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Results for 'EEG signal'
Comparative Analysis of Original Wave and Filtered Wave of EEG Signal Used in the Prognostic of Bruxism Medical Sleep Syndrome.Md Belal Bin Heyat, Faijan Akhtar & Shadab Azad - 2016 - International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development 1 (1):7-9.details
The bruxism is a medical sleep syndrome it is the remedial span for crushing the tines and gritting the jowl. Human rarely chore their tines and jowl, slightly than crushing their teeth lacking it producing any signals. The symptoms of bruxism are arduousness in the jowl joint, breakable teeth, headache, earache and difficulty in open in mouth etc. The causes of bruxism are snooze sickness, pressure and nervousness. The REM is a rapid eye movement its a stages of sleep. The (...) EEG signal are used in the measurement of neuron, the alpha, beta, gamma, theta and delta wave are used in the prognostic of bruxism syndrome. Its used in MATLAB coding by the six steps in prognostic in bruxism. Md Belal Bin Heyat | Faijan Akhtar | Shadab Azad "Comparative Analysis of Original Wave & Filtered Wave of EEG signal Used in the Prognostic of Bruxism medical Sleep syndrome" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-1 | Issue-1 , December 2016,. (shrink)
The bruxism is a medical sleep syndrome it is the remedial span for crushing the tines and gritting the jowl. Human rarely chore their tines and jowl, slightly than crushing their teeth lacking it producing any signals. The symptoms of bruxism are arduousness in the jowl joint, breakable teeth, headache, earache and difficulty in open in mouth etc. The causes of bruxism are snooze sickness, pressure and nervousness. The REM is a rapid eye movement it's a stages of sleep. The (...) EEG signal are used in the measurement of neuron, the alpha, beta, gamma, theta and delta wave are used in the prognostic of bruxism syndrome. It's used in MATLAB coding by the six steps in prognostic in bruxism. Md Belal Bin Heyat | Faijan Akhtar | Shadab Azad "Comparative Analysis of Original Wave & Filtered Wave of EEG signal Used in the Prognostic of Bruxism medical Sleep syndrome" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-1 | Issue-1 , December 2016,. (shrink)
Plasma Brain Dynamics (PBD): A Mechanism for EEG Waves Under Human Consciousness.Z. G. ma - 2017 - Cosmos and History 13 (2):185-203.details
EEG signals are records of nonlinear solitary waves in human brains. The waves have several types (e.g., α, β, γ, θ, δ) in response to different levels of consciousness. They are classified into two groups: Group-1 consists of complex storm-like waves (α, β, and γ); Group-2 is composed of simple quasilinear waves (θ and δ). In order to elucidate the mechanism of EEG wave formation and propagation, this paper extends the Vlasov-Maxwell equations of Plasma Brain Dynamics (PBD) to a set (...) of two-fluid, self-similar, nonlinear solitary wave equations. Numerical simulations are performed for different EEG signals. Main results include: (1) The excitation and propagation of the EEG wave packets are dependent of electric and magnetic fields, brain aqua-ions, electron and ion temperatures, masses, and their initial fluid speeds; (2) Group-1 complex waves contain three ingredients: the high-frequency ion-acoustic (IA) mode, the intermediate-frequency lower-hybrid (LH) mode, and, the low-frequency ion-cyclotron (IC) mode; (3) Group-2 simple waves fall within the IA band, featured by one or a combination of the three envelopes: sinusoidal, sawtooth, and spiky/bipolar. The study proposes an alternative model to Quantum Brain Dynamics (QBD) by suggesting that the formation and propagation of the nonlinear solitary EEG waves in the brain have the same mechanism as that of the waves in space plasmas. (shrink)
_Attention What is It Like [Dataset].Vitor Manuel Dinis Pereira - manuscriptdetails
R Core Team. (2016). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Supplement to Occipital and left temporal instantaneous amplitude and frequency oscillations correlated with access and phenomenal consciousness. Occipital and left temporal instantaneous amplitude and frequency oscillations correlated with access and phenomenal consciousness move from the features of the ERP characterized in Occipital and Left Temporal EEG Correlates of Phenomenal Consciousness (Pereira, 2015) towards the instantaneous amplitude and frequency of event-related changes correlated with a (...) contrast in access and in phenomenology. Occipital and left temporal instantaneous amplitude and frequency oscillations correlated with access and phenomenal consciousness proceed as following. In the first section, empirical mode decomposition (EMD) with post processing (Xie, G., Guo, Y., Tong, S., and Ma, L., 2014. Calculate excess mortality during heatwaves using Hilbert-Huang transform algorithm. BMC medical research methodology, 14, 35) Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (postEEMD) and Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT). -/- In the second section, calculated the variance inflation factor (VIF). In the third section, partial least squares regression (PLSR): the minimal root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP). In the last section, partial least squares regression (PLSR): significance multivariate correlation (sMC) statistic. (shrink)
Controlling for Performance Capacity Confounds in Neuroimaging Studies of Conscious Awareness.Jorge Morales, Jeffrey Chiang & Hakwan Lau - 2015 - Neuroscience of Consciousness 1:1-11.details
Studying the neural correlates of conscious awareness depends on a reliable comparison between activations associated with awareness and unawareness. One particularly difficult confound to remove is task performance capacity, i.e. the difference in performance between the conditions of interest. While ideally task performance capacity should be matched across different conditions, this is difficult to achieve experimentally. However, differences in performance could theoretically be corrected for mathematically. One such proposal is found in a recent paper by Lamy, Salti and Bar-Haim [Lamy (...) D, Salti M, Bar-Haim Y. Neural correlates of subjective awareness and unconscious processing: an ERP study. J Cognitive Neurosci 2009,21:1435-46], who put forward a corrective method for an electroencephalography experiment. We argue that their analysis is essentially grounded in a version of High Threshold Theory, which has been shown to be inferior in general to Signal Detection Theory. We show through a series of computer simulations that their correction method only partially removes the influence of perfor- mance capacity, which can yield misleading results. We present a mathematical correction method based on Signal Detection Theory that is theoretically capable of removing performance capacity confounds. We discuss the limitations of mathemati- cally correcting for performance capacity confounds in imaging studies and its impact for theories about consciousness. (shrink)
Science of Self Awareness and Memory.Narendra Katkar - 2013 - International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology 2 (1):69-77.details
The epistemological study and retrospection in fundamentals of sense perception and recollection is examined to understand the foundation of Memory. -/- This analysis is based on few simple tests from day to day experiences. With it, the well-known electroencephalography (EEG) signal data of individual's waking, dream and deep sleep states also analyzed. The examination establishes two fundamental discoveries: -/- 1: A "Self induced" brain wave, having content related to old term "ego", I, Me and Myself, which corresponds to "Self (...) Awareness". This signal manifests from 5 Hz and above. -/- 2: It is found that the "Self Awareness" signal converts into earlier received signal frequency. -/- The study also determines that the human brain does not have any information of the natural composition of the physical world. -/- . (shrink)
Physiology of Long Pranayamic Breathing: Neural Respiratory Elements May Provide a Mechanism That Explains How Slow Deep Breathing Shifts the Autonomic Nervous System.Jerath Ravinder, James W. Edry, Vernon A. Barnes & Vandna Jerath - 2006 - Medical Hypotheses 67 (3):566-571.details
Pranayamic breathing, defined as a manipulation of breath movement, has been shown to contribute to a physiologic response characterized by the presence of decreased oxygen consumption, decreased heart rate, and decreased blood pressure, as well as increased theta wave amplitude in EEG recordings, increased parasympathetic activity accompanied by the experience of alertness and reinvigoration. The mechanism of how pranayamic breathing interacts with the nervous system affecting metabolism and autonomic functions remains to be clearly understood. It is our hypothesis that voluntary (...) slow deep breathing functionally resets the autonomic nervous system through stretchinduced inhibitory signals and hyperpolarization currents propagated through both neural and non-neural tissue which synchronizes neural elements in the heart, lungs, limbic system and cortex. During inspiration, stretching of lung tissue produces inhibitory signals by action of slowly adapting stretch receptors (SARs) and hyperpolarization current by action of fibroblasts. Both inhibitory impulses and hyperpolarization current are known to synchronize neural elements leading to the modulation of the nervous system and decreased metabolic activity indicative of the parasympathetic state. In this paper we propose pranayama's physiologic mechanism through a cellular and systems level perspective,involving both neural and non-neural elements. This theoretical description describes a common physiological mechanism underlying pranayama and elucidate the role of the respiratory and cardiovascular system on modulating the autonomic nervous system. Along with facilitating the design of clinical breathing techniques for the treatment of autonomic nervous system and other disorders, this model will also validate pranayama as a topic requiring more research. (shrink)
Signals That Make a Difference.Brett Calcott, Paul E. Griffiths & Arnaud Pocheville - 2017 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science:axx022.details
Recent work by Brian Skyrms offers a very general way to think about how information flows and evolves in biological networks — from the way monkeys in a troop communicate, to the way cells in a body coordinate their actions. A central feature of his account is a way to formally measure the quantity of information contained in the signals in these networks. In this paper, we argue there is a tension between how Skyrms talks of signalling networks and his (...) formal measure of information. Although Skyrms refers to both how information flows through networks and that signals carry information, we show that his formal measure only captures the latter. We then suggest that to capture the notion of flow in signalling networks, we need to treat them as causal networks. This provides the formal tools to define a measure that does capture flow, and we do so by drawing on recent work defining causal specificity. Finally, we suggest that this new measure is crucial if we wish to explain how evolution creates information. For signals to play a role in explaining their own origins and stability, they can't just carry information about acts: they must be difference-makers for acts. (shrink)
Virtue Signalling and the Condorcet Jury Theorem.Scott Hill & Renaud-Philippe Garner - 2021 - Synthese 199 (5-6):14821-14841.details
One might think that if the majority of virtue signallers judge that a proposition is true, then there is significant evidence for the truth of that proposition. Given the Condorcet Jury Theorem, individual virtue signallers need not be very reliable for the majority judgment to be very likely to be correct. Thus, even people who are skeptical of the judgments of individual virtue signallers should think that if a majority of them judge that a proposition is true, then that provides (...) significant evidence that the proposition is true. We argue that this is mistaken. Various empirical studies converge on the following point: humans are very conformist in the contexts in which virtue signalling occurs. And stereotypical virtue signallers are even more conformist in such contexts. So we should be skeptical of the claim that virtue signallers are sufficiently independent for the Condorcet Jury Theorem to apply. We do not seek to decisively rule out the relevant application of the Condorcet Jury Theorem. But we do show that careful consideration of the available evidence should make us very skeptical of that application. Consequently, a defense of virtue signalling would need to engage with these findings and show that despite our strong tendencies for conformism, our judgements are sufficiently independent for the Condorcet Jury Theorem to apply. This suggests new directions for the debate about the epistemology of virtue signalling. (shrink)
Signals Are Minimal Causes.Marc Artiga - 2020 - Synthese 198 (9):8581-8599.details
Although the definition of 'signal' has been controversial for some time within the life sciences, current approaches seem to be converging toward a common analysis. This powerful framework can satisfactorily accommodate many cases of signaling and captures some of its main features. This paper argues, however, that there is a central feature of signals that so far has been largely overlooked: its special causal role. More precisely, I argue that a distinctive feature of signals is that they are minimal (...) causes. I explain this notion, suggest some strategies for identifying its instances and defend its relevance by means of conceptual and empirical considerations. (shrink)
Pain Signals Are Predominantly Imperative.Manolo Martínez & Colin Klein - 2016 - Biology and Philosophy 31 (2):283-298.details
Recent work on signaling has mostly focused on communication between organisms. The Lewis–Skyrms framework should be equally applicable to intra-organismic signaling. We present a Lewis–Skyrms signaling-game model of painful signaling, and use it to argue that the content of pain is predominantly imperative. We address several objections to the account, concluding that our model gives a productive framework within which to consider internal signaling.
Unethical Consumption & Obligations to Signal.Holly Lawford-Smith - 2015 - Ethics and International Affairs 29 (3):315-330.details
Many of the items that humans consume are produced in ways that involve serious harms to persons. Familiar examples include the harms involved in the extraction and trade of conflict minerals (e.g. coltan, diamonds), the acquisition and import of non- fair trade produce (e.g. coffee, chocolate, bananas, rice), and the manufacture of goods in sweatshops (e.g. clothing, sporting equipment). In addition, consumption of certain goods (significantly fossil fuels and the products of the agricultural industry) involves harm to the environment, to (...) future persons, and to current persons in low-lying and developing countries, by way of their impacts on climate change. When it comes to such large-scale harms, it's easy for the individual to feel helpless. Even if she sincerely wishes things were otherwise, she may wonder what she could possibly do to make them so. In this paper I briefly explore several promising avenues for generating duties in individuals to consume ethically, and develop one in particular: that an individual ought to signal her commitments to others, as a first step in collectivizing to act against unjust global labour practices. (shrink)
Is Blindsight Possible Under Signal Detection Theory? Comment on Phillips (2021).Matthias Michel & Hakwan Lau - 2021 - Psychological Review 128 (3):585-591.details
