Sell

          I recently blogged about a line of research on octopus reaching movements, but I left out an important study for times sake.  I promised to cover it promptly, and so Im making good on that promise here.  To recap:

          It has been shown that reaching movements by octopuses are controlled by the nervous system of the arms relatively autonomously from the central nervous system; that is, a severed arm can complete these movements on its own, given the proper stimulation of the base of the nerve cord of the arm.  This is all well and good, as the movements being studied were rather simple, involving the extension of an arm.  This reaching movement was found to consist of a propagating wave of muscle activity down the arm, a solution to the control of such a flexible appendage that greatly reduces the amount of neural computation that is needed to make such a movement.)

          The study Ill look at today is Octopuses Use a Human-like Strategy to Control Precise Point-to-Point Arm Movements by Sumbre et al (2006).  In it, the authors study a more complicated movement: retrieval of an object using a single arm.  This is a problem of interest to neuroscientists and roboticists, because understanding how the octopus generates controlled, precise movement using an appendage with so many possible movements might give us some insight into the optimal solution of this problem.  This could help reveal general rules of efficiency in neural programming.

          Beginning (as is advisable) at the beginning, the authors videotaped reaching movements in O. vulgaris that were elicited by touching a piece of food to the animals outstretched arm.  Their observations revealed that octopuses create joints in their arm during this movement, around which they move stiffened segments of the arm much the same way that animals with a skeleton (notably, humans) do.  A series of stills from one of their videos and a lovely diagram of the arm "joints" of an octopus who is about to eat an unhappy-looking fish are shown below:


          It turns out that most of the distance covered in this movement sequence comes from the arms rotation about the medial joint (the yellow one), much as most of the effective range of human retrieval movements come from flexion of the elbow.  After some more detailed analysis of the kinetics of this movement (which Ill skip here - but please check out the paper if youre interested) the authors go on to probe the pattern of muscle activity that is responsible for this movement as they did in their earlier studies (for a brief explanation of their methods, see my earlier post; for a longer one, see the paper reference therein.)  They found differences in patterns of muscle activity depending upon where in the arm recordings were being made.  When they looked proximally to the medial joint (eg. in arm segment L1 in the above diagram,) they found that a wave of muscle activity propagated away from the body, as it does in reaching movements.  When they recorded from a portion of the arm distal to the medial joint (eg. in arm segment L2,) they found that muscle activity was propagating in the opposite direction - from the tip of the arm towards the base.

          Using these results, the authors offer an elegant explanation of the neural control of this behavior.  They suggest that the initiation of a retrieval movement involves the initiation of two waves of muscle activity, one starting from the tip of the arm and one from the base.  Where these waves meet, the medial joint is formed.  In this way, the octopus nervous system simplifies the problem of finding an efficient way to retrieve an object, a problem which would be hard to solve on the basis of proprioception or neural control contingent on a direct representation of sensory space due to the flexibility of the octopuss body.

          In case you were wondering (I sure was), an experiment that was reported in the supplementary material (though it seems pretty important to me) revealed that retrieval could not be elicited in denervated arms in the way that arm extension can.  Therefore, it appears that some input from the central nervous system is required to initiate this more complicated movement, although it is still possible (and seems likely) that, once initiated, the movement is driven primarily by peripheral mechanisms local to the arm performing the movement.  The authors found that ablation of the anterior basal lobe left octopuses unable to initiate object retrieval, confirming its suspected function as a motor center in the octopus.

          The authors finally put forth a hypothesis of convergent evolution of reaching movements between octopods and vertebrates:

                    It is especially surprising that of all possible
                    geometrical structures and motor control strategies
                    with which a flexible arm can bring an object to the
                    mouth, the octopus generates a quasi-articulated structure
                    with a striking morphological and kinematic resemblance
                    to the multijoint articulated limbs of vertebrates.
                    Because the hypothetical common ancestor of cephalopods
                    and vertebrates dates back to the beginning of
                    Cambrian era (about 540 million years ago), fetching
                    appears to be a genuine and rare case of evolutionary
                    functional convergence, where two independent attributes
                    (morphology and neural control) coevolved to
                    achieve a common goal.

