Using a cartographic modeling language to manipulate spectral satellite imagery

Land related information about the Earth's surface is commonIJ found in two forms: (1) map infornlation and (2) satellite image da ta. Satellite imagery provides a good visual picture of what is on the ground but complex image processing is required to interpret features in an image scene. Increasingly, methods are being sought to integrate the knowledge embodied in mop information into the interpretation task, or, alternatively, to bypass interpretation and perform biophysical modeling directly on derived data sources. A cartographic modeling language, as a generic map analysis package, is suggested as a means to integrate geographical knowledge and imagery in a process-oriented view of the Earth. Specialized cartographic models may be developed by users, which incorporate mapping information in performing land classification. In addition, a cartographic modeling language may be enhanced with operators suited to processing remotely sensed imagery. We demonstrate the usefulness of a cartographic modeling language for pre-processing satellite imagery, and define two nerv cartographic operators that evaluate image neighborhoods as post-processing operations to interpret thematic map values. The language and operators are demonstrated with an example image classification task.

Stimulus competition in affective and relational learning

Evaluative learning theory states that affective learning, the acquisition of likes and dislikes, is qualitatively different from relational learning, the learning of predictive relationships among stimuli. Three experiments tested the prediction derived from evaluative learning theory that relational learning, but not affective learning, is affected by stimulus competition by comparing performance during two conditional stimuli, one trained in a superconditioning procedure and the other in a blocking procedure. Ratings of unconditional stimulus expectancy and electrodermal responses indicated stimulus competition in relational learning. Evidence for stimulus competition in affective learning was provided by verbal ratings of conditional stimulus pleasantness and by measures of blink startle modulation. Taken together, the present experiments demonstrate stimulus competition in relational and affective learning, a result inconsistent with evaluative learning theory. (C) 2001 Academic Press.

Blink startle modulation during anticipation of pleasant and unpleasant stimuli

The present research investigated blink startle modulation during the anticipation of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral pictures. In Experiment 1 (N = 18), participants were presented with three different tone-picture pairings. Tones differed in pitch and were followed by pleasant, neutral or unpleasant pictures. Acoustic blink reflexes were elicited during some tones and during stimulus free intervals. Blink facilitation during tones that preceded pleasant and unpleasant pictures was larger than during the tone that preceded neutral pictures. Experiment 2 (N = 10) assessed whether this difference was due to a difference in the presentation frequency of the three conditions. No difference in blink facilitation between the conditions was found when pictures of flowers and mushrooms replaced the pleasant and unpleasant pictures, indicating that picture content was instrumental in causing the differential blink facilitation in Experiment 1. The results from Experiment 1 seem to indicate that startle modulation during the anticipation of pictorial material reflects the interest in or the arousal associated with the pictures rather than picture valence.

The role of illness, resources, appraisal, and coping strategies in adjustment to HIV/AIDS: The direct and buffering effects

This study examined the utility of a stress and coping model of adjustment to HIV/AIDS. A total of 114 HN-infected gay or bisexual men were interviewed and they completed self-administered scales. Predictors included illness variables (disease stage and number of symptoms), coping resources (optimism and social support), appraisal (threat, challenge, and controllability), and coping strategies (problem-and emotion-focused). Adjustment outcomes were depression, global distress, social adjustment, and subjective health status. Results from hierarchical regression analyses indicated that better adjustment was related to an asymptomatic illness stage, fewer HN-related symptoms, greater social support, challenge and controllability appraisals, problem-focused coping, and lower threat appraisals and reliance on emotion focused coping. There was limited support for the stress-buffering effects of optimism. Findings support the utility of a stress and coping model of adjustment to HIV/AIDS.

Conceptualising the virtual and the posthuman

This article aims to explore the relations between technology and the subject. With new media intensifying the provisionality of discursive structures and in turn embodied experiences, questions pertaining to virtuality have become vital, particularly since Western society's increasing reliance on technologies now permeates our everyday practices. While many theorists often resort to a reification of the subject when conceptualising the posthuman condition, this analysis will recover the notion of embodiment in order to avoid such technological determinism. Tracing this complexity in contemporary texts can be achieved through various means. Here, the focus will remain on how narrative frameworks can create new possibilities for understanding and interpreting shifting subjectivities in the digital age. To explore this, I shall provide an analysis of a contemporary film, Being John Malkovich, which has been chosen due to its unexpected success at the box office, indicating how finely attuned the film is to contemporary concerns.

