scholarly journals The Role of Blinks, Microsaccades and their Retinal Consequences in Bistable Motion Perception

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mareike Brych ◽  
Supriya Murali ◽  
Barbara Händel
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
The Other ◽  
Coherent Motion ◽  
Blink Rate ◽  
Motion Direction ◽  
Perceived Motion

Eye-related movements such as blinks and microsaccades are modulated during bistable perceptual tasks. However, if they play an active role during internal perceptual switches is not known. We conducted two experiments involving an ambiguous plaid stimulus, wherein participants were asked to continuously report their percept, which could consist of either unidirectional coherent or bidirectional component movement. Our main results show that blinks and microsaccades did not facilitate perceptual switches. On the contrary, a reduction in eye movements preceded the perceptual switch. Blanks, on the other hand, thought to mimic the retinal consequences of a blink, consistently led to a switch. Through the timing of the blank-introduced perceptual change, we were able to estimate the delay between the internal switch and the response. This delay further allowed us to evaluate that the reduction in blink probability co-occurred with the internal perceptual switch. Additionally, our results indicate that distinct internal processes underlie the switch to coherent vs. component percept. Blanks exclusively facilitated a switch to the coherent percept, and only the switch to coherent percept was followed by an increase in blink rate. In a second study, we largely replicated the findings and included a microsaccade analysis. Microsaccades only showed a weak relation with perceptual switches, but their direction was correlated with the perceived motion direction. Nevertheless, our data suggests an interaction between microsaccades and blinks by showing that microsaccades were differently modulated around blinks compared with blanks. This study shows that a reduction in eye movements precedes internal perceptual switches indicating that the rate of blinks can set the stage for a reinterpretation of sensory input. While a perceptual switch based on changed sensory input usually leads to an increase in blink rate, such an increase was only present after the perceptual switch to coherent motion but absent after the switch to component percept. This provides evidence of different underlying mechanism or internal consequence of the two perceptual switches and suggests that blinks can uncover differences in internal percept-related processes that are not evident from the percept itself.

scholarly journals The influence of eye movements and their retinal consequences on bistable motion perception

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mareike Brych ◽  
Supriya Murali ◽  
Barbara Händel
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Motion Perception ◽  
The Other ◽  
Coherent Motion ◽  
Motion Direction ◽  
Similar Difference ◽  
External Events ◽  
Motion Percept ◽  
Perceived Motion

AbstractEye related movements such as blinks and microsaccades are modulated during bistable perceptual tasks, however, the role of such movements in these purely internal perceptual switches is not known. We conducted two experiments involving an ambiguous plaid stimulus, wherein participants had to continuously report their motion percept. To dissociate the effect of blinks and microsaccades from the visual consequences of such eye movements, we added external blanks and microshifts.Our results showed that while blanks facilitated a switch to the coherent motion percept, this was not the case for a switch to component percept. A similar difference was found with respect to blinks. While both types of perceptual switches were preceded by a decrease in blinks, only the switch to coherent percept was followed by an increase in blinks. These blink related findings, which we largely replicated and refined in a second study, indicate distinct internal processes underlying the two perceptual switches. Microsaccade rates, on the other hand, only showed a weak relation with perceptual switches but their direction was modulated by the perceived motion direction. Additionally, our data showed that microsaccades are differently modulated around internal (blinks) and external events (blanks, microshifts), indicating an interaction between different eye related movements.This study shows that eye movements such as blinks and microsaccades are modulated by purely internal perceptual events independent of task related motor or attentional demands. Eye movements therefore can uncover distinct internal perceptual processes that might otherwise be hard to dissociate.

Political Leadership Performance in a Mediatized World

2020 ◽  
pp. 111-132
Author(s):  
Eva Sørensen
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Styles ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
The Other ◽  
Leadership Performance ◽  
The Media

Political communication is becoming increasingly mediatized. Mediatization refers both to a gradual increase in the role of the media in political communication and the spillover effects that this increase has had on the way politics takes place and is organized and relatedly, the performance of political leadership. Of particular importance for political leadership styles is the surge of drama politics, the fragmentation of political communication and the active role of citizens in political communication. Chapter 9’s typology of democratic political leadership performance lays the ground for an analysis of how paternalist, populist, engaged, and interactive political leadership styles are affected by the increased mediatization. The analysis suggests that an interactive political leadership style is more viable than the other three political leadership styles to patterns of mediatization in the age of governance.

scholarly journals RNA polymerase II plays an active role in the formation of gene loops through the Rpb4 subunit

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (17) ◽  
pp. 8975-8987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Allepuz-Fuster ◽  
Michael J O’Brien ◽  
Noelia González-Polo ◽  
Bianca Pereira ◽  
Zuzer Dhoondia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rna Polymerase ◽  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Transcription Termination ◽  
Active Role ◽  
The Other ◽  
Loop Formation ◽  
Direct Role