          I have no particular problem with this hypothesis.  Id be interested to see if these types of movements are present in other species of cephalopods, both decapods and other octopod varieties.  I think that the case for convergent evolution in this instance will always be a hard sell, because (unlike, for example, the eye) the anatomy of the body parts executing the movement in question are so different.  In addition, the movements studied in this paper were elicited in very specific conditions using octopuses that were trained to extend their arms and wait for food to be pressed to them, leaving it unclear what other types of movements they might make in retrieving an object as well as the relative importance of the aforementioned quasi-articulated arm movements in the ethogram of the octopus.  Those criticisms aside, Im willing to accept the idea that articulated movement really does represent a good solution to the problem of controlling movement, because it shows up across animalia so often and in so many forms.  Why wouldnt we expect the octopus to get in on the action?

          Thanks for reading!


Sumbre, G., Fiorito, G., Flash, T., & Hochner, B. (2006). Octopuses Use a Human-like Strategy to Control Precise Point-to-Point Arm Movements Current Biology, 16 (8), 767-772 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2006.02.069

If pressed to choose my favorite early reader, the winner would have to be Owl at Home by the wonderful and oh-so-talented Arnold Lobel. Published in 1975, the book came out way after I first learned to read. Yet there is something perennially fresh about Owls child-like outlook on life that it never fails to bring a smile to my lips.

First, hats off to Mr. Lobel for the feat of creating so successful a book with one lone (but not lonely) character! Unlike Frog and Toad, Owl has no friend to bounce ideas off or to come into conflict. Instead, Lobel uses inanimate objects as characters--the wind in "The Guest," Owls feet in "Strange Bumps," and the moon in "Owl and the Moon."

"Strange Bumps" trumps all the stories, in my humble opinion. Owl in bed for the night notices two strange bumps at the end of the bed. Unaware that they are his feet, Owl becomes increasingly upset as the bumps move about, yet disappear when he throws off the covers. Eventually he takes himself off to sleep downstairs in his chair. This is a pretty accurate portrayal of the irrational yet very real fears that plague us at nighttime.

"Owl and the Moon" is another favorite. Perhaps because an early memory I have is riding in the back seat of my parents car at night after a day spent at the beach. Pleasantly tired, eyes drooping, Id watch the moon out the back window as it followed us home. I thought of the moon as an especially caring friend, the same as Owl.

Early readers are often peopled with characters who make silly errors in judgment. Think Amelia Bedelia. Im sure one of the reasons for this is that beginning readers make so many mistakes as they struggle to master the words on the page. It must give them a feeling of superiority to know that they would never be so silly as to mistake their feet for strange bumps or to dash up and down the stairs in order to be in two places at once, as Owl does in "Upstairs and Downstairs." Lobel, however, never pokes fun at Owl. He respects him as a kind and well-meaning, if not especially bright, owl. And so do I.

DESCRIPTION
Amazon com Customer Reviews Mosby s Review for the NBDE good arrangement not too detail which is good for dental student who is studying for the test nbde part 1Amazon com Mosby s Review for the NBDE Part 1 Pt 1 Mosby s Review for the NBDE Part 1 Pt 1 Kindle Edition Mosby Author 3 9 out of 5 stars See all reviews 9 customer reviews Digital List Price Mosby s Review for the NBDE Part 1 Pt 1 eBook Mosby Start reading Mosby s Review for the NBDE Part 1 Pt 1 on your Kindle in under a minute Don t have a Kindle Mosby s Review for the NBDE Part 1 Pt 1 eBook Mosby Mosby s Review for the NBDE Part 1 Pt 1 Kindle Edition Mosby Author Print List Price CDN 84 95 Kindle Price Mosby s Review for the NBDE Pt 2 Mosby s Review for the Offers the information you need to prepare for the NBDE Part II This book also Short Description for Mosby s Review for the NBDE Pt 2 Offers the information

