投射性空间关系表达过程的研究

It is easy to find that, in each language, the terms and phrases for the representation of spatial locating and orientation, and the ways for sharing spatial knowledge are very rich. The basic way of sharing spatial information is mapping our experience and actions with the environment by using terms and utterances that represent spatial relations. How to build the mapping relation among them and what factors affect the process of mapping are the questions need to be answered in this study. The whole course of expressing projective spatial relation includes the verbal expression and perception to the projective spatial relation. In experiment 1, the perceptual characteristics of perceiving the projective spatial relation was studied by analyzing the production latencies from the presentation of the stimulators in different directions (at 5 levels: 00, 22.50, 450, 67.50, and 900) to the onset of the corresponding buttons triggering on the keyboard, the study verifies the results of prior researches and revealed the foundation of expressing the projective spatial relation. In the experiment 2, and 3, the way and the role of the verbal expression were investigated. Subjects were asked to speak out the spatial relation between intended object and reference object by using verbal locative expressions. In experiment 2, Chinese was used as the verbal expression way, and in Experiment 3, English instead. Experiment 4 was similar as experiment 3, but time of voice key triggering was controlled and balanced among trials to verify the results of Experiment 3 further. Experiment 5 investigated the effect of pre-cue on the courses of expressing projective spatial relation. There were two kinds of clues, one was the spatial locative utterances, and the other was the perceptual coordinates framework, such as drawing a cross ”+” in a circle to imply four quadrants. The main conclusions of this research were as follows: 1. When speaking out a spatial relation, different sets of spatial terms, such as “left and right”, or “north and south”, affected the speed of verbal expression. Verbal coding process was affected by how well the perceptual salient direction matched with spatial terms, which made the speed of verbal expression different. 2. When using composite spatial terms to express diagonal directions, people tend to use direct mapping from spatial conceptual representation to composite spatial terms, rather than combining the two axes, which implied there existed direct one-on-one mapping between spatial conceptual representation and spatial terms. But during specific developing period, the way of combining two axes was employed as well for spatial expression, which meant perceptual salient directions played critical role in the process of perceiving and expressing projective spatial relations. 3. The process of verbal expression of the projective spatial relation was improved by the familiarity of spatial utterances, but this improvement was not the results of enhancement of the effect of prototypical diagonal direction.

听觉想象的大脑表征

As a species of internal representation, how is mental imagery organized in the brain? There are two issues related to this question: the time course and the nature of mental imagery. On the nature of mental imagery, today's imagery debate is influenced by two opposing theories: (1) Pylyshyn’s propositional theory and (2) Kosslyn’s depictive representation theory. Behavioural studies indicated that imagery encodes properties of the physical world, such as the spacial and size information of the visual world. Neuroimaging and neuropsychological data indicated that sensory cortex; especially the primary sensory cortex, is involved in imagery. In visual modality, neuroimaging data further indicated that during visual imagery, spatial information is mapped in the primary visual, providing strong evidences for depictive theory. In the auditory modality, behavioural studies also indicated that auditory imagery represents loudness and pitch of sound; this kind of neuroimaging evidence, however, is absent. The aim of the present study was to investigate the time course of auditory imagery processing, and to provide the neuroimaging evidence that imaginal auditory representations encode loudness and pitch information, using the ERP method and a cue-imagery (S1)-S2 paradigm. The results revealed that imagery effects started with an enhancement of the P2, probably indexing the top-down allocation of attention to the imagery task; and continued into a more positive-going late positive potentials (LPC), probably reflecting the formation of auditory imagery. The amplitude of this LPC was inversely related to the pitch of the imagined sound, but directly related to the loudness of the imagined sound, which were consistent with auditory perception related N1 component, providing evidences that auditory imagery encodes pitch and loudness information. When the S2 showed difference in pitch of loudness from the previously imagined S1, the behavioral performance were significantly worse and accordingly a conflict related N2 was elicited; and the high conflict elicited greater N2 amplitude than low conflict condition, providing further evidences that imagery is analog of perception and can encode pitch and loudness information. The present study suggests that imagery starts with an mechanism of top-down allocation of attention to the imagery task; and continuing into the step of imagery formation during which the physical features of the imagined stimulus can be encoded, providing supports to Kosslyn’s depictive representation theory.

