bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Adaptive History Biases Result from Confidence-Weighted Accumulation of past Choices
Authors: Braun Anke , Urai Anne E. , Donner Tobias H.
Published: January 2018

Perceptual decision-making is biased by previous events, including the history of preceding choices: observers tend to repeat (or alternate) their judgments of the sensory environment more often than expected by chance. Computational models postulate that these so-called choice history biases result from the accumulation of internal decision signals across trials. Here, we provide psychophysical evidence for such a mechanism and its adaptive utility. Male and female human observers performed different variants of a challenging visual motion discrimination task near psychophysical threshold. In a first experiment, we decoupled categorical perceptual choices and motor responses on a trial-by-trial basis. Choice history bias was explained by previous perceptual choices, not motor responses, highlighting the importance of internal decision signals in action-independent formats. In a second experiment, observers performed the task in stimulus environments containing different levels of autocorrelation and providing no external feedback about choice correctness. Despite performing under overall high levels of uncertainty, observers adjusted both the strength and the sign of their choice history biases to these environments. When stimulus sequences were dominated by either repetitions or alternations, the individual degree of this adjustment of history bias was about as good a predictor of individual performance as individual perceptual sensitivity. The history bias adjustment scaled with two proxies for observers' confidence about their previous choices (accuracy and reaction time). Together, our results are consistent with the idea that action-independent, confidence-modulated decision variables are accumulated across choices in a flexible manner that depends on decision-makers' model of their environment.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTDecisions based on sensory input are often influenced by the history of one's preceding choices, manifesting as a bias to systematically repeat (or alternate) choices. We here provide support for the idea that such choice history biases arise from the context-dependent accumulation of a quantity referred to as the decision variable: the variable's sign dictates the choice and its magnitude the confidence about choice correctness. We show that choices are accumulated in an action-independent format and a context-dependent manner, weighted by the confidence about their correctness. This confidence-weighted accumulation of choices enables decision-makers to flexibly adjust their behavior to different sensory environments. The bias adjustment can be as important for optimizing performance as one's sensitivity to the momentary sensory input.
Antagonistic Interactions Between Microsaccades and Evidence Accumulation Processes During Decision Formation
Authors: Loughnane Gerard M. , Newman Daniel P. , Tamang Sarita , Kelly Simon P. , O'Connell Redmond G.
Published: January 2018

Despite their small size, microsaccades can impede stimulus detections if executed at inopportune times. Although it has been shown that microsaccades evoke both inhibitory and excitatory responses across different visual regions, their impact on the higher-level neural decision processes that bridge sensory responses to action selection has yet to be examined. Here, we show that when human observers monitor stimuli for subtle feature changes, the occurrence of microsaccades long after (up to 800 ms) change onset predicts slower reaction times and this is accounted for by momentary suppression of neural signals at each key stage of decision formation: visual evidence encoding, evidence accumulation, and motor preparation. Our data further reveal that, independent of the timing of the change events, the onset of neural decision formation coincides with a systematic inhibition of microsaccade production, persisting until the perceptual report is executed. Our combined behavioral and neural measures highlight antagonistic interactions between microsaccade occurrence and evidence accumulation during visual decision-making tasks.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTWhen fixating on a location in space, we frequently make tiny eye movements called microsaccades. In the present study, we show that these microsaccades impede our ability to make perceptual decisions about visual stimuli and this impediment specifically occurs via the disruption of several processing levels of the sensorimotor network: the encoding of visual evidence itself, the accumulation of visual evidence toward a response, and effector-selective motor preparation. Furthermore, we show that the production of microsaccades is inhibited during the perceptual decision, possibly as a counteractive measure to mitigate their negative effect on behavior in this context. The combined behavioral and neural measures used in this study provide strong and novel evidence for the interaction of fixational eye movements and the perceptual decision-making process.
Role of Anterior Intralaminar Nuclei of Thalamus Projections to Dorsomedial Striatum in Incubation of Methamphetamine Craving
Authors: Li Xuan , Witonsky Kailyn R. , Lofaro Olivia M. , Surjono Felicia , Zhang Jianjun , Bossert Jennifer M. , Shaham Yavin
Published: January 2018

