On October 24 and 25, SophosAI presents ideas on how to use models large and small—and defend against malignant ones.

Since debuting in 2011, center fielder Mike Trout has been far and away the best player in the Majors, but the Angels have reached the postseason just once in his eight-year career.

U.S. Space Force has made public the prototypes of its new uniforms, which immediately drew comparisons to those worn in Star Trek and other science fiction franchises.

The justices declined to take up a major challenge to exclusive-bargaining arrangements for teachers' unions and other public employee labor organizations.

Umut Güçlü
Jul 8, 2015; 35:10005-10014
BehavioralSystemsCognitive

Neural responses are naturally variable from one moment to the next, even when the stimulus is held constant. What factors might underlie this variability in neural population activity? We hypothesized that spontaneous fluctuations in cortical stimulus representations are created by changes in arousal state. We tested the hypothesis using a combination of fMRI, probabilistic decoding methods, and pupillometry. Human participants (20 female, 12 male) were presented with gratings of random orientation. Shortly after viewing the grating, participants reported its orientation and gave their level of confidence in this judgment. Using a probabilistic fMRI decoding technique, we quantified the precision of the stimulus representation in the visual cortex on a trial-by-trial basis. Pupil size was recorded and analyzed to index the observer's arousal state. We found that the precision of the cortical stimulus representation, reported confidence, and variability in the behavioral orientation judgments varied from trial to trial. Interestingly, these trial-by-trial changes in cortical and behavioral precision and confidence were linked to pupil size and its temporal rate of change. Specifically, when the cortical stimulus representation was more precise, the pupil dilated more strongly prior to stimulus onset and remained larger during stimulus presentation. Similarly, stronger pupil dilation during stimulus presentation was associated with higher levels of subjective confidence, a secondary measure of sensory precision, as well as improved behavioral performance. Taken together, our findings support the hypothesis that spontaneous fluctuations in arousal state modulate the fidelity of the stimulus representation in the human visual cortex, with clear consequences for behavior.

Different people listening to the same story may converge upon a largely shared interpretation while still developing idiosyncratic experiences atop that shared foundation. What linguistic properties support this individualized experience of natural language? Here, we investigate how the "concrete–abstract" axis—the extent to which a word is grounded in sensory experience—relates to within- and across-subject variability in the neural representations of language. Leveraging a dataset of human participants of both sexes who each listened to four auditory stories while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging, we demonstrate that neural representations of "concreteness" are both reliable across stories and relatively unique to individuals, while neural representations of "abstractness" are variable both within individuals and across the population. Using natural language processing tools, we show that concrete words exhibit similar neural representations despite spanning larger distances within a high-dimensional semantic space, which potentially reflects an underlying representational signature of sensory experience—namely, imageability—shared by concrete words but absent from abstract words. Our findings situate the concrete–abstract axis as a core dimension that supports both shared and individualized representations of natural language.

Santiago, Chile- The declaration of the XXI Specialized Meeting on Family Farming of MERCOSUR (REAF, in Spanish) held last week in Argentina, acknowledged the advances promoted by FAO’s Director General, [...]

Vientiane.- A delegation of seven Permanent Representatives to the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N (FAO) concluded a week-long visit to Lao PDR, during which they held meetings [...]

Humans have been modifying plants since the beginning of agriculture, but now, globalization and new technologies have given us more control and more power over our food than ever before.

The entrepreneur and financial adviser defeated Adam Bassett for the party nomination in Egmont after two days of voting last week. 

Charlottetown-born curler Brett Gallant says competing in the Olympics will be a dream come true for him and his fiancée, Jocelyn Peterman, even if COVID-19 protocols will make it difficult for them to see each other.

It’s official — Team Galusha will be representing the N.W.T. at the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay later this month.

Curling Canada, with the assistance of Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic Committee, announced Rachel Homan and John Morris as the mixed doubles team for Canada competing at the Beijing Olympics.