The role of affect and affective congruence in perceptions of leaders: an experimental study

Based on the idea that emotional exchanges determine symbolic meanings in interpersonal exchanges, we hypothesized that displays of positive and congruent affect determine members' ratings of leaders in a simulated performance appraisal context. To test the hypotheses, 537 participants viewed videotapes of four male and female leaders giving positive and negative feedback, and with facial expressions of affect that were either congruent or incongruent with the verbal message that they were delivering. Results supported hypotheses that positive and message-congruent leader affect results in more positive member ratings of the leader, assessed using a seven-item measure of members' perceptions of the leader's negotiating latitude. The least positive ratings of negotiating latitude were given when positive feedback was delivered with negative facial affect. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Child welfare workers' use of theory in working with physical child abuse: Implications for professional supervision

This article examines child welfare workers' understanding of physical child abuse and the Implications for those supervising these workers. The article Is based on the results of a study that involved In-depth Interviews and focus groups with statutory child welfare workers. Analysis revealed that workers' understanding of physical child abuse embodied a wide range of ideas that were generally consistent with existing literature. The study highlights the value and utility of a reflective approach In stimulating and making explicit the theoretical underpinnings of child welfare workers practice. Specific Implications for professional supervision are addressed.

Anticipation of a non-aversive reaction time task facilitates the blink startle reflex

The conditions under which blink startle facilitation can be found in anticipation of a reaction time task were investigated to resolve inconsistent findings across previous studies. Four groups of participants (n = 64) were presented with two visual stimuli, one predicting a reaction time task (S+) and the second presented alone (S-). Participants were asked to make a speeded response to the offset of the S+ (S1 paradigm) or were asked to respond to a tactile stimulus presented at the offset of the S+ (S1-S2 paradigm). Half of the participants in each paradigm condition received performance feedback. Overall, blink latency shortening and magnitude facilitation were larger during S+ than during S-. More detailed analyses, however, found these differences to be reliable only in the Feedback conditions. Ratings of S+ pleasantness did not change across the experiment. Electrodermal responses to S+ were larger than to S- in all groups with differential electrodermal responding emerging earlier in the S1 paradigm. Taken together, the data support the notion that startle facilitation can occur during non-aversive Pavlovian conditioning. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of a measure of coping with multiple sclerosis caregiving

Development of a self-report measure of coping specific to multiple sclerosis (MS) caregiving is needed to advance our understanding of the role of coping in adaptation to caring for a person with MS and to contribute to a lack of empirical data on MS caregiving. A total of 213 MS caregivers and their care recipients completed a Coping with MS Caregiving Inventory (CMSCI) and measures of adjustment (psychological distress), appraisal and illness. A subsample (n = 64) also completed the Ways of Coping Checklist (WCC) and additional adjustment measures (depression, caregiving impact. dyadic adjustment, and relationship conflict and reciprocity). Factor analyses revealed 5 factors: Supportive Engagement, Criticism and Coercion, Practical Assistance, Avoidance, and Positive Reframing. Subscales had internal reliabilities comparable to similar scales and were empirically distinct. Preliminary construct validation data are consistent with recent MS caregiving research that links passive avoidant emotion-focused coping with poorer adjustment, and relationship-focused coping caregiving research that links greater reliance on positive relationship-focused coping and less reliance on criticism with better adjustment. Results extend this research by revealing new relations between coping and adaptation to MS caregiving. Convergent validation data suggest that although the inventory differs from the WCC, it does share certain conceptual similarities with this scale.

Development of the HIV/AIDS stress scale

Development of a self-report measure of stress specific to HIV/AIDS is needed to advance our understanding of the role of stress in adaptation to HIV/AIDS: hence, the aim of this study was the development of the HIV/AIDS Stress Scale. A total of 132 homosexual/bisexual men with HIV/AIDS v ere interviewed and completed the HIV/AIDS Stress Scale and measures of coping strategies, appraisal, social support and adjustment (global distress, depression, social adjustment, number of HIV symptoms, and subjective health status) at three time points. Thirty-nine primary caregivers were interviewed and completed measures of stress and adjustment. Exploratory factor analyses of the HIV/AIDS Stress Scale items revealed three factors: Social, Instrumental and Emotional/Existential Stress. Factors had adequate internal reliabilities and were stable over 12 months. Construct validation data are consistent with recent stress/coping research that links higher levels of stress with more HIV symptoms. reliance on emotion-focused coping, lower social support, poorer levels of adjustment and higher levels of caregiver stress. Results extend this research by revealing new differential relations between various stress dimensions and stress/coping variables. Convergent validation data suggest that the HIV/AIDS Stress Scale shares conceptual similarity with threat appraisal. and differs from control liability and challenge appraisals. The HIV/AIDS Stress Scale shows potential for the elucidation of the role of stress in coping and adaptation to HIV/AIDS and disease progression in both research and clinical applications.

