Left Turn Research Articles

Analysis of the Effects and Causes of Driver Horn Use on the Acoustic Environment at Urban Intersections in Taiwan

Car horns were originally installed in vehicles for safety. However, many urban areas in several countries face noise problems related to the use of car and motorbike horns. To propose measures to suppress the use of horns, relationships between horn use and factors including driver awareness and behavior, traffic environment, and the transportation system should be investigated. The present study therefore conducted surveys to grasp the current circumstances of horn use and traffic at urban intersections in Taiwan. The relationship between horn use and the traffic volume of standard-sized vehicles was found. According to an analysis of horn use during traffic signal cycles, in many cases, horns were honked after entering intersections to turn left. In particular, horns were honked when the driver waited more than 4 s for the car in front to start moving after the green light allowing left turns was turned on. An analysis of noise levels at intersections showed that the maximum noise level value (LAmax) could be reduced if vehicle horns were not used. Multiple regression analysis also indicated that LAmax values increased with the frequency of horn use. The equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level (LAeq,10min) did not change with driver horn use, and increased with the traffic volume of motorcycles.

Evaluating the Sustainable Traffic Flow Operational Features of U-turn Design with Advance Left Turn

Median U-turn intersection treatment (MUIT) has been considered as an alternative measure to reduce congestion and traffic conflict at intersection areas, but the required spacing between the U-turn opening and the intersection limits its applicability. In this paper, a U-turn design with Advance Left Turn (UALT) is proposed with the aim of addressing the disadvantages of insufficient intersection spacing and difficulty in the continuous vehicle lane change. UALT provides a dedicated lane to advance the turning vehicle out of the intersection and directly to the U-turn opening without interacting with through traffic. The effectiveness and traffic volume applicability of UALT was demonstrated through field data investigation, simulation and analysis with VISSIM software. The proposed design was evaluated in terms of three parameters: delay, queue length and the number of stops. The results show that when the traffic volume range of the main road is (1900, 2200) pcu/h and the traffic volume of the secondary road is more than 900 pcu/h, the optimization effect of UALT on both conventional intersections and MUIT is very significant. Taking a signal-controlled intersection in Zhengzhou City, China, as an example to build a simulation model, compared with the conventional intersection and MUIT, the delay drop is reduced by 73.48% and 41.48%, the queue length is reduced by 84.85% and 41.66%, and the operation efficiency is significantly improved.

Seeking Rights from the Left: Gender, Sexuality, and the Latin American Pink Tide ed. by Elisabeth Jay Friedman

Reviewed by: Seeking Rights from the Left: Gender, Sexuality, and the Latin American Pink Tide ed. by Elisabeth Jay Friedman Juliana Restrepo Sanín Seeking Rights from the Left: Gender, Sexuality, and the Latin American Pink Tide. By Elisabeth Jay Friedman (ed). Durham: Duke University Press, 2019, p. 344, $29.95. Latin America has made significant gains in the legal protection of women's and sexual minorities' rights, including comprehensive laws against gender-based violence, political participation, and some legal protections for LGBT+ folks. These advancements are somewhat recent, coinciding with the so-called Left Turn that started with the election of Hugo Chávez en Venezuela in 1998. The increased legal recognition of women and LGBT+ rights is sometimes lauded as an achievement of the Pink Tide. However, as Elisabeth Jay Friedman and the contributors to Seeking Rights From the Left: Gender, Sexuality, and the Latin American Pink Tide make clear, the relationship between progressive gender and sexuality policies and the Left is not as clear and straightforward as some suggests. Friedman's book offers a more nuanced comparative perspective building on Mala Htun's (2003) and Htun and S. Laurel Weldon's (2010) framework for analyzing gender and sexuality policies. Seeking Rights from The Left shows that, despite advancements, Left-wing governments in Latin America "relied on heteropatriarchal relations of power" and engaged in "strategic trade-offs among gender and sexual rights" (p. 3), promoting maternalist and familist policies instead of transformative policies to achieve gender and sexuality justice. The contributors evaluate the Left's policies in diverse areas, including welfare, redistribution, and poverty; political representation; violence against women; and bodily autonomy and reproductive rights. Importantly, the book finds that there were important advancements in regards to poverty alleviation and women's political participation. Despite the significant increase in women's political participation, which surpassed 25% regionally, and in some countries reached 50% in national legislatures, Left governments frequently engaged in "Pinkwashing:" advancing (some) LGBT+ and women's rights to obscure blatant and broader violations of human rights – including those of women and LGBT+ folks. In addition, policies and perspective that challenge heterosexual and cisgender men's privilege –what Friedman calls 'countercultural' policies – not only did not significantly advance during the left turn but in some cases were reversed. What explains these variations? Seeking Rights from the Left finds that state institutionalization and alliances between the left and religious forces are key determinants in the types of gender and sexuality policies that governments adopt. But good will and strong institutions are not enough. Rather, the strength of women's, feminist, and LGBT+ movements, and their ability to make alliances among themselves and with state actors in women's policy agencies and anti-discrimination institutions are key for advancing the policies with the [End Page 243] most potential to undermine heteropatriarchy. Importantly, Seeking Rights from the Left shows that improvements in the descriptive representation – that is, increased numbers of women in politics – are not an indicator of a country's move toward significant and transformative policy changes in support of women and LGBT+ rights. Despite these limitations, there were some important transformations promoted by some of the governments of the Pink Tide. In the recognition and protection of women's and LGBT+ rights, Uruguay stands out as the country with the most significant progress. Despite few women in Congress, feminist and LGBT+ activists used a variety of mobilizational strategies and built alliances to secure protections for some rights, including abortion, affirmative action for trans folks, and marriage equality. Even in this more welcoming context, poverty-relief and social welfare policies still relied and entrenched traditional gender roles. The limits of the left turn are even more evident when looking at the most radical governments: Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Bolivia. Although all these countries made important advancements in reducing poverty and inequality, progress relied on the instrumentalization of women's organizations and the reproduction of maternalist and heteronormative views of the state and the family. In the two most extreme cases, Nicaragua and Ecuador, the Left turn not only failed to transform gender relations, but significantly reversed women's rights – despite international praise for (very limited) advancements in the protection...

