Haptic information stabilizes and destabilizes coordination dynamics

Goal-directed, coordinated movements in humans emerge from a variety of constraints that range from 'high-level' cognitive strategies based oil perception of the task to 'low-level' neuromuscular-skeletal factors such as differential contributions to coordination from flexor and extensor muscles. There has been a tendency in the literature to dichotomize these sources of constraint, favouring one or the other rather than recognizing and understanding their mutual interplay. In this experiment, subjects were required to coordinate rhythmic flexion and extension movements with an auditory metronome, the rate of which was systematically increased. When subjects started in extension on the beat of the metronome, there was a small tendency to switch to flexion at higher rates, but not vice versa. When subjects: were asked to contact a physical stop, the location of which was either coincident with or counterphase to the auditor) stimulus, two effects occurred. When haptic contact was coincident with sound, coordination was stabilized for both flexion and extension. When haptic contact was counterphase to the metronome, coordination was actually destabilized, with transitions occurring from both extension to flexion on the beat and from flexion to extension on the beat. These results reveal the complementary nature of strategic and neuromuscular factors in sensorimotor coordination. They also suggest the presence of a multimodal neural integration process-which is parametrizable by rate and context - in which intentional movement, touch and sound are bound into a single, coherent unit.

Information sharing and reporting systems in the UK and Ireland: Professional barriers to reporting child maltreatment concerns

Across the UK recent policy developments have focused on improved information sharing and inter-agency cooperation. Professional non-reporting of child maltreatment concerns has been consistently highlighted as a problem in a range of countries and the research literature indicates that this can happen for a variety of reasons. Characteristics such as the type of abuse and the threshold of evidence available are key factors, as are concerns that reporting will damage the professional-client relationship. Professional discipline can also impact on willingness to report, as can personal beliefs about abuse, attitudes towards child protection services and experiences of court processes. Research examining the role of organisational factors in information sharing and reporting emphasises the importance of training and there are some positive indications that training can increase professional awareness of reporting processes and requirements and help to increase knowledge of child abuse and its symptoms. Nonetheless, this is a complex issue and the need for training to go beyond simple awareness raising is recognised. In order to tackle non-reporting in a meaningful way, childcare professionals need access to on-going multidisciplinary training which is specifically tailored to address the range of different factors which impact on reporting attitudes and behaviours.

Decoherence-based exploration of d-dimensional one-way quantum computation: Information transfer and basic gates

We study the effects of amplitude and phase damping decoherence in d-dimensional one-way quantum computation. We focus our attention on low dimensions and elementary unidimensional cluster state resources. Our investigation shows how information transfer and entangling gate simulations are affected for d >= 2. To understand motivations for extending the one-way model to higher dimensions, we describe how basic qudit cluster states deteriorate under environmental noise of experimental interest. In order to protect quantum information from the environment, we consider encoding logical qubits into qudits and compare entangled pairs of linear qubit-cluster states to single qudit clusters of equal length and total dimension. A significant reduction in the performance of cluster state resources for d > 2 is found when Markovian-type decoherence models are present.

Information gathering and decision making about resource value in animal contests

Contestants are predicted to adjust the cost of a fight in line with the perceived value of the resource and this provides a way of determining whether the resource has been assessed. An assessment of resource value is predicted to alter an animal's motivational state and we note different methods of measuring that state. We provide a categorical framework in which the degree of resource assessment may be evaluated and also note limitations of various approaches. We place studies in six categories: (1) cases of no assessment, (2) cases of internal state such as hunger influencing apparent value, (3) cases of the contestants differing in assessment ability, (4) cases of mutual and equal assessment of value, (5) cases where opponents differ in resource value and (6) cases of particularly complex assessment abilities that involve a comparison of the value of two resources. We examine the extent to which these studies support game theory predictions and suggest future areas of research. (C) 2008 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of operator experience on information feedback and reusability

Keeping a record of operator experience remains a challenge to operation management and a major source of inefficiency in information management. The objective is to develop a framework that enables an explicit presentation of experience based on information use. A purposive sampling method is used to select four small and medium-sized enterprises as case studies. The unit of analysis is the production process in the machine shop. Data collection is by structured interview, observation and documentation. A comparative case analysis is applied. The findings suggest experience is an accumulation of tacit information feedback, which can be made explicit in information use interoperatability matrix. The matrix is conditioned upon information use typology, which is strategic in waste reduction. The limitations include difficulty of participant anonymity where the organisation nominates a participant. Areas for further research include application of the concepts to knowledge management and shop floor resource management.