We argue that brains generate predictions only within the constraints of the action repertoire. This makes the computational complexity tractable and fosters a step-by-step parallel development of sensory and motor systems. Hence, it is more of a benefit than a literal constraint and may serve as a universal normative principle ...

I consider the general problem of category conjunctions in the light of Pothos & Busemeyer (P&B)'s quantum probability (QP) account of the conjunction fallacy. I argue that their account as presented cannot capture the "guppy effect" - the case in which a class is a better member of a conjunction A^B than ...

The perception of verticality is critical for balance control and interaction with the world. But this complex process fails badly under certain circumstances-usually as the result of an illusion. Here, we report on a real-world example of how the brain fails to disregard body position on a moving mountain tram ...

This study investigated power density and relevant information related to light-curing units used in private dental offices in Changchun City, China. The power density of 196 light-curing units used in private dental offices in Changchun City was measured using a simple random sampling method. Relevant information included the brand, type, ...

The skyglow produced by artificial lights at night is one of the most dramatic anthropogenic modifications of Earth's biosphere. The GLOBE at Night citizen science project allows individual observers to quantify skyglow using star maps showing different levels of light pollution. We show that aggregated GLOBE at Night data depend ...

Migratory pastoralism is an adaptation to a harsh and unstable environment, and pastoral herders have traditionally adapted to environmental and climatic change by building on their in-depth knowledge of this environment. In the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, and particularly in the arid and semiarid areas of northern Pakistan, pastoralism, the ...

Acenes consist of linearly annulated benzene rings. Their reactivity increases quickly with increasing chain length. Therefore acenes longer than pentacene are very sensitive towards oxygen in the presence of light and thus these molecules have not been well studied or have remained elusive in spite of synthetic efforts dating back ...

Cooperation is ubiquitous in nature, but explaining its existence remains a central interdisciplinary challenge [1-3]. Cooperation is most difficult to explain in the Prisoner's Dilemma game, where cooperators always lose in direct competition with defectors despite increasing mean fitness [1, 4, 5]. Here we demonstrate how spatial population expansion, a ...

The second generation of ground-based interferometric gravitational wave detectors are currently being built and installed. They are designed to be better in strain sensitivity by about a factor 10 with respect to the first generation. Light originating from the laser and following unintended paths, called stray light, has been a ...

The increasing electrification of the powertrain after 125 years of continuous development of the internal combustion engine will not only lead to a sound pressure level reduction of vehicle exterior noises but to a complete change of sound quality. With this expected development road traffic noise affected persons hope for ...

Celebrating Glenis Long's outstanding contribution to auditory physiology and psychoacoustics, this presentation covers the New Zealand connection and particularly her involvement in our research program into the monitoring and prevention of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) in the country. A large multidisciplinary project is being undertaken to investigate the nature of ...

Speech privacy in open spaces is becoming increasingly important in various situations. Although measures such as the use of sound partitions are already used in many cases, measures that mask speech by emitting sounds have also been considered. A method of masking meaningful speech with meaningless noise would be valuable. ...

The interaural level difference (ILD) of a lateralized target source is reduced when the target is presented together with background noise containing no ILD. It is unknown whether listeners simply use this reduced aggregate ILD or are still able to utilize the target ILD in a lateralization task. Behavioral experiments ...

Australia relies heavily on road transport due to its large area and low population density in many parts of the country. Trucks and heavy vehicles are commonly used for road freight. In addition to their normal vehicle brakes, heavy vehicles are typically fitted with release engine brakes which operate by ...

Multi-microphone arrays allow for the use of spatial filtering techniques that can greatly improve noise reduction and source separation. However, for speech and audio data, work on noise reduction or separation has focused primarily on one- or two-channel systems. Because of this, databases of multichannel environmental noise are not widely ...

In general, the loudness level of a broader sound is higher than that of a narrower sound centered at the same frequency, an effect commonly referred to as spectral loudness summation. From the late 1950s onwards, Scharf published several articles on this topic investigating how stimulus parameters such as the ...

An automatic aural classifier developed at Defence Research and Development Canada has demonstrated the ability to distinguish target echoes from clutter using perceptual-based features inspired by sonar operators. Initially, the classifier was tested with echoes from explosive sources, but more recent research involved transmitting broadband waveforms from transducer sources. In ...

