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Cognitive Radio (CR) is developed to provide effective spectrum usage. CR is much significant in improving the efficiency of the global internet in applications. The evolutionary measurement technology is utilised to improve the evaluation of channel-state information. The outcome attained very few spectrums sensing in CR for complex mobility. A good optimisation method is needed to improve the accurate channel state prediction in successful channel access. Thus, this paper aims to implement a novel power and channel allocation mechanism with the help of a new Modified Levy Flight-based Artificial Ecosystem Optimisation (MLF-AEO) Optimisation Strategy. This paper achieves the optimal power control and channel allocation mechanism intending to solve the multiple objective functions based on the constraints like Interference among users, Outage Probability, and throughput. The superiority of the proposed algorithm is thoroughly verified by various simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of phonological overlap amongst items on short term memory recall performance by manipulating the type, number and syllabic position of shared phonemes between words in a serial recall task. Roodenrys et al [Roodenrys, S., Miller., L. M., & Josifoski, N. (2022b). Phonemic interference in short-term memory contributes to forgetting but it is not due to overwriting. Journal of Memory and Language, 122, 104301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2021.104301] demonstrated that when the phonemes of a target word also occur in words earlier in the list, recall of the target word is impaired. Two experiments are reported that further examine the nature of this interference effect. Experiment 1 varied the type and number of phonemes shared with the single syllable target word by other list words and found a single shared vowel impaired target word recall performance as much as two shared consonants. Experiment 2 altered the syllabic position of the overlapping phonemes and found shared syllabic position was necessary to impair recall of the target word. It is argued these results show that not all phonological overlap is equally detrimental and specific psycholinguistic conditions are necessary to produce interference that impairs recall performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To create a safer world, it is vital that lessons are learned from near-misses, incidents and accidents and that those lessons are, through active learning, translated into practical, safety-oriented actions. Not unnaturally, vested interests – fearful of the consequences of being associated with the event in question – may seek to delay, deflect or halt whatever investigation is called for or authorised. Drawing on actor-network theory (ANT), this paper uses a case study approach to explore the lengths to which those implicated in a near-miss, incident or accident will go to protect their perceived interests. Through the inductive analysis of five investigations, it is shown that disruptive tactics range from the mischievous, for example, manipulating an inquiry’s terms of reference, to the devious and illegal, for example, sanitising or manipulating statements. It is suggested that those charged with investigating near-misses, incidents and accidents use ANT to identify potentially hostile actors’ resourcing, reach, networks and likely tactics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe effect of consolidation on the undrained capacity of two interfering footings has not been investigated previously in a systematic manner, although this is particularly interest for offshore foundations, where consolidation will occur as a result of working load or preload. This paper presents results of a numerical investigation into the consolidated undrained bearing capacity of two interfering footings resting on heterogeneous clays. Finite difference code FLAC with the modified Cam Clay soil model is applied to couple the effect of consolidation and strength gain of clay beneath the footings. The results are expressed in dimensionless form of the gain in capacity, accounting for the coupling effects of the spacing between two footings, the magnitude and duration of applied preloads, and the clay strength heterogeneity. A design approach based on the data-fitting equations of the obtained solutions is proposed, and the failure mechanisms of the two adjacent footings after consolidation are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical performance of three-dimensional woven composites is usually modeled by an ideal model with straight tow paths and constant cross-sectional areas. This ideal model predicts inaccurate properties due to oversimplification of tow shapes. In this paper, we present a more accurate method to predict properties of the 3D woven composite considering waviness and contraction of tows due to interference between them. The tow waviness is defined by elliptic and trigonometric functions. The shrinkage of the tow cross-sectional area is modeled using a cubic polynomial. The elastic moduli are predicted using the modeled tows and the weighted average model. The predicted properties are compared with test results to verify the accuracy. In addition, the usefulness of the present method is verified by comparing the calculated moduli using the ideal model. We conclude that the present method is useful for the design of structures to which 3D woven composites are applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the new semi-analytical correlation for displacement thickness of laminar fluid flow along an arbitrary-angle corner formed by the intersection of two plates has been proposed because of the discrepancy in displacement thickness for strong interference corner between the present computational fluid dynamics simulation and previous analytical correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates spillover effects of investing in new early childhood education centers on the outcomes of children that did not attend those centers. I find positive and economically significant spillover effects in the EDI domain of communication skills and general knowledge. Furthermore, never-enrolled children have also experienced an improvement in physical health and well-being. There is no evidence of significant effects on parenting practices and reduction in behavioral problems. The evidence suggests that spillovers are driven by individual interactions instead of interaction between centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Congested Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band stifles the growth of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). The recent switchover from analog to