Object recognition via echoes: quantifying the crossmodal transfer of three-dimensional shape information between echolocation, vision, and haptics.

Active echolocation allows blind individuals to explore their surroundings via self-generated sounds, similarly to dolphins and other echolocating animals. Echolocators emit sounds, such as finger snaps or mouth clicks, and parse the returning echoes for information about their surroundings, including the location, size, and material composition of objects. Because a crucial function of perceiving objects is to enable effective interaction with them, it is important to understand the degree to which three-dimensional shape information extracted from object echoes is useful in the context of other modalities such as haptics or vision. Here, we investigated the resolution of crossmodal transfer of object-level information between acoustic echoes and other senses. First, in a delayed match-to-sample task, blind expert echolocators and sighted control participants inspected common (everyday) and novel target objects using echolocation, then distinguished the target object from a distractor using only haptic information. For blind participants, discrimination accuracy was overall above chance and similar for both common and novel objects, whereas as a group, sighted participants performed above chance for the common, but not novel objects, suggesting that some coarse object information (a) is available to both expert blind and novice sighted echolocators, (b) transfers from auditory to haptic modalities, and (c) may be facilitated by prior object familiarity and/or material differences, particularly for novice echolocators. Next, to estimate an equivalent resolution in visual terms, we briefly presented blurred images of the novel stimuli to sighted participants (N = 22), who then performed the same haptic discrimination task. We found that visuo-haptic discrimination performance approximately matched echo-haptic discrimination for a Gaussian blur kernel σ of ~2.5°. In this way, by matching visual and echo-based contributions to object discrimination, we can estimate the quality of echoacoustic information that transfers to other sensory modalities, predict theoretical bounds on perception, and inform the design of assistive techniques and technology available for blind individuals.

Set size and ensemble perception of numerical value.

There is a growing body of research on ensemble perception, or our ability to form ensemble representations based on perceptual features for stimuli of varying levels of complexity, and more recently, on ensemble cognition, which refers to our ability to perceive higher-level properties of stimuli such as facial attractiveness or gaze direction. Less is known about our ability to form ensemble representations based on more abstract properties such as the semantic meaning associated with items in a scene. Previous work examining whether the meaning associated with digits can be incorporated into summary statistical representations suggests that numerical information from digit ensembles can be extracted rapidly, and likely using a parallel processing mechanism. Here, we further investigate whether participants can accurately generate summary representations of numerical value from digit sets and explore the effect of set size on their ability to do so, by comparing psychometric functions based on a numerical averaging task in which set size varied. Steeper slopes for ten- and seven-item compared to five-item digit sets provide evidence that displays with more digits yield more reliable discrimination between larger and smaller numerical averages. Additionally, consistent with previous reports, we observed a response bias such that participants were more likely to report that the numerical average was "greater than 5" for larger compared to smaller sets. Overall, our results contribute to evidence that ensemble representations for semantic attributes may be carried out via similar mechanisms as those reported for perceptual features.

Visual search inverts the classic Stroop asymmetry.

The Stroop effect is typically much larger than the reverse Stroop effect. One explanation for this asymmetry asserts that interference between the attended feature and an incongruent unattended feature depends on which feature is more strongly associated with the processing typically needed to complete the task. Accordingly, because identification of the target's color or the target word (as in the traditional Stroop paradigm) is more strongly associated with verbal processing than visual processing, the target's meaning should interfere with identification of the target's color (Stroop) more than vice versa (reverse Stroop). In contrast, localization is more strongly associated with visual processing, so strength-of-association predicts that the target's color should interfere with localizing the target word (reverse Stroop) more than vice versa (Stroop). Experiments 1 and 2 supported the strength-of-association account: compared to Stroop, the reverse Stroop effect was smaller for an identification task, but larger for a localization task. Because overall responses were slower for the reverse Stroop condition than the Stroop condition in Experiment 2, we entertained two alternative explanations for the reverse Stroop effect being larger than the Stroop effect. Experiments 3 and 4 showed that the larger reverse Stroop effect could not have been due to scaling, and Experiment 5 showed that it could not have been due to covert translation. Taken together, these experiments demonstrate the role of strength of association in generating the classic Stroop asymmetry, and pave the way for future exploration of the reverse Stroop effect using localization tasks.

Size congruity influences visual search via the target template.