Tornado Heading and Speed Changes Associated with Large and Intense Internal Rear-Flank Surges in Three Supercells

Abstract Tornado motion changes occurring with major internal rear-flank momentum surges are examined in three significant tornado-producing supercells. The analysis primarily uses fixed-site Doppler radar data, but also utilizes in situ and videographic observations when available. In the cases examined, the peak lowest-level remotely sensed or in situ rear-flank surge wind speeds ranged from 48 to at least 63 m s−1. Contemporaneous with major surges impacting the tornadoes and their parent low-level mesocyclones, longer-duration tornado heading changes were leftward and ranged from 30° to 55°. In all cases, the tornado speed increased substantially upon surge impact, with tornado speeds approximately doubling in two of the events. A storm-relative change in the hook echo orientation accompanied the major surges and provided a signal that a marked leftward heading change for an ongoing tornado was under way. Concurrent with the surge interaction, the hook echo tip and associated low-level mesocyclone turned leftward while also moving in a storm-relative downshear direction. The major rear-flank internal surges influenced tornado motion such that a generally favorable storm updraft-relative position was maintained. In all cases, the tornado lasted well beyond (≥21 min) the time of the surge-associated left turn with no evident marked loss of intensity until well down-track of the turn. The local momentum balance between outflow and inflow that bounds the tornado or its parent circulation, especially the directionality evolution of the bounding momentum, is the most apparent explanation for tornado down-track or off-track accelerations in the featured events.

“I Mean You Can Stop. I Already Understand You”: Head Tilts during Conversations

This study tried to shed light specifically on head gestures which are categorized as upward tilts, downward tilts, leftward tilts, rightward tilts, nods, shakes, and turns. This study is qualitative in nature since the data quality is considered as the focal importance in generating the results as well as the conclusions. The data collection was carried out through observation and interviews involving 2 respondents in two different topic rounds. Hence, the instruments are observation sheets, documentations, and interview guides. The data from observation (in the form of videotapes) were analyzed using visual thematic coding, while the interview data were analyzed using interactive analysis. The results unveil that in argumentation topic, repondents tend to perfomr more turning head movement, both right turn and left turn. Meanwhile, in discussion topic, the respondents performed more of nodding and upward tilt. It can be concluded that head movements performed by interlocutors depend on the types o topic(s) they are engaged in. It implies that in teaching and learning process, teachers can use this onformation to ensure the situation during material explanation to see whether the students agree, disagree, understand, or confused with the explanations.

