The phenomenon of relay race molecular transfer of the amount of motion and its relationship with the diffusion phenomenon

The very fact of molecular transfer of the amount of motion, including in an ideal gas in an equilibrium state, has long been well known. However, this fact is still not realized as a physical phenomenon of transfer, equivalent to such transfer phenomena as diffusion, thermal conductivity and viscosity. The key concept used in this paper when describing the phenomenon of relay race molecular transfer of the amount of motion is the concept - “molecular relay race type of motion”. A molecular relay race model of an ideal gas in an equilibrium state is proposed, as well as a molecular relay race model of a mixture of two ideal gases at constant temperature and pressure. It is shown that the value of the velocity modulus of diffusion flows is one of the physical characteristics of the mixture as a whole. It is also shown that the total density of the substance carried by the diffusion flows is many orders of magnitude less than the total density of the inhomogeneous multicomponent mixture.

Visual Perceptual Load Attenuates Age-Related Audiovisual Integration in an Audiovisual Discrimination Task

Previous studies confirmed that the cognitive resources are limited for each person, and perceptual load affects the detection of stimulus greatly; however, how the visual perceptual load influences audiovisual integration (AVI) is still unclear. Here, 20 older and 20 younger adults were recruited to perform an auditory/visual discrimination task under various visual perceptual-load conditions. The analysis for the response times revealed a significantly faster response to the audiovisual stimulus than to the visual stimulus or auditory stimulus (all p < 0.001), and a significantly slower response by the older adults than by the younger adults to all targets (all p ≤ 0.024). The race-model analysis revealed a higher AV facilitation effect for older (12.54%) than for younger (7.08%) adults under low visual perceptual-load conditions; however, no obvious difference was found between younger (2.92%) and older (3.06%) adults under medium visual perceptual-load conditions. Only the AV depression effect was found for both younger and older adults under high visual perceptual-load conditions. Additionally, the peak latencies of AVI were significantly delayed in older adults under all visual perceptual-load conditions. These results suggested that visual perceptual load decreased AVI (i.e., depression effects), and the AVI effect was increased but delayed for older adults.

Transient beta modulates decision thresholds during human action-stopping

Action-stopping in humans involves bursts of beta oscillations in prefrontal-basal ganglia regions. To determine the functional role of these beta bursts we took advantage of the Race Model framework describing action-stopping. We incorporated beta bursts in three race model variants, each implementing a different functional contribution of beta to action-stopping. In these variants, we hypothesized that a transient increase in beta could 1) modulate decision thresholds, 2) change stop accumulation rates, or 3) promote the interaction between the Stop and the Go process. We then tested the model predictions using EEG recordings in humans performing a Stop-signal task. We found that the model variant in which beta increased decision thresholds for a brief period of time best explained the empirical data. The model parameters fitted to the empirical data indicated that beta bursts involve a stronger decision threshold modulation for the Go process than for the Stop process. This suggests that prefrontal beta influences stopping by temporarily holding the response from execution. Our study further suggests that human action-stopping could be multi-staged with the beta acting as a pause, increasing the response threshold for the Stop process to modulate behavior successfully. Our novel approach of introducing transient oscillations into the race model and testing against human neurophysiological data allowed us to discover potential mechanisms of prefrontal beta, possibly generalizing its role in situations requiring executive control over actions.

Sustained Auditory Attentional Load Decreases Audiovisual Integration in Older and Younger Adults

The modulation of attentional load on the perception of auditory and visual information has been widely reported; however, whether attentional load alters audiovisual integration (AVI) has seldom been investigated. Here, to explore the effect of sustained auditory attentional load on AVI and the effects of aging, nineteen older and 20 younger adults performed an AV discrimination task with a rapid serial auditory presentation task competing for attentional resources. The results showed that responses to audiovisual stimuli were significantly faster than those to auditory and visual stimuli ( AV > V ≥ A , all p < 0.001 ), and the younger adults were significantly faster than the older adults under all attentional load conditions (all p < 0.001 ). The analysis of the race model showed that AVI was decreased and delayed with the addition of auditory sustained attention ( no _ load > load _ 1 > load _ 2 > load _ 3 > load _ 4 ) for both older and younger adults. In addition, AVI was lower and more delayed in older adults than in younger adults in all attentional load conditions. These results suggested that auditory sustained attentional load decreased AVI and that AVI was reduced in older adults.

Action inhibition revisited: a new method identifies compromised reactive but intact proactive control in Tourette disorder

Tourette disorder (TD) is characterized by tics, which are sudden repetitive involuntary movements or vocalizations. Deficits in inhibitory control in TD patients remain inconclusive from the traditional method of estimating the ability to stop an impending action, which requires careful interpretation of a parameter derived from race model. One possible explanation for these inconsistencies is that race model's assumptions are often violated. Here, we used a pair of metrics derived from a recent alternative model to address why stopping performance in TD patients is unaffected by impairments in neural circuitry. These new metrics distinguish between proactive and reactive inhibitory control and estimate them separately. When these metrics were contrasted with healthy controls (HC), we identified robust deficits in reactive control in TD patients, but not in proactive control. The patient population exhibited difficulty in slowing down the speed of movement planning, which they compensated by their intact ability of procrastination.

Research on Slicing Chip Forming and Wear Analysis of Arc-tooth Slice Tool With Equal-rake Angle

As a new technology of gear processing, the gear slicing technology has distinct characteristics and broad application prospects. However, the lack in wear and life of the slice tool hinders the further widespread application of the gear slicing technology. Considering the chip forming mechanism is an important basis affecting the wear and service life of the cutter, this paper takes the arc-tooth slice tool with equal-rake angle (ATST-ERA) as the carrier and studies the chip forming and tool wear. Aiming at the particularity of the slicing process, the cutting process is unified and abstracted, and the cutting edge model, the cutting edge race model and the workpiece tooth surface model of the ATST-ERA are established, and then the undeformed chip geometry model is obtained. The correctness of the parametric model of the undeformed chip was verified by comparative analysis. Based on this model, the load of the cutting edge is calculated using the Kienzle empirical formula of the cutting force. By analyzing the relationship with the wear of the rake face, the positive correlation between the cutting edge load and the rake face wear of the ATST-ERA is found. The chip forming modeling method proposed in this paper provides a theoretical basis for the control of the slicing chip forming and the improvement of tool wear.