In numerical comparison experiments, participants are presented with two digits that vary in numerical and physical size, and they select the numerically (or physically) larger (or smaller) of the two digits. Response times are typically faster when numerical and physical size are congruent than when they are incongruent, which is called the size congruity effect (SCE). Although numerical size is unlikely to be a guiding feature in visual search, recent studies have nevertheless observed the SCE in the visual search paradigm. To explain this puzzling fact, we hypothesized that the incongruity between a target's numerical and physical size affects visual search primarily when an attended item is compared to the target template in visual short-term memory. In three experiments, participants searched for a target whose numerical and physical size were distinct from non-target distractors. The SCE and shallow search slopes in Experiment 1 suggest that the target's physical size captured attention, and only then did incongruent numerical size interfere with the response. Instructing participants to attend to physical size in Experiment 2 abolished the SCE, suggesting that participants did not analyze the target's numerical size when they could be confident that physical size was a reliable target cue. Presenting each of two possible target digits in blocks as in Experiment 3 enabled participants to load the visual features of shape and physical size into their target template, and once again the SCE was abolished. The three experiments show that the SCE in visual search can be reduced or eliminated by restricting the target template based on specific physical features and thus discouraging participants from analyzing the target's numerical size.

Global feedforward active noise control in vibro-acoustic cavities without increasing structural vibrations.

Interior noise in vibro-acoustic cavities may be generated due to acoustic and structural disturbances. Earlier studies have shown that for global control, the maximum reduction in acoustic potential energy can be realised by using an optimum combination of acoustic and structural actuators. However, it is observed that this reduction in interior noise may also be accompanied with an increase in kinetic energy of the cavity structure. This paper presents the development of a feedforward technique for active noise control in vibro-acoustic cavities ensuring that the noise reduction does not lead to an increase in kinetic energy. The problem is formulated as a constrained minimisation problem to minimise the acoustic potential energy subject to a constraint that the kinetic energy does not increase. Through a numerical study, it is shown that the optimum solution of the above problem indeed is favourable in terms of reduction in acoustic potential energy in the cavity and kinetic energy of the structure. The paper further proposes a method for solution of this constrained minimisation problem using a penalty function method and solution of sequential unconstrained problems. The proposed method is validated through a numerical study on a car-like cavity for single- and multi-tonal noise.

Comparative Evaluation of Veriflow® Salmonella Species to USDA and FDA Culture-Based Methods for the Detection of Salmonella spp. in Food and Environmental Samples.

Veriflow® Salmonella species (Veriflow SS) is a molecular-based assay for the presumptive detection of Salmonella spp. from environmental surfaces (stainless steel, sealed concrete, plastic, and ceramic tile), dairy (2% milk), raw meat (20% fat ground beef), chicken carcasses, and ready-to-eat (RTE) food (hot dogs). The assay utilizes a PCR detection method coupled with a rapid, visual, flow-based assay that develops in 3 min post-PCR amplification and requires only an 18 h enrichment for maximum sensitivity. The Veriflow SS system eliminates the need for sample purification, gel electrophoresis, or fluorophore-based detection of target amplification and does not require complex data analysis. This Performance Tested MethodSM validation study demonstrated the ability of the Veriflow SS method to detect low levels of artificially inoculated or naturally occurring Salmonella spp. in eight distinct environmental and food matrixes. In each reference comparison study, probability of detection analysis indicated that there was no significant difference between the Veriflow SS method and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service Microbiology Laboratory Guidebook Chapter 4.06 and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual Chapter 5 reference methods. A total of 104 Salmonella strains were detected in the inclusivity study, and 35 nonspecific organisms went undetected in the exclusivity study. The study results show that the Veriflow SS method is a sensitive, selective, and robust assay for the presumptive detection of Salmonella spp. sampled from environmental surfaces (stainless steel, sealed concrete, plastic, and ceramic tile), dairy (2% milk), raw meat (20% fat ground beef), chicken carcasses, and RTE food (hot dogs).

Comparative Evaluation of Veriflow®Listeria Species to USDA Culture-Based Method for the Detection of Listeria spp. in Food and Environmental Samples.

