Toward a redefinition of implicit memory: Process dissociations following elaborative processing and self-generation.

Does conceptual processing affect unconscious uses of memory? The authors used a process-dissociation procedure to separate automatic (unconscious) and consciously controlled uses of memory in a stem-completion task. Contrary to results from indirect test conditions, estimates derived from the procedure showed no effect of self-generation and no differential effect of semantic and nonsemantic study conditions on automatic uses of memory. These results provide evidence that (1) indirect tests are often contaminated by conscious uses of memory and (2) stem completion is highly dependent on prior perceptual (and perhaps lexical) processing. The experiments demonstrate the advantages of using process-dissociation procedures over comparisons between direct and indirect tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Minimizing Locality of One-Way Functions via Semi-private Randomized Encodings

A one-way function is d-local if each of its outputs depends on at most d input bits. In Applebaum et al. (SIAM J Comput 36(4):845–888, 2006), it was shown that, under relatively mild assumptions, there exist 4-local one-way functions (OWFs). This result is not far from optimal as it is not hard to show that there are no 2-local OWFs. The gap was partially closed in Applebaum et al. (2006) by showing that the existence of 3-local OWFs is implied by the intractability of decoding a random linear code (or equivalently the hardness of learning parity with noise). In this note we provide further evidence for the existence of 3-local OWFs. We construct a 3-local OWF based on the assumption that a random function of (arbitrarily large) constant locality is one-way. [A closely related assumption was previously made by Goldreich (Studies in Complexity and Cryptography. Miscellanea on the Interplay between Randomness and Computation, pp. 76–87, 2011).] Our proof consists of two steps: (1) we show that, under the above assumption, Random Local Functions remain hard to invert even when some information on the preimage x is leaked and (2) such “robust” local one-way functions can be converted to 3-local one-way functions via a new construction of semi-private randomized encoding. We believe that these results may be of independent interest.     

Gene Variant of Barrier to Autointegration Factor 2 (Banf2w) Is Concordant with Female Determination in Cichlids

Oreochromis fishes exhibit variability of sex-determination (SD) genes whose characterization contributes to understanding of the sex differentiation network, and to effective tilapia farming, which requires all-male culture. However, O. niloticus (On) amh is the only master-key regulator (MKR) of SD that has been mapped (XY/XX SD-system on LG23). In O. aureus (Oa), LG3 controls a WZ/ZZ SD-system that has recently been delimited to 9.2 Mbp, with an embedded interval rich with female-specific variation, harboring two paics genes and banf2. Developing genetic markers within this interval and using a hybrid Oa stock that demonstrates no recombination repression in LG3, we mapped the critical SD region to 235 Kbp on the orthologous On physical map (p < 1.5 × 10⁻²⁶). DNA-seq assembly and peak-proportion analysis of variation based on Sanger chromatograms allowed the characterization of copy-number variation (CNV) of banf2. Oa males had three exons capable of encoding 90-amino-acid polypeptides, yet in Oa females, we found an extra copy with an 89-amino-acid polypeptide and three non-conservative amino acid substitutions, designated as banf2w. CNV analysis suggested the existence of two to five copies of banf2 in diploidic Cichlidae. Disrupting the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (p < 4.2 × 10⁻³), banf2w was concordant with female determination in Oa and in three cichlids with LG3 WZ/ZZ SD-systems (O. tanganicae, O. hornorum and Pelmatolapia mariae). Furthermore, exclusive RNA-seq expression in Oa females strengthened the candidacy of banf2w as the long-sought LG3 SD MKR. As banf genes mediate nuclear assembly, chromatin organization, gene expression and gonad development, banf2w may play a fundamental role inducing female nucleus formation that is essential for WZ/ZZ SD.     

Regret to the best vs. regret to the average

We study online regret minimization algorithms in an experts setting. In this setting, the algorithm chooses a distribution over experts at each time step and receives a gain that is a weighted average of the experts’ instantaneous gains. We consider a bicriteria setting, examining not only the standard notion of regret to the best expert, but also the regret to the average of all experts, the regret to any given fixed mixture of experts, or the regret to the worst expert. This study leads both to new understanding of the limitations of existing no-regret algorithms, and to new algorithms with novel performance guarantees. More specifically, we show that any algorithm that achieves only $O(\sqrt{T})$ cumulative regret to the best expert on a sequence of T trials must, in the worst case, suffer regret $\varOmega(\sqrt{T})$ to the average, and that for a wide class of update rules that includes many existing no-regret algorithms (such as Exponential Weights and Follow the Perturbed Leader), the product of the regret to the best and the regret to the average is, in the worst case, Ω(T). We then describe and analyze two alternate new algorithms that both achieve cumulative regret only $O(\sqrt{T}\log T)$ to the best expert and have only constant regret to any given fixed distribution over experts (that is, with no dependence on either T or the number of experts N). The key to the first algorithm is the gradual increase in the “aggressiveness” of updates in response to observed divergences in expert performances. The second algorithm is a simple twist on standard exponential-update algorithms.     

Kinetic Data for Continuous Processes from Liquid-Liquid Loop Reactor Experiments

Process engineering is based on models, which are preferably established at laboratory scale under near-service conditions. Here, for the first time, a kinetic study of the basic hydrolysis of ethyl acetate was performed with a small volume liquid-liquid loop reactor satisfying these criteria. The activation energy and pre-exponential factor were determined that agreed with data from the literature. Acquired data could be successfully transferred to well-established ideal reactor models such as continuous stirred tank or plug flow reactors. It was, thus, possible to show that a simply scalable loop reactor, requiring only small amounts of substrate and producing minimum waste, can serve as a tool for kinetic studies of continuous processes.     

Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness of Nylon 66 nanofibrilmat interleaved carbon/epoxy laminates

Carbon/epoxy laminates interleaved with laboratory scale electrospun Nylon 66 nanofibrilmat and spunbonded nonwoven mats were investigated. The effect of the nanoscale fibers on the fracture toughness of the composite under pure Mode I loading was evaluated. It was shown that the nanofibrilmat is responsible for a major interlaminar fracture toughness improvement, as high as 255–322%, compared to a noninterleaved carbon/epoxy reference laminate. We further studied the improvement mechanism of the electrospun nanofibrilmat compared to a commercial spunbonded nonwoven Nylon 66 mat. A combination of two interlayer fracture mechanisms responsible for the toughness improvement is suggested: the first is related to the high energy dissipated by bridged thermoplastic nanofibers and the second is attributed to the generation of a plastic zone near the crack tip. The interlaminar fracture mechanisms of both electrospun nanofibrilmat and the nonwoven mat interleaving was analyzed and discussed. POLYM. COMPOS., 2011. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers