空间频率通道中噪声对体视匹配的影响

本工作希望了解噪声在各空间频率通道中对体视的影响.产生从5%至35%每隔5%的七个等级的随机点噪声图象,参照Wilson四通道模型的频率分别用两种不同滤波器对随机点立体图对(RDS)及噪声图象进行滤波,然后在各通道图对中加入不同通道噪声进行匹配观察.得到:1.高频通道的体视抗干扰能力高于低频通道.2.Gabor函数滤波后图对的体视抗干扰能力高于Butterworth滤波器滤波后的,但均低于未滤波的.3.当噪声大于15%时,低频噪声对低频图对及高频噪声对高、低频图对的体视匹配有抑制作用,而低频噪声对高频图对则影响很小.4.未滤波及各通道图对的最大噪声容限均不超过25%.     

Study of parvocellular and magnocellular visual channels in normal subjects and in patients with psychopathology

We measured susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer illusion in schizophrenic patients and normal observers. The images of the Müller-Lyer figure were digitally filtered in a high-frequency and low-frequency band by wavelet filter. Patients with schizophrenia are more susceptible to Müller-Lyer illusion, than mentally healthy examinees. The images of the Müller-Lyer figure with low spatial frequency were perceived in a similar way by the schizophrenic patients on the initial stage of disease and the control subjects. Patients with schizophrenia were more sensitive to the Müller-Lyer illusion when the image contained only high or medium spatial frequency. Schizophrenic patients in advanced stage were more susceptible to the illusion while presented with all types of images of the Müller-Lyer figure than the control group. It is hypothesized that those differences arise from the mismatch work of the magnocellular and parvocellular systems. It is known that images with the high spatial frequencies are most relevant for the parvocellular visual channels. The magnocellular visual channels are most sensitive to the images with the low spatial frequencies. Thus these findings demonstrate a significant impairment in parvocellular pathway function in patients on initial stage of schizophrenia. The patients on advanced stage of schizophrenia demonstrate impairment of both the parvocellular and magnocellular systems.     

A model of striate response properties based on geniculate anisotropies

The orientation biases seen in the responses of cells in the retina and dLGN are dependent on the spatial frequency of the stimulus, being appreciable only at higher spatial frequencies. An inhibitory mechanism that suppresses the responses to low spatial frequencies would leave a striate cell receiving a biased geniculate input with an orientation sensitivity at the higher spatial frequencies. Such an inhibition could in fact come from one or a small group of LGN cells (through cortical interneurones), since their response extends to spatial frequencies much lower than for cortical cells at the same eccentricity. According to this scheme, a number of other striate response characteristics, e.g., their length and spatial frequency response functions, can also be explained.     

Phase channels and the square-wave illusion

We have utilized a phase-sensitive effect, the square-wave illusion, to investigate the presence and tuning of phase-sensitive mechanisms. Subjects viewed a 1 c/deg triangular-wave grating and reported the presence or absence of the illusion, before and after adaptation to square-wave gratings of various spatial frequencies. Illusion strength declined with adaptation and was a function of spatial frequency. This function may reflect the spatial frequency tuning of a 'phase channel'. We have also measured by adaptation a contrast sensitivity function, maximally sensitive to a frequency of 1 c/deg. When normalized to the same maximal depression from baseline sensitivity, the phase channel and spatial-frequency channel shared the same low frequency tuning, but the phase channel was broader, with extended sensitivity to higher frequencies. These results can be understood if the phase channel is constructed from combinations of phase sensitive spatial-frequency channels.     