视觉通路在汉字组块破解过程中的有效连接

The present study used Dynamical Causal Modeling (DCM) to reveal the influence of difficult to decompose Chinese characters on the effective connectivity of “where” and “what” visual stream。 Chunk decomposition is to decompose the familiar items to their components and then to make up new items with the decomposed components。 Some previous studies with eye movements and brain image had revealed that the chunk decomposition was involved visual-spatial information process, and suggested that “what” and “where” visual streams contributed to the course of chunk decomposition。 However, how they worked to complete the chunk decomposition task is still unknown。 The present study has two factors, familiarity and tightness of the spatial structures, each with 2 levels: real words vs. pseudowords and tight chunks vs. loose chunks。 The results indicates that in the loose conditions, familiarity increases the effective connectivity of “where ” stream, while in the pseudowords conditions, tightness of the spatial structures increases the effective connectivity of both “where” and “what” streams, and familiarity and tightness combined to increase not only both the “what” and “where” streams, but also the effective connectivity from the inferior temporal gyrus to the superior parietal lobule.

Zmienne graficzne sygnatur punktowych w mobilnym systemie rozszerzonej rzeczywistości

Wydział Nauk Geograficznych i Geologicznych

A low-cost, portable, and quantitative spectral imaging system for application to biological tissues.

The ability of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy to extract quantitative biological composition of tissues has been used to discern tissue types in both pre-clinical and clinical cancer studies. Typically, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy systems are designed for single-point measurements. Clinically, an imaging system would provide valuable spatial information on tissue composition. While it is feasible to build a multiplexed fiber-optic probe based spectral imaging system, these systems suffer from drawbacks with respect to cost and size. To address these we developed a compact and low cost system using a broadband light source with an 8-slot filter wheel for illumination and silicon photodiodes for detection. The spectral imaging system was tested on a set of tissue mimicking liquid phantoms which yielded an optical property extraction accuracy of 6.40 +/- 7.78% for the absorption coefficient (micro(a)) and 11.37 +/- 19.62% for the wavelength-averaged reduced scattering coefficient (micro(s)').

North Sea Ecosystem: Status Report

The North Sea is a dynamic large marine ecosystem which is bordered by a dense coastal population, contains a productive oil and gas province, has a dense shipping network and has one of the most productive fisheries in the world. An assessment of the state of health of the North Sea was initiated in 1987 as part of a developing series of international initiatives at Ministerial level to address concerns over the impact of these activities on the marine ecosystem. Four North Sea Ministerial Conferences (1984, 1987, 1990, 1995) and an Intermediate Ministerial Meeting (1993) have been held to date to develop a harmonized approach to the sustainable management of the North Sea. In 1988 at the request of Ministers a North Sea Task Force was established to co-ordinate work leading to the production of a Quality Status Report (QSR) on the North Sea in December 1993. In recognition of the large geographical and ecological diversity exhibited, a sub-regional approach was adopted and a total of 13 sub-regional assessment reports were produced to a common protocol. The Task Force established a five-year plan to co-ordinate research, monitoring and modelling and other special topics in the preparations for the QSR. As part of this exercise a ‘Monitoring Master Plan’ was drawn up to provide for the first time reliable spatial information on the distribution of chemical contaminants and biological effects throughout the North Sea. The Task Force was a unique structure in international collaboration with a fixed remit that ended in December 1993. It was successful in bringing together many diverse organisations with interests in the North Sea and co-ordinated to a tight timetable the production of the QSR. The experiences gained are now being applied to the whole north east Atlantic under a new OSPAR Convention and have wide application to other Large Marine Ecosystems.

Genetic maternity and paternity in a local population of armadillos assessed by microsatellite DNA markers and field data.

