bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Langley Calibration Analysis of Solar Spectroradiometric Measurements: Spectral Aerosol Optical Thickness Retrievals
Authors: Jeong Ukkyo , Tsay Si‐Chee , Pantina Peter , Butler James J. , Loftus Adrian M. , Abuhassan Nader , Herman Jay R. , Dimov Alexander , Holben Brent N. , Swap Robert J.
Published: April 2018

Aerosol optical thickness (τaer) is a fundamental parameter for analyzing aerosol loading and associated radiative effects. The τaer can constrain many inversion algorithms using passive/active sensor measurements to retrieve other aerosol properties and/or the abundance of trace gases. In the next wave of spectroradiometric observations from geostationary platforms, we envision that a strategically distributed network of robust, well‐calibrated ground‐based spectroradiometers will comprehensively complement spaceborne measurements in spectral and temporal domains. Spectral τaer can be accurately obtained from direct‐Sun measurements based on the Langley calibration method, which allows for the analysis of distinct spectral features of the calibration results. In this study, we present a spectral τaer retrieval algorithm for an in‐house developed, field deployable spectroradiometer instrument covering wavelengths from ultraviolet to near‐infrared (UV‐Vis‐NIR). The spectral total optical thickness obtained from the Langley calibration method is partitioned into molecular and particulate components by utilizing a least squares method. The resulting high temporal‐resolution τaer and Ångström Exponent can be used effectively for cloud screening. The new algorithm was applied to month‐long measurements acquired from the rooftop at National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center's Building 33. The retrieved τaer demonstrated excellent agreement with those from well‐calibrated Aerosol Robotic Network Sun photometers at all overlapping wavelengths (correlation coefficients higher than 0.98). In addition, empirical stray light corrections considerably improved τaer retrievals at short wavelengths in the UV. The continuous spectrum of τaer from UV‐Vis‐NIR spectroradiometers is expected to provide more informative constraints for retrieval of additional aerosol properties such as refractive indices, size, and bulk vertical distribution.
A Classification of Clay‐Rich Subaqueous Density Flow Structures
Authors: Hermidas Navid , Eggenhuisen Joris T. , Jacinto Ricardo Silva , Luthi Stefan M. , Toth Ferenc , Pohl Florian
Published: April 2018

This study presents a classification for subaqueous clay‐laden sediment gravity flows. A series of laboratory flume experiments were performed using 9%, 15%, and 21% sediment mixture concentrations composed of sand, silt, clay, and tap water, on varying bed slopes of 6°, 8°, and 9.5°, and with discharge rates of 10 and 15 m3/hr. In addition to the characteristics of the boundary and plug layers, which have been previously used for the classification of open‐channel clay‐laden flows, the newly presented classification also incorporates the treatment of the free shear layer. The flow states within the boundary and free shear layers were established using calculation of the inner variable, self‐similarity considerations, and the magnitude of the apparent viscosity. Based on the experimental observations four flow types were recognized: (1) a clay‐rich plug flow with a laminar free shear layer, a plug layer, and a laminar boundary layer, (2) a top transitional plug flow containing a turbulent free shear layer, a plug layer, and a laminar boundary layer, (3) a transitional turbidity current with a turbulent free shear layer, no plug layer, and a laminar boundary layer, and (4) a fully turbulent turbidity current. A connection between the emplaced deposits and the relevant flow types is drawn and it is shown that a Froude number, two Reynolds numbers, and a dimensionless yield stress parameter are sufficient to associate an experimental flow type with a natural large‐scale density flow.
Turbulence as the Main Driver of Resuspension in Oscillatory Flow Through Vegetation
Authors: Tinoco R. O. , Coco G.
Published: April 2018

A series of laboratory experiments was conducted using arrays of rigid cylinders in a sandy bed as a proxy for mangrove roots and benthos. Synchronous colocated measurements of velocity and suspended sediment concentration were recorded within the array to investigate the effect of array density on sediment resuspension under different wave conditions. The measured increase in turbulent kinetic energy resulting from flow‐vegetation interactions is directly linked to the observed increase in sediment resuspension. The observations emphasize the role of turbulent kinetic energy generated by the flow‐vegetation interactions, rather than bed shear stress by the mean velocity, as the main driver of resuspension within the array. We test a modified Shields parameter analysis, as well as analytical predictions previously developed for unidirectional currents, which accurately predict resuspension thresholds under oscillatory flow conditions.
Importance of Considered Organic Versus Inorganic Source of Carbon to Lakes for Calculating Net Effect on Landscape C Budgets
Authors: Lu Weiqi , Wang Shilu , Yeager Kevin M. , Liu Fang , Huang Qiangsheng , Yang Yuxue , Xiang Peng , Lü Yingchun , Liu Cong‐qiang
Published: April 2018

