Passive Object Research Articles

Relatives and passive object relatives in Italian-speaking children and adults: Intervention in production and comprehension

ABSTRACTWe investigate the production of relative clauses in Italian children aged 3 years, 4 months to 8 years, 10 months and in adults, focusing on object relatives (ORs). For both adults and older children, we test the production of passive ORs (PORs) as an alternative to the production of active ORs. We also test the comprehension of active ORs and PORs in older children, showing that the comprehension of the latter is significantly more accurate than the former. The persistent difficulty that children experience with ORs is interpreted as due to intervention, following Friedmann, Belletti, and Rizzi (2009). We assume Collins’ (2005) approach to passive and account for the increasing use and more accurate comprehension of PORs as a consequence of lack of intervention, as in Belletti (2009a).

Modifying the Past: Nietzschean Approaches to History

In the course of the nineteenth century, the new scientific approach to history turned the past into a passive object of knowledge. This approach betrayed a strategy of domination, as it endowed certain interpretations of history with an aura of objectivity, while delegitimizing others as myth. On the contrary, Nietzsche asserted the formative powers of the present, and he argued that the historian had to actively re-create the past and turn it into a meaningful historical narrative. In his view, the meaning of the past depended on the will to transform the present itself. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, other theorists and writers, such as Croce, Péguy, and later Borges, attempted to reconceptualise the relation between the past and the present. Similarly to Nietzsche, they claimed that historians actively re-create and modify the past. This claim was also shared by Benjamin and Foucault, who emphasized the historians' duty to modify the past by seeking to revive subjugated historical knowledges. The aim of this article is to connect the writings of all these authors in a constellation that points to a shared conviction: that history is not objectively given, but constantly re-created and modified in the present.

3D passive integral imaging using compressive sensing

Passive 3D sensing using integral imaging techniques has been well studied in the literature. It has been shown that a scene can be reconstructed at various depths using several 2D elemental images. This provides the ability to reconstruct objects in the presence of occlusions, and passively estimate their 3D profile. However, high resolution 2D elemental images are required for high quality 3D reconstruction. Compressive Sensing (CS) provides a way to dramatically reduce the amount of data that needs to be collected to form the elemental images, which in turn can reduce the storage and bandwidth requirements. In this paper, we explore the effects of CS in acquisition of the elemental images, and ultimately on passive 3D scene reconstruction and object recognition. Our experiments show that the performance of passive 3D sensing systems remains robust even when elemental images are recovered from very few compressive measurements.

Acute Treatment with Bis Selenide, an Organic Compound Containing the Trace Element Selenium, Prevents Memory Deficits Induced by Reserpine in Rats

Taking into account the promising pharmacological actions of (Z)-2,3-bis(4-chlorophenylselanyl) prop-2-en-1-ol) (bis selenide), an organic compound containing the trace element selenium, and the constant search for drugs that improve the cognitive performance, the objective of the present study was to investigate whether bis selenide treatment ameliorates memory deficits induced by reserpine in rats. For this aim, male adult rats received a single subcutaneous injection of reserpine (1mg/kg), a biogenic amine-depleting agent used to induce memory deficit. After 24h, bis selenide at doses of 25 and 50mg/kg was administered to rats by intragastric route, and 1h later, the animals were submitted to behavior tasks. The effects of acute administration of bis selenide on memory were evaluated by social recognition, step-down passive avoidance, and object recognition paradigms. Exploratory and locomotor activities of rats were determined using the open-field test. Analysis of data revealed that the social memory disruption caused by reserpine was reversed by bis selenide at both doses. In addition, bis selenide, at the highest dose, prevented the memory deficit resulting from reserpine administration to rats in step-down passive avoidance and object recognition tasks. No significant alterations in locomotor and exploratory behaviors were found in animals treated with reserpine and/or bis selenide. Results obtained from distinct memory behavioral paradigms revealed that an acute treatment with bis selenide attenuated memory deficits induced by reserpine in rats.

Capacitive coupling of discrete micro-sized gaps for radiofrequency applications

This study investigates the performance of a passive thin metallic object containing micro-sized gaps exposed to a plane wave excitation. This study has potential applications for emerging antenna fabrication techniques where the conducting sections are made from discrete metallic sections. This includes antennas composed of nanomaterials and conventional inkjet-printed antennas. Electromagnetic simulations showed metallic sections separated by a micro-sized gap were found to capacitively couple. The coupling can be enhanced by reducing the size of the gap, increasing the width of the metallic object or by filling the gap with a permittivity greater than unity. It should be noted that the DC value of parallel plate capacitor is not strictly valid at radiofrequencies - however, this study shows that the DC value of capacitance is a reasonable approximation and is useful to understand the behaviour.

