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Sample records for play mirror self-recognition

  1. Graded Mirror Self-Recognition by Clark's Nutcrackers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clary, Dawson; Kelly, Debbie M

    2016-11-04

    The traditional 'mark test' has shown some large-brained species are capable of mirror self-recognition. During this test a mark is inconspicuously placed on an animal's body where it can only be seen with the aid of a mirror. If the animal increases the number of actions directed to the mark region when presented with a mirror, the animal is presumed to have recognized the mirror image as its reflection. However, the pass/fail nature of the mark test presupposes self-recognition exists in entirety or not at all. We developed a novel mirror-recognition task, to supplement the mark test, which revealed gradation in the self-recognition of Clark's nutcrackers, a large-brained corvid. To do so, nutcrackers cached food alone, observed by another nutcracker, or with a regular or blurry mirror. The nutcrackers suppressed caching with a regular mirror, a behavioural response to prevent cache theft by conspecifics, but did not suppress caching with a blurry mirror. Likewise, during the mark test, most nutcrackers made more self-directed actions to the mark with a blurry mirror than a regular mirror. Both results suggest self-recognition was more readily achieved with the blurry mirror and that self-recognition may be more broadly present among animals than currently thought.

  2. Mirror self-recognition: a review and critique of attempts to promote and engineer self-recognition in primates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, James R; Gallup, Gordon G

    2015-10-01

    We review research on reactions to mirrors and self-recognition in nonhuman primates, focusing on methodological issues. Starting with the initial demonstration in chimpanzees in 1970 and subsequent attempts to extend this to other species, self-recognition in great apes is discussed with emphasis on spontaneous manifestations of mirror-guided self-exploration as well as spontaneous use of the mirror to investigate foreign marks on otherwise nonvisible body parts-the mark test. Attempts to show self-recognition in other primates are examined with particular reference to the lack of convincing examples of spontaneous mirror-guided self-exploration, and efforts to engineer positive mark test responses by modifying the test or using conditioning techniques. Despite intensive efforts to demonstrate self-recognition in other primates, we conclude that to date there is no compelling evidence that prosimians, monkeys, or lesser apes-gibbons and siamangs-are capable of mirror self-recognition.

  3. Giant pandas failed to show mirror self-recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Xiaozan; Jin, Yuan; Luo, Bo; Zhang, Guiquan; Wei, Rongping; Liu, Dingzhen

    2015-05-01

    Mirror self-recognition (MSR), i.e., the ability to recognize oneself in a mirror, is considered a potential index of self-recognition and the foundation of individual development. A wealth of literature on MSR is available for social animals, such as chimpanzees, Asian elephants and dolphins, yet little is known about MSR in solitary mammalian species. We aimed to evaluate whether the giant panda can recognize itself in the mirror, and whether this capacity varies with age. Thirty-four captive giant pandas (F:M = 18:16; juveniles, sub-adults and adults) were subjected to four mirror tests: covered mirror tests, open mirror tests, water mark control tests, and mark tests. The results showed that, though adult, sub-adult and juvenile pandas exposed to mirrors spent similar amounts of time in social mirror-directed behaviors (χ(2) = 0.719, P = 0.698), none of them used the mirror to touch the mark on their head, a self-directed behavior suggesting MSR. Individuals of all age groups initially displayed attacking, threatening, foot scraping and backwards walking behaviors when exposed to their self-images in the mirror. Our data indicate that, regardless of age, the giant pandas did not recognize their self-image in the mirror, but instead considered the image to be a conspecific. Our results add to the available information on mirror self-recognition in large mammals, provide new information on a solitary species, and will be useful for enclosure design and captive animal management.

  4. What mirror self-recognition can tell us about aspects of self

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schilhab, Theresa

    2007-01-01

    great apes and the rest of the animal kingdom. However, methodological and theoretical inconsistencies regarding the empirical approach prevail. For instance, the observation of self-directed behaviour might not be as straightforward as it seems. In addition, the interpretation of mirror self......Biology and Philosophy Vol. 19(no.1):111-126. 2004 Short description: What does the capacity to recognize self by mirrors tell about self-consciousness? Abstract: Research on mirror self-recognition where animals are observed for mirror-guided self-directed behaviour has predominated the empirical...

  5. Neural Mechanism for Mirrored Self-face Recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugiura, Motoaki; Miyauchi, Carlos Makoto; Kotozaki, Yuka; Akimoto, Yoritaka; Nozawa, Takayuki; Yomogida, Yukihito; Hanawa, Sugiko; Yamamoto, Yuki; Sakuma, Atsushi; Nakagawa, Seishu; Kawashima, Ryuta

    2015-09-01

    Self-face recognition in the mirror is considered to involve multiple processes that integrate 2 perceptual cues: temporal contingency of the visual feedback on one's action (contingency cue) and matching with self-face representation in long-term memory (figurative cue). The aim of this study was to examine the neural bases of these processes by manipulating 2 perceptual cues using a "virtual mirror" system. This system allowed online dynamic presentations of real-time and delayed self- or other facial actions. Perception-level processes were identified as responses to only a single perceptual cue. The effect of the contingency cue was identified in the cuneus. The regions sensitive to the figurative cue were subdivided by the response to a static self-face, which was identified in the right temporal, parietal, and frontal regions, but not in the bilateral occipitoparietal regions. Semantic- or integration-level processes, including amodal self-representation and belief validation, which allow modality-independent self-recognition and the resolution of potential conflicts between perceptual cues, respectively, were identified in distinct regions in the right frontal and insular cortices. The results are supportive of the multicomponent notion of self-recognition and suggest a critical role for contingency detection in the co-emergence of self-recognition and empathy in infants. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

  6. Mirror Self-Recognition beyond the Face

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nielsen, Mark; Suddendorf, Thomas; Slaughter, Virginia

    2006-01-01

    Three studies (N=144) investigated how toddlers aged 18 and 24 months pass the surprise-mark test of self-recognition. In Study 1, toddlers were surreptitiously marked in successive conditions on their legs and faces with stickers visible only in a mirror. Rates of sticker touching did not differ significantly between conditions. In Study 2,…

  7. The "olfactory mirror" and other recent attempts to demonstrate self-recognition in non-primate species.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallup, Gordon G; Anderson, James R

    2018-03-01

    The recent attempt by Horowitz (2017) to develop an "olfactory mirror" test of self-recognition in domestic dogs raises some important questions about the kinds of data that are required to provide definitive evidence for self-recognition in dogs and other species. We conclude that the "olfactory mirror" constitutes a compelling analog to the mark test for mirror self-recognition in primates, but despite claims to the contrary neither dogs, elephants, dolphins, magpies, horses, manta rays, squid, nor ants have shown compelling, reproducible evidence for self-recognition in any modality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. An 8-year longitudinal study of mirror self-recognition in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Veer, Monique W; Gallup, Gordon G; Theall, Laura A; van den Bos, Ruud; Povinelli, Daniel J

    2003-01-01

    In a previous cross-sectional study of mirror self-recognition involving 92 chimpanzees, Povinelli et al. [Journal of Comparative Psychology 107 (1993) 347] reported a peak in the proportion of animals exhibiting self-recognition in the adolescent/young adult sample (8-15 years), with 75% being classified as positive. In contrast, only 26% of the older animals (16-39 years) were classified as positive, suggesting a marked decline in self-recognition in middle to late adulthood. In the present study, all of the chimpanzees from the 8-15-year-old group in the Povinelli et al. study (n=12) were again tested for self-recognition, 8 years later. Using the same criteria, 67% of the animals were classified the same. Although a higher proportion of the adult animals in this study (50%) exhibited self-recognition than would be inferred on the basis of the previous study (25%), all changes in self-recognition status were in the negative direction. These results show that mirror self-recognition is a highly stable trait in many chimpanzees, but may be subject to decline with age. Connections with human research are briefly discussed.

  9. Are horses capable of mirror self-recognition? A pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baragli, Paolo; Demuru, Elisa; Scopa, Chiara; Palagi, Elisabetta

    2017-01-01

    Mirror Self-Recognition (MSR) unveils complex cognitive, social and emotional skills and it has been found only in humans and few other species, such as great apes, dolphins, elephants and magpies. In this pilot study, we tested if horses show the capacity of MSR. Four subjects living socially under naturalistic conditions were selected for the experiment. We adopted the classical mark test, which consists in placing a coloured mark on an out-of-view body part, visible only through mirror inspection. If the animal considers the image as its own, it will use its reflection to detect the mark and will try to explore it. We enhanced the classical paradigm by introducing a double-check control. Only in the presence of the reflecting surface, animals performed tactile and olfactory exploration of the mirror and looked behind it. These behaviors suggest that subjects were trying to associate multiple sensory cues (visual, tactile and olfactory) to the image in the mirror. The lack of correspondence between the collected stimuli in front of the mirror and the response to the colored mark lead us to affirm that horses are able to perceive that the reflected image is incongruent when compared with the memorized information of a real horse. However, without replication of data, the self-directed behavior towards the colored marks showed by our horses cannot be sufficient per se to affirm that horses are capable of self-recognition.

  10. A neuroanatomical predictor of mirror self-recognition in chimpanzees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hecht, E E; Mahovetz, L M; Preuss, T M; Hopkins, W D

    2017-01-01

    The ability to recognize one's own reflection is shared by humans and only a few other species, including chimpanzees. However, this ability is highly variable across individual chimpanzees. In humans, self-recognition involves a distributed, right-lateralized network including frontal and parietal regions involved in the production and perception of action. The superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) is a system of white matter tracts linking these frontal and parietal regions. The current study measured mirror self-recognition (MSR) and SLF anatomy in 60 chimpanzees using diffusion tensor imaging. Successful self-recognition was associated with greater rightward asymmetry in the white matter of SLFII and SLFIII, and in SLFIII's gray matter terminations in Broca's area. We observed a visible progression of SLFIII's prefrontal extension in apes that show negative, ambiguous, and compelling evidence of MSR. Notably, SLFIII's terminations in Broca's area are not right-lateralized or particularly pronounced at the population level in chimpanzees, as they are in humans. Thus, chimpanzees with more human-like behavior show more human-like SLFIII connectivity. These results suggest that self-recognition may have co-emerged with adaptations to frontoparietal circuitry. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press.

  11. The Development of Mirror Self-Recognition in Different Sociocultural Contexts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kartner, Joscha; Keller, Heidi; Chaudhary, Nandita; Yovsi, Relindis D.

    2012-01-01

    The overarching goal of the present study was to trace the development of mirror self-recognition (MSR), as an index of toddlers' sense of themselves and others as autonomous intentional agents, in different sociocultural environments. A total of 276 toddlers participated in the present study. Toddlers were either 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, or 21 months…

  12. Spontaneous expression of mirror self-recognition in monkeys after learning precise visual-proprioceptive association for mirror images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Liangtang; Zhang, Shikun; Poo, Mu-Ming; Gong, Neng

    2017-03-21

    Mirror self-recognition (MSR) is generally considered to be an intrinsic cognitive ability found only in humans and a few species of great apes. Rhesus monkeys do not spontaneously show MSR, but they have the ability to use a mirror as an instrument to find hidden objects. The mechanism underlying the transition from simple mirror use to MSR remains unclear. Here we show that rhesus monkeys could show MSR after learning precise visual-proprioceptive association for mirror images. We trained head-fixed monkeys on a chair in front of a mirror to touch with spatiotemporal precision a laser pointer light spot on an adjacent board that could only be seen in the mirror. After several weeks of training, when the same laser pointer light was projected to the monkey's face, a location not used in training, all three trained monkeys successfully touched the face area marked by the light spot in front of a mirror. All trained monkeys passed the standard face mark test for MSR both on the monkey chair and in their home cage. Importantly, distinct from untrained control monkeys, the trained monkeys showed typical mirror-induced self-directed behaviors in their home cage, such as using the mirror to explore normally unseen body parts. Thus, bodily self-consciousness may be a cognitive ability present in many more species than previously thought, and acquisition of precise visual-proprioceptive association for the images in the mirror is critical for revealing the MSR ability of the animal.

  13. Visual Self-Recognition in Mirrors and Live Videos: Evidence for a Developmental Asynchrony

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suddendorf, Thomas; Simcock, Gabrielle; Nielsen, Mark

    2007-01-01

    Three experiments (N = 123) investigated the development of live-video self-recognition using the traditional mark test. In Experiment 1, 24-, 30- and 36-month-old children saw a live video image of equal size and orientation as a control group saw in a mirror. The video version of the test was more difficult than the mirror version with only the…

  14. Cultural differences in self-recognition: the early development of autonomous and related selves?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, Josephine; Yilmaz, Mandy; Dale, Rachel; Cassidy, Rose; Yildirim, Iraz; Suzanne Zeedyk, M

    2017-05-01

    Fifteen- to 18-month-old infants from three nationalities were observed interacting with their mothers and during two self-recognition tasks. Scottish interactions were characterized by distal contact, Zambian interactions by proximal contact, and Turkish interactions by a mixture of contact strategies. These culturally distinct experiences may scaffold different perspectives on self. In support, Scottish infants performed best in a task requiring recognition of the self in an individualistic context (mirror self-recognition), whereas Zambian infants performed best in a task requiring recognition of the self in a less individualistic context (body-as-obstacle task). Turkish infants performed similarly to Zambian infants on the body-as-obstacle task, but outperformed Zambians on the mirror self-recognition task. Verbal contact (a distal strategy) was positively related to mirror self-recognition and negatively related to passing the body-as-obstacle task. Directive action and speech (proximal strategies) were negatively related to mirror self-recognition. Self-awareness performance was best predicted by cultural context; autonomous settings predicted success in mirror self-recognition, and related settings predicted success in the body-as-obstacle task. These novel data substantiate the idea that cultural factors may play a role in the early expression of self-awareness. More broadly, the results highlight the importance of moving beyond the mark test, and designing culturally sensitive tests of self-awareness. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Development of Self-Recognition, Personal Pronoun Use, and Pretend Play During the 2nd Year

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Michael; Ramsay, Douglas

    2004-01-01

    This study examined the relation of visual self-recognition to personal pronoun use and pretend play. For a longitudinal sample (N66) at the ages when self-recognition was emerging (15, 18, and 21 months), self-recognition was related to personal pronoun use and pretend play such that children showing self-recognition used more personal pronouns…

  16. The nature of visual self-recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suddendorf, Thomas; Butler, David L

    2013-03-01

    Visual self-recognition is often controversially cited as an indicator of self-awareness and assessed with the mirror-mark test. Great apes and humans, unlike small apes and monkeys, have repeatedly passed mirror tests, suggesting that the underlying brain processes are homologous and evolved 14-18 million years ago. However, neuroscientific, developmental, and clinical dissociations show that the medium used for self-recognition (mirror vs photograph vs video) significantly alters behavioral and brain responses, likely due to perceptual differences among the different media and prior experience. On the basis of this evidence and evolutionary considerations, we argue that the visual self-recognition skills evident in humans and great apes are a byproduct of a general capacity to collate representations, and need not index other aspects of self-awareness. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Self-recognition in pigeons revisited.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uchino, Emiko; Watanabe, Shigeru

    2014-11-01

    Recognition of a self-image in a mirror is investigated using the mark test during which a mark is placed onto a point on the body that is not directly visible, and the presence or absence of self-directed behaviors is evaluated for the mirror-observing subjects. Great apes, dolphins, possibly elephants, and magpies have all passed the mark test, that is, displayed self-directed behaviors, whereas monkeys, crows, and other animals have failed the test even though they were able to use a mirror to find a not-directly-visible object. Self-directed behavior and mirror use are prerequisites of a successful mark test, and the absence of these behaviors may lead to false negative results. Epstein, Lanza, and Skinner (1981) reported self-directed behavior of pigeons in front of a mirror after explicit training of self-directed pecking and of pecking an object with the aid of a mirror, but certain other researchers could not confirm the results. The aim of the present study was to conduct the mark test with two pigeons that had received extensive training of the prerequisite behaviors. Crucial points of the training were identical topography (pecking) and the same reinforcement (food) in the prerequisite behaviors as well as sufficient training of these behaviors. After training for the prerequisite behaviors, both pigeons spontaneously integrated the learned self-directed and mirror-use behavior and displayed self-directed behavior in a mark test. This indicates that pigeons display mirror self-recognition after training of suitable ontogenetic contingency. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

  18. Tuning of temporo-occipital activity by frontal oscillations during virtual mirror exposure causes erroneous self-recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serino, Andrea; Sforza, Anna Laura; Kanayama, Noriaki; van Elk, Michiel; Kaliuzhna, Mariia; Herbelin, Bruno; Blanke, Olaf

    2015-10-01

    Self-face recognition, a hallmark of self-awareness, depends on 'off-line' stored information about one's face and 'on-line' multisensory-motor face-related cues. The brain mechanisms of how on-line sensory-motor processes affect off-line neural self-face representations are unknown. This study used 3D virtual reality to create a 'virtual mirror' in which participants saw an avatar's face moving synchronously with their own face movements. Electroencephalographic (EEG) analysis during virtual mirror exposure revealed mu oscillations in sensory-motor cortex signalling on-line congruency between the avatar's and participants' movements. After such exposure and compatible with a change in their off-line self-face representation, participants were more prone to recognize the avatar's face as their own, and this was also reflected in the activation of face-specific regions in the inferotemporal cortex. Further EEG analysis showed that the on-line sensory-motor effects during virtual mirror exposure caused these off-line visual effects, revealing the brain mechanisms that maintain a coherent self-representation, despite our continuously changing appearance. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. Assessment of Self-Recognition in Young Children with Handicaps.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelley, Michael F.; And Others

    1988-01-01

    Thirty young children with handicaps were assessed on five self-recognition mirror tasks. The set of tasks formed a reproducible scale, indicating that these tasks are an appropriate measure of self-recognition in this population. Data analysis suggested that stage of self-recognition is positively and significantly related to cognitive…

  20. A Longitudinal Study of Cognitive Representation in Symbolic Play, Self-recognition, and Object Permanence during the Second Year.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chapman, Michael

    1987-01-01

    Explores development of cognitive representation in 20 infants 12 to 24 months of age with regard to (l) their understanding of agency in symbolic play (agent use), (2) recognition of their own mirror image, and (3) object permanence. Results were generally consistent with developmental sequences predicted by Fischer's Skill Theory for agent use…

  1. Mirror self-face perception in individuals with schizophrenia: Feelings of strangeness associated with one's own image.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bortolon, Catherine; Capdevielle, Delphine; Altman, Rosalie; Macgregor, Alexandra; Attal, Jérôme; Raffard, Stéphane

    2017-07-01

    Self-face recognition is crucial for sense of identity and for maintaining a coherent sense of self. Most of our daily life experiences with the image of our own face happen when we look at ourselves in the mirror. However, to date, mirror self-perception in schizophrenia has received little attention despite evidence that face recognition deficits and self abnormalities have been described in schizophrenia. Thus, this study aims to investigate mirror self-face perception in schizophrenia patients and its correlation with clinical symptoms. Twenty-four schizophrenia patients and twenty-five healthy controls were explicitly requested to describe their image in detail during 2min whilst looking at themselves in a mirror. Then, they were asked to report whether they experienced any self-face recognition difficulties. Results showed that schizophrenia patients reported more feelings of strangeness towards their face compared to healthy controls (U=209.5, p=0.048, r=0.28), but no statistically significant differences were found regarding misidentification (p=0.111) and failures in recognition (p=0.081). Symptoms such as hallucinations, somatic concerns and depression were also associated with self-face perception abnormalities (all p-values>0.05). Feelings of strangeness toward one's own face in schizophrenia might be part of a familiar face perception deficit or a more global self-disturbance, which is characterized by a loss of self-other boundaries and has been associated with abnormal body experiences and first rank symptoms. Regarding this last hypothesis, multisensorial integration might have an impact on the way patients perceive themselves since it has an important role in mirror self-perception. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  2. Looking for myself: current multisensory input alters self-face recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsakiris, Manos

    2008-01-01

    How do I know the person I see in the mirror is really me? Is it because I know the person simply looks like me, or is it because the mirror reflection moves when I move, and I see it being touched when I feel touch myself? Studies of face-recognition suggest that visual recognition of stored visual features inform self-face recognition. In contrast, body-recognition studies conclude that multisensory integration is the main cue to selfhood. The present study investigates for the first time the specific contribution of current multisensory input for self-face recognition. Participants were stroked on their face while they were looking at a morphed face being touched in synchrony or asynchrony. Before and after the visuo-tactile stimulation participants performed a self-recognition task. The results show that multisensory signals have a significant effect on self-face recognition. Synchronous tactile stimulation while watching another person's face being similarly touched produced a bias in recognizing one's own face, in the direction of the other person included in the representation of one's own face. Multisensory integration can update cognitive representations of one's body, such as the sense of ownership. The present study extends this converging evidence by showing that the correlation of synchronous multisensory signals also updates the representation of one's face. The face is a key feature of our identity, but at the same time is a source of rich multisensory experiences used to maintain or update self-representations.

  3. Cortical Networks for Visual Self-Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugiura, Motoaki

    This paper briefly reviews recent developments regarding the brain mechanisms of visual self-recognition. A special cognitive mechanism for visual self-recognition has been postulated based on behavioral and neuropsychological evidence, but its neural substrate remains controversial. Recent functional imaging studies suggest that multiple cortical mechanisms play self-specific roles during visual self-recognition, reconciling the existing controversy. Respective roles for the left occipitotemporal, right parietal, and frontal cortices in symbolic, visuospatial, and conceptual aspects of self-representation have been proposed.

  4. Cortical networks for visual self-recognition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugiura, Motoaki

    2007-01-01

    This paper briefly reviews recent developments regarding the brain mechanisms of visual self-recognition. A special cognitive mechanism for visual self-recognition has been postulated based on behavioral and neuropsychological evidence, but its neural substrate remains controversial. Recent functional imaging studies suggest that multiple cortical mechanisms play self-specific roles during visual self-recognition, reconciling the existing controversy. Respective roles for the left occipitotemporal, right parietal, and frontal cortices in symbolic, visuospatial, and conceptual aspects of self-representation have been proposed. (author)

  5. Gaming mirrors at play through ludic data-selves

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enrico Gandolfi

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The focus of the article is on data-self technology in digital entertainment - virtual entities that replicate and/or are influenced by players’ behaviors and actions, working as agential mirrors on the screen. Little efforts have been done in investigating their potential in social research and educational technology; however, data-selves can serve as promising self-revealing tools toward personal identities and narrations. In order to enlighten their effectiveness, a multidisciplinary framework led by the core concepts of “narrative identity” and “discursive-practical consciousness” is advanced. The proposal has been tested (pre-post interviews and play sessions with an empirical exploration involving n:32 participants and the video games Black and White 2 and Forza: Motorsprint 5, which include data-self features. Results show that this technology can make a difference in engaging and stimulating subjects’ interest and feedback, but further researches are needed to deepen its scope and range of application.

  6. Egon Schiele and Frida Kahlo: the self-portrait as mirror.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knafo, D

    1991-01-01

    This article explores the psychoanalytic significance of the self-portraits of Egon Schiele and Frida Kahlo. Both artists employed the self-portrait as a central means of artistic expression. Their fanatic and prolific focus on artistic self-representation exemplifies the manner in which they dealt creatively with narcissistic issues. The therapeutic function of the self-portrait as mirror is examined as well as the part it plays in self-consolidation and identity maintenance.

  7. Mirror agnosia and the mirrored-self misidentification delusion: a hypnotic analogue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Connors, Michael H; Cox, Rochelle E; Barnier, Amanda J; Langdon, Robyn; Coltheart, Max

    2012-05-01

    Mirrored-self misidentification is the delusional belief that one's reflection in the mirror is a stranger. Current theories suggest that one pathway to the delusion is mirror agnosia (a deficit in which patients are unable to use mirror knowledge when interacting with mirrors). This study examined whether a hypnotic suggestion for mirror agnosia can recreate features of the delusion. Ten high hypnotisable participants were given either a suggestion to not understand mirrors or to see the mirror as a window. Participants were asked to look into a mirror and describe what they saw. Participants were tested on their understanding of mirrors and received a series of challenges. Participants then received a detailed postexperimental inquiry. Three of five participants given the suggestion to not understand mirrors reported seeing a stranger and maintained this belief when challenged. These participants also showed signs of mirror agnosia. No participants given the suggestion to see a window reported seeing a stranger. Results indicate that a hypnotic suggestion for mirror agnosia can be used to recreate the mirrored-self misidentification delusion. Factors influencing the effectiveness of hypnotic analogues of psychopathology, such as participants' expectations and interpretations, are discussed.

  8. Self-recognition, theory-of-mind, and self-awareness: what side are you on?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morin, Alain

    2011-05-01

    A fashionable view in comparative psychology states that primates possess self-awareness because they exhibit mirror self-recognition (MSR), which in turn makes it possible to infer mental states in others ("theory-of-mind"; ToM). In cognitive neuroscience, an increasingly popular position holds that the right hemisphere represents the centre of self-awareness because MSR and ToM tasks presumably increase activity in that hemisphere. These two claims are critically assessed here as follows: (1) MSR should not be equated with full-blown self-awareness, as it most probably only requires kinaesthetic self-knowledge and does not involve access to one's mental events; (2) ToM and self-awareness are fairly independent and should also not be taken as equivalent notions; (3) MSR and ToM tasks engage medial and left brain areas; (4) other self-awareness tasks besides MSR and ToM tasks (e.g., self-description, autobiography) mostly recruit medial and left brain areas; (5) and recent neuropsychological evidence implies that inner speech (produced by the left hemisphere) plays a significant role in self-referential activity. The main conclusions reached based on this analysis are that (a) organisms that display MSR most probably do not possess introspective self-awareness, and (b) self-related processes most likely engage a distributed network of brain regions situated in both hemispheres.

  9. Mirror matter as self-interacting dark matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohapatra, R.N.; Nussinov, S.; Teplitz, V.L.

    2002-01-01

    It has been argued that the observed core density profile of galaxies is inconsistent with having a dark matter particle that is collisionless and that alternative dark matter candidates which are self-interacting may explain observations better. One new class of self-interacting dark matter that has been proposed in the context of mirror universe models of particle physics is the mirror hydrogen atom, whose stability is guaranteed by the conservation of mirror baryon number. We show that the effective transport cross section for mirror hydrogen atoms has the right order of magnitude for solving the 'cuspy' halo problem. Furthermore, the suppression of dissipation effects for mirror atoms due to a higher mirror mass scale prevents the mirror halo matter from collapsing into a disk, strengthening the argument for mirror matter as galactic dark matter

  10. The different faces of one's self: an fMRI study into the recognition of current and past self-facial appearances.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Apps, Matthew A J; Tajadura-Jiménez, Ana; Turley, Grainne; Tsakiris, Manos

    2012-11-15

    Mirror self-recognition is often considered as an index of self-awareness. Neuroimaging studies have identified a neural circuit specialised for the recognition of one's own current facial appearance. However, faces change considerably over a lifespan, highlighting the necessity for representations of one's face to continually be updated. We used fMRI to investigate the different neural circuits involved in the recognition of the childhood and current, adult, faces of one's self. Participants viewed images of either their own face as it currently looks morphed with the face of a familiar other or their childhood face morphed with the childhood face of the familiar other. Activity in areas which have a generalised selectivity for faces, including the inferior occipital gyrus, the superior parietal lobule and the inferior temporal gyrus, varied with the amount of current self in an image. Activity in areas involved in memory encoding and retrieval, including the hippocampus and the posterior cingulate gyrus, and areas involved in creating a sense of body ownership, including the temporo-parietal junction and the inferior parietal lobule, varied with the amount of childhood self in an image. We suggest that the recognition of one's own past or present face is underpinned by different cognitive processes in distinct neural circuits. Current self-recognition engages areas involved in perceptual face processing, whereas childhood self-recognition recruits networks involved in body ownership and memory processing. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. On whether mirror neurons play a significant role in processing affective prosody.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramachandra, Vijayachandra

    2009-02-01

    Several behavioral and neuroimaging studies have indicated that both right and left cortical structures and a few subcortical ones are involved in processing affective prosody. Recent investigations have shown that the mirror neuron system plays a crucial role in several higher-level functions such as empathy, theory of mind, language, etc., but no studies so far link the mirror neuron system with affective prosody. In this paper is a speculation that the mirror neuron system, which serves as a common neural substrate for different higher-level functions, may play a significant role in processing affective prosody via its connections with the limbic lobe. Actual research must apply electrophysiological and neuroimaging techniques to assess whether the mirror neuron systems underly affective prosody in humans.

  12. [Neural basis of self-face recognition: social aspects].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugiura, Motoaki

    2012-07-01

    Considering the importance of the face in social survival and evidence from evolutionary psychology of visual self-recognition, it is reasonable that we expect neural mechanisms for higher social-cognitive processes to underlie self-face recognition. A decade of neuroimaging studies so far has, however, not provided an encouraging finding in this respect. Self-face specific activation has typically been reported in the areas for sensory-motor integration in the right lateral cortices. This observation appears to reflect the physical nature of the self-face which representation is developed via the detection of contingency between one's own action and sensory feedback. We have recently revealed that the medial prefrontal cortex, implicated in socially nuanced self-referential process, is activated during self-face recognition under a rich social context where multiple other faces are available for reference. The posterior cingulate cortex has also exhibited this activation modulation, and in the separate experiment showed a response to attractively manipulated self-face suggesting its relevance to positive self-value. Furthermore, the regions in the right lateral cortices typically showing self-face-specific activation have responded also to the face of one's close friend under the rich social context. This observation is potentially explained by the fact that the contingency detection for physical self-recognition also plays a role in physical social interaction, which characterizes the representation of personally familiar people. These findings demonstrate that neuroscientific exploration reveals multiple facets of the relationship between self-face recognition and social-cognitive process, and that technically the manipulation of social context is key to its success.

  13. The different faces of one’s self: an fMRI study into the recognition of current and past self-facial appearances

    Science.gov (United States)

    Apps, Matthew A. J.; Tajadura-Jiménez, Ana; Turley, Grainne; Tsakiris, Manos

    2013-01-01

    Mirror self-recognition is often considered as an index of self-awareness. Neuroimaging studies have identified a neural circuit specialised for the recognition of one’s own current facial appearance. However, faces change considerably over a lifespan, highlighting the necessity for representations of one’s face to continually be updated. We used fMRI to investigate the different neural circuits involved in the recognition of the childhood and current, adult, faces of one’s self. Participants viewed images of either their own face as it currently looks morphed with the face of a familiar other or their childhood face morphed with the childhood face of the familiar other. Activity in areas which have a generalised selectivity for faces, including the inferior occipital gyrus, the superior parietal lobule and the inferior temporal gyrus, varied with the amount of current self in an image. Activity in areas involved in memory encoding and retrieval, including the hippocampus and the posterior cingulate gyrus, and areas involved in creating a sense of body ownership, including the temporo-parietal junction and the inferior parietal lobule, varied with the amount of childhood self in an image. We suggest that the recognition of one’s own past or present face is underpinned by different cognitive processes in distinct neural circuits. Current self-recognition engages areas involved in perceptual face processing, whereas childhood self-recognition recruits networks involved in body ownership and memory processing. PMID:22940117

  14. Mirror-mark tests performed on jackdaws reveal potential methodological problems in the use of stickers in avian mark-test studies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manuel Soler

    Full Text Available Some animals are capable of recognizing themselves in a mirror, which is considered to be demonstrated by passing the mark test. Mirror self-recognition capacity has been found in just a few mammals having very large brains and only in one bird, the magpie (Pica pica. The results obtained in magpies have enormous biological and cognitive implications because the fact that magpies were able to pass the mark test meant that this species is at the same cognitive level with great apes, that mirror self-recognition has evolved independently in the magpie and great apes (which diverged 300 million years ago, and that the neocortex (which is not present in the bird's brains is not a prerequisite for mirror self-recognition as previously believed. Here, we have replicated the experimental design used on magpies to determine whether jackdaws (Corvus monedula are also capable of mirror self-recognition by passing the mark test. We found that our nine jackdaws showed a very high interest towards the mirror and exhibited self-contingent behavior as soon as mirrors were introduced. However, jackdaws were not able to pass the mark test: both sticker-directed actions and sticker removal were performed with a similar frequency in both the cardboard (control and the mirror conditions. We conclude that our jackdaws' behaviour raises non-trivial questions about the methodology used in the avian mark test. Our study suggests that the use of self-adhesive stickers on sensitive throat feathers may open the way to artefactual results because birds might perceive the stickers tactilely.

  15. Mirror image agnosia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chandra, Sadanandavalli Retnaswami; Issac, Thomas Gregor

    2014-10-01

    Gnosis is a modality-specific ability to access semantic knowledge of an object or stimulus in the presence of normal perception. Failure of this is agnosia or disorder of recognition. It can be highly selective within a mode. self-images are different from others as none has seen one's own image except in reflection. Failure to recognize this image can be labeled as mirror image agnosia or Prosopagnosia for reflected self-image. Whereas mirror agnosia is a well-recognized situation where the person while looking at reflected images of other objects in the mirror he imagines that the objects are in fact inside the mirror and not outside. Five patients, four females, and one male presented with failure to recognize reflected self-image, resulting in patients conversing with the image as a friend, fighting because the person in mirror is wearing her nose stud, suspecting the reflected self-image to be an intruder; but did not have prosopagnosia for others faces, non living objects on self and also apraxias except dressing apraxia in one patient. This phenomena is new to our knowledge. Mirror image agnosia is an unique phenomena which is seen in patients with parietal lobe atrophy without specificity to a category of dementing illness and seems to disappear as disease advances. Reflected self-images probably have a specific neural substrate that gets affected very early in posterior dementias specially the ones which predominantly affect the right side. At that phase most patients are mistaken as suffering from psychiatric disorder as cognition is moderately preserved. As disease becomes more widespread this symptom becomes masked. A high degree of suspicion and proper assessment might help physicians to recognize the organic cause of the symptom so that early therapeutic interventions can be initiated. Further assessment of the symptom with FMRI and PET scan is likely to solve the mystery of how brain handles reflected self-images. A new observation involving failure

  16. The social biofeedback theory of parental affect-mirroring: the development of emotional self-awareness and self-control in infancy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gergely, G; Watson, J S

    1996-12-01

    The authors present a new theory of parental affect-mirroring and its role in the development of emotional self-awareness and control in infancy. It is proposed that infants first become sensitised to their categorical emotion-states through a natural social biofeedback process provided by the parent's 'marked' reflections of the baby's emotion displays during affect-regulative interactions. They argue that this sensitisation process is mediated (similarly to that of adult biofeedback training) by the mechanism of contingency-detection and maximising. Apart from sensitisation, affect-mirroring serves three further developmental functions: (1) it contributes to the infant's state-regulation; (2) it leads to the establishment of secondary representations that become associated with the infant's primary procedural affect-states providing the cognitive means for accessing and attributing emotions to the self; (3) it results in the development of a generalised communicative code of "marked' expressions characterised by the representational functions of referential decoupling, anchoring and suspension of realistic consequences. They consider the clinical implications of our theory, relating it to current psychodynamic approaches to the functions of parental affect-mirroring. Using their model they identify various types of deviant mirroring styles and speculate about their developmental consequences. Finally, they discuss what role their social biofeedback model may play as a mediating mechanism in the therapeutic process.

  17. Auditory-vocal mirroring in songbirds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mooney, Richard

    2014-01-01

    Mirror neurons are theorized to serve as a neural substrate for spoken language in humans, but the existence and functions of auditory-vocal mirror neurons in the human brain remain largely matters of speculation. Songbirds resemble humans in their capacity for vocal learning and depend on their learned songs to facilitate courtship and individual recognition. Recent neurophysiological studies have detected putative auditory-vocal mirror neurons in a sensorimotor region of the songbird's brain that plays an important role in expressive and receptive aspects of vocal communication. This review discusses the auditory and motor-related properties of these cells, considers their potential role on song learning and communication in relation to classical studies of birdsong, and points to the circuit and developmental mechanisms that may give rise to auditory-vocal mirroring in the songbird's brain.

  18. Sneaking a peek: pigeons use peripheral vision (not mirrors) to find hidden food.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ünver, Emre; Garland, Alexis; Tabrik, Sepideh; Güntürkün, Onur

    2017-07-01

    A small number of species are capable of recognizing themselves in the mirror when tested with the mark-and-mirror test. This ability is often seen as evidence of self-recognition and possibly even self-awareness. Strangely, a number of species, for example monkeys, pigs and dogs, are unable to pass the mark test but can locate rewarding objects by using the reflective properties of a mirror. Thus, these species seem to understand how a visual reflection functions but cannot apply it to their own image. We tested this discrepancy in pigeons-a species that does not spontaneously pass the mark test. Indeed, we discovered that pigeons can successfully find a hidden food reward using only the reflection, suggesting that pigeons can also use and potentially understand the reflective properties of mirrors, even in the absence of self-recognition. However, tested under monocular conditions, the pigeons approached and attempted to walk through the mirror rather than approach the physical food, displaying similar behavior to patients with mirror agnosia. These findings clearly show that pigeons do not use the reflection of mirrors to locate reward, but actually see the food peripherally with their near-panoramic vision. A re-evaluation of our current understanding of mirror-mediated behavior might be necessary-especially taking more fully into account species differences in visual field. This study suggests that use of reflections in a mirrored surface as a tool may be less widespread than currently thought.

  19. Extending the mirror neuron system model, II: what did I just do? A new role for mirror neurons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonaiuto, James; Arbib, Michael A

    2010-04-01

    A mirror system is active both when an animal executes a class of actions (self-actions) and when it sees another execute an action of that class. Much attention has been given to the possible roles of mirror systems in responding to the actions of others but there has been little attention paid to their role in self-actions. In the companion article (Bonaiuto et al. Biol Cybern 96:9-38, 2007) we presented MNS2, an extension of the Mirror Neuron System model of the monkey mirror system trained to recognize the external appearance of its own actions as a basis for recognizing the actions of other animals when they perform similar actions. Here we further extend the study of the mirror system by introducing the novel hypotheses that a mirror system may additionally help in monitoring the success of a self-action and may also be activated by recognition of one's own apparent actions as well as efference copy from one's intended actions. The framework for this computational demonstration is a model of action sequencing, called augmented competitive queuing, in which action choice is based on the desirability of executable actions. We show how this "what did I just do?" function of mirror neurons can contribute to the learning of both executability and desirability which in certain cases supports rapid reorganization of motor programs in the face of disruptions.

  20. Auditory–vocal mirroring in songbirds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mooney, Richard

    2014-01-01

    Mirror neurons are theorized to serve as a neural substrate for spoken language in humans, but the existence and functions of auditory–vocal mirror neurons in the human brain remain largely matters of speculation. Songbirds resemble humans in their capacity for vocal learning and depend on their learned songs to facilitate courtship and individual recognition. Recent neurophysiological studies have detected putative auditory–vocal mirror neurons in a sensorimotor region of the songbird's brain that plays an important role in expressive and receptive aspects of vocal communication. This review discusses the auditory and motor-related properties of these cells, considers their potential role on song learning and communication in relation to classical studies of birdsong, and points to the circuit and developmental mechanisms that may give rise to auditory–vocal mirroring in the songbird's brain. PMID:24778375

  1. Self-Recognition in Autistic Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawson, Geraldine; McKissick, Fawn Celeste

    1984-01-01

    Fifteen autistic children (four to six years old) were assessed for visual self-recognition ability, as well as for object permanence and gestural imitation. It was found that 13 of 15 autistic children showed evidence of self-recognition. Consistent relationships were suggested between self-cognition and object permanence but not between…

  2. Would you like to play together? Adults' attachment and the mirror game.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feniger-Schaal, Rinat; Noy, Lior; Hart, Yuval; Koren-Karie, Nina; Mayo, Avraham E; Alon, Uri

    2016-01-01

    Why is it easy for some people to play together and difficult for others? In this interdisciplinary pilot study, we looked at dyadic interaction in motion as a paradigm to explore the expression of attachment in adulthood. We used a device that gives simple, quantitative and automated indicators for the quality of interaction while playing the mirror game. Forty-seven participants played the mirror game with the same gender-matched expert players. In addition, participants were interviewed on the Adult Attachment Interview to assess their quality of attachment. Using high resolution kinematic measures, we found that secure attachment was correlated with high complexity of the game and low synchrony compared to insecure attachment. The findings suggest that security of attachment is related to a more exploratory and less rigid game than insecure-dismissing attachment. These preliminary findings imply that high resolution analysis of simple movement interaction could carry information about attachment behavior.

  3. Self-body recognition depends on implicit and explicit self-esteem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richetin, Juliette; Xaiz, Annalisa; Maravita, Angelo; Perugini, Marco

    2012-03-01

    The present contribution bridges research on body image, self-esteem, and body recognition. Recent work in neuroscience indicates a superiority in the processing of self relative to others' body parts. The present contribution shows that this ability is not universal but it is qualified by individual differences in implicit and explicit self-esteem. In fact, two studies (n₁ = 41 and n₂ = 35) using two different paradigms in body recognition and direct and indirect measures of self-esteem reveal that this advantage in recognizing one's own body parts is associated with one's level of self-esteem. Moreover, it appears that measures of implicit and explicit self-esteem provide different contributions to self-body recognition abilities and that these contributions depend on how self-body recognition is assessed. Implications of these results are discussed notably in the perspective of research on body image. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Speech-associated gestures, Broca’s area, and the human mirror system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skipper, Jeremy I.; Goldin-Meadow, Susan; Nusbaum, Howard C.; Small, Steven L

    2009-01-01

    Speech-associated gestures are hand and arm movements that not only convey semantic information to listeners but are themselves actions. Broca’s area has been assumed to play an important role both in semantic retrieval or selection (as part of a language comprehension system) and in action recognition (as part of a “mirror” or “observation–execution matching” system). We asked whether the role that Broca’s area plays in processing speech-associated gestures is consistent with the semantic retrieval/selection account (predicting relatively weak interactions between Broca’s area and other cortical areas because the meaningful information that speech-associated gestures convey reduces semantic ambiguity and thus reduces the need for semantic retrieval/selection) or the action recognition account (predicting strong interactions between Broca’s area and other cortical areas because speech-associated gestures are goal-direct actions that are “mirrored”). We compared the functional connectivity of Broca’s area with other cortical areas when participants listened to stories while watching meaningful speech-associated gestures, speech-irrelevant self-grooming hand movements, or no hand movements. A network analysis of neuroimaging data showed that interactions involving Broca’s area and other cortical areas were weakest when spoken language was accompanied by meaningful speech-associated gestures, and strongest when spoken language was accompanied by self-grooming hand movements or by no hand movements at all. Results are discussed with respect to the role that the human mirror system plays in processing speech-associated movements. PMID:17533001

  5. The mirror mechanism in the parietal lobe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rizzolatti, Giacomo; Rozzi, Stefano

    2018-01-01

    The mirror mechanism is a basic mechanism that transforms sensory representations of others' actions into motor representations of the same actions in the brain of the observer. The mirror mechanism plays an important role in understanding actions of others. In the present chapter we discuss first the basic organization of the posterior parietal lobe in the monkey, stressing that it is best characterized as a motor scaffold, on the top of which sensory information is organized. We then describe the location of the mirror mechanism in the posterior parietal cortex of the monkey, and its functional role in areas PFG, and anterior, ventral, and lateral intraparietal areas. We will then present evidence that a similar functional organization is present in humans. We will conclude by discussing the role of the mirror mechanism in the recognition of action performed with tools. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. The neural correlates of visual self-recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devue, Christel; Brédart, Serge

    2011-03-01

    This paper presents a review of studies that were aimed at determining which brain regions are recruited during visual self-recognition, with a particular focus on self-face recognition. A complex bilateral network, involving frontal, parietal and occipital areas, appears to be associated with self-face recognition, with a particularly high implication of the right hemisphere. Results indicate that it remains difficult to determine which specific cognitive operation is reflected by each recruited brain area, in part due to the variability of used control stimuli and experimental tasks. A synthesis of the interpretations provided by previous studies is presented. The relevance of using self-recognition as an indicator of self-awareness is discussed. We argue that a major aim of future research in the field should be to identify more clearly the cognitive operations induced by the perception of the self-face, and search for dissociations between neural correlates and cognitive components. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. The free-energy self: a predictive coding account of self-recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Apps, Matthew A J; Tsakiris, Manos

    2014-04-01

    Recognising and representing one's self as distinct from others is a fundamental component of self-awareness. However, current theories of self-recognition are not embedded within global theories of cortical function and therefore fail to provide a compelling explanation of how the self is processed. We present a theoretical account of the neural and computational basis of self-recognition that is embedded within the free-energy account of cortical function. In this account one's body is processed in a Bayesian manner as the most likely to be "me". Such probabilistic representation arises through the integration of information from hierarchically organised unimodal systems in higher-level multimodal areas. This information takes the form of bottom-up "surprise" signals from unimodal sensory systems that are explained away by top-down processes that minimise the level of surprise across the brain. We present evidence that this theoretical perspective may account for the findings of psychological and neuroimaging investigations into self-recognition and particularly evidence that representations of the self are malleable, rather than fixed as previous accounts of self-recognition might suggest. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Self-other relations in social development and autism: multiple roles for mirror neurons and other brain bases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Justin H G

    2008-04-01

    Mirror neuron system dysfunction may underlie a self-other matching impairment, which has previously been suggested to account for autism. Embodied Cognition Theory, which proposes that action provides a foundation for cognition has lent further credence to these ideas. The hypotheses of a self-other matching deficit and impaired mirror neuron function in autism have now been well supported by studies employing a range of methodologies. However, underlying mechanisms require further exploration to explain how mirror neurons may be involved in attentional and mentalizing processes. Impairments in self-other matching and mirror neuron function are not necessarily inextricably linked and it seems possible that different sub-populations of mirror neurons, located in several regions, contribute differentially to social cognitive functions. It is hypothesized that mirror neuron coding for action-direction may be required for developing attentional sensitivity to self-directed actions, and consequently for person-oriented, stimulus-driven attention. Mirror neuron networks may vary for different types of social learning such as "automatic" imitation and imitation learning. Imitation learning may be more reliant on self-other comparison processes (based on mirror neurons) that identify differences as well as similarities between actions. Differential connectivity with the amygdala-orbitofrontal system may also be important. This could have implications for developing "theory of mind," with intentional self-other comparison being relevant to meta-representational abilities, and "automatic" imitation being more relevant to empathy. While it seems clear that autism is associated with impaired development of embodied aspects of cognition, the ways that mirror neurons contribute to these brain-behavior links are likely to be complex.

  9. Smooth leader or sharp follower? Playing the mirror game with a robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kashi, Shir; Levy-Tzedek, Shelly

    2018-01-01

    The increasing number of opportunities for human-robot interactions in various settings, from industry through home use to rehabilitation, creates a need to understand how to best personalize human-robot interactions to fit both the user and the task at hand. In the current experiment, we explored a human-robot collaborative task of joint movement, in the context of an interactive game. We set out to test people's preferences when interacting with a robotic arm, playing a leader-follower imitation game (the mirror game). Twenty two young participants played the mirror game with the robotic arm, where one player (person or robot) followed the movements of the other. Each partner (person and robot) was leading part of the time, and following part of the time. When the robotic arm was leading the joint movement, it performed movements that were either sharp or smooth, which participants were later asked to rate. The greatest preference was given to smooth movements. Half of the participants preferred to lead, and half preferred to follow. Importantly, we found that the movements of the robotic arm primed the subsequent movements performed by the participants. The priming effect by the robot on the movements of the human should be considered when designing interactions with robots. Our results demonstrate individual differences in preferences regarding the role of the human and the joint motion path of the robot and the human when performing the mirror game collaborative task, and highlight the importance of personalized human-robot interactions.

  10. Play as Self-Realization: Toward a General Theory of Play

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henricks, Thomas S.

    2014-01-01

    In a wide-ranging essay that reviews the major theories of plays and relates them to significant notions of the self, the author addresses the question of why we play. He does so to argue that play is a biologically driven project of self-understanding and self-realization, one that humans--although they also share the experience with other…

  11. Self-face recognition in social context.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugiura, Motoaki; Sassa, Yuko; Jeong, Hyeonjeong; Wakusawa, Keisuke; Horie, Kaoru; Sato, Shigeru; Kawashima, Ryuta

    2012-06-01

    The concept of "social self" is often described as a representation of the self-reflected in the eyes or minds of others. Although the appearance of one's own face has substantial social significance for humans, neuroimaging studies have failed to link self-face recognition and the likely neural substrate of the social self, the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). We assumed that the social self is recruited during self-face recognition under a rich social context where multiple other faces are available for comparison of social values. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined the modulation of neural responses to the faces of the self and of a close friend in a social context. We identified an enhanced response in the ventral MPFC and right occipitoparietal sulcus in the social context specifically for the self-face. Neural response in the right lateral parietal and inferior temporal cortices, previously claimed as self-face-specific, was unaffected for the self-face but unexpectedly enhanced for the friend's face in the social context. Self-face-specific activation in the pars triangularis of the inferior frontal gyrus, and self-face-specific reduction of activation in the left middle temporal gyrus and the right supramarginal gyrus, replicating a previous finding, were not subject to such modulation. Our results thus demonstrated the recruitment of a social self during self-face recognition in the social context. At least three brain networks for self-face-specific activation may be dissociated by different patterns of response-modulation in the social context, suggesting multiple dynamic self-other representations in the human brain. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  12. Recognition of an Independent Self-Consciousness

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjerre, Henrik Jøker

    2009-01-01

    Hegel's concept in the Phenomenology of the Spirit of the "recognition of an independent self-consciousness" is investigated as a point of separation for contemporary philosophy of recognition. I claim that multiculturalism and the theories of recognition (such as Axel Honneth's) based on empiric...... psychology neglect or deny crucial metaphysical aspects of the Hegelian legacy. Instead, I seek to point at an additional, "spiritual", level of recognition, based on the concept of the subject in Lacanian psychoanalysis....

  13. Developmental consequences of early parenting experiences: self-recognition and self-regulation in three cultural communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Heidi; Yovsi, Relindis; Borke, Joern; Kärtner, Joscha; Jensen, Henning; Papaligoura, Zaira

    2004-01-01

    This study relates parenting of 3-month-old children to children's self-recognition and self-regulation at 18 to 20 months. As hypothesized, observational data revealed differences in the sociocultural orientations of the 3 cultural samples' parenting styles and in toddlers' development of self-recognition and self-regulation. Children of Cameroonian Nso farmers who experience a proximal parenting style develop self-regulation earlier, children of Greek urban middle-class families who experience a distal parenting style develop self-recognition earlier, and children of Costa Rican middle-class families who experience aspects of both distal and proximal parenting styles fall between the other 2 groups on both self-regulation and self-recognition. Results are discussed with respect to their implications for culturally informed developmental pathways.

  14. Prepulse suppression using a self-induced, ultrashort pulse plasma mirror

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gold, D.M.; Nathel, H.; Bolton, P.R.; White, W.E.; Van Woerkom, L.D.

    1991-01-01

    The plasma mirror is a self-induced, plasm-based optical element which can be inserted into existing experiments to reduce repulse energy without significant degradation of ultrashort pulse laser light. The authors have characteristics of the reflected pulse. The initial measurements indicate that the incident pulse reflects specularly from a high density, highly reflective plasma. The reflected pulse has a smoothed spatial profile and reduced pulsewidth. This paper outlines future work to characterize both the plasm mirror technique of repulse suppression and its reflected pulse

  15. Impaired processing of self-face recognition in anorexia nervosa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirot, France; Lesage, Marine; Pedron, Lya; Meyer, Isabelle; Thomas, Pierre; Cottencin, Olivier; Guardia, Dewi

    2016-03-01

    Body image disturbances and massive weight loss are major clinical symptoms of anorexia nervosa (AN). The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of body changes and eating attitudes on self-face recognition ability in AN. Twenty-seven subjects suffering from AN and 27 control participants performed a self-face recognition task (SFRT). During the task, digital morphs between their own face and a gender-matched unfamiliar face were presented in a random sequence. Participants' self-face recognition failures, cognitive flexibility, body concern and eating habits were assessed with the Self-Face Recognition Questionnaire (SFRQ), Trail Making Test (TMT), Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), respectively. Subjects suffering from AN exhibited significantly greater difficulties than control participants in identifying their own face (p = 0.028). No significant difference was observed between the two groups for TMT (all p > 0.1, non-significant). Regarding predictors of self-face recognition skills, there was a negative correlation between SFRT and body mass index (p = 0.01) and a positive correlation between SFRQ and EDI-2 (p face recognition.

  16. The processing of auditory and visual recognition of self-stimuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, Susan M; Nicholson, Shevon E

    2010-12-01

    This study examined self-recognition processing in both the auditory and visual modalities by determining how comparable hearing a recording of one's own voice was to seeing photograph of one's own face. We also investigated whether the simultaneous presentation of auditory and visual self-stimuli would either facilitate or inhibit self-identification. Ninety-one participants completed reaction-time tasks of self-recognition when presented with their own faces, own voices, and combinations of the two. Reaction time and errors made when responding with both the right and left hand were recorded to determine if there were lateralization effects on these tasks. Our findings showed that visual self-recognition for facial photographs appears to be superior to auditory self-recognition for voice recordings. Furthermore, a combined presentation of one's own face and voice appeared to inhibit rather than facilitate self-recognition and there was a left-hand advantage for reaction time on the combined-presentation tasks. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Visual perception during mirror-gazing at one's own face in patients with depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caputo, Giovanni B; Bortolomasi, Marco; Ferrucci, Roberta; Giacopuzzi, Mario; Priori, Alberto; Zago, Stefano

    2014-01-01

    In normal observers, gazing at one's own face in the mirror for a few minutes, at a low illumination level, produces the apparition of strange faces. Observers see distortions of their own faces, but they often see hallucinations like monsters, archetypical faces, faces of relatives and deceased, and animals. In this research, patients with depression were compared to healthy controls with respect to strange-face apparitions. The experiment was a 7-minute mirror-gazing test (MGT) under low illumination. When the MGT ended, the experimenter assessed patients and controls with a specifically designed questionnaire and interviewed them, asking them to describe strange-face apparitions. Apparitions of strange faces in the mirror were very reduced in depression patients compared to healthy controls. Depression patients compared to healthy controls showed shorter duration of apparitions; minor number of strange faces; lower self-evaluation rating of apparition strength; lower self-evaluation rating of provoked emotion. These decreases in depression may be produced by deficits of facial expression and facial recognition of emotions, which are involved in the relationship between the patient (or the patient's ego) and his face image (or the patient's bodily self) that is reflected in the mirror.

  18. The Mirror Neuron System and Action Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buccino, Giovanni; Binkofski, Ferdinand; Riggio, Lucia

    2004-01-01

    Mirror neurons, first described in the rostral part of monkey ventral premotor cortex (area F5), discharge both when the animal performs a goal-directed hand action and when it observes another individual performing the same or a similar action. More recently, in the same area mirror neurons responding to the observation of mouth actions have been…

  19. Waveguiding and mirroring effects in stochastic self-similar and Cantorian ε(∞) universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iovane, G.

    2005-01-01

    A waveguiding effect is considered with respect to the large scale structure of the Universe, where the structures formation appears as if it were a classically self-similar random process at all astrophysical scales. The result is that it seems we live in an El Naschie's ε (∞) Cantorian space-time, where gravitational lensing and waveguiding effects can explain the appearing Universe. In particular, we consider filamentary and planar large scale structures as possible refraction channels for electromagnetic radiation coming from cosmological structures. From this vision the Universe appears like a large self-similar adaptive mirrors set. Consequently, an infinite Universe is just an optical illusion that is produced by mirroring effects connected with the large scale structure of a finite and not so large Universe. Thanks to the presented analytical model supported by a numerical simulation, it is possible to explain the quasar luminosity distribution and the presence of 'twin' or 'brother' objects. More generally, the infinity and the abundance of astrophysical objects could be just a mirroring effect due to the peculiar self-similarity of the Universe

  20. Developmental Consequences of Early Parenting Experiences: Self-Recognition and Self-Regulation in Three Cultural Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Heidi; Yovsi, Relindis; Borke, Joern; Krtner, Joscha; Jensen, Henning; Papaligoura, Zaira

    2004-01-01

    This study relates parenting of 3-month-old children to children's self-recognition and self-regulation at 18 to 20 months. As hypothesized, observational data revealed differences in the sociocultural orientations of the 3 cultural samples' parenting styles and in toddlers' development of self-recognition and self-regulation. Children of…

  1. Why is your spouse so predictable? Connecting mirror neuron system and self-expansion model of love.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortigue, Stephanie; Bianchi-Demicheli, Francesco

    2008-12-01

    The simulation theory assumes we understand actions and intentions of others through a direct matching process. This matching process activates a complex brain network involving the mirror neuron system (MNS), which is self-related and active when one does something or observes someone else acting. Because social psychology admits that mutual intention's understanding grows in close relationship as love grows, we hypothesize that mirror mechanisms take place in love relationships. The similarities between the mirror matching process and the mutual intention's understanding that occurs when two persons are in love suggest that exposure to love might affect functional and neural mechanisms, thus facilitating the understanding of the beloved's intentions. Congruent with our hypothesis, our preliminary results from 38 subjects strongly suggest a significant facilitation effect of love on understanding the intentions of the beloved (as opposed to control stimuli). Based on these phenomenological, and neurofunctional findings we suggest that the mirror mechanisms are involved in the facilitation effects of love for understanding intentions, and might further be extended to any types of love (e.g., passionate love, maternal love). Love experiences are important not only to the beloved himself, but also to any societal, cultural, and institutional patterns that relate to love. Yet, concerning its subjective character, love experiences are difficult to access. The modern procedures and techniques of socio-cognitive neuroscience make it possible to understand love and self-related experiences not only by the analysis of subjective self-reported questionnaires, but also by approaching the automatic (non-conscious) mirror experiences of love in healthy subjects, and neurological patients with a brain damage within the mirror neuron system. Although the psychology of love is now well admitted, the systematic study of the automatic facilitation effect of love through mirror

  2. Virus-mediated suppression of host non-self recognition facilitates horizontal transmission of heterologous viruses.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Songsong Wu

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Non-self recognition is a common phenomenon among organisms; it often leads to innate immunity to prevent the invasion of parasites and maintain the genetic polymorphism of organisms. Fungal vegetative incompatibility is a type of non-self recognition which often induces programmed cell death (PCD and restricts the spread of molecular parasites. It is not clearly known whether virus infection could attenuate non-self recognition among host individuals to facilitate its spread. Here, we report that a hypovirulence-associated mycoreovirus, named Sclerotinia sclerotiorum mycoreovirus 4 (SsMYRV4, could suppress host non-self recognition and facilitate horizontal transmission of heterologous viruses. We found that cell death in intermingled colony regions between SsMYRV4-infected Sclerotinia sclerotiorum strain and other tested vegetatively incompatible strains was markedly reduced and inhibition barrage lines were not clearly observed. Vegetative incompatibility, which involves Heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins signaling pathway, is controlled by specific loci termed het (heterokaryon incompatibility loci. Reactive oxygen species (ROS plays a key role in vegetative incompatibility-mediated PCD. The expression of G protein subunit genes, het genes, and ROS-related genes were significantly down-regulated, and cellular production of ROS was suppressed in the presence of SsMYRV4. Furthermore, SsMYRV4-infected strain could easily accept other viruses through hyphal contact and these viruses could be efficiently transmitted from SsMYRV4-infected strain to other vegetatively incompatible individuals. Thus, we concluded that SsMYRV4 is capable of suppressing host non-self recognition and facilitating heterologous viruses transmission among host individuals. These findings may enhance our understanding of virus ecology, and provide a potential strategy to utilize hypovirulence-associated mycoviruses to control fungal diseases.