Lakes and reservoirs transform, emit, and bury carbon that is exported from land and are thus significant components of terrestrial carbon budgets. Their significance is often assessed by integrating these water bodies into terrestrial primary production. However, the transfer of inorganic carbon (IC) is likely a sticking point for these integrations because IC is not part of net ecosystem production. Here we integrated carbon evasion and organic carbon (OC) burial in a lake in the context of inorganic and OC cycling in a karst catchment from a system perspective. The lake emitted carbon dioxide (CO2) and buried OC at rates of 1.0 ± 0.2 and 0.9 ± 0.2 g C m−2 a−1, respectively, approximately equaling 13% and 11% of catchment net ecosystem production, respectively. These proportions represent significant influences on terrestrial carbon budgets, given an organic origin. However, catchment carbon export is dominated by IC that is derived from carbonates dissolved by soil CO2. Lake CO2 evasion accounts for less than 0.1% of soil CO2 efflux, suggesting little potential in significantly altering terrestrial carbon budgets. This comparison indicates the significance of aquatic CO2 evasion, requiring an adjustment of terrestrial carbon budgets to recognize their dependence on carbon origins. The significance may be overstated if inorganic origin is ignored. Our study suggests that a careful reassessment of the significance of CO2 evasion and OC burial in freshwater ecosystems to local and global carbon budgets, with full consideration of their sources, is necessary and pressing.
Aeromagnetic Investigation of the Central Apennine Seismogenic Zone (Italy): From Basins to Faults
Authors: Minelli Liliana , Speranza Fabio , Nicolosi Iacopo , D'Ajello Caracciolo Francesca , Carluccio Roberto , Chiappini Stefano , Messina Alfio , Chiappini Massimo
Published: April 2018

We report on a high‐resolution, low‐altitude aeromagnetic investigation of the central Apennine extensional seismogenic zone, hit by destructive historical earthquakes including the 2009 L'Aquila seismic sequence. Central Apennines are predominantly made by thick (>4 and possibly up to 12 km) packages of shelf and deep marine limestones and dolomites of Mesozoic age, unconformably covered by upper Pliocene‐Holocene continental sediments lying on (often active) normal fault hanging walls. Seismogenic faults cut the carbonates down to 10‐ to 12‐km depth, where the brittle‐ductile transition occurs. Aeromagnetic data were collected during June 2014 with a cesium magnetometer, along 200‐m‐spaced flight lines. Apart from a regional 80‐nT anomaly that we modeled at 30‐ to 40‐km depths in the lower crust of the Adria plate, weak magnetic residuals are observed. As expected, normal faults cutting the diamagnetic carbonates lack any magnetic fingerprint. However, shallow continental basins yield clear anomalies of 2‐ to 8‐nT intensity, as they contain both residual soils and tephra erupted after 0.7 Ma by volcanoes from the Tyrrhenian margin of Italy. Basin margins imaged by aeromagnetism mirror the geometry of their causative normal faults. Thus, aeromagnetic residuals document many of the central Apennine normal faults that were active during the last ~3 Ma. Most prominent anomalies reflect basins formed after 0.7 Ma, as their magnetization is significantly higher than that of older continental basins. We conclude that rectilinear boundaries of most prominent anomalies reflect faults formed after 0.7 Ma, thus probably seismogenic.
Formation of Plasma Around a Small Meteoroid: Simulation and Theory
Authors: Sugar G. , Oppenheim M. M. , Dimant Y. S. , Close S.
Published: April 2018

High‐power large‐aperture radars detect meteors by reflecting radio waves off dense plasma that surrounds a hypersonic meteoroid as it ablates in the Earth's atmosphere. If the plasma density profile around the meteoroid is known, the plasma's radar cross section can be used to estimate meteoroid properties such as mass, density, and composition. This paper presents head echo plasma density distributions obtained via two numerical simulations of a small ablating meteoroid and compares the results to an analytical solution found in Dimant and Oppenheim (2017a, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA023960, 2017b, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA023963). The first simulation allows ablated meteoroid particles to experience only a single collision to match an assumption in the analytical solution, while the second is a more realistic simulation by allowing multiple collisions. The simulation and analytical results exhibit similar plasma density distributions. At distances much less than λT, the average distance an ablated particle travels from the meteoroid before a collision with an atmospheric particle, the plasma density falls off as 1/R, where R is the distance from the meteoroid center. At distances substantially greater than λT, the plasma density profile has an angular dependence, falling off as 1/R2 directly behind the meteoroid, 1/R3 in a plane perpendicular to the meteoroid's path that contains the meteoroid center, and
in front of the meteoroid. When used for calculating meteoroid masses, this new plasma density model can give masses that are orders of magnitude different than masses calculated from a spherically symmetric Gaussian distribution, which has been used to calculate masses in the past.
Local and Remote Influences on the Heat Content of the Labrador Sea: An Adjoint Sensitivity Study
Authors: Jones Daniel C. , Forget Gael , Sinha Bablu , Josey Simon A. , Boland Emma J. D. , Meijers Andrew J. S. , Shuckburgh Emily
Published: April 2018

