Search results for "CLOCK"
showing 10 items of 230 documents
La Stima Temporale come Misura della Complessità Percettiva di Combinazioni di Stimoli Visivi-Uditivi
2007
La letteratura sulla percezione del tempo è concorde nell’evidenziare che gli esseri umani sono poco accurati nei giudizi temporali, nel senso che solitamente tendono sovrastimare o a sottostimare le durate. I numerosi studi condotti al riguardo divergono, tuttavia, nei meccanismi cognitivi chiamati in causa per spiegare i suddetti biases temporali. In particolare, i modelli basati sulla memoria prevedono che compiti complessi, a causa del maggiore spazio mnestico richiesto, inducano gli individui a sovrastimarne la durata. Diversamente,i modelli basati sull’attenzione evidenziano come l’elevato carico cognitivo sotteso a compiti complessi si traduca nella tendenza a sottostimarne la durata…
On the Evaluation of Images Complexity: A Fuzzy Approach (revised and expanded)
2006
The inherently multidimensional problem of evaluating the complexity of an image is of a certain relevance in both computer sci- ence and cognitive psychology. Computer scientists usually analyze spa- tial dimensions, to deal with automatic vision problems, such as feature- extraction. Psychologists seem more interested in the temporal dimension of complexity, to explore attentional models. Is it possible, by merging both approaches, to define an more general index of visual complexity? We have defined a fuzzy mathematical model of visual complexity, using a specific entropy function; results obtained by applying this model to pictorial images have a strong correlation with ones from an exp…
Fiat lux: the light became therapy. An overview on the Bright Light Therapy in Alzheimer’s Disease sleep disorders
2020
Background: A system of photosensitive retinal ganglion cells provides ‘non-visual’ information on the circadian sequences of light to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which, as the ‘master clock’, synchronizes the chronobiological mechanisms of all the biological clocks. Damage to SCN structure alters circadian behavioral and hormonal rhythms and interferes with a regular sleep-wake pattern. Several studies have shown that, in aging and in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), circadian rhythms change their synchronization with the environment and behavior loses sync with light. Objective: The current overview aims to examine research studies showing the effect of bright light therapy (BLT) on sleep…
Effective target arrangement in a deterministic scale-free graph
2010
We study the random walk problem on a deterministic scale-free network, in the presence of a set of static, identical targets; due to the strong inhomogeneity of the underlying structure the mean first-passage time (MFPT), meant as a measure of transport efficiency, is expected to depend sensitively on the position of targets. We consider several spatial arrangements for targets and we calculate, mainly rigorously, the related MFPT, where the average is taken over all possible starting points and over all possible paths. For all the cases studied, the MFPT asymptotically scales like N^{theta}, being N the volume of the substrate and theta ranging from (1 - log 2/log3), for central target(s)…
Fifty-five-million-year history of oceanic subduction and exhumation at the northern edge of the Caribbean plate (Sierra del Convento mélange, Cuba)
2009
Petrological and geochronological data of six representative samples of exotic blocks of amphibolite and associated tonalite-trondhjemite from the serpentinitic melange of the Sierra del Convento (eastern Cuba) indicate counterclockwise P-T paths typical of material subducted in hot and young subduction zones. Peak conditions attained were 750 � C and 15 kbar, consistent with the generation of tonalitic partial melts observed in amphibolite. A tonalite boulder provides a U-Pb zircon crystallization age of 112.8 ± 1.1 Ma, and Ar ⁄ Ar amphibole dating yielded two groups of cooling ages of 106-97 Ma (interpreted as cooling of metamorphic ⁄ magmatic pargasite) and 87-83 Ma (interpreted as growt…
Thermobarometric constraints on pressure variations across the Plattengneiss shear zone of the Eastern Alps: implications for exhumation models durin…
2014
Forward and inverse mineral equilibria modelling of metapelitic rocks in the hangingwall and footwall of the Plattengneiss, a major shear zone in the Eastern Alps, is used to constrain their tectonometamorphic evolution and assess models for their exhumation. Forward (pseudosection) modelling of two metapelitic rocks suggests a steep clockwise P–T path with a near-isothermal decompression segment from a pressure peak at ~18–19 kbar and 670 °C to the metamorphic peak at 680–720 °C and 11–13 kbar. A subsequent decrease to 600–645 °C and 8–9 kbar is inferred from the late growth of staurolite in some samples. Conventional thermobarometric calculations (inverse modelling) on 18 samples with the…
Boosting working memory with accelerated clocks
2021
Our perception of time varies with the degree of cognitive engagement in tasks. The perceived passage of time accelerates while working on demanding tasks, whereas time appears to drag during boring situations. Our experiment aimed at investigating whether this relationship is mutual: Can manipulated announcements of elapsed time systematically affect the attentional resources applied to a cognitive task? We measured behavioral performance and the EEG in a whole report working memory paradigm with six items of different colors that each had to be reported after a short delay period. The 32 participants were informed about the current time after each 20 trials, while the clock was running at…
Motor imagery
2015
International audience; Before participating in a space mission, astronauts undergo parabolic-flight and underwater training to facilitate their subsequent adaptation to weightlessness. Unfortunately, similar training methods can't be used to prepare re adaptation to planetary gravity. Here, we propose a quick, simple and inexpensive approach that could be used to prepare astronauts both for the absence and for the renewed presence of gravity. This approach is based on motor imagery (MI), a process in which actions are produced in working memory without any overt output. Training protocols based on MI have repeatedly been shown to modify brain circuitry and to improve motor performance in h…
Safety and side effects of human and ovine corticotropin-releasing hormone administration in man.
1991
Synthetic human and ovine corticotropin-releasing hormone (hCRH, oCRH) are commonly used as a diagnostic tool of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. In this paper reports about side effects after various modes of CRH-application are analyzed and compared to our corresponding data of human studies with hCRH and oCRH. Generally, CRH is well tolerated after single administration and interval-application of standard doses, although minor side effects appear sometimes after higher doses (greater than 200 micrograms hCRH, oCRH) of CRH-bolus-injections. Predominantly the cardiovascular system (e.g. tachycardia, hypotension, flushing) is affected; neuropsychological symptoms are only seen spora…
Alternative approach to populate and study the $^{229}Th$ nuclear clock isomer
2019
A new approach to observe the radiative decay of the $^{229}$Th nuclear isomer, and to determine its energy and radiative lifetime, is presented. Situated at a uniquely low excitation energy, this nuclear state might be a key ingredient for the development of a nuclear clock, a nuclear laser and the search for time variations of the fundamental constants. The isomer's $\gamma$ decay towards the ground state will be studied with a high-resolution VUV spectrometer after its production by the $\beta$ decay of $^{229}$Ac. The novel production method presents a number of advantages asserting its competitive nature with respect to the commonly used $^{233}$U $\alpha$-decay recoil source. In this …