Genetic data from polymorphic microsatellite loci were employed to estimate paternity and maternity in a local population of nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) in northern Florida. The parentage assessments took advantage of maximum likelihood procedures developed expressly for situations when individuals of neither gender can be excluded a priori as candidate parents. The molecular data for 290 individuals, interpreted alone and in conjunction with detailed biological and spatial information for the population, demonstrate high exclusion probabilities and reasonably strong likelihoods of genetic parentage assignment in many cases; low mean probabilities of successful reproductive contribution to the local population by individual armadillo adults in a given year; and statistically significant microspatial associations of parents and their offspring. Results suggest that molecular assays of highly polymorphic genetic systems can add considerable power to assessments of biological parentage in natural populations even when neither parent is otherwise known.

Creating replicas of scultural heritage through 3D reconstruction and low cost 3D printer in Education

The process of making replicas of heritage has traditionally been developed by public agencies, corporations and museums and is not commonly used in schools. Currently there are technologies that allow creating cheap replicas. The new 3D reconstruction software, based on photographs and low cost 3D printers allow to make replicas at a cost much lower than traditional. This article describes the process of creating replicas of the sculpture Goslar Warrior of artist Henry Moore, located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. To make this process, first, a digital model have been created using Autodesk Recap 360, Autodesk 123D Catch and Autodesk Meshmixer MarkerBot MakerWare applications. Physical replication, has been reproduced in polylactic acid (PLA) by MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printer. In addition, a cost analysis using, in one hand, the printer mentioned, and in the other hand, 3D printing services both online and local, is included. Finally, there has been a specific action with 141 students and 12 high school teachers, who filled a questionnary about the use of sculptural replicas in education.

Transmission Potential of Rift Valley Fever virus over the course of the 2010 epidemic in South Africa

A Rift Valley fever (RVF) epidemic affecting animals on domestic livestock farms was reported in South Africa during January-August 2010. The first cases occurred after heavy rainfall, and the virus subsequently spread countrywide. To determine the possible effect of environmental conditions and vaccination on RVF virus transmissibility, we estimated the effective reproduction number (R) for the virus over the course of the epidemic by extending the Wallinga and Teunis algorithm with spatial information. Re reached its highest value in mid-February and fell below unity around mid-March, when vaccination coverage was 7.5%-45.7% and vector-suitable environmental conditions were maintained. The epidemic fade-out likely resulted first from the immunization of animals following natural infection or vaccination. The decline in vector-suitable environmental conditions from April onwards and further vaccination helped maintain R below unity. Increased availability of vaccine use data would enable evaluation of the effect of RVF vaccination campaigns.

Hidrogeomorfologia e sustentabilidade de recursos hídricos subterrâneos

A água subterrânea de rochas duras é uma fonte importante para fins domésticos, industriais e agrícolas e mesmo para o consumo humano. A geologia, a tectónica, a geomorfologia e as características hidrológicas controlam o fluxo, ocorrência e armazenamento das águas subterrâneas. A disponibilidade da água subterrânea no meio geológico está totalmente dependente das áreas de recarga e de descarga numa determinada bacia. A precipitação é a principal fonte de recarga em aquíferos descontínuos, enquanto que a descarga depende dos declives do terreno e dos gradientes do nível hidrostático e ainda das condições hidrogeológicas do solo. A hidrogeomorfologia é um domínio interdisciplinar emergente, que estuda as relações entre as unidades geomorfológicas e o regime das águas superficiais e subterrâneas de uma determinada área. A compreensão do papel da geomorfologia é essencial para avaliar de forma rigorosa os sistemas hidrogeológicos e os recursos hídricos. Os dados de detecção remota providenciam uma informação espacial valiosa e actualizada da superfície terrestre e dos recursos naturais. Os recentes avanços tecnológicos colocaram as técnicas de detecção remota e os sistemas de informação geográfica (SIG) numa posição cimeira como ferramentas de gestão metodológica. Foi criada, em ambiente SIG, uma base de geo-dados, essencialmente derivada da detecção remota, da cartografia e do trabalho de campo. Esta base de dados, organizada em diferentes níveis de informação, inclui uma avaliação principalmente focalizada no uso do solo, climatologia, declives, geologia, geomorfologia e hidrogeologia. No presente estudo foram cruzados diversos níveis de informação, com a geração de múltiplos mapas temáticos para atingir um quadro integrado dos diversos sectores no Norte e Centro de Portugal. Os sectores em estudo (Caldas da Cavaca, Termas de Entre-os-Rios, Águas de Arouca e Águas do Alardo) estão localizados em sistemas hidrogeológicos predominantemente constituídos por rochas graníticas, por vezes intersectadas por filões de quartzo, aplito-pegmatíticos e doleríticos. Para apoiar a elaboração dos mapas hidrogeomorfológicos foi criada uma base SIG, contendo diversa informação, nomeadamente topografia, hidrografia, litologia, tectónica, morfoestrutura, hidrogeologia, geofísica e uso do solo. Além disso, foram realizadas várias campanhas de campo, as quais permitiram: o estabelecimento dum mapeamento geológico, geomorfológico e hidrogeológico; a caracterização in situ do grau de alteração, resistência e grau de fracturação dos maciços rochosos; o desenvolvimento de um inventário hidrogeológico em conjunto com alguns ensaios expeditos in situ. A interligação entre os parâmetros geomorfológicos, hidrológicos e hidrogeológicos dos sistemas de água subterrânea “normal” e hidromineral destaca a importância de uma cartografia e duma modelação conceptual hidrogeomorfológica. Além disso, contribuirá para um melhor apoio à decisão na gestão sustentável dos recursos hídricos.