Endogenous chloride channels of insect sf9 cells. Evidence for coordinated activity of small elementary channel units

The endogenous Cl- conductance of Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells was studied 20-35 h after plating out of either uninfected cells or cells infected by a baculovirus vector carrying the cloned beta-galactosidase gene (beta-Gal cells). With the cation Tris+ in the pipette and Na+ in the bath, the reversal potential of whole-cell currents was governed by the prevailing Cl- equilibrium potential and could be fitted by the Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz equation with similar permeabilities for uninfected and beta-Gal cells. In the frequency range 0.12 < f < 300 Hz, the power density spectrum of whole-cell Cl- currents could be fitted by three Lorentzians. Independent of membrane potential, >50% of the total variance of whole-cell current fluctuations was accounted for by the low frequency Lorentzian (fc = 0.40 +/- 0.03 Hz, n = 6). Single-Cl- channels showed complex gating kinetics with long lasting (seconds) openings interrupted by similar long closures. In the open state, channels exhibited fast burst-like closures. Since the patches normally contained more than a single channel, it was not possible to measure open and closed dwell-time distributions for comparing single-Cl- channel activity with the kinetic features of whole-cell currents. However, the power density spectrum of Cl- currents of cell-attached and excised outside-out patches contained both high and low frequency Lorentzian components, with the corner frequency of the slow component (fc = 0.40 +/- 0.02 Hz, n = 4) similar to that of whole-cell current fluctuations. Chloride channels exhibited multiple conductance states with similar Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz-type rectification. Single-channel permeabilities covered the range from approximately 0.6.10(-14) cm5/s to approximately 6.10(-14) cm3/s, corresponding to a limiting conductance (gamma 150/150) of approximately 3.5 pS and approximately 35 pS, respectively. All states reversed near the same membrane potential, and they exhibited similar halide ion selectivity, P1 > PCl approximately PBr. Accordingly, Cl- current amplitudes larger than current flow through the smallest channel unit resolved seem to result from simultaneous open/shut events of two or more channel units.     

Spatial organization of EEG activity during active hyperventilation (cyclic breath) I. general patterns of changes in brain functional state and the effect of paroxysmal activity

Changes in spatial organization of EEG activity were analyzed in 44 humans during active 1-h hyperventilation using cyclic or circular breath (CB) technique similar to rebirthing breath technique. The dynamics of different indices was recorded each 5 min (using 12 time slots). A double-humped pattern of changes in spatial organization indices (linear processes) and spatial disorder (nonlinear processes) of biopotentials: an initial decrease within 1 to 20–30 min and a second one from 35–40 min to the end of session. A complex dynamics of spatial frequency processes (coherence and spectral power of biopotentials) with different pattern of changes within narrow frequency EEG bands. The dynamics of the spatial organization of EEG indices proved to depend on the intensity of hyperventilation-induced paroxysmal activity. The indices of spatial synchronization and disorder of biopotentials as well as low frequency β-activity (16.00–22.50 Hz) decreased more at the background of high rather than low paroxysmal activity, while the low frequency components (Δ and Θ) and high frequency α-activity (11.25–12.50 Hz) increased more. The obtained data are considered in terms of specific consciousness state induced by CB.     

Does a lack of mating opportunities explain monandry in the green‐veined white butterfly (Pieris napi)?

In the nuptial gift-giving butterfly, Pieris napi, multiple mating corresponds to higher lifetime fecundity than monandry does. Yet, female mating frequency, which is genetically determined and heritable, varies from strict monandry to a high degree of polyandry. Polyandrous females are known to suffer from reduced longevity when denied the opportunity to mate according to their intrinsic mating frequency. Here we test if monandry is likely to be maintained due to a lack of mating opportunities in the wild. We also explore longitudinal variation in female mating frequency (i.e. lifetime number of matings) and remating rate (i.e. time interval between successive matings). The latter was explored by comparing the mating patterns of females with varying origins in a laboratory, and the former by comparing the mating frequencies of wild and laboratory females. We were able to reveal spatial variation in female mating frequency, with monandry being a clearly more common mating tactic in the north than in the south. However, we did not find direct evidence that either the maintenance of monandry or spatial variation in female mating frequency is promoted by a lack of mating opportunities. Still, our findings may have profound implications, since decreasing mating frequency towards the north generates spatial variation in the strength of sexual selection.     