Phillips argues that blindsight is due to response criterion artefacts under degraded conscious vision. His view provides alternative explanations for some studies, but may not work well when one considers several key findings in conjunction. Empirically, not all criterion effects are decidedly non-perceptual. Awareness is not completely abolished for some stimuli, in some patients. But in other cases, it was clearly impaired relative to the corresponding visual sensitivity. This relative dissociation is what makes blindsight so important and interesting.
Symbols, Signals, and the Archaeological Record.Kim Sterelny & Peter Hiscock - 2014 - Biological Theory 9 (1):1-3.details
The articles in this issue represent the pursuit of a new understanding of the human past, one that can replace the neo-saltationist view of a human revolution with models that can account for the complexities of the archaeological record and of human social lives. The articulation of archaeological, philosophical, and biological perspectives seems to offer a strong foundation for exploring available evidence, and this was the rationale for collecting these particular articles. Even at this preliminary stage there is a coherence (...) emerging in proposals: the origin and operation of symbolically rich, complexly signaling human social systems was the consequence of the long-term evolution of multiple components of perceiving and negotiating social interactions, a contingent outcome of myriad adaptive shifts rather than a single event. (shrink)
Pragmatic Interpretation and Signaler-Receiver Asymmetries in Animal Communication.Dorit Bar-On & Richard Moore - 2017 - In Kristin Andrews Jacob Beck (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Animal Minds. Routledge. pp. 291-300.details
Researchers have converged on the idea that a pragmatic understanding of communication can shed important light on the evolution of language. Accordingly, animal communication scientists have been keen to adopt insights from pragmatics research. Some authors couple their appeal to pragmatic aspects of communication with the claim that there are fundamental asymmetries between signalers and receivers in non-human animals. For example, in the case of primate vocal calls, signalers are said to produce signals unintentionally and mindlessly, whereas receivers are thought (...) to engage in contextual interpretation to derive the significance of signals. We argue that claims about signaler-receiver asymmetries are often confused. This is partly because their authors conflate two conceptions of pragmatics, which generate different accounts of the explanatory target for accounts of the evolution of language. Here we distinguish these conceptions, in order to help specify more precisely the proper explanatory target for language evolution research. (shrink)
Linguistic Intuitions: Error Signals and the Voice of Competence.Steven Gross - forthcoming - In Samuel Schindler, Anna Drożdżowicz & Karen Brøcker (eds.), Linguistic Intuitions. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.details
Linguistic intuitions are a central source of evidence across a variety of linguistic domains. They have also long been a source of controversy. This chapter aims to illuminate the etiology and evidential status of at least some linguistic intuitions by relating them to error signals of the sort posited by accounts of on-line monitoring of speech production and comprehension. The suggestion is framed as a novel reply to Michael Devitt's claim that linguistic intuitions are theory-laden "central systems" responses, rather than (...) endorsed outputs of a modularized language faculty (the "Voice of Competence"). Along the way, it is argued that linguistic intuitions may not constitute a natural kind with a common etiology; and that, for a range of cases, the process by which intuitions used in linguistics are generated amounts to little more than comprehension. (shrink)
Civil Disobedience, Costly Signals, and Leveraging Injustice.Ten-Herng Lai - 2021 - Ergo: An Open Access Journal of Philosophy 7:1083-1108.details
Civil disobedience, despite its illegal nature, can sometimes be justified vis-à-vis the duty to obey the law, and, arguably, is thereby not liable to legal punishment. However, adhering to the demands of justice and refraining from punishing justified civil disobedience may lead to a highly problematic theoretical consequence: the debilitation of civil disobedience. This is because, according to the novel analysis I propose, civil disobedience primarily functions as a costly social signal. It is effective by being reliable, reliable by (...) being costly, and costly primarily by being punished. My analysis will highlight a distinctive feature of civil disobedience: civil disobedients leverage the punitive injustice they suffer to amplify their communicative force. This will lead to two paradoxical implications. First, the instability of the moral status of both civil disobedience and its punishment to the extent where the state may be left with no permissible course of action with regard to punishing civil disobedience. Second, by refraining from punishing justified civil disobedience, the state may render uncivil disobedience—illegal political activities that fall short of the standards of civil disobedience—potentially permissible. (shrink)
Introspection Is Signal Detection.Jorge Morales - forthcoming - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.details
Introspection is a fundamental part of our mental lives. Nevertheless, its reliability and its underlying cognitive architecture have been widely disputed. Here, I propose a principled way to model introspection. By using time-tested principles from signal detection theory (SDT) and extrapolating them from perception to introspection, I offer a new framework for an introspective signal detection theory (iSDT). In SDT, the reliability of perceptual judgments is a function of the strength of an internal perceptual response (signal- to-noise (...) ratio) which is, to a large extent, driven by the intensity of the stimulus. In parallel to perception, iSDT models the reliability of introspective judgments as a function of the strength of an internal introspective response (signal-to-noise ratio) which is, to a large extent, driven by the intensity of conscious experiences. Thus, by modelling introspection after perception, iSDT can calibrate introspection's reliability across a whole range of contexts. iSDT offers a novel, illuminating way of thinking about introspection and the cognitive processes that support it. (shrink)
Resting State Glutamate Predicts Elevated Pre-Stimulus Alpha During Self-Relatedness: A Combined EEG-MRS Study on 'Rest-Self' Overlap.Yu Bai, Timothy Lane, Georg Northoff & et al - 2015 - Social Neuroscience:DOI:10.1080/17470919.2015.107258.details
Recent studies have demonstrated neural overlap between resting state activity and self-referential processing. This "rest-self" overlap occurs especially in anterior cortical midline structures like the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (PACC). However, the exact neurotemporal and biochemical mechanisms remain to be identified. Therefore, we conducted a combined electroencephalography (EEG)-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) study. EEG focused on pre-stimulus (e.g., prior to stimulus presentation or perception) power changes to assess the degree to which those changes can predict subjects' perception (and judgment) of subsequent (...) stimuli as high or low self-related. MRS measured resting state concentration of glutamate, focusing on PACC. High pre-stimulus (e.g., prior to stimulus presentation or perception) alpha power significantly correlated with both perception of stimuli judged to be highly self-related and with resting state glutamate concentrations in the PACC. In sum, our results show (i) pre-stimulus (e.g., prior to stimulus presentation or perception) alpha power and resting state glutamate concentration to mediate rest-self overlap that (ii) dispose or incline subjects to assign high degrees of self-relatedness to perceptual stimuli. (shrink)
The Neural and Cognitive Mechanisms of Knowledge Attribution: An EEG Study.Adam Michael Bricker - 2020 - Cognition 203:104412.details
Despite the ubiquity of knowledge attribution in human social cognition, its associated neural and cognitive mechanisms are poorly documented. A wealth of converging evidence in cognitive neuroscience has identified independent perspective-taking and inhibitory processes for belief attribution, but the extent to which these processes are shared by knowledge attribution isn't presently understood. Here, we present the findings of an EEG study designed to directly address this shortcoming. These findings suggest that belief attribution is not a component process in knowledge attribution, (...) contra a standard attitude taken by philosophers. Instead, observed differences in P3b amplitude indicate that knowledge attribution doesn't recruit the strong self-perspective inhibition characteristic of belief attribution. However, both belief and knowledge attribution were observed to display a late slow wave widely associated with mental state attribution, indicating that knowledge attribution also shares in more general processing of others' mental states. These results provide a new perspective both on how we think about knowledge attribution, as well as Theory of Mind processes generally. (shrink)
Minimum Intelligent Signal Test as an Alternative to the Turing Test.Paweł Łupkowski & Patrycja Jurowska - 2019 - Diametros 59:35-47.details
The aim of this paper is to present and discuss the issue of the adequacy of the Minimum Intelligent Signal Test (MIST) as an alternative to the Turing Test. MIST has been proposed by Chris McKinstry as a better alternative to Turing's original idea. Two of the main claims about MIST are that (1) MIST questions exploit commonsense knowledge and as a result are expected to be easy to answer for human beings and difficult for computer programs; and that (...) (2) the MIST design aims at eliminating the problem of the role of judges in the test. To discuss these design assumptions we will present Peter D. Turney's PMI-IR algorithm which allows for MIST-type questions to be answered. We will also present and discuss the results of our own study aimed at the judge problem for MIST. (shrink)
Influence of Monetary Information Signals of the USA on the Ukrainian Stock Market.Roman Pavlov, Tatyana Grynko, Tatyana Pavlova, Levkovich Oksana & Pawliszczy Dariusz - 2020 - Investment Management and Financial Innovations 17 (4):327-340.details
The stronger the level of economic integration between countries, the greater the need to study the formation patterns of the stock market reaction to the financial information signals. This concerns the Ukrainian stock market, which is now in its infancy, and which reaction to financial information signals is sometimes ambiguous. The research aims to identify the formation patterns of return and volatility indicators of the Ukrainian stock market reaction to the US financial information signals. To assess the direct nature of (...) US financial information signals effect on the PFTS stock index, the GARCH econometric modeling toolkit was applied. The research information base is the PFTS stock index and the Federal Reserve System financial information signals at the discount rate for 2000–2019. The fetch is divided into intervals corresponded to the ascent and decline phases of the financial cycle. It was found that an unforeseen increase in the discount rate at the financial cycle decline phase by 25 basis points decreases the PFTS stock index return, on average by 2.9%. Besides, the hypothesis about the general change stabilizing effect in the discount rate on the Ukrainian stock market volatility at the financial cycle growth phase was confirmed. Nevertheless, for investors, the most essential is the regulator's monetary signals in the discount rate at the financial cycle decline phases rather than at the ascent phases because there is a more significant increase in the volatility level. (shrink)
Law, Selfishness, and Signals: An Expansion of Posner's Signaling Theory of Social Norms.Bryan Druzin - 2011 - Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 24 (1):5-53.details
Eric Posner's signaling theory of social norms holds that individuals adopt social norms in order to signal that they have a low discount rate , and are therefore reliable long-term cooperative partners. This paper radically expands Posner's theory by incorporating internalization into his model . I do this by tethering Posner's theory to an evolutionary model. I argue that internalization is an adaptive quality that enhances the individual's ability to play Posner's signaling game and was thus selected for. The (...) idea that internalization is evolutionarily conditioned is not new; however, linking this to Posner's theory of discount rate signals is, and doing so offers tremendous explanatory potential.Part I identifies the limitations of Posner's purely rational choice approach, argues for the necessity of including internalization, and then proposes a model that does so – what I call the Expanded Signaling Model of Norms . Part II examines the problems that arise when we embrace such a model. How this model answers some key criticisms plaguing sociobiology is also briefly explored. Part III then examines existing criticisms of Posner's theory, demonstrating how the Expanded Signaling Model clearly resolves these issues. The paper concludes that incorporating internalization into Posner's signaling model greatly broadens the explanatory reach of Posner's theory, providing a measure of clarity and predictability regarding how and why norms are internalized – an important insight, as these beliefs form the normative underpinning to law. (shrink)
Occipital and Left Temporal EEG Correlates of Phenomenal Consciousness.Vitor Manuel Dinis Pereira - 2015 - In Quoc Nam Tran & Hamid Arabnia (eds.), Emerging Trends in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, and Systems Biology. Elsevier. pp. 335–354.details
In the first section, Introduction, we present our experimental design. In the second section, we characterize the grand average occipital and temporal electrical activity correlated with a contrast in access. In the third section, we characterize the grand average occipital and temporal electrical activity correlated with a contrast in phenomenology and conclude characterizing the grand average occipital and temporal electrical activity co-occurring with unconsciousness.
Influence of Non-Monetary Information Signals of the USA on the Ukrainian Stock Market Volatility.Roman Pavlov, Tatyana Pavlova, Anna Lemberg, Oksana Levkovich & Iryna Kurinna - 2019 - Investment Management and Financial Innovations 16 (1):319-333.details
The Ukrainian PFTS stock index volatility reaction as a whole and its constituent economic sectors ("Basic Materials", "Financials", "Industrials", "Oil & Gas", "Telecommunications", "Utilities") to seven non-monetary US information signals ("Consumer price index", "Personal spending", "Unemployment rate", "Gross domestic product", "Industrial production", "Consumer confidence", "Housing starts") was carried out for the period 2000–2017 on the basis of closing stock quotations in the trading day format. To assess the "surprise" component direct influence nature of the USA selected non-monetary information signals on (...) the PFTS stock index, an AR-GARCH econometric modelling device was used. The results achieved clearly indicate the presence of some PFTS stock index economic sectors heterogeneous reaction to the United States individual non-monetary information signals announcement. For example, such economic sectors as "Basic Materials", "Financials", and "Oil & Gas" volatility response to the US non-monetary information signal "Consumer price index" "surprise" components the opposite of the overall PFTS stock index reaction. It can also be concluded that the United States non-monetary information signals influence on the Ukrainian stock market volatility depends not only on the financial cycle phase and data frequency, but also on the PFTS stock index economic sector. (shrink)