The Labrador Sea is one of the few regions on the planet where the interior ocean can exchange heat directly with the atmosphere via strong, localized, wintertime convection, with possible implications for the state of North Atlantic climate and global surface warming. Using an observationally constrained ocean adjoint model, we find that annual‐mean Labrador Sea heat content is sensitive to temperature/salinity changes (1) along potential source water pathways (e.g., the subpolar gyre, the North Atlantic Current, the Gulf Stream) and (2) along the West African and European shelves, which are not significant source water regions for the Labrador Sea. The West African coastal/shelf adjustment mechanism, which may be excited by changes in along‐shelf wind stress, involves pressure anomalies that propagate along a coastal waveguide toward Greenland, changing the across‐shelf pressure gradient in the North Atlantic and altering heat convergence in the Labrador Sea. We also find that nonlocal (in space and time) heat fluxes (e.g., in the Irminger Sea, the seas south of Iceland) can have a strong impact on Labrador Sea heat content. Understanding and predicting the state of the Labrador Sea and its potential impacts on North Atlantic climate and global surface warming will require monitoring of oceanic and atmospheric properties at remote sites in the Irminger Sea, the subpolar gyre, and along the West African and European shelf/coast system, among others.
Assessment of Export Efficiency Equations in the Southern Ocean Applied to Satellite‐Based Net Primary Production
Authors: Arteaga Lionel , Haëntjens Nils , Boss Emmanuel , Johnson Kenneth S. , Sarmiento Jorge L.
Published: April 2018

Carbon export efficiency (e‐ratio) is defined as the fraction of organic carbon fixed through net primary production (NPP) that is exported out of the surface productive layer of the ocean. Recent observations for the Southern Ocean suggest a negative e‐ratio versus NPP relationship, and a reduced dependency of export efficiency on temperature, different than in the global domain. In this study, we complement information from a passive satellite sensor with novel space‐based lidar observations of ocean particulate backscattering to infer NPP over the entire annual cycle, and estimate Southern Ocean export rates from five different empirical models of export efficiency. Inferred Southern Ocean NPP falls within the range of previous studies, with a mean estimate of 15.8 (± 3.9) Pg C yr−1 for the region south of 30
S during the 2005–2016 period. We find that an export efficiency model that accounts for silica(Si)‐ballasting, which is constrained by observations with a negative e‐ratio versus NPP relationship, shows the best agreement with in situ‐based estimates of annual net community production (annual export of 2.7 ± 0.6 Pg C yr−1 south of 30
S). By contrast, models based on the analysis of global observations with a positive e‐ratio versus NPP relationship predict annually integrated export rates that are ∼ 33% higher than the Si‐dependent model. Our results suggest that accounting for Si‐induced ballasting is important for the estimation of carbon export in the Southern Ocean.
Evaluating the Interplay Between Biophysical Processes and Leaf Area Changes in Land Surface Models
Authors: Forzieri Giovanni , Duveiller Gregory , Georgievski Goran , Li Wei , Robertson Eddy , Kautz Markus , Lawrence Peter , Garcia San Martin Lorea , Anthoni Peter , Ciais Philippe , Pongratz Julia , Sitch Stephen , Wiltshire Andy , Arneth Almut , Cescatti Alessandro
Published: April 2018

Land Surface Models (LSMs) are essential to reproduce biophysical processes modulated by vegetation and to predict the future evolution of the land‐climate system. To assess the performance of an ensemble of LSMs (JSBACH, JULES, ORCHIDEE, CLM, and LPJ‐GUESS) a consistent set of land surface energy fluxes and leaf area index (LAI) has been generated. Relationships of interannual variations of modeled surface fluxes and LAI changes have been analyzed at global scale across climatological gradients and compared with those obtained from satellite‐based products. Model‐specific strengths and deficiencies were diagnosed for tree and grass biomes. Results show that the responses of grasses are generally well represented in models with respect to the observed interplay between turbulent fluxes and LAI, increasing the confidence on how the LAI‐dependent partition of net radiation into latent and sensible heat are simulated. On the contrary, modeled forest responses are characterized by systematic bias in the relation between the year‐to‐year variability in LAI and net radiation in cold and temperate climates, ultimately affecting the amount of absorbed radiation due to LAI‐related effects on surface albedo. In addition, for tree biomes, the relationships between LAI and turbulent fluxes appear to contradict the experimental evidences. The dominance of the transpiration‐driven over the observed albedo‐driven effects might suggest that LSMs have the incorrect balance of these two processes. Such mismatches shed light on the limitations of our current understanding and process representation of the vegetation control on the surface energy balance and help to identify critical areas for model improvement.
Animal Venoms: Origin, Diversity and Evolution
Authors: Suranse Vivek , Srikanthan Achyuthan , Sunagar Kartik
Published: April 2018

