Measures Of Information Processing Research Articles

Electrophysiological Measure of Impaired Information Processing in Drivers with Hematological Malignancy.

The broad goal of this study is to measure remote effects of cancer on brain physiology and behaviors that underpin instrumental activities of daily living such as automobile driving. Studies of hematological malignancies (HM) have demonstrated impairments in multiple brain functions shown to be critical for safe automobile driving. In the current pilot study, brain physiology during driving simulation was examined in 14 HM patients and 13 healthy comparison drivers. Electroencephalography was used to measure the eye fixation-related potential (EFRP)-a positive amplitude deflection evoked approximately 100 milliseconds after eye movement termination. Previous studies have demonstrated sensitivity of EFRP activity to information-processing capacity. All drivers completed visual search tasks to evaluate the relationship between driving-related changes in performance and EFRP activity. Results showed smaller EFRP amplitudes in drivers who had: (1) greater driving-related changes in visual search performance (p = 0.03, Cohen's d = 0.91); and (2) HM diagnosis (p = 0.18, Cohen's d = 0.54). Extending previous studies, these results provide neural evidence of reduced information-processing capacity associated with cancer diagnosis. Future large-scale studies are needed to confirm these results, given the high level of uncertainty and small sample size. This study provides a novel platform for linking changes in brain physiology and safety-critical driving behaviors.

Cognitive Impairment in Children and Adolescents With Migraine

INTRODUCTION The presence and characteristics of cognitive alterations in children and adolescents affected by migraine have been largely under-investigated. Childhood and adolescence are key periods for personal growth and academic achievements, and migraine-related cognitive deficits may interfere with functioning levels across several settings. A careful analysis of cognitive impairment in the context of migraine is pivotal for making informed decisions on the most appropriate care pathways. METHODS We therefore critically evaluated the results of research studies conducted to date on cognitive function in children and adolescents affected by migraine using the Pubmed database. The literature search was limited to original articles published in English language and focused on current research trends. We operationally defined cognitive processing as the range of individual cognitive functions assessed by neuropsychological studies. Our analysis, which did not include findings on cognitive processing assessed by neurophysiological measures for methodological consistency, led us to formulate the opinion that young patients affected by migraine may present with specific cognitive deficits. RESULTS An early neuropsychological study on young patients with migraine was conducted in 1989 on a group of 20 children affected by migraine without aura, aged between 7 and 11. The authors of this study did not identify clinically relevant impairment in cognitive performance, with the exception of impaired functioning in short and long-term memory tasks (1). A few years later, Haverkamp et al. (2) reported no significant differences between children with migraine aged 6–12 years and their healthy siblings on a measure of sequential and simultaneous information processing (2). Contrarily, Riva et al. (3) reported significant alterations in the information processing rate only. Patients with migraine showed delayed reaction times to visual stimuli compared to healthy controls; interestingly, reaction times were the only parameters showing a significant correlation with the pattern of headache episodes. The authors hypothesized the existence of reduced rates of information processing speed within the posterior cortical areas involved in detecting visual stimuli and within the premotor areas responsible for programming and implementing motor responses. The findings of this study were however limited by the absence of a matched control group (3).

A dose-finding study of oxytocin using neurophysiological measures of social processing.

Recent interest has focused on oxytocin (OT), a neurotransmitter that promotes social processing, to improve social functioning in people with schizophrenia. However, little information is available regarding the doses of OT that are effective for influencing social processing in the brain (i.e., target engagement). In this study, we conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over dose ranging study of OT. In total 47 patients with schizophrenia were randomly assigned to one of eight doses of OT (8, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, or 84 IU). Patients completed two social processing tasks: one electroencephalography (EEG) task, a biological motion Mu-suppression task (i.e., identifying the gender, emotion, or direction of walking of point-light animations of human movement); and one pupillometry task, pupil dilation in response to viewing affective faces. Participants completed these tasks twice, one week apart, and were randomly administered drug or placebo intranasally 30 min prior to each session. Mu-suppression, i.e., suppression of oscillations in the 8-12 Hz range over central electrodes in response to social stimuli, was significantly enhanced at doses of 36 and 48 IU in comparison to placebo, but not at other doses. Significant pupil dilation was observed in response to faces vs. non-face stimuli, though there were no drug effects at any dose. Results suggest that OT affects central measures of social information processing in patients with schizophrenia and is optimal at a mid-range dose (36-48 IU). These results provide dosing guidance for future studies of OT to be used to enhance social processing in people with schizophrenia.

