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41. The Attention Schema Theory in an Artificial Neural Network Agent: Controlling Visuospatial Attention Using a Descriptive Model of Attention

Author(s):
Wilterson, Andrew; Graziano, Michael
Abstract:
In the attention schema theory, the brain constructs a model of attention, the attention schema, to aid in the endogenous control of attention. Growing behavioral evidence appears to support this proposal. However, a central question remains: does a controller of attention actually benefit by having access to an attention schema? We constructed an artificial, deep Q-learning, neural network agent that was trained to control a simple form of visuospatial attention, tracking a stimulus with its attention spotlight in order to solve a catch task. The agent was tested with and without access to an attention schema. In both conditions, the agent received sufficient information such that it should, theoretically, be able to learn the task. We found that with an attention schema present, the agent learned to control its attention spotlight and learned the catch task to a high degree of performance. Once the agent learned, if the attention schema was disabled, the agent could no longer perform effectively. If the attention schema was removed before learning began, the agent was drastically impaired at learning. The results show how the presence of even a simple attention schema provides a profound benefit to a controller of attention. We interpret these results as supporting the central argument of AST: the brain evolved an attention schema because of its practical benefit in the endogenous control of attention.
Type:
Dataset and Software
Issue Date:
2021

42. A thermodynamic phase transition in magnetic reconnection

Author(s):
Jara-Almonte, Jonathan; Hantao, Ji
Abstract:
Data supporting the manuscript "A thermodynamic phase transition in magnetic reconnection" published in Physical Review Letters.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
7 July 2021

44. Data for: Three-Dimensional Morphometry of Ooids in Oolites: a new tool for more accurate and precise paleoenvironmental interpretation

Author(s):
Howes, Bolton; Mehra, Akshay; Maloof, Adam
Abstract:
The prevalence of ooids in the stratigraphic record, and their association with shallow-water carbonate environments, make ooids an important paleoenvironmental indicator. Recent advances in the theoretical understanding of ooid morphology, along with empirical studies from Turks and Caicos, Great Salt Lake, and The Bahamas, have demonstrated that the morphology of ooids is indicative of depositional environment and hydraulic conditions. To apply this knowledge from modern environments to the stratigraphic record of Earth history, researchers measure the size and shape of lithified ooids on two-dimensional surfaces (i.e., thin sections or polished slabs), often assuming that random 2D slices intersect the nuclei and that the orientation of the ooids is known. Here we demonstrate that these assumptions rarely are true, resulting in errors of up to 35% on metrics like major axis length. We present a method for making 3D reconstructions by serial grinding and imaging, which enables accurate measurement of the morphology of individual ooids within an oolite, as well as the sorting and porosity of a sample. We also provide three case studies that use the morphology of ooids in oolites to extract environmental information. Each case study demonstrates that 2D measurements can be useful if the environmental signal is large relative to the error from 2D measurements. However, 3D measurements substantially improve the accuracy and precision of environmental interpretations. This study focuses on oolites, but errors from 2D measurements are not unique to oolites; this method can be used to extract accurate grain and porosity measurements from any lithified granular sample.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
22 February 2021

45. Multi-Fluid and Kinetic Models of Partially Ionized Magnetic Reconnection

Author(s):
Jara-Almonte, J.; Murphy, N.A.; Ji, H.
Abstract:
Magnetic reconnection in partially ionized plasmas is a ubiquitous and important phenomena in both laboratory and astrophysical systems. Here, simulations of partially ionized magnetic reconnection with well-matched initial conditions are performed using both multi-fluid and fully-kinetic approaches. Despite similar initial conditions, the time-dependent evolution differs between the two models. In multi-fluid models, the reconnection rate locally obeys either a decoupled Sweet-Parker scaling, where neutrals are unimportant, or a fully coupled Sweet-Parker scaling, where neutrals and ions are strongly coupled, depending on the resistivity. In contrast, kinetic models show a faster reconnection rate that is proportional to the fully-coupled, bulk Alfv\'en speed, $v_A^\star$. These differences are interpreted as the result of operating in different collisional regimes. Multi-fluid simulations are found to maintain $\nu_{ni}L/v_A^\star \gtrsim 1$, where $\nu_{ni}$ is the neutral-ion collision frequency and $L$ is the time-dependent current sheet half-length. This strongly couples neutrals to the reconnection outflow, while kinetic simulations evolve to allow $\nu_{ni}L/v_A^\star < 1$, decoupling neutrals from the reconnection outflow. Differences in the way reconnection is triggered may explain these discrepancies.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
2021

46. Coupling between Alfven wave and Kelvin-Helmholtz waves in the low latitude boundary layer

Author(s):
Kim, Eun-Hwa; Johnson, Jay; Nykyri, Katariina
Abstract:
The Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability of magnetohydrodynamic surface waves at the low latitude boundary layer is examined using both an eigenfrequency analysis and a time-dependent wave simulation. The analysis includes the effects of sheared flow and Alfven velocity gradient. When the magnetosheath flows are perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field direction, unstable KH waves that propagate obliquely to the sheared flow direction occur at the sheared flow surface when the Alfv\'en Mach number is higher than an instability threshold. Including a shear transition layer between the magnetosphere and magnetosheath leads to secondary KH waves (driven by the sheared flow) that are coupled to the resonant surface Alfven wave. There are remarkable differences between the primary and the secondary KH waves including wave frequency, the growth rate, and the ratio between transverse and the compressional component. The secondary KH wave energy is concentrated near the shear Alfven wave frequency at the magnetosheath with a lower frequency than the primary KH waves. Although the growth rate of the secondary KH waves is lower than the primary KH waves, the threshold condition is lower, so it is expected that these types of waves will dominate at lower Mach number. Because the transverse component of the secondary KH waves is stronger than the primary KH waves, more efficient wave energy transfer from the boundary layer to the inner magnetosphere is also predicted.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
December 2021