Veriflow® Listeria species (Veriflow LS) is a molecular-based assay for the presumptive detection of Listeria spp. from environmental surfaces (stainless steel, sealed concrete, plastic, and ceramic tile) and ready-to-eat (RTE) food matrixes (hot dogs and deli meat). The assay utilizes a PCR detection method coupled with a rapid, visual, flow-based assay that develops in 3 min post-PCR amplification and requires only a 24 h enrichment for maximum sensitivity. The Veriflow LS system eliminates the need for sample purification, gel electrophoresis, or fluorophore-based detection of target amplification and does not require complex data analysis. This Performance Tested MethodSM validation study demonstrated the ability of the Veriflow LS assay to detect low levels of artificially inoculated Listeria spp. in six distinct environmental and food matrixes. In each unpaired reference comparison study, probability of detection analysis indicated that there was no significant difference between the Veriflow LS method and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service Microbiology Laboratory Guide Chapter 8.08 reference method. Fifty-one strains of various Listeria spp. were detected in the inclusivity study, and 35 nonspecific organisms went undetected in the exclusivity study. The study results show that the Veriflow LS is a sensitive, selective, and robust assay for the presumptive detection of Listeria spp. sampled from environmental surfaces (stainless steel, sealed concrete, plastic, and ceramic tile) and RTE food matrixes (hot dogs and deli meat).

Visual search for conjunctions of physical and numerical size shows that they are processed independently.

The size congruity effect refers to the interaction between numerical magnitude and physical digit size in a symbolic comparison task. Though this effect is well established in the typical 2-item scenario, the mechanisms at the root of the interference remain unclear. Two competing explanations have emerged in the literature: an early interaction model and a late interaction model. In the present study, we used visual conjunction search to test competing predictions from these 2 models. Participants searched for targets that were defined by a conjunction of physical and numerical size. Some distractors shared the target's physical size, and the remaining distractors shared the target's numerical size. We held the total number of search items fixed and manipulated the ratio of the 2 distractor set sizes. The results from 3 experiments converge on the conclusion that numerical magnitude is not a guiding feature for visual search, and that physical and numerical magnitude are processed independently, which supports a late interaction model of the size congruity effect. (PsycINFO Database Record

Bottom-up and top-down attentional contributions to the size congruity effect.

The size congruity effect refers to the interaction between the numerical and physical (i.e., font) sizes of digits in a numerical (or physical) magnitude selection task. Although various accounts of the size congruity effect have attributed this interaction to either an early representational stage or a late decision stage, only Risko, Maloney, and Fugelsang (Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 75, 1137-1147, 2013) have asserted a central role for attention. In the present study, we used a visual search paradigm to further study the role of attention in the size congruity effect. In Experiments 1 and 2, we showed that manipulating top-down attention (via the task instructions) had a significant impact on the size congruity effect. The interaction between numerical and physical size was larger for numerical size comparison (Exp. 1) than for physical size comparison (Exp. 2). In the remaining experiments, we boosted the feature salience by using a unique target color (Exp. 3) or by increasing the display density by using three-digit numerals (Exps. 4 and 5). As expected, a color singleton target abolished the size congruity effect. Searching for three-digit targets based on numerical size (Exp. 4) resulted in a large size congruity effect, but search based on physical size (Exp. 5) abolished the effect. Our results reveal a substantial role for top-down attention in the size congruity effect, which we interpreted as support for a shared-decision account.

Comparative Evaluation of Veriflow® Listeria monocytogenes to USDA and AOAC Culture Based Methods for the Detection of Listeria monocytogenes in Food.

Veriflow® Listeria monocytogenes (LM) is a molecular based assay for the presumptive detection of Listeria monocytogenes from environmental surfaces, dairy, and ready-to-eat (RTE) food matrixes (hot dogs and deli meat). The assay utilizes a PCR detection method coupled with a rapid, visual, flow-based assay that develops in 3 min post PCR amplification and requires only 24 h of enrichment for maximum sensitivity. The Veriflow LM system eliminates the need for sample purification, gel electrophoresis, or fluorophore-based detection of target amplification, and does not require complex data analysis. This Performance Tested Method(SM) validation study demonstrated the ability of the Veriflow LM method to detect low levels of artificially inoculated L. monocytogenes in seven distinct environmental and food matrixes. In each unpaired reference comparison study, probability of detection analysis indicated no significant difference between the Veriflow LM method and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service Microbiology Laboratory Guidebook 8.08 or AOAC 993.12 reference method. Fifty strains of L. monocytogenes were detected in the inclusivity study, while 39 nonspecific organisms were undetected in the exclusivity study. The study results show that Veriflow LM is a sensitive, selective, and robust assay for the presumptive detection of L. monocytogenes sampled from environmental, dairy, or RTE (hot dogs and deli meat) food matrixes.

Gender differences in crowd perception.