Characterizing information-theoretic storage and transfer in continuous time processes.

The characterization of information processing is an important task in complex systems science. Information dynamics is a quantitative methodology for modeling the intrinsic information processing conducted by a process represented as a time series, but to date has only been formulated in discrete time. Building on previous work which demonstrated how to formulate transfer entropy in continuous time, we give a total account of information processing in this setting, incorporating information storage. We find that a convergent rate of predictive capacity, comprising the transfer entropy and active information storage, does not exist, arising through divergent rates of active information storage. We identify that active information storage can be decomposed into two separate quantities that characterize predictive capacity stored in a process: active memory utilization and instantaneous predictive capacity. The latter involves prediction related to path regularity and so solely inherits the divergent properties of the active information storage, while the former permits definitions of pathwise and rate quantities. We formulate measures of memory utilization for jump and neural spiking processes and illustrate measures of information processing in synthetic neural spiking models and coupled Ornstein-Uhlenbeck models. The application to synthetic neural spiking models demonstrates that active memory utilization for point processes consists of discontinuous jump contributions (at spikes) interrupting a continuously varying contribution (relating to waiting times between spikes), complementing the behavior previously demonstrated for transfer entropy in these processes.

Correction to: Decomposition and Regularization of the Solution of Ill-Conditioned Inverse Problems in Processing of Measurement Information. Part 1. A Theoretical Evalution of the Method

Correction to: Decomposition and Regularization of the Solution of Ill-Conditioned Inverse Problems in Processing of Measurement Information. Part 1. A Theoretical Evalution of the Method

Detection of Magnetic Field Gradient and Single Spin Using Optically Levitated Nano-Particle in Vacuum**Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 11374032, 61435007, and 11704026, the Joint Fund of the Ministry of Education of China under Grant No. 6141A02011604, NSAF (China) under Grant No. U1530401, National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grant No.

Optically levitated nano-particle with spins is a promising system for high-precision measurement and quantum information processing. We theoretically analyze the ratio between the fluctuation of particleʼs displacement caused by spins in magnetic field and caused by molecular collisions of the residual air. When the ratio is larger than unity, the displacement fluctuation of spins flipping can be remarkably detected. By theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, we propose and validate a scheme for the detection of gradient of the magnetic field by levitating ferromagnetic nano-particle, and also put forward a realizable detection scheme of the single spin by levitating nano-diamond particle with single nitrogen-vacancy(NV) centers.

Information processing abnormalities in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Objective: Patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia exhibit abnormalities in attention, memory, working memory, verbal/visual learning and executive functions. However, many of the tests fail to detect slight changes in cognitive performance due to ceiling effect. It was aimed to determine sensitivity and specificity of the tests that measure information processing in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in this study. Method: Thirty four patients with schizophrenia, 35 patients with bipolar disorder according to DSM-IV and 33 healthy control subjects matched for age, education level and gender were enrolled to the study. For clinical assessments Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Young Mania Rating Scale, Clinical Global Impression Scale and Abnormal Involuntary Movements Scale were used. All participants performed a battery consisting of tests measuring information processing including Adult Memory and Information Processing Battery (AMIPB), Trail Making Test (TMT) Form A and B, Digit Symbol Coding Task (DST) and Auditory and Visual Reaction Time Tests (RTT). Results: The schizophrenia group had significantly lower performance than the healthy control group in all tests and lower performance than the bipolar disorder group in AMIPB- A and B tests, TMT A and B tests. The bipolar disorder group had lower performance than the healthy control group only in DST test. The AMIPB A and B tests were the most sensitive and specific tests in the ROC analysis. Conclusion: Changes in cognitive function might be better monitored by the tests whose sensitivity and specificity are higher. Since psychiatric disorders are highly heterogeneous, measurement tools are important for precise measurements.

Decomposition and Regularization of the Solution of Ill-Conditioned Inverse Problems in Processing of Measurement Information. Part 1. A Theoretical Evalution of the Method

A theoretical evaluation of a method of solving ill-conditioned inverse problems that arise in mathematicostatistical processing of measurement information under conditions of unavoidable errors in measurements and a mathematical model of the study object is considered. The method is based on physical and canonical decomposition of the initial model of the object, specified in the form of a system of linear equations as well as two-sided regularization of the solution of a canonical (diagonal) system of equations. It is shown that through the use of the method it is possible to create an adaptive algorithm for recognition and stable estimation of a group of information parameters of a physically decomposed model.