Do challenge, task experience or computer familiarity influence the learning of historical chronology from virtual environments in 8–9 year old children?

Studies examined the potential use of Virtual Environments (VEs) in teaching historical chronology to 127 children of primary school age (8–9 years). The use of passive fly-through VEs had been found, in an earlier study, to be disadvantageous with this age group when tested for their subsequent ability to place displayed sequential events in correct chronological order. All VEs in the present studies included active challenge, previously shown to enhance learning in older participants. Primary school children in the UK (all frequent computer users) were tested using UK historical materials, but no significant effect was found between three conditions (Paper, PowerPoint and VE) with minimal pre-training. However, excellent (error free) learning occurred when children were allowed greater exploration prior to training in the VE. In Ukraine, with children having much less computer familiarity, training in a VE (depicting Ukrainian history) produced better learning compared to PowerPoint, but no better than in a Paper condition. The results confirmed the benefit of using challenge in a VE with primary age children, but only with adequate prior familiarisation with the medium. Familiarity may reduce working memory load and increase children’s spatial memory capacity for acquiring sequential temporal-spatial information from virtual displays. Keywords: timeline, chronographics

Feature Engineering in Fine-Grained Image Classification

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2013

Influence of local environmental olfactory cues on place learning in rats

The aim of the present study was to assess the influence of local environmental olfactory cues on place learning in rats. We developed a new experimental design allowing the comparison of the use of local olfactory and visual cues in spatial and discrimination learning. We compared the effect of both types of cues on the discrimination of a single food source in an open-field arena. The goal was either in a fixed or in a variable location, and could be indicated by local olfactory and/or visual cues. The local cues enhanced the discrimination of the goal dish, whether it was in a fixed or in a variable location. However, we did not observe any overshadowing of the spatial information by the local olfactory or visual cue. Rats relied primarily on distant visuospatial information to locate the goal, neglecting local information when it was in conflict with the spatial information.

Visions d’État : deux systèmes d'informations géographiques dans la « gouvernance »

