Search

The ability to inhibit distractors while focusing on specific targets is crucial. In most tasks, like Stroop or priming, the to-be-ignored distractors affect the response to be more like the distractors. We call this assimilation. Yet, in some tasks, the opposite holds. Constrast occurs when the response is caused to be least like the distractors. Contrast and assimilation are opposing behavioral effects, but they both occur when to-be-ignored information affects judgments. We ask here whether inhibition across contrastive and assimilative tasks is common or distinct. Assimilation and contrast are often thought to have different underlying psychological mechanisms, and we use a correlational analysis with hierarchical Bayesian models as a test of this hypothesis. We designed tasks with large assimilation or contrast effects. The stimuli are morphed letters, and whether there is contrast or assimilation depends on whether the surrounding information is a letter field (contrast) or a word field (assimilation). Critically, a positive correlation was found-individuals who better inhibited contrast-inducing contexts also better inhibited assimilation-inducing contexts. These results indicate that inhibition is common, at least in part, across contrast and assimilation tasks.

A cross-selective aza-pinacol coupling of aldehydes and imines has been developed to afford valuable β-amino alcohols. This strategy enables chemo-selective conversion of aliphatic aldehydes to ketyl radicals – in the presence of more easily reduced imines and other functional groups. Upon carbonyl-specific activation by AcI, a photoinitiated Mn catalyst selectively reduces the resulting α-oxy iodide by an atom transfer mechanism. The ensuing ketyl radical selectively couples to imines – precluding homo-dimerization by a classical reductive approach. In this first example of reductive, ketyl coupling by atom transfer catalysis, Zn serves as a terminal reductant to facilitate Mn catalyst turnover. This new strategy also enables ketyl radical couplings to alkenes, alkynes, aldehydes, propellanes, and chiral imines.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging has decoded complex information about naturalistic stimuli using brain responses, but other non-invasive technologies have not achieved similar decoding capabilities. To evaluate feasibility of naturalistic visual decoding with diffuse optical tomography (DOT), a 6.5-mm-spaced optode grid was employed to decode which of four naturalistic, 90-second, audio-free movie clips was viewed by human subjects. Over 85% average decoding accuracy was achieved using a simple template-matching decoder, and this exceeded the accuracy from a sparser optode grid with 13-mm spacing. High-density DOT is therefore promising for more-complex neural decoding tasks in the future.

High density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) combines logistical advantages of fNIRS with enhanced image quality, validated extensively against fMRI in adults and neonates. However, HD-DOT is yet to be evaluated in preschool-age children. Here we present an HD-DOT system optimized for preschoolers, including a 128-source by 125-detector console, light-weight fiber optics, and an expanded field-of-view. We validated the system by mapping cortical activations during visual, auditory, and motor tasks in adults. We then imaged children while they watched movies, finding reproducible patterns of brain activity and showing that feature regressors can map functionally specific regions from movie-viewing data in preschoolers.

This study demonstrates HD-DOT mapping of differential processing of language and biological motion between adolescents with and without autism, and that HD-DOT measured brain function correlates with social responsiveness in those with autism.

The Niles-Wolford Mound (33Pi3) was a conical Adena burial mound located along the Scioto River in Jackson Township, Pickaway County, Ohio. Excavations conducted in 1955 by the Ohio History Connection resulted in the discovery of a subfloor tomb with three burials. A tubular pipe found in association with one of the burials contained charred organic residue. Macrobotonical analysis of the material identified root or bark within the sample. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analyses detected the presence of various compounds, including an alkaloid. Radiocarbon dating places the mound to circa 2120 ± 30 BP. This research furthers our understanding of the timing, geographical extent, and ceremonial contexts of prehistoric plant tobacco use by the Adena culture and demonstrates the importance of museum collections for addressing such questions.

Iodine smooths the way to ketyl radicals Chemists typically transform carbonyl compounds through polar two-electron reactions. It is also possible to pursue radical coupling strategies by adding just one electron to form a ketyl group. However, the strong reductant supplying that electron often limits the reaction's versatility. Wang et al. report a mild means of forming ketyls by first adding acetyl iodides across the C=O bond (see the Perspective by Blackburn and Roizen). A photoactivated manganese catalyst then temporarily pulls the iodine away, leaving a ketyl to couple with alkynes. The iodine then returns to one of the alkyne's carbons, stabilizing the product but remaining poised for further transformations. Science , this issue p. 225 ; see also p. 157

Aqueous conditions were developed for conducting an open-to-air, copper(II)-catalyzed addition of pinBBdan to alkynoates and alkynamides. The simple and mild β-borylation protocol proceeds in a remarkably chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective fashion to afford 1,8-diaminonaphthalene protected (Z)-β-boryl enoates and primary, secondary, and tertiary enamides in good to excellent yields. These reactions demonstrate a high tolerance toward a variety of alkyl, aryl, and heteroatom functional groups and provide convenient access to a diverse range of vinylboronic acid derivatives.

