How Monkeys Acquire a New Way of Seeing

Perception ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick K Humphrey ◽  
Graham R Keeble
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Stimulus Monkey

In an experiment on perceptual learning, monkeys were given the opportunity to watch on television the ‘private behaviour’ of another monkey (which did not know it was being watched). The subjects were shown monkey X for twenty sessions in a row, followed by monkey Y for twenty sessions, followed by monkey X again for twenty sessions. The subjects' ‘interest’ in the stimulus monkey remained roughly level within each block of twenty sessions, but increased in a step-like way at the changeover from X to Y, and again from Y to X. These results are interpreted as evidence that the subjects gained little or no extra insight into the nature of private behaviour through watching the same monkey in successive sessions; the critical factor in their perceptual education was the comparison between one monkey's behaviour and another's.

Perceptual Learning of Vocoded Speech With and Without Contralateral Hearing: Implications for Cochlear Implant Rehabilitation

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Martin Chavant ◽  
Alexis Hervais-Adelman ◽  
Olivier Macherey
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
Speech Signal ◽  
Training Phase ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Low Pass ◽  
Contralateral Ear ◽  
Number Of Individuals ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Vocoded Speech

Purpose An increasing number of individuals with residual or even normal contralateral hearing are being considered for cochlear implantation. It remains unknown whether the presence of contralateral hearing is beneficial or detrimental to their perceptual learning of cochlear implant (CI)–processed speech. The aim of this experiment was to provide a first insight into this question using acoustic simulations of CI processing. Method Sixty normal-hearing listeners took part in an auditory perceptual learning experiment. Each subject was randomly assigned to one of three groups of 20 referred to as NORMAL, LOWPASS, and NOTHING. The experiment consisted of two test phases separated by a training phase. In the test phases, all subjects were tested on recognition of monosyllabic words passed through a six-channel “PSHC” vocoder presented to a single ear. In the training phase, which consisted of listening to a 25-min audio book, all subjects were also presented with the same vocoded speech in one ear but the signal they received in their other ear differed across groups. The NORMAL group was presented with the unprocessed speech signal, the LOWPASS group with a low-pass filtered version of the speech signal, and the NOTHING group with no sound at all. Results The improvement in speech scores following training was significantly smaller for the NORMAL than for the LOWPASS and NOTHING groups. Conclusions This study suggests that the presentation of normal speech in the contralateral ear reduces or slows down perceptual learning of vocoded speech but that an unintelligible low-pass filtered contralateral signal does not have this effect. Potential implications for the rehabilitation of CI patients with partial or full contralateral hearing are discussed.

scholarly journals Current perspective on production and applications of microbial cellulases: a review

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nisha Bhardwaj ◽  
Bikash Kumar ◽  
Komal Agrawal ◽  
Pradeep Verma
Keyword(s):  
Critical Factor ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Cellulolytic Enzymes ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
The Status ◽  
Key Enzyme ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Immobilization Techniques ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractThe potential of cellulolytic enzymes has been widely studied and explored for bioconversion processes and plays a key role in various industrial applications. Cellulase, a key enzyme for cellulose-rich waste feedstock-based biorefinery, has increasing demand in various industries, e.g., paper and pulp, juice clarification, etc. Also, there has been constant progress in developing new strategies to enhance its production, such as the application of waste feedstock as the substrate for the production of individual or enzyme cocktails, process parameters control, and genetic manipulations for enzyme production with enhanced yield, efficiency, and specificity. Further, an insight into immobilization techniques has also been presented for improved reusability of cellulase, a critical factor that controls the cost of the enzyme at an industrial scale. In addition, the review also gives an insight into the status of the significant application of cellulase in the industrial sector, with its techno-economic analysis for future applications. The present review gives a complete overview of current perspectives on the production of microbial cellulases as a promising tool to develop a sustainable and greener concept for industrial applications.

scholarly journals A Review on the Treatments for Monocular Visual Impairment for the Development of a Visual Aid

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.35) ◽  
pp. 282
Author(s):  
Nirvenesh Ravindran ◽  
Hassan Mohamed
Keyword(s):  
Visual Impairment ◽  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
Depth Perception ◽  
Pharmacological Treatment ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Occlusion Therapy ◽  
The World ◽  
Visual Aid ◽  
Clear Insight ◽  
Insight Into

Amblyopia is the most commonly found monocular visual impairment in the world. This paper presents an initial investigation into developing a visual aid for monocular visual impaired patients. The investigations conducted in this paper include those from direct interviews from consultant ophthalmologist. Investigations include reviewing the principle required to be embedded into the visual aid such as the distance and depth perception. Stereoscopic cameras and algorithms are also further discussed to interlink with the concepts of depth perception. Monocular visual impairment can most of the time be caused by medical conditions like amblyopia or glaucoma, and rarely caused by accidents and external factors. Thus, existing treatments for amblyopia, the effectiveness and challenges of the treatment are also clearly investigated and scrutinized in this paper. Some of the existing treatments include refractive therapy, occlusion therapy, atropine injections, perceptual learning, pharmacological treatment and acupuncture. This study has provided a clear insight into the requirements of developing a visual aid, thus further addressing the challenges faced by the treatments in this impairment.

