed. The new basis...

  9. Time-Discrete Higher-Order ALE Formulations: Stability

    KAUST Repository

    Bonito, Andrea

    2013-01-01

    Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) formulations deal with PDEs on deformable domains upon extending the domain velocity from the boundary into the bulk with the purpose of keeping mesh regularity. This arbitrary extension has no effect on the stability of the PDE but may influence that of a discrete scheme. We examine this critical issue for higher-order time stepping without space discretization. We propose time-discrete discontinuous Galerkin (dG) numerical schemes of any order for a time-dependent advection-diffusion-model problem in moving domains, and study their stability properties. The analysis hinges on the validity of the Reynold\\'s identity for dG. Exploiting the variational structure and assuming exact integration, we prove that our conservative and nonconservative dG schemes are equivalent and unconditionally stable. The same results remain true for piecewise polynomial ALE maps of any degree and suitable quadrature that guarantees the validity of the Reynold\\'s identity. This approach generalizes the so-called geometric conservation law to higher-order methods. We also prove that simpler Runge-Kutta-Radau methods of any order are conditionally stable, that is, subject to a mild ALE constraint on the time steps. Numerical experiments corroborate and complement our theoretical results. © 2013 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

  10. The Higher Order Structure of Environmental Attitudes: A Cross-Cultural Examination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taciano L. Milfont

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Past research has suggested that Preservation and Utilization are the two higher order dimensions forming the hierarchical structure of environmental attitudes. This means that these two higher order dimensions could group all kinds of perceptions or beliefs regarding the natural environment people have. A crosscultural study was conducted in Brazil, New Zealand, and South Africa to test this hierarchical structure of environmental attitudes. Results from single- and multi-group confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that environmental attitudes are a multidimensional construct, and that their first-order factors associate to each other to form a vertical structure. However, the question whether the vertical structure comprise a single higher order factor or two higher order factors still remains unanswered. These results are discussed and directions for future research trying to demonstrate that Preservation and Utilization, taken as distinct second-order environmental attitudes factors, are more empirically meaningful than a single and generalised environmental attitudes higher order factor are presented.

  11. Associations of physical activity with driving-related cognitive abilities in older drivers: an exploratory study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marmeleira, José; Ferreira, Inês; Melo, Filipe; Godinho, Mário

    2012-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between hysical activity and driving-related cognitive abilities of older drivers. Thirty-eight female and male drivers ages 61 to 81 years (M = 70.2, SD = 5.0) responded to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and were assessed on a battery of neuropsychological tests, which included measures of visual attention, executive functioning, mental status, visuospatial ability, and memory. A higher amount of reported physical activity was significantly correlated with better scores on tests of visual processing speed and divided visual attention. Higher amounts of physical activity was significantly associated with a better composite score for visual attention, but its correlation with the composite score for executive functioning was not significant. These findings support the hypothesis that pzhysical activity is associated with preservation of specific driving-related cognitive abilities of older adults.

  12. Higher-order stochastic differential equations and the positive Wigner function

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drummond, P. D.

    2017-12-01

    General higher-order stochastic processes that correspond to any diffusion-type tensor of higher than second order are obtained. The relationship of multivariate higher-order stochastic differential equations with tensor decomposition theory and tensor rank is explained. Techniques for generating the requisite complex higher-order noise are proved to exist either using polar coordinates and γ distributions, or from products of Gaussian variates. This method is shown to allow the calculation of the dynamics of the Wigner function, after it is extended to a complex phase space. The results are illustrated physically through dynamical calculations of the positive Wigner distribution for three-mode parametric downconversion, widely used in quantum optics. The approach eliminates paradoxes arising from truncation of the higher derivative terms in Wigner function time evolution. Anomalous results of negative populations and vacuum scattering found in truncated Wigner quantum simulations in quantum optics and Bose-Einstein condensate dynamics are shown not to occur with this type of stochastic theory.

  13. Age Specifics of Cognitive Activity Development in Preschool Age

    OpenAIRE

    Klopotova E.E.; Samkova I.A.

    2017-01-01

    This paper present results of the research on the specifics of cognitive activity development in preschool children. The hypothesis tested was that content and dynamic components of cognitive activity reveal themselves in a different way depending on the stage of preschool childhood. The authors reviewed the diagnostic tools suitable for studying cognitive activity in preschoolers and selected the techniques. The research proved that content and dynamic components of cognitive activity have t...

  14. Higher-order gravity in higher dimensions: geometrical origins of four-dimensional cosmology?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Troisi, Antonio [Universita degli Studi di Salerno, Dipartimento di Fisica ' ' E.R. Caianiello' ' , Salerno (Italy)

    2017-03-15

    Determining the cosmological field equations is still very much debated and led to a wide discussion around different theoretical proposals. A suitable conceptual scheme could be represented by gravity models that naturally generalize Einstein theory like higher-order gravity theories and higher-dimensional ones. Both of these two different approaches allow one to define, at the effective level, Einstein field equations equipped with source-like energy-momentum tensors of geometrical origin. In this paper, the possibility is discussed to develop a five-dimensional fourth-order gravity model whose lower-dimensional reduction could provide an interpretation of cosmological four-dimensional matter-energy components. We describe the basic concepts of the model, the complete field equations formalism and the 5-D to 4-D reduction procedure. Five-dimensional f(R) field equations turn out to be equivalent, on the four-dimensional hypersurfaces orthogonal to the extra coordinate, to an Einstein-like cosmological model with three matter-energy tensors related with higher derivative and higher-dimensional counter-terms. By considering the gravity model with f(R) = f{sub 0}R{sup n} the possibility is investigated to obtain five-dimensional power law solutions. The effective four-dimensional picture and the behaviour of the geometrically induced sources are finally outlined in correspondence to simple cases of such higher-dimensional solutions. (orig.)

  15. Higher Self-Control Capacity Predicts Lower Anxiety-Impaired Cognition During Math Examinations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alex eBertrams

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available We assumed that self-control capacity, self-efficacy, and self-esteem would enable students to keep attentional control during tests. Therefore, we hypothesized that the three personality traits would be negatively related to anxiety-impaired cognition during math examinations. Secondary school students (N = 158 completed measures of self-control capacity, self-efficacy, and self-esteem at the beginning of the school year. Five months later, anxiety-impaired cognition during math examinations was assessed. Higher self-control capacity, but neither self-efficacy nor self-esteem, predicted lower anxiety-impaired cognition five months later, over and above baseline anxiety-impaired cognition. Moreover, self-control capacity was indirectly related to math grades via anxiety-impaired cognition. The findings suggest that improving self-control capacity may enable students to deal with anxiety-related problems during school tests.

  16. Higher order multipoles and splines in plasma simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okuda, H.; Cheng, C.Z.

    1978-01-01

    The reduction of spatial grid effects in plasma simulations has been studied numerically using higher order multipole expansions and the spline method in one dimension. It is found that, while keeping the higher order moments such as quadrupole and octopole moments substantially reduces the grid effects, quadratic and cubic splines in general have better stability properties for numerical plasma simulations when the Debye length is much smaller than the grid size. In particular the spline method may be useful in three-dimensional simulations for plasma confinement where the grid size in the axial direction is much greater than the Debye length. (Auth.)

  17. Higher-order multipoles and splines in plasma simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okuda, H.; Cheng, C.Z.

    1977-12-01

    Reduction of spatial grid effects in plasma simulations has been studied numerically using higher order multipole expansions and spline method in one dimension. It is found that, while keeping the higher order moments such as quadrupole and octopole moments substantially reduces the grid effects, quadratic and cubic splines in general have better stability properties for numerical plasma simulations when the Debye length is much smaller than the grid size. In particular, spline method may be useful in three dimensional simulations for plasma confinement where the grid size in the axial direction is much greater than the Debye length

  18. Physical activity improves cognition: possible explanations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koščak Tivadar, Blanka

    2017-08-01

    Good cognitive abilities (CA) enable autonomy, improve social inclusion and act preventively. Regular physical activity (PA) reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) and, at the same time, it reduces the decline of CA and stimulates neurogenesis. So PA in connection with cognitive training, nutrition and social interaction has a positive effect on general CA and the central nervous system, the central executor, memory and attention, and reduces the likelihood of developing dementia. Our objective was to examine which sort and intensity of PA is preferred. We did a review, restricted only to human studies, of transparent scientific articles and sample surveys carried out and published in the period between 2001 and 2016 based on the keywords: age, aging, physical activity, physical abilities, cognitive abilities, memory and Alzheimer's disease. According to results CA and PA interact, as an increasing PA of only 10% reduces the risk of dementia and AD significantly. However, there is a question of appropriate intensity of exercise. Low-intensity aerobic exercise has a positive effect on the visual spatial perception and attention, whereas moderate PA has a positive impact on general CA, working memory and attention, verbal memory and attention and vice versa. While the majority of experts recommends vigorous or moderate exercise, many of them warn that higher intensity requires more attention to PA and less to cognitive processes, particularly in terms of reducing reactions, selective attention and flexibility to tasks. There is also a further question what PA should be like. Although some experts believe that the best combination is aerobic PA and exercises against resistance, it is not entirely clear whether the improvement in CA is a result of cardiac vascular fitness. On the other hand, for most elderly it is more suitable to perform an alternative form (not anaerobic) of PA due to comorbidity and actual fragility. We can conclude that PA has a

  19. APOE moderates the association between lifestyle activities and cognitive performance: evidence of genetic plasticity in aging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Runge, Shannon K; Small, Brent J; McFall, G Peggy; Dixon, Roger A

    2014-05-01

    The current study examined independent and interactive effects between Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype and two types of cognitively-stimulating lifestyle activities (CSLA)-integrated information processing (CSLA-II) and novel information processing (CSLA-NI)-on concurrent and longitudinal changes in cognition. Three-wave data across 6 years of follow-up from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (n=278; ages 55-94) and linear mixed model analyses were used to characterize the effects of APOE genotype and participation in CSLA-II and CSLA-NI in four cognitive domains. Significant CSLA effects on cognition were observed. More frequent participation in challenging activities (i.e., CSLA-NI) was associated with higher baseline scores on word recall, fact recall, vocabulary and verbal fluency. Conversely, higher participation in less cognitively-challenging activities (i.e., CSLA-II) was associated with lower scores on fact recall and verbal fluency. No longitudinal CSLA-cognition effects were found. Two significant genetic effects were observed. First, APOE moderated CSLA-II and CSLA-NI associations with baseline verbal fluency and fact recall scores. Second, APOE non-ɛ4 carriers' baseline performance were more likely to be moderated by CSLA participation, compared to APOE-ɛ4 carriers. Our findings suggest APOE may be a "plasticity" gene that makes individuals more or less amenable to the influence of protective factors such as CSLA.

  20. [Flexibility of cognitive activity depends on its context].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kostandov, É A

    2010-01-01

    The main purpose of this survey is to explain the importance of set-shifting for a flexible cognitive activity. Working memory overload may result in set-shifting slowdown, i.e., in a more rigid set and in a less flexible cognitive activity. This effect displays itself in an increase of erroneous perceptions of external stimuli. Set rigidity level also depends on the cognitive activity context (i.e., on the type of external stimuli the person has to deal with). We analyzed EEG-coherence function and induced synchronization/desynchronization responses in theta (4-7 Hz) and low alpha (8-10 Hz) bands. Basing on these data, we discuss the role of tonic and phasic forms of cortico-hippocampal and fronto-thalamic systems' activation in cognitive activity flexibility.

  1. EFFECT OF FLIPPED LEARNING ON COGNITIVE LOAD: A HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Celal Karaca

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of the flipped learning method on the cognitive load of the students. The study was conducted with a sample of 160 people who were trained in Department of Mechanical Engineering for algorithms and programming courses at a higher education level. The study, which lasted for 8 weeks, has a semi-experimental design. A 9-point scale developed by Paas and Van Merrienboer (1993 was used for cognitive load measurements. At the end of the weekly courses, the scale was filled by the experimental and control groups. Independent sample t test was applied through SPSS 24 program to the obtained data. In both instances, the cognitive load in the experimental group in which the flipped learning method was applied was found to be lower than the cognitive load in the control group in which traditional face-to-face training was applied. As a result, it can be said that flipped learning, if well structured, is a method reducing cognitive load.

  2. Neural activation associated with the cognitive emotion regulation of sadness in healthy children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andy C. Belden

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available When used effectively, cognitive reappraisal of distressing events is a highly adaptive cognitive emotion regulation (CER strategy, with impairments in cognitive reappraisal associated with greater risk for psychopathology. Despite extensive literature examining the neural correlates of cognitive reappraisal in healthy and psychiatrically ill adults, there is a dearth of data to inform the neural bases of CER in children, a key gap in the literature necessary to map the developmental trajectory of cognitive reappraisal. In this fMRI study, psychiatrically healthy schoolchildren were instructed to use cognitive reappraisal to modulate their emotional reactions and responses of negative affect after viewing sad photos. Consistent with the adult literature, when actively engaged in reappraisal compared to passively viewing sad photos, children showed increased activation in the vlPFC, dlPFC, and dmPFC as well as in parietal and temporal lobe regions. When children used cognitive reappraisal to minimize their experience of negative affect after viewing sad stimuli they exhibited dampened amygdala responses. Results are discussed in relation to the importance of identifying and characterizing neural processes underlying adaptive CER strategies in typically developing children in order to understand how these systems go awry and relate to the risk and occurrence of affective disorders.

  3. Physical activity and physical fitness of nursing home residents with cognitive impairment: A pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marmeleira, José; Ferreira, Soraia; Raimundo, Armando

    2017-12-15

    Physical activity and physical fitness are important for health, functional mobility and performance of everyday activities. To date, little attention has been given to physical activity and physical fitness among nursing home residents with cognitive impairment. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to examine physical activity behavior and physical fitness of institutionalized older adults with cognitive impairment and to investigate their interrelations. Forty-eight older adults with cognitive impairment (83.9±7.7years; 72.9% women) and 22 without cognitive impairment (82.2±8.8years; 54.5% women) participated. Physical activity was objectively assessed with accelerometers and physical fitness components (muscular strength, flexibility, balance, body composition and reaction time) were evaluated with physical fitness field tests. Nursing home residents with cognitive impairment spent only ~1min per day in moderate physical activity and ~89min in light physical activity. In average they accumulated 863 (±599) steps per day and spent 87.2% of the accelerometer wear time in sedentary behavior. Participants' physical fitness components were markedly low and according to the cut-offs used for interpreting the results a great number of nursing home residents had an increased risk of associated health problems, functional impairment and of falling. The performance in some physical fitness tests was positively associated with physical activity. Participants without cognitive impairment had higher levels of physical activity and physical fitness than their counterparts with cognitive impairment. These results indicate that nursing home residents, especially those with cognitive impairment, have low levels of physical activity, spent a high proportion of daytime in sedentary behavior and have low physical fitness. Nursing homes should implement health promotion strategies targeting physical activity and physical fitness of their residents. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier

  4. Effect of 48 h Fasting on Autonomic Function, Brain Activity, Cognition, and Mood in Amateur Weight Lifters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skurvydas, Albertas

    2016-01-01

    Objectives. The acute fasting-induced cardiovascular autonomic response and its effect on cognition and mood remain debatable. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of a 48 h, zero-calorie diet on autonomic function, brain activity, cognition, and mood in amateur weight lifters. Methods. Nine participants completed a 48 h, zero-calorie diet program. Cardiovascular autonomic function, resting frontal brain activity, cognitive performance, and mood were evaluated before and after fasting. Results. Fasting decreased (p Fasting decreased (p Fasting also increased (p fasting resulted in higher parasympathetic activity and decreased resting frontal brain activity, increased anger, and improved prefrontal-cortex-related cognitive functions, such as mental flexibility and set shifting, in amateur weight lifters. In contrast, hippocampus-related cognitive functions were not affected by it. PMID:28025637

  5. Higher-order dynamical effects in Coulomb dissociation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Esbensen, H.

    1994-06-01

    We study the effect of higher-order processes in Coulomb dissociation of 11 Li by numerically solving the three-dimensional time-dependent Schroedinger equation for the relative motion of a di-neutron and the 9 Li core. Comparisons are made to first-order perturbation theory and to measurements. The calculated Coulomb reacceleration effects improve the agreement with experiment, but some discrepancy remains. The effects are much smaller in the dissociation of 11 Be, and they decrease with increasing beam energy. (orig.)

  6. Widowhood, leisure activity engagement, and cognitive function among older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Yura; Chi, Iris; A Palinkas, Lawrence

    2018-04-10

    Maintaining cognitive function is an essential aspect of successful aging. Widowhood is a salient life transition that can affect older adults' cognitive function. Leisure engagement has received increasing attention because it is still modifiable in later life to help prevent cognitive decline. Nonetheless, limited longitudinal studies have examined how widowhood influences cognitive function, and even fewer studies have tested the role of leisure activities in this relationship. This study delineated the mechanism of widowhood, leisure activity engagement, and cognitive function among older adults using a national longitudinal dataset, the Health and Retirement Study, and its supplementary dataset, the Consumption and Activities Mail Survey, which repeatedly measured individuals' leisure activity engagement. Findings showed no significant association between widowhood and cognitive function during a 4-year period. However, engagement in mental activities moderated the impact of widowhood on cognitive function. Specifically, the benefit of mental activity engagement on cognition was more pronounced among individuals who were recently widowed compared to those who were married. This implies a protective role of mental activities in the relationship between widowhood and cognitive function. Interventions with mentally stimulating activities at the community level to retain cognition among individuals in early phase widowhoodare suggested. Future studies are necessary to explore whether other factors such as changes in physical and mental health and intergenerational support from adult children during widowhood may further influence this mechanism among widowhood, leisure activities, and cognitive function.

  7. The effectiveness of simulation activities on the cognitive abilities of undergraduate third-year nursing students: a randomised control trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Secomb, Jacinta; McKenna, Lisa; Smith, Colleen

    2012-12-01

    To provide evidence on the effectiveness of simulation activities on the clinical decision-making abilities of undergraduate nursing students. Based on previous research, it was hypothesised that the higher the cognitive score, the greater the ability a nursing student would have to make informed valid decisions in their clinical practice. Globally, simulation is being espoused as an education method that increases the competence of health professionals. At present, there is very little evidence to support current investment in time and resources. Following ethical approval, fifty-eight third-year undergraduate nursing students were randomised in a pretest-post-test group-parallel controlled trial. The learning environment preferences (LEP) inventory was used to test cognitive abilities in order to refute the null hypothesis that activities in computer-based simulated learning environments have a negative effect on cognitive abilities when compared with activities in skills laboratory simulated learning environments. There was no significant difference in cognitive development following two cycles of simulation activities. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that two simulation tasks, either computer-based or laboratory-based, have no effect on an undergraduate student's ability to make clinical decisions in practice. However, there was a significant finding for non-English first-language students, which requires further investigation. More longitudinal studies that quantify the education effects of simulation on the cognitive, affective and psychomotor attributes of health science students and professionals from both English-speaking and non-English-speaking backgrounds are urgently required. It is also recommended that to achieve increased participant numbers and prevent non-participation owing to absenteeism, further studies need to be imbedded directly into curricula. This investigation confirms the effect of simulation activities on real-life clinical

  8. Higher Order Mode Fibers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Israelsen, Stine Møller

    This PhD thesis considers higher order modes (HOMs) in optical fibers. That includes their excitation and characteristics. Within the last decades, HOMs have been applied both for space multiplexing in optical communications, group velocity dispersion management and sensing among others......-radial polarization as opposed to the linear polarization of the LP0X modes. The effect is investigated numerically in a double cladding fiber with an outer aircladding using a full vectorial modesolver. Experimentally, the bowtie modes are excited using a long period grating and their free space characteristics...... and polarization state are investigated. For this fiber, the onset of the bowtie effect is shown numerically to be LP011. The characteristics usually associated with Bessel-likes modes such as long diffraction free length and selfhealing are shown to be conserved despite the lack of azimuthal symmetry...

  9. Interactions, strings and isotopies in higher order anisotropic superspaces

    CERN Document Server

    Vacaru, Sergiu Ion

    2001-01-01

    The monograph summarizes the author's results on the geometry of anholonomic and locally anisotropic interactions, published in J. Math. Phys., Nucl. Phys. B, Ann. Phys. (NY), JHEP, Rep. Math. Phys., Int. J. Theor. Phys. and in some former Soviet Union and Romanian scientific journals. The main subjects are in the theory of field interactions, strings and diffusion processes on spaces, superspaces and isospaces with higher order anisotropy and inhomogeneity. The approach proceeds by developing the concept of higher order anisotropic (super)space which unifies the logical and manthematical aspects of modern Kaluza--Klein theories and generalized Lagrange and Finsler geometry and leads to modeling of physical processes on higher order fiber (super)bundles provided with nonlinear and distinguished connections and metric structures. This book can be also considered as a pedagogical survey on the mentioned subjects.

  10. The differential geometry of higher order jets and tangent bundles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Leon, M.; Rodrigues, P.R.

    1985-01-01

    This chapter is devoted to the study of basic geometrical notions required for the development of the main object of the text. Some facts about Jet theory are reviewed. A particular case of Jet manifolds is considered: the tangent bundle of higher order. It is shown that this jet bundle possesses in a canonical way a certain kind of geometric structure, the so called almost tangent structure of higher order, and which is a generalization of the almost tangent geometry of the tangent bundle. Another important fact examined is the extension of the notion of 'spray' to higher order tangent bundles. (Auth.)

  11. Linear matrix differential equations of higher-order and applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mustapha Rachidi

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available In this article, we study linear differential equations of higher-order whose coefficients are square matrices. The combinatorial method for computing the matrix powers and exponential is adopted. New formulas representing auxiliary results are obtained. This allows us to prove properties of a large class of linear matrix differential equations of higher-order, in particular results of Apostol and Kolodner are recovered. Also illustrative examples and applications are presented.

  12. Higher order corrections in quantum electrodynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rafael, E.

    1977-01-01

    Theoretical contributions to high-order corrections in purely leptonic systems, such as electrons and muons, muonium (μ + e - ) and positronium (e + e - ), are reviewed to establish the validity of quantum electrodynamics (QED). Two types of QED contributions to the anomalous magnetic moments are considered, from diagrams with one fermion type lines and those witn two fermion type lines. The contributions up to eighth order are compared to the data available with a different accuracy. Good agreement is stated within the experimental errors. The experimental accuracy of the muonium hyperfine structure and of the radiative corrections to the decay of positronium are compared to the one attainable in theoretical calculations. The need for a higher precision in both experimental data and theoretical calculations is stated

  13. Exploratory Movement Generates Higher-Order Information That Is Sufficient for Accurate Perception of Scaled Egocentric Distance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mantel, Bruno; Stoffregen, Thomas A.; Campbell, Alain; Bardy, Benoît G.

    2015-01-01

    Body movement influences the structure of multiple forms of ambient energy, including optics and gravito-inertial force. Some researchers have argued that egocentric distance is derived from inferential integration of visual and non-visual stimulation. We suggest that accurate information about egocentric distance exists in perceptual stimulation as higher-order patterns that extend across optics and inertia. We formalize a pattern that specifies the egocentric distance of a stationary object across higher-order relations between optics and inertia. This higher-order parameter is created by self-generated movement of the perceiver in inertial space relative to the illuminated environment. For this reason, we placed minimal restrictions on the exploratory movements of our participants. We asked whether humans can detect and use the information available in this higher-order pattern. Participants judged whether a virtual object was within reach. We manipulated relations between body movement and the ambient structure of optics and inertia. Judgments were precise and accurate when the higher-order optical-inertial parameter was available. When only optic flow was available, judgments were poor. Our results reveal that participants perceived egocentric distance from the higher-order, optical-inertial consequences of their own exploratory activity. Analysis of participants’ movement trajectories revealed that self-selected movements were complex, and tended to optimize availability of the optical-inertial pattern that specifies egocentric distance. We argue that accurate information about egocentric distance exists in higher-order patterns of ambient energy, that self-generated movement can generate these higher-order patterns, and that these patterns can be detected and used to support perception of egocentric distance that is precise and accurate. PMID:25856410

  14. Errors of first-order probe correction for higher-order probes in spherical near-field antenna measurements

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Laitinen, Tommi; Nielsen, Jeppe Majlund; Pivnenko, Sergiy

    2004-01-01

    An investigation is performed to study the error of the far-field pattern determined from a spherical near-field antenna measurement in the case where a first-order (mu=+-1) probe correction scheme is applied to the near-field signal measured by a higher-order probe.......An investigation is performed to study the error of the far-field pattern determined from a spherical near-field antenna measurement in the case where a first-order (mu=+-1) probe correction scheme is applied to the near-field signal measured by a higher-order probe....

  15. RPL as cognitive praxis in linking higher education, the African ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This article argues that we can use the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) to reconceptualise the project of bridging the articulation gap between further and higher education in South Africa by framing the cognitive praxis of this project simultaneously within the African Renaissance and within a progressive global project ...

  16. No Effect of Commercial Cognitive Training on Brain Activity, Choice Behavior, or Cognitive Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kable, Joseph W; Caulfield, M Kathleen; Falcone, Mary; McConnell, Mairead; Bernardo, Leah; Parthasarathi, Trishala; Cooper, Nicole; Ashare, Rebecca; Audrain-McGovern, Janet; Hornik, Robert; Diefenbach, Paul; Lee, Frank J; Lerman, Caryn

    2017-08-02

    Increased preference for immediate over delayed rewards and for risky over certain rewards has been associated with unhealthy behavioral choices. Motivated by evidence that enhanced cognitive control can shift choice behavior away from immediate and risky rewards, we tested whether training executive cognitive function could influence choice behavior and brain responses. In this randomized controlled trial, 128 young adults (71 male, 57 female) participated in 10 weeks of training with either a commercial web-based cognitive training program or web-based video games that do not specifically target executive function or adapt the level of difficulty throughout training. Pretraining and post-training, participants completed cognitive assessments and functional magnetic resonance imaging during performance of the following validated decision-making tasks: delay discounting (choices between smaller rewards now vs larger rewards in the future) and risk sensitivity (choices between larger riskier rewards vs smaller certain rewards). Contrary to our hypothesis, we found no evidence that cognitive training influences neural activity during decision-making; nor did we find effects of cognitive training on measures of delay discounting or risk sensitivity. Participants in the commercial training condition improved with practice on the specific tasks they performed during training, but participants in both conditions showed similar improvement on standardized cognitive measures over time. Moreover, the degree of improvement was comparable to that observed in individuals who were reassessed without any training whatsoever. Commercial adaptive cognitive training appears to have no benefits in healthy young adults above those of standard video games for measures of brain activity, choice behavior, or cognitive performance. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Engagement of neural regions and circuits important in executive cognitive function can bias behavioral choices away from immediate

  17. MIMO processing based on higher-order Poincaré spheres

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernandes, Gil M.; Muga, Nelson J.; Pinto, Armando N.

    2017-08-01

    A multi-input multi-output (MIMO) algorithm based on higher-order Poincaré spheres is demonstrated for space-division multiplexing (SDM) systems. The MIMO algorithm is modulation format agnostic, robust to frequency offset and does not require training sequences. In this approach, the space-multiplexed signal is decomposed in sets of two tributary signals, with each set represented in a higher-order Poincaré sphere. For any arbitrary complex modulation format, the samples of two tributaries can be represented in a given higher-order Poincaré sphere with a symmetry plane. The crosstalk along propagation changes the spatial orientation of this plane and, therefore, it can be compensated by computing and realigning the best fit plane. We show how the transmitted signal can be successfully recovered using this procedure for all possible combinations of tributaries. Moreover, we analyze the convergence speed for the MIMO technique considering several optical-to-noise ratios.

  18. Ward identities of higher order Virasoro algebra

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zha Chaozeng; Dolate, S.

    1994-11-01

    The general formulations of primary fields versus quasi-primary ones in the context of high order Virasoro algebra (HOVA) and the corresponding Ward identity are explored. The primary fields of conformal spins up to 8 are given in terms of quasi-primary fields, and the general features of the higher order expressions are also discussed. It is observed that the local fields, either primary of quasi-primary, carry the same numbers of central charges, and not all the primary fields contribute to the anomalies in the Ward identities. (author). 6 refs

  19. Higher order perturbation theory - An example for discussion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lewins, J.D.; Parks, G.; Babb, A.L.

    1986-01-01

    Higher order perturbation theory is developed in the form of a Taylor series expansion to third order to calculate the thermal utilization of a nonuniform cell. The development takes advantage of the self-adjoint property of the diffusion operator to provide a simple development of this illustration of generalized perturbation theory employing scalar perturbation parameters. The results show how a designer might employ a second-order theory to quantify proposed design improvements, together with the limitations of second- and third-order theory. The chosen example has an exact optimization solution and thus provides a clear understanding of the role of perturbation theory at its various orders. Convergence and the computational advantages and disadvantages of the method are discussed

  20. Application of Higher-Order Cumulant in Fault Diagnosis of Rolling Bearing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen, Yongjun; Yang, Shaopu; Wang, Junfeng

    2013-01-01

    In this paper a new method of pattern recognition based on higher-order cumulant and envelope analysis is presented. The core of this new method is to construct analytical signals from the given signals and obtain the envelope signals firstly, then compute and compare the higher-order cumulants of the envelope signals. The higher-order cumulants could be used as a characteristic quantity to distinguish these given signals. As an example, this method is applied in fault diagnosis for 197726 rolling bearing of freight locomotive. The comparisons of the second-order, third-order and fourth-order cumulants of the envelope signals from different vibration signals of rolling bearing show this new method could discriminate the normal and two fault signals distinctly

  1. Age-related changes in visual temporal order judgment performance: Relation to sensory and cognitive capacities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Busey, Thomas; Craig, James; Clark, Chris; Humes, Larry

    2010-08-06

    Five measures of temporal order judgments were obtained from 261 participants, including 146 elder, 44 middle aged, and 71 young participants. Strong age group differences were observed in all five measures, although the group differences were reduced when letter discriminability was matched for all participants. Significant relations were found between these measures of temporal processing and several cognitive and sensory assays, and structural equation modeling revealed the degree to which temporal order processing can be viewed as a latent factor that depends in part on contributions from sensory and cognitive capacities. The best-fitting model involved two different latent factors representing temporal order processing at same and different locations, and the sensory and cognitive factors were more successful predicting performance in the different location factor than the same-location factor. Processing speed, even measured using high-contrast symbols on a paper-and-pencil test, was a surprisingly strong predictor of variability in both latent factors. However, low-level sensory measures also made significant contributions to the latent factors. The results demonstrate the degree to which temporal order processing relates to other perceptual and cognitive capacities, and address the question of whether age-related declines in these capacities share a common cause. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Higher-order risk preferences in social settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heinrich, Timo; Mayrhofer, Thomas

    2018-01-01

    We study prudence and temperance (next to risk aversion) in social settings. Previous experimental studies have shown that these higher-order risk preferences affect the choices of individuals deciding privately on lotteries that only affect their own payoff. Yet, many risky and financially relevant decisions are made in the social settings of households or organizations. We elicit higher-order risk preferences of individuals and systematically vary how an individual's decision is made (alone or while communicating with a partner) and who is affected by the decision (only the individual or the partner as well). In doing so, we can isolate the effects of other-regarding concerns and communication on choices. Our results reveal that the majority of choices are risk averse, prudent, and temperate across social settings. We also observe that individuals are influenced significantly by the preferences of a partner when they are able to communicate and choices are payoff-relevant for both of them.

  3. Mathematics Teachers’ Interpretation of Higher-Order Thinking in Bloom’s Taxonomy

    OpenAIRE

    Tony Thompson

    2008-01-01

    This study investigated mathematics teachers’ interpretation of higher-order thinking in Bloom’s Taxonomy. Thirty-two high school mathematics teachers from the southeast U.S. were asked to (a) define lower- and higher-order thinking, (b) identify which thinking skills in Bloom’s Taxonomy represented lower- and higher-order thinking, and (c) create an Algebra I final exam item representative of each thinking skill. Results indicate that mathematics teachers have difficulty interpreting the thi...

  4. Lifecourse Activity Participation From Early, Mid, and Later Adulthood as Determinants of Cognitive Aging: The Lothian Birth Cohort 1921.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gow, Alan J; Pattie, Alison; Deary, Ian J

    2017-01-01

    To examine potential sensitive periods for activity participation across adulthood to reduce cognitive decline and to determine whether associations persist after accounting for the lifetime stability of cognitive ability. The Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 is a longitudinal study of cognitive aging. Participants were born in 1921 and most completed a mental ability test at the age of 11 years. Cognitive assessments were completed at mean ages 79 (N = 550), 83 (N = 321), 87 (N = 235), and 90 years (N = 129). Participants provided retrospective details of their activity participation for young (20-35 years), mid (40-55 years), and later adulthood (60-75 years), and contemporaneously at age 79. Associations between activity and the level of, and change in, cognitive ability in old age were examined with latent growth curve models. Accounting for demographics and childhood cognitive ability, engagement in leisure activities in midlife was positively associated with cognitive ability level (path coefficient = .32), whereas higher physical activity in later adulthood was associated with less cognitive decline (.27). The findings support a lifecourse approach in identifying determinants of cognitive aging; leisure and physical activity during different periods of adulthood may enhance cognitive abilities or reduce decline. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.

  5. Higher-Order Finite Element Solutions of Option Prices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Raahauge, Peter

    2004-01-01

    Kinks and jumps in the payoff function of option contracts prevent an effectiveimplementation of higher-order numerical approximation methods. Moreover, thederivatives (the greeks) are not easily determined around such singularities, even withstandard lower-order methods. This paper suggests...... for prices as well as for first and second order derivatives(delta and gamma). Unlike similar studies, numerical approximation errors aremeasured both as weighted averages and in the supnorm over a state space includingtime-to-maturities down to a split second.KEYWORDS: Numerical option pricing, Transformed...

  6. The Cauchy problem for higher order abstract differential equations

    CERN Document Server

    Xiao, Ti-Jun

    1998-01-01

    This monograph is the first systematic exposition of the theory of the Cauchy problem for higher order abstract linear differential equations, which covers all the main aspects of the developed theory. The main results are complete with detailed proofs and established recently, containing the corresponding theorems for first and incomplete second order cases and therefore for operator semigroups and cosine functions. They will find applications in many fields. The special power of treating the higher order problems directly is demonstrated, as well as that of the vector-valued Laplace transforms in dealing with operator differential equations and operator families. The reader is expected to have a knowledge of complex and functional analysis.

  7. Usefulness of the University of California San Diego Performance-Based Skills Assessment for the evaluation of cognitive function and activities of daily living function in patients with cognitive impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeon, Dong-Wook; Ju, Hyun-Bin; Jung, Do-Un; Kim, Sung-Jin; Shim, Joo-Cheol; Moon, Jung-Joon; Kim, You-Na

    2017-10-25

    To assess the usefulness of the University of California San Diego Performance-Based Skills Assessment (UPSA) as a new diagnostic method and tool for the assessment of cognitive function and activities of daily living function in patients with cognitive impairment. In total, 35 patients with cognitive impairment and 35 healthy controls were recruited for this study. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), and Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) were used for the evaluation of cognitive function, while the Barthel Activities of Daily Living Index (BADL), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Index (IADL), and UPSA were used for the evaluation of activities of daily living function. UPSA scores were significantly lower in patients with cognitive impairment than in controls. The UPSA total score was significantly correlated with MMSE, CDR, GDS, and IADL scores. With regard to the detection of cognitive impairment, UPSA exhibited a greater determination power (R 2 = 0.593) compared with BADL (R 2 = 0.149) and IADL (R 2 = 0.423) and higher sensitivity and specificity compared with IADL. Our results suggest that UPSA is a useful tool for the evaluation of cognitive function and activities of daily living function in patients with cognitive impairment.

  8. Behavioral and Brain Activity Indices of Cognitive Control Deficits in Binge Drinkers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sean M. Molnar

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Heavy episodic drinking is prevalent among young adults and is a public issue of increasing importance. Its initiation and maintenance are associated with deficits in the capacity to inhibit automatic processing in favor of non-habitual responses. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI to examine behavioral and brain activity indices of cognitive control during the Stroop task as a function of binge drinking. Heavy episodic drinkers (HED reported consuming 5+/6+ drinks in two hours at least five times in the past six months and were compared to light drinkers (LED who reported two or fewer binge episodes but were matched on demographics, intelligence and family history of alcoholism. Greater conflict-induced activity in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC and thalamus was observed in HED participants and it was positively correlated with alcohol intake and alcohol-related harmful consequences. HEDs maintained intact accuracy but at a cost of prolonged reaction times to high-conflict trials and increased ratings of task difficulty. Greater activation of the areas implicated in cognitive control is consistent with compensatory network expansion to meet higher cognitive demands. These results provide further insight into degradation of cognitive control in HEDs which may benefit development of detection and prevention strategies.

