Memory for recent actions in the bottlenosed dolphin (Tursiops truncatus): Repetition of arbitrary behaviors using an abstract rule

Little is known about how animals represent their own actions in working memory. We investigated whether bottlenosed dolphins could recall actions they had recently performed and reveal those recollections using an abstract rule. Two dolphins were trained to respond to a specific gestural command by repeating the last behavior performed. Both dolphins proved to be able to repeat a wide variety of behaviors on command and were able to generalize the repeating rule to novel behaviors and situations. One dolphin was able to repeat all 36 behaviors she was tested on, including behaviors involving multiple simultaneous actions and self-selected behaviors. These results suggest that dolphins can flexibly access memories of their recent actions and that these memories are of sufficient detail to allow for reenactments. The repeating task can potentially be used to investigate short-term action and event representations in a variety of species.     

A cognitive model of intra-organizational knowledge-sharing motivations in the view of cross-culture

This paper explores individual cognitive mechanisms of knowledge-sharing (KS) motivation and intends to provide more effective measures to judge and influence individual inclinations toward KS in a cross-cultural context. First, it investigates four cognitive processes based on an individual's commitment toward KS, and studies through these processes how an individual's intrinsic motivation derived from social norms and personal norms, and extrinsic motivation derived from reward and punishment make concerted efforts to shape the ultimate intention to KS. Then, Hofstede's cultural framework is integrated to theorize cross-cultural differences in these processes. Finally, through a survey conducted in China and the US, the aforementioned theoretical analysis is confirmed. The results indicate that intrinsic motivation operates through affective commitment: internalization, identification and conformity; rewards have little direct effects on final intentions but they will influence attitude indirectly via identification; punishment for not sharing splits on cultural lines: Chinese tend to comply to avoid opposing their group and Americans tend to follow a more individualistic path; Chinese have more tendencies to conform to teams’ opinions and tend to favor KS as a means of achieving harmonious relationships, while Americans engage in KS because self-worth is viewed as the manifestation of their individual determinations.     

A practical approach to making accurate 3D layouts of interesting cultural heritage sites through digital models

On many occasions, the graphic information handled by people working in the cultural heritage sector is still bidimensional. Layouts showing elevations and cross sections are the most widespread tools. However, there is an increased need for carefully detailing the complexity of valuable sites with an improved accuracy. This implies the measuring and handling of three-dimensional data, using both commercial and turn-key hardware and software solutions. Taking the usual traditional process as a reference, in the present paper a new effective methodology for carrying out computer assisted delineation of layouts from cultural heritage sites, using 3D digital models, is described. The proposed procedure has been tested in five intervention projects on representative churches within the “Merindad de Aguilar de Campoo” medieval area, in the north of Spain.¹ This area has the largest collection of Romanesque art in the world, and is currently under European Heritage Site and World Heritage Site declaration process by the UNESCO.     

Science learning and a Sense of Place in a Urban Middle School

This paper offers an analysis into low-income, urban middle school children's sense of place and what and how their sense of place matters in science learning by focusing on the following questions: In what ways is students' sense of place leveraged in a science classroom? How does the content and context of science class shape how students leverage their sense of place? What learning opportunities emerge when sense of place is leveraged in class? Drawing from an ethnographic investigation into an environmental statistics class in a mid-sized public middle school, we examined sense of place events from their source, process, and outcome perspectives. Our findings are presented from two aspects of sense of place events, (1) characterizing students' sense of place by exploring sources of the sense of place events, and (2) examining processes of how students' sense of place is being leveraged in the episodes. We also examine two kinds of tensions that emerge in the class when sense of place is leveraged by students and acknowledged by the teacher: epistemological tensions (related to what the students are learning) and procedural tensions (related to how they are learning).     

The development of self-reinforcing running in satiated rats

Fast, “playful” running was obtained in rats never given reward for running in an alley. The maintenance of such running was not dependent on hunger, thirst, or an “exercise” drive produced by confinement in small home cages. However, hunger facilitated the development of “playful” nonrewarded running in rats which initially did not run when food-satiated. “Playful” running was not seen in hungry, rewarded rats or in hungry, nonrewarded rats fed immediately after their daily running sessions. Probably incentive, but not drive, prevents the occurrence of self-reinforcing running.     

NASA-TLX for predictability and measurability of instructional design models: case study in design methods

Educational technology research and development - Innovation projects has established as an emerging field of research, a number of issues have emerged; among the others, measurability and...     

A shorter set reduces the loss of cardiac autonomic and baroreflex control after resistance exercise

Set configuration may affect the recovery pattern of cardiac vagal autonomic and reflex modulation after a resistance exercise, since it is closely associated with intensity and volume and determines the metabolic involvement of the session. We tested the hypothesis that longer set configurations have a higher impact on cardiac autonomic control and baroreflex sensitivity compared with shorter set configurations. We studied the effects of three set configurations with the same components of work on the cardiac autonomic control and baroreflex sensitivity. Seventeen subjects performed one control session and three experimental sessions of a leg-press exercise with the same volume (40 repetitions), resting time (720?s) and intensity (10RM load): (a) 5 sets of 8 repetitions with 3?min of rest between sets (8S), (b) 10 sets of 4 repetitions with 80?s of rest between sets (4S) and (c) 40 sets of 1 repetition with 18.5?s of rest between each repetition (1S). Longer set configurations (8S and 4S) induced greater reductions of the vagal cardiac autonomic control and baroreflex sensitivity (p?≤?.001) compared with a shorter set configuration (1S). Also, 1S had non-significant reductions versus the control session (p?>?.05). These findings suggest that a shorter set configuration can reduce the impact of resistance exercise on the post-exercise cardiac vagal autonomic control and baroreflex sensitivity.     

Integrated and Predictive Systems for Preventive Conservation

ABSTRACT

Forecasting the dynamics of alteration in materials, in particular the timescale of degradation, is relevant to preventive conservation, and great deal of effort has gone into developing new models for the kinetics of physical and chemical phenomena affecting materials. Creating monitoring systems able to assess the evolution of degradation processes that inform intervention programs is necessary to ensure the protection of historical and artistic heritage. The Research Unit for Integrated and Predictive Systems (SIP) is presented: it develops new tools and algorithms to study the alteration of materials using non-invasive techniques and passive monitoring, as well as new mathematical models to predict how the surfaces of materials degrade with time. The paper focuses on the Arch of Augustus and presents initial results from two virtual sensors used to ‘monitor’ environmental conditions outdoors. These systems do not need a permanent, invasive network of sensors in situ. They rely instead on local infrastructure for measuring air quality, and adopt smart information fusion algorithms to predict the environment around the cultural heritage site. Virtual sensors can provide an effective control system that highlights specific conditions linked to specific forms of alteration.