Application of fairness theory to service failures and service recovery

This article presents a fairness theory-based conceptual framework for studying and managing consumers’ emotions during service recovery attempts. The conceptual framework highlights the central role played by counterfactual thinking and accountability. Findings from five focus groups are also presented to lend further support to the conceptual framework. Essentially, the article argues that a service failure event triggers an emotional response in the consumer, and from here the consumer commences an assessment of the situation, considering procedural justice, interactional justice, and distributive justice elements, while engaging in counterfactual thinking and apportioning accountability. More specifically, the customer assesses whether the service provider could and should have done something more to remedy the problem and how the customer would have felt had these actions been taken. The authors argue that during this process situational effort is taken into account when assessing accountability. When service providers do not appear to exhibit an appropriate level of effort, consumers attribute this to the service provider not caring. This in turn leads to the customer feeling more negative emotions, such as anger and frustration. Managerial implications of the study are discussed.

Writing the body of the mother: Narrative moments in Tsushima Yuko, Ariyoshi Sawako and Enchi Fumiko

This discussion argues the transformative potential inherent in the corporeal experience of motherhood as represented in selected textual moments of Japanese narrative. Narratives that address the experiences of the body of the mother are informed and given substance by an intense physicality, and thus have the potential to contest processes of social inscription in addition to suggesting alternative possibilities for all readers, not just those occupying an embodied maternal space. The discussion features brief events from the work of three writers who have written as mothers: Tsushima Y(u)macrko, Ariyoshi Sawako and Enchi Fumiko. In Yama o hashiru onna (1980; translated as Woman Running in the Mountains, 1991), Tsushima Y(u)macrko invites the reader to consider the embodied response to light of Takiko, a young pregnant woman. Emiko, the protagonist of Hishoku (Without Colour, 1967) by Ariyoshi Sawako, is the Japanese wife of an African American and has just given birth to a child. The daughter protagonist in Enchi Fumiko's 'Kami' ('Hair', 1957) operates a hairdressing business that is viable only with her mother's unpaid labour. The narratives are read through a matrix of post-structuralist theories of embodiment, drawing on the work of writers such as Julia Kristeva, Luce Irigaray and Elizabeth Grosz.

Parvalbumin-, calbindin-, and calretinin-immunoreactive neurons in the prefrontal cortex of the owl monkey (Aotus trivirgatus): A standardized quantitative comparison with sensory and motor areas

Recent studies have revealed regional variation in the density and distribution of inhibitory neurons in different cortical areas, which are thought to reflect area-specific specializations in cortical circuitry. However, there are as yet few standardized quantitative data regarding how the inhibitory circuitry in prefrontal cortex (PFC), which is thought to be involved in executive functions such as cognition, emotion and decision making, compares to that in other cortical areas. Here we used immunohistochemical techniques to determine the density and distribution of parvalbumin (PV)-, calbindin (CB)-, and calretinin (CR)-immunoreactive (ir) neurons and axon terminals in the dorsolateral and orbital PFC of the owl monkey (Aotus trivirgatus), and compared them directly with data obtained using the same techniques in 11 different visual, somatosensory and motor areas. We found marked differences in the density of PV-ir, CB-ir, and CR-ir interneurons in several cortical areas. One hundred and twenty eight of all 234 possible between-area pairwise comparisons were significantly different. The density of specific subpopulations of these cells also varied among cortical areas, as did the density of axon terminals. Comparison of PFC with other cortical areas revealed that 40 of all 66 possible statistical comparisons of the density of PV-ir, CB-ir, and CR-ir cells were significantly different. We also found evidence for heterogeneity in the pattern of labeling of PV-ir, CB-ir, and CR-ir cells and axon terminals between the dorsolateral and orbital subdivisions of PFC. These data are likely to reflect basic differences in interneuron circuitry, which are likely to influence inhibitory function in the cortex. Copyright (C) 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Por uma clínica dos poros: conhecimento e práticas em saúde a partir do exercício de um corpo sensível