In this study, we investigated whether the first impression of a crowd of faces-crowd perception-is influenced by social background and cognitive processing. Specifically, we explored whether males and females, two groups that are distinct biologically and socially, differ in their ability to extract ensemble characteristics from crowds of faces that were comprised of different identities. Participants were presented with crowds of similar faces and were instructed to scroll through a morphed continuum of faces until they found a face that was representative of the average identity of each crowd. Consistent with previous research, females were more precise in single face perception. Furthermore, the results showed that females were generally more accurate in estimating the average identity of a crowd. However, the correlation between single face discrimination and crowd averaging differed between males and females. Specifically, male subjects' ensemble integration slightly compensated for their poor single face perception; their performance on the crowd perception task was not as poor as would be expected from their single face discrimination ability. Overall, the results suggest that group perception is not an isolated or uniform cognitive mechanism, but rather one that interacts with biological and social processes.

Target grouping in visual search for multiple digits.

In four experiments in which participants searched for multiple target digits we hypothesized that search should be fastest when the targets are arranged closely together on the number line without any intervening distractor digits, i.e., the targets form a contiguous and coherent group. In Experiment 1 search performance was better for targets defined by numerical magnitude than parity (i.e., evenness); this result supports our hypothesis but could also be due to the linear separability of targets from distractors or the numerical distance between them. Experiment 2 controlled for target-distractor linear separability and numerical distance, yielding faster search when targets were surrounded by distractors on the number line than when they surrounded distractors. This result is consistent with target contiguity and coherence but also with grouping by similarity of target shapes. Experiment 3 controlled for all three alternative explanations (linear separability, numerical distance, and shape similarity) and search performance was better for contiguous targets than separated targets. In Experiment 4 search performance was better for a coherent target group than one with intervening distractors. Of the possibilities we considered, only the hypothesis based on the contiguity and coherence of the target group on the number line can account for the results from all four experiments.

Veriflow Campylobacter. Performance tested method 101201.

Veriflow Campylobacter is a molecular based assay for the presumptive and qualitative detection of the most common occurring foodborne Campylobacter species: C. jejuni and C. coli. The assay utilizes a PCR detection method coupled with a rapid, visual, flow-based assay that develops in 3 min post PCR amplification and requires only 24 h of non-specialized enrichment for maximum sensitivity. The Veriflow Campylobacter system eliminates the need for microaerobic chambers, gel electrophoresis or fluorophore based detection of target amplification, and does not require complex data analysis. This Performance Tested Method validation study demonstrated the ability of the Veriflow method to detect naturally occurring Campylobacterfrom chicken carcass rinsates. In the reference comparison study, Chi-square and probability of detection analyses of two unpaired studies indicated that there was no significant difference between the Veriflow Campylobacter method and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)/Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) reference method. There was no indication of false positive or false negative detection in the reference comparison study, and all 50 C. jejuni and C. coli strains were detected, while 35 nonspecific organisms were undetected in the exclusivity/ inclusivity study. The study results show that Veriflow Campylobacter is a sensitive, selective and robust assay for the detection of C. jejuni and C. coli in chicken carcass rinsates.

Crowd perception in prosopagnosia.

Prosopagnosics, individuals who are impaired at recognizing single faces, often report increased difficulty when confronted with crowds. However, the discrimination of crowds has never been fully tested in the prosopagnosic population. Here we investigate whether developmental prosopagnosics can extract ensemble characteristics from groups of faces. DP and control participants viewed sets of faces varying in either identity or emotion, and were asked to estimate the average identity or emotion of each set. Face sets were displayed in two orientations (upright and inverted) to control for low-level visual features during ensemble encoding. Control participants made more accurate estimates of the mean identity and emotion when faces were upright than inverted. In all conditions, DPs performed equivalently to controls. This finding demonstrates that integration across different faces in a crowd is possible in the prosopagnosic population and appears to be intact despite their face recognition deficits. Results also demonstrate that ensemble representations are derived differently for upright and inverted faces, and the effects are not due to low-level visual information.

The GPI anchor signal sequence dictates the folding and functionality of the Als5 adhesin from Candida albicans.