Aqueous conditions were developed for conducting an open-to-air, copper(II)-catalyzed addition of pinBBdan to alkynoates and alkynamides. The simple and mild β-borylation protocol proceeds in a remarkably chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective fashion to afford 1,8-diaminonaphthalene protected (Z)-β-boryl enoates and primary, secondary, and tertiary enamides in good to excellent yields. These reactions demonstrate a high tolerance toward a variety of alkyl, aryl, and heteroatom functional groups and provide convenient access to a diverse range of vinylboronic acid derivatives.

Smoking plants and pipes are unusual among artifacts in that they play roles in so many cultural and social domains. Thus, their analysis can provide insights into a vast range of anthropological topics, including technology, social interaction, iconography, religious ideology, chronology, and ritual. This chapter includes thoughts about future directions in pipes and tobacco research, and offers concluding remarks on some of the research highlighted in the volume, Perspectives on the Archaeology of Pipes, Tobacco and other Smoke Plants in the Ancient Americas. Future research may include: additional residue studies (spectrographic chemistry techniques in combination with DNA, pollen, or phytolith analysis may have potential in this regard), geochemical sourcing studies, study of regional distribution patterns in the styles, raw materials, and iconography of smoking pipes (an ideal application of geographic information systems (GIS) software), and additional technological studies to better understand production and manufacturing techniques. Residue analysis in particular is a rapidly expanding area of research with vast potential, but much of the inquiry has historically focused on questions of subsistence, with scant attention to possible drug residues. This is despite abundant evidence in the archaeological record in the form of various drug delivery devices, smoking pipes being a notable example. Recent work has improved residue methods and expanded our understanding of pipes, but there remains great potential in this area of inquiry.

Smoking pipes characterize archaeological assemblages in eastern North America at least as early as 4000 B.C. Pipes are commonly included in prehistoric Native American burials. Early pipes were finely crafted, relatively rare artifacts of stone, and became more numerous and widespread over time as ceramic technology was developed. Smoking pipes are useful sources of information regarding prehistoric ritual, symbolism, and social interaction throughout the late prehistoric period in eastern North America.

This paper presents research into the identification of tobacco residues in ancient smoking pipes. Two techniques have been used so far: gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS), and Raman microscopy. GC/MS has been used successful in the past by the author to identify ancient tobacco residues, and the results of this round of analysis support prior research. Raman microscopy, which has the advantage of working on dry samples without solvents, was not successful. It appears that combustion products overwhelm any useful signal that would identify the substance smoked. We are pursuing the use of Raman in non-combusted samples.

The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum L., constitutes one of the most widely exploited psychoactive substances in human history. Hitherto, the investigation of the antiquity of the opium poppy's use by humans for narcotic purposes has predominantly relied on implicit archaeological data that suggests, but does not demonstrate such a use. In acknowledgment of the various geochemical processes involved in the creation, preservation, and decomposition of residues in archaeological contexts, an experimental archaeological approach was utilized to model the degradation of opium alkaloids. Procedures of the controlled creation, artificial aging, and the molecular characterization by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of opium residues are presented. Experimental results and implications are also discussed.

A trace element analysis of chert samples from the Schoharie Valley, New York State, is presented. This analysis focuses on the multi-component Pethick site and a sample of comparative sites within the state. Trace element analysis was conducted using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence. Results indicate that: 1) most tools are made from local chert sources; 2) there is the potential for the presence of non-local cherts within the valley, with implications for interregional trade and exchange; and 3) exotic cherts can sometimes not be distinguished from local sources visually, necessitating trace element analysis. Planned directions for future analyses are presented.

A trace element analysis of ceramics and clay samples from the Schoharie Valley, New York State, is presented. This analysis focuses on a multi-component site, and a sample of comparative sites within the valley. Trace element analysis was conducted using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence. Results indicate that: 1) most vessels are made from local clays; 2) there is a geographic relationship between trace element signatures of ceramic assemblages from different sites; and 3) there is the potential for the presence of non-local ceramics within the valley, with implications for interregional trade and exchange. Planned directions for future analyses are presented.

While tobacco use was a widespread and important social practice among Native Americans during the Historic Period, the prehistoric origins of the practice are poorly understood. Smoking pipes significantly predate botanical evidence of tobacco in Eastern North America. A promising technique for addressing this problem is gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) analysis to identify nicotine or related compounds in smoking pipe residues. GC/MS analysis of a smoking pipe dating to approximately 300 B.C. from the Boucher Site, a Middlesex-complex site from Vermont, has produced evidence of nicotine decay products. This is interpreted as evidence for an Early Woodland Period origin for tobacco use in Eastern North America. The cultural and chronological implications of this finding are discussed.

Ethnographic sources show the spiritual importance of tobacco in Native American Societies. Archaeological evidence, such as Early Woodland Period smoking pipes, indicate that this spiritual function has been maintained for thousands of years. However, ethnobotanical research on the prehistory of tobacco smoking in Eastern North America has been hampered by a lack of direct evidence prior to the Middle Woodland Period. Research involving a gas chromatographic/mass spectrographic technique (GC/MS) addresses the problem of identifying tobacco through the analysis of pipe residue. Results point to a possible Early Woodland Period use of tobacco in the Eastern Woodlands.