Obstacle type recognition in visual images via dilated convolutional neural network for unmanned surface vehicles

Recognition of obstacle type based on visual sensors is important for navigation by unmanned surface vehicles (USV), including path planning, obstacle avoidance, and reactive control. Conventional detection techniques may fail to distinguish obstacles that are similar in visual appearance in a cluttered environment. This work proposes a novel obstacle type recognition approach that combines a dilated operator with the deep-level features map of ResNet50 for autonomous navigation. First, visual images are collected and annotated from various different scenarios for USV test navigation. Second, the deep learning model, based on a dilated convolutional neural network, is set and trained. Dilated convolution allows the whole network to learn deep features with increased receptive field and further improves the performance of obstacle type recognition. Third, a series of evaluation parameters are utilised to evaluate the obtained model, such as the mean average precision (mAP), missing rate and detection speed. Finally, some experiments are designed to verify the accuracy of the proposed approach using visual images in a cluttered environment. Experimental results demonstrate that the dilated convolutional neural network obtains better recognition performance than the other methods, with an mAP of 88%.

Do Overweight People Have Worse Cognitive Flexibility? Cues-Triggered Food Craving May Have a Greater Impact

Background: Overweight people have been revealed to have poor cognitive flexibility. Cognitive flexibility reflects proactive and reactive control abilities. However, the impairment had not been explicitly positioned at the cognitive stage. Therefore, this study provides increased support for impairment of cognitive flexibility due to overweight. Method: The study included 34 overweight and 35 normal-weight participants. They were required to complete the food and flower target AX-continuous performance test (AX–CPT), including the resting-state fMRI and cue-triggered food craving subscales. We compared the performance difference between the two tasks. Furthermore, we investigated whether the cue-triggered food cravings and the corresponding brain regions mediated the effect of overweight on the two control mechanisms. Result: Significant differences were found only in the food target AX-CPT task, where overweight participants performed worse. Cue-triggered food cravings mediated this relationship. Additionally, we found that the brain regions associated with cue-triggered food cravings (bilateral SFG) can completely mediate the relationship between BMI and the z-value of the fat mass index and sensitivity to proactive control. Conclusion: In the food target task, overweight participants performed worse in both control mechanisms. Moreover, we also revealed the potential mechanism by which being overweight might affect the two control mechanisms through cue-triggered food cravings.

The Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control (DMCC) project: Validation of an on-line behavioral task battery

Cognitive control serves a crucial role in human higher mental functions. The Dual Mechanisms of Control (DMC) account provides a unifying theoretical framework that decomposes cognitive control into two qualitatively distinct mechanisms – proactive control and reactive control. While prior behavioral and neuroimaging work has demonstrated the validity of individual tasks in isolating these two mechanisms of control, there has not been a comprehensive, theoretically-guided task battery specifically designed to tap into proactive and reactive control across different domains of cognition. To address this critical limitation and provide useful methodological tools for future investigations, the Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control (DMCC) task battery was developed to probe these two control modes, as well as their intra-individual and inter-individual differences, across four prototypical domains of cognition: selective attention, context processing, multi-tasking, and working memory. We present this task battery, along with detailed descriptions of the experimental manipulations used to encourage shifts to proactive or reactive control in each of the four task domains. We rigorously evaluate the group effects of these manipulations in primary indices of proactive and reactive control, establishing the validity of the DMCC task battery in providing dissociable yet convergent measures of the two cognitive control modes.

Cognitive Control in Young and Older Adults: Does Mood Matter?

The dual mechanisms of control framework (DMC) proposes two modes of cognitive control: proactive and reactive control. In anticipation of an interference event, young adults primarily use a more proactive control mode, whereas older adults tend to use a more reactive one during the event, due to age-related deficits in working memory. The current study aimed to examine the effects of mood induction on cognitive control mode in older (ages 65+) compared to young adults (ages 18–30) with a standard letter-cue (Experiment 1) and a modified face-cue AX-CPT (Experiment 2). Mood induction into negative and/or positive mood versus neutral mood was conducted prior to the cognitive control task. Experiment 1 replicated the typical pattern of proactive control use in young adults and reactive control use in older adults. In Experiment 2, older adults showed comparable proactive control to young adults in their response time (RT). Mood induction showed little effect on cognitive control across the two experiments. These results did not reveal consistent effects of mood (negative or positive) on cognitive control mode in young and older adults, but discovered (or demonstrated) that older adults can engage proactive control when dichotomous face cues (female or male) are used in AX-CPT.