Pengembangan Jobsheet Robotika Line Follower Robot berbasis Mikrokontroler Arduino UNO

Abstract— This research is based on the fact that in the Department of Industrial Electronics Engineering at SMKN 4 Serang City there is no learning media on robotic system controller subjects. On that basis, a line follower robot learning media was designed which is expected to overcome this problem. The learning media designed is in the form of a learning worksheet that contains 6 (six) jobs including how to assemble components, forward motion commands, backward motion, left turn motion, right turn motion and combination motion. The development of this jobsheet learning media uses a 4D research model which consists of 4 research steps, namely define, design, develop and disseminate. The purpose of this study was to create media and a line follower robot learning worksheet, then also to determine the feasibility level of the media. Based on the feasibility test conducted on media experts, material experts and user tests covering several aspects such as the feasibility of content, appearance and language, it was found that the line follower robot learning jobsheet was "very feasible" to be used as a learning medium in robotic system controller subjects.

Determining Yellow Change and Clearance Intervals for Left-Turning Phases: Evaluation of the Current Guidelines with Connected Vehicle Data

In March 2020, the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) published new guidelines for determining traffic signal change and clearance intervals that included using an extended kinematic equation for left turns. Whereas previous guidelines assumed constant speed for all vehicles approaching an intersection, this new equation accounted for left-turning vehicles needing more yellow time because they decelerate (assuming a maximum safe and comfortable rate) before making turning maneuvers. This paper evaluates these guidelines using real-world vehicle trajectories from the Ann Arbor Connected Vehicle Test Environment (AACVTE). These trajectories confirm that free-flowing left-turning vehicles decelerate, but deceleration usually starts at a moderate rate before reaching the critical distance and continues to the middle of the intersection. Vehicles then accelerate to a departure speed at the clearance point. Since the goal of the yellow change interval is to eliminate the dilemma zone such that a free-flowing vehicle can safely traverse the critical distance, these observations imply that the extended kinematic equation will overestimate the required duration for the following two reasons: (1) the critical distance is shortened by the speed reduction before the braking point; (2) the average traversing speed is higher as vehicles usually decelerate at a moderate rate instead of the maximum rate. The equation will underestimate the clearance interval as the average traversing speed through the intersection is slower than the intersection entry speed. We propose a new left-turn kinematic equation for determining yellow change and clearance intervals, and the results are validated from the observed vehicle trajectories.

A study of turn bias in people with idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

The objective of the study is to explore whether people with Parkinson's disease (PwPD) display a preferential turn bias dependent upon disease asymmetry, and whether specific disease features predict turn bias. PwPD and age-matched controls were instructed to walk on an instrumented gait mat making "normal" turns. Trials were analyzed using Proto Kinetics Movement Analysis Software (PKMAS) and time-locked video recordings to obtain turn directionality and spatiotemporal turn measures. Turn bias was estimated using previously defined formulas. Seventy-two PwPD and 28 controls were included. One hundred percent of controls and 85% of PwPD had left turn bias. Turn bias was not significantly associated with age, gender, handedness, disease asymmetry, cognition, or disease severity. The Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOGQ) questions 5 and 6 showed linear-by-linear association with turn bias. In binary logistic and ordinal regression models, FOGQ question 6 (average duration of turn freezing) and turn width were predictive of turn bias. Rightward turns had greater frequency of freezing episodes. Turn bias in our PwPD cohort does not appear related to disease asymmetry or other disease features, except gait freezing. Whether freezing severity on turning leads to non-left turn bias or vice versa requires more focused studies. Physical therapy interventions targeting turning direction in PwPD could reduce freezing severity.

Systemic Opportunities to Improve Older Pedestrian Safety: Merging Crash Data Analysis and a Stakeholder Workshop

This paper presents a framework for improving older pedestrian safety in regard to serious (fatal and incapacitating) crashes, using Oregon as a case study. On review of state and federal practices pertaining to older pedestrian safety, 4 years of crash data identified 112 older (≥65 years) pedestrian serious injury crashes. These data were explored for factors that might be addressed systemically using two methods. First, raw frequencies in the crash data were assessed to determine trends and crash-related factors that are overrepresented. Second, a random forest analysis was conducted to determine important variables for predicting older pedestrian serious injury crashes. Using these crash-related factors, a workshop was held with 18 local stakeholders and experts. As part of the workshop, key crash trends, potential causations, and potential countermeasures by priority of implementation were determined based on perspectives from workshop participants. Three key systemic solutions were identified to improve older pedestrian safety, including improving pedestrian visibility and illumination, implementing treatments for left turns, and shortening pedestrian crossing distances across the state. The framework presented in the current study could be adopted by other agencies to systemically address a wide variety of safety concerns.