digital TV (DTV) broadcast frees from the conventional TV bands a sizeable amount of spectrum, which is commonly called TV white space (TVWS). TVWS is very attractive to many wireless technologies, including WLAN. IEEE came up with 802.11af, the standard for the WLAN technology that operates in TVWS. Nevertheless, it is unsure how best to guarantee its operation not causing harmful interference to DTV. In this paper, we present the conditions required for harmless coexistence of IEEE 802.11af WLAN and DTV. We make use of the standard prediction method based on radio propagation characteristics, i.e. the ITU-R P.1411-9 method which has been adopted in communication system planning. Based on our findings, we suggest the followings: (1) Operate IEEE 802.11af WLAN at any adjacent channel other than the first (i.e. except the closest neighbour channel). (2) The height of IEEE 802.11af installation does play a part when there is a relatively large separation distance between the WLAN and DTV (e.g. 50 m). (3) For outdoor operation, IEEE 802.11af WLAN should be installed at the second, third, or fourth channels adjacent to the DTV's; fifth or sixth adjacent channel for indoor operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lately, it seems a number of philosophical memory theories are incorporating false memory phenomena into their conceptual frameworks. At the same time, scientific research is extending its analysis of false memories to nondeclarative forms of memory. However, both sides have paid little attention to the notion of false procedural memory. Yet, from everyday experience as well as from psychological investigation, we are aware of different ways procedural memory goes wrong. Here, I characterize the conceptual foundation of false procedural memory. First, I distinguish remembering-how from knowing-how by proposing that remembering-how requires the performance of an act. Accordingly, genuine remembering-how is characterized as the performance of an act for which a respective ability has been acquired that is instrumental in the execution of said act. False remembering-how is identified as a kind of error where a subject acquires the ability to perform a certain act, which is then correctly executed, but is not what the subject tried to perform. This framework of false procedural memory is delineated from notions of interference and crosstalk. A comparison with current philosophical theories of false memory and analysis showing the relevance for current psychological research and everyday life concludes the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interference of signal and idler waves produced by optical parametric down-conversion was the object of a classic paper by Ghosh and Mandel [Phys. Rev. Lett. 1987, 59, 1903-1905] many years ago. In this paper we investigate the problem in the continuous variable regime, with the aim of identifying quantum signatures that arise from the entanglement of signal and idler waves. By using a model which allows for analytical calculations we show first of all that no quantum features appear for the interference in the fourth-order correlation function in the high-gain regime of parametric down-conversion. The quantum signatures emerge instead from the spatio-temporal correlation function of a generic quadrature component, and we demonstrate that they are clearly linked to the signal/idler entanglement. Relevant and useful links with the theory of quantum images complete the picture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates maneuvering-target tracking problem based on a multisensor system and interacting multiple model (IMM). The estimation is performed by a novel particle filter (PF) with a capability to deal with the state-dependent noises and interference of the sensors' coverage environment. An adaptive sensor selection algorithm, where some sensors are selected in each stage based on the signal-to-interference pulse noise ratio (SINR) and participate in the state estimation, is proposed. To deal with the effect of interference, we focus on designing and implementing the sensor selection algorithm, where a multisensor system with nonuniform arrays is derived by solving a convex optimization problem. On this basis, a nonuniform array of sensors is selected in each time interval aiming at maximizing the SINR of the received information from the undercoverage area. This would allow tracking in practical environments experiences interference. This method also is able to reduce the tracking error rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an exploratory study on cross-linguistic interference among indigenous Kechwa—Spanish bilingual children (n=30) living in a language contact situation. Its preliminary findings show evidence of cross-linguistic interference between Kechwa desiderative progressive forms such as miku-naya-yka-n (eat-desprog-3) ‘S/he wants to/is about to eat’ and bilingual Spanish modal progressive structures such as está queriendo comer ‘wants to/is about to eat‘. The latter convey a desiderative/imminent aspectual meaning absent in the narratives of a comparison group of Spanish-dominant children (n=25). The paper focuses on showing how interference and convergence in functional features such as modal and aspect features are possible despite striking differences in the morphology of two languages spoken by a bilingual individual. It is argued that, as predicted by the Functional Interference Hypothesis and the Functional Convergence Hypothesis, functional features are the locus of language change, and that activation of functional features from language A in language B, under specific discourse conditions, may lead to convergence in some bilingual individuals. These preliminary findings underscore the need to study the relationship between knowledge of syntax and knowledge of discourse conditions in bilinguals as well as the ability displayed by some bilingual individuals to dissociate syntax from morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In device-to-device (D2D) communication, users in close proximity to each other can communicate directly without going through a base station; such direct communication can improve spectral efficiency. However, D2D links may generate high interference to cellular user equipment (UE) located in their communication areas if they use the same channel with the UE for data transmission. D2D communication could also generate interference for each D2D pair when the common wireless medium in a co-located limited area is accessed. Although, to solve this problem, research on reducing or avoiding interference between D2D and cellular UE in network supporting D2D communication was conducted, the interference managements are still not fully studied for between D2D pairs. In this paper, we investigate the problem of D2D pair coexistence in which interference is considered between D2D pairs. By analytically deriving an operating condition for D2D pairs deployed within the same region, we provide a lower bound on the throughput of D2D pair networks and the optimal number of D2D pairs that can coexist. