Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security

Abstract This paper begins by discussing new trends in the use of neurostimulation techniques in cognitive science and learning research, as well as the nascent research on their application in second language learning. To illustrate this, an experiment designed to investigate the impact of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), which is delivered via earbuds, on how learners process and learn Mandarin tones is reported. Pupillometry, which is an index of cognitive effort, is explained and illustrated as one way to assess the impact of tVNS. Participants in the study were native English speakers, naïve to tone languages, pseudorandomly assigned to active or control conditions, while balancing for nonlinguistic pitch ability and musical experience. Their performance after tVNS was assessed using a range of more traditional language outcome measures, including accuracy and reaction times from lexical recognition and recall tasks and was triangulated with pupillometry during word-learning to help understand the mechanism through which tVNS operates. Findings are discussed in light of the literatures on lexical tone learning, cognitive effort, and neurostimulation, including specific benefits for learners of tone languages. Recommendations are made for future work on the increasingly popular area of neurostimulation for the field of applied linguistics in the 40th anniversary issue of ARAL.

Difficulty perceiving phonological contrasts in a second language (L2) can impede initial L2 lexical learning. Such is the case for English speakers learning tonal languages, like Mandarin Chinese. Given the hypothesized role of reduced neuroplasticity in adulthood limiting L2 phonological perception, the current study examined whether transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS), a relatively new neuromodulatory technique, can facilitate L2 lexical learning for English speakers learning Mandarin Chinese over 2 days. Using a double-blind design, one group of participants received 10 min of continuous priming taVNS before lexical training and testing each day, a second group received 500 msec of peristimulus (peristim) taVNS preceding each to-be-learned item in the same tasks, and a third group received passive sham stimulation. Results of the lexical recognition test administered at the end of each day revealed evidence of learning for all groups, but a higher likelihood of accuracy across days for the peristim group and a greater improvement in response time between days for the priming group. Analyses of N400 ERP components elicited during the same tasks indicate behavioral advantages for both taVNS groups coincided with stronger lexico-semantic encoding for target words. Comparison of these findings to pupillometry results for the same study reported in Pandža, N. B., Phillips, I., Karuzis, V. P., O'Rourke, P., and Kuchinsky, S. E. (Neurostimulation and pupillometry: New directions for learning and research in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 40, 56-77, 2020) suggest that positive effects of priming taVNS (but not peristim taVNS) on lexico-semantic encoding are related to sustained attentional effort.

Studies of bilingual speech production suggest that different executive functions (EFs) contribute to the cognitive control of language production. However, no study has simultaneously examined the relationship between different EFs and language control during online speech production. The current study examined individual differences in three EFs (working memory updating, inhibitory control, and task-set switching) and their relationship with performance in a trilingual language-switching task for a group of forty-seven native English (L1) speakers learning French (L2) and Spanish (L3). Analyses indicate complex interactions between EFs and language switching: better inhibitory control was related to smaller L1 switch costs, whereas better working memory was related to larger L1 switch costs. Working memory was also related to larger L2 switch costs, but only when switching from L1. These results support theories of cognitive control that implicate both global and local control mechanisms, and suggest unique contributions of each EF to both global and local cognitive control during language switching. Finally, we discuss the implications for theories of multilingual language control.

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) is a promising technique for enhancing cognitive performance and skill acquisition. Yet, its efficacy for enhancing learning rate and long-term retention in an ecologically valid learning environment has not been demonstrated. We conducted two double-blind sham-controlled experiments examining the efficacy of auricular tVNS (taVNS: Experiment (1) and cervical tVNS (tcVNS: Experiment (2), on a 5 day second-language vocabulary acquisition protocol among highly selected career linguists at the US Department of Defense's premier language school. tcVNS produced accelerated recall performance during training (Day 2-4), benefits of which were maintained across a 24 h retention interval with no stimulation at the final test. Consistent with prior work, tcVNS also produced fatigue-mitigating and focus-promoting effects as measured by the Air Force Research Laboratory Mood Questionnaire. Based on the current and the previous findings supporting tVNS' efficacy on performance, training enhancement, and fatigue mitigation, we believe tcVNS to be an effective learning acceleration tool that can be utilized at language-teaching and other institutions focused on intensive training of cognitive skills.