2024-25 Penn State Laureate Michele Dunleavy, professor of dance at the University Park campus, will give a presentation and performance, “Improvising a Life,” at Penn State Shenango in the Shenango Auditorium at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18.

A multi-disciplinary group of Penn State Shenango faculty presented the results of a research study about diversity topics being included as part of general education curricula.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a case that held the potential to deal a further blow to public-employee unions after last year's "Janus" decision.

Sandra Gorka, professor of computer information technology at Pennsylvania College of Technology, recently addressed a national conference for IT educators.

Penn State Centre Stage will produce Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” with book and lyrics by Hugh Wheeler, music directed by Anne Van Steenwinkel, Nov. 12–22, at the Playhouse Theatre on the University Park campus.

Faculty and staff from Penn State Lehigh Valley were among the slate of presenters and panelists at the annual Commonwealth Connections Instructor Days, a virtual event whose goal is to share strategies and tools for success in teaching.

Penn State Greater Allegheny hosted its Spring 2024 Undergraduate Student Research and Creativity Conference, highlighting students’ findings in topics they explored with faculty mentors.

The Office of the Registrar and the Lambert Undergraduate Advising Center at Penn State Harrisburg will present “Schweek” scheduling week to assist students in scheduling their courses for spring 2025.

Penn State Laureate Michele Dunleavy, professor of dance at the University Park campus, will continue her tour of the Commonwealth Campuses with a visit to Penn State Abington on Nov. 11. She will present “Improvising a Life” at 12:15 p.m. in 9 Sutherland Auditorium with musician Jennifer Peacock.

James Z. Wang, distinguished professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, will present the college’s annual McMurtry Lecture at noon on Thursday, Nov. 7, in E202 Westgate Building at Penn State University Park.

Jennifer Jewell, teaching professor in the physical therapist assistant program at Penn State Shenango; Pamela Pologruto, teaching professor of physical therapist assistant at Penn State Fayette; Laura Cruz, research professor at Penn State's Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence; and faculty members from Penn State Lehigh Valley presented at the 2024 Lilly Conference in Austin, Texas.

Theresa Tarves, interim associate dean for library and information services and professor of legal research, and Rebecca Mattson, interim director of the Law Library and professor of legal research, were invited to speak at the American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting held in Chicago, Illinois, from July 21 through July 23.

Accomplished writer and Penn State alum Jami Nakamura Lin will read from her works at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14, in Foster Auditorium as part of the 2024-25 Mary E. Rolling Reading Series.

The Penn State Berks theatre department will present “8 at Eight” — a collection of eight light-hearted, eight-minute plays at 8 p.m. Nov. 13-16 in the Perkins Student Center Auditorium.

Penn State School of Music announces the inaugural performance of its Opera Workshop, led by new faculty members Dawn Pierce and Parker Konkle. The performance, titled "Seasons of Love," will take place on Dec. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the School of Music’s Recital Hall. This unique presentation will explore a range of lyric repertoire, offering an avant-garde experience that merges music, movement, and storytelling. 

The Penn State School of Theatre will produce William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing,” Nov. 16-22, at the Pavilion Theatre on the University Park campus.

OM Córdoba is breaking new ground for the gospel using football in one of the city’s roughest neighbourhoods.

A series of free public presentations, each focused on a different aspect of consuming news and related information, highlight a U.S. Media Literacy Week Celebration, scheduled Oct. 23 on the University Park campus, and will be held in-person and online.

The Penn State School of Music will present three choir concerts on Sunday, Nov. 17, in the Recital Hall on the University Park campus. Featuring world premieres, folk traditions and themes of community and aspiration, these concerts will make for a lovely Sunday afternoon of music for audiences of all ages. 

GEORGETOWN – Governor John Carney, Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) Director Anas Ben Addi, local legislators, town officials and members of the business community celebrated the grand opening of Splash Laundromat on Friday and presented a Downtown Development Districts (DDD) rebate check in the amount of $457,997 to owners Enrique and Veronica Nunez. The Nunezes […]

When asked to share his testimony, a participant of OM Chile's Adventure Team realises just how much God has worked in his life.