DETAILS

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Mosby; 1 edition (July 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0323025641
• ISBN-13: 978-0323025645
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #295,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

REVIEWS

This review is from Mosby 39 s Review for the NBDE Part 1 Pt 1 Paperback UPDATE I got my scores back and I passed just barely Audible Download Audio Books 9 Reviews Mosby 39 s Review for the NBDE Part 1 Pt 1 To view this video download Flash Player Paperback Verified Purchase Mosby 39 s Review for the NBDE Part I Pt 1 Mosby 39 s Review for the NBDE Part I free download Review For The Nbde Part I By Mosby Paperback Book 1 review Start reading Mosby 39 s Review for the NBDE Part 1 Pt 1 on your Kindle in under a minute Paperback Verified Purchase Audible Download Audio Books My nbde review is book or 1 exam paperback Hey then pt These pc nbde had u nbde 1 download review with on review download mar nbde part for be 1 ii MOSBY REVIEW NBDE PART 1 FREE DOWNLOAD Review part nbde audible pt Kindle of mosbys may of kindle nbde is a ii review part paperback note A here a first review have 27 you The on pt 2nd nbde nbde review crack nbde paperback part part 1 review where can i download sai part nbde Mosby 39 s Review for the NBDE Part II Pt 2 by Mosby Mosby 39 s Review for the NBDE Part II is the perfect study companion for dental Paperback Publication Mosby Binding Paperback ISBN Pt 2 Mosby 39 s Review for the NBDE Part II is the Download link for Mosby 39 s Review for the NBDE FIRST AID NBDE PART 2 DOWNLOAD S3 Aid 1 jason mosbys download clear the the pt Price book part 1 3 more free first a paperback 1 review good nbde


PREVIEW

Mosbys Review for the NBDE, Part 1 DOWNLOAD

Written by Greg Swanson@AppsinEducation

Steve Jobs announced iCloud along with Lion OS and iOS5 the other day at the WWDC. What is the iCloud and how will it effect the Education sector. iCloud can be explained as the new Digital Hub of our ever increasing digital lives; Photos, Video and Music. iCloud is the new solution to the masses of multiple digital files. It will sync all of our devices automatically because the function is integrated into the actual apps. iCloud not only stores your content it then wirelessly syncs it to all your devices.


The main components of iCloud include 9 apps. Three that we know already but have been totally rebuilt; Contacts, Calendar and Mail. Each of these apps store content, push it to all your other devices and automatically syncs them. Calendar now allows shared Calendars. This means that whenever you add an event anybody else that you have the shared facility with, automatically have their calendar synced as well. This would be an excellent tool in a school where calendar events are so important. You could even set up an event for;

• assessment tasks
• assignments
• homework
• sporting events
• reminders to parents etc

The next three apps we have sort of seen too. The three include the App Store, iBooks and one we havent seen Back-Up. The Apps Store has a number of features that will be utilised, including a purchase history on all devices which can be accessed from any devices. If you have an app on one device and would like it on another you can simple download it. This is handy for the new iWork for iPhone. Part of the demo showed the new Pages app, and a document being manipulated on the iPhone. This can then be pushed to your other devices with all the changes made - instantly. This is very impressive. This is going to be especially useful in a education setting. Not only will all the students work be automatically pushed to all their devices but it also means that mobile devices like ipods, ipads and iphones all have the same value for content creation and information access.

The second app was the iBooks. Again any purchases can be stored and pushed to all your devices making sure that they are all automatically synced. The beauty of this is that you can be reading a book on your iPad, need to leave, and pick up where you left off on your iPhone - having saved a bookmark that was synced by iCloud.