On Being Guided, Signals & Rules: From Bühler to Wittgenstein.Kevin Mulligan - 2020 - In Arnaud Dewalque, C. Gauvry & Sebastian Richard (eds.), Philosophy of Language in the Brentano School. Reassessing the Brentanian Legacy. London: Palgrave.details
Kevin Mulligan has examined in several papers and a book the conceptual relations between the descriptions of mind, language and colours in the philosophies of Brentano's heirs and the descriptions given later by Wittgenstein. In Chapter 12, he looks at what Bühler and Wittgenstein have to say about the phenomenon of being guided by something and two of their favourite examples – reading and our relations to rules.
Color and Figure-Ground: From Signals to Qualia.Birgitta Dresp-Langley & Adam Reeves (eds.) - 2014 - Routledge.details
The laws which predict how the perceptual quality of figure-ground can be extracted from the most elementary visual signals were discovered by the Gestaltists, and form an essential part of their movement (see especially Metzger, 1930, and Wertheimer, 1923 translated and re-edited by Lothar Spillmann, 2009 and 2012, respectively). Distinguishing figure from ground is a prerequisite for perception of both form and space (the relative positions, trajectories, and distances of objects in the visual field. The human brain has an astonishing (...) capacity for selecting and combining a few critical visual signals to accurately represent both form and space. (shrink)
Slurs as Signal and Symptom.Trevor Bloomfield - manuscriptdetails
In this essay I try to link Derek Hook's interpretation of Žižek's reading of Lacan of racial resentment as a kind of jouissance or enjoyment to what Christian Fuchs terms an ideology of hate. In my view, slurs are instances of subordinating speech partially to dehumanize targets but primarily function to signal and deploy ideology. The enjoyment racists derive from using a slurring term from a key feature of the offensiveness of a slurring term. My objective is two-fold. I (...) intend to (1) outline and argue for the enjoyment account of subordinating speech as an improvement upon prohibitionist accounts of slurring terms offensive content and (2) illustrate how slurs function in a libidinal system to reproduce and reinforce ideology. An enjoyment account of subordinating speech depends upon an interpretation of Lacanian concept of jouissance and symptom, supplemented by Hook's libidinal object. (shrink)
A Neuroscience Study on the Implicit Subconscious Perceptions of Fairness and Islamic Law in Muslims Using the EEG N400 Event Related Potential.Ahmed Izzidien & Srivas Chennu - 2018 - Journal of Cognition and Neuroethics 2 (5):21-50.details
We sought to compare the implicit and explicit views of a group of Muslim graduates on the fairness of Islamic law. In this preliminary investigation, we used the Electroencephalographic N400 Event Related Potential to detect the participant's implicit beliefs. It was found that the majority of participants, eight out of ten, implicitly held that Islamic Law was unfair despite explicitly stating the opposite. In seeking to understand what separated these eight participants from the remaining two – the two who both (...) implicitly and explicitly held that Islamic Law was fair – only two distinguishing characteristics could be identified. Both participants had undertaken an in-depth study of a branch of Islamic law that places the spirit of the law above that of a literal interpretation. They had also attended the same seminary, exclusive to the other participants. Of the eight participants, it was discovered that, while they implicitly held Islamic law to be unfair, they also held it to be rational – in the same way they found that it was rational to push a person of a ship in order to save the remaining from drowning, yet unfair. We discuss these preliminary findings and consider theories on how an innate sense of fairness, an aspect of nativism, may come into play when it is not congruent with a participant's own beliefs. Further, we ask, where such an inconsistency occurs, how does the mind attempt to rectify it – if at all? As a possible contribution to the discussion on theories of nativism vs. empiricism we put forward a hypothesis and methodology for investigation that may produce previously unconsidered data on human nature. (shrink)
Active Techniques Implemented in an Introductory Signal Processing Course to Help Students Achieve Higher Levels of Learning.Saharnaz Baghdadchi, Rebecca Hardesty, Paul Andreas Hadjipieris & Jace Hargis - 2018 - Papers on Engineering Education Repository.details
Holding students to high standards and assessing, measuring and evaluating their learning with challenging, authentic problems in the midterm and final exams is the goal of the professors who teach core signal processing concepts. However, the heavy reliance of these subjects on mathematics makes it difficult for students to genuinely grasp the concepts and relate to a conceptual framework. Specifically, analyzing the signals and the functionality of systems in Fourier domain; separating the system level analysis from signal level (...) analysis; and understanding how they are related in time domain and frequency domain are among the most challenging concepts. Students' lower grades observed over past years in the introductory signal processing course exposed a potential disconnect between the actual level of learning and the high expectations set by the professors. In this paper, we present the active learning techniques that we implemented in one of the summer session offerings of this course in our department. The research explored Peer Instruction, pre-class reading quizzes and post-lecture quizzes. In addition to the mid and end of the quarter survey results, the comparison analysis of the grades students achieved in the active learning integrated course in the second summer session and the standard course offered in first summer session is discussed. According to our results, the developed techniques helped students in the active classroom perform significantly better than their peers participating in standard lectures when tested by challenging questions in their exams. (shrink)
Modern Automated System for Traffic Signals.Senbaga Ganesh - 2021 - Journal of Science Technology and Research (JSTAR) 2 (1):111-119.details
This work has been designed to develop an a dynamic road signal based on an emergency with density. The sync signal automatically switches to detecting traffic density at the intersection. Traffic congestion is a serious problem in many large cities around the world and has become a nightmare for travelers in these cities. The conventional traffic light system is based on the concept of fixed time assigned to each side of the join that cannot be varied by varying (...) traffic density. The tie times assigned are fixed. But in an emergency, emergency timings change according to the distance and depth of the traffic. At the time the emergency vehicle is read by the receiver it will execute the management of the traffic light. These projects are infrared proximity sensors in the sightline configuration through the load to detect the traffic light density. The vehicle density is measured in several sectors based on the times assigned as a result. Every crossing of the emergency vehicle logs the data's to the cloud. This log signal would help with the destination acknowledgment. This synchronization will greatly reduce traffic jam. -/- . (shrink)
Meditation-Induced Bliss Viewed as Release From Conditioned Neural (Thought) Patterns That Block Reward Signals in the Brain Pleasure Center.P. E. Sharp - 2013 - Religion, Brain and Behavior 3 (4):202-229.details
The nucleus accumbens orchestrates processes related to reward and pleasure, including the addictive consequences of repeated reward (e.g., drug addiction and compulsive gambling) and the accompanying feelings of craving and anhedonia. The neurotransmitters dopamine and endogenous opiates play interactive roles in these processes. They are released by natural rewards (i.e., food, water, sex, money, play, etc.) and are released or mimicked by drugs of abuse. Repeated drug use induces conditioned down-regulation of these neurotransmitters, thus causing painful suppression of everyday pleasure. (...) As with many spiritual traditions, Buddhism provides strong advice against the pursuit of worldly pleasures to attain the ''good life.'' In contrast, many forms of meditation give rise to an immense and abiding joy. Most of these practices involve ''stilling the mind,'' whereby all content-laden thought (e.g., fantasies, daydreams, plans) ceases, and the mind enters a state of openness, formlessness, clarity, and bliss. This can be explained by the Buddhist suggestion that almost all of our everyday thoughts are a form of addiction. It follows that if we turn off this internal ''gossip of ego,'' we will find relief from the biochemical dopamine/opiate down-regulation, which is, perhaps, the perpetual concomitant of our daily rumination. (shrink)
Differential Activation of ER Stress Signal Pathway s Contributes to Palmitate-Induced Hepatocyte Lipoapoptosis.Xiaofang Zhao - 2016 - Cell Biology 4 (1):128.details
Saturated free fatty acids-induced hepatocyte lipoapoptosis plays a pivotal role in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Theactivation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress isinvolved in hepatocyte lipoapoptosis induced by thesaturated free fatty acidpalmitate (PA). However, the underlying mechanismsof the role of ER stress in hepatocyte lipoapoptosis remain largely unclear.In this study, we showed that PA and tunicamycin (Tun), a classic ER stress inducer, resulted in differential activation of ERstress pathways. Our data revealed that PA inducedchronic and persistent ER stress response, but Tuninduced acute and (...) transientER stress response. Compared with Tun treatment, PAinduced much lower glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78), a centralregulator of ER homeostasis, accumulation. It is noteworthy that GRP78 over-expression not only inhibited PA-induced ERstress but also decreased PA-induced apoptosis. Taken together, our data suggest that the differentialactivation of ER stresssignal plays an important role in PA-induced hepatocyte lipoapoptosis. More detailed studies on the mechanisms of PA inrepressing the accumulation of GRP78 will contribute to the understanding of molecular mechanisms of lipoapoptosis. (shrink)
Differential Activation of ER Stress Signal Pathway s Contributes to Palmitate-Induced Hepatocyte Lipoapoptosis.Fuli Yao - 2016 - Cell Biology 4 (1):1-8.details
Saturated free fatty acids-induced hepatocyte lipoapoptosis plays a pivotal role in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Theactivation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress isinvolved in hepatocyte lipoapoptosis induced by thesaturated free fatty acidpalmitate (PA). However, the underlying mechanismsof the role of ER stress in hepatocyte lipoapoptosis remain largely unclear.In this study, we showed that PA and tunicamycin (Tun), a classic ER stress inducer, resulted in differential activation of ERstress pathways. Our data revealed that PA inducedchronic and persistent ER stress response, but Tuninduced acute and (...) transientER stress response. (shrink)
Altruistic Deception.Jonathan Birch - 2019 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 74:27-33.details
Altruistic deception (or the telling of "white lies") is common in humans. Does it also exist in non-human animals? On some definitions of deception, altruistic deception is impossible by definition, whereas others make it too easy by counting useful-but-ambiguous information as deceptive. I argue for a definition that makes altruistic deception possible in principle without trivializing it. On my proposal, deception requires the strategic exploitation of a receiver by a sender, where "exploitation" implies that the sender elicits a behaviour in (...) the receiver that is beneficial in a different type of situation and is expressed only because the signal raises the probability, from the receiver's standpoint, of that type of situation. I then offer an example of a real signal that is deceptive in this sense, and yet potentially altruistic (and certainly cooperative): the purr call of the pied babbler. Fledglings associate purr calls with food, and adults exploit this learned association, in the absence of food, to lead fledglings away from predators following an alarm call. I conclude by considering why altruistic deception is apparently so rare in non-human animals. (shrink)
Neural phase: a new problem for the modal account of epistemic luck.Adam Michael Bricker - 2019 - Synthese (8):1-18.details
One of the most widely recognised intuitions about knowledge is that knowing precludes believing truly as a matter of luck. On Pritchard's highly influential modal account of epistemic luck, luckily true beliefs are, roughly, those for which there are many close possible worlds in which the same belief formed in the same way is false. My aim is to introduce a new challenge to this account. Starting from the observation—as documented by a number of recent EEG studies—that our capacity to (...) detect visual stimuli fluctuates with the phase of our neural oscillations, I argue that there can be very close possible worlds in which an actual-world detectable stimulus is undetectable. However, this doesn't diminish our willingness to attribute knowledge in the case that the stimulus is detectable, even when undetectability would result in the same belief formed in the same way being false. As I will argue at length, the modal account appears unable to accommodate this result. (shrink)
An Organisational Approach to Biological Communication.Ramiro Frick, Leonardo Bich & Alvaro Moreno - 2019 - Acta Biotheoretica (2):103-128.details
This paper aims to provide a philosophical and theoretical account of biological communication grounded in the notion of organisation. The organisational approach characterises living systems as organised in such a way that they are capable to self-produce and self-maintain while in constant interaction with the environment. To apply this theoretical framework to the study of biological communication, we focus on a specific approach, based on the notion of influence, according to which communication takes place when a signal emitted by (...) a sender triggers a change in the behaviour of the receiver that is functional for the sender itself. We critically analyse the current formulations of this account, that interpret what is functional for the sender in terms of evolutionary adaptations. Specifically, the adoption of this etiological functional framework may lead to the exclusion of several phenomena usually studied as instances of communication, and possibly even of entire fields of investigation such as synthetic biology. As an alternative, we reframe the influence approach in organisational terms, characterising functions in terms of contributions to the current organisation of a biological system. We develop a theoretical account of biological communication in which communicative functions are distinguished from other types of biological functions described by the organisational account (e.g. metabolic, ecological, etc.). The resulting organisational-influence approach allows to carry out causal analyses of current instances of phenomena of communication, without the need to provide etiological explanations. In such a way it makes it possible to understand in terms of communication those phenomena which realise interactive patterns typical of signalling interactions – and are usually studied as such in scientific practice – despite not being the result of evolutionary adaptations. Moreover, this approach provides operational tools to design and study communicative interactions in experimental fields such as synthetic biology. (shrink)