47. Code and data from "Comparative genomic analysis reveals varying levels of mammalian adaptation to coronavirus infections"

Author(s):
King, Sean
Abstract:
Severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19, is of zoonotic origin. Evolutionary analyses assessing whether coronaviruses similar to SARS-CoV-2 infected ancestral species of modern-day animal hosts could be useful in identifying additional reservoirs of potentially dangerous coronaviruses. We reasoned that if a clade of species has been repeatedly exposed to a virus, then their proteins relevant for viral entry may exhibit adaptations that affect host susceptibility or response. We perform comparative analyses across the mammalian phylogeny of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the cellular receptor for SARS-CoV-2, in order to uncover evidence for selection acting at its binding interface with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. We uncover that in rodents there is evidence for adaptive amino acid substitutions at positions comprising the ACE2-spike interaction interface, whereas the variation within ACE2 proteins in primates and some other mammalian clades is not consistent with evolutionary adaptations. We also analyze aminopeptidase N (APN), the receptor for the human coronavirus 229E, a virus that causes the common cold, and find evidence for adaptation in primates. Altogether, our results suggest that the rodent and primate lineages may have had ancient exposures to viruses similar to SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-229E, respectively. Included in this repository are the instructions and corresponding code required to build the dataset and run the analysis in the manuscript.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
28 September 2021

50. Experimental data for paper "hydraulic transmissivity inferred from ice-sheet relaxation following Greenland supraglacial lake drainages"

Author(s):
Lai, Ching-Yao
Abstract:
This setup mimics ice lying above the drainage system. In the experiment, a fluid-filled blister is generated via liquid injection into the interface between a transparent elastic layer and a porous substrate. After injection of liquid, the fluid permeates from the blister through the porous substrate, the blister volume V(t) relaxes exponentially with time. Our lab experiments show that varying the permeability of the porous substrate k significantly impacts the relaxation timescale in the experiments.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
18 May 2021

51. Alternative energy vehicle deployment coupled with decarbonizing electricity generation amplifies climate, air quality and health co-benefits in China

Author(s):
Peng, Liqun; Liu, Feiqi; Zhou, Mi; Li, Mingwei; Zhang, Qiang; Mauzerall, Denise L.
Abstract:
China is the world's largest carbon emitter and suffers from severe air pollution. About one million deaths in China were attributable to air pollution in 2017. Alternative energy vehicles (AEVs), e.g. electric, hydrogen fuel cell, and natural gas vehicles, can help achieve both carbon emission mitigation and air quality improvement. However, climate, air quality and health co-benefit of AEVs powered by deeply decarbonized electricity generation remain poorly quantified. Here, we conduct a quantitative integrated assessment of the air quality, health, carbon emission mitigation and economic benefits of AEV deployment as the electricity grid decarbonizes in China. We find population-weighted annual PM2.5 and summer O3 concentration can decrease as large as 5.7μgm−3 and 4.9ppb. Annual avoided premature mortalities and years of life lost resulting from improved ambient air pollution can be as large as ~329,000 persons and ~1,611,000 years. We thus show that maximizing climate, air quality and health benefits of AEV deployment in China requires rapid decarbonization of the power system.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
17 June 2021

53. CPCB continuous monitoring air quality data for India, from 2015-2019

Author(s):
Sharma, Disha; Mauzerall, Denise
Abstract:
The dataset is a compilation of real time ground observations of criteria pollutants monitored at the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) continuous stations in India, from 2015-2019. Pollutants included are PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2 and O3 and are archived at every hour for all stations across India.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
15 October 2021

54. Data for 'Environmental Benefits and Household Costs of Clean Heating Options in Northern China'

Author(s):
Zhou, Mi; Peng, Liqun; Zhang, Lin; Mauzerall, Denise L.
Abstract:
This dataset is created for the paper titled 'Environmental Benefits and Household Costs of Clean Heating Options in Northern China' and published on Nature Sustainability. Based on a 2015 regional anthropogenic emission inventory (base case), we propose seven counterfactual scenarios in which all 2015 residential solid fuel heating in northern China switches to one of the following non-district heating options: clean coal with improved stoves (CCIS), natural gas heaters (NGH), resistance heaters (RH), or air-to-air heat pumps (AAHP). This dataset provides the following gridded information for the base case and each clean heating scenario: (1) annual residential heating emissions for PM2.5/NOx/SO2; (2) monthly mean surface PM2.5 concentrations from the WRF-Chem model; (3) annual PM2.5-related premature deaths calculated by the GEMM model; (4) 2015 population in China; (5) mask for provinces in China; (6) longitude and latitude of each grid center.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
22 December 2021