Venomous animals and their venoms have intrigued mankind for millennia. Venoms are complex cocktails of chemically diverse components that disrupt the physiological functioning of the victim to aid the venom‐producing animal in defence and/or feeding. Despite evolving independently on at least 30 occasions in the animal kingdom, venom exhibits remarkable evolutionary convergence, both in composition and biochemical activity. Various factors, including geography, diet, predator pressure, evolutionary arms race and phylogenetic history, underpin the diversification of venoms. Certain venomous animals, particularly snakes, are medically important and are responsible for tens of thousands of permanent loss‐of‐function injuries and deaths in humans every year. At the same time, as venom harbours many bioactive and highly specific components, it has tremendous potential applications in the development of novel lifesaving therapeutics and environment‐friendly agrochemicals. Several wonder drugs based on venom proteins have saved millions of lives worldwide, and many others are in development.

Key Concepts

Venom has evolved independently ∼30 times in the animal kingdom to assist the venom‐producing animal in self‐defence and/or prey capture.

A remarkable convergence can be observed in the composition and bioactivity of venoms.

While most animals modified their salivary glands into venom glands, the duck‐billed platypus and echidna evolved venom glands through the evolutionary tinkering of sweat glands.

Cnidarians evolved peculiar cell types to inject venom into their victims, while many hymenopterans have modified their ovipositors for venom injection.

The strong influence of positive Darwinian selection has driven the evolutionary diversification of venoms, while the structural integrity is conserved by purifying selection.
Blood Groups: Molecular Genetic Basis
Authors: Avent Neil D
Published: April 2018

Human blood groups are of clinical significance in transfusion medicine and blood group incompatible pregnancy. Blood groups are due to polymorphic structures on human red cells, may arise from carbohydrates or proteins and include most species of proteins found in red cell membranes including transporters, adhesion molecules, structural proteins, complement control proteins, receptors and membrane‐bound enzymes. The molecular background of most clinically significant blood group antigens has been defined at the level of the gene, and there are (as of 2017) 36 blood group systems, with the clinically relevant VEL system being described in 2015 being the most important recent addition. Mass‐scale sequencing projects have revealed yet further complexities in the blood group genes, indicating the possibility for alloimmunisation by these variants. Despite significant advances in SNP genotyping and next‐generation sequencing, routine sequencing of blood donors and patients has not yet materialised.

Key Concepts

Blood group antigen expression can be divided into two broad categories: carbohydrate and protein.

Protein‐based blood group antigens can be further divided by their functional consequences as membrane transporters, adhesion molecules, receptors/structural components, complement control proteins and membrane‐bound enzymes.

The accrual of thousands of complete genome sequences has indicated the occurrence of large numbers of blood group alleles in all blood groups. These may or may not include antigenic polymorphisms that have yet to be identified clinically.

Blood group antigen classification and identification of null phenotypes in particular have acted as naturally occurring human knockouts and have revealed the functional significance of the carrier molecules.

Blood group genotyping (BGG) has emerged as a useful supplementary analysis for fetuses and patients that are multi‐transfused, e.g. sickle cell patients
Structural Biology of Salt and Drought Tolerance in Plants
Authors: Sánchez‐Barrena María J , Martinez‐Ripoll Martín , Albert Armando
Published: April 2018

Climate disruption is an increasing pressure on food supply worldwide. Consequently, it is required to develop strategies to improve the yield of crops under abiotic stress as plants have to endure novel adverse environmental conditions. Among them, drought and salinity constrain agricultural productivity most dramatically. Many of the plant adaptive responses occur at the cell membrane. There, the communication between those processes that are disrupted as a consequence of the adverse environmental stimuli and those involved in the plant adaptive response is established. The available data show that this communication is achieved by a regulated localisation of different signalling molecules to the vicinity of ion channels and transporters. The structural characterisation of those complexes constitutes a major challenge to understand the mechanism to confer plant resistance to stress and to implement novel biotechnological approaches to ensure food security.

Key Concepts

The understanding at the molecular level of the mechanisms for plant adaptation to drought and salinity helps to implement novel biotechnological approaches to ensure food security.

The cytosolic levels of the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) and the Ca
2+
ion (Ca
2+
) act as a molecular switch to plant adaptive response to stress.

Plant cell response to abiotic stress is mediated by supramolecular complexes that are formed in the vicinity or at the cell membrane.

Structural biology has provided the bases for ABA and Ca
2+
roles as they affect the molecular architecture of the signalling complexes regulating plant response.