Moral Diversity and Moral Responsibility.Brian Kogelmann & Robert H. Wallace - 2018 - Journal of the American Philosophical Association 4 (3):371-389.details
In large, impersonal moral orders many of us wish to maintain good will toward our fellow citizens only if we are reasonably sure they will maintain good will toward us. The mutual maintaining of good will, then, requires that we somehow communicate our intentions to one another. But how do we actually do this? The current paper argues that when we engage in moral responsibility practices—that is, when we express our reactive attitudes by blaming, praising, and resenting—we communicate a desire (...) to maintain good will to those in the community we are imbedded in. Participating in such practices alone will not get the job done, though, for expressions of our reactive attitudes are often what economists call cheap talk. But when we praise and blame in cases of moral diversity, expressions of our reactive attitudes act as costly signals capable of solving our social dilemma. (shrink)
The Myth of Stochastic Infallibilism.Adam Michael Bricker - forthcoming - Episteme:1-16.details
There is a widespread attitude in epistemology that, if you know on the basis of perception, then you couldn't have been wrong as a matter of chance. Despite the apparent intuitive plausibility of this attitude, which I'll refer to here as "stochastic infallibilism", it fundamentally misunderstands the way that human perceptual systems actually work. Perhaps the most important lesson of signal detection theory (SDT) is that our percepts are inherently subject to random error, and here I'll highlight some key (...) empirical research that underscores this point. In doing so, it becomes clear that we are in fact quite willing to attribute knowledge to S that p even when S's perceptual belief that p could have been randomly false. In short, perceptual processes can randomly fail, and perceptual knowledge is stochastically fallible. The narrow implication here is that any epistemological account that entails stochastic infallibilism, like safety, is simply untenable. More broadly, this myth of stochastic infallibilism provides a valuable illustration of the importance of integrating empirical findings into epistemological thinking. (shrink)
Low Attention Impairs Optimal Incorporation of Prior Knowledge in Perceptual Decisions.Jorge Morales, Guillermo Solovey, Brian Maniscalco, Dobromir Rahnev, Floris P. de Lange & Hakwan Lau - 2015 - Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics 77 (6):2021-2036.details
When visual attention is directed away from a stimulus, neural processing is weak and strength and precision of sensory data decreases. From a computational perspective, in such situations observers should give more weight to prior expectations in order to behave optimally during a discrimination task. Here we test a signal detection theoretic model that counter-intuitively predicts subjects will do just the opposite in a discrimination task with two stimuli, one attended and one unattended: when subjects are probed to discriminate (...) the unattended stimulus, they rely less on prior information about the probed stimulus' identity. The model is in part inspired by recent findings that attention reduces trial-by-trial variability of the neuronal population response and that they use a common criterion for attended and unattended trials. In five different visual discrimination experiments, when attention was directed away from the target stimulus, subjects did not adjust their response bias in reaction to a change in stimulus presentation frequency despite being fully informed and despite the presence of performance feedback and monetary and social incentives. This indicates that subjects did not rely more on the priors under conditions of inattention as would be predicted by a Bayes-optimal observer model. These results inform and constrain future models of Bayesian inference in the human brain. (shrink)
The Neural Substrates of Conscious Perception Without Performance Confounds.Jorge Morales, Brian Odegaard & Brian Maniscalco - forthcoming - In Felipe De Brigard & Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (eds.), Anthology of Neuroscience and Philosophy.details
To find the neural substrates of consciousness, researchers compare subjects' neural activity when they are aware of stimuli against neural activity when they are not aware. Ideally, to guarantee that the neural substrates of consciousness—and nothing but the neural substrates of consciousness—are isolated, the only difference between these two contrast conditions should be conscious awareness. Nevertheless, in practice, it is quite challenging to eliminate confounds and irrelevant differences between conscious and unconscious conditions. In particular, there is an often-neglected confound that (...) is crucial to eliminate from neuroimaging studies: task performance. Unless subjects' task performance is matched (and hence perceptual signal processing is matched), researchers risk finding the neural correlates of perception, rather than conscious perception. Here, we discuss the theoretical motivations for the performance matching framework and review empirical demonstrations of, and theoretical inferences derived from, obtaining differences in consciousness while controlling for task performance. We summarize signal detection theoretic modeling frameworks that explain how it is that we can derive performance-matched differences in consciousness without the effect being trivially driven by differences in criterion setting, and also provide principles for designing experimental paradigms that yield performance-matched differences in awareness. Finally, we address potential technical and theoretical issues that stem from matching performance across conditions of awareness, and we introduce the notion of "triangulation" for designing comprehensive experimental sets that can better reveal the neural substrates of consciousness. (shrink)
The Comparative Advantages of Brain-Based Lie Detection: The P300 Concealed Information Test and Pre-Trial Bargaining.John Danaher - 2015 - International Journal of Evidence and Proof 19 (1).details
The lie detector test has long been treated with suspicion by the law. Recently, several authors have called this suspicion into question. They argue that the lie detector test may have considerable forensic benefits, particularly if we move past the classic, false-positive prone, autonomic nervous system-based (ANS-based) control question test, to the more reliable, brain-based, concealed information test. These authors typically rely on a "comparative advantage" argument to make their case. According to this argument, we should not be so suspicious (...) of lie detection evidence if it has comparative advantages over the epistemic methods currently utilised by the legal system. In this article, I add to this growing support by making a novel comparative advantage argument in favour of brain-based lie detection evidence. The argument focuses on the P300 concealed information test (P300 CIT), which has several unique properties, and on the effect it may have on pre-trial bargaining in criminal cases rather than in-court evidence. The thesis is that P300 CIT could allow for innocent defendants to credibly signal their innocence to investigators and prosecutors during pre-trial bargaining more effectively than current proposed methods for doing the same thing. I defend this argument from a number of objections, and suggest that it opens up an interesting avenue in the ongoing debate about the merits of this technology. Although the argument is presented with the criminal law in mind, it could form part of a more general cumulative case in favour of this technology. (shrink)
Antagonistic Redundancy -- A Theory of Error-Correcting Information Transfer in Organisms.Johannes W. Dietrich & Bernhard O. Boehm - 2004 - In Robert Trappl (ed.), Cybernetics and Systems 2004. Wien, Österreich: pp. 225-30.details
Living organisms are exposed to numerous influencing factors. This holds also true for their infrastructures that are processing and transducing information like endocrine networks or nerval channels. Therefore, the ability to compensate for noise is crucial for survival. An efficient mechanism to neutralise disturbances is instantiated in form of parallel complementary communication channels exerting antagonistic effects at their common receivers. Different signal processing types share the ability to suppress noise, to widen the system's regulation capacity, and to provide for (...) variable gains while leaving the transferred signal to a large extent unchanged. (shrink)
Applying Sebeok's Typology of Signs to the Study of Flags.Steven A. Knowlton - 2012 - Raven 19:57-97.details
A leading semiotician, Thomas A. Sebeok (1920-2001), developed a useful typology which the author uses to analyze national and subnational flags, exploring them as signals, icons, indexes, and symbols and using extensively illustrations.
Evidence Linking Brain Activity Modulation to Age and to Deductive Training.Paula Álvarez-Merino, Carmen Requena & Francisco Salto - 2018 - Neural Plasticity 2018:1-20.details
Electrical brain activity modulation in terms of changes in its intensity and spatial distribution is a function of age and task demand. However, the dynamics of brain modulation is unknown when it depends on external factors such as training. The aim of this research is to verify the effect of deductive reasoning training on the modulation in the brain activity of healthy younger and older adults ( (mean age of 21 ± 3.39) and (mean age of 68.92 ± 5.72)). The (...) analysis reveals the benefits of training, showing that it lowers cerebral activation while increasing the number of correct responses in the trained reasoning task (). The brain source generators were identified by time-averaging low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) current density images. In both groups, a bilateral overactivation associated with the task and not with age was identified. However, while the profile of bilateral activation in younger adults was symmetrical in anterior areas, in the older ones, the profile was located asymmetrically in anterior and posterior areas. Consequently, bilaterality may be a marker of how the brain adapts to maintain cognitive function in demanding tasks in both age groups. However, the differential bilateral locations across age groups indicate that the tendency to brain modulation is determined by age. (shrink)
A Two Level Account of Executive Authority.Michael Skerker - 2019 - In Michael Skerker & Claire Finkelstein (eds.), Sovereignty and the New Executive Authority. Oxford, UK:details
The suite of secretive national security programs initiated in the US since 9/11 has created debate not only about the merits of targeted killing, torture, secret detention, cyberwar, global signals intercepts, and data-mining, but about the very secrecy in which these programs were conceived, debated by government officials, and implemented. Law must be revealed to those who are expected to comply with its demands. Law is a mere pretext for coercion if the laws permitting the government to coerce people for (...) non-compliance are concealed. The purpose of this essay is to determine whether inhabitants of a liberal state—a type of state tracing the legitimacy of its coercive actions to the consent of the governed—also need to know the internal protocols and legal findings of the government agencies ostensibly serving them. To put this question another way, what, if anything, may government agencies in liberal states keep secret? (shrink)
Situated Intelligence: An Introspective Model of Consciousness.Stephen G. Perrin - manuscriptdetails
The model of consciousness developed here is a cooperative venture between mind, brain, body, nature, culture, community, and family. The overall unity of consciousness is provided by the loop of engagement that conducts intentional action into the ambient. Each successive round of engagement between subject and world generates a gap of disparity between remembrance of purpose or intent and the effect achieved on the operative level of understanding within a larger taxonomic scheme in experience. That gap sends a delta (...) class='Hi'>signal that arouses various parameters of motivation to form a configuration that constitutes a felt situation within subjective experience. That delta signal and felt situation are nothing other than our subjective experience of consciousness. Situated intelligence is the first-person awareness stimulated by a particular complement of motivational parameters. (shrink)
Scrutiny of Einstein's Causality.Mohamed Elmansour Hassani - manuscriptdetails
In the present paper, the so-called Einstein's causality is scrutinized and proven to be an illusion, a sort of mathematical fiction, and the causality as a well-established universal principle would be absolutely valid for subluminal, luminal and superluminal signals under any natural and/or artificial circumstances. It is also shown that any attempt to apply special relativity theory to superluminality of physical phenomena would be a complete waste of time since this theory has the light speed in vacuum as an upper (...) limiting speed in its proper validity domain of applications. (shrink)
Moral Implications of Data-Mining, Key-Word Searches, and Targeted Electronic Surveillance.Michael Skerker - 2015 - In Bradley J. Strawser, Fritz Allhoff & Adam Henschke (eds.), Binary Bullets. Oxford, UK:details
This chapter addresses the morality of two types of national security electronic surveillance (SIGINT) programs: the analysis of communication "metadata" and dragnet searches for keywords in electronic communication. The chapter develops a standard for assessing coercive government action based on respect for the autonomy of inhabitants of liberal states and argues that both types of SIGINT can potentially meet this standard. That said, the collection of metadata creates opportunities for abuse of power, and so judgments about the trustworthiness and competence (...) of the government engaging in the collection must be made in order to decide whether metadata collection is justified in a particular state. Further, the moral standard proposed has a reflexive element justifying adversary states' intelligence collection against one another. Therefore, high-tech forms of SIGINT can only be justified at the cost of justifying cruder versions of signals intelligence collection practiced by a state's less-advanced adversaries. (shrink)
Boundaries: An Essay in Mereotopology.Barry Smith - 1997 - In Lewis H. Hahn (ed.), Philosophy of Roderick Chisholm (Library of Living Philosophers). Open Court. pp. 534--561.details
Of Chisholm's many signal contributions to analytic metaphysics, perhaps the most important is his treatment of boundaries, a category of entity that has been neglected, to say the least, in the history of ontology. We can gain some preliminary idea of the sorts of problems which the Chisholmian ontology of boundaries is designed to solve, if we consider the following Zeno-inspired thought-experiment.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