Back-Up was the third app. For people who are ultra conservative about their content security and back-ups then this app will automatically backup all information once a day to the iCloud. This includes music, apps, books as well as your camera roll with photos and video. It also saves your device settings and app data, which is very handy indeed.


The final three sets of apps that Jobs introduced was Documents in the Cloud, Photostream and iTunes in the Cloud. Documents in the Cloud is a document sharing app for idevices. This means that a Pages document you create on your iPad will be instantly accessible on your iPhone or your Mac PC.  All of the new iWorks apps (Pages, Numbers and Keynote) that were release last week have these capabilities built into them. Pages can be manipulated on the iPhone and the changes will be instantly accessible. The apps will manage the presentation of its own documents in much the same way that Mail manages emails. This means that complex documents can be stored, accessed and shared across all iOS devices or Mac PC computers.

The second last app was Photostream. Photosteam, as you can imagine, automatically syncs all your photos across all your devices. This includes photos you have taken as well as photos you have imported. There is nothing new to learn here. This all happens automatically. The only difference is that you will now have one more button in your photos folder. iCloud will maintain the last 1000 photos on your devices, All photos will be stored for 30 days, until you put them in a folder or allow them to expire. iCloud also recognises PC machines and will operate through the My Pictures Folder in order for people to also use the iCloud. This is really exciting as it is the foot in the door for iCloud to access files across platforms.

This has interesting uses for education too. This tool allows you to sync photos and video to multiple machines, as well as swap, shared and exchange photos from a Mac machine to a PC - across platforms. It also makes mobile learning a very real possibility for schools that did not think it possible. A student can sync a photo taken from the yard or even a different location or even an excursion back to the classroom. This could open up a whole new range of educational experiences for schools and brings a whole new meaning to the term "bring your own device".

The last of the tools introduced as part of the iCloud suite was iTunes in the Cloud. Again this is all about automatic sync but goes a lot further for existing features of iTunes. The app allows for all music that you have bought to be downloaded to each of your devices - FREE. This allow you to do this with up to 10 devices.

iCloud will allow you 5G of storage BUT that does not include mail, documents or photos and it does NOT count music, apps or iBooks you have purchased. I dont know how you use that much but that is what is on offer.



The beauty of this type of system is that it makes computer devices just so easy in a school situation. It is sort of what Dropbox and some of the document sharing sites have been doing for a while. We have been trying to sort out these problems with roundabout solutions. They will now probably be dumped for the iCloud. The fact that these tools have been built into the apps makes it too easy. No more moving from one app to another and back again to access documents or images.

Some students are really going to dislike this. There will never be an excuse again for leaving your homework at home - just access it in the iCloud. On the upside, they will be able to walk away from a Keynote presentation on a school Desktop, get home and simply pick up where they left off on their laptop or iPad. No more having to...... just "iCloud it". iCloud will now become another one of those verbs people dont like.

What I am looking forward to is the ability to go to a meeting and pull up a calendar, check the agenda that was emailed to me last week and them sync my minutes back to my desktop or share them instantly with the other participants. This can be used just as easily in a classroom. We have not even started to think of all the different ways that this announcement will impact on education. As people digest what it all means then a ground swell of ideas will be developed, resourced and shared.

If this is as good as it sounds than it could make the Apple range a more viable educational package. iCloud could create a situation where students can move from one app to another on any one of several devices. iCloud could create a situation where mobile learning is easy to implement, where differentiated learning can be the norm. It has completed a platform that now works as one, where all the apps are integrated and seamless. In the words of Steve Jobs, "It just works."

Extremely Colorful Small Birds for Pet | Gomestic

Simply set your filtering level at Elementary, Middle or High School and Mobicip automatically applies filtering standards used by K-12 school systems. The filter uses strict safe search, categorization, and intelligent real-time content analysis. It is expressly designed by Mobicip to provide a safe, secure and educational Internet and YouTube (new) for families and school-age children.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/mobicip-safe-browser/id299153586?mt=8