  3. Self-pumped passive ring mirror in crystals with strong fanning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bogodaev, Nickolai V.; Ivleva, Ludmila I.; Korshunov, A. S.; Mamaev, A. V.; Polozkov, N. N.; Zozulya, Aleksei A.

    1992-12-01

    Most photorefractive crystals, suitable for the realization of self-pumped four-wave mixing phase conjugation and mutual conjugation geometries, are characterized by the high level of fanning. In some cases it may mean that the nonlinearity of these crystals is already too large to be good and a decrease in the value of a nonlinear coupling coefficient may result in an improved performance of these geometries. This point is illustrated using geometry of a self- pumped ring mirror.

  4. Mirror neurons, procedural learning, and the positive new experience: a developmental systems self psychology approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolf, N S; Gales, M; Shane, E; Shane, M

    2000-01-01

    In summary, we are impressed with the existence of a mirror neuron system in the prefrontal cortex that serves as part of a complex neural network, including afferent and efferent connections to the limbic system, in particular the amygdala, in addition to the premotor and motor cortex. We think it is possible to arrive at an integration that postulates the mirror neuron system and its many types of associated multimodal neurons as contributing significantly to implicit procedural learning, a process that underlies a range of complex nonconscious, unconscious, preconscious and conscious cognitive activities, from playing musical instruments to character formation and traumatic configurations. This type of brain circuitry may establish an external coherence with developmental systems self psychology which implies that positive new experience is meliorative and that the intentional revival of old-old traumatic relational configurations might enhance maladaptive procedural patterns that would lead to the opposite of the intended beneficial change. When analysts revive traumatic transference patterns for the purpose of clarification and interpretation, they may fail to appreciate that such traumatic transference patterns make interpretation ineffective because, as we have stated above, the patient lacks self-reflection under such traumatic conditions. The continued plasticity and immediacy of the mirror neuron system can contribute to positive new experiences that promote the formation of new, adaptive, implicit-procedural patterns. Perhaps this broadened repertoire in the patient of ways of understanding interrelational events through the psychoanalytic process allows the less adaptive patterns ultimately to become vestigial and the newer, more adaptive patterns to emerge as dominant. Finally, as we have stated, we believe that the intentional transferential revival of trauma (i.e., the old-old relational configuration) may not contribute to therapeutic benefit. In

  5. Improvement on vibration measurement performance of laser self-mixing interference by using a pre-feedback mirror

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Wei; Chen, Qianghua; Wang, Yanghong; Luo, Huifu; Wu, Huan; Ma, Binwu

    2018-06-01

    In the laser self-mixing interference vibration measurement system, the self mixing interference signal is usually weak so that it can be hardly distinguished from the environmental noise. In order to solve this problem, we present a self-mixing interference optical path with a pre-feedback mirror, a pre-feedback mirror is added between the object and the collimator lens, corresponding feedback light enters into the inner cavity of the laser and the interference by the pre-feedback mirror occurs. The pre-feedback system is established after that. The self-mixing interference theoretical model with a pre-feedback based on the F-P model is derived. The theoretical analysis shows that the amplitude of the intensity of the interference signal can be improved by 2-4 times. The influence factors of system are also discussed. The experiment results show that the amplitude of the signal is greatly improved, which agrees with the theoretical analysis.

  6. Exploring Cultural Differences in the Recognition of the Self-Conscious Emotions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joanne M Chung

    Full Text Available Recent research suggests that the self-conscious emotions of embarrassment, shame, and pride have distinct, nonverbal expressions that can be recognized in the United States at above-chance levels. However, few studies have examined the recognition of these emotions in other cultures, and little research has been conducted in Asia. Consequently the cross-cultural generalizability of self-conscious emotions has not been firmly established. Additionally, there is no research that examines cultural variability in the recognition of the self-conscious emotions. Cultural values and exposure to Western culture have been identified as contributors to variability in recognition rates for the basic emotions; we sought to examine this for the self-conscious emotions using the University of California, Davis Set of Emotion Expressions (UCDSEE. The present research examined recognition of the self-conscious emotion expressions in South Korean college students and found that recognition rates were very high for pride, low but above chance for shame, and near zero for embarrassment. To examine what might be underlying the recognition rates we found in South Korea, recognition of self-conscious emotions and several cultural values were examined in a U.S. college student sample of European Americans, Asian Americans, and Asian-born individuals. Emotion recognition rates were generally similar between the European Americans and Asian Americans, and higher than emotion recognition rates for Asian-born individuals. These differences were not explained by cultural values in an interpretable manner, suggesting that exposure to Western culture is a more important mediator than values.

  7. Exploring Cultural Differences in the Recognition of the Self-Conscious Emotions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Joanne M; Robins, Richard W

    2015-01-01

    Recent research suggests that the self-conscious emotions of embarrassment, shame, and pride have distinct, nonverbal expressions that can be recognized in the United States at above-chance levels. However, few studies have examined the recognition of these emotions in other cultures, and little research has been conducted in Asia. Consequently the cross-cultural generalizability of self-conscious emotions has not been firmly established. Additionally, there is no research that examines cultural variability in the recognition of the self-conscious emotions. Cultural values and exposure to Western culture have been identified as contributors to variability in recognition rates for the basic emotions; we sought to examine this for the self-conscious emotions using the University of California, Davis Set of Emotion Expressions (UCDSEE). The present research examined recognition of the self-conscious emotion expressions in South Korean college students and found that recognition rates were very high for pride, low but above chance for shame, and near zero for embarrassment. To examine what might be underlying the recognition rates we found in South Korea, recognition of self-conscious emotions and several cultural values were examined in a U.S. college student sample of European Americans, Asian Americans, and Asian-born individuals. Emotion recognition rates were generally similar between the European Americans and Asian Americans, and higher than emotion recognition rates for Asian-born individuals. These differences were not explained by cultural values in an interpretable manner, suggesting that exposure to Western culture is a more important mediator than values.

  8. Exploring Cultural Differences in the Recognition of the Self-Conscious Emotions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Joanne M.; Robins, Richard W.

    2015-01-01

    Recent research suggests that the self-conscious emotions of embarrassment, shame, and pride have distinct, nonverbal expressions that can be recognized in the United States at above-chance levels. However, few studies have examined the recognition of these emotions in other cultures, and little research has been conducted in Asia. Consequently the cross-cultural generalizability of self-conscious emotions has not been firmly established. Additionally, there is no research that examines cultural variability in the recognition of the self-conscious emotions. Cultural values and exposure to Western culture have been identified as contributors to variability in recognition rates for the basic emotions; we sought to examine this for the self-conscious emotions using the University of California, Davis Set of Emotion Expressions (UCDSEE). The present research examined recognition of the self-conscious emotion expressions in South Korean college students and found that recognition rates were very high for pride, low but above chance for shame, and near zero for embarrassment. To examine what might be underlying the recognition rates we found in South Korea, recognition of self-conscious emotions and several cultural values were examined in a U.S. college student sample of European Americans, Asian Americans, and Asian-born individuals. Emotion recognition rates were generally similar between the European Americans and Asian Americans, and higher than emotion recognition rates for Asian-born individuals. These differences were not explained by cultural values in an interpretable manner, suggesting that exposure to Western culture is a more important mediator than values. PMID:26309215

  9. Visual Perception during Mirror-Gazing at One’s Own Face in Patients with Depression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giovanni B. Caputo

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In normal observers, gazing at one’s own face in the mirror for a few minutes, at a low illumination level, produces the apparition of strange faces. Observers see distortions of their own faces, but they often see hallucinations like monsters, archetypical faces, faces of relatives and deceased, and animals. In this research, patients with depression were compared to healthy controls with respect to strange-face apparitions. The experiment was a 7-minute mirror-gazing test (MGT under low illumination. When the MGT ended, the experimenter assessed patients and controls with a specifically designed questionnaire and interviewed them, asking them to describe strange-face apparitions. Apparitions of strange faces in the mirror were very reduced in depression patients compared to healthy controls. Depression patients compared to healthy controls showed shorter duration of apparitions; minor number of strange faces; lower self-evaluation rating of apparition strength; lower self-evaluation rating of provoked emotion. These decreases in depression may be produced by deficits of facial expression and facial recognition of emotions, which are involved in the relationship between the patient (or the patient’s ego and his face image (or the patient’s bodily self that is reflected in the mirror.

  10. Self-Recognition in Live Videos by Young Children: Does Video Training Help?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demir, Defne; Skouteris, Helen

    2010-01-01

    The overall aim of the experiment reported here was to establish whether self-recognition in live video can be facilitated when live video training is provided to children aged 2-2.5 years. While the majority of children failed the test of live self-recognition prior to video training, more than half exhibited live self-recognition post video…

  11. From mirror self-recognition to the looking-glass self: exploring the Justification Hypothesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaffer, Leigh S

    2005-01-01

    In his Tree of Knowledge (ToK) System, Henriques (2003) posits that the human ego or "self" has evolved because human beings are the only animals that have had to justify their behavior to others. This essay provides evidence for this Justification Hypothesis (JH) from everyday life sociology, starting with the work of George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley, and focuses on research related to the concept of the "looking-glass self." Special emphasis is given to the pragmatics of speech acts, the presentation of self in interaction rituals, the accounts given by actors in justification of their actions, and the role of social norms and conformity in the large-scale justification systems commonly called "culture."

  12. Further insight into self-face recognition in schizophrenia patients: Why ambiguity matters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bortolon, Catherine; Capdevielle, Delphine; Salesse, Robin N; Raffard, Stephane

    2016-03-01

    Although some studies reported specifically self-face processing deficits in patients with schizophrenia disorder (SZ), it remains unclear whether these deficits rather reflect a more global face processing deficit. Contradictory results are probably due to the different methodologies employed and the lack of control of other confounding factors. Moreover, no study has so far evaluated possible daily life self-face recognition difficulties in SZ. Therefore, our primary objective was to investigate self-face recognition in patients suffering from SZ compared to healthy controls (HC) using an "objective measure" (reaction time and accuracy) and a "subjective measure" (self-report of daily self-face recognition difficulties). Twenty-four patients with SZ and 23 HC performed a self-face recognition task and completed a questionnaire evaluating daily difficulties in self-face recognition. Recognition task material consisted in three different faces (the own, a famous and an unknown) being morphed in steps of 20%. Results showed that SZ were overall slower than HC regardless of the face identity, but less accurate only for the faces containing 60%-40% morphing. Moreover, SZ and HC reported a similar amount of daily problems with self/other face recognition. No significant correlations were found between objective and subjective measures (p > 0.05). The small sample size and relatively mild severity of psychopathology does not allow us to generalize our results. These results suggest that: (1) patients with SZ are as capable of recognizing their own face as HC, although they are susceptible to ambiguity; (2) there are far less self recognition deficits in schizophrenia patients than previously postulated. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Play with online virtual pets as a method to improve mirror neuron and real world functioning in autistic children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altschuler, Eric Lewin

    2008-01-01

    Autism is a severe disease with no known cause and no cure or treatment. Recently, ourselves and subsequently others found that so-called "mirror neurons" - neurons that respond not only when a person moves, but upon observation of movement in another - are dysfunctional in autistic children. Here I suggest an easy, simple, inexpensive and fun method to improve mirror neuron functioning in autistic children, increase appreciation in autistic children for the theory of mind and thinking of others, and most importantly hopefully to improve real world functioning: play with virtual online pets that are the "embodiment" of a stuffed animal the child has. Adoption and then care and play with online pets forces, in a fun way, one to think about the world through the eyes and needs of the pet. A simple method to test this play with online virtual pet therapy is described.

  14. [Empathy and mirror neurons. A view on contemporary neuropsychological empathy research].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Häusser, Leonard F

    2012-01-01

    Neurons firing both to specific actions performed by self and matching actions performed by others are classified as mirror neurons. Since its discovery in 1991, this phenomenon has been surveyed in the field of motor and sensorimotor function and incipiently in the field of language and emotions. The research group of Giacomo Rizzolatti assumes that mirror neurons form the biological basis of compassion and thereby of affective empathic experience. The research regarding mirror neurons is yet in early stages and further research is required to specify mirror neuron systems. In view of empathy it is the insula which is of central importance for the recognition of disgust. The discovery of mirror neurons allows a comprehension of empathy as an immediate and compassionate partaking of a response, enabling an understanding of the other persons feeling. At the same time, the resonating affect remains allocated to the other person, distinguishing this comprehensive process from a mere emotional contagion. At present, the phenomenon of mirror neurons is gaining clinical relevance in the field of autism spectrum disorders and apoplexia. One's own ability for empathy as well as promoting empathetic abilities of others is of central importance for the clinical praxis, in particular concerning the treatment of children and adolescents.

  15. An ERP Study on Self-Relevant Object Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyakoshi, Makoto; Nomura, Michio; Ohira, Hideki

    2007-01-01

    We performed an event-related potential study to investigate the self-relevance effect in object recognition. Three stimulus categories were prepared: SELF (participant's own objects), FAMILIAR (disposable and public objects, defined as objects with less-self-relevant familiarity), and UNFAMILIAR (others' objects). The participants' task was to…

  16. Noticing the self: Implicit assessment of self-focused attention using word recognition latencies

    OpenAIRE

    Eichstaedt, Dr Jan; Silvia, Dr Paul J.

    2003-01-01

    Self-focused attention is difficult to measure. Two studies developed an implicit measure of self-focus based on word recognition latencies. Self-focused attention activates self-content, so self-focused people should recognize self-relevant words more quickly. Study 1 measured individual-differences in self-focused attention. People scoring high in private self-consciousness recognized self-relevant words more quickly. Study 2 manipulated objective self-awareness with a writing task. People ...

  17. Self-recognition of avatar motion: how do I know it's me?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Richard; Johnston, Alan; Heyes, Cecilia

    2012-02-22

    When motion is isolated from form cues and viewed from third-person perspectives, individuals are able to recognize their own whole body movements better than those of friends. Because we rarely see our own bodies in motion from third-person viewpoints, this self-recognition advantage may indicate a contribution to perception from the motor system. Our first experiment provides evidence that recognition of self-produced and friends' motion dissociate, with only the latter showing sensitivity to orientation. Through the use of selectively disrupted avatar motion, our second experiment shows that self-recognition of facial motion is mediated by knowledge of the local temporal characteristics of one's own actions. Specifically, inverted self-recognition was unaffected by disruption of feature configurations and trajectories, but eliminated by temporal distortion. While actors lack third-person visual experience of their actions, they have a lifetime of proprioceptive, somatosensory, vestibular and first-person-visual experience. These sources of contingent feedback may provide actors with knowledge about the temporal properties of their actions, potentially supporting recognition of characteristic rhythmic variation when viewing self-produced motion. In contrast, the ability to recognize the motion signatures of familiar others may be dependent on configural topographic cues.

  18. Design of control system for piezoelectric deformable mirror based on fuzzy self-adaptive PID control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Nan; Gao, Wei; Song, Zongxi

    2017-10-01

    With the rapid development of adaptive optics technology, it is widely used in the fields of astronomical telescope imaging, laser beam shaping, optical communication and so on. As the key component of adaptive optics systems, the deformable mirror plays a role in wavefront correction. In order to achieve the high speed and high precision of deformable mirror system tracking control, it is necessary to find out the influence of each link on the system performance to model the system and design the controller. This paper presents a method about the piezoelectric deformable mirror driving control system.

  19. Delayed Self-Recognition in Autism: A Unique Difficulty?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunphy-Lelii, Sarah; Wellman, Henry M.

    2012-01-01

    Achieving a sense of self is a crucial task of ordinary development. With which aspects of self do children with autism have particular difficulty? Two prior studies concluded that children with autism are unimpaired in delayed self-recognition; we confirm and clarify this conclusion by examining it in conjunction with another key aspect of self…

  20. Macrophage pattern recognition receptors in immunity, homeostasis and self tolerance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukhopadhyay, Subhankar; Plüddemann, Annette; Gordon, Siamon

    2009-01-01

    Macrophages, a major component of innate immune defence, express a large repertoire of different classes of pattern recognition receptors and other surface antigens which determine the immunologic and homeostatic potential of these versatile cells. In the light of present knowledge ofmacrophage surface antigens, we discuss self versus nonself recognition, microbicidal effector functions and self tolerance in the innate immune system.

  1. Is it me? Self-recognition bias across sensory modalities and its relationship to autistic traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakraborty, Anya; Chakrabarti, Bhismadev

    2015-01-01

    Atypical self-processing is an emerging theme in autism research, suggested by lower self-reference effect in memory, and atypical neural responses to visual self-representations. Most research on physical self-processing in autism uses visual stimuli. However, the self is a multimodal construct, and therefore, it is essential to test self-recognition in other sensory modalities as well. Self-recognition in the auditory modality remains relatively unexplored and has not been tested in relation to autism and related traits. This study investigates self-recognition in auditory and visual domain in the general population and tests if it is associated with autistic traits. Thirty-nine neurotypical adults participated in a two-part study. In the first session, individual participant's voice was recorded and face was photographed and morphed respectively with voices and faces from unfamiliar identities. In the second session, participants performed a 'self-identification' task, classifying each morph as 'self' voice (or face) or an 'other' voice (or face). All participants also completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). For each sensory modality, slope of the self-recognition curve was used as individual self-recognition metric. These two self-recognition metrics were tested for association between each other, and with autistic traits. Fifty percent 'self' response was reached for a higher percentage of self in the auditory domain compared to the visual domain (t = 3.142; P self-recognition bias across sensory modalities (τ = -0.165, P = 0.204). Higher recognition bias for self-voice was observed in individuals higher in autistic traits (τ AQ = 0.301, P = 0.008). No such correlation was observed between recognition bias for self-face and autistic traits (τ AQ = -0.020, P = 0.438). Our data shows that recognition bias for physical self-representation is not related across sensory modalities. Further, individuals with higher autistic traits were better able

  2. Individual Differences in Visual Self-Recognition as a Function of Mother-Infant Attachment Relationship.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Michael; And Others

    1985-01-01

    Compares attachment relationships of infants at 12 months to their visual self-recognition at both 18 and 24 months. Individual differences in early attachment relations were related to later self-recognition. In particular, insecurely attached infants showed a trend toward earlier self-recognition than did securely attached infants. (Author/NH)

  3. Preliminary training of a self-pumped loop phase-conjugate mirror based on a photorefractive crystal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mogaddam, Mehran Wahdani; Shuvalov, Vladimir V

    2006-01-01

    It is shown by the example of a loop self-pumped phase-conjugate (SPPC) mirror based on a photorefractive crystal (PRC) BaTiO 3 that formation of a phase-conjugate (PC) wave in a SPPC mirror can be considerably accelerated by using a preliminary training of the mirror. For this purpose, it is necessary to direct preliminary an auxiliary (training) optical field on the SPPC mirror, which contains some information on the properties of the input signal whose wave front will be conjugated later. This procedure provides the writing of static refractive-index gratings in the PRC already at the training stage. The presence of these gratings ensures a much more rapid (by 6-20 times) production of volume refractive-index gratings required for the efficient conjugation of the signal radiation. Several variants of static and dynamic SPPC mirror training procedures are simulated and their efficiencies are compared. (nonlinear optical phenomena)

  4. Dysfunctional role of parietal lobe during self-face recognition in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yun, Je-Yeon; Hur, Ji-Won; Jung, Wi Hoon; Jang, Joon Hwan; Youn, Tak; Kang, Do-Hyung; Park, Sohee; Kwon, Jun Soo

    2014-01-01

    Anomalous sense of self is central to schizophrenia yet difficult to demonstrate empirically. The present study examined the effective neural network connectivity underlying self-face recognition in patients with schizophrenia (SZ) using [15O]H2O Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Structural Equation Modeling. Eight SZ and eight age-matched healthy controls (CO) underwent six consecutive [15O]H2O PET scans during self-face (SF) and famous face (FF) recognition blocks, each of which was repeated three times. There were no behavioral performance differences between the SF and FF blocks in SZ. Moreover, voxel-based analyses of data from SZ revealed no significant differences in the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) levels between the SF and FF recognition conditions. Further effective connectivity analyses for SZ also showed a similar pattern of effective connectivity network across the SF and FF recognition. On the other hand, comparison of SF recognition effective connectivity network between SZ and CO demonstrated significantly attenuated effective connectivity strength not only between the right supramarginal gyrus and left inferior temporal gyrus, but also between the cuneus and right medial prefrontal cortex in SZ. These findings support a conceptual model that posits a causal relationship between disrupted self-other discrimination and attenuated effective connectivity among the right supramarginal gyrus, cuneus, and prefronto-temporal brain areas involved in the SF recognition network of SZ. © 2013.

  5. Investigating Patterns for Self-Induced Emotion Recognition from EEG Signals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Ying; Yang, Kai; Tong, Li; Yan, Bin

    2018-01-01

    Most current approaches to emotion recognition are based on neural signals elicited by affective materials such as images, sounds and videos. However, the application of neural patterns in the recognition of self-induced emotions remains uninvestigated. In this study we inferred the patterns and neural signatures of self-induced emotions from electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. The EEG signals of 30 participants were recorded while they watched 18 Chinese movie clips which were intended to elicit six discrete emotions, including joy, neutrality, sadness, disgust, anger and fear. After watching each movie clip the participants were asked to self-induce emotions by recalling a specific scene from each movie. We analyzed the important features, electrode distribution and average neural patterns of different self-induced emotions. Results demonstrated that features related to high-frequency rhythm of EEG signals from electrodes distributed in the bilateral temporal, prefrontal and occipital lobes have outstanding performance in the discrimination of emotions. Moreover, the six discrete categories of self-induced emotion exhibit specific neural patterns and brain topography distributions. We achieved an average accuracy of 87.36% in the discrimination of positive from negative self-induced emotions and 54.52% in the classification of emotions into six discrete categories. Our research will help promote the development of comprehensive endogenous emotion recognition methods. PMID:29534515

  6. Investigating Patterns for Self-Induced Emotion Recognition from EEG Signals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhuang, Ning; Zeng, Ying; Yang, Kai; Zhang, Chi; Tong, Li; Yan, Bin

    2018-03-12

    Most current approaches to emotion recognition are based on neural signals elicited by affective materials such as images, sounds and videos. However, the application of neural patterns in the recognition of self-induced emotions remains uninvestigated. In this study we inferred the patterns and neural signatures of self-induced emotions from electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. The EEG signals of 30 participants were recorded while they watched 18 Chinese movie clips which were intended to elicit six discrete emotions, including joy, neutrality, sadness, disgust, anger and fear. After watching each movie clip the participants were asked to self-induce emotions by recalling a specific scene from each movie. We analyzed the important features, electrode distribution and average neural patterns of different self-induced emotions. Results demonstrated that features related to high-frequency rhythm of EEG signals from electrodes distributed in the bilateral temporal, prefrontal and occipital lobes have outstanding performance in the discrimination of emotions. Moreover, the six discrete categories of self-induced emotion exhibit specific neural patterns and brain topography distributions. We achieved an average accuracy of 87.36% in the discrimination of positive from negative self-induced emotions and 54.52% in the classification of emotions into six discrete categories. Our research will help promote the development of comprehensive endogenous emotion recognition methods.

  7. Investigations of Hemispheric Specialization of Self-Voice Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosa, Christine; Lassonde, Maryse; Pinard, Claudine; Keenan, Julian Paul; Belin, Pascal

    2008-01-01

    Three experiments investigated functional asymmetries related to self-recognition in the domain of voices. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to identify one of three presented voices (self, familiar or unknown) by responding with either the right or the left-hand. In Experiment 2, participants were presented with auditory morphs between the…

  8. View-tolerant face recognition and Hebbian learning imply mirror-symmetric neural tuning to head orientation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leibo, Joel Z.; Liao, Qianli; Freiwald, Winrich A.; Anselmi, Fabio; Poggio, Tomaso

    2017-01-01

    SUMMARY The primate brain contains a hierarchy of visual areas, dubbed the ventral stream, which rapidly computes object representations that are both specific for object identity and robust against identity-preserving transformations like depth-rotations [1, 2]. Current computational models of object recognition, including recent deep learning networks, generate these properties through a hierarchy of alternating selectivity-increasing filtering and tolerance-increasing pooling operations, similar to simple-complex cells operations [3, 4, 5, 6]. Here we prove that a class of hierarchical architectures and a broad set of biologically plausible learning rules generate approximate invariance to identity-preserving transformations at the top level of the processing hierarchy. However, all past models tested failed to reproduce the most salient property of an intermediate representation of a three-level face-processing hierarchy in the brain: mirror-symmetric tuning to head orientation [7]. Here we demonstrate that one specific biologically-plausible Hebb-type learning rule generates mirror-symmetric tuning to bilaterally symmetric stimuli like faces at intermediate levels of the architecture and show why it does so. Thus the tuning properties of individual cells inside the visual stream appear to result from group properties of the stimuli they encode and to reflect the learning rules that sculpted the information-processing system within which they reside. PMID:27916522

  9. Self-recognition in the coordination driven self-assembly of 2-D polygons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Addicott, Chris; Das, Neeladri; Stang, Peter J

    2004-08-23

    Self-recognition in the transition-metal-mediated self-assembly of some 2-D polygons is presented. Prolonged heating of two or three organoplatinum reagents with 4,4'-dipyridyl in aqueous acetone results in the predominant formation of a rectangle, triangle, and/or square. All mixtures are characterized with NMR and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESIMS). Despite the potential for ill-defined oligomeric products, these mixed ligand systems prefer to self-assemble into discrete species.

  10. Playing to (self-)rehabilitate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knoche, Hendrik; Hald, Kasper; Richter, Dorte

    2016-01-01

    We designed and evaluated a whack-a-mole (WAM) style game (see Figure 1) in a clinical randomized controlled trial (RCT) with reminder-assisted but self-initiated use over the period of a month with 43 participants from a post-lesion pool. While game play did not moderate rehabilitative progress...

  11. Gait Recognition Using Image Self-Similarity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiraz BenAbdelkader

    2004-04-01

    Full Text Available Gait is one of the few biometrics that can be measured at a distance, and is hence useful for passive surveillance as well as biometric applications. Gait recognition research is still at its infancy, however, and we have yet to solve the fundamental issue of finding gait features which at once have sufficient discrimination power and can be extracted robustly and accurately from low-resolution video. This paper describes a novel gait recognition technique based on the image self-similarity of a walking person. We contend that the similarity plot encodes a projection of gait dynamics. It is also correspondence-free, robust to segmentation noise, and works well with low-resolution video. The method is tested on multiple data sets of varying sizes and degrees of difficulty. Performance is best for fronto-parallel viewpoints, whereby a recognition rate of 98% is achieved for a data set of 6 people, and 70% for a data set of 54 people.

  12. Self perception of empathy in schizophrenia: emotion recognition, insight, and symptoms predict degree of self and interviewer agreement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lysaker, Paul H; Hasson-Ohayon, Ilanit; Kravetz, Shlomo; Kent, Jerillyn S; Roe, David

    2013-04-30

    Many with schizophrenia have been found to experience difficulties recognizing a range of their own mental states including memories and emotions. While there is some evidence that the self perception of empathy in schizophrenia is often at odds with objective observations, little is known about the correlates of rates of concordance between self and rater assessments of empathy for this group. To explore this issue we gathered self and rater assessments of empathy in addition to assessments of emotion recognition using the Bell Lysaker Emotion Recognition Task, insight using the Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder, and symptoms using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale from 91 adults diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Results revealed that participants with better emotion recognition, better insight, fewer positive symptoms and fewer depressive symptoms produced self ratings of empathy which were more strongly correlated with assessments of empathy performed by raters than participants with greater deficits in these domains. Results suggest that deficits in emotion recognition along with poor insight and higher levels of positive and depressive symptoms may affect the degree of agreement between self and rater assessments of empathy in schizophrenia. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  13. Comparison of the Event-Related Desynchronization during Self-Paced Movement and when playing a Nintendo Wii Game

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikola Šobajić

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available We compared pre-movement event-related desynchronization (ERD of μ rhythm over the primary motor cortex using surface electrodes in a group of five healthy subjects during self-paced wrist movement and the wrist movement when playing a Nintendo Wii. We present a method that uses ERD to detect the onset of movement in single-trial electroencephalographic (EEG data. This algorithm produced a mean detection accuracy of 83% for the self-paced movement and 75% for the Wii-included sessions, without requiring subject training. This technique can be employed in an EEG-based brain–computer interface due to its high recognition rate and simplicity in computation.

  14. Children's familiarity preference in self-directed study improves recognition memory

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Adams, K.A.; Kachergis, G.E.; Markant, D.; Gunzelmann, G.; Howes, A.; Tenbrink, T.; Davelaar, E.

    2017-01-01

    In both adults and school-age children, volitional control over the presentation of stimuli during study leads to enhanced recognition memory. Yet little is known about how very young learners choose to allocate their time and attention during self-directed study. Using a recognition memory task, we

  15. Development of Body-Part Vocabulary in Toddlers in Relation to Self-Understanding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waugh, Whitney E.; Brownell, Celia A.

    2015-01-01

    To better understand young children's ability to communicate about their bodies, toddlers' comprehension and production of 27 common body-part words was assessed using parental report at 20 and 30 months (n?=?64), and self-awareness was assessed using mirror self-recognition. Children at both ages comprehended more body-part words that referred to…

  16. Differentiating between self and others: an ALE meta-analysis of fMRI studies of self-recognition and theory of mind.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Veluw, Susanne J; Chance, Steven A

    2014-03-01

    The perception of self and others is a key aspect of social cognition. In order to investigate the neurobiological basis of this distinction we reviewed two classes of task that study self-awareness and awareness of others (theory of mind, ToM). A reliable task to measure self-awareness is the recognition of one's own face in contrast to the recognition of others' faces. False-belief tasks are widely used to identify neural correlates of ToM as a measure of awareness of others. We performed an activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis, using the fMRI literature on self-face recognition and false-belief tasks. The brain areas involved in performing false-belief tasks were the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), bilateral temporo-parietal junction, precuneus, and the bilateral middle temporal gyrus. Distinct self-face recognition regions were the right superior temporal gyrus, the right parahippocampal gyrus, the right inferior frontal gyrus/anterior cingulate cortex, and the left inferior parietal lobe. Overlapping brain areas were the superior temporal gyrus, and the more ventral parts of the MPFC. We confirmed that self-recognition in contrast to recognition of others' faces, and awareness of others involves a network that consists of separate, distinct neural pathways, but also includes overlapping regions of higher order prefrontal cortex where these processes may be combined. Insights derived from the neurobiology of disorders such as autism and schizophrenia are consistent with this notion.

  17. [Motion control of moving mirror based on fixed-mirror adjustment in FTIR spectrometer].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zhong-bing; Xu, Xian-ze; Le, Yi; Xu, Feng-qiu; Li, Jun-wei

    2012-08-01

    The performance of the uniform motion of the moving mirror, which is the only constant motion part in FTIR spectrometer, and the performance of the alignment of the fixed mirror play a key role in FTIR spectrometer, and affect the interference effect and the quality of the spectrogram and may restrict the precision and resolution of the instrument directly. The present article focuses on the research on the uniform motion of the moving mirror and the alignment of the fixed mirror. In order to improve the FTIR spectrometer, the maglev support system was designed for the moving mirror and the phase detection technology was adopted to adjust the tilt angle between the moving mirror and the fixed mirror. This paper also introduces an improved fuzzy PID control algorithm to get the accurate speed of the moving mirror and realize the control strategy from both hardware design and algorithm. The results show that the development of the moving mirror motion control system gets sufficient accuracy and real-time, which can ensure the uniform motion of the moving mirror and the alignment of the fixed mirror.

  18. A Specific Role for Efferent Information in Self-Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsakiris, M.; Haggard, P.; Franck, N.; Mainy, N.; Sirigu, A.

    2005-01-01

    We investigated the specific contribution of efferent information in a self-recognition task. Subjects experienced a passive extension of the right index finger, either as an effect of moving their left hand via a lever ('self-generated action'), or imposed externally by the experimenter ('externally-generated action'). The visual feedback was…

  19. Delayed Self-Recognition in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lind, Sophie E.; Bowler, Dermot M.

    2009-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate temporally extended self-awareness (awareness of one's place in and continued existence through time) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), using the delayed self-recognition (DSR) paradigm (Povinelli et al., Child Development 67:1540-1554, 1996). Relative to age and verbal ability matched comparison children, children…

  20. Mirror neurons: functions, mechanisms and models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oztop, Erhan; Kawato, Mitsuo; Arbib, Michael A

    2013-04-12

    Mirror neurons for manipulation fire both when the animal manipulates an object in a specific way and when it sees another animal (or the experimenter) perform an action that is more or less similar. Such neurons were originally found in macaque monkeys, in the ventral premotor cortex, area F5 and later also in the inferior parietal lobule. Recent neuroimaging data indicate that the adult human brain is endowed with a "mirror neuron system," putatively containing mirror neurons and other neurons, for matching the observation and execution of actions. Mirror neurons may serve action recognition in monkeys as well as humans, whereas their putative role in imitation and language may be realized in human but not in monkey. This article shows the important role of computational models in providing sufficient and causal explanations for the observed phenomena involving mirror systems and the learning processes which form them, and underlines the need for additional circuitry to lift up the monkey mirror neuron circuit to sustain the posited cognitive functions attributed to the human mirror neuron system. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Precocious development of self-awareness in dolphins.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rachel Morrison

    Full Text Available Mirror-self recognition (MSR is a behavioral indicator of self-awareness in young children and only a few other species, including the great apes, dolphins, elephants and magpies. The emergence of self-awareness in children typically occurs during the second year and has been correlated with sensorimotor development and growing social and self-awareness. Comparative studies of MSR in chimpanzees report that the onset of this ability occurs between 2 years 4 months and 3 years 9 months of age. Studies of wild and captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus have reported precocious sensorimotor and social awareness during the first weeks of life, but no comparative MSR research has been conducted with this species. We exposed two young bottlenose dolphins to an underwater mirror and analyzed video recordings of their behavioral responses over a 3-year period. Here we report that both dolphins exhibited MSR, indicated by self-directed behavior at the mirror, at ages earlier than generally reported for children and at ages much earlier than reported for chimpanzees. The early onset of MSR in young dolphins occurs in parallel with their advanced sensorimotor development, complex and reciprocal social interactions, and growing social awareness. Both dolphins passed subsequent mark tests at ages comparable with children. Thus, our findings indicate that dolphins exhibit self-awareness at a mirror at a younger age than previously reported for children or other species tested.

  2. Can gaze-contingent mirror-feedback from unfamiliar faces alter self-recognition?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Estudillo, Alejandro J; Bindemann, Markus

    2017-05-01

    This study focuses on learning of the self, by examining how human observers update internal representations of their own face. For this purpose, we present a novel gaze-contingent paradigm, in which an onscreen face mimics observers' own eye-gaze behaviour (in the congruent condition), moves its eyes in different directions to that of the observers (incongruent condition), or remains static and unresponsive (neutral condition). Across three experiments, the mimicry of the onscreen face did not affect observers' perceptual self-representations. However, this paradigm influenced observers' reports of their own face. This effect was such that observers felt the onscreen face to be their own and that, if the onscreen gaze had moved on its own accord, observers expected their own eyes to move too. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

  3. Body schema and corporeal self-recognition in the alien hand syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olgiati, Elena; Maravita, Angelo; Spandri, Viviana; Casati, Roberta; Ferraro, Francesco; Tedesco, Lucia; Agostoni, Elio Clemente; Bolognini, Nadia

    2017-07-01

    The alien hand syndrome (AHS) is a rare neuropsychological disorder characterized by involuntary, yet purposeful, hand movements. Patients with the AHS typically complain about a loss of agency associated with a feeling of estrangement for actions performed by the affected limb. The present study explores the integrity of the body representation in AHS, focusing on 2 main processes: multisensory integration and visual self-recognition of body parts. Three patients affected by AHS following a right-hemisphere stroke, with clinical symptoms akin to the posterior variant of AHS, were tested and their performance was compared with that of 18 age-matched healthy controls. AHS patients and controls underwent 2 experimental tasks: a same-different visual matching task for body postures, which assessed the ability of using your own body schema for encoding others' body postural changes (Experiment 1), and an explicit self-hand recognition task, which assessed the ability to visually recognize your own hands (Experiment 2). As compared to controls, all AHS patients were unable to access a reliable multisensory representation of their alien hand and use it for decoding others' postural changes; however, they could rely on an efficient multisensory representation of their intact (ipsilesional) hand. Two AHS patients also presented with a specific impairment in the visual self-recognition of their alien hand, but normal recognition of their intact hand. This evidence suggests that the AHS following a right-hemisphere stroke may involve a disruption of the multisensory representation of the alien limb; instead, self-hand recognition mechanisms may be spared. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  4. Playing Violent Video and Computer Games and Adolescent Self-Concept.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Funk, Jeanne B.; Buchman, Debra D.

    1996-01-01

    Documents current adolescent electronic game-playing habits, exploring associations among preference for violent games, frequency and location of play, and self-concept. Identifies marked gender differences in game-playing habits and in scores on a self-perception profile. Finds that for girls, more time playing video or computer games is…

  5. Self-awareness moderates the relation between maternal mental state language about desires and children's mental state vocabulary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taumoepeau, Mele; Ruffman, Ted

    2016-04-01

    In this intervention study, we tested the differential effect of talking about children's desires versus talking about others' thoughts and knowledge on children's acquisition of mental state vocabulary for children who did and did not have mirror self-recognition. In a sample of 96 mother-toddler dyads, each mother was randomly assigned a specially constructed, interactive lift-the-flap book to read to her child three times a week for 4 weeks. In the child desire condition the story elicited comments regarding the child's desires, and in the cognitive condition the story elicited the mother's comments about her own thoughts and knowledge while reading the story. Children's mirror self-recognition and mental state vocabulary were assessed at pre- and post-test. Children in the condition that focused on the child's desires showed a significantly greater increase in their mental state vocabulary; however, this effect was moderated by their levels of self-awareness, with children benefitting more from the intervention if they also showed self-recognition at pre-test. We argue that the combination of specific types of maternal talk and children's prior insights facilitates gains in children's mental state vocabulary. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Involvement of the intrinsic/default system in movement-related self recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salomon, Roy; Malach, Rafael; Lamy, Dominique

    2009-10-21

    The question of how people recognize themselves and separate themselves from the environment and others has long intrigued philosophers and scientists. Recent findings have linked regions of the 'default brain' or 'intrinsic system' to self-related processing. We used a paradigm in which subjects had to rely on subtle sensory-motor synchronization differences to determine whether a viewed movement belonged to them or to another person, while stimuli and task demands associated with the "responded self" and "responded other" conditions were precisely matched. Self recognition was associated with enhanced brain activity in several ROIs of the intrinsic system, whereas no differences emerged within the extrinsic system. This self-related effect was found even in cases where the sensory-motor aspects were precisely matched. Control conditions ruled out task difficulty as the source of the differential self-related effects. The findings shed light on the neural systems underlying bodily self recognition.

  7. Carbohydrate self-recognition mediates marine sponge cellular adhesion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vliegenthart, J.F.G.; Haseley, S.R.; Vermeer, H.J.; Kamerling, J.P.

    2001-01-01

    Sponges (Porifera), the simplest and earliest multicellular organisms, are thought to have evolved from their unicellular ancestors about 1 billion years ago by developing cell-recognition and adhesion mechanisms to discriminate against 'non-self.' Consequently, they are used as models for

  8. Self-isospectrality, mirror symmetry, and exotic nonlinear supersymmetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Plyushchay, Mikhail S.; Nieto, Luis-Miguel

    2010-01-01

    We study supersymmetry of a self-isospectral one-gap Poeschl-Teller system in the light of a mirror symmetry that is based on spatial and shift reflections. The revealed exotic, partially broken, nonlinear supersymmetry admits seven alternatives for a grading operator. One of its local, first order supercharges may be identified as a Hamiltonian of an associated one-gap, nonperiodic Bogoliubov-de Gennes system. The latter possesses a nonlinear supersymmetric structure, in which any of the three nonlocal generators of a Clifford algebra may be chosen as the grading operator. We find that the supersymmetry generators for both systems are the Darboux-dressed integrals of a free spin-1/2 particle in the Schroedinger picture, or of a free massive Dirac particle. Nonlocal Foldy-Wouthuysen transformations are shown to be involved in the supersymmetric structure.

  9. Fokker-Planck equation in mirror research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Post, R.F.

    1983-01-01

    Open confinement systems based on the magnetic mirror principle depend on the maintenance of particle distributions that may deviate substantially from Maxwellian distributions. Mirror research has therefore from the beginning relied on theoretical predictions of non-equilibrium rate processes obtained from solutions to the Fokker-Planck equation. The F-P equation plays three roles: Design of experiments, creation of classical standards against which to compare experiment, and predictions concerning mirror based fusion power systems. Analytical and computational approaches to solving the F-P equation for mirror systems will be reviewed, together with results and examples that apply to specific mirror systems, such as the tandem mirror

  10. DMPD: Infectious non-self recognition in invertebrates: lessons from Drosophila andother insect models. [Dynamic Macrophage Pathway CSML Database

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available 15476918 Infectious non-self recognition in invertebrates: lessons from Drosophila ...fectious non-self recognition in invertebrates: lessons from Drosophila andother insect models. PubmedID 154...76918 Title Infectious non-self recognition in invertebrates: lessons from Drosop

  11. The association between imitation recognition and socio-communicative competencies in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pope, Sarah M; Russell, Jamie L; Hopkins, William D

    2015-01-01

    Imitation recognition provides a viable platform from which advanced social cognitive skills may develop. Despite evidence that non-human primates are capable of imitation recognition, how this ability is related to social cognitive skills is unknown. In this study, we compared imitation recognition performance, as indicated by the production of testing behaviors, with performance on a series of tasks that assess social and physical cognition in 49 chimpanzees. In the initial analyses, we found that males were more responsive than females to being imitated and engaged in significantly greater behavior repetitions and testing sequences. We also found that subjects who consistently recognized being imitated performed better on social but not physical cognitive tasks, as measured by the Primate Cognitive Test Battery. These findings suggest that the neural constructs underlying imitation recognition are likely associated with or among those underlying more general socio-communicative abilities in chimpanzees. Implications regarding how imitation recognition may facilitate other social cognitive processes, such as mirror self-recognition, are discussed.

  12. Adaptive Self-Occlusion Behavior Recognition Based on pLSA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong-bin Tu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Human action recognition is an important area of human action recognition research. Focusing on the problem of self-occlusion in the field of human action recognition, a new adaptive occlusion state behavior recognition approach was presented based on Markov random field and probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis (pLSA. Firstly, the Markov random field was used to represent the occlusion relationship between human body parts in terms an occlusion state variable by phase space obtained. Then, we proposed a hierarchical area variety model. Finally, we use the topic model of pLSA to recognize the human behavior. Experiments were performed on the KTH, Weizmann, and Humaneva dataset to test and evaluate the proposed method. The compared experiment results showed that what the proposed method can achieve was more effective than the compared methods.

  13. Mirror fusion reactor design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neef, W.S. Jr.; Carlson, G.A.

    1979-01-01

    Recent conceptual reactor designs based on mirror confinement are described. Four components of mirror reactors for which materials considerations and structural mechanics analysis must play an important role in successful design are discussed. The reactor components are: (a) first-wall and thermal conversion blanket, (b) superconducting magnets and their force restraining structure, (c) neutral beam injectors, and (d) plasma direct energy converters

  14. Neuroethology: self-recognition helps octopuses avoid entanglement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crook, Robyn J; Walters, Edgar T

    2014-06-02

    How an octopus performs complex movements of its eight sucker-studded arms without entanglement has been a mystery. A new study has found that self-recognition of the octopus's skin by its suckers inhibits reflexive grasping of its own arms, simplifying the mechanisms needed to generate intricate arm behavior. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Expert Behavior in Children's Video Game Play.

    Science.gov (United States)

    VanDeventer, Stephanie S.; White, James A.

    2002-01-01

    Investigates the display of expert behavior by seven outstanding video game-playing children ages 10 and 11. Analyzes observation and debriefing transcripts for evidence of self-monitoring, pattern recognition, principled decision making, qualitative thinking, and superior memory, and discusses implications for educators regarding the development…

  16. The neural basis of self-face recognition after self-concept threat and comparison with important others.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guan, Lili; Qi, Mingming; Zhang, Qinglin; Yang, Juan

    2014-01-01

    The implicit positive association (IPA) theory attributed self-face advantage to the IPA with self-concept. Previous behavioral study has found that self-concept threat (SCT) could eliminate the self-advantage in face recognition over familiar-face, without taking levels of facial familiarity into account. The current event-related potential study aimed to investigate whether SCT could eliminate the self-face advantage over stranger-face. Fifteen participants completed a "self-friend" comparison task in which participants identified the face orientation of self-face and friend-face after SCT and non-self-concept threat (NSCT) priming, and a "self-stranger" comparison task was also completed in which participants identified the face orientation of self-face and stranger-face after SCT and NSCT priming. The results showed that the N2 amplitudes were more negative for processing friend-face than self-face after NSCT priming, but there was no significant difference between them after SCT priming. Moreover, the N2 amplitudes were more negative for processing stranger-face than self-face both after SCT priming and after NSCT priming. Furthermore, SCT manipulated the N2 amplitudes of friend-face rather than self-face. Overall, the present study made a supplementary to the current IPA theory and further indicated that SCT would only eliminate this self-face recognition advantage when comparing with important others.

  17. How Learning Goal Orientation Fosters Leadership Recognition in Self-managed Teams

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lee, Yih-Teen; Paunova, Minna

    2017-01-01

    understudied. Drawing on social exchange theory, we propose and test an individual-level two-stage process model of generalised exchange linking LGO and leadership recognition in self-managed teams. Specifically, we posit that learning-oriented individuals will tend to feel safer in self-managed teams, which......Defined as a mental framework for how individuals interpret and respond to achievement situations, learning goal orientation (LGO) has received increasing attention in organisational research. However, its effect on leadership, especially in contexts absent of formal leadership, remains......, but that contextual role behavior alone does not mediate the effect of LGO on leadership recognition. LGO has an indirect effect on leadership recognition through the joint mediation of felt safety and contextual role behavior. Our results offer insight on the link between LGO and leadership, with practical...

  18. The effects of reverberant self- and overlap-masking on speech recognition in cochlear implant listeners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desmond, Jill M; Collins, Leslie M; Throckmorton, Chandra S

    2014-06-01

    Many cochlear implant (CI) listeners experience decreased speech recognition in reverberant environments [Kokkinakis et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 129(5), 3221-3232 (2011)], which may be caused by a combination of self- and overlap-masking [Bolt and MacDonald, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 21(6), 577-580 (1949)]. Determining the extent to which these effects decrease speech recognition for CI listeners may influence reverberation mitigation algorithms. This study compared speech recognition with ideal self-masking mitigation, with ideal overlap-masking mitigation, and with no mitigation. Under these conditions, mitigating either self- or overlap-masking resulted in significant improvements in speech recognition for both normal hearing subjects utilizing an acoustic model and for CI listeners using their own devices.

  19. Mirror, Mirror by the Stairs: The Impact of Mirror Exposure on Stair versus Elevator Use in College Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodgin, Katie L; Graham, Dan J

    2016-01-01

    Previous research has indicated that self-awareness-inducing mirrors can successfully incite behaviors that align with one's personal values, such as helping others. Other research has found a large discrepancy between the high percentage of young adults who report valuing the healthfulness of physical activity (PA) and the low percentage who actually meet PA participation standards. However, few studies have examined how mirror exposure and both perceived and actual body size influence highly valued PA participation among college students. The present study assessed stair versus elevator use on a western college campus and hypothesized that mirror exposure would increase the more personally healthy transportation method of stair use. In accordance with previous research, it was also hypothesized that males and those with a lower body mass index (BMI) would be more likely to take the stairs, and that body size distorting mirrors would impact the stair-elevator decision. One hundred sixty-seven students (51% male) enrolled in an introductory psychology course were recruited to take a survey about their "transportation choices" at an indoor campus parking garage. Participants were individually exposed to either no mirror, a standard full-length mirror, or a full-length mirror manipulated to make the reflected body size appear either slightly thinner or slightly wider than normal before being asked to go to the fourth floor of the garage for a survey. Participants' choice of floor-climbing method (stairs or elevator) was recorded, and they were administered an Internet-based survey assessing demographic information, BMI, self-awareness, perceived body size, and other variables likely to be associated with stair use. Results from logistic regression analyses revealed that participants who were not exposed to a mirror [odds ratios (OR) = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.14-0.96], males (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.13-0.85), those with lower BMI (OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.71-0.99), those

  20. Mirror, Mirror by the Stairs: The Impact of Mirror Exposure on Stair versus Elevator Use in College Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katie L Hodgin

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available AbstractPrevious research has indicated that self-awareness-inducing mirrors can successfully incite behaviors that align with one’s personal values, such as helping others. Other research has found a large discrepancy between the high percentage of young adults who report valuing the healthfulness of physical activity (PA and the low percentage who actually meet PA participation standards. Few studies, however, have examined how mirror exposure and both perceived and actual body size influence highly-valued PA participation among college students. The present study assessed stair versus elevator use on a western college campus and hypothesized that mirror exposure would increase the more personally-healthy transportation method of stair use. In accordance with previous research, it was also hypothesized that males and those with a lower body mass index (BMI would be more likely to take the stairs, and that body-size distorting mirrors would impact the stair-elevator decision. One hundred and sixty-seven students (51% male enrolled in an introductory psychology course were recruited to take a survey about their transportation choices at an indoor campus parking garage. Participants were individually exposed to either no mirror, a standard full-length mirror, or a full-length mirror manipulated to make the reflected body size appear either slightly thinner or slightly wider than normal before being asked to go to the fourth floor of the garage for a survey. Participants’ choice of floor climbing method (stairs or elevator was recorded and they were administered an internet-based survey assessing demographic information, BMI, self-awareness, perceived body size, and other variables likely to be associated with stair use. Results from logistic regression analyses revealed that participants who were not exposed to a mirror (OR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.14 – 0.96, males (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.13 – 0.85, those with lower BMI (OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.71

  1. Self-face recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders: a near-infrared spectroscopy study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kita, Yosuke; Gunji, Atsuko; Inoue, Yuki; Goto, Takaaki; Sakihara, Kotoe; Kaga, Makiko; Inagaki, Masumi; Hosokawa, Toru

    2011-06-01

    It is assumed that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have specificities for self-face recognition, which is known to be a basic cognitive ability for social development. In the present study, we investigated neurological substrates and potentially influential factors for self-face recognition of ASD patients using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). The subjects were 11 healthy adult men, 13 normally developing boys, and 10 boys with ASD. Their hemodynamic activities in the frontal area and their scanning strategies (eye-movement) were examined during self-face recognition. Other factors such as ASD severities and self-consciousness were also evaluated by parents and patients, respectively. Oxygenated hemoglobin levels were higher in the regions corresponding to the right inferior frontal gyrus than in those corresponding to the left inferior frontal gyrus. In two groups of children these activities reflected ASD severities, such that the more serious ASD characteristics corresponded with lower activity levels. Moreover, higher levels of public self-consciousness intensified the activities, which were not influenced by the scanning strategies. These findings suggest that dysfunction in the right inferior frontal gyrus areas responsible for self-face recognition is one of the crucial neural substrates underlying ASD characteristics, which could potentially be used to evaluate psychological aspects such as public self-consciousness. Copyright © 2010 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. The origin and function of mirror neurons: the missing link.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lingnau, Angelika; Caramazza, Alfonso

    2014-04-01

    We argue, by analogy to the neural organization of the object recognition system, that demonstration of modulation of mirror neurons by associative learning does not imply absence of genetic adaptation. Innate connectivity defines the types of processes mirror neurons can participate in while allowing for extensive local plasticity. However, the proper function of these neurons remains to be worked out.

  3. Acoustic cues for the recognition of self-voice and other-voice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mingdi eXu

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Self-recognition, being indispensable for successful social communication, has become a major focus in current social neuroscience. The physical aspects of the self are most typically manifested in the face and voice. Compared with the wealth of studies on self-face recognition, self-voice recognition (SVR has not gained much attention. Converging evidence has suggested that the fundamental frequency (F0 and formant structures serve as the key acoustic cues for other-voice recognition (OVR. However, little is known about which, and how, acoustic cues are utilized for SVR as opposed to OVR. To address this question, we independently manipulated the F0 and formant information of recorded voices and investigated their contributions to SVR and OVR. Japanese participants were presented with recorded vocal stimuli and were asked to identify the speaker—either themselves or one of their peers. Six groups of 5 peers of the same sex participated in the study. Under conditions where the formant information was fully preserved and where only the frequencies lower than the third formant (F3 were retained, accuracies of SVR deteriorated significantly with the modulation of the F0, and the results were comparable for OVR. By contrast, under a condition where only the frequencies higher than F3 were retained, the accuracy of SVR was significantly higher than that of OVR throughout the range of F0 modulations, and the F0 scarcely affected the accuracies of SVR and OVR. Our results indicate that while both F0 and formant information are involved in SVR, as well as in OVR, the advantage of SVR is manifested only when major formant information for speech intelligibility is absent. These findings imply the robustness of self-voice representation, possibly by virtue of auditory familiarity and other factors such as its association with motor/articulatory representation.

  4. APPLYING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS, MULTILAYER PERCEPTRON AND SELF-ORGANIZING MAPS FOR OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khuat Thanh Tung

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Optical Character Recognition plays an important role in data storage and data mining when the number of documents stored as images is increasing. It is expected to find the ways to convert images of typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text effectively in order to support for the process of information handling effectively. In this paper, therefore, the techniques which are being used to convert image into editable text in the computer such as principal component analysis, multilayer perceptron network, self-organizing maps, and improved multilayer neural network using principal component analysis are experimented. The obtained results indicated the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed methods.

  5. The Performance of Self in the Context of Shopping in a Virtual Dressing Room System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gao, Yi; Petersson, Eva; Brooks, Anthony Lewis

    2014-01-01

    This paper investigates the performance of self in a virtual dressing room based on a camera-based system reflecting a full body mirrored image of the self. The study was based on a qualitative research approach and a user-centered design methodology. 22 participants participated in design sessio......, semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire investigation. The results showed that the system facilitated self-recognition, self-perception, and shared experience, which afforded an enriched experience of the performing self....

  6. Revisiting play elements and self-handicapping in play: a comparative ethogram of five Old World monkey species.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petrů, Milada; Spinka, Marek; Charvátová, Veronika; Lhota, Stanislav

    2009-08-01

    Play behavior has been viewed as a mixture of elements drawn from "serious" behavior, interspersed by ritualized play signals. Two other types of play behaviors have been overlooked: patterns that are dissimilar from any serious behavior and patterns with self-handicapping character, that is, those that put the animal into unnecessary disadvantageous positions or situations. Here the authors show that these 2 types of patterns can constitute a major part of play repertoire. From our own videorecordings and observations, we constructed play ethograms of 5 monkey species (Semnopithecus entellus, Erythrocebus patas, Chlorocebus pygerythrus, Cercopithecus neglectus, and Cercopithecus diana). The authors evaluated the self-handicapping character of each pattern and in Hanuman langurs also the (dis)similarity to serious behavior. Of the 74 patterns in the 5 species, 33 (45%) were judged to have a self-handicapping character. Of 48 patterns observed in langurs, 16 (33%) were totally dissimilar to any serious langur behavior known to us. The authors discuss the possibility that the different types of play elements may have different functions in play. Copyright 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

  7. Smelling themselves: Dogs investigate their own odours longer when modified in an "olfactory mirror" test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horowitz, Alexandra

    2017-10-01

    While domestic dogs, Canis familiaris, have been found to be skillful at social cognitive tasks and even some meta-cognitive tasks, they have not passed the test of mirror self-recognition (MSR). Acknowledging the motivational and sensory challenges that might hinder performance, even before the question of self-recognition is broached, this study creates and enacts a novel design extrapolated from the species' natural behaviour. Given dogs' use of olfactory signals in communication, this experiment presents dogs with various canisters for approach and investigation. Each holds an odorous stimulus: in the critical test, either an "olfactory mirror" of the subject - the dog's own urine - or one in which the odour stimulus is modified. By looking at subjects' investigation times of each canister, it is shown that dogs distinguish between the olfactory "image" of themselves when modified: investigating their own odour for longer when it had an additional odour accompanying it than when it did not. Such behaviour implies a recognition of the odour as being of or from "themselves." The ecological validity of this odour presentation is examined by presenting to the subjects odours of other known or unknown dogs: dogs spend longer investigating the odour of other dogs than their own odour. Finally, in a second experiment, subjects spent longer with the modified stimulus than with the modified odour by itself, indicating that novelty alone does not explain the dogs' behavior. This study translates the MSR study for a species whose primary sensory modality is olfaction, and finds both that natural sniffing behaviour can be replicated in the lab and that dogs show more investigative interest in their own odours when modified. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Automatic recognition of offensive team formation in american football plays

    KAUST Repository

    Atmosukarto, Indriyati

    2013-06-01

    Compared to security surveillance and military applications, where automated action analysis is prevalent, the sports domain is extremely under-served. Most existing software packages for sports video analysis require manual annotation of important events in the video. American football is the most popular sport in the United States, however most game analysis is still done manually. Line of scrimmage and offensive team formation recognition are two statistics that must be tagged by American Football coaches when watching and evaluating past play video clips, a process which takes many man hours per week. These two statistics are also the building blocks for more high-level analysis such as play strategy inference and automatic statistic generation. In this paper, we propose a novel framework where given an American football play clip, we automatically identify the video frame in which the offensive team lines in formation (formation frame), the line of scrimmage for that play, and the type of player formation the offensive team takes on. The proposed framework achieves 95% accuracy in detecting the formation frame, 98% accuracy in detecting the line of scrimmage, and up to 67% accuracy in classifying the offensive team\\'s formation. To validate our framework, we compiled a large dataset comprising more than 800 play-clips of standard and high definition resolution from real-world football games. This dataset will be made publicly available for future comparison. © 2013 IEEE.