  9. Comparing higher order models for the EORTC QLQ-C30

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gundy, Chad M; Fayers, Peter M; Grønvold, Mogens

    2012-01-01

    To investigate the statistical fit of alternative higher order models for summarizing the health-related quality of life profile generated by the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire.......To investigate the statistical fit of alternative higher order models for summarizing the health-related quality of life profile generated by the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire....

  10. Scalar brane backgrounds in higher order curvature gravity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Charmousis, Christos; Davis, Stephen C.; Dufaux, Jean-Francois

    2003-01-01

    We investigate maximally symmetric brane world solutions with a scalar field. Five-dimensional bulk gravity is described by a general lagrangian which yields field equations containing no higher than second order derivatives. This includes the Gauss-Bonnet combination for the graviton. Stability and gravitational properties of such solutions are considered, and we particularly emphasise the modifications induced by the higher order terms. In particular it is shown that higher curvature corrections to Einstein theory can give rise to instabilities in brane world solutions. A method for analytically obtaining the general solution for such actions is outlined. Generically, the requirement of a finite volume element together with the absence of a naked singularity in the bulk imposes fine-tuning of the brane tension. A model with a moduli scalar field is analysed in detail and we address questions of instability and non-singular self-tuning solutions. In particular, we discuss a case with a normalisable zero mode but infinite volume element. (author)

  11. Higher-order RANS turbulence models for separated flows

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Higher-order Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models are developed to overcome the shortcomings of second-moment RANS models in predicting separated flows....

  12. Higher order mode damping of a higher harmonic superconducting cavity for SSRF

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu Haibo; Liu Jianfei; Hou Hongtao; Ma Zhenyu; Feng Xiqiang; Mao Dongqing

    2012-01-01

    Adopting a higher harmonic cavity on a synchrotron radiation facility can increase the beam lifetime and suppress the beam instability. In this paper, we report the simulation and preliminary design on higher order modes (HOMs) damping of the designed and fabricated higher harmonic superconducting cavity for Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF). The requirements for the HOM damping are analyzed, and the length and location of the HOM damper are optimized by using the SEAFISH code. The results show that the design can provide heavy damping for harmful HOMs with decreased impedance, and the beam instability requirement of SSRF can be satisfied. By using the ABCI code, the loss factor is obtained and the HOM power is estimated. (authors)

  13. The power of non-determinism in higher-order implicit complexity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kop, Cynthia Louisa Martina; Simonsen, Jakob Grue

    2017-01-01

    We investigate the power of non-determinism in purely functional programming languages with higher-order types. Specifically, we consider cons-free programs of varying data orders, equipped with explicit non-deterministic choice. Cons-freeness roughly means that data constructors cannot occur...... in function bodies and all manipulation of storage space thus has to happen indirectly using the call stack. While cons-free programs have previously been used by several authors to characterise complexity classes, the work on non-deterministic programs has almost exclusively considered programs of data order...... 0. Previous work has shown that adding explicit non-determinism to consfree programs taking data of order 0 does not increase expressivity; we prove that this—dramatically—is not the case for higher data orders: adding non-determinism to programs with data order at least 1 allows...

  14. Wigner higher-order spectra: definition, properties, computation and application to transient signal analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Rodríguez Fonollosa, Javier; Nikias, Chrysostomos L.

    1993-01-01

    The Wigner higher order moment spectra (WHOS) are defined as extensions of the Wigner-Ville distribution (WD) to higher order moment spectra domains. A general class of time-frequency higher order moment spectra is also defined in terms of arbitrary higher order moments of the signal as generalizations of the Cohen’s general class of time-frequency representations. The properties of the general class of time-frequency higher order moment spectra can be related to the properties...

  15. Higher Physical Activity is Associated with Increased Attentional Network Connectivity in the Healthy Elderly

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geon Ha Kim

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the potential alterations in structural network properties related to physical activity (PA in healthy elderly. We recruited 76 elderly individuals with normal cognition from Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, Korea. All participants underwent the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery and 3.0T brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI. Participants were subdivided into quartiles according to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire scores, which represents the amount of PA. Through graph theory based analyses, we compared global and local network topologies according to PA quartile. The higher PA group demonstrated better performance in speed processing compared to the lower PA group. Regional nodal strength also significantly increased in the higher PA group, which involved the bilateral middle frontal, bilateral inferior parietal, right medial orbitofrontal, right superior and middle temporal gyri. These results were further replicated when the highest and the lowest quartile groups were compared in terms of regional nodal strengths and local efficiency. Our findings that the regional nodal strengths associated with the attentional network were increased in the higher PA group suggest the preventive effects of PA on age-related cognitive decline, especially in attention.

  16. Higher-order Skyrme hair of black holes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gudnason, Sven Bjarke; Nitta, Muneto

    2018-05-01

    Higher-order derivative terms are considered as replacement for the Skyrme term in an Einstein-Skyrme-like model in order to pinpoint which properties are necessary for a black hole to possess stable static scalar hair. We find two new models able to support stable black hole hair in the limit of the Skyrme term being turned off. They contain 8 and 12 derivatives, respectively, and are roughly the Skyrme-term squared and the so-called BPS-Skyrme-term squared. In the twelfth-order model we find that the lower branches, which are normally unstable, become stable in the limit where the Skyrme term is turned off. We check this claim with a linear stability analysis. Finally, we find for a certain range of the gravitational coupling and horizon radius, that the twelfth-order model contains 4 solutions as opposed to 2. More surprisingly, the lowest part of the would-be unstable branch turns out to be the stable one of the 4 solutions.

  17. Higher order mode damping in Kaon factory RF cavities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Enegren, T.; Poirier, R.; Griffin, J.; Walling, L.; Thiessen, H.A.; Smythe, W.R.

    1989-05-01

    Proposed designs for Kaon factory accelerators require that the rf cavities support beam currents on the order of several amperes. The beam current has Fourier components at all multiples of the rf frequency. Empty rf buckets produce additional components at all multiples of the revolution frequency. If a Fourier component of the beam coincides with the resonant frequency of a higher order mode of the cavity, which is inevitable if the cavity has a large frequency swing, significant excitation of this mode can occur. The induced voltage may then excite coupled bunch mode instabilities. Effective means are required to damp higher order modes without significantly affecting the fundamental mode. A mode damping scheme based on coupled transmission lines has been investigated and is report

  18. Invigorating self-regulated learning strategies of mathematics among higher education students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chechi, Vijay Kumar; Bhalla, Jyoti

    2017-07-01

    The global market is transforming at its ever-increasing rate of knots. Consequently, the work skills challenges that current students will encounter throughout their lifetimes will be drastically different from those of present and past and proffering new-fangled opportunities and posing new challenges. However, in order to deal with tomorrow's opportunities and challenges students ought to equip with higher order cognitive skills which are substantially different from those needed in the past. In order to accomplish this intention, students must be academically self-regulated, as academic self-regulation is playing a vital role for academic success, particularly in higher education. Students must be prepared in such a way that they should take responsibility for their own learning. Self-regulation suggests activities and thinking processes that learners can engage in during his learning. Self-regulation is encompassing a number of inter-dependent aspect viz. affective beliefs, cognition and meta-cognitive skills [1]. It helps the learners to make sagacious use of their intellect and expertise [2]. As statistics has shown that the achievement of students in mathematics has persistently been poor. Along with it, mathematics is considered as one of the most important subject course in architecture, agriculture, medicine, pharmacy and especially in engineering. In spite of its importance, most of the students considered it as a dull and dry subject and their performance is remarkably low and alarming. Therefore, the present paper will highlight various factors affecting performance of higher education students in mathematics and will suggest different self-regulated learning strategies which will act as boon for higher education students.

  19. Higher Order, Hybrid BEM/FEM Methods Applied to Antenna Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fink, P. W.; Wilton, D. R.; Dobbins, J. A.

    2002-01-01

    In this presentation, the authors address topics relevant to higher order modeling using hybrid BEM/FEM formulations. The first of these is the limitation on convergence rates imposed by geometric modeling errors in the analysis of scattering by a dielectric sphere. The second topic is the application of an Incomplete LU Threshold (ILUT) preconditioner to solve the linear system resulting from the BEM/FEM formulation. The final tOpic is the application of the higher order BEM/FEM formulation to antenna modeling problems. The authors have previously presented work on the benefits of higher order modeling. To achieve these benefits, special attention is required in the integration of singular and near-singular terms arising in the surface integral equation. Several methods for handling these terms have been presented. It is also well known that achieving he high rates of convergence afforded by higher order bases may als'o require the employment of higher order geometry models. A number of publications have described the use of quadratic elements to model curved surfaces. The authors have shown in an EFIE formulation, applied to scattering by a PEC .sphere, that quadratic order elements may be insufficient to prevent the domination of modeling errors. In fact, on a PEC sphere with radius r = 0.58 Lambda(sub 0), a quartic order geometry representation was required to obtain a convergence benefi.t from quadratic bases when compared to the convergence rate achieved with linear bases. Initial trials indicate that, for a dielectric sphere of the same radius, - requirements on the geometry model are not as severe as for the PEC sphere. The authors will present convergence results for higher order bases as a function of the geometry model order in the hybrid BEM/FEM formulation applied to dielectric spheres. It is well known that the system matrix resulting from the hybrid BEM/FEM formulation is ill -conditioned. For many real applications, a good preconditioner is required

  20. Higher Order Thinking Skills among Secondary School Students in Science Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saido, Gulistan Mohammed; Siraj, Saedah; Bin Nordin, Abu Bakar; Al Amedy, Omed Saadallah

    2015-01-01

    A central goal of science education is to help students to develop their higher order thinking skills to enable them to face the challenges of daily life. Enhancing students' higher order thinking skills is the main goal of the Kurdish Science Curriculum in the Iraqi-Kurdistan region. This study aimed at assessing 7th grade students' higher order…

  1. Student's Perceived Level and Teachers' Teaching Strategies of Higher Order Thinking Skills: A Study on Higher Educational Institutions in Thailand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shukla, Divya; Dungsungnoen, Aj Pattaradanai

    2016-01-01

    Higher order thinking skills (HOTS) has portrayed immense industry demand and the major goal of educational institution in imparting education is to inculcate higher order thinking skills. This compiles and mandate the institutions and instructor to develop the higher order thinking skills among students in order to prepare them for effective…

  2. Cognitive aspects of human motor activity: Contribution of right hemisphere and cerebellum

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sedov A. S.

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Background. Concepts of movement and action are not completely synonymous, but what distinguishes one from the other? Movement may be defined as stimulus- driven motor acts, while action implies realization of a specific motor goal, essential for cognitively driven behavior. Although recent clinical and neuroimaging studies have revealed some areas of the brain that mediate cognitive aspects of human motor behavior, the identification of the basic neural circuit underlying the interaction between cognitive and motor functions remains a challenge for neurophysiology and psychology. Objective. In the current study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI to investigate elementary cognitive aspects of human motor behavior. Design. Twenty healthy right-handed volunteers were asked to perform stimulus-driven and goal-directed movements by clenching the right hand into a fist (7 times. The cognitive component lay in anticipation of simple stimuli signals. In order to disentangle the purely motor component of stimulus-driven movements, we used the event-related (ER paradigm. FMRI was performed on a 3 Tesla Siemens Magnetom Verio MR-scanner with 32-channel head coil. Results. We have shown differences in the localization of brain activity depending on the involvement of cognitive functions. These differences testify to the role of the cerebellum and the right hemisphere in motor cognition. In particular, our results suggest that right associative cortical areas, together with the right posterolateral cerebellum (Crus I and lobule VI and basal ganglia, de ne cognitive control of motor activity, promoting a shift from a stimulus-driven to a goal-directed mode. Conclusion. These results, along with recent data from research on cerebro-cerebellar circuitry, redefine the scope of tasks for exploring the contribution of the cerebellum to diverse aspects of human motor behavior and cognition.

  3. Physical Activity and Cognitive Functioning of Children: A Systematic Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ilona Bidzan-Bluma

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Childhood is an important and sensitive period for cognitive development. There is limited published research regarding the relationship between sports and cognitive functions in children. We present studies that demonstrate the influence of physical activity on health, especially a positive correlation between sports and cognitive functions. The keywords “children, cognition, cognitive function, physical activity, and brain” were searched for using PsycInfo, Medline, and Google Scholar, with publication dates ranging from January 2000 to November 2017. Of the 617 results, 58 articles strictly connected to the main topics of physical activity and cognitive functioning were then reviewed. The areas of attention, thinking, language, learning, and memory were analyzed relative to sports and childhood. Results suggest that engaging in sports in late childhood positively influences cognitive and emotional functions. There is a paucity of publications that investigate the impact of sports on pre-adolescents’ cognitive functions, or explore which cognitive functions are developed by which sporting disciplines. Such knowledge would be useful in developing training programs for pre-adolescents, aimed at improving cognitive functions that may guide both researchers and practitioners relative to the wide range of benefits that result from physical activity.

  4. Verifying object-oriented programs with higher-order separation logic in Coq

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bengtson, Jesper; Jensen, Jonas Braband; Sieczkowski, Filip

    2011-01-01

    We present a shallow Coq embedding of a higher-order separation logic with nested triples for an object-oriented programming language. Moreover, we develop novel specification and proof patterns for reasoning in higher-order separation logic with nested triples about programs that use interfaces...... and interface inheritance. In particular, we show how to use the higher-order features of the Coq formalisation to specify and reason modularly about programs that (1) depend on some unknown code satisfying a specification or that (2) return objects conforming to a certain specification. All of our results have...

  5. Leisure Activities and Change in Cognitive Stability: A Multivariate Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathalie Mella

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Aging is traditionally associated with cognitive decline, attested by slower reaction times and poorer performance in various cognitive tasks, but also by an increase in intraindividual variability (IIV in cognitive performance. Results concerning how lifestyle activities protect from cognitive decline are mixed in the literature and all focused on how it affects mean performance. However, IIV has been proven to be an index more sensitive to age differences, and very little is known about the relationships between lifestyle activities and change in IIV in aging. This longitudinal study explores the association between frequency of physical, social, intellectual, artistic, or cultural activities and age-related change in various cognitive abilities, considering both mean performance and IIV. Ninety-six participants, aged 64–93 years, underwent a battery of cognitive tasks at four measurements over a seven-year period, and filled out a lifestyle activity questionnaire. Linear multilevel models were used to analyze the associations between change in cognitive performance and five types of activities. Results showed that the practice of leisure activities was more strongly associated with IIV than with mean performance, both when considering overall level and change in performance. Relationships with IIV were dependent of the cognitive tasks considered and overall results showed protective effects of cultural, physical and intellectual activities on IIV. These results underline the need for considering IIV in the study of age-related cognitive change.

  6. Neural activity during emotion recognition after combined cognitive plus social-cognitive training in schizophrenia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hooker, Christine I.; Bruce, Lori; Fisher, Melissa; Verosky, Sara C.; Miyakawa, Asako; Vinogradov, Sophia

    2012-01-01

    Cognitive remediation training has been shown to improve both cognitive and social-cognitive deficits in people with schizophrenia, but the mechanisms that support this behavioral improvement are largely unknown. One hypothesis is that intensive behavioral training in cognition and/or social-cognition restores the underlying neural mechanisms that support targeted skills. However, there is little research on the neural effects of cognitive remediation training. This study investigated whether a 50 hour (10-week) remediation intervention which included both cognitive and social-cognitive training would influence neural function in regions that support social-cognition. Twenty-two stable, outpatient schizophrenia participants were randomized to a treatment condition consisting of auditory-based cognitive training (AT) [Brain Fitness Program/auditory module ~60 minutes/day] plus social-cognition training (SCT) which was focused on emotion recognition [~5–15 minutes per day] or a placebo condition of non-specific computer games (CG) for an equal amount of time. Pre and post intervention assessments included an fMRI task of positive and negative facial emotion recognition, and standard behavioral assessments of cognition, emotion processing, and functional outcome. There were no significant intervention-related improvements in general cognition or functional outcome. FMRI results showed the predicted group-by-time interaction. Specifically, in comparison to CG, AT+SCT participants had a greater pre-to-post intervention increase in postcentral gyrus activity during emotion recognition of both positive and negative emotions. Furthermore, among all participants, the increase in postcentral gyrus activity predicted behavioral improvement on a standardized test of emotion processing (MSCEIT: Perceiving Emotions). Results indicate that combined cognition and social-cognition training impacts neural mechanisms that support social-cognition skills. PMID:22695257

  7. Analysis and Improvement of the Generic Higher-Order Masking Scheme of FSE 2012

    OpenAIRE

    Roy, Arnab; Venkatesh, Srinivas Vivek

    2013-01-01

    Masking is a well-known technique used to prevent block cipher implementations from side-channel attacks. Higher-order side channel attacks (e.g. higher-order DPA attack) on widely used block cipher like AES have motivated the design of efficient higher-order masking schemes. Indeed, it is known that as the masking order increases, the difficulty of side-channel attack increases exponentially. However, the main problem in higher-order masking is to design an efficient and secure technique for...

  8. Baseline and cognition activated regional cerebral brain flow of naive paranoid schizophrenics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Huafang; Gu Niufan; Xiu Yan; Chen Shaoliang

    2002-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the baseline and cognition activated regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in naive paranoid schizophrenics and the relationships between the symptoms and rCBF. Methods: The scale of positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) was adopted to evaluate the symptoms of schizophrenia. The baseline and cognition activated 99 Tc m -ethylcysteinate dimmer (ECD) SPECT were performed one after the other within two days. Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST) was used as cognitive task. Semi-quantitative analyses were applied. Results: There were no significant differences of WCST results between two groups. Compared with normal controls, the baseline rCBF ratios of left to right interior posterior temporal cortex in patients were significantly higher, while that of left mid-medial frontal cortex was significantly lower in patients. There was no significant difference of rCBF ratios of baseline to cognition activated states in patients. WCST couldn't activate the frontal function in patients. The total score of PANSS, score of positive subscale and general syndrome subscale were correlated with the rCBF ratio of several regions of interest (ROIs) . Some symptoms were correlated with the rCBF ratio of some ROIs. Conclusions: The hyperperfusion of left and right temporal inferior posterior cortex and hypoperfusion of left mid-medial frontal cortex could be seen in naive paranoid schizophrenics. Hypofrontality existed in patients before treatment. Some positive symptoms were correlated with the rCBF of some ROI

  9. The effect of breakfast versus no breakfast on brain activity in adolescents when performing cognitive tasks, as assessed by fMRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fulford, Jonathan; Varley-Campbell, Joanna L; Williams, Craig A

    2016-01-01

    The study examined the feasibility of utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a group of adolescent boys and girls to assess modifications in cognitive function, dependent upon the nutritional state of the participants. Twenty children aged 12-14 years completed two cognitive trials, in a randomized counterbalanced order, one under fasting condition, one after consuming breakfast, during which continuous fMRI data were acquired. Although no statistically significant (P > 0.05) improvement in task performance was determined, significantly higher activation was recorded in the frontal, premotor, and primary visual cortex areas in the breakfast trial relative to the fasting condition. Such a finding may have important implications in the examination of the role of diet, and specifically breakfast, in determining children's performance within the school environment.

  10. Visualization and processing of higher order descriptors for multi-valued data

    CERN Document Server

    Schultz, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    Modern imaging techniques and computational simulations yield complex multi-valued data that require higher-order mathematical descriptors. This book addresses topics of importance when dealing with such data, including frameworks for image processing, visualization, and statistical analysis of higher-order descriptors. It also provides examples of the successful use of higher-order descriptors in specific applications and a glimpse of the next generation of diffusion MRI. To do so, it combines contributions on new developments, current challenges in this area, and state-of-the-art surveys.   Compared to the increasing importance of higher-order descriptors in a range of applications, tools for analysis and processing are still relatively hard to come by. Even though application areas such as medical imaging, fluid dynamics, and structural mechanics are very different in nature they face many shared challenges. This book provides an interdisciplinary perspective on this topic with contributions from key rese...

  11. Prefrontal activation may predict working-memory training gain in normal aging and mild cognitive impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vermeij, Anouk; Kessels, Roy P C; Heskamp, Linda; Simons, Esther M F; Dautzenberg, Paul L J; Claassen, Jurgen A H R

    2017-02-01

    Cognitive training has been shown to result in improved behavioral performance in normal aging and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), yet little is known about the neural correlates of cognitive plasticity, or about individual differences in responsiveness to cognitive training. In this study, 21 healthy older adults and 14 patients with MCI received five weeks of adaptive computerized working-memory (WM) training. Before and after training, functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to assess the hemodynamic response in left and right prefrontal cortex during performance of a verbal n-back task with varying levels of WM load. After training, healthy older adults demonstrated decreased prefrontal activation at high WM load, which may indicate increased processing efficiency. Although MCI patients showed improved behavioral performance at low WM load after training, no evidence was found for training-related changes in prefrontal activation. Whole-group analyses showed that a relatively strong hemodynamic response at low WM load was related to worse behavioral performance, while a relatively strong hemodynamic response at high WM load was related to higher training gain. Therefore, a 'youth-like' prefrontal activation pattern at older age may be associated with better behavioral outcome and cognitive plasticity.

  12. Research progress on Drosophila visual cognition in China

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2010-01-01

    Visual cognition,as one of the fundamental aspects of cognitive neuroscience,is generally associated with high-order brain functions in animals and human.Drosophila,as a model organism,shares certain features of visual cognition in common with mammals at the genetic,molecular,cellular,and even higher behavioral levels.From learning and memory to decision making,Drosophila covers a broad spectrum of higher cognitive behaviors beyond what we had expected.Armed with powerful tools of genetic manipulation in Drosophila,an increasing number of studies have been conducted in order to elucidate the neural circuit mechanisms underlying these cognitive behaviors from a genes-brain-behavior perspective.The goal of this review is to integrate the most important studies on visual cognition in Drosophila carried out in mainland China during the last decade into a body of knowledge encompassing both the basic neural operations and circuitry of higher brain function in Drosophila.Here,we consider a series of the higher cognitive behaviors beyond learning and memory,such as visual pattern recognition,feature and context generalization,different feature memory traces,salience-based decision,attention-like behavior,and cross-modal leaning and memory.We discuss the possible general gain-gating mechanism implementing by dopamine-mushroom body circuit in fly’s visual cognition.We hope that our brief review on this aspect will inspire further study on visual cognition in flies,or even beyond.

  13. Research progress on Drosophila visual cognition in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, AiKe; Zhang, Ke; Peng, YueQin; Xi, Wang

    2010-03-01

    Visual cognition, as one of the fundamental aspects of cognitive neuroscience, is generally associated with high-order brain functions in animals and human. Drosophila, as a model organism, shares certain features of visual cognition in common with mammals at the genetic, molecular, cellular, and even higher behavioral levels. From learning and memory to decision making, Drosophila covers a broad spectrum of higher cognitive behaviors beyond what we had expected. Armed with powerful tools of genetic manipulation in Drosophila, an increasing number of studies have been conducted in order to elucidate the neural circuit mechanisms underlying these cognitive behaviors from a genes-brain-behavior perspective. The goal of this review is to integrate the most important studies on visual cognition in Drosophila carried out in mainland China during the last decade into a body of knowledge encompassing both the basic neural operations and circuitry of higher brain function in Drosophila. Here, we consider a series of the higher cognitive behaviors beyond learning and memory, such as visual pattern recognition, feature and context generalization, different feature memory traces, salience-based decision, attention-like behavior, and cross-modal leaning and memory. We discuss the possible general gain-gating mechanism implementing by dopamine - mushroom body circuit in fly's visual cognition. We hope that our brief review on this aspect will inspire further study on visual cognition in flies, or even beyond.

  14. Analysis of warping deformation modes using higher order ANCF beam element

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orzechowski, Grzegorz; Shabana, Ahmed A.

    2016-02-01

    Most classical beam theories assume that the beam cross section remains a rigid surface under an arbitrary loading condition. However, in the absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF) continuum-based beams, this assumption can be relaxed allowing for capturing deformation modes that couple the cross-section deformation and beam bending, torsion, and/or elongation. The deformation modes captured by ANCF finite elements depend on the interpolating polynomials used. The most widely used spatial ANCF beam element employs linear approximation in the transverse direction, thereby restricting the cross section deformation and leading to locking problems. The objective of this investigation is to examine the behavior of a higher order ANCF beam element that includes quadratic interpolation in the transverse directions. This higher order element allows capturing warping and non-uniform stretching distribution. Furthermore, this higher order element allows for increasing the degree of continuity at the element interface. It is shown in this paper that the higher order ANCF beam element can be used effectively to capture warping and eliminate Poisson locking that characterizes lower order ANCF finite elements. It is also shown that increasing the degree of continuity requires a special attention in order to have acceptable results. Because higher order elements can be more computationally expensive than the lower order elements, the use of reduced integration for evaluating the stress forces and the use of explicit and implicit numerical integrations to solve the nonlinear dynamic equations of motion are investigated in this paper. It is shown that the use of some of these integration methods can be very effective in reducing the CPU time without adversely affecting the solution accuracy.

  15. Different Effects of Cognitive and Non-exercise Physical Leisure Activities on Cognitive Function by Age in Elderly Korean Individuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Mi Sook; Kim, Hyunli; Lee, Yeji; Kim, Mijung; Chung, Eunyoung

    2017-10-01

    We aimed to examine the effects of various leisure activities on cognitive impairment in young-old (aged 65-74 years) and old-old (aged ≥ 75 years) adults. In total, 10,279 elderly Korean individuals from the 2014 Korean National Survey on Older Adults' cohort were enrolled in our study. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the standardized score of the Mini-Mental State Examination for Dementia Screening, whereas leisure activities were recorded via self-reporting of the extent and type of leisure activity the subjects involved in over the past year. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the effect of leisure activities on cognitive impairment, while controlling for potential covariates. The subjects were more likely to participate in cognitive activities than in non-exercise physical activities. After controlling for selected covariates, involvement in cognitive activities was found to be a significant predictor of cognitive impairment in both the groups, whereas involvement in non-exercise physical activities was not a predictor of cognitive impairment in individuals aged ≥ 75 years. Moreover, depressive symptoms, rural residence, and hearing difficulties were common predictors of cognitive impairment among elderly-Korean-individuals. Leisure activity involvement may help delay cognitive impairment, which is often concomitant with aging. Hence, an early intervention service may significantly benefit both young-old and old-old individuals.

  16. Neural activity during emotion recognition after combined cognitive plus social cognitive training in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hooker, Christine I; Bruce, Lori; Fisher, Melissa; Verosky, Sara C; Miyakawa, Asako; Vinogradov, Sophia

    2012-08-01

    Cognitive remediation training has been shown to improve both cognitive and social cognitive deficits in people with schizophrenia, but the mechanisms that support this behavioral improvement are largely unknown. One hypothesis is that intensive behavioral training in cognition and/or social cognition restores the underlying neural mechanisms that support targeted skills. However, there is little research on the neural effects of cognitive remediation training. This study investigated whether a 50 h (10-week) remediation intervention which included both cognitive and social cognitive training would influence neural function in regions that support social cognition. Twenty-two stable, outpatient schizophrenia participants were randomized to a treatment condition consisting of auditory-based cognitive training (AT) [Brain Fitness Program/auditory module ~60 min/day] plus social cognition training (SCT) which was focused on emotion recognition [~5-15 min per day] or a placebo condition of non-specific computer games (CG) for an equal amount of time. Pre and post intervention assessments included an fMRI task of positive and negative facial emotion recognition, and standard behavioral assessments of cognition, emotion processing, and functional outcome. There were no significant intervention-related improvements in general cognition or functional outcome. fMRI results showed the predicted group-by-time interaction. Specifically, in comparison to CG, AT+SCT participants had a greater pre-to-post intervention increase in postcentral gyrus activity during emotion recognition of both positive and negative emotions. Furthermore, among all participants, the increase in postcentral gyrus activity predicted behavioral improvement on a standardized test of emotion processing (MSCEIT: Perceiving Emotions). Results indicate that combined cognition and social cognition training impacts neural mechanisms that support social cognition skills. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All

  17. Cognitive Activities in Solving Mathematical Tasks: The Role of a Cognitive Obstacle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antonijevic, Radovan

    2016-01-01

    In the process of learning mathematics, students practice various forms of thinking activities aimed to substantially contribute to the development of their different cognitive structures. In this paper, the subject matter is a "cognitive obstacle", a phenomenon that occurs in the procedures of solving mathematical tasks. Each task in…

  18. On the Interplay between Order Parameter Dynamics and System Parameter Dynamics in Human Perceptual-Cognitive-Behavioral Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frank, T D

    2015-04-01

    Previous research has demonstrated that perceiving, thinking, and acting are human activities that correspond to self-organized patterns. The emergence of such patterns can be completely described in terms of the dynamics of the pattern amplitudes, which are referred to as order parameters. The patterns emerge at bifurcations points when certain system parameters internal and external to a human agent exceed critical values. At issue is how one might study the order parameter dynamics for sequences of consecutive, emergent perceptual, cognitive, or behavioral activities. In particular, these activities may in turn impact the system parameters that have led to the emergence of the activities in the first place. This interplay between order parameter dynamics and system parameter dynamics is discussed in general and formulated in mathematical terms. Previous work that has made use of this two-tiered framework of order parameter and system parameter dynamics are briefly addressed. As an application, a model for perception under functional fixedness is presented. Finally, it is argued that the phenomena that emerge in this framework and can be observed when human agents perceive, think, and act are just as likely to occur in pattern formation systems of the inanimate world. Consequently, these phenomena do not necessarily have a neurophysiological basis but should instead be understood from the perspective of the theory of self-organization.

  19. The geometry of higher-order Lagrange spaces applications to mechanics and physics

    CERN Document Server

    Miron, Radu

    1997-01-01

    This monograph is devoted to the problem of the geometrizing of Lagrangians which depend on higher-order accelerations It presents a construction of the geometry of the total space of the bundle of the accelerations of order k>=1 A geometrical study of the notion of the higher-order Lagrange space is conducted, and the old problem of prolongation of Riemannian spaces to k-osculator manifolds is solved Also, the geometrical ground for variational calculus on the integral of actions involving higher-order Lagrangians is dealt with Applications to higher-order analytical mechanics and theoretical physics are included as well Audience This volume will be of interest to scientists whose work involves differential geometry, mechanics of particles and systems, calculus of variation and optimal control, optimization, optics, electromagnetic theory, and biology

  20. Association Between Perceived Physical Activity and Cognitive Function in Older Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loprinzi, Paul D; Frith, Emily

    2018-01-01

    There is irrefutable evidence that regular participation in physical activity is favorably associated with numerous positive health outcomes, including cognitive function. Emerging work suggests that perceived physical activity, independent of actual physical activity behavior, is inversely associated with mortality risk. In this study, we evaluate whether perceived physical activity, independent of actual physical activity, is associated with cognitive function, a robust indicator of mortality risk. Data from the cross-sectional 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were employed ( N = 2352; 60+ years of age). Actual physical activity was assessed via a validated survey. Perceived physical activity was assessed using the following question: "Compared with others of the same age, would you say that you are: more active, less active, or about the same?" Cognitive function was assessed from the Digit Symbol Substitution Test. When examined in separate models, both actual and perceived physical activity were positively and statistically significantly associated with cognitive function. However, when considered in the same model, actual physical activity was no longer statistically significantly associated with cognitive function, but perceived physical activity was. Perceived physical activity, independent of actual physical activity, is independently associated with cognitive function. If these findings are replicated, future work should consider evaluating perceived physical activity when examining the effects of actual physical activity behavior on cognitive function.

  1. Higher-order neural network software for distortion invariant object recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid, Max B.; Spirkovska, Lilly

    1991-01-01

    The state-of-the-art in pattern recognition for such applications as automatic target recognition and industrial robotic vision relies on digital image processing. We present a higher-order neural network model and software which performs the complete feature extraction-pattern classification paradigm required for automatic pattern recognition. Using a third-order neural network, we demonstrate complete, 100 percent accurate invariance to distortions of scale, position, and in-plate rotation. In a higher-order neural network, feature extraction is built into the network, and does not have to be learned. Only the relatively simple classification step must be learned. This is key to achieving very rapid training. The training set is much smaller than with standard neural network software because the higher-order network only has to be shown one view of each object to be learned, not every possible view. The software and graphical user interface run on any Sun workstation. Results of the use of the neural software in autonomous robotic vision systems are presented. Such a system could have extensive application in robotic manufacturing.

  2. Spiritual activity is associated with better cognitive function in old age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fung, A W T; Lam, L C W

    2013-09-01

    This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the association between late-life spiritual activity participation and cognitive function in older Chinese adults in Hong Kong. Participants aged 60 years or older without clinical dementia or major psychiatric disorders were recruited. Dementia severity and global cognitive function were assessed using the Clinical Dementia Rating and Cantonese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination, respectively. Cognitive performance was measured using 10-minute delayed recall, the Category Verbal Fluency Test, Visual Aural Digit Span Test, and Modified Card Sorting Test. Psychological status was assessed using the Chinese version of the Purpose in Life scale. Activities participated in were categorised into 6 domains of physical, cognitive, social, prosocial, spiritual, and recreational activities. A total of 380 participants were enrolled. Bivariate correlation showed that the composite score of cognitive function was positively correlated with aerobic exercise (r = 0.14; p = 0.01), cognitive activity (r = 0.30; p < 0.001), and spiritual activity (r = 0.16; p = 0.002). Multiple linear regression suggested that frequent participation in cognitive activity (B = 0.87, beta = 0.22; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.52-1.25 and p < 0.001) and spiritual activity (B = 0.45, beta = 0.11; 95% CI = 0.13-0.76 and p = 0.01) were associated with better cognitive function after controlling for age and years of education. Engagement in spiritual activity may benefit cognitive function in old age. Longitudinal studies are recommended to further examine the causal relationship of spiritual activity and cognitive function.

  3. Higher BMI Is Associated with Reduced Cognitive Performance in Division I Athletes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Fedor

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Poor cardiovascular fitness has been implicated as a possible mechanism for obesity-related cognitive decline, though no study has examined whether BMI is associated with poorer cognitive function in persons with excellent fitness levels. The current study examined the relationship between BMI and cognitive function by the Immediate Post Concussion and Cognitive Test (ImPACT in Division I collegiate athletes. Methods: Participants had an average age of 20.14 ± 1.78 years, were 31.3% female, and 53.9% football players. BMI ranged from 19.04 to 41.14 and averaged 26.72 ± 4.62. Results: Regression analyses revealed that BMI incrementally predicted performance on visual memory (R2 change = 0.015, p = 0.026 beyond control variables. Follow-up partial correlation analyses revealed small but significant negative correlations between BMI and verbal memory (r = -0.17, visual memory (r = -0.16, and visual motor speed (r = -0.12. Conclusions: These results suggest that higher BMI is associated with reduced cognitive function, even in a sample expected to have excellent levels of cardiovascular fitness. Further work is needed to better understand mechanisms for these associations.

  4. Higher BMI is associated with reduced cognitive performance in division I athletes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fedor, Andrew; Gunstad, John

    2013-01-01

    Poor cardiovascular fitness has been implicated as a possible mechanism for obesity-related cognitive decline, though no study has examined whether BMI is associated with poorer cognitive function in persons with excellent fitness levels. The current study examined the relationship between BMI and cognitive function by the Immediate Post Concussion and Cognitive Test (ImPACT) in Division I collegiate athletes. Participants had an average age of 20.14 ± 1.78 years, were 31.3% female, and 53.9% football players. BMI ranged from 19.04 to 41.14 and averaged 26.72 ± 4.62. Regression analyses revealed that BMI incrementally predicted performance on visual memory (R(2) change = 0.015, p = 0.026) beyond control variables. Follow-up partial correlation analyses revealed small but significant negative correlations between BMI and verbal memory (r = -0.17), visual memory (r = -0.16), and visual motor speed (r = -0.12). These results suggest that higher BMI is associated with reduced cognitive function, even in a sample expected to have excellent levels of cardiovascular fitness. Further work is needed to better understand mechanisms for these associations. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg.