On this episode of the National Security Podcast, we hear from James Clapper about the changing nature of intelligence collection, trust in government, Donald Trump, and conspiracy theories.
Why is President Trump espousing his love for dictators? How will new technologies and citizen investigations change the way intelligence collection is carried out? Are conspiracy theories a bit of fun or are they a serious challenge for trust in government? Does James Clapper watch spy movies?
On this episode of the National Security Podcast Chris Farnham has a wide ranging discussion with the former US Director of National Intelligence and visiting Vice-Chancellor's Distinguished Professor, hosted by the ANU National Security College.
James Clapper was the US Director of National Intelligence from 2010 to January 2017. In this position, he led the United States Intelligence Community and served as the principal intelligence advisor to President Barak Obama.
We'd love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us at @APPSPolicyForum or find us on Facebook.


Monsoon is here, and before long, you'll be looking for new stealthy ways to please your lazy side. Elevate the art of street style dressing with cooler alternatives to the classics. For evening drinks with friends, retire your crop top in favour of a shirt dress and vagabond jeans. Give your travel look a classy twist, opt for denim-on-denim separates, but keep in mind balance is the key.
For a coffee date, go easy with a pair of lightweight joggers and a slogan T-shirt. Ground any look with a sturdy pair of shoes, whether it's your favourite sneakers, statement boots or classic block sandals. We have decoded four celebrity looks that you could experiment with without hurting your wallet.