  9. The mirror-neuron system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rizzolatti, Giacomo; Craighero, Laila

    2004-01-01

    A category of stimuli of great importance for primates, humans in particular, is that formed by actions done by other individuals. If we want to survive, we must understand the actions of others. Furthermore, without action understanding, social organization is impossible. In the case of humans, there is another faculty that depends on the observation of others' actions: imitation learning. Unlike most species, we are able to learn by imitation, and this faculty is at the basis of human culture. In this review we present data on a neurophysiological mechanism--the mirror-neuron mechanism--that appears to play a fundamental role in both action understanding and imitation. We describe first the functional properties of mirror neurons in monkeys. We review next the characteristics of the mirror-neuron system in humans. We stress, in particular, those properties specific to the human mirror-neuron system that might explain the human capacity to learn by imitation. We conclude by discussing the relationship between the mirror-neuron system and language.

  10. Self-Play and Using an Expert to Learn to Play Backgammon with Temporal Difference Learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wiering, Marco A.

    2010-01-01

    A promising approach to learn to play board games is to use reinforcement learning algorithms that can learn a game position evaluation function. In this paper we examine and compare three different methods for generating training games: 1) Learning by self-play, 2) Learning by playing against an

  11. Split-brain reveals separate but equal self-recognition in the two cerebral hemispheres.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uddin, Lucina Q; Rayman, Jan; Zaidel, Eran

    2005-09-01

    To assess the ability of the disconnected cerebral hemispheres to recognize images of the self, a split-brain patient (an individual who underwent complete cerebral commissurotomy to relieve intractable epilepsy) was tested using morphed self-face images presented to one visual hemifield (projecting to one hemisphere) at a time while making "self/other" judgments. The performance of the right and left hemispheres of this patient as assessed by a signal detection method was not significantly different, though a measure of bias did reveal hemispheric differences. The right and left hemispheres of this patient independently and equally possessed the ability to self-recognize, but only the right hemisphere could successfully recognize familiar others. This supports a modular concept of self-recognition and other-recognition, separately present in each cerebral hemisphere.

  12. Neural basis of distorted self-face recognition in social anxiety disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min-Kyeong Kim

    2016-01-01

    Conclusion: Patients with SAD have a positive point of view of their own face and experience self-relevance for the attractively transformed self-faces. This distorted cognition may be based on dysfunctions in the frontal and inferior parietal regions. The abnormal engagement of the fronto-parietal attentional network during processing face stimuli in non-social situations may be linked to distorted self-recognition in SAD.

  13. Smartphone-Based Patients' Activity Recognition by Using a Self-Learning Scheme for Medical Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Junqi; Zhou, Xi; Sun, Yunchuan; Ping, Gong; Zhao, Guoxing; Li, Zhuorong

    2016-06-01

    Smartphone based activity recognition has recently received remarkable attention in various applications of mobile health such as safety monitoring, fitness tracking, and disease prediction. To achieve more accurate and simplified medical monitoring, this paper proposes a self-learning scheme for patients' activity recognition, in which a patient only needs to carry an ordinary smartphone that contains common motion sensors. After the real-time data collection though this smartphone, we preprocess the data using coordinate system transformation to eliminate phone orientation influence. A set of robust and effective features are then extracted from the preprocessed data. Because a patient may inevitably perform various unpredictable activities that have no apriori knowledge in the training dataset, we propose a self-learning activity recognition scheme. The scheme determines whether there are apriori training samples and labeled categories in training pools that well match with unpredictable activity data. If not, it automatically assembles these unpredictable samples into different clusters and gives them new category labels. These clustered samples combined with the acquired new category labels are then merged into the training dataset to reinforce recognition ability of the self-learning model. In experiments, we evaluate our scheme using the data collected from two postoperative patient volunteers, including six labeled daily activities as the initial apriori categories in the training pool. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed self-learning scheme for activity recognition works very well for most cases. When there exist several types of unseen activities without any apriori information, the accuracy reaches above 80 % after the self-learning process converges.

  14. Is it about the self or the significance? An fMRI study of self-name recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tacikowski, P; Brechmann, A; Marchewka, A; Jednoróg, K; Dobrowolny, M; Nowicka, A

    2011-01-01

    Our own name, due to its high social relevance, is supposed to have a unique status in our information processing. However, demonstrating this phenomenon empirically proves difficult as famous and unknown names, to which self-name is often compared in the studies, may differ from self-name not only in terms of the 'me vs. not-me' distinction, but also as regards their emotional content and frequency of occurrence in everyday life. In this fMRI study, apart from famous and unknown names we used the names of the most important persons in our subjects' lives. When compared to famous or unknown names recognition, self-name recognition was associated with robust activations in widely distributed bilateral network including fronto-temporal, limbic and subcortical structures, however, when compared to significant other's name, the activations were present specifically in the right inferior frontal gyrus. In addition, the significant other's name produced a similar pattern of activations to the one activated by self-name. These results suggest that the differences between own and other's name processing may rather be quantitative than qualitative in nature.

  15. Reflective mirrors: perspective-taking in autoscopic phenomena.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brugger, Peter

    2002-08-01

    ''Autoscopic phenomena refer to different illusory reduplications of one's own body and self. This article proposes a phenomenological differentiation of autoscopic reduplication into three distinct classes, i.e., autoscopic hallucinations, heautoscopy, and out-of-body experiences (OBEs). Published cases are analysed with special emphasis on the subject's point of view from which the reduplication is observed. In an autoscopic hallucination the observer's perspective is clearly body-centred, and the visual image of one's own body appears as a mirror reversal. Heautoscopy (i.e., the encounter with an alter ego or doppelgänger), is defined as a reduplication not only of bodily appearance, but also of aspects of one's psychological self. The observer's perspective may alternate between egocentric and ''alter-ego-centred''. As a consequence of the projection of bodily feelings into the doppelgänger (implying a mental rotation of one's own body along the vertical axis), original and reduplicated bodies are not mirror images of one another. This also holds for OBEs, where one's self is not reduplicated but appears to be completely dissociated from the body and observing it from a location in extracorporeal space. It is argued that perspective-taking in a spatial sense may be meaningfully related to perspective-taking in a psychological sense. The mirror in the autoscopic hallucination is a ''cognitively nonreflective mirror'' (Jean Cocteau), both spatially and psychologically. The reflective abilities of the heautoscopic mirror are better developed, yet frequent shifts in the observer's spatial perspective render the nature of psychological interactions between self and alter ego highly unpredictable. The doppelgänger may serve a transitivistic (i.e., own suffering is transferred to the alter ego) or aggressive function when this behaviour is directed against a patient. The mirror in an OBE is always reflective: It allows the self to view both space and one

  16. Hearing Handicap and Speech Recognition Correlate With Self-Reported Listening Effort and Fatigue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alhanbali, Sara; Dawes, Piers; Lloyd, Simon; Munro, Kevin J

    To investigate the correlations between hearing handicap, speech recognition, listening effort, and fatigue. Eighty-four adults with hearing loss (65 to 85 years) completed three self-report questionnaires: the Fatigue Assessment Scale, the Effort Assessment Scale, and the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Elderly. Audiometric assessment included pure-tone audiometry and speech recognition in noise. There was a significant positive correlation between handicap and fatigue (r = 0.39, p speech recognition and fatigue (r = 0.22, p speech recognition both correlate with self-reported listening effort and fatigue, which is consistent with a model of listening effort and fatigue where perceived difficulty is related to sustained effort and fatigue for unrewarding tasks over which the listener has low control. A clinical implication is that encouraging clients to recognize and focus on the pleasure and positive experiences of listening may result in greater satisfaction and benefit from hearing aid use.

  17. Neural basis of distorted self-face recognition in social anxiety disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Min-Kyeong; Yoon, Hyung-Jun; Shin, Yu-Bin; Lee, Seung-Koo; Kim, Jae-Jin

    2016-01-01

    The observer perspective causes patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) to excessively inspect their performance and appearance. This study aimed to investigate the neural basis of distorted self-face recognition in non-social situations in patients with SAD. Twenty patients with SAD and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy controls participated in this fMRI study. Data were acquired while participants performed a Composite Face Evaluation Task, during which they had to press a button indicating how much they liked a series of self-faces, attractively transformed self-faces, and attractive others' faces. Patients had a tendency to show more favorable responses to the self-face and unfavorable responses to the others' faces compared with controls, but the two groups' responses to the attractively transformed self-faces did not differ. Significant group differences in regional activity were observed in the middle frontal and supramarginal gyri in the self-face condition (patients self-face condition (patients > controls); and the middle frontal, supramarginal, and angular gyri in the attractive others' face condition (patients > controls). Most fronto-parietal activities during observation of the self-face were negatively correlated with preference scores in patients but not in controls. Patients with SAD have a positive point of view of their own face and experience self-relevance for the attractively transformed self-faces. This distorted cognition may be based on dysfunctions in the frontal and inferior parietal regions. The abnormal engagement of the fronto-parietal attentional network during processing face stimuli in non-social situations may be linked to distorted self-recognition in SAD.

  18. Mirror therapy: A potential intervention for pain management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Priscilla G. Wittkopf

    Full Text Available Summary The consequences of chronic pain and associated disabilities to the patient and to the health care system are well known. Medication is often the first treatment of choice for chronic pain, although side effects and high costs restrict long-term use. Inexpensive, safe and easy to self-administer non-pharmacological therapies, such as mirror therapy, are recommended as adjuncts to pain treatment. The purpose of this review is to describe the principles of use of mirror therapy so it can be incorporated into a health care delivery. The physiological rationale of mirror therapy for the management of pain and the evidence of clinical efficacy based on recent systematic reviews are also discussed. Mirror therapy, whereby a mirror is placed in a position so that the patient can view a reflection of a body part, has been used to treat phantom limb pain, complex regional pain syndrome, neuropathy and low back pain. Research evidence suggests that a course of treatment (four weeks of mirror therapy may reduce chronic pain. Contraindications and side effects are few. The mechanism of action of mirror therapy remains uncertain, with reintegration of motor and sensory systems, restored body image and control over fear-avoidance likely to influence outcome. The evidence for clinical efficacy of mirror therapy is encouraging, but not yet definitive. Nevertheless, mirror therapy is inexpensive, safe and easy for the patient to self-administer.

  19. EEG evidence for mirror neuron dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oberman, Lindsay M; Hubbard, Edward M; McCleery, Joseph P; Altschuler, Eric L; Ramachandran, Vilayanur S; Pineda, Jaime A

    2005-07-01

    Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are largely characterized by deficits in imitation, pragmatic language, theory of mind, and empathy. Previous research has suggested that a dysfunctional mirror neuron system may explain the pathology observed in ASD. Because EEG oscillations in the mu frequency (8-13 Hz) over sensorimotor cortex are thought to reflect mirror neuron activity, one method for testing the integrity of this system is to measure mu responsiveness to actual and observed movement. It has been established that mu power is reduced (mu suppression) in typically developing individuals both when they perform actions and when they observe others performing actions, reflecting an observation/execution system which may play a critical role in the ability to understand and imitate others' behaviors. This study investigated whether individuals with ASD show a dysfunction in this system, given their behavioral impairments in understanding and responding appropriately to others' behaviors. Mu wave suppression was measured in ten high-functioning individuals with ASD and ten age- and gender-matched control subjects while watching videos of (1) a moving hand, (2) a bouncing ball, and (3) visual noise, or (4) moving their own hand. Control subjects showed significant mu suppression to both self and observed hand movement. The ASD group showed significant mu suppression to self-performed hand movements but not to observed hand movements. These results support the hypothesis of a dysfunctional mirror neuron system in high-functioning individuals with ASD.

  20. Where do mirror neurons come from?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heyes, Cecilia

    2010-03-01

    Debates about the evolution of the 'mirror neuron system' imply that it is an adaptation for action understanding. Alternatively, mirror neurons may be a byproduct of associative learning. Here I argue that the adaptation and associative hypotheses both offer plausible accounts of the origin of mirror neurons, but the associative hypothesis has three advantages. First, it provides a straightforward, testable explanation for the differences between monkeys and humans that have led some researchers to question the existence of a mirror neuron system. Second, it is consistent with emerging evidence that mirror neurons contribute to a range of social cognitive functions, but do not play a dominant, specialised role in action understanding. Finally, the associative hypothesis is supported by recent data showing that, even in adulthood, the mirror neuron system can be transformed by sensorimotor learning. The associative account implies that mirror neurons come from sensorimotor experience, and that much of this experience is obtained through interaction with others. Therefore, if the associative account is correct, the mirror neuron system is a product, as well as a process, of social interaction. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Self-Actualization of Youth Subculture Members (Role-Playing Movement as an Example

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A S Zhuravleva

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The article is dedicated to the research of youth subculture members’ self-actualization (role-playing movement as an example. It describes certain characteristics of role-players’ self-actualization, its structure, and also its gender and age specific features. It has been proven that the level of self-actualization of the members of the role-playing movement is higher than of the people who are not interested in it and that taking part in role-playing games is a more significant factor for the self-actualization of the personality than the gender and age of the players.

  2. TCV mirrors cleaned by plasma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Marot

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Metallic mirrors exposed in TCV tokamak were cleaned by plasma in laboratory. A gold (Au mirror was deposited with 185–285nm of amorphous carbon (aC:D film coming from the carbon tiles of TCV. Another molybdenum (Mo mirror had a thicker deposit due to a different location within the tokamak. The thickness measurements were carried out using ellipsometry and the reflectivity measurements performed by spectrophotometry revealed a decrease of the specular reflectivity in the entire range (250–2500nm for the Mo mirror and specifically in the visible spectrum for the Au. Comparison of the simulated reflectivity using a refractive index of 1.5 and a Cauchy model for the aC:D gives good confidence on the estimated film thickness. Plasma cleaning using radio frequency directly applied to a metallic plate where the mirrors were fixed demonstrated the ability to remove the carbon deposits. A mixture of 50% hydrogen and 50% helium was used with a −200V self-bias. Due to the low sputtering yield of He and the low chemical erosion of hydrogen leading to volatile molecules, 20h of cleaning were needed for Au mirror and more than 60h for Mo mirror. Recovery of the reflectivity was not complete for the Au mirror most likely due to damage of the surface during tokamak exposure (breakdown phenomena.

  3. Mirror Advanced Reactor Study (MARS) final report summary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henning, C.D.; Logan, B.G.; Carlson, G.A.

    1983-01-01

    The Mirror Advanced Reactor Study (MARS) has resulted in an overview of a first-generation tandem mirror reactor. The central cell fusion plasma is self-sustained by alpha heating (ignition), while electron-cyclotron resonance heating and negative ion beams maintain the electrostatic confining potentials in the end plugs. Plug injection power is reduced by the use of high-field choke coils and thermal barriers, concepts to be tested in the Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U) and Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF-B) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

  4. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses by chimeric thymocytes. Self-recognition is determined early in T cell development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kruisbeek, A.M.; Hodes, R.J.; Singer, A.

    1981-01-01

    In this study the cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) recognition pattern of thymocytes from recently reconstituted parent leads to F1 and F1 leads to parent radiation bone marrow chimeras was investigated. Chimeric thymocytes were entirely of donor origin approximately 4 weeks after irradiation and reconstitution but were not capable of autonomously generating either alloreactive or trinitrophenyl (TNP)-modified-self-reactive CTL responses. These experiments demonstrte that even at the earliest time CTL effectors of donor origin from the thymuses of chimeras can be studied, their self-receptor repertoire has already been restricted to recognition of host MHC determinants. These results support the cocept that the host environment influences the self-recognition capacity of T cells at the pre- or intrathymic stage of differentation

  5. Speech-based recognition of self-reported and observed emotion in a dimensional space

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Truong, Khiet Phuong; van Leeuwen, David A.; de Jong, Franciska M.G.

    2012-01-01

    The differences between self-reported and observed emotion have only marginally been investigated in the context of speech-based automatic emotion recognition. We address this issue by comparing self-reported emotion ratings to observed emotion ratings and look at how differences between these two

  6. Minimal mirror twin Higgs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barbieri, Riccardo [Institute of Theoretical Studies, ETH Zurich,CH-8092 Zurich (Switzerland); Scuola Normale Superiore,Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56126 Pisa (Italy); Hall, Lawrence J.; Harigaya, Keisuke [Department of Physics, University of California,Berkeley, California 94720 (United States); Theoretical Physics Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)

    2016-11-29

    In a Mirror Twin World with a maximally symmetric Higgs sector the little hierarchy of the Standard Model can be significantly mitigated, perhaps displacing the cutoff scale above the LHC reach. We show that consistency with observations requires that the Z{sub 2} parity exchanging the Standard Model with its mirror be broken in the Yukawa couplings. A minimal such effective field theory, with this sole Z{sub 2} breaking, can generate the Z{sub 2} breaking in the Higgs sector necessary for the Twin Higgs mechanism. The theory has constrained and correlated signals in Higgs decays, direct Dark Matter Detection and Dark Radiation, all within reach of foreseen experiments, over a region of parameter space where the fine-tuning for the electroweak scale is 10-50%. For dark matter, both mirror neutrons and a variety of self-interacting mirror atoms are considered. Neutrino mass signals and the effects of a possible additional Z{sub 2} breaking from the vacuum expectation values of B−L breaking fields are also discussed.

  7. Owning the body in the mirror: The effect of visual perspective and mirror view on the full-body illusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preston, Catherine; Kuper-Smith, Benjamin J; Ehrsson, Henrik H

    2015-12-17

    Mirrors allow us to view our own body from a third-person (observer) perspective. However, how viewing ourselves through a mirror affects central body representations compared with true third-person perspective is not fully understood. Across a series of experiments, multisensory full-body illusions were used to modulate feelings of ownership over a mannequin body that was viewed from a third-person perspective through a mirror, from a third-person perspective without a mirror, and from a first-person perspective. In contrast to non-mirror third-person perspective, synchronously touching the participant's actual body and the mannequin body viewed in the mirror elicited strong feelings of ownership over the mannequin and increased physiological responses to the mannequin being threatened compared to the equivalent asynchronous (non-ownership) control condition. Subjective reports of ownership viewing the mannequin through a mirror were also statistically equivalent to those following the first-person perspective illusion. These findings suggest that mirrors have a special role for viewing the self. The results also support the importance of egocentric reference frames for body ownership and suggest that mirror reflections of one's own body are related to peripersonal space, which enables updating of central body representations.

  8. Self-Face Recognition Begins to Share Active Region in Right Inferior Parietal Lobule with Proprioceptive Illusion During Adolescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morita, Tomoyo; Saito, Daisuke N; Ban, Midori; Shimada, Koji; Okamoto, Yuko; Kosaka, Hirotaka; Okazawa, Hidehiko; Asada, Minoru; Naito, Eiichi

    2018-04-01

    We recently reported that right-side dominance of the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) in self-body recognition (proprioceptive illusion) task emerges during adolescence in typical human development. Here, we extend this finding by demonstrating that functional lateralization to the right IPL also develops during adolescence in another self-body (specifically a self-face) recognition task. We collected functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 60 right-handed healthy children (8-11 years), adolescents (12-15 years), and adults (18-23 years; 20 per group) while they judged whether a presented face was their own (Self) or that of somebody else (Other). We also analyzed fMRI data collected while they performed proprioceptive illusion task. All participants performed self-face recognition with high accuracy. Among brain regions where self-face-related activity (Self vs. Other) developed, only right IPL activity developed predominantly for self-face processing, with no substantial involvement in other-face processing. Adult-like right-dominant use of IPL emerged during adolescence, but was not yet present in childhood. Adult-like common activation between the tasks also emerged during adolescence. Adolescents showing stronger right-lateralized IPL activity during illusion also showed this during self-face recognition. Our results suggest the importance of the right IPL in neuronal processing of information associated with one's own body in typically developing humans.

  9. Extended pattern recognition scheme for self-learning kinetic Monte Carlo simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shah, Syed Islamuddin; Nandipati, Giridhar; Kara, Abdelkader; Rahman, Talat S

    2012-01-01

    We report the development of a pattern recognition scheme that takes into account both fcc and hcp adsorption sites in performing self-learning kinetic Monte Carlo (SLKMC-II) simulations on the fcc(111) surface. In this scheme, the local environment of every under-coordinated atom in an island is uniquely identified by grouping fcc sites, hcp sites and top-layer substrate atoms around it into hexagonal rings. As the simulation progresses, all possible processes, including those such as shearing, reptation and concerted gliding, which may involve fcc-fcc, hcp-hcp and fcc-hcp moves are automatically found, and their energetics calculated on the fly. In this article we present the results of applying this new pattern recognition scheme to the self-diffusion of 9-atom islands (M 9 ) on M(111), where M = Cu, Ag or Ni.

  10. Mirror Neurons, Embodied Cognitive Agents and Imitation Learning

    OpenAIRE

    Wiedermann, Jiří

    2003-01-01

    Mirror neurons are a relatively recent discovery; it has been conjectured that these neurons play an important role in imitation learning and other cognitive phenomena. We will study a possible place and role of mirror neurons in the neural architecture of embodied cognitive agents. We will formulate and investigate the hypothesis that mirror neurons serve as a mechanism which coordinates the multimodal (i.e., motor, perceptional and proprioceptive) information and completes it so that the ag...

  11. Mirror neurons and embodied simulation in the development of archetypes and self-agency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knox, Jean

    2009-06-01

    In this paper I explore the role of mirror neurons and motor intentionality in the development of self-agency. I suggest that this will also give us a firmer basis for an emergent view of archetypes, as key components in the development trajectory of self-agency, from its foundation in bodily action to its mature expression in mentalization and a conscious awareness of intentionality. I offer some ideas about the implications of these issues of self-agency for our clinical work with patients whose developmental trajectory of self-agency has been partially inhibited, so that their communications have a coercive effect. I discuss the possibility that this kind of clinical phenomenon may relate to Gallese and Lakoff's hypothesis that abstract thought and imagination are forms of simulated action, and that the same sensory-motor circuits that control action also control imagination, concept formation and understanding, but with a crucial development, that of an inhibition of the connections between secondary pre-motor cortical areas and the primary motor cortex. I shall speculate that in the earlier developmental stages of self-agency, the separation of secondary from primary motor areas is not complete, so that imagination and thought are not entirely independent of physical action.

  12. Morphological self-organizing feature map neural network with applications to automatic target recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shijun; Jing, Zhongliang; Li, Jianxun

    2005-01-01

    The rotation invariant feature of the target is obtained using the multi-direction feature extraction property of the steerable filter. Combining the morphological operation top-hat transform with the self-organizing feature map neural network, the adaptive topological region is selected. Using the erosion operation, the topological region shrinkage is achieved. The steerable filter based morphological self-organizing feature map neural network is applied to automatic target recognition of binary standard patterns and real-world infrared sequence images. Compared with Hamming network and morphological shared-weight networks respectively, the higher recognition correct rate, robust adaptability, quick training, and better generalization of the proposed method are achieved.

  13. Major histocompatibility complex-restricted self-recognition in responses to trinitrophenyl-Ficoll. A novel cell interaction pathway requiring self-recognition of accessory cell H-2 determinants by both T cells and B cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hodes, R.J.; Hathcock, K.S.; Singer, A.

    1983-01-01

    In vitro primary antibody responses to limiting concentrations of trinitrophenyl (TNP)-Ficoll were shown to be T cell dependent, requiring the cooperation of T helper (TH) cells, B cells, and accessory cells. Under these conditions, TH cells derived from long-term radiation bone marrow chimeras were major histocompatibility complex (MHC) restricted in their ability to cooperate with accessory cells expressing host-type MHC determinants. The requirement for MHC-restricted self-recognition by TNP-Ficoll-reactive B cells was assessed under these T-dependent conditions. In the presence of competent TH cells, chimeric B cells were found to be MHC restricted, cooperating only with accessory cells that expressed host-type MHC products. In contrast, the soluble products of certain monoclonal T cell lines were able to directly activate B cells in response to TNP-Ficoll, bypassing any requirement for MHC-restricted self-recognition. These findings demonstrate the existence of a novel cell interaction pathway in which B cells as well as TH cells are each required to recognize self-MHC determinants on accessory cells, but are not required to recognize each other. They further demonstrate that the requirement for self-recognition by B cells may be bypassed in certain T-dependent activation pathways

  14. Free Choice or Adaptable Choice: Self-Determination Theory and Play

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Pete; Howard, Justine

    2016-01-01

    The authors explore the use of three basic tenets from Self-Determination Theory--competence, relatedness, and autonomy--for a definition of play that resists the current popular call for play to be freely chosen. They explore whether free play truly exists and whether complete choice constitutes an absolute requirement for children to consider…

  15. Evolution of the mirror machine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Damm, C.C.

    1983-01-01

    The history of the magnetic-mirror approach to a fusion reactor is primarily the history of our understanding and control of several crucial physics issues, coupled with progress in the technology of heating and confining a reacting plasma. The basic requirement of an MHD-stable plasma equilibrium was achieved following the early introduction of minimum-B multipolar magnetic fields. In refined form, the same magnetic-well principle carries over to our present experiments and to reactor designs. The higher frequency microinstabilities, arising from the non-Maxwellian particle distributions inherent in mirror machines, have gradually come under control as theoretical prescriptions for distribution functions have been applied in the experiments. Even with stability, the classical plasma leakage through the mirrors posed a serious question for reactor viability until the principle of electrostatic axial stoppering was applied in the tandem mirror configuration. Experiments to test this principle successfully demonstrated the substantial improvement in confinement predicted. Concurrent with advances in mirror plasma physics, development of both high-power neutral beam injectors and high-speed vacuum pumping techniques has played a crucial role in ongoing experiments. Together with superconducting magnets, cryogenic pumping, and high-power radiofrequency heating, these technologies have evolved to a level that extrapolates readily to meet the requirements of a tandem mirror fusion reactor

  16. The Self's Struggle for Recognition. August Strindberg and the Other

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Granild, Lars

    2007-01-01

    and his need for the recognition of others. Because of the demand for absolute freedom the self suffers from an anxiety of influence which constantly leads to interpersonal or metaphysical identity struggles and to a monologic approach toward the Other. This anxiety, however, is exactly a sign of lacking......In this article I focus on the Other's important role for the identity of the self in the writings of August Strindberg. I argue that the instability and dynamism that characterize the self and writing in Strindberg are due to a dialectic between the self's romantic demond for absolute freedom...... autonomy - of a dialogical self. Because of the hero's dialogic consciousness the discourse and dialogue are on a closer inspection filled with dialogically sideward glances and polemical strokes at the Other. I argue that it is the self's dialogical consciousness that prevent many of Strindberg's texts...

  17. Culture, the Crack'd Mirror, and the Neuroethics of Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillett, Grant

    2016-10-01

    Human beings are sensorimotor coupled to the actual world and also attuned to the symbolic world of culture and the techniques of adaptation that culture provides. The self-image and self-shaping mediated by that mirror directly affects the neurocognitive structures that integrate human neural activity and reshape its processing capacities through top-down or autopoietic effects. Thus a crack'd mirror, which disrupts the processes of enactive self-configuration, can be disabling for an individual. That is exactly what happens in postcolonial or immigration contexts in which individuals' cultural adaptations are marginalized and disconnected in diverse and often painful and disorienting ways. The crack'd mirror is therefore a powerful trope for neuroethics and helps us understand the social and moral pathologies of many indigenous and immigrant communities.

  18. Confounding the origin and function of mirror neurons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rizzolatti, Giacomo

    2014-04-01

    Cook et al. argue that mirror neurons originate in sensorimotor associative learning and that their function is determined by their origin. Both these claims are hard to accept. It is here suggested that a major role in the origin of the mirror mechanism is played by top-down connections rather than by associative learning.

  19. Mirror-finished superhydrophobic aluminum surfaces modified by anodic alumina nanofibers and self-assembled monolayers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakajima, Daiki; Kikuchi, Tatsuya; Natsui, Shungo; Suzuki, Ryosuke O.

    2018-05-01

    We demonstrate mirror-finished superhydrophobic aluminum surfaces fabricated via the formation of anodic alumina nanofibers and subsequent modification with self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). High-density anodic alumina nanofibers were formed on the aluminum surface via anodizing in a pyrophosphoric acid solution. The alumina nanofibers became tangled and bundled by further anodizing at low temperature because of their own weight, and the aluminum surface was completely covered by the long falling nanofibers. The nanofiber-covered aluminum surface exhibited superhydrophilic behavior, with a contact angle measuring less than 10°. As the nanofiber-covered aluminum surface was modified with n-alkylphosphonic acid SAMs, the water contact angle drastically shifted to superhydrophobicity, measuring more than 150°. The contact angle increased with the applied voltage during pyrophosphoric acid anodizing, the anodizing time, and the number of carbon atoms contained in the SAM molecules modified on the alumina nanofibers. By optimizing the anodizing and SAM-modification conditions, superhydrophobic behavior could be achieved with only a brief pyrophosphoric acid anodizing period of 3 min and subsequent simple immersion in SAM solutions. The superhydrophobic aluminum surface exhibited a high reflectance, measuring approximately 99% across most of the visible spectrum, similar to that of an electropolished aluminum surface. Therefore, our mirror-finished superhydrophobic aluminum surface based on anodic alumina nanofibers and SAMs can be used as a reflective mirror in various optical applications such as concentrated solar power systems.

  20. Preschoolers' cognitive and emotional self-regulation in pretend play : Relations with executive functions and quality of play

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Slot, Pauline Louise; Mulder, Hanna; Verhagen, Josje; Leseman, Paul

    2017-01-01

    The preschool period is marked by rapid growth of children's self-regulation and related executive functions. Self-regulation is considered an important aspect of school readiness and is related to academic and social–emotional outcomes in childhood. Pretend play, as part of the early childhood

  1. Different neural processes accompany self-recognition in photographs across the lifespan: an ERP study using dizygotic twins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, David L; Mattingley, Jason B; Cunnington, Ross; Suddendorf, Thomas

    2013-01-01

    Our appearance changes over time, yet we can recognize ourselves in photographs from across the lifespan. Researchers have extensively studied self-recognition in photographs and have proposed that specific neural correlates are involved, but few studies have examined self-recognition using images from different periods of life. Here we compared ERP responses to photographs of participants when they were 5-15, 16-25, and 26-45 years old. We found marked differences between the responses to photographs from these time periods in terms of the neural markers generally assumed to reflect (i) the configural processing of faces (i.e., the N170), (ii) the matching of the currently perceived face to a representation already stored in memory (i.e., the P250), and (iii) the retrieval of information about the person being recognized (i.e., the N400). There was no uniform neural signature of visual self-recognition. To test whether there was anything specific to self-recognition in these brain responses, we also asked participants to identify photographs of their dizygotic twins taken from the same time periods. Critically, this allowed us to minimize the confounding effects of exposure, for it is likely that participants have been similarly exposed to each other's faces over the lifespan. The same pattern of neural response emerged with only one exception: the neural marker reflecting the retrieval of mnemonic information (N400) differed across the lifespan for self but not for twin. These results, as well as our novel approach using twins and photographs from across the lifespan, have wide-ranging consequences for the study of self-recognition and the nature of our personal identity through time.

  2. Different neural processes accompany self-recognition in photographs across the lifespan: an ERP study using dizygotic twins.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David L Butler

    Full Text Available Our appearance changes over time, yet we can recognize ourselves in photographs from across the lifespan. Researchers have extensively studied self-recognition in photographs and have proposed that specific neural correlates are involved, but few studies have examined self-recognition using images from different periods of life. Here we compared ERP responses to photographs of participants when they were 5-15, 16-25, and 26-45 years old. We found marked differences between the responses to photographs from these time periods in terms of the neural markers generally assumed to reflect (i the configural processing of faces (i.e., the N170, (ii the matching of the currently perceived face to a representation already stored in memory (i.e., the P250, and (iii the retrieval of information about the person being recognized (i.e., the N400. There was no uniform neural signature of visual self-recognition. To test whether there was anything specific to self-recognition in these brain responses, we also asked participants to identify photographs of their dizygotic twins taken from the same time periods. Critically, this allowed us to minimize the confounding effects of exposure, for it is likely that participants have been similarly exposed to each other's faces over the lifespan. The same pattern of neural response emerged with only one exception: the neural marker reflecting the retrieval of mnemonic information (N400 differed across the lifespan for self but not for twin. These results, as well as our novel approach using twins and photographs from across the lifespan, have wide-ranging consequences for the study of self-recognition and the nature of our personal identity through time.

  3. Why We Respond Faster to the Self than to Others? An Implicit Positive Association Theory of Self-Advantage during Implicit Face Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Yina; Han, Shihui

    2010-01-01

    Human adults usually respond faster to their own faces rather than to those of others. We tested the hypothesis that an implicit positive association (IPA) with self mediates self-advantage in face recognition through 4 experiments. Using a self-concept threat (SCT) priming that associated the self with negative personal traits and led to a…

  4. Exploring cultural differences in the recognition of the self-conscious emotions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chung, J.M.H.; Robins, R.W.

    2015-01-01

    Recent research suggests that the self-conscious emotions of embarrassment, shame, and pride have distinct, nonverbal expressions that can be recognized in the United States at above-chance levels. However, few studies have examined the recognition of these emotions in other cultures, and little

  5. Excessive computer game playing among Norwegian adults: self-reported consequences of playing and association with mental health problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wenzel, H G; Bakken, I J; Johansson, A; Götestam, K G; Øren, Anita

    2009-12-01

    Computer games are the most advanced form of gaming. For most people, the playing is an uncomplicated leisure activity; however, for a minority the gaming becomes excessive and is associated with negative consequences. The aim of the present study was to investigate computer game-playing behaviour in the general adult Norwegian population, and to explore mental health problems and self-reported consequences of playing. The survey includes 3,405 adults 16 to 74 years old (Norway 2007, response rate 35.3%). Overall, 65.5% of the respondents reported having ever played computer games (16-29 years, 93.9%; 30-39 years, 85.0%; 40-59 years, 56.2%; 60-74 years, 25.7%). Among 2,170 players, 89.8% reported playing less than 1 hr. as a daily average over the last month, 5.0% played 1-2 hr. daily, 3.1% played 2-4 hr. daily, and 2.2% reported playing > 4 hr. daily. The strongest risk factor for playing > 4 hr. daily was being an online player, followed by male gender, and single marital status. Reported negative consequences of computer game playing increased strongly with average daily playing time. Furthermore, prevalence of self-reported sleeping problems, depression, suicide ideations, anxiety, obsessions/ compulsions, and alcohol/substance abuse increased with increasing playing time. This study showed that adult populations should also be included in research on computer game-playing behaviour and its consequences.

  6. Reduced self-regulation mirrors the distorting effects of burnout symptomatology on task difficulty perception during an inhibition task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wekenborg, Magdalena Katharina; Hill, LaBarron K; Miller, Robert; Stalder, Tobias; Thayer, Julian Francis; Sophie Penz, Marlene; Kirschbaum, Clemens

    2018-06-09

    Burnout, a pathological consequence of chronic work stress, shows an increasing incidence rate in industrialized countries. Previous findings indicate that burnout may be linked to a detachment of the negative association between subjectively appraised task demand and cognitive performance, which is typically seen in healthy individuals. The present study sought to confirm this relationship and to investigate whether this dissociation is mirrored in a biological marker of self-regulation, i.e., resting vagally mediated heart rate variability (HRV). A heterogeneous sample (N = 65) of working adults (M age = 43.3, SD = 10; 23.1 % male) with varying degrees of burnout symptomatology completed three cognitive tasks (2-back, number-letter, and go/nogo) to assess different domains of executive functioning (updating, set-shifting, and inhibition), and respective demand ratings. Additionally, vagally mediated HRV at rest, operationalized as the root-mean square differences of successive R-R intervals (RMSSD), was recorded. Burnout symptomatology moderated the association between subjective task difficulty and performance parameters of the go/nogo task, such that higher burnout scores were associated with reductions in the naturally occurring negative association between self-rated task demand and response inhibition. Intriguingly, this pattern was mirrored when replacing burnout with HRV. These findings suggest that burnout symptomatology, and individual differences in self-regulatory capacities (indexed by resting HRV), may alter one's capacity for accurate task evaluation, a mechanism which could potentially underlie the dissociation between self-rated cognitive function and actual performance among individuals experiencing burnout.

  7. Associative learning is necessary but not sufficient for mirror neuron development

    OpenAIRE

    Bonaiuto, James

    2014-01-01

    Existing computational models of the mirror system demonstrate the additional circuitry needed for mirror neurons to display the range of properties that they exhibit. Such models emphasize the need for existing connectivity to form visuomotor associations, processing to reduce the space of possible inputs, and demonstrate the role neurons with mirror properties might play in monitoring one's own actions.

  8. Associative learning is necessary but not sufficient for mirror neuron development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonaiuto, James

    2014-04-01

    Existing computational models of the mirror system demonstrate the additional circuitry needed for mirror neurons to display the range of properties that they exhibit. Such models emphasize the need for existing connectivity to form visuomotor associations, processing to reduce the space of possible inputs, and demonstrate the role neurons with mirror properties might play in monitoring one's own actions.

  9. Action identity: evidence from self-recognition, prediction, and coordination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knoblich, Günther; Flach, Rüdiger

    2003-12-01

    Prior research suggests that the action system is responsible for creating an immediate sense of self by determining whether certain sensations and perceptions are the result of one's own actions. In addition, it is assumed that declarative, episodic, or autobiographical memories create a temporally extended sense of self or some form of identity. In the present article, we review recent evidence suggesting that action (procedural) knowledge also forms part of a person's identity, an action identity, so to speak. Experiments that addressed self-recognition of past actions, prediction, and coordination provide ample evidence for this assumption. The phenomena observed in these experiments can be explained by the assumption that observing an action results in the activation of action representations, the more so, when the action observed corresponds to the way in which the observer would produce it.

  10. A Self-Powered Insole for Human Motion Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yingzhou Han

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Biomechanical energy harvesting is a feasible solution for powering wearable sensors by directly driving electronics or acting as wearable self-powered sensors. A wearable insole that not only can harvest energy from foot pressure during walking but also can serve as a self-powered human motion recognition sensor is reported. The insole is designed as a sandwich structure consisting of two wavy silica gel film separated by a flexible piezoelectric foil stave, which has higher performance compared with conventional piezoelectric harvesters with cantilever structure. The energy harvesting insole is capable of driving some common electronics by scavenging energy from human walking. Moreover, it can be used to recognize human motion as the waveforms it generates change when people are in different locomotion modes. It is demonstrated that different types of human motion such as walking and running are clearly classified by the insole without any external power source. This work not only expands the applications of piezoelectric energy harvesters for wearable power supplies and self-powered sensors, but also provides possible approaches for wearable self-powered human motion monitoring that is of great importance in many fields such as rehabilitation and sports science.

  11. Neurodegeneration and Mirror Image Agnosia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chandra, Sadanandavalli Retnaswami; Issac, Thomas Gregor

    2014-01-01

    Background: Normal Percept with abnormal meaning (Agnosias) has been described from nineteenth century onwards. Later literature became abundant with information on the spectrum of Prosopagnosias. However, selective difficulty in identifying reflected self images with relatively better cognitive functions leads to problems in differentiating it from non-organic psychosis. Aim: In the present study, we investigated patients with dementia who showed difficulty in identifying reflected self images while they were being tested for problems in gnosis with reference to identification of reflected objects, animals, relatives, and themselves and correlate with neuropsychological and radiological parameters. Patients and Methods: Five such patients were identified and tested with a 45 cm × 45 cm mirror kept at 30-cm distance straight ahead of them. Results: Mirror image agnosia is seen in patients with moderate stage posterior dementias who showed neuropsychological and radiological evidence of right parietal dysfunction. Conclusion: Interpretation of reflected self images perception in real time probably involves distinct data-linking circuits in the right parietal lobe, which may get disrupted early in the course of the disease. PMID:25317393

  12. View-Invariant Visuomotor Processing in Computational Mirror Neuron System for Humanoid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawood, Farhan; Loo, Chu Kiong

    2016-01-01

    Mirror neurons are visuo-motor neurons found in primates and thought to be significant for imitation learning. The proposition that mirror neurons result from associative learning while the neonate observes his own actions has received noteworthy empirical support. Self-exploration is regarded as a procedure by which infants become perceptually observant to their own body and engage in a perceptual communication with themselves. We assume that crude sense of self is the prerequisite for social interaction. However, the contribution of mirror neurons in encoding the perspective from which the motor acts of others are seen have not been addressed in relation to humanoid robots. In this paper we present a computational model for development of mirror neuron system for humanoid based on the hypothesis that infants acquire MNS by sensorimotor associative learning through self-exploration capable of sustaining early imitation skills. The purpose of our proposed model is to take into account the view-dependency of neurons as a probable outcome of the associative connectivity between motor and visual information. In our experiment, a humanoid robot stands in front of a mirror (represented through self-image using camera) in order to obtain the associative relationship between his own motor generated actions and his own visual body-image. In the learning process the network first forms mapping from each motor representation onto visual representation from the self-exploratory perspective. Afterwards, the representation of the motor commands is learned to be associated with all possible visual perspectives. The complete architecture was evaluated by simulation experiments performed on DARwIn-OP humanoid robot. PMID:26998923

  13. View-Invariant Visuomotor Processing in Computational Mirror Neuron System for Humanoid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawood, Farhan; Loo, Chu Kiong

    2016-01-01

    Mirror neurons are visuo-motor neurons found in primates and thought to be significant for imitation learning. The proposition that mirror neurons result from associative learning while the neonate observes his own actions has received noteworthy empirical support. Self-exploration is regarded as a procedure by which infants become perceptually observant to their own body and engage in a perceptual communication with themselves. We assume that crude sense of self is the prerequisite for social interaction. However, the contribution of mirror neurons in encoding the perspective from which the motor acts of others are seen have not been addressed in relation to humanoid robots. In this paper we present a computational model for development of mirror neuron system for humanoid based on the hypothesis that infants acquire MNS by sensorimotor associative learning through self-exploration capable of sustaining early imitation skills. The purpose of our proposed model is to take into account the view-dependency of neurons as a probable outcome of the associative connectivity between motor and visual information. In our experiment, a humanoid robot stands in front of a mirror (represented through self-image using camera) in order to obtain the associative relationship between his own motor generated actions and his own visual body-image. In the learning process the network first forms mapping from each motor representation onto visual representation from the self-exploratory perspective. Afterwards, the representation of the motor commands is learned to be associated with all possible visual perspectives. The complete architecture was evaluated by simulation experiments performed on DARwIn-OP humanoid robot.

  14. View-Invariant Visuomotor Processing in Computational Mirror Neuron System for Humanoid.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farhan Dawood

    Full Text Available Mirror neurons are visuo-motor neurons found in primates and thought to be significant for imitation learning. The proposition that mirror neurons result from associative learning while the neonate observes his own actions has received noteworthy empirical support. Self-exploration is regarded as a procedure by which infants become perceptually observant to their own body and engage in a perceptual communication with themselves. We assume that crude sense of self is the prerequisite for social interaction. However, the contribution of mirror neurons in encoding the perspective from which the motor acts of others are seen have not been addressed in relation to humanoid robots. In this paper we present a computational model for development of mirror neuron system for humanoid based on the hypothesis that infants acquire MNS by sensorimotor associative learning through self-exploration capable of sustaining early imitation skills. The purpose of our proposed model is to take into account the view-dependency of neurons as a probable outcome of the associative connectivity between motor and visual information. In our experiment, a humanoid robot stands in front of a mirror (represented through self-image using camera in order to obtain the associative relationship between his own motor generated actions and his own visual body-image. In the learning process the network first forms mapping from each motor representation onto visual representation from the self-exploratory perspective. Afterwards, the representation of the motor commands is learned to be associated with all possible visual perspectives. The complete architecture was evaluated by simulation experiments performed on DARwIn-OP humanoid robot.

  15. Self-recognition in corals facilitates deep-sea habitat engineering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hennige, Sebastian J; Morrison, Cheryl L.; Form, Armin U.; Buscher, Janina; Kamenos, Nicholas A.; Roberts, J. Murray

    2014-01-01

    The ability of coral reefs to engineer complex three-dimensional habitats is central to their success and the rich biodiversity they support. In tropical reefs, encrusting coralline algae bind together substrates and dead coral framework to make continuous reef structures, but beyond the photic zone, the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa also forms large biogenic reefs, facilitated by skeletal fusion. Skeletal fusion in tropical corals can occur in closely related or juvenile individuals as a result of non-aggressive skeletal overgrowth or allogeneic tissue fusion, but contact reactions in many species result in mortality if there is no ‘self-recognition’ on a broad species level. This study reveals areas of ‘flawless’ skeletal fusion in Lophelia pertusa, potentially facilitated by allogeneic tissue fusion, are identified as having small aragonitic crystals or low levels of crystal organisation, and strong molecular bonding. Regardless of the mechanism, the recognition of ‘self’ between adjacent L. pertusa colonies leads to no observable mortality, facilitates ecosystem engineering and reduces aggression-related energetic expenditure in an environment where energy conservation is crucial. The potential for self-recognition at a species level, and subsequent skeletal fusion in framework-forming cold-water corals is an important first step in understanding their significance as ecological engineers in deep-seas worldwide.

  16. The mirror mechanism and mu rhythm in social development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanderwert, Ross E; Fox, Nathan A; Ferrari, Pier F

    2013-04-12

    Since the discovery of mirror neurons (MNs) in the monkey there has been a renewed interest in motor theories of cognitive and social development in humans by providing a potential neural mechanism underlying an action observation/execution matching system. It has been proposed that this system plays a fundamental role in the development of complex social and cognitive behaviors such as imitation and action recognition. In this review we discuss what is known about MNs from the work using single-cell recordings in the adult monkey, the evidence for the putative MN system in humans, and the extent to which research using electroencephalography (EEG) methods has contributed to our understanding of the development of these motor systems and their role in the social behaviors postulated by the MN hypothesis. We conclude with directions for future research that will improve our understanding of the putative human MN system and the functional role of MNs in social development. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Modeling of biaxial gimbal-less MEMS scanning mirrors

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Wantoch, Thomas; Gu-Stoppel, Shanshan; Senger, Frank; Mallas, Christian; Hofmann, Ulrich; Meurer, Thomas; Benecke, Wolfgang

    2016-03-01

    One- and two-dimensional MEMS scanning mirrors for resonant or quasi-stationary beam deflection are primarily known as tiny micromirror devices with aperture sizes up to a few Millimeters and usually address low power applications in high volume markets, e.g. laser beam scanning pico-projectors or gesture recognition systems. In contrast, recently reported vacuum packaged MEMS scanners feature mirror diameters up to 20 mm and integrated high-reflectivity dielectric coatings. These mirrors enable MEMS based scanning for applications that require large apertures due to optical constraints like 3D sensing or microscopy as well as for high power laser applications like laser phosphor displays, automotive lighting and displays, 3D printing and general laser material processing. This work presents modelling, control design and experimental characterization of gimbal-less MEMS mirrors with large aperture size. As an example a resonant biaxial Quadpod scanner with 7 mm mirror diameter and four integrated PZT (lead zirconate titanate) actuators is analyzed. The finite element method (FEM) model developed and computed in COMSOL Multiphysics is used for calculating the eigenmodes of the mirror as well as for extracting a high order (n system inputs and scanner displacement as system output. By applying model order reduction techniques using MATLABR a compact state space system approximation of order n = 6 is computed. Based on this reduced order model feedforward control inputs for different, properly chosen scanner displacement trajectories are derived and tested using the original FEM model as well as the micromirror.

  18. Reflection-grating photorefractive self-pumped ring mirror

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Iakov, V. A.; Korol'Kov, S. A.; Mamaev, A. V.; Shkunov, V. V.; Zozulia, A. A.

    1991-10-01

    A reflection-grating ring mirror using a photorefractive KNbO2 crystal with a response time of several milliseconds and a reflectivity of as much as 50 percent has been experimentally fabricated. A theoretical analysis of the geometry involved is made which provides only qualitative agreement with the experimental findings.

  19. Mirror boxes and mirror mounts for photophysics beamline

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raja Rao, P.M.; Raja Sekhar, B.N.; Das, N.C.; Khan, H.A.; Bhattacharya, S.S.; Roy, A.P.

    1996-01-01

    Photophysics beamline makes use of one metre Seya-Namioka monochromator and two toroidal mirrors in its fore optics. The first toroidal mirror (pre mirror) focuses light originating from the tangent point of the storage ring onto the entrance slit of the monochromator and second toroidal mirror (post mirror) collects light from the exit slit of the monochromator and focuses light onto the sample placed at a distance of about one metre away from the 2nd mirror. To steer light through monochromator and to focus it on the sample of 1mm x 1mm size require precision rotational and translational motion of the mirrors and this has been achieved with the help of precision mirror mounts. Since Indus-1 operates at pressures less than 10 -9 m.bar, the mirror mounts should be manipulated under similar ultra high vacuum conditions. Considering these requirements, two mirror boxes and two mirror mounts have been designed and fabricated. The coarse movements to the mirrors are imparted from outside the mirror chamber with the help of x-y tables and precision movements to the mirrors are achieved with the help of mirror mounts. The UHV compatibility and performance of the mirror mounts connected to mirror boxes under ultra high vacuum condition is evaluated. The details of the design, fabrication and performance evaluation are discussed in this report. 5 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab

  20. Mirroring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wegener, Charlotte; Wegener, Gregers

    2016-01-01

    and metaphorical value of mirroring for creativity theory across two different research fields — neuroscience and learning. We engage in a mutual (possibly creative) exploration of mirroring from ‘mirror neurons’ to mirroring in social learning theory. One of the most fascinating aspects of mirroring...... as a neurobiological and as a learning phenomenon is that it points to the embodied and unconscious aspects of social interaction. Thus, mirroring should not be reduced to the non-creative, mechanical repetition of the original, outstanding creativity. To mirror is a human capability built into our capacity to create......Most definitions of creativity emphasise originality. The creative product is recognised as distinct from other products and the creative person as someone who stands out from the crowd. What tend to be overlooked are acts of mirroring as a crucial element of the creative process. The human ability...

  1. Mirroring the self: testing neurophysiological correlates of disturbed self-experience in schizophrenia spectrum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sestito, Mariateresa; Raballo, Andrea; Umiltà, Maria Alessandra; Leuci, Emanuela; Tonna, Matteo; Fortunati, Renata; De Paola, Giancarlo; Amore, Mario; Maggini, Carlo; Gallese, Vittorio

    2015-01-01

    Self-disorders (SDs) have been described as a core schizophrenia spectrum vulnerability phenotype, both in classic and contemporary psychopathological literature. However, such a core phenotype has not yet been investigated adopting a trans-domain approach that combines the phenomenological and the neurophysiological levels of analysis. The aim of this study is to investigate the relation between SDs and subtle, schizophrenia-specific impairments of emotional resonance that are supposed to reflect abnormalities in the mirror neurons mechanism. Specifically, we tested whether electromyographic response to emotional stimuli (i.e. a proxy for subtle changes in facial mimicry and related motor resonance mechanisms) would predict the occurrence of anomalous subjective experiences (i.e. SDs). Eighteen schizophrenia spectrum (SzSp) patients underwent a comprehensive psychopathological examination and were contextually tested with a multimodal paradigm, recording facial electromyographic activity of muscles in response to positive and negative emotional stimuli. Experiential anomalies were explored with the Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms (BSABS) and then condensed into rational subscales mapping SzSp anomalous self-experiences. SzSp patients showed an imbalance in emotional motor resonance with a selective bias toward negative stimuli, as well as a multisensory integration impairment. Multiple regression analysis showed that electromyographic facial reactions in response to negative stimuli presented in auditory modality specifically and strongly correlated with SD subscore. The study confirms the potential of SDs as target phenotype for neurobiological research and encourages research into disturbed motor/emotional resonance as possible body-level correlate of disturbed subjective experiences in SzSp.

  2. Is the self always better than a friend? Self-face recognition in Christians and atheists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Yina; Han, Shihui

    2012-01-01

    Early behavioral studies found that human adults responded faster to their own faces than faces of familiar others or strangers, a finding referred to as self-face advantage. Recent research suggests that the self-face advantage is mediated by implicit positive association with the self and is influenced by sociocultural experience. The current study investigated whether and how Christian belief and practice affect the processing of self-face in a Chinese population. Christian and Atheist participants were recruited for an implicit association test (IAT) in Experiment 1 and a face-owner identification task in Experiment 2. Experiment 1 found that atheists responded faster to self-face when it shared the same response key with positive compared to negative trait adjectives. This IAT effect, however, was significantly reduced in Christians. Experiment 2 found that atheists responded faster to self-face compared to a friend's face, but this self-face advantage was significantly reduced in Christians. Hierarchical regression analyses further showed that the IAT effect positively predicted self-face advantage in atheists but not in Christians. Our findings suggest that Christian belief and practice may weaken implicit positive association with the self and thus decrease the advantage of the self over a friend during face recognition in the believers.

  3. Is the Self Always Better than a Friend? Self-Face Recognition in Christians and Atheists

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Yina; Han, Shihui

    2012-01-01

    Early behavioral studies found that human adults responded faster to their own faces than faces of familiar others or strangers, a finding referred to as self-face advantage. Recent research suggests that the self-face advantage is mediated by implicit positive association with the self and is influenced by sociocultural experience. The current study investigated whether and how Christian belief and practice affect the processing of self-face in a Chinese population. Christian and Atheist participants were recruited for an implicit association test (IAT) in Experiment 1 and a face-owner identification task in Experiment 2. Experiment 1 found that atheists responded faster to self-face when it shared the same response key with positive compared to negative trait adjectives. This IAT effect, however, was significantly reduced in Christians. Experiment 2 found that atheists responded faster to self-face compared to a friend’s face, but this self-face advantage was significantly reduced in Christians. Hierarchical regression analyses further showed that the IAT effect positively predicted self-face advantage in atheists but not in Christians. Our findings suggest that Christian belief and practice may weaken implicit positive association with the self and thus decrease the advantage of the self over a friend during face recognition in the believers. PMID:22662231

  4. Coherent beam combination using self-phase locked stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugate mirrors with a rotating wedge for high power laser generation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Sangwoo; Cha, Seongwoo; Oh, Jungsuk; Lee, Hwihyeong; Ahn, Heekyung; Churn, Kil Sung; Kong, Hong Jin

    2016-04-18

    The self-phase locking of a stimulated Brillouin scattering-phase conjugate mirror (SBS-PCM) allows a simple and scalable coherent beam combination of existing lasers. We propose a simple optical system composed of a rotating wedge and a concave mirror to overcome the power limit of the SBS-PCM. Its phase locking ability and the usefulness on the beam-combination laser are demonstrated experimentally. A four-beam combination is demonstrated using this SBS-PCM scheme. The relative phases between the beams were measured to be less than λ/24.7.

  5. Self-processing and the default mode network: Interactions with the mirror neuron system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Istvan eMolnar-Szakacs

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Recent evidence for the fractionation of the default mode network (DMN into functionally distinguishable subdivisions with unique patterns of connectivity calls for a reconceptualization of the relationship between this network and self-referential processing. Advances in resting-state functional connectivity analyses are beginning to reveal increasingly complex patterns of organization within the key nodes of the DMN - medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC – as well as between these nodes and other brain systems. Here we review recent examinations of the relationships between the DMN and various aspects of self-relevant and social-cognitive processing in light of emerging evidence for heterogeneity within this network. Drawing from a rapidly evolving social cognitive neuroscience literature, we propose that embodied simulation and mentalizing are processes which allow us to gain insight into another's physical and mental state by providing privileged access to our own physical and mental states. Embodiment implies that the same neural systems are engaged for self- and other-understanding through a simulation mechanism, while mentalizing refers to the use of high-level conceptual information to make inferences about the mental states of self and others. These mechanisms work together to provide a coherent representation of the self and by extension, of others. Nodes of the DMN selectively interact with brain systems for embodiment and mentalizing, including the mirror neuron system, to produce appropriate mappings in the service of social cognitive demands.

  6. Design of self-cooled, liquid-metal blankets for tokamak and tandem mirror reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cha, Y.S.; Gohar, Y.; Hassanein, A.M.; Majumdar, S.; Picologlou, B.F.; Smith, D.L.; Szo, D.K.

    1985-01-01

    Results of the self-cooled, liquid-metal blanket design from the Blanket Comparison and Selection Study (BCSS) are summarized. The objectives of the BCSS project are to define a small number (about three) of blanket concepts that should be the focus of the blanket research and development (RandD) program, identify and prioritize the critical issues for the leading blanket concepts, and provide technical input necessary to develop a blanket RandD program plan. Two liquid metals (lithium and lithium-lead (17Li-83Pb)) and three structural materials (primary candidate alloy (PCA), ferritic steel (FS) (HT-9), and vanadium alloy (V-15 Cr-5 Ti)) are included in the evaluations for both tokamaks and tandem mirror reactors (TMRs). TMR is of the tube configuration similar to the Mirror Advanced Reactor Study design. Analyses were performed in the following generic areas for each blanket concept: MHD, thermal hydraulics, stress, neutronics, and tritium recovery. Integral analyses were performed to determine the design window for each blanket design. The Li/Li/V blanket for tokamak and the Li/Li/V, LiPb/LiPb/V, and Li/Li/HT-9 blankets for the TMR are judged to be top-rated concepts. Because of its better thermophysical properties and more uniform nuclear heating profile, liquid lithium is a better coolant than liquid 17Li83Pb. From an engineering point of view, vanadium alloy is a better structural material than either FS or PCA since the former has both a higher allowable structural temperature and a higher allowable coolant/structure interface temperature than the latter. Critical feasibility issues and design constraints for the self-cooled, liquid-metal blanket concepts are identified and discussed

  7. Mirror neurons, birdsong, and human language: a hypothesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levy, Florence

    2011-01-01

    THE MIRROR SYSTEM HYPOTHESIS AND INVESTIGATIONS OF BIRDSONG ARE REVIEWED IN RELATION TO THE SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN SYMBOLIC AND LANGUAGE CAPACITY, IN TERMS OF THREE FUNDAMENTAL FORMS OF COGNITIVE REFERENCE: iconic, indexical, and symbolic. Mirror systems are initially iconic but can progress to indexical reference when produced without the need for concurrent stimuli. Developmental stages in birdsong are also explored with reference to juvenile subsong vs complex stereotyped adult syllables, as an analogy with human language development. While birdsong remains at an indexical reference stage, human language benefits from the capacity for symbolic reference. During a pre-linguistic "babbling" stage, recognition of native phonemic categories is established, allowing further development of subsequent prefrontal and linguistic circuits for sequential language capacity.

  8. Recognition Memory, Self-Other Source Memory, and Theory-of-Mind in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lind, Sophie E.; Bowler, Dermot M.