The structural information can be used to drive a genetic approach and for the identification of small molecules that can be used as new agrochemicals for plant improvement.
Immunisation for the Sake of the ‘Herd’
Authors: Chapman Carolyn R , Caplan Arthur L
Published: April 2018

Individuals who vaccinate directly benefit from the protection it affords them against contracting a specific disease. However, others will often also benefit, as vaccinated individuals cannot transmit the disease. Herd immunity refers to the indirect protection against infectious disease that unvaccinated, or nonimmune, individuals receive as a result of reduced disease transmission due to the presence of vaccinated, or immune, individuals. Herd immunity is important, particularly for individuals who cannot be vaccinated because of age or contraindications, who do not get vaccinated because of refusal, those for whom immunisation is ineffective or for whom immunity has waned due to age. Even when vaccination coverage in a given population is high, certain communities may be at risk of outbreaks if significant numbers of people choose not to vaccinate. Therefore, vaccine hesitancy and vaccine refusal threaten herd immunity. Policymakers can use vaccine mandates to increase vaccination coverage to promote herd immunity.

Key Concepts

Herd immunity refers to the indirect protection against infectious disease that unvaccinated, or nonimmune, individuals receive as a result of reduced disease transmission due to the presence of vaccinated, or immune, individuals.

Herd immunity can provide protection for individuals who cannot be vaccinated because of age or contraindications, who do not get vaccinated because of refusal or other reasons and for those whom vaccination is ineffective.

Even if vaccination coverage in a population is high, vaccines are not perfect, so certain communities may be at risk for outbreaks of infectious disease if the vaccination coverage dips below the herd immunity threshold, such that disease transmission can take place.

Although some individuals may be tempted to forego immunisation, believing they are protected by the vaccination of others around them (herd immunity), nonvaccinated individuals are at higher risk for contracting infectious diseases. For certain diseases, the severity of illness may be increased if contracted at an older age due to delayed exposure (herd severity effect).

Public support of vaccination programmes, such as the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in the United States, is justified at least partially because vaccination at the individual level indirectly benefits the health of the population at large.
Sleep and Memory
Authors: Alger Sara E. , Payne Jessica D.
Published: April 2018

There is a wealth of behavioral and physiological evidence that supports a relationship between sleep and memory showing that obtaining sleep actively facilitates the ability to encode new information as well as consolidate and transform material that is newly learned. Sleep, a complex assemblage of electrochemical and physiological brain states, supports the formation and stabilization of many different types of information. In this chapter, we discuss the role of sleep, nocturnal and daytime, in procedural and declarative memory formation, but we focus primarily on neutral and emotionally salient episodic memories. We finish with an extensive consideration of how sleep participates in selectively consolidating salient information and contributes to reorganizing memories to transform them into information that is more flexible for future use.
Visual Cognition and Working Memory
Authors: Woodman Geoffrey F. , Fukuda Keisuke
Published: April 2018

Theories propose that visual working memory (VWM) is the critical representational work space in which we maintain a continuous visual experience, control visual attention, learn new information, and solve problems involving objects and spatial relations. Because VWM has a capacity limit that is equivalent to about three to four objects in the average observer, this memory store represents a bottleneck that must be effectively used and regulated. In this chapter we discuss the current state of knowledge regarding the nature of VWM capacity limits, and how VWM is used to govern learning and interact with the environment. We conclude by discussing a set of future directions that we believe need to be answered for the field to understand the nature of VWM and its relationship to attention and long‐term memory storage.
Timing and Time Perception
Authors: Kononowicz Tadeusz W. , van Rijn Hedderik , Meck Warren H.
Published: April 2018

This chapter reviews recent human and nonhuman animal studies investigating neural signatures of time estimation. Investigation of the neural correlates of time estimation as measured by electrophysiology, electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in humans and other animals has largely been focused on the to‐be‐timed period. Climbing neural activity (e.g., ramping) originating from the supplementary motor area has been implicated as a primary neural marker that coincides with the development of subjective experience of duration. However, it has recently been questioned whether such climbing neural activity directly reflects the neural mechanism(s) underpinning the sense of time. Given that the neural signatures recorded during the to‐be‐timed period are insufficient to explain various aspects of interval timing, this has led to the consideration of processes influencing timingbeforeandafterthe to‐be‐timed period. Because many of these signatures are linked with the supplementary motor area, an extended discussion of the role of this cortical structure in timing and time perception is provided. These neural correlates are interpreted in light of contemporary theories of interval timing, such as the striatal beat frequency model. Future directions for the investigation of the functional and neural mechanisms of interval timing are also discussed.
Visual Object Recognition
Authors: Behrmann Marlene , Vida Mark
Published: April 2018

Humans have the remarkable ability to encode and remember thousands of familiar objects in great detail, and yet the psychological and neural mechanisms that contribute to this facility remain elusive. This review considers the recent progress made on this topic, with consideration given to the data gleaned from a host of relevant methodologies. The results of psychophysical and neuroimaging investigations are considered alongside findings that examine object recognition in individuals with deficits in this domain. We also consider the emergence of object recognition skills through behavioral and imaging studies with children. Theoretical accounts and new techniques, including representational (dis)similarity analysis and deep convolution networks, are also considered. As is often the case in such reviews, more questions are raised than answers provided, and the comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms giving rise to visual object recognition remains an alluring challenge to cognitive science.
Depth Perception
Authors: Brenner Eli , Smeets Jeroen B. J.
Published: April 2018