Humans have no problem segmenting different motion stimuli despite the ambiguity of local motion signals. Adaptive surround modulation, i.e., the apparent switching between integrative and antagonistic modes, is assumed to play a crucial role in this process. However, so far motion processing models based on local integration have not been ...

Abstract This paper affirms the importance of lighting as a technology in the context of people with sight loss. Its importance lies in the ability of appropriate lighting interventions to support independent living and to reduce the likelihood of falls and accidents. The concept of "assistive lighting" is introduced with ...

Studies of scene perception have shown that the visual system is particularly sensitive to global properties such as the overall layout of a scene. Such global properties cannot be computed locally, but rather require relational analysis over multiple regions. To what extent is observers' perception of scenes impaired in the ...

Assessing the driving forces of sandy desertification is fundamental and important for its control. It has been widely accepted that both climatic conditions and land use have great impact on sandy desertification in northern China. However, the relative role and synergistic effect of each driving force of sandy desertification are ...

Strong chiroptical effects recently reported result from the interaction of light with chiral plasmonic nanostructures. Such nanostructures can be used to enhance the chiroptical response of chiral molecules and could also significantly increase the enantiomeric excess of direct asymmetric synthesis and catalysis. Moreover, in optical metamaterials, chirality leads to negative ...

The interplay of human actions and natural processes over varied spatial and temporal scales can result in abrupt transitions between contrasting land surface states. Understanding these transitions is a key goal of sustainability science because they can represent abrupt losses of natural capital. This paper recognizes flickering between alternate land ...

The drop vertical jump (DVJ) task is commonly used to assess biomechanical performance measures that are associated with ACL injury risk in athletes. Previous investigations have solely assessed the first landing phase. We examined the first and second landings of a DVJ for differences in the magnitude of vertical ground ...

Three dominant techniques are used for downhill turning in cross-country skiing. In this study, kinematic, kinetic, and temporal characteristics of these techniques are described and related to skier strength and power. Twelve elite female cross-country skiers performed six consecutive turns of standardized geometry while being monitored by a Global Navigation ...

Although many studies have examined the principles governing first-order global motion perception, the mechanisms that mediate second-order global motion perception remain unresolved. This study investigated the existence, nature and extent of the binocular advantage for encoding second-order (contrast-defined) global motion. Motion coherence thresholds (79.4% correct) were assessed for determining the ...

Pupil filters for cylindrical (two-dimensional) focusing with extended depth of field are investigated. An important application is in generating light sheets with uniform intensity. Filters for spherical (three-dimensional) focusing with a flat axial intensity, coupled with weak side lobes are also discussed.

Geometric Brownian motion (GBM) is a model for systems as varied as financial instruments and populations. The statistical properties of GBM are complicated by nonergodicity, which can lead to ensemble averages exhibiting exponential growth while any individual trajectory collapses according to its time average. A common tactic for bringing time ...

All higher plants possess multiple phytochrome (phy) photoreceptors with phyA being light-labile and other members of the family being relatively light stable (phyB-phyE in Arabidopsis). phyA also differs from other members of the family because it enables plants to de-etiolate in far-red (FR) rich environments typical of dense vegetational cover. ...

Several studies have indicated a positive response of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) to mandibular advancement, while others have reported that TMJ adaptive responses are non-existent and negligible. Controversy continues to grow over the precise nature of skeletal changes that occur during mandibular growth modification, due to an apparent lack of ...

Many common pool resources have traditionally been managed through intricate local governance arrangements. Over time, such arrangements are confronted with manifold political, social, economic and ecological changes. However, the ways in which local governance arrangements react to such changes are poorly understood. Using the theoretical concept of institutional adaptation, we ...

Phytochromes (phys) encompass a diverse collection of biliproteins that enable cellular light perception by photoconverting between a red-light-absorbing ground state - Pr and a far-red light-absorbing active state - Pfr. Based on the central role of plant phys in controlling numerous agriculturally important processes, their rational redesign offers great promise ...

The idea that perceptual and cognitive systems must incorporate knowledge about the structure of the environment has become a central dogma of cognitive theory. In a Bayesian context, this idea is often realized in terms of "tuning the prior"-widely assumed to mean adjusting prior probabilities so that they match the ...

Preserving the soundscape and geographic extension of quiet areas is a great challenge against the wide-spreading of environmental noise. The E.U. Environmental Noise Directive underlines the need to preserve quiet areas as a new aim for the management of noise in European countries. At the same time, due to their ...