  5. Increased Brain Connectivity In Early Postmenopausal Women with Subjective Cognitive Impairment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer N Vega

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Cognitive changes after menopause are a common complaint, especially as the loss of estradiol at menopause has been hypothesized to contribute to the higher rates of dementia in women. To explore the neural processes related to subjective cognitive complaints, this study examined resting state functional connectivity in 31 postmenopausal women (aged 50-60 in relationship to cognitive complaints following menopause. A cognitive complaint index was calculated using responses to a 120-item questionnaire. Seed regions were identified for resting state brain networks important for higher-order cognitive processes and for areas that have shown differences in volume and functional activity associated with cognitive complaints in prior studies. Results indicated a positive correlation between the executive control network and cognitive complaint score, weaker negative functional connectivity within the frontal cortex, and stronger positive connectivity within the right middle temporal gyrus in postmenopausal women who report more cognitive complaints. While longitudinal studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis, these data are consistent with previous findings suggesting that high levels of cognitive complaints may reflect changes in brain connectivity and may be a potential marker for the risk of late-life cognitive dysfunction in postmenopausal women with otherwise normal cognitive performance.

  6. Covariant quantization of infinite spin particle models, and higher order gauge theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edgren, Ludde; Marnelius, Robert

    2006-01-01

    Further properties of a recently proposed higher order infinite spin particle model are derived. Infinitely many classically equivalent but different Hamiltonian formulations are shown to exist. This leads to a condition of uniqueness in the quantization process. A consistent covariant quantization is shown to exist. Also a recently proposed supersymmetric version for half-odd integer spins is quantized. A general algorithm to derive gauge invariances of higher order Lagrangians is given and applied to the infinite spin particle model, and to a new higher order model for a spinning particle which is proposed here, as well as to a previously given higher order rigid particle model. The latter two models are also covariantly quantized

  7. Physical activity and enhanced fitness to improve cognitive function in older people without known cognitive impairment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Angevaren, Maaike; Aufdemkampe, Geert; Verhaar, H. J. J.; Aleman, A.; Vanhees, Luc

    2008-01-01

    Background Physical activity is beneficial for healthy ageing. It may also help maintain good cognitive function in older age. Aerobic activity improves cardiovascular fitness, but it is not known whether this sort of fitness is necessary for improved cognitive function. Studies in which activity,

  8. Dogs cannot bark: event-related brain responses to true and false negated statements as indicators of higher-order conscious processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herbert, Cornelia; Kübler, Andrea

    2011-01-01

    The present study investigated event-related brain potentials elicited by true and false negated statements to evaluate if discrimination of the truth value of negated information relies on conscious processing and requires higher-order cognitive processing in healthy subjects across different levels of stimulus complexity. The stimulus material consisted of true and false negated sentences (sentence level) and prime-target expressions (word level). Stimuli were presented acoustically and no overt behavioral response of the participants was required. Event-related brain potentials to target words preceded by true and false negated expressions were analyzed both within group and at the single subject level. Across the different processing conditions (word pairs and sentences), target words elicited a frontal negativity and a late positivity in the time window from 600-1000 msec post target word onset. Amplitudes of both brain potentials varied as a function of the truth value of the negated expressions. Results were confirmed at the single-subject level. In sum, our results support recent suggestions according to which evaluation of the truth value of a negated expression is a time- and cognitively demanding process that cannot be solved automatically, and thus requires conscious processing. Our paradigm provides insight into higher-order processing related to language comprehension and reasoning in healthy subjects. Future studies are needed to evaluate if our paradigm also proves sensitive for the detection of consciousness in non-responsive patients.

  9. Dogs cannot bark: event-related brain responses to true and false negated statements as indicators of higher-order conscious processing.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cornelia Herbert

    Full Text Available The present study investigated event-related brain potentials elicited by true and false negated statements to evaluate if discrimination of the truth value of negated information relies on conscious processing and requires higher-order cognitive processing in healthy subjects across different levels of stimulus complexity. The stimulus material consisted of true and false negated sentences (sentence level and prime-target expressions (word level. Stimuli were presented acoustically and no overt behavioral response of the participants was required. Event-related brain potentials to target words preceded by true and false negated expressions were analyzed both within group and at the single subject level. Across the different processing conditions (word pairs and sentences, target words elicited a frontal negativity and a late positivity in the time window from 600-1000 msec post target word onset. Amplitudes of both brain potentials varied as a function of the truth value of the negated expressions. Results were confirmed at the single-subject level. In sum, our results support recent suggestions according to which evaluation of the truth value of a negated expression is a time- and cognitively demanding process that cannot be solved automatically, and thus requires conscious processing. Our paradigm provides insight into higher-order processing related to language comprehension and reasoning in healthy subjects. Future studies are needed to evaluate if our paradigm also proves sensitive for the detection of consciousness in non-responsive patients.

  10. An Efficient Higher-Order Quasilinearization Method for Solving Nonlinear BVPs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eman S. Alaidarous

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In this research paper, we present higher-order quasilinearization methods for the boundary value problems as well as coupled boundary value problems. The construction of higher-order convergent methods depends on a decomposition method which is different from Adomain decomposition method (Motsa and Sibanda, 2013. The reported method is very general and can be extended to desired order of convergence for highly nonlinear differential equations and also computationally superior to proposed iterative method based on Adomain decomposition because our proposed iterative scheme avoids the calculations of Adomain polynomials and achieves the same computational order of convergence as authors have claimed in Motsa and Sibanda, 2013. In order to check the validity and computational performance, the constructed iterative schemes are also successfully applied to bifurcation problems to calculate the values of critical parameters. The numerical performance is also tested for one-dimension Bratu and Frank-Kamenetzkii equations.

  11. A Linear-Elasticity Solver for Higher-Order Space-Time Mesh Deformation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diosady, Laslo T.; Murman, Scott M.

    2018-01-01

    A linear-elasticity approach is presented for the generation of meshes appropriate for a higher-order space-time discontinuous finite-element method. The equations of linear-elasticity are discretized using a higher-order, spatially-continuous, finite-element method. Given an initial finite-element mesh, and a specified boundary displacement, we solve for the mesh displacements to obtain a higher-order curvilinear mesh. Alternatively, for moving-domain problems we use the linear-elasticity approach to solve for a temporally discontinuous mesh velocity on each time-slab and recover a continuous mesh deformation by integrating the velocity. The applicability of this methodology is presented for several benchmark test cases.

  12. Higher-order-mode damper as beam-position monitors; Higher-Order-Mode Daempfer als Stahllagemonitore

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peschke, C.

    2006-03-15

    In the framework of this thesis a beam-position monitor was developed, which can only because of the signals from the HOM dampers of a linear-accelerator structure determine the beam position with high accuracy. For the unique determination of the beam position in the plane a procedure was developed, which uses the amplitudes and the start-phase difference between a dipole mode and a higher monopole mode. In order tocheck the suitability of the present SBLC-HOM damper as beam position monitor three-dimensional numerical field calculations in the frequency and time range and measurements on the damper cell were performed. For the measurements without beam a beam simulator was constructed, which allows computer-driven measurements with variable depositions of the simulated beam with a resolution of 1.23 {mu}m. Because the complete 6 m long, 180-cell accelerator structure was not available for measurements and could also with the available computers not be three-dimensionally simulated simulated, a one-dimensional equivalent-circuit based model of the multi-cell was studied. The equivalent circuits with 879 concentrated components regards the detuning from cell to cell, the cell losses, the damper losses, and the beam excitation in dependence on the deposition. the measurements and simulations let a resolution of the ready beam-position monitor on the 180-cell in the order of magnitude of 1-10 {mu}m and a relative accuracy smaller 6.2% be expected.

  13. Cognitive assessment of older people

    OpenAIRE

    Young, John; Meagher, David; MacLullich, Alasdair J

    2011-01-01

    peer-reviewed Cognitive assessment involves examination of higher cortical functions, particularly memory, attention, orientation, language, executive function (planning activities), and praxis (sequencing of activities). This article will focus on cognitive assessment of older people (those aged over about 65 years) in the context of possible dementia, delirium, and depression. These are common and serious clinical syndromes affecting older people, and accurate cognit...

  14. Higher-Order Hierarchical Legendre Basis Functions in Applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kim, Oleksiy S.; Jørgensen, Erik; Meincke, Peter

    2007-01-01

    The higher-order hierarchical Legendre basis functions have been developed for effective solution of integral equations with the method of moments. They are derived from orthogonal Legendre polynomials modified to enforce normal continuity between neighboring mesh elements, while preserving a high...

  15. Relations between Recent Past Leisure Activities with Risks of Dementia and Cognitive Functions after Stroke.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adrian Wong

    Full Text Available Leisure activity participation has been shown to lower risks of cognitive decline in non-stroke populations. However, effects of leisure activities participation upon cognitive functions and risk of dementia after stroke are unclear. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of recent past leisure activities participation upon cognitive functions and risk of incident dementia after stroke.Hospital-based, retrospective cohort study. 88 of 1,013 patients with stroke or TIA having no prestroke dementia were diagnosed to have incident poststroke dementia (PSD 3-6 months after stroke. Regular participation (≥3 times per week in intellectual, recreational, social and physical activities over the year before the index stroke was retrospectively recorded at 3-6 months after stroke.Logistic regression analyses showed that regular participation in intellectual (RR 0.36, 95%CI 0.20-0.63 and stretching & toning physical exercise (0.37, 0.21-0.64 was significantly associated with a reduced risk of PSD after controlling for age, education, prestroke cognitive decline, stroke subtype, prior strokes and chronic brain changes including white matter changes, old infarcts and global atrophy. Results were similar in patients with past strokes in unadjusted models. Participation in increased number of activities in general (r = 0.41, p<0.01 and in intellectual (r = 0.40, p<0.01, recreational (r = 0.24, p<0.01, strenuous aerobic (r = 0.23, p<0.01 and mind-body (r = 0.10, p<0.01 activities was associated with higher poststroke Mini-mental State Examination scores in models adjusted for prestroke cognitive decline.Regular participation in intellectual activities and stretching & toning exercise was associated with a significantly reduced short-term risk of PSD in patients with and without recurrent strokes. Participation in greater number of recent past leisure activities was associated with better poststroke cognitive performance. Findings of this

  16. Higher order BLG supersymmetry transformations from 10-dimensional super Yang Mills

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hall, John [Alumnus of Physics Department, Imperial College,South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Low, Andrew [Physics Department, Wimbledon High School,Mansel Road, London, SW19 4AB (United Kingdom)

    2014-06-26

    We study a Simple Route for constructing the higher order Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson theory - both supersymmetry transformations and Lagrangian - starting from knowledge of only the 10-dimensional Super Yang Mills Fermion Supersymmetry transformation. We are able to uniquely determine the four-derivative order corrected supersymmetry transformations, to lowest non-trivial order in Fermions, for the most general three-algebra theory. For the special case of Euclidean three-algbera, we reproduce the result presented in arXiv:1207.1208, with significantly less labour. In addition, we apply our method to calculate the quadratic fermion terms in the higher order BLG fermion supersymmetry transformation.

  17. Hamiltonian formulation of theory with higher order derivatives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gitman, D.M.; Lyakhovich, S.L.; Tyutin, I.V.

    1983-01-01

    A method of ''hamiltonization'' of a special theory with higher order derivatives is described. In a nonspecial case the result coincides with the known Ostrogradsky formulation. It is shown that in the nonspecial theory the lagrange equations of motion are reduced to the normal form

  18. The relation between instrumental musical activity and cognitive aging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanna-Pladdy, Brenda; MacKay, Alicia

    2011-05-01

    Intensive repetitive musical practice can lead to bilateral cortical reorganization. However, whether musical sensorimotor and cognitive abilities transfer to nonmusical cognitive abilities that are maintained throughout the life span is unclear. In an attempt to identify modifiable lifestyle factors that may potentially enhance successful aging, we evaluated the association between musical instrumental participation and cognitive aging. Seventy older healthy adults (ages 60-83) varying in musical activity completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. The groups (nonmusicians, low and high activity musicians) were matched on age, education, history of physical exercise, while musicians were matched on age of instrumental acquisition and formal years of musical training. Musicians were classified in the low (1-9 years) or high (>10 years) activity group based on years of musical experience throughout their life span. The results of this preliminary study revealed that participants with at least 10 years of musical experience (high activity musicians) had better performance in nonverbal memory (η2 = .106), naming (η2 = .103), and executive processes (η2 = .131) in advanced age relative to nonmusicians. Several regression analyses evaluated how years of musical activity, age of acquisition, type of musical training, and other variables predicted cognitive performance. These correlational results suggest a strong predictive effect of high musical activity throughout the life span on preserved cognitive functioning in advanced age. A discussion of how musical participation may enhance cognitive aging is provided along with other alternative explanations.

  19. Higher order polynomial expansion nodal method for hexagonal core neutronics analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jin, Young Cho; Chang, Hyo Kim

    1998-01-01

    A higher-order polynomial expansion nodal(PEN) method is newly formulated as a means to improve the accuracy of the conventional PEN method solutions to multi-group diffusion equations in hexagonal core geometry. The new method is applied to solving various hexagonal core neutronics benchmark problems. The computational accuracy of the higher order PEN method is then compared with that of the conventional PEN method, the analytic function expansion nodal (AFEN) method, and the ANC-H method. It is demonstrated that the higher order PEN method improves the accuracy of the conventional PEN method and that it compares very well with the other nodal methods like the AFEN and ANC-H methods in accuracy

  20. Coaxial higher-order mode damper employing a high-pass filter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Y.W.; Jiang, X.

    1997-01-01

    Two different types of coaxial higher-order mode (HOM) dampers have been investigated for the Advanced Photon Source (APS) storage ring cavities: e-probe dampers and h-loop dampers. Realization of the h-loop dampers has been difficult because the loop antenna couples not only to the HOMs but also to the accelerating mode and results in loss of Q at the fundamental frequency. Previously, a first-order fundamental rejection filter was tested with unsatisfactory rejection characteristics. This problem can be overcome by using a higher-order high-pass filter between the loop and the matched load. Prototype dampers have been fabricated and tested in a storage ring single-cell cavity and the damping characteristic was analyzed

  1. Cognitive performance and engagement in physical, social and intellectual activities in older adults: The FIBRA study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giovana Sposito

    Full Text Available Cognitive decline in aging can negatively impact quality of life in the elderly. However, studies have shown that elderly engaged in advanced activities of daily living (AADLs can maintain or enhance global cognitive function or specific domains.Objective:To investigate the relationship between engagement in AADLs and domains of cognition in elderly from seven different locations in Brazil.Methods:A cross-sectional study involving 2,549 elderly without cognitive deficits suggestive of dementia was conducted. Data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics, health status, the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE by subdomain (orientation, memory, attention/calculus, language and constructional praxis, and engagement in AADL grouped under physical, social and intellectual activities.Results:Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed an association, albeit modest, between intellectual AADLs and the domains orientation, attention/calculus, language and constructional praxis (R2=0.005, 0.008, 0.021, and 0.021 respectively. Social AADLs were correlated with memory (R2=0.002 and language (R2=0.004 domains. No association was found between physical AADLs and MMSE domains. Schooling and family income were the sociodemographic variables exhibiting the strongest relationship with cognitive domains.Conclusion:The study found associations between intellectual and social AADLs with higher cognitive performance, suggesting that active aging can provide opportunities to attenuate cognitive decline in aging.

  2. A finite deformation theory of higher-order gradient crystal plasticity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kuroda, Mitsutoshi; Tvergaard, Viggo

    2008-01-01

    crystal plasticity that is based on an assumption of the existence of higher-order stresses. Furthermore, a boundary-value problem for simple shear of a constrained thin strip is studied numerically, and some characteristic features of finite deformation are demonstrated through a comparison to a solution......For higher-order gradient crystal plasticity, a finite deformation formulation is presented. The theory does not deviate much from the conventional crystal plasticity theory. Only a back stress effect and additional differential equations for evolution of the geometrically necessary dislocation...

  3. Failing to get the gist of what's being said: background noise impairs higher-order cognitive processing

    OpenAIRE

    Marsh, John E.; Ljung, Robert; N?stl, Anatole; Threadgold, Emma; Campbell, Tom A.

    2015-01-01

    A dynamic interplay is known to exist between auditory processing and human cognition. For example, prior investigations of speech-in-noise have revealed there is more to learning than just listening: Even if all words within a spoken list are correctly heard in noise, later memory for those words is typically impoverished. These investigations supported a view that there is a "gap" between the intelligibility of speech and memory for that speech. Here, the notion was that this gap between sp...

  4. A Study on Situated Cognition: Product Dissection's Effect on Redesign Activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grantham, Katie; Okudan Kremer, Gül E.; Simpson, Timothy W.; Ashour, Omar

    2013-01-01

    Situated cognition theory describes the context of a learning activity's effect on learner's cognition. In this paper, we use situated cognition theory to examine the effect of product dissection on product redesign activities. Two specific research questions are addressed: 1) Does situated cognition, in the form of product dissection, improve…

  5. The detection of higher-order acoustic transitions is reflected in the N1 ERP.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weise, Annekathrin; Schröger, Erich; Horváth, János

    2018-01-30

    The auditory system features various types of dedicated change detectors enabling the rapid parsing of auditory stimulation into distinct events. The activity of such detectors is reflected by the N1 ERP. Interestingly, certain acoustic transitions show an asymmetric N1 elicitation pattern: whereas first-order transitions (e.g., a change from a segment of constant frequency to a frequency glide [c-to-g change]) elicit N1, higher-order transitions (e.g., glide-to-constant [g-to-c] changes) do not. Consensus attributes this asymmetry to the absence of any available sensory mechanism that is able to rapidly detect higher-order changes. In contrast, our study provides compelling evidence for such a mechanism. We collected electrophysiological and behavioral data in a transient-detection paradigm. In each condition, a random (50%-50%) sequence of two types of tones occurred, which did or did not contain a transition (e.g., c-to-g and constant stimuli or g-to-c and glide tones). Additionally, the rate of pitch change of the glide varied (i.e., 10 vs. 40 semitones per second) in order to increase the number of responding neural assemblies. The rate manipulation modulated transient ERPs and behavioral detection performance for g-to-c transitions much stronger than for c-to-g transitions. The topographic and tomographic analyses suggest that the N1 response to c-to-g and also to g-to-c transitions emerged from the superior temporal gyrus. This strongly supports a sensory mechanism that allows the fast detection of higher-order changes. © 2018 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

  6. Evaluation of social-cognitive versus stage-matched, self-help physical activity interventions at the workplace.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffin-Blake, C Shannon; DeJoy, David M

    2006-01-01

    To compare the effectiveness of stage-matched vs. social-cognitive physical activity interventions in a work setting. Both interventions were designed as minimal-contact, self-help programs suitable for large-scale application. Randomized trial. Participants were randomized into one of the two intervention groups at baseline; the follow-up assessment was conducted 1 month later. A large, public university in the southeastern region of the United States. Employees from two academic colleges within the participating institution were eligible to participate: 366 employees completed the baseline assessment; 208 of these completed both assessments (baseline and follow-up) and met the compliance criteria. Printed, self-help exercise booklets (12 to 16 pages in length) either (1) matched to the individual's stage of motivational readiness for exercise adoption at baseline or (2) derived from social-cognitive theory but not matched by stage. Standard questionnaires were administered to assess stage of motivational readiness for physical activity; physical activity participation; and exercise-related processes of change, decisional balance, self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, and goal satisfaction. The two interventions were equally effective in moving participants to higher levels of motivational readiness for regular physical activity. Among participants not already in maintenance at baseline, 34.9% in the stage-matched condition progressed, while 33.9% in the social-cognitive group did so (chi2 = not significant). Analyses of variance showed that the two treatment groups did not differ in terms of physical activity participation, cognitive and behavioral process use, decisional balance, or the other psychological constructs. For both treatment groups, cognitive process use remained high across all stages, while behavioral process use increased at the higher stages. The pros component of decisional balance did not vary across stage, whereas cons decreased significantly

  7. Emotion and Cognition: An Intricately Bound Developmental Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Martha Ann; Wolfe, Christy D.

    2004-01-01

    Regulatory aspects of development can best be understood by research that conceptualizes relations between cognition and emotion. The neural mechanisms associated with regulatory processes may be the same as those associated with higher order cognitive processes. Thus, from a developmental cognitive neuroscience perspective, emotion and cognition…

  8. Pairwise and higher-order correlations among drug-resistance mutations in HIV-1 subtype B protease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Morozov Alexandre V

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The reaction of HIV protease to inhibitor therapy is characterized by the emergence of complex mutational patterns which confer drug resistance. The response of HIV protease to drugs often involves both primary mutations that directly inhibit the action of the drug, and a host of accessory resistance mutations that may occur far from the active site but may contribute to restoring the fitness or stability of the enzyme. Here we develop a probabilistic approach based on connected information that allows us to study residue, pair level and higher-order correlations within the same framework. Results We apply our methodology to a database of approximately 13,000 sequences which have been annotated by the treatment history of the patients from which the samples were obtained. We show that including pair interactions is essential for agreement with the mutational data, since neglect of these interactions results in order-of-magnitude errors in the probabilities of the simultaneous occurence of many mutations. The magnitude of these pair correlations changes dramatically between sequences obtained from patients that were or were not exposed to drugs. Higher-order effects make a contribution of as much as 10% for residues taken three at a time, but increase to more than twice that for 10 to 15-residue groups. The sequence data is insufficient to determine the higher-order effects for larger groups. We find that higher-order interactions have a significant effect on the predicted frequencies of sequences with large numbers of mutations. While relatively rare, such sequences are more prevalent after multi-drug therapy. The relative importance of these higher-order interactions increases with the number of drugs the patient had been exposed to. Conclusion Correlations are critical for the understanding of mutation patterns in HIV protease. Pair interactions have substantial qualitative effects, while higher-order interactions are

  9. Time away from work predicts later cognitive function: differences by activity during leave.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leist, Anja K; Glymour, M Maria; Mackenbach, Johan P; van Lenthe, Frank J; Avendano, Mauricio

    2013-08-01

    We sought to examine how different activities performed during employment gaps are associated with later cognitive function and change. Five cognitive measures were used to indicate cognitive impairment of 18,259 respondents to the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (ages 50-73) in 2004/5 or 2006/7. Using complete employment histories, employment gaps of ≥6 months between ages 25 and 65 were identified. Controlling for early life socioeconomic status, school performance, and education, higher risk of cognitive impairment was associated with employment gaps described as unemployment (odds ratio [OR], 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-1.35) and sickness (OR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.52-2.09). In contrast, lower risk of cognitive impairment was associated with employment gaps described as training (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.52-1.01) or maternity leave (OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.57-0.79). In longitudinal mixed effects models, training and maternity leave were associated with lower 2-year aging-related cognitive decline. Periods away from work described as unemployment or sickness are associated with lower cognitive function, whereas maternity and training leaves are associated with better late-life cognitive function. Both causation and selection mechanisms may explain these findings. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Ultra-compact Higher-Order-Mode Pass Filter in a Silicon Waveguide

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Guan, Xiaowei; Frandsen, Lars Hagedorn; Ding, Yunhong

    2015-01-01

    An 3.7 μm long higher-order-mode pass filter with an extinction ratio larger than 20 dB is demonstrated in a 1D corrugated silicon multimode waveguide......An 3.7 μm long higher-order-mode pass filter with an extinction ratio larger than 20 dB is demonstrated in a 1D corrugated silicon multimode waveguide...

  11. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in an Elementary School: Students' Engagement in Higher Order Thinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Cher Ping; Tay, Lee Yong

    2003-01-01

    Based on a case study of an elementary school in Singapore, this article describes and analyzes how different types of ICT tools (informative, situating, constructive, and communicative tools) are used to engage students in higher-order thinking. The discussion emphasizes that the objective of the lesson and the orienting activities, rather than…

  12. Analysis of Scattering by Inhomogeneous Dielectric Objects Using Higher-Order Hierarchical MoM

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kim, Oleksiy S.; Jørgensen, Erik; Meincke, Peter

    2003-01-01

    An efficient technique for the analysis of electromagnetic scattering by arbitrary shaped inhomogeneous dielectric objects is presented. The technique is based on a higher-order method of moments (MoM) solution of the volume integral equation. This higher-order MoM solution comprises recently...... that the condition number of the resulting MoM matrix is reduced by several orders of magnitude in comparison to existing higher-order hierarchical basis functions and, consequently, an iterative solver can be applied even for high expansion orders. Numerical results demonstrate excellent agreement...

  13. A simplified parsimonious higher order multivariate Markov chain model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Chao; Yang, Chuan-sheng

    2017-09-01

    In this paper, a simplified parsimonious higher-order multivariate Markov chain model (SPHOMMCM) is presented. Moreover, parameter estimation method of TPHOMMCM is give. Numerical experiments shows the effectiveness of TPHOMMCM.

  14. Higher Order Differential Attack on 6-Round MISTY1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsunoo, Yukiyasu; Saito, Teruo; Nakashima, Hiroki; Shigeri, Maki

    MISTY1 is a 64-bit block cipher that has provable security against differential and linear cryptanalysis. MISTY1 is one of the algorithms selected in the European NESSIE project, and it has been recommended for Japanese e-Government ciphers by the CRYPTREC project. This paper reports a previously unknown higher order differential characteristic of 4-round MISTY1 with the FL functions. It also shows that a higher order differential attack that utilizes this newly discovered characteristic is successful against 6-round MISTY1 with the FL functions. This attack can recover a partial subkey with a data complexity of 253.7 and a computational complexity of 264.4, which is better than any previous cryptanalysis of MISTY1.

  15. Higher-order automatic differentiation of mathematical functions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charpentier, Isabelle; Dal Cappello, Claude

    2015-04-01

    Functions of mathematical physics such as the Bessel functions, the Chebyshev polynomials, the Gauss hypergeometric function and so forth, have practical applications in many scientific domains. On the one hand, differentiation formulas provided in reference books apply to real or complex variables. These do not account for the chain rule. On the other hand, based on the chain rule, the automatic differentiation has become a natural tool in numerical modeling. Nevertheless automatic differentiation tools do not deal with the numerous mathematical functions. This paper describes formulas and provides codes for the higher-order automatic differentiation of mathematical functions. The first method is based on Faà di Bruno's formula that generalizes the chain rule. The second one makes use of the second order differential equation they satisfy. Both methods are exemplified with the aforementioned functions.

  16. The Sodium-Activated Potassium Channel Slack Is Required for Optimal Cognitive Flexibility in Mice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bausch, Anne E.; Dieter, Rebekka; Nann, Yvette; Hausmann, Mario; Meyerdierks, Nora; Kaczmarek, Leonard K.; Ruth, Peter; Lukowski, Robert

    2015-01-01

    "Kcnt1" encoded sodium-activated potassium channels (Slack channels) are highly expressed throughout the brain where they modulate the firing patterns and general excitability of many types of neurons. Increasing evidence suggests that Slack channels may be important for higher brain functions such as cognition and normal intellectual…

  17. Computer-Mediated Assessment of Higher-Order Thinking Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tilchin, Oleg; Raiyn, Jamal

    2015-01-01

    Solving complicated problems in a contemporary knowledge-based society requires higher-order thinking (HOT). The most productive way to encourage development of HOT in students is through use of the Problem-based Learning (PBL) model. This model organizes learning by solving corresponding problems relative to study courses. Students are directed…

  18. Neighborhood Influences on Late Life Cognition in the ACTIVE Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shannon M. Sisco

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Low neighborhood-level socioeconomic status has been associated with poorer health, reduced physical activity, increased psychological stress, and less neighborhood-based social support. These outcomes are correlates of late life cognition, but few studies have specifically investigated the neighborhood as a unique source of explanatory variance in cognitive aging. This study supplemented baseline cognitive data from the ACTIVE (Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly study with neighborhood-level data to investigate (1 whether neighborhood socioeconomic position (SEP predicts cognitive level, and if so, whether it differentially predicts performance in general and specific domains of cognition and (2 whether neighborhood SEP predicts differences in response to short-term cognitive intervention for memory, reasoning, or processing speed. Neighborhood SEP positively predicted vocabulary, but did not predict other general or specific measures of cognitive level, and did not predict individual differences in response to cognitive intervention.

  19. Neurodevelopmental outcomes of triplets or higher-order extremely low birth weight infants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wadhawan, Rajan; Oh, William; Vohr, Betty R; Wrage, Lisa; Das, Abhik; Bell, Edward F; Laptook, Abbot R; Shankaran, Seetha; Stoll, Barbara J; Walsh, Michele C; Higgins, Rosemary D

    2011-03-01

    Extremely low birth weight twins have a higher rate of death or neurodevelopmental impairment than singletons. Higher-order extremely low birth weight multiple births may have an even higher rate of death or neurodevelopmental impairment. Extremely low birth weight (birth weight 401-1000 g) multiple births born in participating centers of the Neonatal Research Network between 1996 and 2005 were assessed for death or neurodevelopmental impairment at 18 to 22 months' corrected age. Neurodevelopmental impairment was defined by the presence of 1 or more of the following: moderate to severe cerebral palsy; mental developmental index score or psychomotor developmental index score less than 70; severe bilateral deafness; or blindness. Infants who died within 12 hours of birth were excluded. Maternal and infant demographic and clinical variables were compared among singleton, twin, and triplet or higher-order infants. Logistic regression analysis was performed to establish the association between singletons, twins, and triplet or higher-order multiples and death or neurodevelopmental impairment, controlling for confounding variables that may affect death or neurodevelopmental impairment. Our cohort consisted of 8296 singleton, 2164 twin, and 521 triplet or higher-order infants. The risk of death or neurodevelopmental impairment was increased in triplets or higher-order multiples when compared with singletons (adjusted odds ratio: 1.7 [95% confidence interval: 1.29-2.24]), and there was a trend toward an increased risk when compared with twins (adjusted odds ratio: 1.27 [95% confidence: 0.95-1.71]). Triplet or higher-order births are associated with an increased risk of death or neurodevelopmental impairment at 18 to 22 months' corrected age when compared with extremely low birth weight singleton infants, and there was a trend toward an increased risk when compared with twins.

  20. Analysis of Buried Dielectric Objects Using Higher-Order MoM for Volume Integral Equations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kim, Oleksiy S.; Meincke, Peter; Breinbjerg, Olav

    2004-01-01

    A higher-order method of moments (MoM) is applied to solve a volume integral equation for dielectric objects in layered media. In comparison to low-order methods, the higher-order MoM, which is based on higher-order hierarchical Legendre vector basis functions and curvilinear hexahedral elements,...

  1. Modeling Evidence-Based Application: Using Team-Based Learning to Increase Higher Order Thinking in Nursing Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bridget Moore

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Nursing practice is comprised of knowledge, theory, and research [1]. Because of its impact on the profession, the appraisal of research evidence is critically important. Future nursing professionals must be introduced to the purpose and utility of nursing research, as early exposure provides an opportunity to embed evidence-based practice (EBP into clinical experiences. The AACN requires baccalaureate education to include an understanding of the research process to integrate reliable evidence to inform practice and enhance clinical judgments [1]. Although the importance of these knowledge competencies are evident to healthcare administrators and nursing leaders within the field, undergraduate students at the institution under study sometimes have difficulty understanding the relevance of nursing research to the baccalaureate prepared nurse, and struggle to grasp advanced concepts of qualitative and quantitative research design and methodologies. As undergraduate nursing students generally have not demonstrated an understanding of the relationship between theoretical concepts found within the undergraduate nursing curriculum and the practical application of these concepts in the clinical setting, the research team decided to adopt an effective pedagogical active learning strategy, team-based learning (TBL. Team-based learning shifts the traditional course design to focus on higher thinking skills to integrate desired knowledge [2]. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of course design with the integration of TBL in an undergraduate nursing research course on increasing higher order thinking. [1] American Association of Colleges of Nursing, The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice, Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2008. [2] B. Bloom, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain, New York: McKay, 1956.

  2. Gender-specific cerebral activation during cognitive tasks using functional MRI: comparison of women in mid-luteal phase and men

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gizewski, Elke R.; Wanke, Isabel; Forsting, Michael; Krause, Eva; Senf, Wolfgang

    2006-01-01

    Previous studies of gender-specific differences in functional imaging during spatial and language tasks have been inconclusive. Furthermore, among women, such differences may occur during mid-luteal phase compared to the rest of the menstrual cycle. In order to examine further gender differences, functional MRI was performed in 12 male volunteers and 12 female volunteers (in the mid-luteal phase) during mental rotation and verb-generation tests. Two-sample t-tests with uncorrected P values of <0.001 for the specific regions of interest (ROIs) revealed cerebral activation differences in both stimuli. During mental rotation tests, higher levels of activation were noted in the right medial frontal, precentral, and bilateral inferior parietal cortex, while in women this occurred in the right inferior and medial temporal, right superior frontal cortex, and left fusiform gyrus. During verb-generation tests, higher levels of activation in men was found in the left medial temporal and precentral cortex. Our results indicate that differences in cerebral activity during cognitive tasks can be shown between men and women in the mid-luteal phase. Gender differences while performing a mental rotation task were more prominent than during a verb-generation task. (orig.)

  3. Examining the association between late-life leisure activity participation and global cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly Chinese in Hong Kong.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leung, Grace Tak Yu; Fung, Ada Wai Tung; Tam, Cindy Woon Chi; Lui, Victor Wing Cheong; Chiu, Helen Fung Kum; Chan, Wai Man; Lam, Linda Chiu Wa

    2011-01-01

    This study examines the association between late-life leisure activity participation and global cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly Chinese in Hong Kong. Five hundred and five participants, not clinically demented at the baseline, were analysed in the follow-up study of a population-based community survey among Hong Kong Chinese aged 60 and over. Information regarding leisure activity participation, global cognitive function and important sociodemographic variables was collected. Late life leisure activity profiles were classified into intellectual, social, physical and recreational categories, and were measured by total hours per week, total frequency and total number of subtypes. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between leisure activity participation at the baseline and the incidence of global cognitive decline at the 22-month follow-up. The incidence of global cognitive decline was defined as a one-point drop in z-score of the Cantonese version of the mini-mental state examination (CMMSE). At the follow-up, a higher level of participation in intellectual activities was significantly associated with a lower incidence of global cognitive decline as measured by both the total hours per week (multivariate-adjusted OR 0.97 (95% CI 0.94-0.99, p=0.003)), and the total number of subtypes (multivariate-adjusted OR 0.74 (95% CI 0.58-0.95, p=0.018)). A higher level of late-life intellectual activity participation was associated with less global cognitive decline among community-dwelling elderly Chinese in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. Preschoolers’ Technology-Assessed Physical Activity and Cognitive Function: A Cross-Sectional Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minghui Quan

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Early childhood is a critical period for development of cognitive function, but research on the association between physical activity and cognitive function in preschool children is limited and inconclusive. This study aimed to examine the association between technology-assessed physical activity and cognitive function in preschool children. A cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the Physical Activity and Cognitive Development Study was conducted in Shanghai, China. Physical activity was measured with accelerometers for 7 consecutive days, and cognitive functions were assessed using the Chinese version of Wechsler Young Children Scale of Intelligence (C-WYCSI. Linear regression analyses were used to assess the association between physical activity and cognitive function. A total of 260 preschool children (boys, 144; girls, 116; mean age: 57.2 ± 5.4 months were included in analyses for this study. After adjusting for confounding factors, we found that Verbal Intelligence Quotient, Performance Intelligence Quotient, and Full Intelligence Quotient were significantly correlated with light physical activity, not moderate to vigorous physical activity, in boys. Standardized coefficients were 0.211, 0.218, and 0.242 (all p < 0.05 in three different models, respectively. However, the correlation between physical activity and cognitive functions were not significant in girls (p > 0.05. These findings suggest that cognitive function is apparently associated with light physical activity in boys. Further studies are required to clarify the sex-specific effect on physical activity and cognitive functions.

  5. A tridiagonal parsimonious higher order multivariate Markov chain model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Chao; Yang, Chuan-sheng

    2017-09-01

    In this paper, we present a tridiagonal parsimonious higher-order multivariate Markov chain model (TPHOMMCM). Moreover, estimation method of the parameters in TPHOMMCM is give. Numerical experiments illustrate the effectiveness of TPHOMMCM.