    2009-01-01

    This study investigated semantic and episodic memory in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), using a task which assessed recognition and self-other source memory. Children with ASD showed undiminished recognition memory but significantly diminished source memory, relative to age- and verbal ability-matched comparison children. Both children with and…

  9. Cullin1-P is an Essential Component of Non-Self Recognition System in Self-Incompatibility in Petunia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kubo, Ken-Ichi; Tsukahara, Mai; Fujii, Sota; Murase, Kohji; Wada, Yuko; Entani, Tetsuyuki; Iwano, Megumi; Takayama, Seiji

    2016-11-01

    Self-incompatibility (SI) in flowering plants is a genetic reproductive barrier to distinguish self- and non-self pollen to promote outbreeding. In Solanaceae, self-pollen is rejected by the ribonucleases expressed in the styles (S-RNases), via its cytotoxic function. On the other side, the male-determinant is the S-locus F-box proteins (SLFs) expressed in pollen. Multiple SLFs collaboratively detoxify non-self S-RNases, therefore, non-self recognition is the mode of self-/non-self discrimination in Solanaceae. It is considered that SLFs function as a substrate-recognition module of the Skp1-Cullin1-F-box (SCF) complex that inactivates non-self S-RNases via their polyubiquitination, which leads to degradation by 26S proteasome. In fact, PhSSK1 (Petunia hybrida SLF-interacting Skp1-like1) was identified as a specific component of SCF SLF and was shown to be essential for detoxification of S-RNase in Petunia However, different molecules are proposed as the candidate Cullin1, another component of SCF SLF , and there is as yet no definite conclusion. Here, we identified five Cullin1s from the expressed sequence tags (ESTs) derived from the male reproductive organ in Petunia Among them, only PhCUL1-P was co-immunoprecipitated with S 7 -SLF2. In vitro protein-binding assay suggested that PhSSK1 specifically forms a complex with PhCUL1-P in an SLF-dependent manner. Knockdown of PhCUL1-P suppressed fertility of transgenic pollen in cross-compatible pollination in the functional S-RNase-dependent manner. These results suggested that SCF SLF selectively uses PhCUL1-P. Phylogeny of Cullin1s indicates that CUL1-P is recruited into the SI machinery during the evolution of Solanaceae, suggesting that the SI components have evolved differently among species in Solanaceae and Rosaceae, despite both families sharing the S-RNase-based SI. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved. For

  10. Preschoolers' Cognitive and Emotional Self-Regulation in Pretend Play: Relations with Executive Functions and Quality of Play

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slot, Pauline Louise; Mulder, Hanna; Verhagen, Josje; Leseman, Paul P. M.

    2017-01-01

    The preschool period is marked by rapid growth of children's self-regulation and related executive functions. Self-regulation is considered an important aspect of school readiness and is related to academic and social--emotional outcomes in childhood. Pretend play, as part of the early childhood curriculum, is hypothesized to support…

  11. Mirror, mirror on the wall

    CERN Multimedia

    2005-01-01

    RICH 2, one of the two Ring Imaging Cherenkov detectors of the LHCb experiment, is being prepared to join the other detector elements ready for the first proton-proton collisions at LHC. The mirrors of the RICH2 detector are meticulously assembled in a clean room.In a large dark room, men in white move around an immense structure some 7 metres high, 10 metres wide and nearly 2.5 metres deep. Apparently effortlessly, they are installing the two large high-precision spherical mirrors. These mirrors will focus Cherenkov light, created by the charged particles that will traverse this detector, onto the photon detectors. Each spherical mirror wall is made up of facets like a fly's eye. Twenty-eight individual thin glass mirrors will all point to the same point in space to within a few micro-radians. The development of these mirrors has been technically demanding : Ideally they should be massless, sturdy, precise and have high reflectivity. In practice, though not massless, they are made from a mere 6 mm thin gl...

  12. Encoding conditions affect recognition of vocally expressed emotions across cultures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jürgens, Rebecca; Drolet, Matthis; Pirow, Ralph; Scheiner, Elisabeth; Fischer, Julia

    2013-01-01

    Although the expression of emotions in humans is considered to be largely universal, cultural effects contribute to both emotion expression and recognition. To disentangle the interplay between these factors, play-acted and authentic (non-instructed) vocal expressions of emotions were used, on the assumption that cultural effects may contribute differentially to the recognition of staged and spontaneous emotions. Speech tokens depicting four emotions (anger, sadness, joy, fear) were obtained from German radio archives and re-enacted by professional actors, and presented to 120 participants from Germany, Romania, and Indonesia. Participants in all three countries were poor at distinguishing between play-acted and spontaneous emotional utterances (58.73% correct on average with only marginal cultural differences). Nevertheless, authenticity influenced emotion recognition: across cultures, anger was recognized more accurately when play-acted (z = 15.06, p emotions, indicating a moderate in-group advantage. There was no difference between Romanian and Indonesian subjects in the overall emotion recognition. Differential cultural effects became particularly apparent in terms of differential biases in emotion attribution. While all participants labeled play-acted expressions as anger more frequently than expected, German participants exhibited a further bias toward choosing anger for spontaneous stimuli. In contrast to the German sample, Romanian and Indonesian participants were biased toward choosing sadness. These results support the view that emotion recognition rests on a complex interaction of human universals and cultural specificities. Whether and in which way the observed biases are linked to cultural differences in self-construal remains an issue for further investigation.

  13. Recognition memory, self-other source memory, and theory-of-mind in children with autism spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lind, Sophie E; Bowler, Dermot M

    2009-09-01

    This study investigated semantic and episodic memory in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), using a task which assessed recognition and self-other source memory. Children with ASD showed undiminished recognition memory but significantly diminished source memory, relative to age- and verbal ability-matched comparison children. Both children with and without ASD showed an "enactment effect", demonstrating significantly better recognition and source memory for self-performed actions than other-person-performed actions. Within the comparison group, theory-of-mind (ToM) task performance was significantly correlated with source memory, specifically for other-person-performed actions (after statistically controlling for verbal ability). Within the ASD group, ToM task performance was not significantly correlated with source memory (after controlling for verbal ability). Possible explanations for these relations between source memory and ToM are considered.

  14. [Prosopagnosia and facial expression recognition].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koyama, Shinichi

    2014-04-01

    This paper reviews clinical neuropsychological studies that have indicated that the recognition of a person's identity and the recognition of facial expressions are processed by different cortical and subcortical areas of the brain. The fusiform gyrus, especially the right fusiform gyrus, plays an important role in the recognition of identity. The superior temporal sulcus, amygdala, and medial frontal cortex play important roles in facial-expression recognition. Both facial recognition and facial-expression recognition are highly intellectual processes that involve several regions of the brain.

  15. Pattern classification and recognition of invertebrate functional groups using self-organizing neural networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, WenJun

    2007-07-01

    Self-organizing neural networks can be used to mimic non-linear systems. The main objective of this study is to make pattern classification and recognition on sampling information using two self-organizing neural network models. Invertebrate functional groups sampled in the irrigated rice field were classified and recognized using one-dimensional self-organizing map and self-organizing competitive learning neural networks. Comparisons between neural network models, distance (similarity) measures, and number of neurons were conducted. The results showed that self-organizing map and self-organizing competitive learning neural network models were effective in pattern classification and recognition of sampling information. Overall the performance of one-dimensional self-organizing map neural network was better than self-organizing competitive learning neural network. The number of neurons could determine the number of classes in the classification. Different neural network models with various distance (similarity) measures yielded similar classifications. Some differences, dependent upon the specific network structure, would be found. The pattern of an unrecognized functional group was recognized with the self-organizing neural network. A relative consistent classification indicated that the following invertebrate functional groups, terrestrial blood sucker; terrestrial flyer; tourist (nonpredatory species with no known functional role other than as prey in ecosystem); gall former; collector (gather, deposit feeder); predator and parasitoid; leaf miner; idiobiont (acarine ectoparasitoid), were classified into the same group, and the following invertebrate functional groups, external plant feeder; terrestrial crawler, walker, jumper or hunter; neustonic (water surface) swimmer (semi-aquatic), were classified into another group. It was concluded that reliable conclusions could be drawn from comparisons of different neural network models that use different distance

  16. Determinants of Teachers' Recognitions of Self-Regulated Learning Practices in Elementary Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lombaerts, Koen; Engels, Nadine; van Braak, Johan

    2009-01-01

    The authors examined the relations among teacher characteristics, contextual factors, and the recognition of self-regulated learning (SRL). Participants of the survey study were 172 elementary school teachers in the Brussels Capital Region and surrounding area (Belgium). The authors assessed the interrelations of several measures on personal…

  17. When Passive Feels Active--Delusion-Proneness Alters Self-Recognition in the Moving Rubber Hand Illusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Louzolo, Anaïs; Kalckert, Andreas; Petrovic, Predrag

    2015-01-01

    Psychotic patients have problems with bodily self-recognition such as the experience of self-produced actions (sense of agency) and the perception of the body as their own (sense of ownership). While it has been shown that such impairments in psychotic patients can be explained by hypersalient processing of external sensory input it has also been suggested that they lack normal efference copy in voluntary action. However, it is not known how problems with motor predictions like efference copy contribute to impaired sense of agency and ownership in psychosis or psychosis-related states. We used a rubber hand illusion based on finger movements and measured sense of agency and ownership to compute a bodily self-recognition score in delusion-proneness (indexed by Peters' Delusion Inventory - PDI). A group of healthy subjects (n=71) experienced active movements (involving motor predictions) or passive movements (lacking motor predictions). We observed a highly significant correlation between delusion-proneness and self-recognition in the passive conditions, while no such effect was observed in the active conditions. This was seen for both ownership and agency scores. The result suggests that delusion-proneness is associated with hypersalient external input in passive conditions, resulting in an abnormal experience of the illusion. We hypothesize that this effect is not present in the active condition because deficient motor predictions counteract hypersalience in psychosis proneness.

  18. Distributed sensing signal analysis of deformable plate/membrane mirrors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Yifan; Yue, Honghao; Deng, Zongquan; Tzou, Hornsen

    2017-11-01

    Deformable optical mirrors usually play key roles in aerospace and optical structural systems applied to space telescopes, radars, solar collectors, communication antennas, etc. Limited by the payload capacity of current launch vehicles, the deformable mirrors should be lightweight and are generally made of ultra-thin plates or even membranes. These plate/membrane mirrors are susceptible to external excitations and this may lead to surface inaccuracy and jeopardize relevant working performance. In order to investigate the modal vibration characteristics of the mirror, a piezoelectric layer is fully laminated on its non-reflective side to serve as sensors. The piezoelectric layer is segmented into infinitesimal elements so that microscopic distributed sensing signals can be explored. In this paper, the deformable mirror is modeled as a pre-tensioned plate and membrane respectively and sensing signal distributions of the two models are compared. Different pre-tensioning forces are also applied to reveal the tension effects on the mode shape and sensing signals of the mirror. Analytical results in this study could be used as guideline of optimal sensor/actuator placement for deformable space mirrors.

  19. Impact of body posture on laterality judgement and explicit recognition tasks performed on self and others' hands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conson, Massimiliano; Errico, Domenico; Mazzarella, Elisabetta; De Bellis, Francesco; Grossi, Dario; Trojano, Luigi

    2015-04-01

    Judgments on laterality of hand stimuli are faster and more accurate when dealing with one's own than others' hand, i.e. the self-advantage. This advantage seems to be related to activation of a sensorimotor mechanism while implicitly processing one's own hands, but not during explicit one's own hand recognition. Here, we specifically tested the influence of proprioceptive information on the self-hand advantage by manipulating participants' body posture during self and others' hand processing. In Experiment 1, right-handed healthy participants judged laterality of either self or others' hands, whereas in Experiment 2, an explicit recognition of one's own hands was required. In both experiments, the participants performed the task while holding their left or right arm flexed with their hand in direct contact with their chest ("flexed self-touch posture") or with their hand placed on a wooden smooth surface in correspondence with their chest ("flexed proprioceptive-only posture"). In an "extended control posture", both arms were extended and in contact with thighs. In Experiment 1 (hand laterality judgment), we confirmed the self-advantage and demonstrated that it was enhanced when the subjects judged left-hand stimuli at 270° orientation while keeping their left arm in the flexed proprioceptive-only posture. In Experiment 2 (explicit self-hand recognition), instead, we found an advantage for others' hand ("self-disadvantage") independently from posture manipulation. Thus, position-related proprioceptive information from left non-dominant arm can enhance sensorimotor one's own body representation selectively favouring implicit self-hands processing.

  20. Mirror-Image Equivalence and Interhemispheric Mirror-Image Reversal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corballis, Michael C

    2018-01-01

    Mirror-image confusions are common, especially in children and in some cases of neurological impairment. They can be a special impediment in activities such as reading and writing directional scripts, where mirror-image patterns (such as b and d ) must be distinguished. Treating mirror images as equivalent, though, can also be adaptive in the natural world, which carries no systematic left-right bias and where the same object or event can appear in opposite viewpoints. Mirror-image equivalence and confusion are natural consequences of a bilaterally symmetrical brain. In the course of learning, mirror-image equivalence may be established through a process of symmetrization, achieved through homotopic interhemispheric exchange in the formation of memory circuits. Such circuits would not distinguish between mirror images. Learning to discriminate mirror-image discriminations may depend either on existing brain asymmetries, or on extensive learning overriding the symmetrization process. The balance between mirror-image equivalence and mirror-image discrimination may nevertheless be precarious, with spontaneous confusions or reversals, such as mirror writing, sometimes appearing naturally or as a manifestation of conditions like dyslexia.

  1. Mirror-Image Equivalence and Interhemispheric Mirror-Image Reversal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael C. Corballis

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Mirror-image confusions are common, especially in children and in some cases of neurological impairment. They can be a special impediment in activities such as reading and writing directional scripts, where mirror-image patterns (such as b and d must be distinguished. Treating mirror images as equivalent, though, can also be adaptive in the natural world, which carries no systematic left-right bias and where the same object or event can appear in opposite viewpoints. Mirror-image equivalence and confusion are natural consequences of a bilaterally symmetrical brain. In the course of learning, mirror-image equivalence may be established through a process of symmetrization, achieved through homotopic interhemispheric exchange in the formation of memory circuits. Such circuits would not distinguish between mirror images. Learning to discriminate mirror-image discriminations may depend either on existing brain asymmetries, or on extensive learning overriding the symmetrization process. The balance between mirror-image equivalence and mirror-image discrimination may nevertheless be precarious, with spontaneous confusions or reversals, such as mirror writing, sometimes appearing naturally or as a manifestation of conditions like dyslexia.

  2. Acquired self-control of insula cortex modulates emotion recognition and brain network connectivity in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruiz, Sergio; Lee, Sangkyun; Soekadar, Surjo R; Caria, Andrea; Veit, Ralf; Kircher, Tilo; Birbaumer, Niels; Sitaram, Ranganatha

    2013-01-01

    Real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rtfMRI) is a novel technique that has allowed subjects to achieve self-regulation of circumscribed brain regions. Despite its anticipated therapeutic benefits, there is no report on successful application of this technique in psychiatric populations. The objectives of the present study were to train schizophrenia patients to achieve volitional control of bilateral anterior insula cortex on multiple days, and to explore the effect of learned self-regulation on face emotion recognition (an extensively studied deficit in schizophrenia) and on brain network connectivity. Nine patients with schizophrenia were trained to regulate the hemodynamic response in bilateral anterior insula with contingent rtfMRI neurofeedback, through a 2-weeks training. At the end of the training stage, patients performed a face emotion recognition task to explore behavioral effects of learned self-regulation. A learning effect in self-regulation was found for bilateral anterior insula, which persisted through the training. Following successful self-regulation, patients recognized disgust faces more accurately and happy faces less accurately. Improvements in disgust recognition were correlated with levels of self-activation of right insula. RtfMRI training led to an increase in the number of the incoming and outgoing effective connections of the anterior insula. This study shows for the first time that patients with schizophrenia can learn volitional brain regulation by rtfMRI feedback training leading to changes in the perception of emotions and modulations of the brain network connectivity. These findings open the door for further studies of rtfMRI in severely ill psychiatric populations, and possible therapeutic applications. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Self-appraisal of hockey players of high class of different playing position

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oleksiy Mikhnov

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: to expose the features of display of self-appraisal for the hockey players of high class of different playing position. Material and Methods: for the exposure of level of self-appraisal for hockey players, information of sportsmen of high class, taking part in the matches of the Kontinental hockey league (KHL in a season 2013–2014 was probed sixteen hockey players, having a sporting digit MS and MSWC, took part in researches. Methods were used: pedagogical supervision, pedagogical analysis and generalization of front-rank experience, psychological testing, analysis of data of the special scientific-methodical literature, expert questioning, an analysis of data is the Internet. Results: findings allowed to set that the players of line of attack (central and extreme forward have more high level of self-appraisal for certain, than players of defence and hockey goalkeepers. This tendency is looked over both on the separate constituents of self-appraisal and on the whole on all spectrums of the studied indexes. The got results of researches rotined that the hockey players of high class had or middle or high level of self-appraisal. Among testable hockey players, players were not exposed with the low level of self-appraisal. Conclusions: the exposed distinctions in the level of self-appraisal of hockey players of high class can be used for diagnostics of playing predisposition and choice of playing line of business in a command.

  4. Mirror Neurons and Mirror-Touch Synesthesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linkovski, Omer; Katzin, Naama; Salti, Moti

    2016-05-30

    Since mirror neurons were introduced to the neuroscientific community more than 20 years ago, they have become an elegant and intuitive account for different cognitive mechanisms (e.g., empathy, goal understanding) and conditions (e.g., autism spectrum disorders). Recently, mirror neurons were suggested to be the mechanism underlying a specific type of synesthesia. Mirror-touch synesthesia is a phenomenon in which individuals experience somatosensory sensations when seeing someone else being touched. Appealing as it is, careful delineation is required when applying this mechanism. Using the mirror-touch synesthesia case, we put forward theoretical and methodological issues that should be addressed before relying on the mirror-neurons account. © The Author(s) 2016.

  5. Deficits in facial emotion recognition indicate behavioral changes and impaired self-awareness after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spikman, Jacoba M; Milders, Maarten V; Visser-Keizer, Annemarie C; Westerhof-Evers, Herma J; Herben-Dekker, Meike; van der Naalt, Joukje

    2013-01-01

    Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of disability, specifically among younger adults. Behavioral changes are common after moderate to severe TBI and have adverse consequences for social and vocational functioning. It is hypothesized that deficits in social cognition, including facial affect recognition, might underlie these behavioral changes. Measurement of behavioral deficits is complicated, because the rating scales used rely on subjective judgement, often lack specificity and many patients provide unrealistically positive reports of their functioning due to impaired self-awareness. Accordingly, it is important to find performance based tests that allow objective and early identification of these problems. In the present study 51 moderate to severe TBI patients in the sub-acute and chronic stage were assessed with a test for emotion recognition (FEEST) and a questionnaire for behavioral problems (DEX) with a self and proxy rated version. Patients performed worse on the total score and on the negative emotion subscores of the FEEST than a matched group of 31 healthy controls. Patients also exhibited significantly more behavioral problems on both the DEX self and proxy rated version, but proxy ratings revealed more severe problems. No significant correlation was found between FEEST scores and DEX self ratings. However, impaired emotion recognition in the patients, and in particular of Sadness and Anger, was significantly correlated with behavioral problems as rated by proxies and with impaired self-awareness. This is the first study to find these associations, strengthening the proposed recognition of social signals as a condition for adequate social functioning. Hence, deficits in emotion recognition can be conceived as markers for behavioral problems and lack of insight in TBI patients. This finding is also of clinical importance since, unlike behavioral problems, emotion recognition can be objectively measured early after injury, allowing for early

  6. Deficits in facial emotion recognition indicate behavioral changes and impaired self-awareness after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacoba M Spikman

    Full Text Available Traumatic brain injury (TBI is a leading cause of disability, specifically among younger adults. Behavioral changes are common after moderate to severe TBI and have adverse consequences for social and vocational functioning. It is hypothesized that deficits in social cognition, including facial affect recognition, might underlie these behavioral changes. Measurement of behavioral deficits is complicated, because the rating scales used rely on subjective judgement, often lack specificity and many patients provide unrealistically positive reports of their functioning due to impaired self-awareness. Accordingly, it is important to find performance based tests that allow objective and early identification of these problems. In the present study 51 moderate to severe TBI patients in the sub-acute and chronic stage were assessed with a test for emotion recognition (FEEST and a questionnaire for behavioral problems (DEX with a self and proxy rated version. Patients performed worse on the total score and on the negative emotion subscores of the FEEST than a matched group of 31 healthy controls. Patients also exhibited significantly more behavioral problems on both the DEX self and proxy rated version, but proxy ratings revealed more severe problems. No significant correlation was found between FEEST scores and DEX self ratings. However, impaired emotion recognition in the patients, and in particular of Sadness and Anger, was significantly correlated with behavioral problems as rated by proxies and with impaired self-awareness. This is the first study to find these associations, strengthening the proposed recognition of social signals as a condition for adequate social functioning. Hence, deficits in emotion recognition can be conceived as markers for behavioral problems and lack of insight in TBI patients. This finding is also of clinical importance since, unlike behavioral problems, emotion recognition can be objectively measured early after injury

  7. Pipeline Structural Damage Detection Using Self-Sensing Technology and PNN-Based Pattern Recognition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Chang Gil; Park, Woong Ki; Park, Seung Hee

    2011-01-01

    In a structure, damage can occur at several scales from micro-cracking to corrosion or loose bolts. This makes the identification of damage difficult with one mode of sensing. Hence, a multi-mode actuated sensing system is proposed based on a self-sensing circuit using a piezoelectric sensor. In the self sensing-based multi-mode actuated sensing, one mode provides a wide frequency-band structural response from the self-sensed impedance measurement and the other mode provides a specific frequency-induced structural wavelet response from the self-sensed guided wave measurement. In this study, an experimental study on the pipeline system is carried out to verify the effectiveness and the robustness of the proposed structural health monitoring approach. Different types of structural damage are artificially inflicted on the pipeline system. To classify the multiple types of structural damage, a supervised learning-based statistical pattern recognition is implemented by composing a two-dimensional space using the damage indices extracted from the impedance and guided wave features. For more systematic damage classification, several control parameters to determine an optimal decision boundary for the supervised learning-based pattern recognition are optimized. Finally, further research issues will be discussed for real-world implementation of the proposed approach

  8. High-accuracy self-mixing interferometer based on multiple reflections using a simple external reflecting mirror

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiu-lin; Wei, Zheng; Wang, Rui; Huang, Wen-cai

    2018-05-01

    A self-mixing interferometer (SMI) with resolution twenty times higher than that of a conventional interferometer is developed by multiple reflections. Only by employing a simple external reflecting mirror, the multiple-pass optical configuration can be constructed. The advantage of the configuration is simple and easy to make the light re-injected back into the laser cavity. Theoretical analysis shows that the resolution of measurement is scalable by adjusting the number of reflections. The experiment shows that the proposed method has the optical resolution of approximate λ/40. The influence of displacement sensitivity gain ( G) is further analyzed and discussed in practical experiments.

  9. Mirror neurons, birdsong and human language: a hypothesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florence eLevy

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available AbstractThe Mirror System Hypothesis (MSH and investigations of birdsong are reviewed in relation to the significance for the development of human symbolic and language capacity, in terms of three fundamental forms of cognitive reference: iconic, indexical, and symbolic. Mirror systems are initially iconic but can progress to indexal reference when produced without the need for concurrent stimuli. Developmental stages in birdsong are also explored with reference to juvenile subsong vs complex stereotyped adult syllables, as an analogy with human language development. While birdsong remains at an indexal reference stage, human language benefits from the capacity for symbolic reference. During a pre-linguistic ‘babbling’ stage, recognition of native phonemic categories is established, allowing further development of a subsequent prefrontal and linguistic circuits for sequential language capacity.

  10. Poor self-recognition of disordered eating among girls with bulimic-type eating disorders: cause for concern?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gratwick-Sarll, Kassandra; Bentley, Caroline; Harrison, Carmel; Mond, Jonathan

    2016-08-01

    Bulimic-type eating disorders are common among young women and associated with high levels of distress and disability and low uptake of mental health care. We examined self-recognition of disordered eating and factors associated with this among female adolescents with bulimic-type eating disorders (n = 139) recruited from a large, population-based sample. A vignette of a fictional character with bulimia nervosa was presented, followed by a series of questions addressing the nature and treatment of the problem described. One of these questions required participants to indicate whether they currently had a problem such as the one described. Self-report measures of eating disorder symptoms, general psychological distress and quality of life were also completed. More than half of participants (58%) did not believe that they currently had a problem with their eating. In multivariable analysis, impairment in emotional well-being and self-induced vomiting were the only variables independently associated with self-recognition. Participants who recognized a problem with their eating were more likely to have sought treatment for an eating problem than those who did not. Recognition of disordered eating among adolescents with bulimic-type eating disorders may be poor and this may be a factor in low uptake of mental health care. Health promotion efforts may need to address the misconception that only bulimic-type disorders involving self-induced vomiting are pathological. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

  11. Encoding conditions affect recognition of vocally expressed emotions across cultures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebecca eJürgens

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Although the expression of emotions in humans is considered to be largely universal, cultural effects contribute to both emotion expression and recognition. To disentangle the interplay between these factors, play-acted and authentic (non-instructed vocal expressions of emotions were used, on the assumption that cultural effects may contribute differentially to the recognition of staged and spontaneous emotions. Speech tokens depicting four emotions (anger, sadness, joy, fear were obtained from German radio archives and reenacted by professional actors, and presented to 120 participants from Germany, Romania, and Indonesia. Participants in all three countries were poor at distinguishing between play-acted and spontaneous emotional utterances (58.73% correct on average with only marginal cultural differences. Nevertheless, authenticity influenced emotion recognition: across cultures, anger was recognized more accurately when play-acted (z = 15.06, p < .001 and sadness when authentic (z = 6.63, p < .001, replicating previous findings from German populations. German subjects revealed a slight advantage in recognizing emotions, indicating a moderate in-group advantage. There was no difference between Romanian and Indonesian subjects in the overall emotion recognition. Differential cultural effects became particularly apparent in terms of differential biases in emotion attribution. While all participants labeled play-acted expressions as anger more frequently than expected, German participants exhibited a further bias towards choosing anger for spontaneous stimuli. In contrast to the German sample, Romanian and Indonesian participants were biased towards choosing sadness. These results support the view that emotion recognition rests on a complex interaction of human universals and cultural specificities. Whether and in which way the observed biases are linked to cultural differences in self-construal remains an issue for further investigation.

  12. Sensorimotor cortex as a critical component of an 'extended' mirror neuron system: Does it solve the development, correspondence, and control problems in mirroring?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pineda Jaime A

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract A core assumption of how humans understand and infer the intentions and beliefs of others is the existence of a functional self-other distinction. At least two neural systems have been proposed to manage such a critical distinction. One system, part of the classic motor system, is specialized for the preparation and execution of motor actions that are self realized and voluntary, while the other appears primarily involved in capturing and understanding the actions of non-self or others. The latter system, of which the mirror neuron system is part, is the canonical action 'resonance' system in the brain that has evolved to share many of the same circuits involved in motor control. Mirroring or 'shared circuit systems' are assumed to be involved in resonating, imitating, and/or simulating the actions of others. A number of researchers have proposed that shared representations of motor actions may form a foundational cornerstone for higher order social processes, such as motor learning, action understanding, imitation, perspective taking, understanding facial emotions, and empathy. However, mirroring systems that evolve from the classic motor system present at least three problems: a development, a correspondence, and a control problem. Developmentally, the question is how does a mirroring system arise? How do humans acquire the ability to simulate through mapping observed onto executed actions? Are mirror neurons innate and therefore genetically programmed? To what extent is learning necessary? In terms of the correspondence problem, the question is how does the observer agent know what the observed agent's resonance activation pattern is? How does the matching of motor activation patterns occur? Finally, in terms of the control problem, the issue is how to efficiently control a mirroring system when it is turned on automatically through observation? Or, as others have stated the problem more succinctly: "Why don't we imitate all the time

  13. Sensorimotor cortex as a critical component of an 'extended' mirror neuron system: Does it solve the development, correspondence, and control problems in mirroring?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pineda, Jaime A

    2008-01-01

    A core assumption of how humans understand and infer the intentions and beliefs of others is the existence of a functional self-other distinction. At least two neural systems have been proposed to manage such a critical distinction. One system, part of the classic motor system, is specialized for the preparation and execution of motor actions that are self realized and voluntary, while the other appears primarily involved in capturing and understanding the actions of non-self or others. The latter system, of which the mirror neuron system is part, is the canonical action 'resonance' system in the brain that has evolved to share many of the same circuits involved in motor control. Mirroring or 'shared circuit systems' are assumed to be involved in resonating, imitating, and/or simulating the actions of others. A number of researchers have proposed that shared representations of motor actions may form a foundational cornerstone for higher order social processes, such as motor learning, action understanding, imitation, perspective taking, understanding facial emotions, and empathy. However, mirroring systems that evolve from the classic motor system present at least three problems: a development, a correspondence, and a control problem. Developmentally, the question is how does a mirroring system arise? How do humans acquire the ability to simulate through mapping observed onto executed actions? Are mirror neurons innate and therefore genetically programmed? To what extent is learning necessary? In terms of the correspondence problem, the question is how does the observer agent know what the observed agent's resonance activation pattern is? How does the matching of motor activation patterns occur? Finally, in terms of the control problem, the issue is how to efficiently control a mirroring system when it is turned on automatically through observation? Or, as others have stated the problem more succinctly: "Why don't we imitate all the time?" In this review, we argue

  14. Language comprehension warps the mirror neuron system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noah eZarr

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Is the mirror neuron system (MNS used in language understanding? According to embodied accounts of language comprehension, understanding sentences describing actions makes use of neural mechanisms of action control, including the MNS. Consequently, repeatedly comprehending sentences describing similar actions should induce adaptation of the MNS thereby warping its use in other cognitive processes such as action recognition and prediction. To test this prediction, participants read blocks of multiple sentences where each sentence in the block described transfer of objects in a direction away or toward the reader. Following each block, adaptation was measured by having participants predict the end-point of videotaped actions. The adapting sentences disrupted prediction of actions in the same direction, but a only for videos of biological motion, and b only when the effector implied by the language (e.g., the hand matched the videos. These findings are signatures of the mirror neuron system.

  15. The human mirror neuron system and embodied representations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aziz-Zadeh, Lisa; Ivry, Richard B

    2009-01-01

    Mirror neurons are defined as neurons in the monkey cortex which respond to goal oriented actions, whether the behavior is self-generated or produced by another. Here we briefly review this literature and consider evidence from behavioral, neuropsychological, and brain imaging studies for a similar mirror neuron system in humans. Furthermore, we review functions of this system related to action comprehension and motor imagery, as well as evidence for speculations on the system's ties with conceptual knowledge and language.

  16. New reflections on agency and body ownership: The moving rubber hand illusion in the mirror.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenkinson, Paul M; Preston, Catherine

    2015-05-01

    No previous study has simultaneously examined body ownership and agency in healthy subjects during mirror self-observation. We used a moving rubber hand illusion to examine how both body ownership and agency are affected by seeing (i) the body moving in a mirror, compared with (ii) directly viewing the moving hand, and (iii) seeing a visually identical hand rotated by 180°. We elicited ownership of the hand using direct visual feedback, finding this effect was further enhanced when looking at the hand in a mirror, whereas rotating the hand 180° abolished ownership. Agency was similarly elicited using direct visual feedback, and equally so in the mirror, but again reduced for the 180° hand. We conclude that the reflected body in a mirror is treated as 'special' in the mind, and distinct from other external objects. This enables bodies and actions viewed in a mirror to be directly related to the self. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Beyond self-selection in video game play: an experimental examination of the consequences of massively multiplayer online role-playing game play.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smyth, Joshua M

    2007-10-01

    There is burgeoning interest in the study of video games. Existing work is limited by the use of correlational designs and is thus unable to make causal inferences or remove self-selection biases from observed results. The recent development of online, socially integrated video games (massively multiplayer online role-playing games [MMORPGs]) has created a new experience for gamers. This randomized, longitudinal study examined the effects of being assigned to play different video game types on game usage, health, well-being, sleep, socializing, and academics. One hundred 18- to 20-year-old participants (73% male; 68% Caucasian) were randomly assigned to play arcade, console, solo computer, or MMORPG games for 1 month. The MMORPG group differed significantly from other groups after 1 month, reporting more hours spent playing, worse health, worse sleep quality, and greater interference in "real-life" socializing and academic work. In contrast, this group also reported greater enjoyment in playing, greater interest in continuing to play, and greater acquisition of new friendships. MMORPGs represent a different gaming experience with different consequences than other types of video games and appear to pose both unique risks and benefits from their use.

  18. Play model for "evaluation of self-concept of children with cancer"

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gulay Manav

    2016-01-01

    Conclusions: The self-concept of the school-age child needs to be supported. It has been submitted that the themes can be supportive for the prospective nursing models concerning child′s self-exposure. It has been suggested that the themes produced by "Nursing Intervention: Play Model" can be used while planning, implementation, and assessment of the nursing care.

  19. Diurnal modulation due to self-interacting mirror and hidden sector dark matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Foot, R.

    2012-01-01

    Mirror and more generic hidden sector dark matter models can simultaneously explain the DAMA, CoGeNT and CRESST-II dark matter signals consistently with the null results of the other experiments. This type of dark matter can be captured by the Earth and shield detectors because it is self-interacting. This effect will lead to a diurnal modulation in dark matter detectors. We estimate the size of this effect for dark matter detectors in various locations. For a detector located in the northern hemisphere, this effect is expected to peak in April and can be detected for optimistic parameter choices. The diurnal variation is expected to be much larger for detectors located in the southern hemisphere. In particular, if the CoGeNT detector were moved to e.g. Sierra Grande, Argentina then a 5σ dark matter discovery would be possible in around 30 days of operation

  20. Design and recognition of artificial landmarks for reliable indoor self-localization of mobile robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xu Zhong

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available This article presents a self-localization scheme for indoor mobile robot navigation based on reliable design and recognition of artificial visual landmarks. Each landmark is patterned with a set of concentric circular rings in black and white, which reliably encodes the landmark’s identity under environmental illumination. A mobile robot in navigation uses an onboard camera to capture landmarks in the environment. The landmarks in an image are detected and identified using a bilayer recognition algorithm: A global recognition process initially extracts candidate landmark regions across the whole image and tries to identify enough landmarks; if necessary, a local recognition process locally enhances those unidentified regions of interest influenced by illumination and incompleteness and reidentifies them. The recognized landmarks are used to estimate the position and orientation of the onboard camera in the environment, based on the geometric relationship between the image and environmental frames. The experiments carried out in a real indoor environment show high robustness of the proposed landmark design and recognition scheme to the illumination condition, which leads to reliable and accurate mobile robot localization.

  1. Likelihood ratio sequential sampling models of recognition memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osth, Adam F; Dennis, Simon; Heathcote, Andrew

    2017-02-01

    The mirror effect - a phenomenon whereby a manipulation produces opposite effects on hit and false alarm rates - is benchmark regularity of recognition memory. A likelihood ratio decision process, basing recognition on the relative likelihood that a stimulus is a target or a lure, naturally predicts the mirror effect, and so has been widely adopted in quantitative models of recognition memory. Glanzer, Hilford, and Maloney (2009) demonstrated that likelihood ratio models, assuming Gaussian memory strength, are also capable of explaining regularities observed in receiver-operating characteristics (ROCs), such as greater target than lure variance. Despite its central place in theorising about recognition memory, however, this class of models has not been tested using response time (RT) distributions. In this article, we develop a linear approximation to the likelihood ratio transformation, which we show predicts the same regularities as the exact transformation. This development enabled us to develop a tractable model of recognition-memory RT based on the diffusion decision model (DDM), with inputs (drift rates) provided by an approximate likelihood ratio transformation. We compared this "LR-DDM" to a standard DDM where all targets and lures receive their own drift rate parameters. Both were implemented as hierarchical Bayesian models and applied to four datasets. Model selection taking into account parsimony favored the LR-DDM, which requires fewer parameters than the standard DDM but still fits the data well. These results support log-likelihood based models as providing an elegant explanation of the regularities of recognition memory, not only in terms of choices made but also in terms of the times it takes to make them. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Sitting is the new smoking : online complex human activity recognition with smartphones and wearables

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Shoaib, Muhammad

    2017-01-01

    Human activity recognition plays an important role in fitness tracking, health monitoring, context-aware feedback and self-management of smartphones and wearable devices. These devices are equipped with different sensors which can be used to recognize various human activities. A significant amount of

  3. Tunable Complex Stability in Surface Molecular Recognition Mediated by Self-Complementary Quadruple Hydrogen Bonds

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zou, S(han); Zhang, Zhihong; Forch, Renate; Knoll, Wolfgang; Schönherr, Holger; Vancso, Gyula J.

    2003-01-01

    We show that surfaces modified with asymmetric 2-ureido-4[1H]-pyrimidinone-hydroxyalkane disulfide adsorbates exhibit efficient and controllable self-complementary molecular recognition of the pyrimidinone moieties. Two novel asymmetric 2-ureido-4[1H]-pyrimidinone-hydroxyalkane disulfide adsorbates,

  4. Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation of right temporoparietal area inhibits self-recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Payne, Sophie; Tsakiris, Manos

    2017-02-01

    Self-other discrimination is a crucial mechanism for social cognition. Neuroimaging and neurostimulation research has pointed to the involvement of the right temporoparietal region in a variety of self-other discrimination tasks. Although repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over the right temporoparietal area has been shown to disrupt self-other discrimination in face-recognition tasks, no research has investigated the effect of increasing the cortical excitability in this region on self-other face discrimination. Here we used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to investigate changes in self-other discrimination with a video-morphing task in which the participant's face morphed into, or out of, a familiar other's face. The task was performed before and after 20 min of tDCS targeting the right temporoparietal area (anodal, cathodal, or sham stimulation). Differences in task performance following stimulation were taken to indicate a change in self-other discrimination. Following anodal stimulation only, we observed a significant increase in the amount of self-face needed to distinguish between self and other. The findings are discussed in relation to the control of self and other representations and to domain-general theories of social cognition.

  5. Impaired Emotional Mirroring in Parkinson’s Disease—A Study on Brain Activation during Processing of Facial Expressions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Pohl

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundAffective dysfunctions are common in patients with Parkinson’s disease, but the underlying neurobiological deviations have rarely been examined. Parkinson’s disease is characterized by a loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra resulting in impairment of motor and non-motor basal ganglia-cortical loops. Concerning emotional deficits, some studies provide evidence for altered brain processing in limbic- and lateral-orbitofrontal gating loops. In a second line of evidence, human premotor and inferior parietal homologs of mirror neuron areas were involved in processing and understanding of emotional facial expressions. We examined deviations in brain activation during processing of facial expressions in patients and related these to emotion recognition accuracy.Methods13 patients and 13 healthy controls underwent an emotion recognition task and a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI measurement. In the Emotion Hexagon test, participants were presented with blends of two emotions and had to indicate which emotion best described the presented picture. Blended pictures with three levels of difficulty were included. During fMRI scanning, participants observed video clips depicting emotional, non-emotional, and neutral facial expressions or were asked to produce these facial expressions themselves.ResultsPatients performed slightly worse in the emotion recognition task, but only when judging the most ambiguous facial expressions. Both groups activated inferior frontal and anterior inferior parietal homologs of mirror neuron areas during observation and execution of the emotional facial expressions. During observation, responses in the pars opercularis of the right inferior frontal gyrus, in the bilateral inferior parietal lobule and in the bilateral supplementary motor cortex were decreased in patients. Furthermore, in patients, activation of the right anterior inferior parietal lobule was positively related to accuracy in

  6. The effect of two kinds of role playing on self-evaluation of improved assertiveness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kipper, D A

    1992-03-01

    The study investigated the "differential effect of role-playing enactments" hypothesis through self-evaluations of improvement in assertiveness by participants in an assertive training program. Twenty-two nonassertive Israeli students were trained in two groups: mimetic-replications (action modeling, n = 12) and spontaneous (self-produced action, n = 10) role-playing interventions. Comparisons of their scores on the Self-Expression College Scale (CSES) before and after the training showed that both groups significantly improved their self-evaluations, but the mimetic-replication group did better. In particular, this group scored significantly higher on the CSES first factor (the willingness to take risks in situations that involved other, significant persons).

  7. Mirror fusion reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carlson, G.A.; Moir, R.W.

    1978-01-01

    We have carried out conceptual design studies of fusion reactors based on the three current mirror confinement concepts: the standard mirror, the tandem mirror, and the field-reversed mirror. Recent studies of the standard mirror have emphasized its potential as a fusion-fission hybrid reactor, designed to produce fission fuel for fission reactors. We have designed a large commercial hybrid based on standard mirror confinement, and also a small pilot plant hybrid. Tandem mirror designs include a commercial 1000 MWe fusion power plant and a nearer term tandem mirror hybrid. Field-reversed mirror designs include a multicell commercial reactor producing 75 MWe and a single cell pilot plant

  8. Mirror fusion reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1978-01-01

    Conceptual design studies were made of fusion reactors based on the three current mirror-confinement concepts: the standard mirror, the tandem mirror, and the field-reversed mirror. Recent studies of the standard mirror have emphasized its potential as a fusion-fission hybrid reactor, designed to produce fuel for fission reactors. We have designed a large commercial hybrid and a small pilot-plant hybrid based on standard mirror confinement. Tandem mirror designs include a commercial 1000-MWe fusion power plant and a nearer term tandem mirror hybrid. Field-reversed mirror designs include a multicell commercial reactor producing 75 MWe and a single-cell pilot plant

  9. Chiral mirrors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Plum, Eric; Zheludev, Nikolay I.

    2015-01-01

    Mirrors are used in telescopes, microscopes, photo cameras, lasers, satellite dishes, and everywhere else, where redirection of electromagnetic radiation is required making them arguably the most important optical component. While conventional isotropic mirrors will reflect linear polarizations without change, the handedness of circularly polarized waves is reversed upon reflection. Here, we demonstrate a type of mirror reflecting one circular polarization without changing its handedness, while absorbing the other. The polarization-preserving mirror consists of a planar metasurface with a subwavelength pattern that cannot be superimposed with its mirror image without being lifted out of its plane, and a conventional mirror spaced by a fraction of the wavelength from the metasurface. Such mirrors enable circularly polarized lasers and Fabry-Pérot cavities with enhanced tunability, gyroscopic applications, polarization-sensitive detectors of electromagnetic waves, and can be used to enhance spectroscopies of chiral media

  10. WD-repeat instability and diversification of the Podospora anserina hnwd non-self recognition gene family.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chevanne, Damien; Saupe, Sven J; Clavé, Corinne; Paoletti, Mathieu

    2010-05-06

    Genes involved in non-self recognition and host defence are typically capable of rapid diversification and exploit specialized genetic mechanism to that end. Fungi display a non-self recognition phenomenon termed heterokaryon incompatibility that operates when cells of unlike genotype fuse and leads to the cell death of the fusion cell. In the fungus Podospora anserina, three genes controlling this allorecognition process het-d, het-e and het-r are paralogs belonging to the same hnwd gene family. HNWD proteins are STAND proteins (signal transduction NTPase with multiple domains) that display a WD-repeat domain controlling recognition specificity. Based on genomic sequence analysis of different P. anserina isolates, it was established that repeat regions of all members of the gene family are extremely polymorphic and undergoing concerted evolution arguing for frequent recombination within and between family members. Herein, we directly analyzed the genetic instability and diversification of this allorecognition gene family. We have constituted a collection of 143 spontaneous mutants of the het-R (HNWD2) and het-E (hnwd5) genes with altered recognition specificities. The vast majority of the mutants present rearrangements in the repeat arrays with deletions, duplications and other modifications as well as creation of novel repeat unit variants. We investigate the extreme genetic instability of these genes and provide a direct illustration of the diversification strategy of this eukaryotic allorecognition gene family.

  11. Design of supramolecular nanomaterials : from molecular recognition to hierarchical self-assembly

    OpenAIRE

    El Idrissi, Mohamed

    2017-01-01

    In the present thesis, are reported new strategies for the design of nanostructures to partly address environmental issues. The work carried out has been divided into three parts: the design of cyclodextrin (CD)-based polymeric materials, the molecular engineering of a pyrene derivative for the formation of self-assembled nanostructures and the design of smart nanocarriers. Considerable efforts have been devoted to the design of molecular receptors capable of specific recognition of a wid...

  12. Mirror profile optimization for nano-focusing KB mirror

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Lin; Baker, Robert; Barrett, Ray; Cloetens, Peter; Dabin, Yves

    2010-01-01

    A KB focusing mirror width profile has been optimized to achieve nano-focusing for the nano-imaging end-station ID22NI at the ESRF. The complete mirror and flexure bender assembly has been modeled in 3D with finite element analysis using ANSYS. Bender stiffness, anticlastic effects and geometrical non-linear effects have been considered. Various points have been studied: anisotropy and crystal orientation, stress in the mirror and bender, actuator resolution and the mirror-bender adhesive bonding... Extremely high performance of the mirror is expected with residual slope error smaller than 0.6 μrad, peak-to-valley, compared to the bent slope of 3000 μrad.

  13. Timecourse of mirror and counter-mirror effects measured with transcranial magnetic stimulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cavallo, Andrea; Heyes, Cecilia; Becchio, Cristina; Bird, Geoffrey; Catmur, Caroline

    2014-08-01

    The human mirror system has been the subject of much research over the past two decades, but little is known about the timecourse of mirror responses. In addition, it is unclear whether mirror and counter-mirror effects follow the same timecourse. We used single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation to investigate the timecourse of mirror and counter-mirror responses in the human brain. Experiment 1 demonstrated that mirror responses can be measured from around 200 ms after observed action onset. Experiment 2 demonstrated significant effects of counter-mirror sensorimotor training at all timepoints at which a mirror response was found in Experiment 1 (i.e. from 200 ms onward), indicating that mirror and counter-mirror responses follow the same timecourse. By suggesting similarly direct routes for mirror and counter-mirror responses, these results support the associative account of mirror neuron origins whereby mirror responses arise as a result of correlated sensorimotor experience during development. More generally, they contribute to theorizing regarding mirror neuron function by providing some constraints on how quickly mirror responses can influence social cognition. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  14. Mobile Application Development for Quran Verse Recognition and Interpretations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maha Alqahtani

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Mobile learning or “m-learning” is the process of learning when learners are not at a fixed location or time and can exploit the advantage of learning opportunities using mobile technologies. Nowadays, speech recognition is being used in many mobile applications. Speech recognition helps people to interact with the device as if were they talking to another person. This technology helps people to learn anything using computers by promoting self-study over extended periods of time. The objective of this study is focusing on designing and developing a mobile application for the Arabic recognition of spoken Quranic verses. The application is suitable for Android-based devices. The application is called Say Quran and is available on Google Play Store. Moreover, this paper presents the results of a preliminary experimentation to gather feedback from students regarding the developed application

  15. The Mirror and Ballet Training: Do You Know How Much the Mirror's Presence Is Really Affecting You?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diehl, Kathy

    2016-01-01

    It is clear that the relationship that dancers have with the mirror, the reflected image, and the accompanying perceptions (and often, distortions) is complicated. One area that is quite complex involves the development of a student's ability to sense movement, which directly connects to other issues involving body image, self-perception,…

  16. Adults' strategies for simple addition and multiplication: verbal self-reports and the operand recognition paradigm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metcalfe, Arron W S; Campbell, Jamie I D

    2011-05-01

    Accurate measurement of cognitive strategies is important in diverse areas of psychological research. Strategy self-reports are a common measure, but C. Thevenot, M. Fanget, and M. Fayol (2007) proposed a more objective method to distinguish different strategies in the context of mental arithmetic. In their operand recognition paradigm, speed of recognition memory for problem operands after solving a problem indexes strategy (e.g., direct memory retrieval vs. a procedural strategy). Here, in 2 experiments, operand recognition time was the same following simple addition or multiplication, but, consistent with a wide variety of previous research, strategy reports indicated much greater use of procedures (e.g., counting) for addition than multiplication. Operation, problem size (e.g., 2 + 3 vs. 8 + 9), and operand format (digits vs. words) had interactive effects on reported procedure use that were not reflected in recognition performance. Regression analyses suggested that recognition time was influenced at least as much by the relative difficulty of the preceding problem as by the strategy used. The findings indicate that the operand recognition paradigm is not a reliable substitute for strategy reports and highlight the potential impact of difficulty-related carryover effects in sequential cognitive tasks.

  17. Automated alignment system for optical wireless communication systems using image recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandl, Paul; Weiss, Alexander; Zimmermann, Horst

    2014-07-01

    In this Letter, we describe the realization of a tracked line-of-sight optical wireless communication system for indoor data distribution. We built a laser-based transmitter with adaptive focus and ray steering by a microelectromechanical systems mirror. To execute the alignment procedure, we used a CMOS image sensor at the transmitter side and developed an algorithm for image recognition to localize the receiver's position. The receiver is based on a self-developed optoelectronic integrated chip with low requirements on the receiver optics to make the system economically attractive. With this system, we were able to set up the communication link automatically without any back channel and to perform error-free (bit error rate <10⁻⁹) data transmission over a distance of 3.5 m with a data rate of 3 Gbit/s.

  18. Face and body recognition show similar improvement during childhood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bank, Samantha; Rhodes, Gillian; Read, Ainsley; Jeffery, Linda

    2015-09-01

    Adults are proficient in extracting identity cues from faces. This proficiency develops slowly during childhood, with performance not reaching adult levels until adolescence. Bodies are similar to faces in that they convey identity cues and rely on specialized perceptual mechanisms. However, it is currently unclear whether body recognition mirrors the slow development of face recognition during childhood. Recent evidence suggests that body recognition develops faster than face recognition. Here we measured body and face recognition in 6- and 10-year-old children and adults to determine whether these two skills show different amounts of improvement during childhood. We found no evidence that they do. Face and body recognition showed similar improvement with age, and children, like adults, were better at recognizing faces than bodies. These results suggest that the mechanisms of face and body memory mature at a similar rate or that improvement of more general cognitive and perceptual skills underlies improvement of both face and body recognition. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Misconceptions about mirror-induced motor cortex activation.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Praamstra, P.; Torney, L.; Rawle, C.J.; Miall, R.C.

    2011-01-01

    Observation of self-produced hand movements through a mirror, creating an illusion of the opposite hand moving, was recently reported to induce ipsilateral motor cortex activation, that is, motor cortex activation for the hand in rest. The reported work goes far beyond earlier work on motor cortex

  20. Neurotrophins play differential roles in short and long-term recognition memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Callaghan, Charlotte K; Kelly, Aine M

    2013-09-01

    The neurotrophin family of proteins are believed to mediate various forms of synaptic plasticity in the adult brain. Here we have assessed the roles of these proteins in object recognition memory in the rat, using icv infusions of function-blocking antibodies or the tyrosine kinase antagonist, tyrphostin AG879, to block Trk receptors. We report that tyrphostin AG879 impairs both short-term and long-term recognition memory, indicating a requirement for Trk receptor activation in both processes. The effect of inhibition of each of the neurotrophins with activity-blocking neutralising antibodies was also tested. Treatment with anti-BDNF, anti-NGF or anti-NT4 had no effect on short-term memory, but blocked long-term recognition memory. Treatment with anti-NT3 had no effect on either process. We also assessed changes in expression of neurotrophins and their respective receptors in the hippocampus, dentate gyrus and perirhinal cortex over a 24 h period following training in the object recognition task. We observed time-dependent changes in expression of the Trk receptors and their ligands in the dentate gyrus and perirhinal cortex. The data are consistent with a pivotal role for neurotrophic factors in the expression of recognition memory. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Mirror neurons and the action theory of language origins

    OpenAIRE

    Steels, Luc

    2000-01-01

    The research reported here attempts to understand how language may have originated from sensori-motor competences. Recently the observation of mirror neurons has lead to the suggestion that there is not only a rich representation of motor action but also that this representation is used for multiple purposes: action execution, action planning, action imaging, and action recognition. Of particular importance is the observation that one agent can recognise an action plan of another one and t...

  2. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex plays a role in self-initiated elaborative cognitive processing during episodic memory encoding: rTMS evidence.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Colin Hawco

    Full Text Available During episodic memory encoding, elaborative cognitive processing can improve later recall or recognition. While multiple studies examined the neural correlates of encoding strategies, few studies have explicitly focused on the self-initiation of elaborative encoding. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS, a method which can transiently disrupt neural activity, was administered during an associative encoding task. rTMS was either applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC or to the vertex (a control region not involved in memory encoding during presentation of pairs of words. Pairs could be semantically related or not related. Two encoding instructions were given, either cueing participants to analyze semantic relationships (cued condition, or to memorize the pair without any specific strategy cues (the self-initiated condition. Participants filled out a questionnaire regarding their use of memory strategies and performed a cued-recall task. We hypothesized that if the DLPFC plays a role in the self-initiation of elaborative encoding we would observe a reduction in memory performance in the self-initiated condition, particularly for related. We found a significant correlation between the effects of rTMS and strategy use, only in the self-initiated condition with related pairs. High strategy users showed reduced performance following DLPFC stimulation, while low strategy users tended to show increased recall following DLPFC stimulation during encoding. These results suggest the left DLPFC may be involved in the self-initiation of memory strategy use, and individuals may utilize different neural networks depending on their use of encoding strategies.

  3. A human mirror neuron system for language: Perspectives from signed languages of the deaf.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knapp, Heather Patterson; Corina, David P

    2010-01-01

    Language is proposed to have developed atop the human analog of the macaque mirror neuron system for action perception and production [Arbib M.A. 2005. From monkey-like action recognition to human language: An evolutionary framework for neurolinguistics (with commentaries and author's response). Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28, 105-167; Arbib M.A. (2008). From grasp to language: Embodied concepts and the challenge of abstraction. Journal de Physiologie Paris 102, 4-20]. Signed languages of the deaf are fully-expressive, natural human languages that are perceived visually and produced manually. We suggest that if a unitary mirror neuron system mediates the observation and production of both language and non-linguistic action, three prediction can be made: (1) damage to the human mirror neuron system should non-selectively disrupt both sign language and non-linguistic action processing; (2) within the domain of sign language, a given mirror neuron locus should mediate both perception and production; and (3) the action-based tuning curves of individual mirror neurons should support the highly circumscribed set of motions that form the "vocabulary of action" for signed languages. In this review we evaluate data from the sign language and mirror neuron literatures and find that these predictions are only partially upheld. 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Delayed Video Self-Recognition in Children with High Vo Functioning Autism and Asperger's Disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dissanayake, Cheryl; Shembrey, Joh; Suddendorf, Thomas

    2010-01-01

    Two studies are reported which investigate delayed video self-recognition (DSR) in children with autistic disorder and Asperger's disorder relative to one another and to their typically developing peers. A secondary aim was to establish whether DSR ability is dependent on metarepresentational ability. Children's verbal and affective responses to…

  5. AN EFFICIENT SELF-UPDATING FACE RECOGNITION SYSTEM FOR PLASTIC SURGERY FACE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Devi

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Facial recognition system is fundamental a computer application for the automatic identification of a person through a digitized image or a video source. The major cause for the overall poor performance is related to the transformations in appearance of the user based on the aspects akin to ageing, beard growth, sun-tan etc. In order to overcome the above drawback, Self-update process has been developed in which, the system learns the biometric attributes of the user every time the user interacts with the system and the information gets updated automatically. The procedures of Plastic surgery yield a skilled and endurable means of enhancing the facial appearance by means of correcting the anomalies in the feature and then treating the facial skin with the aim of getting a youthful look. When plastic surgery is performed on an individual, the features of the face undergo reconstruction either locally or globally. But, the changes which are introduced new by plastic surgery remain hard to get modeled by the available face recognition systems and they deteriorate the performances of the face recognition algorithm. Hence the Facial plastic surgery produces changes in the facial features to larger extent and thereby creates a significant challenge to the face recognition system. This work introduces a fresh Multimodal Biometric approach making use of novel approaches to boost the rate of recognition and security. The proposed method consists of various processes like Face segmentation using Active Appearance Model (AAM, Face Normalization using Kernel Density Estimate/ Point Distribution Model (KDE-PDM, Feature extraction using Local Gabor XOR Patterns (LGXP and Classification using Independent Component Analysis (ICA. Efficient techniques have been used in each phase of the FRAS in order to obtain improved results.

  6. Self-imagining enhances recognition memory in memory-impaired individuals with neurological damage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grilli, Matthew D; Glisky, Elizabeth L

    2010-11-01

    The ability to imagine an elaborative event from a personal perspective relies on several cognitive processes that may potentially enhance subsequent memory for the event, including visual imagery, semantic elaboration, emotional processing, and self-referential processing. In an effort to find a novel strategy for enhancing memory in memory-impaired individuals with neurological damage, we investigated the mnemonic benefit of a method we refer to as self-imagining-the imagining of an event from a realistic, personal perspective. Fourteen individuals with neurologically based memory deficits and 14 healthy control participants intentionally encoded neutral and emotional sentences under three instructions: structural-baseline processing, semantic processing, and self-imagining. Findings revealed a robust "self-imagination effect (SIE)," as self-imagination enhanced recognition memory relative to deep semantic elaboration in both memory-impaired individuals, F(1, 13) = 32.11, p memory disorder nor were they related to self-reported vividness of visual imagery, semantic processing, or emotional content of the materials. The findings suggest that the SIE may depend on unique mnemonic mechanisms possibly related to self-referential processing and that imagining an event from a personal perspective makes that event particularly memorable even for those individuals with severe memory deficits. Self-imagining may thus provide an effective rehabilitation strategy for individuals with memory impairment.

  7. Large aperture telescope technology: a design for an active lightweight multi-segmented fold-out space mirror

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, S. J.; Doel, A. P.; Whalley, M.; Edeson, R.; Edeson, R.; Tosh, I.; Poyntz-Wright, O.; Atad-Ettedgui, E.; Montgomery, D.; Nawasra, J.

    2017-11-01

    Large aperture telescope technology (LATT) is a design study for a differential lidar (DIAL) system; the main investigation being into suitable methods, technologies and materials for a 4-metre diameter active mirror that can be stowed to fit into a typical launch vehicle (e.g. ROKOT launcher with 2.1-metre diameter cargo) and can self-deploy - in terms of both leaving the space vehicle and that the mirrors unfold and self-align to the correct optical form within the tolerances specified. The primary mirror requirements are: main wavelength of 935.5 nm, RMS corrected wavefront error of λ/6, optical surface roughness better than 5 nm, areal density of less than 16 kg/m2 and 1-2 mirror shape corrections per orbit. The primary mirror consists of 7 segments - a central hexagonal mirror and 6 square mirror petals which unfold to form the 4-meter diameter aperture. The focus of the UK LATT consortium for this European Space Agency (ESA) funded project is on using lightweighted aluminium or carbon-fibre-composite materials for the mirror substrate in preference to more traditional materials such as glass and ceramics; these materials have a high strength and stiffness to weight ratio, significantly reducing risk of damage due to launch forces and subsequent deployment in orbit. We present an overview of the design, which includes suitable actuators for wavefront correction, petal deployment mechanisms and lightweight mirror technologies. Preliminary testing results from manufactured lightweight mirror samples will also be summarised.