This chapter describes how people judge how far objects are from themselves. Comparing the images in the two eyes and the orientations of the two eyes when looking at the object of interest provides depth information that is based solely on the viewing geometry, but the resolution of such information is limited. Information acquired from cues such as occlusion, motion parallax, and height in the visual field is based on assumptions that need not always be true, such as that objects are isotropic, static, and resting on horizontal surfaces. By combining the many sources of information in a clever manner people obtain quite reliable judgments that are not too sensitive to violations of the assumptions of the individual sources of depth information.
How to Press a Button: Perspectives from the Science of Motor Control
Authors: Mattos Daniela , Frey Scott H.
Published: April 2018

Pressing a button in response to some stimulus is the most common response in all of experimental psychology. Yet, remarkably little attention has been paid to understanding the surprisingly complex processes that underlie this deceptively simple act. Here, we use the of pressing a response button as a vehicle for discussing some key theoretical and empirical developments in the study of motor control. Our hope is that readers will gain a fresh appreciation of the relevance of this area to investigations of perceptual and cognitive processes that employ motor responses.
Speech Perception
Authors: Eisner Frank , McQueen James M.
Published: April 2018

This chapter reviews the computational processes that are responsible for recognizing word forms in the speech stream. We outline the different stages in a processing hierarchy from the extraction of general acoustic features, through speech‐specific prelexical processes, to the retrieval and selection of lexical representations. We argue that two recurring properties of the system as a whole are abstraction and adaptability. We also present evidence for parallel processing of information on different timescales, more specifically that segmental material in the speech stream (its consonants and vowels) is processed in parallel with suprasegmental material (the prosodic structures of spoken words). We consider evidence from both psycholinguistics and neurobiology wherever possible, and discuss how the two fields are beginning to address common computational problems. The challenge for future research in speech perception will be to build an account that links these computational problems, through functional mechanisms that address them, to neurobiological implementation.
Categorization and Concepts
Authors: Goldstone Robert L. , Kersten Alan , Carvalho Paulo F.
Published: April 2018

The building blocks of human cognition are concepts. What we see, hear, interpret, remember, understand, and talk about is crucially shaped by our concepts. They allow us to communicate, categorize objects and events into inductively powerful groups, organize our world, construct complicated thoughts, and conserve memory resources. Alternative theories have proposed that concepts are represented by rules, prototypical category members, many specific exemplars, and structured theories. We consider empirical evidence bearing on these proposals, which, on balance, recommends pluralism, with different representations implicated in different situations. We consider ways in which concepts shape, and are shaped by, perception and language. Concept‐learning research has important educational applications for helping students learn concepts in an efficient and generalizable manner, and we review what is known about how best to improve concept‐learning outcomes. Finally, we consider future directions for research on concepts and categorization, emphasizing links to other fields, such as object recognition and developmental psychology, and the development and testing of computational models.
Reasoning
Authors: Khemlani Sangeet S.
Published: April 2018

Reasoning concerns the cognitive processes by which people draw conclusions from the salient, meaningful pieces of information that they comprehend or observe. Reasoning processes are challenging to investigate because both their initiation and their final product (the inference) can be nonverbal and unconscious. This chapter summarizes recent developments in the science of reasoning. It briefly reviews the differences between “core” patterns of inference, that is, deduction, induction, and abduction: Deductions are inferences that are true in those cases in which the premises are true. Inductions concern all other sorts of reasoning. And abductions are special types of inductions that yield explanatory hypotheses. The chapter then addresses three fundamental debates that engage contemporary reasoning researchers. The first addresses how to separate rational from irrational deductions. The second concerns the relation between deduction and induction. And the third focuses on how people create explanations. The chapter concludes by addressing ways of making progress to a general, unified account of higher‐level reasoning.
Three Kinds of Spatial Cognition
Authors: Newcombe Nora S.
Published: April 2018

Spatial cognition is often (but wrongly) conceptualized as a single domain of cognition. However, humans function in more than one way in the spatial world. We navigate, as do all mobile animals, but we also manipulate objects using distinctive hands with opposable thumbs, unlike other species. In fact, an important characteristic of human adaptation is the ability to invent tools. Of course, another central asset is human symbolic ability, which includes the ability to spatialize thought in abstractions such as maps, graphs, and analogies. Thus, there are at least three kinds of spatial cognition with three separable functions.Navigationinvolves moving around the environment to find food and shelter, and to avoid danger. It draws on several interconnected neural subsystems that track movement and encode the location of external entities with respect to each other and the moving self (i.e., extrinsic coding), and it integrates these inputs to achieve best‐possible estimates. Human navigation is characterized by a great deal of individual variation.Tool use and inventioninvolves the mental representation and transformation of the shapes of objects (i.e., intrinsic coding). It relies on substantially different neural subsystems than navigation. Like navigation, it shows marked individual differences, which are related to variations in learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).Spatializationis an aspect of human symbolic skill that cuts across multiple cognitive domains and involves many kinds of spatial symbol systems, including language, metaphor, analogy, gesture, sketches, diagrams, graphs, maps, and mental images. These spatial symbol systems are vital to many kinds of learning, including in STEM. Future research on human spatial cognition needs to further delineate the origins, development, neural substrates, variability, and malleability of navigation, tool use, and abstract spatial thinking, as well as their interconnections to each other and to other cognitive skills.
Theory of Mind
Authors: Sabbagh Mark A. , Bowman Lindsay C.
Published: April 2018