  6. Early life physical activity and cognition at old age

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dik, Miranda; Deeg, Dorly J H; Visser, Marjolein; Jonker, Cees

    Physical activity has shown to be inversely associated with cognitive decline in older people. Whether this association is already present in early life has not been investigated previously. The association between early life physical activity and cognition was studied in 1,241 subjects aged 62-85

  7. Lagrangian procedures for higher order field equations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bollini, C.G.

    1987-01-01

    A Lagrangian procedure for a pedagogical way is presented for the treatment of higher order field equations. The energy-momentum tensor and the conserved density current are built. In particular the case in which the derivatives appear only in the invariant D'Alembertian operator is discussed. Some examples are discussed. The fields are quantized and the corresponding Hamilonian which is shown not to be positive defructed. Rules are given to write the causal propagators. (author) [pt

  8. Lagrangian procedures for higher order field equations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bollini, C.G.; Giambiagi, J.J.

    1986-01-01

    We present in a pedagogical way a Lagrangian procedure for the treatment of higher order field equations. We build the energy-momentum tensor and the conserved density current. In particular we discuss the case in which the derivatives appear only in the invariant D'Alembertian operator. We discuss some examples. We quantize the fields and construct the corresponding Hamiltonian which is shown not to be positive definite. We give the rules for the causal propagators. (Author) [pt

  9. Enhancing Higher Order Thinking Skills through Clinical Simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varutharaju, Elengovan; Ratnavadivel, Nagendralingan

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: The study aimed to explore, describe and analyse the design and implementation of clinical simulation as a pedagogical tool in bridging the deficiency of higher order thinking skills among para-medical students, and to make recommendations on incorporating clinical simulation as a pedagogical tool to enhance thinking skills and align the…

  10. SHARP: A Spatially Higher-order, Relativistic Particle-in-cell Code

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shalaby, Mohamad; Broderick, Avery E. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1 (Canada); Chang, Philip [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1900 E. Kenwood Boulevard, Milwaukee, WI 53211 (United States); Pfrommer, Christoph [Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam (Germany); Lamberts, Astrid [Theoretical Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Puchwein, Ewald, E-mail: mshalaby@live.ca [Institute of Astronomy and Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA (United Kingdom)

    2017-05-20

    Numerical heating in particle-in-cell (PIC) codes currently precludes the accurate simulation of cold, relativistic plasma over long periods, severely limiting their applications in astrophysical environments. We present a spatially higher-order accurate relativistic PIC algorithm in one spatial dimension, which conserves charge and momentum exactly. We utilize the smoothness implied by the usage of higher-order interpolation functions to achieve a spatially higher-order accurate algorithm (up to the fifth order). We validate our algorithm against several test problems—thermal stability of stationary plasma, stability of linear plasma waves, and two-stream instability in the relativistic and non-relativistic regimes. Comparing our simulations to exact solutions of the dispersion relations, we demonstrate that SHARP can quantitatively reproduce important kinetic features of the linear regime. Our simulations have a superior ability to control energy non-conservation and avoid numerical heating in comparison to common second-order schemes. We provide a natural definition for convergence of a general PIC algorithm: the complement of physical modes captured by the simulation, i.e., those that lie above the Poisson noise, must grow commensurately with the resolution. This implies that it is necessary to simultaneously increase the number of particles per cell and decrease the cell size. We demonstrate that traditional ways for testing for convergence fail, leading to plateauing of the energy error. This new PIC code enables us to faithfully study the long-term evolution of plasma problems that require absolute control of the energy and momentum conservation.

  11. Prevention of cognitive decline: Lifestyle and other issues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cyriac George

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Ageing often leads to decline in cognitive abilities. Significant cognitive impairment leads to functional impairment and need for care. Prevention of cognitive decline and delaying its progression would help to reduce the need for long-term care. Both genetic and environmental factors are important determinants of cognitive health in late life. A better cognitive reserve helps to prevent cognitive decline. Cognitive reserve is now considered as a functional reserve rather than a structural reserve. Cognitive reserve can be enhanced through experience. People with higher level of education tend to have higher cognitive reserve. Better cognitive reserve can act as a buffer. Engagement in cognitively stimulating activities may prevent cognitive decline in late life. Physical exercise also improves cognitive health. Aerobic exercises, which improve cardiorespiratory fitness, improve cognitive functions like motor functions, cognitive speed, and auditory and visual attention. Beneficial effects on executive functions are also reported. Healthy diet, especially adherence to Mediterranean diet (MeDi, is considered to be useful in preserving cognitive health. Engagement in social activities might also reduce cognitive decline. Encouraging adherence to a healthy lifestyle and continuing to be physically, socially, and cognitively active seems to be a promising strategy to prevent cognitive decline.

  12. The development of Self-control of Cognitive Activity in Preschool Age

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chernokova T.E.,

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available We discuss the problem of self-control formation in the context of metacognitive development of children. The hypothesis of the study was that in the preschool age, the structure of self-cognition begins to form, which includes anticipating, process and final self-control. The aim of the study was to identify the dynamics of self-control of cognitive activity in the preschool years. We used an experimental technique in which children were asked to identify the problem and plan of the learning activities, implement it and evaluate the results. The study involved 60 children aged 4 to 7 years. In all age groups higher rates of current and total self-control were found, but the most intensive dynamics were identified in terms of predictive self-control. In the preschool age children occasionally show a formal self-control. At the age of 5-6 years old, the children start to develop the self-control structure, and significant correlations were found between the indicators of current and final self. The most advanced children demonstrate meaningful self-control. This is due not only to the development of self-awareness, arbitrariness and traditionally described cognitive processes, but also to the development of dialectical thinking and metacognitions.

  13. Lifetime Musical Activities and Cognitive Function of the Elderly

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alicia Nevriana

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Decreasing cognitive function of the elderly is one of the most common problems that might affect their quality of life. Music is an element that is believed to be able to contribute to the quality of life of the elderly. However, whether musical activities that are done throughout the life span related to cognitive function is unclear. In this research, we evaluated the association between lifetime musical activities and cognitive function. Fifty three older adults from three nursing homes in East Jakarta were selected and interviewed regarding their characteristics and lifetime musical activities. Cognitive function was also measured using Mini Mental State Examinaion (MMSE. The results of this preliminary study revealed that a possibility of an association between lifetime musical activities and cognitive function of the elderly was indicated. The result also showed that the participants who were not actively involved in musical activities during their lifetime were twice more likely to develop cognitive function impairment than the elderly who were actively involved in musical activities, after being adjusted by the characteristics. These correlational results suggest the beneficial effect of musical activities throughout the life span on cognitive functioning for the elderly. Penurunan fungsi kognitif merupakan salah satu masalah umum pada lanjut usia yang mampu memengaruhi kualitas hidup mereka. Musik merupakan sebuah elemen yang dipercaya mampu berkontribusi terhadap kualitas hidup mereka. Meski demikian, hubungan antara aktivitas musikal yang dilakukan sepanjang hidup dan fungsi kognitif lansia belum diketahui secara pasti. Pada penelitian ini, hubungan antara aktivitas musikal sepanjang hidup dan fungsi kognitif dievaluasi. Lima puluh tiga lansia penghuni panti tresna werdha di Jakarta Timur dipilih dan diwawancarai terkait karakteristik dan aktivitas musikal sepanjang hidup mereka. Fungsi kognitif juga diukur menggunakan MMSE. Hasil

  14. Higher order aberrations in amblyopic children and their role in refractory amblyopia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arnaldo Dias-Santos

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Some studies have hypothesized that an unfavourable higher order aberrometric profile could act as an amblyogenic mechanism and may be responsible for some amblyopic cases that are refractory to conventional treatment or cases of “idiopathic” amblyopia. This study compared the aberrometric profile in amblyopic children to that of children with normal visual development and compared the aberrometric profile in corrected amblyopic eyes and refractory amblyopic eyes with that of healthy eyes. Methods: Cross-sectional study with three groups of children – the CA group (22 eyes of 11 children with unilateral corrected amblyopia, the RA group (24 eyes of 13 children with unilateral refractory amblyopia and the C group (28 eyes of 14 children with normal visual development. Higher order aberrations were evaluated using an OPD-Scan III (NIDEK. Comparisons of the aberrometric profile were made between these groups as well as between the amblyopic and healthy eyes within the CA and RA groups. Results: Higher order aberrations with greater impact in visual quality were not significantly higher in the CA and RA groups when compared with the C group. Moreover, there were no statistically significant differences in the higher order aberrometric profile between the amblyopic and healthy eyes within the CA and RA groups. Conclusions: Contrary to lower order aberrations (e.g., myopia, hyperopia, primary astigmatism, higher order aberrations do not seem to be involved in the etiopathogenesis of amblyopia. Therefore, these are likely not the cause of most cases of refractory amblyopia.

  15. Near integrability of kink lattice with higher order interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Yun-Guo; Liu, Jia-Zhen; He, Song

    2017-11-01

    We make use of Manton’s analytical method to investigate the force between kinks and anti-kinks at large distances in 1+1 dimensional field theory. The related potential has infinite order corrections of exponential pattern, and the coefficients for each order are determined. These coefficients can also be obtained by solving the equation of the fluctuations around the vacuum. At the lowest order, the kink lattice represents the Toda lattice. With higher order correction terms, the kink lattice can represent one kind of generic Toda lattice. With only two sites, the kink lattice is classically integrable. If the number of sites of the lattice is larger than two, the kink lattice is not integrable but is a near integrable system. We make use of Flaschka’s variables to study the Lax pair of the kink lattice. These Flaschka’s variables have interesting algebraic relations and non-integrability can be manifested. We also discuss the higher Hamiltonians for the deformed open Toda lattice, which has a similar result to the ordinary deformed Toda. Supported by Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (ZR2014AQ007), National Natural Science Foundation of China (11403015, U1531105), S. He is supported by Max-Planck fellowship in Germany and National Natural Science Foundation of China (11305235)

  16. Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills through WebQuests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polly, Drew; Ausband, Leigh

    2009-01-01

    In this study, 32 teachers participated in a year-long professional development project related to technology integration in which they designed and implemented a WebQuest. This paper describes the extent to which higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) and levels of technology implementation (LoTI) occur in the WebQuests that participants designed.…

  17. Higher-order geodesic deviations applied to the Kerr metric

    CERN Document Server

    Colistete, R J; Kerner, R

    2002-01-01

    Starting with an exact and simple geodesic, we generate approximate geodesics by summing up higher-order geodesic deviations within a general relativistic setting, without using Newtonian and post-Newtonian approximations. We apply this method to the problem of closed orbital motion of test particles in the Kerr metric spacetime. With a simple circular orbit in the equatorial plane taken as the initial geodesic, we obtain finite eccentricity orbits in the form of Taylor series with the eccentricity playing the role of a small parameter. The explicit expressions of these higher-order geodesic deviations are derived using successive systems of linear equations with constant coefficients, whose solutions are of harmonic oscillator type. This scheme gives best results when applied to orbits with low eccentricities, but with arbitrary possible values of (GM/Rc sup 2).

  18. Influence of Exercise Order on Electromyographic Activity During Upper Body Resistance Training

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soncin Rafael

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise order on electromyographic activity in different muscle groups among youth men with experience in strength training. Three sets of 8 RM were performed of each exercise in two sequences order: (a sequence A: bench press, chest fly, shoulder press, shoulder abduction, close grip bench press and lying triceps extension; (b sequence B: the opposite order. The electromyographic activity was analyzed in the sternocostal head of the pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, and long head triceps brachii, normalized for maximal voluntary isometric contraction. The muscles activity of the sternocostal head of the pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, and long head triceps brachii showed significant interaction between sequence and exercise. The sternocostal head of the pectoralis major showed considerably higher activity in sequence A (100.13 ± 13.56% than sequence B (81.47 ± 13.09% for the chest fly. The anterior deltoid showed significantly higher electromyographic activity in sequence B (86.81 ± 40.43% than sequence A (66.15 ± 22.02% for the chest fly, whereas for the lying triceps extension, the electromyographic activity was significantly higher in sequence A (53.89 ± 27.09% than sequence B (34.32 ± 23.70%. For the long head triceps brachii, only the shoulder press showed differences between sequences (A = 52.43 ± 14.64 vs. B = 38.53 ± 16.26. The present study showed that the exercise order could modify the training results even though there was no alteration in volume and intensity of the exercise. These changes may result in different training adaptations.

  19. Engaging in cultural activities compensates for educational differences in cognitive abilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soubelet, Andrea

    2011-09-01

    The goal of the current project was to examine whether engagement in intellectual/cultural activities explains the long-term effects of education on cognitive abilities throughout adulthood, and whether it compensates for educational differences in cognitive abilities throughout adulthood. Participants between 18 and 96 years of age completed a comprehensive questionnaire about intellectual/cultural activities that they participated in and performed a wide variety of cognitive tests. There were no mediation effects of engagement in intellectual/cultural activities on the relationship between education and cognitive functioning. In contrast, engagement in intellectual/cultural activities was found to moderate the relations between education and the level of fluid ability, working memory, speed of processing, and episodic memory. Findings suggest that the risk of cognitive decline in people with less education can be reduced via engagement in intellectual and cultural activities throughout adulthood.

  20. Analysis of higher order harmonics with holographic reflection gratings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mas-Abellan, P.; Madrigal, R.; Fimia, A.

    2017-05-01

    Silver halide emulsions have been considered one of the most energetic sensitive materials for holographic applications. Nonlinear recording effects on holographic reflection gratings recorded on silver halide emulsions have been studied by different authors obtaining excellent experimental results. In this communication specifically we focused our investigation on the effects of refractive index modulation, trying to get high levels of overmodulation that will produce high order harmonics. We studied the influence of the overmodulation and its effects on the transmission spectra for a wide exposure range by use of 9 μm thickness films of ultrafine grain emulsion BB640, exposed to single collimated beams using a red He-Ne laser (wavelength 632.8 nm) with Denisyuk configuration obtaining a spatial frequency of 4990 l/mm recorded on the emulsion. The experimental results show that high overmodulation levels of refractive index produce second order harmonics with high diffraction efficiency (higher than 75%) and a narrow grating bandwidth (12.5 nm). Results also show that overmodulation produce diffraction spectra deformation of the second order harmonic, transforming the spectrum from sinusoidal to approximation of square shape due to very high overmodulation. Increasing the levels of overmodulation of refractive index, we have obtained higher order harmonics, obtaining third order harmonic with diffraction efficiency (up to 23%) and narrowing grating bandwidth (5 nm). This study is the first step to develop a new easy technique to obtain narrow spectral filters based on the use of high index modulation reflection gratings.

  1. Speech perception as an active cognitive process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shannon eHeald

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available One view of speech perception is that acoustic signals are transformed into representations for pattern matching to determine linguistic structure. This process can be taken as a statistical pattern-matching problem, assuming realtively stable linguistic categories are characterized by neural representations related to auditory properties of speech that can be compared to speech input. This kind of pattern matching can be termed a passive process which implies rigidity of processingd with few demands on cognitive processing. An alternative view is that speech recognition, even in early stages, is an active process in which speech analysis is attentionally guided. Note that this does not mean consciously guided but that information-contingent changes in early auditory encoding can occur as a function of context and experience. Active processing assumes that attention, plasticity, and listening goals are important in considering how listeners cope with adverse circumstances that impair hearing by masking noise in the environment or hearing loss. Although theories of speech perception have begun to incorporate some active processing, they seldom treat early speech encoding as plastic and attentionally guided. Recent research has suggested that speech perception is the product of both feedforward and feedback interactions between a number of brain regions that include descending projections perhaps as far downstream as the cochlea. It is important to understand how the ambiguity of the speech signal and constraints of context dynamically determine cognitive resources recruited during perception including focused attention, learning, and working memory. Theories of speech perception need to go beyond the current corticocentric approach in order to account for the intrinsic dynamics of the auditory encoding of speech. In doing so, this may provide new insights into ways in which hearing disorders and loss may be treated either through augementation or

  2. Higher-order conditioning is impaired by hippocampal lesions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilboa, Asaf; Sekeres, Melanie; Moscovitch, Morris; Winocur, Gordon

    2014-09-22

    Behavior in the real world is rarely motivated by primary conditioned stimuli that have been directly associated with potent unconditioned reinforcers. Instead, motivation and choice behavior are driven by complex chains of higher-order associations that are only indirectly linked to intrinsic reward and often exert their influence outside awareness. Second-order conditioning (SOC) [1] is a basic associative-learning mechanism whereby stimuli acquire motivational salience by proxy, in the absence of primary incentives [2, 3]. Memory-systems theories consider first-order conditioning (FOC) and SOC to be prime examples of hippocampal-independent nondeclarative memory [4, 5]. Accordingly, neurobiological models of SOC focus almost exclusively on nondeclarative neural systems that support motivational salience and reward value. Transfer of value from a conditioned stimulus to a neutral stimulus is thought to require the basolateral amygdala [6, 7] and the ventral striatum [2, 3], but not the hippocampus. We developed a new paradigm to measure appetitive SOC of tones in rats. Hippocampal lesions severely impaired both acquisition and expression of SOC despite normal FOC. Unlike controls, rats with hippocampal lesions could not discriminate between positive and negative secondary conditioned tones, although they exhibited general familiarity with previously presented tones compared with new tones. Importantly, normal rats' behavior, in contrast to that of hippocampal groups, also revealed different confidence levels as indexed by effort, a central characteristic of hippocampal relational memory. The results indicate, contrary to current systems models, that representations of intrinsic relationships between reward value, stimulus identity, and motivation require hippocampal mediation when these relationships are of a higher order. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Is Associated With Enhanced Cognitive Control Network Activity in Major Depression and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Zhen; Oathes, Desmond J.; Linn, Kristin A.; Bruce, Steven E.; Satterthwaite, Theodore D.; Cook, Philip A.; Satchell, Emma K.; Shou, Haochang; Sheline, Yvette I.

    2018-01-01

    BACKGROUND Both major depressive disorder (MDD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are characterized by depressive symptoms, abnormalities in brain regions important for cognitive control, and response to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). However, whether a common neural mechanism underlies CBT response across diagnoses is unknown. METHODS Brain activity during a cognitive control task was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 104 participants: 28 patients with MDD, 53 patients with PTSD, and 23 healthy control subjects; depression and anxiety symptoms were determined on the same day. A patient subset (n = 31) entered manualized CBT and, along with controls (n = 19), was rescanned at 12 weeks. Linear mixed effects models assessed the relationship between depression and anxiety symptoms and brain activity before and after CBT. RESULTS At baseline, activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was negatively correlated with Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale scores across all participants; this brain–symptom association did not differ between MDD and PTSD. Following CBT treatment of patients, regions within the cognitive control network, including ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, showed a significant increase in activity. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that dimensional abnormalities in the activation of cognitive control regions were associated primarily with symptoms of depression (with or without controlling for anxious arousal). Furthermore, following treatment with CBT, activation of cognitive control regions was similarly increased in both MDD and PTSD. These results accord with the Research Domain Criteria conceptualization of mental disorders and implicate improved cognitive control activation as a transdiagnostic mechanism for CBT treatment outcome. PMID:29628063

  4. Higher order structure of short immunostimulatory oligonucleotides studied by atomic force microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klein, Dionne C.G.; Latz, Eicke; Espevik, Terje; Stokke, Bjorn T.

    2010-01-01

    Immunostimulatory CpG-DNA activates the innate immune system by binding to Toll-like receptor 9. Structurally different CpG-containing oligonucleotides trigger a different type of immune response while activating the same receptor. We therefore investigated the higher order structure of two different classes of immunostimulatory CpG-DNA. Class A, which contains a partly self-complementary sequence and poly-G ends, forms duplexes and nanoparticles in salt solution, while class B, which does not contain these features and is purely linear, does not form a duplex or nanoparticles. Results obtained here by high-resolution atomic force microscopy of classes A and B CpG-DNA, reflect these differences in secondary structure. Detailed structural analysis of the atomic force microscopy topographs is presented for two different sample preparation methods.

  5. Higher order structure of short immunostimulatory oligonucleotides studied by atomic force microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Klein, Dionne C.G., E-mail: dionne.c.g.klein@ntnu.no [Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491, Trondheim (Norway); Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7489, Trondheim (Norway); Latz, Eicke [Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7489, Trondheim (Norway); Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 364 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA 01605 (United States); Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospitals, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127 Bonn (Germany); Espevik, Terje [Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7489, Trondheim (Norway); Stokke, Bjorn T. [Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491, Trondheim (Norway)

    2010-05-15

    Immunostimulatory CpG-DNA activates the innate immune system by binding to Toll-like receptor 9. Structurally different CpG-containing oligonucleotides trigger a different type of immune response while activating the same receptor. We therefore investigated the higher order structure of two different classes of immunostimulatory CpG-DNA. Class A, which contains a partly self-complementary sequence and poly-G ends, forms duplexes and nanoparticles in salt solution, while class B, which does not contain these features and is purely linear, does not form a duplex or nanoparticles. Results obtained here by high-resolution atomic force microscopy of classes A and B CpG-DNA, reflect these differences in secondary structure. Detailed structural analysis of the atomic force microscopy topographs is presented for two different sample preparation methods.

  6. Cognitive Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    The tutorial will discuss the definition of cognitive systems as the possibilities to extend the current systems engineering paradigm in order to perceive, learn, reason and interact robustly in open-ended changing environments. I will also address cognitive systems in a historical perspective...... to be modeled within a limited set of predefined specifications. There will inevitably be a need for robust decisions and behaviors in novel situations that include handling of conflicts and ambiguities based on the capability and knowledge of the artificial cognitive system. Further, there is a need...... in cognitive systems include e.g. personalized information systems, sensor network systems, social dynamics system and Web2.0, and cognitive components analysis. I will use example from our own research and link to other research activities....

  7. Method of moments solution of volume integral equations using higher-order hierarchical Legendre basis functions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kim, Oleksiy S.; Jørgensen, Erik; Meincke, Peter

    2004-01-01

    An efficient higher-order method of moments (MoM) solution of volume integral equations is presented. The higher-order MoM solution is based on higher-order hierarchical Legendre basis functions and higher-order geometry modeling. An unstructured mesh composed of 8-node trilinear and/or curved 27...... of magnitude in comparison to existing higher-order hierarchical basis functions. Consequently, an iterative solver can be applied even for high expansion orders. Numerical results demonstrate excellent agreement with the analytical Mie series solution for a dielectric sphere as well as with results obtained...

  8. Higher- and Lower-Order Factor Analyses of the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kotelnikova, Yuliya; Olino, Thomas M.; Klein, Daniel N.; Mackrell, Sarah V.M.; Hayden, Elizabeth P.

    2017-01-01

    The Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ; Simonds & Rothbart, 2004) is a widely used parent-report measure of temperament. However, neither its lower- nor higher-order structures have been tested via a bottom-up, empirically based approach. We conducted higher- and lower-order exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) of the TMCQ in a large (N = 654) sample of 9-year-olds. Item-level EFAs identified 92 items as suitable (i.e., with loadings ≥.40) for constructing lower-order factors, only half of which resembled a TMCQ scale posited by the measure’s authors. Higher-order EFAs of the lower-order factors showed that a three-factor structure (Impulsivity/Negative Affectivity, Negative Affectivity, and Openness/Assertiveness) was the only admissible solution. Overall, many TMCQ items did not load well onto a lower-order factor. In addition, only three factors, which did not show a clear resemblance to Rothbart’s four-factor model of temperament in middle childhood, were needed to account for the higher-order structure of the TMCQ. PMID:27002124

  9. Daily Physical Activity and Cognitive Function Variability in Older Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Christine B; Edwards, Jerri D; Andel, Ross; Kilpatrick, Marcus

    2016-04-01

    Physical activity (PA) is believed to preserve cognitive function in older adulthood, though little is known about these relationships within the context of daily life. The present microlongitudinal pilot study explored within- and between-person relationships between daily PA and cognitive function and also examined within-person effect sizes in a sample of community-dwelling older adults. Fifty-one healthy participants (mean age = 70.1 years) wore an accelerometer and completed a cognitive assessment battery for five days. There were no significant associations between cognitive task performance and participants' daily or average PA over the study period. Effect size estimates indicated that PA explained 0-24% of within-person variability in cognitive function, depending on cognitive task and PA dose. Results indicate that PA may have near-term cognitive effects and should be explored as a possible strategy to enhance older adults' ability to perform cognitively complex activities within the context of daily living.

  10. Intensity, but not duration, of physical activities is related to cognitive function

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Angevaren, Maaike; Vanhees, Luc; Wendel-Vos, Wanda; Verhaar, Harald J. J.; Aufdernkarnpe, Geert; Aleman, Andrie; Verschuren, W. M. Monique

    2007-01-01

    Background Physical activity is thought to facilitate cognitive performance and to slow down the rate of age-related cognitive decline. This study aimed to investigate the association between the time spent on physical activity as well as the average intensity of these activities and cognitive

  11. Intensity, but not duration of physical activities is related to cognitive function.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A. Aleman; Geert Aufdemkampe; H.J. Verhaar; W. Wendel-Vos; Drs. Maaike Angevaren; Prof. Dr. Luc L.E.M.J. Vanhees; W.M. Verschuren

    2007-01-01

    Background: Physical activity is thought to facilitate cognitive performance and to slow down the rate of age-related cognitive decline. This study aimed to investigate the association between the time spent on physical activity as well as the average intensity of these activities and cognitive

  12. Cognitively Engaging Activity is Associated with Greater Cortical and Subcortical Volumes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Talia R. Seider

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available As the population ages and dementia becomes a growing healthcare concern, it is increasingly important to identify targets for intervention to delay or attenuate cognitive decline. Research has shown that the most successful interventions aim at altering lifestyle factors. Thus, this study examined how involvement in physical, cognitive, and social activity is related to brain structure in older adults. Sixty-five adults (mean age = 71.4 years, standard deviation = 8.9 received the Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors (CHAMPS, a questionnaire that polls everyday activities in which older adults may be involved, and also underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging. Stepwise regression with backwards selection was used to predict weekly time spent in either social, cognitive, light physical, or heavy physical activity from the volume of one of the cortical or subcortical regions of interest (corrected by intracranial volume as well as age, education, and gender as control variables. Regressions revealed that more time spent in cognitive activity was associated with greater volumes of all brain regions studied: total cortex (β = .289, p = .014, frontal (β = .276, p = .019, parietal (β = .305, p = .009, temporal (β = .275, p = .020, and occipital (β = .256, p = .030 lobes, and thalamus (β = .310, p = .010, caudate (β = .233, p = .049, hippocampus (β = .286, p = .017, and amygdala (β = .336, p = .004. These effects remained even after accounting for the positive association between cognitive activity and education. No other activity variable was associated with brain volumes. Results indicate that time spent in cognitively engaging activity is associated with greater cortical and subcortical brain volume. Findings suggest that interventions aimed at increasing levels of cognitive activity may delay cognitive consequences of aging and decrease the risk of developing dementia.

  13. Influence of higher order modes on angled-facet amplifiers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Z.; Mikkelsen, B.; Stubkjær, Kristian

    1991-01-01

    The influence of the first-order mode on the residual reflectivity of angled-facet amplifiers is analyzed. For a 7 degrees angled-facet ridge waveguide amplifier with a single-layer antireflective (AR) coating, a gain ripple lower than 1-dB at 25-dB gain can be obtained independent...... of the polarization, even in the presence of a first-order mode with a 15-dB gain. The tolerances for the thickness and refractive index of the AR coating are reduced by a factor of three compared to operation in the fundamental mode only. The influence of the higher order mode can virtually be suppressed...

  14. Higher order capacity statistics of multi-hop transmission systems over Rayleigh fading channels

    KAUST Repository

    Yilmaz, Ferkan

    2012-03-01

    In this paper, we present an exact analytical expression to evaluate the higher order statistics of the channel capacity for amplify and forward (AF) multihop transmission systems operating over Rayleigh fading channels. Furthermore, we present simple and efficient closed-form expression to the higher order moments of the channel capacity of dual hop transmission system with Rayleigh fading channels. In order to analyze the behavior of the higher order capacity statistics and investigate the usefulness of the mathematical analysis, some selected numerical and simulation results are presented. Our results are found to be in perfect agreement. © 2012 IEEE.

  15. Generating superpositions of higher order bessel beams [Conference paper

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Vasilyeu, R

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available An experimental setup to generate a superposition of higher-order Bessel beams by means of a spatial light modulator and ring aperture is presented. The experimentally produced fields are in good agreement with those calculated theoretically....

  16. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Is Associated With Enhanced Cognitive Control Network Activity in Major Depression and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Zhen; Oathes, Desmond J; Linn, Kristin A; Bruce, Steven E; Satterthwaite, Theodore D; Cook, Philip A; Satchell, Emma K; Shou, Haochang; Sheline, Yvette I

    2018-04-01

    Both major depressive disorder (MDD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are characterized by depressive symptoms, abnormalities in brain regions important for cognitive control, and response to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). However, whether a common neural mechanism underlies CBT response across diagnoses is unknown. Brain activity during a cognitive control task was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 104 participants: 28 patients with MDD, 53 patients with PTSD, and 23 healthy control subjects; depression and anxiety symptoms were determined on the same day. A patient subset (n = 31) entered manualized CBT and, along with controls (n = 19), was rescanned at 12 weeks. Linear mixed effects models assessed the relationship between depression and anxiety symptoms and brain activity before and after CBT. At baseline, activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was negatively correlated with Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale scores across all participants; this brain-symptom association did not differ between MDD and PTSD. Following CBT treatment of patients, regions within the cognitive control network, including ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, showed a significant increase in activity. Our results suggest that dimensional abnormalities in the activation of cognitive control regions were associated primarily with symptoms of depression (with or without controlling for anxious arousal). Furthermore, following treatment with CBT, activation of cognitive control regions was similarly increased in both MDD and PTSD. These results accord with the Research Domain Criteria conceptualization of mental disorders and implicate improved cognitive control activation as a transdiagnostic mechanism for CBT treatment outcome. Copyright © 2017 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Higher-order terms in the nuclear-energy-density functional

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carlsson, B. G.; Borucki, M.; Dobaczewski, J.

    2009-01-01

    One of the current projects at the Department of Physics in the University of Jyvaeskylae is to explore more general forms of the Skyrme energy-density functional (EDF). The aim is to find new phenomenological terms which are sensitive to experimental data. In this context we have extended the Skyrme functional by including terms which contain higher orders of derivatives allowing for a better description of finite range effects. This was done by employing an expansion in derivatives in a spherical-tensor formalism [1] motivated by ideas of the density-matrix expansion. The resulting functionals have different number of free parameters depending on the order in derivatives and assumed symmetries, see Fig. 1. The usual Skyrme EDF is obtained as a second order expansion while we keep terms up to sixth order.(author)

  18. Higher-order techniques for some problems of nonlinear control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarychev Andrey V.

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available A natural first step when dealing with a nonlinear problem is an application of some version of linearization principle. This includes the well known linearization principles for controllability, observability and stability and also first-order optimality conditions such as Lagrange multipliers rule or Pontryagin's maximum principle. In many interesting and important problems of nonlinear control the linearization principle fails to provide a solution. In the present paper we provide some examples of how higher-order methods of differential geometric control theory can be used for the study nonlinear control systems in such cases. The presentation includes: nonlinear systems with impulsive and distribution-like inputs; second-order optimality conditions for bang–bang extremals of optimal control problems; methods of high-order averaging for studying stability and stabilization of time-variant control systems.

  19. Effect of computerized cognitive rehabilitation program on cognitive function and activities of living in stroke patients

    OpenAIRE

    Yoo, Chanuk; Yong, Mi-hyun; Chung, Jaeyeop; Yang, Yeongae

    2015-01-01

    [Purpose] The objective of this study was to examine the effect of cognitive rehabilitation using a computer on cognitive function and activities of daily living in stroke patients presenting impairment of cognitive function. [Subjects] Forty-six stroke patients were divided into two groups (a training group and control group) through random assignment. [Methods] The training group received rehabilitation therapy and an additional computerized cognitive rehabilitation program using The RehaCo...

  20. First-order and higher order sequence learning in specific language impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Gillian M; Lum, Jarrad A G

    2017-02-01

    A core claim of the procedural deficit hypothesis of specific language impairment (SLI) is that the disorder is associated with poor implicit sequence learning. This study investigated whether implicit sequence learning problems in SLI are present for first-order conditional (FOC) and higher order conditional (HOC) sequences. Twenty-five children with SLI and 27 age-matched, nonlanguage-impaired children completed 2 serial reaction time tasks. On 1 version, the sequence to be implicitly learnt comprised a FOC sequence and on the other a HOC sequence. Results showed that the SLI group learned the HOC sequence (η p ² = .285, p = .005) but not the FOC sequence (η p ² = .099, p = .118). The control group learned both sequences (FOC η p ² = .497, HOC η p 2= .465, ps < .001). The SLI group's difficulty learning the FOC sequence is consistent with the procedural deficit hypothesis. However, the study provides new evidence that multiple mechanisms may underpin the learning of FOC and HOC sequences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  1. Development of cognitive processing and judgments of knowledge in medical students : Analysis of progress test results

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cecilio-Fernandes, Dario; Kerdijk, Wouter; Jaarsma, A. D. (Debbie) C.; Tio, Rene A.

    2016-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Beside acquiring knowledge, medical students should also develop the ability to apply and reflect on it, requiring higher-order cognitive processing. Ideally, students should have reached higher-order cognitive processing when they enter the clinical program. Whether this is the case, is

  2. Monitoring and predicting cognitive state and performance via physiological correlates of neuronal signals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russo, Michael B; Stetz, Melba C; Thomas, Maria L

    2005-07-01

    Judgment, decision making, and situational awareness are higher-order mental abilities critically important to operational cognitive performance. Higher-order mental abilities rely on intact functioning of multiple brain regions, including the prefrontal, thalamus, and parietal areas. Real-time monitoring of individuals for cognitive performance capacity via an approach based on sampling multiple neurophysiologic signals and integrating those signals with performance prediction models potentially provides a method of supporting warfighters' and commanders' decision making and other operationally relevant mental processes and is consistent with the goals of augmented cognition. Cognitive neurophysiological assessments that directly measure brain function and subsequent cognition include positron emission tomography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, mass spectroscopy, near-infrared spectroscopy, magnetoencephalography, and electroencephalography (EEG); however, most direct measures are not practical to use in operational environments. More practical, albeit indirect measures that are generated by, but removed from the actual neural sources, are movement activity, oculometrics, heart rate, and voice stress signals. The goal of the papers in this section is to describe advances in selected direct and indirect cognitive neurophysiologic monitoring techniques as applied for the ultimate purpose of preventing operational performance failures. These papers present data acquired in a wide variety of environments, including laboratory, simulator, and clinical arenas. The papers discuss cognitive neurophysiologic measures such as digital signal processing wrist-mounted actigraphy; oculometrics including blinks, saccadic eye movements, pupillary movements, the pupil light reflex; and high-frequency EEG. These neurophysiological indices are related to cognitive performance as measured through standard test batteries and simulators with conditions including sleep loss

  3. Higher-order resonant electronic recombination as a manifestation of configuration interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beilmann, C; Amaro, P; Tashenov, S; Bekker, H; Harman, Z; Crespo López-Urrutia, J R

    2013-01-01

    Theoretical and experimental investigations of higher-order electron–ion recombination resonances including inter-shell excitations are presented for L-shell ions of Kr with the aim of examining details of atomic structure calculations. The particular importance of electron–electron interaction and configuration mixing effects for these recombination processes enables their use for detailed tests of electron correlation effects. A test of the required level of considered mixing configurations is presented and further experiments involving higher-order recombination channels are motivated. (paper)

  4. Higher order mode of a microstripline fed cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kumar, A. V. Praveen, E-mail: praveen.kumar@pilani.bits-pilani.ac.in [Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, BITS Pilani, Pilani, Rajasthan-333 031 (India)

    2016-03-09

    A microstrip transmission line can be used to excite the broadside radiating mode of a cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna (CDRA). The same is found to excite considerably well a higher order mode (HOM) as well. However unlike the broadside mode, the higher order mode gives distorted radiation pattern which makes this mode less useful for practical applications. The cause of distortion in the HOM radiation and the dependence of HOM coupling on the microstrip feed line are explored using HFSS simulations.