In this review, changes in aggregation induced by thermodynamic parameters, namely concentration and temperature are discussed. Most of these changes are concerned with sphere-to-rod transitions. On the other hand, the use of an external trigger such as light can induce large aggregation changes in photosurfactant systems. This is discussed in ...

In this study we tested predictions of two important theories of visual coding, contrast energy and sparse coding theory, on the dependence of population activity level and metabolic demands on spatial structure of the visual input. With carefully calibrated displays we find that in humans neither the V1 blood oxygenation ...

We studied the interactive effects of pCO(2) and growth light on the coastal marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana CCMP 1335 growing under ambient and expected end-of-the-century pCO(2) (750 ppmv), and a range of growth light from 30 to 380 µmol photons·m(-2)·s(-1). Elevated pCO(2) significantly stimulated the growth of T. pseudonana under ...

Entangled photons provide an important tool for secure quantum communication, computing and lithography. Low intensity requirements for multi-photon processes make them idealy suited for minimizing damage in imaging applications. Here we show how their unique temporal and spectral features may be used in nonlinear spectroscopy to reveal properties of multiexcitons ...

Driving vehicles with one or more passive trailers has difficulties in both forward and backward motion due to inter-unit collisions, jackknife, and lack of visibility. Consequently, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for multi-trailer combinations can be beneficial to accident avoidance as well as to driver comfort. The ADAS proposed in ...

Artificial lighting is strongly associated with urbanisation and is increasing in its extent, brightness and spectral range. Changes in urban lighting have both positive and negative effects on city performance, yet little is known about how its character and magnitude vary across the urban landscape. A major barrier to related ...

Since 2000, the Department of Defense has documented more than 253,000 cases of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). A significant portion of these injuries were attributed to explosive events, yet ninety-eight percent were non-penetrating. Understanding the response of the brain to blast events is critical, yet the mechanisms of brain injury ...

A need exists to develop a better predictive tool for estimating deterioration in the visual system. This pilot study examined changes in EEG spectral power of subjects with varying visual impairments. EEG activity of five subjects was recorded while playing a driving game both with and without their corrective glasses. ...

Urban parks play an important role in preserving and promoting the health of citizens who are often exposed to noise pollution and the stress of daily life. The present study describes the main results obtained from a survey performed in five urban parks in Milan. Measurements of the acoustic environment ...

PURPOSE: Although high patellar tendon loading is believed to be the primary causative factor for patellar tendinopathy, research investigating factors that affect patellar tendon loading during landing are scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify whether factors previously associated with the development of patellar tendinopathy, and selected ...

South America is one of the most urbanized continents in the world, where almost 84% of the total population lives in cities, more urbanized than North America (82%) and Europe (73%). Spatial dynamics, their structure, main features, land consumption rates, spatial arrangement, fragmentation degrees and comparability, remain mostly unknown for ...

This study examined how the terms used to describe climate change influence landholder acceptability judgements and attitudes toward climate change at the local scale. Telephone surveys were conducted with landholders from viticultural (n = 97) or cereal growing (n = 195) backgrounds in rural South Australia. A variety of descriptive and inferential statistics were used ...

Countermovement jumps loaded with a weighted vest are often used for the training of lower body power to improve jump performance. However, it is currently unknown how this added load affects the lower extremity kinematics and kinetics, in particular whether this results in an increased injury risk. Therefore, the purpose ...

Dynamic stability is often measured by time-to-stabilization (TTS), which is calculated from the dwindling fluctuations of ground reaction force (GRF) components over time. Common protocols of dynamic stability research have involved forward or vertical jumps, neglecting different jump-landing directions. Therefore, the purpose of the present investigation was to examine the ...

Frequency and severity of droughts were projected to increase in many regions. However, their effects of temporal dynamics on the terrestrial carbon cycle remain uncertain, and hence deserve further investigation. In this paper, the droughts that occurred in China during 2001-2010 were identified by using the standardized precipitation index (SPI). ...

Phototropism allows plants to align their photosynthetic tissues with incoming light. The direction of incident light is sensed by the phototropin family of blue light photoreceptors (phot1 and phot2 in Arabidopsis), which are light-activated protein kinases. The kinase activity of phototropins and phosphorylation of residues in the activation loop of ...