AbstractGene loops are formed by the interaction of initiation and termination factors occupying the distal ends of a gene during transcription. RNAPII is believed to affect gene looping indirectly owing to its essential role in transcription. The results presented here, however, demonstrate a direct role of RNAPII in gene looping through the Rpb4 subunit. 3C analysis revealed that gene looping is abolished in the rpb4Δ mutant. In contrast to the other looping-defective mutants, rpb4Δ cells do not exhibit a transcription termination defect. RPB4 overexpression, however, rescued the transcription termination and gene looping defect of sua7-1, a mutant of TFIIB. Furthermore, RPB4 overexpression rescued the ssu72-2 gene looping defect, while SSU72 overexpression restored the formation of gene loops in rpb4Δ cells. Interestingly, the interaction of TFIIB with Ssu72 is compromised in rpb4Δ cells. These results suggest that the TFIIB–Ssu72 interaction, which is critical for gene loop formation, is facilitated by Rpb4. We propose that Rpb4 is promoting the transfer of RNAPII from the terminator to the promoter for reinitiation of transcription through TFIIB–Ssu72 mediated gene looping.

scholarly journals Seeing Global Motion in a Random Dot Image Sequence

i-Perception ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 204166952096110
Author(s):  
Chien-Chung Chen ◽  
Hiroshi Ashida ◽  
Xirui Yang ◽  
Pei-Yin Chen
Keyword(s):  
Random Walk ◽  
Image Sequence ◽  
Image Sequences ◽  
Spatial Context ◽  
Coherent Motion ◽  
Global Motion ◽  
Motion Direction ◽  
Motion Energy ◽  
Random Image ◽  
Perceived Motion

In a stimulus with multiple moving elements, an observer may perceive that the whole stimulus moves in unison if (a) one can associate an element in one frame with one in the next (correspondence) and (b) a sufficient proportion of correspondences signal a similar motion direction (coherence). We tested the necessity of these two conditions by asking the participants to rate the perceived intensity of linear, concentric, and radial motions for three types of stimuli: (a) random walk motion, in which the direction of each dot was randomly determined for each frame, (b) random image sequence, which was a set of uncorrelated random dot images presented in sequence, and (c) global motion, in which 35% of dots moved coherently. The participants perceived global motion not only in the global motion conditions but also in the random image sequences, though not in random walk motion. The type of perceived motion in the random image sequences depends on the spatial context of the stimuli. Thus, although there is neither a fixed correspondence across different frames nor a coherent motion direction, observers can still perceive global motion in the random image sequence. This result cannot be explained by motion energy or local aperture border effects.

On Insignificance

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-268
Author(s):  
Massimo Leone ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Active Role ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

The article proposes a typology of meaninglessness based on the semiotics of Charles S. Peirce: meaningless as indecipherable; as incomprehensible; and as uncanny. Each type is exemplified with reference to anecdotic semiotic experience gained while riding Japanese buses. Meaninglessness, however, is not insignificance. Insignificance is a much more disquieting anthropological condition, which the article describes with reference to two symmetrical processes: on the one hand, the euphoric passage from significance to insignificance, a passage meant as the “birth of new meaning”; on the other hand, the dysphoric passage from significance to insignificance, a passage which coincides with the alienation of human existence. Through several examples take from present-day societies, the article advocates for an active role of semiotics in warning human communities against the “emergence of insignificance” and its potential of violence and exploitation.

scholarly journals The Role of Intestinal Dysbacteriosis Induced Arachidonic Acid Metabolism Disorder in Inflammaging in Atherosclerosis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingxin Sun ◽  
Danbin Wu ◽  
Wenyun Zeng ◽  
Yefei Chen ◽  
Maojuan Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arachidonic Acid ◽  
Intestinal Flora ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Lesion Size ◽  
Arachidonic Acid Metabolism ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mucosal Barrier ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Aged Mice

BackgroundAging induced chronic systemic inflammatory response is an important risk factor for atherosclerosis (AS) development; however, the detailed mechanism is yet to be elucidated.ObjectiveTo explore the underlying mechanism of how aging aggravates AS advancement.MethodsA young (five-week-old, YM) and aged group (32-week-old, OM) male apoE-/- mice with a high fat diet were used as models, and age-matched male wild-type C57BL/6J (WT) mice were used as controls. AS lesion size, serum lipid profile, cytokines, and gut microbiota-derived LPS were analyzed after 32 weeks of diet intervention. A correlation analysis between the 16S rRNA sequencing of the feces and serum metabolomics profiles was applied to examine the effect of their interactions on AS.ResultsApoE-/- mice developed severe atherosclerosis and inflammation in the aorta compared to the WT groups, and aged apoE-/- mice suffered from a more severe AS lesion than their younger counterparts and had low-grade systemic inflammation. Furthermore, increased levels of serum LPS, decreased levels of SCFAs production, as well as dysfunction of the ileal mucosal barrier were detected in aged mice compared with their younger counterparts. There were significant differences in the intestinal flora composition among the four groups, and harmful bacteria such as Lachnospiraceae_FCS020, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-009, Acetatifactor, Lachnoclostridium and Lactobacillus_gasseri were significantly increased in the aged apoE-/- mice compared with the other groups. Concurrently, metabolomics profiling revealed that components involved in the arachidonic acid (AA) metabolic pathway such as 20-HETE, PGF2α, arachidonic acid, and LTB4 were significantly higher in the aged AS group than in the other groups. This suggested that metabolic abnormalities and disorders of intestinal flora occurred in AS mice.ConclusionsAging not only altered the gut microbiome community but also substantially disturbed metabolic conditions. Our results confirm that AA metabolism is associated with the imbalance of the intestinal flora in the AS lesions of aged mice. These findings may offer new insights regarding the role of gut flora disorders and its consequent metabolite changed in inflammaging during AS development.