  5. The Effects of Using Concept Mapping for Improving Advanced Level Biology Students' Lower- and Higher-Order Cognitive Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bramwell-Lalor, Sharon; Rainford, Marcia

    2014-01-01

    This paper reports on teachers' use of concept mapping as an alternative assessment strategy in advanced level biology classes and its effects on students' cognitive skills on selected biology concepts. Using a mixed methods approach, the study employed a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design involving 156 students and 8 teachers from…

  6. Oscillation of solutions of some higher order linear differential equations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong-Yan Xu

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we deal with the order of growth and the hyper order of solutions of higher order linear differential equations $$f^{(k}+B_{k-1}f^{(k-1}+\\cdots+B_1f'+B_0f=F$$ where $B_j(z (j=0,1,\\ldots,k-1$ and $F$ are entire functions or polynomials. Some results are obtained which improve and extend previous results given by Z.-X. Chen, J. Wang, T.-B. Cao and C.-H. Li.

  7. Improved Multilevel Fast Multipole Method for Higher-Order discretizations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borries, Oscar Peter; Meincke, Peter; Jorgensen, Erik

    2014-01-01

    The Multilevel Fast Multipole Method (MLFMM) allows for a reduced computational complexity when solving electromagnetic scattering problems. Combining this with the reduced number of unknowns provided by Higher-Order discretizations has proven to be a difficult task, with the general conclusion b...

  8. THE WAYS FOR ACTIVATING PUPILS’ COGNITIVE ACTIVITY AND MENTAL CAPACITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. V. Sukhorukov

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper discusses various methods promoting the cognitive activity of secondary school pupils, whose psycho-physical conditions are adversely affected by the changing realities of educational process: its acceleration, growing amount of the required information, increasing number of disciplines, declining moral of the educational environment, etc. The authors emphasize the need for the urgent systematic and complex measures for pupils’ health promotion and working capability restoration with the reference to the age profile and specificity of the particular educational environment. The definitions of the main categories and ways, activating the knowledge acquisition, are given along with the basic groups of methods facilitating the mental activity. They include traditional didactic methods; psycho-emotional methods, used for emotional adjustment and optimization of pupils’ perception; and pharmacological methods for increasing the mental work capacity by means of various medications. In conclusion, the authors demonstrate a project model of the complex method for activating the cognitive abilities of secondary school pupils. 

  9. Failing to Get the Gist of What’s Being Said: Background Noise Impairs Higher Order Cognitive Processing

    OpenAIRE

    John Everett Marsh; John Everett Marsh; Robert eLjung; Anatole eNöstl; Emma eThreadgold; Tom A Campbell

    2015-01-01

    A dynamic interplay is known to exist between auditory processing and human cognition. For example, prior investigations of speech-in-noise have revealed there is more to learning than just listening: Even if all words within a spoken list correctly heard in noise, later memory for those words is typically impoverished. At such low signal-to-noise ratios when listeners could identify words, those participants could not necessarily remember those words. These investigations supported a view th...

  10. A study of depression, perceived loneliness, cognitive function and independence in daily activities in home and institution based older people: A cross sectional comparative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Riddhi Desai

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Context: Old age homes are on the rise in India. Older people staying in such institutions have specific psychosocial issues that may affect their cognitive performance and daily living. Materials and Methods: 71 older people, 39 institution based and 32 community-based were recruited with serial sampling after screening on mini-mental state examination and were evaluated with geriatric depression scale, University of California, Los Angeles scale, Lawton′s instrumental activities of daily living scale and montreal cognitive assessment scale. Results: Prevalence of depression was significantly higher in older people who were institution based, widowers and females. The severity of perceived loneliness was higher in females, institution based and depressed older people. The severity of depression correlated with independence in daily activities, cognition, and perceived loneliness only in institution based older people. Discussion: Older people in institutions have a higher psychosocial burden than the community-based older people. Family support prevents the attrition effect of depression on cognition and independence in daily activities in the community-based older people.

  11. Designing clinical trials for assessing the effects of cognitive training and physical activity interventions on cognitive outcomes: The Seniors Health and Activity Research Program Pilot (SHARP-P Study, a randomized controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rejeski W Jack

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The efficacy of non-pharmacological intervention approaches such as physical activity, strength, and cognitive training for improving brain health has not been established. Before definitive trials are mounted, important design questions on participation/adherence, training and interventions effects must be answered to more fully inform a full-scale trial. Methods SHARP-P was a single-blinded randomized controlled pilot trial of a 4-month physical activity training intervention (PA and/or cognitive training intervention (CT in a 2 × 2 factorial design with a health education control condition in 73 community-dwelling persons, aged 70-85 years, who were at risk for cognitive decline but did not have mild cognitive impairment. Results Intervention attendance rates were higher in the CT and PACT groups: CT: 96%, PA: 76%, PACT: 90% (p=0.004, the interventions produced marked changes in cognitive and physical performance measures (p≤0.05, and retention rates exceeded 90%. There were no statistically significant differences in 4-month changes in composite scores of cognitive, executive, and episodic memory function among arms. Four-month improvements in the composite measure increased with age among participants assigned to physical activity training but decreased with age for other participants (intervention*age interaction p = 0.01. Depending on the choice of outcome, two-armed full-scale trials may require fewer than 1,000 participants (continuous outcome or 2,000 participants (categorical outcome. Conclusions Good levels of participation, adherence, and retention appear to be achievable for participants through age 85 years. Care should be taken to ensure that an attention control condition does not attenuate intervention effects. Depending on the choice of outcome measures, the necessary sample sizes to conduct four-year trials appear to be feasible. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00688155

  12. Epidemiological investigation of muscle-strengthening activities and cognitive function among older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loprinzi, Paul D

    2016-06-01

    Limited research has examined the association of muscle-strengthening activities and executive cognitive function among older adults, which was this study's purpose. Data from the 1999-2002 NHANES were employed (N = 2157; 60-85 years). Muscle-strengthening activities were assessed via self-report, with cognitive function assessed using the digit symbol substitution test. After adjusting for age, age-squared, gender, race-ethnicity, poverty level, body mass index, C-reactive protein, smoking, comorbid illness and physical activity, muscle-strengthening activities were significantly associated with cognitive function (βadjusted = 3.4; 95% CI: 1.7-5.1; P cognitive function score. In conclusion, muscle-strengthening activities are associated with executive cognitive function among older U.S. adults, underscoring the importance of promoting both aerobic exercise and muscle-strengthening activities to older adults. © The Author(s) 2016.

  13. Higher-order momentum distributions and locally affine LDDMM registration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sommer, Stefan Horst; Nielsen, Mads; Darkner, Sune

    2013-01-01

    description of affine transformations and subsequent compact description of non-translational movement in a globally nonrigid deformation. The resulting representation contains directly interpretable information from both mathematical and modeling perspectives. We develop the mathematical construction......To achieve sparse parametrizations that allow intuitive analysis, we aim to represent deformation with a basis containing interpretable elements, and we wish to use elements that have the description capacity to represent the deformation compactly. To accomplish this, we introduce in this paper...... higher-order momentum distributions in the large deformation diffeomorphic metric mapping (LDDMM) registration framework. While the zeroth-order moments previously used in LDDMM only describe local displacement, the first-order momenta that are proposed here represent a basis that allows local...

  14. Gamow-Jordan vectors and non-reducible density operators from higher-order S-matrix poles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bohm, A.; Loewe, M.; Maxson, S.; Patuleanu, P.; Puentmann, C.; Gadella, M.

    1997-01-01

    In analogy to Gamow vectors that are obtained from first-order resonance poles of the S-matrix, one can also define higher-order Gamow vectors which are derived from higher-order poles of the S-matrix. An S-matrix pole of r-th order at z R =E R -iΓ/2 leads to r generalized eigenvectors of order k=0,1,hor-ellipsis,r-1, which are also Jordan vectors of degree (k+1) with generalized eigenvalue (E R -iΓ/2). The Gamow-Jordan vectors are elements of a generalized complex eigenvector expansion, whose form suggests the definition of a state operator (density matrix) for the microphysical decaying state of this higher-order pole. This microphysical state is a mixture of non-reducible components. In spite of the fact that the k-th order Gamow-Jordan vectors has the polynomial time-dependence which one always associates with higher-order poles, the microphysical state obeys a purely exponential decay law. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics

  15. The Role of Formative Feedback in Promoting Higher Order ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    DrNneka

    An International Multi-disciplinary Journal, Ethiopia. AFRREV ... make contribution to this research gap by proposing a theoretical feedback model that can promote higher order thinking skills in the classroom. The proposed ..... process; students provided with tasks that are novel, complex, creative, and non- algorithmic ...

  16. A hierarchical generalization of the acoustic reciprocity theorem involving higher-order derivatives and interaction quantities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Ju; Li, Jie; Li, Xiaolei; Wang, Ning

    2016-10-01

    An acoustic reciprocity theorem is generalized, for a smoothly varying perturbed medium, to a hierarchy of reciprocity theorems including higher-order derivatives of acoustic fields. The standard reciprocity theorem is the first member of the hierarchy. It is shown that the conservation of higher-order interaction quantities is related closely to higher-order derivative distributions of perturbed media. Then integral reciprocity theorems are obtained by applying Gauss's divergence theorem, which give explicit integral representations connecting higher-order interactions and higher-order derivative distributions of perturbed media. Some possible applications to an inverse problem are also discussed.

  17. The impact of cognitive remediation on cerebral activity in schizophrenia: Systematic review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bon, Laura; Franck, Nicolas

    2018-03-01

    cognitive remediation involves either intensive training of impaired functions or implementing strategies to compensate for these impairments. In cases of schizophrenia, both methods have demonstrated benefits in terms of behavior and cerebral activity. However, despite the major differences between these two approaches, their impact has not yet been compared. We searched the PsychInfo, Pubmed, and ScienceDirect databases using the key words "cognitive remediation," "schizophrenia," "cerebral activity," and "magnetic resonance imaging," in order to select studies investigating the effects of cognitive remediation on patients with schizophrenia. The studies selected had to present their approach in detail and measure its impact in terms of both cerebral activity and cognitive function, both before and after therapy. We divided the studies into two groups, those using the strategy method and those using the training method. Eight studies were included in the review, four for the strategy method (88 patients, 44 of whom underwent remediation) and 4 for the training method (87 patients, 43 of whom underwent remediation). The analysis of the results of this study indicates that the training method is capable of activating more the targeted brain areas than the strategy method. However, the latter appears to encourage more extensive activation of the cerebral networks. The studies used for this review vary widely in terms of the imaging methods and protocol. However, differences were found between the two methods and lead us to suggest that further studies, with proper bias control, should be conducted to systematically compare the two approaches.

  18. Potential of Cognitive Computing and Cognitive Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noor, Ahmed K.

    2015-01-01

    Cognitive computing and cognitive technologies are game changers for future engineering systems, as well as for engineering practice and training. They are major drivers for knowledge automation work, and the creation of cognitive products with higher levels of intelligence than current smart products. This paper gives a brief review of cognitive computing and some of the cognitive engineering systems activities. The potential of cognitive technologies is outlined, along with a brief description of future cognitive environments, incorporating cognitive assistants - specialized proactive intelligent software agents designed to follow and interact with humans and other cognitive assistants across the environments. The cognitive assistants engage, individually or collectively, with humans through a combination of adaptive multimodal interfaces, and advanced visualization and navigation techniques. The realization of future cognitive environments requires the development of a cognitive innovation ecosystem for the engineering workforce. The continuously expanding major components of the ecosystem include integrated knowledge discovery and exploitation facilities (incorporating predictive and prescriptive big data analytics); novel cognitive modeling and visual simulation facilities; cognitive multimodal interfaces; and cognitive mobile and wearable devices. The ecosystem will provide timely, engaging, personalized / collaborative, learning and effective decision making. It will stimulate creativity and innovation, and prepare the participants to work in future cognitive enterprises and develop new cognitive products of increasing complexity. http://www.aee.odu.edu/cognitivecomp

  19. Exact Solutions to Nonlinear Schroedinger Equation and Higher-Order Nonlinear Schroedinger Equation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ren Ji; Ruan Hangyu

    2008-01-01

    We study solutions of the nonlinear Schroedinger equation (NLSE) and higher-order nonlinear Schroedinger equation (HONLSE) with variable coefficients. By considering all the higher-order effect of HONLSE as a new dependent variable, the NLSE and HONLSE can be changed into one equation. Using the generalized Lie group reduction method (GLGRM), the abundant solutions of NLSE and HONLSE are obtained

  20. Classroom-based physical activity breaks and children’s attention: cognitive engagement works!

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mirko Schmidt

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Classroom-based physical activity breaks are postulated to positively impact children’s attention during their school day. However, empirical evidence for this claim is scarce and the role of cognitive engagement in enhancing children’s attentional performance is unexplored in studies on physical activity breaks. The aim of the present study was therefore to disentangle the separate and/or combined effects of physical exertion and cognitive engagement induced by physical activity breaks on primary school children’s attention. In addition, the role of children’s affective reactions to acute interventions at school was investigated. Using a 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design, 92 children between the ages of 11 and 12 years (M = 11.77, SD = 0.41 were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: (1 combo group (physical activity with high cognitive demands, (2 cognition group (sedentary with high cognitive demands, (3 physical group (physical activity with low cognitive demands, and (4 control group (sedentary with low cognitive demands. Attention and affect were measured before and immediately after a 10-minute intervention. ANCOVAs revealed that whereas physical exertion had no effect on any measure of children’s attentional performance, cognitive engagement was the crucial factor leading to increased focused attention and enhanced processing speed. Mediational analyses showed that changes in positive affect during the interventions mediated the effect between cognitive engagement and focused attention as well as between cognitive engagement and processing speed. These surprising results are discussed in the light of theories predicting both facilitating and deteriorative effects of positive affect on cognitive performance.

  1. On realization of nonlinear systems described by higher-order differential equations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Schaft, Arjan

    1987-01-01

    We consider systems of smooth nonlinear differential and algebraic equations in which some of the variables are distinguished as “external variables.” The realization problem is to replace the higher-order implicit differential equations by first-order explicit differential equations and the

  2. Constrained variational calculus for higher order classical field theories

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Campos, Cedric M; De Leon, Manuel; De Diego, David MartIn, E-mail: cedricmc@icmat.e, E-mail: mdeleon@icmat.e, E-mail: david.martin@icmat.e [Instituto de Ciencias Matematicas, CSIC-UAM-UC3M-UCM, Serrano 123, 28006 Madrid (Spain)

    2010-11-12

    We develop an intrinsic geometrical setting for higher order constrained field theories. As a main tool we use an appropriate generalization of the classical Skinner-Rusk formalism. Some examples of applications are studied, in particular to the geometrical description of optimal control theory for partial differential equations.

  3. Constrained variational calculus for higher order classical field theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campos, Cedric M; De Leon, Manuel; De Diego, David MartIn

    2010-01-01

    We develop an intrinsic geometrical setting for higher order constrained field theories. As a main tool we use an appropriate generalization of the classical Skinner-Rusk formalism. Some examples of applications are studied, in particular to the geometrical description of optimal control theory for partial differential equations.

  4. Decidable Fragments of a Higher Order Calculus with Locations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bundgaard, Mikkel; Godskesen, Jens Christian; Huttel, Hans

    2009-01-01

    Homer is a higher order process calculus with locations. In this paper we study Homer in the setting of the semantic finite control property, which is a finite reachability criterion that implies decidability of barbed bisimilarity. We show that strong and weak barbed bisimilarity are undecidable...

  5. Baseline and cognition activated brain SPECT imaging in depression

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Jinhua; Lin Xiangtong; Jiang Kaida; Liu Yongchang; Xu Lianqin

    1998-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) abnormalities through the semiquantitative analysis of the baseline and cognition activated rCBF imaging in unmedicated depressed patients. Methods: 27 depressed patients unmedicated by anti-depressants were enrolled. The diagnosis (depression of moderate degree with somatization) was confirmed by the ICD-10 criteria. 15 age matched normal controls were studied under identical conditions. Baseline and cognition activated 99m Tc-ECD SPECT were performed on 21 of the 27 patients with depression and 13 of the 15 normal controls. Baseline 99m Tc-ECD SPECT alone were performed on the rest 6 patients with depression and 2 normal controls. The cognitive activation is achieved by Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). 1110 MBq of 99m Tc-ECD was administered by intravenous bolus injection 5 minutes after the onset of the WCST. Semi-quantitative analysis was conducted with the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th slices of the transaxial imaging. rCBF ratios of every ROI were calculated using the average tissue activity in the region divided by the maximum activity in the cerebellum. Results: 1) The baseline rCBF of left frontal (0.720) and left temporal lobe (0.720) were decreased significantly in depressed patients comparing with those of the control subjects. 2) The activated rCBF of left frontal lobe (0.719) and left temporal lobe (0.690), left parietal lobe (0.701) were decreased evidently than those of the controls. Conclusions: 1) Hypoperfusions of left frontal and left temporal cortexes were identified in patients with depression. 2) The hypoperfusion of left frontal and left temporal cortexes may be the cause of cognition disorder and depressed mood in patients with depression. 3) Cognition activated brain perfusion imaging is helpful for making a more accurate diagnosis of depression

  6. Frontoparietal cognitive control of verbal memory recall in Alzheimer's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhanjal, Novraj S; Wise, Richard J S

    2014-08-01

    Episodic memory retrieval is reliant upon cognitive control systems, of which 2 have been identified with functional neuroimaging: a cingulo-opercular salience network (SN) and a frontoparietal executive network (EN). In Alzheimer's disease (AD), pathology is distributed throughout higher-order cortices. The hypotheses were that this frontoparietal pathology would impair activity associated with verbal memory recall; and that central cholinesterase inhibition (ChI) would modulate this, improving memory recall. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to study normal participants and 2 patient groups: mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD. Activity within the EN and SN was observed during free recall of previously heard sentences, and related to measures of recall accuracy. In normal subjects, trials with reduced recall were associated with greater activity in both the SN and EN. Better recall was associated with greater activity in medial regions of the default mode network. By comparison, AD patients showed attenuated responses in both the SN and EN compared with either controls or MCI patients, even after recall performance was matched between groups. Following ChI, AD patients showed no modulation of activity within the SN, but increased activity within the EN. There was also enhanced activity within regions associated with episodic and semantic memory during less successful recall, requiring greater cognitive control. The results indicate that in AD, impaired responses of cognitive control networks during verbal memory recall are partly responsible for reduced recall performance. One action of symptom-modifying treatment is partially to reverse the abnormal function of frontoparietal cognitive control and temporal lobe memory networks. © 2014 American Neurological Association.

  7. Quantum Noether identities for non-local transformations in higher-order derivatives theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Z.P.; Long, Z.W.

    2003-01-01

    Based on the phase-space generating functional of the Green function for a system with a regular/singular higher-order Lagrangian, the quantum canonical Noether identities (NIs) under a local and non-local transformation in phase space have been deduced, respectively. For a singular higher-order Lagrangian, one must use an effective canonical action I eff P in quantum canonical NIs instead of the classical I P in classical canonical NIs. The quantum NIs under a local and non-local transformation in configuration space for a gauge-invariant system with a higher-order Lagrangian have also been derived. The above results hold true whether or not the Jacobian of the transformation is equal to unity or not. It has been pointed out that in certain cases the quantum NIs may be converted to conservation laws at the quantum level. This algorithm to derive the quantum conservation laws is significantly different from the quantum first Noether theorem. The applications of our formulation to the Yang-Mills fields and non-Abelian Chern-Simons (CS) theories with higher-order derivatives are given, and the conserved quantities at the quantum level for local and non-local transformations are found, respectively. (orig.)

  8. Activity participation and cognitive aging from age 50 to 80 in the glostrup 1914 cohort

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gow, Alan J; Mortensen, Erik L; Avlund, Kirsten

    2012-01-01

    To examine the cognitively protective effect of leisure and physical activities while accounting for prior cognitive ability, a rarely considered confounder of the previously reported associations between activity and cognitive aging.......To examine the cognitively protective effect of leisure and physical activities while accounting for prior cognitive ability, a rarely considered confounder of the previously reported associations between activity and cognitive aging....

  9. Algebraic Specifications, Higher-order Types and Set-theoretic Models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kirchner, Hélène; Mosses, Peter David

    2001-01-01

    , and power-sets. This paper presents a simple framework for algebraic specifications with higher-order types and set-theoretic models. It may be regarded as the basis for a Horn-clause approximation to the Z framework, and has the advantage of being amenable to prototyping and automated reasoning. Standard......In most algebraic  specification frameworks, the type system is restricted to sorts, subsorts, and first-order function types. This is in marked contrast to the so-called model-oriented frameworks, which provide higer-order types, interpreted set-theoretically as Cartesian products, function spaces...... set-theoretic models are considered, and conditions are given for the existence of initial reduct's of such models. Algebraic specifications for various set-theoretic concepts are considered....

  10. Squeezing of higher order Hermite-Gauss modes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lassen, Mikael Østergaard

    2008-01-01

    The present paper gives an overview of the experimental generation of squeezing in higher order Hermite-Gaussian modes with an optical parametric ampli¯er (OPA). This work was awarded with The European Optical Society (EOS) price 2007. The purpose of the prize is to encourage a European dimension...... in research in pure and applied optics. The EOS prize is awarded based on the selection criteria of high professionalism, academic and technical quality. Following the EOS Prize rules, the conditions for eligibility are that the work was performed in Europe and that it is published under the auspices...

  11. Effects of Cognitive Training with and without Aerobic Exercise on Cognitively-Demanding Everyday Activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDaniel, Mark A.; Binder, Ellen F.; Bugg, Julie M.; Waldum, Emily R.; Dufault, Carolyn; Meyer, Amanda; Johanning, Jennifer; Zheng, Jie; Schechtman, Kenneth B.; Kudelka, Chris

    2015-01-01

    We investigated the potential benefits of a novel cognitive training protocol and an aerobic exercise intervention, both individually and in concert, on older adults’ performances in laboratory simulations of select real-world tasks. The cognitive training focused on a range of cognitive processes, including attentional coordination, prospective memory, and retrospective-memory retrieval, processes that are likely involved in many everyday tasks, and that decline with age. Primary outcome measures were three laboratory tasks that simulated everyday activities: Cooking Breakfast, Virtual Week, and Memory for Health Information. Two months of cognitive training improved older adults’ performance on prospective memory tasks embedded in Virtual Week. Cognitive training, either alone or in combination with six months of aerobic exercise, did not significantly improve Cooking Breakfast or Memory for Health Information. Although gains in aerobic power were comparable to previous reports, aerobic exercise did not produce improvements for the primary outcome measures. Discussion focuses on the possibility that cognitive training programs that include explicit strategy instruction and varied practice contexts may confer gains to older adults for performance on cognitively challenging everyday tasks. PMID:25244489

  12. Longitudinal analysis of cognitive constructs fostered by STEM activities for middle school students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rhonda Christensen

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to determine whether the changes found to occur pre- to post intervention in students' cognitive structures continued to persist two years later. Major findings were: 1 higher-order STEM-related constructs established during the treatment year tended to persist two years later, even as component dispositions varied, and 2 gender differences in level of persistence emerged in only one of the four higher-order constructs identified. For the participants taken as a whole, perceptions of science and STEM as a career became more aligned with interest in being a scientist, from pretest to posttest time during the treatment year and continued to be aligned two years later. Perception of engineering moved from alignment with science and STEM as a career at time 1, to alignment with perception of technology and creative tendencies after the treatment year, at time 2, and remained aligned with technology two years later, at time 3. Perception of mathematics was separated from the other constructs during the pre-post treatment year and remained largely separated two years later. One subscale of the career interest survey focusing on working with others to make the world a better place through science, separated from other career interest subscales and became its own higher-order construct at time 2, and still remained on its own at time 3. Data mining techniques as well as higher-order factor analysis were used to identify changes in relationships among these and other constructs over time.

  13. Comparison Criteria for Nonlinear Functional Dynamic Equations of Higher Order

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taher S. Hassan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available We will consider the higher order functional dynamic equations with mixed nonlinearities of the form xnt+∑j=0Npjtϕγjxφjt=0, on an above-unbounded time scale T, where n≥2, xi(t≔ri(tϕαixi-1Δ(t,  i=1,…,n-1,   with  x0=x,  ϕβ(u≔uβsgn⁡u, and α[i,j]≔αi⋯αj. The function φi:T→T is a rd-continuous function such that limt→∞φi(t=∞ for j=0,1,…,N. The results extend and improve some known results in the literature on higher order nonlinear dynamic equations.

  14. Higher-Order Structure in Bacterial VapBC Toxin-Antitoxin Complexes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bendtsen, Kirstine L; Brodersen, Ditlev E

    2017-01-01

    Toxin-antitoxin systems are widespread in the bacterial kingdom, including in pathogenic species, where they allow rapid adaptation to changing environmental conditions through selective inhibition of key cellular processes, such as DNA replication or protein translation. Under normal growth...... that allow auto-regulation of transcription by direct binding to promoter DNA. In this chapter, we review our current understanding of the structural characteristics of type II toxin-antitoxin complexes in bacterial cells, with a special emphasis on the staggering variety of higher-order architecture...... conditions, type II toxins are inhibited through tight protein-protein interaction with a cognate antitoxin protein. This toxin-antitoxin complex associates into a higher-order macromolecular structure, typically heterotetrameric or heterooctameric, exposing two DNA binding domains on the antitoxin...

  15. Social Activity and Cognitive Functioning Over Time: A Coordinated Analysis of Four Longitudinal Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cassandra L. Brown

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Social activity is typically viewed as part of an engaged lifestyle that may help mitigate the deleterious effects of advanced age on cognitive function. As such, social activity has been examined in relation to cognitive abilities later in life. However, longitudinal evidence for this hypothesis thus far remains inconclusive. The current study sought to clarify the relationship between social activity and cognitive function over time using a coordinated data analysis approach across four longitudinal studies. A series of multilevel growth models with social activity included as a covariate is presented. Four domains of cognitive function were assessed: reasoning, memory, fluency, and semantic knowledge. Results suggest that baseline social activity is related to some, but not all, cognitive functions. Baseline social activity levels failed to predict rate of decline in most cognitive abilities. Changes in social activity were not consistently associated with cognitive functioning. Our findings do not provide consistent evidence that changes in social activity correspond to immediate benefits in cognitive functioning, except perhaps for verbal fluency.

  16. Higher-order relativistic periastron advances and binary pulsars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Damour, T.; Schafer, G.

    1988-01-01

    The contributions to the periastron advance of a system of two condensed bodies coming from relativistic dynamical effects of order higher than the usual first post-Newtonian (1PN) equations of motion are investigated. The structure of the solution of the orbital second post-Newtonian (2PN) equations of motion is given in a simple parametrized form. The contributions to the secular pariastron advance, and the period, of orbital 2PN effects are then explicitly worked out by using the Hamilton-Jacobi method. The spin-orbit contribution to the secular precession of the orbit in space is rederived in a streamlined way by making full use of Hamiltonian methods. These results are then applied to the theoretical interpretation of the observational data of pulsars in close eccentric binary systems. It is shown that the higher-order relativistic contributions are already of theoretical and astophysical significance for interpreting the high-precision measurement of the secular periastron advance of PSR 1913+16 achived by Taylor and coworkers. The case of extremely fast spinning (millisecond) binary pulsars is also discussed, and shown to offer an easier ground for getting new tests of general relativity, and/or, a direct measurement of the moment of inertia of a neutron star

  17. Functional connections between activated and deactivated brain regions mediate emotional interference during externally directed cognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Plinio, Simone; Ferri, Francesca; Marzetti, Laura; Romani, Gian Luca; Northoff, Georg; Pizzella, Vittorio

    2018-04-24

    Recent evidence shows that task-deactivations are functionally relevant for cognitive performance. Indeed, higher cognitive engagement has been associated with higher suppression of activity in task-deactivated brain regions - usually ascribed to the Default Mode Network (DMN). Moreover, a negative correlation between these regions and areas actively engaged by the task is associated with better performance. DMN regions show positive modulation during autobiographical, social, and emotional tasks. However, it is not clear how processing of emotional stimuli affects the interplay between the DMN and executive brain regions. We studied this interplay in an fMRI experiment using emotional negative stimuli as distractors. Activity modulations induced by the emotional interference of negative stimuli were found in frontal, parietal, and visual areas, and were associated with modulations of functional connectivity between these task-activated areas and DMN regions. A worse performance was predicted both by lower activity in the superior parietal cortex and higher connectivity between visual areas and frontal DMN regions. Connectivity between right inferior frontal gyrus and several DMN regions in the left hemisphere was related to the behavioral performance. This relation was weaker in the negative than in the neutral condition, likely suggesting less functional inhibitions of DMN regions during emotional processing. These results show that both executive and DMN regions are crucial for the emotional interference process and suggest that DMN connections are related to the interplay between externally-directed and internally-focused processes. Among DMN regions, superior frontal gyrus may be a key node in regulating the interference triggered by emotional stimuli. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Defining Higher-Order Turbulent Moment Closures with an Artificial Neural Network and Random Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGibbon, J.; Bretherton, C. S.

    2017-12-01

    Unresolved turbulent advection and clouds must be parameterized in atmospheric models. Modern higher-order closure schemes depend on analytic moment closure assumptions that diagnose higher-order moments in terms of lower-order ones. These are then tested against Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) higher-order moment relations. However, these relations may not be neatly analytic in nature. Rather than rely on an analytic higher-order moment closure, can we use machine learning on LES data itself to define a higher-order moment closure?We assess the ability of a deep artificial neural network (NN) and random forest (RF) to perform this task using a set of observationally-based LES runs from the MAGIC field campaign. By training on a subset of 12 simulations and testing on remaining simulations, we avoid over-fitting the training data.Performance of the NN and RF will be assessed and compared to the Analytic Double Gaussian 1 (ADG1) closure assumed by Cloudy Layers Unified By Binormals (CLUBB), a higher-order turbulence closure currently used in the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM). We will show that the RF outperforms the NN and the ADG1 closure for the MAGIC cases within this diagnostic framework. Progress and challenges in using a diagnostic machine learning closure within a prognostic cloud and turbulence parameterization will also be discussed.

  19. Telmisartan prevented cognitive decline partly due to PPAR-γ activation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mogi, Masaki; Li Jianmei; Tsukuda, Kana; Iwanami, Jun; Min, Li-Juan; Sakata, Akiko; Fujita, Teppei; Iwai, Masaru; Horiuchi, Masatsugu

    2008-01-01

    Telmisartan is a unique angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) and partial agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ. Here, we investigated the preventive effect of telmisartan on cognitive decline in Alzheimer disease. In ddY mice, intracerebroventricular injection of Aβ 1-40 significantly attenuated their cognitive function evaluated by shuttle avoidance test. Pretreatment with a non-hypotensive dose of telmisartan significantly inhibited such cognitive decline. Interestingly, co-treatment with GW9662, a PPAR-γ antagonist, partially inhibited this improvement of cognitive decline. Another ARB, losartan, which has less PPAR-γ agonistic effect, also inhibited Aβ-injection-induced cognitive decline; however the effect was smaller than that of telmisartan and was not affected by GW9662. Immunohistochemical staining for Aβ showed the reduced Aβ deposition in telmisartan-treated mice. However, this reduction was not observed in mice co-administered GW9662. These findings suggest that ARB has a preventive effect on cognitive impairment in Alzheimer disease, and telmisartan, with PPAR-γ activation, could exert a stronger effect

  20. Habitual exercise is associated with cognitive control and cognitive reappraisal success.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giles, Grace E; Cantelon, Julie A; Eddy, Marianna D; Brunyé, Tad T; Urry, Heather L; Mahoney, Caroline R; Kanarek, Robin B

    2017-12-01

    Habitual exercise is associated with enhanced domain-general cognitive control, such as inhibitory control, selective attention, and working memory, all of which rely on the frontal cortex. However, whether regular exercise is associated with more specific aspects of cognitive control, such as the cognitive control of emotion, remains relatively unexplored. The present study employed a correlational design to determine whether level of habitual exercise was related to performance on the Stroop test measuring selective attention and response inhibition, the cognitive reappraisal task measuring cognitive reappraisal success, and associated changes in prefrontal cortex (PFC) oxygenation using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. 74 individuals (24 men, 50 women, age 18-32 years) participated. Higher habitual physical activity was associated with lower Stroop interference (indicating greater inhibitory control) and enhanced cognitive reappraisal success. Higher habitual exercise was also associated with lower oxygenated hemoglobin (O 2 Hb) in the PFC in response to emotional information. However, NIRS data indicated that exercise was not associated with cognitive control-associated O 2 Hb in the PFC. Behaviorally, the findings support and extend the previous findings that habitual exercise relates to more successful cognitive control of neutral information and cognitive reappraisal of emotional information. Future research should explore whether habitual exercise exerts causal benefits to cognitive control and PFC oxygenation, as well as isolate specific cognitive control processes sensitive to change through habitual exercise.

  1. Higher-order blackhole solutions in N=2 supergravity and Calabi-Yau string backgrounds

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Behrndt, K.; Cardoso, G.L.; de Wit, B.Q.P.J.; Lüst, D.; Mohaupt, T.; Sabra, W.A.

    1998-01-01

    Based on special geometry, we consider corrections to N=2 extremal black-hole solutions and their entropies originating from higher-order derivative terms in N=2 supergravity. These corrections are described by a holomorphic function, and the higher-order black-hole solutions can be expressed in

  2. Effects of current physical activity on affective response to exercise: physical and social-cognitive mechanisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magnan, Renee E; Kwan, Bethany M; Bryan, Angela D

    2013-01-01

    Affective responses during exercise are often important determinants of exercise initiation and maintenance. Current physical activity may be one individual difference that is associated with the degree to which individuals have positive (or negative) affective experiences during exercise. The objective of this study was to explore physical and cognitive explanations of the relationship between current activity status (more versus less active) and affective response during a 30-minute bout of moderate-intensity exercise. Participants reported their current level of physical activity, exercise self-efficacy and affect during a 30-minute bout of moderate-intensity exercise. More active individuals experienced higher levels of positive affect and tranquillity and lower levels of negative affect and fatigue during exercise. Multivariate models for each affective state indicated separate processes through which physical activity may be associated with changes in affect during exercise. These models indicate that affect experienced during physical activity is related to the current activity level and these relationships can be partially explained by the physical and cognitive factors explored in this study. Recommendations for future research to elucidate whether positive affective response to physical activity improves as a function of becoming more active over time are discussed.

  3. Non-Poisson Dichotomous Noise: Higher-Order Correlation Functions and Aging

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Allegrini, Paolo; Grigolini, Paolo; Palatella, Luigi; West, Bruce J

    2004-01-01

    .... The transition of psi(tau) from the exponential to the nonexponential condition yields the breakdown of the usual factorization condition of higher-order correlation functions, as well as the birth of aging effects...

  4. Visibility-Based Hypothesis Testing Using Higher-Order Optical Interference

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jachura, Michał; Jarzyna, Marcin; Lipka, Michał; Wasilewski, Wojciech; Banaszek, Konrad

    2018-03-01

    Many quantum information protocols rely on optical interference to compare data sets with efficiency or security unattainable by classical means. Standard implementations exploit first-order coherence between signals whose preparation requires a shared phase reference. Here, we analyze and experimentally demonstrate the binary discrimination of visibility hypotheses based on higher-order interference for optical signals with a random relative phase. This provides a robust protocol implementation primitive when a phase lock is unavailable or impractical. With the primitive cost quantified by the total detected optical energy, optimal operation is typically reached in the few-photon regime.