Spatial frequency response functions obtained from cat visual evoked potentials

Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were obtained from the surface of teh cat visual cortex in response to contrast reversing sinusoidal gratings. Gratings of different spatial frequency were presented either separately, using signal averaging to increase the signal-to-noise ratio, or as a spatial frequency sweep, in which spatial frequency was sequentially increased every 5 sec during a 40 sec trial (3.99 Hz) or every 3 sec during a 24 sec trial (6.65 Hz). The second harmonic amplitude- and phase-spatial frequency functions derived from averaging or from sweep trials were similar, indicating that the swept stimulus method can be used to provide a rapid and reliable measure of the VEP-spatial frequency function. Intravenous administration of physostigmine, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, evoked a spatial frequency-dependent change in VEP amplitude. At 3.99 Hz, responses to low spatial frequencies were enhanced to a greater extent than were responses to high spatial frequency stimuli. At 6.65 Hz, responses to mid-range spatial frequencies were enhanced to a greater extent than were responses to low and high spatial frequency stimuli. VEP phase at both 3.99 and 6.65 Hz was advanced to a greater degree at the higher spatial frequencies. These results indicate that the swept spatial frequency method may be useful in studying spatial frequency-dependent pharmacological effects on the VEP and support the possibility that pharmacological disruption of the cholinergic visual system can produce such changes.     

The aesthetic experience of 'contour binding'

To find the diagnostic spatial frequency information in different painting styles (cubism, impressionism and realism), we have compared sensitivity (d') in distinguishing signal (subject of the painting) from noise with normal, high-pass and low-pass filtered images at long (150 ms) and short (30 ms) exposure. We found that for cubist-style images, d' increases with high-pass filtering compared with normal and low-pass filtered images, but decreases with low-pass filtering compared with normal images. These results indicate that channels with high spatial resolution provide the diagnostic information to solve the binding problem. Sensitivity for images in impressionist style was instead reduced by both low- and high-pass filtering. This indicates that both high and low spatial frequency channels play a role in solving the binding problem, suggesting the involvement of large collator units that group the response of small channels tuned to the same orientation. The difference between realism, which shows higher sensitivity for low-frequency filtering at short durations and cubism in which the binding problem is solved by high spatial frequency channels, has a corresponding difference in aesthetic judgment: the probability of judging a painting as 'intriguing' is larger with low-pass filtering than with high-pass filtering in realism, while the opposite is true for cubism. This suggests that the aesthetic experience is available during early processing of an image, and could preferentially influence high-level categorization of the subject of a painting.     

The spatial frequency discrimination function at low contrasts

Spatial frequency difference thresholds for sinewave gratings near contrast threshold were measured using a two-alternative forced-choice technique, and the threshold frequency differences were plotted as a proportion of standard frequency for standards from 2 to 7 cycles/degree. This function shows reliable local maxima and minima, and these features are more pronounced than they are when stimuli of 30% contrast are used. This result is consistent with the notion that at low contrasts, fewer spatial frequency channels are above threshold in the area of the visual field covered by the stimulus than when the stimulus is at high contrast.     

Enlargement and contracture of C2-ceramide channels

Ceramides are known to play a major regulatory role in apoptosis by inducing cytochrome c release from mitochondria. We have previously reported that ceramide, but not dihydroceramide, forms large and stable channels in phospholipid membranes and outer membranes of isolated mitochondria. C(2)-ceramide channel formation is characterized by conductance increments ranging from <1 to >200 nS. These conductance increments often represent the enlargement and contracture of channels rather than the opening and closure of independent channels. Enlargement is supported by the observation that many small conductance increments can lead to a large decrement. Also the initial conductances favor cations, but this selectivity drops dramatically with increasing total conductance. La(+3) causes rapid ceramide channel disassembly in a manner indicative of large conducting structures. These channels have a propensity to contract by a defined size (often multiples of 4 nS) indicating the formation of cylindrical channels with preferred diameters rather than a continuum of sizes. The results are consistent with ceramides forming barrel-stave channels whose size can change by loss or insertion of multiple ceramide columns.     

Is correspondence search in human stereo vision a coarse-to-fine process?