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/ Seamus Bellamy / 6:37 pm Wednesday
Thoughts on the Nintendo Switch from a Gameboy aficionado
Seamus Bellamy
As an insomniac, I take my gaming seriously. When I get to a point in a cycle of sleeplessness where I'm too tired to work or keep track of where I am in the book I'm reading, I turn to video games to keep me from delving too deeply into the dark thoughts that creep into my skull in the middle of the night.
After waiting for over a year to see if it would prove popular enough with developers and players to make it worth picking up, I finally broke down and bought a Nintendo Switch – that I have an upcoming assignment that involves testing Switch accessories made it easy to pull the trigger, despite its steep price tag here in Canada. The last Nintendo console that I bought was the Gameboy Advance Micro. I still own it, 13 years later, and play it on a regular basis. After tinkering with the Switch for just over a month, I've got some thoughts on the major differences between it and my much-loved GBA Micro that I thought might be fun to share.
The GBA Micro wasn't cheap, back in the day. I remember paying around $200 for it in Vancouver, BC. But aside from the games I'd buy for it, that was it. There was no need to purchase anything else. The Switch? Not so much. After paying $300 for it or, in my case, $400 Canadian, there's still a ton of cash that needs to change hands to ensure a solid experience with the console.
Memory cards, like these ones from SanDisc, are a must if you plan on building a game catalog. The Switch's display, which isn't easily replaceable like the one on my GBA Micro is, needs to be protected. I've ordered this to take care of that. Because it's relatively fragile, you'll want to pick up a case for the console, too. If you do wind up buying a bunch of physical game media for the Switch, the game cards are small enough and made of a suspiciously cheap-feeling plastic. So, you'll want to grab something to protect and organize those, too.
You can talk about extra controllers, external battery packs and the like in this category, too. But I feel that those are more wants for the Switch than needs.
My GBA Micro has had the shit beaten out of it over the years. Save a few scratches on its face plate, which is replaceable on the cheap, you wouldn't know it. All of its buttons and its control pad work as well as the day it came out of the box. Despite only weighing 2.82 ounces, its feels as solid as all get-out. It's still got its original battery and can hold enough of a charger for me to play it for a few hours at a time. I don't believe that the Switch will be in as great of shape. Maybe Nintendo needed to keep the per unit cost low. Perhaps they were worried that a large handheld, like the Switch, would be passed over by gamers if it took up a ton of space in their bag AND weighed a ton. No matter the reason, to me, the Switch feels flimsy by comparison to the GBA Micro. This is a console that'll I'll pay dividends to keep running over the years. I can feel it.
There's no getting around the fact that the Switch is HUGE compared to the GBA Micro. That said, I don't have a problem fitting it into my bag when I'm headed out on a trip. So, let's talk about another area that I haven't seen discussed online very much: The portability of media.
One of the things I have always disliked about the GBA Micro is that its game carts are a pain in the ass to lug around. Two of them take up almost as much space in my bag as the console itself does. It forces me to think about which carts to bring with me. Not so the Switch. Its game cards are small and light enough that you could lug along 20 of them and it's no big deal. More than this, The Switch's internal memory and its ability to use SD cards to expand its storage make it so that if you want to, there's no need to carry any physical games with you at all. That's a win.
The complexity of the games that the Switch's guts allow for pretty much curb-stomps my Micro. Being able to play Skyrim and LA Noire on a portable device? Absolutely insane. I'm really hoping that Rockstar, in particular, makes more of its back catalog available to Switch owners. I know that the rumors about the code in Red Dead Redemption being a mess make the possibility of a port pretty remote. But man, I'd love that. GTA IV or V, too. I absolutely adore being able to hand off one of my Joy-Con controllers to my wife so that we can abuse each other in Mario Cart. I can't remember that last time I laughed out loud playing a game like I do when we're racing each other. That alone was worth the cost of the console.
There is something to be said about the charm of the graphics and the limited nature of game play that, by comparison, the GBA Micro offers. I still dig taking a spin with MarioKart Super Circuit and my Grand Theft Auto cart still gets a lot of use, too.
Perhaps the biggest change in game play, for me at least, is that playing the Switch doesn't make the joints in my hands ache like the GBA Micro does. I'm old. Over the years, I've broken a lot of bones – I shattered my left hand two decades ago. Shit hurts. It's nice to be able to enjoy myself without every twitch of my fingers causing me discomfort.
There's few things that suck more than popping a new game into your console and being told that you'll need to download gigabytes worth of data before you're able to fully enjoy it. For a couple of the games I've played on my Switch, that's a thing. That thing is annoying when you live in the city and have a decent broadband connection. I'm writing this from the literal middle-of-nowhere, using my smartphone to access the Internet. Downloading a game to my Switch, additional content or an update can take days. That sucks.
I love the Switch! It's a lot of fun. I'm glad to own one and so far, my productivity hasn't suffered for it. I wish that it was a little bit more rough and tumble, like my GBA Micro is, but that's a minor complaint – I'm an adult and should be able to look after my stuff well enough to keep the console alive. I'm looking forward to a long relationship with this thing. Hopefully, it won't disappoint me.
Nintendo / Nintendo Switch / video games
Man at airport gets more video game space by plugging PS4 into public map display
A guy who was waiting for his flight at the airport in Portland wanted more screen display space for his Playstation video game session, so he plugged his PS4 into a public computer screen that was displaying a map of the airport.
Review: "Don't Read The Comments" is a delightful YA antidote to GamerGate
Don't Read The Comments is the newest book by Eric Smith, a literary agent and author of The Geek's Guide To Dating and other books, as well as the owner of many adorable pets. (Full disclosure: Eric was also my editor many, many years ago on the Quirk Books blog, and we've remained friends since […]