  5. Inseparability inequalities for higher order moments for bipartite systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agarwal, G S; Biswas, Asoka

    2005-01-01

    There are several examples of bipartite entangled states of continuous variables for which the existing criteria for entanglement using the inequalities involving the second-order moments are insufficient. We derive new inequalities involving higher order correlation, for testing entanglement in non-Gaussian states. In this context, we study an example of a non-Gaussian state, which is a bipartite entangled state of the form Ψ(x a , x b ) ∝ (αx a + βx b ) e -(x a 2 +x b 2 )/2 . Our results open up an avenue to search for new inequalities to test entanglement in non-Gaussian states

  6. Occupational activity and cognitive reserve: implications in terms of prevention of cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adam S

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Stéphane Adam1, Eric Bonsang2, Catherine Grotz1, Sergio Perelman3 1Unité de Psychologie de la Sénescence, University of Liège, Belgium; 2Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; 3Center of Research in Public Economics and Population Economics, University of Liège, Belgium Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between the concept of activity (including both professional and nonprofessional and cognitive functioning among older European individuals. In this research, we used data collected during the first wave of SHARE (Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, and a measurement approach known as stochastic frontier analysis, derived from the economic literature. SHARE includes a large population (n > 25,000 geographically distributed across Europe, and analyzes several dimensions simultaneously, including physical and mental health activity. The main advantages of stochastic frontier analysis are that it allows estimation of parametric function relating cognitive scores and driving factors at the boundary and disentangles frontier noise and distance to frontier components, as well as testing the effect of potential factors on these distances simultaneously. The analysis reveals that all activities are positively related to cognitive functioning in elderly people. Our results are discussed in terms of prevention of cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s disease, and regarding the potential impact that some retirement programs might have on cognitive functioning in individuals across Europe. Keywords: cognitive aging, cognitive reserve, retirement, Alzheimer’s disease

  7. Higher order corrections to energy levels of muonic atoms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rinker, G.A. Jr.; Steffen, R.M.

    1975-08-01

    In order to facilitate the analysis of muonic x-ray spectra, the results of numerical computations of all higher order quantum electrodynamical corrections to the energy levels of muonic atoms are presented in tabular and graphical form. These corrections include the vacuum polarization corrections caused by emission and reabsorption of virtual electron pairs to all orders, including ''double-bubble'' and ''cracked-egg'' diagrams. An estimate of the Delbruecke scattering-type correction is presented. The Lamb-shift (second- and fourth-order vertex) corrections have been calculated including the correction for the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. The relativistic nuclear motion (or recoil) correction as well as the correction caused by the screening of the atomic electrons is presented in graphs. For the sake of completeness a graph of the nuclear polarization as computed on the basis of Chen's approach has been included. All calculations were made with a two-parameter Fermi distribution of the nuclear charge density. 7 figures, 23 references

  8. Examining the association between participation in late-life leisure activities and cognitive function in community-dwelling elderly Chinese in Hong Kong.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leung, Grace T Y; Fung, Ada W T; Tam, Cindy W C; Lui, Victor W C; Chiu, Helen F K; Chan, W M; Lam, Linda C W

    2010-02-01

    Growing evidence suggests that participation in late-life leisure activity may have beneficial effects on cognitive function. The objective of the study was to evaluate the association between leisure activity participation and cognitive function in an elderly population of community-dwelling Hong Kong Chinese. 512 participants were assessed in the follow-up study of a population-based community survey of the prevalence of cognitive impairment among Hong Kong Chinese aged 60 years and over. Leisure activities were classified into four categories (physical, intellectual, social and recreational). Information regarding leisure activity participation, cognitive function and other variables was collected. Multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to examine the association between leisure activity participation and cognitive function. A higher level of late-life leisure activity participation, particularly in intellectual activities, was significantly associated with better cognitive function in the elderly, as reflected by the results of the Cantonese Mini-mental State Examination (p = 0.007, 0.029 and 0.005), the Category Verbal Fluency Test (p = 0.027, 0.003 and 0.005) and digit backward span (p = 0.031, 0.002 and 0.009), as measured by the total frequency, total hours per week and total number of subtypes, respectively; the Chinese Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale (p = 0.045) and word list learning (p = 0.003), as measured by the total number of subtypes; and digit forward span (p = 0.007 and 0.015), as measured by the total hours per week and total number of subtypes, respectively. Late-life intellectual activity participation was associated with better cognitive function among community-dwelling Hong Kong elderly Chinese.

  9. Impedance Eduction in Large Ducts Containing Higher-Order Modes and Grazing Flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, Willie R.; Jones, Michael G.

    2017-01-01

    Impedance eduction test data are acquired in ducts with small and large cross-sectional areas at the NASA Langley Research Center. An improved data acquisition system in the large duct has resulted in increased control of the acoustic energy in source modes and more accurate resolution of higher-order duct modes compared to previous tests. Two impedance eduction methods that take advantage of the improved data acquisition to educe the liner impedance in grazing flow are presented. One method measures the axial propagation constant of a dominant mode in the liner test section (by implementing the Kumarsean and Tufts algorithm) and educes the impedance from an exact analytical expression. The second method solves numerically the convected Helmholtz equation and minimizes an objective function to obtain the liner impedance. The two methods are tested first on data synthesized from an exact mode solution and then on measured data. Results show that when the methods are applied to data acquired in the larger duct with a dominant higher-order mode, the same impedance spectra are educed as that obtained in the small duct where only the plane wave mode propagates. This result holds for each higher-order mode in the large duct provided that the higher-order mode is sufficiently attenuated by the liner.

  10. Enhanced Academic Performance Using a Novel Classroom Physical Activity Intervention to Increase Awareness, Attention and Self-Control: Putting Embodied Cognition into Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    McClelland, Elizabeth; Pitt, Anna; Stein, John

    2015-01-01

    When language is processed, brain activity occurs not only in the classic "language areas" such as Broca's area, but also in areas which control movement. Our systems of understanding, including higher level cognition, are rooted in bodily awareness which needs to be developed as a precursor to intellectual reasoning. Cognition is…

  11. Cognitive insight: A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Camp, L S C; Sabbe, B G C; Oldenburg, J F E

    2017-07-01

    Cognitive insight is the ability to re-evaluate thoughts and beliefs in order to make thoughtful conclusions. It differs from clinical insight, as it focuses on more general metacognitive processes. Therefore, it could be relevant to diverse disorders and non-clinical subjects. There is a growing body of research on cognitive insight in individuals with and without psychosis. This review has summarised the current state of the art regarding this topic. We conclude that while cognitive insight in its current form seems valid for use in individuals with psychosis, it is less so for individuals without psychosis. Additionally, higher cognitive insight not always leads to better psychological functioning. For instance, higher levels of self-reflection are often associated with depressive mood. We therefore recommend the sub-components of cognitive insight to be studied separately. Also, it is unclear what position cognitive insight takes within the spectrum of metacognitive processes and how it relates to other self-related concepts that have been defined previously in literature. Combining future and past research on cognitive insight and its analogue concepts will help in the formation of a uniform definition that fits all subjects discussed here. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  12. Role of physical activity in reducing cognitive decline in older Mexican-American adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ottenbacher, Allison J; Snih, Soham Al; Bindawas, Saad M; Markides, Kyriakos S; Graham, James E; Samper-Ternent, Rafael; Raji, Mukaila; Ottenbacher, Kenneth J

    2014-09-01

    The effect of physical activity on cognitive function in older adults from minority and disadvantaged populations is not well understood. This study examined the longitudinal association between physical activity and cognition in older Mexican Americans. The study methodology included a prospective cohort with longitudinal analysis of data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly. General linear mixed models were used to assess the associations and interactions between physical activity and cognitive function over 14 years. Community-based assessments were performed in participants' homes. Physical activity was recorded for 1,669 older Mexican Americans using the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly. Cognition was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and separated into memory and nonmemory components. A statistically significant positive association was observed between levels of physical activity and cognitive function after adjusting for age, sex, marital status, education, and comorbid health conditions. There was a statistically significant difference in MMSE scores over time between participants in the third (β = 0.11, standard error (SE) = 0.05) and fourth (β = 0.10, SE = 0.2) quartiles of physical activity and those in the first. The protective effect of physical activity on cognitive decline was evident for the memory component of the MMSE but not the nonmemory component after adjusting for covariates. Greater physical activity at baseline was associated with less cognitive decline over 14 years in older Mexican Americans. The reduction in cognitive decline appeared to be related to the memory components of cognitive function. © 2014, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2014, The American Geriatrics Society.

  13. Higher order effects of pseudoparticles in QCD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hietarinta, J.; Palmer, W.F.

    1977-01-01

    Gauge invariant Green's functions of quark-antiquark bilinear densities in massless, two-color QCD are studied. Nonzero-energy fermion modes, pseudoparticle solutions with topological charge absolute value ν > 1, and n-point functions with n > 2. Some general properties of the O(Dirac constant) approximation are developed, enabling one to isolate and define the terms which contribute to a general n-point function. The higher effects it is found preserve the symmetry breakdown found earlier in the 2-point function (U(2) x U(2) → SU(2) x SU(2) x U(1)). It is shown that a previous 2-point function analysis is exact to order Dirac constant

  14. Higher order modes of coupled optical fibres

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alexeyev, C N; Yavorsky, M A; Boklag, N A

    2010-01-01

    The structure of hybrid higher order modes of two coupled weakly guiding identical optical fibres is studied. On the basis of perturbation theory with degeneracy for the vector wave equation expressions for modes with azimuthal angular number l ≥ 1 are obtained that allow for the spin–orbit interaction. The spectra of polarization corrections to the scalar propagation constants are calculated in a wide range of distances between the fibres. The limiting cases of widely and closely spaced fibres are studied. The obtained results can be used for studying the tunnelling of optical vortices in directional couplers and in matters concerned with information security

  15. Self-reported physical activity is associated with cognitive function in lean, but not obese individuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galioto Wiedemann, R; Calvo, D; Meister, J; Spitznagel, M B

    2014-12-01

    Convergent evidence demonstrates that greater physical activity is associated with better cognitive functioning across many patient and healthy samples. However, this relationship has not been well examined among obese individuals and remains unclear. The present study examined the relationship between performance-based measures of attention/executive function and self-reported physical activity, as measured by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, among lean (n = 36) and obese (n = 36) college students. Lean individuals performed better than obese individuals on measures of attention/executive function. No significant differences in self-reported physical activity emerged between weight groups. Higher self-reported physical activity was related to faster reaction time in lean individuals but slower reaction time in obese individuals. Additionally, in lean individuals, higher levels of self-reported physical activity were related to more errors on a task of speeded inhibitory control. The results are consistent with previous research demonstrating that greater physical activity is associated with faster attention and executive function abilities in healthy samples and highlight the importance of examining reaction time and accuracy indices separately on these measures. The lack of association among obese individuals may be due in part to inaccurate self-report in the current study. Additionally, the cognitive consequences of obesity may outweigh the benefits of physical activity in this group. Future work should investigate these associations in obese individuals using physical activity interventions, as well as a combination of self-report and objective measures to investigate discrepancies in reporting. © 2014 The Authors. Clinical Obesity © 2014 World Obesity.

  16. Cervical vagus nerve stimulation augments spontaneous discharge in second- and higher-order sensory neurons in the rat nucleus of the solitary tract.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaumont, Eric; Campbell, Regenia P; Andresen, Michael C; Scofield, Stephanie; Singh, Krishna; Libbus, Imad; KenKnight, Bruce H; Snyder, Logan; Cantrell, Nathan

    2017-08-01

    Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) currently treats patients with drug-resistant epilepsy, depression, and heart failure. The mild intensities used in chronic VNS suggest that primary visceral afferents and central nervous system activation are involved. Here, we measured the activity of neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) in anesthetized rats using clinically styled VNS. Our chief findings indicate that VNS at threshold bradycardic intensity activated NTS neuron discharge in one-third of NTS neurons. This VNS directly activated only myelinated vagal afferents projecting to second-order NTS neurons. Most VNS-induced activity in NTS, however, was unsynchronized to vagal stimuli. Thus, VNS activated unsynchronized activity in NTS neurons that were second order to vagal afferent C-fibers as well as higher-order NTS neurons only polysynaptically activated by the vagus. Overall, cardiovascular-sensitive and -insensitive NTS neurons were similarly activated by VNS: 3/4 neurons with monosynaptic vagal A-fiber afferents, 6/42 neurons with monosynaptic vagal C-fiber afferents, and 16/21 polysynaptic NTS neurons. Provocatively, vagal A-fibers indirectly activated C-fiber neurons during VNS. Elevated spontaneous spiking was quantitatively much higher than synchronized activity and extended well into the periods of nonstimulation. Surprisingly, many polysynaptic NTS neurons responded to half the bradycardic intensity used in clinical studies, indicating that a subset of myelinated vagal afferents is sufficient to evoke VNS indirect activation. Our study uncovered a myelinated vagal afferent drive that indirectly activates NTS neurons and thus central pathways beyond NTS and support reconsideration of brain contributions of vagal afferents underpinning of therapeutic impacts. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Acute vagus nerve stimulation elevated activity in neurons located in the medial nucleus of the solitary tract. Such stimuli directly activated only myelinated vagal afferents

  17. Does higher education hone cognitive functioning and learning efficacy? Findings from a large and diverse sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerra-Carrillo, Belén; Katovich, Kiefer; Bunge, Silvia A

    2017-01-01

    Attending school is a multifaceted experience. Students are not only exposed to new knowledge but are also immersed in a structured environment in which they need to respond flexibly in accordance with changing task goals, keep relevant information in mind, and constantly tackle novel problems. To quantify the cumulative effect of this experience, we examined retrospectively and prospectively, the relationships between educational attainment and both cognitive performance and learning. We analyzed data from 196,388 subscribers to an online cognitive training program. These subscribers, ages 15-60, had completed eight behavioral assessments of executive functioning and reasoning at least once. Controlling for multiple demographic and engagement variables, we found that higher levels of education predicted better performance across the full age range, and modulated performance in some cognitive domains more than others (e.g., reasoning vs. processing speed). Differences were moderate for Bachelor's degree vs. High School (d = 0.51), and large between Ph.D. vs. Some High School (d = 0.80). Further, the ages of peak cognitive performance for each educational category closely followed the typical range of ages at graduation. This result is consistent with a cumulative effect of recent educational experiences, as well as a decrement in performance as completion of schooling becomes more distant. To begin to characterize the directionality of the relationship between educational attainment and cognitive performance, we conducted a prospective longitudinal analysis. For a subset of 69,202 subscribers who had completed 100 days of cognitive training, we tested whether the degree of novel learning was associated with their level of education. Higher educational attainment predicted bigger gains, but the differences were small (d = 0.04-0.37). Altogether, these results point to the long-lasting trace of an effect of prior cognitive challenges but suggest that new learning

  18. Nanoantennas for surface enhanced infrared spectroscopy: Effects of interaction and higher order resonant excitations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Aizpurua

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available The sensitivity in surface enhanced infrared spectroscopy (SEIRS strongly depends on where the resonant excitation is spectrally located compared to the molecular vibration that is to be enhanced. In this contribution, we study the effect of coupling in the electromagnetic properties of 2D gold nanorod arrays in the IR. We also study the SEIRS activity of higher order resonant excitations in long nanoantennas to identify polaritonic signals of a supporting SiO2 layer with nanometer thickness (3 nm on a silicon substrate.

  19. Cognitive functions, electroencephalographic and diffusion tensor imaging changes in children with active idiopathic epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    A Yassine, Imane; M Eldeeb, Waleed; A Gad, Khaled; A Ashour, Yossri; A Yassine, Inas; O Hosny, Ahmed

    2018-07-01

    Neurocognitive impairment represents one of the most common comorbidities occurring in children with idiopathic epilepsy. Diagnosis of the idiopathic form of epilepsy requires the absence of any macrostructural abnormality in the conventional MRI. Though changes can be seen at the microstructural level imaged using advanced techniques such as the Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). The aim of this work is to study the correlation between the microstructural white matter DTI findings, the electroencephalographic changes and the cognitive dysfunction in children with active idiopathic epilepsy. A comparative cross-sectional study, included 60 children with epilepsy based on the Stanford-Binet 5th Edition Scores was conducted. Patients were equally assigned to normal cognitive function or cognitive dysfunction groups. The history of the epileptic condition was gathered via personal interviews. All patients underwent brain Electroencephalography (EEG) and DTI, which was analyzed using FSL. The Fractional Anisotropy (FA) was significantly higher whereas the Mean Diffusivity (MD) was significantly lower in the normal cognitive function group than in the cognitive dysfunction group. This altered microstructure was related to the degree of the cognitive performance of the studied children with epilepsy. The microstructural alterations of the neural fibers in children with epilepsy and cognitive dysfunction were significantly related to the younger age of onset of epilepsy, the poor control of the clinical seizures, and the use of multiple antiepileptic medications. Children with epilepsy and normal cognitive functions differ in white matter integrity, measured using DTI, compared with children with cognitive dysfunction. These changes have important cognitive consequences. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Design, synthesis and nootropic activity of new analogues of sunifiram and sapunifiram, two potent cognition-enhancers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martini, Elisabetta; Salvicchi, Alberto; Ghelardini, Carla; Manetti, Dina; Dei, Silvia; Guandalini, Luca; Martelli, Cecilia; Melchiorre, Michele; Cellai, Cristina; Scapecchi, Serena; Teodori, Elisabetta; Romanelli, Maria Novella

    2009-11-01

    A series of amides and sulfonamides, structurally related to DM235 (sunifiram) and MN19 (sapunifiram), derived by ring expansion or contraction, or by inversion of the exocyclic amide function, have been synthesized and tested for cognition-enhancing activity in the mouse passive-avoidance test. Some of the compounds display good antiamnesic and procognitive activity, with higher potency than piracetam, and with a potency similar to the parent compounds.

  1. Teaching Higher Order Thinking in the Introductory MIS Course: A Model-Directed Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Shouhong; Wang, Hai

    2011-01-01

    One vision of education evolution is to change the modes of thinking of students. Critical thinking, design thinking, and system thinking are higher order thinking paradigms that are specifically pertinent to business education. A model-directed approach to teaching and learning higher order thinking is proposed. An example of application of the…

  2. Agent-based models for higher-order theory of mind

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Weerd, Harmen; Verbrugge, Rineke; Verheij, Bart; Kamiński, Bogumił; Koloch, Grzegorz

    2014-01-01

    Agent-based models are a powerful tool for explaining the emergence of social phenomena in a society. In such models, individual agents typically have little cognitive ability. In this paper, we model agents with the cognitive ability to make use of theory of mind. People use this ability to reason

  3. Higher-order threshold resummation for semi-inclusive e+e- annihilation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moch, S.; Vogt, A.

    2009-08-01

    The complete soft-enhanced and virtual-gluon contributions are derived for the quark coefficient functions in semi-inclusive e + e - annihilation to the third order in massless perturbative QCD. These terms enable us to extend the soft-gluon resummation for the fragmentation functions by two orders to the next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (N 3 LL) accuracy. The resummation exponent is found to be the same as for the structure functions in inclusive deep-inelastic scattering. This finding, together with known results on the higher-order quark form factor, facilitates the determination of all soft and virtual contributions of the fourth-order difference of the coefficient functions for these two processes. Unlike the previous (N 2 LL) order in the exponentiation, the numerical effect of the N 3 LL contributions turns out to be negligible at LEP energies. (orig.)

  4. Aberrant Intrinsic Activity and Connectivity in Cognitively Normal Parkinson's Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrington, Deborah L; Shen, Qian; Castillo, Gabriel N; Filoteo, J Vincent; Litvan, Irene; Takahashi, Colleen; French, Chelsea

    2017-01-01

    Disturbances in intrinsic activity during resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) are common in Parkinson's disease (PD), but have largely been studied in a priori defined subnetworks. The cognitive significance of abnormal intrinsic activity is also poorly understood, as are abnormalities that precede the onset of mild cognitive impairment. To address these limitations, we leveraged three different analytic approaches to identify disturbances in rsfMRI metrics in 31 cognitively normal PD patients (PD-CN) and 30 healthy adults. Subjects were screened for mild cognitive impairment using the Movement Disorders Society Task Force Level II criteria. Whole-brain data-driven analytic approaches first analyzed the amplitude of low-frequency intrinsic fluctuations (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo), a measure of local connectivity amongst functionally similar regions. We then examined if regional disturbances in these metrics altered functional connectivity with other brain regions. We also investigated if abnormal rsfMRI metrics in PD-CN were related to brain atrophy and executive, visual organization, and episodic memory functioning. The results revealed abnormally increased and decreased ALFF and ReHo in PD-CN patients within the default mode network (posterior cingulate, inferior parietal cortex, parahippocampus, entorhinal cortex), sensorimotor cortex (primary motor, pre/post-central gyrus), basal ganglia (putamen, caudate), and posterior cerebellar lobule VII, which mediates cognition. For default mode network regions, we also observed a compound profile of altered ALFF and ReHo. Most regional disturbances in ALFF and ReHo were associated with strengthened long-range interactions in PD-CN, notably with regions in different networks. Stronger long-range functional connectivity in PD-CN was also partly expanded to connections that were outside the networks of the control group. Abnormally increased activity and functional connectivity appeared to have a pathological

  5. Does Bilingualism Contribute to Cognitive Reserve? Cognitive and Neural Perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guzmán-Vélez, Edmarie; Tranel, Daniel

    2015-01-01

    Objective Cognitive reserve refers to how individuals actively utilize neural resources to cope with neuropathology in order to maintain cognitive functioning. The present review aims to critically examine the literature addressing the relationship between bilingualism and cognitive reserve in order to elucidate whether bilingualism delays the onset of cognitive and behavioral manifestations of dementia. Potential neural mechanisms behind this relationship are discussed. Method Pubmed and PsychINFO databases were searched (through January 2014) for original research articles in English or Spanish languages. The following search strings were employed as keywords for study retrieval: ‘bilingual AND reserve’, ‘reserve AND neural mechanisms’, and ‘reserve AND multilingualism’. Results Growing scientific evidence suggests that lifelong bilingualism contributes to cognitive reserve and delays the onset of Alzheimer's disease symptoms, allowing bilingual individuals affected by Alzheimer's disease to live an independent and richer life for a longer time than their monolingual counterparts. Lifelong bilingualism is related to more efficient use of brain resources that help individuals maintain cognitive functioning in the presence of neuropathology. We propose multiple putative neural mechanisms through which lifelong bilinguals cope with neuropathology. The roles of immigration status, education, age of onset, proficiency and frequency of language use on the relationship between cognitive reserve and bilingualism are considered. Conclusions Implications of these results for preventive practices and future research are discussed. PMID:24933492

  6. The cognitive-behavioral system of leadership: cognitive antecedents of active and passive leadership behaviors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dóci, Edina; Stouten, Jeroen; Hofmans, Joeri

    2015-01-01

    In the present paper, we propose a cognitive-behavioral understanding of active and passive leadership. Building on core evaluations theory, we offer a model that explains the emergence of leaders’ active and passive behaviors, thereby predicting stable, inter-individual, as well as variable, intra-individual differences in both types of leadership behavior. We explain leaders’ stable behavioral tendencies by their fundamental beliefs about themselves, others, and the world (core evaluations), while their variable, momentary behaviors are explained by the leaders’ momentary appraisals of themselves, others, and the world (specific evaluations). By introducing interactions between the situation the leader enters, the leader’s beliefs, appraisals, and behavior, we propose a comprehensive system of cognitive mechanisms that underlie active and passive leadership behavior. PMID:26441721

  7. Cognitive reserve and Aβ1-42 in mild cognitive impairment (Argentina-Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harris P

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Paula Harris,1,2 Marcos Fernandez Suarez,1 Ezequiel I Surace,1,2 Patricio Chrem Méndez,1 María Eugenia Martín,1 María Florencia Clarens,1 Fernanda Tapajóz,1,2 Maria Julieta Russo,1 Jorge Campos,1 Salvador M Guinjoan,1,2 Gustavo Sevlever,1 Ricardo F Allegri1,2 1Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas, 2Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive reserve and concentration of Aβ1-42 in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF of patients with mild cognitive impairment, those with Alzheimer’s disease, and in control subjects. Methods: Thirty-three participants from the Argentina-Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database completed a cognitive battery, the Cognitive Reserve Questionnaire (CRQ, and an Argentinian accentuation reading test (TAP-BA as a measure of premorbid intelligence, and underwent lumbar puncture for CSF biomarker quantification. Results: The CRQ significantly correlated with TAP-BA, education, and Aβ1-42. When considering Aβ1-42 levels, significant differences were found in CRQ scores; higher levels of CSF Aβ1-42 were associated with higher CRQ scores. Conclusion: Reduced Aβ1-42 in CSF is considered as evidence of amyloid deposition in the brain. Previous results suggest that individuals with higher education, higher occupational attainment, and participation in leisure activities (cognitive reserve have a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Our results support the notion that enhanced neural activity has a protective role in mild cognitive impairment, as evidenced by higher CSF Aβ1-42 levels in individuals with more cognitive reserve. Keywords: amyloid, biomarkers, cerebrospinal fluid, Alzheimer’s disease 

  8. Activational effects of sex hormones on cognition in men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ulubaev, A; Lee, D M; Purandare, N; Pendleton, N; Wu, F C W

    2009-11-01

    Changing world demographic patterns, such as the increasing number of older people and the growing prevalence of cognitive impairment, present serious obstacles to preserving the quality of life and productivity of individuals. The severity of dementia varies from subclinical, mild cognitive impairment to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. In normally ageing men, these age-related cognitive declines are accompanied by gradual but marked decreases in androgen levels and changes in other hormone profiles. While developmental effects of sex hormones on cognition in the pre- and early postnatal period have been demonstrated, their activational effects in later life are still a focus of contemporary research. Although there is a plethora of published research on the topic, results have been inconsistent with different studies reporting positive, negative or no effects of sex hormones on various aspects of mental agility. This review summarizes the evidence supporting the biological plausibility of the activational effects of sex hormones upon cognition and describes the mechanisms of their actions. It offers a comprehensive summary of the studies of the effects of sex hormones on fluid intelligence in men utilizing elements from the Cochrane Collaboration Guidelines for Reviews. The results of both observational (cross-sectional and longitudinal) and interventional studies published to date are collated in table form and further discussed in the text. Factors contributing to the difficulties in understanding the effects of sex hormones on cognition are also examined. Although there is convincing evidence that steroid sex hormones play an organizational role in brain development in men, the evidence for activational effects of sex hormones affecting cognition in healthy men throughout adult life remains inconsistent. To address this issue, a new multifactorial approach is proposed which takes into account the status of other elements of the sex hormones axis

  9. Laboratory Activity Worksheet to Train High Order Thinking Skill of Student on Surface Chemistry Lecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yonata, B.; Nasrudin, H.

    2018-01-01

    A worksheet has to be a set with activity which is help students to arrange their own experiments. For this reason, this research is focused on how to train students’ higher order thinking skills in laboratory activity by developing laboratory activity worksheet on surface chemistry lecture. To ensure that the laboratory activity worksheet already contains aspects of the higher order thinking skill, it requires theoretical and empirical validation. From the data analysis results, it shows that the developed worksheet worth to use. The worksheet is worthy of theoretical and empirical feasibility. This conclusion is based on the findings: 1) Assessment from the validators about the theoretical feasibility aspects in the category is very feasible with an assessment range of 95.24% to 97.92%. 2) students’ higher thinking skill from N Gain values ranges from 0.50 (enough) to 1.00 (high) so it can be concluded that the laboratory activity worksheet on surface chemistry lecture is empirical in terms of worth. The empirical feasibility is supported by the responses of the students in very reasonable categories. It is expected that the laboratory activity worksheet on surface chemistry lecture can train students’ high order thinking skills for students who program surface chemistry lecture.

  10. Equivalence of two Fixed-Point Semantics for Definitional Higher-Order Logic Programs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angelos Charalambidis

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Two distinct research approaches have been proposed for assigning a purely extensional semantics to higher-order logic programming. The former approach uses classical domain theoretic tools while the latter builds on a fixed-point construction defined on a syntactic instantiation of the source program. The relationships between these two approaches had not been investigated until now. In this paper we demonstrate that for a very broad class of programs, namely the class of definitional programs introduced by W. W. Wadge, the two approaches coincide (with respect to ground atoms that involve symbols of the program. On the other hand, we argue that if existential higher-order variables are allowed to appear in the bodies of program rules, the two approaches are in general different. The results of the paper contribute to a better understanding of the semantics of higher-order logic programming.

  11. Context-Specific Associations of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior With Cognition in Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aggio, Daniel; Smith, Lee; Fisher, Abigail; Hamer, Mark

    2016-06-15

    In the present study, we investigated how overall and specific domains of physical activity and sedentary behavior at the age of 7 years were associated with cognition at the age of 11 years in 8,462 children from the Millennium Cohort Study. Data were collected from 2001 to 2013. Participation in domains of physical activity and sedentary behavior at 7 years of age were reported. Activity levels were also measured objectively. Cognition was assessed using the British Ability Scales. General linear models were used to assess longitudinal associations of physical activity and sedentary behavior, measured both objectively and via self-report, with cognition. Analyses were adjusted for prespecified covariates. Sports/physical activity club attendance (B = 0.6, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.2, 1.1), doing homework (B = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.0, 0.9), and objectively measured sedentary time (B = 0.8, 95% CI: 0.1, 1.4) at age 7 years were positively associated with cognition at age 11 years in final the models. Television viewing was negatively associated with cognition (B = -1.7, 95% CI: -2.4, -1.0), although the association was attenuated to the null after adjustments for baseline cognition. Objectively measured light physical activity was inversely associated with cognition (B = -0.7, 95% CI: -1.3, -0.1). Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was also inversely associated with cognition in girls only (B = -1.1, 95% CI: -2.0, -0.3). Associations of physical activity and sedentary behavior with cognition appear to be context-specific in young people. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

  12. Physical activity and depression in older adults with and without cognitive impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuenyongchaiwat, Kornanong; Pongpanit, Khajonsak; Hanmanop, Somrudee

    2018-01-01

    Low physical activity and depression may be related to cognitive impairment in the elderly. To determine depression and physical activity (PA) among older adults with and without cognitive impairment. 156 older adults, both males and females, aged ≥60 years, were asked to complete the Thai Mini-Mental State Examination (Thai-MMSE), a global cognitive impairment screening tool. Seventy-eight older adults with cognitive impairment and 78 older adults without cognitive impairment were then separately administered two questionnaires (i.e., the Thai Geriatric Depression Scale; TGDS and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire; GPAQ). Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the risk of developing cognitive impairment in the groups of older individuals with and without cognitive impairment. A cross-sectional study of elderly with a mean age of 74.47 ± 8.14 years was conducted. There were significant differences on the depression scale and in PA between older adults with and without cognitive impairment. Further, participants with low PA and high level of depressive symptoms had an increased risk of cognitive impairment (Odds ratio = 4.808 and 3.298, respectively). Significant differences were noted in PA and on depression scales between older adults with and without cognitive impairment. Therefore, increased PA and decreased depressive symptoms (i.e., having psychological support) are suggested to reduce the risks of cognitive impairment in older adults.

  13. Cognitive function and the agreement between self-reported and accelerometer-accessed physical activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herbolsheimer, Florian; Riepe, Matthias W; Peter, Richard

    2018-02-21

    Numerous studies have reported weak or moderate correlations between self-reported and accelerometer-assessed physical activity. One explanation is that self-reported physical activity might be biased by demographic, cognitive or other factors. Cognitive function is one factor that could be associated with either overreporting or underreporting of daily physical activity. Difficulties in remembering past physical activities might result in recall bias. Thus, the current study examines whether the cognitive function is associated with differences between self-reported and accelerometer-assessed physical activity. Cross-sectional data from the population-based Activity and Function in the Elderly in Ulm study (ActiFE) were used. A total of 1172 community-dwelling older adults (aged 65-90 years) wore a uniaxial accelerometer (activPAL unit) for a week. Additionally, self-reported physical activity was assessed using the LASA Physical Activity Questionnaire (LAPAQ). Cognitive function was measured with four items (immediate memory, delayed memory, recognition memory, and semantic fluency) from the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Total Score (CERAD-TS). Mean differences of self-reported and accelerometer-assessed physical activity (MPA) were associated with cognitive function in men (r s  = -.12, p = .002) but not in women. Sex-stratified multiple linear regression analyses showed that MPA declined with high cognitive function in men (β = -.13; p = .015). Results suggest that self-reported physical activity should be interpreted with caution in older populations, as cognitive function was one factor that explained the differences between objective and subjective physical activity measurements.

  14. Geometrical optics in general relativity: A study of the higher order corrections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anile, A.M.

    1976-01-01

    The higher order corrections to geometrical optics are studied in general relativity for an electromagnetic test wave. An explicit expression is found for the average energy--momentum tensor which takes into account the first-order corrections. Finally the first-order corrections to the well-known area-intensity law of geometrical optics are derived

  15. Relationships between socio-clinico-demographic factors and global cognitive function in the oldest old living in the Tokyo Metropolitan area: Reanalysis of the Tokyo Oldest Old Survey on Total Health (TOOTH).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eguchi, Yoko; Tasato, Kumiko; Nakajima, Shinichiro; Noda, Yoshihiro; Tsugawa, Sakiko; Shinagawa, Shunichiro; Niimura, Hidehito; Hirose, Nobuyoshi; Arai, Yasumichi; Mimura, Masaru

    2018-03-07

    Despite a steady increase in life expectancy, a few studies have investigated cross-sectional correlates and longitudinal predictors of cognitive function, a core domain of the successful aging, among socio-clinico-demographic factors in the oldest-old exclusively. The aims of this study were to examine socio-clinico-demographic characteristics associated with global cognition and its changes in the oldest-old. We reanalyzed a dataset of cognitively preserved community-dwelling subjects aged 85 years and older in the Tokyo Oldest Old Survey on Total Health, a 6-year longitudinal observational study. This study consisted of (1) baseline cross-sectional analyses examining correlates of global cognition (n = 248) among socio-clinico-demographic factors and (2) longitudinal analyses examining baseline predictors for changes of global cognition in 3-year follow-up (n = 195). The Mini-Mental State Examination was used as a screening test to assess global cognition. At baseline, higher weights were related to higher cognitive function in the oldest-old. The baseline predictors of global cognitive decline in 3-year follow-up were higher global cognition, shorter education period, and lower sociocultural activities and lower instrumental activity of daily living, in this order. The present study suggests that it is crucial to attain higher education during early life and avoid leanness or obesity, participate in sociocultural cognitive activities during late life, and maintain instrumental activity of daily living to preserve optimal cognitive function in the oldest-old, which will facilitate developing prevention strategies for cognitive decline and promoting successful aging in this increasing population. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  16. Contribution of higher order terms in the reductive perturbation theory, 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ichikawa, Y.H.; Mitsuhashi, Teruo; Konno, Kimiaki.

    1977-01-01

    Contribution of higher order terms in the reductive perturbation theory has been investigated for nonlinear propagation of strongly dispersive ion plasma wave. The basic set of fluid equation is reduced to a coupled set of the nonlinear Schroedinger equation for the first order perturbed potential and a linear inhomogeneous equation for the second order perturbed potential. A steady state solution of the coupled set of equations has been solved analytically in the asymptotic limit of small wave number. (auth.)

  17. Dual-Task Performance: Influence of Frailty, Level of Physical Activity, and Cognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giusti Rossi, Paulo; Pires de Andrade, Larissa; Hotta Ansai, Juliana; Silva Farche, Ana Claudia; Carnaz, Leticia; Dalpubel, Daniela; Ferriolli, Eduardo; Assis Carvalho Vale, Francisco; de Medeiros Takahashi, Anielle Cristhine

    2018-03-08

    Cognition and level of physical activity have been associated with frailty syndrome. The development of tools that assess deficits related to physical and cognitive frailties simultaneously are of common interest. However, little is known about how much these aspects influence the performance of dual-task tests. Our aims were (a) to verify the influence of frailty syndrome and objectively measured physical activity and cognition on the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and Timed Up and Go associated with dual-task (TUG-DT) performances; and (b) to compare TUG and TUG-DT performances between older adults who develop frailty syndrome. Sixty-four community-dwelling older adults were divided into frail, prefrail, and nonfrail groups, according to frailty phenotype. Assessments included anamnesis, screening of frailty syndrome, cognitive assessment (Addenbrooke's cognitive examination), placement of a triaxial accelerometer to assess level of physical activity, and TUG and TUG-DT (TUG associated with a motor-cognitive task of calling a phone number) performances. After 7 days, the accelerometer was removed. A multiple linear regression was applied to identify which independent variables could explain performances in the TUG and TUG-DT. Subsequently, the analysis of covariance test, adjusted for age, cognition, and level of physical activity covariates, was used to compare test performances. There were no differences in cognition between groups. Significant differences in the level of physical activity were found in the frail group. Compared with the frail group, the nonfrail group required less time and fewer steps to complete the TUG. Regarding the TUG-DT, cognition and age influenced the time spent and number of steps, respectively; however, no differences were found between groups. Frail older adults presented worse performance in the TUG when compared with nonfrail older adults. The dual-task test does not differentiate older adults with frailty syndrome, regardless of

  18. Advanced Analytic Cognition: Thinking Dispositions

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-01

    example, cognitive ability, which is a generalized predictor of learning and performance effectiveness and has a high genetic component, is very...CA, 2006. Peirce, W. Designing Rubrics for Assessing Higher Order Thinking. Available: http://academic.pgcc.edu/~wpeirce/MCCCTR

  19. The development of second-order social cognition and its relation with complex language understanding and working memory

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Arslan, Burcu; Hohenberger, Annette; Verbrugge, Rineke

    2012-01-01

    In this study, the development of second-order social cognition and its possible relationship with language and memory were investigated. For this reason two second-order false belief tasks (FBT_2), a short term memory task (WST), a complex working memory task (LST), a linguistic perspective-taking

  20. Physical Activity Prevents Progression for Cognitive Impairment and Vascular Dementia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Verdelho, Ana; Madureira, Sofia; Ferro, José M

    2012-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We aimed to study if physical activity could interfere with progression for cognitive impairment and dementia in older people with white matter changes living independently. METHODS: The LADIS (Leukoaraiosis and Disability) prospective multinational European study evaluates....... Physical activity was recorded during the clinical interview. MRI was performed at entry and at the end of the study. RESULTS: Six hundred thirty-nine subjects were included (74.1±5 years old, 55% women, 9.6±3.8 years of schooling, 64% physically active). At the end of follow-up, 90 patients had dementia...... (vascular dementia, 54; Alzheimer disease with vascular component, 34; frontotemporal dementia, 2), and 147 had cognitive impairment not dementia. Using Cox regression analysis, physical activity reduced the risk of cognitive impairment (dementia and not dementia: β=-0.45, P=0.002; hazard ratio, 0.64; 95...