  8. Manduca sexta recognition and resistance among allopolyploid Nicotiana host plants

    OpenAIRE

    Lou, Yonggen; Baldwin, Ian T.

    2003-01-01

    Allopolyploid speciation occurs instantly when the genomes of different species combine to produce self-fertile offspring and has played a central role in the evolution of higher plants, but its consequences for adaptive responses are unknown. We compare herbivore-recognition and -resistance responses of the diploid species and putative ancestral parent Nicotiana attenuata with those of the two derived allopolyploid species Nicotiana clevelandii and Nicotiana bigelovii. Manduca sexta larvae a...

  9. The infant mirror neuron system studied with high density EEG.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyström, Pär

    2008-01-01

    The mirror neuron system has been suggested to play a role in many social capabilities such as action understanding, imitation, language and empathy. These are all capabilities that develop during infancy and childhood, but the human mirror neuron system has been poorly studied using neurophysiological measures. This study measured the brain activity of 6-month-old infants and adults using a high-density EEG net with the aim of identifying mirror neuron activity. The subjects viewed both goal-directed movements and non-goal-directed movements. An independent component analysis was used to extract the sources of cognitive processes. The desynchronization of the mu rhythm in adults has been shown to be a marker for activation of the mirror neuron system and was used as a criterion to categorize independent components between subjects. The results showed significant mu desynchronization in the adult group and significantly higher ERP activation in both adults and 6-month-olds for the goal-directed action observation condition. This study demonstrate that infants as young as 6 months display mirror neuron activity and is the first to present a direct ERP measure of the mirror neuron system in infants.

  10. A Human Mirror Neuron System for Language: Perspectives from Signed Languages of the Deaf

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knapp, Heather Patterson; Corina, David P.

    2010-01-01

    Language is proposed to have developed atop the human analog of the macaque mirror neuron system for action perception and production [Arbib M.A. 2005. From monkey-like action recognition to human language: An evolutionary framework for neurolinguistics (with commentaries and author's response). "Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28", 105-167; Arbib…

  11. [Mirror neurons: from anatomy to pathophysiological and therapeutic implications].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathon, B

    2013-04-01

    Mirror neurons are a special class of neurons discovered in the 1990s. They respond when we perform an action and also when we see someone else perform that action. They play a role in the pathophysiology of some neuropsychiatric diseases. Mirror neurons have been identified in humans: in Broca's area and the inferior parietal cortex. Their responses are qualitative and selective depending on the observed action. Emotions (including disgust) and empathy seem to operate according to a mirror mechanism. Indeed, the mirror system allows us to encode the sensory experience and to simulate the emotional state of others. This results in our improved identification of the emotions in others. Additionally, mirror neurons can encode an observed action in motor stimuli and allow its reproduction; thus, they are involved in imitation and learning. Current studies are assessing the role of mirror neurons in the pathopysiology of social-behavior disorders, including autism and schizophrenia. Understanding this mirror system will allow us to develop psychotherapy practices based on empathic resonance between the patient and the therapist. Also, some authors report that a passive rehabilitation technique, based on stimulation of the mirror-neuron system, has a beneficial effect in the treatment of patients with post-stroke motor deficits. Mirror neurons are an anatomical entity that enables improved understanding of behavior and emotions, and serves as a base for developing new cognitive therapies. Additional studies are needed to clarify the exact role of this neuronal system in social cognition and its role in the development of some neuropsychiatric diseases. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  12. Emotional face recognition in adolescent suicide attempters and adolescents engaging in non-suicidal self-injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seymour, Karen E; Jones, Richard N; Cushman, Grace K; Galvan, Thania; Puzia, Megan E; Kim, Kerri L; Spirito, Anthony; Dickstein, Daniel P

    2016-03-01

    Little is known about the bio-behavioral mechanisms underlying and differentiating suicide attempts from non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescents. Adolescents who attempt suicide or engage in NSSI often report significant interpersonal and social difficulties. Emotional face recognition ability is a fundamental skill required for successful social interactions, and deficits in this ability may provide insight into the unique brain-behavior interactions underlying suicide attempts versus NSSI in adolescents. Therefore, we examined emotional face recognition ability among three mutually exclusive groups: (1) inpatient adolescents who attempted suicide (SA, n = 30); (2) inpatient adolescents engaged in NSSI (NSSI, n = 30); and (3) typically developing controls (TDC, n = 30) without psychiatric illness. Participants included adolescents aged 13-17 years, matched on age, gender and full-scale IQ. Emotional face recognition was evaluated using the diagnostic assessment of nonverbal accuracy (DANVA-2). Compared to TDC youth, adolescents with NSSI made more errors on child fearful and adult sad face recognition while controlling for psychopathology and medication status (ps face recognition between NSSI and SA groups. Secondary analyses showed that compared to inpatients without major depression, those with major depression made fewer errors on adult sad face recognition even when controlling for group status (p recognition errors on adult happy faces even when controlling for group status (p face recognition than TDC, but not inpatient adolescents who attempted suicide. Further results suggest the importance of psychopathology in emotional face recognition. Replication of these preliminary results and examination of the role of context-dependent emotional processing are needed moving forward.

  13. Mirror representations innate versus determined by experience: a viewpoint from learning theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giese, Martin A

    2014-04-01

    From the viewpoint of pattern recognition and computational learning, mirror neurons form an interesting multimodal representation that links action perception and planning. While it seems unlikely that all details of such representations are specified by the genetic code, robust learning of such complex representations likely requires an appropriate interplay between plasticity, generalization, and anatomical constraints of the underlying neural architecture.

  14. Neural mirroring and social interaction: Motor system involvement during action observation relates to early peer cooperation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Endedijk, H M; Meyer, M; Bekkering, H; Cillessen, A H N; Hunnius, S

    2017-04-01

    Whether we hand over objects to someone, play a team sport, or make music together, social interaction often involves interpersonal action coordination, both during instances of cooperation and entrainment. Neural mirroring is thought to play a crucial role in processing other's actions and is therefore considered important for social interaction. Still, to date, it is unknown whether interindividual differences in neural mirroring play a role in interpersonal coordination during different instances of social interaction. A relation between neural mirroring and interpersonal coordination has particularly relevant implications for early childhood, since successful early interaction with peers is predictive of a more favorable social development. We examined the relation between neural mirroring and children's interpersonal coordination during peer interaction using EEG and longitudinal behavioral data. Results showed that 4-year-old children with higher levels of motor system involvement during action observation (as indicated by lower beta-power) were more successful in early peer cooperation. This is the first evidence for a relation between motor system involvement during action observation and interpersonal coordination during other instances of social interaction. The findings suggest that interindividual differences in neural mirroring are related to interpersonal coordination and thus successful social interaction. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  15. Functional dissociation of the left and right fusiform gyrus in self-face recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Yina; Han, Shihui

    2012-10-01

    It is well known that the fusiform gyrus is engaged in face perception, such as the processes of face familiarity and identity. However, the functional role of the fusiform gyrus in face processing related to high-level social cognition remains unclear. The current study assessed the functional role of individually defined fusiform face area (FFA) in the processing of self-face physical properties and self-face identity. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to monitor neural responses to rapidly presented face stimuli drawn from morph continua between self-face (Morph 100%) and a gender-matched friend's face (Morph 0%) in a face recognition task. Contrasting Morph 100% versus Morph 60% that differed in self-face physical properties but were both recognized as the self uncovered neural activity sensitive to self-face physical properties in the left FFA. Contrasting Morphs 50% that were recognized as the self versus a friend on different trials revealed neural modulations associated with self-face identity in the right FFA. Moreover, the right FFA activity correlated with the frequency of recognizing Morphs 50% as the self. Our results provide evidence for functional dissociations of the left and right FFAs in the representations of self-face physical properties and self-face identity. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Topological mirror superconductivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Fan; Kane, C L; Mele, E J

    2013-08-02

    We demonstrate the existence of topological superconductors (SCs) protected by mirror and time-reversal symmetries. D-dimensional (D=1, 2, 3) crystalline SCs are characterized by 2(D-1) independent integer topological invariants, which take the form of mirror Berry phases. These invariants determine the distribution of Majorana modes on a mirror symmetric boundary. The parity of total mirror Berry phase is the Z(2) index of a class DIII SC, implying that a DIII topological SC with a mirror line must also be a topological mirror SC but not vice versa and that a DIII SC with a mirror plane is always time-reversal trivial but can be mirror topological. We introduce representative models and suggest experimental signatures in feasible systems. Advances in quantum computing, the case for nodal SCs, the case for class D, and topological SCs protected by rotational symmetries are pointed out.

  17. Effective theory of flavor for Minimal Mirror Twin Higgs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbieri, Riccardo; Hall, Lawrence J.; Harigaya, Keisuke

    2017-10-01

    We consider two copies of the Standard Model, interchanged by an exact parity symmetry, P. The observed fermion mass hierarchy is described by suppression factors ɛ^{n_i} for charged fermion i, as can arise in Froggatt-Nielsen and extra-dimensional theories of flavor. The corresponding flavor factors in the mirror sector are ɛ^' {n}_i} , so that spontaneous breaking of the parity P arises from a single parameter ɛ'/ɛ, yielding a tightly constrained version of Minimal Mirror Twin Higgs, introduced in our previous paper. Models are studied for simple values of n i , including in particular one with SU(5)-compatibility, that describe the observed fermion mass hierarchy. The entire mirror quark and charged lepton spectrum is broadly predicted in terms of ɛ'/ɛ, as are the mirror QCD scale and the decoupling temperature between the two sectors. Helium-, hydrogen- and neutron-like mirror dark matter candidates are constrained by self-scattering and relic ionization. In each case, the allowed parameter space can be fully probed by proposed direct detection experiments. Correlated predictions are made as well for the Higgs signal strength and the amount of dark radiation.

  18. Being moved by the self and others: influence of empathy on self-motion perception.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christophe Lopez

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The observation of conspecifics influences our bodily perceptions and actions: Contagious yawning, contagious itching, or empathy for pain, are all examples of mechanisms based on resonance between our own body and others. While there is evidence for the involvement of the mirror neuron system in the processing of motor, auditory and tactile information, it has not yet been associated with the perception of self-motion. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We investigated whether viewing our own body, the body of another, and an object in motion influences self-motion perception. We found a visual-vestibular congruency effect for self-motion perception when observing self and object motion, and a reduction in this effect when observing someone else's body motion. The congruency effect was correlated with empathy scores, revealing the importance of empathy in mirroring mechanisms. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The data show that vestibular perception is modulated by agent-specific mirroring mechanisms. The observation of conspecifics in motion is an essential component of social life, and self-motion perception is crucial for the distinction between the self and the other. Finally, our results hint at the presence of a "vestibular mirror neuron system".

  19. Self-face recognition shares brain regions active during proprioceptive illusion in the right inferior fronto-parietal superior longitudinal fasciculus III network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morita, Tomoyo; Saito, Daisuke N; Ban, Midori; Shimada, Koji; Okamoto, Yuko; Kosaka, Hirotaka; Okazawa, Hidehiko; Asada, Minoru; Naito, Eiichi

    2017-04-21

    Proprioception is somatic sensation that allows us to sense and recognize position, posture, and their changes in our body parts. It pertains directly to oneself and may contribute to bodily awareness. Likewise, one's face is a symbol of oneself, so that visual self-face recognition directly contributes to the awareness of self as distinct from others. Recently, we showed that right-hemispheric dominant activity in the inferior fronto-parietal cortices, which are connected by the inferior branch of the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF III), is associated with proprioceptive illusion (awareness), in concert with sensorimotor activity. Herein, we tested the hypothesis that visual self-face recognition shares brain regions active during proprioceptive illusion in the right inferior fronto-parietal SLF III network. We scanned brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging while twenty-two right-handed healthy adults performed two tasks. One was a proprioceptive illusion task, where blindfolded participants experienced a proprioceptive illusion of right hand movement. The other was a visual self-face recognition task, where the participants judged whether an observed face was their own. We examined whether the self-face recognition and the proprioceptive illusion commonly activated the inferior fronto-parietal cortices connected by the SLF III in a right-hemispheric dominant manner. Despite the difference in sensory modality and in the body parts involved in the two tasks, both tasks activated the right inferior fronto-parietal cortices, which are likely connected by the SLF III, in a right-side dominant manner. Here we discuss possible roles for right inferior fronto-parietal activity in bodily awareness and self-awareness. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  20. Early Childhood Curriculum Development: The Role of Play in Building Self-Regulatory Capacity in Young Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kroll, Linda R.

    2017-01-01

    This case study examines the development of self-regulation, socially, cognitively and emotionally, through the use of play in the curriculum in five preschool classrooms for children ages 2-5 years old at a university laboratory school. Five teachers were interviewed about their deliberate use of play to support the development of self-regulation…

  1. "I feel more connected to the physically ideal mini me than the mirror-image mini me": theoretical implications of the "malleable self" for speculations on the effects of avatar creation on avatar-self connection in Wii.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Seung-A Annie

    2010-10-01

    What are the impacts of creating an avatar replicating the actual self versus an avatar projecting the ideal self on game players' avatar-self connection? This study leveraged an avatar-creating game (Mii Channel) within a video-game console (Wii) in a controlled, randomized study. The results of a two-group comparison (actual self-priming vs. ideal self-priming) between-subjects study (N = 76) demonstrated the significant main effect of self-priming via avatar (Mii) creation on avatar-self connection. Game players who were primed to create a Mii reflecting the ideal self felt greater avatar-self connection than those primed to create a replica Mii mirroring the actual self. Theoretical values and implications for a burgeoning body of research on the "malleable self" and the multidimensionality of the self-concept in avatar-based interactive media are discussed.

  2. Evolution and diversity of a fungal self/nonself recognition locus.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charles Hall

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Self/nonself discrimination is an essential feature for pathogen recognition and graft rejection and is a ubiquitous phenomenon in many organisms. Filamentous fungi, such as Neurospora crassa, provide a model for analyses of population genetics/evolution of self/nonself recognition loci due to their haploid nature, small genomes and excellent genetic/genomic resources. In N. crassa, nonself discrimination during vegetative growth is determined by 11 heterokaryon incompatibility (het loci. Cell fusion between strains that differ in allelic specificity at any of these het loci triggers a rapid programmed cell death response.In this study, we evaluated the evolution, population genetics and selective mechanisms operating at a nonself recognition complex consisting of two closely linked loci, het-c (NCU03493 and pin-c (NCU03494. The genomic position of pin-c next to het-c is unique to Neurospora/Sordaria species, and originated by gene duplication after divergence from other species within the Sordariaceae. The het-c pin-c alleles in N. crassa are in severe linkage disequilibrium and consist of three haplotypes, het-c1/pin-c1, het-c2/pin-c2 and het-c3/pin-c3, which are equally frequent in population samples and exhibit trans-species polymorphisms. The absence of recombinant haplotypes is correlated with divergence of the het-c/pin-c intergenic sequence. Tests for positive and balancing selection at het-c and pin-c support the conclusion that both of these loci are under non-neutral balancing selection; other regions of both genes appear to be under positive selection. Our data show that the het-c2/pin-c2 haplotype emerged by a recombination event between the het-c1/pin-c1 and het-c3/pin-c3 approximately 3-12 million years ago.These results support models by which loci that confer nonself discrimination form by the association of polymorphic genes with genes containing HET domains. Distinct allele classes can emerge by recombination and positive

  3. Self-Recognition in Young Children Using Delayed versus Live Feedback: Evidence of a Developmental Asynchrony.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Povinelli, Daniel J.; And Others

    1996-01-01

    Investigated the ability of young children to recognize themselves in delayed videotapes and recent photographs. Results suggested a significant developmental delay in young children's success on mark tests of self-recognition using delayed feedback as compared to live feedback, which may have important implications for characterizing the…

  4. Three regularities of recognition memory: the role of bias.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilford, Andrew; Maloney, Laurence T; Glanzer, Murray; Kim, Kisok

    2015-12-01

    A basic assumption of Signal Detection Theory is that decisions are made on the basis of likelihood ratios. In a preceding paper, Glanzer, Hilford, and Maloney (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16, 431-455, 2009) showed that the likelihood ratio assumption implies that three regularities will occur in recognition memory: (1) the Mirror Effect, (2) the Variance Effect, (3) the normalized Receiver Operating Characteristic (z-ROC) Length Effect. The paper offered formal proofs and computational demonstrations that decisions based on likelihood ratios produce the three regularities. A survey of data based on group ROCs from 36 studies validated the likelihood ratio assumption by showing that its three implied regularities are ubiquitous. The study noted, however, that bias, another basic factor in Signal Detection Theory, can obscure the Mirror Effect. In this paper we examine how bias affects the regularities at the theoretical level. The theoretical analysis shows: (1) how bias obscures the Mirror Effect, not the other two regularities, and (2) four ways to counter that obscuring. We then report the results of five experiments that support the theoretical analysis. The analyses and the experimental results also demonstrate: (1) that the three regularities govern individual, as well as group, performance, (2) alternative explanations of the regularities are ruled out, and (3) that Signal Detection Theory, correctly applied, gives a simple and unified explanation of recognition memory data.

  5. Einstein's Mirror

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gjurchinovski, Aleksandar; Skeparovski, Aleksandar

    2008-01-01

    Reflection of light from a plane mirror in uniform rectilinear motion is a century-old problem, intimately related to the foundations of special relativity. The problem was first investigated by Einstein in his famous 1905 paper by using the Lorentz transformations to switch from the mirror's rest frame to the frame where the mirror moves at a…

  6. Self-concept deficits in massively multiplayer online role-playing games addiction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leménager, Tagrid; Gwodz, Alexander; Richter, Anne; Reinhard, Iris; Kämmerer, Nina; Sell, Madlen; Mann, Karl

    2013-01-01

    Previous studies on Internet addiction point towards a particular constellation of personality traits and deficits in social competence of players addicted to massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), which are hypothesized to result from impairments in self-concept. The aim of this study was to examine differences in self-concept and degree of avatar identification in World of Warcraft addicted, non-addicted and naive (nonexperienced) participants. Participants (n = 45) completed interviews and self-report questionnaires on social, emotional and physical aspects of self-concept. Attributes of participants' 'actual self', 'ideal self' and their avatar were assessed using the Giessen test. The extent of avatar identification was examined by assessing differences between 'ideal self' and avatar evaluations. In contrast to nonaddicted and naive participants, addicted players showed a more negative body appraisal and lower self-esteem as well as lower permeability, social response, general mood and social potency on the Giessen test subscales. They further showed significantly lower discrepancies between 'ideal self' and avatar ratings on nearly all Giessen test subscales. The results point towards impairments in self-concept and a higher degree in avatar identification in addicted MMORPG players compared to the remaining participants. These results could have important implications for the treatment of addicted MMORPG players. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  7. Einstein's Mirror

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gjurchinovski, Aleksandar; Skeparovski, Aleksandar

    2008-10-01

    Reflection of light from a plane mirror in uniform rectilinear motion is a century-old problem, intimately related to the foundations of special relativity.1-4 The problem was first investigated by Einstein in his famous 1905 paper by using the Lorentz transformations to switch from the mirror's rest frame to the frame where the mirror moves at a constant velocity.5 Einstein showed an intriguing fact that the usual law of reflection would not hold in the case of a uniformly moving mirror, that is, the angles of incidence and reflection of the light would not equal each other. Later on, it has been shown that the law of reflection at a moving mirror can be obtained in various alternative ways,6-10 but none of them seems suitable for bringing this interesting subject into the high school classroom.

  8. A longitudinal study of the emerging self from 9 months to the age of 4 years

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susanne eKristen-Antonow

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate if children’s early responsiveness towards social partners is developmentally related to their growing concept of self, as reflected in their mirror self recognition (MSR and delayed self recognition (DSR. Thus, a longitudinal study assessed infants' responsiveness (e.g., smiling, gaze towards social partners during the still-face task and a social imitation game and related it to their emerging MSR and DSR. Thereby, children were tested at regular time points from 9 months to 4 years of age. Results revealed significant predictive relations between children’s responsiveness towards a social partner in the still-face task at 9 months and their MSR at 24 months. Further, interindividual differences in children’s awareness of and responsiveness towards being imitated in a social imitation game at 12 months proved to be the strongest predictor of children’s DSR at 4 years, while some additional variance was explained by MSR at 24 months and verbal intelligence. Overall, findings suggest a developmental link between children’s early awareness of and responsiveness towards the social world and their later ability to form a concept of self.

  9. Signature of self-gravitation in vibrating mirror interferometry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Geszti, Tamas [Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Eoetvoes University, Budapest (Hungary)

    2007-05-15

    If - according to the Newton-Schroedinger scheme - gravitation is a classical field and its source is the mean mass density, that provides a force of attraction between the Schroedinger cat partners of the vibrating mirror in the proposed Marshall et al.experiment. That force is observable in principle as a shift of the visibility revival frequency, with respect to the c.o.m. vibration frequency to be observed mechanically. The effect is of observable size if short-range gravity is much stronger than long-range gravity.

  10. Amorphous Metals and Composites as Mirrors and Mirror Assemblies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hofmann, Douglas C. (Inventor); Davis, Gregory L. (Inventor); Agnes, Gregory S. (Inventor); Shapiro, Andrew A. (Inventor)

    2016-01-01

    A mirror or mirror assembly fabricated by molding, pressing, assembling, or depositing one or more bulk metal glass (BMG), bulk metal glass composite (BMGMC), or amorphous metal (AM) parts and where the optical surface and backing of the mirror can be fabricated without machining or polishing by utilizing the unique molding capabilities of this class of materials.

  11. Mirror machine reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carlson, G.A.; Moir, R.W.

    1976-01-01

    Recent mirror reactor conceptual design studies are described. Considered in detail is the design of ''standard'' Yin-Yang fusion power reactors with classical and enhanced confinement. It is shown that to be economically competitive with estimates for other future energy sources, mirror reactors require a considerable increase in Q, or major design simplifications, or preferably both. These improvements may require a departure from the ''standard'' configuration. Two attractive possibilities, both of which would use much of the same physics and technology as the ''standard'' mirror, are the field reversed mirror and the end-stoppered mirror

  12. Classical mirror symmetry

    CERN Document Server

    Jinzenji, Masao

    2018-01-01

    This book furnishes a brief introduction to classical mirror symmetry, a term that denotes the process of computing Gromov–Witten invariants of a Calabi–Yau threefold by using the Picard–Fuchs differential equation of period integrals of its mirror Calabi–Yau threefold. The book concentrates on the best-known example, the quintic hypersurface in 4-dimensional projective space, and its mirror manifold. First, there is a brief review of the process of discovery of mirror symmetry and the striking result proposed in the celebrated paper by Candelas and his collaborators. Next, some elementary results of complex manifolds and Chern classes needed for study of mirror symmetry are explained. Then the topological sigma models, the A-model and the B-model, are introduced. The classical mirror symmetry hypothesis is explained as the equivalence between the correlation function of the A-model of a quintic hyper-surface and that of the B-model of its mirror manifold. On the B-model side, the process of construct...

  13. Visual perception during mirror gazing at one's own face in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caputo, Giovanni B; Ferrucci, Roberta; Bortolomasi, Marco; Giacopuzzi, Mario; Priori, Alberto; Zago, Stefano

    2012-09-01

    In normal observers gazing at one's own face in the mirror for some minutes, at a low illumination level, triggers the perception of strange faces, a new perceptual illusion that has been named 'strange-face in the mirror'. Subjects see distortions of their own faces, but often they see monsters, archetypical faces, faces of dead relatives, and of animals. We designed this study to primarily compare strange-face apparitions in response to mirror gazing in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. The study included 16 patients with schizophrenia and 21 healthy controls. In this paper we administered a 7 minute mirror gazing test (MGT). Before the mirror gazing session, all subjects underwent assessment with the Cardiff Anomalous Perception Scale (CAPS). When the 7minute MGT ended, the experimenter assessed patients and controls with a specifically designed questionnaire and interviewed them, asking them to describe strange-face perceptions. Apparitions of strange-faces in the mirror were significantly more intense in schizophrenic patients than in controls. All the following variables were higher in patients than in healthy controls: frequency (p<.005) and cumulative duration of apparitions (p<.009), number and types of strange-faces (p<.002), self-evaluation scores on Likert-type scales of apparition strength (p<.03) and of reality of apparitions (p<.001). In schizophrenic patients, these Likert-type scales showed correlations (p<.05) with CAPS total scores. These results suggest that the increase of strange-face apparitions in schizophrenia can be produced by ego dysfunction, by body dysmorphic disorder and by misattribution of self-agency. MGT may help in completing the standard assessment of patients with schizophrenia, independently of hallucinatory psychopathology. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Theoretical aspects of mirror fusion. Annual progress report, 1 April 1983-31 March 1984

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nicholson, D.R.; Knorr, G.E.

    1984-03-01

    We have applied the techniques of theoretical and computational plasma physics to two important problems in mirror fusion. First, we have found that electron collisions with neutral gas play an important role in determining the leak width of a cusp confined plasma. Second, we have found that mirror plasmas are susceptible to parametric instabilities during electron cyclotron resonance heating

  15. Functions of galectins as 'self/non-self'-recognition and effector factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vasta, Gerardo R; Feng, Chiguang; González-Montalbán, Nuria; Mancini, Justin; Yang, Lishi; Abernathy, Kelsey; Frost, Graeme; Palm, Cheyenne

    2017-07-31

    Carbohydrate structures on the cell surface encode complex information that through specific recognition by carbohydrate-binding proteins (lectins) modulates interactions between cells, cells and the extracellular matrix, or mediates recognition of potential microbial pathogens. Galectins are a family of ß-galactoside-binding lectins, which are evolutionary conserved and have been identified in most organisms, from fungi to invertebrates and vertebrates, including mammals. Since their discovery in the 1970s, their biological roles, initially understood as limited to recognition of endogenous carbohydrate ligands in embryogenesis and development, have expanded in recent years by the discovery of their roles in tissue repair and regulation of immune homeostasis. More recently, evidence has accumulated to support the notion that galectins can also bind glycans on the surface of potentially pathogenic microbes, and function as recognition and effector factors in innate immunity, thus establishing a new paradigm. Furthermore, some parasites 'subvert' the recognition roles of the vector/host galectins for successful attachment or invasion. These recent findings have revealed a striking functional diversification in this structurally conserved lectin family. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  16. Spatio-temporal dynamics of the mirror neuron system during social intentions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cacioppo, Stephanie; Bolmont, Mylene; Monteleone, George

    2017-10-27

    Previous research has shown that specific goals and intentions influence a person's allocation of social attention. From a neural viewpoint, a growing body of evidence suggests that the inferior fronto-parietal network, including the mirror neuron system, plays a role in the planning and the understanding of motor intentions. However, it is unclear whether and when the mirror neuron system plays a role in social intentions. Combining a behavioral task with electrical neuroimaging in 22 healthy male participants, the current study investigates whether the temporal brain dynamic of the mirror neuron system differs during two types of social intentions i.e., lust vs. romantic intentions. Our results showed that 62% of the stimuli evoking lustful intentions also evoked romantic intentions, and both intentions were sustained by similar activations of the inferior frontal gyrus and the inferior parietal lobule/angular gyrus for the first 432 ms after stimulus onset. Intentions to not love or not lust, on the other hand, were characterized by earlier differential activations of the inferior fronto-parietal network i.e., as early as 244 ms after stimulus onset. These results suggest that the mirror neuron system may not only code for the motor correlates of intentions, but also for the social meaning of intentions and its valence at both early/automatic and later/more elaborative stages of information processing.

  17. Laser modes and threshold condition i N-mirror resonator

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Christian; Skettrup, Torben

    1996-01-01

    Two formal methods for finding laser modes and threshold conditions in laser resonators containing as many as N mirrors are presented. The first method is based on an analysis determining the reflectivity and the transmittivity of an N-mirror system with gain. This is an extension of the classical...... 2 × 2 matrix method. The second method is based on self-consistency equations for the system and directly yields the circulating fields of the individual resonators. A set of rules has been proved to allow these fields to be calculated directly by means of inspection. The laser oscillation condition...

  18. Tandem mirror and field-reversed mirror experiments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coensgen, F.H.; Simonen, T.C.; Turner, W.C.

    1979-08-21

    This paper is largely devoted to tandem mirror and field-reversed mirror experiments at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLL), and briefly summarizes results of experiments in which field-reversal has been achieved. In the tandem experiment, high-energy, high-density plasmas (nearly identical to 2XIIB plasmas) are located at each end of a solenoid where plasma ions are electrostatically confined by the high positive poentials arising in the end plug plasma. End plug ions are magnetically confined, and electrons are electrostatically confined by the overall positive potential of the system. The field-reversed mirror reactor consists of several small field-reversed mirror plasmas linked together for economic reasons. In the LLL Beta II experiment, generation of a field-reversed plasma ring will be investigated using a high-energy plasma gun with a transverse radial magnetic field. This plasma will be further heated and sustained by injection of intense, high-energy neutral beams.

  19. Anticorrelated Emission of High Harmonics and Fast Electron Beams From Plasma Mirrors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bocoum, Maïmouna; Thévenet, Maxence; Böhle, Frederik; Beaurepaire, Benoît; Vernier, Aline; Jullien, Aurélie; Faure, Jérôme; Lopez-Martens, Rodrigo

    2016-05-06

    We report for the first time on the anticorrelated emission of high-order harmonics and energetic electron beams from a solid-density plasma with a sharp vacuum interface-plasma mirror-driven by an intense ultrashort laser pulse. We highlight the key role played by the nanoscale structure of the plasma surface during the interaction by measuring the spatial and spectral properties of harmonics and electron beams emitted by a plasma mirror. We show that the nanoscale behavior of the plasma mirror can be controlled by tuning the scale length of the electron density gradient, which is measured in situ using spatial-domain interferometry.

  20. Review Essay: Mirror Neurons in the Discourse of Social Sciences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henning Pätzold

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Since their discovery in the mid-1990s, mirror neurons have been the subject of continuous discussions in neurosciences as well as in the social sciences. The interest of scientists outside the life sciences in mirror neurons is primarily based on the fact that mirror neurons not only have epistemological meaning, but also seem to play an important role in processes of social insights and emotions, like empathy. With her book, Nadia ZABOURA provides a new contribution from a social and cultural sciences point of view, which critically reflects the discussion on mirror neurons and its consequences on the social sciences and humanities. Starting off from philosophical approaches to the mind-matter-dualism and the question of intersubjectivity, she explores the meaning of mirror neurons for the debate on empathy and communication. By discussing concepts of philosophy and communication sciences as well as current knowledge on mirror neurons, she concludes that they do not provide a stable basis for any material reductionism, which would explain phenomena like intersubjectivity only by recordable neuronal processes. The book refers to a variety of related theories (ranging from DESCARTES through to MEAD and TOMASELLO; these references are inspiring, yet they stay cursory for the most part. All in all the book offers avenues for further inquiry on the issues in focus, and can rather be taken as "tour of suggestions" through the topical field of mirror neurons and the related research. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1003245

  1. Mirror symmetry

    CERN Document Server

    Voisin, Claire

    1999-01-01

    This is the English translation of Professor Voisin's book reflecting the discovery of the mirror symmetry phenomenon. The first chapter is devoted to the geometry of Calabi-Yau manifolds, and the second describes, as motivation, the ideas from quantum field theory that led to the discovery of mirror symmetry. The other chapters deal with more specialized aspects of the subject: the work of Candelas, de la Ossa, Greene, and Parkes, based on the fact that under the mirror symmetry hypothesis, the variation of Hodge structure of a Calabi-Yau threefold determines the Gromov-Witten invariants of its mirror; Batyrev's construction, which exhibits the mirror symmetry phenomenon between hypersurfaces of toric Fano varieties, after a combinatorial classification of the latter; the mathematical construction of the Gromov-Witten potential, and the proof of its crucial property (that it satisfies the WDVV equation), which makes it possible to construct a flat connection underlying a variation of Hodge structure in the ...

  2. Technology of mirror machines: LLL facilities for magnetic mirror fusion experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Batzer, T.H.

    1977-01-01

    Significant progress in plasma confinement and temperature has been achieved in the 2XIIB facility at Livermore. These encouraging results, and their theoretical corroboration, have provided a firm basis for the design of a new generation of magnetic mirror experiments, adding support to the mirror concept of a fusion reactor. Two new mirror experiments have been proposed to succeed the currently operating 2XIIB facility. The first of these called TMX (Tandem Mirror Experiment) has been approved and is currently under construction. TMX is designed to utilize the intrinsic positive plasma potential of two strong, and relatively small, minimum B mirror cells to enhance the confinement of a much larger, magnetically weaker, centrally-located mirror cell. The second facility, MFTF (Mirror Fusion Test Facility), is currently in preliminary design with line item approval anticipated for FY 78. MFTF is designed primarily to exploit the experimental and theoretical results derived from 2XIIB. Beyond that, MFTF will develop the technology for the transition from the present small mirror experiments to large steady-state devices such as the mirror FERF/FTR. The sheer magnitude of the plasma volume, magnetic field, neutral beam power, and vacuum pumping capacity, particularly in the case of MFTF, has placed new and exciting demands on engineering technology. An engineering overview of MFTF, TMX, and associated MFE activities at Livermore will be presented

  3. Testing for disconnection and distance effects on physiological self-recognition within clonal fragments of Potentilla reptans

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chen, Bin; Vermeulen, Peter; During, Heinjo; Anten, Niels

    2015-01-01

    Evidence suggests that belowground self-recognition in clonal plants can be disrupted between sister ramets by the loss of connections or long distances within a genet. However, these results may be confounded by severing connections between ramets in the setups. Using Potentilla reptans, we

  4. Practice and play as determinants of self-determined motivation in youth soccer players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendry, David T; Crocker, Peter R E; Hodges, Nicola J

    2014-01-01

    Based upon predictions derived from the Developmental Model of Sports Participation, we tested whether hours in domain-specific play (self-led activities) and practice (coach-led activities) during childhood (~5-12 year) in an elite group of youth soccer players from the UK (N = 144) were related to motivation. Independent analysis of three different age groups (Under 13, 15 and 17 year) did not show relations between play and practice activities during childhood and global measures of motivation. However, secondary analysis showed that when controlling for years in soccer, years in the UK Academy system were negatively related to global indices of self-determined motivation (SDI) and positively related to controlled motivation for the oldest players. Despite predictions, there was no evidence that play during childhood was positively related to more SDI. Prospective research is recommended to enable more robust conclusions about the role of early developmental practice activities, especially early specialisation in a high-performance system, on both skill and psychosocial development.

  5. Walk like me, talk like me. The connection between mirror neurons and autism spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saffin, Jillian M; Tohid, Hassaan

    2016-04-01

    Understanding social cognition has become a hallmark in deciphering autism spectrum disorder. Neurobiological theories are taking precedence in causation studies as researchers look to abnormalities in brain development as the cause of deficits in social behavior, cognitive processes, and language. Following their discovery in the 1990s, mirror neurons have become a dominant theory for that the mirror neuron system may play a critical role in the pathophysiology of various symptoms of autism. Over the decades, the theory has evolved from the suggestion of a broken mirror neuron system to impairments in mirror neuron circuitry. The mirror neuron system has not gained total support due to inconsistent findings; a comprehensive analysis of the growing body of research could shed light on the benefits, or the disadvantage of continuing to study mirror neurons and their connection to autism.

  6. The influence of reading expertise in mirror-letter perception: Evidence from beginning and expert readers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duñabeitia, Jon Andoni; Dimitropoulou, María; Estévez, Adelina; Carreiras, Manuel

    2013-01-01

    The visual word recognition system recruits neuronal systems originally developed for object perception which are characterized by orientation insensitivity to mirror reversals. It has been proposed that during reading acquisition beginning readers have to “unlearn” this natural tolerance to mirror reversals in order to efficiently discriminate letters and words. Therefore, it is supposed that this unlearning process takes place in a gradual way and that reading expertise modulates mirror-letter discrimination. However, to date no supporting evidence for this has been obtained. We present data from an eye-movement study that investigated the degree of sensitivity to mirror-letters in a group of beginning readers and a group of expert readers. Participants had to decide which of the two strings presented on a screen corresponded to an auditorily presented word. Visual displays always included the correct target word and one distractor word. Results showed that those distractors that were the same as the target word except for the mirror lateralization of two internal letters attracted participants’ attention more than distractors created by replacement of two internal letters. Interestingly, the time course of the effects was found to be different for the two groups, with beginning readers showing a greater tolerance (decreased sensitivity) to mirror-letters than expert readers. Implications of these findings are discussed within the framework of preceding evidence showing how reading expertise modulates letter identification. PMID:24273596

  7. Pattern recognition & machine learning

    CERN Document Server

    Anzai, Y

    1992-01-01

    This is the first text to provide a unified and self-contained introduction to visual pattern recognition and machine learning. It is useful as a general introduction to artifical intelligence and knowledge engineering, and no previous knowledge of pattern recognition or machine learning is necessary. Basic for various pattern recognition and machine learning methods. Translated from Japanese, the book also features chapter exercises, keywords, and summaries.

  8. Thermomechanical characterization of a membrane deformable mirror

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morse, Kathleen A.; McHugh, Stuart L.; Fixler, Jeff

    2008-01-01

    A membrane deformable mirror has been investigated for its potential use in high-energy laser systems. Experiments were performed in which the deformable mirror was heated with a 1 kW incandescent lamp and the thermal profile, the wavefront aberrations, and the mechanical displacement of the membrane were measured. A finite element model was also developed. The wavefront characterization experiments showed that the wavefront degraded with heating. Above a temperature of 35 deg. C, the wavefront characterization experiments indicated a dramatic increase in the high-order wavefront modes before the optical beam became immeasurable in the sensors. The mechanical displacement data of the membrane mirror showed that during heating, the membrane initially deflected towards the heat source and then deflected away from the heat source. Finite element analysis (FEA) predicted a similar displacement behavior as shown by the mechanical displacement data but over a shorter time scale and a larger magnitude. The mechanical displacement data also showed that the magnitude of membrane displacement increased with the experiments that involved higher temperatures. Above a temperature of 35 deg. C, the displacement data showed that random deflections as a function of time developed and that the magnitude of these deflections increased with increased temperature. We concluded that convection, not captured in the FEA, likely played a dominant role in mirror deformation at temperatures above 35 deg. C

  9. Depression, Help-Seeking and Self-Recognition of Depression among Dominican, Ecuadorian and Colombian Immigrant Primary Care Patients in the Northeastern United States

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susan Caplan

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Latinos, the largest minority group in the United States, experience mental health disparities, which include decreased access to care, lower quality of care and diminished treatment engagement. The purpose of this cross-sectional study of 177 Latino immigrants in primary care is to identify demographic factors, attitudes and beliefs, such as stigma, perceived stress, and ethnic identity that are associated with depression, help-seeking and self-recognition of depression. Results indicated that 45 participants (25% had depression by Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9 criteria. Factors most likely to be associated with depression were: poverty; difficulty in functioning; greater somatic symptoms, perceived stress and stigma; number of chronic illnesses; and poor or fair self-rated mental health. Fifty-four people endorsed help-seeking. Factors associated with help-seeking were: female gender, difficulty in functioning, greater somatic symptoms, severity of depression, having someone else tell you that you have an emotional problem, and poor or fair self-rated mental health. Factors most likely to be associated with self-recognition were the same, but also included greater perceived stress. This manuscript contributes to the literature by examining attitudinal factors that may be associated with depression, help-seeking and self-recognition among subethnic groups of Latinos that are underrepresented in research studies.

  10. Right perceptual bias and self-face recognition in individuals with congenital prosopagnosia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malaspina, Manuela; Albonico, Andrea; Daini, Roberta

    2016-01-01

    The existence of a drift to base judgments more on the right half-part of facial stimuli, which falls in the observer's left visual field (left perceptual bias (LPB)), in normal individuals has been demonstrated. However, less is known about the existence of this phenomenon in people affected by face impairment from birth, namely congenital prosopagnosics. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the presence of the LPB under face impairment conditions using chimeric stimuli and the most familiar face of all: the self-face. For this purpose we tested 10 participants with congenital prosopagnosia and 21 healthy controls with a face matching task using facial stimuli, involving a spatial manipulation of the left and the right hemi-faces of self-photos and photos of others. Even though congenital prosopagnosics performance was significantly lower than that of controls, both groups showed a consistent self-face advantage. Moreover, congenital prosopagnosics showed optimal performance when the right side of their face was presented, that is, right perceptual bias, suggesting a differential strategy for self-recognition in those subjects. A possible explanation for this result is discussed.

  11. Mirror neurons and the understanding of behavioural symptoms in psychiatric disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buccino, Giovanni; Amore, Mario

    2008-05-01

    Recent findings show that we can understand other people's actions, intentions and emotions through a mirror mechanism as if we performed the same actions and felt the same intentions or emotions (embodied simulation). The present paper reviews experimental evidence that this mechanism may be broken in some psychiatric disorders. A mirror neuron system has been described in both monkeys and humans that allows one to map an observed action on a correspondent motor representation in the observer's brain. This mechanism has been involved in many higher motor functions ranging from action understanding to imitation and intention coding. A mirror mechanism has also been invoked in empathy, through an embodied simulation. A dysfunction of the mirror neuron system may be at the root of the inability to empathize in patients with autism and may play a role in some negative and positive symptoms found in patients with schizophrenia. This opens up new perspectives in the interpretation of psychotic symptoms and possibly in developing therapeutic strategies.

  12. A self-organized learning strategy for object recognition by an embedded line of attraction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seow, Ming-Jung; Alex, Ann T.; Asari, Vijayan K.

    2012-04-01

    on this observation we developed a self- organizing line attractor, which is capable of generating new lines in the feature space to learn unrecognized patterns. Experiments performed on UMIST pose database and CMU face expression variant database for face recognition have shown that the proposed nonlinear line attractor is able to successfully identify the individuals and it provided better recognition rate when compared to the state of the art face recognition techniques. Experiments on FRGC version 2 database has also provided excellent recognition rate in images captured in complex lighting environments. Experiments performed on the Japanese female face expression database and Essex Grimace database using the self organizing line attractor have also shown successful expression invariant face recognition. These results show that the proposed model is able to create nonlinear manifolds in a multidimensional feature space to distinguish complex patterns.

  13. Mirror neurons encode the subjective value of an observed action

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caggiano, Vittorio; Fogassi, Leonardo; Rizzolatti, Giacomo; Casile, Antonino; Giese, Martin A.; Thier, Peter

    2012-01-01

    Objects grasped by an agent have a value not only for the acting agent, but also for an individual observing the grasping act. The value that the observer attributes to the object that is grasped can be pivotal for selecting a possible behavioral response. Mirror neurons in area F5 of the monkey premotor cortex have been suggested to play a crucial role in the understanding of action goals. However, it has not been addressed if these neurons are also involved in representing the value of the grasped object. Here we report that observation-related neuronal responses of F5 mirror neurons are indeed modulated by the value that the monkey associates with the grasped object. These findings suggest that during action observation F5 mirror neurons have access to key information needed to shape the behavioral responses of the observer. PMID:22753471

  14. Reinforcement Learning in the Game of Othello: Learning Against a Fixed Opponent and Learning from Self-Play

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Ree, Michiel; Wiering, Marco

    2013-01-01

    This paper compares three strategies in using reinforcement learning algorithms to let an artificial agent learnto play the game of Othello. The three strategies that are compared are: Learning by self-play, learning from playing against a fixed opponent, and learning from playing against a fixed

  15. Mirror and (absence of) counter-mirror responses to action sounds measured with TMS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ticini, Luca F; Schütz-Bosbach, Simone; Waszak, Florian

    2017-11-01

    To what extent is the mirror neuron mechanism malleable to experience? The answer to this question can help characterising its ontogeny and its role in social cognition. Some suggest that it develops through sensorimotor associations congruent with our own actions. Others argue for its extreme volatility that will encode any sensorimotor association in the environment. Here, we added to this debate by exploring the effects of short goal-directed 'mirror' and 'counter-mirror' trainings (a 'mirror' training is defined as the first type of training encountered by the participants) on human auditory mirror motor-evoked potentials (MEPs). We recorded MEPs in response to two tones void of previous motor meaning, before and after mirror and counter-mirror trainings in which participants generated two tones of different pitch by performing free-choice button presses. The results showed that mirror MEPs, once established, were protected against an equivalent counter-mirror experience: they became manifest very rapidly and the same number of training trials that lead to the initial association did not suffice to reverse the MEP pattern. This steadiness of the association argues that, by serving direct-matching purposes, the mirror mechanism is a good solution for social cognition. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

  16. Comparing Face Detection and Recognition Techniques

    OpenAIRE

    Korra, Jyothi

    2016-01-01

    This paper implements and compares different techniques for face detection and recognition. One is find where the face is located in the images that is face detection and second is face recognition that is identifying the person. We study three techniques in this paper: Face detection using self organizing map (SOM), Face recognition by projection and nearest neighbor and Face recognition using SVM.

  17. Quantum limits of photothermal and radiation pressure cooling of a movable mirror

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pinard, M; Dantan, A

    2008-01-01

    We present a general quantum-mechanical theory for the cooling of a movable mirror in an optical cavity when both radiation pressure self-cooling and photothermal cooling effects are present, and show that these two mechanisms may bring the oscillator close to its quantum ground state, although in quite different regimes. Self-cooling caused by coherent exchange of excitations between the cavity mode and the mirror vibrational mode is shown to dominate in the good-cavity regime-when the mechanical resonance frequency is larger than the cavity decay rate, whereas photothermal-induced cooling can be made predominant in the bad-cavity limit. Both situations are compared, and the relevant physical quantities to be optimized in order to reach the lowest final excitation number states are extracted.

  18. 25 CFR 900.131 - What role does the Secretary play during the performance of a self-determination construction...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What role does the Secretary play during the performance... CONTRACTS UNDER THE INDIAN SELF-DETERMINATION AND EDUCATION ASSISTANCE ACT Construction § 900.131 What role does the Secretary play during the performance of a self-determination construction contract? (a) If...

  19. U. S. Mirror Program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fowler, T.K.

    1978-01-01

    The mirror approach is now the principal alternate to the tokamak in the U.S. magnetic fusion energy program. The program is now focused on two new concepts that can obtain high values of Q, defined as the ratio of fusion power output to the neutral beam power injected to sustain the reaction. These are the tandem mirror and field reversed mirror concepts. Theoretically both concepts should be able to attain Q = 5 or more, as compared with Q approximately 1 in previous mirror designs. Success with either or both of these approaches would point the way toward fusion power plants with many attractive features. The linear geometry of mirror systems offers a distinct alternative to the toroidal tokamak. As a direct consequence of this difference in geometry, it is generally possible to build mirror systems in smaller units of modular construction that can probably be made to operate in steady-state. During the next 5 years the main mirror facilities in the U.S. will be the 2XIIB (renamed Beta II); a tandem mirror experiment caled TMX; and the Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF) scheduled to be completed in 1981 at a cost of $94 million. As a background for discussing this program and mirror reactor concepts in later lectures, the current status of mirror physics will be reviewed by comparing theory and experimental data in four critical areas. These are adiabatic confinement of individual ions, electron heat losses out of the ends of the machine, the achievement of beta values of order unity; and stabilization of ''loss cone'' modes

  20. The picture superiority effect in associative recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hockley, William E

    2008-10-01

    The picture superiority effect has been well documented in tests of item recognition and recall. The present study shows that the picture superiority effect extends to associative recognition. In three experiments, students studied lists consisting of random pairs of concrete words and pairs of line drawings; then they discriminated between intact (old) and rearranged (new) pairs of words and pictures at test. The discrimination advantage for pictures over words was seen in a greater hit rate for intact picture pairs, but there was no difference in the false alarm rates for the two types of stimuli. That is, there was no mirror effect. The same pattern of results was found when the test pairs consisted of the verbal labels of the pictures shown at study (Experiment 4), indicating that the hit rate advantage for picture pairs represents an encoding benefit. The results have implications for theories of the picture superiority effect and models of associative recognition.

  1. Engagement: Looking beyond the mirror to understand action understanding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reddy, Vasudevi; Uithol, Sebo

    2016-03-01

    In this paper, we argue that the current focus on mirroring as the route to explaining the development of action understanding is misleading and problematic. It facilitates a fundamentally spectatorial stance, ignoring engagement and dialogue; it focuses on similarity between self and other and neglects difference; and it succumbs to the static terminology of mechanism rather than a dynamic language of process. Contrary to this view, dialogic exchanges are evident from the start of life, revealing infants' ability to engage with and respond appropriately to actions that are outside their own motor repertoire. We suggest that engagement rather than mirroring better accounts for many current findings in action understanding. The neurological evidence to date shows that action perception involves a process of continuous synchronization and change, suggesting that it might be more fruitful for research and theory to look beyond mirroring and instead adopt dynamic processual explanations of action understanding within interaction. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

  2. Design of a {O}94 cm mirror mount for the Petawatt Project on Nova

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hamilton, R.; Tietbohl, G.L.

    1995-10-01

    The authors have designed a large optical gimbal mount that will be used on the Petawatt Project currently under construction on the Nova laser. These mounts are designed to hold and tilt {O}94 cm mirrors and gratings that will redirect the {O}60 cm beam through the Petawatt vacuum compressor. Lacking the commercial availability to house this size optic, they have engineered a large mirror mount with a high natural frequency (42 Hz), low self-weight deflection of the mirror (< {lambda}/46), and high positioning accuracy characteristics (< 1 {micro}rad using flexures and stepping motors). Analysis details and methodology are presented.

  3. Design of a OE 94 cm mirror mount for the Petawatt Project on Nova

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamilton, R.; Tietbohl, G.L.

    1995-10-01

    The authors have designed a large optical gimbal mount that will be used on the Petawatt Project currently under construction on the Nova laser. These mounts are designed to hold and tilt OE 94 cm mirrors and gratings that will redirect the OE 60 cm beam through the Petawatt vacuum compressor. Lacking the commercial availability to house this size optic, they have engineered a large mirror mount with a high natural frequency (42 Hz), low self-weight deflection of the mirror (< λ/46), and high positioning accuracy characteristics (< 1 microrad using flexures and stepping motors). Analysis details and methodology are presented

  4. The mirror neuron system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cattaneo, Luigi; Rizzolatti, Giacomo

    2009-05-01

    Mirror neurons are a class of neurons, originally discovered in the premotor cortex of monkeys, that discharge both when individuals perform a given motor act and when they observe others perform that same motor act. Ample evidence demonstrates the existence of a cortical network with the properties of mirror neurons (mirror system) in humans. The human mirror system is involved in understanding others' actions and their intentions behind them, and it underlies mechanisms of observational learning. Herein, we will discuss the clinical implications of the mirror system.

  5. Actual versus theoretical torsional play in conventional and self-ligating bracket systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dalstra, Michel; Eriksen, Henrik; Bergamini, Chiara

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the amount of torsional play in 32 commercially available self-ligating and conventional 0·018-inch and 0·022-inch bracket systems in relation to 0·017×0·022-inch and 0·019×0·025-inch stainless steel wires, respectively, and compare...... the results with the theoretical amount of play for the given bracket/wire combinations. Methods: Torque moments were measured in a mechanical force testing system by twisting straight pieces of stainless steel wire seated in the bracket slot in increments of 0·5° until a full torsional expression...... and the inability of self-ligation brackets to press the archwire into the bottom of the slot. In conventional brackets, the initial torque moment is generated by the steel ligatures pressing the arch wire against the bottom of the slot. The oversize of the slot is thus less critical in relation to the conventional...

  6. Highly Adaptive Primary Mirror Having Embedded Actuators, Sensors, and Neural Control, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Xinetics has demonstrated the technology required to fabricate a self-compensating highly adaptive silicon carbide primary mirror system having embedded actuators,...

  7. Fostering creativity, empathy and self-regulation through story-based educational role-play

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gjedde, Lisa

    is an interactive approach to learning that involves students in collaborative, creative problem solving in meaningful contexts. A R&D project in Danish schools has studied how the curriculum for grades 6-10 can be embedded in immersive narrative roleplay scenarios, and the implications for the learners’ motivation...... engaging the learners in narrative educational role-play. These include how the learners engagement in role-play can afford emotionally encoded memory, socially and contextually anchored interactions with the learning material as well as empathy and self-regulation.Based on the findings from the R...

  8. Nightmare frequency is related to a propensity for mirror behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nielsen, Tore; Powell, Russell A; Kuiken, Don

    2013-12-01

    We previously reported that college students who indicated engaging in frequent dream-enacting behaviors also scored high on a new measure of mirror behaviors, which is the propensity to imitate another person's emotions or actions. Since dream-enacting behaviors are frequently the culmination of nightmares, one explanation for the observed relationship is that individuals who frequently display mirror behaviors are also prone to nightmares. We used the Mirror Behavior Questionnaire (MBQ) and self-reported frequencies of nightmares to assess this possibility. A sample of 480 students, consisting of 188 males (19.2±1.73 years) and 292 females (19.0±1.55 years) enrolled in a first-year university psychology course, participated for course credit. They completed a battery of questionnaires that included the 16-item MBQ, plus an item about nightmare frequency (NMF) in the past 30 days. NMF scores were split to create low, medium, and high NMF groups. MBQ total scores were significantly higher for female than for male subjects, but an interaction revealed that this was true only for Hi-NMF subjects. MBQ Factor 4, Motor Skill Imitation, paralleled this global interaction for females, whereas MBQ Factor 3, Sleepiness/Anger Contagion, was elevated only for Hi-NMF males. Item analyses indicated that Hi- and Med-NMF females scored higher than Lo-NMF females on the 3 items of Factor 4 that reflect voluntary imitation (imitating famous/cartoon voices, being a physically active spectator, and learning new skills by observing), as well as on 2 other items that reflect involuntary imitation (contagious yawning and self-rated empathy). Although Hi- and Lo-NMF males differed most clearly on the sleepiness item of Factor 3, all 3 items on this factor (including anger contagion and contagious yawning) are plausibly associated with perception of and response to social threat. Results provide evidence that among females nightmares are associated with voluntary and involuntary mirror

  9. MSFC Test Results for Selected Mirrors: Brush-Wellman/Goodrich 0.5 meter Joined-Beryllium Mirror; IABG 0.5 meter C/SiC Mirror; Xinetics 0.5 meter SiC Mirror; and Kodak 0.23 meter SiO2 Mirror

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadaway, James; Blackwell, Lisa; Matthews, Gary; Eng, Ron; Stahl, Phil; Hraba, John; Thornton, Gary

    2002-01-01

    The results of cryo tests performed at the XRCF on the above mirrors will be presented. Each mirror was tested from room-temperature to around 30 K. The first three were tested together on a 3-mirror stand in the large chamber using the PhaseCam interferometer, while the Kodak mirror was tested in the small chamber using the EPI interferometer.

  10. My avatar, my self identity in video role-playing games

    CERN Document Server

    Waggoner, Zach

    2009-01-01

    With videogames now one of the world's most popular diversions, the virtual world has increasing psychological influence on real-world players. This book examines the relationships between virtual and non-virtual identity in visual role-playing games. Utilizing James Gee's theoretical constructs of real-world identity, virtual-world identity, and projective identity, this research shows dynamic, varying and complex relationships between the virtual avatar and the player's sense of self and makes recommendations of terminology for future identity researchers.

  11. The mediational role of identification in the relationship between experience mode and self-efficacy: Enactive role-playing versus passive observation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Wei

    2008-12-01

    Abstract Based on Social Cognitive Theory, this study proposes a new concept-mediated enactive experience to understand game playing effects on self-efficacy in the context of a health promotion role-playing game. An experiment demonstrated that a mediated enactive experience afforded by game playing was more effective than a mediated observational experience provided by game watching in influencing self-efficacy. It was found that identification with the game character partially mediated the relationship between experience mode and self-efficacy.

  12. Dimensional accuracy of ceramic self-ligating brackets and estimates of theoretical torsional play.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Youngran; Lee, Dong-Yul; Kim, Yoon-Ji R

    2016-09-01

    To ascertain the dimensional accuracies of some commonly used ceramic self-ligation brackets and the amount of torsional play in various bracket-archwire combinations. Four types of 0.022-inch slot ceramic self-ligating brackets (upper right central incisor), three types of 0.018-inch ceramic self-ligating brackets (upper right central incisor), and three types of rectangular archwires (0.016 × 0.022-inch beta-titanium [TMA] (Ormco, Orange, Calif), 0.016 × 0.022-inch stainless steel [SS] (Ortho Technology, Tampa, Fla), and 0.019 × 0.025-inch SS (Ortho Technology)) were measured using a stereomicroscope to determine slot widths and wire cross-sectional dimensions. The mean acquired dimensions of the brackets and wires were applied to an equation devised by Meling to estimate torsional play angle (γ). In all bracket systems, the slot tops were significantly wider than the slot bases (P brackets, and Clippy-Cs (Tomy, Futaba, Fukushima, Japan) among the 0.018-inch brackets. The Damon Clear (Ormco) bracket had the smallest dimensional error (0.542%), whereas the 0.022-inch Empower Clear (American Orthodontics, Sheboygan, Wis) bracket had the largest (3.585%). The largest amount of theoretical play is observed using the Empower Clear (American Orthodontics) 0.022-inch bracket combined with the 0.016 × 0.022-inch TMA wire (Ormco), whereas the least amount occurs using the 0.018 Clippy-C (Tomy) combined with 0.016 × 0.022-inch SS wire (Ortho Technology).

  13. The Axisymmetric Tandem Mirror: A Magnetic Mirror Concept Game Changer Magnet Mirror Status Study Group

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simonen, T.; Cohen, R.; Correll, D.; Fowler, K.; Post, D.; Berk, H.; Horton, W.; Hooper, E.B.; Fisch, N.; Hassam, A.; Baldwin, D.; Pearlstein, D.; Logan, G.; Turner, B.; Moir, R.; Molvik, A.; Ryutov, D.; Ivanov, A.A; Kesner, J.; Cohen, B.; McLean, H.; Tamano, T.; Tang, X.Z.; Imai, T.