People with nicotine dependence use-disorder exhibit more prefrontal activity during preparatory control but reduced anterior cingulate activity during reactive control

Reduced inhibitory control and a hypersensitivity to reward are key deficits in drug-dependents, however, they tend to be studied in isolation. Here we seek to understand the neural processes underlying control over reward and how this is different in people with a nicotine use disorder (pNUD). A novel variant of the monetary incentive delay task was performed by pNUD (n = 20) and non-smokers (n = 20), where we added a stop-signal component such that participants had to inhibit prepotent responses to earn a larger monetary reward. Brain activity was recorded using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We estimated stop signal reaction times (SSRT), an indicator of impulsivity, and correlated these with brain activity. Inhibitory accuracy scores did not differ between the control group and pNUD. However, pNUD had slower SSRTs, suggesting that they may find it harder to inhibit responses. Brain data revealed that pNUD had greater preparatory control activity in the middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus prior to successful inhibitions over reward. In contrast, non-smokers had greater reactive control associated with more activity in the anterior cingulate cortex during these successful inhibitions. SSRT-brain activity correlations revealed that pNUD engaged more control related prefrontal brain regions when SSRTs are slower. Overall, whilst the inhibition accuracy scores were similar between groups, differential neural processes and strategies were used to successfully inhibit a prepotent response. The findings suggest that increasing preparatory control in pNUD may be one possible treatment target in order to increase inhibitory control over reward.

Autonomous Outflow Control Technology AOCD in New Water/Polymer Injectors in Heavy Oil Fields from South Sultanate of Oman

Several techniques have been applied to improve fluid conformance of injection wells to increase water flooding performance and eventually field oil recovery. Normal outflow control devices (OCDs) are effective solutions for this problem in reservoirs with static properties, however, they fail in reservoirs with complex/dynamic properties including fractures. There, the continuously increasing contrast in the injectivity of a section with the fractures compared to the rest of the well causes diverting a great portion of the injected fluid into the thief zone thus creating short-circuit to the nearby producer wells. This paper summarizes the integrated technical learnings from the successful application of the installation of the first Autonomous Outflow Control (AOCD) technology in a new long horizontal injector well. It shows the result of extending this technology to other injectors in both water and polymer phases in the field, it details the facts and observations and the insights the multidisciplinary authors have captured. This autonomously reactive control on the injection fluid conformance resulted in an increased sweep and ultimate oil recovery while reducing the total volume of injected fluid.

Motivation reduces positive and negative emotional distractions

<p>Attention is biased toward emotional stimuli, which are often important for our biologically-determined goals of survival and reproduction. But to succeed in our daily tasks we must sometimes ignore emotional stimuli that are not relevant to current goals. In four experiments, I examine the extent to which we can ignore emotional stimuli if we are motivated to do so. I draw on the Dual Mechanisms of Control (DMC) framework which proposes that we use two modes of control to deal with distraction: reactive control, which shifts attention back to a task after distraction has occurred; and proactive control, which allows us to anticipate and control distraction before it occurs. In non-emotional contexts, task motivation encourages use of more effective, but more effortful, proactive control to ignore emotionally-neutral distractions. But, little is known about how we can control our attention to ignore highly distracting emotional stimuli. In all experiments, participants completed a simple visual task while attempting to ignore task-irrelevant negative (mutilation scenes), positive (erotic scenes), and neutral images (scenes of people). Distraction was indexed by slowing on distractor trials relative to a scrambled distractor, or no distractor, baseline. To manipulate motivation, half the participants completed the task with no performance-contingent reward; the other half completed the task with the opportunity to earn points and/or money for fast and accurate performance. In Experiment 1 the images were presented centrally, so attention must be shifted from the distractor location to complete the task. Reward reduced distraction by both positive and negative emotional images. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1, and measured pupil dilation to index the timecourse of cognitive effort. The aim of Experiment 2 was to determine whether motivation elicits a shift to proactive control to reduce emotional distraction, as it does in non-emotional contexts. Again, reward reduced positive and negative distraction. Pupil findings indicated that reward dynamically enhanced proactive control prior to stimulus-onset, facilitating rapid disengagement from distractors, regardless of their expected emotional value. In contrast, a sustained proactive strategy was used across blocks in which emotional distractors were expected, relative to blocks in which neutral distractors were expected. In the final two experiments, the distractors were presented peripherally and so must capture attention away from the central targets to impair performance. In Experiment 3, and in Experiment 4 – in which the points did not represent money – reward reduced attentional capture by positive and negative emotional distractors. Together, findings show that motivation can enhance control of positive and negative distractions that appear both centrally, and peripherally. Findings extend the DMC framework to an emotional context; motivation elicits a shift to proactive control, even when distractors are high arousal emotional stimuli. Further, in three out of four experiments, reward reduced emotional to a greater extent than neutral distraction, consistent with reward altering the outcome of goal-driven attentional competition between the targets and distractors. Understanding the complex interactions between motivation, emotion, and cognitive control will help to elucidate how we successfully navigate the world to achieve our goals.</p>