scholarly journals Nurses' Experiences of Caring for Older Persons in Transition to Receive Homecare: Being Somewhere in between Competing Values

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigrun Hvalvik ◽  
Bjørg Dale
Keyword(s):  
Older Persons ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Competing Values ◽  
Life World ◽  
Professional Care ◽  
Excellent Care ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Independent Individual

Older persons in transition to need professional care in their homes will constitute a large group in municipalities in the future. The aim of this study was to obtain insight into nurses' experiences and perceptions of caring for patients in transition to receive homecare. Eleven home nurses divided into two focus groups were interviewed, and a phenomenological hermeneutical design was used. Four interpretations closely related to each other were revealed: it is essential to have an understanding of the patients' transition history; the nurse' repertoire is challenged in the transition process; care must be adapted to the patients' life world; the excellence of care is threatened by the context. The nurses strived to provide care based upon respect for the independent individual as a living whole. Their ambitions were, however, challenged and threatened by the caring context. The cooperation across organizational levels was pointed out as a critical factor with potential for improvement. This must be taken seriously to support the nurses in their endeavors to provide excellent care.

Strengthening reliability in high hazard industries: reconciling tensions for impact

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan H. Offstein ◽  
Raymond Kniphuisen ◽  
D. Robin Bichy ◽  
J. Stephen Childers Jr
Keyword(s):  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
High Reliability Organizations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Significant Damage ◽  
High Hazard ◽  
Complex Phenomena ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose – Recent lapses in the management of high hazard organizations, such as the Fukushima event or the Deepwater Horizon blast, add considerable urgency to better understand the complicated and complex phenomena of leading and managing high reliability organizations (HRO). The purpose of this paper is to offer both theoretical and practical insight to further strengthen reliability in high hazard organizations. Design/methodology/approach – Phenomenological study based on over three years of research and thousands of hours of study in HROs conducted through a scholar-practitioner partnership. Findings – The findings indicate that the identification and the management of competing tensions arising from misalignment within and between public policy, organizational strategy, communication, decision-making, organizational learning, and leadership is the critical factor in explaining improved reliability and safety of HROs. Research limitations/implications – Stops short of full-blown grounded theory. Steps were made to ensure validity; however, generalizability may be limited due to sample. Practical implications – Provides insight into reliably operating organizations that are crucial to society where errors would cause significant damage or loss. Originality/value – Extends high reliability research by investigating more fully the competing tensions present in these complex, societally crucial organizations.

Insights into the Origin of Postmortem Ethanol

2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kallirroe Ziavrou ◽  
Vassiliki A. Boumba ◽  
Theodore G. Vougiouklakis
Keyword(s):  
Blood Alcohol Concentration ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Alcohol Concentration ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sample Collection ◽  
Endogenous Production ◽  
Number Of Microorganisms ◽  
Body Compartments ◽  
Essential Problem ◽  
Insight Into

Accurate interpretation of the blood ethanol (EtOH) concentration at the time of death presents a difficult task since the origin of detected EtOH in postmortem cases (either in corpses or in specimens after sample collection) may vary. Headspace gas chromatography is the choice method for detecting EtOH in blood or other specimens, due to the accuracy and sensitivity it provides. Possible sources of postmortem EtOH have been the ante-mortem ingestion, the ante-mortem endogenous production and the postmortem microbial neo-formation, which has been considered the most critical factor that could complicate the results. It has been reported that EtOH could be formed postmortem in variable and non-predictable amounts, as a function of the type and number of microorganisms present either in corpses or specimens collected at autopsy. The presence of other volatiles—mostly n-propanol—has been correlated to microbial EtOH production, although the quantitative pattern between them and EtOH still remains obscure. The factors most frequently implicated in the mechanism of postmortem EtOH production in corpses have been considered the number and nature of microbes present, the availability of various types of substrates, the temperature and the time. Complication in the interpretation of blood alcohol concentration could arise due to the atypical distribution of EtOH in the body compartments after death. Specimens to blood EtOH ratios reported in the literature are presented. All the aforementioned aspects are discussed in a comprehensive way, providing a deep insight into this essential problem.

scholarly journals Exogenous attention generalizes perceptual learning in adults with amblyopia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariel Roberts ◽  
Marisa Carrasco
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
Brain Plasticity ◽  
Visual Development ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Exogenous Attention ◽  
Visual Perceptual Learning ◽  
Behavioral Manifestation ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Spatial Locations ◽  
Insight Into