    2008-01-01

    Experimental results, theory and innovative ideas now point with increased confidence to the possibility of a Gas Dynamic Trap (GDT) neutron source which would be on the path to an attractively simple Axisymmetric Tandem Mirror (ATM) power plant. Although magnetic mirror research was terminated in the US 20 years ago, experiments continued in Japan (Gamma 10) and Russia (GDT), with a very small US effort. This research has now yielded data, increased understanding, and generated ideas resulting in the new concepts described here. Early mirror research was carried out with circular axisymmetric magnets. These plasmas were MHD unstable due to the unfavorable magnetic curvature near the mid-plane. Then the minimum-B concept emerged in which the field line curvature was everywhere favorable and the plasma was situated in a MHD stable magnetic well (70% average beta in 2XII-B). The Ioffe-bar or baseball-coil became the standard for over 40 years. In the 1980's, driven by success with minimum-B stabilization and the control of ion cyclotron instabilities in PR6 and 2XII-B, mirrors were viewed as a potentially attractive concept with near-term advantages as a lower Q neutron source for applications such as a hybrid fission fuel factory or toxic waste burner. However there are down sides to the minimum-B geometry: coil construction is complex; restraining magnetic forces limit field strength and mirror ratios. Furthermore, the magnetic field lines have geodesic curvature which introduces resonant and neoclassical radial transport as observed in early tandem mirror experiments. So what now leads us to think that simple axisymmetric mirror plasmas can be stable? The Russian GDT experiment achieves on-axis 60% beta by peaking of the kinetic plasma pressure near the mirror throat (where the curvature is favorable) to counter-balance the average unfavorable mid-plane curvature. Then a modest augmentation of plasma pressure in the expander results in stability. The GDT

  14. The Axisymmetric Tandem Mirror: A Magnetic Mirror Concept Game Changer Magnet Mirror Status Study Group

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simonen, T; Cohen, R; Correll, D; Fowler, K; Post, D; Berk, H; Horton, W; Hooper, E B; Fisch, N; Hassam, A; Baldwin, D; Pearlstein, D; Logan, G; Turner, B; Moir, R; Molvik, A; Ryutov, D; Ivanov, A A; Kesner, J; Cohen, B; McLean, H; Tamano, T; Tang, X Z; Imai, T

    2008-10-24

    Experimental results, theory and innovative ideas now point with increased confidence to the possibility of a Gas Dynamic Trap (GDT) neutron source which would be on the path to an attractively simple Axisymmetric Tandem Mirror (ATM) power plant. Although magnetic mirror research was terminated in the US 20 years ago, experiments continued in Japan (Gamma 10) and Russia (GDT), with a very small US effort. This research has now yielded data, increased understanding, and generated ideas resulting in the new concepts described here. Early mirror research was carried out with circular axisymmetric magnets. These plasmas were MHD unstable due to the unfavorable magnetic curvature near the mid-plane. Then the minimum-B concept emerged in which the field line curvature was everywhere favorable and the plasma was situated in a MHD stable magnetic well (70% average beta in 2XII-B). The Ioffe-bar or baseball-coil became the standard for over 40 years. In the 1980's, driven by success with minimum-B stabilization and the control of ion cyclotron instabilities in PR6 and 2XII-B, mirrors were viewed as a potentially attractive concept with near-term advantages as a lower Q neutron source for applications such as a hybrid fission fuel factory or toxic waste burner. However there are down sides to the minimum-B geometry: coil construction is complex; restraining magnetic forces limit field strength and mirror ratios. Furthermore, the magnetic field lines have geodesic curvature which introduces resonant and neoclassical radial transport as observed in early tandem mirror experiments. So what now leads us to think that simple axisymmetric mirror plasmas can be stable? The Russian GDT experiment achieves on-axis 60% beta by peaking of the kinetic plasma pressure near the mirror throat (where the curvature is favorable) to counter-balance the average unfavorable mid-plane curvature. Then a modest augmentation of plasma pressure in the expander results in stability. The GDT

  15. EEG study of the mirror neuron system in children with high functioning autism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raymaekers, Ruth; Wiersema, Jan Roelf; Roeyers, Herbert

    2009-12-22

    Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are characterised by an impaired imitation, thought to be critical for early affective, social and communicative development. One neurological system proposed to underlie this function is the mirror neuron system (MNS) and previous research has suggested a dysfunctional MNS in ASD. The EEG mu frequency, more precisely the reduction of the mu power, is considered to be an index for mirror neuron functioning. In this work, EEG registrations are used to evaluate the mirror neuron functioning of twenty children with high functioning autism (HFA) between 8 and 13 years. Their mu suppression to self-executed and observed movement is compared to typically developing peers and related to age, intelligence and symptom severity. Both groups show significant mu suppression to both self and observed hand movements. No group differences are found in either condition. These results do not support the hypothesis that HFA is associated with a dysfunctional MNS. The discrepancy with previous research is discussed in light of the heterogeneity of the ASD population.

  16. Learning Pre-Played Solos: Self-Regulated Learning Strategies in Jazz/Improvised Music

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nielsen, Siw G.

    2015-01-01

    This article reports on the self-regulated learning strategies of two advanced students in jazz/improvised music education when learning pre-played solos over well-known jazz tunes. The students were enrolled in a well-established performance degree programme in a music conservatoire, and videotaped their own individual practice sessions. In…

  17. Mirror, mirror on my Facebook wall: effects of exposure to Facebook on self-esteem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzales, Amy L; Hancock, Jeffrey T

    2011-01-01

    Contrasting hypotheses were posed to test the effect of Facebook exposure on self-esteem. Objective Self-Awareness (OSA) from social psychology and the Hyperpersonal Model from computer-mediated communication were used to argue that Facebook would either diminish or enhance self-esteem respectively. The results revealed that, in contrast to previous work on OSA, becoming self-aware by viewing one's own Facebook profile enhances self-esteem rather than diminishes it. Participants that updated their profiles and viewed their own profiles during the experiment also reported greater self-esteem, which lends additional support to the Hyperpersonal Model. These findings suggest that selective self-presentation in digital media, which leads to intensified relationship formation, also influences impressions of the self.

  18. Mirror Neurons, the Development of Empathy, and Digital Story Telling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hess, Mary

    2012-01-01

    This article explores the intersection of work in media education, religious education, concerns about digital cultures' impact on human relationality, and the possible role that mirror neurons might play in the development of empathy. Digital story telling--particularly as embodied in the work of the Center for Digital Storytelling…

  19. Slp-76 is a critical determinant of NK-cell mediated recognition of missing-self targets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lampe, Kristin; Endale, Mehari; Cashman, Siobhan; Fang, Hao; Mattner, Jochen; Hildeman, David; Hoebe, Kasper

    2015-07-01

    Absence of MHC class I expression is an important mechanism by which NK cells recognize a variety of target cells, yet the pathways underlying "missing-self" recognition, including the involvement of activating receptors, remain poorly understood. Using ethyl-N-nitrosourea mutagenesis in mice, we identified a germline mutant, designated Ace, with a marked defect in NK cell mediated recognition and elimination of "missing-self" targets. The causative mutation was linked to chromosome 11 and identified as a missense mutation (Thr428Ile) in the SH2 domain of Slp-76-a critical adapter molecule downstream of ITAM-containing surface receptors. The Slp-76 Ace mutation behaved as a hypomorphic allele-while no major defects were observed in conventional T-cell development/function, a marked defect in NK cell mediated elimination of β2-microglobulin (β2M) deficient target cells was observed. Further studies revealed Slp-76 to control NK-cell receptor expression and maturation; however, activation of Slp-76(ace/ace) NK cells through ITAM-containing NK-cell receptors or allogeneic/tumor target cells appeared largely unaffected. Imagestream analysis of the NK-β2M(-/-) target cell synapse revealed a specific defect in actin recruitment to the conjugate synapse in Slp-76(ace/ace) NK cells. Overall these studies establish Slp-76 as a critical determinant of NK-cell development and NK cell mediated elimination of missing-self target cells in mice. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  20. Observing complex action sequences: The role of the fronto-parietal mirror neuron system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molnar-Szakacs, Istvan; Kaplan, Jonas; Greenfield, Patricia M; Iacoboni, Marco

    2006-11-15

    A fronto-parietal mirror neuron network in the human brain supports the ability to represent and understand observed actions allowing us to successfully interact with others and our environment. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we wanted to investigate the response of this network in adults during observation of hierarchically organized action sequences of varying complexity that emerge at different developmental stages. We hypothesized that fronto-parietal systems may play a role in coding the hierarchical structure of object-directed actions. The observation of all action sequences recruited a common bilateral network including the fronto-parietal mirror neuron system and occipito-temporal visual motion areas. Activity in mirror neuron areas varied according to the motoric complexity of the observed actions, but not according to the developmental sequence of action structures, possibly due to the fact that our subjects were all adults. These results suggest that the mirror neuron system provides a fairly accurate simulation process of observed actions, mimicking internally the level of motoric complexity. We also discuss the results in terms of the links between mirror neurons, language development and evolution.

  1. Measurement of assertive behavior: construct and predictive validity of self-report, role-playing, and in-vivo measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burkhart, B R; Green, S B; Harrison, W H

    1979-04-01

    Examined the predictive validity and construct equivalence of the three major procedures used to measure assertive behavior: Self-report, behavioral role-playing, and in-vivo assessment. Seventy-five Ss, who spanned the range of assertiveness, completed two self-report measures of assertiveness, the Rathus Assertiveness Scale (RAS) and the College Self-Expression Scale (CSES); two scales from the Endler S-R Inventory of General Trait Anxiousness, the interpersonal and general anxiety scales; eight role-playing situations that involved the expression of positive and negative assertiveness; and a telephone in-vivo task. In general, the study revealed the following: (1) assertiveness measures are task-dependent in that there was more overlap within task than between tasks; (2) there is a moderate degree of correspondence between self-report and role-playing measures, although this was true only for negative assertion; (3) positive and negative assertion do not appear to have the same topography of responding; and (4) there appears to be no consistent relationship between the in-vivo measure and any other type of assertiveness measure.

  2. Facial Emotion Recognition and Expression in Parkinson's Disease: An Emotional Mirror Mechanism?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ricciardi, Lucia; Visco-Comandini, Federica; Erro, Roberto; Morgante, Francesca; Bologna, Matteo; Fasano, Alfonso; Ricciardi, Diego; Edwards, Mark J; Kilner, James

    2017-01-01

    Parkinson's disease (PD) patients have impairment of facial expressivity (hypomimia) and difficulties in interpreting the emotional facial expressions produced by others, especially for aversive emotions. We aimed to evaluate the ability to produce facial emotional expressions and to recognize facial emotional expressions produced by others in a group of PD patients and a group of healthy participants in order to explore the relationship between these two abilities and any differences between the two groups of participants. Twenty non-demented, non-depressed PD patients and twenty healthy participants (HC) matched for demographic characteristics were studied. The ability of recognizing emotional facial expressions was assessed with the Ekman 60-faces test (Emotion recognition task). Participants were video-recorded while posing facial expressions of 6 primary emotions (happiness, sadness, surprise, disgust, fear and anger). The most expressive pictures for each emotion were derived from the videos. Ten healthy raters were asked to look at the pictures displayed on a computer-screen in pseudo-random fashion and to identify the emotional label in a six-forced-choice response format (Emotion expressivity task). Reaction time (RT) and accuracy of responses were recorded. At the end of each trial the participant was asked to rate his/her confidence in his/her perceived accuracy of response. For emotion recognition, PD reported lower score than HC for Ekman total score (pemotions sub-scores happiness, fear, anger, sadness (pfacial emotion expressivity task, PD and HC significantly differed in the total score (p = 0.05) and in the sub-scores for happiness, sadness, anger (all pemotions. There was a significant positive correlation between the emotion facial recognition and expressivity in both groups; the correlation was even stronger when ranking emotions from the best recognized to the worst (R = 0.75, p = 0.004). PD patients showed difficulties in recognizing emotional

  3. Play Therapy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawver, Timothy; Blankenship, Kelly

    2008-01-01

    Play therapy is a treatment modality in which the therapist engages in play with the child. Its use has been documented in a variety of settings and with a variety of diagnoses. Treating within the context of play brings the therapist and the therapy to the level of the child. By way of an introduction to this approach, a case is presented of a six-year-old boy with oppositional defiant disorder. The presentation focuses on the events and interactions of a typical session with an established patient. The primary issues of the session are aggression, self worth, and self efficacy. These themes manifest themselves through the content of the child’s play and narration of his actions. The therapist then reflects these back to the child while gently encouraging the child toward more positive play. Though the example is one of nondirective play therapy, a wide range of variation exists under the heading of play therapy. PMID:19724720

  4. Word Play: Scaffolding Language Development through Child-Directed Play

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wasik, Barbara A.; Jacobi-Vessels, Jill L.

    2017-01-01

    Play is an important activity in young children's lives. It is how children explore their world and build knowledge. Although free play, which is play that is totally child directed, contributes to children's learning, self-regulation and motivation, adults' participation in children's play is critical in their development, especially their…

  5. Clinical characteristics of mirror syndrome: a comparison of 10 cases of mirror syndrome with non-mirror syndrome fetal hydrops cases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirata, Go; Aoki, Shigeru; Sakamaki, Kentaro; Takahashi, Tsuneo; Hirahara, Fumiki; Ishikawa, Hiroshi

    2016-01-01

    To investigate clinical features of mirror syndrome. We retrospectively reviewed 71 cases of fetal hydrops with or without mirror syndrome, and compared with respect to maternal age, the body mass index, the primipara rate, the gestational age at delivery, the timing of fetal hydrops onset, the severity of fetal edema, placental swelling, the laboratory data and the fetal mortality. The data are expressed as the medians. Mirror syndrome developed in 29% (10/35) of the cases with fetal hydrops. In mirror group, the onset time of fetal hydrops was significantly earlier (29 weeks versus 31 weeks, p = 0.011), and the severity of fetal hydrops (fetal edema/biparietal diameter) was significantly higher than non-mirror group (0.23 versus 0.16, p < 0.001). There was significantly higher serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) (453,000 IU/L versus 80,000 IU/L, p < 0.001) and lower hemoglobin (8.9 g/dL versus 10.1 g/dL, p =0.002), hypoalbuminemia (2.3 mg/dL versus 2.7 mg/dL, p = 0.007), hyperuricemia (6.4 mg/dL versus 5.0 mg/dL, p = 0.043) in mirror group. Mirror syndrome is occurred frequently in early and severe fetal hydrops and cause hemodilution and elevation of serum hCG.

  6. The function of mirror neurons in the learning process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mara Daniel

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In the last years, Neurosciences have developed very much, being elaborated many important theories scientific research in the field. The main goal of neuroscience is to understand how groups of neurons interact to create the behavior. Neuroscientists studying the action of molecules, genes and cells. It also explores the complex interactions involved in motion perception, thoughts, emotions and learning. Brick fundamental nervous system is the nerve cell, neuron. Neurons exchange information by sending electrical signals and chemical through connections called synapses. Discovered by a group of Italian researchers from the University of Parma, neurons - mirror are a special class of nerve cells played an important role in the direct knowledge, automatic and unconscious environment. These cortical neurons are activated not only when an action is fulfilled, but when we see how the same action is performed by someone else, they represent neural mechanism by which the actions, intentions and emotions of others can be understood automatically. In childhood neurons - mirror are extremely important. Thanks to them we learned a lot in the early years: smile, to ask for help and, in fact, all the behaviors and family and group norms. People learn by what they see and sense the others. Neurons - mirror are important to understanding the actions and intentions of other people and learn new skills through mirror image. They are involved in planning and controlling actions, abstract thinking and memory. If a child observes an action, neurons - mirror is activated and forming new neural pathways as if even he takes that action. Efficient activity of mirror neurons leads to good development in all areas at a higher emotional intelligence and the ability to empathize with others.

  7. Small mirror fusion reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carlson, G.A.; Schultz, K.R.; Smith, A.C. Jr.

    1978-01-01

    Basic requirements for the pilot plants are that they produce a net product and that they have a potential for commercial upgrade. We have investigated a small standard mirror fusion-fission hybrid, a two-component tandem mirror hybrid, and two versions of a field-reversed mirror fusion reactor--one a steady state, single cell reactor with a neutral beam-sustained plasma, the other a moving ring field-reversed mirror where the plasma passes through a reaction chamber with no energy addition

  8. Ethnic differences in the self-recognition of obesity and obesity-related comorbidities: a cross-sectional analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sivalingam, Senthil K; Ashraf, Javed; Vallurupalli, Neelima; Friderici, Jennifer; Cook, James; Rothberg, Michael B

    2011-06-01

    Obesity and its related co-morbidities place a huge burden on the health care system. Patients who know they are obese may better control their weight or seek medical attention. Self-recognition may be affected by race/ethnicity, but little is known about racial/ethnic differences in knowledge of obesity's health risks. To examine awareness of obesity and attendant health risks among US whites, Hispanics and African-Americans. Cross-sectional self-administered survey. Adult patients at three general medical clinics and one cardiology clinic. Thirty-one questions regarding demographics, height and weight, and perceptions and attitudes regarding obesity and associated health risks. Multiple logistic regression was used to quantify the association between ethnicity and obesity awareness, controlling for socio-demographic confounders. Of 1,090 patients who were offered the survey, 1,031 completed it (response rate 95%); a final sample size of 970 was obtained after exclusion for implausible BMI, mixed or Asian ethnicity. Mean age was 47 years; 64% were female, 39% were white, 39% Hispanic and 22% African-American; 48% were obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m(2)). Among obese subjects, whites were more likely to self-report obesity than minorities (adjusted proportions: 95% of whites vs. 84% of African-American and 86% of Hispanics, P = 0.006). Ethnic differences in obesity recognition disappeared when BMI was >35 kg/m(2). African-Americans were significantly less likely than whites or Hispanics to view obesity as a health problem (77% vs. 90% vs. 88%, p self-identified obese patients, 99% wanted to lose weight, but only 60% received weight loss advice from their health care provider. African-Americans and Hispanics are significantly less likely to self report obesity and associated health risks. Educational efforts may be necessary, especially for patients with BMIs between 30 and 35.

  9. Cortical Motor Organization, Mirror Neurons, and Embodied Language: An Evolutionary Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonardo Fogassi

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available The recent conceptual achievement that the cortical motor system plays a crucial role not only in motor control but also in higher cognitive functions has given a new perspective also on the involvement of motor cortex in language perception and production. In particular, there is evidence that the matching mechanism based on mirror neurons can be involved in both pho-nological recognition and retrieval of meaning, especially for action word categories, thus suggesting a contribution of an action–perception mechanism to the automatic comprehension of semantics. Furthermore, a compari-son of the anatomo-functional properties of the frontal motor cortex among different primates and their communicative modalities indicates that the combination of the voluntary control of the gestural communication systems and of the vocal apparatus has been the critical factor in the transition from a gestural-based communication into a predominantly speech-based system. Finally, considering that the monkey and human premotor-parietal motor system, plus the prefrontal cortex, are involved in the sequential motor organization of actions and in the hierarchical combination of motor elements, we propose that elements of such motor organization have been exploited in other domains, including some aspects of the syntactic structure of language.

  10. Investigating Strength and Frequency Effects in Recognition Memory Using Type-2 Signal Detection Theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Higham, Philip A.; Perfect, Timothy J.; Bruno, Davide

    2009-01-01

    Criterion- versus distribution-shift accounts of frequency and strength effects in recognition memory were investigated with Type-2 signal detection receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, which provides a measure of metacognitive monitoring. Experiment 1 demonstrated a frequency-based mirror effect, with a higher hit rate and lower…

  11. "Atypical touch perception in MTS may derive from an abnormally plastic self-representation".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bufalari, Ilaria; Porciello, Giuseppina; Aglioti, Salvatore Maria

    2015-01-01

    Mirror Touch Synesthetes (MTSs) feel touch while they observe others being touched. According to the authors, two complementary theoretical frameworks, the Threshold Theory and the Self-Other Theory, explain Mirror Touch Synesthesia (MTS). Based on the behavioral evidence that in MTSs the mere observation of touch is sufficient to elicit self-other merging (i.e., self-representation changes), a condition that in non-MTSs just elicits self-other sharing (i.e., mirroring activity without self-other blurring), and on the rTPJ anatomical alterations in MTS, we argue that MTS may derive from an abnormally plastic self-representation and atypical multisensory integrative mechanisms.

  12. Recognition of Prior Learning, Self-Realisation and Identity within Axel Honneth's Theory of Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandberg, Fredrik; Kubiak, Chris

    2013-01-01

    This paper argues for the significance of Axel Honneth's theory of recognition for understanding recognition of prior learning (RPL). Case studies of the experiences of RPL by paraprofessional workers in health and social care in the UK and Sweden are used to explicate this significance. The results maintain that there are varying conditions of…

  13. Modeling the Development of Goal-Specificity in Mirror Neurons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thill, Serge; Svensson, Henrik; Ziemke, Tom

    2011-12-01

    Neurophysiological studies have shown that parietal mirror neurons encode not only actions but also the goal of these actions. Although some mirror neurons will fire whenever a certain action is perceived (goal-independently), most will only fire if the motion is perceived as part of an action with a specific goal. This result is important for the action-understanding hypothesis as it provides a potential neurological basis for such a cognitive ability. It is also relevant for the design of artificial cognitive systems, in particular robotic systems that rely on computational models of the mirror system in their interaction with other agents. Yet, to date, no computational model has explicitly addressed the mechanisms that give rise to both goal-specific and goal-independent parietal mirror neurons. In the present paper, we present a computational model based on a self-organizing map, which receives artificial inputs representing information about both the observed or executed actions and the context in which they were executed. We show that the map develops a biologically plausible organization in which goal-specific mirror neurons emerge. We further show that the fundamental cause for both the appearance and the number of goal-specific neurons can be found in geometric relationships between the different inputs to the map. The results are important to the action-understanding hypothesis as they provide a mechanism for the emergence of goal-specific parietal mirror neurons and lead to a number of predictions: (1) Learning of new goals may mostly reassign existing goal-specific neurons rather than recruit new ones; (2) input differences between executed and observed actions can explain observed corresponding differences in the number of goal-specific neurons; and (3) the percentage of goal-specific neurons may differ between motion primitives.

  14. Field reversal in mirror machines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pearlstein, L.D.; Anderson, D.V.; Boozer, A.H.

    1978-01-01

    This report discusses some of the physics issues anticipated in field-reversed mirrors. The effect of current cancellation due to electrons is described. An estimate is made of the required impurity level to maintain a field-reversed configuration. The SUPERLAYER code is used to simulate the high-β 2XIIB results, and favorable comparisons require inclusion of quasilinear RF turbulence. Impact of a quadrupole field on field-line closure and resonant transport is discussed. A simple self-consistent model of ion currents is presented. Conditions for stability of field-reversed configurations to E x B driven rotations are determined

  15. Crystal structure of Vδ1 T cell receptor in complex with CD1d-sulfatide shows MHC-like recognition of a self-lipid by human γδ T cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luoma, Adrienne M; Castro, Caitlin D; Mayassi, Toufic; Bembinster, Leslie A; Bai, Li; Picard, Damien; Anderson, Brian; Scharf, Louise; Kung, Jennifer E; Sibener, Leah V; Savage, Paul B; Jabri, Bana; Bendelac, Albert; Adams, Erin J

    2013-12-12

    The nature of the antigens recognized by γδ T cells and their potential recognition of major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-like molecules has remained unclear. Members of the CD1 family of lipid-presenting molecules are suggested ligands for Vδ1 TCR-expressing γδ T cells, the major γδ lymphocyte population in epithelial tissues. We crystallized a Vδ1 TCR in complex with CD1d and the self-lipid sulfatide, revealing the unusual recognition of CD1d by germline Vδ1 residues spanning all complementarity-determining region (CDR) loops, as well as sulfatide recognition separately encoded by nongermline CDR3δ residues. Binding and functional analysis showed that CD1d presenting self-lipids, including sulfatide, was widely recognized by gut Vδ1+ γδ T cells. These findings provide structural demonstration of MHC-like recognition of a self-lipid by γδ T cells and reveal the prevalence of lipid recognition by innate-like T cell populations. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Implementation of Positive Operator-Valued Measure in Passive Faraday Mirror Attack

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Wei-Long; Gao Ming; Ma Zhi

    2015-01-01

    Passive Faraday-mirror (PFM) attack is based on imperfect Faraday mirrors in practical quantum cryptography systems and a set of three-dimensional Positive Operator-Valued Measure (POVM) operators plays an important role in this attack. In this paper, we propose a simple scheme to implement the POVM in PFM attack on an Faraday–Michelson quantum cryptography system. Since the POVM can not be implemented directly with previous methods, in this scheme it needs to expand the states sent by Alice and the POVM operators in the attack into four-dimensional Hilbert space first, without changing the attacking effect by calculation. Based on the methods proposed by Ahnert and Payne, the linear-optical setup for implementing the POVM operators is derived. At last, the complete setup for realizing the PFM attack is presented with all parameters. Furthermore, our scheme can also be applied to realize PFM attack on a plug-and-play system by changing the parameters in the setup. (paper)

  17. Self-organization comprehensive real-time state evaluation model for oil pump unit on the basis of operating condition classification and recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Wei; Yu, Xuchao; Zhang, Laibin; Lu, Wenqing

    2018-05-01

    In oil transmission station, the operating condition (OC) of an oil pump unit sometimes switches accordingly, which will lead to changes in operating parameters. If not taking the switching of OCs into consideration while performing a state evaluation on the pump unit, the accuracy of evaluation would be largely influenced. Hence, in this paper, a self-organization Comprehensive Real-Time State Evaluation Model (self-organization CRTSEM) is proposed based on OC classification and recognition. However, the underlying model CRTSEM is built through incorporating the advantages of Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Model (FCEM) first. That is to say, independent state models are established for every state characteristic parameter according to their distribution types (i.e. the Gaussian distribution and logistic regression distribution). Meanwhile, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is utilized to calculate the weights of state characteristic parameters. Then, the OC classification is determined by the types of oil delivery tasks, and CRTSEMs of different standard OCs are built to constitute the CRTSEM matrix. On the other side, the OC recognition is realized by a self-organization model that is established on the basis of Back Propagation (BP) model. After the self-organization CRTSEM is derived through integration, real-time monitoring data can be inputted for OC recognition. At the end, the current state of the pump unit can be evaluated by using the right CRTSEM. The case study manifests that the proposed self-organization CRTSEM can provide reasonable and accurate state evaluation results for the pump unit. Besides, the assumption that the switching of OCs will influence the results of state evaluation is also verified.

  18. Bronze rainbow hologram mirrors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawson, P.

    2006-02-01

    This project draws on holographic embossing techniques, ancient artistic conventions of bronze mirror design and modelling and casting processes to accomplish portraiture of reflection. Laser scanning, 3D computer graphics and holographic imaging are employed to enable a permanent 3D static holographic image to appear integrated with the real-time moving reflection of a viewer's face in a polished bronze disc. The disc and the figure which holds it (caryatid) are cast in bronze from a lost wax model, a technique which has been used for millennia to make personal mirrors. The Caryatid form of bronze mirror which went through many permutations in ancient Egyptian, Greece and Rome shows a plethora of expressive figure poses ranging from sleek nudes to highly embellished multifigure arrangements. The prototype of this series was made for Australian choreographer Graeme Murphy, Artistic Director of the Sydney Dance Company. Each subsequent mirror will be unique in figure and holographic imagery as arranged between artist and subject. Conceptually this project references both the modern experience of viewing mirrors retrieved from ancient tombs, which due to deterioration of the surface no longer reflect, and the functioning of Chinese Magic mirrors, which have the ability to project a predetermined image. Inspired by the metaphorical potential of these mirrors, which do not reflect the immediate reality of the viewer, this bronze hologram mirror series enables each viewer to reflect upon himself or herself observing simultaneously the holographic image and their own partially obliterated reflection.

  19. Plasma heating and hot ion sustaining in mirror based hybrids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moiseenko, V. E.; Ågren, O.

    2012-01-01

    Possibilities of plasma heating and sloshing ion sustaining in mirror based hybrids are briefly reviewed. Sloshing ions, i.e. energetic ions with a velocity distribution concentrated to a certain pitch-angle, play an important role in plasma confinement and generation of fusion neutrons in mirror machines. Neutral beam injection (NBI) is first discussed as a method to generate sloshing ions. Numerical results of NBI modeling for a stellarator-mirror hybrid are analyzed. The sloshing ions could alternatively be sustained by RF heating. Fast wave heating schemes, i.e. magnetic beach, minority and second harmonic heating, are addressed and their similarities and differences are described. Characteristic features of wave propagation in mirror hybrid devices including both fundamental harmonic minority and second harmonic heating are examined. Minority heating is efficient for a wide range of minority concentration and plasma densities; it allows one to place the antenna aside from the hot ion location. A simple-design strap antenna suitable for this has good performance. However, this scenario is appropriate only for light minority ions. The second harmonic heating can be applied for the heavy ion component. Arrangements are similar for minority and second harmonic heating. The efficiency of second harmonic heating is influenced by a weaker wave damping than for minority heating. Numerical calculations show that in a hybrid reactor scaled mirror machine the deuterium sloshing ions could be heated within the minority heating scheme, while the tritium ions could be sustained by second harmonic heating.

  20. Hebbian learning and predictive mirror neurons for actions, sensations and emotions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keysers, Christian; Gazzola, Valeria

    2014-01-01

    Spike-timing-dependent plasticity is considered the neurophysiological basis of Hebbian learning and has been shown to be sensitive to both contingency and contiguity between pre- and postsynaptic activity. Here, we will examine how applying this Hebbian learning rule to a system of interconnected neurons in the presence of direct or indirect re-afference (e.g. seeing/hearing one's own actions) predicts the emergence of mirror neurons with predictive properties. In this framework, we analyse how mirror neurons become a dynamic system that performs active inferences about the actions of others and allows joint actions despite sensorimotor delays. We explore how this system performs a projection of the self onto others, with egocentric biases to contribute to mind-reading. Finally, we argue that Hebbian learning predicts mirror-like neurons for sensations and emotions and review evidence for the presence of such vicarious activations outside the motor system.

  1. Nature and Extent of Person Recognition Impairments Associated with Capgras Syndrome in Lewy Body Dementia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris M. Fiacconi

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Patients with Capgras Syndrome (CS adopt the delusional belief that persons well-known to them have been replaced by an imposter. Several current theoretical models of CS attribute such misidentification problems to deficits in covert recognition processes related to the generation of appropriate affective autonomic signals. These models assume intact overt recognition processes for the imposter and, more broadly, for other individuals. As such, it has been suggested that CS could reflect the ‘mirror image’ of prosopagnosia. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether overt person recognition abilities are indeed always spared in CS. Furthermore, we examined whether CS might be associated with any impairments in overt affective judgments of facial expressions. We pursued these goals by studying a patient with Lewy Body Dementia (DLB who showed clear signs of CS, and by comparing him to another patient with DLB who did not experience CS, as well as to a group of healthy control participants. We assessed overt person recognition with three fame recognition tasks, using faces, voices, and names as cues. We also included measures of confidence and probed pertinent semantic knowledge. In addition, participants rated the intensity of fearful facial expressions. We found that CS was associated with overt person recognition deficits when probed with faces and voices, but not with names. Critically, these deficits were not present in the DLB patient without CS. In addition, CS was associated with impairments in overt judgments of affect intensity. Taken together, our findings cast doubt on the traditional view that CS is the mirror-image of prosopagnosia and that it spares overt recognition abilities. These findings can still be accommodated by models of CS that emphasize deficits in autonomic responding, to the extent that the potential role of interoceptive awareness in overt judgments is taken into account.

  2. Self-Assembled Core-Satellite Gold Nanoparticle Networks for Ultrasensitive Detection of Chiral Molecules by Recognition Tunneling Current.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yuanchao; Liu, Jingquan; Li, Da; Dai, Xing; Yan, Fuhua; Conlan, Xavier A; Zhou, Ruhong; Barrow, Colin J; He, Jin; Wang, Xin; Yang, Wenrong

    2016-05-24

    Chirality sensing is a very challenging task. Here, we report a method for ultrasensitive detection of chiral molecule l/d-carnitine based on changes in the recognition tunneling current across self-assembled core-satellite gold nanoparticle (GNP) networks. The recognition tunneling technique has been demonstrated to work at the single molecule level where the binding between the reader molecules and the analytes in a nanojunction. This process was observed to generate a unique and sensitive change in tunneling current, which can be used to identify the analytes of interest. The molecular recognition mechanism between amino acid l-cysteine and l/d-carnitine has been studied with the aid of SERS. The different binding strength between homo- or heterochiral pairs can be effectively probed by the copper ion replacement fracture. The device resistance was measured before and after the sequential exposures to l/d-carnitine and copper ions. The normalized resistance change was found to be extremely sensitive to the chirality of carnitine molecule. The results suggested that a GNP networks device optimized for recognition tunneling was successfully built and that such a device can be used for ultrasensitive detection of chiral molecules.

  3. Mirror Fusion Test Facility: an intermediate device to a mirror fusion reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karpenko, V.N.

    1983-01-01

    The Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF-B) now under construction at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory represents more than an order-of-magnitude step from earlier magnetic-mirror experiments toward a future mirror fusion reactor. In fact, when the device begins operating in 1986, the Lawson criteria of ntau = 10 14 cm -3 .s will almost be achieved for D-T equivalent operation, thus signifying scientific breakeven. Major steps have been taken to develop MFTF-B technologies for tandem mirrors. Steady-state, high-field, superconducting magnets at reactor-revelant scales are used in the machine. The 30-s beam pulses, ECRH, and ICRH will also introduce steady-state technologies in those systems

  4. Self-Face and Self-Body Recognition in Autism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gessaroli, Erica; Andreini, Veronica; Pellegri, Elena; Frassinetti, Francesca

    2013-01-01

    The advantage in responding to self vs. others' body and face-parts (the so called self-advantage) is considered to reflect the implicit access to the bodily self representation and has been studied in healthy and brain-damaged adults in previous studies. If the distinction of the self from others is a key aspect of social behaviour and is a…

  5. Mirror plasma apparatus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moir, R.W.

    1981-01-01

    A mirror plasma apparatus which utilizes shielding by arc discharge to form a blanket plasma and lithium walls to reduce neutron damage to the wall of the apparatus. An embodiment involves a rotating liquid lithium blanket for a tandem mirror plasma apparatus wherein the first wall of the central mirror cell is made of liquid lithium which is spun with angular velocity great enough to keep the liquid lithium against the first material wall, a blanket plasma preventing the lithium vapor from contaminating the plasma

  6. Mesmerising mirror neurons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heyes, Cecilia

    2010-06-01

    Mirror neurons have been hailed as the key to understanding social cognition. I argue that three currents of thought-relating to evolution, atomism and telepathy-have magnified the perceived importance of mirror neurons. When they are understood to be a product of associative learning, rather than an adaptation for social cognition, mirror neurons are no longer mesmerising, but they continue to raise important questions about both the psychology of science and the neural bases of social cognition. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Playful biometrics: controversial technology through the lens of play.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellerbrok, Ariane

    2011-01-01

    This article considers the role of play in the context of technological emergence and expansion, particularly as it relates to recently emerging surveillance technologies. As a case study, I consider the trajectory of automated face recognition—a biometric technology of numerous applications, from its more controversial manifestations under the rubric of national security to a clearly emerging orientation toward play. This shift toward “playful” biometrics—or from a technology traditionally coded as “hard” to one now increasingly coded as “soft”—is critical insofar as it renders problematic the traditional modes of critique that have, up until this point, challenged the expansion of biometric systems into increasingly ubiquitous realms of everyday life. In response to this dynamic, I propose theorizing the expansion of face recognition specifically in relation to “play,” a step that allows us to broaden the critical space around newly emerging playful biometrics, as well as playful surveillance more generally. In addition, play may also have relevance for theorizing other forms of controversial technology, particularly given its potential role in processes of obfuscation, normalization, and marginalization.

  8. Geometry of mirror manifolds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aspinwall, P.S.; Luetken, C.A.

    1991-01-01

    We analyze the mirror manifold hypothesis in one and three dimensions using the simplest available representations of the N = 2 superconformal algebra. The symmetries of these tensor models can be divided out to give an explicit representation of the mirror, and we give a simple group theoretical algorithm for determining which symmetries should be used. We show that the mirror of a superconformal field theory does not always have a geometrical interpretation, but when it does, deformations of complex structure of one manifold are reflected in deformations of the Kaehler form of the mirror manifold, and we show how the large radius limit of a manifold corresponds to a large complex structure limit in the mirror manifold. The mirror of the Tian-Yau three generation model is constructed both as a conformal field theory and as an algebraic variety with Euler number six. The Hodge numbers of this manifolds are fixed, but the intersection numbes are highly ambiguous, presumably reflected a rich structure of multicritical points in the moduli space of the field theory. (orig.)

  9. Self-oriented nanoparticles for site-selective immunoglobulin G recognition via epitope imprinting approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çorman, Mehmet Emin; Armutcu, Canan; Uzun, Lokman; Say, Rıdvan; Denizli, Adil

    2014-11-01

    Molecular imprinting is a polymerization technique that provides synthetic analogs for template molecules. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have gained much attention due to their unique properties such as selectivity and specificity for target molecules. In this study, we focused on the development of polymeric materials with molecular recognition ability, so molecular imprinting was combined with miniemulsion polymerization to synthesize self-orienting nanoparticles through the use of an epitope imprinting approach. Thus, L-lysine imprinted nanoparticles (LMIP) were synthesized via miniemulsion polymerization technique. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) was then bound to the cavities that specifically formed for L-lysine molecules that are typically found at the C-terminus of the Fc region of antibody molecules. The resulting nanoparticles makes it possible to minimize the nonspecific interaction between monomer and template molecules. In addition, the orientation of the entire IgG molecule was controlled, and random imprinting of the IgG was prevented. The optimum conditions were determined for IgG recognition using the imprinted nanoparticles. The selectivity of the nanoparticles against IgG molecules was also evaluated using albumin and hemoglobin as competitor molecules. In order to show the self-orientation capability of imprinted nanoparticles, human serum albumin (HSA) adsorption onto both the plain nanoparticles and immobilized nanoparticles by anti-human serum albumin antibody (anti-HSA antibody) was also carried out. Due to anti-HSA antibody immobilization on the imprinted nanoparticles, the adsorption capability of nanoparticles against HSA molecules vigorously enhanced. It is proved that the oriented immobilization of antibodies was appropriately succeeded. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. The Impact of Sex Differences on Odor Identification and Facial Affect Recognition in Patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

    OpenAIRE

    Mossaheb, Nilufar; Kaufmann, Rainer M.; Schlögelhofer, Monika; Aninilkumparambil, Thushara; Himmelbauer, Claudia; Gold, Anna; Zehetmayer, Sonja; Hoffmann, Holger; Traue, Harald C.; Aschauer, Harald

    2018-01-01

    Background Social interactive functions such as facial emotion recognition and smell identification have been shown to differ between women and men. However, little is known about how these differences are mirrored in patients with schizophrenia and how these abilities interact with each other and with other clinical variables in patients vs. healthy controls. Methods Standardized instruments were used to assess facial emotion recognition [Facially Expressed Emotion Labelling (FEEL)] and smel...

  11. The Impact of Sex Differences on Odor Identification and Facial Affect Recognition in Patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

    OpenAIRE

    Nilufar Mossaheb; Rainer M. Kaufmann; Monika Schlögelhofer; Thushara Aninilkumparambil; Claudia Himmelbauer; Anna Gold; Sonja Zehetmayer; Holger Hoffmann; Harald C. Traue; Harald Aschauer

    2018-01-01

    BackgroundSocial interactive functions such as facial emotion recognition and smell identification have been shown to differ between women and men. However, little is known about how these differences are mirrored in patients with schizophrenia and how these abilities interact with each other and with other clinical variables in patients vs. healthy controls.MethodsStandardized instruments were used to assess facial emotion recognition [Facially Expressed Emotion Labelling (FEEL)] and smell i...

  12. Mirror systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fogassi, Leonardo; Ferrari, Pier Francesco

    2011-01-01

    Mirror neurons are a class of visuomotor neurons, discovered in the monkey premotor cortex and in an anatomically connected area of the inferior parietal lobule, that activate both during action execution and action observation. They constitute a circuit dedicated to match actions made by others with the internal motor representations of the observer. It has been proposed that this matching system enables individuals to understand others' behavior and motor intentions. Here we will describe the main features of mirror neurons in monkeys. Then we will present evidence of the presence of a mirror system in humans and of its involvement in several social-cognitive functions, such as imitation, intention, and emotion understanding. This system may have several implications at a cognitive level and could be linked to specific social deficits in humans such as autism. Recent investigations addressed the issue of the plasticity of the mirror neuron system in both monkeys and humans, suggesting also their possible use in rehabilitation. WIREs Cogn Sci 2011 2 22-38 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.89 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Self-focused attention and the experience of emotion: attraction, repulsion, elation, and depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheier, M F; Carver, C S

    1977-09-01

    Four experiments were conducted to study the effect of self-focused attention on affective reactions. In addition, the research was also intended to help resolve the controversy over attentional versus arousal explanations of self-awareness research. In Experiment 1, undergraduate men were asked to view and rate slides of nude women in the presence of a mirror or with no mirror. In Experiment 3, subjects were either exposed or not exposed to a mirror and read a set of mood statements which became either increasingly positive or increasingly negative. Experiments 2 and 4 conceptually replicated Experiments 1 and 3 by selecting subjects on the basis of private self-consciousness. In each study, self-focused attention increased the person's responsiveness to his transient affective state. The convergence between mirror-manipulated self-awareness and private self-consciousness was offered as support for an attentional interpretation of the findings. The implications of the research for self-awareness theory are discussed.

  14. Longing for existential recognition: a qualitative study of everyday concerns for people with somatoform disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lind, Annemette Bondo; Risoer, Mette Bech; Nielsen, Klaus; Delmar, Charlotte; Christensen, Morten Bondo; Lomborg, Kirsten

    2014-02-01

    Patients with somatoform disorders could be vulnerable to stressors and have difficulties coping with stress. The aim was to explore what the patients experience as stressful and how they resolve stress in everyday life. A cross-sectional retrospective design using 24 semi-structured individual life history interviews. Data-analysis was based on grounded theory. A major concern in patients was a longing for existential recognition. This influenced the patients' self-confidence, stress appraisals, symptom perceptions, and coping attitudes. Generally, patients had difficulties with self-confidence and self-recognition of bodily sensations, feelings, vulnerability, and needs, which negatively framed their attempts to obtain recognition in social interactions. Experiences of recognition appeared in three different modalities: 1) "existential misrecognition" covered the experience of being met with distrust and disrespect, 2) "uncertain existential recognition" covered experiences of unclear communication and a perception of not being totally recognized, and 3) "successful existential recognition" covered experiences of total respect and understanding. "Misrecognition" and "uncertain recognition" related to decreased self-confidence, avoidant coping behaviours, increased stress, and symptom appraisal; whereas "successful recognition" related to higher self-confidence, active coping behaviours, decreased stress, and symptom appraisal. Different modalities of existential recognition influenced self-identity and social identity affecting patients' daily stress and symptom appraisals, self-confidence, self-recognition, and coping attitudes. Clinically it seems crucial to improve the patients' ability to communicate concerns, feelings, and needs in social interactions. Better communicative skills and more active coping could reduce the harm the patients experienced by not being recognized and increase the healing potential of successful recognition. Copyright © 2013

  15. The Effects of Group Play Therapy on Self-Concept Among 7 to 11 Year-Old Children Suffering From Thalassemia Major.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomaj, Ome Kolsoum; Estebsari, Fatemeh; Taghavi, Taraneh; Borim Nejad, Leili; Dastoorpoor, Maryam; Ghasemi, Afsaneh

    2016-04-01

    Children suffering from thalassemia have higher levels of depression and lower levels of self-concept. The aim of this study was to determine if group play therapy could significantly increase self-concept among children with thalassemia major ages 7 to 11 years old in teaching hospitals of Golestan province, Iran, in 2012. In this randomized, controlled clinical trial, 60 children with thalassemia major were randomly assigned to intervention (30 children) and control (30 children) groups. The intervention included eight 45 to 60 minute sessions during four weeks, during which the intervention group received group play therapy. The control group received no interventions. Self-concept was measured three times using the Piers-Harris children's self-concept scale: before, immediately after, and a month after the intervention. For the intervention group, results showed that the mean self-concept score was significantly higher at the second point in time compared to the baseline (P 0.05). The results showed that group play therapy improves self-concept in children suffering from thalassemia major.

  16. F-Type Lectins: A Highly Diversified Family of Fucose-Binding Proteins with a Unique Sequence Motif and Structural Fold, Involved in Self/Non-Self-Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerardo R. Vasta

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The F-type lectin (FTL family is one of the most recent to be identified and structurally characterized. Members of the FTL family are characterized by a fucose recognition domain [F-type lectin domain (FTLD] that displays a novel jellyroll fold (“F-type” fold and unique carbohydrate- and calcium-binding sequence motifs. This novel lectin family comprises widely distributed proteins exhibiting single, double, or greater multiples of the FTLD, either tandemly arrayed or combined with other structurally and functionally distinct domains, yielding lectin subunits of pleiotropic properties even within a single species. Furthermore, the extraordinary variability of FTL sequences (isoforms that are expressed in a single individual has revealed genetic mechanisms of diversification in ligand recognition that are unique to FTLs. Functions of FTLs in self/non-self-recognition include innate immunity, fertilization, microbial adhesion, and pathogenesis, among others. In addition, although the F-type fold is distinctive for FTLs, a structure-based search revealed apparently unrelated proteins with minor sequence similarity to FTLs that displayed the FTLD fold. In general, the phylogenetic analysis of FTLD sequences from viruses to mammals reveals clades that are consistent with the currently accepted taxonomy of extant species. However, the surprisingly discontinuous distribution of FTLDs within each taxonomic category suggests not only an extensive structural/functional diversification of the FTLs along evolutionary lineages but also that this intriguing lectin family has been subject to frequent gene duplication, secondary loss, lateral transfer, and functional co-option.

  17. Gasdynamic Mirror Fusion Propulsion Experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emrich, Bill; Rodgers, Stephen L. (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    A gasdynamic mirror (GDM) fusion propulsion experiment is currently being constructed at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to test the feasibility of this particular type of fusion device. Because of the open magnetic field line configuration of mirror fusion devices, they are particularly well suited for propulsion system applications since they allow for the easy ejection of thrust producing plasma. Currently, the MSFC GDM is constructed in three segments. The vacuum chamber mirror segment, the plasma injector mirror segment, and the main plasma chamber segment. Enough magnets are currently available to construct up to three main plasma chamber segments. The mirror segments are also segmented such that they can be expanded to accommodate new end plugging strategies with out requiring the disassembly of the entire mirror segment. The plasma for the experiment is generated in a microwave cavity located between the main magnets and the mirror magnets. Ion heating is accomplished through ambipolar diffusion. The objective of the experiment is to investigate the stability characteristics of the gasdynamic mirror and to map a region of parameter space within which the plasma can be confined in a stable steady state configuration. The mirror ratio, plasma density, and plasma "b" will be varied over a range of values and measurements subsequently taken to determine the degree of plasma stability.

  18. Review of mirror fusion reactor designs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bender, D.J.

    1977-01-01

    Three magnetic confinement concepts, based on the mirror principle, are described. These mirror concepts are summarized as follows: (1) fusion-fission hybrid reactor, (2) tandem mirror reactor, and (3) reversed field mirror reactor

  19. Personality Correlates of Self-Report, Role-Playing, and In Vivo Measures of Assertiveness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Samuel B.; And Others

    1979-01-01

    Undergraduates completed self-report inventories of assertiveness, participated in behavior role-playing tasks and in vivo measures of assertiveness, and completed the Personality Research Form E (PRF-E). Of 22 PRF-E scales, 11 had at least one significant correlation with assertiveness measures. Some composites of PRF-E scales were related to…

  20. The obsidian mirror The obsidian mirror

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria do Socorro Reis Amorin

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available The author James Norman is an American who has always lived in Mexico during the summer. He seems to love Mexican - Indian traditions and he is well acquainted with the pre-historic culture as it is shown in his book: "The Obsidian Mirror". "The Obsidian Mirror" is a mysterious story about an archeologist: Quigley that lives in a small village in Mexico-San Marcos. He is searching for antiques that belong to some tribes of pre-historic Indians in order to find out their mysteries. Quigley becomes so engaged in his work that his mind has reached a stage that is impossible to separate between Quigley the archeologist, and Quigley as an ancient Indian. The culture, the myth, the sensation of Omen - characteristics of the Indians are within himself. As a result, Quigley acts sometimes as a real Indian. The author James Norman is an American who has always lived in Mexico during the summer. He seems to love Mexican - Indian traditions and he is well acquainted with the pre-historic culture as it is shown in his book: "The Obsidian Mirror". "The Obsidian Mirror" is a mysterious story about an archeologist: Quigley that lives in a small village in Mexico-San Marcos. He is searching for antiques that belong to some tribes of pre-historic Indians in order to find out their mysteries. Quigley becomes so engaged in his work that his mind has reached a stage that is impossible to separate between Quigley the archeologist, and Quigley as an ancient Indian. The culture, the myth, the sensation of Omen - characteristics of the Indians are within himself. As a result, Quigley acts sometimes as a real Indian.

  1. Reflective metallic coatings for first mirrors on ITER

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eren, Baran; Marot, Laurent; Litnovsky, Andrey; Matveeva, Maria; Steiner, Roland; Emberger, Valentin; Wisse, Marco; Mathys, Daniel; Covarel, Gregory; Meyer, Ernst

    2011-01-01

    Metallic mirrors are foreseen to play a crucial role for all optical diagnostics in ITER. Therefore, the development of reliable techniques for the production of mirrors which are able to maintain their optical properties in the harsh ITER environment is highly important. By applying magnetron sputtering and evaporation techniques, rhodium and molybdenum films have been prepared for tokamak tests. The films were characterised in terms of chemical composition, surface roughness, crystallite structure, reflectivity and adhesion. No impurities were detected on the surface after deposition. The effects of deposition parameters and substrate temperature on the resulting crystallite structure, surface roughness and hence on the reflectivity, were investigated. The films are found to exhibit nanometric crystallites with a dense columnar structure. Open boundaries between the crystallite columns, which are sometimes present after evaporation, are found to reduce the reflectivity as compared to rhodium or molybdenum references.

  2. Reflective metallic coatings for first mirrors on ITER

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eren, Baran, E-mail: baran.eren@unibas.ch [Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel (Switzerland); Marot, Laurent [Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel (Switzerland); Litnovsky, Andrey; Matveeva, Maria [Institut fuer Energieforschung (Plasmaphysik), Forschungszentrum Juelich, Association EURATOM-FZJ, D 52425 Juelich (Germany); Steiner, Roland; Emberger, Valentin; Wisse, Marco [Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel (Switzerland); Mathys, Daniel [Centre of Microscopy, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 50/70, CH-4056 Basel (Switzerland); Covarel, Gregory [Laboratoire de Physique et Mecanique Textile EA CNRS 7189, Universite de Haute Alsace, 61 rue Albert Camus, 68093 Mulhouse Cedex (France); Meyer, Ernst [Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel (Switzerland)

    2011-10-15

    Metallic mirrors are foreseen to play a crucial role for all optical diagnostics in ITER. Therefore, the development of reliable techniques for the production of mirrors which are able to maintain their optical properties in the harsh ITER environment is highly important. By applying magnetron sputtering and evaporation techniques, rhodium and molybdenum films have been prepared for tokamak tests. The films were characterised in terms of chemical composition, surface roughness, crystallite structure, reflectivity and adhesion. No impurities were detected on the surface after deposition. The effects of deposition parameters and substrate temperature on the resulting crystallite structure, surface roughness and hence on the reflectivity, were investigated. The films are found to exhibit nanometric crystallites with a dense columnar structure. Open boundaries between the crystallite columns, which are sometimes present after evaporation, are found to reduce the reflectivity as compared to rhodium or molybdenum references.

  3. Depression recognition and capacity for self-report among ethnically diverse nursing homes residents: Evidence of disparities in screening.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chun, Audrey; Reinhardt, Joann P; Ramirez, Mildred; Ellis, Julie M; Silver, Stephanie; Burack, Orah; Eimicke, Joseph P; Cimarolli, Verena; Teresi, Jeanne A

    2017-12-01

    To examine agreement between Minimum Data Set clinician ratings and researcher assessments of depression among ethnically diverse nursing home residents using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire. Although depression is common among nursing homes residents, its recognition remains a challenge. Observational baseline data from a longitudinal intervention study. Sample of 155 residents from 12 long-term care units in one US facility; 50 were interviewed in Spanish. Convergence between clinician and researcher ratings was examined for (i) self-report capacity, (ii) suicidal ideation, (iii) at least moderate depression, (iv) Patient Health Questionnaire severity scores. Experiences by clinical raters using the depression assessment were analysed. The intraclass correlation coefficient was used to examine concordance and Cohen's kappa to examine agreement between clinicians and researchers. Moderate agreement (κ = 0.52) was observed in determination of capacity and poor to fair agreement in reporting suicidal ideation (κ = 0.10-0.37) across time intervals. Poor agreement was observed in classification of at least moderate depression (κ = -0.02 to 0.24), lower than the maximum kappa obtainable (0.58-0.85). Eight assessors indicated problems assessing Spanish-speaking residents. Among Spanish speakers, researchers identified 16% with Patient Health Questionnaire scores of 10 or greater, and 14% with thoughts of self-harm whilst clinicians identified 6% and 0%, respectively. This study advances the field of depression recognition in long-term care by identification of possible challenges in assessing Spanish speakers. Use of the Patient Health Questionnaire requires further investigation, particularly among non-English speakers. Depression screening for ethnically diverse nursing home residents is required, as underreporting of depression and suicidal ideation among Spanish speakers may result in lack of depression recognition and referral for evaluation and

  4. Self-Organizing Neural Integration of Pose-Motion Features for Human Action Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    German Ignacio Parisi

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The visual recognition of complex, articulated human movements is fundamental for a wide range of artificial systems oriented towards human-robot communication, action classification, and action-driven perception. These challenging tasks may generally involve the processing of a huge amount of visual information and learning-based mechanisms for generalizing a set of training actions and classifying new samples. To operate in natural environments, a crucial property is the efficient and robust recognition of actions, also under noisy conditions caused by, for instance, systematic sensor errors and temporarily occluded persons. Studies of the mammalian visual system and its outperforming ability to process biological motion information suggest separate neural pathways for the distinct processing of pose and motion features at multiple levels and the subsequent integration of these visual cues for action perception. We present a neurobiologically-motivated approach to achieve noise-tolerant action recognition in real time. Our model consists of self-organizing Growing When Required (GWR networks that obtain progressively generalized representations of sensory inputs and learn inherent spatiotemporal dependencies. During the training, the GWR networks dynamically change their topological structure to better match the input space. We first extract pose and motion features from video sequences and then cluster actions in terms of prototypical pose-motion trajectories. Multi-cue trajectories from matching action frames are subsequently combined to provide action dynamics in the joint feature space. Reported experiments show that our approach outperforms previous results on a dataset of full-body actions captured with a depth sensor, and ranks among the best 21 results for a public benchmark of domestic daily actions.

  5. LASERS: Stimulated emission in a solid-state ring laser with a stimulated Brillouin scattering mirror

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barashkov, M. S.; Bel'dyugin, Igor'M.; Zolotarev, M. V.; Krymskiĭ, M. I.; Oshkin, S. P.; Umnov, A. F.; Kharchenko, M. A.

    1990-06-01

    The results are presented of an experimental investigation of a solid-state ring laser with a stimulated Brillouin scattering mirror and lasing initiated by a series of ~ 200-300 ns pulses of 1.06 μm wavelength. It is shown that this laser may be useful for the development of a source with radiation parameters controlled by an external signal (energy, transverse and time structure) and also of a low-threshold mirror for phase self-conjugation of radiation.

  6. The neurobiology of self-face recognition in depressed adolescents with low or high suicidality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quevedo, Karina; Ng, Rowena; Scott, Hannah; Martin, Jodi; Smyda, Garry; Keener, Matt; Oppenheimer, Caroline W

    2016-11-01

    This study sought to test whether the neurobiology of self-processing differentiated depressed adolescents with high suicidality (HS) from those with low suicidality (LS) and healthy controls (HC; N = 119, MAGE = 14.79, SD = 1.64, Min = 11.3, Max = 17.8). Participants completed a visual self-recognition task in the scanner during which they identified their own or an unfamiliar adolescent face across 3 emotional expressions (happy, neutral or sad). A 3-group (HS, LS, HC) by 2 within-subject factors (2 Self conditions [self, other] and 3 Emotions [happy, neutral, sad]) GLM yielded (a) a main effect of Self condition with all participants showing higher activity in the right occipital, precuneus and fusiform during the self- versus other-face conditions; (b) a main effect of Group where all depressed youth showed higher dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity than HC across all conditions, and with HS showing higher cuneus and occipital activity versus both LS and HC; and (c) a Group by Self by Emotion interaction with HS showing lower activity in both mid parietal, limbic, and prefrontal areas in the Happy self versus other-face condition relative to the LS group, who in turn had less activity compared to HC youth. Covarying for depression severity replicated all results except the third finding; In this subsequent analysis, a Group by Self interaction showed that although HC had similar midline cortical structure (MCS) activity for all faces, LS showed higher MCS activity for the self versus other faces, whereas HS showed the opposite pattern. Results suggest that the neurophysiology of emotionally charged self-referential information can distinguish depressed, suicidal youth versus nonsuicidal depressed and healthy adolescents. Neurophysiological differences and implications for the prediction of suicidality in youth are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  7. Tandem mirror plasma confinement apparatus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fowler, T. Kenneth

    1978-11-14

    Apparatus and method for confining a plasma in a center mirror cell by use of two end mirror cells as positively charged end stoppers to minimize leakage of positive particles from the ends of the center mirror cell.

  8. Magneto-hydrodynamically stable axisymmetric mirrors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ryutov, D. D.; Cohen, B. I.; Molvik, A. W. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551 (United States); Berk, H. L. [University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States); Simonen, T. C. [University of California, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)

    2011-09-15

    Making axisymmetric mirrors magnetohydrodynamically (MHD) stable opens up exciting opportunities for using mirror devices as neutron sources, fusion-fission hybrids, and pure-fusion reactors. This is also of interest from a general physics standpoint (as it seemingly contradicts well-established criteria of curvature-driven instabilities). The axial symmetry allows for much simpler and more reliable designs of mirror-based fusion facilities than the well-known quadrupole mirror configurations. In this tutorial, after a summary of classical results, several techniques for achieving MHD stabilization of the axisymmetric mirrors are considered, in particular: (1) employing the favorable field-line curvature in the end tanks; (2) using the line-tying effect; (3) controlling the radial potential distribution; (4) imposing a divertor configuration on the solenoidal magnetic field; and (5) affecting the plasma dynamics by the ponderomotive force. Some illuminative theoretical approaches for understanding axisymmetric mirror stability are described. The applicability of the various stabilization techniques to axisymmetric mirrors as neutron sources, hybrids, and pure-fusion reactors are discussed; and the constraints on the plasma parameters are formulated.