방사선 유도 학습기억 장애에 대한 diethyldithiocarbamate의 효과

Evidence suggests that even low-dose irradiation can lead to progressive cognitive decline and memory deficits, which implicates, in part, hippocampal dysfunction in both humans and experimental animals. This study examined whether diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) could attenuate memory impairment, using passive avoidance and object recognition test, and suppression of hippocampal neurogenesis, using the TUNEL assay and immunohistochemical detection with markers of neurogenesis (Kiel 67 (Ki-67) and doublecortin (DCX)) in adult mice treated with gamma radiation (0.5 or 2 Gy). DDC was administered intraperitonially at a dosage of 1,000 of body weight at 30 min. before irradiation. In passive avoidance and object recognition memory test, the mice, trained for 1 day after acute irradiation (2 Gy) showed significant memory deficits compared with the sham controls. The number of TUNEL-positive apoptotic nuclei in the dentate gyrus (DG) was increased 12 h after irradiation. In addition, the number of Ki-67- and DCX-positive cells were significantly decreased. DDC treatment prior to irradiation attenuated the memory defect, and blocked the apoptotic death. DDC may attenuate memory defect in a relatively low-dose exposure of radiation in adult mice, possibly by inhibiting a detrimental effect of irradiation on hippocampal neurogenesis.

Accurate Passive Location Estimation Using TOA Measurements

Localization of objects is fast becoming a major aspect of wireless technologies, with applications in logistics, surveillance, and emergency response. Time-of-arrival (TOA) localization is ideally suited for high-precision localization of objects in particular in indoor environments, where GPS is not available. This paper considers the case where one transmitter and multiple, distributed, receivers are used to estimate the location of a passive (reflecting) object. It furthermore focuses on the situation when the transmitter and receivers can be synchronized, so that TOA (as opposed to time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA)) information can be used. We propose a novel, Two-Step estimation (TSE) algorithm for the localization of the object. We then derive the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) for TOA and show that it is an order of magnitude lower than the CRLB of TDOA in typical setups. The TSE algorithm achieves the CRLB when the TOA measurements are subject to small Gaussian-distributed errors, which is verified by analytical and simulation results. Moreover, practical measurement results show that the estimation error variance of TSE can be 33 dB lower than that of TDOA based algorithms.

Agent Provocateur? The African Origin and American Life of a Statue from Côte d'Ivoire

A biography of a statue sculpted in or near the Lagoon region of Côte d'Ivoire reveals how her “social life” has become entangled with American art history. Created to address spiritual beings in her homeland, she was purchased by Paul Guillaume in France and was exhibited by Alfred Stieglitz and Marius de Zayas in New York in 1914. Donated to Fisk University by Georgia O'Keeffe in 1949, she has engaged in a dialogue with African American artists. In all of these interactions, the figure has been not a passive object but an active agent of cultural change.

Desiring difference, desiring similarity: Narratives on sexual interaction between boys and men in the Swedish homosexual press 1954–1986

The article explores talk about young men and relations between younger and older men in the homonormative rhetorical context of the Swedish homosexual press from the 1950s through the 1980s. The discussion is related to meanings of sexuality for the sake of pleasure (the pleasure ideal) and sexuality for the sake of love (the love ideal). Meanings of sexual relations between boys and men are nuanced in the homosexual press: by providing a variety of descriptions of sexual desire between men and boys, representing the boy as someone who can take both an active subject position and a passive object position in the relationship, and by separating homosexual practices from paedophilic practices. An earlier homonormative ideal or at least a socially sanctioned possibility of relationships between men and boys, as a less equal couple and partner ideal, is gradually replaced though, by a more equal couple and partner ideal based on an expectation of similarity.