SUMMARYVisual perceptual learning (VPL), or improved performance after practicing the same visual task, is a behavioral manifestation of the impressive neuroplasticity in the adult brain. However, its practical effectiveness is limited because improvements are often specific to the trained conditions and require significant time and effort. Thus, it is critical to understand the conditions that promote learning and its transfer. Covert spatial attention helps overcome VPL location and feature specificity in neurotypical adults, but whether it can for people with atypical visual development is unknown. Here we show that involuntary attention helps generalize learning beyond trained spatial locations in adults with amblyopia, an ideal population for investigation given their asymmetrically developed, but highly plastic, visual cortex. Our findings provide insight into the mechanisms underlying changes in neuro(a)typical brain plasticity after practice. Further, they reveal that attention can enhance the effectiveness of perceptual learning during rehabilitation of visual disorders.

scholarly journals Current Advances on the Important Roles of Enhancer RNAs in Molecular Pathways of Cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5640
Author(s):  
Rui Wang ◽  
Qianzi Tang
Keyword(s):  
Gene Regulation ◽  
Targeted Therapy ◽  
Cancer Therapy ◽  
Signaling Pathways ◽  
Noncoding Rnas ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Molecular Pathways ◽  
Cancer Signaling ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Regulate Gene

Enhancers are critical genomic elements that can cooperate with promoters to regulate gene transcription in both normal and cancer cells. Recent studies reveal that enhancer regions are transcribed to produce a class of noncoding RNAs referred to as enhancer RNAs (eRNAs). Emerging evidence shows that eRNAs play important roles in enhancer activation and enhancer-driven gene regulation, and the expression of eRNAs may be a critical factor in tumorigenesis. The important roles of eRNAs in cancer signaling pathways are also gradually unveiled, providing a new insight into cancer therapy. Here, we review the roles of eRNAs in regulating cancer signaling pathways and discuss the potential of eRNA-targeted therapy for human cancers.

scholarly journals Temporal dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 mutation accumulation within and across infected hosts

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. e1009499
Author(s):  
Andrew L. Valesano ◽  
Kalee E. Rumfelt ◽  
Derek E. Dimcheff ◽  
Christopher N. Blair ◽  
William J. Fitzsimmons ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Variant Calling ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Global Consensus ◽  
Temporal Aspects ◽  
Host Genetic ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
High Depth ◽  
Variant Identification

Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genetic diversity within infected hosts can provide insight into the generation and spread of new viral variants and may enable high resolution inference of transmission chains. However, little is known about temporal aspects of SARS-CoV-2 intrahost diversity and the extent to which shared diversity reflects convergent evolution as opposed to transmission linkage. Here we use high depth of coverage sequencing to identify within-host genetic variants in 325 specimens from hospitalized COVID-19 patients and infected employees at a single medical center. We validated our variant calling by sequencing defined RNA mixtures and identified viral load as a critical factor in variant identification. By leveraging clinical metadata, we found that intrahost diversity is low and does not vary by time from symptom onset. This suggests that variants will only rarely rise to appreciable frequency prior to transmission. Although there was generally little shared variation across the sequenced cohort, we identified intrahost variants shared across individuals who were unlikely to be related by transmission. These variants did not precede a rise in frequency in global consensus genomes, suggesting that intrahost variants may have limited utility for predicting future lineages. These results provide important context for sequence-based inference in SARS-CoV-2 evolution and epidemiology.

scholarly journals Examining Financial Management Practices in the Context of Smart ICT Use: Recent Evidence from Croatian Entrepreneurs

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (s1) ◽  
pp. 107-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bisera Karanović ◽  
Gordana Nikolić ◽  
Goran Karanović
Keyword(s):  
Financial Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Financial Sustainability ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Flow Management ◽  
Cash Flow Management ◽  
Ict Use ◽  
Ict Tools ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Recent research demonstrates that entrepreneurs who learn contribute to lower failure rates of their startups. Nowhere is this more evident than in the area of financial management, where the entrepreneurs’ lack of skills and competencies – and their willingness to acquire them - can be a critical factor to the success of the business venture. The purpose of this paper is to examine the financial management practices among Croatian entrepreneurs in relation to budgeting, raising capital, cash flow management, and the use of ICT tools for enhanced efficiency of their businesses. The survey was conducted on a sample of 58 entrepreneurs whose answers provide valuable insight into their grasp of financial concepts in the context of smart ICT use. The ensuing analysis of the level of proficiency in combining smart tools with financial management reveals increased adoption of ICT practices for budgeting and purchasing among Croatian entrepreneurs. Additionally, the findings indicate that the entrepreneurs’ acquisition of skills and competencies for smart financial management presents a sound basis for increased overall financial sustainability of the startups.

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