Traditionally, it has been claimed that the non-canonical word order of passives makes them inherently more difficult to comprehend than their canonical active counterparts both in the first (L1) and second language (L2). However, growing evidence suggests that non-canonical word orders are not inherently more difficult to process than canonical counterparts when presented with discourse contexts that license their information structure constraints. In an eye-tracking experiment, we investigated the effect of information structure on the online processing of active and passive constructions and whether this effect differed in monolinguals and L1-Spanish–L2-English speakers. In line with previous corpus studies, our results indicated that there was an interaction between word order and information structure according to which passive sentences were much more costly to process with new–given information structure patterns. Crucially, we failed to find evidence that the effect of information structure on word order constraints in comprehension differed between monolingual and L2 speakers.

Abstract While the detection of single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) is important for evaluating human health and disease, most genotyping methods require a nucleic acid extraction step and lengthy analytical times. Here, we present a protocol which utilizes the integration of locked nucleic acids (LNAs) into self-annealing loop primers for the allelic discrimination of five isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 R132 (IDH1-R132) variants using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). This genotyping panel was initially evaluated using purified synthetic DNA to show proof of specific SNV discrimination. Additional evaluation using glioma tumor lysates with known IDH1-R132 mutational status demonstrated specificity in approximately 35 min without the need for a nucleic acid extraction purification step. This LNA-LAMP-based genotyping assay can detect single base differences in purified nucleic acids or tissue homogenates, including instances where the variant of interest is present in an excess of background wild-type DNA. The pH-based colorimetric indicator of LNA-LAMP facilitates convenient visual interpretation of reactions, and we demonstrate successful translation to an end-point format using absorbance ratio, allowing for an alternative and objective approach for differentiating between positive and negative reactions. Importantly, the LNA-LAMP genotyping panel is highly reproducible, with no false-positive or false-negative results observed.

Nearly a year after the start of Canada’s 2022 Freedom Convoy—a series of protests and blockades that brought together a wide variety of far-right activists and extremists, as well as ordinary Canadians who found common ground with the aggrieved message of the organizers—the question of whether and to what degree foreign actors were involved remains largely unanswered. This paper attempts to answer some of those questions by providing a brief but targeted analysis of Russia’s involvement in the Freedom Convoy via media and social media. The analysis examines Russian involvement in the convoy through the lenses of overt state media coverage, state-affiliated proxy websites, and overlap between Russian propaganda and convoy content on social media. The findings reveal that the Russian state media outlet RT covered the Freedom Convoy far more than any other international media outlet, suggesting strong interest in the far-right Canadian protest movement on the part of the Russian state. State-affiliated proxy websites and content on the messaging platform Telegram provide further evidence of Russia’s strategic interest in the Freedom Convoy. Based on these findings, it is reasonable to infer that there was Russian involvement in the 2022 truck convoy, though the scope and impact remain to be determined. Received: 2023-01-13Revised: 2023-01-24

Development of infrastructure in Kenya, especially transportation infrastructure, began receiving partial financing investments by the Chinese government in 2014 as part of China’s broader Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). While there has been significant journalistic, academic, and governmental exploration of China’s new global investment strategies, less analysis has focused on local reactions to these new development relationships. In this study, we gather publicly available social media data centered around a large Kenya-Chinese infrastructure project, the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). We used automated natural language processing strategies as well as manual analysis of social media data from Twitter to understand discussion topics, attitudes, and sentiments of Kenyans toward domestic Kenya-China infrastructure projects. We advance research on multilingual digital expression through the analysis of social media data in both English and Swahili.

EXTENDED ABSTRACT As holistic thinking goes, the effects of the system on the human are well-known in the HFES community. However, many practitioners have experienced the challenges of incorporating these effects into a life cycle approach. Systems engineering seeks to model, predict, and employ holistic thinking in the development of multi-part and complex systems (NASA Systems Engineering Handbook). It is posited that a systemic approach and integration of human factors (HF) would better streamline various process pieces, thus reducing life cycle costs and risks to system and human functionality in the deployed system. Systems engineering processes and human factors philosophies have run parallel and intersecting courses, but rarely are they well-integrated. Despite the demonstrated impact of consideration on operators and users early in the design process for the reduction of system life cycle costs, and on increased adoption of systems by those users – few resources and tools exist that allow practitioners to translate human factors principles into Systems Engineering. These same practitioners are often called upon as experts within a systems development process. Limited participation on integrated product teams (IPTs), constrained and niche issue studies, and late life cycle validation all contribute to the challenges of holistic system integration, eventually passing frustration on to the users. The recent introduction of Human Readiness Levels (HRLs), which provide corresponding metrics to the well-established Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs), is one critical tool that will be faciliatory for appropriate consideration of human capabilities and limitations as part of system design (ANSI- HFES 400-2021). Tools like these that can become standard practices will be invaluable for inclusion of the human element into programs of record. However, in many instances, the practical considerations of conducting engineering design are often left to the individual practitioner to figure out. While many academic resources highlight the importance of including HF into system design and development, few resources exist to support in-the-trenches development efforts. In addition, communication of the value of human systems engineering across disciplines is consistently and persistently a challenge and incorporated as part of project contracts and plans to only a limited extent. This panel explores the issue, tales from the jungle, and success stories from multiple points of view, including practitioners of Human Factors, Systems Engineers, and Academics.

