University of Windsor

About: University of Windsor is a education organization based out in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Argumentation theory. The organization has 10654 authors who have published 22307 publications receiving 435906 citations. The organization is also known as: UWindsor & Assumption University of Windsor.

Toward nature-inspired computing

Abstract: NIC-based systems utilize autonomous entities that self-organize to achieve the goals of systems modeling and problem solving.

Significant ecosystem-wide effects of the swiftly spreading invasive freshwater bivalve Limnoperna fortunei

Abstract: Since its introduction in South America around 1990, the freshwater Asian mussel Limnoperna fortunei has been shown to strongly interact with several components of the local biota. However, investigation of its ecosystem-wide effects was hindered by (1) difficulties associated with evaluation of its densities over large spatial scales and (2) scarcity of pre-invasion environmental data. The present survey overcomes these shortcomings and addresses the question whether Limnoperna’s impact on the ecosystem-wide scale is measurable and significant. On the basis of diver-collected bottom samples, we estimated the overall density of this mussel in a reservoir (Embalse de Rio Tercero, Argentina), where Limnoperna is present since 1998 and analyzed changes in several water-column properties before and after the invasion. The 47 km2 reservoir hosts around 45 billion mussels; at these densities, a volume equivalent to that of this water body can potentially be filtered by the bivalves every 2–3 days. Data collected regularly since 1996 indicate that after the invasion water transparency increased, and suspended matter, chlorophyll a, and primary production decreased significantly, with strong changes occurring in the area with highest mussel densities. Our results indicate that the ecosystem-wide impacts of Limnoperna are generally comparable to those described in Europe and North America for another invasive mussel—Dreissena polymorpha. However, given Limnoperna’s wider tolerance limits, its influence on newly invaded water bodies, potentially including Europe and North America, will probably be stronger.

EEG-Based Emotion Recognition Using Hierarchical Network With Subnetwork Nodes

Abstract: Emotions play a crucial role in decision-making, brain activity, human cognition, and social intercourse. This paper proposes a hierarchical network structure with subnetwork nodes to discriminate three human emotions: 1) positive; 2) neutral; and 3) negative. Each subnetwork node embedded in the network that are formed by hundreds of hidden nodes, could be functional as an independent hidden layer for feature representation. The top layer of the hierarchical network, like the mammal cortex in the brain, combine such features generated from subnetwork nodes, but simultaneously, recast these features into a mapping space so that the network can be performed to produce more reliable cognition. The proposed method is compared with other state-of-the-art methods. The experimental results from two different EEG datasets show that a promising result is obtained when using the proposed method with both single and multiple modality.

Gambling Behavior and Pathology in Relation to Impulsivity, Sensation Seeking, and Risky Behavior in Male College Students

Abstract: Sensation seeking and impulsivity are two constructs of personality that are generally believed to be associated with risky behavior, including gambling. Despite the fact that pathological gambling is classified as an Impulsive Control Disorder in the DSM-IV, relatively little empirical research has investigated the relationship between gambling and impulsivity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between sensation seeking, impulsivity, risky behaviors and gambling. One hundred and forty-four male undergraduate university students completed several inventories measuring sensation seeking, impulsivity, gambling, and risky behaviors. Statistical analyses revealed a very high percentage of participants were classified in the pathological gambler range of scores. In addition, a significant difference was found between the relationships of sensation seeking, impulsivity, and risky behaviors with gambling scores in the pathological versus non-pathological groups. Pathological gambler's scores on measures of sensation seeking and impulsivity did not correlate with their degree of gambling pathology. In contrast, the sensation seeking and impulsivity scores of non-pathological gamblers did correlate with their scores of gambling pathology. These results have implications on Jacob's General Theory of Addiction. The findings of this study also suggest that the classification of gambling as an impulse control disorder rather than an addictive disorder needs to be reevaluated.