<i>Reconstructing Policy in Higher Education: Feminist Poststructural Perspectives</i> (review)

Reviewed by: Reconstructing Policy in Higher Education: Feminist Poststructural Perspectives Kelly Ward and Meghan Levi Reconstructing Policy in Higher Education: Feminist Poststructural Perspectives, edited by Elizabeth Allan, Susan Van Deventer Iverson, & Rebecca Ropers-Huilman. Routledge, 2009. 272 pp. $145.00 (cloth). ISBN 978-0-415-99776-8. What is feminist poststructuralism? Why is it important? How can it be useful to advance policy conversations related to higher education? Reconstructing Policy in Higher Education: Feminist Poststructural Perspectives, a volume edited by Elizabeth Allan, Susan Van Deventer Iverson, and Rebecca Ropers-Huilman, addresses these and other questions related to advancing the creation, implementation, and use of policy conversations. The book is a valuable resource for administrators, policy makers, researchers, and students wanting to think in new and different ways about policy affecting colleges and universities. For readers not familiar with feminist poststructuralism (FPS) and policy analysis, the book is foundational and informative. In Chapters 1 and 2, the editors provide a reminder about some of the core concepts related to policy and they address how feminist poststructuralism can be used to problematize "what has come to be taken-for granted as 'normal' everyday practice" (p. 2). Chapter 2 authored by Elizabeth Allan is particularly helpful for readers to understand FPS and all the other "posts" bantered about in higher education circles. Because the tenets of FPS are so clearly laid out as a tool of analysis, readers can use this knowledge to examine situations common to higher education that are threaded throughout the remaining chapters. The approach to policy analysis put forth by the editors widens the audience and is a guide for those new to the study of FPS and higher education policy. The book is particularly useful to analyze gender in contemporary policy discourses yet it is not limited to people interested in gender. FPS as a tool of analysis is far reaching. Part 1 of the book entitled Productions of Power through Presence with Absence includes three chapters that critically analyze the dominant, neoliberal narrative prominent in higher education. This part of the book presents historical and macroscopic perspectives of policy, discourse, and FPS in higher education. In Chapter 3 Jana Nidiffer offers FPS as a "corrective" agent to view the history of higher education by asking, "Who benefits from the story being told in this particular way and what are the consequences of having knowledge framed in this manner?" (p. 44). Her work brings forth the silent narrative of the female student suffragist movement all but missing from higher education history texts. In Chapter 4 Tatiana Suspitsyna questions the contemporary articulations of the purpose of higher education by using Foucault's (1972) view [End Page 460] of discourse and power as productive not repressive. Through an analysis of documents from the Department of Education, almost entirely authored by Secretary Margaret Spelling, Suspitsyna deconstructs the purpose of higher education. The results strongly suggest that a neoliberal market discourse reinforces the hegemonic masculine status quo in contemporary higher education. The same notion of man as ideal consumer of higher education is also present in the discourse surrounding leadership in higher education. In Chapter 5 Gordon, Iverson, and Allan use The Chronicle of Higher Education to examine the how dominant notions of femininity and masculinity were used to "produce gendered images of leaders" (p. 82). Not surprisingly, female leaders were portrayed as "caretaker" and "vulnerable" leaders among other labels. The authors provide several examples used in their analysis that provide further context for "the double bind" conflict female professionals at all levels experience (p. 90). Part 2, Subjects and Objects of Policy, is focused on students and is likely to be of particular interest to those who work with students. The chapters help readers see how policy works discursively for students on paper, but against students in action. In Chapter 6, Susan Talburt used the idea of "becoming" to show how the university rhetoric of "involvement" actually creates what Foucault (1977) described as, "normalizing judgment" (p. 183). In the case of LGBT students, Talburt explores the tensions between a discourse of victimization and the roles of student as both active subject and passive object of university policy created for and by...

La imagen de la mujer en la Familia de Pascual Duarte de Camilo José Cela y la Casa Grande de Mohammed Dib

The image of women in the Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo José Cela and the Casa Grande by Mohammed Dib
 The title of this article is the image of the woman in The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo José Cela and the Big House of Mohammed Dib. It is a comparative study that analyzes the image of women in two works, one Spanish and the other Algerian, but each considers itself in its country as the first step of twentieth-century realism. Both Algerian and Spanish texts have a social character and let out a feminine voice that denounces oppression and at the same time plays an important role in teaching the girl humility and submission to the virility of the man since having undergone the male power in his youth of which he is the ideal reproducer.This work aims to reveal this female character apparently placed in the position of the passive object is no less felt as a cunning, evil power. The seemingly victorious masculine, admits his relentlessness even against the other, the feminine, admits that he is threatened by an asymmetrical, irrational, cunning and uncontrollable power.