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The heterogeneous deployment of different base stations has increased the overall network capacity and reduced excess traffic from the macrocell network. However, this improved system performance is accompanied by several technical challenges which include interference management, power control, resource allocation, security, backhaul, and handover issues. This paper presents a single-leader, multi-follower power control game model that mitigates interference in a two-tier heterogeneous network where femtocells are densely deployed within the coverage area of the macrocell. In the proposed game, the femtocells act as the followers and update their respective transmission power based on the information received from the macrocell which is the leader of the Stackelberg game. The existence of the Stackelberg equilibrium (SE) in the formulated game was determined by the backward induction method and it showed the possibility of a stability point that is optimal and Pareto efficient. Extensive simulations were carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme and the effect of the set transmission cost and utility function on the base stations. Simulation results showed a reduced level of interference between the base stations, improved network capacity, and effective allocation of network resources among the users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed an interference method for determination refractive indices of nematic liquid crystals in a broad electromagnetic spectrum. Values of ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices were measured in VIS (from 0.4 to 0.8 μm), NIR (from 0.8 to 1.4 μm), SWIR (from 1.4 to 3.0 μm) and at an edge of MWIR (from 3.0 to 4.2 μm) regions. The main task of this work was to develop the efficient and accurate interference method. The absolute error of these measurements is not higher than 0.02. The method was tested on two newly designed mixtures. The first one was a high birefringence liquid crystal mixture for the laser rangefinder, while the second one is intentionally prepared for breathalyser application. The mixture does not possess high absorption bands at 3.4 μm. To measure a dispersion of the refractive indices cells with various thicknesses and dielectric mirrors were prepared. The paper presents a theoretical discussion and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with optimality aspects of block designs balanced for interference effects from neighboring units on both sides under a general non additive model along with random block effects. Here, a class of complete, circular block designs strongly balanced for interference effects has been shown to be universally optimal for the estimation of direct effects and interference effects (left and right) of treatments under a non additive mixed effects model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A new method based on phase coherence for resonant frequency analysis of the electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structure is proposed in this paper. Based on a simplified analysis model of reflected and transmitted waves, the resonant frequencies of reflection coefficient for two-unit cells are achieved through the phase of transmission coefficient for one-unit cell. For the purpose of method verification, a microstrip EBG structure is simulated and measured, which shows great consistence of resonant frequency between phase coherence method analysis and actual simulation/measurement. Since the proposed method explains the resonance of EBG structure from the interference of electromagnetic waves level, it has a clear physical meaning. Moreover, it may provide a convenient way for the characteristic analysis of EBG structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the recent explosion of affordable software has placed powerful electronic music production tools within reach of anyone with a smart phone or a tablet, there are important aspects of music composition that technology has failed to address. In fact, much audio software subtly encourages prefabricated aesthetic solutions via the user interface, resulting in a cookie-cutter approach to music creation. As a result, much of the electronic music we hear today rarely ventures into new territory by exploring new structures. One solution could be to employ a compositional tool that enables a composer to generate new and unusual structures derived from mathematical relationships such as the Fibonacci series, the Golden Ratio or other mathematical patterns found in nature. Luckily, such a tool exists and is part of a vast system of music composition created in the twentieth century by the visionary music theoretician and composer Joseph Schillinger. In this article the author explores a Schillinger technique called ‘composing with density groups’ which can be used to create unique musical structures on paper or in any digital audio workstation (DAW). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the spectrum of the bremsstrahlung emission accompanying the α-decay of 226Ra (Eα=4.8 MeV) by measuring the α-γ coincidences. We analyze the spectrum by using the model presented in our previous study on the α-decay of 214Po (Eα=7.7 MeV). We compare the experimental data with the quantum mechanical calculation and find a good agreement between theory and experiment. We analyze the bremsstrahlung emission contributions from the tunneling and external regions of the nucleus barrier into the total spectrum, and find destructive interference between these contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toric contact eye lenses are designed to address general blurring that occurs due to uneven cornea which is known as astigmatism. For proper functioning of toric lenses their orientation with respect to the eye is critical. So toric lenses are manufactured with some form of marking which helps in deciding the orientation with respect to the eye. In this research paper a novel marking method based on the interference principle is proposed for toric lenses. Mathematical modeling followed by experiments was done to prove the concept of interference based marking. The proposed marking method is a mask-less, single step clean process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As ad hoc wireless networks provide less stable communication for mobile nodes than infrastructure