Everyday understanding of the social world relies, at least in part, on having a theory of mind—an understanding of how mental states such as beliefs, desires, and intentions cause human behavior. After introducing the core conceptual distinctions to frame discussion of the issues, we review a wide range of literature pertaining to the development of a range of theory of mind understandings; the cognitive, neurobiological, and experiential factors that contribute to those developments; and how the development of theory of mind affects a variety of social competencies, in typical and atypical development. Finally, we discuss various theories of theory of mind development and broader importance of theory of mind research for the field.
Emotion–Cognition Interactions in Memory and Decision Making
Authors: Speer Megan E. , Delgado Mauricio R.
Published: April 2018

In this chapter, we describe the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying emotion–cognition interactions. In particular, we focus on the influence of emotion on memory processes and aspects of decision making, such as risk‐taking behavior. We then discuss how cognition can impact emotion in specific contexts, such as cognitive regulation of emotional responses. Taken together, the research reveals that the way we feel (emotion) and how we think (cognition) are both critical drivers of our behavior. Such insights can further our understanding of individual susceptibility to affective disorders and maladaptive decision making.
Cultural Consensus Theory
Authors: Batchelder William H. , Anders Royce , Oravecz Zita
Published: April 2018

Cultural Consensus Theory (CCT) is an information pooling methodology for discovering knowledge or beliefs shared by selected groups of individuals. It first appeared in the 1980s as a statistical tool for ethnographic studies in anthropology, and since then it has been greatly expanded for use in many other situations in the social, behavioral, and cognitive sciences. CCT consists of formal cognitive models for different questionnaire designs, for example, true/false, ordered category, or continuous. The data format consists of the responses of group members to each of a series of questionnaire items. CCT models specify the consensus truth for the items as latent parameters, along with other parameters for respondent knowledge level, response bias, and item difficulty. Mixture CCT models have been developed where there may be several subgroups, each with its own set of consensus truths. Bayesian hierarchical inference has been developed for all of the CCT models, and the inference determines if there is evidence for one or more consensus truths in the response data, and if so, it estimates them as well as the other parameters of the model. Freely available software packages exist for conducting the inference.
Network Models for Clinical Psychology
Authors: van Bork Riet , van Borkulo Claudia D. , Waldorp Lourens J. , Cramer Angélique O. J. , Borsboom Denny
Published: April 2018

The network approach to clinical psychology is a relatively new approach and diverges on various aspects from existing models and theories. The hallmark of the theory is that there is no common cause that underlies a set of symptoms. Instead, the network approach starts out by assuming that symptoms causally interact with each other. In this chapter, we first explain the conceptualization of psychological phenomena as a network in the introduction. Second, we provide an overview of the methods that are used to construct network models from data; both Gaussian and binary data, as well as cross‐sectional and longitudinal data are covered. Third, we describe how a given network can be analyzed to uncover important symptoms in the network, to predict behavior of the network, and to compare network structures. Fourth, we discuss current state‐of‐the‐art research in clinical psychology and psychiatry, to see what these networks taught us about psychopathology. Finally, we discuss the promising prospects for clinical psychology research that the network approach has to offer and some of the challenges a researcher might face in applying this approach to clinical psychology data.
Effectiveness of base‐of‐skull immobilization system in a compact proton therapy setting
Authors: Shafai‐Erfani Ghazal , Willoughby Twyla , Ramakrishna Naren , Meeks Sanford , Kelly Patrick , Zeidan Omar
Published: April 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate daily repositioning accuracy by analyzing inter‐ and intra‐fractional uncertainties associated with patients treated for intracranial or base of skull tumors in a compact proton therapy system with 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) robotic couch and a thermoplastic head mask indexed to a base of skull (BoS) frame.

Materials and methods

Daily orthogonalkValignment images at setup position before and after daily treatments were analyzed for 33 patients. The system was composed of a new type of thermoplastic mask, a bite block, and carbon‐fiber BoS couch‐top insert specifically designed for proton therapy treatments. The correctional shifts in robotic treatment table with 6DOFwere evaluated and recorded based on over 1500 planarkVimage pairs. Correctional shifts for patients with and without bite blocks were compared.