  1. Does Naming Therapy Make Ordering in a Restaurant Easier? Dynamics of Co-Occurring Change in Cognitive-Linguistic and Functional Communication Skills in Aphasia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Jeffrey P.; Villard, Sarah; Kiran, Swathi

    2017-01-01

    Purpose This study was conducted to investigate the static and dynamic relationships between impairment-level cognitive-linguistic abilities and activity-level functional communication skills in persons with aphasia (PWA). Method In Experiment 1, a battery of standardized assessments was administered to a group of PWA (N = 72) to examine associations between cognitive-linguistic ability and functional communication at a single time point. In Experiment 2, impairment-based treatment was administered to a subset of PWA from Experiment 1 (n = 39) in order to examine associations between change in cognitive-linguistic ability and change in function and associations at a single time point. Results In both experiments, numerous significant associations were found between scores on tests of cognitive-linguistic ability and a test of functional communication at a single time point. In Experiment 2, significant treatment-induced gains were seen on both types of measures in participants with more severe aphasia, yet cognitive-linguistic change scores were not significantly correlated with functional communication change scores. Conclusions At a single time point, cognitive-linguistic and functional communication abilities are associated in PWA. However, although changes on standardized assessments reflecting improvements in both types of skills can occur following an impairment-based therapy, these changes may not be significantly associated with each other. PMID:28196373

  2. Physical activity and cognitive-health content in top-circulating magazines, 2006-2008.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, Anna E; Corwin, Sara J; Friedman, Daniela B; Laditka, Sarah B; Colabianchi, Natalie; Montgomery, Kara M

    2011-04-01

    Physical activity may promote cognitive health in older adults. Popular media play an important role in preventive health communication. This study examined articles discussing associations between physical activity and cognitive health in top-circulating magazines targeting older adults. 42,753 pages of magazines published from 2006 to 2008 were reviewed; 26 articles met inclusion criteria. Explanations regarding the link between physical activity and cognitive health were provided in 57.7% of articles. These explanations were generally consistent with empirical evidence; however, few articles included empirical evidence. Physical activity recommendations were presented in 80.8% of articles; a wide range was recommended (90-300 min of physical activity per wk). Socioeconomic status and education level were not mentioned in the text. Results suggest an opportunity for greater coverage regarding the role of physical activity in promoting cognitive health in popular media. Magazine content would benefit from including more empirical evidence, culturally sensitive content, and physical activity recommendations that are consistent with U.S. guidelines.

  3. Active videogames and cognition. Educational proposals in adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alberto Ruiz Ariza

    2018-02-01

    Therefore, the objective of this work is to review and analyse the results of the most current research based on the influence of active video games on cognition in adolescents. PubMed, Web of Science, SportDiscus and ProQuest databases were revised, over the past 10 years, which is the time limit set for this analysis. Six studies were included. All showed a positive association in these variables and only three of the studies included cofounders. These results suggest that promoting programs through active video games could have great potential for cognitive and academic development at this educative stage. In addition, they would allow the development of healthy habits of physical activity, the increase in student motivation and a better socialisation.

  4. Oscillation of certain higher-order neutral partial functional differential equations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Wei Nian; Sheng, Weihong

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we study the oscillation of certain higher-order neutral partial functional differential equations with the Robin boundary conditions. Some oscillation criteria are established. Two examples are given to illustrate the main results in the end of this paper.

  5. Numerical methods of higher order of accuracy for incompressible flows

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kozel, K.; Louda, Petr; Příhoda, Jaromír

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 80, č. 8 (2010), s. 1734-1745 ISSN 0378-4754 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20760514 Keywords : higher order methods * upwind methods * backward-facing step Subject RIV: BK - Fluid Dynamics Impact factor: 0.812, year: 2010

  6. Higher order thinking skills competencies required by outcomes-based education from learners

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MM Chabeli

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available Outcomes-Based Education (OBE brought about a significant paradigm shift in the education and training of learners in South Africa. OBE requires a shift from focusing on the teacher input (instruction offerings or syllabuses expressed in terms of content, to focusing on learner outcomes. OBE is moving away from ‘transmission’ models to constructivistic, learner-centered models that put emphasis on learning as an active process (Nieburh, 1996:30. Teachers act as facilitators and mediators of learning (Norms and Standards, Government Gazette vol 415, no 20844 of 2000. Facilitators are responsible to create the environment that is conducive for learners to construct their own knowledge, skills and values through interaction (Peters, 2000. The first critical cross-field outcome accepted by the South African Qualification Framework (SAQA is that learners should be able to identify and solve problems by using critical and creative thinking skills. This paper seeks to explore some higher order thinking skills competencies required by OBE from learners such as critical thinking, reflective thinking, creative thinking, dialogic / dialectic thinking, decision making, problem solving and emotional intelligence and their implications in facilitating teaching and learning from the theoretical perspective. The philosophical underpinning of these higher order thinking skills is described to give direction to the study. It is recommended that a study focusing on the assessment of these intellectual concepts be made. The study may be qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods in nature (Creswell 2005.

  7. Higher order thinking skills competencies required by outcomes-based education from learners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chabeli, M M

    2006-08-01

    Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) brought about a significant paradigm shift in the education and training of learners in South Africa. OBE requires a shift from focusing on the teacher input (instruction offerings or syllabuses expressed in terms of content), to focusing on learner outcomes. OBE is moving away from 'transmission' models to constructivistic, learner-centered models that put emphasis on learning as an active process (Nieburh, 1996:30). Teachers act as facilitators and mediators of learning (Norms and Standards, Government Gazette vol 415, no 20844 of 2000). Facilitators are responsible to create the environment that is conducive for learners to construct their own knowledge, skills and values through interaction (Peters, 2000). The first critical cross-field outcome accepted by the South African Qualification Framework (SAQA) is that learners should be able to identify and solve problems by using critical and creative thinking skills. This paper seeks to explore some higher order thinking skills competencies required by OBE from learners such as critical thinking, reflective thinking, creative thinking, dialogic / dialectic thinking, decision making, problem solving and emotional intelligence and their implications in facilitating teaching and learning from the theoretical perspective. The philosophical underpinning of these higher order thinking skills is described to give direction to the study. It is recommended that a study focusing on the assessment of these intellectual concepts be made. The study may be qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods in nature (Creswell 2005).

  8. Effect of Physical Activity on Cognitive Flexibility and Perfectionism in the Elderly

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marziye Entezari

    2018-01-01

    Conclusion Our findings indicate that physical activity can help improve cognitive flexibility and perfectionism in older adults. Also, an active lifestyle is recommended for older adults to enhance their cognitive factors.

  9. Evidence for higher-order effects in L-shell ionization by proton impact

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sarkadi, L.; Mukoyama, T.

    1988-01-01

    It is widely believed that higher order processes of ion-atom collisions are negligible in cases of light projectiles like proton. Recent refined experiments tried to prove that the existence of such effects were comperable with the experimental errors, and they showed the unexpected relative importance of the higher order processes. Thus a new coupled channel calculation was performed for proton-gold atom collision in the energy range of 0.15-3.0 MeV, including dynamical subshell coupling effects. The results show that the deviations from the first order cross sections reach 40% at low collision energy. This result made necessary to correct the calculations of L-shell X-ray production cross sections. (D.G.) 6 refs

  10. Is Cognitive Activity of Speech Based On Statistical Independence?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Feng, Ling; Hansen, Lars Kai

    2008-01-01

    This paper explores the generality of COgnitive Component Analysis (COCA), which is defined as the process of unsupervised grouping of data such that the ensuing group structure is well-aligned with that resulting from human cognitive activity. The hypothesis of {COCA} is ecological......: the essentially independent features in a context defined ensemble can be efficiently coded using a sparse independent component representation. Our devised protocol aims at comparing the performance of supervised learning (invoking cognitive activity) and unsupervised learning (statistical regularities) based...... on similar representations, and the only difference lies in the human inferred labels. Inspired by the previous research on COCA, we introduce a new pair of models, which directly employ the independent hypothesis. Statistical regularities are revealed at multiple time scales on phoneme, gender, age...

  11. Transverse vibrations of shear-deformable beams using a general higher order theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosmatka, J. B.

    1993-01-01

    A general higher order theory is developed to study the static and vibrational behavior of beam structures having an arbitrary cross section that utilizes both out-of-plane shear-dependent warping and in-plane (anticlastic) deformations. The equations of motion are derived via Hamilton's principle, where the full 3D constitutive relations are used. A simplified version of the general higher-order theory is also presented for beams having an arbitrary cross section that includes out-of-plane shear deformation but assumes that stresses within the cross section and in-plane deformations are negligible. This simplified model, which is accurate for long to moderately short wavelengths, offers substantial improvements over existing higher order theories that are limited to beams with thin rectangular cross sections. The current approach will be very useful in the study of thin-wall closed-cell beams such as airfoil-type sections where the magnitude of shear-related cross-sectional warping is significant.

  12. Practical Programming with Higher-Order Encodings and Dependent Types

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Poswolsky, Adam; Schürmann, Carsten

    2008-01-01

    , tedious, and error-prone. In this paper, we describe the underlying calculus of Delphin. Delphin is a fully implemented functional-programming language supporting reasoning over higher-order encodings and dependent types, while maintaining the benefits of HOAS. More specifically, just as representations...... for instantiation from those that will remain uninstantiated, utilizing a variation of Miller and Tiu’s ∇-quantifier [1]....

  13. Higher education delays and shortens cognitive impairment: a multistate life table analysis of the US Health and Retirement Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reuser, Mieke; Willekens, Frans J; Bonneux, Luc

    2011-05-01

    Improved health may extend or shorten the duration of cognitive impairment by postponing incidence or death. We assess the duration of cognitive impairment in the US Health and Retirement Study (1992-2004) by self reported BMI, smoking and levels of education in men and women and three ethnic groups. We define multistate life tables by the transition rates to cognitive impairment, recovery and death and estimate Cox proportional hazard ratios for the studied determinants. 95% confidence intervals are obtained by bootstrapping. 55 year old white men and women expect to live 25.4 and 30.0 years, of which 1.7 [95% confidence intervals 1.5; 1.9] years and 2.7 [2.4; 2.9] years with cognitive impairment. Both black men and women live 3.7 [2.9; 4.5] years longer with cognitive impairment than whites, Hispanic men and women 3.2 [1.9; 4.6] and 5.8 [4.2; 7.5] years. BMI makes no difference. Smoking decreases the duration of cognitive impairment with 0.8 [0.4; 1.3] years by high mortality. Highly educated men and women live longer, but 1.6 years [1.1; 2.2] and 1.9 years [1.6; 2.6] shorter with cognitive impairment than lowly educated men and women. The effect of education is more pronounced among ethnic minorities. Higher life expectancy goes together with a longer period of cognitive impairment, but not for higher levels of education: that extends life in good cognitive health but shortens the period of cognitive impairment. The increased duration of cognitive impairment in minority ethnic groups needs further study, also in Europe.

  14. Symmetries, invariants and generating functions: higher-order statistics of biased tracers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munshi, Dipak

    2018-01-01

    Gravitationally collapsed objects are known to be biased tracers of an underlying density contrast. Using symmetry arguments, generalised biasing schemes have recently been developed to relate the halo density contrast δh with the underlying density contrast δ, divergence of velocity θ and their higher-order derivatives. This is done by constructing invariants such as s, t, ψ,η. We show how the generating function formalism in Eulerian standard perturbation theory (SPT) can be used to show that many of the additional terms based on extended Galilean and Lifshitz symmetry actually do not make any contribution to the higher-order statistics of biased tracers. Other terms can also be drastically simplified allowing us to write the vertices associated with δh in terms of the vertices of δ and θ, the higher-order derivatives and the bias coefficients. We also compute the cumulant correlators (CCs) for two different tracer populations. These perturbative results are valid for tree-level contributions but at an arbitrary order. We also take into account the stochastic nature bias in our analysis. Extending previous results of a local polynomial model of bias, we express the one-point cumulants Script SN and their two-point counterparts, the CCs i.e. Script Cpq, of biased tracers in terms of that of their underlying density contrast counterparts. As a by-product of our calculation we also discuss the results using approximations based on Lagrangian perturbation theory (LPT).

  15. Modeling 3D PCMI using the Extended Finite Element Method with higher order elements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jiang, W. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Spencer, Benjamin W. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2017-03-31

    This report documents the recent development to enable XFEM to work with higher order elements. It also demonstrates the application of higher order (quadratic) elements to both 2D and 3D models of PCMI problems, where discrete fractures in the fuel are represented using XFEM. The modeling results demonstrate the ability of the higher order XFEM to accurately capture the effects of a crack on the response in the vicinity of the intersecting surfaces of cracked fuel and cladding, as well as represent smooth responses in the regions away from the crack.

  16. A higher-order tensor vessel tractography for segmentation of vascular structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cetin, Suheyla; Unal, Gozde

    2015-10-01

    A new vascular structure segmentation method, which is based on a cylindrical flux-based higher order tensor (HOT), is presented. On a vessel structure, the HOT naturally models branching points, which create challenges for vessel segmentation algorithms. In a general linear HOT model embedded in 3D, one has to work with an even order tensor due to an enforced antipodal-symmetry on the unit sphere. However, in scenarios such as in a bifurcation, the antipodally-symmetric tensor embedded in 3D will not be useful. In order to overcome that limitation, we embed the tensor in 4D and obtain a structure that can model asymmetric junction scenarios. During construction of a higher order tensor (e.g. third or fourth order) in 4D, the orientation vectors lie on the unit 3-sphere, in contrast to the unit 2-sphere in 3D tensor modeling. This 4D tensor is exploited in a seed-based vessel segmentation algorithm, where the principal directions of the 4D HOT is obtained by decomposition, and used in a HOT tractography approach. We demonstrate quantitative validation of the proposed algorithm on both synthetic complex tubular structures as well as real cerebral vasculature in Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) datasets and coronary arteries from Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA) volumes.

  17. Developing Instructional Design to Improve Mathematical Higher Order Thinking Skills of Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Apino, E.; Retnawati, H.

    2017-02-01

    This study aimed to describe the instructional design to improve the Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) of students in learning mathematics. This research is design research involving teachers and students of class X MIPA 1 MAN Yigyakarta III, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Data collected through focus group discussions and tests. Data analyzed by quantitative descriptive. The results showed that the instructional design developed is effective to improving students’ HOTS in learning mathematics. Instructional design developed generally include three main components: (1) involve students in the activities non-routine problem solving; (2) facilitating students to develop the ability to analyze and evaluate (critical thinking) and the ability to create (creative thinking); and (3) encourage students to construct their own knowledge.

  18. Construction of special eye models for investigation of chromatic and higher-order aberrations of eyes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhai, Yi; Wang, Yan; Wang, Zhaoqi; Liu, Yongji; Zhang, Lin; He, Yuanqing; Chang, Shengjiang

    2014-01-01

    An achromatic element eliminating only longitudinal chromatic aberration (LCA) while maintaining transverse chromatic aberration (TCA) is established for the eye model, which involves the angle formed by the visual and optical axis. To investigate the impacts of higher-order aberrations on vision, the actual data of higher-order aberrations of human eyes with three typical levels are introduced into the eye model along visual axis. Moreover, three kinds of individual eye models are established to investigate the impacts of higher-order aberrations, chromatic aberration (LCA+TCA), LCA and TCA on vision under the photopic condition, respectively. Results show that for most human eyes, the impact of chromatic aberration on vision is much stronger than that of higher-order aberrations, and the impact of LCA in chromatic aberration dominates. The impact of TCA is approximately equal to that of normal level higher-order aberrations and it can be ignored when LCA exists.

  19. Collocated electrodynamic FDTD schemes using overlapping Yee grids and higher-order Hodge duals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deimert, C.; Potter, M. E.; Okoniewski, M.

    2016-12-01

    The collocated Lebedev grid has previously been proposed as an alternative to the Yee grid for electromagnetic finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations. While it performs better in anisotropic media, it performs poorly in isotropic media because it is equivalent to four overlapping, uncoupled Yee grids. We propose to couple the four Yee grids and fix the Lebedev method using discrete exterior calculus (DEC) with higher-order Hodge duals. We find that higher-order Hodge duals do improve the performance of the Lebedev grid, but they also improve the Yee grid by a similar amount. The effectiveness of coupling overlapping Yee grids with a higher-order Hodge dual is thus questionable. However, the theoretical foundations developed to derive these methods may be of interest in other problems.

  20. Multiple effects of physical activity on molecular and cognitive signs of brain aging: can exercise slow neurodegeneration and delay Alzheimer's disease?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, B M; Peiffer, J J; Martins, R N

    2013-08-01

    Western countries are experiencing aging populations and increased longevity; thus, the incidence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in these countries is projected to soar. In the absence of a therapeutic drug, non-pharmacological preventative approaches are being investigated. One of these approaches is regular participation in physical activity or exercise. This paper reviews studies that have explored the relationship between physical activity and cognitive function, cognitive decline, AD/dementia risk and AD-associated biomarkers and processes. There is now strong evidence that links regular physical activity or exercise to higher cognitive function, decreased cognitive decline and reduced risk of AD or dementia. Nevertheless, these associations require further investigation, more specifically with interventional studies that include long follow-up periods. In particular, relatively little is known about the underlying mechanism(s) of the associations between physical activity and AD neuropathology; clearly this is an area in need of further research, particularly in human populations. Although benefits of physical activity or exercise are clearly recognised, there is a need to clarify how much physical activity provides the greatest benefit and also whether people of different genotypes require tailored exercise regimes.

  1. ANOVA-HDMR structure of the higher order nodal diffusion solution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bokov, P. M.; Prinsloo, R. H.; Tomasevic, D. I.

    2013-01-01

    Nodal diffusion methods still represent a standard in global reactor calculations, but employ some ad-hoc approximations (such as the quadratic leakage approximation) which limit their accuracy in cases where reference quality solutions are sought. In this work we solve the nodal diffusion equations utilizing the so-called higher-order nodal methods to generate reference quality solutions and to decompose the obtained solutions via a technique known as High Dimensional Model Representation (HDMR). This representation and associated decomposition of the solution provides a new formulation of the transverse leakage term. The HDMR structure is investigated via the technique of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), which indicates why the existing class of transversely-integrated nodal methods prove to be so successful. Furthermore, the analysis leads to a potential solution method for generating reference quality solutions at a much reduced calculational cost, by applying the ANOVA technique to the full higher order solution. (authors)

  2. Cognitive Reserve and Social Capital Accrued in Early and Midlife Moderate the Relation of Psychological Stress to Cognitive Performance in Old Age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ihle, Andreas; Oris, Michel; Sauter, Julia; Rimmele, Ulrike; Kliegel, Matthias

    2018-06-05

    The present study set out to investigate the relation of psychological stress to cognitive performance and its interplay with key life course markers of cognitive reserve and social capital in a large sample of older adults. We assessed cognitive performance (verbal abilities and processing speed) and psychological stress in 2,812 older adults. The Participants reported information on education, occupation, leisure activities, family, and close friends. Greater psychological stress was significantly related to lower performance in verbal abilities and processing speed. Moderation analyses suggested that the relations of psychological stress to cognitive performance were reduced in individuals with higher education, a higher cognitive level of the first profession practiced after education, a larger number of midlife leisure activities, a larger number of significant family members, and a larger number of close friends. Cognitive reserve and social capital accrued in early and midlife may reduce the detrimental influences of psychological stress on cognitive functioning in old age. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  3. Time-discrete higher order ALE formulations: a priori error analysis

    KAUST Repository

    Bonito, Andrea

    2013-03-16

    We derive optimal a priori error estimates for discontinuous Galerkin (dG) time discrete schemes of any order applied to an advection-diffusion model defined on moving domains and written in the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) framework. Our estimates hold without any restrictions on the time steps for dG with exact integration or Reynolds\\' quadrature. They involve a mild restriction on the time steps for the practical Runge-Kutta-Radau methods of any order. The key ingredients are the stability results shown earlier in Bonito et al. (Time-discrete higher order ALE formulations: stability, 2013) along with a novel ALE projection. Numerical experiments illustrate and complement our theoretical results. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

  4. Cognitive Reserve Scale and ageing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irene León

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The construct of cognitive reserve attempts to explain why some individuals with brain impairment, and some people during normal ageing, can solve cognitive tasks better than expected. This study aimed to estimate cognitive reserve in a healthy sample of people aged 65 years and over, with special attention to its influence on cognitive performance. For this purpose, it used the Cognitive Reserve Scale (CRS and a neuropsychological battery that included tests of attention and memory. The results revealed that women obtained higher total CRS raw scores than men. Moreover, the CRS predicted the learning curve, short-term and long-term memory, but not attentional and working memory performance. Thus, the CRS offers a new proxy of cognitive reserve based on cognitively stimulating activities performed by healthy elderly people. Following an active lifestyle throughout life was associated with better intellectual performance and positive effects on relevant aspects of quality of life.

  5. Brain activation patterns during memory of cognitive agency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vinogradov, Sophia; Luks, Tracy L; Simpson, Gregory V; Schulman, Brian J; Glenn, Shenly; Wong, Amy E

    2006-06-01

    Agency is the awareness that one's own self is the agent or author of an action, a thought, or a feeling. The implicit memory that one's self was the originator of a cognitive event - the sense of cognitive agency - has not yet been fully explored in terms of relevant neural systems. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we examined brain activation patterns differentiating memory for the source of previously self-generated vs. experimenter-presented word items from a sentence completion paradigm designed to be emotionally neutral and semantically constrained in content. Accurate memory for the source of self-generated vs. externally-presented word items resulted in activation of dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) bilaterally, supporting an emerging body of work that indicates a key role for this region in self-referential processing. Our data extend the function of mPFC into the domain of memory and the accurate retrieval of the sense of cognitive agency under conditions where agency was encoded implicitly.

  6. Higher-Order Statistical Correlations and Mutual Information Among Particles in a Quantum Well

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yépez, V. S.; Sagar, R. P.; Laguna, H. G.

    2017-12-01

    The influence of wave function symmetry on statistical correlation is studied for the case of three non-interacting spin-free quantum particles in a unidimensional box, in position and in momentum space. Higher-order statistical correlations occurring among the three particles in this quantum system is quantified via higher-order mutual information and compared to the correlation between pairs of variables in this model, and to the correlation in the two-particle system. The results for the higher-order mutual information show that there are states where the symmetric wave functions are more correlated than the antisymmetric ones with same quantum numbers. This holds in position as well as in momentum space. This behavior is opposite to that observed for the correlation between pairs of variables in this model, and the two-particle system, where the antisymmetric wave functions are in general more correlated. These results are also consistent with those observed in a system of three uncoupled oscillators. The use of higher-order mutual information as a correlation measure, is monitored and examined by considering a superposition of states or systems with two Slater determinants.

  7. Higher-Order Statistical Correlations and Mutual Information Among Particles in a Quantum Well

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yépez, V. S.; Sagar, R. P.; Laguna, H. G.

    2017-01-01

    The influence of wave function symmetry on statistical correlation is studied for the case of three non-interacting spin-free quantum particles in a unidimensional box, in position and in momentum space. Higher-order statistical correlations occurring among the three particles in this quantum system is quantified via higher-order mutual information and compared to the correlation between pairs of variables in this model, and to the correlation in the two-particle system. The results for the higher-order mutual information show that there are states where the symmetric wave functions are more correlated than the antisymmetric ones with same quantum numbers. This holds in position as well as in momentum space. This behavior is opposite to that observed for the correlation between pairs of variables in this model, and the two-particle system, where the antisymmetric wave functions are in general more correlated. These results are also consistent with those observed in a system of three uncoupled oscillators. The use of higher-order mutual information as a correlation measure, is monitored and examined by considering a superposition of states or systems with two Slater determinants. (author)

  8. The effects of cognitive reserve and lifestyle on cognition and dementia in Parkinson's disease--a longitudinal cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hindle, John V; Hurt, Catherine S; Burn, David J; Brown, Richard G; Samuel, Mike; Wilson, Kenneth C; Clare, Linda

    2016-01-01

    Cognitive reserve theory seeks to explain the observed mismatch between the degree of brain pathology and clinical manifestations. Early-life education, midlife social and occupational activities and later-life cognitive and social interactions are associated with a more favourable cognitive trajectory in older people. Previous studies of Parkinson's disease (PD) have suggested a possible role for the effects of cognitive reserve, but further research into different proxies for cognitive reserve and longitudinal studies is required. This study examined the effects of cognitive lifestyle on cross-sectional and longitudinal measures of cognition and dementia severity in people with PD. Baseline assessments of cognition, and of clinical, social and demographic information, were completed by 525 participants with PD. Cognitive assessments were completed by 323 participants at 4-year follow-up. Cognition was assessed using the measures of global cognition dementia severity. Cross-sectional and longitudinal serial analyses of covariance for cognition and binomial regression for dementia were performed. Higher educational level, socio-economic status and recent social engagement were associated with better cross-sectional global cognition. In those with normal cognition at baseline, higher educational level was associated with better global cognition after 4 years. Increasing age and low levels of a measure of recent social engagement were associated with an increased risk of dementia. Higher cognitive reserve has a beneficial effect on performance on cognitive tests and a limited effect on cognitive decline and dementia risk in PD. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  9. Higher-order Brunnian structures and possible physical realizations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    A. Baas, Nils; V. Fedorov, D.; S. Jensen, A.

    2014-01-01

    We consider few-body bound state systems and provide precise definitions of Borromean and Brunnian systems. The initial concepts are more than a hundred years old and originated in mathematical knot-theory as purely geometric considerations. About thirty years ago they were generalized and applied...... to the binding of systems in nature. It now appears that recent generalization to higher order Brunnian structures may potentially be realized as laboratory made or naturally occurring systems. With the binding energy as measure, we discuss possibilities of physical realization in nuclei, cold atoms...

  10. Integrable higher order deformations of Heisenberg supermagnetic model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo Jiafeng; Yan Zhaowen; Wang Shikun; Wu Ke; Zhao Weizhong

    2009-01-01

    The Heisenberg supermagnet model is an integrable supersymmetric system and has a close relationship with the strong electron correlated Hubbard model. In this paper, we investigate the integrable higher order deformations of Heisenberg supermagnet models with two different constraints: (i) S 2 =3S-2I for S is an element of USPL(2/1)/S(U(2)xU(1)) and (ii) S 2 =S for S is an element of USPL(2/1)/S(L(1/1)xU(1)). In terms of the gauge transformation, their corresponding gauge equivalent counterparts are derived.

  11. Theory of a higher-order Sturm-Liouville equation

    CERN Document Server

    Kozlov, Vladimir

    1997-01-01

    This book develops a detailed theory of a generalized Sturm-Liouville Equation, which includes conditions of solvability, classes of uniqueness, positivity properties of solutions and Green's functions, asymptotic properties of solutions at infinity. Of independent interest, the higher-order Sturm-Liouville equation also proved to have important applications to differential equations with operator coefficients and elliptic boundary value problems for domains with non-smooth boundaries. The book addresses graduate students and researchers in ordinary and partial differential equations, and is accessible with a standard undergraduate course in real analysis.

  12. Programming real-time executives in higher order language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foudriat, E. C.

    1982-01-01

    Methods by which real-time executive programs can be implemented in a higher order language are discussed, using HAL/S and Path Pascal languages as program examples. Techniques are presented by which noncyclic tasks can readily be incorporated into the executive system. Situations are shown where the executive system can fail to meet its task scheduling and yet be able to recover either by rephasing the clock or stacking the information for later processing. The concept of deadline processing is shown to enable more effective mixing of time and information synchronized systems.

  13. Higher order Bose-Einstein correlations in identical particle production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Biyajima, M.

    1990-01-01

    A diagram technique to calculate the higher order Bose-Einstein correlations is formulated. This technique is applied to derive explicit expressions for the n-pion correlation functions for n = 2, 3, 4, and 5, and numerical predictions are given. In a comparison with the AFS and NA23 data on two-pion and three-pion Bose-Einstein correlations good agreement is obtained. 21 refs., 5 figs. (Authors)

  14. Solution of volume-surface integral equations using higher-order hierarchical Legendre basis functions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kim, Oleksiy S.; Meincke, Peter; Breinbjerg, Olav

    2007-01-01

    The problem of electromagnetic scattering by composite metallic and dielectric objects is solved using the coupled volume-surface integral equation (VSIE). The method of moments (MoM) based on higher-order hierarchical Legendre basis functions and higher-order curvilinear geometrical elements...... with the analytical Mie series solution. Scattering by more complex metal-dielectric objects are also considered to compare the presented technique with other numerical methods....

  15. Impairments in cognition and neural precursor cell proliferation in mice expressing constitutively active glycogen synthase kinase-3

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marta ePardo

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACTBrain glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3 is hyperactive in several neurological conditions that involve impairments in both cognition and neurogenesis. This raises the hypotheses that hyperactive GSK3 may directly contribute to impaired cognition, and that this may be related to deficiencies in neural precursor cells (NPC. To study the effects of hyperactive GSK3 in the absence of disease influences, we compared adult hippocampal NPC proliferation and performance in three cognitive tasks in male and female wild-type mice and GSK3 knockin mice, which express constitutively active GSK3. NPC proliferation was ~40% deficient in both male and female GSK3 knockin mice compared with wild-type mice. Environmental enrichment (EE increased NPC proliferation in male, but not female, GSK3 knockin mice and wild-type mice. Male and female GSK3 knockin mice exhibited impairments in novel object recognition, temporal order memory, and coordinate spatial processing compared with gender-matched wild-type mice. EE restored impaired novel object recognition and temporal ordering in both sexes of GSK3 knockin mice, indicating that this repair was not dependent on NPC proliferation, which was not increased by EE in female GSK3 knockin mice. Acute 1 hr pretreatment with the GSK3 inhibitor TDZD-8 also improved novel object recognition and temporal ordering in male and female GSK3 knockin mice. These findings demonstrate that hyperactive GSK3 is sufficient to impair adult hippocampal NPC proliferation and to impair performance in three cognitive tasks in both male and female mice, but these changes in NPC proliferation do not directly regulate novel object recognition and temporal ordering tasks.

  16. Does higher education hone cognitive functioning and learning efficacy? Findings from a large and diverse sample

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerra-Carrillo, Belén; Katovich, Kiefer

    2017-01-01

    Attending school is a multifaceted experience. Students are not only exposed to new knowledge but are also immersed in a structured environment in which they need to respond flexibly in accordance with changing task goals, keep relevant information in mind, and constantly tackle novel problems. To quantify the cumulative effect of this experience, we examined retrospectively and prospectively, the relationships between educational attainment and both cognitive performance and learning. We analyzed data from 196,388 subscribers to an online cognitive training program. These subscribers, ages 15–60, had completed eight behavioral assessments of executive functioning and reasoning at least once. Controlling for multiple demographic and engagement variables, we found that higher levels of education predicted better performance across the full age range, and modulated performance in some cognitive domains more than others (e.g., reasoning vs. processing speed). Differences were moderate for Bachelor’s degree vs. High School (d = 0.51), and large between Ph.D. vs. Some High School (d = 0.80). Further, the ages of peak cognitive performance for each educational category closely followed the typical range of ages at graduation. This result is consistent with a cumulative effect of recent educational experiences, as well as a decrement in performance as completion of schooling becomes more distant. To begin to characterize the directionality of the relationship between educational attainment and cognitive performance, we conducted a prospective longitudinal analysis. For a subset of 69,202 subscribers who had completed 100 days of cognitive training, we tested whether the degree of novel learning was associated with their level of education. Higher educational attainment predicted bigger gains, but the differences were small (d = 0.04–0.37). Altogether, these results point to the long-lasting trace of an effect of prior cognitive challenges but suggest that new

  17. Higher-order Bessel like beams with z-dependent cone angles

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Ismail, Y

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available .64.81.22. Terms of Use: http://spiedl.org/terms Fig.5: Optical design to generate z-dependent Bessel-like beams 4. CONSIDERING A MATHEMATICAL APPROACH TO EXPLAINING Z-DEPENDENT BLB?S The stationary phase method is implemented in order to confirm... on higher-order z-dependent BLB?s [6]. 5. EXPERIMENTALLY GENERATED Z-DEPENDENT BESSEL-LIKE BEAMS From the above in can be deduced that these beams are Bessel-like hence they are so named z-dependent Bessel-like beams. These beams are produced however...

  18. Fractional equivalent Lagrangian densities for a fractional higher-order equation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujioka, J

    2014-01-01

    In this communication we show that the equivalent Lagrangian densities (ELDs) of a fractional higher-order nonlinear Schrödinger equation with stable soliton-like solutions can be related in a hitherto unknown way. This new relationship is described in terms of a new fractional operator that includes both left- and right-sided fractional derivatives. Using this operator it is possible to generate new ELDs that contain different fractional parts, in addition to the already known ELDs, which only differ by a sum of first-order partial derivatives of two arbitrary functions. (fast track communications)

  19. Higher-order radiative corrections for b b ¯→H-W+

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kidonakis, Nikolaos

    2018-02-01

    I present higher-order radiative corrections from collinear and soft-gluon emission for the associated production of a charged Higgs boson with a W boson. The calculation uses expressions from resummation at next-to-leading-logarithm accuracy. From the resummed cross section I derive analytical formulas at approximate next-to-next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order. Total cross sections are presented for the process b b ¯→H-W+ at various LHC energies. The transverse momentum and rapidity distributions of the charged Higgs boson are also calculated.

  20. Higher-order schemes for the Laplace transformation method for parabolic problems

    KAUST Repository

    Douglas, C.

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we solve linear parabolic problems using the three stage noble algorithms. First, the time discretization is approximated using the Laplace transformation method, which is both parallel in time (and can be in space, too) and extremely high order convergent. Second, higher-order compact schemes of order four and six are used for the the spatial discretization. Finally, the discretized linear algebraic systems are solved using multigrid to show the actual convergence rate for numerical examples, which are compared to other numerical solution methods. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.

  1. Foundational (co)datatypes and (co)recursion for higher-order logic

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Biendarra, Julian; Blanchette, Jasmin Christian; Bouzy, Aymeric; Desharnais, Martin; Fleury, Mathias; Hölzl, Johannes; Kunčar, Ondřej; Lochbihler, Andreas; Meier, Fabian; Panny, Lorenz; Popescu, Andrei; Sternagel, Christian; Thiemann, René; Traytel, Dmitriy; Dixon, C.; Finger, M.

    2017-01-01

    We describe a line of work that started in 2011 towards enriching Isabelle/HOL’s language with coinductive datatypes, which allow infinite values, and with a more expressive notion of inductive datatype than previously supported by any system based on higher-order logic. These (co)datatypes are

  2. Superpositions of higher-order bessel beams and nondiffracting speckle fields

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Dudley, Angela L

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available speckle fields. The paper reports on illuminating a ring slit aperture with light which has an azimuthal phase dependence, such that the field produced is a superposition of two higher-order Bessel beams. In the case that the phase dependence of the light...