wireless networks, several multipath routing protocols are proposed to improve the throughput and stability of ad hoc wireless networks. When using multipath routing protocols, a sender node adopts multiple disjoined routing paths for data transmission. To minimize the path cost, paths with smaller hopcounts are preferred; for the most part, paths with nearer position and high interference are adopted. As a result, the expected goals of using multipath routing protocols are unable to be attained. To overcome the situation above, this paper brings up an interference-aware multipath routing protocol for QoS-constraint multimedia and real-time applications in ad hoc wireless networks. The proposed protocol can reduce the call dropping rate and improve the QoS stability with its effective bandwidth pre-evaluation and interference susceptibility; the simulation results also show that the proposed protocol has good performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main problems for radio frequency identification (RFID) networks planning is to optimize readers’ position. The problem of RFID networks planning (RNP) includes many goals like coverage, interference, load balancing, and economic efficiency. In this paper, we try to introduce a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm-based method to improve RFID networks planning in which a fuzzy logic controller and a mutation operator have been used to prevent quick algorithm convergence to local optimum. According to the findings, the recommended algorithm comparing other evolutionary algorithms locates readers in places where the goals of RFID networks planning could be achieved at the lowest cost. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Device-to-device (D2D) communication facilitates two users in close proximity to communicate directly, bypassing the Evolved Node B (eNB). It provides several advantages like increased spectral efficiency, energy efficiency, decreased transmission delay, and traffic offloading from eNBs. Native support of D2D communications in the emerging fifth generation cellular systems raises significant challenges, like interference, mode selection, resource allocation, and security. Ratification of standards and collaborative research works between industries and academia are now focusing to gradually resolve these challenges. In this paper, we present a novel survey of D2D communications. Our survey provides a new classification of major research works in D2D communications on the basis of frequency and control. Subsequently, major D2D architectures, protocols, and relevant applications are discussed. We also make a detailed review of the analysis techniques and point out open research challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A criterion and a method for solving a problem on prevention of fracture of a compound body are suggested. Theoretical analysis of determination of optimal interference for fitting elastic fiber into the hole of elastic binder is carried out on the basis of the minimax criterion. The elastic binder is weakened with arbitrary system of rectilinear cracks. A closed system of algebraic equations is constructed, which allows the problem of optimal design of a composite to be solved. The found interference for fitting a fiber ensures increased load-carrying capacity of the compound body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyaluronic acid-binding protein (HABP4) plays important roles in regulating cell cycle and apoptosis. However, its functions in regulating cell apoptosis remain unclear. To reveal the effects of HABP4 on cell proliferation, cell cycle and apoptosis, the HABP4 sequence was cloned, and we investigated the gain and loss functions of HABP4 in goat turbinate bone cells. Our results showed that a 1,496-bp HABP4 sequence was cloned successfully. The interference effect of siRNA1 on HABP4 was the strongest, reducing its mRNA expression level by 83%, decreasing the cells in the G0/G1 and S phases of the cell cycle and inhibiting cell growth and apoptosis. The overexpression of HABP4 produced contrasting results. Furthermore, an HABP4 knockdown caused the up-regulated expression of genes associated with apoptosis, including Bcl-2 and BCL2L11, but the down-regulation of Caspase3, Caspase7, Bax, PARP1, SOCS2 and P53 mRNA levels. Additionally, HABP4 overexpression significantly up-regulated the expression levels of Bax, Caspase3, Caspase7, BCL2L11, P53, SOCS2 and PARP1. However, the expression of Bcl-2 was down-regulated. These data provide an important foundation for further in-depth studies of HABP4 functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helicity is a property of light which is familiar from particle physics but less well-known in optics. In this paper we recall the explicit form taken by the helicity of light within classical electromagnetic theory and reflect upon some of its remarkable characteristics. The helicity of light is related to, but is distinct from, the spin of light. To emphasise this fact, we draw a simple analogy between thehelicityof light and electricchargeand between thespinof light and electriccurrent. We illustrate this and other observations by examining various superpositions of plane waves explicitly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In France, the MétroPol 009 method used to measure workplace exposure to inorganic acids, such as HF, HCl, and HNO3, consists of a closed-face cassette fitted with a prefilter to collect particles, and two sodium carbonate-impregnated filters to collect acid vapor. This method was compared with other European methods during the development of a three-part standard (ISO 21438) on the determination of inorganic acids in workplace air by ion chromatography. Results of this work, presented in a companion paper, led to a need to go deeper into the performance of the MétroPol 009 method regarding evaluation of the breakthrough of the acids, both alone and in mixtures, interference from particulate salts, the amount of sodium carbonate required to impregnate the sampling filter, the influence of sampler components, and so on. Results enabled improvements to be made to the sampling device with respect to the required amount of sodium carbonate to sample high HCl or HNO3 concentrations (500 μL of 5% Na2CO3 on each of two impregnated filters). In addition, a PVC-A filter used as a prefilter in a sampling device showed a propensity to retain HNO3 vapor so a PTFE filter was considered more suitable for use as a prefilter. Neither the material of the sampling cassette (polystyrene or polypropylene) nor the sampling flowrate (1 L/min or 2 L/min) influenced the performance of the sampling device, as a recovery of about 100% was achieved in all experiments for