The Sirius 71 platform offers a space for debate where people may share their opinion and their vision about how the Saône-et-Loire French department should be evolving towards 2030.
The General Council of Saône et Loire decided on 17 June 2011 with the unanimity of its members, to launch a comprehensive process designed to develop a project that will help develop a shared horizon of 20 years for the Saone-et-Loire region. The Sirius 71 platform is a key actor in shaping this vision.


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Scientists learning that gut bacteria plays a role in chemo
This article appeared in Nature.com
You can freely subscribe to the website and keep posted on the some fascinating developments...
Gut Bacteria and Its Role in Chemo...
In the quest for personalized therapies, most research has focused on how an individual's genome controls their body's responses to drugs. However, there is increasing evidence that a person's unique microbiome — the population of bacteria and other microbes that live in their body — can be key to determining whether or not a drug works for their condition.
Researchers now have evidence that healthy people metabolize some drugs in different ways depending on their microbial make-up. They presented their data on 4 June at the meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Bacteria living in the human body will eat any nutrient that comes their way, whether it's food from the host's diet or a drug that the person is taking. But this dietary flexibility can become problematic if the microbes metabolize a drug into useless or toxic compounds.
Computational biologist Leah Guthrie at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City discussed data on a chemotherapy drug called irinotecan, which causes severe diarrhoea in some patients. Previous research in mice found that bacterial enzymes called β-glucuronidases can modify the chemical structure of irinotecan and other drugs (B. D. Wallace et al. Science 330, 831–835; 2010). Normally, the liver detoxifies these treatments by adding a chemical group called glucuronidate. But the bacterial enzyme removes the group, turning the drug into a toxic compound.
Going with the gut
To see whether a person's microbiome affected how they metabolized drugs, Guthrie and her colleagues collected faecal samples from 20 healthy people. They treated the samples with irinotecan, and measured the compounds produced by bacteria in the samples as they interacted with the drug. The team found that 4 of the samples contained high levels of the toxic form of irinotecan, but found no significant differences between the bacterial species present in any of the samples.
When the researchers analysed the proteins produced in the faecal samples, they found that those from people with high bacterial metabolisms contained strains that made more β-glucuronidases. These people also had increased levels of proteins that transport sugar into cells, which suggests they would be more likely to absorb the toxic compound and develop gastrointestinal problems.
The researchers are now planning to collect samples from people with cancer who are taking irinotecan, to see whether this is the case, says study leader Libusha Kelly, a microbiologist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
It's a nice step towards understanding how gut-bacterial enzymes interact with drugs, says Matthew Redinbo, a structural biologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who also studies irinotecan. "Our biggest insight is to look at gut enzymes and think about them the same way as human" enzymes, he says.
Redinbo says that the liver processes many of the drugs given to patients using the chemical group removed by bacterial β-glucuronidases: this suggests that the microbiome's effects could be very far-reaching. His work in mice has found that some β-glucuronidases make similar modifications to anti-inflammatory drugs that include ibuprofen, which can cause gut toxicity when administered over long periods of time (A. LoGuidice et al. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 341, 447–454; 2012).
Still a black box
Researchers have identified dozens of examples of gut bacteria that seem to modify therapeutic drugs, including some that treat Parkinson's disease and anxiety, says Emily Balskus, a biochemist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She says that bacterial interference could also help to explain why animal models don't always predict drug toxicity in humans, because animals contain different microbes.
But many questions remain. Few of the enzymes responsible for breaking down these drugs have been identified, and it's unclear how much gut bacteria vary among the human population.
A paper published on 2 June in Science, for instance, found that the HIV-prevention drug tenofovir, which is applied to the vagina as a gel, was ineffective in women whose vaginas contained a type of bacterium called Gardnerella (N. R. Klatt et al. Science 356, 938–945; 2017). The bacteria quickly broke the drug down into an inactive compound, but the scientists don't yet know how the process works, or whether it can be halted.
Eventually, Balskus says, clinicians may be able to screen people's microbiomes to determine whether a drug will work for them. If their gut microbiomes seem problematic, doctors could prescribe an enzyme inhibitor or put them on a diet that provides the bacteria with an alternate food source. Studies using a dietary intervention in mice have shown some success in preventing gut bacteria from degrading a heart drug called digoxin (H. J. Haiser et al. Science 341, 295–298; 2013).
Redinbo wants to try the technique in people. His start-up biotechnology company, Symberix in Durham, North Carolina, plans to apply for permission to start a clinical trial in which researchers will give cancer patients a β-glucuronidase inhibitor alongside irinotecan.
Still, it will be a long time before enough is known about bacteria–drug interactions for physicians to be able to prescribe such therapies routinely. "It's staggeringly complex," says Redinbo.
Posted by Margaret Mastrangelo, M.S., FNP at 2:29:00 PM
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HomeLatest from EU Member StatesFrance, Agroecology & the Coming CAP Reform
27 June, 2019 Oliver Moore Latest from EU Member States, Main stories
Agroecology is much talked about, and practiced in many regions, but how does it relate to the word of policy-making? In some countries such as France, agroecology forms the basis of emerging agri-food policy – albeit in a contested and sometimes contradictory way.
Since the time of ecologically progressive Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll, there have been signs that, compared to many EU countries, France is at least grappling with an agroecological transition. As recently as December, we reported on how their approach to CAP foregrounds agroecology.
France to Use CAP for Agroecological Transition?
"The CAP must support farmers' agroecological transition to production systems using fewer inputs (energy, pesticides, fertilisers, water) and which are more resilient" as the position paper itself stated.
And there are other signs of such a transition too: in recent years, this includes the quantifiable moves to ban the overuse of biocides, led by Senator Joel Labbe and others:
Meet Senator Joel Labbé – Driving Force Behind French Herbicide Bans
Ecophyto 2 – France tries to halve pesticide use. Again.
Concurrently, there is the massive rise in organic land area, and in the number of farmers converting to organic. Reuters reported in June this year that
"A record number of French farms switched to organic production last year, helped by the grains sector catching on to the trend, the country's organic food agency said on Tuesday.
France, the European Union's largest agricultural producer, added 5,000 organic farms last year, surpassing a prior high of 4,200 seen in both 2016 and 2017, the Agence Bio said in an annual market review.
That increased the number of organic farms by 13% to 41,600, or 9.5% of all French farms. The organic farmland area expanded by 17% to 2 million hectares, or 7.5% of all farmland."
This is all framed by a government-led process, called the General State of Food, which Laure Ducos reported on for us in 2018:
"On December 21, 2017, the government concluded the General State of Food and launched a phase of implementation of the proposals resulting from the discussions. Firstly, the government asked the inter-branch organization of each agricultural sector (cereals, cattle, fruits and vegetables etc) to develop their own action plans for an agro-ecological transition. Secondly, the government started a legislative process leading to a law "for the balance of commercial relations in the agricultural and food sector and healthy and sustainable food." Finally, several thematic plans were launched by the government itself, outside the legislative process: a plan on organic agriculture, a plan to phase out pesticides, a plan on fair trade, etc."
State-Sanctioned Agroecological Transition? The State of Food in France
Nevertheless, even in France, there are false starts and there is plenty of business as usual posturing and acquiesce. Efforts to reduce pesticide use have sometimes faltered, as the ecophyto 2 link above suggests, and the one below:
France | Pesticide 'Probation' Sees Tensions Rise
While the agri-food NGO and farmer French platform Pour une Autre Pac have found much to criticise in France's agri-food policies. As Auréile Catallo pointed out, the 2015-2020 CAP in France fell short of expectations. Despite novel governance mechanisms, the scheme has been burdened with administrative complexities and delays and has under-performed. Problems include messy internal bureaucracy – especially regarding the regions and Pillar 2; no capping; no small farmers scheme; weak greening; maintenance of historic entitlements; and poor first hectares payments. None of this supports an agroecological transition.
CAP in France not Delivering for Citizens, Farmers or the Environment
This continued under the Minister for Agriculture for succeeded le Foll, Stéphane Travert. As Catallo also noted, his priorities were competition law, risk management, added value including for environmental services, and a catchall priority to support climate, energy and territorial transitions.
Part 2 | "Pour une autre PAC" on France's CAP Position
However, all told, this amounted to a business-as-usual approach: "Stéphane Travert clearly belongs to supporters of the "evolution, not revolution" approach, where Pour une autre PAC highlights the urgent need for an in-depth reform. His proposals suits the main farmer's union, which Travert conscientiously avoids ruffling the feathers of, but they do not satisfy progressive actors such as the members of Pour une autre PAC."
Finally, its worth mentioned the novel approach – which is all about the approach – by French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron. He has shown himself willing to talk and think differently about CAP and France – a necessary break with tradition for a person who styles himself a liberal modernist.
Macron's "Discours de la méthode" on Future CAP
As Samuel Feret put it in the article above: "CAP is a significant instrument for Macron and France, one which he will use to express a different approach to how France is and how it functions in Europe. CAP is no longer the monolith it once was for the French authorities in EU talks while still remaining a cornerstone for the French Ag policy."
So where now for France and agroecology? And what role for the EU Institutions?
Suprisingly, the Greens secured over 12% of the vote, returning eight MEPs – the second largest of any member states after Germany.
Like all other EU member states, France will have its own plan to write, drawn from the EU Commission's nine policy objectives. This new delivery model, one of the main innovations of the CAP reform announcement by the Commission in 2018, places the emphasis onto he member states more than the EU institutions.
So France, the largest recipient of CAP funds of any EU member state – will have the opportunity to take its supposed commitment to agroecology seriously. Will it write agroecology into its CAP strategic plan, as a core component? It has after all a role already in French national planning. This will be a real test for France's agroecological credentials.
About Oliver Moore	158 Articles
DR. Oliver Moore is the communications director and editor-in-chief with ARC2020. He has a PhD in the sociology of farming and food, where he specialised in organics and direct sales. He is published in the International Journal of Consumer Studies, International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology and the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. A weekly columnist and contributor with Irish Examiner, he is a regular on Countrywide (Irish farm radio show on the national broadcaster RTE 1) and engages in other communications work around agri-food and rural issues, such as with the soil, permaculture, climate change adaptation and citizen science initiative Grow Observatory . He lectures part time in the Centre for Co-operative Studies UCC
UK | Chapter 5: Enhancing Farm Animal Welfare