Machine Learning Based Automated Left-Turn Vehicle Counts With Conventional Presence Mode Long-Loop Detectors: Alabama Case Studies

Inductive-loop detectors are still used in many intersections because highway agencies have insufficient budget to replace them with new technologies or when accurate traffic monitoring is not necessary. Particularly, long-loop stop-bar detectors have been widely used for left-turning vehicles and are operated under “Presence” mode, which focuses only on detecting the presence of vehicles for signal operations, not for counting vehicles. As a result, a significant discrepancy exists between the number of vehicle detections and the actual vehicle observations. The present study developed machine learning (ML)-based methods to overcome this discrepancy so that conventional long-loop detectors can also be used for estimating hourly left-turn volume. Several ML classifiers were adopted to predict the difference (i.e., detection versus observation) for every vehicle detection event. Three predictors (detector occupancy time, left-turn phases when the detector is on and off) from high-resolution data were used as input of the ML models. Results showed that all the models are statistically significant with p-value <0.05. The developed models were then applied to estimate hourly left-turn volume, by adding its prediction result to left-turn detection counts by the detector. The hourly left-turn volume estimated with the proposed method accounts for 96% of the actual left turns for low left-turn traffic conditions, and 93% for heavy left-turn traffic conditions. This indicates that the proposed method can provide a good estimation of hourly left-turn volume for signalized intersections operated with long-loop detectors. The method is simple and based on data from existing vehicle detection technologies already in typical signalized intersections.

Engineering Countermeasures for Left Turns at Signalized Intersections: A Review

Left turn crashes can impact the safety of the drivers due to the speed and angle at which they occur. Left turns are specifically reported to affect older drivers more than the other types of crashes. This paper provides a review of the existing engineering countermeasures that have been evaluated to improve driver safety at left turns. Twentyeight studies on left turn signal displays (protected left turns, flashing yellow arrow, and digital countdown timers), intersection geometry (offset left turn lanes, diverging diamond interchange, roundabouts, exit lanes for left turn, left turn bay extension, and contraflow left turn lanes), and driver warning systems (infrastructure warning systems, and in-vehicle warning systems) are reviewed. Eighteen studies were evaluated in the field, nine in laboratory environments, and one online. All countermeasures demonstrated varying levels of effectiveness. We found protected left turns, roundabouts, and warning systems to be the most effective engineering countermeasures. Advantages and disadvantages of each countermeasure and research shortcomings of the evaluation studies are discussed. Review findings may help practitioners and researchers guide more effective countermeasures for left turns for older drivers.

A comprehensive analysis on the effects of signal strategies, intersection geometry, and traffic operation factors on right-turn crashes at signalised intersections: An application of hierarchical crash frequency model

Right-turn movements (equivalent to left turn movements for countries that drive on the right) at intersections are among the most complex driving maneuvers and require a high level of attention for turning across (potentially) oncoming traffic by accepting a safe gap. Not surprisingly, right-turn-involved crashes are one of the most frequent collision types at intersections (e.g., 42% of all signalised intersection crashes in Queensland, Australia). Unfortunately, the causes and contributing factors to right-turn crashes are not well understood, particularly the effect of right-turn signal strategies on the crash risk. In the safety literature, signal strategies are coarsely considered in two generic categories-protected right-turns and permitted right-turns. In reality, right-turn signal strategies could be of various types (usually 5) based on the level of intersection complexity and potential traffic conflicts. The effects of these signal strategies, along with the geometric and traffic factors, have not been well studied. To fill this gap, this study investigates the effects of right-turn signal strategies, intersection geometry and traffic operations factors on right-turn crashes at signalised intersections. To achieve this aim, crash frequency models were estimated using crash data from 221 signalised intersections in Queensland from the years spanning 2012 to 2018. Hierarchical Poisson Regression Models (random intercept models) were employed to capture the hierarchical structure of influences on crashes, with upper-level capturing intersection characteristics and lower-level capturing approach characteristics. The hierarchical model structure, disaggregate exposure variables, and signal strategies examined in this study give rise to an entirely unique study in the literature.