scholarly journals Rethinking Financial Rewards for Whistle- Blowers Under the Proposal for a Directive on the Protection of Whistle-blowers Reporting Breaches of EU Law

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-49
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Kafteranis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Financial Sector ◽  
Active Role ◽  
The United States ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The Other ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The Eu

The European Commission recently published a proposal for a Directive on the protection of whistle-blowers reporting breaches of EU law. This proposal is welcomed not only by the legal community but also by many citizens who desire more transparency. The recent scandals revealed by whistle-blowers along with the active role of the European Parliament have led the European Commission to propose this important text of the proposed Directive. The whistle-blower is recognised as an enforcement tool for the EU and is a key component in helping to ensure the successful enforcement of EU law. There is one element, however, that is not discussed by the European Commission: financial rewards for the whistle-blowers.1 The United States, especially in the financial sector, has adopted a system of financial awards. Europe, on the other hand, is resistant to introducing such incentives. The aim of this paper is to introduce the proposal for a Directive and to highlight the problems that such a step may create at the EU level.

scholarly journals Existence of the Audit Expectation Gap and Its Impact on Stakeholders’ Confidence: The Moderating Role of the Financial Reporting Council

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Taslima Akther ◽  
Fengju Xu
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
The Other ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Expectation Gap ◽  
Social And Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Social

This paper empirically emphasizes the existence of the audit expectation gap and its impact on stakeholders’ confidence, moderated by the active role of the financial reporting council. As a maiden attempt to portray the relationship, a higher-order model has been constituted and assessed with the pragmatic exploration, smearing the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM). The data contains 174 respondents as auditors, investors, investment and credit analysts, and regulatory agencies in Bangladesh. The study explores audit expectation gap from diverse aspects, such as auditors responsibility for fraud detection, meaning, and usefulness of the audit report, auditors providing the non-audit services, auditors’ responsibility for going concern reporting, and also an unmet expectation for the other assurance services, such as assurance on the other parts of the annual report beyond the financial statements, like management discussion and analysis and corporate social and environmental disclosure. The findings suggest that the audit expectation gap is negatively related to stakeholders’ confidence and the greater the audit expectation gap is, the lower stakeholders’ confidence is in the audit. Auditors maintaining perceived independence and improving the level of communication with users will diminish the audit expectation gap and induce stakeholders’ confidence simultaneously. Moreover, the active role of the financial reporting council acts as a moderator to ensure the auditors’ perceived independence. The result of the study motivates the policymakers to concentrate on the users’ audit-related expectations and also intends the importance of independent audit oversight.

scholarly journals Facilitating animacy perception by manipulating relative visual attention

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshiki Saito ◽  
Kosuke Motoki ◽  
Rui Nouchi ◽  
Motoaki Sugiura
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Active Role ◽  
The Other ◽  
Potential Danger ◽  
Top Down ◽  
The Face ◽  
Reverse Relationship ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Study Participants

Animacy perception—discriminating between animate and inanimate visual stimuli—is the basis for engaging in social cognition and for our survival (e.g. avoiding potential danger). Previous studies indicate that bottom-up factors, such as the features or motion of a target, enhance animacy perception. However, top-down factors such as elements in perceivers have received little attention. Research on judgment, decision-making, and neuroeconomics indicate the active role of visual attention in constructing decisions. This study examined the role of visual attention in the perception of animacy by manipulating the relative visual attention to targets. Among Studies 1a to 1c conducted in this study, participants saw two face illustrations alternately; one of the faces was shown to be longer than the other. The participants chose the face that they considered more animated and rounder. Consequently, longer visual attention towards targets facilitated animacy perception and preference rather than the perception of roundness. Furthermore, pre-registered Study 2 examined the underlying mechanisms. The results suggest that mere exposure, rather than orienting behaviour, might play a key role in the perception of animacy. These results suggest that in the reverse relationship between attention and animacy perception, animate objects capture attention, and attention results in the perception of animacy.

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