text:
Q: Get json and show inforamtion in flutter ListView I`m trying to work with JSON and display data in a widget
I`m getting json from website
https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts
And I'm trying to display data from json in ListView
I`m click on button, titles are displayed in list
It's working fine

import 'package:dio/dio.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

class NewsWidget extends StatefulWidget {
  const NewsWidget({super.key});

  @override
  State<NewsWidget> createState() => _NewsWidgetState();
}

class _NewsWidgetState extends State<NewsWidget> {

  var jsonNews;

  getNewsNYT() async {
    var dio = Dio();

    final response =
        await dio.get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts');
    setState(() {
      jsonNews = response.data;
    });
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: const Text('JSON'),
        actions: [
          ElevatedButton(
            onPressed: getNewsNYT,
            child: const Text('NYT'),
          ),
        ],
      ),
      body: ListView.builder(
        itemBuilder: (BuildContext context, int index) {
          return Card(
            child: ListTile(
              title: Text(jsonNews[index]['title']),
            ),
          );
        },
        itemCount: jsonNews == null ? 0 : jsonNews.length,
      ),
    );
  }
}

After that I tried with a real example and took the New York Times API
There I display popular news from the main one, the request itself looks like this
final response = await dio.get('https://api.nytimes.com/svc/topstories/v2/home.json?api-key=my-key');

I add my key at the end of the request correctly

import 'package:dio/dio.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

class NewsWidget extends StatefulWidget {
  const NewsWidget({super.key});

  @override
  State<NewsWidget> createState() => _NewsWidgetState();
}

class _NewsWidgetState extends State<NewsWidget> {
  var jsonNews;

  getNewsNYT() async {
    var dio = Dio();

    final response = await dio.get(
        'https://api.nytimes.com/svc/topstories/v2/home.json?api-key=0SDaGP4DLAzR5OtGxVC6ObfhNljic18h');
    setState(() {
      jsonNews = response.data;
    });
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: const Text('JSON'),
        actions: [
          ElevatedButton(
            onPressed: getNewsNYT,
            child: const Text('NYT'),
          ),
        ],
      ),
      body: ListView.builder(
        itemBuilder: (BuildContext context, int index) {
          return Card(
            child: ListTile(
              title: Text(jsonNews[index]['title']),
            ),
          );
        },
        itemCount: jsonNews == null ? 0 : jsonNews.length,
      ),
    );
  }
}

I get an error there
title: Text(jsonNews[index]['title']),
The method '[]' was called on null.
I open the url to check that there really is data
I use https://jsonformatter.org/ to make it clear
As a result, I see that before Map String information is placed that I do not need. If it is removed, the Map will work correctly.
https://i.stack.imgur.com/eRG7M.jpg
How correctly to work with result of request? For example, I want to display news titles in a ListView.
Solution

getNewsNYT() async {
    var dio = Dio();
    final response = await dio.get(
        'https://api.nytimes.com/svc/topstories/v2/home.json?api-key=0SDaGP4DLAzR5OtGxVC6ObfhNljic18h');
    final jsonBody = response.data['results']; // beacause main map in section results:

    setState(() {
      jsonNews = jsonBody;
    });
  }

A: did you try to use the result key like that:
TextText(jsonNews[index]['results'][index]['title']);
this might not work because you have an inner list on the results key try to extract the result list and use it in listview

A: I think The problem is here jsonNews = response.data, the data you need is in the ['results'] section. so try this
  getNewsNYT() async {
//var dio = Dio();

final response = await http.get(Uri.parse(
    'https://api.nytimes.com/svc/topstories/v2/home.json?api-key=0SDaGP4DLAzR5OtGxVC6ObfhNljic18h'));
setState(() {
  var jsonBody = convert.jsonDecode(response.body);
  jsonNews = jsonBody['results'];
});

}
then you will get this result
results

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Introducing Chris McClarney Releases Jan. 26, 2010 On Kingsway
Album Features McClarney's "Your Love Never Fails" Adopted by Jesus Culture Youth Movement
Internationally Acclaimed Worship Leaders Jeff Deyo, Bill Johnson, Don Potter Laud McClarney Songs
NEWS SOURCE: Hoganson Media
Nashville, TN (November 19, 2009) – Introducing Chris McClarney releasing Jan. 26, 2010 from Kingsway with EMI CMG Distribution draws attention to the soulful-voiced, modern worship songs of Chris McClarney, the unassuming lead worshiper whose music is traveling to the far reaches of Christian church worldwide.
A worshipper dedicated to drawing the eyes, heart and minds of the church toward its heavenly Father, McClarney's songs, with absolutely no marketing dollars behind them, have climbed onto the iTunes sales charts and caught the attention of the Redding, California-based Jesus Culture youth movement. An "army" of believers in the movement has adopted McClarney's "Your Love Never Fails" as its theme song.
"Chris McClarney is one of the most refreshing voices in this present move of God. I love all that he does," says Bill Johnson, senior leader at Bethel Chapel in Reading, CA, which is the birthplace of the Jesus Culture movement. "His worship music is some of the most genuine, profound, and passionate music I know of anywhere."
The journey that led to Introducing Chris McClarney was one that McClarney started alone in his study one day, praying. From his knees he told God how desperate he was to be able to share the songs of heaven. In a voice that was almost audible, McClarney sensed God's reply: "But what I want are the songs of Chris." Stunned, McClarney gathered together the songs he had written, and now these songs are finding listeners across the nation and world.
"I was in Australia three weeks ago and everyone I met knew the Chris McClarney song, 'Your Love Never Fails,' as music from Jesus Culture was a top selling product in that market," notes Jonathan Brown, Kingsway business development. "McClarney is an authentic, and compelling voice whose songs worshipers from across the globe are singing, joining together in the chorus."
Other notable worship leaders are hearing that authenticity and responding with their own voice:
"Finding CDs to worship the Lord with is no easy task and, as a result, my favorites list is very limited. Having known Chris for years, it's no surprise that his CD has become a huge personal blessing to me as I seek to connect intimately with God on a daily basis. His talent and sincerity flow powerfully through the songs and usher me almost effortlessly into deeper friendship with Jesus." – Jeff Deyo (worship leader, former SONICFLOOd lead vocalist)
"I have listened to Chris McClarney lead worship for almost five years. Aside from his cool sounding voice, I know that touching the heart of God consistently requires favor from the Lord. After experiencing God's presence so frequently while he leads praise, I know this favor is on Chris' life and the music he plays." – Don Potter (Nashville-based worship leader)
Introducing Chris McClarney track listing:
1) Your Love Never Fails
2) Still Saving Me
3) Defender
4) Your Love Is Everything
5) Across The Universe
6) Blessed Assurance
An "overnight" sensation after having led worship for 15-years, McClarney has spent the last six years at Grace Center church (www.gracecenter.us) in Franklin, TN. He resides in nearby Nashville, TN with his wife Jasmine, and two small daughters. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/gracecenter or www.kingsway.co.uk.


text:
Q: Finding the Spectrum of integral operator I have the following integral operator:
$$(Ku)(x)=\int_{0}^{1} k(x,y)u(y) \mathop{dy}$$
with $k(x,y)=$min $ \{ x,y \}$ for $0 \leq x,y \leq 1$.$\\$
I have already shown $K$ is a compact, self adjoint operator but now I want to find the spectrum of $K$. I do not understand how to do this. Do I need to find the eigenvalues? If so, how would I go about doing this? (I am self teaching myself functional analysis so perhaps there is an easy way to do this that I just haven't come across? $\\$
Thanks in advance.

A: Since $K$ is compact, $0\in\sigma(K)$ (because $K$ is not invertible). Because $K$ is compact, any nonzero element of its spectrum has to be an eigenvalue.
Now suppose  that $Ku=\lambda u$ for some $\lambda\ne0$. This, with your specific $k$, looks like
$$
\lambda u(x)=\int_0^x y\,u(y)\,dy-x\,\int_1^x u(y)\,dy.
$$
Since $u$ is integrable (otherwise $Ku$ makes no sense), the right-hand-side is continuous; so $u$ is continuous. But then the right-hand-side is differentiable, so $u$ is differentiable. Note also that $u(0)=0$, again because the right-hand-side is $0$ at $x=0$.
Now, if we differentiate,
$$
\lambda u'(x)=x\,u(x)-\int_1^xu(y)\,dy-x\,u(x)=-\int_1^xu(y)\,dy.
$$
Reasoning as before, we deduce that $u'(1)=0$, and that $u'$ is differentiable. Taking derivatives again,
$$
\lambda u''(x)=-u(x).
$$
The case $\lambda=0$ gives $u=0$, so $0$ is not an eigenvalue (it belongs to the spectrum, though). When $\lambda\ne0$,
this is an easy second order boundary value problem:
$$
u''+\frac1\lambda\,u=0,\ \ u(0)=0, \ u'(1)=0.
$$
The general solution is, if we write $r=1/\sqrt\lambda$,
$$
u(x)=\alpha\cos rx+\beta\sin rx.
$$
The initial conditions force $\alpha=0$, $\cos r=0$. So $r=\frac{2k+1}2\pi$, $k\in\mathbb Z$, that is
$$
\frac1{\sqrt\lambda}=\frac{2k+1}2\pi,
$$
so the eigenvalues are given by
$$
\lambda_n=\frac4{(2n+1)^2\pi^2}, \ n\in\mathbb N\cup\{0\},
$$
with corresponding eigenfunctions
$$
u_n(x)=\sin\frac{(2n+1)\pi}2\,x
$$

A: Following Martin's notation, the boundary conditions should be $u(0) = 0$, and $u'(1) =0$. So the eigenvalues are $\left[\frac{(2n+1)\pi}{2}\right]^{2}$.