Relapse to methamphetamine (Meth) seeking progressively increases after withdrawal from drug self-administration (incubation of Meth craving). We previously demonstrated a role of dorsomedial striatum (DMS) dopamine D1 receptors (D1Rs) in this incubation. Here, we studied the role of afferent glutamatergic projections into the DMS and local D1R–glutamate interaction in this incubation in male rats. We first measured projection-specific activation on day 30 relapse test by using cholera toxin b (retrograde tracer) + Fos (activity marker) double-labeling in projection areas. Next, we determined the effect of pharmacological reversible inactivation of lateral or medial anterior intralaminar nuclei of thalamus (AIT-L or AIT-M) on incubated Meth seeking on withdrawal day 30. We then used an anatomical asymmetrical disconnection procedure to determine whether an interaction between AIT-L→DMS glutamatergic projections and postsynaptic DMS D1Rs contributes to incubated Meth seeking. We also determined the effect of unilateral inactivation of AIT-L and D1R blockade of DMS on incubated Meth seeking, and the effect of contralateral disconnection of AIT-L→DMS projections on nonincubated Meth seeking on withdrawal day 1. Incubated Meth seeking was associated with selective activation of AIT→DMS projections; other glutamatergic projections to DMS were not activated. AIT-L (but not AIT-M) inactivation or anatomical disconnection of AIT-L→DMS projections decreased incubated Meth seeking. Unilateral inactivation of AIT-L or D1R blockade of the DMS had no effect on incubated Meth craving, and contralateral disconnection of AIT-L→DMS projections had no effect on nonincubated Meth seeking. Our results identify a novel role of AIT-L and AIT-L→DMS glutamatergic projections in incubation of drug craving and drug seeking.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTMethamphetamine seeking progressively increases after withdrawal from drug self-administration, a phenomenon termed incubation of methamphetamine craving. We previously found that D1R-mediated dopamine transmission in the dorsomedial striatum plays a critical role in this incubation phenomenon. Here, we used neuroanatomical and neuropharmacological methods in rats to demonstrate that an interaction between the glutamatergic projection from the lateral anterior intralaminar nuclei of the thalamus to the dorsomedial striatum and local dopamine D1 receptors plays a critical role in relapse to methamphetamine seeking after prolonged withdrawal. Our study identified a novel motivation-related thalamostriatal projection critical to relapse to drug seeking.
The ecosystem baseline for particle flux in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
Authors: Giering S.L.C. , Yan B. , Sweet J. , Asper V. , Diercks A. , Chanton J.P. , Pitiranggon M. , Passow U.
Published: January 2018

Response management and damage assessment during and after environmental disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill require an ecological baseline and a solid understanding of the main drivers of the ecosystem. During the DWH event, a large fraction of the spilled oil was transported to depth via sinking marine snow, a routing of spilled oil unexpected to emergency response planners. Because baseline knowledge of particle export in the Northern Gulf of Mexico and how it varies spatially and temporally was limited, we conducted a detailed assessment of the potential drivers of deep (~1400 m depth) particle fluxes during 2012–2016 using sediment traps at three contrasting sites in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: near the DWH site, at an active natural oil seep site, and at a site considered typical for background conditions. The DWH site, located ~70 km from the Mississippi River Delta, showed flux patterns that were strongly linked to the Mississippi nitrogen discharge and an annual subsequent surface bloom. Fluxes carried clear signals of combustion products, which likely originated from pyrogenic sources that were transported offshore via the Mississippi plume. The seep and reference sites were more strongly influenced by the open Gulf of Mexico, did not show a clear seasonal flux pattern, and their overall sedimentation rates were lower than those at the DWH site. At the seep site, based on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon data, we observed indications of three different pathways for “natural” oiled-snow sedimentation: scavenging by sinking particles at depth, weathering at the surface before incorporation into sinking particles, and entry into the food web and subsequent sinking in form of detritus. Overall, sedimentation rates at the three sites were markedly different in quality and quantity owing to varying degrees of riverine and oceanic influences, including natural seepage and contamination by combustion products.
Pleiotropic Functions of the Chromodomain-Containing Protein Hat-trick During Oogenesis inDrosophila melanogaster
Authors: Singh Ankita , Dutta Debdeep , Paul Maimuna Sali , Verma Dipti , Mutsuddi Mousumi , Mukherjee Ashim
Published: January 2018