HNO3, HCl, and HF, as well as HNO3+HF and HNO3+HCl mixtures, over a wide range of concentrations. However, this work points to the possibility of interference between an acid and salts of other acids. For instance, interference can occur through interaction of HNO3 with chloride salts: the stronger the acid, the greater the interference. Methods based on impregnated filters are reliable for quantitative recovery of inorganic volatile acids in workplace atmosphere but are valuable only in the absence of interferents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical gratings are becoming available with precision down to the 2 nm level, or below. Such gratings can be employed to make highly accurate measuring tools such as optical encoders and coordinate measuring tools which can find numerous applications in precision machining applications and integrated circuit industry such as image placement inspection. Such tools are significantly less expensive than interferometers because of the relaxed mechanical tolerances required on the associated stages. In this paper, a novel prototype optical encoder system is developed for grating-based measurement tools with nanometer accuracy. The location of the grating was determined with an error of 0.09 nm. This is comparable to the accuracy of state-of-the-art interferometers, but at much lower cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a computer-aided design for design of the concave globoidal cam with cylindrical rollers and indexing turret follower. Three models with different modelling methods are made from the same input data. The input data include some basic dimensions of the globoidal cam system and a table of angular input and output displacements of the cam and the follower. The cam model must have no interference with the rollers when their motions are simulated in assembly conditions. In this study, Pro/ENGINEER® Wildfire 2.0 is used for modelling the cam, simulating motions and checking interference and errors of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how the Emotion-in-Relationships Model (ERM), a theory designed to predict people's experience of emotion, might explain persuasive messages. A study was conducted in which 248 individuals simulated leaving a date request voicemail message. Consistent with ERM, people's perceptions of interference from partners were positively associated with appraisals of self threat and relationship threat and negatively associated with the fluency of messages. People's perceptions of facilitation from partners were positively associated with identity management strategies, positive politeness, and the affection of messages. These results persisted after covarying relationship satisfaction. Taken together, the findings shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of ERM as a theory of interpersonal communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Psychoanalysis is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper is intended to be a survey of all the important aspects and results that have shaped the field of quantum computation and quantum information. The reader is first familiarized with those features and principles of quantum mechanics providing a more efficient and secure information processing. Their applications to the general theory of information, cryptography, algorithms, computational complexity and error-correction are then discussed. Prospects for building a practical quantum computer are also analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allelopathy is defined as the suppression of any aspect of growth and/or development of one plant by another through the release of chemical compounds. Although allelopathic interference has been demonstrated many times using in vitro experiments, few studies have clearly demonstrated allelopathy in natural settings. This difficulty reflects the complexity in examining and demonstrating allelopathic interactions under field conditions. In this paper we address a number of issues related to the complexity of allelopathic interference in higher plants: These are: (i) is a demonstrated pattern or zone of inhibition important in documenting allelopathy? (ii) is it ecologically relevant to explain the allelopathic potential of a species based on a single bioactive chemical? (iii) what is the significance of the various modes of allelochemical release from the plant into the environment? (iv) do soil characteristics clearly influence allelopathic activity? (v) is it necessary to exclude other plant interference mechanisms?, and (vi) how can new achievements in allelopathy research aid in solving problems related to relevant ecological issues encountered in research conducted upon natural systems and agroecosystems? A greater knowledge of plant interactions in ecologically relevant environments, as well as the study of biochemical pathways, will enhance our understanding of the role of allelopathy in agricultural and natural settings. In addition, novel findings related to the relevant enzymes and genes involved in production of putative allelochemicals, allelochemical persistence in the rhizosphere, the molecular target sites of allelochemicals in sensitive plant species and the influence of allelochemicals upon other organisms will likely lead to enhanced utilization of natural products for pest management or as pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. This review will address these recent findings, as well as the major challenges which continue to influence the outcomes of allelopathy research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of recent simulation studies have shown that when feedforward neural nets are trained, using backpropagation, to memorize sets of items in sequential blocks and without negative exemplars, severe retroactive interference or catastrophic forgetting results. Both formal analysis and simulation studies are employed here to show why and under what circumstances such retroactive interference arises. The conclusion is that, on the one hand, approximations to 'ideal' network geometries can entirely alleviate interference if the training data sets have been generated from a learnable function (not arbitrary pattern associations). All that is required is either a representative training set or enough sequential memory sets. However, this elimination of interference comes with cost of a breakdown in discrimination between input patterns that have been learned and those that have not: catastrophic remembering. On the other hand, localized geometries for subfunctions eliminate the discrimination problem but are easily disrupted by new training sets and thus cause catastrophic interference. The paper concludes with a formally guaranteed solution to the problems