Home-Use Object Transfer/Storage Robot System with Compliant Strategy and Mechanism (Commodities Management and its Extended Application of Daily Life Support for the Elderly)

This research describes the strategy and mechanism design methodology to realize a robot system that transfers and stores daily use objects in our living space. Unlike industrial applications, there are three specific problems in the home application: (1) variation of living environment, (2) diversity of daily use objects, (3) dispersion of human activity. First, we presented a concept of strategic compliance as a basic solution for these problems and extracted three fundamental functions (regulation, assist/enforce, and navigation) for the strategy. Second, we aimed to realize a robust robot motion by introducing adequate mechanisms which are suitable for the strategy. The mechanisms are; (1) passive mechanical compliance and (2) object constraint methodology with “caging.” As an actual prototype system, a home-use logistical support robot system implemented with those strategies and mechanisms is constructed. By experiments, validity of the presented methodology was confirmed. In addition to the domestic logistical application, we considered applying the proposed system to the elderly people support, and developed prototypes of supporting instruments; lavatory and refrigerator containers. The basic design of the instruments is also introduced.

Passive Dynamic Object Manipulation: Preliminary Definition and Examples

摘要: In this work, we introduce a category of dynamic manipulation processes, namely passive dynamic object manipulation, according to which an object is manipulated passively. Specifically, we study passive dynamic manipulation here. We define the main concept, discuss the challenges, and talk about the future directions. Like other passive robotic systems, there are no actuators in these systems. The object follows a path and travels along it under the effect of its own weight, as well as the interaction force applied by each manipulator on it. We select some simple examples to show the concept. For each example, dynamic equations of motion are derived and the stability of the process is taken into account. In this direction, some rules are derived under which we ensure that the manipulation process does not fail. Simulations support this idea. 关键词: Passive systems / dynamic manipulation / passive manipulation / robotic system

"Testing the Limits": What Happens When Digital Humanities Meets Alternative Worldviews

"Testing the Limits" reflects upon the implications of a conceptual paradigm shift in theoretical approaches to the use of immersive technologies in a postcolonial, post-positivistic world. This reflection means bringing into proximity alternative explanatory models of "reality"—such as the indigenous philosophy of Leroy Little Bear where it relates to Western science, David Peat's thoughts on quantum theory and his collaboration with Leroy Little Bear, and the theory of synchronicity as developed by Carl G. Jung in collaboration with physicist Wolfgang Pauli—where these models open into alternative worldviews which offer a hypothetical rapprochement in the history of consciousness between science and art. This study, therefore, focuses less on the use of immersive technology in the Humanities than on the instrumentality of theory itself in constructing perceptual models of reality (including scientific and artistic worldviews), especially where it is "virtual" and where it needs to consider diverse philosophies, scientific theories and representations of space/time in relation to subjectivities. To illustrate this claim, the media work by Canadian artist Char Davies will be offered as a case study; Davies has gone on record seeking to subvert the visual aesthetic in VR and 3D computer graphics, which, in striving for "ever great photo realism," serves only to reinforce "the Cartesian divide between dominating subject and passive object." It is relevant in the context of this essay that Char Davies is a software developer and artist whose work is informed not only by her understanding of the history of consciousness in Western metaphysics, but also by her understanding of the relation of such history to quantum theory.

Effects of the cognition impairer MK-801 on learning and memory in mice and rats

There is a great need for relevant animal models for investigating the effects of putative pro-cognitive compounds. Compounds that impair learning and/or memory processes without inducing adverse side effects are cognition impairers. Rats and mice with cognitive deficits induced by the prototypical N-methyl- d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist MK-801 may provide a relevant animal model based on the mechanistic approach of blocking NMDA/glutamatergic signaling. Unfortunately, the dose range over which MK-801 induces cognitive impairment without causing sensory, locomotor, or toxicological side effects is small. We provide an overview of the effects of MK-801 in different cognitive tasks and assessed whether MK-801 reliably affects the cognitive performance of mice or rats in the spatial Morris task, T-maze alternation tasks, and non-spatial passive avoidance, social, and object recognition tasks. MK-801 disrupted or retarded memory acquisition in all tasks. The Morris task, once acquired, was insensitive to MK-801 at a dose up to 0.1 mg kg −1 body weight. Retention deficits in the passive avoidance tests were not likely to be due to MK-801-induced changes in shock sensitivity, as measured by a shock threshold test. On the basis of published evidence and the present findings, we conclude that MK-801, administered s.c. or i.p. into rodents in doses up to 0.1 mg kg −1, appears to fulfill the criteria of our definition of a cognition impairer in rodents, without causing sensorimotor impairments and/or signs of intoxication. In addition, MK-801-treated rodents appear to fulfill the criteria of a valid animal model of cognitive dysfunctions, with robust effects across species, housing conditions, and testing paradigms.