One possible strategy for the solution of the correspondence problem of stereo matching is the coarse-to-fine mechanism: The matching process starts with a lowpass-filtered version of the stereogram where only a few, high-contrast image features can be extracted and the probability of false matches is therefore low. In subsequent stages, information from higher spatial frequencies is used gradually to improve the correspondence data obtained on the coarser scales. Coarse-to-fine strategies predict that information from coarse scale is used to disambiguate matching information on finer scales. We have tested this prediction by means of the wallpaper illusion using periodic intensity-profiles with different matching ambiguities on different spatial scale. Our psychophysical experiments show (i) that unambiguous information at coarse scale is not always used to disambiguate finer scale information, (ii) that unambiguous fine-scale information can be used to disambiguate coarse-scale information and (iii) that low spatial frequency is more efficient for disambiguation than higher frequency. We conclude that the human stereo vision system does not always proceed from coarse to fine. As an alternative scheme for scale-space integration, we discuss more symmetric schemes such as maximum likelihood combinations of data from different channels. Received: 29 March 1994 / Accepted in revised form: 20 September 1995     

The effect of predictability on subjective duration

Events can sometimes appear longer or shorter in duration than other events of equal length. For example, in a repeated presentation of auditory or visual stimuli, an unexpected object of equivalent duration appears to last longer. Illusions of duration distortion beg an important question of time representation: when durations dilate or contract, does time in general slow down or speed up during that moment? In other words, what entailments do duration distortions have with respect to other timing judgments? We here show that when a sound or visual flicker is presented in conjunction with an unexpected visual stimulus, neither the pitch of the sound nor the frequency of the flicker is affected by the apparent duration dilation. This demonstrates that subjective time in general is not slowed; instead, duration judgments can be manipulated with no concurrent impact on other temporal judgments. Like spatial vision, time perception appears to be underpinned by a collaboration of separate neural mechanisms that usually work in concert but are separable. We further show that the duration dilation of an unexpected stimulus is not enhanced by increasing its saliency, suggesting that the effect is more closely related to prediction violation than enhanced attention. Finally, duration distortions induced by violations of progressive number sequences implicate the involvement of high-level predictability, suggesting the involvement of areas higher than primary visual cortex. We suggest that duration distortions can be understood in terms of repetition suppression, in which neural responses to repeated stimuli are diminished.     

Mechanisms of coexistence in competitive metacommunities

Although there is a large body of theory on spatial competitive coexistence, very little of it involves comparative analyses of alternative mechanisms. We thus have limited knowledge of the conditions under which multiple spatial mechanisms can operate or of emergent properties arising from interactions between mechanisms. Here we present a mathematical framework that allows for comparative analysis of spatial coexistence mechanisms. The basis for comparison is mechanisms operating in spatially homogeneous competitive environments (e.g., life-history trade-offs) versus mechanisms operating in spatially heterogeneous competitive environments (e.g., source-sink dynamics). Our comparative approach leads to several new insights about spatial coexistence. First, we show that spatial variation in the expression of a life-history trade-off leads to a unique regional pattern that cannot be predicted by considering trade-offs or source-sink dynamics alone. This result represents an instance where spatial heterogeneity constrains rather than promotes coexistence, and it illustrates the kind of counterintuitive emergent properties that arise due to interactions between different classes of mechanisms. Second, we clarify the role of dispersal mortality in spatial coexistence. Previous studies have shown that coexistence can be constrained or facilitated by dispersal mortality. Our broader analysis distinguishes situations where dispersal mortality is not necessary for coexistence from those where such mortality is essential for coexistence because it preserves spatial variation in the strength of competition. These results form the basis for two important future directions: evolution of life-history traits in spatially heterogeneous environments and elucidation of the cause and effect relationship(s) between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.     

