Rutgers University

About: Rutgers University is a education organization based out in New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 68736 authors who have published 159418 publications receiving 6713860 citations. The organization is also known as: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey & Rutgers.

Nonlinear regulation: The piecewise linear approach

Abstract: This paper approaches nonlinear control problems through the use of (discrete-time) piecewise linear systems. These are systems whose next-state and output maps are both described by PL maps, i.e., by maps which are affine on each of the components of a finite polyhedral partition. Various results on state and output feedback, observers, and inverses, standard for linear systems, are proved for PL systems. Many of these results are then used in the study of more general (both discrete- and continuous-time) systems, using suitable approximations.

Meaning in Method: The Rhetoric of Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Abstract: The current debate about quantitative and qualitative methods focuses on whether there is a necessary connection between method-type and research paradigm that makes the different approaches incompatible. This paper argues that part of the connection is rhetorical. Quantitative methods express the assumptions of a positvisit paradigm which holds that behavior can be explained through objective facts. Design and instrumentation persuade by showing how bias and error are eliminated. Qualitative methods express the assumptions of a phenomenological paradigm that there are multiple realities that are socially defined. Rich description persuades by showing that the researcher was immersed in the setting and giving the reader enough detail to “make sense” of the situation. While rhetorically different, the results of the two methodologies can be complementary. Examples are drawn from two studies using different methodologies to study the same problem.

Respiratory effects of exposure to diesel traffic in persons with asthma.

Abstract: Background Air pollution from road traffic is a serious health hazard, and people with preexisting respiratory disease may be at increased risk. We investigated the effects of short-term exposure to diesel traffic in people with asthma in an urban, roadside environment. Methods We recruited 60 adults with either mild or moderate asthma to participate in a randomized, crossover study. Each participant walked for 2 hours along a London street (Oxford Street) and, on a separate occasion, through a nearby park (Hyde Park). We performed detailed real-time exposure, physiological, and immunologic measurements. Results Participants had significantly higher exposures to fine particles (<2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter), ultrafine particles, elemental carbon, and nitrogen dioxide on Oxford Street than in Hyde Park. Walking for 2 hours on Oxford Street induced asymptomatic but consistent reductions in the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) (up to 6.1%) and forced vital capacity (FVC) (up to 5.4%) that were ...

Replay and Time Compression of Recurring Spike Sequences in the Hippocampus

Abstract: Information in neuronal networks may be represented by the spatiotemporal patterns of spikes. Here we examined the temporal coordination of pyramidal cell spikes in the rat hippocampus during slow-wave sleep. In addition, rats were trained to run in a defined position in space (running wheel) to activate a selected group of pyramidal cells. A template-matching method and a joint probability map method were used for sequence search. Repeating spike sequences in excess of chance occurrence were examined by comparing the number of repeating sequences in the original spike trains and in surrogate trains after Monte Carlo shuffling of the spikes. Four different shuffling procedures were used to control for the population dynamics of hippocampal neurons. Repeating spike sequences in the recorded cell assemblies were present in both the awake and sleeping animal in excess of what might be predicted by random variations. Spike sequences observed during wheel running were “replayed” at a faster timescale during single sharp-wave bursts of slow-wave sleep. We hypothesize that the endogenously expressed spike sequences during sleep reflect reactivation of the circuitry modified by previous experience. Reactivation of acquired sequences may serve to consolidate information.

A Theory of Content and Other Essays

Abstract: This collection of new and previously published essays reflects the major research and thought of one of today's preeminent philosophers of mind. The first seven essays are philosophical pieces that focus on mental representation and the foundations of intentionality; these are followed by four psychological essays on cognitive architecture. In his eloquent introduction Fodor shows how the two areas are thematically united and epistemologically related, highlighting his concern in finding alternatives to holistic accounts of mental content. Fodor's philosophical essays develop an informational view of semantics that offers the possibility of atomism about meaning; his psychological essays present a modular view of cognitive architecture that offers the possibility of atomism about perception. These ideas, he points out, are joined in epistemology in way that the books last essay begins to explore. Taken together, the essays represent Fodor's lively attempt to knock the underpinnings from the currently popular relativism to show that the arguments for semantic and psychological holism are insubstantial and that important alternatives exist to be explored. Jerry A. Fodor is Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University and at the City University of New York Graduate Center. A Bradford Book