  9. Survey of mirror machine reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Condit, W.C.

    1978-01-01

    The Magnetic Mirror Fusion Program is one of the two main-line fusion efforts in the United States. Starting from the simple axisymmetric mirror concept in the 1950's, the program has successfully overcome gross flute-type instabilities (using minimum-B magnetic fields), and the most serious of the micro-instabilities which plagued it (the drift-cyclotron loss-cone mode). Dense plasmas approaching the temperature range of interest for fusion have been created (n/sub p/ = 10 14 /cc at 10 to 12 keV). At the same time, rather extensive conceptual design studies of possible mirror configurations have led to three principle designs of interest: the standard mirror fission-fusion hybrid, tandem mirror, and the field-reversed mirror. The lectures will discuss these three concepts in turn. There will be no discussion of diagnostics for the mirror machine in these lectures, but typical plasma parameters will be given for each type of machine, and the diagnostic requirements will be apparent. In a working fusion reactor, diagnostics will be required for operational control, and remarks will be made on this subject

  10. Facial Emotion Recognition and Expression in Parkinson’s Disease: An Emotional Mirror Mechanism?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ricciardi, Lucia; Visco-Comandini, Federica; Erro, Roberto; Morgante, Francesca; Bologna, Matteo; Fasano, Alfonso; Ricciardi, Diego; Edwards, Mark J.; Kilner, James

    2017-01-01

    Background and aim Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients have impairment of facial expressivity (hypomimia) and difficulties in interpreting the emotional facial expressions produced by others, especially for aversive emotions. We aimed to evaluate the ability to produce facial emotional expressions and to recognize facial emotional expressions produced by others in a group of PD patients and a group of healthy participants in order to explore the relationship between these two abilities and any differences between the two groups of participants. Methods Twenty non-demented, non-depressed PD patients and twenty healthy participants (HC) matched for demographic characteristics were studied. The ability of recognizing emotional facial expressions was assessed with the Ekman 60-faces test (Emotion recognition task). Participants were video-recorded while posing facial expressions of 6 primary emotions (happiness, sadness, surprise, disgust, fear and anger). The most expressive pictures for each emotion were derived from the videos. Ten healthy raters were asked to look at the pictures displayed on a computer-screen in pseudo-random fashion and to identify the emotional label in a six-forced-choice response format (Emotion expressivity task). Reaction time (RT) and accuracy of responses were recorded. At the end of each trial the participant was asked to rate his/her confidence in his/her perceived accuracy of response. Results For emotion recognition, PD reported lower score than HC for Ekman total score (pemotions sub-scores happiness, fear, anger, sadness (pfacial emotion expressivity task, PD and HC significantly differed in the total score (p = 0.05) and in the sub-scores for happiness, sadness, anger (all pemotions. There was a significant positive correlation between the emotion facial recognition and expressivity in both groups; the correlation was even stronger when ranking emotions from the best recognized to the worst (R = 0.75, p = 0.004). Conclusions PD

  11. Tandem mirror plasma confinement apparatus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fowler, T.K.

    1978-01-01

    Apparatus and method are described for confining a plasma in a center mirror cell by use of two end mirror cells as positively charged end stoppers to minimize leakage of positive particles from the ends of the center mirror cell

  12. Physics of mirror systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Post, R.F.

    1982-05-01

    In recent years the emphasis in research on the magnetic mirror approach to fusion has been shifted to address what are essentially economically-motivated issues. The introduction of the Tandem Mirror idea solved in principal the problem of low Q (low fusion power gain) of mirror-based fusion systems. In order to optimize the tandem mirror idea from an economic standpoint, some important improvements have been suggested. These improvements include the thermal barrier idea of Baldwin and Logan and the axicell concept of Kesner. These new modifications introduce some special physics considerations. Among these are (1) The MHD stability properties of high energy electron components in the end cells; (2) The optimization of end-cell magnetic field configurations with the objective of minimizing equilibrium parallel currents; (3) The suppression of microstabilities by use of sloshing ion distributions. Following a brief outline of tandem mirror concepts, the above three topics are discussed, with illustrative examples taken from earlier work or from recent design studies

  13. Is that me or my twin? Lack of self-face recognition advantage in identical twins.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matteo Martini

    Full Text Available Despite the increasing interest in twin studies and the stunning amount of research on face recognition, the ability of adult identical twins to discriminate their own faces from those of their co-twins has been scarcely investigated. One's own face is the most distinctive feature of the bodily self, and people typically show a clear advantage in recognizing their own face even more than other very familiar identities. Given the very high level of resemblance of their faces, monozygotic twins represent a unique model for exploring self-face processing. Herein we examined the ability of monozygotic twins to distinguish their own face from the face of their co-twin and of a highly familiar individual. Results show that twins equally recognize their own face and their twin's face. This lack of self-face advantage was negatively predicted by how much they felt physically similar to their co-twin and by their anxious or avoidant attachment style. We speculate that in monozygotic twins, the visual representation of the self-face overlaps with that of the co-twin. Thus, to distinguish the self from the co-twin, monozygotic twins have to rely much more than control participants on the multisensory integration processes upon which the sense of bodily self is based. Moreover, in keeping with the notion that attachment style influences perception of self and significant others, we propose that the observed self/co-twin confusion may depend upon insecure attachment.

  14. Mirror monochromator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mankos, Marian [Electron Optica, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (United States); Shadman, Khashayar [Electron Optica, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (United States)

    2014-12-02

    In this SBIR project, Electron Optica, Inc. (EOI) is developing a mirror electron monochromator (MirrorChrom) attachment to new and retrofitted electron microscopes (EMs) for improving the energy resolution of the EM from the characteristic range of 0.2-0.5 eV to the range of 10-50 meV. This improvement will enhance the characterization of materials by imaging and spectroscopy. In particular, the monochromator will refine the energy spectra characterizing materials, as obtained from transmission EMs [TEMs] fitted with electron spectrometers, and it will increase the spatial resolution of the images of materials taken with scanning EMs (SEMs) operated at low voltages. EOI’s MirrorChrom technology utilizes a magnetic prism to simultaneously deflect the electron beam off the axis of the microscope column by 90° and disperse the electrons in proportional to their energies into a module with an electron mirror and a knife-edge. The knife-edge cuts off the tails of the energy distribution to reduce the energy spread of the electrons that are reflected, and subsequently deflected, back into the microscope column. The knife-edge is less prone to contamination, and thereby charging, than the conventional slits used in existing monochromators, which improves the reliability and stability of the module. The overall design of the MirrorChrom exploits the symmetry inherent in reversing the electron trajectory in order to maintain the beam brightness – a parameter that impacts how well the electron beam can be focused downstream onto a sample. During phase I, EOI drafted a set of candidate monochromator architectures and evaluated the trade-offs between energy resolution and beam current to achieve the optimum design for three particular applications with market potential: increasing the spatial resolution of low voltage SEMs, increasing the energy resolution of low voltage TEMs (beam energy of 5-20 keV), and increasing the energy resolution of conventional TEMs (beam

  15. Physics of mirror fusion systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Post, R.F.

    1976-01-01

    Recent experimental results with the 2XIIB mirror machine at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory have demonstrated the stable confinement of plasmas at fusion temperatures and with energy densities equaling or exceeding that of the confining fields. The physics of mirror confinement is discussed in the context of these new results. Some possible approaches to further improving the confinement properties of mirror systems and the impact of these new approaches on the prospects for mirror fusion reactors are discussed

  16. Thermal effects on beryllium mirrors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weinswig, S.

    1989-01-01

    Beryllium is probably the most frequently used material for spaceborne system scan mirrors. Beryllium's properties include lightweightedness, high Young's modulus, high stiffness value, high resonance value. As an optical surface, beryllium is usually nickel plated in order to produce a higher quality surface. This process leads to the beryllium mirror acting like a bimetallic device. The mirror's deformation due to the bimetallic property can possibly degrade the performance of the associated optical system. As large space borne systems are designed and as temperature considerations become more crucial in the instruments, the concern about temporal deformation of the scan mirrors becomes a prime consideration. Therefore, two sets of tests have been conducted in order to ascertain the thermal effects on nickel plated beryllium mirrors. These tests are categorized. The purpose of this paper is to present the values of the bimetallic effect on typical nickel plated beryllium mirrors

  17. Exploring the role of neural mirroring in children with autism spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruysschaert, Lieselot; Warreyn, Petra; Wiersema, Jan R; Oostra, Ann; Roeyers, Herbert

    2014-04-01

    Investigating the underlying neural mechanisms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has recently been influenced by the discovery of mirror neurons. These neurons, active during both observation and execution of actions, are thought to play a crucial role in imitation and other social-communicative skills that are often impaired in ASD. In the current electroencephalographic study, we investigated mu suppression, indicating neural mirroring in children with ASD between the ages of 24 and 48 months and age-matched typically developing children, during observation of goal-directed actions and non-goal-directed mimicked hand movements, as well as during action execution. Results revealed no significant group differences with significant central mu suppression in the ASD children and control children during both execution and observation of goal-directed actions and during observation of hand movements. Furthermore, no significant correlations between mu suppression on one hand and quality of imitation, age, and social communication questionnaire scores on the other hand were found. These findings challenge the "broken mirror" hypothesis of ASD, suggesting that impaired neural mirroring is not a distinctive feature of ASD. © 2014 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Play Behavior in Wolves: Using the '50:50' Rule to Test for Egalitarian Play Styles.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer L Essler

    Full Text Available Social play is known as a cooperative interaction between individuals involving multiple mechanisms. However, the extent to which the equality of individuals' play styles affects the interaction has not been studied in many species. Dyadic play between wolf puppies, as well as between puppies and adults, was studied to investigate both self-handicapping and offensive behaviors to determine the extent to which wolves engage in play styles where one individual does not dominate the play. Our results did not support the hypothesized '50:50' rule, which suggests that more advantaged individuals should show higher rates of self-handicapping behaviors in order to facilitate play with others. Adult wolves performed significantly less self-handicapping behaviors than their puppy partners, and they performed significantly more offensive behaviors than their puppy partners. While the '50:50' rule was not supported at any time during our study period, dyads consisting of two puppies had significantly more equal play than dyads consisting of one puppy and one adult. These results suggest that wolf puppies are more likely to play on equal terms with similarly-aged play partners, while the dominance status of the partners dictates offensive and self-handicapping behaviors between animals of different ages.

  19. Play Behavior in Wolves: Using the '50:50' Rule to Test for Egalitarian Play Styles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Essler, Jennifer L; Cafazzo, Simona; Marshall-Pescini, Sarah; Virányi, Zsófia; Kotrschal, Kurt; Range, Friederike

    2016-01-01

    Social play is known as a cooperative interaction between individuals involving multiple mechanisms. However, the extent to which the equality of individuals' play styles affects the interaction has not been studied in many species. Dyadic play between wolf puppies, as well as between puppies and adults, was studied to investigate both self-handicapping and offensive behaviors to determine the extent to which wolves engage in play styles where one individual does not dominate the play. Our results did not support the hypothesized '50:50' rule, which suggests that more advantaged individuals should show higher rates of self-handicapping behaviors in order to facilitate play with others. Adult wolves performed significantly less self-handicapping behaviors than their puppy partners, and they performed significantly more offensive behaviors than their puppy partners. While the '50:50' rule was not supported at any time during our study period, dyads consisting of two puppies had significantly more equal play than dyads consisting of one puppy and one adult. These results suggest that wolf puppies are more likely to play on equal terms with similarly-aged play partners, while the dominance status of the partners dictates offensive and self-handicapping behaviors between animals of different ages.

  20. Near-field flat focusing mirrors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Yu-Chieh; Staliunas, Kestutis

    2018-03-01

    This article reviews recent progress towards the design of near-field flat focusing mirrors, focusing/imaging light patterns in reflection. An important feature of such flat focusing mirrors is their transverse invariance, as they do not possess any optical axis. We start with a review of the physical background to the different focusing mechanisms of near- and far-field focusing. These near-field focusing devices like flat lenses and the reviewed near-field focusing mirrors can implement planar focusing devices without any optical axis. In contrast, various types of far-field planar focusing devices, such as high-contrast gratings and metasurfaces, unavoidably break the transverse invariance due to their radially symmetrical structures. The particular realizations of near-field flat focusing mirrors including Bragg-like dielectric mirrors and dielectric subwavelength gratings are the main subjects of the review. The first flat focusing mirror was demonstrated with a chirped mirror and was shown to manage an angular dispersion for beam focusing, similar to the management of chromatic dispersion for pulse compression. Furthermore, the reviewed optimized chirped mirror demonstrated a long near-field focal length, hardly achieved by a flat lens or a planar hyperlens. Two more different configurations of dielectric subwavelength gratings that focus a light beam at normal or oblique incidence are also reviewed. We also summarize and compare focusing performance, limitations, and future perspectives between the reviewed flat focusing mirrors and other planar focusing devices including a flat lens with a negative-index material, a planar hyperlens, a high-contrast grating, and a metasurface.

  1. Potential measurements in tandem mirrors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glowienka, J.C.

    1985-11-01

    The US mirror program has begun conducting experiments with a thermal barrier tandem mirror configuration. This configuration requires a specific axial potential profile and implies measurements of potential for documentation and optimization of the configuration. This report briefly outlines the motivation for the thermal barrier tandem mirror and then outlines the techniques used to document the potential profile in conventional and thermal barrier tandem mirrors. Examples of typical data sets from the world's major tandem mirror experiments, TMX and TMX-U at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Gamma 10 at Tsukuba University in Japan, and the current interpretation of the data are discussed together with plans for the future improvement of measurements of plasma potential

  2. Playing tag with ANN: boosted top identification with pattern recognition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Almeida, Leandro G.; Backović, Mihailo; Cliche, Mathieu; Lee, Seung J.; Perelstein, Maxim

    2015-01-01

    Many searches for physics beyond the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) rely on top tagging algorithms, which discriminate between boosted hadronic top quarks and the much more common jets initiated by light quarks and gluons. We note that the hadronic calorimeter (HCAL) effectively takes a “digital image" of each jet, with pixel intensities given by energy deposits in individual HCAL cells. Viewed in this way, top tagging becomes a canonical pattern recognition problem. With this motivation, we present a novel top tagging algorithm based on an Artificial Neural Network (ANN), one of the most popular approaches to pattern recognition. The ANN is trained on a large sample of boosted tops and light quark/gluon jets, and is then applied to independent test samples. The ANN tagger demonstrated excellent performance in a Monte Carlo study: for example, for jets with p T in the 1100–1200 GeV range, 60% top-tag efficiency can be achieved with a 4% mis-tag rate. We discuss the physical features of the jets identified by the ANN tagger as the most important for classification, as well as correlations between the ANN tagger and some of the familiar top-tagging observables and algorithms.

  3. Playing tag with ANN: boosted top identification with pattern recognition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Almeida, Leandro G. [Institut de Biologie de l’École Normale Supérieure (IBENS), Inserm 1024- CNRS 8197,46 rue d’Ulm, 75005 Paris (France); Backović, Mihailo [Center for Cosmology, Particle Physics and Phenomenology - CP3,Universite Catholique de Louvain,Louvain-la-neuve (Belgium); Cliche, Mathieu [Laboratory for Elementary Particle Physics, Cornell University,Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Lee, Seung J. [Department of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,335 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701 (Korea, Republic of); School of Physics, Korea Institute for Advanced Study,Seoul 130-722 (Korea, Republic of); Perelstein, Maxim [Laboratory for Elementary Particle Physics, Cornell University,Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States)

    2015-07-17

    Many searches for physics beyond the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) rely on top tagging algorithms, which discriminate between boosted hadronic top quarks and the much more common jets initiated by light quarks and gluons. We note that the hadronic calorimeter (HCAL) effectively takes a “digital image' of each jet, with pixel intensities given by energy deposits in individual HCAL cells. Viewed in this way, top tagging becomes a canonical pattern recognition problem. With this motivation, we present a novel top tagging algorithm based on an Artificial Neural Network (ANN), one of the most popular approaches to pattern recognition. The ANN is trained on a large sample of boosted tops and light quark/gluon jets, and is then applied to independent test samples. The ANN tagger demonstrated excellent performance in a Monte Carlo study: for example, for jets with p{sub T} in the 1100–1200 GeV range, 60% top-tag efficiency can be achieved with a 4% mis-tag rate. We discuss the physical features of the jets identified by the ANN tagger as the most important for classification, as well as correlations between the ANN tagger and some of the familiar top-tagging observables and algorithms.

  4. The 'Enfacement' illusion: A window on the plasticity of the self.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porciello, Giuseppina; Bufalari, Ilaria; Minio-Paluello, Ilaria; Di Pace, Enrico; Aglioti, Salvatore Maria

    2018-02-09

    Understanding how self-representation is built, maintained and updated across the lifespan is a fundamental challenge for cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Studies demonstrate that the detection of body-related multisensory congruency builds bodily and facial self-representations that are crucial to developing self-recognition. Studies showing that the bodily self is more malleable than previously believed were mainly concerned with full-bodies and non-facial body parts. Crucially, however, intriguing recent evidence indicates that simple experimental manipulations could even affect self-face representation that has long been considered a stable construct impervious to change. In this review, we discuss how Interpersonal Multisensory Stimulation (IMS) paradigms can be used to temporarily induce Enfacement, i.e., the subjective illusion of looking at oneself in the mirror when in fact looking at another person's face. We show that Enfacement is a subtle but robust phenomenon occurring in a variety of experimental conditions and assessed by multiple explicit and implicit measures. We critically discuss recent findings on i) the role of sensory extero/proprio-ceptive (visual, tactile, and motor) and interoceptive (cardiac) signals in self-face plasticity, ii) the importance of multisensory integration mechanisms for the bodily self, and iii) the neural network related to IMS-driven changes in self-other face processing, within the predictive coding theoretical framework. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Iridium/Iridium Silicide as an Oxidation Resistant Capping Layer for Soft X-ray Mirrors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prisbrey, S; Vernon, S

    2004-01-01

    Rust on a sword, tarnish on the silverware, and a loss in reflectivity for soft x-ray mirrors are all caused by oxidation that changes the desired characteristics of a material. Methods to prevent the oxidation have varied over the centuries with the default method of a protective coating being the most common. The protective coating for x-ray mirrors is usually a self-limiting oxidized layer on the surface of the material that stops further oxidation of the material by limiting the diffusion of oxygen to the material underneath

  6. Correlations among Social Anxiety, Self-Esteem, Impulsivity, and Game Genre in Patients with Problematic Online Game Playing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Jeong Ha; Han, Doug Hyun; Kim, Bung-Nyun; Cheong, Jae Hoon

    2016-01-01

    Objective Recent studies of online game addiction have suggested that social interaction and impulsivity are critical factors for the etiology and progress of online game addiction. We hypothesized that the genre of the online game is associated with impulsivity and sociality in individuals with online game addictions. Methods In total, 212 patients with problematic online game playing were divided into four groups by game genre: 1) massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), 2) real-time strategy (RTS), 3) first-person shooter (FPS), and 4) other. Their symptoms and characteristics were assessed using 8 scales and 2 tests to estimate self-esteem, impulsiveness, comorbidity, social interaction status, and cognitive function. Results The mean social anxiety score was highest in the MMORPG group and lowest in the FPS group. The mean self-esteem score was highest in the RTS group. Social anxiety score was positively correlated with Internet addiction score in the MMORPG group, and the self-esteem score was positively correlated with Internet addiction score in the RTS group. Conclusion The genre of online game was not associated with impulsivity, but social anxiety status varied significantly with game genre, and differences in social anxiety were especially pronounced in patients playing the MMORPG (highest social anxiety) and FPS (lowest social anxiety) game genres. In addition, self-esteem was highest in the RTS game genre. PMID:27247595

  7. Correlations among Social Anxiety, Self-Esteem, Impulsivity, and Game Genre in Patients with Problematic Online Game Playing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Jeong Ha; Han, Doug Hyun; Kim, Bung-Nyun; Cheong, Jae Hoon; Lee, Young-Sik

    2016-05-01

    Recent studies of online game addiction have suggested that social interaction and impulsivity are critical factors for the etiology and progress of online game addiction. We hypothesized that the genre of the online game is associated with impulsivity and sociality in individuals with online game addictions. In total, 212 patients with problematic online game playing were divided into four groups by game genre: 1) massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), 2) real-time strategy (RTS), 3) first-person shooter (FPS), and 4) other. Their symptoms and characteristics were assessed using 8 scales and 2 tests to estimate self-esteem, impulsiveness, comorbidity, social interaction status, and cognitive function. The mean social anxiety score was highest in the MMORPG group and lowest in the FPS group. The mean self-esteem score was highest in the RTS group. Social anxiety score was positively correlated with Internet addiction score in the MMORPG group, and the self-esteem score was positively correlated with Internet addiction score in the RTS group. The genre of online game was not associated with impulsivity, but social anxiety status varied significantly with game genre, and differences in social anxiety were especially pronounced in patients playing the MMORPG (highest social anxiety) and FPS (lowest social anxiety) game genres. In addition, self-esteem was highest in the RTS game genre.

  8. Mirroring patients – or not

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Davidsen, Annette Sofie; Fosgerau, Christina Fogtmann

    2015-01-01

    on studies of imitative behaviour within linguistics and psychology, we argue that interactional mirroring is an important aspect of displaying implicit mentalization. We aimed to explore if, and in that case how, mirroring is displayed by general practitioners (GPs) and psychiatrists in consultations...... with patients with depression. We wanted to see how implicit mentalizing unfolds in physician–patient interactions. Consultations were videorecorded and analysed within the framework of conversation analysis. GPs and psychiatrists differed substantially in their propensity to mirror body movements and verbal...... and acoustic features of speech. GPs mirrored their patients more than psychiatrists in all modalities and were more flexible in their interactional behaviour. Psychiatrists seemed more static, regardless of the emotionality displayed by patients. Implicitly mirroring and attuning to patients could signify...

  9. Immune Regulation by Self-Recognition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Mads Hald

    2015-01-01

    Circulating T cells that specifically target normal self-proteins expressed by regulatory immune cells were first described in patients with cancer, but can also be detected in healthy individuals. The adaptive immune system is distinguished for its ability to differentiate between self......-antigens and foreign antigens. Thus, it was remarkable to discover T cells that apparently lacked tolerance to important self-proteins, eg, IDO, PD-L1, and FoxP3, expressed in regulatory immune cells. The ability of self-reactive T cells to react to and eliminate regulatory immune cells can influence general immune...... reactions. This suggests that they may be involved in immune homeostasis. It is here proposed that these T cells should be termed antiregulatory T cells (anti-Tregs). The role of anti-Tregs in immune-regulatory networks may be diverse. For example, pro-inflammatory self-reactive T cells that react...

  10. Exploring the mirror matter interpretation of the DAMA experiment: Has the dark matter problem been solved?

    OpenAIRE

    Foot, R.

    2004-01-01

    The self consistency between the impressive DAMA annual modulation signal and the differential energy spectrum is an important test for dark matter candidates.Mirror matter-type dark matter passes this test while other dark matter candidates, including standard (spin-independent) WIMPs and mini-electric charged particle dark matter, do not do so well.We argue that the unique properties of mirror matter-type dark matter seem to be just those required to fully explain the data, suggesting that ...

  11. Perception and recognition memory of words and werds: two-way mirror effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Becker, D Vaughn; Goldinger, Stephen D; Stone, Gregory O

    2006-10-01

    We examined associative priming of words (e.g., TOAD) and pseudohomophones of those words (e.g., TODE) in lexical decision. In addition to word frequency effects, reliable base-word frequency effects were observed for pseudohomophones: Those based on high-frequency words elicited faster and more accurate correct rejections. Associative priming had disparate effects on high- and low-frequency items. Whereas priming improved performance to high-frequency pseudohomophones, it impaired performance to low-frequency pseudohomophones. The results suggested a resonance process, wherein phonologic identity and semantic priming combine to undermine the veridical perception of infrequent items. We tested this hypothesis in another experiment by administering a surprise recognition memory test after lexical decision. When asked to identify words that were spelled correctly during lexical decision, the participants often misremembered pseudohomophones as correctly spelled items. Patterns of false memory, however, were jointly affected by base-word frequencies and their original responses during lexical decision. Taken together, the results are consistent with resonance accounts of word recognition, wherein bottom-up and top-down information sources coalesce into correct, and sometimes illusory, perception. The results are also consistent with a recent lexical decision model, REM-LD, that emphasizes memory retrieval and top-down matching processes in lexical decision.

  12. Mirror neuron activity associated with social impairments but not age in autism spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Enticott, Peter G; Kennedy, Hayley A; Rinehart, Nicole J; Tonge, Bruce J; Bradshaw, John L; Taffe, John R; Daskalakis, Zafiris J; Fitzgerald, Paul B

    2012-03-01

    The neurobiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is not particularly well understood, and biomedical treatment approaches are therefore extremely limited. A prominent explanatory model suggests that social-relating symptoms may arise from dysfunction within the mirror neuron system, while a recent neuroimaging study suggests that these impairments in ASD might reduce with age. Participants with autism spectrum disorder (i.e., DSM-IV autistic disorder or Asperger's disorder) (n = 34) and matched control subjects (n = 36) completed a transcranial magnetic stimulation study in which corticospinal excitability was assessed during the observation of hand gestures. Regression analyses revealed that the ASD group presented with significantly reduced corticospinal excitability during the observation of a transitive hand gesture (relative to observation of a static hand) (p mirror neuron system activity within ventral premotor cortex/inferior frontal gyrus. Among the ASD group, there was also a negative association between putative mirror neuron activity and self-reported social-relating impairments, but there was no indication that mirror neuron impairments in ASD decrease with age. These data provide general support for the mirror neuron hypothesis of autism; researchers now must clarify the precise functional significance of mirror neurons to truly understand their role in the neuropathophysiology of ASD and to determine whether they should be used as targets for the treatment of ASD.

  13. What do mirror neurons mirror?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Uithol, S.; Rooij, I.J.E.I. van; Bekkering, H.; Haselager, W.F.G.

    2011-01-01

    Single cell recordings in monkeys provide strong evidence for an important role of the motor system in action understanding. This evidence is backed up by data from studies of the (human) mirror neuron system using neuroimaging or TMS techniques, and behavioral experiments. Although the data

  14. Father-Infant Interaction, Paternal Ideas about Early Child Care, and Their Consequences for the Development of Children's Self-Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borke, Jorn; Lamm, Bettina; Eickhorst, Andreas; Keller, Heidi

    2007-01-01

    In this longitudinal study, the authors addressed intracultural variation on fathers' interactions with their 3-month-old infants, their ideas about parental care, and the timing of their children's self-recognition at the age of 18-20 months. Participants were 24 middle-class German fathers and their firstborn children. Two behavioral clusters…

  15. Familiar Person Recognition: Is Autonoetic Consciousness More Likely to Accompany Face Recognition Than Voice Recognition?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barsics, Catherine; Brédart, Serge

    2010-11-01

    Autonoetic consciousness is a fundamental property of human memory, enabling us to experience mental time travel, to recollect past events with a feeling of self-involvement, and to project ourselves in the future. Autonoetic consciousness is a characteristic of episodic memory. By contrast, awareness of the past associated with a mere feeling of familiarity or knowing relies on noetic consciousness, depending on semantic memory integrity. Present research was aimed at evaluating whether conscious recollection of episodic memories is more likely to occur following the recognition of a familiar face than following the recognition of a familiar voice. Recall of semantic information (biographical information) was also assessed. Previous studies that investigated the recall of biographical information following person recognition used faces and voices of famous people as stimuli. In this study, the participants were presented with personally familiar people's voices and faces, thus avoiding the presence of identity cues in the spoken extracts and allowing a stricter control of frequency exposure with both types of stimuli (voices and faces). In the present study, the rate of retrieved episodic memories, associated with autonoetic awareness, was significantly higher from familiar faces than familiar voices even though the level of overall recognition was similar for both these stimuli domains. The same pattern was observed regarding semantic information retrieval. These results and their implications for current Interactive Activation and Competition person recognition models are discussed.

  16. Evaluating a Computer Flash-Card Sight-Word Recognition Intervention with Self-Determined Response Intervals in Elementary Students with Intellectual Disability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cazzell, Samantha; Skinner, Christopher H.; Ciancio, Dennis; Aspiranti, Kathleen; Watson, Tiffany; Taylor, Kala; McCurdy, Merilee; Skinner, Amy

    2017-01-01

    A concurrent multiple-baseline across-tasks design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a computer flash-card sight-word recognition intervention with elementary-school students with intellectual disability. This intervention allowed the participants to self-determine each response interval and resulted in both participants acquiring…

  17. Advanced Mirror & Modelling Technology Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Effinger, Michael; Stahl, H. Philip; Abplanalp, Laura; Maffett, Steven; Egerman, Robert; Eng, Ron; Arnold, William; Mosier, Gary; Blaurock, Carl

    2014-01-01

    The 2020 Decadal technology survey is starting in 2018. Technology on the shelf at that time will help guide selection to future low risk and low cost missions. The Advanced Mirror Technology Development (AMTD) team has identified development priorities based on science goals and engineering requirements for Ultraviolet Optical near-Infrared (UVOIR) missions in order to contribute to the selection process. One key development identified was lightweight mirror fabrication and testing. A monolithic, stacked, deep core mirror was fused and replicated twice to achieve the desired radius of curvature. It was subsequently successfully polished and tested. A recently awarded second phase to the AMTD project will develop larger mirrors to demonstrate the lateral scaling of the deep core mirror technology. Another key development was rapid modeling for the mirror. One model focused on generating optical and structural model results in minutes instead of months. Many variables could be accounted for regarding the core, face plate and back structure details. A portion of a spacecraft model was also developed. The spacecraft model incorporated direct integration to transform optical path difference to Point Spread Function (PSF) and between PSF to modulation transfer function. The second phase to the project will take the results of the rapid mirror modeler and integrate them into the rapid spacecraft modeler.

  18. Performing self, performing character: Exploring gender performativity in online role-playing games

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heather Osborne

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Online narrative (fiction-based role-playing games and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs provide a ludic structure in which role players enact the gender and sexuality of their avatars. To investigate how role players perceive and perform their avatars' gender and sexuality in online games, I invited role players from MMORPGs and narrative RPGs to participate in an online survey. This study examines how the online game environment mediates players' self-expression and their acceptance of minority identities. Qualitative analysis of the data collected suggests that players who demonstrate empathy with and examination of their avatars' genders and sexualities, and who experience a sense of belonging within the game structure, are able to form positive interpersonal relationships that allow them to accept others' expressed identities.

  19. The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy on Self Esteem of Children With Intellectual Disability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaqayeq Bana

    2017-09-01

    Discussion: It seems that play therapy is an effective method to increase self esteem in children with intellectual disability. Therefore, educators and teachers are advised to use this method as an adjunctive therapy for such children in rehabilitation centers and schools.

  20. Issues facing the U. S. mirror program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    George, T.V.

    1978-07-01

    Some of the current issues associated with the U.S. Magnetic Mirror Program are analyzed. They are presented as five separate papers entitled: (1) Relevant Issues Broughtup by the Mirror Reactor Design Studies. (2) An Assessment of the Design Study of the 1 MeV Neutral Beam Injector Required for a Tandem Mirror Reactor. (3) The Significance of the Radial Plasma Size Measured in Units of Ion Gyroradii in Tandem Mirrors and Field Reversed Mirrors. (4) Producing Field Reversed Mirror Plasmas by Methods used in Field Reversed Theta Pinch. (5) RF Stoppering of Mirror Confined Plasma.

  1. Object recognition in images by human vision and computer vision

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chen, Q.; Dijkstra, J.; Vries, de B.

    2010-01-01

    Object recognition plays a major role in human behaviour research in the built environment. Computer based object recognition techniques using images as input are challenging, but not an adequate representation of human vision. This paper reports on the differences in object shape recognition

  2. [Face recognition in patients with autism spectrum disorders].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kita, Yosuke; Inagaki, Masumi

    2012-07-01

    The present study aimed to review previous research conducted on face recognition in patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Face recognition is a key question in the ASD research field because it can provide clues for elucidating the neural substrates responsible for the social impairment of these patients. Historically, behavioral studies have reported low performance and/or unique strategies of face recognition among ASD patients. However, the performance and strategy of ASD patients is comparable to those of the control group, depending on the experimental situation or developmental stage, suggesting that face recognition of ASD patients is not entirely impaired. Recent brain function studies, including event-related potential and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, have investigated the cognitive process of face recognition in ASD patients, and revealed impaired function in the brain's neural network comprising the fusiform gyrus and amygdala. This impaired function is potentially involved in the diminished preference for faces, and in the atypical development of face recognition, eliciting symptoms of unstable behavioral characteristics in these patients. Additionally, face recognition in ASD patients is examined from a different perspective, namely self-face recognition, and facial emotion recognition. While the former topic is intimately linked to basic social abilities such as self-other discrimination, the latter is closely associated with mentalizing. Further research on face recognition in ASD patients should investigate the connection between behavioral and neurological specifics in these patients, by considering developmental changes and the spectrum clinical condition of ASD.

  3. Mirror reactor surface study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hunt, A. L.; Damm, C. C.; Futch, A. H.; Hiskes, J. R.; Meisenheimer, R. G.; Moir, R. W.; Simonen, T. C.; Stallard, B. W.; Taylor, C. E.

    1976-09-01

    A general survey is presented of surface-related phenomena associated with the following mirror reactor elements: plasma first wall, ion sources, neutral beams, director converters, vacuum systems, and plasma diagnostics. A discussion of surface phenomena in possible abnormal reactor operation is included. Several studies which appear to merit immediate attention and which are essential to the development of mirror reactors are abstracted from the list of recommended areas for surface work. The appendix contains a discussion of the fundamentals of particle/surface interactions. The interactions surveyed are backscattering, thermal desorption, sputtering, diffusion, particle ranges in solids, and surface spectroscopic methods. A bibliography lists references in a number of categories pertinent to mirror reactors. Several complete published and unpublished reports on surface aspects of current mirror plasma experiments and reactor developments are also included.

  4. Transmission X-ray mirror

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lairson, B.M.; Bilderback, D.H.

    1982-01-01

    Transmission X-ray mirrors have been made from 400 A to 10 000 A thick soap films and have been shown to have novel properties. Using grazing angles of incidence, low energy X-rays were reflected from the front surface while more energetic X-rays were transmitted through the mirror largely unattenuated. A wide bandpass monochromator was made from a silicon carbide mirror followed by a soap film transmission mirror and operated in the white beam at the cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS). Bandpasses of ΔE/E=12% to 18% were achieved at 13 keV with peak efficiencies estimated to be between 55% and 75%, respectively. Several wide angle scattering photographs of stretched polyethylene and a phospholipid were obtained in 10 s using an 18% bandpass. (orig.)

  5. Mirror reactor surface study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hunt, A.L.; Damm, C.C.; Futch, A.H.; Hiskes, J.R.; Meisenheimer, R.G.; Moir, R.W.; Simonen, T.C.; Stallard, B.W.; Taylor, C.E.

    1976-01-01

    A general survey is presented of surface-related phenomena associated with the following mirror reactor elements: plasma first wall, ion sources, neutral beams, director converters, vacuum systems, and plasma diagnostics. A discussion of surface phenomena in possible abnormal reactor operation is included. Several studies which appear to merit immediate attention and which are essential to the development of mirror reactors are abstracted from the list of recommended areas for surface work. The appendix contains a discussion of the fundamentals of particle/surface interactions. The interactions surveyed are backscattering, thermal desorption, sputtering, diffusion, particle ranges in solids, and surface spectroscopic methods. A bibliography lists references in a number of categories pertinent to mirror reactors. Several complete published and unpublished reports on surface aspects of current mirror plasma experiments and reactor developments are also included

  6. Stress sensitive electricity based on Ag/cellulose nanofiber aerogel for self-reporting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Qiufang; Fan, Bitao; Xiong, Ye; Wang, Chao; Wang, Hanwei; Jin, Chunde; Sun, Qingfeng

    2017-07-15

    A self-reporting aerogel toward stress sensitive slectricity (SSE) was presented using an interconnected 3D fibrous network of Ag nanoparticles/cellulose nanofiber aerogel (Ag/CNF), which was prepared via combined routes of silver mirror reaction and ultrasonication. Sphere-like Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) with mean diameter of 74nm were tightly anchored in the cellulose nanofiber through by the coherent interfaces as the conductive materials. The as-prepared Ag/CNF as a self-reporting material for SSE not only possessed quick response and sensitivity, but also be easily recovered after 100th compressive cycles without plastic deformation or degradation in compressive strength. Consequently, Ag/CNF could play a viable role in self-reporting materials as a quick electric-stress responsive sensor. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Introduction to tandem mirror physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kesner, J.; Gerver, M.J.; Lane, B.G.; McVey, B.D.; Catto, P.J.; D'Ippolito, D.A.; Myra, J.R.

    1983-09-01

    This monograph, prepared jointly by the MIT Plasma Fusion Center Mirror Fusion group and SAI, Boulder, Colorado, presents a review of the development of mirror fusion theory from its conception some thirty years ago to the present. Pertinent historic experiments and their contribution are discussed to set the stage for a detailed analysis of current experiments and the problems which remain to be solved in bringing tandem mirror magnetic confinement fusion to fruition. In particular, Chapter III discusses in detail the equilibrium and stability questions which must be dealt with before tandem mirror reactors become feasible, while Chapters IV and V discuss some of the current machines and those under construction which will help to resolve critical issues in both physics and engineering whose solutions are necessary to the commercialization of tandem mirror fusion

  8. LLL mirror fusion program: summary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fowler, T.K.

    1977-01-01

    During 1976, new Mirror Program plans have been laid out to take into account the significant advances during the last 18 months. The program is now focused on two new mirror concepts, field reversal and the tandem mirror, that can obtain high Q, defined as the ratio of fusion power output to the neutral-beam power injected to sustain the reaction. Theoretically, both concepts can attain Q = 5 or more, as compared to Q = 1 in previous mirror designs. Experimental planning for the next 5 years is complete in broad outline, and we are turning attention to what additional steps are necessary to reach our long-range goal of an experimental mirror reactor operating by 1990. Highlights of the events that have led to the above circumstance are listed, and experimental program plans are outlined

  9. The impact of an implicit manipulation of self-esteem on body dissatisfaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Svaldi, J; Zimmermann, S; Naumann, E

    2012-03-01

    Given the theoretically postulated causal pathway from low self-esteem on body dissatisfaction, the aim of the present study was to experimentally test this linkage before and after a mirror exposure in body dissatisfied females. Thirty-six women with high body dissatisfaction (HBD) and 39 women with low body dissatisfaction (LBD) received either a positive or a negative implicit manipulation of self-esteem and participants' actual body dissatisfaction and negative emotions were assessed (T1). Following that, they underwent a one minute mirror exposure and actual body dissatisfaction and emotions were assessed once more (T2). In the HBD group no effects of the self-esteem manipulation were found prior to the mirror exposure. However, the negative manipulation of self-esteem led to a significant increase of body dissatisfaction over the course of the mirror exposure. The positive manipulation of self-esteem did not decrease body dissatisfaction over the course of the mirror exposure. No effects of self-esteem on body dissatisfaction were found in the LBD group. Formal eating disorder diagnosis in study participants was not established. Therefore, the extension of the results to an eating disordered population is recommended. The results yield evidence of a close linkage between negative self-esteem and body dissatisfaction in individuals high on body dissatisfaction. Consistent with cognitive theories, this link is only apparent when shape and weight schemas are activated, e.g. by the confrontation with one's own body. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Advances in telescope mirror cleaning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanken, Maarten F.; Chopping, Alan K.; Dee, Kevin M.

    2004-09-01

    Metrology and cleaning techniques for telescope mirrors are generally well established. CO2 cleaning and water washing are mainly used. Water washing has proven to be the best method of removing oil and water stains and restoring the aluminium to nearly fresh values. The risk of water getting to unwanted places such as electronics or other optics prevents this method from being employed more often. Recently the Isaac Newton Group introduced a new cleaning technique for their telescope mirrors, which reduces the risks discussed above. This technique uses water vapour instead of water to wash the mirror. The advantage of this method is that the amount of water needed is drastically reduced. In addition the pressure of the vapour will blow away any large dust particles on the mirror and the temperature shock between the vapour and the mirror will help to de-bond the dust particles. Adding a soapy solution will help to clean oil and watermarks of the mirror. This paper describes the vapour cleaning method, tests that have been done and the overall findings.

  11. The price of play: self-organized infant mortality cycles in chimpanzees.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hjalmar S Kuehl

    Full Text Available Chimpanzees have been used extensively as a model system for laboratory research on infectious diseases. Ironically, we know next to nothing about disease dynamics in wild chimpanzee populations. Here, we analyze long-term demographic and behavioral data from two habituated chimpanzee communities in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, where previous work has shown respiratory pathogens to be an important source of infant mortality. In this paper we trace the effect of social connectivity on infant mortality dynamics. We focus on social play which, as the primary context of contact between young chimpanzees, may serve as a key venue for pathogen transmission. Infant abundance and mortality rates at Taï cycled regularly and in a way that was not well explained in terms of environmental forcing. Rather, infant mortality cycles appeared to self-organize in response to the ontogeny of social play. Each cycle started when the death of multiple infants in an outbreak synchronized the reproductive cycles of their mothers. A pulse of births predictably arrived about twelve months later, with social connectivity increasing over the following two years as the large birth cohort approached the peak of social play. The high social connectivity at this play peak then appeared to facilitate further outbreaks. Our results provide the first evidence that social play has a strong role in determining chimpanzee disease transmission risk and the first record of chimpanzee disease cycles similar to those seen in human children. They also lend more support to the view that infectious diseases are a major threat to the survival of remaining chimpanzee populations.

  12. Mirror fusion--fission hybrids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, J.D.

    1978-01-01

    The fusion-fission concept and the mirror fusion-fission hybrid program are outlined. Magnetic mirror fusion drivers and blankets for hybrid reactors are discussed. Results of system analyses are presented and a reference design is described

  13. Design and investigation of photo-induced super-hydrophilic materials for car mirrors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eiamchai, Pitak; Chindaudom, Pongpan; Horprathum, Mati; Patthanasettakul, Viyapol; Limsuwan, Pichet

    2009-01-01

    During the past decades, interests in various properties in titanium dioxide thin films have been growing rapidly. There have been several reports for TiO 2 thin films prepared on various media with photocatalytic and hydrophilic properties, in order to function as self-cleaning and/or anti-fogging materials. An obvious application is usually found in side-view car mirrors in the automobile industries. In this study, a number of photocatalytic TiO 2 films are prepared on soda-lime glasses for car mirrors by an electron-beam evaporation. The designs and development of the photocatalytic TiO 2 films, based on crystallinity, deposition rate, film thickness, film structure, and surface roughness are discussed. In comparison to the commercialized products, a systematic investigation procedure for the super-hydrophilic properties of the light-induced TiO 2 films for car mirrors has been developed, based on super-hydrophilicity, sustainability, self-cleaning property, and degradation of the samples. In addition, physical characterization by X-ray diffraction and surface roughness are also discussed. It has been found that most commercial products attain super-hydrophilicity only after exposed to ultraviolet and solar irradiation in less than 1 h. They can also maintain hydrophilicity after rigorous cleaning process. On the other hand, our prepared TiO 2 thin films demonstrate super-hydrophilic and photocatalytic properties after exposed to ultraviolet light for more than 2 h. According to the study, their anatase crystallinity, small grain size, and surface conditions all contributes to the excellent results. However, the prepared samples do not attain sufficient retention property to maintain their hydrophilicity. Conclusively, the designs of the TiO 2 films on car mirrors prove adequate to produce super-hydrophilic materials, which still degrade over normal usage. Nevertheless, our proposed investigation methods prove useful in quality evaluation in order to

  14. Self-collimation-based photonic crystal notch filters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Sun-Goo; Kim, Seong-Han; Kee, Chul-Sik; Kim, Kap-Joong

    2017-01-01

    We introduce a design concept of an optical notch filter (NF) utilizing two perfectly reflecting mirrors and a beam splitter. Based on the new design concept, a photonic crystal (PC)-NF based on the self-collimation phenomenon in a two-dimensional PC is proposed and studied through finite-difference time-domain simulations and experimental measurements in a microwave region. The transmission properties of the self-collimation-based PC-NF were demonstrated to be controlled by adjusting the values of parameters such as the radius of rods in the line-defect beam splitter, distance between the two perfectly reflecting mirrors, and radius of rods on the outermost surface of the perfectly reflecting mirrors. Our results indicate that the proposed design concept could provide a new approach to manipulate light propagation, and the PC-NF could increase the applicability of the self-collimation phenomenon in a PC. (paper)

  15. Mirror Neuron System and Mentalizing System connect during online social interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sperduti, Marco; Guionnet, Sophie; Fossati, Philippe; Nadel, Jacqueline

    2014-08-01

    Two sets of brain areas are repeatedly reported in neuroimaging studies on social cognition: the Mirror Neuron System and the Mentalizing System. The Mirror System is involved in goal understanding and has been associated with several emotional and cognitive functions central to social interaction, ranging from empathy to gestural communication and imitation. The Mentalizing System is recruited in tasks requiring cognitive processes such as self-reference and understanding of other's intentions. Although theoretical accounts for an interaction between the two systems have been proposed, little is known about their synergy during social exchanges. In order to explore this question, we have recorded brain activity by means of functional MRI during live social exchanges based on reciprocal imitation of hand gestures. Here, we investigate, using the method of psychophysiological interaction, the changes in functional connectivity of the Mirror System due to the conditions of interest (being imitated, imitating) compared with passive observation of hand gestures. We report a strong coupling between the Mirror System and the Mentalizing System during the imitative exchanges. Our findings suggest a complementary role of the two networks during social encounters. The Mirror System would engage in the preparation of own actions and the simulation of other's actions, while the Mentalizing System would engage in the anticipation of the other's intention and thus would participate to the co-regulation of reciprocal actions. Beyond a specific effect of imitation, the design used offers the opportunity to tackle the role of role-switching in an interpersonal account of social cognition.

  16. Mirror symmetry, D-brane superpotentials and Ooguri-Vafa invariants of Calabi-Yau manifolds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shan-Shan; Yang, Fu-Zhong

    2015-12-01

    The D-brane superpotential is very important in the low energy effective theory. As the generating function of all disk instantons from the worldsheet point of view, it plays a crucial role in deriving some important properties of the compact Calabi-Yau manifolds. By using the generalized GKZ hypergeometric system, we will calculate the D-brane superpotentials of two non-Fermat type compact Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in toric varieties, respectively. Then according to the mirror symmetry, we obtain the A-model superpotentials and the Ooguri-Vafa invariants for the mirror Calabi-Yau manifolds. Supported by Y4JT01VJ01 and NSFC(11475178)

  17. Mirror neurons: from origin to function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Richard; Bird, Geoffrey; Catmur, Caroline; Press, Clare; Heyes, Cecilia

    2014-04-01

    This article argues that mirror neurons originate in sensorimotor associative learning and therefore a new approach is needed to investigate their functions. Mirror neurons were discovered about 20 years ago in the monkey brain, and there is now evidence that they are also present in the human brain. The intriguing feature of many mirror neurons is that they fire not only when the animal is performing an action, such as grasping an object using a power grip, but also when the animal passively observes a similar action performed by another agent. It is widely believed that mirror neurons are a genetic adaptation for action understanding; that they were designed by evolution to fulfill a specific socio-cognitive function. In contrast, we argue that mirror neurons are forged by domain-general processes of associative learning in the course of individual development, and, although they may have psychological functions, they do not necessarily have a specific evolutionary purpose or adaptive function. The evidence supporting this view shows that (1) mirror neurons do not consistently encode action "goals"; (2) the contingency- and context-sensitive nature of associative learning explains the full range of mirror neuron properties; (3) human infants receive enough sensorimotor experience to support associative learning of mirror neurons ("wealth of the stimulus"); and (4) mirror neurons can be changed in radical ways by sensorimotor training. The associative account implies that reliable information about the function of mirror neurons can be obtained only by research based on developmental history, system-level theory, and careful experimentation.

  18. The ideal self at play: the appeal of video games that let you be all you can be.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Przybylski, Andrew K; Weinstein, Netta; Murayama, Kou; Lynch, Martin F; Ryan, Richard M

    2012-01-01

    Video games constitute a popular form of entertainment that allows millions of people to adopt virtual identities. In our research, we explored the idea that the appeal of games is due in part to their ability to provide players with novel experiences that let them "try on" ideal aspects of their selves that might not find expression in everyday life. We found that video games were most intrinsically motivating and had the greatest influence on emotions when players' experiences of themselves during play were congruent with players' conceptions of their ideal selves. Additionally, we found that high levels of immersion in gaming environments, as well as large discrepancies between players' actual-self and ideal-self characteristics, magnified the link between intrinsic motivation and the experience of ideal-self characteristics during play.

  19. Childhood football play and practice in relation to self-regulation and national team selection; a study of Norwegian elite youth players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erikstad, Martin K; Høigaard, Rune; Johansen, Bjørn Tore; Kandala, Ngianga-Bakwin; Haugen, Tommy

    2018-03-09

    Childhood sport participation is argued to be important to understand differences in self-regulation and performance level in adolescence. This study sought to investigate if football-specific activities in childhood (6-12 years of age) is related to self-regulatory skills and national under 14- and 15-team selection in Norwegian elite youth football. Data of practice histories and self-regulatory skills of 515 youth football players selected at Norwegian regional level were collected and further analysed using multilevel analyses. The results revealed that high self-regulated players were more likely to be selected for national initiatives, and increased their involvement in peer-led football practice and adult-led football practice during childhood, compared to players with lower levels of self-regulation. While national level players reported higher levels of peer-led football play in childhood, the interaction effect suggest that the regional level players increased their involvement in peer-led play during childhood compared to national level players. In conclusion, the findings indicate that childhood sport participation may contribute to later differences in self-regulation, and highlights the importance of childhood engagement in football-specific play and practice in the development of Norwegian youth football players.

  20. Helically linked mirror arrangement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ranjan, P.

    1986-08-01

    A scheme is described for helical linking of mirror sections, which endeavors to combine the better features of toroidal and mirror devices by eliminating the longitudinal loss of mirror machines, having moderately high average β and steady state operation. This scheme is aimed at a device, with closed magnetic surfaces having rotational transform for equilibrium, one or more axisymmetric straight sections for reduced radial loss, a simple geometrical axis for the links and an overall positive magnetic well depth for stability. We start by describing several other attempts at linking of mirror sections, made both in the past and the present. Then a description of our helically linked mirror scheme is given. This example has three identical straight sections connected by three sections having helical geometric axes. A theoretical analysis of the magnetic field and single-particle orbits in them leads to the conclusion that most of the passing particles would be confined in the device and they would have orbits independent of pitch angle under certain conditions. Numerical results are presented, which agree well with the theoretical results as far as passing particle orbits are concerned

  1. Multiple-mirror plasma confinement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lichtenberg, A.J.; Lieberman, M.A.; Logan, B.G.

    1975-01-01

    A large enhancement of the confinement time can be achieved in a straight system of multiple mirrors over an equal length uniform magnetic field. The scaling is diffusive rather than that of flow, thereby scaling the square of the system length rather than linear with system length. Probably the most economic mode of operation for a reactor occurs when lambda/M is approximately l/sub c/, where lambda is the mean free path, M the mirror ratio, and l/sub c/ the length between mirrors; but where the scale length of the mirror field l/sub m/ is much less than lambda. The axial confinement time has been calculated theoretically and numerically for all important parameter regimes, and confirmed experimentally. A typical reactor calculation gives Q/sub E/ = 2 for a 400 meter system with 3000 MW(e) output. The main concern of a multiple-mirror system is stability. Linked quadrupoles can achieve average minimum-B stabilization of flute modes, and experiments have demonstrated this stabilization. Localized instabilities at finite β and enhanced diffusion resulting from the distorted flux surfaces and possibly from turbulent higher order modes still remain to be investigated

  2. Language comprehension warps the mirror neuron system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zarr, Noah; Ferguson, Ryan; Glenberg, Arthur M

    2013-01-01

    Is the mirror neuron system (MNS) used in language understanding? According to embodied accounts of language comprehension, understanding sentences describing actions makes use of neural mechanisms of action control, including the MNS. Consequently, repeatedly comprehending sentences describing similar actions should induce adaptation of the MNS thereby warping its use in other cognitive processes such as action recognition and prediction. To test this prediction, participants read blocks of multiple sentences where each sentence in the block described transfer of objects in a direction away or toward the reader. Following each block, adaptation was measured by having participants predict the end-point of videotaped actions. The adapting sentences disrupted prediction of actions in the same direction, but (a) only for videos of biological motion, and (b) only when the effector implied by the language (e.g., the hand) matched the videos. These findings are signatures of the MNS.

  3. Magnetic mirror fusion: status and prospects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Post, R.F.

    1980-01-01

    Two improved mirror systems, the tandem mirror (TM) and the field-reversed mirror (FRM) are being intensively studied. The twin practical aims of these studies: to improve the economic prospects for mirror fusion power plants and to reduce the size and/or complexity of such plants relative to earlier approaches to magnetic fusion. While at the present time the program emphasis is still strongly oriented toward answering scientific questions, the emphasis is shifting as the data accumulates and as larger facilities - ones with a heavy technological and engineering orientation - are being prepared. The experimental and theoretical progress that led to the new look in mirror fusion research is briefly reviewed, the new TM and the FRM ideas are outlined, and the projected future course of mirror fusion research is discussed

  4. Effects of mirror symmetry on the transmission fingerprints of quasiperiodic photonic multilayers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coelho, I.P.; Vasconcelos, M.S.; Bezerra, C.G.

    2010-01-01

    We address the transmission properties of light waves through symmetric Fibonacci, Thue-Morse and double-period photonic multilayers, i.e., a binary one-dimensional quasiperiodic structure made up of two different dielectric materials (more specifically SiO 2 and TiO 2 ), in quarter wavelength condition, presenting mirror symmetry. The optical spectra are calculated by using a theoretical model based on the transfer matrix approach in normal incidence geometry. In our results we present the self-similar features of the spectra and we also present the optical fingerprints through a return map of the transmission coefficients. We discuss these optical fingerprints and compare them with results of previous works, on similar quasiperiodic systems, in the absence of mirror symmetry.

  5. Infant visual attention and object recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, Greg D

    2015-05-15

    This paper explores the role visual attention plays in the recognition of objects in infancy. Research and theory on the development of infant attention and recognition memory are reviewed in three major sections. The first section reviews some of the major findings and theory emerging from a rich tradition of behavioral research utilizing preferential looking tasks to examine visual attention and recognition memory in infancy. The second section examines research utilizing neural measures of attention and object recognition in infancy as well as research on brain-behavior relations in the early development of attention and recognition memory. The third section addresses potential areas of the brain involved in infant object recognition and visual attention. An integrated synthesis of some of the existing models of the development of visual attention is presented which may account for the observed changes in behavioral and neural measures of visual attention and object recognition that occur across infancy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Violent video game players and non-players differ on facial emotion recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diaz, Ruth L; Wong, Ulric; Hodgins, David C; Chiu, Carina G; Goghari, Vina M

    2016-01-01

    Violent video game playing has been associated with both positive and negative effects on cognition. We examined whether playing two or more hours of violent video games a day, compared to not playing video games, was associated with a different pattern of recognition of five facial emotions, while controlling for general perceptual and cognitive differences that might also occur. Undergraduate students were categorized as violent video game players (n = 83) or non-gamers (n = 69) and completed a facial recognition task, consisting of an emotion recognition condition and a control condition of gender recognition. Additionally, participants completed questionnaires assessing their video game and media consumption, aggression, and mood. Violent video game players recognized fearful faces both more accurately and quickly and disgusted faces less accurately than non-gamers. Desensitization to violence, constant exposure to fear and anxiety during game playing, and the habituation to unpleasant stimuli, are possible mechanisms that could explain these results. Future research should evaluate the effects of violent video game playing on emotion processing and social cognition more broadly. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. SURVEY OF BIOMETRIC SYSTEMS USING IRIS RECOGNITION

    OpenAIRE

    S.PON SANGEETHA; DR.M.KARNAN

    2014-01-01

    The security plays an important role in any type of organization in today’s life. Iris recognition is one of the leading automatic biometric systems in the area of security which is used to identify the individual person. Biometric systems include fingerprints, facial features, voice recognition, hand geometry, handwriting, the eye retina and the most secured one presented in this paper, the iris recognition. Biometric systems has become very famous in security systems because it is not possi...

  8. Variability of Self-Regulatory Strategies in Children with Intellectual Disability and Typically Developing Children in Pretend Play Situations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nader-Grosbois, N.; Vieillevoye, S.

    2012-01-01

    Objective: This study has examined whether or not self-regulatory strategies vary depending on pretend play situations in 40 children with intellectual disability and 40 typically developing children. Method: Their cognitive, linguistic and individual symbolic play levels were assessed in order to match the children of the two groups. During two…

  9. Self-Compensation of Astigmatism in Mode-Cleaners for Advanced Interferometers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barriga, P; Zhao Chunnong; Ju Li; Blair, David G [School of Physics, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA6009 (Australia)

    2006-03-02

    Using a conventional mode-cleaner with the output beam taken through a diagonal mirror it is impossible to achieve a non-astigmatic output. The geometrical astigmatism of triangular mode-cleaners for gravitational wave detectors can be self-compensated by thermally induced astigmatism in the mirrors substrates. We present results from finite element modelling of the temperature distribution of the suspended mode-cleaner mirrors and the associated beam profiles. We use these results to demonstrate and present a self-compensated mode-cleaner design. We show that the total astigmatism of the output beam can be reduced to 5x10{sup -3} for {+-}10% variation of input power about a nominal value when using the end mirror of the cavity as output coupler.

  10. Laser cleaning of ITER's diagnostic mirrors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skinner, C. H.; Gentile, C. A.; Doerner, R.

    2012-10-01

    Practical methods to clean ITER's diagnostic mirrors and restore reflectivity will be critical to ITER's plasma operations. We report on laser cleaning of single crystal molybdenum mirrors coated with either carbon or beryllium films 150 - 420 nm thick. A 1.06 μm Nd laser system provided 220 ns pulses at 8 kHz with typical power densities of 1-2 J/cm^2. The laser beam was fiber optically coupled to a scanner suitable for tokamak applications. The efficacy of mirror cleaning was assessed with a new technique that combines microscopic imaging and reflectivity measurements [1]. The method is suitable for hazardous materials such as beryllium as the mirrors remain sealed in a vacuum chamber. Excellent restoration of reflectivity for the carbon coated Mo mirrors was observed after laser scanning under vacuum conditions. For the beryllium coated mirrors restoration of reflectivity has so far been incomplete and modeling indicates that a shorter duration laser pulse is needed. No damage of the molybdenum mirror substrates was observed.[4pt][1] C.H. Skinner et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. at press.

  11. Modeling of biologically motivated self-learning equivalent-convolutional recurrent-multilayer neural structures (BLM_SL_EC_RMNS) for image fragments clustering and recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krasilenko, Vladimir G.; Lazarev, Alexander A.; Nikitovich, Diana V.