L'administration fédérale canadienne et la Commission européenne ont construit, dans le courant des années 2000, deux réseaux de Systèmes d'informations géographiques (SIG) : le Système national d'information forestière au Canada, et l'Infrastructure d'information géographique dans la Communauté européenne. Ces SIG permettent le traitement géographique de données sociales et environnementales ainsi que leur représentation sur des cartes. Nous appréhendons ces deux réseaux de SIG sous l'angle de leur valeur heuristique : leur analyse nous permet d'étudier les configurations institutionnelles dans lesquelles ils ont été développés, c'est-à-dire, dans ces cas précis, ce qu'il est convenu d'appeler la « gouvernance ». Les SIG sont des instruments de mesure et de représentation de certains phénomènes : ils appartiennent à la classe des instruments d'objectivation. En tant qu'instruments d'objectivation, ils nous permettent de discuter deux éléments théoriques de la « gouvernance » : le rapport entre les administrations centrales et les administrations locales ; le rapport entre les administrations étatiques et les organisations non-étatiques. A travers cette discussion, nous montrons d'une part que la réarticulation de paliers de gouvernement différents ne signifie pas, comme cela a pu être écrit, un retrait de l'administration centrale au profit des administrations locales, mais au contraire une manière de contrôler plus étroitement celles-ci. Nous montrons d'autre part que cette renégociation des rapports entre les administrations centrales et locales ne s'accompagne pas, en pratique, d’une renégociation des rapports entre administrations étatiques et organisations non-étatiques. En révélant que les données non-étatiques ne sont pas intégrées dans les réseaux de SIG étatiques, nous relativisons les théories qui voient dans la « gouvernance » un mode de gouvernement ouvert aux organisations non-étatiques. Cela nous conduit à approfondir la piste qui envisage les instruments étatiques d'objectivation comme des moyens d'écarter de l'objectivation des phénomènes sociaux ou naturels les éléments qui contredisent l'action gouvernementale. Cette exégèse politique de deux ensembles de programmes informatiques particuliers – les SIG – nous amène, en conclusion, à proposer de considérer certains programmes informatiques comme des institutions politiques.

Orientation spatiale et plasticité de l’hippocampe chez les personnes aveugles

Il est généralement admis que la vision joue un rôle prépondérant dans la formation des représentations spatiales. Qu’advient-il alors lorsqu’un individu est atteint de cécité? Dans le premier volet de cette thèse, les habiletés spatiales des personnes aveugles ont été examinées à l’aide de différentes tâches et comparées à celles de personnes voyantes effectuant les mêmes tâches avec les yeux bandés. Dans une première étude, les capacités de rotation mentale ont été évaluées à l’aide d’une épreuve d’orientation topographique tactile. Les résultats obtenus montrent que les personnes aveugles parviennent généralement à développer des capacités de rotation mentale similaires à celles de personnes voyantes et ce, malgré l’absence d’information de nature visuelle. Dans une seconde étude, nous avons utilisé différentes tâches spatiales nécessitant l’utilisation de la locomotion. Les résultats obtenus montrent que les personnes aveugles font preuve d’habiletés supérieures à celles de voyants lorsqu’elles doivent apprendre de nouveaux trajets dans un labyrinthe. Elles parviennent également à mieux reconnaître une maquette représentant un environnement exploré précédemment. Ainsi, l’absence de vision ne semble pas entraver de manière significative la formation de concepts spatiaux. Le second volet de cette thèse s’inscrit dans la lignée des études sur la plasticité cérébrale chez les personnes aveugles. Dans le cas présent, nous nous sommes intéressés à l’hippocampe, une structure profonde du lobe temporal dont le rôle au plan spatial a été établi par de nombreuses études animales ainsi que par des études cliniques chez l’humain incluant l’imagerie cérébrale. L’hippocampe joue un rôle particulièrement important dans la navigation spatiale. De plus, des changements structuraux de l’hippocampe ont été documentés en relation avec l’expérience des individus. Par exemple, l’étude de Maguire et al. (2000) a mis en évidence de telles modifications structurelles de l’hippocampe chez des chauffeurs de taxi. À l’instar de ces derniers, les personnes aveugles doivent emmagasiner de nombreuses informations au sujet de leur environnement puisqu’elles ne peuvent bénéficier de la vision pour mettre à jour les informations sur celui-ci, sur leur position dans l’espace et sur la position des objets se trouvant hors de leur portée. Nous avons montré, pour la première fois, une augmentation du volume des hippocampes chez les personnes aveugles en comparaison avec les personnes voyantes. De plus, cette augmentation de volume était positivement corrélée à la performance à une tâche d’apprentissage de trajets. Les résultats présentés dans cette thèse permettent d’appuyer les études antérieures qui soutiennent que les personnes aveugles parviennent à compenser leur déficit et à développer des habiletés spatiales comparables, voire supérieures, à celles de personnes voyantes. Ils permettent également d’apporter un éclairage nouveau sur le concept de plasticité cérébrale présent chez cette population en montrant pour la première fois un lien entre le volume de l’hippocampe et les habiletés spatiales chez les personnes aveugles.