Traffic simulation of continuous flow intersection with displaced left-turn: a case study

Today, our community is facing a growing numbers of transportation challenges, as traffic grows and congestion worsens for signalized intersections. Based on that its needed balances solutions that improve safety and keep mobility for users with minimum travel time. The objective of this research is to investigate the implementation of continuous flow intersection with displaced left turn with developed simulation traffic model by VISSIM program to evaluate the traffic operation impacts of displaced left turn on performance of signalized intersection in terms of vehicle delay, length of queue, and stopped delay. This research studied congested signalized intersections in Baghdad City. An innovative solution of continuous flow intersection with displaced left turn was implemented to alleviate congestion and high vehicle delay.The displaced left turn DLT reduced the average vehicle delay about 44% and improved the deterioration level of service from (F) to better level of service (D) for north and south approaches which represented the most congested legs of intersection during the peak period. The results of stopped delay for DLT intersection with developed signal timing were lowest than the conventional intersection by about 51% and 34% for south and north approaches respectively. This implies that DLT intersection reduced the extra stops of vehicle and improved the overall efficiency of signalized intersection. The reduction in the queue length ranged from 47.5 to 42%; otherwise conventional intersection showed long queue length and higher vehicle delay. Therefore, regarding queue length, DLT intersection with developed signal timings strategy had better performance for traffic operation than conventional intersection.

Идеология и прагматизм в отношениях с США: Бразилия и Боливия

Introduction. The article reviews the trajectory of international cooperation in the Western Hemisphere on the example of the case studies of Brazil-U.S. and Bolivia-U.S. bilateral relations, which experienced a significant change due to inner-political transformations in the countries. The main purpose of the study is to assess the degree of variability in the foreign policy, implemented by governments belonging to different political spectrum. Methods. The research is lined up on a comparison of the foreign policy of left governments of Luiz Inбcio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff in Brazil and Evo Morales in Bolivia, as well as the shift to the “right” of the administrations of Michel Temer and Jeanine Бсez are in focus. The study also reveals the activities of the current administrations of Jair Bolsonaro (since 2019) in Brazil and Luis Arce (since 2020) in Bolivia. Analysis. Thus, orientation towards independence and aspiration to oppose Washington during the period of the “left turn” was prevalent. At the same time, interim administrations’ denial of the principles of anti-Americanism did not lead to the long-term results and radical progress in relations. Nevertheless, there is no reason to point out a formation of a trend towards the dependence of the Latin American countries on the changes in U.S. policy. On the contrary, the line to the independence and sovereignty, which was developed in the previous decade, is being maintained. Results. The dynamics of the analyzed bilateral relations and the adjustment of the foundations of cooperation in multilateral formats indicate a strong subjective factor and an increasing influence of ideology in the foreign policy of the states in the region.

Online interaction method of mobile robot based on single-channel EEG signal and end-to-end CNN with residual block model

The development of alternative pathways to communicate with outside world independent on language or limb motions is important. However, one of the challenges is the multi-dimensional and accurate control of robot using head signals. This paper proposes an end-to-end CNN with residual block model, which uses the filtered raw signal as input and detects left eye blink, right eye blink, continuous eye blink, and grit teeth tasks, and develops an online brain–computer interface (BCI) system to control the left turn, right turn, forward, stop, and speed of the mobile robot platform, TurtleBot. The portable EEG measurement device TGAM module is used to collect single channel dry electrode EEG signals. Through time domain (TD) and time–frequency analysis, the time period and frequency range of each task signal are analyzed, which lays the foundation for analysis window parameter determination and feature extraction. The proposed model uses one-dimensional convolution to extract local features and two-dimensional convolution to extract global features, and the average detection accuracy is 97.399%, which is significantly higher than that of the state-of-the-art machine learning classifiers with the TD and frequency domain (FD) fusion features as input (p<0.01). The detection performance of FD features outperforms the TD features (p<0.01). Online BCI system based on the proposed method is developed to interact with the TurtleBot.

Simulation analysis of urban network performance under link disruptions: Impacts of information provisions in different street configurations

This study uses aggregated network-level operation metrics to examine the performance of three street network configurations, namely two-way (TW), two-way without left turns (TWL), and one-way networks (OW), under disruptive events in the network. Overall, a TWL network is found to be the most efficient both with and without disruptions. When there is no disruption, a TWL network shows a comparable trip completion rate as a TW network with turn pockets at intersection. Although the mean travel distance in the TWL network is about 30% higher than the TW network, its mean trip time is only 16% higher due to lower intersection delays. When disruptions take place, only TWL network is found to accommodate the most challenging ones in the central area due to its higher intersection efficiency and more evenly distributed traffic inside. The study also examined the impacts of various ITS-related strategies to provide drivers with advanced information on the disruption to mitigate its negative effects. The results revealed that providing information on disruptions that occur outside the most congested areas when vehicles start their trip might actually reduce overall network performance, since doing so may cause vehicles to reroute through heavily congested areas. For disruptions in the central region of the network, alerting drivers just one or two blocks upstream of the disruption can achieve similar delay reductions to broadcasting the disruption to 75% of road users.