Motivation reduces positive and negative emotional distractions

<p>Attention is biased toward emotional stimuli, which are often important for our biologically-determined goals of survival and reproduction. But to succeed in our daily tasks we must sometimes ignore emotional stimuli that are not relevant to current goals. In four experiments, I examine the extent to which we can ignore emotional stimuli if we are motivated to do so. I draw on the Dual Mechanisms of Control (DMC) framework which proposes that we use two modes of control to deal with distraction: reactive control, which shifts attention back to a task after distraction has occurred; and proactive control, which allows us to anticipate and control distraction before it occurs. In non-emotional contexts, task motivation encourages use of more effective, but more effortful, proactive control to ignore emotionally-neutral distractions. But, little is known about how we can control our attention to ignore highly distracting emotional stimuli. In all experiments, participants completed a simple visual task while attempting to ignore task-irrelevant negative (mutilation scenes), positive (erotic scenes), and neutral images (scenes of people). Distraction was indexed by slowing on distractor trials relative to a scrambled distractor, or no distractor, baseline. To manipulate motivation, half the participants completed the task with no performance-contingent reward; the other half completed the task with the opportunity to earn points and/or money for fast and accurate performance. In Experiment 1 the images were presented centrally, so attention must be shifted from the distractor location to complete the task. Reward reduced distraction by both positive and negative emotional images. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1, and measured pupil dilation to index the timecourse of cognitive effort. The aim of Experiment 2 was to determine whether motivation elicits a shift to proactive control to reduce emotional distraction, as it does in non-emotional contexts. Again, reward reduced positive and negative distraction. Pupil findings indicated that reward dynamically enhanced proactive control prior to stimulus-onset, facilitating rapid disengagement from distractors, regardless of their expected emotional value. In contrast, a sustained proactive strategy was used across blocks in which emotional distractors were expected, relative to blocks in which neutral distractors were expected. In the final two experiments, the distractors were presented peripherally and so must capture attention away from the central targets to impair performance. In Experiment 3, and in Experiment 4 – in which the points did not represent money – reward reduced attentional capture by positive and negative emotional distractors. Together, findings show that motivation can enhance control of positive and negative distractions that appear both centrally, and peripherally. Findings extend the DMC framework to an emotional context; motivation elicits a shift to proactive control, even when distractors are high arousal emotional stimuli. Further, in three out of four experiments, reward reduced emotional to a greater extent than neutral distraction, consistent with reward altering the outcome of goal-driven attentional competition between the targets and distractors. Understanding the complex interactions between motivation, emotion, and cognitive control will help to elucidate how we successfully navigate the world to achieve our goals.</p>

Parenting behaviors, parenting styles, and non-suicidal self-injury in young people: a systematic review

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a worrying phenomenon that is prevalent among young people. Prior theorizing and empirical evidence suggest that parenting may play a role in the etiology of NSSI. Thus, we conducted a systematic review to examine the association between parenting behaviors and parenting styles with NSSI in young people. Methods: The following databases were searched for relevant articles in July 2020: PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL Plus, and PsycINFO. Studies were included if they sampled young persons aged 10–25 years old with a history of NSSI, assessed parenting behavior or style, and tested associations between parenting and NSSI outcomes. Results: A total of 26 studies were included in this review. Among parenting behaviors, low parental support, high psychological control, and high reactive control were more consistently associated with NSSI. Conversely, the evidence for behavioral control is equivocal. There is some evidence that invalidating parenting is also associated with NSSI. Conclusion: Consistent with the wider adolescent psychopathology literature, parenting that is perceived to be supportive, less psychologically controlling and reactive/punitive were less likely to be associated with NSSI. However, these results were largely based on child reports of parenting. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.