of interference and discrimination. This is the Hebbian Autoassociative Recognition Memory (HARM) model which is essentially a neural net implementation of a simple look-up table. Although it requires considerable memory resources, when used as a yardstick with which to evaluate other proposed solutions, it uses the same or less resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the uncertain environment in which construction activity occurs, and in particular the variability in productivity and the occurrence of external interferences. The paper then describes a suite of computer programs known as the Construction Project Simulator (CPS) whose features include: a hierarchy of linked bar charts, 'preliminaries schedule', weather data, direct costs, and resources Jot costing and/or resource restraint. The results of an actual project are presented to demonstrate the type and rankle of output available, including duration and cost predictions and cash flow curves. The results of four varied construction projects subjected to simulation are presented, with the results demonstrating an improvement in accuracy over the common deterministic estimating procedures of the UK construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines 'mobile health' or 'mHealth' programs that are using mobile phones to improve maternal health in the developing world. Whereas its implementers present mobile health as a neutral, universal, accessible and 'smart' empowering technology for women, we will question this empowering effect and analyze how the device transforms gender inequalities on the ground. To this end, we will use empirical data collected on a global mHealth program deployed in Ghana and India. Informed by gender, postcolonial, science and technology studies, we offer a critical analysis of these new devices using mobile phones to 'empower' women in the Global South. This multisite analysis highlights the gender gap and male domination in accessing mobile phones in rural India and Ghana. It also reveals how mHealth devices can negate the multifactorial dimension of gender and health inequalities, how these global assemblages are renegotiating local power relations and enhancing gender imbalance and health disparities for women in these villages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research just started to combine behavioural, computational, and neural accounts to investigate the nature of post-stroke aphasia, but the dynamic aspect of aphasia recovery has rarely been integrated. Moreover, executive functions in aphasia recently gained attention as an important contributor to language performance. Lexical picture/word interference embraces both executive control and language processing through distracted confrontation naming, as revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Thus, we for the first time applied this complex paradigm in diagnostic and therapeutic settings for persons with aphasia (PWA) on the group level. In consideration of behavioural and computational data, we aimed at investigating the neural responses of persons with aphasia (a) to a novel treatment method targeting both word processing and language control by means of interfered-naming, and (b) to the interfering stimuli to determine preserved and impaired processing and changes thereof. Nineteen PWA at a mean age of 51 years (range 21–74) and 26 months post-onset (4–63) as well as 22 matched healthy controls were included in a diagnostic fMRI study comprising a pure naming test and the lexical fMRI interference paradigm with five distractor conditions (phonological, associative-semantic, categorical-semantic, unrelated word, unrelated noise) in a 3 T Philips scanner. Twelve participants completed the 4-weeks therapy, 11 the fMRI therapy study. During therapy, both comprehension of the interfering words and distracted but cued picture naming were trained. The distribution of lexical-semantic and -phonological impairments of PWA in the computational model was well balanced. The novel linguistic-executive treatment significantly improved pure and interfered naming for the PWA group, fostering generalisation to untrained items, reducing repetition of distractors, and ameliorating lexical-semantic processing. The predicted behavioural effects of distractor types were only found for the two semantic conditions. Neuroimaging revealed right-hemisphere compensation before treatment, activation decrease related to enhanced efficiency due to treatment, and both differential and overlapping responses to distractor types. Key brain regions encompassed inferior frontal gyrus and right posterior middle temporal gyrus as well as the basal temporal language area, cerebellum, and anterior cingulate cortex. The novel interfered-naming in aphasia therapy revealed to be effective, but differential effects of distractor types were less prominent than expected. Behavioural, computational, and neural findings converge on identifying semantic-executive processing as the core source of improvements. This account of linguistic-executive processing in aphasia offers a step towards a comprehensive theory of neurorehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive aging negatively impacts language comprehension performance.. However, there is evidence that older adults skillfully use linguistic context and their crystallized world knowledge to offset age-related changes that negatively impact comprehension. Two visual-world paradigm experiments examined how aging changes verb-argument prediction, a comprehension process that relies on world knowledge but has rarely been examined in the cognitive-aging literature. Older adults did not differ from younger adults in their activation of an upcoming likely verb argument, particularly when cued by a semantically-rich agent+verb combination (Experiment 1). However, older adults showed elevated activation of previously-mentioned agents (Experiment 1) and of unlikely but verb-congruent referents (Experiment 2). This is novel evidence that older adults exploit semantic context and world knowledge during comprehension to successfully activate upcoming referents. However, older adults also show elevated activation of irrelevant information, consistent with previous findings demonstrating that older adults may experience greater proactive interference and competition from task-irrelevant information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Associative memory involves the ability to encode and remember the relationship between individual items. This ability can become diminished when there is a high degree of similarity between stimuli that are being learned. Associative memory errors often stem from the fact that lures include a high degree of item familiarity as well as