Chromatin-remodeling proteins have a profound role in the transcriptional regulation of gene expression during development. Here, we have shown that the chromodomain-containing protein Hat-trick is predominantly expressed within the oocyte nucleus, specifically within the heterochromatinized karyosome, and that a mild expression is observed in follicle cells. Colocalization of Hat-trick with Heterochromatin Protein 1 and synaptonemal complex component C(3)G along with the diffused karyosome after hat-trick downregulation shows the role of this protein in heterochromatin clustering and karyosome maintenance. Germline mosaic analysis reveals that hat-trick is required for maintaining the dorso-ventral patterning of eggs by regulating the expression of Gurken. The increased incidence of double-strand breaks (DSBs), delayed DSB repair, defects in karyosome formation, altered Vasa mobility, and, consequently, misexpression and altered localization of Gurken in hat-trick mutant egg chambers clearly suggest a putative involvement of Hat-trick in the early stages of oogenesis. In addition, based on phenotypic observations in hat-trick mutant egg chambers, we speculate a substantial role of hat-trick in cystoblast proliferation, oocyte determination, nurse cell endoreplication, germ cell positioning, cyst encapsulation, and nurse cell migration. Our results demonstrate that hat-trick has profound pleiotropic functions during oogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster.
Comparison of DNA Damage and Homocysteine Content in Blood of Thyroid Carcinoma Patients and Control Subjects in Punjab, Pakistan
Authors: Usman Muhammad , Rajoka Muhammad Ibrahim , Haque Asma , Bakhtiar Shumaila , Khan Luqman , Ibrahim Zubair , Ul Haq Farid , Fahad Shah , Adnan Ahmad Qazi
Published: January 2018

Background: Thyroid cancers are common endocrine tumors with diverse medical and histological structures. During development/progression from normal to neoplastic cell, there is a gradual increase in the function/activity of proto-oncogenes, transcription factors and metastasis elements. The main objective of this study is to evaluate per-oxidation of lipid content, total oxidative stress, and the profile of homocysteine (and DNA damage) in the erythrocytes of thyroid carcinoma patients as compared with those of control subjects.

Methods: All risk variables and biochemical analyses were quantitatively determined using standard methods.

Results: A noteworthy increase in malondialdehyde, globulin, and DNA damage in thyroid carcinoma patients were repeatedly observed. In contrast, healthy individuals showed an increased level of HDL-C and total anti-oxidant response.

Conclusion: It is suggested that these parameters have a pivotal role in the diagnostic process of determining thyroid carcinoma patients. Oxidized products of macromolecules in the blood of such patients impart major function in causing thyroid carcinoma disease.
Interpretation of aeromagnetic data using GIS to evaluate the geotectonic regime of the Sabinas Basin
Authors: Batista Jose Alberto
Published: January 2018

The study present the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) to assess the geotectonic regimen of the Sabinas Basin. Initially, the GIS database was designed using geological and geophysical information (total magnetic field reduced to the pole). Subsequently, 2D models of the basin were obtained along 4 profiles running on a north-south direction. The implementation of GIS enables a geological-geophysical interpretation generating various thematic maps that overlap the magnetic map during interpretation. The analysis of overlapping maps enables the identification of areas with different geotectonic regimes in the Sabinas Basin, as well as the relationship between these environments and mineralization. The qualitative and quantitative interpretation of the aeromagnetic data obtained for the total magnetic field reduced to the pole delineate uplifted basement areas as well as shallower blocks within them. This paper presents the location of both the basin´s deepest zones and its probable faults, which can be linked to the block boundaries. The faults zones and block boundaries correspond to the main mineral deposits found in the basin. Finally, the geotectonic regime of some sectors of the basin is detailed in order to reaffirm the results obtained by the interpretation of aeromagnetic data.
This issue of Earth Science Research Journal
Authors: Prieto G. Germán A.
Published: January 2018

We at the Earth Sciences Research Journal hope all our readers have a happy and productive 2018. Our last issue of ESRJ in 2017 presents a number of papers on different topics within the Earth Sciences. In Alvarez-Ysabel et al. a 150+ year database of tropical cyclone activity is analyzed for the Dominican Republic (DR). A total of 112 events have tracks at most 300 km from the DR are studied in terms of their seasonal distribution and long-term distribution, their frequency and landfall probability. The authors also present a review of trocial cyclone activity in the region. Ogly Gahramanov uses a combination of geological and geochemical information to model the formation of hydrocarbon deposits in the South Caspian Basin, in particular for the South Caspian Depression. The authors argue that large pressures and tectonic history have a large effect on the appropriate selection of potential drilling sites. Using high-resolution aeromagnetic survey data in combination with other geological-geophysical thematic maps,  XXXX.et al. take advantage of GIS tools for identifying different tectonic regimes in the Sabinas Basin, northeastern Mexico.   Regions where the basin is deepest and the delineation of faults allows for the determination of block boundaries as well. He et al. use a modified direct shear test apparatus to determine shear strength parameters of unsaturated soils under various conditions. The paper proposes that the direct shear test analysis is an efficient way to analysis soil samples. Zhuo and Chen explore the improved water retention capacity of sandy soils by adding nanocarbon made from coconut shells. Different amounts and thicknesses of nanocarbon were added to the soil, increasing water content with increased nanocarbon. Loess deposits can have very large thicknesses, and for engineering purposes it is important to better understand the geotechnical response of the loess deposits. Wang et al. investigate the collapsibility of loess deposits in the Xixian New Region using compressions tests under different pressure and water content conditions. Results presented may have important application in future geotechnical studies in the region.
Венгерскославянские фразеологические параллели (диахронический аспект)
Authors: Мокиенко В. М. , Никитина Т. Г.
Published: January 2018