Tendo em vista a atual configuração do trabalho em saúde, entende-se que nos espaços de formação desta área torna-se relevante a realização de intervenções que se dediquem ao desenvolvimento de tecnologias relacionais. Tais tecnologias referem-se à produção de vínculo como instrumento de realização nas linhas de cuidado. Esta pesquisa objetivou compreender como essas tecnologias se corporificam a partir da utilização de clínicas em experimentações corporais. Foi utilizado como cenário para o estudo o grupo de pesquisa Rizoma: Saúde Coletiva e Instituições, vinculado ao Programa de Pós Graduação em Saúde Coletiva da Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo. Os sujeitos do estudo foram profissionais e pesquisadores de diversas áreas da saúde que participam do referido grupo. Como instrumentos de produção do material, utilizou-se de registros fotográficos, diário de campo, co-análises sobre o trabalho, experimentações com movimentos de consciência corporal e mobilização de cargas afetivas. A análise do material se deu a partir de uma leitura esquizoanalítica. As clínicas criaram espaços de reflexão para aumentar a capacidade dos participantes em afetar e serem afetados. Tais experimentações geraram estratégias para um cuidado de si e dos outros. Desta forma os participantes relataram maior capacidade de atenção às suas relações cotidianas e de trabalho, aumento de sensibilidades e transformação de comportamentos padronizados em novas formas de se articular.

O mar não está para peixe : uma etnografia dos conflitos socioambientais em torno da Zona de Proteção Marinha e da comunidade pesqueira do Bugigão – RESEXMAR do Corumbau/Bahia.

A Reserva Extrativista Marinha (RESEXMAR) do Corumbau foi criada no ano de 2000, a partir de uma ação coletiva, iniciada em 1997 por meio das lideranças de pescadores locais, na busca de instrumento jurídico que garantisse o acesso exclusivo dos recursos pesqueiros contra a atividade da pesca comercial de camarão sete-barbas que se instalou na década de 1980. Durante o processo de criação da RESEXMAR do Corumbau, os pescadores obtiveram apoio de órgãos governamentais, como a Coordenação Nacional de Populações Tradicionais (CNPT) e de entidades ambientalistas do terceiro setor – Associação Pradense de Proteção Ambiental (APPA), e posteriormente a Conservation International do Brasil (CI-Brasil). Entretanto, após a criação da RESEXMAR do Corumbau – entre os anos 2000 e 2002 – foi elaborado o Plano de Manejo que orientaria a gestão da Unidade de Conservação (UC). O documento foi capitaneado pela equipe técnica e científica vinculada à CI-Brasil, tendo como ponto de destaque a criação de áreas de exclusão total da atividade da pesca, por meio da Zona de Proteção Marinha (ZPM). A ideia de uma ZPM, para a CI-Brasil, era que de forma indireta e em médio e longo prazo, os pescadores se beneficiariam com o possível aumento de produção de pescado, contanto que 30% de cobertura de recifes tivesse algum tipo de proteção dos processos ecológicos, tais como reprodução e crescimento de espécies. Durante as discussões do Plano de Manejo e atualmente uma parcela de pescadores locais contestaram os limites da ZPM, pois iria restringir o acesso aos recursos pesqueiros. No entanto, tal contestação foi suprimida pelas relações não formais que os membros da CI-Brasil possuíam com o núcleo familiar principal da Vila do Corumbau, forçando os demais em um acordo formal temporário. Tal questionamento evidenciou um conflito de conjunto de normas distintas entre pescadores artesanais em relação à CI-Brasil e IBAMA: a pesca artesanal ‒ um tipo de ação que segue normas específicas das quais elementos humanos e não humanos interagem conjuntamente, evidenciando um conhecimento prático e corporizado constituindo um modelo compreensivo de mundo e de natureza; conceitos modernos e globalizantes de uma natureza totalmente desvinculada das práticas locais artesanais, com forte articulação de uma entidade ambientalista de alcance internacional, guiada pela emergência das questões ambientais, imprimindo no local (o lugar da prática da pesca tradicional) a ideia de um espaço (Áreas Marinhas Protegidas), desencaixado de formas específicas de natureza/culturas.