Many nanoscale devices require precise optimization to function. Tuning them to the desired operation regime becomes increasingly difficult and time-consuming when the number of terminals and ...couplings grows. Imperfections and device-to-device variations hinder optimization that uses physics-based models. Deep neural networks (DNNs) can model various complex physical phenomena but, so far, are mainly used as predictive tools. Here, we propose a generic deep-learning approach to efficiently optimize complex, multi-terminal nanoelectronic devices for desired functionality. We demonstrate our approach for realizing functionality in a disordered network of dopant atoms in silicon. We model the input-output characteristics of the device with a DNN, and subsequently optimize control parameters in the DNN model through gradient descent to realize various classification tasks. When the corresponding control settings are applied to the physical device, the resulting functionality is as predicted by the DNN model. We expect our approach to contribute to fast, in situ optimization of complex (quantum) nanoelectronic devices.
The mechanisms underlying the formation and retrieval of memories are still an active area of research and discussion. Manifold models have been proposed and refined over the years, with most ...assuming a dichotomy between memory processes involving non-conscious and conscious mechanisms. Despite our incomplete understanding of the underlying mechanisms, tests of memory and learning count among the most performed behavioral experiments. Here, we will discuss available protocols for testing learning and memory using the example of the most prevalent animal species in research, the laboratory mouse. A wide range of protocols has been developed in mice to test, e.g., object recognition, spatial learning, procedural memory, sequential problem solving, operant- and fear conditioning, and social recognition. Those assays are carried out with individual subjects in apparatuses such as arenas and mazes, which allow for a high degree of standardization across laboratories and straightforward data interpretation but are not without caveats and limitations. In animal research, there is growing concern about the translatability of study results and animal welfare, leading to novel approaches beyond established protocols. Here, we present some of the more recent developments and more advanced concepts in learning and memory testing, such as multi-step sequential lockboxes, assays involving groups of animals, as well as home cage-based assays supported by automated tracking solutions; and weight their potential and limitations against those of established paradigms. Shifting the focus of learning tests from the classical experimental chamber to settings which are more natural for rodents comes with a new set of challenges for behavioral researchers, but also offers the opportunity to understand memory formation and retrieval in a more conclusive way than has been attainable with conventional test protocols. We predict and embrace an increase in studies relying on methods involving a higher degree of automatization, more naturalistic- and home cage-based experimental setting as well as more integrated learning tasks in the future. We are confident these trends are suited to alleviate the burden on animal subjects and improve study designs in memory research.
German critic Walter Benjamin wrote some immensely influential words on the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction. Luxury fashion houses would say something shorter and sharper and much ...more legally binding on the rip-off merchants who fake their products. Marcus Boon, a Canadian English professor with an accessible turn of phrase, takes us on an erudite voyage through the theme in a serious but engaging encounter with the ideas of thinkers as varied as Plato, Hegel, Orson Welles, Benjamin, Heidegger, Louis Vuitton, Takashi Murakami and many more, on topics as philosophically taxing and pop-culture-light as mimesis, Christianity, capitalism, authenticity, Uma Thurman's handbag and Disneyland.
Laboratory mice are predominantly used for one experiment only, i.e., new mice are ordered or bred for every new experiment. Moreover, most experiments use relatively young mice in the range of late ...adolescence to early adulthood. As a consequence, little is known about the day-to-day life of adult and aged laboratory mice. Here we present a long-term data set with three consecutive phases conducted with the same male mice over their lifetime in order to shed light on possible long-term effects of repeated cognitive stimulation. One third of the animals was trained by a variety of learning tasks conducted up to an age of 606 days. The mice were housed in four cages with 12 animals per cage; only four mice per cage had to repeatedly solve cognitive tasks for getting access to water using the IntelliCage system. In addition, these learner mice were tested in standard cognitive tests outside their home-cage. The other eight mice served as two control groups living in the same environment but without having to solve tasks for getting access to water. One control group was additionally placed on the test set-ups without having to learn the tasks. Next to the cognitive tasks, we took physiological measures (body mass, resting metabolic rate) and tested for dominance behavior, and attractivity in a female choice experiment. Overall, the mice were under surveillance until they died a natural death, providing a unique data set over the course of virtually their entire lives. Our data showed treatment differences during the first phase of our lifetime data set. Young learner mice showed a higher activity, less growth and resting metabolic rate, and were less attractive for female mice. These effects, however, were not preserved over the long-term. We also did not find differences in dominance or effects on longevity. However, we generated a unique and valuable set of long-term behavioral and physiological data from a single group of male mice and note that our long-term data contribute to a better understanding of the behavioral and physiological processes in male C57Bl/6J mice.
From the antiquity of Homer to yesterday's Naked Lunch, writers have found inspiration, and readers have lost themselves, in a world of the imagination tinged and oftentimes transformed by drugs. The ...age-old association of literature and drugs receives its first comprehensive treatment in this far-reaching work.
Skin cancer has emerged as a significant worldwide public health issue, with the global reporting of approximately 1.4 million cases of non-melanoma skin cancer and 287,723 cases of melanoma in 2020. ...Early detection and prevention are pivotal in battling this disease. However, there is an absence of standardized tools designed to comprehensively gauge these elements.
The study aimed to formulate and examine the validity and reliability of the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Skin Cancer Questionnaire (KAP-SC-Q).
The research was conducted in two phases. Phase I included the generation and construction of items, content validity, and pilot testing. In Phase II, the questionnaire was distributed to 370 non-health background public adults in Malaysia. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were ascertained using Item Response Theory (IRT) for the knowledge domain, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for the attitude and practice segments, and Cronbach's alpha.
The definitive version of the KAP-SC-Q had 108 items, divided into 17 social demographic, 30 knowledge, 32 attitude, and 29 practice items. Knowledge items had an acceptable range of 0.4-2.0 in the IRT. The EFA revealed that attitude and practice sections contributed to 34.25% and 52.94% of the total observed variance, respectively. The Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.85, signifying good internal consistency.
The study validated that KAP-SC-Q exhibits commendable psychometric attributes, marking it as a trustworthy instrument to assess the public's knowledge, attitude, and practices concerning skin cancer.
The copy shop in Toronto where I have had course packages made for a number of years was busted recently, and the books used to make the copies, along with the copied packages (coursepacks) ...themselves, were confiscated. The store’s owner gave me the number of Access Copyright, the organization responsible for punishing this enterprise. When I called the number and spoke to one of the agents there, I was informed that the copy shop apparently lacked a licence to make coursepacks and that in the future I should only frequent copy shops that hold such licences. My books were shipped
On Appropriation Boon, Marcus
CR (East Lansing, Mich.),
04/2007, Letnik:
7, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Appropriation is precisely that which takes up the random, the aleatory, the unconnected and chaotic, and does something with it-places it in pattern or resonance. Because in this sense appropriation ...underlies our very ability to make meaning of ourselves and the world that we find ourselves in, we should pause before endorsing the arguments of lobbyists for aggressive enforcement of copyright law, as well as those who argue for elimination of such laws.
Coda Boon, Marcus
In Praise of Copying,
02/2011
Book Chapter
The copy shop in Toronto where I’ve had coursepacks made for a number of years was busted recently, and the books used to make the coursepacks were confiscated, along with the coursepacks themselves. ...The store’s owner gave me the number of Access Copyright, the organization responsible for the bust. When I called the number and spoke to one of the agents there, I was informed that the copy shop apparently lacked a license to make coursepacks, and that in the future I should frequent copy shops that have licenses. My books were shipped back to me, along with a list
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