The problem of Slavic–Finno-Ugric cultural and language contacts is one of the stable scientific dominants of Slavic studies. Though the lexical units remain the basis of etymological and ethnolinguistic reconstructions, phraseology has also recently become increasingly the object of research on Hungarian–Slavic and Slavic–Hungarian language contacts. A special place here is occupied by the analysis of the Finno-Ugric–Russian phraseological interaction. The paper offers a linguistic interpretation of 7 Hungarian–Russian phraseological parallels. The comparison with the Slavic and other Indo-European material helps to clarify their historical and etymological interpretation proposed by the famous Hungarian folklorist and paremiologist Gábor O. Nagy
«Тарас Бульба» Н. В. Гоголя и «ХаджиМурат» Л. Н. Толстого (аспект историософии, исторической поэтики и интертекстуальности)
Authors: Шульц Сергей
Published: January 2018

This paper is based on three major premises derived from philosophy of history, historical poetics, and theory of intertextuality, which are seen as interconnected. Taras Bulba and Khadzhi Murat inherit different forms of epic writing from archaic ones (e.g. epic poems) to heroic ones (e.g. sagas, bylinas, chivalric romance, etc.). Some variations and distant derivatives of these multiple forms (e.g. tales about bogatyrs, Orlando Furioso by Ariosto, Alonso Quijano by Cervantes, ballad, historical novella, etc.) are related to some extent to the given texts by Gogol and L. Tolstoy.
Ананасы в шампанском (о культурной семантике еды)
Authors: Федосов Олег
Published: January 2018

The paper deals with some food names in Russian (апельсин, ананас) within the framework of linguoculturological approach. The aim of this study is to analyze the main tendencies prevailing in the semantic adaptation of these loanwords that entered the Russian language in the 18th century. The first part is devoted to the conditions of appearance of these words in Russian culture and their semantic characteristics. The second part contains the description of semantic shifts that occur during the formation of cultural connotations of orange and pineapple. The author also demonstrates the manner in which semantic shifts can be used to describe a huge amount of cultural knowledge or cultural information. Proceeding from the notion of “cultural memory”, I set out to show that the phraseological meaning is a complex structure including semantic information and its conceptual basis. In my study, I would like to demonstrate what processes go on during its actualization in idiomaticity. The analysis is conducted on the basis of data found in the Russian National Corpus.
Estimating the Reliability of Digital Data Acquisition in Cultural Astronomy
Authors: Rodríguez-Antón Andrea , González-García A. César , Belmonte Juan Antonio
Published: January 2018

Digital tools are increasingly used in cultural astronomy, so that it is now more important than ever to assess their precision and reliability, and to identify what uncertainties they may introduce. The present work aims to address these issues by comparing a dataset of orientations of Roman cities in the Iberian Peninsula measured in situ with measurements of the same structures obtained through different digital tools. By this, it is possible to estimate the errors that using these techniques introduce and to establish precision limits to data in future work. The results of this preliminary study are then implemented in an archaeoastronomical research project in North Africa, where some on-site measurements had been made in previous fieldwork campaigns by members of the group prior to the current political unrest that now prevents work at some sites in the region. In these instances, Google Earth Pro (2017) and HeyWhatsThat (Kosowsky 2012) have been key tools that have allowed us to complete a survey stretching from present-day Morocco to Libya, as well as to extract a preliminary outline of orientation trends in Roman Africa.
The World Tree
Authors: Rappenglück Michael A.
Published: January 2018

The symbolism of the World Tree has not hitherto been explored from the perspective of possible astronomical references, despite widespread examples of the concept across the world and attention from various fields of study. The aim of the current study is to respond to that gap, using an interdisciplinary methodology that draws on approaches from comparative mythology, ritual studies, archaeological records, botany and socio-anthropological analysis.
Forthcoming conferences
Authors: Conferences Forthcoming
Published: January 2018

Forthcoming conferences