BACKGROUND: Proteins destined to be Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchored are translocated into the ER lumen completely before the C-terminal GPI anchor attachment signal sequence (SS) is removed by the GPI-transamidase and replaced by a pre-formed GPI anchor precursor. Does the SS have a role in dictating the conformation and function of the protein as well? METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We generated two variants of the Als5 protein without and with the SS in order to address the above question. Using a combination of biochemical and biophysical techniques, we show that in the case of Als5, an adhesin of C. albicans, the C-terminal deletion of 20 amino acids (SS) results in a significant alteration in conformation and function of the mature protein. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We propose that the locking of the conformation of the precursor protein in an alternate conformation from that of the mature protein is one probable strategy employed by the cell to control the behaviour and function of proteins intended to be GPI anchored during their transit through the ER.

Ultrafine spatial acuity of blind expert human echolocators.

Echolocating organisms represent their external environment using reflected auditory information from emitted vocalizations. This ability, long known in various non-human species, has also been documented in some blind humans as an aid to navigation, as well as object detection and coarse localization. Surprisingly, our understanding of the basic acuity attainable by practitioners-the most fundamental underpinning of echoic spatial perception-remains crude. We found that experts were able to discriminate horizontal offsets of stimuli as small as ~1.2° auditory angle in the frontomedial plane, a resolution approaching the maximum measured precision of human spatial hearing and comparable to that found in bats performing similar tasks. Furthermore, we found a strong correlation between echolocation acuity and age of blindness onset. This first measure of functional spatial resolution in a population of expert echolocators demonstrates precision comparable to that found in the visual periphery of sighted individuals.

Influence of indigenous eukaryotic microbial communities on the reduction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in compost slurry.

Compost made from livestock manure is commonly used as a crop fertilizer and serves as a possible vehicle for the transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 to fresh produce. In this study, we hypothesized that the indigenous microbial communities present in composts adversely affects the survival of E. coli O157:H7. Escherichia coli O157:H7 was spiked into compost slurry and incubated at 25 °C. Escherichia coli O157:H7 exhibited a c. 4 log(10) reduction over 16 days. When compost was supplemented with the eukaryotic inhibitor cycloheximide, there was a minimal decrease in E. coli O157:H7 counts over the same time period. Analysis of microbial communities present in the compost with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) suggested minor differences in the fungal communities present in cycloheximide-treated compost, compared with untreated compost over a period of 12 days at 25 °C. However, the DGGE profiles of protists showed drastic differences in community complexity. Clone library sequence analysis of protist populations revealed significantly different species composition between treatment and control samples at different time points. This suggests that predation of E. coli O157:H7 by protists might be a potential mechanism for reducing E. coli O157:H7 in compost materials.

Category expectation modulates baseline and stimulus-evoked activity in human inferotemporal cortex.

Expectation of locations and low-level features increases activity in extrastriate visual areas even in the absence of a stimulus, but it is unclear whether or how expectation of higher-level stimulus properties affects visual responses. Here, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test whether category expectation affects baseline and stimulus-evoked activity in higher-level, category-selective inferotemporal (IT) visual areas. Word cues indicating an image category (FACE or HOUSE) were followed by a delay, then a briefly presented image of a face or a house. On most trials, the cue correctly predicted the upcoming stimulus. Baseline activity in regions within the fusiform face area (FFA) and parahippocampal place area (PPA) was modulated such that activity was higher during expectation of the preferred (e.g., FACE for FFA) vs. non-preferred category. Stimulus-evoked responses reflected an initial bias (higher overall activity) followed by increased selectivity (greater difference between activity to a preferred vs. non-preferred stimulus) after expectation of the preferred vs. non-preferred category. Consistent with the putative role of a frontoparietal network in top-down modulation of activity in sensory cortex, expectation-related activity in several frontal and parietal areas correlated with the magnitude of baseline shifts in the FFA and PPA across subjects. Furthermore, expectation-related activity in lateral prefrontal cortex also correlated with the magnitude of expectation-based increases in stimulus selectivity in IT areas. These findings demonstrate that category expectation influences both baseline and stimulus-evoked activity in category-selective inferotemporal visual areas, and that these modulations may be driven by a frontoparietal attentional control network.

Expectation both helps and hinders object perception.

We examined how expectation influences perception of complex objects. Participants discriminated between normal and distorted images of famous faces or places. Word cues (mostly valid) indicated either the general category or the exact identity of the upcoming image pair. Whereas category cues did not affect performance, valid exemplar expectation led to performance benefits. Furthermore, discrimination was slower after exemplar cues from the incorrect category than after invalid exemplar cues from the correct category, indicating costs of invalid category expectation. Thus, expectation of a specific exemplar facilitates perception of that object, but hinders perception of an object from a different category.