mnemonic similarity with the original associative episode. The current set of experiments examined how this overlap, in the form of within-category similarity, affects veridical and false retrieval in both younger and older adults. Across three experiments, results suggest that mnemonic overlap between targets and lures is detrimental to the ability to discriminate between highly similar information. Specifically, shared category membership for targets and lures led to increased false associative memories across age groups. These results have implications for scenarios where there is a high degree of overlap between target and lure events and indicate that these types of associative memory distinctions are difficult irrespective of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapport in the context of neuropsychological testing refers to the level of interpersonal ease between examiner and examinee. However, scant research has examined the impact of rapport on neuropsychological test performance. The purpose of this between-subjects experiment was to investigate the impact of rapport on Stroop test performance. College students (N = 114) were randomly assigned to either a high or a low rapport condition and administered the D-KEFS Color-Word Interference Test. Individuals in the low rapport condition took longer to complete the Inhibition Trial of the Stroop test but did not vary on the Inhibition/Switching Trial. Low rapport may distract examinees, sapping attentional resources on the Inhibition Trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a review of the works done mainly at Indian Institute of Science on the determination of the ultimate bearing capacity of shallow strip and circular foundations with the usages of lower and upper bound theorems of the limit analysis. After providing an outline of the historical developments in the field of limit analysis, a few important problems, illustrating the recent advancements in determining the bearing capacity of shallow foundations, have been addressed. The effects of (i) footing-soil interface roughness, (iii) size of footing, (iii) seismic forces, and (iv) interference of two closely spaced footings, on the bearing capacity have been presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science and Technology Studies (STS) projects often aim at understanding social problems and epistemic challenges in science and, more generally, in the technoscientific worlds we inhabit. However, it is often unclear if and how these projects can help address the problems they identify. Scholars such as Donna Haraway, John Law, and Karen Barad have argued that STS methods always interfere with the contexts they study. Combining this insight with recent feminist scholarship on the politics of care in technoscience suggests that a better understanding of how our research practices already interfere can help us attune our methods in order to promote care as part our research practices. One avenue to investigate this hypothesis is to return to a completed study and reconstruct how its research methods have created interference effects that promoted or could promote care for the problems the study identified. In the case at hand, the methods investigated are interviews with life scientists in Austria and the USA. The problem they defined is that current career rationales in the life sciences, which foreground individualism, mobility, and competition hinder collaboration, teamwork, and mentoring, strain group cohesion, and tend to exclude certain groups. Reframing the research interviews as ‘agential conversations’ that interfered with the contexts they sought to understand shows how the interviews also created situated moments of reflection, connection, and disruption that could serve as a basis for responding to these problematic conditions affecting researchers in the life sciences and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mutual interference between wireless devices in indoor environment reduces system performance. Ensuring secure personal communication within such wireless networks is also another important problem. Existing indoor surfaces can be converted to frequency-selective surfaces to avoid interferences among WLAN networks, as well as securing personal data. ISM signals of 2.4 and 5.8 GHz are intensively used in indoor environment. In this work, a novel band-stop periodic element geometry that attenuates incoming 2.4 and 5.8 GHz ISM signals for a wide range of incidence angles is presented. The achieved attenuation level is minimum 20 dB in the desired frequency bands. Optimization of the proposed geometry is achieved with an ease by using a novel multi-band FSS design technique which is based on nested geometries and miniaturizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partial discharge (PD) would accelerate the effect of ageing of power equipment insulation. Up to now, plenty of methods have been proposed to detect PD. Interferometry is a detection method with high sensitivity and high speed. In addition to the time required to collect information, the speed of computing depends entirely on post-processing. Post-processing can result in different processing times if different algorithms are chosen. To achieve fast processing, we here propose a phase extraction algorithm based on pure Hilbert transform (PHT). Using PHT, we can effectively detect the signal generated by partial discharge, and observe the generation and magnitude of the discharge pulse in a relatively direct manner. Compared with many other algorithms, our method avoids the complicated processing of the interference fringe pattern, and it is the first time to combine PHT with PD detection. This method has great research significance and practical significance on rapid PD detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Extended Reality (XR) technologies present regulators with powerful tools to manipulate human behaviour, but more perniciously, human desire and indeed human being. This is because AI applications can interfere with our internal decision-making processes, and XR applications can affect our sensations by creating and mediating our experiences of the external world. When these technologically driven affordances are strained through contemporary cognitive science research to ground the notion that perceptions are processes for prediction error minimisation, such interferences can amount to designing and engineering the regulatee herself. Effectively, regulation no longer needs to be signalled in a normative regulatory environment, nor must it hardcoded into the architecture or technologically managed. Instead, AI and XR make it possible to design and create regulatees that embody the desired regulatory outcome. Paradoxically, however, such