  3. The relationship between physical activity, and physical performance and psycho-cognitive functioning in older adults living in residential aged care facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bootsman, Natalia J M; Skinner, Tina L; Lal, Ravin; Glindemann, Delma; Lagasca, Carmela; Peeters, G M E E Geeske

    2018-02-01

    Insight into modifiable factors related to falls risk in older adults living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) is necessary to tailor preventive strategies for this high-risk population. Associations between physical activity (PA), physical performance and psycho-cognitive functioning have been understudied in aged care residents. This study investigated associations between PA, and both physical performance and psycho-cognitive functioning in older adults living in RACFs. Cross-sectional study. Forty-four residents aged 85±8years were recruited from four RACFs located in Southeast Queensland. PA was assessed as the average time spent walking in hours/day using activPAL3™. Physical performance tests included balance, gait speed, dual-task ability, reaction time, coordination, grip strength, and leg strength and power. Psycho-cognitive questionnaires included quality of life, balance confidence, fear of falling and cognitive functioning. Associations between PA and each outcome measure were analysed using linear or ordinal regression models. The average time spent walking was 0.5±0.4h/day. Higher levels of PA were significantly associated with better balance (compared with low PA, medium: B=1.6; high: B=1.3) and dual-task ability (OR=7.9 per 0.5h/day increase). No statistically significant associations were found between PA and the other physical and psycho-cognitive measures. More physically active residents scored higher on balance and dual-task ability, which are key predictors of falls risk. This suggests that physical activity programs targeting balance and dual-task ability could help prevent falls in aged care residents. Copyright © 2017 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Cocaine self-administration abolishes associative neural encoding in the nucleus accumbens necessary for higher-order learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saddoris, Michael P; Carelli, Regina M

    2014-01-15

    Cocaine use is often associated with diminished cognitive function, persisting even after abstinence from the drug. Likely targets for these changes are the core and shell of the nucleus accumbens (NAc), which are critical for mediating the rewarding aspects of drugs of abuse as well as supporting associative learning. To understand this deficit, we recorded neural activity in the NAc of rats with a history of cocaine self-administration or control subjects while they learned Pavlovian first- and second-order associations. Rats were trained for 2 weeks to self-administer intravenous cocaine or water. Later, rats learned a first-order Pavlovian discrimination where a conditioned stimulus (CS)+ predicted food, and a control (CS-) did not. Rats then learned a second-order association where, absent any food reinforcement, a novel cued (SOC+) predicted the CS+ and another (SOC-) predicted the CS-. Electrophysiological recordings were taken during performance of these tasks in the NAc core and shell. Both control subjects and cocaine-experienced rats learned the first-order association, but only control subjects learned the second-order association. Neural recordings indicated that core and shell neurons encoded task-relevant information that correlated with behavioral performance, whereas this type of encoding was abolished in cocaine-experienced rats. The NAc core and shell perform complementary roles in supporting normal associative learning, functions that are impaired after cocaine experience. This impoverished encoding of motivational behavior, even after abstinence from the drug, might provide a key mechanism to understand why addiction remains a chronically relapsing disorder despite repeated attempts at sobriety. Copyright © 2014 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Authentic Instruction for 21st Century Learning: Higher Order Thinking in an Inclusive School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preus, Betty

    2012-01-01

    The author studied a public junior high school identified as successfully implementing authentic instruction. Such instruction emphasizes higher order thinking, deep knowledge, substantive conversation, and value beyond school. To determine in what ways higher order thinking was fostered both for students with and without disabilities, the author…

  6. Neural activity predicts attitude change in cognitive dissonance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Veen, Vincent; Krug, Marie K; Schooler, Jonathan W; Carter, Cameron S

    2009-11-01

    When our actions conflict with our prior attitudes, we often change our attitudes to be more consistent with our actions. This phenomenon, known as cognitive dissonance, is considered to be one of the most influential theories in psychology. However, the neural basis of this phenomenon is unknown. Using a Solomon four-group design, we scanned participants with functional MRI while they argued that the uncomfortable scanner environment was nevertheless a pleasant experience. We found that cognitive dissonance engaged the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula; furthermore, we found that the activation of these regions tightly predicted participants' subsequent attitude change. These effects were not observed in a control group. Our findings elucidate the neural representation of cognitive dissonance, and support the role of the anterior cingulate cortex in detecting cognitive conflict and the neural prediction of attitude change.

  7. Resilience and Higher Order Thinking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ioan Fazey

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available To appreciate, understand, and tackle chronic global social and environmental problems, greater appreciation of the importance of higher order thinking is required. Such thinking includes personal epistemological beliefs (PEBs, i.e., the beliefs people hold about the nature of knowledge and how something is known. These beliefs have profound implications for the way individuals relate to each other and the world, such as how people understand complex social-ecological systems. Resilience thinking is an approach to environmental stewardship that includes a number of interrelated concepts and has strong foundations in systemic ways of thinking. This paper (1 summarizes a review of educational psychology literature on PEBs, (2 explains why resilience thinking has potential to facilitate development of more sophisticated PEBs, (3 describes an example of a module designed to teach resilience thinking to undergraduate students in ways conducive to influencing PEBs, and (4 discusses a pilot study that evaluates the module's impact. Theoretical and preliminary evidence from the pilot evaluation suggests that resilience thinking which is underpinned by systems thinking has considerable potential to influence the development of more sophisticated PEBs. To be effective, however, careful consideration of how resilience thinking is taught is required. Finding ways to encourage students to take greater responsibility for their own learning and ensuring close alignment between assessment and desired learning outcomes are particularly important.

  8. The Effects of Split-Attention and Redundancy on Cognitive Load When Learning Cognitive and Psychomotor Tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pociask, Fredrick D.; Morrison, Gary

    2004-01-01

    Human working memory can be defined as a component system responsible for the temporary storage and manipulation of information related to higher level cognitive behaviors, such as understanding and reasoning (Baddeley, 1992; Becker & Morris, 1999). Working memory, while able to manage a complex array of cognitive activities, presents with an…

  9. Language experience differentiates prefrontal and subcortical activation of the cognitive control network in novel word learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradley, Kailyn A L; King, Kelly E; Hernandez, Arturo E

    2013-02-15

    The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive control mechanisms in adult English speaking monolinguals compared to early sequential Spanish-English bilinguals during the initial stages of novel word learning. Functional magnetic resonance imaging during a lexico-semantic task after only 2h of exposure to novel German vocabulary flashcards showed that monolinguals activated a broader set of cortical control regions associated with higher-level cognitive processes, including the supplementary motor area (SMA), anterior cingulate (ACC), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), as well as the caudate, implicated in cognitive control of language. However, bilinguals recruited a more localized subcortical network that included the putamen, associated more with motor control of language. These results suggest that experience managing multiple languages may differentiate the learning strategy and subsequent neural mechanisms of cognitive control used by bilinguals compared to monolinguals in the early stages of novel word learning. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Robust rooftop extraction from visible band images using higher order CRF

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Er

    2015-08-01

    In this paper, we propose a robust framework for building extraction in visible band images. We first get an initial classification of the pixels based on an unsupervised presegmentation. Then, we develop a novel conditional random field (CRF) formulation to achieve accurate rooftops extraction, which incorporates pixel-level information and segment-level information for the identification of rooftops. Comparing with the commonly used CRF model, a higher order potential defined on segment is added in our model, by exploiting region consistency and shape feature at segment level. Our experiments show that the proposed higher order CRF model outperforms the state-of-the-art methods both at pixel and object levels on rooftops with complex structures and sizes in challenging environments. © 1980-2012 IEEE.

  11. Higher-order meshing of implicit geometries, Part II: Approximations on manifolds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fries, T. P.; Schöllhammer, D.

    2017-11-01

    A new concept for the higher-order accurate approximation of partial differential equations on manifolds is proposed where a surface mesh composed by higher-order elements is automatically generated based on level-set data. Thereby, it enables a completely automatic workflow from the geometric description to the numerical analysis without any user-intervention. A master level-set function defines the shape of the manifold through its zero-isosurface which is then restricted to a finite domain by additional level-set functions. It is ensured that the surface elements are sufficiently continuous and shape regular which is achieved by manipulating the background mesh. The numerical results show that optimal convergence rates are obtained with a moderate increase in the condition number compared to handcrafted surface meshes.

  12. Modelization of cognition, activity and motivation as indicators for Interactive Learning Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asmaa Darouich

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In Interactive Learning Environment (ILE, the cognitive activity and behavior of learners are the center of the researchers’ concerns. The improvement of learning through combining these axes as a structure of indicators for well-designed learning environment, encloses the measurement of the educational activity as a part of the learning process. In this paper, we propose a mathematical modeling approach based on learners actions to estimate the cognitive activity, learning behavior and motivation, in accordance with a proposed course content structure. This Cognitive indicator includes the study of knowledge, memory and reasoning. While, activity indicator aims to study effort, resistance and intensity. The results recovered on a sample of students with different levels of education, assume that the proposed approach presents a relation among all these indicators which is relatively reliable in the term of cognitive system.

  13. Effects of biology teachers' professional knowledge and cognitive activation on students' achievement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Förtsch, Christian; Werner, Sonja; von Kotzebue, Lena; Neuhaus, Birgit J.

    2016-11-01

    This study examined the effects of teachers' biology-specific dimensions of professional knowledge - pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and content knowledge (CK) - and cognitively activating biology instruction, as a feature of instructional quality, on students' learning. The sample comprised 39 German secondary school teachers whose lessons on the topic neurobiology were videotaped twice. Teachers' instruction was coded with regard to cognitive activation using a rating manual. Multilevel path analysis results showed a positive significant effect of cognitive activation on students' learning and an indirect effect of teachers' PCK on students' learning mediated through cognitive activation. These findings highlight the importance of PCK in preservice biology teachers' education. Items of the rating manual may be used to provide exemplars of concrete teaching situations during university seminars for preservice teacher education or professional development initiatives for in-service teachers.

  14. Security Analysis of 7-Round MISTY1 against Higher Order Differential Attacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsunoo, Yukiyasu; Saito, Teruo; Shigeri, Maki; Kawabata, Takeshi

    MISTY1 is a 64-bit block cipher that has provable security against differential and linear cryptanalysis. MISTY1 is one of the algorithms selected in the European NESSIE project, and it has been recommended for Japanese e-Government ciphers by the CRYPTREC project. This paper shows that higher order differential attacks can be successful against 7-round versions of MISTY1 with FL functions. The attack on 7-round MISTY1 can recover a partial subkey with a data complexity of 254.1 and a computational complexity of 2120.8, which signifies the first successful attack on 7-round MISTY1 with no limitation such as a weak key. This paper also evaluates the complexity of this higher order differential attack on MISTY1 in which the key schedule is replaced by a pseudorandom function. It is shown that resistance to the higher order differential attack is not substantially improved even in 7-round MISTY1 in which the key schedule is replaced by a pseudorandom function.

  15. A higher order space-time Galerkin scheme for time domain integral equations

    KAUST Repository

    Pray, Andrew J.

    2014-12-01

    Stability of time domain integral equation (TDIE) solvers has remained an elusive goal formany years. Advancement of this research has largely progressed on four fronts: 1) Exact integration, 2) Lubich quadrature, 3) smooth temporal basis functions, and 4) space-time separation of convolutions with the retarded potential. The latter method\\'s efficacy in stabilizing solutions to the time domain electric field integral equation (TD-EFIE) was previously reported for first-order surface descriptions (flat elements) and zeroth-order functions as the temporal basis. In this work, we develop the methodology necessary to extend the scheme to higher order surface descriptions as well as to enable its use with higher order basis functions in both space and time. These basis functions are then used in a space-time Galerkin framework. A number of results are presented that demonstrate convergence in time. The viability of the space-time separation method in producing stable results is demonstrated experimentally for these examples.

  16. A higher order space-time Galerkin scheme for time domain integral equations

    KAUST Repository

    Pray, Andrew J.; Beghein, Yves; Nair, Naveen V.; Cools, Kristof; Bagci, Hakan; Shanker, Balasubramaniam

    2014-01-01

    Stability of time domain integral equation (TDIE) solvers has remained an elusive goal formany years. Advancement of this research has largely progressed on four fronts: 1) Exact integration, 2) Lubich quadrature, 3) smooth temporal basis functions, and 4) space-time separation of convolutions with the retarded potential. The latter method's efficacy in stabilizing solutions to the time domain electric field integral equation (TD-EFIE) was previously reported for first-order surface descriptions (flat elements) and zeroth-order functions as the temporal basis. In this work, we develop the methodology necessary to extend the scheme to higher order surface descriptions as well as to enable its use with higher order basis functions in both space and time. These basis functions are then used in a space-time Galerkin framework. A number of results are presented that demonstrate convergence in time. The viability of the space-time separation method in producing stable results is demonstrated experimentally for these examples.

  17. An Investigation of Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Smaller Learning Community Social Studies Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Christopher; Bol, Linda; Pribesh, Shana

    2011-01-01

    This study investigated the extent to which higher-order thinking skills are promoted in social studies classes in high schools that are implementing smaller learning communities (SLCs). Data collection in this mixed-methods study included classroom observations and in-depth interviews. Findings indicated that higher-order thinking was rarely…

  18. Toward an Understanding of Higher-Order Thinking among Minority Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armour-Thomas, Eleanor; And Others

    1992-01-01

    Used principal-factors extraction with varimax rotation analysis to clarify nature and function of higher-order thinking among minority high school students (n=107) from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Results allowed for specification of mental processes associated with the construct and the extent to which students reported awareness and…

  19. Cognitive profile and disorders affecting higher brain functions in paediatric patients with neurofibromatosis type 1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaucheret Paz, E; López Ballent, A; Puga, C; García Basalo, M J; Baliarda, F; Ekonen, C; Ilari, R; Agosta, G

    2017-04-18

    Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a common neurocutaneous syndrome often associated with specific cognitive deficits that are rarely monitored during follow-up of these patients. The purpose of our study is two-fold. First, we aimed to describe the cognitive profile of patients with NF1 and detect disorders in higher brain functions associated with the disease. Second, we identified the reasons for consultation associated with school performance in these patients. We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study of 24 paediatric patients (ages 5 to 16) with NF1 who underwent neuropsychological assessment. The most frequent reasons for consultation were attention deficits (58.33%), learning disorders (25%), poor motor coordination (25%), and language impairment (0.8%). Although 96% of the patients displayed impairments in at least one of the assessed areas, only 83.34% of the parents had reported such impairments. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder was present in 58.33% of the patients, whereas 33.33% had nonverbal learning disabilities, 20.83% had expressive language disorder, 8.33% had borderline intellectual functioning, 4.16% had mental retardation, and only 4.16% showed no cognitive impairment. Higher brain functions are frequently impaired in paediatric patients with NF1. Although many parents report such disorders, they can go undetected in some cases. Neuropsychological assessment is recommended for all paediatric patients with NF1 to detect cognitive impairment and provide early, effective rehabilitation treatment. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  20. Cognitive emotion regulation enhances aversive prediction error activity while reducing emotional responses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulej Bratec, Satja; Xie, Xiyao; Schmid, Gabriele; Doll, Anselm; Schilbach, Leonhard; Zimmer, Claus; Wohlschläger, Afra; Riedl, Valentin; Sorg, Christian

    2015-12-01

    Cognitive emotion regulation is a powerful way of modulating emotional responses. However, despite the vital role of emotions in learning, it is unknown whether the effect of cognitive emotion regulation also extends to the modulation of learning. Computational models indicate prediction error activity, typically observed in the striatum and ventral tegmental area, as a critical neural mechanism involved in associative learning. We used model-based fMRI during aversive conditioning with and without cognitive emotion regulation to test the hypothesis that emotion regulation would affect prediction error-related neural activity in the striatum and ventral tegmental area, reflecting an emotion regulation-related modulation of learning. Our results show that cognitive emotion regulation reduced emotion-related brain activity, but increased prediction error-related activity in a network involving ventral tegmental area, hippocampus, insula and ventral striatum. While the reduction of response activity was related to behavioral measures of emotion regulation success, the enhancement of prediction error-related neural activity was related to learning performance. Furthermore, functional connectivity between the ventral tegmental area and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, an area involved in regulation, was specifically increased during emotion regulation and likewise related to learning performance. Our data, therefore, provide first-time evidence that beyond reducing emotional responses, cognitive emotion regulation affects learning by enhancing prediction error-related activity, potentially via tegmental dopaminergic pathways. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. On higher-order corrections in M theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Howe, P.S.; Tsimpis, D.

    2003-01-01

    A theoretical analysis of higher-order corrections to D=11 supergravity is given in a superspace framework. It is shown that any deformation of D=11 supergravity for which the lowest-dimensional component of the four-form G 4 vanishes is trivial. This implies that the equations of motion of D=11 supergravity are specified by an element of a certain spinorial cohomology group and generalises previous results obtained using spinorial or pure spinor cohomology to the fully non-linear theory. The first deformation of the theory is given by an element of a different spinorial cohomology group with coefficients which are local tensorial functions of the massless supergravity fields. The four-form Bianchi Identities are solved, to first order and at dimension -{1/2}, in the case that the lowest-dimensional component of G 4 is non-zero. Moreover, it is shown how one can calculate the first-order correction to the dimension-zero torsion and thus to the supergravity equations of motion given an explicit expression for this object in terms of the supergravity fields. The version of the theory with both a four-form and a seven-form is discussed in the presence of the five-brane anomaly-cancelling term. It is shown that the supersymmetric completion of this term exists and it is argued that it is the unique anomaly-cancelling invariant at this dimension which is at least quartic in the fields. This implies that the first deformation of the theory is completely determined by the anomaly term from which one can, in principle, read off the corrections to all of the superspace field strength tensors. (author)

  2. Leisure activities, education, and cognitive impairment in Chinese older adults: a population-based longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Xinyi; Qiu, Chengxuan; Zeng, Yi; Li, Juan

    2017-05-01

    We examine the association between leisure-time activities and the risk of developing cognitive impairment among Chinese older people, and further investigate whether the association varies by educational level. This follow-up study included 6,586 participants (aged 79.5 ± 9.8 years, range 65-105 years, 51.7% female) of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey who were aged ≥65 years and were free of cognitive impairment in 2002. Incident cognitive impairment was defined at the 2005 or 2008/2009 survey following an education-based cut-off on the adapted Chinese version of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Participation in cognitive activities (e.g. reading) and non-exercise physical activity (e.g. housework) was assessed by a self-reported scale. Cox proportional hazard models were employed to examine the association of leisure activities with incident cognitive impairment while controlling for age, gender, education, occupation, residence, physical exercise, smoking, drinking, cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, negative well-being, and physical functioning, and baseline MMSE score. During a five-year follow-up, 1,448 participants developed incident cognitive impairment. Overall, a high level of participation in leisure activities was associated with a 41% decreased risk of cognitive impairment compared to low-level engagement in leisure activities after controlling for age, gender, education, and other confounders. Moreover, there was a significant interaction between leisure activity and educational level, such that the beneficial effect of leisure activities on cognitive function was larger in educated elderly than their uneducated counterparts, and only educated elderly benefited from cognitive activities. Late-life leisure activities protect against cognitive impairment among elderly Chinese people, and the protective effects are more profound for educated elderly.

  3. Higher-Order Wavefront Aberrations for Populations of Young Emmetropes and Myopes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinhua Bao

    2009-01-01

    Conclusions: Human eyes have systematical higher order aberrations in population, and factors that cause bilateral symmetry of wavefront aberrations between the right and left eyes made important contribution to the systematical aberrations.

  4. Assessing Working Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment with Serial Order Recall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emrani, Sheina; Libon, David J; Lamar, Melissa; Price, Catherine C; Jefferson, Angela L; Gifford, Katherine A; Hohman, Timothy J; Nation, Daniel A; Delano-Wood, Lisa; Jak, Amy; Bangen, Katherine J; Bondi, Mark W; Brickman, Adam M; Manly, Jennifer; Swenson, Rodney; Au, Rhoda

    2018-01-01

    Working memory (WM) is often assessed with serial order tests such as repeating digits backward. In prior dementia research using the Backward Digit Span Test (BDT), only aggregate test performance was examined. The current research tallied primacy/recency effects, out-of-sequence transposition errors, perseverations, and omissions to assess WM deficits in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Memory clinic patients (n = 66) were classified into three groups: single domain amnestic MCI (aMCI), combined mixed domain/dysexecutive MCI (mixed/dys MCI), and non-MCI where patients did not meet criteria for MCI. Serial order/WM ability was assessed by asking participants to repeat 7 trials of five digits backwards. Serial order position accuracy, transposition errors, perseverations, and omission errors were tallied. A 3 (group)×5 (serial position) repeated measures ANOVA yielded a significant group×trial interaction. Follow-up analyses found attenuation of the recency effect for mixed/dys MCI patients. Mixed/dys MCI patients scored lower than non-MCI patients for serial position 3 (p Mixed/dys MCI patients also produced more transposition errors than both groups (p order parameters obtained from the BDT may provide a useful operational definition as well as additional diagnostic information regarding working memory deficits in MCI.

  5. A stable higher order space time Galerkin marching-on-in-time scheme

    KAUST Repository

    Pray, Andrew J.

    2013-07-01

    We present a method for the stable solution of time-domain integral equations. The method uses a technique developed in [1] to accurately evaluate matrix elements. As opposed to existing stabilization schemes, the method presented uses higher order basis functions in time to improve the accuracy of the solver. The method is validated by showing convergence in temporal basis function order, time step size, and geometric discretization order. © 2013 IEEE.

  6. Aberrant Intrinsic Activity and Connectivity in Cognitively Normal Parkinson’s Disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deborah L. Harrington

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Disturbances in intrinsic activity during resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI are common in Parkinson’s disease (PD, but have largely been studied in a priori defined subnetworks. The cognitive significance of abnormal intrinsic activity is also poorly understood, as are abnormalities that precede the onset of mild cognitive impairment. To address these limitations, we leveraged three different analytic approaches to identify disturbances in rsfMRI metrics in 31 cognitively normal PD patients (PD-CN and 30 healthy adults. Subjects were screened for mild cognitive impairment using the Movement Disorders Society Task Force Level II criteria. Whole-brain data-driven analytic approaches first analyzed the amplitude of low-frequency intrinsic fluctuations (ALFF and regional homogeneity (ReHo, a measure of local connectivity amongst functionally similar regions. We then examined if regional disturbances in these metrics altered functional connectivity with other brain regions. We also investigated if abnormal rsfMRI metrics in PD-CN were related to brain atrophy and executive, visual organization, and episodic memory functioning. The results revealed abnormally increased and decreased ALFF and ReHo in PD-CN patients within the default mode network (posterior cingulate, inferior parietal cortex, parahippocampus, entorhinal cortex, sensorimotor cortex (primary motor, pre/post-central gyrus, basal ganglia (putamen, caudate, and posterior cerebellar lobule VII, which mediates cognition. For default mode network regions, we also observed a compound profile of altered ALFF and ReHo. Most regional disturbances in ALFF and ReHo were associated with strengthened long-range interactions in PD-CN, notably with regions in different networks. Stronger long-range functional connectivity in PD-CN was also partly expanded to connections that were outside the networks of the control group. Abnormally increased activity and functional connectivity appeared to have a

  7. Metabolic syndrome and cognitive decline: the role of physical activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Rinaldi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Metabolic Syndrome (MetS is a cluster of conditions, each of which represents a risk factor for cardiovascular disease: central obesity, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia and hypertension. Any of these conditions and MetS itself have been associated to Alzheimer's Disease and Vascular Dementia. In recent years there is a growing evidence for the role of physical activity in preventing metabolic diseases and cognitive decline. In our research we assessed the prevalence of MetS in a sample of 154 elderly people. Furthermore, we evaluated cognition (with Mini Mental State Examination, MMSE  and the physical activity level in every patient. We found a significant association between MetS, borderline cognitive impairment and sedentary lifestyle.

  8. Three weights higher order Hardy type inequalities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aigerim A. Kalybay

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available We investigate the following three weights higher order Hardy type inequality (0.1 ‖g‖q,u≤  C‖Dρkg‖p,v where Dρi denotes the following weighted differential operator: {dig(tdti,i=0,1,...,m−1,di−mdti−m(p(tdmg(tdtm,i=m,m+1,...,k, for a weight function ρ(⋅. A complete description of the weights u, v and ρ so that (0.1 holds was given in [4] for the case 1

  9. On the Entropy Based Associative Memory Model with Higher-Order Correlations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masahiro Nakagawa

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, an entropy based associative memory model will be proposed and applied to memory retrievals with an orthogonal learning model so as to compare with the conventional model based on the quadratic Lyapunov functional to be minimized during the retrieval process. In the present approach, the updating dynamics will be constructed on the basis of the entropy minimization strategy which may be reduced asymptotically to the above-mentioned conventional dynamics as a special case ignoring the higher-order correlations. According to the introduction of the entropy functional, one may involve higer-order correlation effects between neurons in a self-contained manner without any heuristic coupling coefficients as in the conventional manner. In fact we shall show such higher order coupling tensors are to be uniquely determined in the framework of the entropy based approach. From numerical results, it will be found that the presently proposed novel approach realizes much larger memory capacity than that of the quadratic Lyapunov functional approach, e.g., associatron.

  10. Leisure activities and depressive symptoms in older adults with cognitive complaints.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poelke, Gina; Ventura, Maria I; Byers, Amy L; Yaffe, Kristine; Sudore, Rebecca; Barnes, Deborah E

    2016-01-01

    Depressive symptoms are common in older adults and associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment. Leisure activities are often promoted for individuals with mood symptoms but few studies compare the effects of different types of leisure activities on reducing depressive symptoms. Data were analyzed from participants enrolled from 2008-2009 in the Mental Activity and eXercise (MAX) Trial, which examined the effects of physical plus mental activity over 12 weeks in inactive older adults with cognitive complaints. There were no significant differences between intervention groups on the primary outcome of cognitive function or the secondary outcome of depressive symptoms; therefore, all participants were combined for the current analyses in which we examined changes in leisure activity engagement (Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors (CHAMPS)), and changes in depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)) as a function of changes in leisure activity engagement from baseline to post-intervention. Participants' mean age was 73.0 years, 61.6% were female, and 63.6% were non-Hispanic white. There was a significant change in total hours per week engaged in leisure activities from baseline (36.7 hours, SD = 12.7) to post-intervention (40.4 hours, SD = 15.7; paired t-test p = 0.02), and mean change in depressive symptoms was significantly inversely correlated with change in leisure activity hours such that increases in total leisure activity were associated with decreases in depressive symptoms (r = -0.21, p = 0.04). Increasing the total amount of leisure activity levels may help lower depressive symptoms in inactive older adults with cognitive complaints.

  11. Modeling Human Behaviour with Higher Order Logic: Insider Threats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boender, Jaap; Ivanova, Marieta Georgieva; Kammuller, Florian

    2014-01-01

    it to the sociological process of logical explanation. As a case study on modeling human behaviour, we present the modeling and analysis of insider threats as a Higher Order Logic theory in Isabelle/HOL. We show how each of the three step process of sociological explanation can be seen in our modeling of insider’s state......, its context within an organisation and the effects on security as outcomes of a theorem proving analysis....

  12. Are a Healthy Diet and Physical Activity Synergistically Associated with Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nijholt, W; Jager-Wittenaar, H; Visser, M; van der Schans, C P; Hobbelen, J S M

    2016-01-01

    Previous research has demonstrated that being both physically active and adhering a healthy diet is associated with improved cognitive functioning; however, it remains unclear whether these factors act synergistically. We investigated the synergistic association of a healthy diet and being physically active with cognitive functioning. Cross-sectional study. Data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) were used. We analyzed data from 2,165 community dwelling adults who were aged 55-85 years, 56% of whom were female. Cognitive functioning was assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), an MMSE score of >26 indicates good cognitive functioning. Physical activity was assessed by the LASA Physical Activity Questionnaire and was considered sufficient if the person engaged in moderately intense physical activity ≥ 20 min/day. A healthy diet score was based on the intake of fruit, vegetables and fish. Each of the food groups was assigned a score that ranged from 1 (well below the Dutch guideline for a healthy diet) to 4 (well above the Dutch guideline for a healthy diet), and the scores were aggregated to determine a healthy diet (healthy ≥ 9 points). Multiple logistic and linear regression analyses were used to examine the (synergistic) association among physical activity, a healthy diet and cognitive functioning. All analyses were adjusted for potential chronic diseases and lifestyle confounders. Of all of the participants, 25% were diagnosed with a cognitive impairment (MMSE ≤26), 80% were physically active and 41% had a healthy diet. Sixty three percent of the participants both adhered to a healthy diet and were physically active. Sufficient daily physical activity (OR=2.545 phealthy diet (OR=1.766 p=.002) were associated with good cognitive functioning. After adjusting for confounding factors, sufficient physical activity was not significantly related to cognitive functioning (p=.163); however adherence to a healthy diet remained

  13. Higher order multi-term time-fractional partial differential equations involving Caputo-Fabrizio derivative

    OpenAIRE

    Erkinjon Karimov; Sardor Pirnafasov

    2017-01-01

    In this work we discuss higher order multi-term partial differential equation (PDE) with the Caputo-Fabrizio fractional derivative in time. Using method of separation of variables, we reduce fractional order partial differential equation to the integer order. We represent explicit solution of formulated problem in particular case by Fourier series.

  14. Asymptotic estimates and exponential stability for higher-order monotone difference equations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pituk Mihály

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Asymptotic estimates are established for higher-order scalar difference equations and inequalities the right-hand sides of which generate a monotone system with respect to the discrete exponential ordering. It is shown that in some cases the exponential estimates can be replaced with a more precise limit relation. As corollaries, a generalization of discrete Halanay-type inequalities and explicit sufficient conditions for the global exponential stability of the zero solution are given.

  15. Asymptotic estimates and exponential stability for higher-order monotone difference equations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mihály Pituk

    2005-03-01

    Full Text Available Asymptotic estimates are established for higher-order scalar difference equations and inequalities the right-hand sides of which generate a monotone system with respect to the discrete exponential ordering. It is shown that in some cases the exponential estimates can be replaced with a more precise limit relation. As corollaries, a generalization of discrete Halanay-type inequalities and explicit sufficient conditions for the global exponential stability of the zero solution are given.

  16. Cognitive diffusion model with user-oriented context-to-text recognition for learning to promote high level cognitive processes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wu-Yuin Hwang

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available There is a large number of studies on how to promote students’ cognitive processes and learning achievements through various learning activities supported by advanced learning technologies. However, not many of them focus on applying the knowledge that students learn in school to solve authentic daily life problems. This study aims to propose a cognitive diffusion model called User-oriented Context-to-Text Recognition for Learning (U-CTRL to facilitate and improve students’ learning and cognitive processes from lower levels (i.e., Remember and Understand to higher levels (i.e., Apply and above through an innovative approach, called User-Oriented Context-to-Text Recognition for Learning (U-CTRL. With U-CTRL, students participate in learning activities in which they capture the learning context that can be scanned and recognized by a computer application as text. Furthermore, this study proposes the use of an innovative model, called Cognitive Diffusion Model, to investigate the diffusion and transition of students’ cognitive processes in different learning stages including pre-schooling, after-schooling, crossing the chasm, and higher cognitive processing. Finally, two cases are presented to demonstrate how the U-CTRL approach can be used to facilitate student cognition in their learning of English and Natural science.

  17. Higher-order human telomeric G-quadruplex DNA metalloenzymes enhance enantioselectivity in the Diels-Alder reaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yinghao; Jia, Guoqing; Wang, Changhao; Cheng, Mingpan; Li, Can

    2015-03-02

    Short human telomeric (HT) DNA sequences form single G-quadruplex (G4 ) units and exhibit structure-based stereocontrol for a series of reactions. However, for more biologically relevant higher-order HT G4 -DNAs (beyond a single G4 unit), the catalytic performances are unknown. Here, we found that higher-order HT G4 -DNA copper metalloenzymes (two or three G4 units) afford remarkably higher enantioselectivity (>90 % ee) and a five- to sixfold rate increase, compared to a single G4 unit, for the Diels-Alder reaction. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and enzymatic kinetic studies revealed that the distinct catalytic function between single and higher-order G4 -DNA copper metalloenzymes can be attributed to different Cu(II) coordination environments and substrate specificity. Our finding suggests that, like protein enzymes and ribozymes, higher-order structural organization is crucial for G4 -DNA-based catalysis. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  18. On a higher order multi-term time-fractional partial differential equation involving Caputo-Fabrizio derivative

    OpenAIRE

    Pirnapasov, Sardor; Karimov, Erkinjon

    2017-01-01

    In the present work we discuss higher order multi-term partial differential equation (PDE) with the Caputo-Fabrizio fractional derivative in time. We investigate a boundary value problem for fractional heat equation involving higher order Caputo-Fabrizio derivatives in time-variable. Using method of separation of variables and integration by parts, we reduce fractional order PDE to the integer order. We represent explicit solution of formulated problem in particular case by Fourier series.

  19. Changes in neural resting state activity in primary and higher-order motor areas induced by a short sensorimotor intervention based on the Feldenkrais method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julius eVerrel

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available We use functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate short-term neural effects of a brief sensorimotor intervention adapted from the Feldenkrais method, a movement-based learning method. Twenty-one participants (10 men, 19-30 years took part in the study. Participants were in a supine position in the scanner with extended legs while an experienced Feldenkrais practitioner used a planar board to touch and apply minimal force to different parts of the sole and toes of their left foot under two experimental conditions. In the local condition, the practitioner explored movement within foot and ankle. In the global condition, the practitioner focused on the connection and support from the foot to the rest of the body. Before (baseline and after each intervention (post-local, post-global, we measured brain activity during intermittent pushing/releasing with the left leg and during resting state. Independent localizer tasks were used to identify regions of interest (ROI.Brain activity during left-foot pushing did not significantly differ between conditions in sensorimotor areas. Resting state activity (regional homogeneity, ReHo increased from baseline to post-local in medial right motor cortex, and from baseline to post-global in the left supplementary/cingulate motor area. Contrasting post-global to post-local showed higher ReHo in right lateral motor cortex. ROI analyses showed significant increases in ReHo in pushing-related areas from baseline to both post-local and post-global, and this increase tended to be more pronounced post-local. The results of this exploratory study show that a short, non-intrusive sensorimotor intervention can have short-term effects on spontaneous cortical activity in functionally related brain regions. Increased resting state activity in higher-order motor areas supports the hypothesis that the global intervention engages action-related neural processes.

  20. Profiles of Cognitive-Motor Interference During Walking in Children: Does the Motor or the Cognitive Task Matter?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadja Schott

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The evidence supporting the effects of age on the ability to coordinate a motor and a cognitive task show inconsistent results in children and adolescents, where the Dual-Task Effects (DTE – if computed at all – range from either being lower or comparable or higher in younger children than in older children, adolescents and adults. A feasible reason for the variability in such findings is the wide range of cognitive tasks (and to some extend of motor tasks used to study Cognitive-Motor Interference (CMI. Our study aims at determining the differences in CMI when performing cognitive tasks targeting different cognitive functions at varying walking pathways. 69 children and adolescents (boys, n = 45; girls, n = 24; mean age, 11.5 ± 1.50 years completed higher-level executive function tasks (2-Back, Serial Subtraction, Auditory Stroop, Clock Task, TMT-B in comparison to non-executive distracter tasks [Motor Response Task (MRT, TMT-A] to assess relative effects on gait during straight vs. repeated Change of Direction (COD walking. DT during COD walking was assessed using the Trail-Walking-Test (TWT. The motor and cognitive DTE were calculated for each task. There were significant differences between 5th and 8th graders on single gait speed on the straight (p = 0.016 and the COD pathway (p = 0.023, but not on any of the DT conditions. The calculation of DTEs revealed that motor DTEs were lowest for the MRT and highest for the TWT in the numbers/letters condition (p < 0.05 for all comparisons. In contrast, there were cognitive benefits for the higher-order cognitive tasks on the straight pathways, but cognitive costs for both DT conditions on the COD pathway (p < 0.01 for all comparisons. Our findings demonstrate that DT changes in walking when completing a secondary task that involve higher-level cognition are attributable to more than low-level divided attention or motor response processes. These results specifically show the direct competition