Images with harder-to-reconstruct visual representations leave stronger memory traces.

Much of what we remember is not because of intentional selection, but simply a by-product of perceiving. This raises a foundational question about the architecture of the mind: how does perception interface with and influence memory? Here, inspired by a classic proposal relating perceptual processing to memory durability, the level-of-processing theory, we present a sparse coding model for compressing feature embeddings of images, and show that the reconstruction residuals from this model predict how well images are encoded into memory. In an open memorability dataset of scene images, we show that reconstruction error not only explains memory accuracy, but also response latencies during retrieval, subsuming, in the latter case, all of the variance explained by powerful vision-only models.

The relational bottleneck as an inductive bias for efficient abstraction.

A central challenge for cognitive science is to explain how abstract concepts are acquired from limited experience. This has often been framed in terms of a dichotomy between connectionist and symbolic cognitive models. Here, we highlight a recently emerging line of work that suggests a novel reconciliation of these approaches, by exploiting an inductive bias that we term the relational bottleneck.

Shallow neural networks trained to detect collisions recover features of visual loom-selective neurons.

Animals have evolved sophisticated visual circuits to solve a vital inference problem: detecting whether or not a visual signal corresponds to an object on a collision course. Such events are detected by specific circuits sensitive to visual looming, or objects increasing in size. Various computational models have been developed for these circuits, but how the collision-detection inference problem itself shapes the computational structures of these circuits remains unknown.

Bone marrow aspirate collection and preparation--a comparison of three methods.

Purpose: Preparing bone marrow smears using non-anticoagulated bone marrow aspirate is a traditional practice but many laboratories now use anticoagulated aspirate samples in K-EDTA. There are no published studies comparing the effectiveness of these two methods. This report compares the readability of slides, prepared using non-anticoagulated and anticoagulated methods, from three laboratories in Hamilton Ontario.

The huge Package for High-dimensional Undirected Graph Estimation in R.

We describe an R package named huge which provides easy-to-use functions for estimating high dimensional undirected graphs from data. This package implements recent results in the literature, including Friedman et al. (2007), Liu et al.

A multicenter trial of the effectiveness of zeta-globin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and hemoglobin H inclusion body screening for the detection of alpha0-thalassemia trait.

Routine laboratories use a hemoglobin H (HbH) screen to detect alpha-thalassemia carriers of fatal hemoglobin Bart's hydrops fetalis. This test is laborious and has sensitivity concerns. A commercial zeta-globin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is effective in detecting Southeast Asian (SEA) alpha-thalassemia.

Prevalence of thalassemia in patients with microcytosis referred for hemoglobinopathy investigation in Ontario: a prospective cohort study.

In Ontario, Canada, beta-thalassemia is easily detected through measurement of hemoglobin A2, but most laboratories do not do exhaustive DNA investigations for alpha-thalassemia. Therefore, the prevalence of thalassemia in microcytic samples for hemoglobinopathy investigation in Ontario is unknown. To address this, we performed a prospective cohort study in which samples referred for hemoglobinopathy investigation were also evaluated for alpha-thalassemia by DNA testing.

Proficiency testing of reticulocyte counting in Ontario.

The reticulocyte count reflects the erythropoietic activity of the bone marrow and is thus useful in both the approach to the diagnosis of anemia and in monitoring bone marrow response to therapy. Traditionally, reticulocyte quantitation relied upon microscopic techniques; recently automated reticulocyte quantitation has become widely available. External quality assessment (EQA) of reticulocyte quantitation has not been widely reported; this paper presents data from reticulocyte EQA surveys conducted in Ontario between November 2000 and October 2004.

Mixed-membership models of scientific publications.

PNAS is one of world's most cited multidisciplinary scientific journals. The PNAS official classification structure of subjects is reflected in topic labels submitted by the authors of articles, largely related to traditionally established disciplines. These include broad field classifications into physical sciences, biological sciences, social sciences, and further subtopic classifications within the fields.

Good practice guidelines for laboratory investigation of hemoglobinopathies.

A review of the Quality Management Program-Laboratory Services (QMP-LS) hemoglobin fraction quantitation/hemoglobinopathy investigation surveys revealed recurrent errors in diagnosis of carrier genotypes for serious hemoglobinopathies. To address these concerns, QMP-LS developed guidelines for laboratory investigation of hemoglobinopathy syndromes. The guidelines are based on current practice in the province of Ontario, expert opinion in the field, and a review of recent literature.

Beta-thalassemia in association with a new delta-chain hemoglobin variant [delta116(g18)Arg-->Leu]: implications for carrier screening and prenatal diagnosis.

We describe a complicated genetic counseling and prenatal diagnostic case involving an East Indian couple that had lost two consecutive pregnancies. Hemoglobinopathy screening was conducted to investigate the possibility of Hb Bart's hydrops fetalis or Hb H hydrops fetalis. The initial work-up indicated that alpha-thalassemia was not a contributing factor, with both parents being carriers of single gene deletions (-alpha(3.

Fetal-maternal hemorrhage detection in Ontario.

The results from fetal-maternal hemorrhage (FMH) detection and quantitation external quality assessment surveys conducted in Ontario indicate that the rosette test had a sensitivity and specificity for an FMH of more than 10 mL of 1.0 and 0.75, respectively, compared with 0.

Evaluation of a dual hemoglobin A(2)/A(1c) quantitation kit on the bio-rad variant II automated hemoglobin analyzer.

Context: Quantitation of hemoglobin (Hb) A(1c) and investigation of hemoglobinopathy on the Bio-Rad Variant analyzers require a switch between 2 separate kits that is time consuming and causes errors.

Objective: Evaluation of a new Variant II HbA(2)/HbA(1c) Dual kit capable of both Hb A(1c) quantitation and hemoglobinopathy investigation on a single kit.

Design: We evaluated Hb A(1c), Hb A(2), and Hb F quantitation for precision, linearity, and correlation with current methodology.