Three dimensional object recognition with photon counting imagery in the presence of noise

Three dimensional (3D) imaging systems have been recently suggested for passive sensing and recognition of objects in photon-starved environments where only a few photons are emitted or reflected from the object. In this paradigm, it is important to make optimal use of limited information carried by photons. We present a statistical framework for 3D passive object recognition in presence of noise. Since in quantum-limited regime, detector dark noise is present, our approach takes into account the effect of noise on information bearing photons. The model is tested when background noise and dark noise sources are present for identifying a target in a 3D scene. It is shown that reliable object recognition is possible in photon-counting domain. The results suggest that with proper translation of physical characteristics of the imaging system into the information processing algorithms, photon-counting imagery can be used for object classification.

Passive Dynamic Object Manipulation: Preliminary Definition and Examples

In this work, we introduce a category of dynamic manipulation processes, namely passive dynamic object manipulation, according to which an object is manipulated passively. Specifically, we study passive dynamic manipulation here. We define the main concept, discuss the challenges, and talk about the future directions. Like other passive robotic systems, there are no actuators in these systems. The object follows a path and travels along it under the effect of its own weight, as well as the interaction force applied by each manipulator on it. We select some simple examples to show the concept. For each example, dynamic equations of motion are derived and the stability of the process is taken into account. In this direction, some rules are derived under which we ensure that the manipulation process does not fail. Simulations support this idea.

Hippocampal brain-network coordination during volitional exploratory behavior enhances learning

Exploratory behaviors during learning determine what is studied and when, helping to optimize subsequent memory performance. We manipulated how much control subjects had over the position of a moving window through which they studied objects and their locations, in order to elucidate the cognitive and neural determinants of exploratory behaviors. Our behavioral, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging data indicate volitional control benefits memory performance, and is linked to a brain network centered on the hippocampus. Increases in correlated activity between the hippocampus and other areas were associated with specific aspects of memory, suggesting that volitional control optimizes interactions among specialized neural systems via the hippocampus. Memory is therefore an active process intrinsically linked to behavior. Furthermore, brain structures typically seen as passive participants in memory encoding (e.g., the hippocampus) are actually part of an active network that controls behavior dynamically as it unfolds.

Automated gravity gradient tensor inversion for underwater object detection

Underwater abnormal object detection is a current need for the navigation security of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). In this paper, an automated gravity gradient tensor inversion algorithm is proposed for the purpose of passive underwater object detection. Full-tensor gravity gradient anomalies induced by an object in the partial area can be measured with the technique of gravity gradiometry on an AUV. Then the automated algorithm utilizes the anomalies, using the inverse method to estimate the mass and barycentre location of the arbitrary-shaped object. A few tests on simple synthetic models will be illustrated, in order to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of the new algorithm. Moreover, the method is applied to a complicated model of an abnormal object with gradiometer and AUV noise, and interference from a neighbouring illusive smaller object. In all cases tested, the estimated mass and barycentre location parameters are found to be in good agreement with the actual values.

La Repubblica italiana nata dalla guerra

In The «People of the Dead». The Italian Republic born from the war 1940-46 (il Mulino, Bologna 2009), Leonardo Paggi quotes a phrase of Piero Calamandrei in the Constituent Assembly, in which he identified the victims of the second world war as the legitimation, at its deepest level, of the Constitution of the new Republic. Paggi develops the theme at the historiographical level, thus anticipating the birth of the Republic at the analytical level: the importance of the Resistance movement and the political forces is not denied, but it is the violence of the war tearing apart the social fabric of the country that dominates the scene. The Nazi massacres and Allied bombings, for long ignored in the historiography, constitute a deep historical caesura; the entire civilian population is involved, to the point that it ceases to be the passive object of history, waiting to know which side would win the war. While Montale’s poetry provides a timely register of the catastrophe, the transition from war to the Republic and democracy is marked by the demand for individual rights. The needs created by the disasters of the war generate a desire for justice: the welfare state, whose origins in Great Britain had been prefigured by the Beveridge plan in 1942, in Italy was founded on the demand for protection that the citizens hit by the war demanded from their local authorities. Paggi’s research is aimed at questioning the purely political and antifascist interpretation of the birth of the Republic, whose origins seem to him far more complex and closely related to the history of Europe. It has seemed to us useful to invite scholars with different sensibilities and research experiences to discuss his thesis.