Highway Capacity Manual Capacity Adjustment Factor Development for Connected and Automated Traffic at Signalized Intersections

Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) will potentially improve transportation system performance. Guidance on the capacity impact of CAVs at different market penetration rates (MPRs) will help agencies to incorporate the effects of CAVs when planning and designing roadways. Traditionally, practitioners have used the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) to assess capacity and evaluate the quality of service for various facilities and systems. Although several studies have provided insight into the capacity benefits of CAVs, there is a need for quantified CAV effects that can be used to develop HCM guidance. In this study, the capacity benefits of CAVs at signalized intersections were estimated, and capacity adjustment factors (CAFs) were developed for the HCM. The researchers considered variations in CAV gap/headway settings, platoon lengths, turning movement types (through and left), and left-turn phasing modes (protected versus permitted). Microscopic traffic simulation was used to model CAVs. The results showed that performance indicators such as saturation headway gradually improved with increases in CAV MPR, resulting in up to 40% capacity increase at 100% MPR for the protected movements. For permitted left turns, up to 45% capacity increase could be achieved at 100% MPR. This increase in permitted left-turn capacity can be attributed to vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, which provides advanced information on available gaps in conflicting traffic and reduced follow-up headway time both for permitted left turns and the opposing through movement. Based on the capacity results, this study provides CAF tables for CAVs that can be easily integrated into the HCM and used for planning-level guidance by practitioners.

Image Recognition by Using a Convolutional Neural Network to Identify Objects for Driverless Car

Abstract: The concept of the paper was inspired by the recent surge in the automated car industry. The designed car was capable of detecting the road signals and taking the right and left turns accordingly. Object detection is a key ability required by most computer used in automated vehicles. The latest research in this area has been making great progress in many directions. Object detection and tracking has a variety of uses, our paper explain how to use convolutional neural network for object detection in autonomous vehicles. Automatic car always has the potential to solve traffic problems with the help of Convolution Neural Network (CNN). However, in the current scenario complete autonomy is still to be achieved. Although today's CNN have brought us closer to autonomy than ever before. CNN contain artificial neurons which are trained using preset rules and these rules determine whether it will provide an output or not when given a set of inputs. CNN will analyze various road footages, which include various scenarios such as collisions, empty roads, traffic, etc. CNN will analyze and send appropriate instructions to the car such as brake, accelerate, slow down, etc. Keywords: Object Detection System, Face Recognition, Object Detection, Convolution Neural Network

Cortical and hippocampal dynamics under logical fragmentation of environmental space

Navigation is often constrained to pathways, and a recurring problem concerns whether to turn left or right when approaching an intersection. We examined this problem during T-maze performance in which the maze location in the recording environment varied over five-trial blocks and analyzed the associated positional firing patterns of hippocampal CA1 and posterior parietal cortex neurons. An arbitrary partitioning of the environmental space determined the left versus right turning rule for T-maze behavior. Under these conditions, rats learned the logical fragmentation of allocentric space into left turn and right turn sub-regions. Paradoxically, under these conditions, the spatial tuning of both posterior parietal cortex and hippocampal CA1 neurons followed the frame of reference given by the T-maze, as opposed to the location in the environment. Moreover, first trials within each block were associated with distinct firing rate changes for both posterior parietal cortex and hippocampal CA1 neurons. These data support a model where spatial tuning by hippocampus and cortex can interact to guide choice behavior in complex, path-based environments where a correct turn choice varies across environmental locations, and as a function of recent experience.

Extractive Constitutions: Constitutional Change and Development Paths in Latin America

AbstractUnder the label “New Latin American Constitutionalism”, scholars have explained the emergence of new constitutions or organic constitutional reforms in the eighties and nineties and, since the 2000s, the constitutions associated with the “Left turn” in the region. Radical constitutional changes, however, have not stopped the expansion of social conflicts associated with internationally-backed extractive and infrastructure projects deemed as crucial for national development. As new processes of constitution building are gaining momentum in the region, it is crucial to investigate the reasons why societies under progressive and neoliberal constitutions suffer from similar conflicts. Drawing on decolonial theory and critically dialoguing with the literature on constitutions and development, the article proposes an analytical scheme to understand the relationship between constitutional arrangements and development in neoliberal and multicultural Peru and Colombia, and post-neoliberal and plurinational Bolivia and Ecuador. The article argues that even though these constitutions possess deep differences at the level of development discourses, strategies, and tools, they share the same development paradigm.