Transmyocardial revascularization aggravates myocardial ischemia around the channels in the immediate phase

We examined whether transmyocardial revascularization (TMR) relieves myocardial ischemia by increasing regional perfusion via the transmural channels in acute canine experiments. Regional blood flow during transient coronary ligation (2 min) was compared before and 30 min after TMR, and at the third transient ischemia the mid-left ventricle (LV) was cut and immediately frozen along the short axis for the analysis of NADH fluorescence in the regions around the TMR channels. In low-resolution analysis (2-4 g tissue or 2-3 cm(2) area), regional perfusion was not significantly altered after TMR, and NADH fluorescence was observed throughout the ischemic region without significant spatial variation. High-resolution analysis (2.8 mg, 1 mm x 1 mm) revealed that the flow after TMR was lower, and NADH fluorescence was higher in the regions close to the channels (1-2 mm) than in the regions 3-4 mm away from them. Creating TMR channels did not improve the regional perfusion and rather aggravated the local ischemia in the vicinity of the channels in the immediate phase.     

Natural selection affects multiple aspects of genetic variation at putatively neutral sites across the human genome

A major question in evolutionary biology is how natural selection has shaped patterns of genetic variation across the human genome. Previous work has documented a reduction in genetic diversity in regions of the genome with low recombination rates. However, it is unclear whether other summaries of genetic variation, like allele frequencies, are also correlated with recombination rate and whether these correlations can be explained solely by negative selection against deleterious mutations or whether positive selection acting on favorable alleles is also required. Here we attempt to address these questions by analyzing three different genome-wide resequencing datasets from European individuals. We document several significant correlations between different genomic features. In particular, we find that average minor allele frequency and diversity are reduced in regions of low recombination and that human diversity, human-chimp divergence, and average minor allele frequency are reduced near genes. Population genetic simulations show that either positive natural selection acting on favorable mutations or negative natural selection acting against deleterious mutations can explain these correlations. However, models with strong positive selection on nonsynonymous mutations and little negative selection predict a stronger negative correlation between neutral diversity and nonsynonymous divergence than observed in the actual data, supporting the importance of negative, rather than positive, selection throughout the genome. Further, we show that the widespread presence of weakly deleterious alleles, rather than a small number of strongly positively selected mutations, is responsible for the correlation between neutral genetic diversity and recombination rate. This work suggests that natural selection has affected multiple aspects of linked neutral variation throughout the human genome and that positive selection is not required to explain these observations.     

Lost in the Forest,Stuck in the Trees: Dispositional Global/Local Bias Is Resistant to Exposure to High and Low Spatial Frequencies

Visual stimuli can be perceived at a broad, “global” level, or at a more focused, “local” level. While research has shown that many individuals demonstrate a preference for global information, there are large individual differences in the degree of global/local bias, such that some individuals show a large global bias, some show a large local bias, and others show no bias. The main purpose of the current study was to examine whether these dispositional differences in global/local bias could be altered through various manipulations of high/low spatial frequency. Through 5 experiments, we examined various measures of dispositional global/local bias and whether performance on these measures could be altered by manipulating previous exposure to high or low spatial frequency information (with high/low spatial frequency faces, gratings, and Navon letters). Ultimately, there was little evidence of change from pre-to-post manipulation on the dispositional measures, and dispositional global/local bias was highly reliable pre- to post-manipulation. The results provide evidence that individual differences in global/local bias or preference are relatively resistant to exposure to spatial frequency information, and suggest that the processing mechanisms underlying high/low spatial frequency use and global/local bias may be more independent than previously thought.     

Superposition properties of independent ion channels

Membrane patches usually contain several ion channels of a given type. However, most of the stochastic modelling on which data analysis (in particular, estimation of kinetic constants) is currently based, relates to a single channel rather than to multiple channels. Attempts to circumvent this problem experimentally by recording under conditions where channel activity is low are restrictive and can introduce bias; moreover, possibly important information on how multichannel systems behave will be missed. We have extended existing theory to multichannel systems by applying results from point process theory to derive some distributional properties of the various types of sojourn time that occur when a given number of channels are open in a system containing a specified number of independent channels in equilibrium. Separate development of properties of a single channel and the superposition of several such independent channels simplifies the presentation of known results and extensions. To illustrate the general theory, particular attention is given to the types of sojourn time that occur in a two channel system; detailed expressions are presented for a selection of models, both Markov and non-Markov.