Results

Systematic and random errors were evaluated for all 6DOFcoordinates available for daily vector corrections. Uncertainties associated with geometrical errors and their sources, in addition to robustness analysis of various combinations of immobilization components were presented.

Conclusions

Analysis of 644 fractions including patients with and without a bite block shows that the BoS immobilization system is capable of maintaining intra‐fraction localization with submillimeter accuracy (in nearly 83%, 86%, 95% of cases alongSI,LAT, andPA, respectively) in translational coordinates and subdegree precision (in 98.85%, 98.85%, and 96.4% of cases for roll, pitch, and yaw respectively) in rotational coordinates. The system overall fares better in intra‐fraction localization precision compared to previously reported particle therapy immobilization systems. The use of a mask‐attached type bite block has marginal impact on inter‐ or intra‐fraction uncertainties compared to no bite block.
Zika virus and Guillain–Barré syndrome in Bangladesh
Authors: GeurtsvanKessel Corine H. , Islam Zhahirul , Islam Md. Badrul , Kamga Sandra , Papri Nowshin , van de Vijver David A. M. C. , Reusken Chantal , Mogling Ramona , Heikema Astrid P. , Jahan Israt , Pradel Florence K. , Pavlicek Rebecca L. , Mohammad Quazi D. , Koopmans Marion P. G. , Jacobs Bart C. , Endtz Hubert P.
Published: April 2018

Objective

Previous studies have associated Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) with Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreaks in South America and Oceania. In Asia, ZIKV is known to circulate widely, but the association with Guillain–Barré syndrome is unclear. We investigated whether endemic ZIKV infection is associated with the development of GBS.

Methods

A prospective study was conducted from 2011 to 2015 in Bangladesh. A total of 418 patients and 418 healthy family controls were included in the study. Patients were diagnosed with GBS prior to inclusion according to established criteria. Detailed information on the epidemiology, clinical presentation, electrophysiology, diagnosis, disease severity, and clinical course were obtained during a follow‐up of 1 year using a predefined protocol.

Results

ZIKV‐neutralizing antibodies were detected in our study from 2013 onwards. The prevalence of ZIKV‐neutralizing antibodies was not significantly higher in patients with GBS compared to healthy controls (OR 2.23, P = 0.14, 95% CI 0.77–6.53). Serological evidence for prior ZIKV infection in patients with GBS was associated with more frequent cranial, sensory, and autonomic nerve involvement compared to GBS patients with Campylobacter jejuni, the predominant preceding infection in GBS worldwide. Nerve‐conduction studies revealed that ZIKV antibodies were associated with a demyelinating subtype of GBS, while C. jejuni infections were related to an axonal subtype.

Interpretation

No significant association was found between ZIKV infection and GBS in Bangladesh, but GBS following ZIKV infection was characterized by a distinct clinical and electrophysiological subtype compared to C. jejuni infection. These findings indicate that ZIKV may precede a specific GBS subtype but the risk is low.
Limits to Freedom: Liberating Form, Programme and Ethics
Authors: Noero Jo
Published: April 2018

According to Cape Town‐based architect Jo Noero, there is no reason why a complex brief should restrict architectural creativity and vision. But what are the keys to achieving the right balance between ethics, aesthetics, and fitness for initial and possible future purposes? Drawing on the writings of several theorists, he examines architecture's moral dimension and seeks out strategies for designing freely, ethically and effectively.
Architecture's Internal Exile: Experiments in Digital Documentation of Adolf Loos's Vienna Houses
Authors: Weizman Ines
Published: April 2018

Digital documentation in architecture usually focuses entirely on form – but architectural professor Ines Weizman sees ways of using it more imaginatively. As Director of the Centre for Documentary Architecture at the Bauhaus‐Universität Weimar, she recently led a research project investigating the domestic work of Adolf Loos in the 1910s‐20s and how it has evolved since. Here she presents its background and results, which reveal not only the material evidence but the stories behind it.
Lessons from Launching an Alternative Architectural Practice
Authors: Fodor Kata
Published: April 2018

After graduating from an innovative Master's programme at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, Kata Fodor was not ready for the confines of work in a traditional architecture firm with jobs initiated by clients. Through co‐founding the multidisciplinary design studio Atelier Kite, which proactively pitches well‐researched ideas to carefully targeted potential clients, she has been able to continue the meaningful engagement she enjoyed as a student. Here she sets out the studio's approach, reflects on the challenges she has faced, and underlines the importance of major cultural institutions in fostering creativity.
Wild Architecture: The Potential of Self‐Build Settlements
Authors: Holland Charles
Published: April 2018

Self‐build is all about ‘dweller control’ – involving people in the creation of their own living environments. Charles Holland, a practising architect and Professor of Architecture at the University of Brighton, looks at schemes around the world that manifest different approaches to it: from major projects involving state‐commissioned high‐profile architects at the initial stage and encouraging subsequent modifications by residents, to others that give inhabitants free rein within certain planning restrictions, to one where architects are out of the picture entirely.