Tunable atom-light beam splitter using electromagnetically induced transparency

With electromagnetically induced transmission (EIT), an optical field can be converted into collective atomic excitation and stored in the atomic medium through switching off the strong-coupling field adiabatically. By varying the power of the coupling pulse, we can control the ratio between the transmitted optical field and the stored atomic mode. We use a cloud of cold $^{85}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms prepared in magneto-optical trap as the experimental platform. Based on a model of EIT dark-state polariton, we consider the real case where the atomic medium has a finite length. The theoretical calculation gives numerical results that agree well with the experimental data. The results show that the ratio can be changed approximately from 0 to 100%, when the maximum power of the coupling pulse (the pulse length is 100 ns) varies from 0 to 20 mW, in the cold atomic ensemble with an optical depth of 40. This process can be used to achieve an atom-light hybrid beam splitter with tunable splitting ratio and thus find potential application in interferometric measurement and quantum information processing.

Room to move: Plasticity in early auditory information processing and auditory learning in schizophrenia revealed by acute pharmacological challenge

Many patients with chronic psychotic disorders including schizophrenia (SZ) maintain meaningful levels of plasticity (i.e., capacity for change) within neurocognition-relevant brain mechanisms, as evidenced by gains in neurocognition and function after interventions such as targeted cognitive training. However, like many clinical features of these disorders, therapeutic responses in SZ are heterogeneous, and prospectively identifying treatment-sensitive individuals and individualized treatment modalities remains an unmet challenge. We propose that available plasticity in neurocognition-relevant brain mechanisms in individual SZ patients can be detected by gains in laboratory measures of early auditory information processing (EAIP) and auditory learning after a single challenge-dose of a pharmacologic agent; here, we present supportive data for this strategy with the non-competitive NMDA antagonist, memantine, and the psychostimulant, amphetamine. We describe a novel therapeutic model where this “challenge dose” strategy is used to prospectively identify a sensitive cohort of patients, and in these patients, a therapeutic response is elicited by pairing drug-enhanced EAIP and auditory learning with auditory-based targeted cognitive training.

Neural correlates of binocular depth inversion illusion in antipsychotic-naïve first-episode schizophrenia patients.

Binocular depth inversion illusion (BDII), a visual, 'top-down'-driven information process, is impaired in schizophrenia and particularly in its early stages. BDII is a sensitive measure of impaired visual information processing and represents a valid diagnostic tool for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.However, neurobiological underpinnings of aberrant BDII in first-episode schizophrenia are largely unknown at present. In this study, 22 right-handed, first-episode, antipsychotic-naïve schizophrenia patients underwent BDII assessment and MRI scanning at 1.5T. The surface-based analysis via new version of Freesurfer (6.0) enabled calculation of cortical thickness and surface area. BDII total and faces scores were related to the two distinct cortical measurements. We found a significant correlation between BDII performance and cortical thickness in the inferior frontal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus (p < 0.003, Bonferroni corr.), as well as superior parietal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and precentral gyrus (p < 0.05, CWP corr.), respectively. BDII performance was significantly correlated with surface area in the superior parietal gyrus and right postcentral gyrus (p < 0.003, Bonferroni corr.). BDII performance may be linked to cortical thickness and surface area variations in regions involved in "adaptive" or "top-down" modulation and stimulus processing, i.e., frontal and parietal lobes. Our results suggest that cortical features of distinct evolutionary and genetic origin differently contribute to BDII performance in first-episode, antipsychotic-naïve schizophrenia patients.

How Do Information Processing Systems Deal with Conflicting Information? Differential Predictions for Serial, Parallel, and Coactive Models

In this paper, we analyze how different information-processing architectures deal with conflicting information. A robust finding in psychological research is that response times are slower when processing conflicting sources of information (e.g., naming the color of the word RED when printed in green in the well-known Stroop task) than when processing congruent sources of information (e.g., naming the color of the word GREEN when printed in green). We suggest that the effect of conflicting information depends on the processing architectures and derive a new measure of information processing called the conflict contrast function, which is indicative of how different architectures perform with conflicts at different levels of salience. By varying the salience of the conflicting information source, we show that serial, parallel, and coactive information processing architectures predict qualitatively distinct conflict contrast functions. We provide new analyses of three previously collected data sets: a detection task with Stroop color-word stimuli and two categorization experiments. Our novel measure provides convergent evidence about the underlying processing architecture in the categorization tasks and surprising results in the Stroop detection task.