    2018-03-01

    The biologically-motivated self-learning equivalence-convolutional recurrent-multilayer neural structures (BLM_SL_EC_RMNS) for fragments images clustering and recognition will be discussed. We shall consider these neural structures and their spatial-invariant equivalental models (SIEMs) based on proposed equivalent two-dimensional functions of image similarity and the corresponding matrix-matrix (or tensor) procedures using as basic operations of continuous logic and nonlinear processing. These SIEMs can simply describe the signals processing during the all training and recognition stages and they are suitable for unipolar-coding multilevel signals. The clustering efficiency in such models and their implementation depends on the discriminant properties of neural elements of hidden layers. Therefore, the main models and architecture parameters and characteristics depends on the applied types of non-linear processing and function used for image comparison or for adaptive-equivalent weighing of input patterns. We show that these SL_EC_RMNSs have several advantages, such as the self-study and self-identification of features and signs of the similarity of fragments, ability to clustering and recognize of image fragments with best efficiency and strong mutual correlation. The proposed combined with learning-recognition clustering method of fragments with regard to their structural features is suitable not only for binary, but also color images and combines self-learning and the formation of weight clustered matrix-patterns. Its model is constructed and designed on the basis of recursively continuous logic and nonlinear processing algorithms and to k-average method or method the winner takes all (WTA). The experimental results confirmed that fragments with a large numbers of elements may be clustered. For the first time the possibility of generalization of these models for space invariant case is shown. The experiment for an images of different dimensions (a reference

  12. [Mirror, mirror of the wall: mirror therapy in the treatment of phantom limbs and phantom limb pain].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casale, Roberto; Furnari, Anna; Lamberti, Raul Coelho; Kouloulas, Efthimios; Hagenberg, Annegret; Mallik, Maryam

    2015-01-01

    Phantom limb and phantom limb pain control are pivotal points in the sequence of intervention to bring the amputee to functional autonomy. The alterations of perception and sensation, the pain of the residual limb and the phantom limb are therefore aspects of amputation that should be taken into account in the "prise en charge" of these patients. Within the more advanced physical therapies to control phantom and phantom limb pain there is the use of mirrors (mirror therapy). This article willfocus on its use and on the possible side effects induced by the lack of patient selection and a conflict of body schema restoration through mirror therapy with concurrent prosthetic training and trauma acceptance. Advice on the need to select patients before treatment decisions, with regard to their psychological as well as clinical profile (including time since amputation and clinical setting), and the need to be aware of the possible adverse effects matching different and somehow conflicting therapeutic approaches, are put forward. Thus a coordinated sequence of diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic procedures carried out by an interdisciplinary rehabilitation team that works globally on all patients' problems is fundamental in the management of amputees and phantom limb pain. Further studies and the development of a multidisciplinary network to study this and other applications of mirror therapy are needed.

  13. New methods of subcooled water recognition in dew point hygrometers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weremczuk, Jerzy; Jachowicz, Ryszard

    2001-08-01

    Two new methods of sub-cooled water recognition in dew point hygrometers are presented in this paper. The first one- impedance method use a new semiconductor mirror in which the dew point detector, the thermometer and the heaters were integrated all together. The second one an optical method based on a multi-section optical detector is discussed in the report. Experimental results of both methods are shown. New types of dew pont hydrometers of ability to recognized sub-cooled water were proposed.

  14. The strange physics of low frequency mirror mode turbulence in the high temperature plasma of the magnetosheath

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. A. Treumann

    2004-01-01

    in mirror modes and redistribute energy (cf. for instance, Chisham et al. 1998. Such trapped electrons excite banded whistler wave emission known under the name of lion roars and indicating that the mirror modes contain a trapped particle component while leading to the splitting of particle distributions (see Baumjohann et al., 1999 into trapped and passing particles. The most amazing fact about mirror modes is, however, that they evolve in the practically fully collisionless regime of high temperature plasma where it is on thermodynamic reasons entirely impossible to expel any magnetic field from the plasma. The fact that magnetic fields are indeed locally extracted makes mirror modes similar to 'superconducting' structures in matter as known only at extremely low temperatures. Of course, microscopic quantum effects do not play a role in mirror modes. However, it seems that all mirror structures have typical scales of the order of the ion inertial length which implies that mirrors evolve in a regime where the transverse ion and electron motions decouple. In this case the Hall kinetics comes into play. We estimate that in the marginally stationary nonlinear state of the evolution of mirror modes the modes become stretched along the magnetic field with k||=0 and that a small number the order of a few percent of the particle density is responsible only for the screening of the field from the interior of the mirror bubbles.

  15. X-ray imaging with toroidal mirror

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aoki, Sadao; Sakayanagi, Yoshimi

    1978-01-01

    X-ray imaging is made with a single toroidal mirror or two successive toroidal mirrors. Geometrical images at the Gaussian image plane are described by the ray trace. Application of a single toroidal mirror to small-angle scattering is presented. (author)

  16. Play Behavior in Wolves: Using the ‘50:50’ Rule to Test for Egalitarian Play Styles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cafazzo, Simona; Marshall-Pescini, Sarah; Virányi, Zsófia; Kotrschal, Kurt; Range, Friederike

    2016-01-01

    Social play is known as a cooperative interaction between individuals involving multiple mechanisms. However, the extent to which the equality of individuals’ play styles affects the interaction has not been studied in many species. Dyadic play between wolf puppies, as well as between puppies and adults, was studied to investigate both self-handicapping and offensive behaviors to determine the extent to which wolves engage in play styles where one individual does not dominate the play. Our results did not support the hypothesized ‘50:50’ rule, which suggests that more advantaged individuals should show higher rates of self-handicapping behaviors in order to facilitate play with others. Adult wolves performed significantly less self-handicapping behaviors than their puppy partners, and they performed significantly more offensive behaviors than their puppy partners. While the ‘50:50’ rule was not supported at any time during our study period, dyads consisting of two puppies had significantly more equal play than dyads consisting of one puppy and one adult. These results suggest that wolf puppies are more likely to play on equal terms with similarly-aged play partners, while the dominance status of the partners dictates offensive and self-handicapping behaviors between animals of different ages. PMID:27167522

  17. “Rough and Tumble” Play: Lessons in Life

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pam Jarvis

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses upon the developmental role of Rough and Tumble (R&T play with particular attention to the narratives that children use to underpin such activities, and to gender differences within these. The empirical research focused upon the R&T play of children in the early years department of a suburban primary school in Northern England. The children's playtime activities were ethnographically observed over a period of eighteen calendar months, encompassing five school terms. The effects of evolution, biology and culture are recognized in the approach taken to the analysis of data. Findings indicated that the narratives underpinning R&T play were socially complex and highly gendered, and that mixed gender R&T play in particular could be theorized to mirror and simplify aspects of complex, gendered adult interaction.

  18. Passivation coating for flexible substrate mirrors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tracy, C. Edwin; Benson, David K.

    1990-01-01

    A protective diffusion barrier for metalized mirror structures is provided by a layer or coating of silicon nitride which is a very dense, transparent, dielectric material that is impervious to water, alkali, and other impurities and corrosive substances that typically attack the metal layers of mirrors and cause degradation of the mirrors' reflectivity. The silicon nitride layer can be deposited on the substrate before metal deposition thereon to stabilize the metal/substrate interface, and it can be deposited over the metal to encapsulate it and protect the metal from corrosion or other degradation. Mirrors coated with silicon nitride according to this invention can also be used as front surface mirrors. Also, the silver or other reflective metal layer on mirrors comprising thin, lightweight, flexible substrates of metal or polymer sheets coated with glassy layers can be protected with silicon nitride according to this invention.

  19. [Mirror neurons].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubia Vila, Francisco José

    2011-01-01

    Mirror neurons were recently discovered in frontal brain areas of the monkey. They are activated when the animal makes a specific movement, but also when the animal observes the same movement in another animal. Some of them also respond to the emotional expression of other animals of the same species. These mirror neurons have also been found in humans. They respond to or "reflect" actions of other individuals in the brain and are thought to represent the basis for imitation and empathy and hence the neurobiological substrate for "theory of mind", the potential origin of language and the so-called moral instinct.

  20. Teaching Functional Play Skills to a Young Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder through Video Self-Modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Sharon Y; Lo, Ya-Yu; Lo, Yafen

    2017-08-01

    The researchers used a single-case, multiple probe design across three sets of toys (i.e., farm toy, doctor's clinic toy, and rescue toy) to examine the effects of video self-modeling (VSM) on the functional play skills of a 5-year-old child with autism spectrum disorder. The findings showed a functional relation between VSM and increased percentages of functional play actions across the toy sets. The participant's percentages of the targeted functional play skills for the intervention toys remained high 1 week and 2 weeks after the intervention ceased. Additionally, preliminary generalization results showed slight improvement in the percentages of functional play actions with the generalization toys that were not directly taught. Limitations, practical implications, and directions for future research are discussed.

  1. Constraints on mirror models of dark matter from observable neutron-mirror neutron oscillation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohapatra, Rabindra N.; Nussinov, Shmuel

    2018-01-01

    The process of neutron-mirror neutron oscillation, motivated by symmetric mirror dark matter models, is governed by two parameters: n -n‧ mixing parameter δ and n -n‧ mass splitting Δ. For neutron mirror neutron oscillation to be observable, the splitting between their masses Δ must be small and current experiments lead to δ ≤ 2 ×10-27 GeV and Δ ≤10-24 GeV. We show that in mirror universe models where this process is observable, this small mass splitting constrains the way that one must implement asymmetric inflation to satisfy the limits of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis on the number of effective light degrees of freedom. In particular we find that if asymmetric inflation is implemented by inflaton decay to color or electroweak charged particles, the oscillation is unobservable. Also if one uses SM singlet fields for this purpose, they must be weakly coupled to the SM fields.

  2. Impaired emotion recognition in music in Parkinson's disease

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Tricht, Mirjam J.; Smeding, Harriet M. M.; Speelman, Johannes D.; Schmand, Ben A.

    2010-01-01

    Music has the potential to evoke strong emotions and plays a significant role in the lives of many people. Music might therefore be an ideal medium to assess emotion recognition. We investigated emotion recognition in music in 20 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) and 20 matched

  3. Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomassen, K.I.

    1978-01-01

    A large, new Mirror Fusion Test Facility is under construction at LLL. Begun in FY78 it will be completed at the end of FY78 at a cost of $94.2M. This facility gives the mirror program the flexibility to explore mirror confinement principles at a signficant scale and advances the technology of large reactor-like devices. The role of MFTF in the LLL program is described here

  4. Chiral recognition in separation science: an overview.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scriba, Gerhard K E

    2013-01-01

    Chiral recognition phenomena play an important role in nature as well as analytical separation sciences. In separation sciences such as chromatography and capillary electrophoresis, enantiospecific interactions between the enantiomers of an analyte and the chiral selector are required in order to observe enantioseparations. Due to the large structural variety of chiral selectors applied, different mechanisms and structural features contribute to the chiral recognition process. This chapter briefly illustrates the current models of the enantiospecific recognition on the structural basics of various chiral selectors.

  5. The mirror neuron system: new frontiers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keysers, Christian; Fadiga, Luciano

    2008-01-01

    Since the discovery of mirror neurons, much effort has been invested into studying their location and properties in the human brain. Here we review these original findings and introduce the main topics of this special issue of Social Neuroscience. What does the mirror system code? How is the mirror system embedded into the mosaic of circuits that compose our brain? How does the mirror system contribute to communication, language and social interaction? Can the principle of mirror neurons be extended to emotions, sensations and thoughts? Papers using a wide range of methods, including single cell recordings, fMRI, TMS, EEG and psychophysics, collected in this special issue, start to give us some impressive answers.

  6. A transcranial magnetic stimulation study of the effect of visual orientation on the putative human mirror neuron system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burgess, Jed D.; Arnold, Sara L.; Fitzgibbon, Bernadette M.; Fitzgerald, Paul B.; Enticott, Peter G.

    2013-01-01

    Mirror neurons are a class of motor neuron that are active during both the performance and observation of behavior, and have been implicated in interpersonal understanding. There is evidence to suggest that the mirror response is modulated by the perspective from which an action is presented (e.g., egocentric or allocentric). Most human research, however, has only examined this when presenting intransitive actions. Twenty-three healthy adult participants completed a transcranial magnetic stimulation experiment that assessed corticospinal excitability whilst viewing transitive hand gestures from both egocentric (i.e., self) and allocentric (i.e., other) viewpoints. Although action observation was associated with increases in corticospinal excitability (reflecting putative human mirror neuron activity), there was no effect of visual perspective. These findings are discussed in the context of contemporary theories of mirror neuron ontogeny, including models concerning associative learning and evolutionary adaptation. PMID:24137125

  7. A transcranial magnetic stimulation study of the effect of visual orientation on the putative human mirror neuron system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burgess, Jed D; Arnold, Sara L; Fitzgibbon, Bernadette M; Fitzgerald, Paul B; Enticott, Peter G

    2013-01-01

    Mirror neurons are a class of motor neuron that are active during both the performance and observation of behavior, and have been implicated in interpersonal understanding. There is evidence to suggest that the mirror response is modulated by the perspective from which an action is presented (e.g., egocentric or allocentric). Most human research, however, has only examined this when presenting intransitive actions. Twenty-three healthy adult participants completed a transcranial magnetic stimulation experiment that assessed corticospinal excitability whilst viewing transitive hand gestures from both egocentric (i.e., self) and allocentric (i.e., other) viewpoints. Although action observation was associated with increases in corticospinal excitability (reflecting putative human mirror neuron activity), there was no effect of visual perspective. These findings are discussed in the context of contemporary theories of mirror neuron ontogeny, including models concerning associative learning and evolutionary adaptation.

  8. Knowing beans: Human mirror mechanisms revealed through motor adaptation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arthur M Glenberg

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Human mirror mechanisms (MMs respond during both performed and observed action and appear to underlie action goal recognition. We introduce a behavioral procedure for discovering and clarifying functional MM properties: Blindfolded participants repeatedly move beans either toward or away from themselves to induce motor adaptation. Then, the bias for perceiving direction of ambiguous visual movement in depth is measured. Bias is affected by a number of beans moved, b movement direction, and c similarity of the visual stimulus to the hand used to move beans. This cross-modal adaptation pattern supports both the validity of human MMs and functionality of our testing instrument. We also discuss related work that extends the motor adaptation paradigm to investigate contributions of MMs to speech perception and language comprehension.

  9. Neoclassical resonant transport of a mirror cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ito, T.; Katanuma, I.

    2005-01-01

    The neoclassical resonant plateau transport in a mirror cell is studied theoretically. The analytical expression for a non-square-well magnetic field is obtained. The analytical result is applied to the GAMMA10 tandem mirror [T. Cho, M. Yoshida, J. Kohagura et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 085002-1 (2005)], which consists of several mirror cells in it, and the confinement time due to the neoclassical resonant plateau transport is determined in each mirror cell. It is found that the neoclassical resonant transport of ions trapped in the nonaxisymmetric anchor mirror cell and transition mirror cells is significantly smaller than those trapped in the central cell

  10. Self-recognition mechanism between skin and suckers prevents octopus arms from interfering with each other.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nesher, Nir; Levy, Guy; Grasso, Frank W; Hochner, Binyamin

    2014-06-02

    Controlling movements of flexible arms is a challenging task for the octopus because of the virtually infinite number of degrees of freedom (DOFs) [1, 2]. Octopuses simplify this control by using stereotypical motion patterns that reduce the DOFs, in the control space, to a workable few [2]. These movements are triggered by the brain and are generated by motor programs embedded in the peripheral neuromuscular system of the arm [3-5]. The hundreds of suckers along each arm have a tendency to stick to almost any object they contact [6-9]. The existence of this reflex could pose significant problems with unplanned interactions between the arms if not appropriately managed. This problem is likely to be accentuated because it is accepted that octopuses are "not aware of their arms" [10-14]. Here we report of a self-recognition mechanism that has a novel role in motor control, restraining the arms from interfering with each other. We show that the suckers of amputated arms never attach to octopus skin because a chemical in the skin inhibits the attachment reflex of the suckers. The peripheral mechanism appears to be overridden by central control because, in contrast to amputated arms, behaving octopuses sometime grab amputated arms. Surprisingly, octopuses seem to identify their own amputated arms, as they treat arms of other octopuses like food more often than their own. This self-recognition mechanism is a novel peripheral component in the embodied organization of the adaptive interactions between the octopus's brain, body, and environment [15, 16]. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Plasma confinement apparatus using solenoidal and mirror coils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fowler, T. Kenneth; Condit, William C.

    1979-01-01

    A plasma confinement apparatus, wherein multiple magnetic mirror cells are linked by magnetic field lines inside of a solenoid with the mirroring regions for adjacent magnetic mirror cells each formed by a separate mirror coil inside of the solenoid. The magnetic mirror cells may be field reversed.

  12. Mirror neurons and language in schizophrenia

    OpenAIRE

    Bendová, Marie

    2016-01-01

    Mirror neurons are a specific kind of visuomotor neurons that are involved in action execution and also in action perception. The mirror mechanism is linked to a variety of complex psychological functions such as social-cognitive functions and language. People with schizophrenia have often difficulties both in mirror neuron system and in language skills. In the first part of our research we studied the connectivity of mirror neuron areas (such as IFG, STG, PMC, SMC and so on) by fMRI in resti...

  13. Face recognition based on symmetrical virtual image and original training image

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ke, Jingcheng; Peng, Yali; Liu, Shigang; Li, Jun; Pei, Zhao

    2018-02-01

    In face representation-based classification methods, we are able to obtain high recognition rate if a face has enough available training samples. However, in practical applications, we only have limited training samples to use. In order to obtain enough training samples, many methods simultaneously use the original training samples and corresponding virtual samples to strengthen the ability of representing the test sample. One is directly using the original training samples and corresponding mirror samples to recognize the test sample. However, when the test sample is nearly symmetrical while the original training samples are not, the integration of the original training and mirror samples might not well represent the test samples. To tackle the above-mentioned problem, in this paper, we propose a novel method to obtain a kind of virtual samples which are generated by averaging the original training samples and corresponding mirror samples. Then, the original training samples and the virtual samples are integrated to recognize the test sample. Experimental results on five face databases show that the proposed method is able to partly overcome the challenges of the various poses, facial expressions and illuminations of original face image.

  14. Plasma confinement apparatus using solenoidal and mirror coils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fowler, T.K.; Condit, W.C.

    1979-01-01

    A plasma confinement apparatus is described, wherein multiple magnetic mirror cells are linked by magnetic field lines inside of a solenoid with the mirroring regions for adjacent magnetic mirror cells each formed by a separate mirror coil inside of the solenoid. The magnetic mirror cells may be field reversed

  15. Experience moderates overlap between object and face recognition, suggesting a common ability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gauthier, Isabel; McGugin, Rankin W; Richler, Jennifer J; Herzmann, Grit; Speegle, Magen; Van Gulick, Ana E

    2014-07-03

    Some research finds that face recognition is largely independent from the recognition of other objects; a specialized and innate ability to recognize faces could therefore have little or nothing to do with our ability to recognize objects. We propose a new framework in which recognition performance for any category is the product of domain-general ability and category-specific experience. In Experiment 1, we show that the overlap between face and object recognition depends on experience with objects. In 256 subjects we measured face recognition, object recognition for eight categories, and self-reported experience with these categories. Experience predicted neither face recognition nor object recognition but moderated their relationship: Face recognition performance is increasingly similar to object recognition performance with increasing object experience. If a subject has a lot of experience with objects and is found to perform poorly, they also prove to have a low ability with faces. In a follow-up survey, we explored the dimensions of experience with objects that may have contributed to self-reported experience in Experiment 1. Different dimensions of experience appear to be more salient for different categories, with general self-reports of expertise reflecting judgments of verbal knowledge about a category more than judgments of visual performance. The complexity of experience and current limitations in its measurement support the importance of aggregating across multiple categories. Our findings imply that both face and object recognition are supported by a common, domain-general ability expressed through experience with a category and best measured when accounting for experience. © 2014 ARVO.

  16. Physics issues in mirror and tandem mirror systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Post, R.F.

    1984-01-01

    Over the years the study of the confinement of high temperature plasma in magnetic mirror systems has presented researchers with many unusual physics problems. Many of these issues are by now understood theoretically and documented experimentally. With the advent of the tandem mirror idea, some new issues have emerged and are now under intensive study. These include: (1) the generation and control of ambipolar confining potentials and their effect on axial confinement and, (2) the combined influence of nonaxisymmetric magnetic fields (used to ensure MHD stability) and electric magnetic particle drifts on radial transport. Physics considerations associated with these two categories of issues will be reviewed, including concepts for the control of radial transport, under study or proposed

  17. Impaired emotion recognition in music in Parkinson's disease

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Tricht, M.J.; Smeding, H.M.M.; Speelman, J.D.; Schmand, B.A.

    2010-01-01

    Music has the potential to evoke strong emotions and plays a significant role in the lives of many people. Music might therefore be an ideal medium to assess emotion recognition. We investigated emotion recognition in music in 20 patients with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD) and 20 matched

  18. Vehicle logo recognition using multi-level fusion model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ming, Wei; Xiao, Jianli

    2018-04-01

    Vehicle logo recognition plays an important role in manufacturer identification and vehicle recognition. This paper proposes a new vehicle logo recognition algorithm. It has a hierarchical framework, which consists of two fusion levels. At the first level, a feature fusion model is employed to map the original features to a higher dimension feature space. In this space, the vehicle logos become more recognizable. At the second level, a weighted voting strategy is proposed to promote the accuracy and the robustness of the recognition results. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, extensive experiments are performed, which demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can achieve high recognition accuracy and work robustly.

  19. Effects of mirror symmetry on the transmission fingerprints of quasiperiodic photonic multilayers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coelho, I.P. [Departamento de Ensino Superior, Instituto Federal de Educacao, Ciencia e Tecnologia do Maranhao, Campus Imperatriz, 65919-050 Imperatriz, MA (Brazil); Vasconcelos, M.S., E-mail: mvasconcelos@ect.ufrn.b [Escola de Ciencias e Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970 Natal, RN (Brazil); Bezerra, C.G. [Departamento de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970 Natal, RN (Brazil)

    2010-03-29

    We address the transmission properties of light waves through symmetric Fibonacci, Thue-Morse and double-period photonic multilayers, i.e., a binary one-dimensional quasiperiodic structure made up of two different dielectric materials (more specifically SiO{sub 2} and TiO{sub 2}), in quarter wavelength condition, presenting mirror symmetry. The optical spectra are calculated by using a theoretical model based on the transfer matrix approach in normal incidence geometry. In our results we present the self-similar features of the spectra and we also present the optical fingerprints through a return map of the transmission coefficients. We discuss these optical fingerprints and compare them with results of previous works, on similar quasiperiodic systems, in the absence of mirror symmetry.

  20. Detecting delay in visual feedback of an action as a monitor of self recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoover, Adria E N; Harris, Laurence R

    2012-10-01

    How do we distinguish "self" from "other"? The correlation between willing an action and seeing it occur is an important cue. We exploited the fact that this correlation needs to occur within a restricted temporal window in order to obtain a quantitative assessment of when a body part is identified as "self". We measured the threshold and sensitivity (d') for detecting a delay between movements of the finger (of both the dominant and non-dominant hands) and visual feedback as seen from four visual perspectives (the natural view, and mirror-reversed and/or inverted views). Each trial consisted of one presentation with minimum delay and another with a delay of between 33 and 150 ms. Participants indicated which presentation contained the delayed view. We varied the amount of efference copy available for this task by comparing performances for discrete movements and continuous movements. Discrete movements are associated with a stronger efference copy. Sensitivity to detect asynchrony between visual and proprioceptive information was significantly higher when movements were viewed from a "plausible" self perspective compared with when the view was reversed or inverted. Further, we found differences in performance between dominant and non-dominant hand finger movements across the continuous and single movements. Performance varied with the viewpoint from which the visual feedback was presented and on the efferent component such that optimal performance was obtained when the presentation was in the normal natural orientation and clear efferent information was available. Variations in sensitivity to visual/non-visual temporal incongruence with the viewpoint in which a movement is seen may help determine the arrangement of the underlying visual representation of the body.

  1. Constraints on mirror models of dark matter from observable neutron-mirror neutron oscillation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rabindra N. Mohapatra

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The process of neutron-mirror neutron oscillation, motivated by symmetric mirror dark matter models, is governed by two parameters: n−n′ mixing parameter δ and n−n′ mass splitting Δ. For neutron mirror neutron oscillation to be observable, the splitting between their masses Δ must be small and current experiments lead to δ≤2×10−27 GeV and Δ≤10−24 GeV. We show that in mirror universe models where this process is observable, this small mass splitting constrains the way that one must implement asymmetric inflation to satisfy the limits of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis on the number of effective light degrees of freedom. In particular we find that if asymmetric inflation is implemented by inflaton decay to color or electroweak charged particles, the oscillation is unobservable. Also if one uses SM singlet fields for this purpose, they must be weakly coupled to the SM fields.

  2. The mirror neuron system : New frontiers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Keysers, Christian; Fadiga, Luciano

    2008-01-01

    Since the discovery of mirror neurons, much effort has been invested into Studying their location and properties in the human brain. Here we review these original findings and introduce the Main topics of this special issue of Social Neuroscience. What does the mirror system code? How is the mirror

  3. Analytic solution for a quartic electron mirror

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Straton, Jack C., E-mail: straton@pdx.edu

    2015-01-15

    A converging electron mirror can be used to compensate for spherical and chromatic aberrations in an electron microscope. This paper presents an analytical solution to a diode (two-electrode) electrostatic mirror including the next term beyond the known hyperbolic shape. The latter is a solution of the Laplace equation to second order in the variables perpendicular to and along the mirror's radius (z{sup 2}−r{sup 2}/2) to which we add a quartic term (kλz{sup 4}). The analytical solution is found in terms of Jacobi cosine-amplitude functions. We find that a mirror less concave than the hyperbolic profile is more sensitive to changes in mirror voltages and the contrary holds for the mirror more concave than the hyperbolic profile. - Highlights: • We find the analytical solution for electron mirrors whose curvature has z4 dependence added to the usual z{sup 2} – r{sup 2}/2 terms. • The resulting Jacobi cosine-amplitude function reduces to the well-known cosh solution in the limit where the new term is 0. • This quartic term gives a mirror designer additional flexibility for eliminating spherical and chromatic aberrations. • The possibility of using these analytical results to approximately model spherical tetrode mirrors close to axis is noted.

  4. Sensorimotor learning configures the human mirror system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Catmur, Caroline; Walsh, Vincent; Heyes, Cecilia

    2007-09-04

    Cells in the "mirror system" fire not only when an individual performs an action but also when one observes the same action performed by another agent [1-4]. The mirror system, found in premotor and parietal cortices of human and monkey brains, is thought to provide the foundation for social understanding and to enable the development of theory of mind and language [5-9]. However, it is unclear how mirror neurons acquire their mirror properties -- how they derive the information necessary to match observed with executed actions [10]. We address this by showing that it is possible to manipulate the selectivity of the human mirror system, and thereby make it operate as a countermirror system, by giving participants training to perform one action while observing another. Before this training, participants showed event-related muscle-specific responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation over motor cortex during observation of little- and index-finger movements [11-13]. After training, this normal mirror effect was reversed. These results indicate that the mirror properties of the mirror system are neither wholly innate [14] nor fixed once acquired; instead they develop through sensorimotor learning [15, 16]. Our findings indicate that the human mirror system is, to some extent, both a product and a process of social interaction.

  5. Trieste lectures on mirror symmetry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hori, K [Department of Physics and Department of Mathematics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

    2003-08-15

    These are pedagogical lectures on mirror symmetry given at the Spring School in ICTP, Trieste, March 2002. The focus is placed on worldsheet descriptions of the physics related to mirror symmetry. We start with the introduction to general aspects of (2,2) supersymmetric field theories in 1 + 1 dimensions. We next move on to the study and applications of linear sigma model. Finally, we provide a proof of mirror symmetry in a class of models. (author)

  6. A Research on the Primary Mirror Manipulator of Large Segmented-mirror Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuo, H.

    2012-09-01

    Since Galileo firstly used the telescope to observe the sky 400 years ago, the aperture of the telescope has become larger and larger to observe the deeper universe, and the segmented-mirror telescope is becoming more and more popular with increasing aperture. In the early 21st century, a series of segmented-mirror telescopes have been constructed including the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) of China. LAMOST is a meridian reflecting Schmidt telescope, and the dimension of the primary mirror is about 6.7 m× 6 m, which is composed of 37 hexagonal sub-mirrors. However, a problem about the mirror installation appears with the increasing aperture. If there are hundreds of sub-mirrors in the telescope, it is a challenging job to mount and dismount them to the truss. This problem is discussed in this paper and a manipulator for the primary mirror of LAMOST is designed to perform the mount and dismount work. In chapter 1, all the segmented-mirror telescopes in the world are introduced and how the sub-mirrors of these telescopes are installed has been investigated. After comparing with the serial and the parallel robot, a serial robot manipulator proposal, which has several redundant degrees of freedom (DOFs), has been chosen from a series of design proposals. In chapter 2, the theoretical analysis has been carried out on the basis of the design proposal, which includes the forward kinematics and the inverse kinematics. Firstly the D-H coordinate is built according to the structure of the manipulator, so it is possible to obtain the end-effector position and orientation from the individual joint motion thanks to the forward kinematics. Because of the redundant DOFs of the manipulator, the inverse kinematics solution can be a very trick task, and the result may not be only, therefore a kind of simulation is carried out to get the numerical solution using ADAMS (Automatic Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical System). In the dynamics analysis the

  7. Metamaterial mirrors in optoelectronic devices

    KAUST Repository

    Esfandyarpour, Majid; Garnett, Erik C.; Cui, Yi; McGehee, Michael D.; Brongersma, Mark L.

    2014-01-01

    The phase reversal that occurs when light is reflected from a metallic mirror produces a standing wave with reduced intensity near the reflective surface. This effect is highly undesirable in optoelectronic devices that use metal films as both electrical contacts and optical mirrors, because it dictates a minimum spacing between the metal and the underlying active semiconductor layers, therefore posing a fundamental limit to the overall thickness of the device. Here, we show that this challenge can be circumvented by using a metamaterial mirror whose reflection phase is tunable from that of a perfect electric mirror († = €) to that of a perfect magnetic mirror († = 0). This tunability in reflection phase can also be exploited to optimize the standing wave profile in planar devices to maximize light-matter interaction. Specifically, we show that light absorption and photocurrent generation in a sub-100 nm active semiconductor layer of a model solar cell can be enhanced by ∼20% over a broad spectral band. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.

  8. Metamaterial mirrors in optoelectronic devices

    KAUST Repository

    Esfandyarpour, Majid

    2014-06-22

    The phase reversal that occurs when light is reflected from a metallic mirror produces a standing wave with reduced intensity near the reflective surface. This effect is highly undesirable in optoelectronic devices that use metal films as both electrical contacts and optical mirrors, because it dictates a minimum spacing between the metal and the underlying active semiconductor layers, therefore posing a fundamental limit to the overall thickness of the device. Here, we show that this challenge can be circumvented by using a metamaterial mirror whose reflection phase is tunable from that of a perfect electric mirror († = €) to that of a perfect magnetic mirror († = 0). This tunability in reflection phase can also be exploited to optimize the standing wave profile in planar devices to maximize light-matter interaction. Specifically, we show that light absorption and photocurrent generation in a sub-100 nm active semiconductor layer of a model solar cell can be enhanced by ∼20% over a broad spectral band. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.

  9. Vertex algebras and mirror symmetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borisov, L.A.

    2001-01-01

    Mirror Symmetry for Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in toric varieties is by now well established. However, previous approaches to it did not uncover the underlying reason for mirror varieties to be mirror. We are able to calculate explicitly vertex algebras that correspond to holomorphic parts of A and B models of Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces and complete intersections in toric varieties. We establish the relation between these vertex algebras for mirror Calabi-Yau manifolds. This should eventually allow us to rewrite the whole story of toric mirror symmetry in the language of sheaves of vertex algebras. Our approach is purely algebraic and involves simple techniques from toric geometry and homological algebra, as well as some basic results of the theory of vertex algebras. Ideas of this paper may also be useful in other problems related to maps from curves to algebraic varieties.This paper could also be of interest to physicists, because it contains explicit description of holomorphic parts of A and B models of Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces and complete intersections in terms of free bosons and fermions. (orig.)

  10. A self-teaching image processing and voice-recognition-based, intelligent and interactive system to educate visually impaired children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iqbal, Asim; Farooq, Umar; Mahmood, Hassan; Asad, Muhammad Usman; Khan, Akrama; Atiq, Hafiz Muhammad

    2010-02-01

    A self teaching image processing and voice recognition based system is developed to educate visually impaired children, chiefly in their primary education. System comprises of a computer, a vision camera, an ear speaker and a microphone. Camera, attached with the computer system is mounted on the ceiling opposite (on the required angle) to the desk on which the book is placed. Sample images and voices in the form of instructions and commands of English, Urdu alphabets, Numeric Digits, Operators and Shapes are already stored in the database. A blind child first reads the embossed character (object) with the help of fingers than he speaks the answer, name of the character, shape etc into the microphone. With the voice command of a blind child received by the microphone, image is taken by the camera which is processed by MATLAB® program developed with the help of Image Acquisition and Image processing toolbox and generates a response or required set of instructions to child via ear speaker, resulting in self education of a visually impaired child. Speech recognition program is also developed in MATLAB® with the help of Data Acquisition and Signal Processing toolbox which records and process the command of the blind child.

  11. Molecular self assembly and chiral recognition of copper octacyanophthalocyanine on Au(111): Interplay of intermolecular and molecule-substrate interactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sk, Rejaul; Dhara, Barun; Miller, Joel; Deshpande, Aparna

    Submolecular resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) of copper octacyanophthalocyanine, CuPc(CN)8, at 77 K demonstrates that these achiral molecules form a two dimensional (2D) tetramer-based self-assembly upon evaporation onto an atomically flat Au(111) substrate. They assemble in two different structurally chiral configurations upon adsorption on Au(111). Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS),acquired at 77 K, unveils the HOMO and LUMO energy levels of this self-assembly. Voltage dependent STM images show that each molecule in both the structurally chiral configurations individually becomes chiral by breaking the mirror symmetry due to the enhanced intermolecular dipolar coupling interaction at the LUMO energy while the individual molecules remain achiral at the HOMO energy and within the HOMO-LUMO gap. At the LUMO energy, the handedness of the each chiral molecule is decided by the direction of the dipolar coupling interaction in the tetramer unit cell. This preference for LUMO energy indicates that this chirality is purely electronic in nature and it manifests on top of the organizational chirality that is present in the self-assembly independent of the orbital energy. Supported by IISER Pune and DAE-BRNS, India (Project No. 2011/20/37C/17/BRNS).

  12. Mirror reactor studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moir, R.W.; Barr, W.L.; Bender, D.J.

    1977-01-01

    Design studies of a fusion mirror reactor, a fusion-fission mirror reactor, and two small mirror reactors are summarized. The fusion reactor uses 150-keV neutral-beam injectors based on the acceleration of negative ions. The injectors provide over 1 GW of continuous power at an efficiency greater than 80%. The fusion reactor has three-stage, modularized, Venetian blind, plasma direct converter with a predicted efficiency of 59% and a new concept for removal of the lune-shaped blanket: a crane is brought between the two halves of the Yin-Yang magnet, which are separated by a float. The design has desirable features such as steady-state operation, minimal impurity problems, and low first-wall thermal stress. The major disadvantage is low Q resulting in high re-circulating power and hence high cost of electrical power. However, the direct capital cost per unit of gross electrical power is reasonable [$1000/kW(e)]. By contrast, the fusion-fission reactor design is not penalized by re-circulating power and uses relatively near-term fusion technology being developed for the fusion power program. New results are presented on the Th- 233 U and the U- 239 Pu fuel cycles. The purpose of this hybrid is fuel production, with projected costs at $55/g of Pu or $127/g of 233 U. Blanket and cooling system designs, including an emergency cooling system, by General Atomic Company, lead us to the opinion that the reactor can meet expected safety standards for licensing. The smallest mirror reactor having only a shield between the plasma and the coil is the 4.2-m long fusion engineering research facility (FERF) designed for material irradiation. The smallest mirror reactor having both a blanket and shield is the 7.5-m long experimental power reactor (EPR), which has both a fusion and a fusion-fission version. (author)

  13. Mirror Objects in the Solar System?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silagadze, Z.K.

    2002-01-01

    This talk was given at the Tunguska-2001 international conference but it is not about the Tunguska event. Instead we tried to give some flavor of mirror matter, which is predicted to exist if parity is an unbroken symmetry of nature, to non-experts. The possible connection of the mirror matter ideas to the Tunguska phenomenon was indicated by Foot and Gninenko some time ago and was elaborated by Foot in the separate talk at this conference. If the mirror world interpretation of the Tunguska like events is indeed correct then the most fascinating (but very speculative) possibility is that some well known celestial bodies with strange properties are in fact made mostly from mirror matter, and so maybe the mirror world was discovered long ago and we just have not suspected this. (author)

  14. A comparison of performance of lightweight mirrors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Myung K.; Richard, Ralph M.; Hileman, Edward A.

    1990-01-01

    Four lightweight solid contoured back mirror shapes (a double arch, a single arch, a modified single arch, and a double concave mirror) and a cellular sandwich lightweight meniscus mirror, have been considered for the primary mirror of the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF). A parametric design study using these shapes for the SIRTF 40 inch primary mirror with a focal ratio f/2 is presented. Evaluations of the optical performance and fundamental frequency analyses are performed to compare relative merits of each mirror configuration. Included in these are structural, optical, and frequency analyses for (1) different back contour shapes, (2) different number and location of the support points, and (3) two gravity orientations (ZENITH and HORIZON positions). The finite element program NASTRAN is used to obtain the structural deflections of the optical surface. For wavefront error analysis, FRINGE and PCFRINGE programs are used to evaluate the optical performance. A scaling law relating the optical and structural performance for various mirror contoured back shapes is developed.

  15. Phase-stepping optical profilometry of atom mirrors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MacLaren, D A; Goldrein, H T; Holst, B; Allison, W

    2003-01-01

    Electrically deformed single crystal mirrors will be a vital part of a first generation of scanning helium microscope (SHeM). Optimized mirrors will be used to focus thermal energy helium atoms into a surface-sensitive, low-energy probe, with a resolution that depends upon the precise mirror shape. Here, we present surface profilometry measurements of a prototype atom mirror. A temporal phase-stepping Mach-Zender fibre interferometer is used to profile the mirror surface with an accuracy of a few tens of nanometres. Results are compared with the theory of small deflections of an elastic thin plate. Our experiments suggest that relatively simple apparatus can induce the mirror profiles required to demagnify a conventional helium source into a microprobe suitable for a SHeM. Use of elliptical boundary conditions in the clamping mechanism afford biaxial bending in the crystal whilst a simple double-electrode design is demonstrated to be capable of asymmetric control of the mirror deformation

  16. A transcranial magnetic stimulation study of the effect of visual orientation on the putative human mirror neuron system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jed Donald Burgess

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Mirror neurons are a class of motor neuron that are active during both the performance and observation of behavior, and have been implicated in interpersonal understanding There is evidence to suggest that the mirror response is modulated by the perspective from which an action is presented (e.g., egocentric or allocentric. Most human research, however, has only examined this when presenting intransitive actions. Twenty-three healthy adult participants completed a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS experiment that assessed corticospinal excitability whilst viewing transitive hand gestures from both egocentric (i.e., self and allocentric (i.e., other viewpoints. Although action observation was associated with increases in corticospinal excitability (reflecting putative human mirror neuron activity, there was no effect of visual perspective. These findings are discussed in the context of contemporary theories of mirror neuron ontogeny, including models concerning associative learning and evolutionary adaptation.

  17. Tandem mirror next step conceptual design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Doggett, J.N.; Damm, C.C.; Bulmer, R.H.

    1980-01-01

    A study was made to define the features of the experimental mirror fusion device - The Tandem Mirror Next Step, or TMNS - that will bridge the gap between present mirror confinement experiments and a power-producing reactor. We outline the project goals, describe some initial device parameters, and relate the technological requirements to ongoing development programs

  18. Do people have insight into their face recognition abilities?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palermo, Romina; Rossion, Bruno; Rhodes, Gillian; Laguesse, Renaud; Tez, Tolga; Hall, Bronwyn; Albonico, Andrea; Malaspina, Manuela; Daini, Roberta; Irons, Jessica; Al-Janabi, Shahd; Taylor, Libby C; Rivolta, Davide; McKone, Elinor

    2017-02-01

    Diagnosis of developmental or congenital prosopagnosia (CP) involves self-report of everyday face recognition difficulties, which are corroborated with poor performance on behavioural tests. This approach requires accurate self-evaluation. We examine the extent to which typical adults have insight into their face recognition abilities across four experiments involving nearly 300 participants. The experiments used five tests of face recognition ability: two that tap into the ability to learn and recognize previously unfamiliar faces [the Cambridge Face Memory Test, CFMT; Duchaine, B., & Nakayama, K. (2006). The Cambridge Face Memory Test: Results for neurologically intact individuals and an investigation of its validity using inverted face stimuli and prosopagnosic participants. Neuropsychologia, 44(4), 576-585. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2005.07.001; and a newly devised test based on the CFMT but where the study phases involve watching short movies rather than viewing static faces-the CFMT-Films] and three that tap face matching [Benton Facial Recognition Test, BFRT; Benton, A., Sivan, A., Hamsher, K., Varney, N., & Spreen, O. (1983). Contribution to neuropsychological assessment. New York: Oxford University Press; and two recently devised sequential face matching tests]. Self-reported ability was measured with the 15-item Kennerknecht et al. questionnaire [Kennerknecht, I., Ho, N. Y., & Wong, V. C. (2008). Prevalence of hereditary prosopagnosia (HPA) in Hong Kong Chinese population. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A, 146A(22), 2863-2870. doi:10.1002/ajmg.a.32552]; two single-item questions assessing face recognition ability; and a new 77-item meta-cognition questionnaire. Overall, we find that adults with typical face recognition abilities have only modest insight into their ability to recognize faces on behavioural tests. In a fifth experiment, we assess self-reported face recognition ability in people with CP and find that some people who expect to

  19. Investigating Students' Perceived Discipline Relevance Subsequent to Playing Educational Computer Games: A Personal Interest and Self-Determination Theory Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sorebo, Oystein; Haehre, Reidar

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to explain students' perceived relevance of playing an educational game as a means for development of discipline competence. Based on self-determination theory and the concept of personal interest, we propose that: Satisfying students' basic needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness when playing educational games…

  20. Magnetic mirrors: history, results, and future prospects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beklemishev, A.D.; Ivanov, A.A.; Kruglyakov, E.P.; Burdakov, A.V.; Ivanov, A.A.; Beklemishev, A.D.; Ivanov, A.A.; Burdakov, A.V.

    2012-01-01

    The evolution of open traps brought them from simple solenoids to highly sophisticated and huge tandem mirrors with quadrupole magnetic stabilizers. They tried to compete with toroidal devices using ambipolar confinement and thermal barriers, but were too late and failed, and are almost extinct. A side branch of open traps went for simplicity and good fast-ion confinement inherent in axially symmetric mirrors. Since simplicity means lower cost of construction and servicing, and lower engineering and materials demands, such type of traps might still have an edge. Axially symmetric mirrors at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics in Novosibirsk currently represent the front line of mirror research. We discuss recent experimental results from the multiple-mirror trap, GOL-3, and the gas-dynamic trap, GDT. The next step in this line of research is the GDMT program that will combine the GDT-style fast-ion-dominated central mirror with multiple-mirror end plugs. This superconducting device will be modular and built in stages. The first stage, GDMT-T, will be based on 5m, 7T superconducting solenoid (multiple-mirror plug of the full device). Its 3-year scientific program is oriented primarily on PMI studies.

  1. Mounting and Alignment of IXO Mirror Segments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Kai-Wing; Zhang, William; Evans, Tyler; McClelland, Ryan; Hong, Melinda; Mazzarella, James; Saha, Timo; Jalota, Lalit; Olsen, Lawrence; Byron, Glenn

    2010-01-01

    A suspension-mounting scheme is developed for the IXO (International X-ray Observatory) mirror segments in which the figure of the mirror segment is preserved in each stage of mounting. The mirror, first fixed on a thermally compatible strongback, is subsequently transported, aligned and transferred onto its mirror housing. In this paper, we shall outline the requirement, approaches, and recent progress of the suspension mount processes.

  2. A generalized construction of mirror manifolds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berglund, P.; Huebsch, T.

    1993-01-01

    We generalize the known method for explicit construction of mirror pairs of (2,2)-superconformal field theories, using the formalism of Landau-Ginzburg orbifolds. Geometrically, these theories are realized as Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in weighted projective spaces. This generalization makes it possible to construct the mirror partners of many manifolds for which the mirror was not previously known. (orig.)

  3. Genetics Home Reference: congenital mirror movement disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Health Conditions Congenital mirror movement disorder Congenital mirror movement disorder Printable PDF Open All Close All Enable ... view the expand/collapse boxes. Description Congenital mirror movement disorder is a condition in which intentional movements ...

  4. External self-representations improve self-awareness in a child with autism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Root, Nicholas B; Case, Laura K; Burrus, Caley J; Ramachandran, V S

    2015-01-01

    We have previously suggested that the social symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) could be caused in part by a dysfunctional mirror neuron system (MNS). Since the recursive activity of a functioning MNS might enable the brain to integrate visual and motor sensations into a coherent body schema, the deficits in self-awareness often seen in ASD might be caused by the same mirror neuron dysfunction. CL is an autistic adolescent who is profoundly fascinated with his reflection, looking in mirrors at every opportunity. We demonstrate that CL's abnormal gait improves significantly when using a mirror for visual feedback. We also show that both the fascination and the happiness that CL derives from looking at a computer-generated reflection diminish when a delay is introduced between the camera input and screen output. We believe that immediate, real-time visual feedback allows CL to integrate motor sensations with external visual ones into a coherent body schema that he cannot internally generate, perhaps due to a dysfunctional MNS.

  5. Kodak AMSD Mirror Development Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthews, Gary; Dahl, Roger; Barrett, David; Bottom, John; Russell, Kevin (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    The Advanced Mirror System Demonstration Program is developing minor technology for the next generation optical systems. Many of these systems will require extremely lightweight and stable optics due to the overall size of the primary mirror. These segmented, deployable systems require new technology that AMSD is developing. The on-going AMSD program is a critical enabler for Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) which will start in 2002. The status of Kodak's AMSD mirror and future plans will be discussed with respect to the NGST program.

  6. Demonstration of a self-pulsing photonic crystal Fano laser

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yu, Yi; Xue, Weiqi; Semenova, Elizaveta

    2017-01-01

    photonic and plasmonic systems(13,14). The Fano resonance leads to unique laser characteristics. In particular, because the Fano mirror is very narrowband compared to conventional laser mirrors, the laser is single mode and can be modulated via the mirror. We show, experimentally and theoretically......, that nonlinearities in the mirror may even promote the generation of a self-sustained train of pulses at gigahertz frequencies, an effect that has previously been observed only in macroscopic lasers(15-18). Such a source is of interest for a number of applications within integrated photonics....

  7. What Play Means to Us: Exploring Children's Perspectives on Play in an English Year 1 Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howe, Sally

    2016-01-01

    Opportunities for play and self-initiated activity, considered to be an important part of children's learning in early childhood settings, diminish as children progress into school. Previous studies suggest that losing time for play/self-initiated activity can impact negatively on children's attitudes to school learning. This article discusses the…

  8. Mirror reactor studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moir, R.W.; Barr, W.L.; Bender, D.J.

    1976-01-01

    Design studies of a fusion mirror reactor, a fusion-fission mirror reactor, and two small mirror reactors are summarized. The fusion reactor uses 150-keV neutral-beam injectors based on the acceleration of negative ions. The injectors provide over 1 GW of continuous power at an efficiency greater than 80 percent. The fusion reactor has three-stage, modularized, Venetian blind, plasma direct converter with a predicted efficiency of 59 percent and a new concept for removal of the lune-shaped blanket: a crane is brought between the two halves of the Yin-Yang magnet, which are separated by a float. The design has desirable features such as steady-state operation, minimal impurity problems, and low first-wall thermal stress. The major disadvantage is low Q resulting in high recirculating power and hence high cost of electrical power. However, the direct capital cost per unit of gross electrical power is reasonable [$1000/kW(e)

  9. Kazakh Traditional Dance Gesture Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nussipbekov, A. K.; Amirgaliyev, E. N.; Hahn, Minsoo

    2014-04-01

    Full body gesture recognition is an important and interdisciplinary research field which is widely used in many application spheres including dance gesture recognition. The rapid growth of technology in recent years brought a lot of contribution in this domain. However it is still challenging task. In this paper we implement Kazakh traditional dance gesture recognition. We use Microsoft Kinect camera to obtain human skeleton and depth information. Then we apply tree-structured Bayesian network and Expectation Maximization algorithm with K-means clustering to calculate conditional linear Gaussians for classifying poses. And finally we use Hidden Markov Model to detect dance gestures. Our main contribution is that we extend Kinect skeleton by adding headwear as a new skeleton joint which is calculated from depth image. This novelty allows us to significantly improve the accuracy of head gesture recognition of a dancer which in turn plays considerable role in whole body gesture recognition. Experimental results show the efficiency of the proposed method and that its performance is comparable to the state-of-the-art system performances.

  10. Impaired Emotion Recognition in Music in Parkinson's Disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Tricht, Mirjam J.; Smeding, Harriet M. M.; Speelman, Johannes D.; Schmand, Ben A.

    2010-01-01

    Music has the potential to evoke strong emotions and plays a significant role in the lives of many people. Music might therefore be an ideal medium to assess emotion recognition. We investigated emotion recognition in music in 20 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) and 20 matched healthy volunteers. The role of cognitive dysfunction…

  11. A laser gyro with a four-mirror square resonator: formulas for simulating the dynamics of the synchronisation zone parameters of the frequencies of counterpropagating waves during the device operation in the self-heating regime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bondarenko, E A

    2014-01-01

    For a laser gyro with a four-mirror square resonator we have developed a mathematical model, which allows one to simulate the temporal behaviour of the synchronisation zone parameters of the frequencies of counterpropagating waves in a situation when the device operates in the self-heating regime and is switched-on at different initial temperatures. (laser gyroscopes)

  12. Out of time: a possible link between mirror neurons, autism and electromagnetic radiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thornton, Ian M

    2006-01-01

    Recent evidence suggests a link between autism and the human mirror neuron system. In this paper, I argue that temporal disruption from the environment may play an important role in the observed mirror neuron dysfunction, leading in turn to the pattern of deficits associated with autism. I suggest that the developing nervous system of an infant may be particularly prone to temporal noise that can interfere with the initial calibration of brain networks such as the mirror neuron system. The most likely source of temporal noise in the environment is artificially generated electromagnetic radiation. To date, there has been little evidence that electromagnetic radiation poses a direct biological hazard. It is clear, however, that time-varying electromagnetic waves have the potential to temporally modulate the nervous system, particularly when populations of neurons are required to act together. This modulation may be completely harmless for the fully developed nervous system of an adult. For an infant, this same temporal disruption might act to severely delay or disrupt vital calibration processes.

  13. Recognition of anti-mycolic acid antibody at self-assembled mycolic acid antigens on a gold electrode: a potential impedimetric immunosensing platform for active tuberculosis

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Mathebula, NS

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Electrochemical impedimetric recognition by anti-mycolic acid antibodies, present in tuberculosis (TB)-positive human serum co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), of mycolic acids (MA) integrated into a self-assembled monolayer of N-(2...

  14. Light-weight spherical mirrors for Cherenkov detectors

    CERN Document Server

    Cisbani, E; Colilli, S; Crateri, R; Cusanno, F; De Leo, R; Fratoni, R; Frullani, S; Garibaldi, F; Giuliani, F; Gricia, M; Iodice, M; Iommi, R; Lagamba, L; Lucentini, M; Mostarda, A; Nappi, E; Pierangeli, L; Santavenere, F; Urciuoli, G M; Vernin, P

    2003-01-01

    Light-weight spherical mirrors have been appositely designed and built for the gas threshold Cherenkov detectors of the two Hall A spectrometers. The mirrors are made of a 1 mm thick aluminized plexiglass sheet, reinforced by a rigid backing consisting of a phenolic honeycomb sandwiched between two carbon fiber mats epoxy glued. The produced mirrors have a thickness equivalent to 0.55% of radiation length, and an optical slope error of about 5.5 mrad. These characteristics make these mirrors suitable for the implementation in Cherenkov threshold detectors. Ways to improve the mirror features are also discussed in view of their possible employment in RICH detectors.

  15. SOX2 plays a critical role in EGFR-mediated self-renewal of human prostate cancer stem-like cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rybak, Adrian P; Tang, Damu

    2013-12-01

    SOX2 is an essential transcription factor for stem cells and plays a role in tumorigenesis, however its role in prostate cancer stem cells (PCSCs) remains unclear. We report here a significant upregulation of SOX2 at both mRNA and protein levels in DU145 PCSCs propagated as suspension spheres in vitro. The expression of SOX2 in DU145 PCSCs is positively regulated by epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling. Activation of EGFR signaling, following the addition of epidermal growth factor (EGF) or ectopic expression of a constitutively-active EGFR mutant (EGFRvIII), increased SOX2 expression and the self-renewal of DU145 PCSCs. Conversely, a small molecule EGFR inhibitor (AG1478) blocked EGFR activation, reduced SOX2 expression and inhibited PCSC self-renewal activity, implicating SOX2 in mediating EGFR-dependent self-renewal of PCSCs. In line with this notion, ectopic SOX2 expression enhanced EGF-induced self-renewal of DU145 PCSCs, while SOX2 knockdown reduced PCSC self-renewal with EGF treatment no longer capable of enhancing their propagation. Furthermore, SOX2 knockdown reduced the capacity of DU145 PCSCs to grow under anchorage-independent conditions. Finally, DU145 PCSCs generated xenograft tumors more aggressively with elevated levels of SOX2 expression compared to xenograft tumors derived from non-PCSCs. Collectively, we provide evidence that SOX2 plays a critical role in EGFR-mediated self-renewal of DU145 PCSCs. © 2013.

  16. Robustness-related issues in speaker recognition

    CERN Document Server

    Zheng, Thomas Fang

    2017-01-01

    This book presents an overview of speaker recognition technologies with an emphasis on dealing with robustness issues. Firstly, the book gives an overview of speaker recognition, such as the basic system framework, categories under different criteria, performance evaluation and its development history. Secondly, with regard to robustness issues, the book presents three categories, including environment-related issues, speaker-related issues and application-oriented issues. For each category, the book describes the current hot topics, existing technologies, and potential research focuses in the future. The book is a useful reference book and self-learning guide for early researchers working in the field of robust speech recognition.

  17. Mirror Station for studies of the protection of diagnostic mirrors from impurity contamination in ITER: Design and first results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Litnovsky, Andrey; Krasikov, Yuri; Kotov, Vladislav; Matveeva, Maria; Panin, Anatoly; Vera, Liliana; Buzi, Luxherta; Neubauer, Olaf; Biel, Wolfgang; Nicolai, Dirk; Mertens, Philippe; Linsmeier, Christian

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Paper is devoted to protection of diagnostic mirrors for ITER. • Modeling predicts suppression of impurity deposition on mirrors by using ducts. • The mirror tube system (Mirror Station) was built to validate the model. • The Mirror Station was exposed in TEXTOR. • The decrease of deposition in cylindrical ducts with fins cannot be confirmed. • All mirrors located in conical ducts preserved their reflectivity. - Abstract: Optical and laser-based diagnostics in ITER will use mirrors to transmit plasma radiation and laser light to the corresponding detectors and cameras. Mirrors will be sputtered by the fast plasma particles and contaminated by impurities leading to the degradation of the reflectivity and hampering the performance of corresponding diagnostics. Dedicated measures were proposed to minimize the impurity deposition comprising the use of shutters and fins inside diagnostic ducts to trap impurities on their way toward the mirror located in the end of these ducts. Modeling results predict at least 7-fold suppression of the deposition for the duct having four fins located at the distance of a half of a diameter from each other. The Mirror Station (MS) was designed to validate modeling predictions and to study the suppression of deposition inside of diagnostic ducts. The MS contained cylindrical and cone-shaped tubes of different lengths with smooth and shaped geometry of ducts. The MS was exposed in the midplane port of TEXTOR for about 3960 s of plasma operation. After exposure, no drastic suppression of deposition was observed in the cylindrical ducts with fins. In the conical tubes no deposition was detected outlining the advantages of a cone form.

  18. Charged particle confinement in magnetic mirror

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bora, D.; John, P.I.; Saxena, Y.C.; Varma, R.K.

    1982-01-01

    The behaviour of single charged particle trapped in a magnetic mirror has been investigated experimentally. The particle injected off axis and trapped in a magnetic mirror, leak out of the mirror with the leakage characterized by multiple decay times. The observed decay times are in good agreement with predictions of a ''wave mechanical like'' model by Varma, over a large range of relevant parameters. (author)

  19. Study on the materials for mirrors and back mirror reflectors of thermonuclear reactors and their testing in Tore-Supra

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schunke, B.; Voytsenya, V.; Gil, C.; Lipa, M.

    2003-01-01

    Plasma diagnostics using visible or ultra-violet or infra-red radiations require mirrors to probe the plasma. These mirrors have to sustain very hostile environment and despite that must maintain good optical properties. Mirror samples made of 3 different metals: copper, stainless steel and molybdenum have been designed and installed in Tore Supra tokamak and will be exposed to plasmas till mid 2004. This project will allow fusion engineers to assess the impact of plasma ion bombardment on mirror reflectivity. Optical properties and parameters concerning the surface state of the samples have been measured before the installation in Tore Supra and are presented in the paper. Simulations with a Monte-Carlo code predict the particle flux and spectra near the samples. A specific back mirror reflector has been designed to probe mirror reflectivity changes. (A.C.)

  20. Hypersingular integral equations, Kaehler manifolds and Thurston mirroring effect in ε (∞) Cantorian spacetime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iovane, G.

    2007-01-01

    In this work starting from some earlier results on hypersingular integral equations and analyzing a more realistic model of gravitational waveguides on a Cantorian spacetime we obtain a description of our Universe according to Kaehler manifold in the context of El Naschie's ε (∞) Cantorian space-time. In particular, we consider filamentary and planar large scale structures as possible refraction channels for electromagnetic radiation coming from cosmological structures. From this vision the Universe appears like a large self-similar adaptive mirrors set. This is made evident through numerical simulations. Consequently, an infinite Universe is just an optical illusion that is produced by mirroring effects connected to the large scale structure of a finite and not so large Universe