Abstract Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is a neuromodulatory technique that may have numerous potential health and human performance benefits. However, optimal stimulation parameters for maximizing taVNS efficacy are unknown. Progress is impeded by disagreement on the identification of a biomarker that reliably indexes activation of neuromodulatory systems targeted by taVNS, including the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system. Pupil size varies with LC-NE activity and is one potential taVNS biomarker that has shown inconsistent sensitivity to taVNS in prior studies. The present study examined the relationship between pupil size and taVNS using stimulation parameters that have shown promising behavioral effects in prior studies but have received comparatively little attention. Participants received 30-second trains of 50 μs taVNS pulses delivered below perceptual threshold at 300 Hz to the left external acoustic meatus (EAM) while pupil size was recorded during a pupillary light reflex task. Analysis of pupil size using generalized additive mixed modelling (GAMM) revealed a nonlinear relationship between taVNS intensity and pupil diameter. Active taVNS increased pupil size during stimulation for participants who received taVNS between 2 and approximately 4.8 mA, but not for participants who received higher intensity taVNS (up to 8.1 mA). In addition, taVNS effects persisted in subsequent blocks, mitigating decreases in pupil size over the course of the task. These findings suggest 300 Hz taVNS activates the LC-NE system when applied to the EAM, but its effects may be counteracted at higher intensities.

Permafrost is permanently frozen ground that covers over 10% of the Earth’s surface. Many northern regions have extensive infrastructure built on this hard, frozen ground. When permafrost thaws, the ground becomes a softer mix of soil and water, which can cause degradation and damage to critical infrastructure. Permafrost thaw has substantial economic, strategic, and environmental implications. While thawing permafrost due to climate change will affect energy infrastructure in many countries, this work focuses on Russia’s current and planned arctic energy infrastructure. To quantify Russian energy infrastructure locations on permafrost, geospatial data was collected and mapped. Specifically, our analysis focuses on Russian gas and oil terminals and power plants. First, we determined the types of permafrost extents (e.g., continuous, discontinuous, sporadic, and isolated) on which each energy facility lies. Next, to evaluate the infrastructure hazard potential of permafrost thaw, we leveraged an existing analysis by [Karjalainen et al., 2019] in which data on ground conditions were weighted and aggregated to generate low, medium, or high hazard classifications under various greenhouse gas trajectories. For the time frame 2041-2060 and assuming greenhouse gas trajectories consistent with RCP 4.5, most facilities were found to be located in moderate and high hazard zones. A similar analysis was conducted for the years 2060-2081 under various climate conditions. Next, we generated supplemental analysis to define similar hazard classifications under current climatic conditions. The future climate scenario findings are compared with current conditions to identify potential variations in hazard zones, which could heighten infrastructure destabilization. Findings are applied to a targeted case study of the Yamal Peninsula to assess implications for Russia in the areas of energy capacity, foreign investment and supply chains, and future infrastructure construction projects. Citation: Karjalainen, O., Aalto, J., Luoto, M. et al. Circumpolar permafrost maps and geohazard indices for near-future infrastructure risk assessments. Sci Data 6, 190037 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2019.37

Paired-associate tasks are popular tasks used in basic and applied research on human memory and learning. A number of studies have shown that individuals differ in the strategies they use to encode information in paired-associate tasks and, importantly, that strategies differ in their effectiveness. What is not so well documented is how different strategies may affect the cognitive processes assessed by paired-associate tasks. In this study, we submit archival data to distributional and latent class analyses to infer strategy-use and classify individuals as elaborators or non-elaborators. We then used regression analyses within subgroups to identify differences in dependence on fluid intelligence and working memory capacity. To the extent that our classification of individuals was accurate, the results suggest that paired-associate learning is more reliant on fluid intelligence when elaborative rehearsal is utilized and more reliant on working memory capacity when using non-elaborative strategies. To offer further evidence of the validity of our approach, we also investigated correlations between strategy-use and fluid intelligence and working memory capacity. In accord with prior research, we found that cognitive abilities were positively correlated with what we infer to be differences in strategy-use. That the cognitive processes assessed by verbal paired-associate tasks may vary as a function of strategy-use should be a concern for all researchers and practitioners who use such tasks.