On an earlier occasion, Shaan had taken a dig at new-age singers highlighting how they have shifted to "minimalistic" songs

  The Delaware Public Archives formally dedicated a new Delaware Historical Marker on Tuesday, August 31, 2021, that commemorates the community of Henry Clay Village in Wilmington, Delaware. The marker acknowledges the residents of the community and notes the formation of this village that grew up around powder manufacturing near the textile mills north of […]

In observance of Black History Month, The Delaware Heritage Commission is proud to present our Book of the Week: African American Education in Delaware: A History Through Photographs 1865-1930 – by Dr. Bradley Skelcher.   You can view a PDF version of this book here.   SYNOPSIS: At the beginning of the twentieth century, it […]

Wilmington, Del. (March 10, 2022) – From a field of ten Delaware high school students, Natalie Kim Ramos, a senior from Saint Mark’s High School, earned the title of 2022 Poetry Out Loud Delaware State Champion at the virtual state finals held on March 10. The first runner-up was Kai Schmiedel from Delaware Valley Classical […]

Aumento de tarifa es uno de los más grandes solicitados por la empresa El 15 de diciembre de 2022, Delmarva Power presentó una solicitud ante la Comisión de Servicios Públicos para aumentar sus tarifas de distribución eléctrica en $72,3 millones. De conformidad con la ley estatal, este aumento entrará en vigencia de manera temporal el […]

Wilmington, Del. (March 3, 2023) – From a field of twelve Delaware high school students, Maiss Hussein, a junior from Paul M. Hodgson Vocational Technical High School, earned the title of 2023 Poetry Out Loud Delaware State Champion at the state finals held on March 2 at the Smyrna Opera House. The first runner-up was […]

Washington, DC and Chicago, IL — After two years of virtual competitions, the Poetry Out Loud® National Finals are returning to Washington, DC, this Spring, May 9–10, 2023, and will be streamed live at Arts.gov/Poetry-Out-Loud. This annual event brings together high school students from across the country who memorize and recite classic and contemporary poems, […]

The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery presents 2022 DDOA Individual Artist Fellow Aaron Terry’s exhibition, “Patterns for Saturn,” running June 2-July 28, 2023.  Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, June 2 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Drawing inspiration from the beauty inherent in everyday life and the human form, Whiddon’s paintings transcend specific places and times, evoking feelings and memories rather than representing them. Her pieces celebrate human sensuality, employing compelling subjects, a vibrant palette, and bold, painterly textures.

  Statewide, Del. (August 7, 2023) – Mid Atlantic Arts, in partnership with the Delaware Division of the Arts, has announced over $102,000 in grants, across five states, through the 2023-2024 Special Presenter Initiatives program. The Special Presenter Initiatives program provides funding to small and mid-size presenting organizations in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Puerto […]

Wilmington, Del. (September 1, 2023) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery presents Bryant “Tee” Bell’s exhibition, “Enlightenment,” running September 1-29, 2023.  Bell is an Emerging 2023 Individual Artist Fellow in the field of visual arts: painting. Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, September 8 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. (Art […]

Wilmington, Del. (November 1, 2023) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery presents 2023 Established Fellow Ron Meicks’s exhibition, “Encaustic Constructions,” on view between November 3-24, 2023. Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, November 3 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Meick’s latest series of artworks, abstract wooden sculptures called “constructions,” are […]

Wilmington, Del. (November 30, 2023) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery presents 2023 Artist Fellow Lauren E. Peters’ exhibition, “Art Monster,” on view between December 1-29, 2023. Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, December 1 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Lauren E. Peters is a visual artist working with the […]

The Delaware Division of the Arts Mezzanine Gallery presents Constanza (Cony) Madariaga’s exhibition, “The Knowing,” on view from February 2-24, 2024. Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, February 2 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. The title of Madariaga’s show is a reference to a Jay-Z quote that resonated with the artist. In an […]