Reflective Amplification without Population Inversion from a Strongly Driven Superconducting Qubit.

Amplification of optical or microwave fields is often achieved by strongly driving a medium to induce population inversion such that a weak probe can be amplified through stimulated emission. Here we strongly couple a superconducting qubit, an artificial atom, to the field in a semi-infinite waveguide. When driving the qubit strongly on resonance such that a Mollow triplet appears, we observe a 7% amplitude gain for a weak probe at frequencies in between the triplet. This amplification is not due to population inversion, neither in the bare qubit basis nor in the dressed-state basis, but instead results from a four-photon process that converts energy from the strong drive to the weak probe. We find excellent agreement between the experimental results and numerical simulations without any free fitting parameters. Since our device consists of a single two-level artificial atom, the simplest possible quantum system, it can be viewed as the most fundamental version of a four-wave-mixing parametric amplifier.

Le sfide evolutive del Management Control tra relazioni strategiche, innovazione e discontinuità: a knowledge transfer matter?

Management control studies provide a relevant body of knowledge able to support any organization in the strategy formulation, information processing and performance measurement. The suggested frameworks and tools are now proposed and implemented in a wide range of organizational contexts to face the increasing environmental discontinuity, characterized by the growing importance of strategic relationships and institutional innovations. In this scenario, the selected papers discuss some theoretical proposals and cases of implementation that could be interpreted in the knowledge transfer perspective, stimulating an analytical approach able to foster the role of management control in supporting economic and social development.

Analysis of the applicability of filtration methods for coordinate measurements

At present, surface metrology solves such important tasks as monitoring the production process and optimizing the exploitation of parts. A significant part of the measurements is performed by a contact method using Coordinate Measuring Machines. One of the important steps in the processing of measurement information is the filtration of the received signal. The existing standards regulate only the processes of measuring roundness and roughness. Therefore, researches on the applicability of filtration methods in the general case for coordinate measurements are relevant. Based on the review presented in the article, the filters that have received the greatest application in other fields of technology are defined by the strategy of their application for coordinate measurements. It is recommended to use the following sequence: elimination of gross errors based on the Grubbs’ test, discrete Fourier transform for revealing systematic errors, elimination of systematic errors from the signal, minimization of the random error with the bilateral Gaussian filter, surface reconstruction after filtering based on inverse Fourier transform. The above example of signal filtering for flatness confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Peculiarities of digital processing of measurement information in radioisotope instruments

Peculiarities of digital processing of measurement information in radioisotope instruments

Decomposition and regularization of ill-conditioned inverse problems solution for measurement information processing. Pt. II.The application of theory to the practical problem

Decomposition and regularization of ill-conditioned inverse problems solution for measurement information processing. Pt. II.The application of theory to the practical problem

Decomposition and regularization of ill-conditioned inverse problems solution for measurement information processing. Pt. 1 Theoretical ground of the method

Decomposition and regularization of ill-conditioned inverse problems solution for measurement information processing. Pt. 1 Theoretical ground of the method

Ground-state cooling of a mechanical oscillator in a hybrid optomechanical system including an atomic ensemble

We investigate dynamical properties and the ground-state cooling of a mechanical oscillator in an optomechanical system coupling with an atomic ensemble. In this hybrid optomechanical system, an atomic ensemble which consists of two-level atoms couples with the cavity field. Here we consider the case where the atomic ensemble is in higher excitation. Studies show that the atom-field coupling strength can obviously influence the cooling process, and we can achieve the ground-state cooling of the mechanical oscillator by choosing the appropriate physical parameters of the system. Our cooling mechanism has potential applications in quantum information processing and procession measurement.

High-Precision Geolocation of Earth Surface Images from the Resurs-P Spacecraft

This paper deals with the problems of developing models of high-precision geolocation of Earth surface images obtained from the Resurs-P Nos. 1 and 2 spacecraft based on solving two problems. The first problem involves the development of algorithms for the complex processing of measurement information and the second involves the geometric calibration of satellite survey equipment by ground polygons. It is shown that, as a result, RMS measurement errors of the coordinates of objects in the images of the Earth’s surface do not exceed 10 m.