regulatory incorporation looks very much like the exercise of the agency of an agent and therefore is not recognised as a problem by contemporary legal principles and processes which seek to push back against obviously external influences or pressures. As a result, it is immensely difficult to articulate the legal or regulatory challenges posed by these developments, and to identify the harms through these doctrinal lenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the degree to which journalists in Finland experience different types of external interference and how they perceive the implications of interference. For this study, external interference is defined as all active and invasive methods that external actors use to influence journalists and interfere in the journalistic processes to influence editorial content. By using Finland as a case example, this article provides new empirical evidence on how external interference manifests in the contemporary journalistic environment in a democratic Western country with strong safeguards for press autonomy. Based on the statistical analysis of survey responses from 875 Finnish journalists, the results indicate that individual-level factors of age and gender have only a marginal relation to the prevalence of external interference. Of analyzed organizational-level factors—employment type, occupational position, and media outlet used for reporting—the latter two were most significant. This article offers three important empirical contributions: (1) it highlights the existence of editorial defense shield as journalistic practice; (2) it illustrates the complex relationship between gender and external interference; and (3) it demonstrates how journalists in national and regional newspapers are more prone to interference than their colleagues in other media outlets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method of the ultrasonic transmission time difference (ToF) flow measurement is the one which is mainly applied to large diameter flow meters by incorporating high power digital signal processing devices. In this paper, we propose a ToF-type ultrasonic water meter which can be applied to small diameter flow meters such as water meters at home. Unlike the existing ToF method, a differential ToF (dToF) algorithm is proposed to calculate the flow rate irrespective of the water temperature. We have also focused on low-power design by minimizing the computational portion of the micro-controller. To do this, a measuring principle using dToF has been implemented with a single front-end chip and a single MCU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that humans demonstrate massive and surprisingly rich recognition memory for objects and/or scenes and that context typically aids retrieval of episodic memories. However, when we combine picture memory for 100 objects with the context in the form of a background scene, we find that irrelevant contexts lead to substantial impairments of object memory. Twelve experiments used a standard long-term, picture memory paradigm. Backgrounds could be semantically consistent or inconsistent scenes or simple arrays of objects. In all cases, the target object to be remembered was clearly marked by an outline box. Backgrounds were always known to be irrelevant, but, nevertheless, significantly reduced old/new discrimination for target objects. Interference from the scene was apparently unavoidable, suggesting that the seemingly effortless encoding that makes it easy to store scenes into memory, makes it hard to avoid interference with the encoding and recognition of objects placed in or on those scenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of electronic communication has revolutionized the exchange of information with a plethora of services such as military, security, entertainment, and of course, telecommunications. Over the several decades, wireless communication has evolved from enabling voice calls to sending text messages, images, videos, and high-definition video conferencing to high-end applications of wireless cognition, augmented reality, and autonomous driving. However, the coexistence of many users and services in a limited spectrum may cause interference among each other. The problem of signal interference has been associated with communication systems since the beginning and has evolved with the evolution of wireless communications. In this tutorial article, we present the evolution of communication systems for the interference problem considering the cancelation methods developed in the past, an overview of the current scenario, and anticipation of future technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Craving is central in the prognosis of gambling disorder. The elaborated intrusion theory (EIT) provides a sound framework to account for craving in addictive disorders, and interference methods inspired from the EIT have substantiated their effectiveness in mitigating substance and food-related cravings. The principle of these methods is to recruit the cognitive resources underlying craving (e.g., visuospatial skills, mental imagery) for another competitive and cognitively demanding task, thus reducing the vividness and overwhelming nature of craving. Here we conducted two experiments employing a between-subjects design to test the efficacy of interference methods for reducing laboratory-induced craving. In these experiments, gamblers (n = 38 for both experiments) first followed a craving induction procedure. They then performed either a visuospatial interference task (making a mental and vivid image of a bunch of keys [experiment 1] or playing the video game Tetris [experiment 2]; experimental conditions) or another task supposed not to recruit visuospatial skills and mental imagery (exploding bubble pack [experiment 1] or counting backwards [experiment 2]; control conditions). Results show that all methods successively mitigated induced craving. Although previous research evidenced the superiority of visuospatial tasks to reduce substance-related craving, our findings question their superiority in the context of gambling craving. Abbreviations EIT: Elaborated intrusion theory of desire; GD: Gambling disorder; CEQ: Craving Experience Questionnaire; g-CEQ: gambling Craving Experience Questionnaire; g-CEQ-F: Gambling Craving Experience Questionnaire – Frequency form; g-CEQ-S: Gambling Craving Experience Questionnaire – Strength form; Psi-Q: Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire; PGSI: Problem Gambling Severity Index; S-UPPS-P: Short UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale; DASS-21: Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales; ANCOVA: Analysis of covariance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]